"What do you mean we have to help?" Chloé screeched. "We don't even understand our powers! Aurore keeps floating away, Theo keeps tripping on his tail and dropping his baton, Mylène keeps scaring people, and Kim keeps knocking people over with his wings! Especially Alix, who, as we all know, is pretty dangerous right now!" Alix nodded, holding her hands closer to herself.
"I don't think he's doing it on accident, to tell you the truth. I mean, he's not really hitting anyone else. I'm tempted to skate over his foot."
"Alix, what do you take me for! But seriously, it's hard. They need to stretch out the stiffness. Not to mention they hurt a bit." Kim took off, sending Alix stumbling into Jalil's side. "Is this better? I'm not hitting anyone now!"
"Okay, that was a stupid move." Nino shook his head. "We literally just talked about how Alix's powers are dangerous. We don't need her to touch anyone. Thank god she's doing a great job at keeping her hands closed."
"Oh, right. Sorry, Alix. I guess my anger got the better of me. I'm just as annoyed with them as you guys are and the constant reminding of it doesn't help." Kim rubbed the back of his neck, almost knocking his quiver off.
"It's okay, I guess." Alix muttered. "You should land, though. It looks like Sabrina let go of her blanket in surprise and the wind you're making isn't helping us." She continued, a bit louder.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll try." Kim flew a short ways away from the group and attempted to land. This attempt ended very poorly. Groaning, Kim spat out a bit of pavement before rolling onto his back. Propping himself up, he looked back at the group. "You know, I have to agree with Chloé on this one. How are we supposed to do anything, Alya? We're having our own issues as it is."
"I don't know, okay?" Alya sighed. "We can't just sit around doing nothing. I refuse to ignore all the kids running across rooftops." Kim froze, hearing movement near his ear.
"What are you doing?" He turned his head, looking at something behind him. "HEY! Give that back!" Shooting down a nearby alleyway, he soon returned, carrying a small pirate. "He stole an arrow! He didn't use it, but still." Kim floated down, landing gently. He leaned down, releasing the child. Standing back up, he slid the arrow back into place. "Not cool. I need a cap on this thing." No sooner had he finished the sentence then a blanket was tied over the quiver's opening.
"Here. I think you need it more than I do." Sabrina patted his back, making him jump. She slid under his wings. "We can figure out a different way to see me. I'd rather have to always make noise to be seen than have those arrows in the open."
"You know, maybe we ARE too focused." Everyone turned and looked at Max. He closed his eyes and continued. "Alya, Nino, and Kim all used their powers when they weren't thinking about it too much. Maybe we have muscle memory from our time as villains." Chloé made a small sound. "Well, Chloé, Nathanaël, and Mr. Haprèle all have a bit more practice than the rest of us. For them, it would be easier to control and use." She nodded, pleased to have her skills acknowledged.
"So we just need to stop concentrating so much?" With a small scream, Max opened his eyes and spun around, holding his glasses with one hand.
"Oh, come on, Sabrina! Next time, tap my shoulder or something!" Calming down, Max grinned, flicking her arm. "You scared me! But yes, that's basically my point." Turning, he realized the entire group had begun to stare at him. "Is something wrong? Look! Aurore's landing now that she isn't so focused on her powers!" While that was true, everyone seemed more interested in whatever caused them to stare at Max.
"Is there something on my face? I proved my hypothesis. We can't focus so much on our powers. That's what was messing us up." He explained.
"Dude. Max. Bro. How did you see Sabrina?" Max blinked, gazing at his best friend still sitting on the ground.
"I'm sorry?"
"You flicked her arm. You knew where she was. How?" Chloé stormed up to Max, glaring down at him.
"I guess it's my glasses. Everything I see is a green grid. She's still matter, even if she's invisible, so she pops up." He shrugged, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Even then, he could feel Kim's grin. The taller boy had correctly guessed that Max figured this out earlier, but kept quiet so no one would realize he had been watching her for a lot longer than he would even admit.
Alya poked her chin thoughtfully. "We'd need to split up to cover as much of Paris as we can and keep it safe." She clapped her hands together. "Group one will be Myself, Nino, Chloé, and Theo."
"Um, why am I still being pulled into this? And why am I with you losers?"
"Chloé, think about how proud Ladybug will be when she hears about you helping out!" Sabrina sang.
"Fine. But only for Ladybug. Don't get too cocky, Alya."
"Okay! Group two will with Nathanaël, Aurore, Mylène, Mr. Haprèle, Otis, and Xavier. Nathanaël, Aurore, head out to a nearby park. Make it look fun. Maybe we can keep a lot of kids occupied there."
"Got it!" Aurore swung down, grabbing Nathanaël's shirt. "Let's go, Mr. Artist!"
"I can walk and draw anything that moves. There really isn't a need to carry me, Aurore. I'd rather you stick to making sure you don't float into space or something. No offense." He smiled up at the girl, earning a cute pout and a blush. She released him, letting him drop a few feet to the ground. "Besides, we should wait for our teammates. We'll head out right after."
"Actually, could everyone wait until all teams are said? It could prove useful if you find yourself near another group." Alya continued, giving Aurore a pointed look. 'Just like Marinette.' She thought. 'Always leaping at the chance to hang out with her crush.'
