Rejeter House, while Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting The Collector...
The Hornet flew towards his home. From in the air, he saw the limo picking up Sabrina and Chloe.
"Well done, guys!" Hornet said out loud, knowing the people inside the limo couldn't hear him. The Hornet flew to the house and landed in the back yard. "Bridgette!" Bridgette opened the back door. "The hotel's under attack! Gabriel's been akumatized!"
"What?!" Bridgette screamed in anger and horror."
"My classmates! They're coming here to find me! We need to stay here!" Hornet ran into the kitchen. "I'm going upstairs. They'll all be here, plus others. When they're all here, initiate lock-down."
Bridgette nodded. The Hornet ran upstairs into his bedroom and transformed into Liam Rejeter. Polistes spoke in Liam's watch.
"How are you gonna get out of this?"
"You heard Alix, she thinks I'm going crazy. I could say I'm having blackouts where I don't remember anything."
"Or you could just... Actually yeah! Tell them you don't remember jumping out the car."
"Perfect!" The door knocked, Liam locked his bedroom door and changed into his white, blue and black tracksuit. Then he unlocked the door and rand back downstairs, almost smashing Bridgette like a bowling ball. "Freaking..."
"When all teens are inside, get them into the basement." Bridgette ordered. "And get yourself down there as well. If Hawk Moth's coming after us, it's you he'll want dead." Liam nodded. Bang! Bang! Bang! Liam walked to the front of the door and peeped through the eyehole. All of his classmates were there, as well as Alya's parents and siblings, Jalil, Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard, Mr. Acier. Alix and Nathaniel were at the front of the pack. Alix, in a moment of joy and anger, violently slapped Liam, leaving his right cheek red raw. Then, she grasped onto him in a suffocating hug.
"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" The pink haired tomboy exclaimed. Liam, stood frozen in shock, finally spoke.
"Nice to see you too! I don't even remember how I got back here, but Bridgette said The Hornet's sent you all here as a safe house. So, come on, get in." Liam stepped outside and let everyone through. "Keep calm. We'll all get in soon enough. Don't worry about breaking anything, that's not a priority right now." When everyone was in, Liam went to close the door, but his arm was grabbed. Liam tried to grab the attacker, but changed his mind when he saw that it was Félix. "What took you so long?"
"Roger being an annoying little-"
"There's children here, watch your mouth." Félix nodded. The brothers walked in, locking the door behind them, then joined everyone in the living room, where everyone was chatting away in panic. Alix and Nathaniel joined Liam.
"Your house." Nathaniel said. "What's the plan?"
Liam tried to get everyone's attention. "Guys? Guys, I need your attention. Quiet please!" Liam's efforts were in vain, but Nathaniel's were not.
"SHUT UP!" The tomato head shrieked at the top of his lungs. Everyone went quite.
"Thanks. Bridgette, activate the lock-down." Bridgette walked over to the portrait of her, Félix and Liam over the fireplace and pressed on the button that kept Félix's sleeve folded. The building's windows slowly became devoured by giant metal squares. "Now, this place has tighter security than the Agreste mansion."
"DOUBTFUL!" Chloe shouted while sat on the couch. Liam snapped.
"The Agreste Mansion is home to some fashion designer whose secretary likes to pass off a scarf made by Marinette as one made by Gabriel-" Liam instantly pointed his finger at Nathalie. "-Adrien already knows- and his son who hates the modelling business and just does it to keep that designer, happy- if that's even possible." Liam walked over to Chloe and put his face uncomfortably close to hers. "THIS place is home to the two sons of the PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, one of which is one of PARIS'S TOP DETECTIVES and the other fighting an akuma villain with HIS BARE HANDS." Everyone was in shock at Liam's method of standing up to Chloe. "You know... I've heard some really interesting stories about you, Chloe. There's one in particular that really... inspires me." Chloe was becoming scared, but Liam backed away. Now, you may have noticed a cupboard underneath our stairs, Ladies and Gentlemen. It has a hidden staircase that leads to a huge sports hall. We will all be safe down here, but some people need to stay up here, so... Mr. and Mrs. Césaire, if you'd like to head there with your children, Félix will help you down." Félix walked over to Alya's family. The four followed Félix to the cupboard and they went down into the hall. Liam smiled, then his train of thought was derailed by Rose's crying.
