Ben entered the kitchen to see his parents waiting for him, his dad spotted him and his face lit up "ah Ben, we have some great news! We're going back to Michigan!" Ben froze in place, the blood in his face was nowhere to be found and a million thoughts rushed through his head "we got invited to our Highschool Reunion! So we're taking a flight tomorrow" Ben scratched his head "okay...well have fun you guys" his dad got up and hugged him "be safe while we're gone" Ben hugged his dad back. Ben opened the front door and looked around "perfect day for some training" Ben made his way to the jewelry shop, on his way he saw Mason amd Arnold near a body shop "hey guys!" Ben called out with both of them waving, he crossed the street and joined them, Arnold greeted him "hello Ben, it is nice to see you, are you feeling alright?" Ben nodded "slept weird on my arm but I'll manage" Mason yawned "man, Spring Break can't come soon enough" Ben responded "dude, how is Spring Break different from what you do already?" Mason sneered "oh haha, hey, what happened at Nadia's place? Heard she had a run in with some of Pangolin's goons" Ben sucked in air through his teeth "yeah, they messed up her apartment good and now her and her family are staying at a hotel" Mason then nudged Ben with his shoulder "you meet her sister? Knockout am I right?" Arnold looked at Mason with a scowl and Ben just awkwardly looked away "you could say that, she is frightening though" Mason laughed "atleast you got to talk to her, when I used to live in that Apartment I was head over heels for her, but she was way out of my league" Arnold sighed "Mason, every girl you are trying to court is 'out of your league'" Mason scoffed "whatever, hey, we're about to meet Trevor, he's throwing a party tomorrow and we're gonna help him stock up, wanna come?" Ben looked at the Jewelry Shop "uhhhh, rain check" Ben was about to cross the street when Mason called out "c'mon man, we almost never hang out nowadays" Ben sighed "fine...I'll go but I need to be back here before the sun goes down" Mason patted his shoulder "alright! C'mon, he's at the gas station just a ways away".
Ben, Arnold, and Mason entered the gas station, Mason called out "Warriors!" A booming voice came from the other side of the store "Hooah!" A hulking man came from one of the aisles and Mason ran to them, they collided and pushed against eachother before letting go, the man had long wild hair that was tied back and it reached all the way to his back, he had a deep tan and was wearing a red jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off and a tanktop underneath. Mason introduced Ben "Ben, this is Trevor, star of the football team" Trevor stuck out his hand and Ben put out his, when Trevor shook it Ben could feel his bones rattle, Trevor had a powerful grip "hold on a second, hey Rex, Alexia, Mason is here" Someone else came out of the aisle, a lean muscular man with pale skin and piercing yellow eyes, his hair was black and slicked back with a red hairband keeping it so, he wore a black leather jacket with the sleeves slightly rolled up and a white t-shirt, his blue jeans hugged his skin and his gripfast boots clicked when he walked, behind him was a woman with a tanned complexion, she was toned and her eyes shined like rubies, the sides of her head were shaved and there was a wavy tuft of brown hair covered the top of her head, she wore a sleeveless button up shirt and tights, she also had fingerless gloves that went up to her elbow. Ben noticed that Rex and Alexia were holding hands "oh shit, you're Ben right? Damn, we heard about what happened at the Zoo, you got balls" Ben blushed a bit, he wasn't used to praise.
Trevor made a whooo sound "you gotta come to the party tonight! It's gonna be the party of da year!" Rex hit Trevor in the chest "easy there, the new year just started" Trevor lifted a keg with both hands and Rex picked up one with just a single hand. The group exited the store and Trevor howled "man, that fake-" Rex hit him upside the head "hey, you want every cop in a ten block radius to hear you?" Rex and Trevor loaded the convertible parked outside and Mason and Arnold hopped in "yo Ben, you wanna join us?" Ben thought for a second and then shook his head "no thanks, I need to do some maintainence on the Jewelry Store" Rex nodded "okay, hope to see you tonight, Mason, send him the address" Mason nodded and they drove off". Ben entered the Jewelry Shop, he read the text from Mason "23 Stellaris Street, 7:30" Ben entered the Secret Room "okay, what's on the agenda?" Prowwl and Sturnn flew out of his jacket and into the bookshelves "further decoding" Ben got into a push up stance and began working out, his Kwami propped up a book infront of him and he began to read.
