Sorry for the wait, but it is done. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and…eh, forget it. We know things are going on, and we need to hope and pray for those who are going through this suffering. Anyway, enough about real life.
I do not own anything.
"Er…Who is that?" Omi asks raising an eyebrow as everyone stares at the title either confused or shocked.
Wade pulls up the mission details and reads it. "Max Tennyson, this individual is considered the biggest threat to our mission. He has destroyed multiple bases the past thirty years on multiple planets. Do not engage in single combat or without a plan. You will fail. Max needs to be avoided at all times, or he will call the Plumbers on us. If the Plumbers learn of our mission on Earth, it will cause major backlash on the mission. Do not engage with him or his grandchildren Ben and Gwen Tennyson."
"Ben and Gwen…" Cyclops mutters.
"Max fixed toilets?" Aqua asks raising an eyebrow.
"That sounds a little farfetched." Clay says as he rubs his chin in thought.
"It sounds like the Plumbers are another kind of alien police." Ladybug remarks as she tries to pick apart the information in her mind.
Wade rubs his chin and nods, "Yeah, it does look like it."
"But why call themselves Plumbers?" Kimiko asks curiously. "That does not make too much sense."
"Probably to keep things under wrap, people do fear things they know nothing about." Irma remarks. She brings up her right hand and continues, "Like magic, unknown land…"
"Still doesn't explain the name." Chat interrupts before she could continue.
"Feels like an alien protection team." Phantom admits as he and his mutant friends have a hard time looking and believing that their teacher is considered a major threat to the Galactic Kids Next Door. "If people were to find anything suspicious about any group, I think these 'Plumbers' would be the least suspicious with just the name."
"That could be it." Wade admits seeing the logic Phantom is saying. "I normally would find plumbers not all that suspicious either when I think about it."
"So what do we do about this, Max Tennyson?" Ninja asks. "I doubt we can just walk up to him and ask about the Galactic Kids Next Door."
"Well, it doesn't really say much else about him." Ladybug says unsure of how they should move forward.
"Wait, it mentions this guy's grandchildren." Raimundo points out pointing at the last part of the paragraph.
"Would that mean they're targets as well?" Chat asks curiously.
Wade moves back to the list of kids and types in both their names. Two pictures show up one being a brown shaggy hair boy and a shoulder-length orange hair girl. "They do have different biographies under each of their names." He clicks the girl's first and reads, "Gwen Tennyson is shown to have major flexibility and brains of the Tennyson family. She has shown to have knowledge of some magic at her young age and could be an exceptional addition to have against our magical enemies. Her only flaw would be the family that could make her never see our ways."
"I wouldn't call that a 'flaw' in my book." Ninja remarks crossing his arms.
"Max must have a good influence on her then." Ladybug says happy that Gwen will not be so easily swayed.
"What about Ben?" Force asks.
Wade moves to Ben's summary. "Ben Tennyson is classified as a high-class threat to all life forms."
"What?!" Most of the occupants in the room yell in surprise.
"Let me finish before you say anything." Wade remarks not wanting to repeat anything he reads. "Ahem…We consider Ben to be the biggest threat to everyone not by his mind but by his family and the Omnitrix. Ben wears the Omnitrix to act like a 'hero' by human standards. He has already unlocked multiple alien transformations and needs to be stopped or convinced to join our side. No agent is allowed near him, or he will learn of the things we do. Ben might not be too bright, but his instincts on the field are not to be messed with."
"Wait, do they consider all of Max Tennyson's family a threat?" Ladybug asks.
"Seems to me that they might only find Max and his grandchildren the threat." Clay answers as he thinks over the information they were given.
"Why just them though?" Kimiko asks.
"Maybe the rest of the family doesn't know." Cyclops answers.
"Why would Max keep this kind of stuff from his family?" Omi asks curiously. "I don't see any reason why his family should not know about aliens…I think I just answered my own question."
Raimundo puts his left hand on Omi's shoulder and points at him. "Yeah, you did." He remarks looking at Omi with a neutral face.
"But why would he involve his grandchildren?" Aqua asks.
"It does say that Ben has this device called the Omnitrix." Wade starts explaining. "This could be the reason why Ben got involved."
"What does the Omnitrix do again?" Chat asks crossing his arms.
"It allows him to transform into multiple aliens."
"Wait, multiple aliens? How many are we talking here?" Kimiko asks feeling curious about the life forms not from their planet.
"It doesn't mention a number." Wade answers regretfully.
"Not like the number would matter." Raimundo points out. "If Ben can transform into multiple aliens and considered a threat to the Galactic Kids Next Door, then we can definitely use a kid like him to help us fight back those invaders." This got some of the others to nod and agree with him.
"Yeah, the only problem is would be his family, school, his friends, the traveling…"
"I get it." Raimundo interrupts Irma getting the girl to smirk.
"So what is our strategy?" Ladybug asks. "I doubt Chat Noir and I would be able to help out much with the first two missions unless we're fending off the Galactic Kids Next Door."
"We'll have to come up with a plan later." Maurice says surprising some of them. "We've almost been here for an hour. If we spend any more time while those Galactic Kids Next Door are out there, they'll get suspicious."
"Are you saying that they could be watching us?" Kimiko asks.
"It wouldn't surprise me." Will remarks. "They planned to have us killed and knew our secret. If they know ours, how many secrets are actual secrets at this point?"
"What do we do about these people though?" Chat Noir asks.
"We can figure out how to approach them later Chat Noir." Ladybug assures him. "Agent 9 is right though. If they find out we're meeting, then we are definitely in trouble."
"How are we going to communicate about this though? I mean; some of us are here because of our connections to certain people." Aqua points out getting some small nods from the others agreeing with her.
"Luckily for us, I have been working on a new communicator." Angelic Code says getting everyone to look at her with confused or surprised looks.
"Wait, a new communicator?" Ninja asks. "Why even make a new one though?"
Angelic Code opens her storage space getting everyone except the mutants to widen their eyes when they see her make a holo-storage appear out of nowhere. "With the Galactic Kids Next Door making plans and knowing almost anything we do; I knew it would only be a matter of time until they figure out how to hack the first communicator I made." She pulls out multiple plastic cards and smiles, "So I figured that it was time for an upgrade."
"You've been planning on making an upgrade for a few weeks." Phantom points out.
"True, but I learned that they had the schematics of my first communicator when I hacked their base in Italy."
"Wait…" Maurice raises an eyebrow, "you hacked their systems?"
Angelic Code nods, "Yep, it took a little while to download all the information, but the extra information you gathered did help me with deciphering all the hidden schematics they had of multiple vehicles and weapons." 'More like I stole it from Tony before he had time to review all of it.' She add as an afterthought.
This made everyone stare at her in surprise at how nonchalant she is about the situation. "What kind of weapons are we talking about here?" Clay asks cautiously.
"All kinds going from special guns to a spaceship's death cannon."
"Death cannon?!" Everyone yells at her frightened at what she just told them.
"Relax, the plans mention that it has never been built, and they have no plan or need to use it on our planet." Angelic Code tells them waving it off. "Besides, all of their schematics are weapons they use. Any schematics they don't use are set in a folder for them to have plans to counter."
