Hey all, this is your friend the Bard! Sorry for being gone RL you know. Any way For Halloween I will TRY, Try mind you to finish the next chapter of this and i will be publishing two more chapters of my other stories, and i have an accountment to make! This is now part of a Series! I just started to write and this became so much bigger then i planned at the beginning, so many twists and turns but I will be taking all of my Kwami into my other Ladybug Story Crossover, the Villian pairs, no but the Heroes, Yes! So Enjoy the chapter and have a good day one and all!
Marinette yawned as she woke up, the last few days had been hard but she was sure that she was almost over it all. With the paperwork that the lawyer brought with him sent in, she would soon have a hearing and from there she and her family would survive and thrive. "Morning Tikki, how are you?"
"Fine Marinette, but something about what was on the news last night," Tikki said as she floated free and looked at her chosen. "Something about it bothered me, I don't know but something about how they looked, I've seen it before but I can't remember where or when."
"Well, if this is Hawkmoth or something else then we'll find out and deal with it, I think I'll stay home today and maybe message Master Fu later…..," She said with a yawn as she walked out of her room into the rest of the house carrying her clothing, smiling as she heard her father singing down below, the only reminder that she needed to head towards the bathroom.
As she walked through the house she knew she was forgetting something and as she turned the corner and walked into something. Looking up she blushed as she saw she had walked into Adrien and that he didn't have a shirt on.
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Adrien got out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. As he finished his arms he put the Ring of the Black Cat back on and Plagg formed in front of him and scowled at his chosen.
"Okay Kit, what happened last night?" Plagg asked and Adrien sighed and looked away.
"Tikki told you about Blanc, right? I think there's a bigger chance that my father is Hawkmoth than before," Adrien said and looked at Plagg with a hard look to his eyes. Plagg's eyes opened wide and he looked at Adrien with horror, he didn't like Gabriel but was he that much of a bastard? And that meant that his kin might have been held captive in the same house he lounged around in!
"What do you mean kid?" Plagg asked as Adrien put his clothing on, hoping that he could disprove whatever Adrien thought he had discovered.
"You know how I've been feeling about Marinette, how my crush was on both of her was starting to make me feel filthy? If I discovered both of them were her, then I would date her in my civilian form and try to keep her from knowing I knew. The Lila plan that got Marinette expelled? Turning Mari into an Akuma must have been the goal!" Adrien said grimly as Plagg floated there, a frown on his face as he watched Adrien.
"Okay…. Okay so Gab would have threatened either you or Bread to get you to break up, probably her. Then when she was feeling down about it Bread would have been a prime target for an Akuma…. You see it, you transformed to save her, then he/Hawkbut saw you and then the events where you were an Akuma, probably revealing who he is in the process," Plagg reasoned out and looked at Adrien who had a dead look in his eyes. Plagg looked at Adrien and tried to think of anything to say, but he had to admit that what Adrien was saying made sense. "Come on kid, it might have been something else, I mean Gab might be overprotective but that doesn't mean…."
Plagg wanted to cataclysm himself as he saw his kit look so forlorn, he wanted to help him but before he could think of anything to say Adrien spoke.
"My mom Plagg, if dad has the Butterfly then that means that mom might have had the Moth, if the Moth is damaged then that means it's why she's gone," Adrien said softly. I
Plagg's eyes widened. His mom, the Peacock! If that's what happened then the Assistant is the current wielder! Oh kid you don't deserve this at all! Plagg thought as he looked at Adrien as he put his shirt over his shoulder and Plagg slipped away, out of sight as he followed his chosen.
Adrien was so caught up in his thoughts that he never noticed Marinette before he walked into her.
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Marinette looked at Adrien and swallowed as she saw his bare chest and how his hair was still damp.
"Marinette, hey… uh, the showers free?' Adrien said as he looked down at her and blushed with how she looked in her sleepwear. He could feel Plagg laughing silently as he leaned against Adrien's
"Yeah, I should…. Want to watch a movie in my room once I'm done over breakfast? I mean we've got nothing better to do…" Marinette said and blushed as she saw Adrien's bare chest. As she blushed she looked up and quickly tore her eyes away from the sight before her. "I'll see you later!"
As Adrien stood there he looked down and blushed as he put his shirt on, two hidden little laughs all the evidence of the three beings who had seen what had happened.
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As Sabine smiled from the side room that they used as an office to keep track of expenses and when they needed to order new supplies. Those two deserve all the help we can give them, and all the love. But that doesn't handle our problems with the excess, we could do that and it will be a good tax benefit as well….. She thought as she closed the door and went to work, As it was with Marinette not going to that school anymore they would have to look into another way to handle the leftovers, they gave over a quarter of them to the school, and the rest to the homeless shelters, so there was that at least… maybe have the pickups every day before opening? They were a bit out of the way but maybe he could come another way? Sabine shrugged and sighed as she started to check over the supplies from last night and nodded as she looked over the bakery's books.
