After the akumatization of Captain Hardrock and the debut concert of Kitty Section, the city of Paris was relatively quiet once again. Yes, there were a few times when Mr Ramier was turned into Mr Pigeon again and caused all sorts of mayhem throughout town, but it wasn't anything major. But as the weekend finally arrived, the excitement quickly picked up when an unexpected mass escape of zoo animals. Despite it being a non-Akuma-caused incident, it not only made the news but also required Ladybug and Chat Noir to have Rena Rouge help them out. However, thanks to the rampage of the escaped zoo animals, the last thing anyone was concerned about was two teens in the swimming pool looking up at the passing heroes through the glass ceiling above them.

"Whoa! Look at that!" Kim; one of the teens looking up at the skylight, exclaimed, dressed for swimming while pointing at the passing heroes and keeping his towel slung around his neck.

"Oh, my gosh!" Ondine; the girl whom Kim was swimming with, yelped in fright, concerned by the sight of the gorillas the heroes were pursuing just as the lifeguard on duty walked past them.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll get the animals back in the zoo super fast." the lifeguard assured the two teens, smiling at them as he continued on his way.

"Right, sir. They are the best!" Kim replied, earning a nod from the lifeguard before he finally stepped out of earshot, leaving Kim and Ondine with themselves. "Man, I wish I could be a superhero! The powers. The secrets. The costumes!" the jock gushed to Ondine, his mannerisms while speaking matching his listed attributes up until he stood up from his chair and used his towel as a cape while posing for the last one.

"That would be awesome, right?" Kim asked Ondine as he turned around to face her, earning a laugh from the bright-haired girl.

"Yeah, sure." Ondine agreed, finding Kim's behaviour very amusing before reaching down to the bag sitting at the foot of her chair.

"How can I become one? Do you think there's some kind of superhero school or something? Or maybe more like some super secret training facility?" Kim mussed aloud while taking off his towel cape and sitting back in his chair next to Ondine, unaware of his companion writing on a piece of paper and putting it into her swimming bracelet.

"You wanna know my secret?" Ondine challenged, her question grabbing Kim's attention and making him look over and see her holding up her swim bracelet to him.

"Yeah, totally! I love this game." Kim cheered, shooting up from his chair at the chance to play 'Game of Secrets' with Ondine before she threw the swimming bracelet into the pool. Immediately, Kim ran to the pool edge and dove into the pool to fetch it.

This particular game was invented by Ondine after one swim practice between them ages ago, where she got bored while waiting for her parents to pick her up and decided to write down a random thought on a piece of paper. But then Kim got curious about what she was writing and tried to grab the paper to read what it said. At the time, Ondine had written a rather embarrassing thing on the paper and didn't want Kim to read it, so she quickly stuffed it into her swim bracelet and threw it into the pool in the hopes of Kim abandoning his quest. The plan immediately backfired when Kim merely jumped into the pool while fully clothed to go after it, soon reading Ondine's hilarious thoughts about their swim coach.

From that day on, Ondine worked to perfect the game and it soon became a favorite between her and Kim after swim practices, leading to them getting to know each other rather well. Over time, Kim was unaware of just how much Ondine was interested in getting to know him better, even as he presently resurfaced after getting the bracelet and reading the message within it.

" 'I have a serious crush on this boy, but he has no idea.' " Kim read aloud, his attention solely on the paper and making him miss Ondine's blush before he laughed at the news. "That boy is so clueless! What kind of idiot would ignore you?" the athletic teen crowed, followed by him getting out of the pool and stepping over to Ondine.

"Okay, now it's my turn." Kim declared, prompting a smiling Ondine to give him her pen and paper to write down his secret. Once he was done, he copied Ondine's earlier actions and threw the swimming bracelet into the pool, bowing to Ondine as she stood up from her chair to dive in after it. Like with Kim, Ondine didn't take very long to find the bracelet, soon resurfacing to read the message while leaning against the pool's edge.

" 'I can stick my big toe inside my ear'...?" Ondine read aloud with growing confusion, soon looking up from the paper to see Kim demonstrating his unusual talent and making her laugh. After Ondine calmed down from her laughter, Kim gave her the notebook and pen with his feet as she got out of the pool, followed by him maneuvering his body out of its unusual position.

"Okay, let's stop beating about the bush." the aqua-green-eyed girl said to herself as she sat at the pool's edge, noting down her secret with a smile while Kim warmed up for his next dive behind her. As soon as she finished, Ondine chucked the bracelet into the pool and watched Kim dive into the pool to retrieve it. But just as he was about to unfold the paper from within the bracelet, the boy's watch alarm suddenly went off.

"Ah! The movie! I totally forgot!" Kim fretted, quickly getting out of the pool much to Ondine's surprise.

"But we haven't finished yet!" Ondine exclaimed as she watched Kim pack up his bag.

"I've really gotta split. I asked Chloé to come, remember? The girl I told you about in my class?" Kim reminded Ondine as he zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, turning to leave. "We'll finish next time, I promise!" the jock called as he ran to the exit, leaving a heartbroken Ondine alone as she reached out toward him before picking up the paper and opening it, revealing her message to Kim.

"The boy I'm crushing on is...you." Ondine moaned sadly to herself, looking at the heart with Kim's name on it and 'Je t'aime' written below with more hearts in the middle of the page in her hands before her tears leaked froth from her eyes.

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But while Ondine was swimming in the devastation of the dismissal of her feelings from her crush, she was unaware of her growing despair catching a certain villain's attention. After a week of nothing but Mr Pigeon repeats, Gabriel was eager to get his hands on new blood and hightailed it to his lair, quickly transforming into his Hawkmoth persona upon arrival. The desire only grew as his lair window opened to let the daylight stream into the observatory-esque space, disturbing the surrounding butterflies to start fluttering around the lair like they normally did.

"Poor Little Mermaid. How many times have you tried to tell your Prince how you feel? And how many times has he dismissed you?" Hawkmoth rhetorically questioned aloud to his butterflies, the insects being the only witnesses to the terrorist's monologue before he let a butterfly land in his open palm. From there, he transformed it into an akuma and let it flutter free from his grasp, the dark energy pulsing from it giving off a more powerful aura than normal.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize her!" the resident supervillain ordered his newest akuma, taking pride in seeing it fly out of his lair window's access hole and into the city of Paris in search of its target.

