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Episode 1

Temporal Fabric

Meanwhile, outside the classroom...

A girl walks by, holding a large stack of textbooks. She has to study for her exams, and is seriously pressed for time. A passing student accidentally steps on her shoelace and the girl falls. Just as she's getting up, however, our student notices that a small paper airplane somehow found its way inside one of her books. She picks it up... And hears a voice.

'
Temporal Fabric,

I

am the Falcon Writer. I can give you the powers that you desire-to alter time at your whim, to make some

more

for

yourself

...but in return, I need you to do something for me...
'

Lyra Singh smiled. Why not take up his offer? After all, he couldn't be asking for much…and making some more time for herself would be the best thing that could happen to her. After being overwhelmed with examinations for well over a month, Lyra was about to reach her breaking point. The information overload was already getting to her, causing her to blurt out random pieces of data at the slightest whiff of a question.

'

You’ve got yourself a deal, Falcon Writer.

' Lyra got up from the floor and unfolded the mysterious airplane. There was some writing inside…but she didn't get a chance to read it.

The piece of paper flew out of her hands and split into a million pieces, until there was nothing left but a fine dust. She watched in awe as the little pieces of paper started swirling around her, enveloping her until she couldn't see the outside world…and then disappearing.

Lyra looked down. Had her clothes changed? It certainly seemed they had. Her old knitted sweater was gone, replaced by a pink knee - length dress with two white vertical lines running along the front and back of it. Her shoes had been made into simple white moccasins. And… was she wearing glasses? The whole world seemed pink. Why so much pink? She didn't like it much. But whatever, Falcon had given her the power to achieve her goals, and she was not going to let them go to waste over a simple costume. The villain picked a book up from the floor and opened it.

Instantly, Falcon’s voice boomed through her mind again.

'
Precisely, Temporal Fabric. I see you want to get rid of those who have wronged you. Very well. This book and I will aid you in your endeavour. All I ask for in return is a wristwatch, but not

any

wristwatch. I'll inform you more when the time comes. Now go, Temporal Fabric, and have your revenge!'

She laughed, kicking open the door to the nearest classroom, where a chemistry lesson was taking place. It was strange. She had always been legendarily clumsy, but when she ripped a page off of her book and threw it at a student, causing him to freeze in place, she did so with untold fluidity. Apparently, Falcon had given her more than just time-pausing powers.

Of course, most of the students immediately started panicking, but Lyra was more interested in those who didn't. Within a minute, the classroom was littered with the paralyzed bodies of over a dozen students and one teacher, even though some had managed to escape by the window. She contemplated going after them, but then remembered that she had an entire school to enact her revenge on. After everyone was frozen,

then

she'd have some more time for herself. For all Temporal Fabric cared, she could leave them there forever and nobody would ever be able to do anything about it.

She went back into the hallway and into another classroom…

And the next one…

And the next one…

And the next one.
Brian cursed his luck, cursed the villain, cursed everything. The moment he had tried to

speak

to those two guys, this...supervillain had kicked the door in and started freezing everyone in place.

Oh well. At least he and a few others had managed to escape. They were now standing in a cold, narrow alley under the grey sky. They had been waiting there for about five minutes, trying to regain their breath, and it wasn't long before they stopped hearing screams from the school.

One of them, a smallish girl with glasses, tried to rush back into the building, but one of the boys, a huge one with brown hair, held her back.

'It's no use, Sabrina.' He said. 'Don’t worry, she… she'll be fine.'

Brian watched as he led her to the rest of the group, who were talking in hushed tones about what had just happened. He wondered who in the class the boy could possibly be referring to. Hadn't she been sitting next to a girl, a blonde one dressed in extremely expensive clothing? If  she had, then that was probably the friend that the boy was referring to. Brian wondered who she was.

He quickly studied the people ahead of him. There weren't many, but at least they'd managed to get away. The group of five had already formed a circle amid the alley, so Brian had to either stay out and listen, or try to break in.

He chose the latter. Brian purposely coughed into his elbow, then raised an eyebrow when everybody turned to face him.

'Can anyone

please

tell me what's going on?' He said.  'The name’s Brian Hawke, pleased to meet you.' He offered one of them, the small girl with glasses, a handshake. She took it, although a bit weakly. Brian noted that for later.

He also had no idea who they were. The best he could do was some familiarity with two of them, the boy and girl he'd been about to talk to. He had seen them somewhere, he was sure, but it'd been such a long time…

One by one, he said hello to the rest of them.

'Kim here.'

He's rather big.

'Alya, amateur reporter and creator of the

Ladyblog

, pleased to meet you.'

The

what

?

'My name is Adrien, Brian.'

So, his name is Adrien. I'll keep that in mind…

'Marinette here. Have we met?'

Interesting. She appears to be rather inquisitive. Noted.

The girl whose hand he had shaken first turned out to be named Sabrina. She looked somewhat lost…Whether it was because her friend hadn't managed to escape or because she was simply stunned, Brian did not know.

'So…um…shouldn't we call the police...or something?'  He asked.

'Pfft, the

police.

' The girl named Alya scoffed as she dug out a phone from her pocket. 'Don't worry Brian, Ladybug and Chat Noir will sort out this mess.'

'Yeah, about that…' The one named Marinette said. 'I don't… think I want to be around when those two show up...I'm...um…heading home! See you later!' She turned around to leave, blushing as the one called Adrien told her to take care of herself.

After another five minutes, the only ones remaining were Brian and Alya. Adrien had excused himself soon after Marinette had left, and both Kim and Sabrina had followed suit seconds later. Brian decided to try to get some information out of Alya. Maybe supervillain attacks were common in London after all.

'So...um...Alya...Who’s this Ladybug you were talking about?' He asked.

She looked at him as if he were an alien.

'You

really

don't know who

Ladybug

is?' She sounded genuinely surprised.

'Nope.' He answered. It was the truth, after all. Yes, the name

did

sound familiar, but…

'Anyway...Alya...I have to go to…um…

the library

. Take care of yourself, okay? I'll look up that '

Ladyblog

' of yours, promise.'

'You'd better do so. You really can't live in London without knowing who Ladybug and Chat Noir are! I mean, yes, technically you could, but where would the fun be in that?' She said as she started filming the school building, describing exactly what had happened. Brian said goodbye to her and quietly slid out of sight and into Fitzjohn’s Avenue.

He was nervous. He

had

a plan, but his fighting skills were a bit rusty. After all, it had been so long…

He decided to give it a shot anyway. He couldn’t let that villain get away with freezing everyone in time!

He sneaked into a nearby construction site and looked around. Deserted. Either nobody had shown up or they had been evacuated. Both were fine with him. He didn't want to get caught, that's for sure.

He pulled up his left sleeve. Yep, his watch was still there. The digital display lit up as he looked at it, showing him the time and weather forecast of the place he was currently in.

London, 2 C°, cloudy, 23/11/23.

He took one last look around him. Still empty.  Brian took a deep breath...

'Fox Warrior,

on me!'

'So much for a chemistry lesson' Marinette Dupain-Cheng said to no one in particular after sneaking out of sight. She looked around and opened her bag.

From inside came Tikki’s best imitation of Adrien. 'Take care of yourself, Marinette,' her kwami said, giggling.

Marinette laughed, too. She looked over her shoulder and back into the school’s courtyard, where Alya was still filming. She could hear her friend's voice, albeit faintly.

'...And as I said, this female villain appears to have the power to freeze people in time. Nothing that Ladybug and Chat Noir can't handle!'

She apparently trusted an awful lot in them, the girl thought. Of course, she had her reasons. They had been protecting the city of London for what, two years now? And they'd never failed at their job. Not even once. Not that they had come pretty close anyway. Marinette remembered how close that situation with Ms.Spotlight had come and how lucky Chat Noir’d been to make it out in one piece.

She wondered how Alya could stay so close to the school after seeing that villain. She knew her friend was brave, as she was, but daring to be so close to the actual crime scene,

without

any superpowers to protect her...Marinette wondered how she did that. But, of course, she and Chat Noir usually had her back.

Usually.

The girl shook her head. Enough thinking about Alya, she had a day to save!

'Well, you've heard the reporter. ' she said. 'Ladybug’s got to show up and

fix

this mess!'

'Time to transform?' The kwami replied.

'Yep!

Tikki,

spots on!'

'Take care of yourself, huh?' Plagg said, flying out of Adrien’s pocket.

A couple of minutes after Marinette had left, Adrien had done so too, under the guise of having to read a book for an upcoming lesson. Of course, there

was

no such lesson, but Adrien didn't care. The people he'd escaped with would probably forget, anyway.

And there was that new one, that Brian. Adrien had the odd feeling he'd seen him before. Which was, of course, ridiculous. He had been transferred to their class that same morning.

Adrien laughed a bit after remembering how Marinette had almost tripped after he'd told her to look out, and her hilarious failed attempt at a goodbye wave.

He wondered why a car from his father hadn't come for him yet. After all, the whole situation had been quite noisy. The police must have been alerted. Not that it made things harder, of course, given that sneaking out of his house under the vigilant gaze of his father was usually not an easy task. Once, he recalled, his father had come uncomfortably close to...

Plagg brought him back to reality.

'Ding ding ding! Lost in thought again?' The kwami said, waving in front of his eyes. 'Here, let me see...still thinking about your friends, aren't you?'

'I just don't want them to get hurt, Plagg, that's all.'

'Come on, you know them Adrien! Listen, Kim is the biggest guy in the whole class. Alya has been in this kind of situations almost as much as

you

have, and Marinette always rushes out at the first sign of danger! They'll be fine...I hope.'

'I hope you're right, Plagg.' He sighed. It had not been easy to make friends at school, and he didn't want to lose what he had worked so hard to get. 'I hope you're right. Anyway, we have to go save the day!'

'Plagg, claws out!'
Brian peeked out from behind a wooden panel and into the avenue ahead of him. Clear.

He quickly ran across the street and pulled his whip out of his pocket. He swung it over the chimney of an old house and pulled.

Fwoosh!

Brian wondered how long it had been since he had last done that. He landed back in the alley and jumped over a wall into the school’s garden.

And then he saw them. The ones who must have been Ladybug and Chat Noir. They were about to open a backdoor into the building, when one of them, the one Brian suspected was Chat Noir, turned around and saw him.

Brian used his moment of shock to take them both in. One of them was a girl, the other a boy. The boy was taller than the girl, who had blue hair and wore a dotted mask with a matching suit. The boy was dressed in black, mask also black. He was gripping a staff, she a…yo-yo?

They looked at him. Brian figured it would be best if he put the whip back in his pocket, where it belonged. He kept his hands well away from his sides as he walked towards them, trying to look as harmless as possible.

'I'm on your side!' Brian said as soon as he got within hearing range. He hoped they trusted him. He hoped they wouldn't attack...because if they

did

, he was

screwed.

His fighting skills had not been used for months. The boy doubted he'd even last

one minute

against either one of them, not to mention both.

'You have five minutes to explain yourself.' The girl said. She looked at him almost as if she knew who he was. Had they met?

'And no lies.' The boy threatened. 'Or we’ll know!'

Alya was still recording. He couldn't hear her speak, but he figured she had a lot of questions, too. And why not? They had just been attacked by a costumed freak. These two must have been Ladybug and Chat Noir. And now a second person in a costume appeared? Of course they were going to be careful.

Brian quickly explained himself. He was Fox Warrior, he told them, he derived his powers from his wristwatch, his weapon was a whip, and they could be absolutely sure he intended to work with them.

They didn't seem entirely convinced. Brian would have to do better than that.

'Did I hear correctly?' Alya had made her way towards them as soon as she saw he probably meant no harm. She held her phone uncomfortably close to Brian's face, he could see she was excited. 'There's a new -

Brian looked up in frustration. He wasn't exactly keen on giving an interview right now, and even if he

were,

he still...

The second floor window was open. Something was wrong… hadn't he closed it right after leaving?

But then....

She's opened it again? Why?

He got the answer to his question only a second later, when one of Temporal Fabric’s sheets of paper flew towards Alya with tremendous speed. Brian barely had time to shove her backwards before the tiles below her suddenly stopped accumulating the few flakes of snow that had just then started falling from the sky.

'There she is!' He said. Temporal Fabric was now leaning out of the second floor window, overlooking the garden below her. She ripped a page out of her book and threw it at Chat Noir, but the hero just jumped out of the way.  The villain growled in frustration and closed the window shut.

'

Wow!'

Alya said. 'Did you

see

that? This new guy just saved me from-'

'Alya.' Brian said. 'We don't have the time for an interview right now. I'll do one later, alright? We have some larger...issues…'

Alya looked at him. She seemed to be barely holding her laughter. It suddenly dawned on Brian that she'd never told him her name.

Damn.

He shook his head and opened the door. After all, Temporal Fabric was on the second floor of the building. The bottom floor should have been clear.

The trio left Alya with her cell phone and entered the building, weapons in hand. Brian could clearly see that his presence had still not been entirely accepted. He’d have to be very careful not to ruin what little trust he had managed to earn. Ladybug, especially, was eyeing him way more than he was comfortable with, while Chat Noir had been left ‘guarding the staircase’ to cover both her and Brian as they checked out the nearby classrooms. Of course Brian could tell, even from that distance, that Chat Noir was guarding

him

way more than the staircase. He wondered why they were so suspicious. Maybe they'd been betrayed before by someone doing exactly what he was doing? He didn't know, and he felt that asking them about it could be dangerous. Plus, what was he supposed to say, ‘I'm not like X’? They wouldn't believe him. Heck,

he

wouldn't believe it if he were in their situation.

The bottom floor was clear alright. Classrooms 1 to 3 were a mess of paralyzed students and broken improvised barricades, most of them overturned desks. Brian walked up to one and examined it. It had been broken in half from the top bottom. The metal beams supporting its structure had been bent beyond their tolerance and snapped.

He whistled.

'She's quite strong alright. Apparently she's been given more than a mere time-pausing  book.'

'Well, that's usually a given,' Ladybug said from her spot in front of the window. 'The villains we face

tend

to be quite strong in the hand to hand department. It's something Hawkmoth does to them, to make them more dangerous.'

'Not that it works, anyway.' Chat Noir averted his eyes from the staircase he'd been “guarding”.

'I see.' Brian honestly did not know who Hawkmoth was, but still decided to play along. He suddenly remembered something.

'Are we going to the second floor now?' He asked.

'I don't see why not.' Ladybug replied. 'It's not like she’s going anywhere. Her target is the school, not the city. She'll stay here. Follow my lead!' She rushed up the stairs so fast, Brian could hardly keep up. He quickly brought up all his data on the villain and stopped at the first floor.

'Wait!' He told the duo. He had to do something before they engaged her.

'What is it, Foxy?' Chat Noir asked, five steps above him.  Both of the other heroes exchanged a glance of suspicion as Brian tried to make his sentences as brief as possible.

'I have this… special power.' He said. 'I can analyse this villain, figure out a way to defeat her. Just give me one second.'

He raised his hand in the air. It had been so long since he had last done this… he remembered that he would change back to his civilian self about five minutes after using that particular ability. He had to be fast. Brian almost forgot the vocal cue, but he managed to recover it from the edge of forgetfulness.

'

Time to pull off a miracle!'

It happened in an instant. He figured out her name, her motive. Her weakness. What they had to do to bring her back to normal. Who Hawkmoth was. The power of cunning surely had its benefits, he thought.

'We have to overwhelm her.' He said, speaking a little bit faster than normal. 'Make her run out of pages. Use lots of high - speed objects, all at the same time…'

'Leave that to me.' Ladybug said. She continued up the stairs as the rest of the trio followed suit.

'Here she is! Classroom 8 is right above the backdoor, from where she threw those pages at us. Everyone, get ready!'

He kicked the door with all his strength…

'OW!'

It hurt. The door was more than locked, it was…

She must have thrown a page at it.

'Leave this to me' Chat Noir shouldered him out of the way as Brian regained his footing. He should have thought of that... It was obvious that she was going to barricade herself. Maybe they should have tried the windows.

Just as he managed to stand firmly again, Chat Noir raised his hand in the air…

'

Cataclysm!'

Chat Noir placed his hand on the door, and the whole thing crumbled into dust. Brian made a mental note to

never, ever,

find himself in the receiving end of that attack. He charged in a split second after Ladybug and Chat Noir, taking in the large classroom.

Ten metres long. Ten metres wide. Four metres tall. Classroom Eight, the place where

he

had found himself nary an hour ago, was, like the others, filled with the bodies of paralyzed students. A strong wind was blowing through the window, almost as if it were trying to win a battle against the air conditioning.

Sitting behind the teacher's desk, eyeing them casually, was Temporal Fabric. Brian stared at her. Dress, moccasins, glasses. One hand clutching a large, open book, the other slowly reaching below the desk…

Before Brian could do anything, Chat Noir gripped his staff with both hands and pointed it at the desk. It extended in an instant, pinning the furniture to the wall above the villain and revealing an improvised page-shooting device Brian noticed to have been made out of cannibalized parts from some students’ smartphones.

'Time’s up for you, Temporal Fabric!'  The boy said. Both Ladybug and Brian took up positions next to him, twirling their weapons menacingly. He could see, however, that none of them was particularly happy about him doing that.

Temporal Fabric growled. It was obvious that she wasn't going to surrender, and that everyone in that room was ready to face the consequences of that.

'You fools!'  The villain said, getting up from her chair. 'I've got you

right

where I wanted! I have a...

present

for you

!'

It was only then that the trio thought to look up. Temporal Fabric produced a small remote control from a pocket in her dress and pushed a single red button. Whoever she was, Brian thought, she really did have a knack for tinkering around with stuff.

But they had bigger problems. Directly above them, Temporal Fabric’s contraption had just unleashed a flock of her pages, letting gravity do the rest.

Brian instinctively shoved both Ladybug and Chat Noir aside as he spun up his whip to deflect the incoming projectiles. He wasn't sure that it would work… not that there was much time to think about it, anyway.

It didn't exactly go right. As soon as the first page touched his whip, it froze in place, becoming completely impossible to swing. Brian looked up just to see a sheet of paper mere inches from his face…

Something curled around his waist. All he had time to feel was a strong tug, just before he hit the wall, hard. It took a second for him to process the fact that he could still move, that he hadn't been frozen,  and that Ladybug had pulled him away from the trap’s area of effect. She probably hadn't done it because she considered him a friend, however. No, she'd probably done it out of an impulse to save as many people as possible… and because he couldn't answer questions if he was stuck in time.

'Thanks for the help, Ladybug.' Brian got up from the floor. 'Now, let's deal with this baddie, shall we?'

Temporal Fabric chuckled as she pulled a page from her book. She was running short now, and she knew it. But she

had

to win. She had managed to catch them by surprise once, she could certainly do it again…

'

NOW

, Temporal Fabric,

NOW

!

Seize

their Miraculouses…and his

wristwatch

!'
Falcon's voice spoke clearly in her mind, yet she decided to stall for time.

'Without your whip, Foxy?' She looked at Brian in the eye, but he held her gaze.

'Yes. With this…' He pointed at his head. 'And these.' He raised his fists.

Temporal Fabric growled, then sprung into action. She ripped off two more pages, and threw one at each of her enemies. Both Brian and Chat Noir dodged while Ladybug dove for cover behind one of the desks, letting the page collide with it harmlessly.

'Lucky Charm!!'

Brian saw her taking a quick peek around and realised what she was planning to do. Ladybug was coming up with a plan, and she required the least amount of danger going her way in order to succeed.

'Stand your ground, Chat Noir!' He said, ducking below another sheet of paper.

'I

know

!’ It suddenly dawned on Brian that of course he knew. The two of them obviously had a lot of experience fighting supervillains, certainly more than

he

had. Brian decided to shut his mouth and focus on his own dodging.

It was only seconds before Ladybug got up from behind her desk, clutching a box of darts.

'Here guys, catch!' She deflected a page with her yoyo, and threw a handful of darts to each boy.

They both caught them in midair. Both Brian and Chat Noir started moving sideways, slowly trying to flank Temporal Fabric in order to make the best of their attack plan. They had moved about thirty degrees to each side when they finally made their move.

'NOW!' Chat Noir took aim and let his darts fly.

Both Ladybug and Brian followed his example and threw theirs simultaneously. Judging from the amount he had received, the boy calculated that there should be around thirty darts in the air, which was fine with him. The more the merrier.

Temporal Fabric was moving faster than the eye could see, trying to stop as many darts as possible before they hit her. The heroes simply watched as she ripped out more and more pages from her book in order to try and save herself.

Five… four… three… two… one…

When she realised that she had run out of pages in her book, Temporal Fabric’s face changed from smugness to fear as the only five remaining darts, as well as the three heroes she had been trying to defeat, closed in on her fast.

Very

fast. She tried to dodge, but it was useless. The five darts hit her in the face and chest and tossed her backwards, straight into a wall. Brian thought it was a miracle that she was wearing glasses, and that they had proved to be resistant enough to stop one of Ladybug’s darts before it punctured her eye.

Mere seconds later, her book had been removed from her hands and split in half by the spine. She, on the other hand, was unceremoniously wrestled to the floor, although not before putting up some stiff resistance as well as several examples of

very

colourful language.

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at the torn remains of Lyra’s book. They seemed to be waiting for something…

'Where's the akuma?' Ladybug asked after a minute of waiting. She seemed confused…although Brian was more so.

'The

what?'

He asked.

'The

akuma.'

Chat Noir said. 'The thing that Hawkmoth sends them in order to make them evil. Ladybug here can capture them and turn them back to normal, but…'

Temporal Fabric laughed.

'You fools.' She said. Having the source of her powers destroyed was slowly weakening her, but she could still speak...barely.  'What makes you think it was Hawkmoth?'

'

What?!'

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s eyes were wide open with surprise.

'Impossible.' The boy said, kneeling down next to her and grabbing her head. 'Explain yourself. Now!'

She was weak. Very weak. She could only make out two words before fainting, and maybe some time to watch Chat Noir’s shocked expression…

'Falcon Writer,' She said, and passed out on the floor next to him.

'Another villain.' Ladybug said. 'I wonder why... Chat Noir, look!'

She pointed towards Temporal Fabric’s body, which was slowly expelling small pieces of paper through her skin. After not too long, barely a minute, she transformed back into Lyra Singh, and looked around confusedly.

'Where… where am I? What happened?' She asked. 'And who

are

you?' The girl was looking at Brian with extreme suspicion. He couldn't blame her. After all, people in strange costumes clutching weird weapons weren't always

exactly

a welcome sight in the city of London. Before he could answer, however, Ladybug did it for him.

'First things first, you were… the first victim of a new villain. Falcon Writer, if I remember correctly. And

this guy

over there is our new... partner.' She looked at Chat Noir as if to ask his permission. The boy in the cat suit gave her his approval with a quick nod of the head. Brian felt a wave of relief wash over him as they offered him a handshake, which he took. Gracefully.

Still, there weren't a lot of possible answers to Lyra's question… and while he

had

helped them defeat the villain, Brian was absolutely sure that they would have done just as well without him.

'

Miraculous Ladybug!'

All four of them watched in awe as Ladybug threw a single dart into the air, where it transformed into a wave of red petals that quickly flew towards everyone who had been frozen, and finally to his whip. Brian caught it before it hit the ground, then turned around when a student tapped him in the shoulder.

'

Excuse

me?' She said. 'Who

are

you?'

Brian wondered how many times he'd have to answer that question. He was about to respond when he heard beeping. From Ladybug’s earrings and Chat Noir’s ring. From his wristwatch.

It was time to bail out.

The three of them awkwardly said goodbye to each other and the rest of the students in the room, Chat Noir and Ladybug sharing a fistbump before jumping out of the window and into the garden.

Brian followed suit. He left the room full of cheering teenagers behind and headed for the construction site, keeping a close eye on his watch. As soon as he made it back, he hid behind a gigantic excavator and started wondering about who that Falcon could be. He had the odd feeling that he should have known… but he didn't. Of course, it didn't look like anything that he and his new friends couldn't handle. He congratulated himself on surviving, and then some more on actually helping to defeat the villain.

As he transformed back into Brian Hawke, he thought that actually being the Fox Warrior again for once had felt really, really good. He sneaked out the back entrance and watched as a news chopper started flying above the school, now that there was no danger.
He made it back home in record time. It was nothing too impressive, really, just a small building in Prayle Grove that his father´s friend, General McPierce, had helped pay for when he was forced to send out both his parents to an overseas territory in the wake of an accident. Brian closed the fence behind him and took a peek at his vegetable garden. Yup. Still growing. After checking his phone for his parent´s daily email, the boy took off his coat and opened the door to his house. He didn't want to brush it against the wall and smear snow all over the place; that'd be a mess to clean up. However, all of his cleaning concerns became secondary once the boy noticed that the kitchen lights appeared to be on. He never left them on before leaving, either he had forgotten about it or

something

was up.

Brian slowly opened the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. It couldn't be his parents. No,

they

were both Royal Marines in an extended deployment to the Falklands, and they certainly wouldn't pull a prank this simple on him.

Taking a deep breath, Brian slowly took off his shoes and tiptoed towards the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible. If necessary, he still knew the words...

‘Brian Hawke!’ The boy jumped, almost knocking over a lamp. ‘Don't worry, I mean you no harm.’

So much for stealth.

Now that remaining undetected was of no primary concern, Brian openly walked into his kitchen. There was a man waiting for him, an old man. He was sitting at his table, and enjoying a cup of his tea. He had white hair and dark eyes, and wore a red T-shirt decorated in palm leaves despite the weather. In his hand he held a small box in the shape of an hexagon, black in its entirety save for some strange symbols on one side.

‘Please sit down, Brian. I'm Master Fu.’

The boy raised an eyebrow as he slowly approached the table and sat in the chair opposite him. ‘

Master

?’

‘Yes, Fox Warrior,

Master

. Now, I have a few questions about...’

Brian barely managed to avoid falling off his chair.

‘...Do you need any help?’ Master Fu had clearly noticed his distress.

‘I'm just…How did you know? And…how did you get inside my house?’

The old man chuckled. ‘I have my sources. Rest assured, Brian, that I mean you no harm. In fact…’ He started tapping on the little box, no doubt tying to draw Brian's attention to it. ‘I have something for you. Inside this box you'll find a great enhancement for your powers…’ He had already started to reach towards it, but the old man moved moved the box closer to himself. ‘

If

you can answer a few questions for me, first.’

Brian tilted his head in confusion. What was happening? Too many strange things had already occurred in the past few hours—how much stranger could this afternoon get? He frowned at the man in front of him, remembering his own dislike for interrogations, but he eventually nodded. Best to cooperate before something even worse happened to him. Running afoul of a man who knew who he was behind the mask was the last thing that he needed.

‘Now, first off.’ Master Fu took another sip of his tea before scooting his chair closer to the table. ‘Brian Hawke, how did you obtain your wristwatch?’

The boy tried to remember.  It had been six months ago, after his parents had received their letter but before they had left, in the small village near Birmingham where he used to live. He had just woken up from the strangest of dreams (Which he strangely could not remember) to find it lying on the floor next to his shoes. The battery was almost dead and the pedometer was an utter failure, but that was nothing that Brian couldn't fix. He had only noticed its strange effects the following night, when the digital display had lit up with the words ‘Fox Warrior, on me!’ flashing once every seven seconds. It wasn’t long before Brian figured out that he was supposed to say that out loud…

The first transformation had felt strange, like having a second skin plastered over his clothes. It was strange, but Brian had a feeling that he had seen that costume before, and not in a movie or a dream product of his own wild imagination. One look at the mirror had confirmed the fact that he had essentially transformed into a superhero. Brian remembered feeling momentarily overwhelmed by all the responsibilities that that would imply, before realising, however, that if he

had

been indeed chosen by someone and his watch hadn't just appeared in his bedroom, then that person must have certainly believed that he would be up to the task…

Not that he had found that much use for it, anyway. The only time when the services of the Fox Warrior had been needed was known to the town as ‘The Hot Chocolator Incident’. In Brian's mind, however, that particularly embarrassing ‘Incident’ had never happened. At all.

Ever.

Brian finished his story at the present day. Master Fu scratched his chin, thoughtful. He remained that way for several minutes, the tea in front of him slowly growing cold.

‘You do understand, Brian, that this is a gigantic risk we're taking. Putting two Miraculous in circulation is dangerous enough, but three… however I have no choice. My hand has been forced by the appearance of this...

Falcon Writer

. You must protect the Miraculous, Mister Hawke. We can't let another one fall into the wrong hands. Do you understand?’

‘I'll protect it with my life, Master Fu.’ Brian only had a vague idea of what a Miraculous was, but he knew they were extremely important. They were not assigned lightly.

‘No, Brian. You won't just protect it with your life. You will protect it with

more

than your life. Everything else is secondary when the safety of the Miraculous is concerned. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes, Master Fu. I understand.’ Something told him that the old man was truly desperate. He seemed to care an awful lot about these “Miraculous”. ‘I will use these powers for good, and for good only. I will bestow this responsibility to the best of my abilities. I will defeat this ‘Falcon Writer.’’

Master Fu waited for another full minute before making a decision.

‘You have convinced me, Brian Hawke.’  The old man placed the box within Brian's reach again and looked at him in the eyes. ‘However...I'm afraid I'll have to keep the watch. One could only imagine the dangerous consequences that would ensue should it fall into the wrong hands.’

Brian's hands froze. The watch… He wasn't exactly willing to let go of it, but there was

something

about this man that made Brian trust him. If he had, actually, given Ladybug and Chat Noir

their

Miraculous, he certainly could be trusted to give

him

one… Brian took off his wristwatch and handed it over to the old man. ‘I trust it will be kept in good hands, Master Fu.’

‘It will. Now open the box, Brian. It's time for you to take a step up.’

Brian Hawke slowly ran his hand across the symbols on top. He couldn't understand their meaning - they appeared to be Chinese in origin- but they

did

look pretty important.

The boy slowly opened the box. Master Fu smiled as Brian's eyes took a look at what was inside.

A collar

.  The boy thought.

A simple collar.

He examined it closely. It was rather long, and the pendant had the shape of a fox tail. The back was cracked, but the thing still held together. He fumbled with the chain for a while before he managed to open it, noticing that several of the links had been severely weakened. The whole thing looked like it could fall to pieces at the slightest provocation.  Brian handled it with extreme care. He didn't want to break it out of clumsiness and end up not knowing what the thing was, or how it was supposed to enhance his powers.

Moment of truth. Brian Hawke put on the collar, and fixed the clasp together…

Well, that's a disappointment. Nothing is - WHOA!

A tiny creature resembling a fox had just flown out of the pendant. It appeared to be quite disoriented, almost as if it were lost.

‘Brian Hawke, this is… Renard. He is a kwami, a mystical creature that serves as a catalyst for the power of the Miraculous. You must keep him safe at all costs. Do you understand?’

‘Yes...sir.’ Brian watched in awe as the little creature started flying circles around his head.

‘I'll let you two get acquainted with each other. In the meantime…’ The old man got up from the table and walked towards the door. ‘I have a phone call to make. We will meet again, Fox Warrior. Goodbye.’ Somehow, Master Fu didn't need to ask for the keys to his house to get out.

Brian got to work immediately. It was only five minutes later that he had placed a small pizza in the oven and a cup of tea on the table, all done while making conversation with Renard. They eventually sat down and waited for their lunch to finish cooking. It was at that moment that Brian decided that it was time for a slightly more interesting question than ‘Why do you like tea leaves so much?’

'This...collar...what is it, exactly?'

The kwami sighed, obviously in preparation for what he supposed was going to be a well-rehearsed monologue.  Brian decided to make it a bit easier for him.

'The short version, please.  This isn’t the first time you’ve been asked this question, has it?'

'It’s the forty-second time, yes.' Renard chuckled softly. 'The collar is what we call a

Miraculous.  It gives you a specific set of powers, in this case the powers of cunning and illusion. I understand you have already met the owners of other two Miraculouses; the ones of the ladybug and the black cat. They are more powerful than yours, although you’ll find it no less than formidable. The next time you need it, just say the words and you’ll turn into whatever form it decides to take on you. As you have seen here, it

is

a little bit damaged, but it should still work. Hopefully.'

Brian was amazed. It was only then, after the kwami’s monologue, that he finally understood his situation. He was now in charge of living a double life, alternating and taking great care to maintain a balance between being a superhero (He was already thinking of new, cooler names) and going on with a daily life. A decision presented itself.

Would he?

His whole life would change forever if he did. But if he didn’t, then the entire city would be at risk...and besides, he had already done it, once. And also, he had already made the choice a long time ago, when he’d accepted to keep the wristwatch that he had given away to the old man. Yes, his decision was taken. He

would

become the hero the city needed. ‘I understand this has a key phrase, too?’

‘Well, it

does,

but I don't think that transforming in a kitchen full of fragile silverware will be good practice. Think about it, Brian. Breaking stuff means less money for you, which means less tea for both of us.’ Apparently, Renard loved tea much more than he did. He decided to take his advice; after all, he was right. The kitchen wasn’t exactly the best place for the new spinny transformation sequence he had in mind.

Besides, his pizza was burning.

Brian raced to the other side of the kitchen as he wondered how much Renard would like his cooking, and whether he would be able to reach the oven fast enough to do so himself.
Outside, Master Fu wasn’t minding the cold.

‘I hope we have made the right decision, Wayzz’

‘Don’t worry, Master.’ Wayzz appeared to be much more calm than the old man was. ‘I'm sure that this Brian Hawke will be a fine holder of the Fox Miraculous. He's smart, inquisitive, and even has some prior experience with being a protector. He'll be just what we need for this crisis.’

‘It's that prior experience you mention that unnerves me, Wayzz. I have only seen this particular item once before, in the hands of a great evil. Like a Miraculous, it appears to be held to similar restrictions, but yet…’

‘Do you think it should be destroyed, Master?’

‘No,  Wayzz.’ Master Fu shook his head, footsteps taking him to what he believed was the Cèsaire household. Ladybug had spoken of this girl before. It was someone she could trust. And if she could trust her, then

he

could. ‘This item is...insurance. We will contact Ladybug later on, if it's needed,  and tell her about this latest development. As for now…’

Master Fu slowly bent down and left the wristwatch in their mailbox, addressed to Alya Cèsaire. The old man slipped his kwami in one of his pockets and walked the rest of the way home, not minding the snow slowly gathering on his hair.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEE- *click*
Marinette Dupain-Cheng slowly got up from her bed. Monday. She half consciously changed into street clothes and grabbed her school bag from the chair in front of her computer.She yawned.'Good morning, Tikki.''Good morning, Marinette.''Good morning, Adrien.' Marinette slowly reached for the trap door in her room as she looked at a picture of Adrien on her wall.When she got down, she found her breakfast ready. Coffee, milk, and a fresh baked croissant helped her back into reality. What had she been dreaming about, again? Oh, yes, Adrien being  akumatized. Not a particularly nice dream, but Marinette was not going to let that bother her. It was, after all, just a dream…She had just finished her croissant when her phone rang. It was a message from her friend, Alya.

'I've uploaded the latest videos to the Ladyblog. If you hurry you can be the first to see them!

Ps: Someone just mailed me a wristwatch. I have no idea who sent it, but I'm keeping it.'

Marinette raised an eyebrow. A wristwatch?She texted her back.
'

Fingerprints?'

She knew that Alya had one of those beginner forensics kits (It came in handy when dealing with the ‘little miracles’ at her house) but she didn't know how useful it would be in this situation. Accessing the government database wouldn't be a problem, Officer Roger could easily take care of that. Of course, that wouldn't work if there were no fingerprints in the first place…

'

Don't touch anything. I'll meet you at school.'

Marinette would have waited for an answer, but it was getting late. She grabbed her handbag, a jacket and left the bakery only to be blasted by the cold winter air outside. She wondered if Tikki was fine. She had hidden her purse inside her coat, but the wintry climate was unforgiving. She promised herself she’d make the kwami a sweater when she got home.Marinette walked the few metres that separated the bakery from the entrance to Baker Street Station and hopped onto a train in the nick of time.The girl opened a copy of last night's Evening Standard she had picked up near a flight of stairs. As usual, she skipped all of the political and celebrity nonsense and headed straight for Page Thirteen, a special section of the newspaper dedicated exclusively to reporting on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s exploits.

TIME'S UP: 'TEMPORAL FABRIC' ATTACKS SCHOOL, IS DEFEATED WITH HELP FROM NEW SUPERHERO.

The article was of its usual quality, which was to say mediocre. She wondered whether Alya could stand it or whether she would rip it to pieces in frustration halfway through.Soon she got to King’s Cross station, and from there she hopped on a train to Edgware. The Northern line was usually almost empty in that direction in the morning, which meant that, with a little bit of luck, she could sneak in a little bit of talk to Tikki.Alas, there was no such luck.  She wound up sharing her carriage with around ten other people, one of which she almost confused for  Gabriel Agreste’s assistant, Natalie.The time finally came. She stepped out of the train at Hampstead station before a group of people at the other end of the platform caught her attention. She walked a bit closer to them - after all, it was the way to the exit staircase - before noticing a familiar face amongst the crowd. She smiled as she recognized Brian desperately trying to make himself understood with sign language, besieged by the rapid-fire questions of a bunch of obnoxiously loud Finnish tourists. Behind him, Nathaniel was making his own daring escape.
'No, I don't know what a ‘

Laakari

’ is nor where I can find one. Ask

him

though. I'm sorry, I have to go to school. Good luck!' He quickly spun on his feet and headed in the opposite direction of the group, who slowly gravitated towards a nearby policeman, who didn't seem to be too pleased with this turn of events. If looks could kill, Marinette thought, the man would have utterly disintegrated her classmate. He didn't seem to be in the mood to answer that many questions… especially in a language he obviously didn't understand.
Marinette decided she'd rather hang around for a while. She could spare five minutes.She sat down in one of the benches at the side of the platform and waited. Sure enough, what had started as a polite conversation between the policeman and the tourists quickly deteriorated into arguing and screaming as both sides struggled to overcome the inexorable language barrier. In the end it was futile. The tourists were about to board the next train, still talking to each other when the uniformed man yelled at them to mind the gap, but they didn't listen. After the leader of the little pack got up from the floor, she started gesticulating angrily at the policeman in what was obviously not a show of gratitude. The man huffed and looked away. Marinette realised that her five minutes were up. She had to leave.Mere seconds after leaving the station, Marinette once more ran into Brian, who was waving at a man behind the counter of a nearby bookshop. She didn't have a chance to talk to him though, as he ran away with extreme speed once the flow of traffic stopped. She remembered Brian mentioning to Alix in passing the fact that he worked there, and how it was his responsibility to not only be the cashier, but also to be on the lookout for petty thieves and pickpockets. Apparently they were getting the security cameras fixed after a power surge had ruined most of the shop's electrical equipment a month ago.
Marinette looked at her phone and realised that she had to run, too, or she'd be late for school…

again

.
She made it to the back door just in time. The young girl quickly fumbled with the doorknob, and the gate opened with a click. As she made her way to Classroom Eight, she noticed that the door leading to it had been slightly redecorated with a collection of posters describing the incident with Temporal Fabric, as well as several newspaper clippings. (One, Marinette noticed, had been slightly torn at the edge. She wondered if it was Alya’s, broken in a fit of rage at the subpar journalism she judged most newspapers to have)She couldn't blame her classmates for it, and neither could the school. It was a bit of a tradition to post newspaper clippings every time one of their own was akumatized.
Marinette had, indeed made it just in time. It was only seconds after she sat down next to Alya that their teacher opened the door to their classroom, demanding that they pay attention and blaming Temporal Fabric for the fact that they wouldn't have enough classes to revise before the test. The girl thought it was a miracle that Lyra Singh was one of the older students and thus not in their classroom, because she would have been absolutely

mad

at Ms.Mendeleiev for saying that. Nobody used akuma villains to pick on other people; not even

Chloe

did that. It was completely unfair, nobody who was akumatized, or even 'Falconized' was ever in control of their own actions. The people understood that, her classmates understood that, even the flipping legal system understood that. Ms.Mendeleiev only got away with it because she was a teacher. Marinette wasn't the only one angry at what she had said either; she could see that at least Alya, Max, Kim, Ivan, Brian and Sabrina were all making their discontent visible by various means, from whispering angrily in the case of Alya to giving the teacher what could only be described as a death glare in Ivan’s case. Marinette wondered if Lyra would somehow end up knowing about this. She hoped not, she didn't need

more

negative emotions to deal with, and a repeat akumatization would only mean trouble for everyone. (Not that Temporal Fabric hadn't been an easy villain to defeat, anyway.)
Of course, Ms.Mendeleiev pretended to, or didn't notice, her students’ reactions and simply went on with teaching Chemical Bonds 101.The rest of the day went by uneventfully. The only thing with the slightest bit of relevance that happened was that Brian pulled Alya aside during one of the breaks and asked her some questions about where she had obtained her wristwatch, mentioning that he'd been wanting to buy one for a long time. Alya, of course, had no idea. She told him the same thing she'd told Marinette; that she had received it that same morning, that the letter didn't say who sent it, and that she'd be keeping it anyway. Brian had nodded and walked away, but the girl was sure that not all of his doubts had been cleared. Marinette wondered why. There were no fingerprints on it either; Alya told that to Marinette as soon as she could. They had no leads. The wristwatch could belong to anyone. It wasn't an expensive model either, so they couldn't even narrow it down that way.
By the time the final bell rang, the clouds outside had begun to clear. Marinette spent some time in the school library revising for a project before heading back towards the Underground. The streets were unusually empty… had something happened? She checked the news app on her phone. Nope. Nothing interesting. The Ladyblog? Empty, too. Not even the radio was saying anything of interest, just the usual neverending stream of music. Marinette took off her headphones just as a song called

Truth

started,

again.

She decided to go home, after all, it certainly seemed like nothing of relevance had happened. It was probably the cold...
While she was walking, Marinette spotted Brian behind the counter of his bookshop, absentmindedly reading a book. She considered going inside and trying to get to know him, but she rejected the idea. Besides, she didn't need any books, and she hadn't exactly brought much pocket money from home. And after all, if he had managed to speak to both Alya and Alix on fairly friendly terms, it was absolutely certain that he was probably going to be friends with Marinette soon enough....Marinette wondered if he'd eventually be akumatized. After all, her entire class save for her and Adrien had been at one point or another. Was it possible that Hawkmoth knew who she was, and was targeting her friends in order to get to her?Possible. But that hypothesis easily shattered as soon as Marinette realised that if Hawkmoth really knew who she was, then Adrien Agreste would have been his primary target. Just like in her dream, she'd have to…
Enough. No more thinking. As Marinette walked into Platform Four, she noticed that the morning’s policeman was no longer there. It was strange…he usually covered the platform during the morning and afternoon, leaving the midday and evening to another officer who, honestly, had a much better sense of humour than he did. And also, where
was
everyone? She was completely alone in the platform. Yes, it

wasn't

exactly rush hour, but it was very strange nonetheless. Again, had something happened? Marinette wasn't sure.
To top it off, her train was delayed. First by three minutes, then by five. Marinette wondered what had happened. Could there have been…?
As the formation finally made its way to the platform, she noticed something strange…not only was the train moving way slower than it should, screeching like nails on a blackboard the whole time, but also most of the lights on the inside were turned off. All of the carriages appeared to be empty...Where

was

everyone?
'Marinette? Something is wrong here…''Tikki? What do you mean…?'
It was only then that she noticed the shadow of an incredibly muscular man inside the carriage, holding what appeared to be a large firework and laughing. All of Marinette’s senses yelled one word at her -
akuma
.

