Nemonobody001: Thank you!
Danifan3000: Eh, I wouldn't say Valerie would get akumatized as many times as Mr. Pigeon. I think once she receives the gear from Vlad, she has an outlet for venting her anger enough to keep the butterflies away.
Ariastella: I've never heard of a Tutelary before. That's interesting to know; perhaps Cujo could gain new powers from his bond to Danny.
Julimart: Firstly, that long 'yes' thing you did? Don't do that. It's obnoxious and stretches out the web page. What you did with it was unacceptable. A 'yeeeessss' this long would be more acceptable. That aside, glad you enjoyed the chapter and the little changes I made throughout. As for Vortex, Undergrowth, and Nocturn, I don't really have an opinion on them since DP season 3 is my least favorite and most of the episodes from it are subpar. You may have a point about changing their motivations from generic take over the world business.
Pokémon fan 1991: Yeah, the chapter came together quicker than usual. Interesting that another common occupation for Star's dad in the fandom is being a lawyer. To be fair, it is partially Danny's fault that Damon got fired in the original show.
Johnymike98: Yeah, I thought it would be nice if Cujo could stick around, especially considering Danny wanted a dog growing up. Yeah, Hawk Moth finally figured out what that strange energy he was feeling around his butterflies was; time will tell when he has the opportunity to akumatize a ghost. I wouldn't be surprised if Kwan, Star, and Sabrina have their own secret little group away from the others. We'll see about Dark Danny too.
La gran diosa zorra fantasma: Glad you enjoyed the changes I made. Yeah, Valerie learned the difference between true friendships like Danny's group and fake friendships like the A-listers. As long as you're a good person, Danny's group will hang out with you regardless of your background; the A-listers will drop you as soon as you don't fit their criteria of wealth, status, or fame. Yeah, I felt Jazz needed friends so I set her up with some.
Dyna-Man 21: I think Valerie's form makes sense when you consider that while Cujo is a dog, he is also a ghost, so she would need ghost hunting gear. We'll see if more chapters turn out like the last one in the future. No, I actually found out the owl thing on the wiki.
Jebest4781: Glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Matt: Oh! We're still far away from Dark Owl, so we'll see about including Fenton gear in his trap. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. We will have to wait and see on those Halloween and Christmas chapters. Congrats, you are the first one to notice that I slid Luka into the previous chapter; glad you picked up on that. Interesting akumatized form for Star.
NAMELESS: Glad you enjoyed the chapter and all the little changes I made throughout. We'll see about shipping. Yeah, I could see Jazz being a loner by choice, but while rewatching the show for this, I felt like she could use friends her own age because having friends would fit into her idea of normal behavior in society. The choice to make Valerie part of Jazz's friend group comes from my hunch she would rather have friends her own age than buddying up with the unpopular underclassmen if she had the choice.
I agree that Miraculous struggles with maintaining a sense of continuity, and one of my main goals with this project was to make the Miraculous side of things HAVE continuity so we can actually see character growth from the cast. First time you've seen Star related to Lance Thunder? Huh, maybe it's not as common as I thought.
Leonardo: Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Yeah, we'll have to see how Valerie handles her new status quo. I've seen the trailer for the Rise of the Sphynx game, but I will likely not include the game plot unless it contains lore that is super interesting.
Crystal Da Pony: Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and all the little changes I made throughout.
PokeTennyson25: Glad you like the story! If you enjoy the third seasons, more power to you. I agree that canon could have handled Chloe and Zoe's relationship better.
Erica phoenix16: Thank you!
Friendly reminder that speculation about future chapters and what you want to see is okay, but please leave a comment about the chapter I just worked very hard on if you intend to speculate.
Also, Two Kinds has a TVTropes page, so if you think of any trope examples for it, go ahead and add them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Miraculous Ladybug. They belong to their respective owners. Any and all familiar dialogue is for the sake of the plot.
One Kind of Rocking Introduction
"You're keeping the dog?!"
Danny shushed his friends. "Not so loud. Someone could say something to my parents." He turned and continued walking the aisles of the pet store. "But yes, I'm keeping Cujo."
"Danny, he's a ghost dog. Emphasis on ghost," Tucker pointed out as he and Sam followed their friend. They were at first confused why he insisted on coming in this store, but they quickly understood once he mentioned the dog.
"He's also a dog that still acts like a dog despite being a ghost," Danny replied just as sharply. He finally found what he was looking for, and stopped in front of a display full of dog beds. Pulling out his phone, he brought up the measurements of his closet he had taken that morning.
Sam frowned skeptically. "Yeah, well, most dogs don't turn invisible or phase through walls. Don't you think you might be getting in over your head a little? You're already hiding the other secret, and now you want to hide another one?"
Danny compared his notes to the measurements listed on the price tags. "You guys don't get it. Even after finding what he wanted, he still came back to me," he said without looking at his friends, "You guys know I've always wanted a dog, and now I finally have one that defeats all my parents' arguments why we couldn't get a pet." Taking a moment to compare two beds, he picked one up. "Aren't you a bit happy for me?"
"We are, Danny, and that's coming from someone whose parents refuse to let me have a cat," Sam said as the three friends went to another aisle, where Danny started examining dog toys.
"We're just a bit concerned that you haven't entirely thought this through." Tucker explained, picking up a ring and absently playing with it on his wrist. "Sure, you don't have to feed him, but what about other stuff like playing with him? What if he goes through a wall? What if he turns giant beast again? Where's he going to stay when we're at school? Your parents work from home, so it's not like he can hide in your room all day without being seen or heard." He stopped swinging the ring around his wrist when Danny pulled it off and added it to his growing pile of dog care products. "How do you know he's even had his sh-sh-shots?" Tucker could barely bring himself to say the last word.
"Believe me, I'm constantly thinking about how to take care of him," assured Danny as he and his friends started walking toward the front of the store to make his purchases. "My ghost powers will help with getting his exercise and if he does ghost stuff, and I know I'll have to train him to go beast or change back into his puppy form on command. As for where he goes during school hours, I'm still figuring that out. Maybe I can convince him to go back into the Ghost Zone until I get home?" They arrived at the checkout station and the cashier started scanning his stuff while he continued the conversation in a hushed tone. "I haven't thought about the shots thing yet, though. Do you think there's such a thing as a ghost vet?"
"Considering we've already met a ghost lunch lady, a ghost student, and now a ghost dog? I'd say the odds are likely," Sam quipped flatly, arms crossed.
Danny paid for his stuff and the three friends exited the pet store, dividing the load between them.
"I know taking in a ghost dog that I spent the last few days trying to defeat seems crazy, but I feel like I need him," Danny admitted as they walked down the sidewalk, "and I feel like he needs me. You know?"
"I guess I get it. Ghost troubles aside, I'm glad you're bonding with an animal. After all, animals live on Earth too," Sam said after a moment. "We're all part of nature's ecosystem."
"As long as he's done chasing my lady, Valerie, he's cool with me, I guess. Just don't expect me to pick up any ghost dog poop," said Tucker.
The school week started up again, and the heroes' class was in for an unordinary experience. They were taking a field trip downtown to Chloe's hotel.
"Thanks to the generosity of Mayor Bourgeois, we're able to have our work experience field trip today at the Grand Amity luxury hotel. Each of you will get hands-on experience with one of the many jobs here at the hotel. You'll be graded on your effort, which will affect whether you pass or fail the assignment," Ms. Bustier explained to her students in the lobby.
