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Chapter Text

The last day of summer came and went, and Chloé Bourgeois was looking forward to school starting. Her friend Adrien had finally gotten permission from his parents to attend public school, and he was enrolled both in her school and she'd found out as the Class Rep that he was in her class! It was perfect. She had talked it out with him and he was going to sit in the first row (for an easy escape if things got overwhelming for him) and she and Sabrina would be right behind him for support.

The downside was that she was once again sharing the classroom with the most popular girl in the area. Even if Marinette Dupain-Cheng was too dense to realize just how popular she was, Chloé noticed. Marinette was like the sun, warm and bright and loved by everyone. She had everything that Chloé wanted out of life and she couldn't understand why. The only thing she could do was try and smother Marinette's light and replace it with her own.

The first day of school dawned with mild weather and a text from Adrien saying that his father was talking about pulling his enrolment. She wanted to reassure him that that wouldn't happen, but since Adrien's mother had vanished during the break, she knew that Gabriel had cracked down on Adrien's security for unknown reasons. She just hoped that Gabriel would see sense and adhere to his wife's wishes by keeping Adrien in public school.

She got ready for school and placed her sunglasses neatly on her head before going down to the hotel lobby to meet Sabrina. Her best friend greeted her with a showering of compliments and she flipped her ponytail to show off how perfect her hair was. She'd just gotten the colour retouched and she was very happy with the shade of blonde that they'd achieved.

"I know, I know," she laughed. "Look, the weather's really nice so let's walk. Just don't talk too much on the way."

"Okay, Chloé," Sabrina agreed and they headed off. Chloé waved her driver off and they walked towards the school. She knew Marinette would probably bring something from her parents' cheap bakery, so she had to come up with some way to downplay or ruin that. Several people in her class this year were different from the previous years and she wanted to ensure that Marinette made a bad impression on them. The fresh air, she hoped, would help breed ideas. As they went, she spotted an old man on the ground.

Seeing that people were completely walking around him and one person even kicked a cane on the ground further out of his reach, Chloé kind of felt sorry for him. She tugged Sabrina by the arm towards the man, shouting loudly for people to clear the way. She picked up the cane when she reached the man and handed it to Sabrina.

"Hold this for a minute, Sabrina," she said sharply, prompting the girl to take the cane and nod dumbly. Chloé then helped the old man up and even went so far as to dust his tacky Hawaiian shirt off. "You should watch out for cracks, old man," she told him before snatching the cane from Sabrina and handing it to him. She then turned and sauntered off with Sabrina. "Make a note for me, Sabrina. I need to tell Daddy to have the sidewalks investigated."

"Okay," Sabrina mumbled, pulling out a tablet to do just that.

"And the way people were ignoring a feeble old man like that…utterly ridiculous," she kept her comment low, and Sabrina questioned her softly. She ignored her.

When they got to the school, she went straight to the classroom, realizing that because of the detour to help that old geezer they were about to be late for class. And being late would not make a good impression on her new classmates. She walked into the room just as the annoying, but quiet, music nerd of the class Nino was moving from his usual seat in the back row to the front. Marinette was already there, with her box of bakery treats, in Chloé's seat. She could have sworn she'd put her name there.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she snapped as she approached. The girl groaned and looked at her, muttering something under her breath. "That's my seat."

"But Chloé, this has always been my seat," Marinette mumbled. Chloé started to say that she had marked the seat to be behind her friend Adrien, but Sabrina leaned on the desk.

"Not anymore!" the redhead snapped. "New year, new class, new seats!"

"And besides, I marked these seats yesterday," Chloé snapped. "You can go sit with that new girl."

"There wasn't a name on the seat when I got here," Marinette noted. "But I'll move…if it's that big a deal it's whatever…" the girl picked up her things.

"Hey!" the new girl called, standing up. "Who elected you Queen of Seats?"

"I happen to be the Class Rep," Chloé snapped, moving aside so Marinette could get by. "And if I didn't mark the seats, you were supposed to, Sabrina." That was a lie, but she had to deflect blame for this incident off of herself. She was also tempted to trip Marinette and make a big deal out of things, but Marinette tripped herself and dropped her macarons. Chloé sat down, smirking.

Mme Bustier started talking and the bell rang, but Adrien never came. Chloé slumped in her seat as the lecture went on. When they were dismissed, she handed her iPad to Sabrina, planning to head home and send off the necessary paperwork to her father to prevent the kind of delay she'd dealt with on the way to school from happening again. The table behind her rattled and she looked back to see Ivan stand up and storm over to Kim.

"Kim!" The boy raised his fist and Chloé caught sight of the note he was clenching in his other hand. No wonder Kim was grinning.

"Ivan, what is going on?" Mme Bustier asked sharply.

"It's Kim!" He shouted, waving the note. "I'm so gonna—" he pulled his fist back again.

"Ivan! Go to the principal's office!" Mme Bustier pointed at the door and Ivan stormed out. When the rest of the class was gone to their assigned spots, Chloé approached the desk. "Yes, Chloé?"

"I didn't fully see, but Kim wrote a scathing note to Ivan, and that was the likeliest cause of his outburst," she explained. "And did you receive word about Adrien Agreste's enrolment being pulled?"

"As far as I know he should have been here this morning."

"That's unusual, then. He told me that his father had been talking about home-schooling him again this year, but I guess something just came up…," she mused. "I'll check with Mr Damocles after lunch." She walked out of the room and headed for the street. She pulled out her phone and checked the messages. She had a message from Adrien.

'Nathalie and the Gorilla caught me on the way to school and dragged me home…Father was serious about not letting me go to school…'

'Well, the paperwork to withdraw your enrolment either hasn't gone through or hasn't been turned in. I'm double checking with the principal after lunch.' She sent him in reply.

When Chloé arrived at the hotel, her butler was waiting for her in the lobby. She nodded to him and went to the elevator. As always, he followed and took her bag.

"Order my lunch early, Jean-Paul. And get me a petition form and city inspection request."

"Of course, mademoiselle…But my name—"

"Don't care," she snapped as the elevator came to a halt. "Just get it."

"Of course…and a package arrived for you a while ago," he told her as the elevator doors closed and she continued to her room alone.

"A package? It's early for post…," she muttered. She went into her room and spotted the box on her table. "This must be it." She opened the box to find a Chinese styled jewellery box. She paused, but opened the box, curious.

Inside the jewellery box was a gaudy black ring. She grimaced, wondering what kind of idiot would send her a ring like this. She started to look for a note, when the ring started glowing. She hurried away from it, hiding in case it exploded or something. It would be her luck that with elections coming in a few months, some opponents of her father would try to have her killed or something.

"Okay…that's weird," a small voice muttered from the table. Chloé peaked out of her hiding place to see a weird floating cat thing hovering around the table. "I can't have been woken from my nap without someone claiming the ring…Hello?!"

"What are you?" Chloé asked, slowly coming out of hiding.

"Oh! There you are," the creature laughed, ignoring her question. "Where's the food? I'm starving."

"Don't ignore me!" She snapped. "What. Are. You?"

"Okay, grouchy…I'm a Kwami. I grant powers. Yours is destruction. Got it?"

"Wait, what?" She sat down on her couch.

"Great. Now feed me."

"Look here, you ridiculous creature! Give me a proper explanation or get out."

"Sorry kid, you're stuck with me," it sighed. "And show some respect. I'm the reason dinosaurs are extinct!"

"Sure you are. And the only one who needs to show some respect around here is you!" She reached to grab it, but it flew out of reach. She took a deep breath and sat down. "Fine. Don't tell me. I have things to do anyways." As if on cue, a knock came at the door. "Oh, perfect timing. Come in!"

Her butler came in, carrying the papers she asked for and an apologetic expression. She saw the Kwami fly under a pillow, as if it didn't want to be seen, but she wasn't interested in finding out about that since it wouldn't answer her questions anyways. She got up and stomped over to the butler. He should have also had her sushi by now.

"I'm sorry, Mademoiselle…," he started, holding the papers out for her. "The roads are closed, so your sushi couldn't be delivered."

"Why are the roads closed?" she snapped, taking the papers and looking them over.

"There is apparently a monster on the rampage. Your father had the police block the roads and emergency measures taken."

"Oh. Then have that Césaire woman make me a cheese plate or something," she said dismissively, accepting the reasoning. She was already inside and high above ground, so didn't have to deal with a monster. The butler bowed a little and left the room. She went back to her couch and started looking over the papers. "Now…how do I fill this out…?"

"You don't know how to fill out a paper?" The creature asked, flying out.

"Give me a proper explanation or I'm not talking to you," she snapped, looking the papers over a second time. She found instructions on a sticky note and she silently thanked her butler's skill in remembering that she usually went straight to her father rather than filling out stupid forms. She started to fill out the petition details when the news was suddenly turned on. She glared at the little Kwami.

"I'm asking all Parisians to stay in their homes until the situation is under control," her father was saying to a gathering of press. She saw Sabrina's father standing beside him with his arm in a splint and sling. The video cut to a shot of a stone creature tearing up the streets.

"The creature is heading towards the Montparnasse Tower," the reporter said over the video. "Anyone still outside, should avoid that area, as the monster seems unstoppable!" Chloé spotted the new girl from school biking after the monster.

"That's the new chef's daughter…people are getting hurt…," she mumbled. "Hey! You said you give powers, right? What exactly does that entail?"

"I already said. Destruction."

"Specifics, furball," she snapped. "What are the rules? Every superhero has rules."

"Okay, okay, grouchy," Plagg griped before launching into an explanation. "And you just say Claws Out to transform," he finished. Chloé nodded and started to put the ring on. It was a little big for her slender fingers and outrageously gaudy, but the silver colour it had faded to when Plagg emerged was a bit more appealing.

"Is there any way to make this smaller or less…," she paused, searching for the right word.

"Just put it on and transform…its magic will adjust to fit once you're connected to it properly," the Kwami sighed.

"Okay…So cat theme…," she mumbled, holding the ring in place on her middle finger. She sighed, giving up on trying to come up with a costume design. "All right…Plagg, Claws Out!" The black Kwami was sucked into the ring and she was surrounded by green sparks. She watched as the ring became thinner and more feminine looking, snuggly fitting over a black body suit that replaced her regular clothes. When the sparks stopped, she paused to look at herself in the mirror.

Her suit was reasonable, with plenty of amber gems and gold accents. Gloves were over the suit, reaching her upper arm with sharp looking claws extending from her fingers. She flexed her hand a little and the claws grew a little longer with the motion, almost like a real cat. Heeled boots went above her knees, with gold covering her toes and sparkling heels. She was wearing studded bracelets seemingly just for the aesthetic since there wasn't a clear use for them. A long, wide belt was around her waist, tied in a way at her back to hang like a tail. Studded cat ears were on top of her head and she found that there was a little gold cat bell on her collar.

Most importantly, there was a black mask covering a good portion of her face. She fiddled with her hair, seeing her bangs were thicker, part of her ponytail fallen loose to add to the volume and hide her ears. The blonde was a few shades darker than she liked, but the biggest change to her face was her eyes. Her eyes were much more catlike, complete with slit pupils and a light shade of blue instead of whites. "Meow," she laughed, making a clawing motion at her reflection.

She hurried onto the balcony and threw herself off, extending her stick at the last second and using it to vault towards the destruction. As she was going, she saw a flash of red and black just before slamming full-on into another girl. They tumbled to the ground and she barely managed to use her staff to break the fall. She looked the other girl over, taking in the spotted red suit she was wearing. The girl rubbed her neck a little.

"Sorry…I didn't do that on purpose…," she mumbled. Chloé recalled Plagg at she would have a partner to work with.

"You must be the partner my Kwami told me about," she tried being polite, since she knew that acting like herself would give away her identity. "I'm…," she froze, realizing she hadn't even considered what anyone would call her. "A catastrophe…"

"Catastrophe? That's a little…down on yourself…," the other heroine sighed. "Um…you can call me Ladybug, I guess…"

"You know, I like Catastrophe. My specialty is destruction anyways," she laughed. The ground shook, reminding her of the reason they had magic powers. "Let's get going, people are getting hurt. And if we don't stop him, who else will?"

"Right…not sure I'm up for this…," Ladybug confessed.

"Same. But we were chosen for a reason, right? Let's do this," she encouraged, vaulting to a roof. Ladybug joined her after a moment and they headed for the stadium, following the path of destruction. They came to a stop on the roof of the arena and watched a moment as the monster snatched up Kim. "Be careful attacking him…I saw on the news he grew in size when he was shot at," she said lightly.

"Good to know…we should probably go straight in with our powers then?"

"Good idea. I'll distract him and see if my power can do actual damage to him and you come in and use yours?" She suggested. Ladybug nodded a little.

"Lucky Charm!" She called out, throwing her yo-yo into the air. A wet suit dropped into her hands. "Yeah…I'm gonna need a minute…"

"Okay then, that's interesting…," Catastrophe muttered, dropping into the field. Disregarding the fact that attacks made the monster grow, she used her staff to strike at his wrist, startling him into releasing Kim. "Get out of here, quickly," she snapped at the boy. He ran away and Catastrophe jumped back to get some space and avoid an attack from the monster.

Just as she was about to call for her Cataclysm, the monster picked up a goalpost and threw it at her. She dodged out of the way, but heard a scream and looked to find that the goal was headed straight for Alya. She didn't trust her aim to stop the post, so she made a decision. "Cataclysm!" She summoned her power and ran for the goal, catching it with her charged hand and turning it to dust just before it hit Alya. The girl covered her head as dust showered over her. "Sorry about that…it's our first day on the job," she said lightly. "You okay?" Alya nodded a little, eyes wide.

"Well that didn't go according to plan," Ladybug commented as she joined them. "I've figured it out though. He never opened his right hand."

"That must be where the Akuma is then?"

"Most likely," she agreed, tying the wet suit to the end of a nearby water hose. "Once he drops it, open the tap to make him drop me," she directed the words to Alya. "Here's hoping this works…," she mumbled and Catastrophe noticed a tremor to her voice. She looked at Ladybug and saw that the spotted hero looked unsure. She touched the girl's shoulder, unsure how to word any sort of encouragement, and then she ran towards the monster, letting him grab her with his left hand when he tried.

Ladybug ran forward, holding the wet suit wadded up like a weapon of sorts. The monster opened his right hand and dropped a rock to snatch up Ladybug. "Now!" Alya ran to the tap on cue and opened the valve. The suit filled with water and the monster was forced to release Ladybug. She landed lightly, almost En Pointe as if she was a ballerina.

In a single strike, she destroyed the rock and a purple butterfly flew out of it. What looked like purple goo, but didn't have any substance to it, surrounded the monster and Catastrophe and when it cleared, the monster was replaced with Ivan and Catastrophe fell flat on her butt beside him. Her classmate looked around in confusion and a high-pitched beeping came to her attention. She looked at her ring to see that what had been a full cat print was now down to three pads. She got up and dusted herself off. The butterfly flew out of the arena as she approached Ladybug.

"That was brilliant," she said honestly. "Good job there, Partner." She held up a fist and the other hero took the prompt and bumped it with her own fist. "And now I've got a ball of string at home to chase. See you next time," she said lightly, waving to both Ladybug and Alya's camera before vaulting out with her staff and back to the hotel. She barely made it to her balcony before her transformation wore off. She went inside to find the cheese plate neatly placed on her table alongside her school tablet.

Plagg went straight for the camembert on the tray and she shrugged, going back out to look at the damage to her city. She vaguely saw a purple cloud near the top of the Eiffel Tower, but shrugged it off. Several buildings had collapsed, and parts of the roads below would take weeks to repair. Her request to have the sidewalks inspected would have to wait. She could still put up the petition to make accessibility and respect for the elderly and disabled more commonplace, though, so she went back to filling that out.

The roads remained closed for the rest of the day, while the police put up barricades to help redirect traffic away from the worst damage from the attack. She called the school after lunch to find that they were closed for the afternoon for some repairs to be done. Mr Damocles assured her that Adrien was still enrolled, but that her friend's parents had expressed concern about him attending public school. If he didn't show up for the second day without a reasonable excuse, his enrolment would be dropped. Annoyed with the situation, Chloé turned on the News, hoping to see Alya's footage of the fight.

She was sorely disappointed, when all she saw was random citizens frozen in place as replicas of Ivan's monster form. Her eyes went wide and she barely registered the reporter's words as she narrated the scene. Chloé looked at her ring and then at Plagg, who had ended up eating almost all of her cheese. Fortunately, she'd worked up an appetite and was forced to spend the afternoon at home, so she had been able to reasonably order something from the kitchens.

"Plagg, what's going on?" she demanded. "I thought we defeated him."

"Did you catch the Akuma?" the Kwami asked, looking at the news with equal surprise.

"What does that have to with anything?"

"The Ladybug Holder should have captured and purified the Akuma…otherwise the thing can multiply and lie in wait for the original victim to be transformed again…at which point everyone infected will become his army."

"Ladybug? You mean I can't go out and find the original and destroy it? Or do…anything?"

"I mean…you could destroy it…but that wouldn't destroy the copies…"

"Great…," she moaned, turning off the TV and leaning back on her couch. "This is ridiculous…utterly ridiculous…"

"You could say that…I mean I could go out and try to find this…you said she's going by Ladybug?"

"Yeah…"

"I could try and find her Kwami and we can figure out a plan for you two to meet up or something…," he suggested.

"We might not have time for that. Unless you can sense where the other Kwami is?"

"Nope. It would be total guess work unless she transforms."

"Definitely don't have time for that…and she didn't seem all that confident really…how did Ivan end up like that anyways?"

"Well…the Butterfly Brooch operates on emotions…"

"Kim got him worked up…and then getting punished for someone else's actions…wouldn't be that difficult to get him worked up enough to call the original back…and then Ladybug and I can beat him again and she can capture and purify the Akuma…that would get rid of the copies, right?"

"Well…yeah that would work but you're seriously gonna get him upset again for this?"

"It's the only option right now," she snapped. "I just have to hope that the little red bundle of nerves doesn't call it quits…"

Not far away from Le Gran Paris, the Ladybug Earrings had been returned to their jewellery box and the would-be Ladybug was weeping on her bedroom floor. Elsewhere, a man in a dimly lit basement was cackling madly as an infected butterfly fazed into the gem at the top of his staff for safe keeping.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Chloé got a call from the school. Mr Damocles assured her that school was back in session, thanks to the hard work of anonymous construction workers. She thanked him for the update and sent out a mass text to her classmates, letting them know that school was open. Adrien was the only one who responded. He apologized, saying that he was on lockdown.

"That's no good," she snapped when she read the message. She wrote a quick note and looked at Plagg. The Kwami popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and she groaned. "I'm not carrying that Camembert around. You can deal with better smelling cheese outside of this room." She grabbed her things and headed out.

"Oh, come on!" Plagg whined when they were alone in the elevator. "Camembert is the best smelling thing in the world!"

"It smells like someone tried and failed to clean and repurpose a barn," she griped. "Now a good strong but nice smelling cheese…like Vacherin Mont d'Or or anything with an herbal aroma…though I usually prefer sushi."

"Interesting word choice…and you have bad taste in cheese! Give me the strong scent of a dairy farm and chemical reactions any day," the Kwami raved, clearly salivating. "But you sound like you would have enjoyed the cheese one of my last holders made himself…shame he never shared the recipe."

"I know cheesemakers, if you can describe it well enough, they might be able to recreate it," she offered. "But yeah, I will not be walking around smelling like some American farmer who uses too much cheap cologne to try and smell richer than they are. So, the Camembert and other members of the barnyard cheese family are going to be restricted to private quarters or parties."

"Okay, fine…," he relented. "As long as it's cheese…I'd prefer a gooey wheel of Camembert, but I guess I can compromise."

"Glad we came to an agreement," she sighed, opening her purse just as the elevator ride was almost over. "All right, elevator ride's over, get in." The creature whined a little, but flew into her purse just before the doors opened. She went into the lobby of the hotel and noticed that either she was early enough that Sabrina hadn't arrived yet or her friend had decided to help her injured father. Sure enough, she got a text from Sabrina just as she was exiting the hotel saying that she would meet Chloé at the school after helping her father get ready with his injured arm.

Again, and mostly because of the road issues, Chloé waved her driver off and headed for the school on foot. When she was well out of sight of the hotel, she ducked into an alley and opened her purse. "I have a nice gooey unpasteurized wheel of Camembert waiting for you at lunch if you do this without complaining."

"Make it two and I'll do whatever you want," the black creature and licked his lips. She nodded and pulled the note out of her purse before hiding her bags.

"I can arrange that," she sighed. "Claws out." She transformed and picked up the note, tucking it into the space between her boot and the suit. She headed to the Agreste manor by the rooftops, waving at people who noticed her and called out. Catastrophe had to pause a few times to reassure concerned citizens that she and Ladybug would take care of the monsters. She landed after a few minutes on Adrien's window sill. She saw her friend pacing his room and she tapped on his window lightly. He turned and his eyes went wide when he saw her. He hurried to open the window and she dropped into the room.

"What…what are you doing here?" he asked. She pulled out the note. "What's that…?"

"I got a request from a friend of yours while I was out looking for the source of those statues," she lied easily. "She specifically said that a certain prince was trapped in an ivory prison and needed rescuing." She held the note out to him and he read it.

"I looked into it…if you show up for school today but your father doesn't let you go after…he'll get in trouble with the law…?" he read aloud. "You mean…Chloé sought you out…just to take me to school?"

"If that's what she meant by rescuing," she laughed. "Make your decision, we have to get a move on before school starts. Where are you enrolled?"

"L'école Françoise DuPont," he answered quickly, grabbing his school bag.

"Okay then, hang on tight. We're going all the way there so the 'guards' can't stop you," she said, grabbing him by the waist. He put his arms around her neck and she used her staff to vault out his window and to the school. She set him down just inside the property. "Good luck," she told him. "Maybe you'll find a princess charming to properly rescue you later." She bowed a little and hurried off back to the alley where she hid her stuff. "Claws in," she said quietly when she was sure there were no witnesses, dropping her transformation. Plagg immediately made a noise and she gave him a look. "Remember our deal."

"I hate transforming…," he mumbled. "But the cheese…"

"Exactly," she said with a smirk, opening her purse for him to hide in. She then hurried to school and paused, seeing Ivan and several of their classmates talking. She walked over, glancing around for Adrien. He must have gone to hide from his bodyguard and his father's secretary in case they caught up with him. Everyone was pestering Ivan for details on his experience as a monster.

"I'm sorry…I wasn't myself," he mumbled. Chloé scoffed, knowing it would be easy to get him upset enough to get that butterfly's attention and clean this up.

"Once a monster," she bit. "Always a monster." He stood and got in her face. She smirked at him and he stormed off. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out~!" she called after him and he slammed the door to the locker room behind him. It was only a matter of time then. She looked for Adrien again and spotted Marinette running after Ivan. That perfect little brat was going to throw a kink in things. Alya marched over to her.

"How could you say that to Ivan? You're the real Stoneheart!" the girl shouted.

"Ugh…so I'm the one who broke Sabrina's dad's arm, am I?" she snapped. "Look, just because your footage of those lame superheroes was shown on TV, doesn't mean you can get so high and mighty." She saw the girl's fist clench and she chanced another glance around, trying not to look nervous. She could take Alya, but she'd rather not get into a fight.

"You little…," Alya muttered.

"Look out, she's angry!" she taunted. "She's going to split her underwear and turn into a huge muscly monster!"

"Hey, Chloé!" she heard Adrien call out from the door. He must have slipped around to come in through the front since she'd dropped him off before any other students had arrived.

"Adrien!" She gasped, trying to seem surprised that he was there. "You made it!" She ran over to him. He nodded and they hurried to the classroom as other students realized who he was. She tried to get rid of them, knowing that he didn't get much interaction with anyone else. When they got to the classroom, she showed him his seat. "It's not by the door, like we talked about, but it's right in front of me," she assured him grinned and sat down beside Nino, who made a face. Sabrina came into the room and chewed a little. Chloé realized she was chewing gum and she was tempted to stop her from doing anything.

"Thanks, Chloé," Adrien said lightly before turning to Nino and offering his hand. "Uh…hey. I'm Adrien."

"You're friends with Chloé then?" He asked as Sabrina started to put her gum right in Marinette's seat.

"Hey! What's that all about?" Adrien demanded, standing. He glared at Chloé and she shrugged.

"The brats that sit there need to learn how things work around here," she sighed. "We're just commanding a bit of respect."

"You think that's really necessary?" Adrien groaned as Sabrina sat down, the gum firmly in place. Adrien immediately went to try and remove the gum and she rolled her eyes.

"You've got a lot to learn about school culture…"

"Hey!" Marinette shouted, coming into the room at just the right moment. "What are you doing?!" Adrien froze, searching for words.

"I…uh…," he trailed off lamely and Sabrina laughed. Chloé joined her, trying to make sure that Marinette knew who was really responsible for the gum. The girl set her mouth in a scowl and glared at all three of them. Not the intended result, if Chloé was honest. She was fine with being disliked so long as people respected her enough to give her what she wanted, but she wasn't okay with the idea of anyone disliking Adrien.

"Okay, I get it," Marinette growled. "Good job, you three." She shoved Adrien aside and started trying to get the gum off her seat. "Very. Funny."

"No, no!" Adrien tried. "I was trying to take it off!"

"Oh really?" She snapped. Sabrina laughed again and Chloé jabbed her in the side.

"You're friends with Chloé, I see," Marinette said with such malice it almost hurt Chloé to hear.

"Why do people keep saying it like that…?" he mumbled, going back to his seat.

"See what we mean about respect?" Sabrina laughed. Chloé jabbed her again. She glanced over to see Marinette cover the gum with a kerchief. Alya fiddled on her phone and the pair seemed to be exchanging ruthless gossip about Adrien. Chloé glared at Sabrina.

"Why didn't you tell them it was Chloé's idea?" Nino asked Adrien quietly. Chloé almost argued that Sabrina did it on her own, but since usually Sabrina only did things with her desires in mind, that wouldn't do much good.

"I've known Chloé since I was a little kid…," Adrien sighed. "I know she's not perfect…but I can't just throw her under the bus…she's practically my sister…for all intents…she's my only friend…"

"Okay then," Nino sighed. "I'm Nino, and it's time for you to make some new friends, Dude." Mme Bustier came into the room just then and everyone settled in their seats. Chloé glanced around to see that Ivan wasn't in the room. Maybe Marinette hadn't completely ruined things after all. Mylène slipped into the room just before the roll call started. The girl exchanged a look with the teacher, who smiled sympathetically.

"All right then, everyone settled?" Mme Bustier asked when Mylène was in her seat. "Agreste, Adrien?" Adrien perked up, but only seemed confused. Chloé was just about to lean forward and tell him how roll call worked, when Nino did it for her.

"You say 'present'," the boy whispered. Adrien jumped to his feet and lifted his hand.

"Uh, present!" he gasped out. His reaction caused all the other students to laugh and Adrien sank into his seat, blushing. Nino patted his shoulder and Mme Bustier smiled gently.

"Bourgeois, Chloé?"

"Present," Chloé sighed, lifting her hand.

"Bruel, Ivan?" The door was thrown into the room and part of the wall crumbled around it.

"Present!" Ivan shouted as his giant stone form stomped into the room. "Mylène?" he called, stepping towards the girl. Everyone started screaming and scrambling to exit the classroom. Mylène shouted in pain as Ivan grabbed her.

"Let go of me, Ivan!" Mylène gasped.

"I'm not Ivan anymore," he rumbled. "I'm Cœur de Pierre." Chloé ducked under her desk, dragging Sabrina to the floor with her. Sabrina scrambled for her phone, but Chloé shushed her.

"Why are you doing this?"

"So, you and I can be together forever!" He turned for the wall, about to trample a stunned Marinette and probably a few others. She felt Plagg fly into her jacket and she nodded.

"Call your father and get out of here," she hissed to Sabrina before rushing to the front of the class. "Hey, Stoney!" she shouted, distracting the villain long enough for everyone to get out of his way. He grabbed her tightly and broke through the wall. "Please don't have called it quits, Ladybug…," she mumbled.

"Put us down, Ivan!" Mylène shouted.

"I can bust up the ground so you can get free…," Plagg offered quietly.

"No…we need to be discreet…," she mumbled. "Someone could see you." Cœur de Pierre started stomping towards the Eiffel Tower. "Is my phone still in my pocket?" she whispered.

"It's in your purse back at the school," Plagg reminded her. She cursed, realizing that she did, in fact, put her phone in her purse when the bell rang so she wouldn't be distracted.

"Ivan!" Mylène cried out. "Where are we going?!"

"To deliver a message," he replied. "Then we'll be brought together forever by a pretty black butterfly."

"All this lovey-dovey stuff is making me sick," Chloé griped, though her nausea was from how tightly he was squeezing her. He tightened his grip on her and she groaned in pain.

"Don't worry, little monster," he laughed. "I'm gonna take care of you, too." She cringed, trying to catch her breath.

"Ladybug!" she shouted. "Help!" She looked around, starting to seriously worry when she didn't see any sign of red and black. The entire way to the tower, there was no sign of her partner. They got to the tower and he leapt onto the first level of platforms. She saw a police barricade and her father holding up a megaphone.

"I demand my daughter's safe return!" the mayor called. Cœur de Pierre made a noise and lifted her over his head.

"Y-You can put me down gently, maybe? You've made your point…," she tried.

"You know what?" he laughed. "You're welcome to her!" He threw her towards the ground and she screamed.

"Now would be the time to transform!" Plagg gasped. She shook her head and continued screaming, feeling as if her heart had already stopped. She saw a flash of red and her collision with the ground was halted as Ladybug caught her. It took a moment for her to really register that she wasn't a smear on the pavement.

"You're safe now," Ladybug assured her and she snapped out of it.

"T-Thanks, Ladybug…," she mumbled, realizing that she had her arms tightly wrapped around the heroine's neck. She let go, trying to hide that she was blushing. She shakily stood and Ladybug stepped towards the Eiffel Tower, spinning her yo-yo. She caught her breath and went to her father. He caught her in a tight hug and she groaned. "Daddy…not so tight…"

"My little princess…you're safe!" he gasped out. She wriggled out of his grasp. "Chloé, darling?"

"I have to go to the bathroom…," she muttered, covering her mouth to suppress the returning nausea. She hurried past her father and ducked behind a vehicle to lose her stomach. When she finished, she looked around for witnesses.

"Maybe you should sit this one out…," Plagg suggested. "Humans aren't supposed to look green…"

"Shut up," she snapped. "Ladybug needs help. Claws out." She transformed and went around to join Ladybug. "Sorry it took so long, Ladybug."

"It's fine…," the red hero sighed. "We need to—"

"We're clear to attack!" Officer Raincomprix shouted, signalling his officers to fire at the tower. Catastrophe gasped and turned around.

"Stop! He still has a hostage!" She shouted at them.

"And besides, you know that's only going to make it worse!" Ladybug gasped.

"I have a plan, unlike you!" Roger argued. "Step aside and let the pros do their thing! You've already shown that you can't handle this!" Ladybug slumped at his words and she reached for her earrings.

"He…he's right…if I had captured the Akuma yesterday, none of this would have happened," she mumbled. "I knew I wasn't right for this…"

"Oh no you don't," Catastrophe snapped. "If it weren't for you, the mayor would be planning a funeral! We have powers they don't, so without us they can't fix anything. We just have to do this and show them how wrong they are to doubt you."

"Okay," Ladybug said with a smile. A loud coughing filled the air and they looked to see Cœur de Pierre hacking and struggling to breathe. He fell back as a swarm of black butterflies flew out of his mouth and flew into a shape of a head. All Catastrophe could think was that their opponent was much more powerful than they thought.

"People of Paris, listen carefully," the head said loudly. "I am Hawkmoth."

"Hawkmoth?" The heroes questioned.

"I thought we were dealing with a butterfly…," Catastrophe muttered.

"Maybe he figured a butterfly isn't intimidating enough…," Ladybug shrugged.

"Ladybug, Chartreux, give me the Ladybug Earrings and the Cat Ring now," the head continued. Catastrophe and ladybug exchanged a confused look and shrugged in sync. "You've done enough damage to these innocent people!"

"He did not…!" Catastrophe gasped. Ladybug clapped a little, stepping forward with new confidence.

"Nice try, Hawkmoth," she said loudly. "But we know who the bad guy is, so let's not reverse the roles here. Without you none of these innocent victims would be transformed." She pointed at the head and spun her yo-yo with her other hand. "Hawkmoth! No matter how long it takes, we will find you! And then you will give us your Miraculous!" She swung out her yo-yo and used it to vault herself into the air. "Time to de-evilize!" She shouted and her yo-yo began glowing. She swung it and somehow caught all of the butterflies with it.

Catastrophe stared at her in awe, her gut wrenching with more than just leftover discomfort from her capture. "Let me make this promise to you," Ladybug called out as she landed on the tower. "No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Catastrophe will do everything in our power to keep you safe!" She vowed, tapping her yo-yo and releasing a swarm of pure white butterflies that flew out over Paris in a powerful wave.

"Oh no…I think I'm in love," Catastrophe muttered. The crowd of police and witnesses started cheering behind her and she started forward. Cœur de Pierre stood up behind Ladybug and started climbing.

"Help me!" Mylène shouted.

"You'll never take Mylène from me!" Cœur de Pierre shouted before letting out an echoing roar. "Come to me, my stone beings!" He started climbing and they were soon surrounded by stone monsters. Catastrophe joined Ladybug as the monsters started the climb.

"We're surrounded," she pointed out. "What do we do now? It's not like we can attack him." She was in new territory, having no choice but to basically be the sidekick, but if she was honest, it was a nice change to let someone else do the leading and the thinking.

"Yes, but we know where the Akuma is," Ladybug pointed out.

"In his clenched fist," she sighed. "The one he's holding Mylène with. Where are we going with this?"

"Well, we know he's in love with her…," she trailed off, thinking. "That's it! We don't separate them! We bring them closer together! They're made for one another, it's just that they don't know it yet."

"Okay…," Catastrophe sighed, not following Ladybug's line of thought. "Wait…you mean get them to kiss?" she gasped after a second. Even if Ladybug didn't know them personally, Catastrophe could honestly agree on the fact that those two were made for each other. Ladybug nodded and jumped after their target. "Something tells me crazy plans are gonna be a staple in this relationship…"

"Help! I'm scared of heights!" she heard Mylène cry out and rolled her eyes.

"She's afraid of everything," she muttered before following after Ladybug.

"Everything's gonna be all right!" Ladybug shouted to Mylène. Catastrophe went to the other side of the tower to try and cut off the stone enemies. She heard Ladybug call for her power and Catastrophe blocked an attack with her staff. In that moment, she decided to see about getting some fencing or some sort of Kung Fu training.

She looked up when she heard Mylène scream. The girl fell as she was suddenly let go by Ivan and a rock fell with her. Catastrophe decided to prioritize her classmate's safety over the rock and she climbed a little to get some room to leap after the girl. The rock fell in front of her face and she used her baton to bat it up to Ladybug before trying to extend it to reach Mylène.

Before her eyes, Ivan detransformed and she cursed. "Catastrophe! Take care of Ivan! I've got Mylène!" Ladybug shouted to her and Catastrophe nodded, landing on a beam and leaping towards the larger boy. She grabbed him and grunted, straining to hold him as she extended her baton towards the tower. She didn't gain any traction and tried another idea, swinging just enough to attempt to slide down the leg of the tower.

"Cataclysm!" she shouted, summoning her power in her free hand. She dragged her claws across the metal when they hit the leg. As she'd hoped, the metal crumbled just enough to slow their fall. She looked up to see Ladybug grabbing Mylène and opening a parachute before capturing a released Akuma with her yo-yo. Catastrophe got Ivan safely to the ground at the same time Ladybug and Mylène landed. Ladybug took the parachute off and released the butterfly before throwing the parachute into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" She called out and the parachute turned into a swarm of ladybugs that repaired everything they touched. Catastrophe watched in awe as high rises were reconstructed instantly.

"Are you seeing this?" She asked softly. Ladybug nodded and grinned. Catastrophe bent to pick up the wad of paper that had been a rock moments ago. As the ladybugs disappeared, she held the paper to her partner. "I'm not good with people. You got this?" Ladybug nodded and went towards Ivan and Mylène. "I'll see you later."

She hurried away from the scene and slipped back to where she'd hidden before. "Claws in." Plagg started to whine, but she levelled a look at him and he went quiet before hiding in her jacket. She went back to her father and feigned surprise at the repaired city. "Okay…What did I miss?"

"My darling!" her father gasped. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine…thanks to Ladybug."

School was back in session after lunch and as she approached the school, Chloé actually saw Gabriel standing outside with Adrien. She started to approach, but she saw relief on Adrien's face and then heard Gabriel apologizing to Adrien and instructing him to avoid sneaking out again. She sighed in relief when it was clear that her friend wasn't about to be forced back into isolation. Satisfied with the situation, she went to the classroom. Marinette and Alya were sitting in her row. Sabrina came in behind her and she folded her arms.

"You're in the wrong seat," Chloé snapped.

"Go on, get lost!" Sabrina pressed, starting for the row. Chloé stopped her.

"'All That is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing'," Marinette said lightly. Chloé frowned deeply.

"What's that supposed mean?"

"It means that I'm not putting up with your crud anymore, Chloé!" Marinette snapped, standing. "And neither is anyone else around here, so take your attitude and go on, get lost!" She pointed at the front row and everyone in the room started laughing. Chloé went red and shoved Sabrina into the front row. She sat down by the aisle and tried to ignore the situation. Apparently, something had happened to get Marinette to grow a spine.

After school, it started raining and Chloé hurried out to the waiting car. She paused before getting in to see that Marinette and Adrien were talking under the awning. She hoped that Adrien was throwing her under the bus. If Marinette knew that he wasn't to blame for the gum situation, maybe he could have some other friends. The realization of the fact that her reputation was damaging Adrien's just because he was her friend stung.

"Mademoiselle?" Her driver called. "You'll catch a cold standing in the rain…"

"Right…," she mumbled, getting into the car.

"Jealous?" Plagg laughed quietly.

"Shut up Plagg…I want him to be able to have friends…"

Chapter Text

The school day had been interrupted again by an amateur magician in their school getting told off by his strict teacher. For some reason he was bent on making the Eiffel Tower disappear. It was the third week of Hawkmoth's terrorism and Chloé was glad that her teachers were afraid to discipline her for poor attendance because of her father's position. In the middle of the fight, it started raining and something felt off about it. She tried to ignore it as she and ladybug struggled against the magician. Finally, they defeated the Akuma and parted ways.