Marinette wisely and quietly slid out of sight inside one of the elevators before the doors to one (and only one) of the carriages opened. She was ninety percent sure that something had happened on board that train…somebody must have been akumatized. She had to transform, fast. Was that more laughter that she was hearing? And who
was
that man? Had

he

been akumatized? Was it possible that everyone in that train had...
As she left the elevator in the first floor, she noticed that the path to the emergency staircase she normally used to transform was blocked. The 'Undergoing Maintenance' sign plastered in front of the door forced her to think. A place that had no security cameras, one that was close enough…

The bookshop

. Marinette ran across the street, dodging a woman on a bicycle who yelled at her in what Marinette thought could only have been Danish.

She made a conscious effort to put on her best smile as she opened the doors to the bookshop, and returned Brian's wave as soon as he saw her. She looked behind her, just to make sure, but the streets were still empty. Again, where
was
everyone?
Brian seemed to notice that, too. 'Business has been rather slow today.' He said, standing up. 'Is there anything I can do for you?' Marinette saw that Brian was clearly excited. And why not? She clearly was the only customer he'd had in a long time, perhaps for his entire shift. Marinette quickly took a look around the library, scanning the shelves for anything that might be useful…
'Yes.' She had spotted something. Now it was all a matter of making him go to the back of the shop… 'I'll need

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

and

The Magician’s Nephew

, please.' If she was right, Brian didn't actually have that last one. The first part of the Narnia saga was usually a very elusive book…a couple of days ago, she had overheard one of the older students complaining about being unable to find it. It was her best bet... Marinette almost failed to hide her smile when she saw Brian closing his eyes, thinking.

'

The Magician’s Nephew…'

He shook his head. 'I'll have to look in the back of the shop. One second, Marinette.'
One second was all that she needed.  As soon as Brian disappeared behind a door, Marinette smiled and opened her coat pocket.'You still there, Tikki?''Absolutely, Marinette!' The kwami flew out of her pocket, taking a quick peek at the place she was in. 'Brian's bookshop? What are we…''The staircase is blocked. The streets seem unusually empty, and the Underground is acting all weird. I think someone's been akumatized.''In that case, Marinette, you know what to do. Just say the words…'
'Tikki,

spots on!

'

Adrien was tired of waiting.It had been, what, thirty minutes that he'd been waiting for the car? He checked his phone. It had been forty-five. The boy sighed. He decided to hold on for fifteen more minutes, and if the car didn't come, he'd send a message to his father and then take the Underground.To top it off, the streets were almost completely empty. There was only one person that Adrien could see, and it was the strange old man that lived near the school.A car came out of hiding behind the corner, but it wasn't the gorilla’s, just a boring old Fiat. Adrien sighed and checked his phone again. Nothing. No messages from anyone, not even from his father. (On the other hand, there were plenty of messages from Chloe. Adrien dismissed them, as usual. He noticed that the total number of unread texts from her had finally broken the four digit barrier.)
He quickly sent a message to his father telling him that he'd take the Underground. After all, it wasn't a very long trip. He should be back home in

just

about twenty minutes, thirty if the trains took their time.
As Adrien walked the few blocks separating the school from Hampstead station, he suddenly felt Plagg tugging on his shirt.
'Not now, Plagg. Later!' He didn't want to risk it. Yes, he

knew

that kwamis couldn't be filmed or photographed, but he didn't want to take that same risk with random passerby. Just to make sure, however, Adrien took a look around.

…There was no one? Anywhere? No, wait,

there

was Brian in his bookshop, seemingly lost, and

there

a woman cycling through Heath Street, but aside from that…

'Where

is

everyone?' Plagg had found his way to the edges of his pocket and was hovering there, looking at the vacant streets in front of him. 'You think something's happened?'
Adrien didn't know what to say. 'Maybe, Plagg. I don't know. I wonder if…' He looked around, but the tiny television on the Daily Mail stand was not visible. In fact, the whole thing was closed down. Had it even opened for the day? As Adrien swiped his oyster card over the receiver, he noticed that the top of the station was empty, too. This was getting strange…'Be ready, Plagg.' The kwami, hidden again inside his pocket, nodded. If worst came to pass, there was always the staircase…Undergoing Maintenance. It meant he'd have to look somewhere else. Would he still be able to access it from the bottom?  He didn't know. Adrien hoped that he didn't have to find out.
Platform Three was empty, too. There was a train stopped in Platform Four , but Adrien didn't mind it. It was, after all, going the other way. Still, the doors on it were taking an awfully long time to close…

He heard steps on the platform behind him and decided to take a look. Considering the fact that the person had not yet entered the train, Adrien was quite sure that it was either a policeman on the other side, or somebody who would be taking the

next

train. In any case, it would be

someone.

And maybe, with a little bit of luck, he'd be able to find out what had happened to everyone else...
'Adrien, wait!' Plagg was tugging on his shirt again, this time with more urgency. 'Something’s wrong, I think that…'The lights on the station suddenly went off. Adrien felt a cold wind coming from the tunnel to his right, and the steps coming closer...Then the person who was walking on the other platform appeared from behind an escalator, and Adrien’s heart skipped a beat.
Plagg was right. Something indeed had gone
very, very wrong
. The man, Adrien could now see, was wearing a one-piece body suit, black in its entirety save for a large, yellowish green division in the shape of a wedge that went from his neck to his waist.  He was incredibly muscular, filling up his field of vision so much that Adrien barely noticed the oversized pepper spray can he was holding...
The boy didn't think. He ran in zig zag back up the escalator, turned right, and hid behind one of the columns next to the elevators.'Quick, Adrien, the coin!' Plagg had flown out of his pocket with a coin in his hands, which the boy took in a split second. He knew what to do. He carefully rolled it across the cross-corridor in order to make it seem like he'd gone the other way. He held his breath as the man slowly let the escalator carry him to the top; Adrien could hear him chuckle.Steps, again. He heard him stop in the middle of the corridor and kneel. Adrien hoped he'd seen the coin and taken the bait. He stopped himself from letting out a sigh of relief as he heard the man slowly walk away. He got inside the elevator and hid to the side of the doors. With any luck, the villain would be too far away to hear them closing…The doors closed. Adrien’s heart stopped banging on his chest. He'd gotten away!As soon as he made it back to the surface, he rushed inside one of the bathrooms, finally letting his sigh of relief go. He even let Plagg take a bit more of his cheese, even though he didn't actually need it. While he was absolutely sure that at least one of the station's cameras had seen him, he didn't panic. He had learned from Plagg a long time ago that his transformation would interfere with any type of camera, but even then he usually didn't take many chances, and preferred to seek more secluded spots than the back of a tree to transform in. The boy took a moment to thank the kwami for his help.'Excellent quick thinking, Plagg. Thank you.''Ah, it was nothing. Now let me finish my cheese and we’ll…''Ain't no time for that.' He chided, but he knew that the kwami was just joking. He’d never let his stomach get in the way when Chat Noir was needed....most of the time anyway.
'Plagg,

claws out!

'

As soon as Brian saw the black beams of doom, he knew that he was in trouble. After Marinette had mysteriously left the second he'd turned his back on her, he had looked around in confusion and wondered where she had gone. A second later, however,  he was back in his chair, wrapping up

Brave New World

and about to move on to

The Raven

while Renard played on his phone. A handful of minutes later, he had heard a strange sound on the street and looked up.

Who in blazes is that guy?

He couldn't make very much of him at that distance, but all the alarm bells in his brain were drilling him with two words -
akuma villain
. (Yes, he had been doing his research. The Ladyblog was much more interesting than it let on. Alya could surely design stuff when it was needed. Brian noted that for later.)
'Renard, you've seen him too?''Seen who?' The kwami looked up from his phone, accidentally letting a Tetris piece fall in the wrong spot.
'

Him

… quick, Renard, hide!' The strange man had looked their way. Both Brian and his kwami dove for cover behind his desk. Outside, the strange person had turned towards them…
Renard flew to the top of the desk and risked a glance.'You'd better take a look at this, Brian.'Brian peeked out, too. His eyes widened as he saw the man produce an oversized pepper spray can from one of his pockets, and use it to fire a black beam at the nearest car, opening a black hole below it and making it fall into oblivion. The boy could hear his laugh all the way from the bookshop.He quickly scanned the rooftops surrounding Heath Street. He smiled as he recognized both Ladybug and Chat Noir spying on the villain, obviously forming a battle plan.Brian decided to give them some company.'Renard, smarten up. We ought to leave, now.' The kwami flew up to him and guided him to the back of the shop.'Quick, Brian, say the words!'Brian dramatically raised his hand in the air.
'Fox Warrior,

on me!

'
 
…
 
…
 
…
 
Nothing had happened.
'Renard?'The fox flew closer to his face.'Really, Brian. Didn't I tell you? It's been damaged. It doesn't work correctly.  I'll just tell you: For some reason you still have the whip, your illusions are dependant on people believing them and the phrase, well…'
'What? Renard, we have to hurry. And you already

told

me about those things. I think I know my way around them now. I've been practising.' Renard rolled his eyes, he certainly couldn't call “flailing around in the kitchen while trying not to set the house on fire” practice. 'And what's it with the phrase?'
'Renard, transformé moi!’ Those are the words. Also, I have no idea about what got damaged, so don't you go around tinkering with this stuff, okay?’Brian didn't know French. All he knew was English and some Spanish. But it was a simple phrase, and it wasn't completely impossible to pronounce, so he decided to go along with it.‘Renard, transformé moi!’ 
They were about to surprise the bad guy when Foxy showed up on the rooftop opposite them.
Marinette noticed that he had…changed. He no longer seemed to have his watch, for starters, and his costume had been altered. Their new partner was now wearing a different suit, light orange with a long white stripe down the centre, a curved division at the wrist, and black boots and gloves. He still had his whip, however; that hadn't changed. From that distance, she could see a collar hanging around his neck, obviously his Miraculous. Marinette thought that the suit looked eerily similar to Volpina's. Was that a coincidence?Foxy smiled at them and mouthed. 'Got a plan?'She was about to respond, but Chat Noir beat her to it.'I'll take the right and Ladybug the left. Can you distract him?'Foxy just gave them a thumbs up and a nod before leaping down into the street, right in front of the villain. He spun up his whip.'Well, it's about bloody time you showed up.' He started walking towards him, his guard still up. 'What have you been doing in the Underground all day?'The man just grinned and pointed his can at him.
'I've just been showing people the dangers of disrespecting my system. I am
Gapman
, the official guard of the London Underground! Anyone who is

unworthy

of stepping into it… well…
see for yourself!
'
Marinette almost yelled at him to take cover before she remembered that she was supposed to be sneaking up on this 'Gapman'. She nodded at Chat Noir and the two of them leapt out of their roof and behind a car just as Gapman fired one of his beams at her newest friend, who dodged out of the way.
'It's not going to be that easy,
Gapman
. Team, NOW!'

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped from behind their car straight towards Gapman, Chat muttering something about them not needing any more bloody partners. As Marinette deflected one of his beams with her yoyo, she realised that

of course

the streets would be so empty- after all, Gapman had had an entire day to 'cleanse' the Underground. Everyone who had taken it would probably already be wherever those holes led to… if they even

led

somewhere. Even worse, he had started his 'work' at rush hour. Hundreds, no,

thousands

of people had been attacked and she hadn't known anything about it until it was too late.
Gapman parried Chat’s staff with his can and kicked him backwards. Foxy's whip hit him in the back, but he didn't seem to notice. He pointed his can at Chat Noir, who was still lying on the ground.
'Mind the

gap

, kitty…' Gapman had a playful smile upon his face as he pushed the button that would send Chat Noir into oblivion…
Hadn't Ladybug jumped in front of it and deflected it with her yoyo. Gapman growled in frustration as his beam dissipated harmlessly a thousand metres over the surface.'Aw, thanks, bugaboo.'Marinette would have called Chat out over it, but instead decided to quickly take advantage of Foxy distracting the villain with a kick to the back of the head to wrap Gapman’s leg in her yoyo string and pull.It worked wonders. The villain slumped to the floor, cursing in frustration.
'Now, the akuma!' She tried to keep her hold on him, but he was already getting up, causing the string on her yoyo to extend to dangerous lengths. Exactly

how

strong was he? She was starting to slide over the pavement, but holding on to one of the nearby street lamps solved that particular problem.
Chat Noir tried to seize his can, but Gapman fired it at him at point blank range; an attack that her friend barely managed to dodge. Marinette pulled on her string yet again, and Gapman went airborne, crashing against Brian's bookshop with the horrible sound of breaking glass.'The akuma must be in the spray can.' Chat muttered. 'Be ready. He's getting up again!' The owner of the Cat Miraculous enlarged his staff to three times its normal length as Gapman extricated himself from the mess that half a dozen novel sagas had become.'You fools.' Gapman shook a shard of glass off of his shoulder. 'Don't you understand? All I want is a transport system that…' He would have continued, but Foxy interrupted him.'Yeah, a transport system without anyone in it. Let's finish this!' He charged straight towards the bookshop, but Gapman pointed his can at the floor and disappeared into a hole, laughing. Their new friend, obviously disappointed, walked back towards Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be a little worried about the state of the ruined shop.Chat Noir had noticed too. 'You liked that place, Foxy? Don't worry, Ladybug here can bring it back to normal after we wrap this up.' 'I tend to get most of my books from there. Besides, the cashier is quite a nice guy...I hope he got away in time. Anyway, we have to bring down this Gapman! Ideas?'
'Well, if

I

were him, I would stick to the tunnels. But seeing as he doesn't have anyone else to target there…'
'You think he's going for the rest of the city?' Chat Noir looked visibly nervous. And why not? Based on what they had seen, Gapman could pop out of anywhere, at any time, as long as he'd been there before and left one of his holes.'We can't be sure. We have to find him! Any ideas, Ladybug?'
Marinette’s mind was racing. Looking for him either aboveground or in the Underground was hopeless. If he really

could

move that quickly across the city, a standard search pattern would be useless. No,

he'd

have to come to

them

. And the only way to ensure that was…

'A trap. If

we

can't get to

him

, then

he

might be able to come to

us

.'
'We can use the Underground for that. Plenty of dark tunnels and hiding spots.''And the power is out, at least on Hampstead Station.''So if we manage to attract him, we might be able to capture his akuma!' Marinette was smiling. It wasn't a bad plan, especially if the power nearby was out. However, there was something still missing…'As for the actual trap however…'
'I can act as bait again. The way I see it, Hawkmoth wants

your

Miraculous, not mine.'
'Doesn't that mean that he would simply overlook you?' Chat Noir seemed less than convinced. 'Unless, of course…''He decided to get rid of me. Look, he has no use for the Fox Miraculous. If I can appear to be isolated and far from you two we might be able to get him to tell this Gapman to remove me from the equation.'

Remove me from the equation

...Marinette almost called Foxy out on that.

That

was the exact kind of thing that she could catch him saying outside his costume, and thus, accidentally figure out who he was. Not that she wanted to know, but what if an akuma villain managed to control her, just as they had Chat Noir? She didn't want to take any chances with them taking a peek inside her mind and finding out who the trio really were behind the mask.

Then she realised…that if that was true, that if akuma villains really
did
gain access to the knowledge of the person they controlled, then Hawkmoth would definitely know, or at the very least suspect, the true identity of Chat Noir. Marinette had a brief moment of panic as she considered the possibilities of that actually being true before her friends brought her back to reality.
'So, do we have a plan?' Chat Noir was looking at her expectantly.'If no one objects…'Of course, no one did. The trio ran towards the deserted station, weapons in hand.'Wait!' Foxy had noticed something. He was looking at one of the security cameras, frowning. 'What if he can see us through these?''You really think he can?' Chat Noir looked around for any other cameras, but there weren't any.
'Well, he did call himself ‘The official guard of the London Underground’, so it doesn't seem to be too far off. In any case…' Marinette hit the camera with her yoyo, sending a shower of sparks to the floor, but she kept an eye trained on Foxy. Exactly

how

had he figured

that

out? He seemed to know an awful lot about Gapman and Hawkmoth, not to mention the strange timing of his first appearance.

Hmmmmm...

'Destroy any camera you can find. We don't want to take any chances!'
The three of them rushed down the emergency staircase, scattering tools and construction material as they went. The power was indeed out, Marinette couldn't see two metres ahead of her before everything became an inexpugnable wall of darkness. It was a miracle that she knew the place well, or she would have already fallen face-first into the ground. She growled. Stupid power…
'I can help you guys with that.' Foxy cracked his whip in the air. It shone bright orange for a second before changing into a long, thin flute, much like the one Volpina had used. Marinette and Chat Noir exchanged a glance as a candle, obviously an illusion, lit up the straits ahead of them with a soft yellow light. She knew what he was thinking...

Volpina 2.0

They reached the bottom of the staircase. Chat Noir was right, the power there was out, too. They walked back towards the platforms, and were about to enter the tunnels when both Marinette and Chat Noir looked at each other and stopped.Foxy walked about five more steps before turning around. His eyes widened.‘...He's not right behind me, is he?’ The look on his face was of sheer terror, and his whisper barely audible. ‘Guys?’‘I think.’ She said, keeping her view locked on his hands. ‘That it's time that you answered some questions.’
‘What? Guys, really? I told you, I'm on your side! Can we leave this thing for later, when there's

not

an akuma villain out for our blood?

Please?

’

Well, he

was

partly right. Discussing the subject of a possible betrayal while an akuma villain could be hiding in the shadows wasn't probably a good idea after all.
Chat Noir came up with a solution however. ‘I have night vision. I can keep watch for Gapman while you two start with the questions.’

Perfect.

‘Do it.’
‘As you say milady.’ The cat climbed back onto the platform, ready to keep watch…and to pounce on Foxy, just in case.‘So…’ The boy in front of her looked nervous. Good. The more nervous he was the easier her job would be.Marinette started with an easy question.‘How did you get the Fox Miraculous? What happened to the wristwatch?’He had received it from an old man and given him his watch for safekeeping. A connection formed inside Marinette’s mind, but it was much too unlikely.‘Did he tell you to do anything specific with it?’Defeat the Falcon Writer.Why had he been chosen?Intelligence, cunning, previous experience.And finally, why did he seem to know so much about Gapman, Hawk Moth, and the Falcon Writer?Power of the Fox Miraculous. Also he was a really smart boy.

Well...

He didn't seem much of a fake. Of course, considering that this was the

Fox

Miraculous, she still had to be careful. Chat Noir seemed more satisfied, however.
'So, what do you want to be called?' He was letting Foxy choose his own superhero name. Which was fine with Marinette, they certainly couldn't keep on calling him 'Foxy'. He had to have a name, something like…'Renard.' He said without thinking. 'Renard Rouge.' It was clear that he had already decided on that name long before Chat Noir asked him that question.'Keeping up with the Frenchness I see? Well, I can't blame you.'  Her old partner was obviously pleased. 'I know it's irresistible. Ladybug here can't help but falling head over heels for it.'

WHAT?

Marinette sighed and walked towards the nearest tunnel, yoyo in hand.

Boys.

'How about we leave the introductions for later and carry out the plan?''I agree.' Renard started following her into the tunnels, and soon was followed himself by Chat Noir, who was still smiling. She just hoped that their new partner wouldn't fall for her, too. One boy she could handle, but two…
Enough romantic drama. They had to focus on Gapman. Marinette was about to suggest splitting up when she was interrupted,

again,

by Renard finishing her phrase.
'Maybe I could… one second.' Again, the owner of the Fox Miraculous cracked his whip in the air, and it was replaced by the same flute it had been before.'Hey, that's totally unfair. My staff can't do that…''And mine can't extend to seemingly unlimited lengths. Now hold still, kitty.''Exactly what is it that you're going to do?' Even though he had already more or less shown himself to be an adequate addition to their team, Marinette wasn't exactly sure about trusting a new, inexperienced superhero who barely knew how they worked together with anything that involved illusions and ‘hold still.’
'I'm just trying to ensure that we won't actually have to split up.' He wasn't nervous, but she could see that he

knew

that he still had to earn their complete trust. Being the owner of the Fox Miraculous was one thing. Being a part of their team was another.
'How do you guys feel about being invisible?'

Well...

She had to admit it seemed like a good idea. Being invisible would most definitely grant them the element of surprise, as well as make them much harder to spot or hit. Taking Gapman’s can would be so much easier.
'Invisible…well, it sounds way better than splitting up.' Chat Noir seemed pleased, too.  'Ladybug?'
'Well, it

is

certainly better than actually going separate ways. I say we give it a go.'
'Well then… hold still!' Renard played a note on his flute, and Marinette went blind.

Uh oh. Either something went wrong, or…

'Um, Foxy?' Chat Noir appeared to be blind, too. 'Was this you or…?'Marinette heard what appeared to be Renard Rouge saying some words that she only knew coming from the mouths of particularly bothersome customers. Had the fox really made a mistake? Or would he try to use this moment of confusion to...'My bad. Note to self: Actually let the light reach their eyes next time...Hold on for a sec. I think I have it now.'A second later, and Marinette’s eyesight had returned. There was a problem however. Were those floating specks of green...eyes?'Um, Renard? I  think I can see Chat Noir’s eyes.''And I can see yours, Milady. You know I couldn't miss them…' Marinette decided to ignore his flirting and let Renard explain his “mistake”.
'I have to let some light reach your eyes for you to see. It's how eyes work. This flute thing can only do so much. I can't break the rules of physics, else the illusion starts glitching up and not interacting properly with the real world. The light

has

to reach your eyes. But don’t worry! It's dark enough in here that no one will notice.  You should be fine as long as you keep it quiet.'
Marinette knew that that's how eyes worked, but she kept her mouth shut. It would be much easier to keep her secret if Marinette and Ladybug seemed to know different things, and she wasn't about to bust her secret identity over a basic Biology lesson.She followed Renard into the tunnels, trying to keep her footing on the uneven stones between the rails. Occasionally, one of them would turn back and survey behind for Gapman, but they didn't find anything.It had been an hour when Chat Noir told them to stop.'Five hundred metres ahead, closing fast. Come here, Ladybug, we'll hide in the maintenance closet. Renard, just say the words and we'll attack.''Got it.' Their new friend cycled his weapon back to whip form as both Marinette and Chat Noir closed the door to the maintenance closet. It was awfully small. She wondered if he had chosen this spot on purpose.Of course he did. She could see it in his eyes. She would have said something to him hadn't Gapman chosen that exact moment to make a surprise appearance from a hole hidden on a wall, landing right behind Renard and punching him so hard in the back of the head that Marinette cringed. The illusion fell, too. The girl could see now that Chat Noir was a little closer to her than she would be comfortable with, even in the cramped space of the maintenance closet.On the other hand, Gapman was now only a meter away from the door. They'd have the element of surprise, that's for sure.
Renard got up from the floor. He seemed dazed, but he was still able to talk. Marinette couldn't help but feeling a little bit sorry for him.

What if he came up with that plan to try to earn our trust? Maybe he's trying to prove himself to us. Trying do something

way

out of his league...

'Gapman to C4. Plus. Double question mark.'

Huh?

Chat Noir blinked, too. Renard had said

what?

Gapman couldn't make sense of it either. '
What. Are you. Saying!?
' He even lowered his can. 'I demand an explanation!'

'
No
, Gapman! Take his Miraculous!

NOW!

'

That isn't Hawkmoth speaking.

Chat Noir had noticed it too. 'Falcon Writer.' He whispered in her ear. She nodded. It was Falcon again. Was Hawkmoth on holiday or something?Renard chose that moment to give his explanation.
'It's chess notation, silly. It means you're screwed.

Now!'

Marinette kicked at the door with all her strength, and the hinges gave way. A hundred - kilogram metal plate slammed into Gapman and pinned him to the wall.'Quick, the can!'Renard tried to grab hold of it, but Gapman fired at the gate and it sank into the ground. The villain used this newfound opportunity to catch Renard’s arm and throw him like a ragdoll a good way from where they were standing.He wasn't out of the fight, however.
'

Time to pull off a miracle!'

Marinette wasn't expecting what happened next. She knew that he had that power; he had used it during that whole thing with Temporal Fabric, but that time he hadn't shared his analysis directly with their

minds.

She wasn't complaining though, it was useful. Gapman could essentially make anything he shot disappear, but he had a limitation. The object itself had to be touching the ground in order for it to fall. Against an airborne attack, Gapman would be completely powerless.
Chat Noir was disoriented, too.'Did he just…?''Yes he did.' Marinette dodged another one of Gapman’s beams and ran towards the nearest station, fifty metres behind them. 'Follow me. I have a plan!'They had barely made it to the platform when…
'

Lucky Charm!!'

'An extra-size rubber band? What am I supposed to do with this?'She looked around. Gapman was on the tunnel to their right, closing fast. There was a train on the opposite platform, and one of the signal lights on the tunnel they had come through was bent.The train, the light, the rubber band… yup, that should work.There was only one problem though. The doors on the train were closed. She needed them open to carry out her plan.'Chat Noir?''Sure Milady.'
'

Cataclysm!!'

The door was no more. They had to make it quick...Gapman was almost to the station. They would have

just

enough time to set up the slingshot, unless…
'Renard, can you…'
Of course, he interrupted her.

Again.

Is he always going to do that? Oh well. At least it's better than fox puns. Goodness knows I already have enough with…

'Distract him? Sure…'
'

For the fiftieth time.'

He muttered. He didn't seem very happy with his role as designated decoy, but he presented no objection. He and Gapman engaged in a pitched battle, whip versus can, each one always trying to outmaneuver the other, but Renard was making sure to always keep  Gapman on the train tracks. It was the only way that their plan would work.

There.

With a final rebound, the rubber band slid into its final position. Chat Noir ran off to help Renard as Marinette climbed on their latest contraption and took several steps backwards before jumping.
It worked wonders. As she sailed through the air, she took in the scene in the other side of the platform. Both Chat Noir and Renard Rouge were doing a wonderful job of keeping Gapman distracted while she twisted mid flight and kicked the signal light with just enough force to change her heading…
To

straight down the tunnel.

Gapman, of course, noticed the red and black embodiment of creation and justice flying towards him, but the shots from his can did nothing to her. She was flying. Airborne. What could his pit traps do against

that?

She wrestled his can from his hand in mid air and made a perfect landing behind him. He tried to hit her, to take it back, but a whip curling around his neck and a well-placed staff prevented him from taking a single step.
Marinette didn't bother with saying something about the akuma. She knew that there wasn't one. She knew that it hadn’t been Hawkmoth, but Falcon instead. She knew that she now had twice as many villains to fight, but she didn't care. She knew this ‘Falcon’s’ weakness.

Hawkmoth

. They were either rivals or working together, which didn't seem very likely. No, Falcon wanted the Miraculous for himself. Just like Hawkmoth. But Falcon

wasn't

Hawkmoth. He was trying to emulate him, trying to

be

like him, to intimidate them, but it wasn't working. Come on,

Temporal Fabric? Gapman?

They didn't seem at all like what Hawkmoth did. Falcon Writer was obviously new to this whole supervillainy business, and Marinette was going to exploit that.

'

Miraculous Ladybug!!

'

But bringing down Falcon would have to wait. Because where Gapman had been kneeling, the policeman from that morning now stood, dazed.

'What...What…Who

are

you?' Of course, he didn't recognize Renard. She wondered how many times he'd have to answer that question. He had rolled his eyes and was about to reply when he noticed that the orange part of his pendant had turned black. Somehow, Marinette knew that he had less than a minute left before he changed back.

He seemed to know that too. Renard's eyes widened as ran like a madman to the nearest emergency exit, barely making it in time. Marinette saw an orange light shining behind the door, before realising that

she

was running out of time too.
And that the emergency exit was already taken.She quickly shared the obligatory fistbump with Chat Noir before running up the escalator and into another maintenance closet. She had to wait for nearly a minute to change back, but, of course, having time to spare was always better than running out.She wondered where this whole adventure had led them to. After all, they had been roaming the tunnels for what, an hour? They could be anywhere. She left the closet and looked around for a map, but Tikki found one before her.'We are at Marylebone station, Marinette!'Well, wasn't she in luck! It was mere blocks from home. She'd be able to make the walk in about ten minutes, and tell her parents that she had gone the long way to avoid Gapman. Then, she'd revise for Mendeleiev’s exam, and then she'd make Tikki the sweater she'd promised.Marinette ran home, and made it in just as the sky outside finally cleared.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Adrien

hated

being driven to school in winter. Not because of the fog, or the snow (He didn't mind either) but because

every time

that the gorilla was behind the wheel, he

insisted

on traveling with the bloody windows rolled down. Even though Adrien was dressed in two layers of winter clothing, he was

still

half frozen. He wondered if Plagg was okay. He probably was; the little kwami would be happy as long as he had something to eat.
 
Adrien saw Max outside and waved at him, but he didn't notice. He was too busy unscrewing Markov’s blades from their rotor to see him. Whatever. Max was always working on something.  Adrien wondered what his house was like. He had never been to it (His father was a bit…reluctant on that matter) but he imagined it had to look like some kind of mad scientist’s lair, with bits of wire everywhere sending sparks up into the air at random, and with more high tech gizmos than the entire British space program.
 
Traffic light. The gorilla looking at his watch, nervous. Adrien calmly reassuring him that they'll still make it in time. A man reading the business section of a newspaper walked so slowly across the street, Adrien even had time to read one of the titles: 'MiracleMerch acquired by millionaire fashion designer.'
 
His father had bought MiracleMerch? The company that made Ladybug and Chat Noir merchandise?

And he hadn't told him?

Not that Adrien wanted any merch items of course, but still, it was strange… his father had enough with his own company, why would he need…?
 
Green light. Hyde Park. They were still a loooong way from school. Adrien decided that a little sleep wouldn't hurt.  After all,

someone

had kept him up until way past three o’clock, urging him to find a particular slice of cheese that turned out to be inside one of Adrien’s many CD cases. Then Natalie had woken him up at seven… It was no wonder that the boy felt the need for sleep.  Adrien curled up in his seat as well as he could, trying to ignore the cold penetrating every single inch of his skin, and drifted off to sleep.

Where did that giant fox come from? And why is it, WHOA WAIT buddy, what did I ever do to you? And why is my father riding it? Is that a cannon he's holding? Oh no it is. Run Adrien run run run run RUN! Hey wait a second. It's a merchandise cannon! Oh no the fox is headed this way...

Hey, it's Ladybug! She's just kicked my father off his saddle and…

Oh no.

I MUST SAVE HER!

CATACLYSM!

HAH! Take that you little…

Caught you, Ladybug! You know I wouldn't let you fall.

Whoa, she's leaning closer to me… is that a hug? Oh yes yes yes yes yes

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adrien, dazed, almost fell out of the car when the gorilla opened the door. If only they had arrived to school half a minute later… oh well. There would be other dreams.
 
He barely made it to the classroom in time. Adrien sat down beside Nino just as their language teacher, Ms.Bustier, entered the room. He tried to snap out of his daze as the teacher started collecting their reports on the last book they'd read (which Adrien had already read anyway) but it was futile. He only managed to wake up fully after Bustier started handing out a

test

on that book, because why not? (In her words, actually.) Of course, having read

Brave New World

a billion times already meant that Adrien had no trouble at all with his exam, unlike some of the other members of their class. Chloe, in particular, was blatantly looking at Sabrina’s paper without any kind of disimule whenever the teacher turned their backs on them.  This was unusual. Yes,

everyone

knew that Sabrina always let Chloe copy her exams, but

this

...Bustier turned around once more, and Chloe, instead of turning towards Sabrina’s paper again, turned towards

him

and blew him a kiss.
 
From in front of him came a faint growl, followed by the sound of a pencil being crushed in anger. Chloe’s kiss had not gone unnoticed.
 
Adrien, of course, ignored this and got back to work. Maybe if he avoided his old friend for long enough, she'd eventually give up…
 
‘Alright students, time's up. Hand in your exams. The next book is

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,

by C.S.Lewis. You'll have the rest of the period free.’
 
The class relaxed. It was common, after all, for Bustier to give them a little break after her exams (unlike

someone else.)

In front of him, Alya started looking at her phone below her desk, in a position that completely hid what she was doing from the teacher. (But not from him.) Adrien decided to take a peek. He knew that Alya frequented news sites a lot during class. He just wanted to make sure that his father had indeed bought MiracleMerch…
 
And he had, apparently! He was scheduled for a press conference that same night. Great. Another night without his father at the table. Adrien wondered why he had such a large one in his dining room. What was the point? There were only four people living in his house, and his father never let any business meetings take place in his home. The

only

time Adrien had seen it more than half full was last Christmas, when everyone had come by after he'd ran away. He recalled that his father had seemed a bit frustrated that night, but still willing to sing along with the rest. Maybe he wasn't

so

serious when other people were around…not that Adrien had any more evidence to back that up however.  In his opinion,

that

had been a particularly strange, one time, event. Maybe it had been something in his drink, or the presence of so many people. Who knew?
 
The bell rang and the class left the room for recess, quickly scattering into the usual small groups.  He and Nino. Rose and Juleka, Mylenne and Ivan, Sabrina, Chloe…
 Nathaniel and Brian? That was strange. Adrien walked closer to them. What they were talking about? They were both holding notepads. Adrien couldn't see very well, but they seemed to be drawing something. He decided to let them be. It was probably Nathaniel's Illustrator comics anyway, which Adrien only seldom enjoyed. That Illustrator clearly reminded him of someone else… He wondered if the Evillustrator was in the story too, but he doubted it. Akuma villains were a bit of a touchy subject among his classmates. It was one thing if, say, Alya pretended to be Lady Wifi for a joke. It was a much different thing if anyone else did it.  As the class' reactions to Mrs. Mendeleiev’s constant comments about Temporal Fabric had shown, that level of offense was beyond anything any of them were willing to tolerate. As Brian’s notepad disappeared into his pocket at the sight of an incoming Chloè, Adrien thought that it was a miracle that he hadn’t been akumatized yet... What kind of villain would Hawkmoth turn him into?…Something like The Black Hawk? The Corruptor? Self Promotion… 
His train of thought was derailed by something a little bit worse than any akuma villain.
 
‘Aaaaaddddrrriiikiiiinnnsss!!!!!’
 Oh no. The Chloeinator had spotted him. There was no hope of getting away in time… 
The poor boy was crushed in a hug that he didn't return. He let go as soon as he could, visibly uncomfortable. He didn't like it when Chloe hugged him like that… but still, he took a lot of pity on her. Adrien had always given her a bit of leeway, but only because of her missing mother, as well as the fact that she'd been his only friend for a long time. Else it would have taken

much

less than the whole mess with the fire department to get him to confront her.
 
She mentioned, loudly, that she was going to have her hair done after school. A lot of people around them sighed. It clearly wasn’t the first time she had said that that day. On the other side of the room, Adrien saw Marinette’s hand going into her pocket and handing a penny over to Alya. Yup,

totally

not the first time. Probably the tenth. The boy excused himself, presumably to go to the bathroom. He slowly walked in that direction as he looked for something, anything that could get him out of having to talk to Chloè…there! Brian and Nathaniel were still comparing notes. Even though Adrien’s sudden entrance into their conversation did sound a little bit awkward, they nevertheless let him join. Of course they understood. Even

Brian

did, and he had only been with them for little more than a month. Adrien said the first thing that came to mind.
 
‘I see you're getting used to us.’
 
The other boy once again put his notepad away, but this time Adrien managed to sneak a peek. Yes,

Illustrator

comics. Oh well. As long as Chat Noir didn't get his butt kicked every single issue and Ladybug didn't fall in love with the Illustrator, he was fine.
 
'Yes!' Brian looked over his shoulder, but Chloe had gone off to brag to someone else. The danger had passed. Lyra Singh took refuge in a classroom next to them before she too was subject to the effects of Bragaclysm. 'It was easier than I expected. All of you guys are really cool people…well, except for Chloe.' He looked around nervously, but she hadn't heard him, instead deciding to interrupt an older student’s reading of

The Magician's Nephew.

Adrien remembered how Brian's animosity towards her had started. It had been a week ago, during Bustier’s class. They had been asked to write an alternate finale to a short story they'd read, and Brian had gone completely overboard, making a completely new story in a matter of seconds, spewing out new ideas like a machine gun. His story had, in the end, received generally good reviews from the rest of the class…except for Chloe. Apparently just because the new villain had looked

a little bit

like her, she had decided to take the story as a personal attack. She called Brian a lot of hurtful names, but the one that would become permanently lodged in Adrien’s brain would be ‘Brian Hawkmoth’. Adrien couldn't but laughing at the thought. Brian, Hawkmoth? Please. What was next,

he

being Hawkmoth?
 
Brian noticed him laughing. ‘What is it?’
 
Dang. Adrien had to think fast. ‘Something I saw on the paper, today.’
 
Brian’s face lit up. ‘Page Thirteen?’
 
‘Yes, Page Thirteen!’ Uh oh. Ad-libbing time. ‘It was about that Gapman, I think. The editing team was trying to figure out how somebody could come up with such a ridiculous name.’
 
‘Really? How odd.’ Whew. He hadn't read it yet. ‘Oh, and about the news, Marinette told me that your father bought MiracleMerch.’
 
‘Yes, he did. I don't know why though. He didn't tell me. He doesn't ever tell me anything about the company.’
 
‘Perhaps it's a super secret corporate plot!’ Oh no, now

Brian

was ad-libbing. If Adrien remembered correctly from the few times that the two of them had interacted, Brian was usually a fairly down to earth sort of person... until you got him creating. And Adrien had done just that. He braced himself for the incoming insanity. ‘Maybe your father is taking over the company because he wants to…umm… Oh I know! He had designed a whole set of merchandise for Renard Rouge, but the company declined it and now Gabriel Agreste is out for revenge!’ Although the joke itself wasn't very funny for Adrien (His father was probably incapable of such a wide range of emotions) Brian's energetic gesticulations managed to make up for it.
 
The bell rang. Adrien decided to keep in mind the fact that Brian appeared to be a die-hard fan of Renard Rouge. Not that that there was anything wrong with that of course, but in his opinion Chat Noir was

way

better than the city's latest overconfident fox.
 
The next period was Mendeliev’s. After what she had said last week, she had shown no signs of repenting, and the student group had taken the appropriate measures to respond. The teacher had to work extra hard to keep order in the classroom that day, especially after Alya 'accidentally' poured the wrong flask on her experiment. The resulting cloud of purple smoke was very hard to dissipate, as well as somehow even smellier than Camembert.  As a result, Alya had been banned from handling any more chemicals for the rest of the week, and all of the actual mixing was to be made by Marinette… which wasn’t much of an improvement, anyway.
 
Chloe’s bragging only intensified as time went on, but as the school day drew closer to its end she seemed to be more anxious than anything else. It was only five minutes before the final bell that Chloe started furiously typing messages into her phone, obviously trying to make contact with someone. One minute later, her phone rang. Of course, she said it was another 'emergency' to justify the use of her phone in class. According to Adrien’s memory, it was the third time this month she did that, and the twentieth that year overall.
 
‘Daddy?’ Her voice was an octave too high, as if something very important to her had gone wrong. ‘What do you

mean

there's no space to park?...But we're going to be late to get my hair done!...Circling around won't...Daddy,

have it towed

! Yes it's been abandoned...Daddy?

André!'

Chloé put her phone down and stared out of the window, biting her nails. Adrien couldn't see what she was watching so attentively, but he could hear the sound of the local tow truck at work. He had a fairly good idea of what exactly was being towed, but he wasn't sure. A month ago, this old, rusted car had appeared in front of the school. Attempts to locate the owner were futile, although some liked to joke that it was Chat Noir’s car. (It wasn't.) The real problem was, it wasn't exactly parked in a good spot. Nine times out of ten Adrien was forced to circle around the school and wait for someone else to go before he could come down. He had been lucky that day, but only because Ivan’s mother's car had already left seconds beforehand. As long as nothing too bad came out of this, it seemed like everyone would win. Chloe would arrive in time and the rest of the class (Well, those with cars anyway) would be able to park in front of the school again. Well, of course, if the car

wasn’t

actually abandoned, then they would have a very angry motorist to deal with, but really, what were the odds? The thing was probably incapable of starting, anyway.
 
As soon as the final bell rang, Chloe left the room with a speed that rivaled Ladybug’s, not even bothering to say goodbye to Sabrina. In front of him, Marinette rolled her eyes. Adrien greeted both of them on his way out (Marinette waved back

much

more awkwardly than Alya) and left the school as he talked with Nino about the latest episode of

Ultraspace

.
 
‘Commander Catherine was acting rather odd, don't you think?’
 
‘Yeah, extremely. Did you see what she said to Reynalds? I think that one of the brain slugs got her on that mission she went on in the previous chapter’
 
‘The one where she got the laser sword? But

dude,

she was on camera…’
 
It was only then that Adrien noticed the man in the street.
 
He was about thirty years old, uneasily shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he checked his watch. He was holding a briefcase on one hand, and on the other… was that an

aviator’s cap?

With

goggles?

It was obvious that it wasn’t intended for him. No, it had to be for someone else…
 
The strange man approached them. ‘Sorry boys, have you seen a very old car around here?’ Uh oh. ‘I have to get to the hospital real quick- my friend's about to be operated on and wanted me to bring him this you see, and…’
 
‘It's been towed.’ Sabrina had just appeared behind them, but Adrien was glad for that. Not only was she a much nicer person whenever Chloe wasn’t around, she had

also

saved them from having to deliver the bad news to him. ‘You see, the Mayor…’ Grrrr.

No

, Sabrina, you don't tell the general public about Chloe’s exploits. The last thing we want is for the whole city to complain that their tax pounds are being used for the benefit of a spoiled brat.
 
Adrien came to the rescue. ‘There's...um...a new environmental regulation, sir. Came out this morning. All cars past ten years of age are to report to…’ He would have continued, but the man wasn't listening anymore. He had simply replied with a simple ‘Ah’ before turning his back on them and walking away without saying ‘Thank you’ or ‘Goodbye’. The news seemed to have struck a nerve. Adrien felt sorry for him. After all, he

did

seem to have a friend who was counting on him. Had

his

car come for him already, Adrien would have gladly volunteered to take him to the hospital himself, but alas, he had told his father he was going to spend the afternoon with Nino. (Which he had

miraculously

agreed to.) The car wouldn't come until much later.
 