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With the akuma on its way to infect Ondine, the streets of Paris were still full of chaos as the heroes were nearing the end of their zoo animal round-up. All that was left to catch were the twin panthers... which Chat Noir found himself being the bait and chased by them as he led them towards the trap the heroes had set for the giant cats.

"Come on, guys, you wouldn't eat one of your cousins, would ya?" Chat Noir teased the pursuing panthers, well aware of Rena Rouge jumping along the rooftops above him and reaching a good vantage point before taking out her flute and playing it.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge shouted after the energy ball formed at the end of her flute, throwing it at the street and making large cuts of meat appear in front of the panthers.

"How about some tasty chops, instead?" Chat Noir offered to the panthers before leaping away with his staff, joining Rena Rouge while one of the surprised panthers lowered its head towards one of the 'pieces of meat' to taste it.

But as soon as its snout touched it, the meat disappeared from the panther in a puff of smoke, leaving it and its partner startled. Hooked by the illusion, the two panthers soon followed the trail Rena Rouge had conjured as the 'cuts of meat' steadily disappeared as they approached. The trail quickly led the panthers into the back of a van, where Ladybug was waiting on the roof to shut the van doors to trap the animals inside. With the last of the escaped animals caught, the surrounding civilians came out of hiding to cheer for Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge as they stood on the edge of a roof above them.

"Pound it!" Ladybug, Rena Rouge and Chat Noir cheered after they turned to each other, fist-bumping each other in celebration before turning to run away a fair distance from the crowd.

Once they were a good distance away, Ladybug and Rena Rouge jumped down to the ground behind a building while Chat Noir stood on the roof above them in wait, avoiding the temptation to look down at the girls. From there, Rena Rouge let her timer run out and detransform back into her civilian self before handing back the Fox Miraculous in its box to Ladybug.

"We can do this again whenever you want, Lady—" Alya began, still buzzing from her latest time with the Fox Miraculous before her phone rang and interrupted her.

"Oh! The movie! I got to go!" the reporter yelped after taking out her phone to check the alert, quickly putting it back in her pocket before running off to the alley exit.

"Later!" Alya called back to Ladybug, waving back to her before she finally left Ladybug alone in the alley.

"Spots Off." Ladybug announced once Alya was surely out of earshot, detransforming in a flash of pink light before donning her civilian disguise, 'Lacy Bugle'.

After his last encounter with Artemis and finding out she was Styx, Adrien told both Ladybug and Master Fu what he had learned that day about the magical world and their civilian disguises. It proved to be a challenge when he kept in mind to fulfil his promise to the potion maker who told him in the first place and keep hers and Rayla's secret, but he managed to do so.

From that day on, both Marinette and Adrien had been practising using their civilian disguises for steadily increasing time frames to prevent them from repeating Adrien's mistake that fateful day.

Keep in mind, Adrien was able to keep any truly personal details under wraps while he relayed what he learned, so he was able to save himself from some of his lingering embarrassment too. But they currently had other things to worry about and were glad they put in the effort they had up until that point, otherwise, they would have to make extra sure they weren't spotted going to the Guardian while powered up.

"Uh, if you want to get to that movie on time too, you better go the way Alya went." Tikki advised her holder, poking her head out of the girl's purse.

"Sorry, Tikki; we'll just have to miss the trailers again." 'Lacy Bugle' said to her kwami, followed by her looking up at the roof above her ."Okay, Kitty! You can come down now!" the disguised heroine called up to Chat Noir, causing him to immediately come down from the roof and land next to her as she turned around to not see him transform back.

"Claws In." Chat Noir uttered, detransforming and donning his civilian disguise, 'Chad Noris', like his partner had done moments ago. As soon as he was done, the two disguised heroes walked over to the exit and peeked out of the alley to check if it was safe.

"All clear!" 'Chad Noris' reported, followed by him turning to Lacy Bugle and bowing to her. "After you, Ms Lacy Bugle." the disguised hero implored, his arm gesturing to the street in front of them as he looked up and smiled at his partner in disguise.

"Thank you, Mr Chad Noris." 'Lacy Bugle' replied in kind as she walked out of the alley, only to turn to her companion just as they laughed at their little exchange. "You really need to choose a better name. 'Chad Noirs' is a little on the nose." the 'brown'-haired girl critiqued after she managed to control her giggles, earning a playful glare from 'Chad Noris'.

"Like you can't say the same, 'Lacy Bugle'?" 'Chad Noris' retorted, placing his hands on his hips with a pointed smirk on his lips.

"Haha, hilarious, kitty." 'Lacy Bugle' sarcastically replied, playfully rolling her eyes at the boy. "Now come on! We better get this back to Master Fu ASAP." The disguised heroine chided her partner, gesturing for him to come out of the alleyway so they could get going.

"In that case... RACE YOU THERE!!" 'Chad Noris' challenged as he ran in a different direction than Alya had gone, leaving a surprised 'Lacy Bugle' behind.

"OH, YOU'RE ON!!" 'Lacy Bugle' declared, running to follow behind Chad Noris and quickly catch up with him as their little race picked up speed.

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While the heroes in disguise were racing to Master Fu's apartment, they were unaware of the akuma zeroing in on the swimming pool. After arriving at the building, the akuma slipped inside through an open window and found Ondine still sitting at the pool's edge, now crying about Kim's dismissal. As soon as the akuma saw the opportunity, it didn't waste any more time and entered Ondine's swimming bracelet, infecting it and establishing the psychic link between her and Hawkmoth.

"Syren, I am Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth greeted his latest catch in minions, deciding to have a little bit of fun with this one. "I'm giving you the power to turn Paris into your own underwater kingdom, for you and your prince. In return, you must bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous." the spiteful megalomaniac offered the girl, immediately piquing Ondine's interest at the idea.

"May they all sink under my sorrow." Ondine declared, accepting the offer and standing up from the pool's edge as she transformed into . No sooner after her transformation was complete, Syren's tears were now flowing out of her eyes in streams and fell into the pool below her, triggering the water to rise and start overflowing from the pool.

