Agreste Mansion, Lock-down Mode, Kitchen.
Nathalie and Gabriel were trapped in the Mansion, waiting for the inevitable.
"Sir," Nathalie assured Gabriel. "Mr. Acier has taken Adrien to safety and will call Félix Rejeter."
"Good." Gabriel sighed. "If these criminals use Adrien to get to me, they're gonna pay." BANG! The sound of one of the metal barriers hitting the ground could be heard through those still functioning. The attackers were in. A voice could be heard, deep and aggressive.
"Come on out, Hawk Moth! We'll find you anyway." Footsteps could be heard approaching the kitchen doors. Silence struck for five seconds before an orange laser pierced the barrier's corner and moved along the edges, cutting the barrier away. The barrier was knocked down and a light blue blur swept around the kitchen before going back out and another voice being heard.
"There's him and some woman who's now sleeping. No threat."
"We're about to confront the traitor who killed Gavroche and you're saying no threat?" A female voice asked frustratingly. "Really, Mercury?" The attackers walked in and four costumed people surrounded Gabriel and Nathalie. The first was a woman wearing a white mask covering her entire head, save for her blonde ponytail, and white jumpsuit with a black lower half. She was also holding a flute with the orange laser coming from the end of it. The suit included a treble clef on the chest and white musical notes on the right leg calf that made and infinity symbol. Her eyes were two different colours, her right eye brown and her left eye green.
The second was a man with dark blue skin with white lightning bolt-styled eyebrows and hair. His body had lightning bolt-like lines with light blue edges all over his body, meeting up and through dots on the back of his hands, shoulders, elbows, torso, and knees. His eyes had navy instead of white, light blue irises and no pupils.
The third attacker was wearing a blue mask with a thick white line underneath each eye, in addition to a blue suit that was silver from his neck to his shoulders with three blue dots down each side of his neck.
The final attacker wore a dark brown cowl with golden spikes akin to an owl's eyebrows over his eyes and a long cape. Underneath, he wore a bodysuit that covered his entire body, including his mouth and chin that aren't covered by the cowl. The suit's shoulders, upper chest, and legs were a darker shade of brown, and there was a logo of an owl's face comprised of gold lines on his chest. He also wore brown gloves with gold talon-like claws on the fingers, and a golden belt around his hips. This figure used his deep voice in an attempt to intimidate his hostage.
"Do you recognise us, Agreste? Assuming that's the name you answer to."
Gabriel looked at his captors. "Melodie. Mercury... Mime, since you're not a 'kid' anymore. And since they're all here, I assume that you're Sparrow."
"Not anymore. I am Knightowl."
"So is Melodie now Silk Spectre? Kid Mime: Rorschach? Mercury: Dr. Manhattan? Not very intimidating when you rip off a comic book character. At least Sparrow was more original."
Melodie aimed her flute a Gabriel. "You're think you're more intimidating?"
"No. I know I am. Seriously, you still act like 'Kids'. Breaking in here to kill me, you were probably seen. This clearly isn't the same team that I left behind. You're going to kill me." Gabriel stood up. "Fine. But you will see the horror when you discover that I didn't kill Gavroche."
Mercury smiled evilly. "Did she find out?" Gabriel went from smug to straight faced. "Sweet Girl. You scored big time. So why did she vanish and leave you with her son?" Gabriel started to frown. "Maybe she knows what happened to Gavroche... because you sent her to join him?" Gabriel snapped and lunged at Mercury. Unfortunately, Mercury used his super speed to get behind Gabriel and pin him to the ground, the rest of the Quantics facing them. "Hit a nerve, did I?" Gabriel struggled uselessly. "You're going down, for murder... George."
"And you four are going down for attempted murder." A voice called out from the door that had been broken. The Quantics turned around to see Félix Rejeter and Bridgette Dupain with angered expressions. "Unless you let him go and we clear the air peacefully." Mercury hesitated, but let Gabriel go. The fashion designer stood up.
"Not until I've helped Nathalie."
