Dark Valentine
Itsuka Kendo had a long day. Not only had her officers been turned into traffic maids for a day, but a villain had snuck through the cracks and kidnapped the mayor. The mayor was thankfully saved by Foxthrob and Lady Dragon, but that didn't stop him from whining. She'd been pinned for that mess but was able to point out that neither she nor her officers had been given the full schedule nor knowledge of any blind spots to account for. She was at her wits end and wanted nothing but a chance to relax and forget the problems of the day for a minute.
But now she was in this mess.
"Captain Kendo, we need to talk," Izuku said, wearing his Chat Noir costume.
"Hands up!" Kendo's large hands were ready to turn the vigilante into paste. "How did you know I lived here?! And why are you here?!"
Izuku held up his hands as a sign of good faith. He needed to keep his cool and prove that he wasn't the menace that everyone was making him out to be.
"I know you have questions, but I can only answer a few of them. The path I'm on is a dangerous one, and that's why I need allies," Izuku said, doing his best to disguise his voice.
"Why would you come to me if you know I'd arrest you?" Kendo asked.
"Because, Naomasa trusted you. And so do I." Izuku pulled out Naomasa's badge.
Kendo's hands shrunk as she took Naomasa's badge from Izuku's hand. She looked at the bloodstains, somehow knowing that they were her friend's blood. She felt a great rage coming over her, like a red mist of murder. She wanted to know who had done this and she wanted to know it now. Glaring at Izuku, she posed a single question.
"What happened and what's your connection with this?" Kendo asked.
"Naomasa and I were working on a case together. We were the ones that found out that there was someone controlling crime, aiming it. He creates villains to make sure common criminals make a profit." Izuku explained. "His name is Hawkmoth. The night of the Butterfly Gala we got a lead as to where some missing Support Items and Materials were being housed in a warehouse, but it was all a trap. Naomasa managed to hurt Hawkmoth and I got a glimpse at his identity."
"And I'm guessing that this is why you've suddenly gone from just a small-time vigilante to the city's most wanted?" Kendo asked.
Izuku nodded.
Kendo looked down at the badge before her. She wasn't sure what to say or if he was even telling the truth. Now of all times she wished she could have Naomasa's lie detector Miraculous instead of her large hands. She didn't know if the vigilante was telling the truth but he took a big risk coming to her. And if what he was saying was true then she had bigger problems than she previously thought. She looked at the calendar, noting the approaching date.
Kendo got an idea. An idea that wasn't one that she would be proud of but it was one that if it worked, she would get a dangerous criminal off the streets once and for all. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to let him be the only one on this case.
"Look, all that you've said makes sense. But I can't just trust you blindly." Kendo pointed to the calendar. "So, I'll give you a test to see if I can trust you. Valentine's Day is in two days, you know why that's important?"
"The Dark Cupid will strike again." Izuku narrowed his eyes, knowing what his test would be.
"He always strikes on Valentine's Day. You've got until then to catch him, without police assistance." Kendo laid down the law. "If you do that, I'll consider working with you to stop this Hawkmoth."
Izuku didn't have anything else up his sleeve to convince the captain. He would have to stop Dark Cupid in order to get an ally in his battle against Hawkmoth aka Adrien Agreste. He nodded in understanding before pulling out his grappling hook. He flew into the dark of the night, knowing that he had a lot of work to do to catch a demented killer.
The next day, Izuku, Mina and Alya were having breakfast in a café as he explained the situation to them.
"She wants you to go after someone to see if you can be trusted? What does catching one guy have to do with all this?" Mina asked. "Kinda feels like dumping her work onto you for all I know. But how hard can it be to catch this one guy?"
"This isn't just some common criminal, Mina. This is a serial killer that only strikes on Valentine's Day." Izuku explains. "He calls himself Dark Cupid and over the last five years he's killed a total of ten different women."
"Whoa, really?" Alya asked. "I think I heard something about that." She pulled up an article from her phone, showing it to Mina.
Mina's eyes went wide at the article. She read it quickly, understanding why Captain Kendo wanted this mad man behind bars and away from the light of day.
According to the article, every Valentine's Day for the last five years, ten women had been found murdered with arrows in their chests and with black roses next to them as a calling card from the villain that called himself, the Dark Cupid. He killed from one to two women on Valentine's using the same method each time. All the women were different from each other, keeping the possible target from being predictable. Last year it had been two redheads. The year before that was a blonde and a brunette. And the year before that was a caramel skinned thick woman and a blonde.
The women also had slight differences in age and appearance, making it hard to find the victims Dark Cupid was after each year. The best way to keep track of the possible targets was to keep an eye on all the different girls that were killed the year before. But even then that was not much to go on. As for the black roses, no one in Paris carried them. So it seemed like Izuku and his friends were going to work on what they knew and what they could find out.
"Well, we've got our work cut out for us." Mina pointed out. "Do we know how this guy makes his choices for girls? Or is it whoever tickles his fancy?"
"Not sure. He doesn't seem to be going for a specific type of woman, but he does leave us something to work on." Izuku pointed to the article. "All the victims are within the same age range. Between 25 to 30."
"All single and ready to mingle." Mina added. "Speaking of, any plans on Valentine's Izuku~?"
Izuku looked at Mina as she gave him a flirty look that bordered on lustful. He blushed as he knew that that look was the one she gave him when they were alone and or in the bedroom. Turning to Alya for help, he was met with the same kind of look. His face began to lit up as he guessed what they were asking him. After all, Valentine's Day was coming and they were going to spend it together as a threeway couple for the first time.
His face paled as he realized that they were expecting something from him. He cursed himself for not seeing this coming his way like he had had with almost every situation. The voices of his two girlfriends calling him out on his lack of tact and attention made him want to sink into a hole and get buried alive. He dropped his head as he began muttering on what he could do or say to get out of this mess.
"Oh my gosh how could I have forgotten! Maybe chocolates and flowers? No toogenericwhat do I do?! Icouldtakethemouttotamovie? No this is not highschool, we're adults damnit!" Izuku stuttered. "MaybeIcandosomethingspecialbutthenthey'dknowIcomplerleyforgot!"
"Izuku! Babe, we're kidding!" Alya and Mina patted Izuku's back, calming him down.
"Huh?" Izuku looked up.
"To be honest, we completely forgot it was Valentine's Day this week?" Mina stuck out her tongue, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Besides, none of us expected to be in a relationship around now."
"Yeah, I mostly just focused on my work during that day over the last few years, so I wasn't expecting anything fancy." Alya blushed. "We'd both be great with just some chocolates or flowers, maybe a fancy dinner. What's important right now is catching this guy."
Izuku couldn't help but feel like a bunch of angels were singing to him, like a miracle had just saved him. He let out a sigh of relief as he thanked his lucky stars that Mina and Alya were such angels to him. He would never forgive this kindness that they had shown him.
"I promise to make it up to you after this, I promise." Izuku cried tears of happiness.
The two girls sighed, letting their blushes say that they found their man adorable whenever he acted like that. Though they weren't lying about their lack of importance to Valentine's Day, they now couldn't help but wonder what their next one might be like. They were pretty open and were dating a modern galant prince that was set on making them happy. They were after all the only girls his age that were important in his life.
However, no sooner did they share that thought, someone sneezed.
"Achu!" Alix sniffed. "Someone must be talking about me behind my back. Oh well, time to see what kitty is up to."
Izuku and Mina drove all the way back to the Police HQ building and were sitting down in the meeting room. They looked at the board before them as the other officers sat around them as Captain Kendo went up to the board. The board was covered in pictures of the women that had been killed by Dark Cupid as well as pictures of the roses left with them as well as the arrows.
"Alright, everyone, settle down. We have two days before Valentine's Day and I want this to be the last year this bastard is free on the streets!" Kendo called out, getting everyone's attention. "Over the last five years we haven't been able to nail him because he always changes his target. That's why this year, we'll be covering all our bases. I want a team looking into anyone that sells or grows black roses with a list of anyone that has purchased them over the last month. Another team looking into all the single women of Paris, especially those that match the age gap that our man is after. I want you to check any dating site and matchmaking service in this city and a list of anyone that fits the criteria. Allons!"
"Oui capitaine!" All the officers saluted.
Izuku and Mina were given a copy of all the information they had on the case like all the other officers. They sat down to look at all the information before them. Most of the information was a detailed account of the victims and the way they were found with arrows sticking being the murder weapon. The rest of the information were summaries of the different victims and their autopsy records.