As if the rain had been on a timer, when she dropped her transformation and went to feed Plagg, the weather cleared up. Chloé headed for the school and saw Marinette of all people hurrying to the building as well. Shocked, Chloé paused outside the school.

"You don't think…?" She mumbled. "No…there's no way she could be her…," she shook off the suspicion that Marinette might be Ladybug and hurried to class. Marinette was making a scene at the front of the class, so Chloé slipped in while the teacher was distracted.

"Accidentally locked yourself in the bathroom again?" Mme Mendeleev accused Marinette and the girl stammered out a lame excuse about taking a dog to the vet. The stench of cheap perfume filled the room. "Thank you, Rose. But I don't think our classroom needs extra refreshing."

"Talk about fish funk…," Chloé muttered as Marinette made her way to her seat. She looked at the girl as subtly as she could. Marinette fit some of the physical notes of Ladybug, with her dark hair and blue eyes. The most suspicious thing was that Marinette had suddenly started skipping classes and being abnormally late, making poor excuses and running out at the same time Chloé had to get away to transform to help Ladybug. The teacher came back to her desk, instructing Rose to go to the principal's office.

The girl packed her things and left the room while the teacher gave a demonstration on lab safety using Rose's perfume. Chloé almost felt sorry for Rose, simply because that particular teacher had a tendency to overreact. Chloé found herself staring at Marinette, hoping that she was wrong to suspect her. If she was right, then that would make things difficult on every front.

After classes let out, Chloé headed for her car, talking to Sabrina about her schedule for the afternoon. She was supposed to join her father for a press conference in the Hotel's ballroom welcoming Prince Ali to the city. She heard something like a squeak or a groan by her foot as she walked and she looked to see what the noise was. A small red creature that nearly looked like a plush doll with black spots on its head was on the ground. Having one of her own, she immediately recognized it as a Kwami despite the little red creature going rigid.

She stooped to pick it up, looking around to see if she could spot anyone looking for something nearby. No one seemed that interested, but Sabrina reached to touch the Kwami, questioning it. Chloé gave one of her fake laughs and stuffed the creature into her purse with Plagg.

"I'll bet Prince Ali will never have seen a toy like that before! And he'll be so impressed by both it and me he'll forget all about those sick kids!" she said dramatically, quickening her pace to the car.

"Did I hear you say Prince Ali?" Rose called, hurrying to catch up with her. Chloé grimaced as she was about to open the car door.

"Fish funk…," she muttered, turning to face her classmate. "Not to you."

"Prince Ali's staying at Chloé's dad's hotel," Sabrina informed everyone within earshot.

"I'm going to meet him right now," Chloé sighed. "Of course, Le Grand Paris is the only hotel fit for a Prince."

"Well, please, could you give him a special letter from me?" Rose held out a rancid smelling envelope and Chloé resisted the urge to cover her nose as she pushed it away.

"No way I'm subjecting the Prince to that fish funk. Do us all a favour and buy some perfume that doesn't smell like a fish market," she snapped and got in the car. "Drive!" She rolled up the privacy window of the limo just as a small sneeze came from her purse.

"Whoa, Tikki are you okay?" she heard Plagg ask.

"So, your name's Tikki?" Chloé asked, opening her purse.

"Something was in the rain…," the red Kwami mumbled. "So, you're Catastrophe?"

"Yes, and if something was in the rain, how are you sick but not Plagg?" she questioned, gently pulling Tikki out of her bag. "And is there some way to help you get better? Because if you're sick then Ladybug can't--Oh my god! I have to get you back to Ladybug ASAP!"

"One issue at a time, Kid," Plagg laughed. "Obviously I'm just tougher than the little Sugar Cube."

"Don't--" Tikki was cut off by a sharp sneeze. "Don't call me Sugar Cube…"

"But yeah, I don't know otherwise," Plagg shrugged. "I do know a place we can take her to get healed."

"We can't!" Tikki argued.

"I can keep a secret," Chloé sighed. "We have to get you healed and then back to Ladybug. Hopefully no one else will get Akumatized today and we can somehow get you back to her without me finding out who Ladybug is…"

"Right," Plagg agreed. He gave her an address and she started to toll down the window.

"Does this guy do anything for humans? Like massage therapy or acupuncture?" Chloé asked, contemplating how to get there.

"Chakra readings," Plagg provided.

"Great," she sighed. "Now hide so you two aren't seen when I roll the window down." The two Kwami nodded and ducked out of sight as she rolled the window down and pulled out her phone to look like she'd been on it. "I'm not going to the press conference. I just got word about a supposedly amazing masseuse and he's only free this afternoon." She gave the address and rolled the window back up before calling her father.

It took some convincing to get out of the press conference, but her father eventually caved to her whim and the assurance that the prince could meet her later on. She hung up just as the car pulled up to a building. She quickly got out and started into the building. A horn beeped behind her and she turned.

"I'll be waiting here, mademoiselle," the driver assured her.

"That won't be necessary. The weather is nice now, so I'll just walk home when I'm done here. I'll call if I change my mind," she told him firmly and he drove away. "Honestly…now where is this guy's shop?" Plagg pointed the way and she knocked when they arrived. An old sounding voice called for her to enter and she went inside, closing the door behind herself.

"What can I do for you?" A familiar old man asked from the centre of the living area.

"My name is Chloé Bourgeois, and I was told you could help me…you see, I found this really exotic animal and she's sick…" she pulled Tikki out of her purse. "There aren't any vets in the area that can treat this particular type of creature, so I was hoping you could help…"

"Why, yes…I can be of assistance. Please have some tea while I get my things," he started for the wall. Chloé watched him carefully. She recognized him from the first day of school, when she helped him after he'd fallen and everyone around was ignoring or making his situation worse. There was hot tea ready on a table, so she helped herself. It tasted different, but she assumed it was some Chinese blend and it actually tasted nice, so she wasn't about to insult it.

"I was also wondering…I heard that you also do…Acupuncture? My massage therapist recently moved and we haven't found anyone else just yet…," she started, not exactly lying about the masseuse. Even with Ladybug's power repairing everything, her muscles were tighter than ever with all the exercise and it was not pleasant sitting all day at school.

"I perform Chakra Readings, actually. After I heal your pet, I can see what needs to be done for you," he offered, pulling a gong that looked much too heavy for a man his age to lift off a stand. "Please, place her on that pillow and we will begin." Chloé nodded and put the teacup down to do as instructed. She watched curiously as he performed some kind of ritual over Tikki. She almost said something when it seemed like Tikki was getting worse, rather than better, but then the little red Kwami suddenly gasped and flew into the air, grinning.

"Oh, thank you!" Chloé gasped when Tikki actually squeezed her arm in confirmation that she was okay. She smiled a little and turned to the old man. He was putting the gong away.

"It's no problem. Now…your reading. You can put your bag on the hook there and please lay on this mat face down," he said, indicating the mat that the pillow was sitting on. Chloé nodded and followed his instructions, letting Tikki fly into her purse with Plagg. For good measure, she also put her phone in the bag.

Plagg and Tikki talked quietly in Chloé's bag while the Guardian did the reading. The only thing stopping Plagg from leaving their hiding spot was that he hadn't told Chloé that they were with the Guardian and the old man knew exactly who she was and what Tikki was. He'd clearly been given out in a hurry. He'd almost hoped when he realized that she was a blond that he would be in a familiar home with Duusu and Pollen to keep him company. But as was usual with a Miraculous that was only complementary to the one required for a situation: he'd been put with a hot-headed wildcard.

Chloé's phone went off with an alert from that new crime alert app that came out when Hawkmoth first appeared. Plagg looked at Tikki, worried. She nodded and they checked the alert. The hotel was under attack by an Akuma with hypnotizing perfume.

"You don't think…?" Tikki muttered.

"It has to be Rose…," Plagg groaned. "I'd yell at her over this but she actually wasn't that mean, I thought…"

"Yeah…calling her perfume 'fish funk' shouldn't be enough to get her that worked up…something must have happened after we were in the car…," Tikki agreed. "Do you think we should warn her? We're not supposed to reveal anything to protect our Holders, but…"

"They're almost done," Plagg sighed, tapping a button on the app. "This…Princesse Fragrance doesn't seem like much of a threat just yet…she's just after the Prince and…oh no…"

"What?" Tikki looked at the app. "She's after Chloé too…this is the third one…"

"I know…but the second time that was someone actually mad at her father and aiming at her to get to him," Plagg explained.

"And Ivan? My Holder told me that Chloé had been targeted by him when he was turned back into Coeur de Pierre."

"She drew attention to herself to save her classmates from being trampled," he defended.

"Come back later this week," they heard Fu tell Chloé. "Your energies are very out of balance. Too out of balance to align in one session."

"Thank you. I already feel better anyways. How much do I owe you?"

"No charge for you, Miss."

"Oh…okay then. Thanks again," Chloé said lightly, picking up the bag and hurrying out. It was several minutes before she opened her purse to let them out. The Kwamis started talking together, trying to relay two different messages at the same time. "Whoa…calm down you two…one at a time."

"Someone got akumatized while you were busy!" Plagg said. "Hypnotic perfume. She's after you and Prince Ali."

"Me…? Don't tell me Rose got her panties in a twist over the perfume…I could have been a lot meaner about that fish funk…"

"We need to find Ladybug!" Tikki reminded them. "We don't have time for a complicated 'get me close so no one sees and you don't find out who she is' plan…if she saw you pick me up or someone pointed her in that direction, she probably went to the hotel to get me back from you."

"Right…And if it's perfume, we need to make a pit stop. Claws out," she called and Plagg was sucked into the ring.

Marinette was in a panic. She had no idea where her Kwami was, and with an Akuma to capture, Ladybug was needed. Sabrina had seen Chloé pick up and pocket a 'toy' that fit Tikki's description and she'd been heading for the press conference at the hotel. When she got to the hotel and managed to get inside, there was no sign of Chloé and moments after she started her search, a transformed Rose sauntered in. She managed to distract the new villain long enough for the Mayor to get the Prince to safety, she hoped.

She frustrated the villain enough to be chased to the roof, where she ended up cornered. She rolled away from a shot of terribly scented perfume, trying to get away without being hit. She finally dove into the pool, trying to hold her breath as long as she could. When she was just about out of air, she saw a familiar clawed hand reaching into the water. She took the hand and Catastrophe pulled her out of the water.

"Are you all right?" The blonde asked her as she caught her breath.

"Y-Yes…where's Princesse Fragrance?"

"She got bored with you and flew away when I got here. That was really brave, letting her corner you like that."

"Um…thanks," Marinette mumbled, looking for a towel. One was dropped onto her head and peaked out from under it to see Catastrophe smiling a little at her.

"Here you go. It's not the best weather for swimming, so you should dry off quickly. Ladybug and I will take things from here," she said lightly before vaulting away. Marinette took a minute to dry off a bit with the towel and she spotted Tikki floating nearby, perfectly healthy.

"Tikki! But how…?"

"It's a long story…," the Kwami said lightly. "Catastrophe asked me to bring this to you." She produced a nose plug.

"Catastrophe? But it was Chloé who picked you up…?"

"I managed to get away from her without being seen, and I got to the healer on my own…then when I was looking for you, Catastrophe found me and gave me this nose plug for you. So, you don't get hypnotized."

"Okay…," she took the nose plug. "I was so worried about you…"

"I know…but we have an Akuma to capture."

"Right. Spots on!"

Catastrophe paused in her pursuit of the villain. She'd been right in her suspicions about Marinette after all. And that complicated everything. She shook her head, trying to keep it from bothering her. If she changed how she treated Ladybug, she could give away that she knew who her partner really was, or worse her own identity. She had to focus on helping get Rose back to normal. She spotted her quarry and the silver car that the villain was chasing.

"Gotcha…," she muttered, placing her staff in the villain's path to vault forward. With the nose plugs, she wasn't worried about getting hit by the perfume, so she jumped right in, aiming to give the car time to get away. "You know, there are better ways to get a guy's attention."

"How dare you?!" Princesse Fragrance gasped. "Do you know who I am?!"

"Yeah…you're Rose Lavillant, student at L'école Francoise Dupont, most recent victim of our local superpowered terrorist," she rattled off. "Honestly, he's just using you, Kid." She was covered in a cloud of pink perfume smoke. She grimaced and waved it off.

"How?!"

"I'm not about to let you attack a foreign dignitary," Catastrophe sighed, pointing to the nose plug protecting her from the hypnotic smell. She spotted red in the sky and smiled a little. "Maybe we can talk about what's got you in such a foul mood?"

"I have a better idea!" The villain shouted, raising her perfume bottle to the sky. "I'll just turn the entire city into an army to serve me and the Prince!" Catastrophe moved to try and talk her down, but Princesse Fragrance leapt into the air. The villain landed on a roof and started spraying her perfume into the sky.

"Catastrophe! The fireworks display!" Ladybug shouted as she headed for the roof Princesse Fragrance was on. The red heroine tackled the villain to the ground and tried to grab the bottle from her. Catastrophe gauged her jump and found that the barge with the fireworks was conveniently in range. She made the jump, using her staff to make it easier.

"Cataclysm!" She shouted in mid-air, summoning her power and striking the launch mechanism when she landed on the barge. The display malfunctioned and started firing the explosives into the cloud of perfume. The flammable gas exploded above the city and Catastrophe went to help Ladybug.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted just as Catastrophe joined her. A spotted balloon fell into Ladybug's hand. "Think you can hold her off while I figure this out?"

"At your service," Catastrophe said lightly, moving to occupy the enemy with her staff.

"Got it!" A tube flew into Catastrophe's hand and she realized what the plan was. She ducked and got in close enough to use the makeshift cork into the opening of the perfume bottle. Princesse Fragrance jumped back, shouting in rage. She tried to unplug her weapon when Ladybug's yo-yo flew in and hooked around the object. Ladybug tugged on the yo-yo and slammed the bottle on the ground to release the Akuma. She then captured the butterfly and purified it. After Ladybug reversed everything, the duo fist bumped and Catastrophe carried Rose to the ground.

"Ladybug, do you have time to find or contact the mayor and let him know everything's taken care of and the Prince is safe? I'll take care of the girl."

"All right," Ladybug agreed and flew away.

"What happened…?" Rose asked softly.

"That's what I was about to ask you," Catastrophe sighed. "What happened while you were under Hawkmoth's control doesn't matter…he took advantage of you being upset about something Chloé Bourgeois did?"

"She's terrible! Making fun of my perfume and then having Sabrina tear up my letter because I'd scented it…"

"Did she instruct Sabrina to do that?"

"…Well, no…she was in such a hurry to get to the press conference, she just said she wouldn't subject the Prince to my 'fish funk' and got in her car…Sabrina grabbed the letter when she was completely gone…"

"So maybe this was more of a misunderstanding," Catastrophe suggested before using her baton as a phone to call for a car. When the car was confirmed, she touched Rose's shoulder gently. "There's a car on the way to take you home. I have to get going, but you take care."

"You don't understand, Catastrophe," Rose argued. "Chloé is the meanest person in my school! And Sabrina doesn't do anything unless Chloé tells her to." Catastrophe started to say something in her own defence, but she knew that doing that would reveal her identity since her hero persona shouldn't have met her civilian self.

"You know them better than I would," she sighed. "Have a better day." She turned and vaulted away, considering what she'd just been told.

She landed in an alley near the Dupain-Cheng bakery and dropped her transformation. Plagg immediately started whining about being hungry. "Hush Plagg, we'll grab something from the bakery and then I've got some errands to run…," she sighed. She started to leave the alley, but saw Ladybug land on the roof, so she ducked back into hiding to make sure Marinette wouldn't spot her coming out of a random alley.

Chloé had spent the rest of the day making arrangements. The Prince was in Paris for the whole week for an international conference, so she managed to pull together a quick contest. The Prince thought it was a wonderful idea and his chaperone agreed that it would be good to get to know citizens of other countries outside of charity events. She also checked her class calendar to find that Rose's birthday was coming up, so she went and bought some decent smelling perfume at a store she figured Rose could afford. She had her butler write the note so her handwriting wouldn't be recognized, wishing her a happy birthday.

The next morning, the Prince came to the school with Chloé and she put the perfume on Rose's desk before sitting down in her own seat, offering Sabrina's seat to the Prince. When the whole class had arrived, she stood and introduced the Prince.

"Everyone, this is Prince Ali of the kingdom of Achu. He's visiting for the UN conference and several charity events this week," she said lightly. "Prince, would you like to say a few words?"

"Yes!" the Prince said brightly. "I will be in need of a guide through Paris during my limited free time here." Several members of the class perked up at his suggestion. "Miss Bourgeois suggested that I select a guide from her class. To do so, I will be collecting short stories from you all this afternoon. The one I enjoy most shall be my guide this week."

"I will also be using the letters as a creative writing grade," Mme Bustier added. "We've been discussing the structure of short stories this week, Prince Ali, so I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all. I was told this was your topic at the moment, and I would not want to disrupt your lessons. I have an event to get to, but I look forward to spending this afternoon reading your works." The Prince left with his chaperone and everyone began writing. When the class ended, the stories were turned in and Chloé heard Rose gushing to Juleka about both the contest and the mystery birthday gift. She followed to see if Rose liked the perfume and she wasn't disappointed. Not only did Rose like the scent, but everyone immediately started complimenting her on it.

Chapter Text

It started with a project for Biology, meant to do alone. Chloé knew that Sabrina would automatically do two separate assignments, one for herself and one for Chloé, but she wanted to at least try to do it for herself. She told Sabrina as much, but her friend was stubborn and confused by the decision, so she would have to beat Sabrina to turning in the assignment. It was a challenge that Chloé never would have decided to attempt if Plagg hadn't been pestering her over 'making' Sabrina do all her assignments.

Sure, it had started as a 'we're friends and friends help each other out' manipulation where she put in little effort to help Sabrina and the girl had been shy and reserved enough to never argue or realize what was going on, but now it was just habit. Occasionally, Chloé made excuses about being busy to placate Sabrina for assignments they should be working on together, and she would always buy something to bribe and give evidence to her claims. The worst of it was that she knew her teachers would realize what was going on with the two girls if they hadn't already when Chloé turned in her own work and it was terrible because she'd never written a report for herself.

The first step was to do research. The assignment was to pick an animal and write a report on its habits and way of living, a PowerPoint presentation was optional for extra credit. Chloé had decided not to go for the extra embarrassment of giving a poorly made presentation, even though it would enhance her grade. She was anticipating failing the assignment anyways, since it was her first attempt at doing her own work since homework assignments had shifted from colouring within the lines of a colouring book to any sort of actual work. She bought a notebook and went to the zoo. They had a new panther and she figured a cat would be easy enough to do research on (it was her alter-ego's theme animal after all) so she set to work. She found a bench near the panther paddock and watched it, taking notes in her new notebook.

"Doing a research project, Miss?" A male voice asked and she looked to see one of the zookeepers standing over her.

"Yes…for biology. Um…are you over this paddock…?" She asked, hoping she could get some information on how the animal lived in the wild. He nodded and sat beside her.

"Yes. I'm about to feed her, but I can spare some time if you have questions."

"Thank you…," she mumbled. Then, she launched into some questions that she thought would be relevant. He answered diligently and she took notes. When she ran out of questions, she noticed that the panther was pacing by a door in the paddock. "I think she wants something…"

"You're right. She was rescued from a collector who mistreated her, and she prefers to eat in private," the zookeeper explained, standing. "She must be getting impatient for dinner."

"Well, I'll let you get back to your job…thank you for taking the time to answer my questions," Chloé said lightly. Being nice seemed to be coming easier with Mr Chan doing those chakra readings. The weather was nice, so she decided to roam the zoo. She spotted Marinette sitting on a bench and talking to someone in her Bluetooth, so she went to a different area.

She found a picnic table and started looking over her notes. She vaguely heard Kim's voice arguing with someone. Chloé grumbled about Akumas and went to investigate. Kim was taunting the panther and arguing with the Zookeeper. The panther was ignoring her food and growling at Kim. This could be worse than an Akuma.

"Your friend's right, kiddo," the zookeeper tried to diffuse the situation, putting a comforting hand on the panther's back. "Now please leave. She needs peace and quiet while she eats and you're stressing her out."

"Aww," Kim taunted. "Stressed out, are we, Miss Panthie? You're talking about a wild animal, dude!"

"Hey!" Chloé snapped, getting between Kim and the glass. "Didn't you hear him? Animals have feelings too, but I guess an idiot like you can't realize that! Get out or I'll call the entire Police force down on you!" She pulled her phone out and started dialling.

"Come on, Max," Kim relented, putting up a hand. "Let's leave that poor widdle kitty alone with its angwy babysitters!" He left with Max, laughing. Chloé put her phone away and sighed.

"I'm sorry about him…and I'll let you get back to dinner…," she sighed. With that disaster averted, she went back about her work on the homework. She heard yelling and started to investigate. Alya was hiding behind a tree yelling and gesturing at someone on her Bluetooth.

"No! No!" Alya was shouting. "It's not awesome!"

"I can fix up a date for you guys!" She heard Marinette's voice and looked to see that Nino had joined Marinette on the bench. Chloé almost laughed at the situation, particularly when she was sure that she saw Adrien hiding in a bush nearby. The two hidden teens must have been coaching the other two through a date. Like Adrien especially had any experience with romance. She shook her head and turned away from the scene, ready to really get back to work on her homework. She looked up to see a black butterfly fluttering around.

"Oh no…," she gasped, following it. It flew to the panther paddock and phased through the glass that the zookeeper and panther were behind. "Seriously? Over a kid being a jerk?" She groaned and ducked into a nearby building. She glanced around for cameras and witnesses before calling for her transformation. "All right…first things first…let Marinette know something's going on, then evacuate the zoo." She hurried back to the group of her classmates. "You kids need to get out of here and find shelter, there's an Akuma on the loose!"

"Seriously?!" Nino gasped, standing up.

"Yes, get to safety. Ladybug and I will take care of this quickly and you can get back to your date," she said lightly before vaulting away, heading for the security station to let the faculty know to start the evacuation process. She then went to find Kim and Max. She found Max fleeing from a stampede of animals. She got between the boy and animals and the stampede abruptly stopped. "What on earth…?" She shrugged off her confusion and looked to see that Max had escaped. She nodded a little and went to find Kim. Ladybug joined her.

"You're on the scene early, Catastrophe," she said lightly.

"I was in the area and spotted a butterfly go through some glass," she explained. "I didn't see the target…but if these animals are an indicator….one of the zookeepers got targeted."

"That makes sense…so let's get this taken care of," Ladybug agreed. Catastrophe almost said that the villain would probably be a panther, but when she gave her presentation on panthers, Marinette might make the connection. It was dangerous enough for one of them to know the other's identity, and even more so if they both knew. She also couldn't say that she thought the villain might go after Kim. So, she did what she could and went after the boy herself.

"It's down to just the two of us, Kiddo," the panther growled as she spotted Kim on the bridge going towards the school, trying to outrun a panther with purple eyes. She recognized the bracelet on one of its paws and she started forward as Kim stumbled and fell. "And then there was one." He started to pounce, but Ladybug caught him with her yo-yo. Catastrophe tapped the end of her baton and produced a tracker. She ran to Kim as Ladybug tried to hold the villain with her yo-yo. She helped Kim up and put the tracker on his back.

"Hurry, go and hide in the first building you come to," she told him, pushing him towards the other side of the bridge. He took the prompt and broke into a sprint just as the panther transformed into an eagle and escaped.

"Oh great…he's a shapeshifter!" Ladybug groaned. "Where's Kim?"

"Well, let's see," Catastrophe sighed, opening up her baton to use the computer display and view the location of her tracker. If it weren't for the fact that Kim had been Ivan's original target, and he'd actually hassled a few others into becoming Akumatized, she would have reminded Marinette to be careful who she called by name. But they'd had to rescue his stupid muscly self, several times.

"Nice one," Ladybug commented and they headed for his location. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Marinette's family bakery. "We need a plan…since he can shapeshift, he might slip into the building when he sniffs out his prey."

"Hm…we could use something with his scent strongly on it as bait," she suggested. They would also have to mask their own scent somehow. Scent! She gasped a little and Ladybug looked at her.

"Something wrong, Catastrophe?" she asked and Catastrophe shook her head.

"No…I just realized something…we'll have to mask our own scents for baiting him to work," she deflected. She'd realized why the stampede stopped in front of her. They must have somehow known her scent and the zookeeper would possibly consider her an ally since she'd stepped in to stop Kim from upsetting the Panther. That could be problematic. "I do need to find a restroom though…too much food court food earlier."

"That's inconvenient, but I'm sure the bakery owners have a restroom you can use…"

"Right…," she laughed and they went inside. Naturally, the family had a moment of recognition for the heroines entering their establishment. "I know the situation is dire, but I have a feminine emergency…," she said softly to Marinette's mother. The woman nodded fervently and led her to a loft and then to the attached bathroom while Ladybug explained the situation to the baker.

"I'm sure Marinette won't mind if you use one of her pads or tampons…," the woman said gently. "You don't need anything for cramps?"

"Thank you very much, Madame…I'm fine as far as cramps are concerned," she assured her and the woman went back downstairs. Catastrophe went into the restroom and dropped her transformation.

"Okay, what's the deal?" Plagg griped.

"Is there any way my scent can be changed? I met the zookeeper and the animals reacted to my scent," she told him.

"Did you introduce yourself to him?"

"Well, no, but he looked familiar anyways…I think he's Alya's father. I know he won't remember…but I can't take the chance…especially since I'm in Ladybug's bathroom."

"Right…yeah, I can make you smell different…just focus on that when you transform…," he groaned.

"Thank you, Plagg…I just don't want to take any chances…," she sighed. He rolled his eyes. "All right…Claws out." She transformed again and hoped that it worked. She didn't think she smelled any different, but animals had more sensitive noses. When the requisite amount of time had passed for a trip to the bathroom, she headed back downstairs. The family pointed her towards the hall, saying Ladybug had already left to take care of things. "Thank you again," she told them before following after Ladybug.

"You okay?" Ladybug asked her when she got into the foyer, where her partner was putting Kim's sweat band on the banister.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Let's get this taken care of before Paris turns into a literal concrete jungle."

"Right." They went into the bakery to get a proper street view and Ladybug sprayed the room with air freshener. "To cover our scent so he won't immediately smell us."

"Good idea," she complimented. "Now we just need to figure out how to capture him…"

She looked out the windows and spotted an abandoned bus. Ladybug seemed to notice it as well and they nodded to each other. She heard something and pushed Ladybug out of sight. "He's coming," she explained.

They moved through the bakery to the hallway to divert the villain. A small ladybug flew through an opening in the doorframe and Ladybug trapped him in a pastry box. Catastrophe batted the box out of her hands just as a panther exploded out of it. They turned and fled through the bakery. She was really glad that Miraculous Ladybugs would fix everything, because she noticed the panther doing plenty of damage as he chased after them. They led him right into the bus and they hid between seats before he caught up. The panther padded past them and they slipped to the front of the bus.

"Okay, which one works the doors?" Ladybug muttered, pushing buttons uselessly. The panther turned on them and Catastrophe blocked him from attacking Ladybug. "Of course, nothing works! No keys!"

"Then I'll just take it out," Catastrophe called, using her staff to try and strike him down. He transformed into a ladybug to dodge the attack and then into a bear. She made a noise and dodged a swipe of his paw, sweeping her leg to try and make him lose his footing. He shifted the moment her leg hit his and a sparrow flew between her and Ladybug before returning to his panther form. He lost his own footing and shook his head.

"Transforming wears him out!" Ladybug gasped. She nodded and leapt over him, striking with her baton as she went. He dodged the blow and she called for her cataclysm before destroying the controls for the bus. The doors opened for just barely long enough as the machinery malfunctioned for Ladybug and Catastrophe to jump out of the confined quarters. A moment after they were free, the engine blew and the bus went still.

"Great. Now we just wait for him to wear himself out and we take his Akuma," Catastrophe laughed as they readied their weapons. The villain shifted into multiple animals in an attempt to escape the bus, but he eventually reverted to a panther and fell to the floor of the bus. "Well, that--" she broke off as the bus began rattling and the windows were filled with a leathery skin only seen in history books and movies. "No way."

"Looks like…," Ladybug groaned. They stepped back as the bus burst from the pressure of a giant Tyrannosaur filling it.

"That doesn't count!" she whined. "The T-Rex is extinct!"

"Apparently, those do count…," Ladybug moaned. "We need to hide. If Jurassic Park was right, those things can get pretty fast."

"It was the Raptor that clocked the fastest running speed…," Catastrophe pointed out. "The T-Rex is only fast because of its leg reach. Big head, little arms…lots of teeth. But Kim could outrun that thing over a short distance."

"Okay, Dino nerd," Ladybug joked. The dinosaur roared and walked through the remains of the bus. The pair of heroes made a run for it and the ground rumbled as they were pursued.

"Come on," Catastrophe called, sliding between the dinosaur's legs and to the shelter of a car. A moment later, Ladybug was beside her. "We need to wrap this up…I'm running out of time."

"Right. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted. A spotted car jack dropped into her hands. "Okay…what the heck?"

"Nothing popping out?" she guessed. "Well…what are those used for? The biting power of a T-Rex is nearly 57000 newtons according to the most recent numbers…"

"Propping up cars…it's a car jack," Ladybug sighed. "Are you just really into dinosaurs or something? Wait! Propping things up! You're a dino-genius kitty!"

"I try. So, what's the plan?"

"We floor him and get past those teeth." She nodded and they went to work. It took a moment to get the dino floored. Ladybug rushed into the mouth, barely dodging the teeth. A moment later, the enemy was completely disabled and Ladybug was capturing the Akuma. They bumped fists and she fixed everything. "So, you're a massive dinosaur nerd…"

"There was a time when I wanted to be a palaeontologist…it's still something--" she broke off as her ring beeped urgently. She checked to see that she was down to the last pad. "Yikes! See you next time, Bug." She vaulted away, barely making it to the hotel in time to detransform. "That was too close…," she moaned, heading to her mini-fridge to retrieve some cheese for Plagg. "Now…for that report."

Chloé got up early the next morning and rushed to the school with her completed project in hand. She went straight to the science lab and sighed in relief when she saw Mme Mendeleev setting up for the day.

"Your time in here isn't until third period, Miss Bourgeois."

"I know," she sighed. "I just wanted to make sure that you got my project before class. And…apologize. I've been making Sabrina do my homework for a long time…I know it's wrong, and I'm trying to break from that…but Sabrina's so in the habit that…"

"You wanted to ensure I graded your work instead of Sabrina's," the instructor guessed. "I had my suspicions, and the honesty is appreciated. I'll spread word among your other instructors."

"Thank you…but I'd like to apologize in person…Please don't penalize Sabrina if she turns in an assignment with my name on it…I'm the one that started this."

"Understood. Something's changed about you."

"That near-death experience on the second day of school kind of put things in perspective for me…," she admitted. It was also a matter of trying to be worthy of being a hero, but that wasn't something she could say aloud.

Chapter Text

"Chloé, is there a reason your grades are suddenly slipping?" Chloé's father asked her as they sat together for a rare dinner. She worried her lip and took a big bite of her steak. "Don't ignore me, Chloé…this is serious. Is it because I don't spend enough time with you? Or are you in need of new clothes and—"

"Daddy…stop fretting…," she groaned. "I was making Sabrina do my homework until recently…," she confessed, bracing herself for a lecture.

"Why stop? Your grades are more important than her feelings," he chided. "I thought your mother and I taught you: you're better than dirtying your hands with work."

Chloé stared at her father in shock. He continued lecturing her on how she deserved anything she wanted, no matter who was hurt in the process. He carried on over the rest of dinner about manipulating things to her favour and never settling for second place. It reminded her of the lecture her mother had given her so many years ago about her interest in dinosaurs.

"You understand, Chloé?" he asked as he lifted the last bite of his steak to his mouth.

"I understand…," she sighed. "And I'm not hungry anymore. I'll eat in my room later." She put her fork down and left the restaurant. When she was in the privacy of her room, she sat at her barely used desk and pulled out her homework.

"Your father's a piece of work," Plagg commented as she started working on the assignment. "No wonder you thought I was a bomb."

"Yeah…," she sighed, tapping her chin with her pen. "I've been kidnapped…shot at…and we've found bombs in my mail before…all to get at my father. This is his third term in a row…and I think he's already working on the next one."

She sighed tiredly and dug through her bag for a recently graded assignment. It was a low score, but her teacher had put plenty of notes about her structuring attached to the page. A flyer caught her attention and she looked at it. The school's janitor was starring in a play premiering under the Eiffel Tower that evening. She looked at her clock.

"What are you thinking of doing?"

"It's a weekend…I have time to get these assignments done…I need a distraction," she sighed. She pulled out her phone and started to call Adrien. She hesitated on the final key. "He's probably already going with our classmates…," she mumbled, erasing the number. She looked over the flyer again to find a box office number and called that. She bought a ticket over the phone and started getting ready.

It was a pretty mild night, perfect for an outdoor play premiere. She still dressed with the knowledge that she'd be outside after dark on a late September evening. She put on a pair of designer jeans and a pink cotton mini dress with long flared sleeves, finishing the look with a rhinestone encrusted belt over the dress and pink wedge heels. She turned to examine herself in the mirror and nodded to herself. She flipped her hair and touched up her makeup before heading out.

"Oh, you have a secret date?" her butler laughed as he met her at the elevator.

"I need some air. I'll be walking and I'll call for a car when I'm ready to come home," she sighed. When they reached the lobby, she checked her phone. The shipping notification for her recent order was still open in her messages. "Oh. I ordered a computer that should be arriving today or tomorrow."

"There was a package in the mail today. I'll check it and send it to your room if it's yours."

"Thank you," she said lightly, putting her phone away. She headed towards the Eiffel Tower. She saw red and looked up to see Ladybug swinging towards the Louvre. She smiled and ducked into an alley. "An even better distraction…"

"I hate transforming…," Plagg whined as she opened her purse.

"Transforming gets you extra cheese, so shut up," she chided him. "And claws out!" She transformed and vaulted to a roof. After a moment, she caught up with Ladybug. "Whatcha up to Bug?"

"Catastrophe!" Ladybug gasped, fumbling with a phone. Catastrophe caught it before it fell and she recognized it.

"Isn't this that Alya girl's phone?" she questioned, handing it back to Ladybug. "Why do you have her phone?"

"Well…it's complicated and if I give you details…"

"You could give too much personal information and we can't know each other's identities," she guessed. Unfortunately, that told her enough. Clumsy Marinette must have accidentally deleted something Ladybug related and was trying to record a new copy before giving the phone back to her best friend. Ladybug nodded a little.

"Yeah…she had a video of me for her blog and--"

"I get it, Ladybug," she sighed. "You don't have to explain." She pulled out her baton and used it as a smart phone to look up the Ladyblog. There was a new post from that same day. "Was it this?" she asked, pushing play and showing the video to Ladybug.

"Oh my gosh! Yes! She must have uploaded it before…," she laughed. Catastrophe put her baton away. "I guess--" she broke off as a sound came from the ground outside the Louvre. The pair moved to investigate. "Oh no…" An Akuma was destroying all of the flyers and posters for the play with an invisible sword.

"That's…gonna be difficult if we can't see his weapons…," she mumbled, realizing that he was probably a mime involved with the play. "You think he's one of the actors from the play?"

"Most likely…but I can't see why he's so upset…unless he lost the part…," Ladybug sighed.

"Either way, let's take care of this. I have a ticket for the show and I'd like for the show to go on." A police car flew into the air and the heroes went on the move. Ladybug made a web with her yo-yo to catch the car before it hit civilians and Catastrophe pulled the officer out of the driver's seat. She got him to the ground and checked him for injuries. He thanked her and she and Ladybug got to work. The mime made the motion of drawing back a bow and arrow and she shoved her partner to the ground as an invisible arrow flew towards them.

"How did you know where it was?"

"Feline hearing," she explained. She rolled out of the way of another attack. "I can hear his attacks…you get the civilians to safety!" Ladybug nodded and went to work. Catastrophe tried to keep the Mime distracted while Ladybug got the area clear. She rushed him with her baton and he made the motion of slamming a door. She heard the corresponding clang and she stopped just before she ran into an invisible cage wall.

"Area's clear!" Ladybug called, jumping towards her. She landed with a clank a few feet above Catastrophe's head. "What the?"

"I've been put in a kennel," she sighed. "I'm stuck for the moment."

"Right." Ladybug leapt forward and Catastrophe kept a hand on the invisible bars in front of her. He made a gesture of opening a box and the bar vanished. Catastrophe smirked and stepped forward, finding her cage gone. She heard the clicking of a military weapon and she ran to pull Ladybug out of the line of fire. "You're free!"

"I think he can only mime one thing at a time," she explained, holding Ladybug down as something whistled above their heads and exploded into a nearby building.

"That hearing of yours is handy…I wouldn't have noticed that until it was too late," Ladybug gasped.

"Yeah…let's get him while he's reloading. Those weapons take a good several minutes to reload normally…it wouldn't be a moment since all he has to do is make the motions." They got off the ground and flanked him. He went back and forth a moment before firing at Catastrophe. She jumped out of the way as it whistled past and continued on her path. Finding himself cornered, the mime trapped them in another cage and fled.

"You have some weird knowledge stores…," Ladybug commented as they waited for him to finish miming a motorcycle into existence. He popped a helmet over his head and drove off as the bars disappeared. "And here's one of my own. I think the Akuma's in his hat. But not the hat itself."

"Oddly specific. You recognize him?" A nod was her only answer and they started the chase. "We should find the acting troupe. He's probably after them."

"They'll be on the way to the Eiffel Tower for their sound checks." They moved to the rooftops. They soon tracked down the bus and looked to see that the enemy hadn't caught up.

"I'll protect the bus from the roof. You explain the situation to the actors," Catastrophe sighed as the bus stopped at a light. Ladybug nodded and they leapt to the bus. Catastrophe landed on the roof of the vehicle and readied her staff. She heard Ladybug get on the bus and the vehicle started moving. As they went, she spotted the Mime on his invisible motorcycle on the approach.

When he was close enough, he leapt off the 'vehicle' and onto the roof of the bus. She heard the sound of a sword being drawn and she readied herself, closing her eyes to focus on what she was hearing. It was difficult to keep up, but she could hear every swing and was barely able to block each strike.

The bus jerked to a stop, sending her sliding towards the front of the vehicle locked in combat with the Mime. He stumbled away from her and she heard Ladybug's yo-yo whiz past her. She opened her eyes and looked to see they were at the base of the Eiffel Tower. She moved to the ground and the Mime followed her. Ladybug caught his arm with her yo-yo as he tried to swing his sword at Catastrophe.