Bridgette nodded. "Mime, find a first aid kit and help me tend to her." Mime nodded as Bridgette walked over to Nathalie and knelt down to see to her. "And all you get your costumes off."
After tending to Nathalie, who came round and was persuaded to keep quiet and stay by Gabriel, the Quantics, costumes off and in civilian attire, were ready to talk with Félix, Bridgette and Gabriel.
Mime was wearing a v-neck white and blue striped t-shirt that is solid white on the top and solid blue on the bottom, with a blue shirt underneath with dark blue jeans and black sneakers with white laces. Melodie was wearing a white shirt with a purple vest over it, dark purple jeans and cream trainers with purple laces. Mercury wore a green jacket with a white collar and dark gray pants. Knightowl did not remove his costume, only his mask. He had curly red hair and stubble, hazel eyes that looked like they'd seen... stuff, and a crooked nose.
The eight adults sat round the dining room table.
"Now." Bridgette instructed. "It's good to you guys again, but I'd like you to explain why you were intent on killing Mr. Agreste."
Mime was able to answer Bridgette's question. "We heard that Hawk Moth had been unmasked and reports were that Gabriel Agreste was the man behind the mask."
"And you heard nothing about how the new Ladybug said his face was badly scarred? Does his face look scarred?" Bridgette pointed to Gabriel.
Mime looked towards Gabriel, and answered. "No."
Félix stepped in. "Besides, we managed to get the brooch off of Hawk Moth and it's not going anywhere. So who actually decided to get yous together and kill him?"
Knightowl answered in his deep voice.
"I did."
Félix started chuckling. "Don't know why I asked."
"To get all the evidence, detective." Mercury answered sarcastically.
"Shut up, Jason. Hawk Moth escaped, but declared that George Erickson will pay. So..." Félix turned to Gabriel. "What did you do now, Georgie Boy?"
Gabriel frowned. "Yeah, why not? You can never escape the past. I have no idea who that guy is, so how could I know what I've done to him?"
Félix responded in a low volume. "There's something you should know, Geor- Gabriel." Gabriel's eyebrow lifted. "When we recovered the brooch, we opened it and... we found a photograph of your wife."
The rest of the adults looked at each other in confusion, but Gabriel just slipped back into his seat in shock, took a moment and sat up again. "Wh-why was Maria's photo...?"
"Wish I could tell you. I keep thinking about how it connects to you and Hawk Moth. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but he may have gotten to you by-"
"By what, Félix? Kidnapping my wife?... Killing her? You got any proof she's dead?!"
Félix looked at Gabriel. "No."
"Then don't jump to conclusions. I'm not gonna tell Adrien that his mum is dead unless you have proof. It was heartbreaking enough with her disappearance..."
"Wait..." Mime said sharply. "There could be something we did to him..." Everyone looked at Mime in disbelief.
"We're heroes, Joshua." Knightowl responded.
"Yeah, what could we have done to them?" Melodie asked.
"Really?" Joshua answered. "You've forgotten?" Joshua took two seconds to say what he was talking about. "...Canberra..."
Everyone closed their eyes and gulped in sickness as the word escaped Joshua's mouth. Melodie and Bridgette slowly shed a tear while Gabriel, Jason and Félix inhaled and exhaled.
"Nice of you to open that old wound." Knightowl said angrily.
"Well, it was horrendous, what we did! We all felt it would come back and bite us on the ass. And why not? We were villains at that moment!"
"We killed a dozen people to save hundreds, maybe thousands more. We did what was closest to the right thing."
Joshua gave the death stare to Knightowl, blood boiling enough to steam. "Your son might disagree."
Knightowl dashed up and charged at Joshua, grabbing him by his throat and smashing him into the wall. Joshua's blood was boiling, but Knightowl's was hot enough to melt iron. Everyone else jumped up to try and calm Knightowl down."Don't you dare bring Birdy into this!"
Joshua, choking from Knightowl's grip, struggled to get his words out. "Y-You talk like you're unfazed with committing -gak!- mass murder!"
