Lila stood alone in the gymnasium corridor, Chloé's sharp words still echoing in her ears.
Her sweet smile had long faded, replaced by a cold silence born of humiliation.
She watched the figures on the court laughing freely and easily integrating into the group, and the unwillingness and anger in her heart quietly grew like vines.
She took a deep breath, and when she looked up again, her face was once again adorned with that pitiful, helpless expression of needing assistance.
She knew that a direct attack had failed.
The cliques in this class were more entrenched than she had imagined.
Therefore, a different approach was needed, an authoritative, top-down method to pry open a gap.
Her target, naturally, was the most sympathetic and easily moved by the image of a "weak person" in the class—Teacher Caline.
She turned and left the area.
The office door was ajar, and the rustling of papers could be heard from inside.
Teacher Caline was engrossed in a pile of student assignments and teaching documents that needed grading, and the sunlight streaming in from the window behind her cast a gentle halo around her.
"Knock, knock."
The knocking was soft and hesitant, like a startled small animal.
"Come in," Teacher Caline responded without looking up.
Lila pushed the door open and walked in timidly, her head down, her hands anxiously twisting the hem of her clothes.
"Teacher..." Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, with a deliberately feigned tremor.
Teacher Caline looked up, and seeing it was Lila, a look of concern immediately appeared on her face: "Oh, it's Lila. What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
Lila's eyes instantly reddened. She looked up, her beautiful green eyes filled with moisture, as if they were about to overflow at any second.
"Teacher... is it... is it that I did something wrong?"
"What?" Teacher Caline was a little confused. She put down her red pen and stood up, walking around the desk to stand in front of Lila.
"My classmates... they all seem to dislike me."
Lila's voice took on a heavy nasal tone. She blinked hard, making the unshed tears well up in her eyes, appearing particularly pitiable.
"I... I just wanted to make friends with everyone, but... but everyone seems to be... very resistant to me. I don't know what to do anymore..."
As she spoke, she finally couldn't hold back, covering her eyes with her sleeve, her shoulders trembling slightly, feigning a heartbroken appearance.
"Did I do something wrong? Teacher, can you tell me?"
Teacher Caline looked at her heartbroken state, and her heart was instantly filled with sympathy and pity.
She stood up, walked over to Lila, gently patted her shoulder, and sighed: "Lila, don't think that way. Everyone just doesn't know you yet; they need a little time to adjust."
Teacher Caline's mind was also rapidly pondering.
She wasn't too worried about the other transfer student, Kagami.
Although that girl was aloof, Marinette and Alya were both warm-hearted good children, and with them, it was only a matter of time before Kagami integrated into the group.
But Lila in front of her... she seemed so eager to be accepted, yet so sensitive and fragile. She was the one who needed special attention.
"But who should I approach? Teacher..." Lila lowered her hands, revealing her tear-filled eyes, looking at her helplessly.
"I don't know the classmates in the class very well yet, I don't know who to start with... I also don't know what to do..."
"Who to approach..."
Teacher Caline pondered, her gaze sweeping around the office. Finally, a figure appeared in her mind.
A special existence, one who was both a core member of the class and often detached from it.
"Perhaps..."
Teacher Caline seemed to make up her mind, "You should try to get to know a suitable person. Someone... who can understand various different perspectives."
"Who?" Lila immediately pressed.
Teacher Caline did not answer directly, but instead returned to her computer, operated it a few times, and said: "In our class, there is a very special student.
If you can first establish a friendship with him, then others will naturally gradually accept you.
I'll show you something that might help you understand him better."
On the computer screen, a video playback interface appeared.
"This is a recording from a long time ago," Teacher Caline explained.
"Something very interesting happened back then. Our classmates... well, you could say they collectively pranked Hawk Moth once.
This video once caused a sensation online, but it was later taken down by the mayor in conjunction with online platforms."
Lila leaned closer curiously, puzzled. Taken down? Why?
"Because the influence of this video was a bit beyond imagination."
Teacher Caline's tone carried a hint of helpless amusement, "Especially Jaden's performance in the video. Do you know?
