The burning sense of humiliation, like the darkest fuel, ignited a raging fire in his heart.
He felt it, he felt that voice, the voice that promised him power, returning.
He waited, waited for his body to be enveloped by that familiar, hard rock.
However... one second, two seconds, ten seconds... nothing happened.
The cold wind in the courtyard blew, taking away the last trace of warmth from his shouting. The tempting voice did not appear, and the power that could transform him into a vengeful rock vanished without a trace.
He was still himself, the pathetic, foolish Ivan, who was treated like a clown by all his classmates.
The world seemed to play a cruel joke on him in the most brutal way. Even the right to become a monster was stripped away.
"Ding-a-ling—!"
The class bell rang at an inopportune moment, as if urging the farce to end. Under the teacher's urging, the onlookers dispersed in twos and threes, turning back as they walked, pointing at the figure still standing alone in the center of the courtyard.
"Look, that big, foolish singer."
"Shh, keep your voice down, what if he goes crazy again?"
"Crazy? He's just a joke."
These whispers, like poisoned needles, pricked Ivan's heart. He stood there, distraught, as the crowd receded, leaving only him and his trampled, unrecognizable self-esteem scattered on the ground.
Finally, even the three instigators—Lino, Kim, and Max—followed into the teaching building, crestfallen, under Teacher Caline's stern gaze.
The world returned to calm, but this calm was more deafening to him than any noise.
He didn't know how long he stood there until the sunlight became somewhat dazzling. Only then, like a puppet with all its parts removed, did he stiffly take a step, walking in a direction he shouldn't have gone—the principal's office.
The office door was open. Principal Damocles was sighing over a pile of documents, and his heart sank when he saw Ivan's lifeless face.
"Ivan..." he began cautiously.
"Mr. Principal," Ivan's voice was hoarse and hollow, devoid of emotion, "I want to drop out."
"Drop... drop out?!" Principal Damocles stood up from his chair in shock. "Child, you... don't be impulsive! What happened yesterday, and today... I know you've suffered a great injustice. Don't worry, the school will deal with Lino, Kim, and Max seriously, and give them the punishment they deserve! As for you, I can give you a few days off to help you adjust..."
"No need," Ivan interrupted him, staring blankly out the window. "I can't stay in this school anymore."
With that, he didn't even wait for the principal's reply, but turned around and, dragging his heavy footsteps, left the office, leaving the school that had brought him endless pain and humiliation.
Principal Damocles watched his retreating back, sighed heavily, and slumped back into his chair. "Oh... what a mess these past two days..."
However, what no one knew was that the Akuma Butterfly, which should have flown to Ivan, carrying all of Hawk Moth's anger and anticipation, had now deviated from its trajectory.
It hovered in the school corridor, like a drone that had lost its navigation. The intense negative emotions emanating from Ivan, almost solidifying, were like a lighthouse in the dark to it, and it should have rushed towards him without hesitation. But a stranger, more indescribable gravitational pull, as if from another dimension, tugged at it, causing it to deviate from its preset course.
At this moment, Jaden was escorting Mylène back to the classroom.
He had just taken off his jacket, still warm from his body, from Mylène's shoulders, pulled out her chair, and gently said, "Alright, you're safe back in the classroom. Sit down and have some water to calm yourself."
His voice was like the most effective sedative, finally allowing Mylène's wildly beating heart to slowly settle. She looked up, her fawn-like eyes filled with gratitude and a kind of dependence she couldn't quite articulate.
"Tha... thank you, Jaden."
"You're welcome," Jaden smiled, about to say something.
Just then, the lost Akuma Butterfly silently flew in through the open window. It made no sound, and the frequency of its wing beats was no different from an ordinary butterfly, but its ominous purplish-black color immediately caught Mylène's attention.
"Ah!" She let out a suppressed gasp, instinctively recoiling, pointing at the butterfly, her voice trembling, "It's... it's yesterday's... that butterfly!"
Jaden followed her finger, his pupils slightly constricting.
