Whoop! Another chapter down. Finally decided to get Stormy Weather 2 out of the way and I think I did a good job adapting it considering that it is a filler episode and a show case. Anyway, next chapter is Midas (Bob Roth) and I'll be releasing a few new designs. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)
"And this will repair the miraculous?" Gabriel asked, glancing at the molten gold that would make part of the cure. Su Han himself was grinding up meteorite dust as it was required. It didn't look that impressive to him but this guy should know what he was doing since he was the celestial guardian... or so he claimed. Gabriel guessed that he wasn't the true one and going by the legends that had been passed down by his father and his father's father, this man was the sixth celestial guardian. According to the legend, the fifth celestial guardian known as Master Toutai was attacked by an unknown assassin, cutting his normally long life short and in his last moments, he passed the title onto his best friend in the order, one Master Su Han. Su Han then swore to protect the miraculous and continue his friend's legacy until his soul was reborn. Having met the man though, Gabriel was certain the majority of that legend was fabricated. Su Han had expressed a desire to find the new mage but not to help him regain the title but to ensure that he himself remained the celestial guardian. As to how he would achieve that, all he knew as that Su Han needed to find him before the next spring festival which was only a few months away. Of course, that made him come to Hawkmoth. In return for helping him fix the miraculous and capture Anatis and Lady Noir, Hawkmoth was to help him find the mage. However, Gabriel had no intention of doing so. As soon as he got the mage's identity, he would find a way to akumatize him. He would become his masterpiece, even more so than Luka Couffaine and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Speaking of the students, he had also decided to lay low on targeting Luka or at least making situations to target him. Should a natural situation come up, he would take that chance but he also needed Luka to lower his guard and continuously targeting him wouldn't make that happen. Besides, Lila wasn't able to get close to him anymore. In that sense, she had outlived her usefulness but he wouldn't throw her away just yet. She can still sow discord, similarly to how Chloe Bourgeois used to. Shame that Anatis put her on the right track but it is what it is. He'll make do with the pawn that he has. Of course, he nearly lost Lila been in school thanks to the frame up job she did. Mr Damocles actually contacted the school board and it took all of his power to ensure that she got away scott free. He would have tried to get Luka expelled since it would have made for another attempt but the rest of the school board wouldn't agree to that. Besides, he managed to get Lila to stay in school by suggesting that maybe she was acting out due to lack of attention at home. Naturally, the rest of the school board lapped it up and those didn't... well they soon did after a rather generous donation to their bank accounts. He had also warned her to keep a low profile for now. A few snide remarks here and there should be enough. After all, words were often more damaging then actions. Gabriel frowned as Su Han cleared his throat, making him look at him. "Yes?"
"Are you listening?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"Yes, I am," He replied, narrowing his eyes. Su Han huffed before turning back to the mixture. "But you didn't answer my question. Will it repair the miraculous?"
"Yes, it will," He replied, stirring the mixture. "This potion was created by the fourth celestial guardian, Sir Rene,"
He turned to the spellbook and turned the pages, coming to a stop when he came to the page about the aqua power up potions.
"According to Legend, Sir Rene also created the power up potions and shared them, along with this potion and a number of other unknown ones with the first celestial guardian despite being born in a different time," Su Han replied, making Gabriel frown. "It is believed he used the rabbit miraculous to do so but no-one actually knows for sure,"
"Not even you?" Gabriel asked, crossing his arms.
"I did not inherit the title of Celestial Guardian in the same way as my predecessors therefore I do not share the same connection to them," He replied, frowning as he poured the crushed meteorite dust into the molten gold. "Do you have the peacock feather?"
"Yes," Gabriel replied, gesturing to Nathalie to bring it over. "This should suffice,"
"Hmm," Su Han replied, taking it from her before he examined it. "It will do,"
Once he said that, he dropped it into the mixture, causing a puff of smoke the same color as the peacock miraculous to appear. Su Han turned to Gabriel, making him raise an eyebrow.
"The potion is done," He stated, gesturing to it. "All that is required now is for you to inject it into the miraculous and state the incarnation. Once you do that, the miraculous will be repaired. However, it needs time to charge up it's magic,"
"Charge up its magic?" Gabriel asked, frowning. "What does that mean? Will it be safe for me to use?"
"Once it is repaired, yes but the more it is charged up the more powerful it's magic will be," He stated, making Gabriel nod. "To charge it up, it must be around emotion,"
"Will it take time to charge?" He asked, making Su Han think.
"Depends on the emotions it is exposed to," He replied as Gabriel listened. "If they are weak, it will take long to charge,"
"I see," He replied, thinking. "I shall have Nathalie wear it-"
"Not her," Su Han said, making him frown as he glanced at him. "She has been exposed to the broken miraculous. If she was to wear it again in her current state, it will make her worst despite been fixed,"
"I see," He frowned, thinking. "Then I will have to wear it until it's charged up. Will I know when it is?"
"Yes, you should feel it's magic," He replied, making Gabriel nod. "I should take my leave for now. We will talk again soon,"
"Thank you for your guidance," Gabriel replied as Su Han left before he took out a syringe and used it to take some of the mixture into it. He moved it over to the peacock miraculous and pressed it against the cracks before injecting it into it. It filled the cracks and began to glow, making him smirk before he held out his arms. "Miraculous of the Peacock, repair yourself!"
The miraculous began to glow white before it floated in the air for a few seconds. Suddenly, it burst into light then fell out of the air. Gabriel caught it and held it up as he examined it. There were no more cracks on it at all but it looked slightly dull in color. However, overall it looked fixed. Smirking to himself, Gabriel fixed it on his shirt, allowing Duusu to manifest and the miraculous to change into a golden pin.
"Whoo!" Duusu declared as she floated up. "Oh! I feel so much better! What happened?!"
She looked around before spotting Nooroo and squealed, making Gabriel raise an eyebrow.
"Nooroo!" She gasped, hugging him before she pulled away. "Oh wow! Everything was so chaotic in my head! Like a nightmare that I had fallen into the wrong hands!"
"Sorry, old friend but I'm afraid the nightmare is not over yet," Nooroo replied, gesturing towards Gabriel who had crossed his arms in a stern manner.
"Dusuu, Kwami of the Peacock miraculous," He stated, making her look at him. "I am your master, Gabriel Agreste. You will do what I say and we have rules that you will follow. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, Master," She gasped, nodding as he smirked evilly.
"Excellent," He replied, turning to the grimoire. "Now I have repaired your miraculous but the current guardian suggested that I need to recharge the magic of the miraculous. Is this true?"
"Y-Yes, Master," She replied, pressing her paws together. "When a miraculous is damaged, its magic is consumed and drained, trying to repair it but exposing the miraculous to what it is connected to restores the magic or so Master Rene said. I don't really understand how it works but Master Feng seemed to agree with Master Rene,"
"And how long will that take?"
"I... I don't know," She replied, making him frown. "The only other miraculous to have been broken was the rabbit miraculous but Fluff's Miraculous is time based so she had to be passed through time,"
"I see," He replied, turning to her and Nooroo. "You will stay with me and Nooroo then once it has recharged its magic, you will help me become more powerful and take Anatis and Lady Noir's miraculous... and of course, help me find and akumatize the mage!"
"Y-You want to akumatize the mage?" She asked, fearful. "Master, you mustn't! You wouldn't-"
"You dare question me?!" He growled, making her gulp. "I am your master and you will do as I say. You will help me get what I want. Understood?!"
"Y-Yes, Master,"
~Deep Within the Catacombs underneath Paris~
Why did you show him how to fix the miraculous? Simme hissed as Su Han walked into the area with a cage that had two rats that he caught. He stopped at the place he had set up as a camp and placed the cage down before kneeling down in front of them. Rats again...
"It is the only thing that doesn't raise suspicion, my lord," He replied, bowing as Simme hissed in displeasure. "I know you prefer human chi-"
Yes!! I want the lifeforce of the mortals that idiot loves so much! Not of rodents! Simme hissed out, making Su Han flinch. Feed me real food!!
"Master, please. I can not right now," He replied, making Simme roar in anger. "I w-will try to lure some homeless into here for you to feast on but for now, please enjoy the rats,"
Fine! But you better try or it will be your chi I'll consume! Simme replied before Su Han's head was forced back and his mouth opened in a silent scream as shadows poured from it, making the rats panic and attempt to escape. The shadows surrounded them, causing them to squeal and squeak in fear as the shadows closed in on them. Also instantly, the rats began to glow. Within seconds, they were turned into dried up corpses. The shadows returned back into Su Han, making him gasp as his eyes turned black before they turned black to normal. He blinked and picked up the cage before taking out the corpses of the rats and throwing them into the small pile of other rat corpses. As he did, the sounds of footsteps got his attention, making him straight up and turn around.
"Grand Mage," Zoe Lee stated as she walked over and knelt down, bowing her head towards him. "You sent for me?"
"Yes," He replied as he walked over to her. "I want a progress report,"
"Currently, I have moved back into the Grand Paris hotel and I will start attending Dupont High tomorrow," She replied in an emotionless voice. "I haven't yet made progress on tracking down the mage. The reason for the delay in joining the school was in order to build a 'relationship' with my half sister, Chloe. She is known very well in school and previously held the Bee Miraculous. She informed me that Anatis took it from her and advised her to seek help from a professional. Since she has done so and 'improved' her lifestyle, she has become fairly popular at the school, especially with the girl who runs the ladyblog. She doesn't realise this but she will help me infiltrate the school and find anyone who may have a connection to the holder of the eastern box. I intend to cause discord in the school in order to lure them out,"
"Excellent," Su Han replied before dismissing her. She nodded and left as a shadow formed on the wall again.
And the mage? Simme's voice echoed, making Su Han frown. The Spring Festival is three months away. You're running out of time if you want to keep this level of power and magic that you have gotten used to.
"Finding the current holder of the Eastern Miraculous will lead us to the mage," Su Han replied. "But we do need a back up plan in case that doesn't,"
We should influence some people. Luring the darkness out of people's hearts will make the mage act if he's in Paris. Simme suggested, making Su Han think. Especially if it's me who does it.
"Isn't that risky?"
Isn't waiting for him to appear just as risky? Simme countered. We can lure him out using Hawkmoth's akumas. He can't stand people been hurt so if I influence them like I did with Crescendo then he'll come running to try and save them and when he does, you can finally have the power that belongs to you
"Yes but Toutai's concubine is in Paris too," Su Han replied, frowning to himself. His disciples had warned him that Mulan was active and looking for him. He knew what she wanted. She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill him and if she did, it would mess up his plans. He couldn't allow that to happen. "If she sees me, she'll try and get her vengeance for me taking Toutai's life,"
Leave the influencing to me Simme replied, making Su Han glance at the shadows. I might be a little out of practice because of the cage but human hearts remain the same and I can influence them all the same too. It will also give me more strength to take down the mage when he comes out of his hiding place.
"Very well,"
~The Next Day~
Zoe glanced in the mirror as she applied some make up to her skin in order to hide the paleness. She leaned over and put her brush down before taking out her contact lens. They were slightly a brighter shade of blue then what her eyes colored in order to hide the dullness within them. She put them in as her kwami stayed in front of her before she brushed her hair. Once satisfied with her look, she added some lip gloss and got up before walking over to her wardrobe and putting on her leather jacket. It was one of the few things she was allowed to wear despite it not matching her mother's usual taste. She grabbed her bag and turned to her kwami.
"Stingg, hide in my bag," She ordered in a cold tone.
"Y-Yes, Mistress," Stingg replied before flying into her bag. Zoe turned on her heel and left her room, heading to where Chloe was waiting for her. As soon as she saw her, she turned to her 'outside' personality and gave her a bright smile, which Chloe returned.
"Hey, ready for your first day?" She asked, making Zoe smile a little.
"I'm a bit nervous," She lied. She wasn't nervous at all. "What if people don't like me?"
"Oh, please!" Chloe gasped, making Zoe think for a second she had seen through it before she moved her arm around her. "They are going to love you! Just be yourself and not like Mum and you're good,"
"Not like Mum?" Zoe asked, generally taken back by that. She had known Chloe had changed, especially since the last time they saw each other but as far as she knew, Chloe looked up to their mum and wanted to be just like her. "I thought you wanted to be like her?"
"I did until I realised what a bitch she was," Chloe answered, again surprising Zoe as she looked at her nails. "She never has time for me, can't even get my name right and basically acts like I don't exist. When I was more naive, I thought that if I acted like her, she would love me but that isn't the case,"
"What made you change your mind?" Zoe asked, finding the conversation interesting. It had been a long time since she had felt anything and hearing her sister speak ill of their mother sparked something inside her.
"Oh, a friend gave me some really good advice and a reality check," She replied, making Zoe raise an eyebrow. She didn't know Chloe had friends and the way she said it suggested a hidden meaning. "After that, I asked Daddy to get me a therapist and have been going to weekly sessions ever since,"
"You have a therapist?" Zoe asked as they walked out of the hotel and got into the car. Chloe nodded as she did up her seat belt. "Does it work?"
"Oh, definitely," She replied as she took out her phone. "I've learnt so much about myself and Dr Lang is really nice and understanding. Mum doesn't like it though. She thinks it's a waste of time,"
"Well, if it's helping you then that's the main thing right?" Zoe asked, making Chloe smile and nod. "So who's your friend?"
"Oh, no one really important," Chloe replied, brushing it off. "I have loads of them now anyway. Even Marinette,"
"Marinette?"
"Oh, you are going to love her!" She gasped, making Zoe raise an eyebrow. "She is really into her fashion. Even Mum actually likes her stuff,"
"Really?" Zoe asked, surprised for the third time that day. "Well, that is surprising,"
"And we're here," Chloe stated as the car pulled up. "Thanks for the ride, Jean!"
"No problem, Miss Chloe," He replied as the two girls got out. Zoe said her thanks quickly before joining Chloe outside of the school. She looked up at it as she followed Chloe inside, not really listening to her as she chatted.
"Oh and you should definitely avoid Lila," She stated, getting her attention. "She's this crazy liar and it's best not to get involved with her,"
"I'll keep that in mind," Zoe replied as Chloe led her to the principal's office.
"Ok, here's Mr Damocles' office. Just knock and he'll let you in," She replied before hugging her. "I have to go to my class but I'll see you at lunch,"
"Ok. Thanks, Chloe," Zoe smiled and waved as she ran off but as soon as she disappeared out of sight, she dropped her cheerful expression. "Chloe's changed a lot. No wonder why Mother thinks of her as a failure,"
She let out a sigh and shook her head, putting on her persona before knocking on the door.
"Come in," A gruff voice replied, causing her to open the door. She walked in, causing Mr Damocles to look up at her. "Ah, can I help you, young Lady?"
"Hello, sir. I'm Zoe Lee, Chloe's sister," She stated, making him look at her in surprise. "It's my first day here,"
"Oh yes! Of course!" He gasped, scrambling up and rushing over to the file cabinet. "Forgive me, I was just working on some important work. Now where is it?"
He flicked through the files as Zoe leaned over and looked at his computer, raising an eyebrow at the letter he was writing. It appeared to be addressed to Anatis, making her frown. She hadn't met him or Lady Noir during the Crescendo attack as Su Han had ordered her to leave so she wouldn't get caught up in it but she had seen him swinging through the city or on the news. There had been a couple of akumas since she came back to Paris and she watched the news about them. It fascinated her how people reacted to Anatis. The way the Parisians look at him when he does interested her, like he was their Savior. In a way, he kind of was. Him and Lady Noir were. They stood against Hawk Moth with their team of heroes while everyone else cowered away. Despite her allegiance not been with them, Zoe had fantasies about what it would be like to run with them when she saw them running about the city or fighting a few akumas but that would be for another lifetime. She was not there to run around with them. She was not on their side and if they got in her way, she wouldn't hesitate to remove them regardless of what it might do to the city.
"Ah, here we go!" Mr Damocles stated, pulling out a file and walking over to her. "Your new student file,"
He sat down and opened it, taking out a couple of documents.
"Let's see... this is a copy of your schedule, a map of the school and... ah, it appears your student file has already been completed," He smiled, looking up from it and handing her the information. "Your home teacher will be Mrs Mendeleiev,"
"Oh, I was under the impression I would be with my sister," She stated, making him frown.
"Well, Mrs Mendeleiev's class is for students your age," He replied, making her frown. "And she is very good at helping new students settle in,"
"Perhaps I should contact my step-father," She replied, crossing her arms but Mr Damocles didn't even raise an eyebrow. She managed to hold back a frown as she expected it to work but apparently, Mr Damocles wasn't as much of a push over as she had been told. "You are aware of who he is,"
"Yes but my decision remains final, Miss Lee," He stated, crossing his arms too. "The mayor may be in charge of the city but he does not have any power in my school and if you attempt to blackmail me, any of my teachers or the students by threatening to contact the mayor, I won't hesitate this time to give you detention. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Mr Damocles," She replied, frowning. How was she supposed to investigate the akuma class if she wasn't able to be in that class? She would just have to find a different way. "I didn't mean to cause offence,"
"Yes, well... I'm not surprised that you thought you could get away with that given who your mother is but please take a leaf out of your sister's book and remove yourself from the path your mother has set you on," He stated, surprising her. "You seem like an intelligent young lady and you can thrive here but only if you're willing to try,"
"I... see," She replied, getting up and taking the papers he gave her. "I will try my best, Mr Damocles so I better go to my home room,"
"Excellent," He replied, causing Zoe to shoot him a smile before she got up and left. As soon as she was out of the office, her smile turned to a frown as she took out her phone and made a note to be careful around him. With that done, she looked at her map and walked over to the classroom, knocking on the door as she did. A stern voice told her to come in, causing her to frown before she opened the door and walked inside. The teacher raised an unimpressed eyebrow as she looked at her, along with her class.
"And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Zoe Lee," She replied, going with the shy but polite act. "It's my first day here and-"
"Ah, yes. I was informed of a new student joining my class yet again," She remarked before glancing around the room. "Have a seat next to Miss Borealis ,"
Zoe nodded and took her seat, glancing around at her new class. Mrs Mendeleiev took the register before Aurora began to introduce her to the rest of the class and explained her role in it. Finally, the bell went signalling the first lesson of the day. The students all got up and headed to their classes, causing Zoe to find her way to her next one. The rest of the morning went that way until they found themselves back in Mrs Mendeleiev's class for Science. This time, however, Zoe noticed a new addition to their class, making her raise an eyebrow. Sat in the back was Luka Couffaine, son of Jagged Stone and the winner of the violin contest she had entered. She had no idea he was even in her class as he hadn't been in any of their classes that morning. What made it even stranger was no one seemed bothered by it, not even their teacher. Instead the students greeted him, making him smile and wave back.
"Ok, Zoe, this is the only student you haven't met yet," Aurora grinned, gesturing towards him. "This is-"
"Luka Couffaine," She smiled, making everyone look at her. "We've met before,"
"Yeah, I remember," Luka smiled, glancing at her with tired eyes. That surprised her a little as last time she had seen him he didn't have dark circles under his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept in a long time. However, she didn't have time to think about that as he stared at her. His eyes hardened a little as he scanned her, making her feel concerned as if he was looking deep into her soul. However, she mentally shook it off. It was just her imagination as there was no way that he couldn't detect her true intention. "Zoe right? I had no idea you went to this school,"
"Oh, I didn't when I joined that contest," She smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I actually moved back here after that and Chloe recommended the school,"
"Chloe recommended it?" Jean asked, making Zoe nod. "Wow, I'm so proud of her! I knew she had changed but to actually recommend it!"
"We're all proud of her," Luka commented, making the rest nod before he turned back to Zoe. "Anyway, welcome to Dupont,"
"Thank you but why weren't you in class earlier?" She asked, causing everyone to look at her. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Guys, it's fine," Luka stated, making her look back at him. "I have therapy every Monday Morning so I'm excused from my classes during that time,"
"Oh I'm so sorry," She gasped, making a mental note. "I didn't mean to pry,"
"It's fine, Zoe," He replied as Mrs Mendeleiev clapped her hands, causing everyone to go to their seats. Though Luka raised an eyebrow. He couldn't pinpoint but something felt off with Zoe. He had felt it a little at the contest but brushes it off as Melodie due to how she acted and since Zoe had disappeared at the end of it, he couldn't confirm if it really was Melodie so he just forgot about it, especially with the other things that had occurred since then. However, now it was back on his mind. Not that he wanted it to be. In fact, it was the last thing he needed. He was already struggling with sleep and he didn't need another thing to keep him up late again. He frowned before jumping as Mrs Mendeliev called his name and asked him if he was paying attention. "S-Sorry, Miss,"
She gave him a look before continuing what she was saying.
"Now as I was saying, these tests are designed to check your GPA scores," She stated, passing the tests around. "It is designed to find areas of weakness and struggling, which we will work on once we get the scores back. I expect you all to try your best and take this seriously. Getting a good score could be the difference between free time and extra tutoring. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Miss," Everyone replied as Zoe raised an eyebrow.
"Now because you're new here, Zoe. I won't have you sit the test today. Instead, I will have you do some work sheets," She replied, making Zoe nod as she headed back to her desk and took them out. She walked back over and placed them on her desk. "However, once you've settled in , you will take it. Understood?"
"Yes, Miss," Zoe replied, feeling that Mrs Mendeliev wasn't the type of teacher she wanted to piss off. She would have to maintain her 'outside' persona with her in order to keep her off her back. With that, Mrs Mendeliev started the test and took her seat at the front of the class as she waited for the time to pass. Zoe worked on the worksheets as best as she could but part of her was slightly distracted by her encounter with Luka. Despite the fact that she didn't think that he could work out her true intention, it didn't settle her mind. She had come across people who had tried to figure her out before and each time, she had convinced them that they should trust her but something told her it might not be this easy this time round. She frowned a little to herself and quickly glanced behind her, half expecting Luka to be glaring at her but instead, he was focusing on his paper as if nothing was the matter. Maybe she was overthinking it. Yeah, that would be the case. She was in a new place and had a new mission. She always got nervous when getting a new mission so that was it. There was no way he knew anything other then what she wanted him to see. That look he gave her earlier? It was him trying to remember her name. It was that simple but she should definitely keep an eye on him. He might be useful in her plan after all... plus he was cute. Looking back at her work, she put it to the back of her mind. After that, time passed pretty quickly and soon she found herself walking with Kagami, Aurora, Luka and Felix towards the canteen for lunch. She wasn't sure about Felix or Kagami but Aurora and Luka seemed really nice and she was certain that his reaction to her was fluke. She smiled as he laughed full hearted at something Aurora had said before Kagami made a witty comment.
"Oh damn, Kagami has a sense of humour," Aurora grinned, lightly knocking her shoulder with the girl as she grinned. Kagami gave her a smile and turned to her.
"Well, I do have more then one emotion," She grinned back, making them all laugh. "Unlike Felix,"
"You wound me, Kagami," Felix replied, dramatically holding his hand to his heart before he looked at Luka. "Have you seen how mean she is to me, Luka?"
"Hmm... well, she kind of has a point," He laughed, making Felix gasp dramatically again as the girls laughed. "But you're getting there,"
"Rude!" Felix gasped before bursting into laughter with everyone else. Once they stopped, he and Kagami turned to them. "Well, we'll see you after lessons. Uncle has requested our presence for lunch today... assuming he actually turns up,"
"Yes but at least, Adrien won't eat alone," Kagami replied, making everyone nod before they said their goodbyes. They waved and left the school as the other three headed to the cafeteria. Almost instantly, they were greeted, causing them to wave. Aurora made a beeline for a girl with wavy hair and glasses before sitting next to her as they began to chat. Luka, on the other hand, walked over to a girl Zoe recognized and hugged, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. The girl giggled and hugged him back before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Zoe felt a tingle of jealousy but shook it off as Chloe came over and dragged her towards the group.
