Mending Warped Designs

by siderealSandman

Summary:

Three years after Hawkmoth's death, Marinette lives an ordinary life in London pursuing her dreams far away from the burden of being a superhero. Now joined with Ladybug, she grapples with balancing her career and her growing powers while being haunted by her past mistakes.

But when an unstoppable duo with apocalyptic aims rises with new Miraculous at their fingertips, Ladybug must work to mend the rift between her and her former partner if either of them have any hope of saving the world once again.

Chapter 1: So Come Rain On My Parade

Notes:

"When the world rots, we set it afire. For the sake of the next world. It's the one thing we do right...unlike those fools on the outside."

-Dark Souls III, Hidetaka Miyazaki

Toronto, Ontario

August 6, 2005

---

“Anything else, Mr. Li?” 

 

A pair of watery grey eyes scanned the warm case of pastries before him. “You know what, go ahead and throw some more lemon squares in,” Master Li said, passing another note across the counter as the barista packaged up some more pastries. 

 

“Are your grandkids staying the night again?” The barista asked as she added the lemon squares to the order. 

 

“I've been enlisted to help them with their homework,” Mr. Li chuckled, stuffing the change in the tip-jar as he effortlessly picked up the bulging box of sweets with his little finger. “Calculus is easier to tutor when dessert is involved." 

 

“Sure I can’t offer you another apple cruller?” The barista asked somewhat jokingly. 

 

“No,” Mr. Li laughed, patting his bulging stomach. “My doctor would-” 

 

The old man trailed off, eyes growing distant as a dark look fluttered across his face. The barista’s smile wavered as the cheerful old man that had been visiting her parents’ coffee shop since she was a child suddenly looked more terrified and terrifying than she could remember. 

 

The moment passed in an instant as the old man’s eyes took on the same sadly optimistic expression he wore every day. “You know...I think I’ll take that cruller.” 

 

“You only live once,” The barista chirped, retrieving the pastry from the case. 

 

“Indeed,” Mr. Li said quietly, passing a $100 bill across the counter. “Keep the change.” 

 

“Sir, I think you gave me the wrong-” The barista frowned as she glanced up from the note to see the old man gone, the door swinging as the cold breeze came in after him. 

 

---

 

The Golden Goose’s apple crullers weren’t as sweet as some of the others he had tried, but Master Li preferred it that way. Too many times, bakers tried to eradicate anything sour, salty, or bitter from their desserts; as though they feared being anything less than overly saccharine. It was...dishonest, Master Li supposed; to try and erase what made sour fruit good to begin with. 

 

On the last night of his life, as he hurried down the rain-slicked streets towards his shop off Dundas Street, the only thing that Master Li regretted was the crullers he didn't eat. 

 

 

It's going to rain next Tuesday at three; pack an umbrella and take the bus home. 

I love you. 

 

The text message was sent as Master Li snapped his phone in half, igniting it and tossing it into a nearby dumpster without looking back. As he walked, his eyes scanned the faces of people he passed, every friend or stranger he saw was scrutinized for a tingle of magic to suggest another face might be lurking under smiles sent his way. Felix wouldn't waste any time getting Bridgette to safety; the bag had been packed for weeks after returning from Tibet, stuffed with everything he didn't want He or Fu to find. He knew what was left of his order was coming for him and he was not about to let all the wrong he had done in the past few years be for nothing. 

 

The flickering lights of his bookstore greeted him without any sign of his former friends lurking around the front door. Still, Master Li traipsed around the back of the building, ducked through an alleyway, and slipped in the service door towards the door at the back. Fumbling with the box of food, Master Li waved his hand to unlock the strange, antiquated locks that held his back door in place. 

 

Almost immediately, he knew something was wrong. 

 

The small, greying old man sitting at the kitchen table looked up as the back door open, his eyes dark and unfriendly as Master Li stepped through the back door. “Fu- gu ,” Master Li chuckled, eyes falling on the teapot bubbling over a hotplate and three cups arranged around the table. “What a surprise…” 

 

“Is it?” Master Fu asked quietly, nodding at the cups around the table. “It seems you knew we were coming.” 

 

The side door opened and a tall, white-haired woman stepped through, sleeves rolled up and eyes flinty as she blocked the doorway. “I couldn’t find them; seems like he liquidated half his library while he was at it.” 

 

“Almost makes me think he was trying to hide something,” Master Fu said. Master Li’s eyes glanced down to the corner of his kitchen floor, carefully dragging the corner of the rug over a loose board as he grabbed a canister of loose tea leaves from the cabinet. If his colleagues noticed him covering the hatch that led to an escape tunnel he had installed in the fifties, neither of them indicated as much. 

 

"You know, the quality of greetings has really gone downhill lately," Master Li chuckled, meandering his way over to the cabinet. "I remember a time when a hello was in order between old friends...forgive me, but you're being rather rude." 

 

"It would be rude if we were still friends," Master He said, hands clenching at her side. 

 

“Li,” Master He asked quietly. “What happened to Master Cao?” 

 

Master Li said nothing as he pulled a box of green tea out of the cabinet, the eyes of his former friends studying his every move. 

 

“We had a disagreement,” Master Li said, adding leaves to the pot and sitting down opposite Master Fu. "Sadly, I lacked the tact to sway him to my way of thinking...I'm sorry to say we did not part on the best of terms." 

 

“So it would seem…” Master Fu mumbled, eyes trailing over Master Li’s figure. “And where is Nooroo?” 

 

“I don’t see Duusu anywhere, either,” Master He said. “We didn’t find the Peacock on Cao’s body...you wouldn’t happen to know where it is, would you?”  

 

“Ah,” Master Li said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I’m afraid I lost the Miraculous in a bad game of poker down at the senior center. I think Mrs. Chau has them in her jewelry box, if you’d like to try and get them back…then again, she has a horse racing addiction, so the pawn shop might be a better place to start looking.” 

 

Master Fu’s fingertips drummed on the head of his cane as Master He leaned on the back of his chair, eyes boring into Li’s. 

 

“Oh, come now,” Master Li chuckled as he felt a tingle of probing magical energy tickle the back of his mind. “Let’s not spoil our last meal together with discourtesy.”

 

“It’s discourteous to lie, isn’t it?” Master He said as as Master Li clipped open the box of pastries. “Seems like an awful lot of food for one man...are you sure you’re not expecting guests?” 

 

“I have to keep my figure, you know,” Master Li laughed, a loud, booming laugh that echoed off the walls of the kitchen. “I like my food; you’ve always known that.”

 

“I have,” Master He said, eyes roaming around the table as she took in the three cups that Master Li filled with tea. “Although after seeing what you did to Cao...I’m not sure I know who I’m talking to anymore.” 

 

Master Li shrugged. “People are allowed to change, aren't they?” 

 

“Not like this,” Master Fu said, leaning back in his chair. “I’ve been meaning to ask...have you seen Zhongli lately?” 

 

“Not in a while,” Master Li said, taking a sip of his tea. “I think he mentioned he was going hiking in Tibet?” 

 

An uncomfortable silence settled on the table as Master Li smacked his lips thoughtfully. “Dangerous trails this time of year...I know he’s capable, but any of us are capable of meeting unfortunate ends, aren’t we?” 

 

"Did he also disagree with you?" Master He asked coldly. 

 

"We haven't seen eye-to-eye in centuries," Master Li shrugged. "That's nothing new." 

 

Master Fu’s jaw tightened, the Turtle Miraculous clinking on the table as he set his hands down in front of him. “...why?” 

 

Master Li didn’t need to ask what Master Fu was asking about. Glancing at the clock and doing the math in his head, he figured he had bought enough time. The Miraculous, his research, and his secret students were now out of reach. 

 

“Do you know what the date is today?” Master Li asked, glancing at the calendar on the wall. “August 6th...hard to believe it’s been sixty years already.” 

 

“Time certainly flies,” Master He said. “...you know there was nothing we could have done.” 

 

“Nothing?” Master Li chuckled. “Just like there was nothing we could do when the Germans rolled into France, right? Sho ga nai, as they say...although that's not true, is it?” 

 

“Li-” 

 

“Oh yes, that’s not our purpose ,” Master Li said, bitterness creeping into his cheery tone. “Heavens forbid we use our power to better the lives of our fellow humans...but you two don’t think of yourselves like that anymore, do you?” 

 

“The Miraculous are not tools to advance the aims of one species over another,” Master Fu growled. “We are not the gods of this world, Li-” 

 

“Perhaps we should have been,” Master Li said, tearing the corner off a cruller and popping into his mouth. “Tell me...if two children are playing unattended and one of them finds their parents' gun...is what happens next the child's fault? Or should the parent have paying closer attention to keep their children from hurting one another?" 

 

“And you would have us, what, rule the world to prevent our children from getting hurt?” Master He scoffed. “We’ve had this conversation already, Li-” 

 

“Yes,” Master Li said. “Conversation doesn’t seem to solve anything anymore...and we lack the time to deliberate. This world...you know it's dying." 

 

“There is time to correct course,” Master Fu said gently. 

 

“No...no, we have passed that point,” Master Li sighed, running his hands through his thinning white hair. “Maybe if we had done something sooner but...well, nothing left to do but try again, hm?” 

 

Master Li poured three cups of tea, passing them to his friends who never took their eyes off him. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give me the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, would you?” 

 

Master Fu’s icy silence was the only answer Master Li needed. 

 

“No...didn’t think so,” Master Li chuckled, leaning back in his chair as he glanced between his old friends. “Wouldn’t be much of a Guardian if you did...you must maintain the balance, eh? Better to maintain the awful status quo than try for something better.” 

 

“It is when your definition of better involves untold suffering and death ,” Master He spat. "For all your flowery words, you would butcher ninety percent of humanity on the longest of long shots that cannot work." 

 

“Humanity has suffered and died for thousands of years,” Master Li said. “They will suffer and die to see a new world born...but that suffering is nothing compared to the misery the world will endure if we do nothing . We are running out of shots to take; they all have to be long shots from here on out.” 

 

“And if you’re wrong?” Master Fu challenged. 

 

“Fu...we are all of us living on borrowed time,” Master Li said. “When famine and disaster ravage the world, do you suppose your Chosen will be grateful that you held back and did nothing to make the world a better place for them? How long do you think you can keep your pupils from doing what you lack the stomach to do?”

 

The old man had melted away, eyes burning with a kind of rage that only grew hotter as time passed. “Or is it better to keep their true potential from them, hm? Nice, obedient little pets that do only what you ask of them, ignorant of the power they possess?” 

 

“The well-being of the Chosen is no longer your concern,” Master He said. “After all you’ve done, do you really think we’re going to let you walk free?” 

 

“No...I didn’t think you would,” Master Li chuckled, hands spreading out on the table in front of him. “Not that it matters what happens to me anymore.” 

 

Master Li slowly stood up, stretching his neck with an audible pop. “Small sticks must be used as kindling if you want to start a proper fire." 

 

---

 

Across town, a manhole cover shifted in the corner of a dark alley. A pair of wide, fearful green eyes peeked out from behind a matted curtain of blonde hair, scanning the streets for any sign of danger. 

 

“Okay...okay, I think it’s safe,” Felix mumbled warily, pulling himself out of the manhole and reaching down to haul up a dark haired girl of fifteen clutching a bulging leather sack to her chest like her life depended on it.  “Come on...let’s get going-” 

 

“We need to go back,” Bridgette said suddenly, starting down the street before Felix grabbed her by the wrist. “Felix, let go , we need to-” 

 

“We need to do what Master Li wanted us to do!” Felix insisted. “That means getting out of the city! We have to-” 

 

“You take the Miraculous and go then!” Bridgette said, twisting out of Felix’s grip and shoving the bag into his arms. “I’m going back-” 

 

“Bridgette!” 

 

“He needs us!” Bridgette shrieked, drawing confused looks from several passers by. “We can win, if we-” 

 

A distant boom echoed across the city, followed by a tremor that rocked the ground beneath their feet. The sidewalk they stood on splintered, buckling under the weight of an enormous explosion as orange tinged smoke crawled upwards in the night sky.

 

Felix couldn’t tell if the anguish he felt was his or Bridgette’s; by the time he had the sense to check, she had turned and bolted, tearing through the crowd that streamed away from the scene of destruction. “Bri!” 

 

Bridgette was deaf to Felix’s cries as she tore down the city streets, the world a blur except for the smell of smoke and flames that cut through the bitter chill of the night. 

 

He can’t be dead. He can’t be dead. He can’t be dead. He can’t be-

 

She cut through the park overlooking Master Li’s home, bounding over a bench and coming to a stop as the blackened, smoking crater where her Master’s house had been stared up at her. Most of the neighborhood had been wiped out as emergency personnel raced towards an already doomed scene. 

 

Bridgette felt Felix slam into her, arms wrapping around her shoulders. Someone was screaming and it was only after her throat burned in pain that she realized that someone was her. 

 

---

 

The bubble shield Jade Turtle had erected dissipated as Master Crane stared mutely at the spot where Master Li had been only moments earlier. 

 

“Idiot…” Master Crane panted, staring around the cavernous pit where the house used to be. “What was the point of that? We weren’t going to kill him…” 

 

“He had no intention of ever coming with us,” Jade Turtle sighed, picking up a charred leather tome as it fell apart in his hands. “What a waste...what a terrible waste…” 

 

Master Crane bent down, picking up a fragment of tea-cup with a thoughtful glare. “...he was expecting someone.” 

 

“Who?” Jade Turtle asked. “We’re the only ones left now…Cao and the others...he killed them all, didn't he?” 

 

“I don’t know,” Master Crane muttered. “Do you suppose he could have had-” 

 

The sound of sirens drew their attention back to reality.

 

“We need to go,” Jade Turtle said, grabbing Master Crane’s sleeve. “Now.” 

 

---

 

The cold, late-summer air bit into Bridgette’s tear stained cheeks, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Her eyes stared dimly into the flames that consumed the neighborhood she had lived in since her mother had passed, watching years of history go up in smoke. 

 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Bridgette mumbled after what felt like an eternity rooted to the wet grass. 

 

“There’s...there’s money in a bank account,” Felix said, clearing his throat of the lump that had formed while watching his mentor’s home burn in the distance. It wouldn’t do for both of them to go to pieces; there would be time to mourn his second father after he got Bridgette out of the city. “And a safety deposit box we need to clean out...after that…” 

 

There didn’t seem to be an easy answer for after that . A worn leather sack full of books could point them in the right direction; the bracelets around their wrists would keep them from being discovered by magical means. But nothing could replace the clear-eyed purpose of their mentor; the skill for seeing all outcomes of a situation and prodding it until he got what he wanted out of it. 

 

The captain had saved the ship and left it rudderless in a stormy sea. 

 

A flicker of movement in the rubble drew Bridgette’s eyes as two figures made their way out of the wreckage. From the distance, she could only make out a tall figure in white and a shorter one in green before they vanished in a snap of purple light. 

 

“He knew they were coming for him…” Bridgette said softly. "He knew his time was running out." 

 

“That’s why he sent us away,” Felix said, tugging a small wooden box out of the bag in Bridgette’s arms. Inside, a glittering purple butterfly pin and blue peacock brooch reflected the light coming off the inferno that spread in spite of the fire department’s frantic efforts. 

 

“So we could carry on without him,” Bridgette said as the cold, wet feeling of fear in her stomach hardened into something she could use as a weapon. For years, she had meditated on Destruction and thought she understood it well enough to tap into Its power. But watching her home and family burn was, for lack of a better term, enlightening. In the flames, she saw old buildings burn away, slumping over and crumbling into heaps of embers that refused to stop burning no matter how much water was poured on it. It was sad to see so much go, but the buildings themselves were old and falling apart. Stronger, newer, safer buildings would be built in their place and the people who lived there would have the fire to thank for their new homes. 

 

Fire seeped deeper into her soul, taking hold in the home she had made to keep it. 

 

A tingle of magical energy drew her attention back to the boy with his arms around her. His fingertips danced with green light, bathing the dark corner of the park in an emerald glow as he focused on the ground in front of her. A small, halting red rose pushed its way out of the dirt, nature itself bending out of the way as Felix plucked it out of the ground. His fingers were cold as he passed the rose into her hands, and so she did the only thing she could to warm him up. 

 

“So that’s what we’ll do,” Felix said, watching a spark jump from Bridgette’s fingertips to ignite the rose, the flame warming them as they huddled together under the tree. “Burn it down.”

 

“And start again,” Bridgette said, her blue eyes melting into a warm gold that reflected the fire that destroyed her home. A fire that would spread and engulf the rotting world they had inherited. 

siderealSandman presents

Rift Wars, Part II

Mending Warped Designs

 

Notes:

Your goddamned right this fic is titled after a Sidereal Charm.

And so begins Act 2. For fans who are just stumbling on this fic, welcome! You definitely need to go back and read Truth and Consequences first or be woefully lost! Go ahead; I'll be here for you to yell at when you get back.

For returning readers, welcome back! I am raring and roaring to get back into this verse. Truth be told, T&C was a necessary evil to set up this story. I've had scenes bouncing around my head for at least a year and I am pumped to get to writing them.

Chapter 2: Five On It

---

Paris, France

2024

---

 

A thundering boom split the early afternoon air, setting off parked car alarms and rattling glass. The people walking down the street stopped in their tracks, turning to look down the road towards a rising column of smoke. A familiar, pre-recorded voice from the loudspeakers installed every few dozen meters confirmed the suspicion at the forefront of everyone’s mind. 

 

“People of Paris,” Rena Rouge’s voice said in French. “Please remain calm. There is a dangerous anomaly currently roaming the streets. Please follow the flashing orange lights to the nearest ARK Security Bunker and await further instructions.” 

 

A mechanical roar filled the air and drowned out Rena Rouge’s standard warning as it started repeating in English. At a nearby cafe, Nathanael watched his overpriced sparkling water tremble as heavy footsteps shook the ground, growing closer and closer with each passing second before strangely falling silent. 

 

“You think it was a false alarm?” Marc asked almost hopefully. 

 

The ground beneath the street buckled, asphalt cracking as a gigantic robotic dinosaur head burst out of the ground, spitting steam and clawing its way out of the dirt with razor-sharp claws. The mechanized tyrannosaurus hauled itself out of the sewer, charging down the street and dragging both a heavy safe and a beleaguered Rena Rouge behind it. 

 

“Can't be sure,” Nathanael said dryly, tugging his boyfriend into an alley as the crowds of people surrounding them scattered, making their way towards a large orange bunker embedded in the street. Rows of orange lights lit up as they ran, guiding them towards a large, reinforced steel door and an orange-clad ARK worker waving them in. 

 

“Hello Evillustrator.”  Nathanael stopped as a familiar voice echoed in his head. A purple overlay floated over his eyes as the pen in his pocket vibrated. “I hope this isn’t a bad time.” 

 

“Looks like you’re up,” Marc said as the people rushing past them stopped to snap a picture with their phones. 

 

“We have a bit of a...dinosaur problem,” Monarch sighed, the irritation heavy in her voice. 

 

“Again?” Nathanael asked, looking up as a steel-winged pterodactyl swooped overhead pursuing Queen Bee. “I thought Dr. Oliver was back in prison?” 

 

“Well, when one makes gigantic mechanical dinosaurs for fun, a prison cell is hardly an obstacle to overcome,” Monarch sniffed. “We shall have to get ARK to build us a more secure holding cell. In the meantime, I was hoping you could finally help Bluebird and I pull ahead of Queen Bee's team.” 

 

“Always happy to ruin Chloe’s day,” Nathanael said, eyes closing as his familiar costume of Evillustrator washed over him. “Where do we start?” 

---

Rena Rouge never thought she would miss the akuma. 

 

At least akuma had a set beginning and end; at least they could be dealt with in a way that didn’t involve more property damage than Rena Rouge cared to think about. More than anything, akuma had an excuse for acting and dressing like deranged maniacs. 

 

“Give up, Rena Rouge! Your feeble illusions are no match for the combined mechanical and paleontological genius of Professor Pterodactyl!” 

 

Dr. Thomas Oliver had no such excuse. But he did serve as an excellent example of why double majors in paleontology and mechanical engineering should be outlawed. 

 

Rena Rouge narrowly avoided a jet of white hot steam fired from a vent on the back of the dinosaur's tail as she hung on for dear life, boots digging into the plates as her fingers gripped the dinosaur’s spines for support. 

 

“Dr. O’s got some new toys, doesn’t he?” Carapace’s voice chirped in her ear as the dinobot rounded the corner, tail swinging wildly in an effort to shake Rena Rouge off. 

 

“Why can’t he just play with Jurassic Park action figures like other paleontologists?” Rena Rouge grunted. “You guys in position?” 

 

“Ready to receive,” Carapace said. “ Just bring him to me, Foxy~!” 

 

“En route; just need to-” Rena Rouge’s blood ran cold as she saw a small figure in the middle of the road in front of her. “Kid; kid in the street!” 

 

The child with the gigantic stuffed T-Rex dangling from one hand looked up at the mechanical monster that bore down on her with a look of fear and awe. She either didn’t want to run or was somehow frozen in fear as the titanic machine grew closer and closer to her. 

 

“Queen Bee, Bluebird; intercept!” Rena Rouge called into her earpiece as she hauled herself up the dinosaur’s back.

 

“I’m halfway across town with two of his drones on me!” Queen Bee chirped as Rena Rouge banged on the dinosaur’s head. "Stall him!" 

 

 “Dr. Oliver, stop! There’s a child in the street!” She cried. 

 

“Oh, I’m not that gullible, Rena Rouge,” Dr. Oliver crowed through the tinny mechanical speakers, increasing the speed of his machine. “Your illusions have fooled me for the last time!” 

 

Scrambling up the back of the dinosaur, she fought her way up to the cockpit in the T-Rex’s mouth. Rena Rouge struggled to hang on to the mechanical spines as the apparatus bobbed and weaved with each perilous step that brought them closer to the hapless child. 

 

“ Any day now, guys!” Rena Rouge called, voice cracking as a powdery blue feather floated down from the sky and landed on the child’s stuffed animal. Light grew and shimmered and grew around the child in the shape of a gargantuan feathered T-Rex that let out a roar of its own as it lunged for the robot, jaws clamping around its throat and stopping it dead in its tracks before it could harm her. 

 

Too close, Rena Rouge thought to herself as Bluebird floated past them and landed in front of the girl between the Sentimonster’s legs. 

 

“I know the dino-robot is cool,” Bluebird said, carefully picking the awestruck little girl up in his arms. “But I think yours is cooler.” 

 

“Oh come on, did Luka beat me to it?!” Queen Bee hissed as the burning wreckage of a shattered pterodactyl drone crashed into the river. “ I was busy breaking Dr. Dino-dork’s toys.” 

 

“That’s one more point for the kohai,” Monarch chuckled. “I believe that puts us ahead of Team Paris at this point, doesn’t it?” 

 

“Ooooh what was that about us never catching up to you, Queenie?” Bluebird snickered as Rena Rouge shoved her her staff into the gap between the dinosaur’s head and neck. 

 

“Shut up!” 

 

“Don’t count your lead just yet ,” Rena Rouge grunted, wrenching the steel backwards and exposing the cockpit where a man with a black ponytail and gigantic mirrored goggles sat behind a complicated set of controls. “What’s up, Doc?” 

 

The mad scientist fumbled for a large, unwieldy weapon, aiming it at Rena Rouge’s head. She ducked out of the way of a hissing bolt of energy as it sailed past her, almost singing her hair. Falling back, she lost footing on the smooth plates on the side of the creature, slipping off and tumbling towards the ground-

 

Rena Rouge halted inches from the ground as Queen Bee hand closed around her ankle yanking her up into her arms bridal style. 

 

“And they say picking up girls in Paris is hard,” Queen Bee purred, steering the pair of them through the air as the dinobot hobbled down the street, the sentimonster hot on its tail. “How y doin’, toots?” 

 

“Peachy,” Rena Rouge said, gripping Queen Bee’s neck as two more pterodactyl themed drones zoomed past them, wings narrowly missing Queen Bee’s. “I feel like the laser beams might be stepping out of the dino theming a little bit.” 

 

“Dr. Dilophosaurus needs a brand manager.” 

 

“Apparently he’s Professor Pterodactyl now.” 

 

“I was under the impression he went by P.h.Dino,” Monarch chimed in as the dinosaur Sentimonster lunged out of a side-street, grabbing the machine in its spectral jaws.  

 

“The man can’t even pick a supervillain name and stick with it,” Bluebird sighed.

 

“Half-asses like him shouldn’t even be in business," Carapace agreed. 

 

“Let’s make him extinct then,” Rena Rouge said, grabbing the end of Queen Bee’s chain as she swung overhead. Two pterodactyl drones swooped in, mouths opening and firing superheated beams of plasma at Queen Bee. On cue, Rena Rouge leapt out of Queen Bee’s arms, unspooling the chain as Queen Bee zipped up, swinging her around to land on the back of one of the drones. The mechanical dinosaur’s head craned backwards, but Rena Rouge managed to hook her staff around the creature’s chin, steering it by applying pressure to its wings. 

 

“ Evilustrator here,”  Evilustrator’s voice chirped through Monarch’s communication relay. "What can I do?"

 

“Go away!” Queen Bee squealed. “This is A-List Heroes only!” 

 

“Bite me!” Evilustrator replied cheerfully as one of the pterodactyl robots flew into a gigantic butterfly net sketched out of thin air. “You’re not the queen I take my orders from.” 

 

“Uh oh, looks like we got competition,” Rena Rouge said, steering the Pterodactyl drone towards the now smoking dinobot. “Shelly, you ready?” 

 

“Pokeball ready to go ,” Carapace said, his emerald form appearing on a nearby rooftop. 

 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Monarch hissed, rounding the street corner beneath Rena Rouge as she tucked into a dive. “Evillustrator, bring me that fossil before Carapace gets his mitts on him!” 

 

“ I-I’m beginning to feel very bullied right now!” Dr. Oliver squeaked from his creaking machine, trying to clamber out of the cockpit before the entire superhero population of Paris bore down on him. “This is like fifth grade all over a-” 

 

Rena Rouge leapt off the back of the drone, feet tucking against her chest and lashing out as her heels collided with the back of Dr. Oliver’s head. Tumbling out of the two-story dinosaur, he flipped through the air, landing inside a bubble of energy a split second after Evilustrator drew a large cage on top of him. 

 

“Point!” Bluebird chirped. 

 

“Noooooooooo!” Queen Bee moaned floating down besides Bluebird. “Come on, we had that! He’s in Carapace’s bubble!” 

 

“Inside Evilustrator’s cage,” Monarch said, shouldering her cane as she strolled slowly up to the group. Evilustrator sketched a giant pair of lips that blew a wet raspberry in Queen Bee’s face before she shattered them in half with a well placed kick. “Which means, by the Egyptian Ratslap rules-” 

 

“-which you fought for, by the way,” Bluebird reminded Queen Bee. 

 

“-whoever’s hand is on the villain at the end of the battle gets the points,” Monarch said, raising her hand to catch Bluebird’s with a hi-five. “Ya-bloody-tta.” 

 

His hand floated forward and fell down to catch Monarch’s in a low-five as he stepped past her.  “Ya- bloody- tta, baby!” 

 

“Cheaters! It is so unfair that you get to just call up any akuma you want,” Queen Bee huffed. 

 

“Any two akuma,” Evilustrator said. "And we've been rebranded-" 

 

“ Shut uuuuuuuup, Nath!” Queen Bee groaned. “Why are you here still?! Thank you for your service, now kindly go f-” 

 

Queen Bee stopped herself short as the little girl clutching the T-Rex plushie looked up at her with wide eyes. 

 

“..,f-fly a kite,” Queen Bee said with a nervous smile. “Yeah, let’s go with that…” 

 

“You were gonna say the f-word,” the girl said matter-of-factly, drawing surprised looks from everyone, including the imprisoned mad-scientist. 

 

“...okay, but I didn’t though,” Queen Bee chuckled nervously. 

 

“But you were gonna,” the girl replied. 

 

“But I didn’t .” 

 

“But you were gonna.” 

 

“But I- ow!” Queen Bee yelped as Carapace tugged on the end of her ponytail. 

 

“Arguing with a five year old is bad for your image, honeybee,” Carapace said. 

 

“I’m six and a half,” the girl replied. 

 

“Yeah....well, I’m twenty-one, so.... nyeh ,” Queen Bee pouted, sticking her tongue out to the child’s amusement. 

 

“And she doesn’t act a day over four,” Monarch chuckled from behind her palm. “You really should set a better example for your juniors, senpai .” 

 

“How unrefined,” Bluebird said, patting the sentimonster on the flank. 

 

“Absolutely unrefined,” Monarch sighed. 

 

“Dare I say... uncouth ?” 

 

“Dare, Bluebird; dare .” 

 

“Shut up! ” Queen Bee snapped, stamping her heel and pointing to the kid. “Take the little girl home before she learns mad-paleontology from this loser.” 

 

“As soon as we get the all-clear,” Bluebird asked, glancing to Carapace. He closed his eyes for a moment, head cocking in several different directions before shaking his head. 

 

“Can’t feel anything else out there,” Carapace said. “Dr. Oliver must not have brought the stegosaurus tanks out to play this time.” 

 

“...actually, they’re called stegozor- ” Dr. Oliver flinched as Carapace banged his fist on the cage bars. 

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Carapace clucked. “A man as smart as you should not be acting this stupid !” 

 

“Do you ever think of, like, curing cancer instead of being a toxic nerd who makes robot dinosaurs?” Queen Bee sniffed, leaning on Carapace’s shoulder. 

 

“I don’t wanna cure cancer,” Dr. Oliver mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I wanna make robot dinosaurs…” 

 

“I can think of ten non-lethal uses for robot dinosaurs that don’t involve robbing a bank,” Rena Rouge said, kicking the safe the dinobot had dragged behind, leaving a kilometer-long gash in the street. “Nath, can you...do your thing?” 

 

Evilustrator stared at the wreckage, scratching his head with his pen. “I’ll give it my best shot, but I can’t promise it’ll be perfect.” 

 

Sticking his tongue between his teeth, he began sketching a new lamp post in the spot where the broken one used to be. Evilustrator could sketch a lot of things, but he couldn’t accurately hook the lamp back up to the electrical grid , which meant the tinny electric light it gave off would be on at all hours of the day or night. And while this saved the city a few euros on the electricity bill, it didn’t do anything to endear him to the people who had lamps shining into their windows in the middle of the night. 

 

Hardly perfect, but with Ladybug gone, Paris needed to settle for good enough . 

 

“Get the bee!” 

 

“Don’t you dare!” 

 

Rena Rouge looked up to see Queen Bee fluttering away as the girl astride her T-Rex steed chased her in circles. Bluebird’s legs kicked back and forth as he watched the mayhem play out, speaking with Monarch who perched on the railing beside him. The smile, at last, seemed to be genuine; not free of the burden he carried around with him, but in defiance of it. If nothing else, the time apart from Marinette had seen him grow in more ways than one, from the uncertain follower to the head of the Champion/Sentimonster vanguard. 

 

Monarch’s eyes followed him as he got up to lead the chase against an increasingly shrieky Queen Bee. The all-clear alarm sounded, and people began milling out of bunkers, fishing their cell-phones out and snapping pictures of the lighthearted scene. Rena Rouge noticed a few regular contributors to the Miracublog in the crowd and made a mental note to follow up with them after she got home. After three years, the only area Rena Rouge felt that she clearly surpassed Ladybug was in brand management. Marinette was savvy enough, but kept the public at arm’s length and was afraid to look too vulnerable. Rena Rouge started her team in a pit of public trust and had to claw her way out of sidekick status one photo-op at a time. The juxtaposition between a successful supervillain takedown and superheroes playing with a scared little kid was priceless . 

 

As was the twinkling look in Monarch’s eye. 

 

Something happened there recently, Rena Rouge thought with a grin as Queen Bee flew behind Carapace’s shoulders. 

 

“Help, a mean six year old is chasing me!” Queen Bee wailed. 

 

“Six and a half!” Bluebird and Carapace chorused as the gigantic T-Rex leaned down to sniff Queen Bee’s hair. 

 

“You make being a beat-cop easy.” Rena Rouge turned to see Officer Raincomprix step out of a squad car and eye Dr. Oliver warily. “Let me guess; the ARK facility, right?” 

 

“Unless you think lockup downtown is dino-proof,” Rena Rouge said, watching Dr. Oliver as he was led into the back of the police car. 

 

“Something tells me this isn’t the last headache we're gonna have to deal with,” Officer Raincomprix said, chasing a pair of painkillers with a sip of water. “Is there a convention for weirdos in town this week?” 

 

“The weirdo convention has been in Paris longer than that,” Rena Rouge sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Does the Mayor need a debrief tonight?” 

 

“I think Dad will be happy with a written report,” Officer Sabrina Raincomprix said, patting the back of the police car and watching it drive off. “We’re still putting the park back together after that goth-girl reject tried to kill her ex-boyfriend with an army of the undead.” 

 

“I really miss the time in my life when that would have been the weirdest thing to happen in a week,” Rena Rouge chuckled. “If you need any extra support, you know how to get a hold of us.” 

 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sabrina said, glancing around before leaning closer to Rena Rouge. “Any chance that support could come in red and black?"  

 

“Ladybug is still...occupied,” Rena Rouge said with a tight smile, fighting down the bitter bubble of resentment that grew at the mention of Ladybug. “I’ll have Monarch send a Champion to help with the cleanup; would that work?” 

 

“I’ll take all the help we can get,” Sabrina shrugged, glancing at her watch. “Think you could get Her Highness to help with the cleanup?” 

 

“When has Chloe ever volunteered for dirty work?” Rena Rouge laughed, lightly bumping Sabrina on the shoulder as she jogged over to join the rest of her team. 

 

“Can I keep him?” The girl asked her mother as Queen Bee floated her down off the sentimonster’s back. The large t-rex gave the girl a loving head-nuzzle before Bluebird snapped his fingers and reverted it to a feather. 

 

“I don’t think your house is big enough,” Bluebird said, crouching down in front of the girl and handing her stuffed t-rex back. “But I’ll tell you what; if the mean robot man comes back, I’ll know who to call.” 

 

The girl’s mother looked worried until Rena Rouge shook her head behind the girl’s back. “Psst,” Rena Rouge whispered to Monarch. “You’re mooning .” 

 

Monarch’s dreamy expression melted away, but the color in her cheeks only darkened as Bluebird glanced in her direction. 

 

“That one’s going straight to the top of the fan Twitter,” Rena Rouge said, nodding at the camera flashes across the street. 

 

“Oh, hell, I hate having my love life so public,” Monarch muttered, ducking behind Rena Rouge’s shoulder. 

 

“It’s a love life now?” Rena Rouge said, eyes flashing with sudden interest. Alya Cesaire was, at her heart, a schemer and a romantic; without Marinette to fuss over, her energy turned to more fertile fields. “What happened?” 

 

“I’ll...tell you later,” Monarch said, shooting Bluebird a glance over Rena Rouge’s shoulder. “It’s not a conversation I want recorded and shared.” 

 

“That juicy, huh?” Rena Rouge said, making eye-contact with a suddenly nervous-looking Bluebird across the street. “Well, you had better come through with the details then-”

 

Rena Rouge trailed off as she suddenly caught sight of a very worried expression on Carapace’s face. His smiling, joking demeanor disappeared as he looked like someone had just stuck an ice-cube down the back of his shirt. It was an expression that she had seen dozens of times in the past few years and it was never one she enjoyed seeing. 

 

It meant that somewhere very close, something very bad was happening. 

 

“Babe?” Rena Rouge said, watching as Carapace’s eyes turned in the direction of the Louvre. 

 

“Rescind the all-clear...and get Tigress to start heading over to the Louvre,” Carapace said, already running down the street as the crowd looked on in concern. “One of my wards just tripped; they're being robbed." 

 

---

Paris, France

Louvre Special Acquisitions - Security Room

---

“So this was like, what, Michelangelo’s?” Marco asked, leaning down to stare through the bulletproof plexi-glass at the faded manuscript inside. 

 

“Wrong Ninja Turtle; this was DaVinci’s,” Michel said, slapping his partner’s hand as he reached out to touch it. “What the hell are you doing?” 

 

“Oh, are you worried I’m gonna smudge it?” Marco sniffed, shaking his hand. 

 

“Yeah, by all means, let’s explain to Bill Gates that his priceless piece of history is getting prodded by a couple of security grunts,” Michel said, tugging Marco away from the manuscript and walking past rows of paintings, tapestries, and other artwork not currently on display. 

 

“Kinda fucked up, if you think about it,” Marco mused. “To be rich enough to just buy something like that and just, what, lend it out for no reason?” 

 

“Well, when you have more money than you or your descendants could spend, I guess you run out of ideas on what to spend it on,” Michel muttered, noticing another figure making their way into the vault. “Jean? I thought you were working the exhibit halls.” 

 

“Whole city is on lockdown,” Jean said with a shrug that seemed a little too rehearsed. There was also a glassy look in Jean’s eye that Michel didn’t care for in the slightest.  “Guess there’s some kinda ruckus going on downtown.” 

 

“How come nobody told us?” Marco said, pressing the mic on his radio. “Ella, Jean’s down here saying the museum went into lockdown; how come nobody told us?” 

 

A disquieting hiss of static answered him. 

 

“Something’s not right here,” Marco said, reaching for his out-bound phone. 

 

“No signal down here,” Jean said, stepping past Marco. “Even if there was, the cops are tangled up right now; it’ll probably be a while before anyone shows…” 

 

Michel calmly unclipped the taser on his belt as Jean approached the manuscript at the far back of the room. “Gotta say, Billy's got some nice taste; most guys that rich blow their money on some stupid shit, but buying the Codex Leicester? Now that is a classy move.” 

 

“Hey...didn’t you have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon?” Marco said, squinting at the back of Jean’s head. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you-” 

 

Jean’s body suddenly twitched, shoulders jerking in an odd angle as the back of his jacket started to bulge. The fabric melted away as a slim figure dressed in a tailored black suit with gloves and polished boots to match. The back of their jacket was emblazoned with a scarlet and gold salamander, and as they turned, Marco could see that their entire face was covered by a featureless white face mask embedded with a gold and red lizard on the crown. 

 

The Salamander stepped out of Jean’s back, leaving the unconscious figure collapsed on the floor as they brushed their coat off. 

 

“I have to say, I expected better from the finest museum in the-” The Salamander blinked behind their darkened eye-slits, looking down at the prongs of the taser embedded in his chest. 

 

“...Toad?” The Salamander sighed through their nose. “Can you handle this?" 

 

Marco and Michel’s temples clunked together as a gargantuan figure in a black suit knocked their heads together. Their mask was crowned with a green and gold toad that glittered in the dim light, identical to the one stitched in mystical threads on the back of their jacket. 

 

“Thank you,” The Salamander said, meandering over to the manuscript in the box as The Toad hefted both guards, one in each hand, and dropped them behind a cabinet. 

 

“This is going a little too well,” The Toad said, glancing over their shoulder. “Hurry up.” 

 

“Don’t rush me ,” The Salamander said, examining the table the manuscript box was set on. “There’s some kind of pressure plate here.” 

 

“And?” 

 

“ And, I don’t want to find out what the owner of Microsoft does to protect his property,” The Salamander snapped, hands drifting over the box as they inspected it for traps. “Oh...really?” 

 

The Salamander grabbed the box, not even flinching as iron bars surrounded the podium, locking him inside with the manuscript as the alarms blared. 

 

“That’s a little disappointing,” The Salamander said, flipping the box over in their hands. "I expected better out of you Bill." 

 

“What are you doing?!” The Toad snapped, watching the Salamander’s form shimmer as it passed through the bars with the manuscript in tow. 

 

“They know we’re here already,” The Salamander said, brushing past the larger figure and lifting a hand to his ear. “Captain, we’re exiting the vault. Package secure.” 

 

“Move fast; Fox and Friends just bailed on a photo-op and are heading your way.” 

 

The Toad shot a worried look at their partner. “You said you had handled outgoing security communications!” 

 

“I did ,” The Salamander insisted, jogging up the steps. “Main security systems won’t be online again for another thirty minutes; someone must’ve tipped them off.” 

 

The Salamander paused at the top of the staircase as a flickering green light caught their attention. A small, glowing green turtle shell was etched into the stairs, faintly pulsing with emerald light as The Salamander walked over it. 

 

“Since when could they do magic ?!” The Salamander huffed, breaking into a sprint as they slid into the main hall.

 

“I've been taking night-classes,” Carapace’s tall, broad-shouldered frame stepped out from behind a marble statue at the base of the stairs. “Coding, business management, arcane studies 101; you can take a college class on just about anything these days." 

 

“I'm thinking of double majoring in Hospitality Management and Hexing,” Queen Bee said, floating down from the ceiling and perching on Carapace's shoulder. "I really hope you got that at the gift shop; they're kinda touchy about their stuff around here." 

 

“Downright possessive, if you ask me,” Rena Rouge said, materializing out of thin air beside her partners. “But be that as it may, this isn’t an art-store. Why don’t you put the priceless historical artifact down and come with us?” 

 

“Rena,” Tigress’ voice said through their communicators. “Just got out of my shoot; is everything okay?” 

 

“Still figuring that bit out,” Rena Rouge muttered. “Protect the main entrance; if they slip past us-” 

 

“Alya, we have two black vans approaching from the south of the building,” Monarch said as Bluebird circled high above the glass pyramid with his partner in his arms. “ Two figures in white masks are getting out.” 

 

“Two in here too,” Rena Rouge relayed back, taking her spot behind Carapace’s shoulder. “Looks like they want DaVinci’s notebook…”  

 

“Yeah, and I want Daft Punk’s helmets to put on my work-station,” Carapace scoffed. 

 

“Well, I know what I’m getting you for your birthday,” Queen Bee said. 

 

“You already know what I want for my birthday,” Carapace said. “How bout it, chief? You want to drop the box or do I need to get more persuasive?” 

 

“Ah ah ah; you didn’t say the magic word,” The Salamander clucked, leaning out of the way as The Toad threw all his weight behind a singular punch from halfway across the hall. Rena Rouge watched the man’s arm extend, shooting past The Salamander’s ear and slamming into Carapace’s shield nearly twenty meters away. Rena Rouge leaned against Carapace’s back, bracing him as he absorbed the blow and battered the stretchy appendage away. 

 

“ Please go straight to hell then!” Queen Bee snapped, jumping off Carapace's shoulders and diving for The Salamander. Clutching the box to their chest, The Salamander shimmered through the floor, disappearing as The Toad cleared the hall in one mighty bound. Like a cannon ball, they came crashing down towards Carapace, slamming into his shield and knocking him and Rena Rouge back across the polished marble floor. Rena Rouge managed to roll out of the way just as The Toad slammed into Carapace’s shield again, shattering the marble and driving him deeper into the floor. 

 

“Get the book!” Carapace wheezed, turtling up as another titanic blow slammed into his shield, toppling statues nearby. A shimmer of light caught Rena Rouge’s attention as The Salamander materialized near the exit, tearing out of the building as fast as they could. 

 

“Oh no you don’t ,” Queen Bee hissed, zipping after The Salamander as Rena Rouge launched her attack. Her heel connected with The Toad’s chest as they raised their arm for another blow, but hitting him felt off; like punching an incredibly large rubber ball, her blow seemed to glide off, not registering as The Toad turned to glare at her behind the mask. 

 

“Hands off the artwork, asshole!” Rena Rouge hissed, slamming her elbow into The Toad’s head. It twitched imperceptibly, recoiling as The Toad grabbed her face in the palm of one meaty hand and extended his arm straight up. Like a carnival ride, Rena Rouge shot up and smashed through the ceiling of the glass pyramid, tumbling on the courtyard flagstones and rolling to a stop in time to see two white masked figures approaching, one with a purple and gold centipede attached to their mask's forehead and one with a blue and gold cobra leering down from their brow. 

 

“Bluebird, a little air-support would be great right about now,” Rena Rouge said, pushing herself up off the ground. Behind the masked figures, a small heavily armed unit in full black body-gear stepped out of the cars, weapons trained on Rena Rouge. "Gonna run a screen play; be ready to jump in." 

 

"I'll wait for the smoke," Bluebird said as Rena Rouge picked her flute up off the ground

 

“This is a little excessive for a band of art thieves, don't you think?” Rena Rouge said, fingering her flute’s holes as the masked figures advanced. The Cobra seemed to be a little taller and a little more muscular than The Centipede, but otherwise Rena Rouge couldn’t get any clear, distinguishing details from either of them. 

 

“Orders?” The Cobra asked, raising a hand to their ear as a second crash of glass sent Carapace tumbling through the quickly deteriorating glass pyramid, bouncing off the ground as The Toad leapt after him. They raised their hand to strike again, but a silvery chain with a black and yellow top on the end lashed out and snagged their wrist. 

 

“There is a very short list of people who get to put hands on Carapace,” Queen Bee grunted, struggling against The Toad’s strength. “And you are not on it!” 

 

“Understood,” The Cobra replied, gesturing with a wave of their hand as The Toad yanked their hand out of the chain. “Engage the vigilantes!” 

 

“Sir!” The guards echoed, advancing on Rena Rouge as she raised her flute to her lips. A quick, trilling melody echoed throughout the courtyard and a cloud of thick, orange smoke poured out of the end of her flute, masking her from sight as it settled like a blanket over the crowd. 

 

“Visibility hampered,” The Cobra relayed, raising his hand and materializing a heavy black cane from a puff of smoke. “Advancing; Centipede-” 

 

“I don’t take orders from you ,” The Centipede growled, watching as the first of the guards entered Rena Rouge’s smokescreen. The sound of body armor being struck with a heavy blunt object filtered through the smoke as The Cobra advanced, the end of their walking stick trailing along the ground as they stepped over a few unconscious guards. Their eyes narrowed as the orange smoke closed in on all sides, the stick held loosely at one side as they waited for the inevitable attack to come. 

 

The Cobra raised their stick to block a strike from Rena Rouge at their blind side. A flutter of movement heralded Bluebird’s arrival, but a step to the side was all it took to cause his entry kick to miss. The Cobra’s cane snagged the back of Bluebird’s cape, flipping him overhead as Monarch appeared through the mist, sword-cane drawn and lunging for The Cobra’s mask. Monarch’s eyes widened and managed to twist her sword out of the way, narrowly avoiding nicking Bluebird’s throat but leaving a shallow cut on his shoulder as The Cobra kicked Bluebird into Monarch. 

 

“Cue the Bee,” The Cobra muttered, blindly swinging their cane overhead and clobbering Queen Bee in the side of the head as she rushed to join the fray. The smoke cleared, and The Cobra stood tall amidst a pile of disabled guards and superheroes picking themselves up off the floor. 

 

"Show-off," The Centipede grumbled. 

 

“Regroup!” Rena Rouge called, pulling back as The Cobra tucked their cane under their arm, adopting a loose fighting stance as The Centipede rushed in, a smooth jab aimed straight for Rena Rouge’s face. 

 

“Rena!” Carapace snapped his fingers, putting up a bubble to protect Rena Rouge as The Toad battered his fists against Carapace’s shield. He planted his feet as The Toad charged, ready to absorb the blow until a pair of hands closed around his ankles. 

 

“Don’t flip ,” The Salamander chuckled, floating out of the ground and pulling Carapace’s ankles forward as The Toad slammed into his shield. Carapace flipped back, head banging on the ground as The Toad grabbed him by his ankle and hurled him like a frisbee through the broken remains of the pyramid’s side. 

 

“Hey, two questions, ” Bluebird said, extending his fan’s blades and taking a defensive stance behind it as the four figures closed around them. “Who are these guys and why are they kicking our asses right now?!” 

 

“Good questions,” Rena Rouge said, glancing between them to see which one held the Codex. “Where’s the box?” 

 

“I’d be more worried about your boyfriend if I were you.” Rena Rouge turned to see a shorter, slimmer figure with a gold and silver scorpion embedded on their mask carrying the box under one arm. 

 

“Seems like he took a bad fall there,” The Scorpion said, watching Queen Bee help Carapace struggle to his feet, wall-sized sheets of glass falling off his body as he pushed himself off the ground. 

 

“Carapace is capable of handling worse than you’re capable of,” Rena Rouge said icily. “Hand over the Codex.” 

 

“I would, but that would render this entire afternoon a colossal waste of time,” The Scorpion said, nodding to The Salamander. “But since we’ll be working together, I felt it was only courteous to introduce ourselves...and pass along a message to Mme. Ladybug from my employers.” 

 

Monarch and Queen Bee stiffened. “What do you want with Ladybug?” 

 

The Scorpion reached into their coat and produced a white envelope that she flicked across the courtyard to Rena Rouge. “An invitation. Her eyes only; pass it along, won’t you?” 

 

“Do we look like the bloody post office to you?” Monarch snapped.

 

“Tigress, can you get behind her?” Rena Rouge muttered quietly. 

 

“More of those guys in black are coming up the side stairs!” Tigress said, the sound of metal clanging on body-armor filtering through the communicator. “ If I move-hey hands off!-we’re gonna get overrun!” 

 

They have us absolutely flat-footed, Rena Rouge thought bitterly. “I’m surprised you’re not cleaning this place out,” Rena Rouge continued, watching Carapace out of the corner of her eye. “All this priceless art and you go for a book?” 

 

“My clients like to read,” The Scorpion said, examining the manuscript through the glass. 

 

“Sound like cultured people,” Rena Rouge said, trying to buy Carapace as much time as she could. “Why don’t you introduce us?” 

 

The Salamander and The Toad craned their necks in The Scorpion’s direction. That one's calling the shots then, Rena Rouge mused. 

 

“They’ll introduce themselves if you prove to be valuable enough,” The Scorpion said. “But I’ll put in a really good word for you if you let us leave unscathed.” 

 

“Sorry,” Rena Rouge said as a shimmering green bubble popped overhead. Carapace had struggled to his feet, closing ranks with the rest of his team and visibly leaning on Bluebird’s shoulder for support. “The shell doesn’t dismiss you, I dismiss you.” 

 

“Cute,” The Salamander chuckled derisively, banging their fist on the bubble and watching it flicker unsteadily. “Though I think your man’s got issues keeping it up.” 

 

“If you’re waiting for him to tire out, you’re going to be waiting a while,” Rena Rouge said. 

 

“Yeah, trust me, we’ve tried,” Queen Bee said. 

 

“We need to leave,” The Cobra said suddenly, turning to The Scorpion. “The probability of successful mission completion is dwindling.” 

 

“Seriously?” The Scorpion asked. 

 

“The Old Masters will be here in two minutes and fifteen seconds in all future scenarios,” The Cobra said with a degree of certainty that made Rena Rouge think that number wasn’t just plucked out of the air. “The police have already arrived to assist the Tiger; they will be here soon and will capture us if we are not gone in the next seventy-two seconds.” 

 

“Fine,” The Scorpion sighed, snapping their fingers. Black smoke filtered out of their hand and a black tonfa with a pointed tip materialized. “We’ll pick this up another time; until then-” 

 

A bolt of lightning streaked out of the end of the tonfa, colliding with the turtle dome overhead. The field hissed and crackled, shattering into millions of motes of light that rained down on a very confused looking Carapace. 

 

“What the hell ?” Carapace muttered as The Salamander clapped their hands together, expanding a shimmering red portal rimmed with red flames. 

 

“Oh, before I forget,” The Scorpion said, reaching into their jacket and producing a familiar looking wooden box. “I was told to return these to you...since we no longer need them. Courtesy of the Poison Clan.” 

 

The Scorpion tossed the box high in the air as she turned to leave. Rena Rouge watched as necklaces, rings, and pins fell to the ground, clinking on the flagstones as they rushed to collect them. 

 

“Get back here!” Queen Bee hissed, zipping across the courtyard as the five turned to leave. The Toad turned to intercept Queen Bee, grabbing her wrist and holding her tight while the other four escaped. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Queen Bee blinked as The Toad’s distorted voice came from behind the mask. The quiet words stunned her long enough for The Toad to give Queen Been a gentle shove and disappear back into the portal with their teammates. 

 

“Damnit!” Queen Bee hissed, stamping her foot down in frustration. A harsh snap answered her as her heel shattered a pair of black glasses, the ancient looking frames bending under her foot. She bent down, picking up the broken glass with a growing sense of dread. 

 

“Hey...wasn’t one of the other Miraculous a pair of glasses?” Queen Bee said, looking over to see Rena Rouge cradling a necklace in her hands and Bluebird staring at a dull blue bracelet. 

 

“Well...we found the Miraculous,” Carapace sighed, turning an inert ring in his hands over. “But what happened to the kwami?” 

 

“Bring the Storm,” Rena Rouge muttered, half-hoping her fears would prove unfounded. Silence answered her, punctured by the sound of approaching police sirens. 

 

“...they’re gone,” Monarch whispered, hand clasped over her mouth in horror. “The kwami aren't in the Miraculous anymore...” 

 

"How the hell does that work?" Carapace said. "What happened to them?"

 

The evening news arrived in time to capture Rena Rouge’s snarl of frustration as she hurled the now-empty necklace to the ground.

 

Notes:

Dinobot Fight Music: Street Fight (Smallpools)
Ending Credits Music: Five Step (Radiohead vs Dave Brubek as arranged by Fatlicious!)

Getting back into the swing of things, trying to balance plot with character building moments. Next chapter will be split between Team Paris and either Chat Noir or Marinette depending on who I feel like introducing first. We have 3 catchup scenes that are pretty interchangeable before the gang starts getting back together (and all the fun that entails)

I am never more envious of artists than when I have to describe costumes; hopefully the garish nightmare of the Poison Clan came across clearly.

Chapter 3: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Mari?

“In Paris today, the Codex Leicester was stolen out of the Louvre by five masked criminals. Paris’ heroes were called to the scene, but were unable to prevent the priceless artifact from escaping, leading some to question Rena Rouge’s leadership and handling of the situation... “ 

 

The television over Mayor Roger’s desk flicked off with the press of a button, plunging the sparsely decorated office into silence. While Rena Rouge didn’t miss the former Mayor’s gaudy taste in artwork, Roger Raincomprix seemed to take all his interior design cues from a police interrogation cell. Whether this was an intentional power play or just the tastes of a career policeman, Rena Rouge was still unsure. 

 

“You know, sometimes I think this city was safer when Hawk Moth was the only threat facing it,” Mayor Roger sighed, threading his fingers together in front of him. “But then again, at least we don’t have to worry about our friends and neighbors attacking us over a bad day at work.” 

 

“The police are interrogating the insurgents they arrested,” Rena Rouge said, stiffening in her seat. “I promise that my team is investigating every possible lead we have into the identity of these thieves; every resource we have is currently focused on getting the Codex back in one piece.” 

 

“ Every resource?” Mayor Roger said, raising an eyebrow. “Does that include Ladybug and Chat Noir?” 

 

“Chat Noir is currently working to keep Paris safe abroad,” Rena Rouge said, fingers tightening in her lap. “He’s been briefed of the situation and is working to uncover the identities of these thieves.”

 

“And Ladybug?” Mayor Roger asked. “I don't mean to cast doubt on your leadership abilities, Rena Rouge, but I think the people of Paris would be comforted if Ladybug could be...persuaded to make an appearance in the near future. Give a little bit of a morale boost, you know?” 

 

Just tell him Ladybug’s abandoned Paris, Rena Rouge thought to herself. Tell him his precious hero nearly destroyed the world four years ago in a misguided attempt at happily ever after; see if he still wants her back after learning her dirty little secrets. 

 

Rena Rouge’s cheeks burned, but she said nothing. “I’ll reach out and see if she’s interested...if you’ll excuse me.” 

 

With a slight bow, Rena Rouge stood up and turned to leave the Mayor’s office. 

 

“Paris is a fickle mistress,” Mayor Roger said as she opened the door. “She says she appreciates the good you do, but always manages to forget when things go sour. Don’t her displeasure too personally.” 

 

Rena Rouge remembered sitting in an empty restaurant watching a mob tear down Chat Noir’s statue. “Thank you, M. Mayor.” 

 

Marching out of Mayor Roger’s office, Rena Rouge saw a tall sandy-haired man step out of the elevator, an orange and black briefcase dangling from one arm. 

 

“Here to see the Mayor, M. Cheng?” Rena Rouge asked as Felix Cheng offered her a roll of his eyes. 

 

“I shouldn’t be upset that this contract keeps getting extended, but my professional pride is disappointed that my designs are falling short,” Felix said as they stopped in the hallway outside the Mayor’s office. 

 

“Somehow, I don’t think you had robotic stegosauruses in mind when you designed the holding facilities down at the Last Bastille,” Rena Rouge chuckled.  

 

“Why would you name a prison after a prison that famously failed?” Felix laughed bitterly. “Good work with Dr. Oliver, by the way. A very clean takedown, all things considered.” 

 

“If only we could have done the same job with the Codex,” Rena Rouge muttered. “Sorry; thank you for your support.” 

 

“You’re not going to get them all,” Felix said, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Still, sad to see that some people can’t appreciate the hard work you and your team do for this city. You've given so much, I'm surprised they haven't properly recognized you.” 

 

“Paris is pretty fickle with its heroes,” Rena Rouge chuckled. “Besides, there's no statues to tear down in outrage if none ever get put up in the first place." 

 

“If only more people had your selfless devotion to duty, I think the world would be a better place,” Felix said. “I promised my wife I would extend her offer again; ARK is doing some important things in this city. A celebrity endorsement in Paris would go a long way to boost our popularity in the eyes of the public.” 

 

“I’m afraid I’m no celebrity; just a snappily dressed public servant,” Rena Rouge said. “And you might want to wait until this bad PR blows over until you tie your name to mine.” 

 

“Bad PR always finds a way of blowing over,” Felix said, glancing at his watch. “If you’ll excuse me-” 

 

“Don’t let me keep you,” Rena Rouge said, stepping past him and into the elevator. The doors slid closed, and Rena Rouge vanished in a swirl of orange mist, just out of sight of the camera. 

 

---

 

“-then we never would have stayed in Paris in the first place!” 

 

Rena Rouge opened her eyes as her consciousness drifted back to her real body, stretching her neck with a pop as she unfolded her limbs. Through the side door, she could hear the beginnings of an argument start to brew in the heart of their headquarters, and as much as she just wanted to go home and go to sleep, her shift hadn’t ended just yet. 

 

Where Hawkmoth was a fan of stark and almost masochistic minimalism, Team Paris had turned his former hideaway into a proper lair. Gigantic monitors broadcasting news stations around the world blinked down at a large meeting table that currently hosted the inert Miraculous. 

 

“You’re saying you had no way of knowing something like this was even possible?” To Rena Rouge’s surprise, it was Nino leaning over the table taking Master Fu to task over the empty Miraculous.

 

“I feel that we must continuously remind you that we are not omniscient,” Master He interjected. “If we had been aware of the possibility that Kaiser Long and his partner were capable of bending world-shaping artifacts to their own purposes, we would have ramped up our efforts to locate them. 

 

“Translation; you guys haven’t been trying hard enough,” Nino snapped. 

 

“Hang on,” Alya said as her transformation wore off. “Look, we’ve all been caught off-guard here; I don’t think assigning blame is the most productive use of our time.” 

 

“Really? Because Team Alley-Cat’s party-line for the last four years is that “Adrien is too busy looking for the Miraculous to help out in Paris,” Nino growled, glancing at Master He. “So what the fuck has he been doing this whole time if all eleven missing Miraculous got destroyed out from under him?!” 

 

Master He stiffened in her seat at the end of the table. “I understand you and Adrien haven’t seen eye to eye lately, but please do not suggest that we have been taking our duties lightly.” 

 

“We are not suggesting that,” Alya said, placing her hand on Nino’s lower back as she slid up beside him. “Nobody but Kaiser Long and Firebird are to blame for the state of the Miraculous. It's them we should be worried about; not each other.” 

 

Nino swallowed the remark on the tip of his tongue, walking away from the table as he shook his head. Chloe shared a look with Alya who just shook her head; if he needed a few moments to clear his head, he could have them. They had bigger concerns to worry about. 

 

“You said Master Li only had two apprentices,” Alya said, addressing Master Fu. “So why are there seven now?” 

 

“We could have been wrong,” Master Fu shrugged. “Or these five are new additions to Li’s forces, only brought to power recently. We can ask ourselves why they’re here or we can ask ourselves what we plan to do about them.” 

 

“I thought our plan was to stick a boot in their ass,” Chloe said. “How has that changed now that there’s five more?” 

 

“Five more with an array of disturbing abilities,” Master Fu said, glancing over at Nino who was examining footage of his Shellter being popped by The Scorpion’s lightning strike. “The energy signatures coming off the Scorpion are similar to the ones coming off a successful Havoc, only amplified to the degree that it can negate a Miraculous’ ability.” 

 

The screen flickered to show The Salamander opening a portal to escape. “That is a version of the Horse Miraculous’ psychopomp abilities.” 

 

“And as we all know, the Ox and Dog grant the user superior strength and invulnerability,” Master He said, watching Carapace get battered around by The Toad. “It’s possible they’re ordinary sorcerers that have independently accessed these fonts of power, but…” 

 

Master He trailed off, the implication left hanging in the air. 

 

“We need to entertain the possibility that these Poisons have co-opted the kwami to suit their own needs,” Kagami said, glancing at Luka out of the corner of his eye. His characteristic silence was tinged with melancholy and anger as he stared blankly at the broken Miraculous on the table. 

 

“So like, what, new Miraculous?” Chloe asked. 

 

“Impossible,” Master Fu said with a shake of his head. “It would take a massive source of power to fuel them; the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the last age of sorcery died almost two hundred years ago.” 

 

“A power like…” Luka tapped the side of his head. “You said it yourself; Mayura’s power fused me, Dusuu, and the akuma together. Maybe they’ve done the same thing with the Poisons.” 

 

“They did get away with five of those creepy butterfly things,” Alya muttered, staring at the letter on the table in front of her. “What about the letter? Maybe it's got something we can use." 

 

Master He shared a worried look with Master Fu. “I don’t know if it’s wise to do so; it may very well be a trap.” 

 

“Well, one way to find out,” Alya said, fingering her necklace. “ Let’s Pounce.” 

 

---

 

Felix walked two blocks away from City Hall  before turning into a side-street, walking down an alleyway towards a non-descript townhouse bought by one of his subordinates. Fishing a key out of an envelope in his pocket, he ducked inside, dropping his briefcase and the mortal disguise. His slender shoulders bulged and broadened as Kaiser Long took over, his unassuming clothing melting into the silver and black mantle of the Dragon Emperor. His hair shifted into an inky midnight black dotted with faintly pulsing motes of power like stars and his pupils narrowed into reptilian slits. 

 

His boots thumped heavily on the floorboards as he walked through the dusty hallways towards a room at the back of the townhouse. Opening the door, a slender figure in a Scorpion mask sat at a table, the Codex Leicester sitting in front of their folded hands. 

 

“You made good time,” Kaiser Long said, eyes widening a little as they fell on the Codex. Creation was his stock and trade, and the Codex was brimming with It. "Any trouble with the authorities?" 

 

“I know how to keep them off my trail,” The Scorpion said, sliding it across the table to Kaiser Long. “I trust you don’t need a certificate of authenticity.” 

 

“No...this is it,” Kaiser Long said, cradling it in his hands almost reverently. “I can tell…” 

 

“I’m surprised Da Vinci was one of you lot,” The Scorpion said, kicking their boots up on the table and leaning back with their hands laced behind their head. "Did he work for an order of assassins too?" 

 

“Not to my knowledge, but that doesn’t mean his works aren’t powerful in their own right,” Kaiser Long said, examining the worn pages through the glass. “The worst thing the kwami ever did was convince humanity that they were the only sources of Divinity in the world; magic is the birthright of the human race, but they jealously guarded its secrets for themselves. Even so…” 

 

The Codex glowed as Kaiser Long opened his palm, swirling light coalescing into a brilliant blue butterfly that took off from his fingertips. 

 

“See what we are capable of,” Kaiser Long said, holding the box aloft as the butterfly fluttered around the room. “You’ve done well, Scorpion. Relay my approval to the rest of the group.” 

 

“Toady’s getting anxious about meeting you guys again,” The Scorpion said in a tone of voice that suggested they were rolling their eyes behind the mask. “What should I tell him?” 

 

“To be patient and wait for new orders,” Kaiser Long said, tucking the codex under his arm. I picked up dinner, he thought, sending the message in Firebird’s direction. 

 

“Oh, the joys of middle-management,” The Scorpion said, unfolding themselves with a lazy sigh. “And what are the new orders? Are we pulling another Italian Job?” 

 

“Funny you mention Italy,” Kaiser Long chuckled, stepping backwards as he felt a rippling orange portal open behind him. “Keep your nose clean; we’ll be in touch.” 

 

The portal closed with a snap, leaving The Scorpion alone in the house for a brief moment before the shimmering form of The Salamander stepped through the wall. 

 

“Not much of a talker, is he?” The Salamander said, watching the butterfly flutter around the room. 

 

“We don’t follow him for his conversational skills,” The Scorpion pointed out as they walked down the hallway towards the front door. “Tell The Toad to be ready to move; we’re on standby 24/7 from here on in.” 

 

“You think this is it then?” The Salamander asked. “The big dance?” 

 

“I think we’re getting close,” The Scorpion said, pausing at an intersection where two branching hallways led to two doors that opened to different streets. “It’s probably only going to get uglier from here…” 

 

“Wasn’t that pretty to begin with,” The Salamander said, turning and heading towards the exit. “Guess I’ll go fill the old man in; he’s been blowing up my phone since the museum job…” 

 

“Salamander,” The Salamander turned to see The Scorpion looking back at them. “If you’re ever dissatisfied with your assigned partner, just know I respect your skills and expertise above the rest of our motley little crew.” 

 

“You asking me out on a date?” The Salamander chuckled. 

 

“As you said, the big party is coming up,” The Scorpion said, turning to walk out the door. “Think about who you want to dance with; it could be the difference between life and death.” 

 

“Isn’t it always?” The Salamander said, watching The Scorpion go before glancing down at the ring around their fourth finger. Closing their eyes, they let the transformation drop, replacing the spectacles on their nose as they stepped out of the townhouse. 

 

---

 

“I know this is in service of a greater good, but this is technically mail-fraud,” Monarch pointed out. 

 

“Noted,” Rena Rouge said. Inside Carapace’s Shellter, Rena Rouge watched as her clone carefully opened the letter addressed to Ladybug. Bluebird stood alongside Carapace, fan extended and bracing as the clone lifted the envelope’s lid. “What does it say?” 

 

The clone stared at the piece of paper for a long moment, eyes scanning the page in confusion before holding up a blank piece of paper. “Nothing!” 

 

“What?” Bluebird asked. “They gave us a blank envelope?" 

 

“Wanna hit it with a blacklight to see if it’s invisible ink?” Carapace suggested. 

 

“I would hope the disciples of one of the greatest sorcerers in human history would have a more sophisticated method of conveying secret messages than Nancy Drew,” Master Fu scoffed, pushing himself up and hobbling over to the clone. He examined the letter, holding it up to the dim light of the Sanctuary and squinted at it for a moment. “Yes...there’s an enchantment here. Something to conceal the message from unwanted eyes.” 

 

“Can we dispel it?” Monarch asked. "Master He and I have been training ward-breaking; maybe we can get around it?" 

 

“No...I don’t think that would be very safe,” Master Fu said, folding the paper carefully. “There’s at least three recursive death-switches attached to the coding charm...very delicate work."

 

"You sound impressed," Queen Bee said. 

 

"I'm impressed that they're capable of using their talents more than wanton destruction and burglary ," Master Fu said, placing the letter back in the envelope. "Any attempt to dispel one of these wards would trigger the other three and likely destroy the message...if not the one who tried to dispel it.” 

 

“Then why the hell did they give it to us and not Ladybug?” Chloe huffed as she dropped her transformation. "They had to have know we would open it, right? So why not just hand it to her and leave us out of it?" 

 

“They don’t know who she is,” Rena Rouge said. 

 

“Or they do know and they’re just fucking with us,” Bluebird spat. “Maybe they want us to think Ladybug is in league with the bad guys.” 

 

“Why would they expect us to think that?” Rena Rouge said. “Unless…” 

 

“Unless?” 

 

“Unless they know we already have a reason to distrust Ladybug,” Monarch concluded. “Doesn't this prove Adrien's theory? They worked with Hawk Moth, yes? So then it would follow that Kaiser Long and Firebird know about Ladybug’s involvement with Gabriel.” 

 

“But not her identity,” Chloe sighed, rubbing her temples. “I need a chart of who knows what just to keep this shit straight.” 

 

“Perfect,” Alya snapped, detransforming. “Our team’s credibility is based on a gigantic lie and our greatest enemies have the power to expose it.” 

 

“They don’t know shit otherwise they would have come for Marinette already,” Luka pointed out, wincing and rubbing his temple. “Shut up.” 

 

“Don’t tell me to-” Alya frowned. “Is... he acting up again?” 

 

“He hasn’t shut up since we got this stupid letter,” Luka muttered as he felt Monarch’s hand on the small of his back. 

 

“Speaking of which,” Kagami said as Nooroo fluttered out of her brooch. “If Ladybug is the only one who can read it…it seems we can no longer put off the question we’ve been avoiding for the last four years.” 

 

Kagami glanced around at her partners’ dour  expressions. Luka looked like his seat had suddenly sprouted thorns from the way he shifted in it. The implication of Kagami’s words made Chloe’s nose scrunch up in disgust while Alya just looked pensive, fingers folded in front of her as she stared at the letter. 

 

“It’s not that simple,” Alya muttered. “Up until now, we’ve had a handle on things, but with Ladybug back in charge-” 

 

“Who says we’re putting her back in charge?” Chloe sniffed. “We need her to read a piece of paper and tell us what it says. Thank you very much, now go back to your island exile, pain- brain.” 

 

“Again, it’s not that simple,” Alya said pressing a button on the remote and turning the sound on a local news broadcast discussing the raid. 

 

“-look, we owe Rena Rouge and her team a lot,” the talking head said as footage of the battle played behind him. “But the fact of the matter is that she can’t make things right the way Ladybug could-” 

 

Alya flicked to the next station. 

 

“Can’t help but wonder if this requires Ladybug’s involvement-” 

 

Alya pressed the button again, and Nadja Chamack’s insufferably shit-eating grin filled the screen. 

 

“Oliver, I’ve been saying this for years,” Nadja said, I-told-you-so dripping from every syllable. “Rena Rouge simply doesn’t have what it takes to manage a team of superheroes. Since Hawk Moth’s demise, Paris has become a battleground for every lunatic in a fancy suit. Every week it seems that a new enemy rises; if not a new threat, than an old one like Dr. Oliver.” 

 

“But hasn’t Rena Rouge’s team successfully repelled every threat that’s come to Paris?”  

 

“Repelled, yes, and left a wake of destruction after all was said and done,” Nadja continued as footage of Dr. Oliver's rampage played on screen behind her. “Paris is a patch-job city because Monarch’s champions can’t do what Ladybug could do. Are we even sure Ladybug is still alive? Or have these upstarts usurped her for-” 

 

Alya blinked as Nino’s finger came down on the power button, ending Nadja’s tirade before it could get going. It wasn’t like Alya didn’t know what she was going to say; it was the same laundry list of complaints that Nadja and other muckrakers like her had been spouting out for years. Still, Alya had a masochistic need to know what other people were saying about her. 

 

“...thanks,” Alya muttered. “My point is this; the minute Ladybug is even on the radar again, we are going to lose control of how the public sees us. Four years later and we still can’t get out of the shadow she cast; bringing her back now would only create a rift between how we do things and how the public wants us to do things.” 

 

“Even if Marinette doesn’t come back?” Luka asked. “Even if she consults on this and then goes back to retirement?” 

 

“You really think Marinette is capable of keeping her nose out of this?” Alya scoffed. “The second we tell her what’s happening, she’s going to want to help.” 

 

“Is that such a bad thing?” All eyes turned to Nino who leaned back in his chair, arms crossed thoughtfully. “So what if she wants to help?” 

 

“Are you serious?” Chloe laughed. “After all the shit she put us through? After everything she put Adrien through-” 

 

“Adrien is a big boy; he can take care of himself, as he’s said so many times,” Nino sneered. “Adrien is also too busy doing god knows what god knows where to give a god damn about the city his mother lives in-” 

 

“Nino-” 

 

“Maybe we don’t need to have Ladybug front and center,” Nino said. “I'm not saying we need to be buddy-buddy with her, but if Marinette is as contrite as Master Fu says she is, maybe she’ll be willing to help without all the limelight on her.” 

 

“The limelight will always be on her; even when she’s gone, it’s still on her,” Alya grumbled. “We can’t manage that.” 

 

“Is it just a question of limelight?” Master He remarked. “Forgive me, but if we’re keeping Ladybug on the bench because you’re afraid of being upstaged -” 

 

“No…it's because I just don't trust her,” Alya said, standing up from the table. “I don’t trust her to keep my family safe; I don’t trust any team that she’s leading. And yeah, after selling us out to Hawk Moth and lying to our faces, a personally addressed letter from our biggest enemies doesn’t help me trust her any more.” 

 

“You don’t think she…” Master He glanced at Master Fu. “Has she-” 

 

“She has mentioned nothing of this to me,” Master Fu said, stroking his beard. “Though...I cannot say we speak all that often." 

 

“Marinette sold us out because she thought it was for a good reason and lost everything she cared about because of it,” Luka said, rubbing his temples. “She’s not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice in exactly the same way.” 

 

“Do we know that?” Alya said. “I thought I was her best friend and even I didn’t see the knife coming until it was already in my back! Adrien didn’t see it coming until he was face down and bleeding out on his-!" 

 

"Alya," Kagami hissed, nodding at Luka.

 

"It's fine," Luka said, the pale and sickly look on his face telling everyone that it was not fine.  

 

"Yes...Luka didn't see it coming until it was too late to do anything about it," Alya said softly. "None of us saw her falling apart..so can any of us be sure Marinette is safe to work with again?” 

 

Silence fell over the table as Alya’s words echoed off the walls back at her. 

 

“Look, we’re running hot right now,” Alya sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Let’s get dinner and table this discussion until Monday…” 

 

“Can we afford to wait that long?” Master Fu asked, watching Alya turn to leave. “Shouldn’t we-” 

 

“Hero business is closed for the weekend, folks,” Chloe said, grabbing her bag and trailing after Alya. “Dinner's at five, people; bring a nice bottle of wine on the way.” 

 

Kagami watched the three of them disappear into the elevator, Nino and Chloe’s hands finding their places on Alya’s shoulders as the door to the elevator closed. 

 

“...meeting adjourned, I suppose?” Master He said weakly. 

 

---

 

We need to give it to Marinette...

 

“Shut uuuuuuuup ,” Luka grumbled under his breath, placing the letter on the nightstand and flopping back against the warm blue and white flannel sheets. It felt weird spending more than half his previous weekly wages on something as trivial as sheets, but the difference a little money could make was astounding.

 

Literal inner-demons aside, Luka could say that he was approaching happy for the first time in a long time. Juleka had moved their mother to a new houseboat paid for with his Bluebird salary which also covered enough treatment options to send the little lumps in her lungs running. At twenty-six, he had turned his mother’s offer to move in with them down; as much as he loved his family, he finally had the means to build himself a little space of his own. The cavernous one-room loft in an old repurposed warehouse was a perfect blend of grungy and chic and Luka had fallen in love with it almost as soon as he had seen it. 

 

Give it to Marinette...we need her...we’re…

 

“Asshole,” Luka muttered under his breath as Mayura’s voice faded back into the back of his mind. Mayura had a knack for ruining even the most mundane of moments with his endless chatter. While he was nowhere near as chatty as he had been in the beginning, he was never all that far away from Luka’s mind. 

 

“I do hope that’s not your notion of sweet-talk.” 

 

Luka opened his eyes to see Kagami tugging his worn Sex-Pistol’s t-shirt over her head as she stepped out of the bathroom, watching it fall down mid-thigh as she toweled her hair off. 

 

“I thought you knew what my idea of sweet-talk is already,” Luka said, uncoiling himself as Mayura fled back into the back of his mind. The parasite knew what was coming and didn’t want any part of it; as though being present in Luka’s mind while he thought of Kagami was a betrayal of Marinette. 

 

Just one of many things he had grown to appreciate about her over the years. 

 

“I don’t remember saying you could wear my clothes,” Luka said, hands rubbing Kagami’s hips as he hugged her from behind. 

 

“You don’t like it?” 

 

“If I say no, will you take it off?” Luka said, tugging at the hem of her makeshift nightgown. 

 

“You know at some point, we’re going to need to find something else to do together,” Kagami giggled, batting his hands away. 

 

“We’ve got a lot of time to make up for though,” Luka murmured, kissing Kagami’s neck. “I just found out we could have been doing this the whole time.” 

 

“Oh, but didn’t you know superhero couples need to spend years idiotically pining for one another?” Kagami laughed, spinning around and wrapping her arms around his waist. “Sorry...I don’t think we’ve had that talk yet, have we?” 

 

“No...but superhero couple has a very nice ring to it,” Luka said, watching a drop of water fall from her wet hair and roll down the collar of her shirt enviously. “Unless that’s a bit fast for Your Highness.” 

 

“Please, do not start with the Chat Noir lines,” Kagami sighed, tracing circles on his bare chest. “I do not want to emulate the disaster of that relationship.” 

 

“I’ll spare you the flowers and flowery poetry then,” Luka said. “So?” 

 

Kagami bit her lip. “It seems strange to talk about...us while there’s so much happening around us.” 

 

“I think that makes it the perfect time to talk about us,” Luka said, sitting back on the bed and pulling her into his lap. “Maybe we should take the time to be selfish in case…” 

 

The mood soured just a little until Kagami leaned in and gently kissed her partner’s lips. It was still a challenge to work her way around the silver tongue-stud, but one she was willing to master, even as the metal banged against the back of her teeth. 

 

After a moment, Kagami pulled away, ignoring the little whine Luka made as he leaned forward to chase her. Her affair with Adrien had been lovely, but doomed from the very beginning. There was an underlying sense of desperation to the way they kissed as if they knew it was only a matter of time before their families put a stop to their nonsense. Love without the pressure of time or sneaking around felt different; like a warm nest of blankets that begged to be burrowed. 

 

If even Luka was suggesting that they behave selfishly, who was she to argue? 

 

“Are you sure you want me to be selfish now?” Kagami asked, nipping the underside of Luka’s neck as she slid out of his lap. “Because I’m feeling rather generous.” 

 

“Oh?” Luka said, sitting up as Kagami’s t-shirt hit him in the face. By the time he was up, she had reached the doorway to the living room, the tattoo of a swarm of butterflies that ran from her left hip to her right shoulder in full view. 

 

“Well?” Kagami said as she leaned against the doorway, enjoying the way Luka’s sparkling eyes fell on her. “Are you coming?” 

 

“We’re gonna be late for dinner,” Luka said, running his hand down her side. “She’s gonna be like-” 

 

---

 

“Where the fuck were you guys?! Dinner's over already!" 

 

Told you, Luka thought as Kagami brushed past Chloe. “Please forgive the tardiness; we were in the middle of some...stuff.” 

 

“I’m-” 

 

“Finish that sentence and I’m giving you the middle brownie square,” Chloe snapped, attempting to flick Luka in the nose with a dish towel. Chloe had attempted to whack him so many times that Luka managed to lean away effortlessly, kissing her on the cheek as he slipped past her inside Alya and Nino’s condo. 

 

The warmly decorated, two-story flat was squeezed between much older and much newer houses on either side. It was a place brimming with potential that had taken almost every spare weekend for the past three years to tease out. The odd few days Luka or Kagami spent redoing floorboard or installing new lighting went a long way towards bringing the team together in the absence of Adrien and Marinette. 

 

“Am I going to have to assign extra patrols every time you’re late?” Alya teased, tearing her way through a chopping-board full of walnuts as Nino washed the dishes behind her. 

 

“You’re not the boss of us outside our costumes,” Kagami said, sticking her tongue out at Alya. “Who said that again? I think it was you-” 

 

“Nope, that was probably a clone; you can’t take what those girls say seriously,” Alya said, tipping the nuts into the brownie batter while Chloe and Luka bickered over something in the living room adorned with throw rugs and classic album art. Nino’s computer and workstation sat off to the side of the room, currently playing a warm jazzy tune that Luka almost recognized.

 

“Who is this again?” Luka asked, grabbing a walnut off the cutting board and popping it into his mouth. 

 

“Macklemore,” Chloe said, grin widening as Nino put the dish towel down to glare at her. 

 

“You know, I know you’re just saying that to piss me off and yet, somehow, you still manage to piss me off,” Nino said. “You got some kind of gift.” 

 

“It’s a talent; I can tell what’s going to piss someone off just by looking at them,” Chloe said, sliding up on the counter. 

 

“A real Da Vinci of being a dick to people,” Luka snickered. 

 

“Do not use the D word right now,” Nino sighed. “Let’s talk about literally any other Renaissance artist slash ninja turtle, please.” 

 

“He’s not being too hard on himself, is he?” Kagami asked as Alya cinched a knot in the trash bag to take to the bins. 

 

“As much as he always is,” Alya sighed, nodding towards the back door. “He seemed cool at dinner, but I know he doesn’t like talking about his stuff when I’m handling my stuff. Doesn't want to add to my load, as it were.” 

 

“And how are you handling your stuff?” Kagami asked as they stepped into the cool Parisian evening. “Nadja’s not getting to you again, is she?” 

 

“Nah; I think I’ve learned by now that I could turn straw into gold and Nadja would say that Ladybug could have turned it into platinum,” Alya chuckled bitterly. 

 

“Speaking of which-” 

 

“I really don’t want to think about Marinette right now,” Alya said, leaning against the brick wall next to the garbage can. “Or what bringing her in means for us again...how do you think Adrien would handle it?” 

 

Kagami shrugged. “Hard to say. Adrien is...well, you know how Adrien is; even if she did join up with us again, they wouldn’t be working together.” 

 

“I just feel weird about bringing her back in without consulting with him first,” Alya said, chewing her lip. “And at this point, Nino’s just as likely to slug him in the face as talk to him.” 

 

“What happened  last November?” Kagami said, voice dropping into a low whisper as she glanced over her shoulder. 

 

“Adrien hasn’t told you?” Alya asked. “I was hoping you could tell me...Nino frames it like Adrien’s being an unreasonable asshole, but I’m sure it’s more complicated than that.” 

 

“It may very well be...or Adrien might have, indeed, been acting like an unreasonable asshole,” Kagami said. “Either way, I’m not sure we can wait for Adrien’s vote; if Kaiser Long moves against us again-” 

 

“If Kaiser Long attacks again, we’ll be ready for him,” Alya said firmly. “With, or without Ladybug to back us up.” 

 

“I’d prefer with, all things considered,” Kagami said. 

 

“Seriously?” 

 

“You’re confusing my interest in working with Ladybug again with interest in being friends with Marinette again,” Kagami said frostily. “I have no interest in her outside of her professional skills and no intention of braiding her hair while talking about boys.” 

 

“My hair’s more fun to braid anyway, right?” Alya giggled, peering in the back door at Luka as he seemed to be in the middle of a heated discussion with Nino as Chloe put the brownies in. “So…?” 

 

“So what?” Kagami asked, avoiding Alya’s probing gaze. 

 

“You wanna explain why you two were late for dinner?” Alya asked, prodding Kagami with her finger. 

 

“Apologies...we were in the middle of a rather interesting conversation,” Kagami coughed. 

 

“Mmhmm,” Alya hummed. “And how long have you two been...having conversations?” 

 

“It’s...something of a recent development,” Kagami coughed. “We’ve only had a handful so far, but...I can see myself conversing with him for a while now. So I daresay you can retire from your self-appointed position of romantic cheerleader for the time being...or direct your attention to your own backyard for once.” 

 

“For once ?” Alya said, raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” 

 

Where Marinette might have backpedaled from her claim, Kagami was resolute in meeting Alya's gaze. “And how is the missing angle of your angle love-triangle doing?” 

 

Alya glanced back into the kitchen at Chloe and Nino’s backs as Luka went on about something likely musically related. Her hand reached down to grab a towel and accidentally brushed Nino’s fingers as he reached for the same thing. The static charge that caused them to pull away had little to do with actual electricity that might have jolted between them. 

 

“I don’t want to interfere,” Alya muttered. 

 

“...I’m sorry, did I mishear that?” Kagami asked as Alya squirmed against the wall. “French is my third language; I admit sometimes turns of phrase elude me-” 

 

“Look,” Alya said. “I...I still feel like I bowled over both of them with this whole...mildly open relationship...thing. For the last year or so it’s been me making changes to our relationships and them sort of...going along with it.” 

 

“You think Nino is just acquiescing to make you happy?” Kagami asked. 

 

“I know that he would,” Alya said, glancing back at Nino. “He’s the only one coming up short in this...and I know I’m not supposed to be scorekeeping or trying to make everything one hundred percent equal at all times, but...”

 

Alya ran her hands through her hair with a frustrated growl. “I still feel like I’m fucking something great up...and maybe I should just cut Nino loose so he can find someone more committed to him.”  

 

“You don’t want that,” Kagami stated. 

 

“ No I don’t want that,” Alya agreed, watching as Chloe sat on the counter between him and Luka, watching Nino talk out of the corner of one eye.

 

"Even a complete cynic like me can detect there's some kind of chemistry happening," Kagami nodded, watching Nino scowl at Chloe in a way that looked almost affectionate. "So why not say something? Let them know you...want them to be happy?" 

 

“I do want them to be happy," Alya insisted. "But...I don’t want to decide what happiness looks like for them.” 

 

“Yare yare, I think you need to hire someone to manage this for you,” Kagami sighed. “So you won’t even tell them you’re okay with them...advancing their relationship in a different direction?” 

 

“I feel like that would be pushing them together,” Alya whimpered, rubbing her eyes with her palms. “Which I don’t know if I like because they’re both my partners and it would be easier for me if I didn’t have to choose who to spend date-nights with...or maybe I still don’t know what I’m doing.” 

 

Kagami stared at Alya. "...there's something else, isn't there? Is this about...the Bleed?" 

 

"...a little," Alya admitted, voice dropping even lower. "I just...the more I'm Rena Rouge, the more I find it easier to...manipulate people." 

 

She raised a hand to paw at her necklace uncertainly. "I can look at a situation and see all the different levers I could pull and buttons I could push to get exactly what I want...it's not even hard anymore. Yesterday, I walked into a coffee shop and almost instantly knew how I could get free coffee and all the pastries I wanted...and part of me needed to see how it played out, just for the satisfaction of pulling one over on someone...I mean, you feel it too, right Mme. Charity Case?"

 

"I have a...healthy interest in philanthropy," Kagami coughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Though I admit it's hard and harder to not to go out of my way for people nowadays." 

 

"And Nino knows almost immediately when a boundary has been crossed and gets very defensive over it," Alya said, leaning in closer. "That's why I...I really need to be careful with people I care about. It's getting too easy for me to manipulate people and situations to my advantage now...if my relationships were built on that, then..." 

 

Alya concluded with a groan and furious gesture towards the kitchen. “This; this is why I don’t need Marinette sticking her nose back into my life right now. On top of freaky magic powers seeping into my personal life, I have my boyfriend, my girlfriend, and whatever the hell is going in between my boyfriend and girlfriend to manage. Nino and Adrien hate each other for some reason, the old people have an agenda they’re working towards that may or may not have Paris’ best interests at heart, and on top of all that, the capital B Bad Guys have returned with an army of ninjas to support them.” 

 

“You know what I’m going to say, right?” Kagami asked, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Focusing on other peoples’ problems does not make yours go away. And remaining impartial is still taking a side in this; if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” 

 

“Who said that; Plato?” 

 

“Rush, actually,” Kagami said. “You pick up a few things when your birdfriend has the musical sensibilities of a sixty year old man.” 

 

Kagami turned to head back inside. “Maybe you don’t need to decide right now, though; maybe not-knowing what you’re doing is an important step towards knowing that you can’t really rush.” 

 

Alya chewed the inside of her lip as the back door closed behind Kagami, watching her team come together inside. The truth was, Alya liked having someone else in a messier romantic situation to counsel; it made her feel like her own life was firmly under control by comparison. But in the absence of Marinette and now that Kagami had sorted herself out, she was faced with the scary thought that she might not be in command as much as she thought she was. 

 

---

 

Master Fu stared blankly at the tiny cup of glowing green liquid. “...is this it then?” 

 

Master He swirled her own cup around, staring at the puddle of potion with trepidation. “This is the last of it...unless the tree starts producing fruit again-” 

 

“I admire your optimism,” Master Fu said, downing the potion in one gulp. “I have to say that I will not miss drinking this slop.” 

 

“This slop is the only reason we’ve managed to stay alive all these years,” Master He sniffed, downing the last of her potion with a smack of her lips. 

 

“How you managed to make celestial peaches taste like cough syrup is a mystery,” Master Fu chuckled, leaning back in his chair as a dense silence fell over his sitting room. “...how long will this buy us?” 

 

“A year, perhaps,” Master He said, resisting the urge to lick the cup clean. “Maybe more, maybe less...either way-” 

 

It didn’t need to be said what would happen when the last of Master He’s potion ran out. 

 

“Time enough to put our affairs in order, at least,” Master He said with a forced smile. “Most people never get the luxury of knowing when they’ll face their deaths, do they?” 

 

“It is a gift rarely afforded to anyone,” Master Fu said, reaching across the couch and gently squeezing Master He’s wrist. “And I am glad to face it with you.” 

 

“Don’t count your firebirds before they hatch,” Master He chuckled, clapping her hand over his. “There’s still plenty of time for us to get murdered, especially with Li’s pupils scurrying about.” 

 

“I’d like to get murdered,” Master Fu shrugged. “If it was in a good cause.” 

 

“You are free to do so,” Master He said. “Me, I’m holding out for a peaceful death; maybe near the water somewhere. Which is why we need to sort out Li’s spawn before we leave this world.” 

 

“A tall order,” Master Fu mused. “Alya has done a remarkable job keeping Paris safe, but…” 

 

“Paris is all she is interested in safekeeping,” Master He said without accusation. “Same with Nino and Chloe...well, I think Chloe is loyal to whichever side the other two pledge themselves to.” 

 

“Her selfishness has paid dividends more than I thought it would,” Master Fu snorted. “And what about the other two?” 

 

“Which other two ?” Master He asked. “As much as Monarch is the one who leads her little sub-team, Luka is the axis on which it turns.” 

 

“Provided he cares to turn at all,” Master Fu clucked. “Too passive, even still.” 

 

“You would be the expert,” Master He said. She tilted her cup over her mouth, catching a few extra drops before giving up and setting the cup down. “And what do we do with Marinette?” 

 

Master Fu glanced down at his empty cup thoughtfully. “I think whatever our enemies are plotting will concern her sooner or later. I think...it might be good to get her back before-” 

 

Master He turned to look at Master Fu. “Before what?” 

 

“...before we lose the Ladybug we’re going to need,” Master Fu sighed, setting his cup down. 

 

“She was growing in power, last we spoke,” Master He said, examining the letter on the table across from Fu. 

 

“Power, yes,” Master Fu said gravely. “But her power is not what made Marinette Ladybug. And I worry that even if we ask her back...she may not want to come.” 

 

---

 

“Thinking about something, bugaboo?” 

 

Ladybug turned to see Chat Noir leaning against the balcony, sun reflecting off his messy blonde locks as they looked down on the city beneath them. 

 

“Just thinking about how quiet it’s been since Hawk Moth disappeared,” Ladybug said, staring down at the peaceful city beneath her. “Paris hardly seems the same these days...I guess I miss the fight a little bit.” 

 

“Even if I had to die to end it? 

 

Ladybug’s head snapped up to look at her partner. “What?” 

 

“Even if you were dying to end it?” Chat Noir repeated, head tilting to one side. “Are you okay?” 

 

Ladybug nodded. “Yeah...yeah, I think I’m fine...I just-” 

 

“Fire!” Someone beneath her screamed and Ladybug turned to see the entrance to her parents’ bakery billowing fire and black smoke into the clear morning sky. 

 

Ladybug’s heart plummeted as she leapt off the roof, swinging down over the city. “Come on!” 

 

She didn’t even look to see if Chat Noir was behind her; he always had her back. Even after everything that had happened between them, surely Chat Noir would always be behind her. 

 

“Mrs. Cheng!” Ladybug cried, diving into the inferno. The home and bakery she had grown up in was engulfed, every surface covered in crackling orange fire. “ Mom!” 

 

The door opened and her mother stepped through, wreathed in flames with a strangely banal expression on her face. “What is it dear?” 

 

Ladybug opened her mouth to speak, but found her voice choked by the smoke, even as her mother went about restocking the bread as the world burned around her. 

 

“Fire…” Ladybug choked, feet feeling like lead as she waded through the flames. “We need to go...we need to get out!” 

 

“Out?” Her mother asked, brushing off a blazer she had seen Nathalie wear dozens of times. “Where would we even go, dear?” 

 

The windows behind her exploded, sending showers of glass raining down around her before they turned into butterflies that swarmed around her face. Outside, the fire had spread, engulfing passers by who took no notice even as the flame crept up their pant legs. Buildings across the street started melting like wax left in the sun, running into the street and flooding the door as Marinette took a step backwards. 

 

“Tikki, Spots On!” Marinette called as the fire rose to surround her. “Tikki!” 

 

She reached up to feel her ears bleeding, dripping blood on the ground as she turned around to see Gabriel Agreste standing behind the burning counter in a purple suit that looked strangely like-

 

“Hawk Moth!” Marinette said, watching Gabriel raise the earrings to his ears. He melted as the flames consumed him, transforming into a red and black spotted girl that mirrored her own expression. 

 

“Ladybug...Ladybug, help !” Marinette cried, banging on the glass between them. How or when the glass had gotten there Marinette didn’t know; she only knew the fire was growing hotter and turning a sickly shade of green. 

 

“She’s not going to help you…” Marinette turned around and almost passed out as she saw Adrien leaning against the wall to her parents’ shop, face horribly bruised and blood running down his cheek where his eye used to be. 

 

“Why didn’t you stop her?” Adrien muttered, reaching out for her. “Look...look what she did to me…” 

 

Marinette tried to scream, but the string around her neck suddenly tightened as Ladybug’s yo-yo closed around her throat. She tried to fight back, only to find herself forced to her knees as the heroine stood over her, a dangerous glint of determination in her eyes. 

 

“Are we here again, Mme. Dupain?” Gabriel Agreste asked, walking up behind Ladybug and curiously looking at her. “Heavens, these are getting more and more violent, aren’t they?” 

 

Marinette spluttered, digging at the yo-yo string as Gabriel Agreste knelt down in front of her. 

 

“The good news is, this is all just a bad dream,” Gabriel said, a strange look of almost sad amusement on his face. “The bad news, unfortunately, is that it’s also very very real…” 

 

Marinette felt herself sinking into the ground as the world burned around her, Ladybug’s hands around her neck as she-

 

-fell out of bed and hit the floor of her bedroom, head banging on the nightstand as she did. The blanket that was tangled around her throat fell away as she finally pulled it loose, tossing it across the room as she lay there, catching her breath. 

 

Just a dream, Marinette thought, rubbing her eyes. Please, please, please let it be after three…

 

Her prayers went unanswered by the clock that blinked 2:05 at her defiantly. Groaning, Marinette pushed herself upright, massaging the spot where her head had smashed into the nightstand. The pain and redness dissipated in a sparkling snap of magic, but the image of a burning city still haunted her. 

 

Sadly, there was no miraculous cure for bad dreams, and Marinette knew better than to try and fall back asleep. 

 

Fumbling for her keychain, Marinette fished out the silver and red key with Tikki’s old insignia pressed into the bow. Her thumb traced the spots and circles as her mind wandered; if she was going to be awake for the rest of the night, she might as well spend her time properly. 

 

The attic space her cousins had leant her was smaller than her old loft, but Marinette had other places she could go if she wanted space. Walking over to her closet door, Marinette slid the key into the lock and waited to see if she could hear her cousins moving around before turning the handle and stepping through. 

 

The Celestial Sea

Sanctuary of the Ladybug

 

The salty smell of the ocean immediately hit her as she walked through the door and onto the deck of a three-masted ship that sailed beneath an expansive night sky filled with ever shifting stars. The first time Marinette had used her key to enter the Ladybug’s Sanctuary, she fell face-first into the briny depths and had to fight off a particularly ornery sea-serpent that tried to make a meal of her. The various monstrosities that slithered under the water seemed to have little regard for her status; while Creation accepted her, Her creatures seemed to be more interested in how Marinette tasted. 

 

The floorboards of the boat creaked as Marinette closed the door behind her, pocketing her key and making her way over to a drafting table that overlooked the water. The Emma had gone through a number of modifications since The Louis  sank after Marinette’s first attempt to build an internal combustion engine. Holding her hand up, a coffee cup descended from the sky, quickly filling with coffee as she stirred her finger in a circle around it. Marinette took a sip with a grimace; food was still hard to get right. The coffee tasted flat and stale, but it kept the chill away and Marinette badly needed the caffeine as she sat down at her table ready to work. 

 

Okay, she thought to herself, turning her attention to the half-finished red and black motorcycle that sat off to the side of her desk. Let’s give this another try. 

 

Her earliest attempts to make a motorcycle (fueled by a manic desire to go touring Europe when she was twenty) resulted in a very pretty looking machine that exploded a few miles outside London. Evidently, the power to create anything she pleased did not give her a working knowledge of mechanics and only her nigh-invincibility saved her from becoming a victim of her own hubris. 

 

Again. 

 

Marinette cracked the book open and the laptop she had brought to store on the ship. A notification bell alerted her to a new video she had missed. Her heart squeezed as it always did when she saw a familiar mop of blue hair, now cut short in a way that drew Marinette’s attention to Luka’s permanently glam eye-markings. The video opened as it always did with a close-up of the fretboard as Luka’s fingers wound their way through a bright, open sounding guitar lick that looped a few times as accompanying drums and bass joined him. 

 

“One of the hardest parts about practicing guitar is that, after a while, you can get stuck in a creative rut,” Luka’s voice said in English as the camera shifted to show him sitting on a stool, his new apartment studio set up behind him with vintage music posters and instruments hanging off the walls. 

 

“But my favorite way to get unstuck involves exploring alternative tunings that really help me think about the guitar in new ways,” Luka said, strumming his open strings. “Today is the first part of a three week series designed to acquaint you with open tunings and maybe kickstart a little creativity. Tabs, as always, are available on my Patreon page.” 

 

To the surprise of no-one, a pretty guy with a pretty accent playing pretty music did pretty good for himself as an internet personality. Marinette had made halting attempts to follow along a few years before, but the instruments she made to practice on sounded dull and lifeless compared Luka’s and she quickly abandoned her aspirations of rock stardom. It was enough to have a familiar voice talking to her as she paged through the book on motorcycle maintenance she borrowed from the library. 

 

Time, as it was, moved strangely floating on the endless sea of possibility. Even as Luka’s tutorial reached the five minute mark, time timidly inched forward in dread of the next minute. It helped to catch up on her sleep deficit during the day, but the lonely hours between midnight and dawn were all the more unbearable for how long they lasted. 

 

Marinette set the book down, closing her eyes as she tried to piece the motorcycle together with a clearer picture in her mind. The deck of the ship shimmered and in a circle of light, a black and red motorcycle emerged, crackling with red electricity. Working in the Sanctuary was much easier than working in the real world and knowing what they had cost, Marinette was the last person on Earth impressed with her own capabilities. 

 

In the distance, a familiar looking house started to crest the surface of the water. Her old house, the one she had lived a lifetime with Adrien in, appeared from time to time when her thoughts turned sour. From the distance she could see flickers of movement in the windows as the lights seemed to turn on and off. Marinette froze as she caught sight of it, hands gripping the railing of the ship and taking deep breaths. Once, in the beginning when she could barely sleep, she had been curious and desperate for affection enough to sail over and see what was inside. 

 

After seeing the kinds of things (not people; they weren’t people) that haunted her memories, Marinette had learned not to go rooting around in the detritus of her former life. 

 

Soon enough, the waves consumed the old house, and a dark shape slithered in the water beneath her boat. The end of the creature could be seen winding around the hull in a dark circle before a large, reptilian head broke the surface of the water. Rows and rows of razor sharp teeth glimmered in its mouth as its cruel beady eyes regarded Marinette hungrily. 

 

“Not today,” Marinette sighed as a glob of spit the size of a basketball landed on the deck in front of her. “Come on Tikki Junior Jr., we’ve talked about this…” 

 

Tikki Junior Jr. snarled at her, lunging with a snap of her jaws that sank into the hull of the ship, sending splinters flying as Marinette stepped back. 

 

“No!” Marinette said, bonking the sea-serpent on the nose with the heel of her foot as she felt the boat rise into the air. “No, bad! Bad monster! Drop it; drop it!” 

 

Tikki Junior Jr. dropped the boat with a whine of pain, slithering backwards as Marinette stretched her hand out in front of her. Man-made creations were more difficult for her to manage, but anvils were easy enough to make. A distant bong echoed across the waves as a red metal anvil hit Tikki Junior Jr. on the head. She cried in pain, slithering away as the luminescent spots on her back vanished into the inky ocean beneath Marinette’s feet. 

 

Honestly, Marinette groaned, waving her hands as the side of the ship began mending itself. I need to figure out how to put armor on this thing before- 

 

The deck of the ship erupted in a shower of wood as Tikki Junior Jr.’s nose broke through with a roar. Her long neck stretched high above the broken mast, twisting around in mid air as The Emma buckled in half. 

 

“No, nonononono no! ” Marinette cried, running down the deck of the ship to snag her laptop before it fell in the water again. “No, come on, I need my-” 

 

Tikki Junior Jr.’s tail slammed down hard on the bow of the ship, smashing Marinette’s work-station and shattering her laptop into a thousand pieces. The threat of being devoured by a sea monster was infinitely less terrifying than the threat of disappointing her boss; Angelina Loveless was not a problem Marinette could just punch until she went away. 

 

Tikki Junior. Jr, on the other hand, could be dealt with more directly. 

 

“You suck !” Marinette groaned, a glimmering red ribbon extending from her wrist as the tail swung around to attack her. She snagged onto the mast as it fell, swinging up and onto the back of the monster as the front half of the ship disappeared into the water. 

 

So long, Emma, Marinette thought as she ran up the monster’s back. Several car-sized parasites that clung to the serpent’s underbelly snapped at her as she passed, but Marinette had her eye on the prize; a large, soft spot at the back of the serpent’s neck hidden by a bony head crown. 

 

“Bad girl !” Marinette’s ribbons fluttered out from her wrist as Tikki Junior Jr. snapped at her. Biting down on the impervious fabric, Marinette swung herself around the monster’s jaws, wrapping them up and binding them tight as she flipped over the top of its head. The back of the monster’s head came into view and Marinette tugged on the ends of her ribbons, rocketing forward and driving her heels into the back of Tikki Junior Jr.’s head. 

 

The serpent let out a screech of pain, flopping over and breaking the back half of her boat into unsalvageable rubble. Marinette jumped off the serpent’s back, landing on The Emma’s mast as it began its final descent into the endless sea beneath her feet. 

 

Well, Marinette thought as the water rose around her ankles and the serpent sank beneath the waves. Back to the drawing board…

 

A red and black egg bobbed up to the surface of the water, cracking to reveal a tiny sea-serpent sticking its nose out at Marinette curiously. 

 

“...nice to meet you, Tikki Junior III,” Marinette said, watching the sea-serpent slither away as she swam for the door back to her own world.  “Please do not turn on me like Tikki Junior Jr. did...I don’t think I can handle any more monsters tryin to-” 

 

There was a deafening bang and the placid night sky erupted in a shower of orange flames that stretched from one horizon to another. Marinette flinched, nearly falling back into the briny waves as flames danced like aurora across the night sky. 

 

What the hell?! The waves around her rose and fell, crashing against her and slamming her into the door as the stars overhead began flickering on and off rapidly. Fumbling with her keychain, Marinette nearly dropped her key in the water as the roar of flames only grew louder in her ears.

 

Come on come on come on! As the heat lapped at the back of her neck, Marinette managed to get the key inside the lock and jam the door open as the flames suddenly ceased, the speckled night sky returning once more as the seas slowly started subsiding around her. 

 

“...what the hell was that?” Marinette muttered, staring up from her cousin’s bedroom into the sky high above her. 

 

---

 

Kaiser Long felt nothing as he watched the Codex burn in his wife’s fingertips, flickers of ash falling to the floor of the sanctuary as the raw, untapped Creative potential siphoned into Firebird’s chest. Her eyes flickered, glowing bright orange as every muscle in her body seemed to shake in exertion. He rested a hand on the small of her back to steady her, but it was for more emotional support than anything else. 

 

The burden of absorbing Creation in its fullest was hers alone. 

 

After a moment, the lightshow ended and Firebird fell forward onto her hands and knees, breathing hard as she felt her husband’s jacket fall over her shoulders. 

 

“How do you feel?” Kaiser Long asked, helping Firebird to her feet. Curiously, she opened her palm, watching a long red rope with a bright silvery dart attached to the end of it unspool and land on the floor at her command. 

 

“Miraculous ,” Firebird said, igniting the rope-dart and cracking it in mid air.

Notes:

YES the Miraculous content you have ALL been waiting for is back!

...oh, and Thomas' cartoon updated, I guess. /s

Kinda light on action this time; I've been trying to balance the tone between character building (god does this fic need character building) and plot (god does this fic need to stay on the rails). This will probably be more episodic than T&C but still driven to move forward. I have some arcs roughly mapped out and the high/low points for each but otherwise, moving the pieces around the board will be a challenge.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the downtime chapter! Next time we're looking to get Chat Noir back in the action (maybe) and definitely resolve that letter addressed to Ladybug).

Also I'm fried as fuck from work so let me know if I'm totally off my shits here.

Chapter 4: Out of Exile

Notes:

Music Credits

Slow Jamz - Kanye West & Jamie Fox

Marinette waited a full second after opening her door before padding down the hall, heels in one hand and backpack in the other as she crept silently through her cousin’s house. Downstairs, she could hear the familiar rhythm of a knife on a cutting board as the fragrant smell of garlic and onions sizzling in a pan wafted up the staircase.

 

Marinette’s feet creaked on the top floorboard of the staircase, but thankfully Bridgitte’s a-tonal rendition of old Top 40 hits provided her with the cover she needed to sneak through the living room, keeping one eye on Bridgitte’s back as she worked the frying pan

 

“She said she wasn’t ready for the world, some New Edition, so let me represent-” 

 

“No, She wants some Ready For the World,” Felix chuckled as he thinly sliced strips of ham on the counter next to her. “Like the song.” 

 

“What? Since when?” 

 

“Since always .” 

 

“Did you look up the lyrics or something?” 

 

“It was in the book that came with the CD, Bri.” 

 

“You read those ? Lame...” 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, who held a funeral for her Tamogachi again?” 

 

“Who penned the obituary for my MySpace page?” Brigitte said, grabbing an orange from the basket next to the stove and chucking it over her shoulder. Marinette squeaked as once again her cousin’s blind-fire accuracy lobbed the orange directly at her head and barely managed to catch it before it connected with her face. 

 

“Ha!” Bridgitte crowed triumphantly, turning around and pointing a finger at Marinette as she tried to crawl past the kitchen. “Where do you think you’re going without eating breakfast?!” 

 

“I-I wanted to get in early to start working on the spread for next week,” Marinette stammered, picking at the orange peel sheepishly. “I was going to get some bread at the bakery, I promise!” 

 

Bridgitte stepped aside, letting Felix man the frying pan so she could glare at her cousin while scrambling eggs. “ Bread ?! That’s what ducks eat for breakfast! Ducks and Parisians ! Where’s the protein?! Where’s the fat ?! Where’s the-” 

 

“Please don’t say it.” 

 

“Vegetables?!” Bridgitte said, grabbing a handful of spinach and dropping it into the pan alongside the onions as Marinette cringed. “Honey, come on, you’re Junior Assistant to the Creative Director now; you need brain food!” 

 

“And she was going to leave her lunch here,” Felix clucked as Marinette shuffled into the kitchen, defeated by kindness and the promise of breakfast burritos. 

 

“Young lady, we have slaved for minutes —literal minutes— and cried our eyes out while trying to slice this sad little onion we almost forgot in the crisper,” Bridgitte said, passing the eggs to Felix who didn’t even turn around to receive them. 

 

“We even tried to be multicultural,” Felix said, throwing a few tortillas down on the cast iron next to the pan as he poured the eggs in. 

 

“The tastes of the world in your kitchen, and you want to chew on a sad little roll that would make your mother cry if she saw you eating it,” Bridgitte concluded, shaking her head. 

 

“You two are going to be awful parents and when your kid wants to run away from home, she’s gonna come straight to me,” Marinette chuckled, peeling the orange as a much needed sugar craving suddenly came on. She had been up half the night rebuilding a new boat (tentatively named The Hugo II) which meant her normal cravings for sugar had skyrocketed to the point where she seriously entertained emptying a bottle of maple syrup into her mouth. Tikki’s cookie addiction seemed quaint when it was her power that was being called on. 

 

“After seeing what you do in the kitchen, they’re likely to starve to death before we can even come rescue them,” Bridgitte huffed, accepting a rolled burrito from Felix and putting it in a bag alongside a chicken and rice bowl from the night before. “You are going to eat these, right?” 

 

Bridigitte had been cagey about Marinette’s eating habits ever since she had passed out a few months into her stay. Long hours working and studying combined with magical training, no sleep, and a guilty appetite took its toll on Marinette. Ever since then, Bridigitte had made it her mission to ensure her younger cousin didn’t fall over from lack of nutrition. 

 

“Felix will cry otherwise,” Bridgitte said, biting into her own burrito. 

 

“Wait a second, it’s-” 

 

“Hot, hot, hot !” Brigitte hissed, spitting the steaming eggs out into the sink. 

 

“Yes, I was just about to get to that bit,” Felix said, patting his wife on the back as she hacked up spinach. “You will tell me if it’s alright, won’t you? Otherwise I’m going to keep feeding it to you until you suggest something else.” 

 

Marinette hugged the warm paper bag to her chest. “I will...are you going to be here for dinner or does your flight leave sooner than that?” 

 

“I have to head out pretty soon, actually,” Bridgitte said, glancing between her husband and cousin. “Can you two manage by yourselves?” 

 

“We’re not children, Bri,” Felix sighed. 

 

“No, but you are the type of people who will stare at a sketchpad for hours at a time without moving to eat or drink,” Bridgitte said, taking another tentative bite of her breakfast. “I don’t want to come back to skeletons hunched over dress designs and building layouts.” 

 

“Mm, a valid concern; everyone immediately rots after you leave their presence,” Felix said, pressing the back of his recently opened drink against the back of Bridgitte’s neck and watching her shriek and smack him in the arm. 

 

“Can’t you just say you’re gonna miss me like a regular husband?” Bridgitte grumbled, reluctantly accepting the kiss on her cheek in a way that made Marinette’s heart ache just a little. It was hard enough to be away from Adrien; it was harder still to be reminded of what they could have been together. Bridgitte and Felix's relationship, both silly and mature, was the kind of marriage Marinette had wanted since she attended the wedding as a girl. 

 

But that was gone now; a whole lifetime to live and grown in love had blown away a long time ago. 

 

“You okay?” Marinette's disappointment must have registered because Bridgitte’s fondly irritated expression melted into one of concern. It was nice having someone in-touch with her feelings, but constantly being the wet blanket did little for Marinette's mental state. 

 

“Fine,” Marinette said with a smile. “Just...thinking about some stuff.” 

 

Bridgitte and Felix’s almost identical looks of sympathy were Marinette’s cue to duck out, grabbing her food and her bags with a somewhat forced smile. “Thanks again, you guys; have a good trip, Bri.” 

 

Bridgitte opened her mouth to say something but a subtle shake of Felix’s head counseled otherwise. As soon as the door closed, a crackling portal materialized over Bridgitte’s shoulder with an angry swipe of her hand.  

 

“Hey, babe, I’m going to Paris to kill Adrien Agreste,” Bridgitte said casually, rolling her sleeves up. “You want some French fries while I’m there or-” 

 

“Down girl,” Felix said, grabbing the back of Bridgitte’s belt and tugging her away from the yawning portal of her own creation. 

 

“It'll just be a second-”

 

“Stay,” Felix said, materializing a water-bottle with a sparkle of magic and spraying his wife in the face.

 

“Four years, Felix,” Bridgitte hissed, the water on her skin evaporating in a hiss of steam. “Four... years of watching her mood improve bit by bit only to come tumbling down again because some underwear model she dated for like a month or so dumped her! I’ve had it; I am going to cut that little blonde tumor out of her life once and for all! ”

 

“Last I checked it was not a mortal sin to break up with someone,” Felix said, materializing a black paper towel and toweling Bridgitte's face off delicately. “We are not in the business of indiscriminately killing anyone we remotely dislike; there are simply not enough hours in the day for that. And imagine how sour her mood will be if the papers tomorrow read Agreste Heir Burned Alive.” 

 

Bridgitte crossed her arms with a disappointed pout. “...you don’t know I was going to burn him alive.” 

 

“I think I do,” Felix said, leaning against the counter. “Are you good to handle the Mitsuhide or do you want me to take over?” 

 

“I think I can wrangle a gang of rowdy ex-yakuza,” Bridgitte said, hands glowing bright red as she incinerated the pile of vegetable scraps on the counter. “This isn’t about Auckland going dark, is it?” 

 

“Forty-three scientists and ex-STIGMA soldiers don’t just vanish overnight without a trace,” Felix said, a dark look drawing his eyebrows together. “It’s him ...it has to be.” 

“So what if it is?” Bridgitte said, ropedart extending from her hand with a flick of her wrist. “I’ve got a string for the kitty to chase if he’s feeling frisky.” 

 

“I would like Ladybug on our side before we go picking off Chat Noir, if it’s all the same to you,” Felix said.

 

“We could still extend the invitation his way as well.” 

 

“No...it’s either or after the Hawk Moth business,” Felix said, staring at a spot on the wall. “Ladybug’s betrayal broke their partnership; enlisting Ladybug’s aid means forgoing Chat’s assistance with the destruction of this world.” 

 

“I think I can scare up enough fire to manage that by myself,” Bridgitte chuckled, arching up on the balls of her feet and kissing her husband on the cheek. “Relax; I’ll be back with your toy before the tomcat knows I'm there." 

 

“Grab some takoyaki while you’re at it,” Felix suggested. “We’ll have to make sure we save a few chefs when we start bringing people over; I am not passing eternity without my bar snacks.” 

 

---

 

Alya: Hey, is it cool if I spend the night at Chloe’s? 

Alya: Just got back from lunch and I’m kicking it on her couch watching movies. 

 

…

 

Alya: You there? 

Alya: If you’re uncomfortable with it I can come home

Nino: hey, sorry, taking a break from the Turtle House

Nino: yeah, that’s cool!

Alya: Really?

Nino: yeah, really; have fun

Alya: You’re not put out?

Alya: We could hang out together if that works better for you.

Nino: i’m good

Nino: don’t worry about me~

Alya: Really? 

Nino: alya

Alya: Sorry, I just want to make sure I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes here. 

Nino: we agreed not to keep score so

Nino: let’s not keep score

Alya: :/

Nino: ?

Alya: No, you’re right; sorry. 

Nino: everything’s cool; have a good time <3

Alya: You’re not going to spend all night training again, are you? 

 

…

 

Alya: ...Nino?

 

---

The Jade Mountains
Sanctuary of the Turtle Miraculous

 

Nino's phone buzzed by the side of the pool, but the frigid waterfall that washed over him demanded his entire concentration to endure. The freezing spray pounded against his skin like hail, cold and sharp as he sat unmoving under its relentless waves. 

 

“Thirty minutes,” Wayzz called over the roar of the water in his ears. Nino didn’t budge, fighting against the cold even as it started to finally seep into his skin. There was a time not too long ago when a few moments in the pool was too much for Nino to endure; now it had become a game of seeing just how much he could endure before another limit was reached. 

 

“Nino?” Wayzz called again as Nino’s jaw tightened in concentration. “Okay, that’s it .” 

 

The roaring water that surrounded him slowed to a trickle that rolled down the rocky cliff face and into the river that Nino sat in. The verdant, mountain-forest that stretched endlessly out beneath an emerald sky was once again still as Nino climbed out of the pool, wrapping a towel around his waist as he sat shivering on a nearby rock. 

 

“Wh-What gives?” Nino asked as Wayzz hovered in front of his far. “I was doing good!” 

 

“Rather good,” Master Fu agreed, coming up the mossy-stone path with Master He supporting his arm. “But nobody enjoys a tortoise-flavored popsicle.” 

 

“Or cold turtle soup,” Master He countered. 

 

“Cold showers are supposed to be good for you,” Nino said. “What brings you guys to my corner of the Overworld?” 

 

Wordlessly, Master He pulled a small pistol out of her coat, cocking the hammer and aiming it at Nino. “May I?”

 

Nino shrugged, barely flinching as Master He raised the gun and fired a round directly into his chest. The bullet collided with his skin, crumpled, and tumbled to the ground at his feet. Nino glanced down at the light bruise forming where the bullet impacted with a self-satisfied smirk. 

 

“Incredible,” Master He said, unable to keep the professional fascination out of her voice. “Your progress here has been exceptional, M. Lahiffe.” 

 

“Give me time and I'll even block a Cataclysm,” Nino chuckled, looking down and wincing as he saw Alya’s unread notifications. 

 

Alya: Okay, have fun. 

Alya: We’ll have brunch tomorrow. 

Alya: Love you. 

 

Nino fired back a quick “love you too” before turning back to the old Masters. “So is this clusterfuck bad enough to get His Highness to grace us with his presence again, or does the world literally need to be on fire for Adrien to give a shit?” 

 

Master He, used to these accusations, only sighed. “Nino-” 

 

“No, if we’re at the point where Ladybug might be getting back into the picture, then Adrien needs to do his damn job and fall in line too,” Nino said, resentment bubbling over in his voice.

 

“Adrien is doing his job,” Master He said. “For four years, he has been stuffing evil things back in their proper place or outright slaying them; however bad things are in Paris, they would be worse if Chat Noir had been putting his feet up.” 

 

“So mad scientists, up-and-coming sorcerers, and garden-variety supervillains are beneath his notice,” Nino nodded. “Cool, cool; well, maybe Kaiser Long will be prestigious enough for his finicky ass.” 

 

"If you knew half the ugly things we'd been dealing with-"

 

“Alright,” Master Fu said, stepping in the middle of another argument as Master He bristled behind him. “Let us put Adrien aside for a moment and talk about Marinette." 

 

“Talk about what?” Nino said, crossing his arms. "You want me to convince Alya to bring Marinette back, right?" 

 

“You seemed to be more concerned with what she can do for you now than what she did to you then,” Master He argued. 

 

“It isn’t me she did things to,” Nino said coolly. “You’re right; I do see the value that Marinette could bring back to this team. At this point, I'll line up next to anyone who's got my city's best interests at heart. But I’m also not going to bend Alya’s arm to make her take her back before she's ready.” 

 

“Didn’t you just say that Adrien needed to take his duty seriously whether he likes it or not?” Master He asked. “And what is good for the cat is good for the fox, right?" 

 

“It might be, but I’m not going to push on Alya to make that call,” Nino sighed, rubbing his eyes. 

 

“Your concern for Alya’s feelings is admirable-” 

 

“I’m not concerned because I think it’s admirable ,” Nino said, grabbing his bag. “Alya is getting pummeled on all sides from everybody wanting something from her; the last thing I want to do is join in the pummeling.” 

 

“And if Alya decides to not let Ladybug back in?” Master Fu asked. “Would you challenge her on that? Or would speaking your mind be considered pummeling as well?” 

 

A dark scowl crossed Nino’s face. “I’m not a pushover-” 

 

“We didn’t say you were,” Master He said. “Just that three-fifths of a supposed democracy seems to turn on Alya 's feelings; whether she intends it to or not.” 

 

“Like I said; if Alya doesn’t want Ladybug back, Chat Noir needs to be drawn back to pick up a little of the slack,” Nino said, walking past them on his way out of the Sanctuary. “Wherever he is, tell him what’s going on and tell him to bring his ass back to Paris. We’ve put up with enough of his bad moods; it’s time to act responsible for a change.” 

 

Master He opened her mouth to speak but Master Fu wisely grabbed her wrist, shaking his head. 

 

“Oh, so when Alya is unhappy about Marinette, the world stops turning,” Master He sighed. “But when Adrien is uncomfortable being in Paris, it’s his problem?” 

 

“My dear, you should know by now that double-standards are humanity’s most prolific invention,” Master Fu chuckled ruefully. 

 

---

 

“Bee in your bonnet?” 

 

“Bee in my bath, more like it,” Alya muttered, setting her phone down leaning back in the tub as Chloe’s fingers slowly massaged her scalp. Self-care was, after all, an important part of being a functional leader; Alya didn’t want to go down the same path that led Marinette to implode her own life. As hard as they worked, she made sure everyone had time for themselves; time to explore new things and gain interesting life-experiences that weren’t tied to their work as superheroes. 

 

...technically, Chloe was tied to her work as a superhero, but lacking any semblance of Queen Bee’s costume made it easy to forget that sometimes. 

 

“Tell me you’re not thinking about other women while you’re with me,” Chloe murmured, squeezing Alya around the waist. “I’ll share you with Nino, but I draw the line at adding Marinette to this little arrangement.” 

 

“Trust me; Marinette is not getting anywhere close to me for a long time,” Alya said, nuzzling against Chloe’s shoulder sleepily. The rosewater and scented candles did a remarkable job of taking Alya’s mind off most of the cares in her life. Most being the key-word.  

 

“Do you feel like talking about it or do you just want me to look pretty for you?” Chloe asked, lips grazing the nape of Alya’s neck. 

 

“I’m only dating you for your pretty looks,” Alya said, rolling over to face Chloe. “Didn’t you know?” 

 

“I’m fine being a trophy wife,” Chloe said, kissing Alya on the nose. “Does Nino know he’s dating someone so shallow or do I have to be the one to break it to him?” 

 

“He knows how shallow I can be,” Alya giggled, eyeing her phone on the edge of the tub. “...thanks for being patient with me, by the way. I know I can be a headache sometimes.” 

 

“If you’re a headache, at least you’re a pretty headache,” Chloe said, kissing Alya briefly on the lips. 

 

“I know, but...I just wish I could skip to the part of all this where I know what I’m doing and I’m not second-guessing myself,” Alya muttered. “It all seems so effortless and easy until-” 

 

“You’re actually trying to balance a relationship between two people?” Chloe snorted. “Yeah, you signed up for the hard corner of this love triangle.” 

 

“I know,” Alya said, leaning her head against Chloe’s. “I just...I care about you. Like...really really care about you.” 

 

“I figured,” Chloe said, glancing down with a raise of her eyebrows. “But you loved him first.”

 

“I don’t want this to turn into firsts and seconds,” Alya sighed against Chloe’s lips. “I just want to make sure I’m not making anyone feel like I don’t care about them; gotta make sure all my houseplants are watered.” 

 

“Is that all I am to you?” Chloe snorted. “A sexy ficus?” 

 

“I was going to go with sexy spider fern,” Alya muttered, spluttering as Chloe splashed her in the face. 

 

“I’m just decoration, am I?” Chloe laughed, water sloshing on the floor as she got splashed back, rose-petals and bubble bath spilling all over the floor. “Eye candy?” 

 

“More than just eye-candy,” Alya said, leaning in for a kiss. “I want a taste too.” 

---

London, England
Gabriel's Design Office

 

“Next?” 

 

Courtney shuddered as the bright-eyed Parisian woman stepped up to the counter. It was only her third week working for Gabriel's in-house coffee shop and already she dreaded the arrival of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and whatever grisly crime against coffee she felt like drinking that morning.  

 

“Good morning !” Marinette said cheerfully in accented English. "Could I get a double shot of espresso and...about ten shots of-”

 

“There’s a new policy,” Courtney said, quickly pointing to a sign on the counter that read “Two Syrup Shots Maximum.” 

 

Marinette could feel the eyes of her co-workers boring into her back, ears flushing red as she passed a note across the counter. “Two is fine, thank you .” 

 

Shuffling off to the side, Marinette ignored the pointed whispering as she scrolled through her phone. There was a time when she at least attempted to make niceties with her co-workers; that was before one of them found a picture of her and Adrien eating lunch four years ago and what few friendships she had started making dried up. Suddenly, her stellar work ethic and creativity were forgotten; her co-workers seemed to know how she had secured her position, even if Adrien was no longer in the picture. 

 

Marinette’s heart thumped painfully in her chest as one of Nadja Chamack’s op-ed pieces floated across her timeline. The woman had graduated from the J. Jonah Jameson School of Journalism in the time Marinette had been away from Paris and the constant negative op-ed pieces crying for transparency stoked familiar feelings of guilt. Dozens of times she had worked herself up to go tell Nadja off as Ladybug and dozens of times she reminded herself that she wasn’t fit to be making decisions about the safety of Paris anymore.

 

Alya was in charge now; Alya was doing the best she could. Even with Nadja braying like a jackass in her ear, Alya didn’t need Marinette sticking her nose back where it didn’t belong. 

 

“Order up, Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Courtney replied, passing the woefully undersweetened coffee across the counter. The urge to grab an entire handful of sugar packets and dump them into her drink was a strong one, but that wouldn’t exactly endear Marinette to co-workers who already thought she was a freaky Frenchie who slept her way into her position. 

 

Besides, there was a half-empty bottle of caramel syrup in her desk drawer that would fit nicely with the rest of her first coffee of the day. 

 

Back to the salt mines, Marinette thought, taking a sip of her coffee with a grimace. Of all the things she hated about being Ladybug, intolerance for anything that wasn't drenched in sugar was one of them. 

 

---

The Feathered Vault

Sanctuary of the Crane Miraculous

 

“So it’s like an echo?” 

 

Alya walked around the shimmering blue translucent figures that stood around chattering in the middle of the Crane Sanctuary. Replicas of herself, Luka, and Kagami carried on in the same conversation they had half an hour prior, their voices faint but distinct in the quiet halls of the Crane. 

 

“More like a...way of thinking,” Master He said, waving her hands through the images as Kagami took notes. “It requires you to see into a dimension humans experience in a linear fashion; to pull your mind out of time as you know it and force yourself to perceive time that has already passed.” 

 

“I’m guessing the splitting headache is a side-effect of that?” Luka asked, rubbing his eyes. 

 

“It will get easier, but it never really goes away,” Master He said as Kiicii appeared with a bottle of aspirin. “We are, after all, human and humanity has its limitations; peering through time for too long can result in unintended side effects.” 

 

“Are we, though?” Alya mused. “Human, I mean.” 

 

Master He dispelled the echo with a wave of her hand. “Why wouldn’t you be?” 

 

“Most humans can’t bend their brains to look at time from a different angle,” Alya countered. 

 

“Most humans also can’t lift seven-hundred pounds off the ground or run ultra-marathons,” Master He said, a smile tugging at her lips as Alya rolled her eyes. “Does that make elite athletes inhuman?” 

 

“I think, strictly speaking, I’m some kind of akuma...kwami...guy,” Luka said, swallowing a handful of painkillers. 

 

“Still human enough though,” Master He said. “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be able to bond with the Miraculous. Humanity is the link between this world and the Divine; just because you have abilities most humans do not does not make you inhuman.” 

 

“Does that apply to Adrien as well?” Kagami asked. 

 

“Adrien is…” Master He smiled. “Adrien is the same fundamental person he has always been.” 

 

“But not human,” Alya said quietly. 

 

Master He stared at her for a long moment before turning to Luka and Kagami. “If you could each review the highlighted sections of The Journal of Time and Space for next time and be ready to discuss it, we can continue with some more practical lessons next week.” 

 

“Actually, I was hoping to talk with you about-” Kagami trailed off as Luka gently nudged her in the shoulder, nodding at Alya’s troubled expression. “...yes, Master. Thank you for another illuminating lesson.” 

 

“Should we send Nino and Chloe in?” Luka asked as he gathered his supplies and stuffed them in his backpack. 

 

“In a moment,” Master He said. “Alya, could I have a private word?” 

 

Alya squirmed in her seat but just nodded as her teammates trailed out of the Sanctuary, leaving her alone with Master He. 

 

“Is this about the letter?” Alya asked as soon as the door closed. 

 

“We’ll get to that,” Master He said, sitting in a chair across from Alya. “For now, I want to talk about you.”

 

“I’m fine,” Alya lied with a wave of her hand. “Just up late trying to figure out this...Poison Clan stuff.” 

 

“I don’t see an end to late nights anytime soon, so I would take it easy while you can,” Master He chuckled, staring up at the ceiling depicting the swirling forms of each Miraculous. “Nino mentioned you are experiencing some enhanced side-effects of your Bleed...how long have you been meditating in the Fox’s Sanctuary?” 

 

Alya pulled the heavy silver key attached to her key-chain out of her pocket, turning it over in her hand as Trixx fluttered out of her necklace to chat with Kiicii. “...a few times a week; maybe a little more.” 

 

“The Phantom Forest is not a place you should linger too long, Alya,” Master He said firmly. “It is a place where reality and illusion are one in the same; it takes a strong mind to avoid getting swept up in The Trickster's schemes.” 

 

“Marinette did it,” Alya muttered. “Adrien too.” 

 

“Under my supervision,” Master He said, leaning forward. “I understand your urge to get more powerful, Alya, but-” 

 

“It’s not an urge ,” Alya said. “It’s a duty; we cannot afford to get stomped on like we did the other day. And if Kaiser Long and Firebird are ready to move-” 

 

“It will take more than you to stop them,” Master He said, holding up a hand. “No matter how powerful you become, you cannot overcome these two by yourself. They have eluded us for decades; maybe longer. Adrien has been on their trail for four years, and still they slip through his fingers; the apex predator can’t bring them down...so why do you think you have to fight them alone?” 

 

Alya said nothing, examining her key as the silence stretched on between them. 

 

“You don’t need to be Ladybug,” Master He said gently, reaching out for Alya’s hand. “As much as Paris wants their hero back, the world does not need you to replace her.” 

 

“Just work with her,” Alya sniffed. “God...I just feel like choices are being made for me, and I hate it. I didn’t get to choose what happened with Ladybug and now I don’t get to choose whether or not I want to be around her. I have to just shut up and turn off my feelings.” 

 

“Nobody expects you to turn into an automaton,” Master He agreed. “It’s not fair, but you are not as powerless as you feel right now. You worked to assist Chat Noir and kept him away from Ladybug for months; Hawk Moth might have achieved his goals much earlier with us ill-equipped to stop him if it wasn’t for you.” 

 

Master He pulled the letter out of her coat and placed it on the table. “And you still have a choice to make. I am only an advisor; my role is to counsel, not rule.” 

 

“I just have to swallow the fact that my best friend treated me like trash and welcome her home with open arms then?” Alya asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. 

 

“Who said anything about open arms?” Master He said, pulling a handkerchief out and handing it to Alya. “Ladybug might be able to help with this situation, but that doesn’t mean you and she need to make up. Even if Marinette is contrite and even if she wants to be friends again, she has wronged you, both Alya and Rena, on a very personal level. And that is an issue that cannot be reckoned by anyone's time but your own.” 

 

Master He pushed the letter across the table. “Working with her does not mean instantly and unconditionally forgiving her or sweeping what she did to you under the rug. It is not all or nothing, Alya; there is room to honor both your feelings and your duty as a leader.” 

 

Alya nodded, wiping her eyes and passing the handkerchief back to Master He. “I signed up for this, didn’t I?” 

 

“A good leader is always first in line at the shit-sandwitch buffet,” Master He chuckled. “Lord knows we’ve swallowed a few in our time...you don’t even need to be happy about eating it.” 

 

“As long as it gets eaten,” Alya said, studying the letter in her hands. “Well... bon appetit .” 

---

London, England

Gabriel's Design Office

 

“Marinette, a word?” 

 

Marinette rose quietly as Angelina stuck her head out of her office door, collecting her notebook as she stepped into her employer’s pastel nightmare of an office. Being in a room designed by Angelina Loveless felt like being in a high-end candy shop, which only made Marinette’s stomach growl as her morning sugar rush started to wear off. 

 

“Close the door,” Angelina said, motioning for Marinette to sit as she leaned back in her chair. “The focus group went well, I take it?” 

 

“As well as it could have,” Marinette shrugged. “I sent the writeup over earlier if you’d like to take a look.” 

 

The administrative minutiae of running a successful fashion house was somehow more mind-numbingly boring than Marinette had been warned it would be. Designing with the support of investors meant designing to satisfy the cagey, cautious interests of people who wore off the rack which unfortunately meant spending hours of her life managing focus groups. 

 

“We’ll get to that,” Angelina said, folding her hands on the desk in front of her. “I wanted to talk about the Junior Design position that opened in Paris.” 

 

Marinette swallowed. “I didn’t apply.” 

 

“I know you didn’t; you’re just about the only person in the office who didn’t,” Angelina said, eyes narrowing at Marinette. “And just about the only person in the office with a remote chance at landing it.” 

 

“Well...we’re kinda in the middle of a lot of stuff here right now,” Marinette coughed. “I figured I’d ride it out another year or so-” 

 

“Marinette,” Angelina sighed, forestalling Marinette’s stream of excuses before they could start. “Your dedication to filing paperwork is admirable, but you are not going to advance as a designer working at a satellite office for the rest of your career. Paris is where the big plays for this company are made; I’m surprised you wouldn’t jump at the chance to go back.” 

 

“Paris and I have a...complicated relationship,” Marinette muttered. “I may have burned a few bridges when I left and I’m not exactly looking forward to rummaging through the ashes.” 

 

“From ashes, phoenixes rise, my dear,” Angelina said with an all-too-sympathetic smile. Her manager had been the one person not to completely turn on her after her relationship with Adrien came out and unfortunately her clear favoritism did Marinette no favors in the break room. 

 

“The fact is you’re outgrowing this little pot of ours,” Angelina said. “I’m not even unhappy to say it; you’ve exceeded every expectation I’ve had of you, but this is not the place for you to grow anymore...which is why I put your name forward for the designer position.” 

 

Marinette’s pulse quickened in her ears. “Y-You really didn’t need to do that-” 

 

“You don’t even need to accept an interview offer if it is extended,” Angelina said, holding a hand up. “But please consider it; I know you have ambitions of going into business for yourself one day. Working as a designer instead of an assistant will get you much closer if it’s at our flagship office.” 

 

Marinette fidgeted in her chair, unsure what excuse she could conjure to get Angelina off her back. 

 

Hey, I fucked up on a global scale and if I set foot in Paris my ex-boyfriend’s little sister is going to hunt me for sport; can I please stay here so I don’t have to be reminded of every mistake I made every single day?

 

“And if this is about M. Adrien, know that I was working for his father when he was still a bump in his mother’s belly,” Angelina said with a small wink. “If he makes life uncomfortable for you, I can set him straight.” 

 

“I…” Adrien was far from the reason Marinette didn’t want to go back home; if his newspaper clippings were to be believed, he was far from Paris most days of the week. The thought of being home after so long away felt strange, if it even was home anymore.

 

In London she had her cousins and the chance to work towards her own goals; she didn't know what, besides her own parents, was waiting for her in Paris. 

“The choice is yours, Marinette,” Angelina said after a moment of silence. “I just want you to consider all of your options before choosing."

 

“...I will, Angelina,” Marinette lied. “Thank you." 

 

---

Paris, France

 

“Is it true?” 

 

The fact that Juleka could move almost silently in a pair of heavy black boots had to be a facet of the Tiger Miraculous; that or her career as a model had taught her to move with a tiger's grace and silence. Luka nearly dropped the carton of eggs as he took them out of the cold-case, barely regaining his grip on them as Juleka leaned against his cart. 

“Jesus Christ, can you announce yourself?!” Luka stammered, heart thumping dangerously in his chest. "Or put a bell on?" 

 

“Never mind that,” Juleka said with a wave of her hand. “Marinette; is she coming back? Kagami said that you guys got a letter-" 

 

“Keep your voice down,” Luka whispered, standing on his tip-toes to see if anyone was eavesdropping. “Look, things are up in the air right now-” 

 

“Well, bring them back to Earth,” Juleka huffed, adjusting her purple and black striped jacket. “I know I elected not to sit on your little Council of Alya-rond, but if we’re still taking votes, I vote to keep Marinette at least an English Channel away from us at all times. Preferably, a full ocean if we can manage it.” 

 

“Yeah, well, we might not get a choice,” Luka said, pushing his cart down the aisles as Juleka trailed behind him. “Those weirdos from four years ago are looking for our friend in red and black.” 

 

“She’s working with them?!” 

 

“If she was working with them, they wouldn’t be going through us to reach her,” Luka said, grabbing a large bottle of gin and adding it to the cart. “We’re playing post-office between them; whatever they’re trying to say to her, we need to know what it is so we can respond.” 

 

“Dear Mari; big fan of the bullshit you put everyone through four years ago. Please be our friend and help us take over the world; sincerely, Butterfly Weirdos.” 

 

“Something like that,” Luka said, looking around before lowering his voice. “Look, just get ready to hunker down; tell the other Champions that they may get hauled into something like we had against Hawk Moth.” 

 

"I don't care about that," Juleka frowned. “If there's a fight, I'll be there for it, but...I don’t want her near you again.” 

