Chapter 3: We Have a Job to do

Friday, September 29, 2017, 1:55pm…

The four friends had just arrived in the parking garage of the mall. There was a long silence until Dante spoke up. "So… lunch anyone?"

"Yeah, sure I can eat." Xavier said. They all headed towards the mall's food court. Once they got their food, they all sat down, but there was a long, awkward silence. Everyone had the same thought in the back of their heads.

"Guys, I know what we are all thinking. But we can't just not talk about this." Erick said.

"Well you were right before, we all have college and our own lives to manage. We can't just put those things on hold to continue our previous lives." Cassandra said.

"Why don't we talk about this later? It's Erick's birthday, we shouldn't be worrying at this moment," Dante said.

"Yeah Dante's right. And besides you said in a week we will give a final answer, we have time." Xavier said.

"Alright fine, we'll discuss this on Monday. But promise me you guys will think about this over the weekend," Erick said.

"Yeah yeah, now come on, let's go do something fun," Xavier said. With that the four friends finished their food and headed off to do something entertaining.

In a secret location in San Diego at 5:30pm…

There were a group of three people who were building two sets of machinery. They were working when something called them. "Simpletons, get in here at this moment." It was an imprisoned Shendu in his statue prison hanging on the wall. "I sense the time is now to attack and to make yourselves known to the state and sooner the world."

"Really? Now?" A man with the name Spike said surprised. Spike is a 31 year old with black hair, with a normal physique and a mustache. "But didn't you want us to free Vlad first?"

"Yes, but that was before I sensed them. I am sensing my talismans freed from the protection that the Guardian put over them."

"How can you be so sure?" A 30 year old man named Hannibal said with a Russian accent. He was taller than Spike. He was bald, muscular, and had a scar slashed through his left eye.

"Not only were they once mine, but they are a strong source of magic that I can feel them. I can sense they are no longer under the protection of that Guardian. I want you three to go and retrieve them."

"Finally, something to do that isn't tinkering with machinery." A 29 year old woman named Ivy said. She has long brown hair tied together in a ponytail, as well as a dragon tattoo on her right arm.

"Now continue with what you were doing. You will go to retrieve that once was mine on Monday. And bring Hawkmoth and Daolon Wong here so I can discuss something with them." The three left the room and a minute later Hawkmoth and Daolon Wong entered.

"What is it Shendu? What is so important that you needed us at the moment?" Daolon Wong said annoyed.

"They are back."

"What? My uncle told me you two defeated them all those years ago. How can they be back?" Hawkmoth said.

"There was some spell that Clockwork's allies did, and our involvement must've delayed the process of their spell to work," Shendu stated.

"Well if they're back, then is that both good and bad?" Hawkmoth asked.

"Explain yourself how this can be good for us. They will try to ruin our plans yet again." Shendu says frustrated.

"No, think about it. We have been searching for not only the talismans, but the two miraculouses as well. No luck, not even Daolon Wong's locater spell could find them. But you're saying you were able to detect them all of a sudden. Well now we can locate the talismans, and probably get the remaining two miraculouses we need."

"Ah, yes. Well that is good to hear. Daolon Wong, can you create a locater spell?"

"Yes, but it might take me a day since I don't have all the ingredients for one, so I will be using today to get the ingredients." Daolon Wong says as he leaves.

"Should I create a few akumas to obtain the items?"

"No. I have already instructed the three individuals that they will go to the location where the items are on Monday."

"The Triple Strike? Are you sure those three can accomplish the task?"

"No, but I will give them a chance to prove themselves. Then if they fail, I give you the liberty to create your akumas."

"Very well." With that Hawkmoth leaves.

Saturday, September 30, 2017, at 10:30 in Cassandra's house…

"Cassandra was in her room thinking about yesterday. She was talking to herself, "Ugh, what are we going to do? On one hand, we become heroes and on the other hand we give up on our dreams. Why is this so hard?" She stops talking due to something catching her attention. "Oh yeah the earrings. Might as well put them on to see what he was talking about a small creature." She puts on the earrings and a bright light appears. Once the light fades away, a small red creature was in front of her staring at her.