"A-are we gon-n-na die?"
"Rose, we are not gonna die." Juleka comforted her secret girlfriend.
"No, we're not." Liam affirmed. "Now Nathalie, Jalil, Mr. Acier. We need you to help get all the teens down into that hall as well. Then Félix and Bridgette stay up here and we go down with everyone else." Jalil, Nathalie and Mr. Acier nodded. Liam walked over to a bookcase in the left corner in the back of the room and knocked on it three times. The bookcase was pulled into the wall and revealed an elevator.
"Wow!" Mylene was gobsmacked.
"This really is amazing!" Lila said.
"A secret elevator behind the book shelf?" Kim joked. "Real original."
"You hide something in plain sight, they never catch it. Take you for example, you go to the zoo, Kim, and Alya's dad never shouts 'I've found the missing chimp!'." The classmates started giggling. "Now, let's go." People started filling the elevator and when it was full, Chloe, Ivan, Mylene and Kim went down the stairs with Jalil, Nathalie and Mr. Acier. "I'll bring my game console down and you can have a few rounds on Maximus's game."
"That game needs QA testing." Max stated.
"Then who better than to do that than those who are honest with you."
Sabrina shook her head. "I don't like it." She said, confused and scared. "You're being too calm about this."
"Trust me, I'm crapping myself."
"And you've always hated Chloe and me. Everyone else, I understand, but why are you helping the two of us?"
"Well, I never hated you, Sabrina. You're just brainwashed by Chloe. And I don't hate Chloe enough that I'd want her dead, despite what Alix and Nathaniel might have told you."
Lila chuckled. "You get us those gifts, you listen to our problems, you let us hideout here. We'll never be able to repay you."
Liam smiled. "And you'll never have to." Liam closed the door and sent everyone down into the basement. He then ran upstairs, grabbed his game console, two controllers, and some games, then placed them into a backpack, then went into a secret drawer in his bed. Inside the drawer was a golden gun with non-lethal bullets and a ninjatō hilt with a green crystal lodged into the bottom.
"What are those?" Polistes asked.
"I told Rose we weren't gonna die." Liam answered. "This is to make sure they don't."
"Liam, you're too young to possess a firearm!"
"Right now, my priority is keeping everyone safe. But, Polistes?"
"What?"
"Alya's younger sisters are down there. If Fire Ant-"
"Fire Ant is controlling Callum Terrence. You kill Fire Ant, you kill him, and he's already a victim."
"How do you know?"
"... I've fought Fire Ant before. You remember when he said he was Hawk Moth to your Ladybug? Those two have been around for a long time, and so have we. He only uses the name Fire Ant when he has flame gauntlets. The Shockwave power is his first and he would call himself Bullet Ant but his real name is Solehnos. He can't do anything without a human body to control. Know your enemy."
Liam sighed. "Fine. We'll free Callum, but how can we stop Hawk Moth from killing me? Fire Ant may stop him, but we'd need to reveal you to him."
Polistes remained silent, then came up with a new idea. "Liam, you can't fight them on your own, Hornet or not. You do need to reveal the truth, but not to Solehnos."
Liam stopped. "Which ones?" Liam attached the hilt to his belt, strapped the gun to his left arm under his baggy sleeve, then grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. He grabbed a portable desk and got into the elevator.
"Are you really taking a game console down?" Félix asked as he held a shotgun in his hand.
"I want them to know that they're safe. Try and get them to stay positive and ease their minds."
Bridgette walked past with a pistol. "At least they won't hear any gunshots. You sure it'll work?"
"I'm willing to try anything." The elevator door shut and the bookshelf moved back to hide it. Félix and Bridgette stood in the living room. Félix pointing his shotgun at the front door, Bridgette pointing her pistol at the back door.
