This took longer than expected, but here you guys go. I do not own anything.
Alix watches carefully as the bus pulls up to their stop. She looks out the opposite window to see the place they are staying at. 'Lafayette' Alix mentally reads as everyone is getting off the bus and noticing how tall the building is. 'Well, the place seems nice.' Alix thinks noticing one of each American and French flag hanging on the portico above all four front doors. 'Maybe I'm overthinking this.'
Alix walks with her class into the building hearing her classmates and friends express their surprise and wonder of the room. Alix rolls her eyes and smiles happy that her friends are enjoying the trip. 'Even if something is going on, Marinette can handle it. I might as well enjoy myself for now and worry about the situation later. I might be just overthinking…' Alix stops her thought as she realizes something. 'Wait a minute, why would I be overthinking it if my phone couldn't send a message to my friend?' Alix looks around carefully but shows it as a casual surveillance. 'What is going on?'
"Oh cool, a babyfoot table." Kim says seeing some American teens playing with the foosball table.
"You really think we're going to have time for that?" A bulky male, with short black hair and a tuft long blonde hair on his forehead, asks as he looks at the foosball table with a raised eyebrow.
Kim frowns, "Oh right, Ms. Mendeleiev won't let us do much of anything." He crosses his arms huffing in defeat. Alix elbows Kim on the side getting him to groan in pain. "Hey, what was that for?"
"You want to get in trouble with the teacher in five minutes of us only being here?" Alix retorts lightly glaring at him.
Kim blinks and turns his head to see Ms. Mendeleiev walk past them to the front desk with Mr. Damocles. "Oh…oh well." Kim shrugs getting Alix to roll her eyes and chuckle. "Not like she can do much against us while we're here."
"Technically speaking, she could make you not come with us when we explore the city. You would be stuck here in your room unable to…" The short male with glasses pauses his words realizing what Kim is implying. "You are hoping to be free from her so you can have fun without her watching you."
Kim smirks, "Got it in one." He puts his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Sometimes you have to play dumb to be smart."
"I still find that highly unlikely, and there are too many variables where it could not work in your favor."
Alix shrugs, "Eh, he would be digging his own grave either way Max."
Max nods, "Too true."
"Do you guys really think it is worth it to mess around though?" The multi-haired girl asks them. "I mean; we're here to learn about the histories between our countries. Is it really worth it to misbehave on something we worked hard for?"
"Relax Mylene. I don't mean any harm of it." Kim explains to the girl. "I know Ms. Mendeleiev wants what is best for us, but we also need time to be teenagers. It is hard to be that when all she does is force us to follow her strict rules. She almost wouldn't even let Marinette switch seats on the plane if it wasn't for us."
"That's true." Mylene admits lowering her head in thought.
"Besides, I'm certain we will find ways to have fun even without her knowing about it." Alix assures her friend. "You and Ivan will find time to take pictures of things with you guys in it." Mylene blushes at Alix's claim and looks at her boyfriend to see him looking away with a blush and his hand rubbing the back of his head.
"Wish my girlfriend came along." Kim says jealous of Ivan and Mylene spending time together.
"You could still show her pictures of you having a good time here." Nathaniel says joining the group conversation.
"Then, let's take a picture here for her to see." Kim suggests as he pulls his phone out activating the camera app. The six friends get into position and smile as Kim holds the phone out and takes the picture. Everyone drops their pose, and Kim looks at the picture. "That's definitely a good one to start this trip with."
"With how the trip went, you might be able to get some nice pictures of the superheroes that live here." Max says getting Kim to grin.
"Nice, getting some pictures of them for Ondine will definitely make her happy."
"Is she a fan of heroes?" Nathaniel asks curiously.
"She likes Ladybug and Chat Noir, but she barely talks about them. She most likely cares about me having fun than them." Kim admits shrugging his shoulders. He puts his phone away grinning with anticipation. "Ok, so we got anything…"
SLAM!
Everyone hears the noise and turns their attention to see Marinette flat against the glass of the door with Adrien looking at her concerningly. "Oh boy…" Alix mutters.
"Are you alright?" Adrien asks Marinette as he reaches to help her.
"Ah!" Marinette jumps away from Adrien extremely nervous of what she will do while he is around her. She rubs the back of her head and says, "Sorry, you surprised me there, and yeah, I'm good." She walks to the door only to slam into it again.
"Oh no…" Mylene mutters sadly.
Marinette tumbles back from the force, and Adrien moves quickly catching her as she falls back nearly hitting the floor. Marinette jumps from feeling Adrien's hands and gets even more anxious from his touch. She leans her right hand on the door and tries to play it off much to Adrien's confusion. "A-Ah s-s-sorry, I'm a bit j-jittery from the flight. I-I-It'll ware o-off soon en-Ah!" The door opens for the pair, and Marinette loses her balance crashing onto the floor grabbing her suitcase hoping to slow or stop her fall.
The six friends wince from her fall and see Adrien walk over to help her up. "Why does this kind of stuff always happen to her?" Ivan asks not liking how her luck is going.
Kim shrugs, "Don't know. Marinette might be clumsy at times, but this…this is a little too much."
"If the door opened fine for us, then the door should have opened with no problem for them. Why would the door suddenly malfunction?" Max wonders getting Mylene and Alix to glance at each other.
'Alya.' The girls think believing she has something to do with it.
"You think someone purposefully made the doors do that?" Nathaniel asks raising an eyebrow. "We just got here though. No one from our school is quick enough to do that."
"What do you think it could be then?" Kim asks the redhead.
Nathaniel shrugs, "It could be multiple things, but it doesn't really matter since it is just a door."
"Technically speaking, Nathaniel is correct. It is just a door, and it could be just a simple malfunction, but I get the feeling that there is more to this situation than we know." Max summarizes.
"What do you mean by that?" Alix asks curiously.
"I don't know, but I have a strange feeling that…"
"Hey, you are the class who made that awesome sock puppet movie. We're from Armstrong High in Queens." A student says as he walks over to them. "I'm Delmar, and we'll be your new roommates and friends for the next week." Delmar gestures to his classmates who either nod or wave at them.
"It is nice to meet you guys." Adrien says walking to Delmar and shaking the guy's hand. "I guess we're in your care then."
