Chapter Six

Marinette was sitting in her bed, slightly in shock. She had of course already adjusted to the fact that there must be some sort of entity with powers, not just the cat and bug. If not, then how did they get their miraculous. So skipping over the discovery of other people, who seem to have powers even without miraculous, she was in shock because she had not expected them to be so young nor as clumsy. She could admit that they were a great help in defeating the Akuma, but…

She expected some sort of elder guardian, not the wacky guy in pajamas and the psycho girl who challenged an Akuma. They were younger than her for God's sake!

When she went to go thank them with Cat Noir, she didn't expect to see them in a back alley walking through a portal. Cat Noir pulled them back to ask questions, which led to a sequence of incredibly unfortunate tumbles. The portal disappeared.

The reactions varied. The pajama boy looked as if someone died in front of him, and the psycho looked ecstatic when she heard we were coming to thank them, completely skating past what just happened. In hindsight, Marinette wondered if she did that on purpose to avoid their questions and run out time on their clock.

This wasn't actually the case, Emma was just really excited.

As for the "Woman/Heroine" in question, she and her brother were sitting in the esteemed Master Fu's home. She was like a hyper kid., no.. She was a hyper kid. Hardly sitting still, soaking in everything, asking questions of this and that as they ate dinner. In between, Hugo managed to get out why they were there and what exactly happened. Master Fu merely nodded, occasionally his eyes would widen, but he made no comment until Hugo was done.

"So I was wondering-" Hugo started, trying to pop the time stone question. He wasn't entirely sure how to ask at first, after all it was such a valuable object. But Master Fu had such a kind and calming aura about him that made it easy for Hugo to get comfortable.

Unfortunately, Emma interrupted. "Do you have to have any time stones lying around?" She asked, winking at Hugo. He internally groaned, she did not just ask him if he had a very powerful magical stone lying around.

"Time stones? You don't perhaps mean…! Master Fu thought to himself for a second before saying, "I am afraid I have none, I brought very little with me from the temple. Most of them are gone and none of them are from the bunny."

Hugo gasped, this was his one lifeline! You mean to him that he has to take the blame for this. He had to take the blame for running around Paris in his pajamas, for falling in the canal, for being turned into a Knight, for being on the verge of a panic attack several times! Hadn't he been punished enough!
Emma, too, was wallowing in self pity. She had almost been able to look past it earlier, the grave event. She had seen her parents in action, and got to help them! But this was too much! This was much more suffering than any great hero can endure. Not only was she going to get a huge punishment for breaking the rules, endangering the future, etc. but she would also be going home EMPTY-HANDED! She had lost her Jagged Stone autograph.

I know, I know! Tragic. She had lost her potential fortune. She was planning on giving it to Hugo to get him a car in the future, or maybe help him pay for college, whatever, just to make up for the trouble she had caused him. She wasn't blind and she wasn't selfish.

…

Not that selfish at least.

Emma looked around at Master Fu, who looked slightly downcast, and to her brother who had his head down. "I guess we just need to wait for our parents to save us." He said solemnly.

Emma was suddenly pulled in a daydream, or maybe a nightmare. She could picture it, not becoming a hero, not being rich. Her parents being old, like Master Fu, and getting out the miraculous to save Paris because they couldn't be trusted. Well, maybe Hugo would get a pass because he had come to save her, but Emma… She would be left in the house alone with her hundreds of turtles or something. Her face cringed.

Standing up suddenly, she cut the air in a sign-stopping gesture. "No! No way! Not in a million years! I will not be condemned to a life of misery because of such a trivial thing such as this! And certainly not empty handed!" She shouted.

Master Fu looked at her, slightly surprised. Hugo, on the other hand, was gaping at her. "Eh-Emma, you're being ridicu-"

"No! How are we going to be heroes if we can't even save ourselves. Such potential should not be held back because of some small misjudgment. We either get out of here by ourselves or die trying!" She declared.

"Emma, we can't-"

"Watch me!"

Hugo sighed. He did admire Emma, and how she always remained optimistic and determined. Something he could never be, he thought at least. Daring, brave, everything a hero needed. Yes, she would make a good hero. But there was just no way, and he told her so.

"Not true! Back when I only just realized I didn't have a time stone in the park, I came up with a couple options," She said, looking very proud of herself.

Hugo looked at her in disbelief. "I do! See, I can have good ideas, I came up with the idea to find Master Fu. I'm smart."

Hugo snorted, but Emma continued on, "I was thinking, if we could find time stones, we create them!"

Hugo stared at her blankly for a second, before slowly asking, "Do you know how to make time stones?"

Emma looked at him sheepishly, causing Hugo's nostrils to flare. "Of course, it wouldn't be 'Emma's plan' without a giant gaping hole of information where we need it!" He exhaled deeply, trying to calm down. Wrapping up his situation from the past few days. He had wet clothes, stuck in a time that wasn't his with his sporadic sister, while the younger version of his parents might be looking for them, and they had no definite plan.

However, his outburst triggered bickering. Master Fu coughed slightly to gain their attention, to which Emma responded by asking, "Master Fu! Do you know how to make time stones?"

Hugo's spirits soared.

"I am afraid I can not remember in my old age-"

Hugo's spirits crashed and burned.

"But I do know of a book that contained the recipe. If you are in fact willing to listen." The old man finished.

"Can you describe it?" Hugo said in a low voice, trying not to get his hopes up. After a couple minutes of him describing as best he could remember, a lightbulb suddenly went off in her head. "The recipe book! The one in Dad's study, remember? We used to take it out during Christmas to help Mom make magical cake!"

Hugo and Master Fu gasped, both for different reasons. Hugo was hit by memories of the book, recalling that it was the very same book that he had learned the recipe out of. He could only remember a couple materials, after all it had been a long time since seeing it, but from what he could gather, things were not looking good for them. They would need the bunny miraculous for that.

Master Fu was stupefied, "Your parents have the book in their possession?"

Hugo didn't leave much time for him to ask questions though, "I remember, but in order to complete the recipe, from what I know, we need the actual miraculous!"

Emma waved him off, "So, the difficulty level just went up, big deal, besides, you learned this when? Several years ago? Don't be such a stick in the mud."

Hugo sighed, he really hoped his sister was right. Master Fu remained silent for a while, not registering the twins staring at him until Emma gave an exaggerated stretch and yawn. "Ah, would you like to sleep in the guest room?"

Hugo looked more timid, while Emma leapt to her feet and made her way to the room, giving thanks to the old man on her way. The adolescent boy looked at Master Fu for validation. "You can search for a change of clothes back there, it might be a bit small, but better than wet clothes."

Hugo nodded, thanking the master before exiting. The old man sighed, thinking about what a day it had been. His chosen ones had gotten a hold of that book! How? It wasn't much of a problem to him of course, but simple curiosity. He got up to stretch a little before going to bed, it wasn't good for such an old man to be awake at these late hours. He turned around, only to find that he wasn't alone in the room…