"I wonder if I could get Adrien to come over for breakfast once this is over if everything goes right?" Sabine muttered as she finished going over everything and nodded, jotting down a few notes over what she needed to order over the next few days. As she finished getting everything done she left the room.
Passing by Adrien she smiled at him. "While you're here Adrien, please remember to get dressed in the bathroom first before you leave please!"
Adrien looked at her and gulped as Sabine left, Sabine giggling as she left and he felt Plagg laugh from his pockets.
As she entered the bakery part of the building she smiled as she heard the sounds of their crew starting to work, walking by them she nodded as she headed towards the counter and dropped a franc a new empty jar, Tom chuckling as chuckles were heard from the others.
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The sun shined through a window showing 5 teens around a table, each around 19 years of age. All of them were looking over a map of Paris, a few marks locking down an area into five sectors.
"So I'll ask around the Tower, Sarah will take the area by the school, Jonny will take that street outside the courtyard and Robert will look around the river, everybody okay with that?" The person who asked was a tall male in a blue shirt and sweat pants with red hair in a wolf's tail.
"God, after coming here to intern they send us out like gophers, they want to get their money's worth from us," The teen who muttered was a black-haired man dressed in a green jacket and black pants, short greasy black hair snickered.
"We will all have a cameraman with us in case we find anything, and if we can get something then I think we'll get partial credit for it, there's that at least," The greasy teen said and a blond-haired male teen in a white shirt started to laugh and shake his head.
"Come on brother Robert, live a little!" The blond teen said and the final member of the group and the only woman there, a mousey looking girl with brown hair in a bun wearing a white blouse and silver pants.
"Jonny's not wrong you know," The mousey girl said and Robert glared at her.
"Oh stop it, Sarah, you and Bob are just like each other!" Robert barked and Sarah blushed and looked away as Bob coughed. The two of them were alike, but then the secret they both shared did explain some of that, but they wouldn't talk about it
"So let's do it people, we'll meet our camera crew downstairs and get to work!" Bob said as he stood up, the others following his actions as they walked out the door and towards the elevator.
As Bob pushed the elevator button he smiled as he waited. He had worked hard and he was finally in the news business, at the ground level sure but he was there! As the elevator came and they moved into it Sarah hit the button for the ground floor. As Robert looked around as Johnny told a joke that made Sarah giggle he looked at the door. As the elevator stopped and the party walked out they were met with laughter.
"Well well, the brat pack coming down from the tower, what spilld some copier?" A haughty voice called. As one Bob and Sarah both winced and all four of them turned to see what they knew but most hoped not to see
A woman with flashy makeup, a beige skirt that went to her thighs, and a white t-shirt that hugged her curvy figure and long platinum-colored hair went to her shoulders laughed. Next to her was a woman that was Bob's height and age with her black hair in a bun and large glasses dressed in a green sleeveless shirt, black vest and black pants wearing flats.
"Kate what are you two doing here, it that gossip rag show of yours finally going down? No? Then what brings the queen and her handmaiden down from their tower?" Bob asked as the flashy woman looked at him with a scowl.
"We're heading to the management to talk about a new story that ….. Miss Ava found last night, it might even be something Nadja missed!" The bun-haired woman, Kate said and Ava looked at her with a look of anger.
Be quite Kate!" Ava snapped and looked at the woman next to her. Kate winced and looked away, Bob scowled as he saw her react like this again
"Yes miss Ava," Kate muttered as she looked down.
"There you are Bob, I was looking for you all," Nadjia's voice caused all of them to look and see her walking towards them, a smile on her face.
"Good Morning miss Nadja!" All the interns said as she came towards them and saw Ava and Kate standing there.
"Good morning Kate. Ava," Nadjia said with a glare that Ava returned and Bob winced. He had heard there was bad blood between the two of them and
"You wanted to talk to me Miss Nadjia?" Bob asked to break the tension. Nadjia nodded and looked at him and her eyes found Sarah. Bob didn't react, but he was protective of her, as much as anyone with their relationship but he didn't say anything
"Yes, I spoke with your boss. You and Sarah are working for me today, you two still have your jobs to do, but you can just go out and talk to whoever you want," Nadjia said as she looked at Johnny and Robert.
"Now I'm sorry, but please keep up you two," Nadjia said as she turned and walked towards a side office.
"Got it Miss Nadjia !" Sarah said before she walked off. Bob looked at his friend and shrugged before he walked off after Sarah.
