Liam's house, December 20th 12:37pm.

Bridgette was sat in the living room with Home Alone on the TV. Bridgette's mind, however was not on young Kevin living on his own. It was on Liam and the day he crashed in the back garden and showed five super villains in his watch. As she dwelled on the possibilities of what it meant, she was quick to react when the front door bell was ringing. She walked up at a fast pace and opened the door. There stood her old mentor.

"Master Fu." Bridgette stated. "Please come in."

Master Fu, with a plain green bag in his right hand, walked into Bridgette's house. Master Fu walked into the living room and set down his bag. Bridgette contiued to respect her guest.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, Thank You, Bridgette. I must admit, I was surprised receive your call."

"Please, sit down." Master Fu and Bridgette sat on the couch. "I wish I didn't have to disturb your business."

"Oh, nonsense, young Bridgette. You still save lives as a Firefighter, you are still a hero. I make time for heroes."

Bridgette smiled, then explained. "When Hawk Moth's Miraculous was retrieved, the Hornet absorbed a number of akumas. Could this have any effect on Liam?"

Master Fu hummed intriguingly, then pulled a book out of his bag. "I thought this could happen. Never thought it actually the Hornet would be a part of rescuing Nooroo. I'm glad to have him back, and I trust George- Gabriel still has Duusu. But on the topic of the Hornet." Master Fu opened the book and turned to pages about the Hornet. "The Hornet is a very unique being. One of few Hàojié objects, the Hornet watch can absorb akumas and store them. If they were previously empowered by Hawk Moth, then the superheroes, or villains would be present within the watch, even if they were purified by Ladybug. The akumas will show their presence by making him more calm and collected if they were good or angry and violent if they were evil." Bridgette made a quick gasp.

"Liam showed five akumas. All of them were villains."

"Then the remedy is that skin-on-skin contact with the akuma's victim can turn the villains into heroes that will keep the other villains at bay in the watch. But if this does not happen, they will take their toll on him and he will become dangerous and hostile." Fu iterated. "The more akumas he holds and the longer he holds them, the more danger he poses. To everyone around him and himself. The quickest way to get rid of them would be to destroy the watch. Not without destroying it, but that would cause a chain reaction that could claim young Liam's life."

Bridgette ventilated at the shock and put her face in her hands. "Isn't there any good that could come from this situation?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. If the victims purify any villains, Liam could give them their powers back, and they would obey his command, not Hawk Moth's."

Bridgette lifted her face. "He could control them? I don't think he actually would. The five villains are his classmates. Two of them have been here countless times already. He described another one as a pacifist."

"He doesn't have to empower them, just a handshake with no gloved hands would save him. Perhaps he should know about this."

"I'll give him a call. Thank you, Master Fu."

"It was no problem at all, Bridgette. If you do not need me any longer, I shall leave you to your business. But, there is two other things I must say."

Bridgette gave an confused expression. "What's the matter?"

"Liam can remove the akumas himself, but they would be destroyed and could never be recovered. And the big thing, I am surprised that Liam has maintained control all this time."

"He can fight the akumas. He's strong-willed, like his parents."

"That is true, but it was not the akumas I was referring to." Master Fu walked to the front door and opened it. "Liam's probably keeping it from you, but his greatest battle is with the Hornet." Bridgette once again was confused. "Take care, Bridgette." Master Fu closed the door as he left. Bridgette pulled her phone out oh her pocket and rang Liam's number.

"Hello, Bridgette."

"Hi, Liam. We've just figured out your 'Moth' situation."


Meanwhile, at Le Grand Paris...

Liam, Marinette, Alya, Nino and Rose were in the elevator going to the floor Liam was staying on. "Okay." Liam continued his conversation on the phone. "How do we deal with it?"

"Your voice sounds weird, Liam. I can't understand you properly."

"Oh." Liam grabbed the mole on his neck and pulled it off, revealing it to be a voice disguise microphone. "Is that better?"

"Yeah. I figure out what you said. They'll make you more violent if you keep them for too long, but skin-on-skin with their victims will purify them and you can empower the victims into heroes."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. There is one other thing: the Guardian stated that your biggest battle is actually with the Hornet."

The elevator stopped and the five teens walked out into the corridor. "That's never been a problem."

"Maybe you've already won."

"Who knows? Listen, I've gotta go. Jagged Stone gets a little... angry when you make him wait."

"Okay. Take care, Liam."

