The chapter will cover the episode, Felix, with a few changes. When I was writing the outline for this story I completely forgot it. So I have to make this story nine chapters instead of eight.
The character Felix will also have a personality that is closer to his original design and he will be on good terms with cousin because I feel Adrien needs at least one decent family member, considering his dad is a supervillain, his mom is in an enchanted sleep, and his aunt was more concerned about jewelry then actually trying to be supportive for Adrien or disciplining Felix for outright theft.
It was the start of Ning's second week in Paris and she was still no closer to fulfilling her mission by her superiors. She had no leads on who Hawkmoth really was. Even with the profile and bits, she had been able to gather during their shared mindscape experience, she hadn't narrowed down the potential suspect pool.
Nor could she just ask for Nooroo and the Miraculous back for the favor she was owed. Hawkmoth would never willingly let the kwami and Miraculous go. If she tried to take it back by force she would hurt Nooroo, whose health was already in a delicate state.
Instead, she decided to focus on something else. The sorrow breaker pendulum was important to break the bond between kwami and wielder in the case of abuse. Since her last time in Paris, she had been envisioning a way to prevent someone who was pure evil from using any Miraculous forever.
Having a goal to work on made her feel more relaxed. She had decided to make a potion and coat a still undetermined object with it so she could stop a person from ever using a Miraculous.
Ning was at the kitchen table studying one of the potions in the Miraculous Book, seeing how the ingredients mixed to create a successful potion. From her experience, she knew the most effective way to prevent a specific person from something was to use pieces of them in a potion.
"Alright, the key items in the potion have to be something from the targets mind, heart, and body. I don't want to use literal body parts so I'm going to have to figure out what should be used instead.
For the rest of the potion, I'm going to need ingredients that ward against evil, protection from negativity, and everlasting purity. I'll also need ingredients for boosting these strengths and one binding agent. Then I'll add in the personal ingredients so they affect the person I want them to effect."
She started to write a list of items she would need to pick up before she started making the potion. The first step was to find ingredients for warding off evil. The best way to ward off evil was by using flecks of gemstones.
The best gems to use would be smoky quartz, black onyx along with blue kyanite and maybe some purple fluorite. This could all be obtained at a rock and crystal store for people who practiced crystal healing and meditation.
Next on the list were ingredients that would protect against negativity. This time she would need to pick up some herbs. She would need some aloe, a bit of dill, and garlic. She would pick up some sage for the binding ingredient.
For everlasting purity, she would go to the florist for specific flowers. She would need some sunflowers, a few lotuses, along with white lilies and at least one arum.
Finally, the ingredients to boost the potion would include pieces of fruits. The best fruits to use would be apples, peaches, and pears. Maybe also pick up some strawberries to ensure only a good person could use the Miraculous.
"I'm going shopping for potion ingredients. Anyone want to come?" she called out. Almost instantly Stella, Honorra, and Jill appeared. The girls had been wanting to get out of the shop and finding potion ingredients sounded like fun. Flapper would have joined them, but she was having good time bathing and playing in the bathroom sink.
Wayzz came over to her. "Master is taking a mid-morning nap so when he gets up I'll inform him you've gone out. Do you have the money you need for your shopping?"
"Plenty. I just need to put on my disguise and then I'll be on my way. Can you do me a favor Wayzz?" The little turtle nodded, happy to help. "Can you think about what I could use in a potion to represent an individual's mind, body, and heart?"
Wayzz said he be glad to make the young woman happy. Twenty minutes later she was out the door and going in search of the ingredients she would need reminding herself to buy extra for experimenting.
The first stop was the Minerals do Brazil shop. It was a highly thought out store for spiritualists and collectors. The place had a warm inviting nature. There were shelves stocked with different types of crystal samples with information cards near next to them.
On a small display table, you could look at the geodes and different types of rocks to collect. One wall was lined with little cubbies full of different samples you could buy by the ounce. Jewelry, books, and spiritual items sat near the counter.
Behind the cashier were cases showing different fossils you could buy, pouches for holding your crystals and a few other items. It was a wonderful place to be in.
Honorra's eyes were getting bigger as she peeked at all the sparkly gems available to purchase. "There are so many sparkly things. I just want to reach out touch them all."
"I can feel so much happiness in this place. The Great Guardian should come here and purchase more crystals for his therapy practice here," Stella giggled quietly.
"Don't let yourselves be seen," Jill cautioned. The Kwamiis dropped to the bottom of the bag as a salesperson came over to help Iria aka Ning with finding the right gems.
Iria walked over to the cubbies to start inspecting the gems. She quickly found some smoky quartz and black onyx. She didn't see any kyanite or fluorite. "Excuse me, is this all you have in stock currently? Because I'm not finding any fluorite, which is one of the easiest gems to get."
The salesperson came over and checked the cubbies. "We have larger samples of fluorite if you're interested in that." She pointed to some shelves in the corner with samples, most were larger than the palm of an adult's hand.