‘You okay dude?’ He realised he had been staring into the distance, at the back of the man as he walked further and further away.
 
Adrien scratched his head. ‘Yeah...I'm fine. Let's go to your house. I'm sure we'll have some fun there.’
 
‘You can count on that, Adrien. Let's get going!’
 
Adrien smiled and walked alongside his friend to the nearest bus stop.
 
A dark, empty room. Footsteps. A man pulling a notepad out of his pocket and writing something on it. Tendrils of electricity coming out of the paper and surrounding him, changing his appearance completely in a matter of seconds.
 
Falcon Writer looked at his notepad for a while, pensative. It was five minutes until he pulled out a page, wrote some choice words in it, and folded it into a perfect airplane. Several button presses on a wall later, and a large, circular window had opened, revealing much of the city of London. The evil Falcon took a minute to drink in the beauty of the ancient city before whispering, in a barely audible tone of voice…
 
‘
Iain McCain is your target, little airplane. Now

go

, and help this defeated driver pave our road to victory!
’
 
Far away, sitting on a park, Iain McCain barely had time to notice that the thing that had hit his friend’s goggles was not, in fact, a random leaf in the wind, but a perfectly crafted paper airplane instead. Just as he lifted it from the floor, he heard a strange voice in his head…
 
‘Berserkar,

I

am the Falcon Writer. I see you want to give those items you hold to your aviator friend…what a noble endeavour. I can provide you with a vehicle to suit your needs...although this service has a fee. In return for my help, I want in exchange the Miraculous.

All three of them.

Do we have a

deal

, Berserkar?’
 
Iain gave him a half grin. Getting to his childhood friend was in fact what he most wanted...and anyone who tried to stop him, or even got in his way, would have to suffer the consequences.
 
‘

Yes, Falcon.

’
 
As the lines of text started to envelop him, Iain wondered what kind of transport would Falcon provide.
 
‘Just around the corner now.’ They were finally getting near Nino’s house after twenty minutes of walking. Adrien was still cold, but it wasn't as bad as in the morning. Besides, having his friend by his side proved to be just what he needed to forget about the cold. Plagg was safely tucked away inside his bag with plenty of Camembert to spare, and Adrien himself was anxious to know how his friend’s house was like. Of course, Nino had already been to his, although the circumstances of that particular visit had not been exactly optimal. There had been an akuma villain out there, for starters, one that was after his dad no less. Simon Says… truly one of Hawkmoth’s most...peculiar creations.
 
Both he and Nino were about to cross a street when they heard a horrible crashing sound. Adrien and his friend, shocked, looked around for whatever could have caused such a catastrophe, only to be greeted by a car heading straight for them! They both jumped sideways to avoid a fatal collision, and the vehicle missed them by only the tiniest of inches. Adrien’s bag, however, hadn't been so lucky. It had slipped off his shoulders and fallen just before he jumped, and was now a shredded mess of fabric on the pavement. Adrien’s eyes widened.

Plagg!

The boy desperately scrambled for his bag and reached it just as Nino came up behind him.
 
‘Adrien? Are you alright?’
 
‘I'm fine.’ He started rummaging through his bag, trying to find any indication that his kwami hadn't been hurt. He was about to give up hope when a tiny hand grasped his finger.
 
Had Adrien been alone, he would have rejoiced and hugged Plagg, maybe even fed him an extra slice of Camembert, but alas, he wasn’t alone. Nino helped him patch a gaping hole in the fabric as well as he could, but the damage was already done. Adrien discretely slipped Plagg into his pocket and carried his books the rest of the way to Nino’s. He wasn't as excited about it as he’d been before though. Being attacked by what was obviously an akuma villain wasn’t exactly helping his mood.

I can

never

get a day off, can I? If it's not the modeling it's fencing. If it's not fencing it's piano. And if it's not piano it's akuma villains!

Adrien stopped in his tracks for a moment to take a look at the path of destruction that the vehicle had left. Ruined bikes, a flower shop in tatters and several panicked civilians looking out of their windows were all that was left of what had once been a normal busy London street. Nothing Ladybug couldn't fix.
 
Nino suddenly looked over Adrien’s shoulder, alerted by the sound of an engine revving. The car was coming back! Somehow, it hadn’t been damaged by all the mess it had made, but Adrien didn't have time to think about that as he scrambled for Nino’s house.
 
The two boys ran towards the building as fast as their legs could take them, but they didn't quite make it in time. The strange car slammed straight into the door, blasting the lock and doorknob into a million pieces of shrapnel that they barely managed to dodge. The vehicle was so close, Adrien could finally see the driver. It was a middle-aged man, wearing purple aviator’s goggles with the lenses tinted red. Not to mention, the car certainly looked a bit familiar to him…
 
The man from the school. The hunk of junk! He must have been akumatized… or Falconized. Adrien wasn't sure. This new Falcon guy was certainly full of surprises.
 
‘GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU PIECES OF SHITE! CAN'T YOU SEE BERSERKAR IS TRYING TO

DRIVE

HERE, YOU SECOND CLASS PEDESTRIANS??!!’
 
He obviously didn't seem to mind that he was trying to drive on the sidewalk, or that he had just ruined the front of an entire building. 'Berserkar' sped away from them as far as his ride could take him… which wasn’t much, honestly. Adrien was about to ask Nino if he was alright when the villain suddenly turned his car around, smashing into an old stack of newspapers and sending bits of Evening Standard everywhere.
 
‘I

SAID

GET OUT OF THE WAY OF BERSERKAR!!!!’
 
He was getting closer, and closer… and closer…
 
‘Adrien, here!’ Nino had managed to unlock one of his house's windows. Both he and Adrien hurriedly climbed inside just as Berserkar plowed through the spot where Adrien had been standing.
 
‘Thanks Nino.’
 
‘No problem dude.’
 
‘Nino? Is that you?’ Came a voice from upstairs. Probably his mother, Adrien thought.
 
‘Yes, mom, it's me! Adrien’s here too. We're both fine!’
 
‘Stay inside and keep the windows shut. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon!’
 
Adrien would have loved to meet Nino’s family, but he really needed to go. He couldn't let that ‘Berserkar’ guy run amok around the city, destroying everything in his path. He had to do something!
 
‘Um, Nino, where's the bathroom?’
 
His friend looked at him in disbelief. ‘

Now?’

‘

It’s the nerves! You know, Bustier’s test, Chloe chasing me everywhere I go, akumatized cars ruining the city...I really need to -’
 
‘Take a left at the flowerpot.’ His friend obviously didn't want to know what Adrien had to do... The boy thanked him and quickly ran towards the bathroom, locking the door behind him as Plagg flew out of his pocket.
 
‘Plagg!’ The boy pressed his kwami against his face. ‘Thank goodness you're alright.’
 
‘Of course I'm alright. What did you expect? That a

car

could do

me

in?

Please

.’ The kwami flew closer to the mirror, smelling the air for Camembert. Adrien decided to take their conversation away from the topic of food.
 
‘I'm glad you're fine Plagg. I won't let that happen again. I promise.’
 
‘That's so nice of you Adrien. Now, in compensation for that bumpy ride, I think I should have some-’
 
Nope. Later. Plagg had to

earn

his cheese. Besides, Camembert wasn’t exactly cheap, was it?
 
‘

Plagg,

claws out!’

Both Marinette and Alya left school together that afternoon. Given the fact that the latter had been temporarily banned from handling the school’s chemicals, Marinette was going to help her complete the latest relevant assignments, as well as do some of Bustier’s homework together. It would be a fun girls’ afternoon, hopefully with some time left over for playing video games. Marinette remembered the last time she'd been to Alya’s house, right after that whole mess with Dark Owl. The Cardboard Girl costume had been proudly placed in a display stand surrounded by what seemed to be the entire MiracleMerch catalog. Now that Gabriel Agreste had bought the company, it looked like Alya’s collection could only grow bigger.
 
Marinette hadn't exactly grabbed hold of a newspaper that day, but from what she'd heard, the company would start selling action figures of the various akuma villains, as well as an artist’s conception of Hawkmoth. (Marinette, of course, suspected that the 'Artist' would be no other than Gabriel Agreste himself. That book he kept locked away in his house was too precious to him to let anyone else handle it).
 
For the last couple of blocks however, Alya had been thoroughly interrogating Marinette on what had happened in the few opportunities that she had been able to interact with Chat Noir. Marinette, of course, told her everything, ranging from the pretend date with the Evilustrator to his daring rescue after Befana had attacked her birthday party. Alya’s reasons for being so curious, however, would only be revealed once the two of them were mere metres away from her house.
 
‘I tell you girl, I'm

dying

to get an interview with Chat Noir. It's been what, a year since I started the Ladyblog, and I barely have any footage of him! That needs to change.

Now.

The next time I see him, I swear I'll-’ Her friend was interrupted by what appeared to be screams coming from the park they had walked through. Marinette instinctively grabbed her handbag as she looked around, trying to find the source of all the ruckus.

Please don't be an akuma villain please don't be an akuma villain please don't please don't please don’t…

‘Is that…Is that Chat Noir?’ Alya was staring dumbfounded at something on the other end of the street. What was it? Marinette couldn't see. Although now that she mentioned it, it certainly

did

sound quite a bit like Chat Noir...
 
The girls’ suspicions were confirmed a second later, when a large, 7-seater van zoomed past them, trying to shake a terrified Chat Noir off of its roof. Even in such a precarious situation, Ladybug’s partner still managed to find time to direct a single cat pun at Marinette, who could barely believe her eyes.
 
‘HelloMarinettehowareyoufelinetodaAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!’
 
The girl just blinked. It

was

an akuma villain, no doubt. Either that or one of those new ‘Falconized’ villains. In any case, the whole plan to spend an afternoon with Alya had just gone completely down the drain. Marinette dragged her friend out of the way and into an alley as the car started driving on the sidewalk, scattering a flock of pigeons and wrecking anything it came into contact with as it went. As Alya climbed onto a window to get a better view, Marinette paused for a second to quickly bring up any data she had on any important car accidents that day, but nothing seemed to match. No, this had been something more important than a mere car crash, it had been something more

personal…

The man from the school. That ancient hunk of junk! Chloe’s antics had gotten the whole city in trouble again. When would that girl

learn?

The van made a sharp turn, and Chat Noir was thrown straight into a building. Marinette had to transform, fast. She couldn't let that akumatized driver wreck the city any more than he'd already ruined. It was a miracle that no one had been hurt yet, but the girl wasn’t about to press her luck. Helping Alya with her school things would have to wait.

Now

it was the time to transform into Ladybug and save the day!
 
But first, Marinette needed to get out of sight.
 
As much as Alya wanted to find out Ladybug’s true identity, Marinette didn't think that she'd take it very well if she turned out to be her best friend. Although from the way she acted during akuma attacks and the large amount of merchandise present in her room, Marinette couldn't help thinking that maybe, just

maybe

Alya had a secret desire to be a superhero herself, too. The fact that Renard Rouge had suddenly made an appearance as the brand-new vulpine protector of London probably hadn't helped matters. The next time she was on camera, she'd have to repeat her warning. They could do it only because they had their powers, and even

then

they usually ran into trouble. The three of them didn't need any extra help. As Chat Noir tried to swat out one of the car's rear view mirrors, Marinette decided it was time to start her getaway.
 
‘I'll…I’ll see you at your house Alya. I don't think I want to stick around for much longer…’
 
‘Whatever girl. You go. I'm going to

record

this!  I'm

finally

getting a chance to get some footage of Chat Noir, and maybe even of Re...’
 
She kept on talking, but by then Marinette had already ran out of earshot. The girl soon found herself at the back of Alya’s house, quickly opening her bag to let Tikki out as soon as possible. Now that she had made her a sweater, the cold winters of London wouldn't be a problem for the little kwami. They both were quite happy with Marinette’s handiwork, a small red coat with a hood and a flap for covering the kwami’s tail. The design wasn’t

perfect

, but it was all she had been able to sneak under the excuse of making clothes for Manon’s dolls.
 
‘Alya’s sure quite the reporter. You can't let her get hurt, Marinette.’
 
‘I know, Tikki. Let's make sure that doesn't happen, okay?’
 
‘Sure thing Marinette. Just say the words…’
 
‘

Tikki

,

spots on!

’
 
’Sweeper.’
 
‘Nope.’
 
‘The Examiner.’
 
‘Too cheesy.’
 
‘Interrobang?’
 
‘

Really?

’
 
‘

Fine.

Hot Chocolator.’
 
‘Come on Brian, you're not even trying.’
 
The boys were frustrated. Both Nathaniel and Brian had gone to Hyde Park after school to see if they could get some inspiration for the former’s

Illustrator

comics, but nothing interesting was coming to their minds. Nathaniel had been sketching out random designs and Brian had tried to come up with various names for the villains, but so far none of their ideas had made it past the prototype phase.
 
A squirrel jumped off a tree and landed in front of the two boys, clearly asking for food. It was ignored, however, and soon disappeared in search of some more gullible tourists.
 
‘Some sort of squirrel-themed villain?’ It was clear that by now Brian was out of ideas. Nathaniel decided to try their luck some other day.
 
‘Maybe you should head home, Brian. We'll try again tomorrow after school, someplace different.’
 
His friend didn't respond.
 
‘Brian?’
 
Nathaniel tore his eyes away from his notepad and looked at Brian, who had closed his eyes and placed his hands on his temples in what was obviously a last minute attempt to pull off a miracle and come up with a satisfying name for the Illustrator’s rogues gallery.  It was a while before he talked again, but Nathaniel waited.
 
‘

Technosaur!

’
 
Nathaniel barely managed not to laugh.

Technosaur

? Seriously.
 
‘An old man, distraught by the complications of modern technology, who turns into a huge dinosaur with the ability to replace any modern gadget with its 90s counterpart!’
 
Nathaniel could not contain his laughter this time. Both his friend and a nearby duck looked at him, one of them raising his eyebrow.
 
‘What? It's

purrrrfect

! I'll get started on the fight scenes later today. See you on Saturday at Hampstead Heath?’
 
Once he managed to regain his composure and convince Brian to make Technosaur only a joke villain, Nathaniel agreed to his friend’s proposal and left, disappearing behind a bus the second he crossed the street.
 
Brian looked around. The coast was clear, save for someone reading a book up a tree, but

he

was looking the other way, and too far from the boy to listen to him anyway. The boy opened his bag.
 
‘Blood Moon. Queen Imperator. Prime Minister Sinister. Flowerer. Sagita-’
 
‘Renard.’ Brian sighed and got up from the park bench he and Nathaniel had been sharing. ‘Please.’ He hated writer's block. Coming up with decent new characters was always hard for him. Sometimes, he

did

have brief moments of inspiration, but that was about it. The entire afternoon would have been wasted trying to come up with supervillains hadn’t he had that last brilliant idea, and even then-

SLAM.

Renard hid back in the school bag as a large black van plowed through a nearby shop, scattering overpriced hats everywhere. Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing their best to stay on the roof of the car, but its constant swerving and crashing made it very difficult for them. The shop had been reduced to rubble, as well as most of the merchandise, but there was still a wall he could hide behind. The man up the tree had wisely and mysteriously disappeared as soon as he heard the crash.
 
Brian ran towards the ruined store, looking in every direction in case the car came back. It didn't, however, and he made it to the wall safely. His bag opened from the inside and Renard flew out, munching on a single tea leaf. Whatever. Brian wasn't about to question his kwami’s dietary habits. He had been told the previous day that Renard wasn't exactly fond of having his name blatantly stolen, but that centuries of experience had taught him that names, like tea leaves, both came and went. (Brian had been mystified by that, too.) The kwami gathered up all his energy and flew into Brian's collar as soon as he said the words.
 
‘

Renard,

transformé moi

!

’
 
’Any plans on how to stop him, Chat Noir?’ The two of them were flying across the rooftops of London, following Berserkar from the air after their attempts at tracking him from the ground had ended in seven flowerpots destroyed, two gardens ruined and one tree somehow being covered in marmite.
 
‘I'm still thinking milady.’ The duo jumped across an avenue. ‘Is it me, or are you looking just a tiny bit

exhausted?’

‘Not now, Chat Noir! We still have to find Renard-’
 
‘
HOLD IT!’
Adrien recognized that voice. If his senses hadn't

steered

him wrong, Chat Noir was absolutely sure that that order had come from their newest ally, Renard Rouge. And it had come from somewhere nearby, too. Maybe that street by Trafalgar Square?
 
Yes,

there

he was. Both him and Ladybug peered down from their rooftop, watching him closely. He didn't look like he needed help, at least for now. For some reason, Berserkar had stopped in front of him, and, judging from his panicked expression, didn't look like he'd be moving anytime soon. It was only then that the duo noticed him that Renard was holding what appeared to be a

laser sword

in his other hand. Adrien, unlike Ladybug, recognised it at once, it was Lieutenant Juarez’ weapon from

Ultraspace.

Apparently he and Nino weren't the only ones who liked that show. Both him and his partner watched in stunned silence as an entire tank column, as well as several heavily armed men made their way to Berserkar, who appeared to be seriously contemplating what to do in this seemingly unthinkable situation.
 
Still, something wasn’t right. The tanks weren't wrecking the pavement for one, and the insignia on some of the soldier's shoulders seemed a bit...off. It didn't take the two of them very long to figure it out.
 
‘It's an illusion!’ Even though they were a good twenty metres from the villain, Ladybug was whispering. ‘Renard must be trying to confuse him. Maybe even get him to turn himself in!’ Then again, his illusions wouldn't last forever. Keeping such a number of illusions would definitely take its toll on him, the same way that Plagg needed an extra slice of cheese after destroying something too big.
 
‘We should get closer, just in case. Now while we have the chance. His illusions aren't perfect.’
 
‘Got it.’ The love of Adrien’s life jumped out of the rooftop and hid behind a car as Renard pointed a laser sight from an illusory sniper (That didn't actually exist) right at Berserkar's goggles. Adrien joined her a second later. They were now almost within arm's reach of the car. They should be able to stop him if he sped away...
 
‘You're surrounded! Get out of the car!’ One of the soldiers had made his way to the side of the van and was pointing a really big gun at Berserkar’s face. The villain clearly didn't know what to do.
 
‘Um, Falcon…?’  Both Adrien and Ladybug looked at each other. Falcon

again?

‘...Sir? I am confused. I didn't expect…-’
 
Even from their hiding spot behind a wrecked Fiat 600, the two young heroes could tell that the Falcon Writer was furious.
 
‘
You aren't supposed to

do

anything because those soldiers are

illusions,

Berserkar!’
Their enemy looked up, suddenly realising that none of what was happening around him was real. ‘
Now, stop hanging around like a Christmas ornament in July and get me the Miraculous!
’
 
Renard had heard him too. Had the circumstances been different, Adrien would have laughed at the surprised expression on their partner’s face, but all he did then was to take a picture of him using his staff, which he then showed to Ladybug, who just shook her head. The illusions vanished in a puff of orange smoke as Berserkar sped away, almost running over the boy in the fox costume.
 
Both Ladybug and Chat Noir used that opportunity to spring into action. He handed his staff to Ladybug and chased the car on foot while she used her yoyo to create a web between two traffic lights ahead of them. Now, the next thing she should have done was to jump on top of the van and block its exhaust pipe with Chat Noir’s staff…
 
If Berserkar hadn't plowed straight

through

her trap, that is. The girl suddenly found herself being dragged behind a car going at almost one hundred kilometres an hour, and the two boys could barely keep up. Chat Noir had to think of something, quick…maybe use

Cataclysm

on a statue to block his path...wait, was Renard falling behind?
 
‘And...I've got her!’ Adrien looked back to see that he had tied the end of his whip to the base of a statue, and thrown the handle at Ladybug at a speed that no normal human could have thought possible. The girl caught wind of his plan and pulled as soon as she grabbed hold of the handle. Berserkar suddenly found himself anchored to a fifty-ton Admiral Nelson, unable to move.
 
Adrien knew what he had to do. He had to run up to the car as soon as possible, use Cataclysm on the door, and toss the goggles over to Ladybug, who had just disentangled her yoyo from the car’s front bumper and tied Renard’s whip to one of the exhaust pipes. He had to make it quick however, the base of the statue was already showing cracks. Any second now and -
 
He was only one step away from the door when the statue came crashing down. Renard looked up, only to find a solid pillar of stone about to squash him flat. Adrien had no choice. He

had

to save him!
 
His staff found its mark before Ladybug's yoyo did. Renard was smacked in the chest and sent flying backwards, but Adrien was pretty sure that he would take that over being crushed by a falling statue. After the dust had cleared, Adrien turned to Ladybug.
 
‘So...thirty-three to twenty-five?’ Both Ladybug and him had started keeping score of the people they saved, about a month ago. Adrien was in the lead, although probably only momentarily. Ladybug had a lot more time for superheroing that he did.
 
‘Thirty

two.’

The girl looked away from him, blushing. ‘That time in the burning chemicals laboratory doesn't…doesn't

count

.’
 
Adrien bowed, barely unable to hide his smile. ‘As you say, Milady.’ It didn't matter if it cost him the competition, he was

never

going to let her forget that one.
 
‘Ugh…’ Renard had got up, apparently. He looked a little bit dazed, but fine overall. It was a good thing that their suits were indestructible. ‘You guys keep

score?

’
 
Adrien would have told him

exactly

how their points system worked, and maybe even invited him into their little competition, but Ladybug killed the mood.
 
‘It's not important. We have to find a way to stop Berserkar,

now.

Before he gets a better…’
 
From afar came the sound of an explosion, followed by the murmuring of…treads?

You've got to be kidding me.

‘It's too late for that.’ Adrien looked around, but the supervillain was still out of sight. ‘He’s already got a…’
 
‘Tank.’ Renard interrupted him once more. ‘Berserkar’s got a tank.’
 
Adrien

hated

it when the villains used guns. Having The Mime shoot a bazooka at the love of his life had already been bad enough. Bulletstorm had been a major pain in the rear, but eventually the duo had found a sufficiently thick metal door to use as armour while they charged him.  
 
But a

tank

? How on earth was he supposed to take on a tank? Getting close enough to use Cataclysm, especially in the open fields of Hyde Park they had followed the villain into, would be  considered a miracle in and of itself, and…

Miracle...Miracle! That's it!

‘Renard!’ The fox looked at him as they followed Berserkar deeper into the park. ‘Your power! Use -’
 
BLAM.
 
Both he and his friend jumped at the same time. Renard, however, made it to his target before he did.
 
Not that Adrien was in any danger because of that, however. The shell hadn't been directed at any of the two of them. No, surely Falcon had clearly already identified the most dangerous member of their group, and taken steps to ensure that she was taken out of action.
 
Renard managed to tackle Ladybug just in time. The two of them awkwardly rolled over the grass and landed on top of one another. Adrien looked over at them and bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Even though a part of him was just a

tiny

bit jealous (Those kind of landings were kind of

his

thing), the boy did his best to distract Berserkar as Renard got up from the floor, his face somehow redder than his suit.  Ladybug, on the other hand, was looking at him as if she were expecting some kind of romantic remark, which Adrien

would

have provided hadn't the tank tried to run him over.The trio scattered and took cover behind a gazebo on the other side of a lake while they figured out a plan.
 
‘So...Chat Noir…what were you saying?’ Renard shook some dirt out of his tail and prepared his whip. Adrien decided to tell him his plan before that sneaky fox did anything… well, sneaky. As indestructible as their suits were supposed to be, he didn't want any of them to test that against ten kilograms of high explosives.
 
‘Use your power. That miracle thing! That should let us know if that thing has any weaknesses.’
 
‘Got it.’ Beside him, Ladybug gave him a small nod. She obviously approved of his plan, which made Chat Noir smile.
 
Renard Rouge raised his hand up in the air.
 
‘

Time to pull off a miracle!’

The experience, just like the last time, was more than slightly disorienting. Even after a whole month of fighting side by side with their new partner, Adrien still hadn't gotten used to that whole

Miracle-

telepathy thing. Having his thought processes invaded by what essentially was a waterfall of data wasn't exactly his favourite hobby,

especially

if most of it turned out to be
useless
. Name, schematics, armour plating and main gun caliber, Renard’s power was sending him that sort of useless thing that had absolutely nothing to do with

how to defeat that blasted

thing

.
 
One detail caught his attention, however.

Thermal...optics?

Oh no.

‘

Everyone run!

’ Adrien jumped to the left as the gazebo they had been hiding behind was blown to pieces. Both Renard and Ladybug were thrown sideways by the explosion, but they didn't seem hurt. They had jumped just in time. The trio once again made their way to the other side of the lake, trying to get close enough to Berserkar to do...what? Scratch his paint job?  The three of them would have to try a lot harder than

that.

No, there

had

to be another way. Adrien tried to use Renard’s data to find a weak spot on the tank’s armour, but it was of no use. There were none. The three of them landed about fifty metres behind the villain and scattered in random directions as a burst from the mounted machine gun turned half a dozen trees around them into sawdust.
 
The main gun zeroed in on Ladybug, who had taken shelter inside the wrecked remains of a shop, probably to use her Lucky Charm without being blown to pieces. Renard tried to distract Berserkar and made a jump that would take him to the top of the turret, but even if he did manage to land, what good would that do? He wouldn't even be able to open the…
 
Something fizzled on top of the tank, just where the fox was about to make his landing. None of them noticed it until it was too late.
 
Boom.
 
Renard Rouge flew backwards, stunned. Something had exploded on top of the tank, but what?
 
The answer came to him in the form of some of the vehicle's schematics.

Exploding armour? Really?

So, we can't even get close to that thing without being blown to bits. Awesome!

Adrien extended his staff to several times its normal size. If he could get it jammed between the treads, then

maybe

they could at least immobilize Berserkar while they figured out a plan to get through that stupid armour...
 
In front of him, Ladybug came out from the shop, holding...
 
‘...A lighter.’ A dazed Renard Rouge had somehow found the way to his side. He didn't seem too impressed by Ladybug’s use of her Lucky Charm, but Adrien already knew what his lady was planning. The schematics

were

proving to be somewhat useful after all!
 
‘Cover me, guys!’ Ladybug started running in a wide ring around the tank, setting fire to the grass below her and to any trees she could find. It was a good thing that she could fix it up later, or they would have some serious trouble in their hands, courtesy of a

very

angry fire department.
 
‘You heard the pyromaniac, Foxy. Let's stop this guy dead in his tracks!’
 
‘...Don’t call me

Foxy.

’ Adrien made a mental note to call him that as much as possible. The two of them placed themselves on opposite sides of the tank, occasionally jumping to avoid either a shell or a burst from the mounted machine gun. Obviously Berserkar was having a little bit of trouble with being a one-man tank crew. He had to choose to either drive or shoot, which bought them time.
 It wasn't long before Ladybug completed her ring. It took Adrien a second to figure out why she had done it, but the fact that the vehicle had been using thermal optics to find them sort of clued him in. And it was working, to boot. Berserkar (Bersertank? Didn't have the same feel to it.) didn't seem to be able to locate them anymore. The turret made one full confused rotation before grinding to a halt.   
‘Chat Noir, now!’ His lady didn't need to say that twice. A yoyo sailed through the air and detonated one, two, three patches of explosive reactive armour. The boy stepped forwards, ring at the ready.
 
‘

Cataclysm!’

Thanks to Renard’s not-so-useless-now schematics, Adrien knew

exactly

where the driver was supposed to be. Barely five seconds after his use of Cataclysm, Chat Noir was dragging a surprised-looking Berserkar out of his mechanical monstrosity and handing his goggles over to Ladybug, who threw them to the floor and crushed them underfoot.
 
The trio knew better than to waste valuable time waiting for an akuma. Ladybug and him shared the obligatory fistbump before each went their separate ways. The love of his life stayed behind a little longer to check on the Falconized man and promised him that she'd get the goggles over to his friend as soon as she could. Soon after, the petals from her lighter were swarming all over London, repairing the damage made by the Falcon Writer’s latest victim. Renard took a second to take the spectacle in before jumping away, his collar only two minutes away from going completely black.
 
Adrien made it to Nino’s house just in time. Plagg hid inside his shirt just as Nino opened the door. ‘What took you so long?’
 
‘I told you I was nervous.’ Nino looked over his shoulder, obviously trying to see how much of a mess he had made.
 
‘Did you at least clean up?’
 
‘Of course I did. So… are you still up for actually doing what we came here to do?’
 
‘Sure. Now, if I can find the school things…’
 
It was that moment that Adrien’s phone decided to ring. He knew it was Natalie even before he fished it out of his pocket. It was also what he expected to hear. The car would come in five. Nino wasn't very happy about that, but the two boys agreed to meet up again as soon as they could.
 The rest of his friend’s family was disappointed upon hearing the news, but Adrien didn't blame them. His father, apparently, had been “worried” about him, and sent a car to pick him up as soon as it was safe. Strange. His father didn't express those feelings often. Either something had happened (most probably a coincidentally rescheduled photo shoot), or his father had actually undertaken the monumental effort that it seemingly took him to express human emotion and sent Natalie and the gorilla to fetch him. Still, Adrien appreciated the gesture. It wasn't often that Gabriel Agreste showed anyone the slightly more humane side of his personality. He just wished he had more time to spend with his father. A bajillion books and a library full of video games weren't very fun if he couldn't share them with anyone else… 
How long had it been since the two of them had done anything together, actually? Two years? Three? Or had it been something in the days before the disappearance of his mother? Adrien could barely remember. There had been a board game involved...
 
The ride home wasn't long. The gorilla actually remembered to keep the windows up this time, which was good news. It meant Adrien wouldn't be frozen over by the time he got home. To his father, and his piano, and his books...his

books!

Maybe there

could

be a way to get him and his father to share the same space together for more than five minutes for purposes

other

than business or dinner...
 
It was just as the gorilla opened the car door that Adrien added the finishing touches to his new plan. With a little bit of luck, he'd be able to

actually

spend some quality time with his father, and maybe even gain some insight on that strange book he kept locked in the safe behind his mom’s painting...
 
After an initial, seemingly half hearted hug from his father, Adrien decided to give his plan a shot.

‘Father?’
 
‘Yes, son?’
 
‘I- I've been thinking. About the book.’ Why was his father looking away? ‘Maybe we could go over it together, the two of us! Try to figure out what those...symbols...’ Adrien trailed off. His father clearly wasn’t liking the idea.
 
‘I'm sorry, son.’  The boy had to fight hard to repress a huge sigh of disappointment. ‘I don't understand the language it's written in.’
 
‘But, maybe we could find -’
 
‘I've already checked. Nobody seems to know how to decipher the code. As far as I know, the book can not be translated.’
 
‘Then how is it the “

source of your inspiration

”?’ Adrien’s anger was palpable. What harm would there be in him taking a look at it? Was his father hiding something?
 
‘Words are not the only thing in that book, my son.’ Adrien tried to respond, but his father cut him short. It was hard to discern his expression with those huge glasses, but he didn't look very happy. ‘Why don't you go and practice your piano for a while?’
 
Adrien knew what that phrase meant.  As far as his father was concerned, that was the end of the conversation. It would be futile to even

try

to say anything, the man would simply ignore him and walk away. Adrien Agreste walked into his room, let Plagg out of his shirt pocket, and prepared his cell phone for twenty minutes of “practicing his piano”.

Another time.

Maybe.

The boy sat down in his sofa and watched the sun set.

'Do you think the boy suspects anything?’ If Nathalie Sancoeur was unnerved by Mr.Ageste’s son's proposal, she didn't show it.

‘No, Natalie, I don't think he does.’ Gabriel Agreste slowly walked back towards his library, keeping his assistant behind him. ‘However

I

,on the other hand, have my own

suspicions

about

him

…’

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‘Nooroo, Dark Wings,

Rise!

’

Hawk Moth looked through his window at the night sky. His eyes quickly found that night’s super blue blood moon shining bright above him, something that wouldn't happen again for almost twenty years. For most Londoners it only meant that there would be a very strange moon in the sky that night, something to point and look at and take pictures of; but for Hawk Moth it meant something completely different.
 
‘A super blue blood moon…the epitome of

power

of the Butterfly Miraculous.’
 
The akuma started flying around him, sensing his evil intentions. They were restless, he could

feel

it. But he knew why. They were restless because for that night, and for that

only one night,

Hawk Moth had the power to akumatize

anyone,

not just someone feeling strong negative emotions.
 
And Hawk Moth was going to put it to good use.

Anyone…

it was definitely food for thought. The villain stood there for a good five minutes, considering his options. Should he go on with the plan he had so carefully devised? Or should he try something else?

Mayor Burgeois? No, that wouldn't do.

His daughter? No, I've already done that… (Not that I couldn't do it again, anyways.)

Queen Elizabeth? Too high profile.

Ladybug? She’d probably purify the akuma before it could reach her.

Hmm… what about that pesky Dupain-Cheng girl?

Hawk Moth meditated on that for a while before making his decision.

No, not her. Ladybug constantly patrols that area. She'd be on alert as soon as I sent any of my little akumas.

However, I

do

know for a fact that she has a special relationship with

someone else…

the young girl that became the Puppeteer.

Yes…that will do

nicely

. Let's see what Ladybug does when her toughest opponent comes back, stronger than ever!

An akuma landed on his hand, awaiting his next move. Hawk Moth closed his other hand over it and set the butterfly free a couple of seconds later, now completely corrupted by his dark energies.
 
‘

Fly away, my evil akuma, and start the second act of our Puppeteer’s show!’

It didn't take long for the akuma to reach its target. It buried itself once more Manon’s wand, which she had been playing with not too long ago.
 
‘

Puppeteer, I am Hawkmoth. I am giving you a second chance to win, another opportunity to let you play with those dolls you love so much. In return, however…’

‘I don't want to have anything to do with you, Hawk Moth!’
 
The villain smiled.
 
‘

Unfortunately, my dear,

you don't have a choice…

’

Hawk Moth laughed as darkness enveloped the young girl, turning her once more into a creature under his control.
 
‘

Now, Puppeteer, will you be a good girl, and get the Miraculous for your good friend Hawk Moth?’

‘You don't have to worry, Hawk Moth.

This

time, I'll

win!

For ever, and

ever!’

‘And that's another Falcon villain brought down. Great job!’ The two heroes shared the obligatory fistbump before a quick break to change back. After that, Chat Noir had invited both Ladybug and him to the top of Tower Bridge to have the best views of that night’s super blue blood moon, an invitation that none of them turned down. After all, Falcon’s “Sweeper” hadn't exactly been easy to take down, and Brian was longing for any kind of rest. Spending a few moments looking at the sky with his new friends sounded perfect. (Or, as Chat Noir’s had put it,

purrrrfect)

The young boy hid behind a dumpster to change back.
 
‘Shouldn't you be sleeping right now?’ Renard wrinkled his nose at the smell of rotting trash that had just then started to invade their street.
 
‘And let those two have all the fun?

Never!

’ Brian smiled as he took a small pile of tea leaves out of his pocket. ‘For you, Renard. You've earned them.’
 
A tiny sonic boom was heard as the tiny fox zoomed into his leaf pile. The kwami dove so deep into it that only his ears were visible above the cluster of greenery. Brian chuckled and gave him a small pat in the head. Tea leaves were Renard’s favourite snack, and seemed to recharge his energies for some reason, so Brian always carried a rather generous supply of them with him.
 
It wasn't long before that supply was almost exhausted, however. The tiny fox flew back into the air, looking ready to transform him into Renard Rouge yet again.
 
‘Ready?’
 
‘As ready as a kwami can be. Just say the words…’

‘Renard,

transformé moi!’

Marinette Dupain-Cheng hid behind a bush for the short time it took her to change back. Over the last few days, Falconized villains had started to become the norm, rather than the exception. Waterweaver, Technosaur, The Liberator… the Falcon Writer surely wasn't short on imagination. Still, however, the three of them had always managed to come out on top, no matter what kind of nasty supervillain concept that copycat came up with.
 
Her earrings beeped for one last time, and her kwami came flying out of them as her costume disappeared, leaving her standing once again as Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
 
‘And Ladybug saves London one more time!’ Tikki said between macaroon bites. ‘Keep this up and defeating the Falcon Writer will be a piece of cake! However...’ For the first time in a long while, Marinette’s kwami seemed nervous.
 
‘What is it, Tikki?’
 
‘It's about tonight. Look, do you see the moon?’ As if she couldn't.

Of course

Marinette could see it. Some kind of weird astrological phenomena had given them a super blue blood moon that night. What was wrong with it?
 
‘That's a super blue blood moon, Marinette. The kind of night that marks the epitome of power of the Butterfly Miraculous.’

Now

Marinette got it. ‘

Hawk Moth

. You mean he's going to be more dangerous tonight?’
 
‘Extremely so, Marinette. I don't know exactly how evil has changed it, but before it fell into the hands of Hawk Moth, it used to be able to exercise its power on

anyone

on nights like this, not just on suitable candidates.’
 
The girl’s eyes widened. ‘So you mean… that Hawk Moth can akumatize

anyone

tonight?’
 
‘I fear so, Marinette.’
 
‘Then we have no time to waste.’
 
‘

Tikki,

spots on!

’

‘So, a romantic evening with Ladybug, hmm?’ Plagg flew out of his ring with the usual sarcastic comment, which Adrien was fine with...for the moment, even though he wasn't actually paying that much attention to him. He was much too nervous to keep focused on his kwami’s commentary anyway.

Why

had he accepted his idea?

Why?

Not that it was a

bad

one, but still, since when had he started taking ideas from

Plagg?

At least Adrien knew for sure that this time Ladybug would turn up.
 
Unless, of course, either Falcon or Hawkmoth decided to send a second villain into the city that night, but, really, what were the odds? (Adrien decided to ignore the fact that that exact same thing had already happened numerous times in previous occasions.)
 
The boy fed Plagg one more slice of his cheese, keeping a close eye on his dwindling stack. Camembert was surely a pain to keep hidden. Adrien had to wear boatloads of perfume just to hide the smell, and that was without the many meticulous sessions of checking his shirt pocket for crumbs.
 
It wasn't long before his kwami was ready. Having a romantic evening with the love of his life, while definitely a very exciting prospect for young Adrien, was keeping him on his nerves. What if he did something wrong? What if a villain turned up? What if she ended up falling in love with Renard Rouge, despite both of them telling him many,

many

times that that was impossible?
 
Plagg noticed his nervousness. Of course he did. He

always

did, although this time it didn't take a genius to figure it out.
 
‘Do we have to go through this

again?’

He sounded more than reasonably annoyed. ‘You look fine, you

smell

fine, the place is still standing, Renard already told you sixteen times that he isn't interested in Ladybug,

Ladybug

told you

seventeen

times that she wasn't interested in

him

, and

I

can almost

smell

the moon tonight! Just

be yourself, stay focused

and you'll be

fine

!’
 Adrien already knew. However it didn't make him any less nervous. He decided to change the topic of their conversation. 
‘

Smell

the moon?’
 
‘Of course I can. The thing is so close I feel like I could fly up and touch it!’ His kwami smelled the air. ‘Mmmmm...Wensleydale!

Delicious.

’
 
Adrien wasn't exactly an expert astronomer, but he knew that the moon probably wasn't made of cheese.
 
‘Anyway, enough chit chat.’ The boy said, gathering up his courage.
 
‘

Plagg,

claws out!

’

It wasn't a long trip. It

never

was, not with the Fox Miraculous’ impressive jumping prowess by his side. Brian made it to the top of Tower Bridge in five minutes flat, and even then he was last.
 
Ladybug and Chat Noir had already made themselves comfortable above one of the towers. Brian couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he was pretty sure that she was complimenting his choice of setting. The boy made a mental note to do the same thing later. Still, there was something lacking…maybe he could add some decorations? A tiny moon to serve as a disco ball? Candles?
 
Hm… that didn't seem like a bad idea. Yes, candles would do nicely. After all, the two other heroes seemed to be having a good time...Why had he been invited, again? It was very clear that this was supposed to be Ladybug and Chat Noir’s night. Should he even be staying? Brian took a step backward. Maybe if he left...
 
‘Hey, Renard!’ Too late to turn back now. Ladybug had spotted him. ‘Come here, join us.’
 
Brian felt strangely relieved. The two of them didn't seem to be very uncomfortable around him anymore. The mistrust from the early days seemed to have almost vanished. He was grateful for that. Of course, trust went both ways. And now that he'd earned it, he'd better not do something stupid to lose it.
 
He sat next to Chat Noir overlooking the Thames. It really was a beautiful night. The owner of the Cat Miraculous had certainly chosen the right spot.
 
‘So…now that we are together, we need to figure out a plan. We need to take down the Falcon Writer as soon as possible so that we can focus on Hawkmoth.’
 
Chat Noir blinked. ‘Can't we just enjoy the night sky for a while? Look, Ladybug, that constellation over there looks just like you!’ He pointed towards a small cluster of stars near Polaris.
 
‘Really?’ Brian joined in.

Of course

he wanted to discuss a plan, but they had plenty of time. A little stargazing wouldn't hurt.
 
Ladybug rolled her eyes. ‘

Fine.

Until midnight?’
 
‘Deal.’ The two boys muttered.
 
‘Look, Lady Wifi!’
 
‘Rogercop.’
 
‘And that's The Mime shooting a bazooka at the moon.’
 
‘Gapman there.’
 
‘Don't you think those ones over there look a bit like Gabriel Agreste?’
 
The three of them had laid down over one of the towers a long while ago and taken to inventing constellations, basing themselves on pretty much anything. Akuma villains, people, landmarks, objects…no matter what his friends found, Brian immediately went to work on his flute to make it appear on the night sky. Soon the entire firmament had been filled with illusions, drawing a beautiful stellar map that would stay on all three of their memories forever.
 
‘Look, I found Russell's teapot!’
 
‘Ha. Ha. Ha. And there is Hot Chocolator.’
 
‘

Who?’

The two other superheroes looked at Brian.
 
‘No one.’ He blushed. ‘Rather embarrassing incident from before I met you. It's nothing.’
 
Ladybug opened her yoyo and checked the time. ‘Well, we're overdue. It’s half past twelve already.’
 
‘So.’ Brian said ‘Let's get to it. Do we have

any idea

on who the Falcon Writer could be?’
 
‘Well, we

do

have an idea.’ Chat Noir looked excited. Had they finally found out who their new nemesis was? ‘I'll let Ladybug explain it to you.’
 
‘You

do

?’ Hopefully she’d have something. An interesting lead, perhaps. Brian was anxious to hear what she had in mind.
 
‘Yes, but I’m not completely sure.’
 
‘Who do you think he is?’
 
‘I think that the Falcon Writer is

Brian Hawke.’

…

…

…

‘Brian...Hawke.’
 
‘Yes!’ Chat Noir jumped too on her train of thought. ‘Well, it’s a possibility.’
 
‘But...

why

?’ Brian obviously couldn’t see the connection.

He,

the Falcon Writer?
 
Ladybug explained it to him. ‘Have you ever

seen

him around a Falconized villain?’
 
