Chapter 3
April hated early morning, always had even though she was known to be up and busy before sunrise on many occasions when it was just her and her dad. Out of the two of them she was the only one that could make decent scrambled eggs and bacon. Her opinion had only gotten a lot worse about the most cursed part of the day as she started hanging out with very nocturnal ninja mutants and started to train in the ways of the shadow warrior herself. This morning was unusually hard as she had not only been out all night with the guys, a very common occurrence these days, but she had also had to debrief Master Splinter on what had happened with the French teens. She was so cranky that she was sure the first "morning person" she saw that was cheery she was going to punch in the throat.
Fortunately for the boy walking next to her morning person was never a name associated with Casey Jones.
"My karma can't be this bad that I have to do school stuff at seven in the morning on a Saturday." The teen vigilante complained for about the tenth time since April had met him at his apartment building so they could both walk to the diner that was serving breakfast to her school and the students from Paris. Unknown to the boy complaining chaperoning the foreign students around on the second day of the expo had actually been extra credit that you had to volunteer for. April had known her friend's struggling grades and had decided that he would need the extra credit so she had slipped his name into the right box. As he complained again claiming that there had to be some evil plot that had him up this early she decided that now was still not the time to inform him of the help she gave his grades.
"I don't want to hear anymore gripes from you. You didn't even stay for the debrief with Master Splinter." April stopped at the strange look Casey gave her. "What?"
"The more you train with the guys the more you sound like Leo. Don't give me that look you know it's true. Me and Raph are going to have start calling you Fearless Two. Besides you know the reason I don't have to stay for the run downs is cause I'm the star and you guys are just my ninja side kicks." At his cocky grin April wondered if sometimes her friend actually believed that.
"Whatever your diffidently the Screwloose of our little group."
Casey wasn't sure if he should try to come up with a comeback for April's jab, or praise her comic book knowledge. Instead he decided to change the subject. "So did Splinter tell you what we should do about our new friends."
Casey noticed another trait his crush had picked up from the Turtle leader as she went from grumpy and tired to sounding serious and focused in a heartbeat. "He liked the part I came up with about the guys and only had a few small changes he wanted me to make to the story."
Casey smirked. "So he said it was okay with us basically telling them he is a over controlling Dad?"
April couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips that made Casey's temperature raise a lot more than he was willing to let the red head know. At the moment anyway. "He said that if the guys don't already think he's over controlling he needed to try harder."
While her and Casey had a good laugh at the mutant rat's dry humor April thought back to the night before. The rundown of the night's events had started out like most of them with Leo mainly leading the run down of things to his father. Once they had turned to how they should handle dealing with the French teens. April had presented her ideas on what to tell them. Master Splinter had started having her elaborate about why she thought they should add this truth and this lie to what they let them knew.
She explained why she thought claiming Splinter kept the boys away from everyone else would help with Adrien because of what she had felt from him through her powers when his father had been mentioned. She drove her point home that informing Alya that posting about the incident would get Casey and her arrested would help win the blogger over. Not just because she got along with both April and Casey, but because she was a superhero fan girl and would feel terrible if she got someone she considered one in trouble.
She went into great detail on how she was pretty sure that Nino and Marinette would already go with them on not telling anyone. The DJ just thought the whole thing was cool and the baker's daughter was just a generally nice enough person to not want to cause the Americans trouble.
Her sensei went over a few other finer points with her asking questions and checking facts. The whole thing felt more like a test of some kind than a debriefing. One she passed if the smirk on the ninja master's face he didn't even try to hide was any indication.
April pulled out her Tphone and checked the time realizing they were running late. "We better put a move on or we're going to be late."
"We aren't the only ones." Casey pointed to a boy with disheveled blonde hair turning the corner at almost a full run heading for the same diner they were. It took the red head a second to realize that it was non other than a bed-headed Adrien Agreste rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Hey Runway," Casey shouted the nickname he had given the boy yesterday. A nickname April was sure the polite boy more put up with than actually liked.
"Hey guys," the boy greeted a genuine smile coming to his lips as he changed course to head their way. April didn't need special mutant gifts to know that the model seemed to love making friends. She had sensed a great sadness in him that made her think he had been very lonely for a long time. It made him treasure the friends he made very quickly. She was surprised to learn that him and Nino had only known each other for about a year. The connection they shared was quite strong. "You guys over sleep as well?"
"Nope was forced awake," Casey said with all seriousness. "Saturdays are for sleeping till at least noon. Except I have a alarm clock that will flip my bed over on me if I don't get up." The last was said with a pointed stare at April.
"That was once and your father said it was the best way to get your lazy butt up." April said a grin forming on her face showing that she felt no remorse for what had happened on one of the many times Casey had tried to sleep through a tutoring season.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous laugh not sure if his two friends were joking or not. After last nights surprises he wasn't sure anything they did would surprise him. "I'm usually up and about way before this. Usually Nathalie my father's assistant wakes me up, but neither her or the Gorilla were brought along on this trip." Adrien looked confused at this. He really wasn't surprised that he hadn't even seen his father since they touched down in New York, that was par for course with the man, but the model couldn't remember a time his father didn't have his bodyguard or Nathalie keeping a watchful eye on him. Plagg had suggested that maybe Gabriel was finely starting to show some more trust in him. The cheese loving kwami was able to keep a straight face for all of three seconds before he laughed so hard he almost spit out his camembert.