Upon arrival, Ms. Bustier gave the students an assigned position in the hotel. Alix, Ivan, and Sabrina were paired with housekeeping; Nino, Max, Rose, and Juleka were in the kitchen with Alya's mom and the kitchen staff; Kim was working with the doorman; and Danny and Tucker were designated to maintenance. To Marinette's dismay, Chloe was paired with Adrien to work the front desk. She wasn't the only one unhappy with the arrangements; Danny and Tucker weren't thrilled to be getting dirty making repairs either.
As Ms. Bustier went over the list, she frowned in confusion. "Mr. Bourgeois, do you have Alya, Marinette, and Sam on your list?"
Mayor Bourgeois consulted his own sheet. "It doesn't look like it."
Alya leaned over to Marinette and Sam. "I bet I know who helped Daddy make the assignment," the young reporter whispered, Sam nodding as if she wasn't surprised.
"Of course she gets to spend the whole day with Adrien," Marinette groaned, watching Adrien and Chloe get comfortable at the front desk, "ugh! This is going to be the worst day ever!"
"I'm sure it must be an oversight," the mayor reassured their teacher.
As if remembering something, Chloe hurried back to her father and handed him a sheet. "Daddy!"
Accepting the paper, the mayor smiled at his daughter. "Thank you, sweetie! Oh yes, Alya and Sam will be sorting trash at the main dumpster." Alya and Sam gawked in disgust. "And Marinette will be…"
Before he could read her assignment, Kim and the doorman let in some new guests. Kim struggled to push all the luggage in on the carts while the doorman held the doors open for him.
One was a tall man with purple hair, a sparkly black jacket with yellow and black striped pants. He had a leash on what appeared to be a crocodile walking beside him. The other guest stood slightly behind the man, a woman with purple hair brighter than his, wearing a black jacket and pants.
The rest of the class, about to leave for their stations, murmured in awe of the guests.
"Hey, isn't that-?" Marinette pointed at them, whispering to Alya and Sam.
Mayor Bourgeois marched up to the newcomers, a scowl on his face. "Excuse me, this is a luxury hotel, not a-!" He yelped at the crocodile snarling at him when he got too close.
Realizing her father was about to make a big mistake, Chloe waved him over. "Daddy, that's Jagged Stone, the rockstar. He's sold millions of albums, he's famous, and very, very rich," she whispered in his ear.
Changing his tune upon hearing about who he was dealing with, Mayor Bourgeois plastered a smile on his face and approached the musician and his entourage again. "Mr. Stone, welcome to the Grand Amity hotel! I am Mayor Bourgeois, owner of this luxurious establishment, in fact, the most luxurious in all of Amity Park. How may we serve you?"
"How do you think?" Jagged Stone rolled his eyes. "I didn't just come here to admire your lobby."
Penny, Jagged's assistant, spoke up for her boss. "Jagged would like to check into your most luxurious suite."
"And Fang better get a real bathtub, not a tiny waterhole like the one in that hotel across the street." Jagged added, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
"We have everything you need, Ms. Fang. Even a state-of-the-art entertainment center," the mayor said, looking at Penny, who chuckled much to his confusion.
Jagged gestured to the crocodile at the end of his leash. "Fang's me crocodile."
Recalling how the crocodile scared him moments ago, the mayor swallowed back his nerves. "Mr. Stone, we have everything you require for your… Fang. Would he, um, enjoy a bubble bath?" His heart sunk when Penny chuckled again.
"Crocodiles don't like bubble baths, that dries their scales out!" Jagged snapped, getting annoyed with the exchange.
While Jagged rambled about the intricacies of crocodile care, a photographer snuck past the doorman and into the hotel behind the rockstar. He wore a Jagged Stone concert tour shirt, and his blond hair was dyed pink at the tips. While Jagged, Penny, and the mayor didn't see him, Fang and the class did. He crept behind a desk across from where Adrien and Chloe were, preparing his camera to take photos. Curious, Fang managed to slip his leash out of the distracted Jagged's grip, and wander over to the photographer.
The stalker was so surprised when the crocodile rumbled at him that he let out a scream as he jumped out from his hiding spot and brought all the attention onto him. Jagged and Penny got distinctly annoyed expressions while everyone else was concerned for the man.
"Oh no, not him again," Jagged muttered lowly to his assistant.
Now that he was out in the open, the photographer shamelessly pleaded with the rockstar. "Remember me, Mr. Stone? Vincent Aza! Just one photo to show everyone in the world that we're best buds! Come on, please! I'm your biggest fan!"
"I know, you've been to my last 36 shows, but we're not friends!" Jagged said with the air of someone who said the same thing repeatedly already.
Then Vincent crossed a line by getting in Jagged's personal space, slinging an arm around his shoulders and attempting to take a picture of them together. "There! Look into the lens!" Vincent said cheerfully, but when he tried to take the picture, Penny put her hand in front of the lens, blocking the shot.
Furious on her boss's behalf, Penny yanked the camera out of Vincent's hand. "Didn't you hear Mr. Stone? You still haven't got it, have you?" Pulling him away from the rockstar, she shoved him out the door. "No photos!" When he fell on the ground, she tossed his camera, which he scrambled to catch. "Good reflexes. Now don't let me see you near Mr. Stone again, or next time you won't get your camera back." She went back into the hotel while the doorman proceeded to stand in Vincent's way if the photographer planned to try getting back inside.
Vincent didn't try getting back into the hotel, instead he cradled his camera, bemoaning his failure to get a picture of himself with his favorite musician.
-LB-CN-P-
The window to Hawk Moth's lair opened.
"I sense brewing anger and frustration. Perfect father for my evil little akumas. It won't be long now." Hawk Moth filled a butterfly with dark energy and sent it on its way. "Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!"
-LB-CN-P-
Vincent walked down the street away from the hotel, his camera back around his neck, intending to return to his apartment. Lost in his lamenting, he didn't notice the purple butterfly flutter up to him and enter his camera. Once it did, he froze in place.
"Pixelator, I am Hawk Moth. I'm giving you the power to capture your hero's smile forever," Hawk Moth said through his connection. "But in return, you'll need to do some capturing for me as well."
"Yes, Hawk Moth." Vincent agreed, and the dark energy washed over him.
Back at the hotel, Adrien and Chloe got Jagged and his entourage checked into the hotel with guidance from the mayor. The incident with Vincent over, Ms. Bustier sent her class off to their stations and promised to check in on their progress with their mentors later. Alya stuck around to see what her best friend would be doing, and since Sam was working with Alya, she stuck around as well.
"Mr. Bourgeois, you still haven't told Marinette what she'll be doing," the teacher reminded the owner.
Mayor Bourgeois dug out the list Chloe had given him. "Ah yes, of course. Marinette, gofer." Considering the exclusive guests that had just arrived, he had an idea. "I've got a job for you already, Marinette."
The three teen girls exchanged looks. "What's a gofer?" Alya asked, wondering if either knew.
"I'm guessing it's about as bad as trash duty," Marinette theorized, glancing over her shoulder at Adrien at the front desk. Sam shrugged, her guess just as good as hers.