They didn't have much to work with but they were at least doing this with fresher eyes and a bigger fire under them. Izuku and Mina didn't find any relationships between the different victims, most of them didn't even go to the same bakery for bread. The two officers grumbled at the file for, well, lack of information.
"We're never catching this guy like this. These girls have little to nothing in common with each other." Mina bit her thumb in irritation. "We've got a waitress, a personal trainer, a model and a doctor. They couldn't be as spread out even if they tried."
"There must be something that connects them. They can't be random choices. We know that Dark Cupid does the same every year," Izuku said. "According to the file they all started getting small gifts from a secret admirer a week before Valentine's Day. Before that they were all single working women."
Izuku couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. He at least was working on both angles of the law with him being Chat Noir which meant that he could work overtime. But that didn't change the fact that if he had no leads he'd be spending the next few nights patrolling every single woman between the ages of 25 to 30. He scanned each paragraph and looked at the pictures with an analytical eye. He noticed something on their ears.
He pulled up a magnifying glass, looking at the earrings of the picture of the first victims. He couldn't help but feel like he'd seen those earrings before. Looking at the other pictures he noticed that they all had the same kind of earrings, but he couldn't place where he had seen them before. But as he got to the last victim's picture, hw got the full picture.
"Oh mon dieu," Izuku said.
The picture of the redheaded victim looked almost like Alix had looked like when Izuku last saw her.
"You got something, partner?" Mina asked.
"I think I do. All the victims have the same earrings on them like in the pictures," Izuku said, handing her the pictures. "There's more, the women seem to start looking a lot like-" Izuku stopped himself before he let it spill.
"A lot like what?" Mina asked.
Izuku didn't want to reveal who the person he was talking about was. He wanted to keep Alix and their…complicated relationship far from Mina and Alya. But he was also aware that he needed to be honest with them, despite the vendetta that the two girls had with Alix's alter ego. He cleared his throat as he thought of a way to smooth the situation.
"The latest victim reminded me of someone I should check up on." Izuku admitted. "I think she should be a good source to ask about the earrings."
"Ooh, a third woman in your life, Izuku~?" Mina hung her head with her hands like a swooning girl. "And here I thought you were a two woman man~. It's not your mom, is it? I don't feel ready to meet her."
"She's not my mom. But she might know about the earrings and they seem to be the only gift that the victims have in common." Izuku got up from his chair. "I'll go pay her a visit and put her up to speed on certain things. Maybe she'll be able to give us the lead we're looking for."
"Great, I'll drive!" Mina tackled Izuku before he could even argue about her decision.
They ran out so fast that they knocked into two criminals that had just been caught. They made them spin so fast that they switched clothes with one wearing a tutu and the other one wearing a bunny suit. They continued on their way, before closing the door.
"Sorry, that was a closet." Mina led herself and Izuku out of the closet they had gotten in before heading to the elevator. "Now, we're off!"
Izuku didn't know what to do, but the situation soon got worse. His eyes landed on Alya as she leaned on top of Alien Queen like she was posing for a picture show supermodel. His left eyelid twitched as if he knew that this was fate's way of making it harder for him once more.
"Hey, girl, what's up?!" Mina waved at the journalist as Izuku cried in silence.
"My babes, I think I found something about the Dark Cupid." Alya pulled out a picture from her phone.
"Awesome, tell us on the way." Mina opened the door. "Izuku thinks he knows someone that might know how to find the connection between the victims. Time to get us a bad guy! Let's go Dynamic Trio!"
Alya smirked, loving Mina's energy every single time she saw her.
Izuku for his part felt that the world was crumbling around him. As he sat down on the passenger's seat, he started thinking of all the ways things could go when they arrived at the Broken Clock. If they figured out who Alix was then the only reaction they could have would be that of anger. After all, they both had a bone to pick with the bunny-themed thief. He couldn't blame them for wanting to get even with her after she used them both as distractions for her capers.
Bunnix was one if not the most skilled thief that he'd ever run across and these two girls were more than willing to go after them. Even catching her off guard was a task for him. But the girls had sworn a vendetta against the bunny thief. However, a glimmer of hope shined through for him. He wondered if they had gotten over it given to the fact that they had a mission. He'd have to test it.
"Hey, you know, I saw a famous painting that was sold for a massive 50 thousand Euros. It was called Bunny's Sunset." Izuku commented. "It's meant to be displayed in a private collection next month, it's bound to be a target for thieves of all shapes and sizes."
"Maybe so, a certain bunny is bound to be there." Alya nodded her head.
"Yeah, I mean for that sum I'd also go there for so much money." Mina shrugged. "But we're on a mission and nothing will distract us from that mission."
"You said it, girlfriend!" Mina and Alya high fived with smiles on their faces.
Izuku smiled at their words. He didn't have to worry about the girls going nuts. But one thing was words and the other was going to be them meeting face to face. Which reminded him of one bit of knowledge Alya had.
"So, Alya, what did you find out about the victims?" Izuku asked.
"Turns out that all the victims had no seemingly visible connection at first glance, so I started looking into the days before their deaths and some of the records were quite interesting." Alya smirked as light shined off her glasses. "They all had all gotten chocolates from a store down by the Old Town area near Notre Dame church."
Izuku found this interesting. All the women had received similar earrings as presents before their deaths from a secret admirer and chocolates from the same store. Those were two connections, and if he could get his hands on the people that bought chocolates during those days, then he could get a name. He smiled, knowing that he could use those details to find out who was the man he was looking for.
But that was hopeful thinking. Izuku knew that he couldn't think things would be so easy. He couldn't run before walking. First he'd look into the earrings and see what he could find through Alix and then find out about the chocolate store.
"We're here!" Mina said, causing Izuku to flinch out of his thoughts.
"Wow, I was expecting a hole in the wall seedy bar, but this one looks like a place I'd come to." Alya commented, adjusting her glasses. "Maybe we can catch a drink here after work."
"Yeah, let's get hammered here from now on." Mina giggled.
Izuku for his part wanted to get out of the car and run the other way for at least another year. The meeting that was about to happen made his skin itch and his hair to stand on end. He'd thought of what Mina and Alya would do if they figured out who Alix was. But he then started to think how Alix would react to him bringing another cop and a reporter to her business. And with the bounty on his head, and the information he had yet to share with her, he could only imagine how tempted Alix would be to divulge his secret.
But he had no assurances as to how to keep her quiet. But an idea popped into his head. If Izuku could get to Alix before Mina and Alya then he'd be able to talk to her, explain the situation and get the information before a fight could break out inside the bar.
Izuku, Mina and Alya walked into the Broken Clock bar.
The Broken Clock had a strange choice of decor, a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and an old 1920s Speakeasy. There was a large bar with a shelf full of different drinks of alcohol, including spirits, wines, Scotches, whiskies and beer on tap with a row of high chairs to sit down on. The walls had pictures of broken clocks, Alice in Wonderland characters, graffiti, a few bunnies, and a small neon sign that read 'tea time, any time'. The tables around the bar all had mushroom-like candles that were meant to be lit at night. And a small stage was stationed at the end of the room where the band played some tunes for the patrons that were around the bar.
The music that was playing in the room was a soothing melody that accompanied the mischievous atmosphere of the place as well as it made the patrons in the bar play a few tricks. There was a table where three men played poker as each one had cards sticking out of their hats and sleeves. A table where two drunks were sleeping off their drinks and meals while another man stole their wallets. And a third table where a couple of women traded gossip like candy. And at the other end there were old men just drinking wine and having a laugh about the old days.
At the bar, Mei was working on serving the clients with the aid of six robot arms coming out of her metal backpack. She hummed as the music continued to play and her tinkering was on point.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Izuku called, getting her attention.
"Hey there, officers. Came all the way here to see my babies, didn't you?" Mei asked, smirking.
"Um, what?" Mina asked.
"My babies." Mei pulled up a series of gadgets from her backpack. "This here is the All Packer. Six arms of automated working arms that are as dexterous as real human hands and six other added gadgets for fixing, mending, serving, reaching, monitoring, and counting whatever you need."
Izuku, Mina and Alya all looked at the inventor and her bright smile. They watched as each arm and gadget worked around and fixed them drinks and cleaned the bar and pulled up a pair of bowls of peanuts.
"Um, thanks, but we need to speak to-" Izuku started.