"So they go off and work for her and we get stuck holding the bag!" Robert said bitterly.
"Don't worry brother, be happy!" Jonny said as he walked towards the doors to the street, Robert following behind with a scowl.
Kate looked after where Bob had gone and smiled a little, she always liked those two, they seemed to be willing to get dirty if it meant someone who did a worse crime paid in the end. Those two were perfect to take over for those two, all she had to do was take those two out and bring them in, a few years to slowly change their thinking and she would have two allies that would back her up, and after she takes over the news station she would have two partners for the rest of time.
"Come intern, move it! You need to look over the reports I got from my ears, I want a story to blow that Prime Queen out of the water!" Ava barked and Kate nodded subserviently and followed after her, a small presence in her pocket told her that what her partner felt about her boss, and she couldn't wait until she found a way to…. direct Ava better, and she wondered if what let Hawkmoth operate could help her in that way.
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Max sighed as he left his house and pulled out his phone, the weight of Markov in his bag didn't feel as heavy today even with Kaalki in there with him. Last night he and Markov had tracked down Lila's last three schools, and all of them had a variation of the same story; Lila came into their lives with grandiose stories, sometimes a person would see through them, confront her about the lies and then Lila would spend her time there making the person's life hell or if nobody saw through her then accidents would happen to other people whose only crime Max could see was to be more talented than Lila was. And in the end, people would only figure out the truth once Lila was gone, some survived her other times people were left broken in her wake.
But after talking it over with Markov and Kaalki he had been advising to talk with Fu, Kaalki had said that the guardian had experienced quite a lot and he would have advice that would help Max, and while he knew he should send the links and contact information on to the others… this was so much more and this could ruin more lives than just Lila, he needed advice before he could move forward.
Fu seemed to him to have a lot of experience, having seen a lot during his long life, he had to have dealt with people who liked to hurt others before
As he walked he suddenly felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out and smiled, Fu had texted him back and said to come to the same side street that he and the others had used and that he was wondering if Fu could hire Max to check the theater's network, something about making sure that he wasn't being taken advantage of. Max smiled and sent a reply, as he walked he saw a police car roll by and frowned as he turned a corner and saw a truck roll by and frowned as he saw it was from the ECDC[European Center of Disease Control].
"Markov, scan the net and find what would bring the ECDC out here after staying away because of Hawkmoth!" Max commanded as he walked towards Fu and called up a chat room and smiled as he saw that Lila wasn't there and that there were mentions of a page Alya had set up because of Marinette's situation. His talk with his mother about what had happened to Marinette had forced Markov to call the center and have her commander come in and join the talk, thankful he had helped calm her down and promise to fly her to Paris herself, something about a budget meeting in France about a new drone they were going to launch in a few months, a mission that was still in the planning stages. He had almost offered to make an AI when he heard the way the commander mentioned how isolated it would be, his AIs were too human for that kind of work, but perhaps his Virtual Intelligences might be more in line with what future missions need.
"Max? I found it…. There were people found last night at least twenty. And they're all still unconscious and haven't woken up," Markov said and Max went still and looked down at his bag and paled before he started to run towards the theater. As he ran he remembered the stories his mother told him, one story about how her friend had slept for weeks, waking up so weak after she woke up, the girl had been drained, she became a baker in a small bakery in their hometown, looking for peace when originally she wanted a life as a member of the national police.
He also remembered how his mother said her friend was only one of many people who had fallen asleep for so long, all of them seemed to be…..drained was the only way she had to describe it. If half of what she talked about was happening now, then the others had to know about what Max knew. If there was a chance that a new supervillain was moving into Paris, then the others had to know. And if this was something that missed his mom, then he owed whoever was behind this and he would stop them in Paris and save all that he could.
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Kim hadn't said anything to the police, but when he had found the people and touched one of them to make sure that they were okay, and he felt something, something he had only felt twice before, when he used the Miraculous to become Roi Singe and when Hawkmoth had used him. Part of him was worried that this wasn't Hawkmoth and part of him was worried it wasn't. Ever since he had transformed and fought, he had been different, he had an easier time keeping his focus and his memory was even better. He didn't know what it meant but he liked it a lot. Still, as Max would say, everything has a reason and a cost… so what's mine? I mean this is weird but I haven't changed, it's like something was gone…. I like this but I don't like not knowing why! Kim thought as his mind tried to get away from the people he had found last night.
