I Do Not Own Avatar or Miraculous.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Awaking Jet.

Jet opened his eyes. He wasn't sure how he wound up in that alleyway or why. He had a terrible headache, all he knew is that he was clutching to a piece of paper. He glanced down at it. Surprised to see Appa, the Avatar's sky bison, printed on it. The words on the paper explained that the bison was apparently missing. How the heck had they lost Appa? The thing was huge!

Instantly his headache returned as what seemed to be memories flooded into his head. Yes. He had a lead on their missing bison! Of course! He was supposed to find the Avatar and tell him.

Jet smiled, his thoughts drifting to Katara, then pretty watertribe girl Aang had been traveling with. Slowly the smile turned to a frown when he remembered how angry she been. When he realised what he had tried to do. He was going to kill innocents. He was pleased to do it. But after Katara left, the true nature of what he had attempted hit him, hard. He realized what he'd become and had immediately begun to seek a path of redemption. A path that led him to Ba Sing Se. After all, didn't all paths lead here?

Jet grinned at the thought. There was only peace and redemption. There was no war in Ba Sing Se.

He went to fold up the flyer when he realized he held not one, but two flyers in his hands. The boy eagerly put away the bison flyer and studied the second one. This one was of a boy with golden hair dressed up like a black cat of all things. The flyer was also from the Avatar, calling the strange boy Cat Noir. Jet had no memory of ever learning information on Cat Noir like he had with Appa. He turned the second flyer over in his hands in confusion. On the back was a letter.

Jet,

You don't know me, but I know of you. You are the freedom fighter seeking redemption as I am. You are in danger. You have been wronged. I wish to make things right. You do not know the one who has wronged you, for you wouldn't remember. I am certain you will complete your mission for the enemy as planned. This is good for us both. But, you are a loose cannon, although in his control. Once you have served his purpose he will rid himself of you. I wish to extend my generosity and offer you my protection. In trade, you must lead her to my son. You don't know her yet either, but you will. My son is at the place you were arrested. He looks like the boy on this flyer. You don't remember the arrest ether, but your friends will.

With Best Wishes,

Hawkmoth.

Jet stared at the letter addressed to him. Who the heck was Hawkmoth? What did his son, who was apparently some golden haired guy in a cat costume, have to do with the Avatar and his bison? Also, he had no memory of ever being arrested. Who was the enemy? What kind of protection did this Hawkmoth offer? Who was this girl he was supposed to lead Hawkmoth's son to?

Being lost in thought, Jet didn't notice a butterfly of a soft violet color land on the flyer he was holding and turn it a pure white so the picture of Cat Noir could not be seen.

"Freedom Fighter."

Jet jumped, shoving the paper into his pocket and pulling out his hooks.

"Who's there?" He asked in surprise.

"Will you make the trade?" The voice asked.

"The… Trade?" Jet said in uncertainty.

I wish to extend my generosity and offer you my protection. In trade, you must lead her to my son.

The Trade. Jet realised he was speaking to whomever had written the letter.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"You won't find me by searching. Now, Freedom Fighter, do you know what you want? Do you wish to be redeemed? If so, answer. Do you accept my terms?" The voice asked. Jet heistated. He had no idea who this guy was or how he was speaking in Jet's head.

"I'm trying to help you, Freedom Fighter. Don't resist." The voice said softly. Almost as if by magic, Jet trusted the voice with his life. The person behind the voice was good. The person behind the voice could help him.

"I will accept your terms." Jet said.

"Recognize that the gift I give you will not be permanent, but kept until you have served your role. Once you have accomplished the mission the Enemy has given you and led the Avatar to his bison, you will lose these gifts, but your true memory will surely return. When it does, you must lead Ladybug to my son, but do not tell her Cat Noir is my son. That is for he and I to tell on our own time."

"Yes, Hawkmoth." Jet said, "I understand."

"Good." Jet felt a wave of light wash over him and the voice was gone, but he could feel his presence at the back of his mind. Jet looked himself over. Nothing about him had actually changed, not outwardly. But inside he felt an new strength that had not existed before. Jet smiled. He was glad for the new sense of strength, but he knew now wasn't the time to use it. He would only use it when the enemy came. Until then, he would have to wait. Right now, all that mattered was finding Aang and informing him of what he knew about the Sky Bison.

The problem was, he had no idea were the Avatar was.

"Upper Ring, passing out flyers, like yours. Do not tell Ladybug that I am interfering, or she will take the gift I've given you. Also, do not show them the Cat Noir flyer. It is your anchor to be and Ladybug will surely destroy it if she suspects anything. Be completely honest with them. Tell them what you know about Appa, but don't tell them about me." Hawkmoth said helpfully.

"Um… Thanks." Jet made his way through the city. They let him into the Upper Ring without any trouble at all.

"Stop. The waterbender is close by. Wait for her." Jet swallowed. Katara. He had to face Katara. He waited, as Hawkmoth had told him to do. Like Hawkmoth had predicted, the waterbender rounded the corner carrying posters to be hung up. He pulled the bison poster carefully out of his pocket before informing her he was there.

"Katara." He said. She jumped, staring at him with wide blue eyes, "I think I can help you." She stood there startled, partially blushing. An eternal war flushed across her face for an instant. Then she attacked, bending streams of water at him.