"You just made our worry just skyrocket, dude." Raimundo admits getting some of them to feel even more uneasy.
"Good, that should explain how big and bad our situation is." Angelic Code walks to Raimundo and hands him the card. "This should show you guys that we can't go easy or let them have any chance at winning this fight."
"I agree." Ninja walks past Angelic Code taking a card from her and stops in front of Maurice. "If we're going to do this, we can't be second guessing ourselves then."
"You're not going to get any complaints from me. You going to second guess what I did back then again?" Maurice asks giving Ninja a challenging gaze.
"No, I might not have liked what you did, but we got the job done."
"Good."
"So why don't we go raid one of their bases now?" Irma asks curiously as Angelic Code hands her and Will a card.
"Too many bases to handle, we attack one at a time, and more will pop up taking their place possibly stronger than the last one." Will answers her friend. "On top of that, they can also warn their other bases about what is happening which could lead them into changing everything we got knowledge on."
"Over two hundred bases would make that too true." Omi admits the card resting at his side in his right hand. "I fear that this small group would barely even scratch the ground."
"Scratch the surface."
"That too."
"But you make a good point. How do you guys expect a small group like us to take care of all those bases?" Raimundo asks.
"We can't." Wade answers honestly. "The bases will always come back to exist even if we take them all out."
"What does that mean?" Chat asks as he takes a card from Angelic Code.
"It means that we don't know how they're getting more alien kids on Earth…yet." Angelic Code answers as she hands the next card to Ladybug.
"Ok, that makes sense in some degree, but do you have any ways of finding out how yet?" Raimundo asks putting the card into his khaki pants pocket.
"We have ideas but nothing solid to go off of."
"If we went off assuming something, then we would be putting ourselves at a higher risk that we do not need to be at." Wade continues before anyone could ask about the assumptions. "Granted, our assumptions could also be on point, or they could be doing multiple things. The risk of being wrong looks too great compared with being right."
"While a high risk gives a high reward, a risk too great could bring dire consequences." Omi agrees with Wade's words.
"If the risk wasn't our planet, I would say you're paranoid." Raimundo remarks pointing at Wade.
"I probably would agree with you on that." Wade responds pointing back not finding any reason to disagree with the Xiaolin monk.
"So we'll come up with a plan another day?" Chat asks getting the conversation back to the missions.
"We'll come up with a plan talking through the new coms." Force says as she takes the card from Angelic Code.
"The new communicators have multiple new features built into them including screen share mode, identity protection, and a 3d hollo projection communication." Angelic Code explains wanting to let them know about some of the additions to the new communicator.
"I thought screen share was in the old one." Will says raising an eyebrow as she pushes the 'power' button on the card.
"It was, but you always had to connect to the wi-fi. You don't need the internet anymore for this one." Angelic Code smirks as everyone looks at the card or at her in surprise.
"How does it work?" Clay asks as he looks the card over interested on how it works.
"That is what I'm leaving to you guys figure out." This gets everyone to look at her confusingly getting her to giggle. "I left an instruction video on them for you guys to watch. I won't leave you guys hanging without giving a proper tutorial."
"You really had us going there for a second." Raimundo remarks smirking at Angelic Code.
Will looks at the card and sees a list on the screen seeing 'tutorial' on the bottom of the list. "You made it that obvious." Will raises an eyebrow and looks at Angelic Code.
"It will be removed in a couple weeks. I rather not have people learn how they work outside of this room. Granted, I'm not sure if we fully trust each other either, but we're in a situation where we can't just argue with each other like kids in a candy store." Angelic Code points out.
"Even if we did, it wouldn't do us any good." Clay agrees putting the card in his back pocket with his wallet.
"So we're in agreement to meet again?" Chat asks seriously.
"We'll try to set up a meeting with the cards next week. We will need time to learn how the new communicators work. You did include a group text in these cards, right?" Maurice asks looking at Angelic Code with his eyebrows raised.
"I did, and you don't need to worry. All the given communicators have an auto group text I made." Angelic Code assures him.
Maurice smirks, "Sweet."
"If we're done, Chat and I need to get home before someone finds out we're gone." Ladybug says before anything more could be said.
"You're still packing, huh?" Will asks getting Ladybug to stiffen.
"That's a 'yes' in my book." Kimiko giggles getting some of the occupants to chuckle or giggle with her.
"Hey, My Lady is one of the best people around. She should…"
"Chat, she is right about me not being fully packed." Ladybug interrupts him before he could embarrass himself.
Chat looks at her and smiles uneasily, "Oops, my bad."
"Let's go you guys." Ninja pulls out the Golden Tiger Claws and walks to the Paris heroes. "Golden Tiger Claws!" He opens a portal and turns to the Xiaolin Monks. "I'll come back to take you guys to the temple."
"Thanks." Raimundo says appreciating his friend's gesture.
"See you guys around." Chat says giving a two-finger salute 'goodbye' before jumping into the portal.
"We'll be in touch." Ladybug says jumping into the portal after Chat with Ninja going after them.
"We better be getting home too." Cyclops says pointing at the only door behind him.
"You guys go ahead. I want to check up with Will and Irma a little bit before heading back to the institute." Phantom tells Angelic Code, Cyclops, Aqua, and Force.
Aqua winces, "Yeah, I should probably join you."
Force nods, "Ok, we'll see you guys at the Institute. Probably better this way so people won't be suspicious of us."
"Will do." Aqua gives Force a thumbs up then walks to Will and Irma with Phantom in front of her. Angelic Code stares at Phantom for a few seconds and mentally sighs before follow Cyclops and Force out of the building.
Maurice walks to Will and asks, "Did you talk to Jason?"
"I did." Will answers giving Irma a quick glance who gets the message and walks away. "Make it quick Number 9." She whispers.
"I'm just checking if he talked to you. I haven't been able to see him since he gave me the note to give to you." Maurice admits shrugging. "Plus, it would be cool to work with you again."
"We haven't worked together for nearly four years. The last time we worked together was on an undercover mission to help free the kids being sold off as slaves." Will reminds him. "Lost a lot of good agents that day."
"Yeah, biggest decommission Kids Next Door ever went through." Maurice mutters sadly.
Kimiko overhears the two talking and turns to Raimundo. "Wait, didn't you say you were a part of the Kids Next Door?" She asks their team leader.
"I was." Raimundo mutters putting his hands into his pockets.
"I think they're talking about it right now." Kimiko points at Will and Maurice getting Raimundo to raise an eyebrow.
"Well, I…"
Ninja tears open a portal and jumps out landing next to Omi. "Hey guys, ready to go?" Ninja asks them.
Raimundo looks at Ninja then at Maurice and Will as Maurice nods and walks away leaving the room a few seconds later. "Yeah, I guess we are." Ninja opens another portal, and the monks jump into the portal with Ninja following them.
Wade finishes packing everything into his bag and walks to Phantom and Aqua as they are talking. "Is your brother doing, ok?" Aqua asks.
"Right now? No." Irma sighs. "My brother has barely said anything at all since Will and I told him our parents are…" Irma trails off not wanting to finish that statement.
"Right…" Aqua and Irma feel a little awkward with the way that conversation went.
"And Lilian?" Phantom asks not wanting the situation to get even more awkward.