Melodie and Jason grabbed Knightowl's arm, trying to free Joshua.
"Knightowl, stop!" Melodie shouted. "You always told Birdy about your heroism. Let this go."
"Paige, do you know what Birdy would do if he found out about Canberra?"
"He'll see that it was monstrous." Jason answered. "But he'll let it go, because you're his dad and you'd do it again to save him."
"Knightowl..." Joshua choked. "H-awk Moth wanted revenge against Gabriel, but maybe it was agg-gainst all of us for failing to save a loved one. H-He'd want us in the same-" Joshua's face turned to horror as he realised they had done exactly where Hawk Moth wanted. At that point, the wall towards the mansion's front garden blew apart towards them, debris hitting Jason, Félix, and Knightowl, knocking them out and freeing Joshua (who had lost consciousness), and making everyone else fall to the ground in shock. The dust cloud that ensnared the room had a dark figure walking through it. The cloud cleared, revealing the figure to be the new villain, Fire Ant.
"Hawk Moth wants you all dead!" Fire Ant stated in his disguised voice. "He doesn't care who does the deed. So who wants to be the first to join Gavroche?"
Bridgette, Paige, Gabriel and Nathalie coughed as they regained the balance and observed the invader.
"Fire Ant!" Bridgette exclaimed. "You're working for Hawk Moth?!"
"With him! He wants Ladybug and Cat Noir, I want the Hornet." Paige pulled her flute out of a holster on her back and played it, transforming her into Melodie. She kept playing it, with Fire Ant unfazed. "That supposed to make me sleepy? I know your powers!" Fire Ant prepared his flamethrowers. "Prepare to be scorched."
Melodie gripped the flute in her hand with the rod system in her palm, and the orange blade emerged from the head. Melodie dashed towards Fire Ant and slashed at Fire Ant's helmet. The new villain ducked and punched Melodie in the stomach. Melodie wasn't affected, she elbowed Fire Ant in his back and knocked him to the floor.
"Not that tough!" Melodie remarked. Fire Ant laid there, motionless. Melodie grabbed him to get him to his feet, but then...
"SHOCKWAVE!" Melodie was blasted up to the ceiling and fell down, instantly blacking out. Fire Ant turned his attention towards the three remaining conscious people: Bridgette, Gabriel and Nathalie. Fire Ant pointed at Gabriel. "I heard you had a book on the Miraculouses. Where is it, Erickson?" Gabriel walked over to Fire Ant, towering him.
"It's locked in a vault behind that image of my deceased wife." Gabriel lied, hoping Fire Ant would fall for it.
"She's not dead, but you're never gonna see her again. Now open the vault."
"How do you know my wife's-?"
"You're in no position to ask questions!" Fire Ant pointed his right arm flame thrower at Gabriel. "Open the fucking vault!"
Gabriel was not swayed. "Are you really trying to intimidate me? Bit difficult when you're shorter than my son."
"Your son." Fire Ant powered his flamethrower. "Who's about to be orphaned."
"Except his mom's still alive. You just said that yourself."
Fire Ant's helmet prevented Gabriel seeing his face, but he knew had hit a nerve. "Goodbye."
Just before Fire Ant could burn Gabriel to a crisp, his idea blew up in his face thanks to an arrow that punctured Fire Ant's flamethrower, burned his right arm and set Gabriel's scarf on fire. Gabriel pulled the scarf off and stomped on it, putting out the flames. When Fire Ant recovered, he turned towards the direction the arrow came from. He saw a boy wearing a brown hooded jacket with black spots on the sleeves and bottom. The hood was designed after the head of a sparrow, having a dark gray beak, white markings on its forehead and the sides, and an eye with a black pupil on each side. On his head, he wore a dark gray full cover mask and circular goggles with red lenses and brown straps over it. Underneath his jacket was a white suit, and over it, he had dark gray buckles around his torso. On his upper left leg, there was a bag with pockets, and he wore work boots that are tan-colored with cream laces. He held a slate gray bow with a cream string and white feathers on the tips. Fire Ant had a hunch to who this was.
