"Ah...a nice day for a stroll in good old Paris. Especially when it's a stroll celebrating the return of old friends." Rarity said looking back at Ace with Tsuki and Corona.
"Yeah...I guess it is nice to see Ace so happy again now that those two are back." Erica said.
"Hey...uh...I don't mean to be rude but...isn't it a little...too quiet?" Petra asked as they saw the park empty.
"Something's wrong." Aya said as she looked around and had her sword ready.
"I hear something." Rarity said as they heard a rustling in the bushes. They got close as they saw a lone pigeon. "Phew. It's okay. It's just a pigeon."
"Ah! Get it away!" Petra said swiping at it as it flew off.
"What is with you?" Erica asked.
"Sorry but there are three birds I can't stand: Crows, Owls and Pigeons. They're like rats with wings." Petra said.
"Crows I get. But Owls? Those are some of the wisest birds in the world." Saaya said. "Is it because of that thing they do with their head?"
"They can turn their head all the way around? I mean, you have to admit that's a little fishy right?" Petra said.
"No. You're just a bit paranoid about Avians." Aya deadpanned.
"Wait a second… Rarity?" Gemini asked. "Haven't ya had experiences with Pigeons before?"
"Why yes, and frankly they… wait… oh, no…" Rarity said.
"Does this have something to do with what happened here before?" Litty asked.
"Not to alarm anyone here, darling. But I may have had the tiniest bit of confrontation with a villain that can control pigeons." Rarity explained.
"Was it something like that bird film in a way?" Ace asked.
"You mean Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, where that army of birds attacked people in a small town." Ace said.
"Yes, it was something like that." Rarity said.
"The Pigeons were controlled by an Akumatized villain called Mr. Pigeon." Gemini said.
"Is that him right there on TV?" Petra asked as they saw a man dressed in a pigeon like suit.
"Oh, dreary day, poor Parisians. Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but Paris now belongs to the pigeons! Flap flap!" he said cooing and twitching his head like a pigeon would.
"Do the Black Butterflies make people as crazy as him when they're Akumatized?" Al asked.
"Not usually. Akumas twist people's desires to make them villans." erica said. "Mr. Pigeon just happens to love Pigeons… albeit a little excessively."
"Seems more like an obsession if you ask me." Saki said.
"Regardless, we have to stop him!" Rarity said seeing Ladybug leaping into action. "And I see Ladybug has taken action. Who will join me in stopping this dastardly villain?"
"I shall." Litty said.
"I'm afraid you won't be joining anyone." a voice said as they saw a man approach in a flashy looking outfit. "Well...seems I have a lot of wonderful beauties here." he said smirking.
"I'm gonna guess you're with the Dark Kingdom." Gemini said.
"Fraid not...I'm here for your bounties. See...I'm an assassin for hire." he said.
"An assassin?!" Rarity said.
"Yes...You may refer to me as...the Peacock." he said.
"Peacock? Crud. Not good. He's one of the top 10 assassins in all the universes." Aria said.
"Yes. I've been hired to claim your bounties and also bump off one...David Ishihara. Know where I might find him?" he asked.
"We would rather die than tell you where he is." Ace said.
"Well...that is a bit sad. Oh well...at least you all have the honor of dying flashy deaths." he said drawing several feathers from bag.
"Those feathers are anything but normal." Mari said loading a handgun.
"Some of us need to keep Peacock busy while the rest go after Mr. Pigeon." Gemini said.
"Uh...pretty sure we're not going to have a chance at him." Petra said as they saw a large wall of pigeons formed on all sides.
"I can't have you heroes getting in the way of capturing the Miraculous. Enjoy your deaths at the hands of my fellow feathered friend! Hahahaha, Rooo, rooo!" Mr. Pigeon taunted over the TVs.
"Damn Featherbrains…" Al muttered.
"Well...that makes it easier." Peacock said tossing feathers at the group as they ducked down to see said feathers cut apart some trees and metal poles.
"Whoa! Those things must be made of Titanium or something." Mari said. "With those pigeons surrounding us, we don't have much room to move around."
"Then the best way to take him down is to beat him at his own game. We need to use ranged attacks to counter his feathers and damage him." Erica deduced.
"Or we could telepathically free the mind controlled pigeons." Al said.
"Uh, problem. No one here can do that." Petra said. "Oh wait! Isn't this Koda's forte?"
"Koda, think you can overpower Mr. Pidgeon's control over the birds?" Gemini asked.
"Show them what your training at the Training Camp has led up to." Petra said.
Koda nodded. "Ah…PLEASE LEAVE MY FRIENDS! WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMIES!" Koda shouted as they soon started to fly off.
"Yeehaw! Nice one, Koda!" Gemini cheered.
"Okay, this is getting annoying." Peacock said tossing a feather at them as they fell back as Peacock stood over Erica. "I'm getting tired of this."
"Fine...kill me. Even though you're just a pawn." Erica said.
"What are you talking about? All you had to do was tell me where David Ishihara was." Peacock said.
"You must be stupid if you think we would sell out our friend." Ace said.
"I never said sell out. I was just hired to kill someone." Peacock said.
"True, but do you know why you were hired? Why do they want him killed?" Erica asked.
