The next day in Paris after class with Ms. Bustier, the group had all gathered by Marinette's desk as the team's kwamis all flew out of their respected hiding places as Marinette stood by with her hands clasped and a smile on her face.
"So?" she asked. "Everyone got the votes?"
The thirteen others all smiled as they reached into their bags and pulled out a small slip of paper with a smile and passed them to her and Marinette pulled her own out and smiled as she looked at the others nervously.
"Remember. This is a blind vote to prevent any sort of bribery or influence," Marinette said. "There's a reason I asked you all to take your picks separately. None of you is going to know who voted what unless the vote is unanimous. And it must be unanimously 'yes' for us to reveal our secret to the Omni-Team."
"What are you waiting for then?" Alya asked her best friend. "Tally the votes."
The kwamis looked on nervously as Marinette unfolded each one of the papers and sighed.
"Yes," she said, tossing the papers away. "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes."
"That's thirteen 'Yes' votes," Adrien said. "All we need is one more and then we have six more Keepers of the Secret."
"I should add that I saved my vote for last," Marinette said as she slowly (on purpose for dramatic effect) unfolded the paper and then showed it to the group.
"Well of course I voted 'Yes,'" Marinette said. "I'm a fan of theirs too."
"Alright," Plagg said. "You guys did make a deal. It was voted 'Yes.' Now you have to live up to it."
"Those guys going to be trustworthy, guys," Sabrina said to the group. "Like Marinette said. If there's anybody that we can trust with the secret, it would be other superheroes."
"But how are we going to find them? We only have six days," Alix said.
"Simple? We wait for them," Max said.
"Wait for them?" Ivan asked. "Why would we do that?"
"Come on, Ivan. It's obvious from what happened yesterday that they're going to be looking for us too. It's not like we're going to be fighting the Collector again," Juleka said, brushing her hair out from her face.
"Don't remind us," Kim said, remembering the brutal experience with said psychopath.
"I still have the bruises," Chloe said with a groan.
"Sorry."
"Still, Juleka's got a point," Rose said, tracing her finger on the desk. "And I'm not just saying that because she's my girlfriend. These guys might not be from our neck of the woods, but they're still heroes."
"I've heard great things about them," Alya said. "Hawk Moth is one of the biggest threats that this planet has ever known. If we can do as well as we have against his forces without any help, just imagine how we'll be against him with it."
"We'd be almost unstoppable," Nathaniel realized.
"What do you say guys? Tonight at midnight?" Marinette asked, putting her hand in.
"Tonight at midnight," Adrien said with a smile as the rest put their hands into the pile one by one.
"Miraculous Team!" they all shouted, breaking the pile and throwing their hands up before they all walked to the door.
"Oh, and don't forget, guys. My birthday cotillion is in three days," Chloe said. "Marinette, I specifically asked my daddy to let you design my dress to begin with. You're ready with them, right?"
"Not quite. I need another day," Marinette said. "But trust me, it's going to be my best work since Fashion Week."
"Eee! I don't know why I ever picked on you when we were little," Chloe said with a proud smile. "You're an amazing friend."
"And you are too for inviting all of us to your birthday."
"Oh, stop it!" Chloe smiled as she walked off as Pollen looked up from her purse.
"You are a great friend, Chloe."
"I'm just trying my best to be anything but what I was a few years ago," she said to her kwami, her pride and joy.
Ever since she briefly lost her to the Collector, their bond had grown even closer than before. Chloe barely let her out of her sight at this point so that nothing bad would ever happen to her again. Ironic given that she's been deathly afraid of bees almost her entire life. But Pollen was different. And at this point, she was willing to start to consider Chloe her favorite holder she's ever had in her immortal life.
"Your friends know that you're not. And so do I," Pollen said.
Later on, the Omni-Team were sitting at a restaurant with a sigh as they ate at their lunch as Jen bit into her croque monsieur sandwich.
"Oh, that's good!" she said to herself, hearts forming in her eyes as she looked to Allison and smiled and at her duck a l'orange with a contented smile.
"France really does have the best cuisine in the world," she said, moaning in content as Kevin snapped his fingers.
"Ladies! Yes, the food is out of this world. No doubt. But can't we focus on what's really important. Like the Miraculous Team?"
"Kevin's right," Ben said. "From what the city's told us since we've been here, these kids have been doing this for about a year now. We've got four years on them in terms of experience and they're already as good as us."
"Those jewels they have must be spectacular for them to pull that kind of stuff they've done," Becky said, tasting her fondue. "If we were fighting, I think that we could probably take them, but man it would be a close one."
"Now... on to who they are..." Gwen said with a raise of her eye to her Anodite cousin.
"Yes. I'm 99.9% sure that those guys we met yesterday are part of the team," Jen said with a smile.
"We'll find out for sure tonight," Ben said. "We're all agreed, right?"
"We go out to find them, reveal our secrets to each other, right?" Allison asked.
"Right." Becky said. "We're heroes. Heroes have to stick together."
"Of course," Jen said. "Mom and Dad are going to be in that meeting for the majority of this vacation. They said to do what we want as long as it's reasonable. This is the fate of the world here, I'd say that's reasonable enough. We're not going to be interrupting anything. Our secret is going to be perfectly intact. Even after we reveal ourselves to the Miraculous Team."
"This Hawk Moth guy is definitely bad news. When do we leave to meet them?" Kevin asked.