"Listen up, everyone! This is my sister, Zoe!" She declared, gesturing towards her and causing everyone to look up. "She's new here and just started today,"
"Hi, Zoe," The girl who kissed Luka declared, smiling brightly as everyone else said hi and welcomed her. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng,"
"Oh, Chloe mentioned you," She smiled, making Marinette smile too. "She said you're really into fashion,"
"I am!" She gasped, clearly excited to share her passions. "I actually have my own store and I've been making clothes for years! Oh I could totally make you something as a welcome gift!"
"Oh, that's ok," Zoe gasped, holding up her hands. "I wouldn't want to trouble you with that,"
"Oh, it would be no trouble at all," She gasped before making a thinking face. "Though, I won't be able to do it yet. I've got a few commissions to do for a couple of clients plus I'm still working on that thing,"
"That thing?" Zoe asked but Marinette brushed her off and said it didn't matter. "Oh, ok,"
"Anyway, I'm right in thinking you were part of that violin contest right?" She asked, making Zoe nod and ask her how she knew. "I was there, supporting Luka,"
"Oh that makes sense," She gasped, rubbing the back of her neck.She hadn't really paid attention to anyone else but the other contestants and the only reason why she did that was to play the role. Master Su Han had seen it as a chance to spy on the heroes, believing it was certain to cause an akuma but he had also ordered her mother to find a way to get into Paris. While her mother was making the arrangements, she had entered the contest but because the akuma had been too violent, she hadn't been able to observe it. Instead, Su Han got her out of there. While usually he didn't care for casualties, he did see her as an asset. "Are you friends with Luka?"
"I'm his girlfriend," Marinette grinned proudly, causing Luka to blush a little. "But he's also one of my best friends,"
"Melody.." He mumbled with red cheeks. Zoe however felt a bit disappointed but brushed it off. Having a relationship was too much a distraction so it wasn't like she was going to pursue him but it would have been nice to flirt with him a little. Everyone smiled and chatted while they ate lunch, causing Zoe to get to know them but their peace didn't last. Instead, a girl with frankly terrible taste in fashion and god awful haircut sundered up to them and gave the fakest smile Zoe had ever seen. She noticed that Luka visibly tensed up as she smirked.
"Hi everyone!" She gasped in a cheerful manner before turning to Luka. "Freak,"
"Lila, you know what I'm going to say," He stated in a calm manner, despite the fact that she had just called him a freak. She however tossed her head and turned away from him as she faced Zoe.
"I'm just introducing myself to the new student here. Besides, I'm within the legal requirement," She stated in a vindictive manner, gesturing to the fact that she was in fact on the other side of the table far from him. Since her attempt at framing him and losing her most loyal ally, Lila had been showing her true colors. She had for the most part stuck to the restraining order but that didn't stop the snide remarks. "After all, the restraining order only says I can't be in a certain radius of you, not your friends. Besides, I'm probably not your biggest worry right now. I hear that Bob Roth and your step father are out on bail. Be a shame if anything was to happen to you again,"
She smirked evilly at him as she flipped her hair and turned to Zoe.
"I'm Lila Rossi by the way," She smirked, holding out her hands. "I suggest you join me instead of these losers. I have lots of connections so if you want to be successful, you should be with me,"
"Um..." Zoe replied, not sure what to say. She was sure Chloe had said she was a liar and if it was just the two of them, she would shut her down. However, she had a persona to maintain. She went to open her mouth but before she could, Chloe butted in.
"Rossi, no one here likes you," She declared, crossing her arms. "And I've already told her that you're a super liar!"
Lila narrowed her eyes before flicking her hair and walking away. Zoe watched as she shoved some poor student to the ground and left the room.
"Well, she was something," Zoe laughed, making everyone nod before she turned to Luka. "What did she mean by Bob Roth and your step father been on Bail?"
"It's a long story," Luka sighed, making her raise an eyebrow. "Bob Roth released my relation to Jagged Stone without our permission and it directly led to a very dangerous situation for me regarding my stepfather. The court case for that is coming up next week and not only are we pressing charges against Mr Roth, we're also suing him. As for my stepfather... Well, we're also pressing charges against him. I'm going to be off for a few days to deal with it. I hope Anatis and Lady Noir are able to come by. I would feel safer if they could,"
"I'm sure they will," Marinette replied, gently taking his hand. "You'll be ok,"
"Thank you, Melody," He replied but he still looked shaken up. "Mind if we change the subject? I don't like to talk about that,"
"Sure,"
~A Few Days Later~
Su Han frowned to himself as he watched the students from Dupont High from afar. Zoe had settled in nicely and no one had suspected a thing. Her first report to him was that no one seemed to be suspicious when it came to miraculous. However, she also knew it would take time to conduct a full search. He did not expect good results in just a few days and he considered himself a patient man when the end results would benefit him. However, Simme was not. He was whining for more than just rats. Luckily, their plan to corrupt people would gain him energy. It wasn't quite the same as consuming souls and life force but it would stop him whining at least. Presently, he was terrorizing some pigeons as Su Han watched the school. If his calculations were correct, the mage should in fact be the same age as the students who attended the school and given that the amount of akumas in that school, there was no way he could stay away if he was in the city. Or at least that's what Simme said. Su Han wasn't so sure but it was the best lead they had plus if the mage wasn't there then the guardian of the eastern miraculous box might be. Though that could be a teacher or a student. Who knows what happened after he was eaten by that sentimonster? Su Han narrowed his eyes as he watched a number of students come out of the school. He jumped a bit closer in order to hear more.
"Oh that is terrible," A ginger haired girl with glasses gasped as she walked out with two blonde girls. Behind them, a girl with dark hair walked hand in hand with a boy with black hair with teal blue highlights. Su Han pursed his lips as he stared at the youth. In his day, that child would be punished for daring to wear such an extreme hairstyle, especially if he was part of the order. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Oh, that's ok, Sabrina," The blonde girl with an umbrella stated, holding up her free hand. "It's only a small drop and Mrs Mendeliev is helping me catching up,"
"She's got this," The rebellious youth smiled before he turned to her. "But seriously, we don't mind helping you if you need it,"
"Just let us know," The girl with the dark hair smiled before the two of them said their goodbyes to the girl and walked off. The blonde girl smiled and waved in reply but another girl walked past her, causing the other students to tense up as she stopped in front of her.
"Aurora, I heard you drop a whole point on your GPA," She gasped, making Aurora glance at her. "You know I tutored Prince Ali for a certain amount of time-"
"Lila, save your lies," Aurora replied, making her grit her teeth a little. "I already have a plan to regain it,"
"Oh, of course but I hope it works out," She replied as they went to walk around her but Aurora stopped and asked her what she meant. "Oh, I'm just saying you can't be Little Miss Weather Girl and Little Miss Good Grades at the same time,"
"That's not true!" Sabrina gasped, making Lila laugh.
"Of course, it's true. That's the way life is. You can't have everything," She replied, making Aurora frown and look upset. "Oh, I better not make you cry otherwise you might turn into Stormy Weather and rain on me. What a pathetic power,"
"Oh and been Volpina was better?!" Aurora gasped, clearly angry at the comment but Lila smirked. "Besides, I won't transform since I already have a plan,"
"Yeah right!" She stated, making both her and Sabrina gasp. "Once a villain always a villain. It's only a matter of time before Hawkmoth gets to you again,"
With that, she turned away and left, leaving both Aurora and Sabrina shaking with anger. However, the two girls shook it off and went their own ways, causing Su Han to narrow his eyes as Simme crawled over to him.
The blonde child... He hissed, making Su Han nod. She is perfect...
Su Han nodded before the shadows moved from him and followed the girl as she got into a car and drove off. They attatched themselves to the car as it drove through the city before it came to a stop near a building. The girl got out and walked through the doors, causing the shadows to follow her. Just before she entered into the building, the shadows latched onto her leg and began to fill her mind with negative thoughts.
I'm just saying you can't be Little Miss Weather Girl and Little Miss Good Grades at the same time... Lila's voice echoed in her mind, making her frown as she pressed the lift button. She tried to shake it off but the shadows tightened their grip. It was a slower way then the way they had done to Crescendo but it was still effective... plus it was more enjoyable this way. That's the way life is. You can't have everything...
"That's not true," She muttered as the lift opened.
Oh, no! I better not make you cry otherwise you might turn into Stormy Weather and rain on me. What a pathetic power!
"My power wasn’t pathetic," She muttered before shaking her head. "Beside, I'm not going to be Stormy Weather again,"
Once a villain always a villain. It's only a matter of time before Hawkmoth gets to you again...
She's right, you know... Simme's voice echoed, causing Aurora to gasp and look around wildly. But why resist when you could use that power to put that child in her place?
"Who are you?!" She gasped, making him laugh. Her panic only increased when the akuma appeared. "Oh no! An akuma! Stay calm, Aurora!"
Why resist? Simme asked again, making her squeak in surprise as the lift suddenly came to a stop and the lights went out. Your anger is fair and your judgement should be swift. Show the world who the most powerful villain is!
Aurora's eyes turned completely black as the lights turned back on, allowing the akuma to fly into her umbrella and open up the connection to Hawkmoth.
"Stormy Weather, people have told you that you'll never change," Hawkmoth declared in her mind as she stared into space, listening to him. He had his reservations about akumatizing her when he felt her rage but he wasn't about to miss a chance to try and get the miraculous. "Well, they're right. People don't change, they grow. This time, your powers will be even stronger as you know them well! Show them how you're able to control all of the forces of nature!"
"Alright, Hawk Moth," She declared as a truly dark grin appeared in place of her usual smile, making him laugh as the purple smog encased her.
~At the Liberty~
"No!" Luka gasped, jolting awake. He let out a sigh as he looked around, realising he was in his room. He glanced at his notepad and realised he had fallen asleep while doing his homework. He wasn't surprised since his sleeping pattern had gone out of the window again. His nightmares about the flood had gotten a hundred times worst since finding out what it was. His sleeping moments were haunted by the cold icy glare of Lady Blanche and the horrible laughter of Simme. His waking moments weren't much better. Sometimes he felt like she was stood behind him and he would jump, despite nothing been there. He also found it hard to look at Lady Noir. He hadn't fully told her everything but he knew he would have to at some point. He knew that but he was afraid of her reaction. Luckily, she had the charm on her so he wouldn't have to face Lady Blanche any time soon but part of him still worried. He had told her that he had experienced something that allowed him to make her an anti-akuma charm. However, it seemed that he couldn't make himself one no matter how hard he tried and he had tried. He asked Tikki why and she suggested that it was because he lacked the energy to do so. Creation couldn't come from nothing. It required something, even if it was the smallest spark. Since Anatis was trying to create an anti-akuma charm from nothing, he wouldn't be able to do it. Now if he faced an akuma, he could create one because he would have his spark. He argued that he was facing the akumas but she pointed out that he hadn't actually been targeted by Hawkmoth since the scarlet attack. On one hand, that was a good thing but on the other, it meant he had no real inspiration to create the charm. Typically, when he finally came up with a way to protect himself Hawk Moth would stop targeting him. He sighed and got up, walking over to Tikki who was also taking a nap. He gently poked her, making her wake up. "Hey..."
"Luka?" She asked, looking at him before frowning. "Are you ok?"
"Not really..." He admitted, making her fly over to him as he sat on his bed. "Sorry for waking you up but..."
"Another nightmare?" She asked, making him nod. "Same as usual?"
"When isn't it?" He asked, frowning. "Do you think it will ever go away?"
"Of course," She replied, resting in his hands. "You went through a lot when you faced Lady Blanche. It's natural to having trauma from that,"
"I know..." He muttered, looking down. "I just... I hate that I can't look at Lady Noir without thinking about how I failed her,"
"You didn't fail her," She stated, making him frown. "We stopped that from happening,"
"I know but if I hadn't thought about telling Marinette then maybe I wouldn't have-'' He cut himself off as he sighed. "Despite it, part of me still wants to tell her and the other me. He said the time would come but what if I tell her and it's even worse then this time? What if I can't save anyone?"
"Luka, listen to me," Tikki stated, making him look at her. "Yes, you made a mistake but that doesn't mean the events that occurred were your fault. We both know that Hawkmoth and Su Han took advantage of the situation and caused the events. Yes, you had a choice when it came to telling Marinette about it but they also had a choice. They didn't have to go through their plan or be the way they are,"
"I know, Tikki," He sighed, nodding. "I'm trying not to blame myself... I'll get there eventually. It's just... It's hard and I know blaming myself isn't helping but-"
"You feel responsible," She concluded, making him nod.
"Even for things out of my control,"
"Luka..."
"I know," He replied, sighing. "I know I'm not but it's part of my complex or at least that's what Dr Lang says. She says I need to learn to accept that I'm not responsible for everything and everyone,"
"She's right," Tikki stated but before they could continue the conversation, the boat shook heavily. Luka jumped up and rushed upstairs, only to be greeted by a terrible sight. The sky was blood red and there was an orange glow to the area like a fire had been lit. In the distance, they could see what appeared to be a huge volcano. Luka stepped back in horror as his mind flashed back to the Paris he had witnessed. Even though it was a different look, he couldn't help but feel a wave of panic wash over him. It could be Simme for all he knew. Feeling a panic attack creeping up on him, he rushed back inside and into his room, causing Tikki to look at him with concern. "Luka?!"
"It's... it's not the same," He muttered, trying to calm himself. He began to mentally count, using the technique that Dr Lang had taught him before taking a deep breath. "It's not the same,"
"Take deep breaths, Luka," Tikki stated, causing him to nod and do so as she looked over "I hope Plagg didn't use his cataclysm,"
"C-Could he cause that?" He asked, starting to calm down as he realised that it was probably an akuma. He shook his head before taking one last breath. "We need to transform,"
"Are you going to be ok?" Tikki asked, concerned written over her features.
"I'll be fine. It was just a small moment of panic," He admitted but he was slowly getting better with handling them. Tikki nodded before he swiped his earrings. "Tikki spots on!"
The red glow covered his body, leaving Anatis in his place before he opened his porthole and climbed out. He threw his yoyo and swung towards the Volcano, heading to the building where Lady Noir was already waiting. He landed next to her, causing her to look at him.
"Looks like Stormy Weather's made a comeback," She stated, making him frown before she looked over at him. "So far, she's not made any actual attack apart from the big volcano but according to the experts, it's moving us away from the sun,"
"Away from the sun?" He questioned, frowning.
"That seems to be her goal," She confirmed as Stormy Weather flew a bit closer to the helicopter, filming the scene. Anatis frowned as he watched her. It wasn't because she ignored them but because her song sounded distorted and she seemed to be in rage. It reminded him of something but right now, he couldn't put his finger on it. "She seems to be more interesting in the camera then us,"
"Well, let's see what she has to say," He replied, making her nod as Stormy Weather focused her attention on the camera.
"I'm using this volcano to move the Earth away from the sun!" She declared, making the heroes frown. That definitely appeared to be her goal. "Soon, the world will be plunged into a perpetual winter and all earthlings will be nothing but frozen food! Then you'll see how truly powerful I am!"
She burst into evil laughter as lightning struck around her, making the heroes frown.
"So that's her play," Anatis stated, pulling a thinking face as Lady Noir looked at him. "She's trying to prove a point and show her power but why? Aurora isn't usually this type of person. I know she's been akumatized but she knows her worth and doesn't need to prove it. The times she has been akumatized... it's not because someone questioned her ability but jealousy... so why the sudden change?"
"Perhaps we need to do some detective work," Lady Noir replied, making Anatis nod. "Let's start with her classmates. Maybe someone saw something,"
"Sounds good to me," He replied, nodding. "She seems more interested in playing up for the cameras right now anyway,"
Lady Noir nodded before the two of them headed off to find Aurora's classmates to see if they could find the cause of her sudden akumazation.
~At the Grand Paris Hotel~
Zoe frowned to herself as she looked over at the volcano that the akuma had summoned. She wasn't sure what to make of it but it would give her a good sense of how the heroes worked so she was watching the battle... except there wasn't much of one. She thought that Anatis and Lady Noir would charge head first into a fight but instead they had left the scene. Not that Stormy Weather had noticed. She seemed too busy, showing off her power before flying off. Zoe frowned as she had waited on the roof to see when she would come back. Hearing the lift ping, she let out a sigh before turning around to face the butler.
"Mademoiselle, I know this is your first time seeing an akuma but please come inside. We can watch it on the news," He stated, making her frown before she nodded and turned to follow him but before they could, a loud thump caught their attention. Zoe turned around and saw Lady Noir and Anatis where she had stood. "Ah, Mademoiselle Noir and Monsieur Anatis, what can we help you with?"
"We're trying to find out what caused Aurora to turn back into Stormy Weather," Anatis explained, making him frown and nod. "Could we come inside and question Miss Raincomplex? We were informed she was here and might have seen something,"
"Yes, of course," He replied, allowing them to come into the lift. Zoe sneaked a peak at the hero as Jean leaned over and pressed the button. Lady Noir was humming a little and Anatis seemed to be thinking. However, he noticed her staring and gave her a gentle smile, making her cheek flush slightly.
"You must be Zoe," He stated, making her blink and look at him in surprise. "I'm Anatis and this is Lady Noir,"
"Welcome to Paris!" The cat girl grinned, holding up her fingers in a peace sign. "It's nice to meet you by the way,"
"It's nice to meet you too," She smiled, making the heroes smile back. "But how did you know about me?"
"Oh, my informant told me about it," Anatis confessed, surprising her. "Nothing bad I assure you,"
"My informant also told me," Lady Noir added in, surprising her even more. "Nothing bad either,"
"You have informants?" She asked, surprised. Both Anatis and Lady Noir grinned, making her feel a little on edge. It was the type of grin that told her that it wasn't just one person. They had multiple in the school. She would have to be careful. "Wow,"
"Here we are," Jean stated as the lift stopped and opened, causing them to walk into the penthouse. Chloe was curled up in her blanket, holding Mr Cuddly while Sabrina was pacing. "Mademoiselle Sabrina, Anatis and Lady Noir wish to talk with you,"
"Oh," She gasped, walking over as Zoe hovered nearby. "Is everything ok?"
"We've been questioning Aurora's classmates to find out the cause. A few of them mentioned you were talking with her as she left school," Anatis stated, making Sabrina nod. "Did anything happen?"
"Yes!" She gasped, making them frown. "Aurora was talking to me about her GPS score and Lila Rossi overheard us and offered to tutor her, using it to spit one of her lies. Obviously, we didn't believe her and when Aurora called her out on it, she made fun of Aurora and called her a villain and told her that her power was pathetic. She was really mean but Aurora brushed it off or at least, I thought she did. I should have known,"
"Sabrina, take a deep breath," Anatis ordered, causing her to nod. "You did nothing wrong. As per usual, Lila was the cause of this so I'm not even surprised. It also explains why Stormy Weather seems to be trying to make a point. In her mind, she's proving that she is in fact more powerful than Lila said. Thank you for this information, Sabrina. It's been very useful,"
"You're welcome, Anatis," Sabrina answered, feeling a bit calmer. "But does this mean Aurora is going to hurt Lila?"
"Probably," He sighed, frowning. "I suppose we better go make sure she's ok,"
"Do we have to?" Lady Noir whined as the two headed walked back over to the lift.
"Yes," He replied, though he didn't sound happy about it before he looked at everyone. "Stay inside, wrap up warm and keep calm. We'll get Paris back to normal soon,"
"Ok!" Sabrina nodded as they disappeared into the lift. Zoe watched as her eyes lingered on where the heroes had been. Sabrina moved closer to her. "You know Chloe has a life size cut out of him. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you borrowed it,"
"What?" Zoe asked as Chloe shot up.
"Hey! That is my lifesize cut out!" She declared, making Sabrina smile. "If Zoe wants one, Daddy can buy her one too!"
"You have a lifesize cut out of Anatis?" Zoe asked as Chloe grinned proudly. "Do you have a crush on him or something?"
"Who doesn't?" Chloe asked as Sabrina blushed a little. Zoe wasn't surprised by that. The boy was attractive. "I still need to get a life size cut of Lady Noir as well,"
"Wait what?!"
"What? I have a crush on her too,"
~The Rossi's House~
Anatis landed on the window seal, frowning as he noticed the window was open. Lady Noir landed next as he climbed inside then followed. Both of them shivered as they glanced around Lila's room. It was freezing to the point of seeing their breaths and the masks covering her walls did not help. Anatis walked over to the laptop on the floor and picked it up, frowning as he saw ice on it. He glanced over and saw an icy patch on the wall.
"Seems Aurora came here," He muttered, making Lady Noir nod as she shivered. "I'd guess she came through the window and fired at Lila but she got out of the way before it could hit her,"
He walked over to the door and opened it, finding the hallway covered in ice too. It was colder here as well.
"I think we better use our winter suits," He stated, getting a nod from Lady Noir before they both took out the power up snack and ate them, turning their suits into their winter ones. Anatis walked into the hallway and followed the ice through the house. "She must of ran downstairs,"
"And Aurora followed," Lady Noir replied as they made their way downstairs. As soon as they did, they saw Mrs Rossi frozen with a look of shock on her face. By the way she was standing, it appeared that someone had pushed her in front of them. "Did she seriously sacrifice her own mother?"
"Are we really surprised?" Anatis questioned as they followed the ice. "She caused her and her father to be akumatized,"
"True but still..." Lady Noir mumbled as they came across her father in a similar way. They made their way past him, coming to the back door which was open. They walked outside and came to a stop as they found Lila frozen in the garden as she attempted to run away. "Did her no good in the end,"
"You're right about that," Stormy Weather's voice declared, causing the two heroes to gasp and look behind them before she attempted to freeze them. The two heroes jumped back, avoiding her ice as she cackled before they took out their weapons and charged at her. She dodged them and fired more ice at them before Lady Noir dived at her. She almost got to her but last second, Stormy Weather turned on her and hit her with a strong gale, smirking as she did. Lady Noir was knocked to the ground and Stormy Weather pointed her umbrella at her, only this time it didn't appear to have ice. Lady Noir gasped as a bolt of lightning almost struck her but Anatis pulled her out of the way and threw his yoyo towards Stormy Weather, who knocked it back with ease and sent him a glare that could kill. "You'll never defeat me, you stupid bug! I'm a hurricane!"
With those words, she directed her umbrella at them and summoned strong winds, sending them crashing through a building roof as she laughed evilly.
"Ouch," Anatis gasped, rubbing his back as Lady Noir got up. He pulled himself up as well before turning to her. "Are you ok?"
"Nothing broken," She grinned, making him smile back. "But Stormy Weather is so much more stronger and... colder then before,"
"You noticed too," He sighed, frowning. "Something about all this doesn't add up. I know she went after people before but to completely try and plunge the earth into a new ice age just to prove a point... even for an akuma, it seems extreme,"
"That and she certainly seemed willing to kill us," Lady Noir replied, making him frown. "I'm pretty certain that bolt of lightning would have turned me to dust. Thanks for the save,"
"Anytime, Kitten," He smiled before making a face. She raised an eyebrow. "She knocked us into this building right?"
"Yeah," She replied, a little confused as to why he asked.