While Sam and Alya were directed to the dumpster, the mayor had Marinette follow him up to the suite he had just given Jagged. While the rockstar played with his pet to get him comfortable in the new environment, Penny handled the mayor's questions if they needed anything specific.
"Mr. Stone is going to need a new pair of shades for his gig here. He wants something suitably spooky for Amity Park, given the stories of ghosts and those akuma things that have been over the news lately," the assistant answered. "Can you get that for him?" [1]
Subtly sweating at the mention of the ghosts and akumas, the mayor pushed down his nerves to reply. "Of course we can! Marinette here is our gofer. She'll take care of that for you." He patted the teenager on the shoulder, introducing her to the guests. Marinette looked at her rival's father. Seeing her confusion, he explained for her, "A gofer is an employee who goes for anything a customer needs. Anything at all. So, go ahead and gof!"
Without any other directions to go on, Marinette went searching for the requested sunglasses. It took a bit of research on her phone, but she found a street vendor that was trying to capitalize on the city's predicament and bought a pair of sunglasses from him.
As an amateur designer herself, she had to admit the sunglasses weren't bad by any means. They were ominously neon green like some of the ghosts that had been seen so far, and had curvy ghost shapes on the corners.
"These should do the trick. Now I can get back to the hotel and hang with Adrien… ugh, and Chloe." Marinette's cheery thought was soured by the reminder that the rude girl would be there too.
Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's purse to see the sunglasses for herself. "Are you sure Mr. Stone will want those? They don't look very spooky."
"What do you mean, Tikki? They have ghost shapes on them, and will glow nicely in the dark during the concert," Marinette reasoned, letting her kwami look closer at them.
"Just saying, it's better in the long run to do it right the first time," Tikki said.
They heard a lady's startled gasp, and both turned to see baby August, a baby boy with bright green eyes, and his mother, June, a woman with blond hair and the same bright green eyes, about to pass them on the sidewalk. June stared and pointed at Tikki while August cooed happily, reaching out like he wanted to play with Tikki, obviously thinking she was some kind of toy. [2]
Realizing they had been caught talking by civilians, Tikki weakly attempted a 'meow' to cover their secret. Chuckling awkwardly, Marinette sprinted away before the woman could connect the dots.
Back in Jagged's suite, she handed over the sunglasses for him to judge. By the frown on his face, she had a feeling she failed.
"This is a joke, right? What are you doing, trying to ruin my career?" Jagged looked up from the sunglasses at Marinette.
"But Mr. Stone, ghosts and akumas have only been around since the school year started. The glasses you want don't exist!" Marinette tried to explain.
"Do I look like I care? Just get me those sunglasses!" Handing back the sunglasses to her, he spun her around and shooed her out the suite door.
Marinette put the sunglasses back in the baggy they came with, dismayed. "Great. Now I'll have to spend even more time away from Adrien."
Feeling it was actually safe this time, Tikki poked her head out of the purse once more. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Just do it right the first time."
The young designer smiled at her kwami. "Yeah. You're right, Tikki. I get it now."
"Those sunglasses exist somewhere. Get creative," encouraged Tikki.
At the word 'creative', Marinette knew exactly what to do. "Of course!" Hurrying to the elevator and riding it down to the lobby, she rushed out the door. She had to get home and put together a quick project!
Chloe and Adrien watched her pass them from the front desk. The two childhood friends had been in the middle of talking about something when they saw her leave just as quickly as she returned from her errand.
"Failed as a gofer already?" Chloe taunted after her while Adrien watched on curiously. "Not surprised. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Marinette had barely left the hotel's premises when someone else arrived. Kim and the doorman glanced at the strange visitor.
It was Vincent transformed into Pixelator. He had a black and blue jumpsuit with a camera lens icon on his chest, his hair had been turned entirely pink as opposed to only dyed at the tips, and a highly advanced camera was mounted on his head and covering his eyes.
The doorman stepped in front of Pixelator. "Excuse me, sir? Can I help you?"
"Look into the lens," Pixelator requested, posing a finger next to the mounted camera. Thinking it was some kind of fun picture game, Kim and the doorman posed together in front of the door. Pixelator zapped them with his camera and they digitally vanished. "Photo finish," he chuckled as he entered the hotel without trouble.
Chloe and Adrien saw the strangely dressed person enter the hotel, and Chloe smirked at Adrien. "Oh, look what the cat dragged in. Let me handle this, Adrien. Watch and learn." Leaving the front desk, she went over to Pixelator, who seemed to be searching the lobby for something. "Excuse me, excuse me! You can't be a guest at this hotel! My daddy only allows the most important celebrities, like me!" She shouted at the akumatized villain.
Adrien narrowed his eyes at Pixelator, feeling something was off.
"Well then, I am Pixelator. Your number one fan," Pixelator introduced himself.
Chloe gestured to herself haughtily. "Moi? Oh my, you're flattering me. Keep going."
"A photo of you, sweet miss…"
"Chloe, of course." Chloe struck the pose she wanted for the photo.
His bad feeling growing, Adrien leaped over the desk and ran over. "Look out, Chloe!"
"Look into the lens, miss." Pixelator reached up to click the camera, and the flash went off right as Adrien attempted to push Chloe out of the way.
Both teens were zapped and transported into a white void, and they looked around their new surroundings.
"What the?" Adrien murmured.
"What just happened?" Chloe demanded, thinking her friend might have a better idea than she did.
"I think we've been like digitized or something," he said.
She threw him a look. "What do you mean digitized?"
"I don't know. He was taking your picture, so maybe we're in some kind of digital photo void?" He did his best to explain his thought process.
Chloe pulled out her phone from her pocket. "Well, I can fix this." She attempted to call her father, but she wasn't receiving any service. "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?"
After quickly explaining to her parents why she was at home in the middle of the day, Marinette hurried up to her room and started digging around.
"Where did I put them?" She rummaged through a few drawers until she found an old pair of shades. "Voila!"
Tikki hovered over to see them. "But they're pink?"
Marinette put them on desk and started getting out her designing supplies. "They won't be when I'm done with them. This is either going to be the most amazing pair or the ugliest pair of shades in the history of shades. Ms. Bustier is grading me on effort, right?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure Jagged will love them." Tikki watched her holder pop the lenses out and corrected her statement. "Or hate them."
The little kwami could do nothing except watch her holder quickly transform the sunglasses into new ones.
Behind the hotel, Alya and Sam were sorting through trash with protective gloves on and putting anything that didn't belong in the trash in the recycling bin beside it.
"Ugh, normally I'm all for helping the environment, but Chloe knows how to suck the joy out of it," Sam said, finding a bottle that could be recycled.
"I could be upstairs in the kitchen with my mom, but instead I'm stuck doing this," Alya grumbled, finding some recyclable cardboard. Looking at the end of the alley, she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, isn't that the ghost dog? I thought Phantom convinced him to go home."
Sam glanced over, and saw Cujo in his puppy form, dawdling along the sidewalk and sniffing at the ground.
"I thought so too…" Sam said, pulling out her phone and starting to text. "I'll text Danny. Since his parents deal with ghosts, he might know what to do."
Up on top of the hotel, Danny and Tucker were helping the maintenance engineer do something with the rooftop pool when Danny got a text on his phone.
Groaning, he pocketed the phone. "I need to, uh, see Ms. Bustier about a question. Be right back."