"Unless his father finds it unsafe for him to be here." A blonde ponytail girl mutters as she looks through her phone not interested in talking to the other students.
'I really don't want it to come to that.' Adrien thinks not wanting his trip with his friends to be ruined.
"That you are." Delmar says putting his arm around Adrien's shoulders not hearing the blonde girl's words.
'This is going to be an interesting trip.' Alix thinks then blinks when she notices something odd about the students from the other school. 'Wait, why do some of the students look like they have plastic hair?'
Everyone hears Ms. Mendeleiev clap her hands together multiple times catching everyone's attention. Ms. Mendeleiev takes the papers from under her arm and says, "Listen up students. You will go into your rooms by groups of four. Everyone come take your itinerary, and when I come up in two and a half minutes, you better be in your rooms with the lights out."
"Oh, come on! It's our first night in New York. We can't even stay up for a little bit?" Alix complains getting the teacher to glare at her. Alix grabs her suitcase and walks to the teacher not caring about her teacher's feelings.
"Don't push it young lady." Ms. Mendeleiev warns Alix handing the girl her itinerary.
Alix takes the paper and walks to the elevator while the rest of her class line up to get their itinerary. "Do you have to be rude to your teacher?" Fluff asks poking her head out of Alix's hat.
"Only if she deserves it, she is forcing us to go to bed when we just got here." Alix retorts as she enters the elevator not waiting for her classmates to join her. The doors close behind her as she pushes the button to the floor she saw on her paper.
Fluff flies out of the hat and gets a good look at Alix's annoyed face. "That's not the only thing bothering you."
Alix sighs and looks at the wall. "You're right, but we can't talk about it right now."
Fluff nods, "True. Too many people around to have a proper conversation."
Alix chuckles, "Too true. I'll sneak out for us to talk tonight."
Fluff smiles, "Works for me." Fluff flies to her hiding spot in Alix's hat just as the elevator dings signaling her arrival on her floor.
"So, you're saying that you can't reach Bunnyx or Ladybug." Wade summarizes as he tries to understand the situation as he types on the laptop, he brought with him.
Will nods, "Yeah, Ninja and Phantom get the same message from their phones when they try calling them."
Wade rubs his chin. "That's too weird. The cards are brand new and should not be having connection issues, and we literally talked with Ladybug last night."
"What do you think it could be?" Irma asks curiously.
"Too many possibilities." Wade admits not liking his answer. "We could be looking at a kidnapping with a good signal jammer that makes it seem like those numbers don't exist, but now that I say it, it seems impractical."
"Huh?" Scott asks raising an eyebrow.
"No one can create something strong enough to erase numbers from existing unless they pull the cord on the number."
"The cards don't have numbers though." Danny points out.
"Exactly, this would mean that we're looking at something mythical."
"Mythical?" Maurice asks.
"Mythical, magical, or whatever you want to call it." Wade shrugs. "Either way, something is interfering with the signal, and the only things that are strong enough to do that are unknown entities."
"Mainly magic." Ninja says understanding where Wade is going with this.
"Ok, so it is magical, but we could be looking at anything since barely anyone here has actually dealt with magical items." Scott points out getting some of the others to groan agreeing with him.
"We might have dealt with some magical items here and there, but you're not wrong." Will remarks understanding Scott's reasoning.
"So, we're stuck unless Dr. Strange can come up with a reason why they're suddenly gone." Ninja summarizes not liking the situation one bit.
Wade frowns, "Unfortunately, that is what we are looking at."
"I wish I could deny Wade's claim, but I cannot feel or find out what truly happened to them." Dr. Strange says as he enters the room. "I do agree that we're dealing with something magical, but on the other hand, we could be dealing with something beyond what we can truly comprehend."
"So we're stuck." Will says distastefully.
"No, there has to be a good reason." Danny says getting everyone to look at him. "Dr. Strange, when you were trying to find anything leading to their disappearance, did you try to see if it involved a Miraculous?"
Dr. Strange looks away and puts his right hand on his chin thinking on the possibility. "I have not, but it would make sense a Miraculous would be involved."
"So that means they are stuck somewhere involving a Miraculous." Irma says crossing her arms. "Unfortunately, we know nothing about them."
"Ok, how many Miraculous exist then?" Maurice asks curiously.
"Hundreds." Dr. Strange says getting uneasy looks from everyone.
"Do you know anything about the Miraculous?" Will asks Dr. Strange.
"Unfortunately, I do not. All knowledge about the Miraculous and how they work were left or lost with the ancient times of magic. The only things that would know are the books lost to time, the people who would still be alive from that time, or the mystical creatures called Kwamis left inside each of the Miraculous." Dr. Strange explains.
"You don't have any books about them?" Irma asks raising an eyebrow with a doubtful expression.
"I only have a couple books that mention the Miraculous, but none of them mention anything about the Miraculous or anyone involved with those events." Dr. Strange lies not wanting to mention the magical realm to the teens.
"Did he just contradict himself?" Ninja asks raising an eyebrow.
"Almost sounded like he did." Maurice remarks crossing his arms.
"Actually, he said that the books mention the Miraculous but not any individual Miraculous." Scott points out. "Chat Noir and Ladybug have their own Miraculous as does Bunnyx, but if those books don't mention them by name, then we got no way of finding out what is going on without something giving us some sort of lead."
Ninja taps his chin in thought. "Would other Kwamis be able to tell us who is doing this then?" Ninja asks curiously.
"Kwamis?" Everyone except Danny and Dr. Strange asks.
"Sadly not, when the Kwamis got sealed away, they lost their memories of their past lives." Dr. Strange explains.
"I mean, they still have to at least know each other and their abilities, right?"
"It could be possible that some of the Kwamis never got released from their Miraculous." Danny points out getting Ninja to sigh and rub his head. "Why are you asking?"
"I'm curious if the Kwamis in Ladybug's box know anything."
"Even if they did, do you know how to get one of the Kwamis out of the box?"
Ninja shrugs, "Not really, but the box does have a button on the top of it. I bet it would open it up and allow me to grab one."
"It is too risky." Dr. Strange says not liking Ninja's plan. "The Miraculous are dangerous magical items, and while I understand your reason, no one should be allowed to touch the Miracle Box without the Guardian's permission."