Unfortunately Adrien couldn't disagree with the little smart ass.
"Whose the Gorilla?" Casey asked drawing the blonde out of his train of thoughts.
"My bodyguard. Trust me he lives up to the nickname." Casey chuckled at a mental image of an actual Gorilla dressed like some kind of secret service goon popped into his head. Then quickly sobered when he realized that in his life that wouldn't even be the weirdest thing he had seen.
The trio entered the diner and scanned for their little group. The place was filled with both Adrien's classmates but also several from April's class and the redhead noticed with a happy smile that the Americans seemed to be mingling well with the French teens well. That was when she noticed Marinette setting in a booth off to the side checking something on her phone. Then both April and Casey noticed a problem.
The problem was a skinny teen boy wearing a tore leather jacket and mangy looking hair that he thought made him look like some kind of rebel or so he claimed. The boy was sliding into the booth next to the designer. His name was Johnny Smith, better known to the female population of April's school as Johnny the Perv. It wasn't that he was just a terrible flirt with bad pickup lines, that was ninety percent of the boys at school to one degree or another The problem was he also had a problem with keeping his hands to himself.
Casey had knocked him out cold twice when he had caught him being grabby in the halls. They were girls Jones didn't even really know but he had a little sister himself so he also had a no tolerance policy on unwanted ass grabbing. It would have been three times the one time the boy had pinched April's behind but she beat him too it and was very proud of the fact that Johnny had one less tooth because of her.
Both of the American teens speed up their pace as they saw Johnny scoot closer to obviously uncomfortable Marinette. Adrien sped up faster than the other two almost going to a full run. As they reached the table they herd Johnny tell the girl, "Come on I don't bite," as he threw his arm around the back of her part of the booth seat. Marinette was opening her mouth to give the boy a piece of her mind when a hand slammed down on the table shaking it and drawing both of their attention to Adrien.
Johnny looked up to meet a pair of narrowed predatory green eyes, the shadow from the way Adrien was bent over causing them to look like they were covered in a mask for a second. "I do," the blonde said with a snarl that caused the other boy to flinch.
The Perv was out of the booth then the diner door so quick you would have thought he was a track star. Adrien tracked him with his eyes until the boy was out of the door and then the tension visibly eased from him as he turned to Marinette with a nervous smile. "You okay Marinette?"
It took the blue eyed girl a moment to react and when she did her cheeks were flushed with more than just embarrassment. "Y-yeah you fine, I-I meant I'm fine," She took a long moment to compose herself that made Adrien worry if he had overstepped his bonds with his friend before she was able to plaster a goofy smile on her face. "T-t-thank you Adrien that guy was creepy."
April and Casey were about to agree and share on what they knew about said creepy guy when Nino and Alya both walked up carrying they're food. "Hey guys. Who's the guy that just beat the land speed record for leaving breakfast?" Nino asked looking the way Johnny had ran.
Marinette was up and moving in a second grabbing first Alya's hand then Apirl's she half spoke half shouted out, "Bathroom break be right back," as she dragged the other two girls in the direction of the bathroom. Only Nino's quick reflexes saved Alya's plate from hitting the floor as he snatched it up from his girlfriend as the baker's daughter's exit left all three boys blinking.
/
April found herself in the very odd situation of trying to translate freaked out Marinette speak. It didn't help that the girl kept going from English to French. "He scared," some words in French. Adrein's name. "Manly. I didn't know he could be macho," more French words. A sound that she was pretty sure Raph's alien turtle pet had made once or twice and then a sound she had herd from a cartoon once, made by a chicken wearing a top hat she was pretty sure.
Finely Alya had enough and grabbed the sides of her friend's head. "MARI TAKE A BREATH, Remember oxygen is our friend." The petite girl took a second to suck in a breath and then spoke with an only lightly shaken voice. "Thanks Alya. I think my brain shut off there for a sec.
Alya adjusted her glasses not even trying to cover up smirk. "So Adrien was your knight in designer clothing huh?" April worried a little about Marinette's neck at how enthusiastic the girl was nodding her head.
Then the girl's smile slipped a little as a thought came to her. "He was probably just being gentlemanly." She said some of her excitement gone. "You know he's such a nice guy he would probably done that for just any girl." Her two friends shared a look at seeing the girl's low self esteem rare it's ugly head again.
April couldn't let her new friend beat herself down for what she felt was very unjustified self image issues. From their conversation she had learned that Marinette was smart, funny, and so sweet she probably caused toothaches. Then during the Dragons' attack she proved how brave she was. Add to that the fact she had caught Casey checking her out slightly, something he never did when April was around, proved that the girl was a little bit more than easy on the eyes. All this added up to someone Adrien should not only notice but should already be asking out in the red head's opinion.
"I don't think so," she said getting both girl's attention. "Not saying that Adrien wouldn't jump up to help any girl being bothered by someone like Johnny the Perv, but the way he did it didn't seem like just a hey this girl needs help kind of thing."
"What do you mean?" Marinette asked some more of the sparkle coming back to her eyes.