"Then why hasn't she chased after us?" He questioned, making her frown too. Most normal akumas chase after them. That's usually their whole goal. Sure, there were a number of them that completed their goal first but they always went after them afterwards. The only one that didn't really do that was Crescendo. Sure, she had tried to take their miraculous but her behaviour was erratic and she kept on changing her goal. "Something isn't right at all,"
"She reminds me of Crescendo a little bit," Lady Noir mumbled, making Anatis look at her before he pulled a face, like he was thinking. "Like the erratic behaviour and the killer streak. You know what. Just ign-"
"That's it!" He gasped, making her jump a little. "That's what I couldn't place. Earlier when she was focused on the camera, I could feel rage pouring from her and it reminded me of something but I couldn't remember what. Now I know. It's similar feeling to Crescendo's rage. Maybe a little less but still on the same wavelength,"
"But that would mean that Simme influenced her," Lady Noir gasped, making Anatis nod. "No one why she's trying to put the world into the next ice age,"
"Exactly, it all adds up now," He stated, making Lady Noir nod. "Aurora got a little upset about Lila's comments and teasing but everyone knows Lila is just mean so while it annoyed her, it wasn't actually enough to get her akumatized but it was enough for Simme to pick up on it. He sees his chance and uses his power to make it fester from annoyance into pure rage. Hawkmoth then senses it and takes advantage of the situation,"
"That's awful," She gasped, making Anatis nod. "But what do we do?"
"Let's see what Tikki thinks," He replied, throwing up his yoyo. The spots on his suit began to glow and caused his form to change to that of his upgraded suit but with the ice form touches. It had the same pattern as normal but he had his new chest armour and shoulder guards. "Lucky charm!"
The ladybugs manifest and created a plant pot before it fell down, causing Anatis to catch it.
"Um..." He muttered, glancing at it as Lady Noir rose an eyebrow. He frowned and glanced around but nothing lit up so he looked back at it. It did look familiar, like he had seen it before. The fog in his mind cleared, causing him to realize he had seen it before. In Dr Lang's office. "Oh!"
"Oh?" Lady Noir replied, making him nod.
"Tikki thinks we need help," He replied, making her gasp as she understood. "Let's go,"
"Alright!" She declared, following him as they left the building and headed to Mulan's office. As it turned out, she was fairly nearby their original location but her office was suffering badly from the cold. In fact, the windows were frosted over but Anatis knocked on them, causing her to struggle to open them. She managed to do so and let them in.
"I was wondering if I'd see you," She replied as they climbed through. However, Anatis' earrings beeped, making him frown a little. Had it really been six minutes already? "I see you need to recharge and your... suit looks different. There's a room over there that you can recharge your kwami in. Normally, my client use it for time out zone,"
"I had an upgrade," He replied, disappearing into a room as Lady Noir looked around.
"What's a time out zone?" She asked, making Mulan look at her.
"Sometimes the therapy sessions here can be too much. It's emotionally taxing and draining so I created that room to help my clients relax and bring themselves back to a healthy place," She replied, making Lady Noir nod. "There's a bean bag in there, a number of blankets and different types of activities such as colouring books, puzzles and music to listen to. Trade secret, I also used a protection spell to stop akumas from entering there,"
"Really?" Lady Noir gasped. "That's amazing. I wish the schools would do something like that. Especially Dupont,"
"Oh?"
"There's a lot of akuma victims there and hardly any support," She admitted, frowning. "Anatis and I have been trying to change it but there is only so much we can do,"
"I'll see if I can reach out to them," Mulan stated, making Lady Noir look at her in surprise. "Consider it as part of my penance for not acting sooner. Besides, I'm good at therapy and I have a number of clients from that school as well. Of course, I can't tell you who-"
"I get it," Lady Noir nodded. "That would be great though,"
"Yes," Mulan smiled, nodding as the door opened and Anatis walked out, fully charged up but back to his normal suit. "So what can I help you with?"
"Stormy Weather is trying to plunge the earth into an eternal winter," He stated, making her frown. "And the lucky charm lead us here,"
"I see," She nodded, moving over to a picture and opening it, revealing the safe. She took out the miracle boxes and placed them in front of them. "Anatis and Lady Noir, choose whichever miraculous you need,"
"We need a distraction but also a way to immobilise her," He muttered, glancing at Lady Noir who seemed to be thinking too. Surprisingly to Mulan, she looked back and nodded as if they had a conversation but without saying any words. "Alright,"
Anatis took out the bee miraculous from the eastern box and to Mulan's surprise, he took out the Phoenix miraculous from the Western box.
"These two are perfect," He replied, making Lady Noir nod. "The only issue is who to give the phoenix to,"
"Felix Graham de Vanily," Mulan stated, surprising both of them. "He's Phenix Rouge,"
"That makes sense," Anatis admitted. "It's a good fit but I'm surprised you told me,"
"Well, I did say I'd work on my trust issues with you," She stated, making Anatis smile. "Besides, I know he's in good hands,"
"Well, thank you for trusting me," Anatis replied, placing them in his yoyo before taking out a spare ice magicron. He ate it, changing into his ice form before turning to Lady Noir. "Let's go kitten,"
"Alright," She replied before the two of them via the window and landed on the building near Felix's address. Anatis took out the pin and handed it to Lady Noir before reaching into the yoyo again and taking out a spare ice magiciron. "While I go and get Abeille, can you collect Felix? And give him this. They're both going to need winter suits,"
"Yeah, definitely," She agreed, putting them in her pockets. "Where should we meet?"
"Hmm," He took out his yoyo and checked Stormy Weather's location. "She's back by the Volcano so meet there once we have our heroes,"
"Alright," She nodded, making him nod back. "Be safe,"
"You too," He replied before the two of them jumped away. Lady Noir landed on the balcony of Felix's room and knocked on the window. A few seconds later, Felix opened it and rose an eyebrow.
"May I come in?" She asked, making him nod and let her in. "Wow, this room is really warm,"
"Yes, it does appear to be an eternal winter out there," He replied, making her nod. "I assume you here for a reason, Miss Noir,"
"Yes," She replied, taking out the miraculous. "We need Phenix Rouge's help,"
"I..." He gasped, surprised but his eyes spoke a lot. He was beyond happy but he composed himself. "Of course, I shall lend you my services,"
"Excellent," She replied as he took the pin and fixed it onto his tie. Bennu manifested, making Felix smile.
"Felix!" He declared, flying over to him. "It's good to see you again!"
"It's good to see you too, Bennu," He replied, smiling before clearing his throat. "But we have a job to do,"
"Before you transform, here," Lady Noir held out the magicron. "This will allow you a new transformation for the cold. Feed this to Bennu and state 'Bennu, power up',"
"Oooh, transforming. I have done that in ages!" Bennu grinned as Felix took it and gave it to him. He wolfed it down and grinned. "Yummy!"
"Bennu, power up!" He ordered, causing the Kwami to spin and glow. When it disappeared, Bennu resembled a blue phoenix instead of a red one. His feathers were made up of different shades of blue and his tail had turned into ice crystals. "Frost Bennu!"
"Frost Bennu, Rise Again!" Felix declared, causing the Kwami to be sucked into his pin. It turned into the miraculous but was silver instead of gold due to the power up. Felix held out his arm, creating his fans and spun around, causing his outfit to appear before he opened one of the fans and moved it across his face, creating his mask. With his transformation completely, he glanced down and rose an eyebrow. His outfit had completely adapted to the weather. He still wore his normal suit but it had changed in colour. His shirt was now a light ice blue instead of orange and his suit was a darker icy blue. His boots were winter ones, dark blue in colour with a white fur trim and he wore a trench jacket over his waist coat that had a white fur trim around the collar and wrists. Even his fans had changed colour too, turning silver and blue. "Interesting,"
"Let's go shall we?" Lady Noir grinned, causing him to nod and follow her out of the window.
~Rose's House~
Anatis flew through the streets as he headed to Rose's house, knowing she would be there as well as Juleka. He had already checked the Liberty but she wasn't on board and luckily, neither was Juleka or the Captain. He landed on the window seal and knocked, hearing a gasp before the window was opened, revealing a wrapped up Rose.
"Anatis!" She gasped, ushering him in. Juleka was curled up in the corner, wrapped in a blanket too. Upon seeing him, she waved. He waved back before turning to Rose. "Is there an issue? Oh do you need a hot chocolate?!"
"I'm good, Rose," He replied before taking out the bee miraculous. "But I do need Abeille,"
"Oh, of course!" She gasped, smiling as she took the comb and clipped it in her hair, causing Pollen to appear. "Hello, Pollen,"
"Hello, my Queen," Pollen replied as Anatis took out the magicron. "Oh, are we doing that?"
"Yes," He replied, handing it to Rose. "This is a magical item. If you eat it or feed it to Pollen, it will allow you a new transformation, suited for winter scenarios. To activate it, just say either Pollen, Power up or if you eat it, it's just power up,"
"Ok!" Rose grinned, excitedly before giving it to Pollen, who ate it. "Pollen! Power up!"
Pollen began to glow before spinning around as she changed. Once it was complete, she was paler in color and had her strips were a glowing ice blue. The fur around her neck was pure white instead of blonde and she had a snowflake on her forehead.
"Perma-Pollen!" She declared, making Rose squeal at how cute she was before Rose held up her hand.
"Perma-Pollen! Buzz on!" She declared, triggering her transformation. She held up her hand as an ice tiara appeared on her head before the light travelled down her body, creating her outfit. It was similar to her original one but with black boots with a white fur trim instead of ballet shoes. Her hair was still had black strips but the shade of blonde was lighter. One might describe it as Ice Blonde. She had ice patterns on her arms, legs and boots. She had a belt that also resembled ice with a belt buckle that had black and yellow stripes. Like her hair, the yellow areas of her suit were more of icy yellow and her collar had turned icy blue with a fur trim. She also had a fur trim on her gloves. The light disappeared, causing her to look at herself as Juleka grinned.
"Wow! I feel so warm!" She grinned before leaning over and giving a light kiss to Juleka. With that done, she turned back to Anatis. "Alright! Let's go!"
"Excellent," He replied, nodding and leaving the house via the window. Abeille followed as they headed to Stormy Weather's location. Anatis landed next to Lady Noir who was keeping an eye on her with Phenix. "Any progress?"
"Not much," Lady Noir replied as Phenix and Abeille glanced at each other.
"Hi, I'm Abeille... well... more like Iceille," She smiled, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise," Phenix replied, shaking it. "You can call me Phenix bleu. Though I usually go with Phenix Rouge,"
With the introduction done, they turned to Anatis who was glancing at Stormy Weather before he turned to his team.
"I'm going to be honest with you," He stated, making them frown. "Stormy Weather is stronger than usual and appears to be influenced by a dark spirit. The same one that influenced Crescendo. It appears he has chosen to influence her in a lesser way but she's still dangerous regardless,"
"So do you have a plan?" Phenix asked, making Anatis frown.
"Not yet," He replied, throwing up his lucky charm and catching the pencil that was summoned. He glanced at it as Phenix and Iceille stared at his new outfit before he glanced around. Phenix lit up, along with his yoyo and Lady Noir. He glanced around and noticed an abandoned machine on the street which also lit up before he glanced back. Iceille lit up and finally Lady Noir again. "But I think I have one. Kitten, can you get that machine over here?"
"Of course!" She grinned, heading off as Anatis turned to Phenix.
"I need you to distract her," He stated, making him nod as Lady Noir brought it back and put it down. "Use Ash Phoenix to blind her,"
"Ok," Phenix replied as Anatis cracked open the machine. He used the pencil to pierce one of the ink cartridges in it. "Lady Noir, I need you to throw this machine at her,"
"Alright," She replied as he tucked the pencil in his belt and resealed the machine door.
"Iceille, go to that roof and get ready to use Venom on her," He ordered, causing her to do so before he took out his yoyo and closed his eyes, causing it to glow. "Prospecity,"
The Yoyo glowed and to everyone's surprise, split in two. Anatis took the new one and studied it before nodding.
"Interesting," He muttered. "This should work perfectly. Alright, Phenix you're up!"
"Ash Phoenix!" He declared, running towards Stormy Weather. She cried out as the ash covered her sight before trying to hit him with her umbrella to no use. Lady Noir then launched the machine at her, causing her to hit with her lightning bolt, covering her with the ink.
"Is that all you have Anatis!" She screamed, lifting her umbrella as Anatis pressed one of the spots on his latest item and threw it. It exploded, causing a bright light to appear and her to scream and cover her eyes, effectively blinding her. Seeing her chance, Iceille used Venom on her and Phenix reformed and grabbed her umbrella, throwing it towards the heroes. Lady Noir caught in her hand.
"Cataclysm!" She declared, causing it to rot before she slammed it into the ground, allowing the akuma to escape. Anatis took out his yoyo and swung it, throwing it and capturing the akuma inside it before releasing the purified butterfly. He took out the pencil and threw it up into the air, releasing the cure. Stormy Weather turned back into Aurora as the heroes landed in front of her but before they could stay anything, she snarled and opened her eyes, revealing them to be black. As soon as she saw Anatis, she charged at him but Lady Noir grabbed her and pinned her to the ground. "What do we do?!"
"Do we need holy water?!" Iceille asked as Phenix stared in horror as the snarling girl. Anatis calmly walked over to her and placed his hand on her head, causing her to gasp and struggle as his touch literally hissed.
"You're not welcome here," He muttered, eyes turning silver. "Aevle hist lidch,"
Aurora let out a scream before her eyes turned back to normal, causing Lady Noir to get off her.
"A-Anatis? What happened?" She asked as they helped her up. "Oh no! I was akumatized, was I? I'm so sorry,"
"It's ok, Aurora," He replied before holding out his yoyo and tapping it. It opened and he reached in, taking out a charm. It was purple with four blue spots and a lightning bolt in the middle. "Here, this is an anti-akuma charm that will protect you from Hawkmoth's influence as long as you wear it on your person,"
"R-Really?" She asked, tears in her eyes as she took. He nodded, causing her to hug him. "Oh! Thank you!!"
"It's the least I can do," He replied before making a face. "But I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anyone. The longer it takes for Hawkmoth to get wind of these the better,"
"Oh! Of course!" She gasped, holding onto it. "I won't tell anyone I swear,"
"Thank you," He replied, making her nod. "Do you need a lift to home?"
"Oh, no," She waved, holding up her hands. "I've had taken up enough of your time already,"
"Right," He nodded as she waved and ran off. He turned to the other heroes, making them look at him. "Follow me,"
They nodded and headed across the buildings. Phenix Bleu went left with Lady Noire and Iceille went right with Anatis before detransforming and giving the comb back to him. He took it and smiled, thanking her for her help before offering to drop her off. She told him it was ok and she wasn't too far from her home before leaving him. He nodded and met back up with Lady Noir before the two of them headed back to Mulan's office, entering the window.
"I see you defeated Stormy Weather," She smiled as they handed her the miraculous but the two lingered. "Something wrong?"
"Yes," Anatis replied, making her frown. "Simme influenced her,"
"That is not good," She sighed, frowning before she turned to Anatis as Lady Noir's ring beeped. She gasped and quickly said her goodbyes, leaving Anatis with Mulan. "If Simme is targeting people and using his influence to corrupt them then it's not good. He did this last time too,"
"Last time?" Anatis asked, making her frown as she walked over to the window and looked out.
"A number of the monks began to act out and go crazy a few months before Toutai's murder. While Su Han killed him, I have began to wonder if Simme was the one who gave him the idea. It doesn't free him of this sin but explains why he betrayed his friend," She mumbled, frowning before looking back at Anatis before biting her lip.
"Dr Lang, what is it?" He asked, finding himself concerned.
"Do you know what a pure soul is?" She asked, making him nod. "And what a dark soul is?"
"Yes," He replied, frowning. "Why?"
"Simme doesn't waste his time with small things," She replied, moving over to the safe and putting the miraculous back in. "While he considers Finni and the mage to be his enemy, he doesn't actually care for them. Yes, if he can destroy them then great but I don't think he's sticking around in Paris for that reason. As far as we know, he has no idea if the mage is active in Paris. No one but me, Lady Noir and Master Fu actually know you are the mage, yes?"
"Yes," Anatis confirmed. "Even Hawkmoth isn't aware but Su Han is probably looking for me. You think Simme isn't?"
"I think it's a secondary goal," She replied, making him frown as she took out a book from her safe. It was a similar design to the grimoire and Feng's Journal. "This was written by Toutai a week before his death,"
She opened it, revealing a number of drawings and scribbles as she flickered through the pages.
"I never seen him like that before," She muttered, frowning. "It was normal for him to channel Feng's sight but this was almost like he possessed when he wrote this,"
She turned the book to face Anatis, making him frown.
"It's a prediction," She stated, making him frown. "It goes into a lot of detail but basically says that the end of the world will happen when Simme devours a light soul,"
"That's not good," Anatis replied, frowning. "You think that's why he's building strength?"
"Yes and why he's in Paris," She replied, making him frown. Could Simme know he's a light soul? "I'm not sure who it is yet,"
"Hmm," He replied, nodding. "I see. I'll try and find them then,"
Only three more chapters to go til Heroes Day!! I'm very excited for that one as I think you'll love it. I have a basic plan and it's gonna be good! As you've all probably guessed, Leatherback is going to be one of the next three chapters but the other two will be Desperada and Ikari Gozen. Though Desperada's appearance will be her second akumatization in this universe. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :D
Luka hummed softly to himself as he cycled to the Grand Paris hotel. He was on one of his delivery shifts and actually had time to complete it. He had reduced his hours at work now that he was a superhero and going to school but luckily, his boss was pretty cool and understood. He only got two shifts a week and luckily it seemed that Hawkmoth didn't tend to target people on a Thursday and a Saturday. That or his luck was coming into play. Now that he thought about it, it was probably his luck that he hadn't had his shifts disturbed yet but he certainly wasn't complaining. He pulled up at the Grand Paris and jumped off his bike, locking it up. Tikki flew into his hoodie as he took his helmet then grabbed the final box. It was his last delivery for the evening. He walked up to the doorman and smiled.
"Delivery for Chloe Bourgeois," He stated, making the doorman nod and let him in. He walked through the hotel and checked his phone to make sure she had paid. He got into the lift and rode it up to the floor she lived in. As soon as he exited the lift, he heard screaming and shouting. He frowned as he walked towards the door. Tikki popped her out.
"Is it an akuma?" She asked, making him shake his head.
"No, it's someone arguing," He mumbled as the door slammed open. Tikki quickly hid and Luka blinked as Audrey Bourgeois stared at him before lifting her arm and tracing her eyes at his outfit. He could literally feel her judging him.
"What a trashy outfit," She scoffed, turning her nose up at it before she waved her hand at him in a dismissive manor. "You're fired,"
"I don't work for you," He stated, making her blink and stare at him before she glared at him.
"How dare you talk to me like that?! I'm the queen of style-"
"And I really don't care. I'm tired and I have other things to do so either take this or move out my way," He stated, making her blink again as he took out his phone and send the text to let Chloe know her food was here.
"Now listen here, you-"
"Mum! Could you just not have a go at my school friends?! Go argue more with Dad," Chloe suddenly stated, making her blink for the third time as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room, closing the door behind them. She let out a sigh before taking the sushi box from him before pointing towards the window. "If you go out that way, you can take the lift into the restaurant and avoid my mother,"
"Thank you," He muttered, turning to walk out of her balcony doors but he stopped and frowned a little. Chloe had moved to her bed and was slowly eating the sushi but something felt a little off to him. He wasn't sure if it was his best idea but he turned around and cleared his throat, causing her to look up at him. "Uh... are you ok? You seem... off?"
"Because I'm been nice?" She asked, sharply and defensively. "Well, even I can be nice you know. I am trying to change,"
"That's not what I meant," He stated, making her look at him. "You seem out of tune,"
"Out of tune?" She asked, confused. He frowned as it wasn't the right words. "How can I be out of tune? I'm not a musical instrument,"
"Sorry... I meant like sad... you seem sad..." He replied, making her eyes widen in shock before she looks down, a sad expression coming on her face. Luka sighed and turned to walk away. "Never mind..."
"Mama wants to go back to New York with me but Daddy doesn't want us to leave Paris," She admitted, making him stop and look at her. "They've been arguing non stop about it for a couple of days. I'm sure you heard the shouting when you got out of the lift. Mama was trying to convince me to go with her but when I said I wasn't sure I wanted to leave, she started to shout at me,"
"Why aren't you sure?" He asked without meaning to but she sighed and hugged her legs. "I mean Paris is cool but New York would be pretty cool too,"
"I like Paris..." She admitted, sighing. "I know I don't have many friends in Paris but since the whole Queen Wasp incident, I've been going to therapy and it's really helping just having someone to talk to.... but Daddy is the one paying for it as Mama doesn't believe I need it. I know if I go to New York with her, I won't get the help I need plus she just brush me off like she always does,"
"Well, it sounds like me that you're not unsure at all. You clearly want to stay in Paris so tell her that," He replied, making her look at him. "As for having no friends, you can always try to make some,"
"Most people believe I haven't changed," She admits, looking down again. "That's why I snapped at you. I thought you were like them but you seem different,"
"Well, you still have far to go but I can see quite clearly that you're trying your best so I think it's only fair to give you a chance. Besides, we never really got a chance to introduce ourselves to each other," He smiled before holding out his hand. Chloe blinked and looked at him in surprise. "I'm Luka Couffaine. It's nice to meet you,"
"Uh... Chloe Bourgeois," She replied, taking his hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you as well. I'm right in thinking you're friends with Marinette?"
"Yeah," He smiled, causing her to look nervous. "You should talk to her and I don't just mean about the dress you've commissioned her for. She is a great person and if you give her a chance, you might find a real friend in her,"
"I was her bully for years..."
"Then apologize for that,"
"She won't accept it,"
"She doesn't have to," He replied, making her look at him in surprise. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Just by trying you can show her and the rest of the school that you really have changed. Anyway, I should get going as I have some more errands to run but Chloe, don't give up ok?"
She nodded as he headed to the door and walked over, giving her a nod. Audrey had gone and he could hear shouting in the distance as he walked over to the lift. He pressed the button and waited for the lift to arrive, stepping in it as soon as it did. Once the doors closed, Tikki poked her head out.
"That was some good advice you gave, Chloe," She smiled, making him smile a little as well.
"She does seem to be improving but she has a long way to go," He admitted, making Tikki nod. "I just hope she's able to tell her mother that she needs to stay. I'd hate to see revert back to how she was before,"
"Me too," Tikki admitted before hiding in his jacket as the lift came to a stop. He walked over of the building and unlocked his bike before placing his helmet on. He took out his phone, marked Chloe's food as delivered before using the company's app to clock out. He placed his phone back in his pocket before cycling off. He had one last errant to do and that was pick up some macaroons and cookies for Tikki. He stopped outside of the bakery and parked his bike, taking off his helmet and placing it inside. He walked over to the door and pushed it open, causing the bell to ring.
"Welcome to- Hello, Luka," Sabine smiled as he walked up to the counter. "How are you?"
"I'm good, Mrs Cheng. Thank you for asking," He smiled.
"That's good to know, dear," She smiled back. "If you're here to see Marinette, you just missed her. She just left for Alya's,"
"That's ok, Mrs Cheng. I'll message her later," He replied, nodding. He would be able to hang with Marinette another day as they both had plans tonight. She was sleeping over at Alya's with the girl squad and he had his shift then had to go on patrol. Of course, he didn't tell her about the patrol part. "I actually came in to buy some cookies and macarons,"
"You do seemed fond of them. The usual flavors?" She asked, making him nod. "As I recall, they're for your friend?"
"Yes, she has a huge sweet tooth,"
"Are you and her close?" She asked as she bagged them up.
"Yes, she's like a little sister to me," He smiled as he glanced at the rest of the food on display. Sabine smiled a little at his answer. "Can I have two eclairs as well?"
"Of course, dear," She replied, getting them for him. "You already have a little sister, don't you? Juleka? Was it?"
"Yeah but I have a habit of kind of been a big brother to people. I basically adopted Rose as my little sister and Tik- Tina... my friend who likes the cookies," He smiled, mentally sweating at almost saying Tikki's name. "Rose is practically my sister in law at this point anyway. How much do I owe you, Mrs Cheng?"