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Now that Syren was beginning her plan to make Paris her underwater kingdom for her and Kim, the boy in question had arrived at the cinema after quickly changing into his regular clothes. However, he was so in a hurry that he forgot to take his swimming cap off at the pool, ending up still wearing it as he ran to the cinema and met up with Max at the entrance.

"You're 3 minutes and 37 seconds late, Kim. Everybody's already inside." Max said to Kim, his tone taking on a lecturing air as Kim stopped and ran in place in front of him and his robot friend Markov.

"Sorry, Max! Lost track of time." Kim apologised, his excitement still present despite the critique from Max. "Is Chloé here?" the athlete asked Max, his excitement bursting through his voice just before Max suddenly laughed at the question.

"Chloé watching Mecha Monkey vs. Cyber Shark 3?" Max rhetorically asked his friend, pointing to the poster at the top of the theater sign amid his amusement. "Like that would ever happen. I think your swimming cap's on too tight, Kim." the bespeckled boy advised, prompting the disheartened Kim to take off his swimming cap and put it into his gym bag just as Alya arrived and ran up to them.

"Ah, let me guess...Marinette hasn't arrived yet?" Alya panted when she reached the boys, taking two tickets from Max when he offered them to her while still leaning over her knees.

"True to form. We'll save you both a seat." Max replied before following Kim into the theater, Markov following them while Alya stood up and turned to face away from the theater with a smile.

"Marinette, Marinette, Marinette." Alya said to herself fondly, well used to her best friend's habits.

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Meanwhile, the heroic duo had finally made it to Master Fu's massage shop... with 'Chad Noris' being the winner in a very close finish of their race. But they quickly composed themselves and entered the shop, giving the guardian the Fox Miraculous to put back inside the Miracle Box before letting the gramophone close back up with it.

"Perfect! The day is once again saved thanks to the two of you." Master Fu praised his pupils, turning to face them once the gramophone was closed.

"Thank you, Master." 'Lacy Bugle' and 'Chad Noris' replied with matching smiles, standing side by side in the middle of the room while their kwamis floated next to them.

"You're welcome. Now before you two go, I require some assistance with something I've been working on." Master Fu requested as he walked to a door to the teens' right, leaving them intrigued.

"Of course." 'Lacy Bugle' chirped in response, prompting 'Chad Noris' to nod in agreement as they followed behind Master Fu while he laughed in delight. But just as the humans reached the doorway Master Fu was heading to, the Guardian quickly turned around and saw their kwamis trying to follow them.

"Hold on. You three stay here." Master Fu ordered the kwamis, holding a hand up to stop Wayzz, Tikki and Plagg in their figurative tracks.

"Oh, Master, please!" Wayzz, Tikki, and Plagg begged, puzzling the teens as they observed the peculiar behaviour their kwamis were displaying.

"Kwamis must never know any of the recipes that can modify their powers. Ever!" Master Fu warned the kwamis, his tone taking on a grave air to it as he stared down at the kwamis.

"Modify their powers?" 'Chad Noirs' repeated as he looked over at 'Lacy Bugle' for clarification, only to be disappointed by her shrugging her shoulders in an 'I'm just as clueless as you are' manner.

"Imagine what would happen if one of you were captured by a villain, just like Hawkmoth's kwami, Nooroo." Master Fu said to Wayzz, Tikki, and Plagg, his words doing well to scare them into flying away and hiding in the massage shop's mattress while the humans headed into the new room.

Upon entering the small space Master Fu used as his kitchen, 'Lacy Bugle' and 'Chad Noris' were immediately greeted by the numerous shelves of potion ingredients inside. While the space was a decent size, the shelves Master Fu was using for ingredient storage made the space even smaller, leaving only enough space for a narrow walkway to the kitchen stovetop. But seeing as Master Fu was small in size, it was perfect for him and the disguised teens accompanying him at the moment.

"Woah! So this is where all those ingredients we got you went." 'Lacy Bugle' observed in reverence, all while 'Chad Noris' was turning his body mid-walking to look at all of the contents of the shelves in a similar manner.

"Indeed." Master Fu happily confirmed ahead of them, stopping at a shelf before hitting it with his fist to make a large jar fall from the top of it and land in his waiting palm. "Now, can you get me that large jar up there, Chat Noir? And can you get those dried herbs, Ladybug?" the old guardian requested as he turned towards his kitchen area, pointing to the ingredients he needed with his free hand.

"On it!" Both teens replied, moving quickly to get the ingredients Master Fu requested while he went to some sort of brewing nook with the jar he had.

Thanks to their training and a little bit of finesse, the teens were able to get the ingredients Master Fu wanted but it did take a bit longer than he had with how high they were. Afterwards, they give him the ingredients just as he poured them cups of tea; the old man having had enough time to make a fresh pot. Once he handed them their cups, Master Fu went on to create the first power-up potion, using the ingredients his pupils had given him.

"Uh, what are you cooking exactly?" 'Lacy Bugle' asked the old master, looking at the concoction with slight concern while 'Chad Noris' took a sip of his tea.

"When fed with a specific blend of ingredients, the kwamis can grant special power. Each power's specific mix is listed here, encoded in the Grimoire." Master Fu explained, plucking a sprig from some kind of plant matter drying next to him and dropping it into his brew before stirring it in.

"Wait, so the Troll discovered powers aren't the only additional powers to the Miraculous?" 'Chad Noris' asked, lowering his cup from his lips in surprise.

"That is correct, yes." Master Fu replied, taking his eyes off the brew he was making to focus on the digitized grimoire next to him. "In the time since I took pictures of the Grimore, I've been able to decipher most of the ingredients. For example, to trigger aquatic powers you need 'A branch from the Dragon King's Garden'; seaweed; as well as 'Secret kept in a Shell'; an oyster pearl." the old guardian elaborated after showing them an image of said power-up, pointing to the listed ingredients written in the Guardian code as he mentioned them.

"There are more ingredients involved in this recipe, but the last one still puzzles me: a tear of joy. I can't figure it out, and it's required for almost every blend." Master Fu vented, revealing his frustrations as he turned to face his curious students with a sigh before a thought came to him. "Oh! Maybe it could be some Dancing Ant Honeydew." he exclaimed, followed by him reaching for the bottle of ingredients near the mixing bowl and putting a drop into his potion with an eyedropper, producing a small blast of green fire as a result.

