"A-Adrien?!"
The three superheroes stammered. All wore different looks of shock on their faces.
Vixen was surprised, yet looked excited at the same time. Like something had just been proven to her.
Queen Bee held her hand over her gaping mouth, blinking rapidly.
But Emerald Turtle, although his eyes were wide, his brow was furrowed. He didn't understand. And yet, it all made sense.
Adrien took in their reactions, at first glaring intently at Emerald Turtle, but the way he was looking back at him, caused his expression to soften.
"I'm not surprised you know me, given my face is plastered all over Paris. Even still," he muttered bitterly. He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. "I'm not just some pretty face. I refuse to be seen as such, so please, don't let the fact that I'm a model change how you see me in any way. ...But at least now you know why I wasn't around to save Paris for the past couple of years."
"Stop," Emerald Turtle said. "You don't need to explain yourself any further, dude. I totally get it."
Adrien raised an eyebrow. Dude? He's seen a lot of interviews with the guy, as well as civilian footage, and not once did he ever speak all chill like that.
Emerald Turtle walked up next to Adrien, fist bumping his shoulder before detransforming. The room was briefly illuminated with a bright teal color before it dimmed, revealing Nino.
Adrien's face lit up at the sight of his best friend standing next to him. "N-no way!" he exclaimed, giving him a fist bump.
"My turn!" Queen Bee said eagerly. She got up, walked up to the boys, and detransformed. A quick bright yellow light later and Chloé stood before them.
"Chlo!" Adrien gasped, taken aback a little. "You're Queen Bee?!"
Chloé let out a laugh. "You sound so surprised, Adrien. Though honestly, I never thought I'd ever be the type to become a hero either, so I guess your reaction is understandable."
Nino guffawed, slapping his hand on his knee, and doubled over. Adrien and Chloé turned to look at him.
"I can't believe it... you know, I had a feeling you were Queen Bee, but wow!" He laughed so hard, his eyes were beginning to tear. After a few moments, he calmed down and wiped the outer corner of his eyes. "By the way, when you threw us into those chairs earlier, that hurt. A lot," he shot her an irritated look.
"Yeah, well Nino, you deserved it," Chloé rolled her eyes, her arms crossed.
Nino sighed. "You're right, I did deserve it. I'm sorry, Chloé."
"Apology accepted, then," she straightened up, flashing him a smile.
The three turned to Vixen, who just stood there in absolute shock.
"Are you okay?" Adrien asked her, taking a step towards her, his hand outstretched as if to offer her help or comfort. He expressed nothing for concern for her. She wasn't looking well.
"I should go," she rushed out in a weak voice, and turned to head out the door, before she was grabbed around the waist.
"Wait a minute! Please listen to me," Nino insisted, struggling to keep a hold of her, she was fighting to break free. "Tell us what's wrong. We're your team, and your friends. We care about you. You don't have to show us who you are if you really don't want to, but you can trust us. We won't tell anyone who you are."
Vixen stopped fighting him, and actually went limp in his arms. "That's...that's not it," she murmured. "It's... me... I have a boyfriend whom I love very much. He's really sweet, but a complete dork. Nothing was complicated about our relationship, not even how we got together. Everything was simple, and he means the world to me, I don't know what I'd do without him. And then I met you, Emerald Turtle, and I was falling for you. It- it scared me, so I pushed you away the only way I knew how. And because of it, Ladybug got hurt, and I feel so bad about it that I can't..." she sunk down to the floor, and covered her face up with her hands.
Nino crouched down next to her, rubbing her back gently.
"And you know the worst, most gut-wrenching part of it? My efforts to push you away, didn't even matter. There was no point!" she began to sob. "Because I found out my boyfriend is Emerald Turtle!"
Nino gasped. "A-A-Alya?!"
She detransformed, letting off an orange light, and Alya was left crying on the floor.
After he recovered himself from the initial shock, Nino softly chuckled, and leaned towards her.
"Wanna know something?" he asked, a crooked smile on his face. "Believe it or not, Emerald Turtle fell for Vixen, too."
"What?" her head shot up from her hands to look at him, though she could barely see him through the blurriness.
"It's not surprising, when you think about it. I fell for the girl that was in the mask, and I was already in love with the girl underneath it. That's how I look at it, anyway. You don't have to feel guilty about it, because you're not alone," he leaned in, and kissed her.
"Ewwww, so gross!" Plagg cried immediately, interrupting them.
Adrien groaned. "Shut up, Plagg! Be polite, would you?"
Everyone in the room, including the 4 other Kwami's, glared at him.
"I don't like human displays of affection," he turned his nose up in the air, sticking his tongue out in disgust.
"Oh really, Plagg? Because I know for a fact that that's not true," Tikki said slyly. "They're our Chosen's best friends, so be respectful."