"Tonight at midnight," Ben said. "Almost everyone in the city is going to be asleep then. If you're a superhero like we or they are, it's the perfect time to do patrol. But how are we going to find them?"
"We're not," Gwen said with a smile and crossed arms. "They're going to find us."
"Gwen's right," Allison said. "The best way to find someone is to let them find you. If you look at this logically, whoever they are, they're probably having the same conversation that we're having right now. And where's the first thing they would think to look?"
Six pairs of eyes then looked outwards towards the Eiffel Tower and then smiled to each other and nodded in wordless agreement.
That night when the clock struck 11:45 that the Omni-Team looked up in their PJs and looked at the clock in their respective rooms as they silently snuck out and went into Ben and Jen's room where they looked to see Emma sleeping softly in the bed she shared with her older sister as Jen smiled and looked to them.
"It's time."
"You're darn right it is, sis," Ben said as they opened the window and looked to see the City of Lights/Love glowing brightly in the night, all the lights on as they smiled and moved to the balcony as Kevin pulled his ski-mask on with a smile.
"Let's do this," he said as the original five members all put their wrists in as they smiled.
"It's Hero Time!" they all said as they each pressed their watches and transformed into their super suits with a smile as they moved out to the balcony.
"Miraculous Team, here we come," Matter Girl said as they all leaped out the second floor balcony as Ben and Jen transformed into Jetray and AeroForce, flying through the sky as Lucky Girl moved beside them on a mana hoverboard with Huntress running beside them.
Matter Girl and Kevin both ran towards the Eiffel Tower down below as they moved forwards as Kevin stopped and panted to catch his breath with a sigh.
"Man. I wish I had my car right now," he said.
"We didn't take a boat to Paris, bro," Matter Girl said. "You don't think I feel the same way about my bike, do you?"
"Point proven."
They then ran to the tower, not losing sight of the pink energy above them.
Meanwhile, Marinette's alarm clock rang and she looked outwards to the City of Lights and smiled to Tikki as she floated up from the bed.
"Is it time to show yourselves to the Omni-Team?" the ladybug kwami asked as Marinette smiled.
"You know me so well," Marinette said, cupping her hands to her cheek before getting her game face on. "Tikki, transforme moi!"
And with that, Marinette was gone and Ladybug stood in her place as she looked outwards and leaped out her window, swinging her yo-yo around the buildings and swinging from them while she turned her head to see the rest of the team either flying and carrying their comrades or jumping across the rooftops, Dragonfly and Antelope moving faster than the others as usual.
"Ready for this, guys?!" she shouted.
"We have to be!" Chat Noir said over the noise of the cars as they moved in to the Eiffel Tower.
"I just hope that they are too," Corbeau Noire said to herself as down below, Kevin and Matter Girl entered the elevator and it moved upwards to the floor of the balcony.
"Seriously, what kind of superheroes take the elevator?" Matter Girl asked.
Above, AeroForce and Jetray landed on the balcony and transformed back into the two armored heroes as Lucky Girl touched down on the balcony with her sister by her side and finally, the elevator dinged as Matter Girl moved out and Kevin stood, panting heavily, not used to running that long without his car.
"Now we wait," Omni-Pink asked.
"We won't have to wait long," Omni-Green said as he moved back and pointed outwards to the other side of the tower. "Take a look."
They witnessed all 14 members of the Omni-Team swinging, flying, leaping, whatever.
"Great minds think alive, I guess," Huntress shrugged as they looked outwards to see the animal-themed heroes land on the balcony in front of them, getting out of the three-point stance they landed in as they moved inwards as the two sets of leaders smiled at each other. (A/N: The visors in the Omni-Twins helmets don't hide their faces. Think along the lines of the suits in Voltron)
"Miraculous Team," Omni-Green smiled.
"Omni-Team," Ladybug said as she moved forwards and smiled, winking to her boyfriend. "In our country, we say hello like this."
She then smiled as she kissed Omni-Green on both cheeks of his helmet.
"We've been expecting you," Lucky Girl said with a smile, crossing her arms. "What better place to meet than this city's most famous landmark. It's one of the Seven Wonders of the World, after all."
"Actually, that list is rather-"
"Shut up, Arachnid," Antelope whispered.
"Shutting up now. Not going to ruin the moment," he said, shrugging.
"So, why are you guys here?" Chat Noir asked as Flamingo smiled and crossed her arms, raising her eyes.
"We could tell you," Huntress said with a smirk as Omni-Pink smiled.
"But I think it's better if we just show you," she said as the team one by one transformed back into their human forms, still in their pajamas as the Miraculous Team looked back and smiled.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," Ben said. "Ben Tennyson."
"And I'm his twin sister Jen Tennyson," Jen said with a theatrical bow.
"And we're their cousins Gwen Tennyson-"
"And Rebecca Tennyson. But call me Becky."
"And we're their best friends Kevin-"
"-and Allison Levin. My friends call me Ally."
"Well, ain't this a coincidence," Louve Grise said with a smile as she brushed her boot against the metallic floor of the tower and raised one amber eye.
"What are you talking about?" Gwen asked.
"Power down," they all said simultaneously as the kwamis flew out from their Miraculous and smiled towards their kids.
"EEE!" Jen squealed as she admired the 14 kwamis like she was a 3 year old. "So adorable!"
"Hey! Watch it!" Mika shouted as Jen cuddled him to her cheek as he flew backwards and rubbed his tail. "I'm not cute! I'm a mighty warrior who's existed for centuries!"