"I think I may have finally got the right mix." Master Fu declared, as the reaction of the ingredient did well in asserting his claim and bringing a smile to both 'Lacy Bugle' and 'Chad Noris'.

Now that they had a brew to test out, Master Fu quickly poured a little bit of it into a small bottle and brought it with him and the teens back to his massage shop, soon having Wayzz drink it in the hopes it worked. It took a few seconds for Wayzz to drink all of it, but it was long enough to leave the three humans and the other two kwamis in suspense as they awaited Wayzz's verdict.

"Mmmm, there's a slight flavor to it." Wayzz thought aloud after drinking the brew, taking another second to savour it. "Yes, I remember it being a lot like this!" the turtle kwami declared, leaving the others delighted by the news.

"Ha! I knew it!" Master Fu cheered, proud of himself for finally figuring out the last ingredient before raising his Turtle Bracelet hand into the air. "Wayzz, power up!" the old Guardian proclaimed, eager to try out the power-up potion.

But as Wayzz stiffened momentarily in wait for the familiar rush of power from the brew, he suddenly found himself relaxing again... unchanged. The potion didn't work.

"A little more salt, maybe?" Wayzz timidly suggested, hoping to offer some solace after the failed test.

"Oh, failed again." Master Fu sighed in disappointment as he sat on the shop's massage mattress, feeling inadequate for his failure just as 'Lacy Bugle's' phone rang from within her purse. Out of reflex, she took it out and saw it was Alya calling her, prompting her to answer while avoiding using her name to protect her identity from 'Chad Noris'.

"Hey, girl...yeah, what's up? The movie? Oh, uh, of course, I didn't forget. I'm almost there." 'Lacy Bugle' hurriedly assured her best friend on the other end of the call, quickly hanging up and putting her phone back into her purse after the call was done as she ran to the door, Tikki flying into her purse as well. "Sorry, Master. Good luck finding the secret ingredient." the disguised heroine called out as she left the shop, leaving Master Fu to sigh disappointedly again while 'Chad Noris' placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Thankfully, he had nowhere else to be, so he might as well help Master Fu out while he could.

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As soon as 'Lacy Bugle' was out of the building Master Fu stationed his massage parlor, she turned back into Marinette and raced to the theater to meet up with her friends. Fortunately, the theater wasn't too far away from where Marinette started, especially when she ran the whole way to make sure she made it in time for the movie to start. But she soon saw the building in sight, as well as Alya as she stood waiting for her at the entrance.

"Coming!" Marinette called out to Alya, grabbing her bestie's attention as she finally reached her and became a panting mess.

"Sorry, I was—" "No time to explain. Come on!" Alya exclaimed as she grabbed Marinette's arm, not waiting for her to catch her breath before pulling her to run inside the theatre. Once inside, the girls continued to run to their assigned theatre, soon coming through the doors as the room lights dimmed for the movie to start and began looking for their friends.

"Hi!" a voice near the middle called out, causing the two girls to see Rose waving at them from her seat. Immediately, Alya and Marinette headed towards the rows where their friends were, hoping to be able to sit down before the movie officially started.

"Hey!" Nino greeted the girls as they shuffled down towards their seats, Marinette having a harder time and accidentally stepping on some toes along the way.

"Sorry...sorry...sorry." Marinette apologised as she shuffled her seat, soon sitting next to Alya sitting next to Nino just as the movie started playing. 'Finally, some peace and quiet.' the designer thought to herself, happy to spend time with her friends without any more trouble happening.

Or so she thought...

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While Marinette was with her friends and enjoying the rather peculiar movie, Adrien had found himself partaking in a very interesting afternoon. After 'Lacy Bugle' left the apartment, the hero shed his civilian disguise and quickly became Master Fu's assistant for his potion making. Sure, all he really had to do was get ingredients from the tops of the shelves for him. But there was quite a variety that Master Fu needed to test out to find the true 'Tear of Joy' ingredient.

So far, they tried the melted snow from the Mountain of Jubilation Chat Noir and Ladybug got from Styx the first time he met her, and water from the Laughing Fountain. They even tried drops of pure chocolate extract in their efforts, and yet nothing wielded the results they needed. But they weren't going to give up! They still had a few options left to try out in Master Fu's storage, which was what Adrien had managed to gather from the shelves.

"Whew! That's the last one!" Adrien sighed in relief, placing the last jar next to the others he had collected before climbing down from the shelf.

"Adrien, have you gotten the ingredients I asked for?" Master Fu questioned the boy, peeking through one of the shelf gaps as he spoke.

"Yep. I got the Gleeful Lilly nectar, Unicorn sweat, and liquified Aurora Borealis." Adrien reported as he picked up the three jars from the floor and placed them on a shelf parallel to his chest, soon finding himself looking at the contents of the one he just got down. "I still can't believe the Northern Lights can be turned into liquid." the blonde model admitted as he looked at the shimmering multicolored liquid in the jar in awe.

"You'd be surprised what one can do with magic." Master Fu said, smiling at his pupil's curiosity before looking back at his work. "Now can you please get those over here? I know you don't have much more time to help me and I would like to make the most of the amount we have." the old Guardian requested, mixing the majority of the new batch of potion brew to test out the ingredients Adrien had gotten down for him.

"Right, I'm on it." Adrien replied, quickly gathering the jars to start walking over to Master Fu as he worked on the other side of the shelves he was previously searching. But just as he is about to turn the corner and reach the Guardian...

"BOO!!" a loud voice shouted, coming from an old-looking mask that came flying at Adrien out of nowhere and appeared right in the boy's face.

"AAHH!!" Adrien yelped in fright, finding himself rapidly backpedalling to escape the mask.

As he did, however, Adrien lost his footing on a misplaced area rug and fell backwards as it slid across the slick floor under it. Unfortunately, Adrien also lost his grip on the jars as well, unintentionally letting them fly into the air before they smashed into the ground around him. And as Adrien recovered and sat up from the mess, the mask was... laughing at him?