After Odine had gone home, he had stayed there and slept in an empty room so the police could ask him some questions in the morning. Last he heard the ECDC ordered the area isolated and the buildings all stores had been closed for hours in most cases. All in all he wished he had either his Miraculous or a way to call Ladybug, they might know something
As he walked he saw Max hurrying along and was about to call out when Max turned down a street and frowned. That's not like him, he's always talking about how you should stay on the main streets, what's he doing now Max had been silent since last night, he had seen him go to Marinette's place after Alya and Nino on the last day of school, but what was up with him now? As he pulled his phone out he quickly sent a quick text to Odine and smiled at the reply. They had been planning to meet up again after last night but she said that she was hoping they could cancel, she wasn't feeling that well. He sent off a text and promised to make another date when she was feeling better and he sent another message to Max.
As a car drove by him he frowned as he notice it looked official, something told him it had something to do with what he found last night. Times like this he wished his little buddy was with him, the two of them could run around town and try and find out what had happened, of course, he would have to change headbands. Ever since he had first transformed he had been wearing a headband after a few days, he had said it was something about a lucky charm that he read about and Max had found a few articles that other athletes had done it so people ignored him with how Paris had been.
A beep from his phone caused him to look down and see that Max wasn't able to talk to him today, he sighed and walked off, he would keep an eye out and hope for the best. If something was wrong with those people beyond a quick sickness or poisoning, then he hoped that Chat Noir and Ladybug was on the case.
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Odine got off her phone as she looked at Bottla as the Kwami ate some lettuce. She hatted to cancel their date, but after last night she needed to talk to the Kwami she had found and get the whole story about what was going on, and she needed to decide what she would do.
" This is great! Thanks for the greens kid! I just love me some lettuce!" Bottla said as she floated on her back and burped a little. Odine giggled and looked at the kwami who finished off the last of the food and grinned at Odine.
"No problem, you know I can't believe that Plagg and Tikki are fighting against somebody who kidnaped Nooroo. That little guy was always so happy and carefree back home!" Bottla said and Odine looked at her.
"When we spoke last night, you said that they have a ritual that could give them centuries, but how?
"It's all of them really; most importantly Sloth's ability to takes energy and Lust's ability to create minions, that's all we've been able to understand, the others never used their ability when we could see them combined or how, but each of them is enough of a scum that the others need to have some reason to work together and not take everything for their own," Bottle said with a growl.
Odine looked at the Dolphin Kwami and tried to figure out what
"I don't know what happened, she renounced me an hour before you found her, they don't know who I am and I don't think they can track an active Miraculous," Bottla said and Odine nodded and smiled.
"Good, well it's not but it's better than I feared," Odine said. That means I might be safe once I transform back…. Oh, what am I thinking! She thought as she looked at the Kwami who didn't see Odine's expression as she looked all over the room, looking out the window and cooing as she saw the grounds.
"This is nice, I mean I've been mostly mobile for years but this place is good! If we had Sparkk here then we could ward it so hard it would take all of them an hour to break in!" Bottla said and Odine blinked and looked up.
"Sparkk?" Odine asked as Bottla turned and looked at Odine.
"The Firefly Kwami…. She studied the mystic art of warding. After Atlantis fell, our holders escaped with a fraction of the knowledge that they once held. To keep it alive they had us learn it, so we could be living repositories of what Atlantis could do, she studied the mystical arts of warding a place. They could do such wonders in the old days, a ward to heal, to recover magic, and to learn things faster! They experimented with magic and what they could do, it was amazing!" Bottla said and Odine looked at the Kwami as it floated there.
"Then she would tell us how to ward my home?" Odine asked and Bottla nodded.
"Yeah, we all studied a few subjects; mine was the stars, legends, and history!" Bottla said with a grin before she zipped over to the computer and typed a few words onto a document program and cooed at it.
"So what are these seven like?" Odine asked and Bottla scowled.
"Every one of them is a threat not counting their powers, well I've fought six of them, we've never seen Gluttony," Bottla admitted and Odine frowned.
"What are they like, how hard are they to fight?" Odine asked and Bottla looked away.
"Wraith is a master strategist, Greed is an ambush fighter, Lust and Sloth love to cause pain and play with our minds, Envy always had a plan, and Pride is great at close quarters," Bottla said bitterly and Odine winced and looked at the box the Kwami had appeared from and pulled out a small silver choker with a blue gemstone in it with a white dolphin on it. As soon as she touched it the stone flashed and turned black and the metal turned white.
"Woah," Odine said as she looked down at it.
"That's hiding mode, it's different for every person who picks up a Miraculous, so are you my new chosen after all kid, or will we hide, that's good too," Bottla asked and Odine took a deep breath and looked down.