Ben exited the Jewelry Shop, his arms and legs were sore, he had been training for hours "Party doesn't start for another hour, I'll go home and get ready". Ben entered his house and his phone began to ring, it was Sophia, Ben answered the phone "hey babe, what's up?" Sophia began to speak "hey Benji, you wanna come to a party tonight? It's in an hour" Ben walked to his room "I was already invited, I'm getting ready now" Sophia's voice lifted "oh! Okay, I'll head over to your place then" Ben agreed "you know where the key is" Ben hung up and entered the bathroom, he turned on the shower "maybe this'll soothe the pain" it did not. Ben got out of the bathroom and massaged his arms when he heard someone in his living room say "well hello" Ben lifted his hands in a fighting stance when he spotted Sophia biting one of her nails "oh, hey babe" Ben's towel nearly fell but he caught it "no, no, no, let it follow through" Sophia said with Ben doing a mocking laugh "oh haha" Ben tied the towel around his waist and went to his room "I just need to get dressed" Sophia then remarked "maybe I can help" Ben looked at her "what is with you today?" Sophia laughed and Ben went to his room.
Ben dressed himself and went out into the living room "okay, you ready?" Sophia nodded and jingled her car keys. Ben and Sophia got into the car and drove to the party, Sophia noticed that Ben was abnormally quiet "Benji, you okay?" Ben looked at her "I'm fine, I'm just...thinking" Sophia questioned further "about what?" Ben sighed "these...attacks have been getting more and more frequent and I'm afraid, they're getting so close to home I got hurt and Nadia almost got killed" Sophia sighed "yeah but hey atleast I-" Ben looked at her and Sophia changed what she was saying "have been keeping safe" Ben smirked "oh, we're here" Ben looked out the window to see a cliffside house "woah, this is where Trevor lives?" Sophia shook her head "nope, this is Rex' house". Ben and Sophia drove past a number of their classmates out on the street drinking "it's like the whole school is here" Ben whispered, they found a place to park and got out where they were greeted by Trevor hanging out of the sunroof of a car cruising down the road screaming his head off "looks like Trevor's deep in already" Ben and Sophia entered the estate, the music was blaring and everyone was either dancing, drinking, or trying to talk over the music.
Ben and Sophia went to the DJ Booth where they saw Arnold there "Arnold? You DJ?" Arnold looked at Ben "why yes I do, it is quite enjoyable" Ben's head was suddenly gripped by a large arm, Ben didn't even think and flipped the person, it was Mason who was lying there in shock and everything stopped "woah dude, didn't know you took Jiu Jitsu lessons" Ben helped Mason up and everyone resumed partying. Sophia and Ben started dancing and Mason wandered off somewhere, Ben noticed Sally and Alexia approaching "oh boy..." Sally got Sophia's attention "Sophia! Let's go get our picture taken!" Sophia looked at Ben and Ben responded "go ahead, I'm gonna socialize" Sally smiled "finally, he says something smart" Ben sneered "hey maybe the threat of a picture will make you fix your foundation" Sally marched off holding Sophia's arm leaving Ben and Alexia alone "hey..." Alexia said with Ben's attention focusing "yeah?" Alexia fixed her hair "Rex wants to see you, he's on the balcony" Ben walked over to the door to the balcony and opened it where Rex was leaning against the railing "yo!" Rex said without turning around. Ben approached "you wanna drink?" Rex said while offering a can of beer, Ben declined with Rex opening it and taking a drink "so Ben...how long you been in New York" Ben responded "about five months" Rex looked at his beer.
Rex and Ben looked out to the city "man, a party like this wouldn't have been possible at Greenville, but ever since you befriended Arnold Schmidt, did the same with Mason Dorris, and eventually banged Sophia Briggar the whole school has become a melting pot, no one true clique exists anymore" Ben looked at Rex "and that's a bad thing?" Rex shook his head "the opposite dude, you brought the school together, all because you talked to three people" Ben looked down "wow, never really thought of it like that, I thought I was just making friends" Rex got up off the railing "one action can have a lasting effect on anything, even the smallest push can topple a mountain" Ben looked at Rex "you remind me of my mentor, he owned the Jewelry Shop I work at, now he's gone" Rex crushed the can in his hand "I'm guessing not the gone like a vacation" Ben shook his head "no, I have the deed to the store now" Rex opened another can and walked over to the balcony and poured it over the side "it might be a little late but...I'll send him a drink".