"I mean his reaction was too aggressive. He was acting more like something Casey would do." Except Casey would have hit the boy before the table April thought. "The thing with Casey is that he is almost always looking for a good reason to get into a fight. He enjoys fighting way too much and sometimes I wonder if he doesn't just use someone else doing something wrong or someone being in trouble as an excuse to justify his enjoyment of beating bad guys up." Both girls nodded their agreement remembering the gusto from that night before when Jones had jumped into the middle of the fight with the Purple Dragons. They were both sure he had a smile under his hockey mask as he attacked.
"Adrien doesn't seem to be the type. What I saw looked way more possessive than a I'm just doing the right thing." April hopped she hadn't read the boy wrong as a look of hope plastered itself on Marinette's face. Deciding now would be a good time to bring up the issue that had been bothering her since they parted ways the night before.
Turning her full attention to Alya, the main one she knew she needed to convince, she started speaking all her preparations for this conversation coming to her mind. "Talking about last night I need to ask you something."
The blogger cut her off with another smirk. "Don't worry I'm not going to post about you and Hockey Puk beating up gang members as your really weird hobby." Alya turned to check her lipstick in the mirror. April was momentary stunned silent realizing she hadn't even needed to use the arguments she had spent most of the night coming up with.
"Thanks. Can I ask why you decided not too? You seemed pretty determined last night. What changed your mind?"
"Nino talked to me about it."
"Really?" Marinette asked surprised the DJ had that much influence over his girlfriend's actions. Out of the two of them Alya defiantly had the more strong willed personality.
"Same way he convinced me to not share Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities when I find them out."
Marinette felt hope fill her up. If her best friend stopped trying to figure out her secret identity that would mean a lot less worry for her as Ladybug. That hope was dashed by the blogger's next statement. "Don't be crazy girl I'm still going to find out for myself. I'm just not going to post it."
From the conversation last night it was easy to guess that Alya was a little obsessed about knowing who Paris' heroes were under their mask so she figured this was a big deal for the runner of the Ladyblog. "How did he convince you?" the kunoichi in training asked.
Alya's expression turned serious as she answered. " Arachnid-Man issue 121."
April was not a comic fan like the guys and Casey but she been around them long enough to know that one as she nodded somberly. Marinette on the other hand had been able to dodge her best friends superhero obsession so had no idea what the girls were talking about. "What happens in issue 121?"
/
"The dead girlfriend story?" Casey asked Nino.
The boys had set down after Casey had gotten his own burger, fries, and the most caffeinated drink they had that wasn't coffee to battle the fact that he should still be in bed right now. Then after some ribbing on Adrien for stepping up to help Marinette Jones had just asked flat out if Alya was going to post about his after school activities. Truthfully he wouldn't have minded if he had gotten a post on her Ladyblog, but April kept reminding him that police officers had computers too and they loved to arrest guys that beat up people on a nightly bases no matter how deserving the ones getting their asses handed to them were.
Nino said she wouldn't cause he convinced her the same way he had convinced her not to report Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities when she found out who they were. It was clear to the hat wearing teen that there was no if she found it, only a matter of when. He said he had mentioned Arachnid-Man 121 to his girlfriend.
This had brought Adrien back into the conversation as he had no idea what had happened in the issue. Being home schooled had made him miss out on many required teen boy reading. Casey shoved more greasy burger into his mouth as he started explaining what had happened in the issue. "One of Arachnid-Man's main villains, the Greeny-Spook, finds out his secret identity and kidnaps his girlfriend and then kills her."
"Actually he causes Arachnid-Man to kill her by accident while trying to save her," Nino corrected. Causing the two to jump into a brief discussion/debate on the fact that wasn't cannon anymore since the universe reboot had changed that. Neither had noticed the quick flash of fear that had appeared in Adrien's eyes that he had quickly covered up with practiced ease.
The book sounded way to close to a nightmare he had once shortly after becoming Chat Noir. He had just had a realization on what he held in his hand when he called upon his cataclysm. The power to destroy anything was a big responsibility, one that took him a week or two to fully grasp the vastness off. After he realized he had spent the next week or so waking up with nightmares of what would happen if he slipped up and hit his Lady with the dark energy. It was still a fear he faced on most days.
"Okay so I'm not going to have to go to juvie, thank you Nino. Now we can get back to Adrien the Fierce over here." Casey said with a grin that made the model squirm a little. Nino grinned at this again thinking it was funny that his best friend spent most of the time having his picture taken for adds that were spread all over Paris and beyond but was so very easy to embarrass. "Seriously dude if you did that to the Dragons last night they wouldn't have stood a chance. If you could do that on command I'll give you one of my spare hockey mask before you head home so you can start scaring criminals in Paris." Adrien felt a small vibration coming from his pocket that Plagg hid in meaning the kwami of destruction was laughing quietly to himself. He had to agree with what he figured his kwami found funny. He looked better in a cat mask than a hockey one anyway.
Adrien looked very nervous as he spoke. "I hope I didn't bother Marinette. She doesn't always seem to want me around so I hope I didn't over step my bonds there." The next moment Casey Jone's hand was blocking his field of vision.
"How many fingers do you see?" Casey asked in a deadpanned serious voice.