"You can call me Sabine, dear," She smiled before ringing up the items. "22.45 euros, please?"
He smiled and paid before taking the sweets and leaving the shop, waving goodbye to Sabine. He placed them in the basket and put his helmet back on before cycling off back to the Seine. The sun was beginning to set once he got to the Liberty. He locked his bike up and climbed on board, walking downstairs as he hummed to himself. Anarka looked up from her notepad as he placed an Eclair in front of her as he smiled.
"Have you had any dinner yet?" He asked, making her look at the time. She frowned and stretched.
"Nothing yet," She replied, making him frown. "Been working hard on a new song. Wanna read while I order take out?"
"Sure, ma," He smiled, picking up the note pad and glancing over the scribbles and notes as she put in their usual order. He put it down as she walked back over.
"What do you think?"
"Sounds good so far," He smiled, making her smile. "You'll show me the finished piece right?"
"Of course," She mumbled, making him nod before she claps her hand. "That reminds me. I have a job interview,"
"You do?" He asked, frowning a little. Either she's decided to cure her boredom by getting a second job or money is tight. Sometimes that was the case with their lifestyle. Writing and selling songs were good if people wanted to buy them but not everyone did and of course, Bob Roth made it rather difficult for her to sell songs. Sometimes, they were times where it was hard to make ends meet. That's why Luka got his job in the first place but of course, he has reduced hours now. "Is everything ok?"
"Nothing for you to worry about, Lad," She smiled. "We're up to date with bills and the usual things that cost money but it wouldn't do us any hard if I have a second job,"
"So what's the job?" He asked.
"Just some part shop work," She stated, making him frown. "It's nothing to worry about, Lad,"
"Alright but if money gets too bad, I can always pick up some more shifts,"
"You don't need to," She explained. "And you have school to worry about,"
"If you say so, ma,"
~Monday~
"Mr Couffaine, are you listening?" Ms Mendeleiev asked, making Luka look up from his notes and nod. She rose an eyebrow. "Then repeat what I said,"
"You were explaining the difference between an atom and an ion," He replied, making her look at him with surprise before he lifted his book, showing his notes. Kagami smiled at him as Ms Mendeleiev nodded in approval.
"Good that you're taking notes, Mr Couffaine," She replied before continuing with her lesson. Luka looked back down and smiled at the text he received from Marinette before sending her a reply, saying that he almost got caught so he'll talk to her at lunch. He slid his phone into his pocket and tried to pay attention to the rest of the lesson. Finally, the bell for lunch rang. He slid his notes into his bag and began to leave for the canteen.
"Luka," Kagami called, making him look over at her. She was holding her bag, looking calm as usual. "Adrien mentioned you are joining us for lunch today,"
"Yeah, Marinette invited me," He smiled, making her nod. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, I do not," She tried her best to smile. "Perhaps we can walk to the canteen together?"
"Sure," He smiled, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking out with her. They walked in silence, making him bite his lip as he wasn't sure what to say to her but it was Kagami that broke the silence.
"I'm glad you're not longer sick and have returned to school," She stated, making him look at her in surprise. "Marinette seemed worried about you,"
"Yeah... Marinette saw why I was off," He mumbled, playing with his strap of his bag. "But I'm ok now,"
"She cares a lot for you," Kagami stated, surprising him. "And I'm certain you care for her,"
"I do," He mumbled, looking to the side with a slight blush.
"You should tell her," She stated, making him look at her in shock. It's not that he didn't like Kagami or that he thought she was bad but in a way, she was similar to Chloe. In other words, an acquired taste and while he was happy to be his friend, he didn't necessarily want to have this conversation with her. It was bad enough that Juleka, Rose, Ivan and Mylene had given him lectures about talking to Marinette about his feelings. Now Kagami was going to. He would not be surprised if at some point, Adrien pulls him aside and tells him off. "It is obvious that you are in love with her,"
"She's in love with someone else," He mumbled, looking down.
"Yes, Adrien. I'm aware of her crush," She stated in a matter of a fact tone. "But Adrien isn't the only person to have captured her interest and he is unavailable to her. Adrien cares for Marinette but he only sees her as a friend,"
"Then maybe he should tell her that!" He snapped, making her look at him. "Sorry... I didn't mean that..."
"No, you are quite correct," She stated, making him frown. "Adrien doesn't understand social ques like the rest of the students here but even so, he should explain to Marinette that he only views her as a friend and that he only ever will. I shall tell him t-"
"No," Luka gasped, causing her to look at him. He looks down as Kagami frowns.
"I am confused," She stated. "Having Adrien tell Marinette that he only cares for her as a friend would eliminate him as a contender for her heart, meaning you would be to win her heart. Do you not want that?"
"Not like that," He admitted, making her look at him. "Marinette deserves better then that. She doesn't deserve to have her heart broken. Yes, Adrien isn't interested in her and he should tell her that he likes her as a friend but not like that. He shouldn't just crush her heart so I can pick up the pieces. I do not want to have her love because of that. I do not want to be her second choice and I would never make a move on her while she was heartbroken. I have too much respect for her to do that. If Marinette wants to love me, I want her to come to that conclusion on her own,"
"You really do love her," She stated, making him look at her. Was that a test? He rose an eyebrow as they walked into the canteen and shook his head, waving at Marinette when he saw her. She waved back, smiling brightly as she did. Alya was sat next to her, talking to Nino. Luka was glad to see that the two girls hadn't fallen out over the Reverser incident. Speaking of which, Marc had joined their table, happily talking to Nathaniel and Alix. Juleka was leaning on Rose as she gushed about something to Ivan and Mylene. Adrien was sat next to Nino and smiled as Kagami joined, leaving the spare seat next to Marinette. Luka moved over and sat down, happily taking out his lunch as he listened to the different conversations going on. However, the talking stopped as Chloe walked over. She looked extremely nervous and was looking to the side. She looked up and glanced at Luka, surprising him a little but he gave her an encouraging smile.
"Um... I was hoping I could talk to you, Dup- I mean Marinette..." She mumbled, making Marinette look at her in surprised. Alya crossed her arms and glared at her but Marinette cleared her throat.
"I'm listening, Chloe," She stated in a calm voice. Chloe took a deep breathe.
"I wanted to apology for my behavior in the past," She stated, making everyone on the table look at her in surprise. "I was a terrible person and took out my own hurt on you. I understand that you probably won't forgive me and I don't blame you for that. In fact, I apologize to everyone at this table. Mylene, I'm sorry I made fun of your fear, Rose, I'm sorry that I made fun of your perfume and torn up your letter to Prince Ali... Ivan, I'm sorry for teasing you about liking Mylene. I actually think you two make a really cute couple. Nino and Alya, I'm sorry for been mean to you for no real reason or snapping at you. Nathaniel, I'm sorry for stealing your art and making you feel bad about having a crush on Marinette..."
She turned to face Juleka, who looked frightened.
"Juleka... I'm sorry that I got Sabrina to trap you in the bathroom. I was so desperate to stand next to Adrien that I didn't care who I hurt but I realize now how wrong I was," She mumbled, causing Juleka to go bright red before she turned to Marinette. "Marinette... I'm sorry for all the years I bullied you and belittled you... I was jealous of you... you are kind, sweet and having loving parents... you had everything I didn't and I hated you for it..."
"Chloe..." Marinette stated but Chloe shook her head, tears in her eyes.
"I am a terrible person and I don't deserve your forgiveness so I understand if you reject my apologies," She stated, wiping her eyes. "But I hope that maybe you'll let me earn your friendships and that we can start again,"
She looked up and held out her hand with a sad smile on her face.
"Hi, I'm Chloe Bourgeois... it's nice to meet you," She stated in a similar manner to how Luka done to her when he delivered her food but she wasn't expect anyone to shake her hand back. She was just giving them a chance to start again if they wanted. The group look around confused but Marinette was the first to get to her feet. She walked over to Chloe and stood in front of her, causing the girl to blink as she looked at her.
"I accept your apology, Chloe," She smiled before taking her hand and shaking it. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It's nice to meet you too, Chloe. I hope we can become good friends,"
"Thank you," She whispered, more tears appearing in her eyes. Marinette smiled as Juleka stood up and shook Chloe's hand, reintroducing herself. The rest of the class did the same. Though Rose didn't actually shake her hand. Instead she just hugged Chloe, causing the girl to pat her head before she sat down. Marinette smiled as Chloe wiped away her tears before gesturing to the spare seat.
"Why don't you join us for lunch?" She asked, making Chloe blink and look at the seat before pointing at herself.
"You want me to join you?" She asked but it wasn't in a malicious tone. She just sounded surprise. Marinette smiled and nodded. "Thank you,"
"Do you have a lunch?" Rose asked, making Chloe shake her head.
"Usually I go back to the hotel to have lunch with Daddy if he's not busy," She explained, glancing to the side. Luka frowned a little as he suspected that her father was almost always busy and he highly doubted her mother ate with her. He felt Tikki push a cookie into his hand, causing him to glance down. She smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.
"Here, you can have this. It isn't much but it's better then nothing," He smiled, handing her to the cookie. Chloe went to take it but hesitated as she was sure he would snatch it from her but when he didn't, she took it.
"Thank you," She mumbled before Marinette handed her a croissant and part of her sandwich. She looked up at her. "Are you sure?"
"Well, a cookie isn't enough to fill you up," She smiled, gently nudging Luka who smiled back. Chloe thanked her and the conversation began again. Marinette turned to Luka. "So I wanted to ask you a favor?"
"Oh?" He replied, making her press her fingers together.
"I was hoping that maybe you could show me the basics of guitar..." She mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. He looked at her in surprise. "If you're not busy... you're probably busy..."
"I'd love to show you," He smiled but before either of them to could continue, the sound of a helicopter got their attention. All of the students rushed out to see what was going on as the guitar landed in the school grounds. Mr Damocles rushed over as Audrey Bourgeois got out of it. Chloe frowned as Mr Damocles tried to tell her that she couldn't land the helicopter there. However, she just ignored him and walked over to Chloe.
"Chloe, get in the helicopter. We're going to New York," She ordered, making the girl frown.
"Mum, I told you already I don't want to go to New York," Chloe explained, making her mouth frown.
"Don't be ridiculous, Chloe," She replied in a bored manner. "Of course, you want to go to New York. Now get in the helicopter. I haven't got all day,"
Chloe sighed and began to walk to the helicopter with her shoulders slumped but Luka frowned and gently grabbed her wrist, making her look at him in surprise before he let go.
"Chloe, you don't have to listen to her," Luka stated, causing Audrey to lower her glasses and glare at him. "You don't have to go,"
"Well, trash like you wouldn't understand," She stated, causing everyone to glare at her. Luka crossed his arms and glared at her.
"I'm not the one who isn't listening to my daughter, Mrs Bourgeois," He pointed out, making her frown as she glared at him. She expected him to back down but he glared back. Chloe frowned and looked at the group, expecting to tell her to go but Marinette walked and gently took her hand, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Luka is right, Chloe. You don't have to go," She declares before turning to Audrey who was still looking at Luka like he was trash. "And don't call my friend trash! Luka is the most kind hearted and gentle person I know and he is far from 'trash' as you put it!"
"Melody..." Luka mumbled, looking at her with surprise as a blush came across his face.
"Oh, I know you. Margret was it?" Audrey asked, frowning. "Well, I'm glad I didn't take you on as my protege in New York if this fashion mistake is your friend. Clearly, none of you understand fashion,"
"That may be the case but at least, I understand how to be a decent human being!" Luka growled, surprising everyone. "Something that you clearly have no idea about giving how you treat people!"
"How dare you tal-"
"How dare I?! No, how dare you!" He shouted, making her step back in surprise. "First, you demand your daughter to go with you, despite the fact that she told you no then you insult me and finally,"
He pointed to Marinette.
"Her name is Marinette! Not Margret!" He growled, making him frown. "And I'm glad she never went with you to New York because she deserves better then you and so does Chloe! Both of them have more talent in their little finger then you've ever had in your entire career! You are a selfish and egotistical woman so it's no surprise that Chloe doesn't want to go to New York with you!"
Everyone stared at him in surprise as both Marinette and Chloe blushed a little. Though Marinette was blushing a little more. However, Audrey looked more angry then she did before but before she could say anything, a man burst through the door.
"Chloe!" He shouted, making everyone look at him in surprise as he walked over. On his head, he wore a dark blue bicorne and light blue skin. He was wearing a dark blue jacket with a cowl going over most of his head except the bottom of his nose and his mouth. The jacket itself had black and purple markings on the shoulders and his right arm had a yellow armor-like shoulder with black stripes. However, the rest of the arm was dark blue with a bent white and red stripe just below the elbow. Across his chest, he had a blue, white, and red sash with a large blue, white, and red circle attached at the center. Also, he was also wearing white trousers and dark blue boots. Luka narrowed his eyes and quickly glanced around. It was clear he was the akuma but right now, Luka couldn't see a chance to escape. The akuma was looking around in disgust as he walked over before looking at Chloe. "Chloe, my daughter! You are not leaving for New York,"
"Daddy?" She asked, shocked as he smiled at her.
"Yes, sweetie," He smiled. "Now I have the power to make sure you have the best possible life. We'll start by getting rid of this awful school and their students. You're above those nasty little rats anyway. Now come with me, sweetie,"
"Uhhh," Chloe gasped, clearly scared as he held out his hand.
"André, getting yourself akumatized like everyone else in this city does not make you a 'cool' or 'hip' father," Audrey stated in her usual attitude, causing André to frown deeply before he lifted his two of his fingers to his mouth as she continued to rant.
"By the power invested in me, I declare that you will be devoted to this family and remain in Paris with me and Chloe," He spoke, creating a small ball of light as he did before he threw it at her. Instantly, she stopped talking and rushed over to him.
"Oh yes! My dear hubby!" She gasped, leaning against him and rubbing her cheek against his chest. "I'm so happy to stay here!"
She jumped up and began to kiss his nose as she wrapped her arms around his neck, causing everyone including Chloe to stare in shock at the action. The akuma smirked before turning to Chloe.
"Now, Chloe, why don't you come here?" He smiled as Audrey leaned against him, hugging his arm. "We can finally get rid of this god awful place,"
"But... Daddy, I like it here..." She gasped, making him blink. "And while I don't want to go to New York, I can't stay with you as an akuma,"
"Sweetie, I'll give you one more chance to come to me willingly," He stated in a menacing way. "Come here,"
"No!" She shouted, making him frown deeply. Luka glanced around as he really needed to get to a place to transform. His luck vision kicked in, lighting up all of the students and giving him an idea. Since the akuma's attention was on Chloe, who was slowly backing away, he leaned over to Nino who was stood next to him, looking shocked and frightened.
"Hey, when I shout scram, run in a random direction," He whispered, making Nino look at him. "Pass it on,"
Nino nodded and whispered it to Adrien and Alya, who in turn told others including the teachers. It finally reached Marinette who grinned and gave Luka a discreet thumbs up as the akuma lifted his fingers to his mouth. Luka nodded to Marinette.
"By the power invested in me, I declare-"
"Scram!" Luka shouted, causing all of the students to run in a random direction. He grabbed Chloe's arm and dragged her to the locker room as the rest of the students confused the akuma. He pushed her inside and closed the door, leaning against it as he turned to her. "Go out the window now!"
"Thank you," She gasped before she climbed up and out of the window as the akuma called for her before he began to head to the locker room. As soon as she was out, he moved from the door and hid inside a locker, holding his breathing as the akuma kicked open the door.
"Chloe! Where are you?!" He growled, looking around as Audrey came in. "She isn't in here,"
"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll find her,"
"Of course, we will but let's get rid of this awful school. Maybe then she will see what a wonderful father I am," He replied, leaving with his wife. Luka let out a sigh before opening his jacket, allowing Tikki to fly out.
"Trouble?" She asked.
"Chloe's father has been akumatized," He replied before swiping his earring. "Tikki, spots on!"
A red glow engulfed him, turning him into Anatis. He climbed out of the locker and out of the window before throwing his yoyo and pulling himself onto the roof as the other students began to destroy the school. Anatis narrowed his eyes as he looked around. Most of the students had been affected by whatever order the akuma had given them and were trashing the school but a few of them weren't among them. Marinette wasn't there and neither was Rose. However, Juleka, Adrien, Kagami and the rest of his friendship group were. The akuma smirked as he looked around before throwing a ball of light at Sabrina.
"By the power invested in me, I order you to find Chloe and bring her to me," He ordered, causing her to bow.
"Yes, Malediktator!" She declared before running off, causing Anatis to frown as Lady Noir jumped down onto the helicopter's blades.
"Do you have a permit to destroy this school?" She asked, crossing her arms as she glared at him.
"I don't need a permit!" He declared, making both heroes frown. "I am Malediktator, the all powerful super-mayor of Paris and this is my city!!"
"Hate to burst your bubble but Paris doesn't belong to you alone!" Anatis called as he swung over to the helicopter and landed next to Lady Noir. "It belongs to everyone!"
The two of them dived at him and began to fight him. Anatis threw his yoyo and wrapped it around Malediktator's wrist, pulling his arm back as Lady Noir tried to hit him with her baton but Malediktator blocked it with his free arm and tried to kick her. She dodged it but he grabbed her baton and used it to throw her across the playground. She flipped and landed on her feet as he grabbed a bench and tried to hit Anatis with it but he jumped out the way before it could hit him and landed next to Lady Noir. Malediktator growled and lifted his fingers.
"By the power invested in me, I declare that your miraculous are my property!" He shouted, summoning to light balls and throwing them towards Anatis and Lady Noir. The two heroes dodged and dived out of the way of them, causing them to head up to the roof and duck down behind the brickwork.
"Any idea where the akuma is?" Lady Noir asked as he looked around to see where they had gone.
"I'm thinking it's in his sash," Anatis mumbled before throwing his yoyo up. "Lucky charm!"
He frowned as he caught the abacus, causing Lady Noir to raise an eyebrow at him.
"Your lucky charms get weirder and weirder," She replies, making him smile a little.
"Tell me about it," He grinned before glancing around in his luck vision but nothing lit up. "Nothing up here is gonna help us,"
"Then let's get a little closer," She replied, getting a nod of him as he went hooked it to his belt but Lady Noir placed her hand on his arm. "You work out what to do with that while I keep the mayor busy,"
She dived down and threw her baton at him as Anatis looked around, trying to work out how to use the abacus. He frowned deeply as he glanced around the playground and school area yet not a single thing lit up. Frowning, he glanced at the abacus and examined it. What exactly what was he to do with it? Why that particular item? It did look familiar but he couldn't place it. It was probably in one of the classrooms. Either way, he was definitely gonna have words with Tikki when he was done here. Seriously, how was he suppose to defeat Malediktator with this when his power could cause him to literally surrender his miraculous without a fight? If anything, he would need something that would immobile Malediktator first but this wouldn't help him do that. If anything, he would need to go to Master Fu and get the Bee Miraculous. His eyes widen in understanding before he examined the abacus to be certain. It was almost identical to Master Fu's abacus expect for the ladybug pattern. Like the time with the teapot, it became very obvious what he needed to do. He looked up to call back Lady Noir as she dodged a ball of light and jumped up to the first floor. She dived towards Malediktator with her baton, ready to hit him but he spun round and threw a ball of light at her.
"By the power invested in me," Malediktator smirked as it hit her, causing her to land on the ground. "I declare you are a cat!"
She suddenly meowed and began to play with a can on the floor, moving it around with her hand.
"Oh, no," Anatis groaned as he watched.
"Oh, what a cutie pie," Audrey gasped before she leaned down and called her over. "Here, kitty, kitty,"
Lady Noir glanced up at her before cautiously moving over. Audrey grinned and began to stroke her hair and ears as she leaned into her. Anatis frowned and took out his yoyo as Malediktator moved over but Lady Noir hissed and hid behind Audrey before trying to scratch him when he went to take her miraculous. Anatis smirked as he watched before frowning. If he wanted to rescue Lady Noir, he would have to get the Bee miraculous. However, he didn't want to leave her with Malediktator. He tried to grab her ring again but she hissed and scratched his hand, causing him to pull back his hand with a yelp of pain.
"Kitty still has claws," Anatis mumbled as his earrings beeped. He frowned, taking out his yoyo and standing on the edge of the building. "Kitten, I'll be back soon I promise!!"
He threw his yoyo and swung to another roof before running as fast as he could in the direction of Master Fu's house. He jumped across to another roof and slid down the tiles before throwing his yoyo and wrapping it around a flag pole. He swung across to another roof and landed on it before running and jumping across a gap. He back-flipped off a wall and into an alley near to Master Fu's shop just before his transformation dropped. He caught Tikki before running to the shop and pushing open the door.
"Master Fu!" He gasped, causing the man to jump and glance at him as he caught his breathe. "A villain has transformed Lady Noir into a cat,"
"What?" He gasped, shocked before shaking his head. "Perhaps you shouldn't have left her by herself. She's at Hawkmoth's mercy,"
"I know but the lucky charm told me to come here," He replied, causing Master Fu to make a thinking face. "I think I need help for this mission,"
"It seems so," He replied, getting up and walking to the phonograph. "After all, the lucky charm never fails,"
He unlocked the phonograph and took out the miracle box, bringing it over to Luka and placing it on the ground. Luka knelt down in front of it as Master Fu opened it, causing the different draws to pop out and show the miraculous hidden inside. Despite seeing this before, Luka found himself amazed again. It was interesting to watch the box open and to know what the miraculous did.
"Luka Couffaine, pick an ally you can trust to fight along side you in this mission," He declared as Luka glanced at all of them but he knew exactly which one to take. He needed the bee. "Choose wisely. Such powers are meant to be serve the greater good,"
"I need someone who isn't impressed by power and sees people on face value," He muttered, reaching for the bee as Master Fu gave him a concerned look. He hesitated before glancing up at Tikki, who gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back and picked up the hair comb.
"Are you sure?" Master Fu asked, causing Luka to nod.
"I need to trap Malediktator and the bee's power is the best chance at that," He replied, getting up and walking to the draw where the smaller boxes were kept. He took one out and placed the hair comb inside.
"But is it really a good idea giving it back to... her?" He asked as Luka put the small box in his pocket.
"Don't worry, Master," He smiled in a reassuring manner. "I know how to make good use of it this time,"
With that, he left with Tikki and headed to the alleyway.
"How we will find Chloe?" She asked, making him shake his head.
"We're not," He replied, making her glance at him as he took out a macaron and handed it to her. "I told Chloe I can't give her this miraculous back and I have to keep to that. Plus Hawkmoth will probably expect me to go to her. Since she is Malediktator's target, the two of them may set up a trap to lure me there. There's also a high chance that Chloe has already been controlled by Malediktator since he sent Sabrina after her,"
"So trying to find Chloe is a bad idea," Tikki nodded as she ate the cookie.
"Exactly,"
"But who are you gonna give it to?" She asked, swallowing the last bit. "You said you need someone who isn't impressed by power and takes people on face value,"
"Don't worry, Tikki, I know just the person. You good?" He asked, causing her to nod. "Alright. Tikki! Spots on!!"
He transformed back into Anatis and threw his yoyo up, pulling himself onto the rooftops and running as fast as he could back to the school. He landed on the roof and glanced around. It looked like Malediktator had left, taking his wife and Lady Noir with him but the students were still around, trying to destroy the school. He glanced around and noticed Sabrina had joined them but Chloe wasn't around. Frowning to himself, he looked around and spotted Rose, trying to stop Juleka from destroying the art room. He swung down and landed near by.
"They've been mind controlled by Malediktator," He stated, making Rose gasp and turn around in surprise. She honestly looked like she was about to squeal at his appearance. "But there is a way you can help them,"
"There is?!" She gasped, making him nod.