"Now you know how I feel with Alya's demon-spawn sisters," Trixx sighed.
"Don't talk about Ella and Etta like that!" Alya said.
"Wait, we know you!" Allison said. "You're the ones we met at the hotel yesterday."
"Sure are," Chloe said. "I know you met a few of us yesterday, but let us introduce ourselves as a refresher."
"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. This is Tikki."
"Adrien Agreste and Plagg."
"Alya Cesaire. And my beloved kwami Trixx."
"Nino Lahiffe and my little buddy Wayzz."
"Chloe Bourgeois and my pride and joy kwami Pollen."
"Sabrina Raincomprix. And this is Mika."
"Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Mulan.
"Don't confuse me for the Disney movie, please," the red panda kwami begged.
"Rose Lavillant and this little guy is Flint."
"Juleka Couffaine and Tamara."
"Mylene Haprele and this little guy is Pin."
"Le Chien Kim. But just call me Kim and this is Imp."
"Max Kante. And this is Ari."
"Alix Kubdel. This is Daria."
"And I'm Ivan Bruel. This is Muria."
"Nice to meet you all," Tikki said to them as Becky rubbed her head.
"Warriors or not, they sure are cute," Becky chuckled to herself.
"Oh man," Allison said as she looked to Alya. "I fought a superhero's sister."
"Wasn't your fault, Ally," Alya said. "Just your career."
"That's what felt off about you!" Trixx said to Allison. "You have superpowers! And you don't even need a Miraculous to use them!"
"The proper term for what me and my brother are is 'Osmosian.'"
"These kwamis as you call them are cute and all," Gwen said as she pet Pollen. "But just what are they?"
"Actually, there's someone we know who can tell you better than we ever could." She then turned to her teammates and they all nodded in wordless agreement. "Follow us. Tikki, transforme moi!"
"Plagg, transforme moi!"
"Trixx, transforme moi!"
"Wayzz, transforme moi!"
"Pollen, transforme moi!"
"Mika, transforme moi!"
"Mulan, transforme moi!"
"Flint, transforme moi!"
"Tamara, transforme moi!"
"Pin, transforme moi!"
"Imp, transforme moi!"
"Ari, transforme moi!"
"Daria, transforme moi!"
"Muria, transforme moi!"
The 14 then transformed back into their hero forms and leaped/flew/swung in a specific direction each as the Omni-Team looked back to each other before transforming back as the twins transformed into Big Chill and Jetray respectively and flew after them as they flew through the city, catching the attention of nighttime onlookers who took pictures of them with their phones and a kid smiled at this.
"Wait until the Miraculous Blog gets this!"
The team then landed at a house in the area as the two teenage superhero teams (say that three times fast) transformed back and Marinette sighed as she knocked on the door.
"Hide before we reveal you!"
The Omni-Team members gasped before they hid parallel to the wall as an old Chinese man with a goatee and wearing a Hawaiian shirt which looked very similar to the Tennyson's late grandfather, opened the door and smiled.
"Hello, Marinette," he said to the group.
"Master Fu," Marinette said as her friends followed behind her.
"What brings you to my place at this hour?" he asked as the Miraculous Team all looked upon each other and gave a cringe.
"Well..." Chloe said. "We may have broken the rule and told some people about our secret."
"But we did it with good reason!" Alix said.
"Oh?" Master Fu asked. "And what is that reason?"
"You can come out now," Kim said to the six American heroes as they looked to each other and walked out to the old man, revealing himself.
"How are you doing, sir?" Ben asked.
"Master," Adrien said. "This is Ben, Jen, Gwen, and Becky Tennyson and Kevin and Allison Levin. They're the Omni-Team, another group of superheroes from America."
"They're not like other humans like us. They have superpowers," Sabrina said.
"And we don't need some pretty jewels to use them," Allison said as she touched the wall and coated her arm in the brick material with a smile before dissolving it.
"This is unbelievable," Master Fu said as Gwen walked up and generated a field of mana around her hand. "How do you accomplish such powers?"
"You really want to know?" Becky asked as Master Fu nodded. "We'll tell you if you tell us all about Hawk Moth and these Miraculouses."
"Very well," Master Fu said. "To the Garden of the Ancients."
The group then walked deeper into his house before arriving at the dojo with a look as Nino nudged Ben with a smile.
"This is the cool part."
"I thought that you transforming into animal-themed superheroes was the cool part," Ben whispered.
"There can be more than one cool part, you know," Rose said with a giggle as Master Fu reached out into a closet and pulled out a crystal ball on a stand with two golden dragon figurines with ruby eyes and emerald teeth. He set it down in the center of the circle as the 20 teens stood around it.
"If I were you, I would close my eyes."
The group closed their eyes, the Omni-Team obviously not prepared for what was about to happen next.
The crystal ball suddenly glowed a brilliant light and the light engulfed the entire assembled party and the next thing they knew, they were standing there in a Japanese-like garden.
In said garden, there were all kinds of flowers; some of them more exotic like hibiscus, lotus, jasmines and orchids, and some of them more common like daisies, chrysanthemums, roses and peonies. Their sweet scent made those who smelled it remember about memories of a warm spring afternoon, or maybe a hot summer's day. There were several ponds and in all of them, there were many kinds of koi fish and frogs, playfully swimming in the clear crystal waters, while chasing after some colorful dragonflies. Bamboo trees, as well as pines, and cherry trees in blossom could be seen throughout the garden, gracefully embellishing it. There were also several ancient statues, all of them of men and women in several fighting positions, all of them different and unique. The way they had been sculpted made them look as if they were alive. There was a gentle perfumed breeze in the air, which contributed to give that place an almost mystical feeling. To make that place look even more surreal, at the top of the garden was a huge and imposing Japanese style castle, and furthermore, it was high-noon, with the Sun up in the air.
