The day had come. April 21st, 2017. Liam and Alix's sixteenth. Liam woke up in his bed, his arm wrapped around Kayla's waist as she laid next to him. He slowly removed his arm and snuck out of bed. He walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He then walked back into his bedroom and into his closet and searched for clothes to wear. He then noticed a suit with a note on it so he took the note off and read it.

Marinette made this suit for you. She says it represents a light of hope in a world of darkness. She hopes you like it. - Mom.

Liam took the suit and changed into it. The entire suit was black, from the shirt to the jacket to the waistcoat to the pants to the belt, shoes, and socks. The only thing that wasn't black was the tie, which was as white as snow. When Liam was dressed, he walked out into his bedroom and saw that Kayla was getting dressed. She turned around and saw Liam in his suit.

"You look..." Kayla said. "Stunning!" Liam smiled and walked over to his girlfriend and kissed her on the lips.

"You're a real beauty yourself!"

"I'm half-naked with bedhead and morning breath."

"You're still a natural beauty!" Liam and Kayla chuckled and kissed again. Liam began brushing his right hand along Kayla's hair. Kayla slowly and gently pushed him away.

"Tonight, okay?"

"Okay." As Kayla finished getting dressed, Liam walked out of his bedroom and downstairs into the kitchen, where Félix and Bridgette were making breakfast, cooking bacon and sausages.

"Morning, sleeping beauty!" Bridgette joked.

"Morning, mom," Liam answered as he took a seat at the dining table. "Are Uncle Tom and Sabine awake yet?"

"Yeah. They're wishing you a happy birthday."

"I wish them a happy twenty-first anniversary. And I gotta text Alix and wish her a happy sixteenth."

"All in due time, Liam," Félix said. "You've still got school this morning. You can tell her then." Kayla walked downstairs, dressed in her denim jeans and jacket under a grey hoodie. "Morning, Kayla."

"Good Morning, Senor Rejeter," Kayla replied as she. "I bet you're proud of your son. Sixteen and counting!" Liam and Kayla rubbed their noses together. Félix turned away and frowned. In his thoughts, he dropped the spatula in the frying pan. Hot oil spilled on his hand and he darted his hand away from the pan, though he regained his thoughts and picked the spatula up. Bridgette took the pan off of the hob and Liam stood up.

"You okay, dad?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Félix answered. He then looked at the table as Liam sat back on his chair. "It's just... Courtney should be here celebrating her 16th as well! And instead..." Félix tried to hide his tears. Bridgette and Liam went over and hugged him.

"You know what?" Liam said. "Put those in some sandwiches and let's go."

"Uh, what?" Bridgette asked.

"Make some bacon and sausage sandwiches and let's go visit Courtney." Bridgette buttered some bread and made sandwiches. Then the four left for the cemetery.

As Liam was waking up for his birthday, Alix was waking up in her bedroom at the Louvre. She slowly raised her head and looked around her dark room. Her phone began to vibrate so she picked it up and saw a text from Nathaniel.

Happy Birthday, Milkshake! 8)

"Doofus!" Alix whispered out loud to herself. She slowly sat up, stretched her arms, yawned and then tied her hair into her trademark ponytail. She then pressed down on the pocket watch she received one year earlier.

"STOP, ALIX!" Marinette screamed, making Alix jumped and scream. She darted her head around the room only to see no one there... until Jalil shoved the door open.

"Alix!" He called out in fear. "Are you okay?!"

Alix sighed in relief at the sight of her brother. "Jalil. I'm... fine. Nightmare."

"Are you okay, though?"

Alix began to think. "Yes. I'm okay. Now, sorry to sound rude but can you get out so I can get dressed, please?"

"Oh! Sorry!" Jalil walked out and grabbed the door handle. "Happy Birthday, Alix."

Alix smiled. "Thanks, Jalil." Jalil closed the door, leaving Alix alone in her room. Alix got dressed, changing into a plain white shirt underneath a black and grey camo sweatshirt. She then put on a pair of green camo jeans and her usual sneakers. She then went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she walked out, going past her father and brother.

"Alix, your breakfast!" Mr. Kubdel called out to notify her.

"Sorry, dad! I gotta go!" Alix called out as she ran out. Mr. Kubdel and Jalil just looked in confusion...

