People were screaming and scrambling backwards away from the boy. Their whole world was crashing down around them, because the only thing they thought they knew for certain was gone. The only thing that gave them safety was gone. And they didn't know what to do.

The goop dispersed and a crackle and burst of light made them freeze in fear.

What stood before them could barely be recognized as the kind and gentle but sassy boy he was before. The black hair was still there, but it looked more like burned black than the raven black it used to be. The rest of him was covered by a skintight suit, like most other akumas. The scarf had turned bright dark blue, like the hot flames of a fire, and the ends of it were crackling and burning. The jumpsuit was, predictably, red. Not like Ladybug's jumpsuit. More of a glaring, harsh red. It was striped white. The stripes beginning from the middle of his chest and spreading out. He was also wearing blue wide ankle socks and blue fingerless gloves that reached back further up his forearm like gloves.

Danny opened his still blue eyes and looked down at himself. A spark of concern went through his mind. Fire?

"Hello, Firecracker. It might take the superheroes a while to get here, but you could hurry it up by going to cause some ruckus."

Firecracker, what a name. Danny chuckled and looked up at the terrified faces of his peers. He felt a pang of guilt at it and what he was about to do.

The others gulped as the new villain straightened and smirked. "Well, hello there." He cocked his head. "Don't worry. I'm not here to harm you."

"Danny?" Rose asked trembling. She couldn't believe it was really him.

Years of having to endure villain monologues led to this exact moment.

Danny placed this fists on his hips. "Danny? No, I am Firecracker! And I am here for the miraculouses. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go complete a delivery." He grinned mischievously as he stepped forward and passed the teens who all but scrambled back from him. "And I will not stop until my task is completed."

He ran out of the building and took a moment to hear the shouting inside. Marinette and Adrien won't be long in coming.

He looked up at the buildings around him and had one end of his long scarf swing out and curl around a chimney. He pulled himself forward and landed on the roof.

That was interesting. The scarf felt like an extension of him. He knew exactly how to move it and it did what he wanted it to. It could also stretch out endlessly.

Danny wondered how he knew all of these new tricks. He ran down the roof and jumped off, using the scarf's ends as a means of pushing himself off and pulling himself forward. It was like all the information about his new villain form had downloaded into his mind.

But one thing worried him. "Can I just ask something?" He hoped he wasn't acting too out of place for an alkumatized (hey, he almost got it that time) person. "Why fire?"

"Simple," Hawkmoth responded. "I noticed you had a good grip on your fire powers in that other form you possess. And I was curious as to how a creature such as you would react to my magic."

Danny gulped. The guy had mistaken ectoblasts for fire. He could understand how but even though they both burned stuff they were as different as fire was to acid.

His core really wouldn't like it.

Danny paused on a roof looking out to a wider street. He really needed to get his plan going. If these fire powers affected him (he was already feeling the heat inside him) too much then he wouldn't be much use later. He needed to hurry.

He searched with his Papi sense around him.

He could sense his butterflies just outside his school.

Alya had told him how his Papi sense worked. Apparently, butterflies had some kind of tracking mechanism that lets them always be able to find their way back home. It was called homing behaviour and was used during migration.

His Papis used that to track him when he was kidnapped. Danny used that to track other akumas before they caused any disasters. And he figured he could use that to track Hawkmoth if he increased the ability enough.

His butterflies were fluttering around in confusion and panic, trying to find him. The energy inside of him had probably been masked by the akuma's and now they couldn't sense him. Yet another weight of guilt piled up to the already large pressure on his heart. He absolutely hated this.

But he also felt something else. More concentrated Papi energy in one place. That's where he needed to go.

"What are you waiting for?" Hawkmoth asked impatiently.

Danny smirked, although his heart wasn't in it. "The perfect chance to strike." And he jumped down, feet cracking the concrete street under him and lighting a small fire around him.

People jumped, startled, but didn't scream and run like he wanted them to. They were too used to random Akuma attacks. He'd have to throw some wood into the fire, so to say.

"Well. Hello there." Danny stalked forward towards a group that was staring at him nervously and backing up. "Fancy seeing all of you here. I don't think we've met before." He grinned widely and leaned close to a couple. One of the lovers had raised their forearm defensively and was shielding the other. Danny let his scarf burn a bit brighter, making the people close to him jump. He smirked and turned around to stride towards other civilians, leaving flaming footprints behind. "Let me introduce myself. I am Firecracker. And you are?" He asked a trembling woman.

He hummed at her silence. "Not telling? Oh boy, you must be nervous. We should begin with some chit chat. How about the weather. Good a topic as any, right?"

Nobody answered, but a few stumbled away, unnerved by the akuma's manner. Danny's grin widened. He was riling them up. Making them nervous and increasing their panic. That would make the resulting chaos even more chaotic.

"Isn't it incredibly cold?" He looked up at the cloudy sky with hands on his hips. "I very much prefer a bit more warmth."

The flames at the ends of his scarf started burning brighter and traveled closer to his neck, but the fire didn't hurt him. The flames were dancing in his eyes. Mischievous with malicious intent. "What do you say we amp up the heat a bit."