 

“I have plenty of people looking after me, Jules; you worry about yourself, okay?” Luka said, patting her arm gently. 

 

“Are you really good with this though?” Juleka asked. “You’re...you’re like you are because of her.” 

 

“Partly because of her,” Luka said. 

 

“Really?" Juleka sighed. "You’re still sticking up for her after-” 

 

“It’s not sticking up for her; it’s stating facts,” Luka said. “Yes, Marinette unwittingly fucked me over, but our friend in purple was the one that made Mayura and grafted him to the Peacock. Marinette has enough to answer for without taking on Hawk Moth’s sins as well. Besides…” 

 

The ringing in Luka’s ears dissipated as he took a deep breath, eyes wandering across the supermarket to where Kagami was inspecting two different melons, tapping the bottoms as she held them up to her ear. “I’m not hiding from her for the rest of my life…"

 

---

 

“What the hell are you wearing, young man?” 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, is my flawless accessorizing turning you green ?” Chris sighed, adjusting his green and black Chat Noir themed baseball cap as he got into Nino’s car. “A grown man jealous of a fourteen year old; how sad.” 

 

“Yeah, I’m dying over your has-been hero merch,” Nino laughed, pulling away from College Francais Dupont. “Why don’t you get some new Carapace stuff? At least rep a hero that’s still working.” 

 

“Nah, I remember when Carapace was Chat Noir’s boy-wonder,” Chris said, oblivious to the way his brother’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m a fan of A-listers only.” 

 

“Uh-huh,” Nino muttered. “Those A-listers haven’t been around much lately; too bad we’re stuck with the bush-leagues.” 

 

“What happened to you, dude?” Chris asked. “You used to tell me that Chat Noir was coming back someday; where'd that faith go?” 

 

“Still got it; just stopped putting it in people who aren't here for us when we need them," Nino grumbled, turning down the side-street to his parents’ house. 

 

“Fine; be a buzzkill if you want,” Chris said, blowing a raspberry at Nino as he stopped in front of his old townhouse. “But when Chat Noir does come back, I better not see you cutting in front of me in the photo-op line.” 

 

“Oh trust me; that pic’s all yours,” Nino said, passing Chris his backpack. “And you can walk home after you get it; don’t want to get fleas in my new car.” 

 

“Yeah, this absolute beauty of a hatchback,” Chris sighed, banging on the trunk. “Gotta keep this bad boy in absolutely mint condition for when you and Alya are ready to do the football-mom thing.” 

 

“I’ll remember that little comment next time you need a ride,” Nino said, waving his brother off as he turned down another street. The fact that a simple baseball hat made him twist into a pretzel of unpleasant emotions did not make Nino happy. He was more aware of his vulnerable spots since training with Wayzz and Adrien was a big red blinking vulnerability. 

 

Gotta get a handle on all this Adrien shit, Nino thought, his car puttering through Parisian traffic. Half of him wanted to call and apologize for the absolute shit-show that was their last in-person conversation; the other half refused to budge until Adrien pulled his head out of his ass and started thinking about other people. Gridlock had been the emotional norm for him since November and he was looking for some way around the unbearable congestion before he lost his mind. 

 

It didn't help that he had to keep lying to Adrien's mother about it all either. 

 

The formerly walled complex their secret lair was under came into view as Nino rounded another corner. The frigid Agreste Mansion was gone, replaced by two townhouses, side-by-side, with a lush flowering hedge between them and a tall gate surrounding the complex. His spat with Adrien had not been enough to revoke clicker privileges and so a press of a button was all it took to slip inside the automatic gates. 

 

As he pulled up, a woman in a floppy red sunhat looked up from her side of the aisle, trowel in hand as Nino waved her down. “Excuse me, ma’am, is the lady of the house in?” 

 

Emilie Agreste wiped the sweat out of her eyes, unknowingly smearing her face with potting soil, Adrien’s infuriatingly pretty features and knack for making disheveled look good didn’t come from his father, nor did his beaming smile if Emilie’s was anything to go by. 

 

“Hiiiiii Nino!” Emilie called, stuffing her gloves in her belt. “You on plant duty this week?” 

 

No I’m here to use the elevator your son has hidden in his bookcase. The flimsy excuse as to why Team Paris were in and out of Adrien’s mostly empty townhouse was getting flimsier the longer he was absent from the city. 

 

“Just here to give Aloe Vera Wang her daily dose of plant food,” Nino said, patting his bag. “Heard from him lately?” 

 

“You know him; busy as a bee,” Emilie said with a sigh that grew less and less fond every time Nino heard it. “The last time I talked to him, he was just getting off a boat in New Zealand; said he had some contracts he needed to sign...or some clients he needed to meet. One of the two.” 

 

Liar, Nino thought. He was well aware that he was part of the same charade, but felt considerably less charitable when it came to Adrien than he had in the past. 

 

“He should be back in town in a few weeks for the board meeting; maybe you two can catch up then,” Emilie said hopefully. The extent of their falling-out had apparently not been disclosed to Emilie, but Adrien’s mother seemed to suspect something was off between the two of them. 

 

“Yeah, that’ll be….that’ll be cool,” Nino said, watching a butterfly land on a rose. “Looks like you got a visitor.” 

 

Emilie’s eyes fell to the butterfly on the bush. “Oh, another one...these little things have been showing up more and more...lately…” 

 

Emilie trailed off, eyes staring intently as the little lavender butterfly flapped its wings. It was as though she recognized something, and for a moment Nino wondered if the shoe they had been waiting to drop was going to fall while Adrien was out. But after a few moments, Emilie shook her head, rubbing her eyes as if she was trying to clear something from her vision. Before Nino could ask what was wrong, the front door opened and a woman with fuzzy grey and black hair carried a tray of lemonade. 

 

“Okay, this batch has ginger and blueberries in it, so you’ll have to let me know how it…” Anarka Couffaine blinked as she noticed her friend’s distress. “Hey, are you okay?” 

 

“I...I think the pollen is getting to me,” Emilie said with a chuckle. “Why don’t we sit inside for a bit?” 

 

Anarka, glanced at Nino who just shrugged behind Emilie’s back. Their time spent in physical therapy together made each other keenly aware of each other’s sensitivities, so Anarka didn’t push the issue, instead holding the door as Emilie headed back inside with a friendly wave. Nino watched until she was safely inside, the butterfly fluttering away as a gust of wind rustled the bushes. 

 

“Did you use the plant excuse with Emilie?” Nino turned to see Chloe walking down the path, her yellow sundress fluttering as she approached. 

 

“Afraid so; you’re gonna have to go with mail delivery or dusting,” Nino said, chuckling as Chloe’s nose wrinkled. 

 

“She knows I can’t dust to save my life; I don’t want our hideout exposed by my lack of domestic skills,” Chloe said, squinting up at Nino. “What’s wrong?” 

 

“Nothing,” Nino said, the answer locked and ready to go before Chloe even asked the question. 

 

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, what’s wrong ?” Chloe repeated, pushing past Nino’s attempt at deflection as he unlocked Adrien’s front door. The sparsely decorated, monochrome flat was more of a rest-stop for Adrien than an actual home. The palpable hotel vibes and the faint, lingering smell of bleach made Nino uncomfortable; as though whoever lived here was divorced from concepts of human comfort. 

 

“Just this business about Marinette…” Nino said, scratching the back of his head. “I still think I should be the one to do this; I’m the most removed from everything that went down, right?” 

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Chloe asked, wiping her finger along the edge of a windowsill to check for dust. “She turned me down too; I offered to go with her, but I think she thinks I’m just going to uppercut Marinette on sight or something.” 

 

“Won’t you?” 

 

“Oh you punch someone in the face one time and that becomes your whole personality,” Chloe huffed. “I can behave myself.” 

 

“Can you?” 

 

“I can try!” Chloe said, heel of her sandal stamping on the floorboard. “God, have a little faith in me! Luka isn’t getting crap for Mayura’s reaction to all this; why am I? And why does everyone assume I’m going to go off on her like the world isn’t ending?” 

 

“Aren’t you?” Nino said, grinning as Chloe’s scowl deepened. 

 

“Oh, really ?” Chloe said, kicking the kitchen door open. “You’re going to lecture me about keeping my cool?” 

 

Nino winced at the sight of Adrien's half-finished half-demolished kitchen, the granite countertop shattered and the stove bent in half as though something heavy had slammed into it. 

 

“Okay, sorry,” Nino muttered. “I’m just...I just feel like I have to protect her, you know?” 

 

“You’ve always felt that way-” 

 

“No, I feel like I have to now,” Nino said, rubbing his eyes. “I wanted to before; now I feel like it’s my duty to keep her from being hurt.” 

 

“Because of the…”Chloe nodded at the bracelet on his wrist. “Alya mentioned you haven’t been sleeping well.” 

 

“She...ugh, I didn’t want her to tell you that,” Nino muttered. “I thought we weren’t...I mean, we agreed not to talk about each other’s relationship while-” 

 

“She cares about you,” Chloe said, touching Nino’s arm. “I care about you and not just because you’ve saved me from being flattened more times than I can count. Alya isn’t gossiping behind your back; she’s trying to figure out how to help you.” 

 

“Alya has enough to take care of without taking care of me too,” Nino said. “We have lots of balls in the air right now; some are rubber, some are glass.” 

 

“You can’t always be rubber though,” Chloe insisted. “Nobody is always rubber and if you keep acting like it-” 

 

“If I keep acting like it, our team gets to function smoothly,” Nino said firmly. “Which is what matters right now.” 

 

Nino tugged out of her grip, turning to pull the lever that opened the book that pushed the wall aside and opened the elevator shaft. 

 

“The literal fate of the world is on the line,” Nino said. “Don’t worry about me right now.” 

 

Easier said than done, Chloe thought, following him into the elevator. 

 

---

London, England

 

The slick cobblestones clacked under Marinette’s heels as she walked down the darkened London streets towards her cousin’s townhome. Crowds of pub patrons were milling around, occasionally calling out something that Marinette had no inclination to respond to.

 

Despite having every reason to ignore Angelina’s offer, the Paris job bounced around her head like a fly trying to escape a trapped car. Going home meant more than just seeing everyone who had been out of her life since school; it meant being in Europe’s supervillain capital with her Ladybug license revoked. As powerless as she felt across the pond watching her city hammered every week by new threats, being in the middle of it and unable to help would be undoubtedly worse. 

 

Do you have to be on the sidelines though? A voice in Marinette’s head asked. Just ask Alya to come back and help again; maybe she’s-

 

Marinette couldn’t even think the word forgiven ; there was no coming back from what she had done and if Alya hadn’t called her home by now, she was likely never going to invite her back. Alya’s team was doing fine without her; they didn’t need-

 

Marinette stopped in front of a newsstand, eyes caught on a picture of the missing da Vinci codex next to a candid-shot of Rena Rouge speaking to the press. 

 

“Anything else, love?” The shopkeep asked as Marinette tossed her a crumpled up note and snatched the newspaper off the rack.

 

You’re not supposed to be doing this, Marinette scolded herself as she cracked the newspaper open, paging through until she got the full spread. An aerial shot of the five figures in black drew her attention as did the strange animal symbols on their backs. Across the field, Carapace could be seen leaning heavily on Queen Bee’s shoulder, an impenetrable wall crumbling under the force of the Poison Clan’s onslaught. 

 

Maybe they could use your help, Marinette’s voice said again. Maybe you could-

 

Angrily, Marinette stuffed the newspaper in her bag and stomped off down the street. She had learned by now her intuition couldn’t be trusted so if her heart was telling her to go back to Paris, it needed to sit down and shut up before it got her into anymore trouble. 

 

“E-Excuse me, miss?” Marinette looked up from her dark musing to see a girl in mismatched clothing, most of which looked to be several decades out of date, staring up at her from the corner of an alley. 

 

Strike one, Marinette thought as an unmistakable sense of dread poured on her like a bucket of ice. An electric hum of energy crackled in the air as Marinette remembered Master Fu’s old warning: London is an old and very powerful city with plenty of dark corners to get lost in; be careful. 

 

“Could you help me, please?” The girl asked in a soft, sweet voice that made Marinette’s hair stand on end. 

 

Strike two, Marinette thought, glancing over her shoulder to find herself alone on the residential side-street. Images of fishes that disguised themselves as rocks to lure prey flashed through her mind as she approached. “What seems to be the problem?” 

 

“M-My dog got chased up a tree down the way and I don’t know how to help her down!” The girl(?) sniffed, doing her very best to look small and helpless. Behind her was only a cold brick wall and the light coming off the streetlamps reflected in her glassy blue eyes. 

 

Too many strikes to count, Marinette thought as she put on her best fake smile. I do not need this headache right now...

 

“Can you take me to her?” Marinette said, switching to French. “I’ll see what I can do, but we might need to get someone else to help us.” 

 

“No help,” the girl mumbled in almost perfect French as she led Marinette into the alleyway. Her heel crunched on a squirrel skull that had been picked clean as she followed the girl, still pretending to be oblivious as her eyes scanned her surroundings. Magazines from the eighties lay under fresh food that had long since gone out of production and at the back of the alley, a makeshift bed made of discarded clothing laid next to a dumpster. 

 

“You speak very good French, you know,” Marinette said after a moment, watching the little girl stiffen in the middle of the alley. “Almost too good for an English girl...how old are you again?” 

 

There was a moment of silence. “...thirty-four?” 

 

“You have no idea how old human children are supposed to be, do you?” Marinette asked, tensing as she saw the girl’s body twitch violently. The shell of the girl split like a rubber mask, falling to the ground as a tall, pale thing slid out of her back. It was completely hairless and dressed only in a tattered loincloth and as it turned to fix Marinette with cold, black eyes, its mouth split open in a needle-sharp grin. 

 

“Too curious ,” the creature said in a crude parody of a cockney accent as it unfolded to its full towering height. “Shouldn’t go walking down strange streets, missy; never know who might be waiting for you at the end.” 

 

“I would extend the same advice to you, M. Changeling,” Marinette said, watching a look of surprise register on the changeling’s alien face. 

 

“You...you’ve met us before?” The Changeling asked, head cocked to one side. “Wait...no, was it you that did in Rat-Biter a while back?” 

 

“He was biting more than rats when I ran into him,” Marinette said, lips tightening at the memory. “I try and keep to myself these days; I don’t like getting involved in fairy business. But when children from my neighborhood go missing, it becomes my business. And business ended...badly, for your friend that day.” 

 

“Nosy nosy little witch,” The Changeling snarled, dripping sticky spit from its jaws as it approached her, craning its long neck down to leer at Marinette. 

 

“I never said I was a witch,” Marinette said with a smile. “Nevertheless, I would ask you and all of your friends to please pack up and leave the city as soon as you can. I don't want to see you haunting this alley ever again, is that clear?” 

 

A cold, harsh laugh slithered out of The Changeling’s mouth, tongue lolling out and curling around Marinette’s scarf. “And what’s in it for me, love?” 

 

"I'll be nice to you," Marinette said with a tight-lipped smile. 

 

"Tempting," The Changeling said, long spidery fingers stroking Marinette's hair as she remained unphased by the creature's encroaching presence. "And what if I want French-food instead?" 

 

Marinette’s smile only grew as the creature's cold breath brushed against her face. A thin, serpentine tongue slipped out from between her lips, tasting the air as the Changeling's ravenous expression suddenly grew curious. 

 

“You…” The Changeling said, head cocking to one side as he took stock of the creature standing before him. “You’re not human, are you?” 

 

Marinette answered by opening her mouth, allowing a long, black and red snake to shoot out of her throat and latch itself onto the Changeling’s neck. It howled in pain as Marinette spat the snake up at him, fingers tingling with magical energy as she conjured a horseshoe in her free hand. 

 

“Did you know that any iron I create technically counts as cold-iron,” Marinette said conversationally as The Changeling hurled the snake against the wall, watching it explode in a shower of red sparks. If the viper had irritated it, the cold iron weight in Marinette’s hand seemed to terrify it as she held it aloft, backing the monster into a corner.

 

“It's about the only non-living thing I'm good at making, actually," Marinette sighed. "Freaky that I can spit a snake out of my mouth but can't make a working bicycle to save my life." 

“Wait...no, let’s not be hasty,” The Changeling pleaded, holding its hands up as its back hit the wall of the alley. 

"Oh, I forgot," Marinette said, voice full of mock surprise. "This is...bad for your kind, isn't it? Yeah, yeah...I remember what happened when your friend tried to bite down this. I think I'm still scrubbing bits of him off myself." 

 

"W-We needn't get ugly now," The Changeling chuckled, feeling Marinette's tired blue glare bore into him. 

 

“I’ve had a bad day,” Marinette explained bluntly. “A very bad day. My co-workers hate me and my boss is trying to kick me out of the only city I feel safe in anymore. And at the end of my very bad day, I run into a soul-sucking parasite that has no doubt preyed on this street since the Great Fire, is that right?” 

 

Fear danced in the monster’s eyes as Marinette’s horseshoe crackled with power the closer it grew to its pallid skin. “So, you can either find out what I do to those that prey on my friends and neighbors, or you can leave this place and never come back,” Marinette said, voice colder and harder than the metal in her hand. 

 

The Changeling looked down into eyes that swirled with millions of unborn stars and suddenly became very open to the idea of relocation. 

 

“Y-Yes, right, o-of course,” The Changeling said. “So sorry to bother you, miss...th-thank you for your kindness…” 

 

The Changeling shrunk down, shifting and bending its long, limber body into the shape of a rat that scurried between Marinette’s legs and ran out the alley and down the street before Marinette could do anything to stop it. Marinette closed her eyes, waiting until she felt the blip of energy disappear before turning her attention back to the alley. Areas where monsters inhabited had a bad habit of turning into otherworldly death-traps for the people who stumbled into them; leaving The Changeling’s alley would only cause the next unlucky person to get stuck there unless she did something about it. 

 

Rubbing her hands together, Marinette pressed her palm against the wall, pushing her power into the world around her. Grime covered bricks were washed clean as vines and moss spread across every surface she touched. She could feel the magical hum in the air slacken and fade as the plants spread from her fingertips and after a few minutes she stood up, satisfied that The Changeling’s influence had been sufficiently expunged. 

 

You're not human, are you? 

 

Marinette ran her tongue over her lips, tasting the lingering remnants of the snake's scales on her tongue. It was comforting to be thought of a monster in the heat of battle; once the dust settled, it just made her feel awkward in her own skin. 

 

“You took gardening since the last time I saw you?"

 

Marinette’s blood ran cold as a familiar voice came from over her shoulder. At first she thought The Changeling had come back; that it was capable of reading her mind and decided to use an image from her past to torment her. But no magic in the world could accurately replicate- 

 

“Alya?” Marinette asked, as Alya Cesaire leaned against the alley’s entrance, eyes taking in the verdant scene before her with a look of wary curiosity. “When...how long have you-” 

 

“I called out to you a while back but you didn’t turn around,” Alya said, voice tense and restrained. “Then I saw you go into that alley with that...whatever that was."

 

"Changeling," Marinette blurted out. "It's a...well, it's gone now." 

 

"I would have stepped in but...well, I wanted to see how you handled it," Alya said cryptically. "Guess I know you haven’t gotten rusty, at least.” 

 

A million and one questions all fought to burst out of Marinette’s slightly open mouth. "Alya...I-"

 

“Sorry, I’m afraid I’m not here for a social call,” Alya said, producing an envelope from her jacket's pocket. “Can we talk business?” 

 

A low grumbling filled the alleyway as the effects of Marinette’s magic began to take their toll on her stomach. “...can we talk somewhere with milkshakes?”

Notes:

This chapter felt a little messy but I really don't want to spend any more time playing catch-up with Alya and company so I tried to get all relevant backstory pieces I needed to introduce in this chapter so we can start moving on with the plot. Everybody's on the board, everybody's caught up, let's go forward.

The reaction to Alya/Team Paris forgiving Marinette has been interesting to read so I'm going to spend a bit more time and energy on balancing the personal with the professional.

Also Team Paris is going through messy poly communication issues; the author has not promised that they (or really, any character in this story) will behave perfectly but I would like to remind everyone that grown adults are responsible for communicating their own needs in romantic relationships.

I couldn't find Chris' age anywhere so I estimated him at about Manon's age at 5 (Series) 9 (T&C) and 14 (MWD)

Still getting the feel of this story; hopefully things will flow easier now that the backstory has caught up to the story-story.

Chapter 5: Dinner and Diatribes

Notes:

Ending Credits Song: Lunatics and Slaves by Sin Shake Sin

Osaka, Japan

Suzuki Masaru lived his life on the fringes of the law until a nobler purpose presented itself in the twilight of his career. 

 

The romance of noble gangster movies loomed larger than the ugly realities of daily life in the underworld and was a balm to those who chose to make their living preying on innocent people. It was a lie Suzuki had never permitted himself to indulge in; he was a murderer, drug dealer, and general blight on the world. Looking back on a life of debauchery and violence, Suzuki found himself strangely empty for the first time in his life. 

 

So when Kaiser Long offered him an opportunity to escape the life of crime, Suzuki pledged his men to the dragon’s cause with little hesitation. It didn’t help that Long seemed to be a figure out of myth, capable of surviving every round his men put into him and still having enough strength to send most of them to the hospital. But despite their rocky start, Kaiser Long impressed him with a bold new purpose and the chance to finally do something worthwhile with his life.

 

He was more than happy to play along, even if it meant associating with pencil-pushers like Ishida. 

 

“You look very tense, Ishida-kun,” Suzuki drawled, leaning back in his seat. Ishida’s lip curled as the polished black boots kicked up on the dashboard which only made Suzuki’s smile wider. The aspiring cabinet-member was everything Suzuki despised about politicians; yakuza robbed people, but at least their victims knew what was happening. Ishida’s misdeeds were masked behind a plastic smile and PR team; Suzuki might have been a monster, but he never pretended to be otherwise.

 

“I still do not see why I need to be here for this,” Ishida grumbled, glancing around at the other cars in the parking garage for camera flashes. Ten identical black sedans waited in the underground parking garage beneath the towering skyscraper, each staffed by a crew of mean looking men in black suits. “Surely your... people are more than capable of dealing with such a basic task.” 

 

“Think of it as an opportunity to get closer to the people you represent,” Suzuki laughed, clapping the young man on the shoulder. “Gotta kiss them babies, don’t ya? Besides, this is Japan’s big blow-out before the end of the world, ya know? Gotta make sure everybody’s here to do their part.” 

 

“Plus if the cops show up, you’re gonna have to cover for us.” 

 

Ishida’s head banged against the roof of the car as he whipped around, seeing a woman in red popping bite-sized karaage in her mouth. 

 

“Hey-o,” Firebird said in heavily accented Japanese with a little wave from the back seat. “How’s it going?” 

 

“How the hell did you get here?!” Ishida spluttered as Firebird tossed the empty box into Ishida’s lap on her way out the door. “Wait...a-are you-” 

 

"Man, who'd have thought the wannabe politician would be so crass with his superior," Suzuki mused, lazily unfolding his limbs and stepping out of the car. Several of his men reached into their coat pockets but a shake of Suzuki’s head put a stop to them. “I thought we were working with the dragon?” 

 

“And now you’re working with me,” Firebird said in a way that made it clear that she wasn’t interested in entertaining the discussion further. If Suzuki was perturbed by this change of plans, he had the good sense not to show it. The handful of times he had encountered Firebird familiarized him with what happened to those who gave the dragon's bride a bad time. 

 

Ishida almost fell over himself as he stumbled out of the car, fumbling for his business card which he presented with a crisp bow. “P-Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. My name is-” 

 

“Do we know where the sword is?” Firebird asked, taking the business card and casually igniting it with a snap of her fingers. 

 

“In a vault on the top floor,” Suzuki said, patting Ishida on the shoulder as he watched his card burn to dust. “Ishida-kun was responsible for overseeing its transportation; we just need to key in the password and pick it up.”

“Y-Yes,” Ishida stammered. “A-And may I just say, it is an honor to meet you-” 

 

“Simple and clean; just the way I like it,” Firebird said, rustling Ishida’s hair and glancing around at the thirty or so armed men getting out of cars. “So if this is such a simple gig, why the army? Surely all we need to do is walk up there and take it, right?” 

 

Suzuki glanced over his shoulder, eyes lingering on a patch of shadows in the corner of the garage for a long moment. “Just being safe.” 

 

“Uh huh…” Firebird stared at Suzuki for a long moment before shrugging and motioning for the small crowd of men to follow. They all turned to Suzuki who simply shrugged and fell into step behind her. 

 

The message was clear; get behind or be left behind. 

 

---

 

London, England

 

Alya wasn’t sure what was more unnerving; the fact that Marinette could spit snakes out of her mouth or the fact that she could demolish an entire gallon of ice cream so quickly it scared the waitresses. 

 

She watched as Marinette tilted the last of her eighth milkshake down her throat, greedily guzzling it without taking the time to savor the flavor. So far, her business meeting with her former best friend had consisted of Marinette’s slurping noises intermittently punctuated with pained gasps of breath. She drank like a starving hyena ate, complete with almost canine chuffing noises as she chased it with a gigantic glass of Coke. 

 

“You done?” Alya asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or do you want to start on the pies next?” 

 

“Good idea; do you want a slice too?” Marinette asked, raising a hand to wave another waitress over. There was a frenzied game of rock-paper-scissors among the waitstaff, ending with a muffled curse as a brunette quietly approached, holding her serving tray in front of her like a shield as she approached. 

 

Who the hell am I talking to right now? Alya thought as Marinette rattled off a frankly terrifying dessert order. Since stumbling into the diner thirty minutes prior, Marinette’s sugar rampage had put Alya off from finishing the hamburger and fries that grew cold in front of her. Or maybe it was easier to blame Marinette than to grapple with the confusing jumble of emotions that made eating dinner unappealing. 

 

“Just coffee, thank you, ” Alya said as the waitress turned to her. “Is this normal for you now?” 

 

“It takes a lot of energy to do...Ladybug stuff out of the suit,” Marinette said, lowering her voice as she glanced around the mostly empty diner. “Sugar is easy to consume; you can get a lot of calories back really quickly.” 

 

“Then why didn’t you put the suit on?” Alya asked, the question coming out of her mouth before she could temper her curiosity. “You knew you were in a bad spot; why didn’t you armor up?”

 

Marinette fidgeted in the squeaky rubber seat, staring at her warped reflection in the metal of the milkshake cup. “I don’t really like to these days.” 

 

Alya nodded, jaw set tightly as though she were restraining a litany of questions she had for Marinette. “You let that thing go...are we safe with it still out there?” 

 

“A lot of things are still out there,” Marinette shrugged. “And that particular thing can survive on stray cats and squirrels if he chooses; hopefully I scared him badly enough that he’ll think twice about preying on humans again. Besides…” 

 

Marinette grew quiet as she grabbed around for the right words. “Keeping the peace doesn’t give me the right to kill someone.” 

 

“Even if that someone is a monster?” 

 

“Monster is a pretty subjective term,” Marinette chuckled. “Spiders are monsters to flies; lizards are monsters to spiders. I’m sure plenty of animals think of us as monsters too.” 

 

Alya didn’t seem to buy Marinette’s argument, but felt comfortable renting it for a moment to preserve the awkward peace between them. 

 

“So...how are things?” Marinette chanced, studying Alya across the table. “You look good...I mean you always did, but-” 

 

“Things are rough right now,” Alya said, stopping Marinette before she got any more personal. “My team just ran into the first wall we couldn’t knock down in nearly four years and for some reason that wall wants to talk to you .” 

 

“I don’t understand why, I-” Marinette looked up and saw Alya’s piercing gaze looking at her over the rim of her glasses. 

 

“I want to give you the chance to be completely honest with me,” Alya said diplomatically, hands resting on the table in front of her. “Are you working with-” 

 

“No,” Marinette said so feverishly the man at the counter turned and glanced at them. “I mean...n-no, you know I would never-” 

 

Marinette stopped and shook her head. “No...I’m not working with them. I promise; I swear, I’ll...I’ll do anything you need to make you believe me, I just-” 

 

“Say it slowly,” Alya said, eyes shimmering and taking on a warm orange tint. “As clearly as you can.” 

 

Marinette felt the weight of Rena Rouge’s eyes settle upon her and straightened up in her seat. “I am not now, nor have I ever willingly aided or abetted either Kaiser Long or Firebird...t-to the best of my knowledge.” 

 

As soon as the final word left her lips, Alya leaned back in her seat, studying Marinette’s expression thoughtfully. “Please, I-I know I messed a lot up before I left and I am so... so incredibly sorry every minute of every day for the choices I made. But I’m not with them ; I wouldn’t even know where to find them, Alya...you have to believe me, I-” 

 

“I don’t have to,” Alya said, closing her eyes before adding. “But you’re either telling the truth or capable of lying in a way that the Fox can’t detect; either way, I don’t think it makes sense that our enemies would use us as courier if you were in their back pocket.” 

 

“Do they…” Marinette’s voice dropped. “Do they know about...what happened four years ago?” 

 

“You mean how you worked with Hawk Moth against your own partner?” Alya said, trying and failing to keep the venom out of her voice. Marinette’s expression fell a little, but Alya didn’t have time to worry about coddling Marinette’s guilt. “I think it’s safe to say they’re trying to stir discontent; they want us to think you’re working with them so we don’t trust you.” 

 

Marinette nodded, before hesitantly asking. “Do you? Trust me that is.” 

 

Alya passed the envelope across the table. “Why don’t you start giving me reasons to?” 

 

“What is this?” Marinette asked. 

 

“The Poison Clan dropped it off as they were making off with the da Vinci,” Alya said, taking refuge behind professionalism as Marinette examined the envelope. "With instructions to hand deliver it to you." 

 

“Couldn’t have come up with a more ominous name, huh?” Marinette chuckled. There was a flicker of a smile on Alya’s lips before it hid behind the rim of a coffee cup and was gone by the time Alya swallowed. 

 

“Well they work for someone who unironically named himself “The Dragon Emperor” so I’m not surprised,” Alya said. 

 

“You opened it?” Marinette asked, lifting the flap on the back up. 

 

“We had to be sure there wasn’t any information being traded between you that we weren’t aware of,” Alya said, apologetically at first but finishing on a firm note. 

 

So that answers the trust question, Marinette thought

 

“But it’s written in some kind of code so that only you can understand it-” Alya’s hand came down on the back of the envelope as Marinette started to open it. “Hang on.” 

 

Marinette watched Alya glance around surreptitiously before a strange, warbling whistle slipped out of her mouth. Marinette’s litany of questions died as she saw the air around them shimmer and a dense film fall over the booth they currently occupied. 

 

“There,” Alya said, quickly downing the rest of her coffee and pouring herself another cup. “I wanted to make sure we weren’t being watched.” 

 

“What did you…” Marinette reached her hand out, feeling it slide against a jiggly invisible barrier around the table. 

 

“Little something Nino and I worked on with Master Fu’s help,” Alya said, knocking her knuckle against the barrier. “Nobody can hear us inside and from the outside, it looks like we’re having a perfectly ordinary conversation.” 

 

Marinette blinked, not for the first time in awe of the casual capability of her former best friend. Being close again only made the distance between them sting even further; there was a wall around Alya’s heart that Marinette had built and it was only now that appreciated how tall it had become. 

 

“That’s a neat trick,” Marinette said, prying the envelope open delicately. Alya tensed, almost expecting it to explode in Marinette’s hands. Instead a piece of crisp white paper unfolded under Marinette’s touch revealing a completely blank sheet inside. 

 

“Uh…” Marinette turned the page around. “I-Is this a joke?” 

 

“Am I laughing?” Alya countered, folding her glasses next to her and staring intently at the paper. “Maybe you need to...you know... spots on .” 

 

Marinette’s expression paled ever so slightly. “...do you think that’ll work?” 

 

“I think it was addressed to Ladybug and not Marinette ,” Alya said, watching the waitress wordlessly put Marinette’s pie down in front of her as though she were totally oblivious to the shimmering wall of light between them. “Go on.” 

 

Marinette licked her lips nervously and closed her eyes. It was easy to summon the cowl forth and the familiar feeling of tight latex clinging to her skin came on like a flash. There was a small intake of air from Alya’s side of the table as Ladybug opened her eyes to see a line of text scrawling its way across the page. 

 

 

Dear Ladybug, 

 

If we have done our job correctly, this message has been delivered to your hands alone. My partner and I are admirers of your past work and would like the chance to meet you in person to discuss an opportunity that would benefit the future of the human race. 

 

I believe there have been some ugly rumors spread about us by remnants of a long dead order clinging tightly to the status quo. Bold action is required to avert extinction and the longer we wait, the more danger we are all in. 

 

My partner and I would like to meet you in Venice one week from the date you have received this letter at the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. We have some things to show you that might alter your opinion of our organization. 

 

I will not ask you to keep this information a secret from your Parisian co-workers, only that we have no use for your former partner who is still dedicated to wreaking untold havoc in a misguided quest for justice. I would like you to leave him out of our arrangement, if the two of you are even still on speaking terms. 

 

We look forward to making your acquaintance and hope for a prosperous future as partners or at the very least allies, 

 

Signed,

 

Kaiser Long

 

Ladybug finished reading the letter aloud and turned back to Marinette as quickly as she could, heart thudding painfully in her ears. “I...I need some air.” 

 

Marinette nearly fell over herself as she stumbled out of the booth, ignoring Alya’s cries as she slammed through the door to the diner. She undid her jacket a little, letting the cold air hit her skin now free of the tight, constrictive fabric of her cowl. 

 

It’s happening again… Marinette thought woozily, head swimming as she leaned on a lamp-post for support. It’s happening all over again, isn’t it? 

 

Another deal; another offer with the condition of keeping Adrien and her partner in the dark. Putting on the suit again was just one tiny thing too much for Marinette to handle. She took deep lungfuls of air in greedy gulps, desperate to fight the wave of panic that rose up inside of her. 

 

Breathe, she could almost hear Tikki say to her. This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen; Marinette knew this fight was coming, but she had always hoped it would come after she had a chance to right some of her wrongs. They weren’t ready; she wasn’t ready to get sucked back into saving the world, no matter how many times she had in the past. 

 

The worst part of all of it was that she knew she needed to tell Adrien about the letter; she just had no idea where he could be. 

 

---

 

Osaka, Japan

 

“Where’s the security guard?” 

 

The foyer of the expansive high-rise echoed with the footsteps of Suzuki’s men, but was eerily silent otherwise. The usual hum of air-conditioning and electricity was almost absent, as was the security guard that usually sat behind the desk. 

 

“Night off,” Suzuki chuckled, earning a dark laugh from some of the men behind Ishida’s shoulder. “Better we don’t have any heroes around to get hurt over an old piece of metal.” 

 

“Smart,” Firebird said, pausing in the middle of the foyer. A strange tingling sensation tickled at the back of her neck but as she turned, the sensation seemed to dissipate as quickly as it came on. 

 

“Elevator’s out of order, sir,” one of Suzuki’s men said, hammering the buttons at the far side of the foyer. 

 

“Of course it is,” Firebird said with a dark chuckle, eyes drifting up to the rafters overlooking the foyer. "Oh boy..." 

 

“Something wrong?” Suzuki asked, reaching his hand in his pocket. 

 

“Have half your men guard the entrance to the staircase after us...and get backup,” Firebird said, watching Ishida pale and the aging gangster’s eyes widen. 

 

“Is it-” 

 

“You’re with us, Ishida-kun,” Firebird said, grabbing Ishida by the back of his jacket and steering him towards the staircase. “Hope you haven’t been skipping leg-day because we have a climb ahead of us.” 

 

There was a rumble of confusion among Suzuki’s men silenced as a light fixture overhead exploded, darkening the foyer and sending them scrambling to avoid the shower of sparks that followed. 

 

“Taichi, take Kanemaru and make sure the bottom floor is clear,” Suzuki commanded, unholstering his weapon and nervously scanning the room. 

 

“You look tense Suzuki-san,” Firebird said. “Something you’re not telling me?” 

 

“Just some funny business at our warehouse in Yokohama last night,” Suzuki said, licking his dry lips. “Might be a good idea to keep moving; the sooner we’re out of here, the better.” 

 

“I-If this is going to get ugly, sh-shouldn’t I have a weapon too?” Ishida asked nervously. In response, Suzuki pulled a switchblade out of his jacket and wordlessly passed it to Ishida who accepted it with a wrinkle of his nose. 

 

“Pair up and don’t get separated,” Firebird said, waving the group of puzzled looking yakuza as she pushed Ishida into the stairwell. “Ganbatte for what it’s worth!”  

 

The door to the stairwell closed behind her, the metal handle melting shut under Firebird’s touch and effectively sealing Ishida’s men in the lobby. 

 

“ This is a fucking set-up ,” Taichi growled uneasily, unholstering his pistol for peace of mind more than anything else. 

 

“Relax, aniki , ” Kanemaru said, pacing alongside him as the group split into pairs, moving back to back as they swept the dimly lit foyer for intruders. “Just an electrical bug; happens all the time. ” 

 

" Like in Yokohama?” Taichi asked, sweeping the open space in front of him as the rest of his men fanned out in all directions. “Why didn’t the boss tell her we lost our whole distribution center last night? Fifty men gone and ten million yen of contraband up in smoke in less than thirty minutes; don't you think that's something we should talk about?” 

 

“Maybe he wants to look good for the investors,” Kanemaru said, shivering as he stepped through a particularly cold spot. “Might be a good idea not to bring it up until the gig is over.” 

 

“Nah...something doesn’t feel right,” Taichi said, glancing away from his partner as a distant door-creak drew his attention. “Look, if anything gets weird, let’s just get out of-” 

 

Taichi looked back to find that his partner had completely disappeared. “...Kanemaru?” 

 

“ Aniki, I’m getting some weird movement down by the car-port,” a voice came over the radio as Taichi’s heart started pounding in his chest. “ Want me to go check it out?” 

 

“No, back up and wait for further instructions,” Taichi said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Eighteen years in the underworld had never terrified him like an empty lobby and the fact that his partner was now nowhere to be seen only made him antsier.  

 

“Something wrong, aniki?” One of his subordinates called from the other side of the foyer. 

 

“Kanemaru just vanished,” Taichi said, momentarily passing behind a pillar. “Get Motimiya, and-” 

 

Taichi’s gun fell to the floor as he stepped around the side of the pillar, only to see his subordinate gone and his partner next to him none the wiser. “Where’d Sato go?” 

 

“He’s right-” His partner jumped as he looked left and saw his partner missing. “Wh-What the fuck?! He was just here!” 

 

“I-I don’t know,” Taichi said, scrambling to pick his gun up. “But we need to-” 

 

Taichi stood up to find the remaining soldier gone as well without so much as a strangled cry to signify anything had happened to him. 

 

What the fuck? Taichi thought, pressing his back up against a pillar and sweeping the foyer. If Suzuki-san had to come down here and deal with them, there would be hell to pay. But at this point, facing his boss’ wrath wasn’t as scary as staying in the lobby another minute 

 

“ Taichi?” Kanemaru’s voice came from his radio and Taichi’s heart skipped a beat as he fumbled to respond. 

 

“Kanemaru?” Taichi replied, voice fully shaking as silence seemed to press around him from all sides. “Where the hell are you?” 

 

“ Sorry, just went to take a smoke,” Kanemaru said, his voice crackling over the radio. The sound of a panicked scream and a single gun-shot rang out somewhere in the distance before silence once again settled over the lobby. “ You should join me, aniki; the night’s beautiful.” 

 

Something about the way Kanemaru spoke unsettled Taichi even more than the way the air around him seemed to grow colder and colder until his panicked breaths came in clouds in front of his face. 

 

“ Aniki!” Taichi looked up to see three of his subordinates tearing down the side of the foyer, guns falling by their feet as they fled. Behind them the lights in the hallway blew out one by one and the encroaching darkness only seemed to agitate them even more. One tripped, and his comrades didn’t even slow down to help him back up as the lights above him blew out and the shadows seemed to swallow him whole.

 

“Heads down!” Taichi said, aiming his gun into the darkness. He had no idea what he was aiming at or if his firearm was even capable of stopping it; working with Suzuki-san’s mysterious benefactors had opened his eyes to the possibility that not every problem could be solved by shooting. 

 

Still, he had no other cards left to play as the lights in front of his men went out, swallowing them in shadow and leaving him alone in the hallway. 

 

“ Still there, aniki?” Kanemaru’s voice came from his radio, somehow garbled in a way that made Taichi’s skin crawl as he switched the dial. 

 

“Suzuki-san!” Taichi frantically called into his radio. “Something is taking us out down here; we need-” 

 

The radio in his hands exploded in a shower of sparks, falling to the floor as a melted hunk of plastic that spluttered and growled like an angry cat. 

 

“Something wrong, aniki?” Taichi whipped around to see a dark-haired young man that looked nothing like Kanemaru but still spoke with his voice. Without thinking, Taichi unloaded his weapon into the young man’s chest, ripping through the bright pink Tokyo Disneyland t-shirt. The young man jerked with each bullet fired, but seemed to be more concerned with the state of his shirt than with the effects of Taichi’s gun. 

 

Plagg sighed through his nose. “Man...I just got this.” 

 

“Aw, we’ll get you some mouse ears before we leave,” a voice from behind Taichi said. He whipped around and managed to catch a flash of green before his world plunged into darkness. 

 

---

 

The sound of distant gun-fire made Suzuki stop half-way up the last flight of stairs. “What’s going on down there?” 

 

“Same thing that happened to my people in Australia,” Firebird said

 

“Which is?” Ishida asked uneasily. 

 

“Honestly? No idea,” Firebird said, urging Ishida to climb faster with a poke between his shoulder blades. “But we’re going to find out if we don’t get out of here before our friend runs out of yakuza to prey on.” 

 

A cold chill ran down Suzuki’s spine as Ishida punched in the code for the top floor of the building. Security around the Mitsuhide had been tight for weeks, but a daily lapse to allow for delicate maintenance work gave them the opening they needed. Firebird had hoped to be in and out before their enemies got wise to their movements; judging by the commotion downstairs, it looked like she was already too late. 

 

The top floor of the building consisted of an intricate safe made of translucent, bulletproof glass that took up most of the floor. At the center, an old sword sat cradled on a white pillow and as soon as Firebird laid eyes on it, she knew that it was exactly what her husband needed. 

 

“Is that it?” Suzuki asked almost reverently. “Akechi Mitsuhide’s sword?” 

 

The blade almost vibrated with invisible energy that Firebird felt resonate with something deep inside her. “That’s it...Ishida, do your thing.” 

 

Ishida fidgeted as he approached the keypad. “...h-how do I know you’re not going to kill me as soon as I give you what you want?” 

 

“You don’t,” Suzuki said, raising his gun and pressing it against the back of Ishida’s head. “But I’m definitely going to kill you if you don’t open this safe in the next thirty seconds.” 

 

“And if he doesn’t kill you, the guy who is currently hunting gangsters for sport downstairs is not going to be happy with you when he finds out you work for me,” Firebird said, leaning against the console. “And not even I know what he does to the people he disappears.” 

 

Ishida swallowed heavily, keying in a code and pressing his palm against a handprint reader off to the side. On cue, the walls of the safe shifted as gigantic mechanical gears in the floor lined them up so that a clear, unbroken path to the sword appeared. 

 

“How does it feel to have done something important with your life, Ishida-kun?” Firebird asked, clapping the nervous looking young man on the shoulder. 

 

“I-I’m a junior member of the subcommittee for historical education.” 

 

“Like I said; something useful ,” Firebird said, sauntering down the walkway towards the sword. A blinking red light caught her eye, signaling a tripped silent alarm that would no doubt draw the police in. There was no time to worry about that though and Firebird wordlessly smashed the glass protecting the sword and delicately lifted it up out of the case. 

 

It stunk like betrayal that had nearly five hundred years to fester; a palpable aura of destructive entitlement that had punctuated the life of one of Japan’s most legendary figures. 

 

“Can you feel them too?” Firebird asked, pulling the sword a few inches from its scabbard and admiring the craftsmanship. 

 

“Feel what?” Ishida asked, glancing at Suzuki who seemed to be equally confused. In response, Firebird angled the sword in a direction out the window. 

 

“August 6...and August 9,” Firebird said, pointing at two locations out in the distance. “Destruction on that scale leaves a mark, doesn't it? Almost a hundred years ago and yet...you can still feel them, can’t you? Like twin smoldering suns...two permanent stains on the world that will never go away.” 

 

Firebird looked almost pensive. "Incredible the things we're capable of." 

 

Ishida shifted uneasily, glancing at Suzuki. “What is she-” 

 

The cry that left Ishida’s mouth when he saw the formidable yakuza slump wordlessly to the ground only to be swallowed by his own shadow was not the most dignified noise a man of his position could make. Behind him, a tall man with almost white hair stepped out of the darkness, lowering the baton that had bumped into the back of Suzuki’s neck seconds before. 

 

“ She’s not talking to you ,” Chat Noir said in heavily accented Japanese, extending his baton as a hand clapped on the back of Ishida’s neck. 

 

“Don’t move,” Plagg said in the most archaic Japanese Ishida had ever heard, squeezing the young man just hard enough to make his point known. "For your own safety, of course." 

 

Firebird slowly turned around, teeth flashing as her grin widened. “Hello Kitty,” she said, twirling the sword between her fingers. 

 

“How’s it hanging, shit-bird?” Chat Noir sneered. 

 

“I should be asking you,” Firebird said, aiming the sword at Chat Noir. “Last time I saw you you were buried under a ton of rubble at the bottom of the ocean.” 

 

“Nine lives, remember?” Chat Noir laughed, twirling his baton between his fingers. “And let’s face it; that half-assed smash-and-grab in Cuba was a pretty sour attempt at murder.” 

 

“I’ll have to do better next time,” Firebird said, walking back out of the vault. “I’m guessing you were the one who put the lights out in Auckland?” 

 

“That’s my secret,” Chat Noir said, extending his baton as a silvery spearhead materialized around the tip of it. The point hovered in the air in front of Firebird’s nose, stopping her in her tracks with an amused glare. “I’ll trade you the answer for that artifact you stole...or better yet, a good reason why you stole it.”

 

“You’re just so nosy ,” Firebird said, nudging the tip of the spear with the tip of her nose. “Why don’t you ever ask me anything about myself? I have a life outside of these little spats of ours, you know.” 

 

“How rude of me,” Chat Noir pouted. “Do you prefer orange prison jumpsuits or should I fit you for a black-and-white number?” 

 

The spear lunge came faster than Ishida could blink, but Firebird managed to slide underneath along the smooth marble floor, winking at Chat Noir as she skidded around the back of Ishida. 

 

“Hands off the hostage, furball!” Firebird cried, sweeping Plagg’s legs with a spinning flourish of her own and pulling Ishida in front of her as she rose to her feet. “Congratulations, Ishida-san; you’ve been promoted to human shield.” 

 

“Wait, please, th-this wasn’t part of the deal!” Ishida stammered as Chat Noir whipped his spear around with a blind stab that paused inches from Ishida’s sweating face. 

 

“Chicken shit as always,” Chat Noir growled, retracting the spear point into the base of his staff. 

 

“You know me; I just live to kill your buzz, tiger,” Firebird said, maneuvering so that the terrified assemblyman was always in between her and the circling Chat Noir. “Speaking of joyless buzzkills, how is Ladybug these days? You keep in touch still or is she still in your Little Black Book of Spite along with the rest of my organization?” 

 

“Come back with me and I’ll introduce you,” Chat Noir said, slowly pacing around Ishida, staff gripped tightly in his hand. “I’m sure you two would hit it off.” 

 

“Can’t tell if that’s a compliment for Ladybug or a dig at me,” Firebird mused, tensing as Chat Noir seized his moment to vault over Ishida’s head. Firebird spun around his side, keeping one hand on Ishida to maneuver him in front of her as she edged her way towards the window. 

 

“P-Please, I don’t want to die,” Ishida whimpered, unable to do more than sweat and silently . 

 

“Don’t tell me this is the first time you’ve had your life threatened,” Firebird clucked. “Chat, any pointers for the newbie? You're used to being a hostage, aren't you?” 

 

“Yeah, shut up and don’t make any sudden moves,” Chat Noir growled, looking for an opening to either remove Ishida from harm’s way or strike at Firebird. “Why don’t you let Pencilneck go and fight me one-on-one?” 

 

“When have I ever done that?” Firebird asked. “ Why would I ever do that, for that matter?” 

 

“ Help me ,” Ishida whispered as Firebird dragged him backwards towards the window that towered over the dense metropolitan skyline. 

 

“One of these days I’m going to trap you somewhere you can’t wiggle your way out of,” Chat Noir said, eyes landing on the patch of ground behind Firebird. 

 

“Good luck with that; my husband can tell you how good I am at wiggling.” A flash of shadow and chill at the back of her neck were all the warnings Firebird received, but it was enough to twist out of the way of Chat Noir’s attack as he opened a portal behind her. 

 

“Too slow!” Firebird crowed, flipping over Ishida’s head kicking the hapless politician backwards as Chat Noir moved to strike her. 

 

“Watch it!” Plagg cried, sliding along the floor to push Ishida out of the way as Firebird leapt and buried both heels directly in Chat Noir’s face. Chat Noir’s back slammed into the heavy reinforced glass overlooking the city and for a moment, he was grateful that the builders had sprung for bulletproof glass. 

 

A moment later, a crash of glass reminded him that bulletproof glass was not equipped to handle two demi-gods slamming into it at high speed. 

---

 

London, England

 

“Are you gonna be okay?” 

 

Marinette looked up to see Alya standing over her, a take-out bag in one hand and a look of wary concern on her face.

 

Marinette quickly wiped her eyes. “F-Fine...just needed a minute to myself.” 

 

“...uh huh,” Alya said, offering Marinette the bag. “The rest of your...dinner came after you left. I packed it up for you.” 

 

“You didn’t have to…” Marinette muttered, feeling small and embarrassed that Alya was still covering for her after all this time apart. 

 

“It was that or the waitresses were going to throw it after me,” Alya sighed, leaning against the lamp-post as a tense, awkward silence fell between them. 

 

“...we need to tell him,” Marinette said after a moment, dropping her voice as a group of pub-crawlers wove their way past them. “Right?” 

 

“Easier said than done,” Alya sighed. “Your old beau is hard to get a hold of these days.” 

 

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked, perking up at the mention of Chat Noir. The tabloids kept her up to date on Adrien’s sporadic sightings, but information about Chat Noir had been sparse since she left Paris. Verifiable information at least; strange, unsettling dreams of shadows stalking evil creatures didn’t count. 

 

“Apparently Chat Noir returning from the other side before you did created a lot of stress on the world,” Alya said, pausing to raise her shimmering barrier over the street corner they stood on. “That stress unleashed some ugly things that had been locked up for a long time so he’s been scurrying around swatting monsters for years.” 

 

“ Years ?” Marinette asked.

 

“ You try telling him to take a break and see how far you get,” Alya sighed. “We can’t exactly relieve him either; Paris has problems of its own and we can’t always leave it short staffed.” 

 

“Get Kagami and Nino to say something.” 

 

“Kagami is pretty content to let Adrien run his life how he sees fit,” Alya said. “...and he and Nino fell out pretty hard last November.” 

 

Marinette winced. “About what?” 

 

“Nino is pretty tight-lipped about it, but I can take a few guesses,” Alya said, shaking her head. “My point is that our team is short-handed, hammered from all sides by every supervillain from here to Berlin, and fighting a threat that doesn’t want to talk to us...but they want to talk to you. ” 

 

“And you think I should take the meeting,” Marinette said, following Alya’s train of thought to its final destination. 

 

“We’re pretty scarce on leads right now; we’re not in a position to turn down opportunities when they present themselves,” Alya said. 

 

“Even if it’s a trap?” Marinette asked, nervously fidgeting with her takeout bag. “I know I’ve been out of it for a while, but this smells like a trap and a half.” 

 

“That’s a very real possibility,” Alya admitted. “But I can send Nino and Chloe to watch your back in case this goes sour.” 

 

“I’m pretty sure it’ll go sour when they realize I’m not going to play along with them,” Marinette said. “I don’t know...I really think this is going to go badly.” 

 

“Then they’ll be able to get you out before they can do anything to you,” Alya countered. “Nobody matches them for rescue and defense work and if that falls through, they’re the only ones of us who held off Hawk Moth until you got back from Ladybug-land. Truth be told, I think they’re more capable than you and Chat Noir were before-” 

 

Alya trailed off but there was no need to mention what they both already knew. It hung over the conversation like a dense fog; both inescapable and completely unmoving in its obscurity. 

 

“I remember pretty clearly being told not to come back,” Marinette said quietly, chancing a look into Alya’s eyes. “If I do this...does that mean I can come back?” 

 

Alya pursed her lips thoughtfully. “It’s a good start. But the way you left things-” 

 

“Alya, I-” Alya held a hand up to stop Marinette in her tracks. 

 

“The way you left things makes it difficult to trust you,” Alya said, the simple statement of facts cutting deeper than any jab Alya could have concocted. “We are in a situation where our lives are at stake; I need to know the people who have my back aren’t going to stick a knife into it.”

 

“I understand,” Marinette said quietly, trying to find the right words to say. “I know you have no reason to trust me-”

 

“So give me one,” Alya said, pressing the envelope into Marinette’s hands. “This is a big ask of you, but if this goes smoothly...we might explore the possibility of bringing you back into our team. But that’s not entirely my call to make. And even if we do, it’s not going to be as our leader.” 

 

“I-I never expected to be,” Marinette mumbled avoiding Alya’s gaze. “I know I messed up; I know I hurt you and Luka and Adrien and…” 

 

Marinette’s fingers gripped the letter tightly, scanning the scrawling lines on the piece of paper. It was happening again; the same dirty offer being handed to her again. But this time…

 

 “Tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it,” Marinette said finally with as much conviction as she could muster as she forced herself to hold Alya’s gaze. The orange lie-detecting glint that colored Alya’s eyes stung, but if she had to scan every word that came out of Marinette’s mouth to feel safe, she supposed that was just a price she had to pay. 

 

Alya let out a breath she had been holding and nodded. “You sure?” 

 

“Do I have a choice?” 

 

“Everyone does,” Alya shrugged. “I’m not going to stuff you in a sack and drag you to Venice myself; you’re either in this or you aren’t, but I can’t make that choice for you.” 

 

Marinette nodded, watching the bubble around them slowly dissipate and the outside world seep back in. 

 

“I know...but sooner or later, these guys are gonna come looking for me,” Marinette muttered, tucking the envelope back into her coat for safekeeping. “Better to face them now, right?” 

 

“I guess we’ll see,” Alya said. “I’ll have Adrien’s plane waiting for you at Heathrow a day or so before the meetup; that should give you time to get situated before the meeting.” 

 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to...I don’t know…” Marinette wiggled her fingers. “ Zhoop to Venice.” 

 

“Zhooping?” 

 

“You know,” Marinette said, making a zhooping sound. “Can’t we move around more...miraculously?” 

 

“I think we have to operate under the assumption that we’re being watched,” Alya said, glancing around. “They said a week from when you received the letter, right? So they probably have some way of monitoring us.” 

 

Marinette fidgeted with the bracelet around her wrist. “Master He said this was supposed to keep me hidden.” 

 

“Hopefully, she did a good job with it,” Alya said, a wary silence lapsing between them as they rapidly exhausted professional topics to occupy themselves with. 

 

“...how are your parents?” Marinette asked after a moment. 

 

“Not bad,” Alya said, weighing each word before passing it to Marinette. 

 

“And the girls?” Marinette asked. “God, they must be, what-” 

 

“Mari,” Alya said, holding her hand up. “Look...Rena Rouge and Ladybug can work together right now...but where you and I are concerned…” 

 

The flash of hurt in Alya’s eyes stung Marinette who looked away. “No...right, of course...I would hate me too if I were you.” 

 

“I don’t hate you,” Alya sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I just...don’t know how to deal with you right now. And I can’t figure out how to deal with you when I’m trying to save the world, so...let’s just table this for when we get the bad guys, alright?”

 

A cold, churning pit opened in Marinette’s stomach as it always did when she recalled how deeply she had hurt someone she cared about so much. It wasn’t that Marinette missed Alya’s friendship, although her absence had been a cold and lonely void in Marinette’s life. It was disgust at the person she had become in the fog of her own pain and disgust at how she had hurt Alya. 

 

“I understand,” Marinette said, wiping the corner of her eye. “That’ll give me some time to figure out even start apologizing to you for what happened...no, for what I did.” 

 

“Don’t think too hard; you’ve got bigger things to worry about right now,” Alya said, nodding at the letter. 

 

Not to me, Marinette thought to herself, tucking the letter into her jacket protectively. It felt less like a burden now and more like a chance to show Alya that she was worth trusting again. 

 

“What about Adrien?” Marinette said after a moment. “He has to know about this. If we keep this from him, it’s going to be like four years ago all over again.” 

 

“We’ll try and find him but there’s really no telling where he could be right now,” Alya murmured. “And we don’t have the time or resources to try and find him and prep for Venice.” 

 

“Can I go look for him?” Marinette asked. “I get...flashes of him from time to time; maybe I can try and narrow it down, or-” 

 

“I’d like you to focus on being ready for this meeting,” Alya said, delicately wording her command as a request. “I’ll try...but I can’t make any promises. And if he gets mad, I can take the heat for it; the joys of being the leader, huh?” 

 

“Only good leaders take responsibility for the people they lead,” Marinette said with a shaky smile. 

 

“Save the accolades for when the world is safe,” Alya said, her guarded expression softening a little. “I should get going; my train leaves pretty soon and I don’t want to ask for any zhooping while we’re being monitored.” 

 

“Do you want me to get you a ride?” Marinette asked, pulling her phone out. “Felix lets me use his rideshare app; I could save you the walk if you-” 

 

Marinette looked up with a small start to see that Alya had vanished without a trace, leaving her alone under the street-light holding a bag of soggy pie. She deflated a little as Alya disappeared, wiping her nose with her coat-sleeve as she started the walk back to her townhouse. 

 

The bond between her and Chat Noir had been frayed for a long time and after a few years, Marinette had stopped trying to reach him through it. Still, it was there all the same and after a moment’s hesitation, she closed her eyes and tried to reach out to him. 

 

Venice. One week. Danger. 

 

She tried to make the message as short and as clear as she could in case there was any interference, but received no reply in return, even after waiting in the doorway of a bar in case he reached back. After a moment, she turned and continued her journey, oblivious to Alya watching her camouflaged from a nearby alleyway. She waited until Marinette was out of sight before beginning her own journey home with even more confusion and emotional turmoil than she had when she arrived. 

 

Leave it to Mari to make things complicated, Alya thought with a rueful chuckle. 

 

---

 

Osaka, Japan

 

Chat Noir had landed on enough cars to know the cramped sedan that he was currently hurtling towards would hurt like hell once he hit it. 

 

The Honda crumpled as Chat Noir slammed into it at terminal velocity, setting off every alarm on the street as a flash of orange streaked away in the night sky. He could almost hear Firebird’s smug, cackling laugh as she disappeared, dragging the sword with her until the pair of them were little more than a speck on the horizon by the time he untangled himself from the steel and glass. 

 

“Just my luck,” Chat Noir sighed as the airbags deployed right into his face. 

 

“They’re gonna need a recall on that.” Chat Noir looked up to see Plagg standing over him, his tattered Disneyland shirt hanging loosely off his skinny frame. 

 

“You still think the Chat Plane is a stupid idea?” Chat Noir grunted, rubbing his sides as he leaned on his staff for support. “We could have caught her by now.” 

 

“Or Queen Bee could have,” Plagg said, ignoring the dark look Chat Noir shot him. “Just saying you can’t do everything.” 

 

“Could if I had a jetpack,” Chat Noir grunted, leaning against a pillar and slowly sliding to the ground. Plagg wordlessly passed him a jar of pickled plums from a local convenience store that Chat Noir wordlessly opened and down brine and all in a few short gulps. 

 

“Where’s the hostage?” Chat Noir asked, wiping his mouth. 

 

“With the rest of them,” Plagg explained. “I don’t think we’ll get much out of him though.” 

 

“He knew enough to be brought on for this heist; maybe a conversation on the side of the Tokyo Tower would loosen his lips,” Chat Noir suggested, pushing himself up with a groan. “What other leads do we have?” 

 

“I don’t know but…” Plagg sighed. “Look, it’s been four years-” 

 

“Plagg-” 

 

“Things in Paris might be loose enough that you could get some help out here,” Plagg suggested. 

 

“I’m fine,” Chat Noir insisted, cracking his neck with a wince. “I just need a little more time, that’s all; we’re getting closer , Plagg.” 

 

“Funny that closer never seems to feel closer,” Plagg sniffed, Cataclysming the jar Chat Noir tossed at his head. “I’m just saying that-” 

 

“What?” Chat Noir’s head cocked to one side. “What was that about Venice?” 

 

“Huh?”

 

“You said something about Venice...a week from now...and something about danger just a second ago,” Chat Noir said. 

 

“No I didn’t...” Plagg said, frowning at Chat Noir who glanced over his shoulder with a curious frown. “You okay, man?” 

 

Chat Noir blinked, staring into the darkness as though looking for the person who had spoken to him. “Fine...just fine.” 

 

A startled yelp and the sound of takeout hitting the floor alerted Chat Noir to the owner of the Honda staring horrified at the twisted wreckage of his car. Chat Noir opened a black portal with a flick of his wrist, pulled out several stacks of bills in multiple currencies, and tossed them at the feet of the dumbstruck salaryman. 

 

“Sorry about the mess,” Chat Noir said, leading Plagg down the street as police sirens blared in the distance. “Get something in black next time.”

Notes:

Work has been kicking my ass and I'm still trying to plot this story out so thank you for your patience; had to cross a few checkboxes off before getting to the good bit so I think we're done with the setup now!

Chapter 6: Of Omelettes and Eggs

Notes:

Music Credits: Bombs over Skullgirls by Tripleq (Mashup of Skullgirls and Outkast)

San Cristobal de las Casas

Chiapas, Mexico

The door to the old flat opened, releasing a wave of musty air and sending beetles scurrying across the floor until they realized who had come. Even the lowest of insects had the courtesy to present themselves and bow to the Kwami of Creation. 

 

Tikki pushed her hood back over her shoulders, releasing the mane of frizzy hair that she had grown fond of in her years as a human. The small house was the last lead she had; every other bolthole and hideaway was either picked over or infested with monsters by the time she had reached it. It had taken almost six months to uncover Master Li's hideaway in Mexico and had nearly cost her life in the process. 

 

She didn't know for sure if she could die in human form, but she had no intention of finding out until her work was finished. 

 

A cockroach crawled up her leg and Tikki crouched down to offer her finger to the creature. "Hello, little friend...how long have you been here?" 

 

A wave of insectoid thoughts flooded Tikki's mind as the cockroach's antennae twitched in reply. "That's very kind of you to say. I'm actually here looking for something a friend left behind a while ago; are there any secret hiding spots? Somewhere someone could have hidden something they didn't want found?" 

 

The cockroach leapt off Tikki's finger and crawled along the floor, joined by spiders and other creatures as they crawled towards a gap between a bookcase and the wall. A crowbar appeared in Tikki's hand with a flourish of red light and with a little wriggling, she was able to pry the book-shelf off the wall. It fell to the floor in a crash of splintering wood and dust, revealing a small safe embedded in the wall. Tikki's mortal heart skipped a beat when she realized that the door was unopened; every other location had been ransacked top to bottom by Master Li's apprentices. Hoping against hope, Tikki crammed the crowbar into the safe's lip and wrenched with as much strength as she was capable of.

 

A creaking groan of metal answered her and the safe popped open, the door rolling across the floor and sending the remaining insects scattering. Tikki tossed the crowbar to one side as she peered in the safe; a few stacks of money, some conventional weaponry, and a leatherbound book sat covered in a thin layer of dust. With a careless flick, Tikki discarded the money and the guns, pulling out the leather book and frantically peeling open the lock. 

 

Please, Tikki thought, scanning the pages of Master Li's neat script. It was coded, but Tikki had been alive when the code was first penned nearly four hundred years prior. It was a secret of the Eight Orders that concealed information from all except those already in the know. 

 

And the story it told confirmed Tikki's worst fears. 

 

---

 

London, England

 

“I always knew this day would come…” 

 

“Bri-” 

 

“Where did we go wrong? Why must you abandon us so cruelly after so many wonderful years together?” 

 

“I’m just going home for a few days-” 

 

“Alone...abandoned...bereft of your beautiful company,” Bridgette sighed, face down on Marinette’s bed as she packed a small duffel bag. 

 

“Felix, she’s being...herself again,” Marinette sighed as Felix passed the open door, gently tugging a shirt out from under Bridgette’s prone form. 

 

“She’s always herself; that’s what we like about her,” Felix said, leaning against the doorframe with a small wince. “Oof…” 

 

“You okay?” Marinette asked as her paler-than-usual cousin nodded. 

 

“Had some funny Japanese food the other day,” Felix said, coughing as he pounded his chest a bit. “Any fun plans for when you’re in Paris or are you just gearing up for that interview?” 

 

“Um...I might go sightseeing with some friends from school,” Marinette said, leaning down to place her shirt in her bag. “Maybe Barcelona, maybe Venice; we’re gonna grab some train tickets and play it by ear.” 

 

Felix and Bridgette shared a look behind Marinette’s back. “Venice? At this time of year?” 

 

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked as Felix looked to Bridgette for support. 

 

“Just that the smell will knock you off your feet,” Bridgette chuckled, waving her hand in front of her face for effect. “The canals get pretty stinky when the weather warms up.” 

 

“It wasn't that bad the last time we went,” Marinette said with a shrug. 

 

"I know but…" Bridgette pouted. "That was such a terrible trip that I wanted to make it up to you when you felt better." 

 

Privately, she thought that every trip to Venice was doomed from the get-go; the first excursion she took with Bridgette had been an attempt to cheer her out of the funk leaving Paris had put her in, but Marinette had been too mired in her own misery to enjoy it. The best food tasted like chalk, the best wine tasted like vinegar, and the beautiful historic district could as well have been an alley behind a drug store for all Marinette cared. 

 

("We can come back some other time," Bridgette said, wiping a tear off Marinette's cheek as she sat curled up on their hotel bed. "It's okay...we can go home now.") 

 

“You might want to head further inland if you want to go to Italy,” Felix added. “Milan is nice this time of year, isn’t it?” 

 

“And all those fashion houses,” Bridgette sighed. “Seriously, my old college roomie has a townhouse in Milan if you want to head there for a few days; take in the sights, do some window-shopping, maybe cross the alps and head into Switzerland on your way back?” 

 

“Maybe,” Marinette said evasively. “We'll play it by ear. In any case...” 

 

Marinette’s eyes lingered on a red-tank top stuffed under her jeans and jacket. “I have an important meeting to prepare for first.”

---

Paris, France

 

“You didn’t tell her about the Miraculous?” 

 

Alya took a sip out of her third coffee of the morning with a grimace before adding more sugar. “I don’t want her distracted and finding out the kwami are...gone is not going to make this meeting any more pleasant.” 

 

“She’s going to find out sooner or later,” Luka said, leaning back in his chair as they stared up at the television monitors looking down on their meeting table. The news cycle had moved on from the fiasco in Paris, but a sense of unease lingered behind every broadcast. Bad news had always been the kind that sold the best, but there seemed to be more of it than usual. 

 

Or maybe that was just Alya’s growing pessimism coloring the world around her. 

 

“I thought we were in the business of keeping everyone in the loop,” Luka said.

 

“She’ll be in the loop...once we know it’s safe to bring her in,” Alya said, glancing at Luka. “I’m surprised you’re so eager to get her back on our side.” 

 

“Better our side than anyone else’s,” Luka said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“That’s a good way to look at it,” Alya said, choosing her words very carefully. “Are you sure that your feelings on the matter are yours?” 

 

Luka let out a sigh through his nose. “Really?” 

 

“Mayura nearly killed someone because of Marinette,” Alya said. 

 

“I think we’re all aware of that,” Kagami said, coming in from the kitchenette with a soda and cup of tea. “Luka, of all people, does not need to be reminded of what happened with Mayura.” 

 

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” Alya said quickly as Luka’s expression turned sour. “You have done more than anyone else to keep us safe from Hawk Moth’s last gift...I just want to make sure you’re not being overly affected by Mayura. If Marinette coming back causes you distress-” 

 

“No...it’s there, but I’ve got enough of me built up to keep it in check,” Luka said, rubbing his hands together as his distorted reflection stared back at him from the cool metal table. “Is this why you don’t want me to go to Venice; you’re afraid I’m compromised?” 

 

“I need you here more than I need you helping Marinette,” Alya said as diplomatically as she could. Marinette needed to be mixed into the team like pancake batter; too fast or too forceful and things would end up tougher than they needed to be. "Besides, I can't keep this city safe by myself; at least with you and Kagami here we can handle anything that might come up." 

 

“You don’t think they’re going to hit Paris again so soon, do you?” Kagami asked, pressing the cool can of soda against the back of Luka’a neck. 

 

“I think they know at least one of us will be halfway across the continent; if they wanted to try again, I think it would be the best time for them to do it,” Alya said, twirling her hair thoughtfully. “How was the Last Bastille?” 

 

“Sabrina ran the backgrounds of the stooges we pinched at the Louvre,” Luka said. “All mercenaries, mostly American, Canadian, and Australian, with one thing in common.” 

 

“Ex-Stigma security forces??” 

 

“Got it in one,” Kagami said, taking a sip of her tea. “It seems Kaiser Long and Firebird got custody of the rent-a-stormtroopers in the divorce.” 

 

Alya tapped a few buttons on the table, bringing up the scowling mugshot of Mercutio van der Meer. “And how much do you want to bet our buddy Mercutio got fit for a white mask?” 

 

"That would explain why nobody's found him in all this time," Luka mused. “Do you think they trust him enough to give him superpowers?” 

 

“I couldn’t tell you, but I don’t think he would have handed over the keys to his private army for nothing,” Alya mused, rubbing her eyes. “God, trying to make decisions while fumbling around in the dark gives me a headache.” 

 

“The Chat Noir experience,” Kagami said as the elevator dinged, bringing Masters Fu and He to the bottom floor. “Speaking of which…” 

 

“I still think this is incredibly ill-advised,” Master He sighed. “Marinette should not be in field operations with such a flimsy support team-” 

 

“My partners are the furthest thing from flimsy,” Alya said icily. 

 

"They may very well be if Li's pupils are as menacing as I think they are," Master He said, rubbing her chest wearily. "One blow Kaiser Long was enough to knock through the Crane's mantle; I shudder to think what would happen if they got their hands on the Ladybug as well." 

 

"You're not exactly the warrior you used to be," Master Fu said, dodging a slap Master He sent his way. "If you're that concerned, maybe you should go with them." 

 

"Are you certain that's wise?" Kagami asked. "If they hate you as much as you say, your presence will just agitate them even further." 

 

"And we are not going there to fight," Alya said firmly. "The second we get the information we need and this goes sideways, Nino and Chloe are pulling Marinette out and evacuating her back to Paris. The last thing we need is to commit to a slugfest on foreign soil." 

 

"A slugfest is what you may get," Master Fu said, eyeing the screen warily. "I'll eat my cane if the other members of the Poison Clan aren't waiting in the wings as well…" 

---

Le Grand Paris

 

"I hear school is going well for you." 

 

The eyes of everyone in the restaurant occasionally wandered over to the table where the disgraced former mayor of Paris ate lunch with his daughter. Chloe was used to eyes following her in public; since coming out as Queen Bee, she had become the unofficial celebrity of the team. But the looks sent to Andre were anything but adoring. 

 

Paris held grudges, and with Chat Noir's name mostly cleared they turned their disdain to the man who abandoned them when they needed him the most. 

 

"It's going," Chloe shrugged, stabbing a crouton with a little more force than necessary. 

 

"And on track to graduate early I hear," Andre chuckled. 

 

"If the school is still standing," Chloe said through a mouth full of salad. Lunches were the only place Chloe felt comfortable meeting with her father; short condensed meetings that had long stretches of time where neither of them could talk. 

 

"Yes...things are rather hairy lately, aren't they?" Andre said, weighing his words carefully. "I saw what happened at the Louvre. Did those...people hurt you at all?" 

 

"I can handle it," Chloe said dismissively. "It's nothing we haven't seen before. 

 

"I'm sure..." Andre said. "But I'm sure your mother and I would-" 

 

"Not this shit again," Chloe sighed, wiping her mouth with her napkin. 

 

"Chloe-" 

 

"I survived Hawk Moth," Chloe said firmly. "Hell, Carapace and I handed him his ass for a while until Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up again. I am not backing down now because some freaks in white decided to start an art collection." 

 

"I know," Andre said, fiddling with the ring on his finger. "I just...I worry." 

 

" Now you're worried?" Chloe snorted. "But when Paris was on fire, you didn't seem to be too concerned about my safety. Were you concerned about my safety when you hired those thugs to patrol my city? Or were you more worried about your re-election chances?" 

 

Andre looked down, his daughter's words admonishing him even further. "I don't know how else to apologize for my mistakes…" 

 

"Maybe you should stop trying then," Chloe said, glancing at her watch. "I have to finish up a few things before leaving town; The Grand Venetian needs me to pick out some-" 

 

"What?" Andre's head snapped back up. "You're going to Venice? Now?" 

 

"Well I hear it's sinking so I should probably go sooner rather than later," Chloe said. 

 

"C-Can't you send somebody else to go look after it?" Andre said, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "Surely you don't need to be there in person?" 

 

"I do if I say I do," Chloe said, finishing her wine with one gulp. "You're the one who signed over the hotels to me so that Mom wouldn't get them in the divorce. A Queen needs to make an appearance every now and then." 

 

Chloe stood up with a crack of her neck. "Good talking to you, Andre; take care of yourself." 

 

Chloe felt her father's massive palm close around her wrist as she walked past him. She looked down to see her old man looking up at her with more fear and unease than she could ever remember seeing in his eyes. 

 

"Stay home," Andre pleaded in a quiet voice. "Please...just stay home this weekend. W-We can go shopping or-"

 

"Let me make something perfectly clear," Chloe said, leaning down and speaking in a sickly sweet voice that concealed poison in every word. "Your chance to be a decent father has long since passed. As has the time where you get to tell me what to do with my life. So if I want to go to Venice or Miami or the dark side of the fucking moon, that's my business." 

 

Chloe's wrist snapped out of her father's grip with a sharp tug. "Not yours." 

 

Andre watched his daughter walk away, a gnawing pit of unease growing in his stomach. 

 

You should have beaten her when she was a girl; she might have listened to you now. 

 

"Shut up," Andre hissed, clenching his fist so hard that the ring on his finger bit into his skin. "You leave her out of this." 

 

"Don't see how that's going to work." The Salamander's voice came over Andre's shoulder, sending a chill down his spine. "She's more in it than anybody else."

 

"How long have you been here?" Andre asked, not turning around. Enough eyes were on him that the conversation with his partner would have drawn suspicion; even if they weren't disguised, Andre had a knack for drawing bad tabloid press. 

 

"Long enough to get bored with the wine menu," The Salamander sighed, paging through the menu. "Not a single Californian or Australian bottle? You really are the worst stereotype of a Parisian snob, aren't you?" 

 

"Why are you here?" Andre snapped quietly, ducking his head as a waitress passed. 

 

"Because I just love spending time with a disgraced politician twice my age," The Salamander sighed. "Why do you think? Scorpio just handed down marching orders for this weekend; you and I are gonna be watching the big show in Venice to make sure there aren't any uninvited guests. Like your pain in the ass daughter and her superpowered friends." 

 

"Leave Chloe alone," Andre hissed, anger boiling inside him. "That was part of the deal I made with the Dragon; whatever happens, my daughters survive." 

 

"You better convince her to hang up her stripes then," The Salamander said. "Before someone gives her the ass kicking she's always deserved." 

 

"Careful," Andre growled. "Before someone repays you in kind." 

 

"And that's about enough Andre for the day," The Salamander said, pushing his chair out. "I'll see you in Italy, Toady; for Chloe's sake, I hope she takes the weekend off." 

 

Andre listened to the Salamander walk away, toying with the ring embedded with a scowling brass toad on his middle finger. 

---

Venice, Italy

 

The cool oceanic breeze ruffled Marinette's hair as she stepped off the train platform with her duffel bag tucked closely to her chest. The city, beautiful as it was, still put a sour taste in Marinette's mouth as she walked through it. Maybe it was just that it held the memories of the absolute worst time of her life after Paris or maybe it was the fact that she was stepping into enemy territory without much in the way of support. Even now, the picturesque city seemed a labyrinth of dark corners hiding unimaginable threats. Her eyes glazed over the beautiful buildings and lingered on the shadows, hoping against hope to see a pair of green eyes blinking back at her. 

 

I'm in Venice, Marinette thought, once again testing through their bond. I need help. 

 

The audacity of her request wasn't lost on her, but Marinette had to try. Every day or so, when the anxiety became too much for her to handle, she reached out with another feeble plea to Chat Noir through their silent bond. It wasn't that she didn't trust Nino and Chloe to keep her safe; it was more that she missed the reassurance that having Chat Noir at her side. 

 

Maybe you're just scared because you can't count on him to keep you safe anymore, a voice in her head said as she approached the audaciously decorated doors of The Grand Venetian. Like the Parisian counterpart, Chloe's hotel was decorated with all the subtlety of a gem encrusted brick to the head. The stylized frescoes on the ceiling looked down on Marinette as she approached the front desk, immediately wishing she had dressed up a bit as the receptionist looked over her glasses with a curious look. 

 

" Bonjourno," Marinette said in her best Italian before switching to English. "I'm here to check in." 

 

"Name?" 

 

Marinette took a deep breath through her nose before replying with the false identity Chloe had instructed her to sign in as. "Maria Panzenella." 

 

The receptionist raised an eyebrow but dutifully checked the computer. Marinette rocked back and forth on her heels as the receptionist squinted at the screen, then back to Marinette's face before quietly sliding a key-card across the desk. 

 

"Whoever you are, signorina, I trust that you will keep your dealings with our owner...discreet," the receptionist said, giving Marinette a meaningful glare before turning back to her computer. "Please use the elevator towards the end of the reception area."

 

"Discretion is my middle name," Marinette chuckled, but the receptionist seemed to be already engrossed in her work and dedicated to ignoring her. 

 

In the confines of the elevator, Marinette let out a deep sigh and allowed herself a few moments of silence as it climbed the floors to the hotel that would serve as the staging area before the meeting. She almost wished she had come in a little earlier in the day to give herself more time to prepare, but maybe it was better that she didn't have the time to imagine everything that could go wrong. 

 

I'm in Venice, Marinette thought, closing her eyes and trying desperately to reach out to Chat Noir. I need-

 

The elevator dinged on the top floor and opened to a hallway with exactly one room at the end of it. 

 

Wonder if that's it, she could almost hear Chat Noir chuckle as she approached, eyeing the cameras that swept the hallway. Before she could even get the key in the doorway, it swung open in a gust of honey-scented air, revealing the face of her oldest adversary. 

 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloe said with a tight lipped smile, each syllable of her name dripping with honey. "How nice to see you." 

 

"I thought I was Maria Panzenella," Marinette said, stepping past Chloe gingerly and into the expansive suite. 

 

"Oh that's just the name I gave to the girls I hooked up with so the front desk knew to handle them discreetly," Chloe sighed as Marinette banged her knee into the table. 

 

" What?!" Marinette squeaked. "Wait, so when she said to be discreet, did she think we were going to-" 

 

"Oh don't flatter yourself; I've got a finer woman than you waiting for me when this mess is over," Chloe said, looking Marinette up and down with a curious scowl. "Even if I didn't, you still wouldn't have a chance with me. Were you followed?"

 

"I...I don't think so," Marinette said. 

 

"You don't think so?" Chloe clucked disapprovingly, making her way to the fridge and pulling out two bottles of sparkling water. "You're gonna have to do better than that, Ladybug." 

 

Marinette could tell when Chloe was being irritating on purpose, and yet seemed unable to resist falling for her barbed comments. "I'm a little rusty…" 

 

"Well, unrust ASAP; if we want to get back in one piece, we all have to be sharp," Chloe said. Marinette reached for the second bottle but Chloe pulled it away and stepped past her as a familiar green figure touched down on the balcony outside. "You can get your own snacks; I'm not your damned delivery girl." 

 

Marinette was silently thankful that she didn't have to spend too much time pretending to make nice with Chloe as Carapace stepped through the balcony doors, shouldering his shield and de-transforming. Alya's boyfriend had taken to the Turtle Miraculous if the green henley stretched tight over his broad shoulders was any indication. 

 

"Just swept the city," Nino said, accepting the bottle of water from Chloe with a thankful smile. "Nothing so far, but-" 

 

"If they're slippery enough to stay hidden this long, they're not going to slip up now," Chloe said, nodding her head in Marinette's direction. "Look what the cat dragged in...or didn't, in this case." 

 

"Hi Nino," Marinette said timidly, waving as best she could with her duffel bag dangling from one hand. As Nino took another sip of water, Marinette's mind went into overdrive trying to analyze every glance and twitch of his face. Is he angry at me? What am I saying, of course he's angry at me; he hates me, they all-

 

"Ladybug," Nino said in a neutral tone of voice. "You get here okay?" 

 

"Didn't have that much trouble," Marinette said, fidgeting as Nino and Chloe joined her in the kitchen. "The plane touched down in Rome and I just got off the train. I-I don't think I was followed either...for what it's worth...but I can't be totally sure, so-" 

 

"So we're gonna have to take what we can get," Nino sighed, glancing between the two women. "Okay, there's a lot of weird energy going on here and we all know why; we don't need to hash out the gory details while behind enemy lines." 

 

"Of course…" Marinette said, chewing the corner of her lip. "You can count on me, I promise." 

 

"Can we though?" Chloe said, earring a light smack on the butt with Nino's water bottle. "What?! You said I got one! " 

 

"And that was it," Nino said, turning back to Marinette whose expression had dropped. "She isn't wrong though; if you want us to trust you again, you're gonna have to start earning it." 

 

"I understand," Marinette nodded, squirming under Nino's scrutiny. "I promise, I'll-" 

 

"Actions, not words Bugaboo," Chloe said, turning back to Nino. "Give her the switch." 

 

Nino reached into his pocket and pulled out a small remote with a large red switch attached to it. "This is a present from Master He; press this and we'll come running as fast as we can. We're looking to post up on the roof of the Duke's Palace so it shouldn't take us too long to get there to get you out when things go wrong." 

 

Marinette accepted the device gingerly. "You think this is going to go badly too?" 

 

Nino shrugged. "Well either you don't decide to join them and you piss them off or-" 

 

"-you do decide to join them and you piss us off," Chloe finished with a dangerous smile. "They're the rocks, we're the hard place....or Nino is anyway. And you'd have to be seven kinds of stupid to think you can outrun me or outfight Nino. Especially as... rusty as you say you are." 

 

So they're not just here for my protection, Marinette realized, glancing between their steely expressions. They're here to capture me if I pull the same stunt I did four years ago...

 

"It'd be seven kinds of stupid to make the same mistake twice," Marinette said, head swimming as the depths of the distrust became clearer to her. "You don't have anything to worry about." 

 

"We've got plenty of things to worry about; just try not to be one of them," Nino said, face relaxing into a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; follow our lead, and we're all going home safe at the end of the day." 

 

Follow their lead; the handful of classmates she had selected when she was a girl were now leaders in their own rights. Maybe they had always had that potential and Alya was the only leader capable of bringing it out of them; just one more regret for the pile. 

 

"I know the score," Marinette nodded. "You tell me to jump, I ask how high." 

 

"Well you can start by getting dressed," Chloe said, reaching down and pulling a paper bag out from behind the counter. "We're all undercover here so you're gonna need a disguise." 

 

Marinette glanced inside with a curious frown. "What's this?" 

 

"This isn't a fashion show; it's all part of the plan," Chloe said, crossing her arms as Marinette pulled a green workman's jumpsuit and hard-hat out of the bag. "Slip it on and get transformed; we gotta be on the move soon. We'll explain the plan when you're nice and pretty." 

 

"As long as it doesn't involve construction work," Marinette said, tucking the bag under her arm and slipping out into the other room to get changed. 

 

"Man...there she is," Nino chuckled ruefully. 

 

"In all her Ladybugitude," Chloe said, wishing her water was something stronger. "What do you think?" 

 

"It's really hard to stay mad at her when looking her in the eye," Nino said, leaning against the counter. "She's not exactly as terrifying as we've made her out to be, is she?" 

 

"Are you really fast-tracking Marinette to forgiveness?" Chloe asked with a raise of her eyebrow. 

 

"Just because I'm not mad at her doesn't mean I trust her," Nino said. "Let's face it, she's got some work to do if she wants to be on our side again. And is it just me or does she seem a little...wobbly?" 

 

"I would be worried if she wasn't wobbly," Chloe said, glancing at the door to the other room. "Want me to give her a pep talk?" 

 

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Nino chuckled. "Bet you can't wait to rip her a new one." 

 

"I just love how everybody knows what I'm going to say before I say it," Chloe sniffed, glancing at the switch and dropping her voice. "...you think the microphone will work?" 

 

"Luka tested it before we left; it should record anything they say," Nino mused, rubbing the back of his neck. "If she finds out we're bugging her without her knowledge-" 

 

"She is a bug," Chloe sniffed. "And if she doesn't like being monitored, maybe she should go back in time and un-betray us." 

 

"It doesn't exactly build trust though," Nino sighed, eyeing the small microphone hidden under the remote's antenna. "I know she royally messed up, but if we're gonna give her a chance, let's give her a chance." 

 

"We are giving her a chance; if her story lines up with the recording, that's a big step in the right direction," Chloe said, tensing as Ladybug stepped through the door again, zipping the baggy jumper up over her red and black suit. "You ever thought of adopting a workman-chic look? You might be able to pull it off." 

 

"Ha-ha," Ladybug laughed, glancing at her reflection in the mirror for a brief moment before quickly turning away. As much as the jumper was starchy and covered in dust, it was worth wearing if it meant not having to look at herself in the Ladybug suit. "So...what's this plan we're talking about?" 

 

"The bridge is being restored and part of our plan involves us getting you in as part of the maintenance team," Nino explained as Ladybug donned the helmet. "Master He came through with some connections-" 

 

" Adrien actually came through with some connections," Chloe said, ignoring the small huff of irritation from Nino. "Let's give credit where it's due; Master He didn't bust her butt to get I.O.U's from the men in black." 

 

"Adrien?" The helmet fell over Ladybug's eyes as her head snapped up. "Does he know what's happening here? Is he coming or-" 

 

"Look, we tried to get a hold of His Highness, but we don't have the resources to track him down when he's being...secretive," Nino said a little brusquely. "But technically speaking, yeah, we're using one of Adrien's contacts to get you on the bridge and keep the public away." 

 

"Contacts?" Ladybug asked. A knock at the door answered Ladybug's question and Chloe transformed with a snap of her fingers. 

 

“Speak of the devils,” Queen Bee said, straightening her hair as Carapace transformed and leaned against the door. "Look sharp." 

 

“Did you bring the oysters and brie?” 

 

“And a bottle '52 merlot; honeymoon special,” a voice came from the other side of the door. The strange phrase seemed to be all the reassurance that Carapace needed because he quickly opened the door and ushered in a pair of women dressed in similar jumpers and hard-hats. But Ladybug had been around enough dangerous people to know these two were likely not who they appeared to be. Their eyes were sharp, taking in the scene and everyone in it in a few movements, and they carried themselves with the grace of practiced fighters. 

 

“As I live and breathe,” the blonde said, taking her helmet off and looking at Queen Bee “You really got her here, didn't you?” 

 

“Save the fan-girl act for later,” the dark haired woman chuckled, holding a hand out for Ladybug to shake. “I’m Fei; my partner Zoe and I are with Section 13’s International Division." 

 

It had been a while since Ladybug had to act officially, but a nod from Queen Bee prompted a hasty handshake between the three women. “Sorry...Section 13?” 

 

"Yes..." Fei's brow furrowed. "You don't know about Section 13?" 

 

"Ladybug's been working on some different projects with our friends from Xiaolin," Carapace said, clapping Ladybug on the shoulder. "She's had a lot on her plate for the past four years so we haven't had her on every project that Chat Noir's been working on." 

 

"And let's face it, if everyone knew about you guys you wouldn't be a very good secret organization," Queen Bee chuckled, lightly elbowing Zoe in the shoulder. 

 

"Right...of course," Fei said slowly. 

 

"Your people aren't the only ones interested in fighting evil forces," Zoe said, accepting a bottle of water from Queen Bee. "We do the same stuff you guys do, we just have a lot more toys." 

 

"Well...n-nice to meet you," Ladybug said, already feeling like she was being quizzed on something she hadn't studied. 

 

“They also have a way of opening doors and calling in favors when we need them,” Queen Bee said. "Team Paris might be more powerful-" 

 

"Debatable," Zoe said. 

 

"-but when it comes to working with mortal organizations we come up short," Queen Bee said, sticking her tongue childishly. "Especially when we need to be all sneaky-like." 

 

"We've been passing favors back and forth since Hawk Moth died," Carapace continued. "And as it happens, Chat Noir's racked up quite a stack of them over the years." 

 

“I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned us," Fei said, crossing her arms. "He didn't mention the incident in Madrid?" 

 

Queen Bee’s sharp glare over Zoe’s shoulder reminded her of the feeble ruse they had concocted years past. To the world, Ladybug and Chat Noir were as inseparable as they had ever been, despite not speaking for almost as long as their original partnership. 

 

“...o-oh, you’re the ones from Madrid!” Ladybug said, laughing nervously. “God, that must’ve been...craaaaaaaaaaaazy, huh?” 

 

“Yeah…” Fei said, eyes narrowing. “Crazy.” 

 

“It would have been a lot crazier if we didn’t have firepower backing us up,” Zoe said, suppressing a shudder. "Nine demon sorcerers are a lot to handle, but I'm sure you know what your partner is capable of." 

 

Do you? A little voice in Ladybug's head asked. "Yes...he's capable of a lot more than people give him credit for." 

 

“Start giving him credit then," Fei said. "Getting you on the Bridge of Sighs while it’s closed for restoration is a pretty small ask in return, but we're happy to pay him back.” 

 

“It’s a bigger ask than you think,” Carapace said gravely. “There’s a serious possibility that this will go sideways when we try and pull the plug and we’re not sure if they have backup.” 

 

“Well if it comes to a fight, she's on her own,” Fei said, nodding at Ladybug. “After that mess in Auckland, Captain Chan is pulling everybody to SF headquarters until we have a clearer picture of what’s been going on. We're already thinking of going to the mattresses; you might want to do the same.” 

 

“What has been going on?” Ladybug asked. Two pairs of curious eyes turned to her before she quickly added. “I-In particular I mean; so much is happening right now it’s hard to keep it all straight.”

 

“Same thing that’s been happening since Hawk Moth blew the lid off every cell holding the creepy-crawlies of the world back,” Zoe said with a wrinkle of her nose. “Anomaly sightings, and the body counts that go along with them, are up.” 

 

"And only getting worse," Fei muttered, taking a sip out of Zoe's water bottle. "Feels like every week we're trying to stop another end-of-the-world scenario and this was not the norm not too long ago." 

 

Ladybug had been made vaguely aware about the damage Hawkmoth's failed bid at ultimate power had done to the world; it was hard not to feel the tension growing heavy in the air and she suspected her connection to Creation was informing her of a lot more than she knew. 

 

"Well, I think we're closing in on the root of all this...stuff," Ladybug said, glancing at Carapace. "Right?" 

 

“With any luck, you girls will be in for smoother sailing after this,” Carapace said, glancing at the clock. “Just about time; you ready?” 

 

Ladybug nodded automatically and in spite of the growing uneasiness inside her. With akuma, it was an instant flip between normal civilian life and frantic combat; dread was less familiar to Ladybug than panic and sat heavy in her gut. 

 

“We’ll follow after a few minutes to see if you have a tail,” Queen Bee said, glancing out the window. “But we can’t be too close; we kinda stick out.” 

 

“We don’t think anyone is going to make a move on you while heading towards the meeting site,” Carapace said. “But we can’t be sure; best you two stay on guard.” 

 

“Always are,” Zoe said, glancing at Queen Bee. “Sure I can't borrow your Miraculous?" 

 

"Please; you couldn't pull this look off with both hands and somebody to help you, sweetie," Queen Bee snorted. "Oh...Dad's been asking after you." 

 

"Oh now he wants to be part of my life," Zoe sighed, rolling her eyes. "What did you say?" 

 

"I'm not touching whatever you've got going on with a ten-foot pole." Queen Bee said, kissing the woman on the cheek. "I've got my own Andre baggage to handle, thank you very much." 

 

"Wait, what?" Ladybug asked, glancing between Zoe and Queen Bee as more and more similarities between the two became apparent. "Hold on, is she your-" 

 

"Oh, mind your beeswax," Queen Bee said, making a shooing motion. "You think I tell you everything about my personal life? Go, scoot; you have creepy people to talk to and I have a rooftop to look cute on." 

 

"We'll be right behind you the whole way," Carapace said, tapping his communicator. "You need us, just push that button and we'll be there in a flash." 

 

"Or I will at least," Queen Bee said, turning to step out onto the balcony. "Try not to die, Ladybug; nothing will scuff up our plans like prying you off the antique marble." 

 

Queen Bee took off in a flash of gold, zipping across the skyline and out of sight faster than Ladybug could blink. 

 

"I think that passed for a pep-talk," Carapace said with a salute and a smirk. "We got your back, Buggy; don't worry about it." 

 

Carapace leapt out the window, leaving Ladybug alone with her escorts. 

 

"It's...a long story," Zoe sighed, passing Ladybug a pair of sunglasses. "Here; your mask kinda sticks out." 

 

"Just act natural and we shouldn't arouse suspicion," Fei said, donning her helmet again and nodding towards the door. 

 

A million and one worst-case-scenarios ranging from kidnapping to her brutal demise ran through her mind as she followed them down a back staircase and towards a dock just outside the hotel’s back entrance. As Zoe brought the boat around, Ladybug reached out one more time, trying to feel something of Chat Noir to hang on to through their bond. But only silence reached back to her as it had for days; he was either out of range or had decided to ignore her warnings and leave her to whatever fate she had created for herself. 

 

She was walking into battle without anyone to back her up; Nino and Chloe would do their best, but approaching a fight without Chat Noir felt like approaching a fight completely naked. 

 

"So," Fei said as they stepped into the small motorized skiff. "Is the man in black showing up?" 

 

"He's…" Ladybug swallowed as the boat lurched, taking them out of the docks and into the canals of the city. "He's going to try, but he's got another iron in the fire right now." 

 

"Mmhmm," Fei said, shooting Zoe a glance as she steered them around. "How much did Chat Noir tell you about Madrid?" 

 

"Not...too much," Ladybug said, rubbing the back of her neck. "You know...demon sorcerers and all that." 

 

"Funny," Zoe said without turning around. "Because the last time we saw him was in Barcelona." 

 

"And it was against Herr. Dokter von Strumfaust and his Nazi mutant werewolves," Fei said. "The Demon Sorcerers were re-sealed by the warriors of the Xiaolin temple...I thought you were working with them on that."

 

How the hell was I supposed to know about Nazi mutant werewolves?! Ladybug thought with a wince. "It's...complicated, but-" 

 

"You and Chat Noir aren't talking, are you?" Fei asked, turning her gaze to Ladybug. "You don't even have to admit it; he was cagey about you too the last time we spoke." 

 

"The thing about being spies is that you learn to sniff out lies pretty easily," Zoe said, looking over her shoulder. "You guys are lying to us about Hawk Moth, aren't you?" 

 

(“You can tell the whole world that I brought this on myself, but you and I both know that you have a choice!” Chat Noir spat. “ You chose this; not me! I didn’t make a deal with a lunatic for our Miraculous; I didn’t cut you out of a decision that affects the rest of your life. I didn’t decide to start working with-”)

 

Ladybug fidgeted with the buttons on her jacket. "That's classified…" 

 

"Mmhmm…" Fei said, glancing at her partner. "Look, we appreciate the need for secrecy, but if you and Chat Noir aren't on the same side-" 

 

( “Funny,” Chat Noir chuckled, shaking his head. “I thought I was someone you cared about.” )

 

"We have the same goals and the same enemies," Ladybug said as her stomach began churning with the familiar cocktail of shame that stole all warmth from the world around her. "And if you knew him-" 

 

( “Just...stay...down…” Ladybug panted, hitting him again as Chat Noir just shook his head, fixing her with an infuriatingly defiant glare as he shakily got back to his feet .) 

 

"-you would know that he'd die before he let anyone hurt the people he wants to protect," Ladybug finished, swallowing the bile in her throat as the bridge appeared on the horizon. The sides of the canal were walled off with plaster as the delicate historical landmark was painstakingly restored; Ladybug had an awful feeling that whatever good work they had done to preserve the bridge would be swiftly un done before the day was out. 

 

"If you say so," Zoe said in a way that made it clear she didn't believe Ladybug. An entrance on the side of the bridge opened up and a smartly dressed officer quickly waved the boat through. "Don't worry; he's with us." 

 

"Any reason we're not heading through the Doge's Palace?" Ladybug asked, remembering her brief tour of the landmark a few years back. 

 

"Too many people," Fei said as the boat came to a stop in a covered dock just under the bridge. Construction scaffolding and tarps covered the ancient architecture, shrouding the dark room in ghostly sheets of white. "We needed to get you in inconspicuously." 

 

"And so we have," Zoe said, engine still running as Fei scanned the dock curiously. The officer openly stared at Ladybug who offered a small wave in return. Being looked at with such awe again felt wrong; as though every smile and shining look was a living testament to the lie she had created. Zoe said something in clipped Italian to the officer who nodded, scurrying away with a crisp bow. 

 

"He'll keep the public back in case things get hairy. Nobody's on the bridge yet, but...well, we're almost at the meeting time, right?" 

 

For a moment, Ladybug thought she heard a faint ringing sound, but as she turned to look for it, it had vanished as quickly as it arrived. It almost sounded like-

 

( Chat Noir’s eyes didn’t meet Ladybug’s as he passed, a musical jingling breaking the silence. Chat Noir glanced down at his weapon to see a thin green string that carried a tiny silver bell. 

 

“Oh…” Ladybug said, looking at the bell. “I didn’t...I guess I’m just used to you with your bell on. Feels...weird to see you without it.” 

 

Chat snapped the string with a flick of his wrist, tossing it to the ground at Ladybug’s feet as he passed. “Hawkmoth will hear that coming,” Chat Noir said in a painfully matter-of-fact tone of voice. “We don’t have time to be playing dress up.” )

 

No...he didn't wear that anymore.

 

"Are you…" Ladybug looked back at the agents almost hopefully. "Are you going to be close, or-" 

 

"We meant when we said we weren't here to fight," Fei said with a heavy sigh. "The Captain was pretty clear with her instructions. Section 13 owes Chat Noir a lot, but...." 

 

They would help if it was him instead of you, the voice chimed in again, only amplifying her feelings of isolation. "No...I understand. Thanks for getting me this far." 

 

"Good luck Ladybug," Zoe said with a cheerful smile. "Hope you live long enough for us to work together again!" 

 

Fei shot her a dark look as the color drained from Ladybug's face. "What?" 

 

"You're lucky you're cute," Fei sighed as the boat pulled away, leaving Ladybug alone in the underbelly of the ducal palace. Outside, she could hear crowds of tourists milling about, but Ladybug's eyes were focused only on the dimly lit corridor that led up to her destination. 

 

The worn stone corridors that led to the old prison echoed with each footstep she took closer to her destination. The irony of walking into an ancient prison was not lost on her as she approached the bridge, hesitating as the grim stone corridor stretched out in front of her. Outside the slatted windows, Ladybug could see the canals rippling beneath her, the waves reflecting her uneasy expression as she pulled the overalls tighter around her shoulders 

 

Okay, Ladybug thought. Now I just have to wait for-

 

“You know why they call this the Bridge of Sighs?” 

 

Ladybug felt an icy chill run down her spine as a voice came from behind her. She turned around to see a woman in red staring out an eye-hole in the wall at the boats passing beneath them. Her orange twintails floated like flickering flames and a palpable heat radiated off her that made Ladybug's cold sweat run warm. Ladybug didn’t know what was more unnerving; the fact that she was mere feet away from Hawk Moth’s boss or the fact that Firebird had entered without making a sound. 

 

“They say this was the place condemned prisoners got their last view of the outside world before they were shipped off to their cells,” Firebird sighed, shaking her head. “You think if that were the case they would have sprung for some stained glass or at least a nicer view.” 

 

“I think that was an urban legend,” A deep, booming voice said from the other side of the bridge. Ladybug glanced over her shoulder and for a moment, the sight of black and green in the shadows made her heart skip a beat. But as the figure approached, she could see his dark hair shining in the dim light, his powerful build much larger than Chat Noir had ever been. 

 

“Buzzkill,” Firebird sighed, rolling her eyes and offering a hand for Ladybug to shake. “Enchente, Mme. Ladybug; it’s so nice to finally meet you.” 

 

Ladybug swallowed, examining the hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it briefly. Firebird had a decisive handshake that was just firm enough to hurt as she let go. Already, Ladybug wished she had paid closer attention to Bridgette’s off-the-cuff business advice she would drop into regular conversation. 

 

(“Don’t shake too hard; it’s an asshole move that makes you look like you’re trying too hard to impress someone,” Bridgette said through the side of her mouth as the French ambassador maneuvered back towards the punch table.) 

 

“Firebird,” Ladybug echoed, glancing at the man. “And I take it you’re Kaiser Long?” 

 

“The same,” Kaiser Long said, inclining his head as he kept his hands folded behind his back. "I trust you got here easily enough?" 

 

"Not exactly the coziest place I've ever been for a meeting, but I managed," Ladybug said, taking a deep breath through her nose. Now that the three of them were on the narrow walkway, Ladybug had to wonder if they had picked such a claustrophobic location on purpose. There was very little room to maneuver and if it came to a fight, it would be hard to get away. 

 

This is definitely a trap, Ladybug realized with a slowly sinking feeling in her gut. The question is, when are they going to spring it?

 

“We apologize for the unconventional meeting spot but we thought you’d be more comfortable talking in public,” Kaiser Long said.

 

“Most people just go to a Starbucks,” Ladybug said, pushing her fear down behind a wall of careless indifference. There was no backing out now and pulling the ripcord would blow their one chance to gain information.

 

Don't screw this up, Ladybug thought. You wanted a chance, remember? 

 

“We’re not most people, are we?” Firebird chuckled, leaning against the wall. “And some conversations are too important to be overheard by grumpy caffeine addicts. Present company excluded, of course.” 

 

Firebird fired a wink over Ladybug’s shoulder at her partner who let out a fond sigh through his nose. 

 

“Besides...Venice helps us illustrate our point rather well,” Kaiser Long said, looking Ladybug up and down as though he were weighing her with his gaze. “I’m glad you decided to come; for a moment, I was afraid that your master would have put you off of us altogether.” 

 

“Your track record of collaborating with my greatest enemy hasn't done you any favors in that department,” Ladybug said, kicking herself the moment it came out of her mouth. 

 

“We have that in common then, don’t we?” Kaiser Long said, smiling as he watched Ladybug's nostrils flare. 

 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ladybug said tersely. They might have had her all figured out, but she wasn’t going to volunteer any information they might not already know. Her boat ride with the spies had been enough embarrassment for one trip. 

 

Kaiser Long chuckled. “Of course…I’m sure you didn’t view it that way. And Gabriel wasn’t the easiest person in the world to collaborate with; I didn’t even know the pair of you were aligned until after that business with the monster maker. I must say you played that whole situation expertly; even I believed your side of the story.”

 

Yay, the bad guys gave you a gold star, Ladybug thought, pressing her lips together. 

 

“What I want to know is why, after four years of a publicly perfect partnership, you decided to hang Chat Noir out to dry,” Firebird mused, staring at Ladybug with a curious squint. “You always struck me as the pragmatic one...did you have a pragmatic reason for doing what you did?” 

 

Well, you see birdy, I stabbed my own partner in the back to protect the guy I loved, not knowing it was him the whole time, Ladybug thought bitterly. Isn’t that just hilarious? 

 

“Why do you want to know?” Ladybug deflected. “The past is the past; did you really call me here to dredge up old gossip?” 

 

Information was the currency being traded and Ladybug was intent on haggling for every scrap. The pair glanced at each other, and Ladybug could almost hear a silent conversation floating back and forth between them

 

“Because a certain degree of pragmatism is necessary if we are to avert a calamity that will see our species resigned to ruin,” Kaiser Long said. “And make no mistake about it, we are working on borrowed time.” 

 

Ladybug tensed as Kaiser Long’s imposing frame brushed past her in the tight corridor to stare out a grate in the wall. “Did you get a chance to tour this city before our meeting? It really is remarkable, isn’t it? Hundreds of years of art and history constructed on an ingeniously built series of canals; one of humanity's greatest achievements." 

 

“Too bad it’s going down,” Firebird said. “Sooner or later enough ice is going to melt to send all these pretty buildings to the bottom of the sea. To say nothing of all the people living on the coastlines in other places.” 

 

“I’m sorry, did you really drag me out here to talk about global warming ?” Ladybug asked. “Is this a pitch to eat less ground beef and use metal straws?” 

 

“I’m afraid we’re beyond that point,” Kaiser Long sighed. “Master Li knew it a long time ago, but those with the power to change our fate chose to do nothing about it." 

 

“They still choose to do nothing about it,” Firebird said. “Even when natural disasters, global poverty, and endless conflict turn this planet into hell's waiting room for every soul living on it. And as fun as it would be to bundle every president and billionaire together and shoot them into space, it doesn’t solve the problem at hand; sooner or later, this world is going to turn into an uninhabitable wasteland unfit for human life." 

 

"So what's your solution?" Ladybug asked. "These are problems the best minds in the world have been trying to solve for years; do you really think you're smarter than them?" 

 

"The best minds in the world work for us," Firebird said. "And let's face it, they don't have the kind of power we do. Even the best intentioned scientist can be shouted down by an idiot who thinks bleach injections can cure disease." 

 

"So run for office," Ladybug said. "If you're that concerned with the state of public affairs, why don't you do something to make this world better?" 

 

"We have run for office," Firebird sighed, irritation bleeding into her voice. "We've won public office; we currently hold public office. Master Li's organization tried for decades to turn this sinking ship around before he realized that the simplest solution would be to just make another boat." 

 

Kaiser Long raised his hand and Ladybug could see tingling green Creation energy swirling in his palm. Earth from the walls and water from the canal rose up and swirled together in a ball that slowly took shape until it resembled a tiny planet covered in water. Miniature trees sprouted, spreading a carpet of green around the alien continents as Kaiser Long held it up for Ladybug to examine. 

 

“What if we could have a fresh start?” Kaiser Long said. “What if, for the first time in the history of the universe, human destiny was in human hands. Not controlled by ancient sorcerers or alien spirits, but ours to craft as we see fit? What if we could have another chance at creating a perfect world?”

 

The word perfect set off warning bells in Ladybug’s mind almost instantly. Perfect didn’t have room for growth; perfect didn’t have room for messy human mistakes. Perfect was static, lifeless, and rigid; few things were more anathema to Creation than perfectionism. 

 

“And what if water tasted like strawberry lemonade?” Ladybug asked, doing her absolute best to feign indifference. “How does hoping and wishing help anyone?" 

 

“You of all people should know how powerful a wish could be,” Firebird said, spinning the globe around with a flick of her finger. “And as those with the power to make our wishes reality, don’t we have a responsibility to wish for the right things?" 

 

The right things? 

 

“To have such power and not use it would be as irresponsible as using it poorly,” Kaiser Long said, regarding his creation fondly. “Think of it; a world free of thousands of years of bitter war, tyranny, and oppression. A world abundant in natural resources and safe for all who live there. A world where humanity can return to our natural state and build a peaceful society for all who live there.” 

 

Kaiser Long held up the globe so Ladybug could inspect the flowing waters and rippling trees so small she could barely see them. But she could feel them; life pulsed in the little lump of clay that Kaiser Long pulled out of dead water and soil. 

 

“I think shrinking people is going to be an issue,” Ladybug said, earning a genuine laugh out of Kaiser Long. 

 

“Perhaps world is a bad way to put it,” Kaiser Long said, letting the ball hover in mid air in front of him. “It would be more accurate to say that we intend to recreate the universe, from scratch." 

 

"Wow, you're really set on trying out Carl Sagan's pie recipe, aren't you?" Ladybug chuckled, earning a genuine snort of laughter from Firebird. “No half measures with you two, huh?" ” 

 

“Half measures won’t do,” Firebird said. “We’ve tried half-measures; tried to find a solution that was less...complicated than the one we arrived on.” 

 

“Complicated?” Ladybug said, prodding for more details. Holding her finger out, Firebird touched the little blue ball in front of her. The smell of burning wood and foliage filled the little hallway as Ladybug watched fire spread from the tip of Firebird's finger and engulf the ball in flames."  

 

“You know what they say about omelettes and eggs,” Firebird said, watching the planet crumble to cinders beneath her feet. “That’s the one law we can’t work around; creation requires destruction in some form or another. Animals die and are consumed so others grow stronger; wheat gets crushed to make bread. To create one world-

 

" You have to destroy another," Ladybug said, watching the ash blow around her ankles. And there’s the catch.

 

"Unfortunately, we do," Kaiser Long said. "I know that sounds shocking to hear; I was shocked myself when Master Li first proposed it to me...but I've come to see the wisdom in it. Humanity cannot flourish in a world hostile to us; for us to succeed and reach our full potential, we must be willing to leave this planet behind." 

 

"Have you really never wished for another world?" Firebird asked. "We have entire industries built on people who make up new worlds and sell them to us in movies or comic books or video games. From the dawn of human history, we have always been looking up and imagining what could be. But the three of us have the power to make reality; we have the power to fulfill every unfulfilled dream." 

 

They made a pretty pitch, Ladybug had to admit, but after the word perfect her hackles had been raised. Once again, a simple solution to a complicated problem laid before her. It was all so simple, wasn't it? Just create a new world out of nothing and save every human being on the planet by-

 

Wait, Ladybug thought. They never said they were going to save anyone...

 

"So your plan is to, what, make a new world and transport every human being on the planet to it?" Ladybug asked. "Let's say your plan works; you're telling me you have a plan to transport seven billion people to your new world before this one burns?" 

 

Firebird and Kaiser Long shared another glance and Ladybug's resolve bolstered. What's the matter; did I ask a difficult question?

 

“Not...all of them,” Firebird said with a slight wince. “Once this gets kicked off, we’ll have maybe an hour to get everybody off planet before everything gets too hot to handle. We are constantly refining our Gjallarhorn Protocol, but...:"

 

But you're going to kill the rest, Ladybug thought, the cold realization dropping like a pit in her stomach. 

 

“Our best estimates suggest we can save, at most, fourteen million people across the globe,” Kaiser Long said, lips twisting as though he had tasted something sour. “We have people in place to ensure evacuation orders are carried out, but-”

 

“But the other six billion or so will die,” Ladybug murmured, a ringing in the back of her mind growing more insistent by the moment. "To get what you want...you need to kill more than ninety percent of the human race." 

 

"That's the rub," Firebird sighed. "You know how it is, Ladybug; you can't save everybody all the time; it's just not practical. Hard choices have to be made; you've made more than a few in your time, haven't you?" 

 

“We could ensure that your friends and family are among those saved,” Kaiser Long said quickly. “Our associates enjoy priority when it comes to selecting non-essential civilians-" 

 

“Essential...” Ladybug echoed, derailing Kaiser Long's sales pitch and drawing a frustrated tch from Firebird. “By what definition?” 

 

“Essential might be the wrong word,” Firebird sighed, holding her hands up. “But we have to be picky about who we spend our energy trying to save. Doctors, scientists & community leaders can do more for humanity than business owners, office workers, and soldiers. We’re trying to make sure we pull over as many children as we can, but-” 

 

“But you’re just going to burn the rest, aren’t you?” Fear and disgust mixed in her chest and erupted in a shout of anger that rang off the bare walls. Firebird’s nose flared, but Kaiser Long’s hand at her elbow seemed to stay her for the moment.

 

"Yes," Firebird said. "Because it's-" 

 

"Necessary," Ladybug said at the same time as Firebird. “Why not kill everyone and start over from scratch then; what difference does it make how many survive?!” 

 

“ All the difference,” Kaiser Long said in a cold, steely voice as his reptilian eyes narrowed. “Every bit of it. We are responsible for the people who are survive, just as we are responsible for the ones we must kill in order to buy humanity a better future."

 

"And with all this hand-wringing over human life can you even think of fourteen million people worth saving?” Firebird asked. "Can you even think of fourteen thousand people that deserve to see humanity's new home?"

 

“I don't need to!" Ladybug spat. "I don't have the right to!" 

 

“Wrong again ,” Firebird sneered. “You have been gifted with abundant power most of humanity can’t even dream of; what is the purpose of all that power if you don’t use it ?” 

 

“To do what, count heads and decide who gets to live and who gets to die?” Ladybug laughed bitterly. Perhaps she was so terrified by their nightmarish goals that she had to laugh to keep from just screaming obscenities. “To decide who is essential and who dies in a fireball with the rest of the world?” 

 

“Every day someone decides who lives and who dies,” Kaiser Long said, the air around them growing frosty as ice started crackling up the wall. “Presidents, judges, even traffic police decide, through their choices, who lives and who dies in typically short-sighted and self-serving fashions"” 

 

“It’s happening right now while we’re talking about it,” Firebird said. “If it doesn’t lead to extinction it’ll lead to where it’s always led; thousands of years of war and death for the people who live here." 

 

"We are making the same call they are making; just with different priorities," Kaiser Long concluded. "Instead of a pie-in-the-sky Martian colony for the wealthy, we are making a brand new world for those that deserve it. A world founded on justice and peace, free of needless suffering."  

 

“But you want me to help you destroy this one first," Ladybug said, glancing between them. "Just admit it; you want me to help you destroy the world ." 

 

“We actually have the destruction component of the equation solved already,” Kaiser Long said, shooting a glance at his partner. “It’s what comes next that requires a greater deal of finesse...and power I don’t yet possess.” 

 

“At the risk of sounding like a creepy personal dating ad, my husband and I have a proposition for you,” Firebird said. “This world is going to burn sooner or later; help us save as many people as we can and help us create something better for our people. A world free of spiritual tyranny, superstitious old sorcerers, and thousands of years of human history weighing it down.”

 

"This world is tied to powers that don't care about us," Kaiser Long said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "They don't even have names; we call them Creation and Destruction, but they're forces beyond the scope of human comprehension. And their emissaries in this world grant power to those who are dedicated to maintaining order . Not justice, not peace; order."

 

"So this is all the kwami's fault, is it?" Ladybug asked. " They're to blame for all the evil that's happened in human history." 

 

"Evil only flourishes with indifference," Firebird said. "Your masters' obsession with maintaining balance has allowed a great deal of atrocities to carry on unchecked for centuries. If they had taken action sooner, we would not be taking action now ."

 

“How?” Ladybug said, rubbing her eyes as she desperately tried to regain control of the situation. “Let’s say that I agree to help you... how would we go about doing this?” 

 

Firebird glanced at her partner. “Let’s just say we have a plan and leave it at that.” 

 

“Sorry, if you want me to be complicit in slaughtering six billion people, you’re going to have to do better than that.” 

 

“Have to ?” Firebird said, brow knitting and head tilting to one side. "We...have to." 

 

"Darling," Kaiser Long said in a soothing voice that did little to quell the bubbling volcano in front of Ladybug. 

 

Oh, you don't like it when people say no to you, do you? Ladybug thought as she held Firebird's burning gaze. You don't like it at all.

 

“Let’s get one thing straight," Firebird said, holding a finger up. "This is a courtesy call from us because we thought you were more reasonable than your idiot ex-partner-” 

 

“Don’t call him an idiot ,” Ladybug snapped. “There are worse things to be than an idiot, like a pair of mass-murderers with god-complexes.” 

 

“Oh, you mean like backstabbers who sell out their own partner for personal gain?” Firebird laughed, enjoying the way Ladybug’s expression seemed to falter. “I’m pretty sure Chat Noir would have appreciated this level of support before you handed him over to Hawk Moth on a silver platter, so don't act all high and mighty with us, Judas.” 

 

“I admit, I am a touch disappointed to see that you have gotten over your antipathy towards your former partner,” Kaiser Long sighed. “I thought you were capable of seeing beyond the end of your master’s designs for you...but I'm starting to think you're content with being the most powerful slave on a derelict world.” 

 

“I could say the same about you,” Ladybug said, glancing between them. “ Your master told you about this plan, right? Aren’t you just doing what he wanted to do?” 

 

“Well it’s a bit hard to be sure, since your master murdered him ,” Kaiser Long growled, voice dipping into a baritone that rattled Ladybug’s ribcage. 

 

“According to you.” 

 

“Yes, according to us,” Firebird bit back. “We watched your masters blow up the building with Master Li in it; we saw it. Or are you that stupid to think the people who you’ve been following are angels? Your Master was in Paris when boys in brown rolled in back in the forties and he ran like a little rat rather than fight for his neighbors. How quickly could he have used the Miraculous to end that war? How many people suffered and died because he didn’t stick around to help?” 

 

“Something tells me it’s less than six billion ,” Ladybug fired back. “I’m not stupid; my master may have made a lot of mistakes in the past, but his actions don’t make what you’re planning on doing okay. Nothing makes what you’re doing okay!” 

 

“We never said it was,” Kaiser Long said. “Only that it was necessary .” 

 

“So you say,” Ladybug said, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. The wall behind her was thin enough to break; if she threw her weight backwards-

 

Are you sure? A nagging, wheedling voice in her head put a stop to that plan before it could get going. 

 

“Truthfully, it doesn’t matter all that much if you trust us or not,” Kaiser Long said, clasping his hands behind his back. “Succeeding in part one of our plan is almost inevitable; the question is, are you going to help with part two?” 

 

“You have power,” Firebird said, taking a step towards Ladybug who, in turn, edged down the hallway, trying to keep both of them on one side of her. “Power comes with responsibility. You can whine about it as much as you want, but you are ultimately responsible for the fates of lesser people.” 

 

“ Lesser ?” Ladybug echoed. 

 

“Oh don’t get pouty over word choice,” Firebird sniffed. “We both started as lesser people; no magic earrings or kwami to give us what we needed; we took our power.” 

 

“And the fact that lesser people are rising above their station puts the kwami's precious Order into disarray," Kaiser Long said. "They will not permit us to make a world free of their influence...which is why we have to eliminate them from the equation.” 

 

Ladybug felt a cold bead of sweat slip down the back of her neck, ears ringing with a clear, crystalline bell-chime. “...what?” 

 

“Well, eleven down,” Firebird shrugged as Ladybug’s eyes widened. “That Ladybug kwami has been giving us the slip, but we’re closing in. Sooner or later, she’s gonna get sloppy, and then-”

 

A black blur swept in front of Firebird’s face before Ladybug’s fist connected. Kaiser Long’s hand clenched around Ladybug’s fist as she glared up at both of them from behind her mask. 

 

“Leave Tikki alone ,” Ladybug hissed. Her left hand lashed out, but Firebird’s hand caught hers before it could connect with her husband’s cheek. 

 

“Or what ?” Firebird giggled as she and Kaiser Long shoved Ladybug hard against the wall of the bridge. “Do you really intend to lay your life down in defense of those things ?” 

 

“A bad career move,” Kaiser Long said, squeezing Ladybug’s fist harder as his eyes crackled with green energy. “Bad for your health as well.” 

 

Ladybug braced her heels against the wall of the bridge, trying to use her legs to shove them off. The ringing in her ears was growing louder as the tight fabric of her suit started feeling constrictive. A thousand and one plans to save herself fluttered through her mind and Ladybug doubted that any one of them could overpower the pair in front of her. 

 

“I had hoped we’d be able to come to an understanding,” Kaiser Long growled, his voice rattling the old iron bars behind her. “Or at least that you were capable of being civil .” 

 

“People who want to hurt my friends don’t get civility,” Ladybug grunted. She shifted her hips, trying to press the communicator in her back pocket against the wall. There was what sounded like a click but before Ladybug could register it, she found herself tossed down the hallway, rolling a few dozen feet and coming to a stop. 

 

Come on, Nino, Ladybug thought as she pushed herself to her feet. 

 

---

 

“How do you think she’s doing?”  

 

"Honestly...I don't know," Carapace said, watching the bridge's exterior from the neighboring rooftop for any sign of movement. "If you asked me four years ago, I would say she has it locked down, but-" 

 

Rena Rouge's image on his communicator's screen sighed. " Yeah...it's hard to say anymore, isn't it?" 

 

"Well, I guess we'll have to put what little faith we have in her, huh?" Queen Bee said, leaning on Carapace's shoulder. "Who knows, maybe she'll pull through-" 

 

The remote on the ledge next to them started blinking and chirping, a sign that the switch on Ladybug's device had been flipped. 

 

" Ha! Under half-an-hour," Queen Bee cackled, poking Carapace in the side. "You owe me lunch when we get back." 

 

" Hash that out later!" Rena Rouge commanded, slipping immediately into command mode. " Carapace, Queen Bee, move to extract; get her out of there and bring her back before..." 

 

Rena Rouge trailed off, and the sight of her eyes widening in the screen gave Carapace a hair of a moment to react before the blow crashed into the back of his head. He shoved Queen Bee to the side, twisting around and catching the attack on his shield with a ringing gong that echoed across the city. 

 

"Leaving so soon?" Carapace lowered his shield to see the Toad retracting his arm and the Salamander paging through a tourist leaflet on a nearby parapet. 

 

"You guys work way too hard," The Salamander sighed, dropping down to the rooftop in a loose fighting stance. "Why don't you take some time off and see the sights?" 

 

"Good idea!" Queen Bee said, extending her chain with a flick of her wrist. "Why don't we start with the inside of a Venetian prison cell?" 

 

Carapace glanced over his shoulder at the bridge beneath them. Sorry, Mari; you're on your own for now.

 

---

Paris, France

 

"I told you we should have sent more people-" 

 

"Thank you, Master He," Rena Rouge said through grit teeth as she stepped out of the elevator with the older woman at her elbow. "Can we save the performance review for when we get back? Luka, Kagami, we need to-" 

 

Rena Rouge froze as every screen in the command room showed the same scene of destruction with smoke rising from several spots in the city. Monarch stood pale-faced in the center of the command room as Bluebird pressed the speaker button. 

 

"Rena Rouge just got here," Bluebird said quietly. "Why don't you run it back for her?" 

 

" I-I don't know what's going on," Sabrina's voice came shaking from the other end of the line. "B-but those guys in the white masks appeared w-with those creepy monsters from a few years ago a-a-and…" 

 

A camera on the side of the wall of monitors zoomed in on a jewelry store with the front windows smashed and several scaly monstrosities crawling out the side of the hole. The Centipede stepped out of the wreckage, brushing dust off their uniform before tilting their face up to the newscopter that surveyed the scene. Another screen showed several police officers in a losing battle with The Cobra who bobbed and weaved through rubber bullets like they were jabs, knocking them to the ground with precision cane strikes. 

 

" We need h-help," Sabrina whimpered as a distant explosion echoed on her side of the phone. " Please, we-" 

 

The line went dead and Master He slowly turned to Rena Rouge. "Alya...The Ladybug is in danger. If they get their hands on Marinette, they could steal enough power to-" 

 

"Monarch, get two of the meanest akuma you can lay your hands on and meet me downtown to fight the Centipede," Rena Rouge said, already turning around to head out the sewer entrance. 

 

"But-" 

 

"Bluebird get Tigress and engage the Cobra," Rena Rouge said, ignoring Master He's protests. "We need to work fast-" 

 

"Alya, this is bigger than Paris!" Master He shouted after her. 

 

"Not right now it isn't!" Rena Rouge hollered back. "We need to make sure this city is safe before we help Marinette!" 

 

"This is a bloody set-up," Monarch grumbled. "They knew we were sending someone to back up Ladybug." 

 

"And so they're attacking now to distract you!" Master He insisted. "Please...let me handle Paris; I can get you to Venice quickly, but we need to act now!" 

 

"Paris is our responsibility," Rena Rouge said turning and breaking into a jog. "Go help Ladybug if you want! We'll be with you as soon as we can!" 

 

Master He stood in the middle of the empty room, watching the city burn on monitors above her head before running back outside. 

 

---

Venice, Italy

 

“What did you mean eleven down?” Ladybug said, holding her hands up in front of her. “What did you do to the kwami?!” 

 

“I told you that the entire human race is facing extinction, and you’re more concerned for the kwami ,” Firebird said, cracking her neck with an audible pop. “How many levels of Miraculous brain-rot are you on?” 

 

Ladybug laid a hand on the wall of the bridge, sending a spark of energy arcing around behind Firebird. Fei’s warning not to be conspicuous seemed to register a split second before black and red iron bars formed from the wall, separating Kaiser Long and Firebird in the middle of the hallway. 

 

“Well, that answers my question,” Firebird sighed, leaning out of the way of Ladybug’s wild haymaker as she tried to capitalize on what meager advantage she afforded herself. Her arm got caught in the bars of the makeshift cage, quickly grabbed and twisted by Kaiser Long so she was pinned between her enemies with iron biting into her shoulders. 

 

“Hm...you know I had you pegged as the heart and soul of your team,” Firebird said, grabbing Ladybug’s jaw and shoving her head back against the bars. “But I’m starting to think you’re just a lucky little girl who only got this far because she had other people bailing her out of tight spots." 

 

“Let me go and see how lucky I can be,” Ladybug growled, trying not to let the fear show in her voice. 

 

"I'm sorry, did you think the Bee and the Turtle would be here by now?" Kaiser Long said, fishing the remote out from the back of the overalls and crushing it in the palm of his hand. "Sorry...my people are giving them a tour of the city. They might be a little delayed." 

 

I'm trapped, Ladybug thought bleakly as Firebirds' grip on her cheeks began to tingle. A strange sucking sensation started draining the light from her and as Ladybug looked down, she saw the fringes of her suit disappearing in a warm pink glow. 

 

"Wh-What are you doing?" Ladybug stammered. 

 

"Did you know that these disguises are just manifestations of power?" Firebird said conversationally as more and more of Ladybug's mantle started to disappear. "And my partner and I are really good at feeding on power. So thank you, Ladybug, for hand-delivering so much power for me to use." 

 

"Wait…" Ladybug said, panic rising in her voice as the ringing seemed to grow louder. "We can still be reasonable about this!" 

 

"I'm sure we can," Firebird said, eyes sparkling. "But first, I'm going to see what makes Ladybug so miracu-" 

 

The ringing in Ladybug's ears stopped and she and Firebird seemed to have the same realization a split second before the roof above them exploded in a shower of stone. The blast wrenched the bars loose, giving Ladybug enough leverage to push Firebird off as something shoved her back across the other side of the bridge. The gaping hole in the ceiling let sunlight stream in, mingling with motes of dust surrounding the black clad figure crouched at Firebird's feet. 

 

Adrien, Ladybug thought as she shakily pushed herself to her feet. "...y-you came." 

 

Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder, his floating spectral eye taking in his former partner for the first time in nearly four years. 

 

"Thanks for the tip-off, Spots," Chat Noir said, opening a portal with a flick of his wrist beneath Ladybug's feet. "Now why don't you sit back and let a real hero handle this?" 

 

"Chat, wait!" Ladybug called out, reaching a hand out before the shadows closed in around it. 

 

"Wow, I always had a suspicion that you were really pathetic, but saving the girl that ruined your life?" Firebird coughed, gripping Kaiser Long's hand as he pulled her to her feet. "You really exceed expectations, Chatty." 

 

"I always do," Chat Noir said, grinning at Firebird from beneath his mask. "But don't get this twisted; I just wanted Ladybug out of the way so I could handle you myself!" 

 

"Oh, you're gonna handle me yourself?" Firebird chuckled, cracking her knuckles. "Tell you what, tiger; why don't you take the first-" 

 

Chat Noir lunged in the blink of an eye, fist crackling with green energy as it collided with Firebird's cheek. Her head twitched ever so slightly, but even if Kaiser Long's eyes ignited with emerald fury, Firebird seemed to be barely bothered by the blow. 

 

"Hmm...I would have hit me harder than that if I were you," Firebird said, eyes igniting with glowing orange energy. "Oh well...my turn."

Notes:

Ladynoir v. Ladynoir

Round 1

Ready?

FIGHT!

Chapter 7: Partners In Crime

Notes:

Song Credits:

Da Mystery of Chessboxin' - Wu-Tang Clan

Partners In Crime - Set It Off and Ash Costello

---

Venice, Italy

---

Tracy Westington had a history degree from one of the best schools in the world and a career that didn’t use it. 

 

“I’m booooooooooored.” 

 

So she was immune to her ten year old son Chester’s moaning as he stuffed his head in his shirt while their tour of Venice wound through the historic canals. After her trip to Paris had been derailed by the latest in a long line of super villain nonsense, she was hell-bent on salvaging what remained of her European vacation before returning to her hum-drum human resources job in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

 

“We went to Euro Disney; this is your Mom’s part of the vacation,” her husband Hank said as the paddleboat they were in wound its way through the canals. Ahead of them, a pearly white covered bridge hung between two buildings, covered in tarp as the delicate work of restoring a piece of the city’s history carried on. 

 

“I wanna go back to Paris,” Chester whined. “That fight against those dinosaurs was so cool!” 

 

“Those dinosaurs destroyed our rental, kid,” Tracy said, shuddering as she remembered running from a gigantic robotic velociraptor. “We are never going back to Paris again. Just nice, safe, historically beautiful buildings and not a single speck of spandex anywhere to be-” 

 

Tracy raised her camera in time to capture the monument she had done her thesis on shatter in a shower of stone and glass. 

 

Chat Noir hurtled through the wall, skipping across the water and slamming through the ground floor of a building on the far side of the canal. Hank pulled his wife and son back as two figures, one in crimson and one in black, stepped into the hole they had just punched in the crumbling bridge. 

 

"Nice punch," Kaiser Long remarked as Firebird shook her fist experimentally. 

 

"A little sloppy on the follow-through," Firebird said, flexing her fingers as the boat drifted perilously closer towards the bridge. 

 

"Sloppy? Did you want to punch him to Sicily?" 

 

"I was aiming for Naples, actually." 

 

"I believe that's in the other direction, dear." 

 

"I'm sorry, I can't bring myself to give a hot sweaty fuck about the geography of a planet that's not going to be here in three months," Firebird said, stepping off onto the boat as it drifted beneath the bridge. "Been a while since we've done this together, hasn't it?" 

 

"So long that I forgot how much I like watching you punch people in the face." Kaiser Long said, patting the bewildered Tracy on the head as he stepped past her. The air around them began chilling at an alarming rate and Chester watched in awe as the canal froze solid enough for Firebird to step on. "You might want to get indoors; there's a wild animal loose on the streets." 

 

“Whoa...are you guys superheroes?” Chester asked before his parents could stop him.

 

“Can’t you tell?” Firebird called back, shooting her partner a wink as she skipped down the icy canal. “We’re Ladybug and Chat Noir!” 

 

---

 

"Move!" 

 

Carapace felt Queen Bee's chain cinch around his waist and drag him back as the Toad's gargantuan fist slammed down into the roof of the palace. The stone shattered, opening a hole as people beneath them scurried away screaming. 

 

"I could have blocked that," Carapace grunted. 

 

"And now you don't have to," Queen Bee said, flittering up in the air as the Salamander smacked the Toad on the back of the head. 

 

"Today, can you hit them and not the priceless historical architecture please?" The Salamander clucked. "Do you know how hard it is to restore this to its original-" 

 

The Salamander ducked as Queen Bee's whip arced around and slashed a deep groove in the dome behind him. "Hey, what did I just say?!" 

 

"You think I'm listening to you?!" Queen Bee scoffed, diving as Carapace launched his shield with a flick of his wrist. The Toad effortlessly caught it in time for Queen Bee to land on the disk in his hand and kick him in the face. Beneath the bony mask, her foot rebounded off of what felt like solid rubber, the force of her own blow propelling her backwards into Carapace's arms. 

 

"Ugh, it's like trying to break a super-ball by throwing it at the ground," Queen Bee said, glancing over Carapace's shoulder at the broken bridge. "Uh...bad news." 

 

"Worse than this?" Carapace asked, ducking as The Toad whipped his shield at his head.

 

"Depends," Queen Bee said, floating up into the air and scanning the city. "How bad is it that we lost Ladybug?" 

 

---

Paris, France

---

 

"Can you please just think about this for a moment?!" 

 

Master He dumped a box full of keys out on Master Fu's table, spreading them out as she frantically searched for the one she was looking for. 

 

"I know you think I run recklessly into danger at every given opportunity, Quingfu-" 

 

"You do ." 

 

"But if you'll stop fretting for one moment, you'll realize I've thought about this very carefully," Master He said, picking up a black key and squinting at it before tossing it aside. "Rena Rouge's team can't leave the city without abandoning people in need and gods only know where Adrien is; I'm the only one with the freedom to support Carapace and Queen Bee right now." 

 

"I know," Master Fu said as a series of emergency vehicles ripped past his house. "But going into the line of fire like this-" 

 

"We're all in the line of fire now; being in Paris does not make us safe anymore," Master He said, tugging a worn brass key out of the pile. "God, I should have gotten these updated a long time ago; it'll be hell to try and find a door this works on-" 

 

Master Fu clamped his hand down hard on Master He's wrist as she turned to leave. "You don't have to do this; I know you feel responsible for the Zodiac, but-" 

 

"The Zodiac has very little to do with it," Master He said. "If those upjumped sorcerers want a bite of my students, they're going to need to chew on me first. And at my age, I am very tough meat." 

 

Master He gently tugged herself out of Master Fu's grip, leaving him sitting at his kitchen table as he watched her stick the key in a rusty old doorknob that led to Fu's pantry. 

 

"Wait," Master Fu said, without really understanding why. Only that it was vitally important that she stay if just for another moment. 

 

"Be safe," Master Fu said quietly, more as a prayer than anything else. 

 

"Safety isn't part of the job," Master He chuckled, opening the door as a balmy sea breeze wafted through the crack. "Never has been!" 

 

Master He quickly slipped through the door, leaving Master Fu feeling more useless than he had ever felt in his life. 

 

---

The Sanctuary of the Black Cat

---

"Chat, wait!" 

 

Ladybug reached out as the shadows swallowed her whole, her whole world tilting backwards as she floated down through what felt like a thick, syrupy liquid. She struggled against the shadowy tendrils and righted herself just in time to fall face-first onto a cold, obsidian floor. 

 

"I already hate this day," Ladybug grumbled. 

 

"L-Ladybug?" Ladybug raised her head to look out a set of black iron bars at a man in a frumpled suit peering through the bars across the hallway. 

 

" T-Tasukete!" The man pleaded, reaching through the bars. " E-eto...eto...h-help! Help p-please!" 

 

Where the hell am I? Ladybug thought, pushing herself to her feet and running up to the bars of her cell. She reached out and tried to pull them off the wall, but the moment she touched them, a wave of nausea and weakness fell over her like a hundred degree fever. She fell backwards, head spinning as the man who had been banging on the bars suddenly clutched his stomach and disappeared out of sight with pained retching noises. 

 

"Shaddup down there!" A strangely familiar voice hollered down the hallway. "I'm trying to watch my dramas!" 

 

It had been so long since she had heard him speak that it took Ladybug a moment to realize who it was. "Plagg?!" 

 

Despite the polished black walls, her voice died as soon as it left the cell, swallowed by silence that coated the prison like a fog. Nevertheless there was a scraping of chairs in the distance and a few moments later, a young man with scraggly black hair skidded to a stop in front of Ladybug's cell. 

 

"Ladybug?" The young man spoke with Plagg's voice, tilting his head to one side. 

 

"...Plagg?" Ladybug asked, eyes drifting up to the black cat-ears poking out of his hair and down to the neon pink running shorts with the words "Kitty Power" bedazzled on the back. "When did you...how did you...why are you wearing shorts?" 

 

"They're comfy and easy to wear," Plagg said, crossing his arms over his lime-green tank top. "Better question; how did you end up in the Obsidian Oubliette?" 

 

"The what ?" Ladybug said, leaning on the bars until another wave of nausea forced her to wobble backwards. "Oh god, what's wrong with this place?" 

 

"Part of the Black Cat's Sanctuary; it's a prison designed to keep our enemies behind bars until we figure out what to do with them," Plagg said, knocking on the cell door. "Used to have a torture chamber before we turned it into a laser tag arena; now apparently it's a bug trap. How did you even get here?" 

 

"I don't know…" Ladybug said, shaking her head. "There was a bridge a-and Firebird and they wanted to destroy the world and I tried to stop them but they started sucking my power out of me and-" 

 

Ladybug's head started spinning for completely unmagical reasons as the enormity of the situation crashed into her.

 

"Plagg I have to get out of here," Ladybug said. "I need to help him!

 

"Okay, breathe ," Plagg said, snapping his fingers and disappearing the bars to Ladybug's cell. "Start from the beginning; where's the kid?" 

 

---

 

Chat Noir had been thrown through enough walls to know that the older the wall, the more it would hurt going through. 