"Omni-Team," Adrien said with a smile. "Welcome to the Garden of the Ancients."
"Wow," Jen said as she looked at the flowers. "It's beautiful."
"We know it is," Rose said. "We come here all the time. You could call it our headquarters as the Miraculous Team."
"With that kind of transport system, no one would ever be able to find it unless they found out your secret like us," Becky said.
"Exactly," Mylene said.
"With the exceptions of you six and Master Fu, there's only one other person that knows our secret," Alya said.
"And that's the little girl who I babysit, Manon Chamack," Marinette said. "She was able to put the pieces together pretty easily actually."
"Master Fu, was it?" Gwen asked. "We would like to know all about Hawk Moth and the Miraculouses... and kwamis."
"You start," Master Fu said. "I would like to know about you guys... inside."
"Okay, Old Chinese Guy," Kevin said as his sister slapped him. "Ow!"
"Call him by his actual name, Kevin," she said. "Show some respect."
"He's over a century old, you know," Rose said in agreement.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah," Alix said. "We forgot to mention that. Having a Miraculous also comes with side effects on our own bodies as humans. It makes us stronger, smarter, and it also expands our life spans, so we'll live much longer than the average human."
"That sounds awesome... to an extent," Becky said, remembering the Fountain of Youth incident five years ago.
They all then walked into the castle overhead.
"This is the Guang Baohu Temple, or Temple of Protective Light," Master Fu said as everyone turned to the giant hourglass giving off a green glow. "And this is the Ampulla Hourglass."
"When I fixed all the damage done to the school the other day, what I used was the Ampulla Amulet," Marinette said as she held out her hand and summoned the green hourglass Amulet to her hand. "It can reverse time so that all of the damages to the city that were inflicted can be undone in an instant."
"That's pretty cool," Becky said.
"This hourglass can make time in here go faster or slower than it does in the real world. Since this explanation between us could take awhile, we need time to go slower in here," Nathaniel said.
Master Fu summoned 20 seats and then walked off and came back with a large book with ancient Chinese writing and the pictures of the Miraculous animals on the cover.
Everyone sat in the seats as Master Fu set the book down.
"This is the ancient Book of Prophecies," he said. "It can tell certain aspects of the past or the future."
"Just like our names appeared next to the Miraculous' pictures when it came time," Sabrina said.
"But before we tell you our history, you tell us yours," Max said.
"Well, where do we start?" Jen asked her brother, cousins and friends.
"The beginning," Ben said. "It all started five years ago on summer vacation. We were on a road trip with Gwen here and our Grandpa Max. By the way, Master Fu, he had the exact same shirt."
"What a coincidence," the old man chuckled.
"Anyway," Gwen said. "Ben and I got into a huge fight and then he ran off into the woods and Jen ran after him to see if he was okay."
"And then, we see what we thought was a comet soaring through the air... and it crashes down right in front of us!" Jen said. "But it was actually a pod containing these."
She and her brother stuck their left arms out and showed their Omnitrixes.
"Those watches fell from the sky?" Kim asked.
"These are no watches," Ben said. "They're the two most powerful devices in the universe. Technology that utilizes alien DNA and transforms the users into several different alien life forms."
"What?" Ivan asked.
"Oh yeah. Aliens exist," Jen said. "The stuff we fought was not a hoax that some have thought. They are 100% real. We've seen them."
"And in New York, they met us and I used them for my own needs and my sister teamed up with them to stop me," Kevin said.
"They banished him to the Null Void. It's another dimension that works as an alien jail. The lowest of the low get sent there with almost no hope for escape," Allison said.
"And that's where I escaped and joined them on the road trip," Becky said. "An alien criminal sent me to the Null Void as revenge on our grandpa for locking him up there since he couldn't find him. I survived by hunting aliens and that's where I got my skills in weaponry and martial arts."
"Your grandfather?" Chloe asked.
"It would turn out that Grandpa Max was actually a member of an alien police force called the Plumbers," Jen said. "Nice name, I know."
"That makes no sense," Rose said.
"Yeah," Max said. "If there was a government police force that fought aliens, we would've heard about it by now."
"There's a good reason why you haven't," Gwen said. "They technically don't exist by all known governments. No one on the planet who is not involved with them know that they exist... until now anyway."
"And what about your powers, Gwen?" Juleka asked.
"Oh yeah. I came across this magician named Hex and thanks to this warrior from another dimension, I managed to get the powers of the mystic Charms of Bezel."
She then rolled up her sleeve to reveal her tattoos of said Charms, earning 'ooh's' and 'aah's' from everyone in the room.
"They symbolize Fire, Levitation, Reincarnation, Telekinesis and, my favorite, Luck. And the Keystone amplifies my physical abilities by tenfold. And me and Jen also got this powerful spellbook that we duplicated that made us prodigies in magic."
"As it turns out, magic itself wasn't the source of our powers," Jen said. "It was our bloodline."
"Bloodline?" Imp asked.
"Oh yeah. Jen and Gwen are actually not completely human," Becky said.
"We recently discovered that our grandmother is actually an Anodite," Ben said. "Anodites are free-spirited beings made of pure energy with control over mana or life energy. When our grandpa died, she came to visit their old hideout and that's when we met."