"I'll check it out. Also, do you have any kyanite, specifically in blue?" The salesperson said there should also be a few samples in the same area she pointed in.
Once in the corner, Iria/Ning opened the bag and whispered to the Kwamiis they could take a peek and help her find the right gems to use. "Remember, we need something big enough to experiment with but not something that is extremely pricey. This identity has a limited amount of money I can use for this."
Honorra's eyes quickly focused in on the fluorite section. She saw several samples and looked at each one carefully. For picking the right crystal you needed one that wasn't too pointy and which could be cleansed properly.
"Psst. Take a look at this purple square shape fluorite. Do you think you could use that one?"
The young woman picked it up and inspected it carefully. There were no rough edges and she could feel it was freshly charged. The price was a bit too high for her. She spotted a sample the size of her thumb and rectangle-shaped.
"This one is not as pricey and is very smoothed down. This one will do. Have you found the kyanite yet?"
Jill tapped Iria/Ning's wrist and used her tail to point to a shelf a few feet away. I saw something blue and I'm pretty sure I read the name right."
Sure enough, Jill had read the sign correctly. There was one blue kyanite sample. It was about the size of Iria/Ning's pointer finger. Being such a narrow point she would have to be very careful how much she scraped off for the experiments.
After purchasing the gems the next stop would be the open air market. She knew the ingredients would be fresh and she could get both the fruits and herbs in one place.
"Stella, I know bats have a good sense of smell. Can you lead me to the freshest ingredients please?"
"I can, but it would be more helpful if I could hang outside your bag. Do you have something that could make me look like a decoration for your bag or keys?"
"Perhaps. Hopefully, I can finish something before we have to get off the bus." It was risky having a kwami look like a toy or decoration. You could lose them when they had to pretend they couldn't move, which had happened to Tikki.
Another problem was children had grabby hands and would take something without asking. She had heard enough stories from Marinette about how hard it was to keep Manon from taking all the dolls she had in her bedroom.
Of course, the biggest problem would be if someone recognized what Stella really was. With Hawkmoth and Mayura still running free everyone needed to be careful to ensure their Kwamiis weren't seen.
With Kwamibuster fresh in her mind, the best she could do was having Stella hang upside down on the bag side. It was important for her to not move a muscle or lose her grip.
Even upside down, Stella knew where the freshest scents were coming from. She would squeak once to go right and twice to go left. Soon, Iria/Ning was standing in front of a stand selling Gala apples.
Stepping closer to the stand, Stella took a deep breath and sniffed all the apples at once. She squeaked a few times to direct Iria/Ning's hand until she picked four fresh apples.
Next, the small group went over to the peach stands and Stella directed Iria/Ning to buy a few Georgia Belle peaches. The bat kwami then advised the human to purchase five Bartlett pears. On their way over to the herbs, Iria/Ning grabbed a box of European strawberries.
Finding garlic bulbs was not a problem and the smell didn't bother Stella at all. The group quickly snagged two bags of dill and got a great deal on prepared Aloe Vera leaves. Stella wasn't even needed to find the sage.
Finally, it was to go to the florists. A quick Google search told the girls where they had to go to find all the flowers. This time it would be up to Jill to figure out which flowers would last the longest before they completely wilted.
Stepping into the store, she headed over to look at the water plants. "Which lotuses should I buy?" Iria/Ning whispered as she bent down to look at the plants closely.
Jill scanned the flowers and used her tail to point to the pink lotuses. "The color will last for at least a week and it will have more petals to use."
"Got it. They have dwarf sunflowers here. They have golden, red, and bronze. Which do you think we should get."
"Go with the traditional gold. It might not last as long as the other colors, but it holds the most power."
So the young woman put the dwarf sunflower in her cart along with a few lotuses. She also selected two bouquets of white lilies and a beautiful arum before having them rung up.
I know I purchased enough supplies to experiment with. Hopefully, I can make the right potion and test it before my two weeks are up.
That night it was another training session and introducing the newest Heroine, Street-Rat, to the group. She was a little shy and a bit soft-spoken so the others had to lean in to hear her speak.
"Tonight's training session will consist of team-building exercises. While each one of you has worked with Chat Noir and me, most of you haven't worked with anyone else.
It is important to communicate and learn to work with other heroes without getting into each other's way. Another important factor is trust. Chat Noir and I will work with you in pairs first then we'll move on to three-person exercises."
Chat Noir held out a silk bag explaining all their names had been written on buttons. He would pull the names out at random to decide their partners. He had, of course, removed his and Ladybug's buttons for now since they had to do the teaching.
"Our first pair is, Rena Rouge and Street-Rat." The two girls looked at each other. Street-Rat dropped her head slightly as Rena Rouge studied her.
"Our next pair is Sirius and Carapace." The boys were satisfied certain they could work together.
The next pair was Honey Bee and Viperion. Honey Bee was super excited to be working with Viperion, who in turn, was looking forward to helping Honey Bee restrain her energy at times.