 

Modern architecture was designed to be cheap and featureless, so sailing through a skyscraper was a lot more pleasant than getting his face pummeled through stone and stucco. Which, unfortunately, Venice had quite a lot of. 

 

Firebird landed nimbly on one foot as Chat Noir staggered out of the broken facade, watching crowds of tourists fall back while keeping their phones angled towards the chaos. 

 

"Oh, none of that," Firebird said, raising her finger and drawing a line in the air across the crowd. On cue, several dozen phones caught fire in a shower of sparks and were dropped to the ground as the people ran screaming. "Not yet anyway; I hate it when people spoil the good part." 

 

Kaiser Long landed on the other side of Chat Noir with a heavy thud that cracked the street. "Where's the bug, cat?" 

 

"I'm starting to feel a little slighted," Chat Noir grunted, rubbing his jaw. "Why don't you finish what's on your plate before asking for dessert?" 

 

"You really need to be careful what you ask for, kitty," Firebird said, flexing her fingers at hip-level like a gunfighter waiting to draw. "After sipping on your lovely lady's power, I'm feeling peppier than usual." 

 

"And she's peppy enough as it is," Kaiser Long said, waving his hand and materializing a crystalline throne out of the ground. "Hopefully she'll retain a little of that pep for later."

 

"You know I always have pep for you, pumpkin," Firebird winked, leaning out of the way as Chat Noir flipped his staff around and extended it with a lunging thrust. 

 

"You got Pepto-Bismol too?" Chat Noir growled, swinging his staff around in a wide arc. "Because you make me sick!" 

 

Firebird nimbly jumped over the staff and Kaiser Long raised a hand to catch the pole. As he sat down in his chair, Firebird landed on the staff suspended between her partner and her enemy. 

 

"Aww is someone a bitter kitty because my partner actually likes me?" Firebird cooed, springboarding off the staff diving at Chat Noir with both boots aimed at his face. 

---

"So that was you sending those freaky mind messages," Plagg sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I told him it wasn't a trap." 

 

"It is a trap, but not for him," Ladybug said as Plagg led her through the Sanctuary. "And not one set by me. I didn't know if Nino and the others could have found him in time, but-" 

 

"No, you did the right thing," Plagg said. "Really would have been nice to know about this ahead of time, but it's hardly Alya's fault we've been off-grid for a few months now." 

 

"Doing what ?" Ladybug asked, passing a cell with a malicious looking rabbit gnawing on a steakbone. "Catching bunnies?" 

 

"That bunny is a war criminal," Plagg said, banging on the bars as the rabbit snarled at them. "And she's not the only thing; the world has been overrun with monsters since Hawky made his bid for immortality. We've had our hands full just trying to keep a lid on things." 

 

"And you've been at it alone ?" Ladybug asked. "I thought you were working with the others on...Chat Noir stuff." 

 

"It's a little more complicated than that," Plagg sighed. "Okay, stay put. I'll get in touch with Carapace and maybe we can-" 

 

"What do you mean stay put ?" Ladybug asked. "You can't expect me to sit on my hands while my…" 

 

Ladybug trailed off as she failed to find the words to describe what Chat Noir was to her. Partner? Best Friend? Boyfriend? Enemy?  None of the old titles seemed to work anymore. Everything that Chat Noir and Adrien had been to her was stonewalled behind that terrible day in December; what he was now, Ladybug couldn't say. 

 

"Actually, that's exactly what I expect you to do," Plagg said. "Kaiser Long and Firebird are beyond you right now, especially if those vampires managed to siphon some of Creation's power through you." 

 

"Is that what they are?" Ladybug asked, remembering the cold sucking sensation that seemed to draw power into Firebird. Snapping her fingers, a fluttering red and black butterfly appeared in her palm before taking off. "I don't feel like I'm missing anything…" 

 

"That's because it's not your power; you're just a conduit," Plagg said. "Think of it like knowledge; you don't lose it because you share it with someone else. Firebird increasing her understanding of Creation's power doesn't diminish yours . But the fact remains that she's likely too much for you to handle." 

 

"Hey, I haven't been sitting around doing nothing for four years!" Ladybug huffed, crossing her arms. "Do you know how many monsters Tikki's Sanctuary has?! How many sea-serpents and dragons and giant venomous mermaids I've had to fight while trying to learn how my powers work?" 

 

"There's a big difference between Tikki's household pests and fully realized Avatars," Plagg sighed. "You have to realize, these people have never stayed to fight once we showed up; the second we arrive on scene, they slip out the back with whatever they came for tucked under one arm."

 

"So why are they fighting us now?" Ladybug asked. "Do you think they can beat him?" 

 

"I think they're the type who only fight when they know they can win," Plagg said sourly. "Which tells me they're suddenly very confident in their own abilities."

 

"All the more reason for us to get out there and help Chat Noir," Ladybug said, grabbing Plagg's arm. "If they took power from me, what if they can do the same to him?!" 

---

The roof of the Doge's Palace shattered, sending tourists scrambling as Carapace fell through. He reached out and snagged Queen Bee's chain before he hit the ground as the Salamander phased through the ceiling. 

 

"I guess 'Team Paris' is only effective in Paris," The Salamander sighed, brushing some dust off their suit. The Toad leapt through and bounced slightly as he landed next to his partner. "You're so French that Italy is like Kryptonite for you." 

 

"Zip me," Carapace mumbled, wrapping his free arm around Queen Bee's waist as The Toad's arm extended with a springing jab. Carapace staggered as he parried the blow, but kept his footing long enough for Queen Bee to shoot her chain out and wrap around The Toad's neck. Queen Bee extended her wings and shot forward with Carapace in tow, bringing the brunt of their strength slamming into The Toad shield-first. 

 

Got him, Queen Bee thought, sliding out of Carapace's grip and between The Toad's legs. 

 

"Watch your back, Toady!" The Salamander cried, slipping into the floor and reappearing in the wall behind Queen Bee. Before she could turn around, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her backwards into the wall with a shimmer of orange light. 

 

Chloe! Carapace thought, raising his shield to block a double fisted downward smash from The Toad. Damnit, Alya's gonna kill me for this...

---

"Can I do anything to speed this up?" 

 

"You can stop distracting me," Plagg said, not turning away from the tall obsidian door at the far end of the Sanctuary. "This used to be easier when I had all my mojo; now I think I'll be lucky if I don't drop you in the Atlantic." 

 

Ladybug took a deep breath through her nose, trying to maintain a cool head long enough to assess her situation. 

 

Okay...once I get out of here I need to find Chat and...wait, maybe I need to find Carapace and tell him what's going on. Yeah, I just need to find Nino...although if I can't find Nino, how long am I supposed to look? Okay, call Carapace and let him know what happened; then….then…come on think Marinette!

 

Plagg tapped on the door a few times, opened it to check and winced as the sounds of polka floated through the crack. "Nope, wrong country." 

 

"Plagg!" 

 

"Keep your spots on, I'm trying !" Plagg grumbled, slamming the door and pressing his hands against it once again. "Nag, nag, nag …" 

 

After another moment, Plagg cracked the door again and stuck his head through. A sharp scream followed by frantic cursing in Italian seemed to be the answer Plagg was looking for as he quickly slammed the door again. 

 

"Okay...there is a very irate old lady on the other side of that door, but you can probably just ignore her," Plagg said, furrowing his brow. "Actually, you probably should watch out for flying shampoo bottles on your way out, but it's the best I can do for now." 

 

"It'll have to do." Ladybug rushed forward only to feel Plagg's hand on the crook of her arm. "Plagg, I don't have time for-" 

 

"Listen," Plagg said, levity evaporating from his voice as Ladybug turned to look at him. Even diminished as he was, he was still a walking Avatar of Destruction and capable of summoning a death glare capable of peeling paint off the wall. 

 

"Whatever happens out there, getting yourself and Chat Noir out of Venice is the only priority," Plagg said firmly. "Adrien isn't going to see it that way; he's been hunting these... things for four years.I don't even know if you can actually call them people anymore. We've seen what they can do and we've seen what happens when we let them get away. Now that he has his hands on them, he's not going to want to let them go."

 

Suddenly, fighting Kaiser Long and Firebird didn't seem to be the most daunting task in front of her.

 

 "He's not going to listen to me," Ladybug said, before hesitantly asking. "Is he?" 

 

"Probably not," Plagg admitted. "If he sent you here, he probably doesn't want you part of this fight; too bad for his stubborn ass I'm allergic to doing what I'm told and have a vested interest in keeping him alive...even if that means stepping on a sore spot by calling in the spotted cavalry." 

 

"Is it that sore of a spot?" Ladybug asked with a wince. 

 

"What did you think would happen, Ladybug?" Plagg sighed. "There's a lot of open wounds that have just been festering since you went on hiatus; in his mind...I don't think he thinks of you as a partner anymore." 

 

Ladybug nodded, swallowing a heavy lump in her throat. "Yeah...I didn't think he would." 

 

"But that doesn't make him your enemy," Plagg said, shaking her shoulder. "I don't get human stuff most of the time; you guys have a world of emotions Tikki and I wouldn't even know what to do with. I don't think he hates you...I just think he doesn't trust you anymore." 

 

"How can I make him understand that I would rather die than turn my back on him again?" Ladybug asked. "What am I supposed to say?" 

 

"I don't think talking's gonna solve this," Plagg said. "Let's face it; you told him that you trusted him for years but when the chips were down, your actions didn't line up to your big promises. You want to do something? Do something; don't just talk about it." 

 

Ladybug nodded, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to meet Plagg's gaze. "Okay...I promise, I won't-" 

 

Ladybug stopped herself with a shake of her head. "No...I can't promise I won't let him down again. But I can show him." 

 

"You always were the smarty-pants," Plagg chuckled, releasing his grip on Ladybug's arm and giving her a gentle shove as he opened the door. "Bon chance, buggaboo. And as long as you're taking my advice, duck ." 

 

"Ch-Che cazzo?!" 

 

Ladybug ducked a split second before the enraged Venetian whose home Plagg had transported her to hurled a bar of soap at her head. Behind her, Plagg grunted in pain as the door slammed behind her, leaving her alone in the bathroom with a ninety-year old grandmother in a sodden pink bathrobe.

 

"...bonjourno!" Ladybug said with a weak smile as she ran through the tiny apartment, ignoring the cries of surprise of the family who lived there as she kicked the balcony window open. 

 

"Ja-cuzzi!" Ladybug said, wincing immediately as she leapt off the balcony and onto the roof across the street. Plagg's teleportation had managed to get her in the city, but the Piazza San Marco and the chaos that seemed to be surrounding it was a way's away. From her vantage point, Ladybug could see a portion of the Palace's dome crumble as a gout of green fire erupted from the plaza nearby. Black clouds that had seemed miles away when she arrived now appeared to be ready to roll over Venice, dim flashes of lightning sparking in the depths as the wind whipped at her hair. 

 

Fumbling with her communicator, Ladybug flicked it open and frantically mashed her finger against Rena Rouge's icon as she swung. "Pickup, pickup, pickup!" 

 

The screen on her communicator flickered, replaced by a wild-eyed Rena Rouge running through the streets of Paris. 

 

"Talk fast," Rena Rouge said, camera shaking as she ran. "What happened?" 

 

"Let's see...I had a chat with some very crazy people, they tried to suck the life out of me, Chat Noir showed up and threw me in his Sanctuary-" 

 

"What?!" Rena Rouge demanded. "How did he even know what was going on?!" 

 

Ladybug spent a few moments trying to describe her unspoken link with Chat Noir before giving up. "I tried reaching out to him; I didn't think he got my message, but-" 

 

"Okay, don't have time to question this right now," Rena Rouge sighed, turning her gaze back to the screen. "Carapace is in charge; find him and tell him that I want you all back here pronto!" 

 

"Alya…" Ladybug said in a quiet voice as she sailed over the streets closer to the sounds of battle. "Chat's not going to want to go. Plagg said as much...maybe if we all-"

 

A distant boom drew Ladybug's attention to the smoke rising behind Rena Rouge. "What's happening in Paris?!" 

 

"They're pinning us down so we can't leave the city," Rena Rouge said, ducking into an alleyway. "Those Poison Clan freaks launched an attack before we could move to support you." 

 

The implication of Alya's words was not lost on Ladybug as she landed on a rooftop. " They set this all up." 

 

"They did, but we still can't leave without putting people in danger here," Rena Rouge sighed. "We're going to try and handle this quickly, but for you, the priority is escape."

 

"Okay...I'll find Carapace and figure out a way out of this," Ladybug said, glancing around the battlefield. As much as she wanted to run headlong in Chat Noir's direction, facing Firebird after having power sucked through her unnerved her. 

 

"Alive, you hear me?" Rena Rouge said firmly, her eyes burning into Ladybug's. "I want my partners back here alive and in one piece; that's an order. " 

 

Does that include me? Ladybug wondered. 

 

"I'll do my best," Ladybug said, nodding shakily as Rena Rouge's screen went dark. From her vantage point, the city stretched out in front of her with two distinct battlefields separated by a kilometer or two. 

 

Will the police be able to help? Ladybug thought, prowling back and forth on the rooftop as she nervously fidgeted with her communicator. What about Section 13? Did they get far? I know they said they wouldn't fight but now that Chat Noir's here maybe they...oh but who knows where they are right now. I can't worry about that...I have to find Carapace and then…and then…

 

Ladybug's breath started hitching in her chest as she looked around, seeing a million ways out of the city and a million and one ways her enemies could thwart their retreat.

 

Okay, say I come up with a way out. Ladybug thought as tension wound like a spring in her gut. How do I get Adrien to follow me? 

 

"Hey, sweetie, I know I torpedoed every reason you have to trust me, but I need you to do what I say just one more time."

 

...yeah, that'll go over well. I'll probably just get binned again...oh god what if he tries to throw me back in that cell?! He needs my help...right? I can help, can't I? No...no of course I can help. I have to show him he can trust me again...I can still fix-

 

"Are you going to stare all day or actually do something?" 

 

Ladybug jumped, ribbons whipping out of her wrist and lashing out instinctively as a voice spoke over her shoulder. A tall, old woman in white narrowly avoided her blind attack, parrying Ladybug's ribbon with a swing of her dagger. 

 

"Honestly," Master Crane clucked, shaking her head. "I thought we were past this stage of our relationship..." 

---

" Stay still!" 

 

Queen Bee's whip tore into the walls of the crumbling palace as The Salamander disappeared into the floor. 

 

"Why would you even ask that?" The Salamander asked, materializing behind Queen Bee and launching a kick at her head. The air shimmered and she disappeared, reappearing a split second later with her heel aimed at The Salamander's porcelain mask. Her boot passed through their incorporeal form as they floated out of the way of her attack. 

 

One stupid lizard, two stupid lizards, three stupid lizards, four stupid lizards… 

 

Queen Bee's mental countdown stopped as The Salamander's body seemed to rematerialize, their boots once again clacking on the polished floor. 

 

Four seconds. Is that his limit or is he just done playing around? 

 

"You really don't expect me to sit around and let you wail on me, do you?" The Salamander sniffed, brushing some dust off their jacket's shoulder.

 

"God forbid you make my life easier," Queen Bee growled, glancing out the window as a flicker of red caught her attention. "Oh you little killstealer…" 

 

The Salamander turned just in time to see the window shatter as Ladybug came crashing through with a swinging kick, heels tucked against her chest as she aimed for The Salamander's head. He shimmered for a moment, but Ladybug seemed to get to him before he could turn totally immaterial. The Salamander grunted in pain as he rolled across the floor, bouncing off the wall a little as Ladybug landed in front of Queen Bee. 

 

"...you do not get credit for that win," Queen Bee said, floating alongside Ladybug. "Where the hell did you go?!" 

 

"Long story," Ladybug said as Master Crane fluttered in through the broken window. "Where's Carapace?" 

---

Carapace deflected another springing punch as he backed across the ballroom floor, counting the paces between him and The Toad. 

 

That was weaker than the last punch, Carapace thought, hopping backwards as The Toad retracted his left arm. And he either can't shoot both out at once or he's choosing not to for some reason. 

 

Carapace pressed his back flat against the far wall as The Toad's fist shot out, stretching across the ballroom and brushing his knuckles against his shield with a gentle nudge. 

 

Twenty meters max; after that he loses a lot of power and has to snap back! 

 

Carapace grabbed onto the Toad's wrist, leaping as he rubberbanded back towards The Toad's face. The speed at which he shot was too fast for The Toad to do more than raise his other arm in defense. Even as his free hand swelled to the size of a dinner table, Carapace's force was enough to send him bouncing back, smashing through the wall and knocking into The Salamander as he stumbled to his feet. 

 

"You're killing me, Toady!" The Salamander grunted as the pair slammed through another wall and crashed into the canal with a distant splash.  

 

"...well that answers my question," Ladybug coughed. 

 

"How's that for popping bands?" Carapace panted, patting Queen Bee on the small of her back as she approached. 

 

"He'll think twice before snapping back," Queen Bee said, bumping her hip into Carapace's. "Any trouble, Shelly?" 

 

"I think I'm starting to get a feel for his kit; should have him licked next time," Carapace said, turning to Ladybug and Master Crane. "You okay?" 

 

"I had some help getting off the bridge," Ladybug said, glancing at Master Crane. "This whole thing is scuffed; Rena Rouge told us to pull out and get back to Paris." 

 

"Don't have to tell me twice," Carapace said, shouldering his shield. "Hit the gift shop and let's get the hell out of here; our extraction point is just outside the city. With any luck we can slip out before the amphibians get back on their feet. " 

 

"It's not that simple anymore," Master Crane said, looking at Ladybug. 

 

"Why the hell not?" Carapace asked. "Rena said extract so we're extracting; end of story. Everybody's here, so let's just-" 

 

A distant boom and a flash of green flames answered Carapace's question. 

 

"Perfect," Carapace groaned. "Now he wants to show up."

---

Fighting Firebird was like trying to fistfight a bonfire. 

 

Every time Chat Noir seemed to land a solid punch on her, she would flicker away at the last moment. Fang's glittering edge carved deep grooves in the street as she danced and skipped out of range. Each crackling beam of fire he threw at her only shattered a nearby building as she was suddenly behind him, launching an attack of her own while Kaiser Long watched from afar. 

 

Worse of all, no matter how hard Chat Noir tried to hit her, no matter how close he got with his staff or claws, Firebird refused to shut the fuck up. 

 

"Are you having fun yet, kitten?" Firebird snickered, leaning out of the way of a sword-thrust and catching Chat Noir hard in the stomach with an uppercut that sent him stumbling backwards a few paces. "Come on, where's that Chat Noir sense of humor? I thought you were looking forward to this!" 

 

Chat Noir saw a glimmer of gold appear in Firebird's palm and managed to get his sword up in time to block the rope-dart as it launched from the center of Firebird's palm. The rope dripped hot sparks as it wrapped around Fang's blade, seemingly impervious to the razor sharp edge as Chat Noir tried to pull out of her grip. 

 

"Get over here!" Firebird shouted in a deep, mocking baritone, yanking Chat Noir across the plaza with a flick of her wrist. Chat Noir tried to brace himself; tried to fight against the strength she seemed to wield so easily. But like the fish at the end of a line he sailed towards her, righting himself halfway through his involuntary flight. 

 

One clean shot, Chat Noir thought, shifting the sword in his hands so he flew point-first at Firebird. With any luck I can use the force of her whip to-

 

"Ah, ah, ah," Kaiser Long chuckled, snapping his fingers as the sword drew closer to his partner. There was a flash of emerald light and a shuddering crash as a gigantic crystal wall materialized in front of Chat Noir.

 

Oh that's right, Chat Noir thought as he saw his wide-eyed reflection in the crystal. I've never had any luck...

 

Fang cut through the barrier, but the impact of the blow knocked him off-course as he continued to hurtle towards Firebird in a tangle of steel and flailing limbs. 

 

"Thanks for the set ," Firebird crowed, flipping above Chat Noir with a graceful pirouette. "Here comes the spike!" 

 

Chat Noir felt the air leave his lungs as Firebird came down hard on him with both hands driven into his stomach. The stone shattered as he bounced up off the ground, flipping over in time to see Firebird line up a footballer's kick aimed directly at his face. His arms came up in time to soften the blow, but the force still sent him sprawling across the plaza, landing in a crumpled heap at Kaiser Long's feet. 

 

Kaiser Long's light clapping echoed across the barren plaza as police sirens rang in the distance. "You know I really miss watching your volleyball games." 

 

"You miss watching me run around in volleyball shorts," Firebird said, sticking her tongue out as she skipped up to where Chat Noir struggled to push himself upright.

 

"I can miss more than one thing," Kaiser Long said, pressing his boot against Chat Noir's shoulder blades and pushing him back against the ground.  "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

 

"You'd like that, huh?" Chat Noir grunted, reaching for Fang's blade with his free hand. 

 

"I would, actually," Kaiser Long said, grinding his heel against Chat Noir's back. "At some point, Chat Noir, you're going to have to learn when you're beaten and-" 

 

A flicker of electricity from the tips of Chat Noir's fingers drew Kaiser Long's eye.

 

"Oh you sore loser," Kaiser Long sighed, black wings extending and leaping into the air a split second before the Cataclysm ripped through the historic plaza beneath their feet. It arced out in neat patterns, carving out a clean chunk straight through to the bay and disintegrating the historic street without touching any of the nearby buildings. Water began rushing in to fill the gap, swallowing Chat Noir as he gripped on to Fang for support.   

 

"I'm not sure he knows how to lose," Firebird said, landing on the steeple of the tower as she watched Chat Noir disappear beneath the waves. 

 

"I'll have to educate him then," Kaiser Long said, raising a hand and extending his fingers at the churning water beneath them. The waves slowly ceased and froze over into a solid glacial chunk, forming a platform sturdy enough for Kaiser Long to land on. He tucked his wings back into his body, eyes scanning the ice beneath his feet for any sign of movement. 

 

"Is it too much to hope he died?" Kaiser Long called, turning to look up at his wife. "That would be-" 

 

Behind you! 

 

Firebird's voice echoed in his mind as Kaiser Long heard the ice behind him splinter. Kaiser Long whipped around, raising his hands to defend himself as Chat Noir erupted through the ice, Fang held high and glinting in the light. 

 

"Need a hand, scalie?!" Chat Noir hissed, slamming his sword down on Kaiser Long's crossed arms. He felt a small amount of resistance for a moment as his blade touched Kaiser Long's arms before the blade cleanly passed through his crossed forearms. 

 

Got him! Chat Noir thought with a grin. Kaiser Long roared in pain, staggering back as his coat sleeves sailed away in the breeze, his arms falling to the ground at his feet. 

 

"You little shit!" Firebird howled, diving from the nearby rooftop like a bird of prey, burning wings blazing as she slammed into Chat Noir like a bullet. The ice around Kaiser Long started melting from the heat of her fury as she swung at Chat Noir like a wild animal, hands twisted into claws that burned with white hot fingertips. 

 

Kaiser Long sighed, rolling his shoulders as he watched his limbs twitch on the ground. "This is becoming irritating…" 

 

Chat Noir tumbled across the frozen waves, using his sword to brake his slide as Firebird landed in front of her partner, arm out to shield him from attacks

 

"Congratulations," Kaiser Long said, letting his coat slide off his shoulders to reveal a backless, sleeveless black shirt underneath.  "You ruined my jacket; are you happy now?" 

 

"Is that all you're worried about?" Chat Noir chuckled, picking up one of Kaiser Long's dismembered arms pointing at the cauterized stumps they used to be attached to. "You should be more concerned about how easily I disarmed you just-" 

 

The arm in Chat Noir's hand suddenly twitched, springing to life and seizing him around the throat with a cold iron grip. 

 

"Why do you feel the need to gloat over every minor victory you think you achieve?" Kaiser Long growled. Chat Noir clawed at the hand that started drawing green light from his throat until he felt Firebird's grip around his wrists, drawing his arms behind him as Kaiser Long approached. 

 

"I thought you would have learned by now," Kaiser Long said, watching the tips of Chat Noir's boots start to dissolve, revealing worn sneakers underneath. "We have survived all these years because we can turn any situation to our advantage with a little effort." 

 

What is he doing to me?! Chat Noir's head swam as he tried to touch Firebird long enough to get a Cataclysm off. Kaiser Long stepped up to his floating arm and calmly lined the stumps up. A glittering green light sparkled at the seams and fused his arm back together with a pop of energy. 

 

"Take this little disasterpiece of a mission for example," Kaiser Long said, reattaching his second arm as his grip around Chat Noir's throat tightened. "If Ladybug didn't call you, we would have had her all to ourselves; if she did, we would have two sources of power to draw from at the same time. And even if she didn't show up, we have dozens of other investments just waiting to bear fruit."  

 

Kaiser Long glanced over Chat Noir's shoulder, eyes glinting as a smile tugged at his lips. "But maybe a more practical example is necessary." 

 

Firebird rolled to one side as Ladybug's glittering red and pink shield sailed at the back of her head. Kaiser Long tossed Chat Noir with a flick of his wrist, slamming him into Ladybug's shield and sending him rolling along the ground. He landed on his back, coughing and gasping for air as Ladybug slid up to his side, fumbling to pick up her shield. 

 

"Like I said, everything turns to our advantage sooner or later," Kaiser Long said, dusting his hands off. "And would you look at this; the wayward bug has returned. How fortunate." 

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ladybug said with a wince as Chat Noir stumbled to his feet, his suit reforming as his connection to his own power was restored. "I-I was trying to hit Firebird, I didn't think she-" 

 

"What are you doing here?!' Chat Noir coughed, pulling away from Ladybug. "How did you even get here? Did Plagg-" 

 

"It was my idea," Ladybug said as Carapace dashed in front of them, shield raised and ready to defend. "I convinced him to let me out; I wouldn't stop until he-" 

 

"That was a mistake ," Chat Noir growled. "At least in there you were safe from these lunatics; what possessed you to come back ?!" 

 

Is this really where we are? Ladybug asked herself. He has to question why I would come help him?

 

"I...I couldn't just leave you," Ladybug said, handing Fang back to Chat Noir who snatched it from her grip and slammed it back in its scabbard. "Chat, we have to get to safety-"

 

"Then get to safety," Chat Noir sighed, wobbling a little unsteadily. "Go; I have this handled." 

 

"Is that what you were doing?" Firebird chuckled, leaning on her husband's shoulder. "Am I supposed to feel handled right now?" 

 

Queen Bee zipped around the far side of the plaza as Master Crane perched on a rooftop nearby. Firebird's eyes wandered between each of the heroes, lingering on Master Crane as she drew her weapons.  

 

"Sorry, the Ladybug and Chat Noir diner is closed for the day," Carapace called across the ice. "We're taking your meal to-go." 

 

"Like hell you are," Chat Noir grumbled, stepping past Carapace. "Run if you want, but I'm not letting these monsters escape!" 

 

"That's not up to you ," Carapace growled, stepping in front of Chat Noir and bracing a hand against his chest. "Rena says all hands back to Paris, she means all hands back to Paris." 

 

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you trying to pull rank on me ?" Chat Noir laughed. A glowing green claw materialized over Chat Noir's shoulder and attempted to shove Carapace to one side, but Carapace held firm, grabbing Chat Noir's collar and dragging him up to eye level. In all the years Ladybug had known them, she had never seen them look at each other with more irritation or anger. 

 

What happened? She thought, keeping a wary eye on her enemies who seemed content to watch and wait as the sounds of helicopters drew near. Several speedboats with flashing lights appeared on the horizon, warily approaching the wall of ice as another rumble of thunder rippled from the oncoming storm. 

 

"I don't have time to entertain your fucking moods right now, dude," Carapace said. "You stepped in the middle of our operation-" 

 

"Thanks for the heads-up, by the way; I really appreciate being kept in the loop." 

 

"-you are not going to screw this up because you suddenly want to play hero!" Carapace snapped. 

 

Ladybug's heart squeezed with almost palpable dread; she had tread on that sore spot before and it had not ended well. 

 

"Chat," Ladybug said, dropping her voice to a low whisper as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Adrien...I know this is sudden and you're probably really confused, but right now we need to work together-" 

 

"Right now, you need to take your hands off me," Chat Noir said, voice polite but eyes colder than a crypt as he looked at her. Ladybug blinked, stepping backwards as though he had shoved her away. It would almost have been better if he had; at least that would have meant he felt something for her besides irritation and unease. Somehow, she hoped the time they had spent apart would have done something to heal the rift in their relationship; now she saw that the gulf between them was deeper and wider than she could have ever dreaded. 

 

A tingle of light drew Ladybug's attention as Kaiser Long manifested a glittering crystal throne out of the ice. 

 

"Oh, forgive me," Kaiser Long sighed, settling back in the chair as Firebird slid into his lap. "I didn't know how long this little domestic spat was going to last so we figured we'd get comfortable while we waited." 

 

"By all means, continue," Firebird said, holding out a hand and accepting an apple Kaiser Long snapped into existence. "I had an inkling your so-called partnership was a sham based on how it imploded, but this is like a train full of clowns on fire." 

 

"At this point, I don't really care what you two decide to do," Chat Noir growled, shoving Carapace to one side. "Just don't get in my way!" 

 

Heavy drops of rain arrived with the first of the police cars. Above them, a man with a megaphone leaned out of a helicopter and said something Ladybug couldn't quite understand over the din of the water crashing against the shore and the wind howling through the city's canals. In a way, things had finally flipped to their advantage; disjointed as they were, they were still a team of five heroes with an entire city backing them up versus two solitary figures. The odds were stacked in their favor...so why did she feel such unease? 

 

"Oops, looks like the cavalry is here," Firebird said, hopping off Kaiser Long's lap with a lazy stretch. 

 

"More than just the cavalry," Kaiser Long said, rolling his bare shoulders as he surveyed the ring of police slowly advancing on the plaza. "It looks like the whole damn world is against us." 

 

"Of course it is, darling," Firebird said with a wink. "It wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise." 

 

Kaiser Long raised his fist as he took his spot next to his partner, bumping it against hers as their eyes suddenly flashed with a luminescent spark of magical energy. A ripple of invisible power washed over the growing crowd of police, and Ladybug was suddenly clobbered with the most terrible sense of deja vu. She had been in this fight before; her entire partnership with Chat Noir had been two people overcoming odds that most normal people would crumble under. 

 

Now that she was on the other side of the field, facing down a duo that looked ready to take on the world, she suddenly knew what it felt like to be an akuma.

Notes:

In the words of another blonde black-cat loving punmaster "The gang's all here; now we can die together!"

Surprisingly my Hurt Adrien AU is now much sunnier than actual canon is! I originally had this cutting back and forth with Paris' fight but that got a little confusing (even for me) so I pulled it out and decided to work it into the next chapter alongside the Venice fight that is going to go Totally Fine for our heroes.

Next time! Alpha Ladynoir vs Beta Ladynoir! Can Ladybug and Chat Noir get on the same page long enough to win? Can Rena Rouge defeat the Poison Clan in Paris and arrive in time to help? Will Kaiser Long ever get a new jacket or is he just stuck in the virgin-killer tank-top for the rest of the story?

Answers to most of these questions next time on MWD!

Chapter 8: Rookie of the Year

Summary:

Music Credits
Red - Calliope Mori

Notes:

Authors Notes: I couldn't find Chris' age anywhere so for the sake of this story, I'm placing him and Manon at about fourteen (5 when the show aired, 9 during the events of T&C, and 13/14 here after the timeskip)

Paris, France

 

" Attention all students; a dangerous anomaly has been detected outside school grounds. Please proceed to the ARK security bunker and await further instructions." 

 

Manon swept her books and pencils into her bag in one practiced motion, clutching her phone closely to her chest as she filed out of the library alongside a group of chattering students. 

 

"You think it's those guys in white masks again?" 

 

"I don't know; my dad says there's a van on fire down by the river." 

 

"I can't get a hold of my uncle; what part of the city are they in?!" 

 

The hubbub of excitement and worry that surrounded her was one she had grown accustomed to; even before she had entered collège, running and hiding in a cramped security bunker alongside her classmates was almost a weekly occurrence. Classrooms were supposed to stay together and try to keep lessons going, but in practice most of the student body was too on-edge to pay attention. 

 

"You think this means the history exam is cancelled?" 

 

Most of the student body. 

 

"You didn't study, did you?" Manon asked as Chris Lahiffe fell into step next to her, phone out and camera light on as they walked through the crowd towards the bunker. 

 

"I can't believe you're accusing me of that," Chris said, turning the camera on her as he walked ahead of her. "After all our years of friendship-" 

 

"It's all those years of friendship that tell me you didn't," Manon chuckled, blocking his camera with the palm of her hand. 

 

"Nine out of the last ten exams had to be postponed because of some mystical mumbo-jumbo, mad scientist, or venomous army of carrier pigeons," Chris said, trying to snake around her hand to get her face back in frame. "History has proven we will never take a test on time unless we study abroad." 

 

"Wouldn't you need to study history to know that?" Manon smirked as Chris bumped into M. Moulin, a tall, gaunt man who looked old enough to have lived through most of the history he had taught. 

 

"Do we need to discuss cell-phone use policy again, M. Lahiffe?" M. Moulin asked. 

 

"I-I'm just recording history in the making, M. Moulin!" Chris said, panning around the small crowd of students either waving or making obscene gestures as they waited to file into the bunker. "Someday these vlogs are going to be shown in schools as part of Paris' rich history! A living testament of the time where ordinary students-" 

 

"I don't need the dissertation, M. Lahiffe," M. Moulin sighed. "For the sake of graduate students everywhere, please refrain from too much obnoxious video editing; if you are attempting to record history as you so claim, please at least have respect for the subject matter." 

 

"Of course, sir!" Chris said, dropping his voice as he followed Manon through the crowd. "You know what, just for that, I'm gonna auto-tune every word he just said…" 

 

"I'll pay you to release a full remix," Manon chuckled. "Or maybe even a-" 

 

"Wait, look!" 

 

Manon trailed off as the crowd craned their necks to the ceiling, watching as a purple butterfly floated through the air over their heads. Memories of being five and listening to that low, sinister voice in her ear came bubbling back to the surface, even as her rational mind told her that Monarch was nothing like Hawk Moth was. Still, as the butterfly disappeared into a plush doll that dangled from a keychain on her backpack, a familiar purple mask floated over her face. 

 

"Holy shit ," Chris whispered as Manon suddenly became uncomfortably aware of all the cameras aimed at her. "Nobody our age has gotten to be a hero since...well, since Hawk Moth but that didn't count!" 

 

" Manon Chamack," a soft, slightly harried voice called in her ear. " A pleasure to meet you; my name is Monarch and I was hoping to borrow your skills in Paris' defense." 

 

Mom's really not gonna like this, Manon thought as she shakily raised her hand. "M. Moulin? May I be excused to go fight crime?" 

 

---

 

"Where's Sabrina?!" 

 

Blood pulsed in Rena Rouge's ears as she scanned the skyline ahead of her, looking for flickers of movement amid the crowds of people scrambling to find a bunker with enough space to take them. Flames rose from upturned cars she leapt over as she ran, using her staff to vault over rubble while Monarch frantically pinged every stand-by hero in her registry. 

 

"I can't get a good read on her," Monarch sighed, sending a fluttering purple butterfly off the tip of her finger. "Gamer isn't picking up either. I sent word to Puppeteer, she should be here before we-" 

 

" What?!" Rena Rouge skidded to a stop in the middle of the street. "You called Manon ?!"

 

"Is that how you pronounce it?" Monarch said with a wince.

"She's a kid !" 

 

"I'm aware ," Monarch replied. 

 

"And you thought it was a good idea to bring a teenager into this mess? " 

 

"Wouldn't be the first time a teenager has been called to defend this city," Monarch said, brushing past Rena Rouge until she felt a hand on her wrist. "Yes?" 

 

"I thought we had an understanding," Rena Rouge said as evenly as she could. "No kid-heroes-" 

 

"-except in dire circumstances," Monarch finished, jerking her head down the road. "How much worse do you want it to be? Puppeteer has the potential to end this without unnecessary risk to herself or others; that's more than we can say for most heroes." 

 

"I know, but…" Rena Rouge fumbled for an excuse that would satisfy both her conscience and her duty and came up dry. "God, has it really come to this?" 

 

"She will be behind me this entire fight," Monarch promised. "Anyone who tries to harm her will need to contend with me first; you have my word." 

 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rena Rouge asked. "You're not exactly the most-"

 

"Yes?" Monarch said, raising an eyebrow.

 

"- powerful ," Rena Rouge said as gingerly as she could, watching Monarch's cheeks flush beneath her mask. "I mean, let's face it; we're not Nino or-" 

 

"I'm capable of plenty of power without Nooroo's help," Monarch said, turning to dash down the street. "And a Monarch that doesn't lead isn't worth following!" 

 

If I had time to argue, I would, Rena Rouge thought as she ran after Monarch. But short on options as we are, we have to make due...I just hope Nino and Chloe are hanging in there. 

 

"Bluebird, we're moving towards Ménilmuche," Rena Rouge called into her communicator. "Multiple battlegrounds with unknown assailants; give me some good news!

 

---

 

"Uhhhh...well, it's a very pretty day out, all things considered?" Bluebird said, glancing down mid-flight as a pair of white vans burst out from a nearby garage. Behind the wheel, he could make out a figure in a pearly white mask swerving out of the way of abandoned cars as they barreled down the street. 

 

"Mercs in white vans heading your way," Bluebird said, tucking into a dive and trying to get closer to the vans. "Does that count as good news?" 

 

"Stall them; we're closing in on something and I don't want any uninvited guests," Rena Rouge commanded as the sounds of gunfire grew louder.

 

"Divide and conquer it is then," Bluebird said, hanging up as he flew closer. As long as we're the ones doing the dividing and conquering, right? 

 

The window rolled down and The Cobra stuck their head out, mask glinting as they raised a pistol and fired several shots in Bluebird's direction. He swerved past the first bullet, but The Cobra had already re-targeted and fired a second shot by the time Bluebird was in position. The force of the impact knocked him off balance, and by the time he righted himself, another round expertly clipped his other wing. 

 

How does he know where I'm going to be?! Bluebird thought, pulling back as the cars zipped ahead around the corner. 

 

"Tigress, I need a roadblock!" Bluebird said, pulling up and cutting across the block as the vans drove around. 

 

"A nice one or a not-so-nice one?" Tigress replied, her shimmering form barely visible as it darted across the rooftops next to him. 

 

"He shot me, so screw him ," Bluebird said, cutting across the street and floating over Tigress' barely visible form. A single blue feather detached itself from its fan and arced down to strike his sister in her bracelet as she leapt. "Introduce him to Tigger while you're at it." 

 

" You and me, tiger!" Tigress crowed, diving on the vans as a giant blue tiger Sentimonster materialized from her Miraculous. 

 

---

 

The Cobra saw the flicker of blue out of the corner of his mask and managed to brush his thumb along the snake-shaped ring on his finger before Tigress slammed into the van. Her trident skewered the engine block and sent the car tumbling through the air, knocking his men out as their helmets banged against the dashboard. 

 

Chance of success minimal, a voice whispered in his ear as he pulled himself out of the van's crumpled wreckage. 

 

"Reset," The Cobra hissed as the tiger Sentimonster prowled closer, freezing in mid air as the world around him melted. 

 

Resetting now. 

 

The Cobra blinked, suddenly back behind the wheel of a functioning van as it barreled down the street. He took hold of the wheel and jerked it left, watching Tigress and her Sentimonster crash into the street where his van had been moments earlier. 

 

"Jones, Cortez, suppressing fire," The Cobra ordered, keeping one eye on the van door as it opened and a hail of rubber bullets loosed from their weapons. There was a yelp of pain as Jones was snared by the tiger Sentimonster and dragged out of the back of the van onto the street. 

 

"Analysis," The Cobra demanded, unbuckling his seatbelt. 

 

Probability of victory still within acceptable parameters, the voice in his ear whispered. Proceed at your discretion. 

 

The Cobra brushed his thumb across the ring again as he stepped out of the van, snapping the snake-head cane into existence with a flick of his wrist as a shadow passed overhead. He pivoted in time to catch the heavy edge of Bluebird's fan as he brought it down with a diving swing, staggering backwards and bumping into the van. 

 

"Analysis," The Cobra grunted, watching the giant fan split in two as Bluebird continued his assault. Both fans swung in glittering prismatic arcs, slicing into the metal sides of the van while his men unsuccessfully tried to pin down Tigress and her Sentimonster. 

 

Possibility of victory nearing sixty percent, the voice in his ear relayed as The Cobra committed each swing of Bluebird's fans to memory. Recommend proceeding as planned and-

 

"Reset," The Cobra commanded, closing his eyes as the world around him shifted yet again. His eyes snapped open as he stepped out of the van, once again materializing his cane just as Bluebird's shadow flickered overhead. This time he backpedaled away from the diving blow, raising his cane to block each swing of his fans as they scythed towards his head. 

 

Left swing, right swing, spin, cut attack, The Cobra thought, watching as an opening appeared in the sea of swinging steel. There. 

 

With almost surgical precision, he lunged, cane slamming into Bluebird's chest and sending him staggering backwards into the van. 

 

Probability of victory nearing sixty five percent, the voice in his ear remarked as Bluebird snapped his fans back together with a flourish. 

 

"How the hell do you do that?" Bluebird grunted. 

 

" Practice makes perfect ," The Cobra replied, raising his cane defensively. 

 

---

Venice, Italy

 

"This is the deputy commissioner of Venetian police! You are participating in unlawful acts in violation of historical property and human life! Surrender immediately, or we will be forced to use deadly force!" 

 

The roar of the wind and waves against the shore nearly drowned out the police's bullhorn as the helicopter swooped lower and lower with each circling pass. Ladybug gripped her shield closer to her chest, heart pounding as the rain began falling in heavy hammering sheets. Across the ice field, Kaiser Long and Firebird seemed to be waiting for them to make the first move, backs pressed against one another as they surveyed the scene around them. By now, several dozen armed police officers were closing in on the plaza, riot-shields raised and visors obscured by rain. 

 

Ahead of her, Carapace glanced between Chat Noir's back and Queen Bee across the plaza, hand dropping between his legs and extending his index, middle, and ring fingers. Queen Bee nodded, glancing at Master Crane whose eyes never seemed to leave Firebird's back. 

 

And then there was Chat Noir, pacing back and forth in front of her like a caged tiger, willingly blind to anything that wasn't the prey in front of him. 

 

Okay, Ladybug thought as her eyes swept the field. What's the opening move here? 

 

Fighting Tikki's monsters was simple compared to this; they weren't a real match for her and as the years wore on, they had become more annoyances than adversaries. She didn't have to worry about maneuvering around a sea-serpent's strategy; she just hit it until it swam away. Compared to that, the situation she found herself in had a thousand and one ways it could go wrong before it even started going right. 

 

" I repeat, this is the deputy commissioner of Venetian police!" The bullhorn called again as the helicopter passed back around. "You will not be warned again! Surrender your arms and come peacefully; we are authorized to use deadly force if you persist in this dangerous behavior!"

 

" They're authorized to use deadly force?" Firebird pouted, turning to her partner. "How come you never authorize me to use deadly force?" 

 

Is he in charge? Ladybug thought, bouncing between the pair of them, trying to glean who was calling the shots from their brief exchange. Or is she? There has to be a chain of command here...right?

 

"Your skincare routine has more deadly force than this whole miserable city put together, darling," Kaiser Long chuckled as the helicopter swept back around for its final descent. "But since you're asking, consider yourself authorized ." 

 

"Something's coming," Ladybug said, watching Firebird step away from her partner, cracking her knuckles as the helicopter began descending to the ground. She raised her hand at the helicopter, tucking her middle finger against her thumb in a gesture that sent a spike of panic pumping through Ladybug's heart. 

 

"Carapace, you need to-" Ladybug's last words were swallowed by a screech like a screaming raptor as a jet of crackling orange fire blasted from the tip of Firebird's fingers. The megaphone distorted the final scream of the deputy police commissioner as his helicopter erupted in a brilliant ball of glowing orange flames. 

 

"Look out!" Ladybug raised her shield in time to catch a helicopter blade as it detached and came spinning at Carapace's head. Carapace extended a bubble over them but Chat Noir was already on the move, darting ahead as the helicopter slammed into the ice sheet beneath their feet. 

 

"Chat wait!" Ladybug called, but Chat Noir was either unable to hear her or unwilling to stop. 

 

The formerly rock-solid surface shattered into dozens of fragmented chunks floating on seawater that came spilling in the shattered dam. Ahead of her, Ladybug could see Chat Noir hopping from ice-floe to ice-floe, eyes locked on Firebird as she angled her arm down to track his serpentine movements. 

 

"Honey, what will you give me if I wipe him out with this next one?" Firebird asked, closing one eye to aim better. 

 

"The whole world," Kaiser Long replied. 

 

Get out of there Adrien! Ladybug thought as another bead of flame formed around Firebird's fingertip.

 

"This one or the next one?" Firebird laughed, firing a blistering beam of fire as Chat Noir came within striking distance. Fang's glittering green edge flashed from its sheath, deflecting the beam up into the sky and blowing a hole in the storm clouds. Sunlight pierced the oncoming gloom like a spotlight and the rain around them evaporated in a hiss of steam as the children of Destruction locked eyes. 

 

"Chat, look out!" Ladybug called from behind the bubble, but her words bounced back in her ears as Kaiser Long slithered forward, knee rising to catch Chat Noir in the back as he turned to block Firebird's punch. Chat Noir had barely enough time to cry out before Firebird's elbow collided with his temple, sending him reeling back into a vicious punch to his ribs. Chat Noir swung wildly, claw and Fang slicing empty air as the pair dipped in unison, only to rise with twin uppercuts that knocked Chat Noir up off his feet and back into the frigid waters between the ice floes. 

 

"Nino, drop the shield!" Ladybug shouted, hammering her fist on the shield as the ice-floe they stood on rocked unsteadily back and forth. "Nino-" 

 

" Hero names only in front of civvies!" Carapace said, dropping the shield and turning Ladybug around to face the crowd of police at the edge of the plaza. "Go; I need you to tell those cops to split before Sparky decides to start making pancetta." 

 

"Why me?" Ladybug asked, watching the water for any flicker of black in the dark blue waves. 

 

"You're Ladybug; they'll listen to you," Carapace said, raising a hand to his ear. "Queenie, let's dance." 

 

"Foxtrot or tango?" Queen Bee asked, fluttering up off her perch across the square. 

 

"I was thinking mosh-pit actually," Carapace said, glancing at Ladybug out of the corner of his eye. "What's wrong?" 

 

"I...I can't just leave him right now," Ladybug said, gripping her shield tighter. "Send someone else to handle the cops; I need to go help-" 

 

"I need you to use that clout we spent so much time preserving to save some lives," Carapace said firmly, holding Ladybug's gaze as his hand squeezed her shoulder. "Can you do that for me?" 

 

It wasn't an order, but Ladybug felt the weight of command behind his request; just as she felt the weight of all the police officers who looked to her for direction. 

 

"...I can do that," Ladybug said, snapping her shield back into her yo-yo and jogging across the ice in spite of the growing pit of dread in her stomach. Every ounce of her screamed that this wasn't right ; ditching her partner on this battlefield was a mistake and it seemed that every step she took away from Chat Noir reminded her of that. 

 

" You need to go!" Ladybug hollered as clearly as she could over the pouring rain. " Go!" 

 

"Mademoiselle Ladybug?" A woman in a police cap stepped forward, speaking in halted French. "What can we do to help-" 

 

Another hissing screech alerted Ladybug moments before another bolt of fire streaked through the bell-tower that loomed over the square. The ancient bell tolled discordantly as the structure buckled in half, tipping sideways and tumbling down towards the crowd of terrified police officers. 

 

" Go!" Ladybug hollered, grabbing the woman in the cap and swinging away moments before the tower shattered the ground they were standing on. A cloud of dust and ancient stonework mingled with the slick rain and seawater, creating thick mud that clung to Ladybug's boots as she landed back on solid ground. 

 

"You'll be alright, but you need to get out of here!" Ladybug insisted, pulling the policewoman to her feet. "Tell everyone you meet to evacuate the city; get as far away as you can!" 

 

The policewoman glanced between Ladybug and the battle raging behind her before nodding and quietly retreating through the rubble to join her comrades. 

 

"Are you alright?" Ladybug looked up as Master Crane landed on the rooftop above her. 

 

"Never mind me, where's Chat?" Ladybug asked, swinging up to stand next to Master Crane. 

 

"You know better than anyone that a few lousy punches won't stop him," Master Crane said, leaving Ladybug to wonder if that was meant to be a reference to their former partnership or their former feud. "Don't watch the water; he'll not try that same ploy a second time." 

 

"What's the strategy here?" Ladybug asked, watching Queen Bee zip around Kaiser Long who seemed almost bored by her presence. "I haven't fought these two before; I don't know what they're capable of..." 

 

"I thought fighting unknown enemies with unknown powers was what Ladybug specialized in," Master Crane said. 

 

"That was akuma...these guys are-" A ringing crash alerted Ladybug to the sound of Carapace's shield being battered by Firebird's heel. Kaiser Long swooped in, arm raised to strike only to be cinched by Queen Bee's chain as she zipped overhead. Carapace pressed the advantage, bashing Kaiser Long in the side of the head with the edge of his shield before he could react. 

 

"Flip!" Carapace roared over the rain, driving his shield forward as Queen Bee flipped in mid air, whipping Kaiser Long at Firebird like a trebuchet. 

 

"When did they get so coordinated?" Ladybug asked as Firebird plucked her spinning partner out of the air and landed on a nearby ice-floe. .

 

"You've been gone a long time; Carapace and Queen Bee aren't the sidekicks you remember them as," Master Crane said almost fondly as Queen Bee took position behind Carapace's shield. 

 

"Is this queen bothering you, my guy?" Firebird chuckled, depositing Kaiser Long back on his feet. 

 

"I seriously can't go anywhere without random women trying to pick me up," Kaiser Long sighed, back muscles flexing as a pair of leathery black wings shot through his skin. He flexed them experimentally, extending and contracting them as he angled one over Firebird's head to shield her from the rain.

 

"Oh don't flatter yourself, Toothless," Queen Bee scoffed. "I'd rather pick through broken glass barehanded than pick you up." 

 

"You should be more worried about picking a casket," Firebird said, cracking her knuckles. "Something gaudy and glittery, no doubt." 

 

"From where I'm standing, it looks like I need to pick two ," Queen Bee said, tightening her grip on her whip. "Or maybe a double bed."

 

"How bout it, Bad Dragon?" Carapace said, glowering at Kaiser Long. "You want your own plot or do you want to bunk with the missus?" 

 

"The state of battle-patter is really in the gutter if we're getting dong jokes from the fucking Ninja Turtles," Firebird sighed. 

 

" Chat Noir has better banter than you lot," Kaiser Long clucked. "Let that sink in; Captain Kitty-Pun makes for better conversation than you." 

 

They're distracted, Ladybug thought, dropping back and onto the street behind the building she stood on. Maybe if I snake around the side I can catch them off guard...and then what? I can't break their akumitized items or take their Miraculous; these two don't work like that...do they? Is there a source of their powers I can break? 

 

Ladybug peeked her head around the corner, collapsing her yo-yo's and extending her staff in a burst of pink energy. 

 

Okay, I'm trying to solve the wrong problem; we just need to get out of here. Ladybug thought, eyes ping-ponging between Kaiser Long and Carapace. I think if we hit them from both sides we should be able to incapacitate them, or at least make an opening for us to get out of here. I hit them in the back, Carapace bubbles them, we grab Adrien, and we split before anyone else-

 

Engrossed in thought, Ladybug didn't notice the figure approaching until their hand was closed around her wrist. 

 

---

Paris, France

 

Piles of broken necklaces and bracelets laid at the feet of The Centipede as Rena Rouge approached the jewelry store, staff extended and unflinching even as several masked men raised their weapons in her direction. 

 

"So which one are you?" Rena Rouge called as The Centipede turned around. "From where I'm standing, it looks like a worm or something on that mask." 

 

Rena Rouge's eyes scanned the figure curiously as they nodded to the guards. 

 

"Put those away," The Centipede said in a distorted voice. "They're no good on her." 

 

One of the guards curiously glanced at his partner, weapons still trained on Rena Rouge. "Ma'am?" 

 

The Centipede grabbed the end of the offending guard's weapon and ripped it out of his grip, the butt of the rifle slamming hard into his helmet visor. He fell back with a grunt into the arms of his comrades who shrank back from The Centipede as they turned on them. 

 

"Do I need to start issuing simpler instructions?!" The Centipede snapped as the mercenaries reluctantly lowered their weapons, their expressions clouded behind their masks. "What part of put your fucking guns down was hard to understand?!" 

 

Okay, so let's summarize, Rena Rouge thought as The Centipede turned back to face her. The Centipede is a woman or at least prefers being addressed as ma'am...the guards don't trust her to lead them...and she has to use violence or threats of violence to get them to comply with basic commands. 

 

"Good help is hard to find these days, isn't it?" The Centipede angled her head ever so slightly in Monarch's direction as she stepped out of a nearby alley. "Friendly advice; your teammates listen more when you don't bludgeon them in the face with their own weaponry."

 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware this was a Women in Superhuman Leadership conference," The Centipede scoffed, snapping her fingers and materializing a knobby brass staff out of thin air. "Do I get a tote-bag at least? Maybe a T-shirt?" 

 

"Your soldiers don't seem to think you're much of a leader at all," Rena Rouge said, kicking a loose piece of jewelry at her feet. "And if I'm being honest, knocking over a jewelry store seems to be a pretty big step down from robbing the Louvre." 

 

"Maybe we're in the market for new accessories." An unfamiliar voice drew Rena Rouge's attention away from The Centipede. The sun glinted off The Scorpion's gilded mask as they approached, twirling their barbed tonfa in one hand. Rena Rouge noticed the masked mercenaries stand up straighter, making room for her to move through them as they saddled up next to The Centipede. 

 

No doubt about it; The Scorpion calls the shots here, Rena Rouge mused. 

 

"This is getting out of hand," Monarch grumbled. "Now there are two of them." 

 

"Fashion week is coming up; a lady has to look her best, doesn't she?" The Scorpion said, bending down and picking up a glittering green and silver choker from the rubble. "What do you think, Centi; you strike me as an emerald kinda gal." 

 

"Odd considering you returned accessories worth more than this rubbish," Monarch said, drawing her sword.

 

"The Miraculous are so last-season," The Scorpion sighed, holding up their hand to show off the glittering brass ring wound around her middle finger. "Firebird's new collection is what's hot right now." 

 

"Then there's really no point to this at all," Rena Rouge sighed, glowering at The Scorpion. "You're putting innocent lives at risk just to keep us from leaving the city." 

 

"And it's working ~" The Scorpion said. "By all means, go help Ladybug. This city will probably still be here when you get back."

 

Rena Rouge glanced at Monarch out of the corner of her eye. "You really want to risk tangling with Ladybug when we bring her back? She's kinda good at taking down creeps in tacky masks." 

 

"When she isn't working for them," The Centipede scoffed, chuckling as Rena Rouge paled. "I'm sorry, was that supposed to be a secret ? Kaiser Long was kind enough to fill me in on the gory details."

 

"Quite the story, isn't it?" The Scorpion sighed. "An unstoppable team undone by a few poor choices and a man who dressed like a luchador on prom-night. I wonder if they'll be able to make amends before Firebird barbecues them." 

 

Rena Rouge fought to keep her shock behind a mask of skepticism. "I don't know what crock of bull he's told you, but-" 

 

"Don't you dare lie to me!" The Centipede roared, snapping the staff into three distinct sections and lashing out at Rena Rouge. She stepped backwards, raising her own staff to defend herself, only to feel something grip her around her ankles. Glancing back, she saw a pair of spectral hands materializing out of the ground, pinning her in place as The Centipede bore down on her with the weight of her three-sectioned staff. 

 

"Rena!" Monarch lunged to intercept the blow, only to be snared by a pair of hands that reached out from the wall, dragging her backwards and pinning her in place as the mercenaries trained their guns on her. 

 

" Four years!" The Centipede snarled, yellow eyes staring through the holes in her mask as she grappled with Rena Rouge. "You've all lied to us for four years about Ladybug! About how she served this city up to Hawk Moth on a silver platter! About how she put our families in danger for her personal gain!" 

 

A hand burst out of The Centipede's chest, snagging Rena Rouge around the throat and lifting her up off the ground. "And you're still covering up for her! Still lying for her!"

 

Monarch braced her feet against the wall, kicking off and breaking The Centipede's phantom grip. She danced forward, sword slashing and slicing several guns before raising her hand to her ear. "Bluebird, we're in trouble!" 

 

---

 

Machine gun fire rang off Bluebird's extended fan as he shielded Tigress from the attack. 

 

"You know it's crazy how much we have in common," Bluebird chuckled, pushing forward as Tigress' shimmering form snuck around the back of the crashed van. The Cobra was silently watching as his soldiers pinned Bluebird down, only to turn suddenly and block Tigress' ambush with a swing of his cane. 

 

"We got the jump on them but they turned the fight around pretty quickly," Bluebird called over the gunfire. "Sorry, hang on a second-" 

 

Bluebird grabbed his giant fan and dashed forward as quickly as he could. There was a sound of muffled cries as he slammed into the mercenaries, smashing them against the van and knocking them to the ground. 

 

"Some people are just rude ," Bluebird sighed, collapsing his fan and rounding on The Cobra who danced out of the way of Tigress' strikes like he was going through the motions of an elaborate dance. 

 

What's he doing? Bluebird thought, watching each of his sister's attacks fail to land more than a glancing blow on the masked man. 

 

"Oh my god will you stay still?!" Tigress snarled, swinging her trident in a wide arc. The Cobra stepped on the haft of the polearm, swinging his cane up and clobbering the shimmering tiger Sentimonster in the face as it pounced from the shadows. 

 

---

 

"Fantastic," Monarch grumbled, parrying a tonfa strike from The Scorpion. The heavy club vibrated against the thin metal of her sword as The Scorpion flipped it around, deflecting each thrust with a flick of her wrist. Behind her, Rena Rouge fought to keep The Centipede's hands from closing around her, dancing out of their grip and battering them away with her staff when they rose up around her. 

 

"I don't know what Kaiser Long told you," Rena Rouge grunted, ducking as The Centipede swung her staff overhead. "But tearing up this city isn't the answer! You're putting people's lives in danger!" 

 

"As if you haven't done the same thing time and time again!" The Centipede snarled, shooting the staff at Rena Rouge's feet. "Face it; your little Miraculous pageant play has put us all in danger; it's your fault Hawk Moth was even here in the first place!" 

 

"Did your bosses leave out the fact that it was them that gave him the butterfly?!" Rena Rouge grunted, dancing away as The Centipede advanced. "Or did they conveniently leave that part out?" 

 

"More lies from the master of lies!" The Centipede snarled. "The people of Paris are not puppets you can just-" 

 

The Centipede's limbs stopped mid strike, twisting and jerking as though tugged by invisible strings as her staff clattered to the ground at her feet. 

 

"Oh, very poor choice of words," Monarch chuckled, shooting a sharp two fingered salute as Puppeteer looked down on the battlefield from a nearby rooftop, a white-masked doll clutched in one hand. 

 

"You…" The Centipede choked, anger crackling in her voice as her eyes turned up to look at Puppeteer. 

 

"You're right; the people of Paris are not puppets," Rena Rouge said, flipping her staff around and leveling it at The Scorpion. "We're the ones holding the strings!" 

 

---

 

Venice, Italy

 

Ladybug's entire body tensed the moment she felt the stranger's hand on her wrist, whipping around and swinging her staff at the assailant that blurred out of the way like a shadow. Her body snapped into action, bringing her heel up to boot them off. A hand grabbed her calf, knocking her leg to one side as her assailant pressed her against the wall. 

 

"Let me-" Ladybug blinked as she came eye-to-eye with a familiar green hue. "Adr...Chat, how did you get away?" 

 

"Swam," Chat Noir said bluntly, water rolling off his jacket as the awning they stood under provided shelter from the rain. "A better question is how you managed to stand face to face with them and walk away unharmed." 

 

Ladybug swallowed heavily, the floating translucent eye unnerving her as it stared unblinkingly out of his socket. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, I might not have been so lucky." 

 

"Hm," Chat Noir said, eyes narrowing at her. "Convenient that I arrived just in time to get knocked around...almost too convenient." 

 

"What do you-" Ladybug tried to lean forward, but Chat Noir's grip on her wrist and calf held tightly. "Chat?" 

 

"Why did you ask me here?" Chat Noir asked, his voice a little too even as though he were consciously trying to keep it that way. "You had Carapace and Queen Bee backing you up; bullheaded as Nino is, he isn't a slouch. Neither is Chloe for that matter...but they just happened to be ambushed while you were safely on a bridge with those parasites ." 

 

"I wasn't safely on the bridge, I was-" Ladybug frowned in confusion for a moment until the implication of Chat Noir's words hammered into her. "Wait...you think I set you up?! How could you-" 

 

"Are you really asking that question?' Chat Noir chuckled humorlessly. "You have to admit, it looks pretty bad from my perspective. The first time I hear from you in four years is sucking me into a mess against my greatest enemies."  

 

Is that why you put me in that cell? Ladybug thought. Oh god, he thinks I was trying to get him killed!

 

"Th-They wanted to talk to me," Ladybug explained quickly, relaxing in Chat Noir's grip. "They sent a letter through Rena Rouge, but they didn't want you to be informed! They wanted you out of it and I thought...I thought you should know what's going on. I thought you could help" 

 

Chat Noir scoured her expression, his spectral eye almost digging into hers with the intensity of its glare. In spite of the fear and unease that coursed through her, being close to her partner again banished some lingering doubts in her mind. This was bad, sure, but they had beaten bad before. 

 

And they could do it again if she could just convince him that they were on the same side.

 

"If I was setting you up, I'd be sending you to fight them," Ladybug continued, seeing flickers of doubt dance across Chat Noir's human eye. "And that is the last thing I want right now; we were all set up and we all need to leave. Now." 

 

"You know she's right." Chat Noir looked up as Master Crane landed next to them, dropping Ladybug's leg and releasing her wrist as he stepped back.

 

"How did you get here?" Chat Noir demanded. 

 

"You should know my keys can open all kinds of doors." Master Crane held a glittering key up on the end of a lanyard. "But why I'm here is hardly what's important; g etting you two to safety is the only priority." 

 

"Leave?" Chat Noir scoffed. "When we have them both pinned down with more support than we've gotten in years ?! How does that make any sense?" 

 

"I don't see them pinned down anywhere," Master Crane said, a distant crash of thunder pierced by another screaming fire bolt that narrowly missed Queen Bee and punched a hole in the building on the other side of the canal. "Can't you feel that? They're worse than all the times we've seen them in the past-" 

 

"What difference does that make?!" Chat Noir snarled, frustration and fear lurking behind sharp words. "What, because they've suddenly stopped running, I'm supposed to be scared?" 

 

"How you feel about them has little bearing on reality and the reality is that we need to pull back and reassess our position," Master Crane said, opening a pouch on her hip and producing a bottle of coffee syrup and a bottle or what appeared to be gin. Ladybug gratefully accepted the syrup, tearing off the top tilting it back into her mouth. Next to her, Chat Noir bit the cork off the liquor bottle and tipped it back, swallowing the pungent spirit in a few greedy mouthfuls. 

 

Wow...never took Adrien for a heavyweight. 

 

"She's right; we don't have the advantage here," Ladybug said, glancing around the corner as sounds of fighting resumed. "We need to fall back and regroup in Paris; maybe then we can get Rena Rouge and-" 

 

"The fight isn't in Paris!" Chat Noir snapped, tossing the empty bottle to one side, the vapors on his breath igniting in a tuft of green flames. "It's here and now! These clowns have finally stopped running and now you want to retreat?! What if we never get a crack at them again?!" 

 

"You don't know that we won't," Ladybug said, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm until a sharp glare froze her in her tracks.

 

"You don't know who these people are, Ladybug," Chat Noir said. "If you had seen half the things I've seen while fighting them, you'd realize that every second they're free is another second they're orchestrating another crime against reality. Did anyone even tell you about Barcelona?" 

 

"It keeps coming up," Ladybug said, glancing at Master Crane. "Something I should know about?"

 

"We can discuss that when we're not in danger of being obliterated," Master Crane said quietly. "Adrien, you can't keep blaming yourself for that-" 

 

"I'm not; I'm blaming them ," Chat Noir hissed, turning to leave. "But it's my job to stop them before it happens again." 

 

 "It's not just your job!" Ladybug insisted, grabbing a hold of the back of his coat. "I know, okay? I know you have a hard time trusting me right now; I know I took an axe to our partnership before I left and we haven't really kept in touch...but I'm here, okay? I have your back one hundred percent! We can figure out a way to beat them together; without any of us being in unnecessary danger!" 

 

"Since when do you have a problem with me in danger?" Chat Noir muttered. "Ninety percent of your winning strategies put me in danger; why do you suddenly care now?" 

 

Ladybug released the back of Chat Noir's jacket, swallowing a hard lump in her throat. "Adrien-" 

 

"Oh wait, that's why ," Chat Noir sighed, turning to face her with a stony expression. "Get this in your head; I'm not your dopey sidekick anymore, Ladybug. I spent four years fighting these things alone and I don't need some rookie butting her head in and trying to tell me what to do." 

 

After four years of being buried under a mountain of grief, self-pity, and shame, Ladybug's pride stirred as it was unceremoniously stomped on. " ...rookie?" 

 

"Adrien…" Master Crane said, a warning tone creeping into her voice. 

 

"Four years of being a part-time kid-hero and four years on the shelf," Chat Noir said, eyes narrowing. "You're certainly not a pro anymore...and certainly not capable of keeping up with me." 

 

"Adrien, enough ," Master Crane snapped. 

 

Who the hell is talking to me right now? Ladybug thought, too gobsmacked by a sea of churning and conflicting emotions to do more than gape. From where she stood, Ladybug could see the hard edge in Chat Noir's remaining eye and the lines that peeked out of the corner of his mask. There was no twinkle from their former partnership, nor pain from their brief time as enemies. 

 

There was only ice and iron and a single minded drive to win at all costs. 

 

Adrien...when did you start looking so tired? 

 

"If you're scared of the bull, stay out of the rodeo," Chat Noir said, brushing past her. "Go back to your normal life; that's what you always wanted, isn't it?" 

 

"This is not helping, Adrien!" Master Crane said, grabbing the flickering green edges of Chat Noir's scarf. "I know you have a lot of hurt and anger towards Ladybug but be sensible if you die here then all this has been for-" 

 

"What has this all been for if not for this?" Chat Noir said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "This whole miserable story can come to an end now ; no one else has to get hurt. Nobody else has to die!" 

 

His eyes locked with Ladybug's for a brief moment as he turned to go. "Either help me or leave!" 

 

With that he charged back out into the rain, kicking puddles as he ran back towards danger. 

 

" Stubborn little brat ," Master Crane hissed, shaking her head and turning back to Ladybug who just mutely watched him disappear in the increasingly dense fog and sheets of rain. "Listen...he's under a lot of stress right now-" 

 

"Is that what I am?' Ladybug muttered, hearing the sounds of ringing steel somewhere in the foggy battlefield. "A rookie ?" 

 

"Pay him no mind; he's terribly hurt and hasn't taken a break in nearly a year," Master Crane clucked, laying a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "He's talking absolute nonsense...Ladybug look at me ." 

 

Ladybug turned her attention away from the battlefield to the weathered old woman's face. 

 

"He doesn't know who you are anymore," Master Crane said firmly. "You have been estranged longer than you were together...only you know who you are. And he will come to see that in time...but you both need to survive to make that happen." 

 

"I just...I wish I knew what to say," Ladybug said, blinking back tears. "I can't reach him anymore; I can't-" 

 

"You don't need to worry about reaching him right now," Master Crane said softly, flinching as a nearby building fell apart and kicked up a fresh cloud of dust that mingled with the rain. "You need to worry about living; there is an extraction point outside the city. Carapace has the details; work with him and come up with a solution...you are very good at that, aren't you?" 

 

"I used to be," Ladybug said, rubbing her eyes. "But...I thought Hawk Moth was the right solution too. What if-" 

 

"Ladybug, listen to me," Master Crane said gently. "We do not need you to hide in a pit of shame and self-loathing; it helps no one. What we need is the Ladybug who helped save the city more times than she helped destroy it." 

 

Ladybug swallowed heavily, hands balling at her sides as Master Crane squeezed her shoulders. "How am I supposed to trust I'm doing the right thing again?" 

 

"You're going to need to start trying to trust yourself," Master Crane said softly. "Trust isn't a feeling; it's a choice. And for the others to start trusting you again, you need to start trusting that you're worthy of that trust." 

 

Ladybug stared blankly at her twisted reflection in the puddle at her feet. Looking at the red and black suit still made her skin prickle; as though her reflection was the enemy who had ruined her life. It was still too tight in places; too heavy despite being made of such thin fabric. 

 

"Alya trusts you to help her partners, yes?" Master Crane said gently. "She's counting on you to bring the people she loves home safely. In spite of all the hurt and hardship she's endured, she's willing to try...don't you owe her the same level of effort? Doesn't she deserve to have a Ladybug she can believe in again?" 

 

( Marinette watched Monarch’s back through a cloud of tears. “But I think...I think you broke her heart. As much as Adrien’s...maybe more.”)

 

"You were her hero once," Master Crane said, brushing a tear out of Ladybug's eye. "You were his hero once...and I believe that you can be again." 

 

"Don't make me look like an idiot, now." Master Crane lightly bonked Ladybug on the head with her open hand.  Master Crane turned and darted into the rain, vanishing in the fog as Ladybug blankly watched her go. 

 

A Ladybug they can believe in...

 

That person felt like she was oceans away; barred behind the Ladybug Nobody Should Believe In. But before she fell, she rose higher than she dreamed possible. She had come from nothing before; started at ground zero barely believing in herself, but-

 

("He's wrong, because without you, she'd no longer be here," Chat Noir said, a gentle smile blotting out the crowd of skeptical voices. "And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to 'em.)

 

But she had become worthy of being trusted once...and if she could do it once-

 

("Trust me on this...Okay?")

 

"Rookie, am I?" Ladybug muttered, peering into the mist as a flash of green fire drew her eye. "Is that all I am to you now, Chat?"

 

The building they stood behind began dropping shingles off the roof and onto the sidewalk around her feet as Ladybug stepped out of the shadows and into the icy rain. Ahead of her was a partner that didn't trust her, an enemy she couldn't even begin to understand, and the threat of losing everything she ever cared about. Behind her was a series of mistakes and bad decisions that left her cut off and alone as she struggled to make sense of herself again. 

 

But in that moment, everything was as simple as it had been when she was a girl. There was only a problem she had to solve, and if Ladybug was good at anything, it was solving problems. 

 

"Fine...call me a rookie if you want," Ladybug said, snapping a glittering pink ribbon onto the edge of the building and catapulting herself over the rooftop.  Watch what a rookie like me can do ! 

Notes:

So this chapter actually ended on a very dour note with Ladybug still very much stuck in her head but...that sucked. It actually sucked and for a few days I couldn't figure out why I was unhappy with it. But Chat triggering the competitive edge in Ladybug really brought it together for me and actually served as a way to help her push through and at least stop rejecting herself completely.

Also, writing sad Marinette was grating on me; it's time to bring Ladybug back.

Anyway, next time we're closing out the Venice arc and putting a cap on leg one of this story!

Chapter 9: Small Sticks

Notes:

Music Credits: Gimme Shelter, Lizzie Hale & Stone Sour

Venice, Italy

 

The Toad took in a lungful of air as he pulled himself up out of the canal, dragging the spluttering body of The Salamander behind him and onto the edge of the canal. 

 

"Toady...I take back sixty to sixty-five percent of the bad things I've said about you," The Salamander coughed, lifting their mask to spit up some seawater onto the street. 

 

"I thought they had Ladybug handled," The Toad coughed, pounding on The Salamander's back. "What is she doing here?!" 

 

"Apparently she slipped through their fingers," The Salamander said, raising their ring to their mouth and pressing the center. "Boss, Ladybug is loose!" 

 

A flickering flame appeared over the head of his ring and a cheery voice rang out. " Oh hey Sal! How's it goin?" 

 

"Fine; almost drowned, but fine," The Salamander coughed, flinching as the sound of a distant explosion echoed throughout the narrow streets. "The bugs ganked us in the palace and now they're heading your way; be on your toes." 

 

" I'm always on my toes, kiddo," Firebird chuckled as a strike and a cry of pain echoed on the other end of the device. " And just now, Queen Bee's face was on my toes! Speaking of which, is Toady alive or did he bite it?" 

 

The Toad stiffened by Salamander's side, fist balled at his sides. "I'm here." 

 

"Oh swell!" Firebird chirped. " Good for you...hey, thanks for handling the bee and turtle while we were chatting with the...ugh, sorry, hang on a sec!" 

 

A pillar of orange fire lit up the stormy sky in the distance, hot enough that the steam it produced washed down the canals as people around them fled in terror. 

 

"Sorry, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted!" Firebird shouted over the din of battle. "Secure the perimeter and stay out of the fracas for now; if anyone tries to bolt, grab them. Otherwise, leave this to us." 

 

The Salamander and The Toad shared a confused glance. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" 

 

---

 

Kaiser Long ducked under Fang's blade, leg sweeping Chat Noir's feet and elbow driving into his stomach as he rose. Queen Bee launched herself like a rocket at Kaiser Long who caught her diving kick with one hand and threw her into Carapace as he charged from his blindside. 

 

"Nah, I think we got it," Firebird said, flicking her communicator shut as a flicker of white caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She pivoted on the ball of her foot, brought her leg up and blocked Master Crane's diving strike with her shin. 

 

"Hey there sifu ," Firebird said, flames curling out of the corners of her lips as she kicked Master Crane off and onto a rocking ice floe. "You know I had your execution scheduled for sometime next month, but as long as you're here-" 

 

Her rope dart slithered out of her hand, dripping sparks on the ice at her feet. "I'm gonna try and squeeze you in."

 

"I don't know what you think of me," Master Crane said, standing with a wince. "But your master took his own life that night; we were only there to arrest him." 

 

"Ohh, political prisoner ' commits suicide' in custody," Firebird sneered, snapping her dart at Master Crane. "Tell me a story I haven't heard before!" 

 

The glittering gold dart deflected off hard black iron as Chat Noir blurred in front of his master, Fang deflecting the barb to one side. 

 

"I've got a story about a dragon and a bird you haven't heard before," Chat Noir growled. "Spoiler alert; it doesn't end well for them." 

 

"Now that can't be right," Firebird said, twirling her dart behind her. "Don't you know the heroes always come out on top in the end?"

 

"Chat, please," Master Crane said, laying a hand on Chat Noir's shoulder to stop him rushing ahead. "We will find them again; we need to - " 

 

Chat Noir slipped out of her grip with a snarl, darting forward with his hand on Fang's hilt ready to draw as Ladybug crested the balcony. 

 

Come on, Adrien, we don't need to do this! Ladybug thought, landing on an ice-floe at the edge of the battlefield. Firebird made no attempt to move as Chat Noir bore down on her, barely glancing her partner's way as the glittering emerald edge of Fang flashed out-

 

And crashed into the tip of Kaiser Long's finger. 

 

Wait...what?! Ladybug blinked, scarcely believing her own eyes as it seemed that Firebird had swapped places with her partner in a flash of crackling orange flames. Chat's sword trembled in Kaiser Long's grip, a thin coat of black scales spreading from the tip of his finger down his forearm as wicked looking claws extended from his fingertips. 

 

"Parry and-," Kaiser Long said, erupting in a flash of fire as Firebird re-materialized in his place. 

 

"-riposte!" Firebird crowed, launching a spinning kick at Chat Noir's blind side. He buckled under the force of the blow, flying back until Firebird's hand around his ankle stopped him. 

 

Fantastic, they can teleport now?! Ladybug thought, rushing across the ice as Firebird slammed Chat Noir into the ice, breaking off another chunk as the rain continued to erode the battlefield.

 

"Take her right side!" Ladybug looked up to see Queen Bee flying alongside her, peeling away and circling around to flank her from the left. Ladybug's ribbons grabbed one of the rooftops as she swung around Firebird's side, her yo-yo shooting out and snaring a flaming fist as she raised it to strike Chat Noir. Firebird's head snapped up with a bemused expression, distracting her from Queen Bee who snared her left arm with her golden chain. 

 

"Okay, before we go any further, you should know my safeword is apotheosis," Firebird chuckled, erupting in a burst of flames as Ladybug suddenly found her yo-yo wound around Kaiser Long's scaled arm. 

 

"And I prefer not to be tied down at all!" Kaiser Long snarled, drawing his arms together and yanking Ladybug and Queen Bee down to the ground. Kaiser Long twisted his wrist, using Queen Bee like a wrecking ball to knock a charging Carapace off his feet. 

 

"You know if you keep ending up on top of me, I'm gonna have to tell Alya," Carapace winced, looking up to see Firebird diving at Ladybug wreathed in orange flames. " Look out!" 

 

Carapce's voice was dim over the sound of pounding rain as Firebird streaked down towards Ladybug. Her wrist twisted, snapping her tie to the yo-yo and releasing her from Kaiser Long's grip as Firebird narrowly sailed over her, close enough to singe the back of her neck. Ladybug rolled over, looking up in time to feel a heavy, scaly claw close around her throat and haul her up into the air. 

 

"Hello little sister ," Kaiser Long growled, claws scraping the sides of her neck as she kicked against his chest futilely. "I hate to admit it, but so far you're not exactly living up to your storied reputation." 

 

Pink light glittered out of the corners of Ladybug's mouth moments before a thin red and black snake snapped out from between her teeth. The fangs sunk into Kaiser Long's shoulder, jarring him enough that his grip slackened ever so slightly. Sensing her advantage, Ladybug kicked against his chest as hard as she could, shattering his grip and falling back onto the ice below. 

 

"Clever," Kaiser Long chuckled, brushing the snake off his shoulder. "But how clever are you?" 

 

He raised his hand to the sky, green energy crackling from his fingertip and ricocheting between raindrops. Ladybug watched as thousands of drops hung in the air, crackled with green energy and transformed into a sea of glittering black spikes. The web of newly transfigured steel hung in the air for a moment before raining down on Ladybug's prone form. 

 

Ladybug raised her hands, pink light dancing between each needle as it approached. Okay, soft and harmless, soft and harmless, turn them into something soft and harmless!

 

With a series of pops, each needle transfigured into a pearly soap bubble that hung in the air. 

 

"Not bad ," Kaiser Long sighed, snapping his fingers as the cloud of bubbles transformed into miniature black bombs, each with a sizzling fuse hanging over Ladybug's head. 

 

Those aren't harmless at all! Ladybug thought, throwing her hands up as a flash illuminated the stormy sky. The bombs exploded against her shield, sending her rolling to the side away from the explosion. 

 

Whew...that was closer than I- Ladybug looked up to see Kaiser Long leaping across the ice in one mighty bound, fist cocked and ready to crash down. 

 

Give me a break! Ladybug thought, rolling to one side just in time to avoid the blow that turned half an iceberg into fine shaved ice. Ladybug saw half his fist still stuck in the icy hole, her eyes pinging between the ice shards at his feet as an idea sprang to mind. 

 

Hope this works on ice! Ladybug thought, raising her hands as red light began gathering at the tips. "Miraculous Ladybug!" 

 

Instead of a wave of healing light a thin stream of energy swirled around the iceberg, snaking around Kaiser Long's wrist as he pulled it up. 

 

"Is now really the time to clean up?" Kaiser Long chuckled, turning only to find his arm frozen in the iceberg he had shattered only moments prior, now healed from the blow he made in it. 

 

"Might as well clean as you go !" Ladybug cried diving at Kaiser Long and burying both boots in the side of his face. His head jerked back and Ladybug pressed the assault, manifesting her baton with a flick of her wrist and clobbering him on top of the head with as much strength as she could muster. The ice around Kaiser Long's feet shattered under the force of the blow and Ladybug raised her hand again, ignoring the shakiness and feeling of all-consuming hunger that came with using her powers too frequently. 

 

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug shouted, a wave of pink light sealing Kaiser Long's feet in the ice and landing in a crouch behind his back. 

 

"Shame you don't like being tied down," Ladybug said, grabbing Kaiser Long's flailing wings. "I foresee a lot of that in your future!" 

 

Ladybug lept, using the wings as leverage as she kicked the back of Kaiser Long's spine between his leathery wings. His back bulged suddenly, and for a moment Ladybug thought she had done some genuine damage as the wings flailed uselessly in her grip. Then she saw something slither under the back of his beltline. 

 

Before she could move, something long, black, and scaly shot out of Kaiser Long's back and wrapped itself around her neck. A long, glistening bone-blade jutted out of the end of the tail, dripping inky black liquid that sizzled on the ice where he landed.

 

"That was honestly very good ," Kaiser Long chuckled as Ladybug's fingers frantically pried at the tail constricting her neck. "I mean, good for the stunted state you're currently in, that is." 

 

"Let me go and I'll show you stunted!" Ladybug growled, kicking at the air around Kaiser Long's legs as he held her just out of reach with his tail. 

 

"Stunted is a very relative term, cupcake; don't take it personally." Ladybug saw Firebird lazily pace her way over to them, hopping between ice-floes with the carefree ease of a schoolgirl playing hopscotch. With a flick of fire from her fingertips, she melted the ice that held her partner down, freeing him from Ladybug's makeshift prison.

 

"And you can't exactly be too mad about it; it is mostly your fault, after all." Kaiser Long pivoted Ladybug until she was eye to eye with Firebird infuriating self-satisfied smirk. "You didn't seriously think you could break the bond between you and Chat Noir and not lose half your power in the process, did you?"

 

 "You know, I think your trash talk is getting worse than Hawk Moth's was," Ladybug grunted, eyes scanning the field for any advantage she could take a hold of. "My power is my power; Chat Noir has nothing to do with it!" 

 

"What do they teach kids in school these days?" Kaiser Long mused. 

 

"Given her teacher, probably not much ," Firebird said, pinching Ladybug's cheek. "Our power is part of a set; it loses value when you try and sell it piecemeal. We are the complete set and you are one fractured part of something that used to be complete. However strong you are, you'll only ever be half as strong as you could be without an opposing power to partner with." 

 

I have to move, Ladybug thought, forcing her tense body to relax as much as possible. Spending energy trying to get out of a hold that seemed unbreakable was a waste of time; she just needed one opening to exploit. Just one chance to make something work, and she could get away.

 

"I get it, relationships are hard to maintain," Firebird chuckled as Ladybug focused on the water behind her, a glimmer of pink light shuddering under the waves. "A good partnership is like a garden. If you want the fruits, you're gonna have to roll up your sleeves, get in the dirt, and dig out the weeds before they undermine all your hard work and-" 

 

"Okay, that's enough couples counseling, thank you! " Ladybug groaned, wincing as the waves broke behind Firebird's shoulder. Let's try a bigger snake this time.

 

Out of the water, an enormous black and red-striped sea-serpent lunged for Firebird, jaws open and rows of teeth ready to devour her whole. 

 

"I thought making monsters was your thing," Firebird said, craning her neck up to stare down the gullet of the sea serpent as it dove at her. 

 

"I can unmake them as well," Kaiser Long growled, tossing Ladybug to one side. He lunged hand crackling with green light as an enormous black studded club materialized in his hand. Kaiser Long slammed his club into the sea-serpent's head, shattering rows of pearly sharp teeth and sending it reeling backwards into the water. 

 

There's your opening, Chat, Ladybug thought desperately, rolling onto her feet and lassoing Firebird with a ribbon. Make it count! 

 

Emboldened, Ladybug snapped her staff back into existence, twirling it around her head and charging at Firebird while her partner was distracted. In a way, she was at home in chaos; there was no time for her own mind to get the better of her. Only a goal and a dozen ways she could reach it all revealing themselves to her. 

 

Keep an eye on me, Chat, Ladybug thought to herself, cocking her staff back as she swung hard at Firebird's head. I'll show you what kind of partner I can be!

 

The ice at her feet exploded as Chat Noir lunged out of the inky depths, claw crackling with black electricity as Ladybug began her swing. Firebird leaned back, narrowly missing the staff strike as Ladybug and Chat Noir collided, sprawling across the ground in a heap.

 

...starting tomorrow, Ladybug thought pushing herself to her feet. "Are you okay?!" 

 

"What happened?!" Chat Noir growled, shaking his head. "I told you to get out of here- " 

 

"No, you told me to get out of here or help ," Ladybug insisted, pulling Chat Noir up to his feet. "I picked option B." 

 

"How is getting in my way supposed to help?" Chat Noir grunted, pushing Ladybug off him. 

 

"Okay, to be fair, we both got in each other's way-" 

 

"Me?!" Chat Noir demanded. "' There's your opening, Chat; make it count!'  What's that supposed to be if not a green light to smash her face ?! What were you doing there?" 

 

"Oh come on, we always take them together!" 

 

"Not anymore!" Chat Noir hissed, eyes glittering dangerously. "This is my fight; I don't need you tripping me up, getting in my way, or-" 

 

The sound of feet skipping drew their attention to Firebird who had taken to using her rope-dart as a jump rope. 

 

"Just keeping the heart-rate going," Firebird said while Kaiser Long slammed his club into Tikki Jr.'s head with a final sickening thud. "Don't let me interrupt; sometimes you just need to fight it out and move on-" 

 

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir howled, fist sparking black lightning as he charged, dragging it along the ground and cutting a swathe in the ice beneath his feet. Ladybug watched Chat Noir pounce, her warning dead in her throat as Kaiser Long stepped between them. 

 

"You never learn, do you ?" Kaiser Long asked, inhaling and breathing out a jet of freezing air. Chat Noir's Cataclysm crashed into the beam, sending frozen bolts of black lightning arcing out in every direction. Howling, freezing cold wind swirled around them, and Ladybug stepped forward only to feel a hand cinch around her waist. 

 

"Come on!" Carapace said, kicking at the ice that had started to grow around Ladybug's feet. Ladybug quickly latched onto one of the few rooftops left standing, tugging herself and Carapace off the frozen lake as black Cataclysm beams ricocheted and ripped through the city around them. 

 

"Are you okay?" Queen Bee asked, pulling Carapace up to his feet.

 

"Forget me; what about Chat Noir?" Carapace shouted over the howling wind as piles of shattered ice flakes began clumping up on the roofs around them. The ground trembled and storm clouds churned overhead, intensifying the gale that was keen on finally drowning Venice once and for all. 

 

"They're going to bring the city down!" Carapace cried. "We gotta stop them!" 

 

"And what if he can break through?!" Queen Bee called back. Ladybug peered through the howling maelstrom at the two black figures in the center, locked in a stalemate that reminded her of the clash with Chat Noir that had temporarily warped the Eiffel Tower four years prior. Ladybug wondered if the others could feel the powers pushing against one another like she could; it was as though two bubbles in the air in front of her were rubbing against one another, pushing at each other's weaknesses, trying to find a way through without compromising their own security. 

 

"He could win this!" Queen Bee turned to Ladybug. "Right? 

 

She could feel Chat Noir's power, familiar as her own heartbeat, fighting against the onslaught of ice and wind. Blind faith wanted to believe in Adrien, but her intuition told a far grimmer story.

 

It wasn't an even match at all and Chat Noir was going to lose

 

In a heartbeat, the black lightning fizzled out, snuffed out by a wall of encroaching ice as the storm was suddenly and terrifyingly silent. The maelstrom subsided in a gust of wind, and through the flurries of snow she saw two figures in black, one dangling from the tip of a long, serpentine tail. Fang fell uselessly to the ice as Chat Noir's eyes went wide, frozen in shock as a tailblade dripping black venom stuck out of the back of his jacket. 

 

It wasn't until she felt her throat tighten and strain that Ladybug realized the person screaming was her. 

---

 

Paris, France

The Centipede's arms twitched, struggling against the invisible reins that held her in place. 

 

"No!" The Centipede shouted, voice hoarse and almost panicked as one of the guards raised their weapon in Puppeteer's direction. "We have a deal, Scorpion!" 

 

What deal? Rena Rouge thought, watching Monarch throw herself in front of Puppeteer, cane raised defensively. 

 

"Ma'am...orders are to eliminate whatever threats to the mission-" 

 

"Agreed," The Scorpion said, glancing up at Puppeteer. "...LeFort? Be a dear and shoot Carlisle for me." 

 

"Wait, wha-" Before Rena Rouge could move, a gunshot rang out and the guard that had aimed a weapon at Puppeteer crumpled in the street. 

 

"Anyone else feel like threatening the mission?" The Scorpion asked, turning to the other guards. "Show of hands; who else wants to not do what I tell them to?" 

 

Puppeteer didn't realize her hands were trembling until the doll slipped from her fingers. Her grip slackened on the toy long enough for a spectral hand to rise from the ground at her feet and shove her back away from Monarch. Rena Rouge charged at The Centipede but The Scorpion slipped past her guard, lunging with the tip of her tonfa at Puppeteer as she frantically tried to create another doll. 

 

" Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon!" Puppeteer whined as she waved her wand in The Scorpion's direction. Monarch parried The Scorpion's thrust, slamming her sheath into the side of her mask and driving her backwards. "Hawk...I-I mean Monarch, it's not working!"

 

"Never mind that; focus on keeping The Centipede locked down!" Monarch grunted, narrowly dodging a beam of lightning The Scorpion sent her way. 

 

"Right...got it!" Puppeteer called, crawling across the ground to recover her lost doll as Rena Rouge leapt over her and landed in the middle of the cluster of guards. They barely had time to raise their weapons before a fluttering melody floated out of the tip of Rena Rouge's staff. Almost immediately, they started wobbling, slumping over and stumbling as the song seemed to take effect. The Centipede's head jerked as she tried to fight both the song and the Puppeteer's strings, but The Scorpion seemed to be bound by neither. 

 

"Not so special without your magic powers to help you, huh?" The Scorpion chuckled, kicking Monarch back and raising her baton to block Rena Rouge's staff strike. 

 

"I got it!" Puppeteer crowed, holding the doll up as she bounced back to her feet. "I got-" 

 

Puppeteer trailed off as she noticed the corner of the doll's mask had gone askew when it slipped out of her fingertips. Almost instinctively she moved to right it until she noticed the corner of a glassy amber eye staring back at her from behind the mask. 

 

The sound of the battle seemed to melt away as she slowly started prying the corner of the white mask up...

 

---

 

Weak... 

 

Bluebird heard the voice ringing in his head as the side of The Cobra's cane drove into his temple. 

 

I could have handled this by now…

 

Bluebird shook his head, swinging his fan in an arc that knocked over the remaining guards but completely missed The Cobra as he stepped backwards. 

 

They're beating you because they're working together…

 

Bluebird grunted as The Cobra kicked him hard in the stomach, his blow seemingly melting through Bluebird's defenses. 

 

And you're fighting me instead of fighting him! 

 

"Shut up!" Bluebird snarled, his voice resonating in a strange frequency he hadn't heard in nearly four years. A force pounded between his eyes like a hammer trying to break through his skin and he clutched his temples as though trying to restrain something from getting out. 

 

Luka! Tigress glanced in her brother's direction for a brief moment, long enough to take her eyes off The Cobra just long enough for him to lunge, ducking past Tigress' defense to snare her wrist and the bracelet upon it in one deft gesture. 

 

Bluebird opened his eyes in time to see The Cobra toss Tigress over one shoulder, her transformation wearing off as she slammed into the side of the van. 

 

I told you...you're too weak... but I'm not.  

 

The glittering purple bracelet dangled from the tip of The Cobra's fingers as he suddenly turned, cane raised in defense as though he already knew what was about to happen. 

 

" Enough…" Bluebird hissed, eyes flickering and turning a vibrant shade of purple. "That's...that's enough !" 

 

Bluebird's scream echoed down the street, a wave of violet energy rippling off him and pushing The Cobra back against the van. 

 

"B-Boss?" A masked Sigma guard coughed from the ground, looking up at The Cobra as a wild-eyed Bluebird lurched forward unnaturally. His mask cracked and streaked with violet energy as his cloak began slowly darkening from the neck down, dying a familiar shade of purple as Bluebird glared at The Cobra. . 

 

"Orders, sir?" The guard asked, raising his weapon shakily as Bluebird's eyes began glowing with purple light. 

 

In response, The Cobra turned, bolting down the street and kicking the hapless guard in his path to block his escape. 

 

"Get the girl!" The Cobra called over his shoulder, the Tiger Miraculous clutched tightly in one hand as he raised his other to his ear. "The prototype has been triggered; request immediate backup at-" 

 

The Cobra stopped in his tracks, whipping around as the remains of his van hurled at his head. He narrowly managed to step to one side, blinking as a purplish blur rocketed towards him. Bluebird's hands twisted like a puppeteer and The Cobra managed to turn around just in time to block a greathammer swung by a gigantic purple and blue Sentiknight. 

 

Bad sign… Juleka thought wearily, remembering the hoards of knights Mayura had conjured in its last appearance. "Bluebird, calm down !" 

 

Odds of victory deteriorating, a voice in The Cobra's ear said. Recommend retreating and reassessing the situation- 

 

A pair of Sentiknights wielding feathered spears nearly skewered The Cobra as he stepped backwards, nearly dropping his cane as Bluebird bore down on him with more bile in his echoing voice. 

 

"Give...that... back!" 

 

---

 

"Puppeteer!" 

 

Puppeteer paused, mask half-lifted as Monarch cried out across the street. Her dread curiosity had blinded her to the man now standing over her, a weapon aimed down at Puppeteer as she stared up at him. 

 

"Enemy secure," the guard said, voice distorted and metallic as Puppeteer looked up with wide, fearful eyes. "Rena Rouge, stand down or I will be forced to-" 

 

The guard's warning died as a phantasmal hand reached out from the ground, snaring him around the throat and lifting him up off the ground. Puppeteer fell back on her hands as The Centipede reached out, twisting her fist as the guard kicked uselessly in mid air. 

 

"M-Ma'am…I-" The guard choked, his last words silenced by a snapping sound before he was tossed to the floor in a broken heap. 

 

The Centipede turned around to find herself nose-to-tip with Monarch's sword as she stood between The Centipede and Puppeteer. 

 

"That's checkmate," Monarch replied, lowering the blade down towards The Centipede's neck. "Scorpion, stand down or your friend here gets fitted for a blowhole." 

 

"We're more work-friends than actual friends," The Scorpion said, seemingly unperterbed that her backup had been incapacitated. 

 

"So you don't care that your teammate is in danger?" Rena Rouge challenged. 

 

"I would if I thought she was in danger, but Monarch only likes swords when there's no chance of cutting anyone," The Scorpion chuckled, turning to Monarch. "Isn't that right, Mme. Tsurugi?" 

 

Rena Rouge saw Monarch's eyes narrow, but to her credit, the blade remained unwavering at The Centipede's neck. 

 

"You don't know me as well as you think you do if you think I can be bowled over with such an obvious bluff," Monarch said tensely. "If you think you can guess my identity by running through a list of every famous Asian woman in Europe, you've got a ways to go." 

 

"I don't need to guess anything," The Scorpion laughed. "We've had our eye on you for years ; would have pegged you as a candidate for The Cobra if it wasn't for your affinity for stray cats." 

 

Rena Rouge heard a distant boom, whipping around to find The Cobra tearing down the street, a familiar purple shadow trailing behind him on the rooftops. 

 

Tell me that's not who I think it is... Rena Rouge thought as Bluebird, now decked in purple, chased after The Cobra. 

 

"Stray cats and noisy roosters," The Scorpion said, watching Monarch's measured expression crack in terror. "Seems like you've got a lot on your plate right now; you sure you can afford to hold us hostage and wrangle your friend with the anger issues at the same time?" 

 

Rena Rouge glanced between The Centipede on one side, and Mayura bearing down on The Cobra on the other, running the numbers in her head as she came to a quick decision. 

 

"Monarch...slit her throat." 

 

---

 

Venice, Italy

 

Chat Noir hung in the air, suspended on the tip of Kaiser Long's spiny tail like a worm on the end of a hook. The Cataclysm in his hand fizzled and died as Kaiser Long whipped him off, sending him to the icy floor as though flicking a bug off his arm. 

 

The hit wasn't what scared Ladybug; it was the fact that Chat Noir didn't bounce back up. 

 

Come on… Ladybug thought, frozen as she watched Chat Noir's chest weakly rise and fall. His face grew pale as his veins began slowly darkening beneath his skin. He tried to push himself up, but the dim, unfocused look in his eyes told her something was very wrong. 

 

A bloodcurdling howl of rage shattered Ladybug's daze. Queen Bee bolted like a missile across the battlefield, chain spiraling around her and slashing at Kaiser Long's tail. The black club rose to catch her, deflecting the chain with the ease of a practiced swordfighter deflecting a blow. 

 

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ladybug scrambled down from her perch and scurried across the ice. There wasn't time to be afraid; there wasn't time to worry about anything but rescuing her downed partner before her. Pushing aside her growing fear, she dove at Chat Noir, grabbing him around the wrist as a black and orange boot came crashing down hard on her hand. 

 

"And I thought it was honey that caught flies," Firebird said, leaning over her knee to glare down at Ladybug. "But I guess all you need is poison ." 

 

Chat Noir raised a hand to feebly swat at Firebird's leg, but even his floating eye seemed to flicker out as the strength left his body. Black spidery veins now bulged on every patch of exposed skin, his complexion paling by the moment. 

 

"What did you do to him?!" Ladybug demanded, fear overwhelmed by anger as she struggled to pull Firebird's boot off her wrist. 

 

"Little something the hubby's been cooking up since we last met; took nearly four years to get right but it looks like it's doing wonders ," Firebird said, poking Chat Noir in the cheek. "Don't be sad, kiddo; you put up a good fight, really you did. It's just that our kung fu is way stronger than yours." 

 

A dark shadow fell over Firebird and she looked up in time to see Carapace's arm swell to nearly five times its usual size and snare her in its crushing grip. 

 

"How about mine?!" Carapace shouted, hurling her across the battlefield and through one of the walls on the far side. "Wrap it up; we need to go ...Ladybug, look at me."  

 

Ladybug tore her face away from Chat Noir's pale, sickening expression. 

 

"We can help him," Carapace said soothingly, his arm once again shrinking back to its usual size. "But not now...and not here ." 

 

"...right," Ladybug said, grabbing Chat Noir as he feebly tried to roll over and crawl to his sword. "None of that; you're coming with me." 

 

"Leave…" Chat Noir muttered, a cold sweat rolling down his face as he ineffectively pushed Ladybug's hand away. "I can...I have to…" 

 

Carapace grabbed Chat Noir around the waist and flung him over his shoulder like a bag of flour. 

 

"Sorry, we're not taking requests right now," Carapace said, putting two fingers in his mouth and whistling. "Pull out!" 

 

Queen Bee sent one final kick at Kaiser Long's blind side before snaring Master Crane around the waist with her chain and taking off. "Pulling out!" 

 

Ladybug turned to chase Carapace, stopping only to bend down and pick Fang up as she ran. A pulse ran up her arm and a distant bell-chime echoed like tinnitus in her ear as her fingers closed around the hilt. As soon as she noticed it, the weapon in her hand felt lighter than it had a moment earlier; as though she knew how to handle the weight."

 

"Have you seen this kind of thing before?!" Ladybug asked, charging alongside Carapace, one eye on Chat Noir's fading expression. Even through obvious pain and weakness, he managed to let her know that he was not happy with her with just a single look. 

 

"You mean you haven't?" Carapace called over his shoulder. Master Crane dropped to a rooftop beside them as Queen Bee swooped low overhead. "Come one, pull out some of that Ladybug heal-juice you used on Emilie!" 

 

"I had Tikki with me then!" Ladybug said, panic rising as they wove down the frozen canals. "I can't do it by my-" 

 

Ladybug froze, eyes widening as she sensed something very big crashing its way through one of the walls in front of her. 

 

"Look out!" She reached out and snagged Carapace's belt just in time to prevent him from being flattened by a gigantic fist and crumbling rubble. The Toad's grotesquely large hands pried the debris apart as Firebird stepped through, brushing dust off her shoulder. 

 

"I know I have a lot of people on my shit list right now, but Donatello just climbed the ranks for spiking me like a lawn dart ," Firebird said, glowering at Carapace. 

 

"Shame you didn't stay stuck in the ground," Carapace said, fumbling as Chat Noir slid out of his grip. "I was hoping I could plant you like a tree." 

 

"Get out...get out of my way…" Chat Noir mumbled, coughing black-streaked saliva as he crawled towards Firebird. 

 

"Aw, poor thing's tuckered out," Firebird cooed. "Time for a cat-nap?" 

 

"Okay, backtrack," Carapace said, hauling a woozy Chat Noir over his shoulder and turning around. On cue, a large wall of black ice shot out of the frozen canal behind them, blocking the way back to the plaza as Kaiser Long landed on top. 

 

"As entertaining as this has been, I've had enough of this decrepit architecture to last a lifetime," Kaiser Long said, glaring scornfully at the historic monuments covered in a thick layer of snow and ice. "The boy is going to die without a proper antidote; give up now, and I promise we'll spare his life." 

 

"What are the odds they'll actually honor that promise?" Queen Bee said, placing herself between Carapace and Firebird. The Toad's hand clenched almost imperceptibly; a flicker of movement that Ladybug caught but couldn't yet assign meaning to.  

 

"I don't think we've fallen so far to trust the promises of a snake," Master Crane said, glancing at Ladybug. "Ideas?" 

 

The sword in her hand was powerful, but Ladybug was no trained fencer. Pinned down on all sides, they weren't going to make it far unless…

 

Ladybug looked up at the walls surrounding the canal. "Get ready to run." 

 

"Okay, time's up!" Firebird growled. A jet of fire streaked down the canal as Ladybug slammed her hands into the ground in front of her. The narrow corridor of buildings on either side shimmered, walls peeling back away from their framing like wrapping paper and absorbing the firebolt before it could slam into them. 

 

Copy and paste, Ladybug thought, fingers tracing the outline of the building next to her as Firebird's flames chewed through the walls she threw up to block her. "Go!" 

 

Ladybug wrenched the outline of the building ahead of them as Firebird burst through the wall. A replica of the building materialized out of thin air to block the canal and guard their escape. Kaiser Long swooped down from the wall he had raised, tail cocked and ready to strike at Ladybug's exposed back. 

 

"Not on my watch!" Master Crane leapt into the air to catch the falling dragon, knives slicing through the webbing in his wings as his tail desperately swiped past her. Kaiser Long crashed into the ground, wings flapping uselessly as he skid along the icy floor. He locked eyes with Ladybug as he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his broken wings and ripping them out of his back with a frustrated roar that made her teeth rattle. 

 

"This way!" Carapace roared. Ladybug's legs wobbled as she chased them, sealing the arch they passed under with a wall of stone as Master Crane stumbled through. The stone glowed orange as a jet of fire pierced the wall, carving a hole as Carapace desperately looked for an avenue of escape. 

 

"Where did you learn that trick?" Master Crane asked, pulling Ladybug along as Carapace kicked open a door to a stylish café that looked out onto the thawing lagoon. 

 

"Intro to Photoshop," Ladybug said, wobbling over to the bar where Carapace gingerly laid Chat Noir on his back. "What's going on?" 

 

"I don't know, but he doesn't look good," Carapace said, pushing a glowing green barrier out and around the building. Through the window, she could see Firebird break through the wall she had raised, only to bump headlong into the much stronger shield that had replaced it. 

 

"You really think you can stall us out?" Firebird called, tracing a sparking finger along the outside of the barrier. "Time is not on your side, my friends." 

 

Chat Noir weakly coughed on the bar as Ladybug laid his sword down next to him. "Can you help him?" 

 

"I don't know," Master Crane said, taking her Miraculous off and fumbling around in her mortal pockets. "Honestly, I thought that he was beyond being envenomated like this...you both should be, unless…" 

 

Unless their kung fu is actually stronger, Ladybug thought. Master He plucked a glass vial of green liquid out of her coat pocket. "What can I do?" 

 

Master He uncorked the bottle and shoved it under Ladybug's mouth. "Spit."

 

Ladybug blinked. "Excuse me?" 

 

"This is a universal antivenom. Spit, bleed, hock a loogie; just put some kind of liquid in here," Master He said, looking down as Chat Noir feebly tried to raise his arm, pawing around for his weapon fuitly. "That...thing, Kaiser Long, is a monster of Creation; the best way to synthesize an antivenom is a bit of the hair of the dog that stung him." 

 

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Carapace asked. 

 

"No, but I'm out of ideas," Master He said, shaking the bottle under Ladybug's lips. 

 

Not how I prefer swapping spit with Adrien, Ladybug thought, ignoring Queen Bee's perturbed expression and spitting a little in the vial. The liquid bubbled and fizzed, turning a vibrant shade of pink with green floating sparkles swirling inside.

A thundering boom rocked the cafe, knocking some bottles off the wall behind the bar as Master He tilted Chat Noir's head up, forcing his mouth open and pouring the liquid inside. Ladybug had envisioned dozens of scenes where she and her old partner would meet again. In her fantasies, she played the role of rescuer, displaying in grand and dramatic ways how much she had improved and how dearly she had missed him. 

 

Reality was far more disappointing as Chat Noir weakly looked around, confused as Ladybug laid her hands on the tailwound in his side. 

 

"Will that help him?" Ladybug asked, pink light illuminating the dim cafe and the worried expressions of Queen Bee and Carapace. 

 

"It should stabilize him long enough for you to do a more thorough-" Master He coughed suddenly, pounding her chest as though she had swallowed water down the wrong pipe. "Gods, I must be getting older than I thought-" 

 

"Master…" Queen Bee said gently, laying a hand on the back of Master He's shoulder. She reached backwards, finding the back of her jacket sodden as a crimson stain began dripping through the crisp white fabric. 

 

"...oh hell," Master He sighed, rubbing her bloody fingers together and seeing the black streaked inside. "That lizard actually got me." 

 

---

 

Paris, France

 

"Please, we both know she's not actually going to-" 

 

The Scorpion watched as Monarch lunged forward without hesitation, her blade skewering The Centipede through the neck and piercing out the other side. Puppeteer screamed, scrambling backwards over the fallen guard as The Centipede slumped over, clutching her neck in a vain attempt to stop herself from bleeding out. 

 

The shock lasted only a moment, until The Scorpion twisted her finger and pressed a switch on the side of the tonfa in her hand. 

 

The air around them shimmered and The Centipede's dying form melted away to show her still held at swordpoint by Monarch. She heard the whistling staff in her ear just before it clobbered her in the side of the head, knocking her back as Rena Rouge twisted to confront The Cobra. 

 

"Monarch, get Puppeteer out of here!" 

 

Monarch glanced between The Centipede, The Cobra, and The Scorpion. "But-" 

 

" Now!" Rena Rouge tilted forward, battering at The Cobra with her staff as she twisted and split it into two separate parts. 

 

"Come on!" Monarch cried, grabbing Puppeteer around the waist and dragging her down the street. The Centipede lunged to stop Monarch, but a black gloved fist smashed into the side of her head, sending her tumbling back as another clone pounced on The Scorpion. 

 

A glitter of purple and silver caught Rena Rouge's attention, the sight of the Tiger Miraculous in The Cobra's hand triggering a cavalcade of worst case scenarios. She pushed back, even as Bluebird's manic glare fell on The Cobra. 

 

"Little thief !" Bluebird sneered, hands twisting in front of him as a pair of Sentiknights flanked The Cobra from both sides. 

 

"That's our cue to get out of here," The Scorpion panted, grabbing The Centipede by the arm. "Leave the lackeys; they've done what we've paid them for." 

 

The Centipede looked up at the rooftop Monarch perched on, eyes lingering on Puppeteer's terrified expression until The Scorpion roughly tugged her to one side. 

 

"Move!" The Scorpion ordered, firing a crackling beam of purple electricity at one of Rena Rouge's clones as she closed in. "Cobra, split!" 

 

The Cobra kicked off Rena Rouge's chest, turning and tearing down the opposite street until a hard metal glove closed around his throat. The Sentiknight lifted him up into the air as Rena Rouge dove, snatching the Tiger Miraculous off The Cobra's hand. 

 

"Looks like your friends took off without you," Bluebird sneered, grabbing The Cobra by the back of his jacket and hurling him out of the knight's grip and against a parked car hard enough to dent it. "They must not like you all that much." 

 

Monarch watched as Bluebird grabbed the cane as it lashed out at his shins, ripping it out of The Cobra's grip and bashing him across the mask with it. A malignant glint crept into Bluebird's eye; one she recognized and feared as she remembered him mutating in her living room shortly before Mayura took over. 

 

"Was this part of the plan?!" Bluebird snapped, slamming his boot into The Cobra's side. "Come on, Mr. Practice Makes Perfect; what else you got ?!" 

 

"Bluebird, that's enough !" Rena Rouge said firmly, grabbing Bluebird's shoulder only to be brushed off with a shove that sent her stumbling backwards. "Bluebird-"

 

"This... trash invaded our city," Bluebird spat, slamming the cane into The Cobra's stomach. "Twice...letting him go now is just a liability. Better we just end him now! " 

 

The cane came up, only to be halted by Monarch's hand closing around Bluebird's wrist. He whipped around, purple eyes flickering as he caught Monarch staring back up at him with a worried look in her eyes. 

 

"This is beneath you," Monarch said quietly, fingers trembling as she squeezed his wrist. For a terrible moment she feared the monster that had slept inside Bluebird had finally raised its head again. Then he closed his eyes, grit his teeth, and shook his head. 

 

"No...no, we have him…" Bluebird whispered as the purple bled out of his coat, its usual royal blue. When he opened his eyes, his expression was worn, tired, and confused, but his eyes had returned to their usual hue. 

 

"I...I don't know what happened," Bluebird grunted, shaking his head. "I don't think Mayura took over but-" 

 

Beneath his boot, The Cobra pulled a small metal capsule out from under his jacket, twisting it as green light began pouring out from inside. 

 

"Look out!" Rena Rouge grabbed Monarch and Bluebird, pulling them backwards as The Cobra vanished in a flash of green light. 

 

"Do you think that was a suicide attempt?" Monarch asked. 

 

"Doubt it...I think that it's more likely that-" Bluebird's head snapped up. "Shit, Juleka's still out there!" 

 

"Bluebird, take Tigress and round up whatever goon is left in this city," Rena Rouge said, thrusting the Miraculous back into Bluebird's hand as he turned and headed back towards where he last saw his sister. "Monarch, take Puppeteer back to school and meet me at Master Fu's! We need to get to Venice, now!" 

 

---

 

Venice, Italy

 

The café was silent, save for the distant sound of Firebird hurling blasts of flame at Carapace's shield, trying to crack the nearly impenetrable shell. 

 

"You have another one of those vials, right?" Queen Bee said, reaching around in Master He's jacket as Ladybug feebly applied her healing magic to the puncture wound. "Master, tell me you have a backup." 

 

Master He was quiet, pulling a cigarette out of her coat pocket and sticking it unlit in her mouth as she rubbed Kiicii's head with her index finger. "I didn't think I would need any more than one…" 

 

"Okay...let's think," Carapace muttered, crossing his arms as he thought. "The extraction point is a kilometer or so outside the city; if one of us runs interference-" 

 

"I can go," Ladybug said quickly. "They want me more; take Master He and Adrien and-" 

 

Ladybug was interrupted as Master He began coughing in earnest, handkerchief stained black with venom as she shook her head. 

 

"They'll catch you," Master He coughed. "And we'll all be binned regardless of who makes it out of Venice in one piece…" 

 

Master He pulled a key out of her pocket and pushed it into Carapace's hands. 

 

"That will open back to Master Fu's house," Master He said quietly, nodding over to an old looking door in the corner. "Ladybug, make sure that lock works and then take Chat Noir through." 

 

An animal roar filled the air, shaking the windows of the café as Kaiser Long unleashed a gale of freezing wind, battering the cracking shield with ice. Carapace stretched his hands out, trying to reinforce it against a pair of destructive demi-gods. But Ladybug could see a knot of worry begin to worm its way across his expression. 

 

It wasn't going to hold forever. 

 

"Once that barrier drops, they'll be on you," Master Crane said, chest rising and falling with laborious breaths as her skin began to pale. "And if they follow you through to Master Fu's house, it'll only be worse…" 

 

Master He's fingertips tingled with golden light, motes of energy floating out and sealing the cracks in Carapace's shield outside. 

 

"I can buy you some time," Master He said, extending the Crane Miraculous to Ladybug. "Not much...but I can-" 

 

"You can shut up and come with us !" Queen Bee insisted, snatching the Crane Miraculous out of Master He's grip. "Come on, my flawless rescue record isn't dying here, and neither are you! " 

 

Even Queen Bee's usual bravado was tinged with an edge of desperation that made her confidence hard to swallow. 

 

"Even if I make it back...whatever this is will get me sooner or later," Master He coughed, hand pressing against her wounded back. "This is a god-killer...and hole-y as I am, I'm no god." 

 

Master He chuckled blearily, black liquid leaking out of the corner of her mouth. 

 

"Adrien would have laughed at that," Master He tsked, looking over at Chat Noir's prone form. The dark veins seemed to be subsiding, and his breath came in a slower and surer tempo. 

 

"He doesn't laugh much these days," Carapace murmured. 

 

"Maybe you can do something about that…" Master He said. "I know he's been difficult to get along with lately. He's had a hard time of it for a while and I fear he isn't responding in the best way...he'll need your help, even if he doesn't want it." 

 

Ladybug stood holding on to Fang's hilt, clutching the weapon close to her chest as she looked on helplessly. She knew that escape was their only option, but if she went back to Paris without Adrien's master-

 

"You look like your master right now," Master He chuckled, turning to Ladybug. "Peering through the world and finding something unsavory on the other side of it." 

 

"If Adrien finds out we left you here and ran…" Ladybug trailed off as Master He pushed herself to her feet slowly, her lithe frame looking down on Ladybug with a firm glare. 

 

"This is my choice...and my responsibility," Master He wheezed, turning to Carapace. "You tell Alya...and tell Adrien when he wakes that this was my fault; mine alone. I chose to go after you... I chose to go after that dragon. You all have better things to do than point fingers over the life of a dying old woman." 

 

The barrier shuddered as Master He reached out and rubbed a large, glittering tear out of the Crane kwami's eye. "None of that...we had more than our fair share of time together." 

 

"I know," Kiicii sniffed, shaking her head. "Still...I don't think it was enough." 

 

"Help them as much as you can...especially Ladybug," Master He said, kissing the little kwami gently before turning to the others. Queen Bee's lips were pressed together to prevent them from trembling, and Carapace seemed to be holding on to Queen Bee's shoulder more for his own support than hers. 

 

"I am very glad that I got a chance to meet you," Master He said with a weak smile, turning to face Ladybug. "I've taken you as far as I can. The rest...I leave up to you." 

 

Ladybug didn't know if that last comment was directed to her as well, but as Carapace turned to pick Chat Noir up off the table, she couldn't resist the urge to lean in. 

 

"I'm not…" Ladybug shook her head. "How do I help him? What can I do? I-I know he hates me and I don't even blame him...but if we can't come together again-" 

 

"It's an impossible task, I know," Master He coughed, leaning on Ladybug's shoulder for support. "Thankfully...solving impossible tasks seem to be your specialty." 

 

Ladybug felt the old woman squeeze her shoulder for a moment before pushing her back. Queen Bee lingered between them, seemingly struggling with something before reaching out and hugging Master He tightly around the shoulders. 

 

"Easy, dear; I'm bleeding out over here," Master He chuckled, patting Queen Bee's cheek gently. "You'll be alright...now go." 

 

Ladybug watched as Kiicii vanished back into the Crane Miraculous, nearly numb with exhaustion as she wobbled towards the door. Carapace tugged his hood over his head as he opened the door, the sound of a dying conflict on the other side wafting through. Master Fu's confused expression could be seen for a moment as he watched Carapace carry Chat Noir through, but before he could say anything, his eyes met Master He's across the threshold that divided continents. 

 

In her eyes was the same resolute look that Master Li had in his final moments. The look of one who faced their death knowing that their life had meaning. 

 

"Wait-" Master Fu reached out as Ladybug stepped through the door, pulling it shut behind her as the barrier shattered under the force of Firebird's attack. Glass blew across the floor as Master He walked slowly towards the back and out onto the patio as she heard her foes closing in behind her.. 

 

The storm had abated long enough to give her an unblemished view of the Venetian lagoon shimmering in the clear morning sun. Her vision began to blur as she pulled a chair up, slumping down and feeling around for her lighter in her coat. 

 

"Those things are toxic, you know." 

 

Master He turned to see Firebird extending a burning fingertip, lighting the tip of her cigarette as her partner maneuvered around her other side. 

 

"Looks like a nick was all it took," Kaiser Long said, tail lifting the back of Master He's jacket before shriveling back up into his spine. "Ladybug patched her up, but I don't think it's enough. Tell me, how are you feeling?" 

 

"This poison is almost as painful as listening to your partner's mouth run," Master He coughed, muscles shaking as she took a drag from her cigarette. 

 

"They're not here!" The Salamander called over Master He's shoulder. "They must've run back to Paris." 

 

"That's fine; I think we've had as much fun with the Cat and the Bug as we're ever going to have," Firebird sighed, patting Master He on the knee. "Good job; now your pupils get to live to die at the end of the world!" 

 

"They'll be in good company…" Master He coughed, turning to face Firebird. "But I think you two will go first." 

 

"Fiery to the end, aren't you?" Firebird chuckled. 

 

"Just like Li…" Master He chuckled, watching the smug aura of superiority melt off Firebird's face. "Oh, I'm sorry...too soon?" 

 

Firebird took a deep breath through her nose, an almost forced smile returning to her face. 

 

"I don't know why, but I thought you'd put up more of a fight," Firebird mused, leaning in as faint smoke-trails escaped the corner of Master He's mouth. "Sure you don't want to take a swing at me? One last stand so you can say you went down fighting?" 

 

"I've done all I need to do," Master He said, taking a slow drag off her cigarette as the bright, glittering lagoon grew darker in front of her. "Fighting you would be a waste of time...seeing as how I've already won." 

 

"Oh really?" Kaiser Long chuckled, leaning against the railing in front of her. "Okay...I'll bite; what do you think you've accomplished here today? Chat Noir's been wounded, if not outright killed; even if he was at full strength, we've proven that we're strong enough to start putting our endgame into motion. Your team can't get together long enough to mount an effective offense, or defense for that matter, and Ladybug-" 

 

"-is back," Master He coughed, lips feebly curling into a grin. "That alone should give you ingrates pause."

 

"Back in a broken partnership with her power half-emptied," Firebird scoffed. 

 

"Or half full, depending on how you look at it," Master He said. "You underestimate her...and my other students...and Chat Noir's capacity for forgiveness. Please...continue to do so. I'm only sad I won't see the look in your eye when they destroy everything your old master tried to do-" 

 

"Do not- " Firebird snapped, tense as she took another calming breath. "Oh, I get it; you're trying to piss me off. Trying to twist the knife in your final moments. Very mature." 

 

"I don't need to try...that hard," Master He said, fighting to hold on to consciousness as Firebird's voice seemed to grow dimmer. "A few meaningless words is all it takes to make you froth...once Chat Noir regains a bit of his old self, he'll make those charming forehead veins pop." 

 

"If you want a quicker death, you only need to ask," Firebird said, flames glittering in her eyes as she glared at the old woman who had haunted her dreams since she was a girl. "I know that poison must really hurt...if you really want to die sooner, I would be happy to accomodate you." 

 

"I'm dead already," Master He said, fighting to push herself upright. If she was going to die in the company of monsters, it was going to be on her feet, standing with whatever strength she had left. "And glad to be. Small sticks...must be used as kindling...if you want to start a proper fire…" 

 

Firebird stepped aside as Master He walked past her, fist clenched at her side. "Cute saying...got any other fortune-cookie rejects to impart before you pass?" 

 

Master He turned to face Firebird with a weak, crooked smile as the last of her cigarette ash tumbled to the floor. "Never turn your back...on those you respect...or those you fear." 

 

With that, she turned away from Kaiser Long and Firebird, leaning on the railing as she watched the light dance across the waves in front of her. Even after the ice-storm Kaiser Long had unleashed, nature was once again taking its course  

 

At least it's by the water… , Master He thought as a wave of heat exploded at her back. 

 

Firebird watched with perverse glee as the old master's jacket caught fire, erupting into a column of white-hot flame that shot into the sky above. Master He stood, wreathed in flame, and slowly turned to face Firebird through the flickering light.

 

"Got you...got you you old-" Firebird's grin fell as Master He stared at her, refusing to blink or back down even as she was engulfed in flames. The full force of Firebird's power might as well have been a calm summer breeze judging by the way Master He stood, unbowed in the face of her own destruction. 

 

"Come on….die…just die..." Firebird whispered, a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead. Master He took a step forward and Firebird flinched, launching blast after blast at Master He's form. 

 

" Die already!" Firebird fired a jet of flames out of her palms, holding the attack even as the woman's features flickered and faded. A cloud of ash suddenly burst through the flames, coating Firebird in a choking grey fog as it swirled, shot up into the sky, and vanished on a passing breeze. 

 

Silence fell over the patio as Firebird waited, breath held as though she didn't quite know if her enemy was dead yet. 

"Well...that was dramatic," The Salamander chuckled, tensing as they caught a sharp look from Kaiser Long. 

 

"She's gone…" Firebird said. "She's definitely...definitely gone, right?" 

 

"I think that's a safe bet," Kaiser Long said, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel better?" 

 

Firebird ponderously watched flakes of ash fall around her shoulders. "You know...I really thought I would." 

 

Firebird squeezed her husband's hand before turning to look at the ruined city around them. Her eyes scanned the buildings and rubble they had created, looking for a flicker of white. After a moment she took another breath, her face relaxing back into its usual half-smile. "Whew, this place is a dump ." 

 

"Always was," Kaiser Long said, wrinkling his nose at the crumbling old buildings as one fell into the lagoon. "I want to shoot the man who thought it was a good idea to build a city in a bloody marsh."

 

"Still, it seems rude to just wreck a city and not fix it up afterwards," Firebird said, watching Kaiser Long rub his hands together. 

 

"Why fix something when you can improve it?" Kaiser Long said, slamming his palms into the street beneath him. 

 

The flagstones in front of him rippled and bent, shifting into smooth black slabs that spread across every surface like a wildfire. The picturesque buildings that lined the canals shifted as the wave caught up to them, warping and twisting into smooth black modern structures inlaid with glowing green and gold lighting. The canals drained and the historic bridges broke, replaced by lit sidewalks lined with tall gnarled trees that cast strange shadows on the ground below. 

 

The dome at San Marco's Cathedral fell, consumed by the wave of darkness and twisted until a large obsidian tower grew in its spot. The tower reached into the sky, bannisters and staircases winding around it as a sickly green beam shot out of its crown. From there, the darkness spread, mending the deep gashes created by the fighting and replacing the old buildings with threatening alien architecture, all smooth surfaces and hard spikes. Draconic gargoyles perched on the corner of every street, green eyes of flickering flame scouring the pavement beneath them.

 

"There…" Kaiser Long said, wiping his hands together as he stared out at his new city. "Much better." 

 

"...you're not gonna make every city in the new world look like this, are you?" Firebird asked as the last of Kaiser Long's power dissipated. "Don't get me wrong; it's nice, but I think a little...variety would be nicer." 

 

"It can look like whatever we want it to," Kaiser Long said, materializing a new coat with a snap of his fingers and leaning his arms back as Firebird slipped it on his shoulders. "But I'm sure the development team will be taking feedback...isn't that right, Salamander?" 

 

Salamander tore their gaze away from the miraculous landscape in front of them, almost breathless with awe. "You got it boss." 

 

"That's what we like to hear!" Firebird said, throwing her arms around The Toad and The Salamander's shoulders as she threw a portal open in front of them. "Full steam ahead boys! We've got a new world waiting for us!" 

 

Kaiser Long hung back, taking in the brilliant architecture of his new city with a satisfied smile until he noticed the blackened circle where Master He made her last stand still visible on the patio. 

 

---

 

Paris, France. 

 

"Master Fu, we need to-" 

 

Rena Rouge burst in the back door to Master Fu's house to a grim and confusing scene. Queen Bee's face was buried in Carapace's chest, shoulders shaking as his hand rubbed her back gently. On the table in front of them, Chat Noir lay pale, sick, and with a noticeable gash in his coat. Master Fu sat blank-faced in a chair at the head of the table, and at the other end Ladybug stood holding on to Fang, clutching it tightly as tears silently rolled down her cheeks. 

 

Monarch brushed past Rena Rouge into the kitchen behind her. "You're here...what-" 

 

The rest of her question was lost in a soft cry, her cane clattering to the floor as she rushed to Chat Noir's side. "What happened?! What's Adrien doing here?!" 

 

"He showed up to help..." Ladybug swallowed. "Kaiser Long did something to him...poisoned him with something. We're stabilizing him but it's bad enough that my cure won't instantly fix him…" 

 

"Well somebody get Master He then!" Monarch said, glancing around the table. "Wait...how did you all get back so quickly?" 

 

Carapace met Rena Rouge's eyes over the table, his mournful look confirming her worst fears. 

 

"She wanted you to know that it was her choice," Carapace sniffed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand as Rena Rouge leaned against the counter. "She bought us some time to use her key...but she stayed behind to cover our escape." 

 

"Let's go after her then!" Monarch insisted, looking around for the key. "Come on, we sent those troublemakers packing; let's go get her !" 

 

"Even if we could...even if you were there…" Ladybug shook her head, meeting Rena Rouge's eyes across the table. "It wouldn't make a difference. We lost...and we'd lose again if we tried fighting them now." 

 

Ladybug quietly laid the Crane Miraculous on the table next to Fang and Chat Noir's hip. He looked eerily peaceful, each shallow breath the only proof he still lived. And despite possessing a universe's worth of power at her fingertips, Ladybug found herself feeling completely useless in the face of the grief that pressed in around her. 

 

The grim air was pierced by the distant sound of sirens and Rena Rouge's communicator buzzing. Blinking back tears, she flicked it open to see Sabrina's harried expression on the other side. 

 

" F-Finally!" Sabrina gasped, pressing an ice-pack to the side of an ugly gash on the side of her head. " Rena, my officers are moving in to secure the remaining threats. Bluebird and Tigress are cornering the last of them...I'm sorry I went dark, but they snuck up on me and-" 

 

"It's fine…" Rena Rouge sniffed, shoulders straightening even as Ladybug could see them strain under the load she had placed on her. "I'll...I'll be in touch soon. Keep everyone calm and I'll let the Mayor know when we have more information." 

 

The call ended and Rena Rouge looked around the tiny kitchen to the harried faces staring back at her. 

 

"We got beat," Rena Rouge said simply, resting a hand on Master Fu's shoulder with a comforting squeeze as he stared down at the Crane Miraculous in his hands. "We might have accomplished what we set out to do but...we still got beat." 

 

Rena Rouge took a deep breath, accepting Queen Bee's hand with a tight squeeze. 

 

"But we're alive...and our city is still standing," Rena Rouge said, taking a deep breath. "Which means we have a base to get stronger; somewhere to heal and grow until we're able to knock those smug bastards down a peg or two." 

 

Rena Rouge's eyes lingered on Ladybug's for a long moment. 

 

"From here on in...the only casualties I'll accept are on their side," Rena Rouge said. "Everyone...go home and get cleaned up. Rendezvous at HQ at six-thirty." 

 

Carapace was the first to move. "I'll get Adrien to the medical station; we can look at him closer once we're all stable." 

 

"I'll see if Sabrina has anything for us to work with," Queen Bee said, stopping as Rena Rouge grabbed her elbow. 

 

"We can handle that after we take a breath," Rena Rouge said gently as Monarch bent down to pick her cane up and wipe her eyes under the table. 

 

"Shall I get Evillustrator to clean up the mess?" Monarch asked. 

 

Rena Rouge stared at Ladybug for a long moment, her expression unreadable as she seemed to be weighing something heavy in her mind. 

 

"Ladybug," Rena Rouge said, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn to face the pair in the center of the room. "Could you use your powers to fix the city?" 

 

Ladybug's breath caught in her throat. "I thought me showing up would make trouble for you." 

 

"Things have changed," Rena Rouge said, turning to leave the kitchen. "And I think we're gonna need your help again." 

 

Rena Rouge stepped out of the house, leaving Ladybug alone with her former teammates. Monarch's eyes narrowed at her for a moment before she turned and followed Rena Rouge. 

 

"Welcome back, Buggy," Queen Bee said, patting Ladybug's shoulder as she followed Monarch. "Now Lucky-Charm a broom and get sweeping." 

 

With that, Queen Bee was gone, leaving her with Carapace as he gingerly picked Chat Noir up. 

 

"I'll come get you when it's time to meet up," Carapace said, offering Ladybug a weak smile. 

 

"They're not happy about this, are they?" Ladybug sighed, rubbing her eyes as exhaustion finally found its way back to her. 

 

"Nobody's happy about anything right now," Carapace said, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "But back in Venice...when everything started going sideways...I could have sworn I saw the Ladybug I used to look up to again."

 

Ladybug was speechless as Carapace offered her a crooked grin. "Maybe if she sticks around, their attitude will improve." 

 

Chat Noir moaned weakly in Carapace's grip, head twitching and laying against Carapace's shoulder. 

 

"Better get Sleeping Beauty to bed," Carapace said, nodding as he turned and left Ladybug alone with Master Fu. 

 

"Master…" Ladybug reached out to touch Master Fu's shoulder. "You should know that-" 

 

"We...can speak later," Master Fu said, his voice more aged than she could ever remember it being. "Please...go heal the city. I need a moment alone." 

 

Master Fu got up and made his way out of the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane as he made his way into the bedroom. Ladybug watched him go, almost afraid to leave and set foot in Paris again after so much time away. 

 

She took a deep breath, reached for the doorknob, and stepped out into her home again.  

 

All around her the sound of sirens filled the air as she latched onto a familiar rooftop, shooting up over the buildings she and Chat Noir had traversed  so many times before. The wind whipped at her cheeks as she snaked through the city, running hard as she landed on a rooftop. 

 

("You're going to need to start trying to trust yourself.")

 

Blood pumped in her ears as she ran, her mind outpacing her frenzied charge across the city. 

 

( "Trust isn't a feeling; it's a choice.")

 

Ladybug stumbled as she landed on a roof that was taller than she remembered it, rolling as she recovered and leapt off and onto another building. 

 

("You were her hero once. You were his hero once...and I believe that you can be again.")

 

Ladybug came to a stop on the rooftop of her old school, breathing hard as she stared out over the smoking city in front of her. 

 

( "Don't make me look like an idiot, now.")

 

As gnarled, foggy, and tangled as the road in front of her was, the first step was crystal clear. 

 

"Okay...let's get sweeping," Ladybug muttered, cracking her knuckles and taking a deep breath. " Miraculous Ladybug!" 

 

Ladybug slammed her palm into the roof of the school, pink light blossoming around her and exploding across the city in a wave of healing energy. As a girl, she was disconnected from Tikki's power; now she could feel every crack in the street mend, every broken window or ruptured fire hydrant come back together. Wrong became right as the wave spread out across the city, culminating in an explosion of pink energy that sent little petals of power floating down from the sky. 

 

Ladybug let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, supporting herself on the railing of the rooftop as she looked up at the bright beam of gold that split the horizon. A chill ran down her spine as she felt something tug on Creation's power in a major way; the Dragon had done something. She didn't know what he had done, but it wasn't going to be anything good. 

 

Lost in thought, she didn't look up as she heard the door to the school open behind her. 

 

"Chris, I don't want to talk about it!" 

 

"No, this isn't for the dumb vlog; I just want to know if you're okay-" Ladybug turned around to see a girl in a purple t-shirt staring wide eyed at her, a boy in a black and green hoodie standing behind her looking at her like she was an alien. 

 

"Oh sorry I...didn't know you were...Ladybug," the boy said, fumbling around in his pockets as the girl stared silently back at her, mouth hanging open and head tilted to one side. 

 

"Tell Mme. Bustier I'm sending her a bill for the cleanup," Ladybug said, waving as she leapt off the rooftop and plunged down into the streets below. 

 

"Wait, Ladybug!" Ladybug heard someone cry over her shoulder, but by then she was already gone, up over the roofs as she swung home for the first time since leaving Paris. 

 

Hello Paris, Ladybug thought, breathing in the smell of her parents' bakery as she landed on the rooftop. I'm back. 

 

End Part One

 

Notes:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings indeed.

We start the passing of the guard with my sockpuppet character. I feel like Master He died the way she would have wanted to go; by the water, flipping her enemies off, having safeguarded her students and bought the future a fighting chance.

Thankfully we're getting into some more character-building chapters so these should be easier for me to write. Thanks to everyone who's supported this story so far and hopefully you're ready for Part Two!

Chapter 10: Interlude: Attack for the Next Generation

The Golden Temple

Western China

669 CE

 

"Attack for the next generation?" Master Li laughed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" 

 

Master He finished the calligraphy with a flourish of red paint, wobbling a little as she leaned back on her palms

 

"It's a motto you ingrate," Master He hiccuped, taking another gulp of wine from the flagon Master Li passed her. "How the hell do you intend to start an organization without a motto?" 

 

"Are you going to hire children to wave flags in the street?" Master Fu laughed. "Come join our organization of strange magicians that live in the mountains; you may die unmourned in the service of people who will never learn your name but we have a motto ." 

 

Master Li caught the bottle Master He whipped at Master Fu's head as it sailed across the table. 

 

"It's not for them you little turtle-man...thing," Master He hiccuped, raven hair tumbling loose from her bun. "It's for us; let the others busy themselves with unraveling the secrets of the cosmos. We are the boots on the ground-" 

 

Master Crane pointed in Master Fu's general direction. "The Guardians-" 

 

Her finger wobbled over to Master Li. "The Shepherds-"

 

Her finger finally landed in the middle of her chest. "And the Viziers. We need to present a united front in the face of...well, in the face of our ankle-biting students." 

 

Master Li craned his head to the side to examine Master He's shaky calligraphy. "Your eyes are always on the future, aren't they?" 

 

"It's the only thing that still has a chance to be better,"Master He said, a burp escaping her mouth. "The past is buggered; the present is buggered. Tomorrow might not be quite as buggered, so I'll bet on that." 

 

"In spite of history and logic dictating that the future will, indeed, be buggered," Master Fu chuckled. 

 

"Li...throw that bottle at Fu's head for me," Master He sighed, wobbling to her feet. "I cannot stand being in the presence of such dreary, feebleminded fools any longer." 

 

Her boot slammed on the table as she glowered blearily at the pair of them. "If you lot aren't willing to stake your lives on the future, you should have never become immortals...we've got a long life ahead of us, lads; might as well hope for a good one." 

 

"Or die trying for one," Master Li chuckled, standing up with a grunt. "Ooh...too much wine-" 

 

"Lightweight." 

 

"Alcoholic," Master Li retorted, dropping the empty bottle in her lap as she fell backwards onto her palms. "See to it you don't fall in the fish pond; I'm not scooping you out...again." 

 

"Yeah...well see to it you don't...fall into the…" Master He trailed off with a raspberry. "Eh...I'll get him tomorrow." 

 

Master Fu was quiet as he watched Master Li go, eyes wandering over to the corner of the courtyard where a group of older students were sneaking out of their dormitories under the flickering light of a lantern. 

 

"You've got that look on your face…" Master He said, blowing across the mouth of the empty bottle. 

 

"What look?" Master Fu chuckled. 

 

Master Li squinted and frowned in imitation. "Like you're looking through the world and seeing something you don't like on the other side of it." 

 

"I wonder if it's as simple as you make it out to be," Master Fu said, nodding at the paper in front of him. "Putting faith in an entire generation...should they disappoint us-" 

 

"Then the next one will have to do better," Master He said with a shrug. "Eventually, one of them will be the one worth fighting for...and all the fighting we've done up to that point will be worth it." 

 

"So you say," Master Fu mumbled, coughing as Master He patted him on the back mid-drink. 

 

"Yes, so says me," Master He said. "The problem with you, Quingfu, is that you're never going to be right about how bad the world is...and you don't want to be." 

 

"Perhaps, but someone has to play the pessimist," Master Fu shrugged. "I'm surrounded by idealists; you'll run us off a cliff chasing dragons if I let you." 

 

"We live in a world where dragons can be chased," Master He said, smacking her lips thoughtfully. "But, if we fall, at least we know you'll be there to catch us, you old dependable reptile." 

 

"You, I might just let fall on your face," Master Fu said, ducking as the wine bottle shattered on the wall behind him. "You really are drunk." 

 

"Of course I am; I would have hit you if I were sober," Master He hiccupped, wobbling to her feet. "Now...I'm going to go to sleep before that last drink puts me down...oof, I don't envy morning practice tomorrow." 

 

Master He wobbled away from him towards her quarters at the far end of the courtyard, hand skimming the lilies that grew along the path as she began humming a song Master Fu had never heard before.

Chapter 11: Back In The Saddle

Notes:

Music Credits: Wear Black - The Mountain Goats

"The city's as good as new; can you believe it?" 

"...thought I saw her swinging over the street as I passed; are you sure it's her?” 

"The Noir Pages posted a video of her on the rooftop; I hear Nadja Chamack's trying to get her hands on the footage.” 

“-but where the hell were Queen Bee and Carapace in all of this?” 