Brian’s face lit up. ‘Why, yes I have! He was there when Temporal Fabric attacked that school, right?’ There, a flaw in the argument! Maybe he could make them see that they were wrong…
 
‘We thought of that, too.’

What?!

‘We think that he might have Falconized her

before

he came into the classroom.’
 
‘But...

how?

’ He still couldn’t believe it.
 
‘Send the airplane, de-transform, come into the classroom before it arrives.’
 
‘But how did he talk to her, then?’
 
‘Some kind of pre-recorded message? If he

did

at all. ’ It was clear that at least Chat Noir had his doubts. ‘But it makes sense. Brian comes into town and a new villain appears? That’s

some

coincidence.’
 
‘And I saw him running on the street heading for “

school

” the day Gapman was Falconized.’
 
‘But what if he

was

running for school?’
 
‘What if he wasn’t? And here's the definite clue, check this!’ Ladybug opened her yoyo again and pushed a single button in her touchscreen. Nathaniel’s voice came out of her implement in what seemed to be a recording from a few days prior. ‘

Technosaur...

Brian is insane.’
 
The boy looked up. It wasn't

his

fault that Falcon had had the same idea!
 
‘Convinced

now?’

Brian said the first thing that came to mind. ‘Falcon wouldn't be that stupid.’
 
‘He

also

wouldn't be stupid enough to copy Hawkmoth's modus operandi!’
 
‘What if it was just a coincidence?’
 
‘

Would you bet the city on that?

’ The argument with Ladybug seemed to be growing more and more intense. Chat Noir intervened just in time.
 
‘Look Renard, Brian Hawke is our only lead, alright? Now, we'd like to know if

you

have any better ones?’
 
Well, the truth was that…’No. I don’t have any. I suppose we’ll have to go with yours, unless…’
 
‘Unless?’
 
‘We go up to Brian’s house, and make him answer some

questions.

’

This plan is stupid this plan is stupid this plan is stupid this plan is stupid...

‘At this time?’ Ladybug didn't seem sure. ‘Don't you think he'll be asleep?’
 
‘That, or watching the city for someone else to Falconize.’
 
‘Alright, I'm up.’ Chat Noir was probably thinking of the best way to sneak into Brian's house undetected. ‘Ladybug?’ He asked.
 
‘Let's do it.’ The girl seemed strangely decided.
 
‘He lives in Prayle Grove, number 10. I'll see you guys there!’ He had no choice, he

had

to be faster this time. He had to cast a convincing illusion of a sleepy Brian Hawke that would have to last for as long as Ladybug and Chat Noir decided to keep interrogating him.
 
He prepared to jump to the opposite tower as the other two looked up the address in their respective maps.
 
‘You got it?’
 
Both nodded as they took positions behind him, ready as well to jump to the opposite tower.
 
‘I'll see you there!’ The boy crouched in preparation for another one of the Fox Miraculous’ tremendous leaps.
 
As he took off however, Brian felt something strange…his jump had seemed a bit...off. He was off course and off target…had Chat Noir stepped on his tail by accident? Probably. Grr. What did Ladybug call him? Silly Kitty? Yes, that definitely applied. Silly Kitty.
 
But he had bigger problems. Given that any sort of landing was now impossible, Brian had to resort to grabbing hold of one of the sides of the tower to avoid falling into the Thames. He tried to pull himself up, but there was no luck.
 
Something moved on top of him.
 
‘Chat Noir!’ He was relieved. ‘Mind giving me a hand?’
 
The other boy knelt down next to him and took his hand.
 ‘I'm sorry, Renard.’ He said. Why did his voice sound so strange? ‘But Hawkmoth and I have other ideas in mind tonight.’ The owner of the Cat Miraculous let go of his hand, dooming a confused Brian to land in the cold, dark waters of the River Thames. 
‘Change of plans, Ladybug!’
 
‘...Chat Noir? Weren't we going to Brian's?’
 
‘Oh, that? He can wait…’ Why was he walking closer to her?
 
‘But Renard said he would be waiting for us…’
 
He was leaning in for a kiss. Silly kitty, he knew he'd never have it. Still, something was wrong… his voice sounded strange. Younger, one could say. Why?

Hawkmoth can akumatize anyone tonight.

‘He can wait…’
 
He tried to grab her arms, but she pushed him away. Something was definitely wrong…Chat Noir didn't normally act like this.

Anyone.

‘He can wait until I've taken your Miraculous for Hawk Moth!’ 
He lunged for her earrings, but Marinette jumped out of the way. He hadn't been akumatized, no, he was being

controlled

by an akumatized villain; the question was, by who?
 
Ladybug ran away from her friend, looking for a place to hide. She had to find that akuma villain, fast.

Simon Says? No, I'd have seen it. Princess Fragrance? He isn't that annoying. Puppeteer?

Marinette dove into an alley. Where was Renard Rouge? Had Chat Noir already taken his Miraculous? He

had

missed his jump, but Chat Noir had gone to help him…had he already been taken over by then?
 
‘

Are we playing hide and seek?

’ He was on the rooftop directly above her, but he hadn't seen Ladybug yet. The girl pressed herself against the wall, trying to conceal herself in the almost complete darkness of the alley she had chosen.

‘

One, two, three, four, five, six…

’ His voice started to sound fainter, meaning that Chat Noir had gone to look for her somewhere else. Phew! Now she had time to think.

Puppeteer

.

Definitely

Puppeteer again. Who else would play hide and seek?

‘

Seven, eight, nine…

’ Why did he seem so much closer now?
 
A whisper in her ear told her the exact reason why.
 
‘

Ten

. I

found

you, Ladybug.’
 
A pair of green eyes and a twisted smile materialised in the air next to her. It suddenly dawned on Marinette that Chat had known where she was hiding from the very beginning. He had been playing games with her, pretending to look for Ladybug somewhere else while he sneaked up on her.
 
She had to get out of there. She had to get out of there

now.

Fighting Chat Noir in a narrow, dark alley was the last thing she wanted to do.
 
Before her friend could say another word, Marinette jumped out of the alley and started running across the rooftops of London.

Where is she hiding?

The TV studio again? Marinette had no idea, but it was her best bet. She changed course for the Kids+ TV building, trying to shake an angry Chat Noir off her tail while he muttered something about dolls.
 
Cough…

Cough…

It's a miracle that I know how to swim. That would have been quite an ignominious end; I can already imagine the headlines. Doesn’t this thing come with a dryer?

‘Renard, transformé moi.’

His kwami came flying out of his collar, shivering.
 
‘I…know as much about that as you do.’
 
‘Not good Renard. You know it isn't like Chat Noir to turn on us and drop us into the Thames.’
 
‘You're the smart guy. You figure it out.’ The kwami took shelter below his shirt in a futile effort to warm himself up.
 
‘I say he's being controlled by one of those Falcon villains.’
 
‘That's Hawkmoth's tactic.’
 
‘Which he's trying out.’
 
‘Again?’
 
‘My dear Renard, you know for sure that Comrade Commander

didn't happen

.’
 
‘I also don't know that that was the day in which he brainwashed you into joining the Glorious Union of Soviet Socialist Republics!’
 
‘

Exactly

.’
 
He checked around him, but the boat was empty. Of course it was, it was like two in the morning already. Where was Ladybug? He had to warn her. Unless she already knew, of course.
 
Brian was about to say the words when his phone rang.
 
‘A Ladyblog alert?

Now?’

‘It’s Friday, Brian. Alya can stay up late.’ Renard had finally stopped shivering.
 
The boy opened the Ladyblog and tapped on the latest video.
 
‘

Ladybug and Chat Noir are headed for the TV studio. I'll keep you posted later; I'm getting there as fast as I can!’

Brian's kwami whistled. ‘She's

crazy

. It's the middle of the night!’
 
‘We can worry about that later Renard. All we have to do right now is to warn Ladybug before Chat Noir tries to take

her

Miraculous, too!’

‘Renard,

transformé moi!

’

Alya Césaire knew how to sneak out of her room. More so, she also knew how to make sure that her sisters didn't find out. The girl changed into her street clothes and listened closely for the sounds of her sleeping family. Yep, they were asleep. Alya checked the time on her new wristwatch, it was ten past one in the morning.

Perfect

.
 
After seeing that Ladybug and Chat Noir were headed for the large Kids+ TV building, Alya had barely had enough time to send out a Ladyblog alert and think up her plan. It wasn't too complicated, all she had to do was climb from her balcony to the rooftop and then climb down the fire escape ladder on the other side. Then, she'd take the Underground...
 
The girl buttoned up her jacket and set off for the top of the building. The climb wasn't hard, it really wasn't much harder than climbing a tree, which she had had plenty of practice with when a myrmecologist got Falconized the week before.
 
Alya had just reached the top when she heard a scream.
 
‘

Look oooouuut!’

Renard Rouge turned hard in midair to avoid her, but it was already too late. Hadn't she ducked out of his way, the owner of the Fox Miraculous would have slammed into her, potentially tossing her off the roof. As it was however, the boy had somehow changed his course in midair and ended up having to hold on to the edge of the rooftop to avoid falling to the street below, even though the fall probably wouldn't hurt him.
 
For a moment, Alya considered using this precious opportunity to record him, but it wasn't long before she decided against it. Sharing him failing miserably at something that Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't have broken a sweat at wouldn't be good for his public image.
 
‘Need a little help?’ She offered him her hand, which he took, gracefully. Alya had to contain her internal screaming at the fact that she was now standing in front of one of the heroes of London, whom she had just essentially rescued from a most precarious situation.
 
‘...Thanks.’ He sounded genuinely surprised. ‘It's not the first time that that's happened to me tonight.’
 
Alya raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
 
‘Chat Noir pretended to help me and then dropped me into the River Thames. Anyway Alya, I have to get going. Thanks alot!’

Scoop.

NOW.

‘Wait, do you mean that Chat Noir is being controlled by a supervillain?’
 
‘Yes, and Ladybug doesn't know that yet. I have to warn her, goodbye!’
 
Alya said the first thing that came to mind. ‘Wait!’
 
The fox clearly didn't know what to do. ‘Alya. I need to go.

Now.’

…
 
‘I need to go to the TV studio, too.’ What? It was the truth. ‘Would you mind...giving me a lift?’
 
‘Alya Cèsaire, I'm not going to send you headfirst into a building with an evil Chat Noir inside as well as probably one of those new Falconized villains.’
 
‘But

please!’

It won't take you longer than…’ She checked her watch. ‘Five minutes… to get there!

Please?

’
 
Something in his expression changed. Renard now looked...even more surprised. ‘Sure.’ He walked closer to her and grabbed her by the waist. ‘Hang on!’ Why was he looking so intensely at her watch? Why had he changed his mind so quickly?
 
Alya wasn't ready for the jump. Yes, she

knew

that he could jump to great heights, but she wasn't ready to sail through the air with nothing to support her, having to hold on to the owner of the Fox Miraculous for dear life in a way that would have made her sisters start talking.
 
‘So.’ He asked in a pause between leaps. ‘I see that you have a new wristwatch. Where did you get it?’
 
How did he know? ‘I got it by mail, a couple of weeks ago. Apparently someone who likes the Ladyblog decided to send me a present. Why are you asking?’
 
Another leap. The studio wasn't far now. ‘Oh, it's nothing.’
 
‘Really?’ Alya started recording their trek through London's rooftops. She didn't want the Ladyblog to miss such a precious moment!
 
‘And… here we are.’ With a final jump, Renard Rouge landed right in front of the doors to the TV studio. ‘Do you think I should turn this into a public taxi service?’

Huh?

‘I'm not sure you'd have many customers.’
 
‘Well, I already have one.’ He winked at her. ‘Be careful in there Alya.

Please

.’

He's still looking at the watch.

Why is he looking at the watch?

‘I can handle myself. Just don't try to fall off any buildings and you'll be fine,

Renard Rouge

. And you still owe me that interview.’
 
‘Later. Right now, I have to…’
 
It was at that moment that Ladybug decided to drop down in front of him, interrupting Alya’s conversation with him and making that interview, once again, a distant prospect.
 
‘Where

were

you?’
 
‘Ladybug!’ Renard was beaming. ‘Good to see that Chat Noir hasn't taken your Miraculous yet. He's being…’
 
‘Controlled by an akumatized villain. I know. What's Alya doing here?’
 
‘I saw you heading for the TV studio and asked Renard for a lift after I helped him with something.’
 
Ladybug rose an eyebrow and looked at the boy in front of her. ‘That

something

being…?’
 
Alya would have spoken, but Renard Rouge cut her short. ‘Does it really matter? I almost fell off a building. Do you have a plan?’
 
‘Yes, I do. But we don't have long. Puppeteer might get a hold of me any minute now, we

have

to stop her before that happens!’
 
‘Whoa, wait a second.’ Something wasn't right. ‘I thought that Puppeteer could only use the dolls made by Marinette.’
 
‘Hawk Moth has...upgraded her, for the night. Now she can use

any

doll, or at least that's what she was bragging about when Chat Noir was chasing me.’
 
‘But why is the Puppeteer back?’ Renard had obviously been doing his homework. It was good to know that her little website had attracted the attention of London's most recent superhero.
 
‘It's the super blue blood moon tonight, Renard. It gives Hawk Moth the power to akumatize anyone

just for this one night

, and he's chosen to give Puppeteer a second chance. So, are you with me?’
 
‘You know I'm always up for stopping an akuma villain, Ladybug. Let's do it!’
 
Ladybug turned to Alya. ‘You stay here. Sound the fire alarm if you see Chat Noir coming. Alright?’
 
Alya stood up straight. ‘Yes, Ladybug!’
 
The girl waited until the duo had taken an elevator to the top floors to whip out her phone.
 
‘This is Alya Cèsaire, I'm here with a huge scoop. Chat Noir’s being controlled by an akumatized villain…’
 
‘How much time do you think we have?’ The elevator ride seemed to go by much slower than normal. Brian blamed his nerves. After the whole mess with Comrade Commander he had discovered a newfound hatred towards most forms of mind control, which was already getting to him as he realised the scope of what was happening. Puppeteer had already gotten hold of Chat Noir, and if she got hold of Ladybug too then his chances of success would plummet. It suddenly dawned on him that this could be his last night as a superhero…
 
Ladybug snapped him out of it.
 
‘We've got half an hour, tops.’ She sounded nervous. ‘That's if she hasn't brought back anyone else.’
 
‘What do I do if she gets you?’
 
‘

If

she gets me

.

Don't worry Renard, we'll find her first.

’

‘But what if…’

Ding!

They were now almost at the top floor. The doors opened to reveal a dark, deserted hallway ahead of them.  The only source of light was a dim glow coming from inside one of the stages, and the moonlight coming from outside. Stupid ‘super blue blood moon’, why did it have to be

that night?

He looked at it for a second, trying to calm himself down before the incoming battle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Ladybug turned the hallway lights back on. If only Hawkmoth had chosen

anyone else

but Puppeteer…
 
Something crossed his line of sight. Even with his eyes closed, Brian knew that something (or

someone)

had climbed the window in front of him towards the top of the building. But pigeons and ravens wouldn't fly that high at night, and he could see no reason why someone would be cleaning the windows that late, unless…
 
‘

Ladybug,

now!’

She turned towards him with a quick jerk of the neck. Her eyes widened as she understood what was happening and ran as fast as she could next to him towards the only place where Puppeteer could have been hiding.
 
The door was kicked in so hard it almost fell out of place. Brian recognised the studio, it was the one he'd come to visit with his friends when Nino participated in some kind of challenge. But that didn't matter. The little girl they'd been looking for was hovering in the air in front of them, pointing a wand at a small plastic doll of Ladybug while Chat Noir closed a window behind him.
 
A yoyo sailed through the air…
 
‘

Ladybug, come to

life!

’

…

and stopped, dead in its tracks, mere inches away from Puppeteer’s wand.

No!

Ladybug slowly turned towards him, retracting the strings on her yoyo while the Puppeteer laughed

.

‘I’ve won! Won! Forever and-’ 
‘
Yes, Puppeteer,

yes!

’ Hawkmoth's triumphant laughter snapped Brian out of his stupor.
‘Now, get them to remove their Miraculous and send them over to me!
’ Both Ladybug and Chat Noir started moving their hands towards them...
 Brian was scared out of his wits, but he still sprung into action. He couldn't let Puppeteer get away with controlling both of her friends. He couldn't let Hawkmoth win.  
‘Aren't you

forgetting

about

someone

, Hawkmoth?’ He tried to cover up the slight trembling in his voice, but it didn't do much good.
 
Brian, however, put on a nervous smile as he heard the villain's growl from the other side of the room.
 
‘
Ignore that stupid fox, Puppeteer. Just get them to remove their Miraculous and-’
 
‘

Over my dead body.

’ It was a cliched response, straight out of the uncreative, stereotypical action movies he hated, but Brian didn't have much time to develop his dialogue.
 
All of the other three people in the room made the same twisted smile as Ladybug and Chat Noir closed in on him. Brian's legs shook as he tightened his grip on his whip, trying to ignore the fear growing inside of him.
 
‘
If so you wish, little fox.’
 
‘Puppeteer,

destroy him!’

Both of his friends attacked him in unison. Brian jumped backwards, away from the reach of their weapons, and turned his whip back into a flute. He couldn't fight them both, he

knew

it. He couldn't even fight

one

of them for all he knew.
 
It was time to find out exactly how much was the ‘power of cunning and illusion’ worth it.
 
Brian played a single note as Chat Noir tried to get him from up high. He barely made it in time to parry his staff with his flute, but even then he almost got through. He was much better with his stick than Brian was with his flute.
 
But that was irrelevant. Brian had already casted the illusion he wanted, one that would buy him the time he needed to think of a plan.
 
Twenty-six Renard Rouges stepped out from behind him.
 
‘What about I even the odds a bit?’
 
None of them responded. One of his illusions was hit by Ladybug’s yoyo and went up in a puff of orange smoke. Chat Noir got two more while Brian jumped up to the support beams holding the studio.
 
Four illusions down. Five. Six. He didn't have much time.
 
Thirteen. Fifteen. Seventeen. Ladybug was only focusing on one illusion at a time.
 
Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. But if she was throwing her yoyo then she'd also have to be pulling it back at some point.
 
Twenty two. Which meant that it had to stop at some point.
 
Twenty three. Which meant he could grab it.
 
Twenty four. But to do that, he'd have to be impossibly precise, get it at

just

the right moment…
 
Twenty five. Brian jumped back down into the fray as the last illusion desperately dodged Chat Noir's attacks. Ladybug threw her yoyo at it, she would not miss. Now was the time…

‘Time to pull off a miracle!’

Time froze.  All of the calculations he needed appeared in his head, even some that he didn't actually know how to solve. They all came together in a true barrage of numbers, almost taking over his field of vision.
 
But by the time the numbers cleared, Brian knew what he had to do.
 
He jumped behind his panicking illusion just as Ladybug dissipated it, and prepared his flute for the home run.
 
SMACK!
 
Ladybug’s yoyo flew all over the room, hitting the walls and roof and floor and making both Brian and Puppeteer dive for cover below the nearest prop boxes. Was it his imagination, or had she mumbled something before hiding? Brian didn't know.
 
As the yoyo completed its voyage through the room’s airspace, Brian peeked out from behind his box and admired his handiwork.
 
His goal hadn't been to hit anyone with it. No, all he had to do was make the Puppeteer lose her focus enough for her to stop coordinating his friend's movements. It wouldn't

free

them, but it would leave them standing still, waiting for orders from their master.
 
And that had been

exactly

what had happened. Brian smiled to himself as he found that both Ladybug and Chat Noir were hopelessly tangled in the former’s yoyo string, unable to move an inch, much less take off their Miraculous.
 
Puppeteer’s face lit up with Hawkmoth's butterfly again, but no sounds came out of any of the villains’ mouths.
 
‘

Stupid

and

Fox

don't go together, Hawkmoth. Now, little girl, hand over that wand,

now!’

‘

Come and get it!’ She flew high up in the air, but Brian turned his flute back into a whip and brought her down without a second thought.
 
‘Now, I'll be keeping…’
 
Something moved above him, too fast for him to react. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back a good five metres away from where the Puppeteer was hovering, the pain of a kick to the chest still depriving him of air.
 
Who was it that was standing next to the Puppeteer? She was a girl, no doubt about that. But she looked so

similar

to him…
 
Brian noticed a third doll, hidden behind the crates that the little girl had used for cover  mere seconds ago.

It couldn't be!

The girl walked closer to him as Brian regained his footing.

Think, Renard,

think

...

Her name fell into his head just as Puppeteer laughed.

Volpina.

His collar beeped. Four minutes. One final doll took its place in front of Puppeteer, moving its articulated arms wildly as the girl started her attack.

Copyfox.

Brian dodged a hit from her flute. Three minutes. He had to think of something, quick. If only he could use

Miracle

again…but de-transforming wasn't an option, else Volpina would free Ladybug and Chat Noir. However,  Renard Rouge had an advantage over her,

he

had something that

she

didn't.

The whip.

If only there was a way to consolidate that advantage…
 
Two minutes. Brian cycled his weapon and tried to wrestle her flute out of her hands, but Volpina pushed him back. Brian landed back in the hallway, only one minute away from failure.

Ah, SCREW IT!

Ignoring the fox that was about to pounce on him, Brian sent his whip in the other direction, targeting not Volpina, but the doll of her still standing at Puppeteer’s feet. He flung his weapon in the air just in time to deflect Volpina's desperate attack, sending the doll flying.
 
The girl tried to grab it in midair, but Brian jumped and got there before she did, also giving her a nice smack on the head for good measure.
 
Mere seconds away from revealing his secret identity, Brian hit the light switch with his whip and hid in one of the adjacent auxiliary rooms. Volpina's doll flailed desperately in his hands as it tried to return to its master, but the boy held it tight while Renard munched through his tea leaves as fast as he could. Brian wondered what would happen if he broke it. Would that free Lila? Or would it hurt her? Speaking of which,

how

exactly was he going to free Ladybug and Chat Noir? He decided to give it a shot. Maybe, if he broke off just a little bit of Volpina's arm…
 
‘

NO!’

Brian and his kwami exchanged shocked glances of surprise before Puppeteer spoke again.

‘Volpina,

stay with your master!

’ Yes!

Brian broke off Volpina's other arm. ‘
Volpina
!’
 
The doll was snapped in half. ‘
NOOOO!!!
’
 
Even with a thick door between him and the villain, Brian could hear that Hawkmoth was more than absolutely furious.
 
‘

NO

! GET HIM NOW PUPPETEER, BEFORE HE TRANSFORMS BACK!’

‘Ready!’ Renard flew up from his bag, scattering his tea leaves all over a control console.
 
‘

Renard,

transformé moi!

’

The door was kicked open only a second after Brian completed his illusion. Puppeteer flew inside, obviously trying to spot him. The boy chuckled and turned his flute back into a whip, letting the invisibility illusion fall while ahead of him Puppeteer growled.
 
‘Surprise!’ He shut the door in her face and moved a storage chest in front of it, something that her weak arms wouldn't be able to move out of the way.
 
There they were. Ladybug and Chat Noir’s dolls were motionless next to an unconscious Lila, who didn't react when Brian crushed them both to pieces with his whip.
 
Chat Noir was the first to come to. ‘Renard?’
 
‘Who else?’
 
The cat tried to get up before realising what had happened. He fell back to the floor with a smile.‘You did this on purpose, didn't you.’

Uh oh.

‘Renard?’ Good, Ladybug had come back too. It took her a second to realise that she couldn't move, and another second on top of that to find out that she was tied to Chat Noir. The girl tried to wiggle in place, but that didn't do anything except make her friend purr. ‘Renard!’
 
Brian blushed. ‘It was necessary, alright? You two are quite the battle couple. Now give me a second while I try to undo these knots…’
 
‘Take your time. I don't mind.’ Well, at least Chat Noir was enjoying himself. Ladybug, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and groaned. ‘Where is she?’
 
‘In the special effects room. I locked her in.’

Don't brag about it don't brag about it don't brag about it…

‘And the akuma?’
 
‘Still with her. I didn't break the wand. Hang on, I think I got it now.’
 
Brian undid a final knot, and Ladybug’s yoyo retracted, freeing his friends just as the elevator in the hallway dinged.
 
The fistbump from his friends was...unexpected, but welcome.

Now

he was absolutely sure that he had earned their trust.
 
‘Th...thank you.’
 
‘Aw, you're welcome Renard.’ Chat Noir said as he looked for his staff. ‘Now I guess that you really

are

a part of our team.’
 
‘I agree to that too. Welcome to the team, Renard Rouge.’ Both him and Ladybug shook hands once again, but this handshake was different from their very first. There was no tension in her hand, no suspicion on her side. He’d done it. He was a hero of London!
 
Ladybug disappeared behind him to look for the dolls just as Alya Cèsaire entered the room.
 
‘I saw it all through the security cameras.’ The girl whipped out her phone in a flash and started taking pictures of the studio around them. ‘It. Was.

Awesome!

’ Brian winced as the flash from her camera blinded him. ‘The battle with Volpina was among…’
 
‘Wait,

Volpina?’

Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. ‘You mean Puppeteer brought

her

back too?’

Curses.

In his hurry to untie his friends he had forgotten to tell them about that

other

sneaky fox. ‘Um...yes? She's over there, de-transformed behind that storage chest.’
 
‘She's still unconscious.’ Ladybug seemed oddly worried about her. Had something happened between the two? ‘Alya, can you get her to an ambulance?’
 
The girl nodded and brought a stretcher from a nearby prop storage room. The four of them had no difficulty lifting her up to it, and even less trouble with sending it along with Alya to the bottom floor, where the reporter had made sure to keep an ambulance already waiting for her.
 
‘Ready to wrap this up, Ladybug?’ Chat Noir moved the storage chest away from the door that Puppeteer was imprisoned behind.
 
‘Ready.’ The girl opened the door, and the three of them charged into the special effects room.
 
None of them was ready for what they found inside.
 
‘

Volpina, come to

life!

’

‘Stand back, you three! Or the reporter gets it!’ Below her, Volpina’s doll was once again standing, Brian's damage hastily repaired by a nearby roll of duct tape. The three of them watched in stunned silence as the fox pinned something to an invisible wall with her flute.
 
‘Not one step forward! You wouldn't want your friend to lose her breath, would you?’

You monster.

‘

Lucky Charm!!’

They only had seconds. Volpina pushed her flute harder and harder against her invisible wall, each centimetre deprieving Alya of air more and more...

A cell phone? What's on the screen? Connect...to...WunderWaffe7?

OH FOR THE LOVE OF MASTER FU!

‘

Ladybug, do it! Press the button!’

She was clearly confused, but she pressed it anyway.

Sneaky old man…

A mere second later, Volpina’s doll went flying backwards, Puppeteer’s expression going from triumphant to stunned in less than a microsecond. Her wand was wrestled out of her hands and snapped in half by Chat Noir, who ran to the security guard's room immediately afterward, not even bothering to watch Ladybug purifying the akuma and undoing the damage she had caused. (Always a true spectacle, in Brian's opinion.) The girl stayed behind to comfort a crying Manon while Brian went for Chat Noir.

Transform back, transform back…

A thud came from inside the guard room. ‘Gah! Come on Renard, we'll look for her the hard way!’ Whew! Apparently he hadn't been able to figure out how to view the security cameras inside the elevators. The two of them raced down the stairs as a hurried Nadja went in the opposite direction, muttering something unpleasant about what she'd do if she ever got her hands on Hawkmoth.
 
They finally made it down. Alya, thankfully, had indeed transformed back, and was looking at her wristwatch with extreme suspicion, almost as if it were something

more

than just a wristwatch… because it

was

more than just a wristwatch. Lila had already been wheeled out by a squad of medics, but Alya still stood there, paralyzed. Brian snapped her out of her stupor.

‘I-’

‘I'll explain to you later Alya.’ She had had too many emotions for the night.  Best to let her rest before delivering the news. ‘No buts. Now go back home before your family finds out you're gone. And needless to say,

don't. Tell. Anyone.’

Chat Noir was puzzled too. ‘I'll explain to you later too, kitty.’
 
‘But-’
 
‘No buts. I have to talk it through with someone else first.’ It was true. Master Fu would have to explain. Why Alya? Why not keep the watch safe with

him

? And above all,

why not tell him?

These and many other questions swarmed Brian's mind as he jumped into the dark rooftops of London, eager to have some rest after the events of that night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alright, Marinette, calm down, calm down… you got this. It's no harder than the project for the art exhibition. You can do this…you can do this...

‘So…’ Tikki peeked out at her from behind her study guide, ready to help her practice once again. ‘The Allies liberated Paris in…’

In…?

The girl focused as hard as she could, but no convincing answer came to her head.
 
‘Um...1943?’
 
‘194

4,

Marinette.’

You'll get it next time.

‘Alright, 1944… one year before the war was over?’
 
‘Yes! Come on, we're almost there.’
 
‘And

after

the war was over, Germany was split in two different countries and the trials started...right?’
 
‘

Well…

’ Tikki must have known she was right. After all, the final defeat of evil was much easier to remember for her than anything else. ‘

Technically,

something else happened,

but

I don't think you can put it in your history test.’
 
Now that was interesting. ‘Tikki? What do you mean?’ Now that she thought about it, her kwami had never told her anything about Ladybugs in the twentieth century. Was she keeping a secret?
 
‘I’ll only tell you if you promise not to tell anyone, Marinette. This is absolutely top secret!’ She was whispering now, even though there was nobody else to hear them. ‘During the Second World War, the Miraculous were quite…active participants.’

Oh.

‘Only the owners of the Miraculous knew each other's secret identities. Not to mention that, there were Miraculous holders on both sides of the war.’

Wow. Who could have been Ladybug? Surely someone who was strong, brave, a real warrior. It must have taken

quite

a Ladybug to win the war…if she was even on the Allies’ side at all.

Marinette started wondering what she'd have looked like. Maybe, if she had time later, she could draw up a sketch of her…let's see, she’d need red and black pencils, obviously, and maybe some blue for her eyes...
 
Tikki snapped her out of it.
 
‘In fact,

your

Miraculous was held by none other than Winston Churchill himself!’
 
A record needle scratch went off inside Marinette’s head.
 
‘Winston Churchill was Ladybug!?!?’ She honestly couldn't believe a word of it. That

had

to be a joke… right?

Right?

‘

SSSSSSSHHHHH!!’

Tikki was right, she

had

spoken too loud. ‘Yes he

was

!’
 
‘Do you know who Chat Noir was?’ Well, if she knew who

Ladybug (?)

was… it wasn't a long shot.
 
‘Promise you’ll keep it low this time?’
 
Marinette nodded.
 
‘Chat Noir was Joseph Stalin.’
 
Well, that wasn't much of a surprise. After all

both

could destroy everything they touched. ‘Roosevelt had the Fox Miraculous, Mussolini the Peacock, Hirohito the Bee and De Gaulle, the Turtle one.’
 
‘It must have been quite a mess.’ A final question dropped inside Marinette's head. ‘Do you know who had the Butterfly?’
 
‘Who do you

think.’

There was truly no response to that. They both knew who had had the Butterfly Miraculous during that period, Tikki first-hand, Marinette by deduction.
 
The girl fought hard to erase an image of Winston Churchill in Ladybug’s suit from her mind as she picked up her study guide again.
 
‘Alright.’ She said. ‘Let's revise from the Normandy landings onwards…’
 
‘Go on, tell me the story again.’ Adrien was studying too. Although honestly, he barely knew

why

he was. The huge amounts of movies and videogames his father provided (and never shared) as well as Natalie’s homeschooling had taught him more about the subject than Ms. Bustier could in an entire month.
 
Besides, it was the fifth time that hour that Plagg asked for ‘The Story’.
 
‘Oh, I have a better idea.’ His kwami’s eyes lit up as Adrien searched for something in his pocket.
 
‘CAMEMBERT!’ Plagg dove for the cheese at hypersonic velocity, snatching it out of Adrien’s hand before he could react.
 
The boy sat down on his sofa and looked at the rooftops of London. If only it weren't so late in the night, he'd transform into Chat Noir without a second thought. But alas, it was already quarter to seven, only fifteen minutes before dinner was served. Being a Wednesday, that night’s dinner would be another one of the chef’s omelettes with a generous side serving of Camembert. Adrien made a mental note to leave Plagg in his room,

away

from the cheese. He didn't want a repeat of the time in which Rose had come to his house looking for shelter during the Inspector Sands incident. (Which had been quite...

dunique,

to say the least)
 
He opened the Ladyblog while Plagg finished his cheese. Nothing out of the ordinary, just Alya hypothesizing once again on the identity of her heroes.
 
There

was

something new however. Another tab had appeared bedside the one labelled ‘Hawkmoth’. It read, of course, ‘The Falcon Writer’ and upon being clicked it displayed a collapsible list of all of the copycat’s villains so far, in chronological order. From Temporal Fabric to Bat-Man the akumatized baseball player, each and every one of them had at least several lines of text and maybe even a video. Unlike any other hero or villain however, there was no ‘identity theories’ subsection...and Adrien knew

exactly

why.
 
It was a small class. Word got through.
 
‘Dinner’s ready, son.’ His father walked into his room, giving Adrien just enough time to close his browser. ‘Coming.’
 
None of them talked in the way to the dining room. There was really nothing to talk about.
 
As he ate his ham and cheese omelette, Adrien wondered why exactly Brian and Nathaniel had decided on the name Technosaur.
 
War stories didn’t make for very good studying material. His grandfather’s exploits, while grandiose (And maybe a

tiny

bit inflated) about secret bunkers in the Ardennes were

not

helping him revise for Bustier’s next test. He left the diary back in its drawer and picked up his study guide.
 
‘We're going to go over this

again!?!?’

Renard was obviously less than pleased. ‘You already know the story by heart, you don't

need

to go over it…ah, why do I even try.’ The kwami munched on some more tea leaves as Brian closed his eyes yet again, focused on the telling and retelling of the story of the Second World War.

Again.

For the tenth time that day and fiftieth that week.

Oh well, at least he doesn't do this during akuma battles. Also he's much less insufferable than the Führer. Faking his own death,

please

. Good thing that the other four beat some sense into him later. Or at least that's what the other kwamis told me.

‘Done yet?’
 
‘...Nuremberg trials. Yes, we’re done.’
 
‘Good. Now can you

please

stop postponing your daily patrol? Those kittens won't save themselves.’
 
‘We have The Owl for saving kittens, Renard. Trust me, this helps me as much as it helps the city.’ The boy made a pause followed by a sad sigh. ‘And now I need it more than ever.’

He's right

. Renard thought.

Word's somehow gotten around. What did Nathaniel do?

‘Any ideas on how I can clean up this mess? Stop everyone thinking that

I

am the Falcon Writer? To let Alix know that she can give me archery lessons without worry? To keep everyone

away

from our notepad?’
 
‘You know my ideas. Either be attacked by a Falconized villain…’
 
‘Not going to happen. It's suspicious unless I don't get away.’
 
‘Use some kind of illusion…’
 
‘And risk it falling apart…’
 
‘

Or

get akumatized.’ The kwami crossed his arms and looked away from Brian's ‘not-going-to-happen’ glare. “What? It would

work.’

‘Suuuuure. I think I'll try talking to Ladybug instead, see if she can do something. Besides, I don’t really think that it's possible to be akumatized on purpose.’
 
‘

Renard,

transformé moi!

’
 
‘Mr. O'Donnell, you have two minutes to make your presentation for your application to the London Art College.’ The examiners were three old men, all dressed in an identically formal manner. The only difference among them was the colour of their eyes, brown for the one on the left, green for the one on the right, and blue for the examiner in the middle.
 
‘Well, so...ahem…’ Thomas was nervous. It was his first time applying for this college, for

any

college in fact. He took a deep breath and made a gesture over his painting, a piece of canvas that he had spent the last month turning into a masterpiece of abstract art. He went on and on about the creative process, how he had been influenced by the fish in his lake and the filters on his air conditioner to paint the grid pattern, how he had decided on the frame and size of the painting, how you could see his daughter’s face if you squinted hard enough at the middle and most importantly, what the meaning of his art was. To put it bluntly (and to make the most out of his dwindling time limit) Thomas O’Donnell exposed its meaning with a particularly proud expression on his face, with the signs of a man who thinks he's come up with an amazing concept.
 
‘You see, Misters, the message behind

The Art

is that, deep down, every painting is an abstract painting. I have successfully represented most styles of potential creation in this painting, and therefore…’
 
DING!
His time was up.
 
‘...Alright, Mr. O'Donnell, the three of us will review your painting and call you shortly.’ Why did he seem so unconvinced? His canvas was obviously a masterpiece. He’d be accepted for sure.
 
The artist walked back into the reception room and took a seat next to a small art store…
 
Now that he thought about it, he could use a new brush. He had painted his picture with such enthusiasm that his old one had broken. The man played around with a huge one worth a hundred pounds while he waited for the clerk to come back.
 
His wife and daughter would be so happy. He'd finally be able to pursue his lifelong dream, to become an artist like he had always wanted to. And maybe, just

maybe,

he would be contacted by Ladybug and Chat Noir to paint a picture of them...just…

Is that...laughter?

Thomas pressed himself hard against a wall.

Oh, no way. Are those the judges? But what could they be laughing at?

‘His daughter… all art...The fish!’ They couldn't seem to stop… 
His painting. They were laughing at… his painting.
 
Thomas sighed and let himself drop to the floor. It was clear what their verdict would be. FAILURE, they'd say, with their big red letters that would render all his hard work moot. FAILURE. Just that one word…
 
What would his wife and daughter say? Would they help him? Thomas O’Donnell doubted it. No, they'd most likely side with the judges. They'd laugh at him too, tell him he was a failure just like they were calling him in to do now.
 
Oh yes, there they were. They were trying to hide it, but he could see it. The small tear in one's eye, the little muscle on the other's mouth. They'd done more than berating and ridiculing him, they'd humiliated him. Thomas almost crushed his unpaid brush in frustration.
 
If only there was some way he could make them pay...
 
‘A failed and humiliated artist…a fellow creator in despair. A perfect target for my airplanes of evil!’
 
‘Fly away, my little one, and

Falconize him!’

The airplane found its mark just as Thomas was kicked out into the waiting room again. They hadn't even let him keep his painting…
 
The monsters. He'd make them pay. He'd make

all of them

pay!
 
Falcon's servant buried itself in his brush, and the villain's voice boomed through Thomas' mind, as clear as day.

‘Chromatic Nightmare, my name is The Falcon Writer. I see that your art has been rejected by those so called '

experts

'. How arrogant of them. They know nothing!

However I, your good friend Falcon, approach you with a deal. From now on,

your

art will be the

only

art, all other expression will be yours to destroy, and all other creators will bow down before you!

Of course, in return for improving the state of the art, I'm going to ask that you give Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous to me. So what do you say, Chromatic Nightmare? Do you agree to my terms?’

Thomas smiled.
 
‘

Yes, Falcon

.’
 
‘Ladybug?’ Even without looking, Marinette knew that that was Renard Rouge. As it was usual for her on Wednesdays, she had taken to patrolling the area around their school, stopping to rest for a second on top of an old clock tower.
 
‘Yes, Renard?’ Now that she thought about it, he had never told her his patrol routines… not that she’d asked for them anyway. He could usually be counted on to stay in the northern parts of the city, occasionally dropping into Central London either to spend some time with her or Chat Noir or help out lost tourists with directions. Which was fine with Marinette, they didn't need or want another Pathfinder.
 
‘I… wanted to talk with you about something. Do you remember when you told me you thought that Brian Hawke was the Falcon Writer?’
 
‘Yes, I do, Renard.’ He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him short. (Finally!) ‘And I still think he

is.

Are we going to have this argument again?’ Why did he seem so intent on trying to prove Brian's innocence anyway?
 
‘It's… not about that. It's just that Brian has me...worried, that's all.’
 
‘Worried?’ Maybe he was

finally

realising that too. ‘Is something wrong with him?’
 
‘Well,

kinda.

See, he goes to a school nearby, the Collège Françoise Dupont, and he told me earlier this morning that the class he's in somehow took notice of your suspicions.’
 
Oh…

that.

Marinette didn't exactly know the details, but from what she'd heard someone had taken a look at Nathaniel's notepad and gotten to the same conclusions as she had. Nobody had dared to confront him about it -yet- but the feeling was there, and Brian had noticed it. He was spending more time with Nathaniel than ever, appearing with him as much as he could, or with someone else, doing anything to always have an eyewitness with him. So far, he'd been only moderately successful with that. Alya and Nino, it seemed,

did

turn out to believe him… along with Juleka, Rose and… no one else, actually.
 
‘So...If you can remind his classmates that ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is an actual thing in this country, I'll be in your debt.’ He was being unusually polite. After Puppeteer’s second act he had earned her trust, but this really deserved some questions.
 
‘Why are you so interested in him anyway?’ Renard dragged his feet across the top of the tower. She could see that he hated interrogations like this one, but she had to know.

‘It's just that...he's...a friend of mine, Ladybug. And… he's suffering. I don't like seeing my friends suffer. So could you… do anything about it?

Please

?

Pleeeeeeeease

Ladybug?’

Is he really trying to do baby fox eyes?

‘I'll… see what I can do.’ His face lit up. Marinette decided to say something else before he got any ideas. ‘But I can't guarantee anything, Renard Rouge. The evidence against him is a bit too…’
 
‘I know.’ He said. ‘I know. Thank you.’  She didn't expect the hug, but she returned it anyway. He seemed to

really

care about Brian… the two must have been very close friends.
 
'Together?’ Oddly enough, she'd never gone on a patrol with him. Oh well, never too late to start.
 
‘Sure.’ The two of them headed for the next spot on her route, the very same Collège Françoise Dupont. Had it been any earlier, Marinette would have fulfilled her promise to him right then and there, but it was already way past the school's closing hours. The next day's art exposition had already been put in place in the school's courtyard, a mishmash of the various portraits, sculptures and collages that they had made that year. It was truly a sight to behold…
 
Or

would

have been, if there hadn't been a lunatic with an oversized paint brush laying waste to every single piece of art he could see. Marinette watched in stunned silence as the man touched the tip of his brush to the very sculpture she had completed days ago, making it crumble into dust. She had taken so long to complete it…
 
Renard peeked down at him from the roof of the school. He really didn't seem to be in the mood to do this...almost as if he had transformed specifically to talk to her.
 
‘Akuma villain.’

Really? I didn't notice.

‘We should wait for Chat Noir to get here.’
 
‘If he even

knows

about this. This one doesn't seem to be particularly aggressive. It looks as if all he wants to do is destroy the art…’
 
‘We should call him.’ Naturally, he wasn’t available. Ladybug growled and closed her yoyo. ‘What's he

doing

?’
 
‘Sleeping, probably. You know cats sleep a lot. Anyway, any ideas on how to take this one?’
 