The remaining pairs were Ryuko and Kkachi and King Monkey and Bunnyx. Hopefully, the pairs would work well together despite their differences.
"The first exercise is to build trust with your partner," Ladybug explained as she picked up some blindfolds off the table. "Chat and I will be arranging a small obstacle course for you to go through. One person will be blindfolded and the other has to direct the person around each obstacle safely."
She handed each pair a blindfold and left it up to them to decide who would be the guide and who would wear the blindfolded. Rena Rouge, Sirius, Honey Bee, along with Kkachi and King Monkey put on the blindfolds and hoped their partner would lead them to safety.
Chat Noir and Ladybug stood at the end of the course using the computers in the weapons to clock the teams' times and how many errors they made. They gave the signal and the first team started.
To say it was a catastrophe was putting it insignificantly. They hadn't even made it to the first obstacle when Rena Rouge bull-headiness took over. Instead of listening to Street-Rat's quiet instructions, she moved on her own past the girl and tripped over the first obstacle, which had been a stool, and fell flat on her face.
The next team of Carapace and Sirius made it halfway through the course before Sirius stopped walking because he couldn't understand what his partner was telling him.
Honey Bee and Viperion completed the course, but it took them nearly fifteen minutes due to Viperion having to constantly calm his partner down so she didn't trip over something.
Kkachi and Ryuko made it through the fastest. There had been problems at first because Ryuko was going faster than Kkachi could keep up. Kkachi had voiced her problem with her partner and they went a little slower completing the course.
King Monkey and Bunnyx argued most of the way through the course and eventually finished it together.
Ladybug and Chat Noir compared their notes before turning to the partners to discuss what they needed to work on. "Rena Rouge, you didn't even try to work with your partner in this exercise. Instead of trusting Street-Rat, you decided you knew best and did what you wanted.
This has been an issue for some time, Rena. Every time I need you your too busy rushing ahead to listen to instructions. During the Akuma attacks, it is difficult to work with you because you have a habit of not listening."
Ladybug locked eyes with the fox girl and told her sternly that if she didn't change this behavior it would affect her status of being a Miraculous wielder. The only thing she had to say to Street-Rat was that she needed to speak up a bit more if she wanted her partner to follow her directions.
Her observations of Sirius and Carapace showed her that the boys communicated in different ways. Carapace was using metaphors from movies he had seen, but Sirius hadn't. They needed to find a way to talk clearly to each other.
The only problem she found with Honey Bee and Viperion's teamwork was that their energy levels needed to balance each other out. Honey Bee needed to tone her eagerness down a notch and Viperion had to put some effort into being more energetic.
Ryuko and Kkachi were congratulated for communicating and working together. She did have to remind Ryuko to accept not everyone was at the same physical level as she was. That it was best to assess her partner's abilities before going ahead with something.
Kkachi's only fault was that need to be firmer when she spoke so people would listen to her.
Her observations of King Monkey and Bunnyx were pretty simple. Stop arguing and being competitive and work with each other.
Chat Noir took over for the next partnered exercise. "This time you and your partner will perform a few tasks together at the same time. The only difference your backs will be to each other. Working together each of you must complete your half of the task. When you're done we'll see if you managed to communicate and trust that your partner did their part right."
This time they started with King Monkey and Bunnyx. Their first task was to use building blocks to build a structure. One person had to construct the base while the other had to build a tower to place on the base. The trust factor was believing the other person had done their job correctly.
"Remember, I need a strong base to put my tower on," Bunnyx reminded her partner.
"No worries, I've got this covered."
The next exercise was one person had to draw a picture of something and give hints to the other person so they would draw the same thing. The point was to communicate successfully so both images matched.
The final trust exercise was to carry an object back to back and trust the other one had a good grip on it.
The partners didn't know what they were carrying was a huge watermelon. All they knew is that the object was smooth and heavy. King Monkey was smart enough to lower himself down some so he and Bunnyx could carry it easier.
Once they crossed the finish line, Chat Noir led them back to the first task. They had managed to make a stable base and tower. Their drawings were nearly identical and they had managed to get the melon to the end.
The other pairs went through the exercise and the trust levels were growing. The partners were getting more in sync. Rena Rouge still had a bit to go on accepting she needed to let others lead.
For the next trust exercise, they split into teams of three by using the button bag once more. Team One was Ladybug, Kkachi, and King Monkey. Team Two consisted of Chat Noir, Bunnyx, and Street-Rat. Team Three was Rena Rouge, Sirius, and Viperion. That meant Team four was Carapace, Honey Bee, and Ryuko.
"For this exercise, we'll compete against each other in a mock rescue followed by a battle. The goal of the exercise is to figure out who should be saving the civilian, who should be fighting the Akuma, and lastly, who should be looking for the akumatized object.
Whichever teams completes the exercise with the most points out of one hundred gets first dibs on showers before all us head home. Does that sound fair?" The others nodded all wanting to get the use of the hot water before it was used up.