“-no word from Chat Noir either…shouldn't he have shown up too?” 

The battle and her friends’ role in it was on everyone’s lips as Marinette walked the streets of her hometown, taking in the sights of the city for the first time in years. She had intended to come back to visit a few times, even bought the tickets before inventing an excuse to stay out of the city. Maybe it was just fear of running into someone who didn't want to see her; maybe it was fear that if a supervillain struck, she would have broken her promise to stay away from Paris. Either way, fear was no longer something Marinette had the luxury of indulging. 

Not after her partner was lying on death's door and his mentor was likely dead already. 

As she walked, she noted with some dismay that a few of her favorite shops and restaurants had been closed down or replaced in her absence. The pet-shop that Chat Noir had patronized (the one Mayor Andre’s guards had shaken down so many years ago) seemed to be recently boarded up, dust covering the empty pens and lingering on Marinette’s nose as she pressed her nose against the glass. The city had moved on without her, thought it was too much to hope she could pick her old life up where she had left it. Walking through the unfamiliar crowds felt like walking through a dream, uncanny and recognizable at the same time. 

This wasn't her city anymore, and yet as she passed the park, she paused to look up at the lone Ladybug statue posing triumphantly. The younger version of herself grinned with a kind of confidence and ferocity that came from being young, successful, and surrounded by people invested in her success. The Ladybug that stood in the park had yet to be hammered down by years of fighting the same battles, over and over; she was still fresh, clever, and eager to do her part to protect the city. Almost as eager as...

Marinette's eyes drifted down, lingering on the empty spot where Chat Noir’s former statue had been paved over. The pigeons, to Chat Noir's horror, seemed to prefer perching on his statue rather than hers. "Paris' Favorite Pigeon Restroom" she had teased, making him go scarlet with wordless indignation. Now, it seemed even the pigeons had deserted her. There was no room in the newly designed park for anyone to stand beside Ladybug; only thorny bushes of roses that encircled her like a cage. 

Invincible, untouchable, and alone, Ladybug’s smiling face seemed almost mocking. 

“Looking to upgrade your look?” 

Marinette jumped as Alya’s voice came in her ear, her presence suddenly appearing at Marinette’s elbow as she was lost in thought. 

“I think the guy who did this one is out of the game at this point,” Alya mused, regarding the statue with a curious expression on her face. 

“Paris loves its relics of the past,” Marinette muttered. “Is that why your team didn’t get their own?”

“It wasn’t offered,” Alya shrugged. “We didn’t ask; we had bigger things to worry about at the time...still do for that matter." 

“No kidding,” Marinette said, glancing at Alya out of the corner of her eye. “It's really been crazy since I've been gone, huh?" 

Alya jerked her head over her shoulder, leading Marinette away from the park and down the street. “It's as crazy as it always is when there’s a power vacuum to fill; you’re not the only one who kept the rest of the world from picking on Paris.” 

“I thought Adrien was coming back every now and then,” Marinette said. 

“I was referring to Hawk Moth, actually,” Alya chuckled bitterly. 

"Hawk Moth was keeping Paris safe?" 

"While he was sitting on it, nobody else wanted a piece of it," Alya said. “After he died and you two disappeared, Paris was suddenly the fattest prize in Europe. Every two-bit mad-scientist, evil witch, and freak in a mask suddenly wanted to cut a piece for themselves.” 

“I’ve noticed,” Marinette said, drawing Alya’s curious eye. 

“Keeping tabs on us?”

“In case you needed-” Marinette trailed off. “I-I mean, you guys were doing fine, of course; I just thought...well, I couldn’t resist keeping informed.” 

Alya’s face was impossible to read, shrugging off Marinette’s comment. “We got by; then we got good. It took a while to find our groove, but working with the mayor’s office and your cousins, we’ve managed to make this the second-safest city on the continent...used to be Venice, since it didn't really have anything for villains to go after, but-” 

Marinette stopped as they approached a small crowd looking up at a large news-screen displaying a grim and twisted city carved out of black stone. Only the word ‘Venice’ underneath the helicopter footage of the alien landscape marked it as such; the city Marinette had been in only hours before had turned into something she no longer recognized. 

“What happened?” Marinette asked. 

“Funny,” Alya said, studying Marinette’s face as she looked up at the screen. “I was hoping you could tell me.” 

---

"How's he doing?" 

Nino shrugged wordlessly as Chloe's hand slid along the small of his back comfortingly. Adrien seemed to be peacefully asleep behind the glass wall of the medical bay, his chest rising and falling with alarmingly slow breaths. 

"Plagg says he's okay," Nino said, glancing at the heart-rate monitor that barely blipped every few seconds. "I guess he doesn't breathe all that much these days…"

"Do you pretend not to be creeped out as much as I do?" Chloe said with a small shudder. "I mean, that's such a rotten thing to say, but-" 

"Yeah...it's weird for sure," Nino said. "As much as we pretend Adrien is still Adrien-" 

"He is," Chloe said, looking up at him. "Right?" 

"I used to think so," Nino sighed. "Lately, I don't even know who I'm talking to. The Adrien I used to know wouldn't go AWOL for six months and ditch his friends to go hunt monsters…" 

"There were fewer monsters back then," Chloe pointed out. "And he had someone to fall back on if things got too hairy." 

"Yeah?" Nino snorted. "And what the hell are we then?" 

"Oh don't tell me you're still pissed about that," Chloe sighed, pinching the small of his back underneath his shirt. 

"Kagami got the call," Nino muttered. 

"Accidentally." 

"He just can't act like we wouldn't have fought Ladybug for him if he had just asked," Nino sighed, leaning against the glass. "He can't pull the lonely warrior routine when people are constantly throwing help in his face and he's constantly slapping it down. And how long is he supposed to punish Paris for not believing him?" 

"He's punishing Paris by spending sixty million euros a year on a team of vigilantes to protect it?" Chloe said, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm just saying we could have all been involved in this Dragon and Bird hunt a lot sooner," Nino said. "Alya would have let us go, right? And he used to call Kagami out to hunt shit in Japan, so why…" 

Nino trailed off with a frustrated growl, turning away as a lanky man in black sauntered in from the kitchen with a plate of grilled cheese wobbling with each step. 

"What makes you think this has anything to do with you, half-shell?" Plagg asked, taking a mammoth bite of an oozing grilled cheese and dragging a long string out of his mouth. "Adrien's got a long hit list of people he's pissed about; you and honey-buns are pretty far from the top." 

"Call me that again and we're gonna put your supposed immortality to the test," Chloe said, narrowing her eyes. 

"You literally have honey-buns embossed on the back of your leggings," Nino said, flipping the back of her sweatshirt up to reveal the glittering gold words. 

"And how would you know that?" Plagg prodded, snickering as Nino dropped Chloe's sweatshirt and looked away. 

"Man, why the hell are you so cavalier about this?" Nino said, abruptly changing the topic. "You're not a little worried that Adrien might not pull through?" 

“Kid, if I had a nickel for every time Adrien almost died in the past four years, I’d be rich enough to buy every block of American Cheese on Earth, build a rocket, and shoot them into the sun,” Plagg said, ignoring the look of shock on Nino’s face. “Oh, what, you thought we were on a roadtrip?” 

“No, but I just thought he would have told us if things were really that bad…” Nino turned around to look at Adrien and froze as he saw a strange figure in a red-tank top standing over Adrien’s bed, her hands glittering with glowing red energy. “Hey!” 

"Who the hell are-" Chloe stopped as the woman raised her head, revealing a pair of glittering blue eyes. "Oh...hey, long time no see." 

"Too long," Tikki agreed, running her hand over Adrien's slowly breathing chest. "And I wish I could say I came bearing good news..." 

"I guess even you can't be lucky all the time," Nino said, sharing a worried glance with Chloe. "How did you even get here?" 

"When you're as close as me and Sugarcube, things like 'distance' are more suggestions than anything else," Plagg said, pushing a grilled cheese into Tikki's face for her to bite while pushing more of her healing power into Adrien. "She was with me as soon as I told her Adrien was in trouble; besides, her little field trip to Mexico already paid off." 

"I'm guessing not in the frozen margarita way," Chloe said, awkwardly extending a hand. "Hiiii, I don't think we've officially met; I'm-" 

"I know who you are," Tikki said, her eyes flickering back up to meet Chloe's. "Marinette told me quite a bit about you." 

Chloe slowly withdrew her hand and slid behind Nino's shoulders. "Oh great, the almighty bug woman hates me," she muttered under her breath. 

“I don’t have the luxury of holding grudges at this point,” Tikki said, glancing down at Adrien. “None of us do.” 

“There’s holding a grudge and then there’s being cautious,” Plagg said, earning a small roll of Tikki’s eyes. “Let’s face it; nobody is exactly thrilled that Ladybug came back when we have no choice but to make nice with her…” 

---

"I am soooo thrilled that Ladybug is back!” 

"Chris, please, chill," Manon sighed as Chris replayed the shaky cellphone footage of Ladybug swinging away for the third time. 

"What do you mean chill?!" Chris squeaked, skipping down the stairs next to her. "This is breaking news! Your mom would kill to get her hands on this kind of footage, right?"

"I'll let you know, provided she doesn't kill me first," Manon sighed. 

"For what, kicking terrorists in the face with Rena Rouge?" Chris scoffed. "In my house that would get me anti-grounded for a year; a free pass to do whatever I want, whenever I want." 

"First of all, most of what you want involves football, football, more football, football video games, and livestreaming," Manon pointed out. "It's not like you're some bad-boy that's going to raise hell when your parents aren't looking." 

"I can be bad!" Chris scoffed as they wove their way through the chattering after-school crowd. 

"Secondly, your mom and my mom have very different attitudes towards superheroes," Manon sighed, chewing on the corner of her lip. 

"Oh, come on; you're practically a hero!" Chris said, marching in front of her on the way out the front door. "Make way; deputy superhero coming through! Form a neat line for autographs and make the checks out to Chris-ow!" 

Chris yelped as Manon pinched his side. "Dude, lighten up; how mad can your Mom be at you for saving the city?" 

The sound of car tires and terrified pedestrians floated down the street as a slick black coup pulled up in front of the school and screeched to a halt. Through the wisps of tire smoke Manon could see her mother glaring unblinkingly at her from behind the wheel of her car, her mouth pressed into a tight line as her fingers gripped the steering wheel. 

"Ooh, that's mad," Chris said with a wince. "That's very mad." 

"Call me later to make sure I'm alive," Manon sighed, hitching her backpack up and approaching her car like it was going to explode at any second. 

"Hi Mama," Manon said with a shaky smile as the door closed behind her, icy silence enveloping them as they pulled away. In the rearview mirror, Manon could see Chris lingering on the sidewalk, doing his best to put on a brave smile for her sake. 

"Do you want to tell me what happened out there today?" Nadja said as they rounded the corner, her voice quiet but radiating tension with every word. 

Manon clutched her bag to her chest. It would be easy to pin it on Monarch; feed her mother more material about the superheroes she seemed to despise so much. But even as the easy way out beckoned to her, she said. "Monarch needed my help, so I-" 

"So you what, decided to run headlong into a warzone?" Nadja demanded, taking a turn a little harder than she should have. "Did that really seem like a good idea to you? Did you think that exposing yourself to a group of maniacs with machine guns was going to solve anything?!" 

"I helped!" Manon said before she remembered that her mother didn't care if she saved the city single handed. "What was I supposed to do, hide?!" 

"Yes, Manon!" Nadja said. "Hide with the rest of your classmates! Tell that Hawk Moth knockoff to hide behind someone else-" 

"I was hiding behind her!" Manon insisted. "She kept that creep in the Centipede mask from attacking me!" 

"She wouldn't have been attacking you if you hadn't-" Nadja stopped herself, taking a deep breath through her nose as they came to a stop at a crosswalk. "People died today, Manon. Those...people shot one of their own. If they could do that to someone on their side, imagine what they would do to you." 

Manon wanted to argue, but had nothing to say. She was right; she could have died. Her Champion's suit protected her, but against even more formidable foes-

Nadja came to a stop in front of their townhouse, leaning over to look at her daughter. 

"This is not your fight, Manon," Nadja said softly, squeezing her daughter's shoulder. "I don't ever want to hear that you involved yourself with those people again, is that clear?" 

"Yes, Mama," Manon said, opening the door and sliding out with her backpack clutched to her chest. 

"Wait!" Manon turned to see her mother leaning across the seat and out the window. "I've got a broadcast at six tonight." 

"I know; I'll leave your dinner in the fridge," Manon said. 

"No, I…" Nadja chewed the corner of her lip. "I was wondering if you maybe saw anything while you were out there...anything useful that might help the police catch the masked mercenaries?" 

Manon didn't turn around, afraid that she might recognize something if she stared at her mother's face for too long. 

"It was a pretty crazy fight," Manon chuckled, fidgeting with her pigtail. "I-I don't really remember much of anything-" 

"Of course," Nadja sighed, almost sounding relieved. "Call me if you need anything." 

Her mother pulled away, the din of the engine fading and leaving Manon alone with the thundering sound of her own heartbeat. 

---

“Have you been home yet?” 

Marinette’s stomach dropped as she realized that she had been in the city for most of the afternoon and had yet to swing by her parents house. “I figured with everything going on right now, it’d be better to try and catch them later; I probably should have a look at Adrien first-” 

“Chloe and Nino are keeping an eye on him back at base,” Alya said, nodding towards an old, out-of-the way building that looked about ready to fall apart if a strong gust of wind hit it. Leaning against the rickety gate, coat tucked under one arm, was a tense and anxious-looking Kagami, who offered a wordless nod as they approached the derelict building. Marinette might have been imagining it, but she swore the air grew colder the closer she got to Kagami. A childish urge to hide behind Alya’s shoulder had to be pushed to one side as she forced herself to meet Kagami’s piercing gaze. 

"Kagami," Marinette said with a small smile. 

“I thought you were taking her back to base,” Kagami said, taking Marinette in with a worried frown as they crossed the gate and entered the worn courtyard. The air around the ruined structure seemed to shimmer as they crossed the threshold, a stately two-story that seemed to be a mashup of Victorian and art-deco aesthetics taking its place. Warm, flickering lanterns hovered in the air as Marinette stepped into the courtyard and a wilting peach-tree dropped leaves into the river that seemed to run through the small plot of land. 

Landscaping, immortal style. Marinette mused. 

“I thought we could clear out Master He’s place quicker with more hands on the job,” Alya said, glancing between Kagami and Marinette. “Is there a problem?” 

“The problem is I had the same idea,” Kagami said, glancing behind her. “Maybe she should get out of her before-” 

“What the hell is she doing here?” 

If Kagami’s gaze was frosty, the look Juleka gave her as she stepped through the door was downright volcanic. Her former friend had seemingly grown even taller since last they met, the glittering purple Tiger Miraculous dangling off her wrist as she dropped a box full of books on the steps in front of her. 

"H-Hi, Juleka," Marinette said, hand hovering in an awkward half-wave. "Lone time no see-" 

"Not long enough," Juleka said, as Alya stepped between her and Marinette. 

“She’s here to help,” Alya said in a firm, even voice. “And we need help. I know you’re not happy with Marinette right now-” 

"Understatement of the year," Juleka sniffed. “Seriously, Alya? With Mayura acting up for the first time in four years, you think it's a good idea to bring her over here?” 

“Wait, what?!” Marinette said, the sound of the mad-akuma’s name sending a chill down her spine. The sight of Luka’s twisted form standing over Adrien’s broken body still haunted the darkest corners of her dreams; worse because she had a hand in creating it. The knowledge that it was safely tucked away helped her sleep a little better, but now- 

“What’s going on with Luka?” Marinette asked. 

“None of your business is what’s going on,” Juleka snapped, stopping only as Kagami grabbed her elbow. “You've done more than enough where Luka is concerned and the creepy little parasite you helped Hawk Moth stick in his head is bugging him more now that you're back!" 

An icy weight settled in the pits of Marinette's stomach. "I...I swear, I'm not doing anything to-" 

"You don't need to," Juleka said. "Being here is bad enough; you need to go before-" 

"-before Luka has the chance to weigh in himself." Juleka craned her neck up to see her brother sticking his head out the second floor window. 

"I thought we were on a tight schedule here," Luka said, his glittering blue eyes resting on Marinette for a moment before turning back to his sister. "Or do you guys want to spend time talking about me behind my back?" 

"Luka-" Before Marinette could say anything else, Luka ducked back inside, leaving the quartet in the courtyard in a tense silence. 

"Leave my family alone," Juleka muttered, brushing past Alya and slamming the iron gate behind her as she left the courtyard. Marinette watched her go for a moment, the tense silence in the courtyard punctuated by a soft "yare yare" from Kagami. 

"Well...that went better than I thought it would," Marinette sighed. 

"What, did you expect her to punch you?" 

"I was planning on it," Marinette said, glancing up at the window where Luka had stuck his head out. "...is there anything I can do?" 

"Tread cautiously," Kagami said, turning around and heading back inside. "You're walking on shaky ground." 

No kidding, Marinette thought, the beginnings of a headache already worming its way through her head. "Has it really been quiet until I showed up?" 

"As I understand it...it's always been something he's had a tight lid on," Alya said, nodding her head towards the open door. "But it's also not something we should be talking about behind Luka's back." 

"I-I wasn't trying to pry," Marinette said quickly, following Alya into the house. Okay, maybe she was. But Mayura had been a proverbial rock in her shoe since she had left Paris; forgotten about until it inevitably stabbed her heel and caused her to stumble.  

Of course, I still have zero idea how to untangle a crazy akuma from Luka's mind, Marinette thought bitterly. 

The foyer of Master He's former townhouse might have been pretty at one point, but ransacked as it was Marinette couldn't tell. Piles of books, papers, and strange potted plants laid everywhere. Half of the floorboards had been pried open, contents of hidden safes scattered across the floor. A fire roared in a fireplace as Kagami inspected various documents Luka passed to her, squinting at the page and either storing them in a folio or tossing them into the flames. 

"Did Juleka leave?" Luka asked, packing a book into an overflowing box and kicking it across the floor towards a door behind a bookcase that seemed to lead under the house. 

"She...wasn't happy to see me," Marinette muttered, studying Luka's back as he worked. "I can leave if you think it'll be easier; I don't want to cause any friction." 

"I think we're beyond the point of worrying about that," Alya said, rifling through a book before tossing it to one side. "Did you get everything?" 

"All except the study," Kagami said, nodding to a large wooden door at the far end of the room. "Master Fu wanted to go through her personal effects himself...said it was better that a more experienced eye sorted through the worst of it." 

Marinette stared through the crack in the door, watching a small shadow shuffle back and forth behind the door. 

"Okay, we need to be out of here in ten; I don't want to be here if the bird and the dragon decide to come poking around," Alya said, grabbing a stack of papers and flipping through them. 

"Is that a concern?" Marinette asked, fidgeting as she looked for some way to make herself useful. "How many people know about this place?" 

"Just us, as far as we know," Luka said, his back still turned to her as he stacked another box and tossed it towards the door behind the bookshelf. "But she lost her Miraculous in the end, didn't she?" 

"They know who she was; we can't risk them finding her personal effects," Kagami said, brushing some dust off a tall, glass cabinet bound with a heavy silver lock. "Or Hawk Moth's old library." 

Marinette's stomach churned as she looked up at the wall of books imprisoned behind the glass. She had walked by these books dozens of times as she and Gabriel had plotted against her partner; they didn't look obviously evil, but Marinette had to admit that she wasn't the best authority on appearances anymore. 

"Why don't you go see if Master He needs any help with anything," Alya said offhandedly, chucking a stack of paper into the fire before she caught her mistake. "Sorry. Slip of the tongue." 

"It's okay," Marinette said, carefully weaving through the piles of discarded books and upturned furniture on her way to the study. The heavy wooden door creaked open as she approached and behind a polished wooden desk sat her old mentor, finally looking as ancient as he was. The lines in his face seemed somehow deeper as he looked down at a framed picture, surrounded by half-packed boxes with his cane off to one side. 

"Master?" Marinette ventured, her voice barely rousing the old man as he brushed some dust off the frame. "Alya wanted to let you know that we're moving out soon." 

"Right...best to get on our way," Master Fu said, passing the picture frame to Marinette who studied the eight smartly dressed figures curiously. The black-and-white photo looked old enough to belong in a museum, the yellowing edges curling under the glass. She could clearly make out Master He's tall, slender frame in a crisp white suit and Master Fu sitting next to her. Behind them was a tall, broad-shouldered man who seemed to be the only one of them smiling, a twinkle in his eye unmistakably bright next to a sea of dour faces. 

"It was He's idea," Master Fu said, almost ruefully. "She was always so in love with new technology; wouldn't stop pestering the photographer for a demonstration of his technique...Li just laughed under his breath." 

Master Fu shook his head as though shaking off an unruly fly, busying himself with the last contents of Master He's desk. 

"I'm sorry," Marinette said, already regretting how useless and small the platitude sounded. "I should have…" 

Marinette trailed off, fumbling around for something that should have gone better. Should have been faster; should have been more observant of Kaiser Long's stinger. Should have forced Master He to come back to Paris; should have thrown Gabriel Agreste in prison when she had the chance. 

But none of the should-have's seemed to save Master He in her mind. 

"We set ourselves on this course before you were even born, Marinette," Master Fu said softly. "Master He knew our time was running out before she ever went to Venice. At least-" 

Master Fu swallowed as he crammed a lid on a cardboard box. "At least she got to choose how she ended things; a good death is a luxury few of us ever got." 

The idea of a good death still seemed so alien to Marinette, but then again she hadn't lived as long as they had. There were things she still wanted to do, places she still wanted to see; would she be as blasé about her own passing if she grew as old as Master Fu? 

"What were they like?" Master Fu ventured after a moment. "Our enemies...Li's pupils." 

Marinette was quiet for a moment, busying herself with piling the contents of a drawer into a box as she weighed her answer. "They reminded me of us." 

"You and Chat Noir you mean," Master Fu mused. 

"Before...before everything got so out of whack," Marinette muttered. "The way they fought together...the way they protected each other. How sure they seemed that their partner had their back. It was like fighting one person in two bodies."

"The forces of Creation and Destruction require balance," Master Fu said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "And they've had years to train with one another while you and Chat-" 

Master Fu trailed off before he could cram his foot the rest of the way into his mouth. Marinette stared at the packed up remnants of Master He's life, eyes landing on a photograph of Master He, decked in her Crane Miraculous' suit, standing on top of a slain monster's head with a familiar figure perched between its gnarled, twisting horns. Chat Noir in the photo smiled as he usually did, but there was no mistaking the circles under his eyes or the way his mouth seemed to strain to hold the smile together. 

It was the same look she saw in the mirror when she was eighteen; the look of someone who was tired of the weight on their shoulders. 

"I don't know what to do…" Marinette muttered, more to herself than anyone else as she stacked packed boxes by the door. "Adrien doesn't want to see me. Alya doesn't trust me, Juleka outright hates me. I can't even tell you where Tikki is and I don't have time to even sort this all out because the end of the world is bearing down on all of us." 

Master Fu watched her angrily rub her eyes with the back of her hand, busying herself to keep from wallowing in unhappiness. Almost ten years had passed since he took her under his wing and almost half of that time had been spent in a state of tentative recovery. 

"Bottomless pits do not exist, Marinette," Master Fu said quietly, eyes falling on the picture of Master He as though he were drawing inspiration from her. "And I bear some of the blame, keeping you two separate for so long. But right now, we need to move forward as best we can...even if Chat Noir doesn't come around again." 

The thought of facing her foes alone or with Adrien's reluctant cooperation was a reality that Marinette tried very hard not to dwell on. The hope that some day things could be right again had kept her going; it was only now that she was forced to consider the very real possibility that the people she held dearest in her heart would be tense colleagues at best. 

A knock at the door interrupted Marinette's thoughts as Kagami stuck her head in. "Master, Chloe just called...it seems Adrien is coming around-" 

"He's okay?!" Marinette said, a weight raising off her chest. 

"He's coming around," Kagami repeated with a shrug. "He needs to keep off his feet for a bit, but being conscious is a good sign. In any case, we should get back before he gets himself into trouble." 

"He wouldn't really try to leave after nearly getting-" Marinette stopped herself as Kagami just raised her eyebrow. "Right...forgot who we were talking about for a second." 

"Yes," Master Fu said, struggling to lift a box of books until Marinette took it from him. "Yes...best we get going. Nothing for us here anymore." 

Marinette blinked as she entered the living room, the scene in front of her growing stranger by the second. A small army of identical Alya's passed box after box of books and supplies down a worn flight of stairs that led deep into the earth beneath the house. Each clone worked silently as Alya supervised, directing traffic in the center of the living room. 

"That should be everything," Alya said, brushing her palms off. "Let's blow this scene...Kagami, do you have the Slug?" 

Kagami appeared at Alya's elbow, opening a velvet ring box gingerly and passing it to Alya. Inside, Marinette could see a silver ball the size of a musket round sat cradled in velvet. As mundane as it looked, Marinette could hear a distinct ringing in her ears the longer she looked at it, her skin crackling with electricity. 

"What is that?" Marinette asked, reaching out until Alya's hand closed around her wrist. 

"I would be very careful with that," Master Fu said, edging away from the box as Kagami led him down the stairs. "Are you sure it's small enough?" 

"Just enough for the house," Alya said, nodding behind her as Marinette lingered in the doorway. "Go; help Master Fu down." 

"Alya, if it's dangerous, I can-" 

"Help Master Fu," Alya repeated, a little firmer this time as she held the box out to one of her dopplegangers. The clone reached out a little warily, taking the ball between her fingertips as an unmistakable thrum of power passed through the house. 

"Go," Alya said quietly, backing away as the clone took the ball deeper into the house. As she walked, the wood beneath her feet began splintering and aging, cracking under each step. The paint peeled back from the walls and the windows began cracking as they became too brittle to withstand the weight of the frames. The clone seemed to be aging rapidly, passing through middle age and hobbling along as an old woman until she burst, the ball landing on the ground as Alya wrenched the bookcase door closed behind her. 

"Come on!" Alya hissed, grabbing Marinette's arm and dragging her down a narrow flight of stairs as the earth rumbled around them. Dust fell from the ceiling of the dark passage and as they burst out the bottom, Marinette found herself in a narrow tunnel that smelled faintly of mold and rust. 

"What was that?!" Marinette coughed, waving the dust away from her face as her eyes adjusted to the dim light coming from a battery powered lantern. As the dust cleared, Marinette could see Luka and Kagami starting to push a trolley piled high with crates and Master Fu perched on top, the tunnel curving around a corner and out of sight. 

"A party favor Master He left in case she was captured or killed," Alya coughed, patting herself on the chest. “Now the inside of the house matches the outside; if anyone swings by, it’ll look like it’s been abandoned for years.” 

“An abundance of caution is never a bad thing,” Master Fu called down the corridor. The wheels creaked and groaned, each sound echoing throughout the tunnel and amplifying the silence that lingered over the group.

“How long have these tunnels been here?” Marinette asked after they had walked a few hundred meters, trying to make some conversation. 

“Since the Blitz," Alya said as Luka and Kagami pushed the cart down a side-tunnel that smelled of freshly cut earth. "The Maquis used them to smuggle people in and out of the city under the Germans' noses; we just cut a few new paths to suit our needs...hang on." 

Alya grabbed Marinette's arm as they stood in the doorway of the side-tunnel. 

"Can you close this up?" Alya asked, nodding up at the archway. "Nino and Chloe said you did something similar back in Venice." 

"What if we need to use it again?" Marinette asked, peering down the tunnel they had just come through. 

"What if somebody finds it and follows us back?" Alya countered. Marinette nodded, rubbing her hands together and placing them on the sides of the walls. The floor beneath her rustled as a thick concrete wall emerged from a burst of pink light, nestling into the archway and entombing them in the side-tunnel. 

"How much did Nino and Chloe already tell you?" Marinette asked, half-dreading what they might have told Alya about their disastrous meeting in Venice. "I...I know things took a turn for the worse, but I had no idea they were gonna get that bad." 

"I don't think anybody did," Alya said, leading Marinette after the retreating lantern on top of the cart. "Why don't you fill me in; in your own words?" 

Luka and Kagami's low voices provided a path to follow as they wound through the tunnel, and Marinette tried her best to remember all the details that had come out of her brief meeting with their new enemies. Alya listened as she backtracked, went off on tangents, and offered up as much information as she could remember. 

"Do you think they were sincere in asking you to join them?" Alya asked as Marinette's story and the tunnel seemed to be reaching their conclusions. Ahead of her was a tall iron wall lit by LED lights with a heavy lock on the front of it. 

"I don't know...maybe they just wanted to snack on me but I don't think they would have spent so much time arguing their case if they didn't think I would go along with them," Marinette said, watching purple light dance around the tips of Kagami's fingers. 

"So they thought you might actually go along with it," Alya mused. The lock shifted as Kagami ran her finger around the rim, sliding out of the way and revealing a service elevator shaft that seemed to stretch high above them. "I guess when they threatened Tikki, that all went out the window." 

"Yeah, after that I-" Marinette's brow furrowed. "Wait...I hadn't gotten to that part yet." 

Alya seemed to realize her mistake with a small wince. "Hey, go on ahead; we're carrying a lot of weight up and I don't want to overload the motors." 

"We built this rated for several tons; a few hundred pounds won't-" Luka nudged Kagami with his elbow, his eyes flickering at Alya and Marinette meaningfully. 

"We'll send it back when we're done," Kagami coughed, nudging the cart onto the elevator. 

"Something I can help with?" Master Fu asked. 

"No; just gonna have a chat with Marinette here," Alya said, the pit of worry in Marinette's stomach only deepening. 

"I'll be fine," Marinette said with a shaky smile. Master Fu nodded as the elevator lurched, carrying the three of them up into the darkness above them. 

As soon as the elevator stopped and the whirr of motors died down, Alya turned to Marinette with a sigh. "The emergency button Chloe and Nino gave you recorded the whole conversation you had with Firebird and her partner; there was a microphone hidden in the antenna that relayed everything back to us." 

"Oh…" Marinette said, the word echoing in the elevator shaft. "I must've missed that part of the brief." 

Alya chewed the inside of her lip. "I didn't want you to know. I wanted to see if your account of things matched up with the facts of the case." 

"In case I was lying," Marinette said. "Or in case...it was a trap." 

"Yes...in case this was part of a larger trap," Alya said, holding Marinette's eyes until they dipped away. "Marinette-" 

"I get it," Marinette muttered quickly, ignoring the lump in her throat as she forced herself to push ahead. "I did lie to you for three months; got your blog shut down too-" 

"It's not about the stupid blog," Alya sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Or even Ladybug...I trusted you, Marinette; so much that the idea that you would ever do something to hurt me so badly-." 

Alya took a deep breath through her nose as though stopping herself from revealing too much to Marinette. 

"I want to trust you," Alya said quietly. "But I need to protect my team...and right now I need more than just your word." 

Would she really have made a different decision were their roles reversed? Marinette like to think she was a forgiving person, but at the same time she knew what it was to be responsible for more than just her own feelings. And even if it was true that Alya didn't hold what happened four years earlier against Marinette, it was clear that some of her team very much did. 

"Okay," Marinette nodded as a whirring of motors lowered the massive elevator platform back down. "I understand. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe around me. If you want to bug me, bug me; if you want to watch me, watch me. I don't have any secrets to hide from you anymore...and I can't just tell you that you can trust me again. I'm either someone who's worthy of your trust or I'm not." 

The elevator landed with a thunk that shattered the tense atmosphere between them. "I guess we'll find out which I am soon enough." 

Alya sighed. "Look, Mari-" 

The lightbulbs that illuminated the elevator shaft suddenly shattered, a hail of sparks and glass raining down the elevator shaft as distant shouts echoed at the top of the lift. 

"...this is a secret base, right?" Marinette asked, civilian clothes melting away as Ladybug shot a ribbon up the elevator shaft, followed by Rena Rouge who bounded off the wall back and forth. A distant, grinding, crunching sound grew louder the closer to the top of the elevator she got, the rails of the car bending under some unknown force.

"Look out!" Ladybug called as the cable holding the elevator snapped, the braided metal cable lashing out towards Rena Rouge. Ladybug snagged it with her hand as it whipped past her face, grunting and tying it off on the elevator's counterweight as Rena Rouge surged ahead. The quaking seemed to grow more violent as Rena Rouge wrenched the elevator shaft open, a thin pool of light spilling in the dark shaft along with a chorus of panicked voices. 

"-calm the hell down, man!" 

"Adrien, you're going to re-open your wounds if you-"

"I know you're upset right now but we just need to-" 

Ladybug's blood ran cold as she raced to the top of the elevator shaft, rolling through the open door and into the mayhem. A large, expansive cavern stretched high overhead, outfitted with walls of television screens and computer electronics that were currently broken and sparking as they hung off busted joints. A massive round table in the center was bent, a lumpy indentation in the center like a fist the size of a car had smashed into it. 

And on the other side was Adrien...or Chat Noir. The line between the two of them blurred as Adrien's civilian form blearily pushed Luka away, holding onto a wall for support as his eye stared unblinkingly forward. He swayed like he was drunk, unstable on his feet but determined to push forward, even as Carapace popped a dome over his head. 

"Adrien!" Ladybug cried as Adrien slammed a fist into the barrier Carapace had erected. "What's going on?" 

"Things just started sparking when we told him what happened in Venice," Bluebird said, his cowl descending over him as he stepped in front of Master Fu. "I knew we should have waited to tell him-" 

Oh no… Ladybug thought as an exhausted grunt accompanied a fist crackling with black electricity. The bubble around him popped with a sound of shattering glass as a black mask stretched over his eyes, one now crackling with translucent green energy. 

"For fuck's sake, man, lie down!" Carapace grunted, grabbing Chat Noir's elbows and trying to restrain him as he stepped forward almost robotically, marching with a pale, wide-eyed expression that spoke of fear, rage, and above all, grief. The floor under his feet bent with every step and the glass walls that divided the main area from the kitchen splintered the closer he got to them. 

"Let me...let me go!" Chat Noir snarled, wrenching out of Carapace's grip shoving him back into Queen Bee's waiting arms. He whipped around like a wounded tiger, teeth glistening and eyes shining in the light as the glared at the half-circle of heroes that surrounded him. His eyes wildly flickered between concerned faces, landing on Ladybug's as she approached. 

"Adrien…" Ladybug said quietly, choosing each syllable as carefully as she could. "I know you must be in so much pain right now-" 

"Don't…" Chat Noir said softly, shaking his head as he locked eyes with her. "I don't need a pity party right now...I need to find them before this happens again-" 

"Be sensible!" Monarch cried, holding her hands up as she slowly crept in from Chat Noir's other side. "You just came back from getting impaled! What would have happened if you had been fighting them alone?!" 

"You don't understand…" Chat Noir muttered, shaking his head as his eye flickered between them. "None of you get it...these people...these things need to be destroyed before-" 

His throat bobbed as he swallowed the last of his sentence, a metal chair he had gripped for support bending as he took his hand away. "I'm going...to fix this…" 

A flash of black smoke called Fang to his hand as he cleaved the air in two, a yawning black portal opening where the blade had sliced. But just as soon as it appeared, the blade disappeared from his hand as Ladybug felt a heavy weight settle across her shoulders. Reaching back, she found a black leather strap encircling her torso, and the hilt of a sword resting across her shoulders. Chat Noir opened his hand and the blade tingled for a moment before going still, seemingly ignoring its master's call. 

She caught a flickering look of loss, hurt, and betrayal on Chat Noir's face before it vanished behind a wall of stony resolve. "...fine." 

"I-I didn't do anything, I swear I just-wait!" Ladybug dashed ahead as Chat Noir stepped through the portal, reaching out as she felt the inky black shadows lap at her skin. She almost felt the warmth of his wrist through her glove before it slipped out of her fingers, the portal melting into black mist as she ran through it. She stumbled and grabbed onto the chair that still bore Chat Noir's handprint, her fingers squeezing the steel where his fingers had been the moment before as though she could pull him back if she squeezed hard enough. 

"Welcome to the Adrien Agreste Experience," Carapace grunted, brushing himself off and stomping out of the room. "Gonna reset the breakers; back in a sec." 

Rena Rouge righted a tipped over chair with a sigh, looking at Ladybug out of the corner of one eye. "Good thinking, taking that away from him. He's not gonna run into any fight without it; that should give us some time to track him down." 

Ladybug nodded mutely, taking the black glittering sword off her back and laying it on the broken table in front of her. "I didn't take it...it just appeared." 

"The sword has a mind of its own now?" Monarch huffed, looking at her own cane as if to say "don't get any ideas." 

Ladybug's eyes traced the edge of the sword in front of her, lost in thought as the door behind them opened. "Okay, they were out of cheesy garlic knots so Tikki asked for extra cinnamon sugar-" 

Ladybug's head shot up Plagg stopped next to a woman holding a pile of pizza boxes, her blue eyes scanning the wreckage before them before landing back on Ladybug. Even though it had been almost four years since she had laid eyes on her, Ladybug knew exactly who it was. 

"Tikki…" Ladybug said, barely louder than a whisper. 

"Marinette," Tikki said, her voice frighteningly cordial as a television fell off the wall and shattered behind her. 

"What did I say?" Plagg grunted, dropping the pizzas on a side-table that broke under their weight. "Wait until I get back to tell him about Master He!" 

Notes:

Good news everyone!

I finally got part 2 in a way that isn't too convoluted/hard to tie up. Looking to finish it up as part of Nanowrimo so we'll see how that goes. Right now I think I can average 2000 - 3000 words a day. Not sure if I should write it all then post it or try and edit as I go. Might need to shop around for a beta if that's the case. Still trying to figure out how to weave all the sub-plots in while trying to keep focus on Marinette/Adrien but that's gonna be a learning experience.

Either way, most of the catchup is out of the way we can get back to it!

Chapter 12: Housekeeping

Summary:

Song Credits - Clean by Maude Latour

The Sanctuary of the Black Cat

Time in the strange prison passed slowly for Ishida. 

 

Without his watch, he couldn't tell quite how long he had been there. Perhaps an hour; perhaps a month. It was like sitting in a strange state of limbo, surrounded on all sides by obsidian that seemed to swallow the flickering candlelight and cast long twisting shadows on the floor. The strange...cat person who had appeared with a bag of sandwiches a while back was nowhere to be found and he couldn't tell if that sighting of Ladybug was just an illusion at this point. Alone with his thoughts and the inhuman rumbling from the cell next to him, Ishida had quite a long time to ponder the choices that had led him to being kidnapped by a cat-vigilante. 

 

A shadow at the far side of the wall shuddered and Ishida fell back as Chat Noir staggered through, leaning on his staff and coughing violently. "You…" 

 

Ishida pressed himself against the wall of his cell for all the good it did him as Chat Noir stumbled towards him, tossing his staff aside and grabbing the lapels of his jacket. 

 

"Where...where is she…" Chat Noir spluttered, his broken Japanese even harder to understand as his words slurred together. 

 

"I...I don't understand-" Ishida stammered, cringing as the cat's eyes narrowed. "P-Please, I-I'm just a public servant-" 

 

"Liar!" Chat Noir hissed, shoving him weakly against the wall. "You worked with the Firebird; she asked you to steal that sword with her! Tell me where she- " 

 

Chat Noir's voice cracked, his chest wracked by another violent coughing fit. He dropped Ishida and clutched his chest, wheezing breaths wracking his whole body as he leaned against the wall. For a long, terrible moment, Ishida worried that he would keel over dead and leave him trapped in whatever hellhole he had imprisoned him in. Then, through the pained choking, Ishida could have sworn he heard stifled sobs. It was hard to tell as Chat Noir hid his face, but in the cold, isolated cells of his own mind, it seemed that Chat Noir's grip on his own grief had finally failed.  

 

"Please…" Chat Noir rasped, his face slick with tears as he turned back. "They're monsters...they're horrible people...you have to help me stop them...please…" 

 

Chat Noir's weak, pained begging was almost more terrifying than his anger because it forced Ishida to imagine what could scare a superhero into tears. 

 

"I...I don't…" Ishida stammered, racking his brain for anything he could say to get himself out of the cell. "I-I think they were meeting a supplier...for what, I don't know. Th-They didn't tell me anything about it...I was just there for the sword…" 

 

"You know he's right." Ishida yelped as a shadow beside him spoke, the strange cat-eared man emerging from the wall next to him. "You really think this nimrod has state secrets when the yakuza boss didn't know anything beyond the propaganda Firebird fed him?" 

 

"What the hell are we supposed to do then?!" Chat Noir snarled, his voice cracking at the end. "We don't have any other leads! Tokyo was it ! You expect me to just let them go ?!" 

 

"Nobody said anything about that," Plagg sighed, rubbing his eyes. "But come on, kid; you just walked off a deathblow. You need to rest; heal up! Let the others help and we can all solve this together ." 

 

"...it's not their job," Chat Noir muttered, his eyes glassy and red-rimmed as he stared at his warped reflection in the obsidian. "It's mine ." 

 

Chat Noir turned, the bars of the cells melting away as he stepped through them. Ishida ran after them, only to run into black iron as they solidified in place. 

 

"W-wait!" Ishida called, reaching after Chat Noir. "I-I told you everything I know! You can't keep me here!" 

 

"The ring finger of your buddy Suzuki was found in his prison cell this morning," Chat Noir said, glancing at Ishida over his shoulder. "The rest of him seems to have disappeared." 

 

Ishida paled, shrinking back from the bars. 

 

"That's what I thought," Chat Noir said, turning and disappearing down the dark hallway. 

 

---

 

Paris, France

 

"Humanity is defined by our ability to work together and support each other in times of hardship." 

 

Bridgette's eyes swept the sea of reporters, a placid smile on her face as she took the crowd in.  Sorcery was not the only thing Master Li taught her; to reign over the world to come, she needed the poise and public speaking skills so many leaders spent a lifetime cultivating. Each tilt of her head, raise of her hand, and shift of posture was designed to elicit an aura of confidence, security, and reliability people looked for when deciding who to follow. 

 

To know what you are doing is one thing, Master Li said. You must also convince others you know what you're doing as well. 

 

"Cooperation and collaboration are our greatest powers as a species; these were the principles ARK was founded on seventy-nine years ago when it began with the mission to help the world rebuild after two cataclysmic wars," Bridgette said, gesturing to the curtain behind her emblazoned with the glowing orange wings of the ARK logo. "Today, we are the most effective disaster relief and security force on the planet, with partnerships with nearly three hundred national and local governments and some of the best minds in the world working for us." 

 

Bridgette's eyes met Felix's as he stood at the back of the crowd, nodding quietly along with her speech. "Today, we are renewing our commitment to the people of Paris in the face of tragedy in Venice. Though one hundred and forty people have tragically been reported killed, more than ten thousand took shelter in ARK MKV Security Bunkers located around the city." 

 

Pause for effect, look grave, Bridgette thought to herself. "That is ten thousand people going home to their families tonight...but in my opinion, we can do a whole lot better." 

 

Bridgette pressed a button, dropping the red curtain amidst a smattering of gasps. Behind her, a tube the size of a flatbed made of solid black metal rested, a heavy vault door open to show rows of padded seats lit by fluorescent lights. 

 

Pause for the oohs and ahhs, Bridgette thought to herself. 

 

"Introducing, the ARK MKVI," Bridgette said over the applause, gesturing to the bunker beside her as a sea of flashing lights illuminated her face. "The very latest in secure shelters, developed by the finest team of engineers in the world, designed for the worst things this planet can throw at us! A triumph of human engineering over supernatural threats."

 

Bridgette's face cracked into a smile and held up a hand to quiet the applause. "But I'm afraid I'm still a little shoddy on the technical details. So to keep me from making a total fool of myself on international television, why don't we hear from the project lead; someone who understands what it means to grow up beset by evil. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Paris' very own Max Kante!" 

---

"Oh, now he shows up," Kagami sniffed as a beaming Max took the stage, hi-fiving Bridgette off the stage and conspicuously pausing for the sea of reporters. "But when I try ringing him to fight mercenaries, he's silent ." 

 

Marinette's fingers swept over the cracked glass, restoring it to its pristine condition as Kagami looked up at one of the screens Queen Bee had just replaced on the wall of the base. Marinette had vaguely remembered her cousin mentioning something about a "big surprise" but those words meant less from a woman who considered an extra-large lump of cookie dough in her ice cream a "big surprise." 

 

" You know growing up in Paris, I think I learned a thing or two about hiding when things got hairy," Max said to a chorus of nervous laughter. 

 

"You and everyone else," Kagami groused. 

 

" And even with Hawk Moth gone, it doesn't look like we're any closer to a peaceful city-" 

 

"No thanks to you," Kagami grumbled. 

 

"Which is why when it comes to protecting my family and friends, no measures go far enough," Max said, sweeping his hand in front of the open bunker. 

 

"Seems like a lot of those have been going in lately," Nino mused, sweeping some dust into a pan Alya held on the floor. "What is this; number twenty five?" 

 

"Twenty eight," Alya corrected, watching Max bring a camera inside the bunker. "Forty five if you count the ones outside the city limits." 

 

"Are they really that safe?" Marinette asked. "I took a tour of one when Felix was rolling out the MKV's, but I've never taken one for a test drive." 

 

"They're safe enough, according to Chris," Nino said, frowning at the screen. "Still, I don't think even Max can figure out a way to protect someone from the end of the world." 

 

Oh right, Marinette thought bitterly to herself as the reality of their situation once again reared its ugly head. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she spied Tikki staring up at the scene from Venice on another screen. The Italian Prime Minister was speaking outside the new city of Venice, a barricade of police cars and military vehicles preventing the crowd from entering. Tikki glanced at Marinette as she approached before turning her gaze back up to the screen, the pair of them quietly watching the broadcast as Marinette searched for the right words to say. 

 

(“Hey Tikki, my bad on the whole Hawk Moth thing!”)

 

(“I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am…”) 

 

(“If you want to say 'I told you so' now would be a good time…”) 

 

Somehow nothing seemed to fit in Marinette’s mind; nothing she could think of saying seemed to capture the feelings of relief, regret, and uncertainty she had surrounding her former partner. 

 

"Y-You need any help over here?" Marinette chanced. "Sorry, you probably have everything in hand, don't you?" 

 

"I'm just taking a break," Tikki said, pulling a cupcake in half and passing Marinette the top-slice. "You should eat something; you used quite a lot of power today." 

 

Marinette's grumbling stomach forestalled any polite protests and she took the cupcake without any further fuss.

 

“What did he do to it?” Marinette asked, nodding up at the screen above them. 

 

“He fixed it,” Tikki said with a small shrug of her shoulders. “Neither miraculous nor ladybug, and yet...Kaiser Long rebuilt Venice in his own image.” 

 

“I’ve never done that before when I used my charm,” Marinette muttered, drawing a small chuckle from Tikki. 

 

“When have you ever wanted to?” Tikki pointed out. “Besides...change on this scale is more akin to Destruction than anything else; even more evidence that he and his partner are linked closer than we feared.” 

 

“Change is destructive?” Marinette asked. 

 

“Creation often is,” Master Fu added as he saddled alongside Marinette. “Two halves, one whole.” 

 

Marinette’s eyes drifted down to the sword leaning against the leg of the table. What does being whole feel like anymore? 

 

“I take it your excursion was a success?” Master Fu said conversationally, as though they weren’t watching the prologue to the apocalypse play out on twenty-four hour news. 

 

“Unfortunately,” Tikki said, nodding up at the screen. “Even if it wasn’t, our enemies gave us all the answers we needed just now.” 

 

“Worse than being completely mad; they’re completely mad and know what they’re doing,” Master Fu said bitterly. 

 

Marinette’s eyes pinged between the pair of them, waiting for an explanation that neither of them seemed to be eager to volunteer. Oh my god, is this what it was like being Adrien? 

 

“Hey, Tikki, can I get you to look at these cables?” Luka’s voice called from a crawl space under the stairs. “They look totally burned out and I don’t think we have any replacements lying around.” 

 

“I got it!” Marinette said, almost too eager to make herself useful. She was vaguely aware that Kagami's eyes had snapped to her as she headed for the crawlspace and ducked under the grates surrounding the meeting table. She barely dodged a cable haphazardly thrown over Luka's shoulder as he rooted around a tangled nest of wires. 

 

"Someone call for a patch?" Marinette said, flinching as Luka shot up, banging his head on the door as he did so. "Oh my god, are you okay?" 

 

"Yeah, fine!" Luka said with a wince, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I...I thought you were Tikki." 

 

Marinette paused a few paces away from Luka, noting that despite his usual calm, friendly expression he hadn't looked directly at her since she had arrived back in Paris. 

 

"Would you rather I go get TIkki?" Marinette asked, running her fingers over the wiring on the wall. "Juleka said-" 

"Juleka isn't me," Luka said with more firmness and conviction than she had ever heard from him before. "Juleka doesn't get to decide what's best for me...and if I jump every time I hear your voice, we're gonna have a hell of a time trying to save the world together." 

 

"Are you...afraid of me?" Marinette hesitantly asked. 

 

"I'm...readjusting to you," Luka said with a weak smile. As hopeful as their last conversation had left her, Marinette couldn't always tell if Luka was being honest or being nice to save hurt feelings. She liked to think they could one day be friendly again, but on top of being exes, they had a pile of butterfly shaped baggage that they couldn't help but stumble over every now and again. 

 

"Okay...so what do you need me to do?" Marinette asked as she leaned in to get a better look at the tangled wiring.

 

"I think it's just the patch cables that need a tune up," Luka said leaned out of the way, tensing a little as she brushed past him in the narrow walkway and quickly putting some distance between them. Marinette pretended not to notice, burying her head in the nest of burnt wires. 

 

"Yikes, Adrien really did a number on these..." Marinette muttered as the wires fused back together under her touch. "This is Hawk Moth's old base, isn't it?"

 

"Do you recognize it?" Luka asked, glancing up through the metal grate to see Kagami conspicuously sitting in a chair above them. 

 

"No, but how many cathedral sized rooms under Paris are there?" Marinette chuckled. Part of her felt a little uneasy, kneeling as she had years ago in the same spot Gabriel Agreste disappeared before her eyes. Awakening to Creation's full power meant becoming more acutely attuned to the world around her; as new as the new base appeared, she could still feel Hawk Moth lingering in the air. So much envy, anger, and deception left a wound on the world that Marinette feared would never heal. 

 

"Helps when you have a couple of multi-millionaires as part of the team," Luka said, glancing up at Kagami who just rolled her eyes fondly. "Getting a salary to make YouTube videos and periodically punch bad guys in the face is among the sweeter gigs I've had." 

 

"It has to beat dealing with customers, huh?" Marinette snorted, snapping a cable back into place with a sparkle of magic. 

 

"If only my sidekick wasn't such a damn headache, I'd say it was almost perfect," Luka said, rubbing his temples with a wince. 

 

"Seriously, Luka, are you okay?" Marinette asked quietly, turning around to get a better look at him. Kagami's presence above her suggested that they didn't quite trust Marinette around Luka (and by extension Mayura) unsupervised. Not that she could entirely blame her; being cautious could only help them now. 

 

"I'm managing," Luka said, shaking his head. "Mayura's a little rowdier than usual; he's definitely chattier now that you're here. But I know how to keep him in his place." 

 

"Still, you shouldn't have to fight against that thing all the time," Marinette said, stepping back as she put the last cable into place. "I didn't just forget about you, you know; about what I did-" 

 

"What Hawk Moth did-" 

 

"What I helped Hawk Moth do," Marinette said firmly. "I did this to you...and I'm not going to sit easily until I find some way to undo it. It's not fair that you're still paying the price for your good intentions..." 

 

"Look, I appreciate it," Luka said, holding his hand up to cut her off. "But don't you think we have more important things to worry about right now?" 

 

"Do we?" Marinette chuckled. "If Mayura's more active than usual, I don't want to cause you any distress while working together...I do care about you, Luka." 

 

Kagami's derisive snort disappeared behind a tissue and a feigned sneeze. 

 

"Mayura is something I've been dealing with for years now," Luka said, glancing up at Kagami. "And believe me when I say that the little slip up I had today had nothing to do with you. There are other people in my life that hold more sway over my heart than you do...no offense" 

 

"None taken; I guess that's a good thing," Marinette shrugged. "Either way, I will figure out some way to shut Mayura up for good. I don't care if the world is ending; I'm not going to stop until I figure out some way to make things right with you." 

 

"Don't carelessly make promises you can't keep ," Kagami sighed in Japanese above them. 

 

"Pardon?" Marinette asked. 

 

"She asked if you wanted any snacks from the kitchen," Luka said, ducking an empty water bottle Kagami chucked at his head. 

 

"Since when do you speak Japanese?" Marinette asked. 

 

"Oh, Luka has developed quite the interest in foreign tongues," Kagami said, staring down at him with a smirk. "Though I think he needs a few remedial lessons." 

 

Marinette frowned in confusion, eyes pinging between the pair as Kagami's smirk only seemed to grow wider. "Wait...are you-" 

 

A shrill beeping sound thankfully saved Marinette from probing too deeply into Luka's personal life. Kagami’s smirk vanished as she looked up, Nooroo flittering out of her collar and wordlessly zipping into the brooch around her neck. 

 

“What’s happening?” Marinette asked as Bluebird hauled her up out of the pit. The air had instantly grown tense as Carapace and Queen Bee slid into seats next to Rena Rouge who looked calm, if a little grave. 

 

“Mask up,” Rena Rouge said, nodding to a spare chair between Carapace and Monarch with a silver cat’s paw embossed on the back. Monarch looked like she was about to say something but Carapace just shook his head, nodding towards Chat Noir’s seat as Ladybug transformed. 

 

“Section 13 on line three,” Bluebird said, flicking a switch on his side of the table. “Smiles everyone; let’s see what the spies turned up.” 

 

The screen flickered on, a woman in her thirties sat behind a polished oak desk, glittering gold eyes staring into the camera with a grave expression. 

 

“Captain Chan,” Rena Rouge said, straightening up a little under the older woman’s glare. 

 

“ Do you want to tell me why two of my best agents nearly froze to death on what was supposed to be a routine reconnaissance mission?” Captain Chan said, her tone weary as she took a long draw out of a coffee cup. 

 

“When is our line of work ever routine?” Rena Rouge replied, shifting a little in her seat. “There was always a risk this could have gone badly; your team said they were going to get out before the fighting started.” 

 

“ They have a bad habit of not following orders when innocent lives are on the line,” Captain Chan sighed, her eyes flickering to Ladybug. “ Well, look who turned up? Mme. Ladybug I presume?” 

 

“Th-that’s me!” Ladybug said, clearing her voice. “I-I mean, nice to meet you ma’am...c-captain! Captain ma’am-” 

 

“ You know that’s not your seat, right?” Captain Chan said, raising an eyebrow as she glanced around. “ Where’s Adrien?” 

 

Ladybug glanced nervously at Rena Rouge. “Uh, I’m not quite sure who you’re talking about-” 

 

“ Tall, skinny, likes to dress in black and blow monsters up?” Captain Chan said, tipping something from a flask into her coffee. “ Ex-model, current vigilante; Adrien “Chat Noir” Agreste?” 

 

“Captain Chan has been given access to some privileged information at Adrien’s discretion,” Rena Rouge said, answering Ladybug’s confused look. “She and Adrien have worked together on a number of side-projects over the years.” 

 

Master Fu sighed wearily from his position across the table. So much work had gone into concealing their identities; now it seemed everyone knew more about Adrien than she did. 

 

“He’s...on his feet,” Ladybug said evenly, carefully sliding Fang under the table. 

 

“ He better be,” Captain Chan sighed. “As much as I’d say he’s earned a little R&R, our friends in Venice tell a very different story.” 

 

The screen flickered as Fei and Zoe's faces joined Captain Chan on screen, the pair of them huddled together in what appeared to be a cabinet staring at the camera of a phone. 

 

“Good to see you two got out of the city okay,” Rena Rouge said. “Sorry for the mess we dropped in your lap.” 

 

“It’s not so much on our lap as it is all around us ,” Fei said, crackinga door and showing a street of obsidian outside their hiding spot. The streets were eerily still as she swept the camera around, detailing the polished black environment in all its terrible splendor. The road outside was paved with smooth black stone that matched the gilded buildings that stretched up on all sides of the street. There was a kind of uncanny beauty to the architecture; anywhere else, Ladybug might have even been able to appreciate the design. But the terrible cost that had gone into creating it stained its majesty.

 

“You’re still in the city?!” Queen Bee said, sitting up in alarm. “Tell me you're not sightseeing in the creepy alien town!" 

 

“It's n ot exactly a tourist trap, especially with-” A rustle of movement came down the street as Fei quietly closed the door. Beside her, Zoe gripped a small stone talisman in her hands, aiming it at the door as Fei turned back to the camera. 

 

"I thought the city was empty by now," Rena Rouge said. 

 

“There are a half-dozen scaly creeps wandering the streets; they moved in after the last of the ARK bunkers evacuated and the government locked the city down ,” Zoe said, pressing herself against Fei’s back. “ We killed one trying to get at a straggler; that only seemed to alert the pack." 

 

"Kaiser Long attacked Paris with creatures like those four years ago," Carapace said, glancing at Queen Bee. "They're sturdier than they look and have a bad habit of splitting in two instead of splitting in half." 

 

"Not the scariest thing we've handled, but something about this city is-" Fei trailed off, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "God, I have such a headache..." 

 

“We can get you out,” Rena Rouge said, turning to Monarch and Bluebird. “Monarch and I are still fresh; we can slip in the city and get you out before anyone notices.” 

 

“ I can go too,” Ladybug said quickly, glancing at Rena Rouge. “Rena, the four of us can-” 

 

“ Probably not the best idea, all things considered," Captain Chan said as the screen flickered to an Italian press conference, a balding man in an ill-fitting grey suit speaking into the camera. Ladybug caught every third word in Italian; something about "questioning", "investigation", "French embassy," and finally, most tellingly, "Ladybug." 

 

" President Barbagio is asking that the vigilante known as Ladybug turn herself in, along with her accomplices, and submit to questioning regarding her role in the destruction of Venice," Captain Chan said gravely. 

 

One by one, lights on the console in front of Rena Rouge lit up as call after call came in. 

 

"Mayor's office on line one," Bluebird said quietly, glancing at the screen in front of him. "And the prime minister on line two…aaand the Italian embassy on line three..." 

 

"Told you no good ever comes from going to Italy..." Queen Bee chuckled bitterly. "I swear, I'm selling the Grand Venetian to the tackiest hotel chain I can find." 

---

"She's aliiiiiiiive." 

 

"I consider it a stay of execution," Manon said, tossing some ham in a frying pan and moving it around. "Mom had superheroes to shake her fist at; I'm sure once her wrath has fallen on them, I'll be next in line." 

 

" There's still time to skip the country," Chris said through her earpiece. " I hear Venice has some new things to look at." 

 

"Yeah....don't remind me," Manon said, watching the news broadcast on the TV over the kitchen counter. Posters of Ladybug, Queen Bee, Carapace, and Chat Noir flashed on the screen as her mother's eyes seemed to punch through the camera. She always had remarkable camera presence; Manon just wished she used it for something a little better. 

 

"-Mayor Roger has been remarkably silent in response to the Italian government's questions, as has Rena Rouge," Nadja said. "I'm sure the people who lost friends and family in today's tragedy understand their reluctance to make a timely statement. But the fact of the matter is that Paris is now in a difficult position, wedged between our so-called saviors and a country crying out for justice." 

 

" You think it's true?" Chris asked. " They said Chat Noir was in Venice too, fighting against whoever turned the city all spooky." 

 

"At this point, I'm not sure what's true or not," Manon said, staring at her mother's face on the screen thoughtfully as she muted the audio; she had no desire to hear the latest in a long line of anti-hero rants that never failed to make her stomach turn. "Hey...do you think my mom's been acting differently lately?" 

 

" Well, she's a little toothier than I remember her being when we were kids," Chris said. " But I guess that's all for the viewers, huh? News these days is all about the personality rather than the story."  

 

" She's like this at home too, though," Manon muttered. "All...tense and angry all the time and disappearing at all hours of the night." 

 

" Yeah, well...she's got a lot of work on her plate, right?" Chris suggested hopefully. 

 

"Maybe…" Manon muttered, a shrill beep of the fire-alarm alerting her to her burning dinner. " Crap!" 

 

"Did you burn the water again?" 

 

"Shut up," Manon grumbled, dumping the burned ham into the sink. "I'm serious, Chris...I think something's going on with my mom." 

 

Nadja's face on the screen had twisted into a scowl as her condemnation of the heroes of Paris seemed to be reaching a fever-pitch. "Something really bad ." 

---

In 1793, a demon by the name of Terreur came into being as the Committee of Public Safety went clean off the rails and started lopping the heads off of anyone who remotely opposed their policies. 

 

Like all demons, he was born out of the darkest impulses of human desire; less a living thing and more a walking, talking virus created when enough blood was spilled in anger. He enjoyed ruling Paris for his time, even had a comeback in the 1940's courtesy of his friends from Germany, but mostly he was content to sit back and enjoy the misery that living in a city under siege by supervillains provided. 

 

These days, he kept his nose clean; he knew what the consequences were for those who didn't. After centuries of silence, the Black Cat had become the apex predator once again and Terreur had no intention of being preyed on.

 

Whistling to himself as he slipped a perfume-scented love-letter into an otherwise happy couple's mailbox, the tall, lanky creature that looked like a man in his 80's sauntered up the stairs to his apartment and waited for the argument to ensue. A nice red-wine would go with the screaming match that would waft through the air conditioning vents like a fine perfume; maybe one of the old Burgundies he pilfered out of Versailles back in the day. 

 

Terreur unlatched his door with a heavy iron key and stepped into the apartment, eager to bask in the glow of the evening news as it rattled off the misery that passed during the day. The fear, uncertainty, and panic that gripped the world after the Dragon and the Phoenix had Their way with Venice would provide meaty cuts of misery for the night. For dessert, he might go down to the nearest pub and bask in the scent of people attempting to drown their sorrows in alcohol-

 

Terreur paused as he stepped into his kitchen, three empty bottles of red wine older than the French Republic empty on the counter with their dregs dribbling on the floor. A shadow caught his eye but as he fumbled around for the light switch, it vanished into thin air, chased away by the sickly yellow glow of the kitchen lights. 

 

"H-Hello?" Terreur called. Despite being creatures born of fear and misery, demons rarely felt fear themselves; few things could threaten their immortal lives, after all-

 

"You know, I've never actually been drunk before..."

 

And one of them was sitting in his armchair polishing off another bottle of wine. 

 

Terreur froze as a pair of flickering green eyes locked on him, the ancient bottle of wine rolling across the floor as Chat Noir slowly staggered to his feet. 

 

"By the time I was old enough, my body didn't seem to be affected by it like it might have been if I was still human," Chat Noir said, leaning heavily on the doorframe as he steadily advanced on the retreating demon, backing him into the kitchen. "I don't even like it, to be honest...but I do need the energy boost. Especially when there's work to be done." 

 

There was only one kind of work Chat Noir did; the kind that left piles of dust where princes of darkness used to be. 

 

"I-I-I promise, I haven't been preying on anyone," Terreur stammered, back pressing against the fridge as Chat Noir leaned over him, his breath warm with flames hot enough to incinerate demons. "I swear, what happened in Venice...I-I had nothing to do with it!" 

 

"Shh," Chat Noir said quietly. "If I was here for you, we wouldn't be having this conversation...although depending on how cooperative you're feeling, this evening could go either way." 

 

Chat Noir pressed a clawed hand against the fridge, digging into the polished steel as he looked the demon in the eye. His contempt was almost acidic and it ate away at whatever pride Terreur had built up over the years until only raw, animal fear remained

 

"Y-Yes," Terreur said, a thin trickle of sweat rolling down his neck. "I-I'll cooperate; please, t-tell me what I can-" 

 

Chat Noir pressed a finger against the demon's mouth, energy crackling under the surface of his skin. 

 

"I need to know what you know about the Dragon and the Phoenix..." Chat Noir said. "All of it."

 

---

"Bull shit !" 

 

"Mayor Roger, my people were in the middle of a holiday when the violence in Venice broke out-" 

 

"This is such gold plated, diamond encrusted, designer bullshit!" 

 

"Chloe, shoosh !" Rena Rouge hissed, before turning back to the phone. "What happened in Venice was a crime perpetrated by the same people who helped Hawk Moth hold Paris hostage for years! I'm not going to allow us to be scapegoated for trying to do the right thing!" 

 

Ladybug fidgeted in her chair, watching Queen Bee pace back and forth, Carapace brood silently, and Rena Rouge try to make peace with the mayor, the prime minister, and the Italian ambassador at the same time. 

 

"I understand your concerns and I grieve for your losses, signore," Rena Rouge sighed, accepting a bottle of pain-killers and a glass of water from Master Fu as he wandered into the kitchen. "We lost someone precious to us in Venice as well, but you can't -" 

 

Rena Rouge fell silent, popping a few aspirin in her mouth as the other line chirped in her ear. 

 

"Right...of course," Rena Rouge sighed. "Let me discuss it with my team and I'll have an answer for you shortly." 

 

Rena Rouge replaced the receiver with a heavy sigh, staring down at the table. 

 

"The Italian ambassador has requested that we return to Venice for questioning," Alya said, dropping her transformation and dropping into her chair with a weary sigh. "They're not accusing us of anything...yet. But they'd like our account of things as well which means having to play politics instead of tracking down the Disaster Duo." 

 

"I still say we should have sprung for a team of lawyers," Kagami pointed out. 

 

"So one of us needs to go to Venice," Nino nodded. "I can head over there if you want-" 

 

"I'm gonna be pestered by paparazzi on my way home anyway," Chloe pointed out. "I'd like an excuse to get out of the city and get Zoe out of Venice while I'm at it." 

 

Marinette stared at the table, chewing the corner of her lip as something Firebird said rattled around in her head. "A phone call won't suffice?" 

 

"I offered, but apparently it will "look better" if we talk in person," Alya said. 

 

"And we can't do that at the Mayor's office?" Marinette asked. "We have to go all the way back to an active disaster zone to talk about something we can handle over a video call?" 

 

Alya frowned. "What are you getting at?"

 

("We have run for office," Firebird sighed, irritation bleeding into her voice. "We've won public office; we currently hold public office. ") 

 

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Marinette asked quietly. 

 

"Who; the mayor or the Ambassador?" 

 

"Both," Marinette said, glancing around the table. "Anyone. Firebird said that she had people in world governments; that her people currently held public office, right?" 

 

"Yeah, but what are the odds that someone so high up is on their payroll?" Alya asked. 

 

"Like someone in the National Diet of Japan?" Tikki chimed in from her seat next to Marinette. "Plagg mentioned that one of the people in Osaka was part of the Japanese government." 

 

"And it's not as though politicians are the most trustworthy lot to begin with," Master Fu said, an icy silence falling over the table. "Li was always the most worldly of us...always seemed to have a friend in high places who owed him a favor." 

 

"You think it's a trap?" Luka asked, staring intently at  Marinette. 

 

"I don't know," Marinette said, sitting up as she realized all eyes had turned to her. "I just think that dividing our group is what these people do best. They did it with us today...and they did it through me and Hawk Moth four years ago." 

 

"The more spread out we are, the easier they can strike at our weak points," Alya sighed, rubbing her eyes. "We can't just say no though; we have a very shaky relationship with the Mayor's office after the whole Stigma fiasco."

 

"And it's all we can do to stay in the public's good-books with Nadja nitpicking every fight and photo-op," Nino said, letting out a long breath through his nose. "But we really don't need to be splitting up anymore; it's bad enough that Adrien's going AWOL when we need him." 

 

"And it's not like we can be in two places at the same-" Marinette trailed off, eyes locking with Alya as she seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. "Wait...would that work?" 

 

"Would what work?" Chloe asked. 

 

" Possibly; I've never sent a clone that far before, but it's possible ," Alya said, chewing her fingernail. "But they didn't ask for me; they asked for one of you guys." 

 

"Right, but...can't you make your clone look like someone else?" Marinette ventured. "I'm not up on your powers yet, but that seems like something Rena Rouge could do." 

 

"You want to send a body double to Venice posing as one of us?" Chloe said as Marinette and Alya turned to her at the same time. "As me ?"

 

“You said it; you are the most publicly known hero in the world,” Marinette said, turning back to Alya. "How well can you do Chloe?" 

 

"Honey you have no idea," Chloe chuckled. 

 

"I think I can pull her off," Alya said, eyes twinkling mischievously. "We can keep Chloe under wraps in the meantime; maybe dye her hair and pretend we gave the Bee Miraculous to someone else-" 

 

"Oh like hell I would ever let that happen!" Chloe huffed as Nino patted her on the shoulder to keep her from rising out of her chair. 

 

"But what if something happens to the clone?" Marinette asked. 

 

"Then I guess we'll know it's a trap," Alya pointed out. "It's risky, sure, but at this point risky options are the only ones we have. This at least gets the Italians off our back and scouts ahead to see if we have any enemies in high places."

 

"And if we do ?' Kagami asked, shifting in her seat. "I don't think I need to remind you that our friends in masks correctly identified me as Monarch." 

 

Marinette's heart sank; she remembered all too well what happened the last time their enemies had discovered Kagami's identity. "Are you sure they actually know?" 

 

"I think it's safer to act as though they do," Alya said. "Maybe you and Luka should take the shift here tonight; stay off the streets until we're back on our feet and know a little more about what’s happening." 

 

"I can get Queenie back to our place so nobody catches her walking around while she's supposed to be in police custody," Nino said. 

 

"I guess that leaves me to set up our little Trojan Bee," Alya said, tapping her hands on the table as though banging a gavel. "Okay, keep your phones charged and ring if you see anything spooky...I think this mess is only getting started, unfortunately." 

 

"What about Adrien?" Marinette asked, glancing at Tikki. "Shouldn't we be looking for him?" 

 

Tikki closed her eyes as though in deep thought. "Adrien is currently shaking down some less than reputable leads for scraps of information on our enemies; he's managing his injuries as best he can, but I don't think tying him to the bed is going to get him to rest more." 

 

"It's not in his bloody nature," Kagami tsked. "Unfortunately." 

 

"What if he needs help?" Marinette asked. "What if he re-opens his wounds or what if somebody catches him alone out there? What if-"

 

"You are welcome to give him the Teamwork Talk when you see him again," Alya sighed. "Maybe you'll have more luck than we had...but for now, I think we need to push ahead however we can and trust that Adrien will let us know if he needs us." 

 

"Sure," Nino snorted as he stood up. "Let me know when that happens and I'll plan our next ski-trip in hell." 

 

Marinette’s fingers traced the back of the chair as everyone rose to attend to their tasks, running over the paw-print icon thoughtfully. How long had Chat Noir wanted a proverbial seat at the table? And now that he had finally had the inclusion he always wanted, why was he pulling away? If it was still her team, she could understand his reluctance, but Alya had nothing to do with Hawk Moth or her betrayal; neither did Nino or Kagami for that matter. 

 

"What about me?" Marinette asked Alya. "I know I just got back, but isn't there anything I should be doing right now?" 

 

"Yeah," Alya said, packing her bag up. "You should be going home and getting some rest." 

 

"Ha, I wish," Marinette chuckled. "Seriously, do you need me to run patrols or talk to the mayor or something? Maybe grab coffee and bread for the night shift?" 

 

"I need you to go home and get some rest," Alya repeated. 

 

Marinette's smile dropped as she realized Alya wasn't kidding. "Seriously?"

 

"Why would I joke about that?"

 

"C-Come on, Alya, I don't think any of us can afford to just sit around right now!” Marinette chuckled nervously. "After what happened in Venice-" 

 

"You mean the biggest fight since Hawk Moth keeled over?" Alya asked. "The one you spent who knows how much of your energy on? Nino and Chloe are both going home too; the fresher team is stepping up while you get back up to fighting strength. But to do that, you need to rest." 

 

"I hear you, I just…" Marinette let out a sigh. "I can't just do nothing anymore; I've done that for years now and it's killing me." 

 

"Nothing is killing you?" Alya asked. 

 

"I would just feel better if I could keep my hand on the ball right now," Marinette said, running a hand through her hair. "Let me stay the night here; Luka and Kagami can rest while I-" 

 

"Kagami needs somewhere to sleep until we figure out how those creeps found out her identity," Alya sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Okay...you really want to do something helpful?" 

 

"Yes!" Marinette said. 

 

"Are you sure?" Alya asked. "Because I have something really important for you to do, but you might not like it." 

 

"I like sitting around and doing nothing a heck of a lot less," Marinette said. 

 

"Okay...but you gotta promise me that you'll do exactly what I say," Alya said gravely, laying a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Can I trust you to do that?" 

 

"Yes," Marinette said earnestly. 

 

"Okay...I need you to head out of this base by the elevator shaft, leave the building you find yourself in, and start walking south," Alya said, pointing to the elevator. "From there you're going to take a right at the fourth intersection, left at the second intersection, and follow that street for another three blocks." 

 

Marinette traced the route in her mind as she nodded. "Okay, I think I can...wait, hang on-." 

 

"You're going to go to a large building called Tom and Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie ," Alya said, gripping Marinette's shoulders. "You are going to go inside and say hello to the people who work there."

 

"Alya-" 

 

"Then you are going to head up the stairs, climb a ladder, and unlatch a trapdoor that leads to a loft." 

 

"Alya, we don't have time to-" 

 

"Stay with me; you're going to see a bed -" 

 

“My partner is-” Marinette cut her outburst off, even as she was aware of the attention she had drawn. “Adrien is out there, hurt and totally on his own-” 

 

“He’s been hurt and totally on his own before,” Kagami dryly pointed out. “As I’m sure you know.” 

 

“Kagami,” Alya and Luka chorused. Kagami held her hands up in surrender, shooting Marinette a final look before retreating off to a room off to the side of the main meeting hub. It was clear that Kagami had not forgotten Marinette’s role in dismantling their previous team and even clearer that she wouldn’t let Marinette forget it anytime soon. 

 

Does she think I’m being insincere or something? Marinette wondered, watching her go. I guess I gave her reason to think that, but she can’t think she’s the only one who cares about Adrien...

 

“Okay, how are you going to find him then?” Alya asked. “He moves so far off the grid that the best spies in the world only know what he’s doing when he tells them. Not to mention the fact that he can literally disappear at a moment’s notice.” 

 

Marinette glanced at Tikki who held her hands up. “Don’t look at me.” 

 

“You can communicate with Plagg though, right?” Marinette pressed. “If you can find Plagg, you can find Adrien, right?” 

 

“And what then?” Tikki asked. “I really hate to be blunt, Marinette, but if he was interested in hearing what you had to say, he would have stayed to hear you.” 

 

“He doesn’t have to listen to me!” Marinette sighed, frustration getting the better of her. “I just…I just need to know he’s okay; I need to help him if I can.” 

 

“And what if he doesn’t want your help?” Tikki challenged. “Are you going to push him until he breaks down and acquiesces? Is that really how you want to begin your relationship with him again?” 

 

“You said he was hurt.” 

 

“And well enough to walk out of here, if that’s his choice, ill advised though it may be” Tikki said, shaking her head. “Marinette...at some point you need to realize that the only person you're totally responsible for is yourself.” 

 

“I know, but-” 

 

“And part of being responsible for yourself is taking care of yourself ,” Alya said, gripping Marinette’s shoulder. “I’m not sending you to time-out, Marinette; I’m asking that you get some sleep so that you’re fresh for the next fight.” 

 

“I’m fine ,” Marinette insisted. “I can go a lot longer than I used to, Alya; I'm not going to burn out again, I-” 

 

“Marinette,” Alya said in a tone Marinette rarely heard from her. “What happened the last time Ladybug burned out?” 

 

Marinette balked, averting her eyes from Alya’s. “That’s not...that’s not going to happen again.” 

 

“No, it’s not ,” Alya said, patting Marinette on the shoulder. “And it's not a risk I'm willing to take. Go home, Marinette; I’ll call you when we have some more information.” 

 

Marinette wanted to argue, but Alya had already turned away, already making her way over to Chloe and Nino who lingered by the kitchen, watching their conversation with interest. Nino jerked his head as if to say “go on” and Chloe seemed to already be in the heat of conversation with Alya; conversation that Marinette wasn’t privy to. 

 

“How’s this?” Tikki said after a moment of Marinette lingering in front of the elevator. “If anything happens to Chat Noir; if I truly feel he needs your help, I will let you know. Whether he wants to accept it or not.” 

 

“Well...I guess that’s better than nothing,” Marinette sighed. “I just...I hate being in the dark like this.” 

 

“If you and Adrien ever get back to speaking terms, you should ask him for advice,” Tikki said. 

 

“You know that’s not how I wanted things,” Marinette said. 

 

“Wanted or not, that’s how things were ,” Tikki shrugged. “Still...you should go home. I think you need some rest; try not to worry about Adrien while you’re at it. He’s not as helpless as you think him.” 

 

“I don’t-” Marinette trailed off, already sensing how futile it was to argue. “Are you going to stay here?” 

 

“I don’t think I’ll fit in your dollhouse anymore,” Tikki chuckled, fidgeting awkwardly with her jacket’s zipper. 

 

“The fainting couch is always available,” Marinette said. “I could always make you a new bed?” 

 

“I think the days of us having sleepovers are on hold for a little while,” Tikki said, jerking her head over to Master Fu. “I should really help Master Fu however I can; we have a few things to discuss. I’ll fill you in after you’ve had some time to recover.” 

 

Marinette’s stomach churned, her curiosity begging her to push for more information, even as her more rational side knew that she was already underfoot. “...okay. I’ll let you know if I pick up anything from Adrien...thanks for keeping me in the loop.” 

 

“Always,” Tikki said. She turned away, but Marinette’s hand on her sleeve caught her before she could get too far. Looking back, she saw the woman Tikki had known since she was a girl looking younger and more unsure of herself than ever. 

 

“...I understand if you’re mad at me,” Marinette said, taking a deep breath and forcing her head up to meet Tikki’s gaze. “I know I let you down. You told me Hawk Moth was messing with me...I just didn’t want to listen. I thought I knew better...I’m sorry I didn’t trust you as much as I should have. I know I must have disappointed you...and I’m sorry for that.” 

 

Though her eyes glistened, Marinette’s gaze did not waver, even as Tikki held it with the intensity of an immortal. 

 

“You only disappointed me because I believed you to be capable of better,” Tikki said softly, her lips tugging into a small smile. “I still do, if I’m being honest...I do hope you’ll prove me right this time.” 

 

Tikki turned away, leaving Marinette lingering on the threshold of the elevator as she looked around with a sick, guilty feeling in her gut as she watched the rest of her the team disappear behind closing elevator doors. 

 

All she wanted to do was help, and all she could do was go home again. 

 

---

 

Plagg opened his eyes as the door to the apartment opened, a faint smell of sulfur lingering on Chat Noir’s hands as he brushed the remnants of Teurer onto the apartment floor. 

 

"You said you weren't going to hurt him," Plagg said. 

 

"I can't imagine being instantly obliterated is very painful," Chat Noir said. 

 

“You know if you keep fragging every demon who gives you information, they’re gonna stop talking to you,” Plagg pointed out as he followed Chat Noir down the narrow stairs of the apartment. 

 

“He told me everything I needed to know,” Chat Noir panted, wiping his brow. “Let him spend another dozen years reforming for all I care; he told me his friends were-” 

 

Chat Noir leaned against the wall of the apartment’s hallway, taking slow, deep breaths to steady himself before continuing on. 

 

“Adrien,” Plagg sighed, grabbing Chat Noir’s elbow. “You need to take it easy; that poisonous junk left more damage than Tikki could heal-” 

 

“It left more damage than this on…” Chat Noir swallowed heavily, leaning on his cane as he pushed the apartment door open. The cool evening air lapped at his damp cheeks as he stepped out onto the roof of the apartment building, the dim light of the setting sun reflecting over the city that was good as new, thanks to his erstwhile partner. 

 

“Yes...Master He is gone ,” Plagg sighed. “But she’d kick your ass if she thought you were killing yourself for something as stupid as revenge!” 

 

“Revenge doesn’t change the mission…” Chat Noir muttered. “They needed to die before Venice; they need to die now. The longer we wait...the worse things are gonna get.” 

 

“And the longer you wobble around by yourself, the worse things are gonna get for you !” Plagg hissed, watching as Chat Noir’s eye followed something moving across the skyline. “I know you’re upset; believe me, I want that dragon’s hide for a pair of boots as badly as you do. But you’re not gonna get revenge if you’re not alive to-” 

 

Plagg stopped as he followed Chat Noir’s eyes, watching a familiar figure swing between buildings backlit by the setting sun. Ladybug arced through the air, tumbling as the wind spun her ribbons behind her like a falling comet. Tensing under his veil of invisibility, Chat Noir wordlessly watched as she drew closer, landing on the rooftop with only the barest hint of a stumble. 

 

She always made it look easy, Chat Noir thought, watching his ex-everything stop to catch her breath. 

 

“-before anyone is any the wiser,” Ladybug said, clearly in the middle of having an extended debate with herself. Some things never changed by the looks of it; Chat Noir could remember with some fascination watching Marinette have entire arguments with herself, highlighting the pros and cons of each side of an issue before committing herself to a course of action. Watching her mind work had been enthralling; looking back, it was hard to see how he missed Ladybug’s brilliance flashing through in Marinette’s everyday life. 

 

Or maybe Marinette was always the one to make Ladybug shine. 

 

“But where would we get the tugboat?” Ladybug asked herself, throwing her hands up in defeat as she leaned on the edge of the building. Ladybug tugged Fang out of its sheath, staring down into her reflection in the polished black metal before tossing it across the roof between her and Chat Noir. 

 

"Go home !" Ladybug yelled at the inanimate object. "Shoo! I don't have longsword proficiency and I'm not looking to multiclass!" 

 

To the surprise of no one, the sword did not answer her, nor did it so much as twitch as Chat Noir reached out to it. 

 

"Look, my relationship with your sword...daddy," Ladybug said with a wince. "Is complicated right now and if he thinks I stole you from him-" 

 

The sword disappeared, materializing back in the black and silver scabbard strapped to Ladybug's back. 

 

"Not even the metal listens to me anymore," Ladybug sighed, head dipping as she stepped past Chat Noir. Plagg scarcely breathed, watching as Chat Noir slowly reached towards Ladybug’s back and the hilt of his weapon. 

 

"Ugh...maybe I can get Joan to give me some pointers," Ladybug muttered as Chat Noir's fingertips drew closer. Suddenly Ladybug tensed, head snapping up and whipping around, unknowingly staring Chat Noir in the eye. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled, and she could have sworn she heard a faint ringing in the distance. She was alone on the rooftop; she was sure of it. And yet she could almost feel someone standing behind her; a presence that she had grown accustomed to feeling at her back without even looking. 

 

“...Chat?” Ladybug asked, hand reaching out as her eyes scanned the rooftop. Chat Noir watched her fingertips sail past his cheek into open air and grasp at nothing. There was a pregnant pause before Chat Noir turned away, stealing down a fire-escape and leaving Ladybug alone without another word. 

 

Plagg stayed to watch Ladybug for a moment, staring down at her fingertips in dismay before she turned, latching onto a nearby building and swinging away. 

 

If I live through this, I’m starting a couples counseling service for superheroes, Plagg thought ruefully as he followed Chat Noir down the ladder. 

---

A thin layer of dust stirred as Marinette slipped through her trap door for the first time in years and landed feet-first on a white sheet stretched over her bunk. 

 

The rest of her room was in a similar state of preservation, having been carefully covered by her parents. At some point, they must've seen through her constant excuses about being too busy with work or school or made-up friends. They must have realized that their daughter was not coming back to Paris like she promised. 

 

Marinette slid down the ladder and landed as gently as she could on the floorboards, careful not to alert her parents to her presence just yet. The last time she had been there, she was in the middle of cramming every necessity she owned in a bag as she prepared to flee the city. Even before that, it had become a small, stifling space where she was alone with thoughts that grew darker and more alien with each passing day under Hawkmoth's influence. 

 

Still, she felt a tinge of nostalgia as her hand traced the heart she had carved into her desk, smiling as she remembered nicking her finger while etching it into the wood. Turning around, she grabbed one of the sheets spread over her dresser and pulled it down, releasing a small cloud of dust motes into the air as she caught her reflection in the mirror. The weight of clashing with living gods was written on her face as she reached out and ran her fingers along her dingy reflection. 

 

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, Ladybug looked back at her, no less exhausted-looking but at least dressed for the fight that was ahead of her. 

 

"Okay…" Ladybug said to herself, slowly sitting down in front of the mirror. "My partner hates me...my best friend doesn't trust me...we're starting to lose people-" 

 

Ladybug's eyes fell on Fang leaning against the mirror. "And I have a magic sword that is following me around wherever I go." 

 

She ran her fingers along the dust coating the floor, rubbing them together as her eyes landed on a bucket of cleaning supplies propped up in the corner. " Now what? " 

 

She tossed the sheet off her fainting couch, balling it up as she sat down in the middle of her room. Crossing her legs, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she felt the dust in the room swirl around her and slowly take shape. Six long, glowing gold arms materialized from the center of her back, bathing the room in a warm glow as they set about tidying her room. One grabbed a broom and began dragging it across the floor, wiping through the layer of dust as another dragged a cloth across her desk. Yet another grabbed a bottle of window cleaner and began scrubbing the inside of her windows, cutting through the grime and letting the streetlights shine through. 

 

Was it always so dark in here? Ladybug thought as two hands clapped together, pulling a string of glittering glass lights out of thin air and draping them over the rafters and around the bannister leading up the stairs to her loft. 

 

Crap, I left my bag in Venice, Ladybug thought, prying open her dresser and cracking her knuckles. Let's see…

 

Ladybug's hands spun together, a pink and black blouse she had created dozens of times before appearing on a hanger along with a pair of slacks. Next to it, she set to work adding a sundress she had been thinking about all week, the garment coming together in one seamless piece of fabric held together without stitches. A few pairs of black jeans, a red and black jacket, and Ladybug was satisfied with her holdover wardrobe for the moment. After a moment, she tugged a drawer open, quickly spinning together a few dozen pairs of underwear and slamming it shut. 

 

An arm pulled aside a cloth tarp and Ladybug's heart clenched at the sight of her gigantic tiger plushie lying in the corner of the room, fur dingy and one eye dangling from its socket. She had almost wanted to take it with her; her longtime sleeping companion had the stuffing hugged out of it as she spent many nights wondering if she shouldn't stop and do the right thing. But it had been too heavy and too cumbersome to carry with her, so it was unceremoniously cast aside as she left. An arm dragged the plush across the floor and deposited it in Ladybug's arms as she leaned back against the couch. 

 

Adrien… Ladybug thought, reaching out to her partner. His name echoed like she had shouted it down an empty tunnel, only silence answering her. A thread and needle appeared in her fingertips as she gingerly tried to stitch the button eye back into place. She could have done it easier, with magic, but there was something therapeutic about fixing things the old fashioned way. 

 

I don't know what's going on with your sword, Ladybug continued. But I didn't take it from you...I don't know why it's following me around. I'll give it back if you want it; you don't even need to talk to me...but I'm here to talk if you need to. 

 

Ladybug rolled on her back, staring up at the magically twinkling lights that hung like stars overhead. 

 

I missed you, Ladybug finally admitted. Fighting alongside you today was...crazy. But I felt normal for the first time in a long time; for a moment there, I really thought we could win.

 

Faced with the choice of being hurt that the world had grown so much without her and proud of her friends for making strides on their own, Ladybug couldn't help but admire the heroes they had become in her absence. 

 

Everybody's come so far, Ladybug continued as something stirred at the end of the long hallway. Nino and Chloe really hammered those creeps; you should have seen Carapace spike Firebird across the city after you got hurt...and Alya averted a diplomatic incident before Chloe could finish complaining about it. You all must have trained so much under-

 

Ladybug paused as the memory of the old woman disappearing through a closing door popped into her mind. She hoped that she could be as calm as Master He was if it ever came time to face her own death but she knew a good death (as Master Fu put it) did nothing to ease the hurt of her passing; especially for Adrien. 

 

I'm sorry about Master He, Ladybug ventured. I know she meant a lot to you...and I'm sorry I didn't get more of a chance to talk to her before she died. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now...I just hope you're not shutting yourself away. 

 

Even as she thought it, Ladybug had a sinking feeling that Adrien was doing just that. She always heard that cats liked to isolate themselves when they were upset or in pain; she could only hope that wasn't a trait Adrien had picked up in his Sanctuary. 

 

I hope you know that I'm here for you, Ladybug continued. I know I wasn't in the past; I know I let you down. I'm still scared of trusting myself sometimes, you know? But...I'm trying to be someone you can rely on again. I'm trying to be the Ladybug you believed in when we were kids...

 

Through the echoing silence, Ladybug could swear she heard something. But as she sat up, she could feel something dampen the echo of her own voice; as if something had sealed off half the tunnel between her and Chat Noir. It was a sign that he had been listening and a sign that he didn't want to listen to her anymore. 

 

Well...we'll try again tomorrow, Ladybug thought, burying her face in the cat plushie.

 

"C-Can you get anyone out to Venice to check? Marinette hasn't picked up and I'm starting to-" Lost in thought, Ladybug didn't notice the latch behind her open until she heard her mother's startled gasp at the top of the ladder. She sat up, floating arms disappearing and dropping the broom and bottle of window cleaner onto the floor with a loud clang. 

 

"...h-hi Mama," Ladybug chuckled, quickly dropping her disguise. "S-Sorry I haven't called, I was...uh...busy."  

 

"...never mind, Bridgette; I found her," Sabine muttered, letting the phone slip from her fingertips and rushing forward to throw her arms around her daughter.

Notes:

Okay all the awkward conversations we needed to have are out of the way! Now back to our regularly scheduled superhero shennanigans.

Chapter 13: By A Thread

Summary:

Music Credits: King of Wishful Thinking - Newfound Glory

Notes:

Big thanks to strange-ocs on Tumblr for proofing this!

Chat Noir's fist slammed into the side of her head, driving Ladybug back towards the balcony overlooking the shattered atrium beneath her feet. Her hands came up to stop him but his strikes seemed to move with inhuman speed, striking harder and faster than Ladybug could even track with her eyes. 

 

"Just give up!" Chat Noir panted, exhaustion laced in his voice as he drove her back closer and closer to the precipice. In spite of the fear, anger, and hurt raging inside her, something seemed to be preventing her from striking back with as much force as she wanted; an error of judgement that Chat Noir wasted no time capitalizing on. 

 

Ladybug felt her heel slip on the ledge and turned back to find Chat Noir's hand at her ears. She locked eyes with him for a moment, a soundless plea dying in her throat as she fell backwards, her suit disappearing as the ground rocketed towards her. 

 

Tikki...I'm sorry… Marinette thought as she slammed into the floor beneath her. 

 

"Hmm...I don't seem to remember it going like this." 

 

Marinette lifted her head as Gabriel Agreste walked past her, looking up at Chat Noir staring at both Miraculous in his hand, despair etched on his face as he weighed the cost of his victory. 

 

"It didn't have to be like this," Chat Noir said, his features flickering and transforming into a much younger Ladybug. 

 

"Ahh, that's more like it," Gabriel nodded, rubbing his chin as the house around him slowly fragmented, floating through the air as thick vines snaked through the air around them. "I was worried my memory was starting to fade…" 

 

Gabriel's eyes drifted over to a scene of his doppleganger standing over a bound Marinette, accepting her Miraculous from her outstretched hands. "And our memories are all we have, at the end of the day...funny, isn't it? That so much of how we see ourselves is tied up in how we choose to perceive the past." 

 

My past is more nightmare than memory at this point, Marinette thought, looking over at Adrien's face frozen in shock as he realized who it was that had betrayed him. 

 

"Whoever said it was just your nightmare?" Gabriel asked, the scene flickering to show Adrien holding a disintegrating Hawk Moth in his arms, watching the last remnants of his father drift away into the sky above him. Marinette had imagined it more than once, but it had never seemed so real; as though the details had been plucked out of someone else's memory and embedded into hers. 

 

"What do you want from me?" Marinette asked, her voice distant as the foggy world around her began to disappear. 

 

"I need you to wake up, Marinette," Gabriel said, looking over the rim of his glasses. "You have a job interview to get to, do you not?" 

 

---

 

Ladybug jerked awake, legs tangled in her sheets as she struggled to sit up under the weight of her comforter. It took her a moment to catch her breath; another to realize that she had shifted from the pajamas her mother had lent her into her Ladybug that felt all too stifling in the cramped space of her bunk. The sun was creeping through the cracks in her blinds as she de-transformed and wobbled down the stairs, glad to at least have made it a full night before being awakened by a nightmare. 

 

"Now they're blending together," Marinette grumbled to herself. "Nightmares about Chat Noir and dreams where I think I'm late for a job interview all wrapped up in-" 

 

Her phone buzzed as she picked it up, her calendar notification letting her know she had an interview at Gabriel's head office in ten minutes. 

 

---

 

"HiPapaI'mBackFromLondonLoveYouTalkToYouLater!" 

 

A red blur darted past Tom and pilfered half the danish on his tray as he carried it out to the front of the house. 

 

"See you tonight Mari- wait, what?!" Tom spluttered, nearly dropping his pastries until Sabine slipped past and snatched them out of his hands. 

 

"Sh-she came in while you were catering the ARK event, dear," Sabine chuckled. "I was going to tell you, but you were asleep when I went up to check on you-" 

 

Marinette resolved to make her mother something pretty for covering up for her so well. She was going to have to get around to talking with her father at some point, but her mother seemed to understand that after the day she had, a little sleep was the first priority in mind. 

 

Tearing down the sidewalk as she stuffed pastries into her mouth, she ducked into an alley and remerged in a flash of red light, a simple black jacket covering her pajama top as her flip-flops slapped against the bare pavement. 

 

"Sorry!" Marinette called as she ducked through a department store, emerging with her pajama bottoms transformed into a matching black pencil skirt and her top into a simple white blouse. Her feet ached as she tore down a side street, taking a moment to transform her flip-flops into running shoes as she broke into a sprint. 

 

Her watch beeped at her as she rounded the corner, the tall glass building of Gabriel's main office coming into view. The sound of tires screeching drew her attention and Marinette instinctively darted to one side as a black sedan tore past her, tires smoking as it skidded to a halt in front of the main entrance. 

 

"Hey!" In spite of the fact that she was running late, exhausted, and still wearing sneakers, something in Marinette couldn't abide seeing someone being a public menace. "You could have seriously gotten someone-" 

 

The door opened as Marinette approached and a very tired looking Adrien stepped out, dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans and seemingly oblivious to her existence until she called out. "Adrien?" 

 

As someone who had her share of sleepless nights, Marinette recognized the tired look in his eye as he turned to face her. The dream (memory?) of their final confrontation was fresh in her mind; maybe that was why he looked so defeated. 

 

"Sorry," Adrien mumbled, flicking his glass eye with his fingernail. "No depth perception." 

 

"Oh, right, I forget about that sometimes- hey!" Adrien had already turned to head into the building with Marinette hot on his heels. "W-What are you doing here?" 

 

"Can't deny my love of fashion any longer," Adrien said, barely nodding at the security guard as they stepped into the sterile atrium that was the last standing remnant of Gabriel Agreste's design aesthetic. "I'm here to finally take up my father's work and be a good little heir…" 

 

Okay, maybe the sarcasm is a little warranted, Marinette thought. "Okay...why are you really here?" 

 

"Because the rotten people my father put on his board need to be routinely persuaded so they don't cancel my pet projects," Adrien sighed, kicking the button to summon the elevator. She stood in his blind-side and he made no motion to turn towards her, even as he spoke. "Let me guess; you start work today, don't you?" 

 

"If I pass the interview," Marinette said, fidgeting a little as she glanced around the lobby to see who was listening. "...and if the position is actually something worth taking-" 

 

"Well, good that you're making time for things you care about," Adrien said, an icy edge on every word as the elevator doors opened. "Top floor?" 

 

"...I can take the stairs if it's easier for you?" Marinette chuckled as the doors started to close in front of her. "I don't want to-" 

 

Adrien's expression didn't change; nor did he suddenly rush forward to hold the door open as she thought he might. Torn between respecting Adrien's space and the prospect of running up eight flights of stairs in three minutes, Marinette darted forward as the doors closed, sealing her in with Adrien who remained unblinkingly staring at the wall behind her. 

 

"Th-Thanks for holding the door," Marinette coughed, shuffling over to the side of the elevator. It might have been her imagination but the air in the elevator seemed stilted and harder to breathe than the air outside. It wasn't nerves; walking away from a pair of murderous gods made staring down Gabriel's design team almost calm by comparison. 

 

Hey, maybe it was the fact that you ran across the city in your pajamas you dummy, Marinette thought to herself, bending down to pull off her sneakers and transform them into a pair of heels with a snap of her wrist. If it wasn't for Gabriel Agreste telling you to wake up, you might have never-

 

"What do you mean?" Adrien said, his head snapping towards her with sudden, intense focus. 

 

"I-I didn't say anything," Marinette said, Adrien's gaze pinning her to the corner of the elevator. 

 

"No, you...thought-said something about my father telling you to wake up," Adrien said, head tilting to one side curiously. 

 

"I...y-you heard that?" Marinette said. "C-Can you hear everything I'm thinking or-" 

 

"Yeah, the inside of your head is like the floor of a stock exchange," Adrien said with a wave of his hand. "Let's get back to the part where you're hearing my father's voice in your head." 

 

"I-It was a dream," Marinette laughed nervously, tensing as Adrien moved closer. "A nightmare; I have them all the time-" 

 

"You hear Hawk Moth's voice in your head all the time?" Adrien asked, looking her over with a curious scowl. 

 

Wow, nice word choice Marinette! Marinette thought with a wince. 

 

"Your choice of words isn't what concerns me," Adrien said, leaning against the wall next to Marinette. "Hearing his voice in your head, telling you what to do...isn't that how you described him taking my Miraculous from you?" 

 

Oh.

 

So it wasn’t about her bad dreams; Adrien still thought that bits and pieces of Hawk Moth’s influence were kicking around in the back of her mind. 

 

"No, that's...that's impossible," Marinette said shaking her head. "Adrien-"

"Not as impossible as you think; my father was a talented magician," Adrien said. "Who's to say he didn't install a little insurance policy while he was tinkering with your mind?" 

 

“Okay, admittedly this looks extremely bad,” Marinette chuckled nervously, trying to avoid the impulse to shrink away from Adrien’s suspicious glare. “But the only person in my mind right now appears to be you. A-And besides, Hawk Moth is…” 

 

Marinette fell silent as she stared up into Adrien's eyes. She didn't know what she was looking for; maybe just the scrap of someone who once believed in her more than anyone else had. But there was only suspicion in Adrien's gaze, his real eye colder and harder than his glass one.

 

“The word you’re looking for is dead ,” Adrien said quietly, the heat of his breath tickling her cheek as he spoke. “But in my experience dead things don't always stay dead...especially when they sank their hooks into someone while they were still alive.” 

 

“I know...you have really good reasons to be suspicious of me,” Marinette admitted with a wince. “I get it. But I promise you...I swear, it was just a dream. Please...you have to believe me.” 

 

Ding! The elevator lurched to a stop at the top floor, the doors sliding open and breaking the bubble of silence that surrounded them. 

 

“Do I?” Adrien asked, turning and walking away without so much as a second glance over his shoulder. Marinette's heart thumped in her ears as she watched him go, clutching her portfolio to her chest as she shakily stepped out of the elevator. 

 

Yeah, Marinette thought with a melancholy sigh. Good question…

 

---

 

Venice, Italy

 

"Signorina Bourgeois...we've been expecting you." 

 

Chloe's lips curled into a sneer as she stepped out of the gate at the airport, eyes sweeping over the small crowd of Venetian police keeping a sea of reporters behind a metal fence. In the distance, she could see the black twisted spires of New Venice like an ugly scar on the horizon. 

 

Chloe suppressed a shudder as she turned her attention back to the chief of police. "Anything to get our names cleared up; my friends and I were only defending ourselves from a group of terrorists that had already infiltrated your city...right under your noses." 

 

It wasn't entirely fair to dump Venice's destruction on the police, but Chloe needed to put them on the backfoot a little; anything to shift the frame of this meeting away from interrogation. 

 

"I am certain we will get to the truth of the matter in no time," the chief of police said, looking around Chloe's shoulders. "Are your friends planning on joining us?" 

 

"Venice was not the only city under siege yesterday," Chloe reminded him. "Paris was  attacked by the strangers in the white masks as well; the rest of my team is ensuring that our own citizens are safe." 

 

"Yes...of course," the chief of police said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just that-" 

 

"I don't think it takes more than one person to answer questions," Chloe said, handing her bag off to one of the officers standing nearby. "And I'm more than willing to cooperate as long as you're respectful of my time. You have to recognize that this is far from the most important thing I have on my plate right now." 

 

" Si," the chief of police said, fidgeting with his radio. "I-I will need to call this in." 

 

Call it in to who? Chloe wondered, watching the chief step away as a pair of officers ushered her off the tarmac and towards a hanger off to one side of the base. "Is someone from the French Embassy joining us?" 

 

"No need, mademoiselle," one of the officers said, holding the door open for Chloe. "We are only having a conversation; no reason to involve the lawyers, no?" 

 

No, of course not, Chloe thought to herself as she stepped into the mostly dim hanger. Wouldn't want anyone to know what you're planning on doing here. 

 

Her footsteps echoed in the empty building, the single hanging light casting long shadows that seemed to shift as she looked at them. If it was any other situation, Chloe would have left a long time ago, likely leaving a Queen Bee shaped hole in the wall. But there was something fishy going on here and she wasn't about to leave until she learned what it was. 

 

"I don't suppose anyone has a cappuccino waiting for me," Chloe sighed as she slid into the metal chair at the far end of the table. "Hellooooooo? Mi scusi? Cappuccino rapidamente por favore?" 

 

As her echoing voice died down, a pair of footsteps pierced the silence, slowly making their way across the airplane hanger. "Sorry...the machine broke." 

 

A lukewarm can of coffee shot out of the darkness, rolling across the floor and landing against Chloe's foot as a pale faced Scorpion mask emerged from the shadows. 

 

"Your Highness will have to make do," The Scorpion said, their distorted voice crackling as they leaned on the back of the chair across from her, eyes peering through the dark slits in the mask. 

 

Chloe looked down at the can with a wrinkled nose. "Ugh, Starbucks? Why don't you just scoop me a glass of canal water and mix it with dirt?" 

 

" I'm sure we can arrange that," The Scorpion said, looking over Chloe's shoulder. " Your friends aren't coming are they?" 

 

"They had a thing ," Chloe said with a humorless smile. "Don't tell me I'm not good enough for you." 

 

" We'll take what we can get where our enemies are concerned," The Scorpion said, sliding into the chair and kicking their feet up on the table. " So...what do you think of the new city?" 

 

"I think your boss has a future designing tacky sci-fi movie sets," Chloe sniffed. "I'm sorry, did you fly me all the way out here to discuss your shitty home renovation side-hustle? Because if you're looking for an angel investor, I should warn you that I have a policy against giving money to lunatics, supervillains, and their Halloween-store lackeys." 

 

The Scorpion laughed, a crackling hollow noise that sounded almost crow-like. "Wow...twenty-two years old and still acting like a stuck up little brat; did mommy and daddy not beat you enough?" 

 

"No, that would require paying attention to me," Chloe said with a tight smile. "They're not big on anything that requires them to act like actual parents." 

 

"So that's the excuse you use to be a colossal bitch to everyone around you?" 

 

"I'm actually quite sweet to my friends," Chloe said, earning a derisive snort from The Scorpion. "It's just the kidnappers, murderers, and public menaces I can get a little frosty with. Don't be salty that you didn't make the cut; just cut the crap and explain what it is you want from me. Something tells me the Italians already know what happened " 

 

" We like to keep our allies informed," The Scorpion said, sitting up and folding their hands in front of them. " One of the perks of the job...I believe I made the same offer to you and your friends on behalf of my masters when we first met." 

 

"You mean the offer to sit and obey like a good lap dog?" Chloe chuckled. 

 

" Don't knock lap dogs; they live longer and better than most people do." 

 

"At the end of a leash." 

 

" Leashes only hurt when you try to run too far," The Scorpion said, leaning back in their chair. " That's why we asked you here...now that you've felt the stick, maybe you're interested in giving the carrot a second chance." 

 

"Join you?" Chloe said. "Were you going to make that offer to everyone if they showed up?" 

 

" You can take the offer back if you want...but the bug and the cat aren't part of the offer," The Scorpion said. " They were disappointing and now the bosses want to make an example of them." 

 

"How nice," Chloe said, eyeing the intricate lines on The Scorpion's mask curiously. "Makes me wonder what'll happen to you once you start disappointing." 

 

The Scorpion shifted, apparently ready to say something until a scuffle of movement drew her attention to the door Chloe had come in through. 

 

" Get out of my way!" A deep, booming voice echoed behind her as the door came clean off its hinges with a sickening wrench. The police outside made passing attempts to stop him, but the lumbering frame of The Toad pushed them aside, marching across the hanger and making a beeline for the table in the center of the hanger. 

 

"I see the muscle has arrived," Chloe said

 

" Why wasn't I told that Chloe was coming here alone?!" The Toad growled, picking the table up and tossing it to one side. Chloe slid back as The Toad stepped between them, glowering down at The Scorpion who barely moved from their seat. 

 

" Because you didn't need to know, dumbass ," The Scorpion sighed, leaning around The Toad's side. "Sorry; my subordinate seems to be under the impression that the world revolves around him; you two have a lot in common, actually. I can see the resem-" 

 

"Shut up ," The Toad growled, glancing back at Chloe. " She doesn't need to be here for this." 

 

"Well, if you insist ," Chloe sighed, standing up and putting her jacket on. "By the way, your plan sucks, your outfits suck, your team sucks, your weapons suck, your goons suck, and I would rather boil myself in your cheap coffee than join your pathetic excuse for a social club. You're not just wrong, you're ugly, and I cannot wait until the day we get to put all of you in prison where you belong; ciao, bitches ." 

 

" I don't remember dismissing you," The Scorpion said, pushing The Toad to one side and grabbing the back of Chloe's jacket. " If you think you can just walk out of here after flat-out refusing us-" 

 

"Wait," The Toad said, pulling The Scorpion's hand away. " Wait, just...let me handle this." 

 

The Scorpion glared up at their partner before tugging their arm out of The Toad's grip. " You better know what you're doing…" 

 

Chloe watched The Scorpion disengage, opening some kind of communicator as they slinked off into the shadows. " Hey, Toady's got some bright idea…" 

 

"Did you get hurt yesterday?" The Toad asked quietly as soon as The Scorpion was out of earshot.

 

"I'm sorry, you care ?" Chloe asked, squinting up at The Toad suspiciously.  

 

" I...we would like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed where we can," The Toad replied. 

 

"Tell that to the people you dropped a city on-" 

 

" Chloe-" 

 

"Keep my name out of your mouth, Toady ," Chloe hissed. "You don't know me well enough to talk to me like that." 

 

" ...maybe not," The Toad said, sounding strangely pensive for a mass of rubbery muscle. He easily towered over her, yet he seemed almost embarrassed in her presence. " But I hope you'll make the correct choice...as admirable as it is to want to help others, the world we live in is doomed. But you don't have to be. You can still save yourself and the people you care about." 

 

"Why do you care?" Chloe echoed, shaking her head. "Seriously, why does the well-being of one of your enemies mean so much to you? What possible reason could you have for sticking your neck out for me like this?" 

 

The Toad glanced over his shoulder, thumbing a ring around his finger for a moment. " ...because I have made a lot of mistakes; a long line of terrible decisions. Failed as a husband, failed as a father...even failed to protect my city. I don't want to look back and see that I've done nothing worthwhile with my life." 

 

"So start a charity," Chloe huffed. "Or write a book, or spend time with your…" 

 

Chloe stared up into The Toad's eyes as several pieces clicked into place. "...family?" 

 

" Chloe...I-" The Toad reached out, laying a hand on his daughter's shoulder. " Everything I'm doing...it's all for-" 

 

" Hey!" The Scorpion called, storming across the hanger. "Quick question; why didn't you come in your suit?"

 

"Excuse me?" Chloe asked, flinching as The Scorpion drew her baton and shoved her against the wall. 

 

" What the hell are you doing?!" The Toad demanded, trying to pry The Scorpion off. 

 

" You don't think it's funny that she hasn't transformed?" The Scorpion said, glaring at Chloe. " What's going on here? We sprang a trap on you and you're looking as cool as ice…" 

 

"Well, I try and keep my blood pressure down in stressful situations," Chloe said. "Meditation does wonders for-" 

 

"Wait!" The Toad rushed to intervene, but The Scorpion struck first, slamming her tonfa hard into Chloe's stomach. She buckled, pressing against the wall as The Scorpion pressed a button on the underside of her tonfa. 

 

"Sorry...wrong Chloe," Chloe chuckled, her form shimmering and vanishing in a puff of orange smoke. 

 

The Scorpion stared at the spot where Chloe had been before turning to glare at The Toad. " What did you tell her?!" 

 

---

 

The Sanctuary of the Fox Miraculous

 

In the heart of the Fox's autumnal sanctuary, Alya's eyes snapped open, breathing hard as she fell forward onto the carpet of orange and red leaves that rested at her feet. The swirling, shifting trees that surrounded her rained leaves down on her as Trixx floated up with a worried look on their face. 

 

"Are you okay?" Trixx asked as Alya fumbled around for the thermos of coffee she had brought with her. 

 

"Fine…" Alya said, taking a shaky sip only to find the coffee somehow tasted like warm apple cider. "I'm fine…" 

 

"Good news or bad news?" Trixx asked as the world around them blended together like running watercolors. Alya nearly threw up the first few times she had meditated inside the Sanctuary; now she was all too used to the weird and twisted world that played havoc on each of her senses. 

 

"Both at the same time," Alya said, closing her eyes and gripping the Fox Miraculous tightly in her hand. If she concentrated on something solid and concrete from the real world, it was easier to find her way back from the heart of the woods. Unfortunately, Andre had given her everything she needed to imagine the look on Chloe's face when she broke the news. 

---

 

"I'm sorry to say that our third quarterly projection shows a projected loss of one and a half million euros year over year-" 

 

Bonk. 

 

"And the fourth quarterly report isn't looking all that much better-" 

 

Bonk. 

 

Nathalie peered over the rim of her glasses for a long moment before glancing back at the tablet in front of her. "In order to cope with these new projections, executive leadership is recommending a halt on executive salary increases and limiting bonuses until we see some positive increases...with the exception, of course, of the Chief Executive Creative Brand Consultant which is asking for a four percent increase." 

 

Nathalie looked up as the Chief Executive Creative Brand Consultant bounced a rubber band ball off the wall as the rest of the table shared uneasy glances, grimaces, and groans. Adrien's sporadic attendance and lack of interest in Gabriel's quarterly board meetings was not lost on the senior leadership of his father's company. But any time there were grumblings about impeaching him, he would magically appear, seemingly with a list of discontents who would find themselves quickly convinced to withdraw their complaints. 

 

Nathalie was almost impressed with how easily he could get some of the most powerful people in the company to shake like interns on their first day; unfortunately, the new Director of Accounting had yet to get the memo. 

 

"I'm sorry, Madame Sancouer," M. Sivert said, raising his hand to stop Nathalie before she could go any further. "But how is it that we can approve a singular executive salary increase while the rest of the executive staff is being asked to take pay-cuts?" 

 

It was a fair question; unfortunately, Gabriel was no longer in the hands of someone who was interested in being fair . 

 

"You are welcome to review the spending reports if you have questions about M. Agreste's financial needs," Nathalie said, eyes flickering to Adrien who was conspicuously paging through his phone at the far end of the board table, a disinterested scowl on his face. Normally, he at least pretended to be civil but something had clearly sapped the will to even appear cheerful. 

 

"That's just the thing," M. Sivert said, glancing at his colleagues. "I've looked at M. Agreste's spending reports, and frankly, I'm a little shocked at the lack of oversight he's granted." 

 

Well, sir, I've been embezzling money from our company to fund a group of vigilantes for the past three years, Nathalie thought. It's the only thing keeping me out of prison, you see…

 

"Adrien is working very hard building our brand's name overseas," Nathalie said, looking across the table for support. "Isn't that right, Adrien?" 

 

"You know me; Gabriel Agreste's favorite workhorse," Adrien said without looking up. "I am hard at work fulfilling my father's legacy…" 

 

"Frankly, I don't see that," M. Sivert said, ignoring the pointed looks and head-shakes his colleagues were shooting at him. "If I am being honest, I'd say that M. Agreste's salary is grossly inflated. We are all grateful for the work his father did propelling this company to the top, but unless benders in the South of France count as company work , I move that we eliminate M. Agreste's position and reallocate his salary to the general fund." 

 

The sickly fluorescent lights overhead flickered out, the rubber ball rolling across the floor as Adrien looked down the table at M. Sivert curiously. "Nathalie...may I have a moment with M. Sivert to explain the intricacies of my work?" 

 

"Anything you have to say can be said in front of my peers-" M. Sivert glanced around as the rest of the board quickly rose to their feet, scurrying out the back door as quickly and quietly as they could. "I'm sorry, are we re-locating?" 

 

"Adrien... please be gentle," Nathalie sighed, closing the door behind her and leaving M. Sivert alone in the dimly lit board room. 

 

"Maybe some things weren't explained to you when you first started here, M. Sivert," Adrien said quietly. "So let me bring you up to speed." 

 

Despite the calm, even tone in which Adrien spoke, M. Sivert could feel a cold bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. 

 

---

 

"Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?" 

 

Marinette blinked, shaking her head as she realized she had been more preoccupied with the waves of icy anger she could feel wafting off Adrien down the hall than she had been on the interview in front of her. In another life, she might have been nervous, replaying the right answers in her head a million times before she spoke. But after Venice, it was hard to spare any fear for something as mundane as a job interview. Even if it was for a position that could potentially change her life forever. 

 

Though if I die in a fireball with the rest of the planet, my career prospects are hardly my biggest worry. 

 

"Forgive me," Marinette coughed, watching as the three designers she was interviewing with poked and prodded at the samples she had sent to Paris ahead of her. "I would say my biggest influences are Miuccia Prada for her creative use of patterns and Stella McCartney for her command of form. I don't believe strong patterns should be shied away from and I'm always looking for new fabric manufacturers to partner with."

 

"What is this fabric?" A spindly old man by the name of M. Renard mused, tugging at the cape that hung from the shoulders of one of her gowns. "I could have sworn it was silk but I can't imagine any manufacturer capable of making patterns so delicate…" 

 

Well, you see, I saved a ton of money on supplies by using my sugar-powered magic to create impossible fabric out of thin air, Marinette thought.

 

"And this stitchwork ," another man by the name of M.Mercau said, leaning in to the shoulder of a black and green suit she had on the mannequin next to it. "If I didn't know better I'd say there weren't any stitches at all here…" 

 

What part of 'magic sugar-powered superpowers' was confusing? Marinette thought with a sheepish smile. "Central St. Martins was quite influential." 

 

"As was M. Agreste, I'm sure," M. Renard said, fondly turning the dress around. "I'm reminded of Gabriel's '98 collection, particularly with his use of natural motifs." 

 

"Are you?" Marinette asked, examining the dress thoughtfully. The simple answer was that at one point, she had looked up to Gabriel as designer; naturally, his style would have some lasting impact on her designs the same way echoes of David Gilmour and Andy Summers could be heard in Luka's music. But the thought of having any parts of Gabriel still bouncing around her mind was-

 

(“But in my experience dead things don't always stay dead...especially when they sank their hooks into someone while they were still alive.”) 

 

-concerning. 

 

"Well...he left quite an impact on me," Marinette said. How deep that impact was, they would never know. 

 

"Yes...shame he isn't here to see how his protege has grown," M. Mercau said with a kindly smile. "I'm sure he'd be pleased to see you following in his footsteps as a creator." 

 

"Well...I'm not entirely interested in following in his footsteps," Marinette said. "While M. Agreste was certainly...talented, I'm not really looking to copy his style." 

 

"It was a very popular style," M. Renard pointed out. 

 

" Lucrative as well," M. Mercau said. "And one we haven't seen much of in the years since his death until...well, until today!" 

 

Down the hall, she could feel Adrien's temper grow even more sour, flashes of irritated thoughts flickering through her mind. "Thank you, monsieur, but I'm more interested in bringing Gabriel into the future rather than dwelling on victories from the past." 

 

"A victory is a victory, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng," M. Mercau said. "And Gabriel is in dire need of victories and people capable of delivering on them." 

 

"We are approaching the fifth anniversary of our…" M. Renard fumbled around for the right word to describe Gabriel. " Skilled founder's unfortunate passing. In that time, I wish I could say we have carried on his work and honored his memory, but unfortunately...well, our design team seems ill-equipped to reproduce his unfinished ideas." 

 

The hairs on the back of Marinette's neck tingled as she glanced between the designers. " Unfinished ideas?" 

 

"A number of collections he had sketched out; ideas for the future," M. Mercau said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The board was hoping to maybe borrow a few for the upcoming lines, but we need someone to bring his sketches to life without too much...editorializing." 

 

"Editorializing?" Marinette chuckled. "I'm sorry, isn't that a good thing?" 

 

"To an extent," M. Renard continued, glancing at his partner. "But...well, to be blunt, Marinette, Gabriel is not the house of fashion it used to be." 

 

"We are confident that we will reclaim our status as a premiere design brand in the future," M. Mercau said, holding his hand up to forestall any worries from Marinette. "With talented designers like yourself, we're sure to get there...it's just that we are in need of capital rather shortly and-" 

 

"And you're looking to release some of Gabriel's—forgive me M. Agreste's —designs as a way to regain some of the public's good will," Marinette concluded, folding her arms across her chest. "Forgive me, but I was under the impression I was interviewing for a designer position." 

 

"It is-" 

 

"And typically, designers design ," Marinette said, blood pulsing in her ears as she slowly realized what they were asking her to do. "We... editorialize as you put it. If you're not interested in that, then-" 

 

"I-I think we may have given you the wrong impression," M. Mercau said quickly, holding up his hands. "We are certainly impressed with your work, mademoiselle-" 

 

"-we would just like you to work off some of M. Agreste's unfinished designs first," M. Renard said. "A-As a fond tribute to our beloved founder." 

 

Beloved and Gabriel did not belong in the same sentence. From a business perspective, Marinette could see their point; they were struggling and flailing around to grab onto something proven they could sell quickly. Any other time, she might have even gone along with it in the hopes that things might improve, but now…

 

Marinette's eyes drifted up to the portrait of Gabriel Agreste that hung over the studio. Do I really want to spend what could be my last days on Earth doing Gabriel Agreste's work? 

 

"It's a big decision, we know," M. Renard said, patting Marinette on the shoulder. "But I think I speak for the design team when I say that we would love to offer you more freedom with your own line if you prove yourself with M. Agreste's last collection." 

 

"I see…" Marinette said. The whole experience felt so surreal; here she was being offered a foot in the door at one of the biggest studios in the world...and yet-

 

"Take some time to think about it," M. Renard said, passing Marinette his business card. "Though I'm sure you'll come to the correct decision." 

 

"Yes...thank you," Marinette said, watching as her mannequins were wheeled out of the studio on her way out the door. She might have been able to take her creations from design to production more easily now, but she was still attached to them all the same. She had offered up designs of her own working in London; designs that were paraded around with a cursive G underwriting her own name. Just how long was she supposed to keep giving to people who saw her as another talented tool to use? 

 

How long was she supposed to live in Gabriel Agreste's shadow? 

 

"Ah, Marinette...good to see you." Marinette looked up to see Nathalie and half of the executive staff huddled around the door to the board room, looking like children sitting outside the principal's office. 

 

"Nathalie." Marinette eyed her would-be bosses curiously. "What's going on in there?" 

 

Nathalie edged away from the group and lowered her voice. "Our new director of accounting has some opinions on the salary we use to fund your after-work activities. Adrien is-" 

 

A woman shrieked as the water cooler she was standing next to suddenly exploded, drenching her with a gallon of cold water. 

 

"-arguing his case," Nathalie said, suppressing a small shudder. "I take it the interview went well?" 

 

"It did until they said they wanted me to revive the corpse of Gabriel Agreste for the spring line," Marinette said, turning the business card over in her hands. 

 

"I told them to let that go," Nathalie sighed, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. "Listen, the board is very nervous right now; they're looking for a big win and looking to the past to deliver it." 

 

"Did anyone tell them that rehashing old trends is typically not what makes fashion brands great?" 

 

"This is what happens when you hire ex software executives to manage a fashion brand," Nathalie said, sparing a derisive look at her colleagues across the aisle. "I admit I need to call on Adrien to bully my own executive team into behaving more than I would like to." 

 

"Blame your old boss for hiring them," Marinette sniffed, running her fingers over the Gabriel logo on the card in her hands. 

 

"I do," Nathalie said as a shrill ringtone came from inside the office. There was a pregnant pause of silence before the door swung open, Adrien striding out while chattering with someone on his phone. 

 

"No worries; I'm well enough to go," Adrien said, eyes scanning the office for a moment before landing on Marinette. "I just need to pick something up first." 

 

Go where? Marinette wondered as the crowd parted in front of him. Behind him, she could see a white-faced man sitting alone in the boardroom, eyes wide and shirt drenched in sweat, but Adrien's piercing gaze made it hard to focus on anything else. 

 

"I need to talk with you," Adrien said, cracking open the door to a neighboring conference room and nodding his head inside. "Alone." 

 

"Adrien, we still need your signature on the fiscal reports for-" Nathalie paused as Adrien shot her a look that actually started peeling the paint on the wall behind her. "...another time, perhaps." 

 

"Is everything okay?" Marinette asked as Adrien ushered her through the meeting door and locked it behind her. "Adrien-" 

 

"I need Fang back," Adrien said, drawing the blinds as the board peered curiously through the window. "I don't know how you got it-" 

 

"I didn't steal it-" 

 

"-and I don't care ," Adrien sighed, leaning against the meeting table. "But I have friends stuck behind enemy lines in Venice and I'm not just going to leave them there." 

 

"Zoe and Fei?" Marinette said, answering Adrien's curious look with a shrug. "Captain What's-Her-Name rang after you left; they're alive but they're still stuck in the city." 

 

"And nobody told me?" 

 

"You would have known if you had stayed ," Marinette sighed. "Adrien, you didn't need to run off like that-" 

 

"Considering I got some leads on our friends in the masks, I'd say it was well worth it," Adrien said. "I'll follow up on it after I get back from Venice, but for now, I need the sword." 

 

Marinette opened her mouth to argue but the stubborn glint in Adrien's eye told her that anything she said would bounce off him like rubber. The wall between them only seemed to grow thicker the more time they spent together, and with armageddon breathing down their necks, Marinette didn't see an easy way forward. 

 

This was never going to be easy… She reminded herself, closing her eyes and transforming into Ladybug. The sword materialized on the table between them as Adrien's shabby, ill-kept outfit melted away into Chat Noir's crisp new design. Ladybug's eye lingered on the floating green scarf and before she could stop herself, she had reached out and snagged the end of it. She hadn't had an opportunity to look at it before; the last two times they had been together, she had been preoccupied with more important things. But now that she had a moment to take a proper look at it-

 

"Sorry, are you looking for inspiration ?" Chat Noir said, tugging his scarf out of her grip. 

 

"No...I think I already made that," Ladybug said. "I thought you lost it in the last fight with Hawk Moth; I didn't know it was part of your suit." 

 

"What can I say; I'm a sentimental sap, " Chat Noir said, stabbing the sword into the air in front of him and dragging it down with a sound like scissors tearing through fabric. The air in front of him split and through the dark, shimmering portal, Ladybug could see the outskirts of the city of Venice outlined against the afternoon sun. 

 

Damn, all the landmarks have moved around, Chat Noir thought, searching for a location he could jump to. Where the hell are you guys? 

 

Despite her best efforts not to eavesdrop, Ladybug could hear what Chat Noir was thinking as if he were speaking it aloud. "Do you need some help?" 

 

Chat Noir tensed as Ladybug laid a hand on his shoulder, his spectral eye floating over her. "My friends are the ones who need help right now." 

 

"But I can go with you," Ladybug suggested, looking through the portal. "We can cover more ground if it's two instead of one and if you need backup-" 

 

"I'm used to being my own backup," Chat Noir said, disentangling himself from Ladybug's grip as he stepped through the portal. As he did, the scarf fluttered behind his shoulder, brushing against the side of Ladybug's arm before winding around her wrist with a firm grip. 

 

What? Ladybug thought, trying to wrench her arm free but only succeeding in pulling Chat Noir back through the portal with a strangled squawk. "S-Sorry, I-!" 

 

" Seriously?!" Chat Noir growled, turning around to see the end of his scarf in Ladybug's hand. "How many times do I have to say no to you before you get the message?" 

 

"I heard you; the scarf just...wrapped around my wrist," Ladybug said, immediately hearing how stupid that sounded coming out of her mouth. Judging by his expression, Chat Noir didn't seem to take "magic scarf did it" as an excuse. "Okay, that sounded dumb..." 

 

"Look, if I hurt your feelings in Venice with the whole rookie thing, I apologize," Chat Noir said, sounding anything but apologetic as he tried to disentangle himself from Ladybug's grip. "I get that you want to prove yourself again; believe me, I do. But I don't have time for team bonding exercises while lives are in danger." 

 

"And what about your life? " Ladybug grunted, wriggling her wrist as the scarf seemed to only tighten its grip. "Adrien, you nearly died yesterday. You need to-" 

 

"I think I'm a better judge of what I need than you are, thank you ," Chat Noir sighed, trying to take the scarf off only to find it wrapping and rewinding itself around his neck as soon as he disentangled it. "Seriously this isn't funny." 

 

"I'm not doing anything!" 

 

"Marinette, just-" 

 

---

 

"-take it off!" 

 

Nathalie's secretary glanced up from his computer as voices from the locked conference room drifted through the door. 

 

"I'm trying but it's stuck!" 

 

"It doesn't have a zipper; how does it get stuck?" 

 

"I don't know but it's stuck to my skin or something." 

 

Nathalie's secretary quietly leaned over and pressed the intercom. "Mme. Sancoeur? There seems to be some kind of...disturbance coming from the conference room M. Agreste and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng are in."

 

" That's it, I'm going to rip it-" 

 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on!" 

 

"It's getting in my way; it's coming off!" 

 

" Just...ignore them ," Nathalie's tired voice sighed through the intercom as a crashing noise drew the attention of half the workers on the top floor. 

 

---

 

Ladybug fell back against the conference table as Chat Noir managed to wrench his scarf out of her grip. 

 

"Listen," Chat Noir said, irritation hissing out of the corners of his mouth. "I get that you're trying to be helpful but I don't need to be looking over my shoulder the whole time I'm trying to pull off a rescue mission, okay? I can't…" 

 

Chat Noir let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't relax around you." 

 

"...you still don't feel safe around me, do you?" Ladybug asked though she already knew the answer. "Even after all this time?" 

 

Chat Noir turned away, almost embarrassed that he had let so much slip around her. "Doesn't feel like that long to me…" 

 

With that, he turned around and passed through the rift between cities as the door snapped shut behind him. 

 

Doesn't feel that long to me…

 

Ladybug didn't know why she was surprised; if she was still waking up with Hawk Moth's voice in her head, what did Adrien think when he thought about her? Had she really dealt him a wound that ached years after the blow was struck? 

 

Of course you did… Marinette thought as she detransformed, the suit beginning to feel unbearably tight. As bad as Hawk Moth hurt me...I hurt him just as badly. 

 

Maybe it was worse; at least Hawk Moth had always been her enemy. Betrayal should have come as no surprise to Ladybug coming from him; Chat Noir had to deal with the fallout that came from both his father and his girlfriend turning their backs on him, 

 

No...he's still dealing with it, Marinette thought with a heavy sigh. Well, at least he has his sword back- 

 

Marinette looked down to see Fang resting on the table beside her. 

 

"Oh come on," she groaned. 

 

---

 

"I have the room booked for three, how long is M. Agreste planning on being in-" 

 

Marinette opened the door to see a small crowd of people turn to look at her. 

 

"Oh...um." Marinette quietly clutched a large guitar case close to her chest as she edged out of the room. "Go right ahead! Sorry for keeping you." 

 

"I'm sorry, I thought M. Agreste was in there with you?" Nathalie's secretary said, eyeing her disheveled appearance curiously as she passed.

 

"He...left," Marinette said, running a hand through her mussed hair and straightening her jacket. "He had, uh....business to attend to." 

 

"How did he get out?" Nathalie's secretary asked. 

 

"...quietly," Marinette chuckled, quietly placing a business card on the desk. "C-Could you tell M. Renard that something's come up and I'm no longer available to take the position we discussed?" 

 

The guitar case's latch popped open and Nathalie's secretary swore he saw the hilt of a sword inside before Marinette slammed it shut with a mortified look on her face. 

 

"Uh...sure," Nathalie's secretary said, watching her drag the case behind her as she headed down towards the elevator. 

 

So she shows up late, nails the job interview, sleeps with the boss on company property, and then doesn't take the job? He thought, glancing down at the card in front of him. What kind of weird power play is that?

 

---

Venice, Italy

 

"Andre did what now?" 

 

The Toad could almost see the smug smirk behind The Scorpion's mask as Firebird's glowing orange figure looked down on them. 

 

" I was asked to try and bring the other heroes into the fold," The Toad said, fists clenching at his sides. " I thought I was speaking to Chloe, but apparently-" 

 

"Apparently Rena Rouge knew we wouldn't let them go if they turned us down," The Scorpion said. "She was never here to begin with."

 

"The expression is 'sly as a fox' for a reason, I suppose," Firebird sighed. " Well, can't unspill that milk, can we? Just try and be more careful going forward, m'kay?" 

 

The Toad visibly let out a sigh of relief but The Scorpion didn't seem so pleased by their mentor's lack of concern.

 

"That's it?" The Scorpion said before they could stop themselves. "You're just letting him go with a slap on the wrist?" 

 

A chilly silence lingered in the hanger as Firebird glanced at The Toad. "Toady, can you give us a minute?" 

 

The Scorpion stiffened as The Toad spared them what was no doubt a patronizing look, stomping out of the hanger and closing the door behind him. Alone with the image of their mentor, The Scorpion straightened up under Firebird's questioning gaze. 

 

"If you have something to say to me, go ahead and say it," Firebird said, folding her arms across her chest. 

 

" ...The Toad may have compromised his identity ," The Scorpion said, choosing her words extremely carefully. " If Rena Rouge figures out who he is-" 

 

"What of it?" Firebird shrugged. "Do you think we haven't factored something like that into our plans already? We needed Andre for his money and connections in Paris; yes, The Toad is quite a fighter, but the beauty of our rings is that anyone could wear them." 

 

"I see," The Scorpion said, clenching their hand around their ring. 

 

" And in certain cases, revealing some hidden information can play to our advantage," Firebird said. " Now, whatever Rena Rouge decides to do with that information, we know they're more than likely moving against Andre next...which we can now plan around. If they're looking at Andre, they're not looking at what we're doing beneath their feet." 

 

"Did you know this would happen then?" The Scorpion asked. 

 

"Please; nobody can plan for everything," Firebird scoffed. " I'm just flexible enough not to get my hair in a knot when we hit a snag. Every misfortune has a silver lining, Scorpio; you just have to know where to look for it."

 

"Clever," The Scorpion said with an approving nod. "I'm sorry I questioned your judgement-" 

 

"I never said you couldn't," Firebird said, her fiery hand brushing against The Scorpion's cheek. "If I can't explain myself, that's a sign I need to rethink my plans...just don't question me in front of the help, okay? There's a reason you're the only one who knows all the Venom's identities." 

 

The image leaned close enough that The Scorpion could feel the heat coming off the image of Firebird. " I would hate for you to disappoint the trust my husband and I have placed in you." 

 

The Scorpion's hands clenched behind her back. "I wouldn't dream of it, ma'am..."

 

---

 

06 25 13 45 51: Hey, are you free? 

 

Marinette: Excuse me, who is this? 

 

06 25 13 45 51: Sorry this is Alya

06 25 13 45 51: New Number. 

 

Marinette: Oh hi!!

Marinette: i still have you saved under the old number I guess

 

Alya: Yeah, I haven't used that in a few years now. 

 

Marinette: oh thank god

 

Alya: hm? 

 

Marinette: let's just say there's a few 2am text messages I'm glad you didn't recieve 

Marinette: i thought you just blocked me or something

 

Alya: I may have also done that 

 

Marinette: haha

Marinette: understandable

Marinette: oh, i ran into adrien at gabriel today

 

Alya: Is he okay? 

 

Marinette: define okay

 

Alya: Let me guess, he disappeared to go punch someone in the face after staying for a half hour?

 

Marinette: I'm guessing this is a pattern. 

 

Alya: You don't know the half of it

Alya: But he's walking around? 

Alya: He's not collapsing on the side of the street or anything? 

 

Marinette: Check your DM's; I sent you a message. 

 

Alya: I don't see anything…

Alya: Are you sure it came through? 

 

Marinette: Try logging in using Firefox

 

Alya: What difference would that make? 

 

…

 

Ladybug: He's okay, but he ran off to go help Zoe and Fei in Venice. Captain Chan called in a favor I guess.

 

Rena Rouge: Oh, this DM.

 

Ladybug: I figured it was better not to talk about work on private lines. 

 

Rena Rouge: You figured right; in the future just say you sent me a message on Tumblr.

 

Ladybug: You use Tumblr still? 

 

Rena Rouge: Nobody uses Tumblr; that's just the code we use to let each other know to check our super-DM's.

 

Ladybug: Ahh clever.

 

Rena Rouge: Are you sure he's good going on his own? 

 

Ladybug: I offered to go with him but my help isn't exactly welcome it seems. 

Ladybug: I guess I should have seen it coming…

 

Rena Rouge: If it makes you feel any better, he's pretty bad at asking for help these days. 

Rena Rouge: Well…

Rena Rouge: That's not totally fair but that's a story for another day. 

 

Ladybug: I have time now? 

 

Rena Rouge: Ask Carapace someday; it's his story to tell. 

 

Ladybug: I'll add it to the list of uncomfortable conversations I need to have. 

 

Rena Rouge: Is there a queue? 

Rena Rouge: I don't want to cut in line. 

 

Ladybug: Is this conversation going to be uncomfortable? 

 

Rena Rouge: Maybe…

Rena Rouge: Can I ask you something about Hawk Moth? 

 

Ladybug: I've heard enough about Gabriel Agreste today to last a lifetime but sure.

 

Rena Rouge: What was going through your head when you found out about that and knew you might have to tell Adrien?

 

Ladybug: oof okay, uncomfortable conversation ahoy

 

Rena Rouge: If this is a bad time we can talk later. 

 

Ladybug: There's no good time. 

Ladybug: Look, I was wrong Alya

Ladybug: Whatever I was thinking or feeling at the time doesn't excuse what I did. 

 

Rena Rouge: I'm not here to berate you for past mistakes. 

Rena Rouge: I just

Rena Rouge: I want to know how it felt when you knew you might have to break his heart

 

Ladybug: Pretty bad. 

Ladybug: Terrible enough that I lost sleep over it. 

Ladybug: That wasn't even the biggest reason why I did what I did but

Ladybug: Maybe I was just too much of a coward to make the hard choices when it counted…

 

Rena Rouge: Even though he hated his father? 

 

Ladybug: Well, yeah, but

Ladybug: Family is family, yeah? 

 

Rena Rouge: You say that but you don't have any supervillains on your family tree. 

Rena Rouge: That we know of.

 

Ladybug: lol yeah my great uncle is secretly an ancient warlock. 

 

Rena Rouge: At this point, we can't be too careful. 

Rena Rouge: If you could go back in time and tell him, would you do it? 

 

Ladybug: I'd tell him everything if I could. 

Ladybug: I thought I was protecting him but

Ladybug: I think in the process I forgot to ask him what he wanted.

Ladybug: I can't blame him for being frosty with me; I would be too...

 

Rena Rouge: I see. 

 

Ladybug: Why do you ask? 

 

Rena Rouge: Because I have a lead on The Toad

Rena Rouge: And I want you to help me to confirm it before I break the news to Chloe. 

 

Ladybug: Why would you need to break the news to Chloe? 

Ladybug: Wait

Ladybug: oh

Notes:

Trying to balance catchup with character building with plot so this was a little bit of a down-time with the plot ratcheting back up next episode. I don't want to spend too much time playing catch-up so I'm probably gonna speedrun Tom/Bridgette after action conversations.

Updated: 1/1/22. Altered some dialogue from the Firebird/Scorpion scene that alluded to the police getting involved. That was going to set up a subplot that I realize we don't have time/space for in the story.

Chapter 14: Tempête de Merde

Notes:

1/1/22. Altered some dialogue from the last Chapter's Firebird/Scorpion scene that alluded to the police getting involved. That was going to set up a subplot that I realize we don't have time/space for in the story.

Taipei, Taiwan
2021 - 6 Months After Hawk Moth's Death

 

"What do you see?" 

 

Chat Noir's eyes scanned the figures unloading the trucks. "No sign of The Shadow yet; he's probably hanging back until the money shows-" 

 

Chat Noir stifled a yelp as Master Crane flicked his ear with her fingers. "I didn't ask what you don't see." 