Danny darted off without much thought from the custodian, leaving an annoyed Tucker to continue the assignment.
Ducking into a closet on the floor below the rooftop, Danny transformed into Phantom and phased out of the hotel. After a few moments of looking around, he spotted Cujo on the sidewalk and swooped down to him. "Cujo!"
The ghost dog perked up at his master's appearance and began yipping excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too. Look, now is not a good time. I'm supposed to be doing an assignment for school." Putting his hands on his hips in an assertive pose, he began to scold his dog. "I told you to stay in the Ghost Zone until I get home."
Hearing the disapproving tone in his master's voice, Cujo whimpered as his ears drooped.
Phantom picked up Cujo. "Come on. Let's get you back quick." The pair flew away from the hotel.
Back in the void, Adrien and Chloe walked along in hopes of finding a way out, but it seemed there was nothing except them around.
Chloe trailed behind Adrien, glaring at her phone. "Ugh! I still can't get through to Daddy! How can there be no cell reception here? Ridiculous!"
"It just goes on forever. No doors, no walls, no nothing…" Adrien observed ahead of her.
"You mean we're stuck here?" Chloe finally looked up, gaze going soft. "Just, just the two of us?"
Even though he didn't mind Chloe, Adrien was still uncomfortable with the idea of being stuck alone with only her for the foreseeable future. "Uh, no. There's gotta be a way out somewhere." While he kept searching, Chloe clung to his arm for her own comfort. "I hope…"
As Phantom flew Cujo home, Marinette returned to the hotel with a new set of glasses.
She entered the hotel lobby, and saw that her two classmates that had been running the front desk weren't there anymore. "Adrien? Chloe? Ugh, I bet those two have gone off together somewhere fun. Hmph, and now I'm here all alone without Adrien."
Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse when she slumped over the desk. "Marinette, snap out of it. Let's just focus on getting Mr. Stone's glasses for now, okay?"
Grumbling an agreement, Marinette went to the elevator while Tikki returned to her purse.
A guest opened their suite's door to see Pixelator standing on the other side.
"Jagged Stone?" Pixelator asked the guest.
"Who?" The guest replied, confused.
Pixelator forced the door open further, reaching a finger up to the camera mounted on his head. "Look into the lens!" Clicking the camera, he digitized the guest as they screamed in fear.
Penny met Marinette at the door to Jagged's suite, and the young designer handed the new pair to the assistant.
"I'll give them to Mr. Stone," Penny said.
"Can't you deliver them to him now?" Marinette checked.
Penny glanced back into the suite. "He's… resting."
In the bathroom, Fang was in a full tub and Jagged was scrubbing him down with a broom.
"Now who likes having his belly scratched? Daddy's little Fang!" Jagged cooed as he washed his precious pet.
"Okay, no problem. Just trying to do the job right the second time," Marinette assured Penny.
"Got it." Penny shut the door, ending the conversation.
"Thank you," Marinette said, slightly discouraged by the door being shut in her face. She started heading back to the elevator, not noticing Pixelator approaching Jagged's suite soon after she left. "I hope he likes them."
Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's purse. "Hard work always pays off."
Penny opened the suite door again, and was met with the sight of Pixelator. "Who are you?"
"Look into the lens!" Pixelator told her, activating his camera and zapping her.
Hearing the camera go off, Marinette glanced over her shoulder and saw the akumatized villain digitize Penny. Realizing what she had to do, Marinette hurried into the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors before she could be seen. "Time to transform! Tikki, spots on!"
Phantom arrived at his house and phased inside with Cujo. Once in, he slowed his flying around to avoid accidentally showing himself to his parents. Hero or not, he was still a ghost that his parents wanted to hunt, and he wasn't about to expose Cujo to the same treatment.
First, he entered his room and put Cujo on his new doggy bed in the closet. He pointed at his pet with a firm finger. "Stay." When Cujo didn't move for a moment, he cautiously phased through the floor to scope out the lab. To his dismay, his parents were down there, tinkering with their newest project. "Oh great…" He grumbled, only poking his head through the ceiling.
Then he heard a noise. Evidently, so did his parents because they stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.
"Did you hear that?" Maddie asked her husband.
"I did." Jack's face morphed into a scowl. "It sounds like a ghost in the kitchen!"
As the Fenton parents hurried up the stairs, Phantom pulled his head back through the ceiling and returned to his room. He immediately checked the closet. "Cujo?" The doggy bed was empty; he had a bad feeling he knew who was in the kitchen. "Oh no…"
Taking a shortcut through the carpet and a few walls, he arrived in the kitchen to find his parents had pulled open the fridge and inside was none other than Cujo, eating what Phantom realized had been some ecto-contaminated hot dogs.
"Ghost dog! Blast it, Maddie!" Jack shouted, charging a weapon and encouraging his wife to do likewise.
"Paws off our food, you little beast!" Maddie demanded.
For a puppy, Cujo didn't seem frightened by the pair of ghost hunters. If anything, they reminded him of the Dogcatcher akuma from a few days ago. He did not like it.
Phantom could see the look in his pet's eyes, and tried to act quickly. "Cujo, no!" He used his command voice.
Jack and Maddie whirled around to find the ghost hero in their kitchen.
"You!" Jack glared at Phantom and turned his weapon at him. "You may have the rest of Amity Park fooled into thinking you're some hero, but you're just causing trouble!"
Maddie turned to make sure Cujo was still where they found him, and she felt her resolve falter. "Um, Jack?" She tapped her husband on the arm.
"Yes, Mads?"
"I don't think Phantom is the one we should be worrying about right now."
Jack spun back to argue which threat was bigger, but he quickly went silent when he saw his wife's point.
Cujo had gone from his small puppy form to his giant beast form, and now he was snarling aggressively at them. Both adults quickly re-aimed their weapons at the animal, though there was a slight tremble from being so close to it.
Phantom flew in between his parents and his dog, arms spread out calmingly. "Easy. He's only like this because of your hunting stuff. Just put the blasters down nice and slow, and I can get him back down to normal size."
"And we should believe you?" Jack questioned. "Ever since you showed up, ghost attacks have gone up by like 100 percent!"
"Not to mention those akuma things turning people into villains," Maddie added.
"I'm sorry, the portal downstairs was built in whose basement?" Phantom retorted. Figuring he would have to make the first move, Phantom fired small ecto blasts from his hands. Not too powerful, just strong enough to send his parents' weapons flying from their hands. While they scrambled to grab them, Phantom switched his attention to his beastly pet. "Cujo, time for walkies!" Motioning for his dog to follow him, he flew out of the kitchen into the living room and finally phased through the front door. Cujo followed his master, even phasing through the door instead of bashing through the wall.
Jack and Maddie snatched their blasters and hurried out the door to see which direction the ghosts were going.
"Mads, get in the GAV! We're going after them!" Jack declared, heading for the vehicle parked in front of their house.
While Phantom was busy dropping off his pet at home and trying to protect him from his parents, Pixelator burst into Jagged's suite, where the rockstar was playing with his crocodile on the large bed.
"Hey there! Time for your photoshoot!" Pixelator greeted wickedly, approaching the bedroom part of the suite.
Jagged startled at the intrusion then glared at the weirdly dressed intruder. "How did you get in here? I don't know about any photos. Fang, attack!" He commanded his crocodile.