"I don't know what's got you this violent, but I don't think your daughter Mylène would approve!" she called. He paused, but yanked Ladybug to the ground and untied his arm. Catastrophe went to help Ladybug and she heard the distinct sound of something metallic. She looked to see the Mime winding up to throw something.

"Everyone, clear the area!" she shouted as he threw his invisible object at them. She yanked Ladybug out of the way as the ground exploded mere centimetres from where they'd been a moment before. She looked around to see that no one got caught in the blast.

"That's the third time…," Ladybug sighed.

"We're partners," she argued. "And I think it's high time we took care of this."

"Right. Lucky Charm!" A shoe box dropped into her hands.

"Okay…while you figure that out, I'll keep him busy," Catastrophe said lightly, rushing to engage with the enemy again, blocking his invisible sword.

"Hey Mime!" Ladybug called after a minute. "Nice poster, don't you think?!" Catastrophe looked to see that she'd somehow made the shoebox into a projector, covering the Eiffel Tower with the advertisement for the play. The Mime lost interest in the heroes and slashed at the tower.

It creaked loudly and started to topple over towards them. The crowd cleared out of the way, people screaming in terror. The Mime held his hands up and mimed some sort of shield, stopping the tower.

"Brilliant!" Catastrophe gasped, fetching his hat with her staff. She handed the hat to Ladybug and her partner pulled a photo out of a secret pocket. "So that's what you meant," she commented as Ladybug released the Akuma and captured it. She then cast Miraculous Ladybugs and everything was restored. Everyone reconciled and Catastrophe bowed to Ladybug.

"I'll see you next time, Catastrophe. And thanks for saving my spots so much today," Ladybug laughed.

"Like I said, we're partners," she said lightly. Ladybug smiled and vaulted away. Catastrophe took a moment to make sure things were settled before she went to a hiding spot to detransform. Chloé went to the box office to pick up her ticket and when the seating started, she found her seat, surprised to find that she'd gotten a seat in the front row with Marinette, Alya and Mylène.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Chloé," Marinette said lightly.

"I needed a break from home…," she sighed. "My dad had dinner with me just to give me a lecture…"

"Must suck finally having consequences for being a jerk," Alya snapped.

"More like consequences for trying to stop being a jerk," Chloé snapped back.

"Sure, you're trying to stop," the girl scoffed. "Once a bully always a bully."

She started to say something, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with her. Instead, she directed her attention to the stage. She heard Alya questioning Marinette and then Adrien arriving and commenting about sitting with friends. She sighed and stood.

"Adrien, you wanna switch seats with me?" she asked him.

"Sure!" he got up and they switched seats. "Are you okay, Chloé?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," she said, faking a smile. He frowned, but dropped it as the lights around them went down.

After the play, Adrien pulled Chloé aside, looking worried. She tried to ignore him and pulled out her phone to call for her driver.

"We'll give you a ride, Chloé," Adrien sighed, pushing her hand down. "What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird all night…"

"Daddy gave me a lecture…he told me to keep being a bully," she sighed.

"You can't be serious…," he mumbled. "Everyone in class told me how horrible you were…but I don't see it."

"Oh, I was the worst…," she sighed. "And then I almost died and I realized only my father would have missed me…"

"That's not true…," he mumbled as his car pulled up. "You're like my sister…I would have missed you."

"Really…?"

"Yeah. Has this been bothering you this whole time?" He asked as they got in the car and it lurched forward.

"Yeah…," she admitted. "So, I've been trying to change and make friends…but I guess I was horrible for so long no one's willing to give me a second chance…and my father just wants me to stay like I was…"

"Well, I think it's great you're trying. Eventually they'll see you can be cool," Adrien encouraged her. She smiled brightly at him.

Chapter Text

Chloé was not happy with the situation. There was an Akuma on the loose and she hadn't been able to get away from school to transform. Marinette had escaped, and she hoped it was an easy enemy that she could manage on her own. As it was, Mme Bustier was praising the class on their last assignment. She noticed Alya trying to match people's faces to something that she assumed was a picture of Ladybug.

"Chloé, I'm especially impressed by your improvement," Mme Bustier commented. "As before, I put a few notes in the margins for you to work on. And don't be afraid to ask for help." She nodded a little and looked at the paper. The instructor cleared her throat a little and Chloé looked to see that Alya was the centre of attention.

The girl smiled sheepishly and put her photo away. "Is Marinette still in the girls' room?" she asked.

"Uh…I don't know, Miss…," Alya said lamely as the bell rang.

"Right…tonight I want you all to read chapter three of the breath-taking France, the First Thousand Years. Then, answer this simple questionnaire," Mme Bustier instructed as she handed out the homework. Sabrina tried to snatch Chloé's homework from her, but she shoved into her school bag before the redhead could grab it. "See to it that Marinette receives her homework."

"I'll take it to her, Ma'am," Chloé offered. "It's part of my job as Class Rep to help my classmates, after all." She also wanted to make sure that Alya wouldn't accidentally find out Marinette's secret identity. Alya made a face and Mme Bustier turned to face Chloé.

"Quite right! Way to step up, Chloé," she praised, handing Chloé a second copy of the questionnaire. She smiled and went to grab Marinette's school bag.

"I don't know what you're up to, Chloé, but--"

"I'm not up to anything but trying to change," she snapped, cutting Alya off. "Maybe you should be less concerned about secret identities when there's a terrorist on the loose and more concerned with your own school work." She put the assignment in Marinette's bag and headed for her locker. She opened it up and retrieved the prop for her Halloween costume that she'd made in art earlier that day. She vaguely saw Alya out of the corner of her eye duck behind the lockers. She frowned and finished grabbing her things before heading for the bakery. She went into the bakery and asked if Marinette was home yet, explaining that she'd forgotten her bag.

"I don't know if she's home yet, you can check upstairs, if you want. She doesn't always come in through the bakery," Sabine sighed, trading a box of baked goods for payment. Chloé nodded a little and started through the bakery into the apartments attached. She went upstairs, but paused at the stairway leading to Marinette's room.

"Chloé?" Marinette asked behind her. "What are you doing here?" She turned to face Marinette and all she could see for a moment was spots. She wanted to check her for injuries, knowing that she'd had to face that Akuma on her own, but she had to stop herself. Miraculous Ladybugs would have healed any injuries she sustained in the fight.

"You…forgot your bag," she said lamely, holding the bag up. "And I brought your homework from the classes you missed…"

"Oh…that's nice, thanks," Marinette said with a smile. The smile abruptly turned into a scowl. "What do you want in return?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "I just wanted to make sure you got your stuff." An alarm went off on her phone. "Oh crap! I have an appointment to get to…but Mme Bustier said to read chapter three of…France, the First Thousand Years and answer the questionnaire that's in your bag."

"You…you've changed," Marinette noted as Chloé started to leave.

"What?"

"I don't know…you really seem to be trying to be nice."

"Yeah…I am," she smiled.

"Maybe we can start over as friends?" Marinette offered and Chloé could have sworn her heart stopped.

"R-Really? You'd be willing to give me a chance?" she asked, hardly believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah. You did save my life, after all," Marinette laughed. Chloé's eyes went wide, fearing for a split second that her secret identity had somehow been found out. "Remember? When Ivan was Akumatized and you got captured…you could have stayed hidden, but you called attention to yourself so Alya and I could get out of the way."

"Oh…right…I wasn't even thinking when that happened…," she sighed. Another alarm went off on her phone. "I really need to get going…oh, by the way…Alya's on another quest to find out Ladybug's identity…" She hurried out of the apartment before Marinette could question her and went to her waiting car. The driver took her to Mr Chan's Shoppe and she headed in.

The next morning, Chloé got to school a little early and got out of the car, feeling confident that she'd managed to complete a homework assignment with minimal mistakes. The homework had been easy enough, and she was able to reference her textbook. She headed for the locker room, mentally going over the things she'd studied the night before. She was surprised to find herself enjoying studying.

"Dude," she vaguely heard Nino behind her. "If she's a superhero, I'm the Wizard of Oz." She nearly dropped the book she was filing in her locker.

"Hush and distract her," Alya snapped at him. "I know I saw her with the yo-yo yesterday. But I need a closer look. Don't mess up your lines." Chloé looked over to see Nino stumbling towards her.

"Uh…Ladybug! Look over there!" he gasped, pointing to the window. Chloé sighed and went back to switching her books for the first class.

"We need to get to class, Nino," she reminded him.

"Right…well did you see Ladybug yesterday? Isn't she amazing? I wonder who she really is."

"Not me, if that's what Alya's trying to get you to find out…," she sighed.

"Chloé!" Sabrina gasped behind her. "Alya's looking in your locker!" She grabbed her bag and slammed the locker shut.

"So? It was--" she broke off, seeing Alya holding up her phone as she turned. "That's a bit far!" she gasped. "Were you taking a photo of my locker?"

"I so was not!" Alya gasped, hiding her phone. Kim snuck up behind Alya and snatched the phone. He showed the most recent photo, which was a clear shot of Chloé's locker.

"Looks like someone's lying," Sabrina laughed. "You won't get away with this, Alya." Kim and Sabrina proceeded to drag Alya to the principal's office. Chloé hurried after them, but the door to the office was slammed shut and when she tried to push it open, Kim was clearly leaning against it. She groaned and waited in the hall. She heard arguing and after a long minute, Alya stormed out of the office. She paused to glare at Chloé.

"You're the absolute worst and I'll expose you for what you really are!" she threatened. Chloé frowned and went into the office.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"Justice," Sabrina said lightly, sauntering out of the room. Kim followed her.

"Mr Damocles?"

"Suspended for a week," he sighed.

"What?! Over a dumb photo that I was going to ask her to delete? It's not like she broke into my locker or stole anything…," she groaned. "What did Sabrina do?"

"You mean you wouldn't have called your father to threaten my job over this?" he asked, shocked.

"Of course not! Maybe before, but not now…please don't punish her when I can just talk to her…"

"Of course! I'm glad to hear that you've matured this year," he praised. "Would you find her and speak with her?"

"I'll…see what I can do," she sighed. "And…please don't take any threats from Sabrina or anyone else that claims to be speaking for me…"

"I'll keep that in mind."

That settled, Chloé left the office and started to search for Alya. She spotted Marinette rushing to the classroom and she grimaced. There was no telling what Sabrina and Kim were up to in there, but she had to find Alya first. She saw someone saunter into the school and she recognized Alya's braids. She hissed and ducked into the locker room to hide.

"You really need to talk to Sabrina about using your name to bully people…," Plagg sighed. "This is the second time someone's gotten Akumatized because of her doing stuff like that…"

"Yeah…I know. But first, we have to fix this," she sighed. "She thinks I'm Ladybug, so once she's done with Mr Damocles, she'll be after me."

"Do I smell a plan that doesn't involve transforming?" Plagg laughed.

"Yeah…I'm gonna help Ladybug as myself," she sighed. "Starting with the Halloween costume that started this." She headed back to the hotel as fast as she could and changed into the costume.

"How are you gonna help her by dressing up?"

"Shut up and hide, Plagg," she scolded him. "You can't let anyone see you."

"Right," he dove into the drawer she'd set up as a bed for him. She knew he'd be content playing with his shiny baubles in there. She nodded to herself and set her phone on the table before going to fetch the wig for her costume. She started to put it on when she heard a sound from the phone. She turned to see Alya appear in her room.

Once Marinette realized that Alya would be after Chloé, she transformed and went to the hotel. She landed on Chloé's balcony just as Lady Wifi was throwing a pause symbol at Chloé. The girl was dressed up as Ladybug and in the process of putting on a wig. Ladybug ducked a little as Lady Wifi started broadcasting.

"So, my hunch was right," the villain laughed. "Here we see Chloé Bourgeois getting ready to 'save Paris'. Everyone thinks the girl beneath that spotted mask is a little angel! Instead, we get the bullying daughter of a corrupt mayor!" Ladybug finally entered the room, making sure she was in Wifi's shot. "What?! Who are you?!"

"The difference between a really good cosplay and actual magic," she said lightly. "Really, it's October. There are gonna be tons of Ladybugs running around getting ready for Halloween." Lady Wifi growled and unfroze Chloé.

"Then I'll just have to unmask you and settle this!" the villain threatened, disappearing in a mass of pixels. Ladybug rushed to check on Chloé, gently pulling the wig from her hands.

"What happened…?"

"She can treat the real world as if it's a phone camera," she explained. "She paused you. Don't you have school? Why were you trying on your cosplay?"

"Well…she wanted Ladybug, so I thought I'd give her Ladybug…," Chloé said softly.

"That was very brave, Chloé," she sighed. "Now…stay here. Catastrophe and I will take care of things." Chloé nodded and Ladybug went to find her opponent.

Chloé slipped out of her room when Ladybug was gone. With her focus on Ladybug, the villain wouldn't expect a civilian bully to try and be a hero. She headed to the roof, where the cell receiver was. As she approached the control panel, she heard Alya's voice magnified above the city.

"Who is Ladybug? Is she a superhero or a super-weirdo? How can we trust the girl when we have no idea who she really is?! We have the right to know!"

"This isn't a comic book…and we're not adults," she growled. "And if he knew who we were…Hawkmoth could come after us when we're sleeping and snatch our Miraculous…" She moved to the edge of the building to see Wifi trying to remove Ladybug's mask, only to stretch Marinette's face and make her groan in pain.

"Why doesn't it come off?!"

"Uh…because it's magic?" Ladybug sighed. Chloé shook her head and went back to the control panel.

"Maybe I should have transformed…," she mumbled, realizing it would be a lot easier if she simply used Cataclysm on the panel. She shook her head and found the master switch. She nodded and pulled it into the off position. The projection above the city disappeared and she rushed down the stairs, sliding down the rails most of the way.

The action brought back memories of playing with Adrien as a child. Seeing who could get all the way down the fastest and hiding from the staff and her parents who would scold them. She shook her head as she reached the fourth floor. She had to get to the breaker box without getting distracted.

She got to the basement with no trouble and ran to the electric room. She snatched a flashlight from a toolbox and went to find the master switch for the hotel power. She found it, but there were three extra switches with it. She read the labels. Two backup generators and one specifically to power the cell service during an outage. She flipped the backups first and then yanked the master switch. Everything went dark and she flicked the flashlight on to light her way back upstairs.

Within moments of that final switch being thrown, ladybugs flew past her while she ran up the stairs and the lights turned back on. She grinned and went to the nearest floor, turning the flashlight off. She pulled out her phone and connected to the hotel's security system. She saw Ladybug fly away and Alya leaving the roof. She smiled and turned the feed off. She headed for the lobby and bumped into Alya as the girl was leaving.

"Alya!" she called out. "Can we talk?"

"Why? You got what you wanted. I'm out of your hair for a week," Alya snapped.

"I don't know what Sabrina said back there, but I talked to the principal. You're not suspended. I'd just like for you to delete that photo you took of my locker. I'm dressing up as Ladybug for Halloween. I'm just a big fan after she saved my life," she explained.

"Oh…then the yo-yo?"

"I made it in art class," she sighed. "Look, I'm struggling, and Sabrina going behind me and bullying people in my name is making it harder…but I'm trying to be a better person…" Alya nodded and left the hotel. Chloé hoped the air was cleared, but she knew she couldn't be friends with someone that determined to expose Ladybug's identity. That was a secret that Chloé would guard with her life.

Later that evening, Chloé was working on her computer, doing research for an extra credit project. Plagg was playing with a new shiny toy that she'd repurposed for him out of her unused jewellery. She was so engrossed in her work that she barely heard a small squeak from her Kwami followed by a brisk knocking on her balcony door. She turned to see Ladybug standing there. She jumped up and went to let her partner in.

"Ladybug! What brings you by?"

"I wanted to thank you," Ladybug said lightly. "That was very brave of you to pose as me to distract Lady Wifi."

"There's a terrorist on the loose after your Miraculous…," she sighed. "If the wrong person found out who you are behind the mask…everyone you care about would be in danger…"

"You're right about that," the spotted hero laughed. "And…were you the one that turned off the power?"

"Yeah…I turned off the tower and the backups just in case she went to the roof to turn it back on."

"That was crazy and reckless, but appreciated. I was trapped…all she had to do was snatch my earrings and then suddenly…her powers were zapped. What made you think of cutting off the signal?"

"Her name gave away her weakness…," she sighed.

"Hm…I suppose you're right. I was so preoccupied with trying not to get defeated…and there was no sign of Catastrophe again today…I depend on her more than anyone realizes…"

"What? You're an amazing hero, Ladybug!" she encouraged her. "I mean…," she trailed off, blushing a little. "Without you…Paris wouldn't survive. And…I know that's a lot to put on your shoulders…but…"

"I tend to overthink things," Ladybug confessed. "Without Catastrophe, I can hardly focus during fights. And sometimes, like when we were fighting Animan, she helped me figure out how to use the charm my powers provided…I just hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is…," she said carefully. "She probably just…I don't know…had to go out of town or something?"

"Maybe. I'll ask her when I see her next…," Ladybug sighed. "Well, I see you're working on homework…I'll let you get back to it. I just wanted to properly thank you for your help today…"

"And scold me for being reckless."

"That too!" They laughed together for a moment before Ladybug left.

"She's so adorable…," Chloé sighed before going back to her project.

Chapter Text

After Lady Wifi, Chloé tried to talk to Sabrina about making changes, and all she got was a non-committal and kind of sarcastic 'Okay, Chloé', as if Sabrina didn't think she was sincere. But, from what she could tell, Sabrina at least stopped with the big bullying gestures like she'd pulled with the locker situation. She still had to deal with Sabrina trying to do her homework for her, citing similar reasoning to the lectures her father was prone to give her lately.

He wanted her to continue being a brat and a bully to get her way, when all she wanted was to be the opposite. Most of her classmates refused to believe that she was trying. The only ones who were giving her a chance were Adrien and Marinette. As it was, she was improving on her homework, and with that, her grades were improving and her father was at least leaving her alone about the homework issue.

She was working on her homework when she heard the TV turn on. She glared at Plagg and he just gave a cheeky grin as he pushed a button on the remote to turn it to a dumb gameshow. She groaned and got up to take the remote from her Kwami. He flew away from her with the remote.

"Plagg, I'm trying to do my homework! The absolute last thing I want to listen to is that annoying gameshow host Alec's obnoxious voice."

"And how many people has this guy gotten Akumatized because tears get the ratings?" Plagg argued. She frowned, about to argue, but at least six of the Akumas they'd faced so far had been losers in one of the shows that Alec hosted, so he presented a good point.

"Fine…but I'm going to work outside then," she griped, packing up her notebook and her tablet. She put a sweater on and went to her balcony. Just as she sat down to get back to work, her phone went off. She almost ignored the call, but it was from Marinette. She smiled and answered it. "What's up, Marinette?"

"I need someone to vent to," she sighed.

"Why not call Alya?"

"She was on my parents' side…and if I can't distract her, all she does is complain about how I'm 'never around'."

"So, wait…what happened?" she asked.

"My parents grounded me. And I mean…I guess I can understand their reasoning…my grades are slipping because I'm missing a lot of classes…but I made a commitment for today," Marinette ranted. "This has been planned for weeks, and my parents knew that! They want me to honour my commitments to school, but commitments to my friends don't mean as much to them I guess."

"That…sounds pretty ridiculous. If they want you to stick to your commitments, they should have held you to this one too," she sighed.

"I know, right? Like I have to tell Nino that I couldn't be there to support him on the show because my parents suddenly decided to pay attention…"

"What do you mean? Your parents are amazing."

"Yeah…they're great. They're supportive and encouraging, but they're selective listeners…And they're always so busy with the bakery…"

"I get it," Chloé said lightly. "Well--" she heard a tapping on the window and she looked to see Plagg holding up a sign in the window.

Get off the phone and come transform! He did it again!

"I've gotta go," they said at the same time. Chloé laughed a little.

"Sorry…something just came up…," she said lightly. "I'll talk to you later. With meaningful encouragement."

"Right. Same actually,” Marinette laughed and the call was ended. Chloé hurried inside and called for her transformation. When she was transformed, she looked at her TV to see the villain on the broadcast. She cringed at his appearance. All the clashing colours and outright clownish look to him were nauseating. She saw Alec the host strutting in the background and acting like some sort of bird.

"Gabriel Agreste turned down my challenge and he will pay for it!" the villain exclaimed. "By midnight tonight, he will entertain us in this very TV studio! Gabriel, I'm coming to get you!" She sighed and turned the TV off.

"Honestly…," she sighed and opened her baton to call Ladybug.

"Hey, Catastrophe," Ladybug greeted.

"This villain's after Gabriel Agreste," she said simply.

"Yeah, I saw. The question is…do we try and beat him to Gabriel or cut him off at the studio?"

"There are probably still civilians in the studio," she sighed. "I feel like we should get as many civilians to safety as possible first. Save the people we can so no one accidentally gets in the way."

"Good call. I'll meet you at the studio." The call went dead and Catastrophe headed for the TV studio. Ladybug met her on the roof and they slipped into the building. The building seemed oddly deserted. "Do you think…maybe he hypnotized everyone?"

"I don't know," she sighed. As they rounded a corner, she saw Adrien's bodyguard standing in front of the door to one of the stages. "Ladybug, look out." She pushed her partner into a closet.

"What's wrong? I mean…sure it's a little suspicious…"

"It's a lot suspicious…let me go first…If he's hypnotized, then there are probably hostages…"

"We should go together then," Ladybug argued. She shook her head and left the closet, slowly approaching the bodyguard with her hands up. To her surprise, he didn't take up a defensive stance, simply lifted his hands and started signing to her.

He's gone, he signed.

"Did he go after Mr Agreste?" she asked him and he nodded. "I'm assuming there are people in that room?" Another nod.

Keeping them safe, he signed to her.

"If he's not here, then you should lead everyone to a safer place. Ladybug and I will make sure Mr Agreste is safe," she promised. He signed a thank you and went into the room. She went to get Ladybug.

"That was a pretty one-sided conversation…," she noted.

"I guess he can't speak," she tried. "Lucky I know FSL. He'll take the civilians to a safer location, so we can focus on the Akuma."

"Jackady was talking about bringing Gabriel here to the studio. Maybe we should lie in wait for him to get here and catch him by surprise."

"Sounds like a good idea. If the contestant Nino is still here, he can direct us to the correct studio." The two nodded to each other and went to meet with the crowd of Civilians. Sure enough, both Nino and Adrien were among them.

"Ladybug! Catastrophe!" the boys shouted.

"He's after my father," Adrien started. "Please go help him!"

"I'm guessing you're Adrien Agreste then?" Ladybug said smoothly. He nodded.

"Don't worry, your father will be fine," Catastrophe encouraged him. "You just get to safety." He nodded and re-joined the crowd.

"Nino, right?" Ladybug looked to their classmate.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Where was the show being filmed?" she asked softly. "We're going to set a trap for Jackady, and we know he'll be taking Gabriel back to that same stage."

"Third floor, Stage five," he provided. "So…you're gonna let him capture Adrien's dad?"

"It doesn't seem as if he'll harm him until he's on camera," Ladybug sighed. "Please don't tell your friend about our plan…we don't want to alarm him." Nino nodded and re-joined the group.

The two heroes went to the indicated studio and made a plan. They found some thin wires used for floating props and threaded them across the stage strategically. Catastrophe found a cage prop and put it by a door. With Ladybug's help, she got it set up to fall from the rafters onto a person trying to leave the room, rigging a trip wire. Ladybug climbed up to the rafters and set up a few lights to be moved to glare at whoever was standing in the centre of the stage when the wires were tripped. Just as they finished setting up, Catastrophe heard someone on the approach.

"He's coming!" she hissed, vaulting into the rafters with Ladybug. "It's a shame they don't have a fly rail in here…"

"Ceiling's too low…but it would come in handy…," Ladybug agreed. They went silent as Jackady and a rather dreary looking Alec escorted Gabriel into the room. Jackady gave instruction to Alec as he pulled Gabriel onto the stage. Alec went to turn the broadcast on.

"Welcome to another exciting hour of "The Challenge"!" Jackady cried as the camera started rolling. "Good evening again from Jackady. Viewers, I've kept my promise. Here's Gabriel!" Catastrophe narrowed her eyes, watching as Gabriel cast his gaze about the room, looking angrier about the situation than anything.

She frowned, knowing from experience that it was often terrifying to be the hostage of an Akuma. And she thought it was odd that Hawkmoth seemed unconcerned with Jackady's apparent lack of interest in capturing their Miraculous. She looked at Ladybug to see her partner with her mouth set in a scowl that she recognized as Marinette's look of intent processing. She'd seen it many times over the years in both their shared dance classes and in school. She got the feeling there was something more to this situation, and she saw that Ladybug was thinking the same. They remained silent as Jackady put on a performance, dramatically producing a blank card from the box in his hand.

"Jacques à dit…you are a butterfly!" he proclaimed and the card glowed for a moment before the silhouette of a butterfly appeared on it. He flung the card at Gabriel and Catastrophe's eyes went wide as the card phased into the man and everything about his body language changed. He began flapping his arms and leaping around as if he were a giant bird or bug flying from flower to flower.

"The Akuma must be in that box…," she whispered to Ladybug.

"That's what I was thinking. We can't get hit by any of those cards…he could easily order us to give over our Miraculous with that contact hypnotism…," she agreed quietly. They remained in the rafters, watching the scene unfold below.

"And for my next instruction…," Jackady laughed, pulling another card out of the box. "Jacques à dit…Take off, little airplane!" the card glowed and was imprinted with the image of a plane before it was flung into Gabriel's chest. It took barely a moment for Gabriel to start rolling his tongue in the imitation of an engine's sound and extend his arms. He started running straight for the trapped door. Not quite according to plan, the cage dropped on Gabriel and he simply started running in circles in the cage, making engine noises.

Jackady swore and stepped back, tripping a wire and triggering the light trap. The spotlights glared in his face and he covered his eyes. Ladybug and Catastrophe dropped from the rafters and went on the attack. Ladybug lassoed him with her yo-yo and Catastrophe snatched the box out of his hand. She called for a cataclysm and destroyed the box, releasing the Akuma. Ladybug released Jackady and captured the Akuma with her yo-yo. The butterfly was purified and everything put to rights.

They checked on the victim and then escorted Gabriel back to his house. By the time they finished, they were almost out of time. And Catastrophe knew that Ladybug needed to get home quickly as well before her parents figured out that Marinette had snuck out of the house. Before they left his house, Gabriel had made comments about their jewellery and that set off Catastrophe's suspicions. Both heroes frowned and made offhanded comments about the Miraculous before hurrying off.

An evening patrol put Ladybug and Catastrophe with sometime to compare notes on Gabriel's behaviour and how lenient Hawkmoth had been with Jackady. Chloé was glad that she'd been right about Marinette noticing his suspicious behaviour. They didn't have more than the one incident to go off, but the event put Gabriel Agreste as their top suspect to be Hawkmoth. They just needed more evidence before making accusations.

"Oh, I've gotta get going," Ladybug said after they finished discussing. "Civilian life demands my attention."

"Of course! I should probably get going too," she laughed and they parted ways. She went home and detransformed. She got a text from Marinette a few minutes later.

They lifted the grounding! 😆

Awesome! Maybe you can come over and we can get manicures or something, she sent in reply.

"You're gonna have to get two celebrities dancing instead of one!" she heard Alec's voice coming from the TV and she glared at Plagg. He gave her a smug look. "However, this time…you can choose your opponents!"

"Oh, I've got this one in the bag!" Nino exclaimed, adjusting his headphones. "I'm gonna pick two buds I know won't let me down! Ladybug and Catastrophe!"

"Great…," she groaned. "Claws out…" she transformed and headed to the studio.

Chapter Text

Chloé was barely paying attention to the group assignments. Mme Mendeleev was rattling off groups, but the blonde was focused on the board, taking notes on their assignment. Sabrina was glaring at her, as if by doing her own work, she was somehow inconveniencing or offending Sabrina.

"We talked about this…," she whispered to her. "Change can be good…"

"Nathaniel!" Mme Mendeleev shouted suddenly, drawing attention to the artist. "What are you drawing?"

"Oh no…," Chloé groaned. Nathaniel looked around in confusion. He'd clearly been so lost in whatever he was drawing, that he'd completely lost track of the real world.

"And these artistic endeavours are clearly why you are failing science!" Mme Mendeleev snapped, walking to his desk and slamming her hand over his sketchbook. He looked at his desk and mumbled an apology. "March yourself down to the principal's office and show him this chicken scratch! Then you'll be really sorry!" she admonished. Chloé frowned, feeling that was a little harsh, even for their strict maths and sciences teacher.

But Nathaniel packed up his things and held his sketchbook close as he started to leave the classroom with his head bowed. He tripped over a bag and the sketchbook flew out of his hands. Chloé reached to pick it up as Marinette left her seat to help Nathaniel up. The book was open to a drawing of what looked like a superhero version of Nathaniel rescuing Marinette from Lady Wifi.

"That's so cute!" she gasped, handing the book back to him. He clutched it and fled the room. "I think he has a crush on you, Marinette!"

"All right, girls, back to your seats!" Mme Mendeleev snapped at them as she headed back to the front of the room. Marinette and Chloé quickly sat back down. "The next presentation group is Nino, Adrien and Alya."

"So lucky…!" she heard Marinette whisper to Alya.

"And then…," the instructor looked to her list. "Sabrina, Chloé and Marinette."

"So unlucky…," Alya sighed. Chloé shared the sentiment, if she was honest. In a group with Sabrina, she wouldn't be able to contribute anything.

"Um…Mme? Can you add Sabrina to another group?" she asked softly.

"Sorry, Chloé, the groups have been assigned, you'll have to deal with it."

"It's okay, Chloé," Sabrina encouraged. The bell rang and they went to the locker room to put their things away for lunch hour. "I'll take care of everything, and with Marinette to help, you can just present it--"

"I'll be contributing to the work," she argued. "We talked about you doing my homework for me, Sabrina! This is why I wanted to work with someone else."

"Is everything okay?" Marinette asked, approaching them.

"Everything's fine," Sabrina said before Chloé could say anything. "So, you and I will do all the research and writing for the project and Chloé can present it! That way everything will be equal."

"That's not equal at all!" Chloé shouted at the same time as Marinette. She blushed a little and turned to her locker.

"Is that how you two used to work?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah! We've been doing this ever since grade school, when I started doing Chloé's homework!" Sabrina raved. "And we've been BFFs ever since!" Chloé flinched at the reminder.

"You realize that she's trying to do her own work now, right?" Marinette chided.

"Pft," Sabrina scoffed. "However long that lasts…I mean, what am I if not her best and only friend. You see her grades without my help!" At that, Chloé slammed her locker shut.

"I have an appointment to get my hair done during the first part of our free period…I'll meet you guys in the library when I'm done and we can get to work." She shouldered her bag and headed out. When they were in the privacy of the car, Plagg flew out of her purse.

"Why are you still friends with Sabrina? She doesn't seem at all interested in trying to change…"

"Other than Marinette…she's my only friend…," she sighed.

"What about Adrien?"

"He's more like a brother than a friend…"

"Okay then…but she's really wearing on you, Chloé…," the Kwami sighed.

"Is that concern I hear?" she joked. He huffed and went back into her purse. She sighed and leaned back in her seat. Plagg was right about Sabrina wearing her out. But she didn't have the heart to try and break off that friendship if there was even the slightest hope that Sabrina could get it through her head that Chloé was trying to change. The car stopped and she went into the salon.

Chloé walked into the library after getting her hair done. Marinette lit up when she saw her and waved her over. Chloé smiled and walked over to them, putting her bag down and pulling out her books.

"Sorry about that. Jean-Claude didn't have an opening for after school and I needed a touch-up," she sighed.

"It's fine," Marinette laughed. "So, we got started, but Sabrina's been a pain…"

"I have not!"

"You went to find Nathaniel and heckled him about that comic of him being a superhero!" Marinette argued.

"You did what?" Chloé gasped. "It was cute, but not a big deal. Don't you think it's bad enough that Mme Mendeleev sent him to the principal over it?"

"Uh…Chloé?" Marinette gasped, pointing behind her. A giant hair dryer was floating towards them. It began blasting hot air at them.

"What is that thing?!" she gasped, shielding her face from the blast. She moved and the dryer stayed aimed at her. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Up there!" Marinette shouted. She looked to see a purple skinned Nathaniel, his appearance straight out of his drawings. "Good going, Sabrina." Chloé noticed Marinette hurrying out of the room along with everyone else that had been in there studying.

She glared at Sabrina and slid under the dryer, snatching a chair from a table. She slammed the chair into the dryer before it could get turned around and it disappeared. So, breaking the drawn objects in some way made them disappear. She looked to see that Sabrina had fled. She dropped the chair and looked up at Nathaniel.

"Whatever she said to you, wasn't from me!" she shouted at him. Ladybug came into the library and looked around. "It disappeared when I knocked it over with a chair," she explained.

"I see…you're very resourceful, Chloé," Ladybug praised her. "An everyday hero." Chloé blushed a little. "Any ideas about this guy?"

"He's my classmate Nathaniel. He might go after my…," she paused and shook her head. Catastrophe could keep an eye on Sabrina. "He has a crush on y--" She broke off. "O-On my friend Marinette…he might go after her." She hoped that Ladybug hadn't caught that near blunder.

"I'll let Catastrophe know to keep an eye on you, just in case he comes after you again…and I'll look after this Marinette girl." Ladybug hurried off, pulling out her yo-yo to use as a phone. Chloé sighed in relief that about the arrangement and hurried in the opposite direction, finding a hiding spot to transform in. The moment she was transformed, her baton started buzzing, as she knew it would.

"I heard about the Akuma at L'école Françoise DuPont," she said lightly as she answered the call.

"Yeah. He has two possible targets, so we should divide and conquer. He's already attacked Chloé Bourgeois, and I was informed that he has a crush on one of his classmates. If you'll keep an eye on Chloé, I'll watch over his crush."

"Got it," she replied. "I'll let you know if I find anything else out."

"Same." The call ended and she left the school.

"Sorry, Marinette, but I'm gonna have to spy on you…," she murmured, leaping to her friend's roof. She checked the access to Marinette's room and was glad when she found it unlocked. She murmured an apology and snuck into Marinette's room and then into the bathroom. She stood in the tub as she heard the door to the room open and Marinette come in.

"Are you sure you should have Catastrophe look after Chloé?" she heard Tikki ask.

"Yeah, if he has a crush on me, there's no telling what might happen if he seeks me out but only finds Ladybug," Marinette rationalized. Catastrophe sighed in relief at that reasoning. Things would be so much more difficult if they both constantly had to sneak off to transform and detransform to be in the same place as their alter-egos with the other as a witness. It made her head hurt just thinking about it. She quietly stepped out of the tub and peaked into the bedroom. A shadow crossed the floor and she saw a red flash as Tikki flew into hiding. The window vanished and Nathaniel stepped into the space.

"I-It's you! From the library!" Marinette gasped, stumbling back. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you…," he said gently.

"Okay…but why attack Chloé? She didn't do anything to you."

"She sent Sabrina after me!"

"Sabrina did that on her own!" she argued. "Chloé's been trying to be better and make friends but Sabrina keeps going behind her and hassling people. I know because of how long Sabrina's been basically Chloé's lackey that--" Marinette took a deep breath. "So what? Are you going to hurt me now?" Several different scenarios flashed through Chloé's mind just then, and she was sure that Marinette was probably worried about similar situations.

"You? Of course not! You're Marinette!" he gasped. "You're beautiful and sweet and…you're perfect! I could never hurt you."

"Wow…that's um…very flattering?" Marinette stammered, blushing.

"So…I just came by to ask…well, it's my birthday today and…would you go on a date with me?"

"Um…actually it's not really the best night," Marinette tried. "I have a presentation to work on, and…I have to call my friend, so--"

"Please, Marinette!" he cut her off, drawing something on the tablet attached to his arm. He produced a slip of paper and handed it to Marinette.

"Oh my gosh…that…that's me!" she exclaimed, looking at the drawing. Catastrophe could see the gears turning in her friend's mind.

"You like it?" he asked hopefully.

"I love it! So much that I will absolutely go on a date with you!" she told him. "On one condition."

"Anything for you, Marinette."

"You can't hurt anyone else," she said severely. "I simply cannot bear violence."

"For you, and only you," he promised. "Meet me on the left bank, next to Notre Dame, at sunset!" he exclaimed, drawing a jet pack and flying out the whole in the wall. Marinette visibly relaxed and Tikki came out of hiding.

"What are you thinking, Marinette?" the little Kwami chided.

"I'm thinking Chloé was right about Nathaniel having a crush on me, and I can be the bait so Catastrophe can distract him and then she and Ladybug can free him from Hawkmoth. I just need to let Catastrophe know the plan…," she sighed. Marinette called for her transformation and Catastrophe cursed quietly. She couldn't take a call from Ladybug with nothing but a door in between them! Then Marinette would realize that she knew her partner's identity and possibly even figure out that she was Chloé. Ladybug went up to the roof and Catastrophe let out a breath. She rushed out of the room and out the hole left by Nathaniel. She found a nearby spot to hide just as her baton started vibrating.

She pulled the tool off her back and answered the call. She spotted Sabrina approaching the house and she frowned. "I have a plan," Ladybug said.

"Great. I'd love to hear it."

"The villain came to Marinette's house and she struck a deal with him. He won't hurt anyone as long as she goes on a date with him tonight. So, if you could take over protecting her?"

"Of course! What will you be doing?"

"Getting ready to pounce," Ladybug replied. Catastrophe watched as Sabrina knocked on the side door to the bakery's building.

"Then I'll keep him busy until you arrive," she promised.

"Great. I'll see you later then. Marinette will tell you the location of the date." The call ended and she put the baton back into place. A minute later, Marinette walked out of the building and right into Sabrina. After a short exchange, Sabrina stormed away. She took the moment to approach.

"We meet again," she said lightly. Marinette smiled at her. "I was informed that you need a little guarding."

"Oh…yeah…Ladybug told me you'd be coming…he wants to meet me on the Left Bank near Notre Dame…"

"All right. You're being very brave," she said lightly. "Agreeing to all this. But I shouldn't be surprised with what you got up to with Princesse Fragrance." That brought a blush to Marinette's face and like a lovestruck idiot Catastrophe found herself speechless.

"Paris is my city too…If I can do anything to help you and Ladybug, I'll do it," Marinette said lightly. "I think his Akuma might be in his drawing pencil or his tablet…"

"Then if you can get it away from him, I'll protect you," she told her when she found her voice.