Whether tourists or locals, after watching it, when some were invaded by an Akuma Butterfly, they would Akumatization but not cause destruction; instead, they would run to our school just to find Jaden, wanting him to 'do it again'... The situation once got out of control, and finally, the mayor had to collaborate with all platforms to take down the original video."
The video began, and the sound within... a sound that defied description.
It was deep, magnetic, with a velvety smooth texture. Each syllable was like a carefully polished obsidian, magnificent and profound.
It wasn't speaking; it was more like chanting an ancient spell, every word carrying an irresistible magic that easily penetrated the eardrums, reaching the deepest crevices of the soul.
"Hello, I am Hawk Moth."
Lila's breathing stopped at that instant.
"I sense the loneliness and unwillingness deep within you... the pain of longing to be recognized, yet being cruelly trampled upon..."
The voice seemed not to come from the computer speakers, but to resonate directly in her mind.
It was like an invisible hand, gently yet incredibly precisely stroking her most secret wounds and darkest desires.
It wasn't a simple imitation, but a higher level of resonance and inducement.
It told you that all your negative emotions were valid, all your desires deserved to be fulfilled, and he was the only being who could grant you power and make everything happen.
That voice, like an apocalypse sounding in despair, or the devil's whisper from the end of an abyss, was full of fatal temptation that made one willingly sink.
Lila listened to that voice, and all the blood in her body seemed to ignite.
This... this was her kind. This was true, the art of language.
She seemed to see the most powerful force in the world—not superpowers, not magic, but this unparalleled linguistic art that could manipulate people's hearts.
Teacher Caline did not notice the change in Lila's expression. She clicked on several other video clips that Alya usually filmed, documenting daily class life.
In the footage, Jaden sometimes leaned lazily by the window reading, sometimes sweated on the court, and sometimes showed a helpless smile when surrounded by everyone... Each scene formed a huge contrast with the voice from just now.
"Thank you, Teacher."
Lila came back to her senses. The tear stains on her face had long dried, replaced by a brand new, gleaming look.
"However, if it's just like this... then Jaden, he must be very famous, right?"
"Yes, very famous indeed."
Teacher Caline nodded, "After that incident, he briefly participated in one or two TV programs, causing quite a stir in Paris.
But soon, he disappeared. He seemed to... give up the fame and fortune that were within his grasp.
Oh, I heard that even Gabriel was very interested in him, and even personally invited him to be a model, but it seems... Jaden also refused."
Refused fame and fortune... refused Gabriel... These pieces of information, like puzzle pieces, quickly formed an image in Lila's mind that she couldn't understand, yet was incredibly excited by.
A strange person who possessed the magic to bewitch people's hearts, yet discarded it like trash.
How foolish was this? This was simply an idiot guarding a mountain of gold yet begging on the streets!
These things he didn't care about were precisely what Lila had spent her entire life, using every means, to obtain!
"Thank you, Teacher, I know what to do now." Lila's face bloomed again with a sweeter and more sincere smile than ever before.
She bowed deeply to Teacher Caline.
"I hope you can integrate into this class soon, Lila." Teacher Caline smiled with satisfaction.
"Goodbye, Teacher."
"Goodbye."
Stepping out of the office, the sunlight in the corridor shone on Lila's face. She squinted slightly, and the corner of her mouth curved into a subtle arc, carrying calculation and anticipation.
Jaden... what kind of idiot are you, after all?
Or... are you hiding something more interesting?
It doesn't matter, I have plenty of time to slowly, little by little... explore all of you.
At the same time, the atmosphere in the gymnasium was being pushed to a climax by the soccer match.
Adrien scored a beautiful bicycle kick, sending the ball precisely into the goal guarded by Max.
"Great shot!" Nino excitedly rushed over and jumped onto Adrien's back.
The shouts of the teenagers echoed throughout the entire venue. Adrien smiled, sweat dripping down his golden hair, feeling an unprecedented sense of ease and exhilaration.
The heavy thoughts about his father and the spellbook seemed to be temporarily thrown to the back of his mind with the sweat he shed.