"HAHAHAHA!! You should have seen your face! SO HILARIOUS!!" The mask cackled as it moved around in the air, quickly revealing a smirking Plagg behind it as he held onto the back of it. "Oh, you are too easy to prank, kid!" Plagg exclaimed, zipping over to Master Fu's kitchen counter to put the mask down before he dropped and damaged it. But despite Plagg's carefulness with the relic, Adrien was not even happy.

"PLAGG! That was not cool!" Adrien scolded his kwami, followed by him turning to Master Fu as he walked up to the boy after the incident. "I'm so sorry, Master." the green-eyed boy apologised to the old man, looking down at the floor under his hands in shame.

"It's quite alright, Adrien. I should have expected Plagg to get bored and cause some mischief at some stage." Master Fu assured the boy, helping him to his feet before looking over at the offending kwami. "It's in his nature to be chaotic." the old guardian announced, sending a pointed eyebrow Plagg's way.

"I'm the Kwami of Destruction! I can't help wanting a little fun when things are so boring!" Plagg admitted, crossing his nub-like arms over his tiny chest as he defiantly turned his head away from the humans. "Especially when more exciting things are happening in here." the black kwami added, earning a tired sigh from the old master.

"Be that as it may, Plagg, you know you can't know these recipes!" Master Fu grimly reminded as he turned to walk over to his brewing station, grabbing a towel from the counter. "However, we might not be able to continue thanks to your little prank." he observed as he walked back to the boy and kwami, handing Adrien the towel to dry himself off of the ingredients while Plagg looked at the mess and winced.

"Ooops..." Plagg trailed off, now feeling a little guilty about the consequences of his little prank.

"Did you have to prank me while I was getting the ingredients, Plagg?" Adrien asked his kwami, glaring at him as he wiped off the spilled ingredients from his clothes, arms, and hair.

"Sorry! I didn't think you'd have so much on hand." Plagg said, looking at the floor to his right with a pout.

"It's fine, Plagg." Adrien sighed in relent, handing Master Fu the towel back. "But now we can't try those ingredients to see if they were the right ones." the model added with a pout, glancing down at the mess still on the floor before looking back at Master Fu.

"Don't you have any more on hand?" Adrien asked, a hopeful grimace appearing on his face.

"I would if I had the space to store more ingredients. And it took me a long time to gather these due to how rare they are." Master Fu explained, slouching over himself in disappointment while a sighing Adrien's hand flew to the back of his neck in vexation.

"Then that puts us in a..." Adrien began, only to stop when he finally processed Master Fu's words. "Wait, did you say these ingredients are rare?" the green-eyed boy questioned the old man, his hand coming back to his side as he faced him.

"Extremely, yes." Master Fu simply replied.

"Maybe you can try out those ingredients. If they're rare, then Styx most likely has some at her shop." Adrien suggested excitedly, his eyes lighting up at the idea he had.

"Yours and Ladybug's friend in Stone Arc? How can you be certain?" Master Fu asked the boy, raising an intrigued eyebrow at his pupil's idea.

"Styx is known throughout Stone Arc for having hard-to-find things in her apothecary. If anyone has what you need, it's her." Adrien declared, earning a considering nod from Master Fu.

"Well then, I see no reason for you to not go down there and see if she has the ingredients in stock." Master Fu decided, knowing that the last few times his pupils got help from their joint contact in Stone Arc had gone very well. At Master Fu's approval, Adrien's face lit up while Plagg's jaw fell like an anvil when hearing they'd be seeing Artemis/Styx again.

"I'll head over right now!" Adrien declared, not seeing Plagg's face as he grabbed him from the air and started heading over to the door.

"Um, Adrien?" Master Fu spoke up, halting Adrien in his tracks as he reached for the door handle.

"Yeah?" Adrien questioned the master, looking over his shoulder and back at the old man.

"Do you remember the ingredients I need replacing?" Master Fu inquired the boy, earning a nervous and sort of guilty look from Adrien.

"Um.... yes?" Adrien drawled out, causing Master Fu to raise an eyebrow at him in amusement. "But it wouldn't hurt to have a list to make sure I get the right ones." the blonde-haired boy timidly admitted as he turned to face Master Fu, earning a smile from the short man before he grabbed a pen and paper to quickly write up the ingredients, handing it to Adrien.

"Now hurry back. You won't have much time before your father notices you're gone." Master Fu admonished his pupil, receiving a nod from the boy in confirmation.

"I'll be as fast as I can, Master Fu." Adrien declared, quickly exited the room and headed to the parlor while Plagg escaped from his hand and flew to his side.

"Adrien, this isn't an excuse to see Styx and Maray again, would it?" Plagg asked his holder, watching as Adrien put the list on the dresser next to the window.

"Of course not. That's just a bonus." Adrien replied as he reached to open the room windows, causing Plagg to stare at him in disbelief as he grabbed the list.

"Adrien, I thought you'd be more hesitant to see them after what I told you the last time, and yet you're still trying to hang out with them." Plagg lectured the boy, reminding Adrien of his advice from the day Gorizlla happened as he zipped over to float in front of his face.

"And I told you that you're being paranoid. They're so nice, how can you think they are bad news?" Adrien questioned his kwami, still not understanding his reservations about Artemis/Styx and Rayla/Maray after their last encounter with them.

"I just do, okay. I don't know why, but I just do." Plagg stated, crossing his nubs over his chest in defiance as he angled his pout at the ground below him.

"Well, you'll just have to grin and bear it today. Master Fu needs these ingredients." Adrien chided his kwami, once again ignoring his kwami's concern as he prepared to leave for Stone Arc and donned his usual disguise before... "Plagg, Claws out!" the green-eyed model proclaimed, transforming into Chat Noir and shooting out of the apartment window to make his way to Stone Arc's entrance... not seeing the steadily increasing water in the streets below.