"This way," He replied, jumping down to the courtyard and heading into the locker room. Rose came in a few seconds later as he glanced around to make sure no one else was in here and that they were out of the way of cameras. Once certain that it was just them, he took out his yoyo and opened it before reaching in and taking out the box as Rose watched before he held it out to her, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.
"Rose Lavillant, here is the bee miraculous, which grants the power to immobilize your opponent," He declared, making her eyes go huge as she realized what he was offering to her. "You will use it for the greater good,"
"Me?" She asked, shocked before making a thinking expression. "But doesn't the bee miraculous belong to Chloe?"
"No, Chloe wrongly took the miraculous and is currently unfit to wield one. However, if she continues to right her wrongs and change her ways, I am willing to give her a second chance," He explained, making Rose nod. "Do you accept the miraculous?"
"Yes!" She grinned, taking it and opening it. She gasped in surprise as a golden light appeared from within and circled around her before transforming into Pollen, making her coo.
"Hello, my queen," Pollen smiled, making Rose gush about her cute she is. "My name is Pollen,"
"You're so adorable," Rose gushed. "But what are you?"
"I'm a kwami, my queen," She explained, bowing a little. "I grant magical powers that transforms one into a superhero,"
Rose squealed, making Anatis smiled before he cleared his throat, causing both Rose and Pollen to look at him.
"Once the job is complete, you will return the miraculous to me," He explained before looking at her. "Can I trust you, Rose?"
"Yes, Anatis! I will do my best!" She declared with a lot of energy, making him smile.
"My queen, to transform you just need say Pollen, buzz on," Pollen explained as Rose listened before she fixed the comb into her hair before looking up at Anatis, who gave her a smile and a nod.
"Pollen, buzz on!" She declared, causing Pollen to be sucked into the hair comb. She threw her head back as it became a more honey blonde then black strips appeared in it. She held up her arms as a golden light appeared from her feet, creating her suit as it traveled up her body. The suit was completely yellow but a second light appeared, creating some detail on her suit. It gave her black gloves, turned part of her legs black and added a couple of extra strips on her suit as well. She had two symmetrical ones on her upper arms and thighs, a pointed strip on on around her waist and a black choker around her neck. Her shoes resembled a ballerina's and she had the spin-top around her waist. She swiped her hand across her face, creating her mask which was mostly black but had a yellow boarder. With the transformation over, she examined herself before squealing. "I'm a superhero!!"
"You're gonna need a name," Anatis smiled, making her look at him before she pulled her thinking face.
"Abeille," She declared, causing him nod to in approval.
"Abeille... nice," He smiled before taking out his yoyo and searching it on it. He frowned as he watched a video of Malediktator who seemed to have taken control of the city hall. He also had Chloe and his wife at his side as well as Lady Noir. He frowned and put his yoyo away before turning to Abeille. "Alright, I'm gonna be frank with you, Abeille. Malediktator is a very tough enemy. He has the ability to make anyone do what he wants and he has Lady Noir captured,"
"Oh no,"
"Which is why I needed to get you," He continued before pointing to her spin top. "The spin-top is your weapon. Similar to my yoyo, it has multiple functions and can be used to help you move through the city. You can also spin it really fast to create a shield and use it to tie up enemies. It can be used as a phone and GPS locator as well as other thing. You also have the power to immobilize your opponent. You can activate this by pulling the spin top's string and saying venom but don't do it yet. You only get to use this power once and then you have five minutes before you transform back. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," She grinned, making him smile. "But how do you plan to get defeat Malediktator?"
"We need to get you close enough to use venom on him," He replied, making her nod before taking out his yoyo and showing her the footage. "But as you can see, he has taken over city hall and turned it into his fortress. If we go in head first, we'll be captured. We need to get close enough to observe him but not close enough to alert him off our presence,"
"Why don't we hide on the building opposite city hall?" She asked, making him smile.
"That's a good idea," He replied, moving over to the window and opening it before jumping out of it. Abeille followed him as he swung across to the city. The two of them jumped across the buildings and ran across the rooftops, causing Rose to want to squeal in excitement. She almost crashed into a wall but Anatis grabbed her arm and pulled her away from it. "Try to keep your head in the game, Abeille,"
"I'm sorry, Anatis," She gasped as they jumped over another wall. "It's just... this is so exciting!!"
"I get it," He smiled as they came closer to the city hall. They landed on the building opposite it and ducked down, causing him to frown as he saw Malediktator sat on a throne atop of the building. He had his wife and Chloe sat near him and Lady Noir curled up by his feet. Anatis frowned deeply as he glanced at her. While he was glad she was ok, he felt annoyed at the fact that Malediktator literally had her as his pet. He shook his head and moved his eyes over to the swat team that were acting as his guard. Suddenly, two balls of light flew towards them, causing the two of them to jump away from the hiding place as Malediktator smirked.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you there, Anatis?" He asked before creating two new ones. "By the power invested in me, I declare your miraculous are mine!"
Anatis and Abeille jumped, avoiding the balls of light before the two of them threw their weapons at him but the swat team blocked it, making Anatis frown before they landed on the edge of the building. Abeille back-flipped away as Anatis ran in the other direction, jumping across to Malediktator. He tried to land a kick on him but once again, the swat team protected him. He swung away as Abeille took down some of the swat team but she had to jump away when Malediktator directed a ball of light towards her. He turned his attention back on Anatis as he swung up before turning his body and throwing his yoyo towards Malediktator. For the third time, the swat team blocked him, causing him to jump back as he dodged a ball of light. However, Malediktator stopped focusing on him and Abeille as Hawkmoth talked to him before smirking at the super villain's suggestion. He began to make a new ball of light.
"By the power invested in me," He stated, lifting it into the air and make it increase in size. "I declare you all my slaves!"
Abeille gasped as he made the ball of light massive, causing Anatis to frown.
"We can't dodge that one, Anatis!" She gasped in fear.
"He's going to take over the city," He mumbled, frowning. Abeille jumped up and threw her spin top at Malediktator but once again, the guard blocked it. Anatis whistled as she tried to kick the guard, causing her to jump back over to him as they hid on the building behind him. "Directly attacking isn't going to work,"
"So what do we do?" She asked.
"You need to get past that guard and get his sash. That's were the akuma is," He muttered, thinking before he took out his yoyo. "And to do that, we're gonna need a bit of luck... Lucky charm!"
He threw his yoyo up in the air, summoning the magic bugs. He blinked in surprise as he caught the large machine gun.
"Are we going to shoot him?" Abeille asked, making him frown as he glanced around for the answer. He smirked when Malediktator lit up, followed by Lady Noir. He glanced down at the gun and smiled as the laser was highlighted and finally, Abeille. He broke off the laser part and dumped the rest of the gun aside.
"As if I'd use violence," He grinned, spinning it in his fingers. "I'll deal with the guard, you sting our esteemed mayor,"
"Aye, aye, Captain," She grinned, saluting him before spinning her spin top, causing it to glow yellow. "Venom!!"
She caught it as it pulsed before nodding at Anatis before the two of them jumped over to separate buildings. Abeille laid in wait as Anatis clicked the laser near Lady Noir, causing her to notice it and try to catch it with her hand. He smirked as he moved it, causing her to chase it as she repeatedly tried to capture it. He directed it on the back of one of the swat team, causing her to jump on him and knock him down. It also caused Malediktator to notice but he couldn't move as his bubble would become ineffective. Smirking to himself, Anatis moved it across the backs of the guard, causing Lady Noir to take them all out and knock them off the building as she chased the laser. Malediktator panicked and tried to tell her to stop but Anatis continued to move the laser until all of the swat team was off hanging off the building. He blinked it twice, giving Abeille a signal. She jumped out from her hiding place and dived at Malediktator, slamming the spin top into the middle of his chest before landing on the ground next to him as he froze. The giant bubble disappeared as she grabbed the sash and threw it to Anatis. He caught it and broke it in half, releasing the akuma. He took out his yoyo and captured it before releasing the purified version. He picked up the laser part and tossed it into the air.
"Miraculous Ladybugs!" He shouted, causing it to burst into the magic swamp and fix everything. He smiled as it flew through the city, fixing the school before it came back and fixed city hall and Lady Noir before safely placing the swat team and the Bourgeois family in front of it before disappearing. Anatis jumped down with Abeille as Malediktator turned back to Mr Bourgeois as Audrey looked around confused before she began to shout at him. Chloe looked at them sadly before gasping and rushing over as she saw Anatis.
"Anatis!" She gasped. "You totally saved me again!! Oh, I can I have a-"
She stopped as she saw Abeille, causing Anatis to place his hand on his yoyo. She honestly looked like she was about to cry but she swallowed and smiled widely at Abeille before holding out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Chloe Bourgeois, the previous Queen Bee. It's nice to meet you," She smiled, causing Abeille to shake it.
"I'm Abeille. It's nice to meet you too," She replied, causing Chloe to break into a massive smile.
"Would you mind if I took a selfie with you?" She gasped, causing Abeille to look to Anatis. He smiled and nodded as Lady Noir jumped down and leaned on his shoulder.
"Aww, Annie, you made a new friend," She grinned in a teasing manner, making him laugh and pat her head. She grinned and leaned into his hand, causing him to laugh as Abeille and Chloe took a couple of selfies before their miraculous beeped. "Abeille, we need to go,"
"Ok!" She grinned, turning to leave before she decided to hug Chloe, surprising the girl before she let go and ran over to Anatis. Chloe smiled and ran over to her parents before telling them off and dragging them away. The three heroes jumped up to the roofs and ran off but Lady Noir stopped and turned to them.
"I'll let you do the thing, Annie," She grinned before turning to Abeille. "I hope next time he calls on you we get to actually work together,"
"Me too, Lady Noir," She grinned, hugging her as well. Lady Noir grinned and patted her head before saluting. She walked to the edge of the building before turning around and blowing a kiss towards Anatis, making him blush and Abeille to gush before she hopped away. "Oh my gosh!! You two are so cute!!"
He smiled but shook his head as they jumped down to an alleyway. Rose called off the transformation and said goodbye to Pollen before taking off the comb and handing it back to Anatis.
"Thank you for choosing me, Anatis," She smiled. "I hope we get to do this again,"
"Should there be an occasion that calls for the bee, I will come and find you," He smiled, placing it back in the box and hiding it in his yoyo. "Are you ok getting home?"
"Yes, I'll be going to my friend's house tonight," She smiled as his earrings beeped. "Besides, you're about to transform back,"
"Yeah, I'll have to go," He replied, making her nod before she hugged him suddenly. He smiled and hugged back before she pulled away and ran off, waving to him. He waved back and threw his yoyo up to the building. He ran across it as his earrings rapidly beeped before he jumped down into another alley. He caught Tikki and gave her a macaron before taking out the bee miraculous. He fixed it into his hair, causing Pollen to manifest.
"Hello, my prince," She smiled as he took out a macaron for her. She thanked him and began to eat it as he smiled.
"Do you approve off Rose?"
"She makes an excellent bee," She smiled, moving on his shoulder as Tikki sat on the other one. He smiled and walked with them to Master Fu. Tikki and Pollen hid in his hoodie as he walked up to the shop and knocked on the door before walking inside. Master Fu looked up and smiled.
"You've returned," He nodded, taking out the miracle box. Luka smiled at Pollen before taking the comb out of his hair and placing it back in the box. "I noticed that a new bee superhero made her debut today. Care to explain?"
"Chloe was never my choice to wield the bee miraculous," He replied, making Master Fu nod. "And when I reclaimed it from her, I made it very clear that she would never have it again and that she would need to earn my trust to even be considered as one of my allies. I wasn't going to go back on my word,"
"And the new bee?"
"She's a friend," He smiled, making Master Fu nod. "Chloe is making progress though. She apologized to everyone and is trying to start again,"
"Maybe she'll prove to be worthy then," Master Fu replied, making Luka nod. "Perhaps if you have some free time, we can go over some miraculous lore,"
"Sure, Master," He smiled, kneeling down as Master Fu grabbed his tablet and joined him. Tikki flew over to Wayzz and settled next to him as they watched their two holders talk and learn. Tikki smiled with a little pride as she watched Luka name the miraculous and who the kwami was that resided within them.
"He seems like an excellent choice to be a ladybug,"
"He's the best holder I've ever had," Tikki admitted, smiling. Wayzz looked over and smiled as well as Luka pointed out each ability.
Here's heroes day!!! God, this is the longest chapter I've ever written! A whooping 17,000 + words :O so if you decide to read this chapter, get a drink and get ready for a long read. Anyway, this was super fun to do. As for the akumatized heroes, I've got some fun facts about their chosen names in this. Culpeo, Abeille and Leatherback become Void Fox, Frelona and Tortue Serpentine. Void Fox is a reference to a type of Kitsune, known as the shadow fox, the void kitsune or dark kitsune. Frelona comes from the french word for Wasp and Tortue Serpentine is Snapping Turtle in french, which my friend Naruwitch suggested then we have Ryuko and Aspik. Ryuko becomes Okami and Aspik becomes Aapep. Now Okami is a legendary dragon who tends to be portrayed as evil and Aapep is another name for an ancient Egyptian deity who is the personification of chaos and takes the form of a giant snake. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter :D
Oh and also I recommend going back and re-reading Reverser. I've edited it a little to work in with this chapter and Volpina.
"See you next time, Bug a boo!" Lady Noir called out as she ran off in a different direction then him. He smiled and shook his head before running off towards the Seine. He jumped off the building and threw his yoyo, swinging across the water and towards the Liberty. He landed on the roof and backflipped off before jumping through the porthole to his room. He landed on the floor as his transformation dropped before catching Tikki. Both of them let out a yawn before Luka stumbled to his bed and fell onto it almost instantly before crawling into it. Tikki helped him pull on the covers before gently kissing his forehead before curling up on his stomach as he breathed in, having fallen asleep straight away. However, his alarm went off two hours later, causing him to groan and hide his head in the pillow.
"Five more minutes," He mumbled as it kept ringing. He groaned and slammed his alarm, silencing it before trying to go back to sleep. However, his second alarm went off, making him groan even more. Once again, he turned it off and went to fall back to sleep but the final alarm went off, turning on the radio. As the person on it talked, Luka groaned, wanting nothing more to sleep and was mentally cursing Hawkmoth for creating an akuma at 3.30am. However, his eyes widen when the host mentioned Heroes day and he jolted up, wide awake. Tikki gasped and jumped as he did before he grinned at her and jumped out of bed.
"Are you ok?"
"It's Heroes day!" He gasped, getting dressed and grabbing his school bag before he stopped with wide eyes. Tikki rose an eyebrow. "Oh no! I forgot to plan a good deed! Uh!! I am an awful human being,"
"And the fact that you were up all night saving Paris isn't enough of a good deed?" She asked, causing Luka to shake his head.
"Unfortunately not. You see heroes day is when everyday citizens preform a good deed for everyone's benefit " He explained, making her pull a thinking expression. "Besides, it's not like I can't tell anyone about been a hero and two it would count as Anatis' good deed, not mine... well, I'll just do what I did last year,"
"What was that?"
"See what happens and improvise," He grinned, making her smile. "Last year, Rose ended up needing help with something so I helped her. I'm sure there'll be someone I can help this year too,"
"That's a great idea, Luka," Tikki smiled as he handed her a cookie. She happily bit into it as he made sure he has his books before pulling on his usual hoodie. He glanced over at the jacket Marinette made him and smiled to himself before turning to Tikki, who had finished her cookie. He opened his bag for her and she flew in before he closed it and left his room. He grabbed a piece of toast from the kitchen and gave Anarka a kiss on the cheek before heading up to where Juleka was. Almost instantly, he was hit with the emotion of the city, making him grin. All of Paris was singing today and it was a gorgeous song. For a second, he closed his eyes and let himself bask in it's crescendo before Juleka cleared her throat.
"What are you doing?" She asked, as he looked at her.
"Listening to the music of the city," He replied, making her roll her eyes before he grinned at her. "Shall we get going?"
"Sure," She nodded, walking off. Luka shook his head and followed, smiling to himself. They passed several stores and saw lots of balloons. Luka smiled a little as he saw Juleka go bright red when she noticed several Culpeo themed things.
"So what's your good deed for today, sis?" He asked, making her look at him.
"Oh... well, me and Rose are sharing a good deed," She mumbled, moving the bangs from her eyes a little. "We're planning to doing a collection for Prince Ali's charity,"
"That's a great idea," He grinned as they came to the school, along with some of the other kids. Rose was already there, waving happily and Ivan was stood with Mylene. They greeted Luka and when inside almost straight away. Luka looked at his phone and decided to linger for a little bit. He closed his eyes and breathed in, once again listening to the melody of the city. He opened his eyes as he heard a familiar melody. Marinette was running over, causing him to look at his phone again. She was on time but only by a few minutes. She stopped to take a breathe, causing him to smile. "Hey, Melody, you ok?"
"Luka!" She gasped, jumping. The box she was holding flew out of her hands but he caught it, causing them both to let a sigh of relief as he handed them back to her. "Uh sorry,"
"No, no... I'm sorry," He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to make you jump,"
"Ooh, it's ok!" She grinned before holding up the box. "Want a macaron?"
"Sure," He smiled, taking a chocolate one before gently kissing her cheek. She blushed and smiled shyly. "Thank you,"
"N-No problem," She gasped before jumping against as the bell rang. "Ah that's class! We have to go!! See ya for lunch! I have a favor to ask!!"
"Ok," He nodded as she ran off. He shook his head and smiled a little as he walked to his classroom. He walked in and took his seat as Kagami waved at him. He smiled and waved back as Aurora rushed over with Jean and Mireille and wished him a happy heroes day. He wished them one back as Ms Mendeleiev walked in and clapped her hands.
"Alright, students, we have an assembly so let's move it to the gym," She ordered, causing them to get up and grab their bags. They walked over to the gym and took seats as the other classes came in. There was a stage at the front with a couple of teachers stood on it already. Luka took a seat next to Aurora, who smiled at him. He smiled back as the rest of the classes took their seats. Marinette walked past with Alya, shaking her head as she walked behind her.
"I don't get it, Marinette... I know you and Lila don't get on but she isn't lying about this," She sighed, making Luka frown as Marinette turned to her.
"Not lying?! Alya, you know she's a liar!" She gasped, clearly stressed. "It is literally on your blog,"
"Ok so it was a one time thing and who wouldn't want to know the heroes?" Alya gasped, shaking her head. "Besides, I asked her about that and she apologized. Sure, it wasn't cool to do that but she just wants friends, Marinette and she promised not to lie again so why would she be lying that she's in Achu?"
"Because she's a liar, Alya," She gasped, looking annoyed. "Even Miss Bustier questioned her!"
"Yeah and Lila literally showed us that she had permission from both her parents and her therapist," Alya sighed, pinching her nose. "Been away has been good for her. You know it's stressful getting akumatized. I mean you took a day off after yours,"
"Exactly! I took a day! One day! Not weeks!" She gasped, making Alya roll her eyes. "And none of us got a 'trip' around the world to deal with our stress,"
"True but her mom is also there and she's the Italian ambassador," She stated, making Marinette roll her eyes. "Look, why don't you give Lila a second chance for your good deed for heroes day? I know she was lying but trust me, girl, she's turned over a new leaf,"
"No! She hasn't because she's lying!" Marinette gasped, sitting down and crossing her arms. Alya sighed and shook her head as Miss Bustier walked in front of the school and clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone and welcome to our annual heroes day assembly," She grinned, causing everyone to look at her. "Now I know everyone may have a hard time working out what good deed to do for today but let's not forget today is about been able to be a hero for one day and your good deed doesn't have to be something huge liking helping save planet earth. It can be anything from making small donations to a local charity to helping an elderly neighbor. All we need is..."
"A little imagination! Hoo, hoo!" Mr Damocles called as he ran onto the stage in his owl costume. "This year, Anatis and Lady Noir have been our heroes, protecting us from the terrible Hawkmoth. They have shown us that heroism is beyond comic books and fairy tales! Heroism is real and it is up to you to show how Anatis and Lady Noir have brought out the best in all of us, by been every day heroes! Now a few of our students will tell us their eyes to be everyday heroes! For those of you who have yet to work out a good deed, their suggestions may be able to inspire you! Over to you, Miss Bustier!"
"Thank you, Mr Damocles," She smiled. "From my class, we have Nino Lahiffe and Alya Cesaire. Care to tell what you two have planned for heroes day?"
"Of course, Miss," Nino grinned, standing up. The whole student body faced him, causing him to take a deep breathe. "I gotta admit. I never use to do anything for anyone before but Anatis and Lady Noir have showed me what been cool is really about... so, this year, I'm gonna visit the elderly down at the retirement home and play them all their favorite songs!"
"Excellent, Nino," Miss Bustier smiled, clapping along with everyone else. "Alya?"
"Last year, I wrote an article about public buildings providing disabled access," Alya stated as she stood up. "But after seeing Anatis and Lady Noir going that extra mile every single day, I decided that I too could do better... so I got the mayor's approval to improve facilities so disabled kids can actually attend our school!"
She sat back down as she got a round of applause. Mrs Mendeleiev stood up next as the applause died down.
"From my class, we have Aurore Beauréal and Kagami Tsurugi," She stated, causing both girls to stand up. "Girls, care to tell us what you have planned?"
"Yes, Mrs Mendeleiev," Aurore nodded as everyone looked at her. "Me and the others at the Kidz plus tv studio will be doing a live show with celebrities guests and all proceeds we get will be donated to a number of children charities,"
Everyone applauded again, making her smile as she sat down.
"Kagami?"
"I have signed up to volunteer at a soup kitchen for a couple of hours on the weekend," She stated, getting a round of applause but she held her hand. "My family will also be making a considerable donation to a number of charities who help the blind and the visually impaired,"
She got a huge round of applause for that one. She sat back down as the other teachers introduced to of their students who proceed to tell them what their good deed would be. Luka frowned to himself as a little as the whole thing made him feel like he wasn't doing enough. It wasn't that he was jealous of the other students. Far from it but compared to what they were doing, just helping a person out seems so small and trivial. He let a sigh out and looked around. He frowned a little as he saw Marinette didn't look happy either. He decided he would ask her what was wrong for lunch. Aurore leaned over to him and gently poked his arm, causing him to look at her.
"You ok?" She asked, making him nod.
"Yeah," He whispered back. "Just not sure I can match up to whatever one else is doing,"
"I'm sure you'll do a cool deed, Luka," She grinned, making him give her a small smile as Mr Damocles took to the stage again as the lunch bell rang.
"Alright, everyone, now don't forget that we have the parade this evening," He shouted before dismissing everyone. Luka got up and headed over to Marinette but before he could reach her, she bolted off causing him to frown but she did say she needed to talk to him. He took out his phone and messaged Juleka, saying that he was going to grab dinner at the bakery before heading there. He hummed a little as he walked there, glancing over and smiling as he saw the huge balloons of Anatis and the other heroes. His phone vibrated, causing him to take it out and read the text. Apparently, Marinette was going to be hosting a massive tasting party after the parade tonight and has invited everyone. She and the rest of Kitty Section will be going so she thought she'd inform him off it. He texted back, saying he'd love to go before walking over the bakery door. He knocked on the door and entered, causing Sabine to look up and smile. Marinette was talking to her father, who was looking at a list nervously.
"That's not the same as every year, Marinette," He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"How about just half then?" She asked, looking at her hand. "500 Macarons, 100 pies, 300 sweet buns and just a thousand croissants! That should be enough!"
"Is that for the party at the park tonight?" Luka asked, making her jump and turn around. She grinned and nodded before turning back to her dad.
"You can do that... right?" She asked but Tom frowned and sighed, scratching the side of his head.