"And she's been training us ever since."
"What about Kevin and Allison?"
"Allow me," Allison said. "As I said outside, we're known as Osmosians. Osmosians are humans with a unique genetic component in their DNA, which grants them special abilities. Almost none of our people are two of a kind unless they're directly related."
"Our power is absorption," Kevin said. "The two of us can touch any kind of substance and turn our bodies into that substance before dissolving it."
"We can also absorb energy from any source as well, only we have more trouble controlling it when we do."
"You guys are awesome!" Nino said to them.
"Totally true. But we're only as good as our team," Jen said as the six all stood by each other with a smile. "Now you guys can explain that."
"Leave that to me," Master Fu said as he gestured to the Book of Prophecies.
"We didn't choose the Miraculouses," Marinette said. "The Miraculouses chose us."
"This all started 5,000 years ago," Master Fu began. "The Miraculous jewels, like the Book of Prophecies, was created by a powerful wizard named Yao Lin."
"I've heard glimpses of him in my research in magic. Nothing much but I heard passings of him," Gwen said.
"What he did was mostly secret from the outside world," Mylene explained.
"Yao Lin was so powerful He was a wizard so powerful that there was no one else like him in the history of Ancient China."
"Yeah, but there were others like him in India," Gwen muttered.
"In his life, he had gained control over several kinds of magic, most of which were discovered by him and him alone. But, aside from being a wizard, he was also a very illuminated man, who saw that the world was not as idyllic as it should be. He traveled all over China and saw just how the poor and weak were oppressed by those who held the power. He felt that there was no justice in that and that every being should be equal."
"As do we," Ben said. "Though it's kind of hard for that."
"Of course, such thoughts were utopic and he knew that mankind was far from reaching a point, where everyone would be equal. But, that did not prevent him from finding a way to balance things," Master Fu said.
"Yao Lin believed that the strong could protect the weak and to do that, he consulted many of the scrolls in his library for an answer for how that could be achieved," Marinette said.
"The Miraculouses,' Allison said.
"Indeed. He found a powerful spell which enabled one to capture the spiritual essence of an animal, and lock it inside an object, which could then be harnessed by a user. But to do that, he would have to find the spiritual essences of certain animals, or just animal spirits, and those were spread all over the globe," Nino said.
"He managed to find 14 worthy spirits," Adrien said.
"As you can imagine, this would have been impossible to accomplish, if Yao Lin had not been such a powerful wizard. Using his magical knowledge, he created an amulet which enabled him to teleport himself to where the animal spirits were. Some of them were in China, others in Africa, Europe and even your home of America. Still, he managed to capture all 14, and he confined each one of them in a different object, a miraculous, which could then be used by those who were chosen by the animal spirits, as worthy of their power."
"And those objects are on your persons right now," Becky surmised.
"Duh," Alya said. "We never take them off."
"We're nothing without these guys," Sabrina said as she tickled Mika's chin with a smile.
"We have a good friend who told us something about these," Jen said. "She said that if we're nothing without the Omitrixes, then we shouldn't have them."
"The spirit animals inside the miraculouses chose those who they feel are worthy of their power. And by using these miraculouses, they became mighty warriors who fought against injustice wherever it may have existed and fight powerful evils. The more powerful that evil was, the more miraculouses would be called to action," Alix stated.
"And Hawk Moth is the biggest evil you have faced, which is why all of them were activated."
"Correct, Kevin," Kim said. "It's only ever happened two other times."
"And both of those times were when Hawk Moth resurfaced," Becky realized.
"You have very vivid imaginations, kids," Master Fu chuckled. "That can be a dangerous thing."
"It comes with the territory of being a superhero," Jen said.
"We have five years on you and every time we go into battle, we're just as nervous as the first day we put these on," Ben said.
"Now, back to Hawk Moth," Gwen said, crossing her legs. "Who is he?"
"Ah, yes. Hawk Moth. How did he come to be? Yao Lin created the miraculouses to protect and defend the people, and those who were chosen to be their holders did indeed uphold their mission. The initial holders carried the miraculous with honor and pride, always bearing in mind the ideals that Yao Lin professed since the day he passed them on. But as time went by, like all people, Yao Lin grew old, and though he had used his magic to extend his own life, he knew that he would eventually die. That meant that he needed someone to pass on his knowledge… an heir, or an apprentice if you prefer. And he found one, in a young man named Lee Zhou."
"Am I correct to assume that he betrayed him?" Kevin asked with a glare.
"You're one to talk," Becky muttered. "Evil isn't born, Kevin. It's made."
"Rebecca is correct," Master Fu said. "Lee Zhou wasn't always the wicked man you know and hate. He was born into a family of five. His parents were humble farmers, who lived off the land. Being the oldest, he took care of his brothers. Of course, things did not stay that way for long. One winter, death claimed the lives of his mother and his brothers. After that, his father started to drink to appease the constant pain of losing his wife and children, and when drunk, he used to beat up his only remaining son, sometimes because he believed that he had done something wrong, others, just because he felt like it. The poor young man became a prisoner of cruelty in its bitterest form. Eventually, his father also died and he saw himself alone in the world. The now street rat became a pickpocket in order to survive, until one day, when he had the misfortune of stealing the wallet of a stranger."
Allison sighed as she hung her head down, her lovely raven locks dangling down in front of her face, this story resonating with her and her brother the most.