"I think there's something wrong with Liam." Bridgette said.
"What makes you say that?" Félix asked.
"That ginger-haired girl is right. He's too calm about all this. He said he was... you know, but he was lying."
"Maybe he thinks we've already won."
"Or he's got something planned if we fail."
The elevator reached the bottom and the doors opened. Everyone was chattering away again, stopping when Liam whacked the sword hilt on a pipe and the sound echoed over the large room.
"Is everyone here?" Liam called out everyone's name and everyone responded.
"Liam!" Chloe shouted. "Where's Adrikins?"
"And where's Marinette?" Alya shouted.
Everyone started mumbling in worry. Liam whacked the pipe again multiple times. "I'll be honest, I don't know where they are. But Ladybug and Cat Noir are out there."
"And those other heroes." Mylene stated.
"Other heroes? Well then, Marinette and Adrien will be fine. Right now, we should try and keep calm." Liam slid his backpack onto the ground and opened it to pull his console out and place it on the portable desk.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Alix grunted.
"I said I'd bring it down. If we're down here, we need something to do." Liam set the console up on the desk and moved it to some plug sockets near the crowd of people. He plugged the cables into a box built into the wall. Liam pressed another switch next to the box and a giant projection screen lowered down on the opposite wall. As the screen kept lowering down, Liam switched the console on and handed two controllers to Juleka and Kim. "Games are on top of the console and Max's demo is loaded. If you play it, please tell him what you think." Liam walked until he was behind the projector screen, than spoke to Polistes. "Which ones do I transform?"
"All of them."
"All of them?"
"What are you doing?" Alix asked, startling Liam.
"I... Uh. I need to speak to you and Nath. Can you get Alya, Nino and Rose as well, please?"
"What were you doing?"
"I'll tell you the truth: Fire Ant and Hawk Moth are coming to kill me. Hawk Moth's at Chloe's hotel to kill Adrien, then he's going after Marinette and me. And he won't hesitate to kill everyone else."
"How would you know that?!"
"Be quiet. Alix, please. Get who I've asked for and I'll explain."
Alix shook her head. "You are crazy. But you've helped us, so..."
Liam sighed in relief. "Thank You." Alix walked away and spoke to who Liam asked for. Liam started feeling the wall behind the screen and eventually opened another secret door. The screen was all the way on the floor, so no one could see him. Alix returned with Nathaniel, Alya, Nino and Rose.
"What's going on?" Nino asked.
At that moment, Liam's phone rang. It wasn't a stored number, but he still answered, placing his index finger on his mouth to tell his friends to keep quiet.
"Hello?"
"Liam! It's Lieutenant Raincomprix. I have some really bad news. Fire Ant didn't just steal Hawk Moth's Miraculous stole a technologically advanced shape shifting device that your brother gave us. He's wanted me to phone you."
"Why didn't he tell me himself? He's upstairs with Bridgette." The phone was silent, then footsteps could be heard. "Hello?"
"Get everyone away from there!" Félix shouted on the phone. Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths took in a gasp. Liam dashed out from behind the screen, confusing everyone, and dashed for the elevator, not realising he had dropped his phone.
"Liam, wait!" Nathaniel shouted as the four teens chased him. Liam got into the elevator and. "How are you gonna be able to beat him?"
"I'm not." Liam answered. "But you know who will." Liam was about to pull the elevator door shut but before he could, the door that led to the staircase was blasted open and Bridgette had been thrown at full force. The force of the door knocked Jalil unconscious and everyone started screaming. Mr Acier went to the staircase that the door was blasted from, only to receive shotgun shells in his shoulder.
"SHOCKWAVE!" Was shouted and a seismic blast landed on Nathalie, severely injuring her. Footsteps could be heard and Félix emerged. "Sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'll make it simple..." Félix started to shrink and his clothes changed into Fire Ant's suit, helmet appearing before his face could change. "I'm after Liam Rejeter." Liam, Nino, Alya, Rose, Alix and Nathaniel snuck into the secret room Liam had opened. Alya quietly closed the door.