"Five," Adrien said not sure what the American was going with this.
"Oh good when you said that I thought maybe you had gone blind and no one told me." Adrien scowled at Casey that actually made the other teen grin more. The vigilante looked passed Adrien to address Nino. "He really doesn't know does he?"
"Not a clue, and Alya says we're not allowed to tell him. Says Marinette has to do that herself."
Adrien looked back and forth between his two friends. "Okay what am I missing?" he said annoyance strong in his voice.
Casey took a big bite of his burger before answering. " Lets just say that I can say without a doubt that Marienette was far from bothered by you playing hero for her Runway." Anymore conversation on the subject was cut off as the girls returned form the ladies room. Casey noticed that April looked a whole lot less stressed than before meaning that she had a similar talk with Alya that he had with Nino. Then he also noticed Marinette's dreamy eyes she had every time she looked at the young Agreste only seemed more intensified as she looked at the boy now. Casey shuck his head at the obviousness of the blonde boy. Getting April to look at him that way was one of his top goals in life.
/
The little purple being known as Nooroo the Moth kwami wished he could destroy the dark sphere that set before him on a pedestal. The dark energy that his Master had poured into it pulsed like the beat of a heart. But unfortunately kwamis didn't have much power except what they were able to bestow on the bearers of their miraculous. He wasn't even big enough to shove the thing off it's pedestal not that he would ever touch the foul thing.
Nooroo cursed his Master and his damnable plans. It was bad enough the man made him send innocents against Ladybug and Chat Noir trying to steal Plagg's ring and Tikki's earrings. That he also ignored the kwami's warnings on what would happen if he ever tried to use the two at once, but now he feared even more what his Master would unleash under the influence of this Shredder person.
With a feeling of irony he remembered the happiness he had felt when he had been awoken by someone putting on his Miraculous. He knew it had been someone to find it and not someone picked by the Guardian. Every Guardian had the ability to bring a kwami out without actually activating the Miraculous. It was one of their special abilities.
It had long been tradition that before one that was chosen would be given their Miraculous that Guardian would let the kwami out and present what they knew of the chosen to the fairy creature, Giving the little spirit creatures a chance to decline the Guardian's choice and to know something of their holder before they started their heroic lifestyle together. He hadn't been pulled out to meet whoever was putting on his Miraculous so that meant someone had found it.
He had figured his Miraculous had been lost, it had happened before to almost all the kwami and a few of his kind considered it a good chance for a rest. Tikki once told him that it made it feel more exciting sometimes to see how the humans had changed the world while they slept. She was always the most positive of creatures.
He wasn't overly worried about the fact that someone not chosen was going to be using his power. The last time it had happened had turned out to be a very good thing. But Jason was a honorable man and the Argonaughts had been one of Nooroo's proudest groups of heroes he had ever created. This was not the case with the man that would be known to the world as Hawk Moth.
His new Master had actually been trying to find Plagg and Tikki to combine their powers for his purpose. A purpose that Nooroo could actually sympathize with, but he could never condone his methods. For thousands of years he and his Chosen had made some of the finest heroes in history. Anytime evil had reared it's head and righteous anger and the need to protect the innocent rose in someone's heart he had been there to give the side of good a super powered hero.
Now his akuma were used to fuel fear and destruction in a attempt to draw out true heroes and steal their powers. The kwami sighed as his mind pondered another problem with his current holder. The fool still didn't listen when he tried to tell him what would happen if Tikki and Plagg's powers were ever combined again. A shiver of fear ran up the tiny creatures spine. He had to find a way to stop that from ever happening. He didn't want France to end up like Atlantis.
This brought him back to his current problem. Maybe since his Master's will now belong to the Shredder it would lesson the connection he had to his Master. Kwami were almost slaves to the one that held their Miraculous. That was why the Guardians went to such lengths to try to choose the right person to wield one. It usually ensured that the small magic creature was treated fair, and their power not abused.
And in the case of misuse and abuse the Guardians over the years had proven quite adapted at stealing jewelry from even fortified homes.
But no he could still feel the bond between him and Hawk Moth was still strong. So now he was stuck in a worse situation than before. Before he secretly hoped that one day his Master would come to his senses, but the Shredder now held his Master in his thrill and Nooroo had seen enough in his long life to know madness when he saw it.
The kwami's thoughts were interrupted as his Master burst into the room. "Ah there you are Nooroo. Rested and feed yes." Nooroo knew it wasn't a question or any concern for his well being. It was a order plan and simple. "We most be ready for Master Shredder's big moment today."
Nooroo thought about lying to his Master but that was a skill he had never picked up and knew his Master would just see through it. "Yes Master I have fed and recharged my energies." He couldn't lie but he wasn't going to be apart of what was about to happen without at least trying to plead his case. "The evil the Shredder is about to unleash can hurt many innocents Master. Doing this evil goes against everything the Miraculous were created for."
The man's eyes narrowed in a way that made Nooroo flinch. "I've herd this rubbish before. I've told you I am your Master. Your my weapon. Nooroo Dark Wings Rise." The magic command caught the kwami by surprise as he was sucked into the Moth Brooch triggering Hawk Moth's transformation. As soon as it was done the man that terrorized Paris turned to leave the room. "And I am his weapon now."