 

"Am I supposed to be looking for someone other than the crazy artifact smuggler with the metal arm?" Chat Noir hissed, rubbing his ear. 

 

"Our quarry isn't here…so tell me what else you see," Master Crane said, leaning over the edge of the roof as a cool drizzle started splashing against Chat Noir's cheek. 

 

Chat Noir sighed, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck as he focused his eyes down again. "Twenty guys outside unloading cargo so probably another couple dozen more inside watching the merchandise."

 

"Armed?" 

 

"Why would that matter?" Chat Noir said, leaning out of the way of another flick of her fingers. "Bullets don't do much to me, remember?" 

 

"Keep looking," Master Crane urged, jerking her head back down. Chat Noir rolled his eyes but dutifully turned his attention towards the back of a truck where two armed guards started ushering a small group of scared looking people into the warehouse. "Hostages?" 

 

"Or just very cheap labor," Master Crane said. "Bullets might not do much to you, but if you trigger a shootout in there, things could end up very poorly for our friends." 

 

"He just has to make my job hard, doesn't he?" Chat Noir grumbled, gripping the hilt of Fang for support more than anything else. In the months following his flight from Paris, he found few things put his mind at ease more than knowing he had an all powerful sword at his beck and call. 

 

"Not every slight is a personal attack, Adrien," Master Crane clucked. "Sometimes misfortune falls without a grudge."

 

Only sometimes? Chat Noir thought bitterly as he scanned the warehouse beneath him. "The side door opens up into another building; I can get in, get the people out, knock out the guards, and gift wrap myself before His Shadowyness gets here." 

 

"That's quite a tall order," Master Crane said, watching as her charge walked along the narrow rail overlooking the warehouse. "Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself?" 

 

Chat Noir closed his eyes, took a deep breath-

 

---

 

New Venice

2024 - Present Day

 

-and opened his eyes to take in the black, jagged landscape illuminated by the spotlights coming down from the helicopters that circled overhead. 

 

"I'll be fine," Chat Noir muttered, leaping off the building and diving into the streets below. 

 

---

 

[Bridgette C.] changed the name of the chatroom from [London Expat Fun House] to [International Center For Yelling At Marinette]

 

Marinette: uh oh

 

Bri: HEY

Bri: SO GUESS WHAT I JUST FOUND OUT?!

 

Marinette: they're remaking another Disney movie nobody asked for? 

 

Bri: I WAS MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS

Bri: UP TO MY EYEBROWS IN BUILDING PERMITS AND DOCUMENTS TO SIGN

Bri: WHEN GUESS WHAT YOUR MOM TELLS ME?! 

 

Felix: Judging by the way her caps-lock has broken, I don't think she has to guess

Felix: Not to be overbearing, but were you planning on telling us that you were in Venice when it was renovated? 

 

Marinette: technically I wasn't IN Venice at the time it was renovated

Marinette: I finished my sight-seeing with some friends from school before that part happened 

 

Bri: I thought you guys were going to Milan?

 

Felix: Oh good, you fixed the caps-lock. 

Felix: I was worried it would get stuck like it did last week when you found out they were making that live-action Toy Story movie. 

 

Bri: SHUT UP

 

Marinette: It was on the itinerary but we had to cut our trip short for obvious reasons. 

Marinette: But it's not like Paris is much safer these days

 

Bri: Which is why I live in London!!

Bri: Seriously, please be careful

Bri: I know I'm not your Mom but it's a scary world out there. 

Bri: And literally getting scarier. 

 

Marinette: At least I'm in a city with a full team of heroes, right? 

 

Bri: The ones who couldn't stop an art heist? 

Bri: Or the ones who let Paris get shot to pieces under their watch while half were in Venice?

 

Marinette: hey they're not that bad. 

 

Bri: Sorry, I don't have a lot of confidence in Fox and Friends. 

 

Marinette: Even if Ladybug's back? 

 

Felix: Who said Ladybug was back? 

Felix: I heard some rumors about her in Venice but I also heard that aliens were to blame for that. 

 

Marinette: well if I see any, I'll be sure to duck into one of your people pods for safety before I get abducted

Marinette: I hear the new ones have wifi and Netflix so you can binge-watch through the end of the world.

 

Bri: Promise? 

Bri: Look, if things start going uh

Bri: Felix what's the word? 

 

Felix: Pear-shaped? 

 

Bri: Pear-shaped. 

Bri: Promise you'll get to the ARK bunker nearest you

Bri: And STAY there. 

 

Marinette: Okay, sure

 

Bri: That doesn't sound like a promise. 

 

Marinette: look, i gotta catch up with some friends but

Marinette: i promise if the world starts ending around me I will get to safety. 

 

Bri: Good. Don't play the hero now. 

 

Marinette: oh don't worry

Marinette: i don't think I'd be any good at that

 

---

Paris, France

 

" So she goes to Venice in the middle of a war-" 

 

"Tom…" 

 

"-when she hasn't been home in four years because of work -" 

 

"I know, Tom." 

 

"-then she sneaks in after dark the day before a job interview, dashes out the door while stealing half a tray of cream puffs, and doesn't even call," Tom concluded, delicately pulling a tray of puff pastry out of the oven. "And you tell me don't worry about her?!" 

 

"I know Marinette's acting a little…off lately," Sabine said, choosing her words carefully. "But she's not a little girl anymore, Tom; whatever she's going through, we have to trust that she's capable of handling it." 

 

"And if she needs help?" 

 

"She'll ask for it," Sabine said even as her husband snorted under his breath. 

 

"This is Marinette we're talking about, right?" 

 

"And?" 

 

"The girl who knocked over a tray of cookies when she was five and tried to re-create the recipe before anyone found out?" 

 

"She isn't five anymore Tom," Sabine sighed. 

 

"Which means the cookies she knocked over are significantly harder to re-bake," Tom said, straightening up as the door to the alley unlatched and Marinette stepped through, toting a large black and red guitar case and cradling the phone against her shoulder. 

 

"I'm home Bri," Marinette sighed. "Do you want me to lock myself in my bedroom and wrap myself in bubble wrap too? No, don't answer that…no I'm not putting my mom on! No… no … goodbye Bridgette!" 

 

Marinette's phone slipped off her shoulder and as she fumbled to catch it, the guitar-case slipped out of her grip. The case cracked open and for a moment, Tom could have sworn he heard something hiss like a cat but Marinette was on it before Tom could get a better look. 

 

Marinette flattened herself on top of the case and gave her father a weak smile. "Th-those cream puffs smell good, Papa!" 

 

Tom just glanced at his wife who quickly busied herself stuffing cream puffs and whistling innocently. 

 

"If you're thinking of swiping a whole tray again, the least you can do is fill up on some proper food first," Tom sighed, accepting a kiss on the cheek as an apology. 

 

"I wish I could stay for dinner, but Alya wants to get drinks and catch up," Marinette said, edging the case through the bakery. "I-I was hoping to grab a bag of assorted snacks to bring along; carbs and sugar go a long way towards catching up with old friends." 

 

"One of the perks of running a bakery I suppose," Sabine laughed, ushering her daughter into the front of the shop. Once she was safely out of earshot, she lowered her voice. "Is that supposed to be code for something?" 

 

The lid to the case jerked open and Marinette slammed it shut before Fang could burst out again. "...it's nothing dangerous; at least, I don't think it is, but-" 

 

"Again?" Sabine shook her head. "Marinette, you just got out of what looked like a terrible fight." 

 

"Terrible fights are in the job description," Marinette sighed, filling a white sack with some of the leftover pastries. "Seriously, I handled this sort of thing four times a week back in the day." 

 

This didn't seem to quell her mother's anxiety as much as she hoped it would. " Back in the day involved half the city getting sucked into pods while Hawk Moth rampaged with an army of lizard people. Please tell me it's not that bad anymore." 

 

Marinette busied herself with fishing a chocolate croissant out from the corner of the display while she considered her answer. "It isn't." 

 

Technically true; it's actually much much worse, but Mom doesn't need to know that. 

 

"I can't tell you everything," Marinette said quietly. 

 

"Technically, I figured it out myself," Sabine chuckled, brushing a lock of hair out of Marinette's face. Her eyes sparkled with more life and electricity than Sabine could ever remember seeing before. It was more than her natural brilliance; there was something otherworldly about her gaze now that unnerved Sabine the longer she looked. As much as she knew her daughter deep in her bones, she knew that Marinette was no longer the same person she had given birth to. 

 

"Just…promise you'll come home safe," Sabine said, patting Marinette on the shoulder gently. 

 

"...I'll promise to try," Marinette said with a weak smile. Reaching into her pocket, her fingers crackled with light and re-emerged with a crisp €100 note. "For the snacks." 

 

"Family doesn't pay," Sabine said, eyes widening as she watched the bill in Marinette's hand duplicate. 

 

"Your daughter is a human counterfeiting machine," Marinette chuckled, tucking the bills into the register and kissing her mother on the cheek. "One with a very expensive sugar habit." 

 

---

 

"You sure you don't need my help?" 

 

Alya glanced over Nino's shoulder to see Chloe in their kitchen attempting to work the blender with mixed results. "I still don't know what they're planning on doing after figuring out we lied to them about Chloe; I don't want to cede the first move so soon. Besides, you two are still shaking off Venice-" 

 

"I'm fiiiine ," Nino said, spreading his arms. "C'mon; look at me." 

 

"I don't need to look at you to know you're fine ," Alya said, running her hands up Nino's shoulders. "But I also think the fewer personalities at play here, the better." 

 

"You don't think me and Luka would be better choices for Mari's first return gig?" 

 

" You would be; Luka I'm not so sure," Alya sighed. "You didn't see him with the Venoms earlier today; he was all purple again." 

 

"But he pulled back before he lost control, right?" Nino said. "The guy's kept a tight lid on Mayura for years now." 

 

"Which is why I don't want to stress him out too much," Alya said. "Besides, better to get Ladybug in with her biggest critics before things get too dire. Let them work together on low-stakes patrols where failure doesn't mean the end of the world." 

 

"Feels like every patrol could end with the end of the world these days," Nino said as a sharp shriek came from the kitchen. "You good, bee?" 

 

Chloe answered by stomping into their room, drenched in something blue and icy. 

 

"Your blender hates me," Chloe growled, stomping past Alya and disappearing into the bathroom. 

 

"Yeah just our blender…and the toaster," Nino snickered. "And the stove, and the oven, and the microwave, and the-"

 

The bathroom door opened enough for Chloe to whip her sodding shirt at Nino's head before slamming shut again. 

 

---

 

New Venice, Italy

 

Chat Noir quietly stuck his head around the corner, listening as the sound of scraping claws on flagstones echoed down the empty street. So far, he had managed to give Kaiser Long's newest creations the slip, but sooner or later the wind was bound to shift. Getting caught before he could get Zoe and Fei out of the city would be problematic to say the very least. 

 

Lights in the buildings above him flickered as shadowy figures moved across the windows. Once or twice, he could have sworn he heard human voices speaking in Italian coming from an empty archway, but by the time he rounded the corner, they were gone. Even after four years of delving into the darkest corners of the world, Chat Noir was not immune to contracting a serious case of the creeps. 

 

Something was fundamentally wrong about the city; he could feel it in every breath he took. 

 

A snarl caught his attention from a few blocks away, and Chat Noir bounded down the alleyway as sounds of a feverish struggle drew closer. He skidded to a stop in an alleyway, watching as the corpse of a lumbering black-scaled monstrosity hissed and bled out of a sizzling wound in its side. Weakly, it tried to swat at Chat Noir, but a quick jab through the eye with his staff and the monster fell silent. 

 

"Fei?" Chat Noir whispered, scanning the smooth walls inlaid with pulsing golden glyphs. His phantom-eye pulsed, illuminating a single set of foot-prints darting away from the corpse. The fact that they were fresh was a good sign; the fact that there was only one of them was not. 

 

"Zoe?" Chat Noir called a little louder, tensing as he heard what sounded like snarling coming from above. Pressing himself against the wall, he closed his eyes and focused on making himself invisible. 

 

Destroy their perception of you, Plagg had explained. Erase yourself in their mind. 

 

It was a fairly loose interpretation of Destruction, in Adrien's opinion, but it had served him well enough in the past. All he could do was hope it held out as he heard heavy footfalls approach from down the alleyway. 

 

The monsters that had appeared flanking Hawk Moth in the final battle for Paris had been prototypes; this much had become apparent to Chat Noir as the years wore on and he saw Kaiser Long's terrible design evolve. 

 

This new monster scraped the archway that hung over the alley as it crawled forward on all fours. Like all the monsters that preceded it, it was unmistakably draconic in design. Oily black scales shimmered in the moonlight and slitted green eyes stared out from beneath a bony brow. A low chuffing sound sent hot, putrid breath washing over Chat Noir as it sniffed the air in front of his face, scanning around for whatever it was that killed its compatriot. 

 

How long before he figures out a way to see through my disguises? Chat Noir wondered as the monster rose up onto its back haunches, tilting its head up and letting out a chattering hiss that spread through the streets around themt. Chat Noir froze, hand on his staff as the tiles beneath the dead monster's body peeled away and sucked the creature back into the bowels of the city. The living terror looked around one last time before slithering after it, vanishing underground as the pavement sealed itself behind. 

 

Chat Noir let out a breath, dropping his invisibility and refocusing on the tracks that led away from the scene of the battle. At least one of Section 13's agents was alive; he just needed to find her before something less friendly did. 

 

---

 

Paris, France

 

"I got 89% on my math test today." 

 

The approving hum that came out of her mother's mouth between bites of food was almost immediately undercut moments later. "I thought you got 95% on the last one?" 

 

Manon bit the inside of her lip, pushing her dinner around on the plate as her mother wolfed her food down so quickly she likely didn't even taste it. "It was the highest in my class…" 

 

"Maybe we should think about getting you placed into more advanced classes then, hm?" Nadja said distractedly, paging through her emails. 

 

"Chirs' parents are happy when he gets 80's…" Manon muttered. 

 

"Well that's Chris ," Najda snorted. 

 

"What's wrong with Chris ?"

 

"Nothing…" Nadja sighed. "But you're not a little girl anymore, Manon; you'll be out of school soon and onto bigger things and Chris…well, Chris is happy with 80%." 

 

Here we go again, Manon thought. Something about approaching lycée seemed to make her mother antsier than she had been before. Every week it seemed Manon was treated to talks about "the future" and "where she saw herself after lycée" and "who she wanted to associate with." Chris had gone from a childhood friend to someone her mother never talked about unless she was making some kind of disparaging remark; as though being Chris was less a person and more a fate to be avoided. 

 

A notification on Nadja's phone had her down the last of her drink in a rush. "Work again?" 

 

"The news-cycle never sleeps," Nadja said, kissing the top of Manon's head as she passed. "Stay out of trouble." 

 

"It's eight-thirty; what kind of trouble am I going to get into at home alone?" Manon chuckled. 

 

"Well, you somehow managed to get into trouble at school today, so I wouldn't put it past you," Nadja said with a stern look over her shoulder as she tossed her coat on. "Don't stay up for me." 

 

"Don't be too late," Manon said, though she knew her mother was likely going to sneak in at three again like she had for the past year. For the past year, Manon would tidy up the kitchen by herself, finish her homework by herself, and lock up to go to bed in an empty house. 

 

Not tonight though. 

 

Manon: I'm doing something massively stupid. 

Chris: when and where and what kind of soda do you want? 

 

---

 

"I like the hood." 

 

In all the mayhem of the previous day, Ladybug hadn't had the opportunity to see Rena Rouge's new outfit up close and personal. A hood accented with two vulpine ears covered her head and shaded her eyes as she turned to look at Ladybug. The rest of her outfit had undergone a similar evolution, with her formerly bright orange body-suit replaced by a coat with a sleeve on the back where her flute rested. Fingerless gloves ran halfway up her arms and her pants were tucked into her dark, soft-soled boots. 

 

Rena Rouge's head barely angled away from the skyline as Ladybug landed on the rooftop beside her. "Is it fashion-forward enough for your liking?" 

 

"Yes, it's very… Ezio Auditore, " Ladybug chuckled, clutching the bag of pastries close to her chest. 

 

"Let me guess; he's a dead Italian fashion designer?" 

 

"...in a way," Ladybug said, shuffling closer to Rena Rouge as she turned her attention back to the city in front of her. "I'm not late, am I?" 

 

Rena Rouge shook her head. "If anything, our favorite ex-mayor seems to be taking his sweet time poking his head up; Monarch will radio when he starts moving."

 

"We should probably get into position to tail him," Ladybug said almost automatically. "Sorry, reflex; what's the plan?" 

 

"We have Monarch and Tigress in position around his townhouse and office," Rena Rouge said, glancing across the street to see a dark shape flit across the rooftop. "We're not tailing him as much as we're…encircling him from multiple directions. That way we're not in the position of chasing him in case he runs." 

 

Ladybug's stomach clenched as she realized she was going to be spending the night with the President and Vice-President of the Ladybug Sucks Brigade, but the sooner she got used to Juleka's anger and Kagami's cold shoulder the easier it would get. At least, that's what Ladybug dearly hoped. 

 

"Carapace isn't coming?" Ladybug asked. 

 

"I need him to keep Queenie occupied," Rena Rouge said, chewing on her lip. "Bluebird is back on watch in case anything else happens while we're following up with Andre." 

 

"Smart," Ladybug mused, perching on the edge of the roof to get a better view of the row of townhouses beneath them. "What's he been up to these days?"

 

"To the surprise of no one, the decision to bring paramilitary security into the city proved to be a disaster for his ratings," Rena Rouge snorted. "It wasn't hard for Roger Raincomprix to run him out at the next election; honestly, a sack of leftover cookies would have beaten Andre in the election. Since then, his schemes to get back into the good graces of the public have flopped almost as hard as his schemes to get back in the good graces of his daughter." 

 

"And you think those schemes involve partnering with our pals in white?" Ladybug asked. 

 

"I think The Toad was being really testy about Chloe when he was speaking to my clone that looked like her," Rena Rouge mused. "And I think the kind of person who buys their daughter a hotel is the kind of person who thinks a melodramatic display erases a history of bad behavior." 

 

"It's hard to top supervillains for melodrama," Ladybug said, offering the bag to Rena Rouge. "Speaking of leftover cookies...snack?" 

 

Rena Rouge's eyes flickered down to the bag. "Pardon?" 

 

"Croissant…éclair…oatmeal raisin cookie?" Ladybug asked, giving the bag a little shake. "I don't know what you're into these days, but I figured, since we're on patrol-" 

 

"We typically socialize off the clock these days," Rena Rouge said, relenting as she saw Ladybug's expression fall. "But I am not one to turn down your parents' handiwork." 

 

"Right…that makes sense," Ladybug chuckled. It was hard not to feel a pang of loneliness and envy imagining Alya and her (former) team relaxing and having fun outside of their uniforms. Duty and secrecy prevented camaraderie between her team, even between her and Chat Noir. The scraps of stale pastries she had treasured as the glue that held their social life together must have seemed sad by comparison. 

 

"Quite the selection you brought," Rena Rouge said, rifling through the bag and drawing out a chocolate cookie. "Were you expecting a party?" 

 

"I didn't know who else was showing up for this," Ladybug said, eyeing an apricot Danish almost sadly. "So packed some of the favorites I remembered…kind of an old tradition leftover from the way things used to be." 

 

The implication was not lost on Rena Rouge who felt something of her old sympathy for Marinette's hopeless love life stirred under the rubble of their friendship. 

 

"You don't really think things are going to go back to the way they used to be, do you?" Rena Rouge said as delicately as she could. Even still, she could see Ladybug's shoulders sag under the weight of that realization.

 

"No…they can't," Ladybug sighed, reluctantly taking a nibble out of the apricot pastry. "Even if Chat Noir decides he wants to be around me again, it's never going to be the way it was, right?" 

 

"I doubt he's gonna be willing to listen to you," Rena Rouge snorted. "He doesn't even listen to Kagami or Nino anymore." 

 

"So he's just been alone this whole time?" Ladybug asked. 

 

"Well…alone is a stretch," Rena Rouge said, keeping her eye on the townhouse below. "He has friends overseas; good enough friends that they're willing to work with us because he asked them to. But I get the impression it's just been him and Plagg on some of the more dangerous missions; Master He would go with sometimes but she was here working with us too." 

 

Ladybug bit her lip, trying to articulate how wrong the idea of Chat Noir working alone felt to her. "He still should have taken someone with him…" 

 

"Ladybug…my team is the best squad of heroes this city has ever seen," Rena Rouge said without a hint of hesitation. "But as good as we are, it takes a whole team of us to keep this city safe; I couldn't spare anyone, and even if I could…Chat Noir has made it pretty clear he isn't interested in taking on another partner." 

 

All Ladybug could think of was the hero that was first in line to welcome new teammates; teammates he would never really know, but still greeted with blind trust and a friendly smile because she had vouched for them.

 

Can you blame him? Ladybug thought to herself. Who is he supposed to trust if his partner, girlfriend, and father all let him down? 

 

" Rena, he's moving." 

 

Tigress' clipped voice coming from Rena's communicator drew their attention back to the townhouse where a hunched figure in a black jacket slipped out the front door. 

 

"Tigress, take his ten o'clock ," Rena Rouge responded. "Monarch you're on two. Stay in front of him and watch out for forward ambushes. Ladybug and I will take four and eight and bring up the rear." 

 

"Am I the only one getting Midsummer War flashbacks?" Monarch said. 

 

"Not enough men made of bubblegum trying to brainwash us," Tigress replied. 

 

Ladybug frowned in confusion. "Let me guess; long story?" 

 

"You don't know the half of it," Rena Rouge said, nodding across the street. "Tail Monarch by a few blocks and keep Andre in your sights. If any rear guards show up, move to get behind them before we get surrounded." 

 

Right, let's shelve the melancholy musings for later, Ladybug said, cramming a cream puff in her mouth and tossing the rest to the side. We got a toad to catch.

 

---

 

New Venice, Italy 

 

"How are you holding up?" 

 

Zoe peeked her head around the corner of the alley, watching shadows flicker down the street. "We had a close call but we managed to get away in time; Fei got scraped, but-" 

 

"-but Fei is fine ," Fei insisted, tightening the bandage around her upper arm. "Damn lizard just got the drop on me."

 

"Well, keep your head down," Captain Chan said on the other end of the crackling communicator. " Help is on the way." 

 

"What kind of help?" Zoe asked. 

 

"My kind." 

 

Zoe whipped around, the magical talisman in her hand crackling with power that illuminated the inky figure crouched on the balcony above them. 

 

"Careful; you'll put an eye out with that," Chat Noir said, holding his hands up. "And I don't have any more to spare." 

 

"Didn't your boss tell you that sneaking up behind people is a good way to get your head blown off?" Zoe sighed, patting herself on the chest as Chat Noir hopped down beside them. "I thought you were dead." 

 

"Tried that once; didn't like it that much," Chat Noir chuckled, eyeing Fei's injury. "I see you've met Kaiser Long's latest pets." 

 

"They have a strange attitude towards hospitality," Fei said, pressing against the wall as a growl drew her attention from a few blocks over. "I'd rather leave before they get the chance to attempt any more so if you could make with the magical dimension splitting teleport sword, I would be very grateful." 

 

"...about that," Chat Noir said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I seem to be having…issues with it." 

 

Fei shared a weary glance with her partner. "Define issues?" 

 

---

 

Paris, France

 

"H-Hey, Monarch?" 

 

Monarch sighed through her nose as she glanced down at her communicator to see Ladybug waving up at her. 

 

" Does the term radio silence mean anything to you?" Monarch asked, watching as a black hilted sword floated behind her shoulder. 

 

"... technically I don't think these devices use radio waves-" 

 

"Does this have anything to do with the floating magic sword over your shoulder?" Kagami asked as Fang vanished only to reappear again moments later. 

 

" Perceptive as always!" Ladybug chuckled, eyeing the sword behind her warily and dropping her voice. " I'm not doing anything, but it keeps popping up behind me…and I don't know how to make it stop…and I can't tell for sure but I think Chat's getting mad at me…" 

 

---

 

New Venice, Italy 

 

Chat Noir did his best not to snarl in frustration as his sword disappeared from his grip before he could even swing it, clutching at open air in front of his face. 

 

"...I hear there's a pill for this sort of thing," Zoe said. 

 

"It's not a pill thing, it's a Ladybug thing," Chat Noir hissed. "She's either taking it and lying about it or my weapon independently decided it likes her better. I don't know which pisses me off more, but-" 

 

The glowing golden lights inlaid in the street suddenly turned bright crimson, bathing the alley in a bloody hue. 

 

"Now what?" Zoe asked, holding on to Fei's shoulder as Chat Noir suddenly leapt up onto the roof next to them. "Hey!" 

 

"Stay put; I need to see something," Chat Noir hissed, watching as the tower that stood in place of the old basilica started to rumble and glow. The black streets ran red as the whole city glowed, but the light coming from the tower seemed to glow brighter than anything else. 

 

What's happening over there? Chat Noir thought, watching as the tower seemed to suck the light out of the city around it and concentrate it into a ball at the top of the tower. The ground around them shook and the waves crashed into the harbor wall with renewed force. Then, like an enormous bubble, the ball shattered and the city was plunged into perfect darkness. 

 

"What was that?" Zoe hissed as Chat Noir dropped beside her again. 

 

"Our cue to leave," Chat Noir said, supporting Fei's injured side as a distant roar rattled the windows above them. " Quickly ." 

---

 

Paris, France

 

"After this, you have officially lost the right to call anything I do dumb ." 

 

"Stop doing dumb things and I will," Manon said, peeking out from behind the corner of a parked car. "You don't have to be here, you know." 

 

" Hey Chris, I'm gonna stalk my mom after she leaves the house to see if she's involved in anything shady and potentially supernatural," Chis whispered, tugging his hoodie up over his head. " Totally don't come with me or anything; just let me wander around after dark by myself." 

 

"You could still go home," Manon said, watching the door to her mother's car open. Nadja glanced quickly around as she closed the door, but didn't seem to spot them as she turned and walked down a side-street. 

 

"She could just be following a lead," Chris said as they quietly followed, blending with the evening crowd as Nadja approached a walled off construction zone. 

 

"Maybe…" Manon mused, watching as she moved past the guards protecting the entrance without so much as flashing an ID badge. Construction work had become almost commonplace as the city had been forced to recover from battles without Ladybug. And while her powers seemed to have mopped up the earlier day's damage, there were scars that predated Ladybug's return to Paris that had to be healed by more conventional means. 

 

"What are the odds we can get in there?" Manon asked. 

 

"You're really concerned about this, aren't you?" 

 

"I just need to see her doing something totally normal in there," Manon said. "Something boring and banal and normal or I'm never going to be able to sleep again." 

 

The look on Manon's face erased any doubt in his mind that this was a joke or a flimsy excuse to hang out after dark. "What did you see today?" 

 

Manon chewed on her lip, glancing around the crowd that milled around them. "...I made a doll of The Centipede and I accidentally saw under her mask."

 

A cold chill ran down Chris' back. "Oh…" 

 

"I didn't get a good look, but-" 

 

"It was good enough to make you worry," Chris said, rubbing his chin as he looked around the street. "I don't think they're just gonna let us in though-" 

 

"Maybe they don't have to," Manon said, nodding over to a delivery truck parked by the side. 

 

---

 

"Ladies, what's going on over there?" 

 

"Ladybug seems to be haunted by a sword-ghost and she claims not to know why." 

 

"I don't! "

 

" Oh, well, if Ladybug says it it must be true ."

 

"I could do without the commentary track, Tigress," Rena Rouge sighed, following Andre as he approached a site walled off by police tape and construction fences. "Form up on me; he's heading into a construction zone." 

 

Rena Rouge leaned over the edge of the building as three pairs of boots landed beside her. "What do you see?" Monarch asked. 

 

"Andre ducked past a few guards just a second ago; they don't seem to be giving him any grief." 

 

"Odd, seeing as how he can barely show his face in public these days," Tigress mused, leaning over Rena Rouge's shoulder. "I can't see anything from this angle; maybe the back's more open." 

 

"I don't suppose you can Miraculous Ladybug a drone, can you?" Rena Rouge asked. 

 

"Mechanical things are…tricky," Ladybug muttered. 

 

"But living things aren't?" Monarch asked. "What kind of sense does that make?" 

 

"Take it up with the bug person who used to live in my earrings," Ladybug said, scanning the streets below. "Maybe there's another vantage point we can look in through." 

 

"Okay, Monarch, let's check over on the right," Rena Rouge said. "Tigress, go with Ladybug-" 

 

"I think it would be better if Monarch and I teamed up," Tigress said coolly. "We have more synergy with our skill sets." 

 

Ladybug was about to ask how that was even possible, but the way Tigress looked at everyone on the roof except her told Ladybug this was not a purely practical suggestion. 

 

"Maybe I should just go by myself…" Ladybug suggested, 

 

"No, you're taking Tigress with you," Rena Rouge said, glaring at Tigress. 

 

"Really, I can handle it myself," Ladybug chuckled as Tigress shifted uncomfortably. 

 

"Seriously?" Tigress sniffed. "Rena, you can't ask me to-" 

 

"I can ask whatever I please; you are always free to refuse," Rena Rouge said. "But if you're here, you're working as part of our team, which includes Ladybug." 

 

Yikes, Alya's death glare got a super upgrade, Ladybug thought as Tigress' lips twisted as though sucking on something bitter. 

 

"Go with Ladybug or go home ," Rena Rouge said. "Those are your choices." 

 

For a moment, Tigress looked like she was going to argue, but Monarch quietly shook her head over Rena Rouge's shoulder. The dynamic was interesting to see; Kagami was clearly no happier about her presence than Juleka was, but backing her captain was her bigger priority. 

 

"Fine." Tigress shot a poisonous glare at Ladybug before leaping off the roof, flanking around the left side of the building. 

 

"Sorry…" Ladybug muttered. 

 

"I am not going to ask you to apologize for trying to help," Rena Rouge said, turning to leave. "Stick close and watch each other's backs…and maybe keep the chit-chat to a minimum." 

 

"Best of luck," Monarch said, following Rena Rouge and leaving Ladybug alone on the rooftop between Tigress and Rena Rouge. 

 

Not for the first time, Ladybug missed patrolling with someone who always seemed happy to see her. 

 

---

 

"Eyes open; the boss is testier than usual tonight and you don't want to get on his bad side." 

 

The tinny, mechanical chatter made Manon's skin prickle as she crept around a stack of cement bags, avoiding the sightless gaze of the masked troops that patrolled the construction site. Any hopes that this might be a misunderstanding evaporated as she stepped through the plastic tarps and immediately saw half a dozen masked security guards pacing the perimeter, batons in hand. 

 

Somehow she didn't think she would survive two run-ins with them in the same day, especially without Monarch there to save them. 

 

Peeking around the corner, she could see Chris quietly climb a scaffolding to the next floor, the creak of his feet on metal lost in the usual buzz of city traffic. 

 

"When isn't the boss testy these days?" One of the guards chuckled. "Weber's still in the med bay after breaking the bad news about the Madrid job; he didn't even get two words out before he caught that cane in the face. Like…" 

 

"Like he knew what he was going to say before he said it," the other guard concluded with an audible shudder. 

 

"That's crazy though," his partner chuckled. "Boss can't actually know what we're gonna say before we say it…r-right?" 

 

"Four years ago, I would have agreed but nowadays?" Manon ducked as a flashlight's beam swept overhead "Sometimes I think I should have gotten out while I still could…"

 

"And miss out on a free ride to paradise?" His partner snorted as Manon edged towards a ramp leading up to the floor where Chris was crouched waiting for her. The plywood creaked as she stepped on it, but a passing horn blaring gave her enough cover to make it halfway up the ramp behind a pallet of paint cans. 

 

"You don't believe that shit, do you?" One of the guards said, pacing around the lower floor as Manon pressed herself against the paint-cans. "Sounds kinda hippie-dippie if you ask me…" 

 

Manon scarcely dared to breathe as she edged along the crate, freezing as she saw a precariously perched paint-can teeter on the edge of the stack. Carefully, she reached out, fingertips trembling as she tried to grab the handle between her fingertips before-

 

The gentle brush of her hand on the can was all it took to send it tumbling off the ramp, spinning end over end in the darkness before crashing two stories beneath them with a deafening crunch. 

 

"What was that?" One of the guards said, flashlights whipping around and landing on the wall of paint cans above them. Manon's heart thundered in her ears, wondering if she should run or freeze as the sound of heavy, steel-toed boots grew closer. She could hear their heavy mechanical breathing as they approached and just as she feared they would round the corner and spot her-

 

Crash!

 

Across the building, a ladder teetered off a scaffolding and smashed into the ground below. 

 

"It's that damn cat again, I swear," the guard sighed, turning their flashlights away from the paint-cans long enough for Manon to slip up the ramp and onto the next floor. Looking across, she could see Chris pressed against the wall, giving a shaky thumbs-up as he nodded up above them. 

 

The good news was the guards below them had lost interest in them. The bad news was that Manon could clearly see three figures in white-masks getting into a construction lift that took them higher into the building above them. 

 

Worst of all, her mother was nowhere to be seen. 

 

---

 

Swinging across the rooftops, Ladybug landed behind Tigress as she paced along the railing overlooking the construction site. The plastic tarps draped over the bare steel beams painted a ghostly scene as stark yellow yellow lights cast flickering shadows on the outside. "See anything?" 

 

Tigress wordlessly shook her head, leaping onto the next building over and leading Ladybug to trail along behind. "Maybe if we get up on one of the taller buildings nearby we could get a better angle? Does your staff…thingie extend like Chat's does?"

 

"Miraculous Ladybug a stepladder while you're at it," Tigress sighed, leaping across onto another roof that had a better view through the plastic covering. Ladybug slid next to Tigress, keeping a low profile as she moved to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. "Maybe you should hop over to the next building and broaden our search area." 

 

It was a feeble excuse to send her away and Ladybug was half-tempted to comply with it. The urge to run, hide, and disappear under Tigress' barely concealed scorn was still with her, but Ladybug resisted; she had avoided her former friends for too long. She was here; she was back . And no amount of avoiding Juleka was going to ease the tension between them. There was a big, blue elephant in the room that needed addressing, one way or another. 

 

"Thanks for letting me tag along on this," Ladybug said after a moment's silence saw no movement from the construction site. "I'm a little out of practice, but I'm glad to get my feet back in the ring." 

 

Tigress didn't respond, her eyes narrowing at the building beneath them. 

 

"...I know you're probably not too happy to see me," Ladybug chuckled as Tigress' jaw clenched tighter with every word. "I don't think I ever really apologized for all the…Hawk Moth stuff." 

 

"What stuff are you talking about?" Tigress snorted. "The stuff where you threw in with a supervillain to save your boyfriend or the stuff where you took advantage of my brother's feelings for you?" 

 

"I didn't-" Ladybug trailed off, trying to find something to justify herself. "I-I went to Luka for help, yes, but I never implied we were getting back together-" 

 

"You didn't need to," Tigress grumbled. "You knew he was in love with you; knew he wouldn't say no to anything you asked him to do-" 

 

"Hang on," Ladybug said, holding her hand up. "Is that how you think I see him? Like a tool to be used?" 

 

"I don't know or care how you think of my brother; I care about the way you treated him," Tigress growled, her stony exterior cracking as she turned on Ladybug. "I care how you chose to treat him; because of you and the idiot in purple, his life is measurably worse!" 

 

"I know that!" Ladybug said, dropping her voice as she realized she had started to shout. "I know-"

 

"No you don't !" Tigress hissed back. "You clearly have zero clue because if you did you would not be so blase about it!" 

 

Tigress' lips trembled as she glared at Ladybug. "Do you know what it's like watching someone you love get eaten by some monstrous thing? To watch them slowly get angry and moody and miserable and have zero idea why until you're trying to stop him and his knights from attacking your mother?" 

 

The truth stung, but Ladybug refused to allow herself to look away from Tigress, even as the look in her former friend's eyes spoke of hurt, anger, and betrayal that Ladybug had only ever guessed at. "...no, I haven't." 

 

"Yeah…you got to ride off into the sunset and left Luka in the dust," Tigress said, shaking her head bitterly. "Trying to figure out how to live with that thing squawking in his brain." 

 

"I'm not just going to leave him like that," Ladybug insisted, though she was having a hard time attaching feeling to a mantra she had held onto for years. "I'm going to figure out a way to help him; I promise…I swear, I'll-" 

 

"Promise what you want; apologize as many times as you feel like it," Tigress scoffed, waving Ladybug off. "I'm beyond caring; even if you figure out some way to deal with Mayura, that doesn't erase what happened and doesn't change the fact that you used my brother to get what you wanted." 

 

"I didn't…" Ladybug trailed off with a sigh. "Nothing I say is going to convince you that I wasn't just selfishly manipulating Luka into serving me, is it?" 

 

"Explain to me how conscripting him to fight with you against Chat Noir was anything other than selfish," Tigress said, her eyes scanning the building below. 

 

"I'm not saying it wasn't," Ladybug muttered. "Just that Luka was supposed to be fine after everything was said and done…safe to say that plan didn't work out." 

 

"That's starting to become a pattern," Tigress said. 

 

"So where does that leave us?" Ladybug asked, taking her eyes off the building to look at Juleka. "Whatever you may think of me, I'm not going anywhere anymore. Even if I can't wave my hands and Miraculous Ladybug my mistakes away…I'm still going to try." 

 

Tigress' lips pressed tightly together, her expression unreadable as she focused on their target. "Until this whole…Firebird thing gets handled, I can work with you. If Monarch and Bluebird can, I'm not going to be the only one making trouble for Rena Rouge." 

 

Tigress' sharp, feline eyes turned to look at her. "As long as you make good on this promise of trying . If I get any whiff of you trying anything funny with Rena Rouge or my brother, I am first in line to stop you…and I can promise I will do a lot more than try ." 

 

With that she turned back to the building, the tension between them resolving in a final, if not entirely satisfying way. 

 

"I understand," Ladybug said. "...thank you." 

 

It would have to do for now.

 

" We're getting movement on the roof," Monarch's voice whispered in her ear. " Can you see them?" 

 

Ladybug leaned over the edge of the roof, squinting into the darkness until a flicker of movement caught her attention. "Is it them?" 

 

Tigress' eyes glimmered in the dark, scanning the shadows on top of the roof and letting out a small growl of frustration. 

 

"No…it's a kid ." 

 

---

 

Manon carefully timed every shallow breath to each step she took, careful to reduce any unnecessary noise as she climbed up the final rung of the ladder and onto the roof. Piles of unfinished bricks and beams provided plenty of low-walls to hide behind but the heavy footfalls of The Toad just meters away were a reminder of just how precarious her position was. 

 

"This is some power play," The Centipede clucked, their voice distorted beyond any recognition, no matter how hard Manon strained her ears. "There's no other reason Number Three is consistently this late." 

 

"It's petty, but then again they strike me as a petty sort," The Toad mused. "Why Kaiser Long trusts them with managing things is beyond me; they've shown nothing but naked contempt for us at every turn…" 

 

"The Salamander and The Scorpion will be here in less than forty-three seconds," The Cobra said. "Further discussion of this will not lead to any productive conclusion, so I recommend we shelve this conversation indefinitely."

 

"I thought I told you to stop doing that," The Centipede growled. From her position, Manon could see the three of them—Cobra, Centipede, and Toad—standing around a table in the center of the roof. Behind them, Manon could barely see Chris' outline against the backdrop of the night skyline, his black hoodie cloaking him in the shadows of the elevator stall as the lift rumbled to the top of the building. 

 

"And probability dictates that you will continue to do so," The Cobra said. "As I will continue to remind you that anticipating conversations using The Cobra's abilities is a more efficient use of our time than wasting it with idle chatter." 

 

"That's-" 

 

"Most permutations of this conversation involve The Centipede insisting that we cannot know all the outcomes of a given situation and then getting irritated when I demonstrate the flaws in their argument," The Cobra said, cutting The Centipede off. "The Toad has a twenty-three percent chance of interjecting with an empty threat of violence, a seventeen percent chance of adding unsupported conjecture, and a fifty percent chance of saying nothing. Playing out these scenarios do not yield any increased unit cohesion and only further spread dissent within the ranks." 

  

"The ranks," The Centipede sniffed. "We're not your little soldiers, snakey." 

 

"Not mine…but we are all committed to serving the same masters," The Cobra said as the elevator reached the top floor with a shuddering thunk . Manon turned to see the masked figure who had shot the guard earlier that day step out of the elevator, flanked by The Salamander who was checking something on a strange looking device. 

 

"Sorry for being tardy, folks," The Scorpion sighed with a lazy stretch. "Sal and I were finishing up recon for tomorrow night and we lost track of time." 

"A call would have been nice," The Centipede muttered. "I could have been home this whole time waiting instead of rushing out on my family." 

 

"You'll have plenty of time to spend with your loved ones after tomorrow," The Scorpion said, dropping a bag on the table. "Let's make this quick; with a generous donation courtesy of the Chief of Venetian Police's personnel, we have our opening. Venice's tower punched a trace through and weakened the barrier enough for us to slip our packages through." 

 

Barrier? Manon thought, glancing up at Chris who seemed to be angling his phone towards the conversation. Leave it to Chris to record literally everything…

 

"These five points should give us the best coverage of the city," The Salamander said, tapping his screen and bringing up a floating map of Paris with five dots arrayed in a pentagon surrounding the densest part of town. "Going by historical akuma attack data, we have the best opportunity to capture our targets if we lay the net down here." 

 

"How are we supposed to get it that precise?" The Centipede asked, staring up at the map as The Scorpion withdrew five pulsing red crystals housed in cages of green wire. "What if we overshoot?" 

 

"Well if we're lucky we'll land in 1789 and the Committee of Public Safety can handle our little Bourgeois problem , " The Salamander snickered, placing the device on the table. "Your nodes are linked to my personal device; I've been running simulations on this for months and I can take a snapshot accurate down to the minute. Just get in position, set up the devices, and let me worry about the rest. By this time tomorrow we'll be kicking back with champagne in London" 

 

The Toad picked up a crystal device and stared at it curiously. "And what about the Fox? Or Chat Noir, for that matter?" 

 

"The Fox will have plenty of things to worry about," The Scorpion said. "And as for Chat Noir…something tells me he isn't going to make it either." 

 

---

 

New Venice, Italy

 

"This way!" 

 

Chat Noir waved Zoe and Fei around a corner, scanning the streets for any outlet they could follow out of town. The towering black skyline pressed in on them like walls of a maze, each street seemingly getting narrower and narrower as the sounds of growling monsters grew closer. 

 

Where's the edge? Chat Noir thought, vaulting up over the top of the buildings to get the lay of the city. They should have reached the end by now, but every time he peeked his head over the skyline to plot a course through the labyrinthine streets, he found that they had somehow doubled back or drifted closer to the center of the city. 

 

It's like they keep redrawing the map of this place, Chat Noir said, quickly scouting a path towards the police barrier at the far side of town. Left, right, straight for two blocks, right, then left. 

 

"Chat!" Chat Noir glanced down to see a brutish monster round the corner, its broad shoulders scraping second story balconies as spit dripped from open jaws and ate pockmarks in the street at its feet. Springboarding off his staff, Chat Noir flicked it overhead, bringing it down on the monster's snout as it lunged for Zoe. Dazed, the creature let out a snarl only to eat a searing hot blast from the talisman embedded in Zoe's palm. It fell back with a pained yelp, wound smoking and half of its face obscured by an ugly pink scar. But what should have been a killing blow only seemed to anger it, and soon enough its remaining eyes turned to glare hungrily at Fei. 

 

"No you don't !" Chat Noir hissed, scarf trailing behind him as he dove, feet first into the monster's remaining eye. It snapped blindly at him, its powerful tail raking across the buildings as it turned around.

 

Chat Noir landed in front of Zoe. "Get ready to run !" 

 

Slamming his palms together, a white hot beam of flame erupted from his hands, ripping down the street and incinerating the monster in a brilliant flash of light that illuminated the city around them. The smell of singed meat hung in the air as the monster's ashes drifted off into the breeze, but relief was short lived as dozens of cries rang out from the surrounding streets. 

 

"They definitely saw that," Fei panted, holding on to Zoe and Chat Noir for support as they ushered her down the streets towards the edge of town. 

 

Left. Chat Noir could hear the stones rumble under his feet as he ran. 

 

Right. He saw a flash of black scales out of the corner of his eye and slung Fei over his shoulder. 

 

Straight. "Chat, they're getting closer!" 

 

Right. "Keep going; we're almost there! Just another-" 

 

Left. 

 

Chat Noir skidded to a stop as a tall, impassable brick wall confronted him at the end of an alley that had not been there when he last looked. 

 

"Where's the exit?!" Zoe cried, whipping around as their pursuers slithered around the corner. 

 

"It was here…I swear it was here!" Chat Noir growled, slamming his fist into the stone. The wall buckled, cracks spidering throughout the polished stone brick and mending almost as soon as they appeared. Panic rose like bile in his throat as he slammed his claw forward, summoning the black lightning that had served him so well in the past. 

 

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir hissed, pouring all his energy into the wall. The stone vibrated as the lights in the street beneath them pulsed green, but for all the force he put into the blow, the wall seemed unmoved. 

 

" Cataclysm!" Chat Noir panted, slamming both claws into the wall as the brutes grew closer, lumbering footfalls now only a block away. The street lights grew even brighter as a second beam pulsed out of the tower, splitting the night sky with a brilliant bolt of emerald light. 

 

Head swimming, he turned around, extending his baton as he stepped between Zoe and Fei. 

 

"Any chance Ladybug could make a delivery?" Zoe asked, raising her arm as Fei unholstered a weapon. 

 

"I don't know if we can count on that…" Chat Noir said, raising his staff as the monsters lunged, teeth bared and breath hot on his face.

Notes:

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2022 slows it with the bullshit that the last two years have been so generous with.

In writing this chapter I realized that writing a story where the main characters don't want to be around one another is actually REALLY HARD (dissertation about this groundbreaking discovery forthcoming). So we're going to have to do something about fixing Ladynoir before we can advance the world ending plot too much, The good news is that we're coming up on some fun stuff for the back half of this story so that should make writing it much easier.

As per last time, big thanks to strange-ocs on Tumblr for proofing this chapter!

Chapter 15: Deconstruction

Deconstruction Site

Paris, France

Nino slid a box off the top shelf, kicking the closet door closed as he dragged the box over to his desk in a study he shared with Alya. There were few things that made him nervous these days; being nigh invincible meant that the world was running out of things to seriously hurt him with. But sitting around while Alya was on patrol without him always set his teeth on edge. 

Maybe it was just a reminder that his shield had its limits. 

"Where the hell did I put that stupid DVD…" Nino muttered, rifling around the box for a movie he promised Chloe he had tucked away somewhere. If he had to go back out to the living room and admit that it would be easier to rent it on the internet, he would never hear the end of it. And the last thing he needed was to give Chloe one more thing to needle him over. 

The fact that she was still crashing with them made things all the more complicated. 

He liked to think he and Alya were on the same page about the direction their life was going; college, marriage, careers, and kids (maybe). But Chloe, as she always did, seemed to complicate things to the point where the map he had in his head no longer worked for them. Or maybe he was just pushing off responsibility onto Chloe so he didn't need to worry about where he stood with Alya. 

Rifling around in the box, Nino paused as his hand landed on a worn newspaper clipping stuck to the underside of a picture frame. He could see his younger self, smiling with his arm wrapped around Rena Rouge on one side with a bony black arm jutting out from behind the frame on the other. Carefully, he tried to tug it out, wriggling his hand gently to avoid ripping it in-

"Did you find it or do you owe me thirty euros plus the cost of Zoolander on streaming services?"

Rip! 

Chloe's voice over his shoulder startled Nino and the newspaper came apart in a sudden rip with a Chat Noir's disembodied arm dangling off the corner of the page. 

"Ooh, hope that wasn't important," Chloe said with a wince as Nino fished the other half of the picture out of the box. It was an old pic taken around the time they were sixteen, fresh off an Akuma fight and looking happy to be alive. On the other side, Ladybug had her arm wrapped around the waist of a weathered-looking Chat Noir. 

"It used to be," Nino said, laying the torn picture on the table and lining it up as best he could. "Hasn't been for a while, I guess." 

Nino never thought much of Chat Noir's boundless optimism at the time; it was only after he learned that Chat Noir's home life involved putting on fake smiles that he looked back and wondered which were real. 

Chloe slid up next to him, running her hand up Nino's back as she stared down at her younger self trying desperately to tug Ladybug away from Chat Noir. "I used to think she was so cool." 

"She was." 

"Was," Chloe shrugged. "Now she's just another screw up like me" 

"You're not a screw up," Nino clucked. 

"Please; if it wasn't for you and Alya, I would have literally zero friends and probably be in rehab after spending my college years drinking my daddy issues away," Chloe snorted. "And if Ladybug didn't believe in me when she did…" 

Chloe trailed off with a shake of her head. "It's just hard to wake up and realize your heroes aren't someone to look up to; that they're just scared, messed up people with their own issues. Who might need saving too…" 

Nino nodded, blankly staring down at the box of nick nacks before reaching in and pulling out an unwrapped DVD of Zoolander. "Told you." 

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Why do you even have that?" 

"Gave it to Adrien as a gag-gift for Christmas one year," Nino chuckled, turning it over in his hands. "He gave it back for my birthday; it's been going back and forth since we were fifteen…" 

"That's stupid," Chloe chuckled.

"Yeah…" Nino said, shaking his head. "But at least I was right~" 

"No, you weren't," Chloe said, laying her hand on his before he could open the packaging. "Because you need to keep your dumb traditions alive and give this back to him at some point." 

"The only way he'll accept it is if I tie it down and shove it down his throat." 

"I hear Ladybug's good with a knot," Chloe shrugged. "Seriously…keep it. You might be happy you did someday." 

Nino stared down at Ben Stiller's pursed duck lips separated through a thin sheen of cellophane and smiled. "Maybe…maybe I'm just too sentimental for my own good." 

Chloe's fingers twitched, torn between the urge to reach out and the urge not to make anything weirder than it already was between them. "Look…I think you just-" 

Nino's phone buzzing on the table thankfully saved Chloe from being earnestly awkward for another moment. "Who is it?" 

"Alya," Nino said, frowning as he quickly answered the phone. "What is it? Wait…what do you mean it's-" 

LINE BREAK

"-Chris?" Ladybug asked as Rena Rouge hung up the phone. "Wait, Chris Lahiffe?! He's-" 

Ladybug was about to say that he was five, but the horrible realization of time passing caught up with her.

"Why would Chris be lurking around a construction site at ten at night?" Ladybug asked. "I know Paris needs construction workers, but after-school jobs have to have limits!" 

"Same reason I would have at his age," Rena Rouge said, watching the outline of Nino's brother shimmy behind an air conditioning unit. "I was a terrible influence on him. He thinks he's some kind of big-shot vlogger now; I would have given him the Ladyblog if I still had the url." 

"I think his domain issues are the least of his worries right now," Monarch said, a butterfly dancing on the tip of her fingers. "I can probably get one to him in time-" 

"Wait, is he fighting with us now?" Ladybug asked. "I thought we were just observing." 

"He can observe much safer if he's behind a magically created mantle," Monarch pointed out. "If nothing else, it will keep him safe until we can extract him-" 

"Them," Rena Rouge said, peering through her binoculars. "There's someone else on the roof with him…" 

---

Manon pressed her back into the stack of concrete bags, praying the meeting would wrap up before she got a cramp in her thigh from crouching for so long. 

"The boss is asking a lot of us," The Scorpion said. "We only get one shot at catching another bug and cat; if we blow this, their plans get set back another few months. Maybe even a year. So get the kids a sitter and get to your posts by ten; if you screw up, you better be out of Paris before Firebird finds out." 

"And what if you're the one who blows it?" The Centipede asked, stuffing her crystal into her bag. Manon tried to get a better look without moving too much, but it was hard to make out more than the back of their suit and the corner of their mask. 

"The only time I would ever blow it is if you four already blew it, got caught, and probably got killed in prison," The Scorpion sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Just worry about yourselves." 

"And Rena Rouge?" The Toad asked, hefting his crystal as they turned to leave. "If they catch wind of this, we're-" 

"Wait," The Cobra said, holding his hand up suddenly, head pivoting slowly in Chris' direction. "Just…wait a moment." 

The Scorpion barely suppressed a sigh of irritation. "For what?" 

---

"He stopped," Rena Rouge said. Her heart sank as she saw The Cobra pivot to look intently at the metal panel Chris was hiding behind.  "Why did he stop?" 

Ladybug watched as The Cobra bent down to pick up a brick, walking confidently in Chris' direction as though he already knew what he was going to find there. 

"I can intercept him," Ladybug whispered, unspooling a ribbon from her wrist. "Alya, give me the go ahead, and I'll-" 

Bang!

---

Chris jerked as the flimsy metal suddenly rang, the brick smashing into it and knocking it off the scaffolding. Bright lights and cold air washed over Chris as five masked figures glared down at him. 

"Uh…" Chris held out his phone nervously. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in an interview, would you?" 

Crap… Manon thought, paralyzerd as she watched Chris futilely look for an escape route. How did they know he was there?!

"We have a no-press policy," The Scorpion said as The Toad grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him up off the ground. "Is the Fox really sending kids to fight now?" 

"More like sending kids to spy," The Salamander said, plucking the phone from Chris' squirming grip. "Apparently Paris' finest is too chicken-shit to actually put herself in danger." 

Come on…think Manon! Manon chided herself as her legs remained frozen in place. She had to do something; anything to distract them long enough for Chris to slip away. But if she moved without thinking or worse exposed herself, her mother might-

Any lingering hope Manon had that her mother was not involved had long since evaporated; if she moved, she was going to get caught. If she stayed still…

"H-Hey, I'm just an intern!" Chris said, swatting ineffectively at The Toad's hands as The Scorpion drew her barbed tonfa. "Community service credits are hard to come by; it was this or pick up trash on the sidewalk." 

"Maybe you should have gone with a safer option," The Centipede said, glancing between The Scorpion and Chris. "Take the phone and ditch him; he's just a kid." 

"I'm not so sure about that," The Scorpion said, the tip of her tonfa hovering over Chris' forehead. "Rena Rouge has already given us the slip once using a body double…" 

"What?" Chris laughed nervously as the tonfa's tip crackled with electricity. "H-Hey, come on now, I'm the real deal! One of a kind; no relationship to Rena Rouge at all!" 

A dozen brave ideas all fluttered through Manon's mind before her fear shot each of them down. There were so many ways it could all go terribly wrong if she messed up and there was no way they were going to buy enough time to get away. 

"Y-You want to see my student ID or something?!" Chris asked, panic creeping into his voice as the cold metal hovered inches above his skin. 

"Wait!" 

---

"She's standing up; why is she standing up?" Rena Rouge whispered as she watched Manon spring to her feet and call out to The Venoms. 

"Let's ask her when we get down there," Tigress said. "Come on, what are we waiting for?" 

"If we go in too fast, they could get hurt," Rena Rouge muttered as she watched The Scorpion lower their weapon with a curious tilt of their head. 

"And they'll get hurt if we don't," Monarch said, pacing back and forth on the roof as Manon stepped out from behind the air conditioning unit. 

"We have to defuse this before Carapace gets here; he is not going to want us to wait and see while his brother is in danger," Rena Rouge said, shaking her head as she glanced at Ladybug. "You think you can get on those beams overhead without them spotting you?" 

Ladybug glanced down at her bright red suit. "If they don't see me coming, they're blind." 

Rena Rouge rubbed her hands together and clapped Ladybug on the shoulders. A shiver ran down Ladybug's spine as she slowly turned translucent from the spot where Rena Rouge touched her. 

"That'll hold until someone gets their hands on you," Rena Rouge said as Monarch and Tigress moved away to get into a better position. "Get in position; if you see a chance to grab one of them, take it. We'll flank them and move as soon as you do." 

Ladybug swallowed her nerves as she glanced down at the situation beneath them. Five villains, two hostages, and an unstable structure that could topple and kill all of them if she got too rough with it. She hated being in a position where she had to wait for an opening, much preferring to make them herself. But with two innocent lives on the line, it seemed like she didn't have much of a choice. 

Well at least this can't get any more complicated… Ladybug thought moments before a voice rang in the back of her head. 

Ladybug, I need my sword back!

---

New Venice, Italy

Adrien? Where are you? What are you doing? 

Chat Noir's fist slammed into the side of a Talon Brute's head, sending it crashing into an impenetrable black wall. 

Oh, just sightseeing, Chat Noir thought, ducking out of the way of a claw attack as Fei fired a crackling bolt of electricity from her silvery pistol. New Venice is lovely this time of year, but the locals are rude as hell. So if you could just let me have my property back, that would be just great. 

---

Paris, France

I'm kinda in the middle of something right now…also I have no earthly idea how to send a sword, Ladybug thought as she swung onto the steel railing overlooking the rooftop. Below her, the Toad had Chris firmly in his clutches as The Centipede and the Scorpion approached Manon

"L-Look, we don't have any idea what's going on up here," Manon chuckled, wincing as The Centipede grabbed her by the arm. "We were just trying to get some urban exploration footage for Chris' blog; that's really popular these days!" 

Is it urgent? Ladybug thought as she carefully raised up on the balls of her feet.

---

New Venice, Italy

"Hey guys, is this urgent?" Chat Noir called over to Zoe who fired a stream of crackling energy blasts into the skull of a nearby Brute from the talisman in her hand. "Ladybug's kinda in the middle of something." 

"Give me the phone!" Fei roared, shooting a Brute in the head as it reared up to attack Zoe. Chat Noir pivoted, swinging his staff around and slamming it down on the head of another Brute as two more crawled over the rooftops to take its place. 

Look, Chat Noir thought, leaning away from another strike. I'm trying to call it back but it isn't listening to me. Just stop holding on to it; we're in a bad spot and I need to get us out of here!

---

Paris, France

Ladybug tensed as she felt Chat Noir's irritation from across the continent, but a grunt of pain from Chris as The Toad stopped him from squirming away drew her attention back to the immediacy of the situation in front of her. 

I don't know why your sword is clinging to me, but you can have it back! Ladybug thought. Just summon it!

---

New Venice, Italy

Fang arced through the air as Chat Noir managed to call to his hand long enough to block a barbed tail strike and neatly divide the creature it was attached to. A snarl came from behind him and as he whipped around to strike, the blade vanished into a cloud of green dust motes. 

Oh come on! Chat thought, raising his hands to block a claw strike. A flash of green flickered out of the corner of his eye as the tail end of his scarf suddenly lashed out like a bullwhip, striking the monster in the side of its face and sending it reeling back on its heels. 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Fei asked, backing up and firing into a crowd of advancing monsters. 

"I didn't…" Chat Noir panted. There didn't seem to be an end to them; every time one went down, another crawled out of the darkness ready to take its place. He had been behind enemy lines before, but he could at least reassure himself that he had an emergency exit if he needed one. 

Now he was stuck with no way out in sight…

Well at least I'm going to die nice and toasty, Chat Noir thought, watching his scarf flutter in the breeze.

---

Paris, France

Manon's pulse threatened to break its way out of her chest as the figure in The Centipede mask approached her. It was hard to see through the eye-slits in their mask and Manon couldn't even be sure what she was looking for as she scanned the smooth, inhuman features for anything she recognized. 

"I promise, we don't care about…whatever is going on up here," Manon chuckled nervously. "A-And since we didn't technically see anything important, why don't you just let us go?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The Scorpion said, tweaking one of Manon's pigtails only to have her hand batted to one side by The Centipede. 

"I would!" Chris called, still kicking ineffectively at The Toad's massive side.

"This is a waste of time," The Centipede said. "Take their phones and cut them loose." 

"So they can scurry back to the fox and tell them all about what we're planning?" The Salamander said. Chris had stopped struggling for a moment, meeting Manon's gaze across the roof. She saw a dangerous glint in his eye, and before she could tell him to stop, he grabbed the Toad's wrist and used his gargantuan frame as leverage to kick his phone out of The Salamander's grip over the side of the building. 

"Chris!" Manon cried, rushing to catch the phone as The Centipede grabbed her around her wrist. 

"Stay put," The Centipede hissed through their mask as The Toad slammed Chris back into a pile of pallets. 

"What the hell was the point of that?" The Salamander said, peering over the edge of the building. 

"I don't know, but take the snake and go find whatever it was that Mini Chat Noir wanted to keep out of our hands," The Scorpion said, flicking Chris' black and green cap off his head as The Salamander and The Cobra hopped over the railing. "You really should pick something tamer as a hobby; keep following Chat Noir and you're gonna end up dead like him." 

Chris glared at The Scorpion as they twirled his cap around on their finger. "You really expect me to believe that you jokers took out Chat Noir?" 

"You can believe whatever you want, sport," The Scorpion said, pinching Chris' cheeks. "But I gotta be honest with you; if I tell my boss that a couple of necking teenagers blew our cover, I am going to get my ass melted off. Maybe literally." 

"We were not necking!" Chris and Manon said almost simultaneously. 

"A likely story," The Centipede grumbled. The beams overhead creaked and as Manon looked up, she saw the air shift and glimmer as something barely visible took its position over The Scorpion. 

"I don't care what you were doing, kid; you're a loose end," The tip of the barbed tonfa pressed against Chris' chest. "And I would not give me a reason to tie you up if I were youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuAGH!"

The Scorpion yelped as they were suddenly jerked backwards, hoisted up in the air by a glittering red ribbon attached to their ankle. The Toad whipped around in time to catch a swinging kick in the face, dazing him long enough for Chris to roll out of his grip and onto the roof. A pair of black boots shimmered out of thin air in front of him and Chris looked up to see Ladybug with a hand clenched around the other end of the ribbon. 

"Looks like the only thing getting tied up here is you," Ladybug said, snapping her yo-yo out with her free hand. "Although I'm sure I've got enough ribbon for your friends too." 

Sorry Chat, Ladybug thought as she glared at The Centipede. Gotta pick up the kids first.

---

"Did you find it?" 

The Salamander stuck his head over the rim of the dumpster. "You know we'd probably find it a lot faster if there were two of us in here looking for it." 

The Cobra's featureless white mask stared blankly back at them. "...just a thought." 

"It can't have sunk that far," The Cobra said, tapping his foot impatiently. "Find it and let's get back up there before-" 

The Scorpion's yelp drew his attention back up to the top of the building and his palm opened in time to catch their tonfa as it tumbled down in front of him. 

"What was that?" The Salamander asked from inside the dumpster. 

"Company," The Cobra said, brushing his finger across his ring. "Just find that phone; I'll-" 

The Cobra's eyes narrowed as he heard footsteps coming from behind him. 

"I don't think those masks count as hard-hats," Monarch said, peeling her jacket off and laying it on a stack of concrete bags. "Your bosses don't seem to value their employees' safety very highly." 

Behind him, The Salamander emerged with Chris' phone in hand. "Found it!" 

"Thank you!" Rena Rouge hopped over the dumpster, snatched the phone from their grip, and slammed the lid shut on The Salamander's head. 

"Gone from stealing from the Louvre to stealing phones from a dumpster in under a week," Rena Rouge clucked, flipping Chris' phone over in the palm of her hand. "I don't think I've seen a gang of villains lose credibility so quickly." 

"It is a shocking drop in competence," Monarch said, drawing her sword. "Maybe you ought to find something else to do with your talents; I hear prisons have amazing vocational programs these days." 

The Salamander phased through the dumpster, stumbling as they righted themselves. "Well don't just gawk at her, snakey; get the phone back! That little fanboy might have recorded our whole meeting!" 

The Cobra raised his cane to parry Monarch's blind thrust, flipping The Scorpion's tonfa over to block Tigress' strike as she leapt out of the shadows. 

"This is a waste of time," The Cobra grunted, straining under the effort of keeping two superheroes at bay. "We need to pull out now." 

"Too bad your dad didn't follow that advice," Tigress growled. 

"Do stick around; I think we should get better acquainted," Monarch said, twisting away and slashing at The Cobra's mask. He pulled back at the last second and Monarch watched her blade sail precariously close to Tigress' nose as it sliced through thin air. 

"Fall back; I can cover your retreat," The Cobra said, flipping the tonfa over in his hand and hurling it up the elevator shaft with a flick of his wrist. 

The Scorpion snatched their weapon out of the air in front of them as Ladybug grabbed Chris and pulled him out of the way of The Toad's stretching punch. 

"Watch it!" Ladybug said, hand trailing gold dust as it sliced through the air. The bags of concrete shimmered and rose into the air, congealing into a rough looking wall that absorbed the brunt of The Toad's blow. 

"Whoa…when'd you learn to do that?" Chris asked, torn between fear for his life and elation that he had seen Ladybug twice in one day. 

"Ladybugs taught me," Ladybug said, brushing Chris' jacket off. "Listen, you need to-"

"Look out!" 

"Well, yes, but what I was going to say was-" Ladybug felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and whipped around to see The Scorpion lunging for her, the glittering barb on the end of their tonfa flashing in the flickering fluorescent light. 

Ladybug threw Chris to the side, raising her arms to intercept the blow when-

Clang!

With a flicker of green sparks, Fang materialized in time to block The Scorpion's attack. It hovered in mid-air, suspended by an invisible force as The Scorpion struggled to break the lock. 

"Oh…come on," The Scorpion growled, sliding back and swinging her tonfa at Ladybug's blind-side. Before she could strike, Fang struck a second time, deflecting the blow and sending the tonfa tumbling back down the elevator shaft. 

The weapon barely missed The Salamander as he leapt out of the way of Rena Rouge's kick. 

"I'm starting to think I should have asked for a weapon," The Salamander panted, grabbing the tonfa and deflecting Rena Rouge's staff. "Hey, do you know how this thing works?" 

The Cobra parried another thrust from Monarch, carefully keeping her between himself and Tigress to avoid getting surrounded. "Have you tried hitting her with it?!" 

"Oh gee why didn't I think of that?!"

"Give it your best shot," Rena Rouge said, whirling her staff around her head and jabbing it at The Salamander's mask. With a flick of their wrist, they turned translucent, shimmering through the floor and appearing behind Rena Rouge with the tonfa raised. 

"Well,if you insist!" The Salamander said, jabbing the razor sharp barb at Rena Rouge's back-

"Sssssssssneak Attack!" 

The Salamander looked up in time to see the bottom of Queen Bee's boot smash into his face, sending him reeling back into the dumpster. The Scorpion's tonfa flew out of his hand, flipping through the air and landing in Monarch's open palm. 

"Sorry to interrupt your night off," Monarch said, using the tonfa to parry The Cobra's cane attack. "Is Carapace joining us?" 

As though to answer her, the sky blurred as a thick green shield materialized overhead, sealing the construction site with a heavy thunk as the barrier locked them all in place. 

"Just had to lock up first," Queen Bee said. 

---

Outside, Carapace pressed his hands against the bubble, reinforcing the magical barrier as much as he could. 

Up to you now, girls, Carapace thought grimly, wincing as he heard something smash several floors above him. As much as he wanted to be in there to make sure Chris was okay, he couldn't pass up the opportunity that was in front of him. 

"Hey, half-shell," Bluebird's voice came from his earpiece. "I'm hearing a lot of police chatter about a fight going on downtown; what's going on?" 

"Well, the bad news is the tailing mission went a little sideways," Carapace said. "Good news is I got all five of them nice and bubbled and ready to capture." 

---

Manon watched from behind The Centipede's outstretched arm as the brittle wall Ladybug erected shattered under the force of The Toad's fist. Through the debris, she could see Chris scrambling to get out of the way as Ladybug held the gargantuan fist tightly in her hands. Overhead, Carapace's dome blurred the skyline and served as a reminder that their avenues of escape had just become limited. 

"Psst!" Chris' hushed whisper drew her attention over to a stack of pallets. Chris stuck his head out and waved, beckoning her over frantically as The Centipede's attention drifted to the battle in front of her. Manon slowly started edging her way toward Chris, careful to move as quietly as she could to avoid drawing any unwanted attention. 

"Let's go!" Chris hissed, beckoning her over frantically. She was almost there; once she ducked behind the pallets they could slip around the other side and-

"Look out!" 

A black and red blur rocketed past her, smashing into the pallets as The Toad hurled Ladybug like a frisbee across the roof. 

"Ooh…that would have really hurt a regular person," Ladybug winced, looking up at a baffled looking Manon. "Hey, you were on the roof earlier!" 

"Weird how we keep running into each other like this," Manon said, snaking behind Ladybug as The Toad approached, cracking his massive knuckles. "N-Not that I'm not happy to see you, but you wouldn't happen to have any backup on the way, would you?" 

"I am the backup!" Ladybug huffed, two mystical golden arms materializing to catch The Toad's strike before it collided with her chest. The Centipede took their chance, striking at Ladybug's blindside only to be deflected by another timely parry from Fang as it swirled and slashed around her.

"Now that you mention it…some more backup…would be great," Ladybug grunted, tossing The Toad's arm to one side.

"Too much for you to handle, huh?" The Scorpion chuckled. "I gotta say you do not live up to your reputation." 

"Give me a minute," Ladybug said, snapping her wrist and extending her shield in a flash of red light. "I need a little warm up." 

"Honestly, I'm surprised to see you here," The Scorpion said, leaning on The Toad's shoulder. "I would have thought saving kittens and meddling kids was above you…or did you just want to steal some of Rena Rouge's good publicity?" 

"You got me," Ladybug shrugged, stepping in front of Chris and Manon and backing up as The Centipede and The Toad advanced. "I'm just a slave to my fame. I was hoping to call Nadja out here and show the whole city what happens to clowns who stray away from their circus for too long." 

"I'm sure you would love the opportunity to use the press to keep lying to the public," The Centipede snorted, their three-sectioned staff snapping back into their hands. "Unfortunately, M. Chamack is no longer your biggest fan." 

Ladybug's eyes bounced between The Toad, The Centipede, and the sword stuck in the rooftop. If being backed down by three enemies wasn't bad enough, there was the nagging alarm in the back of her mind that told her that Chat Noir was still in danger. 

Magic swords really need to come with instructions, Ladybug thought as she raised her communicator to her ear. "Rena, I need someone to get these kids out of here…Chat Noir needs my help." 

---

New Venice, Italy

"Step lively!" 

Chat Noir grabbed Zoe's hand and hauled her up onto the rooftop next to Fei, barely breaking his jog as he led them away from the sea of swarming serpentine monsters nipping at their heels. 

"We're totally exposed up here!" Zoe called over the roar of the wind, stumbling over rooftop tiles in the dark as she followed Chat Noir's fluttering green scarf. "If they look up, they're going to spot us!" 

"We're exposed down there!" Chat Noir called back, snapping his baton out to make a bridge between two buildings. "At least we're not penned in anymore; come on!" 

The city's edge was in reach; Chat Noir couldn't tell exactly how far the strange anti-Cataclysm power reached but every city had an edge. If he could get them off the roofs and on solid ground, maybe he could get his sword back. 

"This way!" Chat Noir beckoned, bounding across the pole spanning the buildings with supernatural grace. "What are you waiting for?|!

Zoe grimaced as she put a foot out on the wobbling baton. "You don't have a bridge made for people in that cat-suit, do you?" 

"I'm sorry, why don't I just fly you across?" Chat Noir sighed, skipping back across his baton.

"Next time I'm packing the flying talisman-hey!" Zoe yelped as Chat Noir slung her over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" 

"Flying!" Chat Noir said, bounding the gap between rooftops in one fluid leap. 

"This isn't how I wanted to be swept off my feet in Italy!" Zoe cried, clinging on to Chat Noir's scarf as they flew through the air. 

"This is barely Italy anymore," Chat Noir said, dropping her on the rooftop. A bang over his shoulder drew his attention to Fei emptying her blaster into the face of a Brute as it tried to climb up on the roof after them. "Hold that thought!"

Chat Noir kicked his baton up and vaulted back over the other side of the street, landing with both boots planted in the face of a Brute that reared up behind Fei. 

"I don't see an end to them," Fei panted, slinging her uninjured arm over Chat Noir's shoulder as he leapt back across the gap. "Where are they even coming from?" 

A low, rumbling roar seemed to answer her from deep within the city. 

"I don't want to stick around and find out," Chat Noir said, pulling Zoe to her feet and tugging them both along the roof. 

---

Paris, France

Rena Rouge's form shimmered, blurring out of the way of The Cobra's cane strike. "Tigress, go back Ladybug up; she needs help!" 

"Look who’s rescuing who now…" Tigress said, bounding up the elevator shaft and nearly getting hooked by The Cobra's cane as she slipped past him. 

"Hey, what's going on down-" Tigress saw a Stigma guard stick their head down the shaft and quickly bounced off their head, using them as a launchpad to climb the elevator shaft quicker. The wind lapped at her hair as she crested the top of the building, slipping past The Centipede's grasping spectral hands as she landed on the roof. 

Whipping around, she saw Ladybug dodge The Toad's hammering fist strike, sliding under a ladder stretched across a set of pallets and kicking it into The Toad's back. She barely got to her feet in time for Fang to parry The Scorpion's strike from behind, rolling over the ladder and sending it slamming into The Scorpion's mask with a kick as she fell backwards. Grabbing Fang's hilt, she swung it blindly at The Scorpion, clipping their mask and slicing through a steel cable holding a stack of concrete blocks. The braided metal rope snapped, sending the whole load crashing down on the rooftop and almost crushing The Scorpion.

"So close!" Ladybug groaned, grabbing a pair of hard-hats and jamming them quickly on Chris and Manon's heads. "Is it clear downstairs?" 

"Rena Rouge and Their Highness' are still fighting the reptile house rejects," Tigress called, leaping out of the way of two spectral hands that rose out of the ground in front of The Centipede. "But Carapace is holding the line outside; we have them all locked up and they're not getting out!" 

Locked up with a couple of kids too, Ladybug thought, watching as Chris pulled Manon up into the cabin of a crane and slam the door behind them. "How are we going to get those kids out of here?" 

"We're not; we just have to keep them safe until we can beat these guys," Tigress said, pulling Ladybug behind a low wall as The Toad hurled a chunk of rebar at her head. "And unfortunately, backup isn't coming." 

Across the roof, Fang twitched as some invisible force kept tugging on it. The edges began smoking faintly as they did when Chat Noir sliced a portal open earlier. Maybe, just maybe, Fang would do more than just fight for her.

"Can you keep them off my back for a second?" Ladybug asked Tigress. "I can get us some backup…I think...I'm pretty sure…like 98% positive-”

"Wow, reign in the overconfidence a little," Tigress sniffed, extending her trident. "Let's hope that luck of yours is still worth something…" 

---

New Venice, Italy

"Will you stop picking me up!" 

Chat Noir leapt off the rooftops and onto the streets below, carrying Zoe and Fei over his shoulders like sacks of flour as he ran down the street. 

"When you can run as fast as I can, I'll think about it!" Chat Noir said, rounding the corner as a gap appeared, showing blissfully un-corrupted civilization just beyond it with a line of Italian police cars set up behind a barricade. 

"Almost there!" Chat Noir panted. "Never thought I'd be glad to see the cops…" 

"Hey!" Zoe waved. "Ayudame…no, crap, that's Spanish…" 

Fei scanned the line of officers as they unholstered their weapons, their eyes fixed on Chat Noir as he raced towards them. "Wait…something's not right." 

"What are you talking about?" Chat Noir asked as his scarf fluttered angrily behind him. "I'm not the biggest fan of cops either, but at this point I'll take what I can-" 

From several hundred meters away, he heard the hammer click into position. Acting quickly, he tossed Zoe and Fei sideways as the first bullet ripped past him, narrowly missing his cheek. His baton appeared with a flick of his wrist, twirling as another hail of gunfire rushed towards him. Each bullet pinged against his staff as he swatted them aside, but the sound of talons scraping against the street behind him distracted him long enough for one to slam into his shoulder. 

"What are they doing?!" Zoe hissed. "Don't they see who they're shooting at?!" 

"Maybe that's the problem…" Fei sighed, aiming her weapon at the Brute that charged at Chat Noir from behind. Her blast stunned it long enough for Chat Noir to jam his staff into its stomach, slipping past a claw-swipe that dislodged huge chunks of stone from the street below. 

"I could really use that sword, Ladybug!" Chat Noir groaned as his scarf fluttered to the ground behind him. "Or any help at all for that matter!" 

Snarling, the Brute turned its gaze back on him, rearing up to strike. Behind him, the scarf glowed green and sprang to life, shooting past him like a serpent to wrap around the monster's eyes of its own volition. The beast stumbled backwards, roaring as it definitely tried to remove the blindfold.

And they say fashion is useless, Chat Noir thought, leaping up onto the monster's back and grabbing the ends of the scarf like the reins of a horse. "Hey, I think I found our ride out of here!" 

Jerking on his scarf, he angled the monster towards the barricade. "Just have to clear some pancetta off the street first." 

---

Paris, France

A thick cloud of dust floated over the rooftop as The Scorpion scanned for any sign of their attackers. 

"Are you two just going to hide all day?" The Scorpion called out, peering through the haze. "Or are you that scared of facing up to-" 

Tigress' trident whipped past The Scorpion's head, her double-heeled dropkick piercing the haze and slamming their chest moments later. 

"Shut up!" Tigress growled, deflecting The Centipede's staff attack as Ladybug slid past her, scrambling along the roof towards the sword. The Centipede saw her move and with a wave of her hand, a spectral claw rose from the ground and attempted to snatch the sword away. But as soon as the ghostly hand closed around the hilt, a flash of green light sparked from the jewel in the crossguard, dispelling the arm in a puff of dust. 

"Man of all the times for me to drop my phone," Chris whined, watching the battle take place below him. 

"You kicked your phone down an elevator shaft," Manon reminded him. 

"I panicked!" Chris wailed, slamming his hand on the control panel. With a thunk and whirring of machinery, the machine rumbled to life as the panel lit up in front of them. Rows of multicolored buttons, levers, and knobs lit up as the crane began slowly spinning to the left. 

"What did you do?!" Manon asked. 

"I don't know, I must've jolted something!" Chris said, pressing a button at random. The stack of steel beams dangling from the crane jerked down, nearly flattening The Toad as he dove out of the way. 

"Un-jolt it!" Manon demanded. 

"I'm trying!" Chris said, wincing as he pressed another button. The crane lurched back the way it came, dragging the steel beams through the patchwork roof and dislodging chunks of concrete from the ground beneath Ladybug’s feet. Ladybug looked up in time to dive out of the way of the crane's path of destruction, but Fang slid through the crumbling cracks in the floor, spiraling down into the lower floors of the construction site. 

"Oh come on," Ladybug moaned, latching her yo-yo around a beam and rappelling down into the melee below. "Watch out!" 

Rena Rouge looked up and managed to slide out of the way as Fang landed blade-first in the ground where she had been standing a moment earlier. The Salamander leapt backwards, bumping into The Cobra as he deflected another thrust from Monarch. 

"H-Hey how's it going down here?" Ladybug asked, shooting a ribbon around Rena Rouge's waist and yanking her out of the way of The Cobra's blind cane-strike. 

"Wait, where's Tigress?!" Rena Rouge asked. "Where are the kids?!"

"Buying me some time and operating heavy machinery in an irresponsible fashion in that order," Ladybug said, as a block of concrete shattered a few meters away. 

“What?!” Rena Rouge asked as a steel beam flattened a portable toilet off to the side of the facility. 

“Don’t worry; they have hard hats!” 

“That’s not the point!” Above them, the grinding and jerking of a crane out of control rattled the shaky steel beams and dislodged chunks of the drywall.

“Rena, what's going on in there?!” Carapace's voice said over the communicator

“Good question!” Rena Rouge said, glaring at Ladybug. “Did you really just leave two teenagers in charge of a crane and your backup stranded on the roof with three super villains to deal with?!”

“Well...putting it like that makes it sound worse than it is, but-”

“Monarch, up top!” Rena Rouge shouted. Across the lot, Monarch's scabbard blocked The Salamander's kick while her blade locked against The Cobra's cane. “Tigress needs backup!”

“I thought she was the backup,” Monarch sighed, kicking The Salamander away and making a bee-line for the elevator. The Cobra followed hot on her heels, launching his cane at the control panel and shattering it into a useless sparking heap of metal. Monarch pivoted, swinging her sword through the braided cable attached to the elevator and grabbing onto it as the counterweight came crashing down through the boarded up floor beneath the elevator shaft.

“Look, I promise that the kids are safe!” Ladybug said, whipping her yo-yo at The Salamander who simply turned translucent and phased through her strike. “I needed an opening; can you handle these two while I get Chat's sword back.”

“Tell me you are not more concerned about a sword than the hostages,” Rena Rouge sighed.

“It's not the sword I care about!” Ladybug said. “It's-wait move!”

The second armed guard rounded the corner, rifle raised and trained on Rena Rouge's back. Ladybug heard the click of a hammer and lunged to intercept, her shield extending in time to catch the hail of gunfire before it could strike Rena Rouge.

“Listen!” Ladybug called over the cacophony of metal on metal. “I need to get Chat Noir out of Venice-”

“Chat Noir is fine-”

“No he isn't!” Ladybug shouted, grabbing Rena Rouge by the back of her hood and dragging her out of the line of fire.

“I know this is rich coming from me of all people, but I am begging you not to go after your blonde crush right now,” Rena Rouge said. “We need to secure these kids; not stick them in a crane!”

“They got in by themselves!” Ladybug said, whipping her shield at the Stigma guard and knocking him flat on his back. “Would this not all be over quicker if we had Chat and his super-spy buddies here now?!”

“Ladybug-”

“Two minutes,” Ladybug pleaded, grabbing Rena Rouge by the shoulders. “I just need two minutes and I'll be right back, with backup!” 

The suspicion in Rena Rouge's eyes was hard to ignore. “...one minute.”

“Rena, please-”

“Fifty-eight seconds!” Rena Rouge said, slipping out from behind the wall. “Then get back here and help us win!”

Fine, Ladybug thought as she slipped into the shadows of the rapidly deteriorating construction site. Just have to find and learn how to use a sword I have no idea how to use in under a minute while a building falls down around me.

A glimmer of light caught Ladybug's attention in a dark corner under a set of stairs. Even in the darkness, the shadows that gathered around Fang's edge stood out, somehow blacker than the natural shadows around it.

Hey, looks like I didn't need that minute after all! Ladybug thought, racing towards the sword only to see The Salamander emerge from the floor right in front of it. As they materialized, their foot kicked the sword away, under a stack of plywood and out of Ladybug's reach.

“Oh....sorry, did you need that?” The Salamander winced. “Sorrrrrry-”

“No you're not!” Ladybug shouted, swinging her yo-yo at The Salamander. Their form shifted, the yo-yo passing through their chest as they stepped to one side and swung their foot around to connect with the side of Ladybug's head, heel smashing into her temple. The blow spun her around and as she came back around the other side, her hand grabbed an aluminum ladder off the wall and swung it like a bat at The Salamander's head. Again they shimmered through the attack, but Ladybug lunged for them, a glowing golden arm materializing and slamming them through the stack of plywood as they turned solid again.

Queen Bee zipped around the pillar. “Hey, Rena wanted me to see if you needed any-”

“Help!” The Salamander cried as Ladybug's glowing golden god hand threw them past Queen Bee's shoulder and through a half-finished concrete barrier.

“...m'kay, looks like you got it,” Queen Bee said, turning around and zipping up the elevator shaft as Ladybug dove for the sword. Fang's hilt stuck out of the broken pile of wood and the second Ladybug's hand closed around it, the smoking shadows that surrounded the blade only grew more intense.

“Okay, how did Chat Noir do this...” Ladybug muttered to herself, awkwardly holding the weapon in front of her. Earlier, she had watched the sword pierce the air in front of her like scissors slicing through fabric, but surely it wasn't as easy as just stabbing it and opening a portal where she needed to go...right?

“Okay...Adrien; show me Adrien,” Ladybug whispered, stabbing the sword into the air in front of her. The blade seemed to vanish and snag on something as Ladybug twisted it to the side, ripping open a hole in the air in front of her and letting a gust of balmy tropical air through. An expansive beach littered with tanning vacationers stretched out to the horizon as crystal clear waves lapped at the shore.

“Adrian, sweetie, don't go too close to the crabs; you'll get your toe pinched off again,” an elderly woman in a large floppy sun hat called to a little boy chasing crabs with a stick.

“Okay, gonna have to be more specific,” Ladybug said as the portal slowly sealed up in front of her. “Round two: take me to Italy!”

---

“Offerimus tibi, Domine, calicem salutaris tu-”

A gasp rang out from the crowd of cardinals gathered as a shimmering black portal opened in mid air and Ladybug stuck her head out.

“Uhh...mi-scusi?” She chuckled, quickly ducking back through the portal.

The Bishop of Rome rubbed his forehead wearily. Okay, let's take it from the top...

---

“Black cat!”

The blade sliced through the air and out spilled a very perplexed looking black tabby who slashed at Ladybug's leg before dashing back through the portal.

“Chat Noir!”

The famous cabaret poster glared down at her almost smugly from the wall of what looked like a teenager's bedroom.

“Venice!”

The portal opened to a scene of Firebird crouched over a wriggling man in a suit strapped to what appeared to be a large obsidian altar. Burning hot pitch dripped from her fingers as she tried to keep her captive still long enough to do whatever grisly task she had in mind. 

“I would say 'don't struggle' but what the hell; do what you want with your last minutes of consciousness,” Firebird grunted. 

“Aiutami!” The prisoner cried, looking up to see Ladybug standing dumbstruck as she looked through a hole in the air. “Ladybug, aiutami!” 

 “That’s cute but Ladybug isn’t here to-” Firebird looked up to see Ladybug standing meters away from her with Chat Noir's sword in her hand. “...well, what do you know?”

“Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!” Ladybug stammered, grabbing the sides of the portal and frantically pulling it closed as Firebird rose from her perch.

“Listen, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot,” Firebird said, making no effort to extinguish the flames dripping from her hand as she approached the rapidly closing portal. “Why don’t we start from scratch.” 

Her clawed hand ripped through the air, singing the ends of Ladybug’s ponytail as the portal snapped closed just in time. “Oh god...this thing is dangerous-”

“How's it going?!” Rena Rouge called from across the site, blocking a cane-strike from The Cobra and kicking him away.

“Working on it!” Ladybug stammered, glaring down at the blade. “Talk to me; what do you need?”

“I need you to-” Rena Rouge looked over and saw Ladybug staring intently at the cat's eye jewel in the sword's cross guard. “Oh, my mistake; you were talking to the sword.”

The Salamander phased through the floor behind Ladybug, cracking their knuckles. “Okay, round two you-”

One glowing golden arm materialized and backhanded The Salamander across the floor as Ladybug focused her attention on the sword, looking for some kind of switch or button she could press and activate the portal.

Maybe I'm thinking about the wrong thing, Ladybug thought, gripping the sword with both hands. Venice might be a deathtrap, Italy is too big to narrow down...but there's one thing I can focus on.

She had a trove of memories to call on as she raised the weapon overhead; everything from stolen kisses in her bedroom to hair-raising battles on Paris' rooftops. Everything from trading jokes to trading blows; from working on homework to watching walk out of her life.

Ladybug closed her eyes, held the fluttering green scarf in her mind, and swung.

---

New Venice, Italy

“Call the bird! We need backup!”

A row of police-cars and the officers behind them scattered as the Brute crashed through it, its claws swinging wildly in an effort to dislodge Chat Noir from its shoulders. The scarf was still wrapped tightly around its jaws and by twisting his wrists and driving his heels into the soft parts of the monster's neck, he was able to crudely steer it through the police barricade. 

“Patsies!” Zoe shouted, hurling another bolt of energy at the cars as she clung to Chat Noir's jacket. “Why is every cop we run into useless, evil, or both?”

“I'm sensing a pattern,” Fei grunted, holding on to the Brute's spine as she fired her blaster back into the crowd pursuing them. “Okay, what's next?! Are we just taking this thing out of the city?!”

“That's the plan!” Chat Noir panted, kicking the Brute harder as he wrestled it down the street. The edge of the city, untouched by Kaiser Long's magic, appeared only a few hundred yards away. Escape was within their reach; all he had to do was drive his stolen steed out of the city and-

Chat Noir's eyes widened as he tugged on the beast's reins, claws dragging through the street as it skidded to a halt.

“What's going on; why did we stop?” Zoe asked, sticking her head over Chat Noir's shoulder. A long figure in black stood in the middle of the road, hands folded on the hilt of a heavy black club while his hair whipped in the wind behind him.

“Leaving so soon?” Kaiser Long chuckled, his voice bouncing off the bare stone walls that surrounded them. “Shame; my wife and I wanted to have you for dinner.”

“Who is that?” Zoe asked. Chat Noir said nothing, eyes wide and lips trembling as he stared Kaiser Long down. “Chat-”

“A dead man...but not today,” Chat Noir snarled, kicking his heels into the Brute's side as he drove it forward. The monster broke into a shaky gallop, barreling towards Kaiser Long who waited patiently.

“Chat, wait, we need to get out of here!” Zoe pleaded, tugging on his jacket as he drove them closer and closer.

“That's what we're doing!” Chat Noir said, driving the monster harder towards Kaiser Long. “Hold on; this is gonna be a close call!”

Kaiser Long lazily shouldered his club as Chat Noir drew nearer, shifting his weight and narrowing his eyes. Fei shared a worried glance with Zoe, but Chat Noir's gaze never wavered, his glowing eye boring a hole into Kaiser Long. Hatred bubbled up inside him like bile and if it wasn't for the wounded friends he was carrying, he wouldn't have thought twice about cutting his throat out. With his teeth, if his sword wouldn’t listen to him.  

A handful of meters away and Chat Noir kicked the monster harder, driving it through the streets closer and closer to its master who had his club cocked back and ready to strike it dead-

Chat!

Ladybug's voice echoed in his mind as a rip in the air appeared, swallowing them whole. Kaiser Long's club swung through open air, obliterating the street where it landed in a shower of obsidian cobblestone.

“Need to get that little stray chipped at some point…” Kaiser Long clucked, closing his eyes. Bad news, dear; the cat got out again. 

---

Shame, Firebird thought, watching the last ashes of her freshest sacrifice blow away in the wind. As they did, the tower pulsed and fired another beam of glowing red energy into the sky above her. 

Why don’t I get you a kitten instead? Firebird thought. I hear they’re easier to manage if you get them young.’

The barrier between worlds was flimsier than most people realized. All it took was the right knock in the right spot with enough energy and almost anything could slip through.

"That should be enough for The Cobra to do its thing," Firebird mused, watching the crimson beam pierce the night sky. Scarlet cracks in the air spread from where the beam speared through the clouds and Tigress could almost feel the potential spilling through the other side. 

They had missed their chance to steal the Ladybug and Black Cat already, but fortunately, they could always try again. 

---

Paris, France

Monarch's sword sailed through the air as The Scorpion's tonfa battered it out of her hands. 

“Sorry, did you need that?” The Scorpion chuckled, narrowly missing Monarch's fist as she lunged with a jab.

“Not especially,” Monarch said, kicking The Scorpion away as Tigress and Queen Bee danced around The Toad's springing punches. No matter how many times Queen Bee lashed out against The Toad's flank, his punches only seemed to seek out Tigress.

“Hey stop ignoring me!” Queen Bee shrieked, wrapping her chain around The Toad's wrist and pulling on his arm. “Ugh, where's Carapace when you need him?”

“Bee, kids!” Monarch cried. Queen Bee looked up at the wayward crane to see Chris and Manon feverishly holding the door closed as The Centipede approached. Five spectral arms materialized and gripped the edge of the frame, ripping it off its hinges and sending it smashing against the edge of Carapace's bubble.

“Oi, Mme. Bad-Touch!” Queen Bee yelped, zipping across the roof and landing on the roof of the crane. “Look, I know we're all horribly out of your league, but don't go picking on kids because you can't hang with a hero!”

“A hero that cares more about picking fights and her bloody Instagram feed than protecting Paris' citizens?” The Centipede scoffed, snapping their staff at Queen Bee's feet.

“Hey, I didn't pick this fight; you dipshits did!” Queen Bee yelped, leaping over the staff as Manon kicked the other door open and started shimmying out of the crane.

“Come on!” She hissed, grabbing the back of Chris' jacket and tugging him out of the cab of the crane." 

“Prime, front row seats to Ladybug's first fight in Paris in four years and of course I don't have a camera…" Chris grumbled, scrambling behind Manon. 

"Hey, I thought you were helping me out because you wanted to!" Manon huffed, flattening herself as The Toad flung Tigress overhead. 

"I can want more than one thing at the same time!" Chris said as they crept along the center of the roof that looked down into the construction site below. Through the dust and debris, he could make out Ladybug swinging a sword through the air, opening a dark portal like Chat Noir had done towards the end of his tenure as Paris' hero. Ladybug looked relieved for a split second before a look of terror washed over her face. 

A pained roar filled the air as a draconic creature charged through the portal, smashing through the concrete support structures that held the wobbly construction site up as it flailed about wildly. The monster rampaged blindly, crashing through the outer support wall and bucking the passengers off its back as it flailed, trying to pull the green band off around its eyes. 

Two of the figures Chris didn't recognize, but one he would know anywhere. 

“Gimme your phone, gimme your phone, gimme your phone!” Chris shouted, quickly snatching Manon's phone from her back pocket as he tried to maneuver into a better position.

“Hey, what the hell, Chris?!” Manon said, traipsing after him as he walked out onto a beam overlooking the site below. “I get that you're trying to grow your brand, but you can’t do that if you’re dead! We need to get out of here!”

“And miss Chat Noir's return to Paris?” Chris scoffed, turning the camera on the figure in black as he slowly pushed himself to his knees. “Not a chance!”

---

Ladybug coughed, waving the dust away from her face as she slowly wobbled to her feet. She had barely gotten out of the way of the monstrosity Chat Noir rode through the rift before it flattened her like it did the support columns that were still being built. Flailing tails and gnashing teeth nearly took her head off as she dove for cover, but after a sickening crack the monster fell still and a tense silence floated over the battlefield.

“Is everyone okay?” Rena Rouge's voice called through the gloom. "And by 'everyone' I mean 'everyone not trying to kill me and my friends'. I could give a damn about the rest of you…"

Through the haze, Ladybug could make out Chat Noir kneeling next to the prone monster, slowly pulling his scarf out of the monster's mouth. She shuddered as she saw that the beast’s head had been twisted around, its neck bulging grotesquely. 

“Chat?” Ladybug asked, stumbling to her feet and making her way to his side. “Are you o-”

The Brute snarled, jerking back to life and lunging for Chat Noir’s throat. Without even looking, Chat Noir plucked Fang from Ladybug’s fingers and drove the point through the monster's temple, pinning it to a steel beam with a flick of his wrist. The monster thrashed for a moment, desperately trying to reach Ladybug with the tips of its claws before the light in its eyes dimmed and it fell limp against the column. Slowly, the body faded into a pool of inky black ooze. 

“Is it just me, or is it getting harder to kill those things,” Zoe panted, waving at Ladybug as she lay on her back next to Fei. “Hi Ladybug!” 

“Hi Zoe,” Ladybug said, looking up at Chat Noir’s tired expression. “Are you hurt?”

“Don't worry about me,” Chat Noir said, nodding over to his friends. “Fei needs your help more than I do.” 

That doesn’t mean you don’t though… Ladybug thought, ignoring the irritated huff Chat Noir let slip. 

“Still think you know what’s best for me, huh?” Chat Noir said, looking up to see Chris Lahiffe perched on the edge of a beam overlooking him, camera phone trained on Chat Noir. 

“Hey, Chat Noir!” Chris called, waving down at him. “Ch-Chris Lahiffe, independent superhero content creator! You got anything to say to your fans in Paris?” 

“I have fans in Paris?” Chat Noir asked, his smile dropping as he watched the crane behind Chris slowly start to tilt to one side. The beam that the monster had slammed into bent awkwardly to one side and slowly, the sound of creaking steel rumbled through the whole structure. 

“Oh…come on,” Ladybug sighed as the crane shifted and fell off its platform, crashing down towards Chris. 

---

“What exactly is going on in there?!”

“We've been working on this building for weeks!”

"Do we need to evacuate the perimeter?" 

“Man, I left my cell phone in there!”

Carapace held his hands up in front of the growing crowd of construction workers, police officers, and rubberneckers gathered outside the barrier he erected. “Everybody please calm down; I know the situation looks bad but I swear we have everything under control!”

No sooner had the words left Carapace's mouth than the crane snapped loose of its moorings, slid off its platform, and smashed into the crumbling roof above them. His stomach dropped as he heard the panicked shouts coming from inside and looked up in time to see the crane looming over Chris as he perched on the edge of the beam.

“Nononononono!” Carapace cried, dropping the shield over the building and charging into the collapsing structure. With each step he grew larger, swelling to gargantuan size and reaching out to catch the falling crane in one massive hand.

“Bee!” Carapace grunted, grabbing half of the crumbling roof with his spare hand as Queen Bee zipped past him.

“Okay, photo time is over!” Queen Bee said as she snatched Chris seconds before the crane’s swinging arm took out the beam he was standing on. “I swear if these end up on TMZ I’m gonna shove you in a locker!” 

"Hey, what about me?!" Manon cried, edging away from the rapidly deteriorating rooftop. Her hand fell through a patch of crumbling concrete and barely managed to catch on a piece of rebar as the section of roof fell away under her feet. 

"Wait, turn back!" Chris cried, wriggling in Queen Bee's grip as he watched Manon dangle from the rooftop.

"Hold still, dummy; I'm gonna drop you!" Queen Bee grumbled, setting Chris down on the rooftop across the street. 

"Tigress!" Monarch cried as Tigress leapt through the falling debris, snatching her out of the air as half the roof crashed into the second floor below. Manon held fast, fingers slipping as the roof buckled, dangling over a three story drop to the cold concrete floor below. 

"I could use a hand here!" Manon cried as the concrete that held her lifeline to the roof started to crumble. Queen Bee raced forward, arm outstretched as the rebar gave way and Manon fell back into the crumbling building, arms flailing for anything to hold on to as the world fell down around her.

A ghostly hand reached out of the wall and caught her ankle, stopping her so close that her hair touched the ground beneath her. Looking up, she saw one of The Centipede's floating hands holding her long enough for Rena Rouge to grab her before vanishing as quickly as it came. 

"Are you okay?" Rena Rouge asked as the building continued to fall down around them. Carapace did his best to hold everything together, but more and more pieces began slipping through his fingers, taking the lower floors of the construction site along with it and crashing down around the heroes on the ground floor. . 

Rena Rouge whistled sharply as she grabbed Manon under the knees and headed for the door. "Everybody out! This place isn't going to hold much longer!" 

Ladybug helped Fei to her feet, glancing over at Chat Noir as he leaned heavily on his staff for support. In the chaos that had so quickly washed over them, Ladybug hadn't had time to get a good look at how weary Chat Noir looked. Two major fights in two days was bound to take its toll, and something told her that Adrien hadn’t slept as much as she had the night before. 

"Can you handle her?" Ladybug said, passing Fei off to Zoe as she darted back across the crumbling building to Chat Noir's side. "Come on, we need to go-"

"Relax," Chat Noir panted, pulling Fang out of the beam in the wall. “I got it.” 

"Chat, please, this isn't the-" Chat Noir's palm hummed with electricity as he held the sword aloft. The green cat's-eye gem pulsed and black electricity arced along the edge of the blade as he stabbed it straight into the sky above him. As a chunk of ceiling plummeted down, a wave of black energy shot out in all directions from the edge of the blade. Ladybug flinched as it passed through her, but felt nothing more than a strangle tingle despite the fact that the Cataclysm was eating the crumbling building around them. The ceiling that fell down towards Rena Rouge disappeared, floating away in a cloud of black dust and the mangled pile of concrete that blocked their escape disintegrated and disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

 Ladybug watched as the wave spiraled up into the night, carrying the debris of the construction site away like smoke up a chimney and leaving only a bare, completely smooth plot where the building had once been. 

"Told you,” Chat Noir said, snapping Fang back into its sheath and calmly strolling away from the center of the empty lot. Ladybug always had a faint idea of her partner's true capabilities; it was an echo of her own power which often terrified her with its magnitude. But it was hard reconciling that power in her mind with the goofy boy she had grown up with or the kind, sweet young man she fell in love with. 

Carapace watched the crane disappear between his fingertips, slowly shrinking back to his normal size. "Dude, warn me next time you fire a Cataclysm off like that; you could have nicked one of the hostages!" 

"Please; I could Cataclysm your socks off without unlacing your shoes," Chat Noir sniffed, looking around. “Anyone hurt?”

"No, but-"

“Then there’s nothing to worry about,” Chat Noir said, tapping Carapace on the shoulder with the hilt of his sword as he stepped past them. 

"I guess that’s what’s important…" Rena Rouge said, brushing Manon off as she set her down. 

"I think so," Manon said, patting herself down. "What happened to the creeps in the masks?" 

"Must've split," Tigress shrugged. "I get the feeling they would have bolted sooner if Carapace hadn't bubbled them like that." 

"Catching them wasn't the job tonight," Rena Rouge said, resting her hand on Carapace's shoulder. "We're all out safe; that's the important thing." 

"Unfortunately, so are our enemies," Monarch said, scowling down at the building’s empty outline. “I wonder…what could they have been doing out here.” 

Chris cleared his voice, quietly raising his hand as all eyes turned to look at him. “Uh…Chat Noir’s return wasn’t the only footage I got tonight.” 

---

The Centipede kicked open the door to the townhouse base, storming through the halls until she found The Scorpion reclining in a dusty old armchair in front of the fire. Without so much as slowing down, she twisted her hand into a fist and swung blindly for The Scorpion's face. "What the hell was that?!" 

A hand shimmered out of the wall as The Salamander intercepted her blow, twisting her arm to one side as they stepped through the wall. 

"Told you she would slug you," The Salamanader said, shoving The Centipede back as The Scorpion leaned back in their chair. "You owe me ten euros." 

"Thanks to you, she didn't actually slug me," The Scorpion chuckled, ignoring The Centipede's palpable anger. "You took long enough; almost thought the cops picked you up for a second." 

"Maybe she just needed to tip the babysitter," The Salamander chuckled, perching on the arm of The Scorpion's chair. "Though if I were you, I would hire someone more attentive next time." 

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" The Centipede snarled, jabbing an accusatory finger at The Scorpion. "That little farce could have gotten someone killed-" 

"But it didn't because Foxy and company were there to set everything right," The Scorpion said, crossing one leg over the other. "Everyone got out, safe and sound; what's there to worry about?" 

"Just the small fact that our plan is now public knowledge," The Centipede said. "That little idiot recorded the whole thing; how are you not worried about tomorrow night?" 

"Because by tomorrow night, our packages will have been safe and sound for more than a day," The Scorpion said. 

"What?" 

"We knew Andre was being tailed for more than half an hour," The Salamander said. "Why do you think we took so long showing up; we had to make sure he was followed and that someone told Rena Rouge about our little scheme." 

"Rena Rouge and friends will be making plans to intercept us tomorrow," The Scorpion said, standing up and laying a hand on The Centipede's shoulder. "Which is why we're moving on our targets tonight." 

The Centipede blinked mutely. "Tonight? I thought-" 

"I told you to get a sitter," The Scorpion said, patting her on the shoulder a little firmer than strictly necessary. "The Cobra and The Toad are already in position; we’re headed to meet them now. Get in your corner and get ready to flip the switch. Nothing’s changed except the schedule."

The Centipede clenched her fists, staring blankly at the wall as indignation rose inside her. “When were you planning on telling us?”

“I think I just did,” The Scorpion said, beckoning The Salamander to follow her. “Look lively, Centipede." 

---

Tikki's brow furrowed as she stared up at the monitor overlooking the command center. From the ugly black spire in the center of Venice, a scarlet beam seemed to be prying the sky apart, letting crimson light bleed down into the night over Italy. But the appearance of a wound in the heavens was not what disturbed Tikki; it was the strange, tingling feeling of unease that accompanied it. 

"You feel that too, don't you?" Master Fu mused, scowling up at the screen. Even Plagg was uncharacteristically grave, eyes closed and head tilted to one side as though trying to hear a distant sound. 

"It feels like…an echo of something," Plagg said, shaking his head. "You know, something's been really bugging me for a while now. If The Toad has the power of The Ox Miraculous…and The Scorpion has the power of The Monkey…and The Salamander has the power of The Horse…"

Plagg glared up at the crimson light fracturing the sky. "Then what happened to The Rabbit?" 

---

Paris, France

2016

“I have you now, Ladybird!” 

Ladybird backflipped out of the way of the akuma’s attack, swinging over its head and landing on a car across the street. 

“When I deliver Papillon your Miraculous, the world will be forever blanketed in an eternal, cozy shroud!” The Snuggler cried, the hem of his long, flowing blanket robe smashing into the car as Ladybird deftly dodged to one side. 

“Remind me why we’re fighting him again?” Ladybird looked up to see Cat Noir land next to her, staff pinning the corner of The Snuggler’s blanket to the car. “An eternity of cat-naps sounds doesn’t sound so bad.” 

“I think too much of a good thing is always a bad idea,” Ladybird said, running down the length of the extended blanket and snatching the scarf from around The Snuggler’s neck. 

“And that goes double for akuma!” Ladybird said, tossing the scarf up for Cat Noir to slash in two, releasing the purple butterfly into Ladybug’s clutches. “Bye-bye little butterfly!” 

Her compact snapped shut and with a flash of purifying light, the butterfly fluttered out into the night sky. 

"Ugh…where am I?" The disturbed mattress salesman said as he slowly came to his senses. 

"Is it just me, or is Papillon getting lazier?" Cat Noir asked, wordlessly bumping fists with Ladybird as they turned to leave. 

"Maybe he was never all that creative to begin with," Ladybird giggled, grabbing Cat Noir around the waist and swinging the pair of them up onto the rooftops before too many reporters could arrive. Ladybird could only do the press-tour thing for so long and the pile of math homework the akuma attack interrupted wasn't getting any smaller. 

"Maybe this is a sign he'll give up soon," Cat Noir pointed out, a flicker of red light drawing his attention. 

"Do you really think we'll get that lucky?" Ladybird snorted. "With the way things are going, I'll probably be stuck with you for the rest of my life." 

"What the heck…" 

"Oh, don't pout; I'm only-" Ladybird stopped when she realized that Cat Noir had stopped a few yards behind her, his eyes staring off at something in the distance. "Cat? You okay?" 

"Do you see that?" Cat Noir asked, nodding his head at something in the far distance. Ladybird strained her eyes against the twinkling skyline for a moment before she saw it; a crimson beam shooting into the sky somewhere far in the distance. 

"Maybe it's an ad for something," Ladybird said, ignoring the cold, uncanny chill that raced down her spine. 

"Maybe…" Cat Noir said, sounding even less sure than she was. "But do you really think we'll get that lucky?"

A sharp, electric scent filled the air as the hairs on the back of Cat Noir's neck rose in dread anticipation. The beam in the distance pulsed, sending dozens of red, shimmering lines of light arcing across the sky. In the pit of his stomach, he knew something bad was about to happen. He could almost hear Plagg shouting in his ear to move, but he had no idea where he was supposed to move to.

"We should get out of here," Ladybird said, slowly backing up and reaching for Cat Noir's hand. "Come on; let's-" 

A flash of scarlet light blinded them and Chat Noir pulled Ladybug back as a rippling red portal opened in the air in front of her and five long, twisted shadows fell over them. 

Notes:

What, you thought I wouldn't take an opportunity to throw in time-travelling?

This chapter was a long time coming for a lot of reasons:

1) A lot of moving parts; I had to remind myself that I had almost the whole cast together in one scene at some points. Lesson learned; if I can segment scenes in the future, I will.

2) Looking back, splitting the team up made things more difficult for me (Chat's refusal to play nice makes things super difficult tbh) so if I had to rewrite it I would have figured out a way to keep him local.

3) I had to put my cat down a week ago so that hit me pretty hard for a little while. RIP to Jasper the Toe-Slayer; you were the best cat I ever knew.

BUT we're moving on to some of the GOOD stuff now by which I mean the part where Ladynoir CAN'T AVOID EACH OTHER ANY MORE. Looking forward to seeing how Chat Noir/Ladybug behave when they literally cannot escape their past.

Thank you as always for your engagement and thank you to my betat strange-oc's for proofing this and helping me iron out some rough patches!

Chapter 16: Prisoners of the Past

"You want to tell me what the hell you think you were doing creeping around a rooftop in the middle of the night?" 

Chris sat with his arms crossed, defiantly refusing to look Carapace in the eye. "I think my family's attorney should be here if you're gonna give me the third degree like this." 

"Your family doesn't have an attorney!" 

"How do you know?!" Chris said, spinning in his chair to avoid Carapace's piercing glare. "Look, like Manon said, we were up there doing urban exploration…stuff and those creeps just showed up and started blabbing their secret plan right in front of us. What was I supposed to do? Not record vital information being talked about right in front of me?!" 

“That is exactly what you should do!” 

"Hopefully next time you pick a video topic that doesn't almost get you killed," Monarch said, pausing the video footage she ripped from Chris' phone and zooming in on the large blinking crystals The Venoms held in hand. "You said they were planning to capture their targets tomorrow night; did they say anything about which targets they were going after?" 

Manon shrugged, nibbling on the cookie Monarch had brought out for her. "They didn't exactly spell it out, but I guess they were arguing about whether or not their calculations were right." 

"Maybe it's another heist like they did at The Louvre," Chris said, eyes glittering with excitement at the possibility of another mess to get himself entangled in. "Hey, if you need someone to keep an eye on museums, I can-"

"You are gonna be grounded until you can vote after I tell your parents what happened tonight!" Carapace hissed. 

"Hey, lay off ; you're not my freaking dad!" Chris grumbled. Across the base, Ladybug quietly sipped on an overly sweet cup of coffee as she watched the unwitting family drama play out in front of her. 

"He really has no idea, huh?" Ladybug mused. 

"Knowing Chris, he couldn't keep that secret even if Nino wanted to tell him." Bluebird said, kicking the refrigerator closed, a pair of sodas in glass bottles cradled in one hand. "As open as we are these days, we still play a few things close to the chest." 

"I guess…it's not like Chris needs to know," Ladybug sighed, downing the rest of her drink and slurping the coffee-flavored sugar slurry off the bottom. “Those wouldn’t happen to have sugar in them, would they?” 

“There’s still half a pack in the fridge, but you might need to start contributing to the snack fund,” Bluebird chuckled, sliding one of the sodas along the bar to where Monarch was waiting to catch it. 

“Three multi-millionaires on the team and we don’t get free snacks?” Ladybug chuckled. 

“Free snacks are a privilege, not a right,” Bluebird said, rifling through a mostly-empty granola bar box. “Just don’t touch Queenie’s stash or she’ll, and I quote, kick you so goddamn hard your pores will unclog all at once .” 

“Well if superheroism doesn’t work out, she can always give spa treatments a shot,” Ladybug said, stirring her drink and trying to scrape the last of the sugar off the sides. After a moment, she glanced at Bluebird out of the corner of her eye. “So…your channel seems to be doing good.” 

“I didn’t know you were into guitar,” Bluebird said. 

“I like the background noise,” Ladybug said, carefully steering away from the fact that she stalked her former friends on social media, an act that was self-soothing as much as it was self-flagellating “I’m surprised you have time to put out so much stuff with everything going on.” 

“The Bank of Chat Noir pays me to be on call; I have a lot of free time on my hands when the city isn’t burning down,” Bluebird said, meeting Monarch’s gaze across the room. Something seemed to pass between them that Ladybug couldn’t quite decipher, lost in the rise of an eyebrow and a quiet nod of Bluebird’s head. Her position, perched on an island between them, made Ladybug feel like she was getting in the middle of something she shouldn't.     

“Are you and Monarch…?” Ladybug trailed off with a shake of her head. “You know what; it’s none of my business.” 

“It’s not exactly a secret,” Bluebird said, scratching the back of his head. “Still kind of a recent development, you know? Took me a long time to even get to where I could even think about being with someone after-” 

Bluebird stopped in the middle of his sentence, the chilly twinge of unease from Ladybug ringing in the back of his mind and irritating the parasite that still dwelled in the deepest reaches of his consciousness. 

“I’m s-” Bluebird bit his lip, seemingly choosing his words very carefully. The sorry that might have unconsciously slipped out earlier died and Ladybug could swear he straightened up a little, steeling himself to avoid crumpling under the weight of her unhappiness.  “I don’t want to make things hard right now so there’s a lot I haven’t said to you.” 

“You don’t have to hold back,” Ladybug said softly. “I know the last time we were really working together, I led you down a path you wouldn’t have followed otherwise.” 

“I might have,” Bluebird chuckled. “That’s the thing…I was probably the kind of guy who might have gone along with you if you told me the whole truth from the start. It took me a while to even admit it…but I might have willingly signed up with Hawk Moth if you asked me to.” 

His eyes still avoided hers, as though looking directly at her might trigger something inside him that she put there without him knowing about it. 

“You’re not a bad person for trusting someone who was supposed to have your back,” Ladybug said quietly. “Whatever happened back then…the things I asked you to do…I’m responsible for that.” 

“I could have said no at any time, but-” Bluebird sighed, finally turning his sparkling blue eyes to Ladybug. “Look, I didn’t have the self-respect to be mad at you when I was younger and I think Juleka took it upon herself to be mad at you on my behalf. I don’t hate you, Mari, but…my life has been a lot harder because of the choices you made…I just think I should say that.” 

A rueful smile tugged at the corner of Ladybug’s lips as she looked into her coffee. “I’m sure it has been…I think I made everyone’s life a lot harder, but when it comes to you-” 

Ladybug looked up into Bluebird’s eyes, forcing herself to weather the caution she saw in them. “I regret a lot of things…I’m ashamed of a lot of things I did. In some ways I’m more ashamed of what I did to you than what I did to Chat Noir…at least I was always honest with him. You, Rena, Chloe…I lied to all of you.” 

Ladybug allowed her gaze to drop after catching a flash of pity in his eyes. “I can’t give you that time back…but I will do whatever I can to help now.”

Bluebird shrugged. “Sure…but how about we stop the world from spinning off its axis first?” 

“I can multitask-” 

“Not half as well as you think you do,” Bluebird said, mentally flicking Mayura in the face with such a barb. “I’d actually like to enjoy the rest of my life; prying Mayura out of me doesn’t do me any good if the Earth gets burned up in the meantime.” 

“Okay…so one thing at a time then.” Her eyes drifted across the open floor of the base, over to the medical bay separated by a solid wall of glass. Fei reluctantly allowed her partner to dab at her wounds, equally exasperated and embarrassed if the look on her face was anything to go by. Zoe had flitted and fussed about her like a bee ever since they had returned to base, never resting for a moment despite the bags quickly accumulating under her eyes. 

And then there was Chat Noir, standing off to one side and watching them with weary eyes. 

Every time she turned around, Ladybug caught him vanishing out of the corner of her eye. The rare moments when they were in the same room together never seemed to last; the moment she took her eye off him, he was gone like a shadow fleeing the sun. He wasn't outright rebuffing her as much as he was just quietly removing himself from her presence whenever she came around. In a way, it was almost worse being ignored than outright despised. 

"Excuse me," Ladybug said, skipping across the kitchen on her way to the medical wing. 

"One interview!" Chris pleaded as she passed. "Just like, ten minutes, and I swear I won't tell anybody about what happened tonight!" 

"You won't tell anyone about what happened tonight!" Carapace shouted as the door to the medical wing slid open.

"Okay, I drank enough sugar to taste my heartbeat," Ladybug said, clapping her hands together. "Who needs healing?" 

Fei and Zoe quickly put a halt to their hushed conversation as pink light danced on the tips of Ladybug's fingers. "Is that healthy?" 

"Probably not, but I'm kinda built differently these days," Ladybug said, leaning in as Fei lifted the hem of her shirt to expose a bruised gash on her lower back. "Yikes, I hope you got a piece of whatever did this to you." 

"I think it was Chat who wasted that one," Fei said, wincing as she watched little motes of pink light stitch her cut up. "Hard to tell though; things were a little hectic."

"I can imagine," Ladybug said, biting her lip as she ran her finger along the thin white scar where the cut had been. "Is it as bad as it looks over there?" 

"Worse," Zoe muttered. "Every time we thought we had uncovered the worst of it, there was another terrible layer underneath like the world's most malevolent parfait." 

Ladybug's stomach chose that moment to grumble, despite having more sugar inside it than her father's storeroom. The grand, celestial array of abilities Creation had granted her came with the price of her sanity and dignity when it came to sweets. 

"Anything we should be worried about?" Ladybug asked. 

"Plenty," Fei said, poking at the mended wound in disbelief. "Depends on what you want to freak out about first; you certainly are spoiled for choice." 

"I think I have enough to freak out about for a while," Ladybug sighed, glancing around the medical wing. "I thought Chat was here with you." 

"He ducked out just before you came in," Zoe said, sharing a glance with Fei. "You walked right past him; didn't you see him?" 

Part of Ladybug worried her abuse of sugar had caught up with her and that her vision was finally starting to fail her. That, of course, ruled out the perfectly rational and depressing explanation that her partner was capable of hiding himself from her whenever he felt like it. That he would rather be completely invisible than catch her eye for even a moment. 

"Must've missed him," Ladybug chuckled. "Sorry, it's been a long day." 

Fei and Zoe exchanged a quick glance out of the corner of their eye as Ladybug turned to leave. 

"Just how screwed are we right now?" Zoe muttered as soon as Ladybug was out of earshot. 

---

“How are you?” 

Chat Noir opened one eye to see Master Fu sitting on a low stool next to the corner of the base he was currently curled up in. The blinking lights and constant chatter of the command room only compounded his headache and after the day he had, a little peace was more precious to him than all his father’s money. 

Chat Noir quickly sat up, kicking himself as his headache protested. The last thing I need is to be curled up like a kitten right now…

“I’ll live,” Chat Noir said, rubbing his eye and propping himself up against the wall. “Got a little hairy back there but I had an escape lined up.” 

“...that doesn’t answer my question,” Master Fu said. Chat Noir’s lip twitched irritably. Somehow Master Fu always could tell when he was avoiding a question; leave it to the last Guardian to be good at sniffing out a lie. 

“I’m terrific, thanks for asking,” Chat Noir said, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. “But I’ve been through worse than this; don’t worry about me.” 

“I do,” Master Fu said, his watery and cloudy eyes nevertheless piercing Chat Noir and pinning him to the wall. Shame bubbled up in Chat Noir and he pushed himself up more in spite of the throbbing in his head. 

“Still don’t think I can handle myself, huh?” Chat Noir sniffed. 

Master Fu clucked softly as he watched Chat Noir lean against the wall for support. “Not every expression of concern is a dig at your ability, Adri-” 

“Whoa, mind the secret identity stuff around civilians,” Chat Noir said with a mirthless smile. “You used to be better at keeping secrets than this…” 

“Don’t be glib, Adrien.” 

“If I stopped being glib, I wouldn’t be much of anything,” Chat Noir said, turning to go until he felt a hand clasp at his wrist. 

“Adrien,” Master Fu said, voice piercing the silence that surrounded Chat Noir like a bubble. “You don’t look well…” 

Chat Noir rolled his eyes to distract from the cold, bubbling pit in his stomach. “This again-” 

“This again,” Master Fu said. “I realize the work you’re doing is important, but it was never just your work to complete.” 

“Really? Because it feels like I’m the only one with my eye on the bigger picture,” Chat Noir said. “We always knew they were up to no good, but now that their hand has tipped we can see just how screwed we are if we don't mount their heads on spikes now.” 

“That does not change the fact that you cannot handle this alone,” Master Fu said. 

Whatever effect Master Fu's words were supposed to have, the sudden sneer on Chat Noir's face made it clear it had the opposite effect. 

“Wow…it doesn’t matter how much I do, I’m always going to be the understudy to you, aren’t I?” Chat Noir said, pulling his wrist out of Master Fu’s grip. “I guarantee Ladybug wouldn’t be getting this talk.”

“This has nothing to do with Ladybug,” Master Fu sighed.

“Nothing?” Chat Noir scoffed. “Tell me this isn’t the latest metaphorical get-along-shirt you want to stuff us into. Your next line is going to be something along the lines of how ‘Ladybug and I are a team’ and how ‘we were meant to face our challenges together’, right?” 

Master Fu was quiet, fearing any word he said would be viewed in the least charitable light possible. “She is not the same person she was back then…” 

“Well neither am I!” Chat Noir growled, turning to leave. “Maybe one day the pair of you will wake up and realize that!" 

I do…, Master Fu thought, rubbing his temples wearily. That’s the problem.

---

Manon stared at the mark on her leg where The Centipede’s hand closed around her to stop her from falling. A faded blue bruise stood out against her skin as she rubbed it, considering that she had only been hurt to save her from a worse fate. Part of her asked why The Centipede even cared to stop and try and save her; part of her knew the answer already, but just didn’t want to admit it to himself.  

“Everything okay in here?” 

Manon’s head snapped up as she heard Ladybug’s voice over her shoulder, quickly pulling her pant-leg down. "Y-Yeah, everything's fine!" 

Ladybug smirked as Manon sat up a little straighter and did her very best to act like she hadn't been staring at a mark on her leg when Ladybug walked in. "You sure? I'm going around patching up bumps and bruises." 

"I didn't know that was something Ladybugs could do," Manon said, legs dangling off the edge of the kitchen counter as Ladybug stepped around the side. Despite being closer to Ladybug than she ever had been in her life (three times in one day no less), it didn't feel quite real to her. Ladybug had been a towering, serenely smiling statue in a park for years: seeing her walking around in the flesh again was going to take some getting used to. 

"I had to take Ladybug night-classes to get my certificate," Ladybug chuckled, crouching down in front of her. "But I think I do a pretty good job if you'd like me to take a look at whatever you were looking at." 

Manon bit her lip, chewing on her choices for a moment before sicking her leg out. "I think I banged it on a beam as I fell." 

Ladybug lifted the hem of Manon’s jeans and winced a little at the bruise on her leg. “Not too bad; could have been a lot worse if that creep with the arms didn’t save you.” 

“Yeah…I guess so,” Manon said, watching as light from Ladybug’s fingertips washed over the bruise. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Mmhmm?” Ladybug muttered without looking up. 

“Do villains…typically do that?” Manon asked, phrasing her question as delicately as she could. “I mean, she could have let me fall, right?” 

“I guess,” Ladybug said, running her gloved hand over the smooth undamaged skin where the bruise used to be. “I wouldn’t give her a prize for it or anything but…” 

Ladybug trailed off and Manon immediately knew she had misspoke. “Y-Yeah, it’s probably nothing to worry about; just-” 

“She?” Ladybug asked, looking up at Manon. “What makes you think the one who saved you is a woman?” 

“O-Oh, just guessing,” Manon coughed, fidgeting with her coat’s zipper. “I could be wrong! I-I didn’t exactly spend a lot of time talking to her…them…it?” 

“Right…” Ladybug said, scanning Manon’s face. “Manon, is there a reason you and Chris were on that roof tonight?” 

“Just…making out,” Manon said with a shaky smile. 

“Making out?” 

“You know…kissing…sucking face…playing Super Penguino-” 

“On the roof of a construction site?” Ladybug said slowly. “With armed guards patrolling…seems like there would be safer places for that kind of thing.” 

Manon shrugged with a shaky chuckle. “I-It has a great view of the…uh…city?” 

Ladybug nodded slowly. “Uh huh…” 

Manon could almost feel how little Ladybug believed her, so she quickly changed the topic. "C-can we go home? I think we've told you everything we know for now." 

"I'll ask Rena Rouge," Ladybug said, standing up. "It's not my call to make."

"Seriously?" Manon said. "Aren't you…you know…Ladybug?" 

"That's me; You Know Ladybug," Ladybug chuckled. "It's very complicated, but since Rena Rouge has been handling Paris since I've been gone, it's only right to defer to her judgment." 

"Tell that to my mom," Manon said, glancing down at her leg. 

"She's not the biggest fan of ours, is she?" Ladybug sighed at the memory of Nadja being carried out of her final press conference. "I guess I can understand her perspective; that whole Hawk Moth thing was a mess from top to bottom and there's a lot we can't exactly share with the public." 

"...she's wrong though, right?" Manon asked quietly, looking up at Ladybug. "You and Rena and everyone…you can be trusted, can't you?" 

Yes. That was the obvious answer; Ladybug didn't need to complicate a simple question with her own doubts. Manon was just looking for reassurance…so why did Ladybug hesitate? Why was the word so hard to say? 

She was quiet for a moment before arriving on a diplomatic answer. "Team Paris has been nothing but loyal to this city." 

Manon nodded slowly. "Does that include you?" 

Yes. That was the answer that had eluded Ladybug for years and the one she wanted more than anything else. Yes, I’m still part of this team. Yes, I won't let you down. Yes, I never turned my back on you. 

Yes, you can still trust me.

Instead Ladybug offered a shaky smile as she stood up. "Let me go see if Rena's ready to let you go yet." 

Ladybug paused as she lingered in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at Manon. "...if you think of something else, Manon, please let us know, okay? I know it can be scary dealing with these people, but we can protect you." 

Manon watched Ladybug go, drawing her knees up to her chest. Does that include protecting me at home? 

---

“E-Excuse me Chat…M. Noir…M. Chat Noir…sir?” 

Chat Noir turned to see Chris Lahiffe standing in the doorway, rocking anxiously back and forth on his heels. 

For a master of stealth, I'm sure getting caught a lot these days , Chat Noir mused, turning his attention to Chris. The way the shadows fell on his face must’ve scared him; something about Chat Noir was naturally unnerving to a lot of people who weren’t used to his new demeanor. As much as he tried to appear as normal as he could, there was no hiding the fact that he was possibly one of the top four most dangerous entities in existence. 

“S-Sorry, I can come back later if it’s not a good time,” Chris stammered, fidgeting with his phone. “I just wanted to say I’m happy to see you’re back; nobody really believed me when I said you were coming back to Paris someday, but I-” 

“I really hate to disappoint, but I’m not as back as you think I am,” Chat Noir said. “If anything, I’m just floating in for a few days before…” 

Chat Noir fumbled as he tried to figure out what came next. This would have been the part where Master He would have swooped in with a new lead to follow or a new monster to hunt. Chat Noir barely had time to worry about the future when it all seemed to rush up to meet him; now the terrifying stillness of a foggy path made him uneasy. 

“You’re going after those guys from Venice, right?” Chris said, an eager edge creeping into his voice. “I-I saw that fight—well, what little I could see before the cameras cut out—you and Ladybug were kicking those guys around the whole city!” 

The unexpected exuberance made Chat Noir smirk in spite of his dour mood. “Someone must’ve caught the good part of that fight then.” 

“What happened next?” 

Chat Noir could remember the cold barb of the tail impaling his stomach and being carried off like some weak little kitten with Ladybug there to witness it all. “Nothing good.” 

“Oh…” Chris said, rubbing the back of his neck. “W-Well, there’s always round two, right?” 

“We’re on round eighty-something at this point, but…” Chat Noir clenched his fist. “As long as I’m still breathing, there’s always gonna be a next round.” 

Chris seemed to perk up at this, chancing another step into the room. “Man, that’s what I think is so cool about you! S-Sorry, don’t mean to go all geeky on you or anything, it’s just-” 

“It’s cool that I get my butt kicked so often?” Chat Noir said with a teasing smile. 

“No, no, not at all!” Chris said quickly. “Well, not totally, but…I don’t know…I guess it’s cool how you don’t ever let anything get you down. How you’re always back for more no matter what you go through.” 

“Maybe that means I’m just too stupid to quit,” Chat Noir shrugged. 

"Well…for whatever reason, I'm glad you didn't," Chris said with a hesitant smile. "And I'm glad you came back to Paris; even if it isn't for good yet." 

"Yeah, well…" Chat Noir trailed off, picking at a thread coming off his scarf awkwardly. "Make sure you thank the other heroes. They're the ones holding this place down while I'm away." 

"If you say so," Chris sighed, leaning in. "But between you and me, Carapace is kinda-" 

"Kinda what?" Chris tensed, turning to see Carapace standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Looking for the bathroom, huh?" 

"...I have a very poor sense of direction?" Chris chuckled, only deepening Carapace's frown. 

"Well direct yourself back to the command center," Carapace said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Monarch's done scrubbing your phone if you want to pick it up." 

"Man, you guys don't care too much for privacy, do you?" Chris grumbled, stomping past Carapace and down the hall towards the command room. 

"Sorry about him," Carapace sighed. 

"He's fine," Chat Noir said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just wanted to ask some questions…you never told me he had dreams of being the next Ladyblogger." 

"...you haven't exactly been around for me to tell," Carapace shrugged. "It's kind of a new development." 

Chat Noir swallowed the bubbling guilt in the back of his throat. It was much easier to be indignant instead. "I feel like we've had this conversation before." 

"Yeah, shortly before you shoved me into a stove if memory serves," Carapace said, desperately trying to fill the icy silence that surrounded them. 

Chat Noir's jaw tensed as he glanced away. "I was…overly emotional that night; my mother-" 

"Your mom was fine," Carapace sighed through his nose. 

"If Bluebird hadn't been there-" 

"But he was!" Carapace shouted, wincing as his voice echoed back at him. "He was…because I asked him to be." 

"Yeah, well I asked you to keep an eye on her," Chat Noir said, picking at the scab growing over the memory of the night five months ago when he and Nino had nearly destroyed his new kitchen. 

"What do you want me to do?" Carapace asked, spreading his arms as though the answer was floating in the air somewhere beside him. "You want me to go back in time so I can be the one who pulls your mom out of the way? Would that surgically remove the stick from your ass?" 

"No, it's fine," Chat Noir said with a wave of his hand. "I just wanted to feel like I could trust you-" 

"You still can," Carapace sighed, shaking his head. “You’re just choosing not to!” 

“Yeah, because I just love having no one to fall back on,” Chat Noir muttered. 

Carapace’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t give me that shit again, man. If I had known it was you asking me back then-” 

“You would have what? Asked Alya’s permission first before helping me?” Chat Noir snapped. 

“Oh, so you  really think I’d just go along with whatever she asked without sticking up for myself?” Carapace asked. 

“I don’t know; ask Chloe,” Chat Noir said. It was a sore subject and worst of all, Chat Noir knew it was sore. He had glanced into Nino’s frayed romantic life enough to know that jabbing him there was a low blow. But tired and edgy as he was, he was looking for some way out of a conversation that made him feel like a failure as a friend, and a hero, and a son. Thankfully, the look of hurt disappointment on Carapace’s face seemed to convey just how much he sucked without any further conversation needed. 

“You know…you’re great at pretending to be an asshole,” Carapace said, waving Chat Noir off as he turned to leave. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were starting to go pro.” 

Chat Noir’s throat clenched as he watched Carapace leave, torn between saying something and just cramming his staff down his throat to keep himself from hurting him even more.

---

Paris 2016

Ladybird pulled Cat Noir back from the ripple in the air in front of them expanded, the red crackling light shrouding the massive figure of The Cobra as he led the vanguard through the rift in time. A pulsing red crystal in his hand warped the air around him as he walked and through the other side Ladybird could see a hazy image of a warehouse interior. 

“What are the odds these guys are superheroes looking to help us take out Papillon?” Cat Noir muttered out of the corner of his mouth as The Cobra turned his gaze on them. 

“Targets located,” The Cobra said as the rest of The Venoms poured out of the crack behind him. 

“Not good,” Ladybird said as her earring beeped. “Oh that’s really not good.” 

“Well that was quick; looks like your program was a success, Sal,” The Scorpion said, pushing their way to the front of the pack. “Aw, look how cute they used to be.” 

“We’re downright adorable,” Cat Noir said, his smile glinting as he stepped between Ladybird and The Scorpion. “Unfortunately, it’s a little late for meet-and-greets; past curfew, don't you know?” 

“Oh, we don’t plan on keeping you long,” The Scorpion said, holding her hand out in front of them. “We just want your Miraculous.” 

“Buddy, you’re not even close to the front of the line as far as that is concerned,” Ladybird said, unspooling her yo-yo with a flick of her wrist. “I would sooner hand my earrings over to Papillon than you.” 

At this, the small group of strangers chuckled as if laughing at an in-joke Ladybird wasn't privy to. 

“We know you would,” The Scorpion said, drawing their baton with a crack of red electricity. “But I don’t remember asking.” 

"So, you got another brilliant plan or are you tapped out for the night?" Cat Noir asked. The gang of masked strangers started edging around them, weapons appearing or knuckles cracking menacingly. Earrings beeping again, Ladybird's eyes pinged between the Venoms, looking for some crack in their defenses that could be exploited. 

"Run for it?" She whispered.

"Oh come on; I could have come up with that!" Cat Noir hissed, raising his baton defensively as The Cobra circled around him. 

"This doesn't have to get ugly," The Centipede said, snapping her three-sectioned staff out. "You can go home to your families tonight if you just cough up the jewelry." 

"If you had any idea what my home and family life were like, you'd know that's not as much of an incentive as you think it is," Cat Noir sniffed, pulling Ladybird closer to him, away from The Toad's slowly growing hands. 

Okay, let's follow up on that if we live through this , Ladybird thought, glaring at The Scorpion over Cat Noir's shoulder. "You really think we're gonna just give up to the first gang of scrublords who threaten us? Do you know how many times Cat Noir and I are threatened on a daily basis?" 

"Would you prefer that we stop with the threats and skip right to the take by force part of the evening?" The Salamander asked as Ladybird's earrings beeped again. Time, as always, worked against her; they couldn't afford to get into another drawn out fight when either of them could de-transform in seconds. 

"I would love to see you try!" Ladybird cried, whipping her yo-yo past Cat Noir's shoulder and knocking one of the glowing red crystal's out of The Centipede's grip. A ghostly hand reached out of the ground to catch it, but by then they had already moved, Cat Noir following Ladybird closely as she darted up over the rooftops. 

"Cat, I'm gonna need you to carry me pretty soon!" Ladybird cried, dodging a grasping hand as it reached out of the roof to snare her ankle. 

"Piggyback, bridal style, or-" The rest of Cat Noir's menu of transportation options was cut off as The Toad's arm stretched after him, plucked him out of the air and whipped him against the roof so hard he bounced a few feet in the air before landing. 

"Cat!" Ladybird swung back using her yo-yo to slingshot her at The Toad before he could grab Cat Noir. A massive, stretchy hand snagged her foot first, holding her upside down as he braced a foot on Cat Noir's back. 

"Just when I thought you were toad-ally useless,” The Scorpion chuckled, pinching Ladybird’s cheek as she kicked ineffectually against The Toad’s side. 

“Hey, I’m the funny one here!” Cat Noir yelped, scratching at The Toad’s impenetrable boot as he tried to push his massive frame off his back. "Don't cut in on my gimmick!" 

“Making people laugh doesn’t make you funny,” The Scorpion said, crouching down to meet Ladybird’s inverted gaze. “Just like outsmarting a geezer in a moth suit doesn’t make you smart.” 

“I don’t need to be smart,” Ladybird grunted, eyeing the glowing crystal cradled under The Centipede’s arm. “Just smarter than you!” 

Acting on a blind hunch, her yo-yo shot out, pegging the crystal and knocking it out of The Centipede’s grip. 

“Careful with that!” The Salamander hissed, diving for the crystal and catching it before it smashed on the ground. “One bad knock and-” 

The Cobra’s eyes snapped to Cat Noir, seemingly knowing what he was going to do before he could do it. Frantically, he whipped his cane at the young man’s hand, trying to bat it away as it reached out for the dangling crystal hanging off the Toad’s belt

“Oops,” Cat Noir said, Cataclysm firing off the tip of his finger and shattering the crystal in a shower of red glass moments before the cane struck his hand. 

“N-” The Salamander’s lips froze in the shape of an O, frozen as a shimmering bubble spread out from the center of the shattered crystal. It slowly expanded to cover the small rooftop they all perched on, trapping a startled flock of pigeons mid-flight as they tried to escape. Ladybird turned her head slowly, taking ages to move as everyone seemed to be moving underwater. The Scorpion lunged in slow motion, hand reaching for Ladybird’s earring as the bubble’s expansion stopped. Her fingertips brushed the jewelry, thumb ready to unlatch the Miraculous from her ear when-

Pop.

The bubble popped, and in a flash of brilliant scarlet light, Ladybird, Cat Noir, and the Venoms disappeared. 

---

Rounding the corner, Carapace nearly bowled Ladybug over in the narrow hallway. “Sorry,” he muttered as he stepped past her. “Don’t go in there; something seriously stinks right now.” 

“Rena’s looking for-” The door to the wing slammed behind Carapace with an echoing clang. 

“...you,” Ladybug sighed, glancing back into the dark corner of the base that still seemed to be partially under construction. “...Adrien?” 

Stepping into the room, she felt a wave of shame and loathing wash over her, quickly replaced by a jolt of anxiety as she caught a flicker of green in the shadows that surrounded her. 

“You really shouldn't be bandying my name around like that,” Chat Noir sniffed, stepping out of the shadows and into the dim light of the rest of the room. 

"It's just us," Ladybug said, letting the mantle of Ladybug slip off her shoulders and dissolve into a shower of pink light. "Alya is sending the kids off with a stern 'don't hang out on rooftops anymore' talking to; that should keep her busy for a little bit." 