"Oh I see! You've come to check some of my other babies! Well, I'll get them straight away!" Mei pulled out a pair of goggles. "These babies replicate the ability of my Miraculous, Zoom. You can see things up to ten to five hundred times more clearly and closer." She zoomed into Izuku's face, gazing into his green eyes, much to his shock and surprise. "Wow, you look pretty good, wanna try them out?"
"I will." Alya picked up the goggles and looked around. "Wow, his is awesome. It feels like I'm in the middle of an IMAX movie. I think I can see the particles of concrete on the walls." Alya looked around, getting an interesting experience.
"Ooh, can I try afterwards?" Mina asked.
Izuku cleared his throat, trying to get back on track. He looked at Mei as she was about to pull out a different 'baby' to show them off like they were investors for her inventions. As much as he liked to see what her gadgets were capable of, he needed to get in contact with Alix sooner rather than later.
"I was hoping to speak with Alix." Izuku whispered. "There's something I must ask her."
"What do you need to ask me, kitty?" Alix asked, making her presence known.
Izuku turned around, spotting Alix. She was leaning on the bar with her cocky smile still firmly marked on her face. Wearing her normal clothes, he wouldn't be able to tell that he was talking to a skillful thief and the first person that knew his secret.
She swayed her hips as she walked towards him, making sure that she was the center of his attention. Alix didn't even notice Mina and Alya playing around with the Zoom Goggles just behind Izuku. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled dreamily at him like a happy love smitten girl.
"Hello, handsome~" Alix kissed Izuku on the cheek. "What kept you so long from coming back? Not here to drink on the job, are you, kitty~?"
Izuku's nose was struck with a strange scent. She was smelling of roses and steam, almost as if she'd just stepped out of the shower. He couldn't help but wonder if she had used perfume just for him. His face lit up at the idea, but then he remembered that his two girlfriends were behind him and could most likely hear everything he or Alix said.
"N-No, Alix, I'm here as an officer." Izuku took Alix's hands off of his neck. "I've come to ask you a few questions about the earrings you've got. And there's also something we need to talk about afterwards."
"Ah phooey." Alix blew a raspberry at Izuku in disappointment. "And here I thought I wasn't just another civilian in your day to day life."
"Hey, Izuku, who are you talking to?"
Izuku almost lost all color in his face. He slowly turned to see both Mina and Alya looking straight at the owner of the bar with curiosity and some jealousy. He had thought about this meeting on the whole way to the Broken Clock and had thought of many ways to avoid any and all unpleasantness. But now that he found himself in this situation, he drew a blank. An utter blank.
He had no idea what to say or do to help clear up the situation before him. He needed to say something or else the girls would get suspicious. And if a fight broke out, all hell could break loose upon the bar with him smack dab in the middle of it all. His head moved back and forth between Mina, Alya and Alix as if he was trying to shake an idea free from his head. But his usually fruitful mind was not giving him anything.
"Um, well, you see, I met Alix a while ago, one night, in which." Izuku muttered.
"Yeah, we met one night. You two do look familiar, though." Alix looked at Mina and Alya. "Where have I seen you two before? You work with them often, kitty?"
"Um, yeah. Mina is my partner and Alya sometimes helps us with our cases." Izuku tried to get between the three women, but Alix moved him aside.
"Oh yeah, pinky and foxy!" Alix snapped her fingers. "Didn't recognize you from this angle."
Mina and Alya looked at the girl before them. They couldn't shake the familiar feeling that they had seen her before.
"Wait, why did you call Izuku, ki…tty?" Alya asked, realizing that Alix said something she shouldn't have.
"Pinkie? This angle?" Mina added, putting the pieces together as Izuku face palmed his face.
Mina handed the goggles to Mei as she got a closer look at Alix. She pulled Alya in closer, getting uncomfortably close to the redhead's face. She could picture all the missing pieces before her until she could almost compare them side to side.
"You girls want a kiss or something?" Alix asked. "You certainly have some interesting friends, dude. Almost like they just dropped out of the sky or something."
Mina and Alya looked at each other realizing what they had just heard. Those words triggered a neural connection that made them relive their memories of a certain bunny themed thief. In a blink of an eye, they saw the same thief standing before them. They knew who was before them. And all they could do was smile at Alix. But it wasn't a smile that showed happiness, it was one that hid a lot of contempt.
"Izuku, you really shouldn't have." Alya took off her earrings.
"Shouldn't have, what?" Izuku asked, scared of the answer.
"We thought you'd forgotten all about Valentine's Day and here you got us a gift." Mina cracked her knuckles with her overly sweet tone, but with an aura that would scare even a convicted felon.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, Mina and Alya pounced on Alix like a pair of cats pouncing on a freshly caught salmon. They turned into a cartoon cat fight before all the patrons of the Broken Clock. They punched, kicked and grappled each other to the ground, casting a large thick cloud of dust to pick up and cover their fight. They could hear the three girls beating on each other and trading blows like a group of drunks duking it out over the last beer can.
"Oh crap! Stop fighting!" Izuku jumped into the fight, trying to stop it.
"Oh, it'll be one of those days." Mei sighed. "Alright everyone, show's starting, place your bets!" Mei used her metal arms to pick up all the bets on the fight.
"Are you serious?!" Izuku called out.
Alix managed to squirm out of the hold of the two women. She smirked, recognizing the two women before her. She spun on her heel, landing a kick on Mina's stomach, sending her back. She grabbed hold of Alya as she pounced on her before putting her in a choking hold. She didn't last long as Alya knocked her with a headbutt.
Mina tackled Alix back, dropping her to the floor before they started rolling on the ground. Mina got on top of Alix before she started punching her to the best of her skills. But all her punches were either blocked by Alix's arms or missed, hitting the floor. The pink officer of the law rolled Alix over the floor once more before Alix got another punch to the face courtesy of Mina. But that's all that Alix needed to pin down the pink officer, getting a good five minutes of breathing before Alya pounced on her once more.
Alya got Alix in a chokehold with her arm around the thief's neck.
"I'm kicking your ass to pay you back!" Alya snapped.
"In my defense you have a spankable ass." Alix wrapped her arms around Alya's head, pulling her down.
Alya got back on her feet with the agility of a vixen fox, glaring at Alix. She growled at Alix before pouncing on her once more, biting and scratching her opponent with the viciousness of a wild animal. She wrapped her arms around Alix before pulling her down into a Full Nelson. She dropped Alix to the ground, giving the thief the chance she needed to grab Alya's legs, pulling her down with her.
"Banzai!" Mina jumped down with her elbow, adding her own brand of chaos.
"Girls, please stop! This is getting out of hand!" Izuku jumped into the cartoon cloud of fighting girls as clothes started flying and yelps of pain echoed in the bar.
Izuku tried to keep the girls apart, putting himself between them. He blocked several punches, kicks, and bites coming towards the others. He hadn't expected this to happen when he got to the Broken Clock. But now that he was in the middle of the altercation, he never expected things to go from zero to a hundred so quickly. He tried to calm the girls down, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Please, stop it!" Izuku snapped only to receive three punches to the face.
"Izuku!" Mina gasped at what she'd done.
"Babe!" Alya gasped in shock.
"Damn your gentlemanly nature!" Alix snapped.
"Alright, people, the fight is over!" Mei pulled out a large box for all the winnings of the betting. "Thank you for coming, we'll sadly be closing for the rest of the day."
The next thing Izuku knew, he along with Mina, Alya and Alix were up in her apartment with ice bags on their faces. He looked at Mina and Alya as they glared at him and Alix as if they'd taken their lunch money.
"Well?" Mina asked.
"Her name is Alix Kubdel aka Bunnix." Izuku began.
"We know. All that she's missing is the damn bunny ears and the umbrella." Alya snapped.
"Aka Alexandra Dublek." Izuku finished.
"Dublek? As in the girl from the Dublek family that disappeared?" Mina asked, looking at Alix as she smirked and waved at them.
"The one and only. And I'm guessing that you're here with a good reason apart from letting us beat the tar out of each other and gettin caught in the punches." Alix grunted, holding her cheek. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you in uniform? Not that it doesn't look good on you, apart from your usual night clothes."
"Wait, she knows?!" Mina asked. "How long?"
"You told your partner and a journalist? Wow, how are you still free?" Alix asked.
"We actually care about him. Which returns to Mina's question, how does she know?" Alya asked, crossing her arms.
"She caught me changing and from then on she's been in an agreement with me. She doesn't reveal my identity and I help her bring the man that killed her father and brother: Hawkmoth," Izuku said.