"I will." Liam hung up and stopped in his tracks. Alya and Marinette saw Liam's saddened face, looking like he didn't want to live. "Sorry about that, guys. It's a bad dream I've been having ever since Hawk Moth was defeated." Marinette place her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Liam placed his back on the wall. "Yeah, okay. It might be better to talk to someone." Liam inhaled. "It's the same nightmare every night. I'm wandering the streets at night. Lights are one in all the buildings... Yet no one is around. I'm just running trying to find people, then through a dark alleyway, I see what looks like Nathaniel in an alleyway, but it's actually the Evillustrator." Liam become more agitated. "He draws a short chain and anchor and it wraps around my neck, pinning me to the floor." Alya and Rose covered their mouths and Nino became wide-jawed. "He always seems ready to kill me, but then a figure appears behind him, knocks him out. It's the Hornet. He breaks the chain and tells me to run, when Timebreaker and Lady WiFi show up and fight him. As I run, I get jumped by the Bubbler and Princess Fragrance." Rose and Nino looked at each other frightened. "Bubbler creates a bubble and Princess Fragrance sprays her perfume into it and the bubble traps my head." Liam saw that Rose was beginning to cry. "This is upsetting yous. The good part is that the Hornet always saves me, but then... he grips my throat and a voice says 'Kill him.' But the Hornet just lets me go and walks away. That's when I wake up. Heart throbbing in my ears, Pyjamas drenched in sweat." Liam ventilated and Marinette stepped in and hugged him.

"It's okay, Liam. You're safe." Marinette comforted the troubled boy. Alya took Liam's hand to comfort him, and he had the same shock from shaking Rose's hand at the hospital. "GAH!" Liam winced and everyone else jumped at his yelp. Liam rubbed his hand and looked at Alya. "Sorry about that, Alya. Static shock. The same thing happened this morning with..." Liam realised what the shocks meant. "...With Rose."

The five teens kept walking until Liam stopped at a door and pulled a keycard out of the pocket on his jacket. He placed the keycard into the slot on the door handle and the door opened. Marinette didn't even wait and she knew which room it was.

"Wait a minute. This is Jagged Stone's room!"

"He's why I'm here." Liam placed the microphone back onto his neck, the mask over his eyes and pulled his hood up. The five walked in and around the room was boxes containing amplifiers, some opened that contained guitars and basses, a drum kit missing its cymbals. The people in the room were Jagged Stone and Liam's friends from the hospital, Milo, Craig and Michael, wearing the same outfits. Jagged scolded Liam, but he didn't call him Liam.

"Where on earth have YOU been, Scott?!"

"I've got friends from school visiting me." Liam answered. "I'm sure you remember Marinette?"

Jagged looked at Marinette. "Yeah. She did these awesome sunglasses. And the cover for my Rock Giant album."

"That was you?" Nino asked.

"Yeah." Marinette said.

"When did you make those sunglasses?" Alya asked her BFF.

"On our work field trip day."

"But who are the rest of you?" The rock star asked.

"These are a few other friends." Liam went behind his friends and held his left hand on Alya's right shoulder. "This is Alya Césaire. Her mother is head chef here at Le Grand Paris. This young lad..." Liam placed his right hand on Nino's left shoulder. "...Is Nino Lahiffe. He manages the school radio station and maybe loves music more than you."

"I don't think that's possible."

Liam smirked and moved his hand, causing skin-on-skin contact with Nino, leading to another shock for Liam. "Ah! Ugh, again? I swear this outfit attracts static." Liam finished the introductions. "And last but not least..." Liam placed his hand on Rose's shoulder. "This sweet girl has a name as pretty as her face. Rose Lavillant."

Rose blushed and giggled at Liam's comment. Jagged gave a disgusted look.

"Are you flirting with her?! She's a teenager!"

"So is he." Milo retaliated. "He just said they were friends from school."

"Thank You, Milo." Liam praised. "I was just trying to cheer her up because I told them about a nightmare I keep having and I ended up scaring her."

"Oh." Jagged said awkwardly. At that point, Liam's phone rang and this time it was Félix. Liam answered and held his phone to his ear.

"I'm with Jagged and Side Swipe. Something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Scott. Just sending you a photo of the person who put you in hospital." Liam's phone beeped and Liam placed it in front of him and pressed the notification. The image that Birdy had taken of an unmasked Fire Ant's face appeared. "We're having trouble on ID'ing the guy." The position Liam had his phone in meant that his classmates saw the image and Rose and Nino gasped.

"I've never seen him before. Gimme a sec." Liam showed the image to his band mates. "Any ideas who it is?"

The group collectively said 'No', as Rose put her hand up. Michael gave a head movement to Liam, who turned to Rose.

Liam put his phone near his chin. "Someone here wants to speak. I'll put on speaker." Liam pressed his phone and placed it front of Rose. "You can speak to her now."

"Hello. Félix Rejeter, Detective on the Paris PD. Who is this?"

"Rose Lavillant. Detective, I know who that boy is." Marinette, Alya and Nino murmured in confusion. "His name is Callum Terrence. He went to our school until he was expelled."

"Really? Miss Lavillant, do you remember why Callum was expelled?"

"Everyone who saw it does. One day in Chemistry, his father and sister had come in for... I can't remember why. But Chloe Bourgeois was angry for them disrupting the class and Callum's sister called her names, so Chloe pinned her to the table and put..." Rose's voice was trembling. "...Something on her face. The next day, Callum came in and knocked her to the ground." Rose was tearing up and choking. "The t-teachers had to p-pry him off of her." Marinette quickly hugged the distressed blonde, who was crying her eyes. Nino and Alya were distressed as well and Liam was sniffling as he clenched his free hand into a fist.