Fang merely rolled over playfully. Evidently, Jagged needed to add attack training to his reptile's agenda.
"See you later, alligator!" Pixelator used his camera to zap Fang into the digital void.
Jagged gasped as his pet vanished. "What? Fang? Fang!" Furious at the disappearance of his beloved pet, he snarled at the villain. "Who are you?"
Pixelator bowed before the rockstar. "I am Pixelator, your biggest fan, Mr. Stone. Can I call you Jagged?"
"No!"
Jagged backed away as Pixelator jumped onto the bed with him, pushing up against the headboard as Pixelator crawled closer to him.
"I want to immortalize you, Jagged! I'll be your one and only fan! You will belong to me for eternity!" Pixelator got near him, preparing to take a picture with his camera. "Now, look into the lens."
Before he could digitize Jagged, Ladybug's yo-yo looped around the musician's middle and pulled him off the bed. Jagged accidentally kicked Pixelator in the face when it happened, sending Pixelator flopping onto his back. When the villain recovered, he saw Ladybug spinning her yo-yo as a shield, while Jagged sat on the floor nearby, recovering from the sudden whiplash.
Pixelator growled at the spotted heroine. "So you're Ladybug. I've heard such pathetic things about you. Look into the lens!" He tried to digitize her, but Ladybug grabbed Jagged and hauled him out of harm's way. She started leaping around the room as Pixelator tried again and again, even picking up a flower vase to chuck at him. Pixelator ran around the room, trying to get a better, clearer angle so he could digitize her.
In the midst of the chaos, Jagged crawled for cover underneath the table in the room's center.
Objects kept vanishing from the room as they were hit with Pixelator's beam instead of Ladybug, and eventually, Ladybug did get hit but only partially. It seemed if only part of a person was hit with the beam, then that part was pixelated and couldn't be touched or touch anything.
Ladybug began to panic with one of her limbs unusable. To buy herself some time, she pushed Jagged's luggage cart at Pixelator, successfully making it crash into the villain. While he recovered from being run over, Ladybug went to Jagged, and she was soon swinging out of one of the suite's windows with the rockstar screaming in fright the entire way.
Pixelator got back on his feet and rushed to the window to see if he could indicate the direction they were going, but they had already vanished from sight. He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Ugh, where did they go?"
Hawk Moth contacted him through their mental link. "If you want Jagged, you must find Ladybug."
"I don't have time to deal with this Ladybug!"
"Yes, you do. Plenty of time." Through his link, Hawk Moth began to exert his control. He had only done this once before with Evillustrator, and he disliked doing it because it drained him more than energizing an akuma or using the mental link. [3]
Pixelator started to cry in pain as his body acted against his will. "Okay, okay! Tell me what to do."
"I command an excellent photograph of Ladybug and Chat Noir with their Miraculous. I want those powers, so listen very carefully!" Hawk Moth commanded.
Up on the rooftop by the pool, Tucker had seen Ladybug swing away with Jagged, and the spotted heroine being out could only mean something bad was happening. Glancing at the undisturbed maintenance engineer, he pulled out his phone. "Sam, we may have a problem."
As Hawk Moth relayed a plan to Pixelator for finding the heroes, Ladybug found a suitable hiding spot for Jagged to stay until the villain was defeated. Jagged and the unwitting host didn't seem to agree, though.
"I can't stay here. I have to rehearse for my concert." Jagged protested.
Ladybug only smiled at the musician. "Don't worry, you'll get to do your gig. You'll even get to wear some awesome shades." Jagged gave her a weird look, and realizing she probably said too much, backtracked. "Look. While I'm catching this guy, Pixelator, I need you to stay put where no one would think to look for you."
Mr. Damocles glanced between the hero and the rockstar. "Um, Ladybug, is this safe? This is a school."
"Yes! Pixelator would never imagine his idol would actually want a day out at school," Ladybug insisted. When the principal looked somewhat offended, she once again backtracked. "I mean, isn't school awesome?"
Jagged gained an annoyed expression on his face. "This is ridiculous. I don't have time for this. First, I practically get hijacked by a crazed fan, and then, I'm attacked by some super weirdo. Then,"
Interrupting his rant, Ladybug inquired, "Wait. What do you know about this crazed fan?"
The rockstar rolled his eyes. "He's come to every one of my shows this year. He's also sent me stacks of letters, gone through my trash, he even followed my mother to her weekly bingo night!"
Ladybug shuddered. "How creepy." She'd never go through Adrien's trash like that, and even if his mother was still around to attend things like bingo, she wouldn't stoop so low as to stalk her like that.
He waved off her comment. "Not really. It's just a bunch of elderly ladies getting together having fun."
Wait, did he think she thought-? Never mind that. Ladybug opened the computer function on her yo-yo, and did a search for Pixelator's civilian identity. It occurred to her when she tried to type that she couldn't use her pixelated arm, so she had to resort to typing with her nose and chin. "Vincent Aza. Got his address." She did a double take. "Huh. His home residence is right here in Amity Park. That's convenient." Hooking up the address to the navigation function, she left the principal's office. [4]
Jagged reached an arm out to her as she left. "You're not gonna leave me here, are you?" She did. When he noticed the offended gaze on the principal's face, he backpedaled similarly to how the hero did. "I mean, isn't school awesome?"
Back in the digital void, Adrien and Chloe still hadn't made any progress. Chloe desperately tried her phone again, getting the same results as earlier.
"Daddy! Daddy!" She hollered into the phone.
While she was distracted, Adrien walked a decent distance away so he could speak with Plagg quietly. He opened his white shirt to whisper to his kwami. "Plagg, I gotta find a way to transform."
Plagg gave him a teasing smile. "Come on, what's the rush?" Once his holder frowned at him, he gave in. "Fine. If you insist, at least find me some cheese."
Closing his shirt, Adrien returned to Chloe's side. "I'm gonna go see if there's a way out down there." He pointed in another direction. "Don't go anywhere. Could be dangerous."
Chloe pouted at him. "Dangerous?"
Adrien threw her a look. "You're not scared, are you?"
The hotel heiress pointed at herself haughtily. "Scared, moi? As if! No way!"
Adrien began walking away from her, but he didn't get far before she came running after him while screaming. When he spun around to ask what spooked her, she jumped in his arms and pointed over where they had recently been standing.
Fang was there now.
Though scared for a moment, Adrien blinked a moment afterward. "Isn't that Mr. Stone's crocodile?"
"I don't know, maybe? But he's not here to control it, now is he?" Chloe rebutted, still clinging to him.
Phantom flew alongside Cujo running down the street, cellphone to his ear. "I can't deal with the akuma right now, Tucker. I have to find some way to shake my parents." As if on cue, he swooped to avoid a blast.
Not far behind him and Cujo, Jack and Maddie barreled down the avenue in the GAV. Jack was at the wheel while Maddie controlled the vehicle's weapons, firing beam after beam. Cars on the road swerved to get out of the way.
"Keep it steady, Jack! I almost had them that time." Maddie told her husband.
"Trying to, honey. Why are there so many cars on the street in the middle of the day, anyway?" Jack complained, turning the wheel quickly.
"Just keep your distance for now. I'll call you back." Phantom hung up and put his phone back in his suit. He flew closer to Cujo. "Alright, boy. Let's see if we can't trick them into a dead end. Follow me."