Mina and Alya turned to look at Alix as she stiffened up at the name. They noticed that she was a lot more tense at the mention of the Parisian Kingpin than she was getting into a fight with the two of them. They didn't know what to say. They were all for kicking her teeth in but knowing that she knew that monster made them all the more intrigued at what she had to say.
Alix for her part, kept her eyes on Izuku. She wanted to know everything and that included anything that had to do with the man that intimidated, and murdered her father and brother for his own ends. Now that she was back to her feet and back to her senses, she was going to get her pound of flesh.
"You found the bastard?" Alix asked.
"Almost died by his hand too. But that's one of the reasons why I'm here." Izuku felt the phantom pains of his battle against Hawkmoth acting up. "You should sit down, I've got some developments on the case."
Izuku explained to Alix what had happened in his confrontation with Hawkmoth. The death of Naomasa, Hawkmoth's strange abilities with multiple Miraculouses and the revelation of his secret identity. But then Izuku explained the problem with rashly going after the man despite seeing his face.
Despite knowing who Hawkmoth was, they wouldn't have a way to properly defeat him without more information. Not to mention the man that forced Alix's father wasn't Adrien Agreste, so that was another mystery. And the problems didn't stop there.
Izuku then explained that Hawkmoth wanted him out of the playing field and thus got the PSC to put a bounty on him. He also mentioned that there was a good chance that one of the Top Ten Heroes were working for Hawkmoth to stack the deck in his favor. Izuku observed Alix as she absorbed the whole situation and all the information that she had just been given by them.
"Sounds like this is getting too complicated." Alix sighed. "So, the guy that made my family suffer is god knows where. And now this little bastard has taken up the mantle to make things worse for everyone that gets in his way? Perfect."
"Yeah, we know. It sucks," Mina shrugged.
"But we're working on getting help to take him down." Izuku said. "Which brings us to why we came here."
"Oh so they didn't know about me before they started using my face to wipe the floor?" Alix gave Mina and Alya a glare.
"If we'd known who you were, we would've kicked your ass harder from the start." Alya growled.
"Enough. Mina, Alya, I know you two have reason to be angry at Alix, but we need her help here." Izuku stood up, keeping the peace the best he could." Alix, please, try to be nice. We're looking into a case in which the victims all had the same earrings as you wear. What can you tell us about them?"
"These?" Alix pointed to her earrings. "They're not that expensive, I've had them for a long time. I bought them from a store a few blocks from here, called Forever and a Jewel."
"Thank you, Alix," Izuku said, smiling.
"Well, it's been fun to have our scrap of the day with you, Ms. Dublek, but we'll be going now." Mina and Alya grabbed Izuku by his arms, dragging him out of the apartment.
"If we need you again, we'll contact you," Alya added, tossing the ice bags away.
Mina and Alya briefly turned to Alix, narrowing their eyes at her. They gave her the sign that they're watching her from now on before leaving the apartment. Neither woman wanted to waste another fight when there was a crime to stop and a killer to be brought to justice. They did, however, make a note that they were far hotter than Alix by comparison when it came to body types and sizes.
They might've been women that disapproved of Alix's criminal activities but they wanted to keep Izuku as far from Alix as possible for obvious reasons. Not that they were jealous of her or anything.
Alix was left alone in her apartment with nothing but the information that Izuku had just given her. She grabbed her head, thinking about the fact that the man that now called himself Hawkmoth was hiding in plain sight. She tightened her fists at the idea of him being praised by the public, living in a mansion, wanting nothing as everyone waited on him hand and foot. A life that had been built out of the ashes of her family and their suffering.
She hadn't wanted to punch anyone more in her life. And that was how she felt now. She looked at her own apartment door, thinking about Izuku and how much he wanted to get Hawkmoth after he killed Izuku and Mina's friend detective. They had all gotten scraped and marked by Hawkmoth's madness and that meant that someone had to do something. Alix narrowed her eyes as she clasped her hands together.
"Damn it." Alix sighed.
Back with Izuku, Mina and Alya, he was getting chewed out by his two girlfriends. And he couldn't blame them for being angry, yet at the same time understanding why he kept it close to his chest.
"I can't believe you got careless and got caught by that tramp." Mina scolded.
"It was a one in a million chance, I went into a dark alley where I had stashed my uniform bag and she just so happened to have used those rooftops as an escape route." Izuku explained, defending himself. "I've been doing this for enough time to know which dark alleys are hardly looked into and all the passages to change without problem."
"Even if it was a one in a million chance, it still happened. Though at least we've got a good mutual destruction clause in place. She talks, we talk." Alya wrote in her notebook. "We're not mad at you, Izuku, but the fact remains that she's a thief that's stolen quite a lot of stuff."
"That all belonged to her family and was scattered by Hawkmoth and the new one." Izuku pointed out.
Mina and Alya looked at each other confused and unsure of what to reply. They had only met the Alix that had used them as distractions and then steal stuff. Which meant that there was more to Bunnix than they previously thought. They forgot that often the world wasn't as black and white as they had thought.
Alya quickly did a search for all the stuff that had been stolen by Bunnix over the years. She gritted her teeth about what she found out. She scolded herself for not noticing it before. All the pieces had been either owned by the Dublek family at some point or had been part of the museums that they administered and patroned. She smacked her forehead at the idea that all Alix was doing was getting back what belonged to her family and using it to live her own way outside of Hawkmoth's influence.
Mina saw Alya nod in confirmation as to what she had found. The pink officer grumbled at having to give the bunny thief a pass. She had probably been the only person they knew so far that had been most affected by Hawkmoth. She sighed as they arrived at the jewelry store that Alix had told them about. The conversation would have to continue another time she thought.
Izuku knocked on the metal door under the sign. He waited until he saw a small latch sliding open at the eye level.
"What do you want?" The store owner asked.
"Um, hello ma'am, is this Forever and a Diamond?" Izuku asked, holding up his badge.
"You a copper?" The owner asked.
"Yes, I'm Officer Mido-" Izuku started only to get the latch closed in his face. "-riya."
"Glad to see the taxpayer Euros at work."
The trio turned to see Alix leaning on the entrance of the jewelry store.
"What are you doing here?" Mina asked. "Are you stalking the place to see how you can rob it?"
"Please," Alix scoffed. "There's an age-old rule that you don't crap where you eat. It's too close to my place. I'd be amongst the first few suspects. I came because I thought you'd need a hand. Consider me a criminal consultant, if you want?"
"What's in it for you?" Alya asked, going full journalist mode.
Alix looked at Izuku, wondering if she should say. He gave her an apologetic look, noting that there was nothing he could do to dissuade the two girls from being on the defensive. She sighed, knowing that only the truth would help her out.
"Well, as it turns out, Izuku and you two are the ones closest to finding the S.O.B. that destroyed my family and putting him behind bars along with this new guy." Alix walked up to the trio. "Which means, the faster you guys get your other cases done, the faster you'll get back to stopping HM. And if I can help with that, I'll do it. Plus, Olivia doesn't like cops."
"And you just happen to mention that now?" Izuku raised his eyebrow.
Alix smirked, tapping his cheek playfully.
"Let me show you how it's done." Alix banged on the door.
The latch slid open once more, letting Olivia see Alix.
"Alix, what you doing with those coppers?" Olivia asked, glancing at the officers.
"Hey, girl, see, this magnificent man in uniform is looking to get his girls a pair of awesome looking earrings. Turns out he's quite the lady killer." Alix shot Izuku a sultry look. "Don't let the baby face fool ya. He's the whole package."
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't give her any bad ideas, Alix!" Izuku held up his hands.
The latch closed up before a pair of locks got unlocked from behind the door.
The door opened up to show the entrance to the store.
"Come in, come in." Olivia gestured. "Anything for a young group of lovers. We need to fight the declining birth rate."
Alix smirked at the trio before walking into the shop.
Izuku's face went tomato red as Mina and Alya stared at in shock and awe. He couldn't believe that Alix had just made that joke. She was right about his relationship with Mina and Alya, unaware or not. But now there was nothing he could do to regain whatever dignity that had just been dropped. He walked into the store, followed by Mina and Alya, hoping that the store could give them a lead on the killer, Dark Cupid's next target.
"So, what can I offer you, gentleman?" Olivia asked, showing off her selection of earrings.
"I'm looking at all the earrings that look just like the ones Alix has." Izuku gestured to them.