"The other four will round up as many kids as they can find and bring them to you two. I was thinking Mr. Haprèle could make a box to transport the kids. Xavier and Otis should be able to make a good team, with the pigeons and all. That alright with you guys?" Glancing at the four of them, Alya was startled to find Mr. Haprèle and Mylène giving her a weird look. "Is something wrong, you two? Wait, you can't talk. Um." Mr. Haprèle grinned, shaking his head. Glancing towards Nathanaël, he made the motion of a pencil in his palm.
"Oh, sure!" Walking over, Nathanaël handed him his stylus, holding out the table for Mr. Haprèle to use. Writing quickly, words began to appear above the pair.
"Just call me Fred. Mr. Haprèle is a mouthful!" Handing Nathanaël back his stylus, he grinned at the younger girl.
"Oh, is that it? Alright. Fred it is! Group three will be Alix, Jalil, and Kim. Jalil, please make sure these two stay on task. You're really the only one I think who can do that. Make sure they don't kill each other."
"I would never kill Alix. What makes you think that?"
"Who would be my rival if I killed him? None of you, that's for sure." Alix added.
"Please don't kill them yourself, Jalil. They can gather up kids for you to put into your time bubbles. Take them to their parents as soon as you can. Or group two, if you're close to them. If you are close, make sure to head out to a new area right after. We don't need two groups in the same place." Looking at the three, Alya hoped she hadn't made a mistake with this group. Kim was already flying again, leaning down to grab Alix.
"So sorry, but I think I'll carry my sister, thank you very much. HORUS!" Jalil shot his arm around Alix's waist, moving to fly next to Kim.
"Put me down. I can skate faster than either of you could fly. Not to mention I have more practice on my skates. Besides, holding me like this only heightens the chance I could touch you. I'd rather not have to deal with that. Especially not high up in the air." Sighing, Jalil hovered as close to the ground as he could before he released her. He already knew Kim was going to be a problem, especially with what Alya said. Jalil knew his dad would kill him if anything happened to Alix, but he couldn't do that if she touched him. "Hey, Nath, could you draw me some gloves? Maybe then I wouldn't have to worry so much, you know?" Moving quickly, Nathanaël did as she asked, giving her a look of pity. He knew how much what happened had weighed on her.
Even Aurore couldn't feel jealous at the friendship the two shared. 'I just keep floating.' She thought. 'I can't imagine what must be going through her head right now. Making someone vanish with a single touch. That's terrifying.' She shuddered, causing both Nathanaël and Alix to turn and glance at her. Both seemed to understand why and grimaced, think back to what happened when Alix had found out what had happened.
Pulling the gloves on, Alix shot to her side, grabbing Theo's arm. He looked down at her arm and shook his head. After seeing her take this so seriously, he knew better than to joke. He was also sure she would panic and everyone around him would murder him if that happened and he'd rather not die tonight.
"Perfect. Thanks, Nath. Now, who was going to carry me? I don't need the two of you to knock each other out of the sky." Jalil landed, allowing her to climb into his back.
"Group three is a go!" Kim cheered and did a flip.
"Is he always like this?" Jalil turned his head, glancing at Alix.
"Pretty much. What a show-off."
"Please don't team up to kill him. For our final group, I say Max stays with Sabrina, seeing as he can see her and all." Alya grinned at the pink that began to dust Max's face. Short-lived as it was, it was cute. She heard a grunt to her side. Turning to look at Roger, she missed Nino's jealous look.
"No. I shall stay with my daughter." Roger moved next to Max, doing his best to keep a poker face. It wasn't that he disliked the boy, he just didn't want any boys alone with his little girl.
"Actually, you'll both stay with her. Max can see her, which is useful, but they need someone to help catch the kids. Your handcuffs will be useful. Besides, if it was just you and her, you could take a shot, not realizing that she was in the way. Max will be able to tell you if it's actually clear or not, so Sabrina doesn't have to constantly make noise." Nodding, Roger turned to the black-haired boy.
"I have no flight powers and it doesn't appear that I have my car. How will we be getting around?"
"My robot is here. It should hold all three of us. Just don't press anything. Ah, sir!" Max glanced over at the bot. "I'll open it."
"Good. And no need to call me sir. Roger is fine." Sabrina moved towards Alya, making a little bit of noise.
"Thank you, Alya. I owe you one!" She whispered before joining her group.
Alya grinned to herself. She was such a great wingman. "Everyone know their teams and jobs? Good. It looks like it's up to us to protect the children of Paris! Let's head out!" The groups cheered before going their separate ways.
"Good speech, but now what, Lady Leader?" Chloé moved to lean on a nearby wall, playing with her yo-yo. "I don't dare use Anti-Charm. Last time, I got a sword, so it isn't very safe. Besides, I might de-transform. As nice as that could be, I think I'd rather help Ladybug. I'm not much use as Chloé right now. I'm pretty sure Theo is in the same boat." One glance at the Chat copy confirmed the blonde's words.
"Don't worry. Just grab any kids you can find and bring them here. I'm sure we'll be able to to keep them occupied." Glancing at her little rag-tag team of heroes, Alya couldn't help but feel pride. They would help. They would protect their home. They could do this.