However, amidst this jubilation, a cold and oppressive voice, like a bolt from the blue, came from the high dome of the gymnasium, instantly overpowering all the clamor.
"My son..."
The voice carried a peculiar, suppressed anger, echoing in the empty venue.
The smile on Adrien's face instantly froze. This voice, he was all too familiar with it. It was his father, Gabriel.
But at this moment, the voice lacked its usual sternness, instead carrying an inhuman quality, as if corrupted by dark power.
Everyone on the field stopped their movements, looking up in surprise.
A chilling figure stood high in the gymnasium.
He was covered head to toe in a tight suit with black, white, and red geometric patterns, and the sharp, aggressive spikes extending from his shoulders and collar were menacing.
He wore a black and white pointed mask on his face, with a pair of huge red sunglasses on the mask, completely obscuring his eyes.
In his hand, he held a sketchbook, also black with red and white geometric patterns.
"Dad?" Adrien was stunned, the soccer ball rolling to the side.
That figure, the "Collector King," gave him no time to react. He leaped down, landing in the center of the court, no more than ten meters from Adrien.
"Where... is the book?"
The Collector King spoke, his voice distorted by the Akumatization power, but the hypocritical and intimate tone sent shivers down Adrien's spine.
Adrien looked at the monster his father had become through Akumatization, and his first reaction was not fear, but a ridiculous, almost ecstatic relief.
He knew.
He finally knew the answer he had not dared to seek.
"Dad... you've been Akumatization." Adrien said in a low voice, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curving upwards.
If his father had been Akumatization... then it meant he absolutely couldn't be the mastermind behind the Akumatization power. He wasn't Hawk Moth.
The heaviest stone weighing on His heart crashed to the ground at this moment.
The Collector King seemed somewhat confused by his son's reaction, but he took a step forward, and the sketchbook in his hand emitted an ominous red light.
"Adrien," he said in that fatherly, nauseating tone, "Give the book... back to Daddy.
Daddy just wants to... collect it, and keep it... with your mother's things, forever."
The confrontation between father and son became the sole focus of the entire venue.
That hypocritical and intimate tone was more chilling than any desperate roar.
"Quick, hide!"
Someone shouted, and this low cry, like a signal, instantly activated the "Parisian citizen survival instinct" etched into every student's bones.
They didn't scream or scatter in a panic; instead, with a practiced familiarity that seemed rehearsed countless times, they quickly and orderly sought cover.
Kim pulled Nino, who was still eager to watch the commotion, dragging him under the seats in the spectator stands. Marc and Nathan, with unspoken understanding, hid in the shadows of the equipment room.
Max immediately ordered his robot Marc to switch to silent flight mode, then he himself hid behind the scoring table.
For those who lived in this city, encountering an Akumatized Person was like encountering a sudden downpour; the correct thing to do was not to question the sky, but to immediately find shelter under an eave.
In a corner of the stadium stands, Kagami leaned against the wall somewhat stiffly.
She looked at the father and son confronting each other in the arena, then at Marc, Nino, and the others nearby, who were hiding but gathered together, calmly analyzing the situation, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Aren't they… friends?"
Her voice held a trace of incomprehensible confusion, spoken to the empty air beside her, and also to herself.
"Shh—" Alya had quietly moved to her side at some point, pulling her down to squat even lower.
Alya's face didn't show the panic Kagami expected, but rather a familiar calm.
"Welcome to Paris, Kagami. Here, this is the norm."
Alya's tone was as flat as if she were introducing a local specialty: "Of course they are good friends, the best kind.
But precisely because they are good friends, now is even more reason not to act impulsively.
You see, what's happening on the field is a father-son issue: a father controlled by Hawk Moth, and a bewildered son.
If we outsiders rush in now, besides causing trouble and making the scene even more chaotic, it serves no purpose."
Kagami fell silent.
Her logic system, built upon kendo and the samurai spirit, was violently impacted at this moment.
She still couldn't fully understand, but Alya's words seemed to contain some kind of "Parisian" truth she hadn't yet grasped.
Her gaze swept through the crowd, but he discovered a problem.
"Where's your friend??"