"OMG, I missed you so much. You have no idea how long I've waited to see you again Marinette." The creature said with happiness.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm not Marinette. Who are you?"

"Oh yeah, you aren't who you once were, and you also don't remember anything." The creature says with disappointment. "Well I'm Tikki, and I am a kwami."

"A kwami? So I'm guessing you are the creature that will tell me more about this situation?"

"Yup. I grant you the power of creativity, and you are the one who can capture an akuma."

"What's an akuma?"

"It's a butterfly that can turn anyone into a supervillain. Another thing you can do is a lucky charm. Once you use it, an item will appear, and you will need to find a way to use it to defeat the villain."

"So that's why my ability is creativity? To be creative with the items." Cassandra says unamused.

"Yes, but once you use it, you have five minutes to finish the job, or you will change back to normal."

"Oh that's great." She says sarcastically. "Is that all?"

"Oh and in order to change and activate your powers you say 'spots on' and to change back to normal you say 'spots off'."

"Oh ok. Well I don't want to activate anything right at this moment, so are you hungry?"

"Yes, do you have anything sweet by any chance, please?"

"I might have a few cookies. And maybe after I get them, we can talk some more." And with that they continue talking and the rest of the day went on for them.

2:00pm at Xavier's house…

Xavier has just come back home from running a few errands with his mom. He heads towards his room and starts to relax on his bed when the ring on his cabinet caught his eye. "Might as well put this on." He puts on the ring and a bright light appears in front of him. Once the light faded a small black creature was in front of him.

The creature yawns and sees the person in front of him. "Man, it has been ages since I've seen you."

"What and who are you?" Xavier asked the creature.

"Oh yeah, you don't remember anything. The name's Plagg, and I'm a kwami. Long story short I gave you the power of destruction years ago, and I'm going to give them to you again."

"How exactly will you do that little guy?"

"Don't call me little. Just say 'claws out' to activate your powers, and 'claws in' to transform back to normal."

"Alright seems simple enough. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Oh and you have a special ability where once you activate it, you give bad luck to next thing you touch. So be careful with that."

"Alright so that doesn't seem so difficult."

"Yeah, you will get the hang of it. So… by any chance do you have any camembert?"

"I have no idea, but I can check."

Just then the door knob started to twist and Plagg hid. It was Xavier's mom. "Who were you talking to X?"

"Oh, uh, just Erick over the phone."

"Oh ok." She notices the ring on Xavier's finger. "Since when do you wear rings?"

"Since yesterday. I found out they were stylish."

"Oh that's nice, well I'm going back to the store because I forgot a couple of things for dinner. Do you want to join me?"

"Nah, I'm kinda busy. I have to study for a few midterms."

"Ok then, I'll be on my way."

"Hey mom, could you get some camembert while you are at the store?"

"Um, sure." She questions why he would want some cheese, but doesn't think too much of it. With that she leaves and Plagg comes out of hiding.

"Alright, well your cheese problem is taken care of. Now how about more information." They continued talking and the rest of the day went on for them.

6:00pm in a secret location in San Diego…

Daolon Wong, Hawkmoth, the Triple Strike, and Shendu were all in the same room looking at Daolon Wong chanting at his locater spell. After an attempt a puff of smoke appears over his cauldron. The smoke creates an image of a map of Valencia. "There. That's where you will find some of your talismans." Daolon Wong says.

"Valencia? What an odd place for them to be at?" Hawkmoth says.

"I don't care if they are at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, just get me my talismans, and deal with the people who might have them.!" Shendu says with anger.

"Wait, people have them?" Hannibal asks.

"Yes, so I want you to do whatever to get them back."

"Oh yes, now this will be even more fun." Ivy says with glee.

"Here's one more thing you should be worried about. They might also possess the miraculouses as well so if you can obtain those too."