"She's trying…" Irma stops herself before she could cover things up. "Sorry, she's showing more worry about her sister than her parents. I think she's trying to act strong but wants to talk with her sister."
Wade stops when he hears that and looks at Will who was standing alone in thought with her arms crossed. He walks over to Will and decides to try to talk with her. "Hey, you doing ok?" He asks.
Will sighs and lowers her head. "Wade, I know you're trying to make small talk, but please don't try to act like you care when you only have information from Ninja."
Wade shrugs, "Not acting just so you know, but I get it." Will turns her head away and sighs deciding to listen to what he has to say. "Your friends are in comas, you parents were killed shortly after, and you and Irma are forced to take care of your siblings. I'm not going to sugarcoat the situation and try to make it better, but if you must know, I was able to track the Elementals before they attacked your team and got Ninja there with some backup." Will slightly raises her head and looks at Wade with a raised eyebrow. "My point is that I do care. I might not know you and Irma, but I have always cared about helping people."
"Kim teach you that?"
Wade smiles, "Came with the job of being a tech genius."
Will chuckles softly, "I guess that's true."
"In all honesty though, I might not care about personal problems like clothes, looks, or food habits, but I do care when a friend is hurting. Granted, we're not really friends since we barely know each other, but you got Phantom and Ninja as do I. It helps having friends in common to make new ones."
"You're not wrong." Will looks at Phantom and smiles remembering that he comforted her a few days ago. "Phantom has been there for me."
"Then I got nothing to worry about, but if you do need someone else to talk to, you got me."
Will looks at Wade not losing her smile. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Now, I got to prepare myself." Wade takes a couple steps back and stretches his arms out which catches everyone's attention.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Aqua asks raising an eyebrow as Wade moves his arms down to reach his toes.
"I'm getting ready to take that portal. Unlike the others, I'm not physically fit to land on my feet when exiting that portal." Wade explains mentally counting to ten.
"Well…you don't look that out of shape." Irma tries to be nice.
Wade looks at her with a narrow look as he moves his body back up. "Please don't sugarcoat it. I know I'm out of shape. I even created a clothing system to get me dressed after waking up in the morning." He tells them.
"Does it organize your clothes to…?"
"Yes, it does, and before you ask or say anything, Kim asked almost every fashion question about the system that she could think of. She is really into fashion, and Ron and I have a history of listening to her complain about so many fashion related stuff or about specific classmates like Bonnie Rockwaller." Wade explains getting Irma to nod understanding Kim a little more.
"Nice to know she wasn't perfect." Will mutters.
Wade hears the portal tear open and turns around as Ninja jumps out of the portal. "You ready to head home man?" Ninja asks putting his hand with the Shen-Gong-Wu on his hip.
"Yep," Wade looks at the others and waves, "I'll see you guys later."
"See you later/Goodbye/Bye/See you around." The others say.
"I'll see you guys' tomorrow." Ninja says before both teens go into the portal.
"So…" Will turns to Aqua and Phantom raising her eyebrow at them. "Checking up on us again?"
"Do you blame us for doing so?" Aqua retorts grabbing her left arm nervously.
Will glances between the two and sighs, "No, I'm sort of glad you guys are, but I rather just go to bed after all of this."
"Right, hopefully your brother will open up soon." Phantom says assuring Irma.
Irma smiles slightly, "Thanks Danny."
"We'll see you guys' tomorrow after school."
"Hopefully Ladybug would be able to join you guys, and I'll get to know who she is under the mask." Irma remarks with a cheesy grin only to get bonked on the head in response from Will.
"Yeah, she's not telling you or Stacy." Will bluntly states ignoring the pouting face Irma gives her.
"Eh, a girl can hope." Stacy says shrugging at the statement. "But now that I think about it, who were those four guys at the meeting? I know they introduced themselves, but does anyone actually know them?"
"Randy does. He told me that those guys gave him the Golden Tiger Claws after he helped them fight the Elementals." Danny says putting his hands in his pockets.
"Looks like we got something to talk to them about later." Irma remarks giving Will a curious look.
"We'll see." Will says neither confirming nor denying Irma's statement.
The four teens leave the building and went two separate ways saying their goodbyes. Phantom and Aqua remove their transformations and head to Danny's truck. "Still find it weird you can change your clothes with your powers." Danny admits as they get into the vehicle.
"Hey, a girl has to keep up with the latest fashion. Now I don't have to worry about buying clothes anymore." Stacy admits as she sits and buckles her seatbelt.
"Whatever saves you money, I guess." Danny sits down closing the door behind him then reaches into his pocket getting Stacy to look down with a raised eyebrow. He pulls out two plastic cards, and Stacy immediately recognizes them.
"Wait, Aelita gave you two of those?"
"No and close the door." Stacy reaches her hand out and grabs the handle without taking her eyes off Danny. She shuts the door and watches Danny give her an unamused look. "Really?"
"What?"
"You didn't have to extend your arm out to grab the handle."
Stacy shrugs, "Eh, luckily we're in an unused area at night."
"Don't be too hard on her Danny. I would have done the same thing, and you would have too." Someone says from the back seat getting Danny to sigh and Stacy to turn around to see Alix leaning against the back seat with her arms crossed while chewing some gum.
"Wait, who are you?" Stacy asks looking confused.
Alix clicks her tongue realizing Stacy forgot their brief meeting. "I never told you when you guys and Randy told Irma your actual names?" Alix asks her, wanting to see if Stacy could remember.
Stacy blinks as she tries to recall the situation. "Uh, well…Alix?" Stacy guesses.
Alix smirks, "Yep, took you a sec to figure it out."
"Mainly because you never went in your civilian clothes for either of us before." Danny points out moving one of the two cards into his free hand.
Alix shrugs, "Eh, girl has to have some surprises left." She leans between the two and looks at Danny. "Did you get it?"
Danny moves his right hand up getting the card to flash in front of her. "Yeah, I did."
"Sweet!" Alix grabs the card and smiles giddily.
"Wait, how did you know she wanted one?" Stacy asks before Alix could say anything.
"I left him a note. I accidentally found out about the cards while watching the meeting and decided to have good old Danny here grab a second for me." Alix explains.
"Accidentally?" Stacy raises an eyebrow.
"I wasn't supposed to watch the meeting." Alix admits getting both teens to look even more confused. Alix sees their confusion and frowns realizing she will need to explain her situation. "Adult me wants me to focus on watching specific people in the timeline and nothing else. She says I should involve myself with you guys as little as possible which is kind of lame. Why should I barely involve myself with you guys?"
"Wait, you are being mentored by your older you?" Stacy asks trying to understand the situation.
"In a sense."
"If she is you from the future, why would she want you to barely get involved? I would rather have myself get involved more to stop things from happening."
Alix shrugs, "I would too. I want to learn everything I can and try to prepare for all the possible outcomes since our rescue mission in Italy."
"Maybe that's why." Danny says getting a mental picture of what could happen. "If you get too involved with something or someone, you tend to rely on it too much. Maybe she doesn't want us to rely on time travel too much."
Alix sighs and puts her arms on the front chairs. "Ok, you make a good point there, but I'm not relying on my powers to help you guys make everyday decisions. I didn't even show up to the meeting like Randy and Will wanted me to."