"Sparrow!"
"Birdy." The hero responded. "You're not the only one to call me Sparrow." Birdy launched a bigger arrow. Fire Ant dashed sideways and dodged it, resulting in it hitting the floor behind him.
"Ha! Ya missed!" The villain taunted.
"Did I?" Birdy answered in a sinister tone. Fire Ant turned to see the arrow was an explosive. Before he could do anything, Birdy charged towards him, split the bow in half, wrapped Fire Ant's neck with the string and threw him on top of the arrow, which blew up and sent Fire Ant into the air. Reattaching his bow, Birdy ran up the wall and fired a light blue arrow at his enemy. The arrow released an icy substance that covered Fire Ant as he hit the ground. Birdy fell feet first and landed on Fire Ant, shattering the ice and knocking him unconscious. Birdy sat him against a wall and removed his helmet, revealing a face with a short black caeser haircut and freckles on his cheeks. Birdy grabbed a phone from his bag and took a picture of Fire Ant's face. He then placed the phone back in his bag and walked over to the three remaining conscious people: Gabriel, Bridgette and Nathalie. "You guys okay? I'm sure Ladybug can repair the damage. It's good to see you two again, just wish it wasn't like this." Birdy then ran and checked on the unconscious men. "They'll live. Ladybug can help them as well." Police sirens could be heard from a distance. "Shit! Knightowl? Knightowl. KNIGHTOWL!" Knightowl came round and put his mask back over his face.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'll knock you out again, shall I?! Fire Ant's down and we've got his face! Your welcome!" At that point, Fire Ant's remaining flamethrower started shooting fire everywhere as he woke up, showing his glowing red eyes before he snatched his helmet back and put it on.
"Then give it back!" Fire Ant demanded, pointing his flamethrower at anyone who looked like they were swooping in for an attack. Fire Ant took notice of the police sirens and chattering crowd.
"Don't be stupid!" Bridgette ordered. "You're outmatched and outnumbered!"
Fire Ant used his shockwave in his boots and launched out of the huge hole he created when he broke in. He activated his wings and flew off. As he escaped, the rest of the adults came around. Félix observed what had occurred while he was out of it. He turned to face Knightowl and Birdy.
"The two of you share the credit." The detective said. "No one will question your presence then. The kitchen damage is blamed on Fire Ant. Gabriel, you and Nathalie asked me to come here in regards to Hawk Moth, Bridgette was with me and so she came along too. Paige, Jason and Joshua, you are potential modelling contractors. We all understand what we're doing?"
"Yep. Yeah. Got it." The group answered.
Joshua made a remark. "There's that leadership. You'd think you were still Cat Noir."
Félix smiled. "Let's get out of here."
Everyone walked out of the front door and face the crowd outside. Two people who stood out in the crowd were Adrien and his bodyguard, Mr. Acier. Adrien quickly snuck through the police barriers and dashed towards his father.
"DAD!" Adrien screamed.
"Adrien!" Gabriel fell to his knees so he could hug his son. "I'm so glad you're safe."
"The Dupain-Cheng family let us stay at theirs. A few friends were there as well. But what about you?"
"I'm fine."
"The guy's had worse." Félix interrupted. "He's had to face me. Those two are the big heroes." Everyone looked towards the front door of the mansion, past Nathalie, Bridgette, Paige, Joshua and Jason to see Knightowl and Birdy, who were staring at the crowd, with Nadja Chamack in the crowd with her news crew. Her cameraman started filming as Knightowl and Birdy started walking towards the crowd.
"This is Nadja Chamack. Don't be bemused, it's just the news! We are on scene at the Agreste family mansion, where renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste was just attacked and held prisoner in his own home. It appears that Police Detective Félix Rejeter and his girlfriend, Firefighter Bridgette Dupain were also victims of this imprisonment along with three unknown civilians. The assailant was unidentified, however, a figure flew out of the building a minute ago fitting the description of the new super villain: Fire Ant. It seems that the villain was defeated by two heroes from New York City." Nadja walked over two Knightowl and Birdy. "Knightowl and Sparrow."