/
The Krang Science Expo had a lot planned for it's second day. Even more inventors were out showing their inventions, more than twice the booths open today than yesterday, and at the end of the day there was a celebrity presentation. One of the guest was Jagged Stone which April thought was strange but that was drowned out by Casey, Marinette, and Adrien's enthusiasm about the rocker being there. The main speaker was actually Adrien's dad which seemed to surprise the blonde. He knew his dad had business ties to the event, but he didn't know that he was the one behind the whole thing. The boy learned his dad was actually hosting the event when they found a flier with the event schedules.
But right now the main entertainment for the event seemed to be the team of Casey Jones and Donatello, by way of his camera's streaming ability again, that was currently driving most of the scientist nuts. For the most part it was a repeat of yesterday with Donnie asking questions and making suggestions that most of the them took as insults and would get upset. Then the ever unhelpful Casey would add an actual insult with would usually start a fight much to the enjoyment of Jones and a few other teens that had started following them around.
April, Marinette, and Alya were standing away from the boys and their crowd of giggling fans as the young designer was telling April what a good dye job she had done on her new outfit. April had taken the yellow jumpsuit that Fugitoid had given her and dyed it black except for a yellow line running down both sides of the outfit. April knew that since her friend was praising the changes she made to her outfit that she must have done a good job. She knew how passionate the blue eyed girl was about clothes and fashion so if Marinette said she done a good job then she most have done better than she thought.
"Hey look there's proof that Jagged Stone is here," Alya asked at what April figured was the perfect time. Marinette had just started asking April what her outfit was made of and she didn't think it would be a good idea to tell her friend she didn't know because a cyborg alien scientist had given it too her. Her and Marinette looked up to see a nervous man with pink hair with pinker tips walking around clutching a camera for dear life.
Marinette slapped her hand over her face, "That poor fool is going to get himself arrested again."
"Whose that?" April asked as she watched the man eye security guards in front of the doors that led to the backstage areas of the event. The ones that had a VIP Lounge sign on them.
"Vincent Aza. Jgged Stones number one fan." Alya made air quotes with her hands as she said fan.
"He's a stalker that drives Jagged nuts most of the time." Marinette added.
"Yeah his obsession got him turned into a akuma. What was his name again?" Alya said tapping her chin to remember.
"Pixalator." Marinette added unconsciously rubbing her right hand, the one that said akuma had blasted turning into some useless "pixalated" thing that scared the hell out of her as Ladybug. It hadn't hurt just felt weirdly numb but she hadn't been able to use it and had been worried the whole time that her Ladybug cure wouldn't work on it in the end.
"Ironically Jagged became Guitar Villain about week or so later." Alya said.
"And I thought New York was weird." April said with a thoughtful look.
Marinette had a thoughtful look on her face for a second before pulling out her cell phone and opening up a app. Alya picked up that something was bothering her friend. "What's up girl? Did Adrien stubbed his toe?"
Marinette ignored the jab at her crush on the blonde model, and the shit eating grin on both the other girls' faces, as she finished going through her phone. "I've noticed something that seems a little off." Both girls took up positions on each side of her so they could see what she was looking at. April saw a row of pictures of people in colorful clothing that Marinette was scrolling through. Each one had what April figured was a name next to them but she couldn't tell cause of course it was written all in french.
"The Ladyblog's akuma list." Alya said with pride. "Hey show April how hot I looked as Lady Wifi."
Marinette gave her friend a look. "Your the only person who I know who wants to show off how good she looked as a super villain."
"Villain or not I was the hottest akuma out there." Alya said with a wink.
The girls fellow classmate Alix shot pass them on her roller-blades catching Alya's last statement. "Timebreaker had a nicer ass according to the last online poll." She shouted over her shoulder causing many heads to turn the way of the girls.
"I know you had Max rig that one even if I can't prove it." Alya shouted back but the short pink haired girl had already gone to far to answer."
"As I was saying," Marinette said through gritted teeth getting her two friends attention again. "I've been noticing something about some of the people at the expo. Besides our class that almost everyone has been akumitized in."
"Except for you and Adrien," Alya added which caused Marinette to press on hoping to stop her friend from following that line of thinking. She hadn't been akumitized because Tikki told her that the Ladybug Miraculous blocked her from Hawk Moth's radar. She figured Adrien was just too perfect for the akumas to find something negative to latch on to.
"But I've also noticed Alix's brother, the guy that turned into Animan, Mr. Pigeon, and now with Vincent and Jagged Stone here as well it seems like too much of a coincidence doesn't it?" Alya looked skeptical but April felt a slight feeling of unease and one thing her sensei had been teaching her was to trust her feelings.
"Will both Alix's brother and Mylène's dad won some kind of mail in raffle that the Agreste brand was having. Remember they both told us about it in class." Alya looked less skeptical now.
"I don't remember that," Marinette said looking confused.
"A week ago on Thursday remember?" Alya added. "It rained that day."
"Oh yeah Adrien's shirt and hair were soaked." Marinette's dreamy look soon faltered under the strange half amused half annoyed look she got from both girls. She tried to pretend she was still checking her phone and not hiding the blush that crept up her cheeks with the device.