"I'm sure between her and Nino, they're capable of scolding our little snoops into compliance," Chat Noir mused. "But something tells me they'll be back before too long; at least Chris seems to enjoy himself more than he should have." 

"I'm sure he's just excited to meet his hero again," Marinette chuckled, watching as Chat Noir busied himself cleaning Fang's blade, a crackling black Cataclysm banishing the dust and grime accumulated during the rooftop fight into thin air. "I guess it's been a while since you've been in Paris?" 

"I come back plenty of times," Chat Noir sighed. "Did Nino say I've been avoiding this place?" 

"No, I just-" 

"It's their job to protect Paris; I have the whole rest of the world to worry about," Chat Noir muttered to himself more than anyone else, "Besides, it's not like they need my help or anything; if you haven't noticed, they're pretty capable of handling themselves." 

"No kidding," Marinette chuckled. "Fighting with them on that rooftop tonight made that really clear…Alya managed to pull together seven heroes with a phone call and a couple of text messages. If we still had to hand out Miraculous like the old days, we might not have made it." 

"It's not the old days anymore," Chat Noir said, voice devoid of malice, blame, or anything Marinette could latch onto. "Paris has moved on from Ladybug and Chat Noir." 

Marinette stared at his back, noting the tension that seemed to wind itself through every inch of his figure . His shoulders hunched as if perpetually anticipating another blow and his movements were sharp, tense, and short. "Have you?" 

Chat Noir's lips curled into something between a smile and a snarl. "What was my alternative? Curl up in a ball and wait for you to decide to come back?"

"I would have come back earlier if-" Marinette bit her lip as she couldn't quite figure out how to end that sentence. If Alya had asked? If she figured out a way to walk through Paris again without feeling like a colossal fraud? 

"Don't worry about it," Chat Noir said with a wave of his hand. "I figured it out; Master He and I managed to keep a lid on things outside Paris for a couple of years. We had a pretty good record until-" 

Chat Noir's throat bobbed as he swallowed, but the wave of emotion Marinette could feel on the other side of their bond was muted, deliberately by the same heavy barrier that she felt sealed her off the night before. 

"They're not going to get away with that," Marinette said quietly. "They will answer for what they did to Master He, I promise." 

"That's…that's not your promise to make," Chat Noir said, turning to face her fully for the first time. In the shadows, his brilliant green eyes seemed to glow brighter like the only two stars in an otherwise barren night sky. "Even if they had nothing to do with Master He, it's still my job as the Black Cat to hunt things like them." 

"Is that what you've been doing?" Marinette asked. "Hunting?" 

"Hunting…being hunted…the top of the food chain is a very narrow ledge," Chat Noir said, a note of pride creeping into his voice. As though his life being endangered on a nightly basis was something to boast about. 

"A fall from that height would really hurt," Marinette mused. 

"Cats land on their feet," Chat Noir said, his smile all teeth and no eyes. "Hasn't exactly been a picnic since dear old daddy did himself in…but I've preyed on meaner predators than Firebird and Kaiser Long. Sooner or later, I'll prey on them too." 

"They plan to destroy the world, Adrien," Marinette said. "That sounds like a bigger meal than even you're used to." 

"You haven't seen my meals lately," Chat Noir said, leaning on a table. "You think they're the only ones who want to destroy or enslave or corrupt the world? If it's not some ancient evil it's a brand spanking new evil; they all want the same thing and they all go down the same way." 

"I'm sure…but whatever you fought weren't-" Marinette's eyes flickered up to meet his. "...us."

"Us?"

"Tell me you didn't think the same thing when we fought back in Venice?" Marinette said, rubbing her arm. "Fighting the pair of them was like…fighting us when we were partners. They're a pair that act and fight like they're a single unit; they can even change places at will." 

"And Team Ladynoir is the measuring stick by which you measure threats?" Chat Noir sniffed. "You really think that means anything?" 

"It did once, didn't it?" Marinette asked, red light washing over her as her regular outfit was once again replaced by the red and black mantle of Ladybug. "Adrien, I know things are a little tense between us…and there's probably a lot we still need to talk about, but I can help you, can't I? Wouldn't it be easier to take them down if we went at it together like we…" 

Ladybug trailed off, unsure of what she was trying to say. Like we used to? Like before she had compromised their partnership? Like before she ripped the ring off his finger and threw him off a balcony? 

"I want to try again," Ladybug said. " I think now…now we have a chance to do it right, don't we? To be better than we ever were before and strong enough to take down whoever stands in our way." 

Chat Noir chuckled humorlessly. "You want to get the band back together? Just partner up again like nothing happened?" 

"I don't think it would be that easy, but…" A worrying pit started growing in Ladybug's stomach, ice seeping through her veins as Chat Noir's blank stare met her. 

"Look, I know I screwed up," Ladybug said, dropping her mantle again in the hopes of reminding him that she wasn't just the partner who walked out on him. "Not a day goes by where I don't feel awful about myself…or sorry for how I treated you. I should have listened to you; I should have asked for more help before I let myself get so strung out that Hawk Moth could take advantage of me." 

Marinette chanced another step closer, watching as Chat Noir seemed to tense the closer she drew to him. "But we had something good once. We kept this city safe for years; there wasn't anything that could beat us at our peak and-" 

"What peak?" Chat Noir asked, cocking his head to one side. "Marinette…you don't really think we were at our strongest when we were kids, do you?" 

"We were," Marinette said, gesturing between them. "You and me as a team were unstoppable, and if we could just-" 

"Act like nothing happened and go back to teaming up like we used to?" Chat Noir said, raising an eyebrow. "Does that include me following your orders and throwing myself on landmines to keep you safe?" 

Marinette bit her lip, but refused to look away even as those brilliant green eyes smoldered with a kind of hidden fire that sent chills running down her spine. "Okay…maybe I have a rosy view of our past. I know at the end it was really bad, but before that we really had something valuable, didn't we?" 

Chat Noir shrugged, appearing casual. "Yeah, we fought off my father's brainwashed slaves well enough but you can't compare akuma to Firebird and Kaiser Long. The things they're capable of are…well, let's just say that I'm not surprised that my father was their subordinate and not the other way around." 

"Isn't that all the more reason to try and work something out?" Marinette said. "I know I made it hard to trust me-" 

"It's not just trust," Chat Noir sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I relied on you as my partner a lot…too much and to the point where I couldn't stop you when you turned down a dangerous path. You might have taken the ring off my finger, but I wasn't strong enough to protect Plagg in the first place."

"But that's not…" Marinette blinked in confusion. "Adrien, it's not your fault that you trusted someone who was supposed to be there for you."

"I never said it was," Chat Noir said, turning to face her. "But you have to understand that I can't put myself in a position where I have to rely on you again. It's just…safer that way." 

"That's not…" Marinette swallowed painfully, her mind racking through the list of excuses, explanations, and justifications that would make her former partner see reason. Each one of them came up painfully flat and empty on closer inspection as she was forced to consider a horrible possibility; what if he's right? Chat Noir knew her better than almost anyone else in the world…if he seemed to think she wasn't worth trusting again-

"I'm sure we'll be called on the same jobs in the future," Chat Noir said, stepping past her on the way out the door. "But as far as you and I are concerned…it's best to leave our partnership in the past." 

Marinette had a brief moment to feel her stomach plunge, despair creeping into her body like an icy puddle, before she felt terribly and inexplicably wrong.

Her head snapped straight up, scowling at the ceiling and the streets above them. A tremor ran through her body as though she had grabbed a live electrical wire and judging by the way Chat Noir froze and turned his attention skyward, she wasn't the only one that felt it. 

"What was that?" Marinette and Chat Noir asked, glancing at one another. "That feels a lot like-" 

"Them," Chat Noir growled, his phantom eye flickering in its socket as it pierced through hundreds of meters of concrete with its gaze. His flowing blonde locks started raising, standing on end as though triggered by some primeval sense of danger. 

"I was gonna say us, but-hey!" Marinette quickly donned her cowl, nipping at Chat Noir's heels as he turned and headed down the hallway. "Where are you going?" 

---

The bubble popped and almost ten years later, The Scorpion spat out of a hole in reality, skipped across the river, and smashed into the wall on the far side. By the time they knew what was happening, it was already too late to stop it and judging by the litany of swearing and screaming coming from their communicator, the rest of the team seemed to realize just how fucked they were as well. 

“-which is why I said be careful!” The Salamander hollered as The Scorpion peeled themselves off the wall. “Do you have any idea how many miles of silicon went into those transmitters?! How long I spent personally hand-wiring the relays to latch back to our time, you dumb amphibious-” 

“Everyone shut up!” The Scorpion barked into her communicator as they limped up a set of nearby stairs. “Sal, explain.” 

“You know how temperamental The Rabbit is,” The Salamander started with a long suffering sigh. “Those relays were our ticket back in case one of us needed to extract quickly; breaking one pops a temporal bubble and relays us back to the present…seriously, did nobody read the user guides I printed out for you?!” 

“But where are our targets?” The Centipede asked, the sound of chattering people confirming that she had likely been sent across the city like the rest of The Venoms. “Cobra?” 

“They’re not with us.” 

“Not here either.” 

“Shit…” The Scorpion sighed, kicking a nearby trash can. “Shit shit shit shit shit…” 

“We should relay this to Firebird immediately,” The Cobra said. “Call in reinforcements to-” 

“No,” The Scorpion said firmly. “No…no reason to do that just yet. If the time bubble popped with them inside it, that means they came back with us, right?” 

“I didn’t exactly get to test it, but-” 

“Yes or no, Sal!” The Scorpion demanded, their voice cracking and betraying fear that lay underneath. 

“Theoretically they should be on this side,” The Salamander concluded. “But they could be on the other side of the globe by now for all we know.” 

“Then we have a chance,” The Scorpion said. “Fan out; I want this city tilted upside down until we find them. If they’re here…it’s only a matter of time before they try to make contact with Rena Rouge. They can’t go back without the Rabbit…they’re stuck here until we bring them back-” 

“Or Ladybug and friends pull another miracle off,” The Centipede concluded. “Face it; the situation has gone sideways. It’s time to call in-” 

“Finish that sentence, Nadja, and I will personally make sure you live long enough to see everything you care about burned in front of you!” The Scorpion snapped, panic crawling through their veins as they hurried down a side street. “Listen…we still have the chance to salvage this mess. If we all work together, we can find those little creeps before they cause us any more headaches.” 

“They’ve already caused us quite a few,” The Toad sighed. 

“They’re two kids,” The Scorpion said, not sure who they were trying to reassure. “And we are the most well-funded organization on this soon-to-be-doomed planet; they can’t get away from us forever. Find them!” 

---

Cat Noir’s head felt like it had been squeezed through a pasta machine as he pulled himself out of the trash can he had been deposited in. As far as garbage landings, it wasn’t the worst he had ever experienced; the sanitation service hadn’t come yet, so he had a thick pile of soiled hotel towels to break his fall. 

“Lady…bird?” Cat Noir muttered, stumbling out of the trash and wobbling to his feet. “Ladybird?” 

He rifled through the trash for a moment, fearing he had landed on his partner until he was sure he didn’t accidentally squash his Lady. “Not our smoothest exit, but whatever works, works…Plagg, Claws In!” 

Cat Noir waited for the rush of green light to wash over him and return him to his civilian self…and waited…and waited. 

“Claws in?” Cat Noir chanced again. Frowning, he stared down at his ring, attempting to wriggle it off his finger to no avail. It was as though the ring had grafted itself to his suit, no longer beeping but not coming off either. “Okay…weird but not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

Flicking his communicator open, his screen was filled with a list of superheroes he didn’t know were active at the moment. Secrecy was something of a sore spot between him and Ladybird, but surely she would have told him if Carapace, Rena Rouge and…was that Queen Bee? And who the heck was Bluebird supposed to be? 

Stranger still was the blinking green paw icon that rested above his and two Ladybird symbols one on top of the other. After a moment, Cat Noir pressed Carapace’s icon, hoping for a friendly voice to talk to at least. 

“Come on, pick up,” Cat Noir pleaded, sticking to the shadows as the phone picked up. “Hey, Carapace-” 

“Look, if you wanna talk to me, come upstairs and say it to my face like a man,” Carapace grumbled in a much deeper voice than Cat Noir had ever heard him speak before hanging up on him. 

“That was rude…” Cat Noir mused, taking a chance and pressing one of the Ladybird buttons. 

Across the city, a “borrowed” hoodie and shorts concealing her suit, Ladybird wove through familiar streets lined with unfamiliar looking buildings. This was Paris; there was no mistaking it for any other city. But the shops that surrounded her were different from the ones she passed every day on her way to school, the music that played from passing phones wasn’t from any artist she had ever heard of, and the news showed a twisted skyline with Venice’s name underneath. 

Finger hovering over Cat Noir’s icon, she nearly dropped the phone as her partner rang her first. “Cat?” 

“Ladybird!” Cat Noir breathed on the other end of the line. “Whew…thought I squished you for a second. Are you okay?” 

“Confused…tired…but okay,” Ladybird said, dropping her voice and retreating back into her hood as a small crowd of teenagers passed her. “Are you?” 

“Can’t get my ring off, but I’m not doing too bad,” Cat Noir said. “Did your transformation wear off?” 

“No…that’s what worries me,” Ladybird said, pausing as the entrance to a familiar park. “And that’s not the only thing…” 

Looking up at the polished brass statue, Ladybird saw the sum of her fears cast in metal. It was what she had worried about ever since Master Fu had disappeared, leaving her in charge of a box of Miraculous with no idea how to take care of a dozen kwamis; the nagging fear that everything she was doing was pushing those she cared about further and further away from her. 

The statue showed her standing alone, her partner nowhere to be seen, as she stood proudly over the crowds that passed her by. 

“Where are we?” Cat Noir breathed in her ear. 

“Nowhere I want to stay,” Ladybird said. “Usual spot; ten minutes…if it even exists anymore.”

Notes:

Writing lil Ladynoir was honestly so refreshing after writing fraught, friends & lovers to enemies to wary allies Ladynoir for so long now. Honestly needed to inject a little fun back into this story and a bit of nostalgia is a perfect way to get there. Life is getting back to normal for me (long story) so hopefully I'll be able to get to the juicy bits of this arc soon.

Thanks to strange-oc's for proofing!

Chapter 17: The Pitfalls of Nostalgia

Summary:

Song Credits: Your Graduation American Baseball

The air shimmered as the tip of Chat Noir's blade sliced through it, opening a rift on a rooftop overlooking the city. Outside, the nagging tingle in the back of his mind grew stronger; a distant melody that sounded familiar enough to make his hairs stand on end. And that wasn't the only thing making him uneasy. 

"Where do you think they are?" Ladybug asked, slipping through the portal before he could close it behind him. He hated how his shoulders still tensed when he heard her voice; hated how much he needed to throttle the soft, forgiving part of himself that urged him to relax. With Marinette (Ladybug, he reminded himself) having a backdoor to his mind at all times, there was no such thing as “over-cautious” anymore. 

Not where she was concerned. 

"Can't be sure; one's maybe half a kilometer in that direction and the other is…" Chat Noir cocked his head to one side. "Moving much slower over there." 

"If it's… them, wouldn't they be together?" Ladybug asked, perching up on the railing as she surveyed the city below. It was surreal how she just knew something was out there the same way she knew the wind was cold against her cheek. She had tried, many times, to rationalize or explain her sixth-sense that came with her reconstructed body but every time she seemed to land on “it’s just magic”. An explanation that only frustrated her further. 

"Typically it's one or the other," Chat Noir muttered. "Venice was the first time I've seen them both fighting at the same time; they have a lot of horrible little projects that demand their divided attention." 

"So whatever it is, it must be important," Ladybug said, squinting down at the streets below. “What’s our plan?” 

Our plan. It had been years since those words had any meaning. For Chat Noir, it was a reminder of the times he had willingly walked into danger to protect his partner, each battle and each sacrifice now sources of shame for him. 

There is no us anymore, Chat Noir reminded himself. 

“ My plan is to go see what’s going on down there,” Chat Noir said, tapping Ladybug’s shoulder with his baton as he passed her on his way towards the first energy source. “This shouldn’t take too long; let Rena Rouge know I’m following up on a lead.” 

“Done.” Chat Noir turned around to see Ladybug closing her communicator, an unnervingly chipper expression on her face. “Now what?” 

So much for his clumsy attempt to detach himself from Ladybug. “I really doubt this is something that requires both of us, so-” 

“Then why don’t you let me take care of it?” Ladybug asked, a little more eagerly than she intended. “Seriously, you’ve had a rough couple of days, haven’t you? Maybe you should take a little bit of a rest.” 

Even in the half-light of the rooftop, Chat Noir looked like he had just walked out of a warzone. He had about him the air of a man expecting to step on a land-mine; cautious, fidgety, suspicious of every misplaced pebble placed in his path. It was an expression she had come close to wearing in her time as Paris’ hero, but one she had always managed to stop short of. 

“I’ve had a rough couple of years ,” Chat Noir sniffed, scarf fluttering behind him as though buffeted by his irritation. “I’m used to working hurt at this point and even if I wasn’t, I can handle a little recon without calling in the reinforcements.” 

"I'm sure you are, but…you don't have to work hurt on this one, Adrien," Ladybug said softly. It felt strange calling him by his real name while they were both in costume; maybe it was just her way of digging underneath the black, impenetrable shell of Chat Noir to the boy ( man, Ladybug reminded herself) she knew was underneath. But Ladybug could tell by his stony expression that she wasn’t likely to get anywhere by pressing the issue; no matter how fervently she wanted to prove herself worthy of his trust again, he seemed just as insistent on keeping her at arm’s length. Wheedling, convincing, or cajoling was not likely to get her what she wanted; clearly, a change of tactics was needed. 

“So handle one of them by yourself,” Ladybug said, nodding in one direction. “And I’ll handle the other one. We can cover more ground and get more information if we each take a target. If it’s too much, we can pull back, regroup, and come up with a different plan. ” 

It was a perfectly logical, reasonable solution to their current predicament; obviously, Chat Noir loathed it, but struggled to find some reason out of it. 

“You’re two days back from retirement, and you want to go out by yourself?” 

“I’m not out by myself…am I?” Ladybug asked. “I know you’re upset with me, but this concerns me too.” 

“We’re not-” 

“-a team anymore,” Ladybug sighed. “I know…and I know who to blame for that. But if we’re on the same assignment, hunting the same targets…doesn’t it make sense to at least cooperate?” 

It does; it did . But a hard, angry part of Chat Noir scorned the idea. Chat Noir’s lips pressed into a thin line, squinting at her as though trying to glare her into submission. Unfortunately for him, whatever dread cosmic powers intimidated mortals with a well placed sneer did not seem to work on Ladybug. Waves of negative energy rolled off her like water off a duck’s back, not even blinking at the darkest scowl Chat Noir could summon. 

God, were you always this much of a pain in the ass? Chat Noir thought. 

I can hear you, you know, Ladybug thought back, resisting the urge to smile. 

“I know,” Chat Noir said, turning with a dismissive wave over his shoulder. “Fine; do whatever you want. I’m not your boss…just be sure you have Carapace on speed-dial if you need help.” 

“I thought this was a routine recon mission; no need to call in reinforcements ,” Ladybug said as he turned to leave. 

Something resembling a chuckle escaped Chat Noir’s tightly clenched teeth and Ladybug decided to count a victory where she could. 

---

"I thought these were supposed to be for emergencies." 

"And I thought I told you to shut up and let me handle this, " The Scorpion hissed, cracking open the black scaled briefcase on the sidewalk. Inside, cradled in black foam, were four pearlescent black eggs the size of grapefruits. As the streetlight shone down into the case, the eggs started twitching, the thin membrane of their shells pulsing as something beneath the surface started pushing against it. 

"Loathe as I am to agree with Andre, he's got a point," The Salamander muttered as The Scorpion unhooked the leather straps holding the eggs in place. "After what happened in Barcelona-" 

"Well we're not in Barcelona right now, are we?!" The Scorpion snapped. Ever since their initial sweep of the city had turned up nothing, The Scorpion's tenuous facade of control had slipped even further, with near-desperate demands to look harder giving way to fully-desperate plans to unleash Kaiser Long's Hunters. It was that, or tell her employers that her plan to capture another set of Miraculouses had failed. 

You know you're in deep when playing with murderously experimental biotechnology is preferable to admitting your mistake. 

"God the confidence you people have in me is overwhelming," The Scorpion sighed, holding an egg up in the light as her compatriots shrunk away from it. "They said this was for an emergency…this is an emergency, right?" 

"You've made your mind up; there is less than a point-eight percent chance of altering your course of action through discourse alone," The Cobra said, readying his cane in case the egg did anything violent. "I should inform you that there is a four percent chance that the Hunter will immediately eat your head first after hatching." 

"Sounds like that means I have a ninety-six percent chance of success," The Scorpion said, running their finger over the egg. "Firebird said to handle this…"

Reaching into the box, they withdrew a glittering golden needle and held the point against the side of one egg-shell. The other eggs rattled in their case as the tip punctured the shell, spilling sickly green light out of dozens of cracks that appeared in the surface. 

"So I'm handling this," The Scorpion said, watching the egg grow in size. It pulsed and swelled, cracks barely holding the egg together as it grew to the size of a phone booth, bulging horribly as it pushed against the confines of its shell. "...right?" 

The egg splintered, shattered, and shot in a dozen directions as a slick black scaled creature opened one bulbous green eye. 

---

Andre has his own ice cream parlor now? Ladybird thought as she wove through the line of tourists coming from a brightly lit ice cream parlor. Andre stood behind the counter, looking wrinkled and slightly gray but unmistakably the same man who sold ice cream from a cart. She was no stranger to the Rabbit Miraculous and the various shenanigans that her alternate selves had gotten up to; at least this Paris wasn't a watery grave haunted by the ghost of Cat Blanc. Still, that didn't mean it was any safer; those freaks in the masks had obviously wanted to capture their Miraculous. If this was their time, then being stuck with no way back and unable to detransform was only a little better than the situation they had fled from. 

" Hey, my cat shelter closed!" 

For once, she was grateful for Cat Noir's endless chatter. 

" I swear if Tom and Sabine's is gone too, this is officially the bad timeline," Cat Noir grumbled as she searched for a quiet spot to take to the rooftops from. A heavy lump settled in the pit of Ladybird's stomach that she quickly brushed off; if she started worrying about parents that weren't hers, she was likely to lose focus. 

"Jury's still out on that one," Ladybird said, slipping into an alley and cinching her yo-yo around a fire escape above her. At least she still seemed to have full use of her powers…for the moment. But Ladybird was never the kind of person to count on good times lasting for too long; better to envision the worst and prepare to meet it.

If only Master Fu was still here, Ladybird thought, swinging over the street next to the familiar house she had trained in. It was still there; there was even a light on in the kitchen which meant that someone new had moved in. Sadly, it had been months since Ladybird could fall back on her one-time mentor; ever since he lost his memory and disappeared from Paris for good, Ladybird had to fly blind as best she could. 

" Hey…th-this is gonna sound really weird, but do you feel something…tingly?" 

"Do we need to take you to a vet, minou?" Ladybird giggled nervously. 

" Maybe…I don't know, I'm getting some seriously bad vibes from this place," Cat Noir murmured. " Like we're somewhere we really shouldn't be." 

"We shouldn't be here," Ladybird said, swinging closer and closer to their designated meet-up spot. "I'm not an expert on time travel, but something tells me bumming around in the future for too long isn't a good idea. Let's just meet up and start to figure out a way out of this." 

"I'm guessing you can't summon the Rabbit Miraculous to your yo-yo, huh?" 

"I tried that," Ladybird sighed, frustration creeping into her voice. "We're gonna have to track down Ladybird in this timeline and see if we can bum a ride home from her." 

If she's even around anymore…

It was a clear night with a full moon and yet Ladybird hadn't seen any sign of her future self. Not a flicker of movement or a flash of red light despite the weather being perfect for a patrol. Worse still was the total lack of Cat Noir anywhere. She had passed the typical Ladybird shirts, hats, and souvenirs that enterprising Parisians sold to tourists, but the knock-off Cat Noir merch was almost nowhere to be seen. 

Did something happen to Cat Noir in this timeline? 

Part of her believed that Cat Noir could come back from anything; a much smaller part now that she had seen just how badly things could get for him, but still- 

" Ladybird!" Cat Noir's panicked voice jerked her out of the air, making her fumble mid swing and tumble on a rooftop. 

"What is it?! Ladybird asked frantically. "What's wrong?" 

" What happened to my statue?!" Ladybird let out a sigh equal parts relief and exasperation as Cat Noir's indignant yowl could almost be heard echoing off the buildings. She could picture his face; pinched, infuriated, and turning red. 

"Kitty that isn't your statue," Ladybird sighed, oblivious to the shadow slinking behind her. "And this isn't our city! The sooner you meet me here, the sooner we can-" 

A hand closed around Ladybird's shoulder and without thinking she lashed out, fist cocked and swinging backwards at her assailant. Claws closed around her wrist, blocking her strike and hoisting her up off the ground

" Cat!" Ladybird cried as the communicator fell to the floor, her legs kicking ineffectually at her attacker. "I need-" 

" Quiet ." The word seemed to suck all the sound out of the air around her as the sputtering roof light illuminated her assailant. A tattered green scarf flickered in the breeze as two glowing green eyes pinned her in place. 

"Don't you tell me to be quiet !" Ladybird growled, struggling against the older man's grip. "Who do you think you…are?" 

A cloud passed away from the moon and for the first time, Ladybird saw her partner's face filled with something other than joy when he looked at her. 

"A very good question," Chat Noir said, eyes narrowing at the girl in his grip. " You first.” 

---

"Ladybird?!" Cat Noir nearly dropped his communicator as he heard Ladybird's cry of alarm. "Ladybird, are you okay?!" 

" Cat, I need-"

" Quie-" The last syllable of her attacker's command was swallowed immediately by a veil of silence. The blinking light on his communicator was the only sign that the line was still active as only silence answered him. 

"Craaaap," Cat Noir growled, slamming his communicator shut. "On my way! J-Just hang on a bit-" 

Feline senses being keener at night, Cat Noir managed to see what was coming a split second before it hit him in the face. The air wobbled like a mirage and a large black scaled chameleon the size of a man appeared clinging to the side of the wall. Its beady green eyes swiveled in its sockets, locking on Cat Noir as he moved. Its throat bulged, swelling to twice its usual size before its mouth opened and revealed rows of hooked teeth and a long, serpentine tongue. 

“Ahh…double- crap .” Cat Noir managed to stop himself as the tongue sailed past his face, pegging an unfortunate passerby on a bicycle who immediately seized up, arms and legs locking in place as he teetered off into a bush. 

"The pests in this city are getting out of control," Cat Noir muttered to himself, baton snapping out as the monster dropped off the wall and landed in a defensive crouch. "What's the matter; did someone flush you down a toilet when you were a baby lizard? Well, it's gonna take a lot more than one bony freak to-" 

On the wall behind him, a second Hunter appeared, its camouflage dissolving as it bared its fangs at him. 

"... triple-crap ," Cat Noir grumbled, raising his staff as the Hunters pounced. 

---

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I…am… Ladybird!" 

"Not as many times as I need to tell you that I don't believe you," Chat Noir said, watching the younger, feistier Ladybug kick helplessly against the scarf that bound her wrists together. She had put up an admirable struggle, but the gap between their skills was too vast for Ladybird to overcome. It was almost embarrassing how little force it took for this taller, more dour Cat Noir to restrain her. 

 "You look the part, but if you're going to impersonate someone, at least get their name right,” Chat Noir said, looking her over. “And their age right…and their costume right. Say what you will about Lady bug but she wouldn't be caught dead in those corny polka dotted bike-shorts." 

"Hey, we don't make fun of each other's costumes!" Ladybird pouted, glowering up at him. The fashion designer in her noted the cut of his jacket, privately filing it away as inspiration to use after she kicked this guy's sorry butt for laying hands on her. It wasn't what she expected Cat Noir to be like when he was older; somehow, the idea of her partner as tall, polished and…well, frankly, very handsome was hard to envision until now. 

It's crazy what a haircut and change of clothes can do for a person, Ladybird mused before shaking her head. "Listen, we don't have time for this; some freaks in white masks showed up and kidnapped me and my kitty. We need to get back to our timeline before they capture us!" 

"I'm sure you do," Chat Noir chuckled, leaning against the wall next to her. "And you just need me to give you my Miraculous or follow you into a dark alley or tell you Rena Rouge's real identity first. Do I look stupid to you?" 

"You look like a jerk," Ladybird grunted. "And you're acting like one too. Maybe if you were a little nicer Paris would have sprung for a statue of you like they did for my cat." 

"That is a long story that I don't really feel like getting into with a changeling or kitsune or whatever the hell you claim to be," Chat Noir said, examining his nails. "But suffice to say you're not the first Ladybug imposter that's tried to get at me over the years; you're not even the first this month and that one at least had the sense to get her outfit half-right." 

"Okay, who's the fashion designer here?!"

"Clearly not you, Tour de France," Chat Noir sighed, ignoring Ladybird's squeak of indignation. 

" Excuse me?!" Ladybird growled. "I'm not the one in cat ears !" 

"At least it's on brand," Chat Noir shrugged. 

"Is the glowing eye on-brand now too or are you larping a Naruto character?" 

"I actually boiled it out of my socket shortly before I broke my own arm punching an akuma through a wall," Chat Noir said, his phantom eye flickering as he caught sight of something approaching.  

Ladybird glared silently at Chat Noir for a moment. "...you really expect me to believe that?" 

"I don't expect anything out of you anymore," Chat Noir said, nodding his head up at the sky."Pay attention; if you live long enough to impersonate Ladybug a second time, you're about to get some pointers." 

"What do you…" Ladybird trailed off as she saw a figure swinging between buildings, glimmering red ribbons trailing behind her like the tail of a comet as she flew. She swung up, and for a moment Ladybird got a vision of everything she hoped to be as a hero backlit against the moon; poised, graceful, confident as she somersaulted on the roof and sprang to her feet. 

"I came as soon as I could!" Ladybug panted as she jogged up. "No sign of them in the seventeenth or-" 

Ladybug stopped as she saw her much younger self looking up at her, a look of disbelief and wonder on her face that was hard to understand. "...who is this?" 

"She claims to be Ladybug," Chat Noir sighed, rolling his eyes. "And not very well, I might add." 

"I am Ladybug…no, I am Ladybird!" Ladybird took a deep breath. "Okay, I-" 

"You're me from another past that the Rabbit Miraculous sent here….somehow?" Ladybug summarized. “Sound about right?” 

“Actually…yes,” Ladybird sighed, grateful that at least someone believed her. “Can you tell him that so he can untie me already?! I’m missing my cat and I need to find him before he gets stuck in a tree or something.” 

“You tied her up? ” Ladybug asked. 

"I don't believe her story," Chat Noir said, ignoring Ladybird's dirty look. "And you shouldn't either." 

"Based on what; it's not like this is outside the realm of possibility for us," Ladybug said, bending down to untie Ladybird until Chat Noir's hand closed around her elbow. 

"Don't you think you're being a little cavalier about this?" Chat Noir murmured, his face inches from her own as he leaned in to whisper. "This world is full of things that look like other things-" 

"And I've met plenty ," Ladybug said, irritation flaring. "Or did you think I just designed clothes for three years?" 

"I think you should be more careful where you put your trust," Chat Noir said, eyes narrowing as his thought echoed in the back of her mind. Misplacing it can have deadly consequences. 

Ladybird could almost see the tension crackling between Ladybug and Chat Noir as she fumbled around for an excuse that would allow them to trust her. 

"A-Ask me anything that the real Ladybug would know and I'll tell you," Ladybird said, sitting up on her knees. "We used to meet on this rooftop before patrols! My favorite smoothie flavor is strawberry pineapple with extra whipped cream on top! The first akuma we ever fought was-" 

"Take off your mask," Chat Noir said suddenly. 

Ladybird glanced uneasily between the two of them. "Um…I-I don't know if that's a good idea." 

"He already knows who I am," Ladybug said, chewing on the corner of her lip. "At this point, the cat's out of the bag as far as secret identities are concerned." 

"And the world didn't end once you found out?" Ladybird asked, earning a derisive snort from Chat Noir. 

"Depends on your perspective, I guess," he said. 

Ladybug's expression dropped for a brief moment but she seemed to shake it off, offering Ladybird what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Show us and it'll be easier for us to believe you." 

"And how do I know you're not the bad guys here?" Ladybird asked, wincing as Chat Noir fixed her with the most baleful glare she had ever been on the receiving end of. "You might look a little like my Cat Noir, but you sure as heck don't act like him." 

"I'm sorry; would you prefer it if I rolled over and did what you asked without question?" Chat Noir growled, stopping as Ladybug stuck her hand out. 

"Wait…" Ladybug sighed. "Chat…can you give us a minute?" 

"Seriously?"

"She might be more open to talking to me alone," Ladybug whispered, glancing down at Ladybird. "I might be able to find out more if you give me a little time." 

Chat Noir’s lips twisted as he turned away. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? 

"I don't mean it like-" But Chat Noir was already stomping across the roof and out of earshot. 

"What’s his problem?" Ladybird grumbled as Ladybug let out a groan of exasperation. "Does he keep his baton in his butt or something?” 

"He wasn't always…like that," Ladybug sighed, signaling to Chat Noir as she sat down in front of Ladybird. Can you hear me?

Across the roof Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder but didn't respond. She doesn't know we can do this; just tune in and I'll let you know what she's saying. 

Ladybug could almost feel the palpable distrust through their bond, but Chat Noir didn't seem to object or shut her off like he had done in the past. A small concession led to a small victory; Ladybug was content to celebrate those whenever she could. 

“I couldn’t take my mask off even if I wanted to,” Ladybird muttered, nodding up to her earrings. “ These aren’t coming off; we got caught in some kind of bubble…thing that sent us into the future.” 

“You can still use your powers though, right?” Ladybug asked, examining the Miraculous attached to Ladybird’s ears. Any idea why, Chat? 

Other than the fact that she’s lying straight to your face? Chat Noir thought. When did you get so trusting? 

I’m giving it a shot, Ladybug thought. Other than the lie-

The Miraculous are basically ancient technology, Chat Noir’s thoughts cut across her own. Maybe she’s got a bug in hers. 

…was that a pun? Ladybug thought, smirking as Chat Noir turned away."I want to trust you, but you need to give me something to trust in …what did Chat Noir say to you when Hawk Moth appeared for the first time?" 

"Who's…oh, you mean Papillon?" Ladybird asked. "Big scary moth man in purple? Enjoys terrorizing schoolchildren?" 

"Glad to see there's something we have in common," Ladybug chuckled. "Yeah…tell me what he said to you after Stoneheart." 

Ladybird closed her eyes, trying to remember the exact way Cat Noir had phrased it. "He said…without me, Chloe wouldn't be here. And without us, they won't make it. And that we'll prove that to them." 

Through their bond, Ladybug could almost hear Chat Noir scoffing, the once tender memory turned sour in light of how their partnership had ended. And yet, underneath that, there was a sadness he worked quickly to conceal from her prying attention; an ache that resonated in Ladybug’s chest as well. 

"I know this is weird," Ladybird chuckled. "Usually I'm on the other end of these time-travel thingies so I don't know how this usually goes…but I need you to trust me. I just want to find Cat Noir and go back home." 

Ladybug sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "That might be a little harder than you think…" 

---

Cat Noir's back hit the brick wall as he narrowly dodged a long springing tongue fired from the maw of the reptilian menace that had appeared out of nowhere. The second Hunter shimmered out of the corner of his eye and Cat Noir managed to grab a trash can lid in time to intercept the attack. The Hunter wrenched it out of his grip, the lid wedging between its jaws as it reeled the tongue back into its mouth. 

"Ha!" Cat Noir chuckled, watching the Hunter struggle to get the lid out of its mouth with its spindly claws. "Looks like I drop jaws wherever and when ever I-" 

Rows of razor sharp teeth sliced through the aluminum lid, shredding it into metal strips as it snarled at Cat Noir. 

"Okay, joke later, Adrien," Cat Noir muttered to himself, swinging his staff in a wide arc to fend off the second Hunter. Its tongue grappled the staff, nearly pulling it out of Cat Noir's grip as it yanked the boy towards its waiting jaws. Quickly, he pulled his legs up, driving his heels into the monster's eyes and using it as a springboard to leap into the trees surrounding the nearby park. Maybe if he could put enough foliage between him and his pursuers, he could get away before they got him. 

Hang in there Ladybird, Cat Noir thought. I'm-

Quick as a whip and just as stinging, he felt something slash at the exposed skin on the nape of his neck. His mouth opened to cry out in pain, but the slimy venom coating the monster's tongue had already gone to work making every muscle in his body feel like it was made of jelly. Falling out of the air, he landed facedown on the grass, staff buried in the dirt as one of the Hunter's landed on his back. He didn't even have the strength to cry out in pain as the lizard pressed its weight down between his shoulder blades, pinning him in place as its hot, noxious breath washed over his skin. 

Quadruple crap…sorry Ladybird, Cat Noir thought. Looks like I'm gonna need another bailout…  

---

"You're doing it again." 

Bridgette quickly hid her phone under a napkin, avoiding her husband's probing gaze as she took a sip of her wine. "No idea what you mean." 

"I'm sure you don't," Felix chuckled, the tip of his knife carving through the delicate filet and exposing the bloody blue interior. "Do I need to instruct you in the finer points of taking a night off?" 

The dining room of Cesaire at Le Grand Paris lived up to its reputation as a sedate, sophisticated stage on which a three star culinary ballet took place. Normally, Bridgette wasn't a fan of paying too much for some aspiring Escoffier's art project, but the chef here seemed to understand that food was supposed to taste good first and look good on a social media feed second. The extensive selection of wine helped improve her mood as well. 

" You're as out of practice as I am," Bridgette huffed, kicking her husband lightly with the tip of her heel. "Besides, our…associates should be back soon. As much as I love watching you brutalize a bloody cut of meat, we should save room for our real meal." 

"If they're as competent as they've proven to be in the past, we will have plenty of time to attend to dessert after the show," Felix said, batting Bridgette's foot away with his own. "I have a feeling nights like these are going to be rarer in the future; best to enjoy them while we can." 

"I know…" Bridgette sighed, skewering a prawn with her fork. "We just spent so much time and energy setting up that little smash and grab; a lot of blood was spilled to get where we needed to be." 

"The blood of  dirty police officers," Felix reminded her. “Hardly worth concerning ourselves over.” 

"Still, it feels weird not being there to see it through to the end." 

"At some point you're going to have to learn to let these little things go," Felix chuckled. 

"Are you saying I'm a micromanager?" Bridgette huffed. "I trust you with plenty of important things-"

"And only me," Felix reminded her. 

"Well…maybe you're the only one worth trusting," Bridgette said, slipping out of her heel and nudging his shin with her nylon covered sole. 

"Then why even empower the Venoms?" Felix asked, pinning Bridgette's foot to the floor with his. "I know we're not exactly affording them positions of power once we cut over to the other side, but you're going to have to accept that sometimes-" 

The pupils of Felix's eyes dilated, briefly turning into reptilian slits as he seemed to detect something. 

"...they used the Hunters, didn't they?" Bridgette asked, smirking as Felix's ears flushed scarlet. Wordlessly, he passed her a folded twenty euro note and muttered something about "contingency" as he attacked his steak with renewed vigor. 

---

"What do you mean you don't have the Rabbit Miraculous?!" 

Chat Noir snorted as he heard Ladybird squawk across the rooftop, his back still obediently turned despite having an ear to the conversation through Ladybug. Being connected to his former partner in such an intimate way made him uneasy, but it was better than letting the pair of them conspire without him. And if nothing else, the little imposter seemed genuinely shocked that they didn't have the Rabbit Miraculous. 

If she was sent by Kaiser Long, she would have known that already, Ladybug thought. 

Or she's a very good actor, Chat Noir countered. 

Ladybug rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Long story short Hawk Mo… Papillon's bosses showed up about three years ago and took them from Master He-" 

"Wait, back up; Papillon’s what?! Master Who?! " 

"Except the Tiger; Chloe stole that one," Ladybug said with a wave of her hand. "Doesn't matter; our timelines could be different enough that I’m not exactly spoiling anything. What matters is that we can't exactly zap you home anytime soon. Chat Noir has been working on finding them for the past few years, but so far we don't really have any leads to go on." 

The word years made Ladybird's blood run cold. "But…I-I can't just stay here! I have a home and a family and a life outside of this I want to get back to…oh god the kwami are all back at my house by themselves! What if someone breaks in and takes them?! What if they eat all my hidden snacks?! What if-" 

"Marinette." The sound of her own name coming from Ladybug's mouth was startling enough to derail her runaway thought train. "Deep breaths…" 

Despite Chat Noir's grunt of protest, Ladybug undid Ladybird's bindings, watching as the scarf fluttered across the roof and wound its way around Chat Noir's neck again. 

You seem very sure about this, Chat Noir thought. 

I'm not, Ladybug replied. But I'm sure we can handle a fourteen year old with anxiety issues. 

If you say so, Chat Noir thought, though the tone of his mental voice was anything but sincere. 

"One thing at a time," Ladybug said, pulling Ladybird to her feet. "Let's find your stray kitten first before he gets himself hurt." 

Even if he does you can just Miraculous Ladybug him better so why does it matter? 

Ladybug was shocked by the venomous thought; even more shocked that it had come from Chat Noir himself. 

"H-He was supposed to meet me here by now," Ladybird said, fidgeting with her communicator. "I think he was in the park or near the park; he was a little put out by his statue being missing, so he must've seen it, right?" 

Ladybug's heart clenched as Ladybird looked to her for guidance. It hadn't been that long ago when she felt that small, that lost, that lonely; she didn't know what kinds of things her younger self had gone through but she knew the feeling of wanting someone, anyone, to rely on. 

"Were you followed at all?” Chat Noir asked. “Did they send any…monsters after you?" 

"Like…Sentimonsters?" Ladybird asked. 

"More monstrous and less sentient," Chat Noir said. "Typically with black scales, green eyes, and a seemingly endless library of new ways to kill you; does that ring a bell?" 

Ladybird did not look comforted by the fact that she wasn't being hunted by Sentimonsters. "I-I think I would have seen that." 

"Not unless they sent Hunters after you," Chat Noir said. Behind him, moving silently as the wind, a shimmering, translucent figure crawled up onto the roof. "Think eight foot tall chameleons with horns, paralytic spit, and the ability to scale sheer surfaces."

Ladybug saw something move behind Chat Noir’s shoulder, an unmistakably solid, yet nearly invisible presence creeping towards them. “...Chat?” 

"Now imagine they can run faster than gazelle, leap buildings in a single bound, and shoot a twenty foot long tongue out faster than-" 

Chat Noir heard the snarl moments before the long, sticky pink tongue fired, a gigantic bug-eyed chameleon materializing on the roof behind him. The dripping pink tip shot straight for Ladybird who flattened herself against the roof instinctively as the tongue stuck to the wall. 

"Wow, would you look at that; I am being followed!" Ladybird yelped, scrambling behind Ladybug's legs as her older self snapped a shield out of thin air. "Hey, when do I unlock that?"

"Keep grinding; it'll drop at some point," Ladybug said, gripping her shield tightly as the Hunter's eyes swiveled around to focus on her. "Hey, anything else I should know about these guys, Chat?" 

"Ahh!" Ladybug glanced back to see a second tongue latch around Ladybird's ankle and drag her across the street onto the next rooftop. 

"...they usually hunt in pairs," Chat Noir said, springing after Ladybird as the first Hunter spat its tongue at Ladybug. She caught it on her shield, grabbing the tongue with her free hand and yanking the monster towards her with all her strength. The hard edge of the shield slammed into the beast's eye, driving it down hard into the rooftop. It squawked with inhuman pain, scrambling with long black nails to swipe at Ladybug's leg. She jumped, both heels coming down hard on the monster’s head with a sickening crunch.  

There were times when her own strength scared her; as the monster's head popped like a watermelon thrown from a ten story building, all she could feel was terribly squicked out. 

"Oh god, oh god, oh god ," Ladybug groaned, kicking some of the sticky black slime off her foot as the Hunter’s body slowly melted away into black ooze. "Eugh, I need a shower…maybe a car wash." 

Stowing her shield, Ladybug bounded across the roof where Chat Noir perched with his back to her. "That was quick…but I guess it was just a Hunter." 

"Why didn't you tell me those things pop like grapes when you hit them?" Ladybug said, right foot sticking to the ground with every step like she had tap-danced through bubblegum. 

“Most things do when smitten by a god,” Chat Noir shrugged. “You’re gonna have to mind that strength of yours if you want your dry-cleaning bill to stay manageable.” 

“No kidding,” Ladybug chuckled, looking around the rooftop."Where's mini-me?" 

"HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLP MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Chat Noir nodded a few blocks down where the second Hunter was bounding across the rooftops, Ladybird clutched in its jaws and her pigtails billowing in the breeze behind her.

"What are you doing ?!" Ladybug demanded, her voice cracking.

“Taking in the view,” Chat Noir shrugged, eyes following the Hunter as it moved through the city. “Been a while since I did any sightseeing. This city really is beautiful at night.” 

“Sightseeing?!” Ladybug demanded. "That thing is going to take her back to the Venoms and-" 

Ladybug’s eyes flew open in realization. “...oh.” 

“I thought you’d catch on quickly ,” Chat Noir echoed, leaping off the roof in pursuit of the Hunter. 

“Not exactly my first rodeo, you know,” Ladybug called out, swinging alongside Chat Noir as best she could. For a moment, she was fourteen again and racing him through narrow alleyways and over historic landmarks for ice-cream money. Soaring over the city streets, the baggage that had weighed her down for so long seemed lighter; in the heated moments before a battle, history melted away, and they could be something close to what they had been when they were younger. 

Surprised I’m capable of throwing a plan together too? Chat Noir thought, slicing through the open air with Fang and teleporting through a portal a block ahead. 

It’s a nice change of pace, Ladybug thought back, latching onto a pair of streetlamps with her ribbons and slingshotting herself ahead to catch up with Chat Noir. I get the feeling there’s a lot you’d like to say to me…

Chat Noir opened another portal, dashing ahead only to look back and see that Ladybug had followed him. 

I thought bringing personal business into work wasn’t your style, Chat Noir thought.

Maybe I’m due for a change in style, Ladybug thought. I am a fashion designer after-

Stop! Chat Noir thought, suddenly grabbing Ladybug’s wrist suddenly as the Hunter stopped in its tracks. Its eyes swiveled behind him, barely missing Ladybug as Chat Noir pulled her onto a fire escape. 

“What happened?” Ladybug asked, leaning against Chat Noir’s shoulder as she peeked around the side of the building. 

“Felt the wind shift; it must’ve smelled us,” Chat Noir said, eyes narrowing as The Hunter wrestled Ladybird’s squirming body off the roof and down into a park. “Okay…I think we’re-” 

Chat Noir looked back to find himself staring down into Ladybug’s eyes, the sight of them startling him into silence for a moment. Ladybug’s hand still gripped his forearm for support, a wary and uncertain smile coming to her lips. For a moment, Chat Noir forgot to look angry, but the moment passed quickly and he pulled his arm away as he turned to follow the Hunter. 

“Eyes on the prize, Ladybug,” Chat Noir said brusquely, diving down into the trees of the park below. 

They are, Ladybug said, watching his scarf disappear into the shadows. 

---

"See?! Everything's working out just fine ." 

Cat Noir found himself being rolled onto his back, staring up at the quintet of white masks glaring down at him. 

"Hunters worked perfectly," The Scorpion said, reaching out to pet one of the Hunters on the head. It snarled, snapping at their hand causing them to jump back and bounce off The Toad's rubbery figure. "Okay…grab his Miraculous and let's get out of here." 

"That isn't going to work," The Cobra sighed as The Salamander tugged on the ring that seemed to be permanently affixed to Cat Noir's finger. 

"Toady, go get some butter or something," The Salamander said, bracing their boots on Cat Noir's shoulder and tugging with all their might. "What the hell, was this always impossible?!" 

“That isn’t going to work,” The Cobra repeated. 

"Move," The Toad said, reaching down and pinching the ring between his fingers. Cat Noir grunted through a paralyzed jaw as The Toad pulled on his ring, arm nearly yanked out of his socket as The Toad tried to tug it off. 

"I can save you a lot of time and tell you that lubrication, cutting tools, and dismemberment are all not going to work," The Cobra said, arms folded as he leaned against a tree. "In any case, we can try again with Ladybug right-" 

A Hunter landed next to him with a kicking, squirming Ladybird trapped gently in its jaws. 

“-now,” The Cobra finished, resetting his ring. 

"That is obnoxious ," The Centipede sighed, grabbing Ladybird's foot as she kicked at her head. "Are you happy? We could have been over and done with this already if you had just given us your Miraculous." 

"Yeah and if my grandma had wheels she'd be a bicycle!" Ladybird grunted, looking down to see Cat Noir lying in a paralyzed heap on the floor. "What did you do to him?!" 

"The same thing we should have done to you a long time ago," The Scorpion said, nodding at the other Hunter. "Lick her!" 

" Excuse me?!" Ladybird didn't have much time to be offended as the Hunter shot its tongue out, striking Ladybird on the back of her neck and rendering her limp on the ground next to Cat Noir. 

"Okay… think ," The Scorpion said, pacing back and forth in front of the unconscious teenagers. "Maybe we can just…call Firebird to come pick them up? Maybe they'll know what to do…"

The Toad and The Centipede glanced at one another worriedly as The Scorpion continued to ramble to themselves. 

"All we had to do was deliver the Miraculous and technically that's what we did!" The Scorpion said, clapping their hands together. "Right…okay, call the bird and tell her-" 

Overhead, one of the streetlights that lit the park popped, sending a shower of sparks raining down on the Venoms before plunging their portion of the park into total darkness. 

"What the hell is that…?" The Toad muttered, craning his neck up and squinting at the wind rustling through the trees. Around them, the insects had stopped their chattering, falling still and silent as an unseasonable chill rippled through the grass. 

"Lightbulbs burn out all the time," The Salamander said dismissively as a second light burst a few dozen meters down the path. "...must be a bad circuit." 

On cue, the remaining streetlights burned brighter than they ever had before shattering, glass raining down as they faded into darkness. The Hunters chittered nervously, swiveling eyes scanning the shadows that seemed to close in all around them. 

"Or a bad grid…" The Salamander said, no longer entirely convinced as they slowly backed towards The Toad. "Or some bad luck…" 

"You have no idea." 

A sixth voice whispered in The Salamander's ear, prompting a truly high-pitched squeal of fear as they whipped around, driving their fist into The Toad's chest. 

"Who was that?!" The Scorpion said, tonfa drawn and back pressed against The Cobra. "Damnit…keep an eye on the hostages; if they get away from us, Firebird will-" 

A flicker of green caught her attention in the darkness, and The Scorpion lunged, tonfa barb stabbing into the shadows and skewering something wet and fleshy. For a moment, they thought they had struck home until an inhuman wail came from one of the Hunter's mouths. 

“What did you do?!” The Centipede cried, ducking out of the way as the injured Hunter spun around, tail slicing through the trees that surrounded them and swiping at anyone who tried to get too close. 

“I thought it was-” The Scorpion fell back as one of its claws struck them across the mask, sending them bouncing back into The Salamander. “Ugh, knock it off!” 

The Cobra stepped forward, cane driving through the creature’s wound and skewering it through the chest. It let out a pained gasp before slumping over and melting away into a nondescript puddle of slime. The remaining Hunter wasted no time in slithering over and scooping the dripping puddle into its mouth with hideous slurping sounds. 

“...was that necessary?” The Centipede asked, stepping away from the gross display of cannibalism. Beneath her, Cat Noir could feel sensation coming back into his body, twisting his head a little to see what was going on. Ladybird’s face was frozen in an expression of disgusted horror, still under the effects of the paralytic spit as The Salamander fumbled for something in a bag. 

“Okay, everyone calm down; I have a light,” The Salamander said, firing up a small electric lantern. Long, twisted shadows stretched out as they scanned the lantern around the park. “Who’s there?!” 

Silence was the only unnerving answer that they received. 

“I don’t like this…” The Toad said, elastic frame tensed and ready to strike. 

“Maybe it’s nothing,” The Centipede suggested, oblivious to the way Cat Noir was slowly inching his way in front of Ladybird, blocking her prone form with his body. Someone or some thing was hunting them and Cat Noir wanted to be gone before it made its first move. 

“Hey…” The Centipede said, nodding down at the ground beneath the Salamander. “Is it just me…or do you have two shadows?” 

“Probably just an optical illusion or-” The Salamander glanced backwards to see two shadows stretching out from their feet…one that seemed to have a distinctly feline silhouette. 

The lamp in The Salamander’s hands shattered as the shadowy figure exploded out of the ground. All Cat Noir could see was a flickering green trail attached to a shadow that fell on The Venoms with a single, blindingly fast strike. In the darkness, he could see The Venoms fall back as supernaturally black darkness spread like wildfire, blinding even his night vision and concealing the frantic cries coming from the Venoms. 

There was no time to think too deeply about it; grabbing Ladybird around the waist, he threw her over his shoulder and started running as fast as his stiff, wobbly legs would take him. His stride was still a little unstable, but if he could just make it to the edge of the park, then-

“They’re getting away!” 

Someone shouted behind him amidst cries of confusion and wails of pain from The Hunter, but Cat Noir didn’t pause to see who, specifically, wanted to kill him. He could hear footsteps behind him, bearing down on him as his body still fought off the effects of the paralysis. A hand reached out and grabbed for the back of his suit, but just as the fingers brushed the magical fabric, he felt something cinch around his waist and yank him up in the air. Ladybird fell out of his grip but a glimmering red ribbon shot past him and wrapped her up before The Scorpion could recover her. 

“ Hang on!” A distinctly feminine voice called from above him as he tumbled through the sky, soaring higher and higher above the streets until he found himself dumped on a nearby rooftop, rolling to a stop with a pained grunt. 

“Sorry; I had to make sure your lady didn’t fall .” Cat Noir pushed himself up in time to see a stunningly beautiful woman in red and black kneeling over him. Her hand brushed his hair out of his face, concern clouding what were otherwise two star-studded blue eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked. 

“Pretty…” Chat Noir muttered. “...good. I-I’m pretty good, th-thanks for…you know…” 

“Asking?” 

Cat Noir snapped his fingers. “Yes! That!” 

Ladybug snorted, ruffling Cat Noir's messy hair. "Glad you weren’t harmed…I’m sure I don’t need to introduce myself, do I?"

“I think I’d recognize you anywhere,” Cat Noir chuckled, his face burning as Ladybug laughed at him. “Glad to see you My-”  

" Mrrghhh!" Ladybird grumbled, jaw still frozen shut as she feebly tried to move her body. 

"Oh, right right right," Ladybug said, fingers lighting up with glittering pink light. “Hold still.” 

Ladybug laid hands on her younger self and Cat Noir watched as Ladybird’s body sprang back to life, the lingering effects of the paralysis washing away in a flutter of sparkles. 

“What the heck was that?!” Ladybird coughed, leaning on Cat Noir as she pushed herself to her feet. “Your partner just let that creepy lizard thing take me!” 

“Wait, partner ?” Cat Noir asked, glancing back over his shoulder where sounds of a pitched battle could be heard from within the shadows of the park. 

“And by doing so, we were able to follow you back and pull you both out of danger,” Ladybug said. “It’s no fun being the worm on the hook, but you didn’t really think we were going to let you get eaten did you?” 

“I think your cat has an attitude problem,” Ladybird grumbled, grabbing Cat Noir’s wrist. “Stay close, kitty; there’s no telling where that other monster is…”

A howl of pain flew overhead as the last Hunter crashed into an air conditioning unit behind them, twitching as it struggled to get back to its feet. Its eyes turned upward, a raspy groan of dread slipping out of its mouth as Chat Noir fell like the blade of a guillotine, burying the blade of Fang deep in the monster’s chest. 

“Oh…there it is,” Ladybird coughed. Cat Noir’s eyes took in his older body with something akin to glee until Chat Noir’s head turned to look at him. His eyes (especially the left one) burned like embers in the dark, his baleful glare pinning Cat Noir in place. He could see his lip curl in the shadows as he raised his sword, dying monster kicking and squealing still on the blade. 

“ Move!” Chat Noir snarled, flinging the flailing monster across the rooftop towards Cat Noir. Ladybug moved quicker, grabbing both kids around the waist and flattening them against the roof as The Hunter sailed narrowly overhead. 

“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” Ladybug asked. Moments later, she received an answer as The Toad vaulted over the ledge of the roof. He effortlessly caught the improvised lizard weapon in one meaty paw, crushing its neck and hurling it to one side. It splattered against the wall, showering his pristine white mask with streaks of black goo. 

“Found them,” The Toad said as The Salamander phased through the floor beneath his feet. 

“If you’re going to run from us, I would recommend you don’t stop,” The Scorpion said as they stepped off a ladder with the other two Venoms in tow. 

“Do I look like I’m running?” Chat Noir said, brushing Cat Noir to one side with his baton as he stepped past them. “I don’t know who you geeks are, but I have some questions for you about your employers.” 

“Well, seeing as how you have something we want, why don’t we trade info for one of your friends there?” The Scorpion said, aiming their tonfa at Cat Noir. “C’mon, it’s not like you’re gonna disappear if anything happens to the kid, right?” 

“ I disappear if anything happens to the kid!” Cat Noir growled. “I don’t know about you but-” 

“ Quiet .” 

Chat Noir hadn’t looked at his younger self when he spoke, but his tone conveyed all the force of a slap in the face, one that clearly cowed the younger cat just as he was about to continue speaking. For his part, Cat Noir could almost feel the palpable animosity wafting off Chat Noir, enough to make him edge away behind Ladybug’s shoulder for protection. 

You don’t have to be rude, Ladybug thought.

And he doesn’t need to be talking right now, Chat Noir replied, turning his attention to the Scorpion. “I don’t bargain with vermin, especially not those working for an apocalyptic death cult run by mad sorcerers." 

"A apocalyptic what-cult ?!" Cat Noir spluttered. 

"Long story," Ladybug muttered, glancing at Chat Noir's back. Do we really have time for this? Let's just take these kids and get the hell out of here. 

Be my guest, Chat Noir thought, his eyes sweeping between each mask arrayed in a circle in front of him. I'm going to have a chat with our friends here.

They want these kids for a reason, Ladybug countered, pushing the teenagers behind Chat Noir's back as she covered their backs from the other side. We shouldn't give them the chance to take them again. 

They don't have a chance, Chat Noir thought, dismissive even in his own mind. 

"Well, let the record show we tried to be civil," The Scorpion said, gesturing with their tonfa. "But if you'd rather do things the hard way, we'd be more than happy to oblige." 

" Trust me," Chat Noir said with a humorless smirk. "This is going to be a lot easier than you think it is." 

---

"Any sign of them?" 

Rena Rouge threw her hands up with a hopeless shrug as she approached the command table where the rest of her team was gathered. "They’re ‘following up on a lead’ according to Ladybug.” 

“Is that a euphemism for something?” Queen Bee chuckled. “What? Maybe they’re off having rough angry make-up sex.” 

“Unlikely…though that would probably improve Adrien’s temperament," Monarch said, detransforming and passing Nooroo a piece of her cracker. "Are we done for the day then? Or are we expecting further mayhem?" 

"I think it's safe to expect anything at this point," Rena Rouge said, patting Kagami on the shoulder. "Maybe you two should get some rest; I have a feeling we're going to be back at it again early tomorrow." 

"It is early tomorrow," Chloe groaned, flopping into a chair as her suit vanished and Pollen joined Nooroo on the table. "How is it already three-thirty?" 

"Time passed, that's how," Nino said, catching the apple she chucked at his head and taking a bite. 

"Is it really smart for Kagami to be out there with those creeps knowing who she is?" Luka asked. "How did they even figure that out anyway?" 

"Someone must've been feeding them information," Kagami said, her eyes drifting over Queen Bee's face for a moment. "Only a handful of people know who I really am; most of them are in this room right now." 

"Except Kim, Alix, Max, Juleka, Nathaniel, and Marc," Nino remarked. "You don't think any of them could be working with Firebird, do you?" 

"It's a bit late to be patching holes in our intelligence," Alya said, stretching her neck as Trixx floated out of her pendant to join their companions. "Let's just try and get some rest until things calm down a little." 

"No telling when that will be," Kagami said, giving Alya a poignant look as she peeled away and headed for the guest bedroom. "If anyone needs me, I'll be dead to the world until something resurrects me." 

Luka followed with a wordless salute, closing the door behind them and leaving Alya alone with her partners in the command center. She had been able to put off the difficult conversation she needed to have all night; there had been things that required her attention more than her suspicions regarding Andre. But now, at the end of the night, Alya was left with nothing else to do and nowhere else to turn except towards the uncomfortable reality. 

"Nino…could you see if there's anything going on topside?" Alya asked, nodding at Chloe behind her back. A look of confusion passed over his face, before he seemed to understand that Alya didn't actually need anything from him except to leave her alone with Chloe. 

"...sure," Nino said, waving as he headed for the elevator. "I'll do a quick scope to see if we were followed." 

Chloe lifted her head to watch him go for a moment, waiting until the elevator shut before speaking up. "Is he doing okay?" 

"You know Nino," Alya chuckled. "Steady as a rock…I'm sure the sky could fall on his head and he'd walk it off with a shrug." 

"If you say so…" Chloe shrugged. "He's not dating anybody else or-" 

"Chloe," Alya said, sliding into the chair opposite her. "I think we need to talk." 

"...oh," Chloe said, putting her phone down, her eyes falling a little. "Yeah…I kinda figured this was coming." 

"You did?" 

"I mean…we've had a lot of fun, but you and Nino have been solid for so long that-" Chloe sighed. "I get it; I'm complicating things between you two." 

"Wait, you think this is about-" 

"You don't need to say it," Chloe said with a sad smile. "I get it; I won't get in the way or-" 

"No, this isn't about us," Alya said, rubbing her eyes. "I mean…you're not getting in the way of anything! This is about-" 

A red light blinked on the console in the center of the table, and for the first time, Alya was not glad that she had been saved by a convenient excuse.

“You gonna get that?” Chloe asked.  Hesitantly, Alya leaned over and pressed the button. "Hello?" 

" RENA THERE'S SOME WEIRD PEOPLE STEALING OUR PAST SELVES AND WE NEED YOU TO COME HELP!" 

A distant explosion could be heard in the background before the line went dead. 

"...so that’s probably a no on the make up sex, huh?" Chloe said, pushing herself to her feet and heading towards the lift with Alya hot on her heels. 

---

"No phoning friends!" 

The Toad's gargantuan fist ricocheted off Ladybug's shield as she held firm in front of Ladybird and Cat Noir. 

"I'll remember you said that when we stick you in jail!" Ladybug said, glancing back. "You two okay?" 

"Don't worry about us; we can handle ourselves," Ladybird said, yo-yo spinning in a circle as The Centipede approached from her other side. "Look out!" 

Ladybug felt the hand close around her shield and looked back in time to see The Toad wrench it out of her grasp and hurl it at the wall so hard that it sank into the brick. His other arm shot out like a rubberband, grasping for Ladybird only to be intercepted as a large, glowing pink and gold arm materialized out of thin air to catch it. Fingers locked together as Ladybug shoved, The Toad's superhuman strength apparently rivaling her own. 

"Magic shield, magic healing, and magic arms?!" Cat Noir said, visibly awestruck by Ladybug's display of magical might. "Wow, you really know how to grow up, don't you My-" 

A phantom hand grabbed Cat Noir by the throat, pulling him closer towards The Centipede with a yowl of pain. A blur of black and green cut across the roof, Fang slicing the arm in two and leaving it to dissolve into white dust. 

"Pay attention !" Chat Noir snapped, slamming his sword back in his sheath. "Fawn over Ladybug in your off-hours…if you live to see them again." 

"I-I was just-" Chat Noir vanished in a blur of shadows before his younger self could explain himself, already on a warpath as The Cobra rushed forward to meet sword with cane. Sparks flew from the edge of Fang as it sliced through The Cobra's weapon, the edge nearly cleaving his mask in two as he grabbed at his ring. 

"Reset!" 

Time shimmered and The Cobra watched Chat Noir slice The Centipede's arm in half a second time. 

"Odds of victory; four percent," The cannibal akuma whispered in his ear as Chat Noir berated his younger self. "Recommend a different course of action." 

"Noted," The Cobra said, turning his attention to Ladybird. Ladybird saw the attack coming, pressing her back into Ladybug's as The Cobra flung his cane at the girl's head. 

"I don't think so!" Cat Noir crowed, stepping into the way of the attack and deflecting the cane away with his own baton. "Nobody gets to throw sticks at my Lady except-" 

Cat Noir jerked as Fang blocked The Scorpion's tonfa strike before it pierced him in the neck. 

"Pay… attention !" Chat Noir growled, deflecting the attack as Ladybug managed to wrench The Toad's arm to one side and hurl him off the roof. "I promise you nobody enjoys your running commentary; least of all Ladybug." 

Don't be mean! Ladybug thought her back bumping into Chat Noir's as she stepped out of the way of The Centipede's staff strike. 

I'll be nicer when I can stop worrying about him getting himself killed, Chat Noir thought, the side of his fist cracking The Salamander in the side of the head as Ladybug ducked to sweep his legs out from under him. The speed and ease with which they set up and executed a takedown without even speaking to one another was surprising enough to put their mental argument on hold, both taken slightly aback. 

"Slick!" Ladybird chimed in, lassoing The Cobra's cane before he could recover it and flinging it over the edge of the roof as The Toad bounced up over the edge of the building. 

"Times change, but Ladybird and Cat Noir always make a winning combination," Cat Noir said somewhat proudly. Chat Noir seemed irritated by this and Ladybug didn't have to work that hard to figure out why. 

Ladybug saw The Toad move before her head was turned; knew he was lunging for Chat Noir as soon as his eyes saw it. It was the same way she knew to move a little to the side to let him dodge past her and knew he was aiming a knee at The Toad's jaw before she even saw it. Her hands moved before she could even think about what she was going to do next, grabbing the back of The Toad's head and slamming their mask into Chat Noir's rising knee. There was almost a breathtaking simplicity to it; as they fell back she felt Chat Noir's fist graze her own as they both punched The Toad in the face so hard they heard something crack . 

A pained grunt and The Toad fell backwards, rolling along the roof and leaving half of a broken porcelain mask behind.

"Don't you dweebs ever take a night off!" Around them, the little skirmishes seemed to stop as Queen Bee touched down on the rooftop behind Ladybug, followed closely by Rena Rouge. "Why don't you give it a…" 

Queen Bee's brow furrowed as The Toad lifted his head, the skin underneath the mask sallow and bulging with purple veins. His eyes had shrunk to black pinpricks, bulging hideously out of his sockets as he looked across the rooftop and saw his daughter staring back at him.

Hideous and twisted though it was, Ladybug knew who had inherited The Toad. 

"Shit…" Rena Rouge breathed, glancing at Queen Bee. "Honey…Chloe?" 

"...Daddy?" In all the years Ladybug had known Queen Bee, she had never sounded so small. A voice that could pierce through a crowd suddenly failed to carry over the usual din of the city slowly waking up. The Toad reached up to cover his face, but everyone seemed to already know it was too late. The Scorpion glanced between Queen Bee and The Toad, slowly backing towards the fire escape as the hurt and confusion slowly melted on Queen Bee's face. 

"You…you knew …" Queen Bee said, her voice eerily quiet as The Toad raised his hand defensively. 

"We need to leave," The Cobra hissed, grabbing The Scorpion under her arm. "This doesn't end well for us if we stay…we need to-" 

Ladybug grabbed her younger self and threw her flat against the rooftop as Queen Bee snarled, golden chain snaking out and lashing out at The Toad. "You knew!" 

The Toad raised a hand to block the attack, in doing so dropping the hand covering his exposed face. Fear clouded the black monstrous eye as Queen Bee rocketed across the rooftop, slipping out of Rena Rouge's grip and ramming her elbow into The Toad's skull at full force. 

"Chloe!" The Toad grunted, trying to fight his daughter off. "Please…I can-" 

"YOU KNEW!" Queen Bee howled, hands opening and closing as she clawed for his neck. "You knew about Venice, you piece of shit ; you told me not to go! You knew what was happening the whole time! " 

Ladybird shrank back in confusion, grabbing Cat Noir's wrist as Ladybug stepped in front of them. Chat Noir watched the fight play out with a tense expression; if anyone had experience wanting to claw his own father's eyes out, it was him. 

The Toad simultaneously tried to fight her off and keep his exposed face away from her, shoving her back as The Salamander threw a portal open behind him. "Family time later!" 

Andre's eye met Queen Bee's as he tumbled back through the portal, the tip of her chain snipping off as the gateway snapped shut behind him. 

"Come back here!" Queen Bee demanded, floating into the sky above them. " Andre…ANDRE!" 

Silence once again fell over the rooftop as Rena Rouge watched Queen Bee disappear into the maze of buildings, her voice ringing off the rooftops as the sky began turning purple with the first rays of dawn. The sight of a sunrise was not a welcome sight to Ladybug; it was evidence that she had been up all night 

"You okay?" Ladybug asked, pulling 

"I think so…was that Chloe?" Ladybird asked. "When did she get the Bee back?"  

"It's a long story," Rena Rouge said, looking the younger pair of heroes over. "...did you two get sidekicks while I wasn't looking?" 

Ladybug and Chat Noir met each other's eyes. "...it's a long story."

Notes:

THIS is a long story, but we're moving into the final act of this section. Some sub plots are going to get subbier just because I need to really home in on Ladynoir for the last handful of chapters here. Nino is going to get his time in the sun a little and of course Chloe now has to deal with the fallout of her family being shittier than she thought they were, but we're gonna shelve a lot of the Mayura stuff until a side-story. In the end, this is going to be a three parter with MWD ending this current Time Travel arc followed by some more character-focused short stories/OVA type pieces before we move into the conclusion.

Thanks for hanging with me! I've been trying to figure this story out for a while but I think we're at a good spot now. Really happy with writing this chapter and how it ended up turning out. Thanks again to strange-oc's for beta reading!

Chapter 18: Doomsday Clock

"So…let me get this straight." 

The Scorpion had been working for Firebird long enough to know how terrifying those six words could be. Firebird never asked for clarification unless she already knew the full extent of her subordinates' mistakes and just wanted to see if they would be stupid enough to lie to her. 

"We spilled a lot of blood weakening the barrier between realities so The Cobra could take you back in time and steal another pair of Miraculous for us to add to our own power," Firebird said, glowing orange eyes sweeping between the masked faces in front of her as she paced the line. "The five of you, empowered by every single Miraculous in our possession, not only failed to neutralize a pair of teenagers in a timely fashion but also allowed Ladybug and Chat Noir to steal their power for themselves…babe, did I miss anything?" 

"You forgot the part where they compromised Andre's identity," Kaiser Long said, his fingers crackling as he replaced half The Toad's shattered mask with an inky black section that stretched over half The Toad's face. "And wasted the lives of two of my Hunters." 

Firebird stopped in front of The Scorpion, her eyes burning holes in her subordinate's mask. "Anything you'd like to add to our appraisal of the situation, commander ?" 

"I understand that we have fallen short of expectations in this particular case." The Scorpion swallowed, choosing their next words carefully. "On the bright side-" 

Flames crackled on the tips of Firebird's fingers as her hand shot out, grabbed The Scorpion's mask, and pushed them back against the wall. The other Venoms tensed but a glare and a snarl from Kaiser Long stayed any mutinous thoughts they might have had. The Scorpion could do nothing but twitch as they felt the burning hot tips of Firebird's fingers through their mask. 

"Do I look like Doctor Fucking Who to you?" The Firebird said, her voice barely rising above a whisper but simmering with anger. "Do you see me in a jaunty scarf and bow tie shagging basic British bitches in the back of a fucking phone booth? Do you think I just order time-traveling missions for shits and fucking giggles?! Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is doing these little trips through time or has your reptillian brain been absolutely rotted by idiotic science fiction?!" 

"Ma'am…I know you're upset, but-" The Scorpion flinched as Firebird slammed her fist into the wall next to their head, a warm, glowing heat radiating from the crater in the brick. 

Firebird leaned in close enough that The Scorpion could feel the heat coming off her eyes. "Tell me, Mr. Fucking Brightside, do you have any fucking idea just how tenuous and fucking fragile our shithole reality is?! That it's already a wobbling, spluttering, failing fucking existence that is only going to get fucking worse now that you've introduced two more all-powerful motherfucking entities into our reality?!" 

The Scorpion trembled, fear and indignation making them shake like a leaf. The dust in the air around them took on a musty, singed smell as the heat radiating off Firebird's crackling orange hair began burning the dust in the tunnel. 

"I understand the severity of the situation, ma'am ," The Scorpion said with as much teeth-clenched respect as they could muster. "But they are still here ; trapped without any way to return. As long as The Cobra has The Rabbit trapped inside itself, they can't go anywhere! We… I can still get them for you. A-All we need is a little time." 

"Time is the one thing that is in short supply," Kaiser Long sniffed. A low rumbling filled the air as the ground beneath their feet quaked, unbalancing The Toad as he leaned against the wall for support. "As my partner said, the presence of another set of Miraculous is beginning to stress our already over-frazzled planet beyond its capacity. The longer they are here, the more our world is going to struggle to hold together…until it can struggle no longer." 

"Translation; the world is ten pounds of Miraculous in a second-hand five pound sack," Firebird snapped. "And when it rips, we all go spilling out into nothingness with it." 

"...isn't that what we're after?" The Toad said, cradling his new mask tenderly. "We were always planning on destroying the world…why does it matter that it's happening now ?" 

"Because, Andre , we're not ready for the all important phase two ," Firebird said, glaring over her shoulder. "If this world goes now, we don't have anywhere for our Arks to land; imagine drifting in nothingness for the rest of your thankfully short life if you aren't immediately consumed as this planet cracks like a fucking egg." 

"Wh-Which is why we should be getting going!" The Scorpion said. "Please…I know you're disappointed in us, but we can still win this. We just need a little time…and a few more resources." 

Firebird glanced at her partner, a silent conversation passing between them for a few moments before Kaiser Long sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Thanks to your fumble, we need to go try and stabilize things and prepare a contingency…otherwise I would be handling this myself."

Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a small black cube that pulsed with glowing green runes. Running his thumb over the cube caused it to float into the air, spinning and shifting as it unfolded itself and grew until it was the size of a dinner table. 

"I trust you'll be more considerate with these than you were with my Hunters," Kaiser Long said, cracking the top of the cube open. Inside were rows and rows of black eggs on racks that seemed to stretch far deeper than the box's dimensions suggested. "These take quite a lot of energy for my wife and I to create…" 

The Scorpion rubbed their neck wearily as the Venoms peered into the box. In the center of the mass of eggs was a large, pulsing black egg the size of a watermelon; through the thin glassy membrane, they could see something slithering around, just waiting to be born. 

"Just be careful with the Queen," Kaiser Long said, tracing a fingertip around the largest egg's shell as it violently rocked back and forth in its restraints. "She's a touch temperamental." 

The Scorpion nodded, swearing that they could see a glowing green eye glaring at them through the translucent shell of the egg. 

---

"You seriously let Chloe keep her Miraculous?" 

Ladybug reached her hand up to stop the bell from chiming as she opened the back door to the bakery. 

"Why wouldn't I?" Ladybug asked, stepping to one side to let Ladybird in the door. "She's always been…well, insane , but she's grown up to be usefully insane at least. Like a trained attack chihuahua; we can point her at problems and just let her be… Chloe at them." 

"I'm guessing she didn't steal the Miracle Box this time," Ladybird said, inhaling the smell of rising bread and dusty flour with a nostalgic sigh. As much as the world around her was unnervingly different from her own, it was nice to see that some things were consistent no matter where she went. 

"No that was-" Ladybug stopped herself before she could say Chat Noir. "Someone else…" 

"Well, bird to bug, you might want to revisit her Miraculous privileges if she gets too handsy with the Miraculous," Ladybird muttered. 

"That's not exactly my call to make any more," Ladybug sighed, transforming with a flurry of red light. "Okay, I'm going to get something from upstairs; just stay put and…what?" 

Maybe it was just the fact that Ladybird had never been outside her own body before, but looking at Marinette was certainly…odd. Something was unmistakably different about her, from the way she moved, to the way her eyes seemed to pulse with a light independent of the sun streaming in the window. But the strangest thing was that Marinette's ears were completely bare with no sign that the Ladybug Miraculous had ever been there. 

"...where's the Miraculous?" Ladybird asked, glancing around. "And…where's Tikki?" 

A shadow passed over Marinette's face that was quickly chased away by a shrug and a smile. "Oh…she's around. Somewhere; doing Tikki-stuff. I don't exactly need her help transforming these days, so she took a little vacation…" 

Marinette shook her head, as though banishing an unpleasant thought. "I-It's actually better, you know? She's been keeping the ball rolling with Plagg and Master Fu while I've been at school." 

For the first time, Marinette was aware of just how unnervingly perceptive she could be as Ladybird's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Whatever details that Marinette let slip were getting pinned to a cork-board in Ladybird's mind and the more she learned, the bigger risk there was of her making some unfortunate connections. 

Gotta be careful with this one, Marinette thought.

"Must be nice to take a little break," Ladybird chuckled. "I try not to think about university too much, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned about my options…how long did it take to defeat Papillon in this timeline?" 

"Too long," Marinette admitted. 

"Any tips on how to speed things up?" Ladybird asked hopefully. 

"I can't even be sure we're dealing with the same person," Marinette said, opening the fridge and tossing a bottle of juice to Ladybird. "Any tips I give you could send you tumbling in the wrong direction." 

"Well, that's-" Marinette was thankfully saved from having to concoct another lie by a cheery voice floating in from the front of the shop. 

"Knock knooooock! Where's my renegade country hopping cousin?!" 

"Upstairs!" Marinette hissed, shoving Ladybird up the steps and closing the door behind her just as Bridgette's head craned through the door. "Bridgette! Hi! What are you doing here so early?" 

"This place sells out fast; I thought you would have known that by now," Bridgette said, grabbing one of the leftover baguettes from the night before and bonking Marinette over the head. " That is for not telling me about Venice!" 

“Really?!” Marinette whined, rubbing the spot where the surprisingly sturdy loaf of bread had dinged her. “That was like a week ago…” 

“...that was two days ago ,” Bridgette said, narrowing her eyes. “Have you slept lately?” 

Marinette caught her tired expression in the reflection of the window with a wince. “Uhh-” 

“Girl, are you functioning alright?” Bridgette said, resting her hand against Marinette’s forehead. For a moment, a shock seemed to pass between them; something they both wrote off as static electricity at the time. “I say this with all love and respect but you look like you were left in a bog for a week then fed through a pasta roller.” 

“ How is that respectful?” Marinette chuckled, battering her cousin in the head with another bread loaf. “ You’re not looking much better rested, by the way.” 

“World’s ending, kid; no time to sleep,” Bridgette chuckled, biting a chunk out of the loaf as Marinette went for another swing. “ You on the other hand-” 

“I’m quite capable of mothering her myself, dear ,” Sabine said, snatching the loaf out of Marinette’s hand as she entered the kitchen. “You are very fortunate Tom is still doing the dairy run; or did you forget the last time he caught you two play-fighting in the kitchen?” 

Marinette glowered at Bridgette who only stuck her tongue out in response. “Old habits die hard; being responsible for feeding and watering Marinette is a hard habit to break.” 

“Bri-” 

“And we’re very thankful for taking care of our little Mari.” 

“Mama!” Marinette huffed. It might have been any other day in any other kitchen; just her cousin and her mother catching up over coffee. It was only then that reality crept in, ugly and unwelcome, to remind her of the timetable she was on. “Listen…I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m-” 

“Busy,” Bridgette and Sabine said at the same time. “We know, we know…just-” 

Bridgette trailed off, fidgeting with her sunglasses as she glanced between the pair of them. “Things are kinda rough out there lately, so I just wanted to drop in on my favorite and…well, only family while I had the chance.” 

A dark look flickered across Bridgette’s face as she tried her best smile. 

“Dear, having lived in Paris all these years, I’m quite used to the world falling around my ears every other day,” Sabine said, patting Bridgette’s shoulder lightly. “I know coming from a peaceful city like London might be a shift-” 

Bridgette and Marinette snorted in unison. 

“-but have some faith in Parisians,” Sabine said, turning her daughter and her niece around by the shoulders. "Now, unless you'd like to knead bread for the next three hours, get out of the kitchen before Tom comes back puts you to work." 

Marinette's forearms, weak from years out of practice, cramped at the thought of it. "You remember when your dad caught us playing with dough that one Christmas?" 

"He was so excited that his little girl was taking interest in the family business," Marinette chuckled as they stepped out the back. "I couldn't turn down his offer to "show me the ropes"...or feel my hands for days after that. I think he got the hint that he didn't raise a baker." 

"What did he raise then?" Bridgette asked. 

A genetic freak that eats too much sugar and can't leave well enough alone? "A very good designer and a below-average patisserie." 

"You could be a very-good patisserie if you cared to be," Bridgette said, triggering a wave of unease in the pit of Marinette's stomach. "You could be pretty good at anything you wanted to be good at-" 

"And I want to be a designer," Marinette said, hopefully cutting off another "true potential" speech from Bridgette. 

"You could still choose to be something else," Bridgette reminded her. "Seriously, Marinette; don't make the mistake of thinking your talent and creativity only extends in one direction." 

"Did you really come all the way down here to try and hire me again?" Marinette chuckled, dreading the direction this conversation was turning. 

"I would not be doing my job if I didn't keep trying," Bridgette chuckled, holding her hand up. "I know, I know; I'm very supportive of your decision to use your boundless potential to make clothes for someone else's company-" 

"Are you?" Marinette said, paling as her bedroom window opened and a curious masked head stuck out. Ladybird, no doubt confused as to what was taking so long, had emerged with a curious frown and a notebook held up. 

"But things are getting…grim," Bridgette said, her downcast expression thankfully missing the way Marinette signaled to her younger self behind her back. "The world needs all the help it can get these days." 

"Well, unless you're planning a nudist utopia, the world will still need people to make clothes," Marinette said, straightening up with a smile as Bridgette returned her attention. "And if three years of not-so-subtle hints weren't enough to change my mind, a conversation behind my parents' bakery is probably not gonna do the trick." 

"Stubborn," Bridgette clucked. 

"Where do you think I learned it from?" Marinette said, ignoring the way Bridgette rolled her eyes. "You're an absolutely vile influence on me, you know." 

"Maybe I should let Felix try next time," Bridgette sighed, kissing Marinette on the cheek. "Fine; I concede defeat…just promise you won't take any more trips while I'm not looking. And if things get bad-" 

Bridgette stopped, weighing her next words carefully. "...just make sure you're in a shelter, okay?"

Bridgette was no stranger to dour moods; Marinette had lived with her long enough to know that her usual chipper, flippant demeanor hid a dark and often moody undercurrent. Leading the charge to save humanity unfortunately brought her up close with the worst their species had to offer, and after the wine started flowing Bridgette was fond of teeing off on whoever drew her ire. Beneath that, there seemed to be a fear that drove her actions; as though she was perpetually running out of time. 

"Okay," Marinette said, patting Bridgette on the arm. "Swing by for dinner sometime, okay? Mama wants to feast you and Felix for taking care of me in London." 

"Sure," Bridgette said, her smile stopping just short of her eyes. "If the world doesn't burn down first." 

They shared a laugh that went on just a little too long and seemed just a little too forced. Marinette didn't think anything of it at the time, but like the shock it was something that would take on a much darker turn the more she learned about her cousin. 

---

For all that seemed to change, the loft that Ladybird had lived in since she was ten was largely the same as it had ever been. Half-empty boxes were either in the middle of being packed or unpacked and strewn around the room. Her closet was mostly empty, save for a few jackets, pants, and dresses that conspicuously lacked a tag. Ladybird ran her hands through the fabric, inspecting her own handiwork with a curious frown. At first she thought that the stitches and thread that held the clothes together were just well hidden, but the more she looked the harder it was to find anything that suggested needle had ever touched this fabric. It was almost as if they had been created from whole cloth; dreamed up and then brought to life.

Her hip nudged the table as she stepped back, jarring Marinette's laptop awake with a background that showed a young Ladybug and Chat Noir, arms around one another, and beaming for a camera after an akuma battle.The picture itself wasn't disturbing in itself but the fact that it was so… old made Ladybird uneasy. Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't have been older than seventeen or eighteen in the picture; why didn't she have any more recent pictures? 

Biting her lip, Ladybird hesitantly punched in the same password she had used for most of her life. She had difficulty juggling more than three different passwords in her brain, so after a few attempts, she got in. Pointedly ignoring the documents on the main page (particularly the one labeled diary) , Ladybird opened a browser window and lightly tapped the keys as she tried to figure out what to search. 

The Ladyblog should have some answers… Ladybird thought, quickly firing in the url as she heard her older self laugh way too hard at a joke on the street below. She was still tied up with that strange woman so there was plenty of time for some quick reconnaissance work. Unfortunately, her usual source of Ladybird information seemed to be gone. 

What the heck? Ladybird thought, tabbing back and staring at the mocking blinking cursor in the search bar. 

 

 

>Chat Noir

Chat Noir Hero or Villain? … suggested
Chat Noir Hawk Moth…suggested
Chat Noir Hoax…suggested
Chat Noir Disappearance…suggested
Chat Noir Sightings… suggested

Ladybird scowled as one of the suggested searches read "Chat Noir: Hero or Villain?" The rest of the pages didn't seem to be any more promising, save for a video titled "NOT CLICKBAIT! Chat Noir Returns to Paris After Three Years!" A grainy image of Chat Noir from behind was juxtaposed with a shocked looking teenage boy mugging for the camera. She was about to click on it when the sound of feet climbing the ladder alerted her to someone approaching. 

"Hey!" Marinette's head shot through the trapdoor a moment after Ladybird closed the laptop and busied herself looking at a sketch pinned to the wall. "Sorry; Papa just got back and needs a hand with the milk crates. I'll be back in a few minutes!" 

"T-Take your time," Ladybird coughed, jerking her head at the dress sketch on the wall. "J-Just stealing your design ideas." 

"I guess it isn't plagiarism if it hasn't been thought up yet," Marinette chuckled, closing the trap door before reopening it again. "Oh, I almost forgot!" 

Ladybird barely caught a bag of cookies Marinette whipped at her head. "Eat! I don't know what's up with the whole earring thing, but if your powers are anything like my powers, they run on a lot of carbs and sugar. I don't want you passing out over the city mid-swing." 

" Your powers?" Ladybird asked, peeking over the rim of the bag. Suddenly her theory that Marinette had eaten Tikki to steal her power gained more than zero credibility. 

"Ugh," Marinette sighed, remembering yet another thing that needed explanation. "Look…I'll get to it. Just grab the red sketch book from my black suitcase and meet me on the roof in five!" 

The trapdoor slammed shut again, leaving Ladybird covered in confectioner's sugar and more confused than had been a few minutes before. 

Tell me this isn't what it's usually like dealing with me… Ladybird thought, unable to shake the feeling she had just been bowled over by a blue-eyed tornado as she picked through the half-packed luggage. The first few suitcases were predictably full of clothes; this, combined with the bedroom in a state of barely refurbished disarray seemed to confirm Ladybird's suspicion that her future self had just returned from a trip. The more clothes she stumbled upon, the more she worried that the trip had gone on longer than she intended. She had picked through Marinette's sock collection when a small, wrinkled parcel caught her eye. Shifting a shirt, she found half-a-dozen more, each with weathered wrapping paper and edges that had been taped down and retaped down multiple times. 

Okay…I have a suitcase full of presents that I am trying to keep closed. Ladybird thought, tugging her future self's laptop off the desk. Souvenirs maybe? It was a possibility that was quickly dashed when she saw a familiar script spell out Marinette on the tag. 

Adrien? Ladybird thought, heart fluttering as she cradled the package curiously. Biting her lip, Ladybird carefully opened the laptop again. 

 

 

>Adrien Agreste…

Adrien Agreste Owns Paparazzi…suggested
Adrien Agreste Sigma Male Grindset… suggested
Adrien Agreste Girlfriend…suggested
Is Adrien Agreste Gay? … suggested
Adrien Agreste Fall 2020 Tiger Photoshoot…suggested

Curiously, Ladybird clicked on the last suggestion, her eyes immediately widening as she pulled up an image of an eighteen year old Adrien, his lower half wrapped in a tiger-pelt but apparently naked otherwise as he smoldered at the camera. She slammed the laptop shut with a squeak, shoving the laptop back on the desk before her curiosity got her into any more trouble. 

Those abs though… Ladybird thought, shaking her head before she could drool like an absolute idiot and returning to the suitcases in front of her. Beneath the wrapped gifts were two books; one deep red and locked with an intricate series of latches and the other plain and black with green lettering up one side. She had found what she was looking for…but the second notebook was too tempting to ignore. Placing the red book on the fainting couch, Ladybird carefully peeked under the cover of the black book. 

The inside cover was a mash of old Ladybug and Chat Noir pictures mixed together in a collage. Here, Ladybird could see the future of her partnership with Cat Noir laid bare…for a few years at least. As Ladybird feared, there were plenty of pictures of Chat Noir in the sleek black catsuit and none of him in his new coat and scarf ensemble. That was until she turned the page, catching a blurry image of a figure in black on a newspaper cover under the headline "PHANTOM STRIKES AGAIN: Art Smugglers Pinched in Police Raid Aided by Unknown Hero." 

On the following page, a grainy blur under a German headline captured a pair of green eyes glowering from the darkness around a crater in the ground. Opposite was a thankfully French article titled “Mysterious Explosion Rocks Barcelona; Forty-Five Dead, Three Hundred Injured.” A green question mark was scribbled in the margins along with a circled date that appeared to be only a few months prior. 

The next few pages were all similar newspaper trimmings, taken and preserved with care under clear plastic sheets. The further she went in the book, the higher the dates went and the rarer the clear images became…as though whatever was on camera was slowly disappearing as time went on, becoming rarer and almost endangered. But nowhere in the book were there pictures of Ladybug and her cat together; no more smiling, hugging, or standing boldly against impossible odds as a team. 

"Looking for something?" 

Ladybird yelped, slamming the book shut and whipping around as a pair of faintly glowing blue eyes stared at her from a shadowy corner. 

"I-I was just looking for the scrapbook you told me to get," Ladybird coughed as the figure stepped forward. "I was just-"

Ladybird stopped, realizing that the woman who lingered on the edge of the shadow was not her older self. 

"Just sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," Tikki chuckled, looking down at the girl who Marinette used to be. "Some things never change, do they?" 

---

"Soo…I know you probably can't answer this-" 

"But you're going to ask anyway, aren't you?" Chat Noir, flicking a switch underneath a shelf on his bookcase. He had entertained question after question from Cat Noir on the trip back to his townhouse to retrieve some of Master He's notes; hopefully, she had a record of something like this happening in the past and could offer advice even beyond the grave. But something told Chat Noir that there was no manual for dealing with an overly excitable teenage boy. 

"No harm in trying, right?" Cat Noir asked, hovering just over Chat Noir's shoulder as the bookshelf slid down into the floor and revealed a secret cabinet. Inside appeared to be a small trove of strange looking books and artifacts. An eye floating in green liquid glared at Cat Noir on a shelf next to a small black cube that spun slowly on one point. 

"So me and Ladybird…" Cat Noir said, pressing his fingertips together. "Are we…I-I know a lot in our timelines are probably different, but are we…you know…together or-" 

"Why do you care?" Chat Noir asked, rummaging through the books and stacking a small pile on the desk behind him. "You know there are other girls in the world, right?" 

"I know…but there's only one Ladybird," Cat Noir said with a sigh that made Chat Noir's eyes roll. "...under normal circumstances at least; for some amazing reason that I'm not going to question we have-” 

“Two of the same Ladybug in the same place, which doesn’t bode well given the last time something like this happened,” Chat Noir said, watching Cat Noir fidget with a Newton’s Cradle on his desk. “Hey, can you pay attention?” 

“Do you really need help picking out books?” Cat Noir snorted. 

“No, but you could be acting a whole lot less cavalier about this,” Chat Noir sighed, closing the cabinet behind this. “Would it kill you to behave like you’re in a life and death situation for once?” 

“How does my behavior affect a life or death situation?” Cat Noir asked. “It’s life or death no matter what, isn’t it? Besides, nothing a little Miraculous Ladybird can’t fix, right?” 

Yeah, so long as the Miraculous Ladybird isn’t the one trying to put you in the ground, Chat Noir thought. It wasn’t entirely fair; for all her faults and all they fought, Ladybug had stopped short of actually killing him in pursuit of his Miraculous. Cold comfort, to be sure, but cold comfort seemed to be the only kind that was afforded to him anymore. 

“And what happens when Ladybird isn’t around to save your life?” Chat Noir sniffed, sliding his secret cabinet closed. “Take it from someone who’s walked more than a mile in your cat-print shoes; you’d do yourself a favor if you learned to rely a little less on Ladybird.” 

“Why would I want to do that?” Cat Noir asked, a frown creasing his brow. “We’re a team, right? Partners are supposed to trust each other.” 

“That’s very true…but tell me, has Ladybird shared with you who your partners really are?” Chat Noir asked. Cat Noir’s lips pressed together, his scowl deepening. “Has she included you in anything that isn’t carefully filtered through her control-freak system of secrecy?” 

“That’s…” Cat Noir trailed off. “O-Okay, so maybe there’s been a few new teammates around lately, but…” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Chat Noir said as Cat Noir seemed to run out of justifications for their partnership. “Ladybird isn’t always going to have your back. It’s been nice and quiet for a while but when the chips are down and you actually need her…”

An almost sad look flickered across Chat Noir’s face before he shook his head, almost angered that he still felt a little melancholy about his first and only real partnership.  

“Oh I know you’re not dumping your baggage on the kitten here.” 

Cat Noir leapt into the air, yowling and whipping around to see a young man with dark hair sitting in Adrien’s desk chair, pink sneakers kicked up on the desk as he looked Cat Noir up and down. 

“Buuuuuuut I guess it must get heavy lugging it around for all this time, so I’ll let it slide,” Plagg said, staring over the rim of his lime-green sunglasses. “So this was what that hiccup last night was about.” 

“Who are…” Cat Noir’s eyes widened as he slowly recognized the slightly less squeaky voice. “Plagg?” 

"If you can believe it," Chat Noir sighed, ignoring the befuddled glances from Cat Noir who seemed to be trying to figure out how Plagg could 1) be human and 2) be outside of Chat Noir's ring. "Hey, do you want to do something useful?" 

"Never," Plagg replied, batting Cat Noir's finger away as he poked him in the cheek. "Oi, if you're approaching my face with your fingers, there better be some cheese in them. I will bite you, even if my teeth aren't so sharp anymore." 

"I…think I need a nap," Cat Noir said, leaning away as the strangely human but unmistakably cheesy-smelling Plagg leaned in curiously. "D-Do I have something on my face?" 

"You got my face on your face," Chat Noir said, his hair prickling a little as he looked himself over. Was he always this gangly? This energetic? This…bouncy? It was hard for Cat Noir to even sit still for longer than a minute; it was a small wonder he lived until eighteen. 

"You had a cute face," Plagg cooed, pinching one of Cat Noir's cheeks. "I miss when you were incapable of growing stubble." 

"That makes one of us," Chat Noir said, leaning against the bookshelf. "Any bright ideas about how he got here without the Rabbit Miraculous?" 

"Easy; he didn't get here without the Rabbit Miraculous," Plagg said, snickering as Chat Noir sighed through his nose. 

"But you lost it," Cat Noir said, pointing at Chat Noir. " He said he lost it-" 

" I didn't lose it!" Chat Noir snapped. "I…look, it doesn't matter who lost what. They've had the Miraculous for years; why haven't they used it until now?" 

"Maybe they weren't ready for it," Plagg shrugged. "Maybe they lost it under the couch and spent years taping takeout chopsticks together until they could fish it out again; doesn't matter. Fact of the matter is that the Rabbit is just about the only thing this side of Creation that can pull off a jaunt through time without caving in half the world in the attempt. And The Rabbit has always been tight about letting Its powers out for mortal use; too much time travel and things get crazier than they usually are, so don't expect any time-travelling sorcerers running around.”

"Half the world's still here, right?" Cat Noir asked, worriedly looking out the window. If he expected to see half the street gone, what he saw seemed to shock him even more. "Wait…who’s that coming up the walkway-" 

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

"Aaaaaadrien?" 

Chat Noir paled, quickly dropping his disguise as the front door unlocked downstairs. "Hide him!" 

Before Cat Noir could speak, Plagg's arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into the closet, slamming the slatted wooden door. "Wait, hold on, was that-" 

"Are you in?" No, there was no doubt in Cat Noir's mind; a voice that had been a memory for so long had now suddenly snapped back into reality. Through the slats in the door he could see Adrien socketing a glass eye into place as a pair of footsteps climbed the stairs. 

"I saw the light on last night and I-" Cat Noir's heart seized in his throat as the door opened. Silvery grey strands mingled with blonde, the immortal image of Emilie Agreste Cat Noir was now alive and aging in a way that Cat Noir wasn’t used to. Her soft, careworn expression that had been frozen for so long in her portrait lit up when her eyes landed on Adrien, before quickly creasing as she took in her son’s tired, disheveled appearance. 

“Quiet ,” Plagg hissed in his ear. But even if Cat Noir had wanted to speak, the sight of his mother walking around, alive and well, seemed to rob him of his understanding of French. 

“H-Hey, Mom,” Adrien said with a sheepish wave, pecking her on the cheek as she examined him suspiciously. “I was gonna drop by later but I got roped into some work stuff; you know how it goes.” 

“On a weekend?” Emilie clucked, squinting at a tear in the hem of Adrien’s shirt. “Do I need to remind Nathalie that even executives deserve a week off every now and then?” 

“She knows,” Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Things are just…busy right now.” 

His one eye glanced at the closet, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of movement from Plagg or his younger self. 

“The world of fashion spins quickly…your father was swept up in it more than once,” Emilie chuckled, rubbing the worn wedding ring on her opposite hand. Adrien swallowed heavily as he watched her fidget with the ring, the weight of the unspoken revelation hanging over his head. Broaching the subject of Hawk Moth was a tender operation that Adrien had started and aborted many times; telling his mother that her dearly departed husband ran a criminal empire in her absence was never going to end well. Part of Adrien wanted to tarnish the memory of his father in the one place it was still most sacred; another wondered if his mother would just blame herself if she knew the truth. 

“I just hope you’re taking some time for yourself in between fabric selections,” Emilie said, patting Adrien lightly on the arm. “The fate of the world doesn’t rest on your shoulders, dear; you can stand to let your hair down every once and a while.” 

“Feels that way sometimes…” Adrien said before shaking his head, his tight expression replaced with a cheery smile. “I’ll be sure to come up for air before I drown though.” 

A lie, but telling his mother that he was on a very likely fatal mission to avert the end of the world would also not go over well. 

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Emilie said, fidgeting a little as she looked up at her son. “God…will you stop getting taller? Any higher and I’m not going to be able to hug you anymore.” 

“I can probably spring for a step-stool,” Adrien chuckled, patting his mother lightly on the arm. “Or crane, if I get really tall.” 

“Then I’d have to crane my neck up to get a good look at you,” Emilie chuckled. “Swing by for dinner?” 

“If I can swing it,” Adrien joked. “I’ll…I’ll try. Gotta go out with Nino and the others later, but I’ll be in town for a few days at least.” 

Plagg looked to Cat Noir who seemed to be silent, lips parted and eyes glossy as he watched his mother just walk out with a smile and wave over his shoulder. “Wait-” 

The word left his mouth before he could stop himself, but Plagg’s hand around his wrist kept him tightly locked in the closet. Emilie turned around to see Adrien slide in front of the closet door with a plastic smile on his face. 

“Something you needed?” Emilie asked, frowning curiously. 

“Uh…I love you?” Adrien chuckled. This didn’t seem to pacify Emilie, but if she was suspicious, she managed to hide it in an award winning smile sent back. 

“Love you too,” Emilie said, her words floating past Adrien and reaching the boy on the other side of the door. His throat tightened as he watched her leave frozen in place until he heard her slip out the side door and through the garden that connected their townhomes. 

Sighing, all traces of artificial cheer vanished from Adrien’s face as he opened the closet. Cat Noir stared at the spot where his mother had stood moments before, lips opening and closing as though trying to call after her. 

"So, uh…I guess there's some good news," Adrien coughed. 

“Can I…” Cat Noir swallowed, looking up at Adrien who just seemed uncomfortable. 

“It’s probably not a good idea,” Adrien said. “Look…I get it, okay? I lost her too at one point…but she doesn’t know about any of this and I’m really worried that putting you two together will raise some questions I don’t want to answer.” 

“But-” 

“Forget it,” Adrien said, shadows swirling around him as he became Chat Noir again. “Let's just…figure out a way to get you home.” 

---

“When did you get so…tall?” 

Tikki laughed, making Ladybird’s ears flush pink. “I may not look it, but I’m much smaller than I used to be…as are you , little Ladybug.” 

“It’s, uh…Ladybird,” Ladybird muttered. “Something funny happened with the Rabbit Miraculous and poof; here I am.” 

“Well that’s a little concerning,” Tikki said, leaning in and brushing her thumb across the Miraculous. A jolt of energy tingled through Ladybird’s ears and up Tikki’s thumb, sparking and making the strings of fairy lights hanging overhead glow scarlet red. “Hmm…that is strange.” 

Overhead the skylight cracked open and Ladybug’s head dropped in. “Okay, van’s unloaded and Papa’s distracted; let’s slip out before anyone else spots…oh.”

Tikki pulled away and the lights dimmed as Ladybug tumbled through the skylight and landed on her bed. “I…can come back if you’d like?” 

“It’s your room, you know,” Tikki said, fidgeting with her jacket. “If anyone should be apologizing-” 

“Nononono, it’s fine!” Ladybug coughed. “I know, but you guys looked like you were in the middle of Ladybug stuff, soooo-.”

“You’re part of the “Ladybug Stuff” so-” 

“Yeah, it’s just…” Ladybug trailed off with a weak chuckle as Ladybird’s eyes slowly ping-ponged between them. Stranger than Tikki’s sudden appearance in a full adult body was the way Ladybug seemed to be treating her former kwami.  She treated her like she was about to blow up if she bumped into her wrong; as though each word needed to be carefully measured and weighed to make sure it wasn't the wrong one.

Okay, so Tikki is big now…and it has something to do with Ladybug being super jumpy around her, Ladybird thought, pinning another clue to the cork-board in her mind. “What’s going on with you two?”  

Ladybug and Tikki snapped out of their shifty, awkward attitudes with almost identical fake-smiles. “Nothing!” 

“Everything’s fine!” 

"Right…" Ladybird said, not even attempting to look convinced. 

“Just catching up after-” Tikki coughed, glancing at Ladybug with a concerned expression. “...at the risk of sounding like Master Fu, there are some things that are safer unsaid.” 

“Especially given the fact that her timeline might not be anywhere close to ours ,” Ladybug added. “Apparently there was a plague in her world for three years that we never saw; no telling what else is different, so…maybe there are some things we should not talk to her about.” 

Ladybird’s lips pursed, clearly unhappy with the explanation but a distant tremor that knocked a few books off the shelves on the wall was clearly more immediately important. “What was-” 

---

“-that?” 

Chat Noir grabbed Cat Noir under the arm as he stumbled, the force of the tremor nearly knocking him to the floor as it rippled through the city. Overhead, the sun seemed to flicker momentarily, dimming ever so slightly before returning to its full radiant intensity as the quake subsided. 

Plagg scowled up at the sky, a dark look distorting his usually carefree expression. “Kid, have you ever tried to put too much water in a water balloon?” 

“Have you met my father?” Cat Noir said, brushing himself off. “I didn’t know what a water balloon was until I was twelve.” 

“God, I sometimes forget how sad your life is,” Plagg sighed as Chat Noir scoured the sky above them. “Well, you know how water balloons are really really stretchy?” 

“The point, Plagg; I am begging you to get to the point ,” Chat Noir said, fidgeting as the sense of something being terribly wrong only seemed to grow. 

“The point, minou,” Plagg hissed out of the corner of his mouth. “Is that even the stretchiest things have their-” 

---

“-limits.” 

Ladybird slipped, nearly teetering off the edge of the roof until Ladybug reached out with a glittering red ribbon and caught her. “So am I the water or the balloon in this metaphor?” 

" We're the water; this world is the balloon," Tikki said, wind whipping at her hair as she perched on the edge of Marinette's roof. Tikki’s eyes were trained on the horizon, scanning for something Ladybug could only feel distantly in the back of her mind. “You have to understand that our world is not well and has not been well for a long time.” 

“Guess global warming is a multi-dimensional thing, huh?” Ladybird said, brushing herself off. 

“It’s more than that…it’s a sickness that’s seeping into the soul of our universe,” Tikki said, her form flickering and reappearing on the next rooftop as the Ladybugs swung across. “A cancer that’s eating away at reality bit by bit. Our enemies didn’t create it, but they seem to be doing everything in their power to try and make it worse.” 

Well that's great! Ladybug thought, skipping along the rooftop ahead of her younger self. As if Kaiser Long and Firebird weren't bad enough, apparently their rickety patchwork world was being stretched to its breaking point. 

"Did this have anything to do with-" 

"Partially," Tikki said quickly, floating alongside Ladybug as she swung. "But that wasn't the start of it; even if it hadn't happened the way it did, we'd still have this problem on our hands." 

There was something consoling in Tikki's tone of voice that Ladybird picked up on; almost as though she were saying that it wasn't Ladybug's fault. 

“Okay…so you’re saying that us being here is making this universe soul-cancer… thing worse?” Ladybird said, glancing at Ladybug for clarification. "How much time do we have before it pops?" 

Ladybug squirmed uncomfortably as a wave of unease rippled through her. "Not long enough to do any sightseeing, I'm afraid." 

The more she honed her abilities, the more she was made aware of subtle shifts in the energy fields that surrounded her. The cold, slimy sense of foreboding that hung in the air was harder to ignore and Ladybug wasn’t entirely sure that she should . 

Did you feel that? 

Across the city, she felt Chat Noir acknowledge her, then almost hesitate before responding. How far are you?  

Two and a half kilometers or so? 

Not from me; from the house. 

Oh. The fact that she seemed to have an almost perfect understanding of how far away her partner was par for the weird course she found herself playing on. It was the same way she could tell where the sun was by the heat on her skin or which direction the breeze was blowing from. 

“So…what happens when the water balloon-” 

---

“-pops?” 

Cat Noir watched with some fascination as a wave of Chat Noir’s hand opened a black portal in the air in front of him. 

“Everything gets wet,” Plagg said. “And by wet, I mean snuffed out of existence faster than you can say omelet du fromage. The fundamental annihilation of every living thing that has ever existed or ever will exist…probably.” 

“ Probably ?” Cat Noir asked, stepping through the portal and finding himself standing outside a familiar looking front-door. 

"Well seeing as how the universe has never exploded before, we're going off some guesswork," Plagg said, tapping Chat Noir on the shoulder. "Luckily, universe-ending catastrophes are something of our specialty, aren't they?"

Chat Noir didn't seem to share his kwami's enthusiasm as he knocked on the door. "So far, so good…all it takes is one bad slip.” 

“Such a cheerful guy,” Plagg said, rolling his eyes as he opened a second portal. “Look, Tikki wants to check on something so we’ll leave you two…well, four alone to get acquainted a little.” 

“Do you need to leave me alone with-” Chat Noir's ears flicked back, stepping to one side as Ladybug swung over the rooftops and landed in the spot he had been occupying before. 

“ You need to be left alone with-” Plagg said, sticking his tongue out and vanishing through the portal. 

“Heya!” Ladybug said with a semi-awkward wave. “Tikki said she had to take care of something so-” 

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” Chat Noir sighed. 

“And me, and-” Cat Noir perked up as he saw his own lady, eyes glittering and face practically beaming with a kind of affection that Ladybug hadn’t seen in years. His adolescent crush had yet to cool and even their lighthearted banter was a refreshing change of pace from the tense relationship she had with Chat Noir. Seeing them together only worsened the ache in Ladybug’s chest as they seemed to be a walking reminder of how far they had fallen as partners. 

Glancing at Chat Noir, she caught him staring at them with a curious expression on his face. The lines of tension seemed to relax and a little of the weight that seemed to drag him down lifted for a moment until he caught her staring at him and glanced away. 

“Are you sure this is okay?” Ladybug asked, peeking in the windows of the stately townhouse as Chat Noir reached down and pressed a fingertip against the lock. There was a hiss of black energy as the lock dissolved, pieces dripping onto the stoop as Chat Noir pushed a sizzling black hole clean through the door. 

“We can replace a lock…I just want to check something,” Chat Noir said, frowning as a wire sticking through the lock's remnants caught his attention. 

“Tell me this place has a video game console or something; if we’re stuck here we might as well make the most of- hey!” Cat Noir yelped as Chat Noir grabbed him by the back of his hair and pulled him away from the door. “What the heck are you-” 

“Wait…something’s not right,” Ladybug said, crouching down and examining the green wire jutting out of the hole where the lock used to be. Two twisted copper ends stuck out of the wood, running up the back of the door and out of sight. “Does Kagami have a security system you just fried?” 

“One with exposed wires on the back of a door?” Chat Noir asked, pushing Cat Noir back. “God, where’s Carapace when you need him?” 

“Out trying to wrangle Queen Bee; you want to wait for him?” Ladybug said, extending her shield with a snap of her wrist. 

“Just keep back…I have a bad feeling about this,” Chat Noir said, bending down and grabbing a wire between his fingers. 

“How bad of a feeling?” Ladybird asked as Chat Noir examined the wire curiously. Frowning, Ladybug leaned in to get a better look, shoulder brushing up against Chat Noir as his eyes traced up the length of the door frame. This close, Ladybug was aware of two things; the faint smell of cinders that seemed to hang around Chat Noir like burning incense and a distant but distinct ticking sound coming from just behind the door. 

Ladybug heard the click the moment before the bomb went off. “Down!” 

With one move she threw Ladybird and Cat Noir behind her, as she slid in front of Chat Noir just as the door erupted in flames. The shield caught most of the blow, sending a gout of flame surging back into Kagami’s house and knocking several ornamental swords off the wall and onto the broken floor. The force of the blast sent her backwards, crashing into Chat Noir and sprawling on the street next to Cat Noir as he shielded Ladybird from the worst of the blast with his body. 

Car alarms rang as Ladybug slowly pushed herself up, hands braced on Chat Noir’s chest as she stared into the rapidly burning house. “Well…could have been worse…” 

“How ?!” Chat Noir demanded. 

“Kagami could have opened the door,” Ladybug said grimly, watching chunks of burning wood crackle on the street in front of them. 

---

“Mm…I see. Well, monitor it and if it gets too out of control-” 

Kaiser Long glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye. “Get to the ARKS and await further instructions.” 

Kaiser Long hung up the phone, glaring down at the receiver. "The arctic stations are holding firm…Kuzo and Hernandez managed to reverse the polarity of the spikes; should buy us a little more time, but…" 

Kaiser Long pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to run the math in his head again and hoping it would somehow end up in their favor this time. “They won’t have time to make it to the shelters if the stations go.” 

“Won’t matter if they do,” Firebird mused, staring at the swirling map of the world in the center of their lair. “Even if they escape the blast, we have nowhere to put them yet. Without coordinates on the other side, they’ll just…spin in space until they run out of air.” 

“Personally, I’d prefer the fire,” Kaiser Long said, gripping the table with a frown etched deep in his face. 

"Well get used to it; there's about to be a whole lot ," Firebird sniffed. 

Kaiser Long glared at the globe thoughtfully. “...and what about us?” 

“What about us?” Firebird sighed, watching tiny little lights spark on the globe in front of her. “We’re in the same boat as everyone else…we can’t create another world to support all our people in time so unfortunately we have to hope that our trained circus monkeys find the Miraculous in time…or that Ladybug somehow manages to stop them.” 

“...and what about just for us?” Kaiser Long asked, his hand resting on the back of Firebird’s neck. “I might not be able to support a planet yet but…if it’s just us-” 

“If it was just us, it would still be my favorite planet,” Firebird said, squeezing Kaiser Long’s hand. “That sounds dangerously close to half-assing it though.” 

“Hopefully our little friends will make good on their promise and deliver the packages to us in time then,” Kaiser Long said, sliding into a chair next to his wife. “But if they don’t…all I’m saying is that we should have a Plan B in case things go awry.” 

Firebird glanced out of the corner of her eye. “...could it work?” 

“The concept was never the issue,” Kaiser Long said, opening his hand. A swirl of green light illuminated the table as a small globe materialized, complete with almost microscopic trees and birds fluttering about. “The issue was always the scale …but if I don’t need to create a world for anyone but us-” 

“This was never about just us , Felix,” Firebird said, squeezing Kaiser Long’s hand. “This was always supposed to be about something bigger…the salvation and future of the human race is on our shoulders.”

Her eyes flickered as she watched the globe spin in her husband’s hand. “It’s what Master Li would have wanted…”  

Kaiser Long blew a jet of frigid air out of his nose as he looked back up at the globe. “Well then...I suppose we’re banking on The Scorpion.” 

"I'll book our ski-trip to hell; I hear it's frosty this time of year," Firebird clucked, shaking her head. "Good help really is so hard to come by these days." 

---

Knock-knock-knock

The older Master Fu got, the harder he found rising from a warm and otherwise lovely bed in the morning. 

Knock-knock-knock!

Perhaps it was just his own mortality catching up with him; perhaps his weighted blanket was just so comfortable that it came at the cost of his productivity. Or perhaps he no longer had the strength to lift it off his body as he-

Knockknockknockknockknockknockknock-

“I am coming !” Master Fu grumbled, sliding out of his bed with a groan of discomfort. The fevered rapping at his door didn’t seem to slow down as he carefully picked his way through the house, leaning on his cane as he went. His eyes adjusted to the morning light streaming through the blinds as he undid every lock (magical and mundane) holding his front door shut. 

“Knocking more than once does not make me walk any faster,” Master Fu sighed, prying the door open. “What do you-” 

For a moment, Master Fu worried he was going senile, literally seeing his former protegees standing next to much younger versions of themselves. That theory was quickly dashed as Ladybird lunged, throwing her arms around his shoulders and embracing the old man in a fierce, almost desperate hug. Figments of his imagination were typically softer and didn’t make his pajamas wet with tears while they hugged him. 

Behind her, Ladybug looked somewhat embarrassed as she waved over her younger self’s shoulder. “Good morning, Master! There's uh…s-something we need to talk to you about." 

Master Fu's eyes bounced between Ladybird and Ladybug's faces. "I'll put the kettle on..."

Notes:

Hello again!

Thank you all for being patient; this chapter has been written/rewritten a couple of different times before I was happy with the result. We're approaching the endgame for this story which will conclude this unpleasant little Ladynoir spat and put them back on the road to recovery! The reason I'm breaking this story up here is because I'd like to do some one-shots/OVA-type stories where I can do character stuff without worrying about the urgency of the plot breathing down my neck.

There will also be less Lukagami/OT3 until MWD is done because I think we need to really zero in on Ladynoir from here on in. Difficult as it is to write two characters that don't want to talk to each other, we need to hash out some stuff if there's ever going to be hope of recovery.

Thank you for reading again!

Chapter 19: Full Gear

 

Rena Rouge: Okay, do you feel like explaining yourself now?

Rena Rouge: Or should I start guessing why there’s a miniature version of Ladybug and Chat Noir following you around? 

Ladybug: Would you believe me if I said it was time-travel shenanigans gone awry?

Rena Rouge: …two years ago, probably not. 

Rena Rouge: Then again that was before I had to stop a questionable Egyptologist from using an ex-pharaoh as his own personal zombie slave so

Rena Rouge: Anything's game now I guess. 

Ladybug: He wasn't from the British Museum was he? 

Rena Rouge: We have enough domestic psychos that we don't have to start importing them quite yet. 

Rena Rouge: On topic; where are you right now? 

Ladybug: Safe. 

Rena Rouge: Didn't know that was still a place to be. 

Ladybug: Bunking down in the old spot while we catch our breath; I don't want to risk staying here too long. 

Rena Rouge: And we don't want to bring them back to base in case our friends in white track them there. 

Ladybug: Precisely.

Rena Rouge: We have a couple other safehouses in the city if you want to fall back to one of those. 

Rena Rouge: Give me some time and I'll get one ready; we can rally there and figure out what to do next. 

Ladybug: Thank you. 

Ladybug: Nice not to have to manage everything myself anymore

Rena Rouge: Yeah, it's a real peach; thanks for the promotion. 

Rena Rouge: Ugh…sorry. 

Rena Rouge: That was out of line. 

Ladybug: No, I understand. 

Ladybug: After I left it must've been a lot to take on. 

Rena Rouge: Doesn't mean I need to be wasting time taking shots at you. 

Ladybug: I don't think you've been taking shots at me. 

Rena Rouge: Then I don't want to start. 

Ladybug: I know I’m not “officially” part of the team again but if you need me to handle anything, let me know. 

Rena Rouge: Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. 

Rena Rouge: Let's just get these kids safe and then…

Rena Rouge: I guess we'll figure that out once we get there. 

Ladybug: Yeah, first thing's first. 

Ladybug: Just waiting on Tikki. 

Rena Rouge: Tikki? 

Ladybug: She said she's checking something out, but

Ladybug: It's been a while…

---

“This is reckless , Plagg.” 

It wasn’t hard to find them; bad mojo was Plagg’s stock and trade and all it took was a quick sniff to pick up their enemies’ trail and follow it down into one of the cisterns beneath Paris’ streets. The noxious odor of the sewer did little to hide the much deeper stink of malice that followed The Venoms around like a miasma. 

“Well if you’re skittish about it, you can always go,” Plagg muttered, peeking out from around a corner. Fourteen men in white helmets carefully unpacked a large black crate, resting large black eggs carefully on the ground. On a metal walkway above them, The Cobra paced back and forth, their blank eyes scanning their subordinates carefully. 

“The last time I let you run off unaccompanied, we lost Pompeii,” Tikki said, scowling at the eggs the masked guards laid out in a line. “Something’s inside those eggs…something bad.” 

“You don’t know that; they could be hatching kittens for all we know,” Plagg said, eyes narrowing at The Cobra’s back. “Can you feel them?” 

Tikki closed her eyes, squinting behind her lids as she tried to make sense of the confusing web of life energy that swarmed in the sewer. Every rat, roach, and patch of algae threw off different vibes that made distinguishing her targets hard. 

“I can’t tell from this far away,” Tikki whispered. “Can you get me closer?” 

Plagg touched the back of her shoulder, his eyes flashing green as a thin, shadowy sheen clung to Tikki’s figure. “Okay, that should last a couple of minutes; go quick and get back here even quicker.” 

“Now who’s skittish?” Tikki said, stepping out from behind the pillar and walking down into the sewer basin. She could feel Plagg’s power tingling on her skin as she passed the masked guards without any of them seeming to take notice. One of them even moved out of her way as she passed, then seemed confused as to why they just stepped aside for nothing. 

“Understood…no…no, we won’t make that mistake a second time.” 

The sudden sound of The Cobra’s voice startled Tikki, but other than a few uneasy looks, the guards seemed to take their leader talking to himself in stride. 

“Is it just me or are his little one-sided conversations getting more frequent?” One of the guards whispered as Tikki passed. 

“He’s been off all morning…something’s got him rattled,” another guard responded. “I still think we should get out of here while we have the-” 

Thunk!

A terrible crash echoed through the sewer as one of the large black eggs slipped from a guard’s grip and bounced on the floor, cracking the cement and leaving a terrifying silence in its wake. The guard who dropped the egg froze in terror, slowly turning to see The Cobra glaring at them from behind his pale mask. 

“I-I’m sorry, sir,” the guard stammered, tensing as The Cobra began walking down the staircase, boots clanging with every step he took. “It slipped…it won’t happen a-” 

Tikki managed to get out of the way before The Cobra lunged, cane lashing out and shattering the poor guard’s helmet with a single swing. He slumped over with a groan, body crumpling before he hit the ground. The rest of the guards averted their eyes, busying themselves with unloading the remaining eggs while The Cobra callously kicked the dead guard into the sewer beneath their feet. 

“Hurry up,” The Cobra hissed, nearly brushing past Tikki as he walked by. She knew she wouldn’t get much of a chance and a quick backward glance to Plagg confirmed that he was ready to go. Before she could hesitate, she reached out, fingers brushing the hem of The Cobra’s jacket. 

Every kwami had a unique tell; an aura that marked them as otherworldly. As her fingers brushed the jacket, four clearly distinct auras flashed across her mind. First was the human’s aura, battered and twisted as it was encircled by a harsh, thorny aura. Then came the yawning, ravenous maw of something alien and oppressive. She knew little of Mayura beyond what Marinette had told her, but the force that trapped the man’s spirit was not unlike an Akuma. Only larger, stronger, and seemingly more ravenous as she felt two familiar forces deep inside the creature’s stomach. 

It’s them…

In a flash, she knew two things; that The Cobra’s akuma was somehow drawing power from Sass and Fluff and that her cloak of invisibility no longer concealed her. 

There was a slight pop as the shroud disappeared, leaving Tikki exposed for a hair of a second with her hand on The Cobra’s sleeve. Two yellow, reptilian eyes swiveled around, catching Tikki’s astonished expression for a fraction of a second. Then she saw his gaze fog over, eyes rapidly twitching in their sockets as he reached for his cane. Through their connection, she could feel Sass’ power pulse inside him, rattling around as The Cobra reared back and readied itself to bite. 

Before it could, she felt a familiar pair of arms close around her waist. “Sorry, wrong sewer!” 

Plagg’s words echoed off the walls as in a sudden pop, the pair disappeared. The Cobra stared at the pavement where they had been, fingering their ring as they seemed to be weighing whether or not to chance this. 

Odds of victory slim, The Cobra's voice echoed in his mind. Proceed according to scenario. 

He turned, walking back up the stairs as the eggs on the ground slowly started to wobble. 

---

"Dude, you look like sh-" 

"-shut up," Nino sighed, pressing the bag of pastries into Chris' hand. As he opened the door, Chris could see that his brother had been up for hours even before the sun rose. He was slouched like a puppet being held up only by sheer force of will, spite, or a combination of the two, wobbling unsteadily as he leaned against the door frame. "Sorry…been up all night. Just wanted to check on you." 

"I'm doing a lot better than you are," Chris said, holding the door open. "You wanna come in?" 

"Can't…tell Mom I have some work to do today," Nino said, waving over his shoulder as he turned around to leave. "I'll try and make dinner, but-" 

Nino stumbled as the ground beneath their feet quaked, holding on to the door-frame for support. After a few moments, the quake passed and Nino shared an uneasy smile with his brother. "-I think I'm gonna be busy for a little while." 

Work-life balance wasn't part of the superhero compensation package, but there had at least been a semblance of it before this week. As though all the crazy that had been lurking just beyond Paris' borders had finally come home with Ladybug and Chat Noir. He didn't put stock in superstition; as much as Adrien might think he was a walking jinx and magnet for bad luck, Nino didn't believe that a person could bring so much bad luck with him.  After surviving three slobberknockers in two cities in less than two days, Nino was having second thoughts. 

His phone chirped in his pocket, startling him out of his rumination as he saw Alya's name appear on the screen. "Hey." 

" Hey, Chloe's still AWOL," Alya sighed. Through the line, he could almost imagine her pacing back and forth, running her hand through her hair as she tried to outwalk her problems. " I've been calling her all morning but she isn't picking up the phone and-” 

Nino took a deep breath, already getting a second hand headache from Alya. “Okay…you want me to go see if I can find her?” 

“ Could you ?” Alya asked. “ I’m setting up a safehouse in Le Grand Paris; I’ll explain everything more when we get there, but we have people in custody we don’t want bringing back to our base.” 

“What kind of people?” 

“ Would you believe me if I said that Ladybug and Chat Noir traveled through time and somehow landed in our lap or would you call bullshit?” 

“That is bullshit, but it’s the kind of bullshit we deal with on a daily basis,” Nino groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Okay…you need me to do anything else while I’m topside, or-” 

“Just let me know when you find Chloe,” Alya said. “The longer she’s out there, the more I’m worried about her…or rather, what she’ll do if we don’t find her soon. Thanks…” 

“Okay…hey, I checked in with Chris and-” 

“ Hang on; gotta run; the maitre-d apparently wants a credit card," Alya groaned. " Remind me to set up a tab with Chloe when you find her." 

The line clicked off and Nino stared at the smiling picture of himself and Alya he had as her icon for a long minute. 

“...Chris is fine,” Nino muttered, shoving his phone back in his pocket and setting off in search of his girlfriend’s girlfriend. 

---

You let them escape. 

Living with The Toad was like living with a brain tumor; a constant, pulsing presence just behind his eyes that Andre found harder to ignore the longer it was there. 

"They beat us," Andre grumbled, hauling a crate of eggs down a rusty metal ladder into the sewers. "You forget who's with them-" 

Or you have forgotten, The Toad croaked. As Andre twisted the ring on his finger, he could feel his body stretch and widen as it swelled to nearly twice its usual size. The black and white mask slithered up his neck as it bulged with The Toad’s power, stretching over his face and swallowing Andre’s harried expression. 

You are too soft on that girl, The Toad’s voice echoed, distorting the frustration that was part and parcel with parenting Chloe Bourgeois. 

“We are not having this conversation again,” The Toad grumbled, stacking each egg on its bottom beneath the sewer grates. He didn’t even need to ask why there were no maintenance workers around to discover him; no doubt his employers had already bribed, threatened, or simply disposed of any hang-ups. 

Then again they were getting remarkably flat-footed as of late, and-

The Toad grunted as a roar of anger ripped through his mind, the cannibal Akuma’s anger an almost palpable heat. Fool! What right does a serial failure have to question your betters?! If they have been caught off-guard, it is because of your weaknesses!

Growling, Andre wrenched the ring off his finger, his disguise falling from his body as his frame shrank down to his usual size. Shrinking was as unpleasant as stretching and doing both in such a short period of time sent a wave of aches and pains rippling through Andre’s body. 

“I…I have had enough of your miserable chatter!” Andre panted, sweat sticking to his forehead as he glared down at his ring. "Can't you say something useful for once?!" 

Even wrenched off his finger, The Toad's voice somehow lingered in the back of his mind. I am; you are the one clinging to sentimentality…that brat of yours is actively trying to ruin everything we have been working for. And you just let her misbehave like you have always done. 

"My daughter is none of your concern," Andre growled, scowling at the ugly brass toad embossed on the ring.

She is as long as she chooses to oppose us, The Toad said. In the dim light, the rubies set into the toad's eyes glinted maliciously. Either you choose to correct her behavior next time we meet…or I will. 

Andre scowled, shoving the ring back on his finger as he once again swelled with The Toad's power. "I can handle this…" 

The fear in your voice tells a very different story…

---

"How many times do I need to repeat myself?! Andre is-" 

"I heard you the first time, Chloe," Sabrina's voice sighed on the other end of the phone. "Apparently you didn't hear the part where I'm not the chief of police. Even if I was , I can't just arrest people based on hearsay-" 

" Hearsay?!" Queen Bee hissed, zipping through the streets and scanning the crowds for any sign of her father. "It's not hearsay , it's see…say. I saw his mask fall off and I saw the face of the man underneath it; Andre Bourgeois is- " 

"Still a citizen protected under the due process of the law," Sabrina's voice said. “We’re not all superheroes, Chloe; there are rules we need to follow-” 

"Yeah, rules my evil father doesn't care about!" Queen Bee said, raising her voice as a crowd of perplexed tourists hurried past them. " That's right, tell everyone that Andre Bourgeois is a lying…cheating…scheming piece of-" 

"All very true," Sabrina's voice reminded her. "But not enough to arrest someone on…and frankly screaming at random people in the street is not the way to go about getting your dad arrested either.” 

That’s what you get for asking the police for help… Queen Bee thought bitterly. “Fine…can you at least send some of your goons to watch Le Grand Paris? We have some VIP’s in who might attract some unwanted attention.” 

"What kind of VIP’s?” 

“The very very secret kind,” Queen Bee sighed. “Enough to warrant the best of your waddling dimwit piggy brigade.” 

“I’ll tell them you said that; I’m sure my teammates will line up to serve at Your Highness’ pleasure,” Sabrina muttered. 

“Sabrina-” 

“Don’t worry; I’ll send some of my best to keep watch,” Sabrina said, forestalling another Queen Bee meltdown. “Thanks for the heads up; it’s nice to learn about upcoming disasters before they’re dropped in my lap…" 

"One of these days I'd like to have the same," Queen Bee said, closing her communicator as she touched down in a park. The urge to snap it in half was almost overwhelming; when stressed, the urge to just break something had to be actively tempered before it got her in trouble. It had been years since she had hurled vases at the wall in piques of anger and she liked to think she was doing better. But unlike Alya or Nino, that urge to drive her fist through the wall or lash out with ugly remarks would be with her until she died. At least as Queen Bee, she had a semi-healthy outlet for her anger; breaking robots in half with her bare hands was a hell of a lot more cathartic than making snide comments to soft targets. 

"I guess the park's the first place you should go looking for a missing bee." 

Queen Bee felt Carapace approach before she heard him speak. The Powers that governed their Miraculous influenced them on a level Chloe didn’t understand; Alya could walk around in sleighbells and strobe lights and remain undetected. Luka had an infuriating habit of knowing exactly how she was feeling before she did, and the less said about Adrien’s new talents the better. 

Carapace was…safe. Or maybe it was better to say that he was Safety. 

“Making sure the honey production stays on track?” Carapace chuckled, the tension in the air evaporating little by little as he leaned against the tree next to her. He gave off the aura of a warm cabin in the middle of a snowstorm; a refuge from danger and somewhere to hide from adversity. She had felt him grow in power until he was the sort of person who could diffuse even the toughest situations with a look and a few well placed words. Even now she felt a little of the tense, aimless anger in her stomach uncoil as he laid a hand on her shoulder. 

"Nothing so sweet I'm afraid," Queen Bee said, blithely watching the worker bees buzz around the rose bushes. 

"I know what you mean," Carapace said. "But Rena needs us back at your place."

"Tell her I'm busy." 

"A busy bee?" Carapace's half-hearted attempt at humor seemed to crack her composure a little. Chloe had her Queen Been persona down to a science. Most people never got to see the places where she ended and the superhero began. But now there was doubt in her eyes that Carapace knew she would never show anyone. 

"I need to find him," Queen Bee said quietly, every word quaking with rage.

"And do what?" 

"Choke the life out of him." 

"Chloe-" 

"Sorry…I mean strangle the life out of him," Queen Bee said, twisting out of Carapace's grip. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't." 

"It'd be more fun to see him in orange jumpsuits sucking down prison chow for the rest of his life?" Carapace suggested, following Queen Bee as she headed deeper into the park. "He's your father-" 

" Allegedly!" Queen Bee spat. "He's only tried in the last half-year or so; otherwise he was too busy to even look at me…and then when the city needs him, he just runs!" 

Queen Bee's anger was split in half between the betrayal as a daughter and the betrayal as a protector of Paris. It was hard to tell if the personal or professional anger was winning out; only that she was desperately searching for something to take her anger out on. 

"That lying…two-faced…" Queen Bee's tirade dissipated with a sigh, her head bumping against Carapace's chest as she leaned forward. "...how does he keep finding new ways to hurt me?" 

"He's had a lot of practice," Carapace sighed, patting the back of Queen Bee's neck. In spite of the messy complications she brought to his relationship with Alya, Carapace found it hard to dislike Chloe. There was only so much you could hate a person who you had fought next to for three years. "But killing him doesn't get us what we want…or any closer to stopping his bosses. He'd be more useful to us alive." 

"He's useful for absolutely nothing ," Queen Bee muttered, looking up at him with bleary eyes. Leaning on Carapace came naturally to her; so much so that she had taken to leaning against him when the two of them were patrolling the city. 

"Tell me to stop…and I will," Queen Bee said. 

"I can't tell you to do anything," Carapace chuckled. "I'm not your boss." 

"Yeah, but…I think you're a better person than me," Queen Bee admitted quietly. "You and Alya both." 

"You're not all that bad," Carapace said, patting her head gently. 

"Only because of you," Queen Bee shrugged. "If I was on my own…I don't think I'd still be a hero like I am now. I think I might have turned into someone I don't like…so if you tell me not to go after him, I won't." 

Carapace didn't seem to know what to say. The stern, imperious Chloe who could bark orders with the best of them was looking to him for direction? 

"...look, I-" Carapace trailed off as a sudden jarring jolt tingled in the back of his mind. 

"What is it?" Queen Bee asked. The discomfort must've been apparent enough that Queen Bee noticed. Around the city, he had taken the time to scrawl little sigils on park benches and building cornerstones. A web of magical alarms were laid across Paris, designed to warn him of incoming danger before it arrived. 

"A ward just got tripped," Carapace said, his eyes scanning the ground beneath his feet as unease began to rise. 

"Which one?"

"I don't know but…" Carapace's eyes dropped to a sewer grate. "Someone's doing something bad down there…"

---

“Does he look old to you?" 

"...didn't he always look old?" 

"I know, I know, but….he looks old, right?" 

"...yyyyeah, he's always looked old." 

"No, I mean…does he look his age?" 

"Yes, Ladybird, he's always looked like a little old man-" 

"No, I mean does he look old, or-" 

" Very old," Master Fu said, causing the whispering teenagers behind him to jump as he looked up from his book. "But not deaf just yet." 

Ladybird and Cat Noir had the courtesy to blush. "S-Sorry! It's just…been a while since I've seen you." 

"Oh dear," Master Fu chuckled, looking over the rim of his glasses at Ladybird. "I do hope I left you with plenty of instructions before I disappeared." 

"Some," Ladybug said, shifting in her seat as her tea grew cool in front of her. Seeing the young Ladybug (Ladybird, he reminded himself) made Master Fu strangely nostalgic for a simpler time. "It's been a little tough to handle things on my own-" 

Master Fu couldn't help but notice the way her partner's lips twisted ever so slightly. "I don't think you ever should be asked to handle something so serious on your own…if your master ever asked you to, then he's as much a fool as I am."

Master Fu dogeared the book as he turned his attention to his young charges. "I wish I had some concrete answer for you, but as Ladybug explained, we haven't seen our Rabbit in years...and without that, there is little hope of returning you to your own timeline." 

"Well…w-wouldn't Bunnyx have shown up right now if we really were messing with the timeline?" Cat Noir butted in. "That's what happened last time, right?" 

"Yes…although there is a distinct possibility that our worlds being destroyed isn't enough of a threat to reality for Bunnyx to care," Master Fu mused, stroking his wispy mustache. 

“Oh, well that’s nice ,” Cat Noir grumbled. “So we get tossed to the wolves because we’re an acceptable loss ?! Written off like a…a…something companies write off?!” 

“Bunnyx is not supposed to be nice ; they are supposed to maintain the rather wobbly balance of reality across timelines,” Master Fu said. "Regardless, I do not know if we can rely on outside help this time…if we are to survive this, we must look to ourselves and each other to pull through.” 

It was that sort of gentle, resolute encouragement that Ladybird missed the most about her old master; a promise that she wasn’t as alone as she felt. “...does that include Ladybug and Chat Noir?” 

Master Fu’s eyes lost some of their twinkle, drifting over to an old newspaper clipping of his pupils after their first Akuma encounter. “Well…they may take a little while to see eye to eye again.” 

Time, unfortunately, that we do not have, Master Fu thought as noise drifted through his slightly cocked kitchen door. 

---

"What do you mean my front door is gone?!" 

"Look," Chat Noir grunted as he rummaged around the bottom of Master Fu's cabinet. "It's a long story-" 

" Shorten it," Kagami said on the other end of the communicator. " And focus on the part where my front door blew up ." 

"I can explain later," Chat Noir said, pushing some old pasta aside as he caught the glint of a dusty bottle behind the tomato sauce. 

" Why were you even at my house in the first place?!"

"I…I needed a place to keep someone safe," Chat Noir said. "Yours was the first place I thought of." 

" And the fact that my identity has been compromised didn't disqualify my house as safe because…" Kagami trailed off, waiting for Chat Noir to explain himself. 

"Wait, since when has your identity been compromised?" Chat Noir asked, nearly banging his head on a low shelf as he slid down onto his belly.

" It was at the last briefing," Kagami said, icily. " You would have known if you were there." 

"I was trying to get my friends out of Venice," Chat Noir grunted. "You know things are kinda hectic right now." 

" Ah, the Chat Noir refrain…" 

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" 

" 'I'll explain later, Kagami'," Kagami said in a swooning impersonation of Adrien's voice. " 'It's a lot to get into right now; I'll loop you in when I get back.' And then by the time you get back it's five months later and there's an entirely different mess you'll explain later because 'things are kinda hectic now.'"

"I get the feeling you're a little upset by that," Chat Noir said, straining to reach the dusty bottle. "You know I have a lot going on these days." 

" And I'm sitting at home in my underwear knitting socks, am I?" Kagami huffed. 

" We have a lot going on these days," Chat Noir corrected, grabbing a wooden spoon from the countertop and trying to wriggle the bottle closer to him. "You know I don't always have time to loop you in." 