"We can't leave everyone out there!" Rose protested.
"But, we can't grass Liam up either." Nino retaliated.
"I agree." Alix said.
"Guys, trust me." Nathaniel said. "Liam can handle himself." As they argued, Liam's phone started ringing. Alya answered.
"Who is this?!"
"It's Ladybug. Is that Alya?!"
"Ladybug, we need your help! Fire Ant's here! He's beaten up Bridgette Dupain, Jalil Kubdel's unconscious! I think-I think he's gonna kill us!"
"Hold on, we're coming!" The phone disconnected.
"There we go. Ladybug's on her way."
"What if we could beat him without Ladybug?" Liam asked. Everyone except Nathaniel said "huh?".
"You're gonna tell them, aren't you?" Nathaniel asked in shock.
"Tell us what?" Nino asked. Liam rolled his right sleeve up and showed his wristwatch. "No. I'm gonna show them." Liam tapped on the top and the Hornet suit encased him inside. Everyone was speechless.
"Y-you're the Hornet." Alya whispered.
"You fought Hawk Moth with LB and CN." Nino silently squealed.
"That's why you collapsed after the attack at school!" Rose responded.
Alix was still in shock, but regained her voice. "Why us? What makes us special to you that you'd reveal this to us?"
"Uh..." Nathaniel butted in. "I found out when he returned home one evening and took the mask off, not realising I was right next to him."
"The reason why you five are so special is because during the fight with Hawk Moth last month, five akumas were absorbed into my watch. That's why I kept having that nightmare I told you about. The times I was given an electric shock from you? That was... redeeming them. Now, I need their help." The Hornet held out his hand. "I need your help."
Everyone kept looking at each other, then Alix and Nathaniel took the Hornet's hand and they were encased in the akuma aura, except it wasn't black and purple, but silver and pink. As the aura cleared, the two removed the hands out of the Hornet's and could see the arms of their villainous selves, Timebreaker and Evillustrator. They looked at each other with nervousness.
"Hawk Moth's not gonna control us again, is he?" Timebreaker asked.
"No." The Hornet answered. "When we redeemed the akumas, they were freed from his command."
"And we're under yours now?" Evillustrator asked.
"I'm not gonna force you to do anything. You are your own bosses now."
Alya and Nino grabbed Liam's hand as well, making the change into Lady WiFi and the Bubbler.
"We're with you, Liam." Lady WiFi said.
"We'll help you take down Fire Ant." Bubbler stated. "Do you have a plan?"
The Hornet turned to Rose, who held her hands on her chest, slowly backing away. "It's okay, Rose. I understand." The Hornet turned back to the villains-turned-heroes, but before he could explain his plan, Rose placed her hand on his shoulder, changing her into Princess Fragrance. "You're brave, Rose. This takes courage."
"I-i still don't know if I can do this." The words escaped her mouth, butterflies in her stomach.
"Don't worry. Here's my plan: I'm gonna change back into Liam Rejeter and you lot are gonna hand me over to him, pretending to be under Hawk Moth's control. If you get asked how you were akumatized again, the answer is that I knew Fire Ant was coming after me and I didn't want to take the fall alone. Then Rose and Nino, you'll be using the elevator to take everyone to safety, telling Fire Ant that Ladybug's coming and using them as hostages. When you're in the elevator, let them know that you're not the villains anymore and tell them to play along. Alix, Nathaniel, you'll be keeping me restrained and showing that Fire Ant can trust you by taking two things off me: my sword hilt on my belt, and the gun under my left sleeve." The Hornet showed the gun under his costume, making everyone gasp. "Don't worry, non-lethal rounds. Take it off me. Beat me up if you have too. Lady WiFi, you're going to teleport to Ladybug, inform her of the situation and the plan so that she'll play along. When Fire Ant lets his guard down, we take him down. Does everyone understand what they're doing?" Everyone nodded and The Hornet changed back into Liam, smiling in glee. "Then let's give people a villain-free Christmas!"