Having repurposed the animatronics Peace Keeper used the first time they had met, they now had two fake civilians and one Akuma to train with. They had dressed the Akuma to look like a crazed bus driver.
Team One was the first to try the exercise. They let the animatronic Akuma get a few attacks in and then the animatronics civilians cried for help. To the surprise of everyone Ladybug was chosen as the one to save the civilians.
King Monkey had the task of fighting the Akuma. Out of his team, he had the most flexibility and was sprightly enough to avoid attacks. Kkachi hung back and observed the fight. After a few minutes, she spotted the "akumatized object" and was able to use hand signals to tell her teammates where it was.
Team One finished the exercise in six minutes with ninety points. They hadn't gotten a one hundred because it the delay in communications and a few fake attacks hit.
Team Two went next. Street-Rat was the one protecting the civilians, Chat Noir was fighting the Akuma, leaving Bunnyx to look for the object. This time the fake Akuma was a homeless person beefed up.
Their teamwork had a rough start with Chat Noir trying to cover for both heroines because Bunnyx was advancing to fight instead of holding back. Street-Rat was able to come back and help. Their score was eight-five.
Team Three also scored eighty-five fighting against a sewer system worker. Sirius protected the civilians perfectly. Rena Rouge and Viperion should have switched roles. Rena had been fighting the Akuma while Viperion searched for the object. With Rena using her special ability repeatedly, it took a few tries before Viperion could figure out what was real and what was an illusion.
Team Four did the best. Carapace was perfect for protecting civilians. Honey Bee's endless energy kept the Akuma, this time an electrician, from properly protecting his object. Ryuko had locked on it rather quickly and destroyed it.
So Team Four got hot showers and everyone else had cool or cold showers. This was the life of superheroes who had to train at night.
The next day was not a happy one. It was the anniversary of Adrien's mom going missing. He knew his friends would want to support him and Marinette would comfort him on this day. Yet, he wanted today to just be about his father and him coming together to comfort each other.
So he was out in the back admiring the statue of his mother. It had been a Valentine's Day gift a few years ago. His mom had always loved being reminded of how much her husband loved her.
"I miss you, Mom. I wish I knew where you were. I have so much I want to tell you about. Mostly, I want to share my friends and girlfriend with you. I know you would love them as much as I do."
Adrien felt his father approached him. He turned his head as his father sat next to him. "Adrien, I have something I want to talk about with you."
"I can guess what it is."
Gabriel looked at his son in shock. "You know what I want to talk about?"
Adrien nodded. "I've noticed how much closer you and Nathalie are getting. If you two want my permission to bring your relationship out in the open, you have my blessing."
Gabriel scowled and looked at his son in anger. "Your mother is my only true love. You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking such nonsense on a day like this."
Adrien felt the barbs of his father's anger sink into his skin. He blinked back his tears and softly apologized before getting up and going to his room. He didn't want to be around his father anymore.
In his bedroom, he sat on the bed letting Plagg get some fresh air. The kwami looked at his kitten sadly. "He shouldn't have said what he did to you."
Adrien looked down at his bed and sighed. "Maybe's he's right. I shouldn't have made assumptions or talked about them today."
Plagg gently smacked his wielder on the cheek. "You can't think like that. You made an assumption based on what you witnessed, but you weren't trying to be malicious. If whatever your father had to tell you was so important, he would have just corrected you instead of trying to shame you.
If my "sister" Duusu was here she would have scolded your father and made him be there for you on this difficult day."
Adrien looked up and smiled at his kwami. Plagg gave him a little hug. That's when they heard a vehicle approaching the mansion. That was a surprise because they rarely had guests.
Looking out the windows they spotted two people stepping out the car. One looked exactly like Adrien's mom except for the fact she was paler and her hair was platinum, not sunshine blond.
Standing next to her was a boy who looked a lot like Adrien, but his hair was brushed back formally and he was wearing formal clothing. His green eyes didn't shine as brightly either. Even from up in the bedroom, Plagg could feel a bit of coldness surrounding the boy.
Plagg looked at Adrien for an explanation. "That's my Aunt Amelia Graham de Vanily and her son Felix Graham de Vanily. Aunt Amelia is my mom's twin sister.
I'm surprised they're here. Felix and I use to be close, but ever since his dad died last year, we've drifted apart. I think he's still angry that I wasn't allowed to go to my uncle's funeral."
Adrien made his way downstairs where his father was waiting. Amelia and Felix enter the home. "Adrien, it's so wonderful to see you. Gabriel, a pleasure as always."
Gabriel looked at his sister in law with displeasure. "I'm surprised to see you, Amelia. You didn't tell me that you were coming." He didn't like surprises and was certain this visit was for an alternative purpose.
"I couldn't let my brother in law and nephew be alone on this day. I miss Emile as much as you do. Have there been any new leads?"
"I would have informed you if there was. Shall we get to the point of your visit?"