Phantom veered left, and after a moment of stumbling over his own giant paws, Cujo did as well while barking playfully.
At the amusement park, Pixelator barged through the entrance gate by zapping the ticket booth.
"Ah, the amusement park. Perfect. May the photoshoot begin." Hawk Moth told Pixelator, who promptly started zapping the park guests.
Going about his business, Pixelator noticed one of the guests had taken out their phone to take pictures and record his attack.
"Amateur," Pixelator scoffed and zapped him.
Ladybug found Vincent's residence, a studio apartment downtown, and was met by walls decorated with various Jagged Stone memorabilia.
"Oh, this isn't creepy at all." Her own photo collection of Adrien wasn't near this obsessive. As she perused the area for clues about how to defeat Pixelator, she came upon a strange collection of photos of random people that seemed to be… moving? "What?" Continuing along the photos, she found one containing Adrien and Chloe. She let out a squeak upon realizing her crush had been digitized by the villain, which explained to her why he hadn't been at the front desk earlier.
"Ladybug?" Adrien spoke up, noticing her. In the void, he and Chloe were looking at Ladybug like she was on a big screen TV.
"What are you two doing there?" Ladybug asked. She knew what likely happened, but they might have valuable information.
Chloe scoffed. "It's horrible, Ladybug. This photographer guy shows up in the lobby of my daddy's hotel like he just came from one of those stupid anime conventions, and tricked me into getting my picture taken. Then we ended up here." Her annoyed tone turned to pleading. "Please, please get us out of here. It's terrible in here!" After a look at her childhood friend Adrien, she added, "I mean, it's only terrible when you're not around."
"Over here, Ladybug!" She switched her gaze to another photo, which had two more people she recognized. One of them was Theo Barbot, she remembered him as a talented artist that had graduated high school last year and had a budding career right out of the gate that was showcased in the local news over the summer, and the other person was Mireille Caquet, a student her age in Ms. Mendeleiev's homeroom. Wait, wasn't Mireille supposed to be in school?
"What happened to you?" Ladybug inquired.
Theo held Mireille close. "It's terrible. This man, he took a picture of us and we ended up in here!"
"We were just at the amusement park, having fun!" Mireille said. [5]
The amusement park! She had a location! "I sure hope Chat Noir and Phantom are there already." Ladybug hoped as she hurried out the door.
Back at Casper High, Jagged and Mr. Damocles watched the news, Mr. Damocles reasoning it would help them keep track of the villain if he was still looking for Jagged.
They watched as Nadja Chamack and her cameraman approached Pixelator. "Excuse me, sir. Sir? Care for an interview with the reporter who spreads the villain's voice?"
Pixelator said into the camera, "I will continue my photoshoot until Jagged Stone turns up here in the flesh! Where are you, Jagged? Your biggest fan awaits you! All I want is one photo! Otherwise, soon, the people of Amity Park will be nothing but memories!" He then zapped Nadja and her cameraman, cutting the newsfeed until the station managed to get back to the studio.
"This is terrible," Mr. Damocles gasped.
Jagged stood up determinedly. "I've got to do what Pixelator says!"
The principal stared at him in shock. "Surely, you can't be serious. It's dangerous out there!"
Jagged dismissed his concern. "Who cares about danger? Jagged Stone can't turn down a television appearance! Just imagine what it would do for my career!" He then drifted off into his thoughts about the publicity of it, leaving Mr. Damocles to gawk at him.
Phantom and Cujo continued through Amity Park with his parents in pursuit. After a few turns, he and Cujo ended up at Lake Amity Park. Just as Phantom hoped, his parents followed him onto one of the docks there.
"Okay, Cujo," Phantom yelled to his dog, getting the canine's attention. "Jump!" At the dock's edge, Cujo jumped and Phantom snatched him by the spiked collar. The ghost hero struggled to keep him aloft over the water. "Man, I need to teach you to shrink back for stuff like this." He grunted. Peering over his shoulder, he watched as his parents drove off the dock into the lake. He wasn't worried about them sinking. Moments later, he was proven right as the GAV shifted from a tank into a boat. Phantom chuckled to himself. "Going to take them a bit to turn that around. Now we can give them the slip." Carrying Cujo back to shore, he set his beastly dog down and tickled him under the chin to coax him to change back into a puppy. Once Cujo was tiny enough to be held in his arms again, he scooped him up. "I'd like to get you home, but first, we need to stop a villain."
Out on the lake, Maddie rolled down her passenger window while Jack tried to get their GAV to make a U-turn. She shook her fist at the hero as he began flying away. "We'll get you and your dog next time!" She faced her husband. "Jack, hurry, before they get away."
"I'm trying. Do you know how hard it is to turn a GAV when it switches from vehicle to vessel?" Jack replied, fiddling with the controls.
Ladybug arrived to Pixelator's location just in time to witness Lieutenant Raincomprix be digitized.
"Got an itchy trigger finger, eh?" Ladybug taunted as she landed on the scene.
"I was expecting you, Ladybug. Where's your little team?" Pixelator started firing his beams at her without waiting for an answer. "Look into the lens!"
Ladybug hid behind various amusement park attractions, but each of them was zapped into the digital void by the villain, making it harder and harder to avoid being hit. She tried to grab a post to swing around, but forgot about her digitized hand in the moment and slipped. She landed near an abandoned cotton candy cart, and was cornered.
Before Pixelator could digitize her, she spoke up. "I have a proposition to make! If you free those innocent people, I'll organize a photoshoot with Jagged Stone!"
"Don't listen to her!" Hawk Moth yelled at his minion through the connection. "She's trying to trick you!"
"Why should I believe you, Ladybug?" Pixelator demanded.
"Because you have no choice. I'm the only one who knows where Jagged is," said Ladybug.
Pixelator considered the proposal, ignoring Hawk Moth's shouts in his mind. "How about I free half of them now, and the other half after the photoshoot. Deal?"
Ladybug smiled in an attempt to gain his trust. "Okay, it's a deal." She mentally added a sarcastic 'yeah right'. [6]
Pixelator upheld his end of the deal and pressed a button on his camera headset to release half of the prisoners. Among those freed included Adrien, Chloe, Penny, and Fang. Everyone seemed to reappear where they had been before they were digitized; Fang and Penny appeared back in Jagged's suite, and scared Sabrina, who happened to be making up the bed.
Adrien and Chloe were back in the lobby of the Grand Amity Park, jolting Nino out of his seat at the front desk. "Dudes, you scared me!" Nino complained.
Adrien ran over to the computer and brought up the Ladyblog, figuring Alya would be tracking the akumatized villain like she usually did. Sure enough, he could see her filming the fight between Pixelator and Ladybug from afar.
"Fill in for me, will you, Nino?" Adrien hurried into the back office.
"What do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Nino shouted after him.
Slamming the officer door shut behind him and locking it, Adrien brought Plagg out from his hiding place in his shirt. "Plagg, claws out!"
"I've kept my part of the deal. Where's Jagged Stone?" Pixelator demanded.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ladybug saw Chat Noir arrive and creeping up behind the villain. Without breaking eye contact with Pixelator, Ladybug said aloud, "Pixelator, I know your akuma is in your camera!"
"Stop wasting time!"
Chat Noir reached for the mounted camera when he heard someone yell out, "Go, Chat Noir!"