It was an Akuma Butterfly.
A hint of confusion arose in his heart. Ivan's emotional fluctuations just now had definitely reached the threshold for Akumatization, if not exceeded it. Why wasn't this butterfly looking for him?
The Akuma Butterfly circled once in the air, then, with an elegant and eerie posture, slowly, slowly, landed on the desk in front of Jaden.
It stayed there silently, wings folded, like an ordinary, taxidermied butterfly, motionless.
This scene utterly perplexed Jaden. It neither immediately sought a host like it had possessed Ivan yesterday, nor did it fly around. Now it was like... dead.
"What's going on?" he mused to himself. "Could it be... because Hawk Moth's Wi-Fi signal isn't good today?"
Meanwhile, on the top floor of Agreste Mansion, Hawk Moth was going mad.
He clearly saw Ivan's loneliness in the courtyard through the Akuma Butterfly's perspective. He felt Ivan's volcanic despair, and he had already thought of new names—
"Wailing Sonic" or "Despairing Singer." He anticipated a symphony of noise and sorrow sweeping across Paris.
But what was the result?
His Akuma Butterfly had actually "gone on strike" at the critical moment!
It ignored the perfect host who was so close, and instead, like a headless fly, flew into a classroom, and then... landed on the desk of a black-haired boy he had never seen before, and stopped moving.
"Move! Akumatize him! Or akumatize the girl next to him!" Hawk Moth, in his lair, gave mental commands to the air. "I can feel fear in that girl's heart too! Although not as strong as Ivan's, an appetizer is still good!"
He continuously sent commands to the Akuma Butterfly, but the butterfly was like a kite with a broken string, completely blocking his signal and showing no reaction to his orders.
"Damn it! What in the world is going on!" Hawk Moth angrily poked the ground with his cane, making several clanking sounds.
In the classroom, Jaden looked at the strange butterfly on the desk, and then at Mylène, who was still very frightened beside him. A bold thought flashed through his mind.
He took out a transparent plastic small jar from his backpack, which he carried with him for small parts. He unscrewed the lid, carefully aimed the opening at the motionless Akuma Butterfly, and then slammed it down!
"Clack."
The whole process was unexpectedly smooth. The Akuma Butterfly, like an ordinary butterfly with no power to resist, was easily trapped in the jar. Jaden quickly screwed the lid on tightly.
The Akuma Butterfly was... caught? Captured alive?
Jaden himself could hardly believe it. He picked up the jar and carefully observed it against the light. The butterfly inside flapped its wings twice, then quieted down again, seemingly indifferent to its fate of captivity.
Just then, the classroom door opened, and classmates began to trickle in.
Chloé and Sabrina walked in with their heads held high, Chloé still relishing in her comments about the recent farce. Alix, Rose, and Juleka immediately gathered around Mylène, anxiously asking about her condition. Following them, Marinette, Alya, Marc, and Nathaniel also walked in, all breathing a sigh of relief when they saw Jaden and Mylène safe and sound.
As soon as Alya entered, she keenly noticed the jar in Jaden's hand and the distinctive purplish-black butterfly inside.
"Wow! Jaden! Where did you get this?" She curiously leaned closer. "It's so realistic! It's exactly like yesterday's!"
Her words immediately attracted everyone's attention. Everyone gathered around.
"It really is! So lifelike! Is it a model?" Rose also curiously poked her head over.
"This... isn't this the butterfly from that monster yesterday?" Marc said with some uncertainty.
Chloé curled her lip in disdain: "Tch, it's just a butterfly model, what's the big deal? It must be a cheap toy bought from some stall."
"No!" Marinette's face was a little pale. "This... this looks real!"
"How is that possible?!"
Kim, Lino, and Max also walked in, crestfallen. When they saw Jaden surrounded in the middle and the jar, they also curiously came closer. When Kim saw the butterfly, he took a step back in fright: "It's it! This thing is what turned Ivan into stone yesterday!"
