A Peculiar Request Pt. 2

Somehow, going over to Max's apartment a second time was more nerve-wracking than it had been the first time. Maybe it was because they didn't know for certain yet if he had been successful with the virus or not. Maybe because Ladybug and Chat Noir had to hide three kwamis in their hair and keep Max from seeing them.

Maybe because with this visit, they would be one step closer to facing Hawkmoth and turning him over to the authorities, leaving Adrien without any parents whatsoever for the time being.

"Come in," Max said as soon as he spotted them, ushering them in through the window. He looked excited. "I'm glad you could make it. I have been successful on both counts," he continued, settling in front of one of the several computers sitting on his desk. He held up a flash drive. "The virus is on here. To put in on the computer, log in to the account you want to wipe and then plug in the flash drive." Suddenly he looked concerned. "Um, do you know how you're going to log into the account? I might be able to figure out how you could hack your way in if I knew the computer system, but-"

"We know the password," Chat Noir assured him. Nooroo had told Plagg what it was, and then Plagg had been sent back to verify it again to make sure he had heard right. "That's not an issue."

"I'm not even going to ask how," Max said with a sigh, and both superheroes hid a grin. "Okay. Great. So you long into the account you need and then plug this in. You'll have a popup asking for a password- that's this thing etched into the side of the flash drive here- and once you enter the password, it'll download onto the computer and go to work like a regular virus. I wanted to create a safety of sorts, in case this ever gets plugged into the wrong computer. It'll wipe everything quickly, but will keep up a screen looking like it's in progress until the computer is rebooted or until an anti-malware program is run. You should check and see if he has one running already, actually," Max warned them. "If he has one, turn it off before you plug anything in. The virus is new enough that it might be able to slide past an anti-malware program, but don't count on it."

"Hopefully he doesn't have one," Ladybug said nervously. "That would look a little weird, coming back and finding the anti-malware suddenly off and a virus taking over the account."

"Not at all, actually," Max adjusted his glasses and then glanced from his computer screen back up at them. "Sometimes those programs just turn off or stop working for a moment for no good reason. Not often, but I have heard of it happening. And the virus warning pop-up should cover most of the screen, so he won't be able to see the anti-malware window anyway. Or a lack of the anti-malware window, in this case." He handed the flash drive to Chat Noir to take, and he tucked it carefully into his pocket. "Anyway, I think that's all you need to know about that."

"This is great, Max," Ladybug gushed, grinning widely. "Thank you so much!"

"It's not a problem," Max said modestly, but he was trying to hide his smile. "Oh, just one more thing- make sure you take any other flash drives out first. Otherwise, the virus could infect that and wipe it, and it could infect the next computer it's plugged into, too. And once the virus says that it's fully downloaded, you can unplug it from the computer."

Ladybug and Chat Noir nodded. Chat Noir could feel Wayzz nodding as well from his hiding spot in Chat's hair.

"Now, this is what I learned about your camera system," Max started, turning back to his computer. Chat Noir felt Wayzz shift and then spotted several blurs as the kwamis settled into spots where they could see what Max was doing better.

The next twenty minutes were filled with explanations about what Max had discovered about the camera system. He walked them through the whole process of setting a security feed on loop five times, slowly, and then answered all of their questions before walking them through it again and them demonstrating how to return the feed to normal.

"You'll need to dodge the cameras on your way out," Max told them. "There's no way that I could find to keep the cameras looping for, say, five more minutes before reverting back to normal."

"Not a problem," Chat Noir promised. After all, it would be the kwamis doing the camera stuff, not them. The superheroes would just have to know which cameras they would be passing so that they didn't go by any other ones accidentally. "We'll be careful."

"Any more questions, then?" Max asked. Chat Noir glanced over at Ladybug, who was glancing towards the kwamis. After a moment, she glanced back at Chat Noir and shook her head.

"I think we're good," Chat Noir told Max as Ladybug stepped back so the kwamis could flock to her and try to hide in her pigtails. He could spot Trixx's tail sticking out, and poor Wayzz had to be content with simply floating alongside Ladybug, sticking to the side that was further away from Max. "Thank you so much. We couldn't do this without your help. Oh, and by the way..." Chat Noir fished in his other pocket for a moment, then pulled out the gift cards that he had bought for Max. Max hadn't asked for any payment, but it wouldn't have felt right to not give him anything. He had nosed around a little bit as Adrien to figure out what Max's favorite stores for video game stuff and computer parts were, and then he had gone out and gotten a generous gift card from each. "These are for you, as thanks for your help."

Max took the cards, and then his eyes grew wide at the amounts on them. "I- I was happy to help. This- this is too much, really-"

"We insist," Ladybug said firmly.

"I was happy to do my part to help protect the city," Max insisted, though he was clutching the cards to his heart, as though worried that they would vanish. "And you two don't get paid for all of the work you do. I can't take your money."

At that, Chat Noir let an impish smirk slide onto his face. "Oh, it isn't our money," he corrected, grinning wider at Max's puzzled look. "Technically, those gift cards were paid for with money I stole from Hawkmoth."

A/N: Adrien no it's bad to steal, even if it IS from your supervillain father.

So technically this chapter is set during ch. 8 of the main story (which as of 4/16 hasn't been posted), but I need to be able to post the next outtake at the same time as the next chapter (boo 3 outtake chapters during one main story chapter what was I thiiiinking), so this had to be posted a wee bit early.

As always, reviews make my day! :)