"Ok, and if the guardian is Ladybug and she is the one missing, what would that mean then?" Ninja counters getting a calculating look from Dr. Strange.
"It would mean we're stuck." Irma remarks getting an unamused look from Will.
"It changes nothing." Dr. Strange says ignoring Irma's words. "The role of the guardian will go to the Grand Master."
"Ok, so we find this Grand Master and ask him." Scott says not seeing the big problem.
"Unfortunately, that makes the situation more complicated." Everyone becomes uneasy at those words. "The books I own have no knowledge about the guardians or the Grand Master."
"Back to where we started." Maurice remarks not liking the situation.
"If Dr. Strange has no information about the Miraculous, who does?" Will wonders putting right finger and thumb on her chin to think.
Suddenly, they hear a door open and a voice yell, "Hurry!"
"I'm running Kubdel! Not everyone is able to move as fast as you can on those ridiculous things you call rollerblades!" Another voice says as the person enters the building.
"Will just stop complaining about the situation?!" The first person says slamming the door shut.
"It seems we got some guests." Dr. Strange says not liking that their conversation is interrupted.
Danny walks to the door, turns his body invisible and intangible, and exits the room floating to the front door. "I swear. You just had to steal that tacky looking book those kids were reading at the park." The second voice says as Danny sees the two sudden intruders to the building.
"Well sorry for wanting to stop those kids from learning how to kill Ladybug and Chat Noir!" The first figure exclaims glaring at the second person.
"I knew I should have stayed at the hotel. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" The blonde says crossing her arms and turning her head away from Alix.
Alix rolls her eyes, "Yeah, and I wanted to go for a stroll in the park. We don't always get what we want 'your royal highness.' You didn't have to follow me here either."
The girl laughs mockingly, "And let you have all the fun and not get in trouble." She turns to Alix and grins evilly. "I can't wait to hear how you get in trouble for breaking school rules by leaving the hotel."
"You left the hotel grounds too, stupid." Alix counters getting a scoff from the blonde.
"At least I have a good reason."
Alix rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "I'm not dealing with this." She picks a book up from the floor and walks past the blonde.
"Hey! Where are you going?" The blonde asks glaring at Alix. "We're not done here. You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Alix stops and gives the blonde an unamused look. "Trust me, this is something you don't want to get involved with."
"What is that supposed to mean?!" The girl shrieks not liking Alix's statement. Alix rolls her eyes and walks away hearing, "You will tell me what is going on right now Kubdel, or I will have my father fire your father from working at the museum!"
'This is going to get out of hand.' Danny thinks transforming into his ghost half and going visible just as Alix turns around giving the blonde an angry glare.
"Are you seriously threatening me by using our parents?" Alix asks as her grip tightens on the book.
The girl scoffs, "Well duh, you should know that…"
"Enough." Phantom interrupts getting both girls to look at him.
"Phantom!" Alix exclaims happy to see her friend.
"I don't know what is going on yet, but it seems that something big has gone down." Phantom look between the two teens getting a nod from Alix and a scoff from the blonde. 'Well that answers that.' "Let's go meet with the others. I'm certain they'll be happy to know what is going on."
Alix frowns, "Not sure about the 'happy' part, but they're not going to like what I've found out."
"I'm not going anywhere until I am told about what is going on here!" The blonde demands getting Alix's right eyebrow to twitch. "I demand answers now, Kubdel!"
"That's it!" Alix drops the book and turns around giving the blonde an angry glare. "You want answers Chloe? Well, here it is! Those kids chasing us are alien kids who want to kill everyone and kidnap kids to join their forces! They don't care about your social status, your life, or anything to do with you! They want us dead, and Ladybug and Chat Noir are some of their primary targets! How is that for an explanation?!"
Chloe flinches at Alix's harsh tone and makes a disgusted face as she digests only some of the words. "Ew, why would they not care about someone like me? I'm the…"
"I DON'T CARE!" Alix yells getting Chloe to jump and take a few steps back. "Those kids will never care! Get it through your brain Bourgeois! You will die IF THEY ARE NOT STOPPED!" Alix finishes putting emphasis on her last words. She grabs the book and turns around not caring about the shocked face Chloe is giving her. "Let's go Phantom."
Phantom watches his friend walk by then looks at Chloe. "For what it is worth, you could have just waited."
"Don't bother." Alix says stopping her feet. "Miss 'Perfect' already betrayed Ladybug and Chat Noir." Chloe flinches at the reminder. "To think, Ladybug had actual hope for you to be a hero, and you blew it all away when she chose someone else to fight instead of you."
"I don't need someone like her to be a hero." Chloe remarks crossing her arms.
"You're right, but it isn't good when you team up with the villain to help steal the Miraculous from Ladybug and Chat Noir either." Alix counters not seeing that Chloe is balling her hands up. "You would be lucky if you ever got to wield one again."
Chloe looks away hating that Alix is right and hears Alix walk away with Phantom following her. She looks at them and drops her mask showing the sadness in her eyes. 'I looked up to Ladybug just like everyone else. So why is it that I'm the bad guy no matter what I do?' She thinks before walking after the two.
Alix allows Phantom to lead her to the room and happily greets everyone. She sits down on the couch afterwards and asks, "So, anything happen while I was on the flight?"
"You mean after we found out that Ninja text you?" Wade asks curiously.
"It did the same for you too?" Alix turns to Ninja who nods.
"Yeah, after I saved Maurice from these ninja teens, I checked my phone to see you sent me messages." Ninja explains.
"Of course, you forgot to check before I got on the plane."
"In my defense, I was at school when you sent those, and I silent it so I can avoid getting into trouble."
Phantom blinks, "Wait, shouldn't you have been in school earlier?"
Ninja shakes his head. "Nope, someone stink bombed the school today. I think it was supposed to be a part of the senior prank, but I didn't really care enough to investigate it."
"That was probably around the time I contacted you to get Maurice." Will points out understanding why Ninja was able to help Maurice.
"Ok, that's one mystery done, but it does not explain how Ninja wasn't able to contact you. Phantom even used the new card we got from Angelic Code, and it gave the same situation." Maurice explains for Alix to understand the situation.