"They wanted you at the meeting?" Stacy asks curiously.
Alix nods, "Yep, but once I found out Ladybug and Chat Noir were there, I knew it wouldn't be good for me to go there. Ladybug already thinks I'm from the future and not the present, and according to some 'manual' or whatever, I'm not supposed to have my Miraculous until Ladybug gives it to me."
"Which Randy and I know didn't happen since you got it from your future self." Danny summarizes getting the pinkette to nod.
"Exactly, Ladybug is a great person as a hero and a civilian, but something is going on recently that…I wish I knew what it was to know what that thing is." Alix admits not leaving much room for proper information.
"Has she been ignoring you guys?" Stacy asks curiously. "My best friend always has a tendency to go a bit crazy and ignorant when it came to specific people."
"Stacy…" Stacy looks at Danny and sees the serious look in his eyes. "This is one part of the conversation we can't have around you without revealing Ladybug's identity."
Stacy looks at Alix and sees that she is avoiding eye contact but does not deny his statement. "So why not let me in on this finally? I can keep her identity a secret." Stacy points out.
"It's not our secret to tell." Alix answers looking at the card as she gives it a look over. "She doesn't even know that I know."
Stacy looks between them and asks, "So what, you guys want me to leave?"
Danny shakes his head. "No, we've had enough conversations to last a night to think about, and we need to head back to the institute before people get even more suspicious of us."
"Yeah, thanks for the card, Danny. I'll make sure to contact you or Randy in the morning before we board the plane." Alix pulls out her stopwatch and smiles, "Fluff, Clockwise!"
"We'll see you Bunnyx." Danny says as Alix transforms into her hero persona.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys." Bunnyx creates a portal and jumps into it leaving the mutants alone to head home. She walks through the burrow and heads to one time portal. She stops and smiles when she sees it was not touched while she was away. "Good, it stayed the way I wanted it to. That's nice to know for future travels." She activates the portal and enters her room happy to be in her room. "Fluff, Counter Clockwise."
Fluff materializes out of Bunnyx getting Alix to be in her normal clothes again and turns to Alix with a questioning look. "You done traveling through time for today?" Fluff asks cautiously.
Alix shrugs, "Unless something comes up, I am."
"We know something can always come up Alix."
Alix chuckles and walks to her dresser. "Eh, let's not worry about it too much. I got a trip tomorrow, and I'm going to need all the sleep I can get."
"That's true. Good thing you got everything packed up and ready to go then."
Alix looks at her suitcase and nods pulling out her sleepwear for the night. "Yep, this trip is going to go pretty well. I can feel it."
"Why am I not surprised Marinette is late?" Alix remarks as she meets up with her classmates outside the bus.
"She'll make it. She always does." The short-blond chipper girl says as Juleka loads her bag onto the bus.
Alix rolls her eyes. "You don't need to state the obvious Rose."
"Sorry."
"You also don't need to apologize."
"Either way, she should be just in time for the bus to leave for the airport." Alya says as she walks up to the two with her boyfriend right next to her. "Right Nino?"
"Yeah dudette, Marinette wouldn't miss it for the world especially all she has done for Adrien to have him join us." Nino says tilting his cap back a little. "She's probably running on her way right now."
Marinette shrieks and runs out of the bakery with her suitcase in tow. "Thank mama, but I am so late!" She yells as she runs down the sidewalk with her parents watching her leave.
"Doesn't the bus leave for the airport in five minutes?" Marinette's dad asks his wife.
"Yep, but she'll make it somehow. She always does." She answers him.
Marinette runs down the sidewalk and stops at the first crosswalk as she watches the vehicles go by. Marinette looks around anxiously as she tries to wait for the light to change for her to cross. "Oh, I'm never going to make the bus at this point." Marinette mutters sadly.
"Need a ride?" Marinette turns her head to see Luka stop next to her on his bike. "I had a feeling my girlfriend was going to need a little help."
"Luka! How did you…?"
"I had a feeling, and my sister called saying you have yet to show up." Luka grabs her bag and sets it down on the carrier of his bike.
"Luka…thanks." Marinette says happy to have friends to look out for her.
Luka nods and gets on the seat pulling out the spare helmet for her. "It's no problem. Now, you better put this on and stay on. We got a bus to catch."
Alix stares out the window as her partner goes over the drawings in his notebook. "Surprised to see you're bringing that along." Alix admits seeing some of the drawings of Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"It'll be a good new experience since I might not be able to draw on my tablet as much as I want." The redhead male says as he goes over the drawings he made.
"What do you plan on hoping to draw Nathaniel? Anything to help with the comics you're making with Marc?"
Nathaniel nods, "Yep, I want to get ideas of what it could be like if Ladybug fought alongside other heroes in their cities or them in our city. The possibilities of ideas can go for months. Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting alongside Knightowl and Sparrow or Majestia and Knightowl. The possibilities are endless."
Alix blinks a little confused on why he would say those names but shrugs it off. 'Hey, maybe having comic book characters team up with a real hero would seem pretty cool to some people.' She thinks not seeing any harm with his idea. "What about Phantom or Angelic Code? I thought you were excited to see them in action."
Nathaniel blinks remembering a past conversation they had. "Oh right, that would be cool too, but I'm more interested in seeing these real heroes in action to get how they should look."
Alix scrunches her face feeling more confused about those words and opens her mouth when she hears Alya say, "Look, Marinette!"
"She made it." Nathaniel mutters happily.
"Barely." Alix remarks. "She definitely got lucky that Alya was looking out for her."
"You would have done the same thing, and you know it." Nathaniel points out.
"True, but all of us would have. Alya is her best friend though, and we know who will have Marinette's back first."
Nathaniel smiles, "True."
Everyone watches the door open, and some of the classmates stand up to see Marinette board the bus with her suitcase. Marinette smiles nervously as she notices some of their annoyed looks and glances at Adrien to see him smile at her happy that she can make it. Marinette becomes more uneasy and moves to sit down next to Alya. She looks at Alya and sees her best friend's relieved face.
"You made us worried girl." Alya says.
"I'm sorry Alya. First my alarm didn't go off when I set it, and I realized that I didn't pack my essentials since I needed to use them this morning that I…"
Alya covers Marinette's mouth getting the girl to stop. "I know you're trying to explain everything Marinette, but you don't need to explain yourself this time. You made it, and that is all that matters."
Alya lowers her hand, and Marinette smiles appreciating her friend's words. "Thanks Alya."
Alya smiles, "You're welcome."
Maurice walks into school and heads to his locker listening to all the random chatter from the other students. He gets to his locker and goes to open it when he hears someone clear her throat. He turns his head and keeps his cool when he sees Cree Lincoln standing there. "Hello Maurice, glad to see you're back from your trip." She greets him.
Maurice feels uneasy when he hears her speak. "Yeah, it's been crazy the past few days." He says keeping his cool with being around her.
"I bet it has." Cree remarks as she leans against the lockers. "Anyway, I know you probably have plans after school, but could you meet me on the roof for just a few minutes? I need to talk to you about some things later."
Maurice becomes suspicious of what is going on but smiles giving her a nod. "Yeah sure. I'll see you on the roof after school." He assures her.
"Cool, have to go turn in my Algebra homework. Mr. Marlins really went in on making sure I finished it for being sick the past few days." Cree complains.