Alix had stopped running to catch her breath as she reached her destination: the cemetery where Mother Nature held Liam and Kagami. She took a deep breath and walked into the graveyard. She knew exactly where she was going. She stopped at a tombstone labeled:

JANET KUBDEL

1968-2001

BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER

Alix was silent for a few seconds then finally spoke. "Mom. I'm... sorry I didn't come and see you last year. I'm sorry for a lot of things last year. You must have been horrified at what I did. I..." Alix began to tear up. "He's still around. He's behind bars but... I can still hear his voice, trying to force me to do his bidding. Nathaniel, the great kid he is. I think I'd have been a nervous wreck without him." Alix began to lose her voice. "But then again, I... I..." Alix just burst into tears. "I killed you, didn't I?!" She collapsed to her knees. "Y-you died so I could be born! I'm sorry, mom! I'm sorry!" Alix heard footsteps and saw a shadow cast over her. She turned around to see her father and brother. Mr. Kubdel held his arm out, pulled Alix to her feet and hugged her tightly. Jalil joined in on the group hug.

"Don't you ever think that about yourself!" Mr. Kubdel scolded Alix, albeit in the tone of a person talking to a stray lost dog. "You had nothing to do with your mother's death." The group hug disbanded. "I know in my heart that she would be proud of you. As am I."

"Here, here!" Jalil said.

"Despite my mistakes?" Alix asked.

"Of course!" Mr. Kubdel said. "I wasn't the perfect child when I was your age, and Jalil didn't always get things right either. Trying to steal the scepter ring a bell?"

"Yes, dad!" Jalil groaned.

"We live in a world where the city is attacked by black butterflies that turn people into supervillains almost on a daily basis and the only ones who can stop them are two 5000-year-olds wearing skin-tight outfits and wielding a magic yo-yo and staff!" Alix quipped. "I don't think Jalil's theory is that far-fetched." Jalil quietly sneered at his sister's remark towards his dad.

Mr. Kubdel was silent and then just burst into chuckling before hugging both of his children again. "I love you, kids!"

"We love you too, dad." Jalil and Alix said in unison.

"And no matter where she is, your mother loves all of us." The Kubdel family looked at Janet's grave again and simply smiled, embracing the silence. Jalil looked up.

"Seems we're not the only one who remember who we've lost." Alix looked at Jalil to see where he was looking and then turned her head in the direction to see, Liam, Kayla, Bridgette, and Félix at a nearby grave. "Do you want to go see them?"

"Leave them be," Alix said. "They deserve some alone time after what Chloe did." The Kubdels left the cemetery, never noticed by Liam or the others. They were too busy talking to Courtney.

"Hey, sis." Liam started. "Sorry I haven't been since I found out about you. I've been... Well, from up there, you can see everything I do. Happy Birthday, Courtney. Wish you were here. Our cousin, Marinette would have loved to meet you. I can only imagine how many fights we'd have gotten into over who had the TV remote!" Bridgette and Félix smiled at Liam's comment. "Actually, Courtney. I want to introduce someone to you." Kayla took Liam's hand. "This is Kayla, my girlfriend."

"Hello, Courtney!" Kayla said. "Nice to talk to you finally. Your parents and brother love you. When I was akumatized, I brought Liam here."

"And I didn't even say hello to you. I'm sorry, Courtney."

Bridgette and Félix walked forward. "Hello, sweetie!" Bridgette said. "Happy 16th! I got a gift for you." Bridgette laid a necklace at the bottom of the tombstone. "I miss you, sweetheart."

"We both do," Félix said. "Sorry, we all do." Félix looked at Liam and the two entered a group hug with Bridgette. Kayla stood by as the family embraced each other, remaining silent, only smiling. "Well, we've gotta get Liam to school. I swear we'll be back to see you soon."

"Goodbye!" Everyone said. The four walked out of the cemetery. As they got back into the car, a figure completely cloaked and hooded was staring at them from a distance. The figure whispered as the car drove off.

"Your intelligence has deteriorated, brother."

Later that day, the party was in full swing at Le Grand Paris. Liam was still wearing his suit and Alix was still wearing her outfit. All of Liam's and Alix's friends had shown up. Liam walked over to the drinks table to pick up a glass of lemonade when Chloe approached.

"Well?" She asked.

"Well, what?" Liam replied.

"I'm waiting for a thank you."

"You'll be waiting forever, then." Liam picked up his glass and walked away. Chloe followed him.

"Ridiculous!"

"Utterly Ridiculous!" Liam imitated Chloe. "I'm not gonna thank you or do anything for you cos if I do, you'll expect to be compensated for undoing all the damage you've caused."

"Oh!" Chloe scoffed. "I wish Adrikins was with me. He's probably having a good time with that slapper Jap."

