28. Chapter 28

Most people would call him Mr. Fu, but for the Miraculous wielders, they called him Master Fu. Sometimes they referred him as The Guardian...unless the situation would demerit such claims.

"That geezer." Adrien hissed after reading the note that was stuck on the doorstep.

■ The shop will be closed until next month for further renovations

-Mr. Fu■

"Renovations, my ass. He must've left somewhere around the world to bask himself under the sun! Again!"

A burst of cackles made him look at his partner in question.

"I can't believe...I'll be hearing you...Adrien Agreste...of all people...a perfect gentlemanly human being...with a pedigree lineage...fussing over an elderly!" Marinette laughed while clutching her stomach.

Pouting over her words, he jabbed her sides with his index, which earned him a squeal.

"Don't tell me you're okay with this, Princess."

"Of course not." she chuckled as she wiped her tears. "I'm still trying to incorporate Chat Noir's image with a certain ludicrous you."

"I thought I'm a perfect gentlemanly human being."

"Only a ludicrous person would use that logic to me."

He crossed his arms with a smug. "Hey, those words didn't come from my mouth."

She stuck her tongue out, then focused her gaze on the plastered note again.

"I think I'm going to agree with you calling him a geezer." she sighed. "He left us to deal everything on our own. Again."

Ever since Tikki reintroduced him as a fellow Chosen who could interpret the Miraculous' ancient book, her easygoing impression towards him never changed nor improved.

Train up a child in the way he should go, he quoted to them once, but they only interpreted it as a sort of negligence. Whenever a strange Akuma show up in Paris, Master Fu would leave them to fend all by themselves. Oftentimes, they would find him unreachable.

"What do you think?" her partner nudged. "Shall we break and enter his premise for clues?"

"I think he went on vacation before Twiddle Gain and Twiddle Doom appeared in the city," she responded. "So even if we welcome ourselves inside, and say, we got a clue about his whereabouts, that doesn't mean we can leave here just to track him down. He might say 'just do it' without batting an eye on us anyways."

"What's the purpose of him being a 'guardian' if he's unavailable for 'guidance'?" he grumbled.

"That means he trusted you enough." Tikki considered while poking her head out of the purse. "That you two are capable of solving things without his help."

"This is not a matter of capabilities and competence. We badly need his help. Tikki." Marinette groaned. "We cannot wig everything out."

"If that geezer only has a cell phone, everything would be easier." Adrien scowled. "I mean, who doesn't own a cell phone nowadays?"

"Then let's break and enter the place!" Plagg suggested, but before the three intercepted him, he immediately flew through the door. With a clicking sound, the lock went unlatched.

The black kwami poked his head "Are you two going to stand there or what?"

Throwing a nervous gaze, the teenagers entered inside.

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Fu was sleeping soundly when the phone rang. Thinking it was from the hotel's desk, he immediately plucked it out and muttered, "One more hour."

"This discussion will take us less than an hour, Master."

An unexpected yet familiar voice washed all of his drowsiness away.

His room phone has a built-in screen installed for a video call, so he navigated the functions and accepted the request. He didn't expect to see two mask-less teenagers there.

"Oh?" the elderly cracked a smile. "You disturbed my beauty sleep for a love counsel?"

"We don't need you for a love counsel." the blond deadpanned.

"Interesting. So, how did you two learned about each other?"

"Aren't you interested to know how we learned about your whereabouts?"

He stifled a yawn as he scrunched his bleary eyes. "Okay, I'll humor you. How?"

"We found a hotel pamphlet in Costa Rica, so we called their number. The receptionist connected the call to you." the raven-haired said. "Sorry if we interrupted your sleep, Master."

"Nah, it's alright Ladybug. I'm about to get up for breakfast anyway." he scoffed. "Humor me this time."

"Well, we...we got lost as our civilian selves, then one thing led to another until we found out each other's identities. It's a long story."

"You gave me a good synopsis." he beamed. Even with the static images, he didn't miss the blush forming on their faces. "I don't think this is the reason why you two seek for my counsel."

A pair of blue and green eyes looked at him with seriousness.

"Papillion sent two Akumas simultaneously." Marinette began. "And one of them became a rogue."

The elderly observed the fuzziness as the teenagers narrated the issues. He interrupted them twice for clarifications, eyeing Wayzz as he nodded, then let the two continued their story.

Once finished, he breathed out heavily. "This is the first time I'll be experiencing it first-hand, though I've heard several tales about it from my predecessors. It was at the time when the ladybug's Miraculous hasn't awaken yet that the other bearers had to take the matters in hand - by killing."

He heads their gasps audibly on the other line, which prompted him to continue. "True that this Twiddle Gain was only doing property damages, transposing the old to new and vice versa, and very harmless to non-Miraculous users, but that doesn't mean he will not going to do the things that Twiddle Doom did before his purification. We don't know what he'll do to endanger some innocent civilians or teleport them to a different dimension."

"How about the person behind Twiddle Doom? We've captured the Akuma and reverted his damages back prior to Twiddle Gain's discovery. Do you think he'll be corrupted again like what happened with our classmate Ivan?"