"Ah, to give the ladies matching earrings? They are quite durable. But what about dear Alix, she can hardly have two of the same earrings?" Olivia asked.
"He'll pay me back with something special." Alix wiggled her eyebrows, much to Mina and Alya's annoyance.
Olivia giggled at Alix's words.
"Um, are they popular, the earrings I mean?" Izuku asked.
"Not particularly, I've only sold one pair this month." Olivia sighed. "Funny thing, it was by the same bloke."
Izuku's eyes widened.
"Really? Um, was it a walk in like me or online?" Izuku asked only for Olivia to gesture to the tip jar.
Izuku sighed, dropping twenty Euros in the tip jar.
"Online, but the payment was made by a Sako Atsuhiro. But they were sent as a gift to an address." Olivia pointed to the tip jar.
Izuku couldn't believe his luck. He placed another twenty Euros on the tip jar as Olivia handed him a bag with the address on the receipt.
"That'll be 150 Euros." Olivia smirked.
Izuku, Mina, Alya and Alix walked out of the store and headed to the car.
"What are you doing?" Mina asked.
"I said, I'd help you out. So I'm riding with you guys," Alix said. "Don't worry, I don't plan to steal your car, Mina, baby. I'm more of a biker girl anyway."
Mina didn't find a lot of confidence in Alix's words. She could hardly not see Alien Queen as an amazing ride that half of Paris wouldn't give their left arm and leg to drive even once. But she could also see the bunny-themed thief being more of a biker chick if anything else. She kept her eyes on her as she got in the car in the seat behind the passenger's seat.
"Are we sure we can trust her?" Mina turned to Izuku.
"She's got a good heart under that tough exterior, and she wasn't lying about her having a good reason to help us out," Izuku said. "I think we can trust her. She's just hard getting used to."
"Hm, you're lucky you're cute." Mina grumbled. "But me and Alya will keep an eye on her the whole time."
"I don't doubt it." Izuku and Mina got into the car before driving off.
"Oh, by the way, Izuku." Mina held the bag with the two pairs of earrings with a smile. "Thanks for the early Valentine's Day presents." She smirked, making Izuku blush at the idea and the fact that he had bought them gifts for the first time.
The four members of the newly formed group went to the police station to give Captain Kendo an explanation of what they had gotten. They, of course, didn't tell their captain that they were being helped by Alya or Alix. As far as their captain was concerned, Izuku and Mina had found a lead that they wanted to follow in regards to the case. They made sure to point out that they followed the protocol and they had gotten them a lead to find a killer.
Captain Kendo was glad to have found a lead, but wanted them to be careful before getting any funny ideas. She wanted them to call for backup before thinking of arresting someone they didn't know anything about. She did want them to always have their radio on them and call for backup if they spotted anything weird going on.
With Captain Kendo's blessing and understanding, the newly formed Dynamic Four made their way to the address of the woman that was going to receive the earrings. For 190 Euros, Olivia had given them the address of the woman that was going to receive the earrings that all the past victims had been gifted before their deaths. They arrived at the house of Ondine Syren. They watched her from afar as she left her home to start her day.
Odine Syren matched the last three women that Dark Cupid had killed. She had short red hair cut in a pixie style, fair skin, and clear blue eyes. She wore tomboyish clothes like a pink and white striped T-shirt, black pants and a matching black jacket with white sneakers. She carried herself with a carefree smile on her face and the skipping step of a girl who'd finally gotten asked out by the man she loved.
"Well, would you look at that, there's our possible victim number eleven," Alix said, leaning forward from her seat and between Izuku and Mina's seats, looking at the young woman. "It's eleven, right?"
"Hopefully, she won't be the next victim. Not if we can find out how and why Dark Cupid is targeting her." Izuku watched her with the binoculars. "She's athletic, most likely a swimmer. She's wearing the earrings, which means she must've gotten them at least at the beginning of the week, yesterday at the latest. She's going to meet someone."
"How do you know that?" Alya asked.
"She's smiling a lot, skipping around some of her hair is glistening with the light of the sunset, which means she just got out of the shower." Izuku examined.
"Wow, remind me to put small hints of what I want next time." Mina whistled with astonishment.
"Look at you figuring out all that stuff at one glance. Brain, brawn, and good looks." Alix smirked. "Next time, I'll ask you to figure out what color my panties are if you're this good. Think of it as our new game, if you want."
Alya and Mina glared at Alix with the former one pulling the thief back to her seat.
Alya picked up the binoculars, noting something that she didn't like but had to consider. She looked at Odine and then back at Alix. She narrowed her eyes as she found it curious.
"Hey, did any of you notice that Odine looks a lot like our resident Bunny thief?" Alya asked.
Izuku and Mina looked back at Alya as Alix pulled out her phone to look at her own reflection.
"Huh? That's an odd thing now that you mention it, Alya," Mina said with Izuku nodding in agreement.
"Well, at least this crazy killer has good taste in women." Alix shrugged off.
Mina drove after Odine, keeping a safe distance from the woman that was in danger of being killed. As they drove, the group couldn't help but feel the minutes turning into hours while they watched the unsuspecting girl go about her date. They arrived at the location, a small bistro near Notre Dame church. They watched her go inside as the lights of the street turned on for another night.
"I'm so bored!" Alix said. "Why don't we go in and get some answers out of her?"
"This is a stake out for information, Ms. Kubdel." Mina glared at her.
"Look, for all we know, this Cupid killer, whatever he wants to call himself or herself, is inside that Bistro. Let me go in and find out what the heck is going on." Alix argued.
"We're not taking our eyes off of you," Alya said. "For all we know, you'll just go in and rob the wallets of all the different people inside the bistro."
"Come on, you are joking. Why would I do that?" Alix scoffed. "Though it would be a good challenge."
"I'll put the cuffs on you!" Mina snapped.
Izuku sighed, as the bickering of the three women intensified. He couldn't help but feel like a doll in the middle of a three-way tug of war between three girls. Both sides had valid points as far as he could tell. He'd learned that slow and steady won the race when it came to the work of a police officer. But he'd also learned of the results that could be achieved by a vigilante bending the rules for the right reasons. It was a painful stalemate inside his head. One that wasn't going away anytime soon thanks to all the discussions that Mina, Alya, and Alix were having not ten inches from his ears.
He was afraid that he'd go deaf in one ear if he didn't get out. He needed to find out more, but at the same time, he couldn't let the girls get into that Bistro the way they were. That's when his patience struck its last straw.
"Enough!" Izuku snapped, silencing the three women.
They looked at him as though he'd grown a second head. The three girls had seen many aspects of Izuku's personality and way of being. But they were now seeing him angry–no annoyed if not disappointed. It was as though someone else had taken Izuku's face and body and voice but what he was did not match. They blinked in unison, trying to register what they had heard and seen.
"Look, Alix is right. For all we know, Dark Cupid is in there sizing up his next victim." Izuku stepped out of Alien Queen. "You three stay here, I'll go take a closer look. In the meantime, please, work out your problems with each other."
The three women nodded in autopilot as Izuku thanked them.
Izuku ran into a dark alley where no one would see him. He changed into his costume of Chat Noir before climbing into the dark rooftops. He found a window where Odine was sitting by, talking to someone. He narrowed his eyes as the wind picked up around him. With the use of his own binoculars, the vigilante kept his eyes on the woman.
Odine wasn't with a man. She was talking to another woman, but she was wearing the earrings that the mysterious Sako Atsuhiro had gotten her.
Izuku began thinking about the other victims before Odine. They all had gotten the same earrings as her, but apart from that each girl was different. Odine herself looked like a variant of Alix herself, but not the same as the past victims. Or at least at first glance. He knew that the villain had a type. A type of girl he was trying to go for, that's why he gave them the same earrings to each girl.
Izuku's thoughts were cut short when he heard wings fluttering around him. He ducked, wondering if it was a pigeon or some other bird. He looked up as the light of the moon casted the shadow of a large wing.
"There you are." Izuku armed himself.
An arrow flew at him from the shadows, forcing Izuku to block it away with one of his Kali Sticks. Another arrow flew at him only to be blocked again and then another and another. Izuku rolled out of the way as a fifth arrow embedded itself on the edge of the rooftop. He ran after the sound of wings fluttering in the air like those of an eagle the size of a moped.
Izuku ducked under two more arrows before hiding behind a thick chimney. He looked over the edge as the light of the moon illuminated the silhouette of the villain that was attacking him. He narrowed his eyes as the villain landed on a chimney before him, aiming a bow and arrow at him.