She asked; the somewhat clumsy girl who had just been with Alya was gone.
"Oh, her,"
Alya's eyes flickered, and a knowing smile appeared on her face,
"She's timid, so she probably found a safer place to hide."
After speaking, she no longer gave Kagami a chance to ask further questions. Instead, she took her hand and, crouching low, quietly moved towards another cover—the place where Jaden and the boys were gathered.
That was also everyone's default safest "shelter."
Max was operating the robot Marc, which was hovering in the air.
"Marc, scan all Parisian online news platforms for keywords 'Akumatization,' 'new villain.'"
"Scan complete."
Marc emitted a synthesized electronic voice, "No large-scale panic reports on major Parisian news websites or social media platforms, nor any new Akumatized Person sighting reports.
Conclusion: The source of this Akumatization event should be in a private location, with a clear target, and did not cause initial damage in a public area."
"Which means,"
Nino stroked his chin, analyzing, "This guy was dark transformed in an empty place, and then came directly for Adrien.
Is it revenge?"
"But that's his dad,"
Kim scratched his head, looking puzzled,
"What did Adrien take from his dad that made his dad so angry he was vulnerable to Hawk Moth? A book? What kind of book is that important?"
"Perhaps some kind of… family secret?" Nathan speculated, quickly sketching the image of the Collector on his sketchbook.
Just then Alya and Kagami also crouched and came closer.
Kagami looked at the expressions on the boys' faces, a mix of curiosity, analysis, and even a hint of excitement, but no worry, and her incomprehension reached its peak.
"Do you… really not worry about your friend at all?"
"Worry?"
Alya looked at Kagami's cool face, which was clearly etched with "I don't understand," and couldn't help but smile, once again acting as the "Parisian common sense" explainer: "Don't worry, Kagami.
Let alone that Adrien is perfectly fine right now, even if he were really hurt, there would be no danger whatsoever."
Seeing Kagami's brows furrow again Alya patted her shoulder, revealing the mystery in an almost casual tone: "This is the norm in Paris.
Listen, every time, no matter how much trouble an Akumatized Person causes, how many cars they destroy, how many buildings they blow up, how many people they send flying into the sky… in the end, as long as the heroes defeat him, Ladybug throws her lucky charm into the sky, shouts 'Miraculous Restoration,' and then 'whoosh,' everything returns to its original state.
Broken things will be repaired, injured people will be healed, as if nothing ever happened.
So, that's the real reason we don't worry."
Kagami was completely stunned.
Her education was built upon a rigorous, orderly, and cause-and-effect-driven real world.
And everything Alya described had completely exceeded his cognitive scope.
Destruction could be instantly repaired, injuries could be magically erased… This sounded… utterly absurd.
"So…"
Kagami's voice was a little dry, "We are just… waiting for the heroes to appear here?"
"Bingo! You got it right!"
Alya playfully snapped her fingers, then raised her phone, aiming it at the center of the arena, ready to record this firsthand "news material."
"Alya, stop filming."
A gentle but undeniable voice sounded.
Jaden reached out and gently pressed down Alya's wrist, which was holding the phone. His movement was light, but Alya felt an irresistible force.
"What if,"
Jaden looked into her eyes and slowly said,
"You become a target again and fall into the same predicament as last time, then this time, you might not be so lucky."
Alya heard Jaden's words, felt the warmth from his wrist and the pure concern in his voice, and her heart felt warm.
She immediately nodded obediently and put away her phone: "Mm, I understand."
Kagami, standing nearby, took in the entire scene.
She clearly felt that the tone Jaden used when speaking to Alya was different from when he spoke to others.
It was a unique tenderness… that transcended ordinary friendship.
And Jaden's inner thoughts were on a different train of thought.
"Has the world already been turned upside down like this?
...But that's right, 'time' in this world is inherently the most unstable variable."
In the center of the arena, the standoff continued.
Adrien looked at his father, who was both familiar and strange, took a deep breath, and made a decision.
"Dad… I'm sorry."
He said sincerely, his face full of guilt,
"It was my fault. I shouldn't have taken that book without your permission.