‘Well, we

could

distract him with a lot of targets...  give him lots of art to destroy, and when he's distracted we can take the brush and break it!’ It was obvious that the brush was the akumatized item. Or Falconized, whatever. The two were the same. ‘Know of any places where we could we find that?’
 
‘The modern art museum?’ Brrr.
Nope
. Marinette still had nightmares about that place.
 
‘What about Gabriel Agreste’s house? I heard he has lots of paintings.’
 
‘

Well…

’ It would have certainly worked. Unfortunately, it would have also meant to put Adrien in danger...
 
It would have been the subject of a heated discussion among the two if the man hadn't noticed them.
 
‘You!’
 
‘

Us.’

Renard didn't appear to be in the mood for bantering either. Which reminded her,

where was Chat Noir?

How could they bring him here? They'd have to expose this multicoloured suit guy on TV, somehow. Or the Ladyblog… did Chat Noir even

use

it? Marinette wasn't sure, he'd never mentioned anything about Alya’s project.
 
As the man prepared himself to leap up to their roof, Ladybug mentally calculated the distance to Alya's house.

It's too far. And she's probably sleeping. Maybe…

The villain jumped to the roof in front of them. ‘Ladybug, Renard Rouge! We meet at last!’

Not this phrase again…

‘Give me your Miraculous, or perish under the brush of Chromatic Nightmare!’
 Marinette shuddered. Chromatic Nightmare? Sigh. Definitely a Falcon villain.  
Renard had noticed too. ‘Hello there Copymoth, Chromatic Nightmare. Now, I'm really sorry you can't do your dramatic speeches, but can we

please

just get to the fighty part? I have things to do tomorrow.’
 
The villain seemed disappointed at not being able to recite Falcon's obviously pre-thought monologue, but he charged them anyway, holding his brush like a spear.
 
Renard and her both jumped out of his way, but  Chromatic Nightmare was fast. None of them would want to fight him in an enclosed space, museums were

definitely

out. But if they couldn't bait him with a museum, what could they…
 
Renard chose that moment to attack, using his flute like a sword against the villain's brush. He didn't have the finesse that Chat Noir had when

he

swordfought the villains, but he wasn't too bad anyway. Ladybug tried to wrap his legs in her yoyo string, just like she'd done with Gapman weeks ago, but the villain jumped back, accidentally touching his brush to one of the fox ears in Renard’s costume.
 
Her friend stopped. He seemed confused...

Not mind control

again…

It was then that Marinette noticed that the piece of the costume that the villain's brush had touched had vanished.
 
Hm...Apparently, superhero suits counted as “art” too. Who would have thought? Renard tapped his head in confusion before giving up and growling.
 
‘I

like

the fox ears, Brushman. You're so much paying for that one!’
 
And yet again, he tried to the the villain on by himself, and was kicked backwards into the street because of it. He needed to learn how to work in a team, and he needed it

fast.

Marinette followed the two of them into the street, but Renard was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was on the rooftops…

‘CATACLYSM!!’

Huh?

Chat Noir? Well, he had certainly taken notice, somehow. But something was strange…

missing

. What had happened to the bell below his neck? And why had he used his Cataclysm so early?
 
And most importantly, why was he running

towards

the villain?

Oh no.

‘Chat Noir, stop!’ The villain wasn't being much of a threat, why on Earth use Cataclysm on him? What was going

on

with him? Chat Noir would never do that...
 
Unless…
 
Unless that

wasn't actually Chat Noir.

Renard, what are you doing? What was he expecting with that? To make him give up? Drop the brush in surprise, trip?  He wanted this done as quickly as possible, that was certain. Marinette wasn't sure about his plan, but as long as it worked… 
Chromatic Nightmare smiled. ‘I'm an artist, you know. I create things that aren't real

for a living!’

Chat Noir's illusion went up in a puff of orange smoke.

Grrr.

‘Show yourself, you stupid fox! I don't have all night!’
 
If there was any way that the villains could get to Renard, it was by calling him stupid. While Marinette understood that,  after all cunning was one of his gimmicks, he really had to stop falling for the same tricks over and over again.
 
‘Now, Ladybug!’ A streak of orange and white flew down from one of the rooftops above, directly at the head of Chromatic Nightmare. The villain raised his brush to defend himself, but Marinette forced it down with her yoyo.
 
THWACK!
Chromatic Nightmare was hit in the head by a flute, and came crashing down into the street, his head barely missing a traffic cone. Marinette picked up the brush and hit the rear end of the nearest car with it.

That was easy…

CLANG.

Huh?

Marinette tried again.
 
CLANG CLANG CLANG.
 
CLANG.

CLANG.

Grrr. Why wasn't it working? The brush should have broken into a million pieces by now, not left several dents in the car.
 
‘
Take the brush back from her, Chromatic Nightmare!
’ Well, it

was

the Falconized item. But if it was, why wasn't it breaking? They needed something better than banging it against the side of a car. Where was Chat Noir?
 
Marinette jumped up to the rooftop where Renard had been hiding. Maybe they could lead him in some sort of chase… after all she had something he wanted. Renard must have caught wind of her plan too, because he jumped up next to her.
 
‘Where now?’ The two of them jumped over to the next street.
 
‘To Alya's house, I think she can help us!’
 
‘
Alya?
’ Renard looked almost scared. Had something happened between the two of them? ‘What about the TV studio?’
 
‘A television won't wake anyone up. A couple of phone notifications will!’ What? It wasn't a bad plan.
 
‘Unless he sleeps with his phone off, or it's out of steam, or…’
 
‘None of which he'd let happen. Trust me on this one, Renard Rouge!’

Trust me like

we

are trusting

you.

He didn't like it very much, but he set off with her anyways, both of them heading for the Cèsaire household as the villain followed them in hot pursuit.

Rena Rouge? No, no, that one's already taken. Foxesaire? Too obvious. Maybe Lady Vix…

‘Alya Cèsaire?’

Ladybug?

‘Yes?’
 
The girl opened her bedroom window for the superheroes to come in. ‘Good to see you again. Where's Chat Noir?’
 
‘Sleeping, probably. We need you to wake him up with a Ladyblog alert. Can you do that?’
 
Alya tapped her phone a few times. ‘Already done, Ladybug… what's the brush for?’
 
‘We stole it from a Falcon villain called “Chromatic Nightmare”, but we need Chat Noir to destroy it.’
 
‘I see. Well, the alert should have been sent out by now…’
 
Indeed it had. Two different musical tones sounded at the same time as the two heroes in her room received her urgent message. (Of course, Alya had a great deal of pride in all of the heroes keeping an eye on her little project.) She had set the location of the attack to her house, in order to make Chat Noir show up there and not have to look all over London for the three of them...
 
...Because she

was

going to get to fight this villain if he showed up, right? She looked at Renard Rouge, but he appeared to be too distracted using his flute like a telescope to look at the alert. And Ladybug probably knew nothing about the watch…
 
Ladybug sat down on her desk chair.
 
‘So… any clues on Falcon?’
 
‘None as of yet, Ladybug. At least not for now.’ The other girl raised an eyebrow. Alya scratched her head out of nervousness. ‘I mean, there are

rumors

, but they're just that, rumors.’
 
‘I agree.’ Renard seemed oddly interested in talking about anything but her watch. ‘And besides, Brian Hawke is innocent until proven guilty. Isn't he, Ladybug?’

Hmm. How does he know about this?

The girl didn't seem to agree too much with his last statement, but she still spoke up. ‘...Yes, Renard, you're right. Innocent until proven guilty. And I think that it's time for me to fulfil my promise.’

What promise? Renard cares too much about this thing with Brian Hawke. Are the two of them friends?

‘Alya, do you have his classmates’ number?’
 
Of course she had. They had a group chat together for the whole class. Ladybug asked her for permission to send a message, which Alya gave without a second thought. The girl put down the brush and started a video recording while Alya asked Renard for an ‘interview’ in the balcony.
 
Of course, he saw through it instantly, but he still walked outside with her.
 
‘This is about the watch, isn't it?’

Damn he's good.

‘...Yes.’
 
‘Long version, or short version?’

Hm…we don't have much time here.

‘Short version. Before Chat Noir gets here, at least.’
 
‘Ancient relic from the 40s.’

1940s?

‘Some kind of copy of the Fox Miraculous that doesn't differ much from the actual thing. Works fine as a regular watch too.’
 
‘So…’ She wanted to know how to use it. She wanted to know how to unlock its hidden power, how to finally fulfil her secret dream of becoming a superhero, how...
 
‘No.’

Huh?

He had seen through her once again.
 
‘But Renard, I could help you! I could give you a hand when you're facing those new villains, maybe teach you a few things…’
 
‘The time is not yet right Alya. This watch is...insurance. I'll let you know when the time will come for you to use it. But until then…’ He placed his hands on her watch and looked at her in the eyes. ‘It stays a watch. I'm sorry.’
 
A billion different options made their way into Alya’s mind.

Stop supporting your friend Brian. Blackmail. I have pictures of you under Comrade Commander, you know. Figure this thing out myself. Stalk you relentlessly through all of London and figure out who you are. Tell Ladybug and Chat Noir about this. Push you over the edge of the building and not help you up until you tell me how to use it. Kick the tail out of you…

No.

That's the exact kind of thinking that gets people turned into villains. He's doing this for a good reason, so trust him like you trust Ladybug and Chat Noir, okay?  No use getting akumatized a second time over this.

‘I...I understand. But promise that you'll do it one day, alright? Someday, you

are

going to need my help.’
 
‘I promise.’
 
Inside, Ladybug had finished her video. ‘Sent.’
 
‘Thank you, Ladybug. I owe you one.’
 
‘You're welcome. How did the interview with Alya go?’
 
‘Um…’

Don't notice that I left my phone with you, don't notice that I left my phone with you…

‘Fine. We got the basics done. We'll do one more some other day and then upload the two to the Ladyblog.’ He was a good liar, Alya had to give him that.
 
‘Are you ready to stop a Falcon villain now?’
 
‘Ladybug, please. I'm

always

ready.’ Had something happened earlier?
 
‘Good to hear. We'll wait for Chat Noir on the rooftop. Want to come, Alya?’
 
Like she needed to ask. The girl put on her heaviest jacket and climbed up to the roof with the other two.
 
‘Really hope that Chat Noir doesn't crash into us.’ Alya had to fight back a laugh.
 
‘Renard, only

you

do that.’
 
‘Hey,

you

technically got in the way.’

Is that banter? Oh you'll see I can do banter.

‘Well, at least

I

didn't almost fall off a building…’
 
‘Wait, what? Renard, what happened?’ Ladybug was confused.

Of course

she was confused, Alya had never told anyone about it. At least, not about how the two of them had happened upon each other that night…the night that she had found out that her watch had powers, too.
 
She could still remember it. She had been coming down the elevator with an unconscious Lila in a stretcher next to her, when the girl stopped being unconscious  (which was good), and stopped being Lila (which was terrible). And not even a second later, she had been pinned to the wall of the elevator, with a flute against her neck depriving her of air more and more with each passing second… until she'd found the strength to kick Lila backwards, that is. She had only caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as Ladybug’s petals repaired that damage that she'd caused, but a glimpse had been enough.
 
She had, somehow, become a superhero. And another fox superhero no less, with a nice costume to boot. She’d barely had time to admire the suit’s incredible design...And not a second later she had changed back, the elevator had reached the bottom floor, and the medics and Chat Noir and Renard Rouge were waiting for her with confused questions and witty remarks.
 
But back to the present. The fox in front of her was explaining to Ladybug what had happened after Chat Noir dropped him into the Thames, while she told him something about a deadly game of hide and seek. Then they got to when he'd almost fallen out of the roof…
 
‘Why can't you do that, anyway?’
 
‘

Well,

there

is

some damage to the Fox Miraculous that happened during the 40s…’

Hmm… the 40s again. What happened there?

‘But I don’t know, Ladybug. Could be anything.’
 
‘Wait, what damage?’ The girl in front of her sounded surprised, almost scared.
 
‘It looks like someone hit the back of it with a very heavy hammer.’ Renard showed her the back of his pendant. ‘But it still works, so…’
 
A fourth voice came from behind them, cutting their conversation short. ‘Still, I'd watch out if I were you. Or else things could get

cat

astrophic.’
 
‘Chat Noir!’ Ladybug smiled. ‘Where were you?’
 
‘Doing secret superhero stuff. You do know that sleep is a very pressing matter that

must

be attended to, don't you, Milady?’
 
The girls chuckled. ‘Of course I do, Chat Noir. Now, if you'd do the honours…’
 
‘
AHA! THERE YOU WERE!’

Uh oh… I should have told her about it...

A man with a gigantic paint brush jumped up to their rooftop. He was a Falcon villain, no doubt, the weird colour scheme and the fact that Chromatic Nightmare reintroduced himself with an obviously pre-practiced monologue that the heroes listened to almost out of courtesy were dead giveaways for that fact. Still, the villain seemed to be looking at

her

an awful lot too…was he after the watch?
 
‘
Hm… Interesting!’

Falcon.

‘

Very

interesting. Chromatic Nightmare, change of plans. Seize that girl, and bring me her-’
An illusory speaker played a rock concert before Falcon could finish his phrase, but Alya didn't need him to.

So he

is

after the watch. Hmm….

As Ladybug shut her inside her room while Chat Noir and Renard fought the villain two on one, Alya wondered how much she'd be able to help them if Renard Rouge had told her the secret to her watch.

‘Lucky Charm!!’

‘...A magnet? What am I supposed to do with this?’
 
Ladybug looked around. Hmm…

The three are fighting above, but Chat and Renard won't be able to hold him off forever, he still needs practice. There's a big water tank on the opposite building… maybe I can use that? But how… Oh.

‘TAKE A STEP BACK!’ She hoped the others heard her. Else both of them could end up falling off the building…
 
The girl bound the magnet to her yoyo with some of Alya’s duct tape and threw it at the tank just as the two heroes above her took a step back.
 
‘Hah!’ Chromatic Nightmare didn't see her plan. ‘You've

missed,

Ladybug!’
 
‘
Chromatic Nightmare, move!
’ Falcon seemed to have realised that Marinette

never

missed. The water tank didn't

hit

him, but that wasn't what she wanted.
 
Her target was the paintbrush. Not the villain. Marinette pulled with all her strength, and the structure gave way.
 
Chat Noir smiled as the tank ruptured and sprayed water all over the villain, who was left gasping for air. ‘
Cataclysm!
’
 
Renard kicked Chromatic Nightmare in the chest, and the brush, rendered harmless now that its paint had been diluted, fell softly in Chat Noir’s hand, where it disintegrated without a trace.
 
‘

Miraculous Ladybug!’

Chromatic Nightmare soon turned back into a middle - aged man. The trio shared a fistbump before Ladybug and Chat Noir went their own separate ways to change back, while the owner of the Fox Miraculous stayed back to figure out who the man was and return him to wherever he lived.
 
As Marinette transformed back, she wondered what had Falcon been about to say when Renard cut him short with that song from Jagged Stone. Something about Alya, but what? He wanted something on her person, that's for sure, but again,

what?

Marinette decided to keep an eye on her friend, and to ask her about it as Ladybug as soon as possible. Whatever it was, it was putting her in danger, and that was something that the girl could not bear.
 
As she walked towards Brent Cross station to take the Underground back home, Tikki poked her head out of her bag. ‘Whatever Falcon wants from Alya, it can't be good.’
 
‘What do you think he could want? The passwords to the Ladyblog?’
 
‘I… have an idea. I'll tell you more about it when we reach home.’
 
Another of the kwami’s secrets? Marinette couldn't wait to find out. She hopped on a train to Bank as she started thinking.

Maybe he wants Alya as a hostage? To bargain with us? Not going to happen. Maybe he wants to turn her into a servant, somehow? Or is this all a trap, designed to confuse us?

What could Tikki be hiding that's so important? Another secret about the Miraculous at war? And if it is, how does it tie in with Alya? It doesn't make sense. I'll just wait until we get home…

It took her twenty minutes more than anticipated because of a problem with the gates, but she eventually managed to sneak into her house as Ladybug. Her parents were already asleep, having left dinner below the trapdoor.

Good thing they didn't come in. My parents are the

best.

‘So. Tikki?’ The kwami was looking at one of Marinette's sandwiches, cheese and ham and a touch of haggis. Her

favourite.

‘...’
 
‘

Tikki.’

Marinette started moving her sandwich in circles like a hypnotist. ‘

Reveal your secrets.’

The kwami shook her head. ‘

So.

Remember what I told you today about World War M?’

So it

is

about that!

‘Yes…’ Marinette made sure to keep her voice down. But this couldn't be worse than the “Churchillbug”… could it?
 
‘Towards the end of the war, the Axis tried to…’ Her kwami lowered her voice even further. ‘

Replicate

the Miraculous. They didn't make much progress,’ She added quickly at seeing Marinette's shocked expression ‘but they

did

manage to make an imperfect copy of the Fox Miraculous.’

Renard’s wristwatch?

WHOA. WAIT A SECOND HERE.

Marinette stopped listening to her kwami and pulled up the Ladyblog. Sure enough,

there

was the old version of Renard Rouge saying that he took his powers…
 
From his

wristwatch.

And looking at the recordings, she could see that it was of the same unknown model that

Alya

had received not long after.

So Renard gave the watch to Alya?

Why?

I'm going to have to talk this through with him later. But for now…

Marinette changed into her pyjamas as Tikki discretely munched on what was left of her sandwich. She climbed onto her bed, said good night to a poster of Adrien Agreste, and drifted off to sleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‘Defective Detective, my name is The Falcon Writer, and I come to you with a case for the greatest detective in all of London. I want to find out the true identities of three so called ‘superheroes’... Ladybug, Chat Noir and that upstart Renard Rouge. Also from them I want their Miraculous, Detective, as they are items of…

great importance

… to me. Shall we get started then?’
 
Phillipe Dupain lifted his head. ‘

Yes, Falcon.

’
 
The villain smiled as his victim disappeared below a cyclone of paper for a second before continuing his speech.
 
‘Very well, Detective. Let's get started. I have already provided you with all the data I could find on those meddling heroes. All that remains now is to figure out their secret identities, the greatest mystery in all of London! No one will  ever question your detective skills again, my friend.’
 
It was a full minute until his minion worked out the result, but Falcon was patient.
 
‘Hmm… this is very interesting data, Falcon.’ The villain raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘

Veeeeeeeeeeryyy

interesting. I've already narrowed it down to around a hundred possibilities!’
 
Falcon was surprised. He’d gotten it down to

what?

But it was impossible! London was a city of millions, how could he...
‘How?’
 
Maybe he was too dangerous for him. Maybe he should just remove his powers and look for someone else…he had learned from experience that his creations could not be allowed to choose for themselves. They had to be guided every step of the way. They had to be reminded that

he

was in control. But this hasty detective seemed to be quite eager to take the case into his own hands, almost to the point of forgetting who he was really working for.
 
‘Response time, Falcon. Every time someone from the Collège Francoise-Dupont college was akumatized, their response was almost immediate. But when someone else served your cause… their response time increases significantly. Therefore, they must be students or teachers. But they

can't

be teachers, because while the Miraculous may distort their appearance to

look

like the same teenagers, teachers don't

talk

or

move

like teenagers.’
 
Falcon

had

to regain control. He couldn't let his Defective Detective get out of hand.
‘You say a hundred. Tell me which hundred. I'll send someone else to…’
 
Surprisingly, the villain cut him short.
 
‘I'll start with a particular class. The one with the highest number of akumatizations. But we cannot discard Hawkmoth's victims. They might have given their Miraculous to someone else to play their part… my my, Falcon, this is an interesting case!! I'll interrogate each one of the students separately, when their classes for the day end, in alphabetical order. I should have the answers shortly, they're bound to be…

elementary, my dear Falcon.

’
 
The villain gasped and cut his link with his victim. It had been subtle, but for

him

, it had been easy to see. Defective Detective had just placed himself above him.

What had he

done?

He

could

take away his powers, right? His latest creation was proving to be much too dangerous to exist. And who said that he wouldn't try to find out who his client was? All detectives did that. It had been a

stupid

idea to make him… but

his

secret identity was impossible to guess, and he

could

just remove his powers like Hawkmoth, right?
 
…

Right

?
 
Falcon

tried

it, but there was no luck. The airplane just wouldn't fly no matter what he wrote on it. The villain threw his notepad to the floor in frustration, out of time. And ideas. He had made a mistake that he could not reverse. And Defective Detective was much too smart to try to take on Ladybug directly… he was lucky he hadn't thought of giving him interrogation powers too.

There,

at least, he was on his own...
 
Oh well. At least he would bring

them

down too. Mutually Assured Destruction at its finest.
 
Falcon Writer waited for the detective to put his plot in motion as he prepared a plan for the future.
 
The first one on the list was a boy, and a very handsome one at that. The detective had already come up with a story to tell his father - that there had been a robbery in a museum the class had visited, and that the police wanted to interrogate every single person who'd been in the museum at that time, without exceptions. It was a good story. Mostly because the villain had stolen something from that museum himself to make sure of it.
 
A small panel opened up on the wall, and a tiny camera on a stick came out of it.
 
‘Who is it?’
 
‘Detective Inspector Lestrange. I'm here to talk with your son about a robbery at the museum he and his class went to on an excursion today.’
 
Even though he couldn't see him, Defective Detective could feel the man raising an eyebrow all the way from over there.
 
‘...Very well. Come inside.’ Apparently “Adrien Agreste” had already told his father everything.

Perfect.

Gabriel was waiting for him at the stairs in front of the entrance, hands clasped behind his back. ‘Over here. Adrien is waiting for you in his bedroom.’ The man led him to his son's quarters, which the detective investigated in a second before sitting down on a couch in front of the boy.

Let's see… computer, TV, videogames, Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls… nothing out of the ordinary save for the fact that everything is five times bigger and ten times more plentiful than it should.

‘If you'd leave us alone, please, Mr...’ Defective Detective did not have time to finish his question that the old man had already thrown a wrench into his plans. ‘I'm the legal guardian of my son. If you're going to interrogate him because of a crime, then you're also going to have to interrogate

me.’

Gabriel shut the door behind him, as if to prove his point.

Uh… this wasn't part of the plan, Falcon. Also not part of the

boy’s

plan, judging from the sudden look of joy and surprise in his face.

Deal with it, Detective.

Well,

someone

seemed to be losing his interest. The victim ignored him. He had a case to solve.
 
‘...Very well. You may stay.’
 
‘I'm not going to just

stay.

You accuse my son of a crime, you accuse

me.’

Gabriel Agreste sat down next to his son, who could not believe his eyes and ears. His father, doing

what?

‘...Let's get started.’ Something told Defective Detective that this would not be a pleasant interrogation. He’d get little information, if any.
 
‘My son has already told me everything about the event. He's innocent, even a fool could understand that. A child like him has no business stealing priceless historical artefacts.’
 
‘With all due respect, sir, kids raised in such a...plentiful environment like this tend to carve attention, and-’
 
‘Are you

suggesting’

Gabriel Agreste’s eyes turned a strange shade of purple underneath his glasses. ‘That I

mistreat

my

son?’

Adrien noticed it too, and inched a bit away from his father. The man was getting angry, and that was not a common sight…or a very welcome one.
 
The detective quickly corrected himself. ‘No, sir, all I'm stating is a fact. Maybe your son is trying to fill the void that left the disappearance of his mother with material wealth...’
 
Adrien tried to get up from the couch, but his father stopped him. ‘I'm

not

trying to fill a void. I'm sorry she disappeared, but stealing from a museum won't bring her back!’ He suddenly looked at him in a whole new manner, his expression slowly changing from anger to suspicion. ‘Are you sure that you're a

real

detective? Because you don't

look

like one to me.’
 
‘Look, sir, I'm investigating a serious crime, and the boy…’
 
‘Leave the boy out of this!’ It was hard to admit, but Defective Detective felt a bit...intimidated by the man. ‘You have no business being here. You come into my house, accuse my son of a crime without serious evidence, accuse

me

of mistreating

him,

and somehow get his mother into this. Your methods, it would seem, appear to be quite

defective

,

Detective!’

If something else was needed to shock him, that was the final straw. The Falconized villain half walked, half ran out of the house as a very large man resembling a gorilla showed him his way to the exit.
 
Once he was outside the situation didn't get much better.
 
‘What happened in there, Detective?! You were supposed to find out if Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir, not start an argument with the boy’s father and get kicked out of the house!’
 
‘It's not my fault.’
 
‘Oh,

really?’

‘You gave me data, Falcon. Not experience.’
 
If the villain could have sighed, he would. Alas, he had to keep control over his creation, and admitting to a mistake would be counterproductive, wouldn't it?
 
‘You'll try the next person on the list tomorrow, Detective. And this time, do not fail me.’

The next person on the list was Chloé Bourgeois, the Mayor's daughter. Based on what he'd heard about her so far, Defective Detective wasn't looking forward to her interrogation.
 
Still, however, he had to obey Falcon’s orders. The detective sat down in front of her while the girl was taking a rest at a cafè near the school.
 
‘Chloé Bourgeois, my name is Detective Inspector Lestrange. Can I ask you some questions about something that happened at the museum you and your classmates went to some days ago? I

know

you're innocent.’ He added, careful not to repeat the mistakes he'd made while attempting to interrogate Adrien Agreste. ‘...But you

may

have some information that could help us catch this criminal.’
 
The girl looked at him with curiosity. He knew what she was thinking. An internal debate between speaking to a lowly police officer about a crime she didn't commit and let her father deal with the case… or take a little risk with him and

maybe

, just

maybe

get catapulted to fame by being a crucial witness in a very important case...
 
And he knew, by her expression, that she had chosen the latter.
 
‘Let's get started, shall we?’
 
‘Yes. But make it quick, I have to be at my hairdresser's at five.’

Fifteen minutes then. Good. That's all I need.

‘So...Chloé Bourgeois, do you recall anything...unusual among your classmates the day you went to the museum?’
 
Of course, she didn't give him much of an answer. Nothing unexpected, coming from a person who spent all her time embroiled in herself.
 
Next question. ‘Does any of your classmates exhibit...strange behaviour… from time to time? Disappearing at random, talking to themselves, anything of that sort?’
 
‘Oh,

don't they.

Kim and Alix are obsessed with sports.’

And thus, staying in a superheroic shape.

‘Max is always working on a screen, Ivan and Mylenne are always together.’

Who provides the heroes with their tools? And those two are a couple apparently, just like Ladybug and Chat Noir...

‘Nino is always with his music and Alya is always with her blog.’

Another couple, from the way she speaks. And the owner of the Ladyblog...a perfect tool for a tantalising search.

‘Rose and Juleka just couldn't do it. Sabrina’s my BFF, she wouldn't ever steal anything. Adrien wouldn't either, he's much too perfect for that. Nathaniel is always drawing.’

An artist. Remind me which other person creates things that aren't real?

‘Frankly, if I had to choose someone to arrest, I'd jail Marinette or Brian Hawkmoth.’

Huh?

‘Could you...elaborate on those two? We may be onto something here.’
 
Her face lit up. ‘Marinette is horrible. Stay away from her. They're both horrible. Are you sure they're not guilty? And

everyone

knows that Brian is the Falcon Writer by now. The cat’s out of the bag for him. “Innocent until proven guilty” my…’
 
Well, he

was

onto something. There were clearly several people to investigate further, for all he knew

all of them

could be Ladybug or Chat Noir or Renard Rouge. But for now, his time was up. He paid for the girl's bill and left without answering her question about a press conference.

‘I still don't understand why you choose to waste your time with someone we

know

isn't Ladybug.’
 
‘I know she's not. Miss Wifi proved that. But by going to her, Defective Detective, we have learned a great deal about our group of suspects… if only through the lens of a self absorbed brat like her.’
 
The detective couldn't argue with his reasoning. It was valid, but in his opinion, the arrogant Ms. Bourgeois had been a waste of time. ‘Whatever you say, Brian.’
 
‘
Excuse me!?!?!’
 
‘Nothing.’

Another mystery to solve...

‘
Much better, Detective. Tomorrow you'll interrogate this “Ivan”. Keep up the good work.'
 
It had been a long day, and Marinette was about to walk home at last, with her kwami tucked inside her bag, when a familiar voice made her turn around. Apparently someone

else

had stayed behind to do Bustier’s homework too...
 
‘Hey, Marinette!’

Eep! Aa! Um...

‘H...Hi!

Adrien

...’

Don't sound so dreamy…

‘Did you hear about what happened at the museum? Crazy, isn't it?’

His

eyes

...

‘Um… yes! Totally crazy. How they managed to steal that heart...diamond! It’s completely beyond me. Alya hasn't found any news yet…’

Speaking of Alya, I still have to talk to her about the watch. And she probably left me alone with Adrien on purpose. She's the

best

.

‘I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will catch the thief.’
 
‘They always do. They just need ...time!’

Time, girl, TIME. Not love!

She could almost hear her friend talking to her in her head.
 
‘You're right.’

He said I was right! ‘

Ladybug and Chat Noir never fail to protect the city. And this is much simpler than an akuma villain. They'll have it done in literally five…’

Friday, five o’clock. Fencing.

‘...five.’ The boy's eyes widened as he realised how late he was going to be if he didn't leave,

now.

‘I have to go. Goodbye Marinette!’
 
Adrien Agreste disappeared behind some stairs as Marinette waved and let out a little sigh. Now all she had to do was find a place to transform… like the empty classroom he'd coincidentally left her in.
 
The girl smiled.
 
‘

Tikki,

spots on!

’

‘Engarde!’ It was night time now, and Adrien had managed to sneak some toothpicks out of his father's table to swordfight with Plagg.
 
Of course, the kwami won. It wasn't fair that he could fly. But again, it would also be unusual if he

didn't

fly…
 
Speaking of unusual, his father's words were still sounding in his ears.

You accuse my son of a crime, you accuse me.

I'm the legal guardian of my son.

Leave the boy out of this!

...quite defective, Detective!

At least Adrien knew that he'd inherited the puns from

someone.

But had his father shown his human side for once? Or had he done it only to defend himself and his precious company? Had that person been a

real

detective? Something about him hadn't been right. Speaking of which, why hadn't he told the others? He had to do it before they were ‘interrogated’ too. A warning was the least he could do, he was

convinced

of everyone's innocence. After all, no one had strayed from the group...
 
There. Message sent, with defective detective pun included.
 
It was getting late, too. Adrien knew what he needed to do.
 
‘

Plagg,

claws out!

’

Why did I agree to work today's night shift, again?

Oh, right, Friday. If only I could say the words and fly up in the air…

But alas, I'm trapped here. At least I have Renard…

Who's fallen asleep. Greeeeeat.

Sigh...I guess I'd better read some Lovercraft if I want to make it through the night.

The next person on the list was Ivan Bruel, a pretty strong candidate for any of the heroes. Defective Detective managed to find him alone while he was walking home from somewhere. Maybe he'd been with that “Mylenne” girl that Chloé had mentioned…
 
‘Mr. Bruel, my name is Detective Inspector Lestrange. May I speak with you for a moment about something that happened at the museum you and your friends went to?’
 
A grunt and a look of suspicion. The villain took that as a ‘yes’.
 
‘So… did you notice any of your classmates acting unusually that day?’
 
A shake of the head.
 
‘Does any of them exhibit any strange behaviour at school?’
 
Another shake of the head. Did this guy even know how to speak? Defective Detective felt like he was wasting his time, again.
 
But there was still hope for him. Chat Noir appeared almost daily over the rooftops of London, a slim, slender figure that protected England from evil and was madly in love with his lady.
 
And in front of him, he had a boy who was the opposite of slim and slender, had a suspicious patch of blond hair, spoke

much

less than Chat Noir, and was seemingly madly in love with a lady.
 
Coincidence? The detective didn't think so.
 
‘Did your classmates ever bully anyone? You?’ There had to be a reason why he wore that skull and crossbones. He was much gentler than what he seemed to be at first sight, Phillipe was a good enough detective to notice that. Hidden depths… another point against Ivan Bruel, who shook his head once again.
 
‘What do you think of Ladybug and Chat Noir?’
 
‘They're cool.’ So he

could

speak. Great.
 
‘Are you...envious… of them?’
 
‘Envious?’ The boy had raised an eyebrow. ‘Why would I be envious?’
 
Had he spoken without thinking, Defective Detective would have said something about his weight and been punched across the street, but he kept his mouth shut.
 
There was not much point in interrogating him further. Phillipe left after a few more unimportant questions and headed for the next person on the list…
 
Alya Cèsaire.
 
‘What do you mean,

skip her?

’
 
‘I am convinced that she is not Ladybug. Is that not enough for you? And Chloé Bourgeois already provided us with all the data we didn't have. Alya is useless, ergo, skip her. Go straight to the next one.’
 
‘But what if she…’
 
‘Her puny little Ladyblog has provided us with more than enough information on what she thinks.’
 
‘But it

could

be a plot to keep suspicion away from her!’ Couldn't he

see?

Alya was probably the strongest candidate on the whole list!
 
Unless… unless there was another reason for that.
 
The detective remembered something from the data Falcon had provided… something about a wristwatch used by Renard Rouge. A watch that had later come into possession of Alya Cèsaire…the subject of a cryptic comment in the

Chromatic Nightmare

section of the Ladyblog.
 
‘I can take her watch, if you want me to.’
 
Defective Detective savoured the few seconds of silence that his offer caused.
 
‘

No,

Detective. If you do that, Ladybug and Chat Noir would find you immediately. Your existence as my agent must remain a secret.’
 
‘I could take

her

as well…’
 
‘NO. You will do as you're told. You'll interrogate Juleka Couffaine as soon as possible, do you understand?’
 
‘Yes, Falcon.’ A sheepish answer, but good enough to keep him out of trouble.
 
As he headed for the boat that served as the girl's home, he wondered what other secrets Falcon was keeping from him.
 
‘Ms. Anarka Couffaine? May I speak with your daughter for a moment? I am Detective Inspector Lestrange. The police sent me here to investigate the robbery of…’
 
‘Come aboard, agent of the law!’
 
So she was one of

those

women. He should have seen it before. After all, she lived on a

boat

in the middle of the Thames with her two children. And quite a messy boat too, how did she even manage to get around the place?

Did

she?
 
The detective was led into the girl's room, which was...surprising, to say the least. He'd expected it to be dark and gloomy, by the descriptions that he'd been given of her.
 
But whatever Juleka Couffaine’s room was, it was

not

dark and gloomy. Rather the opposite, it was the room with the most plants and natural life and light that Defective Detective had seen in years…
 And yet as he saw that, he saw exactly why it was her room. She hadn't had much of a choice. The decor hadn't been chosen by her, but by her parents instead, and here she was, trying to differentiate herself from them in the most blatant way possible.  
Could she have been Ladybug? Probably not. But maybe she had been, once. Maybe she knew who she was…
 
‘Juleka, my name is Detective Inspector Lestrange…’
 
‘My friends already told me about you.’

Huh? How did they…

Phones. I forgot the fact that this isn't the 1870s. Teenagers have

phones

now. How did I overlook that?

‘Then you must certainly know why I am here.’ He was

not

going to let his failure affect his interrogation.
 
‘You want to ask about the museum. I'm innocent.’
 
‘I know you are.’ It wasn't a ploy to keep her calm, he

knew

she was innocent…mostly because he already knew who was guilty. ‘Tell me, does any of your classmates ever act...strangely? Always coming in late, missing school, anything of the sort?’
 
Judging from her expression, there

was

someone who met the criteria. Defective Detective did his best to hide his triumphant smile.
 
‘Well… that would be Marinette… But she couldn't have been guilty, she stood by me the whole trip.’
 
‘Are you

sure

of that?’

Jackpot.

‘Yes. Are you done?’
 
‘This...Marinette… who exactly is she?’ The detective tried to get as much information as possible. The more he knew, the better he would be able to interrogate this “Marinette”...
 
‘Well, her parents are bakers, and they live atop their own shop... She loves making things, and is the nicest person I know. She

can't

be guilty, Detective.’ Was it his imagination, or had she said “Defective”?
 
Something in her expression changed. “But… this isn't the crime you're trying to solve, isn't it?’

How?

‘Of course it is, young lady. What are you thinking?’
 
‘Nothing.’

She's figured

something

out.

What?

‘I see.’ He had to be very careful now... ‘Anyone else that acts like that that you know about?’
 
‘No.’ The girl was starting to talk in monosyllables. It was time to get going...
 
‘I see. Thank you, Juleka Couffaine.’
 
And without saying a word, Defective Detective, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, left the ship, and boarded a brand new train of thought...
 
‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng might just be the girl we're looking for.’
 
‘According to the data you got from Ms. Couffaine, it seems likely, yes.’
 
‘
And vary your questions, Detective. It wouldn't surprise me if the children were already starting to take notice…’
 
‘
Yes, Falcon.’
 
‘Who should I go to next?’
 
‘Don't you already know? We may be close to solving the greatest mystery in all of London, Detective….’
 
‘Especially because the next person on the list is no other than that very same

Marinette Dupain-Cheng...’

It had been a boring day at school. Not only had the teachers been at their most insipid, they had also assigned lots of homework due very soon, so Marinette had the unique opportunity to be bored at home, too.
 
Her parents had gone out to get supplies for the bakery, and left her in charge of the shop in case anyone came in.
 
Not that anyone did, however. Having derived twenty out of the twenty five functions she had been tasked with, the girl decided that it was time for a rest.
 
… speaking of time, Alya hadn't replied to any of her messages about the watch, and had always found excuses to slip out whenever she brought up the subject, so Marinette was now

absolutely sure

that the wristwatch was none other than Renard Rouge’s old one.
 
Tikki had told her all there was to know about it, but it wasn't much more than what she had already seen of it during the Temporal Fabric debacle.
 
Still, however, the next day would be different. Especially because Lyra Singh was going to come to their class for a special Biology lab project…
 
Someone was knocking on the door.
 
‘Hide, Tikki!’

Customers! Finally. My parents will…

Oh.

It's you.

Defective Detective Inspector Lestrange. Adrien’s puns are spot on… like everything about him.

‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng?’ As if she needed introducing. It said so in the

banner

, “Dupain-Cheng bakery, staffed by family.” Unless he didn't know how to read, he’d certainly asked that question with something else in mind.
 
‘Nice bakery you've got here. Do you own the place?’

Huh?

‘No, my parents do.’ What kind of question was that, anyway? And something about his face seemed quite… familiar. Had Marinette seen him before?
 
The man looked at her maths folder messily laid out all over the counter. ‘Maths? I can lend a hand. I'm good at maths.’
 
The detective volunteering to do her homework? Alright, fine. ‘Have fun.’ She handed him all of her papers and left him to his own devices while he looked over what she'd done so far.
 
‘Well, this is simply amazing. There's not a single mistake!’

Well… technically, it was Tikki, but thanks anyway.

‘Thanks.’ Now it was Marinette's turn to ask a question. ‘Do I know you? You look quite familiar.’
 
A cold, calculating glance. Yes, she definitely knew this man.
 
‘No, I'm afraid you don't. Forgive me for asking, but… do you do well at school?’
 
Now that was a way to dodge a question. ‘Yes. I do. It's a bit boring… but it's school. I have to go. At least I have good friends.’
 
‘Really? You must be quite

lucky

then.’

Huh. He didn't ask about them. Does he suspect me? He probably does… and he emphasised lucky on purpose. Everyone does these days.

‘Even though you always show up late for class and vanish mysteriously?’
 
Marinette blinked. How did he know that? Somebody must have told him… or he had gone through everyone's attendance reports. Probably the latter.
 
‘The Tube can be itself at times. And I have a bakery to tend to, Detective. My private life is none of your business.’
 
‘On the contrary miss, your private life

is

my business. It's what us detectives do. Now

...what were you doing the day you visited that museum?’
 
‘I was with the rest of my group. As we all were.’
 
‘Are you

sure

of that?’
 
‘Of course I'm sure.’
 
‘Very well… very well…’ The detective scribbled something down in a notepad. ‘Oh, and a thing before I go… the station wants to know the general public's opinion of Ladybug, Chat Noir and Renard Rouge. Mind answering some questions about them?’
 
Marinette could almost

hear

Tikki warning her to be careful. ‘Yes, of course.’ She didn't trust the man. He seemed much more interested in these last questions that in any of the previous ones…almost as if he were trying to solve the greatest mystery in all of London.
 
Yup, she had to be

extra

careful.
 
‘So… What do you think about them?’
 
‘Well… they're cool. What else can I say? They protect all of us every day! Those three are the best that could ever have happened to this city.’ A clichèd response. Also the one that placed her in the least amount of danger.
 
‘Mhmm.’ Marinette could almost feel the man's frustration. ‘Have you ever met any of them?’

Well…

’Actually, I've met all three.’

It's

technically

true. But I'm not going to tell him anything about Timebreaker…

‘Really?’ He looked surprised, but also attentive. The girl prepared herself for a thorough interrogation. ‘What happened? Surely you must have been in a lot of trouble.’
 
‘I met Chat Noir first. There was this villain trying to get me to fall in love with him.’ The man raised an eyebrow, did he know about Nathaniel? ‘And I helped him set up a trap to catch him off guard.’
 
‘Did it work?’
 
‘Yes.’

Technically. It

did

catch him off guard.

‘I saw Ladybug later that night, when she came to talk to me. She seemed quite intrigued as to why that villain had shown such fascination for me.’ A lie. But if her time with Renard Rouge had taught her something, it was that sometimes, and only

sometimes,

lying in the name of the greater good could be a good thing. ‘She left really soon.’
 
‘Did you… record her, by any chance? We're trying to get some… footage of them.’
 
Marinette was really, really tempted to ask him why they wanted the footage, but decided instead to continue her story.
 
‘I saw Renard Rouge only once, during the night that we got Sweeper. He carried me up to a roof and told me to stay hidden.’
 
‘Did you?’ The detective was gambling, had she trusted

him

?
 
‘Why wouldn't I?’ Marinette called. There weren't any more reasons why anyone should distrust Renard Rouge anymore, anyway… with the notable exception of Alya’s wristwatch.
 
‘Did they ever hint at who they could be?’ Was that a show of impatience? The girl's years of seeing customers short on time were paying off.
 
‘No.’ A short reply. All that she needed to say, and all he needed to hear to set up his next question.
 
‘Would you

like

to find out?’
 
If Marinette could, she would have yelled at him. Their identities

had

to remain secret, for the safety of their friends and family. The girl could only wonder what would happen if Hawkmoth caught word of who she really was…
 
But how

could

he, anyway? Having her lose to a villain was right out, Ladybug and Chat Noir

always

won. (Something that Manon still didn't quite get). There had been some close calls of course, but she didn't fancy herself actually

losing

anytime soon.
 
But what if he had… other… ways of finding out? What if he had poked around in either of her partner's heads while they had been mind controlled? Could he have found out that way?
 
Even worse, what if he had agents amid the populace? His attacks were too random to establish a pattern, sometimes it'd be at morning, dawn or dusk or midnight, some other times it might be a teenager, a grandmother, or even a

baby...