"You best stay away from my angel, you nosey stray!" Dark Cupid snarled.
Izuku got a good look at the villain, finally putting a face to the man that had killed so many women in the last five years.
He was a tall slender man wearing a black and red spandex costume. He had red boots with feathers sprouting from his heels. Black pants that reached up to his chest where the suit turned red. He had a broken white heart on his chest, with the crack in the shape of a lightning bolt. He had black gloves that made it to the elbows and a red domino mask on top of a black mask that showed off his mouth and his messy black hair. And on his back, Dark Cupid had two large black feathered wings with red stripes as well as a quiver filled with black arrows.
"Dark Cupid, I presume?" Izuku asked.
"What gave it up?" Dark Cupid snarled, tightening the hold on his bow and arrow.
"The wings were a dead giveaway. As well as the bow and arrow." Izuku replied, looking for a way to get close to the winged archer. "Why are you after Odine Syren? Do you intend to hurt her?" He asked, ducking as another arrow ricochetted off the brick chimney.
"Do not utter her name, you stray! She is mine and mine alone to love!" Dark Cupid prepared another arrow.
Izuku narrowed his eyes at the villain's words. He claimed that he loved the woman he was planning to kill? Izuku had heard many reasons to commit crimes but this was the first time he heard someone doing this out of a misguided expression of love. He pulled out a smoke bomb from his pocket and he prepared to throw it at the crazed man. But he needed to get a better understanding of Dark Cupid and his twisted methods.
"There are other easier ways to get a girl's attention." Izuku peaked his hat slightly from the side.
"They need to fall in love with me. I must make them love me and no one else." Dark Cupid stretched his wings. "And no one will get in my way!"
Izuku tossed the smoke bomb, coating the space between himself and Dark Cupid in thick smoke. He rushed out from behind the chimney as Dark Cupid flapped his wings, getting into the air. As Dark Cupid flew up into the sky, mocking Chat Noir's actions, Izuku fired his grappling hook at the villain from within the smoke screen. His grappling hook got stuck on Dark Cupid's harness, pulling the vigilante all the way up to the villain's face.
Like a cat pouncing upon an unsuspecting bird, Izuku grabbed hold of Dark Cupid in a strong grapple. He smacked the bow and arrow with his Kali stick, disarming the villain. He began to beat on the villain, punching him across the face as he hung onto him.
Dark Cupid returned some of the punches as he continued to fly away. He flew up into the sky, trying to shake off Izuku's grip but the vigilante held on tight. He pressed his hand on his face, but Izuku landed a knee blow on Dark Cupid's kidney. Dark Cupid continued to fly up, higher and higher, swinging Izuku up off of him. But his small victory was not long lived.
"You're not getting away that easily!" Izuku grappled Dark Cupid by his neck, pulling himself back on the villain's back.
Dark Cupid groaned in annoyance before he started flying, trying to knock him off.
Meanwhile, Mina, Alya and Alix were trying to not tear into each other like they had had the whole day. They spared glances and looked at each other, but none of them wanted to speak. The tension was so thick that they could cut it with a knife or touch it with their bare hands.
Mina and Alya were on the same page regarding Alix. They couldn't trust her. No matter how much the thief's actions resembled a good attempt at playing Robin Hood, they couldn't condone that she had used them and probably others to get what she wanted. If not for her knowing about Izuku's secret and them knowing about it, Mina would've put the cuffs on her a long time ago.
"Okay, I'll ask," Alix sighed, snapping the girls from their thoughts. "Why don't you guys like me? No wait, let me rephrase that. Why are you guys looking at me like I'm the scum of the earth?"
"You mean, besides blackmailing Izuku into playing your cat and mouse game?" Alya asked. "You kicked me into a trap meant for you, and flung Mina over the edge of a roof after stealing her wallet!"
"Yeah, but I knew that you two would be fine." Alix shrugged. "The police let you go once they knew who you were. And I knew that kitty would go save his partner, and I gave you back the wallet."
"Without my money!" Mina snapped. "You might think this is a game, Alix. But it isn't. We're trying to stop a mad man and you're just playing around with Izuku."
Alix raised an eyebrow. She noticed that the girls were a lot angrier at how she was treating and using Izuku than how she was going about her activities. Her mind got a flash of clarity. But she needed to be sure.
"What exactly is your relationship with kitty–I mean, Izuku?" Alix asked.
Mina and Alya both blushed at the question. They didn't want to give Alix any more blackmail material that she could use against them. They looked away as they tried to come up with a good answer. But they never got a chance to try them.
"Mon dieu. You two are in love with him! Aren't you?!" Alix asked, getting on their faces.
"N-N-No! We're just partners!" Mina snapped, trying not to let her blush give her up.
"And we work together from time to time, which means of course I'll care for them!" Alya bared her fangs. "So what if he has the body of a Greek demigod."
"And the mind of a super detective~." Mina gushed.
"And the adorableness of a bunny rabbit~." Alya dreamed.
"So, you've had sex with him already?" Alix asked.
"Oh yeah, he's amazingly good at that~" Mina and Alya both said with a dreamy tone before freezing.
Mina and Alya looked at Alix who looked at them with astonishment. If her mouth was any lower, she would've been drooling on Mina's car.
"Wow, I was joking. Damn, you two at the same time?" Alix asked as if the world had suddenly been thrown for a loop. "No wonder my feminine wiles weren't making much of a dent on him. I thought he had an iron will, well he obviously has one, but now it turns out he's got his hot partner and a curvy vixen at his beck and call." She laughed at the situation.
"It isn't funny!" Mina growled.
"Yeah, our relationship is the real deal!" Alya snapped.
"Oh, oh, oh, don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean to mock you girls, or make any allusions to him being a thorough bred Frenchman. In a way, I'm jealous of you three having this relationship," Alix said.
For the first time since they met Alix, Mina and Alya softened their gaze. They didn't know that the thief could show any other emotion apart from bravado and mockery. They watched her as her features softened, looking out the window.
"After my mom and I left Paris and my dad and brother died, all notion of a normal life went up in smoke. Any relationship that wasn't close or familiar seemed like a dream." Alix sighed. "I learned how to steal to fight my own way, but that was nothing compared to living a normal life. My mom used to say that living is the best revenge. But what I wouldn't give for a normal relationship."
"That's gotta be tough." Mina looked down.
"Yeah, I can count on one hand how many dates I've had that didn't involve one-night stands." Alix looked at her hand. "Hell, this one guy-"
Crash!
The three women turned to look at what had made the loud crash. Their eyes widened at the sight of Izuku riding on top of the winged villain's back as he crashed against several trash cans. They were shocked to say the least as the villain flew back up into the air, carrying Izuku on his back.
"Did you guys also see?" Alix asked.
"Yeah," Alya replied.
"Never a dull moment with him, is there?" Alix got out of the car with Mina and Alya.
They ran into the street just in time to see Dark Cupid performing a spin into the air, trying to knock Izuku off of him.
Dark Cupid was not having any luck at getting the interloper off of him. The vigilante clung to him like a tick and wasn't letting go for anything in the world. His hold was keeping him from flying away and he knew that it was about time to free himself from the hero that was getting between him and love. In a desperate attempt to shake off the vigilante, Dark Cupid did a sky dive bomb from high in the air.
Izuku saw what Dark Cupid was planning. His eyes landed on Mina, Alya and Alix. If he didn't do something, there was a good chance that Dark Cupid could hurt them by accident. He caught the sight of a gargoyle head poking out from the edge of a building. He pulled out his grappling hook and fired it. The grappling hook hooked on the gargoyle's head, making him and Dark Cupid swing away from the ground.
But this gave Dark Cupid the opportunity to break free. He elbowed Izuku on the side, making the vigilante release his grasp. The villain flew up as Izuku rolled to a stop, digging his heels.
Izuku looked up, pulling out his Kali sticks for another round.
"Police! Freeze!" Mina pulled out her gun while Alya and Alix looked up at the villain.
Dark Cupid growled in rage at the more interlopers that got in his way. However, his eyes went wide when they landed on Alix. Without a second word, he took off, flying into the dark night sky, leaving the group with more questions than answers.
"What just happened?" Alix asked.
"He fled, that's what happened," Alya said. "But why?"
"Well, he was outnumbered and unarmed. Maybe he knew that he couldn't take us without his fancy bow?" Mina put her gun back in its holster as Izuku went after the remains of the bow.