"Are you able to send me a message now?" Alix asks curiously.
"Let's see." Ninja pulls his phone out and resends his reply.
Alix hears her phone ding and pulls it out reading: Sorry, I put my phone on silent because of school. You already taken off? She rolls her eyes and puts her phone away. "Ok, so it works now."
"But why wouldn't it work earlier?" Irma asks curiously.
Alix shrugs, "I wish I could tell you, but my mind has been feeling all messed up ever since I got on the plane."
"Hm," Wade puts his right hand on his chin in thought.
"What is it Wade?" Maurice asks seeing the genius is thinking about the situation.
"If her mind feels messed up, would it have something to do with the plane disappearing?" Wade asks.
"That would make sense." Dr. Strange says. He walks to Alix and asks, "May I see why your mind is all jumbled up?"
"Sure, I hope that you might be able to stop it." Alix says hoping her confusion about her own mind will disappear.
Everyone watches as Dr. Strange activates his magic and closes his eyes. "Wait! You don't want to do that!" Everyone flinches at the surprise voice and look at each other then at Alix just as Fluff flies out of Alix's cap.
"What is that?!" Will asks surprised to see Fluff.
"A Kwami." Phantom and Ninja answers not surprised to see Fluff.
"This is a Kwami?" Wade asks looking Fluff over curiously.
"May I ask why you want me not to enter her mind?" Dr. Strange asks Fluff deciding to ignore the teens while Phantom and Ninja explain what Kwamis are.
"I'm a little curious myself Fluff." Alix admits crossing her arms.
Fluff looks at Dr. Strange and frowns, "Because there is a reason behind her jumbled mind."
"And that is?"
Fluff looks at Alix sadness shown on her face. "I can't tell you, and before you get upset about that, my reason for not telling you is not because I do not want to. I have magic placed on me that makes me unable to tell you about other Kwamis." Fluff partially lies not wanting to reveal much to people she does not know she can trust.
"So, a Miraculous is involved." Dr. Strange says understanding some of the situation.
"Yes, the Kwami who is doing this to her has done it to her entire class or is almost done with all of them." Fluff explains for them to understand.
"You couldn't have told me this earlier?" Alix asks her partner.
"If we never got here, then it would not have mattered." Fluff admits her ears lowering from her despair.
"Because her mind would be completely altered to what this Kwami wants." Dr. Strange summarizes getting Alix's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Why is this Kwami doing this to us?" Alix asks deciding to figure out why and not get mad at Fluff.
Fluff makes an uneasy face. "Because he wants to protect our fellow Kwamis, he doesn't trust humans."
"I thought you said you couldn't tell us anything about other Kwamis." Alix counters.
"I haven't told a thing about the Kwami himself. I only told you he hates humans and protects lost Kwamis…or well, Miraculous in this case." Fluff remarks not upset with Alix's point.
"Is there a way to reverse the effects in her mind?" Phantom asks as he and Ninja finished explaining Kwamis to the group.
"There is, but I don't know what to do. Only the knowledge kept in the books would have the answer." Fluff admits sadly. 'Why are you doing this Rexx?'
Alix grabs the book she set down on the couch and smirks, "Then it is a good thing I got this thing from those Galactic Kids Next Door."
Dr. Strange takes the book from her and opens it seeing a picture of bull Kwami named Stompp. "I'll have to look through this and see if any of them could match what you told us." He walks to Wade and asks, "Would you be willing to help? Your mind might be useful to find something specific we need."
Wade gives Dr. Strange a thumbs up. "Sure thing." The two leave the room leaving the others to their own conversation.
"So, what happened to you?" Will asks as she sits down next to Alix. "When we couldn't reach Ladybug or your numbers, we were worried something bad happened to you guys."
"You try contacting the card too?" Alix wonders.
"Yep, got the same message about the number not existing or is unavailable." Phantom answers crossing his arms.
"What did happen to you before you got here?" Maurice asks curious if she can give them something that can clue them into the situation of her jumbled mind.
"A whole lot more than I originally thought." Alix admits scrunching her face in disgust.
"Might as well start from the beginning." Scott says wanting to understand the whole situation.
"I guess it started yesterday. I remember my friends start to mention heroes I never heard about. When I saw those heroes, I was confused on why you guys never told me about them, but it got even weirder when I met the guys from the other school."
"What was so weird about them?" Irma asks raising an eyebrow.
"They looked like plastic." This gets some curious or confused looks from the teens. "Yeah, I thought it was weird when none of my classmates said anything about it. I also started to think nothing was happening, but it wasn't until nighttime that I realized there was more to the situation than I thought."
Flashback
Alix enters her temporary room for the trip and heads to the queen bed on the right side putting her suitcase on it. She looks out the window and narrows her eyebrows. "We just got here. Why does it look like it is almost nighttime?" She wonders not liking the situation but shrugs deciding not to dwell on it right now. She opens her suitcase and grabs her toiletries bag heading to the bathroom right away to prepare for bed. She starts brushing her teeth as her temporary roommate Mylene walks in closing the door behind her.
Mylene sees Alix brushing her teeth and frowns, "You didn't have to be rude to Ms. Mendeleiev earlier."
Alix shrugs and spits the toothpaste into the sink. "Maybe, but we just got here, and she is already ordering us to go to our rooms and go to bed." Alix reminds her friend. "Now we got nothing to do except sneak out to explore the city."
Mylene puts her suitcase on the floor next to the other bed and opens it. "Actually, one of the students from the other school said that there will be a party on the roof."
"Oh nice, that means we just have to wait." Alix puts her toothbrush away and leaves the bathroom while Mylene garbs her toiletries bag which is three times the size of Alix's toiletry bag. 'The day I care for makeup and other girly stuff is the day I find interest in having a relationship.' Alix snickers, "Yeah, that's definitely not happening anytime soon."
"I can make it happen." Irma says smirking at Alix.
Alix makes a disgusted face. "Pass, I'm not interested in any of that stuff right now."
"Could we stay focused?" Will asks not liking that Irma interrupted the story.
"How about you just skip to the party?" Scott asks.
Alix shrugs, "Sure, nothing interesting really happened before it."