The entire class instantly fell silent, and everyone's gaze focused on the jar in Jaden's hand, their eyes filled with surprise, fear, and curiosity.
Just then, Teacher Caline walked in and, seeing the students gathered together, said, "Alright, students, quickly return to your seats, class is about to begin."
"But teacher!" Alya raised her hand, pointing at Jaden's jar, "There's an Akuma Butterfly here! The one from yesterday!"
Upon hearing this, Teacher Caline was also stunned. She walked over, looking at the quiet butterfly in the jar, equally incredulous. "Where… where did this come from?"
"It flew in by itself," Jaden replied calmly, "Then it landed on my desk and didn't move."
"Will there be any danger?" Teacher Caline asked with some concern.
Jaden looked at the varied expressions on everyone's faces, and the bold plan in his heart gradually took shape. He shook his head, and then made a move that made everyone gasp.
He slowly unscrewed the lid of the jar.
"Jaden! Don't!" Marinette and Alya exclaimed simultaneously.
But it was already too late.
Jaden tore a clean piece of paper from his notebook and extended it to the mouth of the jar. A bizarre scene occurred again; the Akuma Butterfly, like a shark smelling blood, flew out of the jar without hesitation, and then directly merged into the thin piece of paper!
The edges of the paper were instantly stained with an ominous black aura.
Everyone held their breath, looking at Jaden in horror.
"What is he doing?!"
"Is he crazy?!"
"Does he want to be turned into a monster?"
Jaden held the possessed paper, his face still devoid of expression. He just wanted to test whether this thing was effective on him. As a transmigrator, and one who had physically transmigrated, a "foreign object" that theoretically didn't belong to this world, would Hawk Moth's Akumatization be effective on him?
The next second, that familiar, tempting voice resounded directly in his mind.
"Hello, I am Hawk Moth… I sense… a lonely soul that does not belong to this world…"
Hawk Moth's voice held a hint of confusion, but more so, the excitement of discovering new prey.
"You are pretending, you are performing. You feel out of place with everything around you, like a detached audience, mocking the joys and sorrows of everyone on this stage. But deep down, your heart is filled with the pain and struggle of being rejected by the world! You hypocritical, abandoned wanderer!"
Every word from Hawk Moth was like a precise scalpel, cutting through Jaden's feigned, nonchalant mask!
Jaden's pupils suddenly constricted! His breathing instantly became rapid.
His defenses were breached.
He thought he was different, he thought he had long transcended the emotions of this anime world. But Hawk Moth's words mercilessly ripped open his deepest wound—the bone-chilling loneliness of being in a foreign land, a soul with no place to belong.
Yes, he cared for the female characters around him out of a desire to conquer; he treated his friends kindly to better integrate. But all of this was built on the foundation of "performance." He had never truly considered himself a part of this world.
This feeling of being seen through at a glance, coupled with the power of the Akumatization, instantly collapsed his mental defenses. "You… how could you…" he murmured distractedly.
The others in the classroom only saw Jaden's face suddenly turn pale after picking up the paper, his eyes becoming pained and struggling, and even fine cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
"Student Jaden! What's wrong with you?" Teacher Caline asked anxiously.
Marinette and Alya also sensed something was wrong and immediately rushed over.
Hawk Moth's voice rang out in Jaden's mind again, filled with triumphant joy: "Admit it! You crave understanding! You crave a true sense of belonging! I can give it to you! I can make this world truly revolve around you! Make everyone worship and adore you from the bottom of their hearts! No more need for any false performances!"
"And the price I need is nothing more than… Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous! Now, tell me your name, lost soul! And your choice!"
"My name is… Wanderer." Jaden's lips involuntarily uttered the word, "I… agree…" The moment he said "agree," the paper in his hand suddenly burst forth with a thick, inky dark energy, about to completely engulf him up his arm!
No!
A figure moved like lightning! Alya, quick-witted, snatched the paper from his already somewhat stiff hand!
Without the slightest hesitation, she tore it forcefully with both hands!
Rip—!
The paper was instantly torn in half!