The sun started to set and the plan was in motion. Catastrophe watched from the bridge as Nathaniel drew a barge into existence and set a romantic scene on the deck. She saw him freeze up and his hand started to shake. Hawkmoth must have been getting impatient with him. She wondered if this was the first instance of Hawkmoth apparently torturing his victims over taking their time.

"Happy birthday!" she heard Marinette call in greeting. Nathaniel looked up and smiled brightly.

"Marinette!" he gasped, getting up and rushing to her. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," she said lightly, letting Nathaniel help her onto the boat. Catastrophe waited for an opening and used her baton to quietly get onto the barge. She heard the conversation and when the clouds covered the moon, she lightly got into position where she could see. She heard the villain curse the weather and a small light appeared above the deck of the barge.

"Sorry," he sighed. "I just…I can't draw properly in the dark." Catastrophe took note of that and signalled Marinette by letting the light refract off of her ears and ducking back into hiding.

"You're so talented!" she heard the girl gush. "I just don't understand why you'd wanna use that power to hurt people."

"Not all people," he argued. "Just Chloé. And those like her…but since you kept your promise, I'll keep mine."

"I…actually draw a little too," Marinette started. "I'm not as good as you, of course…"

"I'm sure you're a wonderful artist," he argued. "You're amazing at everything you do." Catastrophe slipped around to see that his grip was loosening on his pencil. She smiled a little, thinking their plan was working perfectly. Marinette reached slowly for the pencil.

"Maybe I can draw you something special for your birthday?" she offered.

"That would be amazing," he said breathlessly, looking as if he was about to try and kiss Marinette. Catastrophe grabbed her baton and gripped it tightly, gritting her teeth at the thought of someone else stealing her first kiss. Marinette snatched the pencil and slipped it into her purse with Tikki before backing up.

"I have a no kissing on the first date policy…," she murmured. "And you're not exactly yourself." She stood and it took a moment for Nathaniel to realize that he was without his pencil.

"Marinette! Give me my pencil back!" he shouted, leaping from the bench. He started towards her, seeming ready to attack her. Catastrophe leapt into action, landing between the two and brandishing her weapon.

"You'll have to get through me," she threatened. "Get out of here, Marinette. There's an entry to the catacombs under that bridge," she whispered to her. "I'll hold him off." Nathaniel shouted in rage as Marinette hurried off. He tried to follow, but Catastrophe blocked him.

"Get out of my way, sidekick!" he shouted.

"What did you just call me?" she snapped, overpowering him and pinning him to the floor. "Ladybug and I are partners. I'm no one's sidekick."

Barely a moment after Marinette had escaped, a white butterfly flew past and Catastrophe picked up Nathaniel, carrying him to solid ground as ladybugs appeared and erased the barge, setting everything to rights. Nathaniel got over his confusion rather quickly and thanked her before heading home. Ladybug joined her and they bumped fists.

"Catastrophe…," Ladybug started. "Be honest with me…do…do you know who I am?" With no other witnesses, she sighed heavily.

"I knew you'd figure me out eventually…yes," she answered. "But it's a secret I'll take to my grave," she promised. Ladybug smiled gently and they parted ways.

The next day, things were back to normal, for the most part. Sabrina was still being a pain, having gone overboard in doing the project, leaving nothing for Marinette and Chloé to do. The two girls decided to meet after school and do their own version of the project. Fortunately for Chloé's sanity, Sabrina had been so busy working on their physics project, she'd completely forgotten to do any of Chloé's homework assignments that were due that day. So, she was able to turn everything in without any fuss.

"So…I'm glad everything worked out," Chloé said as she headed for the hotel with Marinette.

"Yeah…Same."

"You know…I told Catastrophe that she should probably focus more on your safety yesterday…," she tried.

"Well, he came right to my house! Made a hole in my wall and everything. Ladybug hadn't even arrived yet!" she raved. "I was honestly kind of terrified…I mean…villain with a crush on me barging into my room with no regard…I almost thought he would try to--" she broke off. "A-And he tried to kiss me while I was on that 'date' with him…"

"Well, I guess he's just…too good a guy to be that corrupted by Hawkmoth?" she guessed.

"I guess. He was actually nothing but sweet until I got the pencil from him and Catastrophe jumped in so I could get away and meet with Ladybug. It was still terrifying."

"You know what? Let's go get mani-pedis," she said, catching Marinette's arm. "My treat. And then we can work on the project. Mme Mendeleev probably already knew we'd have to do it without Sabrina…"

"Okay," Marinette laughed. "After we both got targeted by an Akuma…we could both use some relaxation." They changed direction and Chloé led Marinette to her favourite spa.

Chapter Text

Her father had taken to trying to bribe her into going back to being a bully. It wasn't going to work, not with her duties to Paris as Catastrophe and the fact that according to Mr Chan, her energies were finally disentangled. It had taken quite a few sessions, and he mentioned concern about her stress dealing with her family and Sabrina's antics. If she hadn't mentioned those issues to him, she would have accused Plagg of revealing to the man that she knew his connection to the Miraculous.

Career Day came and she was tempted to tell her teacher that her father was too busy with his job as Mayor to attend. She didn't have to do that, as he made the excuse for himself. He did, however, give her a jewellery box and promised a surprise would be at the school. That idea made her nervous. When she was in the car, she opened the box and investigated the surprisingly cheap looking bracelet. Plagg flew out of her purse and stared at it with wide eyes.

"What's wrong, Plagg?" she asked him. She pulled the bracelet out of the box and looked it over. It was a thin gold bangle with five amethysts embedded around it, each with an almost petal-like design around them.

"That's…a Miraculous," he whispered.

"I thought you said that besides the Butterfly and Peafowl, the only Miraculous that the Guardian doesn't have in his possession are the ones that Marinette and I have."

"There are hundreds of Miraculous…not just the nineteen that his Order had…they're scattered around the world…I don't know anything about this one…but it's a Miraculous…I can feel it."

"Okay then…I wonder how my father got hold of it then…," she sighed, closing the box and stowing it in her purse. Plagg hid as the car came to a stop and someone came to open the door for her. She frowned at that, particularly when she didn't recognize the man holding the door for her. "Who are you?" she asked sharply. He said nothing, only took her backpack from the car before she could grab it.

"Chloé, my darling!" a sickening female voice cooed. That explained the stranger. She forced a smile and faced the woman who spoke. She'd had some plastic surgery, but the woman with her rose gold hair and expensive sunglasses and wide-brimmed hat and gaudy pantsuit was obviously none other than the singular voice in the American fashion industry, Audrey Bourgeois.

"Mother!" she gasped. "What brings you back to Paris?" She started into the school and Audrey and the strange man followed. She frowned and snatched her bag from him. "I don't need an entourage!" she snapped, more forceful than she'd really intended. He fell back and she relaxed a little. "Who's the creepy butler?"

"Oh, I hired him to take over for that ridiculous soft-hearted Jean-Paul your father had watching over you," Audrey laughed.

"Well he's creepy and I'd prefer we keep Jean-Yves on," she argued.

"Hush darling, your father clearly has too many bad influences around you. I've come to make sure you're taken care of properly," Audrey snapped. "Honestly, I thought we taught you better than to be all soft and…," she trailed off, making a face. "Nice." Chloé went to her classroom and smiled when she saw Marinette already sitting in her seat.

Tom was standing with Alya's mother and taking up half the space. A box of baked goods was sitting in front of Marinette and she wondered just what they'd brought. Marinette grinned at her and discreetly pointed at her mother. She sighed and turned to Marinette as she sat down.

"Marinette, this is my mother, Audrey Bourgeois…Mother, this is my friend Marinette."

"Wait…Audrey Bourgeois…as in the chief editor of Style Queen Magazine and one of the biggest names in the fashion industry?"

"I see my reputation precedes me," Audrey snapped. "And what are you? Some cheap bakery girl?"

"Mother! Her family makes some of the best pastries in Paris!" Chloé gasped. "And besides that, Marinette is a great artist and designer."

"It's true," Tom said lightly. "She made everything she's wearing and she designed our current logo for the bakery." Before further arguments could ensue, Mme Bustier arrived and made her introductions. When Marinette and her father went to the front of the room, Adrien slipped out to call his father. She discreetly pulled out her phone and turned on the news, muting the feed. Adrien came back into the room just as Marinette started to pass out croissants.

"Thank you, Mr Dupain!" Mme Bustier said lightly. "Now, let's meet Alya's mom, who is head chef at L'hôtel Gran Paris, which is owned by our mayor--Chloé, where's your father?"

"My husband is busy running this city," Audrey said lightly. "So, I'm here to represent our family." Chloé groaned and put her head on her desk. A croissant landed in her lap and she looked up to thank Marinette. "Take your cheap baked good and back away." Chloé stood and slammed her hands on the desk, glaring at her mother.

"Don't talk to my friends like that, Mother!" she shouted. She stormed out of the classroom, going to the locker room and sitting down on a bench.

"Chloé?" Marinette asked. She looked to see Marinette sitting beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," she sighed.

"But you're not…," Marinette touched her shoulder. "Your mom seems to be really getting to you."

"I…was glad when she left to do her magazine thing in New York…," she admitted. "And now she's come back just to try and get me to be mean again! She's fired the closest thing to a caring father figure and is replacing him with some creepy guy that I swear looks at me like he wants to eat me…and then she keeps insulting the only person willing to give me a chance and--" she broke off, putting her head in her hands and choking back a sob.

"Hey…it's gonna be okay…," Marinette said softly, rubbing Chloé's back gently. "You're nothing if not stubborn. Too stubborn to give up when you've decided to be better." They heard a commotion and Chloé wiped her face.

"What's that noise…?" she asked and hurried to the window to investigate. Sabrina's father was storming out of the building. She looked at Marinette and they hurried to the classroom. "What happened?"

"Your parents just fired Sabrina's dad and threatened to have Marinette's family bakery shut down," Alix provided. Chloé glared at her mother and was just about to say something when they heard a loud thud. She turned to look and see what the commotion was. She saw a large man on the approach.

"Akuma!" she gasped. "Good going, Mother." She saw a flash of black flitting across the floor and she pretended to drop something so that Plagg could hide in her sweater. When the new villain stormed the room, she slipped out into the hall. She saw Marinette following and ducked into an empty classroom. Marinette ran past her and she ducked out of view. "What exactly happened, Plagg?" She opened her sweater and Plagg flew out.

"Marinette went after you and then her father started arguing with your mother and then the police officer and your teacher tried to get things under control and it escalated to your mother threatening Marinette's bakery…and she called your father and the officer mentioned that it would be an abuse of power and illegal and so they fired him. Chloé, your parents are insane."

"Yeah…I know that much…," she sighed. "Did you find anything out about that bracelet?"

"Not really. Looking at it, it may be from one of the Western temples, there was an engraving on the underside that kind of looked like a fox of some kind…"

"I see…," she sighed. "If I put it on, will it be the same as if Hawkmoth were to get hold of you and Tikki?"

"Probably not," he sighed, patting his chin. "But shouldn't we worry about this later?"

"If Catastrophe shows up too soon, Marinette might make the connection…it's bad enough that I know her identity…worse that she knows that I know…"

"Okay…you're the one with the cheese…," he conceded. She looked to see Ladybug running past the room. The red clad hero paused and turned back to the door to Chloé's hiding place. Ladybug seemed to reconsider checking on her and went after the Akuma.

"That was close…," she groaned, moving to find another exit to the room. She found a window to the outside of the building and she checked for witnesses and cameras before climbing out and transforming as she fell, landing lightly on the ground. She slipped around the side of the building and saw Ladybug get thrown into the air. She gasped and caught her. "You okay, Buginette?" she joked.

"Yeah…I wasn't expecting him to be so strong…," she sighed as Catastrophe set her on her feet. "And can you not with the nickname? If the wrong person hears that…"

"I only called you that because there aren't witnesses," she said lightly. "I'd come up with something better to call you," she promised. "Now…did you hear where he was going before you rushed in?"

"He was forcing the mayor's wife into his vehicle, so he's probably after the Mayor."

"That would make sense," she mumbled. "They did gang up on him and fire him over--" she broke off, remembering that if she said too much, Marinette would figure out that she was at least a member of their class.

"Right…and the way he was walking…almost sounded like those robots in movies. All stiff and gears grinding…," Ladybug sighed. "And there's a mechanism on his arms that he fires some sort of controlling handcuffs from."

"So, we avoid those. Any ideas where the Akuma might be?" she asked, considering the situation. Ladybug shook her head.

"I went to try and stop him and get a closer look, but he overpowered me."

"Well, we can figure it out," Catastrophe encouraged. "For now…we deal with this Akuma and…," she tried not to make a face. "Save the Bourgeois family…"

"Yeah…I know they're pretty horrible…but I'd hate to think what might happen to Chloé if something happened to her parents. So, let's go to City Hall and see if we can take care of this." She nodded and they went to City Hall, arriving just as the police force was getting into formation in front of the doors. The two heroes started for the building just as the villain and mayor came out. She could see the glowing handcuffs binding her father's hands. She took a step back, trying to keep a straight face.

"We can't be biased," she mumbled to herself. The mayor announced that 'Rogercop' now held the authority over the city. The villain declared that Ladybug and Catastrophe were to be arrested and the heroines fled the scene. They found a place to hide and caught their breath.

"Well this just went sour," Ladybug sighed.

"We can the police by surprise…just give me a couple of minutes to get something," Catastrophe told her partner, thinking of the mysterious Miraculous her father had given her that morning. Ladybug nodded and Catastrophe slipped away, hurrying to the school. Sure enough, though everyone had abandoned the building to go to the safety of their own homes, her bags were still in the classroom. She smiled and pulled out the bracelet. "Here goes nothing…" She put the bracelet on and it began glowing.

A Kwami emerged and stretched lightly. From the little she knew about Kwamis, it looked like a fox of some kind, though without the trademark fluffy tail. It was a reddish-brown colour, with large canine ears and a thin tail. It fixed its brown eyes on her.

"Someone already with a jewel," it noted. "Hm…," it flew around her. "A cat. Not my preferred family, but it'll do. My name is Yeilis."

"And your powers…?"

"Transformation," Yeilis provided. "Using my power, you can change one thing into another. Within limitations, of course."

"What…like how you can combine two chemicals to make a new chemical, but if they aren't compatible, everything explodes in your face?"

"Sort of. Seeing as you are currently using a Miraculous and your Kwami is nowhere to be seen, I assume you are pressed for time?"

"Yes. There is someone using a Miraculous for evil and he's turned the city against me and my partner, Ladybug. Can I use two Miraculous at once?" she asked, suddenly unsure.

"Yes. The same rules apply, but you will only lose one power at a time."

"So, if I were to use my destructive powers, I would lose those first?"

"Destructive? You have Plagg?! Oh, that is hilarious. I worked with Tikki many years ago, and I have heard stories of Plagg."

"Oh? We'll have to talk when we have time then," she laughed. Yeilis gave her a phrase and she called for the transformation. Hardly anything changed about the structure of her suit. The bangle she'd donned tightened around her wrist in the same way the ring had, and she assumed that the designs around each of the five gemstones would disappear the same as the paw pads on her ring.

The leather bracelet on her free arm was replaced with a rope wrapped around her forearm. The trim of her suit became a rusty brown and when she caught sight of herself reflected, she could see that her hair had taken on some dark red lowlights and her ears were wider and slightly more canine. Quite a few of her amber gemstones were replaced with Turquoise. Her bell was replaced with a teardrop shaped charm of Turquoise. Her heeled boots were replaced with leather pointe shoes, the ties wrapping around her legs above her knees with the same rope on her arm.

"Oh my gosh…," Ladybug gasped when she returned. "What on earth did you do, Kitty?"

"It's a long story. We can talk properly when there's not an active Akuma," she promised. "Let's go." She went to the square and landed en pointe in the middle of the police. They turned and as if they weren't even really trying to follow orders, she took them down in record time. She and Ladybug stormed City Hall and found Rogercop in the mayor's office. There was no sign of the Bourgeois family. The villain turned to them and paused at Catastrophe's new look. They took the opening to attack him.

He overpowered them and they ducked behind a table, holding it in a way to give them some sort of protection from his blasts. Ladybug summoned a Lucky Charm and an oven mitt landed in her hand. The table shook and splintered as the blasts took their toll on the wood. Ladybug and Catastrophe rolled to another hiding place while Ladybug cast her eyes around the room. She rolled around the room while Catastrophe kept the villain distracted, picking up items as she went.

"I just need something like…a ring," Ladybug told her as they ducked into hiding again. "About the size of that new bracelet of yours."

"Okay. One bracelet coming up," she laughed, casting her eyes around. She needed something that could reasonably become a bracelet or something similar. She found it in a broken bar of metal off a lamp. "Metamorphosis…" She murmured and her hand began glowing. She grabbed the metal and it shifted before her eyes into a ring that she could have worn as a bangle. She handed it to Ladybug and with a few quick motioned, Ladybug had put together a device. The two leapt into action, with Catastrophe cornering Rogercop and destroying the floor beneath him. Ladybug leapt in and bound his hands and upper arms with the oven mitt device she'd put together.

The Akuma was released and purified, and everything set to rights, including the lamp Catastrophe got the bar of metal from. They fist bumped and parted ways with the promise to meet at the Eiffel Tower later on so Catastrophe could explain her new powers.

Things were a disaster when Chloé got home. Jean-Yves was on his way out of the building when she arrived and the new creepy butler was waiting for her. She rushed up to her room to find her computer being packed away. People were going through her drawers and her closet while her mother watched over everything.

"What is going on?!" she gasped.

"We're cleaning up your room, darling," Audrey said lightly, waving one of her employees to throw away all of Chloé's stuffed animals.

"Get out!" she screeched. "Stop touching my stuff!"

"This is for your own good, dear. You've outgrown most of these things and this cheap computer is a waste of time."

"So what? You think that even though you ran off to New York and never even called, you know what's best for me?!" she demanded. "Get out!" she shouted, trying to stop the team from messing with anything else. One person got to Plagg's drawer and she stopped them. "Stop this, Mother, please!" she pleaded.

"Fine. That's enough."

"Put my stuff back where you got it!" she ordered. All eyes turned to Audrey and she shrugged.

"Fine. Keep your cheap, useless junk," she griped. The group of people returned everything to rights and filed out. Audrey started to follow them. "I don't know what's come over you, Chlorine. But this phase of yours needs to be done sooner rather than later." She went into the hall and slammed the door. Chloé fell to her knees and sobbed.

Both of her Kwamis came out of hiding and patted her on the shoulder. Plagg had brought Yeilis up to speed on the situation and the new Kwami had been more than understanding. She managed to calm down and went to lock the deadbolt to her room. She couldn't let anyone into her room if she wasn't there to make sure they didn't get into anything.

"So…," Plagg started. "What are you gonna tell Ladybug?"

"A…partial truth. I found the bracelet in a jewellery store and when I put it on, a Kwami appeared. I don't have to tell her that my father gave it to me…he probably found it at some high-end consignment shoppe…" She called for her transformation and really took the time to look at herself. Her belt and the attached 'tail' had changed as well, from a wide leather belt to an intricately designed strap of tan leather with a braided rope flecked with Turquoise and Amber beads for the tail. She smiled a little and left the hotel from her balcony to go meet with Ladybug.

Chapter Text

Things took a turn for the better for Chloé at home. Her mother stopped trying to have all her old things thrown out. Mostly because Plagg and Yeilis decided it would be great fun to phase into a couple of Chloé's stuffed toys while the woman was in the room and make it seem as if the toys were alive and very angry with anyone but Chloé. Audrey wouldn't even come into Chloé's room after that. She was grateful for the reprieve, even if she had been afraid the troublemaking Kwamis would reveal themselves to her mother.

The creepy butler had been fired by her father after Chloé caught him trying to take a picture of her after a shower. Jean-Yves had been re-hired with strict instructions to encourage Chloé to not be kind. She knew that he wouldn't adhere to that, it had never seemed in his nature to be even slightly mean.

The Akuma attacks continued, but they got into enough of a rhythm that things were handled quickly and efficiently. She managed to get her grades up enough that her parents started to believe that she might have gone back to having Sabrina do her homework for her again. The thing they consistently lectured her about was her attempts to be nice. The only thing that kept her from snapping was her duty to the city as Catastrophe.

The semester came to a close and for a guest lecture in Home Economics on the last day before the holiday, Marinette's father was teaching their class how to make Macaroons. With a wink he reminded them that he couldn't give them his full secret recipe, but he could distribute the original that he'd modified. Chloé volunteered to help him alongside Marinette.

"Now, we need to chill it for half an hour," he said after showing off the creamy chocolate ganache. "Marinette or Chloé?"

"Yes?" they asked at the same time.

"Will one of you take this to the cafeteria fridge for me, please?" he asked and Marinette took the bowl. "In the meantime, I'm going to show your class how to whip up egg whites!" Marinette nodded and headed out of the classroom. Chloé noticed Sabrina on the phone and she frowned a little. "Chloé, will you hand me the egg whites that we separated earlier please?" She snapped out of it and handed him the bowl.

An alarm went off and she glared at Sabrina, who simply smirked and filed out of the room with the others. "I hope it's only a fire drill…," Tom sighed as he followed the class. Everyone gathered in the courtyard as the Fire Departments captain spoke with the principal by the entrance.

"Someone had the bright idea of calling the fire department," he told them. "Someone amongst us thought it would be funny to waste the fire captain's valuable time."

"Yes, in fact, if--"

"Hold on!" Mr Damocles held up a hand to cut off the captain. "I want the guilty party to apologize to you." No one spoke up and Chloé almost accused Sabrina of doing it. "If no one will confess, then the whole school will be punished!" Everyone looked to each other.

"Mr Damocles, I saw Sabrina on her phone during our Home Economics class," Chloé spoke up, not wanting to see everyone get punished over Sabrina being a jerk.

"Sabrina? Are you the one responsible for this?"

"Of course not, sir! Why would I be using my phone during a class?" Sabrina asked sweetly. Everyone in their class started speaking up, claiming that they saw her on the phone as well.

"Well! Your classmates seem to all agree," the principal sighed. "Do you have anything to say to the Fire Captain?"

"But I didn't do it!" Sabrina argued. "My father is a police officer, why would I--"

"Then you can serve an afternoon of in school suspension!" The fireman slipped out while Sabrina was being lectured and they all went back to class.

Chloé sat in Marinette's room the next day, modelling a dress that the girl was working on. She'd hidden some sweets from the hotel restaurant in her purse and she hoped that her Kwamis were sharing them with Tikki while the girls worked.

"So, I was thinking of throwing a Christmas party and inviting everyone from school," she said as Marinette worked on pinning a ruffle in the skirt.

"That would be great, Chloé! Maybe then they could start seeing you differently," the designer laughed. "I know some people in our class probably think you put Sabrina up to interrupting the class…"

"Yeah…I'm glad they all agreed when I said something but…"

"They probably just agreed so that no one else would get punished…," Marinette finished for her. "But maybe a party could help. I can talk to my parents about catering!"

"I'd want to pay them for it, you know. Catering a party for the whole school would be a big job and it wouldn't be fair for them to do it for free just because we're friends," she told her. Marinette laughed a little and stepped back to eye her work. The girl frowned and grabbed a few more pins, taking out the others and shifting the fabric into a different style.

"They don't like taking money from my friends…but you can try to convince them to take money for it," she said lightly, eyeing the skirt again. She nodded and began carefully stitching down the design. "I can help with the decorating."

"Thanks," Chloé laughed, hugging her. She pulled away to look at the dress in the mirror. "How did I never notice how good a designer you are?"

"I don't know? Too busy dragging me down?"

"Yeah…," she sighed. "You know, I was just jealous of you. I…I'm still kind of jealous. Everyone you talk to likes you…and your parents are so sweet…"

"Now you're just being silly. Let's get to planning that party! Do you want it to be on Christmas or just a 'we survived a semester with a terrorist' kind of thing?"

"Well, I'm sure everyone has plans for Christmas…and the other holidays. I know Mme Césaire is taking an entire week off for Kwanza or Hanukah or something like that…my mother was not happy about my father approving that."

"Your mother is a terror," Marinette noted as she got out her sketchbook.

"Yeah…"

The party was set for the weekend, and the hotel ballroom was decorated for the event. The only person Chloé didn't invite was Sabrina, simply because it didn't feel right including Sabrina when she only caused problems for everyone. Marinette had been right about having a hard time giving money to the bakers over the big order for the party. She'd finally managed to convince them to let her pay for it.

Everyone arrived at the party and seemed to be enjoying themselves, even greeting Chloé as if she was a friend. The only ones that seemed leery were the members of her own class. She made a special effort to make them feel welcome and see that she was changing for the better.

"This party is amazing, Chloé," Adrien commented behind her.

"Marinette designed all the decorations," she said lightly, pushing her friend towards him. She knew that Marinette had a huge crush on Adrien and even though the thought of someone else being with her hurt, what she wanted more than anything was for Marinette to be happy. "She's pretty awesome, right?"

"Absolutely!" he agreed. "I noticed Sabrina isn't here."

"Because I didn't invite here," she sighed. "It didn't feel right after the trouble she caused at school…"

"Are you absolutely sure she was the one that called the fire department?"

"I'm positive. She was on her phone and she was acting all smug when we were filing out," she told him. "And besides…it's something the old me would have done…"

"I believe her," Marinette said lightly. "Sabrina's been a terror since Chloé's stopped bullying people. And I saw Sabrina on her phone too…"

"If you're sure…but I mean…," he trailed off.

"Adrien, I know you don't have much experience with people…but sometimes people do things to hurt others…"

"Like putting gum on someone's seat for no good reason?" he asked.

"I did not tell her to do that," Chloé sighed. "But at the time…I was also okay with it…I just wasn't okay with Marinette thinking you were involved…"

"You didn't do much to defend me, then," he sighed.

"I…had a lot going on that day. I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven, Coco," he laughed. The three of them went to mingle and join the party.

Everyone seemed to be having fun, chatting and dancing and enjoying the food. They were in the middle of a game when Chloé noticed her mother watching the event with a scowl. She excused herself and started to approach the woman, not wanting any trouble when things were going so well. Jean-Yves beat her to her mother and the two adults slipped out of the ballroom. She worried her lip and went back to the group she was playing with.

"Everything okay, Chloé?" Kim asked her when she sat back down.

"Yeah…," she mumbled. She didn't want to abruptly end the party, but she also had a bad feeling that it would be ending because of an Akuma. Their game ended easily and it didn't seem as if her fears were founded.

"I found a bottle!" Alix shouted. "Who wants to spin it?"

"Come on, Alix," Nathaniel groaned. "No one plays Spin the Bottle anymore…" Alix made a face and waved the empty cider bottle.

"You're just saying that because you're afraid it won't land on Marinette," she teased him. The boy went as red as his hair. Several people laughed it off and decided to call it a night. Nathaniel literally fled the building in the crowd of leaving teens. When everything settled again, only the members of Chloé's class were left. Ivan and Mylène left, citing that they didn't need a dumb bottle to tell them to make out. The rest of the remaining students finally conceded and they sat in a circle around the bottle. Alix was the first to spin and the bottle came to a stop, aimed at Rose.

"Uh…can I refuse a closet trip?" Rose laughed.

"Yeah," Alix laughed. "I'm not kissing anyone. But instead of a kiss, Truth or Dare?"

"Ooh! Truth!"

"All right then…besides Pink, what's your favourite colour?"

"Purple!" Rose said without hesitating. "Okay…my turn to spin!" she exclaimed, giving the bottle a surprisingly powerful spin. It came to a stop on Juleka and the pair hurried off to a closet. They were gone for fifteen minutes.

"Wow. What are they doing in there?" Kim groaned.

"Probably a quickie," Alix griped. "Why'd it go and land on Juleka with Rose…? That's so boring."

"Sorry about that," Rose said lightly, pulling Juleka back to the circle. "We lost track of time."

"Or something like that…," Juleka mumbled before spinning the bottle. It landed on Chloé and they both blanched. "Uh…truth or dare?"

"Truth!" she gasped at the same time.

"Okay…uh…," Juleka trailed off, clearing her throat. "Um…," she mumbled something, but Chloé couldn't make it out.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that…," she sighed.

"What's the deal with your mom?" Rose translated.

"My mother…," she worried here lip. "She only moved back to Paris because I'm trying to be nice…my parents don't like that." Everyone seemed pretty stunned by her admission and she spun the bottle to keep them from asking more questions. To her horror, the bottle came to a stop pointing at Marinette. She swallowed when Marinette remained silent.

"Uh…you two gonna go make out or what?" Alya joked, seeming to snap Marinette out of whatever she was thinking. Marinette stood and started for the closet. Chloé took a deep breath and followed her. She heard the whispering from the group.

"Wait, so you have to go into a closet and kiss whoever the bottle points to?" she heard Adrien gasp.

"Yeah. Have you never played Spin the Bottle before?" Alix taunted. "Of course, if you're like me and just not into it or Rose and already in a relationship, you can refuse and pick Truth or Dare instead…" She didn't hear Adrien's reply as she shut herself in the closet with Marinette.

"So…um…I've never kissed anyone…," Marinette murmured.

"Neither have I…," she sighed. "Marinette, you don't have to do this…I know you've got that crush on Adrien and--" she was cut off as Marinette kissed her with enough force to make her stumble backwards. It took all of half a second for Marinette to back away.

"S-Sorry…I um…," Marinette stumbled over her words and Chloé took the initiative this time, cutting her off with a kiss of her own. Marinette backed into the wall as Chloé put a hand to the back of her neck, holding her gently as she twined her fingers in Marinette's soft hair. She lost track of everything but the feeling of Marinette's lips and the taste of gingersnaps. She was sure she vaguely heard a range of soft noises from their three Kwamis, from the adoring 'aww' to a disgusted gag.

"Okay, you two!" Alix shouted from outside the closet. "You've surpassed the seven minutes! If you're not dressed, get that way." Chloé backed away from Marinette and went scarlet. She hurried out of the closet and back to the circle. Marinette gave Alix a look as she sat back down as well.

"Uh…Coco, you've got a little lipstick on your cheek…," Adrien said quietly. Chloé covered her face and ran to find a napkin to clean up.

"You two really got into it, huh?" Alya teased.

"Shut up!" Marinette snapped, spinning the bottle as Chloé came back. This time, it pointed to Adrien and he fumbled for words. Chloé watched to see Marinette's reaction, but to her surprise the designer kept a perfectly straight face. "Do you mind picking Truth or Dare?"

"Yeah…No offense, but I don't want to kiss someone right after Coco…," he laughed. "So…Dare?"

"Okay…I dare you to wear something from a thrift store for a whole day," she said with a smirk. Adrien blanched.

"I…I don't know if my father will allow that…"

"So, wear something expensive over it when you're around him," Nino suggested.

"If you can't take the dare, the closet's over there," Marinette taunted. He blanched and nodded an agreement to the dare before taking his turn spinning the bottle.

Chapter Text

After that party, things got into a pretty easy routine. Chloé managed not to see Sabrina around the entire break and both of her parents gave her plenty of space. One day Marinette and Chloé were hanging out when Nino started sending photos to Marinette. They watched the photo story as Nino documented Adrien following through on the dare from the party. They had a good laugh as they watched the photos show up. Nino took Adrien to a thrift store with the blond going as incognito as he could, no makeup no hair styling, a zip up jacket with his father's brand label on a pocket.

Nino made comments to explain context as Adrien picked out a generic shirt with a lame phrase printed on the front, then rushing to the bathroom after taking a joke too seriously. A shot of him fiddling with his zipper and sunglasses was accompanied by a caption of 'poor paranoid boi'. They got ice cream with Alya and Nino's caption was a laughing emoji beside a ladybug and a heart. That one had Marinette blushing. Similar antics filled Marinette's messages for the entire day and they swore to keep them a secret and Adrien had fulfilled the terms of the dare.

They got through Christmas without incident, even with Chloé slipping away to spend the day helping with charity events and such as Catastrophe. There was a bit of a scare when she lowkey kidnapped Adrien to give him a hero's view of the city. Ladybug had a hand in it, and they spotted a black butterfly flying around during the excursion. Ladybug purified it with a scowl and they got Adrien home. Catastrophe could have sworn she saw the purified Akuma flying into a basement window at the Agreste Manor, but the light could have been playing tricks on her as well.

The two heroes had spent the rest of the evening sitting on top of the Eiffel Tower with snacks from Marinette's bakery discussing things. Their list of suspects of Hawkmoth's identity was slowly growing. Gabriel was at the top of the list, but the mayor had made the list, along with a particularly nasty police officer. They didn't rule anyone that had been Akumatized out, simply because there was so much that they didn't know about him. Would he somehow Akumatize himself to try and give himself an alibi if they ever figured him out?

School started back up and the class seemed a bit more open to Chloé. She tried to talk to Sabrina, but things seemed to be back to square one with her. Sabrina had two copies of their holiday homework ready to turn in and was eagerly awaiting instruction as she had always done. Chloé wordlessly turned in her own version of the homework. Between classes, Sabrina expressed surprise that Chloé had done her own homework, but she reminded her friend that she was doing her own work now and that Sabrina could focus her energy on other things. Lunch rolled around and Marinette presented Adrien with a box before he hurried off to a photo shoot.

"Oh great!" Chloé groaned. "It's Adrien's birthday! I completely forgot…"

"That's okay, Chloé!" Sabrina laughed. "I can pick something out to give him in your stead."

"That won't be necessary, Sabrina…," she told her. "I can pick something myself." She pulled Sabrina along to the small group of Alya, Nino and Marinette.

"Hey, Chloé!" Alya greeted. Her face dropped into a bit of a scowl. "Sabrina…"

"So, are we a go for that birthday party you were talking about?" Marinette asked, clearly trying to diffuse any negative interactions before they started. Chloé gave her a grateful smile. She was really trying and she wanted to stay friends with Sabrina. She hoped that enough positive influence could break Sabrina of their old habits.

"His dad said no, and Adrien's being a doormat," Nino sighed.

"Gabriel is pretty paranoid, he's been even worse since Emilie disappeared," Chloé sighed. And if he was really Hawkmoth, he might be aiming to get at Adrien. "And without his mom to buffer the restrictions…Adrien isn't exactly used to standing up for himself," she explained. "He and I've been friends since we were little. If I back you up, maybe we can change Gabriel's mind about a party?"

"You sure about that?" Nino asked.

"There's no harm in trying," she said lightly. "We have a free period after lunch, we can go then. Partly because I need time to grab him a present…I completely lost track of the date and only just remembered Riri's birthday."

"Riri?" Alya laughed.

"Does it have something to do with his nickname of 'Coco' for you?"

"Well, when we were little, and he hadn't gotten all of his teeth, he couldn't manage saying my name, so it kept coming out as Co so he just started calling me Coco and then I started calling him Riri when he kept it up after being able to say my name."

"That's actually pretty adorable," Marinette laughed. They parted ways and went about their lunch plans.

Chloé bought a hat for Adrien to match the scarf that Marinette had made for him. Marinette helped with the colour picking, but Sabrina had gone about her own business with Alya graciously offering company. While she was wrapping the present in private, Plagg and Yeilis were helping with the ribbon.

"I have a favour to ask of one of you…," she sighed.

"Does it have anything to do with you going to Adrien's house in a bit?" Plagg groaned.

"It does, actually. We've ruled my father out as being Hawkmoth, because he was there when Hawkmoth made his big announcement and being in two places at once would be difficult. So, the only suspect we have is Gabriel," she told them. "If one of you could slip out of my bag without being noticed and do a little snooping while I'm talking to him…maybe you can find some kind of evidence against him."

"I'll do it," Yeilis offered.

"Thank you," she said lightly, finishing with the gift and heading for the Agreste Manor. Nino was waiting outside the gate for her and she rang the bell. The camera extended.

"Adrien isn't home, Chloé," Nathalie sighed over the speaker.

"We're not here to talk to Adrien. We're here to speak with his father," she said lightly.

"We?"

"I've come with another friend of his from school," she explained, moving so Nino could be seen by the camera.

"Come inside…," Nathalie said tiredly and the gate swung open. She led Nino to the front door of the house.

"So…are you and Marinette dating now or what?"

"Not exactly…I don't know where we stand besides friends…," she admitted. "And I haven't figured out how to bring it up."

"You spent seven minutes in a closet making out and you don't know where you stand? Dude…"

"What? She's got a crush on someone else and I bullied her for a good chunk of our lives so far…," she sighed as they pushed into the foyer. "As much as I really want her to stop crushing on him and go out with me…"

"He'll be here in a minute," Nathalie said, joining them in the space. With the secretary's sharp eyes on her, she touched the top of her purse to signal Yeilis to stay hidden. She stepped behind Nino while he tried to explain their presence to Nathalie. Before she could try and convey anything to her Kwamis, Yeilis phased out of her purse and disappeared completely.

"Adrien's not home yet," Gabriel said sharply from the stairs. Nino stammered a little and Chloé stepped forward.

"We came to see you, actually, Sir," she said firmly. "It's about Adrien's birthday."

"Yeah. We know you don't want Adrien to have a party, but it's his birthday! All he wants is to celebrate with friends," Nino tried. She saw an oddly cruel look in Gabriel's eyes and he raised a hand.

"No. That's final."

"That's messed up!" Nino shouted. "He never screws up in class, he always does whatever you tell him…photoshoots, fencing…Chinese…piano--"

"Nino? Chloé?" Adrien gasped, cutting Nino off. "Why are you here?"

"We're trying to talk some sense into your father," she explained to him.

"You…didn't have to…"

"Anything for my best bud!" Nino argued. "Show some awesomeness, Sir! Please…"

"Forget it, Nino," Adrien sighed when Gabriel levelled a look at the teens. "It's…it's fine, really…"

"But, Riri…," Chloé sighed.

"Both of you get out of my house, now!" Gabriel said sharply. "Neither of you are welcome in my house again."

"Father, they were just--" Nathalie cut Adrien off, clearing her throat as Gabriel disappeared upstairs.

"Goodbye," she sighed. Chloé sighed and left the house with Nino.

"We can still do something for him after school…I have connections, remember?" she said softly as they started for the gate.

"It's not fair for him, though!" he raged. "What does he have against Adrien having fun anyways?!"

"Gabriel just has a stick up his butt," she griped. "Seriously. I'll go snag some stuff with Marinette and we can yarn bomb the park or something…throw Adrien a killer surprise party and show him the best time ever. Screw Gabriel and his attitude." That seemed to cheer Nino up and they parted ways. She headed for Marinette's house and ducked into an alley when she was sure no one was watching. She hid behind a dumpster and opened her purse to find Yeilis and Plagg both inside and looking sombre.