"Katara! I've changed!" Jet cried.

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet." She growled. She bent more water at him.

"I don't want to fight you! I'm here to help!" He promised. To prove this, he dropped the hook swords and went for the Bison poster again. She flinched, sending a flurry of ice at him, trapping him there. The entirety of Team Avatar including two Earth Kingdom girls rounded the corner.

"Katara what is it?" Her brother asked. Katara glared at him.

"Jet's back." She growled. The team stared at him in shock.

"We can't trust anything he says." Katara warned.

"But we don't even know why he is here." Sokka said. Jet arched his eyebrows. Of all people, he least expected Sokka to defend him. Of course, Sokka had also been a man who believed in science and reason.

"I don't care why he's here. Whatever the reason is, it can't be good." Katara argued.

"I'm just here to help you find Appa." Jet said calmly and he let the flyer of Appa unroll, revealing his true purpose.

"Katara, we have to give him a chance." Aang said softly.

"I swear! I've changed. I was a troubled person, and I let my anger get out of control. But I don't even have the gang now. I've put that all behind me." Jet explained.

"You're lying." The smaller of the Earth Kingdom girl approached him, placing her palm next to him.

"He's not lying." The girl said.

"How can you tell?" The other Earth Kingdom girl asked.

"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there is a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."

"Katara," the second Earth Kingdom girl said, "We don't have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out. Appa is just one step away from finding where Cat is."

"That's Ladybug." Hawkmoth said in his head, "She goes by Rin now, though." Jet nodded slightly, not wanting to respond an alert her he was aligned with Hawkmoth. He was lucky they were too busy arguing about him to notice the semi transparent mask that appeared each time Hawkmoth spoke. Finally, the group finished arguing and Katara decided to let him help them. She freed him and true to his word, he led the Team to where his lead was. A gaunt warehouse that he had heard a giant furry creature was being kept.

They got inside and found it empty aside from clumps of white fur and an annoyed janitor.

"We missed him." Aang said in disappointment. Immediately the janitor spoke up.

"They took that big thing yesterday. Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur and various, uh, leavings all day." The Janitor began to leave but Aang stopped him.

"What island? Where's Appa?" Aang demanded.

"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whaletail Island bought him up. Guess for a zoo or such, though could be the meat would be good." Aang turned to the group anxiously.

"We've gotta get to Whaletail Island!" Immediately, Hawkmoth was shouting at the back of Jet's mind.

"No! They can't leave the city. Cat Noir and Appa are here. This is a diversion!"

"Why didn't you warn me that sooner?" Jet hissed under his breath. Before Hawkmoth could respond, Jet had to drop the butterfly mask as the team started to discuss plans to split up and find Appa while half stayed to find Cat Noir.

"All right, let's get moving." Sokka said.

"Wait, you can't. I don't think Appa is at Whaletail. This must be a diversion our something. Someone in the city must be after the Avatar!" Jet immediately warned. Katara scoffed.

"You just now thought of this?" She asked.

"Why don't you trust me?" Jet asked.

"Gee! I wonder!" Katara said sarcastically. Then, a very familiar voice reached his ears.

"Jet!" Smellerbee yelled running up to him excitedly. Longshot quickly followed. He stared at them in shock. How had they gotten into the city? Immediately, Katara whirled around on her feet and pointed at him accusingly.

"I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore." Jet stared at the two incredulously.

"I don't." He said. Smellerbee, obviously not seeing the conflict, wrapped Jet into a hug. She acted like she'd seen a dead man come to life or something.

"We were so worried! How did you get away from the Dai Li?" Smellerbee asked. Katara's jaw dropped.

"The Dai Li?" She asked.

"I don't know what she is talking about!" He cried. He wished Hawkmoth could explain, but everyone was focused on him now and they would surely see the butterfly mask if he tried.

"He got arrested by the Dai Li a couple of weeks ago. We saw them drag him away."

"But why would I get arrested!? I've been living peacefully in the city." Toph knelt down, feeling the Earth near them.

"This doesn't make any sense." She said, "They are both telling the truth.

"That's impossible." Katara scoffed.

"No." Sokka said, "It's not. Toph can't tell who is lying because they both think they are telling the truth! Jet's been brainwashed." Sokka looked over at Rin.

"Hawkmoth?"

"No. His victims are usually aware. They don't retain memories after the matter, but during the Akumization, they are aware and they become irrational. If Jet were Akumatized, we could tell he was lying. This is something else." Jet froze at the mention of Hawkmoth. Were they going to take the power he needed away from him? Before his mission was even accomplished? Was he really brainwashed? And what did they mean by victim? Hawkmoth gave him a choice. He chose this. He stumbled backwards.

"No, that's crazy!" He said, his eyes darted around the area in panic. He was tempted to unleash his hidden power now and get away. He needed to figure this out himself… but he couldn't. He had to wait. The enemy, whoever that was, was out there. His mission was incomplete. He needed to finish the mission, he could not expose Hawkmoth now, "Stay away from me!" He tried. But the damage was done. The team and his freedom fighters were determined to help him, even though he didn't think he needed it.