"He was mostly here to observe and watch Mademoiselle Odine." Izuku picked up the bow to examine it. "We're dealing with a lunatic stalker."
A short time after the battle, Captain Kendo and several other cop cars had created a perimeter and were interviewing witnesses. She was happy observing the weapon that had been left by the serial killer as she felt that they were finally one step closer to finding and stopping Dark Cupid. She was, however, intrigued by the fact that Chat Noir had battled Dark Cupid and managed to still let him slip away from the scene.
"Midoriya, Ashido," Kendo called out, getting the two officers to go up to her. "What did you see when Chat Noir was battling Dark Cupid?"
"We didn't hear much since they were flying all over the place," Mina said. "But the perp seemed to be very angry that he was there. Can't blame him though, villains and vigilantes don't seem to get along."
"We believe that Dark Cupid stalks the women he intends to kill, with wings like that he's bound to be capable of flying at high altitudes and with great speed even in urban areas." Izuku explained. "As we had previously decided, his weapon is a bow and arrow. But there's something else, he doesn't just appear to mimic the old stories of the man that hunted couples, he has some kind of compulsion to kill the women if they don't love him."
"But they all receive gifts from an anonymous admirer. Which means none of them know him nor can fall in love with him like he wants them to," Kendo commented. "And we also don't know how he keeps choosing his victims. You two did a good job, keep it up. And keep the press out of this." Kendo pointed to Alya as she did her journalism work.
Izuku and Mina rushed to Alya's side before taking her away from the location. They made it to where Alien Queen had been parked before with Alix waiting for them.
"So, did your boss like your work?" Alix asked.
"She's happy that we got close to catching him." Mina shrugged.
"Now she'll keep Odine Syren under surveillance, but that's not the only thing that concerns me. There's something else in this. He's not just targeting specific women, he's trying to turn them into someone else." Izuku looked down, trying to think of what could be the missing link.
"Well, I wish I could help but I've got to go open the bar." Alix looked at her phone. "The lonesome people of this fine city won't get drunk on their own."
Mina and Alya looked at each other. After their conversation with Alix, they had started to mellow out with the bunny thief. They sighed, knowing that they would have to start being nice if Alix was trying to be nice to them as well.
"Hey, Alix," Mina called. "Need a lift?"
Alix smiled.
Izuku, Mina and Alya drove Alix back to her place where they left her. She turned back to look at them once more, sporting a smile.
"I gotta say, this was a little boring, but very exciting at the same time. I can see what makes working together sound so much fun." Alix leaned on the window. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Well, for now we'll try to find anything related to his identity, hopefully we'll find an address and stop him tomorrow." Izuku smiled. "And in case something comes up. This is my number, Mina's and Alya's." He handed her a ticket with names and numbers.
"I'll be sure not to call you too much, kitty~" Alix winked.
"So, you know, boring police stuff." Mina shrugged.
"A joke, huh?" Alya pointed out. "Guess you're not in our hit list, Alix."
"That's great to hear. Well, if you guys ever want to drown your sorrows, you know where to find me." Alix turned around, walking back to the Broken Clock, swaying her hips from side to side.
Izuku, Mina and Alya couldn't help but stare at her swaying behind as though she was giving them a demonstration of what she could do. They felt their faces warming up as the sways continued up to the entrance of the bar and then after she had disappeared behind the door. They all let out a sigh from what had happened to them. They knew one that that was certain, Alix was the kind of woman that could turn heads be it of frenemies to allies alike. And that led the girls to reach a certain thought.
"Izuku, don't sleep with Alix until we give you the go ahead." Mina shook her blush off.
"No matter how sexy her tight butt might be or how open we are, we have the final word." Alya held her tail from wagging in desire.
"Huh?" Izuku asked, as if he hadn't heard them correctly.
The next morning came by quickly as the sun rose. Izuku and Mina were working on the case, going over the information that they had about the previous victims. As they did that, Alya was working on getting a more in depth investigation of the same victims they were. Almost the whole day had passed and there hadn't been any sightings of Dark Cupid, which meant they had nothing so far.
"Remind me why we're looking at these old files again?" Mina asked. "We did find the earrings but apart from that they have no connection."
"I just feel like there's more to the victims than we think. As long as Odine is under surveillance, Dark Cupid won't try anything funny. But they didn't find anything about Sako Atsuhiro." Izuku tapped his finger.
After Izuku and Mina gave the name of the one that paid for the earrings, nothing came up. There was no address under that name and no criminal record, which meant that they were back to the waiting game. They needed to give him a better form of bait to get him before he could slip away from their fingers.
"Sako Atsuhiro is still out there and probably stalking another woman. But why does he choose these women and why does he want them to fall in love with him?" Izuku asked, looking over the different pictures that were in front of him.
Just then Mina's phone started ringing. She saw that it was Alya giving them a call.
"Allo allo, hi Alya, what's up girl?" Mina asked.
"Not good my darling pink goddess," Alya sighed. "I've looked into all the victims and none of them have a lot in common."
"We knew that already, but there must be a reason he picked them." Mina looked at the pictures. "What about their routines? Their hobbies?"
"Well, they did start becoming more athletic and artistic because of their admirer. Some even changed their looks." Alya said. "But each story ended the same way, they weren't in love with the guy and died by his hand."
"Yeah, guess he can't get his one dream girl." Mina sighed.
Izuku perked up at those words. 'His one dream girl'. That's what Dark Cupid was looking for. He looked at the pictures and started comparing them. He put the ones that shared the same features together. He got the idea of what he was looking at, the ones that looked closer to who Dark Cupid wanted had red hair, blue eyes, fair skin, athletic and were somewhat rebellious.
"I think I've got it." Izuku said, getting Mina's attention.
"What?" Mina asked.
"What's that?" Alya asked.
"He wants to turn them into his perfect woman, and as long as they share a single similarity he starts to try to change them." Izuku explained. "Alaya, did any of the girls refuse to change something about themselves?"
"Oui, according to some of their friends some of them refused to dye their hair, others used contact lenses, and others didn't want to go on a specific diet to look a certain way." Alya went over her notes.
"He starts with small gifts that lead to changes, then he gives them the earrings when he's close to revealing himself," Izuku said. "And then he proposes to them and if they don't love him back, he kills them."
"Which means that all these girls have been in some kind of sick proposal rehearsal?" Mina asked before noting a very dangerous similarity between all the redhead victims. "Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Alya asked.
"I think we know who the girl Dark Cupid wants to be enamored with." Izuku looked at the pictures.
Back in the Broken Clock, Alix was working behind the bar as Mei was taking her break from it all. She had a pep in her step ever since last night. She had a lot of energy and wanted to go out and do something after seeing her friend and his girlfriends in action, she felt like she needed to do more. It was like her body was aching to take to the streets once more and just run from one side of the city to the other. Maybe she could convince Izuku to take her in on one of his patrols around the city.
"Heh, thief turned vigilante," Alix chuckled. "Ain't that one for the funny papers?"
The bell by the door jingled as someone entered the bar.
"Hey, how may I-?" Alix began only to see the man that had entered.
"Hello, Alix."
The man that stood before her was dressed like a magician with an orange buttoned up shirt, a black vest, black pants, black tie, orange shoes and a top hat. He had a charming smile that would make any audience fall for his tricks. His black hair was short and almost covered up by the top hat that he wore. His hands were covered by white gloves and a pocket watch was poking out from his vest.
"Oh, hey, um, you're Max, right?" Alix asked, inwardly groaning at the man's appearance in her bar.
"I'm so glad that you remember me. I was hoping that you did," 'Max' said. "Remember where we left off?"
"Hard to forget." Alix's left eyelid fought the urge to twitch.
It was hard for Alix to forget one of the most cringy dates of her life. She had gotten involved in one of those mixers Mei had suggested to beat the monotony of having just returned to the city. Sadly, her luck had stuck her with 'Max'. A fake name, part of the no strings attached policy of the mixer. Too bad Alix didn't bother to come up with one for herself.
During the course of the mixer, Max never left her side. He was clingier than a tick on steroids. He'd seemed nice at the beginning but the more time went on the more he appeared to be unhinged. Alix had tried to get rid of him more than once, but it seemed like he was getting other signals from her. She ended up pretending to have a family emergency, using her Miraculous to escape like Cinderella at the end of the ball. Alix hoped that she had seen the last of Max.
And yet here he was once more.
"Is there a reason that you're here? A drink?" Alix asked.
