... yeah I've got nothing to say here.
The sound of clanging metal echoed through the seine docks. Birds (and Mr. Ramier) were frightened by the loud noises and scattered away. It could even be heard from inside the Liberty, where the Couffaine siblings were trying to ignore it.
Luka's guitar strumming was continuously interrupted after each chord, causing him to start over several times. He was chill about it though, not bothered by the racket. His kwami however…
"What in the name of the kwami is that?!" Sass buried himself underneath a few pillows. If he had ears they would surely be bleeding… Wait, do kwamis have blood? Unlike the snake, Roarr wasn't bothered by the sound, but even she had to admit, it was starting to get on her nerves. "Juleka?" she floated over to the girl reading, who removed an earplug when the tiny tiger tapped her. "That banging's been going on for a while now. Think we should check it out?"
"Sure." Juleka placed her book down. She was almost out the door when her brother spoke up. "Don't forget the crowbar." The tiger bearer nodded, thankful for the reminder. Taking a crowbar with her, Juleka stepped outside onto the deck.
The noise was even louder outside, fortunately that made it easier to hear where it was coming from. "It's under the bridge." Juleka mumbled to her kwami, though it couldn't be heard with the racket. The little tiger hid while her chosen cautiously approached the bridge. Beneath the shadows, there was a figure hitting something over and over again. Juleka gripped the crowbar tighter and stepped closer, then she realized she recognized that shadow.
"Alix?"
The rabbit wielder had heavy headphones on, unable to hear her classmate. The girl was hammering away at a heavy looking safe. Juleka tapped her shoulder and the girl finally realized someone else was here "Sup Juleka?" Alix removed her headphones and put down the hammer. Both of their kwamis came out of hiding.
"Um…" Juleka awkwardly pointed at the safe. Alix realized what she meant. "Oh this. I got it from a junk sale! Didn't have the combination to open it, so I had to get creative." At first she had been trying to open it at home, but her dad made her stop after the first swing.
"Fluff could open it-" Roarr suggested "Or better yet, let me do it!" the tiny tiger readied her power. If she was careful, the resulting shock wave would probably not do too much damage to the surrounding area. "Where's the fun in that?" Alix stopped the kwami. "It's too much of a cheat to phase through it. The challenge of opening it on my own will make what's inside even better!"
Holding out the hammer she was using, Alix realized it wasn't making a dent at all. "But I don't think this is gonna work…" she spotted the crowbar Juleka had. "Mind if I try that?" The goth handed her the crowbar and patiently watched as she struggled to pry it open. Juleka could see that the metal on the crowbar was beginning to bend and stopped her friend from pulling anymore. "This won't work either." "Yeah, that's her mom's favorite crowbar," Roarr added.
At an impasse, the girls pondered what they could use to open the safe. "... Could dynamite work?" Juleka suggested, much to Alix's surprise.
OXOXOXOX
Jagged Stone was hard at work on a new song, tapping a pen to his lips as the lyrics tried to reach the paper, "What about… a passionate guitar solo tribute to how much I love guitar solos?"
"Hey dad-" Jagged turned to see Juleka poking her head into the hotel room. "Do you have anything close to dynamite?"
"Hmm… try the fireworks from texas. I keep those in the closet over there." the rockstar pointed his pen towards another door. Juleka went in and grabbed what she needed, giving her dad a quick hug. "You rock, dad." and she scurried off to continue her work.
The brief interaction gave some inspiration to the man. "I got it! A guitar solo dedicated to giving children dangerous explosives!" He was a good role model.
OXOXOXOX
The girls met back up at the Trocadero and placed the fireworks around the safe. Fluff ignited the spark and flew back to safety before it went off. The blast was colorful and loud, and oddly enough, shaped exactly like the American state of Texas.
The cloud of smoke cleared away, but the safe was only singed, not even slightly open.
"What is that thing made of?!" Alix couldn't believe how tough this thing was! Whatever was inside had to be important.
Juleka, who was deeply invested in the safe's contents at this point, was also bummed that the explosion failed. But it was a good explosion, so that was a consolation. "Any more ideas?"
To answer her question, Alix rolled out a grocery list of alternate methods she'd come up. "About twenty of them." She handed over the list so Juleka could look it over. "You thought of all this while I was gone?"
"Nah, I made this list ages ago when I was bored." Alix shrugged. Who knew a list of ways to open an unopenable force would come in handy? "Alix is really good with coming up with ways to pass time. It's a great skill to have if you end up hiding in the burrow for ages on end until the threat of Hawkmoth fetching the rabbit Miraculous is over." Fluff nodded.
Roarr snorted, "Ah Fluff, you crack me up with your crazy imagination!"
While Juleka and Roarr went over the list, Alix was freaked out and pulled Fluff aside. "Is that what the me in that other timeline is doing?!" "Yeah, but you got a free pass out of school." Fluff helped her chosen see the bright side of her alternate self's situation.
OXOXOXOX
Crossing out the methods that involved using superpowers, Alix and Juleka were down to six options on how to open the safe.
First, melting a hole with a welding tool. The girls borrowed a welder and mask from Max, but the heat failed to create a hole. However, Roarr and Fluff roasted marshmallows in the heat.
Second, pick the lock. Using several hairpins, the duo took turns picking the lock. One hairpin broke off and ricochet across the room and out the window. The hairpin hit the hot coffee that Chloe had just ordered and spilled it on her new white purse.
Third, drop the safe from a great height. Climbing up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the girls pushed the safe over the edge and watched it plummet back down to earth. The safe made a crater in the ground, but still no change. Alix banged her head against the railing in frustration.
Fourth, Kim. The two just left the safe in a room with Kim for an hour. They came back to pick it up and found the boy beaten up and lying facedown on the floor. Xuppu flew up to them and shrugged.
Fifth, melt a hole in it with acid. Returning to Max, the boy gave the girls some highly untested acid solution. Roarr held it over the safe, but the acid ran off the top and over the side, burning a hole through the floor.
And finally, they used a giant drill. They had to cheat a little on the 'no superpowers' rule since the only way they could get a giant drill was by having Caprikid create one. But alas, the drill was no match for the safe and the tip was dulled down after a minute of drilling.
"I give up!" Alix screamed, marching around the safe. "We've done everything, and the thing is barely dented! What sort of secrets had to be hidden behind such a ridiculously strong box?!"
"Now can we do our thing?" Roarr raised her tiny paw, Fluff nodded beside her.
"Go right ahead! Although knowing this thing, it'll be impossible for even a kwami to go through it!" In her rage, Alix kicked the side of the safe.
… and the door finally opened.
No one could believe it. The safe was finally open. Words failed the girls, who scrambled to see what was inside. Hidden in the world's most unbreakable safe was a stack of documents and photos. "What is this?" Juleka skimmed over one of the papers. Alix grabbed the photos and scrutinized them. "Hey, isn't that-" her eyes widened in shock. Juleka did the same when she finished overlooking a few pages.
"Alix-" "Juleka-" their faces paled. "These-these belong to-"
A shadow draped over them, a terrifying gaze sent chills down their spines. The duo slowly turned to look at who was behind them.
"You found my secret…" Mr. Banana spoke darkly.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"