"If I didn't have this giant Anatis cake to finish by tonight, I would gladly rise to the challenge but there's simply no way I can do both," He replied, making Marinette frown and look down. Luka frowned a little too. "I've committed myself, Marinette. I can't let the mayor down,"
"I committed myself way over my head and now I'm gonna let everyone down," She sighed, slumping down on a stool. Luka frowned a little and moved over to her. She looked up at him with a sad expression. "Sorry, Luka,"
"It's ok, Marinette," He smiled in a reassuring manner.
"You know it's not too late to tell your classmates the truth. I'm sure they'll understand like Luka has," Sabine smiled at him, causing him to nervously look down.
"But it won't be very heroic..." Marinette muttered, looking down.
"Of course, it will," Sabine smiled, trying to reassuring her. "Been brave enough to face one's mistakes is heroic,"
"You're right!" She gasped, jumping up and grabbing an apron as Luka rose an eyebrow. She rushed over to the door before turning to them as Luka rose an eyebrow. Her parents on the other hand appeared to be use to this. "If I get to it right away, I'll have enough time to make the macarons myself!"
With that, she disappeared into the apartment, causing her parents to sigh as Luka shook his head a little. While he loved how passionate and enthusiastic Marinette was, he worried about her a little bit. Sabine cleared her throat, making him look at her as she held out two bags.
"Would you mind making sure she's eaten, dear? Tom needs a hand with the cake," She smiled as he took the bags.
"Of course, Mrs Cheng- I mean Sabine..." He muttered before nodding and heading into the apartment. Marinette was mixing something in a bowl and appeared to have already started to make the macarons. She grinned at Luka who placed the bags down before giving him the bowl and checking on the macarons in the oven. However, they were burnt, making her groan and sink to the floor, tears filling her eyes. Luka put the bowl down and knelt down next her as she sniffed.
"This is just one big failure," She sniffed as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm a terrible everyday hero..."
"No, you're not,"
"But I haven't done any heroic at all today... all I did was bring macarons to class wherever else is doing so much more. Alya is helping disabled kids, Nino is going to visit old people, Adrien is helping his classmates and all I've done is brought in stupid macarons," She mumbled, looking down as tears roll down her face. Luka frowned and gently wiped them away. She hugged her arms and let out a small sigh. "I doubt that made anyone's day..."
"It made mine," Luka stated, causing her to look at him. She narrowed her eyes a little, looking for any sign of pretense or lies but her eyes widen when she didn't find any. Instead, she saw sincerity and honesty.
"T-That really made your day?"
"Yeah," He smiled, causing her to blush as he looked to the side. "No one's ever offered me a macaron before... anyway, I think the bravest thing you can do is just tell everyone the truth... they'll understand,"
"But that will ruin the whole party..." She mumbled, looking down as he frowned.
"It's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen," He replied, making her sigh before he gently moved a stand of her hair. "I don't want to see you burn yourself out just to please everyone else, Marinette,"
"Luka..." She muttered, blushing before gently leaning in and kissing his cheek. "Thank you,"
"Let's have our lunches,"
~Meanwhile~
"Lila?" Mrs Rossi stated as she knocked on her daughter's door. A few minutes later, Lila opened it and smiled falsely at her, though she was more focused on her phone. "Were you on the phone earlier?"
"Oh, yes, it was my boyfriend, Adrien," She gasped, making her mother nod. "He just misses me so much,"
"You weren't lying to me, were you?" She asked, briefly looking at her. Lila mentally cursed Anatis as his live interview with Alya had almost revealed her for the lying fox that she was. However, she did damaged control as best as she could. With Alya, she claimed that she just lied to be popular as she was afraid that no one would like her, especially since Marinette seemed to have it in for her. Alya was weary at first but she also was too willing to give Lila a second chance, especially Lila 'promised' not to lie again. She also convinced her that she didn't realize that she had overstepped boundaries with certain people and was learning how to understand social interactions with her therapist. Alya lapped it up and easily forgave her. The school, on the other hand, wasn't as easy but Anatis and Hawkmoth unintentionally gave her the perfect reason. She was far too stressed out to possibly come back to school right now. She knew she couldn't get it to last forever but it was a temporary solution. As for her parents. Well, that was the easiest. Her father dotted on his little princess, refusing to believe a word of Anatis' interview as he believed the ladyblog was ran by an amateur tabloid writer. He wasn't exactly wrong but this man is believed that Elvis Presley was abducted by aliens so pulling the wool over his eyes wasn't exactly hard. When he questioned it, she just turned on the water works and since he didn't want to upset his precious princess, he would drop it and ignore it. It helped that he worked aboard a lot of the time. Her mother on the other hand wasn't as easily convinced and she was forced to take a similar route to Alya. Of course, she promised not to lie again and to go to a therapist to get help but her mother's job worked to her favor as well. Since she was constantly busy with her job, she trusted her husband to arrange a therapist for Lila and since Lila was his little princess who could do no wrong, she was able to convince him to send her to a very basic therapist who was certainly not equip to deal with a teenaged pathological liar who knew how to exploit people's weaknesses and strengths to her advantage. She had even convinced the 'therapist' that she needed time of school to help her deal with the trauma. Contrary to popular belief, this wasn't the first time she had been exposed. The only difference was it wasn't a superhero who called her out last time. It was some snotty nosed kid who thought that people actually cared about what he thought. That's where she came up with the whole been bullied thing. It did wonders for her that time but she would have to play her cards a little differently this time. Most because she was dealing with a superhero but there's also the fact that someone else might catch on her lies and get akumatized. "Well?"
"Of course not, Mama," She sighed, making her mum frown. She began to 'cry' as tears rolled down her face, causing her mother to gasp. "Y-You don't believe me, do you? I'm trying so hard to be a good person and you d-don't even believe me,"
"Of course, I believe you, mia bella," She gasped, looked distressed. Her phone vibrated, causing her to looking at her phone as the sound of cheering caught Lila's attention. She moved over to her window and frowned as she saw people cheering in the streets. Huge balloons of Anatis, Lady Noir and the other heroes moved past, making her scowl as she closed the blinds. Her mother walked over to her. "It's just... Well... that interview Anatis did..."
"B-But I didn't even do half of those things... I know I told the principle that Marinette had stolen off me but I really thought she had because of how she was treating me and because of what Chloe Bourgeois told me," Lila replied, making her mother frown as she took in her points. Seeing her chance to poison her mother's mind, she smirked a little. "It's not like Anatis is competent anyway..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he lost a miraculous which ended up in the hands of Chloe Bourgeois who used it to cause a crash and then was akumatized but he didn't take responsibility for his actions," She pointed out, noticing her mother had a thoughtful look. "I don't hate Anatis but he could at least own up to his mistakes instead of blaming someone else. After all, he blamed the Style Queen for it. I understand that Chloe is her daughter but none of that would have happened if he hadn't been careless..."
"You have a point, mia bella," Her mother replied, making Lila smirk a little. "And these akumas are concerning. I'll bring it up in the next embassy meeting. Ciao, mia bella. Your lunch is in the fridge. I'll try not to be home too late,"
She kissed her hand and walked off, failing to notice Lila's wicked smirk before she glared at her closed blinds. She turned on her heel and walked over to her laptop, logging back on. She went onto a news website and the ladyblogger, growling as she saw the recent video from Alya that was devoted to Anatis and the other heroes. It was showing a bunch of floating balloons that had the faces of the heroes on it. She growled as she saw the Anatis one and rolled her eyes at the Culpeo one. She was the better and the original fox. Volpina was the best and these were just second rate heroes compared to her, especially that pretender Anatis. He may pretend to be the kind hero that everyone loved but she knew the truth. He was a cruel and malice bully, who deserved to fall for calling her out. Sure, she lied but it wasn't hurting anyone and he didn't have to ruin her chances with Adrien. He would be hers by now and she would be worshiped by all of Paris as the true hero if it wasn't for that goody two shoes and his dumb sidekick, Lady Noir. She nearly had him at her mercy with that Marinette illusion but that stupid cat worked out it was an illusion. She didn't think it was possible to hate someone more then Marinette but that was before she met Anatis. At least, Marinette was easy to torment and it was child's play to get her expelled. Targeting Anatis wasn't going to be as easy. In fact, it would be the most challenging take down of her life, which is why she had prayed every night that Hawkmoth would choose her again. She longed to have her powers back and squash that nasty bug.
"Liar," She growled, flicking through different channels as she glared every moment. All of them showed something on Anatis and his pathetic team. They showed him stood next to the mayor, waving shyly at the cameras or standing with some little kids in Anatis themed merchandise. "Traitor! Coward!"
"In honor of the wonderful Anatis, who has saved my son, Adrien, and myself and who has relentlessly protected us everyday, I have financed this tribute to him and his team of heroes," Gabriel Agreste stated, causing Lila to stay on that channel as she stared at the screen. Gabriel moved his hands together and looked up at the camera. "Anatis is clearly a true hero... unlike false heroes such as Actis, Lady Copycat and Volpina!"
Lila gasped and threw her laptop against the wall in rage. How dare Anatis think he is better then her?!
"I hate you, Anatis!!" She screamed as she began to trash her room. She would give anything to be Volpina again right now. Then she could show Paris who Anatis really was. She would reveal him for the monster and fake he is. After all, he ruined everything for her and she was yet to have her revenge. She swiped her desk before sinking down to her knees before hugging them. "I hate you, you stupid bug!"
The sound of fluttering got her attention, causing her to look up and gasp in surprise as she saw an akuma right near her. It flew into her bracelet, causing it to turn dark as a connection with Hawkmoth formed. A wicked smile came across her face as she felt him inside her head.
"Volpina," He stated, making her grin even more.
"Hawkmoth,"
"Your dreams were once a reality until Anatis turned them into a nightmare," He declared as she stood up. "Reclaim your power of illusion and make this heroes day a nightmare for all Parisians,"
"With great pleasure, Hawkmoth," She declared, moving her arms up in front of her face before moving them to the side. The purple smog engulfed and transformed her into Volpina. She climbed out the window and jumped across the rooftops until she got to the Eiffel Tower. She jumped up and landed on top of it before stepping onto the fencing. She narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the city, happily celebrating their heroes. Noticing a helicopter near by, she smirked and listened to what the reporter was saying with her fox hearing.
"Look at these Parisians," The blonde reporter stated as they filmed live. Volpina's smirk increased. "So happy to be parading in honor of their heroes,"
"Well, that won't do," She stated as she narrowed her eyes. "That won't do at all,"
Smirking to herself, she took out her flute and placed it to her mouth as she envisioned the illusion she wanted. When it was clear in her mind, she played a tune on the flute, creating a ball of light at the bottom of it. She threw it towards the parade, causing a bright orange light to cover it. When it disappeared, there stood Lady Noir facing a very scary looking Anatis.
"Look, Mummy," A little girl stated, pointing to the balloons. "Annie looks weird,"
"Come on, sweetie," Her mother stated, kneeling next to her. "That's not Anatis... that's..."
She gasped as she looked over and saw Anatis and Lady Noir. Only her daughter was right. This Anatis didn't look like his normal self. Unlike the normal one, he had pure black hair and his skin was a little paler then usual. His outfit was reversed with red spots and sides on a black back ground instead of red background with black spots and sides. He also had long black gloves that showed off his hands, revealing his nails were black and his boots were completely black and styled like combat boots. His mask, yoyo and earrings were reversed as well, along with his boots but the bit that really sealed was the dark smirk on his lips and his eyes. His normally blue eyes were replaced with black scleras and crimson irises. Not only did he look terrifying but he wasn't standing with Lady Noir. He was fighting her. Luckily, the cat girl was giving it as good as she got but it was a scary sight.
"Anatis?!" She gasped, causing other people to look as he grabbed Lady Noir and threw her his shoulder, sending her flying across the Culpeo balloon. She managed to recover and landed on it, taking out her baton as Anatis let out an evil laugh that send shivers down the spine.
"Move out of the way everyone!" Lady Noir shouted, panic clear in her voice. "He's been akumatized!"
He jumped across to the balloon she was on and laughed again before looking at her with a psychotic grin.
"What's the matter, Kitten?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. She growled but didn't answer. "Cat got your tongue?"
"Annie, this isn't you!" She gasped, clearly not wanting to fight him. "You can fight this! You can fight against Hawkmoth!"
"Aww, such sweet words, kitten," He replied, playing with his yoyo. "But you didn't take one thing into account!"
He threw the yoyo at her, causing her to knock it back as he grinned.
"Oh and what's that?" She asked, charging at him.
"I don't want to!" He grinned back, jumping up and slamming his fist towards her. Luckily enough, she jumped out of the way before he could hit her, making him growl before he straightened up and narrowed his eyes. She narrows her back as he threw up his yoyo. "Dark Charm!"
"D-Dark Charm?" She gasped as he summoned a huge blade and grinned evilly at her. She gasped as he charged at her, trying to cut her into tiny pieces before she managed to grab the sword and threw it away from the scene, causing him to growl.
"You think that will stop me?!" He roared, trying to kick her and hit her. She dodged and blocked his attacks before he threw his yoyo at her. She managed to move her head but he brought it back and threw it again, causing her to move and jumped back as the helicopter filmed them. Distracted by the yoyo, she didn't see his foot coming until he kicked her, causing her to fall back. She landed on her feet and faced him as he spun the yoyo, walking towards her. She backed away as he smirked evilly. "It's over, Kitten. You know I can't be beaten so give me your miraculous!"
"Never!" She screamed, running away from him. He smirked evilly and ran at her, spinning his yoyo. She jumped up and he followed, clashing with her in the air. She intentionally got the upper hand but he headbutted her and hit her with his yoyo, sending her flying onto the Leatherback balloon as he landed on it. Blood was dripping down her chin as she weakly looked up at him.
"I'll tell you one more time," He started as everyone gasped, looking at them. "Give me your miraculous,"
"No," She growled, getting back up and taking a fighting stance. "If Hawkmoth wants a ring so badly, he can go to the jewelers like a normal person,"
"Now, now, Kitten," He scolded, glancing at her. "It's rude to deny a request from a friend of a friend. Clearly, I'm going have to teach you some manners,"
"We're not gonna be friends until you're deakumatized, Annie," She shouted back, causing him to growl and throwing his yoyo towards her. She caught it around her arm and held her hand to it. "Cataclysm!"
"I don't think so, Kitten," He growled, yanking her towards him and grabbing her hands, holding one behind her back and one in the air. She struggled against him as he moved his lips closer to her ear. "I've always wondered what would happen if your cataclysm was used on a person... let's find out, shall we?"
"No!" She cried out as he slammed her charged hand onto her chest, causing her to gasp as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her body appeared to turn to coal and disappeared into dust as the wind blew. He laughed and picked up the ring, holding it up as he looked at it as a purple mask appeared over his face.
"You've won, Hawkmoth. I have both the ring and the earrings!" He declared, making everyone panic before the mask disappeared. He held up his hands like a typical villain and laughed evilly. "Fear, people of Paris! Your heroes have fallen and there is no one left to save you!"
He let out a wicked laugh before swinging away, leaving devastation in his wake. Volpina smirked to herself as she grinned from the Eiffel tower. That when even better then she expected. A purple mask appeared around her eyes, making her smirk.
"My dear Volpina, you've performed your role very well for the time being," Hawkmoth declared as she smirked. "We will meet again, very soon,"
"I'll be waiting, Hawkmoth,"
~Hawkmoth's Lair~
"So much sadness! So much disappointment!" Hawkmoth declared as he looked up at the window. "I can feel the chasm of despair and fear able to open about to open and swallow up every single Parisian... my dear Volpina, you've performed your role very well for the time being. We will meet again, very soon,"
"I'll be waiting, Hawkmoth," She replied, causing him to call back the butterfly he used to grant her powers. With that one called back, he took another one and corrupted it before turning to Nathalie.
"Are you ready, Nathalie?" He asked as she walked over.
"They've been keeping you from achieving your dream for too long," She declared, looking up at him. "I will go to any length to end the reign of Anatis and Lady Noir,"
"Good," He declared, looking at her before he placed his hand on the tablet she was hold and lifted it up. He placed the akuma on it, causing it to enter the item and set up the psychic link before him and Nathalie. "Catalyst, you've always been my most loyal supporter. I give you the ability to boost powers,"
She nodded, transforming into a strange looking akuma. She had periwinkle skin and wore a black helmet with a red visor with black edges and a red spike pointing towards the back of her head, leaving her mouth exposed. She was also wearing a black dress suit. It had stiff shoulders, a dark red front and swan neck collar with red arrow-shaped sections in the center. The sleeves covered her entire arms, with the tips of her fingers fading into red. She also had pocket-like ridges on each side of her hips, and her pant legs came down to her feet, turning into red high-heels with red soles and tips. She took Hawkmoth's arm and placed her other hand over the top of his cane, infusing it with a crimson energy.
"Hawkmoth, I give you the power to release as many akumas as you desire," She declared as he looked at her. "From now on, you are the almighty scarlet moth,"
A red energy traveled up from his feet, transforming his outfit into a crimson version. He grinned as the transformation was complete. He took out his cane, spinning it before tapping multiple butterflies with it. Each one turned into a scarlet akuma, causing him to smirk even more before addressing them.
"Fly away my little akumas!" He declared, continuing to tap more butterflies with his cane. "Find the Parisians as they despair over Lady Noir and Anatis' final hour and evilize each and every one of them!"
He threw his arms out, causing the scarlet akumas to flutter out of the window and decent on Paris as he smirked at them. Once they had left, he turned to Catalyst.
"Stand here while I head to the Eiffel tower," He ordered, getting a nod of her before he dropped his transformation and left as Gabriel Agreste. It would be much easier to get to the tower as Gabriel Agreste then as Hawkmoth after all.
~At the Bakery~
"You ok?" Marinette asked, causing Luka to look up from his phone. "You keep looking at your phone... Am I boring you?"
"Oh, no!" He gasped, shaking his head. "I was just keeping an eye on time so we're not late for the rest of school,"
"Ah, ok," She smiled a little as she cleared up their lunches. They had disposed of the burnt macarons as well. "What time is it anyway?"
"Nearly time to head back actually," He replied, getting up. "Shall we head back to school? I've got double art,"
"Lucky you," She huffed, grabbing her bag and walking with him into the bakery. "I have double maths,"
"Ouch," He replied as they waved to her parents. Sabine gave him a grateful smile and a thumbs up before grabbing something for Tom as they left. Almost as soon as they stepped out of the bakery, Luka was hit with an intense amount of fear and despair that it actually caused him to stumble back and grip his head in pain, causing Marinette to look at him with worry.
"Luka?" She gasped, moving over to him. "What's wrong?"
"I.. I don't know... I just... never mind..." He muttered, looking to the side. While she knew he was a musical empath, she didn't actually know how deep his empathic abilities went. Most people would think that the music is his empathy but they are far from it. The music is simply how he projects it into the world but it's not the ability itself. For him, the feelings that he plays, he actually feels them as if they are his own. He can feel other's pain and symptoms when they are sick or their sorrow when they are down. Music was an outlet for him as it can become too much to have everyone's feelings as well as your own. It especially helps with the whole akuma thing. Marinette gently took his hand, making him look at her.
"You can tell me," She smiled, making him look at her before nodding.
"The world sounds different," He replied, making her frown. "Like this morning, the song of Paris was glorious this morning. Everyone's hearts were singing happily at their fullest,"
"And it's changed?" She asked, making him nod. "To what?"
"It's fear..." He muttered, making her frown. "Something isn't right..."
Before she could question him any farther, he grabbed her hand and ran as fast as he could to the school. As soon as they walked through the door, Marinette realized he was right. Everyone was in the courtyard but they were completely silent and looking at their phones with horrified expressions. Marinette looked at Luka before the two of them rushed over to Juleka, Rose and Mylene.
"What's going on?" Marinette asked, causing Rose to look up at her before she showed them a news broadcast on her phone.
"Lady Noir defeated," Nadja Chamack stated, looking heartbroken. "Anatis in the clutches of the terrible Hawkmoth! This is Paris' worst nightmare!"
"What?!" Marinette gasped as Luka frowned deeply. "I... I don't understand..."
"A-Anatis was akumatized..." Mylene sniffed, making her frown deeply. "Lady Noir tried to stop him but he used her cataclysm on her..."
"No..." Luka gasped, looking what the girls mistaken for distraught as they nodded. Marinette covered her mouth as Jagged Stone appeared on the video.
"Anatis defeated?" He gasped, playing a sad song on his guitar as Clara Nightingale looked heartbroken. "Nothing will ever be rock and roll again!"
"We'll have to cancel the concert?!" She gasped, causing him to play his hand on his head dramatically and pull her in for a hug.
"You're right, Clara," Nadja gasped, sadly. "There's no sense in celebrating Heroes Day either,"
She closed her eyes sadly as Luka frowned and Marinette looked afraid before she turned to him.
"You were right..." She gasped but the sound of screams came from the video, causing them both to look back as the camera turned, showing red butterflies fluttering towards everyone. Clara and Jagged ran away from them as Nadja attempted to swat them but then one of them went into her mic and engulfed her arm with a red energy, causing her to fall back before the video briefly cut off. Marinette looked at Luka, who was frowning deeply.
"Akumas?" She asked, frowning.
"Red ones..." He muttered as the video went back online. This time showing Prime Queen.
"Dear viewers, what does makes sense is getting ready for the coming of..." She declared, gesturing to the side as Guitar Villain rose up, causing Luka to grit his teeth a little.
"Our New Lead Rockstar..." He stated, playing his guitar as Frighteningale spun onto the screen.
"Scarlet Moth!!" She sang, making both Marinette and Luka gasp. Literally as hundreds of Scarlet Akumas fluttered over the school. One of them aimed for Marinette but Luka grabbed her and pulled her to him, glaring at it and daring Hawkmoth to come at him. He would keep his promise and hunt him down. The butterfly seemed to know what he intended as it fluttered away from him, causing Marinette to look up at Luka with awe as students and teachers began to get akumatized as they panicked. One flew over to Mylene, turning her into Horrificator. Ivan backed away as one came towards him but Luka ran over and pulled him away from it as a number fluttered over to Juleka and Rose, who were backing away from them. Adrien and Kagami backed away and ran from the school as fast as they could. He didn't blame them.
"T-This is bad..." Juleka gasped as she and Rose backed away from some. "R-Real bad... Aah!"
"Juleka!" Luka gasped, causing one to come at him again.
"Don't let fear get a hold of you, Juleka!" Marinette called out, causing his heart to flutter. The akuma stopped, confused about his conflicting emotions and giving him a chance to came down. He took a deep breathe before glancing at his sister and Rose.
"Marinette's right!" He shouted. "Don't let fear control you, Jules!"
"Remember, there's a hero in everyone of us!" Miss Bustier added in as they moved in closer to people.
"As long as we show we aren't scared! Hoo, hoo!" Mr Damocles added in as Nino ran past. Almost instantly, he got turned into the Bubbler, causing Alya to cry out before she turned into Lady Wifi. Luka frowned as more people panicked, creating more fear. He climbed onto a bench and looked around before he placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, getting everyone's attention.
"Everyone, listen!" He shouted, making people look at him in surprise. "We can beat this because they are nothing but stupid little butterflies and we are Parisians and we do not go down without a fight! Jules, you are not easily scared! And Rose, thinking of pink and fluffy kittens!"
Juleka took a deep breathe and began to calm herself down, glaring at the akumas at it.
"That's it!" He grinned. "Don't let fear get the better of you,"
Rose nodded and took a deep breathe too, glaring at the butterflies as well. Luka jumped down as Dark Cupid swooped down, terrorizing a few people and allowing them to turn into akumas. Marinette was helping a few people escape as Luka rushed over to her, along with the others.
"We can't stand here," She pointed out, making him nod. "Or we'll end up been akumatized,"
"It might sound crazy but we need to split up and find a safe hiding place in the school," He points out, making everyone nod and split. He rushed over to the boys bathroom and opened his jacket, causing Tikki to fly out.