Both heroes and Pixelator turned their heads to see Theo, back from the void, cheering from behind a bench. At his elbow, Mireille swatted his arm and shushed him but it was too late. The damage was already done.
Pixelator spun to confront the cat hero. He and Chat locked hands and got into a scuffle, each side trying to push the other back. Using his height to his advantage, the villain managed to overpower Chat and shove him into a deserted booth. Before Chat could jump back on his feet, Pixelator had grabbed him by his ankles and swung him around to throw at Ladybug, who had been rushing to intervene.
The two heroes crashed into the booth that Pixelator initially cornered her at.
"Thanks for dropping in," Ladybug groaned as she and her teammate got up.
Eyeing her pixelated arm, Chat couldn't help cracking, "Not very handy, I see."
"What about our deal?" Pixelator demanded, stomping over.
"I told you she would betray you. Capture them already. I want their Miraculous!" Hawk Moth ordered through the connection.
"I can only use the one arm. Cover me!" Ladybug told Chat, and they rushed the villain together. She went low, throwing her yo-yo at the camera fiend while Chat extended his baton to rise up, going for a high approach.
Pixelator ducked and rolled away from Ladybug's attack, and recovered in time to catch Chat preparing to strike him with his baton. Realizing he couldn't change direction in mid-air, Pixelator used that to his advantage to zap Chat with his camera beam.
LB-CN-P
Chat belly flopped into the white void, gaining an exasperated expression when he noticed where he was. "Not again…"
LB-CN-P
Zapping Chat boosted the villain's confidence, so he kept firing at Ladybug while she constantly jumped, swung, and dodged his beams.
"When the cat's away, the mice will play." Pixelator taunted. "Ready to become immortalized?"
Not missing a beat as she dodged, she replied, "Can't wait to live it up!"
She wasn't able to continue dodging forever. Her pixelated arm proved to be her undoing as she reached for a light post on reflex, but her arm went right through it. She crashed to the ground on her side.
Pixelator grinned menacingly. "Look into the lens!"
Ladybug only had a moment to gasp before she was digitized. [7]
LB-CN-P
Hawk Moth let out a victorious cackle. "Yes, yes! The Miraculous are mine!"
LB-CN-P
Ladybug appeared in the same spot as Chat.
Her teammate helped her up. "Ladybug! Are you alright?"
Ladybug tested out her arm. "Hey, my arm isn't pixel-y anymore. What a relief." Her happiness was short-lived when she realized the gravity of the situation. "Now only Phantom is left, and we haven't seen him yet today. It's up to him now."
"Maybe not yet," Chat Noir said, glancing at his clawed hand. "I want to try something."
The outline of Hawk Moth's mask formed around Pixelator's face. "Now that you have what you want, Hawk Moth, it's time I get what I want."
"Hey there, Pixelator!" Hearing his idol's voice, the villain turned to see Jagged standing on another bench in the amusement park. "I've heard you want my photo!"
Around the corner, Alya continued filming the confrontation while Sam and Tucker hovered over her shoulder. "What's he doing?" Tucker hissed at the girls only to get shushed so attention wouldn't be drawn to them.
Jagged continued to speak to the villain. "It's me you wanted all this time, right? Well, here I am, in the flesh. You get your picture, and you release the rest of those innocent people. Deal?"
Pixelator poised his finger next to the button on his headset. "Look into the lens…"
Jagged struck a pose then thought better of it and changed position. "Wait, wrong side. This isn't my best angle." He shook his head and changed again. "No, no, wait. The lighting's all wrong. Does my nose look shorter this way?" He switched to a different pose. "Oh, I know, this is better."
"Ugh, hurry up already!" Pixelator growled under his breath.
Alya's eyes widened. "He's stalling… so Ladybug and Chat Noir can come back, or Phantom can show up."
"I heard my name." Phantom flew over to the trio of hiding students, his dog tucked under his arm. "Sorry I'm late, had a situation to deal with. What's the akuma?"
"He zaps people with the camera mounted on his head. He already got Ladybug and Chat Noir, and now he's going to zap Jagged Stone!" Sam pointed around the corner.
"Gotcha." Phantom looked at the villain in question, and smirked down at his dog as he put him down. "Cujo, time to learn a new command. Grow!"
Seeming to understand, Cujo morphed into his huge beast form, snarling. Phantom motioned for him to attack Pixelator, and followed when his dog pounced.
Once again, Jagged had moved into a different position. "There, I think I'm ready."
"No more moving!" Pixelator ordered, finally moving his finger to the button. "Look into the lens!"
"Cataclysm!" Calling out his ability, Chat Noir smacked his palm on the floor he and Ladybug were standing on.
Ladybug watched in amazement as the dimension they were in corrupted with the cat hero's dark energy and the pair reappeared where they had been zapped. Not only that, but Chat's ability freed the other half of the digitized civilians that the villain hadn't freed as part of Ladybug's deal.
The pair of heroes had just gotten their bearings when they spotted Pixelator and Jagged; they moved to interfere when beastly Cujo charged at Pixelator, barking loudly. Before he could press the button and zap Cujo, the ghost dog tackled and pinned him to the ground. He struggled to get free, but Phantom flew over and pried the mounted camera from his head.
"I think that's a wrap on this photoshoot," Phantom said. He threw it to the ground and stomped on it, breaking it to pieces.
"I couldn't agree more," Ladybug said, alerting Phantom to her and Chat's return. She watched the akuma emerge from the camera pieces and reached for her yo-yo. "No more evildoing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Purifying the butterfly, she let it go. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." She tossed up her yo-yo afterward. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The destruction from Pixelator's rampage was fixed, and everything returned to normal.
Pixelator reverted to Vincent's civilian form, and he looked around in a daze as Cujo got off of him and was coaxed by Phantom to shrink down to his puppy form. "What happened? Where am I?"
Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Phantom all bumped fists while Vincent was approached by Alya, Sam, and Tucker, who came out of hiding. "Pound it!"
-LB-CN-P-
Hawk Moth growled from his lair as he watched the cure sweep across the city. "Next time, I assure you it won't be a photo finish! I won't stop, heroes! I'll destroy all of you!"
-LB-CN-P-
A few hours later, the class was gathered back in the lobby of the Grand Amity Park. Phantom took Cujo back to FentonWorks and convinced him to stay in the Ghost Zone until the school day was over. After a few harsh words from Jagged, Vincent reluctantly returned home with a promise to not attend anymore of his concerts for the rest of the year to avoid a restraining order.
"Thank you very much for this work experience day, Mr. Bourgeois. I'm sure we'll all remember it for a long time to come," Ms. Bustier was saying to the mayor and owner of the hotel.
Mr. Bourgeois nodded at her. "So do I. Oh, wait, I almost forgot. Jagged Stone is having a concert here in Amity Park this week, so I'm giving tickets to the students who demonstrated the greatest effort today."
Penny, who had been standing with the mayor and the teacher, stepped forward to pass tickets to Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino.
Chloe stared, baffled that her nemesis was getting a ticket to the concert and she wasn't. "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" She stomped her foot and marched off toward the bus the class was taking back to school for dismissal.
"Alright, everyone! Out to the bus!" Ms. Bustier led her class out the door.
As they were leaving, the mayor called out a few names, "Ah, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Nino Lahiffe! A word with the both of you, if you would please."