"I know the feeling. Me and Kevin here lost our dad at an early age," Allison said. "We were homeless and lived in the abandoned subways in New York until these guys came along. He stole as well while I worked all the jobs I could to get money."
"The stranger that he stole from had to have been this Yao Lin guy, didn't he?" Ben asked.
"Correct. When Lee Zhou stole his wallet, and saw that it was empty, he cursed his luck, for he had not eaten in many days and was certain that he would starve to death. That's when Yao Lin shows up, and Lee Zhou, thinking that he was mad at him for stealing his wallet, tried to run away. But Yao Lin instead, talked with him and asked him if he would join him for supper. And at said supper, he explained everything that I just finished telling you. Who he was, where he had come from, how he ended up on the streets, everything. And the more he heard, the more pity he felt for him, not only because he sympathized with him, but because he could see that he was quite smart; smarter than most people he had met over the years. He believed that one would not rise to its full potential, if not given the opportunity. With that in mind, he decided to make him his apprentice."
"That was the biggest mistake that he had ever made in his life," Jen surmised.
"Yao Lin did not know it at the time, but you are right," Ivan said.
ven the opportunity. With that in mind, he decided to make him his apprentice."
"Lee was a quick learner, and soon, Yao Lin felt that he had found the one who would succeed him. He taught him just about everything he could, happy to know that his knowledge would survive him and would be passed onto a newer generation after he was gone." Master Fu went on. "But, as you predicted, things did not go as Yao Lin expected them. When it came the time for Lee Zhou to know about the miraculouses and their kwamis, Yao Lin taught him how one was chosen by them to use its power for good, while respecting the rules of its use. At first, the young man assimilated the knowledge, without questioning his master. But, later, as he studied the subject, he began questioning his master's teachings, asking him why could not the miraculouses be used to wage on war against those who treated the weak badly, or exact a revenge. But most of all, he asked, why should the holders of such amazing power worry themselves in fighting for people who never cared about them in the first place. He began to believe that being the strongest, they should be the ones ruling, ensuring that justice was uphold by everyone, forcing their will. Yao Lin, of course, dismissed these questions, as being questions done by someone who was still young and who would eventually attend a higher comprehension of his teachings."
"I don't know how experienced you French are with that kind of stuff," Ben said. "But we Americans are stubborn enough to know that that kind of stuff never happens, even at that age."
"Indeed. Lee Zhou kept questioning his master, and soon became arrogant, believing Yao Lin could not teach him anything else. But he himself, believed that he had something to teach his master. He would take one of the miraculous and use it to prove that he was right, when saying that a miraculous holder could use its power to enforce its will, and thus, establish justice. One night, when he thought that his master was asleep, we went to the room where the Book of Prophecies and the Miraculous were, with the sole intent of claiming one of the miraculous for himself."
"How?" Kevin asked. "We already established that the animal spirits decide who is worthy to hold the miraculouses."
"Well, he thought he had found a spell that would enable him to write his name on one of the miraculous pages. From the ones that were not activated, he decided that he was going to claim the Raven miraculous. But, when he opened the Book of Prophecies to write down his name, he was surprised to see a page with an illustration of himself being caught by Yao Lin. Obviously, he did not care for it. Flipping the pages, he found the one he needed. Casting the spell, he was about to write down his name on the page, when the door opened and Yao Lin caught him on the act. Asking him what he was doing, Lee Zhou answered back, by attacking his master. A fierce fight broke out, destroying numerous things in the old wu's house, but in the end, Yao Lin was victorious."
"And then, Yao Lin faced a terrible dilemma. Should he kill his apprentice, or should he spare his life? For attempting to both steal a miraculous and defile the Book of Prophecies with dark magic, along with attempting to murder him, Lee Zhou should be killed. But, if he did that, Yao Lin would betray his own teachings. Instead, he decided to banish him, ordering him to never return to that place. But Lee Zhou swore revenge, and told Yao Lin that he would come back one day, to finish what he had started."
"I think he should've killed him," Allison said.
"Agreed," Jen said, crossing her arms.
"How could you say that?" Rose asked. "You're superheroes too."
"True," Gwen said. "But as Americans, our morals tend to be different from yours."
"We don't personally like killing ourselves, but we look at our jobs like our country's soldiers," Ben said. "You don't think about right or wrong. You just do what you have to. And if that means you have to kill someone's life to save several others, then so be it."
"They're not necessarily wrong," Marinette admitted. "All of this could've been avoided had Yao Lin just done the deed."
"Yao Lin did indeed swear his revenge. But he knew that his former master was still too powerful for him to have a chance to defeat him, even at his advanced age. So, he withdrew himself into the mountains, where he spent the next 20 years, studying and perfecting his magical abilities. In there, he also realized that if he wanted to prove to Yao Lin that he could change the world, by ruling with the help of a miraculous, he would need to get his hands on one of them, and that would never happen, so long as Yao Lin had the Book of Prophecies and the miraculouses in his possession. So, he decided that he would create his own miraculous, to prove he was right. But to do that, he would need to find a spirit animal and contain it. Using his powers, he managed to track one, right there in China… the spirit animal of the Moth. It took him quite a while to capture it and confine it in a miraculous that he himself had created for the purpose, but he did it. Still, every miraculous are inhabited by a kwami, who is essentially the personification of the spirit animal, which powers up the miraculous. But, a kwami can be hurt, and is essentially good, plus, Lee Zhou also realized that having a kwami telling him what he had to do, would be troublesome nonsense. So, he decided to fuse the essence of the miraculous, to himself, and thus, not needing a kwami to power-up the miraculous. With that, he became the very first Hawk Moth."