Maurice snickers, "Don't I know it. He's done the same to me too."
Cree chuckles, "Yeah, see you after school." She walks away calmly not noticing Maurice's uneasy look.
Maurice walks away keeping a calm exterior. 'She still remembers me. We never officially met until we joined the Kids Next Door which means Abby didn't decommission her. Can't blame her though. I would probably have a hard time doing that to my own sibling too.' He walks into a classroom and heads to his assigned seat. 'Need to make a couple calls later. I don't trust Cree if she still has her memory.'
Danny leaves the classroom happy that the next class is lunch and heads to his locker. He unlocks his locker and puts his books away hearing someone lean against the lockers. Danny looks at the person and asks, "What's up Scott?"
"School, Jean, Duncan, among other people." Scott answers shrugging at the situation.
"Your romance drama then." Danny summarizes before going back to putting stuff away in his locker.
"Yeah…" Scott mutters not wanting to say anything more about it. "How are things between you and Rogue?"
"Still won't talk to me."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, I've expected that. I'm just waiting on her so we can finally talk." Danny puts his backpack into his locker and shuts the locker door. "I'm surprised you're waiting for me for lunch this time."
"Actually, I figured this would be the best time to talk about last night." Scott admits rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Danny frowns, "Right, we never told you about Stacy's situation for good reasons."
"Not that, I mean about Max." Scott corrects him. "When should we talk to Max about 'you know who' with the others?"
"Hopefully tonight, but I haven't talked to Stacy, Rachel, or Aelita about it since the meeting."
Scott raises an eyebrow. "But you stayed behind with Stacy to talk to Will and Irma."
Danny nods, "We did, and we talked about the kids. We haven't got a chance to talk to the kids since the incident, and Will's little brother can't properly speak yet. The funeral is in a few days, but most of the people going don't truly know what happened."
"Sheesh, is Fury really trying to keep a tight lid on this?" Scott runs his right hand through his hair sighing on how complicated the situation feels. "Are you visiting Will and Irma after school?"
"I am, and Ninja is too. The four of us are making plans to hang out the next few days among other things." Danny admits now that Scott knows some of the truth about what happened in Italy.
"May I come along?" Danny blinks a couple times making a confused face unsure of how he should respond. "I know that I don't know them, but it would be nice to know some of your friends outside the institute and school."
"Uh, I'm not sure about that Scott…"
"Fine, I also want to make sure they're getting along fine. I know what it is like to lose a parent and watch them…you know." Scott and Danny look away knowing where Scott is going with his reason. "I might not be happy that you guys kept this hidden from us, but now that I know, I feel like I should help in some way."
"Scott…" Danny sighs, "I know you guys want to be more involved with my life, but I can't just have you suddenly join me with seeing my friends. I haven't even told them that I'm a mutant."
Scott raises an eyebrow. "What have you told them?"
"That I got my powers from a lab accident, and I might have mentioned the X gene not by name." Danny admits.
Scott crosses his arms. "Sounds you mentioned almost everything about being a mutant except by name."
"Pretty much."
"Do you plan on telling them?"
Danny bites his bottom lip and looks away in thought. 'Should I? I know I didn't tell them the first time because of Professor Xavier told us not to, but these guys are not normal people. I never even considered telling them until now.' "I don't know yet." Danny admits getting a cautious nod from Scott. "Ladybug and I have been friends for over a year."
'Ladybug? When did she get involved in this?' Scott thinks wondering where Danny is going with this.
"Ninja, Will, and I have been friends for a few months. I have only known Irma for a little over a week, but she does not know anything I've told the other three. The same can be said about Chat Noir, Wade, and the others except Maurice." Danny explains.
Scott puts his right hand on his chin and summarizes the information. "Ok, so you only told three people. Do you trust them enough to tell them?"
"I do." Danny says not hesitating to respond. "We've been chatting secretively to each other at least once a week."
"Oh, so you've guys got to know each other." Scott lowers his hand surprised he never realized that Danny was talking to his other friends without them knowing.
"Yep, it did take a little while to get Ladybug out of her shell though." Danny chuckles at the inside joke getting Scott to raise an eyebrow. "She had some personal issues to deal with."
"Ah," Scott nods, "got it."
"Yeah, they know about the Institute and that I help others learn how to control their powers…" Danny trails off realizing that he did tell them without truly realizing it.
"So everything but the terms." Scott gives Danny a critical look getting Danny to look uneasy.
"Whoops."
Scott chuckles, "Honestly, that sounds just like you."
"Why do you sound happy instead of being upset?" Danny asks raising an eyebrow feeling confused by Scott's reaction.
Scoot looks down the hall smiling at his friend's attitude. "You slowly opened up to the rest of us the same way on how you got your powers." Danny blinks realizing what Scott is saying about the awkward situation of how they met. "Granted, we knew since Professor Xavier gave us it first."
"Still upset he told you guys without asking." Danny mutters crossing his arms with a dull look on his face.
"Fair point, but you opened up when you knew you could trust us. If they know, then I see no reason why you can't give them the proper terms of who we are." Scott tells his friend. "Granted, today might not be the right time, but I'm certain you will."
"You think Professor Xavier would be upset if I did?" Danny asks cautiously.
Scott sighs and puts his left hand in his pocket. "He probably will be, but you know them not him. Your choice is your risk, and I know you'll make the right choice."
Danny smiles and playfully elbows Scott. "Thanks man. On that note, I don't see any problems with you coming along."
Scott smiles, "Cool."
"Just don't rush anything with them, alright? I don't want them to think you're someone you're not."
"No problem." Danny feels something vibrate in his back right pocket and reaches back pulling out his wallet. "My wallet's vibrating?"
Scott raises an eyebrow, "Someone calling the new communicator Aelita gave us last night?"
"Great, I probably have a good idea who it is, but I'm most likely going to miss lunch."
Scott winces knowing the pain of missing lunch. "Yeah, I'll see if I can get you any food, but you know the rules." Scott points at the cafeteria getting Danny to sigh.
"I hope this does not take too long." Danny walks away from the cafeteria getting Scott to shake his head and walk to the cafeteria.
Alix stands in the bathroom stall hating that the only place she could find privacy. She pulls out the communicator card and turns it on gasping quietly as she sees the screen pop up for her. She sees the list and looks it over carefully. 'Contacts, call, text, camera…this thing can take pictures?' Alix shakes her head not wanting to get distracted from what she needs to do. 'Camera, Emergency App, Location App, and tutorial…seems a little low on what we can do, but this isn't meant to be a phone.' Alix reminds herself. She hits 'contacts' and sees only Phantom and Angelic Code on the list. 'Darn, should have expected that. No one has been able to learn how they work yet.' She hits Phantom from contacts and moves back as the screen pops up with Phantom's picture and a green phone button and a 'go back' red arrow button. "I should have watched the tutorial." She mutters wanting the hologram to be just on the card not as the hologram.
Yes, you should have. The card shows on the bottom of the holographic screen.
Alix's eyes widen seeing those words. "Wait, what?"
If you have taken the time to watch the tutorial, you would have known I exist to help you learn how everything works.
"Sweet, how am I able to make the screen be only on the card right now?" Alix asks.