Liam gripped his glass so hard it shattered, causing blood to drip. The guests heard the glass break and hit the floor. The crowd remained silent as Liam gave Chloe a verbal. "Did you just call Kagami Tsurugi a..." Liam made quotation marks. "Slapper Jap! One. She kicked my ass even though I was trained in many forms of sword fighting and unarmed combat for eight years. If she wanted to, she could dice you up and serve the chunks in your father's three-in-one-serving meatloaves! Two. She's one of the best fencers in the world. The girl beat ADRIEN for crying out loud! You really think you're better than her because your father used to be Mayor? Three."

"He's not with me anymore, anyway," Kagami said, sneaking up behind Chloe. Chloe screamed then sighed.

"Well, at least he knows he can do loads better than you!" This only made Kagami smirk.

"He's back with Marinette."

"WHAT?!" Chloe shrieked. "He's gone back to that psycho stalker baker's girl?!"

"She's not a psycho, Bourgeois!"

"Didn't hear you debating that she's not a stalker! That's what I thought!"

"If she's a psycho, I don't wanna know what you are!" Kagami turned and went to walk outside, Marinette came out of the elevator in time to hear Chloe's next remark.

"You're probably a psycho, too, Tsurugi. Daddy Takashi was crazy enough to shoot his own daughter in the head!" Kagami froze as the guests began to mumble in confusion. "It's a sickness. You already severed Liam's spine and tried to kill Adrien! You didn't need an akuma to make you do that!" Kagami began to hyperventilate and ran outside. Chloe smiled and turned to see Adrien, ready to strangle Chloe.

"I can't believe Callum Terrence's family have forgiven you!" He said. "I wish we'd never met!" He and Marinette ran outside to find Kagami while the guests gave Chloe death stares.

"Kagami?" Marinette called out. "Kagami?!" Marinette heard someone crying and she ran to check out the sound. She found Kagami in an alleyway, sat in the fetal position with her head resting on her knees. "Adrien, I've found her!" Marinette walked down the alley and sat down with Kagami. "Kagami? Please talk to me." Kagami lifted her head up and managed to stop crying enough to speak coherently.

"I just wanted to forget about him." She whispered. "Come to Paris and leave it all behind."

"I'm sorry." Marinette took hold of Kagami's hand.

"It's not your fault. The news said his punishment has been delayed. That has to be how Chloe found out."

"She'll always try and humiliate people. Before you came to Paris, the whole school nearly attacked her. She tried to make up for it by throwing a party and it resulted in her causing another akumatization."

Kagami quickly shot up on her feet and began slowly breathing in and out. "Sorry, Marinette. I just really didn't want to be akumatized again."

Marinette stood up as Adrien reached them. "It's alright. Good thinking, actually."

"Yeah," Adrien said. "Really clever."

"Thanks, you two." Kagami replied. "And thanks for checking on me."

"No problem." Marinette answered. "Now let's get out of this filthy alleyway."

The three chuckled and began to walk through the door when a police car with sirens flashing zoomed past. When they looked at the street it was zooming down, they saw the giant cloaked figure that was at the graveyard, running on the roofs of the cars and charging towards the hotel. The three ran back inside and quickly began barricading the door, causing confusion to the rest of the guests. Alix and Liam walked over to the three. "What's going on?" Alix asked. "Another akuma?"

"Could be." Marinette responded.

"And it looks to be heading here!" Kagami added. The guests began gasping and panicking. Liam and Alix took part in the barricading. Felix, Bridgette, Gabriel and Maria helped the kids evacuate to the other floors. Ivan, Kim, and Mr. Acier aided in the barricade.

"That should do it!" Mr. Acier commented. The barricade blew apart and sent everyone flying. Liam quickly retreated to transform. The figure walked into the lobby and remained still.

"So it is true." The figure said. "The Guardian has been sheltering you from us." The figure remained in position as Marinette and Adrien regained consciousness. "Your new master's heart has quickened. Their breathing... difficult. You know, Solehnos missed you in Municiberg by two days. Reptin was behind you in Metroville. I came across the corpse of a Miraculous holder, and I honestly thought it could've been your work. Finally, Stan Billiton's first defeat showed us that you had lost your touch. We knew then, if you were working with the Guardian, they were protecting you, and we sent Solehnos after you. He has failed us, and now I am here. I do not intend to take you alive."

Everyone was regaining their bearings when they heard another voice. "Does Arachnae know?"

"No. After decades, he is still too weak to end you himself. Right now, there is no Haoje, no Guardian, no Miraculous. No human host of mine. It is just you and I. Here. Now."

"We will do this for old time's sake. But I was inexperienced when we first clashed." The Hornet landed in the lobby. "I destroyed Solehnos. What hope do you have, Scorn?"