"You were right to suspect Gabriel," Plagg sighed.

"He has a dormant Miraculous stored in a safe and an active Kwami in his home," Yeilis explained. "The Miraculous is a brooch appearing as the tail fan of a Peacock."

"I think it's time we have a full conversation with Mr Chan, then. But after Adrien's birthday party," she sighed. "And I'll bring it up to Ladybug. If we play it right, we could be done with this soon…"

"Yeah, but once it's done, you'll be expected to hand over the ring," Plagg mumbled.

"What?" she gasped. Just as she was about to ask for more information, she heard screaming. "Great…just what we need…," she sighed and called for her transformation. She jumped to the roof and saw bubbles carrying adults into the sky. She looked to the ground to see children and teens left behind, sobbing or comforting others.

"Maman!" she heard Marinette shout and she looked to see both of her friend's parents being carried away. "Baba!"

"Catastrophe!" a teen shouted and she dropped to the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked the small group.

"We're not hurt, but our parents…!" one of them shouted.

"Don't worry, Ladybug and I will get them back," she promised. "Get inside and stay safe."

"Okay," another agreed and they led the little ones to safety.

"Catastrophe!" Ladybug shouted, joining her. "Any clues about what's going on?"

"Let's get somewhere no one can overhear," she sighed, heading for the rooftops. Ladybug followed. "I have a sinking feeling it's your friend Nino…"

"Great…I guess talks with Adrien's dad didn't go so well…"

"I guess not…," she said carefully. "Let's take care of this…"

"Right. If it's Nino, he'll probably be gathering up our classmates to forcefully throw a party now that he's gotten the adults out of the way." They heard an explosion and Catastrophe looked to see fireworks going off over the Agreste Manor.

"Or he already has everyone! Look," she gasped, pointing. Ladybug frowned and they headed to the source of the fireworks. They landed on top of the building's security wall and looked down to see that their classmates were gathered and half-heartedly dancing to music. Adrien seemed to be the only one having fun, though as he tried to mingle, he seemed to realize that this wasn't as good a party as it could have been.

"This is not how his birthday should be going…," Ladybug murmured.

"And if my hunch is right…this is all his father's doing," Catastrophe sighed. "I think we should crash this 'party' and set things right…"

"Agreed." Ladybug swung her yo-yo and hit the power strip attached to the music.

"Why you gotta be like that?!" the villain demanded.

"You made all the adults disappear!" Ladybug reminded him.

"And forced your classmates into a party!" Catastrophe added. They jumped to the ground. "Everyone, get inside. We'll take it from here." The group of teens ran into the home to hide and Ladybug and Catastrophe went to work. They were trapped in a bubble after a moment of blocking and dodging bubbles.

"Give me your Miraculous before you run out of air!" Bulleur demanded.

"Dream on!" Ladybug snapped.

"Total party poopers…just like adults!" he accused.

"Kids need adults!"

"False! Kids need freedom, fun…to let loose and live it up! Adults are controlling and bossy!"

"But adults keep children safe and protected!" Ladybug argued. "They care for their kids, they love them!"

"Most parents do…," Catastrophe mumbled, thinking about her own parents and how Gabriel was treating Adrien. "Bring the adults back and we might consider striking a deal!"

"Not a chance! Since you care so much about the adults, why don't you go float with them for a while? Maybe you'll change your 'tude then." He ran up and kicked the bubble into the air.

"Just great…," Ladybug sighed.

"Well, as much I enjoy your company, Cataclysm!" she summoned a Cataclysm and destroyed the bubble. "And now we need one of your brilliant plans!"

"Right!" Ladybug cast her eyes around. "Hang on!" she held out a hand and Catastrophe took it. A quick throw of the yo-yo and they were swinging to safety. "Ten euros says that the Akuma's in his bubble sword," Ladybug sighed when they landed.

"I was thinking the same thing," Catastrophe laughed. Her ring was beeping, but she didn't care about that. She knew that until she used Yeilis' power, her identity would be kept secret. One of the perks of having two Miraculous. They headed for their quarry and found him trying to force the students back outside to continue the party.

"No one wants to party with you anymore, Bulleur!" Ladybug taunted him.

"How the heck did you get loose?!"

"I have destructive powers," Catastrophe sighed. "It's over, Bulleur!" He shouted in rage and leapt after them. They led him across the roofs to the Eiffel Tower. An urgent beeping reminded Catastrophe of her first timer. She looked to see that her ring was down to one pad as they landed on the tower.

"You okay, Catastrophe?" Ladybug asked her.

"Yeah. I'm due for an outfit change, but I'm fine."

"Outfit change?!"

"I have two Miraculous, remember? I'll just loose part of my transformation. Don't worry about it and lay on the charm."

"Right…Lucky Charm!" a giant wrench landed in Ladybug's hands. While she was figuring out how to use it, Plagg appeared in the air in front of Catastrophe, glaring at her.

"Oh hush. I'll get you a fresh roll of Gougère after this," she promised him, looking herself over. Sure enough, her suit had changed from black to a slightly darker tan than the rope accents. She was glad to find she still had pockets, so she opened one up and Plagg flew into it to hide.

"Got it! Woah…okay then," Ladybug gasped, noticing the change in Catastrophe's look. Even their opponent paused in surprise.

"What the heck?" he gasped.

"You didn't know I got an upgrade?" she groaned. "Let's finish this, Bug."

"Right! Cover me, Catastrophe," Ladybug said, heading for a vent. Catastrophe reached for her baton, but found nothing on her back. She swore and ran to keep Bulleur's attention. He sent a sparking bubble at her and she rolled behind a beam. The bubble exploded on contact with the beam and broke it into several pieces. She grabbed a piece and went into the fray, keeping him busy while Ladybug worked. "Now!" Ladybug called and she ran to grab the loosened pipe from her partner.

The powerful air from the pipe seemed to be exactly what they needed to give Ladybug the opening to grab the bubble sword from Bulleur and capture the Akuma. Everything was fixed in a moment and they were delivering Nino back to the park. She and Ladybug parted ways and Catastrophe went straight to the bakery. She got a roll of Gougère and fed Plagg before slipping around and up to Marinette's balcony. She knocked on the hatch and Marinette let her into the room.

"Catastrophe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, per say…," she sighed. "I just wanted to let you know that I did some recon earlier. One of my Kwamis found a Miraculous in Gabriel Agreste's safe, and an active Kwami in the building. We may have been right to suspect him."

"We can't take any action without some kind of confirmation, but it's the best lead we have…," Marinette sighed. "For now, we keep on. I have some stuff to take care of. It's my friend Adrien's birthday and I want to help throw him a party to counter that farce that Bulleur forced on him…"

"You…really like him, don't you?" she tried not to sound disappointed.

"I mean…yeah. He's one of my best friends. Sure, I had a crush on him, but…more like a friend-crush where I really wanted to be his friend? A-Anyways, we only have a few hours of his birthday left, and I need to get with Nino and the rest of our friends to get things together."

"Right. I'll let you get to it, then," Catastrophe said lightly. "I just wanted to update you on what I found. Since we didn't have time before." Marinette nodded and she left the room.

After school hours, Chloé pulled Adrien to the park. Nino, Alya and Marinette had thrown together some decorations and set up a DJ stand for Nino. When they got there, she saw that everyone in their class was there.

"Okay, Coco what's going on?" Adrien demanded.

"You'll see," she told him. They got to the party and the group gave an enthusiastic cheer.

"Not again…," he groaned.

"No! This is for real, Adrien," she encouraged. "Nino wasn't himself…and you know it."

"Okay, fine…," he relented. Nino started the music and everyone started dancing and laughing. She pulled Adrien into the fray and started dancing with him. The party went as it should, with proper snacks and chatter and mingling. "Thanks, Coco…," Adrien said when they started gathering for cake.

"This is what we wanted to give you, Dude," Nino sighed. "Sorry I flipped out on you. I just wanted you to get to have some fun for once."

"It's fine, Nino…my dad's just…like that. We're cool. And…thanks." The two boys hugged and they joined the others to eat cake. They then went around giving Adrien gifts. "Oh right! I still have your gift in my bag, Marinette…it's been so crazy today I completely forgot," he gasped when they got to Marinette. He grabbed the box out of his bag and opened it up to reveal a light blue scarf. "This is amazing! Did you make it yourself?"

"Yeah…," she answered with a blush.

"I thought so…it's pretty hard to get this kind of knit off a machine." And with that, the pair went off into a conversation about fashion and crafting. Chloé sighed a little, considering what Marinette had said about her crush on Adrien.

Chapter Text

Of course, their literature class would be focusing on fairy tales and the romantic versions of them the week of Valentine's Day. Chloé had her own plan for the holiday. She'd been putting off talking to Marinette about where they stood, mostly because she was afraid of being rejected. Sure, they had kissed during that game of Spin the Bottle, but anything more than friendship hadn't been brought up. She planned to get Marinette a gift for Valentine's and ease into the conversation.

"In most fairy tales, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess," Mme Bustier was saying. "Can anyone tell us why?"

"Because only love can conquer hate!" Rose called out.

"Correct, Rose."

"Technically speaking," Max sighed, pushing his glasses up a little. "This reasoning is only exhibited in about 87% of all fairy tales and--"

"Thank you, Max," Mme Bustier interrupted him. "That's enough."

"There need to be more fairy tales where the princess saves herself," Alix griped. The bell rang before an argument could be started.

"Right…well, don't forget to finish Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault tonight, and happy Valentine's Day, students!" The class filed out of the room. "And by the way," the teacher sighed as Chloé and Sabrina started to leave. "Sabrina, I'd like to speak with you before you go."

Chloé sighed, knowing exactly what Sabrina was about to get lectured about. She still insisted on doing and trying to turn in two sets of homework. It seemed like that was the only thing Sabrina was up to. She headed for a shoppe and started looking at the jewellery. A few minutes of searching and she found a nice necklace with a charm of a mouse holding a bouquet of five flowers. She smiled brightly and bought it before heading home.

"What do you guys think?" she asked her Kwamis, putting the necklace in her purse.

"I think you have an affinity for picking up Miraculous," Plagg grumbled.

"Well, my dad was the one that bought the bracelet…," she argued. "And this is--" she broke off when she saw Kim standing in the middle of the bridge she was crossing. "Um…are you waiting for someone?"

"I-I…," he trailed off nervously.

"Kim…?" she sighed. He cleared his throat and knelt in a puddle.

"Will…will you be my Valentine?" he managed to ask, opening a jewellery box and showing off a gaudy brooch.

"I'm sorry, Kim…I already have someone I'm going to ask…," she told him. A cyclist rode through a puddle and splashed him with water and a discarded chip bag flew into his face.

"Are you kidding me?!" he shouted, standing up. "After everything I've done to help you out…"

"Kim, no offense, but you and I weren't even really friends," she sighed. "I'd like to be friends, but that's it. I'm not even interested in guys."

"Then you were just leading me on?" he snapped. "I thought you liked me!"

"What? How can you think that? I have never said anything about liking you!" She shoved past him and headed home.

"Talk about entitled…," Plagg griped when they were in private. "Just because he did a few things for you?"

"Maybe I could have been nicer about it…," she sighed.

"You were as nice as you could be," Yeilis encouraged. "He was just being a jerk."

"But what if Hawkmoth takes advantage of that?"

"There are plenty of people getting rejected on this stupid holiday," Plagg pointed out. "If it's not him, it'll be someone else."

"That's encouraging…," she groaned. "Oh god…what if Marinette turns me down? I know she said that her crush on Adrien was platonic, but what if that changed?!"

"Calm down, Chloé," Yeilis laughed. "Are all teenagers this afraid of rejection?"

"You have no idea…," she sighed. "But what if things get awkward between us…? I tell her I have a crush on her and she turns me down…and we can't be friends anymore because stupid feelings…"

"That probably won't happen…but you won't know for sure if you keep dancing around it," Yeilis sighed. "And yes, that's one of the Miraculous from my temple. The mouse, granting powers of Protection…"

"Like the Turtle from my temple?" Plagg questioned.

"I don't know. She can create force fields."

"So, like the Turtle from my temple," Plagg laughed. "He has an impenetrable shield and makes force fields."

"Hm…is there a Miraculous from your temple that has no offensive powers but can sense when another Miraculous' power is used?"

"Nope. We've got Creation, Destruction, Manipulation, Binding, Protection, Transformation, and Empowerment…plus twelve others…," Plagg explained. "None of them are observers though…"

"This is all very interesting, but I was going to go to Marinette's to talk to her…so you guys are gonna have to calm down with the chatter," Chloé laughed as she started to come to a populated area. She spotted Alya and Marinette crossing the park, chatting about something or other.

"Hey Chloé!" Alya called, waving at her. She grinned and headed to them.

"Hey guys," she said lightly. Marinette offered her a heart shaped treat and she took it. "So, any plans with Nino for Valentine's, Alya?"

"Yeah, actually. My older sister is watching Ella and Etta, and she agreed to watch Noel while Nino and I go to a movie. Of course…I owe her for that now, but since Nino's the oldest and his parents are out of town for the weekend…," Alya trailed off and Chloé bit into the sticky sweet treat. "What about you two? What are you treating Marinette to, Chloé?"

"What? I haven't--I wasn't--" Chloé stammered before catching herself.

"We're not dating, Alya," Marinette sighed. "Besides…you look kind of upset, Chloé…what happened?"

"Well…," she sighed and pulled the jewellery box holding the mouse pendant she'd bought. "I was heading home after buying this for you when Kim tried to ask me out…and he got pretty aggressive when I turned him down…"

"Uncool…," Alya groaned. "He didn't try anything major, did he?"

"Thankfully no…I would have kicked his butt if he had. I'm just kind of worried…with Hawkmoth still on the loose…the last thing I want to do is see a classmate Akumatized because of me…again."

"Hey…you haven't been the one to hassle anyone into being taken advantage of by Hawkmoth," Marinette encouraged.

"Yeah, it's been mostly Sabrina bullying people 'in your name', which…by the way she was giving Kim a hard time about his mystery crush and the brooch he got Max to help him pick out…"

"The brooch he presented me with when he tried to claim that I'd been leading him on by using him for dumb muscle before?" Chloé asked sourly.

"Yeah…and I kind of feel bad…I didn't know he was talking about you when he was working up the nerve to confess…," Marinette sighed.

"Yeah, we could have shut that down before he--What is that?!" Alya gasped, pointing.

Chloé looked to see an Akumatized boy flying above them. He spotted their heart shaped treats and shot arrows from a bow. Marinette and Chloé both managed to get out of the way, rolling with practiced expertise in opposite directions. Alya shouted and Chloé steadied herself to see that an arrow had struck Alya in the chest. It disappeared and her friend's lips turned black. She frowned and stood.

"Alya?" she questioned, approaching her. Marinette got to her feet and joined her.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Alya snapped. "We're nowhere close to being friends." She shoved the sticky treats into Chloé's chest and left.

"What did he do to her?" Marinette asked as they stared after her. The villain above laughed loudly and Chloé looked to see him pulling back another arrow. She narrowed her eyes and got ready to dodge out of the way. She saw the brooch he was wearing.

"Great…just great. Mr Nice Guy got Akumatized," she groaned. He let loose the arrow and she rolled out of the way. "Get out of here, Marinette, he's probably after me!"

"But Chloé!"

"Just go!" she shouted, drawing his fire. She vaguely saw Tikki pop out of Marinette's purse before the girl ran off.

"You need to transform, Chloé," Plagg grumbled. "Stop being reckless!" She shook her head and dodged another shot before hiding in an alley and taking shelter behind a dumpster. "Seriously? I hate transforming, but you take way too many risks."

"Would you rather I recklessly transform in public in full view of an Akuma? Give me a second…," she mumbled. "Are we clear, Yeilis?" The little coyote Kwami flew out and disappeared before coming back. He nodded to her and she called for her transformation. She hurried out to meet with Ladybug. She spotted her partner on a roof, dodging the villain's attacks.

"Stop, Kim!" Ladybug shouted. "Don't you think this is going overboard?!"

"I'm not Kim!" he shouted, firing another arrow at her. "I'm Dislocœur! And I'll never stop! If I can't have love, then no one can!"

"Okay, Dislocœur, I get it…you feel completely burned. But just because you do something for someone doesn't mean you're entitled to a romance with them."

"Yes, I do! And I won't stop until everyone's heart is crushed!" he declared. "Say adieu to your loved ones. From now on, you'll hate them!" Catastrophe leapt into the fray, pulling Ladybug into an alley to avoid the shots.

"Catastrophe…you made it," Ladybug gasped.

"Yeah. Let's get this nice guy under wraps…," she said lightly.

"Sounds like a plan," Ladybug agreed. "But we can't get close to him like this."

"True…," she sighed. "I can distract him while you come up behind him."

"I'm not sure…what if you get hit?"

"Better me than you," she pointed out. "You're the one that can cleanse the Akuma and fix everything."

"I know, but--"

"Just let me do my part," she cut Ladybug off. "Now…let's do this." She ran out of the alley. "Hey! Dislocœur!" she shouted to catch his attention.

The villain took the bait and flew after her, firing off arrows as he went. She looked around, aiming to find a place where he would have to land. She ran into an alley, but found herself cornered. She swore and ducked away from a shot. He landed in her path and she looked for an escape. He smirked and took aim.

"No!" Ladybug shouted and landed in the path of the shot.

"Ladybug!" she gasped as Ladybug's lips turned black and she whirled around. "That was not the plan!" she shouted, grabbing her baton and extending it to head for the rooftops. Ladybug followed her after a moment and she darted away, trying to come up with a plan. Clearly the villain had struck a deal with Ladybug, or her Miraculous would have been taken already. "Ugh…planning is Ladybug's thing…," she groaned.

"Stop running and fight me!" Ladybug shouted.

"I don't want to fight you!" she shouted back to her, coming to a stop and holding her baton as a staff. "You're my partner…we're friends!"

"Ugh…you are definitely not my friend!" The yo-yo came flying at her and she let it wrap around her staff, yanking against the string when she had the opportunity.

"Come to your senses, Ladybug! This isn't you!" she shouted as Ladybug fell forward. "This isn't the girl I fell in love with…"

"Hah! Love? Hate's stronger." Ladybug stood and they struggled for control of the string for a moment before the yo-yo retracted.

"You're wrong!" she argued, remembering the lecture about fairy tales. "That's it!" She lowered her weapon and slowly approached Ladybug.

"What are you…?"

"We don't have to fight, Buginette," she told her, extending a hand.

"Get back!" Ladybug gasped, backing away from her. Catastrophe jumped forward and very nearly managed to kiss Ladybug. "You savage!"

"Just a peck!" she argued and the chase was on with Ladybug fleeing from Catastrophe. She kept an eye out for Dislocœur and his arrows, but remained focused on saving Ladybug first. Just when she had the other hero cornered, Dislocœur appeared and fired at her. She rolled out of the way and hid behind a tree.

"You can't fight both of us, Catastrophe!" Ladybug shouted. "Lucky Charm!" She peeked around the tree to see a heart shaped sticky candy appear in Ladybug's hand. She sighed in relief that her power didn't seem to be affected by the hate spell. "Ugh…talk about useless…I was hoping for a sword or something deadly."

"We can't always get what we want," she called from her hiding spot. She stepped out into the open and took a deep breath, coming up with a plan. "But…you want a fight, come at me," she sighed, putting her feet together and taking up the First Position from ballet. She lifted her hands and made the mime for 'dance with me' to Ladybug. She hated to do that and possibly bring up bad memories from their ballet classes, but it was enough to make Ladybug shove the sticky sweet into Dislocœur's hands and rush at Catastrophe.

"Seriously?!" Dislocœur shouted, shaking the sweet off of his hand. He drew an arrow back, but was unable to fire it as the bolt stuck to his hand. He cursed and turned to clean up in the fountain.

When Ladybug was in arm's reach, Catastrophe deflected and pinned her to the ground. Ladybug struggled against her, but she had all her strength in the pin. She took a deep breath and kissed Ladybug. For a split second more, Ladybug struggled, and she started to worry that the kiss theory was a dud. Then, Ladybug pushed against her, kissing her in return. She had to struggle to get her thoughts together and pull away from her partner after a long moment.

"Catastrophe…? What happened…?" Ladybug asked blearily as Catastrophe stood and held out a hand.

"No time to explain, I'm going after that brooch," she sighed, calling for her Cataclysm. She rushed at Dislocœur and grabbed the straps across his chest, destroying it and making the brooch fall into her free hand.

"No!" Dislocœur gasped, reaching to reclaim the brooch. He was just too slow to react as Catastrophe threw the jewel to Ladybug and it was destroyed. Ladybug fixed everything after purifying the Akuma.

"So…I vaguely remember being kissed just now," Ladybug laughed.

"Yeah…you got hit with a hate arrow…it was the only way to break the spell. And you used your Lucky Charm, so you need to get going," she told her. Ladybug nodded and swung away.

Chloé went to Marinette's house after all the chaos and fiddled with the jewellery box before holding it out to Marinette.

"What's this…?" Marinette asked lightly, taking the box and opening it. "Oh my goodness…it's so cute! But…what's the occasion…?"

"Well…I was hoping you'd be my Valentine…," she mumbled. "I really like you, Marinette…I have for a while and if you don't feel the same, I still want to be friends and--" she was cut off by a hand on her mouth.

"Chloé, I wouldn't have kissed you in that closet if I didn't like you," the girl laughed, blushing. Chloé went scarlet. "Of course, I'll be your Valentine. We can sneak some sweets from the bakery and binge a show on Netflix? There's the really good one about aliens I was about to re-watch."

"Okay…sounds good."

It was dawn before Chloé finally went home, they'd lost track of the time and ended up watching every available episode of 3Below on Netflix. Marinette took a nap and then put the necklace on to admire it properly. It began glowing and she looked to Tikki for an explanation.

"Oh my…she bought you a Miraculous?!" Tikki gasped, eyes wide. Marinette was about to question her Kwami when a mouse-like creature appeared in front of her, yawning.

"Yep…that's a Kwami all right…," she mumbled. "Um…hi, I'm Marinette."

"Tasan," the Kwami said lightly. "So, you're familiar with Miraculous already!"

"Sort of…," she sighed. Her eyes went wide as she realized that she could redesign her suit with an additional Kwami. Catastrophe got a new look when she got her second Miraculous. So could Ladybug. She giggled and grabbed her sketchbook, ideas already flowing.

Chapter Text

Chloé paced her room, oddly nervous about the coming evening. The sound of the advertisement on her TV while Plagg and Yeilis watched the news in an attempt to catch any risk of Akuma attacks or information about an active Akuma only made it worse. If she wasn't one of the heroes being interviewed, she would probably be excited to find out any juicy details about the city's heroes. However, Nadja Chamack was the one conducting the interview.

The reporter had caused her fair share of Akuma, same as her co-worker Alec. Nadja seemed determined to get her scoop, even if it meant pestering people to the point of Akumatization. The only reason she'd agreed to it was because they had a list of questions that had been approved by her and Ladybug for the interview. Plagg had the news on and Yeilis was helping her go through her answers to the approved questions. She just hoped that Nadja wouldn't deviate and start treating them like they were somehow not entitled to privacy because they were barely 'celebrities'.

"Tonight, for the first edition of Face to Face, you'll have the opportunity of a lifetime!" Nadja exclaimed from the TV. "The chance to talk live with Ladybug and Catastrophe! Along with me, Nadja Chamack. We'll be revealing some sizzling hot information about your favourite superheroes!"

"Sizzling hot information?!" Chloé gasped. "Where's that list?!" she shouted and dug for the list of approved questions. They had approved them because there was nothing too personal or prying. She counted the questions and checked the notes.

"You don't think she's planning on deviating from the script?" Yeilis asked, surprised.

"Knowing her…probably…," Chloé groaned. "There aren't enough questions here to take up enough time…it's an hour-long interview and there's a note about taking calls…"

"Tikki might even encourage Marinette to not show up if they realize that…," Plagg noted.

"She'd insist…we can handle this. If Nadja goes too far, we can fake an emergency and the people will understand. We're superheroes, not celebrities."

"Okay, the show's starting in fifteen minutes," Yeilis sighed. "You're sure you've got this under control?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've dealt with interviews and press conferences my whole life…if she won't cooperate with gentle redirection, we remove ourselves from the situation," she told him before calling for her transformation, hoping for a more formal hairstyle. She caught her reflection and grinned at her hair being styled just how she'd envisioned it. She headed for the TV studio and bumped into Ladybug on the way.

"Hey, Catastrophe!" Ladybug greeted.

"Love the new look," she said lightly, taking note of how Marinette had changed her costume with the new Miraculous available. The rather generic spotted bodysuit had been changed into a sleek brown bodysuit with a sweetheart spotted red micro dress and matching opera gloves and knee-high boots. Her new Miraculous was proudly sitting on her collar and her hair had been restyled into twin buns held with her signature red ribbons. "Did…you get a new Miraculous?"

"Yeah…it was a gift from…well, I guess I could call her my girlfriend?" Ladybug laughed. "Anyways…did you see the ad for the show?"

"And I double checked the list of questions…look, if Nadja starts to push in the wrong direction, we should just gently redirect her back to the important things…and if she doesn't take the hint, there's no shame in faking a crime alert to exit the situation."

"Right…I didn't even think about how much time we'd committed to when we approved that list…"

"Neither did I, honestly. Assuming there are going to be commercial breaks, that's forty-five minutes to fill with questions and answers…without the call-in questions that we can't control, it would be about five minutes for each of us, so ten minutes a question…that would put us at about five minutes for the start of the interview and four questions…Sure, there were about nine on the list but they were mostly repetitive…"

"And once again you amaze me with your random knowledge stores…," Ladybug laughed. "We should get going. We're down to five minutes before the show goes on the air." Catastrophe nodded and they headed for the building and to the stage.

"I got this!" Nadja was saying into her earpiece when they arrived. "Biggest audience of the year!" The heroes exchanged a look and headed in. Nadja became engrossed in her tablet and didn't seem to notice them until they were seated across from her. "Ladybug! Catastrophe! W-Which way did you come in?"

"The same way as everyone else," Catastrophe sighed. "And before we go on air, I hope we don't have to remind you of the ground rules we talked about before agreeing to this."

"Of course, you don't have to remind me!" she laughed, shifting her gaze. "I'll be sticking to the list of questions the two of you approved."

"Good," Ladybug sighed, eyeing the pastries on the cart between them.

"You're welcome to one of the chouquettes…," Nadja said lightly. "We still have a couple of minutes before we go on the air."

"No thank you. I ate before I came."

"Oh…okay then. Is…there something wrong?"

"Sorry, your advertisement implied that you had intentions to break our agreement, so I'm a little on edge," Ladybug snapped.

"Oh! That wasn't the intention at all," Nadja assured them. Catastrophe wasn't sure, so she focused her hearing to try and listen to the earpiece Nadja was wearing.

"Remember, primetime means prime info, they should be prepared to answer some pretty personal questions," she heard someone, likely the network producer, snap. She frowned and the crew started the countdown to air time, clearing the snacks as they rushed about. Nadja eyed a watch she was wearing and took a deep breath.

"Good evening," she told the camera when the 'on air' lights went on. "I'm Nadja Chamack and this is Face to Face! For our first edition, I welcome the beloved guardians of Paris: Ladybug and Catastrophe!" she exclaimed, gesturing towards them. Catastrophe gave a practiced wave and Ladybug waved a little awkwardly. "Thanks so much for accepting this exclusive live interview."

"Thank you, Nadja," Ladybug countered. "We're honoured to be here." Catastrophe nodded in agreement.

"People know you, but they don't really know you," Nadja started her lead-in and a series of dramatic photos from their fights started flashing on the screen up on the wall. "We see you saving Paris," she gestured to the slideshow. "But we don't know anything else about you."

"Well, we're here to clear up some curiosities," Catastrophe said lightly, keeping her tone professional.

"Within reason, of course," Ladybug added.

"Of course," Nadja agreed. "We'll start by taking a couple of calls from fans with their questions." She pulled a call up with her tablet and Alya was plastered on the screen.

"Hi there, Ladybug and Catastrophe!" the girl laughed and they waved at her. "You already know me, but I'm Alya from the Ladyblog."

"Thanks for calling, Alya," Nadja sighed. "Go ahead with your question, please."

"Right! Just a few basics, really. How old are you guys? How did you get your powers? And--"

"Well, we can't answer the first question. Because that's a little too personal," Ladybug pointed out, cutting Alya off. "I think it's safe to answer the second question, right Catastrophe?"

"Yeah. It's not that personal. And it's how Hawkmoth is able to terrorize Paris as well…," she agreed. "Our powers come from the magical jewellery that we wear. We became active in response to someone using similar jewellery for evil."

"So, you two have always had this jewellery?" Alya asked. Ladybug looked at Catastrophe.

"Yes, we have," she lied smoothly. "Any other questions?"

"Do you know each other's identities?"

"No," Ladybug spoke up. "We don't." Catastrophe noticed Nadja looking at her watch again.

"All right, that's all the time we have for you tonight, Alya. Next caller…," she ended the call with Alya and swiped up another call. Ivan was the next one with questions. They took several more calls, most of them just people they had rescued before wanting to say thank you. "And now for my own questions," Nadja sighed, putting her tablet aside.

"All right," Ladybug said lightly.

"So, a lot of fans think of you as a couple of superheroes," she started and the two girls exchanged a look. She wasted no time in breaking their agreement despite her claims. "But also…and I quote…as a couple."

"What?"

"Can you confirm that you're dating, here tonight?"

"We're not here to answer such personal questions," Catastrophe reminded her.

"And besides, it would be reckless and unprofessional for us to be dating," Ladybug added. Nadja paused.

"You told me you had an inside scoop," the producer chastised Nadja in the earpiece.

"Well…then how do you explain these pictures?" she demanded, starting a slideshow of out of context but otherwise romantic looking photos, including the kiss from the fight against Dislocoeur. "That one especially looks pretty clear how you two see each other."

"These are taken out of context," Ladybug pointed out.

"And the kiss was to cure me from a spell cast on me by that hate spreading Akuma on Valentine's weekend," Catastrophe sighed. Ladybug looked at her in confusion. "Do you have any pertinent questions, Nadja?"

"Why are you two dodging this? It's plain as anyone can see!"

"Our concern is the safety of our city," Catastrophe pressed, seeing that Ladybug was starting to get stressed by Nadja's insistence. "All of these photos are being shown out of context, moments when we're simply doing our jobs," she said firmly, trying to redirect the questions to their intended topics. She knew that part of the problem was the pushy producer in Nadja's ear, but she'd also seen how Nadja conducted herself in interviews.

"Why won't you tell the truth?" Nadja insisted. Ladybug stood abruptly.

"This interview is over," Ladybug snapped. Catastrophe nodded in agreement.

"You can't just leave! The show isn't over!" Nadja gasped. Catastrophe sighed and stood.

"There's an alert," Ladybug tried. "Paris needs us."

"She's right…duty calls," Catastrophe agreed and they started to leave. She heard the producer scolding Nadja as they went and shook her head. They came to the roof and Ladybug took a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

"Why did you claim that you were the one under that spell? I jumped in the way of that shot stupidly…"

"It's an image thing…believe it or not there are people that want to see us fail besides Hawkmoth…they would try and use that against you with the public," she sighed. "We're walking a fine line at the edge of being celebrities…the less weakness they see in you the better…"

"But we're not perfect…and we're heroes…not celebrities."

"I know. And Nadja was also stressing you out…I've dealt with plenty of interviews in my life…," she sighed.

"So, you took charge using that experience," Ladybug guessed. "So, outside the suit you're someone famous…?"

"Please don't…it's bad enough that I know your identity…," she sighed.

"Right…sorry. Well, do you want to go on patrol since we cut out early?"

"I have another idea…race you to the Eiffel Tower? No use of our tools, though."

"Okay, that sounds fun." They started running. Halfway to the Tower, one of the giant monitors turned on and Catastrophe stopped to see what was going on.

"Welcome to a new show!" an Akuma that looked vaguely like Nadja laughed on the screen. "Hosted by me, Audimatrix! Don't be bemused…it's just the news!"

"Is that Nadja?" Ladybug asked, landing beside her.

"That's her tagline," Catastrophe sighed. "Her producer was pestering her for those personal questions…"

"Tonight, Ladybug and Catastrophe disappointed all their loyal fans by refusing to admit their love for one another!" A living room appeared on the screen behind Audimatrix and she could see Alya picking up one of her sleeping sisters from the couch. The twin that was awake screamed as Audimatrix reached into the screen and appeared in the room with them. The other twin woke at the noise and Alya turned around.

"What the heck?!" Alya gasped, putting her sister down. "What do you want?" she demanded of the Akuma while her sisters fled the living room.

"You're to be a special guest for a new show," Audimatrix laughed, tugging on a rope. Alya turned to flee but she was captured by the villain before she could get away. "Participation isn't optional," she snapped. "I've prepared a few trials to see how far our heroes are willing to go to keep the truth from us!"

"Okay…so besides her producer pestering her…she essentially just got Akumatized for shipping us too hard…," Catastrophe sighed.

"We're not characters in a TV show…we're real people…," Ladybug groaned. "Shipping real people is so creepy…"

"Agreed…so let's see what we can do to take care of this." The screen went black and after a moment Audimatrix appeared in the Louvre on the screen. She had Alya tied up in a sarcophagus.

"For our first trial, admit that you're in love on live TV to save this girl's life!" Audimatrix exclaimed. "Are you willing to go through the screen and confess to save her?" the image in front of them turned to static and Catastrophe tested it by extending her baton into the screen. When it disappeared in the static, she nodded to Ladybug and they leapt off the roof and into the static. They landed in a subway train just as it started moving.

"Great…should have seen that one coming," Ladybug sighed. Catastrophe gripped a pole as the train sped up.

"I don't really ride these…is it supposed to be moving this fast?"

"No…it's not."

"Welcome to the Train of Suspense!" Audimatrix called as all of the train's monitors turned on and showed the villain fiddling with the train's controls. "If it reaches seventy miles per hour, our poor heroes will be toast. Of course, if you can swallow your pride and admit your love for each other, I'll stop the train!"

"Well that was a shift in tone…," Ladybug groaned.

"Yeah…What happened to holding Alya hostage?"

"Oh, she's here," Audimatrix laughed and the screen showed the sarcophagus Alya was in strapped to the front of the train. "And she'll be the first to go!"

"We told the truth before! It would be unprofessional to be dating as heroes!" Ladybug snapped.

"And a superhero never lies!" Catastrophe added. "We can't admit to something that's not true."

"I want my scoop!" Audimatrix argued.

"Gosh she's stubborn…," Catastrophe groaned. "I'm not exactly comfortable playing along, but…"

"It looks like that's gonna be our only option…it's not like my girlfriend knows my secret identity…," Ladybug sighed.

"Same…and if it gets the job done…I'm sure she'll understand if she finds out your secret," Catastrophe said lightly, trying not to laugh at the irony. If only Marinette knew that she was standing right beside her. Ladybug nodded and took her hand, twining their fingers.

"Fine. You're right. The life of a civilian is more important than our secret…"

"You caught us," Catastrophe sighed. "We're dating…and completely in love." To emphasize the point, she leaned against Ladybug. The train started to slow down and came to a stop.

"Our two heroic lovebirds are saving their fan's life by admitting their true feelings!" Audimatrix gushed. "Our viewers are going crazy!" she showed off the reading on the watch she was wearing as about halfway from red to green.

"That must be where the Akuma is…," Ladybug whispered. Catastrophe nodded in agreement.

"But our TV ratings haven't maxed out yet. You must do better! To prove that your feelings are genuine, you have to take off your masks. Which means you must both give me your Miraculous!"

"You have to come to us first," Catastrophe challenged.

"My show, my rules!" Audimatrix snapped and the screen shut off.

"Okay…that didn't work," she sighed and went to tap the screen. Just as her hand connected with it, the screen turned back on to show Audimatrix in a room with the sarcophagus. If she had to guess, the room almost looked like the ballroom at Le Gran Paris.

"Next challenge then!" she laughed and showed some wires attached to the sarcophagus. Alya was screaming inside. "Your Miraculous or a mummified Alya! Which will it be?" The screen turned to static and Catastrophe looked at Ladybug.

"Let's leap in and hope she doesn't run." She nodded and they jumped through the screen. A blast of cold air hit Catastrophe as they came out of the screen and into a freezer. A quick glance around told her that they were in the Hotel restaurant.

"Great…she double crossed us," she groaned. "I think it's time to quit playing her game and change the rules."

"Agreed," Ladybug sighed and called for a Lucky Charm. "Okay…that's interesting…," she groaned as a roll of tape appeared.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Audimatrix mocked. Ladybug smirked and leaned in to whisper to Catastrophe.

"Think you can change one of those bins into something to cover that TV?"

"I'll do you one better," she whispered back before counting up bins. She found the right bin in a moment and pulled a couple of frozen pizzas out of it. She then helped Ladybug flatten out the boxes and tape them over the screen.

"How did you know where to find those?"

"Feline intuition," she joked. In reality, she knew from years of sneaking food out of that very freezer. They finished working as they could hear Audimatrix questioning what they were doing. The two heroes stood to the sides of the screen.

"What's happening?" Audimatrix demanded.

"Fine, you win, Audimatrix," Ladybug said lightly. "We'll remove our Miraculous. The whole world will see us without our masks!"

"Shame you're missing it!" Catastrophe added.

"So unlucky!"

"If you're lying, you're going to regret it," the villain threatened and her hand emerged through the cardboard. Ladybug launched into action and pinned Audimatrix to the ground. Catastrophe destroyed the watch she was wearing and the Akuma emerged. Ladybug captured and purified it and everything was set to rights. Catastrophe found the emergency door latch and let them out of the freezer.

"And there we go. Now…Mme Chamack…we may be in the public eye while we try to find and defeat Hawkmoth, but we are not celebrities. And even if we were, our personal lives are really not the public's business," she told the woman before heading off. Ladybug nodded in agreement and went with her.

"You're really suited for the publicity side of this…," Ladybug noted as they headed for the roof.

"Thanks…until she got so nosy, you did great with that interview," she sighed. "We shouldn't have to deal with that sort of thing…"

Ladybug nodded in agreement and swung away with her yo-yo when they got to the roof. Catastrophe went to a blind spot of the cameras and dropped to her balcony.

Nadja's next attempt at a Primetime show was co-hosting an hour of celebrity gossip with a random amateur journalist. That week, it was Alya and they were focusing on Ladybug and Catastrophe. Chloé sighed tiredly and turned her TV off to focus her attention on her homework.