" As you keep saying…" 

Chat Noir could feel his frayed nerves start to bristle as he dropped the wooden spoon. "Hey, I'm sorry that you don't feel as 'looped in' as you'd like to be but you have literally all the information I do; your door was there one minute, then it was everywhere and on fire, now I'm lying on my belly trying to reach Master Fu's sherry bottle before I get the shakes again. I'm sorry that I haven't had the time to give you the full report on Doorgate, but if you're that worried about your own safety, maybe you shouldn't be hanging out with-" 

Chat Noir stopped himself short, but Kagami seemed to already know what he was going to say. " ...would you care to finish that statement?" 

"...I've already said everything I can say about that," Chat Noir muttered. "Look, just get everyone together and meet at Le Grand Paris in twenty; we need to keep these kids moving before someone figures out where they are." 

"Did you ask Chloe before you commandeered her hotel as a safehouse or do we just have to hope her door isn't rigged as well?" 

"I'm sure she'll be okay with it," Chat Noir said, grabbing the cork of the bottle between his fingers. "We'll talk later." 

"We always will," Kagami sighed, hanging up the phone as Chat Noir's fingers closed around the neck of the bottle. He could deal with Kagami's irritation after he satisfied his own unfortunate needs. 

Over the years, Chat Noir had done all he could to find some alternative way of refueling his powers. Cheese required a lot of wheels, pickles tended to be hit-or-miss depending on how long they had been fermented, and dry-aged beef (succulent as it was) rarely had enough rot in it to fill more than his belly. 

Time and again, he came back to alcohol with a curled lip and churning stomach. 

He hated it; hated the way it smelled, hated the way it tasted, hated how it never seemed to get him drunk but always left him with a hangover the next morning. But medicine, he supposed, wasn’t supposed to taste good. It just needed to do the job, no matter the side effects or side-eyed glares from nosy busybodies. 

Besides, being a booze-soaked mess added to his cover story; waking up in a ditch stinking of vodka added to his rich-kid burnout persona. Nobody thought Adrien Agreste was capable of doing much, let alone saving the world in secret. 

"Kinda early to be tucking into the liquor, don't you think?" 

The sound of Ladybug's voice over his shoulder caused him to tense involuntarily. He made a point of putting on a nonchalant front as he turned around and toasted her with the sherry bottle; a perfect play right out of the Adrien Agreste Guide to Avoiding Uncomfortable Emotional Conversations. 

"Well, if you know of any other high-calorie fermented food, I'm all ears," Chat Noir grumbled, spitting the cork into the trash can next to Ladybug and tipping the bottle down his throat. The acidic burn made him cough, sending drops running down his cheeks as he tried to keep the saccharinely sweet liquor down without too much theatrics. 

"Oh, I didn't…" Ladybug shook her head. "Sorry…it's a Chat Noir thing, right?" 

"One of the many perks of the job," Chat Noir said with a tight smile. "All the fun of a hangover and none of the fun of the party; what passes for my body these days just processes it too quickly."

"I think my body does the same kind of thing,” Ladybug said, leaning against the counter. “I got bitten by a spider a few years ago and could almost…feel the poison slithering around inside me.” 

“I’m sure that was fun.” 

“ Was…until I spit it out,” Ladybug said. “I can’t explain how it happened but I just…wiggled it around my bloodstream until it came out of my mouth.” 

Chat Noir snorted in spite of himself. “You wiggled poison around until it came out of your mouth?” 

“If you have any explanations, I’d love to hear them because it feels like my body is a jumble of magical mumbo jumbo powered by cookies that occasionally spits out strange creatures I don’t understand,” Ladybug said, rubbing her arm sheepishly. Even the second skin of the Ladybug suit was more an ornament than anything else; she could fight crime naked and be no less formidable or hard to kill. 

“Have you considered the fact that maybe there is no rational explanation?” Chat Noir asked, reaching over and pressing his fingertip against a cup of milk still sitting on the counter from breakfast. Ladybug watched the liquid bubble, then curdle, then finally solidify into a solid hunk of solid cheese. “And that looking for one is, ironically, completely irrational?”

“How does that make any sense?” Ladybug asked, watching the cheese turn moldy and crumble into dust while the glass remained untouched. 

“How does a cookie power a kwami that was created billions of years before cookies were invented?” Chat Noir countered. 

“I don't know but…" Ladybug shrugged helplessly. "There has to be some rhyme or reason to the things we do; you can't just destroy anything , right?" 

"Depends on how much oomph I put into it." 

"Is that metric or imperial oomph ?" Ladybug asked. For a moment, she thought his spectral eye twinkled with amusement, but it could have easily been a trick of the light. Soon a stilted silence fell over the kitchen once again and Ladybug fumbled around for something to keep her ex talking. "Hard to believe Master Fu hasn't changed out this wallpaper in all these years, huh?" 

Great, now we're having wallpaper conversations, Chat Noir thought, watching Ladybug wince as she seemingly picked up on his thought. "Is there any way you can control that?"

"I don't exactly have much control over it-" 

" Try ," Chat Noir said. "Having you inside my head makes me…uncomfortable." 

Chat Noir's voice barely raised above a polite whisper, and yet somehow managed to make Ladybug feel like she was covered in sewer slime with one word. She could weather his anger easier than she could weather the idea that her presence just made him uneasy . 

"Okay...I can try," Ladybug said, kicking her shame to one side as she tried to offer him a reassuring smile. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me, Adr-" 

"Shhhhhh." Chat Noir drew his finger across the air in a zipping motion, smothering the last half of his name as it left her mouth in silence. A twist of his finger and he destroyed his own name. It was somehow more impressive than his more vulgar displays of power. 

"Wow…" Ladybug muttered. "You really can destroy anything." 

"Remember; we've got eavesdroppers next door," Chat Noir said, jerking his head towards the sitting room where their younger selves were trying to help Master Fu find a way out of their predicament. "Wouldn't do to let that particular cat out of the bag, now would it? I'm sure your mini-self's head would pop if she heard." 

"Right…sorry," Ladybug chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I keep forgetting we're not supposed to know each other's identities…." 

"And you used to be so careful," Chat Noir tsked. It was hard to tell if he was actually irritated or just ribbing her; his expression was almost too placid to read. 

"I must be getting rusty…but I think they've got bigger things to worry about than their identities right now," Ladybug said, glancing over her shoulder with an almost wistful smile. "It's weird seeing ourselves like that, isn't it?" 

"Weird is one way to put it," Chat Noir said as a distant tremor rippled through the city. "Apocalyptic is another." 

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Ladybug said, despite the waver in her voice. "We'll figure something out…we always do." 

"When did you get optimistic ?" Chat Noir snorted. "Must've been that lovely London weather." 

"It was the food , actually," Ladybug chuckled. 

"Now that is unbelievable," Chat Noir chuckled, pounding on his chest as he felt the alcohol bubble up in his gut. "Well, on the bright side, if the world gets consumed by fire every chip-shop in England goes with it." 

Ladybug's chuckle seemed to get swallowed by silence as each of them quite suddenly ran out of things to say. Of course there was an entire library of shared history, love, and betrayal binding them together, but even peeking inside the box that held all that baggage was too daunting to imagine. Not with an actual dragon nipping at their heels. 

"Is Kaiser Long…actually a dragon?" Ladybug asked. "I-I just saw you and Master He sitting on a dragon skull in her flat; I figured you would know a little more about them than I do." 

"He certainly thinks he is," Chat Noir snorted derisively. "Too bad he's got a dragon-sized ego without the scales to back it up yet."

" Yet?" 

Chat Noir rolled his eyes. "People have envied dragons for thousands of years; according to Master, there were even those who tried to become like them. Anyone who tries either ends up dead or in worse shape than they started." 

"So there's no chance he could get scalier than he was in Venice?" 

"If I wasn't getting Section 13 out of Venice, I would have handled our little lizard problem already…" Chat Noir tried so hard to sound sure, but even he found it hard to believe his own convictions. Belief in Chat Noir's abilities had become his new religion, and he was hanging on like a zealot losing faith. 

"Yeah…you've been quite busy, haven't you?" Ladybug said, pressing the small advantage. "I…kept an eye on you as much as I could through the news, but you've been pretty hard to track." 

"If I was easy to track, I wouldn't be talking to you today," Chat Noir said, his throat dry from the liquor and the effort it took to maintain his composure in Ladybug's presence. "The things that made it to the newspapers wouldn't even make the highlight reel. The last few years have been…interesting, to say the least." 

Ladybug didn't intend to feel the ripple of unease that hid behind his words, but she could no more ignore Chat Noir's feelings than she could ignore the sun on her face. Whatever happened to them had tied them together in ways that she didn't understand. At one point, she might have been over the moon knowing she shared a special bond with Adrien; now she had to grapple with the reality that her heart and soul might be tied to someone who wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. 

"Was she asking questions?" Chat Noir asked. "I got the Cat Noir Quiz Show from my younger self." 

"No…but something tells me she wasn't just looking for my notebook when I sent her upstairs," Ladybug said. "It's what I would have done in her boots…" 

"Well, at least she didn't take your cell phone," Chat Noir chuckled. 

"I've gotten better about that," Ladybug clucked, glancing over her shoulder. "Did you tell him anything? A-Anything about-" 

"Something that hasn't happened yet?" Chat Noir snorted. "Relax; I didn't tell him anything…other than a little friendly advice about his partner." 

Ladybug's blood ran cold. "What advice ?" 

"Just that he'd be better off if he learned to rely on his 'partner' a little less and himself a little more," Chat Noir said. "He'd do much better if he took his safety in his own hands from now on." 

"I hope you didn't say it like that," Ladybug said, glancing over his shoulder. "He's just a kid; he doesn't need to know that-" 

"He knows ," Chat Noir snapped, his voice tight and icy. "Somewhere beneath his twitterpated puppy crush, he's already starting to find out that his partner doesn't hold him in high regard. Did you know that Alya knows who you are in that universe?" 

"And she…never told him, did she?" Ladybug sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright… alright, we can talk to her about that if you want. I think she's just overworked and too scared to think straight right now." 

"Don't bother; he's on the cusp of realizing that he has to actually start trying for once," Chat Noir sniffed. "Maybe he'll wise up and stop looking to Ladybird for everything." 

Ladybug hadn't missed the wide-eyed, innocent look of affection Cat Noir sent his partner's way. There was nothing but naked trust in his eyes, even as Ladybird still kept her cards close to her chest. 

"Maybe he's not the one who should change," Ladybug said softly. "Maybe she needs to realize what kind of person her partner is before she goes and does something really stupid." 

"Would it matter if she did?" Chat Noir said, glancing at his reflection in the window. "I wouldn't have become as strong as I am now if I didn't have to…so maybe forcing him to realize he's on his own would do him some good. He's just as good a hero as she is if he tried…he doesn't need to be leaning on his partner so much." 

Half his face was still marked by the scars Mayura had given him; a cut lip and eyebrow that made the side over his missing eye look so tight and sharp. The unscarred part of his face, on the other hand, looked so terribly human in how tired it looked. The sadness that flickered behind his remaining natural eye. 

"They… we were strong because we worked together," Ladybug said. "The two of us took down every threat Paris ever faced…the only way Hawk Moth could beat us was by using us. I can see that you're so much stronger than you were; I can't deny that you've completely become the hero I wish I could have been-" 

"Gosh, I think I might blush," Chat Noir muttered. 

"-but we could be better than we've ever been before..." Ladybug bit her lip, trying to find the most delicate way to broach such an indelicate subject. "I felt something fighting with you again; something I thought I lost a long time ago. We didn't just win, we dismantled those masked freaks; they didn't stand a chance against us." 

"Yeah…well, I wouldn't get too excited about rolling over the goon squad if I were you," Chat Noir shrugged, the picture of composed nonchalance. "Even if they're fueled by the other Miraculous, they wouldn't have even been able to handle me on their best day." 

It was hard to tell if Chat Noir was being flippant, arrogant, or actually realistic. "It's not just how easily we beat them…I seemed to know what you were going to do in a fight before you did it. You fed me openings that I could just skip through; I trapped them so you could hit back at them. We smashed The Toad's face at the exact same time. " 

"Yeah, well…you were always perceptive," Chat Noir muttered, already feeling a headache come on. 

"Or this brain thing that we have going on between us is actually something we can tap into," Ladybug said, chancing a step closer to Chat Noir. Closing the distance seemed to make his shoulders tighter so Ladybug lingered on the other side of the kitchen table. "Fighting Kaiser Long and Firebird was like fighting one person in two different bodies; they seemed to know what the other was going to do before they could do it, so…maybe we can do the same if we just…" 

Ladybug trailed off, fumbling for a concrete next step that would bring them back into sync. It was something she had turned over in her mind for years, searching for something that would be the one thing she could do to start to make things right again. Time and again, the answer slipped through her fingers

"If we just ignore the fact that you handed Hawk Moth my ring," Chat Noir said, his voice barely audible over the ticking of the clock on the wall. "If I just forget that the akuma you helped my father create beat me within an inch of my life…forget the fact that four years of partnership meant nothing to you." 

"It didn't mean-" Ladybug took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to defend herself. "...yeah, okay. Let's address the elephant in the room." 

"Or we can just leave the room," Chat Noir said, scowling at the peeling wallpaper next to Ladybug's head. "Maybe it's better if we just leave the past where it is; I don't see any reason for us to chase something that doesn't exist anymore." 

"Is that what you really want?" Ladybug asked, privately dreading the answer. Everything about Chat Noir's body language was closed off, save for the occasional glance he shot her direction. 

"Would you care if it was?" Chat Noir sniffed, ignoring the look of hurt flashing across Ladybug's eyes. "Why don't you just tell me what I want; what's best for me and I'll snap to attention and chase after you like the lost puppy in the other room. That would make your life easier, wouldn't it?" 

Ladybug fidgeted with her fingers. "Do you really see me that way? As someone who just…used you to get the things I wanted?" 

"How would you see me if we were standing on opposite sides of this?" Chat Noir said. "You're telling me that you would throw yourself back into a situation with someone who did everything they could to bring you down? That you would trust me if I sold you out to Hawk Moth and turned the whole world against you? You didn't even trust me before that-" 

"I did -" 

"Trust means nothing unless you have something to lose," Chat Noir snapped, his veneer of disinterested professionalism snapping. "And you're way too smart to ever put yourself in a position to get hurt…that's my job, isn't it?" 

“That’s…” Ladybug took a deep breath. “Is that really how you feel?” 

“How I feel is only relevant to you if I feel the things you want me to feel,” Chat Noir grumbled. “Otherwise I’m not being professional .” 

If the Rabbit Miraculous was ever recovered, Ladybug’s first order of business was to travel back in time and smack her younger self with a gigantic pool noodle. Maybe it was just rosy hindsight clouding her perception, but every dig from Chat Noir ripped a hole in the perfect picture of their partnership that her mind had painted; little sharp reminders that even before Hawk Moth their partnership was teetering on the edge of collapse. 

As much as his words ate at her, Ladybug refused to back down, look away, or run no matter how dearly she wanted to. "...what can I do to help you trust me again? Tell me… anything I can do, I will do it. I'm not even asking to be your friend or your…"

Ladybug swallowed. "I don't think I have any right to ask for that…but we could be team-mates at least; long enough to knock Firebird and Kaiser Long down for good, and then-."

Ladybug swallowed. She didn't want to think about what came next; when obligation and common purpose no longer bound them, he would slip away like a puff of smoke.  

"Well, since you asked, why don't you get Fluff, go back in time, and start everything all over again," Chat Noir said with a scowl. His demeanor was losing some of the restraint that had pulled it so taunt. "But we both know that's impossible, isn't it? I'm not even sure the kids in the other room can be salvaged…our whole partnership was founded on secrets and lies. And now… now you're ready to be honest?" 

"Yes…" Ladybug said. "Now I'm ready…I know it sounds like it's too little too late. I know I couldn't be the partner you needed when we were kids, but…" 

Ladybug chewed on the corner of her lip. "...so much is different now. We don't have Hawk Moth or the threat of akumas to deal with. I don't have to worry about being your partner and the next Guardian…and there is no chance in the world I would ever hurt you again. Not like I did before…it's a lot to ask, I know…but if there is anything I can do to prove that I can be trusted again, I'll do it. Without question a-and as long as you need to feel safe." 

The word safe seemed to only deepen Chat Noir's scowl. "I can't remember the last time I felt safe ."

Ladybug chanced another step towards him, stepping around the kitchen table. "I know…and I know that a big part of that is because of me. I can't even imagine how alone and afraid I would be if I was you…" 

"You're not me," Chat Noir said, his hips bumping into the counter as he suddenly ran out of distance to put between himself and Ladybug. "You have zero idea about what my life has been while you've been following your dreams ." 

" Dreams ?" Ladybug said. "Do you want to know what my dreams were like? Every night replaying the absolute worst night of my life? Dreaming of you and me running across the rooftops, only to wake up alone, older and with the same sick feeling I went to sleep with?" 

"Oh you are breaking my heart right now," Chat Noir bristled. "Don't talk to me about nightmares; my life has been a never ending nightmare since I was eighteen years old." 

"So what can we do about it ?" Ladybug said. "I'm not asking for sympathy, Chat, but we're both stuck in the same crappy place we were three years ago…and I don't think we can beat them unless we figure out some way out ." 

"Or maybe we just need to shut up and do the job that's in front of us," Chat Noir said, taking a deep, composing breath. "Not everyone has had the luxury of self-reflection; some of us are still cleaning up Hawk Moth's mess so that people like you wake up from your oh-so-unhappy dreams and get to live another miserable day." 

"Then let. Me. Help ." Ladybug insisted. "I didn't ask to be packed off to London for three years; I know why I couldn't be part of the team after what I did but I wanted to help you…I still do." 

"Well, in the wise, wise words of a Ladybug I used to know, this isn't about you," Chat Noir grumbled, pushing himself up off the counter and moving to step past her. “Help Rena Rouge, if you’re so interested in helping…just don’t expect me to be eager to reminisce about the good old days anytime soon.” 

Ladybug couldn’t tell what compelled her to grab his coat sleeve as he passed, but the brush of her glove on his bare arm seemed to cause something between them to shift. Colors sharpened, smells became more clear, and once again Ladybug was faintly aware of how the world looked from Chat Noir’s perspective. Four eyes, two brains, and unlimited potential at her fingertips for a brief moment before Chat Noir jerked away, a cold iron wall slamming down between them as he pressed himself against the wall. 

“You…” Chat Noir swallowed. “What did you do ?” 

“I don’t know…” Ladybug said, staring down at her fingertips where green sparks danced for a moment before disappearing. “I swear, I didn’t mean to, it just-” 

Before Chat Noir could barrel past her, a faint pop filled the kitchen followed by the sound of splintering wood as Tikki and Plagg landed face-first on the kitchen table. 

“You know, I’d ask why you dropped out of thin air onto a kitchen table but at this point, I think that would be a dumb question,” Chat Noir sighed as Ladybug hauled a frazzled looking Tikki off Plagg’s pale tangle of limbs. 

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, brushing Tikki’s shoulder off. She barely had time to process the spark that jumped between them before yet another crisis seemed to pull her and Chat Noir further apart. 

“We’re alive…and we have some bad news,” Tikki sighed. 

We can't have a damn conversation without the world falling apart, can we? Ladybug thought. 

When is the world not falling apart? Chat Noir thought before he could stop himself. 

“Or good news, depending on how you look at it,” Plagg said as the kitchen door burst open, Ladybug and Cat Noir storming through with staff and yo-yo drawn. 

“Who's there?! What’s going on?! Where's the akuma?!” Ladybird shouted, clearly on her third cup of coffee and last nerve when it came to her day being interrupted by magical nonsense. 

“Stick around; we were just getting to that bit,” Plagg said, picking a splinter out of his back as he crawled onto his feet. “The good news…and bad news is that we found the Rabbit Miraculous. The badder news and…even badderer news is, that’s not all they have…"

Notes:

Summer is over which means my workload should be lightening up a little! We're moving into the big battle that will cap off this story but I wanted to give Ladybug and Chat Noir time to talk first (they'll have plenty of more chances to talk in the next chapter as well but we needed to play catch up here.)

Thank you all for your continued patience and engagement! Really gets me through tough, stuck in the mud parts of this story so I very much appreciate it.

Chapter 20: Interlude: Fractured Friendships

Six Months Ago…

"I asked for one thing; one thing and you couldn’t do it for me!” 

If Nino wasn’t already worn out and at the end of his rope from having to fight an army of living statues under the sway of a particularly evil stonemason, Adrien’s salty mood did not make him feel any better

“Look…I had my eye on your mom all night just like you asked,” Nino said as calmly as he was able. Something about Adrien these days had a way of getting under his skin in ways that nobody else could. Maybe it was because he had a hard time watching his one time best friend become a grouchier, testier, angrier version of himself. Pity had turned to hopelessness that  had turned to outright frustration the longer he was away from Paris. And opening Adrien’s door only to get the third degree right off the bat did nothing to improve his mood. 

“Yeah, except when a stone head went sailing through her window and wiped out half her living room,” Adrien snapped, pacing back and forth in his kitchen like a tiger caught in a trap. 

“Your mom is fine, dude,” Nino said, holding a hand out only to get swatted away. 

“Do not dude me right now,” Adrien said, brandishing a finger inches away from Nino’s nose. “Of all people, why did you ask Luka to guard her while you were off doing god knows what on Alya’s orders.” 

“Okay, one,” Nino said, calmly redirecting Adrien’s finger with the back of his hand. “God-knows-what involved putting my fist through the stomach of a giant stone statue who was trying to eat a leg off the Eiffel Tower. Two, Luka kept your mom out of the line of fire and away from the worst of it; a lot of people are gonna need their walls patched up after tonight.” 

“Oh, swell; we’re in great company then,” Adrien growled. “Did you forget what happened the last time Luka paid my family a house call?” 

“What, last week?” Nino snorted. 

“...what?” 

“He comes over all the time; his mom and your mom are chummy these days,” Nino said, watching as Adrien gripped the counter for support. 

“And you didn’t think this was something I needed to know?” Adrien said. “That thing was…” 

Nino knew where Adrien was going, but he was already too irritated to let it lie. “Luka’s not a thing.” 

“No, but he’s carrying one,” Adrien muttered, running a hand through his hair. “One that hates me and everyone I care about…and you just let him near my mother?” 

“Last I checked, guarding your mom was not my full time job,” Nino fired back. 

“Well maybe it’s high time I updated your job description then!” Adrien snapped. 

“ You’re gonna update my job description?” Nino asked. 

“Last I checked it was my company that funds this little operation,” Adrien said, actually causing Nino to step back and cock his head like he was trying to figure out just who the hell was talking. 

“Last I checked it was your father’s company that funds our little operation,” Nino said. “Executive Creative Director or whatever the fuck you’re called these days is a bullshit position and you know it; Nathalie’s got more right to give me orders than you do, man. And even if she didn’t, I’d still quit your payroll and get a day job before I let your money dictate what I can and cannot do!” 

“Don’t change the subject-” 

“ You changed the subject!” Nino said, throwing his hands up. “What the fuck do you want me to say? I know you asked me to look after your mom but shit kinda just happens in this city. Much as I would love to just hang around and be your mom’s cookie test dummy, your mom is not the only person I’m responsible for.” 

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Adrien grumbled, rooting around his cabinet as he could feel his energy quickly draining away. “Just thought I could trust you but I guess it’s always what Alya wants over what I need, huh?” 

Nino’s sharp bark of laughter made Adrien see red, blood spiking as he whipped around with a glare that cracked the doorframe Nino leaned on. “Are you laughing at me?!” 

“What else am I supposed to do when you’re acting like a damn clown ?!” Nino spat. “I’m sorry, okay? Is that what you want me to say? Fine, I apologize; I should have stuck around and guarded your mom like you asked but I wouldn’t have had to if you had just joined the fight like I asked!” 

“I thought I told you I had something to take care of,” Adrien said, taking a bitter swig of the everclear with a grimace. “This might come as a shock, but there are a lot worse things than whatever bargain bin bad guys you and Rena Rouge are fighting these days. I would love to just once fight a regular person doing regular evil instead of some horrible slimy monstrosity from another dimension that wants to turn Earth into a living nightmare! But I can’t…I just thought you would get that-” 

“I do, but-” 

“I guess I should just get used to disappointment after-” Adrien actually had enough sense to stop himself, but Nino seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. 

“God, is that what this is all about?” Nino asked, shaking his head. “You’re still pissed off that I didn’t believe you, aren’t you?” 

“What’s done is done,” Adrien said with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

“No no no,” Nino said. “ You brought it up; why don’t you go ahead and say what you need to say, huh?” 

“I don’t need to say anything,” Adrien said, lifting the bottle to his lips only to get it slapped clean out of his hand and into the sink. 

“Wrong answer,” Nino said. “You can’t just swoop in here, demand our help, pick a fight, and then ghost when things get real! You clearly have some beef with me still, and I want to hear what it is.” 

“Oh, suddenly you’re an expert on how I feel and what I need?” Adrien said, skin prickling and sweat trickling down the back of his neck as he felt the conversation coil around him like a snake. 

“Nobody’s a fucking expert on what you feel, least of all you!” Nino panted. “You’re barely around and when you are, you barely say two words before Master He yanks you off to kill a dragon or trap a bugbear or whatever the fuck you’re doing!” 

“Don’t bring her into this,” Adrien demanded. “She actually believed in me enough to help me out despite having no idea who I was at the time.” 

“I didn’t know who Chat Noir was at the time!” Nino insisted. “If I had know it was you-” 

“You know, I’m getting pretty sick of hearing that line,” Adrien bristled. “You knew I was Chat Noir; you knew that I had suffered and died for this town more times than all you put together-” 

“Recently?!” Nino snorted. “Because it’s like Paris gives you hives these days; you pissed that this town didn’t believe you too? You gonna hold that against people who had no idea Ladybug was crooked and help everyone in the world except us?” 

“Paris is fine; they have you-” 

“And who do I have?!” Nino demanded, voice splintering. “What happens when I need you for something that isn’t related to putting your fist through a monster’s face?!” 

“That’s just about all I’m good for these days,” Adrien said bitterly. “And like I said, Paris is pretty low on my priority list right now; maybe after I handle all the shit Marinette and my father unleashed on the world, I’ll have time to shoot some pool or whatever the hell you want to do. Until then, try and keep this city from burning down and keep Mayura away from my mother.” 

“Well spend some goddamn time with her every once and a while and maybe you won’t be so fucking surprised when you see him!” 

It was a sign of how far Nino had grown that being shoved into Adrien’s stove hard enough to dent it hurt his feelings more than his actual body. A snarl and a sudden shove bent the steel frame, knocked the door off its hinges, and sent a shower of sparks flying as the bulb inside shattered. For a moment, Nino swore Adrien’s eye glowed, his face a mask of anger that slowly ebbed away as the reality of what he had just done sank in. 

“I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have done that,” Adrien muttered, awkwardly offering a hand that Nino brushed off. “Nino, I’m-” 

“You know what?” Nino said, holding his hand up. “Enjoy your fucking drink man; you clearly need it.” 

“Nino, wait, I-” The front door slammed, leaving Adrien alone in his kitchen, surrounded by nothing but a mess he made himself.

Notes:

Hey all!

Thanks for being patient with me; I'm working on wrapping this story up for NaNoWriMo but for now, here's a slice of backstory. Consider it an appetizer for the main course (though it's beefy enough that maybe you won't need it)

Chapter 21: All Out pt. 1

Notes:

I have stared at this so long idk if it's even good anymore but I can't edit it anymore so HERE WE GO.

Chaos greeted Ladybug as she stepped through Chat Noir's portal into the penthouse of Le Grand Paris. Webs of wires and cords ran from every power outlet in the apartment to monitors and computer equipment stacked on every table and chair. Monarch was in the middle of powering up a strange beeping device that had a disconcerting amount of red dots on the screen while Bluebird was watching Rena Rouge pace back and forth on the balcony, hand in her hair and talking a million miles an hour to someone Ladybug couldn't hear yet. 

"Looks like the gang's all here," Ladybug chuckled, trying to break the tension as Chat Noir pushed their younger selves through the portal behind her. 

"Not quite," Chat Noir muttered, eyes quickly sweeping the living room. "Where're Carapace and Queen Bee?" 

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Bluebird said, glancing over his shoulder and doing a quick double take as he caught Ladybird's eye. "They ducked into the sewers to follow up on a lead a little while ago, but…they're taking longer than they should be." 

"Any chance they got lost or something?" 

"When Alya's calling I don't think either of them would take long answering," Monarch said, wincing as Ladybird's eyes widened. "Sorry…I forgot we were in mixed company; forget you heard that-" 

"We know already," Cat Noir said with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

" What ?!" Ladybird turned to her partner.

"Uh…I-I mean…I don't know…anything?" Chat Noir suggested

 "When did you… how did you-" 

"Sorry," Cat Noir said, averting his eyes. "I was going to tell you, but-" 

"Why are you apologizing to her ?" Chat Noir huffed, rolling his eyes.

"I…I don't know," Chat Noir trailed off. "I just-" 

 " She's the one keeping secrets from you and you're sorry about it?" 

"Sorry…I just needed to-" 

"You just need to stop apologizing to things that aren't your fault," Chat Noir sighed. "It's annoying ." 

Cat Noir's eyes narrowed dangerously as Chat Noir turned away. "We can talk later," Ladybird said with a weak smile. "Don't apologize…least of all to him ." 

"Do you need either of us to go looking for Carapace and…Chloe?" Ladybug said, quickly and clumsily steering the topic of conversation out of stormy waters as Ladybird looked just about ready to clobber Chat Noir. 

"We're standing by until we figure out what The Venoms are up to next," Bluebird said, unable to ignore the simmering undercurrents of tension and mistrust that floated in the air. Being so closely attuned to the emotions of people around him was a double-edged sword and one that was currently prickling him in the stomach. Someone was lying to someone who had beef with someone, which made for a pungent empathetic cocktail that was already making his temples throb. 

" Just standing by?" Chat Noir said, hair raising on the back of his neck. "We've got five masked maniacs under a tight timeline to find our new friends here; how long can they comfortably do nothing before their bosses lose patience?" 

"I'm sure they're not doing nothing," Monarch mused, staring at the gallery of monitors thoughtfully. "More than likely they're preparing to do something unpleasant…we just have no idea what it is yet." 

---

The Toad panted as he shifted the massive black egg into position beneath the streets of Paris. Even with his increased strength, it was heavier than anything he had ever moved in his life. Somehow it seemed to weigh more than its size suggested and each time it slipped, it carved huge chunks out of the slick concrete as he dragged it on through the sewers. 

Faster, the voice in his head urged as he pushed the egg into the cavernous cistern. The room that opened up before him stretched far beneath the city streets, trickling water from a dozen storm drains into an underground sluice that ran off into the sea. 

Setting the egg down, The Toad fumbled with a gold needle, twirling it between his thick fingers as he stared at the nearly translucent black membrane. Andre wasn't a man of many scruples; one couldn't have a career in politics if they cared too much about human happiness, after all. Still, the path he had walked for the past few years had given him more than enough glances into parts of human nature that made even his stomach turn. 

Maybe it was just cowardice that caused him to pause, but even so he found himself with the tip of the needle lingering inches from the egg. 

"Andre, what are you doing?" 

The Scorpion's voice in his ear caused him to jump, nearly dropping the needle. " You were supposed to hatch this thing three minutes ago; what is taking so long?" 

" You try moving somewhere quickly with a two thousand pound egg," The Toad grumbled, switching his communicator off. The Scorpion's timing had unsettled him a little; the thought of releasing such a monstrosity on a city he used to be responsible for irritated what was left of his conscience. But what other choice was there? After the whole Hawk Moth fiasco, with the end of the world looming so closely, did he have the luxury of worrying about anyone but himself and the people close to him? 

"That’s a really good question, Andre…just what are you doing?" 

Just as he found his nerve again, the last voice he wanted to hear spoke behind him. 

Chloe… Andre could feel the Toad's anger as he turned around to see Queen Bee standing behind him, demanding an explanation with a glare that he never could resist. 

"This doesn't concern you," The Toad said, voice weak over the sound of rushing water all around them. "You should-" 

" Shut up ," Queen Bee sighed. "I'm not a kid you can send to her room anymore, Dad …and whatever it is you’ve got going on here is very concerning to me." 

What are you waiting for?! The Toad hissed in his ear. Release her…do what you came here to do.

"Quiet!" The Toad snapped, shaking his head. "Let me handle this…" 

"You don't look like you're handling much," Queen Bee said, eyeing the egg and the needle in his hand. "I'm guessing you didn't come down here to get a jumpstart on Easter…what's in the egg?" 

Show her, The Toad growled in his ear. Show her what she's up against. Maybe then she'll fall in line behind you. 

"Chloe…I know how much you must hate me," The Toad said. 

Queen Bee's mirthless laugh echoed off the bare concrete walls. " You don't know the first thing about me, much less how much I hate you. I don't even know how much I hate you yet. "I thought I did…I thought I found the bottom of your scum-covered barrel but you… you dug so much deeper than even I thought you could go. I mean really, you go from barely doing your job to trying to destroy the world ? What the fuck are you thinking?!" 

Never one to mince words, Queen Bee had a special gift for sniffing out what a person was most unsure about and attacking it with surgical precision. Even though he hid his face, The Toad's fingers quivered as he held the needle, enough to give away his growing unease. 

"I am trying to…" The Toad clenched his teeth, reaching up and unclasping the mask that covered his head. His pale, sweaty face was stretched out of proportion and crossed with  inky black veins that throbbed unnaturally with each pulse of his heart. Even bloodshot, his eyes still looked like his own as they pleaded for his daughter to try and understand him. 

"I cut a deal with them," Andre panted, leaning against the egg for support. "They needed my connections in Paris…I traded those for a guarantee that they wouldn't harm you or your sister." 

"How sweet ," Queen Bee sneered. "Christmas must've come early. I guess the rest of the planet gets to die in a fireball, but pat yourself on the back for saving two people. A- fucking- plus, Andre; I'll let the Nobel Committee know they've got a shoe-in this year." 

"I don't care about the rest of the city!" Andre cried, clutching the mask in one hand. "I don't care about the rest of this world; it is doomed, Chloe! Doomed beyond repair but we… you don't have to be." 

The desperate edge in Andre's voice was too genuine to fake. "I…I know you hate me," Andre muttered. "I know I've let you down…I've been a vain and self-obsessed fool for too many years to expect anything else. But I'm trying to help you…I'm trying to make sure that you don't share the same fate as the rest of this worthless planet." 

"You're talking awfully high and mighty for a guy with shit on his boots," Queen Bee said, her eyes narrowing as her fingers closed around the chain at her waist. "This worthless planet is the only planet we have." 

"No!" Andre said, lips quivering with excitement. "They…Kaiser Long can build us another home; one free of all the pollution and corruption of this world. A chance for the best of humanity to start over." 

"The best of humanity would never include you ," Queen Bee said. "Or me for that matter; hell, twenty people picked at random would have a better chance at doing something good for the world than either of us would." 

"Don't talk like them," Andre spat, his features suddenly darkening for one hideous second. "You're not some worthless prole that spends all her time surfing the internet and stuffing her face with sweets. You're better than most of the wastes of air that walk this planet." 

"Chloe," Andre said, his face softening almost pityingly. "I know you better than you think you do…don't lie to me and say you actually care about the people of this city enough to die for them." 

Queen Bee's jaw ached from clenching, her eyes burning into her father's. For a moment she fumbled for the words that would prove him wrong only to come up grasping at nothing. Except the realization that he was right…about one thing. 

"Maybe you're right…" Queen Bee muttered, looking up at the egg thoughtfully. "As much as I'd love to be a bottomless well of compassion for my fellow man…I really could care less about most of the people in this town. I like maybe…four of them. Five if Adrien is in town for the weekend." 

"Of course…" Andre said, holding a hand out pleadingly. "And if you join us we can make sure they all survive…I can guarantee it." 

"Yeahhhhh, that's just the thing," Queen Bee chewed the inside of her lip, staring deep into the egg's depths as something slithered beneath the surface. "They really wouldn't go for that…in fact I'd get chewed out something terrible if I even suggested it. Unlike me they don't have to actively try to care about people they've never met. It comes naturally to them…and it's starting to rub off on me a little bit." 

"Chloe…" Andre pleaded with a frustrated whine. 

"Four years ago you might have persuaded me differently," Queen Bee sighed. "But now I'm pretty happy to die with all the worthless proles and my friends who care about them…even then, I'd rather burn on my terms than survive on yours!" 

"Brat!" Andre's lips twisted into an ugly scowl, his eyes darkening with rage. As soon as it flashed across his face, he recoiled, his eyes reverting to their usual hue and welling  with fear as he pressed his back against the egg. 

"Well that didn't take long," Queen Bee said, watching as Andre hurried to replace the mask. 

"No…y-you shouldn't have come here alone," The Toad croaked, grunting as he squeezed the mask against his face. 

"What makes you think she did?" The Toad looked up through his fingers to see a familiar shape darken the tunnel behind Queen Bee. He should have known that Carapace wouldn't be far behind Queen Bee; Rena Rouge's left and right hands never worked out of step. 

"You…" The Toad's voice thrummed with a dissonant echo that raised Carapace's hair. 

"Sup?" Carapace said, pulling his shield off his back. "You ran off in a hurry back in Venice; don't tell me it was because you had to lay an egg." 

"Maybe there's a toy in this one," Queen Bee chuckled, edging closer to Carapace. 

The Toad snarled but the sound was cut off as if someone clamped a hand around his throat. He staggered backwards, wrestling with something invisible and clearly losing as he clawed at his neck. 

"Aw, frog in your throat?" Carapace asked. "I hear they've got good doctors down at the Last Bastille; why don't we pop over and get you checked out?" 

"Hey, am I the only one getting deja vu right now?" Queen Bee asked, her eyes narrowing at The Toad as he desperately pressed his hand against his forehead, almost like-

---

"Argh!" 

Bluebird's sudden hiss of pain drew Monarch's attention away from her screen. Out of nowhere, he suddenly clutched his head, leaning against the couch as he glared daggers through his fingers at the floor in front of him. 

“What is it?” Monarch asked, grabbing a hold of his arm as he wobbled unsteadily. 

“I don’t know…” Bluebird muttered, shaking his head. “I just got the worst feeling of deja vu.”

The spot between his eyes where Mayura had emerged years ago throbbed painfully as though trying to warn him. Not every bad vibe was a red flag, but there was something eerily familiar about the pain in his head. 

“It feels like-” 

---

“-Mayura.” 

Queen Bee swallowed, watching The Toad clutch his face in agony. Through the slits in his mask, she could see the whites of his eyes spinning around, looking for some relief from the pain he was clearly in. Maybe it was simply pity, but Queen Bee’s heart clenched at the sight.

“Look,” Carapace said, raising a hand and adopting  the same soft, calming tone of voice he used with bank robbers and runaway horses. "I'm sure whatever twisted logic led you here made sense at the time, but you gotta know that these people are just gonna kill you when they don't need you anymore." 

" Sh-shut…up," The Toad croaked.

"You know he's right," Queen Bee said. "You're just a fucking tool to them; what guarantee do you have that they'll do what you say they will?" 

"They…I made a deal," The Toad said almost childishly. "They can't go back on that…they need me to-" 

Andre trailed off, searching for answers that seemed to elude him. He looked up to Chloe, and for a moment she thought she might be reaching him. Then his neck jerked back as if something had struck him square in the head, and the flicker of understanding vanished. 

“Enough!” Something said using Andre’s voice as his trembling hands raised the golden needle to the hard shell behind him. "Eeeenough…enough t-t-taaaalk-kk." 

The Toad rasped, almost coughing up each word. Every muscle in his body strained as though fighting an invisible force, and moments before his pupils turned yellow, Queen Bee could have sworn she saw fear flash across her father's eyes. 

"What are you?" Queen Bee asked, no longer sure there was anything left of her father to address. "What did you do to him?" 

"Wh…what was…" The Toad coughed, black bile trickling out from underneath the mask. "Necessary!" 

Carapace had taken care to set up wards all across the city to alert him if a particular area was in danger; as the needle pierced the shell of the egg, he felt all of them fire off at the same time. Even Queen Bee felt her stomach plummet without really understanding why until the egg began to grow even larger. 

Carapace acted fast, hurling his shield at the egg only for The Toad's spongy body to intercept the blow. Queen Bee launched herself at him, wings rocketing her around The Toad's flank only to be swatted down before she could reach the egg. She looked up to see a gargantuan fist bear down on her only to be intercepted by Carapace's forehead as he stepped in front of the blow. The concrete cracked, the ground shook, but Carapace did not budge. 

"You…. youuuu have interfered enough," The Toad rasped, swelling in size as more bile leaked from his mouth. Behind him, the egg was growing at a rapid rate, pulsing with sickly green light. What began as the size of a car quickly grew to the size of a small building. Carapace threw a bubble shield down over himself and Queen Bee as the shell grew perilously close until-

Crack. 

With a sound like a car slamming into a wall, the egg hatched. 

Pieces of obsidian egg shell rained down all around as a coiled, dripping mass of scales untangled itself. Rows of razor sharp spines dripped on the concrete, six eyes blinking open as a massive serpent came to life. There were classes of soldiers that Kaiser Long was capable of creating, each suited to unique missions and purposes. Brutes smashed, Hunters hunted, and Troopers were the backbone of his army. 

There were thousands of them, each like the other, but only one Empress that reigned over them all. 

"Should have brought more backup," Carapace muttered, suddenly no longer confident in the strength of his shield as two jagged claws burst from the sides of the serpent, flexing as it seemed to adjust to its body again. The Empress' head turned, blinking down at the creatures beneath it as The Toad warily approached it. 

"You…our masters have work for you," The Toad said as firmly as one could when speaking to a lizard whose head scraped the ceiling high above. "Listen…find-" 

The monster didn’t wait for a reply, instead unhinging its jaws with a wet, sickening squelch, revealing rows of pearly white teeth as it roared. Across the city, hundreds of eggs heeded their master’s orders and began hatching under the sidewalks. 

---

"That's ten…twenty…yep, signs read that every egg is hatching as expected," The Salamander mused, watching readings pin on their tablet. "Guess they heard Mama wake up." 

The Scorpion grunted, not taking their eyes off the horizon. "Where's the Cobra and the Centipede?"

The Salamander tapped their tablet and brought up tracking beacons for each of their teammates. "In position around the outskirts of the city; ready to intercept in case they try and make a break for it." 

"They won't," The Scorpion said. "Rena Rouge has too much invested in this place to desert it and Ladybug isn't going to risk us getting away with the kids…like it or not, this is where we're going to have to make our stand." 

"You think we're ready?" The Salamander asked. The Scorpion was silent for a moment, staring at the blinking Toad dot on the tablet. 

"We might incur some losses…but as long as we deliver what we were sent to get, we'll be fine." 

---

"And she didn't even ground you?" 

"I think it was implied, but all she said was ' stay inside and we'll deal with this when I get home'," Manon sighed, legs kicking aimlessly off the edge of the fire escape. Typically when Manon was grounded, her mother was very clear about allowing friends in the house. Which is why Chris had to shimmy up a ladder from the street below to hang out just outside her bedroom window. 

"I don't know…she was acting really weird; she just told me to run when the sirens hit," Manon muttered, tugging her legs up to her chest. "When… when, Chris."

"Could just be calling it like she sees it," Chris suggested. "Maybe…I don't know…maybe covering Paris news for all these years lets her know when things are about to turn sour?" 

"You really think so?" Manon sighed. "Chris…what if-" 

The window behind Manon's head shattered in a shower of glass as a terrifying roar ripped through the air. Car alarms fired off in a symphony of noise punctuated by a crumbling crunching sound as the ground trembled beneath their feet. Chris fell back, grabbing Manon's hand and helping her to her feet as they turned in the direction of the crunching noise. 

"What the… hey!" Chris turned around to see Manon scurrying up the fire escape, climbing their apartment building higher and higher as the orange ARK warning lights began strobing. 

"Bunkers are downstairs!" Chris called, doing his best to hold onto the ladder as the ground shook around him. "We should be running the other way!" 

Manon didn't listen, the sound of chaos ringing in her ears driving her up and onto the roof. As Chris elbowed his way through to the edge, he had a perfect view as the ground in the middle of the city split , buckled, and shattered as a massive black serpent burst through the ground. 

"It's like those guys from three years ago," Chris muttered, pulling his phone out and frantically turning his lens on the chaos below. "You remember those creepy crawly lizard guys?" 

"...like those?" Manon asked, nodding down beneath them. Chris swung his camera down to capture dozens of black scaled monsters crawling out of the sewers beneath their feet, bursting out of storm-drains, and emerging from alleys. 

---

"He's just…distant these days." 

Anarka snorted, elbowing Emilie in the ribs as they made their way down the street. "He's twenty-one; I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a girlfriend squirreled away somewhere." 

"No, he would have told me…I think," Emilie sighed, rubbing her arm. The days of being hounded by the paparazzi were long over for Emilie. After one overzealous photographer tried climbing her garden wall to get a picture of Gabriel Agreste's widow, for some reason the stalking and endless barrage of questions stopped. 

( "I had a chat with his boss," Adrien had said, his warm smile betrayed by a dangerous glint in his eye. "They won't bother you again.") 

But even so, it was hard to enjoy her newfound anonymity when her son was barely in town long enough for dinner most days. 

"I don't know…maybe I just wish we had more time," Emilie sighed. "I missed out on so much with him…I wonder if he even thinks of me as his mother anymore." 

"He's not a little boy, Em," Anarka said, patting her on the shoulder. "I know you missed out on his teenage years, but you can't expect him to be the same kid you remember, right? Money and adoring fans aside, Luka said he had a pretty rough go of it in school so…maybe he's just cutting loose a little?" 

"Loose is now how I would describe Adrien," Emilie chuckled, frowning as the ground under her feet quavered a little. "Um…should we run or-" 

A storm-drain burst open as a large, lumbering Brute crawled its way out of the street behind them. Standing nearly ten feet tall hunched over, it sniffed the air, its beady reptilian eyes scanning the street as more creatures broke through the underground. 

"I would at least walk quickly," Anarka said, grabbing Emilie's hand and pulling her down a side-street. "This way!" 

Emile kept up as best she could as the sound of car alarms and screaming began rattling off the walls of the buildings around them. As they burst out onto a main road, Anarka led her through a growing swarm of pedestrians all moving to the nearest ARK bunker. It was easy to distinguish the locals who moved quickly but calmly from the tourists who needed to be guided, pulled, or told to stop recording the chaos and run for their lives. 

A line of people outside the entrance to an ARK bunker stopped them dead in their tracks. 

" Please follow safety workers down the street to the next available bunker!" The man in the orange vest called over a megaphone. " We are at capacity; please follow-" 

His voice fell as a long shadow passed overhead, swallowing the sun as The Empress slithered through the sky. A wave of dread fell over the crowd, followed closely by panic as the crowd began trying to push their way to safety. 

"This way!" Emilie called, pulling her friend through the crowd as best she could with bodies pressing in all around them. They barely managed to break free with several well placed elbows to help them out, but things didn't look all that much better as they picked their way through increasingly chaotic streets. She expected to round the corner and see people getting savaged by the monsters that descended upon them, but strangely the creatures weren't attacking anyone directly. One group of students was chased screaming until they managed to find an open bunker at which point the monster seemed to lose interest and immediately switch targets. 

"Am I crazy or are they not hurting anyone?!" Anarka called out as they turned a corner, only to bump into the back of a Trooper that had just finished menacing a pair of tourists into an alley. It turned around, glaring down at them with a snarl that was cut tragically short as an oversized rolling pin knocked most of its teeth out. 

"In here!" Sabine's hand grabbed Emilie's and tugged the pair of them through the door to the bakery while Tom wrestled the monster out of the doorway and jammed the door shut. The beast recovered, snarled for a moment, then as though a switch was flicked in its mind, slunk away and decided to go bother someone else. 

"We have a bunker in the basement," Sabine said. "Anyone else out there?" 

"No…I think they're all off the streets," Emilie sighed. "...you have a private bunker?" 

"My niece is the one who installs them," Sabine explained, cracking open a trapdoor behind the register. "Tom, let's…Tom, what are you doing ?!" 

Tom finished loading a tray of dough into the proofing box. "What? Monsters attack the city every day; we need to make sure the loaves rise while we-" 

" Tomas!" 

---

"What was that noise?" Ladybird asked, looking up at her older self who shuddered as though a cold breeze washed over her. Tikki, Plagg, and Adrien also seemed to sense that something terrible had made the roar heard across the city. Attuned as she was to the subtle shifts in the world around her, Ladybug could tell that something truly hideous had been birthed beneath the streets of Paris. 

"I don't know," Plagg muttered, staring out the window. "But it feels like-" 

"-Barcelona," Chat Noir hissed. The word sounded profane every time he said it; like the city had been transformed into a monster whose name he hated saying. 

"What, like in Spain ?" Cat Noir asked, following Chat Noir as he burst out onto the balcony. "What's wrong with Barce-" 

"I am begging you to shut up for two seconds," Chat Noir snapped, scanning the city for any flicker of movement. It was out there; he was sure of it. Kaiser Long’s monsters felt like living tumors on the world and this one was particularly malignant. 

“Hey, we’re all confused here!” Ladybird interjected as she and Ladybug followed Chat Noir outside. “Don’t get bent out of shape because he-” 

A flick of his finger and Ladybird found herself suddenly silenced, words failing to make a sound no matter how red in the face she got from trying. As bad as Ladybug felt for the girl, it would have to wait. 

“What is it?” Ladybug asked. 

“The world’s worst middle-manager,” Chat Noir growled. “The queen to all the little worker bees Kaiser Long has been throwing at us so far…"

The newspaper clippings of the Barcelona disaster flickered in Ladybug’s mind. "You ran into it in Spain not too long ago, didn't you?" 

Chat Noir's silent nod was all the answer Ladybug needed.  “...and how did you beat it?” 

A horrible crunch saw half the street split in two as a black scaly head burst out of the ground. Like a worm, it wriggled and flopped out of the hole, leveling a block of buildings as her body thrashed to get free of the earth. The Empress wobbled as she rose into the sky, asphalt rolling off her back as she tasted daylight for the first time in months.

“ Clearly , I didn’t,” Chat Noir said simply.

"Well… shit ," Bluebird breathed, clearly summing up everybody's thoughts as they beheld the doom of  Her shadow fell over almost half the city; a long, winding wound in the pristine morning sky. 

"Yeah, we're in a whole well of shit now," Rena Rouge mused. 

"Uh…as important as this is, you should probably come look at this." Plagg nodded at the television. "I think someone's asking for you guys." 

Ladybug tore her attention away from the monster to look back inside. A shaky, janky news-camera captured dozens of black scaly abominations slithering out of storm drains and smashing through the streets all across the city. Sounds of panic that she could hear from the balcony were amplified by the microphone. 

“Chat, do you know what’s happening?” Rena Rouge asked. 

“Barely,” Chat Noir muttered, his eyes watching as dozens of reptilian Troopers slithered down the streets. “The big one hatches the little ones…that roar must be a wake up call on a large scale. And something about her makes the rank and file harder to handle than usual; I was mowing them down like daisies until Kaiser Long unleashed that thing. Then suddenly all the little ones started getting…clever.” 

The camera quickly jerked away as a familiar white mask filled the TV. The Scorpion, flanked by two lumbering Brutes, took control of the news program and had one cameraman bound behind her as they addressed the camera. 

" People of Paris…we are not here to harm you," The Scorpion said as the cameraman dangled helplessly from the claws of a Brute behind them. 

"Opening with a bold-faced lie," Tikki mused. 

"Can't trust anything you see on TV these days," Plagg sighed. 

" Our fight is with Ladybug and Chat Noir…who I am now speaking to directly," The Scorpion said, adjusting the camera to sweep across the ruined street. "We are willing and ready to tear this whole city apart looking for you; any collateral damage from here on in is on your heads, not ours." 

Ladybug glanced at Chat Noir out of the corner of her eye, surprised to see him already looking to her. 

" We will give you one hour to deliver what we want to the Place de la Concorde, “ The Scorpion said, the cameraman dangling ominously over their shoulder. “ Fail to comply, and you put the whole city in jeopardy.” 

The cameraman was carelessly tossed aside with a flick of the Brute’s wrist, rolling down a grassy hill and landing in a pile of tangled limbs. 

“ Tick tock, Ladybug,” The Scorpion said as the feed cut to static. 

---

The Toad, for all his bluster, cowered as the great serpent erupted from underneath the city streets. Carapace's relief that they didn't have to immediately fight the monster lasted until he realized it was loose on the streets above them now. 

"Wow, she sure listened to you, huh?!" Queen Bee sneered. "Some fucking boss you-" 

"Chloe." Queen Bee looked up to see Carapace's eyes fixed on The Toad's. She had seen that look more times than she could count and always before things got very dicey. As warm and peaceful as Carapace was, he was also the strongest hero Rena Rouge had and more than willing to use all his strength when the time came for it. "Get after that thing; call Rena Rouge and tell her that our usual danger scale is gonna need an extension." 

"But…" 

"He's not leaving here a free man," Carapace swore, patting her shoulder. "I'll make sure of that." 

Queen Bee seemed to waffle for a moment, sparing The Toad one last glare. "...you better." 

With that, Queen Bee darted into the air, chasing the monster up through the crumbling city streets. 

"Get back here!" The Toad's arm shot out like a spring, outstretched hand grasping for Queen Bee's ankle. 

"Eyes over here, asshole!" The Toad's head snapped back in time to see Carapace slam into him at full speed, his shield smashing into him and sending him hurtling backwards into the wall. Queen Bee darted out of his reach, giving the pair one last look before disappearing into the morning air. 

"You…" The Toad coughed, wobbling to his feet. "This is family business! It doesn't concern you!" 

"Like hell ," Carapace spat, tossing his shield to one side. "Chloe might have more reasons to hate you than most, but I still remember what your host did to this city trying to chase Chat Noir. You brought mercenaries into our home and split when things looked like they might not go your way…" 

Carapace cracked his knuckles as his suit pulsed with glowing green light. "That's enough to make it personal…but even if it wasn't, I'm a hero, dude. Taking out trash like you is my day job!" 

---

It was hard to grasp just how large the creature was. 

Kilometers of black scales snaked through the streets, scraping the walls on either side and raining glass and concrete down on the sidewalks below. Like a shark's fin, its head crested the skyline, rows of green eyes glaring into each window as it searched for its prey. Even though Ladybug couldn't see any wings, it swam through the sky with supernatural grace that reminded her of the sea monsters that lived in the Ladybug's domain. 

One look at Rena Rouge's face and Ladybug could tell she was just as rattled. It was an oddly comforting feeling knowing that, however fucked they were, at least she wasn't the only one who recognized it. 

"Oooookay," Rena Rouge breathed, running a hand through her hair. "Gameplan; now ." 

"Hit it really hard until it dies," Chat Noir said.

"Seriously?" Monarch scoffed. 

"...what? You guys have a better plan?" 

"That's not a plan !" Ladybird chirped. "That's a wish list! You don't have anything better than that?!" 

"I have a hammer that's big enough to turn all my problems into itty bitty little nails as long as I hit them hard enough," Chat Noir said, bracing his foot on the balcony. "Why don't you chase after the guppies and leave the big fish to me?" 

" Those are not guppies!" Cat Noir hissed, pulling Ladybird back away from the balcony as The Empress slithered past the ground floor. "Those are the furthest thing in the world from guppies!" 

"Then sit your skinny butt down and let me handle it," Chat Noir sighed, preparing to jump. "Either way, stop whining like a little-" 

"Wait!" Ladybug's hand grabbed Chat Noir's wrist before he could jump. 

"You know that we do not have a lot of time to have a discussion about this, right?" Chat Noir hissed. "In case you haven't noticed, a kaiju is loose in Paris!" 

"Good; then we'll just skip to the part where I go with you without talking about it," Ladybug said. 

"Right, so just…wait, what?" 

"No time to talk, remember?" Ladybug said with a shaky smile. 

"No, I don't…w-what about them ?" Chat Noir asked, jerking his head in Ladybird and Cat Noir's direction. "Someone needs to stay back and make sure they don't get grabbed." 

" They do not like being talked about like they are not right here listening to you ," Ladybird muttered. 

"The priority is stopping whatever is tearing this city apart," Rena Rouge interjected. "We need all hands on deck to corral that snake before someone dies." 

"No, the priority is making sure the Order of the Phoenix don't grab their little snitches," Chat Noir snapped. "All this chaos is just a distraction and they're only attacking Paris because they're here. If we pull out now, we can draw them away to the countryside. Maybe fight them somewhere a little less crowded." 

" Or Firebird will burn this city down until we return them," Monarch pointed out. "She doesn't strike me as one who takes losses gracefully."

"Not a risk we can take," Bluebird agreed. "If we leave this city unprotected, there's no telling what they might do to convince us to return." 

"Wait a minute…" Ladybug muttered, frowning as she looked back out over the city. "Something doesn't feel right." 

"Can we take ten steps back and explain why they even want us?" Cat Noir interjected. "I am totally fumbling around in the dark here and I'm getting really sick of it!" 

Why is it so quiet? Ladybug thought, peering over the balcony. The city below was a wash of chaos, with hundreds if not thousands of Talons scurrying around, but notably absent was any sign of The Empress. Like a puff of smoke on the wind, she was just gone.

"No, because this is not story time," Chat Noir snapped. "It's- shut-up- and-put-our-fist-through-the-monster's-face-before-its-friends-show-up-and-overwhelm-us…time." 

"What is it?" Ladybug's unease must've been written all over her face judging by the way Rena Rouge was looking at her. Even as Monarch seemed exasperated and Chat Noir teetered on edge, Rena's eyes sought hers. 

"...where did the big one go?" Ladybug asked as a terrible hush fell over the balcony. Gone were the grinding, scraping sounds of scale against concrete as though the creature had completely stopped somewhere just out of sight. Somehow, the sudden absence of such a terrifying creature was more horrifying than its presence. 

"How do you lose track of something that big?" Ladybird asked, peering over the balcony. "Unless it can hide itself or-" 

A warm breeze ruffled Ladybug's hair, one that stunk of something rotten and meaty. A hazy and nearly translucent shape hovered just overhead and Ladybug looked up in time to see a face the size of a small truck shimmer into view. Up close, Ladybug could see the foot-long fangs that glistened in The Empress's mouth and the six, eerily intelligent eyes that glared down at them. 

"...a-any chance this thing is like a T-Rex?" Cat Noir whispered. "Maybe if we hold still it won't notice us?" 

---

Queen Bee crested the ridge of the crumbling hole in the heart of Paris in time to see her home get crushed by The Empress' heavy jaws. Le Grand Paris held as long as it could, but with a mighty smash of The Empress' head, the monster sent the top floor of the building crashing to the ground, lilting one way as people scattered and ran for cover. 

“Ohhh please tell me Angelica updated the evacuation plans,” Queen Bee hissed, jetting across the city in a beeline towards the falling building. Anger, spite, and revenge were Queen Bee’s three most powerful motivators on her worst days, and this day was looking to be one of the worst she had in quite a long time. Twenty-one years of daddy issues burned hotter than jet fuel as Queen Bee closed in, drawing the serpent’s eye before she slammed into it as hard as she could. It did little more than irritate the monster, but it was long enough for Chat Noir to snap his staff out, jamming it in the creature’s jaws and holding them open before she could swallow them all whole. Streams of red ribbons snaked from Ladybug’s wrists to seize the creature’s neck, pinning her against the top of the building as Chat Noir lunged with a fist full of black lightning. 

“Payback sucks, doesn’t it?!” Chat Noir crowed, watching the Cataclysm arc across the monster’s scales and…do nothing. The electricity dissipated, leaving the monster unharmed as it struggled against Ladybug's grip. "What?!" 

“Hey, how’s that hammer working out for you?!” Ladybird cried, hiding behind Ladybug’s shield. 

“Not helping!” Ladybug and Chat Noir barked in unison as The Empress snapped Chat Noir’s staff with a crunch of its jaws. A putrid, humid gust of air washed over Ladybug's face; a grim reminder that she was no longer unquestionably on top of the food chain. Chat Noir shoved Cat Noir out of the way as the jaws snapped shut, the great dragon glaring down at them curiously. 

“Where’s Nino?!” Chat Noir hollered as Ladybug slammed her pink shield against the monster's snout. 

“Fighting my father in the sewers,” Queen Bee said, grabbing Rena Rouge and yanking her out of the way as The Empress snapped at her with surprising speed. “Better question; where’s the butterfly and the bird?!” 

---

“Are you sure it’s safe to keep all the crystalware in one room?” 

“With the way the city is going, keeping them on the ground floor is just asking for them to get broken,” the head of Le Grand Paris’ hospitality said to his assistant, carefully stacking the last champagne glass on a table that wobbled precariously as the building shook. “We’re right below Her Highness’ personal suite; there’s no safer place in the hotel than-” 

The ceiling caved in as Monarch and Bluebird came crashing down through the table, sending several thousand euros worth of crystal flying in a sudden tidal wave of shattered glass. 

“...yes sir; no place safer,” the assistant coughed as Monarch fought to untangle herself from Bluebird’s cloak. 

“I think it’s time we revisit the cape,” Monarch said, accepting Bluebird’s hand up. 

“It’s stylish and functional and my costume looks geeky without it,” Bluebird said, wincing as he eyed the shattered glass around his feet. “Hope Chloe has insurance on this place.”

---

"They're alive…I hope," Ladybug said, grabbing Ladybird and Cat Noir around the waist. "Talk later; hang on!" 

As soon as they grabbed her around the waist, Ladybug leapt off the crumbling hotel, zipping down and landing on one of the buildings off to the side. "Okay, I'm going back for the others; stay here and-" 

The air split open next to her and out of a shimmering black portal tumbled Rena Rouge and Queen Bee seconds before the top of the building was buried under The Empress's weight. Her heart sank for a moment before she spied a black blur racing down the side of the building, green and black electricity arcing out and Cataclysming the falling rubble before it could hit the ground below. He was a shadow flickering back and forth as fast as he could, but even he couldn’t stop all of them. 

“Let’s pull out of the area and regroup with Monarch and Bluebird,” Rena Rouge said, opening her communicator. “Ladybug, take the kids and-” 

“Dude, she left,” Cat Noir said, nodding over to Ladybug who was already swinging back to the building to help Chat Noir. 

“Or just do that,” Rena Rouge sighed, snapping her communicator closed. “Yeah, that works too, I guess.” 

Anchoring a ribbon on one of The Empress' spines, Ladybug swung back towards the hotel, using the momentum to launch herself foot-first at one of the pieces of falling debris. It shattered into more manageable chunks that streaked towards the sidewalk as Ladybug flipped up on The Empress' back. 

What are you doing?! Chat Noir’s voice echoed loudly in her mind. She glanced up to see him clinging to the side of the building, glaring down at her as he tried to keep his balance. Leave this to me; I can handle my- 

Ladybug saw the long slender tip of the Empress' tail swing around the side of the hotel behind Chat Noir’s back. Chat!

She saw his eyes widen as though he could see the tail rear back to strike, leaping off the side of the building just in time to avoid being sliced in half as the tail whipped through solid stone and concrete. He landed on The Empress' back, sliding down until Ladybug reached out and snagged his wrist. 

“Where are the kids?” Chat Noir asked. 

“Safe,” Ladybug said, hauling him back onto the monster’s back. “And you’re welcome .” 

“Your fruit basket is in the mail as we speak,” Chat Noir said, instinctively grabbing Ladybug’s wrist as the serpent shifted, doubling back on itself and glaring down at the presence on its back. “Hope you like slimy day-old melon balls on a stick.” 

“As long as there’s no kiwis,” Ladybug said, spinning her yo-yo as her eyes sought any weakness she could exploit. “How come your Cataclysm isn’t working?” 

“Because the universe hates me , apparently,” Chat Noir groused, leaping off The Empress' back as she reared back and snapped at Chat Noir. Ladybug landed on its snout with both heels, kickflipping off the serpent’s head and plucking Chat Noir out of the air before he could land on the ground. 

“Hey, I can move by myself!” Chat Noir called, dangling from one ankle as Ladybug swung her way back to the rooftop where Monarch and Bluebird had joined the others. 

"Then move by yourself before you get cut in half!" Ladybug sighed. 

"I was going to-" 

"You were going to get smashed!" 

"I'm not-" 

"Hey, hey, hey, can we fucking not?!" Queen Bee snapped, startling them both before they could continue bickering. "We do not have time for the Ladynoir Love Life Clusterfuck right now! Pleeeeeeeeeease bitch and moan and hate each other on your own time when there isn't a fucking snake monster EATING MY FUCKING HOTEL!" 

Queen Bee finished, redfaced and irate as Ladybird and Cat Noir stared at her like her head just caught on fire. 

"Holy Anger Management Issues, Ladybird," Cat Noir snickered. 

“You have got to stop swearing in front of kids,” Rena Rouge sighed, patting a red-faced Queen Bee on the shoulder. 

“We’re fourteen, not four ,” Cat Noir grumbled. "I know what f…what that word means." 

The Empress seemed to realize that her prey was no longer on the building, screeching into the sky loud enough to rattle Ladybug's teeth as it scanned the city for any sign of her prey. 

“Monarch, Bluebird, come in,” Rena Rouge chirped into her communicator. “What’s your status?” 

A window on Le Grand Paris opened and Bluebird fluttered out, carrying Monarch on his back as he dove to safety. “ Scared, confused, and a little hungry.” 

“Well be scared, confused, and a little hungry on the move,” Rena Rouge said, switching her communicator’s tracking beacon on with a flick of her wrist. “Stay on me; we need to get somewhere safe.” 

“Safe…got it,” Ladybug said, grabbing Ladybird’s wrist as she ran after Rena Rouge. “Where’s that again?” 

---

Crack. 

Carapace winced as The Toad’s fist slipped his guard and smashed his fist into the side of his jaw. His heel dug into the wet cement, cracking the ground where he stood, but the most he seemed to budge was an inch. Three years of daily training and bouts with villains might have made him durable, but being punched in the face still sucked as much as it used to. Especially when such a punch was fired from a man that seemingly was built out of rubber. 

“Aw, come on, don’t tell me that’s the best you can do !” Carapace grunted, his own fist swelling as he slammed it into The Toad’s head. The blow sent a visible ripple across The Toad’s skin as the force of Carapace’s strike almost washed off him. Something had changed since Venice; something that Carapace just knew had something to do with the sickly yellow eyes that glared at him under The Toad’s mask. 

“Andre…” Carapace panted, absorbing another blow with his shield. “If you’re in there…and you can hear me…I just want to say-” 

“Save your breath, boy,” The Toad rasped, his arm springing back and slamming into Carapace’s face hard enough to cause him to stumble. “He can't help you...no matter how hard you beg.” 

Carapace spat on the ground at his feet, the pinkish hue concerning him just a little as did the strange ringing in his ears. “Actually, I was gonna say if you’re in there, Andre, I just wanted say that you’re the biggest douche that ever bagged his way into public office and it’s a fucking thrill to say that to your face…or what’s left of it anyway.” 

He could see a vein in The Toad’s neck bulge so clearly something of Andre’s pride remained twisted and entangled with the Cannibal Akuma. His arms shot out but Carapace tossed his shield to one side, opting to push some of Wayzz’ power into his limbs and grow them to match. Their hands clashed, fingers lacing together in a struggle for dominance. Carapace’s heel slid back under the force of The Toad’s weight; enough for the elastic arms to whip Carapace overhead and through one of the crumbling concrete walls. 

"Ugh…you'd think being super durable would make getting hurled through walls less horrible," Carapace grumbled, pushing a concrete chunk off his back. "Don't tell me that's all you got, Mayor!" 

The Toad's throat bulged as a low croak rattled Carapace's teeth. He had enough sense to move before a long, sticky tongue the width of an anchor chain whipped across the cistern, cutting a groove in the concrete behind Nino. 

Trust a politician to be quick tongued, Carapace thought, hunkering down behind his shield as The Toad seemed to be changing shape. The Toad had always had a rough if slightly exaggerated human shape, but now his shoulders and arms swelled to inhuman proportions. His legs buckled under the new weight of his torso until they bent back like springs ready to fire. Another croak bounced off the walls as The Toad crouched down, muscles coiling tightly as he prepared to lunge. 

"So this is what flies feel like," Carapace mused as The Toad launched himself like a cannonball straight at his shield. 

Notes:

Part 1 of 3

Chapter 22: All Out pt. 2

---

“In here!” 

Ladybird found herself chucked through an open window into the top floor of an evacuated restaurant. Her partner landed in an open chair next to her as she sprawled out on the floor. 

“Wow, looks like I’m the lucky one for once,” Cat Noir chuckled, helping Ladybird to her feet as the rest of the heroes on the run fell in. As soon as Queen Bee carried Rena Rouge through the window, Ladybug slammed the windows shut, hands crashing against the floor and raising a red and black spotted barrier between the glass and the rest of the restaurant. 

“I think we’re safe for now…” Ladybug said, dusting her hands off. “Any chance that we can head back to the base now?” 

“I don’t want to risk trailing them back there; we have Master Fu hunkered down and god knows what they’ll do if they find him,” Rena Rouge said, pulling a slender compact out of her pocket. Dropping it on the table, it glowed with strange runes for a moment before illuminating a full map of the city. “We’ll have to plan on the move; I don’t think it’ll be long before they find us here.” 

“And then what?” Chat Noir asked, kicking a broken chair with a frustrated snarl. “These things are not going to stop looking for us until they get what they want or Paris is a burning rubble pile. Either way is a flaming, painful death.” 

“ Unless we can stop them…somehow,” Ladybug said, looking at the map. All around the city, angry red dots appeared, eclipsed by a large one she assumed was The Empress. “We can try hitting it again; maybe if we pool our resources and come up with a single plan of attack we can make a dent in it.” 

“And while we’re doing that, all the Venoms need to do is hit our blindside and steal the kids,” Chat Noir said. 

"So it's just a distraction?" Bluebird asked. 

"Even distractions can be dangerous," Chat Noir muttered. "And this one is dangerous enough to make us forget we're guarding hostages." 

“Hey, they’re not gonna just nab us like we’re a tourist’s purse,” Ladybird huffed.

“In case you forgot, we’re superheroes too!” Cat Noir insisted

“Believe me when I say that these guys are out of your league,” Rena Rouge said, staring at a glowing green Turtle sigil somewhere deep beneath the city surface. "They might even be out of ours, but..." 

The light flickered on Rena Rouge's face as Ladybug watched her run the grim calculus in her head. It wasn't fun thinking about how many ways your friends could die, but that was what leading a team of heroes entailed; it turned people into problems to be solved and pieces to be moved around the board. Cold as it sounded, it kept everyone alive. And right now Ladybug knew that she was slowly coming to the conclusion that her partner was too far beyond enemy lines to help. 

“...if we took some pressure off Carapace, he might be able to help,” Bluebird suggested, following Rena Rouge's train of thought. “I know he’s tangling with someone in the sewers, but-” 

“We can’t juggle more objectives than we already have,” Rena Rouge sighed, a cold lump forming in her stomach as she spoke. Alya Cesaire might have loved Nino more than most people, but Rena Rouge didn’t have the luxury of putting certain people above others. Not when a city rested on her shoulders. “Carapace is the strongest single fighter we have outside Ladybug and Chat Noir…he can handle it. He will handle it…and as long as he’s occupying one of them, that’s one less threat to worry about.” 

Rena Rouge sounded less sure than Ladybug could remember. Outside, the sound of chaos continued to grow louder, closer, and more hectic. She wasn’t sure how long her barriers would hold; only that sometime soon she would have to run, fight, or come up with a plan to save herself, the city, her friends, and her family. There was something familiar in the dread that settled over her and the fear that narrowed her thought process down to a series of causes-and-effects. Tasks to be completed and problems to solve; one after the other until she could go home again. 

Outside of the two time-travelers and the fact her partner was cagier than a tiger in a cat carrier, it was just like the old days.

“Wait…are we seriously just going to leave Ni- Carapace down there?” Cat Noir asked, looking up at his older self. “He’s in trouble; we should go help, right?” 

“It’s not that simple,” Chat Noir muttered, glaring at the green dot on the map. Ladybug could feel the anxious jumble of thoughts bouncing around his head, as though he were trying to find a way to get to Nino and still save the city in the process. 

“The hell it isn’t!” Cat Noir hissed. “Our friend is in trouble and you want to just sit back and do nothing to help him?!” 

“We’re all in trouble!” Chat Noir barked back. “In case it escaped you, we all need to find a way out of this; especially you two ." 

"And suddenly you care about what happens to me?" Cat Noir laughed bitterly. "You've been treating me like a dead bird that someone coughed up on your doorstep since I got here!" 

" Not particularly, but seeing as how my world implodes if our enemies get their mitts on you, I have something of a vested interest in keeping you alive," Chat Noir sighed, pushing Cat Noir aside. "So do me a favor and keep the unsolicited superhero advice to yourself." 

Cat Noir glared at Chat Noir's back, about to say something before Ladybird gripped his wrist. "Don't bother…I'm not sure you two are even the same person." 

Thank God for that, Chat Noir thought. He didn't realize Ladybug had heard until he looked up and saw her looking at him. Her expression was caught between disapproval and pity and Chat Noir didn't know which he hated more. 

"We don't need to send everyone," Queen Bee interrupted. "Let me take one more person; me and a Champion or a Sentimonster could even tip the scales back in Carapace's favor." 

"Chloe-" 

"No, honestly, fuck this!" Queen Bee snapped. "These pricks love starting fires in a hundred different places just to split us up and send us all scurrying around chasing our tails. It's like they think we're not good enough to handle their increasingly growing mound of horsesh…stuff." 

"Again, we're fourteen not four!" Ladybird snapped. 

Smash! Lines of wine bottles fell out of their racks and crashed onto the floor as something slammed against the barrier Ladybug had erected to keep their enemies out. Ladybug had hoped that they would have a few more minutes to catch their breath; hope that the monsters outside were all too eager to dash. 

" Not again," Queen Bee said, uncoiling her chain. "I am soooo over this circus and all the freaks that work there. The last time I checked, this was my town full of my friends and my favorite boutiques! Where the hell am I supposed to get my clothes; Italy?! New York?! Hollywood like I'm fucking Cali-trash?!" 

"I hardly think that's our most pressing concern," Monarch said, pulling her sword out as Ladybug's barrier buckled under a heavy blow. The roof above them began flaking; Ladybug and Chat Noir unconsciously took a step closer to one another without realizing what they were doing. Their hearts and minds might have been at odds, but their bodies remembered more than just the fallout. They remembered the countless battles fought together and seemed unwilling to enter the fray without their counterpart at their side.  

"And last time I checked, we did not suddenly turn into the kind of people who just ditch our friends when things get rough," Queen Bee said, blue eyes glinting in the half-light of the restaurant. It was moments like this that first drew Rena to her onetime classroom nemesis; moments when she caught a glimpse of something noble that shined in moments when the chips were down. 

"So here's Queen Bee's plan…we bust out of here-" 

Smash! The wall shook under the force of another blow. 

"-rescue Carapace-" 

Smash! Ladybug could see light streaming in through a skinny crack in the barrier. 

"-take my Daddy's ring-" 

Smash! The sound of grinding teeth, claws, reptilian snarls filtered through the hole.

"-and then skin every last lizard in this city!" Queen Bee bellowed. 

SMASH! 

The barrier caved in as dozens of black claws pulled open a hole and started pouring in. Expecting prey, they ran headlong into a room full of predators waiting to pounce. 

A spindly Hunter sprang in, only to meet the heel of Rena Rouge's boot under its chin. It wobbled for a moment before a quick slice of Monarch's sword sent it tumbling to the ground in two neat slices. A second tried to take advantage of Monarch's blindside but Bluebird's fan sent it slamming to the ground only for Queen Bee to drive her heel down through its head. Ladybug threw Cat Noir behind her as a scaly Trooper pounced, a glowing arm snatching it out of the air and spiking it head first through the floor and down three stories to the coffee shop below. A hot jet of green flame narrowly missed her ear, piercing a Brute through the forehead as it tried to climb in through the hole in the barrier. 

"Hey, watch it!" Ladybug said, earning a roll of Chat Noir's eyes. "That could have hit me!" 

"Oh right, because I'm an idiot who can't shoot straight," Chat Noir sighed, plucking Fang out of the air and skewering another Trooper with a flick of his wrist. "You are never going to see me as anything other than a dopey sidekick, are you?" 

Ladybug's knee cracked another Trooper in the jaw and sent it tumbling into Rena Rouge's staff strike. "I didn't say that; I just-" 

"You just thought I was going to start throwing fireballs around without checking my shots," Chat Noir snapped, his claw ripping through a Hunter before Ladybug's yo-yo could connect. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been cleaning up more than you have lately!" 

This is really not the time for this! Ladybug thought, tossing her shield to Rena Rouge who blocked a Trooper's claw attack and shoved it out the gap in the barrier. 

Oh but you have plenty of time to second guess me, don't you? Chat Noir thought back. Just like the old days; Chat Noir gets to be a useful tool to bring Ladybug's brilliant plans to life! Wow, sign me up for another tour of duty, partner ! 

God, is this what it's like to be in your head all the time? Ladybug thought, lassoing a Hunter as it jumped on Bluebird's back and whipping it out the window. Not everything is a personal slight against you, Adrien! I'm not your enemy and I'm not looking down on you! Why can't you just trust me? 

Gosh, you're right, I have no reason not to totally put my life in your hands, Chat Noir thought, staff springing out and catching a Brute in the mouth as it tried to bite Queen Bee. 

Frustration turned Ladybug's vision red. Two glittering golden arms reached out and grabbed a pair of monsters around the neck, whipping them in Chat Noir's direction with a frustrated scowl. His eye glinted as he turned, slicing the pair of them in half and dissolving them with a swipe of his claw. " Watch it." 

"Because I'm an out-of-practice hasbeen who can't throw straight, is that it?!" Ladybug spat, frustration and fear turning her voice hoarse. "You don’t want me looking down on you but you've been looking down on me ever since Venice!" 

"Hey, love that you two are finally talking it out!" Rena Rouge called as she wrestled a Trooper to the ground so Monarch could drive her sword through its head. " Can we do this later?!" 

Chat Noir's green spectral claws cracked over his shoulders as he glared at Ladybug. He snatched another monster off the floor, whipping its wriggling form across the restaurant in Ladybug's direction. Catch. 

Ladybug grabbed a table and swatted the monster down through the floor before it hit her, returning Chat Noir's steely glare. The flickering lights overhead glowed brighter as Ladybug grabbed another monster by the throat and flung it at Chat Noir like a spear. Duck!

Like hell, Chat Noir thought, Cataclysming the monster into dust as his arms hurled two more in Ladybug's direction. She latched onto the beam in the ceiling, swinging up and booting both back out the window as more poured into the restaurant through the cracks. "Out of the way!" 

Ladybird flattened her partner against the floor as Ladybug kicked a towering Brute towards Chat Noir. 

"Hey, am I crazy, or are they throwing monsters at each other?" Cat Noir panted, watching as Chat Noir plucked the Brute out of the air with his freaky glowing arms and pile-drove it down through the floor. 

"You're crazy… and they're definitely having a monster food-fight in the middle of a restaurant," Ladybird said, watching as Chat Noir hurled a bottle of cocktail syrup at Ladybug's head. She turned and caught it in her mouth like a heron spearing a fish, tilting her head back and guzzling the whole thing as she flung a Brute in Chat Noir's direction. 

"Come on ; give me a challenge!" Chat Noir laughed, green arms hammering the Brute into the ground and quickly reducing it into a puddle of black goop. "You're boring me, Bugaboo." 

If the edge to his laugh wasn't so sharp and if his smile reached his eyes, Ladybug could have mistaken him for having fun. But it was almost forced the way he defiantly grinned at her; swagger that was too busy saying 'look how strong I am; you can't hurt me anymore' to feel natural or convincing . It was a glimpse into Chat Noir that he definitely did not want her to see, but one that was exposed clear as day with every slash and swipe of his claw. 

She had precious little time to dwell on it before a cry of surprise reminded her that there were kids that she was responsible for watching. 

Ladybug's head snapped back to see Ladybird to pull a Hunter's tongue off her ankle, uselessly swatting at it with a chair leg as it pulled her closer. Before she could even think about rushing to her rescue, Cat Noir was one step ahead of her. 

"Spit the bug out!" Cat Noir hollered, slamming his staff down on the monster's head hard enough to make it spit Ladybird back out. The Hunter reeled, spitting sharp teeth on the floor as another took its chance to strike at Ladybird while she tried to recover. It was a situation that had played out so often that Ladybug knew what would happen before it did. She didn't even need to look at Cat Noir to know he was already moving, already putting his body in front of hers to shield her from harm without needing to be asked. The Hunter's tongue wrapped around his stomach, dragging Cat Noir into the clutches of his jaw as it sprang out the hole in the wall. 

"Cat!" Ladybird cried, running after her partner into the thick mosh pit of monsters before Ladybug could stop her. 

"Chat!" Ladybug called over her shoulder as she elbowed two Troopers out of the way. "They got the kitten!" 

A frustrated snarl was all the confirmation Ladybug needed that her message had been received. She didn't stop to chat, already leaping over the heads of her enemies and chasing the Hunter and Ladybird out the window. "Slow down!" 

Ladybird zipped between buildings as fast as she could, trying desperately to stay on the tail of the monster with her partner in its teeth. "It's getting away!" 

"Not likely !" Ladybug growled, picking up a burst of speed as she rounded the corner. The far side of the restaurant exploded in a green fireball as Chat Noir burst out the wall, letting a small pile of monsters dissolve into dust in his wake. 

"Where are you going?!" Ladybug said, glancing back over her shoulder. "What about-" 

"Rena's fine !" Chat Noir growled, flickering like a shadow over the buildings. "What happened to the kid?!" 

Guess, Ladybug thought as they closed in on the Hunter. 

Idiot, Chat Noir thought, his mind a cloud of embarrassment and irritation. The monsters on the street seemed to know what they were after and soon a river of black scales followed them through the city as they chased Cat Noir's captor. Ladybird did her best to keep up, but it was clear that Ladybug and her partner could swing circles around her if they wanted. 

"Uhh…I don't mean to make this about me," Ladybird called ahead, glancing over her shoulder at the rapidly gaining swarm of lizards. "But could I get some help back here?!" 

Ladybug pivoted mid swing, hand extended and golden light dancing on her fingertips as she clenched them in a fist. The ground in front of the swarm erupted as gigantic fingers made of stone closed in time with Ladybug's, smashing an unlucky handful and blocking the street as the swarm smashed into it. They quickly found another way around but it was enough time for Ladybird to latch on to Ladybug's extended hand and swing alongside her. 

Where's the big one? Ladybug thought, eyes darting across the unusually still skyline. The only thing worse than seeing a colossal kaiju attacking her city was suddenly not seeing it and wondering where it could have gone. 

Watch the sky, Chat Noir thought, his eyes glancing at the clouds that hung overhead. She likes using clouds as cover…

The Hunter was in sight, Cat Noir's limp figure dangling from its jaws as it landed on a rooftop nearby. To its credit, it managed to take a single step and likely calculated its next jump before Chat Noir landed on it with such force that the blunt tip of his staff pinned it to the asphalt. It squealed in pain, legs flailing as Cat Noir tumbled out of its mouth and across the rooftop into Ladybird's waiting arms. 

"Give him to me!" Ladybug called as she jogged over, quickly spitting in her hand and slathering the saliva all over Cat Noir's paralyzed (if perturbed) face. 

"Yeah, that's never not going to be gross," Ladybird muttered, flinching as Chat Noir ignited The Hunter with more vigor than usual. Wreathed in fire, the shadows on his face made his scowl of displeasure terrifying as he bore down on Cat Noir, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Chat Noir demanded without preamble. 

"Do you want that list alphabetically sorted or just in order of importance?" Cat Noir asked, batting Chat Noir's hand away as he slowly regained bodily function. "Or is there something specific you'd like to bust my bell over?" 

"Don't play stupid ," Chat Noir growled, jabbing his finger into Cat Noir's chest. "You know what I'm talking about." 

"Chat this is not the time for-" 

"No, you're right ," Chat Noir said. "This is not the time for half-baked heroism or suicidal chivalry; you know our enemies are after you! You know they're sending monsters to capture you so why did you just give yourself to them?!" 

"He didn't give himself up ," Ladybird snapped, nudging her way between her partner and Chat Noir. "I was in trouble and he helped me out; that's how our team works." 

"Yeah, I know exactly how your little team works," Chat Noir spat. "Your buddy over there would eat a live grenade if he thought it would get you to look at him like he wants you to." 

"Hey, shut up !" Cat Noir said, hair raising. "I don't need your permission to help my friends and I'm not about to back away and hide when things get tough; I'm a superhero, remember?" 

"You're a super- simp with no concept of self-preservation and a borderline death wish," Chat Noir growled, ignoring Ladybug's hand as she tried to push him back.

"Chat, not the time!"

"When I tell you to keep your head down, you need to keep your head down!" Chat Noir spat.  

"Or what; you'll snarl at me?" Cat Noir laughed. "When did you become such a freaking buzzkill? I've taken worse knocks than this and Ladybird has always had my back." 

In the pit of her stomach, Ladybug knew the conversation had turned a corner that she had tried to keep from turning all day. Chat-

" Really ?" Chat Noir laughed bitterly. "And what happens when Ladybird is the one knocking you around? Who's going to take care of you if she wasn't there to baby every bruise you get?" 

" Enough ," Ladybug hissed, grabbing him by the scarf and pulling him back. But the genie was out of the bottle and Ladybird was not about to let that comment slide. 

"What are you talking about?" Ladybird asked, glancing between Ladybug and Chat Noir. "What do you mean if I was the one knocking him around?" 

"Nothing!" Ladybug said, glaring at Chat Noir. " Nothing we need to talk to them about, right Chat?"

"Why not ?!" Chat Noir said, an unsteady waver creeping into his voice. "Maybe he wouldn't be such deadweight if he looked out for himself a little more." 

"Hey !" Ladybird and Cat Noir cried. 

"Speak for yourself, jerk," Cat Noir growled, ears burning as he glared at Chat Noir. "All you've done is look angry and punch things since I got here; where do you get off telling me how to be a hero?!" 

"You're not a hero; you're pest control," Chat Noir spat. "For every evil and ugly thing in this world, you are the last line of defense…or you would be if you stopped hiding behind Ladybug all the time." 

"Nobody hides behind me," Ladybird said, glaring at Chat Noir. "He's my partner -" 

"He's your sidekick ," Chat Noir said, glaring at Ladybug. "Isn't that right? Just another partner, like the rest of them." 

Ladybug's lips pressed tightly together. You have something you want to say to me? 

What's there to say that we haven't said already? Chat Noir thought. You've made it pretty clear how you feel about me; I'm just cluing junior in. 

That's not fair, Ladybug thought, keeping one hand on his jacket. I told you already, Adrien, that was just- 

"You don't speak for me," Ladybird growled. "Cat Noir and I are a team; partners . There isn't anything I wouldn't-" 

Ladybird stopped herself short, unable to finish her thought with a clear conscience. The worst part was that Cat Noir seemed to pick up on this and instead of backing away, he stepped up to his partner's defense, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. 

"Ladybird and I might not be able to tell each other everything," Cat Noir said, lifting his chin. "I know where I stand with her; if it was me in danger back there, I know she'd do the same."

Something in Cat Noir's eyes dared Chat Noir to test that theory. Unfortunately, Chat Noir was all too eager to help. 

"Oh, really ?" Ladybug saw Fang flicker into the air a moment before an unnatural wave of dread settled over the rooftop. Chat Noir's phantom eye locked on Ladybird whose stern look of defiance almost immediately shattered as she found herself the target of an angry god's gaze. It triggered in her the most primal fear; the terror that she was about to be devoured by a large predator, wafting off Chat Noir on command. It was like he had stopped pretending to be anything other than a physical embodiment of Destruction, and all that terror bore down on Ladybird all at once.  

Adrien, no! 

Ladybug tried to stop him but Chat Noir was too fast, quickly plucking Fang from the air and swinging its glittering green edge towards Ladybird's neck. Ladybird, being confronted with sudden and seemingly inescapable doom at Chat Noir's hands, did what any reasonable person would do when a living myth swung a weapon at them. 

She ducked. 

Just as soon as it came on, the sensation of dread disappeared, leaving Ladybird crouched on the rooftop with her hands over her head. When she looked up, she saw Chat Noir's sword at her partner's throat, a look of fear in his watery green eyes as he looked down at her. 

" That is where you stand with her," Chat Noir whispered, nodding down at Ladybird. "For all she talks about partnership…when things are really bad, you're going to be on your own. Like you've always been…nobody is coming to help you… nobody is going to save you." 

He tried to move his sword closer to Cat Noir's neck, but found his arm wrapped in long red ribbons, preventing it from moving another inch. He looked back to see Ladybug glaring at him, the tears in her eyes doing nothing to diminish the ferocity of her gaze. 

"Enough ," Ladybug commanded. The sword vanished from his grasp, floating over Ladybug's shoulder in the last of a seemingly endless string of betrayals. Across the roof, Rena Rouge and her team had seemingly caught up in time to witness Chat Noir threaten a teenager with a bladed instrument. Their expressions ranged from pity to disappointment to outright anger in Monarch's case, each less bearable to him than the last. 

"Lie to yourself if you want…but now you know the truth," Chat Noir muttered, twisting out of Ladybug's grip and storming off across the rooftop. Ladybug watched him go, the end of his scarf flickering in the breeze as Ladybird slowly got to her feet. 

"Cat…I-I panicked," Ladybird said, gently shaking her partner's shoulder as he slowly came back to himself. "I didn't know what to do, I…I'm sorry, I should have-" 

"It's fine…" Cat Noir said in a somewhat hollow voice. "Really, it's…no, it's fine…" 

He tried to offer a reassuring smile but Ladybug could tell that he was just placating her to placate her. There was no real belief behind his word. The splinters in the foundation of trust their partnership had been built on only deepened as Cat Noir's deepest fear seemed to be realized. 

It was then she realized what the little charade was for. Chat Noir was never going to actually hurt them...but in some ways, that made Ladybug all the more angry. He used the phenomenal power of Destruction just to make a point and terrify some kids. To reinforce Cat Noir's loneliness and drive a wedge between him and his partner. 

"Hey, what the hell is his problem?" Rena Rouge asked, glaring at Chat Noir. "How did you go from trying to save these kids to threatening them?" 

"Good question," Ladybug said, fists clenching at her sides. "Can you handle the kids for a second? I…I have to say something." 

Her eyes followed Ladybug's across the roof to Chat Noir's back. "Is this really the best time to do this?" 

"No…but someone has to do it before this gets even more out of hand," Ladybug said, crossing the rooftop. "Take them across the street…I need a minute alone with him." 

---

There were dozens of rash, stupid decisions Chat Noir regretted; as soon as his blade hovered over Cat Noir's neck, he knew he made another one. It was one thing to have his partnership destroyed by forces outside his control, but this felt a little more like murder. The look of confusion, shock, and sadness in Cat Noir's eyes as Ladybird dove to safety was hard to bear…but it was necessary.

Nobody else was going to be honest with him, so why shouldn't he be?

A warm tingle at the base of his neck alerted him to Ladybug's presence over his shoulder without him needing to turn around. Like a magnet, he was being drawn towards her by a force completely out of his control; one more thing the universe dropped in his lap without him asking for it. 

"Where's the kid?" Chat Noir asked, his eyes scanning the horizon for any flicker of The Empress. 

"Safe," Ladybug said. "Rena's working on phase two of our little escape plan." 

"So why are you here instead of helping her ?" Chat Noir sniffed, wiping his one working eye with the back of his hand. "Well?" 

She had been hesitant every time she looked at him since returning from Venice; now her gaze was nothing if not resolute. 

"...what would you have done if she hadn't moved?" Ladybug asked. 

"She was always going to move," Chat Noir said. "In no universe would Ladybug ever put herself in a position to get seriously hurt..."

"And so what?!" Ladybug said, her voice hard and steely. "That…that wasn't fair, Chat." 

"How?" Chat Noir laughed, turning around and leaning on the railing. "That was perfectly fair-" 

"You can't swing a sword at a teenager and then get mad when she ducks out of the way!" Ladybug snapped, prodding him in the chest. "You scared her!" 

"Like he isn't scared every time he dies trying to keep her safe!" Chat Noir huffed, batting her hand away. "I was just proving a point. That's all." 

"What point ?!" Ladybug asked. "You wanted to scare him? Make him feel like nobody has his back-" 

"Nobody has his back," Chat Noir growled, glaring at Ladybug. "The sooner he realizes that, the sooner he can start taking better care of himself. Ladybird isn't going to keep bailing him out forever and when the time comes, maybe he'll-" 

Chat Noir trailed off with a shake of his head. "Forget it." 

"No," Ladybug grabbed Chat Noir's wrist as he turned to leave. " Tell me." 

"What's the point; when have you ever been interested in listening to me?" 

"I am now ," Ladybug insisted. "Chat, you are clearly still angry and clearly still hurt and I get that…I know why but you are blowing up and taking it out on everybody except me. Talk to me; please. I'm the one responsible for this mess; not Nino or Master Fu or Chloe; me! If I hadn't-" 

"No, you're right; if you hadn't forked over my Miraculous none of this would have happened!" Chat Noir cried, turning his attention to Ladybug. "But we also wouldn't be where we are right now if I found some way to beat you before you did." 

Ladybug dropped Chat Noir's sleeve in surprise. "What?" 

"You're right ," Chat Noir laughed. "A lot of what happened with Hawk Moth is on you and I still have such a hard time stomaching that most days…but don't act like I didn't have any responsibility of my own. Plagg wasn't yours to keep safe; he was mine ." 

"I am… was the Guardian," Ladybug said, blinking owlishly. "The safety of the Miraculous was my responsibility!" 

"Not Plagg ," Chat Noir said. "Plagg trusted me to keep him safe; he and Kagami were the only partners I had when you decided to work with Hawk Moth. You let them down, don't get me wrong…but I did too. All because I couldn't do what I needed to do and put you down and take your Miraculous." 

"But you got him back…" Ladybug said, trying and failing to follow Chat Noir's bleak line of thought. "We saved Kagami. You saved Plagg-" 

"I shouldn't have needed to save him!" A nearby lightbulb popped as a wave of malaise rippled across the roof. "I should have been able to stop you! I was supposed to be your equal but when things fucking mattered, I failed! As much as you did; maybe more . Because at least you were a successful traitor, I…I…" 

In spite of being wreathed in holy power, Chat Noir looked more lost and unsure than she could ever remember seeing him before. The fire in his eye flickered like a candle in a thunderstorm, wildly dancing against forces that tried to snuff it out. 

"You only failed because you trusted me," Ladybug whispered. "You believed in me…even after I turned the city against you, you still gave me a chance. Time and again you gave me chances and I threw them away… who's fault is that?" 

"Still mine…which is why Cat Noir needs a lesson in self-reliance before he ends up in the same sorry mess I landed in," Chat Noir sniffed. "I was just like him ; someone who thought my partner would always be there for me. Someone who knew his partner would go to the same lengths he would for the sake of their team…but that just isn't true. Maybe it's my fault for ever thinking it was. Maybe if I knew what I knew back then…maybe Plagg would have never been taken. Maybe my friends would never have gotten hurt. Maybe my father would have never taken his power…maybe our enemies wouldn't be as strong as they are today." 

Chat Noir shook his head. "At least now he knows he needs to get stronger…maybe he'll stand a better chance than I did." 

Ladybug blinked back tears, refusing to look away. "...stupid." 

"What?"

"That's so stupid!" Ladybug shouted, her voice cracking. "You didn't need to be stronger, Chat, you needed help! I had it! I had Rena and Carapace and…and Hawk Moth and the whole world at my back. You had three months to catch up on four years of missed training; how the hell were you supposed to beat me?!" 

"I could have figured out a way!" Chat Noir stammered. "I could have figured something out if I had woken up sooner and realized I was going to have to be on my own one of these days! Maybe if I figured that out sooner, I could have…I could have…" 

"What?!" Ladybug prompted. "What could you have done? What was the magic solution that would have saved us and stopped our enemies from ? Why do you think it was all up to you?" 

Chat Noir didn't seem to have an answer for her, just angrily avoiding her gaze as though it might prove him wrong. "I can't imagine how you feel right now…I know you have to hate me for what I put you through-" 

A genuine if slightly watery chuckle interrupted Ladybug. "Hate you…you don't know how hard I've tried to hate you. You don't know much time and energy and effort I've spent trying to find reasons and ways to just… hate you. It would be easier if I did, y'know? If I could just wad you up and throw you in the same crap basket as my father and Nathalie. I've tried but you…you don't fit."

"Really?" Ladybug laughed. "How? Your father wouldn't have won if it wasn't for me." 

" Yeah, but he was always horrible to me, but you… you just had to give me four of the best years of my life before taking it all away," Chat Noir said, his voice small, sad, and deeply uncertain. "And in some ways…that's worse." 

Ladybug found it hard to breathe around the lump in her throat. "Do you…not hate me then?" 

Chat Noir fidgeted with his scarf, the tattered remains of Marinette's stitches flickering with holy power. It was part of him now in a way he didn't understand; maybe it was just a permanent reminder of how hard it was to get Ladybug out of his head. 

"I just don't feel safe trusting you…" Chat Noir said quietly, his words sinking into Ladybug's stomach like a knife. "Someone has to protect me . Someone has to look out for me…no one else is gonna do that. So it has to be me...and I can't protect myself so close to you."

Chat Noir flicked his wrist, opening a portal and turning to leave until Ladybug managed to snap out of her stupor long enough to grab his wrist. "Wait…" 

"What ?" Chat Noir sighed, in a tired, defeated tone. "What's left to say between us?" 

So much; too much. More than Ladybug could put into words. There was no naming the yawning pit of shame that she fought her way out of on a daily basis. There was no way she could put words to the grief she felt when she saw what her partner had become; how tired and beaten down and sad he seemed to be. If Ladybug could describe the longing she felt for the simple days of Ladybug and Chat Noir, how each night spent goofing off on the roofs of Paris was more precious to her than the freedom she had won for herself, how she would melt if it meant repairing even a small fraction of the harm she caused… maybe he would understand. 

Her finger brushed the tip of his exposed forearm as she thought, I'm sorry… 

And all at once, he understood. 

The fragile wall that seemed to separate their consciousnesses pierced and some of Ladybug's sad, sick remorse brushed against Chat Noir's soul. He felt it settle in the pits of his stomach, nestling between the guilt his father poured down his throat and the guilt he fed himself every day that he tried to be better than the boy he used to be. It felt as slimy and as slick as the guilt that came from lashing out at his friends, going for weeks without seeing his mother, and abandoning a city he once swore to protect. He couldn't tell if it was deeper or more profound than his own; only that it was real and that he felt it for a fragment of a moment before pulling away, stumbling back into the portal. 

"I…I need to refuel," Chat Noir said, glancing away sheepishly. "Tell Rena I'll…I'll be back when I can…" 

Her fingers twitched as she watched him walk away from her and the moment the portal closed, the weight of her mistakes once again crashed into her. It had been months since she had been on the floor, curled up with her head in her knees as she tried to reign in the overwhelming grief that tried to drown her. She supposed she was long overdue, even if the city around her was burning around her. For once she didn't care; Paris could be pristine and she would still be in the middle of an absolute disaster zone. 

Notes:

Part 2 of 3

Chapter 23: All In

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ladybug scolded herself quietly as she sat curled into a tight ball on the rooftop. But what could she have said that could have bridged the gap between them? What was the right word to say or right thing to do that would show him that she would rather die than betray someone she loved ever again?

It didn't matter; he didn't trust her. No amount of talking or combination of words could overcome that. She was a threat to him; a threat he fought to keep at arm's length just so he could breathe a little. A threat so overwhelming he would rather go up against the worst of the world alone than accept her help.

Chat Noir was right; it would have been better to just hate her.  

"Are…are you okay?" 

Looking up, Ladybug saw Ladybird fidgeting as she stepped out from behind an air conditioning unit. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well…Cat Noir's doing okay a-and Rena wanted to see if you were done so I…" Ladybird shrugged. "I volunteered." 

"So you could eavesdrop?" Ladybug chuckled. In a past life she might have been embarrassed to be caught on the floor crying like a kid, but she was too tired, too emotionally sore to care. 

"N-No, it's not like that at all!" Ladybird said quickly. "I-I-I just-" 

"Marinette, you are not a good liar," Ladybug sighed. Not yet. 

"... I didn't mean to," Ladybird mumbled. "I just heard you two talking and I…I just heard some of it. Accidentally." 

Ladybug wiped her nose, trying to regain a little composure. "How much did you accidentally hear?" 

"Enough," Ladybird said with a wince. "...too much maybe?" 

"Too much," Ladybug nodded. She did all she could to avoid the probing blue eyes looking for answers, ashamed, afraid, and too tired to indulge her. She hoped Ladybird would just forget it, but she just wasn't that type of person. Not when there were secrets to uncover. 

"What happened to us?" Ladybird asked, fear prickling on every word as she approached Ladybug. 

"Nothing you need to worry about," Ladybug said, shaking her head. "Just dumb alternate timeline stuff…we're gonna get you home and all this is gonna be a bad dream in the morning. You're gonna be fine. " 

"I've had too many bad dreams lately to write them all off," Ladybird said, fidgeting with her fingers. "Seriously…what was it?" 

"Why do you care?" 

"It can't have been that bad-" 

"And what if it was ?" Ladybug demanded. "Would you still want to know?" 

"No, but...I need to know what happened between you two…so I can keep it from happening to us," Ladybird said, chewing on her lip. "I…I don't like how you two are right now. I don't ever want Cat Noir and I to hate each other like you do. I-I know you can't give away everything, but…something? Anything? Please?" 

Anything but that, Ladybug thought. Was this the cruel and cosmic punishment she had feared for years? Having to look herself in the eye and explain how far she had fallen to someone with her whole life ahead of her. 

"I can't even begin to get into it; not without dumping spoilers on you that might not even be true for your Paris," Ladybug said, glancing away. "So many things are different between our timelines-" 

"But not us ," Ladybird insisted. "Cat Noir wouldn't just wake up one morning and decide that he hates my guts; he wouldn't spend so much time trying to get away from me unless something happened between us." 

"Something did ," Ladybug said. "That's all you need to know." 

"But…if I just had a hint," Ladybird pressed. "Anything at all-" 

"Forget it," Ladybug muttered.

"I could try and get out ahead of it!" Ladybird said, panic swelling in her voice. "I could come up with some sort of plan to stop it or work with Bunnyx to figure out a way to get our timeline back on track...or…or…" 

It was hard to tell if she was hopeful or just desperate; maybe a little of both. Ladybird couldn't just leave a problem unsolved; whether it was a classmate or a friend or a total stranger, she wouldn't have been chosen if it weren't for her almost pathological desire to help at all costs. 

"I know we've always had secrets between the two of us and I know I'm keeping a lot from him, but that wouldn't be enough to make him hate me, right?" Ladybird asked, begging Ladybug to assuage her fears. To say something that would put her and her kitty beyond the danger of heartbreak and separation. 

"I-I can fix this, can't I?" Ladybird asked. 

Like Adrien, Ladybug had taken to viewing her younger self through the lens of mistakes made and opportunities missed. But it was hard to hold any hatred for the girl in front of her; the earnest, hardworking person who would have done anything for the people she cared about. Even now she was bending down to pick up another impossible burden, ready to take on the task of fixing their partnership single handedly. 

If only it were that easy. 

"You've been doing this…what, six months?" Ladybug asked, cocking her head as she looked Ladybird over. "Maybe a year? Long enough that you 're starting to see how bad things can get…maybe you're handling it now, and maybe you're always gonna be able to handle it…" 

Her stomach churned, eyes downcast as she willed herself to move on. "...it was four years in for me and I couldn't see any way out. No end to the fight anywhere in sight. I thought my whole life was going to be working minimum wage jobs while living under the threat of Hawk Moth, never being able to leave Paris. I thought…I thought there was no chance I could live a life as anything other than Ladybug ." 

"I get that…" Ladybird said, rubbing her arm. "Years, huh?" 

"Years," Ladybug said. "Hundreds of akuma, each crazier than the last. And just when I thought I was running around in a maze with no exit…suddenly, there was a solution. A messy, ugly, imperfect solution that seemed oh so simple. I should have seen it for what it was but I…I couldn't see past the promise of freedom. I couldn't see anything other than a single compromise that would make my life and the lives of the people I loved better."

Adrien was part of it; of course he was part of it. Ladybug couldn't tell her younger self that but she would be lying if she said that it was all about him. It was about her too; Hawk Moth must've seen how badly she wanted to escape and made the jaws of his trap look like a door to freedom.  

"I thought it was the only chance I'd ever get…but it was just so fucking stupid," Ladybug shook her head, tears prickling at her eyes. "Chat Noir saw how stupid it was and tried to warn me…and when warning didn't work, he fought me. And I fought back…like a wounded animal with a leg caught in a trap, just lashing out at anything I thought would make the pain stop. But all I did was get myself more and more stuck…" 

"But…we've been stuck before," Ladybird said, sounding like a child that didn't understand why grandma wasn't coming back. "We've been down and out before…we've both made mistakes, haven't we? I would forgive anything Cat Noir did. So how can one fight be the end of everything between us?" 

Ladybug didn't look up from the floor when she spoke. "...because this fight ended with me putting his ring and my earrings in Hawk Moth's hands." 

Silence. Ladybug didn’t dare to look up and see the look of horror, confusion, and disgust that was surely on Ladybird’s face. She had been holding herself together with the emotional equivalent of scotch tape and sewing thread, always one or two bad days away from sinking back into the mud she found herself in after first going to London. One glance at her might have been enough to undo what little progress she had managed to make. 

“...why?” Ladybird asked.

“I didn’t plan on it,” Ladybug confessed. “I thought I could control him. That if I gave Hawk Moth what he wanted, he would just give up and leave us alone…it wasn’t a good idea, but it was something. And of course, he had me in the palm of his hand without me being any the wiser. It didn’t matter that I tried to fight him when I realized what happened…I was already too far gone to save myself. Or my partner.” 

Thinking back to her time working with Gabriel was like trying to see through fog; time and again she found herself revisiting that period of her life, trying to figure out when it was that Hawk Moth finalized his control over her. But every memory she had was dulled and out of focus; even the scant months she and Adrien had been together were overshadowed by a fog of anger, grief, and exhaustion. 

“He akumitized you?” Ladybird asked. 

“No but he might as well have,” Ladybug sighed. “Maybe he didn’t need to…maybe all he needed to do was walk up to me when I was on the edge and just give me a good shove off after I had done his work for him. That’s the worst bit of it, you know? That it wasn’t just mind control…he rooted around and saw all the petty, ugly things that I keep locked up and used them like crowbars to break me and Chat Noir apart. There was something of… me in his plans.. And I think that's the hardest part…knowing that it wasn't all his fault." 

"The hardest part is knowing that Chat Noir has no reason to want to be near me anymore," Ladybug said, fingers trembling as she stared at her knees. "No reason to trust me anymore…and I deserve it. I deserve to face whatever I have to face from here on in completely alone." 

Alone. She thought she knew what that meant while she was still in London. But being cut out so definitively by the people she loved was loneliness on a whole different level. 

Ladybug laughed humorlessly as the silence from Ladybird dragged on. "I get it…you don't have to say anything. You're disappointed in me. I am too. I never wanted to grow up into this…I hope you never will. So…just make better choices. And trust your partner…and do better than I did." 

Ladybird was silent, her mouth slightly agape and eyes unblinking as Ladybug rested her forehead against her knees. She was dimly aware of Ladybird approaching, quietly tensing for what was no doubt a tirade of blows and a long litany of how shameful her behavior was. She braced for every insult she could think of, every curse her younger self would hurl into her face for daring to steal her future. 

Ladybug prepared for everything except the clumsy, awkward hug Ladybug pulled her into. 

"I'm sorry…" Ladybird whispered in Ladybug's ear as she stared wide-eyed in confusion. 

"S…Sorry?" Ladybug echoed, as though she didn't hear her correctly. 

"You messed up," Ladybird said, wrapping her arms tighter around Ladybug. "You made mistakes…you hurt people. But you got hurt too." 

"If I did it was my fault," Ladybug choked, her vision swimming with tears. "It was my fault…it was all my…my…" 

"I know," Ladybird said, hugging the young woman tighter. "And it wasn't right. But I'm sorry you had to go through that…it must've been really hard for you too." 

Ladybug had been on the receiving end of polite sympathy from her mother and cousins for years but for the first time since Hawk Moth's defeat, she felt a little something like compassion for her scared younger self. And it burned like antiseptic on an open wound. 

"Why?" Ladybug sniffed. "I-I ruined our life! I shattered everything we worked so hard for. How…How can you feel sorry for me?" 

It wasn't her proudest moment, sobbing on a teenager's shoulder that already carried so much weight, but Ladybug was tired of holding herself so tightly together for so long. And maybe a moment or two of weakness wouldn't go unforgiven after all. 

"I've made a lot of mistakes too," Ladybird said, wiping a tear away. "I'm scared that I'm going to mess up and totally lose my partner forever one of these days. I can't say I know you…or all the things you've been through. But the fact that you're here after everything you've been through means I can't be that bad. I just hope…if it ever came to it…I'd be brave enough to keep trying like you." 

Ladybug shook her head. "I don't know…I've tried so hard…what if I-" 

"Hey." Ladybug opened her puffy, tear-stained eyes to see Queen Bee hovering just over Ladybird's shoulder. "I don't know what this little hug-sesh is all about, but if you two could wrap it up quickly I would appreciate it, my favorite turtle needs to be rescued and-." 

"Oh will you shut up?!" Ladybird bellowed, rounding on Queen Bee with the fury of a girl who had put up with far too much of Chloe Bourgeois' shit on a day to day basis. "God, can't you just leave her alone?! Can't you see she's not in any condition to fight?!" 

"Yeesh, touchy ," Queen Bee sighed, landing in front of Ladybug with a curious frown. "Bad news is I can't leave her alone; while you two were having your group therapy session, we've been fighting our scaly friends off and keeping them distracted. We could use a little help…and your cat is getting antsy." 

Queen Bee jerked her head back over her shoulder where Cat Noir was standing, looking concerned and more than a little lost without his partner. 

"Go cuddle; I'll get this one up," Queen Bee said. 

"I don't take orders from you ," Ladybird growled, but stomped across the rooftop anyway, leaving Ladybug curled up at Queen Bee's feet. 

"She's right," Ladybug muttered. "I'm in no condition to fight right now…" 

"None of us are," Queen Bee said, looking down at someone she used to look up to so much. "Don't tell me you let a supermodel hurt your feelings; you know they don't have two brain cells to rub together." 

Ladybug snorted, wet sticky snot tracking on her knee only adding to her humiliation. "He doesn't want anything to do with me…" 

"Boo," Queen Bee sighed. "Sorry, were you expecting a welcome home party?" 

"I don't know," Ladybug sighed. "I guess a part of me hoped there might be…something between us. Even a working relationship or something." 

"Why?" Queen Bee said. "Oh, right…I forget this is your first time being a real bitch." 

"Excuse me?" Ladybug said, glaring up as Queen Bee crouched down in front of her. 

"That's what happens when you hurt people, dum-dum," Queen Bee said, her voice lacking its usual sting. "They get to choose whether or not they want to be around when you're sorry. You think anyone but Nino, Alya, and maybe Kagami want anything to do with me? I have like three friends and they're all involved in superhero shit, so if we don't win my social circle is basically nothing ." 

Queen Bee grabbed Ladybug's wrist, tugging her to her feet as she stood. "But I don't need a fucking cheer section to tell me I can do better…and you don't need Chat Noir to at least try again. Yeah, you sucked majorly and hurt just about everyone you care about but whether you keep sucking is up to you." 

Ladybug stared in confusion as Queen Bee shook her shoulders. "I wish I could say we can do this alone…I would love to just absolutely style all over you and show you up and rub my fine ass-kicking self in your face…but I think we're gonna need some of that old Ladybug magic to get out of this one." 

Ladybug blinked. "Are you…being nice to me?" 

"No, I'm repaying a favor," Queen Bee sighed, averting her eyes. "For some…unfathomable reason you decided to believe in me when I was a shitty little kid. I think I'd be a lot shittier if I wasn't Queen Bee anymore so…I guess I owe you the same freebee." 

You mean free-bee? Ladybug thought, a sad smile tugging at her lips. "I guess I'm lucky then." 

"Don't push it; you're still the most annoying person I've ever met," Queen Bee sighed, glancing up as a dark figure poked its way out of the clouds. The Empress emerged, shimmering as she swam through the air in search of her prey; a grim reminder that the world did not care for Ladybug's heartache as much as she did. 

"So, what's it gonna be, Ladybug?" Queen Bee asked. Danger still lurked around every turn and whether she was ready for it or not, it was once again coming to meet her. She didn't know if she had it in her to be the same Ladybug she used to be; all she knew was that she was going to have to try twice as hard. For herself, and for her partner lover friend-  

Well…maybe it was enough to try for herself.

---

The second the portal snapped shut behind him, a wave of nausea nearly knocked Chat Noir to the floor of the base underneath his house. Maybe it was guilt or maybe it was the sudden withdrawals that had been kept at bay all morning, but he was somehow feeling worse than he had in years. Reaching into his pockets, he fumbled around for anything he could use to stabilize himself, but even the pickled plums he kept on hand for emergency power-boosts were nowhere to be found, leaving him sweating and shaking with his head on the table. The command center was silent, save for the occasional boom overhead, which gave Chat Noir plenty of time to once again wrestle with how terribly stuck he was. 

“Soo…how’d it go?” Chat Noir looked up to see Plagg sprawled out in a chair, popping cheese crackers in his mouth as Chat Noir quietly dissolved in front of him. “I’m guessing not great, but since the kids have definitely not been caught yet, I’d imagine it isn’t that bad.” 

“Shut up…” Chat Noir whimpered. 

“No,” Plagg said. 

“Leave me alone!” Chat Noir snapped. 

“Also no ,” Plagg said, sliding the box of crackers across the table. “You’re barely holding it together with my help; if I left you alone you’d really take a nosedive.” 

It was hard to imagine how much further Chat Noir could dive. He let the black and gray ensemble melt off his body, leaving Adrien Agreste to clumsily try and press his false eye in its socket. 

"Bad day?" Plagg asked. "Ae you gonna tell me about it for once or do I have to pull details out of you like teeth again?" 

"I may have screwed up…" Adrien admitted. 

"Wouldn't be the first time; won't be the last time," Plagg said. "About what?" 

"Ladybug…she…I…" He trailed off with a frustrated growl. 

"Yeah, say no more," Plagg chuckled. "That explains everything ." 

"Why…how can she just enter my mind anytime she wants and leave me in shambles?!" Adrien panted, sweating like he had just sprinted a mile. "I can't shut her out… I can't get away from her…I don't have a choice with any of this!" 

There was a time when Plagg might have indulged Adrien's despair, but after three years on the run it seemed that even the patience of a god had worn out. 

"You're choosing all of this," Plagg said softly. "Ladybug isn't some kind of brain worm that takes over your mind without your consent; if you really wanted her gone that badly, there would be no way she could touch you…but I think we both know that's not true, is it?" 

"How do you know?" Adrien muttered. 

"Because if you were really done with her, you wouldn't feel so cut up about it," Plagg said, ticking his fingers off as he spoke. "Because you're a naturally kind and forgiving person that's trying really hard not to be with limited success…and because your sword, a physical manifestation of your power, keeps following Ladybug around no matter how many times you call it back to your hand."

Adrien opened his hand as if to prove Chat Noir wrong with a snap of his fingers. The ghostly outline of Fang flickered in his grip for a moment before it vanished, leaving his fingers grasping nothing. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Plagg chuckled. "Whether you want it to be true or not, there's still a part of you that doesn't want Ladybug going into a fight without your help. Part of you still misses the things you used to do together." 

"Yeah, before she-" The response came out almost automatically. It was a defense mechanism that got triggered at any fond memory of Ladybug; a reminder of how things ended and why things couldn't be as they were ever again. 

"Before she betrayed you; key word betrayed ," Plagg said. "Past tense…it happened, Adrien. Ladybug betrayed you and nothing is ever going to change that fact." 

"I know!" 

"And you haven't dealt with it!" Plagg snapped. It was easy to forget that underneath his terrible sense of fashion and frankly disgusting love for cheese that Plagg was a capital-O Old God that had overseen the destruction of species and civilizations for millions of years. The castigation of a god like that was not so easily ignored, and even Adrien had to divert from his self pity long enough to pay attention. 

"You're not even coping with it well anymore…or maybe you never were," Plagg sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It sucks…but it's over now-" 

"It isn't for me!" Adrien snapped. "How…how can it be?! Four of the best years of my life, the only four I ever really cared about, gone because the two people I trusted more than anything betrayed me at the same time!" 

His throat hurt, from crying or screaming or something because his last words came out as a dry, wet mewl. The sound seemed to inflame his already bruised ego because he slammed his fist down so hard that the thin metal table bent under the blow, sending a shower of sparks and cheese crackers into the air. Whatever relief he found from destruction was short-lived as usual and did nothing to help him square the unbearable truth of his life. 

"A-And she just wants me to forget about it?!" Adrien rambled on, his fingers digging into the metal table top like it was made of soft cheese. "Just trust her again?! After I put everything I had in her hands only for her to throw it away?! Why?! What's changed?! How can I be sure that…" 

Adrien trailed off, watching scraps of metal fall through his fingers and bounce off the table. Inhuman strength felt great until he remembered that he wasn't even human anymore. He was some magical thing that looked and talked like a person, but who was more divorced from his own humanity than he had ever been before. The only scraps that seemed to remain to him were the painful ones; the soft, squishy bits that could still feel hurt, guilt, shame, and betrayal.   

"You want to know how you can be sure she's safe to trust again." Adrien turned around to see Master Fu hobbling out of the kitchen, balancing a cup of tea in one hand as he made his way into the command center. 

"When did you get here?" Adrien asked, wiping his tears away angrily before he embarrassed himself even further. 

"I've been here all day," Master Fu said, munching on a cookie as he watched the chaos unfold on the screens above him. "After you and Marinette left, Alya suggested I come down here for my own safety; I'll admit it's at least roomier than those ARK bunkers everyone seems to be crowding in these days." 

Adrien's eye flickered across the screens, watching as cameras installed across Paris scouted the battlefield the city had become. It was a depressingly familiar site at this point; Adrien had seen Paris in a state of disrepair more times than he had seen it in one piece. 

"Seems to be quite a mess up top," Master Fu said, glancing at Adrien out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sure they'll need you if they stand any chance against that monstrosity." 

"I'm heading back," Adrien muttered, accepting the bottle of vodka Plagg brought from the kitchen. "Just need a boost." 

He tugged the cork out and was almost instantly nauseated by the alcoholic burn in his nose. Adrien stared at the glass, trying to find the willpower to feed the destructive power that he hosted and coming up short. He had been able to fight past the revulsion for years in an attempt to get stronger, but for some reason the little voice in his head that screamed "I don't want to" won. 

"You need a rest," Master Fu said, gently patting the back of Adrien's hand until he jerked it away. "Take a seat; breathe." 

Part of him worried that if he sat down, he wouldn't get back up. That part lost to the rest of him that was finally feeling all the exhaustion he had put off for so long. 

"Yes, master ," Adrien sighed, slumping into a chair. "And then what?" 

"At some point you're going to have to get up again," Master Fu said. 

"Is that like…a metaphor for something?" Adrien snorted. 

"It's quite literal, unless you want to die glued to that chair," Master Fu said, pushing a cookie in Adrien's direction. 

"You know these only work for Ladybug," Adrien said, nibbling on the corner of his cookie. 

"Not everything has to be mission-focused," Master Fu said. 

"Since when ?" Adrien countered. "You must be getting sentimental in your old age." 

"I was in old age before your parents were even born," Master Fu chuckled. "Nothing much has changed on that front…but I see things a little more clearly now than I used to. Funny how Master He badgered me for years about my secrecy and it was her student who ended up teaching me what she couldn't." 

Adrien's chest clenched painfully at the mention of his former master. Buried in the fight against Firebird, it was easy to escape the reality that the one person who really believed in him was dead. Maybe that's why he despised the quiet moments when he could no longer run from his own thoughts. 

"If she had done it sooner, maybe things would have turned out differently," Master Fu said, rubbing his tea cup with his thumbs. "Maybe I would have seen that keeping Ladybug and Chat Noir so far apart was a bad idea…and worked with her to find ways to make you both stronger." 

"Too late for that now," Adrien sniffed, pushing the bottle of liquor away. "I'm strong now…but Ladybug-" 

"Is half your power," Plagg said. "You are at fifty percent of your potential as long as you and she are at odds." 

"I can't just succeed on my own merits, can I?" Adrien sniffed. 

"No one does," Master Fu said softly. "Anyone who says that they do has a vested interest in lying. And as much as you're afraid to-" 

"Yes, I'm afraid! " Adrien said. "With very good reason, I might add! Any sane, reasonable person would be too!" 

"Adrien…you know she would never have hurt you if-" 

"If she had known who I was!" Adrien snapped. "But she knew that I was her partner; she knew that I had been at her back for years . Through thick and thin and even after I got hurt, Chat Noir always had Ladybug's back!" 

"Yes," Master Fu agreed. "That is true...but you must know how sorry she is for all of this." 

"I know exactly how sorry she is!" Adrien said. 'I felt it! This stupid mind…soul…bond thing made me feel it but what difference does that make?! Sorry doesn't erase what happened; sorry doesn't give me my normal life back! What good does sorry do?!" 

"Sorry does not change the past," Master Fu agreed. "But it can change the present…and grant you a future." 

"Future…" Adrien shook his head. "I had a future in mind for us once…but that future was gone the second I looked up and saw Marinette putting my ring in my father's hands. Years just evaporated in a flash. No amount of sorry gives me that back." 

"Not the same future, based on a past that doesn't exist for you," Master Fu said. "A different one that begins now . From this point and in spite of what has happened between you two." 

Spite was a taste that Chat Noir had become familiar with, a flavor he despised and sought out with equal ferocity. It wasn't the most pleasant taste, but it was more palatable than betrayal and easier to swallow than grief so it had kept him fed for years. 

"So I have no choice but to forgive her, make up with her, trust her, and go right back to working with her again like nothing ever happened," Adrien said. "Does that sound fair to you?" 

"No, but it also sounds like four different things you're mashing together," Master Fu said. "Cooperation is not the same as forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation which isn't the same as trust. Each can proceed at its own pace — your pace— or not at all." 

"I don't know where this idea came from that if you decide to team with Ladybug again it will be just like it used to be," Plagg pointed out. "But you're not kids and she isn't your boss. And let's face it; when it comes to superhero clout, you have her spotted ass several times over." 

Master Fu leaned in, seizing the moment to gently place his hand on Adrien's. "What happened to you was horrible…some might argue unforgivable. But it has happened…and you have survived it. And it is never going to happen again." 

"How do you know?" Adrien asked, sounding halfway between hopeful and accusatory. "It wasn't just Hawk Moth… she made the choice to totally smear me. To hurt me at every available opportunity in the hopes I would just quit." 

"Did you quit?" Plagg asked. "Did you retreat? No…you even had enough care for your crazy partner to hold back and try and save her." 

"I didn't hold back!" Adrien said, tears now freely flowing down his cheek. "I tried…I tried everything I could! I tried so hard , Plagg…I swear I did." 

"Then why did you not Cataclysm her?" Plagg asked. 

"What?" 

"You must've put your hands on her dozens of times during your battles," Plagg pointed out. "At any moment you could have dusted her, recovered the earrings, and ended this…so why didn't you?" 

"I would never-" Adrien bit his lip. "I…I should have." 

"No," Plagg laughed. "Any other Black Cat would have and we'd be missing a whole Ladybug right now and in worse trouble than we would have been otherwise." 

"You still got taken-" 

"-and I got saved ," Plagg said firmly. "By you. So don't for a second think that being more vicious or less caring would have solved anything." 

"He is right," Master Fu said. "I did not give you the Black Cat because I thought you were the most cunning or the most ruthless or the most powerful…I gave it to you because I thought you would have the kindness to use such terrible power responsibly. And you did…you do . I could not have asked for more of you. Marinette is never going to make that mistake again-" 

"Only because…because…" Adrien's mind spun, trying to find a reason that wouldn't slip through his fingers. 

"Hawk Moth is gone," Plagg said, ticking his fingers off. "Two, Marinette is not and has never been stupid and it would take a world-class moron to try and pull the same stunt twice, especially nowadays. Three, if for whatever reason her brain stops working and she does decide to sell you out again, the whole freaking world falls on her head so hard and so fast that she'll never get up again. You have Majestia 's number on speed dial; she doesn't. You have a rolladex of superheroes, secret societies, and reformed monstrosities that all owe you a favor, not her. You have spent the last three years finishing your training while she's had to make due by herself. You are an advanced kitty-cat now, my friend. And one with a small army of metahumans who just plain like you more than they like her."

In his drive to get stronger, it was easy to forget how much help he had in his years wandering the world. In spite of his best efforts, some of his teammates had even become friends. He still didn't believe that they would really come help if he needed it but maybe-

"I cannot promise that Marinette will never hurt you again," Master Fu said. "Only if she did…you would not be so alone this time. You have plenty of people who will come to your aid if you just reach out your hand and ask…but you need to be there for them as well." 

Feeling chided and more than a little embarrassed, Adrien stared down at the table, refusing to meet their probing glances. 

"Forgiving Marinette is optional," Master Fu said, reaching into his coat and laying a worn envelope with Adrien's name in front of him. "But you will not last if you do not also forgive yourself. You have nothing to be ashamed of; not your shortcomings, not your perceived failures, not even your anger. It has served to protect you for a long time…but I think it's time to let it go." 

"What is this?" Adrien asked as Master Fu rose from the table. "If this is a birthday card, it's a little early…" 

"I do not know what it is; only that I found it among Master He's possessions," Master Fu said. "Her handwriting is terrible as ever, but I would at least try to read it; she might be able to make a better case than I did." 

Adrien stared at the paper as Master Fu hobbled down the hall, Master He's messy script staring back at him. He reached for the envelope, then hesitated, his fingers trembling as he hesitated to even touch it. What could she have left him that she didn't tell him herself? What was there to say between them? Was this a letter to be delivered in case of her murder, chiding him for failing to stop her killers? Was this-

"You know you typically have to open those to read what's inside," Plagg said slowly. 

"I know how letters work," Adrien muttered, ears turning pink as Plagg laughed. 

"Then you know what's written is already there, no matter how long you stare at it," Plagg said, ruffling Adrien's hair as he passed him going towards the kitchen. "Come on, Chat Noir; time to stop running." 

"I'm not…" Adrien sighed, muttering under his breath as he gingerly lifted the flap on the back of the envelope. He handled it like it was made of sheet gold, scared to tear even a corner of the letter as he carefully pulled it out.  

---

"You coming?" 

Master He took a long drag off her cigarette, examining her upstart pupil over the rim of her glasses. "...Captain Chan has all the details you need; I'm afraid I'd just slow you down." 

"Come on," Chat Noir said gently. "What happened in Barcelona wasn't your fault." 

"No…but I am not the warrior I used to be," Master He mused, palming the Crane Miraculous around her neck thoughtfully. "Go on…I have a letter to write." 

Chat Noir nodded, shifting a little uncomfortably. "You sure?" 

"Adrien, you and Section 13 are more than capable of handling whatever comes your way," Master He said, turning her attention back to the parchment in front of her. "Call me if anything comes up." 

She didn't turn to watch him go, but as his shadow flickered over the rooftops outside, she couldn't help but watch until he vanished from sight, slinking into a shadow with almost perfect precision. 

"No…I think I've taught you as much as I can," Master He said, turning her attention back to the letter in front of her. 

---

Dear Adrien, 

If you are reading this, then I have accomplished everything I have set out to do. You have found some way to outlive me and for that, I congratulate you.

(Master He watched as Adrien's fists pounded against the wooden training dummy, eyes glinting in the darkness as he wound through form after form without rest. She had long since given up telling him he needed to sleep; it would be too cruel to suggest that he face his nightmares alone.) 

I hope that my passing has not caused you too much grief; it is natural for children to outlive their parents and students to outlive their masters. If I met my end at the claws of some monster, I hope you dispose of it properly. Not for revenge or to placate a ghost's angry spirit, but because the world is a better place with one less monster in it. 

("Duck!" Master He barked, her kick slicing through the air and narrowly clipping Chat Noir's shoulder. "You're not always going to be stronger than your opponents; you need to learn how to evade their attacks!")

In any case, my end isn't that far off, even if it is peaceful. I have little hope of that; the price for being one of the Eight Immortals seems to be a terrible and violent end. But I hope at least that you managed to escape whatever jaws ensnared me. 

(Marinette sat hunched over her drafting table, unaware that across the street her former partner was staring almost pensively at her.  For a moment, Chat Noir looked like he might take her up on that offer before turning with a bitter scowl and slinking back into the London fog.)

I remember when we first set out from Paris; how you barely stopped long enough to sleep and when you did, you needed me to mix you something so that dreams wouldn't come. 

("Was I just not good enough?!" Adrien snapped, upending the cheap plastic table in their hotel's kitchen as Master He watched on helplessly. "Why…what…what did I do to deserve any of this?!")

I thought I was sparing you the pain then, but as time has passed I wonder if it would have been easier to face it directly. I thought you may have deserved some rest, and maybe you did, but in the end I worry I just prolonged your suffering. 

(Chat Noir fingered the scarf that used to be Marinette's handiwork, his thumb tracing over the worn stitches that spelled out her name as he lay on the balcony outside.) 

If you're reading this, then I didn't get the chance to tell you in person…there was too much to teach you and too little time to get to it all. 

("Your only limitation is your imagination," Master He said, watching as Chat Noir's hands sliced the air, destroying sound with a flick of his wrist.") 

So consider this the most important lesson; you are not meant to do this alone.

("That was a close one," Sparrow panted, pulling her hood back with a delirious half-smile as she looked up at Chat Noir. "Thanks; I owe you.") 

("Man, that was the most horrific game of tic-tac-toe I ever saw played," the broad-shouldered Texan said as Chat Noir passed him the magical gauntlet. "Appreciate it, partner; you just ring me up if you ever need anything.")

("Call me," Majestia  said, offering a card with a wry smile. "It was cool working with you; hope we can do it again sometime.")

("Hey, I'm Zoe!" Zoe said with a cheery wave at odds with the small army of zombies that surrounded her. "You the backup Captain Chan sent?") 

("Hey man, it's Nino, uhhh…just wanted to see how it was going," Nino's voice said as Chat Noir stared at his phone. "Guess I missed you but I just wanted to say Happy Birthday and…and, I guess I owe you a party when you get back. Give me a shout next time you're in town…it'd be good to catch up.") 

I may have promised that I was going to train you to be stronger than Ladybug but I'm afraid that was a lie. 

Our time together has seen you grow stronger, but my true purpose was to build a community you could feel safe in…one that might allow you to confront Ladybug one day. 

I know she's still in your thoughts; I won’t presume to tell you how to feel about her or what you need to do about her…only that sooner or later this limbo must end. And I think only you can determine just how your story will close. 

The choice is yours, but if I may pass on one annoyingly patronizing piece of advice? Master Fu has made many mistakes…but he has never willingly entrusted a Miraculous to someone who is truly evil. And even after all the misery that Ladybug and your father wrought, I cannot say that Ladybug is beyond redemption. 

I suppose I could ramble on for another forty pages but brevity works best for these sorts of things; if I had the time I would like to do nothing but write books of things I haven’t told you. I have precious few regrets in life; I pride myself in being a woman who pushes forward, no matter what the past says. 

But as I face my final sunset, I truly and deeply regret that I did not meet you sooner. I can hardly look at you without wondering what we might have accomplished together if I met you when you were a boy. Seems like such a silly thing to worry about now; you’ve grown into a Black Cat the world has never seen before. With time, and the proper support, you may go even further. 

I hope that whatever awaits me in the hereafter, I can catch just a glint of that brilliance. 

Love,
From,
Sincerely,
Respectfully,
Yours,

Love, 

Master He. 

---

Adrien watched the last of the letter blur through tears as he gingerly folded it and replaced it in the envelope. For a long moment, he just stared at the letter, willing something else to appear on the page to assuage all his fears and doubts. But there was no magic; no final display of brilliance to make everything about his fraught, confusing life seem clearer. There was only him, sitting in silence, the same as he had been before he read the letter. Nothing left to do but get up and…

Well, first he had to get up. 

Looking up, he saw the city he grew up in engulfed in chaos displayed on every screen. He didn't know how the news crews were staying in the air, but even they had refused to abandon the city. A flicker of red and the camera panned over to catch Ladybug swinging by, the camera holding on her blurry silhouette. A ghostly outline of a familiar sword hovered over her left shoulder. His fingers reached out, almost feeling the weight in his palm. But even if he called it back, what would he even do with it?

A sword's purpose is to cut. Master He drilled that point into his head when they trained. Ever since he was a boy, he always admired that elegant simplicity. But that was before he knew what a sword felt like; what it was to move from cut to cut and only coming out when something needed to be dispatched. 

"You know she's not going to get far without you," Plagg said through a mouthful of grilled cheese. 

"I don't know…that sword has taken me pretty far," Adrien sniffed, tucking the letter into his breast pocket. "And I don't think I can get very far without it." 

"So make another one," Plagg shrugged. 

"Just make another legendary weapon?" 

"The only thing legendary about Fang is the hand that holds it," Plagg chuckled. 

"But…I thought it was something a Ladybug and Black Cat made together?" Adrien said. "A once in a lifetime legendary weapon, right?" 

"I told you that, because if I told you that you had the power to defeat your enemies the whole time, you wouldn't have believed me," Plagg said. "You would, however, believe in the power of ancient legendary weapons bestowed by ghost samurai because you're a geek." 

"So…I never needed to-" 

Plagg picked up a butter knife from the counter and haphazardly chucked it at Adrien. "There's your legendary weapon; if it breaks, just make another one. You are part Ladybug after all…or did you think your body was the only thing you could remake?" 

Adrien stared at the butter knife in his hand, twirling it between his fingers thoughtfully. It was a far cry from the weaponry he was used to, but maybe…just maybe-

"Plagg…can you make a few phone calls?" Adrien asked, watching the polished silver turn black under his touch. 

Notes:

Idk if this is any good but I can't keep staring at it. At some point my desire to make a Perfect Story hijacked my creativity and I need to kick it out if I ever want to see the end of this story.

Rough couple of chapters but I hope you're ready for the blowout that comes after this. Thank you as always for your patience and for your continued support!

...fucking sick of writing sad shit I swear to God. Protip; writing angst is fine but writing it for 300000 words is an exercise in emotional masochism.

Chapter 24: Bet It All On Black

Notes:

Ho Ho Ho

The Empress slithered through the sky above Paris, glaring down as thousands of her progeny swarmed the streets below. Through a thin, shimmering barrier that kept them hidden from sight, Ladybug watched the monster carefully. There had to be some kind of weakness; no creature alive was completely immune to harm. There was a flaw in its design somewhere; if Ladybug could just find it, then maybe they could-

"You get all that Ladybug?" 

Ladybug snapped out of her brooding as Rena Rouge lightly tapped her on the shoulder. 

"Sorry I was snake-watching," Ladybug said, shaking her head. "How are we going at this thing?" 

"They expect us to go toe to toe with the big one," Rena Rouge said. "So that's what it's gonna look like we're doing. Monarch, Bluebird and I are going to run interference while you and Queen Bee free Carapace and secure The Toad's ring if you can. Once you've taken some pressure off Nino...and if he's still in good shape, we can talk about regrouping and fighting The Empress. But right now we need to check some things off our to-do list before it overwhelms us and takes Paris down with it." 

Ladybug glanced up at The Empress as she glided overhead. "She's gonna eat you if she catches you." 

"But first she's gotta catch us," Rena Rouge said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "If I play my tricks right, we can reverse this little trap, slip under her radar and start counterattacking at their weak points. Use their own tricks against them; start a bunch of fires that they have to put out and attack the weak links in their command chain."

"Their chain is miles longer than ours is," Bluebird pointed out, glancing at Monarch.  

"Let me see if I can add some links," Monarch said, a butterfly fluttering off her fingertip. "I'll see if there's anyone available in town; every quality Champion is either underground or otherwise incapacitated. Bloody ARK bunkers lock until the all-clear is given.”

“Juleka said she'll try to get back in time,” Bluebird said, glancing at his phone. “But I think it'll be difficult to return from Australia in time to help." 

"Bad time for a vacation but if things go to plan, this shouldn't take that long," Rena Rouge said, glancing at Ladybug. "What'd I miss?" 

It took a second before Ladybug realized that Rena Rouge was asking for her input. "Besides the giant snake slithering through the sky and the small army of monsters at its beck and call?" 

"Did she miss anything important ?" Queen Bee chuckled. "Monsters attacking Paris is nothing new; we're more than capable of handling a few runaway lizards for a little while." 

"Yeah, I can tell you what you forgot," Ladybird said, jerking her thumb in Cat Noir's direction. "Are we supposed to just play tiddlywinks while you all save the city?" 