"That all you remember from that day isn't it?" Alya eyes sparkled at her friend with mischief.
"No it isn't," Marinette said with a huff. "I also remember Adrien beating Nino in basketball."
The two other girls burst out laughing taking a few seconds to calm down as Marinette tried to burn a hole through her friends with the power of her glare. After they calmed down Alya spoke first. "What do you think it means?"
"I don't know," she admitted. Why would someone want to gather former akuma victims. Hawk Moth couldn't re-akumitize someone as far as she knew once the butterfly was cleansed. So what, if anything, could someone accomplish by gathering so many together. She wished she could find someway to sneak away from her friends so she could ask Tikki what she thought.
April suddenly pulled her strange turtle shaped cell phone from her pocket looking at it with surprise. "Oh got a text from Donnie's brother need to call him he needs help," the girl hesitated for a second. "Homework, yeah homework." With that she walked off to a quiet corner to place her call.
When she got clear enough away from the other girls she felt a little bit of guilt at lying to the two girls about getting a text, but she reflected at least she wasn't lying about calling Leo. On the third ring the ninja leader answered. "Hey April what up?"
His breath had a breathy quality to it meaning she had interrupted one of his workouts.
"I hope I'm just being paranoid Leo but you know what Master Splinter says about trusting your feelings sometimes over your head." Leonardo made a sound of agreement before April started to feel him in about what Marinette had noticed and the feeling she had. "So you think I'm nuts don't you?" she asked the blue clad mutant.
"After what we've been through I'm surprised we're not all nuts, but no I don't think your crazy. If you say something feels off trust me I've learned to trust your gut. Plus father has said for use to be combat ready today anyway. He says there's a weird energy in the air today." Even though it shouldn't April was relieved Splinter was sensing something too. Even with her strange Krang gifted powers there was still many things the ninja master could sense about the world that she could not.
"But you know April," and she could tell by a slight ting of sadness in her voice that Leonardo was going to hate to say what he had to say next. "It's still day, and the Expo is being covered by a few TV news crews so we wont be able to to move unless we are sure there is nothing else that can be done except for us to act."
April knew this when she called her friend and team leader but she always felt a spike of anger when she thought of the reasons. More than once she had cursed the world for being so intolerant that the guys would probably not survive the chaos a simple stroll down the street would cause. It was so unfair not only to the turtles and Splinter but to several of the mutants she called friends. Hell Dr. Rockwell would probably be one of the scientist that were showing their inventions at the Expo if he hadn't been turned into a mutant monkey. And Donatello would be the star of this place with his work with Krang and other alien tech. It wasn't fair.
"April?" Leo's voice shuck her out of her thoughts. She hadn't realized that she had been just standing there while he was waiting for a response.
"Sorry Leo, minds wondering," she said swallowing down the annoyance she felt. The guys didn't let their lot in life slow them down from enjoying it. And she respected them too much to let them know she felt pity for what they were stuck in at times. "I know you guys can't come in and be everyone's knights in polished shells without reason." She herd a chuckle from her friend at her play on words that chased the last of the annoyance away. "Casey got Donnie's camera again just have him keep a look out and shout if the sky starts falling."
"Well do, oh and for the record my shell is not polished. It just naturally has that luster to it." The red head was about to shoot back that Micky already pointed out the canisters of floor polish with a big L on it that Leonardo swore make made his shell shine when she heard a scream tear through the Expo. Looking up she saw a strange sight.
Chloe, the mean blonde that had gotten into a trash talking contest with Casey Jones the day before and lost, was now hugging the same smart ass teen in a tight embrace. Even weirder besides just her hugging him she had her eyes wide in fright and was screaming. "Got to go Leo something weird just happened." With that she ran up to find out what she had missed, and see if they had caught it on Donnie's camera because whatever caused this had to be video worthy she was sure.
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Casey was smiling as they headed to the next booth while Donnie was still mumbling over the mike in his camera on what a blunder the inventor whose booth they just left had made with power relays on his machine. Casey hadn't even fully understood what the machine was suppose to do but the look on the short fat man's face as Donatello corrected him and Casey stuck his tongue at him was hilarious.
Nino was still snickering next to him not even trying to hold his mirth in at the trouble Casey and Donnie were causing. Alya was walking a little in front of them saying she wasn't going to be a part of anymore of these childish shenanigans while unsuccessfully hiding her own smirk and a giggle every time a scientist lost it. Marinette walked next to her but that was mainly because Adrien over his excitement over some of the booths had sped up to get to the next one. As the blue eyed girl made googly eyes at the blonde Casey once again shook his head at the how clueless the boy was. Adrien was smart in a lot of ways, even impressing Donnie once or twice with questions he asked if Jones was ready his mutant friend's reactions right. But when it came to one Marinette Dupian-Cheng he was dumb as a board. Jones spotted another blonde head shoving her way towards their group. The look on Chloe Bourgeois' face was a mixture of outrage and disgust. Casey knew right where she was heading and had a pretty good idea on what she was planing too.
Not if he could help it. Handing the camera to Nino, "Hold this and keep filming. I'm going to save Adrien from a horrible fate." The smile on Casy's face didn't match his last statement too much but Nino did what he was asked without question. The camera followed Casey as he jogged up to Adrien.