He jumped high suddenly and lashed out his scarf on a tree, which promptly burst out in flames.

The street exploded. Not literally of course. Danny would never go that far. More accurately, the people's panic exploded and they started screaming and running as far away from the boy and the tree as possible.

Danny's breath hitched. A spike of pain tore through the inside of his chest and only years of training to hide pain kept him from doubling over and clutching his chest.

Did he mention how much he hated this?

Just don't look at them. Don't look at them. Don't look at them.

He kept repeating in his head.

Why did you have to do this. Why do I have to do this.

It was the only way, he reasoned. It was either this or waiting around until you'd been able to gather enough energy from purifying akumas. Which considering how Hawkmoth had been avoiding him and keeping his butterflies close to himself would have probably taken years.

You weren't even certain that letting yourself be ekumatast would amplify the Papi sense. You put everyone in serious risk!

He knew. Oh heck he knew that. He almost felt like sobbing when he set a house on fire. It was up for rent and nobody had been living there. He checked.

Calm down calm down. Don't freak out. Not now.

Oh man, his mental health would not be the same after all the shit he'd put himself through these past few days.

"Alright." Hawkmoth commented as he watched the chaos. "That's enough."

The slight tone of fear startled Danny out of his thoughts. Was he concerned? Of some fires? Danny took care not to hurt anyone, but he did let it come horribly close a few times. Hawkmoth was worried. Huh. Maybe Danny had been getting to him after all.

"Okay." He perched on the hood of a car. "What now."

"We wait."

Danny looked around at the carnage he'd brought. He fought back a shudder.

You could've walked around all of France and used the Papi sense as a navigation system. You would probably feel it if you were close enough.

That would've taken weeks of nonstop walking. He wanted to keep the flying to a minimum to avoid being seen. And he had no idea how wide his range was or if it was even strong enough for that. He really had too little information and knowledge on all of this miraculous business to go off on anything but a hunch.

He just really hoped this would work.

Something wrapped around his torso and arms and Danny snapped his head to the cause. It was the yoyo.

The calvary had arrived. Danny smirked evilly. "About time you got here. Don't you know it's rude to keep your enemies waiting?"

"Danny! What are you doing!" Ladybug landed a few meters away from his, yoyo clenched tightly in both of her hands. "Stop! Why are you doing this?!" Her face was pale but she spoke with the confidence of someone who'd give this speech millions of times before.

"Oh haven't you heard," Danny smiled and cocked his head as if amused by a child's lack of knowledge. "My name is Firecracker. And you're about to crack in my fire." His scarf swung out and entangled a surprised Ladybug in a cocoon.

Ha! A cocoon. Ladybugs. Butterflies. It was funny.

Danny winced as he broke out of his bonds. He better not let the heat get to his head.

Chat wasn't letting him recover and gather his bearings. He smashed right into him full body, which sent them both tumbling across the street and made him let go of Ladybug.

"Let go!" Danny screamed as he bucked his legs up and threw Chat right into a car. He immediately sent a volley of fire his way. Luckily Chat had amazing instincts and reflexes which enabled him to dodge the attack. However he couldn't escape the explosion of the car that had caught on fire.

Danny readied himself to jump over a building and put a little distance between the two, but he stayed just long enough to see Chat Noir stand up with a realtively low amount of scratches.

He had just been standing on the roof for three seconds when Ladybug attacked him from behind. His scarf almost instinctively reached out to meet her and trap her again, but she was prepared and learned fast, so she tied it up with her yoyo. Danny struggled to get it loose when she screamed: "Chat! Now!"

The akuma's eyes widened. Oh no.

Chat bounded forward to scratch the scarf open and get the Akuma, but Danny had other plans. If he was saved now, there would most likely not be another chance. He thought quickly and stretched the scarf out before quickly slipping it out of the string and bounding away.

He had to think fast. He hadn't really planned anything past this. He knew a plan could always change or something he hadn't accounted for could come up. Therefore his plans were always very open and flexible.

Didn't mean he didn't have any ideas. He had thought at first to look for Hawkmoth on his own but he figured he might need the help. Especially with how he was being weakened due to the fire around him and inside the energy that had taken him over.

So now there were two options he could think of. Either capture Ladybug and Chat Noir and take their miraculouses. Then he would have to take the jewelry to Hawkmoth and could turn on him at the last moment. It was a good plan because Hawkmoth would basically just tell him where he was. But Danny didn't want to do that because it would reveal his friends' identities to the enemy.

Or he could lead the two superheros towards the villain without the villain knowing what he was doing. It was risky and would take more time and might make Hawkmoth suspicious but it was the best option.

Danny yelped as a stick slammed on the ground next to him. Chat's weapon. Now he only had to find a way to let the two heroes know he was still here and to follow his lead.

"Stop holding back," Hawkmoth grumbled. "Finish this faster. No use making more chaos than necessary."

"I'm tiring them out." Danny replied. "I can't take them out now. It'll be easier if they have run around a bit."

"They have increased endurance." The guy warned.

"So do I."

Danny smirked as he dodged the two heroes' kicks and weapons. His mind was going many miles an hour. How could he possibly tell them he was on their side without alerting Hawkmoth??