"What makes you believe I have an alternate reason for coming?" Amelia said pretending to be shocked. Gabriel narrowed his eyes and she could tell he wasn't fooled by her innocent act. "This is a private matter to discuss between us. Felix, why don't you and Adrien go upstairs and have some fun?"
Felix rolled his eyes but followed his cousin dutifully upstairs. The coldness around him seemed to be growing.
"How are you doing Felix?" When Felix didn't respond he tried saying something else. "I'm sorry about your father. I know he meant a lot to you. I wanted to go to the funeral, but Father wouldn't let me."
Again nothing. They entered the bedroom and Adrien asked if there was anything he wanted to do. He mentioned they could play chess if he wanted to. His cousin loved chess because it was a game of logic and it was very quiet.
Felix turned away from his cousin and went over to the window looking at the city below. He could see so many happy families below and it made him hurt inside. His hands twitched, but he didn't do anything else.
Adrien was starting to bite his lip. He looked at Plagg helplessly. The kwami shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea how to engage the other blond. Running out of ideas, he went to his hidden fridge and pulled out some cheese, hoping its smelliness would provoke a reaction.
"A friend of mine loves this cheese and made me hide a stash of it here so they can always have a tasty snack whenever I'm around." He held the plate out. Felix looked at the plate in disgust and waved it away, but still wasn't saying anything.
"Felix talk to me, please. I want to help you. Today doesn't have to be about me and my mom. We can talk about you and your father. Please, just tell me how your feeling."
Felix's mouth turned into an angry frown. His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows came down at a sharp angle. Even his nose flared. "You care about my feelings? You have a funny way of showing it Agreste."
Adrien took a step back startled by his cousin's voice. Felix walked slowly over as he pushed his cousin into a corner. "When your mom went missing I spent weeks comforting you. I listened to you as you talked about how much Uncle Gabriel had changed.
Then when my dad died last year, you didn't even call me to see if I was okay! I waited for weeks waiting to hear from you after I found out you were forbidden to come to the funeral. No emails, video calls, not even a blasted letter from you!"
Adrien sputtered out he had tried to contact Felix, but never got any response. "I even wrote you a letter and sent it to you. I don't know why you didn't get any of my calls. I just thought you wanted to be left alone after I didn't hear from you after two months."
"Well, I didn't! Do you know how much I have bottled up right now? Do you think I like pretending I'm fine so my mom doesn't cry herself to sleep at night?" He reached out and snatched Adrien's scarf off the couch.
"This is a nice scarf. Someone who really cared about you and your feelings must have made it for you. How precious, wish someone would do that for me. Then again, no one cares about my feelings do they?"
Adrien was very afraid at that moment. He had never seen his cousin act like this before. Was Felix's normal reserved, aloof, and slightly sarcastic personality a mask covering up pain as Adrien did with his fake smiles?
That's when Plagg sensed the akuma coming. He didn't know which boy had attracted it, but it was his duty to keep wielder safe. "Get into your bathroom and lock the door. Trust me," the kwami hissed as loudly as he dared.
Inching away, Adrien dashed for his bathroom just as the akuma merged itself with the scarf. He locked the door tight trying to figure out how could help his cousin without transforming.
"Emotionless, I am Hawkmoth. You despise everyone for being able to express their emotions and how their feelings matter more than yours. I will grant you the power to take away people's emotions.
In return, all I ask for is Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes, we do." The purple smoke covered Felix up and when it faded away Emotionless was left behind. His eyes remained the same, but his skin was dead white. His hair was in a long ponytail and it was gray now. His outfit looked Jedi costume from the Star Wars movies. Around his neck, the once blue scarf was now white and extended down his back.
Emotionless looked at his hands and saw they were glowing with gray energy. He pointed his right hand at the bathroom door, felt the energy growing stronger, at the zenith he released the energy and it blew the door into several pieces.
Hearing the noise, Nathalie rushed into the room to check on Adrien only to see an unexpected Akuma in the bedroom. She knew Gabriel was feeling a large amount of rage today, especially with his sister in law demanding he return his ring to her family when publicly it was all he had left of Emile.
He had stormed off declaring he needed some time to cool off. She had thought it would be Amelia akumatized, not Felix. Now she was in a standoff against an Akuma who was eying her strangely.
"Get away this instant. I won't let you harm Adrien!"
Emotionless raised his hands and fired a blast at Nathalie. The woman felt as if she was being electrocuted. The energy seemed to be making its way through her mind and shorting out her emotions.
In less than thirty seconds, Nathalie's skin had turned dead white, her hair was gray and her body hung limply as starred into nothingness. She had been stripped of her emotions. Without them, she had no motivation to do anything except stand there.
"I'm surprised she had any positive emotions to strip. Now for dear cousin Adrien." Emotionless took one step towards the bathroom when he felt Hawkmoth forcing him to turn around.
"Why take your cousin's feelings away when it will hurt worst for him to see his friends emotionless?" Hawkmoth persuaded his Akuma. He didn't want Adrien to get attacked today.