Chapter Text

Chloé was glad to excuse herself from her father's big victory press conference to fight an Akuma with Ladybug. She didn't even think anyone noticed while her parents were posturing for the cameras and her father made his half promises to the people of Paris. The Akuma was easy enough to take care of and she went straight home afterwards. She turned on her computer and got to work on some homework. First, she opened her calendar and sighed when she saw that Class Representative Elections were on the next school day.

"What's wrong, Chloé?" Yeilis asked, hovering beside her.

"Class Elections are tomorrow…and I'm not sure I want to run this year," she told the Kwami. "And the worst part is my parents will probably lecture me about it if I don't…"

"So…run and do the job right?" Plagg suggested. "The less you have to deal with those two the better."

"He's right," Yeilis agreed. "The last encounter with them had you holed up in the freezer eating all the gelato."

"Yeah…if your father treats the city anything like he treats you, he shouldn't have won that election."

"He bought the vote and ran a smear campaign against his competitors. It's what he always does. And I've been lucky we've been dealing with Hawkmoth for the last eight months…everyone's too busy dealing with Akuma attacks to try and blackmail my father…"

"Maybe you should expose him somehow? In a way that won't trace back to you?" Yeilis suggested.

"I'd rather not…not with elections having barely happened and the alternative being someone who didn't even need a full smear campaign to get the lower vote," she sighed. "Can we stop talking about this, please? I have homework to focus on."

Chloé and Sabrina won the class elections unopposed and Nadja pestered Mr D'Argencourt into becoming Akumatized. Ladybug and Catastrophe dealt with him quickly, and someone started an online forum ousting some of her father's antics. The City Council, thankfully, decided that it was better just to let him serve the term under close observation rather than go through the trouble of retiring him immediately. She was happy that she was pretty removed from her parents' business dealings because they liked to ignore her unless she made a fuss or they thought she was behaving too far below their standards.

"Chloé, would you like to start the class with some words about your plans as Class Representative?" Mme Bustier asked at the beginning of class when everyone was settled.

"Actually, yes," she sighed, standing and going to the front of the class. "I actually put together some suggestion sheets. Sabrina, can you help pass them out?" Sabrina nodded and pulled the papers out before handing them out. "I'll do my best to act on your suggestions to improve issues in our class. I'd also like to apologize to everyone for how I've treated you in the past." She sat back down with Sabrina and everyone handed them back the sheets when class was over.

A week after Elections, it was time for the class photos to be taken. Chloé was standing with her classmates, trying to chat with them. For some reason, they seemed wary of her. It was strange, because they'd been pretty friendly and accepting of her in the past weeks. She sat beside Marinette.

"Any idea why everyone's avoiding me?"

"Sabrina's back at it…ever since the elections, she's got her second wind I think…," Marinette sighed. "And just when it seemed like she was out of those habits…"

"I'll talk to her…," Chloé sighed. "It's my fault she's got those habits anyways…I get the sinking feeling one of my parents talked to her…"

"After the photo though," Alya reminded her. "Maybe she's just jealous because you actually seemed to have a pretty easy time of being nice…"

"Well, if it weren't for this cool Chinese Chakra reader that I found back in September…"

"So, you cheated," Alya joked.

"Can you blame me though? You've met my parents…"

"Oh yeah…I heard you got caught in the restaurant freezer chowing on gelato."

"Really?" Rose laughed.

"Yeah…my mom keeps trying to throw out the stuff she thinks I don't need anymore…and both of them like to lecture me about the wrong stuff…like doing my own homework. I got so upset that I locked myself in the restaurant freezer and ate most of the gelato we had in there…"

"Sounds pretty bad…," Juleka sighed.

"All right!" Signore Vincent called to them. "Let's see…you kids take a seat on the front bench," he instructed, pointing to Max, Alix, Rose, Marinette and Mylène. The five of them hurried to follow the instructions. "Perfect! Now…you, you, you, and…you, go stand on the rear bench please," he said, pointing to Nathaniel, Alya, Sabrina and Chloé.

"Excuse you!" Sabrina snapped. "Chloé's supposed to be right in the middle with Adrien!"

"It's fine, Sabrina…," she sighed, going to stand on the bench. "Really." Sabrina pouted and joined her.

"The rest of you boys, go stand in the middle row," Vincent instructed and everyone in the class but Juleka was in position. "Wonderful! Now, stop squirming and let's get this photo shot!"

"Excuse me, Signore!" Chloé gasped. "We're missing a student." That seemed to catch everyone's attention.

"That's right! Where's Juleka?" Rose gasped.

"What?" Vincent gasped and looked over to Juleka. "I'm sorry about that. Here…you stand in the middle row, next to Adrien." Juleka nodded and stood next to Adrien. He frowned and rearranged the front two rows several times before he groaned.

"Excuse me," Mr Damocles sighed. "But do we have a problem?"

"It doesn't matter where I put him, it throws the whole picture out of whack! Adrien, can you help me please?"

"Of course!" Adrien slipped out of the group and went to stand by Vincent. "Let's see…Ivan in the middle row by Mme Bustier to balance Mr Damocles…Juleka by Mr Damocles…Kim beside Ivan…I'll stand between Kim and Juleka…," he trailed off, worrying his lips as everyone shifted. "Alix sit in the middle of the front row…let's see…Rose to Alix's left…Marinette to the right…Mylène in front of Ivan and Max on the other end. On the back row…Alya move closer to Mr Damocles and Sabrina and Chloé swap out." Once everyone was repositioned, Vincent looked into his camera lens and nodded.

"Perfecto!" he called and Adrien went back to his spot. "Grazie Adrien."

"No problem."

"Say Spaghetti!" Vincent started to take the picture, but his camera made a noise and he groaned. "You've got to be kidding me! I'm sorry, I have to go and fetch another battery. Nobody move!" He hurried away to get a new battery.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Juleka asked softly.

"Of course, but hurry!" Mme Bustier said lightly.

"He said nobody is to move!"

"It's an emergency, sir!" she argued as Juleka hurried to the bathroom. Sabrina slipped after her and came back at the same time as Vincent was putting the fresh battery into place.

"And there we go! We're back in business! I want you to flash your best smiles! Because this is the last time that we are doing this!" Sabrina shoved Chloé to the floor and she stumbled into Juleka's spot.

"What the heck?" she gasped, turning to glare at Sabrina.

"No, wait!" Marinette shouted at the same time.

"Thanks kids!" Vincent called, the photo already taken.

"No, we have to redo the photo!" Chloé gasped, turning to the photographer.

"Why is that?" Mr Damocles snapped.

"Juleka's not in it!" Marinette told him.

"Jule…who?"

"Juleka! The tall one with the purple streaks?"

"Oh yeah…where'd she go?" Kim gasped.

"Didn't she go to the bathroom?" Alya recalled.

"Aren't we meant to be heading off to lunch?" Sabrina chimed in. "And you're paying the photographer by the hour, right?"

"Why yes!" Mr Damocles gasped. "No time to retake! Class, move along now!"

"Si! Lunch break!" Vincent agreed, packing his camera up.

"Just great…," Chloé groaned. "Rose…will you go find Juleka? I'll talk to the photographer about redoing the photo after the other classes…"

"Okay!" Rose hurried off to the bathroom to find Juleka. Chloé went to the principal's office as the principal and photographer were stepping out.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, Miss Bourgeois?" Mr Damocles sighed.

"Well, Signore Vincent. It would be amazing if we could retake my class's photo. I can compensate you for the extra time, but one of our classmates wasn't in it and it's really important to us that everyone is involved."

"Well, I suppose I can edit the photo before printing…we can set up in the park after the rest," Vincent agreed.

"Thank you so much, sir," she said brightly. "I understand you're in a hurry to get lunch and get back to the other classes, so we can talk more after the rest." She hurried back to the others just as Juleka was running out of the building. "So, we're on for a photoshoot after school!" she told the others.

"Great!" Alya gasped. "And here we were worrying about how to convince the photographer…"

"I just offered to pay him for his time and he agreed. Money speaks with freelance artists…and it's really important that everyone's in the picture." Rose joined them just then.

"Juleka was locked in the bathroom! And she thinks you put Sabrina up to it, Chloé…," she told them.

"Great…that means if she ends up Akumatized--"

"What is that?!" Alya gasped, cutting her off and pointing. All eyes turned to the incoming person, all pink and tacky eye themed vinyl. She landed on her platform shoes and zapped someone with some sort of power that turned them into an exact duplicate of the villain. The group of girls hurried to the side, hiding in the locker room.

"Soon everyone in Paris will look like me!" Juleka's voice shouted. "Including Chloé Bourgeois!" Chloé groaned and slipped away from the group. Marinette hurried after her.

"Where are you going?"

"I…It's not safe for anyone to be around me when I'm her target…," she rationalized. Marinette nodded.

"Solid reasoning…I'll go with you," Marinette told her and pulled her to the bathroom. She could hear the panic outside the bathroom and she worried her lip. She'd been going off to hide and transform, and Marinette should have done the same. She glanced at Marinette's purse and then her own.

"Don't you think it would be safer to be away from me right now…?" she tried.

"But what if something happens to you?"

"What if something happens to you because you were protecting me?" she pressed, trying to get Marinette to leave so they could transform and save Juleka. Marinette shook her head and peaked out of the bathroom. "We don't have time for this!" she shouted at last. "Paris needs you more than I do right now!"

"What…what do you mean?" Marinette asked, her eyes wide.

"We don't have time for this!" she repeated. "I was really trying to find a private place to transform! Paris needs us and I'm honestly tired of dancing around this." Marinette stared at her and she sighed. "Look…we both need to transform and we can talk about this after we take care of the Akuma."

"You mean…you're Catastrophe?" Marinette finally asked. Chloé nodded and called for her transformation. Marinette shook her head and followed suit. "You're right…we can talk when there's not an Akuma to defeat." They jumped through the bathroom windows and went to the roof. Reflekta was still calling for Chloé.

"We need to approach carefully. Her transformative powers will make us pretty useless if we get hit…"

"Yeah, have you seen those shoes? I'm better in pointe shoes than platforms," Ladybug agreed. "Do you have an idea?"

"We need to set a trap and corner her. We can use me as bait."

"Are you sure about that?" Ladybug asked, eyes wide.

"I'm sure. She's after me, so I'm the perfect bait. We can do the same thing we did with Jackady with the lights of a stage."

"The TV studio!" she gasped. "We can set up and then broadcast over the city that we have who she's looking for…when she shows up, we pounce." Catastrophe nodded and they vaulted off. They got to the TV studio and explained the situation to the staff.

"Of course you can use a studio!" Nadja exclaimed. "We just got word of this supervillain transforming people near the Trocadéro."

"Thank you. Stay safe if you go out to cover the attack." The reporter nodded and the two heroes headed to an empty studio to set their trap. "So…this whole time…," Ladybug started.

"Yeah…"

"You know…at the beginning of all this…I would never have believed that you could be a hero. So that Chakra Reader…how'd you find him?"

"Plagg gave me the address to take care of Tikki when she got sick and I found her," she sighed, tying off a wire. "If Rose hadn't been akumatized in the middle of the session, I had planned to find a place to get Tikki back to you without me finding out your identity…"

"And when Alya was Akumatized?"

"It's bad enough I know your identity, and Alya would have broadcast that information all over the internet even with the risks. All she cares about is getting her scoop sometimes…," she explained. "I wasn't lying when I said that if she wanted Ladybug, I'd give her Ladybug."

"And if she'd spotted your Kwami?"

"He was in a drawer I set up for him, playing with shiny things I don't use anymore. I had no plans to transform when there was a villain after our identities in the building. Sure, it would have been easier to just destroy the Wifi tower, but it ended up being quicker for me to go without any powers…and it made it easier to claim I was out of town and unable to help you."

"Okay then. And…done," Ladybug laughed as they finished with the last wires. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah." She went to a corner with no security cameras and detransformed while Ladybug fiddled with the camera. Chloé carefully got in front of the camera. Ladybug joined her.

"People of Paris!" Ladybug said to the broadcast. "I want to assure you that everything will be put to rights soon. And as for Reflekta, if you're watching this, Chloé Bourgeois has come out of hiding and will turn herself over to you. Maybe we can strike a deal when you come to get your revenge on her." Plagg and Yeilis flew out of Chloé's purse and turned the camera off. "Hurry up and get transformed again." Chloé nodded and transformed. The duo leapt into the rafters and they watched for Reflekta to come in.

The villain was oddly silent as she looked around the room for any sign of the heroes or her quarry. Catastrophe looked at Ladybug and frowned. Ladybug seemed just as confused, as Reflekta had been fairly vocal throughout her attack. Ladybug snared the villain with her yo-yo and dragged her into the air. She reacted with an oddly masculine shout.

"Where's the real Reflekta?" Catastrophe demanded.

"I don't know," Chloé's father's voice came from the imposter and she tried to keep a straight face.

"Mayor Bourgeois?" Ladybug gasped.

"I'm sorry, she promised that she'd change me back if I tricked you," he explained. The two of them pulled the mayor into the rafters and steadied him.

"Stay up here, we'll get you down in a moment."

"Wait!" he gasped as they started to move. "Where's my daughter?"

"She's safe, sir," Ladybug assured him and they moved to a different spot. Another Reflekta came into the room just then.

"So much for a distraction…," Reflekta muttered. "All right Ladybug! Catastrophe! Hand over Chloé!" They remained in the rafters as she paced the room. "I know you're in here!"

Catastrophe slipped to the light and sound controls quietly and started flipping switches, turning off the lights in the stage. She could see Reflekta searching the room blindly and she looked to see Ladybug watching intently. She sighed and went to the next phase, setting the lights to start strobing. The flashing lights confused Reflekta and she adjusted the pattern to drive the villain to the stage. When Reflekta was in place, she turned the lights off and waited for her to trip over the wires to move the spots.

Reflekta shouted as she stumbled backwards, tripping over the wire and falling to the ground. Catastrophe smirked and switched the spots to full power. Reflekta covered her face and Ladybug dropped to the stage in front of her, snatching the mirror from her hand and throwing it to the ground. The Akuma was released and before everything was repaired, Catastrophe went back to get the mayor and got him safely to the ground.

"Where am I…?" Juleka asked softly as everything was set right.

"Mayor Bourgeois," Catastrophe started, trying to sound as professional and distant as she could. "Could you take this girl back to her school please? She attends L'école Françoise Dupont with your daughter."

"Yes, of course Catastrophe! But…Where's my Chloé?"

"She was never here," she lied. "We dressed up a mannequin to look like her. She's in a safe location and we'll take her back to school ourselves."

"Thank you," he sighed, moving to take care of Juleka. Catastrophe left the studio with Ladybug and they headed back to school.

After the other classes were finished with their photos, Chloé and Marinette gathered their classmates in the park to meet with Signore Vincent. He went above and beyond, taking not only the class photo but a full series of shots. Most importantly to Chloé, Juleka was in every single one.

"Your photo curse is broken!" Rose exclaimed as they were resting after the shoot.

"Thank you, Marinette," Juleka said softly.

"I wish I could take credit for this, but it was all Chloé," Marinette argued.

"I never wanted to exclude you from the photo," Chloé sighed. "I think my parents are encouraging Sabrina to try and 'help' me get back into being a bully. I'm so sorry about what happened…"

"It's not your fault if your parents are the ones giving Sabrina orders…I overreacted earlier and should have realized you wouldn't do stuff like that anymore."

Chloé smiled a little and Juleka hugged her. Rose joined in and that prompted most of the rest of the class to join. She tried not to burst into tears at them suddenly rallying around her.

Chapter Text

Chloé's parents had in fact talked to Sabrina and she agreed with them about Chloé being nice. She was surprised about that, even though she probably shouldn't have been. She'd always been so spoiled and horrible to everyone that her attitude had rubbed off on Sabrina. She just had to weather it and keep trying to get Sabrina to change. Fortunately, most of their classmates had warmed up to her and acknowledged that the trouble was with Chloé's parents and Sabrina working against her changing.

They had a work experience field trip coming up and Chloé managed to talk her father into letting her school use the hotel. She let all the teachers know and helped work up a schedule for the classes to have their time at the hotel. She was late to class because of the discussions, but she was satisfied with her work.

"Ah, Chloé!" Mme Bustier greeted her. "I'll let you be the one to make the announcement since you're here. I was just passing out the consent forms to send to everyone's parents."

"Okay. Sabrina, can you get the lists out of my bag please?" she asked Sabrina and the girl nodded, pulling a folder out of Chloé's backpack. "I got my father's permission to use the hotel for our Work Experience class. Sabrina will pass around the list of available jobs in the hotel. Select your top three choices so we can give everyone something to learn about." Sabrina handed out the lists and went back to her seat.

"This is gonna be awesome…," Kim laughed.

"Totally," Alix agreed. Mme Bustier called the class to order and started her lesson while they were filling out the lists.

The day of the field trip came and everyone was given their assignments. Chloé had volunteered for trash separating, but when her father saw the assignments, he insisted that she should join Adrien and Nino at the check-in desk. She resigned herself to her fate, but remembered the Gopher position. It wasn't horrible, and Marinette was the only one who had picked it.

"Daddy, we don't need more than two students at the front desk. The gopher job looked fun. I can do that instead?" she asked, batting her eyes and laying on her sweetest tones. Her father was a horrible person, but he was easy to manipulate in some areas.

"Well…okay. It's better than what you were assigned before," he sighed, glaring at Mme Bustier.

The doors slid open before Mme Bustier could say anything and Kim pushed a luggage cart into the lobby. A stylish woman with a clipboard followed him, clicking her pen as she worked on something. The next thing she saw was a crocodile on a leash. Then, holding the leash, she recognized Jagged Stone. Kim went back out for another cart.

"No way…," she gasped. With as much as they were bringing in, he was clearly after a long-term residence.

"Excuse me," her father snapped, approaching Jagged. "This is a luxury hotel, not a--"

"Daddy!" Chloé hissed, cutting him off. "That's Jagged Stone. He's a very famous and very, very rich Rockstar." With that information, her father's attitude completely changed.

"Mr Stone, welcome to L'hôtel Gran Paris. How might we serve you?"

"How'd you think?" Jagged asked sarcastically. "I didn't just come here to admire your lobby." The woman with the clipboard cleared her throat.

"Jagged would like to check into your most luxurious long-term suite," she said lightly.

"And Fang better get a real bathtub," Jagged griped. "Not a tiny water hole like the one in that hotel across the street."

"We have everything you need, Mme Fang," the mayor said to the woman and she snickered. "Even a state-of-the-art entertainment centre!"

"Fang's my crocodile," Jagged snapped.

"Mr Stone, we have everything you require for your…," he swallowed nervously, glancing at the crocodile. "Fang. Would he…enjoy a bubble bath?"

"Crocodiles don't like bubble baths! That dries their scales out!"

While the paperwork was started, Chloé noticed the door opening and someone slipping inside the lobby. She frowned and watched the man trying to be sneaky as he held up his camera to snap some photos. Fang the crocodile wandered away from Jagged and started growling at the paparazzi. He shouted in surprise and stumbled out into the open.

"Oh, no…not him again," Jagged groaned. The stranger stood and dusted himself off before approaching Jagged.

"Remember me, Mr Stone?" he asked, getting uncomfortably close to the star. "Vincent Aza! Just one photo to show everyone in the world that we're best buds?" Jagged pushed him away. "I'm your biggest fan!"

"I know!" Jagged griped and Chloé could see her father motioning to security. "You've been to my last 36 shows! But we are not friends!" Vincent Aza ignored his protest and threw an arm over Jagged's shoulder before positioning his camera to try and take a selfie. Before he could snap the photo, the security officer and Ivan had the man away from Jagged and had seized his camera. The pair hauled him out the door and returned after a moment.

"We take security very seriously here, Mr Stone," the mayor assured him. "And if you would like, I can even assist with the police to have a restraining order placed against him."

"That won't be necessary unless he tries again," the woman sighed. "Thank you for the offer though."

While everyone finished going to their assignments, Chloé waited with Marinette for an assignment. Marinette had volunteered for the gopher job in the first place, and Chloé honestly was considering sneaking off to sort trash despite her father's insistence otherwise.

"You think we should be on the lookout for an Akuma?" Marinette whispered to Chloé.

"Considering what just happened…probably," she whispered back. "So much for my idea of sneaking off to sort trash anyways…"

"We'll see how things go…"

"So, when we don't have anything to get for celebrity guests, we act as bellhops," Chloé explained to Marinette. "Since there wasn't anything already ready for us, we'll just be given Jagged's room number and we can take his luggage up." Marinette nodded a little. After another moment, they were given the room number for Jagged and they each took a cart to the elevator and to the room. When they got into the room, they unloaded Jagged and his manager's belongings and started to take the carts into the hall.

"Anything else we can do for you?" Marinette asked cordially before the manager could close the door.

"Actually, yes!" she replied. "Mr Stone is going to need a new pair of shades for tonight's gig. Red, white and blue with two large Eiffel Towers on them. Can you get that for him?"

"We'll do our best!" Chloé promised. "Anything else?"

"That's all for now."

"All right, just call the desk to let us know if you need anything else," Marinette told her and they headed to the elevator with the carts. "Where are we gonna find sunglasses like that?"

"Well, we could always check at a tourist gift shoppe…but I don't know if they currently even exist," Chloé sighed as they made their way to the lobby. "There are multiple shops around town…we can split up and start looking."

"All right," Marinette laughed. "Let's do this!" They fist bumped and headed out.

Three gift shops later, Chloé called Marinette to see if she'd had any luck. The only thing she'd found was a pair of plain glasses with almost invisible Eiffel Towers on the arms.

"I only found the same…," Marinette told her.

"They won't work for the stage…maybe you could make them?" Chloé suggested.

"Maybe…I'd need some supplies though…wire frame glasses and paint…"

"All right. I see some wire frame glasses at the store I'm in. I can buy those and you get the rest? We'll meet back at your place to raid your supplies?"

"I'll grab the paint and some extra wire and see you there!" Marinette agreed and the call ended. Chloé grabbed the sunglasses and paid for them before heading to Marinette's house. Marinette got there at the same time and they headed upstairs to work.

"How are you going to turn those…," Tikki asked, popping out of Marinette's purse to look at the shades. "Into what Jagged wants?"

"With a little hard work," Marinette laughed, popping the lens from the wire frames. Chloé helped as Marinette worked on reshaping the frames and adding wire where she needed it.

They finished the sunglasses and headed back to the hotel to deliver them. Kim and the doorman were gone, which didn't sit well with Chloé. The doorman was always at his post. She frowned and pulled out her phone, checking the crime alert. She had notifications off because they were usually fairly good about finding out on their own about situations. But the app didn't let her down as there was a post about a villain digitizing people in search of Jagged Stone.

"Vincent Aza the Stalker was akumatized…," she groaned.

"Great…just what we need," Marinette sighed and they headed into the building.

"Let me see if I can find him," Chloé sighed, heading to the desk and accessing the security cameras. It wasn't but a moment before she spotted someone that was obviously an Akumatized villain. On the third floor. "There. He's going room by room. We can drop the sunglasses off with Jagged and then cut him off and take care of this."

"Sounds like a plan," Marinette said lightly and they headed for a staff elevator. They went up to Jagged's room and Chloé was surprised when the rock star answered the door himself.

"Took you long enough," he complained.

"We had to make them," Chloé defended, handing him the sunglasses. "Well, it was mostly Marinette. She's very creative."

"Well, they're perfect!" Jagged exclaimed, looking them over. "I might look you up for other stuff." Marinette lit up and Chloé cleared her throat.

"We have another delivery to make, but if you need anything, feel free to call the desk," she said professionally. He nodded and went back into the room. The pair headed for the elevator.

"Where is he?" Marinette asked when the doors closed. Chloé accessed the security system with her phone.

"He made it up to Jagged's floor," she sighed. "Just a few doors away. The elevators have security cameras, but we can go up to my room and transform. We should have time to drop onto Jagged's balcony and get him to safety before this Numèric character gets to him."

"Sounds like a plan!" They went up to Chloé's room and barely took the time to transform as they headed for the balcony, dropping to Jagged's room. Catastrophe knocked on the outside door as they could see Jagged's manager heading to answer the door.

"Don't answer that!" Catastrophe shouted as they came into the room. "It's a villain after Mr Stone. We've come to get you both to safety and take care of this situation."

The two adults hurried to the heroes and Catastrophe went to the edge of the balcony. Jagged and his manager joined them and she took hold of the singer while Ladybug held the manager. They vaulted to the Eiffel Tower and took them to the office at the top.

"Please stay here," Ladybug said lightly. "We'll get this villain taken care of and then bring you back to the hotel." The two of them nodded and Ladybug and Catastrophe vaulted away.

The duo paused just long enough to check the news. There was coverage of an attack at the Champs-Élysées. Numèric was zapping people out of reality on the street. The video switched to footage on the ground at the scene. Nadja was recklessly approaching the villain. Catastrophe groaned.

"What is it with these journalists and putting themselves in danger for a scoop?" Ladybug griped. "Alya's the same way…"

"Yeah…except Alya's push-for-a-scoop to the point of someone getting Akumatized number is herself. Nadja's up to fifteen," Catastrophe sighed. "Watch her get zapped."

"Excuse me, sir?" Nadja called on the video as she found an opening to approach Numèric. "Sir? Care for an interview with the reporter who spreads the villain's voice?" Numèric smirked and looked at the camera.

"I will continue my photoshoot until Jagged Stone turns up here in the flesh!" he demanded. "Where are you, Jagged? Your biggest fan awaits you!" Catastrophe looked at Ladybug.

"It's probably a trap for us," Ladybug sighed.

"Agreed. So…we get the drop on him. The Akuma is probably in that camera he's been zapping people with."

"That's what I was thinking…do you have any ideas?"

"Well, at this rate he's going to make everyone in the city disappear…We can talk more on the way."

"Right." They headed for the scene. "I wonder what would happen if he took a picture of himself…"

"If the beams can be reflected…we can get hold of a mirror and turn his power against him. Maybe your lucky charm can help?"

"Right!" Ladybug called for a Lucky Charm and a compact mirror dropped into her hands. "Convenient."

"Well, it's a random object that's always just what we need," Catastrophe noted. "And you're brilliant so even if we didn't already know what to do with it, we could manage."

"You're flattering me, Kitty," Ladybug laughed, pocketing the mirror.

"I'm only speaking the truth, Buginette," she blew her a kiss. Ladybug smiled at her and they got close to the scene. "And playtime's over."

"Right. Think you can hold his attention while I get in position? Bring him to the Louvre."

"At your service," she said lightly, jumping to get in front of the villain. "Itchy trigger finger much?"

"Catastrophe…I've been expecting you," he said lightly, raising his hand to the button on his camera. "Look into the--" She held up a hand to cut him off.

"I have a proposal for you. Ladybug and I have hidden Jagged Stone and we might be willing to come to an agreement about turning him over to you," she told him. He paused, probably being warned by Hawkmoth about the dangers of striking a deal with them. It was a trick they were willing to keep trying until the villains stopped falling for it, though.

"I'm listening," he said, either taking the bait or trying to plot a counter to her offer. She smirked.

"Free all of the innocent people you've digitized and I'll escort you to Jagged and your precious photoshoot," she put on her most diplomatic tones. He tapped his chin, considering.

"How about I free half now and the other half after I have Jagged and your Miraculous?"

"Deal," she agreed and put a hand to her ear as if she was fiddling with an ear piece. "Get him ready, we have a bargain," she said lightly. He seemed to buy the ruse and fiddled with his camera for a moment before people started appearing on the street. She nodded and started for the Louvre. When they got there, Ladybug was leaning on a sign, pretending to fix her makeup using the mirror.

"I kept my end of the bargain! Where is Jagged?!"

"Oh, he's not coming. Said he wasn't okay with a stalker taking photos of him," Ladybug sighed, straightening up. "Honestly, I don't blame him." He shouted in rage and went straight for the kill, attempting to zap Ladybug. She rolled her eyes and turned the mirror around to reflect the beam back at him. The villain disappeared in a cloud of pixels and his camera fell to the ground. Ladybug broke the object and set everything right.

"Mr Aza," Catastrophe sighed as his confusion seemed to be wearing off.

"Whoa…Catastrophe? Ladybug? What happened…?" he asked them, eyes wide.

"You were Akumatized," Ladybug told him. "Do you know why?" He shook his head.

"I remember being at the hotel when the security guys assaulted me for no reason and nearly broke my camera…," he trailed off. Ladybug and Catastrophe looked at each other.

"Are you aware of the legal definition of stalking?" Catastrophe sighed.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Consistent, unwanted, contact, including following both him and his mother around, digging through his trash, and unwanted physical contact…along with unsolicited photographs. All of those actions fall under the requisites for legal action to be taken against you by Mr Stone. I suggest you re-examine your actions before the police come knocking on your door," she told him before she and Ladybug vaulted away and back to the Eiffel Tower to get Jagged and his manager.

Things got back on track for the field trip and when Mme Bustier gathered the class in the lobby, Chloé's father was talking with Jagged's manager. Chloé had found out that her name was Penny when she and Ladybug were bringing the celebrity back to the hotel.

"Thank you very much for this work experience day, Mr Bourgeois," Mme Bustier said lightly. "I'm sure we'll all remember it for a long time to come."

"Agreed!" he exclaimed. Penny stepped forward, holding a few envelopes.

"Before you all get going, Jagged is giving a concert tonight, and he wanted to give out a few tickets to the students who put in the most effort today," she told them, handing the envelopes out to Alya, Nino, Adrien, Ivan and Mylène. She walked up to Chloé and Marinette. "And for the two of you, he was very impressed with your efforts getting those sunglasses for him." She handed the two girls envelopes and they opened them together.

"Backstage passes?!" Marinette gasped.

"Oh my gosh…thank you!" Chloé gasped, looking at her own pass. The class filed out of the hotel after a moment and Chloé went up to her room to get ready for the concert.

Chapter Text

Chloé first heard about it when she saw her father pulling out some of his old film gear from before he got into politics. The mayor was sponsoring a student film festival. She knew that some of her classmates were interested in some of the aspects of film making, so she looked into the rules to make sure that her involvement wouldn't prevent them from participating. Fortunately, there was nothing but a note that family of judges were barred from having director credit, so she got an application and took it to school with her. She also made note of the rule that the film had to be entirely made by students and they couldn't hire anyone for anything.

She even got Mme Bustier and a few of the other teachers to accept the film as extra credit in related subjects. The class latched onto the idea and they set to work on distributing roles in their free time. Marinette and Adrien volunteered for wardrobe and set design. Alya came up with the script. Chloé arranged for them to use the Gran Palais to film and borrowed an old camera from her father after they decided that the film would be a horror flick.

Everyone was in costume and the set was put together. They were well into filming, but there was one small problem. Mylène kept breaking character when Ivan came out in his monster costume. She'd said that she would be okay if it was Ivan, but the opposite was happening.

"It's too dangerous, Agent Smith!" Adrien exclaimed as they tried the scene again, posing with his fake gun behind a makeshift shelter. "We must evacuate!"

"You're suggesting we run, Officer Jones?" Mylène responded incredulously. "After it devoured my family…my friends…even my beloved dog?! Never!" she declared, brandishing her own toy gun and standing bravely. Chloé almost thought they could get through the scene this time. "I won't run! I no longer fear it! I'm going to face it, then I'll--" she broke off as she turned to see Ivan in his costume looming over them. She threw her toy into the air and hid behind Adrien, whimpering.

"Cut!" Nino groaned. Ivan quickly pulled his mask off and went to comfort his girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" Ivan asked her softly.

"That's like, the tenth take!" Nino griped. "And we barely got to the action!"

"Fourteenth, actually," Alix sighed. "But who's counting?" Nino groaned in dismay.

"I'm…sorry," Mylène sighed, though she was visibly shaking. "I…I'm gonna do better on the next take, I promise."

"You're playing a hero from the special forces! You're not supposed to get all freaked out!" Nino told her as Rose wandered around offering drinks and snacks to everyone while they waited.

"Maybe we should film the next bit and let Mylène calm down?" Chloé suggested. "We can come back to this scene when she's ready."

"I-I'll be fine…," Mylène argued. Ivan sighed and put his mask back on, heading back to his spot. Mylène looked at him and screeched, scrambling away from him.

"Come on, Mylène…," Marinette sighed. "Chloé can you keep things going?" She nodded as Marinette guided Mylène away from the set. Chloé nodded and looked over the script.

"Okay, so we have this set listed for the next scene…we can do some of the filming for that…the bits where we won't be seeing Agent Smith. And once Mylène has herself in order, we can go back to filming this moment."

"Sounds good to me!" Alix sighed. "They don't film blockbuster movies in scene order, right?"

"I guess it's cool…but if she can't get it together, we're gonna have to recast her part…," Nino ceded and they got ready for the next scene. Marinette came back alone in the middle of the filming and Chloé stepped aside to talk to her.

"How's she doing?"

"She says she'll be fine…but I'm not sure. We may have a bigger problem on our hands…," Marinette sighed.

"An Akuma attack…," Chloé guessed. "Nino would jump at filming that, and so would Alya…"

"Yeah…without any regard for Mylène…Those two have been putting their all into this…it's really got me worried."

"Everything'll be fine," she told her, touching her arm gently. "If something happens, we'll just do what we always do and save the day. As a team."

"Right. Another day, another Akuma, right? This is our normal until we defeat Hawkmoth…"

"Yeah…but we're close, we just need the right evidence and the right moment to pounce," she encouraged, kissing Marinette's cheek. "For now, though…we've got a student film to work on." The pair turned their attention back to the filming. Everything was going smoothly without them, but Chloé noticed that their natural light was fading. She looked up to see a shadow pass across the glass above them. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Marinette followed her gaze. "I don't see anything, Chloé…"

"Maybe it was just a cloud…"

"And that's great!" Nino shouted as they finished recording the scene. "Now we just need Mylène back to film the rest!"

"I'll go get her," Rose offered.

"I'll go with you," Marinette said lightly. The two hurried off to go find Mylène and the shadow passed across the floor again.

"Whoa, what was that?" Nino gasped, looking up. Alya pulled out her phone and turned on the camera, zooming in on the windows above them.

"That pink goo was not there before…," she mumbled.

"Pink goo?" Chloé questioned, hurrying to Alya to look at what her camera was picking up. Sure enough, the shadow was being cast by some sort of pink slime covering the window. They heard a shrill scream and Chloé's phone went off. She frowned and checked to see that she had a message from Marinette.

Akuma! It just ATE Rose! Her eyes went wide.

"Filming can wait, that slime's probably from an Akuma," she told her friends. "Marinette just saw it eat Rose."

"Dude…no way am I not filming this!" Nino exclaimed, getting the camera ready.

"We need to hide!" she argued, though she knew he would react like that. Alya started recording on her phone.

"Are you kidding? This is a prime chance for some great footage of Ladybug and Catastrophe!"

"Right…just be careful…," she mumbled. The couple ran off towards Rose's scream and the others followed. Chloé hung back to text Marinette.

The whole class is going to investigate! Either find a place and transform now or we can slip off while they're distracted. She pressed send and followed after the others when Adrien called to her.

Slip off, you need to see this, came the reply. She frowned and pocketed her phone. They came to a space and saw Marinette trying to rouse an unconscious Rose.

"What happened? I thought it ate her?" Nino demanded, aiming the camera at the two girls.

"It did!" Marinette gasped. "It just caught her up and swallowed her, but then after a minute, it spat her back out. But she's unconscious and I can't get her to wake up!"

"And it just left you alone?" Alix asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Because I managed to hide while it was doing whatever it did to Rose…," Marinette told them. "What else was I supposed to do? It's not like I'm Ladybug," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "And are you guys seriously--look out!" Chloé looked to see that a giant slime monster was on the approach.

"What is that thing?!" Ivan gasped.

"The Akuma!" Chloé started to try and get the class out of the way. The monster opened its mouth and a long tongue snaked out to grab Kim and Max before she could get to them. They screamed and it pulled them into its mouth. The rest of the class made a run for it as it swallowed Max and Kim. Seeing an opportunity, Chloé broke away from the group and ducked around a corner. For good measure, she let out a shriek and listened for the others.

"It got Chloé!" Alya shouted.

"Then it's too late for her!" Marinette shouted back at her friend. The class continued fleeing from the monster and when their footsteps faded, Chloé called for her transformation. When she was fully transformed, she hurried after the group and found them cornered by the monster.

"Everyone run!" she shouted, pulling her baton out and extending it to fight back the monster.

"Catastrophe in my movie?!" Nino gasped, barely moving out of the action to film. "This is legit!"

"Get somewhere safe! Quickly!" she told them, hitting the monster back. She wasn't surprised to see all of the remaining students but Nino and Alya flee. Marinette slipped away in the confusion and she breathed a small sigh of relief. Ladybug appeared a moment later and dragged the filming couple away from the fighting before joining Catastrophe. "So, what exactly happened with Rose?" she asked as they tried to keep the monster distracted without getting eaten.

"Exactly what I told the others," Ladybug said softly. "We were going to check on Mylène when that tongue just snatched Rose from beside me. While it was distracted, I ducked into hiding to text you and then it grew a little and spat Rose out."

"So, any ideas where the Akuma is? Because all I can see is slime," she sighed as a stream of slime pushed her into the wall.

"I haven't seen anything on it!" Ladybug gasped, spinning her yo-yo to block an attack. "Before you caught up, it got Sabrina."

"Then we find that Akuma quickly and take care of this before anyone else gets eaten," she said lightly. Ladybug nodded a little. "For now…I say we retreat and make sure the others are safe." Before Ladybug could reply, they were pinned to the wall in a glob of slime and the monster shrank into nothing before their eyes.

"What the heck?!" Ladybug gasped. "You saw that, right?"

"Yeah…I saw it. Maybe we should do some recon before we go any further…," Catastrophe sighed, extending her baton in an attempt to break apart the drying slime that was holding them.

"Well, it grows each time it eats someone…I guess it's consuming their emotions before spitting them out?"

"Probably…where did you leave Mylène before coming back to the set?"

"But if she's the Akuma, we won't find anything where she was trying to calm down…"

"I've got a sinking feeling about this…you remember how my Kwami Yeilis found a Miraculous in that safe?"

"You think he's working with someone?"

"It's a real possibility…especially since this thing isn't anything like any Akuma we've faced so far." They heard screaming and ran to the sound. When they got to their classmates, the monster was nowhere to be seen, but the only students conscious were Ivan, Juleka, Adrien, Nino, and Alya. Nathaniel and Alix were on the ground, unconscious. Catastrophe knelt to check them. Alix's skin was pale and clammy. "Where did it go?"