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Lila ran along the sidewalks and tried to keep from looking over her shoulder, the way that chief and Penny Rolling had talked about her stories had told her that she needed to leave fast. As she slowed down after she put a few streets between her and the hotel, she released a sigh and tried to keep calm, so far she had been able to handle those people who dared to try and stand against her, was it her fault that those idiots stood against her? The woman's daughter must have been in one of the other classes at school, she didn't know about any of them having a chief for a parent, she could have gotten such bonuses if she only could have drawn them into her web.
She wondered who the chief's child was, she would have to ask Alya about it, maybe tell a tale about how she knew a chief and lost contact and they mentioned they had a child or something like that, the little idiot would drink it up. She started to giggle, she was glad that she had come to the College if she could find tools like Alya! Now all she had to do was wait until they forget about Marinette before she started to 'admit' a few times Marinette bullied her, how she didn't want to make a big deal, maybe even bring Kim into it if the jock didn't start to play ball.
a through Paris, she looked around and noticed more police were around than normal, they usually stayed away and let the so-called heroes handle it, why were they out and about? Did she miss something or was there a crisis that wasn't an Akuma? As they weren't trying to get people to safety, so then the Akuma was probably the wrong thing, she'd have to keep her eyes open.
As she came closer towards a policeman standing ideal by his car she put on her best worried expression. "Sir, excuse me….. but I'm seeing so many police out, did something happen?"
"You didn't hear ma'am? Over twenty people were found unconscious last night, and they're all still asleep at the hospital. Currently, we're trying to find out what happened to them all," The policeman said and shrugged at her look. "It was on the news kid!"
"Oh, I don't follow the news much, it's all so depressing lately," Lila said absently and reached for her phone absently.
"Yeah well you stay safe, we have a curfew for around 7 tonight, so do your business and get back home or indoors fast when night falls!" The Policeman said and Lila nodded.
"I will!" She called out before she walked away, a strange look on her face. As she moved through Paris her phone rang and seeing who it was from she smiled and walked off with a swing in her step that most people would have thought meant that she was going to her boyfriend, not to cause the downfall of a beloved public figure.
As she walked Lila's smirk became vicious and evil as she imagined how she might soon have Ladybug's body at her feet.
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Gabriel sighed as he looked out over the city from his window, a frown on his face. So far Adrien hadn't been anywhere that Natalie had thought of, the Gorilla had even gone around the homes of Adrien's other classmates that had been at his party but he hadn't been at any of them. With Lila I messed up so royally, with what my investigator found out about her what was I thinking when I decided to use her? But the little witch probably thinks I believed her lies about Miss Marinette yesterday, the perks of talking to her as two people I suppose. Still, I wonder … it would be interesting to try a few of the other powers the book I found said the Miraculous of Transmission gives the wielder when they enslave a target….. yes that might be perfect, it means Catalyst would make a comeback for a few times but…. Yes, that could work. He thought as he walked back towards his desk, looking down at the paperwork on it and frowned.
That was another issue and one that he needed to find an answer to soon. No matter what she had done, Natalie hadn't been able to find out who was serving the lawsuit for Adrien. He didn't expect much to come from it, as far as he and Nathalie knew, everything about Adrien's contract was above board, his wife set it up herself.
For a moment he was brought back towards when she had asked him out all those years ago, he was a student and she was an advanced student a few months short of graduating early, plus she had already had played in a few parts in her parent's movies. She was the school heartthrob and he was a loner who made clothes in his spare time, the jocks and queen bees had been shocked, but when they showed up to a dance in his designs they had all wanted Gabriel's to wear. They had moved to Paris when his grandfather had passed away, the mansion he lived in now had been in his family since the occupation, his family had owned the biggest grocery store in all of Paris and they had gotten into the black-market during those years, sold to anyone and even now Gabriel had a few feelers out with the criminal element around the country, Paris was clear of other criminal families since his first attack as Hawkmoth to his surprise, the criminal element trusted mind controllers less than the law did, the only ones left were the smaller street-level gangs and he had ignored them, but the way things were going he might have to look into them if his experiment worked out like he hoped it would.
But with what he had heard on the news that morning, he was more worried about the fact that Adrien could have been one of the victims of what had happened last night. The people found at the alley unconscious hadn't been identified, so there was a chance that Adrien was there but he didn't know what he would do if he was. Lila would pay, and she would if
The Gorilla had gone to the hospital but the Akuma Taskforce was keeping everyone out, they said they would release the identities to the family of the victims first and go from there, but they would do so after a day had passed and the doctors had a better idea about what had happened. I never should have let that little witch anywhere near my company! I should have sued her myself when she broke into my house, why did I try and have that witch help me!? Still, after today's experiment, I might have gotten something from her after all! He thought as he looked at the city.
A cough from behind him caused him to turn and see Nathalie walking into the room, Gabriel moved towards her as Nooroo floated from his desk. "Miss Nathalie, you should stay down!"