Agreeing with Hawkmoth, the Akuma took Adrien's phone to locate his friends. Emotionless left the mansion, blasting the Gorilla on the way out. It was interesting to see the man just fall to the ground without any emotions.
Upstairs in the bedroom bathroom, Adrien finally got out of his bathtub pool. When he heard the blast charging he had dove into the water hoping any smoking smithereens would go out if they landed in the tub.
"I can't believe I jumped into a bathtub, willingly!" Plagg whined. "Why didn't I just phase through it?"
"Can we worry about that later?" Adrien dried himself off quickly and entered his bedroom. He was horrified by the state he found Nathalie in. He tried to get her to say something or look at him with no avail.
He hurried out of his room and saw his Aunt kneeling next to the Gorilla. "Adrien, what is going on?! Why is your bodyguard like this? Where's your father and more importantly, where is Felix?"
"Felix has been akumatized by Hawkmoth. He zapped Nathalie and looks like he also took out the Gorilla." His eyes widened as he realized what his aunt has said. "My father isn't with you?"
"No, he got mad when I asked him to return my family's property and stormed out saying something about needing to cool down and I haven't seen him since. Now, tell me how to get my son back to normal?"
"We need to put out an alert on the LadyNoir blog. Felix took my phone, so I'm going to go see if I can flag down someone to post it." He raced away ignoring his aunt's frantic calls. He needed to focus on helping his cousin before he caused too much trouble.
In her bedroom, Marinette was having a video chat with her cousin Bridgette Cheng. Technically, she was her second cousin because Bridgette's mom was Sabine's cousin. Both girls chatted when they could, but both had busy schedules.
"How's the tea shop doing?"
"Very well. Who knew Chinese tea would be so popular in London? It was the best decision my parents made when they moved us here a year ago. What about the bakery? Is it still as popular as ever?"
Marinette nodded. "Ever since my parents started to experiment with making different types of bread we've been getting a lot of new clients. I'm proud of their success."
"You should be as well as you own. It's great to know I'm related to the rising star of rock fashion. Hopefully, one day my accessory line is as successful as your fashion."
Marinette giggled saying one day Bridgette's accessories would outshine her fashion pieces. "I want to get to the real reason I called. Today's the anniversary of my boyfriend's mom disappearing. I want to be with him to help him with this difficult day, but he said I should just let him be."
Bridgette rolled her eyes slightly. "When boys say that, its code for I don't want to look weak in your eyes. I don't understand why boys feel the need to hide their emotions. It isn't healthy."
She let out a dreamy sigh before continuing on, "There's this boy at my school that I have a crush on, his name is Felix, who has been bottling up his feelings over the death of his dad last year and he won't talk about them.
I've done my best to show him that I'm willing to listen and I won't judge him about his feelings. I even gave him my parents' signature tea, because I know how much he likes it and he still wouldn't talk to me. I think my perkiness is working against me."
Marinette was about to reassure her cousin when the Akuma alert went off on her phone. She unlocked it and read the alert. She was stunned by what it was saying. "Um, Bridgette, your crush wouldn't happen to have the last name Graham de Vanily, by any chance?"
Bridgette's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's him! I knew he was going with his mom to Paris today to get back a family heirloom, but I didn't think he would get akumatized while he was there!
Marinette, you have to find Ladybug and tell her something important. It might help free him from the Akuma. Felix is a creature of habit. No matter where he is, he will always have tea at noon. Maybe Ladybug can use that to her advantage."
Marinette nodded and promised to let her know what happened once the situation was resolved. Ending the chat, she looked up at Tikki. "We have our work cut out for us this time. Tikki, Spots On!"
Chat Noir was chasing down Emotionless, who was leaving a trail of victims behind him. Judging by the direction he was heading in, he suspected he was heading to the Conuffaine boathouse.
Marinette mentioned they were all going to be hanging out there today. I've got to stop him before he gets to them. Chat Noir increased his speed and then felt a familiar presence landing by his side.
"My Lady, it's good to see you. Our newest Akuma is my cousin Felix."
"I know, I saw the alert. What's his power?"
"He strips people of their emotions turning them into, well that," he replied pointing at the victims below. Pale zombies who didn't move. "We need to stop him before he gets to our friends."
Ladybug glanced at the time. It would be noon in fifteen minutes. Hopefully, it wouldn't take that long to purify the Akuma because she wasn't sure Bridgette's information would be helpful.
On Juleka's houseboat, the class was talking about making a video to show that they would always support Adrien, even if he didn't want them around today. Alya was just about to press record on her tablet when there was a scream from Mylene.
They all saw the girl turn dead white and her hair went gray. Her face fell away from her boyfriend's and she knelt on the ground not moving. "You should thank me. Having emotions makes everything worse." Emotionless stated as he hopped onto the deck.
"Mylene! You get away from her!" Ivan yelled as he ran at the Akuma. Emotionless simply slid to the side watched Ivan crash into the wall.