This was going to take split second timing but Casey was already in the right position. Just as Chloe closed her eyes and practically leaped at Adrien Casey moved up and grabbed the model by the shoulder. With a strong yank he spun the blonde teen around spinning him once to almost collide with Marinette. Both of their reflexes kicked in causing them to grab onto one another to keep from falling. During the spin Casey had stepped into the spot Adrien had occupied a moment ago just before a pair of surprising strong arms wrapped around him and a not so unpleasant kiss fell on his cheek.
Chloe waited for Marinette's shout of rage she knew was coming before opening her eyes. The girl was so trying to get her Adrien and she just wouldn't stand for it. This should show her who Adrien was meant to be with, especially since she realized the he hadn't tried to push her away yet.
What she did hear was something that distressed her a great deal. First was a little laugh snort sound that she had herd Marinette make on one or two occasions when either Alya or Nino had caught her by surprise with something funny. Then she was sure she herd Adrien's laugh as well but it wasn't coming from her arms. The dread got even deeper when she herd Sabrina who had been running up behind her when she went for Adrien half whisper of, "Oh no this isn't going to go over very good."
The last most fearful thing was when the person she was holding spoke and it wasn't Adrien's voice. "You know America has some laws against sexual harassment that Paris maybe doesn't have," he said in French knowing the girl's English sucked.
Fearfully Chloe opened her eyes but didn't meet the green of Adrien's eyes but a pair of brown ones that belong to the newest ban of her existence, American trouble maker Casey Jones. When she noticed his cheek had a lipstick smear on it that matched the color she was wearing she screamed.
"You know I know the urge to kiss me is strong in all women of the world but please show some restraint," the boy said still speaking French causing Nino to laugh so hard he almost dropped the camera he was holding. "If you wanted to kiss maybe we could have worked something out." The eyebrow wiggle that came with that statement made blood rush to top of Chloe's head in anger and she opened her mouth too tell the cocky street rat what she thought of that when her mind back tracked on her.
Nino was holding a weird camera of some kind. A weird camera that was pointed in Chloe's direction. "NINO did you film that?!" she shouted in anger.
"Still filming actually," a male voice that wasn't Nino's came from the camera causing the Mayor's daughter to realize she was still holding Jones in a tight hug for some reason. She jumped back like she had been burned. "Don't worry everything my camera picks up is automatically saved on my home computer at my home, but if you want a copy give me a second."
The next instant Chloe's phone beeped indicating she had just received a text message, and too her horror so did every phone around her that belong to one of her classmates. "Oops, accidentally sent a copy to everybody in your class. Sorry my finger slipped."
Chloe was livid. "My daddy will have your head for this," she shouted not even caring that she was screaming into a camera lens. "I'll sue and have everything you own."
"First you got to find me, lets just say my number ain't exactly listed." April who had just ran up and got a very brief description from a laughing Alya herd the anger in Donatello's voice. Although not as bad as Raph it was never a good idea to piss the purple clad ninja off. He was too smart and his life time of training made him sneaky.
"He knows where you live," she jabbed a finger at Casey. "And he will tell me."
"Okay I'll talk," Casey said a obviously fake look of fear on his face. "Donnie and his brothers live underground in a secret lair filled with crazy inventions, weapons, a armored vehicle or two, and most importantly," he paused for dramatic effect. "A pinball machine that I have the high score on."
There was silence as Chloe tried to stare holes in Casey's head. Then Donnie's voice once again came from the camera. "He's lying actually." The blonde girl turned to face the camera again. "I have the high score, beat Casey's this morning after breakfast."
Chloe turned to storm off nearly knocking Sabrina over in her haste. "This isn't over poor boy," she shouted over her shoulder as she left. The laughter of her fellow Parisians followed in her wake.
Alya quickly translated what had been said as the whole incident had been done in French since Casey was a firm believer of it being no fun to argue with someone who couldn't argue back to April who walked up and whispered low enough only Casey could hear. "Some people just don't like it when you tell them the truth."
She turned back to her friends from Paris. "Okay the Casey and Donnie comedy hour is now over. We better head into the main hall the celebrity presentation is about to start. You two can stay here if you want I guess." She said with a knowing grin on her face as she looked over at Adrien and Marinette, who were still hanging onto each other.
The two teens jumped apart from each with cheeks red mumbling to each other before heading in the direction of the main hall. Alya noticing that Nino had gleefully caught the whole scene with their friends on tape grabbed the front of the camera turning it to face her. "Hey D man the computer wiz any chance I can get a copy of that please," she said using a smile she usually reserved for when she was live streaming on the Ladyblog. The next second her text alarm went off. She checked her phone to to see she had got a video file downloaded to it. "Thanks. You rock," she said as her and Nino ran to catch up with the others.
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Marinette was so distracted by the lingering sensations she could still feel from were Adrien had held her that she almost missed noticing the man that brought her worries back to the forefront of her thoughts. The man was one Theo Barbot. An accomplished sculptor in Paris and once a akuma that mimicked her partner's powers as Copycat.