What if someone was telling him where and when to strike? And even worse, what if they were trying to find out the heroes’ identities too?
 
But no one could do that. Marinette and her partners were

extremely

careful. They were so careful, in fact, that she didn't even have a clue as to who could they be behind the mask. Finding out who she was was impossible, unless you were some kind of super-detective like Sherlock Holmes…

… What if…

All the alarm bells went off in her head.

AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA AKUMA.

She had to end this conversation.

Quickly.

‘I'll take that as a “no”.’ She had spent too much time thinking… But she couldn't expose him yet, for only Ladybug could ever arrive at such a conclusion... ‘Back to the case...I have a number of suspects…’
 
‘Who?’

Maybe “Akumatective” here removes Chloé for good…

‘Adrien Agreste.’

What?

‘No! That's impossible. Adrien wouldn't

ever

steal from a museum!’
 
‘

Really?’

The detective leaned towards her over the table and whispered. ‘Then why did his father kick me out of his house?’
 
Marinette knew that he expected a response, so she didn't give him one. But anger was already starting to boil inside of her…
 
‘Another one of my suspects is Alya Cèsaire.’
 
‘She wouldn't do it

either.

Why do you think it's her anyways?’
 
‘It was only a matter of

time,

miss

.’ He knows too. The watch... I MUST warn Alya… But that's what he wants! But if I don't…

Marinette's hand balled into a fist below the counter. The detective didn't see her, he was too busy stating his final subject…
 
‘You,

Marinette.

’ The girl's eyes opened in shock.

She,

guilty of a crime? The detective put on his smuggest expression, almost as if he had already solved the case and was only waiting for her to confess. ‘Tell me, why did you do it? Is it because you wanted riches? Power? A bargaining chip? Tell me, was it only

you

? Or did someone help you? Your accomplices Tom and Sabine, where did they…’
 
Marinette acted without thinking and punched the detective in the face.
 
‘

Leave my parents out of this.

’
 
‘...’ He didn't say anything, but something was certain. That man would

never

set foot on her bakery again.
 
‘Go. Before I change my mind,

Defective

Detective

.

It's your only chance.’
 
The villain backed down towards the door slowly… too slowly. Marinette made a menacing gesture towards a nearby rolling pin, and the man caught her drift.
 
‘Goodbye.’
 
The door was shut and Defective Detective disappeared behind the corner.
 
‘That was…’ Tikki didn't know how to describe it. Neither did Marinette.
 
‘Interesting? We have to warn the others.’
 
The kwami shook her head. ‘If we do that, he'll find out immediately. No, we have to wait until he interrogates everyone,

then

warn the others!’
 
‘I

could

attack him right now… for a second time that is. After all, he won't remember anything…’
 
‘But Hawkmoth will. Assuming, of course, that it's Hawkmoth, and not Falcon.’

Right. So taking him out now is out of the question, then.

‘What about Chat Noir and Renard Rouge? Should we tell them?’
 
‘I think we should. That way they'll be able to protect their own identities before it's too late.’
 
‘Letting the villain get away feels… strange, doesn't it, Tikki?’
 
‘He's not the first one

I've

seen.  You're going to have to learn how detectives operate, and you're going to have to learn it fast.’
 
An idea fell into Marinette's head. ‘Now that you mention it, I might know

just

the place for that…’
 
That very same night she met with the other two and told them about the situation at the top of the Tower Bridge. They were alarmed, of course, but both were very determined to stop him. The villain put all of their secret identities at risk, it was only natural that they were so determined.
 
But again, if Defective Detective was only interrogating members of her class, it must have meant that she shared the room with the other heroes, right? The girl didn't think much about it, lest she figure out their secret identities by accident.
 
But as she entered the classroom the next day, Marinette couldn't help but think that somewhere, a man was hiding, keeping an unrelenting, unwavering watch on each and every one of her friends...
 
If the villain was a super-detective, Adrien had to know how detectives could fail. And to do that, he had to learn how they worked. And to do that, he had to read. A lot.  Which is why the boy found himself opening the door to Brian's bookshop for the first time since his classmate had been hired to work there.
 
...A classmate who, coincidentally, was reading the very same book that Adrien wanted...a big, fat copy with all the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, from

A Study In Scarlet

to

The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place

.
 
‘Hello there Adrien. What are you looking for?’
 
The boy looked around. There weren't many detective stories…
 
‘Do you have anything by Conan Doyle? I'm looking for some classical detective stories.’
 
‘You're not the only one. The genre seems to have become rapidly popular, hasn't it?’

Oh, is that some kind of pun?

‘It's a good genre. Doesn’t have many

defects.

’
 
Brian got the joke, Adrien could see it in the tiny smile that formed in his classmate’s lips. ‘So...Sherlock… let me see.’ He typed something on the computer behind the counter. ‘Um. Is it very urgent?’
 
‘Well… yes… what's the matter?’ Adrien could already tell the answer before he finished talking. There was only one book, and it was the one Nathaniel's friend was reading. And Adrien needed it. The

city

did. It was a matter of keeping his secret identity safe, and that was more valuable than almost anything else...
 
Brian fell silent. He was contemplating something...Adrien could tell that Defective Detective had him worried. But he needed that book, and he needed it

now.

Adrien needed to find a way to reassure him that nothing would happen without telling him that Defective Detective was a supervillain.

What would Ladybug say?

‘If it's about the detective, don't worry. It's not actually that bad, he can't actually throw you in prison.’

For this, at least…Like I told Mylenne earlier, “Innocent until proven guilty… but only in a court of law.”

‘Is there anyone who can be with you whenever he comes?’
 
‘I heard he never asks anyone anything if they aren't alone. It's been the same with everyone so far.’ Yes, he

was

worried. The little shiver had been all that he needed.
 
‘He let my father stay.’ Brian raised an eyebrow. ‘Until dad had him kicked out of the house.’
 
The boy behind the counter opened his eyes wide in surprise. ‘You never told anyone that!’
 
Well, it was true. He hadn't put that in his message after all… ‘Hey,

he

started the whole defective detective thing. Not me.’
 
‘Really? Well, there's something else for me to know about your father, he's as punny as Chat Noir.’ Adrien himself didn't know much about him. But Brian's response unnerved him… did he suspect anything about him?
 
‘So… will you be taking this book?’ The mood seemed to have lightened a bit. Now his classmate looked a tiny bit less like a cornered fox and more like someone who was ready to face whatever Akumatective threw at him. He hadn't yet gotten all his confidence up, but it would only be a matter of time. Adrien nodded. ‘It'll be fifteen pounds.’ Not too expensive for a book bigger than his backpack. Maybe he'd gotten some kind of special discount. ‘Thanks. Have a nice day!’
 
Something told Adrien that that was more than a standard greeting. The boy waved goodbye, crossed the street, and walked down into the Underground.
 
It wasn't long before

another person

walked into the bookshop. It was proving to be quite a busy day!
 
But at least Brian was relieved. It Adrien had told him the truth (And Renard had already said that yes, he probably did) then a future “interrogation” by Akumatective would be a piece of cake. His secret identity would be safe… Now that Brian was starting to get a hand of that whole “secret identity” thing, he was actually beginning to enjoy his time as Renard Rouge… being a hero had gone from responsibility to entertainment, apparently, and that was a welcome change. Still, it

was

a responsibility and it

was

serious, despite Falcon’s attempt to make it seem not so by sending them a sort of biplane broom witch last Thursday night.
 
‘Sorry miss, we don't have any copies of

The Forgotten Characters

in stock right now. I can order some for next Monday, if you'd like…’  After a few key presses, the book was ordered and the lady convinced. She paid for it in advance and left.
 
The woman hadn't even closed the door when someone else snuck in.
 
‘Marinette!’ Strange. After Ladybug’s favour to him the bookshop had undergone a small raise in popularity… as well as a significant increase in people trying to sneak into the storage rooms in a vain effort to find some kind of supervillain lair. Also, a single sticker saying THIS IS NOT A COURT OF LAW had appeared earlier that morning, in expensive paper that could only have belonged to Chloé.
 
‘How're you doing, Brian?’
 
‘I'm getting by. What are you looking for? No, wait, let me guess.’ She was probably, like everyone else, looking for detective novels. The bookshop’s meager stock hadn't been able to take such demand, and collapsed mere minutes ago with Adrien taking their last, priciest book. ‘Detective novels.’ The girl smiled. Yes, he was right. ‘We ran out of stock a few minutes ago. If you'd like, I can order it for next Monday…’
 
Marinette's expression dropped. ‘I need them...urgently. Are you sure you're out of stock?’ She started scanning the bookshelves, but it was to no avail. Brian saw desperation in her face as she looked for detective novels in the cookbook section.
 
‘Adrien took the last one a couple of minutes ago. If you hurry, you can still…’
 
Marinette ran out of the store without even waiting for him to tell him in which direction Adrien had gone.
 
‘Well, thank you.’
 
The boy sank back in his seat and prepared his notepad, but then took a look at the people watching him across the street and decided to play chess against the computer instead.
 
Marinette didn't

need

directions. She knew Adrien’s schedule and movements by heart… Definitely better than she could memorise data for Bustier’s tests, anyway. Now they had moved on to 1950s Europe…
 
The girl rushed into the Underground.

There

he was, about to board a train to the Piccadilly line… She could make it in time.
 
Marinette was almost crushed by a closing door, but she managed to get in on time. In front of her, the love of her life asked her if she was alright… of course she was. The girl got up from the floor and looked at the book in his hands.

The complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes…

perfect. Now all she had to do was ask for it, nice and politely…
 
‘Do you think I could… borrow that book for a while?’ The look in his face told her that she hadn't exactly done it ‘nice and politely’. ‘I need it… now. It's urgent.’
 
‘Um… are you sure it can't wait?’ Did he need it, too? But for what? Surely it couldn't be anything more important than what she needed it for. A little voice in her head came up with a third possibility, but she ignored it.
 
‘No, it can't. I'll take good care, I'll return it soon. I promise.’ At least this time she was asking for permission. That time with the ancient spellbook had been… tricky, to say the least.
 
‘Um…’
 
‘Please?’
 
Adrien arrived to a quick solution. ‘Well… we can read it… together. If you don't mind.’
 
Marinette's brain melted. Adrien, volunteering to….
 
‘YES!’ Ouch.  The girl hoped that the people at the next station hadn't heard that. ‘I mean… yes, if you wouldn't mind.’
 
‘Alright then.’ Did the boy look happier now, or was it just Marinette's imagination? ‘So… tomorrow after school?’
 
‘In the library?’
 
‘How about somewhere quieter?’ Adrien’s suggestion, while surprising, was

not

undesirable. Marinette quickly discarded several places anyone would have considered more than suspicious. But again, now that she thought about it, the library at school would definitely be under the detective’s watch…

Watch! That's it!

‘How about that park close to where Alya lives?’
 
‘Well…’ He was thinking. Was it too far away from his house? Would his bodyguard approve? How long would he have? ‘I don't see why not. I'll see you tomorrow after school then.’
 
‘Deal.’ Marinette, beaming, got out of the train as it reached the next station and said goodbye to the love of her life. After all, she had to go the

other

way to get home...
 
Adrien could tell that the girl was excited. Over the course of that day, Marinette had knocked over her pencil case, her chair,

his

chair, and one of Andre’s superb hot chocolates. It was clear that he was not the only one looking forward to some reading with a very good friend.
 
On other news, it looked like Defective Detective had been interrogating Mylenne. ‘He asked me a lot of questions about Ivan. And Marinette, and Max, Kim, Brian and Nathaniel. What do you think he wants?’
 
Chloe, of course, said that the poor little detective only wanted to solve a mystery, and then twisted her words to ‘figure out who Falcon is‘ when everyone looked at her like she was crazy. After all, the whole “Priceless Artefact Stolen” front had fallen pretty quickly when Sabrina’s father told the class that there had been no interrogations ordered. Of course, that wasn't right, but if they thought that he was trying to figure out who Falcon was rather than what Defective Detective was actually doing, then Adrien was going to let them be. But again, this would render Ladybug’s message to their group useless, because why else would he look for the Falcon Writer in their class if he wasn't sure that he could find him? And there weren't that many people left for the detective to harass… they'd be getting to the bottom of this very soon.
 
There was

another

thing to get to the bottom to, and it had to do with Adrien’s friend, Renard Rouge. Apparently, or so Plagg had said, the Miraculous he'd used the first time they met wasn't actually a Miraculous. It was something strange and potentially malevolent, an object created with only the worst intentions in mind. Adrien didn't know how or why he'd wound up in possession of it, as well as why he had strangely given it away after their first battle, but they had to confront him about it, soon. There could only be one secret in their team, trust was everything for them. Also Plagg had mentioned something about the history of where it came from...Knowing that the Miraculous could be replicated to a frightening degree of accuracy kept him up that night. His kwami

had

told him that every single Miraculous had been left in capable hands by the end of the war (Which war? His kwami had refused to answer)… That calmed him down a bit, but if so, how had Hawkmoth…?
 
Max interrupted his train of thought. ‘Adrien?’ He looked worried. ‘You've been staring at the wall for twenty seven seconds without blinking. Are you alright?’
 
The boy shook his head. He’d been so lost in thought… ‘Yes, thank you.’
 
‘You're welcome. Mind if I tell you something? I think I've stumbled into something useful regarding this detective.’ That smug smile... Max was certainly up to something clever again.
 
‘Sure, Max. What did you find?’
 
‘I… took the liberty of giving Mylenne a little camera to spy on him. She managed to slip it in his coat while he left…’ The boy pulled out his phone and started typing something as Adrien watched him in stunned surprise. It was strange for their classmates to fight an akuma villain… much more so

this

way. He’d never have thought about spying on the detective. But again, if they could spy on

him

… What would happen when they figured out that three people in the class were the heroes they loved so much? Adrien himself didn't think about it. Their secret identities were worth more than

anything.

‘That's… quite clever, Max! What did you find out?’ It

had

been a plan worthy of Ladybug. Outsmarting a super detective was not a small feat... Max and Mylenne suddenly rose to Adrien’s attention. His classmates were the

best

when they worked together. He just hoped they didn't ever work against

him...

‘I've sent it to the group chat just now.’ The other boy put down his heavily modified, brilliant abomination of a phone while the detective’s angry growls blared out of some of their classmates’, who had just received Max’s message.
 
‘This girl isn't who I'm looking for.

I'm wasting my time!

There has to be another way!’
 
He sounded quite frustrated. Good. He hadn't made any significant headway into figuring out their secret identities…
 
Half the class gasped as another person's voice burst out of their phones. Outside, Lyra Singh dropped her books in surprise.
 
‘
Relax, Detective. We

are

making headway.’

The Falcon Writer.

‘NO WAY.’ Alix pushed her desk away from her. ‘Defective Detective is a Falcon villain?’
 
‘Looks like he is.’ Juleka got up from her seat too. ‘But… What could he be trying to find?’
 
‘I don't know. What do akuma villains want?’ Rose rose from her chair, too. Adrien decided to keep that pun handy in case Chat Noir ever needed it.
 
‘Guys, it's

obvious.

Defective Detective wants to figure out the heroes’ secret identities.’ Alya was spot on. Had anyone told her, or had she figured it out herself?
 
‘So wait. You mean…’

No, Nino, DON'T…

‘You mean that the three heroes are in this classroom… right now?’
 
Looks of suspicion everywhere.

NINO!

Maybe, if he was fast enough, Adrien could make the quickest of getaways out of this mess…
 
‘What makes you think that?’ Maybe, if he stalled for time…
 
‘Dude, he wouldn't look for things where he couldn't find them.’
 
‘I agree.’ Nathaniel spoke up from behind the class. ‘So…’
 
‘Spill the beans. Which one of you is Ladybug? Who's Renard Rouge? Who's Chat Noir?’
 
‘Whoa, Kim, calm down! We can figure this out

ourselves.

’ Alix suddenly became the most dangerous person on the face of the planet.
 
‘Adrien, Marinette, Brian...’ The three made the exact same expression of stunned disbelief.

Alya…I beg you.

I never thought you'd betray me like this! You were my best friend!

I thought you trusted me. I was wrong.

‘You three ar

e not

the heroes.’
 
A record needle scratch went off not only inside Adrien’s head, but also inside Brian's and Marinette’s too. ‘They look like you, therefore, they

aren't

you.’ Alya surprised him. The reasoning was perfectly logical...
 
‘The three wouldn't be that stupid.’  Mylenne left it quite clear to the rest, who had started to question Alya’s assumption.
 
‘Don't you think… we shouldn't do this?’ Adrien had to choose his words very carefully. ‘We shouldn't do Falcon's work for him.’

Good. They're believing it.

‘Besides, they

need

their secret identities. Otherwise, the villains would…’ Marinette didn't need to finish her phrase. They all knew. Adrien imagined his father's mansion on fire as Hawkmoth laughed on the background, doing a twisted version of the heroes’ victory fistbump as only Adrien made it out of the inferno alive. He shook the idea out of his head. The other two would never let that happen.
 
‘I agree with her. Does any of you?’
 
Murmurs of consent. Someone, probably Chloé, proposed that by knowing who the heroes were they could help them, cover them when they needed to transform, become a sort of support squad, some ‘Dupont College Irregulars’...The idea was shot down as soon as it was proposed, with Alya, surprisingly, as the leader of the opposition. Adrien was grateful to her. But it didn't make much sense. Alya was the owner of the Ladyblog, why wouldn't she want to know more about the heroes, or at the very least help them? Something fishy was going on. Maybe she had something to hide, too? Alya

did

seem to want this conversation over as soon as possible, too...
 
Someone somehow came up with the wording for a treaty. In no time, it had been signed by everyone in the class, and sworn to secrecy on Marinette's croissants  (or her hair, in Chloe's case). By what it said, the whole class agreed to stop and/or misguide any efforts to figure out who the heroes were, by any means possible. The sheet of paper was hidden below the teacher’s desk, the most inaccessible place in the entire school, next to some forgotten pens and a puddle of spilled chemical

something

that moved aggressively towards the treaty until Rose made it combust, a handy trick she'd learnt from Mendeleiev. No one would ever be able to find it, and no one was supposed to until many decades later...
 
Ms. Bustier entered the classroom. ‘Well, what are you doing all standing in a circle?’ She gestured them all towards their seats as she rushed towards a TV set. ‘Sit, sit! We have to finish that movie,

today.

Nino, if you'd be so kind…’
 
The time had come. Marinette prepared herself for the task ahead of her. Reading a book with Adrien would have been on the top list of things that she'd have wanted to do with him, but

this

one...Marinette had to pay extra attention. Nothing could slip past her, she had to learn all she could, and she'd only have one hour and a half to do it. After that, the gorilla would come pick Adrien up from his “inspection of the local wildlife”. She could

not

afford to get distracted.
 
The girl left the Underground and headed for the park.

There

he was, the love of her life, sitting on a bench by a lake… had the circumstances been any different, that would have been one of the happiest moments of Marinette's life, but alas, her duties as Ladybug came first. There could be no romantic distractions… the girl put on a look of determination and marched forward.
 
Adrien heard her approaching and looked at her over her shoulder. Marinette's look of determination melted. ‘Hi.’
 
‘Hello Marinette. Do we get started?’
 
‘Sure.’ She slid next to him and looked at the first story.

A Study in Scarlet.

There was a picture on the first page too, which was good. Books with pictures were always better. Adrien started narrating, and soon the two were pouring over the book.
 
The story, both were pleased to discover, was actually quite enjoyable! The two sat closer to each other as the sun started to sink. By the end of their little session, Marinette had rested her head on Adrien’s shoulder. Aside from a little gasp of surprise, he didn't seem to mind. Marinette couldn't tell, but the truth is, Adrien was happy with it. Finally someone else to share

something

with...as much as Adrien loved Nino, there were some things that they couldn't do together… things that, he'd just found out, he could do with

Marinette

of all people.
 
‘Well.’ Adrien closed the book. ‘That was…’
 
‘Interesting?’
 
Adrien knew that voice.
 
Next to them, Defective Detective took a seat and looked at what they were reading. ‘Sherlock? Hmm. Can't blame you for that sudden interest. This

is

a rather fascinating case, isn't it?’
 
Adrien growled. He didn't want to see the detective again, no one did. It would be much better if he just left… where was the gorilla?
 
‘What do you want.’ Marinette didn't seem to like him much, too. And he could see why, according to the latest rumours, she had punched the detective in the face after he had made an...inopportune question about her parents.
 
‘Well, to solve the case, of course!’ He didn't mention

which

case. Adrien was pretty sure that it wasn't about the stolen artifact. Defective Detective here was a Falcon villain, trying to figure out their secret identities and leave them, their family and friends vulnerable to whatever Falcon and Hawkmoth wanted to do to them. He could

not

be allowed to succeed. If only they could release him… where was the airplane? He wasn't carrying a notepad, pen, gun or any kind of detective tools. Not even the stereotypical magnifying glass. Really, the only thing that

made

Adrien think he was an actual detective was his coat… his coat! Of course! That's where the Falcon-thingy was. Now, all they had to do was break it… and get Marinette to safety.
 
Of course, Adrien didn't know, but Marinette was also concerned with getting

him

to safety so that she could thoroughly bash this fake detective’s face in with that heavy book the two had been reading peacefully only a minute ago.
 
‘Go away.’ The two said. Defective Detective moved a little in their seat.
 
‘I didn't come here to

go away.

If you refuse to talk, then you

must

be guilty!’ Adrien’s eyebrow twitched. Marinette tightened her hold on the book as the detective made a triumphant smile.
 
The boy decided to stall for time. ‘Guilty of

what?’

He just hoped that videogame about lawyers had actually taught him

something…

‘Oh, you know what I mean. No need to hide it anymore, I

know

you stole that thing.’
 
‘He

didn't.

’
 
‘Says the girl who punched me in the face.’
 
‘

Says the detective who accused us without evidence.’

‘Don’t worry. I'll get it

very

soon.’ His face twitched, almost as if he'd received some sort of telepathic message. Adrien and Marinette exchanged the briefest of glances. ‘Let's drop the act, you know who I am already. You know who I'm working for. You know I won't stop. In time, I

will

find out. I'm Defective Detective! I

always

find out!’ An evil laugh would have been a perfect ending for that little speech, but the villain disappointed him. Beside him, his friend growled...
 
Those two were getting ready for a fight, Adrien could tell. Marinette's fists were clenched, and the detective had taken his out of his pockets after his boast… they had one minute, tops. But frankly, didn't Adrien want to hit that detective, too? Hmm…
 
He would have found out if it hadn't been for the gorilla. His bodyguard made a sudden appearance behind the park bench, clenching his fists and growling. Everything about him seemed to say “There won't

be

any evidence left for the other detectives to investigate unless you leave Adrien and his friend alone NOW.”
 
Defective Detective noticed, and obliged. ‘Looks like that's my cue to leave. I have a treasure to dig up. We'll meet again, you two. ’
 
‘In your dreams.’ Adrien had never seen Marinette so angry at someone.  Everything about her body language said

Bring it, Falcontective.

But again, that horrible man

had

accused and threatened those closest to her…
 
‘

I will be watching. I'm always watching. I am-’

The gorilla growled in his general direction. Defective Detective wisely walked away as fast as his feet would take him.
 
‘So… tomorrow at the same time?’
 
Marinette’s eyes lit up. ‘But here? He'll only come after us again…’
 
‘Well…’ Adrien had many ideas for that, but it was best for him that the gorilla, and therefore his father, didn't know about them.
 
The boy waved goodbye, followed his bodyguard, and got in the car.
 
‘You were drooling.’ Tikki wouldn't stop teasing her about it even after they went back home.
 
‘I

wasn't.

At least not while we were reading the book.’ The trip back in the Underground might have been an entirely different story, however. She had built such an impressive list of places they could go…
 
Marinette picked up her phone.

168 messages to the class group chat? Something’s happened. Please don't be a text-spamming akuma villain, please don't be a text-spamming akuma villain…

It wasn't a text-spamming akuma villain.
 
Nothing had actually happened,

yet.

. The class, however, had been very interested in what was

about

to happen.
 
Adrien (Marked on her contacts list as Aaaaadrieeeen), Juleka, Mylenne, and Alya had been drilling Brian on exactly what he needed to do when the detective came to interrogate him...a very interesting conversation indeed. Their tips were all good and well, but Marinette had a better idea.

No

, she wasn't going to tell him to hit the detective like she had...well, not exactly. She had other plans. But she needed to check it with the others first. If they were lucky, and it worked, they could be able to get rid of the Falconized detective for good…

‘Tikki,

spots on!

’

‘I… don't think that'll be a good idea, Milady.’ Chat Noir didn't approve. Not because it was a

bad

plan, it made sense. The three of them would wait outside the next interrogation victim’s house and ambush the detective the second they saw him. Alternatively, if he

didn't

show up, they'd check the area after they defeated the next akuma villain, because the detective was sure to be sneaking around then, trying to find out their secret identities after the three used their powers.
 
It wasn't a bad plan. But in Adrien’s opinion, Defective Detective wouldn't fall for it, not in a million years.
 
‘He's much too smart for this to work, Ladybug.’ And Renard agreed with him, too.
 
‘Hmm…’ Surely his lady was coming up with another plan. She was usually quick to see the error of her ways when she was wrong… ‘I see.’ He really

did

know her well. ‘Any other plans?’
 
The three of them sat down on a rooftop and started thinking. The sun was already halfway down…they had to come up with something before dinner, fast.
 
Half an hour later, Adrien had an idea so good it made him stand up, startling the other two superheroes next to him.

‘

What if we

combine

those two plans?’

‘

Huh?’ None of the two understood him. Now all that he just hoped was that he'd be able to explain it to them...
 
‘Well, we know what he's going to do next. He's going to go for the next person on the list soon enough, the thing is… we don't know

when.

What we also know is that at some point, Hawkmoth or Falcon are going to send out another villain. Now, what if those two…’
 
‘Happen

at the same time?’

Ladybug caught wind of his plan a second before Renard did. ‘Nice plan, kitty. But…’ This was the part that Adrien didn't like. ‘We can't be in two places at the same time… can we?’ She was looking at Renard. Maybe with some kind of illusion…
 
The boy shook his head as he put his flute back where it belonged. ‘No. I can't send an illusion across half the city, much less

three,

much less have them

do

stuff

while

we’re all fighting. If only we had a little help…’
 
‘Well, I know some people who wouldn't mind assaulting an akuma villain.’ Marinette had been awesome. Now if he could convince these two to convince some of his classmates to go after the detective...

‘

You're suggesting.’ Ladybug was unsure. ‘That we send the

class he's interrogating

after him?’
 
‘Why not?’
 
‘Because he'd wipe the floor with them?’
 
‘Wait.’ Renard had seen it too. Defective Detective couldn't fight. ‘If he could, then why did he try his best to stay out of as many fights as possible? I'm… not sure he's much of a fighter…’
 
‘I saw him run away from the Agreste’s bodyguard the day he went for Adrien. And he could have

made

him answer his questions if he was a fighter…there is also this girl Marinette who found the courage to punch him.’ Was it his imagination, or did the love of his life show the smallest of blushes at that? In any case, it

was

a good plan...
 
Ladybug

clearly

didn't like it, but she said yes.
 
‘If anything happens to them, Chat Noir…’
 
‘Nothing will, Milady. Trust me!’
 
‘I'll try to get some of those classmates to join in. By tomorrow night I should have a list…’
 
‘Do it. Tomorrow, same place same time?’
 
‘Sure.’ The two said. Renard waved goodbye and jumped off to patrol the northern city while  Adrien and Ladybug parted ways. Luckily, the boy made it home just in time to enjoy the chef’s delicious flambè.

‘Renard, transformé moi.’

‘Not a bad plan. Why didn't

you

come up with it?’ Renard was teasing him. He

always

did that when he got hungry… Brian took a bag of tea leaves out of his pockets and threw it up in the air. The little envelope suffered a midair collision with a kwami’s mouth and did not survive.
 
‘Now.’ The boy prepared some soup as he let Renard rest on his shoulder. ‘Who do you think I should get into this?’ Brian looked out of the window at the setting sun. It was truly a sight to behold...
 
After a while, Renard talked back to him. ‘May I recommend the people he's already gone to...

Brian, duck!

’
 
BANG! BANG! BANG!
 
Brian was glad he came from a family of soldiers. It meant following orders quickly was in his blood.
 
Else, he'd been turned into a colander. The three bullet holes in the window hadn't been very far from where his chest had been.  
 
Now in full alert mode, Brian and his kwami crawled out of the kitchen and into his father's room. Sebastian had left him something to use in

extreme

emergencies only… and being under attack by someone he already suspected, thus  being unable to transform in order to protect his secret identity

certainly

qualified. The boy took his grandfather’s bayonet out of the safe and fumbled with the sheath while Renard called the police. He hoped that the detective would be scared by the sight of him with it and run away, because it was bent, dull, and rusted, an old, antiquated

museum piece

that may or may not actually work. But again, lying was easy for him, right?
 
It took him a full minute, but by the time he got to the door it was too late. Someone had already done what they came to do.

Stop standing in the way of justice.

Brian crumpled the note and threw it over his shoulder, shivering a little before he noticed what it was attached to.

Oh no…

The treaty. Defective Detective had found it,

and

a gun. Getting the classmates involved would no longer be an option…
 
Brian dropped his useless bayonet and put it away as soon as he heard the sound of sirens. Fortunately, it was Officer Roger who came to check on him.
 
After convincing him he was alright, and

not

in shock, Brian told him about what had happened. The policeman made some radio calls and told him he'd arranged for someone to come watch the building in case Defective Detective tried to intimidate him again before leaving.
 
Problem is, he couldn't get out of the house to tell Ladybug and Chat Noir to call off the plan if there was a policeman in front…
 
‘And

why

do you have to tell them in person? Use the phone!’ Renard found the answer to that question embarrassingly early. Brian nodded and said the words.
 
‘Ladybug? Chat Noir?’ None of them were available, but they'd eventually listen to his message. ‘Listen… we have to call off the plan….’
 
The three of them met the next day at their usual spot over the old clock tower. Morale was low. Their perfect plan had been ruined! Now they'd have to use the entire afternoon to come up with another one… none of them was particularly pleased with that. There was homework to be done, photos to be taken and books to inventory. And all of that would have to wait because Defective Detective had outsmarted them, found out about that stupid treaty and almost shot one of their classmates.
 
It hadn't exactly been one of the best outcomes.
 
As Alix passed through the street nearby, she waved at them from below with such enthusiasm that her bow fell off her shoulder; she had promised herself to beat their class's current archery champion, Kim, after she'd lost the title to him last month. The girl looked at her watch and cursed, she was about to be late for her favourite show…
 
Renard and Ladybug looked at each other in a moment of inspiration. ‘Alya!’
 
‘Huh?’ Chat Noir was confused. How could Alya help them? The two looked at each other again, this time in disbelief. They were thinking more or less the same thing:

Whoops

.

The explanation wasn't easy, but at least videogames, Plagg's enigmatic comment and history class had taught him more or less the circumstances surrounding the artifact’s creation. Created by evil Nazis, used only once by yours truly, lost in the Ardennes Offensive. Taking advantage of the fact that they were already on subject, Ladybug told them both the story of the Miraculous at war, which after a brief pause left them both wide-eyed and with a lot of questions.
 
‘So this thing was used by

who?

And what happened

after

that castle in Austria? Why did the great powers have a Miraculous in their hands?’ Marinette put her hand in front of her, silently telling them to stop asking questions she didn't have the answer to. (However, she told them, with the right incentive, their kwamis

could

volunteer that information... The girl told them to stack up on food. Top secret data didn't come cheap.)
 
After the three had exchanged their information, they turned north and made their way to Alya’s over the rooftops of London, Ladybug leading the way.
 
But something was already bugging her about Chat Noir not knowing about the watch...
 
Hadn't she talked with him about it, just last evening?
 
‘Hang on. Let

me

talk to her.’ Renard gestured for the other two to wait on Alya’s roof. ‘As you said, it's

my

watch. Besides, I think she'll take it a bit better if she thinks only one person knows who she actually is…’
 
Ladybug and Chat Noir agreed. But she was looking at him with extreme suspicion once again... ‘We'll keep an eye out for Defective Detective. In case he decides to murder another innocent window again.’
 
‘Deal.’ Brian gave them a thumbs up and silently dropped into Alya’s balcony. Inside, the girl was writing something in a tablet over her desk, most probably another entry for the Ladyblog. It was late, so she was already in her night clothes. Brian hoped that didn't make her, or him, uncomfortable.
 
He knocked on the window. ‘Hello.’
 
A smile appeared in the girl's face. ‘Hi there, Renard. Finally decided to drop by?’ The two shared a handshake before she invited him in. Brian remained standing as Alya sat down, whipped out her phone and turned on the camera.
 
‘So.’ He could tell she was excited. ‘You finally came for that interview?’
 
‘Actually.’ He put her hands, and her phone, down. Alya's eyes went wide with expectant surprise. ‘I came for something else. We need your help with something...’ The girl's smile widened. She'd finally get to live her dream! But first, just to make sure...
 
‘Do you need...Alya Cèsaire? Or…’ She looked at her watch, sending a very clear message to the superhero in front of her.
 
‘The

other

girl, if you wouldn't mind.’ Before she could say,

of course I wouldn't mind,

Renard Rouge stopped her in her tracks. ‘Just this one time, Alya. It's an emergency. Can I trust that you won't use this for personal gain? That you'll

only

use it when we need you to? There's no telling what kind of damage it could cause if it fell in…’ He pointed at her map of akuma attacks on the wall. ‘The wrong hands. Can we trust you, Alya Cèsaire, with the power of cunning?’
 
The girl thought about it for a minute, but only for a minute. The response was just what both of them wanted.
 
‘You can, Renard Rouge.’
 
The boy smiled. ‘Good. Now stand fast, Alya. You might feel a bit queasy.’
 
‘Wait, what do you mean by…’ As fast as lightning, Brian grabbed her wrist, turned the watch around, opened the battery compartment and pressed a tiny button in the shape of a swastika. It was good that Master Fu had told him about the internal workings of the mysterious device when he went to confront him about it the day after Puppeteer came back, else he wouldn't have known how to make it adapt to a new owner.
 
Alya shuddered as the wristwatch scanned the shape of her body. It felt… strange,

crude,

like having a second skin put over her like a coat, but the girl breathed deep and kept her sudden nausea to herself.
 
After a minute or so, the feeling had stopped. Alya looked down at her hands, expecting to see the black gloves that she'd imagined, but she was

still

Alya Cèsaire. Had something gone wrong? She mentioned it to Renard, who gave her a half smile. ‘It's not supposed to. What it did now is scan you so it can

suit

itself to your needs better than that time in the elevator.’ Alya could tell he was happy because he started making puns. Of course, Chat Noir’s were

way

better than anything he'd come up with… for now, at least.
 
‘So...I…’ She was confused. There was only one button in it, and it was used to turn on the digital display…
 
‘Now, Alya… You say the words.’ Renard took a step back. Good for him, she'd already thought up a transformation sequence for herself that needed some space.
 
Also, she'd thought long and hard about her choice of words...
 
‘

Dame Renarde, c'est la hor!’

Chat Noir blinked twice. ‘Nice suit.’
 
Alya chuckled. She was no Gabriel Agreste, but she had had plenty of time to think about how she wanted her new superhero costume to look like.
 
Simply copying Renard’s suit wouldn't have been enough for her. No, Alya had gone for something much more...ambitious than a mere copy.
 
The colour scheme

was

the same. Orange, black, white. Simple. She had been more modest with the black, however, only using it for her hands and feet rather than up to her forearms and knees. All over her suit the same pattern was repeated, two orange lines swirled around a larger white one like snakes on a caduceus. At her waist, where the lines crossed, a belt had appeared, a small black line, that went around her and ended in a short tail. Alya had put fox ears in it too, but they were smaller and pointier than Renard’s, closer to what real ones would look like. Her mask was dark orange.
 
Hmm… actually, she

could

have given Gabriel Agreste a run for his money.
 
‘I concur.’ Renard jumped up beside her, after checking that no one in the house had noticed his intrusion. ‘As I said before…’
 
‘You surround yourself with only the best. We know. You've told us… but it

is

really nice.’ Ladybug and Chat Noir approved of the suit. Of course, being a

real

superhero was much more than wearing some fancy clothes… and why was Ladybug staring daggers at Renard Rouge?
 
‘So.’ Alya checked her pockets at the sides of her belt. Both of them were full. The girl took both items out in plain sight with little regard for the repercussions. ‘When do we start?’
 
For some reason, the three looked at her right hand, the one

without

the grapple gun.
 
‘Is that…’ Both Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at Renard Rouge like they were questioning his sanity. And rightfully so, for Alya had produced an orange contraption that only

resembled

a certain tool the detective had used…
 
‘It's…is that what I think it is?’ The other fox looked at her in disappointment. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the other two were slowly moving their hands towards their weapons…
 
Alya had to defuse this situation.

Fast.

Before Renard could reach her, she did the most instinctive and rational thing she could think of.
 
She shot upwards.
 
As the three heroes hit the deck, Alya wondered how long it would take for…
 
Bang!
 
Above them, an explosion of colour lit up the dusk sky. Several confused Londoners looked out of their windows, but none were tall enough to see them.
 
‘Well, that was unexpected.’ She should have told them about the fireworks. ‘A little warning next time, before you get us all worked up?’ Chat Noir was the first to stand again.
 
‘And miss all the fun? Never, kitty. I put a lot of work into making this thing work.’ She hoped, at least, that the fireworks had lightened up the mood. She didn't want to ruin the heroes’ first impression of her, that's for sure.
 
Her seemingly playful banter was received with a smile. Chat Noir looked like he'd finally found some competition in the field of puns. ‘So… we kind of want Falcon to

fire

the detective, but our previous plan didn't

work…

’
 
‘So now we are calling in something he can't possibly expect, see if we can catch him off guard when Falcon releases his new villain and Defective goes to interrogate Brian Hawke.’ Ladybug’s expression said

Please, no more puns.

But there was also anger and suspicion behind it...
 
‘Speaking of Brian, I know a place where we can send him so he'll be safe.’ Renard came forward with a suggestion, raising his hand up to his shoulder. ‘I'll talk with him later today, see if I can convince him to go to a friend's.’ Chat Noir's bell seemed to have become the most interesting thing in the universe for him.
 
‘I don’t see you having too much trouble with that.’ Now that she thought about it, the two

were

friends… but the balance between the Ladyblog and her double life had to be maintained. ‘He probably doesn't want to spend one more second close to that Falcon villain… that whole

treaty

thing came back to bite him. It was a…’
 
Her friend interrupted her. ‘I get it.

Defective

idea?’

Well, yes…

‘So.’ Ladybug cleared her mouth. ‘We want you to be ready for when Defective Detective tries to interrogate Brian Hawke. Are you familiar with his house?’
 
Alya would have said that she knew that street like her family’s, but she caught herself. No more puns now, this thing was serious. ‘Quite. There's a place nearby I can hide.’
 
‘Good.’ Chat Noir walked some steps closer to the others. ‘Now all we have to do is wait…’
 
Screaming came from the street behind them as an akuma, the first they'd seen in weeks, flew towards a stockbroker’s old, blocky phone from the previous century.  As soon as the heroes ran over to the side of the building, the woman promptly got up from her seat as the butterfly touched her, proclaiming herself

Stockbreaker.

The new villain pointed towards a nearby advertisement for car tires, pressed the

Call

button on her phone and sent several of them, enlarged in size a good five or ten times, hurtling through the street at the panicking civilians in front of her.
 
‘For the next villain.’ Chat Noir couldn't believe it. None of them could. It was too soon… this had to be more than just a coincidence.   ‘We'll fight her off.’ Ladybug jumped down and caught the wheels with her yoyo, then sent them back towards Stockbreaker, who jumped out of the way. Chat Noir gestured at Alya to leave. ‘Go!... whatever your name is. Renard, you take the right!’
 
‘Got it!’ Over the last few weeks the two had developed an odd synergy. It was much better than in the old days; Renard appeared to have learned to use the power of illusion to support his friends’ attacks, rather than go after the villain with it himself. He and Chat Noir deflected some baseballs as Ladybug seized the opportunity and hit Stockbreaker in the chest.
 
Alya yelled at them as she grappled north, but she wasn't sure they'd heard her. They were too busy trying to avoid impalement with a sharp company logo to hear, but she screamed at the empty skyline anyway. She just had to say what name she had chosen for herself...
 
‘The name is

Lady Vixen!’

‘I have a good feeling about this one, Detective.’
 
‘You do?’
 
‘Yes. This Brian Hawke has been rather… useful to me these past few months. It will be interesting to see what he does when confronted with someone like you.’
 
‘You seem to have quite some interest in him.’ Defective Detective

had

some ideas about that, but they were all too far fetched. His presumptions would have to wait until the present case was solved…
 
The villain closed the distance to the Hawke household. The coast was clear, he had chosen that hour on purpose. The officer in charge of guarding the place had left when his shift was over, and his replacement wouldn't get there in time. He had made sure of that. None of the police cruisers left the station that day due to an unexpected fuel shortage…
 
The detective rang the doorbell. No response. It was expected, of course. After his...introduction the other night he doubted that Brian Hawke would welcome him with open arms. Not to worry. He’d come prepared. Defective Detective produced a set of doubtfully legal lockpicks from his coat pocket and put it to good use. One minute later, the door was open. The villain made his way through the hallway to the kitchen, but it was empty. Wasn't the boy supposed to be cooking right now?
 
‘Brian…?’ Something was wrong. He should have been home by now… ‘I've come to talk. I mean you no harm…’
 
A voice came from one of the rooms on top. He couldn't quite get what it said, but it sounded like…French?
 
Had Defective Detective been an idiot, he would have immediately marked him as either Chat Noir or Renard Rouge. But because he was

not

an idiot, and remembered the fact that the school he went to gave optional classes in French, the villain made his way up the stairs to the boy's room.
 
A small television set at full volume gave him an unexpected welcome.
 
‘The heroes are engaged in pitched battle with akuma villain Stockbreaker, we'll report as soon as we get…’
 
‘MOVE!’ Chat Noir urged the press out of the battlefield as Ladybug disarmed the villain and Renard grappled with her for her phone.
 
‘Away from this mess. This has been Nadja Chamack, don't be bemused-’
 
‘NOW!’ What a coincidence. An akuma villain, now? Falcon and Hawkmoth had more coordination than he had thought they'd had. The detective would have been happy to stop what he was doing and meditate on that possibility, but he shook that idea out of his head. He had to find Brian Hawke!
 
He made his way back to the stairs. Maybe the boy was hiding in the bathroom…
 
Something grabbed him from behind as he got to the top.

Surely he doesn't think he can take me on?

‘I'm sorry, Detective…’ That was

not

Brian's voice. But then, who?... and why a girl?

Falcon?