Something white passed his peripheral vision and the boy's eyes widened when he turned to stare. A white butterfly was perched on the roof next to him. Its eyes staring straight at him.

They'd found him.

He didn't want them involved. He had to act fast before more came.

"Stop this right now." Ladybug continued taking to him.

Danny honestly felt like rolling his eyes. Was she still on about that ugh. "You know what I'm here for." He faced her. "Hand over those suckers."

She scowled and with a determined expression jumped towards him. He batted her away with his scarf and whirled around just in time to catch Chat midair. He cocked his head at the struggling cat.

"Chat Noir." He strode forward and inspected his tied up body up and down. "Too bad we had to meet in such terms. I would have loved to strike up a conversation with you." He pouted.

Chat looked a bit confused.

Danny smacked Ladybug away carelessly when she jumped again. Chat scowled at her treatment. "You won't get what you want!" He growled.

"Oh. You don't know what I want." Danny smirked. "And you don't know what I'm capable of." Little hints. Giving Chat little hints in the form of threats.

It didn't work other than scare him a bit. Chat had to look up and see Danny's looming form, an amused expression on his face. Almost like he was only playing with them.

Danny cocked his head at the cat's paling face. "What is it?" He grinned. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

The hero in black blinked once, green eyes directly trained on the akuma's own now, searching something. "What- what games are you playing at, Firecracker?"

Danny puts his hands up mockingly, closing his eyes. "Nothing." He opened them and stared at the cat intensively. "I pawmise."

Danny had just enough time to see Chat Noir's lips lift into a shocked smile before he was rudely shoved away by another hero. He had to steady himself before he tumbled off the roof, but when he stood back up he could see Ladybug helping the other up and them talking.

Another pain took over his core and he hissed slightly. It was getting really hot out here. Not the kind of hot that you feel when the sun is bright and is going to give you sunburn. It felt more like the sun was inside his body. His chest area was the codlest part of him now and it was fighting hard to keep the heat at bay. He felt like he was an icecube, slowly melting. There was a reason he got really grumpy on hot days. It wasn't his favorite temperature. Hopefully Chat had gotten his hints. They had to hurry.

"What happened?" Hawkmoth spoke to him.

"Just got a bit bruised and moved wrong." Danny got an idea. He should give them a bit more time to talk or he could run away and have them chase after him. If they didn't believe he was still Danny then he'd have to risk being found out and hightail it out of there. "I should move away a bit to recover." He swung out but got intercepted by Ladybug and Chat Noir. Dammit.

Chat had an expression of contained glee, but Ladybug was furrowing her eyebrows.

Danny stiffened when she spoke. "Where do you think you're going?"

The boy waved his hand nonchalantly. "Oh here and there. I've got more important things to do than to play cat and mouse with you two."

"No, you don't," Hawkmoth grumbled but Danny ignored him.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip on her yoyo string, swinging it around faster.

Danny was quick to speak again. "Oh and I wouldn't use your special charms just now," he put a hand in his hip sassily. "Wouldn't want you to run out of time too soon. There are eyes everywhere." He accentuated this statement by making jazz hands by his own eyes. "And I wouldn't want to have your identity revealed. All I want is your miraculous. So how about you follow me to more secluded place and we'll trade."

He could practically see Ladybug's gears turning in her head at high speed as she tried to decipher the double meaning in all of his words. She and Chat looked at him questioningly at the last sentence.

Chat's tail twitched and he shifted his footing. "What kind of trade?"

Danny continued. "You give me your mircaulouses, I give you my Akuma, and I don't reveal your identity to anyone. It's a great deal. Think about it. Once the miraculouses are with Hawkmoth, this war will end."

Marinette's smart, Danny thought. And Adrien knows me well enough to trust me and especially her.

"Good," the guy behind his mask hummed with approval. "That might convince them. If not, just take it from them in a surprise attack." Danny nodded subconsciously, happy that at least Hawkmoth wasn't suspicious and agreed with his 'plan'.

He watched as Ladybug's eyes widened and she cocked her head towards Chat. He gave her a smile and a wink. She looked back at Danny.

"Eyes are watching, Lady." Danny reminded her and she nodded cautiously.

"We agree to your terms." She smirked. "Where did you have in mind?"

Danny chuckled and walked away before stopping and turning halfway back to them. He grinned. "Follow me."

Ahhhhhhhh
It's started
So sneaky. Everything here is so sneaky and I had fun doing this. It got so long whoa.

Anyways were y'all relieved Danny isn't actually a villain? Or were you disappointed?

I did give you some creepy dannos tho

Can you all figure out the hints and what they mean?

What do you think will happen next?

Is it clear what just happened or do I need to enlighten you more.

Also there were pretty big hints that this was actually Danny's plan all along in the previous chapter so it might be fun to reread that and be like whoaaa I didn't notice that before now it makes sense!! That'd make me happy if you did that.

Haci que ahora saben porque tarde tanto en publicar. Y ahora tengo vacaciones!! Siiiiii. Tengo ganas. Hasta luego. Creo que el siguiente capítulo tendrá más batalla y un big boss battle tipo.