Alix chugs the soda in her hand then throws the soda into the trashcan. She wipes the soda leftover on her face and looks around carefully. She sees Kim doing pushups with a student from the other school and shakes her head chuckling lightly. She hears the music change and looks at Ivan playing the Djembe and a brunette, who is in a white long sleeve shirt with red sleeves, playing the guitar with Ivan. 'Not a bad tune.' Alix admits seeing herself dance to it but decides not to. 'At least she looks more human than the rest. Actually, why does she look…'
She hears multiple noises and sees everyone look up joining them wondering what everyone is looking at. "Is it a bird?" Marinette asks curiously.
"Is it a plane?" Adrien asks just as curious.
Delmar runs up and puts his hands on the two teens' shoulders. "No, it's Hotdog Dan." He tells them.
Everyone watches the machine fly down and transform from a flying vehicle and into a hotdog food truck. "Hey hey hey! Hotdog Dan is here to get in the mood! I'm the hero of picnics and tasty foods!" The hero says doing his catchphrase getting an odd look from Alix, Adrien, and Marinette.
"A hero for food?" Marinette wonders raising an eyebrow as everyone else runs past them to get a hotdog.
"Guess that's my cue to see if Fluff knows what is going on." Alix mutters silently leaving the roof with no one noticing her heading down the fire escape. She heads down the stairs then jumps off the bottom of the fire escape unaware of someone seeing her from the bedroom.
Alix walks down the sidewalk and looks around noticing the lack of people around. 'Isn't New York usually full of people walking or driving? Why does it feel so empty compared to the last time I was here?' She walks into Central Park and walks down the path not seeing a single person around. "Ok, coast is clear." Alix tells her Kwami.
Fluff flies out of the hat and looks around. "Huh, why does this place look so empty since our last visit?" Fluff wonders noticing that they are out in the open.
"Don't know. I've noticed that the streets have almost no cars and that there are no people on the sidewalk while getting here." Alix explains crossing her arms. She continues walking with Fluff landing on Alix's shoulder.
"So, what is bothering you?" Fluff asks starting their conversation.
"Well, it…"
"Did you get the book on the Miraculous?" Alix stops walking and turns her head to see two kids walking away through the trees.
"Of course, took me a while, but I finally got it from that old man." The second kid says showing the book before putting it in his shirt.
"Then we better not keep Numbuh -362 waiting." The first kid says leading his partner to their meeting place.
Alix glances at Fluff who nods and flies into Alix's hat to hide. Alix follows the kids and keeps her distance as the kids talk. "Yeah, yeah, still don't understand why we can't use our main underground base. It would be better than this cruddy park."
The first kid snickers, "You forget that we're stuck in some alternate New York City. The Miraculous able to do this made this New York. Which means, we got no base to use here."
The second kid groans, "Great, first we lose two bases to stupid teens, and now this Miraculous is messing with people. It couldn't just leave us alone."
"Quit your griping. At least we found out about this Miraculous while on our mission to learn about Ladybug and Chat Noir's personal lives."
"Yeah, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste going on a trip with their class to appreciate the alliance they had from the 1700s." The second kid remarks disgustingly. "Bleh, it would have been better if everyone was ruled under kids instead of adults. Then there would have been no wars just disagreements."
'Wait Adrien?' Alix thinks confused on why his name is dropped.
"Why do you always think that there would be no wars if it was just kids Numbuh -810?" The leader asks as the two kids walk out into a private area of the forest where six other agents are waiting for them. "Do I have to remind you…"
"Nope, I'm just speaking my thoughts of the 'celebration' these stupid schools are having between their countries." Numbuh -810 says putting his hands up not wanting to start an argument with his leader. Alix ducks down behind a shrub and peaks through the bush with Fluff poking her head out of the hat.
"Why can't we just kill everyone and just get over this dumb invasion again?" Another kid asks sourly. "No one is really worth our time to recruit anyway."
"Contrary to your 'belief' we do have actual reasons Numbuh -0.18. Besides Lady and Chat Noirs a.k.a Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste are here for us to take out too. The heroes here are nothing but jokes to take out. We focus on our objective and take out the two Paris heroes along the way." Numbuh -362 says giving the agent a hard glare. The agent shrugs his shoulders and waves for her to continue not caring about the real reasons. "Anyway, you got the book?"
Numbuh -810 pulls the book out of his shirt and tosses it to Numbuh -362. She catches the book and opens it to see the fox miraculous and kwami on the page with some text on the page. "Heh, the fox can create illusions." She says laughing at the idea of illusions.
Fluff's ears lower as she realizes what book they have. "Oh no, they got that one." Fluff mutters looking at the book fearfully.
"That one?" Alix mutters curiously staring at the book.
"That book can give specific information about the Miraculous including the current or last user." Fluff whispers getting Alix to widen her eyes realizing the situation.
"What?!" Everyone yells shocked by the sudden information.
Alix nods, "Yep, pretty overpowered if you ask me."
"It was meant to keep track of the Miraculous." Fluff explains for them to understand the reason. "The book was never meant to be used for evil purposes."
"Or in this case, the Galactic Kids Next Door purpose to destroy the world." Phantom remarks crossing his arms. "How did you steal the book from them?"
"What?!" Alix whispers grabbing Fluff from her hat and having Fluff look at her. "What do you mean?"
"The book is supposed to know everything about every Miraculous current whereabouts. If we don't get that book back, they will destroy or abuse the powers of all the Miraculous!" Fluff explains fearing the worst outcome.
Alix sees Fluff's fear and frowns, "Ok, how can I even get that book without them seeing me?"
Fluff makes an unamused face and shakes her head. "You can't."
"Ok, I'll just transform then." Alix reaches for the watch with her free hand while Fluff becomes concerned.
"Alix…please be careful."
Alix looks at Fluff and smirks, "Since when have I ever not been careful?"
Fluff frowns, "Don't push your luck." She flies close to Alix's face and looks directly into her eyes. "This is important Alix. Please be careful."
Alix nods, "I will."
She is about to pull the watch out when she hears, "Why are you lying down on the ground Kubdel?"
Alix slowly turns her head to see Chloe staring down at her with her phone out. "Oh no…" Alix mutters not liking where this is going as Fluff hides flies into Alix's hat.