The black energy, as if losing its source, instantly dissipated. The Akuma Butterfly flew out from the broken pieces of paper.
Almost at the same time, another figure moved! Marinette took out the small jar Jaden had just used and, with an agility that surprised even herself, quickly caught the just-flown-out, startled Akuma Butterfly again, then "snap" went the lid, locking it shut.
The series of actions flowed smoothly, perfectly coordinated.
The moment the Akuma Butterfly was imprisoned again, Jaden's body swayed, and he suddenly came back to his senses. He gasped for air, feeling as if he had just struggled ashore from an unfathomably deep tide, soaked in cold sweat.
"Jaden! Are you okay?!" The surrounding classmates all crowded around, asking questions all at once.
"What… what exactly happened just now?" Rose asked with lingering fear.
Jaden looked at the genuine concern on everyone's faces, then at the two pieces of torn paper in Alya's hand, and the jar containing the culprit in Marinette's hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He could actually… really be dark transformed. And his defenses had been breached.
He took a deep breath, shook his head, and said in a still somewhat hoarse voice: "I'm fine… I just… felt like I was submerged in unfathomably deep water, very cold, very dark, unable to find any light…"
He roughly described his feelings from just now.
Everyone listened, their faces filled with lingering fear. Even someone as calm and strong as Jaden almost got dark transformed, making this villain called "Hawk Moth" truly terrifying.
Just then, a peculiar train of thought formed in Lino's mind.
"Hey, wait a minute!" He suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes shining, "Did you notice? Jaden just talked to that big villain! We seem to have… heard that big villain's name and his purpose!"
"Oh, right!" Alya also reacted, "'Hawk Moth'! He said he was Hawk Moth! And he wants Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous!"
This was earth-shattering news!
"And," Lino's thoughts strayed further, but he became more excited as he spoke, "We seem to have… found a way to 'safely communicate' with this Hawk Moth?"
He pointed to the jar in Marinette's hand, then to the torn pieces of paper in Alya's hand.
"Think about it, as long as we hold the possessed item, we can hear his voice. Then, as long as someone next to us snatches the item and tears it up before we are completely dark transformed, wouldn't that work? We can both extract information and ensure safety!"
Lino's idea stunned everyone.
This… this is too dangerous! Teacher Caline was the first to object.
"But teacher, this sounds fun!" Kim chimed in, eager to find a way to make up for his mistake this morning.
"Exactly!" Alya's reporter's soul also burned brightly, "This is a chance to directly talk to the villain! We can learn more about his plans!"
"And…" Chloé, with her arms crossed, showed a mischievous, interested smile on her face, "Don't you think it would be very interesting to make him think he's succeeding, then suddenly fail… repeatedly? It's almost like… torturing him!"
Chloé's words were like a key, unlocking that little, dark switch in everyone's hearts.
Yes, that bad guy hiding in the shadows made them fearful yesterday and almost dark transformed Jaden today. Letting him succeed like this would be letting him off too easily!
"I agree!"
"I think we can try it too!"
"Sounds exciting!"
The students' enthusiasm was instantly ignited. Everyone spoke at once, and soon they perfected this "most self-destructive plan in history"—
They would take turns. Each person would take a piece of paper, think about the angriest, most annoying thing they had recently encountered, fill themselves with negative emotions to attract the butterfly to possess them. Then, they would start "negotiating" with Hawk Moth, pretending to agree, and just when Hawk Moth thought he was about to succeed again, the person next to them would quickly snatch the paper and tear it up! And so on, in a cycle!
Teacher Caline looked at these students, who had completely gone wild, and wanted to stop them, but found her voice so pale and powerless in the face of their surging enthusiasm. She couldn't argue with these children, and was worried that something might actually go wrong, so she could only sigh and reluctantly agree, but proposed one condition: "I must supervise! If there is any danger, it must stop immediately!"
Thus, an unprecedented, unique "Torture Convention" targeting the most tragic villain in history, grandly began in a classroom at François Dupont High School.