"This is bad!" She gasped, causing him to nod.
"There's too many to fight at once. We need to see Master Fu right away," He muttered before transforming into Anatis. He slipped out of the bathroom and made his way to the roof, keeping low as he saw the akumas. They were leaving the school, making him let out a sigh of relief but he did wonder where they were going. He had a feeling he would find out but he needed to get to Master Fu's. He jumped off and swung off, landing on the rooftop. He swung down to the ally but stopped as he felt like he was been followed. He glanced around but saw nothing. However, he didn't go to Master Fu's shop. Instead he opened a manhole and headed down there. He moved around the corner and frowned as the manhole was opened and closed again. He narrowed his eyes as Vanisher moved down and threw is yoyo at her but to his surprise, she dodged it and charged at him, knocking him back. She dived at him but a baton knocked her back, causing her to dodge. Taking the chance, he got his feet and grabbed her glasses, breaking them before catching the butterfly and purifying it as Vanisher turned back into Sabrina. He let it go as Lady Noir grabbed her baton and rushed over to him.
"Annie!" She gasped, hugging him. He hugged back. "God, I was so worried when I didn't see you on the roofs,"
"I'm sorry, Kitten," He gasped before glancing to Sabrina, who was confused. "I had a tail to get rid off,"
The two of them looked at her before Lady Noir let go and Anatis walked over to her. She gasped and backed up a little, causing him to frown but he knelt down in front of her as Lady Noir walked over. Sabrina gasped and looked at her in surprise.
"Lady Noir? You're alive?!" She gasped, making both heroes frown before she looked at Anatis. "And you're not akumatized?!"
"Akumatized?" He asked, making her nod before looking at Lady Noir.
"Y-Yeah, everyone saw it on the news!" She gasped, making him frown even more. "You were akumatized and you killed Lady Noir... but it wasn't real because she's here right now and you're you... you are you, right?"
"Yes, Sabrina," He smiled, causing her to hug him.
"I'm so glad!" She gasped, tears rolling down her face. "It was just..."
"An illusion," Lady Noir muttered before Sabrina jumped on her. "Whoa!"
"An illusion..." Anatis muttered, standing up before his eyes widen. "Volpina!"
He turned Sabrina, who had let go of Lady Noir.
"Sabrina, head back to the school. It's probably the safest place right now," He stated, making her nod as he walked over to Lady Noir and began climbing up after her.
"I will do, Anatis!" She grabbed. "And when I get there, I'm gonna tell everyone not to lose hope, cause the real Anatis and Lady Noir are still going strong!"
"Well, it is heroes day after all," Lady Noir grinned as she opened the manhole.
"And we wouldn't miss it for the world," Anatis continued before the two of them climbed out of the sewer and ran to Master Fu's shop. Checking that no one was around, they headed inside and knocked on the door. Master Fu answered it, looking afraid.
"I always knew that Hawkmoth would one day realize how powerful he could be," He muttered, letting them in. "That day has come,"
He walked over to the phonograph and took out of the miracle box, placing it in front of the two heroes and opening it.
"Anatis... Lady Noir... you must pick an ally you can trust to fight along side you this mission," He stated as the draws popped open. Anatis reached for them as he looked at him, working out some sort of plan. "Once the mission is over, you will get the miraculous back from them and return it to me,"
Anatis nodded and looked around at the miraculous. He honestly didn't know what to expect. Lady Noir leaned near him.
"Take them all, Annie," She whispered, making him look at her. "They're need to be as many of us as possible..."
"No, Kitten. In this case, less is more," He stated, surprising her. "We don't have time to find new holders and explain everything again. We need allies who already know what they're doing,"
He grabbed the bee, the fox, the dragon and the snake before looking up at Master and gesturing to his bracelet.
"May I, Master?" He asked, causing Master Fu to take off the bracelet and handed it to him. "Hawkmoth wants miraculous and that's exactly what he's gonna get,"
"You got a plan?" Lady Noir asked, leaning on her baton as Anatis took out his yoyo and checked something before she walked over to the draw with the little boxes in. She grabbed enough for the miraculous as he walked over to her.
"The akumas are all heading to one place," He stated, showing her. "The Eiffel Tower... we're gonna head there too... as soon as we have help that is,"
"Calling in the cavalry?" She grinned as he placed the miraculous in the boxes. He put the fox, the bee and the turtle in his yoyo before handing the snake and the dragon to her. She took them and put them in her pocket.
"Once you've collected Ryuko and Aspik, head to the Palais de Chaillot," He stated, getting a nod of her as he walked over to the window. She moved over and quickly gave him a kiss on his cheek, making him blush before he saluted her and dived out of the window. He landed on another building and saw Lady Noir heading to the neighborhood where Kagami lived. He smiled a little before diving off that building and swinging through the city. He landed on the school building and jumped down into the courtyard before looking for Ivan, Rose and Juleka. He found Juleka and Rose in one of the locker rooms, trying their best to fend off scarlet akumas. Juleka was holding Rose and gently talking to her while trying to keep her own emotions under control but he could tell they weren't going to last much longer. Just as two akumas fluttered towards them, he burst through and caught them with his yoyo, causing both girls to look up and gasp. "I don't think so,"
"A-Anatis?!" Rose gasped as he let the two purified butterflies go. Juleka stared speechless as Rose began to cry tears of joy. "It's really you?!"
"Yes," He smiled, causing her to hug him. He gently hugged her back as Juleka walked over before sighing. "I'm really sorry for what I'm about to do. I know that I'm able to reveal your secret identities but I haven't got time to find excuses to give them you separately,"
He took out two of the boxes from his yoyo.
"Culpeo and Abeille," He stated, holding them up to them. "I need you both,"
"You're Culpeo?!" Rose gasped with massive eyes as she held her face, causing Juleka to blush as she took her box. "So cool!!"
"And you're Abeille?" She asked back as Rose nodded with enthusiasm as she grabbed her box. "Awesome,"
"Why didn't you tell me though?" Rose asked as Juleka opened the box and allowed Trixx to manifest.
"It was suppose to be a secret, right?" Trixx grinned as Juleka put on the necklace.
"Trixx, let's pounce," She mumbled before swiping her necklace as Trixx got sucked into it. She swiped her hand over her eyes, creating her mask before holding out her arms as the orange energy spreaded over them and her body, creating her outfit. She swiped her hands over her hair, creating her ears and changing it to orange and black before swiping her hands down her back, creating her tails. An orange light appeared on her back, creating her flute and completely the transformation. Rose squealed in pure excitement as Culpeo nodded at Anatis. "Ready when you are, Boss,"
"Good," He smiled before looking at Rose, who nodded and opened her box. Pollen manifested and bowed to her.
"Greetings, my queen," She smiled, making Rose smile. "It is good to see you again,"
"Same here, Pollen," She replied before fixing the comb into her hair before holding her hand up. "Pollen, Buzz on!"
She threw her head back as her hair turned honey blonde and black strips appeared in it before holding up her arms as a golden light traveled up her body from her feet, creating her suit before the second light appeared, giving her gloves and adding the black detail to her suit. She swiped her hand across her face, creating her mask as her transformation completely.
"Let's go kick some akuma butt!" She declared, causing Culpeo to giggle and Anatis to shake his head.
"Head to Palais de Chaillot but stay low," He ordered, making them nod. "Lady Noir is collecting Ryuko and Aspik and I need to find Leatherback. I'll meet you there as soon as I've got him... be safe,"
"You too, Anatis," Culpeo nodded before taking Abeille's hand and leaving through the window. Anatis turned on his heel and left the locker room.
"Now if I was Ivan, where would I hide?" He muttered to himself before clicking his fingers. "Of course,"
He ran to the music room and looked inside before opening the door and looking around. He found Ivan hiding under the table as best as he could as he hugged his knees but as soon as he saw Anatis, he jumped up.
"Is it really you?!" He gasped, making Anatis nod. He lifted him off the floor as he crushed him in a hug before putting him down. "I'm so glad you were deakumatized.... but Lady Noir..."
"Is alive and kicking," Anatis grinned, making Ivan look at him in surprise. "And I was never akumatized. It was just a cruel illusion, engineered by Hawkmoth and excused by Volpina, to create mass panic and sorrow,"
"That's awful," Ivan gasped, looking disgusted. "Mylene was re-akumatized... I would have been too if my pal Luka hadn't helped me... you know you should consider him for a miraculous. He's really brave,"
"I'm sure he is but right now, we need to focus on the task at hand," Anatis replied, trying not to give away how happy he was that Ivan saw him as brave. He took out the last miraculous box. "I need Leatherback's help. You up for it?"
"You bet ya, Anatis," Ivan grinned, taking the box and open it. "Sup, Wayzz,"
The two of them did a secret handshake before Ivan slipped on the bracelet.
"Wayzz, shell on," He declared, causing Wayzz to be sucked into the bracelet before stomping his feet on the ground and pushing his arms out, causing a green energy to creating his outfit. The green energy burst from the center off his chest, creating his emblem that resembled a turtle's shell attached to a harness. The energy traveled down his arms, leaving a gray strip in it's place before causing green spikes to burst from his gloves before he pulled down a pair of goggles over his eyes as the blonde tuff of his hair turned a forest green, completing his transformation. "Alright, Boss, what's the plan?"
"We're heading to Palais de Chaillot," Anatis declared before the two of them ran out of the music room and jumped up to the roof, heading to the Palais de Chaillot.
~Meanwhile~
Lady Noir jumped across the roofs until she came to Kagami's house. She dived down into the garden as Kagami practiced her fencing. She stopped as soon as Lady Noir landed in the garden and rushed over to her.
"You're alive?!" She gasped, causing Lady Noir to nod. "And Anatis? Is he... still akumatized?"
"No, he never was," Lady Noir explained, making Kagami frown deeply. "It was an illusion,"
"An illusion?" She asked, frowning deeply. "That was an extremely cruel one,"
"Indeed but part of Hawkmoth's plan," She replied, reaching into her pocket and taking out a box. "Which is why we have a plan. You in?"
"Of course," Kagami grinned before taking the box from Lady Noir and opening it, causing Longg to manifest. "I'm honored to see you again, Longg-sama,"
"The honor is mine, Kagami-san," He replied, nodding and making her smile as she put on the choker. "We shall accomplish great things together.
"Indeed," She replied before holding her arms out. "Longg, bring the storm!"
Longg got sucked in her choker. She held her fingers in the peace sign and moved them across her eyes, creating her mask. She threw up her left hand, creating a dark light that created her glove. It traveled down her arm and body, creating her outfit as she held out her other arm. She held her head up as a golden light covered her hair, creating her horns before the same golden light created her sword on her back and the tail detail on her suit, completely her transformation.
"Alright, let's go find Adrien," Lady Noir grinned.
"I believe he should be at home with his bodyguard," Ryuko stated, getting a nod of Lady Noir. "As soon as the red akumas hit, we escaped. Both of our parents have been akumatized and we wanted to make sure they were ok,"
"Understandable," She nodded as they jumped across roofs, coming to Agreste Manor. Lady Noir held out her hand, causing Ryuko to stop. Adrien was there in his room but he was been guarded by Gorizilla. The two girls dived off the roof towards them. With Ryuko keeping Gorizilla busy, Lady Noir grabbed Adrien and jumped to the roof with him, placing him down before joining Ryuko and breaking his akumatized object before grabbing a jar and capturing it in a jar. The two girls jumped back on the roof as Adrien started at them.
"Lady Noir! You're alive!!" He gasped with relief. "And Anatis?"
"Not akumatized and never was," She smiled before she handed her the akuma jar to Ryuko and took out the snake miraculous, holding it out to Adrien. "Annie needs help. You in?"
"Anything for my friends," He replied, taking it and opening. Sass manifested and nodded to him as he slipped on the bracelet. "Sass! Scales slither!"
He held up his hand as Sass got sucked into the bracelet. He moved his hands over his face, creating his mask and giving his hair green streaks. The teal green energy moved down his body creating his outfit before a ball of teal light turned into his lyre. He grabbed it and placed it on his back, completing his transformation.
"So what's the plan?" He asked, looking at the girls.
"We're meeting Annie at the Palais de Chaillot," Lady Noir replied, spinning her baton. "Shall we go?"
Ryuko and Aspik nodded before the three of them jumped off the building and headed to the Palais de Chaillot. They ran across the buildings until they came to the Palais de Chaillot and jumped on it. Lady Noir grinned as Culpeo and Abeille was already there. Abeille was gently leaning on her and Culpeo was patting the bee's head, making Lady Noir smile. They were very cute together.
"Hey, foxy," Lady Noir grinned, causing Culpeo to gasp and look up. "How's it going?"
"Lady Noir," She gasped as Abeille looked up as well. "I'm really glad to see you're ok. Anatis told us it was a trick but still,"
"I get ya," She nodded, looking around. "Where is my handsome partner?"
"Getting Leatherback," Abeille replied, smiling as they moved over to the edge of the building and looking at the akumas. Lady Noir frowned a little as she looked at them but they didn't seem to be planning anything, just waiting. She wondered why. "They've just been stood there for about 15 minutes,"
"Strange," She muttered as she heard the sound of a yoyo. She turned around as Anatis landed on the building with Leatherback. "Hey, Turtle, good to see you again,"
"Lady Noir!" He grinned, hugging her as Anatis smirked. "I'm glad you're alive!"
He put her down as Ryuko threw the glass jar at Anatis. He caught it and looked at it before he opened it and caught the akuma before releasing the now purified butterfly before he signaled for all of them to moved over to the edge and hide as he looked down at the akumas. He narrowed his eyes as it reminded him off Princess Justice's reign but it appeared that she wasn't here. However, almost every akuma that ever was had turned up yet they weren't running wild like they did with Princess Justice. They were just stood there. Lady Noir moved over to him.
"So what are they doing?" She asked in a hushed voice.
"They're waiting," He muttered back, making everyone frown as they moved a bit closer to him.
"For what?" Aspik asked as an extra person jumped onto the Eiffel tower, causing Anatis to narrow his eyes and clutch his fist a little. The rest of them gasp in shock as they stared at the person. "Is that-"
"Hawkmoth," Anatis stated, causing his mini army to look at him. "In the flesh,"
They watched as Prime Queen sent up one of her flying camera, causing Hawkmoth to look at it.
"Anatis! Lady Noir! Behold my powerful army!" He shouted, gesturing to the akumas. "And have no doubt that today belongs to Scarlet Moth!"
"Not for long," Anatis muttered, glaring at him.
"He better not get too cocky or I'll slam my shield into his face," Leatherback grinned as Aspik smirked.
"It's only like ten villains to everyone of us," He grinned in a chilled back way. "Who wants Hawkmoth? How about we rock, paper or scissors for him?"
"No need for that game, danger noodle," Ryuko smirked, holding her sword. "For he shall taste my blade,"
"I'll protect you no matter what, Culpeo," Abeille gasped, determined.
"No, I'll protect you," Culpeo gasped as Lady Noir leaned next to Anatis as they both glared at Hawkmoth and his Scarlet army.
"So what's the plan, Annie?" Lady Noir asked as Anatis narrowed his eyes. The akumas had started to chant 'hail, scarlet moth' repeatedly, causing Anatis to frown even more as questions popped into his head. Scarlet Moth held up his arm, silencing his akumas. He smirked as Prime Queen's cameras focused on him before addressing them.
"Anatis! Lady Noir! I can feel your close present," He stated, smirking as he brought down his arm before lifting his other into a fist shape. "If you want to save Paris and all it's people, I'll give you one last chance!"
He threw out of his hand dramatically.
"Give yourselves up and bring me your miraculous!" He shouted as Anatis watched with a worried expression. Lady Noir moved a little closer to him and gently placed her hand on his arm, causing him to flinch a little before looking at her and his team.
"Annie?" She asked as he looked back over. "Want to share what's on your mind?"
He frowned before sighing a little.
"It's like he's been preparing for this for a long time...." He sighed, making his team frown as he glanced at them. "But we... we're not prepared for this..."
"Yes, we are," Lady Noir stated, making him look at her in surprise. "We've faced all of these akumas before... this is just like Princess Justice's reign but on a slightly grander scale. Only this time, you're not alone. There's seven of us this time,"
"Yeah, Hawkmoth doesn't stand a chance," Aspik grinned as the rest of the team nodded. Anatis looked at them all, seeing nothing but determination in their eyes.
"Alright but if we're gonna do this, we have to have a plan," He muttered, glancing back over to Hawkmoth and his army. "If we want to win, we have to fight Hawkmoth even though we've never fought him before,"
The team nodded as Anatis stood up and climbed onto the edge of the building.
"Hawkmoth!" He yelled, getting the villain's attention. "I hope you liked Volpina's illusion... because me and my team will never hand over our miraculous!"
"And we've got a better idea!" Lady Noir shouted, joining him before she pointed at Hawkmoth. "You're gonna give us your miraculous!"
Culpeo, Abeille and Leatherback stood next to them, on Anatis' side.
"You may have an entire army of akumatized warriors!" Leatherback shouted, clicking his hands.
"But we're a team of heroes!" Abeille added in, taking out her spintop.
"And we're gonna kick ass..." Culpeo added in, albeit quieter then the rest. Ryuko and Aspik jumped up and stood next to Lady Noir.
"So bring it, old man!" Aspik shouted, making Hawkmoth frown a little.
"We're ready for a fight!" Ryuko added, smirking before tilting her head. "Are you?"
The seven of them took their fighting stance, making Hawkmoth laugh.
"I understand you want a fight," He stated, smirking. "Then so be it. Guitar Villain, Frighteningale.... Music!"
The two musical villains began to sing and play as some of the scarlet army charged towards the heroes. Anatis nodded and jumped down with his team, charging towards them. They could hear Prime Queen narrating the fight as they ran towards them. Anatis narrowed his eyes as he couldn't see her around. He could see Lady Wifi, Pharaoh, Mime, Timebreaker, Style Queen, Troublemaker and Desperada running towards them on the ground while Bubbler, Stormy Weather, Reverser, Sandboy and the Puppeteer flew towards them. Rogercop and Malediktator stood at the back, along with the giants.
"Don't forget our main object!" Anatis yelled towards the others. "We want to get to Hawkmoth!"
"Well then let's go for the big, bad boss," Lady Noir grinned, getting a nod of Ryuko and Aspik as Stormy Weather lifted her parasol towards the sky.
"Cyclone!" She shouted, creating a whirl wind that lifted up Desperada, Trouble Maker and the Mime.
"Horus, give me your wings!" The Pharaoh shouted as his head transformed. He flew down towards Lady Wifi and picked her up. Timebreaker smirked and sped up on her skates as Style Queen turned into glitter. Stormy Weather directed her parasol towards Anatis, shouting Thunderbolt as she did.
"Leatherback, shield!" He shouted, causing Leatherback to throw it as a bolt of lightning headed towards him. It blocked it, causing Stormy Weather to growl and pull back her parasol. The wind disappeared, allowing the akumas to fall. Desperada went to hit Anatis but he jumped back as Ryuko ran over and held out her sword as Mime and Troublemaker landed behind her. Mime mimicked a sword while Troublemaker clicked her pen before the three of them charged towards them. "Your weapons are no match for Ryuko's sword. Show them what you've got,"
"Lightning Dragon!" She shouted, transforming into a bolt before repeatedly attacking the three akuma, keeping them busy as Anatis dived back as Lady Wifi fired at him. Leatherback jumped in front of him and blocked her attacks.
"Abeille! Pharaoh's pendent!" He shouted, causing Abeille to throw her spintop and break it. Pharaoh transformed back into Jalil Kubdel, causing him to drop Lady Wifi. Anatis captured the butterfly as Lady Wifi threw a symbol and landed on it, flying upwards. However, Jalil was still falling. "Culpeo! Rescue!"
"Good aim, mon cherie," She smiled as she slid and caught Jalil before turning around and throwing her flute at Lady Wifi's phone and turning her back into Alya. Abeille jumped and caught her as Anatis captured her butterfly too. Bubbler dived towards Ryuko as she blocked Mime's invisible sword. Lady Noir jumped over to her and used her baton to pop the bubbles he created as Apsik slammed his lyre into Desperada, which caused her to fall onto Troublemaker, who was attempting to fight Leatherback. Unfortunately for her, she clicked her pen at the wrong time which allowed Desperada to knock her down. In turn, she dropped the pen, allowing Leatherback to break it as Apsik grabbed Desperada's guitar back and slammed it into the ground, breaking. Anatis captured the freed akumas as Lady Noir blocked Bubbler's sword with her baton. She grinned and stomped on his foot before grabbing him and throwing him towards the mime, who was too distracted by Ryuko to notice Bubbler flying at him. Both villains fell to the ground, causing Mime's hat to fall off. Ryuko impaled it as Lady Noir jumped and landed a kick at Bubbler's sword, crushing it. Anatis captured those butterflies next before jumping back as Stormy Weather started to fire at him. He caught Timebreaker skating towards him, causing him to backflip and throwing his yoyo, destroying her skates as Lady Noir extended her baton, allowing Abeille to balance on it as Stormy Weather fired a bolt towards Anatis again. She threw the Bee heroine towards the weather witch, who used her parasol to protect herself. Abeille brought her leg down on it, breaking it and freeing the akuma. Lady Noir dived and caught Aurora as Anatis caught the loose akumas. Leatherback and Culpeo ran towards Rogercop, using Leatherback's shield to protect them from been hit. Culpeo threw her flute over Leatherback, causing Rogercop to dodge it but Anatis broke his whistle while he was distracted, capturing that akuma too. He jumped back as Style Queen went to slam her staff at him. Lady Noir dived at her and began to fight her as Ryuko ran towards Leatherback, who held out his shield. She jumped on it, causing him to throw her into the air and towards Reverser. She cut his plane and caught Marc before dodging Sandboy's attack. Aspik jumped over them and threw his lyre at Sandboy's pillow, ripping it. He caught his Lyre and the little boy who fell to the ground. Anatis caught their akumas as Lady Noir wrestled with Style Queen. He jumped over them and threw his yoyo, breaking her rose and capturing that akuma.
"By the power invested in me, I declare your miraculous are mine," Malediktator shouted, throwing balls of light at them as Puppeteer charged towards them. Since she didn't have her dolls with her, they couldn't be used in battle but it appeared she could control people she hit with her wand as she got Alya to try and attack Lady Noir.
"I'm sorry!" Alya gasped as she tried to punch the heroine, allowing Malediktator to fire a ball of light towards her. Anatis jumped over and blocked it as Leatherback threw his shield at Malediktator, who knocking him back. Abeille jumped at him and grabbed his sash, tearing it and freeing the akuma as Leatherback grabbed his shield and held it up again. This time, Abeille ran and jumped onto it, flying towards Puppeteer. She wrapped her spintop around her wand and pulled it from her hands, snapping it when she caught it. Manon flew from the sky but Leatherback caught her and put her down as Anatis caught the rest of the lose akumas. Lady Noir pushed Alya towards the other civilians.
"Your days of attacking innocent people will soon be over, Hawkmoth!" Anatis declared, throwing up his yoyo. "Lucky charm!"
He frowned as he caught a tennis racket before he glanced around, working out what to do with it. His luck vision lit up a canal boat, a lamp post then finally his team as a plan came into his mind. He smirked before nodding to his team.
"Get ready," He stated, turning to the akumas. "I'm gonna need all of you,"
The team nodded but before they could do anything, the sound of arrows been fired caught their attention. The people they rescued suddenly turned angry and aggressive, showing off black stained lips as they glared at the heroes. Anatis' eyes widen as Hawkmoth released and handful of akumas that turned them all back into their akumatized selves, causing Anatis and his team to go the defense. Lady Noir glanced up at the sky before gasping.