Duusu laughed and floated from one of Natalie's pockets, a grin on its face. Gabriel looked at the Kwami and then turned towards Natalie as she grinned at him.
"Nooro is right Miss N, you gotta rest!" Duusu said with a laugh and Gabriel scowled at the kwami, the way the Miraculous's damage was affecting the little thing was beginning to get on his last nerve! But his work to translate the book was going nowhere, he needed something to change soon, or sooner or later what happened to his wife will happen to Nathalie.
"I contacted Lila, she knows to try and spark something from a reporter, I'll be using it to help…" Nathalie said and Gabriel guided her to a chair as she coughed.
"No, stay here for now Nathalie, that's an order. I was thinking about putting the third area of the lair into use again, what do you think about it?" Gabriel asked and Nathalie looked at him and grinned darkly.
"Would a certain young miss be one of the subjects?" Nathalie asked as the Kwami looked at each other in concern, each of them remembering what other wielders of their powers had done with them and Dussu felt fear for the girl while Nooroo felt fear of what Lila might become, already she was one of the worst people he had ever encountered as far as he was concerned.
"The Primary one, but for that to happen we'll need Catalyst so please rest," Gabriel said and Nathalie looked at him before shaking her head.
"No, if I can create a Senti-Monster to track down Adrien," Nathalie began but Gabriel shook his head.
"No, if Adrien figures out the connection between the villains and our then I do not doubt that he will tell others. Stay here Nathalie, if you learn anything about my son call me, join me later if you're better but do not transform," Gabriel said as he walked towards the painting of his wife, Nooroo following behind him as he watched as Duusu floated towards Nathalie as she looked at her tablet.
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Kim sighed as he walked along the sidewalk. Max had said he was busy with some research but promised to talk to him tomorrow about everything. As he moved down an alley he saw a woman in a raincoat rushing past him, a strange feeling going through him as he spun around and looked after her as she ran away. He looked after her, trying and failing to figure out what was bothering him before he ran after her a moment later.
Reaching the end of the alley he looked around and while he didn't see the woman, he did see Max walking towards the entertainment section of the city. He frowned, if Max wanted to see a movie then he would have said something, this was something else. For a moment he wondered why then he realized what could have happened and he growled, Lila wouldn't get away with bothering his pal!
As he ran after Max, he scowled as his hands clenched and unclenched, if Lila was behind this then she was behind what happened to Marinette, then Lila would face Kim's angry words!
Ahead of him, Max ran faster, his thoughts about what Markov had found consuming him. As he reached the street before the movie theater he looked around, not seeing Lila he sighed. If what they had all figured out last night was true then with everything he found on the net then Lila was a sociopath that would do anything to come out ahead, if Hawkmoth got too close to her, the chaos that she could do if she got the Moth Miraculous… he shuddered as he made he moved on, not noticing Kim following behind him.
As he entered the theater, he saw Master Fu standing by a doorway, looking around, spotting a worker cleaning up a soda spill. Fu saw Max walk in and smiled.
"Ahhhh you Max, thank you for coming. The computer has been on the fritz for a while," Fu said with a smile as Max walked towards him.
As Kim followed Max he frowned, something was bothering him, he was starting to think that Lila wasn't here at all. But why would Max be here, was he researching movies for something? As he followed Max into a movie theater he saw a small bald old man in a Hawaii shirt. As he watched the two of them talk as Kim frowned, wondering just what was going on here. As one movie finished and everyone left, both Max and Fu were blocked from Kim's sight for a few moments and when he could see the door Fu was standing by flipped back and forth with the two of them gone.
Kim blinked and moved against the crowd of people and quietly opened the door and saw Max walk through a doorway. He dashed down the hallway, finally reaching the door and opening it, staring shocked at what was with the room. The door was at the top of an open staircase and below was Max sitting down at a table with a Kwami floating above him, with other Kwami flying around the room, the old man setting up a teapot.
"…. So what did you want to talk about Max?" The old man asked and Max looked around and sighed.
"A long story sir, at first I wanted to talk about Lila, but then I heard about something else this morning, something my mom told me about when I was a child," Max said and looked around the room, gathering his courage. "It's a long story sir and I don't know where to even begin…."
"Sounds tough, but before that happens how about our friend comes and joins us?" Fu said as he looked towards the stairs, Max followed Fu's eyes and saw Kim looking down at them, a look of shock as Kaalki looked at him.
"Roi Singe welcome, come join Pegasus and myself for a cup of tea, I know that Xuppi was hoping to see you again!"
"Roi Stinge?" Max asked in a shocked tone.
"Pegasus?" Kim asked in wonder as he looked at Max as Xuppi flew and hugged Kim's cheek.