"And they're our Chosen's, so don't ruin their happiness!" Trixx yelled at Plagg, shooting him a dirty look.
"Well so-o-o-rry!" Plagg emphasized. "I don't do drama well, and that's all this night has been about. And I'm cranky because I didn't get any Camembert."
The Kwami's moaned and groaned at his behavior.
"We haven't had anything to eat in awhile either, and you don't hear us complaining," Hunny spoke up.
"Actually, I had a nice, juicy strawberry just a little while ago," Wayzz interjected, rubbing his stomach. All the Kwami's gave him a dull look, causing him to sink down a little. "Never mind..."
"W-wait a minute," Alya whispered, standing up to look at everyone in the room.
"If Chloé is Queen Bee, I'm Vixen, you're," she pointed at Nino, "Emerald Turtle, and Adrien... you're Chat Noir...and Nino and Adrien know who Ladybug is... does that mean...?"
Nino and Adrien knew exactly where she was going with this. They both gave her solemn nods.
"Oh, what have I done?" she breathed in despair, her voice barely audible.
"Marinette's going to be alright, I know she is," Nino tried to comfort her, but he too felt the exact same way.
Adrien walked up to Alya, and wrapped his arms around her. "It was a lapse in judgement. Even if you both had been paying attention, something could've gone wrong." Adrien looked over at Nino, continuing to speak. "I feel so guilty myself, for not being there at all when I should've been, and I lashed out at you, Nino, I'm sorry." He let go of Alya, and held out his hand for Nino's.
"Don't sweat it, man, I get it," he shook his hand. "But I had no idea you were such a beast when you're jealous," he snickered.
"Yeah Adrien, who knew such a quiet and kind guy like you had it in you?" she teased, joining Nino in on the laughter, though considering she was still crying, it came out as hiccups.
"Remember Copycat? His akumatiziation was because of my jealousy. Whenever I see a guy around Marinette, or Ladybug, I just..." his expression hardened, and he let out a huff.
Alya giggled, feeling slightly better, "It's okay lover boy, she has eyes for only you. Trust me."
"A-anyway," Adrien cleared his throat, his face a bright red. He gestured for everyone to sit at the table. "Now that things are relatively more calm now, there are a couple of other things I needed to talk to you all about. One's quite major, and a bit selfish of me to ask, and bad timing with what's going on... But before I get to that, Nino, do you know how long that shield around the hat will work?"
"It shouldn't go out," said Wayzz, who was hovering above Nino's shoulder. Adrien was sitting at the end of the table, Nino to his right. "But I think we should bring it home with us tonight, in case it breaks."
"We need to make sure it stays in there until Ladybug's able to purify the akuma. Let's hope that's soon, otherwise you're going to have a collection of them," Adrien pointed at the orb that hovered on the table.
"Alright, so what's this selfish favor you need to ask us, Adrien?" Chloé asked, sitting to his left.
"I'll show you," Adrien reached in his pocket, and pulled out the Peacock Miraculous. It began to glow, and Dusuu was released once more.
"This was my mother's Miraculous, and her Kwami Dusuu," he explained, gesturing towards Dusuu.
"Hi!" greeted the little blue Kwami with an adorable wave. All the other Kwami in the room swarmed around her, greeting her for the first time in a long time, apart from Plagg that is.
"My mother has been missing, and Dusuu told me the only way she can be rescued is if someone wears both the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous. I think our best chance is if Marinette wears them. I found this out from Dusuu just before the akuma attacked tonight, and we were interrupted so I don't know very much yet..."
The group blinked at Adrien, completely perplexed.
"What...?" was all Nino could say. The others said nothing.
"I'm not exactly sure what happened to her, but it sounds like the only way to get to her, to save her, is if all of us work together, which is why I'm asking for your help."
"Of course we'll help you," Chloé rested her hand on Adrien's arm. "Right guys?" she turned to Nino and Alya. They nodded happily. "And I know Marinette will want to help, too."
"But for now, we'll concentrate on Marinette's health, and keeping Paris safe. We'll bring it up to her when she's well... And speaking of, if we want to see her first thing tomorrow, we should all head home. Dusuu," he said, willing her to go back into the Miraculous. She nodded, and disappeared into it.
"Anything else we need to discuss?" he asked the group. Everyone shook their heads.
"Okay, time to transform and head home, then."
"Plagg, claws out!"
"Trixx, tail out!"
"Wayzz, shell on!"
"Hunny, buzz on!"
The four transformed simultaneously, Tikki flew into Chat Noir's pocket, and nestled inside. The group smiled at each other, smiling with joy and understanding. Their bonds as friends strengthened, some of their problems fixed after misunderstandings. But their eyes held a sadness, an emptiness, because the group was incomplete. They had a long road ahead.