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Thanks to the location of Master Fu's apartment, it didn't take long for Chat Noir to reach Notre Dame and land next to the alcove where Stone Arc's entrance resided. From there, a quick retrieval of his Horngazle and drawing of the outline on the alcove's back wall soon gave the feline hero access to the hidden city, followed by him descending the crystal stairs. Upon arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Chat Noir made his way through the market towards Styx's stall as fast as he could, only stopping once to say 'hi' to Nox as he was closing up shop to meet up with Tarnite for a date. There was a brief exchange between them like the last time, but they soon went their separate ways due to time being of the essence to them at the moment. Fortunately for Chat Noir, he made it to Styx's stall very quickly and was walking up to the front when...

"Infractum causera!" A voice inside the stall shouted, quickly followed by a bright black glow being seen within the shop that had Chat Noir on high alert. He then rushes past the shop front and storms into where the owner frequently operated, quickly being greeted by the sight of Styx standing in the middle of the shop with her back towards him.

But while he couldn't see her face, Chat Noir was left intrigued to see Styx holding her glowing hands wide open as her magic swirled in the air around them, little yellow sparks drifting within it too. A glance to Styx's right showed Maray beside her, curiously holding an opened jar in her hands and looking ready to pounce. Needless to say, the whole scene left the boy curious.

"Uh... what's going on?" Chat Noir questioned the two females, causing them to turn their heads to look at him and unintentionally reveal Styx's eyes glowing like Maray had described the last time she spoke to him.

"Oh! Hey there, Kid!" Styx greeted the hero, the glow in her eyes fading a bit at the sight of him and just seconds before her magic flickered around them. "Um, just give us a moment, please? Maray and I are in the middle of something." the white Troll explained, she and Maray turning back to the task at hand and halting the flickering of Styx's magic now that she was focused again.

"Ready, Maray?" Styx asked her ward, earning a nod from Maray to start bringing her hands together and condense her magic into a sphere, bringing the yellow sparks with it too.

Soon enough, Chat Noir witnessed the sphere as it became less black when the yellow sparks combined while encased by the shopkeeper's magic. As Styx brought it toward herself, Maray moved the jar under the sphere and nodded at her caretaker, ready for the next stop.

"Alright, lock 'em in!" the green-haired Troll declared, prompting Maray to quickly encase the sphere within the jar and close it, allowing Styx to relax her hands and let her magic finally fade away. Once it does, the sphere of yellow sparks is free to explode within the jar, the sparks coming alive to bounce on the inner walls and leaving Chat Noir amazed.

"Whoa! What was that?" Chat Noir breathed in awe, watching as Styx's eyes returned to normal while she walked over to the nearby shelves.

"Eh, something to worry about later." Styx said as she placed the jar on a shelf near her potion ingredients, turning around to face them. "But it's great to see you again, kid!" the shopkeeper happily greeted the hero, now able to do so with the sparks taken care of.

"It's great to see you guys, too." Chat Noir replied just as Maray came over and hugged him around his waist, prompting him to kneel to the ground and return it. "Though I wish it was a social visit." he added, looking up just in time to see Styx coming back to them.

"Figured as much, even though I'm hoping it will be one of these days." Styx admitted as she came to stand behind the hugging pair, looking at Chat Noir with a tired smile."So, what is it you're looking for this time?" the white troll asked, intrigued about the reason for Chat Noir's visit.

"You got any of these in your shop?" Chat Noir asked as he pulled away from his hug with Maray, followed by him pulling out the list and handing it to Styx to look over it.

"Hmm, quite the array this time." Styx amused aloud, giving the paper a critical look before letting it drop to her side as she turned her attention back to the hero. "However, you'll be glad to know that I have all of these in my shop." the shopkeeper declared, bringing a smile to the hero when he heard the news.

"That's great! I'll take them right now!" Chat Noir chirped as he rose from the floor, excited by the idea of getting the ingredients to Master Fu so soon.

"Hold up, kid. I said I had them in the shop, but I didn't say I have them on hand right this minute." Styx clarified, making a gesture to get the boy to calm down and not get carried away.

"So you don't have them?" Chat Noir asked, his excitement dropping and turning into worry when hearing Styx's little obstacle.

"Oh, I do. They're just in the back room." Styx assured the boy, waving off his worry before it was exchanged for confusion.

"Why's that a big deal?" Chat Noir questioned Styx, not understanding why she mentioned the location of the ingredients.

"You'll see." Maray pipped in as she grabbed his hand, dragging him over to the back door alongside her and Styx to watch as the shopkeeper opened the door. Once she did, it revealed the tall, wide and brightly lit corridor lined with thousands upon thousands of ingredients, leaving Chat Noir shocked.

"Whaaaaaat the..." Chat Noir drawled out, his jaw on the edge of dropping to the floor when he saw the infamous back room of Styx's shop.

"Yeah. Even with Maray's help, it might take a while to find what you're looking for in there." Styx admitted, placing her hands at the bottom of her back to stretch back and relieve the ache arching across her spine at the aforementioned thought.

"I can help if it'll speed things up! I really don't mind!" Chat Noir offered, eager to help out if it: 1) got Master Fu his ingredients, and 2) had him spend time with Styx and Maray again.

"Was hoping you'd say that. Consider this payment for the ingredients in that case." Styx replied, smiling at the hero's willingness to help them out.

"Hope you're not playing favourites. What'll your customers say?" Chat Noir teasingly questioned the Troll shopkeeper, trying to send a smirk and a probing eyebrow Styx's way.

"Ah, who cares what they say? You're a superhero. They'd be daft to say anything against you." Styx dismissed in the same playful manner, making Maray giggle at the banter they had. "Now, come on! We have work to do." the green-haired Troll announced, clapping her hands to rub them together before entering the back room, followed by Maray and then Chat Noir. As soon as they passed the threshold, the trio found themselves in the centre of an 8-way intersection of corridors holding the shelved ingredients after Styx closed the door behind them, preventing anyone else from entering.

"Okay, I'll take the Gleeful Lilly nectar. Maray, you'll get the Unicorn sweat. And Chat, you'll retrieve the liquified Auorua Borealis." Styx instructed after Chat Noir had a chance to take a good look around the space, pointing to the direction of each ingredient's location. "That good with you two?" the white Troll asked the kids, getting enthusiastic nods as their reply.

"Great! Let's go!" Styx proclaimed, prompting the three of them to split up and begin their searches. "So, what are you up to that needs these particular ingredients, Adrien? I wasn't aware you had gained an interest in potion-making." the shopkeeper Troll asked as they walked along their respective corridors, her voice carrying over the shelves and to her companions very well despite the distance between them.