"We will prepare tomorrow and be on our way by Monday." Spike says.

"Very well, but don't fail me or I will let Hawkmoth handle this." Shendu tells to the Triple Strike.

Sunday, October 1, 2017, at 11:30am in Val Verde with Erick and Dante…

"Thanks again for agreeing to go mountain climbing with me Dante." Erick says to Dante.

"You know, when I agreed to climb mountains with you, I didn't mean these mountains where they are weak and the rocks could break easily." Dante says.

"Oh come on now, this is fun."

"I mean a little, but how much longer and more importantly how much higher?"

"Just a few more feet until we reach the top."

"Erick, I've been thinking about it, and I think we should take up on the Guardian's offer."

"Really? And what made you want to take up on his offer?"

"Well I mean who else does this get offered to? And besides imagine what would happen if we didn't. The items the Guardian gave to us would fall into the wrong hand. Wait, where are the two items the Guardian gave you?"

"The talismans? In my pocket. What did you think, I would just leave them lying around? And I mean I have been thinking of that too. Here if the universe wants us to make this choice, then it will tell us right at this moment."

They were almost at the top of the mountain with just a few more feet left. Just then the rock that Dante was holding for support broke. He was struggling to hold on with his other hand. "Hey man, I can sure use some help!" Dante yells out to Erick.

"Yeah I see that. Try to hold on." The rock that Dante was holding onto became loose and Dante began to fall. Luckily he was ahead of Erick and Erick was able to use one of his hands to catch Dante. "Don't worry, I got you bud." The rock that Erick was holding onto was slowly becoming loose as well.

"How are you going to get us both safely on the top?" Dante was panicking and Erick was too, but he was too busy thinking to show it.

Erick finally thinks of something. "Here, get ready to hold onto something up there."

"Wait what?" Erick throws Dante upwards toward the edge of the mountain, and Dante quickly grabs onto the edge and pulls himself up."

"How light are you? You were so easy to throw." Erick asks as he completely forgets that he is also in danger.

"Um, that's not important at the moment. How about you get up here to safety."

"Oh yeah!" But as he says that, the rock becomes loose and he is suppose to be falling. Erick and Dante are in complete shock that Erick is not falling. "Um, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why aren't I falling?"

"Can you get up here?"

"Uh, I think." Erick floats upward to where Dante is and they both are in shock.

"Ok, I think this is a sign from the universe."

"But how is what I did possible?"

"Wait, you said you had the talismans. The Guardian said each one has a special ability it grants its user. What if it was granting you the abilities?"

"Well that is the only reasonable explanation that seems the most legit, even though it isn't to anybody else."

"Well does that mean we are taking the Guardian's offer?"

"Hell yeah we are, but we need to tell the others. Maybe they want to as well."

"Yeah, well at least we won't have to wait long to know what they want to do."

"Alright let's get going back, I don't think I wanna be here for a while after what has happened." With that they found a way to get down and their day continued normally.

5:30pm at the villain's base with The Triple Strike…

The Triple Strike were finishing packing to go to Valencia tomorrow. "So it looks like we are going to be looking for a needle in a haystack," Ivy says.

"Not necessarily, you see Shendu and the others said that a group of individuals might possess what we are seeking." Spike says.

"And that's important because?" Hannibal asks.

"It's important because if these people are people who will try to stop us or our allies then they will probably not want to be known."

Hannibal still with confusion on his face. "I'm still not understanding you."

"Here picture this, if you have special artifacts would you go around with them all willy nilly? We are going to have a hard time finding them. So why not try to lure them to us?"

"Ah, excellent thinking. So how are we going to lure them to us?" Ivy asks to Spike.

"How about we go to an area that has a lot of foot traffic, maybe the shopping center?" Hannibal says.

"Ah yes, anyone up for a few explosions." With that the group now had grins on their faces and started to pack weapons and explosions.