"He may be one of the most dangerous people ever to threaten the planet when he's awake, but we've dealt with intergalactic threats that were just as vicious, if not more so," Becky said, remembering Vilgax and Ghostfreak in particular.
"Still, when Hawk Moth started to spread his terror on the world, by claiming to be the new ruler of that region, the spirit animals in the miraculouses felt the evil he represented and promptly wrote the names of the holders of all the miraculouses that had not been activated, which were then handed out by Yao Lin. A fierce battle against Hawk Moth began, and things went from bad to worse, because as time went by, Hawk Moth began to manifest his true powers. He was able to pierce into people's hearts and use the bad feelings and emotions that laid inside of them, to control them as his puppets, as well as giving them abilities to its liking. On top of that, he was also able to create tiny black butterflies, which he named Akuma butterflies that could either infect people to do his bidding, or to create a large army of scouts, who could take on the form that Hawk Moth desired. All of the Miraculous holders fought for weeks in a row against his army, and it seemed like he would be unstoppable. In the end, Yao Lin had to intervene and fight his former apprentice himself. And, what a battle it was…"
"After many hours, the battle was over, and Hawk Moth was dead… yes, Yao Lin was forced to kill his former apprentice, in order to stop him."
After showing the visitors the illustrations of the story, they sighed.
"We were right after all, weren't we?" Gwen asked.
"That is correct. Seeing no other solution, Yao Lin killed his former apprentice to stop his threat... or so he thought."
"Then what we're dealing with isn't the Hawk Moth from that long ago," Ben asked.
"While, it is true that Yao Lin had killed Hawk Moth. But the truth was, he had destroyed his body, but his evil spirit lived on, fused with the Moth miraculous. Upon retrieving it, Yao Lin sensed its evil magic and he knew that that particular miraculous was too dangerous for anyone to use. He tried to destroy it, but it proved to be indestructible. Still, knowing that if someone would ever get his hands on it, the world would once more be in mortal danger. Locking it in a box protected by several charms and spells, Yao Lin made everything in his power to make sure that the Moth miraculous would never see the light of day again. Years later, after Yao Lin finally passed away, the holder of the Turtle miraculous became the new guardian of the Miraculouses and the Book of Prophecies, thus inheriting the task of also keeping the Moth miraculous under lock and key."
"But things don't always work out after a few centuries, do they?" Becky asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No they do not. Turns out, the evil spirit of Lee Zhou, aka. Hawk Moth that was now trapped inside the Moth miraculous grew stronger, while inside the box it was in. It took it several centuries to do it, but, its negative energy attracted a man with a heart filled with evil. The man attacked the sanctuary where the Moth miraculous was kept and managed to steal it. The charms and incantations that Yao Lin had put on the box had weakened with time, as the Moth miraculous absorbed its energy, so it was easy for this man to open the box and claim the Moth miraculous for himself. When that happened, the spirit of Hawk Moth took control of that man's body and mind, and thus, Hawk Moth was reborn. But this new Hawk Moth was far less powerful, because the evil that was inside his heart was far different from the one that inhabited Lee Zhou's heart when he became Hawk Moth. Being weaker, did not mean he was not responsible for many evil things that happened. But, Hawk Moth's spirit knew that if he wanted to rule the world, he would need to be at his full power, and to do that, he would have to find someone who's hatred heart matched his own. To accomplish this goal, he created a cult, composed by men and women who he had given numerous powers, in exchange for unrequited loyalty. This cult would search for the one that would become the ultimate vessel for their master." -Master Fu explained.
"There have been numerous Hawk Moths just as there were numerous Miraculous heroes," Allison said.
"Correct. Our predecessors have fought against him for generations," Adrien said.
"Joan of Arc," Marinette surmised.
"Robin Hood," Mylene said, rolling her eyes.
"King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table," Nino said. "Many famous heroes from ancient times were actually Miraculous heroes."
"Eventually, Hawk Moth's cult found perfect vessel for Hawk Moth to be reborn, in 18th century Germany. The man himself was a German war baron who had an affinity for all kinds of sordid things, and who was also a psychopath with a taste for blood."
Ben and Jen' nodded in confirmation.
"Remind you of a certain squid face?" Jen whispered as Ben nodded.
"And to make matters worse, he's already restarted his cult with three lieutenants," Marinette said.
"Reptile, a gangster lizard man who is nimble, sneaky and will gut you like a fish if he gets the chance," Adrien said.
"Madame Romani, a wicked gypsy who can use all kinds of illusions and has powerful magical abilities," Alya said.
"And Brutus, a powerful war general who is extremely strong and can use all kinds of bladed weapons at his disposal," Ivan said, remembering the nightmare he had with him not so long ago.
"As you can imagine, we've had our work cut out for us," Chloe said with a shudder.
"Luckily, this time, you have a secret weapon," Gwen said as she crossed her arms.
"Us!" Ben and Jen said at the same time.
"You think so?" Juleka asked.
"i mean, come on," Kevin stated. "This Hawk Moth guy is bad news. But he's been fighting you and your predecessors for centuries now."
"The six of us, however, only showed up five years ago when he was still a statue," Gwen said. "He doesn't know who we are or what we can do. I don't even think he fathomed the existence of aliens at all."