"Love and fear are powerful emotions indeed. Let me free you from that particular burden." Energy surged through Ivan's body and in seconds he was lying on the ground looking exactly like all the other victims.
The kids started running or looking for places to hide. Both Juleka and Rose had to drag Alya downstairs and bolt the door going up to prevent her from filming the Akuma.
On the deck, Emotionless looked around and spotted Kim and Max running away. "Let's see if you even care about Adrien after your stripped of your emotions." He unleashed the energy and added the boys to his list of victims.
A look in the other direction revealed Alix and Nathaniel heading for the water hoping to swim away. "You can't wash away emotions like that," Emotionless spoke in a dull voice.
Instead of connecting with two teens, both Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared, using their weapons to shield the teenagers from the effects. "Get out of here!" Ladybug instructed.
Alix and Nathaniel got out of there as quickly as possible. Once they were out of sight, Chat Noir launched himself up into the air and broke his baton into two pieces. Coming back down towards the ground he flung both of them at the Akuma. Emotionless slid to the right then the left to avoid being hit by the two pieces.
Ladybug flung out her yo-yo and got it wrapped around Emotionless left leg. She pulled hard and Emotionless was suddenly doing a painful split. Grabbing onto the string with his left hand Emotionless sent his energy through the string towards the spotted heroine.
Seeing the attack coming, Ladybug jumped up to the main street and tied the end of her yo-yo around a bench leg, letting go milliseconds before the attack would have connected.
Emotionless picked up the discarded yo-yo and attempted to jerk it free. It held tight. Ladybug got on the bench and jumped down intending to deliver a devastating kick to the chest.
Chat Noir tackled Emotionless to the ground, the shot just missing Ladybug as she managed to land somewhat gracefully. She picked up her yo-yo and ran to help her partner.
Chat Noir was struggling to keep Emotionless pinned down. The Akuma was unnaturally strong. He was thrashing hard and his blank expression didn't give anything away.
"Surrender your ring to me. It is of no use to you," Emotionless calmly stated as he raised his hands.
Chat clawed Emotionless's hands causing the Akuma to withdraw his hands for a split second. Chat reached for the scarf only to be pulled back by Ladybug. Just in time too as Emotionless let loose another barrage of energy.
"We've got to gain control of his hands before we try to take the scarf. Otherwise, he can strip us of our emotions and makes us zombies as well."
"What do you suggest we do My Lady?"
"Circle him and try attacking at different angles. One of us will eventually find a blind spot and be able to snatch the scarf." The two split off from each other and tried to attack Emotionless from the side.
"They're trying to find your weak spot Emotionless. Keep moving and attacking so they can't get close to you," Hawkmoth informed his Akuma.
"Understood Hawkmoth." He glanced around and then started to lope about. He moved away from the houseboat and back to the streets forcing the heroes to follow him.
Then he started spinning around firing the energy bursts in all directions. Ladybug was forced to swing high away while Chat Noir had to flip farther and farther away from his opponent.
"Let me erase your pain. Be free of emotions. Hawkmoth will do great things with your Miraculouses." Emotionless implored as he fired another blast at Chat.
The feline hero pole-vaulted over the attack and swung it down on the ground. It missed the Akuma by a mere five inches. Grunting, Chat Noir called out. "Hawkmoth is not going to do great things with our Miraculouses! Whatever his intentions are, even if they seem pure, lead to H.E. double hockey sticks!"
Hawkmoth's mask appeared over Emotionless's face a very dark purple signaling how angry he was at hearing those words. "Hawkmoth will punish you for saying that."
The Akuma brought both hands together and sent out a concentrated beam of energy. It tracked Chat Noir as he ran trying to get away from the beam. He couldn't let his lady fight this Akuma alone.
Standing on the tallest tree in the area, Ladybug was desperate to end this fight now. "Time for my Lucky Charm!" The yo-yo produced a teacup that landed in her hands.
"Are you serious? I don't think Emotionless is in the mood for tea," Ladybug lamented to herself. She looked around and there was a clock above an outdoor café which was highlighted. At one of the tables sat a fancy teapot which was also highlighted and then finally, Emotionless and the teacup.
"I hope Bridgette is right," she muttered to herself. Ladybug swung over to the outdoor café and landed on the awning. Using her yo-yo, she snagged the teapot and poured the hot liquid into the cup.
She then reached up and pushed the hands on the clock forward till it said noon. The bell rang signaling the time. Jumping down from the awning she approached Emotionless, who had gone still upon hearing the bell.
"Emotionless, would you like to have a cup of noon tea?" Ladybug asked kindly holding the cup out to him.
Ignoring Hawkmoth's ranting, Emotionless took the teacup in both hands and inhaled the scent of the tea. His expression changed from blank too pleased.
Ladybug quickly grabbed the scarf and ripped in two freeing the Akuma. She purified it and restored everything to normal.
"Ugh, what happened? Who are you?" Felix asked as he looked at Ladybug.