To do that, you will need to switch the calling mode on the bottom of the card.
Alix looks at the bottom of the card and sees the calling type set on hologram. She notices there are five other modes and frowns, 'Hologram, full room, voice, video, and disguise? Geez, she really went all out.' She hits the voice mode and sees the screen pop up on the card instead of in the air. "Huh, neat." She pushes the call symbol and puts the card up to her ear like she is holding a phone. She hears the card ring and mutters, "I don't even know why I'm using this."
She hears a click from the card and hopes that it is Danny. "You really have an odd timing when calling someone." Danny says over the line.
"You had to find some place to talk privately too?" Alix asks curiously.
"Pretty much. You're lucky I was talking with someone who knows about the new communicator cards."
Alix snickers, "That definitely would have been awkward if it wasn't someone who knows."
"I'm guessing you're calling because you're about to leave then."
"Yep, we should be boarding soon. I'm not really expecting much to happen on the flight, but it is supposed to be night most of the flight."
"Ah, so you're expecting to be asleep for most of it."
"You got it. I would love to use my powers and just skip the flight, but the others would get suspicious if I'm not on the plane but at the airport." Alix explains her discomfort of being bored.
"You think you could learn how to use this card?"
"It'll be too crowded for me to try, and I'm in a middle seat sitting next to my friend. I doubt I would even get time while on the trip unless I'm with you guys."
"Why is that?"
"We got a teacher who is a stickler for the rules. She is definitely going to ruin something on this trip. I can guarantee that."
Danny chuckles, "Sounds like you guys got your work cut out for yah."
Alix rolls her eyes. "Yeah, it's going to be so great." Alix mutters distastefully.
"You'll be fine Alix. I doubt she'll put a dampener on the whole trip."
Alix shrugs, "You never know with her these days, but you're right. I still got plans with you guys as does Marinette. I know she can't do anything about that." Alix smiles thinking of what she and the others will do on the trip without their teacher supervising them.
"Careful now, you don't want her to find out." Danny teases getting Alix to chuckle. "Anyway, why call me instead of Randy?"
"You and Angelic Code are the only people in the contacts list. I would have talked to Randy, but he probably would be in school like you are right now." Alix points out.
"Eh, he would probably make an excuse to get out of class."
Alix chuckles, "Sounds like him."
"Anything else I need to know?"
"Not right now." Alix looks at the stall door hearing the bathroom door squeak open. "I'll let one of you guys know when we land."
"Cool. Talk to you later then."
"Yeah, see you later." The call ends, and Alix pulls the card away from her ear.
"Alix, you almost done there? We're getting close to boarding the plane." Alya says getting Alix to shrug and hide the card under her hat.
Alix flushes the toilet and exits the stall. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Just wanted to take care of business."
Alya nods as Alix heads to the sink. "Ok, Ms. Mendeleiev wants everyone ready to board."
Alix rolls her eyes and washes her hands. "Sounds about right. Should have expected that I would have someone come after me."
Alya sighs and shakes her head with a small smile forming. "Alix…"
"Don't try to defend her Alya." Alix remarks walking to the paper towels. She rips some off and dries her hands. "We know she is strict. I'm more surprised she's allowed me to take care of business." She throws the paper towel away and exits the bathroom with Alya following her.
"Fine, you got a point." Alya admits as they head back to their classmates. "You know, I never asked, but what do you have planned for this trip?"
"I want to see and hopefully try out some of their skate parks. The idea of trying them out not only excites me, but it makes me wonder how many cool stunts I can pull off. Oh, it makes my blood pump full of excitement for what I can do there. I might also make some cool friends along the way." 'Like a certain dragon who might be able to help me learn more about the Miraculous.' Alix thinks wondering what her first meeting with the dragon boy will be like. "What about you? You got anything you want to do besides messing with Marinette's love life?"
"First, I don't mess with Marinette's love life; I help it. Second, Nino and I made plans to see the city during the day and night. I really want to see what makes the area so special during the night. I also want to get Majestia's autograph and maybe get a private interview with her, but I know that is more wishful thinking since they got more things to worry about than some kids." Alya explains not noticing the confusion on Alix's face.
'That name again. Why would…'
"About time you guys got back." Nino says not knowing that he is interrupting Alix's confused thoughts.
"Relax, not my fault she chose to come and get me from the bathroom." Alix remarks as she goes to grab her things. "I was done when she showed up anyway."
Nino looks at Alya to see if Alix is telling the truth, and Alya nods getting Nino to relent. "Sorry, got a little worried my girl wouldn't make it."
Alix shrugs, "Eh, don't sweat it. I'm not upset about it." She grabs her bag and walks to their class with Nino and Alya following her with them holding their respective bags.
"Now children, let us get ready for our flight. I know most of you are anxious to see many things, but you must not let that distract you of the things to come. We are here to share the appreciation that our two countries hold with each other…"
"Mr. Damocles, I'm sorry for interrupting, but they're waiting for us to board the plane." Adrien says pointing to the woman at the ticket counter waiting for them to give them their tickets.
Mr. Damocles puts his hand near his mouth and clears his throat feeling a little embarrassed. "Ah right, let us go on our adventure." He leads the class not seeing the eyerolls some of the students give him.
"Well, this is one way to introduce them to magic." Irma remarks as they watch William float above the table in front of Chris and Lillian.
"We definitely should have known that William would use his magic unconsciously." Will mutters before walking to her brother.
William spins around happily enjoying the movement when he sees Will. William stops spinning and yells happily reaching up for his sister to pick him up. Will giggles and picks her brother up, holding his sides with both hands. "Wa wa wah!" He says as he smiles at her with his mouth open slightly.
"You're getting there William. Soon you'll be able to say Will." Will says moving her brother to hold with her left arm. She bops him on the nose getting him to laugh and reach for the hand she used.
"What is going on?!" Chris asks not taking his eyes off William.
Will allows her brother to grab her hand and looks at Chris and Lillian. "What you just saw is my little brother using magic." Will explains for them.
"Your brother can use magic?" Lillian asks her eyes shining with excitement and joy. "That is so cool!"
"More like a nuisance." Irma remarks drily. "He got us into trouble a few times."
"What do you mean magic? Magic doesn't exist." Chris tries to tell them. "I know because…I…" Chris stops as he sees water slowly coming out of his cup. He takes a step back. "Uh, what is going on?" He asks freaking out with what he is seeing.
Irma walks behind her brother and leans her head near his ear. "Magic." Irma pulls the water to stop in front of him and smiles at his shocked face. "Still think magic doesn't exist?" Chris shakes his head not able to say anything. "Good." Irma moves the water back into his cup and takes a couple steps away from her brother.
Chris turns his head to look at his sister shock not leaving his face. "You…"
"Yeah, I can use magic." Irma answers before he could finish the question. "Before you ask anything else, we didn't tell you guys because of…well…you know." Irma trails off lamely.
"Losing our parents is still fresh on our minds." Will admits feeling her fingers being moved around by her brother. "Irma and I have been trying to…"
"We get it." Lillian interrupts looking down sadness shown on her face. "We lost our parents, and my sister is in a coma with your friends." The tears start forming from the corners of her eyes. "I just want things to be normal again."