"I haven't. They're not for me." Chat Noir replied, looking at all of the shelves for his assigned ingredient.

"Then, who are they for?" Maray asked from her side of the back room, curious about what the answer could be.

"Well, I'm not sure if I should elaborate. This is rather top secret information about the Miraculous." Chat Noir reflected, a thought-filled grimace appearing on his face as he weighed the pros and cons of doing it.

"Fair enough that you're worried. But seeing as you are clearly working with potions, maybe I can help? I am a potion maker, after all." Styx offered, using a ladder to elevate her to some of the higher parts of the shelves she was looking in as she spoke.

"Alright, you have a point. But can you guys keep what I'm about to tell you a secret?" Chat Noir asked as he unknowingly copied Styx's example and climbed a nearby ladder to search higher up the shelves.

"Dude... do you really need to ask us that?" Maray incredulously questioned the hero as she also climbed up a ladder to reach higher up the shelves, not believing he was asking them that after the last time they met.

"Right. Sorry, force of habit." Chat Noir bashfully amended, letting one of his hands rub the back of his neck out of habit. "But to answer your question, Artemis, the ingredients are for the Guardian." the hero in black explained, reaching for some of the jars in front of him with the hand that he just had on his neck.

"The Guardian, huh? What's he up to?" Maray asked from her side of the room as she leaned away from the shelf and turned her head in the direction of Chat Noir's voice, leaving the hero a little surprised that she wasn't curious about who he was talking about. "And before you ask, Adrien, Artemis already filled me in on the basics after you and Ladybug came to town on your first visit." the red Troll explained, sensing the hero's curiosity from her spot across the way and earning an amused huff from Chat Noir at her admission.

"I should have guessed." Chat Noir muttered to himself fondly, unsure why he expected anything less from the two females before focusing on the conversation again. "But to answer your question, he's trying to figure out the Power-Ups at the moment." the hero in black reported, surprising Styx so much that she nearly dropped the jar she grabbed ahold of, making it clatter against the others within the shelf before she recomposed herself.

"Power-Ups? I wasn't aware that you and your allies could do those." Styx said as she made sure the jars were undamaged, keeping her face directed at the shelves to prevent anyone from seeing her look of disbelief if they happened to pass by.

"What are 'Power-Ups'?" Maray asked from her end, bringing the jar she was reaching for back to the ladder so that she could safely inspect it.

"Well... I don't know much about them other than from history books. But I do know that they were for the times when Miraculous Holders needed to adapt their powers to new environments." Styx explained, all while keeping her focus on the jars in front of her to soothe her spiking nerves.

"That sounds incredible! Are you truly working on making those, Adrien?" Maray excitedly questioned her idol, using her arm to move the ladder closer to where she got her present jar and put it before leaning back from the frame amid her curiosity-infused exhilaration.

"Yep." Chat Noir replied, smiling as he reached for a jar he spotted in the hopes of it being what he needed.

"So cool!!" Maray squealed, needing to stop herself from nearly jumping up and down while still hanging onto the ladder

"While I agree with you, Rayla, there is one thing I'm not getting." Styx admitted, getting over her anxious bout of nerves to focus on the task at hand.

"What is it?" Chat Noir asked, grabbing the jar he saw and bringing it close to read the label.

"From my understanding, only the Order of the Guardians knew how to make the Power-Ups and I'm very certain they would never let the kwami learn of them. So how is it that the last Guardian was able to make these potions with the proper techniques to make them having been lost?" Styx inquired the cat hero as she started to climb higher up her ladder, once again hoping to quell her curiosity on the subject.

"Actually, the Miracle Box wasn't the only thing to have survived the Order's fall. An up-to-date grimoire on the Miraculous was also saved." Chat Noir explained, immediately causing Styx to stop climbing her ladder and turn her head in the direction of his voice with a miffed look on her face.

"A grimore!? Truly?" Styx asked in growing delight, using her hand to push her and the ladder to the end of the shelf to get a better look at the hero making such claims.

"Yep. I was surprised by the news myself." Chat Noir admitted, copying Styx's example before leaning away from his ladder to look past the shelves blocking his view of the shopkeeper.

"Okay, seeing as I'm the least informed one here, can someone explain the significance of this 'grimoire'?" Maray questioned her companions, her ladder coming to the end of the shelf after following their example to pointedly glare at the more knowledgeable pair.

"Sorry, Maray. Got a little carried away there." Styx apologised, offering a remorseful wince to her ward. "But to sum it up, the Guardians keep a record of all the discoveries on the Miraculous in detailed grimoires. Especially the ones made with the aforementioned power-ups and by the Troll Miraculous Holders; who have been able to wield the jewels far greater than any human." the white Troll explained, reaching her hand towards the intersection to let her magic project images of those occasions to better elaborate her explanation.

"WHOA!!" Maray breathed in amazement, both her and Chat Noir in awe of the rather... lifelike images Styx was creating.

" 'Whoa', indeed, my dear ward. However, I'm curious as to how the Guardian has managed to recover it. Rumour has it that it was lost alongside the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous when The Fall happened." Styx said, followed by her lopsided smile to turning into a frown as the images changed to show the aforementioned items before they suddenly disappeared to emphasise her claim.

"That part I can answer. Turns out Father had it in his safe after Mother gave it to him." Chat Noir answered dismissively, leaving Styx shocked by the news.

"Wait... what? Gabe had it in his possession?" Styx recalled, giving Chat Noir an analytic stare as she processed his claim.

"He still has it, actually." Chat Noir confirmed from his perch, looking at the floor below while absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck. "But... I thought you already knew they had it." the feline hero admitted, turning his gaze back to the shopkeeper.

"I didn't. Emilie never told me that they found the Grimoire." Styx confessed as she grabbed a jar, giving it a quick once-over. "I would have thought she would, though." the green-haired Troll mused aloud, putting the jar she was looking at back in its proper place before continuing.

"Why would she? I get that you're of the magical variety, but I don't understand why she would tell you about it." Chat Noir asked as he started looking through the jars again, hoping to find the liquified Auorua Borealis in his new search area.