"Likely if his partner searched for his assistance. But based on what you've encountered way back in the train, Twiddle Gain was only seeking Ladybug and Chat Noir's audience, so having Twiddle Doom - or the person himself - would be irrelevant."

"I see." Adrien hummed. "But why is it that Twiddle Gain can't tell us his location? That way we can go straight ahead and purify him. End of story."

"Papillion," Fu answered matter-of-factly. "He was torturing his disobedient Champion by prolonging his agony, until such time the person would succumb to his Master's command. This is the reason why the poor man spread out several 'wormholes' all over the country to lure your civilian selves out so that he can let his 'vessel' relay his cryptic message. But beware - for Papillion might send out another henchman and use such demise to his advantage."

"What do you mean by that?"

The elderly glanced at the girl. "You summoned two Lucky Charms before, right?"

"You mean way back when I summoned a suit and a parachute during Stoneheart, and..." she paused, remembering Bubbler's incident how she called out a disk and a spanner for different reasons, but both disappeared after using the Miraculous Cure. "Wait, don't tell me...Papillion might summon another Akuma?!"

Fu nodded. "The Butterfly Miraculous has the same usage as us wielders. Whenever he sends out an Akuma, his kwami will require regeneration before he summons another Champion - and probably someone capable of ambushing you two while you're busy with Twiddle Gain's traps."

"If only I can give Papillion a piece of his mind."

"We must locate and cleanse Twiddle Gain, My Lady." the boy groaned. "Before everything become a catastrophe."

The girl groaned, but for a different reason.

"I suggest you two look for the man behind Twiddle Doom." the elderly said as he sat up. "He must be the one who triggered Twiddle Gain's fears of conquering the entire Paris, and probably has an idea about his whereabouts."

"Yeah, we'll do that."

"And Ladybug?"

"Yes, Master?"

"What's the time there in Paris?"

"It's...quarter to ten."

"I see," he mumbled, then looked at the hotel's digital clock. 9:45 AM Costa Rican time.

"I must not waste your time, then," he told them, feigning his anxiety. "I need to talk to Wayzz about this unexpected revelations."

"Are you going back to Paris, Master?" Adrien asked.

"Not yet, Chat," he replied immediately. "I believe you two can resolve this problem without warranting my attention. I'll stay here on the sidelines, and let myself available in case you would want to reach me again."

The blond gave him an analytical look but brushed it off afterward. "If you say so."

Their call ended without him telling the teenagers about their critical situation.

"I didn't anticipate this turn of events, Wayzz." the elderly huffed, looking at his floating kwami with sadness. "That those youngsters will face an enemy that's altering their very own existence. Letting them know the true essence of 'reset' after Miraculous Cure would only dampen the mood."

"Let Plagg and Tikki handle it, Master. They must've felt the shift of their Chosen's fate, and probably aware how their bonds were blurred and tampered by the Akuma." the green blob soothed. "I still believe that Marinette and Adrien were born for each other, no matter what situation they ended up with."

"I lied by omission, that's the issue."

"You've done what you believe is right, Master."

Eyeing his kwami, Fu stood up to call his transformation.

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"You think Master Fu was hiding something?"

"So he's Master Fu now?" Marinette mused, earning a beady glare. "Well, I don't know. I didn't feel any bad vibes there. Why?"

"Beats me," Adrien muttered as he opened the door for her. "Maybe I'm just anxious."

"Maybe." she pondered, and after securing the lock, they exited the place.

Their kwamis were silent during the conversation and remained nestled inside her purse. She didn't pry into their enervated state and assumed that they were apprehensive about their pending battle.

Glancing at her partner's bag, she offered "Why don't we drop that thing off at my place first before we look for Twiddle Doom's location? I have no question about yours, but I need to replenish my cookie stash."

"Sounds reasonable, Buginette. Shall we hail for a cab, or just transform for a faster travel?"

Good question, she thought. "Let's just stick to normalcy. We haven't mapped out the places where Twiddle Gain set his wormholes, and since he was altering properties, there's a high chance you might land a wrong roof."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear how you indirectly told me I'm careless."

She giggled as he looked around for a taxi stand. When he spotted one, he promptly held her left hand since her right was preoccupied with her cellphone, then dragged her towards the destination.

She was busy scrolling for messages that she missed how the pavements changed into metal ones. If she didn't bump his back when he abruptly stopped, she wouldn't look up and notice the illuminating skyscrapers and flying cars.

Such scenery has not been introduced in the 21st Century yet unless they were seeing something in the future - say, 31st Century.

A shriek caught their attention, making them witness how a man in a gas mask threw a blue canister up in the air as it emitted black smoke. The crowd dispersed immediately, and those who were unfortunate enough to inhale the toxic fell on the ground. They didn't seem to be dead, but more like fainted on the spot.

"I am Twiddle Gain!" the man yelled as he pointed their way. "And you two are nothing but useless!"

Marinette immediately lashed her head, then glared an accusatory look towards a certain blond male who was sheepishly scratching his neck.

"Oops."