Chloe scoffs, "'Oh no' is right. Instead of wasting your time with those nobodies from the other school, you decide it would be…" Alix hears one of the weapons the kids were hiding. "…a great idea to waste your time listen to children talking to each other. You are ridiculous utterly…"
"Get down!" Alix tackles Chloe just as the shot is fired missing them completely.
Chloe shakes her head from the sudden impact and glares at Alix. "Why in the world did you do that?! Oh my daddy is going to learn about this, and when he hears…"
Alix covers Chloe's mouth and turns her head to see Numbuh -362 pointing her laser gun at them while holding the book in her other hand. "Should have figured that one of you wouldn't have been effected as the rest of the class." The girl says glaring at Alix. "Out of all people, you had to be the one to find us not Ladybug or Chat Noir." She sighs, "Disappointing, killing them would be such a good thing too."
Alix stands up ignoring Chloe who notices the laser gun realizing something bigger is going on. "Hey, what is going on here?" Chloe asks confused of the situation.
"Sadly, you guys won't be killing them." Alix mocks glaring at the kid.
Numbuh -362 laughs mockingly, "You really expect me to believe that. You teens are all the same. 'I need money to get better stuff.' 'Fashion is so much cooler than being a kid ever was.' 'Kids have no right to…' oof!" Alix punches Numbuh -362 in the stomach, snatches the book out of her hand, and smacks the girl's face again with the book knocking the girl down on her back with a slight daze to her vision.
"Good thing I'm not most teens." Alix remarks. She turns around and looks at Chloe who is now standing up staring at Alix with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"I never took you for hitting kids." Chloe admits a little shocked by the sudden event.
"Well…"
"Get them!" Numbuh -362 yells before they can continue their conversation.
"Run!" Alix grabs Chloe and starts forcing the girl to run with her just as lasers are fired going past their heads.
End Flashback
"You really smacked her head with the book?" Irma asks curiously.
"Of course, she deserved it." Alix remarks not seeing a problem with it.
"Up top girl." Irma and Alix high-five getting a chuckle from Ninja and Will.
"So you two ran from the park to here." Maurice summarizes trying to understand the rest of the story.
"Yeah, ran here with Chloe. She is probably wondering around trying to get in touch with her dad or someone who can get me in trouble." Alix remarks bitterly crossing her arms.
"Thanks for thinking so low of me Kubdel." Everyone snaps their attention to Chloe as she walks into the room with Fluff hiding herself in Alix's hat.
"Can you really blame me?" Alix retorts.
Chloe shrugs, "Not really."
"So why are you calm then? You usually would try contacting your parents by now."
Chloe snickers, "Yeah, and they would totally help me out of a situation if I could actually reach them. Unfortunately, I'm stuck being here on a trip I didn't want to go on, and now I'm learning that there are kids out there trying to kill Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"All of us are their targets." Alix corrects her knowing Chloe did that on purpose.
Chloe shrugs, "Doesn't matter. They'll go after Ladybug first then Chat Noir leaving the rest of chosen people to take their place."
Alix is not amused by Chloe's accusation. "You really hate Ladybug that much now, huh?"
"Hate doesn't even describe how I feel!" Chloe seethes glaring at Alix. "She betrayed me by choosing that stupid dragon hero over me when my parents were akumatized! I should be the one chosen to save my parents not Ryuko!"
"So you team up with Hawkmoth and turn everyone into your mindless puppet. Sounds like a good trade." Alix remarks sarcastically.
Chloe crosses her arms and turns her head away. "Hmph, you wouldn't understand. So don't even think of trying."
"Sounds like you got used to me." Ninja says getting Chloe to glare at him.
"Excuse me?! No one uses me. The only person to ever 'use' me was…" Chloe stops realizing that Ninja is right in some sense.
"Did Ladybug warn you that Hawkmoth would use your identity against you?" Will asks.
"She did." Chloe admits frustrated with the answer. "It didn't mean that she should push me aside and say I can never be a hero again!"
"You're not wrong." Phantom says agreeing with her. "Her main reason is that Hawkmoth knows who you are and can use you against her."
"Which he did do." Alix remarks.
"Enough! We're getting off focused here." Maurice says before they can continue the conversation. "Look, I get there is something going on with her relationship with Ladybug, but it has nothing to do with the current situation."
Chloe scoffs, "Oh please, it has…"
"He's right. Your situation with Ladybug has nothing to do with your current situation." Will interrupts before Chloe can make her excuse.
"Do we even know what the situation is?" Scott asks curious if anyone got an answer to the situation.
"Let's see." Ninja says putting hir right hand on his left index finger to count the information they got. "Everyone on that plane disappears without any trace. Alix comes here with her mind jumbled up. She was being chased by the Galactic Kids Next Door before she got here. We were not able to call or text each other until she was here, and I have no idea what to say after that."
"You mostly summed it up anyway." Phantom says crossing his arms. "Unless Dr. Strange and Wade can figure out which Miraculous got these two into this situation, we're stuck."
"I wouldn't say that we're stuck, but it does feel like that right now." Maurice admits.
"Are we're dealing with another world or something?" Irma asks turning her head to Will who shrugs.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Will admits not finding the idea farfetched.
"Wait, would the Galactic Kids Next Door still be waiting for you guys to leave?" Ninja asks Alix.
Alix's eyes widen at the question. "Uh…I hope not."
"Would we even see what they see?" Phantom asks getting curious looks from the others except Chloe who scoffs.
"They might be searching for them." Maurice answers understanding what Phantom is going with it.
"Or they could be waiting for them either here or at the place they're staying at." Scott finishes getting uneasy looks from Alix and Chloe.
"I rather not get shot by those lasers." Alix remarks disturbed at the idea of getting hit by the alien guns.
"At least we can agree on that." Chloe mutters agreeing with Alix's concern.
"What can we do then?" Maurice asks giving everyone a stern look. "Look for the Miraculous causing this? Are we going to wait here until this is all over? Alix and her classmate came here being chase by the Galactic Kids Next Door in a different type of New York City."
"That means they're already one step ahead of us." Will says realizing where Maurice is going with his questions. "They already know the Miraculous."