Her eyes suddenly scanned the crowd as she once again picked up the men who had been Animan and Mr. Pigeon. Then her eyes caught sight of someone else and she knew something was up. There was Simon Gramault who seemed to be chatting up a pretty American woman with a smile on his face. She had almost not recognized the man with out his showy outfit he had worn when Adrien's dad had embarrassed him on the show the Challenge.
The hypnotist had been given the impossible task of trying to get a very annoyed Gabriel Agreste to lighten up enough to be hypnotized. The predictable result left an very angry performer with the ability to make anyone do anything he wanted and then had Adrien's house under siege. The incident had nearly made her crush into a orphan as Simon Says, the man's akuma name, had made the world renown designer think he was a plane and he had almost jumped off a building.
Okay a few people that had been akumitized being there was one thing, it had happened enough times by now that their was a fairly good sized number of them. But that was back home. Her schoolmates plus the other people she saw was just too much. She wondered if they had all won some kind of contest as well.
More she started to worry over the reasons why someone might bring them all together. Hawk Moth had never akumtized someone twice that she could think of besides Ivan, and that was her and Chat Noir's fault because they had missed purifying the akuma. Once purified she was sure that people just returned to normal. They couldn't even remember what it was like being a super villian. So what could someone want in gathering them all thousands of miles from Paris and Hawk Moth. Marinette started to look around for a place to sneak off too to let Tikki out of her bag. She could really use her kwami's advice right about now. Hopefully she was just being paranoid.
Then another thought filled her with worry. She was here and could transform and more than likely handle what ever problem there might be. But she was going to have to do it alone. The chances that her partner was here in his civilian self were probably slim to none. She didn't like the idea of trouble without him at her back.
Behind her she heard Adrien make a happy noise of surprise when a voice came over the PA system. "Okay gents and lady gents it's time for the show," the announcer sounded more like a DJ in a nightclub than someone who would annoyance donators to fields of science. "Time to introduce the big man behind this here shindig." She saw a happy look on the model's face at the prospect at seeing his dad, even if it was from a crowd. Nino had let it slip that Gabriel hadn't spent anytime with his son since they arrived in America.
A little way further back form the French teens Casey and April froze for a second as the voice registered. "No way is that the pig dude?" Casey asked.
April only nodded a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. "Go get your gear I'll stay and alert the guys. I think the Expo just got some unwanted gate crashers."
Showing a rare moment of seriousness Casey turned on his heels and shoot out the doors they had just came through plowing through anyone in his way. April turned the camera to face her talking directly to Donnie. "Something is going down guys. I know that annoying voice anywhere and if Bebob is here that got to be trouble."
The voice that answered wasn't Donnie's but Leonardo's and he was in full leader mode. "We're moving now April, it's not far hold out till we get there."
Alya noticed Casey abrupt exit and April address the camera. The seriousness in the voice that responded had the blogger worried. The look of worry on Apirl's face didn't help much either. The girl hadn't even seemed worried taking on the gang members last night so whatever put that look of panic on her face had to be bad. "What up girl?"
April turned to respond but was cut off as the PA system spoke again. "Okay New York time for a warm welcome for the newest member of the Foot Clan and a man that will turn this city on it's ear." A few of the New Yorkers present drew in a breath at the mention of the rumored crime syndicate that had made their streets dangerous.
Alya and her fellow Parisians in the crowd just looked confused. Adrien even more so than most. The event schedule said his father was going to be the first speaker. He had never herd of him belonging to a group called the Foot Clan. What was going on?
The people from the City of lights confusion turned to fear as the announcer shouts, "HAWK MOTH," and the room goes dark for a moment before two spot lights illuminate the curtain on the stage in front of everyone. The curtains are flung wide as a tall man steps out of them. Twice she had caught glimpses of what he looked like. Once in a monstrous creation made by a swarm of akuma and another time as a illusion created by the fake hero Volpina, but Marinette knew him on sight.
His purple and black suit with his silver mask had haunted her nightmares and drove her determination since she had faced him down in challenge that first time at the Eiffel Tower. He was here. The one who had sent fear and destruction through out Paris. That put her friends and family in danger time and time again. Her enemy.
Hawk Moth was in New York.
The next instant she herd the doors behind her slam shut and she knew without looking that they we're locked. She, her classmates, and several innocent people were now trapped in here with the super villain.
"Hello New York," he said a smile of triumph spreading across his lips. "Welcome to the revolution."
Author's notes: Okay for those of you who have seen it yes I stole a scene idea from a very well made fan dubbed comic. The link to it is here watch?v=x9ZlRSdPsOw Much respect to the fan dubbers (not sure that's a word) and the original creators. I hope I'm not annoying anyone by using their idea. Which actually kind of silly idea in regard to fan fiction if you think about it. My last name isn't Eastman, Laird, Astruc, or Zag. :)
Indecently the comic has the honor of being approved of as funny by my daughter. I think it's second only to the one with Deadpool she has said.
On another note Arachnid-Man is a comic mentioned in one of the newer episodes of TMNT that is a parody of Spider-Man. Issue 121of Amazing Spider-Man is sadly when Green Goblin kills dear Gwen. Alya being a comic book fan I figured this would be a good way to illustrate why she should never release a superhero's identity.
Also Screwloose who April mentions as a jab at Casey is a parody of Robin from the Adam West Batman.
Next chapter: Spots On and Claws Out.