"Considering you're the objective we're trying to keep our enemies from reaching, yeah, that would be ideal," Ladybug said. "But judging by the pout and puppy dog eyes, you're not going to stay put unless we gag you and stuff you in a broom closet, are you?"

"How many times do I need to remind you guys that we are heroes too!" Cat Noir said, tossing his arm over Ladybird's shoulder. "Heroes with a fantastic track record of success, I might add." 

Ladybug and Rena Rouge exchanged glances and Ladybird took her chance to press the advantage. "If you guys can't pull off whatever it is you're gonna pull off, we're as good as captured anyway." 

"But if we fight with you, we all have a better chance of seeing the end of this," Cat Noir pointed out. 

“ And put you in mortal danger,” Monarch pointed out. 

“Being a hero means being in danger,” Ladybird said, her eyes finding her partner’s for a second. “I’m not the kind of coward who will let people get hurt just to keep me safe.” 

“Nobody is saying you're a coward, outside of some very emotionally disturbed felines with an axe to grind with our Ladybug,” Queen Bee sighed. “Buggy, please talk some sense into this kid before her ego gets her killed." 

Ladybug tried her best to find a flaw in their logic, but after a screech from the monster overhead, she realized their time for arguing had come and gone. "Not together though; we have to split you up." 

"What?!" Ladybird and Cat Noir said at the same time. 

"No, she's right," Rena Rouge said. "If they nab both of you, they win…but something tells me they're gonna need you both. Dividing you between groups also gives us a chance to spread our power out more evenly seeing as how Chat Noir is-" 

Rena Rouge paused, trying to find the right word. "...well, he's probably working on something." 

"Forget him," Cat Noir muttered, stepping forward with a grin. "You got a black cat that can scratch circles around that sourpuss any day of the week." 

Ladybug found it hard to keep from smiling at such an earnest display of confidence; it was a bittersweet reminder of the kind of person her kitty used to be. 

"Ladybug—sorry, Lady bird— will stay up top with us. Ladybug, take the kitten downstairs and back Queen Bee up," Rena Rouge said, folding her arms. "That's the best deal you're gonna get; take it or we can take you back to base to polish your tiddlywinks game with Master Fu." 

Ladybird and Cat Noir glanced at each other. "You'll be fine, minou; it's just for a few hours." 

"I'm not worried about myself ," Cat Noir muttered, glancing up at Rena Rouge. "Promise she'll be okay?" 

"Wish I could," Rena Rouge said, patting Cat Noir on the shoulder. "We all roll the dice every time we gear up for a fight…but if your bird's anything like our bug was at her age, I think she'll do just fine." 

It felt good to get something other than mistrust from Rena Rouge for a change. "You and me then, kitten?" 

It was astonishing how quickly Cat Noir's face matched his partner's suit after one word and a tousle of hair. "Huh, me? Oh, y-yeah! Totally!" 

"Wait, weren't you just worried about me a second ago?" Ladybird muttered, watching with barely concealed envy as Ladybug fidgeted with the bell around his neck. "Okay, leave the bell alone and let's get going! We're all wasting time! Ladybird's Adventure Team, assemble!" 

The adults watched as Ladybird pumped her fist in the air and awkwardly held it there for a moment before she realized she wasn't actually the one leading the charge. "...s-sorry. Force of habit." 

"Well said, little bug," Rena Rouge said, glancing at Queen Bee. "You sure you got this?" 

"Sure I'm gonna pull my Daddy's spine out and skip rope with it," Queen Bee said, pecking Rena Rouge on the cheek. "Don't worry; we'll be- mmph!" 

Queen Bee was cut off as Rena Rouge quickly pressed her lips against hers, stealing a last, desperate kiss before it was back to business as usual. Maybe one day they would kiss like they weren't running out of time, but they would have to take what they could get for the time being. 

"Come back," Rena Rouge whispered, her breath tickling Queen Bee's lips. "Both of you…please." 

"I'll consider that down-payment on my reward for after this battle’s done," Queen Bee chuckled, bumping her forehead against Rena Rouge's and completely oblivious to the look of shock, confusion, and outright horror on Ladybug’s face. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…whoa!" Ladybug said, waving her hands between them. "When did…does Nino know that you…i-is this just how we're saying goodbye to friends in France these days or-" 

"Oh…yeah, I guess we never filled you in about this," Rena Rouge said as Queen Bee stuck her tongue out over her shoulder. "Okay…so long story short-" 

" I don't mean to interrupt but it is looking at us !" Monarch said, jabbing her sword up at The Empress who had suddenly stopped her lazy journey through the sky and was glaring down at them, six eyes narrowed dangerously as it scanned the rooftop they were standing on. The barrier might have hidden them from sight, but something was giving their position away enough that the serpent could pinpoint their location. 

"Okay…time's running out," Rena Rouge said, raising her flute to her lips. "When the illusion drops we split; Queenie, lead them down to where Nino is. The rest of you…on me." 

A sharp, repeating flute melody bounced off the walls of the bubble, drawing The Empress' attention. Wisps of smoke poured out of Rena Rouge's flute, filling the bubble and slowly taking familiar shapes. The moment the barrier dropped, thirty clones, each disguised as one of the heroes, scattered across the rooftop, each sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them until they could safely take flight.

"Go!" A clone of Rena Rouge ordered as the heroes vanished into the crowd of doppelgangers. The Empress' eyes spun around, trying to find the genuine in the sea of fakes before opening her jaws and letting out a series of sharp musical barks. As she followed Queen Bee (lagging nearly half a kilometer behind as she rocketed ahead) Ladybug could see the sea of black scales stop for a moment beneath them before all looking up in unison. 

"What's that sound?!" Cat Noir asked, sticking close to her as she swung through the buildings. "Why are they all looking at us?"

"I think they just got new orders," Ladybug said, lassoing Cat Noir as a pack of Hunters launched themselves at him. "Stay close!" 

Like the ocean parting, the waves of monsters divided as they scurried throughout the city. Several clones that had tailed her had already been plucked out of the sky, vanishing as sharp claws or jaws tore into them. Apparently a dragon wasn't above just throwing bodies at a problem until it solved itself which it seemed to be doing quicker than the clones could lead them off their trail. 

"What happens if we get followed?!" Ladybug called ahead as she shifted Cat Noir onto her shoulders with his arms draped around her neck. "I don't mean to be a buzzkill but there's a lot of them behind us!" 

" Sucks to be them!" Queen Bee hollered, banking sharply over a massive hole in the center of town. "Skin them and make me some boots; we're gonna have a killer sale after this is over."

"You know, maybe having Crazy Chloe as Queen Bee could come in handy someday," Cat Noir chirped. "We got this new girl as the Bee but it's like she isn't even there half the time, and-" 

"Wow, that's so crazy !" Ladybug called, narrowly dodging a burning car tire that sailed past her head. "I can't wait to hear all about it once we're not in danger of being eaten alive!" 

"Ladybug, CatBoy, cover me !" Queen Bee said, glancing over her shoulder. "I need to have a chat with my father!" 

Beneath them, she could see Carapace wrestling with the swollen figure of The Toad whose body was now freakishly out of proportion. His shoulders, neck, and arms were twice the size of a normal human and bent at unnatural angles. She could remember the hideous way Luka's face had split apart to make room for Mayura and almost felt sorry for Chloe's father; pity that his daughter clearly did not have as she dove like a screeching bird of prey. 

"Andreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

---

"You know…at some point, you're gonna actually have to start trying," Carapace coughed, tensing as another spring-loaded punch came rocketing his way. The hand opened at the last second, snatching Carapace  in its grip and squeezing as hard as his supernatural strength would allow. "Okay…try less…maybe…back it up a little bit or-"

Carapace was holding fast, but fighting an opponent that could stretch his body and bounce blows off the walls of their enclosed battle ground was harder to handle as the battle dragged on. Of course, he wasn't about to give The Toad the satisfaction of seeing him struggle. 

"I am the strongest of my brethren," The Toad croaked, tugging Carapace closer to his hideous mask. "Fed on akuma that terrorized Paris for years, fed by my masters' desires to end the world, fed by-" 

"Andreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" 

Carapace cracked an eye open as a familiar banshee screech could be heard from above ground. A black and gold blur streaked through the blue sky, falling like a comet directly at the Toad's back. 

"Hope you saved some room for dessert," Carapace chuckled. "Because it just arrived!" 

The Toad craned its neck up as the sharp point of Queen Bee's heel connected with his mask, shattering it into a million pieces and kicking the look of astonishment off the face underneath. The Toad fell back, flopping over as Carapace was dropped, coughing to the floor at Queen Bee's feet. 

"Never… ever piss me off," Queen Bee snarled. "Never break my shit, and never harass the handful of people I actually like! Congrats, Froggy ; you and your buddies just scored a hat trick of stupidity and now I'm going to make you pay for everything Andre has done to this town!" 

The Toad stumbled to his feet, throat bulging with each ragged croak as Queen Bee pulled Carapace off the ground. "You okay?" 

"Been better…been worse," Carapace said, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder. "What happened up there; I thought you were backing Rena up." 

"I was; we made a different call," Queen Bee said, snapping her chain out and pushing Carapace behind her. "Rena's keeping the big thing occupied while I help you." 

"What?!" Carapace looked up as the shadow of The Empress passed overhead. "By herself?! Go back her up, I'll-" 

Queen Bee shoved Carapace out of the way as The Toad charged, shooting out like a cannonball and smashing through the wall behind them. 

"You'll shut up and let me help you," Queen Bee insisted. "Rena isn't alone up there; I do not want to look for a replacement partner and rebuild my apartment at the same time! And you are not going to tan Andre's hide without me so shut up, put your shield up, and let's win this stupid fight together like we always do !" 

It was hard not to like Chloe with her hair unbound and fire in her eyes. She had a kind of reckless courage born out of an almost irrational belief in herself that was such a pain to deal with as a kid but such an incredible boon as his partner. 

"What about the big guy?" Carapace asked, nodding up as The Empress sailed overhead. 

"You're the only big guy that matters to me right now," Queen Bee said, tensing as The Toad climbed out of the rubble. "Let's put these pretenders to bed." 

"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being flirty," Carapace chuckled. 

"Yeah, you clearly don't," Queen Bee chuckled, leaning on Carapace's shoulder as The Toad glared daggers at her. "Aww, too bad; thought you would have croaked by now."

"What…do you hope…to achieve?" The Toad growled. "Resisting Firebird will end in your painful demise…your father tried to spare you from that and you still choose to defy her? Why?!" 

"Good question…Carapace?" 

"Uhh…I think it's because "fuck Firebird?" Carapace suggested. 

"Fuck Firebird," Queen Bee nodded, tightening her grip on her chain. "And fuck you too ."

Snarling, The Toad sprang forward, bloodshot eyes fixed on Queen Bee. After trading blows with Carapace for half an hour, he forgot that not all heroes fought the same. Queen Bee pirouetted out of the way, grabbing onto The Toad's arm with her chain as he passed. He smashed into the wall, bouncing back as Queen Bee used the force of his attack to whip him into the ground like a wrecking ball. He splayed out, eyes opening in time to see Carapace's gigantic fist slam into him, sending him tumbling through the floor and deeper into the sewers. 

"Yeah, this is much better," Carapace said, flexing his hand as his grip returned to its normal size. "Remind me call you next time I have amphibian problems."

" You hear that Toad-face!" Queen Bee screamed into the pit. "We're gonna get you sooner or later! And when we do, I'm going to snap you like a rubberband!" 

The Toad was a proud akuma, one that valued its independence more than its brethren. But even it could admit when it was in over its head. 

"Down in the sewers…" It croaked into its communicator. "Carapace and Queen Bee are here. We can finish them off if we work together; hurry!" 

---

The Centipede nodded from her position on top of a neighboring building. In the confusion, it was hard to tell what she was supposed to be doing; at least eighteen Chat Noirs had run by her hiding spot, none of them appearing to be authentic, even as she ran them down and snared them with her arms. The prospect of having nothing to show for their efforts didn't sit well with her and likely wouldn't sit well with Firebird either. But if they could get the Bee and the Turtle out of the picture-

"On it; hold tight, and I'll-" 

"You'll do no such thing." The Scorpion's voice chirped in her ear. 

"What?" The Centipede cupped her ear to better hear over the din beneath her. "Toady has the Bee and Turtle in his sights down in the sewers; I'm going to back him up." 

"We're not here for them," The Scorpion's voice said. "The Cobra has our targets pinned down by the Louvre; get down here and help us out!" 

"But-" 

"Or you can be the one to tell Firebird that you blew our only chance to catch Chat Noir because you wanted to help Andre of all people." 

The Centipede glanced at the pit in the center of town for a moment before turning and making her way towards the museum. Getting credit for taking out Chat Noir would do more for her standing than assisting The Toad would. 

As soon as she left the rooftop the air flickered, revealing Rena Rouge and Ladybird crouched behind an air conditioning unit.  

"There…that should deal with them for a while," Rena Rouge chuckled in The Scorpion's voice. 

"Did you just-" 

"Mimic a phone call?" Rena Rouge shrugged. "That's not even my best trick but it's a lot of fun to use on morning radio shows."

"That is…clever. And scary, but mostly clever," Ladybird chuckled, clinging to Rena Rouge's side as she glanced down at the pit below. She could see Ladybug land beside the hole in the ground, wincing as Cat Noir immediately started fending off monsters behind her. Even after Chat Noir's little sword stunt he was facing off against their enemies with a defiant grin as Ladybug slammed her fist into the ground behind them. A large, spotted dome rose out of the earth, barricading the hole Queen Bee had disappeared in and preventing any of their enemies from following her down into the sewers.

Of course, that also left Ladybug and Cat Noir with nowhere to run to as waves of monsters bore down on them. 

"Hey." Rena Rouge took Ladybird gently by the shoulders and turned her away from the fight taking place below. "Do you trust him?" 

"...of course," Ladybird said, chewing her lip as the urge to look back overwhelmed her. "It's me I'm worried about." 

"Just remember who you're talking about," Rena Rouge said with a little squeeze that reminded her of afternoons spent easing Marinette's overactive imagination. "Whatever happened between them, she would really rather die than let anything bad happen to your kitty. Just stick with me; I need your help to figure out a way to down the big one." 

Ladybird nodded, glancing back to see Ladybug lift into the air, surrounded by a halo of spinning golden arms that slammed down into her enemies from on high. Thinking quickly, she twisted her fingers, raising a small circle of chest-high walls from the ground to block the tide of black scales momentarily while she pulled Cat Noir back towards the bubble. 

"You with me, Ladybird?" Rena Rouge asked. 

"...totally," Ladybird said, tearing her gaze away and following Rena Rouge as she raced across the roof. "You got a plan?" 

"The beginnings of one," Rena Rouge said, watching The Empress as she sailed overhead.

"Tell me it isn't hit it really hard hard until it falls over." 

"It's not-" Rena Rouge glanced back, eyes widening. " Ladybird!" 

"What, I'm over-" Ladybird realized a second too late that Rena Rouge was trying to warn her about a Hunter slamming down into her from behind. By the time her hands raised to block the attack, she was already tumbling end over end, crashing into a pile of trash cans on the street below. Fighting her way out of pizza boxes and trash bags, she saw the Hunter arch its head up and let out a cry that seemed to catch the attention of its fellow monsters. By the time she was on her feet, the alley was blocked off on both sides by a wall of gnashing teeth and scales that closed in all around her. 

" Hold on Ladybird!" Rena Rouge called, raising a finger to her ear. "Bluebird, Sentimonster, now!" 

Ladybird's back hit the wall, scrambling around for a ledge she could latch on to. Thankfully, her salvation came as a roar from the far end of the alleyway. A large, lumbering blue bear reared up on its hind legs, towering over the monsters beneath it as Bluebird perched on its back. A Trooper lunged only to find out why picking a fight with a magical grizzly bear the size of a Hummer was a bad idea. Ladybug thankfully turned away as the paw came down but the horrible squelching sound was impossible to miss. 

"Ooh, I'm gonna need a shower after this," Bluebird grimaced, wiping some goo off his cape. "You ready, chérie?" 

A series of heavy, thudding footsteps alerted Ladybird and the trapped monsters to Stoneheart peering around the corner at the other side of the alley with Monarch sitting on one shoulder. 

"You wouldn't guess who got locked out of a bunker. And now you're trapped between a rock and a…rampaging magical bear the size of a truck," Monarch's nose wrinkled. "Not exactly the catchiest expression, but I would still make myself scarce if I were you!"

"This is gonna get messy ," Bluebird said, eyes glinting as the bear and Stoneheart both charged, tossing monsters through the walls as they crushed in on both sides of the enemy horde. 

"Up!" Rena Rouge called, extending a hand down for Ladybird to lasso onto. A cacophony of broken bones and pained squeals followed her as she jumped back onto the rooftop, narrowly escaping destruction by rock and claw. "You okay?"

"Are they dating?!" Ladybird asked.

"Only if they survive; come on!"  It was a strange change of pace following Rena Rouge's lead for once, but if she trusted anyone it was Alya. Still the older superhero's pace was hard to match and Ladybird found herself lagging behind as they tried to reposition their way out of an ambush. Ladybird turned a corner, barely avoiding a balcony as she tried to keep pace and was neatly swatted out of the air by an ambitious Trooper that scaled the walls after her. 

"Damnit!" Rena Rouge hissed, batting away a Hunter's tongue as she tried to double back and rescue her younger friend. "Stop swatting my bug!"

Every avenue of escape seemed to be blocked off by ranks of black scaled monsters, closing in as Ladybird found herself totally alone as her enemies surrounded her. 

" Uhh, Rena, I think they're getting hungry!" Ladybird said, swatting one in the nose as it approached. It snarled, but the bop from the yo-yo didn't seem to deter it as much as Ladybug hoped it would. "Anyone…help?! Please!" 

The Trooper lunged, jaws open, claws extended, and ready to bury its fangs deep in Ladybird's neck. 

"Well, since you asked~" 

A gust of wind ruffled Ladybird's pigtail as a pitch black arrow streaked past her and thunked audibly in the Trooper's skull. By the time it hit the ground, dead in a pile of twitching goo, three more arrows found three more targets, quickly dispatching them as a figure in black streaked past her. 

Cat…no Chat?!

She caught a glint in his eye as he darted past, the soft fabric of his scarf brushing against her cheek. She could swear he winked at her before taking the head off a Trooper with a swipe of his claw. He caught it on the tip of one finger, spinning it around like a basketball before kicking it into the crowd of monsters. 

"Hold still, little lady!" Chat Noir said, cutting a swathe through their enemies with more grace than she could remember her partner possessing.  Like a whirlwind, he twirled through the crowd, green fletched arrows firing from a bow that looked like it had been pulled out of a starless sky. A swipe of a monster’s claw split it in half but Ladybird watched as the broken bow molded itself into two short-swords, blocking a claw swipe in front of Ladybird.  

"You are very popular with these guys!" Chat Noir chuckled, his weapons crackling with green electricity. "I'm getting jealous !" 

He spun in a circle, swords slicing their enemies off at the knee and sending them tumbling to the ground in a broken circle of angry black lizards. Where his blades cut, rivers of green energy erupted, snaking from foe to foe in a viscous whirlpool of destruction that only spread. The ruthless efficiency and economy of movement that made every gesture effortless was still there, but there was more style to the way he cut down his adversaries then there had been before. As though he was no longer solely worried about being the only one standing between the city and certain death. 

"Come on!" Chat Noir cried, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the crowd as he cut an escape route. 

"Wait, what about-" A Brute's talon sliced through Rena Rouge as she spoke. For a moment, Ladybird feared the worst until she saw Rena Rouge dissolve in a puff of orange smoke, leaving a small, floating iron ball hovering in the air where she had been. 

"Oh, you clever girl," Chat Noir laughed, hugging Ladybird close to his chest as the ball trembled and then burst in a wave of black and green energy. Ladybird saw nothing else as her world was swaddled in black fabric while a huge blast of heat washed over them. Chat Noir winced as the blast hit his back, but held Ladybird tight, shielding her from Rena Rouge's parting gift. After a moment, Ladybird looked up to see dozens of monsters calcified in their last moment of fear, some trying to escape as whatever the blast seemingly turned them into statues. 

"What…what was that?" Ladybird asked. 

"Party favor Master He and I made for Rena a little while ago," Chat Noir said, scooping Ladybird up amidst her protests as a fresh wave of monsters closed in. " This way!" 

She missed the ringing of his bell as he ran, carrying her up the side of the Eiffel Tower and darting between shadows to stay out of sight. She barely felt like she weighed anything to him but even in spite of his little fit, Ladybird felt safe in his arms as she always had. Before long, Ladybird found herself deposited on the tower’s viewing platform, hundreds of meters out of reach of the hoard that swarmed around the base. 

" Nice save," Rena Rouge's voice said from Chat Noir's communicator. 

"I do have a reputation as an apex predator to maintain," Chat Noir said, brushing his singed coat off. "A heads up about the clone-bomb would have been nice though."

" I figured you could adapt on the fly," Rena Rouge said. " Just like I figured you'd be back to help after your pity party ended." 

"Party's over," Chat Noir chuckled. "Sorry about that...I got carried away and I-" 

" Save it for later; can you handle that big guy?" Rena Rouge asked as The Empress emerged from the clouds above them, eyes scanning the city below before slipping back up into the atmosphere. 

"I could use a hand but…let's just say a lot of help is currently on the way," Chat Noir said. "Provided Plagg can get a hold of everyone..." 

" I hope so…I have to set up for some guests at the museum," Across the way, he could see Rena Rouge sprinting towards The Louvre. "Paris is yours, Chat Noir…welcome back." 

The communicator flickered off as Chat Noir peered over the edge of the building. "I figure we got a few minutes before the big guy pins our position down…we'll need to make ourselves scarce before then. I'd catch my breath while breathing is good if I were you." 

A million questions competed for Ladybird's attention, but the first one was surprisingly,"Since when do you have a bow?" 

"Oh, this?" Chat Noir said, flicking the bow back into existence. "Yeah, turns out being part Ladybug lets me make things…I remade my body like three years ago-" 

"Wait, you remade your what now?!” 

"-and I haven't been using my small pool of creative juju much since," Chat Noir said, flicking his wrist as the bow transformed into a long spear before shifting and becoming a rapier with a snarling cat pommel. "I think weapons might be the only thing I can manage being…destructive and all, but it's better than-" 

"I know what happened between you and Ladybug." Chat's shoulders sank as he turned around, glancing at Ladybird who already looked like she regretted saying anything. "Sorry, I just…I needed to get that off my chest." 

"Wow…you know how to make a trip up the Tower awkward ," Chat Noir chuckled. "Not exactly your fault though, is it?" 

"Depends on which me you're talking about," Ladybird said. "I know everything, Chat…I know why you don't want to be around her right now. She told me and I'm so sor-" 

"Do not apologize," Chat Noir said firmly, taking her by the hand with a gentle squeeze. "You apologize for way too many things that are not your fault. The only person who needs to apologize is me right now…" 

There was the boy she knew, only visible as his features softened enough to see him. "I roped you and Cat Noir into our drama and did some stupid things because I thought I was protecting him…I guess I was just protecting myself though, huh?" 

"I can understand why you would," Ladybird said, squeezing his hand back. "It's okay-" 

"No it isn't." 

"No, but…I think I can forgive you if you apologize to my partner," Ladybird said. "He's not as bad as you remember him, you know; yeah he runs off and gets himself hurt and he kinda gets on my nerves every now and then, but I mean it when I say that I'm only Ladybird because he's my partner. And I might…not always be so great about showing that, but I think we can both do better for Cat Noir’s sake, can’t we?" 

"Yeah, yeah…" Chat Noir muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Believe it or not, making peace with you is easier than making peace with who I used to be, but if it'll get you to play nice, I guess I can make an attempt. Now…where's Ladybug?"

---

 "I think I'm getting the hang of this!" 

Cat Noir battered a Hunter in the stomach as two large stone hands erupted from the ground and flattened a pair of Brutes. It was hard to imagine Ladybird being any more powerful than she usually was but Ladybug was giving his partner a run for her money. Goddess might have been a stretch, but it wasn't much of one, especially as Ladybug seemed to be practically glowing gold.

Motes of celestial essence seemed to hover around her like fireflies as she barrelled into her enemies. Phantom hands plucked enemies out of the air mid-attack and hurled them like a ball into the crowd that was, somehow, faltering in the face of their strength. 

"Stick close!" Ladybug called, dragging him over with her yo-yo as one of her arms bashed a monster in the face with her shield. "I promised your Lady I'd keep you safe and I do not want to see...well, me when I'm angry!" 

---

"They split off a while ago to back up Chloe," Ladybird explained. "She's down in the sewers helping Carapace take on The Toad." 

"So knowing her she's probably in the thick of it, making an absolute nuisance of herself and generally being a massive thorn in her enemy's side," Chat Noir chuckled. "Great; let's look for the biggest brawl in the city and just back them up." 

"But…I thought Rena said we needed to focus on taking out the boss?" Ladybird asked with a smirk. "Are you saying you need Ladybug's help with this?" 

"Okay, wipe the smug look off your face, little lady," Chat Noir sighed. "Of course knowing you, there's only a smugger face underneath…and seeing as how I'm zero for three against this thing, I think it's safe to say I'm in way over my head." 

"Par for the course…okay, I can lead you to the pit, but-" Ladybird peeked over the ledge. "How are we going to get past them?" 

"Walking should work," Chat Noir suggested with a shrug. 

"Wow you are the idea guy, aren't you?" Ladybird sighed. "Be serious." 

"I am," Chat Noir said, jerking his head down into the mass gathering below. "Just move; I'll follow you." 

"But-" 

"Don't worry," Chat Noir said with an affectionate squeeze of her shoulder. "They won't touch you." 

"How do you know?" Ladybug asked. His expression hardened though the smile lost none of its edge. 

"Because I said so," Chat Noir said softly. "Trust me?" 

Ladybird swallowed anxiously, peering down through the crowd as if looking for some other way through. "Any reason we can't just teleport? " 

"Other than the fact that the last time I had a good night’s sleep was last week?" Chat Noir said with a small shudder. "Come on; don’t tell me you’re afraid of taking a walk .” 

His reassuring tone had shifted to a challenging one, as if daring her to show the same trust her partner placed in her. As hard as it was sometimes to be in charge, it was a lot harder for her not to be calling the shots; to place her life in someone else’s hands and believe in them without a million nagging doubts trying to pull her under. She didn’t have whatever Cat Noir had; she couldn’t just blindly trust someone and believe that they would keep her safe…but then again, there was a time when even being Ladybird was impossible to fathom. 

“Just a walk…” Ladybird said, perching on the edge of the bannister. “Cool…no big deal, right?” 

For a moment, he wasn’t sure she would jump. Then she closed her eyes, pitched forward, and fell off the tower down into the crowd of monsters waiting with open jaws. 

Baby steps, Chat Noir thought before plunging after her.

Ladybird’s eyes screwed shut halfway down the tower as the wind lapped at her face. One moment, all she saw was a sea of black and green. Then she closed her eyes, felt something rush past her, and heard a symphony of startled cries. She landed, finding a large hole in the crowd of monsters littered with dozens of jagged spears that apparently fell from the sky. 

“See?” Chat Noir said, plucking a spear out of the ground and brandishing it at a retreating monster. “They might be dumb as a bag of hammers, but they’re smart enough to recognize fear .” 

He stepped forward and the circle shrank backwards, each monster clambering to be the last person in front of Chat Noir as he walked. Like a sea parting, the crowd of monsters split, their eyes scrambling for any advantage they could take. One lunged, leaping and trying to grab at Ladybird, only to be cut down so fast that Ladybird’s eyes barely traced the swing of Chat Noir’s spear. Another took advantage of the distraction to make its move but a touch from Chat Noir dissolved it into ash that blew away on the wind. All at once the spell seemed to break and whatever fear they had evaporated as they all lunged at once. 

“ Run!” Chat Noir demanded, hurling his spear crackling with electricity through the crowd. A thick channel opened up in their ranks as the ebony weapon pierced a dozen before burying itself in a Brute’s skull, giving Ladybird plenty of opportunity to lead the charge back towards the center of town. 

“Hurry!” Ladybird called back. “They’re-” 

---

“-closing in!” 

Ladybug clapped her hands together, golden arms spreading and each snaring pieces of the broken street around them. Like planets orbiting a star, the pieces of rubble floated in orbit, hammering every monster that got too close as they spun faster and faster around her.  

Okay, making things from scratch takes too much energy, Ladybug said, watching the junk orbiting her start to glow as she pushed some divine power into the rubble. But if we tweak them-

She could feel the draw on her energy as the chunks of stone and metal transformed into solid golden diamonds the size of footballs. Surprisingly, she didn’t find herself as drained as she thought she would be. Good news as a Brute lunged only to catch a stone hard in the jaw and fall back, twitching. Ladybug let another gem fly, lassoing it and twirling around as the makeshift wrecking ball smashed its way through the encroaching crowd. 

“You look positively celestial right now,” Cat Noir said, trying his best not to be awestruck by the glowing golden force that held the line in front of him. Piles of broken rubble floated into her hands, transforming into hard diamond bullets that Ladybug fired with flicks of her fingers. Monsters dropped where she hit them, either crushed by large stones or pierced by small ones as the battlefield became littered with glowing gold and black spotted diamonds the size of hubcaps. 

“Don’t let Ladybird hear you say that,” Ladybug chuckled, grabbing two gigantic stones with her ribbons and swinging them in a circle. “ Duck!” 

Cat Noir flattened himself against the ground as the wrecking ball passed overhead, watching as one unlucky Trooper went sailing high overhead and-

---

-landed with a horrible crunch on a car next to Ladybird. 

“They’re falling now!” Ladybird cried, watching as dozens of monsters sailed over the rooftops only to land with a series of crunches that made Ladybird’s stomach turn. “Head’s up!” 

If Chat Noir heard her, he made no sound; he was like a shadow at her back as she ran, swatting down any threat that came too close for comfort. By the time she registered the attacks that rained down on them, Chat Noir had disposed of the threats, leaving Ladybird calling plays that had already passed. “Watch out; that one is-” 

But before Ladybird could even get her warning out, the Brute died, clutching a grim black axe that embedded in its forehead before turning to goop. “Chat, see if you can-” 

Again, her warning proved largely unnecessary as the trio of Hunters on a nearby ledge each received experimental long-distance unicorn surgery courtesy of Chat Noir’s black bow. 

“I got it!” His voice called out as a shadow seemed to swallow a pack of monsters whole. A hollow roar drew Ladybird's attention to Stoneheart who knocked a couple of heads together and tossed two more broken monsters on a growing pile of black goo. Monarch's rapier stung like an angry hornet, skewering the few who got around Stoneheart's guard and tried to climb up onto his back. 

"Ladybird?" Bluebird called from the other side of the avenue, blocking a strike with a fan as the Sentimonster mauled his attacker. "What happened to Rena?!" 

Chat Noir re-emerged with a flourish of falling spears, pinning a pack of monsters to the ground before they could strike. "She's fine; I'm taking Minibug to go back up our partners…I-I mean, her partner and Ladybug. I mean…okay, we're still sorting things out and partner seems like a strong word to use, but-"

"The breath you waste on such ridiculous things," Monarch clucked.

"We'd help, but we're on cleanup duty trying to thin out these scalies," Bluebird said, glancing between Chat Noir and Ladybird. "Can we trust you to keep her safe until then?" 

It was a fair question but one that still stung. "Yeah…no more stupid sword stunts from me." 

"I doubt you're capable of going two minutes without doing a stupid sword stunt," Monarch said, straightening up as another swarm of monster crawled around the corner. 

"Just aim your stupid sword stunts at them !" Bluebird said, leading the Sentimonster bear into the thick of their adversaries. "Hurry up; I think Ladybug could use some-

---

“-help!” 

Cat Noir struggled in The Brute’s grip until a glittering red cord around its neck yanked it off and tossed it screaming into a crowd of its buddies. 

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, helping him to his feet. “You’re not hurt, are you?” 

“No, I'm...watch out!” Cat Noir cried as The Brute’s fist came crashing down on the crown of Ladybug’s head as she knelt over him. She staggered, body stretching out over Cat Noir’s as monsters’ claws raked at her suit, gripping her long braid and trying to pull her off her charge. 

“Ladybug, let me go!” Cat Noir insisted as Ladybug’s arms curled around his body.

"No!" Ladybug insisted, flinching as another blow made her see stars. How many chances had she ever had to save Chat Noir's life? How many chances would he allow her? "I'm not letting you chip a nail!" 

“You can bring me back," Cat Noir pleaded as she was clawed at, hammered, and slammed by monsters all trying to get at him. "Please, you don’t have to-” 

“Yes…I…do.” Ladybug growled, each scratch, punch, and thudding blow only serving to make her angrier than she had been in years. "You're just a kid...it isn't fair that you have to get hurt all the time!"

Shame and grief had a way of beating anger out of her, but the gall of these things to think they could just take Cat Noir from her filled her veins with rage that felt almost holy . Every strike only seemed to make the burning in her veins hotter until the blows felt like rain pounding on the side of a rock. Her eyes thrummed and this close, Cat Noir could see galaxies swirling in her irises. The force of stars unborn quivered as Ladybug turned to glare at the monster holding her. 

“Let…Me… go!”  She closed her eyes, quietly begging for Fang’s assistance as she leaned forward as far as the grip on her hair would allow. The green blade materialized, fell, and cleaved through the braid with a terrifying-

---

- boom. 

A shaft of brilliant red and gold light erupted a few blocks over, blotting out the sun and streaking high up into the sky as a wave of energy nearly knocked Ladybird off her feet. The brilliance nearly blinded Ladybird and caused every scrabbling monster to fall back, fleeing as a pillar of searing hot light radiated up from the street next to them. 

“What…what happened?” Ladybird asked, blinking as Chat Noir fell into step beside her. “Was that our enemy?” 

“...no,” Chat Noir said, watching as motes of light fell like snowflakes on cracked patches of concrete. "It was someone else."

The flakes popped as they hit the ground, mending the streets beneath their feet while scalding every monster that they touched. Broken streetlights flickered back on, grass grew on barren patches of dirt, and the city began to clumsily mend itself as a beneficial fallout wafted down from on high. 

“Come on,” Chat Noir urged, grabbing Ladybird by the arm and tugging her through the streets. They ran past dozens of white-ash statues of monsters frozen in horror as they tried to run from the explosion. Dust floated through the air like little fireflies the closer they got to the center of the city, until they came upon Ladybug kneeling in the center of a blast radius, embracing a wide-eyed Cat Noir that looked as though he had just had a religious experience.

The end of her nearly three-foot long ponytail dangled from one of her spectral hands, the other holding what remained of Fang. The blade was now warped, bent, and smoking as though the act of cutting Ladybug, even Ladybug’s hair, had been so repulsive that it decided to destroy itself rather than cut her again. 

Ladybug trembled as she released Cat Noir, brushing some dust off his cheek as she looked down at him. “Are you okay?” 

“I, uh...I think so…” Cat Noir muttered, still looking dazed as he blinked up at her. “What was-” 

“Cat!” Cat Noir glanced up in time to see Ladybird pluck him out of Ladybug's arms and knock him back against the pavement in the fiercest hug she could muster. "Are you okay?! Did you get hurt?! What was that explosion and why is it-" 

"I'm good, I'm good," Cat Noir chuckled, eyes narrowing as he caught Chat Noir's gaze. "What's he doing back here? Where's Rena?" 

"She's fine, she's fine," Ladybird assured him. "We got separated but she seems to be doing okay…Chat Noir saved my life." 

Somehow that didn't surprise Ladybug; even seeing him again after their last blow-out didn't surprise her. Somewhere in the pit of his stomach, Adrien Agreste knew what the right thing to do was. Even if it hurt him, even if every part of him didn't want to come back, he would.

"Really?" Cat Noir demanded, pushing Ladybird to one side dutifully placing himself in front of her as Chat Noir approached. "Because last time I checked, he was trying to take your head off." 

"Not exactly my finest moment, but-" Chat Noir stopped as Cat Noir's staff firmly poked him in the stomach. "...what are you doing?" 

"I think you've been cozy enough with my partner today," Cat Noir growled. “How about you keep your distance?” 

"...and if I don’t want to?" Chat Noir asked, almost genuinely curious. "You know you would have zero chance against me, right?" 

"What does that matter?" Cat Noir asked. There was a tense moment where two almost identical sets of eyes bored holes into one another before Ladybug heard something she hadn't heard in years. 

Chat Noir laughed. 

Not a taunting, terrified, or forced laugh but a genuine laugh that made her feel fourteen years old. Cat Noir seemed almost as shocked as a glowing green arm picked him up by the scruff of his neck and dropped him off to the side. 

"Well said," Chat Noir said, ruffling his hair with his spectral hand as he finally turned his attention to Ladybug. "Look…Ladybug…I know we have a lot of baggage and what you did to me was terrible...but I'm kinda done living in the moment you took my ring away. I don't know if we can have what we used to have but I'm tired of ignoring the part of me that misses you just to feel safe. I used to really like being your partner...I think there's something to be said about that." 

…or at least, that's what he intended to say. He had it all worked out and it sounded so good in his head but that was before he saw Ladybug with her hair down still wreathed in the otherworldly snowfall that seemed to be mending the street around them. The sad, tired look in her eyes could no longer hood the majesty of who She was; Her godhood could no longer be restrained, even by herself.

After taking her in, the best he could get out was "...h-hey." 

Ladybug took a deep breath. "Chat…I know I hurt you terribly, and I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do to make that right. But I can't be in limbo forever…and I can't stay in one place anymore. I need to move on; I want you to move on with me. But if you don't…I understand." 

…or at least, that's what she intended to say. She had planned it out for years, agonizing over the right words to pick to make it land the way she intended. But she forgot that Adrien always upended her plans with just a look. She forgot how it felt to know that a god would fight for her; to know, just by looking at someone, that they would fight to protect her no matter the cost. Ladybug had been too young to really grasp what that meant; she didn’t know how good it was until she lost it.

But after seeing a glimmer of that determined support in Chat Noir’s eyes for the first time in years, all she could say was "...heyyyyyy." 

Cat Noir glared between them. " Hey?! Is that all you have to-" 

"Shush!" Ladybird insisted, jabbing her partner with her elbow. “Don’t interrupt.” 

Silence lingered between them, but for the first time in a long time it wasn’t quite so tense. Some of the tension between them had loosened enough for someone to move. And as much as Chat Noir’s brain still screamed at him to keep himself guarded, his heart decided to make the first step. 

"New haircut?" Chat Noir ventured after a moment's silence. 

"Yeah...figured it was time for a change," Ladybug said, threading her fingers through her shoulder-length hair. "Do I look okay?" 

"You look…like a magic floating sword gave you a haircut," Chat Noir chuckled. 

"That bad?" Ladybug laughed. "Wait-" 

She bent down and picked up Fang's smoking hilt, offering it to Chat Noir with a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry…for some reason I guess my hair was too much for it. I can make you a new one or-" 

"It's okay," Chat Noir said, fingers extending and conjuring a slender sword with a black blade and red edge. "You're not the only crafty one around here these days." 

“Oh…that’s good,” Ladybug said, fighting back the sense that Chat Noir could replace her with a snap of his fingers now. 

The sword floated around her shoulders before vanishing behind her in a puff of red light. “You can have that one…i-if you want. I’m not sure swords are really your style, but-” 

“I need all the help I can get,” Ladybug said, feeling the weapon hovering just out of sight like a warm hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.” 

“Yeah…yeah, don’t mention it,” Chat Noir said, taking a deep breath. "Hey, listen-" 

A horrible roar rippled through the city, reminding Chat Noir that there were unfortunately more important things than talking with his partner. Out from the cloud, a winding black serpent emerged, snaking through the city and making a beeline for their position. 

"Aw…shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhucks," Ladybug sighed. “Should have known that would draw her attention.” 

"Hey, we're all stressed out here, but let's watch the fucking language in front of the kids," Chat Noir chuckled, flicking his baton out. "You got any more of those bright ideas you used to have? Because those used to be pretty good in terrible situations like this." 

"Hit it really hard until it falls over?" Ladybug suggested. 

"That isn't a plan!" Ladybird snapped. "It's barely an idea and if it was, it wouldn't be a good one!" 

"Did you forget the part where we tried that already ?!" Cat Noir asked, pushing Ladybird behind him as The Empress drew nearer, rows of black spines glittering in the light. 

" I tried that already," Chat Noir said, glancing at Ladybug. "How hard can you hit that thing?" 

"Not as strong as a God of Destruction, probably." 

"I'm not so sure…" Chat Noir said as a shadowy black bow materialized between his fingers. "If I can do stuff like this, you definitely have some more firepower than you used to…and the good news is Kaiser Long hasn't had the opportunity to proof his monsters against your style of Destruction, so whatever defenses he built into that thing have never been tested against you before." 

"Are you sure?" Ladybug asked, snapping her shield out as The Emperess opened her jaws. 

"Nope, but at this point we need to start throwing spaghetti against the cabinet and see which noodles stick !" Chat Noir said, glancing at the kids. "Kids, stay behind with Ladybug; she tells you to jump, you jump." 

"Where are you going?!" Ladybug demanded as Chat Noir raced towards the serpent. 

I'm coming back, Chat Noir's reply echoed in her mind. Don't worry. 

Don't worry?! Have you even met me?! But somehow, even a dragon looked small now that at least some part of Chat Noir was on her side. A little, maybe, but Ladybug could make worlds out of nothing; there was scarcely a limit to what she could do if she had a little. 

"Kids…stick with me," Ladybug said, lassoing a ledge and launching herself up into the air. "And if anyone has any ideas on how to kill this thing, I am open to suggestions!" 

Notes:

How will Ladybug Defeat The Evil Dragon? Is Rena Rouge going to be able to handle her enemies on her own? Will Chloe live long enough to explore her bicuriosity?!

All these questions and at least three more will be answered next time. Have a good holiday/weekend!

Chapter 25: JACKPOT

---

The Scripture of the Clay Maiden

Once, there was a maiden…

…who made herself from the substance of the world.

She knew how to eat an owl's heart and gain its insight.

She knew how to bake herself in the sun and melt herself in the rain.

She knew how to mess up wisdom.

She knew how to love, and how to hate.

"Survival is flexibility," she said.

-Exalted, Second Edition

---

The Centipede touched down outside the Louvre, scanning the site for any sign of Chat Noir. The longer the silence drifted on, the more uneasy she became, especially as The Salamander and The Cobra arrived looking as puzzled as she was. 

"Hey, where's Chat Noir?" The Salamander asked, glancing around. 

"Here with The Scorpion," The Centipede said. "Did she call you too?" 

"We were told our targets were here," The Cobra said. "Where's The Toad?" 

"Downstairs fighting Carapace," The Centipede said, glancing around. "Something doesn't feel right…shouldn't there be a fight going on right now?" 

Glass shattered and all three Venoms turned to see The Scorpion sail through one of the windows and land in a puddle on the ground outside. 

"Help!" The Scorpion cried, stumbling to their feet and beckoning their teammates inside. "This way; I have him in my sights!" 

The Centipede felt a chill of unease worm its way down her spine as she followed The Cobra. Where were Kaiser Long's monsters? Why was it so…quiet? If The Scorpion and Chat Noir really were fighting, why did the Louvre seem to be so pristine? Even as she stepped into the grand entrance and saw The Scorpion panting as they leaned against the reception desk, The Centipede couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. 

"Where did he go?" The Cobra asked. 

"Not sure…he gave me the slip somewhere up top near the Egyptian antiquities exhibit," The Scorpion panted. "Salamander…Cobra, take Rooms 160 to 187; Centipede-" 

"Hang on," The Centipede said. "Why are all of us going after Chat Noir without backup? Where's our monster support? Why hasn't Ladybug shown up as well?" 

"Come on; you know as well as anyone that Ladybug and Chat Noir have been on the outs for years," The Scorpion said. "The big guy is taking care of Ladybug and company outside but if we deliver Chat Noir's ring, we can make up for losing the kids." 

" You can make up for losing the kids," The Cobra said, coolly brushing past The Scorpion. "And only if you manage to defeat Chat Noir before we do." 

"Fat chance," The Scorpion growled, jerking their head over towards another wing. "Come on; let's see if Mona Lisa has any answers for us." 

This isn't right, The Centipede thought, glancing around the exhibit hall nervously as she followed The Scorpion up into the Italian Renaissance wing. "What makes you think the pair of us have any chance against Chat Noir if we catch him?" 

"I'm starting to think you don't trust me very much, Centipede," The Scorpion said, poking their head around the corner. "Relax; everything is gonna work out just fine ." 

"Rich coming from someone who was absolutely soiling themselves a half hour ago," The Centipede said, extending her three-sectioned staff with a snap of her wrist. "Something stinks here." 

"Yeah, your attitude; so shut up, and-" The Scorpion spun around and blocked The Centipede's blind strike with the flat of their tonfa. " What the hell?!" 

"Four Venoms in one spot far away from the action?!" The Centipede said, conjuring three spectral arms to bind The Scorpion's limbs to the floor. "Tell me who benefits from that! Who are you?" 

"I told you, I'm the-" The Scorpion's head jerked back as The Centipede slammed her staff across the side of their face, knocking them to the ground as their mask slid across the floor. 

" Liar !" The Centipede snapped, nearly blind with rage as she hammered blow after blow on The Scorpion's cowering frame. "Stop lying to me; I know you're working with Rena Rouge. I know this is all a-" 

The Scorpion fell back, arms falling away from their head now slick and sodden with blood. "Stop…Mama, please…" 

The Centipede's blood froze as the battered, bruised face of her daughter stared teary-eyed up at her. "...Manon? What are you-" 

The Centipede jerked away, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is a trick…this is all some kind of trick…Salamander, come in, Rena Rouge is-" 

---

"...c….ming…tra…get out…" 

"What the hell is wrong with these communicators?" The Cobra grumbled, tapping the device with his cane. "Some genius you are…" 

"Every technology has kinks to work out," The Salamander said, yanking the communicator away and fiddling with with the settings. "If they got pinched by Chat Noir, we'd have heard it by now." 

"Maybe…but Chat Noir isn't the only enemy we have to face," The Cobra said, fidgeting with his ring. It was a tricky proposition, setting an in-point he could reset back to. Too many things needed to be taken into account to use it properly; the wrong point could lock him into a position that would be difficult to recover from. 

"Rena Rouge and the others have their hands full outside; nobody but us and the cat in here and he's already taken more than a few bad knocks lately," The Salamander said, stepping into a side-exhibit to check for Chat Noir. 

"Your overconfidence is not the virtue you seem to think it is," The Cobra sighed. "Any one of us could fall prey to Chat Noir if he gets the drop on us. For years, he has... are you listening to me?"

The Cobra turned around to find no sign of The Salamander in the exhibit behind him. There were no other doors or windows out of the room and despite The Salamander's penchant for phasing through solid walls, The Cobra doubted his teammate had just slipped away on their own merits. 

" Shit ," The Cobra said, flicking his thumb over his ring as the lights flickered overhead. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" 

"You know there's no way out of here." The Cobra jumped, whipping around to find the source of the voice. 

"You were doomed the second you set foot in this building." The Cobra's eyes scanned the empty chamber for any sign of their pursuer, only to find walls of portraits staring back at him. 

"Show yourself…" The Cobra demanded, bumping up against the wall. 

"I'm not the one hiding here." Turning around, he saw the Mona Lisa smiling serenely down at him, her painted features flickering and twisting until he found himself looking at a portrait of Rena Rouge. 

"You…" The Cobra hissed, quickly flicking his ring. "Reset!" 

The nauseatingly familiar sensation of being sucked backwards through time washed over him and soon he found himself standing in the same hall where he was only moments before. 

"You know there's no way out of here." Rena Rouge's voice echoed in the empty hallway as it had moments earlier. 

"Shut up," The Cobra barked. "Status?" 

" Chances of victory at seventy-eight percent," the akuma in his ear chirped. 

"Good enough," The Cobra said, pacing down the hallway. "The longer we're in here, the less chance you have of victory, Rena-" 

He saw the painting shimmer a second too late, falling back as Rena Rouge emerged from what appeared to be solid oil and canvas. She tackled him to the floor, knocked his cane to one side, and began reaching for his ring before he-

" Reset!" Again, The Cobra felt his mind get pulled back in time to the point where he stood moments earlier. Without wasting a beat, he stormed over to the painting Rena Rouge emerged from, stabbing his cane clean through to the other side without hitting anything other than the portrait. 

"You know there's no way out of here."

"Where are you…" The Cobra growled, eyes scrambling from picture to picture, looking for any tells or flaws in the art that would give her away. "Your tricks can't save you forever." 

"I don't need forever," Rena Rouge's voice said as her figure emerged shimmering out of thin air. "Just long enough for you to give up." 

"Then you clearly have no idea who you're dealing with," The Cobra said, leveling his cane at Rena Rouge like a fencer. "I was killing rebels in the Congo when you were barely out of diapers. It'll take a lot more than a few mind-games to break me." 

"Well, it's a good thing mind-games aren't the only things I brought," Rena Rouge said with a sharp whistle. Around the corner stepped a large, red-eyed fox the size of a small car, snarling and dripping spittle from its open jaws. 

"Salamander," The Cobra hissed into his communicator. "This is a trap; you need to-" 

---

"- come upstairs and help me fight Chat Noir!" 

The Salamander squinted at their communicator, watching the speaker as sound seemed to come out. If he hadn't been fidgeting with the settings and cycling the power, he wouldn't have noticed that his communicator was speaking to him despite the battery dangling unplugged from the power source.

" Salamander, come in!" The communicator chirped. 

"Crapbaskets," The Salamander said, bolting for the nearest wall as fast as they could run. Some thing out of the corner of their vision tried to stop them, but they closed their eyes and willed their body to shimmer and shift through the solid wall. Cool air washed over their face as they crashed into the bushes outside, scrambling to get as far away from the building as they could. 

" Sal, where the hell are you?!" The Scorpion's voice called from the shaking speaker in their communicator as they quickly jammed it back together. " I can't get a hold of anyone; what's going on out there?!" 

" ...what's my real name?" The Salamander said, holding the comm link up to their ear. 

" What?!" 

"We're dealing with a shapeshifter that stole your appearance and led us all into a freaky wonderland of illusion in the Louvre," The Salamander said, looking back up at the building. "The Centipede and The Cobra are locked inside…I don't know what happened to them." 

---

" Come on!" The Scorpion growled, pacing back and forth across the rooftop. "Okay…hang tight; I can break Rena Rouge's illusion if I-" 

A flickering orange portal ripped open in the air behind them, Firebird's shadowy figure glowering at The Scorpion. " Scorpio…where's my ring and earring set?" 

"O-On the way, ma'am!" The Scorpion said. "J-Just have to handle some business at the Louvre."

" Hey, is that the boss?" The Salamander chirped from the communicator. " Ma'am, we're pinned down by Rena Rouge; we need some backup before-" 

"Shut up!" The Scorpion hissed, switching their communicator off. "...we're running into some difficulties-" 

" Clearly," Firebird sighed. 

"But we are on track to deliver as expected!" The Scorpion promised. 

" I'm having a lot of trouble believing you," Firebird said, snapping the portal closed with a hiss of sulfur. 

"I swear if that fox costs me my head, I will haunt her upjumped furry ass for the rest of her life!" The Scorpion snarled, leaping off the roof and sprinting towards The Louvre. 

---

"Reset!" 

The fox's jaws barely snapped at The Cobra before they dissolved and once again he felt his mind being pulled back in time. 

"You know there's no way out of here." 

" Chances of victory at seventy-eight percent," the akuma in his ear chirped for what felt like the hundredth time. 

"Shut up!" The Cobra snarled, his voice echoing off the empty walls. "...enough." 

Turning, he jogged down the corridor, turning down to head back into the main foyer only to find a solid wall blocking his escape. "You must think I'm an idiot …" 

Charging at the wall, he expected the illusion to melt away as he got close to it, only to find himself bouncing back off of what felt like a solid wall. 

"Perception is a funny thing," Rena Rouge's voice said, floating in the air like a heady perfume as a low flute melody wafted from somewhere behind him. "How much of what you know is based on the things you can sense? Do you think that fire hurts any less if you can still feel it burn?" 

The wall erupted in a scalding torrent of heat, flames crackling as they started lapping at the walls of the museum. 

"It's not real…" The Cobra insisted, reaching his hand out only to feel the hot sting of flame lap at his coat jacket. He knew it was fake; knew, consciously, that he couldn't be seriously damaged.

"Reality is a point of view," Rena Rouge's voice said. "One I have the power to disagree with."

The illusion had hijacked more than just his sense of sight. It smelled like fire; felt like fire. His primitive, reptilian brain could only see destruction as it reached out to consume him, body and soul.  Scrambling backwards, he bolted for the nearest window, throwing all of his weight against it as he tried to break through. Had he known he was throwing himself against a wall that only looked like a window, he might have tried a little harder. 

"Reset." He panted, head swimming as he found himself slithering back to the place where it all began. 

 "You know there's no way out of here." 

" Liar!" The Cobra bellowed, lashing out and battering the priceless artwork all around him with his cane. Slender, vulpine eyes stared at him from every picture, taunting him as he tore them apart with his bare hands. From room to room he ran, venting his furious fear on any object in reach. "There's a way out…there's a way out, I just need to…I need to find it…" 

"Of course there is," Rena Rouge's voice called. "You just need to give me the ring and you can walk out of here." 

That was a surer death than anything Rena Rouge could cook up. " Reset ; status!" 

" Chances of victory at seventy-seven percent." 

"...what?!" The Cobra hissed. "How?! I'm in the same place I was; how can I be losing ?! How can-" 

His eyes snapped to a door next to him, hanging slightly ajar and creaking in a way he definitely would have noticed…he would have noticed that, right? Something had shifted ; something had changed…and if things could change for the worse, they could change for the better. No matter what nightmares Rena Rouge threw at him, he could figure out a way out…he had to. 

The alternative was facing the reality that he had been doomed the moment he walked into the building; and that, to a professional like Mercutio van der Meer, was unacceptable. 

"There's a way out…I just need to keep looking…" The Cobra said, spinning around as he tried to find Rena Rouge. " Do you hear me?! I am going to find you, Rena Rouge and nothing you can do will stop me! Nothing, do you hear me?! Nothing!" 

"You are behaving in a very irrational manner," his akuma whispered in his ear. " Calm yourself…everything will be fine. Why don't you just relax?" 

His eyelids started drooping as the accumulated fatigue of hundreds of resets began catching up to him, but instead he shook his head, pressing deeper into the museum. "Just need to try harder…just need to-" 

The Cobra blinked, finding himself standing back where he stood at the start of every loop. 

"What…I didn't reset," The Cobra said as The Scorpion and The Salamander dashed through the corridor next to him. 

"Cobra, where are you?!" The Scorpion called out, running right by him as though they didn't see him. 

"I'm right here!" The Cobra called, trying to reach out for them only to find his hands glued to his sides. Looking down, he saw a coiled snake squeezing his arms to his chest, a pair of orange eyes glowering up at him as it constricted him ever tighter. 

"I don't think they can hear you," Rena Rouge's voice whispered in his ear as his comrades passed. 

"Shit…go get the Centipede downstairs; we need to leave now !" The Scorpion ordered. 

"No!" The Cobra howled, jerking at bonds that seemed to hold him tighter than iron as he watched his comrades, his chance at escape, slip through his fingers. "No…I need to get out of here…I need to get out of here ! I need to get out! I need to get-"

---

"-get out…get out…get out…get out…get out…get-"

Time moved a little differently for Rena Rouge. 

The web she cast over The Louvre allowed her to show a litany of horrors, illusions, and tricks that played havoc on all five senses. A normal person might be able to fight their way out, given enough time. But ironically, it was the fact that The Cobra could never run out of time that ultimately sealed his fate. Again and again he threw himself headlong into a horror show…and again and again, he found himself standing in the same spot, with the same paintings looking at him and the same words playing over and over again in his mind. 

You know there's no way out of here. 

In Mercutio van der Meer’s defense, he lasted almost a full year of five-minute loops with his sanity intact. But from Rena Rouge's perspective, the moment he locked himself in the loop, his eyes rolled back in his head, twitching as his mind struggled and failed to find a solution to his predicament. As Rena Rouge quietly walked up and slipped the ring off his finger, the horrified look on Mercutio van der Meer's pale, stricken face made her stomach turn. It was better than taking his life, she reasoned. Though watching a formerly formidable man twitch and moan like a zombie shook her belief to the core. 

"Cobra down," Rena Rouge said into her communicator, peering out the window as The Scorpion, The Centipede, and The Salamander pulled out. 

---

"Cobra down." 

"What?!" Bluebird laughed, sending a Hunter flying with a swing of his fan. "Monarch, we're down one snake!"

" Fabulous!" Monarch grunted, pulling her sword out of a Brute's head. "But we've been killing reptiles all morning and there doesn't seem to be any slowing them down!" 

Fatigue was beginning to set in as Monarch, Bluebird, and their magical allies holed up in the middle of an intersection, fighting waves of monsters back to back. Years ago they might not have lasted this long, but daily crime fighting had honed them into a well-oiled duo that was capable of handling more than most heroes were. 

Still, they were losing ground; despite their best efforts to rein them in, the reappearance of The Empress had sent them into a frenzied state that saw their attacks grow sharper, more coordinated, and more reckless. Enemies that no longer seemed to fear death threw themselves into the meat grinder, overwhelming the bear Sentimonster and dragging it down under a wave of gnashing black scales. 

"Crap…" Bluebird said, falling back against Monarch's back as Stoneheart fought to pick up the slack. "Bluebird and Monarch are pinned down near the Arc; if anyone can lend a hand, now would be a great time to help!" 

"Luka…they're all busy," Monarch panted. Try as she might, fear seemed to edge its way into her voice. She was smart enough to know their odds; nobody was coming to back them up, and unless something was done about The Empress, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. 

"Fine…I guess we're taking care of this ourselves!" Bluebird snapped, expanding his fan and launching a gust of wind that knocked a hole in the encroaching crowd. "Come on! I'm on at least two hundred at this point." 

"You are not turning this into a game," Monarch chuckled, cutting the throat of a Hunter and kicking it back into the crowd. 

"Scared you'll lose?" 

"Hardly," Monarch sniffed, straightening up with a crack of her neck. "Small ones are worth one; big ones are worth five." 

"You're just saying that because you killed more of those than me!" 

"If you don't like it you're welcome to try and do more," Monarch chuckled, ducking behind Bluebird's shield as a Brute charged. A pair of smooth, steel balls rolled between them, emitting a cloud of orange smoke that shielded Bluebird and Monarch from sight. Before Monarch could ask what was happening something sleek and silvery zipped overhead, a crackling purple laser slicing through the crowds that surrounded them. 

"What was that?" Bluebird asked as through the smoke he could hear snapping necks and breaking bones. When the dust cleared, an orange-cloaked figure stood alone in the center of a heap of decaying monsters, a black mask covering most of their face and orange goggles glinting in the sunlight. 

"So, how many points is that?" Sparrow asked. 

"I'm sorry, are you-" Monarch looked up to see a sleek, silvery android floating down from the sky, three purple eyes glittering as she took her place next to Sparrow. 

"We did just come here to help Chat Noir," Uncanny Valley said, turning as another horde of monsters approached. "But I'm always down for a little friendly competition." 

---

"Cobra down." 

"Oh hell yes!" 

The news of Rena Rouge's victory seemed to give Carapace the oomph he needed to break the stalemate as he grappled with The Toad. Carapace swung The Toad overhead, slamming him down on the ground so hard the whole cistern quaked. "Hear that, Toad-face! Our girl just smashed your snake!" 

"And we are not about to come home empty handed," Queen Bee snarled, chain wound around one of The Toad's wrists as she wrestled his arm to the ground. Carapace was on it, slamming his arm down on The Toad's elbow and pinning him to the floor. Queen Bee dove for the ring stretched tightly around his engorged finger, bent his rubbery digit back, and managed to get the ring halfway down his knuckle before The Toad rose with a roar that rattled the walls of the cistern. 

" No!" He flung Queen Bee at the wall, arm stretching out and pinning her to the wall. Her wings fluttered, trying to pull herself away to no avail. Her breath came in short, tight bursts each more painful than the last as The Toad's hands coiled around her. 

"Chloe!" Carapace grunted, fighting against The Toad's other arm. "Come…on…" 

Hatred etched itself on every line of her father's mutilated face, eyes boring holes into hers as the monster tried to sever the last connection its host had to the world. 

"You have no idea what it's like dealing with your father," The Toad grumbled. 

"You have…no idea," Queen Bee coughed, bracing her heels against the wall as she tried to fight for air. 

"Even now he's desperately trying to stop me ," The Toad chuckled, squeezing Queen Bee even tighter. "He's going to watch while his own hands break you in half!" 

Strength didn't seem to be working for Queen Bee; try as she might, there was just no overcoming an akuma designed to go toe to toe with Carapace on his best days. She looked for something in The Toad's eyes that reminded her of her father. But only sickly, pale yellow eyes looked back at her. 

"...Daddy" Queen Bee gasped, fighting to pry the fingers off her throat. "If you're in there…help…me… please!" 

Andre could count on one hand the number of times his daughter actually said please . More often her requests were phrased as demands, usually accompanied by stamping feet and scowls. The Toad's gaze flickered, yellow draining out of his eyes. 

"Chloe…" Andre coughed, uncoiling his fingers as much as The Toad would allow him. "Take it…take the ring…" 

Bit by bit, he extended his ring finger, holding it in front of Queen Bee's face. The ugly toad-face glowered from the ring as Queen Bee reached out, gripping it with both hands and bracing her heels against The Toad's grip. 

"No!" The Toad roared, eyes changing back. In its moment of panic, it relaxed its grip on Carapace and tried to bring his free hand down on top of Queen Bee's head. Unfortunately, the lapse in pressure was just what he needed to break through. 

"Sit… down!" Carapace roared, shimmering with emerald light as he grew in size until he dwarfed The Toad's gargantuan frame. Leaning forward, he laid all of his weight down on The Toad, pinning him to the floor as Queen Bee fought to wrench the ring off her father's hand. 

"You can't…you can't !" The Toad said, sounding almost panicked as the metal began wriggling off the finger. "You…you…" 

"Shut up!" Queen Bee hissed, wrapping her chain around the base of the ring and pulling as hard as she could. With one final tug the ring came loose, sailing overhead and bouncing harmlessly off the back wall as The Toad's final croak of defiance faded into an all too human cry of despair. Andre's body began shifting back to its usual size, deflated as he lay defeated at the bottom of the sewer. 

"There!" Queen Bee spat. "It's over! Are you happy now?! Was this all worth it?! Was it?!" 

Carapace caught her leg before she could bring it down on Andre's back, picking her up and carrying her away even as she tried to wriggle out of his grip. "Shh…it's over…it's over." 

"Stupid!" Queen Bee spat, tears streaking down her cheeks. The lingering adrenaline burned off, leaving Queen Bee clinging to Carapace's shoulders, bitterly sobbing as he squeezed her close. "So…so stupid." 

---

"Carapace here…Andre has been taken into custody." 

Despite the lack of triumph in Carapace's tone, Ladybug felt a surge of relief. Two renegade akuma down; four kwamis rescued. In time, they could work out a way to restore them-

" RRRRRAAAGH!" 

-if she didn't get devoured by a snake the size of a city first. 

"Stick close!" Ladybug called back to Ladybird and Cat Noir as she led them through the city, banking around tight corners to give herself a little breathing room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chat Noir darting between buildings, firing an odd arrow to keep The Empress' attention divided between her targets. 

"Split and run towards Chat Noir!" Ladybug called back, turning a corner as Ladybird and Cat Noir dove in the opposite direction.

Taking a page out of Firebird's playbook are we? Chat Noir thought

I'm not too proud to steal ideas that work, Ladybug thought. The number game isn't on their side anymore; now it's our turn to run them ragged. 

Music to my ears, Chat Noir thought. Heads up; things are about to get even more unfair. 

Two crackling bolts of electricity streaked overhead, striking The Empress in the nose as a black hoverjet flew alongside her. The side door opened and manning a large, crackling electric weapon was-

"Hi Ladybug!" Zoe called, cheerfully waving before turning the crackling laser weapon on The Empress. Static crackled along its scales as the jet zipped past, nearly getting its tail nibbled off as the colossal serpent snapped at it. An angry red line appeared in the monster's hide, but unfortunately it didn't seem to do the damage that Ladybug hoped it would. 

Your friends don't happen to have any more firepower, do they? 

Aw, do you want them to do your job for you? Chat Noir countered. You're a goddess; act like one and smite that thing. 

Easy for you to say; you've been smiting since you were fourteen! Ladybug thought, arcing up and landing on the back of the monster. Pointers? 

Hit it… really hard. 

"That isn't helpful!" Ladybug shouted, cocking her fist back and slamming it into the monster's scales as hard as she could. The serpent wobbled mid-air, but the polished black scales barely scuffed under her punch. Unfortunately, it was enough to alert the serpent to the unwanted passenger on its back and as it banked a turn, it bucked and knocked Ladybug up into the air with a flick of its tail. End over end she spun, tumbling through the air as the beast's jaws opened beneath her. Rows of white, jagged teeth waited to close in on her until a glowing green fireball the size of a truck rocked its head to one side. 

"Hang on!" A black blur collided with her, knocking her out of The Empress' path and onto a neighboring roof. "Okay…not a bad start, but-" 

"If you say hit it really hard one more time, I'm going to hit you really hard," Ladybug muttered, brushing herself off as Chat Noir tugged her to her feet. 

"Well if that's what it takes for you to get in touch with your destructive side, it will have been worth it," Chat Noir said, grabbing Ladybug's hand and laying it on the concrete. "Here." 

"Wait, what are you-" Chat Noir laid his hand on top of hers, fingers crackling with black electricity. 

"Shh; just feel this," Chat Noir said, closing his eyes as the Cataclysm ran through Ladybug's fingers. A strange euphoric terror shook her as she felt raw Destructive power course through her veins and leap out her fingertips to pulverize the stone at her feet. Even as he withdrew his hands, she could still feel little electric currents dancing between her fingertips. 

" That's what it feels like," Chat Noir said. "Somewhere inside you there is something that should feel just like it. You just need to root around and call on it the same way you call on your Ladybug powers." 

"Are you sure?" Ladybug said, staring at her fingers. "What if-" 

" Marinette," Chat Noir said, grabbing her by the shoulders with a gentle squeeze. "We do not have time for 'what if' right now. Don't think about it; don't question it. Just feel it." 

It was hard for Ladybug to feel anything except the weight of his gaze and his hands on her shoulders. No one had ever expected more of her or had more faith in her ability to rise to those expectations. Even when she didn't believe it herself; it was as though he saw something scrawled on her forehead and could only try and make her see it. 

"Feel it…" Ladybug said, staring at her fist. "It's not going to be the same, is it?" 

"No…it's going to be yours ," Chat Noir said. "It's not anger; it's wrath . It's not aggression; it's fury . It's not mundane; it's divine . Gods gain power through belief and you need to be your own most devoted believer." 

Is inflating my ego really all I need to do? 

"It's not ego, it's...ah, how did Master He put it?" Chat Noir poked her in the center of the chest. "It's who you are; it's a feature of your biology just like your heartbeat. Birds fly, grass grows, and Ladybug is a force of Destruction…does that make sense?" 

"No…but maybe looking for a rational explanation is completely irrational at this point," Ladybug said, closing her fist. "You need me to hit it…I'll hit it. As hard as I can...until it falls over." 

Good girl. The wave of admiration that came bundled with those two words made Ladybug's cheeks darken in spite of herself until she realized that neither Ladybird nor Cat Noir were anywhere to be seen. "Where are the kids?" 

The building rattled as The Empress raced past, chasing Ladybird and Cat Noir as they ran for their lives. 

"...Adrien, did you make the children run interference?" 

"They volunteered- "

" Adrien !" 

"Fiiiiiine," Chat Noir sighed. "I'll keep its attention; we'll drag it down the Champs-Élysées. Maybe we can slow it down a little, but we'll need to finish this before things get even more out of hand." 

"Right," Ladybug nodded. "Be careful." 

"That's your job," Chat Noir chuckled, saluting as he leapt across the street, chasing the snake as it slithered through the city. 

---

"Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight-" 

"That one was mine !" 

"It has my boomerang buried in its temple!" 

Sparrow and Uncanny Valley's dispute ended as Stoneheart chucked a car down the street and bowled over twenty or so monsters. 

"Ninety-nine," Stoneheart boomed, flattening a Hunter with his foot. "One-hundred."

"His count as mine, by the way," Monarch added, spearing a Hunter in the middle of a pounce.

"...it's not too late to turn this into a team match, is it?" Sparrow suggested, flicking a pair of batons open and bashing a Trooper in the skull. 

"You don't want to go against our team," Bluebird said, tensing as the shadow of The Empress floated overhead. "Rena, the big one is heading your way." 

---

"I'll do what I can but…I don't think I have too much juice left," Rena Rouge panted, leaning against her staff as she wobbled her way out of the Louvre. "Taking out The Cobra took a lot more than I expected…" 

" It's okay, Rena!" Rena Rouge looked up to see Ladybug swing past. " Chat Noir and I have a plan…well, it's an idea, but I think we can handle it ourselves." 

"Are you sure?" Rena Rouge asked. 

" When have I ever been sure of anything?" Ladybug chuckled. 

"Good point…" Rena Rouge said, turning The Cobra's ring over in her hand as she leaned back on the steps of The Louvre. "...I'll leave it to you then." 

" I won't let you down," Ladybug promised. The Empress' shadow blotted out the sun as it pursued her, harried down the Champs-Élysées by Chat Noir's fireballs. It was almost nostalgic the way they seemed to fall back into working together; like no time had passed and no betrayal had taken place. 

"I guess I'll give trusting you another try," Rena Rouge mused. 

---

"Bring her this way!" 

Ladybird banked, following Chat Noir's orders and swinging as fast as she could to stay ahead of the serpent. She could see him running alongside the street, leaping from building to building and landing arrows in The Empress' eyes to keep her interested in the chase. 

"Tag out; let me be the bait for a while," Cat Noir insisted. 

"No," Chat Noir replied. "Ladybird can handle herself; just keep poking it so it doesn't forget about you!" 

"But-" 

"I'm fine! Don't worry! I'm not worried, are you worried?!" Ladybird screamed in a supremely unconvincing way as she swung just out of reach of The Empress' fangs. "Ladybug, we're getting close…I hope you know what you're doing."

---

Ladybug touched down at the base of the Arc de Triomphe, shaking her shoulders out as she turned to face the oncoming shadow.

"Yeah…me too," Ladybug said, cracking her knuckles as The Empress bore down on her. She didn't have enough time to think about every way this plan could go wrong. All she could concentrate on was Chat Noir's parting words and the electric touch of his hand on hers. 

"Okay…wrath, fury, divine power…" Ladybug chanted, hopping from foot to foot. "I can do this…I can do this…I can do this…" 

Ladybug was no stranger to fear; she could never resist seeing the absolute worst case scenario in every situation she stumbled into. It had kept her safe for years, but now, when there was nothing left to do but strike, it seemed to sap her energy. What good could she do against something so big? What if-

Relax. The word came like a cool breeze as Chat Noir drew nearer. Shoulders back, eyes up…show this thing who you are. 

Who I am? 

Who was she? A designer? A hero? A traitor? Was that who she was or was that what she did ? 

Who am I? 

Ladybug shifted her stance as The Empress crashed through parked cars, green eyes glowing with barely restrained hunger. If she couldn't stop it, it was going to tear its way through the city, devour everything she cared about, and empower her enemies. 

No…I promised Alya I could handle this. 

That promise settled like an ember in the pit of her stomach, catching on dry and brittle hope and igniting it like a bonfire. She couldn't let Alya down again; she wouldn't allow Paris to suffer another disaster if she had the power to stop it. 

The Empress' hot breath could be felt, even the length of a football pitch away. All six eyes diverted from its distractions, zeroing in on Ladybug as she waited with clenched fists. Like a bird of prey, the monster dove, jaws open and ready to devour her. In spite of every nerve that told Ladybug to run, her feet planted firm, golden arms splaying out ready to catch the monster. 

Hey, not to tell you how to do your job, but you should probably move, Chat Noir thought. 

No. 

No? You know this thing isn't going to stop, right? Chat Noir thought, watching as Ladybug stood defiantly against her enemy. Stick it and move; you don't need to face it head on. 

No.  Ladybug thought, feeling the word take weight in her mind. It crackled like a Cataclysm and Ladybug was too focused on it to think about moving. She could dance around this thing all day, or-

Marinette-

She could hit it really hard. 

No!  Six glowing golden arms seized The Empress by the jaws pinning its mouth open as Ladybug's fist drew back. The serpent buckled as though it had struck a wall, thrashing in Ladybug's iron grip as every ounce of her power went into holding the monster in place. Her hair fluttered in the breeze, golden light floating off her as an enormous glowing hand emerged from the ground to seize The Empress by the throat. 

No! The word burned in her mind hotter than Chat Noir's flames; it burned like loneliness, like isolation, like watching her false family get destroyed. Destruction had come from her hand once, and it would come again. 

No!

Rearing back, her right hand slammed into the monster's jaw, waves of golden light rippling across its scales. Again she drew back, slamming her fist harder, imagining waves of energy rippling through the beast with every blow. 

No! 

A black scale chipped off, igniting in the blazing corona of light that surrounded Ladybug like a beacon. Bracing with her phantom arms, Ladybug fired another punch, laying her whole weight into the blow. Each strike was laced with defiance; the overwhelming rejection of the thing that was in front of her. Each punch shook the ground at her feet and through the cracks in the pavement flowers bloomed. Through the red curtain of wrath, Ladybug could see white fist marks where her strikes landed burned into the hide of Kaiser Long's greatest monster. 

No!

The Empress tried to escape, but the phantom hand at its throat wouldn't let it so much as breathe as Ladybug drew her arm back. For the first time in its existence, The Empress felt a twinge of fear as Ladybug's fist burned with an awesome power. Ribbons of red light streamed behind it like a comet, spinning faster and faster as Ladybug drove her weight forward and- 

"NO!" 

---

Three years earlier, Hawk Moth had narrowly escaped being smitten by Ladybug's fist; The Empress was not so fortunate and t he flash of light could be seen from nearly every corner of the city. 

As Carapace helped Queen Bee haul an unconscious Andre out of the sewers, he looked up and saw the light peek over the rooftops like a second dawn. 

From the other end of the avenue, Rena Rouge could feel a little of the same love she felt for Ladybug rekindle as a brilliant multi-colored corona of energy bloomed like a flower. 

The moment the blow struck, the monsters swarming around Bluebird and Monarch fell back, eyes scrambling around in confusion and shrinking away as their commander fell, no longer acting as one unit. 

On a rooftop, blocks from the strike, Chris Lahiffe became the first person in the world to document the wrath of the Ladybug Miraculous, nearly dropping his phone as he watched. 

And in a bunker deep below the city, Master Fu watched as the screens showed his pupil finally live up to all the hope he placed on her when she was too young to shoulder it. 

The blow connected, bleaching the grass at her feet as radiant light poured from Ladybug's fist. The Empress buckled, face resisting the blow for only a fraction of a second before Ladybug felt the hard scale, muscle, and bone yield to her will. Scales blew off, burning up or floating away like petals on the wind. The punch seemed to extend past Ladybug's arm, ripping down the monster's soft, fleshy interior and bursting clean out the other side. Six eyes widened in horror, the remnants of its jaws trying feebly to bite at Ladybug, only to fall still after a long moment. With a dying gasp The Empress fell, collapsing in a heap of rapidly decaying meat. Instead of turning into goo as the others did, its mammoth body was quickly overtaken as grass, moss, flowers, and vines emerged from its wounds, replacing black scales with kilometers of vibrant plant life. 

"I said…no…" Ladybug muttered, falling backwards as her strength finally left her. She didn't fall far, however, and a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her before she could hit the ground. 

"Chat Noir to everyone…the big one is down," Chat Noir laughed, laying Ladybug down on the floral carpet. "See? What did I tell you; just hit it really hard ." 

"That was not…just hitting it…" Ladybug panted, trying to raise her arm to brush the hair out of her face only to find it limp and uncooperative at her side. "That was hitting it hard enough to break my arm…" 

"Well, nobody ever said Destruction was neat," Chat Noir said, uncoiling his scarf and wrapping it around her arm. "Just hold still; I think we can-" 

"Ah!" Ladybug winced as the scarf coiled tightly around her arm. "What are you doing?"

"Blame the scarf, not me!" Chat Noir said, trying to untangle it as gingerly as he could. "Ugh, this thing is so clingy." 

"Well, seeing as who made it, it's not surprising," Ladybug chuckled, her arm tingling and burning underneath the scarf. "Wait…hang on a second." 

The scarf pulsed with green light, squeezing Ladybug's damaged arm for a moment before releasing it and fluttering back around Chat Noir's neck. Her arm burned and ached still, but after an experimental flex, it seemed like it had healed up enough to use. 

"Well…look at that," Ladybug said, squeezing her shoulder. "Looks like you can do a little more than just make weapons." 

"Not sure it's me doing that; this is one of Ladybug's originals," Chat Noir said, fingering his scarf thoughtfully. "But then again, I've given up on understanding any of this. I've just accepted that my life is going to be a string of weird nonsense until I die." 

"Is it over?" Ladybug looked up to see their younger selves touching down on the grass next to the monster's overgrown corpse. 

"Maybe…" Chat Noir said, eyes flickering between shadows until something caught his attention. "Hey…whoever's behind that car over there, show yourselves !" 

" Told you this was stupid!" A voice hissed as two pairs of hands extended slowly over the rim of the car. 

"Shut up; you didn't have to come!" 

"Oh don't tell me…" Ladybug sighed as Manon pushed Chris out from behind the car. 

"So one near death experience in three days is not enough for you, M. Lahiffe?" Chat Noir sighed. 

"M…oh wow ," Ladybird said, tilting her head to one side as she looked at the kids she used to babysit. "Wow, I feel old." 

"Tell me about it," Ladybug muttered. 

"We were on our way to the bunkers," Chris chuckled. "But-" 

" Your butt is going to get barbecued if you don't run and hide when monsters are destroying the city!" Chat Noir said, snatching the phone from this hand. "I'm giving this to your brother." 

"Hey, I barely started shooting!" Chris protested. "And, uh, I-I don't even have a brother." 

"Don't lie to me; my Chat Noir Vision can see through deception," Chat Noir said, making his phantom eye glow for effect. 

You can? 

No, but I find that I can just make up bullshit and people will believe me if I sell it well enough.  

"One picture," Ladybug said. "Since it would be a shame to risk your life and come up empty handed; sound fair?" 

You are going to spoil him, Chat Noir thought. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah; totally fair!" Chris insisted, noticing Ladybird and Cat Noir for the first time. "Uhhh…am I seeing double or-" 

"Sidekicks," Ladybug and Chat Noir said nearly instantaneously. 

" Excuse me?!" Cat Noir hissed. 

"Not now, boy wonder," Chat Noir said, nudging Cat Noir out of the shot. "Okay, really quick; then we need to get you home before your very real brother kicks my very real butt." 

"Yeah, right," Chris said, raising his camera before glancing at Ladybug. "Are you going to join him?" 

"Me?" Ladybug looked to Chat Noir. "Maybe a couple of separate pictures would be better?" 

"Come on; this is the first time Ladybug and Chat Noir have been together since…well, yesterday, but still !" Chris insisted. 

"It would make for a good cover pic," Manon pointed out. Chat Noir seemed to waffle for a moment before taking a step to the side, making room in the shot for Ladybug to stand next to him. 

Sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can clean up, Chat Noir thought. 

"Do the fist bump; do the fist bump!" Chris insisted. 

"Oh…" Ladybug looked down at her fist. When was the last time we even did that? 

Patissiterror; that big cake akuma the night before- 

She could feel Chat Noir's thought process stop in its tracks; maybe it was too much for him too quickly. Too much had changed since they were younger; was a childish declaration of partnership even meaningful anymore. Over Chris' shoulder, Ladybird helpfully raised her fist to bump against Cat Noir's, nodding meaningfully at her as though trying to teach a kindergartener basic math. Glancing back, she saw Cat Noir's fist uneasily extended, a hesitant smile on his lips. 

Don't overthink it, she reminded herself, hand quivering as she raised it to-

"Uhhh…guys?" Chris said, glancing over their shoulders. "Are they your sidekicks too?" 

A hiss and the sudden smell of sulfur drew their attention to a crackling portal in the air behind them. Out of the portal, Firebird strolled looking fresh as a daisy and slowly clapping as she set foot in Paris. 

"Bra-vo," she said as Kaiser Long's shadowy figure followed her out. "Looking good out there, spotty."

"Good enough to eat," Kaiser Long snarled. 

Notes:

Originally planned to get this ALL out before the end of 2022 but I have to polish the back half of this story a little bit before releasing it.

Happy almost new year! Thanks for hanging with this story in 2022 and I hope you enjoy where it goes from here. Stay safe tonight; don't drink and drive.

Chapter 26: Mending Warped Designs

Summary:

As a reminder, this story was concieved before the New York specials~

If Ladybug wasn't in mortal terror for her life, she would have admitted Firebird had a good strategy going on. 

That was the benefit of resources, after all; to be able to dump world ending monstrosities on the heads of your enemies before even taking the field. All the fighting they had done all morning hadn't even been against the main attraction, and now Ladybug wondered if she had the strength to mount a counterattack. 

Maybe that was Gabriel's plan for the Gamemaster fiasco from the beginning; maybe he always planned to wear Chat Noir down while she was in London and then rely on her to beat him when she got back. Knowing him he likely cribbed it from his masters, but it would be too ironic if she died to a plan of Hawk Moth's design. 

"You know, if you two are tired, you can take a little bit of a breather," Firebird said, cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders. "Shouldn't take long for us to finish digesting Minibug and her stray." 

"Hey, do they have names?" Chris hissed to Cat Noir. "Because if this is like, breaking news, then I need to-mmph!" 

" Shh !" Cat Noir clamped a hand over Chris' mouth. Firebird's presence was like a weight in the air that Cat Noir didn't understand; he could feel her like he could feel the sun with his eyes closed. And the feeling was far from pleasant; like a burn in the world, she was hot, angry, and daring anyone to touch her. 

"Stay close and do everything we say." Ladybird grabbed Manon's wrist and tugged her behind Ladybug but Ladybug didn't know how much good she would do them. Spectacular as cracking a dragon in the face with the force of an imploding star was, it left her knees wobbling as they tried to hold her legs up. Grasping at her power, she found little more than fumes available compared to the swarming reservoir of energy she felt coursing through Kaiser Long. 

" Rena," Ladybug muttered, pressing the button on her communicator. " They're here." 

"Yes, we are ," Kaiser Long said with a tight smile. "The only question is, how many of your friends do you want to get killed trying to stop us?" 

How much juice do you have? Ladybug thought, eyes flickering in Chat Noir's direction. 

More than you…but that isn't saying much, Chat Noir replied, casually placing himself between Kaiser Long and Cat Noir even as Ladybug could feel fear bubbling inside him. 

"Bold chatter coming from a guy that just got his biggest monster snapped like a stale baguette," Chat Noir said, his voice betraying none of his uncertainty. "Face it; you two took an L for the history books. All the smug dickhead banter in the world doesn't change that." 

"You underestimate how much our 'smug dickhead banter' can change," Kaiser Long chuckled. "And how quickly we can turn the tides.." 

"Still time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, after all," Firebird said. 

"Or get your hands bitten off in the process," Chat Noir said. 

"Down, Simba, your fangs haven't come in yet," Firebird sneered, glancing between Ladybug and Chat Noir with a curious smile. "You two seem…different, somehow. Tired but…different." 

"New haircut," Ladybug said, leaning against the flowering skeleton of The Empress."Or maybe it's the fact that I hit your dragon so hard it turned into a Chia Pet."

"Maybe," Firebird chuckled, her eyes drifting between them. "Any thoughts, dear?" 

"Could it be that they're not bickering like idiot schoolchildren?" 

"Yeah, hang on a second, did you two mend fences?" Firebird said, her expression flickering ever so slightly. Kaiser Long's eyes narrowed, glancing at Firebird who simply shook her head. 

"Beating on your ugly menagerie is the closest thing heroes get to couples therapy," Ladybug said. "Turns out Chat Noir hates you a lot more than he hates me and you dumbasses gave him even more ammo to hate you with." 

"A lot more," Chat Noir said, his phantom eye glowing greener. "Congratulations; you two managed to be so unbearably obnoxious that I forgot to be mad at my partner."

Partner; the word kindled something in Ladybug that made her stand a little straighter. It was a testament to how hopelessly smitten she was that the faintest hint of praise was enough to push through her weariness. 

"Cute," Firebird said with a tight smile. "At least the band's back together for one final curtain call." 

"If you think this is our final show, you're dumber than your outfit is," Chat Noir sneered, snapping his baton out as Kaiser Long drew his long, studded club from the earth. "We're taking our act on the road after we get finished with you." 

"To all the little hidey holes you have around the world," Ladybug said, borrowing a little of her partner's bravado as she unspooled her yo-yo. "Until you run out of places to hide and we put a stop to you, once and for all." 

"That's not much of an incentive to let you leave here alive, is it?" Kaiser Long mused. 

" You're going to let us go?" Ladybug scoffed. "You're going to be lucky to crawl out of this city after we get through with you!" 

It was a bold and entirely baseless threat that Ladybug wasn't sure if she could back up in her current state. But as she bluffed, she was dimly aware of Chat Noir speaking quietly to their younger selves behind her. 

"Evac when I give the signal," Chat Noir said, glancing behind him at Cat Noir and Chris. "Take the kids, find Carapace, and stay safe." 

Cat Noir glanced at Firebird. "But-" 

"You need to survive…please," Chat Noir whispered, returning his full attention to Kaiser Long. 

They're going to run, Chat Noir thought. Cold air whipped past Ladybug's ears like the city was taking a deep breath. You can join them…Rena and the others might stand a better chance of eventually beating them if you survive this.

And here they were, once again, with Chat Noir ready to gamble his own life on a slim chance that someone else could win. 

I could say the same thing about you, Ladybug thought, flexing her fingers. Across the street, Firebird's shoulders tensed, trading glances with her partner as he gripped the haft of his club tighter. These guys need to die…and someone needs to be alive who's strong enough to hurt them. Go with the kids; I'll-

-die if I leave you alone for more than a minute with these two, Chat Noir thought. 

I'm insulted, Ladybug thought, even as her fingers tightened around the wire of her yo-yo. Maybe that's just how things are gonna shake out this time? 

Chat Noir's expression was impossible to read as he glanced back. You sure? 

Her stomach dipped as she realized he might actually take her up on the offer; might actually leave her to a hopeless fight while he got the kids to safety. 

Keep the kids safe…let me worry about them, Ladybug thought, swallowing her fear and steeling herself in the face of her enemies. Seconds dripped by like molasses, each side waiting for the other to make a move they could exploit. Behind her, Ladybird was tense and ready to bolt.

" Go!" Chat Noir bellowed as the previously silent street erupted in a flurry of action. Cat Noir and Ladybird grabbed Chris and Manon, tossing them over their shoulders and bolting. As soon as they did, Firebird flickered, moving so fast that Ladybug barely saw her slip through her guard and dart after Cat Noir. 

"Too slow!" Firebird cackled, reaching for Cat Noir's back only to find herself stopped Chat Noir's shin firmly planted in her stomach. 

"That's my line," Chat Noir snarled, booting Firebird back a few dozen yards. Snarling, Kaiser Long lunged, club cocked and swinging for Chat Noir's head. 

Ding!

A musical chime rang as Ladybug's shield intercepted the blow, throwing the club back as she shoved him away from her partner. 

I thought you were going to go! Ladybug thought as Chat Noir shoved her out of the way of a club strike that cracked the street beneath her feet. 

Oh you just want to be on the front covers of the magazines after this, Chat Noir thought, a spear materializing in his hand and lunging at Firebird as she tried to rush in. Kaiser Long was a step faster, shattering the spear with the club and whipping the broken end at Chat Noir's head. 

Adrien, one of us needs to live through this! Ladybug said, intercepting the spear with her shield.

At least one of us needs to live through this, Chat Noir thought, yanking the spear tip out and parrying Firebird's kick with the blade. And I'm an overachiever. 

  I'm barely holding together, Ladybug thought, snarling as she rammed her shield against Firebird to push her back.  Please just-

Shut up . 

For someone who had always been so flowery with his words, the quick, blunt, dismissal caught her off guard. Their past selves had already disappeared and he seemed in no hurry to rush after them; two words made it clear that if Ladybug was going down here, it would be with Chat Noir at her side. 

You should know by now that you can't get rid of me that easily, Chat Noir thought, somehow adding a silver lining to the prospect of total obliteration. 

"Okay, where was this spunk back in Venice?!" Firebird laughed, unable to keep a note of irritation out of her usual mocking cadence. 

"You might've actually saved lives ," Kaiser Long mused.

"Well if you can't get a job saving lives, payback is always an option," Chat Noir said, spinning his baton around on his fingertip. "Come on; where's that fighting spirit you were flaunting a second ago? Just wipe us out like you did back in Italy." 

"If you even can ," Ladybug sneered. Roaring, Firebird hurled a crackling ball of fire in Chat Noir's direction. Chat Noir responded in kind, dark emerald flames obliterating the crimson burst and sending Firebird rolling to the side to avoid taking the blast. It was the first time Ladybug had seen Firebird scramble, and for a second, she thought they stood a chance of making it out unscathed. 

Charging, she latched a ribbon onto the handle of her shield, whipping it around and swinging the hard edge at Firebird's face. Her form flickered, and Kaiser Long materialized in her place to absorb the shield strike with his forearm. Firebird was already on the move, shooting at her blindside like a comet. 

Hey, lock up with her;I got something, Chat Noir thought. His shadow flickered, vanishing as Ladybug braced herself for impact. 

You really think I can lock up with her right now?! Ladybug thought, golden arms spreading wide to absorb most of Firebird's flaming charge. Her eyes crackled and burned as the halo of flames around her head spat sparks at Ladybug's face. But to her surprise, Ladybug found her strength holding. 

No…I think you can do one better, Chat Noir thought. Firebird's grip burned against the back of her suit, but the material held. Ladybug's golden hands reached out to snare Firebird, but she vanished again, replaced by Kaiser Long swinging his club straight down towards Ladybug's head. 

Damnit, hang on! Chat Noir shimmered out of the shadows and darted forward as Ladybug caught the club between two glowing palms. The ground buckled beneath the force of the blow as Ladybug strained to keep the rusty metal spikes away from her head. 

"How…do you…do that?" Ladybug grunted. 

"Faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust," Kaiser Long sneered, scowling as he gripped his club with both hands to try and overpower Ladybug.

"Bull…the pixies I've met are not that accommodating!" Ladybug grunted, her real hands grabbing Kaiser Long's wrist. A jolt of energy raced up her arm and it felt almost…familiar. Like she was suddenly supercharged by a power source that hadn't been apparent to her. She could reach out to Adrien…maybe she could-

The heat of Firebird's flames put an end to her musing and Ladybug managed to wrench her arms back and pitch Kaiser Long head over tail directly into Firebird's charge. The crash and tangle of limbs was scored with the distinct crunch of something breaking, and once again Ladybug felt a surge of destructive triumph bolster her faltering spirit. 

" Shit!" Firebird hissed, looking up to see a familiar shadow flicker over the sun. She caught the flash of green seconds before Chat Noir sent a surging beam of emerald fire pouring down over her and Kaiser Long as they tried to escape. The heat singed the tips of Ladybug's hair, even as she watched from a few dozen yards away. 

"Did you get them?" Ladybug asked, squinting into the flames as they roared even higher. 

"I don't know…" Chat Noir landed in front of her. "Do you feel them moving in there?" 

Ladybug winced as she tried to make out any shape in the inferno. She caught a shimmer in the fire moments before the green flames glowed gold and then settled into the same angry orange and black flames Firebird always used. 

"Oh right…phoenix." Chat Noir sighed, turning back just as a black shadow shot out of the flames. She saw it like it was happening in slow motion, Kaiser Long lunging for Chat Noir with the tip of his wicked stinger tail cocked and ready to fire as soon as it got close enough. Chat Noir saw what was happening, reached for his weapon, but somehow Ladybug knew there was no way he would get it out in time. 

The image of Chat Noir impaled on Kaiser Long's tail flashed in her mind, and Ladybug's legs moved before she knew what she was doing. 

Adrien! Ladybug's voice rang clear in his mind moments before he felt something shove him as hard as it could across the street and into a parked car. The force of the blow knocked him end over end in a heap of limbs and bent metal, and when he looked up, he saw Ladybug dangling off the edge of Kaiser Long's tail. 

He must've screamed something, but Ladybug was too preoccupied with the pain in her side and the slow, creeping sensation of her veins filling with venom as it dripped from the sharp bony spike on Kaiser Long's tail. Her first thought (after "OW OW OW OH SHIT THIS HURTS!") was predictably a doubtful one as the nagging voice in the back of her mind berated her for putting herself in such a horrible position. 

"And Bug v. Dragon ends exactly how everyone thought it would!" Firebird scoffed. A wild snarl drew her attention as Chat Noir lunged, spear glinting in the sunlight until it snapped in half under Firebird's heel. She caught his wild haymaker, twisting his arm behind his back and wrenching his head back to see Kaiser Long lift Ladybug up off the ground. "Look at that; she likes you after all!" 

Marinette! 

His cry seemed distant as Kaiser Long's spine hooked on a rib and dragged her closer as she snarled in pain.

"How noble," Kaiser Long mused. "But I must say, this is remarkably poor judgment coming from you." 

"Well…ca-can't always have good ideas…" Ladybug wheezed. Once again, she felt the tug of Kaiser Long pulling on her power, draining her of the little strength she had left. It was a strange feeling; like getting sucked through a straw. As a girl, she and Bridgette had gotten in massive trouble for sucking soda out of straws and spitting them at each other like makeshift water pistols. 

That was the beauty of straws that her parents didn't understand; they flowed both ways. 

Marinette what the hell are you doing?! Chat Noir's voice howled in the back of her mind, already distant and foggy as she fought to maintain consciousness. 

Saving you…

By getting yourself killed?! 

I'm…not dead yet. Ladybug thought, gritting her teeth as she turned her eyes up to meet Kaiser Long's. Her suit was fading fast, her legs vanishing as Kaiser Long drew her power out of her like a vampire. She had one shot at this; failure meant bleeding out while a monster ran unchecked through the city she had just saved. Failure meant that her friends and the children she was trying to protect died. Failure meant that her final chance to prove how sorry she was to Adrien would be for nothing. 

"I can understand having a guilty conscience," Kaiser Long said, drawing her closer to his face. "But was getting impaled… part of your plan ?" 

This close, she could feel his power slithering around in his veins like it did with hers, just barely out of reach. And as her power flowed into his body, she reached out for it, grasping a hold of it with the last of her strength. 

"You're not gonna believe me, but… yeah ." All at once the drain on her energy stopped as something started pulling against Kaiser Long's power. He looked down to see the gloves that had disappeared from Ladybug's fingertips slowly start to reform on her skin as she dragged her power back through his tail…and then kept dragging. 

"How are you-" Ribbons exploded from Ladybug's wrists, winding their way around Kaiser Long's body as her hands grabbed the side of his head. The swell of energy Kaiser Long felt from draining Ladybug had stopped…no, worse. It was going the other way. His muscles began to ache as he struggled in her grip, head spinning as he felt, for the first time, what it was like to be deprived of his power. 

"What is she doing?!" Firebird hissed, looking down at Chat Noir. "Tell her to stop! Ladybug…stop or your mangy stray is-" 

Chat Noir's hand gripped Firebird's wrist, his leg knocking Firebird's out from under her and flipping her hard onto her back. 

"Whatever you're doing, Ladybug, finish it fast!" Chat Noir howled, kneeling on a squirming Firebird. 

"Who…taught you to do this?!' Kaiser Long hissed, watching in horror as the black scaled gauntlets on his arms peeled away, each scale dissolving into gold sparks that became part of Ladybug's growing golden arms. . 

"I've given you corny…melodramatic, idiots enough of my power!" Ladybug said, thumbs pressing against Kaiser Long's temples as two more phantasmal arms shot out of her back. "Time to share ." 

"Kaiser!" Firebird knocked Chat Noir to one side, scrambling to her feet and darting at Ladybug's exposed back, when-

Smash. 

A beautiful, hand-painted terracotta pot with a limp cluster of daisies growing from it smashed into Firebird's head, sending dirt clods and worms raining down on her as another pot shattered against her back. Looking up, she managed to move out of the way of a third pot as Cat Noir hurled two more in her direction. 

"You… little…shit!" The phoenix hissed, flames arcing out from her open hands and crashing against the side of the building.

"She's looking this way, do we have anything heavier down there?!" Cat Noir called back as Chris tossed a lawn chair in his direction. 

"You know what, hold that thought, Ladybug; let me get a snack first!" Firebird hissed, leaping into the air only to feel a green phantom claw snag her around the ankle before she could take flight. 

"Hey, finish your meal first! " Chat Noir snarled, whipping her down with a flick of his phantom claw and pouncing on her before she could recover. This close to Firebird, he could feel her Destructive power pulse under her skin like blood. It felt the same as his…and if she could take from him.-

That's it, minou, Ladybug thought, gritting her teeth as she called to Kaiser Long's power, pulling it inside her through the tips of her fingers. Focus on it! They opened the link between us when they took our power, now use it against them!

"Stop it!" Kaiser Long grunted, fighting against the ribbons that held him tight. Spines erupted from his scales, shredding the ribbons and loosening the bonds, so Ladybug clenched her teeth, and from the tips of her fingers, vines erupted like snakes, biting into Kaiser Long's skin with the tips of hundreds of spiny thorns. 

"I've spent…three years…training in Creation Itself ," Ladybug panted as she slowly felt Kaiser Long's power seep into the vines that wrapped around his wrists " This power… was the air I breathed and the water I swam in… you think it belongs to you ?!" 

Chris leaned over the edge of the building, phone at the ready to capture the shower of sparks that danced from Ladybug's fingers. The power that was robbed from her slowly started to ebb back into her body, mending the wound in her side as Kaiser Long's tail shriveled and broke off. He thrashed in her grip, just as Firebird rained kick after kick against Chat Noir's chest, trying to get him to break his grip. But now that he had his hands on the woman who killed his master, he was not going to let go until he drained her of every last bit of power. 

"You…" Firebird spat, clawing at Chat Noir's neck as she tried to swallow some of her power back. "You think you can just take the power I've worked my whole life for?!" 

“Funny…I thought you would have had more to show for a whole life’s work!” Chat Noir grinned, claw tearing a scarlet trail in Firebird’s forehead and watching as crimson power flowed into his fingertips. “But I’ll take the scraps you have!” 

"Holy shit ," Chris whispered from on top of the roof. "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" 

"It's gonna be the last thing you ever see, idiot!" Manon hissed, tugging at his sleeve. "Get down here!" 

The ground beneath them quaked, rattling the windows and cracking the pavement. The meadow that spring from The Empress' body withered and bloomed over and over again. Hunks of rubble floated off the ground, the sky darkening as Creation and Destruction battled for supremacy. Like two children pulling a rubberband taunt, the thin line that connected their powers held for a brief moment before-

"Chris!" 

Boom. 

A hot flash of light erupted between Kaiser Long and Ladybug, sending both of them flying back as a wave of red light rippled out several blocks. Chris saw it coming a moment too late, taking the energy wave in the chest and flying back against an air conditioning unit. A second later, a glittering green wave exploded from between Firebird and Chat Noir, knocking them both back and sending Manon tumbling into Ladybird and Cat Noir as they tried to catch her. 

"Are you happy now?!" Ladybird hissed, checking Chris over as he blearily opened his eyes. "What were you thinking?!" 

"He…wasn't," Manon groaned, looking up as light arced into the sky. The beam pierced the heavens and for a single moment shadowed the sun. The bare night sky whirled overhead as the city was plunged into darkness. Then the light shattered, and dozens of shooting stars streaked towards every horizon.

As soon as it started, it was over, and the sky faded back to its usual shade of blue. Fearing the worst, Cat Noir scampered to the edge, peering over to see if Ladybug had survived the explosion. 

"Are they okay?" Ladybird asked. Smoke and debris hung in the air until a weak breeze blew through the street. The triumphant whoop of joy from Cat Noir was all the answer Ladybird needed. Scrambling to the edge, she looked down, and as the dust cleared she saw Ladybug standing, surrounded by a halo of glowing arms and crowned with a diadem of starlight that faded into her skin as she clenched her fist in triumph. 

"Jackpot!" Ladybug giggled, feeling the fresh well of power rushing around inside her. "How much did you get?" 

"Oh…enough," Chat Noir chuckled, flames dancing between his fingertips as Firebird wobbled to her feet a dozen or so yards away. Her superhuman grace and agility were gone, replaced by a red-faced, wild-haired, snarling animal that crouched in front of her partner like a tiger ready to leap.

"You… worthless little shits !" Firebird spat, pulling Kaiser Long to his feet. "Y-you…you…stupid…idiot…" 

"Wow, I think this is the first time I've seen you lost for words," Chat Noir said. 

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a lot more tolerable when you're not talking?" Ladybug snickered.  

"You're not dumb enough to think you've actually won anything, are you?!" Firebird demanded, brushing herself off like a cat that had been caught doing something embarrassing. "A few scratches, a little bit of power and, what, you think you have a chance now?!" 

"I'm dumb enough to think anything at least once," Chat Noir chuckled, taking his place next to Ladybug and bracing her unsteady form from behind. 

"You think you've hurt us ?!" Kaiser Long laughed humorlessly. "One dead monster and a tiny bit of power goes straight to your empty heads, doesn't it?! You don't even know how to really hurt us! If you did you wouldn't be so fucking smug right now!”

“Well we’d love any pointers you’d like to give us,” Ladybug said, eyes narrowing. “If you don’t tell us your weak points, we’re just going to have to hit you for longer .” 

“Ha fucking ha!” Firebird spat, knuckles burning hot as her fists clenched. “ Newsflash, idiots; it's going to take a lot more than your little copycat routine to put a dent in our operation! We have bases across the world, thousands of loyal followers, the heads of state of twenty major countries,  and billions of dollars at our disposal! What do you have?!"

Firebird raised her hand, ready to throw a fireball until a strong hand gripped her around the wrist. 

"Oh, I am really not in the mood for-" Whipping around, Firebird's nose booped into a red white and blue chestplate. Even before she looked up and saw the cold glare of the tall blonde woman who held her wrist tightly in her hand, she knew that she had just run nose-to-chest with the one person she had been desperately ducking since she was fifteen. 

"What I have is Majestia’s cell phone number," Chat Noir said, waggling his communicator. " Bonjour, Majestia!" 

"Bon-jer," Majestia drawled, glaring at Firebird as she quickly formulated a plan. 

"...hi," Firebird laughed. "Big fan…I think we got off on the wrong-" 

Like a cobra striking, Majestia's head snapped forward, headbutting Firebird so hard that the cement beneath their feet split. 

" Je nay par-lay pas Fran-say ," Majestia said, cracking her neck as Firebird staggered back against Kaiser Long who seemed torn between caring for her and taking an ill-advised shot at the world's greatest superhero. He didn't have long to ponder his choices as a violet beam ripped over Chat Noir's shoulder, pegging Kaiser Long in the arm as he fought to his feet. 

" Bonjour, mon petit croissants," Uncanny Valley chirped, lowering herself in front of Chat Noir. " Ça va bien?" 

"Bien bien," Chat Noir purred, glancing down at Ladybug. "One of us anyway…" 

Kaiser Long stumbled to his feet, glaring at Ladybug with a look of unrivaled fury mingled with indignation that was almost enough to laugh at. A lumbering series of footsteps announced Bluebird and Monarch's arrival on the back of a gigantic grizzly Sentimonster still chewing on the body of an unfortunate Talon Trooper

"All good here?" Bluebird said, sliding next to Ladybug as Monarch took her stance at Chat Noir's hip. 

" Peachy," Ladybug said, unable to keep the savage grin off her face as Section 13's hoverjet swooped overhead, saluting Fei in the driver's seat as Zoe's electric cannon crackled and hummed, ready to fire down at Kaiser Long below. 

"How did they all get here?" Ladybug asked. "How did they even know that-" 

"I made a few calls," Chat Noir said, looking up to see six more hoverjets descend from the clouds. Like great black birds they circled, forming a wide perimeter around the hollowed out street as they touched down. "Or Plagg did at least…and it looks like a promising turnout. Even the Captain showed up." 

Dozens of men in black suits poured out of the jet, aiming a wide variety of flashy looking weaponry at Firebird and her partner. A woman in her early forties in a long brown coat and black turtleneck sauntered out of the jet, flicking a megaphone on with a static whine. 

"Attention freak-show refugees; we have you so surrounded that your future children will be born with bullets for teeth if you so much as sneeze in a way I don't like!" Captain Chan called as her men leveled their weapons at Firebird. "Please put your hands in the air and I promise your treatment will be humane in ways you totally do not deserve."

" Hey, I just saw some jets fly overhead," Rena Rouge chirped in Ladybug's ear. " What's going on?" 

" Well…Majestia showed up and-" 

" What?!" The line clicked off as Ladybug could almost imagine Rena Rouge sprinting as fast as she could just to catch a glimpse of the American hero. Once again, Kaiser Long and Firebird stood back to back, surveying the forces that had risen against them. Unlike Venice, she could detect no smug confidence in their own abilities; no sure victory to be had. Instead, she could almost see the math going in their heads, eyes flickering from target to target as they tried and failed to find an advantage they could exploit. 

"You heard the lady!" Chat Noir said as Majestia cracked her knuckles. "Unless you want to find out what a serious punch from Majestia feels like, I would do what she says." 

"Or your thousands of followers all over the world can watch you turn tail and run ," Ladybug suggested, winking as Firebird fixed her with her ugliest glare. 

"Ooh, I almost like that better," Chat Noir said, making a shooing motion with his hand. "Why don't you two run away like the spineless snakes you are? Crawl back to whatever rock you call a home and seriously consider if you want to tangle with us ever again." 

Firebird's nostrils flared with each ragged breath, her face slowly turning scarlet with fury. "You piece of-" 

" Wait!" Kaiser Long's hand shot out, grabbing her elbow before she could act on her murderous impulse. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them with Firebird clearly and unhappily losing whatever debate was going on. 

" Soooo is someone gonna tell us what's going on or do we have to guess what that light show was?" Carapace chirped in Chat Noir's ear.

"We won…for now," Chat Noir said, winking as Firebird glared at him. 

Rena Rouge touched down next to Bluebird, raising a finger with a cock of her head in Majestia's direction. "Tell me that's not-" 

"Apparently Chat has her number," Ladybug said. 

"And he didn't tell me?!" Rena Rouge hissed, glaring at Chat Noir.

"You never asked," Chat Noir said. 

"You are such a dick sometimes," Rena Rouge said through a wide smile as Majestia waved in her direction. "God I knew I should have kept up with my English…" 

After a few moments of heated, internal debate, Firebird turned back to Chat Noir with a frustrated snarl. "Okay! Fine! We'll leave. Pat yourself on the back, fleabag; at least I'm not dumb enough to pair up with someone who put a knife in my back!" 

"Well unfortunately for you, I am ," Chat Noir said, resting a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. 

Beside him, Ladybug's fist clenched. "Don't call him dumb ." 

"Oh, sorry, I forgot," Firebird laughed, growing less and less composed by the moment. "That's your job, isn't it? I'm sure you're just thrilled to have your useful idiot back on a leash, aren't you?" 

"Don't call him an idiot," Ladybug said, her voice tensing like a bow about to fire. 

"So if I'm an idiot and you got outsmarted by me…doesn't that make you dumber than an idiot?" Chat Noir snickered. 

"Oh, sure; yuk it up, furbait," Firebird spat. "Let's see how cocky you next time I get my hands on you; maybe then you'll have enough brain cells to rub together to realize that-" 

What happened next was something of a blur. 

One moment, Ladybug felt a heavy golden ball materialize in a flash of light, landing in her open palm. The next thing she remembered was Firebird's head jerking back as the ball cracked her in the nose so hard that she flew backwards a few feet and nearly knocked Kaiser Long over. The way Rena Rouge, Chat Noir, and even Majestia were looking at her, eyes wide and mouths agape, suggested that she had been the one to break Firebird's nose. But all Ladybug could recall was a wave of red hot anger washing over her and an overwhelming urge to close Firebird's mouth at all costs. 

"Either you're going to shut up or you're going to run out of teeth for me to knock out!" Ladybug snapped, her phantom arms spinning golden balls in their palms as Firebird clenched her jaw in shock and fury. "And at this point, I could go either way!" 

Channeling divine wrath was like snapping her fingers or learning to whistle; a little hard to nail at first, but once she knew how to move her body, flex her muscles, and glare with the heat of a newborn star, it was easy. Firebird might have been standing, but any lesser being might have been totally smitten in the classic definition of the word. 

Flames danced from Firebird's mouth as Kaiser Long's grip on her elbow tightened. "You are… so lucky he is here to stop me," she said in a terrifyingly quiet voice as a flaming portal opened behind her. 

"Come alone next time; see if you do any better," Ladybug sneered, holding Firebird's gaze as Kaiser Long insistently pulled her towards the portal. 

"Wait!" A glowing green bubble popped over the portal, but Carapace had arrived a split second too late. Majestia crashed into the barrier as she rushed to stop them, buying Kaiser Long and Firebird enough time to vanish just as quickly as she came. 

"Is that it?" Rena Rouge asked, looking to Ladybug who seemed a little too wobbly for her liking. "Hey, are you okay?" 

"Yeah!" Ladybug said, stretching as she stepped away from Chat Noir's grip. "I feel gr-" 

To her credit, she made it a few steps before she collapsed. After fighting for hours without rest, Ladybug's knees finally gave out, head spinning as the wound in her side ached all the more intensely. Something (someone) must've caught her before she hit the ground; even if her head was foggy and her vision was swimming, she could feel someone's arm wind around her waist to keep from crashing to the ground. Someone yelled something to someone and Majestia's face paled as she turned to look at her, but Ladybug was simply too tired to care. She slumped over as Chat Noir wound his scarf around her waist and bundled her into his arms. 

Marinette, stay with me! He sounded so earnest, even as the air split and his portal carried her far away from the ruined streets, somewhere high above the battlefield. 

"I'm…I'm with you…" Ladybug panted, stomach lurching as the scarf pressed into the open wound. A burning, itching sensation spread through the gash in her side, and looking down she saw the emerald scarf sodden with blood and inky black venom. 

"I'll stay…" Ladybug muttered, her face pale and cold as she reached up for him. "If you want me to…"

Rena Rouge arrived on the rooftop just as her vision started stabilizing again, and for the first time in nearly four years, she saw the two great loves of her life crowded around her, cradling her head as she found her neck supported in Chat Noir's lap. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Rena Rouge demanded, brushing her hair out of her face. "Quick, get Ladybird; maybe she-" 

"No…need…" Ladybug coughed, pressing her hand against her tender side and pulsing a little power through her fingertips and into her wound. "Kaiser Long can't kill me with this…it's from me, after all." 

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Chat Noir demanded, an irritated scowl undercut by the drop of water that landed on Ladybug's cheek. "You had no idea that would work!" 

"I don't know everything …" Ladybug coughed, fighting down another wave of nausea as she clutched her stomach. "I guess sometimes." 

" Sometimes?!" 

"A lot of the time…" Ladybug admitted. "Look…I had a hunch." 

"You have brainworms, if you think that was a good idea !" Rena Rouge snapped

"Oh god, not so loud!" Ladybug shuddered, rolling her head to one side. "I feel like I have the worst hangover in the world right now…" 

It was hard to believe that the moaning, shivering bundle in his lap had not twenty minutes ago punched a snake so hard it turned into flowers and drained the lifeforce out of Kaiser Long on a hunch. Hard, at least, until Chat Noir remembered that marrying beauty with barely restrained disaster was part of what drew him to Marinette in the first place. 

"Then why did you do it?" Chat Noir sighed, tightening the scarf around her wound protectively. Her head lolled to the side, noticing for the first time that they were nestled against the corner of an air conditioning unit on a building overlooking the street below. Ladybird and Cat Noir could be seen across the street on another roof, pulling Chris and Manon to their feet. She could barely make out what was being said over Carapace's worried scolding, but her eyes lingered on Ladybird as she reached for her partner's hand, fingers fumbling down his wrist until they threaded through his. It was almost automatic the way she used to cling to him for support, even if she didn't realize just how much his presence meant to her at the time. 

"...I wanted one ," Ladybug admitted, looking back up at Chat Noir as she extended her finger. "Just one."  

"One what?" Rena Rouge asked, glancing between Ladybug and Chat Noir. The look of perfect recognition on Chat Noir's face made Rena Rouge feel like she was suddenly and uncomfortably out of place in a very intimate conversation. 

"Actually, I need to, uh…check on the kids," Rena Rouge said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder as she backed away. "Come find me when you're done with…well, when you're done." 

Rena Rouge felt a hand grasp at her coat-tail as she turned to go. 

"You don't have to," Ladybug said, almost worried that she might not come back if she left now. "We can-" 

Rena Rouge bent down and gently untangled Ladybug's fingers before giving her hand a soft squeeze. " We can talk later…I think you have something to say to him first." 

Rena Rouge pulled back, sparing one last glance over her shoulder before hopping across the roof, leaving the pair alone with the elephant in the room. Somehow, every private moment between the two of them had become a minefield that made Marinette wary of every step she took. Like a frightened doe, she worried that one wrong shift of her hips might send Chat Noir bolting. 

"You wanted… one ," Chat Noir sighed. " Marinette-" 

"You said I would never do for you what you did for me," Ladybug said, pushing herself upright. "When you were yelling at Cat Noir. You said…I wouldn't put my life on the line for you…not once…well that's one ." 

"Don't listen to me; I barely know what I'm talking about most of the time," Chat Noir sighed, grabbing her shoulders. "I don't need you to die for me-"

"I wasn't going to die," Ladybug said, before adding. "...probably." 

" Probably is not good enough!" 

"It was all we had to go on-" 

"You just wanted to add a notch to your Died for the Cause Belt!" Chat Noir snapped. "And there is no reward for that; if there was, I would have cashed it in already!"

"Well what do you want from me then?!" Ladybug's voice rang off the walls of the buildings that surrounded them, surprising her with how loud her frustrated cry was. "What…what do you want from me, Adrien. Did you want me to stand there and watch you get stabbed in front of me again? Because that… that is not going to happen again. Not if I can stop it." 

"So this is, what, make-up?" Chat Noir huffed. " Dying doesn't make things even between us and I never wanted that in the first place! I just-" 

-wanted to feel like I meant something to you. 

Chat Noir's mind raced ahead, even as his mouth snapped shut, but Ladybug was close enough that she heard it. Or rather, she felt it; for a brief moment before Chat Noir withdrew from her, she felt the shame that came with trying so hard for someone who threw her away. For a moment, she could see herself in his shoes, reaching out for the hand that once held hers as it ripped the ring from her finger. 

Ladybug was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what she could say to fill the void she stood in front of. There was a crack in his heart that she had hoped to fill one day, only to find that he had healed it as best he could by himself. He had filled its cracks with iron and bundled it in armor to keep her or anyone else from damaging it while he tried to make it beat again. So why would he rip that all away and let her tend to him like she wanted to? Why was the central question; just why would anyone give her another chance? It was a question she had struggled with for years on her own, grasping at hypothetical solutions that didn't seem to stick. Maybe it was time to ask for a little help. 

"...you feel like nothing you did mattered," Ladybug muttered, looking down into their laps. "That everything we had…everything we did together was a mistake? That I never really cared about you…is that it?" 

Chat Noir pressed his lips together. "...how else am I supposed to feel?" 

Ladybug laughed bitterly. "No, that's…pretty much what any reasonable person would think. I pretty much told you as much during our fight, didn't I?" 

You treated me as much, Chat Noir thought, flinching for a second as a stray thought slipped past his carefully constructed exterior. 

"I did," Ladybug mumbled. "I hurt you…lied to you…kept you in the dark and tried everything in my power to undo you. And I failed…I failed at every turn. I sank down to Hawk Moth's level to try and get myself out of a situation I didn't see any other way out of." 

"There was another way…" Chat Noir gently reminded her. "But I guess that wasn't appealing, was it?" 

"Just two bad choices…well, a bad choice and an even worse choice." 

"Should have known you would have picked the overachiever option," Chat Noir chuckled, chewing on the corner of his lip. "And here we are." 

She could feel something building up in him; the way his lips moved just like Adrien's when he was trying to find the "right" words to say. 

"I didn't want to be here ," Ladybug admitted. 

"Where did you want to be?" Chat Noir asked. "Where was…what was this pie in the sky endgame you thought you were going to get? Did you even think of-" 

Chat Noir trailed off, but Ladybug didn't have to read his thoughts to figure out where it was headed. "...did I ever think about Chat Noir?" 

Chat Noir nodded, his eyes trained on a patch of concrete off to the side of the roof to avoid looking her in the eye. All she could see was the lone, flickering eye of the hero; how grim the world must look through such a thing. 

"You know...I don't remember a lot of our relationship," Ladybug admitted after a moment. 

"Really?" Chat Noir snorted. "Four years and-" 

"Not our relationship…our relationship ," Ladybug said, glancing down at his hand still curled protectively around her side. As Adrien and Marinette. 

"Oh…yeah, that ," Chat Noir mumbled. "I mean…it was three months anyway, so-" 

"Chat please let me finish," Ladybug said, fighting nausea, a headache, and the growing sense of dread that she was too late to say anything that mattered to him. "For three months, I laid awake either trying to figure out a way to stop you…or figure out a way to make things right. For three months, a frankly terrible human being exaggerated every minor flaw and rift in our relationship for his personal gain…and I stood back and helped him . But that doesn't mean I didn't think about you . I remember just bailing out on our first date-date because I couldn't stop thinking about…you."

Visions of black and green flitted across her visions every time she closed her eyes. Not a cat in London failed to trigger an ache of nostalgia every time she walked past it. The most ironic thing was that, in trying to claw her way out of her superhero life, she burned it into herself; made it part of her like the scar tissue forming on her side. Ladybug was never going away and where Ladybug went, Chat Noir followed. Even if he hated her, there would always be a cavernous corner of her heart reserved for them; for the boy who had unwittingly been her greatest friend and companion twice over for years. 

"I did think of you," Ladybug admitted. "Constantly; not always in the best light, I know…and the way I treated you probably gives you more than enough reason to doubt that. I've tried for years to put myself in your shoes and come up with something that could start to make this right…but-" 

With that hole in her heart came the cold, yawning emptiness and dread that what she had done might be completely unforgivable, even to someone like Adrien. Every spare moment seemed to be devoted to trying to solve the Reconciliation Puzzle, searching for the one thing that would help mend the gap between them, but-

"...I can't," Ladybug admitted, tears stinging her eyes as her gaze dropped to her lap, the silence between them seeming more and more permanent the longer it went on. "A-And I'm scared that there's nothing I can even say or do anymore to give you a reason to trust me again. I can't say sorry anymore…it doesn't mean anything coming from me. I can't even die for you…not that I want to, but I would . And the fact that you would never ask me to do that just makes it worse !" 

Chat Noir was silent, watching her rub her eyes with the back of her hand. For years, he had seen her down, despondent, and deflated, but never quite so defeated. The prospect of rising to her feet and soldiering on without him seemed to keep her glued to her lap, hands folded deliberately in her lap as though she didn't even know if she could touch him. 

"I don't have any right to ask you to be my partner anymore…" Ladybug sniffed. "Or my friend…or anything else. Even though that's the only thing I want. Not freedom…not romance…just-." 

"Ladybug…" Chat Noir took a deep breath, leaning his head back and looking up at the sky. "That's dumb."

In spite of herself, Ladybug laughed, chancing a look up to find Chat Noir looking at her with both eyes. The phantom eye stared at her as it always did, but from the human eye, a line of tears ran down his mask and dripped off the corner of his nose. 

"Still trying to solve everything yourself," Chat Noir sniffed. "You haven't learned anything yet, have you?" 

Bewildered at this sudden turn of events, Ladybug was completely at a loss for words. Thankfully, that was a problem that Chat Noir rarely experienced. 

"We could have solved Hawk Moth together ," Chat Noir said firmly. "But we didn't…maybe we could have gotten there, but at that point I wasn't listening-" 

"Because I was talking nonsense, Adrien," Ladybug insisted. 

"Yeah…but maybe if we talked long enough you would have started making sense again," Chat Noir said. "The point is that if this was something you could figure out by yourself, you would have figured it out already. All this time thinking and plotting and mulling it over…did you ever think to ask me?" 

"I…I didn't think you wanted to speak to me," Ladybug said quietly. 

"I didn't," Chat Noir admitted. 

"... past-tense?" Ladybug asked hopefully. 

Chat Noir squirmed beneath her, picking his brain for the right words to say. "I think I might have you beat where idiocy is concerned; it takes a special kind of dummy to recognize a terrible idea and then go and copy it expecting a different result…I tried to put myself beyond you for years. Tried to be so far ahead of you that if you decided to catch up someday, you wouldn't be close enough to hurt me again…but I carried you with me too. And not Marinette my friend…not Ladybug my partner. Your whole being collapsed into the last three months of our partnership when it was always so much…more than that." 

There was a great tapestry of history that stretched back before Marinette learned Hawk Moth's identity; years of shared struggles, countless highs and lows, and more close calls than either of them deserved. It had come to an abrupt end and even if they started weaving it again, it would always be split in two with an ugly burned mark dividing the middle of it. 

"So…what can I do then?" Ladybug asked. "I need help, Chat…tell me what I can do and I will do it ; happily, gladly, and for as long as I need to. I don't expect you to ever love-" 

Ladybug swallowed heavily. "...I don't expect you to love me…or like me…or tolerate me. But just work with me…we saved the world once-" 

" Once ?" 

"-a week," Ladybug chuckled. "Sometimes more than that…but if we're going to do it again, it has to be we . It can't just be me because I can't do it without you…I never could." 

Hesitantly, she raised a clenched fist off her lap, extending it warily between them as a gesture of peace. He seemed to consider it for a long moment, glancing between her eyes and the fist hovering between them. 

Please, Ladybug thought, praying that he wouldn't just slap her hand away and-

Like a cat batting a fly away, his hand brushed hers away. Ladybug, for once, did not have time to worry about what he was thinking as his arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. 

Breath left Ladybug's body in a sob of surprise that turned into relief as she felt crushed against the soft fabric of his jacket. There was a dull, throbbing pain in her side but it felt so far away as her hands reached up, gripping the back of his jacket and pulling him so close that she was worried her tender wound would open again. Ladybug was very thankful for her newfound ability to telepathically communicate with her partner because her words were a watery, warbling mess punctuated by sobbing into his shoulder, completely incoherent except for their sincerity. 

This can't be it, Ladybug thought, teeth grinding together as she tried to preserve what remained of her dignity as she snotted all over Chat Noir's jacket. This can't be all it takes…

Probably isn't, Chat Noir admitted, his throat clenching as he tugged Ladybug closer. It's a start though…

I didn't want it to be like this, Ladybug thought. I wanted to give you more than just a soggy apology…you deserve more than that. 

"I… deserve to make up my own damn mind about what I want," Chat Noir said firmly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. "I think I've earned that." 

"...you shouldn't have had to earn it," Ladybug sniffed. "I'm sorry I-I took that from you. I'm sorry I lied…I'm sorry I…I…" 

Words, again, proved to be too clumsy and inefficient to be bothered with, and as Ladybug returned to using Chat Noir's scarf like a tissue, a small shoot of grass sprouted from the cracks in the flagstones between them. Oblivious to everything except the messy, half-coherent conversation that flowed between them, they didn't hear the trill of birds or notice how every cloud in the sky fought to get out of the way of the sun so that it could shine down on them again. 

They didn't see the flowers that bloomed under their feet until they moved and it would be a long time before they wanted to be anywhere but exactly where they were.

Notes:

This feels really weird to post.

I've been thinking about this for YEARS and somehow it...doesn't feel like I thought it would. Maybe it never would; I think the biggest flaw I have as a writer is trying to make my finished product the same as the most perfect image I have in my head. It's frustrating for me to not be able to convey my ideas in a way that make me happy and I think that's a big part of why this has taken so long. I still WANT perfection, even if I know that's unreasonable to suggest.

I guess I just want to write like I used to. I want to write shit that makes me happy again instead of a soggy, miserable pair struggling through pain and betrayal. Writing the humorous parts of this chapter was like breathing again and I hope to keep momentum going now that I don't have to sort out the mess I made.

Thank you for keeping faith in this story. If you're reading right now, you have believed in this story more than I have at some points and honestly I can't thank you enough for getting me here. I appreciate every comment I read, every kudos I get, every person who says they've enjoyed something I've written.

Thank you for showing me how to believe in this story and I hope you enjoy what comes next.

...also this was un'beta'd because I CANNOT LOOK AT THIS SHIT ANYMORE! I JUST CANNOT WRITE ANY MORE ANGST I DO NOT HAVE IT IN ME-

Chapter 27: Interlude: The Scorpion and the Toad

"Was it all worth it?"

Sabrina glanced in the rearview mirror, studying Andre's downcast expression as the squad car wound its way through Paris' streets. He was a sickly, pale shell of a man that he used to be, weighed down by regret and his own poor choices. Even prison couldn't offer any more punishment than he was already experiencing; hated by everyone, especially his family. 

"You used to run this town, M. Bourgeois," Sabrina sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she turned down a side street. "Why would you give it all up?" 

"I…thought I could do something meaningful," Andre said, his face pressed against the glass. "Something that might help my daughter survive what comes…next…but I suppose that was stupid." 

“Well…you said it, not me.” Sabrina chuckled. 

Sabrina could see Andre frown in confusion as the car pulled down a side street into an alleyway. "Where are we going?" 

"We need to keep you off the main roads," Sabrina said, her hand tightening on the wheel. "Your employers are probably looking for you; we've got a couple of squad cars trying to throw them off your trail until we can get you to safety." 

"Safe…" Andre shook his head. "There's no safety…not from them . Wherever I am, no matter how far I run, they'll find me. Even if they don't, we don't have that much time left…the world is doomed, Sabrina. If it's not climate change or nuclear war the hatred that humanity pours into the world will destroy it before long." 

"And you thought you could make a deal with the bad guys to try and save your skin," Sabrina clucked. "Can't say I'm surprised…I really didn't expect anything more out of you, Andre ." 

Something about the way she said his name made Andre's skin prickle; he was used to being spoken to with contempt by his peers but he had never heard Sabrina talk to him that way. Ever since she was a girl, she seemed to have a quiet, docile quality to her, even as a police officer. 

"What would you have done then?" Andre asked, stiffening in his seat as the car turned into a parking garage that wound its way under the street. The headlights spilled over rows of empty cars before landing on a terrifyingly familiar sight. Kaiser Long stood in the middle of the underground parking garage, arms crossed and green eyes glowering at the police car as it skidded to a stop. 

"What…what's he doing here?" Sabrina said, her face placid and unchanging despite the note of theatrical fear that crept into her voice. "D-Dispatch, I have eyes on one of the criminals that attacked the city. Send back up to-" 

Andre watched as Sabrina unholstered her weapon and fired two shots through her own windshield. 

"Ahh!" She screamed, her expression betraying none of the fear in her voice. "Sh-Shots fired…I'm under attack…repeat, I am under-" 

The muzzle of her pistol pressed against her radio and with a sharp bang the console erupted into a shower of sparks. 

"...who are you?" Andre asked, tugging frantically at his cuffs only to fall to his side as Sabrina pressed a button that disengaged his restraints. 

"Someone who wants to make a difference," Sabrina said, flicking a switch and unlocking the back door. "Why do you think I joined the police force in the first place?" 

Andre stared at the young woman he had known for most of his life, trying to find some hint of the girl his daughter used to be friends with in her placid, almost mocking smirk. "Go on…your boss is waiting." 

Somehow being trapped in a car with an armed police officer seemed like a safer option. But if Kaiser Long wanted to speak to him, there was nothing Sabrina could do to stop him, if she even wanted to. Trembling, Andre slowly got out of the car, straightening his tie as he shut the door behind him. He might not have lived as proper a life as he wished he could, but there was time enough to do what he could to preserve his dignity, even as a dragon waited to devour him. 

"So…anything to say for yourself?" Kaiser Long asked, features marred by a deep scowl. "Your little crisis of conscience could have cost us a chance at victory. You had Queen Bee in the palm of your hand-" 

"And your monster nearly killed her," Andre snapped. "We had a deal !" 

"And how many deals have you reneged on over the years, Andre?" Kaiser Long said. "Treachery is part and parcel with being a politician; there's far more blood on your hands than mine…at least, for the moment." 

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Andre laughed, jabbing his finger in Kaiser Long's direction. "I'm done. I don't know if you expected me to thank you for springing me out of prison, but I don't care; I want nothing to do with your little scheme anymore." 

“You think I’m here to rescue you?” Kaiser Long raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me…I think you misunderstood the purpose of this meeting." 

Bang. 

Andre's ears rang as the gunshot reverberated off the walls, setting off a symphony of car alarms. Blinking, he touched the center of his chest, head already swimming as he saw his fingers streaked with blood. Turning around, he saw Sabrina holding a smoking revolver, a pitying smile on her face. 

"Sorry, Andre," Sabrina said, cocking her revolver again. "It's in my nature." 

---

Bang.  The door to the townhouse swung shut as Nino stepped through the threshold. He kicked his boots off and quickly noticed a familiar pair of black and yellow boots next to Alya’s by the front door. 

So much for date night, Nino thought, tossing his shoes in the basket. With a million and one things on her mind, it wasn’t unusual for Alya to get distracted and forget they had dinner plans, only to fly into an absolute flurry of apologetic text messages when she realized. It was understandable but then again so were root canals. Understanding didn’t make it suck any less when it happened. Still, Nino didn’t quite have it in him to make a whole deal out of this; not when he had a chance to finally relax after three days of being put through a transcontinental wringer. 

“Yo?” Nino called into the empty house. “Alya?” 

“Hmm…maybe something came up?” Wayzz yawned, floating out of his hoodie in search of something green to stuff his face with. 

“Maybe…go take a powder, little guy,” Nino said, giving the kwami a little shove through the air. “You’ve more than earned it.” 

A warm, cinnamon perfume tickled his nose as he went looking through the house. At first he wondered if she was too busy canoodling with Chloe in their bedroom to come out and greet him, but a quick check inside only revealed an envelope on the foot of the bed. His stomach plummeted, wondering if this was finally the letter he had been dreading since she nervously approached him about her less than monogamous leanings. He had privately feared that she would up and leave him one day and that their little open relationship was just her way of easing herself out of a high-school romance. Sighing, he carefully pried the envelope open and scanned the letter inside. 

Behind you~

Three days of being on high alert made Nino whip around, expecting to see yet another asshole enemy prepared to take his head off. What he saw was no less shocking. 

“Hey,” Alya said, anxiously leaning on the doorframe as her boyfriend drank in the sight with increasingly widening eyes. Alya’s usual idea of lingerie was a tank-top and boy-shorts. Not that she needed it in his opinion, but Nino couldn’t remember ever seeing her in so much sheer cloth and lace trim. Her hair fell around her bare shoulders in deliberately coiffed curls and the smokey orange eyeshadow made her look distinctly vulpine even in her human form. 

“Heyyyyyyyy,” Nino said, head drifting to one side. “Thought you had canceled on me but…man, I love being wrong.” 

“I think I’ve cashed in enough IOU’s for the year,” Alya chuckled, shoulders bumping against the door as Nino’s hand slid up her bare side. “I…wanted to do something nice for you. For being…well…” 

For someone with such a command of the French language, Alya could be tremendously thick-tongued when talking about her own feelings. It was hard to describe how she felt about the feeling of her own heartbeat; something so vital to her and yet something that drifted in the back of her consciousness most days. There were days where she took him for granted as much as her next breath, only because the idea of not breathing seemed so fatal and final. Still, Nino was not hers; he didn’t exist just to make her happy, even though he found ways to do so without even trying. 

“I can see the cogs in your brain spinning, foxy,” Nino chuckled, grinning as he felt her cheek heat up under his brief kiss. “I can fix that for you.” 

“I know you can,” Alya chuckled, pressing her palm against his chest. “But I need them to spin long enough to tell you that these past three days…well, these past three months…well-” 

Alya laughed, squirming away as Nino’s mouth turned its attention to her neck. “Come on; let me finish!” 

“You know I always ‘let you finish’.” 

“God, I knew I should have waited to show you this,” Alya said, squeaking as she felt his arms slide under her bare thighs and push her up against the wall. “Can I use my mouth for something before you totally lay claim to it?” 

“I didn’t think it was just mine to claim these days,” Nino said before he could stop himself. Immediately he kicked himself for even bringing it up, spoiling what was shaping up to be a perfectly great evening. “Sorry…I didn’t mean to-” 

“No,” Alya said, cupping his cheek and turning his head back to her. “Baby, I am not gonna be blown apart because you have feelings about me and Chloe…I know I dropped a huge mess into your lap that you didn’t even ask for and you have been so good. But you matter in this just as much as I do; this isn’t the Alya Cesaire Show. You don't…you don't have to put up with me, you know." 

It was easy, in uncharitable moments when his girlfriend was on a date across town, to think of Alya as the mastermind of their relationship. It hadn't occurred to him that, despite being the one to suggest their relationship take a turn for the blonde, she might be just as worried about losing him . 

"I…I know I'm a lot to handle sometimes," Alya mumbled. "I feel like anybody less patient would have gotten sick of missed dates and extra girlfriends already…and if you are sick of it, I…I wouldn't want to keep you from finding someone who could make you happi- mmph!" 

Apparently her mouth had done enough work. Maybe it was just battle nerves being blown off but Nino kissed her like he hadn't in a long, long time. Something about surviving an aborted end of the world must've triggered something needy and primal inside him but Alya was thankful that he wasn't on his way out the door. 

"You are a total handful," Nino breathed against her mouth as his fingers dug into the back of her thighs. "But I'm not done with you, Alya; not by a long shot." 

This man, Alya thought, pushing Nino's face away before he could completely make her lose her focus. "That's good…Chloe felt a little guilty about taking up so much of my time, so she wanted to help do something special." 

" Chloe feels bad?" Nino chuckled. "Man…our little bug is all grown up, isn't she?" 

"She's… something," Alya chuckled. "Drives me absolutely crazy sometimes though…I guess this is how you feel, huh?" 

"You two are completely different brands of crazy," Nino said, as a rational thought somehow penetrated his brain in between thoughts of Alya's flimsy bra pressing against his chest. "Hey…didn't I see her shoes by the door?" 

"Hmm…did you?" Alya asked, heads tilting to one side. The more she grew in power, the more she seemed to enjoy finding ways to play tricks on people around her. And judging by the look on her face, Nino had walked right into another one of her traps. 

" Ahem ~" 

If the sight of Alya primped and swaddled in lingerie was surprising, turning around to see Chloe dressed in a black and yellow babydoll was almost enough to kill him on the spot. Like Alya, her loose hair swished about her neck and shoulders as she unceremoniously slid between his body and Alya's. 

"What about our surprise ?" Alya chuckled, wrapping her arms around Chloe's waist. 

"I got bored ," Chloe pouted, fingers tracing Nino's waistband as he struggled to find something intelligent to say. 

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Clearly, he was not all that successful. 

"What?" Chloe said, her finger trailing up his bare chest curiously. "Didn't I say I needed your help with an…experiment?" 

"This…this isn't an illusion, is it?" Nino asked. As if to dispel his doubts, Alya took his hand and gently laid it on Chloe's hip. 

"Chloe has something she'd like to talk to you about," Alya said, laying her hand on top of Nino's. 

"But first…I really, really need to thank you for being the best partner a bug could ask for," Chloe said, leaning up and brushing her lips against the underside of his jaw. His pulse jumped, eyes seeking Alya's for some kind of sign of disapproval only to find her watching Chloe with her lip caught between her teeth. 

"Y-You sure?" Nino asked, not sure who exactly he was directing the question at as both women pushed him gently backwards towards the bed. 

"The better question is, are you ?" Alya chuckled, pushing down on top of her boyfriend and kicking the door closed.

Notes:

Hiiii there

So if you haven't noticed, it's been a while.

Been a crazyish summer for me where I'm both going through a lot and also dealing with family/career shifts. On top of that, I am so burnt out on Miraculous Ladybug after writing excess of 1Mil words for this. I have the bulk of the last chapter written but I wanted to cut you off a slice in case it's a while before I finish this bit. My running P5 fic seems to be unclogging some writer's block but thank you all for being patient with me.

Also if this was the second time I've swerved you with a Sabrina surprise reveal, you gotta post below.

Notes:

And so begins Act 2.

For fans who are just stumbling on this fic, welcome! You definitely need to go back and read Truth and Consequences first or be woefully lost! Go ahead; I'll be here for you to yell at when you get back.

For returning readers, welcome back! I am raring and roaring to get back into this verse. Truth be told, T&C was a necessary evil to set up this story. I've had scenes bouncing around my head for at least a year and I am pumped to get to writing them.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Miraculous Ladybug: Rift Wars