"Even if my knowledge of the Miraculous is limited, I could have provided some insight on the jewels if she asked." Styx replied, stating her potential input if Emilie had come to her. "Not to mention we told each other everything." the shopkeeper muttered to herself as she turned to face the shelves, not understanding her friend's secrecy when she had been so open to her.

"In any case, what happened with the book?" Maray questioned Chat Noir, resuming her search as well.

"Master Fu took pictures of the pages before it was returned to him after he was akumatized into Collector over it being 'lost'." Chat Noir explained, causing Styx to whip her head back over to the hero to stare at him in shock.

"Why was he given it back? It's wasting away in Gabe's safe otherwise!" Styx interrogated Chat Noir, appalled to hear the heroes still didn't have such a useful tool at their disposal.

"It's a long story. But one of these days, I'll tell it to you guys when I'm not in such a hurry." Chat Noir promised as he kept looking for his assigned ingredient, letting out an amused chuckle at Styx's reaction.

"Fair enough. But I fully intend to find out the whole story someday, I promise you that, Adrien!" Styx declared, pointing at the hero with a matching raised eyebrow to assert her claim.

"I wouldn't expect otherwise." Chat Noir replied, turning to face Styx and raising his right hand in surrender.

"So you need these ingredients for the power-up potions?" Styx asked curiously, despite the furrowing browline she had present on her face as she continued her search for Gleeful Lilly nectar.

"Yep. My kwami pranked me while I was getting the first round of these for Master Fu and made me drop them. Now he needs replacements." Chat Noir elaborated, wincing at the admission of his kwami's chaotic behaviour.

"Ooof, got to say... I don't envy you on that part." Maray teasingly observed as she leaned away from the ladder to reach for another jar, standing precariously on her tip-toes with practised ease.

"Ha ha, very funny, Rayla." Chat Noir sarcastically chuckled, rolling his eyes a little at the eight-year-old's teasing as he continued his search.

"Which ones are you working on?" Maray asked her idol, putting the jar she just looked over back to where she found it before continuing looking for the Unicorn sweat.

"We're starting small with just the aquatic one to start. However, we're stuck on the last ingredient." Chat Noir replied, looking away from the shelves and back over at Maray. "On top of being written in the Guardian's code, the recipe is in strange riddles. We can't figure out the last one for the life of us." Chat Noir explained, grabbing another jar and holding it under one of his arms before reaching for the one behind it.

"And you're trying to use as many possibilities as you can to try and find it, I'm assuming?" Styx asked as she smirked at the notion while she reached for another jar with its label covered in dust, cleaning the label on the jar in her hands and sighing in annoyance when it wasn't the right one.

"Pretty much. But as a potion maker yourself... you got any advice, Ms Queen?" Chat Noir probed, deciding to get a more experienced opinion on the potion dilemma.

"Please, Kid. At this point, you can call me Artemis." Styx told the hero as she peaked past the end of the shelf and over at him with a soft smile, filling Chat Noir with warmth at her kindness. "But to answer your question, I'll need to know the message hiding the ingredient." the white Troll said, immediately pulling the feline out of his fuzzy feelings when hearing the secret-revealing question.

"I'd rather not say it. Just to make sure nobody can copy the recipes. It's not that I don't trust you guys, but..." Chat Noir began to ramble, realising that he might have been a little loose-lipped with Styx and Maray.

"Don't worry, we get it, Adrien. You've already told us a little too much about the internal affairs of your team, anyway, so this is a good stopping point." Styx assured him, knowing that he said enough for the day. "However, I can still say this. Many potion makers over the years, famous ones especially, tend to make sure their best recipes are hidden from those trying to steal them. As such, they hide their ingredients within cryptic clues to make sure not just anybody can copy the potions." the shopkeeper told the hero in question, still holding onto the ladder while she leaned away to properly project herself while continuing her search.

"Moreover, there are some rare cases where the potion has an already cryptically worded ingredient, in which the potion maker leaves it alone and slips it into the recipe amongst the others without it looking out of place." Styx spoke up as she looked up at a shelf out of her reach and used her magic to bring a jar towards her, inspecting it as she spoke. "And in most of these incidents, the ingredient is the simplest and literal out of all the others." the green-haired Troll remarked, hoping to tie off the figurative loose end the feline hero could have as she reached for another jar.

"But I could be wrong and the Guardians just chose to be careful in wording a complicated ingredient to throw others off the trail. Who knows?" Styx theorised, glancing at the label before putting it back on the shelf and pushing herself and her perch back towards the other end of the ladder track.

"Yeah... who knows?" Chat Noir muttered to himself, looking thoughtfully to his right as he mulled over Artemis/Styx's advice.

"In any case, we better get cracking in finding these ingredients if you want to get back to the Guardian soon. Per recollection, you have a Chinese lesson in a few hours." Styx recalled while going through more jars, not having much luck in finding her assigned ingredient while Chat Noir gaped at her words.

"How do you know that?" Chat Noir pressed, surprised that the disguised sorceress knew his schedule for the day.

"Watching over you your whole life has its privileges. Mainly ones that let me know where to find you in case of danger." Styx admitted nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders while the hero processed her reply.

"Yeah, should have seen that one coming. But yeah, we need to hurry." Chat Noir concluded, followed by a renewed feaver to continue looking through the shelves for the ingredients.

"Bet I can find mine faster than you, Adrien!" Maray called out from her shelf area, eager to challenge her idol before copying what Styx had done earlier and making her ladder zoom towards the other end of its track.

"Oh, I'll take that action!" Chat Noir playfully fired back, mimicking Maray and zipping down the ladder track to keep up his search while Styx only giggled at their 'horseplay'.

"You two better not break anything!" Styx chided her younger companions, her finger pointing at the ceiling above her to compliment her lecturing tone.

"WE WON'T!!" the younger pair assured Styx, their little competition doing little to sway them from displeasing the shopkeeper in their little endeavour. And despite the worry for her stock, Styx couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face when witnessing her companion's behaviour, grateful to see them getting along so well. But as she went back to looking through her shelves, the entire trio were unaware of what was happening on the surface world above them.