I… I just wanted to understand you more… I didn't think it would make you… like this.
Don't worry, I'll return that book to you immediately."
His voice was filled with apology, a heartfelt remorse that would move any father who heard it.
Beneath the Collector's mask, Gabriel was indeed touched. But now, he was under the control of Hawk Moth, and this act had to continue.
"Sophistry!"
The Collector's voice became cold and hard again, "Do you think a few apologies can make up for your mistake, Adrien? You touched a secret you shouldn't have touched!
Now, I will collect you, along with all the secrets on you, into my book!"
With that, he suddenly raised the sketchbook in his hand. The pages turned without wind, emitting an ominous black and red glow.
Just at this critical moment, a red figure descended like lightning from the sky, accompanied by the whistle of a yo-yo cutting through the air, landing precisely between Adrien and the Collector.
"Hey, bullying kids is nothing to brag about!"
Ladybug, holding her yo-yo, struck a fighting pose. Without looking back, she shouted to Adrien,
"Leave this to me, you get out of here quickly! And Mr. Gabriel, please wake up!"
(In her heart, this blond lightbulb who disturbed her and Jaden's alone time, while sometimes an eyesore, was still a classmate who needed protection.)
"I'll say it again,"
The Collector slowly closed the sketchbook, a hint of annoyance at being corrected in His tone,
"My name is 'the Collector' now!"
Taking advantage of their conversation, Adrien quickly reacted and immediately turned and ran towards another exit of the stadium.
After turning a corner and confirming no one was watching, he eagerly called Plagg: "Can't wait any longer, Plagg, attack!"
A flash of black light passed, and Cat Noir appeared.
He leaped into the arena from a high point on the other side of the stadium, landing beside Ladybug, his metal staff gently tapping the ground.
"Looks like I missed the opening act of the party,"
Cat Noir extended his metal staff, striking a playful pose,
"But that's okay, making a grand entrance feels good too. Hey, sir, do you want to turn both of us into your collection too?"
"Precisely."
The Collector sneered, "The miraculous of you two will be the most precious piece in all my collection!"
Before his words finished, he suddenly flung the sketchbook in his hand. The book arced strangely through the air, like a hungry raptor, directly pouncing on Ladybug.
Ladybug immediately rolled sideways to dodge. The book flew past her body, hitting a row of spectator seats behind her.
With a soft "whoosh," the sturdy metal seats instantly disappeared, and on the Collector's sketchbook, a detailed sketch of the seats appeared on a new page.
"Be careful! You absolutely cannot be touched by that book!" Ladybug warned loudly.
The battle thus began.
Inside the stadium, three figures went back and forth, engaging in a fierce chase.
The Collector continuously threw the sketchbook in his hand like a boomerang. Wherever it went, doorframes, scoreboards, and even the floor were all "collected" into that eerie book, leaving behind blank voids.
Ladybug and Cat Noir, relying on their agile movements, constantly jumped and rolled, seeking opportunities to counterattack in the gaps between the deadly page attacks.
Cat Noir, facing his father, initially showed some hesitation and guilt in his attacks.
But as the battle progressed, especially after seeing his father's completely unfamiliar, cold gaze belonging to "the Collector," another thought began to gain the upper hand.
(This isn't Dad... This is a monster created by the Akuma Butterfly. I'm defeating him to restore Dad to normal. Yes, I'm helping him!)
As this thought became clear, a strange sense of excitement began to surge from the depths of His heart .
This was an unprecedented thrill.
He was no longer an obedient son strictly disciplined by his father, but a warrior fighting on equal terms with his father (his Akumatization form).
This subversion of roles made him feel an unprecedented excitement.
"Hey! Old… oh no, old Collector!"
Cat Noir's lips curled into a cynical smile, and his attacks became even more aggressive,
"Your collecting method is too old-fashioned! Let me teach you what true 'destruction' art is!"
He leaped high, black destructive energy condensing in his right hand.
"Cataclysm!"
He no longer hesitated, no longer felt guilty. All that remained in His heart was his duty as a hero, and… the unique mission of a son to help his father escape suffering.