"No idea!" Adrien gasped out.

"It just appeared out of nowhere, ate Nath and Alix…," Alya explained, still holding up her phone to record. "And then it spat them out and came for the rest of us…"

"But when Ivan tried to guard us, it just shrank out of existence," Nino finished.

"We really need to figure this out. If it can come and go as it pleases, we can't exactly hide the survivors."

"When I got here, I saw a trail of slime coming from a powder room," Ladybug said carefully. "You five stay close to Ivan. If the monster is somehow against hurting him, he can protect you better than we can right now." Their classmates nodded and they started out. There was, in fact, a trail of slime coming from the powder room.

"This is an emergency situation, so there's no harm in all of you coming into the room," Catastrophe sighed before going into the room. The others followed.

"Whoa…it's like a slime experiment gone wrong in here…," Nino commented, panning the camera to catch the entire scene. He paused. "There's someone in there." Catastrophe followed his gaze and saw Mylène's shoes.

"That's odd…," she commented, using her baton to break the dried slime apart to reveal an unconscious Mylène.

"But…I thought Mylène was the monster…," Alya muttered. "If it's not her…who was Akumatized? And why didn't they attack Ivan?"

"I'm starting to think this isn't actually an Akuma…," Ladybug sighed. "Let's see if we can wake her up…are there any water cups around?"

"I can make something…I just need something paper to work with…," Catastrophe sighed, going to grab some paper towels.

She called for her Metamorphosis and transformed the paper into a simple disposable cup. She then filled it with water from a sink and handed the cup to Ladybug. Ladybug simply dumped the water onto Mylène's face and the girl moaned, barely reacting to the water.

"Mylène?" Ivan called out and she slowly came around.

"What…what happened?" she mumbled. "Ladybug…?"

"Oh good, you're all right. We found you buried in a mound of slime. What happened to you?"

"I'm…not sure," Mylène sighed, sitting up. "I remember I was trying to get myself together to get back to filming our student film…when this weird black feather appeared out of nowhere and landed on my hand. Then…there was this woman's voice…I don't remember what she said, but then the feather turned into a monster and I could have sworn it tried to eat me."

"A feather…? This definitely has something to do with that Peacock brooch…," Catastrophe mumbled.

"So, what do we do?" Ladybug sighed.

"The only thing we can do. If it's not an Akumatized person and the monster came from that feather, I'll just destroy it and we'll do what we always do."

"Capture and purify it…then I'll fix everything," Ladybug agreed. "Hopefully the rules aren't different with feathers."

"Here's hoping," she sighed. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to ask you kids to act as bait…it seems drawn to numbers." The students nodded and they went back into the open. Sure enough, after a moment of waiting, the monster appeared from nowhere and Catastrophe and Ladybug started fighting it.

When she had an opening, Catastrophe called for a Cataclysm and destroyed the monster. Unlike anything else, there was no dust or any other residue left behind, only a small black feather. Ladybug picked it up gingerly and put it in her yo-yo. The moment the feather touched her tool, however, it turned to dust and Mylène cried out in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Ivan asked her, frantic. Catastrophe and Ladybug looked to see her holding her head in pain.

"It's…like someone's screaming in my head…," she gasped out. Ladybug quickly cast Miraculous Ladybugs and Mylène collapsed against Ivan, gasping for air.

"What just happened?" Alya demanded.

"I'm not sure…," Ladybug admitted.

"But we're going to find out," Catastrophe promised. "In the meantime…Mylène, right? You should get some rest…"

"The screaming stopped…but yeah…I need to lie down…"

"I'll take you home," Ivan offered.

"Yeah…I got some pretty sick footage during all the chaos that we can edit together for the film," Nino laughed. "Sorry to use your trauma for this though, Mylène…"

"It's fine. In a way it's probably for the best…sorry I couldn't do more filming…"

"No sweat," Alya assured her. "We were kind of putting a lot of pressure on you anyways…get some rest and we'll keep you posted on the film." Ivan and Mylène left the building and Catastrophe and Ladybug took their own leave, assuring the class that they'd get to the bottom of things.

Marinette and Chloé returned to the group after feeding their Kwamis and were updated on the situation by their friends. They all parted ways after filming a few 'behind the scenes' moments to play off of what happened. When they were alone, Chloé started walking towards Mr Chan's shoppe.

"Where are we going, Chloé?" Marinette asked her, trying to keep up.

"To the one person I know that might be able to give us some answers," she sighed.

When they arrived at the apartment, Chloé knocked lightly and waited for permission to enter. Mr Chan was sitting at his little table with some tea and Chloé vaguely saw a small green shape fly into hiding. He set his tea down when he saw Marinette coming in behind her.

"We need to talk," Chloé sighed. "About the Miraculous."

"Ah," he said softly. "I'm surprised you know each other's identities. More surprised that you haven't said anything to me about knowing who I am."

"I've been meaning to have this conversation with you since Yeilis found the Peacock Miraculous in a safe."

Chapter Text

"I've been meaning to have this conversation with you since Yeilis found the Peacock Miraculous in a safe," Chloé sighed, opening her purse to let Plagg and Yeilis out. Marinette followed suit and Tikki and her mouse Kwami flew into the open. The green blur came out of hiding to reveal that he too was a Kwami.

"Why would you leave a pair of teenage girls on their own against a terrorist?" Marinette demanded. "Tikki and Plagg said that we weren't allowed to talk to you?!"

"You've been doing rather well on your own," he mumbled, eyeing the Kwamis that he didn't recognize. "You even managed to find second Miraculous along the way."

"Oh right!" the mouse gasped. "Yeilis, we've been rude to this man. My name is Tasan, a Kwami of Protection."

"And I'm Yeilis, the Kwami of Transformation from the same temple set. And I am the one that found the suspicious items in Ga--" he was cut off as a bubble erupted from his mouth. "So, your temple has similar measures in place…"

"You're not saying that you've found out who Hawkmoth is?!" Mr Chan gasped.

"We have a strong lead; we just need solid evidence. But we have another problem," Chloé sighed.

"Have a seat, girls. I'll make some tea," he sighed, motioning to the table. Chloé and Marinette sat down at the low table and waited for him to return with the tea. "So, tell me what you found."

"There was likely more, but the only thing I recognized as having importance was the Miraculous. It had the appearance of a peacock's tail fan," Yeilis told him.

"And what prompted the urgency today?"

"We just had to deal with a creature that wasn't an Akuma, but somehow created from a feather…and when I tried to purify the feather, it turned to dust and our friend that had been the victim heard someone screaming in her head…," Marinette detailed, sipping at her tea.

"I see…I'd hoped that my hunch was wrong and the Cat would only be support…"

"You mean it's that peacock?" Plagg gasped. Mr Chan nodded and Plagg groaned. "I hate working…"

"Wait…does that mean that I can take care of the feathers? Without making the victim suffer?" Chloé gasped.

"Yes. All Miraculous have a second power that can be used to counter another if they fall into the wrong hands," he explained. "I had suspicions that Hawkmoth had possession of the Peacock as well…this means that he must have found an ally to help him…"

"So, where do Plagg and I come in?"

"The secondary power of the Cat Ring, Black Storm…can be used to destroy and purify a creation of the Peacock," he told her. "There are a few things that I can tell you girls about, since you've already gotten this far on your own."

When they finally finished talking to Mr Chan, Chloé walked Marinette home and then headed to her own home. She got a text from Nino saying that he and Max were working on the editing for the class's student film. She'd almost forgotten about that with all the hero stress. She sent him a thumbs up emoji and then texted Ivan to see how Mylène was doing.

She's good, he replied and she sighed in relief.

"If only we'd known that I could take care of that feather…," she mumbled.

"Yeah, but we didn't and she's okay," Plagg reminded her. "You'll know for next time."

"Right…and just when we thought we were nearly done with this…," she sighed. "I mean sure…I still have my parents hounding me about being a better person…Sabrina's with them on that…and there's always Hawkmoth to deal with…but I have friends now…Marinette and I are closer than ever…"

"And now Hawkmoth has an ally to throw a kink in everything," Yeilis sighed.

"Yeah…," she groaned, flopping onto her bed.

"But we'll get through it."

"Right…," she sighed. "Wait!" she jumped up and rushed to her computer. "If he had the Miraculous in his safe, whoever this new villain is would have to know him. They might even know his secret. Obviously, it can't be Adrien, because he was actively filming when Mylène was attacked, and Gabriel doesn't really get out much…"

"Then how many people does that leave?" Plagg prompted.

"As far as I know, there are ten people that work in his house, including his assistant and Adrien's bodyguard…the rest are housekeeping and kitchen staff…and then there are the employees of his fashion house. What we need is someone on the inside…I've gotten on his bad side by trying to help get Adrien more freedom…and asking Nino wouldn't make sense…"

"Yeah, why would Catastrophe know anything about who's friends with who in Chloé's class?" Yeilis sighed. "Honestly though, you have time to figure this out. It's been a long day."

"He's right. Serious as it is, no one sane expects you and Marinette to catch these villains immediately. I know I say this a lot because I hate working, but take it easy for a little while. Stressing out won't help anyone," Plagg told her, floating to the bed.

"Yeah…there's a lot to process anyways…," she sighed. "I'm guessing you didn't bring up that really cool Black Storm power because it wouldn't work on the butterflies?"

"Yeah…it only works on the Peacock's creatures," he sighed. "This sucks…I hate working…"

"You'll get over it," she snapped.

The next morning, Chloé woke to a group text from Nino asking if anyone wanted to meet up somewhere to watch the film before they turned it in for the festival. She replied quickly, offering her room for a venue since she had a huge TV and plenty of space in her suite. It took a few minutes for everyone but Adrien to reply in the affirmative. His reasoning was that he had a full schedule of photo shoots for the day.

Your dad is such a buttsnack, Marinette messaged the group.

Buttsnack? Alya questioned after Adrien sent a laughing emoji.

It's from a show on Netflix, Chloé typed in. Anyways, I'll get my room straightened up and some snacks sent up. What time is the deadline again?

Our slot is at 1500, Max confirmed.

We can all meet up at the hotel at 11 then? Mylene suggested. Everyone sent an affirmative and Chloé set to work. First, she called the front desk to let them know that she would be having guests around 11, then she called the kitchen with a request for snacks to be sent up at the right time. Finally, she and her Kwamis set about cleaning the room.

"Hm…I don't think we have enough seats…," Yeilis sighed.

"I'll get Jean-Yves to help me bring some extra chairs up," she laughed, going to the phone. She counted her seats and called for her butler. He came promptly, but insisted on getting the chairs on his own, thanking her for offering to help. In turn, she insisted on setting them up herself.

Before she knew it, it was almost time and her classmates started arriving. Nino and Alya got there first, laughing about something.

"Hey Chloé!" Alya greeted. "So what show is the term 'buttsnack' from?"

"3Below. Marinette got me hooked on that and Trollhunters when we started dating…," she sighed, fetching her remote. "It's just catchy. And here. I have a VHS and a Blu-ray player…"

"It's on disc," Nino laughed, pulling out a case. "But you have a VHS player? Talk about retro…"

"You should see my movie collection then," she bragged. "Most everything I've upgraded to 4k, obviously, but some things still haven't been rereleased or I just feel like watching the original release…"

"Sweet," he agreed, setting up the disc in the player. The rest of the class started to arrive and perfectly timed with the last of them getting settled, Jean-Yves and a couple of workers from room service brought the food. They all got comfortable with their snacks and Nino pressed play on the remote.

After watching their movie, there were high fives all around the room. Nino packed up the disc and headed for the film festival with Max and Alya to turn it in. Chloé presented everyone with tickets to attend the festival if they wanted and waved them out. Finally, she was left alone with Marinette and four little Kwamis.

"So, the film turned out really good!" Tikki praised.

"And they left out our 'failure', so that's nice…," Marinette noted.

"But we know what to do next time," Chloé reminded her. "You wanna go to the festival or sit it out?"

"We should probably keep an eye out for trouble. Make sure the festival goes without a hitch."

"Okay, sounds good to me. The only film in the line-up I'm interested in is ours anyways," she agreed. They transformed and headed out.

After the film festival was fully over, a statue was put up in the park across from the school. Ladybug and Catastrophe were in the park early for the unveiling, hosting a playdate with some of the kids from the orphanage. They were having a great time letting the children play heroes and villains with them. Most of the kids wanted to be villains, with one boy insisting on being Hawkmoth.

"Oh, come on! That's not fair!" one girl complained.

"I should be Hawkmoth!" another boy argued. The rest of the kids started in, each wanting to be the 'big bad'.

"Guys!" Ladybug laughed. "How about…the one with the best evil laugh gets to be Hawkmoth?" she suggested. The kids latched onto the idea, shouting approval of the plan.

"All right, everyone who wants to be Hawkmoth line up," Catastrophe instructed them and they did so. "Now, we'll go in line and Ladybug and I will see who has the best evil laugh."

Once that matter was settled, Ladybug and Catastrophe play fought a small army of pretend villains and the afternoon was spent. The caregivers from the orphanage thanked the heroes for the afternoon and ushered the kids back home. When they were mostly alone, they went to sit down near the statue.

"I wish we could do more for them than just playdates like this…," Ladybug sighed.

"Maybe when summer comes and we have more free time, we can figure out some charity stuff," she assured her.

"Ladybug! Catastrophe!" a male voice exclaimed, catching their attention. "I'm so glad you're here early. I'm Théo Barbot."

"Oh! The artist behind the statue?" Ladybug asked, standing up. Catastrophe stood as well, smiling politely at the artist.

"Nice to meet you at last," she told him. He barely nodded a little and focused his attention on Ladybug.

"Can you autograph this photo? It's the inspiration for your statue," he said, holding up a newspaper clipping.

"Oh, of course!" Ladybug agreed, taking a pen that he offered to sign the photo. She then offered the pen to Catastrophe.

"No, just your signature, Ladybug," he argued. The two exchanged a look.

"I'm sorry?"

"I just wanted Ladybug's--"

"Good afternoon!" the mayor greeted them, cutting Théo off. They looked to see a group of reporters gathering. "With everyone here, let's get this started!" They approached the statue and the ceremony began. A speech was given praising them for their deeds, the mayor using his most diplomatic and supposedly heartfelt tones. It made Catastrophe sick knowing that he barely meant any of it. "It's only proper for Paris to pay homage to those who protect us from evil," he concluded, reaching to pull the sheet from the statue.

It was well made. Though Catastrophe noticed that he had put more detail into Ladybug, practically carving the texture of her suit. She glanced at Ladybug to see that her partner noticed the same thing.

"These statues are amazing…," Ladybug started.

"I just have to wonder…why did you put extra detail into Ladybug's image?" Catastrophe asked carefully. Théo seemed to ignore her as the crowd cleared, keeping his focus on Ladybug. He caught her hand.

"Everything I had went into your statue! I'm sure if you--" Ladybug pulled her hand from his.

"I'm going to stop you there," she snapped. "There are a few issues with the direction you seem to be going…the biggest of which being that I'm not interested in guys. Second…do you really think it's safe to try and seduce a superhero?"

"But if you could just--"

"She's already said she's not interested," Catastrophe said, cutting him off. "And more importantly, it wouldn't be safe for you to even be friends with either of us." She reached to check the time. "Ladybug, we have another event to get to."

"Right, the Animal Shelter," Ladybug agreed and they made their exit. Once they were on a roof and well out of sight, Catastrophe touched Ladybug's shoulder. "Can you believe him?"

"Some people get like that with--" she broke off, seeing something dark floating through the air. "Did you see that?"

"It wasn't a butterfly…must have been a feather."

"Two guesses who it's heading for," she sighed and they started following the feather. It started floating in a circle after a couple of blocks and then dropped.

"Catch it before it hits him!" Ladybug gasped.

"Right!" she held out her hand. "Bl--" she broke off as the feather disappeared and she froze. "Crap! It got away."

"Then we corner the creature."

They both settled in to wait, knowing it would only be a matter of moments before the creature appeared. Sure enough, after a moment of waiting, a large, black, and rather shapeless, monster phased through the roof of the building. Just as it seemed to be looking around for a target, Catastrophe straightened up and held up her hand.

"Black Storm," she called for the power and braced herself as the tornado started to form from her palm. It reached the creature and despite the figure attempting to flee, it was captured in the whorl. Her power worked and the figure was reduced to just the feather, which turned into a little white blur in the tornado. She closed her hand to dispel the tornado and the feather floated away.

"Nice!" Ladybug laughed. "I think that would be the quickest we've ever defeated an enemy…"

"It helps that we saw the feather," she pointed out and they vaulted across the rooftops. Plagg emerged from her ring when they reached the Eiffel Tower.

"Hey Plagg," Ladybug greeted him. "It's starting to get late…and we have homework unless you've already finished it?"

"No…I still have a little bit on the homework," she sighed. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah." With that, they parted ways and Catastrophe went home.

Chapter Text

Chloé knew about it ahead of time, and she'd had a chance to warn her classmates about the coming design competition. The one thing she was concerned about was knowing that her mother would be part of the judging panel. Before Mr Damocles came into the classroom to notify her class, Chloé was standing at the front of the room.

"Okay…so I don't know the theme, but the rules for the contest…which will be judged by Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois," she read from her notepad. "Let's see…we can work in pairs or individually…The only students not permitted to put their names to a design are me and Adrien, for obvious reasons. We can, however, consult teams. So, feel free to ask either of us for input on what the judges might be looking for. One of us will be modelling the winning design, so I would avoid wool and feathers in the materials, as I'm allergic to wool and Adrien's highly allergic to feathers."

"I'll take it from here, Miss Bourgeois," Mr Damocles said lightly as he came into the room. Chloé nodded and went back to her seat. Mr Damocles repeated the names of the judging panel and the pairs option. "You only have today to work on your fashion piece, and it must be your own original design," he continued. Chloé glanced back to see that Marinette was already coming up with ideas. "This year's theme is…derby hats," he announced and left the room.

"The judging is at 1800," Chloé sighed, realizing that he'd failed to give that detail. Maybe he assumed she'd said it, but it was supposed to be part of his announcement.

"And with the contest today," Mme Bustier started. "You're all excused from class for the day!" The class cheered and filed out, chattering about teams and designs. Chloé stayed in her seat until everyone had left.

"I'm guessing the board accepted my suggestion of having renovations done?" she asked the teacher.

"Yes! Thanks to an 'anonymous' donor, they can rush the installation of ramps, a stairlift to the Library, and a handicap elevator for wheelchair bound students. Once all of the students are out of the building, they'll get started."

"That's great!" she gasped. She'd have to tell Marinette that their scheme had worked. She hurried out of the room. She found Marinette in the quad with Alya and Sabrina, lamenting over something in her sketchbook. "How goes the planning?" she asked them.

"Miserable!" Marinette groaned. "I don't have a single derby hat in my sketchbook!"

"So, you come up with one. With as creative and amazing as you are, I'm sure you can create something wonderful," she encouraged. "Though I'm sure the faculty will be around in a moment, we should move this planning party elsewhere."

"Why?" Alya asked.

"A huge team of workers is about to come in and install some accessibility equipment," she lowered her voice. "You didn't hear it from me, but they'll be putting in ramps where needed, a lift, and a stair lift for handicap students to access the second floor and Library. I hear Ladybug and Catastrophe organized a huge fundraiser and all of the schools in Paris that didn't already have the equipment are getting outfitted thanks to that. There's gonna be a huge unveiling over the weekend that Ladybug and Catastrophe are supposed to be roaming about at. And they have a press conference with my dad about the mass renovations this afternoon."

"That's awesome!" Alya laughed. "Leave it to our heroes to do more for our city than just save people during Akuma attacks. And I heard that they figured out how to deal with those weird feathers pretty quickly." The group started to leave. "By the way, Sabrina, you're with me, right? We should have time to come up with something and hit that press conference for the Ladyblog before the judging."

"Sure…," Sabrina sighed, seeming unsure. They headed for the door together.

"Have you guys seen the video I posted of Catastrophe's new power? It's pretty sick!"

"Yeah, Alya. You know we keep up with the blog," Marinette laughed. "I'm off to the Trocadero to see if I can't find some inspiration. Good luck later!" Marinette hurried off.

"So, Chloé, are you gonna be a model now?" Alya asked.

"I'm gonna try it out," she said lightly. "I'm not really good with art and design stuff, and politics is a bit too suited for the old me…so I'm trying a few different things. Especially with us starting in Lycée next year and more specialized classes being required…I kind of want to figure out what I want to do before that…"

"Makes sense. We should get to work. I have some stuff at home we can us for inspiration," Alya sighed and practically dragged Sabrina along. Chloé smiled after them, happy to see that Sabrina was at least mostly accepting of Alya's rather forceful friendship. The bright side of Alya being so forceful was that she made sure that Sabrina understood that friendship was a two-way thing, which made Chloé's life a little easier with Sabrina slowly getting the message and calming down with doing two sets of homework.

She stuck around to give a few of her classmates advice on how to impress Gabriel and her mother, but when they were all gone, she slipped away to transform. Catastrophe landed in the quad of a school that had already started their renovations and offered to help with her enhanced strength. It was a major thing, and she was proud to have helped make this possible. She made a stop at several other schools to help before dropping in at a press conference. She apologized to the crowd that Ladybug couldn't make it due to other obligations and answered a few of their questions about the large amount of renovations and money they'd raised.

"What's going to be done with any leftover money from this?" one reporter asked.

"Well, it's being split and donated to the Children's Hospital and local Orphanages. We're leaving the account open for more donations and anyone that donates after these renovations can specify what they want their donation to go towards. The Hospital has provided us a list of things they need and we're keeping an updated list of what some of the kids are wishing for that are approved by their caretakers," she announced. Her baton vibrated and she paused. "Excuse me for a moment." She stepped away from the microphones to see what the issue was. Just as she was about to turn to announce an Akuma, pigeons swooped in en masse. "Perfect timing birds…," she sighed and stepped back to the microphones. "I'm going to ask everyone to get inside and stay safe. These pigeons are the doing of an Akuma. Ladybug and I will take care of it quickly and you all can get back to your lives." She vaulted away to find Marinette. She spotted her getting off a bus with her phone in hand.

She hoped that meant that Marinette was calling Adrien to warn him about the pigeons and feathers. She waited on the roof and watched as Marinette finished on her phone and hurried off to find a hiding place. A moment later, Ladybug landed beside her.

"It's not polite to spy on your girlfriend," she joked.

"I was looking to make sure you were safe," she defended. "Did you warn Adrien about the pigeons?"

"Yeah, he said he'd stay inside until we get this cleaned up. And we're cutting it close…it's 1700."

"Do you still have enough time to finish the hat?"

"Yeah, if we make this quick. At least it's not like a sheep or something that covers the city in wool."

"We'd be in big trouble then…I puff up like I'm wearing a fat suit," she laughed. "I should double check that alert. It went off during a speech at the press conference."

"Oh god…I completely forgot about that."

"I made an excuse for you. Most of the press understands that we're not superheroes all the time and we have lives outside of the suits," she sighed, pulling her baton out. "Let's see…Xavier Ramier, Mr Pigeon…his only power is controlling birds…the Akuma's in his Bird Call…and he's kidnapping policemen. The birds could be his weakness…by the look of it, he uses the bird call to give them commands that they obey…"

"Ramier? I've heard that name…oh right! The bird guy! He was feeding the pigeons day old bread…he comes by the bakery once a week to buy our supply of leftovers. Let's go find where he's keeping the policemen."

"Looks like we have a clue!" Catastrophe gasped, pointing at a writhing ball of birds that seemed to be carrying someone as if they were a flying cage. "That's freaky…"

"Yeah…let's follow it!" Ladybug sighed, vaulting after the swarm. It led them to the Gran Palais and they carefully watched as the officer was deposited in a cage with several others, including Sabrina's father. "All right, now we just find Mr Pigeon."

"We'll get a better view inside from the roof," she suggested and they headed for the roof. Mr Pigeon was standing in the rafters, seeming to talk to a pigeon perched on his hand. "There," she whispered.

"And if the element of surprise doesn't work, hopefully my power can give me something to get a bag of popcorn from one of the vending machines," Ladybug said lightly, pointing to the machine across the space. "So, we open the window, I'll grab him with the yo-yo and yank him up onto the roof. You catch the bird call and we'll be done."

"On the count of three then," she unlatched a skylight and gripped the handle. Ladybug signalled the countdown and she yanked it open, both of them staying out of the way of any draft.

"Where did that breeze come from?" they heard him ask the pigeons and they ducked out of sight.

"We should move," Ladybug whispered as the sound of pigeons started to get louder. "Let's see what my mousey powers do. Tasan said that one of them is…," she splayed a hand on the roof beneath them. "Burrow!" she hissed and a hole opened beneath them. The two heroes landed on the ground below the pigeons.

"So same principle, different direction?" she laughed quietly. Ladybug nodded and threw her yo-yo, looping around the villain's foot. He seemed too distracted investigating the open skylight to realize that he was caught. Ladybug then leapt up and swung around a beam before landing en pointe and yanking on her yo-yo. Mr Pigeon shouted as he was dragged back and abruptly dangled in the air. As he was flipped upside down, the bird call fell from his neck and Catastrophe caught it.

"Yes!" Ladybug shouted as Catastrophe crushed the object between her hands. The Akuma was released and Ladybug dropped Mr Pigeon. He grunted as he landed in a heap. The Akuma was captured and everything fixed. Ladybug checked the time. "I have about half an hour to finish that flourish! I spent too much time sketching the whole suit…," she complained and vaulted off. Catastrophe saluted the freed officers and left the building, hurrying off to detransform and wait for her mother.

Adrien and Nathalie pulled up about the same time as her mother, ten minutes before the judging was to start. They went inside the school and Chloé was glad to see that the renovations were already done, an electrician was just fine tuning the controls for the lifts.

"So, this was your pet project with the heroes' help?" her mother asked. "How droll…"

"I really don't want to hear it, Mother," she sighed. "I don't need your approval to do something that I enjoy. And I enjoy being nice and helping people. So please stop trying to force me to be like you and Dad again. I like having other friends besides Sabrina."

"You realize these commoners are using you to get what they want, right?" her mother snapped.

"They're not like that!" she defended. "I offered up the hotel for that Christmas party because it's the biggest supervised space to have a party for my schoolmates. I talked Dad into granting us access to the Gran Palais to make our student film because I wanted us to have a nice film for the festival. And I'm the one that nearly got killed by an Akuma that I helped cause." She fiddled with her bracelet. "Can we just…do this already?"

Students started arriving and right when they were about to start, Marinette rushed in and put her hat down on an empty pedestal and uncovered it. Several people started whispering, mostly from their class, but Marinette ignored them, simply looking rather proud of her feather covered derby hat. Chloé made a face at her and she smirked. Mr Damocles made the introductions and Nathalie revealed that the tablet she was carrying was tuned into a facetime call with Gabriel. Adrien and Chloé went around the room with Audrey and Nathalie, pausing for each student to make their presentation on their designs. None really seemed to impress either Gabriel or Audrey, though they did make noises at Rose and Juleka's steampunk design. Alya and Sabrina had cobbled together a unique mashup of hero themes, though it honestly was tacky and there was too much going on.

"I see what you're attempting here," Audrey sighed, trying to sound gentle. "This is daring, but the colours are terribly clashing and this design is utterly tacky." Chloé mouthed an apology to them and they were at Marinette's hat. While they'd been roaming, Marinette had opened her sketchbook to a full colour sketch of a man wearing a dashing suit adorned with notes that seemed to come off the page like a bird in flight. To her surprise, despite the proximity to a feather themed hat, Adrien didn't even seem a little red in the face or close to sneezing. Nathalie seemed to notice that and turned the tablet so Gabriel could see Adrien.

"This hat clearly has feathers on it, how is it that you're not having a reaction, Adrien?" Gabriel snapped.

"I…don't know?" Adrien answered, shrugging.

"I can explain, as the designer, sir," Marinette said lightly. "He's not having a reaction, because these are, for the most part, not real feathers. I hand crafted each 'feather' piece from brushed acrylic yarn. I used an ombre colour blend to achieve the pigeon colouring. The filler 'feathers' are simply stamped fabric that matched the texture I was going for. I did use a pigeon's pin feather for this accent, only because I admittedly got caught up in designing the full outfit." She flipped the pages of her sketchbook to show details for all five, including the hat, individual pieces of the suit. "I did have just enough time to set it in a thin layer of UV resin to hopefully prevent Adrien from having a reaction to it."

"Hm…," Gabriel trailed off.

"Impressive, I say," Audrey said brightly. "Look at her hands, Gabriel!"

"You made the hat itself from scratch," he guessed. Marinette nodded a little.

"In fact," she sighed, carefully turning the hat over to reveal that some sort of shaping mechanism was still inside. "As I said, I got side-tracked with the sketch…the hat itself is barely set. I know it's unprofessional to bring an unfinished product to--"

"That makes it all the more impressive," Gabriel interrupted. "Audrey, I think we're agreed?"

"Yes! You, my dear, are the winner!" Audrey exclaimed. "I haven't seen this much talent in a single piece since…well, I discovered Gabriel!" Marinette lit up at that. "You have a future in the fashion industry, I can already tell!"

"As for your prize, I'd very much like to see the full suit for the photo shoot," Gabriel said lightly and for a moment, Chloé almost forgot that he was really a magical terrorist. "I'll have Nathalie get with you about the date, Mlle…"

"Marinette," Adrien provided. He tentatively got a little closer to the hat and nothing happened. "Looks like the resin worked."

"I'll make a duplicate just in case…can't take chances with allergies."

Later that evening, Chloé was doing her homework, worried about the text that Marinette had sent her. Gabriel wants to talk to me in person! Was the text, and every paranoid shred of her being was wrapped up in worry that he somehow knew that she was Ladybug. But she tried to ignore that, knowing that he didn't leave the house enough to have enough hints about either of them. But, when Ladybug dropped onto Chloé's balcony and detransformed, Chloé set her homework aside and looked Marinette over.

"So…what did he say?" she asked, barely masking her nerves. "You said in that text that Gabriel wanted to speak with you in person."

"He was so impressed by my sketch that he wants to offer me a summer internship studying fashion under him…and I have plenty of time to make the suit for Adrien to wear…he also wanted to see if I could come up with a dress to match for you to wear in the shoot."

"A summer internship? With Hawkmoth?"

"I know…but after we uncover him, it'll hopefully just be a mild blemish on my portfolio. Especially with…I mean, I can feign ignorance…but this could be our chance to find evidence against him. Mr Chan seems pretty adamant on us continuing doing things the way we are."

"And he didn't even ask us who Hawkmoth is…even though we know his name…"

"He's probably trying to protect himself," Plagg piped up. "From what…I can't imagine…"

"Maybe the struggle of knowing but being capable of less than we are?" Chloé sighed.

"I'm gonna take his offer," Marinette sighed, turning the conversation back to Gabriel himself. "It's the best way for me to get hold of evidence…"

"If you let your Kwamis snoop around, even if they can't be caught on camera, they can still be seen," Chloé argued. "What if one of them gets captured? Or he figures you out? If he gets hold of your earrings, it's done. I can't purify Akumas."

"Did you think that Yeilis is the only Kwami able to turn invisible?" Tikki asked and for a moment, she blinked out of sight. "We all can, it just takes some energy to do it if you're not a Trickster…"

"We can't get photo evidence," Chloé sighed.

"Okay, you have a point there…not without me getting caught snooping…but I'll have access to his house, his staff…I can figure out who this mysterious Peacock is that he's working with…"

"It's probably Nathalie. Every one of her victims has said that they hear a female voice calling herself Mayura…And the only woman close enough to Gabriel to know that he's Hawkmoth would be Nathalie."

"Okay, we can find out where his lair is," Tasan suggested. "Maybe his motivation for getting your Miraculous is there. If he's occupied with Marinette and her internship, he'll barely have time to hang around in his lair waiting for someone to be in the right emotional state for Akumatization."

"Agreed…," Tikki sighed.

"Fine…just be careful," Chloé relented, seeing that she seemed to be the only one against Marinette putting herself in that kind of danger.

"I will," she promised, kissing Chloé lightly. "I need to get home before my parents realize I'm gone. I just wanted to talk to you about this in person…too sensitive to go over text or a phone call…"

"Okay. See you at the school unveilings, Buginette."

Chapter Text

Chloé was sitting in the library, wearing AirPods and vaguely watching the game tournament try-outs as she studied for the coming finals. Every student outside of their class that had come up had been beaten out by Max and Adrien, so now they were seeing if Adrien could beat Max's score. She preferred puzzle games for her phone. She saw Marinette come into the library during the final round of Max and Adrien's match. Watching her friends explain what was going on to Marinette was interesting, particularly with Kim's gestures.

Marinette's look of sheer boredom made her laugh. Particularly when Chloé knew that Marinette had been talking about potentially entering the contest. Everyone got excited and Chloé looked to see that Adrien had beaten Max and his score topped him by several hundred points. Marinette came forward and Chloé pulled one of her earpieces out, ready to hear what was really going on. Kim was laughing at her as she took one of the controls and waited for Max to sit down.

"Is she serious?" Kim joked. "There's no way!"

"What's wrong? You don't think a girl can do as well in a video game as a boy?" Alya snapped.

"No girl can beat Max!" Kim argued.

"The rules are elementary, you--"

"I'm not a NOOB, thank you very much," Marinette interrupted Max, clearly annoyed. "Are you gonna sit and play or are you gonna stand there gawking?" Max cleared his throat and sat down.

"Just don't be upset when I pummel you," he sighed. The two selected their bots and Marinette turned her controller sideways as the fight started. Within a minute she'd defeated Max and round two was the same. The score board came up after Max was declared the loser and Marinette beat Adrien's score by a full thousand points, leaving everyone speechless for a moment.

"I don't believe it!" Kim gasped. "She…she beat him?"

"Beat him?" Alya laughed. "She pulverized him!"

"The king's been knocked off his throne!" Rose cheered. Max seemed about to snap at Marinette, but he took a deep breath and pushed his glasses up.

"I…accept this defeat," he mumbled. "I relinquish my position at the tournament…congratulations, Adrien…Marinette." He practically stomped out of the library.

"Max…?" Kim went after him.

"I'm fine," he sighed. "I lost fair and square…but I'd like a little solitude."

"So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste will represent Françoise Dupont High School at the Paris Ultimate Mecha Strike III Tournament. Good luck to both of you," Mr Damocles announced and the students cheered.

"I've got some free time, we can practice in a bit…and you can get my measurements for that suit while we're at it," Adrien said lightly.

"Sure! I'll tell my parents we'll need snacks," Marinette told him before crossing to Chloé. "Hey…the library's closing."

"Yeah…I was just enjoying the show," she sighed, packing up her stuff. "Though…," she trailed off, looking around. When she was sure they were alone, she continued. "Max seemed like he was pretty peeved…"

"Yeah…but guys get like that when they get beaten by a girl in anything. We should keep a lookout, just in case he's just that butthurt."

"That's what I'm worried about. I'll go on a patrol and you can focus on training with Adrien," she sighed, shouldering her bag. The two of them left the library and parted ways. Chloé went home and put her bag down before heading back out. She transformed a few blocks away from the hotel and went searching for Max. She spotted him stewing on a park bench and moved a little closer.

"How dare she button mash her way into my spot!" he raged. She started to approach him, thinking of something to say to try and talk him down, but an Akuma flew in and landed in his glasses. She hissed and ducked out of sight. She looked to see that a bot had appeared where Max had been sitting. A beam shot from a window in the bot and hit a person, turning them into a glowing orb.

"Great…what is it with nerds and being so sexist…?" she muttered, heading for Marinette's home. When she got close, she saw Marinette and Adrien in the park eating a snack. She paused, but headed over to them. "Sorry to interrupt your date, but there's an Akuma on the loose," she told them. "They seem to be turning people into data, so I'm trying to get as many people safely evacuated as possible."

Marinette made a face at her, but hurried off with Adrien. Catastrophe turned to do just as she'd said, not wanting to let Max get to more people. Of course, the mech showed up before the park was fully cleared out and she barely managed to dodge a blast. She ducked behind a tree and tried to think of a plan to last until Ladybug got there. She didn't know anything about that stupid game, and she had no idea how his floating pyramid had grown legs.

She paused, remembering something that Yeilis had mentioned to her when she'd complained about not having a weapon when she lost Plagg's power. She nodded a little and pulled one of the ropes from her tail. She'd never tried that particular tool, simply because she was used to the staff. Catastrophe gripped the rope and rolled away from the tree before she used it as a sort of whip that extended with her imagination to tie up the robot's legs and floor it.

A beam fired at her from the head and she rolled out of the way, cursing. She had him tied up, but had no way to stop him from attacking with those beams. There was no sign of Ladybug, so she figured Marinette was still trying to get away from Adrien. She'd have to handle this on her own for a bit longer. She tried to focus, casting her eyes around for some way to get Max out of that mech. Her best bet seemed to be to Cataclysm it, but she needed a backup plan in case he was somehow able to rebuild before she could get the Akuma. She'd cross that bridge if it came to that.

So, she called for a Cataclysm and rushed the bot, turning it to dust. Max smirked and reached for his glasses, bragging about saving his game. Catastrophe frowned and threw her baton right at his glasses, breaking them in half. The Akuma flew out of the broken glasses and Max fell to his knees. Just as she was about to panic, she saw red and Ladybug swooped in, capturing the Akuma before it got away.

Everything was fixed in a moment and Ladybug sighed in relief. Catastrophe smiled at her and mouthed an apology before vaulting away. Ladybug did the same. When she was safe at home, Chloé texted a proper apology to Marinette and went back to work on her homework.

The day of the tournament arrived and Max didn't even show up. According to Kim he was still sour about his loss and Marinette was accused of cheating. At that, Marinette scoffed and held up her personal controller, which was so worn that the buttons no longer had labels and one of the joysticks was completely missing.

"I've been playing Mecha Strike since the first instalment with my dad," she laughed. "Just because I have a higher APM than him doesn't mean I'm cheating."

"You had to have been cheating! No one can beat Max!" Kim argued.

"Newsflash, Kim," she snapped. "Adrien beat his score by four hundred points and I pummelled him by a full thousand. So…by my count, that's two people who beat him in one day. Now…I'm going to go show you plebs how it's done and win that prize for our school."

"Seriously?" Adrien sighed before they headed for the consoles. "Girls can play video games just as well as guys. Sometimes better, even. I've never beaten Chloé in Tetris or Centipede…or any other puzzle game for that matter."

Adrien and Marinette went to their console and ended up winning the competition.