The figure removed his cloak, revealing himself to be a human-scorpion hybrid. He had a giant claw where his right hand should be, a tail, green skin and eyes, fangs with venom drooling off of them, and pincers on his face. "I can use my true form." Scorn shot a yellow substance out of his tail at the Hornet, which the Hornet dodged, causing the substance to burn away at the stairs behind him. Marinette noticed the acidic nature as the Hornet fired his stingers at Scorn. The two continued fighting as Marinette and Adrien woke everyone else up and they all got into an elevator. The Hornet tried flying in the air but Scorn climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling and jumped onto him, pinning him to the floor. "Whoever you are underneath that mask, I want to know if you feel safe with the only being that has killed one holder of EACH Miraculous."

"What?" Liam said under the mask. Liam was still processing when Scorn was shoved off of him by Sapphire and sent out into the streets. Sapphire reached her hand out to the Hornet and pulled him up. "Thanks for that."

"Anytime." She answered. "Now let's get him!" The Hornet and Sapphire charged out and double kicked Scorn. In retaliation, Scorn wrapped his tail around himself and shot acid as it unwrapped, spluttering acid everywhere. When the duo were distracted by this. Scorn scattered over and bit right through Sapphire's armour, poisoning her with venom.

"Kayla!" The Hornet screamed before covering his mouth in shock at what he just shouted. Scorn threw Sapphire into the side of a car and charged at the Hornet, pinning him to the ground as the guests of the party ran outside, some running away, others (including Alya) staying to record the fight.

"You're letting your slave do the work?" Scorn snarled. Suddenly, The Hornet's arm morphed into a long black arm with three claws as hands and yellow fuzz from the shoulder fading to the elbow and it grabbed Scorn by his neck. Then the other arm followed suit and the legs turned into what looked like eagle talons but black. Then a giant stinger materialised on his lower back. Suddenly, his chest became fully yellow save for four thin black stripes. Then his head was swallowed by a real Hornet's head.

"Solehnos was no match!" The 'Hornet' said in an extremely low and gravelly voice. "And to protect my allies, I would gladly kill you where you stand! But I want you to deliver a message to our brothers and sisters. You can attack me anytime, but you put innocents in danger again, and I will bite off your tail, and then your limbs! Do you understand?!"

"Polistes-Gugh!" Scorn choked. "This is not over!"

"Better make it clearer!" Polistes opened wide mouth and bit off Scorn's stinger, then threw him so far, he disappeared over the horizon. Polistes began to revert back into the Hornet. People around were looking at him in terror.

"What was that?!" Liam whispered. Suddenly, he felt a can hit the back of his head. People started booing him and throwing objects at him. He ran to pick up Sapphire and flew away with her. People began screaming and running, police began shooting at him. Many of Liam's friends were scared of The Hornet. Those who knew his secret were scared for him...

The Hornet flew into his backyard and quickly set Kayla down on the couch. He removed his mask and took Sapphire's helmet off. He then examined the wound that Scorn had made on her. "Oh, god!" Liam said. "No time to make a cure!" He placed his lips on the wound and began sucking the venom out of her wounds, spitting it into a mug on the table. Kayla began breathing more reasonably. Liam went out to get a glass of water for Kayla and himself. "Is it true?" He asked. No one answered. "Is it true?!"

"Yes." Polistes answered. "It's true. All of it."

"So the Haoje want you... because you're one of them?! And you killed Miraculous holders?!"

"Yes."

Liam pulled his glove off and tapped his watch to deactivate his Hornet powers and remove his costume. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Cos I was afraid you'd react like this!"

"You should've told me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry, too, but I can't talk to you right now!" Liam removed the watch and placed it in a drawer. He then took the glasses of water into the living room and gulped a mouthful, churned it without swallowing and spat it out into the garden so that he didn't swallow and venom residue. Kayla groaned as she began to stir.

"Liam?" She said in a raspy voice. Liam got on his knees and held her hand with his. "What happened?"

"That thing poisoned you. I had to suck it out."

"Ugh, you're so pleasant." She sat up on the couch and Liam gave her a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That thing was after Polistes." Liam let go. "He's... one of the Haoje!"

"What?! Where is he now?"

"In the kitchen drawer. I can't speak to him now."

"But what if Ladybug and Cat Noir need the Hornet?"

"I have a backup suit. It's... blatanly homemade but it'll get the job done."

Kayla used her mind to retract her Sapphire armour, leaned in and kissed Liam. They both began making out and eventually Liam let go and led Kayla to his bedroom...