Monday, October 2, 2017, at 12:30pm at COC with the four friends…

The four friends had just finished their classes and all headed to Xavier's car. They all arrived and each of them were happy. Erick notices the new accessories on Cassandra's ears and on Xavier's finger. "Hey guys, so did you decide on where you stand on a decision?" Erick asks, but thinks he already knows the answer.

"Yeah, I feel like it would be a great choice for us to be heroes." Cassandra says.

"Yeah I agree with her. I feel like we would be great at it." Xavier says.

"Really? Did anything persuade you?" Erick asks curiously.

"Actually, I feel like I should show you guys my little friend, since I feel like our past selves knew about them. Come on out Tikki." Cassandra says as she opens her bag.

Tikki comes out of the bag filled with happiness. "Oh my God, it's all of you. I missed all of you."

"That's awesome. I guess I should show you my little friend." Plagg comes out Xavier's jacket.

"Boy has it been ages since the gang was together."

"Wow, what are they?" Dante asks ever so curiously.

"They are kwamis and there's a lot to explain so to cut it short they are a necessity for our victories in the future." Cassandra says.

"They are also very fun to be around, when of course one of them is not stinking up my room with cheese." Xavier says.

"Hey, I can't help it if it's so delicious." Plagg says.

"Well, I can see your weekend was interesting." Erick says.

"Yeah, what about you guys? Anything interesting happen to you guys?" Cassandra asks.

"You can say that. Let's just say the talismans the Guardian gave me aren't just little trinkets." Erick says.

"Here let's go get something to eat, and we can explain more on the way there." Dante says. With that they all got in Xavier's car and they took off to get something to eat.

The Westfield Valencia Town Center around the same time with The Triple Strike…

The Triple Strike had just arrived at the mall and walked inside. "This place looks nice. It's a shame we are going to have to blow it up." Hannibal says.

"Remember we are here to bait them out, not to destroy the whole location." Spike says. "Hand me one of them, will you Ivy." Ivy nods and hands Spike a grenade. He throws it to the ceiling of the mall and an explosion occurs sending rubble and pieces of the ceiling across the mall. People start to run away from the destruction and the security gets called in. As they were about to open fire, a grenade was thrown in their direction. This caused them to jump out of the way, but they were still impacted by the explosion causing damage to their bodies. "I feel like this will get some attention."

A few minutes prior to the explosion with the four friends…

"Alright, so let me get this straight. You not only threw Dante, but you also flew?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah pretty much."

"That's amazing." Cassandra says. They are now driving on the street where the mall is on.

"So, what are you guys hungry for, maybe some burgers?" Xavier asks.

"Yeah that sounds good." Dante says.

Just then, an explosion was seen at the mall, and the two kwamis were the first to notice. "Uh guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but is that an explosion?"

"What!? Well it looks like our jobs start today." Dante says.

"Alright let's take care of this." Cassandra says.

The four friends arrived at the scene, and noticed the three individuals causing the mayhem. "Alright guys, I have a plan. Dante since you have nothing to go up against them, I want you to get any person that is in trouble to safety." Erick says.

"On it" Dante leaves to help any person that is hurt.

"Alright, I want you two to transform or whatever you do, and join me down there when either I give the signal or I really need help." They both nodded and Erick left to deal with the three individuals.

Erick sneaks up on Hannibal and taps on his shoulder. "Excuse me sir, but throwing grenades is against mall regulations. How about you stop?"

"Ha, and what are you going to do about it?" Hannibal laughs.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." He starts to punch Hannibal and then he grabs him and throws him to the wall.

Hannibal groans in pain and then says, "ah, so it's you who we are looking for."

"Well, I'm here. Now it's time to send you to jail." Before Erick could do anything else a few gunshots were shot around him. He dodged them and hid behind a nearly destroyed kiosk.

"Hey, all we want are your items. Now come here slowly and give them to us, and afterwards we'll leave your city, that simple." Spike said.

Cassandra and Xavier saw this. "I feel like it's time to join in on the fun." Xavier said.