Fluff's eyes widen as she comes to the same conclusion as Will. 'I shouldn't have kept it hidden.' Fluff exits the hat behind Alix and leaves the room unseen by anyone in the room. She flies down the hallway and stops her flight to look and listen carefully. 'Leave it to future Alix to leave us in the dark on this one.'
"That one seems highly unlikely." Wade says catching Fluff's attention. "The horse can only teleport, not mess with someone's memories."
"You're correct. The only factor this one has would be transporting people and items to other locations." Dr. Strange agrees as he stares at the floating Kwami and Miraculous in the middle of the room.
Fluff flies to the sound of the voices as the two continue their search. "Ok, that is fifteen down and over a million to go."
Dr. Strange sighs, "Most sub-species of animal life should not be included."
"Pretty sure that still leaves us around a thousand if not more, if we're talking just one horse." Wade admits as he flips the page getting the hologram to change the Kwami and Miraculous in front of them. "The pig…"
"Daizzi." Fluff says getting both occupants to look at her. "Her name is Daizzi, and she has nothing to do with Alix's situation."
"You can tell us that but not who is doing this?" Wade asks feeling even more confused of the magic limitations.
"No, the truth is that I can tell you about every single Miraculous and the abilities they hold. I can't tell you who wields it unless you already know." Fluff admits looking sad.
"Why did you lie then?" Dr. Strange asks curious to hear her reason. "You are among friends."
"I'm supposed to see every event that happens in the time stream. Betrayals, broken people, mentally unstable personalities, breaking trust, and many others have gone through my mind for centuries. I've seen every person in this building do that." Fluff explains getting worried looks form the two. Fluff smiles sadly, "Don't worry. I found ways to block that stuff out centuries ago too, but out of everyone, I can only find myself to trust Alix, Phantom, and Ninja with our current events."
"So why tell us now?" Wade asks not sure why she is telling them only a few minutes later. "What caused you to do it?"
"My judgement of who I can trust overshadowed the main event of our situation with the Galactic Kids Next Door. I usually try to avoid making brash decisions myself since I'm not supposed to interfere. Alix does not have specific limitations I am stuck with including telling her about all the things I can do."
"Makes sense. She hasn't had you for very long." Dr. Strange admits not seeing any problem with that.
"You are correct, but I must tell you this. Around 76.1295% of the timelines we fail in stopping the invasion, and only 68.2461% of those the earth ceases to exist."
"Now this is getting worse." Wade remarks not liking those odds.
"Most of those are just because of one decision in line of specific events, but none of them have me telling you who is doing this." This catches the interest of the two as they realize where this is going.
"Because you're not supposed to?"
"Because she is ordered by those who watch time." Dr. Strange answers understanding where this is going. "She is silenced not by magic but by forces outside our understanding."
"Correct."
"Ok, how many timelines do you even break those rules?" Wade asks deciding not to prolong the inevitable.
Fluff frowns, "Two, I only tell you in two timelines: one in which we win and one in which we fail."
"So our chances of winning increase but obeying your rules puts us at an even higher risk of failure." Dr. Strange summarizes not liking either situation.
"Do we risk it though?" Wade wonders putting his right hand on his chin thinking of the outcome. "On one hand, we don't know what she will be facing with this decision, but on…"
"I'm telling you." Fluff interrupts before Wade continues his thoughts of the situation. "Right now, the risk does not matter, and the outcome is only for me to worry about." Fluff flies to the book and looks down at it. "Show me Rexx." The book glows lightly and starts flipping pages making Wade flinch in surprise.
"It can activate by voice command?" Wade asks staring at the book in surprise.
"Only if you know the Kwami by name." Fluff responds as the book stops on the page she requested. "There he is." Fluff watches as a green-scaled Kwami with a t-rex head and tail.
"A dinosaur?" Dr. Strange raises an eyebrow at what he is seeing. "What can this Rexx do?"
Wade looks at the book and reads, "Rexx is known as the Kwami of reality. Wait what?!"
"Close." Fluff commands getting the book to shut before Wade can read anymore.
"Why did you tell the book to close?" Dr. Strange asks giving Fluff a hard stare.
"You wanted answers, but the book will only tell you useless facts after that first sentence." Fluff explains turning to look at Dr. Strange. "The book was never made to give the critical information you want just the basics. It doesn't say what the Miraculous looks like, where you can find it, what you can do with the power of reality, or why he is doing what he is doing now."
"Ok, but why even show us?" Wade asks curiously. "You could have just told all of us that instead of having the book open."
"True but false." Fluff turns to Wade. "While it was pointless to do it, Dr. Strange needed to know what he looked like in order to know what to do to help Alix."
"You're just making me even more confused."
Fluff smiles, "Sorry, but it is necessary." Wade frowns at her response getting her to giggle softly. "Anyway," she turns to Dr. Strange, "I'm going to tell you how you can properly fix her mind, but you are also going to have to tell the others something they are not going to like."
"What do I need to do?" Dr. Strange asks deciding to listen to what she has to say.
Dawn stares out at the city from the balcony of Kurt's room as Kurt sits at his desk doing homework. Kurt closes his book and stretches his arms sighing happily that he was done. He teleports over to Dawn and asks, "Are you feeling okay now?"
"No, the sudden disappearance of those people's auras is still making me cautious." Dawn admits as she looks at the view staring at nothing except for the spot she felt the auras disappear.
Kurt looks out and asks, "You vonder vat happened to zem?"
"Yes, two of those missing auras showed up just a few minutes ago."
"Just two?" Kurt glances at his girlfriend concerningly.
"Yes, and Danny and Scott are there with them."
Kurt frowns, "What is going on then?"
"I don't know. Aelita and Stacy might know, but they came straight here from school. So, the chance of them knowing might be low." Dawn summarizes trying to rationalize the situation.
"Uh…" Kurt trails off unsure of what to say to that.
"They're probably out of the loop right now." Kurt nods making his understanding face when Dawn flicks her head feeling those two auras disappear again. "They're gone."
"Vat?"
"Call Danny." Dawn says giving her boyfriend with a hard look. "He will know why those people disappeared again."
Kurt shrugs, "If you say so…" Kurt pulls his phone out and calls Danny putting his phone to his ear.