"Miss Lavillant, I'm sorry for causing distress."

Rose sniffled. "It's not your fault, Detective."

"I really appreciate this. I'll only ask you one last question: do you know an address for Callum Terrence?"

"I think the address was an apartment block. Because another classmate still lives in that same block. Nathaniel Kurtzberg."

"That's brilliant, Rose! Thank you for your help. A good deed at Christmas time, who says the spirit is dead? You still there, Scott?"

Liam took his phone off speaker and spoke to Félix. "Yeah. I'll give Nathaniel a call and see if he knows which floor he lived on and if he's still there."

"When Fire Ant's brought in, tell Rose she's a silent hero."

"Will do. I'd advise you take the big leagues. If Callum's there, he might be keeping what's-his-name there, or at least know where to find him. I call you back when I have something."

"Thanks. I gotta call the big leagues now. I talk to you later."

"See ya." Liam hung up. "Sorry, guys. I gotta call Nathaniel." Liam walked outside and went through his contact list. "Alix, Craig, Jason, Joshua, Michael, Milo, Nathaniel!" Liam pressed his phone and rang Nathaniel, removing his mole mic. When the phone stopped ringing, he addressed the tomato-head. "Nathaniel, do you know a Callum Terrence?"

"Callum Terrence? He's an old student from school. He lives just one floor above my family's apartment.

"Do you know the floor and door number?"

"He lives on the 8th Floor, Apartment 13."

"Great! Thanks for your help."

"No problem, but why did you need to know that?"

Liam hesitated in his answer. 'Do I tell the truth, lie or shut up?'

"Liam?"

"Nathaniel, if I tell you, you have to keep it secret."

"I will. Sounds serious."

"It is. My brother's obtained evidence that Callum is Fire Ant."

"What?!"

"He was unmasked at Adrien's mansion. No one knew who he was. I only found out who because I showed an image of his face to Rose."

"So she told you about-?"

"Yes. But it doesn't excuse blowing up a building and putting teenagers in hospital. Nathaniel, I'm really serious, don't tell anyone about this. If this gets out, we're both dead. And don't go into his apartment, if he figures out why you're there..."

"I'm not stupid, Liam. I got you. You do what you're gonna do."

"I will. Happy Hanukkah, Nath."

"Merry Christmas, Liam." Liam hung up. The room door opened and Alya, Marinette, Nino and Rose walked out towards the elevator.

"We just got a call." Alya said as Nino pressed the elevator button. "A few of our friends have brought gifts for you and they want you to open them."

Liam chuckled. "Well, that'll have to wait a sec. You three head down if you want. Marinette, I need to speak to you about Adrien."

"Uhhh, sure." Marinette answered. The elevator doors opened and Nino, Rose and Alya walked in. "See you down there."

The three nodded in response as the doors closed, Liam and Marinette were alone. Liam grabbed Marinette's arm and pulled her through the staircase door.

"It's not Adrien we're talking about. I need you to suit up. We're going to investigate this." Liam pulled his right sleeve up and tapped his wristwatch, transforming into the Hornet. Tikki appeared out of Marinette's blazer.

"If this is Fire Ant, then we've finally got him." The Kwami exclaimed.

"Why is it whenever a new villain appears, the name Chloe Bourgeois isn't far behind?" The Hornet shouted in frustration.

"You're really asking that question?" Marinette responded sarcastically. "Tikki, SPOTS ON!" Marinette's costume materialised and she became Ladybug.

"Make your way to the roof. I'm gonna get Cat Noir. We'll meet up there, then I'll tell you what I was talking about that's related to the nightmare." Ladybug nodded and threw her yo-yo up to the top staircase railing and reached the roof with the closed pool. She waited for 10 minutes when Hornet returned with Cat Noir.

"Hornet's told me everything." Cat Noir told his bugaboo. "Except for what he wanted to tell both of us."

Ladybug nodded at her partner, the turned to the Hornet. "What did you need to say?"

Hornet started. "When we fought Hawk Moth, five of his akumas attached to my arm that were still attached after we defeated him. The akuma villains. They're trapped inside me, and they make me angry and more violent. I found out from Bridgette and her Master, the great guardian, that I can clear them by skin-on-skin contact with their victims. Then..." Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at the Hornet in concern. "I can turn them back into their forms under my command instead of Hawk Moth's."

"So you could turn the villains into heroes?" Ladybug asked.

"Yes."

"But you don't want to, do you?" Cat Noir inquired.

"No. These people are traumatised by their experiences and I'm not bringing that trauma back to haunt them. Anyway, hopefully, this is it. We ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready."

Hornet ran and dived off the roof and activated his wings, Ladybug threw her yo-yo and swung after him, and Cat Noir jumped off the roof using his staff as helicopter blades.

"Hope you're ready, Fire Ant." Ladybug shouted.

"Cos we're coming..." Cat Noir started.

"For You!" The Hornet finished.