"Yeah otherwise Erick is doomed. Cassandra says. "Tikki spots on."

"Plagg claws out." With that they both transformed. "Oh now this is awesome."

Spike started to talk to Erick. "Here, I'm only growing impatient. Come out or Ivy will start to open fire on you."

Ivy was about to open fire when something grabbed onto her gun and it was yanked from her hands. It was Cassandra who yanked it from Ivy with her yo-yo. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to see a permit for this." Cassandra says.

"Oh you think you are so funny now?" Ivy runs towards Cassandra, but gets tripped by something. It was Xavier using his staff.

"Now please, don't you know it's rude to try to attack someone." Xavier tells to Ivy.

"Well well well, if it isn't the miraculous users as well." Spike says.

"Why not save us the trouble of fighting and give up now so we can take you all to jail." Erick said.

Spike sees that his team can not take them all out at this time and comes up with a plan to escape. "How about we continue this another day?" He throws a smoke grenade at the ground and it creates a big smoke cloud. When the smoke clears up the three individuals have vanished.

"God damn it they got away." Xavier said.

"On the bright side they're gone for now." Cassandra says.

"We should get going as well. We don't want to attract any more attention to ourselves." Erick says.

Dante is now running towards his friends. "Hey guys, the ambulance is taking care of the injured, and I think I'm being followed. We need to go now." With that said the four of them took off. Erick remembers that he has the black liquid and he uses it as a means to get away. Unaware to their knowledge a person took a blurry photo of them.

Once they made it to the secret area, they found the Guardian and began talking to him about what has happened and their decision. "I see that you have thought hard about this decision, and believe me I have too. You see, I don't want you all to give up on your dreams either. So I have come up with a solution. I have created a schedule that'll best suit each of you."

"Thank you Guardian, that means a lot. But what about the issue of those three people terrorizing our city?" Cassandra asks.

"Ah yes, those three individuals are known as The Triple Strike and they are the henchmen of the bigger villains you will one day meet."

"Oh joy." Xavier says sarcastically.

"I'm very proud that you four took the liberty to take action to take care of the threat. That just shows that you four really are meant to do this."

"Yeah well someone had to do it." Dante says.

"Well I think you all should get going. I believe you've all had enough excitement for one day. Tomorrow you start at 1:30pm."

"Ok, well thanks again Guardian, and we'll see you tomorrow." With that, they all went back to Valencia to go get something to eat.

5:00pm at the villains base in San Diego…

The Triple Strike had just entered a room with their allies looking at them angrily. "You imbeciles, what were you thinking?" Daolon Wong yells.

"What, we tried to get your talismans and miraculouses." Ivy said.

"Yes, but you needed to stay under the radar, under the radar. If you guys were to have gotten captured, we could've been at risk." Hawkmoth says.

"Relax, we might've gone a little overboard, but at least we now know who these individuals are and what one of them looks like."

"And how is that good?" Shendu questioned him.

"It's good because we now know where to attack and Hawkmoth knows where to release his akumas." Spike said.

"Maybe your team isn't as dumbfounded as you all seem." Shendu says. "I will let you attempt to obtain the items again, but this time fight back a bit more."

"Oh trust me, we will bring our A-game starting today. Those fools won't know what hit them." Spike said.

Author's Note: Alright, three things. First of all, I'm an idiot and forgot to ask in the last chapter if you all caught one of the other crossover franchises that will be in this story. Secondly, I decided to do timestamps for when and at what time these things occur. Will you like more of these or should I stop doing these? Thirdly, the chapters will start to get longer from here on out. I hope you all like where this story going. And now time for answers:

Amanda27A.g- They will not be together because they are different people now then they were years ago. Also I have plans for other characters. But that will remain a mystery for now.

Merendinoemiliano- I don't think I had in mind to talk about the parents before, but if I get enough time or if people actually want more of that type of backgrounds then I might write about it. Also Dante and Ruby are my own characters as well as the rest of the friends, The Triple Strike, The Guardian, and Sean Zero.