Robin's Angel

Chapter Ten- Contest

 The next day, everything ran smoothly. Max pretended to still be on Lila's side, acting as if everything was normal and that he was just as in awe of her as everyone else when she would lie about her adventures with a famous person. Now that he knew the truth it was irritating to hear her say such lies to his friends, but he knew he had to play along. Max approached Lila during break and handed her the gift saying that it was a gift that he hoped would take her mind off Marinette's bullying.

Lila was clearly flattered by Max's devotion to her and had to pretend to be happy to see a beautifully decorated phone case with lilacs painted on the white background. It clearly wasn't anything valuable, but Lila still had to use it, she didn't want the others around her to see her rudely toss aside their friend's gift. Lila felt it looked like it was something that someone might buy at a poor craft store and cringed on the inside, having to act like she loved the gift, immediately putting the case on her phone.

The rest of the day went by smoothly with only a few glares exchanged from either side of the classroom. Marinette's group of friends, including Max, all met at the bakery, gathering around Max's laptop in the living room as he skimmed through Lila's contacts, texts and emails when he stumbled on an encrypted messaging app that he couldn't access. He showed this to the others and Chloe spoke up, knowing about the app.

"This is a really top notch messaging app that only people who want to contact someone secretly or sell something illegal. It's basically a less illegal version of the blackmarket. The only reason I know about it is because my Daddy's been trying to get that app taken down for years." This information alone was enough to raise suspicions even higher.

"The probability that Lila is working with Hawkmoth has increased to seventy-eight persent. I would open the app, but it's encrypted. Despite my technological knowledge, I don't have the ability to open it." Max said, causing the group to sigh tiredly.

"How are we supposed to find out who Hawkmoth is if we can't open it?" Adrien asked in frustration. None of the miraculous team wanted to face another enhanced akuma, the pain that they felt from the previous battle still refresh in their minds.

"We're going to have to find someone who can open it then, it's the only way," Marinette said with just as much frustration.

"But who do we know that would be able to crack an encryption like this?" Luka asked logically, trying to find a solution.

"...Well, there is one person we could contact, but it's a long shot. The probability of making contact with him is incredibly low." Max said hesitantly. One of his favorite superheroes was known for his hacking and detective work, but the likelihood that they would be able to find and ask him for help was next to none.

"Who?" Marinette popped up from her spot on the floor, hope gleaming in her eyes. Max hesitated in surprise and adjusted his previous probabilities in his head when he reminded himself who he was dealing with. If there was even a chance, he knew Marinette would stop at nothing to accomplish it.

"Have you ever heard about a bat themed heroine from Gotham? He's known for his ability to hack into networks and track people down. Problem is, nobody knows who he is and he's all the way in America, so the chances that we could contact him from here is pretty low." Max said, trying to be realistic.

Marinette hummed in thought, mumbling, "true, and we won't be able to get in contact with the Justice League either. Last time we got in contact with them was when the akuma attacks started and the person on the phone laughed in our faces and told us to stop prank calling them." Max looked at her, wondering how she would have possibly known about that information, when she spoke up.