"That photoshoot went on for ages!"
Adrien Agreste shrugged as Plagg, his kwami, started whining about how long he had to go without his 'beloved camembert' while stuffing his face with the cheese. Even though Adrien had taken as much camembert as he could (without someone noticing), Plagg had still finished it at least an hour before the two of them could go home.
"Well, I can't exactly take any more, or get Nathalie to shorten the shoot by claiming I have a magical black cat who runs out of food before we finish," Adrien shot back, retrieving the TV remote and turning on the TV set. "Can't you eat slower?"
"But it's camembert!"
Adrien heaved out a sigh, sitting on the couch as Plagg stopped talking, instead focusing only on eating the food.
The TV had been left on a random channel the last time Adrien had it on, so Adrien started flicking through channels to try and find something that he liked. This went on for half a minute until he passed a news channel.
'-akuma attac-'
"What?" Adrien said, perking up, as he switched back to the news channel.
'-ed in New Zealand! Multiple videos have been recorded of an akumatized citizen, going by the name of Cursed Cusine, attacking people around New Zealand's 'Sky Tower'.'
"Oh no," was all Adrien could say. The news station then started to display a video of Cursed Cusine's attack (which was recorded through the window of a car).
"Plagg, this is bad," Adrien exclaimed. "What do we do? Why is it happening there now as well!?"
'As of now, police have managed to contain the akuma, but many are wondering how long it will be until Cursed Cusine escapes. We will continue to update you all as we discover more updates on the situation.'
"This is bad, this is bad!" Adrien repeated.
"I noticed," Plagg said with a roll of his eyes, but he too had a faint expression of concern.
"Do, do we investigate? Does Ladybug go for a day and purify the akuma? But what if something happens here? What if- I can't purify akumas, Plagg!" Plagg opened his mouth to interrupt Adrien's ranting, but he was cut off before he could begin. "How are they reaching there? Why are they reaching New Zealand!?"
"How am I supposed to know what to do, kid?" Plagg says, crossing his 'arms'. "If I had to guess, I'd say Hawkmoth wants to create a distraction or some kind. Maybe intimidate you. I dunno."
Adrien was a little annoyed at the kwami for his simple, nowhere near helpful response, but he knew Plagg well enough that he didn't try and get anything better from him.
"I'll ask Ladybug what she thinks we should do when I see her on patrol," Adrien mused.
"Whatever you want."
Likewise, Marinette had been surprised and concerned when she saw the news.
'...We will continue to update you all as we discover more updates on the situation.'
"Oh no," Marinette gasped, staring at the TV screen with wide eyes.
"Agreed," Tikki (Who was visible due to the fact Marinette's parents were still serving customers in the bakery downstairs) murmured, just as worried as her holder. "I think this could be a distraction... or a way to get you and Chat Noir separated to possibly make it easier for Hawkmoth to get your miraculous, and Chat's as well!"
Marinette frowned at this. "Then we can't let him get what he wants."
Tikki suddenly remembered something. "Wait, didn't your class enter a competition a few weeks back? And wasn't the prize going to New Zealand, where that attack is, so the winning classes could experience their school system and New Zealand life in general?"
Marinette's eyes widened. "We did! So if we won, I'd have no choice!" She groaned. "Then what!?"
No more than a day after the news of New Zealand's akuma attack was shared to the citizens of Paris, Master Fu stepped off his flight. He and his kwami had agreed that they should give a New Zealand civilian their own miraculous so they could protect the New Zealanders from the akumas, as well as (hopefully) making Chat Noir and Ladybug a little more relaxed, knowing that akumas weren't running around the small country freely. Therefore, he had headed for the airport and got on a New Zealand bound flight as soon as possible.
The guardian of the miraculouses went through customs fairly quickly, since he wasn't all that far back in the line (and thankfully, nobody was pulled up for having any suspicious items with them), so he found himself headed for the world of Auckland city fairly quickly. It was beginning to rain, so the small man quickly opened up his umbrella (which also allowed his kwami, Wayzz, to talk with him unseen).
Many others were also walking through the streets with umbrellas. The few that didn't either donned a raincoat, or they were running for their destination, sticking to sheltered spots as often as possible.
Soon enough, an hour had passed, and still, the guardian of the miraculouses had yet to find someone suitable for the miraculous hidden in his bag. Master Fu looked up to where Wayzz was using the umbrella to hide, about to speak, when a hand grabbed his free arm. Before the man could act, he was dragged into a dark gap between buildings.
"C'mon man, get his bag!"
Master Fu's eyes widened and his body tensed as he saw someone reach for his bag. The miraculous would fall into bad hands if he wasn't careful.
The hand pulled out something from the bag- one of the things he was using to cover the miraculous. Master Fu attempted to push them back, but another hand pushed him back against the wall.
Suddenly, another hand grabbed the one pulling things out of the bag.
"Leave him alone!" A feminine voice called out. So far, everything spoken around him had been English, however, Master Fu was rather fluent in said language.
"Oi, you-"
The unknown girl grabbed Master Fu's hand as she dashed for the street, the guardian being pulled along. Nobody followed them out of the dark gap, so they both assumed that they didn't want to be seen- there was a cafe not all that far down the road. Even so, the girl pulled Master Fu closer to the cafe.
When they stopped, the girl exhaled softly. She was wet- she didn't have an umbrella. Her dark brown hair stuck to her rather pale face. The grey pants and black top she was wearing were just as wet, clinging to her frame. She was carrying a bag in one hand, and should Master Fu have looked in it, he would have seen various art supplies- bought earlier that day.
"Thank you, miss..." Master Fu said with a relieved smile, with the pause at the end intended to silently ask for her name.
"Oh- Emmalia! And it's no problem!" The girl, Emmalia, said, smiling as well, despite the fact she was growing increasingly soaked. She'd picked up on the small man's hint quick enough.
"I must say, this is not what I expected when I got off the plane an hour ago," Master Fu commented. "What do kids say these days... 'that escalated quickly'!"
Emmalia raised her eyebrows. "You're a tourist?" She asked. "In that case, sorry that this had to be one of your first experiences here. Just try to stay away from shady spots, huh?" She said with a small laugh. "Everyone else is friendly enough. Mind you, most people are kind of shook from that, what's it called- akuma that appeared a few days ago."
"Emmalia! What did you do- you're soaking wet! Get your butt back here before you get sick!"
Emmalia turned to the woman who had called for her (whom Master Fu assumed was her mother, given the concern and their alike looks), before glancing back at the man she'd just helped. "Have a good day!"
She then turned to begin walking back to the woman. Master Fu quickly fished out the box containing the miraculous he'd brought with him, slipping it into the girl's bag without her noticing.
"Em, what were you thinking!? What did you do? Where did you go? Do you have any idea how worried I was? You have training in twenty minutes too, and-"
"But mum, he was being robbed!"
Master Fu walked away under his umbrella, the concerned ranting of the girl's mother fading as he got further away.
Wayzz smiled. "That was a good person to give it to!"
Master Fu smiled, nodding. "We're lucky we met her. New Zealand will be fine under her protection!"
A few minutes later, Master Fu was headed back for the airport as Emmalia and her mother (along with the girl's miraculous, though she didn't know that yet) got into the car and drove off.