A random guy bursted onto the balcony "Rex! Dude! Party Crasher!" Rex crushed the can "who?" Rex said in a stern voice "it's Timothy Grayson" Ben's attention was caught "Timothy?" Ben said with Rex huffing and rushing inside. Ben followed Rex to a circle of kids who were huddled together, Rex pushed through the crowd and saw Grayson who was being lifted into the air by Harvey by his shirt collar. Ben was about to intervene when Rex stopped him "I got this, my house, my responsibility" Rex approached Harvey "so boys...what seems to be the problem?" Harvey looked at Rex "good timing, should I throw this prick out or what?" Rex responded "I'm gonna go with 'or what' Grayson hasn't party fouled yet so I don't see why he can't stay and have a good time" Grayson looked at Rex confused as did Harvey "but-" Harvey uttered but Rex stopped him by grabbing his arm "Harvey...let him go" Harvey sighed and put Grayson down "now let's have a good time and party like it's the end of the fucking world!" everyone cheered and the party started back up again.
Ben approached Grayson "hey...are you alright?" Grayson looked at Ben "yeah...I'm fine, I'm actually here to see you though" Ben was confused "what could you possibly need to see me for?" Grayson whispered "not here...outside, in the car" Ben and Grayson walked out of the party and to a limousine, Ben and Grayson got in, the interior was red and gold, Grayson pulled out a bottle of champagne "want a glass?" Ben shook his head "I don't drink" Grayson shrugged and opened the bottle taking a big swig of it "ahhhh shit that's good" Ben then asked "so...what did you wanna talk about?" Grayson looked around "I need you to get out of the city" Ben raised an eyebrow "and here I thought we were becoming friends" Grayson shook his head "no, no, no, look, you already know about the whole Miraculous thing so you know how dangerous that shit is right? Well my guys have been scanning the city and we've been picking up on some real funky energy readings" Ben leaned in closer "what kind of energy readings?" Grayson shrugged "beats the shit out of me, they're not like the signatures Pseudos give off, and regular Miraculous don't give off a signal until their user transforms so...I'm stumped" Ben thought about it "that is strange, wait, you're worried about me?" Grayson blushed a bit "y-yeah! So what?! Look, I don't want you to get hurt like at the zoo, that was supposed to be between me and Beowulf so excuse me if I'm extra careful with my frie-" Grayson stopped himself short "just get out, go somewhere with your family, I don't care" Ben smirked "I think you do" Ben opened the door to the limousine and got out, the limo peeled off and Ben returned to the party.
Ben saw Sophia dancing with Sally and Alexia. Ben sighed and texted Sophia
Hey, need to head home early, my parents aren't going to be home, you can come over if you want
Ben walked out of the house but looked up at the balcony to see Rex there, looking at him, Ben minded his business and started to make his way back to his place. Ben was halfway to his house when he smelled something familiar "that smell...the Tome!" Ben followed the scent into an alleyway, a familiar purple glow eminated from the alley, Ben opened his jacket and Prowwl flew out "Prowwl, Let's Hunt!" Ben transformed and keot going. Beowulf turned the corner and saw a thin translucent purple shard that had the all too familiar shifting text, Beowulf approached it and reached for it, he smelled something hostile and jumped back with something hitting the ground infront of him kicking up dust. The dust cleared and Beowulf saw that it was a giant sword implanted in the ground, it had a red and black polka dot pattern, Beowulf looked up to see a woman descending from the sky and landing on the sword's hilt. She looked at Beowulf "well, well, well, Chronoa warned me you'd get in the way" Beowulf cracked his knuckles "I see my reputation proceeds me...hey, you look familiar" the lady responded "just call me Darkbug for now" Beowulf rolled his shoulder "okay then Darkbug, shall we dance?" Darkbug shrugged "sure, I've always loved dancing".
Beowulf and Darkbug rushed and collided forearms, the force behind them caused trash in the alley to blow away. Beowulf pushed Darkbug away and she flipped onto the sword's crossguard, Darkbug picked up the sword and attacked Beowulf, she swung the massive blade with speed and precision but Beowulf managed to avoid the flurry of attacks, Beowulf bent back and dodged a slash, he threw his leg up and kicked the sword out of her hands and it flew into the side of a building. Darkbug jumped up but Beowulf grabbed her ankles tried to slam her but she stopped it by putting her hands on the floor, Darkbug then flung Beowulf in the air with her legs, Anti-Bug jumped and grabbed her sword then jumped off the wall ready to cut Beowulf in two. Beowulf reeled back his fist "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf then punched the incoming sword and the impact sent both of them flying back, Beowulf tumbled across the ground but recovered "had to burn my Wolfsbane to avoid that, I would've been split in two" Beowulf looked at his Miraculous as it began to beep "I've got five minutes, better make them count". Beowulf got into a fighting stance but immediately abandoned it when he saw Darkbug with a missle launcher "well that's just not fair" Beowulf whispered.