"Hawkmoth is using Dark Cupid to create all the negative emotions he needs!" She gasped as Dark Cupid flew up into the sky and aimed his arrows at Anatis, causing him to jump out the way and the fight to start up again. Ryuko was fighting against the Mime while Aspik was up against the Bubbler . Culpeo and Abeille were going against Style Queen and Malediktator as Leatherback was trying to fight off the Pharaoh and Troublemaker. Anatis was blocking Desperada's attacks while Lady Noir was fighting Lady Wifi, all while Dark Cupid led the air bound villains in an assault on the team.
"This is a nightmare!" Aspik called out as he dodged an attack from Reverser and hit Bubbler with his lyre before grabbing it and kicking the mime as Ryuko cartwheeled away from Stormy Weather's attack.
"Stay focus!" Anatis shouted as he jumped down and tripped up Desperada before blocking an arrow aimed at Leatherback. "We can't let them win,"
"Fall on them like rain, my scarlet akumas!" Hawkmoth shouted, causing Anatis to look at him as he thrust his cane into the air. A huge swarm of Scarlet akumas fluttered up from behind him, causing Anatis' eyes to widen in horror.
"Oh no," He gasped as they fluttered towards them. He turned to his team as they continued to fight. "Watch out!"
Lady Noir gasped as she looked over before pushing back Lady Wifi and landing a kick on her, sending her flying. Lady Wifi smirked at her as Puppeteer and Sandboy flew down towards her, shooting at her. She jumped back as Aspik fought with the Pharaoh, who managed to knock away his lute and grab his arms. Aspik managed to get free and kicked him back, glaring at him.
"Aspik! Watch out!" Ryuko called out, causing him to look behind as Dark Cupid fired an arrow at him. His eyes widen as she dived in front of him, taking the arrow. He caught as she fell and gasped as her lips turned black. She shoved him back and glared at him. "Keep your hands off me, you snake!"
"Ryuko..." He gasped as an akuma fluttered towards her. Anatis caught it before it could hit her.
"Ryuko! Don't let any negative emotions over take you or you'll get akumatized too!" He shouted, blocking Rogercop's attack as she sunk down, trying her best to fight it as she held her arms. "That's what Hawkmoth wants,"
"It's going to be ok, Ryuko," Aspik gasped, moving closer to her and causing her to look up.
"Coward," She growled before trying to attack him. "You're not worthy enough to be a hero!"
He grabbed her and restrained her as she struggled against him. One of the akumas tried to take advantage of the situation but Abeille dived over and blocked out the attack as Culpeo fought against the mime. Style Queen and Malediktator began to attack Abeille, causing her to move away from them. Ryuko slammed her fist into Aspik's rib and threw him over her shoulder before opening her arms and allowing an akuma to flutter into her choke.
"I am now... Okami!!" She declared, turning into a scarlet version of her self as Apsik looked up at her in horror and fear. Almost instantly, an akuma flew into his bracelet, covering him in a red smog as Anatis looked over.
"Apsik!" He shouted before blocking an attack from Pharaoh.
"There is no more Aspik," He declared as the smog disappeared, showing a scarlet version of him. "There is only Aapep!"
He then dived at Anatis, causing him to jump back as he slammed his fist into his ground. Leatherback threw his shield at him but Aapep dodged it as Okami charged at him. Abeille dived out of the way but Despair Bear jumped at her and forced her to stop. Culpeo jumped and landed in front of her, spinning her flute to deflect Dark Cupid's arrow but Lady Wifi threw a pause icon at her, trapping her too. Dark Cupid fired two arrows, hitting her and Abeille then akumas landed in their miraculous.
"Culpeo! Abeille!" Anatis called out, getting knocked back by Pharaoh. He kicked him back as they turned into scarlet akumas.
"Culpeo is no more, pest!" She growled, charging at him and trying to fight him. "Only Void Fox exists!"
He blocked her attack as she tried to attack him relentlessly. He managed to kick her back and jumped away but the akumatized Abeille jumped at him, trying to sting him with her now unlimited venom.
"Stay still, cockroach!" She growled as he back flipped away. "Frelona orders you to!"
Malediktator smirked and held up his fingers to his mouth.
"By the power invested in me, I order to stand still," He declared, throwing it towards Anatis. However, Leatherback pushed him out of the way and took the hit, allowing Dark Cupid to fire an arrow at him and a scarlet akuma to fly into his bracelet.
"Leatherback..." Anatis gasped before jumping out of the way as the newly villain threw his shield at him.
"Don't call me that!" He growled, catching it. "I'm Tortue Serpentine now!"
"Annie!" Lady Noir gasped as a number of akumas dived at her. She fought them off as Anatis blocked and dodged the attacks aimed at him. "Now would be a great time to use that lucky charm!"
"I need all o us for it to work!" He called out, rolling out of the way of Frelona as she tried to sting him again and block several attacks with his yoyo. "I can't do anything with it now,"
He jumped over and landed next to her, holding up his fists as she held up her baton. All of the akumas began to move in on them, causing both heroes to try and look for a point of escape. However, there wasn't one. The two of them blocked the attacks as best as they could but they really needed to get out of there.
"How are we gonna get out of this?!" Lady Noir gasped as she blocked another attack. Aapep managed to get pass their defenses and dived at Lady Noir but Anatis grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back, in cased he had already activated his second chance. Anatis nodded at Lady Noir, who threw up her hand and summoned her cataclysm before slamming her fist into the ground. Anatis threw Aapep away from him as the ground cracked beneath them and gave away, causing the two heroes to fall into the sewers. Wasting no time, they swam away from the scene and climbed out of the water. Anatis helped Lady Noir out of the water before the two of them took off. Judging by the fact that they were still running and hadn't been ambushed, Aapep hadn't activated his second chance. They ran as fast as they could, heading deeper into the sewers as they did. Anatis frowned as his earrings beeped before glancing at Lady Noir.
"I'm about to transform back," He declared as they saw forked tunnels up ahead with a wall between them. "I'll take the side of the left, you take the right,"
"Kay!" She nodded, jumping across to her side. He jumped across to the other side and sighed as his transformation dropped. He caught Tikki and took out a macaron for her. She happily took it as he heard Lady Noir call off her transformation and give Plagg some cheese. "Enjoy it but don't take too long,"
"Let's share it," Plagg replied as Tikki suggested the same thing with her macaron. Both holders thanked their kwamis before eating their halves.
"You ok, Annie?" Marinette asked, causing Luka to sigh.
"Hawkmoth has never akumatized so many people in one go. The amount of akumas was... worrying to say the least and he looked different..." He frowned, thinking about it. He called the akumas scarlet akumas and he was referring to himself as Scarlet akumas. Not just that but the amount of them was well in the hundreds. "Something's changed,"
"He must have worked out how to boost his powers," She sighed, thinking. "Just like we did. Though I don't think he did it with magical food or potions.... Annie?"
"Do you still think we can win?" He asked, making her frown a little. He sounded small and so unsure of himself. Despite the fact that she couldn't see him, she knew he was holding his arms and looking down. She placed her hand on the wall as he let out a small sigh.
"We can't give up hope," She declared, causing him to look at the wall. "People are relying on us,"
"But our whole team crumbled," He sighed, looking down. "I failed to protect them..."
"Annie, listen to me. You did not fail. Hawkmoth cheated and that's all there is to it," She stated in a firm voice. "As for a crumbled team... well, let's go back to what we know works. A duo! You and me against the world, Annie,"
"Thank you, Kitten... I needed to hear that," He muttered, making her smile a little before they hear the sound of snarling and running. "They've found us,"
"Time to make a quick escape," Marinette grinned before noticing the flowing water. "You like Water Rides, Annie?"
"Don't forget to put your diving gear on," Luka replied, taking out a green macaron as they both ran towards the edge and dived off with their eyes closed. He threw it towards Tikki, who ate it as Marinette did the same with Plagg. "Tikki, power up!"
"Plagg, Power up!" She shouted as they free-fell towards a pool of water. "Aqua Plagg, Claws out!"
"Aqua Tikki, Spots on!" He shouted. They both transformed then hit the water. Once underneath, they opened their eyes and swam into a tunnel but Syren appeared to block their way, grinning. They heard a splash, causing them to look behind them as Animan in the form of a fish swam towards them. Anatis grinned as Syren charged at them. Lady Noir grinned back as she blocked Syren's attack. She knocked her weapon out of her hand and broke her bracelet as Anatis tied Animan up with his yoyo and broke the button on him before catching the akumas. Animan and Syren turned back into their civilian selves, causing Anatis and Lady Noir to give them their weapons so they could breathe before swimming off with them into the Seine.
"It's gonna take a long of time to deakumatized these villains one by one," Lady Noir pointed out as they swam.
"Which is exactly why we have to take on Hawkmoth directly," Anatis replied as they swam. "I think his cane is the source of his power up. I'm not sure how he did it but if we can destroy it, it should revert him back to normal and free everyone from his control,"
"Good plan but we can't do it from the water," Lady Noir pointed out as they both swam up and jumped out of the water, landing on the ground as they transformed back into their normal forms. As soon as they did, Timebreaker skated towards them, holding her hand out. However, Anatis clocked her before she could get them and broke her skates again, capturing her akuma before jumping to the bridge in front of the Eiffel Tower, causing Hawkmoth to glare at him. Ondine and Otis ran off as Anatis faced Hawkmoth with Lady Noir stood next to him, holding her baton behind her back.
"Hey, Hawkmoth! You're not gonna wanna miss what happens next! Time to show everyone that the real Anatis and Lady Noir are back!" He yelled out before taking out his yoyo. He pressed it open and threw it up in the sky, releasing all the purified butterflies he captured and causing a white beam of light to escape from it. Almost instantly, he could feel the change in the city's song and smirked as he closed his yoyo, knowing Hawkmoth could feel it too. "You feel that, Hawkmoth?! It's called Hope!"
"No more escaping for you, Knaves!" Dark Blade called out, causing Anatis and Lady Noir to face him and his army. "Down with the enemy!"
"Time for a little detour, kitten," Anatis suggested as they began to back away.
"Couldn't agree more, Annie," Lady Noir nodded before they ran off, causing the akuma army to follow them as they ran as fast as they could through the streets of Paris, trying to avoid the akumas that followed them. The ones from the sewers climbed out and joined the hunt. Lady Noir looked at him as they ran. "Got any ideas?"
"Besides running and surviving?" He asked, glancing at her before they both look ahead and saw a barricade of cars and a bus. The two of them jumped over it, rolling as they landed before noticing those behind it. Both heroes blinked as none of other then Nora Cesaire climbed onto the bus and lifted a broom up. Chloe and Nathaniel joined her, along with Tom, Sabine and Gina. Alya's mother was there too as was Anarka, Tomoe and a number of others.
"Parisians!" Nora shouted, getting their attention. "We can be heroes just for one day!!"
"What?! A revolution!" Dark Blade yelled before pointing his blade towards them. "Charge!"
"Charge!" Chloe shouted back, causing the Parisians to run into battle. A number of them grabbed the akumatized heroes from windows as Gina moved over to them, along with Anarka and Marlena Cesaire before helping the heroes to their feet.
"Are you two ok?" Anarka asked, causing Anatis to nod.
"It's awesome seeing you two again," Marlena grinned, clearly happy to see them as Gina placed her hand on Lady Noir's shoulder.
"Parisians are all on your side,"
"We're slow them down, Lad," Anarka grinned, clearly thriving in the chaos. "You two go save the world!"
"Leave the akumas to us," Gina grinned, causing Anatis to smile.
"You guys are amazing," He gasped as Lady Noir nodded.
"Thank you so much," She added as the two of them turned and ran off before jumping onto the rooftops. They came to a stop as the giant akumas arrived but the Parisians distracted them too, giving Anatis and Lady Noir a chance to get to the Eiffel tower. The two of them worked together against Glaciator and Gamer, causing them to take out each other before they jumped up and landed on the Eiffel Tower, rushing over to where Hawkmoth was standing, causing him to gasp as he turned around. Lady Noir held out her baton as Anatis spun his yoyo.
"It's just us three, Hawkmoth," He declared, causing Lady Noir to summon her cataclysm before he threw up his yoyo and summoned his lucky charm. He caught the little box and opened it before glancing at Hawkmoth, stopping as he got a shiver. This was too easy but he knew he couldn't let Hawkmoth catch on. He lifted his arm in front of him so the box reflected what was behind him before grinning. "It's a sign, Hawkmoth. That your miraculous will end up in this box,"
"Are you sure you're not making a mistake?" Hawkmoth asked. "How do you know that my wish wouldn't be beneficial for everyone?"
"Hm! I doubt that!" Lady Noir gasped as Anatis stepped forward. He moved his hand behind his back and pointed to his shadow.
"Even if it was, there would be a price," Anatis shouted, hoping Lady Noir got when he meant. Using the box, he saw her glance downwards towards Hawkmoth's feet. "Why don't you tell us your wish, Hawkmoth?"
"Give me your miraculous and find out," He replied as Lady Noir flicked her hair in a way that made it look like a nod. Anatis hid his smirk. "Unlike you, I'm not afraid to use these powers. Since you're so good, why did you never bother to change the world for the better?"
"We are changing it... by our actions..." Anatis stated, making Hawkmoth frown. "Instead of just wishing for it or taking advantage of innocent people,"
They moved forward to him as Anatis held out his hand with the box so he could still see behind him.
"But it's not too late.... you can fight for good with us," He stated as the real Hawkmoth climbed behind them with two akumas in his hand. Anatis placed his hand on his yoyo, waiting til he released the akumas. "Now!"
Lady Noir destroyed the Hawkmoth illusion and blocked Dark Cupid's arrows as Anatis captured the two akumas. She threw her baton at Dark Cupid, breaking the button on his chest. The akuma escaped and Anatis captured it, returning Dark Cupid back to Kim before he caught him with his yoyo and lowered him to the floor before the heroes faced Hawkmoth.
"No!" Hawkmoth growled.
"You're such a coward," Anatis growled. "But did you really think we were stupid enough to fall for that?!"
"No where to hide now," Lady Noir smirked as Hawkmoth growled. The two heroes charged at him and began to fight him. Anatis blocked his attack with his yoyo before he knocked him back. Lady Noir instantly took over, using her baton like a bo staff and attacking him relentlessly, annoying Hawkmoth until he got annoyed enough to try and beat her with his cane. Seeing his chance, Anatis threw his yoyo and snatched his cane out of his hand as Lady Noir flipped over to him. Hawkmoth charged at him but Anatis threw to Lady Noir, who caught it with her charged hand, destroying it. Hawkmoth returned back to his normal form as a number of white butterflies fluttered away. "As Annie said... it's over!"
"Alright, Kids," Hawkmoth growled with a look of determination on his face before he got into a fighting stance and held up his fists. "Watch what a man who has nothing to lose can do,"
The two heroes charged at him as he ran towards them, fighting him as best as they could but Hawkmoth was so much stronger then they were. He used his limbs and height to his advantage, beating them as he did until he knocked them onto the floor. Anatis tried to push himself up as Lady Noir's ring beeped. Hawkmoth smirked as he walked towards them.
"You're never going to win," He declared, walking towards them. "You're still so green, young heroes. You can't even stay transformed after you use your powers!"
He went to grab Lady Noir but before he could, Anatis slammed his foot into him, knocking him back before he got up, surprising Hawkmoth as he held up his arms in a strange position, similar to a snake.
"Annie..." Lady Noir gasped as he stood in front of her.
"I'm not done yet," He snarled, making Hawkmoth smirk before charging at him. To his surprise, Anatis managed to hold his own, using his hands to hit Hawkmoth with powerful jabs but gradually Hawkmoth got the upper hand, knocking him back. Hawkmoth smirked and lifted his arms to beat the knocked down heroes but he went flying when a shield was thrown into him. Leatherback jumped with the other heroes and caught it, allowing Anatis and Lady Noir to jump. Anatis threw his yoyo around, creating a net around the Eiffel Tower that trapped Hawkmoth. Ryuko clicked her fingers as the seven of them stalked towards Hawkmoth. Abeille held up her spintop and called upon her power, ready to sting him as he backed up. "It's over, Hawkmoth,"
However, a blue mask suddenly appeared around his eyes, causing his expression to change to one of genuine surprise. Anatis frowned deeply as they moved closer.
"No, don't do that!" Hawkmoth suddenly gasped, making everyone confused. Who was he talking to? The mask disappeared and he sunk to his knees, apparently admitting defeat. Anatis took another step forward but as he did, a giant moth suddenly appeared, causing the heroes to gasp before it began to flap it's wings, causing a gush of wind that sent the heroes flying. Anatis tried his best to hold onto his yoyo as he grabbed Lady Noir's hand, stopping her from been blown away.
"What is that monster?!" He gasped as his yoyo's string up wrapped, sending him flying. He threw his yoyo and wrapped it around the moth's tail, pulling himself and Lady Noir towards it so they could attack but it vanished as soon as they got near. They landed on the Eiffel Tower and looked around as the others returned. Anatis moved over to the broken cane as a darkened feather escaped it but as it fluttered away, it turned back to white. Lady Noir walked over and looked up at it as the others looked around for Hawkmoth.
"A feather?" She questioned as he frowned before his eyes widen.
"Master Fu mentioned that the Butterfly Miraculous wasn't the only lost miraculous," He muttered, making her look at him. "There's another one... the Peacock and I think we just saw it's power,"
"Anatis, Hawkmoth is gone," Culpeo stated, making the team move over and look around.
"He must of have escaped when that monster appeared," Lady Noir sighed before they moved over to the broken cane. Abeille leaned down and picked it up as Aspik and Ryuko frowned deeply.
"The timing of that monster was too good," Ryuko muttered, frowning.
"But where did it come from?" Aspik asked, getting a nod of the rest of the team.
"Another miraculous holder," Anatis answered, standing next to them. "Which means Hawkmoth is no longer working alone. He had help from the owner of the Peacock miraculous,"
"Well, maybe this can help us track him," Lady Noir muttered, taking the cane from Abeille but it disappeared, making them all gasp.
"There goes our chance at tracking him," Leatherback frowned as Anatis sighed.
"He must have detransformed," He muttered as his earrings beeped along with Lady Noir's ring. "We've gotta split, guys... but first..."
He held up the box and threw it into the air.
"Miraculous Ladybugs!" He shouted, causing it to burst into the magical swarm and fix everything before the heroes headed back into the city. Leatherback, Abeille and Culpeo followed Anatis while Ryuko and Aspik followed Lady Noir. Landing back on the school roof, Anatis jumped down, followed by Leatherback who detransformed and gave back the bracelet after saying goodbye to Wayzz. Anatis thanked him before jumping up to the roof, where Abeille and Culpeo were waiting. They detransformed and said goodbye to their kwamis before handing back the miraculous. Anatis thanked them before swinging off into the city back to Master Fu, briefly de-transforming on his way there. Meanwhile, Lady Noir dropped off Ryuko and Aspik at Kagami's house. The two of them detransformed and said goodbye to their kwamis before handing her the jewels without hesitation.
"Thank you for your help, you two," Lady Noir smiled.
"Thank you for trusting us," Kagami replied, bowing a little before her ring beeped again. "Send my best to Anatis,"
"I will," Lady Noir nodded before jumping off into the city. She briefly found somewhere to hide before her transformation dropped. Taking out some cheese, she threw it towards Plagg and headed to Master Fu's place. Arriving there, she re-transformed and entered through the open window, smiling as Anatis placed the fox and bee back in the box. She moved next to him and placed the dragon and the snake back, allowing Master Fu to close the box and lock it away.
"You both did very well today," He stated as he moved over to them. "But I sense something is troubling you, Anatis. Would it help to share what's on your mind?"
"The owner of the peacock miraculous helped Hawkmoth escape..." He muttered, frowning. "And I feel like Hawkmoth was planning this... I think Princess Justice was his inspiration for this attack... since she was arguably one of his most successful and intelligent akumas, he took her plan and evolved it... he was calling himself Scarlet Moth and had amplified his own powers... it was concerning..."
"Yes, it does seem that way," Master Fu agreed, making both heroes frown. "We were lucky that she did not make an appearance though... however, I think you two have earnt a well deserved rest. Go and celebrate this victory. It is heroes' day after all,"
"That's a good idea," Anatis nodded before getting up. "I have something I need to do,"
~After the Heroes Day Parade~
Marinette frowned to herself as she walked towards the park. She wasn't sure why but Alya asked her to meet her there at 7 pm, despite the fact that she told pretty much everyone that she couldn't do the party. Alya also insisted she bring a box of macarons. Luckily, because of the time, she was able to make some from scratch and these ones didn't burn. She saw Alya stood outside and waved towards her, getting her attention. Alya rushed over and smiled.
"Did you bring the macarons?" She asked, confusing her but she nodded. "Good! Right, close your eyes!"
"Uh.." She blinked. "Alright?"
She closed her eyes and allowed Alya to lead her into the park. She frowned as she felt Alya leave her side, making her nervous.
"Ok! Open your eyes!" Alya gasped, causing her to open them. She gasped as she took in the scene in front of her. Fairylights had been put up and tables had been set up. All kinds of food covered them and there were several picnic blankets with people on. Everyone who she had invited were there and it was exactly how she imagined it. Tears filled her eyes a little as she looked around.
"Oh my gosh..." She gasped. "But... I don't understand.... I cancelled the picnic because I couldn't provide the food I promised,"
"We know," Kagami stated as she walked over, holding a tray of food. "Which is why we all brought a dish each,"
"You're always helping people," Rose gasped as Juleka nodded.
"Like when you helped me with my photo curse," She muttered, pushing her hair out of the way as Nathaniel and Marc came over.
"Or when you helped me and Marc meet so we could create a comic book,"
"Or the time when you helped me escape so I could see my mother on the big screen," Adrien piped up as she looked around. "That's why we all jumped at the chance to help you. You do some much for us so today it was our turn to help you,"
"B-But... I still don't understand..." She gasped, confused. She was sure she cancelled the picnic. "Not that I'm not grateful... cause I am but I definitely cancelled the picnic so who asked you all to help?"
"I did," Luka stated, making her turn around in surprise as he walked over. "That's why I was looking at my phone all lunch,"
"Y-You did this for me?" She asked, tears appearing in her eyes as he nodded. She suddenly hugged him, causing him to stumble back a little as he caught her. "Thank you so much,"
"It's fine," He muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's heroes day so this is the least I could do,"
"You're my hero, Luka," She muttered, causing him to blush before she kissed his cheek and looked at him before the two of them joined the rest.
~Later that Night~
"Hey, Annie," Lady Noir grinned as she joined him. He was sat on a rooftop, writing down something down. "What ya doing?"
"Working out a code," He muttered, looking up at her as she sat down next to him before he handed her the note pad. He had written down several colour codes on there. Each one corresponded to a threat level. The lowest threat was Code Gray for weak akumas like Mr Pigeon. Code Black were for akumas like Lady Wifi. Code Yellow is for akumatized miraculous holders that weren't them. Code Orange was literally reserved for Volpina. Code Blue was for the peacock holder and Code Purple was for Hawkmoth. "I'll be adding more as time goes on but what do you think so far?"
"It works but what's Code Red?" She asked, making him frown a little.
"It's the warning if I'm ever akumatized..." He muttered, making her look at him. "The list isn't finished yet but I think it helps to have codes. That way we can prepare... speaking of preparing... I think we should train the newbies and look into calming techniques,"
"That's a good idea," She nods before looking at him. "You are ok right?"
"Yeah, I'm good, Kitten," He smiled, placing the notepad in his yoyo. "Are you?"
And here's a drawing of Team Miraculous from my Anatis AU aka team kitty section. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Hopefully I'll be able to do a similar picture with the other miraculous users once I draw them :)