Chris watches his sister walk and lean down next to Lillian pulling the girl into a hug. "We all do Lillian, but this is something all of us are dealing with. You don't have to pretend to be strong in front of us. This is something all of us are facing together." Irma admits as the girl starts crying onto Irma's chest. Irma feels someone wrap them arms around her neck and the backside of her top get wet. 'That's right Chris. Let it out.' She thinks reaching behind and wrapping her right arm around him as he starts crying.
Will watches them smiling sadly at the scene when she hears her little brother yawn. She looks down to see her brother tiredly rub his right eye. "Guess it is time for your nap." Will walks away to put her brother down for his nap leaving the three alone. She walks into her room and stops at her brother's crib giving her brother a loving smile as he starts to close his eyes. She carefully lays him down in his crib as he falls asleep. She lightly kisses his forehead and smiles, "Get some sleep William. Just don't keep me up all night." She feels her phone vibrate and walks away from the crib pulling the phone out of her pocket. She looks at the caller id and hits the 'answer' button on the screen. She puts the phone up to her ear and says, "Talk to me."
"I might be in trouble." The person says from the other end.
"What's going on?"
"The Teen Ninjas know that I betrayed them."
Maurice stands on the roof staring at Cree with twenty Teen Ninjas surrounding him as he holds a phone to his ear. "Have Ninja get me. I'll send the coordinates of my location." Maurice pulls the phone away and puts it into his pocket not taking his eyes off Cree. "Should have known Abby wouldn't erase your memory. You're too precious as a sister to her."
"Oh, she was going to." Cree remarks angrily. "That little stain of a sister was going to do it, but she is such a coward to go through with it." Cree laughs mockingly, "She is such a disappointing leader." Cree pulls a flash drive out smirking at Maurice's stone face. "We were even able to get a video of it. Man, it is going to be a field day when Father gets this along with the video file of us fighting that I got from KND."
Maurice sighs and reaches in his jacket pulling out his custom-made pistols. "Guess that means the jig is up."
"Yes, it is. I'm disappointed that you're doing this Maurice. You could have told us, and all of this could have been avoided." Cree reminds him.
"Actually, it wouldn't have." Maurice moves the dials and points the pistols at the floor shooting to blasts of air. The blast causes most of the teens to slide or move back with Maurice moving straight at Cree. Cree gasps at the sudden move and feels Maurice's right foot hit her stomach. Maurice snatches the flash drive from her hand and jumps off Cree landing back where he started. "Sorry Cree, but I had to do what was completely necessary to protect you guys."
Cree holds her stomach and growls angrily while looking at the flash drive in his hand. "Get him! Don't let him get away with that flash drive!"
The Teen Ninjas activate their Battle Ready Armor or B.R.A. and get into battle stances, and Maurice holds his pistols up turning the dials with his thumbs. Maurice keeps his eyes on Cree and moves his head to the left avoiding the first punch thrown at him. He grabs the arm and throws the teen over his shoulder and into the blonde female running at his left. He jumps and points the pistols at the roof shooting two blasts of water rocketing him into the sky. Everyone finds themselves pushed away by the water pressure with Maurice falling and landing on the bulkhead.
"You're mine." Cree grabs the railing, lifts her feet onto the railing, and jumps off the railing activating her jet boots. She flies straight at Maurice winding her right fist to punch him.
Maurice sidesteps Cree's fist, turns the dial on his right pistol, and fires a small bolt of electricity at the boots short circuiting them. Cree goes over the bulkhead and crashes on the roof getting some of the Teen Ninjas to gasp. "You should have seen that coming." Maurice remarks as a portal tears open next to him. He looks to his left to see Ninja come out of it while the Teen Ninjas watch surprised with the sudden appearance.
"Got here as fast as I could." Ninja says giving Maurice a serious look before looking at his surroundings. "What the bruce is going on?"
"Trouble that we don't need to get involved with." Maurice answers.
"Good to know. Are we fighting or leaving?"
"Leaving, we got more important things to do than waste our time fighting these guys." Maurice gives Cree a look who glares back as she gets on her feet.
"You're not going anywhere with your accomplice, Maurice. You're going to answer for betraying the Teen Ninjas and all that we stand for." Cree yells pointing at Maurice.
"Fury?"
"Yep."
"Figures." Ninja shakes his head and slices a portal open with the Golden Tiger Claws.
"Get them!" Cree orders her team. The Teen Ninjas follow her orders and run or fly with the jet boots at the duo.
"Catch you next time." Ninja taunts grabbing Maurice and jumping into the portal afterward. The portal closes behind them getting the teens to stop.
Cree watches the portal close and balls her hands up and grinding her teeth in anger. The Teen Ninjas turn their attention to Cree and cower in fear noticing the anger on her face. "Uh Cree…"
"Just leave." Cree orders before her subordinate could say anything. "Unless you want me to hurt you." She turns her back on the Teen Ninjas, and they obey her order not wanting to face her wrath of disobeying her. Cree hears them leave and takes a deep breath calming down on the outside. She waits for a minute as she lets her anger simmer down and disables her B.R.A. She chuckles softly as she looks up at the sky. "Phase one has been set." Cree walks to the railing and smirks getting a little excited for her true plan. "Soon you will learn that no one betrays the Teen Ninjas." She raises her hands up and looks at them. "To think, I would be fighting for them once again." She puts her hands on the railing and looks at the town thinking about the decisions she made to this point. "The Kids Next Door…The Teen Ninjas…Father…Abigail…Maurice…" A tear leaves Cree's right eye. "Who can I truly trust anymore?"
Will sits on the couch in the living room with the new card in her left hand and looks over the card carefully. She hears a ripping sound and looks up seeing a torn portal with Maurice and Ninja exiting the portal. "That was quick." Will says crossing her arms as she smiles at the guys.
Maurice brushes some dirt off his pants and says, "Yeah, lucky for me since Cree still has her memories."
Will sighs, "Figures."
Maurice raises an eyebrow, "You knew?"
"One of the missions mentioned mind wiping being a failure. I concluded that it was Cree never losing her memories. I just couldn't figure out how it failed." Will explains getting Maurice to frown.
'Better check those failed mission logs again. Don't know how Jason missed that.' Maurice thinks not liking what he is hearing. "Makes sense. Wait, how did you know about Cree?"
"Steve clued me in on the details yesterday." Will answers.
"Steve?" Maurice asks not recognizing the name.
"Numbuh 100."
"You mean Jason." Maurice corrects her.
'He really has gone with that name. Does almost everyone think his real name is Jason?' She wonders making a mental note to talk with Steve. "Yeah, must have gotten the name mixed up."
Maurice gives her a flat look. "Your confidence with that name says you didn't."
Will rolls her eyes, "Of course I didn't, but this is not really a good time to talk about it anyway."
Maurice shrugs, "Fair point, but you'll explain it to me later." He looks at Ninja and sees the teen sitting on a chair with the original communicator. "What are you doing?"
"Seeing if Bunnyx or Ladybug is telling us that they're on the plane yet." Ninja answers not looking up from the communicator.
"Bunnyx has one of those too?" Will asks raising an eyebrow.
Ninja blinks a couple times as he tries to remember if he gave one to Bunnyx. "Uh…I actually don't remember if I gave one to her."