"It's not Sparrow, it's Birdy. I've stated that so many times, I have a punch card for a free bottle of soda." Birdy presented the card to Nadja. Her cameraman grabbed a soda bottle from his cooler and gave it to Birdy. "Oh, thank you. I'll drink that when we get to our hideout."
"Hideout?" Nadja continued. "So does this mean you two are staying in Paris for now?"
"No, we are not." Knightowl butted in. "We've got to get back to New York."
"No, we don't." Birdy protested. Majestia, Doorman, Uncanny Valley. New York is fine. We just defeated the newest threat to Paris. Then again, he got his butt handed to him by the Hornet earlier today. Is he really such a threat?"
"Exactly. Where was Ladybug during all that? Yeah, some heroine."
"He also blew up a building." A female voice shouted. Everyone looked around until Ladybug swung below and landed in front of Knightowl. "Put several people in hospital, most of them high school students. "I cleared that damage afterwards with my powers. It also healed all the major injuries the students obtained. Now, if you don't mind. Detective!" Ladybug walked to Félix. "Do you need me to repair the damage?"
"It would help. We won't be able to get any trace of him now."
"Yes, you will." Bridgette responded. "His flamethrower blew up."
"And I have something that could help!" Birdy interrupted, walking over to Félix. Birdy took his phone out of his bag and showed Félix the photo he took.
"This can work!" Félix whispered. "Go ahead, Ladybug."
Ladybug threw her yo-yo in the air and shouted "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!", repairing the damage caused. The crowd gasped in awe and then the police started talking through megaphones.
"Okay, nothing to see here, folks. Go about your business. Move along. And if you work for TVi news, no harassing any superheroes or detectives. You've been warned multiple times now and we have some new cells that need occupying." Everyone quickly left except for all the heroes, Nathalie, Mr. Acier and Roger, who waited for Félix. Joshua kept up his cover.
"So, Mr. Agreste? I think it maybe best to discuss things at a later date."
"I agree." Gabriel answered. "We should pick up some other time, but I'm still interested in all of you." Joshua, Jason, and Paige nodded, waved and walked away. Knightowl and Birdy stayed.
"Is everyone feeling okay now?" Knightowl asked.
"Yeah. We're fine." Bridgette answered.
"Okay here." Félix replied.
"We're fine now." Gabriel answered.
"Good. Cause we gotta go back now."
"Back to New York?" Birdy asked.
"You blew up one of his flamethrowers. I don't think he'll survive."
"Except his leg was healed." Bridgette protested. "It got twisted by the Hornet earlier, but he was fine just then."
"I've got the photo in the database. I'm running it and... Ugh. He's not in the system. We're gonna need to run this through other databases. And see if any schools might know him. When we have an ID, we'll put out a BOLO until we can get an arrest warrant."
"He also said he was working with Hawk Moth. I doubt Hawk Moth knows Fire Ant is just a kid. Maybe if we catch Fire Ant, we snag Hawk Moth as well. In the meantime, I think we should leave the Agreste family alone. You two may need to clear some things up." Bridgette got into Roger's car and they drove off.
"So are you two heroes staying in Paris or-?" Ladybug asked Knightowl and Birdy, only to turn around and see that they were gone. "Guess not. I'll leave you all to some family time. Bug out." Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air and swung away. Gabriel got back onto his feet, his injuries healed. Adrien looked up at him.
"What did that woman mean? Who was she anyway?" Adrien asked, pretending he didn't know Bridgette.
"Adrien." Gabriel said in a worried tone. "I've got a lot to tell you. You're not gonna like everything I tell you. We should go back inside." Adrien, Gabriel, Mr. Acier and Nathalie walked back inside the now-repaired mansion, waiting for the bombshells to drop...