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Robert scowled as he walked around the park with a cameraman following behind him, the two of them had so far found nothing that the police hadn't. He didn't know what Nadia wanted those two to do, but he could smell that it was a better story than this busy work was an insult to him! He was strong and smart, he had been a reporter since his first years of school and found the juiciest scandals, even made a few if he was honest about it. But the point was he worked for this for years before Hawkmoth came along, but those two came out of nowhere and the big shots are calling them by name? What kind of dirt did those two have on the station owners and how could he get some as well?
He looked around the empty park trying to find anyone to talk to, anyone who might help him find anything to lead him towards a story!
"Excuse me miss, I'm sorry to bother you but do you know anything about the people found asleep in the alley nearby?" Robert asked an older woman who smiled at him.
"No sonny, but I did see a teen with sausage hair talk to a police officer, maybe she'll have something," The woman said and Robert looked at her before bowing a bit.
"Thank you, mam, thank you so much!" Robert said before he walked off, the cameraman following along behind him, blowing some gum as he walked.
"Think this might be something boss man?" the cameraman asked and Robert shrugged. Robert knew that this was a long shot, but he didn't know if anything else could work right. So far the day was nothing but busy work so anything might be better than nothing.
As they walked through the park they looked around until finally, they found Lila sitting by a fountain looking at the water.
Robert grinned and smirked, the girl looked like the perfect mark, all he had to do was sweet talk her, and then he could get everything that she knew, with luck she would have a piece of the puzzle that would let him track down something that would blow whatever Bob was working on out of the water.
"Ma'am, can I talk to you for a moment?" Robert asked and Lila turned to him, grinned beautifully, and looked at him.
"No, never in a million years!" She said brightly and he nodded.
"Thank you, I just want to….wait what?" Robert asked as the cameraman raised an eyebrow and looked at Lila with a strange look in his eyes.
"I believe the proper words are no comment and that is the only thing I will say on the subject no matter what I know about it," Lila said with a smile on her face as Robert looked at her in total confusion.
"I just want to ask you a few questions mam, about something that happened last night…"Robert said before Lila interrupted him with a glare
"What part of no comment don't you idiots understand?! What is wrong with you paparazzi wannabe! Can't you get it through your head, you pathetic idiot?" Lila asked as Robert started to get angry with his cameraman.
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As Mirelle and Aurore walked through the streets on their day off, Mirelle smiled at her friend. The two of them had talked to their parents, and after they were told everything they had to hold down Mirelle's mother to keep her from wringing both Damocles and Bustier's necks! After she calmed down the two girls showed their parents the data on the homeschool programs and after a while they all agreed to start the paperwork to transfer the two girls, but to hold it off until Marinette's situation was more clear, but it was taking all she had to keep her mother from charging or attracting an Akuma!
Aurore looked around at the city and grinned as she and her girl-friend walked through the city. The other day after Alya had come and seen them she and Mirelle had a long talk about their futures with their parents and both wanted to switch to either homeschool or go to a school that would help them get careers in the news business. They were looking at other schools or programs they could apply to, both of them were sure of what they wanted to do with their futures and they were hopeful for their chances.
Aurore looked at her friend, ever since the two of them had been working together she had gotten closer to her friend, Mirelle had even joined the College so the two of them could carpool together, she had only said that she was looking for a new school after her old one wasn't the best for someone with her passions or needs, Aurore didn't even know what school she had gone to but that was okay, Mirelle could tell her when she was ready.
"Nice day, I mean after yesterday's attack people are a lot freer, not that they should be," Mirelle muttered and Aurore looked at her with a strange look on her face.
"You still think that Hawkmoth can do whatever he can more than he does?" Aurore asked and Mirelle nodded.
"We've seen days and attacks where Chat Noir has disappeared after using his power and then appeared and did it again, and if they have the same power source as Hawkmoth, then maybe…." Mirelle said and Aurore sighed and shook her head. Mirelle had that theory for a while now, and part of Aurore hoped her friend was wrong that the only thing keeping Hawkmoth from attacking with multiple Akuma like Heroes Day was that he wasn't creative enough to do it more often.
As they walked towards one of the parks to do some work, scout out a few locations for a segment the bosses were planning, they had asked the two of them to check it out and Aurore had seen the looks the others had sent at them, Aurore knew that they all knew about the crush that she had on her co-host, and part of her wondered if she and Mirelle had bets on them like Marinette and Adrien. She giggled as she remembered how she had put down some change on the two of them admitting their feelings before they left the College, with the way the situation was going everyone but the school bookie would lose their money, but if she won then she would get enough to treat Adrien, Marinette, and Mirelle to a nice dinner out.