"Meaning you didn't."
Ninja snaps his fingers. "Oh right, I gave her my actual number." Ninja pulls his phone out and looks at his messages noticing the three unread messages from Alix. Ninja opens the contact and reads the messages.
We're at the airport. Wish I could call you from the card or my phone, but I have not been able to get any free time to do it. Will try later.
Your contact was not on the card. I called Danny instead to give him the update since Angelic Code put him on the contacts list already. Try to respond before I can't use my phone.
I hope you haven't forgotten my number and put your phone on silent, Randy. The plane is about to take off, and you have yet to respond.
'I wonked up big time.' Ninja thinks sending a quick text back hoping that she gets it before flying off.
"Did she text you?" Maurice asks putting his hands in his jeans' pockets.
"Yep, and I cheesed it up by putting my phone on silent." Ninja answers as he finishes his response.
Sorry, I put my phone on silent because of school. You already taken off?
Maurice shakes his head. "Nice to know that you are forgetful too."
"Everyone has their moments." Will jokes getting Ninja to roll his eyes.
"Yeah yeah, keep the jokes coming." Ninja waves off the joke and jumps off the chair. "I doubt you guys never done it either."
Maurice shrugs, "Eh, fair point."
Ninja feels his phone vibrate and smiles, "Sweet, she replied back quickly." He looks down to read the message and frowns as he reads, "Unable to locate or connect to the current number." Ninja blinks confused to see that message pop up on his phone.
"What?" Will asks raising an eyebrow while Maurice narrows his eyebrows. Will gets up and takes the phone from Ninja to see that exact message. "How is that even possible? Most newer phones should never have this kind of problem unless you dropped it in water."
"You can relax. I almost never get that thing near liquids." Ninja assures her.
"Almost?" Maurice asks giving Ninja a crucial look.
"You know the normal things I can't control like rain or my best friend talking with food in his mouth." Will makes a disgusted face, and Maurice nods making a disturbed face about Ninja's best friend.
"He really does that?" Will asks not trying to hide her disgust.
"Sadly, but he's my best friend since we were three. Sure, he has some bad habits that need work, but doesn't everyone have some bad habits?" Ninja points out.
Will shrugs, "True, but my friends and I try to make sure our bad habits don't go public."
"Wish I could say the same, but he doesn't hate what he does which makes it worse."
"Let's go back to the phone before we forget about it." Maurice says before they can say anything more about their friends' disgusting habits.
"Ok, so why wouldn't this send to her phone?" Will asks curiously.
Ninja shrugs, "I don't know."
"Wasn't talking to you." Will looks down at the phone confusing both guys.
"Who else would you be talking to?" Maurice asks only for Will to put her hand up in response. He looks at Ninja who shrugs not sure about the situation himself.
They hear the door open and see Danny entering the room with a friend of his being only an inch or two taller. "Hey guys, how is everything going?" Danny asks while his friend keeps his cool.
"Not good, for some reason my phone can't send a message to Bunnyx's phone." Ninja explains pointing behind him at the phone in Will's hands.
Danny raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"He means that his phone can't find Bunnyx's phone." Maurice answers glancing at Danny's friend. "Hey Scott."
"Hey, surprised you're here when Danny said it was going to be him, Ninja, and Will making plans for later." Scott says getting Maurice to shrug.
"Eh, don't over think it. I'm only here because I needed help getting out of a situation at school." Maurice vaguely explains.
Scott nods, "Fair enough. Had a few of those moments myself so I won't push it."
Maurice nods, "Thanks."
Will walks next to Ninja and hands him his phone. "Yep, something is definitely wrong." Will says.
"What's wrong?" Danny asks becoming serious.
"Ninja's phone can't seem to locate Bunnyx's phone at all. It's like that the phone no longer exists despite the messages he received from her a couple hours ago." Will explains catching Danny up with the situation.
"Huh weird, I talked to her before they left for the flight." Danny says reaching for his wallet and pulling the new card out.
"Was there anything weird going on?" Maurice asks.
"Nope, we even used the new cards Angelic Code gave us." Danny holds the card up for them to see. "She seemed fine the whole time."
"You able to reach her card and see if that goes through?" Scott asks curious if the card will work.
"Only one way to find out." Danny goes into the contacts list to see Bunnyx and Angelic Code on the list. He hits Bunnyx's name and calls her card putting the card up his ear.
"The number you are trying to reach is either out of service or currently unreachable. If this is…" Danny ends the call immediately getting worried looks from everyone who heard the same message.
"Angelic Codes new cards should not be out of service." Will remarks getting everyone to frown.
"What does this mean?" Ninja asks cautiously.
"It means something has happened on their flight, but if something did, it never made it to the news." Maurice answers making everyone feel more confused.
"Ladybug and Bunnyx have gone missing, but there is something about this situation does not feel right." Danny summarizes.
"You don't think they're dead, right?" Ninja asks Danny not wanting his friend to think the worst outcome.
"No, if they were dead, the flight would be on the news just like Maurice said."
"What do you think happened then?" Scott asks.
Danny frowns, "I don't know."
Alix gets off the plane with her friends/classmates and heads outside with the group as they gather to the bus waiting for them. Everyone boards the bus with their suitcases and marvel at the sites of the city as the bus cruises through the city. Alix watches building pass by and smiles remembering some of the buildings from before when a thought came to mind. 'Wait, Danny never told me about those other heroes that saved us on the plane.' She thinks as they travel through the city. 'I got so wrapped up with them saving us that I completely forgot to ask him about them.' She reaches for her phone and stops when she sees that the streets have barely any vehicles and people walking on the sidewalk. 'That's weird, the streets were crowded the last time I was here. New York is almost always busy then.'
Alix pulls her phone and stares at the clock on her phone '3:25, we should still be tired or in bed.' Alix glances at Nathaniel's phone noticing that his phone said 9:25 as he takes pictures of the buildings they pass by. 'Wait what? The flight was only supposed to be seven or eight hours not over twelve.' She unlocks her phone and goes to her texts looking to see if Randy replied to her messages only to frown not seeing any response from him. She sends a quick message and sends it shaking her head at his lack of response. 'You're never really this forgetful Randy. Why are you…? Unable to connect or locate number.' Alix stares at the small message popping up on her phone unsure if she is seeing it right. She looks over at Marinette noticing the conflicted look she has as she looks at the city.
Marinette looks at the city as she sees familiar buildings from her last visit but does not recognize how any of it looks. 'Why do I get the feeling that something is wrong when the trip just started?' She thinks not sure what she is feeling. 'I need to be careful then. My gut feeling hasn't stirred me wrong before, and it definitely will not now.'
Alix sees Marinette make her serious face and mentally smiles knowing that face. 'She knows something is wrong. Good, the question is "What is going on, and why can I not send messages to Randy?" Time to do some private investigating later tonight. Don't worry Marinette; I got your back.'
Finally! I finished the chapter after so long. This took so long to do, because I wanted to get to the New York plot instead of keep going through with all the other plots. The plot has started, and sheesh, you guys might actually enjoy with what I got in mind. I know someone said that the New York movie characters will not fit with my universe, and…heehee, this is going to be a fun plot to write.
Anyway, R&R, and I hope you guys have a good day or a better day with what is going on.