Marinette and Alya shared a confused look, not sure what else there could be after receiving the concert tickets, and then Marinette exchanged glances with Nino, wondering if he knew. The aspiring DJ shook his head negatively.
The two of them approached the mayor and Penny.
Penny gestured for Marinette. "Come with me. Jagged would like to see you."
"Me?" Marinette gasped then reluctantly followed the assistant to the elevator.
Behind them, she could hear Nino talking with the mayor.
"Mr. Lahiffe, I was speaking with your teacher. Beside your music hobby, I understand you're interested in filmmaking?"
"Uh, yes sir. Why do you ask?"
"See, there's this statewide student film contest and I was wondering…" That was the last Marinette heard before the elevator closed.
Jagged looked over the sunglasses in his hands. He made an appraising noise and glanced at Marinette. "You made these. You didn't buy 'em from somewhere?"
Marinette slowly nodded. "Yes, Mr. Stone. The sunglasses you wanted didn't exist, and the ones I initially found didn't meet your expectations, so I improvised." She pointed to them. "While the idea of ghosts has been around forever, nobody ever heard of an akuma until recently, so I figured my best bet would be to make some based on them. Thankfully, it worked out because the purple and black color scheme works with your usual ensemble."
Jagged examined the sunglasses again. The sunglasses took on the shape of one big butterfly, dark in color. The butterfly's thorax went where the nose bridge would be, and the wings made up the shades. There were neon purple lines going up and down the wings. Except for the purple lines, you almost couldn't tell where the slats in the sunglasses were. [8]
"There have been a few akumas at my school, so I kinda know what they look like. I tried looking at videos for reference, but nobody has actually caught an akuma on camera, only the villains they turn people into. I hope it's okay." Marinette said, tapping her fingers together anxiously.
"I think… you've done a marvelous job." Jagged said at last, stunning Marinette. "Look at the purple accents. A dark butterfly on its own is nothing writing home about, but the accents make the glasses look positively sinister. And genius making the sunglasses one big butterfly instead of trying for two smaller ones on each side." He smiled warmly at her. "Do you do commissions? I'd like to pay whatever your rate is, officially. No, double your rate!"
"I, uh, what?" Marinette squeaked, her face red from all the praise.
Penny chuckled, walking over. She handed Marinette a slip of paper. "We can discuss payment later. Here's our contact info. You should get back to your class, don't want to keep them waiting."
Staring at the slip for a moment, Marinette snapped herself out of it. "Right. Later. Uh, thank you, for liking my design. And you're welcome, for the glasses. Um, bye!" Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of her favorite musician, the young designer practically sprinted out of the room.
"She's certainly someone to watch out for." Penny said to her boss, reaching over to tap the sunglasses. "It's quite a talent to make something like this in less than a day."
"Yeah, I can already tell she's a talented young lady." Jagged moved to the balcony, and watched down below as Marinette hurried onto her class's bus. "In more ways than one."
Fang waddled over to him, garbling something to his master.
Jagged kneeled beside his pet and stroked him. "You sensed it too, didn't you?"
Penny joined the rockstar on the balcony and spotted the bus driving away. She puckered her lips. "Jagged, why did you add Amity Park as a last-minute addition to the tour anyway?"
"I'll explain later." He answered cryptically, glancing away from his crocodile. "Right now, I think there's a concert we need to prepare for."
Danny flopped onto his bed, exhausted from the day. Cujo soon bounded over, nosing at him playfully.
The half-ghost teen couldn't help chuckling as he took his new pet in his arms. "You are going to be quite a handful, aren't you?" He sat up with Cujo in his lap. "Today wasn't terrible, but if we're going to make this work, we need to teach you a few more commands." Pulling out his phone, he brought up the dog training guide Tucker had sent him during the fight with Dogcatcher. "First lesson, staying home while I'm at school."
That Friday night, Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino went to Jagged's concert. Adrien somehow convinced his father to allow him to attend, provided he take his bodyguard along as protection. Marinette turned red when Adrien leaned close to mention to her that this was his first rock concert.
Jagged did wear the sunglasses Marinette made, and after she discussed him wanting to pay her for them, he promised to keep her identity as the creator of the sunglasses a secret until she was ready to start making a brand for herself.
He also wrote a song in the few days he stayed in Amity Park, and dedicated it to the team of heroes. After hearing the song, Marinette just knew Danny was going to be upset he missed it.
Even if he and his friends did have the money via Sam to purchase the concert tickets, there was no way their parents would allow them to go to a concert so soon after the Dumpty Humpty one.
And that is Jagged Stone, Penny, and Fang's debut finished! I like them; they are a fun group to write. I'm excited to bring them in for more appearances in the future. Jagged's potential skyrocketed in season four with his reveal, and that led me to making some interesting plot decisions later. Like many characters, there are pieces for a story arc surrounding him, and unlike canon, I intend to explore where Jagged's story can go with some established continuity.
Outside of Pixelator, we never really hear from Vincent Aza again. He was probably meant to be a guest character for the one episode, but I have found opportunities to utilize him more. He currently won't be getting an arc like Jagged and his crew, but there may be chances to piece together something for him when all is said and done.
Danny's situation for the chapter came from a need to keep him from ending the Pixelator fight too quickly since he could sneak up and yank the headset off. With him adopting Cujo the previous chapter, I realized he could struggle with becoming the new owner of a ghost dog that hasn't learned to stay home yet. Plus, this allowed him to be the last line of defense against the akuma of the day and ultimately cause the akuma's defeat.
With Halloween coming up, I figured it would be appropriate to announce the next chapter will be Fright Knight's debut. I like to keep a five chapter buffer between the most recent chapter I post and the most recent chapter I write, but since it's a special occasion, I've decided to post two chapters ahead of my buffer. So there will be another chapter released soon, but that will come with a longer wait time for the chapter following Fright Knight's so I can build my buffer back up to its normal length. Look out for Fright Knight's chapter on the 28th!
[1] – Switching the sunglasses request because of the change in setting from Paris to Amity Park.
[2] – In canon, August's mother from Gigantitan was never named. I decided to give her the name June to stay on theme with August.
[3] – Weirdly, Hawk Moth never tries to force his akumas after Evillustrator and Pixelator. I came up with this explanation that trying to force control over akumas exhausts him in a way the other parts of his power don't because the Butterfly Miraculous was never meant to assert control over its champions, only empower them.
[4] – Poking fun at how convenient it was in canon that Pixelator lived in the same place as the heroes and villain of the show.
[5] – It's unclear how old Theo is supposed to be; they never clarify if he's supposed to be a high school senior or a young adult. Either way, Mireille should have been in class when the episode was taking place, and not out somewhere with Theo. Unless she ditched.
[6] – Pixelator should have heard when Ladybug said 'yeah right' in canon. I explicitly made that a mental response here.
[7] – I grew tired of how Ladybug never got hit by akumas in canon up until Psycomedian. With Phantom on the team, she should be allowed to be targeted too.
[8] – My design to replace the Eiffel Tower sunglasses. The ghost glasses design was initially going to be the final product until I came up with the akuma glasses design.
Review in the box below, and remember, reviews are awesome! Also remember to say something about the chapter I just worked hard on, don't just use the review box to speculate on future plot points and what you want to see.