There was no response…
 
‘The coat. It's in the

COAT!

’

Falcon!

But why...He should have seen this coming. He knew that Falcon Writer would betray him! The girl ripped off his coat as she dropped her first one-liner.
 
‘

You've been outfoxed

!’ Not a bad one. Defective Detective tried to reach for his gun, before realising that he had left it in his coat pocket, and was thus in her possession now. The girl fished it out. ‘Looking for this?’ The old Colt was thrown out of the window. ‘Don't worry.’ Somehow, she produced

two

guns of her own. ‘I have a better one!’
 
She pulled the trigger on the left one, and Defective Detective was bound in what he could only presume to be some kind of grappling hook.

‘NO! You don't understand. I can help you!’ It was time to play his trump card. ‘I know who…’
 
His coat was torn in half. Defective Detective started feeling tired as his energy left him, getting weaker and weaker by the second. But there was no choice. He had to…
 
‘Falcon Writer is…’ He couldn't make it. ‘B… …rs...’
 
His energy left him, and Defective Detective blacked out, slowly transforming back into Phillipe Dupain.
 
‘Done and dusted, Ladybug.’ Alya had figured out how to send messages to the other three through her wristwatch after five minutes of struggle. ‘I've got him de-transformed and sipping tea.’
 
‘Good. Keep him there for as long as he wants to. We're on our way!’
 
Red petals flew over the house, leaving no trace of the bullet holes in the window. Stockbreaker must have already come crashing down.
 
No sooner than ten minutes later, when Phillipe had already left, the other three heroes entered the kitchen through the open window. Alya gestured them towards some warm cups of tea she'd made for them, taking advantage of Brian Hawke’s suspiciously enormous stock. They sat down at the table and started drinking. Had none of them used their powers? Aside from Ladybug, of course. But she had probably just transformed again...
 
She wasn't the only one to notice. ‘Wait a second here. Don't any of you think that…’
 
‘Stockbreaker came down too easily?’ The two boys were too on a similar train of thought. ‘We didn't even need to use our powers. Not even

Miracle.’

It was suspicious. Especially since… ‘Falcon Writer betrayed his own villain. He straight up told me where the airplane was.’ Chat Noir went red.
 
‘You didn't

tell her?’

Ladybug looked at him in shock. ‘But she could have…’
 
‘Ladybug, is that really important? We've had Falcon

betraying his own villain here.

Chat’s forgetfulness can wait.’ He was right. This had never happened before. The

reverse

had happened, with Robostus and Hawkmoth, but this was completely unheard of.
 
‘I suppose it can.’ Ladybug’s expression clearly said that something

else

was waiting, too. ‘Why would he?’
 
‘I think that he's made him too dangerous. I mean...in every detective story where there's a mysterious client their true identity gets revealed at one point. He

may

have been trying to find out who Falcon really was…’
 
Alya

had

to tell them. ‘He was. He tried to tell me his secret identity, but he changed back before getting the whole name out.’
 
‘And?’ The three heroes were expectant. She, however, was not. It all seemed to point towards…
 
‘He only got one letter in...a B.’

I wonder if...speaking of which, where is he?

An I-told-you-so glare from Ladybug. A raised eyebrow from Chat Noir. A There-are-lots-of-people-with-B-names look from Renard Rouge. Alya trusted Brian...but again, what if she was wrong? How could she prove it?

Was

there a way?
 
She saw her opportunity just as Ladybug did.
 
There was

no one

home…
 
The other girl got up and climbed upstairs with Chat Noir, towards Brian's room. Renard Rouge tried to protest, but what could he say that would stop them?
 
The four of them barely fit inside. Alya shouldered her way to a wall-mounted desk, which was empty save for an old notepad. It looked like it hadn't been used in ages… Alya inched towards it for a closer look.
 
-

Stalling, eh? Anyway,

I SAID

I would prefer it a tad more...ah, you wouldn’t understand. Let me demonstrate for you.

She didn't get to read anymore. She wasn't sure if she had, or wanted to. Renard Rouge noticed what she'd been doing and swept the notepad up, letting it rest over a shelf well out of her reach. Was he trying to hide something about his friend?
 
Ladybug and Chat Noir accepted between clenched teeth the fact that the room did not contain any important clues. It was getting really late, too, so they'd have to be on their way soon unless they wanted to risk their secret identities. The two made no attempt to clean up their tea before leaving through the same window they'd came through.
 
Only one thing remained. The girl waited until Renard Rouge was the only one in the house to ask how to go back to being Alya Cèsaire.
 
‘So…’ Her friend was once again looking at her watch. It was time to change back…and Alya could tell he was right. She also suspected how...
 
She nodded. ‘

Le temps est écoulé.’ Time’s up. Also…

‘Renard?’ She had made a decision regarding her watch. ‘Can you…’ She took it off. ‘Keep this for me?’ She knew herself. She wouldn't be able to keep her promise forever, not now that she had been given a taste of her true power. ‘I know it's too much to ask…’
 
‘Actually.’ He took it from her and tied it loosely around his flute. ‘I was about to ask you the opposite. Falcon knows who you are. He figured it out when Chromatic Nightmare came for a visit. He's going to come after your family, with all he's got. You have my permission to use it to defend yourself and them, but

no more than that,

understood? We still don't know what it can do. You need it.’ He gave it back to her. He

was

right… if her secret identity was a bust, she

would

end up needing it…but she’d have to be careful. She knew herself too well, and one misuse of her watch could have unthinkable consequences.
 
‘Keep the battery topped up, Lady Vixen. And keep

yourself

topped up. If Falcon and Hawkmoth coordinate like this again…’
 
He left it very clear. She would be on her own. Against one or more villains. Her superhero dream could be over as soon as it had started…
 
‘Come on. I'll take you home.’ She laid her arms around his waist, and they rocketed up into the sky, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as the sun went down.
 
Falcon Writer breathed a sigh of relief. His secret identity was safe! Defective Detective would never trouble him again. The next villain concept would be

much

simpler… he'd probably take a page out of Hawkmoth's book. The window closed as the villain let his mask drop. There was no need to communicate with anyone now, no need to keep up the Falcon Writer persona. He walked out of his humble lair and back to where his civilian self lived, a small house above his secret cellar. There was no one in it, there never was. As far as he was concerned, the house was his.
 
The villain looked at himself in a mirror.
 
The young, black-haired face of Brian Hawke looked back at him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‘Aaaaaaand Be5. Checkmate.’

Darn.

Plagg had beaten him at chess yet again. It was a forgone conclusion, of course, the kwami being older than the game itself, but at least Adrien liked to think he had some chances against him, not that he'd be crushed in turn eleven by a sneaky bishop. They had started playing chess after dinner, and not even half an hour had passed that they had already finished, and the boy suspected that his kwami had been going easy on him.
 
‘So? What do I get?’ And there he was asking for camembert again. Could he eat anything else? Adrien immediately remembered that he could, he doubted Ladybug carried cheese with her. Speaking of which, Dark Owl had come

waaaaay

too close for comfort as far as he was concerned. Even closer than Puppeteer. If she'd been only one second late…
 
Plagg snapped him out of it.
 
‘I'll have… one slice of camembert for the first square on the board, two for the second, four for the third, eight for the fourth and so on until we reach the sixty-fourth square.’ Had Adrien heard that before? Something told him he had. Of course, Plagg was asking for way more cheese than he had on his person… But how much was it anyway? The boy punched some numbers into a nearby calculator.
 
‘That's…’ The numbers didn't even fit on the screen. ‘

A lot

of camembert. I don't think even

you

could eat it.’
 
‘Don't underestimate me. I've seen bigger numbers. But I'll go easy on you. I don't think your father has that much money.’ He was right, Adrien doubted that

anyone

did. ‘So, a rematch?’
 
Adrien didn't want to be torn to pieces again. ‘

No.’

He walked closer to one of his arcade games. At least

Manor of the Deceased

was something he could win at…
 
Plagg floated up next to him. ‘Mind if I join?’

Oh, you'll see.

‘Do your best, Plagg. I'll beat you anyway!’ Adrien had found out that if Plagg could hold a huge jar of cheese containing no other than El Plaggo while floating in the air, he could certainly hold one of those little plastic weapons the arcade had.
 
‘Oh, sure? We’ll see about that…’
 
A button was pressed, and a virtual credit was input in the machine. Adrien and Plagg shared a good hour, shooting computerized zombies and a notoriously difficult fiery final boss

thing

, until the two realised that they had come so close in terms of score that their match had been virtually a tie.
 
The two looked at each other with a smile on their faces as the machine whirred to life again.
 
Marinette was tired. Between patrolling the streets of London looking for akuma villains and checking on her friend Alya, she had barely any time to get her homework done. “Name the properties of benzene gas”, the final question, was giving her a particularly tough time until she noticed that modern alumni had the power of the Internet with them, and thus were able to trivialize some simple homework.
 
Copying the data over took her literally five minutes. Much less than if she had tried to do it by herself! The girl left her huge, slightly useless chemistry textbook fall into her bag. Tikki turned in her sleep at the noise, but thankfully neither she or her parents woke up. That had been careless…the girl shrugged. Nothing had happened, right?
 
She changed into her pyjamas, kicked off her slippers, and climbed into bed.
 
The day had been exhausting. Thirty seconds later, she was asleep.

A person was standing in the middle of a dark forest. There was no moon. Something was wrong...she couldn't see who it was, but she had the distinct feeling he was not supposed to be there, he was an escapee of some sort. She followed him as he walked, going deeper and deeper into the forest, until the trees blotted out the moon and they were left in complete darkness.
 
Suddenly, movement beside her! The girl turned hard to avoid the incoming threat. She couldn't see it, but she could

smell

it; it's putrid breath, the stench of rotting flesh, and somehow...pastry? Then all of a sudden it was gone.

Huh?

Had it ever been there?
 
A crawling sound from behind her came and gone. Had it been the same… thing? Or had it been an entirely different horror?
 
Then the person turned around, walking closer to her as he placed a hand over her shoulder. At first she thought it was Alya, but then a faint orange light came from behind her and revealed this person’s identity.
 
It was…

All of them?

It was impossible. All of her classmate’s faces, flickering, shapeshifting between one and the other, sometimes two or three at a time. The girl screamed and fell backwards.

You know who we are. But

you

don't know who

I

am.

I? But if this…thing was clearly multiple people at a time, how…?
 
The face changed one last time, transforming into Brian Hawke’s… or so the girl thought.
 
He seemed to suddenly change his mind.

In the end, Marinette, it won't matter. Enjoy your time with my friend.

Marinette looked behind her… as Alya Cèsaire, holding in one hand the gun that belonged to Lady Vixen, took aim in her direction.
 
Marinette woke up, gasping for air. It took her a second to realise that she was not, in fact, in a forest in the middle of nowhere, but inside her own room, safe and sound and without her eyes about to go missing.
 
Tikki floated up to her. ‘Are you alright?’ She looked worried. It was the first time in weeks she had a bad dream after all.
 
‘I'm fine. Just a nightmare, that's all.’
 
‘You didn't

look

like you were having a bad dream, you looked like a fish flopping on the ground after it’s been pulled out of the river.

Tell me, Marinette,

what was it?’
 
Well, that was… one way to put it.
 
‘It was just…’ What? A bad dream? No, this certainly had to mean something else, right? But Tikki deserved to know.
 
The girl sat on her bed and started telling her kwami everything she could remember as the moon made its way across the night sky.
 
It certainly helped matters. Her kwami came up with any number of hypothesis as to why she had dreamt with that particular set of events, but to Marinette the one that made most sense was that Defective Detective had frayed her nerves. Especially since he'd turned out to be her relative…
 
Besides, there was the mater of Alya and Lady Vixen. That thing was

also

fraying her nerves. But at least, this way, she could get a little respite with the whole secret identity business…
 
Then there was the ever pressing matter of the Falcon Writer. He’d turned out to have much more collaboration with Hawkmoth than she could have ever thought, the two had actively worked together to remove a common threat. But had it been a one time thing? Or had they never competed at all? And if so, who was in charge?
 
These and many other questions spun around the girl's mind as she fell asleep for a second time to a blissful, dreamless sleep.

I hate being volunteered for the night shift. At least this time Renard hasn't fallen asleep. But really, Frank, why did you have to get sick today?

It wasn't his fault that the store’s owner had fallen ill. Especially not on a Friday! But oh well. At least he'd be getting paid double. He still had the message on his phone.

Kid, I'm sick. You just volunteered for today's night shift. Don't worry, you'll get paid double for this. Enjoy the night.

Ps. We ran out of Lovercraft. Sorry :(

At least Feiling was sort of keeping him up with his lesser evils and whatnot. But really, the story seemed a bit…familiar to him...his eyes started to drop…
 
Something screamed in his ears so loud it made him fall off his chair.

‘L’IMAGINATION AU POUVOIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

The boy blinked, looking up at his kwami from the floor. ‘

What?’

‘Pardon my French.’
 
‘

Renard.’

It wasn't the first time he'd made that joke. ‘I'm awake now.’ He got up from the floor and turned on the store's computer. ‘What did that even

mean

?’
 
‘You haven't gotten there yet in history class. Just let me say, I'm a true and devoted adherent.’
 
‘To what, anyway?’ Brian had a few ideas, but his French was mediocre. Pretty much all he knew how to say was his transformation phrase, anyway…
 
‘Nothing. You'll find out someday. But until then…’ The computer finished booting up. Not that he'd be able to do much with it, all that it could do beside keeping stock was…
 
‘Let's play a nice game of chess, shall we?’
 
Saturdays were great for Marinette. Not only did she get the whole day off, the bakery was also open for longer than usual. That meant she could usually get some cooking done, which was good. Marinette loved cooking pastries and biscuits in her family oven. Being able to go wild while still having to follow some basic rules was amazing, and nine times out of ten the results tasted marvellous.
 
Saturdays were great for Ladybug too. While the risk of supervillain attacks was the same as any other day of the week, she had much more time to watch over the city, especially with the pretence of doing homework and going out with her friends.
 
Tikki flew up from her purse as soon as she made it back to her room during the midday break, during which the store was closed so that its inhabitants could have lunch without being interrupted by someone wanting to have theirs.
 
She was about to transform when her phone rang with a call from Alya. She hoped it was

not

for the reason that was worrying her… especially since Renard Rouge had confessed to her that Falcon may know her secret identity. That had been an intense talk. He had even tried to run away at one point, but Ladybug twirled her yoyo menacingly and the fox decided otherwise. At least they had agreed on something. Alya was to be guarded as much as possible, Chat Noir would be informed immediately, and Renard would stop doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Not telling him, while it

did

protect Alya’s identity, also worked against them. There could only be one secret in their group; unlike Hawkmoth, trust in each other was their strength.
 
Also, credit where it's due. He

had

made a very convincing Chat Noir to talk with her.
 
The fox had understood, but Marinette had been left wondering what other secrets he held, if of course he had any.
 
Fortunately, Alya had called her for a much more trivial reason.
 
‘Marinette! I've got a scoop for you. Remember that chess tournament that was going to happen at the park next to the Thames?’ Yes, she

did

remember. She hadn't been very interested in it, after all she only knew the basics. Apparently, this… world renowned chess champion or whatever, would come to their park in London to play a special game, him against fifty people at once, in fifty different boards.
 
While blindfolded.
 
All well and good for him, but she wouldn't be going. Why would she?
 
‘Well, guess who's come for a match!’ The camera turned around to show Adrien, the love of her life, sitting under a tree reading a book on, she guessed it, chess. All well and good for him, of course she'd be going! Why not? Maybe she could pick up a few tricks. (And preferably, something more…)
 
‘I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don't lose sight of Adrien!’
 
Her friend gave her a knowing smile. ‘So much for being uninterested. See you soon!’
 
Marinette told her parents she had a sudden interest in chess, and left the bakery as they looked at each other in confusion before shrugging and going back to baking.
 
Adrien wasn't going to participate in the tournament. Yes, he was good, perfectly able to beat the rest of his class without breaking a sweat, but he was nowhere near the level of this Rybolev. Fifty boards, blindfolded? This man had to really, really love chess. Besides, he was a young prodigy, effortlessly skyrocketing from absolutely no one to chess grandmaster in less than a decade.
 
No, Adrien was here to learn. And where could he do so better than from the very best? On the other side of the square, the boy spied Alya and Marinette hugging each other hello just as the matches were about to start. He (with his bodyguard behind him, of course) walked in their direction and put away his book.
 
‘Hello there! You here to watch the matches?’ As soon as he got close, Alya looked at Marinette in a way that made him realise it had been

her

idea to come here.
 
‘I never knew you liked chess.’ The girl inexplicably blushed. ‘What's your favourite opening?’
 
‘My...favourite...opening? Well, heh, my favourite is…’
 
BRAAAAAAAAAP.
 
‘Would the players please make their way to the centre of the park. The matches are about to start.’
 
‘We'll talk chess later. Let's go!’ The boy was smiling. Having friends with similar interests was

great!

Adrien, his bodyguard in tow, left a confused Marinette and a smug Alya behind as he, as well as the other hundred or so people who'd made their way there, made his way as close as possible to Rybolev in order to get the best views. He managed to get pretty close, some ten metres off the grandmaster, before a large hologram of a chessboard appeared above him. He was confused for a second before realising that of course they'd use a hologram. Else, who would be able to see all the boards?
 
The boy made his way back to Marinette and Alya as the first game started with an e4 from Mayor Bourgeois.
 
‘Um...P4C’ Sure, she was a bit outdated in her strategy. Maybe even archaic. Having learned from her grandmother had its disadvantages. But she

still

considered she had good chances. Like the great Rybolev, she could be a young prodigy too! She had even brought her own chessboard.
 
Hmm. Judging by his expression, she could see that she'd confused him. Surely he wouldn't be befuddled by such a simple move?
 
He demanded to know her move. She told him, P4C. He

still

demanded to know. The clock was ticking…
 
Then someone, one of his assistants or something, came out from the middle of the crowd and told her that Rybolev didn't quite get her descriptive notation. Could she please switch to algebraic?
 
Algewhat? There was another method? The young girl, confused, replied that she didn't even know such a notation system existed.
 
Things started to heat up. The man in front of him told her to please stop pretending and switch already, for there were forty nine other tables that required Rybolev’s attention. She didn't know what to say, she was frozen. She was told to get on with it already, but words wouldn't come out of her mouth.
 
One thing led to the other, some people screamed at her, someone pulled out a huge tournament guidebook, another a contract so long it reached the floor and by the end, she had been replaced at the table by a random girl from the crowd. She hadn't even been able to make her move before being kicked out… nor had she been given the chance to learn. There

were

a few places of the game where her knowledge was spotty, but she could have at least given him some trouble, if she'd been allowed to play…The girl stared down at the Thames below her.
 
If only she could go back to that board, if only she’d be able to

finally

play against the great Rybolev at last...
 
‘
As lonely as the first grain of rice. As bitter as a vengeful king! The mayhem she could cause… fly away, my little airplane, and Falconize her!
’

‘

Sessa, my name is The Falcon Writer. So you have been kicked out of the game of a lifetime for a simple technicality? Language is for the foolish. From now on, since they didn't allow you to play

their

game,

they

will be forced to play

your

game! You, Sessa, will have the power to bend them all to your will! In return for this new game I offer you, however, I'm going to ask for one Miraculous for the first square of the board…

’ His own villain interrupted him, but Falcon wasn't worried this time. He wasn't worried

at all.

‘And two for the second one.

I know!’

‘Poor girl. Where do you think she could have gone to?’ Not like Adrien was particularly worried about her, but it was the

perfect

chance for a new villain to appear… not only was there a citizen angry over something that could have easily been solved, there was also a large crowd, some important celebrities, even the Mayor was present. (And Rybolev. Adrien couldn't forget Rybolev.) It could certainly qualify as akuma magnet…
 
‘I don’t know.’ Marinette was looking around, too. It didn't surprise him. After the Defective Detective crisis, his classmates had not only developed better as a group, they had

also

started to show what could be a will to unite against a common foe… who may or may not be in their very midst. Reports of potentially dangerous situations had appeared in their group chat, as well as many more issues of Illustrator Comics than usual.
 
They

had,

apparently, become the “Irregulars" they’d spoken of...and Adrien was grateful. He had help, and his secret identity had not been compromised in the slightest. Apparently, the detective had done more good than harm!
 
Alya hadn't seen her either. Maybe she had left… maybe Chat Noir wasn't needed right now. The three looked for her a little bit more before giving up and sitting once again to watch the games.
Rybolev had just managed his first checkmate when a laugh came from somewhere between the crowd on the other side of where the children were sitting. Someone started shouldering their way through… 
When she got to the centre of the plaza, facing the chessmaster, Adrien could see that, yes, Chat Noir

would

be needed today. They were too late…they shouldn't have stopped looking for her.

Now

she'd been akumatized (Or Falconized? It was hard to tell.) and would certainly start wreaking havoc in no time.
 
Adrien

had

to get his friends away from there. He wouldn't leave them at the mercy of a supervillain while he transformed!
 
The three spoke at the same time. Adrien said that the three had to get out of there, Marinette said that they had to get

everyone else

out of there, and Alya said the heroes had to be warned. When they realised what they'd said, or more accurately

how

they'd said it, the three hid a slight blush. They were certainly a bit too involved in the fight against Hawkmoth…
 
The rest of the crowd didn't move. What were they thinking? It was no excuse that most of them were foreigners. They had all seen an akuma villain the same previous night with Blood Moon (Who had, for some reason, made Renard Rouge

really

nervous), and none of them had any kind of reason to ignore the woman dressed in a black and white dress, holding a chessboard in one hand and pressing the other to an oblivious Rybolev first, and to a square on her board the second. The chessmaster went stiff, and walked slowly, almost robotically, towards the hologram projector.
 
Adrien had to leave.

Now.

He needed a pretense, any pretense…
 
‘My bodyguard is coming! Sorry, got to dash!’ He’d left the two girls more than confused, but at least he had managed to get away. The boy ducked into a side street and into an alley not far from where Marinette lived.

‘Have some chess, Plagg. Quickly!’ The pun had not been intentional. Well, mostly. He

had

had it in mind for a while.
 
The kwami finished his cheese without a single word. Maybe it

had

been a very bad pun…
 
Chat Noir was much better at that.
 
‘

Plagg,

claws out!

’

They were in trouble. They were in

serious

trouble. There was an akuma villain out there, for starters, and not only was she of the mind-controlling type, she had

also

already taken control of who she wanted, Rybolev. The two girls made their way to where Adrien had gone to as the crowd started to panic. Marinette and Alya were in little danger, however, as the villain had decided to focus more on taking control of the other players rather than the crowd.
 
No sooner had they made their way to a nearby alley that Alya had sent out an akuma alert. ‘I give them five minutes, tops. They'll be here soon!’
 
‘We shouldn't wait around. We're not safe here!’ Marinette expected her friend to complain, or try to find a way to hide and stay behind, but Alya surprised her.
 
‘You're right. I'll go home and write up an entry. Tell everyone when you're safe, OK?’
 
It had been a surprise, but Marinette smiled and kissed her goodbye. Apparently, she did take her issue with the watch seriously… even more so than her precious Ladyblog.
 
The girl looked around. Yes, the coast was clear. Tikki flew out of her bag after a few looks of her own. ‘Looks like having her own secret identity to worry about has changed her priorities, hasn't it?’ It

was

true. The double edged sword that was the Ladyblog had lost one of its dangers, but she couldn't let her guard down.
 
‘It's time to end their game.’ Of course, now Alya was going to focus much more on Hawkmoth and Falcon Writer. Soon, their identities would be revealed…and that could end one way, or the other.

‘Tikki,

spots on!

’

‘

Um, Brian?

’ They had been watching the games on the school's website when the feed was cut off. The two had then decided to simply mind their own business until the signal returned, Renard agreeing on the basis that a watched kettle never whistles. While Brian was not going to argue with his logic, he was fairly sure that that was not the original phrase…
 
‘It came back?’ The boy put his book and tea down before taking a look at the machine. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing what was on screen… ‘You didn't… change the website or something, didn't you?’
 
‘Nope.’ He would have continued, but the voice of the woman on screen, dressed in a checkered dress and matching crown cut him short.
 
‘Hello dear viewers. This is your host Sessa speaking. I apologise for the interruption. Some of our… players…’ She signalled towards a group of people standing in four lines, all very still, all obviously under some kind of mind control. ‘Have been a bit reluctant to join us. But nevermind. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Renard Rouge

will

come here, one of them

will

complete my chessboard, and the other two

will

play with me the game of a lifetime! Just remember, there is a small punishment for losing…

your Miraculous! HaHaHaHaHa!’

Renard did his friend a favour and paused the stream. ‘These villains are getting weirder by the day.’
 
‘You don't say. Good thing I like this game… let's see what she has.’
 
‘

Renard,

transformé moi!

’

It didn't take long for the other two to arrive. Adrien had perched himself above a rooftop, keeping a watchful eye on Sessa as she frustratingly walked back and forth. Her players were arranged in two opposite rows over a hologram, almost as if they were the pieces in a human sized version of chess. One of the squares, however, was empty. The villain clearly intended to fill it with one of them...Chat Noir couldn't let that happen.
 
The love of his life dropped in by his side. ‘Hello there, kittycat.’
 
He turned towards her and extended his staff, resting his weight on it. ‘Good to see you again, Milady.’
 
‘Same here. Any idea who made her?’ He honestly didn't know. She talked and acted like an akuma villain, yet her gimmick and powers were much more like something that the Falcon Writer would make.
 
‘I don’t know, Ladybug. Could have been any of them.’
 
‘Hm…’ The girl took a long look at the villain herself. ‘It looks like she's trying to make some kind of chessboard, but one of the pieces is missing.’
 
‘A white knight, actually.’ No doubt some kind of twisted metaphor. ‘Hmm…’ Ladybug turned towards him. ‘Milady, I have an idea.’
 
‘Well, we have time. What is it?’
 
He wasn't completely sure about it, but he explained it to her anyways. It was a good thing he'd been paying attention to that book... ‘Back in the old days, when a master faced a rookie, it was a custom to give the lesser player an advantage. The master would start with less pieces to give the other player a fairer fight.’ It was a long shot, but if Sessa was missing a piece, they

might

be able to annoy her into giving them an advantage by making it impossible for her to control any of them… But that would require some pretty good dodging. Could they pull it off?
 
Ladybug thought about it for a minute. Below them, a furious Sessa growled at their impunctuality. But why would they show up to a trap with no plan and only two thirds of the team?
 
The girl finally nodded. ‘But I don't think we can dodge her forever. We're going to have to rile her up pretty bad… thankfully, you're the expert.’
 
Adrien smiled. ‘I've been preparing some of my worst chess pawns just for this moment.’
 
A smile and a roll of the eyes. Yes, he was

definitely

in love with this girl.
 
His staff made a beeping noise. Someone was trying to contact him… The boy pressed a button on it and a small screen popped up from the top. There was no video, just a text message from Renard Rouge.

Be there in five. Where's the akuma?

Umm…

They'd gotten a bit caught up with the idea of playing chess against the villain. To be fair, it

was

part of their plan, but if Adrien was right, and they won, they'd be able to free the akuma without much trouble. Bad guys were sometimes like this, you had to play their game to get a fair shot at them. Otherwise they'd probably end outsmarting you at your

own

game, and who would want that?
 
Chat Noir told his partner about the message while the two scanned the villain.

The crown? Maybe, except that she's not using it for anything. It can't be the dress… The chessboard?

A twisted smile made its way towards his lips.

Probably.

‘It's in the chessboard.’ Ladybug had arrived at the same conclusion. It hadn't exactly been very hard… if it was a Falcon villain, he was certainly getting sloppier.
 
Sessa was about to send another broadcast when Renard Rouge dropped next to them.
 
‘Sorry I'm late. What's the plan?’
 
The two briefed him on it. They didn't need to propose that he used the flute to help them with their dodging, Renard Rouge apparently got that by himself. He

did

ask about simply taking the chessboard from Sessa, but Ladybug told him that sometimes, they

had

to play a villain's game to have a chance of winning. To help matters, Adrien told him about The Gamer, which did something to ease his friend's pragmatism.
 
‘You two ready?’ The girl prepared to jump down as she looked at the two boys.
 
‘Milady, I'm

always

ready.’ Chat Noir prepared his staff. He didn't have to be touched… being mind controlled

again

was out of the question.
 
‘Ready here too, Ladybug.’ Renard already had his flute to his mouth.
 
‘Let's see what this

Sessa

has!’
 
The three jumped down, ready to fight the chessmaster at last.
 
‘

Aha! There

you are!’ Sessa opened her arms in a welcoming gesture, but the three heroes were unfazed. They knew very well what she could do...
 
‘Let's play a nice game of chess, shall we?’ She started walking closer to them.
 
‘Perfect!’ Renard kickstarted the plan. ‘I choose white.’
 
His friend played a quick jig, and five seconds and an explosion of orange smoke later there were thirteen assorted copies of Ladybug, Chat Noir and Renard Rouge jumping randomly in all directions. The three real ones followed suit as the villain growled in frustration.
 
‘e4, exclamation mark!’ Adrien couldn't resist using some chess notation. But he noticed something strange… had Sessa been confused for a second? It had to be something he'd said…
 
The villain lunged for an illusion, who barely managed to jump out of the way. She stomped her foot in frustration before trying to catch another one, but it jumped on top of a building.
 
Still, however, Sessa's moment of confusion had not gone unnoticed. Adrien, as well as both his friends, were on the look for anything that could give them insight into what had confounded the villain…
 
As she dived over a DJ’s console, Ladybug’s expression changed. She had gone from her usual focused glare to a face of slight astonishment… just the one she usually had on when carrying out her Lucky Charm plans.
 
‘Chat Noir!’ The girl said in a moment of respite. ‘I found out why you managed to confuse her. It's about…’
 
‘Check!’ Sessa managed to touch one of Renard’s illusions, which fell in a puff of orange smoke. They were running short on time…
 
‘The notation?’ It made sense. Adrien, too, had followed that line of thought…
 
Ladybug nodded. ‘But I don't see how we could use it against her… at least not for now.’
 
She was right. A small moment of confusion would get them nowhere if they couldn't actually

use

it for something, and a direct attack on the chessboard, even with that advantage, would be too risky to be worth it.
 
‘I think we'll have to…play her game. We don't actually have anything to lose, do we?’ Chat Noir thought that maybe she had said that a little too high for her own good.
 
‘

Nothing to lose,

hmm?’

Uh oh.

Sessa had overheard them! ‘Let's see what you say about that

now!

’
 
The villain quickly tapped her fingers on her chessboard, making her pieces suddenly turn towards the river Thames.
 
‘

You wouldn't.

’ Adrien and the fox had been a bit separated by all the fighting, but he was sure (Good hearing

was,

after all, one of his powers) he had said

something else

besides that.
 
It was a perfect description of their situation, however. They would

not

be able to stop those people if Sessa decided to drop them in the river…
 
‘Think again!’ Mayor Bourgeois unwillingly took a step towards certain doom. ‘So! Shall we play our game?’
 
The three quickly replied

yes.

Sessa, however, had other ideas.
 
‘I still need one more piece. Anyone...

volunteers?’

She touched her fingers to her chessboard menacingly.
 
‘I have a better idea.’ Adrien put himself in between the villain and Ladybug. The love of his life probably wouldn't have liked him doing that in the best of circumstances, but

this

was far from being that. ‘You

are,

after all, a chessmaster. You could even have Rybolev himself coaching you, if you'd want! We're clearly at a disadvantage here. We could start with a little more...material.’ A clever plot. But would it succeed?
 
The villain smiled. ‘Very good, little kitten.’ Adrien’s eye twitched. He didn't like that name. ‘I see your point. However… it's still three on one.’ Her head twitched. Had she received some sort of message? ‘

But

we'll play our little game…’
 
The people suddenly stopped looking at the river and stood straight in the middle of the park, while Sessa used the hologram console to create an artificial chessboard on the floor.
 
Adrien wondered why Ladybug wasn't attacking. After all, the villain

was

distracted… But again, if they used this tactic once, Hawkmoth and Falcon would surely adapt and it would no longer be an option...
 
That, of course, assuming Ladybug wasn't actually letting Sessa continue because she loved chess

that

much.
 
The pieces were now in their final configuration. Assorted tourists had become pawns, the bulkiest among them rooks, passerby in businesses suits bishops and Rybolev’s assistants knights. The chessmaster himself was Sessa's king, and her queen was one of the other players, an old woman with black hair who had actually been

winning.

On their side, their king was a rival master and Jagged Stone’s assistant served as queen. How had she ended up there, anyway?
 
Still, however, one of the knights was amiss. And it wasn't exactly

her

knight…
 
‘I think that three on one is more than enough to account for

my

experience. In fact, it's

too much!

I think a little advantage would even the odds… But don't worry. I'll let you go first!’ The villain calmly walked towards her side of the field, while all her pieces stood at attention.
 
‘That's not…’ Renard tried to protest, but Sessa made the Mayor, now transformed into a mere black bishop, turn towards the Thames. ‘unfair.’
 
‘Do we start?’ Adrien asked the other two. His friends looked back at him and nodded, deep looks of determination on their faces.
 
‘Alright then!’ He

probably

had to talk loud enough for all his pieces to hear.
 
‘

E4!’

It was

quite

an interesting match, perhaps unique in the history of chess. Both algebraic and descriptive notations were used, for once, and Falcon himself coached Sessa through the  particularly difficult moves of the early game. (Like Bxc4+!!, which none of the three heroes saw coming and gave them a headache for several minutes until they found out about Qe2+!) Also, captured pieces simply walked out of the holographic chessboard, standing still a bit

too

close to the River Thames.
 
Later on, as more and more pieces were meticulously laid out in preparation for each side's final assault, Ladybug left the chess strategy to the other bickering two and thought up a more practical plan by herself.
 
They could probably

win

the game, alright. Chat Noir and Renard Rouge, while not the top in their field, were a bit ahead of experienced rookie Sessa, despite Falcon's constant interference and reminders about promotion rules.
 
Maybe she should just go for her chessboard after the game was over… the thing is, how could she? All Sessa would have to do was touch a finger to it, and her pieces would all jump into the river, something they could

not

let happen.
 
But

how?

There were no lamp posts or bridges nearby, nothing to help her make a net with her yoyo…

Maybe

there was a solution. But Marinette wasn't sure about it at all… and on top of that, she had spent so much time lost in thought that she hadn't noticed the other two's strategy working, leaving victory all too certain. Of course, winning the game of chess would mean nothing if they couldn't free the villain somehow...
 
Ladybug quickly studied the pieces’ disposition. She was no expert, but one of Sessa’s pawns was uncomfortably close to promoting… as was another of theirs. But it was really all she had, her defeat was imminent. And because of that, she and Falcon were

furious.

Marinette had to think

quickly...

The villain, growling, shuffled her king out of a check into a corner. But it was hopeless for her, their two bishops and their king were effectively blocking all but a few of her Rybolev’s moves. Immediately, Chat Noir moved his second white knight, obtained after a lucky promotion, directly next to the first, threatening Sessa's pawn.
 
It took a full five minutes for her to think her next move, but when Sessa announced it the three heroes were

more

than surprised, as was the Falcon Writer himself.
 
‘PR1! I promote my pawn!’
 
‘
Excellent, Sessa! Now you can turn that pawn into

any other piece you want!

’

‘Fine. I want a King!’
 
‘

WHAT?

’ Renard Rouge looked like he'd been especially insulted. ‘You can't promote a pawn to a King!’ Ladybug was, admittedly, no expert in chess, but even she knew that Renard was right.
 
Also, Falcon himself wouldn't let her do that…
 
Would he?
 
It took a while for the villain to respond, but after a little fiddling with the chessboard Sessa's passerby turned itself into another Rybolev.
 
Chat Noir sighed. ‘That's not fair...What do we do now?’
 
‘We checkmate one. We could probably…’ Renard was finally interrupted by Chat Noir.
 
‘WAIT! If you checkmate the old one, you'll leave the

new

one out of moves!’
 
The owner of the Fox Miraculous cursed under his breath. Marinette's partner was right… if they moved their bishop to finish off the king in A1, the H1 king would be out of moves and the game would end in a draw. If they did the

opposite,

the

new

one would be out of moves. And who knew the consequences of that? No, the three of them needed to

win.

Clearly and decisively.
 
And there was only one way to make sure of that.
 
‘

Lucky Charm!’

‘A crown? What am I supposed to do with this?’
 
Ladybug once again studied the chessboard. Moving their knights, bishops or king would not help their cause. At best, Sessa would have one more place to run. At worst, she'd be able to force a draw…they'd have to promote one of their pawns. But into

what?

The answer came to her in a moment of inspiration.

But of course!

‘A8. I promote my pawn!’ Chat Noir and Renard Rouge looked at her like she'd gone mad, only to make twin wicked smiles as they figured out her plan. ‘I want a

black king

!’
 
Sessa's eyes went wide. She had not seen

that

coming

…

and neither had Falcon.
 
‘
YOU CAN'T DO THAT!
’
 
‘

I

could.’ The villain shrugged. ‘It's not a huge leap of logic, Falcon. Besides, you don't have much of a say in this…’ Didn't he?

Hmm...another weapon to use against this new villain.

A third Rybolev materialised in the A8 square. Sessa, now seemingly resigned to lose, made the only possible move and took her king one square to the right.
 
‘H7.’ Chat Noir replied instantly.
 
The third black king moved back to its original position… was it Ladybug’s imagination, or was Sessa smiling?
 
‘H8=Q’. She had to spring into action

now.

There was no other option. ‘Checkmate!’ And on the three kings simultaneously, even.
 
It

had

been a good plan.
 
But Sessa wasn't stunned at all…
 
‘Do you really think I didn't see that coming?’

Erm…

‘We beat you fair and square, Sessa. Now free those people!’ Chat Noir had, apparently, come up with his own plan, too.
 
‘I think I'll contest that last bit. I want a rematch! And this time, there'll be no “advantage”.’ Her chess pieces suddenly turned towards them. ‘Get them!’

Uh oh.

The three heroes jumped on top of a rooftop, but sadly Sessa demonstrated a similar degree of agility.
 
‘I didn't see

you

running away!’ The villain lunged towards them, but they managed to dodge. Renard tried to make an illusion using his flute, only to open his eyes wide in amazement as

Sessa swatted it out of his hands. The magic instrument fell into the river, leaving Renard stunned for long enough that Ladybug had to wrap his wait with her yoyo and pull sideways to prevent him from being turned into a knight.
 
She had to figure out a way to stop her, fast.
 
The hero used a few precious seconds to look around her while Chat Noir distracted the villain. She was still holding her crown… now that she had had a good look at it, wasn't it the same as Sessa's? And if she had used it to think of a king before, why couldn't she now? Sessa could probably be defeated the same way, right?
 
Marinette dodged a lunge and ended up next to her partner. ‘We need to checkmate her. Corner her.’ He didn't look at her like she'd gone crazy, which spoke wonders of the trust in the little team she was part of. ‘Alright. Renard, miracle!’
 
The other hero nodded and stepped backwards, leaving Ladybug enough space to keep Sessa off of him.
 
‘

Time to pull off a miracle!’

…

That's...a strange plan. But it

could

work…

Boxing her in with her own pieces. Piece of cake!

...I've spent too much time with Chat Noir.

Ladybug looked at the other heroes and dropped down into the park. Sessa's chess pieces immediately followed her, but the girl was much too fast for them to seize.
 
The other two were down just a second later. They had developed an odd sort of camaraderie. Working side by side, covering each other's backs, even taking a shot at each other's puns. The citizens of London had noticed that, too, and pictures of them were currently flooding the internet. It almost looked as if Renard was trying to fix things…
 
Sessa jumped from the building, too, landing just short of a manhole cover.
 
‘

Double question mark.

Get them!’
 
Ladybug smiled and jumped right behind Sessa's queen, barely dodging her touch and forcing one of her rooks to do the same. Meanwhile, the other two were fighting their way to the woman, kicking and shoving pieces out of the way as they let themselves be surrounded.
 
‘Somehow,

triple

question mark. You're surrounded. Hand over your-!’
 
Sessa didn't get to finish her phrase. The three heroes moved in unison, Ladybug grabbed her from behind, making her lose her balance. Chat Noir jumped and used the half second he had in midair to throw Renard his staff. His friend, missing no time, extended it immediately and hit Sessa's arm with it. The chessboard went flying in the exact same direction it was supposed to, which is why it was more than an easy target for Cataclysm. The villain let out a big ‘NO!’ before kneeling in defeat, by when Chat Noir had already landed.
 
‘Checkmate, Sessa!’
 
Ladybug prepared her yoyo in case she needed to catch an akuma, but she needn't have worried. There was none. Sessa had been a product of the Falcon Writer's imagination, not Hawkmoth's. But he

had,

apparently, taken a page from his book with all the mind control powers and chess games… which must have meant he was running out of ideas. And if he was, he'd be more desperate, which meant he'd make more mistakes. And one day, his luck would run out, and his secret identity would be revealed.
 
Yes, this was a good day.
 
Marinette shared a fistbump with the other two before disappearing into the sunset, headed for her parents’ bakery.
 Adrien dropped into his room only twenty minutes before his father called him for dinner. Not exactly a close call, but he shouldn't get any sloppier than that.   
Speaking of dinner, the chicken was delicious. Of course, and as usual, no words were exchanged between father and son other than ‘Good night.’
 
But even that had come too early… And too unexpectedly. Adrien had been enjoying his meal when something flew across the window behind him. It had probably been nothing, most likely a bird or some other nightly critter.
 
Then why, exactly, had his father suddenly excused himself?
 
Adrien didn't know, but it was certainly suspicious… maybe corporate secrets were now sent by carrier pigeon? He doubted it.
 
The boy curled up in his bed, said goodbye to a printed image of Ladybug over his computer, and drifted off to a blissful, dreamless sleep.
 
Marinette didn't

usually

go on four-in-the-morning patrols. With school over the horizon, they were extremely tricky to manage, and she was always alone for them.
 
But they were

worth it.

There was just

something

about watching the city at night that thrilled her. There was just so much

peace.

That was exactly what it would look like once Falcon Writer and Hawkmoth were defeated…Marinette climbed to the top of a museum and admired the display of lights below her.
 
Suddenly, her yoyo rang. She stopped for a moment, unable to understand why would any of the other two be awake at the same time.
 
As she opened the magic device, she was greeted by a strange symbol she didn't recognise. Besides, it was flickering...alternating between a clock and a certain symbol related to evil. It took a minute for her to guess who was calling, but her hunch turned out to be right.

Ladybug? This is Lady Vixen speaking. We need to talk,

now.

I'll see you in five minutes, at the top of my building.

‘What is it?’ Apparently she'd decided to keep the

Lady Vixen

name. Not that it was a bad one...especially considering that she was the complete opposite of Lady Wifi. But still, why would Alya call her as her superhero self in the middle of the night?