"That's not normally my place to ask." Peacock said.
"It probably has to do with that sore loser Fair the other day." Petra said.
"Yes, that was my client. He called me yesterday saying Shot recalled his order. Why does that…" Peacock said.
"He wants you to kill him cause he lost a game of tennis." Gemini said.
"What?" Peacock asked looking a little annoyed.
"Yeah, turns out he's both a sore loser and a brat. He hired you just to kill David over a game of tennis." Ace said. "That's not even a big deal to hire an assassin for, it was just a game."
"Yeah, a game he probably cheated in!" Fair said over a walkie talkie.
"You knew about this and yet lead me on?" Peacock asked in frustration.
"Look, just kill him. He deserves to die! And of course, I need blood!" Fair said.
"You want blood? Okay. How about yours...all over the ground." Peacock said.
"Wait...what?" Fair asked.
"As one of the top ten...I'm allowed to pick and choose my targets. I'm cancelling your request and going after a new target." Peacock said.
"And just who is this target? Just so we're on record." Litty said.
"Who else? The idiot Fair Dark!" Peacock said.
"If you can hear me, Fair. A little piece of advice. What goes around comes around. That's Karma for ya!" Ace said.
"Apologies...it would seem I was mislead." Peacock said as he jumped away.
"*Sigh* Well that's a few minutes of my life I'll never get back." Saki said.
"Agreed." Rarity said.
"Should we pursue Mr. Pigeon now?" Erica asked.
"Nah, I think Ladybug and Cat Noir are all over him." Gemini said.
"Good. Because I think I've had enough fowl play for one day." Petra said.
Back at the Galaxy King…
"We're back. Has Albarion broadcasted his newest message yet?" Erica asked.
"No, but it looks like he's about to." Mayumi said.
"Why are you guys covered in pigeon feathers?" Vector asked.
"You're better off not knowing." Erica said.
"Shh. It's on!" Lacy said.
"Well...it would seem Mr. Pigeon has now flown the coop. Now is our time for another video." Albarion said. "Now...I'd like to discuss this woman." he said showing a picture of Coggette.
"Coggette?" Pen said.
"He name is Coggette Dark, a princess of the Dark Kingdom. She's gifted with a rather unique curse. They call it Flashback. By taking something belonging to a person, she can send a number of people back in time at once. I've heard the king thinking of utilizing this power to try and take over the past...but he is rarely planning on time conquering anytime soon." Albarion said.
"That explains how the Dark Kingdom managed to come here then." Ace said.
"I wonder if we could have her help us, Pen?" Hope asked.
"I doubt it. She rarely ever leaves the castle, like the rest of my sisters." Pen said.
"But if the Princes can use her Curse to travel through time, why can't we? We can go back in time and prevent Albarion from discovering the Forbidden Style he now possesses." Kendo mentioned.
"Because that could have a dangerous effect on the timespace continuum." Mari said.
"She's right. We use her abilities like that, we're no better than they are." David said.
"He's right. Besides...I'm actually anxious to see what this Aether style is all about." Jexi said.
"You are?" Hope asked. "I mean, it does have control over existence itself so I guess I'm a bit curious."
"Believe it or not...he wasn't always like this." Pen said.
"You mean a long time ago, Albarion was a completely different person?" Hagakure asked.
"He used to be kind and caring...he wanted to aspire to become a great king. But...then one day...our father and several guards...wanted to arrest Albarion and have him executed." Pen said.
"Executed?!" Leopardmon asked."
"Yes...however...before he could be taken away, our mother, she stood to the king and begged her life be taken instead of Albarion's. Father accepted this. She whispered something to Albarion before she was carried to the gallows...and hanged." Pen said.
"Jesus..." Hope said.
"Oh damn…" David said.
"After that, he changed. He closed his heart off for a long period of time, until the day the Darkness Universe was restored. He and a few of our brothers, they went off on their own. None of us knew why, whether it was something about mother's last words or his own ideals...we will never know." Pen said.
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure out why eventually." Kendo assured.
"..." Ace stayed silent.
"Ace… I can understand that it's hard to take all this in. Heck, we're shocked from all of this too." Sachiko said.
"Yeah, but in a way, I kinda understand what he went through in a way." Ace said.
"Same here. Some of us know how it feels to lose family, especially if they're close…" Lloyd said.
"The Dark Kindgom's ruler and Princes are gonna pay for this." Hope said.
"Yes. And since they're here in the past with us. This is a good chance to thin out their forces a bit." Ace said.
"The princes are...but I doubt the king would be here himself. We should focus attention on Fair and Shot for now." Pen said.
"Indeed. Those two will be a problem in the future if they aren't dealt with." Shanoa said.
"And Fair had the gall to call me a cheater at a sport I love so much. He's going to need psychiatric counseling when I'm done with him." David said.
"Yeah, and I bet you right now, Karma is biting him right back in the ass for sending that assassin." Kagura said.
"Fair is like a cockroach. He always finds a way out of his messes. Heck, the only thing he actually treasures is his own life." Pen said. "That's why my younger brother Chance can easily beat him. Cause he plays games that could kill someone."
"Hmm….fear for his life?" Tetsu pondered.