Before she could answer, Adrien came running over calling his cousin's name. "Felix! I'm so glad to see your back to yourself. Thanks for helping my cousin Ladybug."
"You're very welcomed citizen. Glad to see you were so concerned about your cousin here. I've got to go now. Bug out!"
Two days passed and Adrien had done a lot of self-reflection. His cousin had needed someone to talk to and support him. Instead of doing what was right, he did what his father wanted.
He was still new to making his own choices and doing things he wanted instead of what his father assigned him to do. Since he arrived at school he started to learn that sometimes doing the right thing meant you had to break the rules once in a while.
He wasn't going to let his father dictate to him that he should never speak to his cousin or his aunt again. He understood why his father was upset and that his aunt shouldn't have been pushing to get back the rings at this time, but Felix was not part of that.
Before Felix had left, Adrien had slipped a secret email account he set up so he could talk with his cousin without his father and Nathalie going through his sent messages. The slip also contained contact information for Marinette's cousin Bridgette and urged Felix to talk to her. She would make an excellent friend.
Adrien was not the only one doing some self-reflecting instead of paying attention to Ms. Bustier. Chloe was kept getting sidetracked as she thought about what was going with Marinette's situation.
Despite efforts to keep her safe, there had been another threat. Yesterday, someone had left a letter on her desk without anyone seeing who it was. Marinette had taken the letter to the headmaster's office.
No one knew for sure what the letter had said, but whatever it did caused Marinette to spend the last class period in the nurse's office. When Adrien had collected her, even Chloe could see how shaken and abnormal Marinette had looked.
Seeing Dupain-Cheng freaked out like that reminded Chloe how awful she had been. Tormenting Marinette, because deep down she had been jealous of the natural love and affection the girl got from her own parents.
Now that her eyes were opened to the truth about her behavior, she saw how hurtful and dangerous bullying could be. She wanted to help and do something good with her resources, but she couldn't think of what to do.
I have to find some way to help out. I need to show I've made a change Chloe thought to herself.
That night, as Gabriel was getting ready to sleep his Miraculous glowed brightly. "This person's negativity is beyond anything I've felt before! Nooroo, Darkwings rise!"
The instant the transformation ended, Hawkmoth found himself in Peace Keeper's mindscape. Confused, he was not prepared for the forceful kick to his spine.
"Ah!" he started to fall over, but someone grabbed the back of his collar and swung him over their back and onto the ground as he landed hard on his chest.
Before he could react, someone was pulling his arms back and twisting them tightly. He struggled to break free only to released again and smashing his face into the ground.
Someone flipped him over and he was being hit again and again. His knees, elbows, abdomen, and chest. One struck him in the face. Even though this was all in his mind he felt an echo of the pain.
Finally, the assault stopped and he was hauled to his feet. He found himself looking at Peace Keeper, her eyes filled with rage. "If you EVER put Nooroo in danger again, and I mean EVER, you will find your real body in a bloody mess in the coma ward. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"
For the first time in his life, he was afraid of a woman. He nodded his head and she released him. He shakenly stood up and waited for her to speak. He had a strong hunch she was calling in the favor he owed her.
"From what I know, part of the person's psyche remains within your mind after you've used your power is that true?"
"Yes. It helps me locate victims I've akumatized before. I only have access to that when I'm transformed," he admitted slowly.
She nodded and was quiet for a few minutes. "When you're fully connected, when you momentarily take control of someone's body, do you feel or have a reaction because of that?"
Confused by her questioning, he thought about it for a few minutes and then replied. "For a few minutes after I let go, I feel phantom pain as if I'm still using limbs that are not there."
Peace Keeper nodded and asked her final question. "How do you choose your victims? Everyone feels guilt, rage, sadness every day, but you don't akumatized someone every day. So what's the variable you need to akumatized one person?"
Grumbling, he admitted the Miraculous would glow when there was a very strong negative emotion nearby. If the person was in his range, his akuma could find them.
"So, in a sense, you can understand what their heart is feeling." She paced for a few seconds before coming to a decision. Concentrating, she formed a turtle shape jar in her hands.
"I want you to put everything you have related to Lila Rossi into this jar right now."
Hawkmoth opened his mouth to question why when Nooroo popped up. "You don't have the right to question her why she wants those things. She got Startrain to come back to Earth so you wouldn't be a mass murderer.
Give her what she wants and vow never to target her again with an akuma and you two will be even. Do you understand me?"
Already on thin ice and two beings looking ready to pummel him again, he did as he was told. He held out his hands and summoned force Lila's psyche, the phantom pain of her body when tried to prevent from attacking him, and rage she felt every time she was given an akuma.
The three pieces flew into the jar and Peace Keeper slammed the lid shut. "Thank you. I will remember this." She walked back through her door to the mindscape.
Hawkmoth's conscience returned to his physical body. He quickly undid the transformation and went to bed. He hoped whatever he had done would not come back to bite him.