"You may be right," Master Fu said. "But even so, he has a way of turning the tides back in his favor with his akumas."
"We're ready, Master," Jen said. "Hawk Moth will never see us coming."
"Before you start planning a method of attack, I must prepare the ceremony."
"Ceremony?" Becky asked.
"What ceremony?" Ben asked.
"Oh yeah. This is only the second time this happened. Since we revealed ourselves to you, a ceremony is required to pronounce you six as Keepers of the Secret. It's been a few months since the last one, though," Master Fu said.
"Yeah, and Manon is someone I know well. We only just met you guys," Marinette said.
"We'll be ready," Allison said with a nod as Master Fu walked off to set the ceremony up as the 20 teens walked off.
"While I'm getting ready, you guys just go back to Paris. I'll contact you when I'm ready," Master Fu said.
As he walked off, the teens sighed and walked off to the Garden of the Ancients as Jen smiled at the beauty of the flowers. "I'm just waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up."
"You're not dreaming, sis," Ben said, jabbing her arm as they walked off as they smiled.
The next afternoon after that at a medical lab somewhere in the city, a man was working on a science experiment in his quarters and fixed up as some of the workers passed by him and chuckled as he sighed and fixed it.
"Hey, look. It's Joe, the geek!" one of them said.
"I'm not a geek! I'm a scientist!" he shouted as the workers walked away, laughing. "Don't listen to them, Joe. Once this puppy is perfected, you'll show them all your genius."
He then connected a few wires together, a few sparks flying out as he did as he looked at his computer on the Miraculous Blog and looked to see news of the team-up with the American Omni-Team the day before.
"Interesting. French and American heroes setting aside their differences to defeat a common foe. Just like old times."
As he looked at the article on the blog, he didn't realize until it was too late that the chemicals by him started to smoke and bubble since he neglected to turn off his Bunsen burner. He looked back to see the undesired result of his labor and he completely deadpanned at that.
"Oh crap," he said as the chemicals blew up, covering his face in soot.
That was when the lab's boss suddenly burst through the door as he saw Joe standing there as his boss started to twitch.
"What is this?!" he asked.
"I don't know what went wrong, sir!" Joe panicked as his boss folded his arms at the mistake, a scowl plastered on his face.
"You are suspended for the rest of the week!"
"But sir-"
"No buts, Joe! You're lucky that I don't fire you for this!" he said as he pointed to the door. "Out before I change my mind."
Joe then frowned hard as he packed his things and marched out the front door with a glare, his anger and frustration at the mistake with his experiment not escaping the gaze of a certain evil lizard man lurking in the bushes by the lab.
"They don't see my genius," he said. "Someday I'll show them all just how great my smarts are!"
"Master," Reptile said as he put his hand to his head. "I think I may have found your perfect akuma victim for both the Miraculous Team and those Americans."
"Thank you, Reptile," Hawk Moth thought in his lair as he put his hands together and generated a sphere of dark energy, which resolved into a purplish-black butterfly which he then sent flying out of his lair. "Nothing is more troubling than people not seeing the genius that you have within you. Fly away, my beautiful akuma and evilize him!"
The akuma flew away through the city towards its intended victim, flying right by Marinette's window as Chloe stood on her stand, clad in her brand new chiffon off-the-shoulder yellow dress with black in the ruffles with a few flower-like designs on the flaps.
"Do you like it?" Marinette asked as Chloe looked down and admired the dress in a full mirror.
"No, I don't like it," Chloe said as she smiled and winked to Pollen, who floated by her. "I love it!"
"I knew you would. It's kind of inspired by your hero outfit, but just different enough so no one will put two and two together," Marinette said.
"Tell me that your dress for the cotillion isn't going to be red with polka dots," Tikki said.
"No, are you crazy?" she said as the two chuckled. "Wait until you see the other dresses and the guy's clothes too."
"Oh... oh no," Chloe said as she looked out the window to see the akuma butterfly flutter by the window.
"Okay, fun time's over," Marinette said as she took out the phone. "I'll get the others. Including our new friends."
"Wait until Nadia Chamack gets her hands on this story," Chloe said as she got her normal clothes and went back behind the changing curtain to change out of the dress.
At the Le Grand Paris, in Gwen and Becky's room, Gwen washed her face from the lack of sleep from the previous night and sighed.
"That Hawk Moth is definitely bad news," she said to her sister, who was sharpening her spear, machete and arrows on the bed with a yawn.
"Yeah. But if he has the guts to show up himself, we're taking him and his cronies out. All of us," Becky said before a concerned look on appeared on her face as she saw the butterfly appear. "And it looks like we're not going to have to wait a long time for it."
They then heard a ringing of their phones as Ben, Jen, Kevin and Allison ran in and they saw a text message from Marinette.
"Time to team-up," read their phones as they looked to each other and ran out of the door, knowing that Sandra was watching over Emma for the day as they ran into the city as the akuma flew down towards Joe, who was still bitter about what happened before the akuma entered him and an outline of a purple moth mask appeared around his eyes.
"Absorber," a voice said in his head. "I am Hawk Moth. You have been shunned and ignored of your genius for far too long now. I am giving you the power to copy the abilities of others and using them at your will. In return, I only ask that you kill the Miraculous Team and bring me their Miraculouses. And you must also destroy the Omni-Team for good measure. Me and my lieutenants will join you on the battlefield shortly."
"Of course, Hawk Moth," Joe said before his entire body was enveloped in black smoke as he looked upwards with a glare.
To be continued...