"Actually, I was hoping to ask if you'd be my Valentine?" 'Max' produced a bouquet of roses just for her.
Alix couldn't help but cringe at the presentation. Red flags were waving inside her head as she tried to think of what to say. She wished someone else would come in and get her out of this situation. But knowing her luck, she had no white knight to save her.
"Listen, 'Max', you're a nice guy and a little clingy. And maybe you'll find a nice girl to charm every single moment of your day," Alix said, noting the slight twitches in 'Max's' face. "You know what. We're both adults and if I've got to be the bad guy, I'll be the bad guy. 'Max' or whatever the heck your name is, I don't like you like that. I don't want to be your Valentine or anything like that. We talked once at a mixer five years ago. Move on."
'Max' lost all color in his face. He was losing the glow he had in his face and his hand was shaking. Petals of the flowers started to fall as 'Max's' face began to twitch. He could feel his world beginning to crumble around him.
"B-B-But I don't understand. Did I displease you?" 'Max' asked.
"Look, I've met someone else, more than a single person really," Alix sighed. "And although our relationship is a bit rocky and unconventional, I feel like I'm better off with them than with anyone else. They really are good for me and I'm good for them. You just need to move on."
"So, you don't love me?" 'Max' asked.
"Seriously? No, I don't love you!" Alix snapped, causing 'Max' to glare at her.
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to persuade you." 'Max' tightly grabbed the bouquet of flowers.
Alix didn't like the man's tone and she didn't like the look of what was moving behind his back. Her eyes widened as 'Max' grew big black wings like the ones she'd seen the night before. Her instincts kicked in as he jumped at her with the aid of his wings.
Alix took off out of the bar and to the concealed stairs of the building. But before she could reach for the door, an arrow embedded itself on the frame of the door. She turned around to see 'Max'-Sako Atsuhiro now fully dressed in his Dark Cupid costume, aiming another arrow.
"You will love me!" Dark Cupid snapped.
Alix spotted a bottle of wine before her. She narrowed her eyes as she blinked back to where she had been. She grabbed the bottle, throwing it at Dark Cupid as he fired another arrow. Using this chance, she blinked back to the door, getting in.
She climbed up the stairs as she heard Dark Cupid beating on the door with rage. Her heart was beating like a rabbit being chased by houndsShe made it to the halfway point when she heard the door being busted down.
"Why won't you love me?! ALIX!" Dark Cupid took to the air, chasing after Alix like a bird of prey.
Alix picked up the pace, rushing up the stairs as Dark Cupid flew after her. She slammed her shoulder against her front door before closing it. She made it to her apartment, now all she needed was her gear. She spotted her umbrella and she lunged towards it, grabbing it as Dark Cupid crashed through the door and into her room.
She turned around, deflecting an arrow with her umbrella. But it wasn't enough, the arrow pinned her to the couch through her vest.
"Damn it!" Alix cursed as she stared at Dark Cupid putting on his mask.
"This didn't have to be this way, Alix." Dark Cupid reached for one of his black roses. "Why couldn't you just love me?"
"So all the reasons I gave you before weren't enough?" Alix tried to pull out the arrow. "No means no!"
"Then I suppose that I'll have to find someone else to make into my Valentine." Dark Cupid dropped the black rose. "Farewell, Alix, I shall always remember you fondly."
Alix swallowed, hoping a lot for a hero to come around. But she also knew her luck, she would most likely not get a single prayer to her name. She looked up at the arrow being pulled back by the villain. She shot him a defiant look, knowing that she only had one chance to move out of the way.
Dark Cupid fired. But Alix swung her umbrella, deflecting the attack, getting another arrow to the shoulder. Dark Cupid fired a third arrow, disarming Alix.
"Shit." Alix muttered as Dark Cupid prepared his final arrow.
Just then, the window shattered.
Dark Cupid looked up to see Chat Noir flying over the room up to where he stood. He lifted his bow and arrow, firing the arrow.
Izuku twisted to the right, cocking his right arm. He winced as the arrow graced his right side. He punched Dark Cupid across the face, sending him to the ground.
Dark Cupid swung his bow at Izuku like a club, pushing him back. He tried to get enough distance to finish his mission. But Izuku blocked his path with both of his Kali sticks in hand. The villain fired his arrow trying to kill the vigilante, only for his arrow to be blocked by Izuku.
"Your insane murder spree ends here, Dark Cupid." Izuku held up his weapons, glaring through his goggles.
"No, I can still make them love me!" Dark Cupid rushed to the broken window, trying to get away.
But Izuku jumped on his back once more. Only this time, he had no intention to play. He wrapped his arms around Dark Cupid's neck, pulling him up. He was angry and was not holding anything back. As the villain tried to get him off, he started punching him in the face over and over with an elbow, breaking Dark Cupid's nose. He landed a punch between the ribs and the wing, getting a cry of pain.
"Let go of me! If you don't we will both die!" Dark Cupid snarled.
"No, no one dies tonight!" Izuku pulled Dark Cupid down, plummeting to the ground.
He held tightly to the panicking villain as he flailed in the air. He aimed and turned him like a falling kite, dodging the buildings as he tried to put him back on terra firma. Izuku's eyes narrowed as he saw something he could use. He saw a large water tower that would be the perfect stop. He jumped off of Dark Cupid, pulling out his grappling hook. Izuku fired his grappling hook, snatching the quiver on Dark Cupid's back.
Izuku skidded to a halt on the rooftop next to the water tower. With a mighty tug, he tore off the villain's quiver, throwing him out of balance and directly at the water tower.
Dark Cupid fell off, breaking one of his wings on the fall. He slowly got up, groaning in pain, holding his wing. He snarled, cursing under his breath when he felt a strong hand grabbing his shoulder. He turned around to see Chat Noir with a fist ready.
Izuku punched Dark Cupid in the face, breaking the villain's nose and tearing part of his costume. He panted, feeling his heart up to his throat after his flying adventure. He looked at his watch. It was almost midnight, almost Valentine's Day.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Dark Cupid. Don't expect too many chocolates in prison." Izuku handcuffed Dark Cupid's hands.
Captain Kendo watched in pride at the sight of Dark Cupid hung by the legs in the middle of the street with a note stuck to his chest. She pulled it off to see who had gotten her an early Valentine's Day gift.
"I caught you a birdie.
From C. N."
"Show off." Kendo smirked, knowing that she would now have to uphold her end of the bargain.
Izuku and Alix had gotten patched up with the help of Mina and Alya. Though Alix wasn't as hurt as they thought. She was angry and was drinking herself into a stupor. Her face was red and she tapped her finger against the beer can she had.
"To think that all this time he's been obsessed with me." Alix looked at her vest's new holes.
"Yep, Max also known as Sako Atsuhiro was once hospitalized in a psychiatric facility after he kidnapped his next door neighbor when he was a teenager. Since then he was supposedly on heavy medication, but he seems to have skipped it." Alya explained. "At least now he can get the help he needs."
"Yeah, behind bars." Mina hugged Izuku from behind.
"To think all this started because I gave him the slip back then." Alix sighed. "I suck at love, what can I say? Heck of a way to start this Valentine's Day." She cracked open a beer and took a deep gulp out of it.
Mina and Alya looked at each other. They could tell that Alix had a lot of pent up energy and needed to do something with it. They looked at Izuku as he reached for her hand, trying to calm her.
"It's alright, Alix. This isn't your fault." Izuku said, giving her a sincere smile.
"I know that. But now I just want to kick some ass and I couldn't even do that." Alix hid her blush. "I need to hit something."
Mina and Alya looked at each other with a shared nod.
"Alright then," Mina said.
"There's no way around it." Alya got up from the bed.
Izuku and Alix looked at each other as Mina and Alya pulled out of the apartment.
"Consider a welcome to the group and an early Valentine's Day present." Mina smirked from the door, waving at Izuku and Alix.
"Don't forget to use protection~." Alya closed the door as her tail wagged in a mischievous fashion.
Izuku snapped at that comment.
"Hey, wait, wait, girls!" Izuku reached out only for Alix to stop him.
She looked at him with a drunken sultry look.
"I guess I owe my savior some much needed rewards~" Alix pulled up her shirt showing her navel. "Pucker up, kitty~"
Izuku laughed awkwardly before Alix pounced on him, kissing him deeply. He didn't know how but she took off his clothes while straddling his hips.
"Best Valentine's Day ever~!" Alix gushed.