"Kurt, why are you calling me now?" Danny asks clearly annoyed by the sudden call.
"Hey Danny, how's it going?" Kurt asks a little nervous to ask the question for Dawn.
"You called me to ask that?"
Kurt winces, "No, but it doesn't hurt to ask."
Danny chuckles, "Can't argue with you there. Wish I can say that I'm fine, but I'm just thinking about something right now."
"Does it have to do vith the two auras Dawn felt leaving?"
Danny glances at Scott who raises an eyebrow curious on what Kurt just asked. "Kurt, did Dawn tell you to call me?"
Kurt sighs, "Yeah, she did. She felt all the people on a plane disappear a couple hours ago."
"It was five hours ago actually." Dawn reminds her boyfriend.
"Sorry, five hours ago." Kurt corrects himself.
Danny shakes his head. "Kurt, trust me when I say this; everything is being taken care of. Those people will come back."
"Ok, I trust you Danny, but Dawn probably won't be convinced." Kurt points out glancing at his girlfriend who makes a stern look.
"Not my problem, it is her choice to believe me. I got something else I need to do before coming home anyway. So, I'll talk to you later Kurt."
"Right bye." Kurt hangs up not taking his eyes off Dawn.
"He said everything is being…"
Dawn puts her hand up getting him to stop and shakes her head. "Something bigger is going on Kurt, and just because he said everything will be taken cared of, it doesn't mean there is something bigger going on."
"Are you zinking of trying to get involved now?" Kurt asks hoping that she is having a change of heart.
"You really shouldn't make it so obvious." Dawn jokes getting Kurt to pout. "Whatever Danny and Scott are involved with, Aelita and Stacy are as well, and I know Stacy is majorly affected by the events over a week ago since her aura still shows it. I want to calm her aura down and get her back on track, but the shift in her aura…" Dawn trails off not wanting to finish her statement.
Kurt shakes his head unsure of what he should say. "Maybe…dere is a logical reason to it."
"We know there is." Dawn mutters sadly. "All we know is that involves kids, and Max was trying to move the conversation about those kids Stacy fought."
"He knows somezing den." Kurt realizes narrowing his eyebrows.
"Yes, but he hasn't confronted Danny or the others about the event. He is planning something, and I don't want anyone else to suffer."
Kurt pulls Dawn into a hug and smiles, "Zen ve get involved and stop letting dem put us to the side."
"I chose to stay away though." Dawn counters getting Kurt to chuckle.
"Zat was with Aelita's project not vid Stacy fighting kids."
Dawn puts her arms around Kurt and snuggles his chest. "You're right."
"I know I am." Dawn giggles and rests her head against him. "Ven do ve confront dem?"
"Later tonight. Danny and Scott should be coming home soon. We'll talk to them then."
Danny ends the call and turns to Scott. "Dawn is getting close about learning some of the secrets." He tells him.
Scott sighs, "Great, why hasn't she learned about this stuff sooner?"
"No idea, but I think Stacy's sudden change in mood definitely tripped her off."
"What do you think we should do then? This isn't something we can leave alone with Dawn's abilities." Scott points out referring to Dawn's mutant power.
"Wish I knew how to give you an answer to that one." Danny admits. "I'm still baffled from what Dr. Strange told us."
"Yeah, Kurt just had to call not too long after." Scott sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Nothing we can do huh?"
Danny frowns, "Wish there was, but it seems Alix is on her own."
Alix stares out the window of her hotel room thinking about what Dr. Strange told her. "From what I gathered, the Miraculous is stuck in this other reality along with your classmates."
Will watches her little brother mess around with the food on his plate. "Ok, are the others able to join and help me find it?" Alix asks
"Unfortunately, they would need the Miraculous to bring them into the reality just like it did to you and your classmate."
Randy walks into his room and sits down at his desk thinking about his friend and how useless he feels. "What does that mean exactly?" Ninja asks cautiously.
"It means that Alix cannot have any of you guys helping her out in her situation."
Maurice walks into the TND headquarters and heads right to the office. He opens the door and pulls out the flash drive for Jason to see. "So what do we do then?" Irma asks. "You can't expect us to sit by and wait until she can get us in."
"You're right, but unfortunately, I do not even know if you guys will be able to help her at all with this one."
Irma stares at the three pods holding her unconscious friends. "So that's it then, we're just here knowing something is going on and can do nothing about it." Scott summarizes.
"It looks that way. I am sorry that I could not be any more help to you Alix."
Danny and Scott enter the Institute and go their separate ways to do their normal everyday things acting like nothing has happened. Alix shrugs, "It's cool. At least my memories are back to normal, and Chloe won't remember any of this when she wakes up."
"I never said that."
Wade types away on his computer going through the missions to see if he can find any information about Alix's situation. "You should have." Alix picks Chloe up with help of Ninja and Phantom putting her on Alix's back. "Guess I'll be off then."
Alix turns away from the window and gets ready for bed. 'Guess I better figure out how to keep the Galactic Kids Next Door away from everyone and tell Ladybug and Chat Noir of the situation.' She lies down and closes her eyes. 'After all Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Chat Noir.' Her eyes snap open at that thought. 'Adrien is Chat Noir?!'
In a dark room, a floating dinosaur stares at a viewing portal of an invisible building. "So you found a way to fix my work on your mind." The person says changing the view to Alix closing her eyes. "Fluff's chosen might actually be worth something. Unlike Tikki and Plagg's chosen holders you went to investigate and got the book back. Goes to show who really is motivated to help. Good thing those kids can't find that building. Making them unable to watch the hotel is such a chore to deal with too." The figure float closer revealing the green scaled dinosaur Kwami, Rexx. Rexx shrugs, "Oh well, good thing that takes very little effort." He looks at Alix closely. "Too bad, you have so much work ahead of you without my help now. Let me see if you are even worth keeping your mind normal. After all, I hate alien intruders more than I hate humans."
Man, that took way longer than it should, but I got it done. There you guys go. Alix is in an alternate reality that was the change I've done. The Kwami design idea might change, but I honestly could not come up with a better animal to fit the power I had in mind here. I thought of other dinosaurs, but I did not want to make it complicated either. Anyway, this chapter is finally over, and the next one is purely focused on the Miraculous gang.
R&R