Miraculous Hunters Rewritten: Book 2

Chapter 23: Young Atlas Part 1

After the unexpected akumatization of Gigantitan, there wasn't another akuma for Marinette and Adrien to defeat for the rest of the weekend. However, that didn't mean that things in Arcadia would be the same in terms of being quiet. Granted, the weekend was quiet for Jim and Toby. Even when Jim's Grandma Gina; who had been staying in Arcadia while planning her tour of the western side of the world, took them out on Saturday for a day out. But while the weekend was quiet on Jim's side of the world, he was unaware of the trouble brewing now that Otto Scaarbach had finally cleared customs and arrived in Arcadia Sunday night.

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Thanks to Otto Scaarbach showing off the Eyestone to his fellow Changeling at the airport, it immediately grabbed the attention of airport security. As such, they called the police and confiscated the briefcase, delaying getting the Eyestone back from law enforcement. Sure, Otto could have had someone come in and steal it, but that would have drawn unwanted attention to the plan to get Gunmar out of the Darklands. So Otto waited until the police deemed the Eyestone safe, needing to wait almost three weeks before it was released back to him. Once he had the Eyestone in his possession, Otto hightailed it to Arcadia Oaks as fast as possible, arriving the next night. But due to how late he had arrived, it forced Strickler and Bular to wait and gather their associates to witness the Eyestone being placed on the bridge.

This led to Strickler using the school's lunch break to take a walk in town, book in hand as he went to let those in on the plan know about the evening's events. After a little while, he soon found Councilwoman Nunez sitting on a bench in front of the museum, alongside her 'baby' and the last of Stickler's associates. Upon seeing the mother cooing happily at her 'child', Strickler used her distractedness to advance to that same bench.

"Que precioso." Ophelia cooed as she happily played with the Changeling child that she was unaware of, NotEnrique cooing happily in his disguise before she covered her eyes with her hands. "Boo!" the councilwoman softly exclaimed, uncovering her eyes with a soft and happy smile and causing the fake Enrique to giggle happily.

"Si, guapo."Ophelia praised just as Strickler sat beside them, catching her attention easily. "Oh, hello." she greeted the man before slightly moving her stroller closer to her, only for her cell phone to suddenly ring while Strickler started to read on the bench, minding his business. At the sound of the cell phone, Ophelia immediately grabbed it and answered it.

"This is Councilwoman Nunez." Ophelia greeted the call, turning back to smile at NotEnrique just as he started blowing raspberries at her. "What's that? the councilwoman asked, standing up from the bench and focusing on her phone instead of her 'child' after she so deliberately moved the stroller close to her once a man sat beside her. But once she headed off and was far enough away, the stroller holding NotEnrique bounced as it turned to face Strickler, the sound of changing forms echoing alongside a flash of green light.

"We are meeting today to activate the Eyestone." Strickler mumbled, shyly moving his eyes to face NotEnrique as he sat in the stroller in his true form.

"You mean, we're gonna finally be able to talk to the big honcho?" NotEnrique asked as he pulled out his bottle, in awe of the news before he remembered one tiny detail. "Oh, I can't. Your prize pupil did a number on me new home and now I can't leave the house." the tiny pest said, finally reporting his mistake to the taller Changeling.

"You've been exposed!?" Strickler quietly scolded, not looking up from his book to prevent any onlookers from noticing the secret conversation.

"What was I supposed to do? The fleshbags used a Gaggletack on me!" NotEnrique exclaimed before he sucked on the nipple of the bottle, swallowing down the formula to soothe his growing nervousness.