"Hey, isn't that the liar?" Mirelle asked suddenly and they both stared as Robert and his cameraman tried to talk to Lila. They moved closer and they heard what Lila was saying.
"…And you think a hack like you and that idiot behind the camera could actually find out anything that would make a difference? Please, you people are just like that bitch of a blogger in my class, and if you record me I'll have the embassies lawyers blacklist you so hard you'll bounce!" Lila spat as she walked away.
Aurore clicked off her phone's camera and looked at Mirelle whose mouth had dropped open. They didn't like Robert but that was brutal, he didn't deserve anything like that. They saw Robert just stare as his face turned red and the cameraman started to Aurore looked at Mirelle and they both nodded, he needed someone to help calm down. But before they could move they saw the cameraman put his hands on Robert's shoulder moments before an Akuma Butterfly was absorbed into the camera.
"AKUMA RUN!" Mirelle yelled and grabbed Aurore's hand and pulled her away as the cameraman and Robert was engulfed in purple energy.
Aurore looked down at her phone and quickly sent a message to Alya with the video about Lila attached to it with the message 'Akuma in Camera', with luck she would live-stream it so Ladybug and the heroes could see it.
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Marinette smiled as she walked back towards the living room, so far the day beyond what had happened that morning, everything was going well. She and Adrien had looked over the programs offered, and she had noticed a few offered from schools that had good fashion programs. Adrien had fallen in love with a physics program from another school and the 'Piecemeal' law Mayor Bourgeois set up let them take classes offered from multiple schools so they could sign up for classes they could work on projects together and still follow singular classes to help their futures.
Adrien had mentioned that a model elective from Marinette's school might be something Juleka would like and Marinette had seen a history of acting class that she knew Mylene would love. All in all even with what happened to her, she was surer than ever that all of their futures were bright.
A knocking from the front door caused her to frown, Nadja had said she might need Marinette's help over the weekend, but it was still up in the air. She moved towards the door and looked through the slot and saw two sets of legs, both in styles that she hasn't seen on any of her family or friends. She pulled out her phone as the knocking came again, a moment later she got a response and took a deep breath and opened the door.
Outside was Jonny and his cameraman with the camera down, both smiling at her.
"Good day miss, I hate to bother you but have seen anything around here last night?" Jonny asked and Marinate looked at him with a hard look on her face.
"You're from Nadjia's station aren't you?" Marinette said and Jonny nodded with a surprised look on his face.
"Yes….. do you know miss Chamack?" Jonny asked as he looked around and suddenly looked around the street, suddenly getting a strange feeling. "Oh don't tell me…"
"I babysit her daughter and I haven't left my home since I came back after the Akuma attack yesterday, and I stayed on the main roads," Marinette said and Jonny winced and looked away with a laugh as his cameraman sighed.
"So this is the bakery she's always talking about, and you look after her little whirlwind, nice. Well, I had to try, any idea who might have been around there? Any idea at all?" Jonny asked and Marinette shook her head and the cameraman just grumbled as he stood there.
"Sorry, but no. While we do get a lot of customers from around here and they sometimes gossip about what they see, but it's still too early for anything like that, the police are playing everything close to the chest then?" Marinette asked and Jonny nodded and sighed.
"Yeah, and the ECDC has the alley locked down and they've already started to investigate the area with drones from what I saw," Jonny muttered and sighed as he turned away. "I wonder what Bob is doing with Sarah and why Miss Chamack wanted them to do something for her?"
Marinette stood there and blinked as Jonny walked away, something about what he said was bothering her. As she closed the doors she walked robotically towards the bakery part of the building, a strange feeling going through her as she walked.
As she passed by Adrien she held up a hand, Adrien and Plagg looking at each other as they watched TV and shrugged, something was up with Marinette but they couldn't figure out what it was.
As she looked into the shop part of the bakery she saw her mother finish ringing up a customer and waited until she left and Sabine turned towards her, Sabine gave a small gasp as she saw her daughter standing there.
"Oh, Marinette, you surprised me! Do you need anything?" Sabine asked and Marinette nodded.
"Yeah, did you tell Nadja about what happened to me?" Marinette asked and Sabine looked away.
"I told Penny too," Sabine admitted and Marinette looked at her and facepalmed.
"Mom…" Marinette said with an exasperated voice.
"Well with the lies she told about Jagged, I felt that she should know!" Sabine said and Marinette nodded.
"I guess, but I think Aunt Nadja is going to look into the Lila, I just wished you had told me about it first," Marinette muttered as she left, leaving Sabine alone.
As she entered the room Adrien looked up at her, but before he could say anything their phones beeped, looking at them they saw the Akuma alarm going off.