It's really important, Ladybug.

A million possibilities swarmed the girl's mind. An akuma villain attack. An exposed secret identity. Something being wrong with the watch. One of her classmates going missing. Renard Rouge going rogue or insane and claiming the watch for himself. Nothing minor would have caused her best friend to act like this.

Ladybug,

the Falcon Writer just sent me a letter.

The time is Oh-Six Hundred Hours.

The time is Oh-Six Hundred Hours and Twenty Seconds.

The time is-

CUSACK. Brian Hawke was growing tired of his Ultraspace alarm, even if it had been custom programmed by Max back when they were friends. Maybe he should consider switching to something from Acceleauthors…

Renard got up as soon as he felt the smell of tea brewing. ‘How was your night?’
 
‘Fine, Renard. Just had that weird dream with Alya again.’
 
‘Which one?’
 
Brian looked at him.

Intensely.

‘The normal one.’ 
‘You know, with a glare like that…’ The kwami caught himself. Brian didn't like to be reminded of his status as suspect number one… ‘You wouldn't need the kettle.’
 
The boy didn't say another word as he prepared his things for school. Neither did his kwami, and not because he was busy munching on tea leaves.
 
It was a small class. Word got through.
 
The ride on the Tube was uneventful. Page Thirteen was read, exaggerated reports of the game were scoffed at, and the comic strips were analysed for political satire.
 
Hampstead Station was almost missed, but Brian caught a glimpse of it before it was too late.
 
Still, however, he didn't know what awaited him at school…
 
At first he thought he'd seen himself on a mirror. But then he noticed the different clothes. The green eyes. The black fingernails on the hand shyly reaching out to him.
 
‘Hello.’ His lookalike said. ‘My name is Marc.’

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‘Reversion!’

Brian tackled his friend Nathaniel just in time. The villain's paper plane flew over them harmlessly before hitting a tree, but they had to keep moving. The two couldn't

afford

to become sitting ducks.
 
‘Marinette!’ Reverser had turned around. ‘You're always trying to make people get along, aren't you? Well, from now on,

everyone

will hate you!

Reversion!’

How did she dodge that, Brian did not know. Nathaniel looked at him from inside a dumpster. ‘Brian?’
 
‘I’ll be fine. Ssssh!’
 
His friend looked at him with a small, undetected degree of suspicion, but he closed the lid on his safe, although disgusting, haven.
 
Brian ran for the school. Unfortunately, so did Reverser.

‘Brian Hawke.’ Uh oh.

‘You've always taken pride in how smart and memorious you are, how much you can outsmart us all. From now on, your intelligence will be gone!’
 
Brian closed his eyes. There was no way for him to get out of this one, Reverser was much too close.
 
‘

Reversion!’

A paper plane hit his jacket, but for some reason, he still knew what a jacket was. Had the airplane misfired, or something? Brian looked at the villain with a quizzical expression on his face, which seemed to satisfy him. Reverser flew away in his strange hovering airplane, probably looking for his friend Nathaniel.
 
Brian was

not

going to let him find him. As soon as he reached the secrecy of an empty classroom, he said the words.
 
‘

Renard,

transformé moi!

’

…

…

…

‘Renard?’ Brian opened his coat pocket. Maybe more tea? He felt inside with his hands.
 
A tiny, shivering arm hugged his finger. ‘RENARD!’

Of course. How could he not have seen it? His kwami, intentionally or not, had taken Reverser's airplane for him.
 
The boy slowly, carefully placed Renard over his open palm. He was

not

alright. His kwami was shivering from the tip of his ears to the end of his tail, and his eyes were closed. He was shaking his head as if fighting a pitched internal battle.
 
‘Brian?’ He talked as if he were almost out of breath. ‘I don't want him to make me…’ Renard let out a groan, victim of a sudden convulsion.
 
Brian’s mind worked furiously. He couldn't let Reverser get away with this, but to

do that,

he had to fix Renard, somehow. And that was one thing

he

just couldn't do.
 
But maybe someone else could…
 
‘Just hang on, Renard.’ He slipped his kwami in his pocket and kept him as close to his body as possible. ‘I'll get you to Master Fu soon enough.’
 
As he made a mad dash for the other side of the river, Brian wondered exactly how much Reverser was his fault...
 
It had all started last Thursday, after school. Nathaniel and Brian had agreed to meet up in the art room and try to come up with a new issue, which was already

way

overdue.
 
They had barely spent five minutes designing the cover when Marinette came in, almost dragging Brian's mysterious lookalike behind her.
 
‘Come on, Marc, I'm sure you'll have fun!’ The look on his face said otherwise.
 
‘Hello Marc.’ Their art teacher chose that moment to introduce himself. ‘Welcome to the art room, a place where creation runs rampant! In here, you're free to create

anything

you want. Rose there, for example.’ The man pointed towards her, but Rose was almost too distracted by her headphones to give anything other than a nod and a small wave. ‘Likes to create her own music. Alix is our local street artist.’
 
‘Hi Marc.’ The girl took off her safety helmet, made in the image of an old gas mask, and turned away from her latest piece. The words “

L'imagination au pouvoir!

” gleamed in their multi coloured glory behind her, but she warned Marc to not get too close. She wore a gas mask for a

reason

.
 
‘And Nathaniel and Brian there, they make stories about-’
 
Alix interrupted him with a small cough. ‘People in skintight suits.’
 
Said response got her pelted with two paper balls, but in her opinion it must have probably been worth it.

‘Alix.

’ The teacher said, but of course he didn't mean it.
 
‘Show them your writing, Marc!’ Marinette ushered him in. Judging by the way he wrinkled his nose, Marc would probably take a while to get used to the smell of paint.
 
‘Writing?’ Brian had been intrigued at first.
 
‘It's… nothing, really.’ Marinette looked at him. ‘J-Just a few drafts.’ He handed them some sheets of paper, but it was obvious there was more somewhere. They didn't look at it for long, but the quality of the writing and the cryptical mentions to something called

Protocol: Cromwell

scribbled on the margins got them hooked. They would have tried to convince him to join their team, but then the clock struck half past three.
 
‘Time to go, kids.’ Everyone save for Brian and Marc objected, the former because he had to relieve Frank in fifteen minutes, and the latter because Marinette was whispering something in his ear. He hoped it wasn't the rumours… He

hated

them, but at least the classmates were trying to be relatively friendly with him… for now. He sometimes caught a weird glance or an awkward whisper, but as long as it didn't go overt…
 
The teacher pretty much shoved Alix out of the room. ‘Come on, girl, you know you can always come on weekends with Thomas.’ The fact that things had gone rather well for Chromatic Nightmare was the last he heard of his friends that day before he took to the bookshop.
 
Not much of interest had happened later. Kim had bought a book on the history of sports and Lyra one on time travel. Brian received the daily email from his parents, mostly them complaining about the cold and wishing him to stay safe.
 
At six he closed shop and went back home, where he and Renard made dinner, read the newest Ladyblog entry, and drifted off to sleep.
 
It was the

next

day that things got ugly. It all started during the first break of the school day, when Nathaniel had pulled him aside.
 
‘Marinette found

this.

’ He'd said, showing him a black book that read “

The Diary of Ladybug”

on the first page. ‘I don't know

how

she did it. Take a look.’
 
Brian took a look. Something wasn't right here… he didn't spend much time thinking about who the other two could be, but he

did

know that Ladybug had never talked about a diary. And now Marinette had found it? He kept on reading.
 
‘Wait a second.’ It didn't make sense. ‘Why is Illustrator here?’ There was also a drawing next to the character's introduction, but it wasn't very good. Who could it have belonged to? Obviously not to Marinette, she drew

waaaay better

than that atrocity. Alya, as Lady Vixen, had no reason to write this. Nathaniel explained his hypothesis before Brian could take his any further.
 
‘I know. It's fictional, but don't you see?’ His eyes took on that glint they had whenever he talked about his hero. ‘She

loves

the comics so much, she's decided to write her own issue! I

do

hope she tells me what ideas she has this afternoon…’

What?

‘This afternoon?’ Brian put the book down. It didn't make sense...Ladybug was

not

a writer… but how could he tell Nathaniel that without revealing his secret identity?
 
‘She told Marinette that she'd meet me in the park after school. I just can't wait! Do you think she'll tell me who she is?’ His friend's eyes gleamed. Brian tried to bring himself to tell him that it was probably not Ladybug who had written this, but he couldn't do it, Nathaniel was just too excited. His friend walked out to get himself some tea, leaving Brian alone with his thoughts.
 
It didn't escape his attention that Nathaniel had mentioned that

he'd

get to meet Ladybug. Brian himself would be cordially uninvited. Still, it was worth looking into… this could be a trap of some sort.
 
And of course, there was always the chance that this new mystery writer would end up replacing him, thus cementing Nathaniel's visibly undecided allegiance. Brian briefly contemplated sabotage, but shot down that idea. He was good with words, he'd probably be able to convince her to join their team instead.
 
The plan was simple. After school, he'd rush home to leave his school stuff and get the bookshop keys and more tea. He had until quarter to four until he had to go to the shop, which would give him ten minutes worth of spying. More than enough to find out who was this person. Then, he'd act accordingly… for the little time he had. The bookshop, and the night shift, would be his place and time to think.
 
At least, that was the plan...
 
Of course it went wrong immediately. The Tube decided to be particularly obnoxious during the return trip and cut his ten minutes down to seven. Then he got held up helping a French tourist with directions (Mostly so that they wouldn't end up with a Pathfinder II) and

then

the traffic lights went even crazier than usual, so his generous time limit had become much more constrictive.
 
Of course, he only needed a look, but he'd have obviously preferred to stay, to figure out

who

this mystery writer pretending to be Ladybug really was. Not many people he knew were even near that level… it could be said that Brian Hawke felt a bit threatened. Nathaniel’s friendship was very important to him, almost as much as his mentor relation to Alya. It was hard to imagine life without

any

of the two of them…
 
What if the Falcon Writer himself was somehow behind this? He already knew more or less who the heroes could be. Was it possible that Brian had been chosen to be tormented with the idea of losing his friend specifically to figure out who he was? But then

why? Who?

It seemed too obvious a trap. Someone would have to know him

very

well to set up this trap...

Hm. Possible.

Before he knew it, he was already at the park, but something was odd. Nathaniel was walking in the opposite direction, and a hooded figure was sitting by the fountain with a broken book, holding its head as if it were not exactly in the best of moods.
 
He tried to ask his friend what had happened, but judging from the look in his eyes it was better to avoid him.
 
It was only then that he noticed the small, black butterfly headed for the figure’s book… And two and two came together in the worst way possible.
 
Brian finally made it to Master Fu's emporium. It was just as Ladybug had described it to him, decorated with a Chinese theme, tea implements on a little chair, a central rug, a tiny gong, and a large, mysterious gramophone sitting on top of a drawer cupboard on the far side of the room.
 
The old man was looking at a tablet when he arrived. Brian would have been more intrigued by the anachronism if he weren't there to fix his kwami.
 
‘Brian Hawke.’ Master Fu gave him a long, slightly puzzled look. ‘What brings you here?’ He spoke almost as if he were surprised. Maybe Brian wasn't supposed to come to him after their last talk?
 
‘It's my kwami, Master.’ He'd learned a long time ago to call old men by their proper titles. They tended to get madder about it the more senior they were. ‘An akuma villain called

Reverser

got him when he tried to attack me.’ Brian slowly, carefully carried Renard out of his pocket and laid him across his palm.
 
The kwami was in bad shape. He had stopped shivering, but his eyes were darting madly across the room, and he kept murmuring to himself. ‘Tea. Tea. Tea.’
 
‘I assume you already tried tea?’ Master Fu said, but he already knew the answer, that Renard was

always

kept right next to a tiny bag of tea, just in case. The old man took a magnifying glass out of a drawer and started to examine the sick kwami.
 
‘You can fix him, right?’ He knew from Ladybug’s experience that he could. He was just asking to make sure…
 
The old man made a pause and sighed before putting away his tool. ‘I’m sorry, Brian. I can't. The damage done is just too great. I'm afraid that we can only wait for Ladybug to undo the akuma's damage and cure this

Reverser.’

Brian looked down at his kwami, shocked. ‘There is

no other way?’

‘No, Brian. There is no other way.’
 
‘How long does he have?’ A plan was already forming. Reverser had an obvious weakness… but who could exploit that?
 
‘Long enough. But you should try to assist Ladybug and Chat Noir as soon as possible.’ The old man looked as if he were hiding something. Was it possible?
 
‘I'll go get Alya. I'm sure that Lady Vixen can help us with this!’ Brian's hand was already on the door handle when Master Fu called him back.
 
‘I'm afraid that is no longer possible, Brian.’ Both of their expressions hardened. ‘Your protegè Alya has...rescinded… her wristwatch to me.’ Before he could say anything, Master Fu interrupted him. ‘Willingly, I may add. And with Ladybug’s support.’
 
‘But the Falcon Writer…’ Brian's response was cut short by the appearance of a folded sheet of paper from a drawer, which Master Fu gave to him to read aloud.

To Lady Vixen:

I know who you are. I know all there is to know about your three sisters, your mother, your father, and your best friend Marinette.

And yet I choose not to act on it. I consider myself in your debt, Alya Cèsaire, for taking out that pesky detective. I have to admit he was a bit too close to finding out my true identity.

Your friends and family are safe, for now.

Sincerely in your debt,

The Falcon Writer.

At least Alya was safe.  But if she was safe, that meant that their new ally would be gone, too… and he had really liked being her mentor. They had agreed on a secret meeting where Renard Rouge would tell Alya all there was to know about being a super-hero, but not only did it look like she’d gone to Ladybug for that, it also looked like he wouldn’t get to teach her anything anytime soon.
 
The Falcon Writer had taken even

that

away from him. He was certainly going to miss it. After all, being her mentor

had

been good for him…
 
‘I see.’ Master Fu could tell that he wasn’t happy with it. But maybe there was a better way to help Ladybug and Chat Noir now…
 
‘Can I use my watch now? Alya isn’t going to need it.’ He didn’t know where the old man kept it. Maybe inside a secret drawer? Below the floorboards? A secret passage inside an unseen cupboard? It probably was with all the other Miraculous…
 
Once again, his reply shocked him. ‘No.’
 
Brian was starting to lose his temper. ‘You don’t trust me? After I did everything you asked, Master Fu?’. The old man looked at him with what could only be described as a patient stare.
 
‘I do, Renard Rouge.’ The use of his superhero name did not go unnoticed. Master Fu was telling the truth. ‘I do not trust

it.

It was created for evil. I still do not know how it could affect anyone if used too much. I will study it further, and decide based on my findings. One does not simply

use

an evil artifact, Brian Hawke. We can’t know anything for sure...and

you

only used it twice, and Alya only once, both for small periods of time. For now, at least...it stays a watch. You’ll have to find some other way of helping Ladybug and Chat Noir.’
 
‘I see.’ Brian was still a bit angry at him, but he understood his logic. It

was

after all a device created with evil intentions. It was not a great leap of logic that it would also make the wearer itself evil if given enough time. But how could he help Ladybug and Chat Noir?

Could

he?

Should

he? He doubted they had the patience for a civilian playing superhero...hadn’t he overheard something from Chloé about that?
 
There had to be a way...Brian said goodbye to the old man and left the building, trusting him with Renard’s care. Even if he didn’t like the old man’s choices, he still trusted him...trust was everything in their little secret.

His phone rang. It was a text message from Nathaniel.

Are you alright? Alix and I are hiding in the British Museum, in the Egyptian area. She had this idea to bring a bunch more people here, too.

Maybe he could at least make sure Nathaniel and Alix were fine...and maybe, just maybe, Alya herself would show up and...no, it was impossible, he needed Renard Rouge to talk about it to her. Brian couldn’t know that, the only ones who knew were Ladybug, Alya, Master Fu and of course the Falcon Writer…
 
He only hoped that Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing alright.

As he hopped on a train to Tottenham Court Road, he received another message on his phone.

Alya and Nino are coming, and Alix is going a bit crazy with all these ancient weapons around. Requesting backup.

Alix

loved

those things. Maybe she’d gone there on purpose...this was after all the perfect excuse to hide in a museum. But even those couldn’t help her...much. Brian started to come up with a plan.
 
If they could only get Reverser to stand still for a little while, Alix would finally be able to put those archery lessons to good use…
 
‘Great job, Nathaniel.’ Alix only

looked

mad. ‘You just told the Falcon Writer where we were hiding.’ He had even specified the area of the museum they were hiding in. If the rumours were true, then they’d certainly be in trouble…
 
‘Yes, because busting his secret identity is

totally

worth two random kids completely unrelated to the action, isn’t it, Alix?’ Nathaniel quickly corrected himself. ‘That is,

if

he’s actually the Falcon Writer…’
 
The girl looked at him the way she stared at her paintings when they simply refused to come out the way she wanted them to. ‘You still believe him?’
 
‘Yes. Well,

kinda.

It’s just that…’ He had his doubts.
 
‘He’s never had

absolutely nothing

happen to him as a result of a villain? He’s

never

around when those happen? He’s

always

excusing himself at random? That the first day he appeared was the first day that

Falcon

appeared? And Nathaniel, the fact that

Falcon is literally stealing your villains

? The ones only you two know about?’ There were even more reasons, (For example, why did he always suspiciously carry a notepad?) but that last one was the one that was hurting Nathaniel the most.
 
No one else knew about their supervillain prototypes for Illustrator Comics.

No one.

At least they wouldn’t until they published their issues. And there had been quite a bit of delay on that, too. It didn’t help the matter that Brian, like Alix had said, was only seldom available. Still, from what he had heard Reverser say from his trash can, Brian took pride in his smarts. Not too much, but Nathaniel knew that his friend (?) usually relied on them to avoid trouble.
 
And that was

grossly

incompatible with stealing their characters. It would have exposed his secret identity

immediately.

But then again,

no one else knew about them...

his friend was definitely hiding something.
 
‘You’re thinking hard about it, aren’t you?’ Alix had stared at him for the past minute. ‘Let me know when you’ve realised the truth about that one. I’ll just look at the ancient bows for a second.’
 
Nathaniel saw a desperate way out. ‘If this

Reverser

is a Falconized villain, then Brian can’t possibly

be

the Falcon Writer.’ A stupid assumption. Maybe he

could.

Or maybe, like Alix retorted immediately afterwards, Reverser simply was not a Falconized villain and was one of Hawkmoth’s spawn. Therefore the Falcon Writer was able to move freely.
 
The boy tried to take his mind off things. He whipped out a pencil and paper and started trying to draw this Reverser. Maybe that way he could figure out a way to stop him...not for actual reality of course, but it seemed like a cheap cop-out to defeat a villain in Illustrator Comics the same way that the heroes had done in real life.
 
He was just getting started on the glider when the answer came to him in a moment of inspiration. Alix interrupted him before he could get it out, however. ‘Um. I think he got the Mayor.’
 
She was holding a phone, apparently having looked at all the bows already. Mayor Bourgeois had apparently taken a radical turn on his stance on the space dumpster project and decided to dump all the trash not in space but over...London?
 
‘Smells like Reversion to me.’ Alix muted her phone as the protesters switched their song from “Space Is No Dump!” to “London’s No Bin!”. Of course, no song could stop orbital mechanics…
 
Reverser had to be stopped. ‘I have an idea on how to stop him.’
 
The girl raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m

not

going into the line of fire just to fulfill your hero fantasies, Nath.’
 
The boy played his trump card. ‘It involves archery.’
 
Alix's cheeks turned red. ‘Okay, then...I’m in.’
 
Nathaniel made it as brief as possible. ‘Reverser is made of paper, Alix.

Paper.

If you could get your bow and set an arrow on fire…’
 
‘And hit him.’
 
‘And hit him, while he’s probably distracted with something…’
 
‘His glider would burn, and Ladybug could free him!’ Somehow, setting an akuma villain on fire seemed to be strangely alluring to her. He decided it was probably best if he didn’t look into it…
 
They should leave. But what if Reverser intercepted them while they were on the way to Alix’s? Could they take the risk?
 
They had to decide quickly. But then again, staying was not an option...was it?
 
Alya had just made her way to the museum when Alix sent her a text.

Brian is coming, too, we've got a plan, hurry up.

A plan… it would have been good if she'd had a plan too. Having received that letter had shaken her up, to say the

least

. Her family and friends would have been in danger hadn't she stopped playing superhero and done the right thing.
 
But another part of her still spoke against that… especially since the only way she'd be able to protect them was by

keeping

that thing.
 
If there were only a way to remove the Falcon Writer from the equation…she assumed that Hawkmoth didn't know. Even if the two cooperated, Falcon would probably keep his word if it kept

her

out of the game. It did, technically, mean a victory for him…
 
But she had to protect her family. And this was the best, most surefire way to do it, at least for the moment.
 
Something still unnerved her about that letter, however, mostly the fact that it had been

suspiciously

well written… there was only one person she knew who could write like that.
 
Alya trusted Brian…mostly. She knew every single reason why most people believed that he was the Falcon Writer. At first she'd tried to disprove them, but eventually the girl had noticed that there

had

to be some truth to them. She hadn't told anyone about it yet, but there

was

an unfinished Ladyblog Identity Theories section for Falcon…
 
What if she tried to check those? From what she'd heard he'd also be coming to the museum to hide from Reverser. All she had to do was lag behind a little...
 
‘Hi there.’ Her plan had worked. Now to use her sneaky journalist powers and get some quality data out of him.
 
‘Oh, hi Alya!’ He hadn't seen her? Odd. It wasn't like him to not pay attention to the people around him. Maybe he had his mind on something else? ‘Did you get Nath's text, too?’
 
‘Yes.’ Enough greetings. ‘Rather nasty villain, this Reverser, don't you think?’
 
Something in his expression hardened. ‘He has to come down,

now.

He's an akuma one, too.’ So, there still was the possibility of his guilt.

Hmm…

Alya blinked as she was struck by a sudden realisation. ‘Wait. How do you know that?’ It had come off a bit as a surprise. Brian knew a bit too much, as usual.
 
‘I

saw

him getting akumatized. Still don't know who he is.’ His tone of voice left it very clear that he was slightly more than just mad at the villain. ‘He got a friend of mine, too. Not Nathaniel.’ He added quickly upon seeing Alya's

We're going into a trap then

glare. ‘Just… someone else.’

Uh, oh. We may be in trouble.

Of course, she couldn't tell him, but she

did

know of his friendship with Renard Rouge… maybe

he

had been reversed?
 
‘I see.’ He didn't seem to be in the mood to talk about it.

Something

must have happened to Renard, otherwise Brian would not have had that murderous look on his face...a part of Alya told her that

that

was the face of a villain. And

another

part of her was coming up with an even more nefarious possibility...
 
Wouldn't the Falcon Writer try to get the Miraculous for himself, too? Even if under the guise of cooperating with Hawkmoth, she was

sure

that both villains didn't want the other to get hold of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous. Thus, a Falcon Writer in his civilian identity might just use any opportunity he had to sabotage Hawkmoth, while a Hawkmoth in disguise may be attempting to disrupt the Falcon Writer at every corner.
 
Her interrogation was of no more use to her. She now knew what she'd come for.
 
Brian Hawke

might just be

the Falcon Writer. But she had to make sure, and there was only one way to do that…
 
Nino was on his way. They didn't have much time left, not with the space dumpsters closing in on their city.
 
But at least Alya was safe. There was still no word on his friend Adrien however… he was probably fine. Stuck in some kind of panic room in his father's mansion, but safe at the very least. There was little reason to worry about him.
 
Nino hoped he could say the same for Alya. She was

always

getting into trouble with akuma villains, all for the sake of her precious Ladyblog. Of course, Nino wasn't going to try and stop her, but it would have been nice if she had someone other than the three heroes to watch her back…
 
He made it into the museum, but the Egyptian wing was still a long way off. According to Nathaniel's message, Alix, Alya and Brian would also be coming to form a plan, just in case. Of course, their main reason for being there was for hiding, but even while hiding they could go on the offensive…
 
Assuming, of course, that Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't stop him first.
 
A musical tone interrupted his thoughts. Alya had published a new entry on the Ladyblog.

Identity Theories: The Falcon Writer.

It was about time. Nino didn't read through the whole article, it was a bit too long and thus had spent a long time in planning, but he got the general idea. The Falcon Writer may very well be in their very midst. He'd heard that before, of course, along with some rather extreme ways of dealing with the problem, but in his opinion all that they needed was patience. Eventually the villain would make a mistake and his secret identity would be revealed. It was only a matter of time.
 
… of course, he still had his doubts. The evidence against Brian Hawke was a bit too strong for his liking…
 
Nino finally made it into the Egyptian wing. The other kids turned to face him.
 
‘Nino!’ Alya said, a strangely wicked smile on her face as she hugged him hello. ‘Come here, we'll tell you of Nathaniel's plan.’

Brian pulled Nathaniel aside as soon as Alya’s impromptu briefing was over. ‘You

stole

my plan, Nath.’
 
The other boy shrugged, but he was smiling. ‘We've had lots of practice.’
 
‘Good to see that Illustrator Comics is actually being useful for once for something that's not pretty pictures on the school website.’ Nino had overheard them. Now, he wasn't a

detractor

of their little project, but he wasn't exactly a huge fan. As far as he was concerned, it was…

there.

Occasionally a good read, mostly good drawings. Not bad at all, but not exactly his type of story. Or at least that's what Brian knew of him.
 
Alix was looking around the bow stands. The plan

did

have its legally dubious parts… everyone pretended to be very busy doing something else (Mostly their different styles of creation) while Alix may or may not have broken the reinforced glass with a thrown textbook. Strangely, no alarms went off, but that was certainly the museum's fault and not because they had texted Max about how to hypothetically disable hypothetical alarms in a hypothetical museum.
 
The girl grabbed an antique from amidst the shattered glass and tested the string a few times before repeating the process for a case full of spears, shields, and most importantly, arrows. According to plan, Nino and Brian grabbed spears. They were supposed to “bravely protect” the “defenceless” Nathaniel and Alya… while Alix sneaked around to take her shot.
 
The five were about to leave the room and confront Reverser when someone knocked on the door they'd closed for their “barricade”.
 
Who could it be? A wave of fear crashed through the group. If it was the policeman in charge, they could be in serious trouble…
 
‘Open up!’
 
‘Is that…’ Alya noticed it first.
 
‘Ladybug?’ Brian opened the door for them.
 
‘DON'T SHOOT!’

Chat Noir? Why the blanket?

‘Erm.’ Nathaniel saw that something was wrong, too. Namely, that Ladybug seemed to be barely able to stand…
 
‘They got Reversed.’ Nino managed to piece the puzzle together. ‘Both of them.’ Brian saw Alya's mouth open wide in surprise. What were they going to do now?
 
‘Yes. We did.’ Ladybug was somehow avoiding to make any expressions of shame, or most importantly, defeat. ‘Have you seen Renard Rouge?’ The girl looked at both Alya and Brian as Chat Noir kept his eyes locked on the tip of Nino's spear.
 
‘Nope.’ One of them didn't know, the other one knew

too much.

Between the five, they quickly told both of them the plan. In a third and final act of vandalism, an old waking stick was liberated from its glassy prison and given to Ladybug, who told everyone but Alix to leave their weapons there.

They

had a plan, too, but Ladybug quickly explained to them how a combination of both would definitely be successful.
 
After a short deliberation, the seven walked out of the museum, ready to take down Reverser at last…
 
But in the skies above the isle, the trails from the re-entering space dumpsters were glowing hotter and hotter...
 
The lucky charm was

weird,

but Nathaniel didn't care. He was with

Ladybug.

Fighting an akuma villain. His dream was coming true! He was so ecstatic about it that he almost forgot the fact that the villain had been mostly

his

fault.
 
He had

expected

to meet Ladybug. Even in costume, he had gone there to see

her.

Not Marc. Nathaniel could, however, admit that he'd been a bit rough with his words when he found out… He should have been more careful.
 
But looking at the wrongs of the past wouldn't do anything to stop the current threat. If Nathaniel wanted to fix his mistake, he'd have to help Ladybug defeat Reverser.
 
They had followed him to the London Eye, where he had the Mayor inside the topmost carriage, pressing his finger to his tablet madly as he made the final corrections on the space dumpster’s trajectory. The villain himself was hovering over them, almost indistinguishable in front of the grey sky.
 
Alix, as per Ladybug's instructions, still had her bow and single arrow, but she'd slung them over her shoulder and hidden them under her shirt. Nathaniel's heroine was finally assembling the strange, human sized kite that had been given to her. (With some help from him, of course.) Chat Noir was looking at it as if it were an airplane about to crash, and Alya and Nino were holding hands, seeking each other's comfort before the battle begun.
 
Their brief moment of preparation came to an end as Reverser spoke to them, his voice booming. ‘So you've brought me Nathaniel.

Where's Marinette?!

’
 
For some reason, Ladybug seemed nervous. Maybe she'd hidden a bit

too

well? Nathaniel hoped she was safe. ‘We'll tell you where she is if you tell the Mayor to stop the space dumpsters.’
 
A butterfly appeared on his face, no doubt Hawkmoth trying to warn him that this was a trap, but they couldn't hear him from down there. Reverser muttered something about being able to deal with it before demanding that Chat Noir also come up with him to make sure they weren't planning something… which they

were

, actually

.

Their plan required both of them in the carriage, but it also needed someone else...
 
As the two got inside and Reverser turned around to throw another airplane at the Mayor, Alix ran as fast as she could to get to the same carriage as the boys before it either took off or Reverser spotted her, keeping Ladybug’s oversized kite hidden below her shirt. (Which was getting pretty crowded, also having to conceal her bow.)
 
She made it just as the doors closed and the villain turned around. Ladybug yelled at Reverser loud enough for him to hear. ‘Chat Noir and Nathaniel are on their way!’
 
As soon as she said that, the space dumpsters turned around and began their long journey back to orbit, but Nathaniel had an odd feeling that they could easily come back if the villain wanted.
 
The four prepared themselves for the next stage of the plan, which involved catching the kite's string as Alix jumped out of the carriage… but she had to get it open, first, and for that...
 
‘SAY IT!’ Alix was losing her patience. Even if Chat Noir had been reversed into being a complete coward, there was little threat to him there…
 
‘Say what?’ Apparently he had forgotten about his powers from all that fear. Alix looked up, they were running out of time…
 
‘Cataclysm! Say it aloud!’ Nathaniel was losing his patience, too. ‘Come on, Chat Noir, we’re almost out of time!’
 
Their carriage was almost halfway up...Alix started doubting their crazy plan. Using Cataclysm on the place they were standing on was risky enough, but then having to jump out into the air and hope her friends both caught the kite’s string and actually steered her well was almost

too

much of a long shot. But it was their only plan, so it

had

to work.
 
Chat Noir looked at his hand and cowered in his blanket at the sight of its claws. Nathaniel kept on yelling at him to use his powers, but he wasn’t making any particular headway…
 
There was only one way to solve this. Alix slid the ancient bow into her arms and nocked her arrow. The “superhero” was looking at a desperate Nathaniel, who looked at her with wide eyes as she aimed towards Chat Noir with her deadly weapon…
 
Then

he

looked at her and his pupils became even smaller. ‘SAY IT! SAY CATACLYSM! COME ON!’ Chat Noir muttered something unintelligible. Alix put her bow sideways so he got the message and pressed the button on the lighter that Ladybug had added with duct tape, setting her arrow on fire. She even took a couple of steps towards him, cornering him against the rounded walls of the carriage, leaving him with no choice but to submit.
 
‘Cataclysm!’
 
Nathaniel grabbed his hand and pulled it a bit

too

hard towards the windows. Because of some miracle only the walls of the carriage disintegrated, and not the whole thing.
 
Before Reverser could make sense of what had happened, Alix strapped her kite tighter to her chest and jumped.
 The plan was simple enough. Fortunately both Nino and Alya knew how to fly a kite, because Brian didn't, despite his basic knowledge of aerodynamics. 
Ladybug chose Alya to catch the string, and Nino as a backup in case she failed. It made sense, both of them being faster than Brian, as the latest sports class had somewhat humiliatingly proven. (He chose to revel in the secret knowledge that Renard Rouge was faster than both.)
 
If only he could. Brian hated being powerless. But then again, he would have been reversed along with Ladybug and Chat Noir…
 
And all because of this

Reverser.

The boy had to admit that the villain had hit a nerve. His kwami, Renard, was especially valuable to him, and not just because he could transform him into a superhero. He was a friend. A little someone that he would never forget, even if he had his quirks. Someone that he could talk to in place of his parents, stuck in two desert islands thousands of kilometers away, someone who helped him write and develop his stories.

Much

more than just a friend.
 
And Reverser was messing with him.
 
At least Brian was able to see how Alix jumped out of the crumbling carriage, and how Alya managed to find just the right spot to catch her string, turning her dive into a pleasant downwards glide that changed to franatic evasive maneuvers as Reverser found out how he'd been tricked.
 
The two boys looked up to see the desperate chase going on above, as Ladybug coached Alya on how to best get Alix lined up for her shot, but both saw something unexpected.
 
Nino and Brian both looked at Ladybug and yelled the exact same thing.
 
‘THE SPACE DUMPSTERS! THEY’RE COMING BACK!’

Of course

the space dumpsters had to come back. Reverser had played his trump card. Maybe he'd thrown another airplane at the Mayor before leaving for Alix… speaking of which, Marinette had chosen well. Alya was doing a marvellous job at keeping her safe, and the projectiles that Alya didn't manoeuvre her out of, the girl herself managed to dodge. It was only a matter of time before Alix managed to line up her only shot…
 
But now that the space dumpsters were coming back, Ladybug realised that Alix didn't

have

time. Someone would have to get to the top and stop them… but how? Nathaniel and Chat Noir couldn't climb all the way up there in time. Her yoyo was useless. Renard Rouge was missing.
 
Marinette squeezed her brain in search of answers. Finally, one presented itself, but it was a

bit

too risky…
 
‘Nino, Brian, which one of you has the best throwing arm?’ There was no other choice, the only thing that would work was climbing up with her yoyo...
 
‘

He

does.’ So it was Nino then. It made sense. He was taller and bigger than Brian after all.
 
‘Good. Grab this.’ She handed him her yoyo, to his astonishment. ‘Throw it at the girders on top of the structure, then pull and

hang on.’

Nino's mouth dropped. ‘I won't fall off?’
 
‘It's

magic, dude.

’ Maybe Brian was imitating his mannerisms in order to reassure him? Anyway, he was right...

kinda.

Nino could still miss, or fall off, or overshoot, but of course Ladybug would never tell him that.
 
Enough. Marinette trusted Nino. He

would

do it. The girl looked at him straight in the eyes. ‘I wouldn't be giving this to you if I thought you couldn't do it.’
 
His expression hardened, going from wide-eyed surprise to stern look of determination. ‘I won't disappoint you, Ladybug!’
 
She would have said something, but a sonic boom above caught her attention. They had only seconds left!
 
Nino understood. He nodded at her, tightened his cap and threw Ladybug’s yoyo high into the air.
 
‘Don't worry, Ladybug.’ Brian winked at her in a way that rang a few bells inside her head, bells that she immediately silenced. Stopping Reverser was much more important than a mere rumor. ‘I'll catch him if he falls.’
 
Marinette nodded at him and looked at Nino, who was already sailing through the air. Alya had caught wind of their plan and steered Alix away from the London Eye, in order to hide Nino from Reverser.
 
Marinette's yoyo retracted its string a bit slower than usual. Maybe Brian was right, of course she knew it was magical, but apparently it was also

helping

Nino get to the top…
 
And he

did

,  perfectly. Ladybug smiled as she saw him wrestle the Mayor's tablet out of his arms and tap the screen once through the transparent walls of the carriage. The space dumpsters used their internal reaction wheels to turn around and fled once more to orbit…and just in case, Nino smashed the tablet against the floor, to make sure that Reverser would never be able to call them back. Down below, the three of them cheered, raising their fists (Or walking stick…) victoriously in the air. The city had been saved from the dumpsters… now all that remained was the villain himself. Alix showed two fingers· to Reverser, who gasped and pursued her with renewed energies.
 
As their supersonic roar faded in the distance, the villain turned back towards the Eye and growled furiously at Nino, closing in at full speed to catch him.
 
The problem was that to do that, he'd have to drop down the same hatch that Nino had gone through…
 
And as soon as he hovered over it, Alya did the unthinkable and stalled her kite.
 
‘Umm, Alya?’ Brian appeared to be nervous. Alix too looked at her in confusion before suddenly rising up into the air, the kite hiding her face.
 
‘I know what I'm doing. You watch!’ She had that confident grin on her face...the grin that Marinette had only seen once before in her, when she had been Lady Vixen. Beside her, Brian closed his eyes, trying to figure out how exactly stalling the kite would help them...but his small knowledge of aerodynamics failed him.

Ladybug

saw it first. Reverser was almost static on top of the hatch, and if Alix could get the higher air…
 
Up top, too high for the others to see, the girl smiled and took her shot.
 
‘

You're next, Falcon.’

She could have shot him. Maybe she should have shot him. 
 
Reverser didn't see it coming. As soon as he discovered that his glider was on fire, the villain tried to stomp it out, but then his

foot

caught fire, being made of

paper,

and “Marc” tried to extinguish it by flying his glider high and fast… expect that the fire spread too quickly for that and disintegrated it only a second after he'd started his plan, letting him fall towards the ground
 
Brian positioned himself below the villain, probably to catch him, while Alya pulled Alix out of her inevitable dive and dropped her off where she'd jumped off from, prompting a crushing hug by Nathaniel and an ‘Are you hurt?’ from Chat Noir, both of which she disregarded.
 
Below, Ladybug received her yoyo back from Nino, and Alya looked at Brian as he caught the fallen villain… and then dropped him.
 
‘

Sorry

.’ Was it her imagination, or had he muttered something about “payback” out of the corner of his mouth? Alya rolled her eyes as Ladybug caught and purified the akuma, fixing up not only the wrecked carriage, but also Chat Noir and everyone who'd been Reversed.
 
No sooner had she finished than Brian was already leaving. ‘Sorry everyone, awesome saving the world with you, got to dash!’ Something about his voice...hadn’t Alya mentioned that one of his friends had been Reversed? But if it wasn’t Nathaniel or Alya or Alix or Nino, then

who

? A Reversed Renard Rouge would still have shown up in

some

way.
 
Chat Noir took her friends back from the wheel one by one. ‘How’d you do it?’ He asked when he’d brought everyone down. Ladybug would have answered him, but Alix stole the words from her mouth.
 
‘

I set him on fire.

’ Alya pretended to take offence at that with a little cough. ‘Excuse me?

We

set him on fire.’ His eyes went comically wide.
 
‘Whatever.

I

shot him with a flaming arrow while strapped into a human kite.’
 
Chat Noir looked at Ladybug in disbelief, but she nodded. ‘It's a long story.’ She would have stayed for it, but her earrings beeped. ‘I’ll tell you later. Bug out!’
 
As Marinette flew away, she caught wind of Nathaniel mentioning something about a picnic. Later that day she found out that he and Marc had had one in the nearby park, and that Reverser had joined the ranks of Illustrator Comics. How had Brian agreed to that? And speaking of which, why, exactly, had he left so early?
 
Master Fu’s door was slammed open, making the boy that had come through it wince. ‘Sorry. Is he better now?’
 
The question answered itself. ‘Of course I’m better now. You can thank Ladybug for that. How’d they manage without us?’
 
Brian rolled his eyes. ‘The same way they did for almost a year, Renard. They’re

Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Improvisation is kind of their thing.’ The two shared a brief hug while the old man watched, smiling. ‘It is good that you have such faith in them.’·
 
It was only then that Brian looked at him. He’d been so caught up with seeing if his beloved kwami was alright that he’d mostly forgotten about the old man. Fortunately, he hadn’t, the question he had in mind was rather important…
 
‘Master Fu?’
 
‘Yes?’
 
‘Do you have...any idea...on who...on

how

the Falcon Writer came to be?’
 
The old man sat down, crossing his legs. ‘I have many theories. That he managed to find a second copy of a Miraculous, much like your wristwatch. That he’s simply using sufficiently advanced technology, indistinguishable from magic.’ Brian understood the quote. The old man didn’t just read manuscripts from bygone eras it seemed. ‘That he’s using a Miraculous that we simply don’t know of. Time travel. Anything is possible at this stage, Brian Hawke.

Anything.

’
 
‘

Anything…

? But then…’

What?

‘Ladybug’s theory may be right.’ Before Brian’s anger could materialise, the old man explained himself. ‘Just not in the way we expect.’
 
‘...So…?’ He had to be careful. If the old man lost faith in him…
 
‘I do not doubt you, Renard Rouge. I know you’re on the side of good.’ Again, the use of his alter ego’s name did not fly over his head. ‘But there are...certain lines of thought that I have only yet begun to explore. The other kwamis are helping with it, but unfortunately we must consider all possible alternatives, except, of course, those which are impossible.’ The old man got up from the floor and started walking around the room. ‘As you probably know, once the logical probabilities are exhausted, then the improbable, as though unlikely as it may seem, must be the truth in spite of its seeming impossibility.’
 
He knew that. And Master Fu knew that he did. He had said it to a Falcon villain not long ago before the Big Ben rang five times with the villain inside the bell. That she was dazed is only a slight understatement. Yet another demonstration of trust from the old man.
 
‘I see. I’ll try doing some research of my own, but I don’t know how much time I have. My classmates are getting restless, and the grand majority either side with Ladybug or don’t take sides at all. One false step and I could have a little riot in my hands.’
 
‘Then, Brian Hawke, all you need to do is exercise extreme caution. You already know how. If you need help with it, Ladybug and Chat Noir are still your loyal allies.

Remember

that.’
 
‘I will, Master.’ How could he possibly be more careful? Precautions were already at an extreme. Also, something told him that he’d heard something similar before...but from who?
 
‘Good luck, Renard Rouge.’
 
‘Good luck, Master Fu.’ Renard flew into Brian’s pocket, inhaled some tea leaves, and said goodbye to the old man too.
 
As the two left the building, the kwami poked his head out of his pocket, a single leaf stuck in between his lips. ‘How’d you do it?’
 
‘You wouldn’t believe it.’
 
‘I’ve been in this crazy world for quite a while. Seen some crazy stuff. Including your stories.’

Ouch.

‘Fine. Alix set him on fire with a flaming arrow fired gangster-style from a human kite while Nino used Ladybug’s yoyo to climb the London Eye and stop the Mayor from burying the city in space dumpsters.’
 
The tiny fox blinked multiple times in quick succession. ‘Oooookay. You know, if I weren’t able to tell that you were telling the truth, I wouldn’t believe you.’
 
‘But you do, because you have that cool magic power of yours. Speaking of which…’ He had just had an idea for a good story.
 
‘Renard, do you like spy stories?

Wayzz?

Yes, Master?

Keep an eye on the boy. Just in case.

Yes, Master.