Chapter Text

Chloé was studying for World History, taking notes on the chapter to remember for later. As she was reading, she found an image that seemed to depict Plagg. She checked the description of it and the image was described as a familiar. She frowned and put her book down, opening up the internet on her computer. She plugged a few key words into her search engine and eventually found her way to a website containing some obscure legends from the dynasty the entry was referencing.

"What are you so interested in?" Yeilis asked her, floating over. "The…pharaoh Akhenaten?"

"Akhenaten? You guys are on Ancient Egypt?" Plagg asked from his drawer.

"Yeah…there's a drawing of you in my book," she explained.

"Well, of course there is! My wielder at the time was a priestess who called herself km miw. She tried to help stop the pharaoh from his crazy religion shift," he said lightly, floating over. "What did you find?"

"Just that…and this km miw had a hand in a few other things too, like the death of…Smenkhkare? Apparently later pharaohs tried to erase that whole era? And some of this doesn't really make much sense…"

"Well, yeah…the ring was in her family through several rulers…up until…somewhere in the 19th dynasty, I think?"

"Cool…," she sighed, looking over the articles she'd found. Her phone went off and she checked it. It was a message from Alya.

Extra cred if we go to the mummy exhibit at the museum! Going w/Nino. You and Mari should come too! We can go on a picnic after!

Thx for the heads up! She replied and then messaged Marinette to invite her along. Double date with DJWifi @museum?

Sure! We both need that extra credit with all the class we miss, Marinette replied. So, she got dressed and went to meet her friends at the Louvre. They all arrived at the same time and went in.

"So, Chloé, any luck with figuring out what you wanna do?" Alya asked as they headed towards the exhibit.

"Not really. With finals coming up, I'm kind of cramming for that…I might pick up a few things during the summer though…," she shrugged. A guy shoved through them, knocking both Alya and Marinette down as he went, but he seemed more concerned about the papers he'd been carrying and a pendant that he'd dropped. "Wow…way to watch where you're going," she griped as she helped Marinette up.

"Dude…seriously?" Nino snapped as he helped Alya. "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah…Marinette?"

"I'm good," she sighed.

"Jalil!" the curator scolded and Chloé recognized him as Alix's father. "If you think you've found something, there are better ways to get me the information than ploughing down museum goers."

"Oh…uh…," the guy sighed and turned to them. "Sorry. But, Father! This is important!"

"Talk about single-minded…," Marinette complained, starting for the exhibit again. Chloé went with her, watching the curator pull the guy off of the exhibit floor. "Okay, guys. The extra credit assignment was to write a short paper on what we learn here, so let's get going!"

"Yeah!" They headed into the exhibit with notebooks ready.

While they studied the exhibit, Chloé spotted something in one of the art pieces. One of the statues, which was labelled as an assumed depiction of Smenkhkare before he ascended to the throne, had the same pendant that Jalil had been so concerned about. She also saw a small statue of a priestess wearing what the plaque called a traditional headdress of a high-ranking worshipper of Bast. Considering what she'd found about Akhenaten's attempt at religious reform, she was sure that the statue was actually of km miw.

There was a book open on a pedestal, but no translations nearby. The plaque under it called it a Book of the Dead, but the information also noted that it was unusual for that book to have been found in the tomb of someone from that particular family. She looked at the writing in the book again. There was a drawing of that pendant. The curator came to check on them.

"How goes the research, Kids?" he asked them. Chloé frowned and approached him.

"I was actually wondering if there was any information on a person called km miw…and that pendant on the Smenkhkare statue looks the same as a drawing in this book and…the one that your son? The necklace he was wearing…"

"Hm…km miw…I've heard that phrase before," he mused. "You came prepared…"

"We are studying Ancient Egypt right now…," she sighed.

"Right…you all go to school with my daughter, Alix Kubdel, I believe?"

"She's in our class," Alya provided.

"I see! I'd like to apologize to you all for my son's behaviour earlier…he's been rather rambunctious since he found that pendant…a replica of a jewel that Smenkhkare was depicted as wearing during his supposed reign as Pharaoh," the curator sighed.

"Supposed?" Nino asked, joining them.

"Many Egyptologists believe he was only co-regent and died before fully ascending to the throne," Chloé provided, recalling that from her earlier research. "And according to a legend I found, he was killed by a priestess of Bast known as km miw…"

"Ah yes! I know that legend," Mr Kubdel laughed. "Supposedly, Smenkhkare offended the Gods by planning to use a forbidden spell to resurrect a common lover, sacrificing his wife Meritaten to be the vessel for the girl's soul, and the Priestess of Bast, km miw, was charged with his destruction."

"Wow, that's some next level Hollywood type drama…," Alya laughed. "Maybe you could do a short film on that next time, Nino."

"It's a good idea…would be better if like he'd been cursed and accidentally resurrected like in The Mummy…," he mused.

"Well, the legend goes that he was cursed. His soul was barred from even the darkest pits of the underworld, bound in a gem and buried in the desert never to be found again. According to the legend, if anyone were to wear the gem and speak a specific incantation, his soul would be freed and he would possess the holder of the gem to complete the ritual he'd planned before km miw destroyed him."

"Creepy…," Alya muttered. "And…when you say km miw destroyed him…he was just like…arrested and mummified alive, right?"

"His body was never found," Mr Kubdel clarified. "The legend was created as a way to explain his disappearance, I think. Though there are other legends associated with the phrase km miw attached to them, recounting the priestess reducing a criminal to dust with a mere touch on orders from the Gods."

"Cataclysm…," Chloé mumbled.

"Whoa…are you saying that maybe this km miw was Catastrophe?!" Alya gasped.

"No…but it's possible that Catastrophe is descended of that priestess…," she tried. "I don't know, it just sounds like her Cataclysm…turning things to dust with a touch? Maybe they associated her power as being deigned by the Gods or something?"

"An interesting theory. All mention of km miw ceased after Year 3 of the reign of Seti II. Some believe she ascended to sit among the Divine at Bast's left hand, waiting for her judgement to be required again."

"Maybe our hero is the reincarnation of this ancient priestess…," Alya mused. "That could be a big clue about who Ladybug really is…"

"There's a reason they have secret identities," Nino reminded her. "You promised you'd lay off the whole Ladybug's identity hunt…"

"The people deserve to know who she is!"

"You realize that 'the people' also includes Hawkmoth. If he knows who the heroes are, he would target their families and friends to force them to give him their Miraculous," Nino pointed out. "And it's not your secret to tell, babe."

"Let's go eat lunch?" Marinette suggested, trying to change the subject. "We can get back to research after."

"Sounds good to me," Alya sighed, though Chloé wasn't sure that Nino had managed to talk her down completely. The group left the museum and headed towards a nearby park.

"Hey…is it just me, or is that fountain spouting red water…?" Marinette gasped. Chloé looked and sure enough, the water was red. She glanced at Marinette and the girl nodded. They needed to get away from their friends to transform and investigate the situation. Her phone went off and she checked it.

I need to speak with you, urgently, was the message, but she didn't have the number saved. Another message arrived. P gave me your number.

We're with civis, she replied. A fountain is suddenly red, though. That sound familiar?

"Who are you texting?" Alya asked.

"A friend," she sighed.

Sounds like the issue I need to talk to you about. P would know more about it, since he was there. Chloé frowned and checked the Akuma Watch. Sure enough, there was a new entry.

"There's an Akuma! That must be why the water changed…we have to get somewhere safe so Ladybug and Catastrophe can take care of it," Marinette gasped, checking her own phone.

"We should probably split up," Nino suggested. "Easier to hide alone than in groups…"

"But there's safety in numbers," Alya argued.

"So, we split into pairs. Chloé and I will go this way and you two hide in the museum," Marinette suggested and the two nodded. Alya and Nino hurried off and Marinette and Chloé went in the opposite direction. "So, what was with the texting?"

"Mr Chan wants to speak with us. He said it's urgent and that Plagg might know about the water situation," she explained as they hurried through town.

"We should make it quick, though…maybe it has something to do with that pendant you mentioned."

"If it's the one I think…it does…," Plagg groaned, popping his head out of Chloé's purse. "I heard you guys talking about Smenkhkare and the curse…"

"So that was real? And km miw really did Cataclysm people?" Marinette guessed.

"Yeah. And she sealed his soul in his pendant, had it buried so he couldn't be resurrected."

"There was a drawing of the same pendant in that 'Book of the Dead' in the museum…maybe it wasn't a replica that he had…," she sighed as they passed by the Seine. "Oh my god…the river!"

"It's red…," Marinette gasped.

"That's not good…part of the spell km miw used noted that if the soul was ever resurrected, he would bring about the Hebrew Plagues…water turning to blood is one of them…," Plagg gasped. The girls looked at each other and broke into a run, sprinting the rest of the way to Mr Chan's. They got to his shoppe and went inside. "The river's turned to blood!" Plagg informed him.

"Then it's worse than I thought," Mr Chan sighed. "I only saw this once when I was young…a necromancer raised an evil spirit that nearly destroyed an entire village."

"You think that Jalil somehow unsealed the spirit in that pendant?" Chloé asked Plagg.

"Unless he was able to read the right spell to do it…probably not. But oh no…if he's the Akuma…and the butterfly landed in the pendant…"

"The results could be catastrophic," Mr Chan sighed. "I sensed the Akuma forming. That implies that it may have been the sealed spirit that took the Akuma, rather than its host…" He went to another room and came back with a charm. "This charm will tell us if a human or a spirit is the enemy." Chloé took it from him.

"How?"

"Oh! I know this charm," Yeilis gasped. "Our shamans had a similar tool to determine what kind of enemy they were dealing with."

"Not surprising. It will glow red if the host of the Akuma is a spirit." Something hit the window and they all went to look. A frog was trying to get inside.

"That's…not good," Plagg groaned.

"If this is indeed a spirit, bring the artefact to me so we can seal it," Mr Chan instructed and the girls headed out, ducking around frogs as they searched for a safe place to transform. They eventually found a spot and Chloé handed the charm to Marinette before transforming and putting the charm into her pocket. Marinette transformed and pulled out her yo-yo.

"If Alya's anywhere near the action, she'll have a livestream going on her blog," she sighed. Catastrophe nodded and watched as Ladybug pulled the blog up. Nino was recording.

"Ladybug, Catastrophe…if you're looking for the centre of the action, the Akuma's outside the museum! He's trying to sacrifice Alya!"

"He must be trying to complete that ritual km miw stopped Smenkhkare from performing," Catastrophe sighed. "Let's go!" They headed for the Louvre just as swarms of gnats started flying around.

"There he is," Ladybug pointed as they landed on a roof. "You have that charm?" Catastrophe nodded and pulled it out. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it needs to be closer to him," she sighed, gripping it tightly. "Let's go save Alya."

"Right," Ladybug sighed, leaping towards the Akuma. Catastrophe joined her and a red glow started coming from her hand as they got closer to the villain. "Oh no…"

"You must be Ladybug and Catastrophe," the villain greeted them, an odd double tone to his voice as if two people were speaking together. "I was warned you would try to stop me just as km miw did."

"We'll do more than that!" Catastrophe threatened as the gnats grew into animals that started attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be on the ground. She and Ladybug retreated to a roof. "I've got a bad feeling about this…," she sighed.

"Same, but for now, we still have to save Alya," Ladybug pointed out. "I'll see if I can get to the pendant. Burrow." She splayed a hand on the ground and dropped into the hole created, reappearing in front of the Akuma. He seemed startled enough by her sudden appearance that she had just enough time to snatch his pendant and crush it in her hands, releasing the Akuma.

Catastrophe sighed in relief as the animals started vanishing. The Akuma was captured and everything fixed while she headed to the ground. Alya thanked them and Nino hurried out of his hiding place with Alya's phone in hand, probably still recording. The two heroes exchanged a look and turned their focus on Jalil, who seemed more dazed than most Akuma victims.

"Are you okay?" Catastrophe asked him.

"I don't know…did that really just happen?" he mumbled.

"What do you remember?" Ladybug asked gently, putting a free hand on his shoulder.

"After I found that pendant at the dig…not much," he admitted. "I remember lying to everyone about how I got it…and vaguely coming back to Paris…and when my dad wouldn't let me look at the Book…I don't even know why I wanted it…"

"There is ancient magic attached to this pendant," Catastrophe tried. "But it's over now. We can get rid of this so that no one else will be affected," she promised, taking the pendant from Ladybug and pocketing it.

"That…that's good to know. I feel like I did some pretty terrible things with that…"

"Nothing that was your fault," Ladybug assured him. "And nothing that wasn't fixed."

"We should hurry and take care of this pendant, though. If the spirit inside was strong enough to affect him without being released…," Catastrophe trailed off and Ladybug nodded in agreement. They vaulted away from the scene and when they were a safe distance, detransformed and headed back to Mr Chan's.

"I'm going to assume that it was a spirit after all," he guessed when they arrived.

"Yes. You said there was a way to seal it?"

"There is. I'm hoping that the two of you show talent in Magic to make this easier, but I can do it alone if not," he sighed as Chloé pulled the pendant out of her pocket. Marinette's phone went off. "The civilians you mentioned?"

"Alya and Nino are looking for us with the Akuma taken care of…," Marinette sighed.

"Go take care of your friends. It will take time for me to get things ready to handle this. I should be ready by sunset," he told them.

"Then we'll be back," Chloé promised before heading back to the museum with Marinette.

At the end of the day, shortly before sunset, they returned to Mr Chan's to try the spell. He made them inhale a green smoke and seemed rather happy when nothing happened. He explained at their confusion that the smoke was to test if they had the ability to use magic and since they had no reaction, they'd passed the test. So, he took them to a closet and knocked on that door twice before opening it. Rather than a closet, the door opened into a full-sized room.

"What is this place, Mr Chan…?" Marinette asked as they followed Mr Chan inside.

"First off, please call me Fu in the privacy of my home," he laughed. "Chan is an alias I use to protect my secrets. As for this place…it is an old bunker across Paris that I used during World War II. There is much to learn about magic, and I will teach you, but for now…this is the best place to take care of this problem." He made a gesture and the room was lit.

Chloé looked around, taking it all in. It was certainly designed to survive a war, with only a small cot and a stove. She couldn't see the source of the light, though there were old fashioned lamps on the walls. In the centre of the room was a large circle with Chinese writing around the edge and some sort of pattern in the middle. There was a small table in the middle of the circle and Fu carefully put the pendant from before on it.

"So, what all did you have to do to get this ready…?" she asked.

"I had to create the marks for the seal," he told her. "And purify the room, as I haven't used this space in several years." He went to the edge of the circle. "Now…each of you stand in one of the gaps in the text."

Marinette and Chloé did as instructed and he talked them through a chant. It took Chloé a moment to get the pronunciation right, while Marinette had no trouble. When he deemed their chant adequate, he showed them a series of gestures to make with their hands. It was similar enough to the ballet mimes they'd long memorized that they got those rather easily. Finally, he had them put it all together, demonstrating the right way to combine the chant and gestures.

When they finally started the spell properly, the symbols on the floor began to glow. As they continued, the pendant lifted from the table and a strange pressure started coming from it. The pressure became intense enough that she had to brace herself. She could see both Marinette and Fu struggling to stay standing.

"It's fighting them," one of the Kwamis muttered.

"We should help!" another said and she saw the five Kwamis fly over to the circle and they began a low, wordless song. The pressure lessened and they were able to finish the spell. The pendant spun around to create a small, glowing tornado that sucked all of the writing on the floor into it before disappearing completely. As if the spell had been holding her up, Chloé collapsed onto the floor, sucking in deep breathes. She looked to see Marinette in a similar position. Fu was still on his feet, though he seemed just as out of breath.

"That was…unexpected," he sighed.

"What happened?"

"I believe the spirit was empowered enough by the Akumatization to be able to start trying to find a new host on its own," he said, moving to help Marinette up. Chloé got up on her own and moved to support her girlfriend. "And when we started to seal it away, it had enough strength to fight the seal. I'm sorry…I should have realized that this sort of thing would require several fully trained sorcerers…"

"And where is the pendant?" Marinette asked.

"It's in what we refer to as the in-between," he explained. "A plane of existence that even Kwami cannot access. It is described as a limitless, inescapable place. Come. I'll make some tea to replenish your strength."

Chapter Text

Chloé could practically hear the argument from her room. Ever since Jagged Stone had moved in there was usually rock music fading through the floors of the hotel during the day from his room. Occasionally she overheard his jerk of a producer arguing loudly with Jagged, but never this loudly. She left her room and went closer to Jagged's, aiming to listen in.

"Get real Jagged!" the producer was shouting. "You have to modernize your music! Change the way you look! Get a whole new style!"

"Like that'll go over well with his fans?" Chloé scoffed. She wasn't entirely a fan of his music, simply because it wasn't her style, but she liked a few of his songs, especially the ones about Catastrophe and Ladybug. And she knew that Marinette was a fan of him.

"You want to talk about real?" Jagged snapped. "I'm a genuine rock 'n' roller, Bob. Not some pop star in diapers! I'm a real artist. Real talent! Even my hair is real! And that's what people love about me! I'm not gonna change that!"

"If you want to stay on with Bob Roth Records, you'll do as I say!" the man raged. "This is what's selling these days!"

"Well, you can take your ruddy perfume ad and shove it up your arse!" Jagged shouted.

"Okay…this is getting out of hand," Penny tried. "Jagged and I have an idea for the new album that might appeal to the younger audience while respecting Jagged's existing style."

"The school girls that made these glasses have some real talent. They totally get my style. I'll get them to design the cover of my new album," Jagged said, calming down. Chloé frowned, she'd specifically given full credit to Marinette.

"School girls?!"

"They're the same age as the audience you want us to target," Penny argued gently. "One of them lives right here in this hotel, in the penthouse." Chloé's eyes went wide and she rushed back to her room, realizing what was about to happen. Immediately, she grabbed her phone and opened up her messenger.

Huge news! Jagged wants US to make his next album's cover! Just overheard and the producer's coming up to my room! She typed out and sent the message to Marinette.

OMG really?!

YES! You're the one that's the real fan, so you know what he'll like better, she replied.

I'm officially Gabriel's apprentice, so I should probably call Nathalie and have her help with the details…ugh…working with M&H…, the reply came just as someone knocked on Chloé's door. She put her phone down and went to answer the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked the large man in the hallway. He made a face and went into a pitch. "Well, I'll have to redirect you to my mother, Audrey Bourgeois, since I'm still a minor, but the creative mind behind Jagged's sunglasses is my girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her parents run the Patisserie Tom et Sabine."

"I see," he groaned and turned to leave. Chloé heard him grumbling about trying to hire gay kids and she almost said something. The only thing that stopped her was the idea that making a scene with him over being so homophobic would do more harm than good. She went to work on her homework, keeping her phone close. Plagg turned on the news and she tuned it out. After a little while, she got a text from Marinette.

Taking the job. And my parents griped him out when they heard him complaining about hiring a gay kid for the album cover, the message read.

He didn't demand making a pop style, right? She replied.

Oh, he did. But M showed and demanded a copy of the music for the album, Marinette responded. Think you can get it from Jagged?

NP! She typed out and grabbed her things, packing her backpack and grabbing her purse. "Come on guys, we're going out," she called to her Kwamis. They dove into her purse and she headed down to Jagged's room. She knocked on the door and Penny answered quickly.

"Oh! Chloé. I guess Bob already talked to you?"

"I redirected him to Marinette…," she told her. "I just got word from her that she took the job and needs some of the music for the new album for inspiration."

"Of course! I actually have a copy of the demo on hand. Come on in while I grab it," Penny said brightly and Chloé stepped in while the woman hurried to dig through her things. "Here it is!" she gasped after a moment and brought over a disc. "Now, I know Bob probably wants you guys to rush this, but there's plenty of time before the deadline."

"Thank you, Penny," she said lightly, tucking the disc into her purse. "Maybe you guys should look into a new producer…I could hear Jagged arguing with him all the way in my room…"

"We've been talking about it, especially with the contract about to be up. Sorry we disturbed you…you were probably working on homework…"

"Studying for finals, actually, but it's fine. I'll get this to Marinette so she can get to work," she laughed and headed out. She went to Marinette's and headed upstairs. One of XY's repetitive electronica tunes was playing when she knocked.

"Please tell me that's Chloé with the good music…," Marinette groaned, pausing the music. Chloé laughed and opened the door.

"Your prayers have been answered, my bug-mouse," she joked, pulling out the disc from Penny. "The demo of Jagged's new album to ease your aching ears."

"You are so lucky my parents are downstairs and Nathalie left at the same time as that buttsnack Bob Roth…," Marinette laughed, completely turning off the music. "Please tell me you don't listen to this XY junk…"

"There are a couple of his songs that are good to study to because it's mindless and doesn't have lyrics, but other than that, not really. How's it coming?"

"Well, I have one perfume ad per Bob's request…and it's just not me," Marinette showed off the pop-style art she'd put together. Chloé made a face.

"It's good if it was for anyone but Jagged Stone…," she commented, handing over the disc for Marinette to put in her computer. It loaded up and Marinette hit play.

"Ah, my ears have been cleansed…now to work on the actual piece," she sighed in relief and pulled out her sketchbook. Chloé sat down and pulled out her textbooks to get back to studying.

"And…done!" Marinette declared several hours after Chloé had brought the disc. "Do you think adding a scented sticker would be overkill or no?" Chloé put her textbook down and moved to look at it.

"Well, honestly, Bob Roth needs a swift kick to the gronk-nuts, and adding a sticker would do just that, I think," she noted. "But this looks really good! So, it's up to you."

"Well--" she broke off as both of their phones went off. "Oh no…," she groaned, checking her phone. Chloé did the same.

"Great…Jagged's been Akumatized…," Chloé griped. "Let's go." Marinette nodded and they headed out, transforming a few blocks from the bakery. Ladybug and Catastrophe leapt to a roof and looked around. They saw Jagged riding on the back of a dragon towards the Eiffel Tower.

"He must be out for that 'concert' XY is putting on," Ladybug sighed. "Bob must have gotten him really ticked…"

"I heard something about a lame duet Bob was trying to push Jagged into, so likely…downsides of living directly above Jagged…I hear all the arguments…"

"They need to find him a new producer…let's go."

"Yeah," she agreed and they started after the dragon. "Penny mentioned that they were about to be doing just that once the contract with Bob Roth expires later this year…"

"That's good to hear. I'm definitely gonna add that sticker after we save Jagged," Ladybug laughed. They got to the tower and Catastrophe used her whip to redirect the sound blast that Jagged was firing at the sound tech. She recognized him as Théo Barbot the sculptor.

"Easy there, Mr Stone," Ladybug sighed. Jagged made a noise and leapt from the tower, flying away on his dragon. "Great. Where's he going?"

"Probably the TV studio," Théo sighed. Ladybug nodded and opened up her yo-yo. Just as she was about to dial a number, they heard Jagged shout in distress. They hurried to look and saw that the dragon had shrank back to being Fang.

"What the heck?" Catastrophe gasped and they leapt into action to rescue the crocodile and Rockstar. Ladybug caught Jagged and brought him to the ground while Catastrophe went for Fang. Just as she got her whip around him and was about to extend her staff to carry him to safety, he expanded back into dragon form and swooped to retrieve Jagged from Ladybug. The heroes landed and tried to regroup.

"What just happened?" Ladybug asked.

"I don't know…maybe there's something wrong with Hawkmoth's powers…Adrien did mention that his father got sick right after the Smenkhkare incident…hopefully it won't do anything to Jagged."

"We should probably call Fu and see if he has any ideas."

"Right," she agreed, pulling her baton out to do just that.

"Hello?" Fu answered on the second ring. Catastrophe saw Ladybug making a call on her yo-yo.

"It's C," she said lightly. "Quick question. Do you think that the incident with Smenkhkare could have affected Hawkmoth's powers?"

"Well, if the spirit tried to transfer itself to his Miraculous before you captured the Akuma, it's possible that it could have either damaged the Miraculous or misaligned Nooroo's energies."

"Apparently, our suspect is also sick," she noted.

"The holder's health wouldn't have much effect on the powers, just if the Miraculous was damaged or the Kwami ill…," he explained. "I hate to help Hawkmoth, but if nothing's done, it could have long term effects on his victims…I'll transform and meet you two at the Eiffel Tower. Lure the victim there…I can then cast a spell that will use the connection between Hawkmoth and his Akuma to heal his Miraculous and Kwami."

"All right. We'll see you there," she agreed and ended the call.

"What did he have to say?" Ladybug asked, done with her own call.

"We need to get Jagged to the Eiffel Tower…hopefully Fu won't throw his back out or anything when he transforms…he's worried that Hawkmoth's Miraculous is damaged or his Kwami Nooroo is sick and that might do something to his victims that your powers can't fix."

"Okay then…well, I just called the studio. XY is already gone, so it's possible that--" she broke off as they saw Fang fly by with someone in his mouth. "He already has XY!"

"Well, he's heading for the Eiffel Tower on his own. Now we just need to keep him from doing anything crazy until Fu shows up or texts us the spell…because we can't capture and purify the Akuma until that spell is cast…"

"Copy that. Let's get to that concert!" They hurried to the tower and ducked into a hiding spot as a horde of headbangers gathered at the base of the tower. They watched as a long piece of wood was carried to the top of the tower and set up like a ship's plank. Catastrophe was just about to say that they couldn't wait any longer when she saw a flash of green.

"Oh good, he didn't hurt himself," she sighed in relief and hurried to meet him.

"It appears he's not all that violent," Fu noted, lifting his broad hat to take in the scene. "That's good."

A loud guitar cord reached them along with an immense pressure that made it hard for Catastrophe to stay upright. Abruptly, the sound stopped and the three of them hurried to get to the top of the tower. When they arrived, Jagged's guitar was flickering between its usual and transformed states. "That's definitely the result of a sick Kwami…," Fu sighed. "Much easier to fix at a distance than a damaged Miraculous."

"Great. Tell us how to help," Catastrophe said lightly as the guitar finally stopped flickering and Jagged started playing again.

"Just make sure he doesn't see me. It would be too dangerous for Hawkmoth to learn that someone trained in magic around the Miraculous is in Paris."

"Yeah…he could force Nooroo to tell him that you're a Guardian and you have other Miraculous in your possession…as it stands, he hopefully believes what I said in that interview…"

"If he believes you've always had your Miraculous, that will be for the best…," Fu agreed.

"So, we keep him distracted while you get that spell cast," Ladybug laughed and called for her Lucky Charm. A can of extreme hold hair spray landed in her hands. "Okay…that's probably the most straightforward Lucky Charm I've ever gotten," she noted.

"Gonna style his hair?" Catastrophe guessed and her girlfriend nodded. "I'll take care of XY." They split up and Catastrophe went to grab XY off the plank. Ladybug made taunting noises at Jagged and the sound of a droning chant reached her ears. Catastrophe took XY to a lower level and let him loose. "Get out of here," she instructed and he scurried off. She went back to the top to help Ladybug and got Jagged's attention just long enough for Ladybug to rush forward and empty her hairspray at his head.

"I can't see!" Jagged shouted, dropping his guitar. "Fang!" Fang waddled over to him, seemingly unable to fly despite still being a dragon. Catastrophe reached out to the creature, knowing that he would recognize her scent from living around her. Sure enough, he responded by nuzzling against her hand.

"Good boy," she murmured, petting his snout. She looked over to see Fu hiding in the shadows, going through a series of hand motions and finishing up his chant. When he went still, he nodded to them and Ladybug broke the guitar to release the Akuma. The butterfly was captured and everything set right. Fang was surrounded by ladybugs and when they disbursed, the crocodile was gone. She and Ladybug went to check on Jagged and she offered to take him home.

The next morning as Chloé was stepping into the elevator, she got a message from Marinette excitedly saying that Jagged loved the album cover and the scented sticker. She smiled a little and started type out a reply, asking if Marinette was still in the hotel, when the elevator stopped on Jagged's floor and Marinette and Nathalie stepped inside. Chloé laughed and hugged Marinette.

"Congrats on your first official design job!" she told her, erasing her typed up message.

"I can give you girls a ride to school," Nathalie offered.

"Well…," Marinette paused.

"Do you have Adrien with you or is he in a different car?" Chloé asked.

"He's in the other car," Nathalie assured her. She considered, looking at Marinette. Her girlfriend just shrugged.

"Sure. As long as you're okay with Sabrina tagging along," she said lightly as the elevator came to a stop at the lobby and they started for the door. Sabrina was waiting patiently by the desk, holding her school bag. "Because she's already here."

"That's fine."

"By the way, I heard from Adrien that his father's been sick. Is he okay?"

"He's feeling much better."

A week before the release of the album, Marinette was invited to a special photo shoot with Jagged and in an interview, he introduced her as his new personal designer. When the article was released, Chloé had to help Marinette wade through the crowd of their school mates clambering to get her autograph and try to ask for favours. Most of their classmates saw the situation and crowded around them, clearing the other students out of the way so they could get to class.

"When Jagged likes someone, he goes hard…," Alya noted when they made it to the safety of the classroom. "I read in that article that this would be his last album with Bob Roth Records…but it didn't say why."

"Oh, Bob only paid Marinette for her work because Nathalie was there to pressure him," Chloé sighed.

"And he made plenty of homophobic comments…," Marinette sighed. "Besides trying to force Jagged to change his style…"

"Yikes. Not getting anything from that record company ever again…," Nino sighed. The entire class murmured in agreement and Mme Bustier entered the room.

Chapter Text

Finals came and went and the school year ended on a high note, with no failing grades despite the consistent interruptions to classes. There were a few Akumas during the tests, but nothing that Marinette and Chloé couldn't handle. When the break officially started, Marinette went straight to work on her internship, drawing up designs for different projects. Chloé, meanwhile, started exploring different jobs properly.

To her surprise, her parents seemed to have given up on their attempts to get her to be mean again. They'd also gotten off of Sabrina's back about trying to 'help' by bullying her friends. Through the combined efforts of Chloé, Alya and Adrien, Sabrina was settling into being nice and having normal friendships rather nicely.

She planned to reserve judgment on modelling until her first photoshoot was done, so she made a list of things she wanted to try and went down the list. First off, she tried out helping Penny with being an assistant. Penny was all too glad for the help, as summer was bringing a huge work load with tour season coming up. There were flights to schedule, venues to book, recordings to plan, and production companies to investigate. She diligently took notes and found that she enjoyed the fast-paced work of dealing with such an eccentric artist.

"I don't think a polar bear will be possible," she told Jagged after he made his rather insane request. "It won't fit through the halls."

"A pony then!" he declared, gathering soccer balls to play fetch with Fang. Chloé made a face and phoned in the request. Penny was busy scheduling a flight.

"Mlle, I don't know if we can manage a pony…," the worker on the other end sighed.

"I know, but it was hard enough talking him out of a polar bear. Just…see what we can manage? I'm sure if there's an issue with my father, a quick reminder that Jagged's one of his highest profit-grabbing guests right now might change his mind."

"Right. We'll see what we can manage!" the call was ended and she sighed tiredly. She checked her list of calls to make for Penny and went to the next one, which was finding a designer to put together the wardrobe for a music video coming up. So, she called Nathalie to try and hire Marinette for the task, knowing that her girlfriend would be Jagged's first choice after his declaration with his upcoming album.

"By the way, Jagged, for the music video wardrobe, Marinette designs clothes as well, do you want me to see if she can take the job?"

"Of course! She's such a raw talent!" he gushed.

"Yeah…I'm really lucky to have her for a girlfriend…," she agreed.

"Can I help you?" Nathalie asked when she answered the phone.

"Yes, Nathalie," she greeted. "I'm calling on behalf of Jagged Stone. There's a music video coming up and we were wondering if Marinette would have time to work on the designs for the wardrobe."

"Let me see…she actually doesn't have much going on…I'll talk with her and get back to you."

"Thank you so much," she said lightly and Nathalie hung up.

"I found the perfect way to market this album!" she heard Bob declare as he burst into the room. "He's gonna be a guest on a reality TV show!"

"I really don't think Jagged will be okay with it," Penny told him, following him from the door. Chloé noticed that the door was still wide open and Fang was waddling towards it. Acting quickly, she rushed to close the door to keep Fang inside the room. "No! I wasn't talking to you," Penny told the person she was on the phone with. "Confirm that flight please." She ended the call and put her phone away. "Bob, wait!"

"Penny, did you remember to order those macarons for Fang?" Jagged called.

"I've got it, Penny," Chloé assured her. "You deal with Bob." Penny smiled gratefully and hurried to deal with Bob. Chloé pulled out her phone and called Marinette's parents.

"Le Patisserie Tom et Sabine," Sabine greeted. "How can I help you?"

"Hi Mme Cheng," she greeted. "I was wondering if you guys have any animal friendly recipes for Macarons?"

"Well, that depends on the animal…"

"I know this sounds crazy, but a crocodile."

"Hm…let me do a little digging really quick," Sabine laughed.

"What?!" Jagged shouted and a soccer ball flew by Chloé's head. "What is this trash?" A phone went off and Chloé grabbed it before Penny could.

"One thing at a time, Penny. I've got the list, you handle Bob," she told her. "You've reached Jagged Stone's room," she told the caller.

"Mlle Chloé? We can manage the pony," the hotel employee assured her. "We'll have it up in half an hour."

"Thank you," she said lightly before they hung up.

"Chloé?" Sabine called over her cell phone.

"Yes, I'm still here," she assured the woman.

"I just looked it up, and our vegetarian recipe is safe for a crocodile to eat. We don't have any on hand, but it won't take too long to bake them. How many does he want and any particular flavours?"

"I think he just wants an assortment. I'll double check with Penny really quick." She headed to Penny. "Can I see the list really quick?"

"Sure," Penny sighed, handing over her clipboard. Chloé looked for the request for the macarons and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"What flavours for the macarons?"

"Oh! Just an assortment," Penny laughed, clicking her pen. Chloé nodded.

"Do you want anything from the bakery while I've got them on the phone?"

"Some chocolate croissants…please."

"All right," she said lightly, stepping away from the argument. "So just a dozen assorted flavours…whatever you feel like putting together…and two chocolate croissants."

"All right. I'll have those ready for you in about an hour," Sabine told her. "Tom just told me we have a batch of the vegetarian setting already."

"Thanks so much! I'll come by to get them then." The call ended and Chloé checked her list again before putting her phone away. "All right…breakfast and baked goods are taken care of."

"Chloé!" Jagged shouted and she jolted.

"Yes?"

"Tell this buffoon that my fans won't watch me on 'Rocker Wants a Wife'!"

"Ew," she made a face. "That show is so gross and sexist…now what's cool is 'Fill My Shoes'! People will watch that."

"Rock 'n Roll!" he exclaimed. Penny's phone went off and the woman checked it.

"I have to take this one, it's the travel agency," she sighed, stepping away to take the call.

"What sounds fun to you, Chloé?" Jagged asked her.

"Well, next on my list of careers to test was baking," she told him. "We can talk to Marinette's parents when I go to get Fang's macarons from them."

"Them again?" Bob groaned.

"You know, homophobia doesn't sell well in today's market," she snapped at him. "They run a great bakery…and there won't be many customers to worry about since tourist season hasn't quite set in yet."

"That's a brilliant idea!"

"So, if they agree, then you can get with the TV show and schedule it," she told Bob. He grumbled and left.

"What did I miss?" Penny asked, done with her call. Chloé checked the time.

"Well, Jagged's breakfast will be up on the back of a pony per his request in about twenty minutes. The order from the bakery will be ready in forty, and we've handled Bob's TV show idea," she told her.

"Great! What's the TV show idea?"

"We're gonna ask Marinette's parents to teach me to bake!" Jagged exclaimed.

"Oh, okay," Penny laughed. "And the video wardrobe?"

"Nathalie or Marinette should be getting back with me on if she can do it any moment now." As if on cue, she got a text from Marinette saying she could manage the job. "And she said yes. So, we can schedule maybe lunch with her to go into details?"

"Great…you've been a real lifesaver today, Chloé."

"Seriously!" Jagged agreed. She blushed a little at the praise. "Marinette's lucky to have you too."

"No…I'm really the lucky one…that she gave me a chance in the first place." A knock came at the door and Penny went to answer it. Chloé went back to her list and checked the time. Jagged's food arrived and she slipped out with Fang on a leash. "I'll be back with those pastries in a little bit." She slipped out of the room with Fang in tow.

Her phone went off and she checked it, hoping that it wasn't an Akuma. It was a message from Marinette asking if she wanted to get lunch together. She smiled and replied that she would call her. She got a call from Marinette almost immediately after the message was sent and marked as 'read'. She laughed a little and answered it.

"Okay, so what's the deal with you being the one to call Nathalie about a job for Jagged Stone?" Marinette asked before she could say hello.

"I'm trying out being an assistant today, and Penny needed help with him about to go on tour," she laughed. Fang pulled at the leash, trying to go towards a fountain. "Fang, calm down! You can go swimming when we get back to the hotel."

"Taking Fang for a walk…?"

"Yeah. So, Penny has one less thing to worry about. We're on the way to the bakery to get some stuff…and Penny wanted to see if you could meet them for lunch to get an idea of what they have in mind for the video," she told her, pulling Fang away from the fountain he was trying to get to, glad that all the exercise as Catastrophe had helped her build up some extra strength to manage it. "I'm also running a few errands for Jagged while I'm out, including asking your parents if they're okay with being on TV."

"I'd been hoping for a romantic lunch break with you, but a business lunch is doable…wait, my parents on TV?"

"Yeah, Bob Roth wouldn't leave Jagged alone about being on a lame TV show and Jagged asked for my suggestion, and since baking is next on my list of careers to test…it just popped out and Jagged latched onto it," she sighed. "Bob's not supposed to get with the studio until we have their consent…and if I pitch it right to them it might work."

"Well, good luck. My dad is really camera shy…but I overheard them talking about ways to draw in more customers…," Marinette mumbled. "I've got to get back to work…"

"Okay, I'll let Penny know you're good for lunch when I get back to the hotel and call you with a time and place."

"Sounds good." The call ended and Chloé pulled Fang gently towards the bakery.

Chloé found that she really liked working as an assistant, so she offered to help out until Jagged left for his tour. Marinette's parents consented to the show and it was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. While they were setting up, Marinette kept encouraging her father while Sabine instructed the camera crew. Chloé smiled a little and went to check on Penny, who was standing to the side nervously clicking her pen while holding onto Fang's leash.

"Are you okay, Penny?" she asked, kneeling to scratch Fang's neck a little. "Easy Fang…"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine…," Penny mumbled, clicking her pen.

"You're clicking your pen pretty intensely…you do that when you're stressed…," she pointed out.

"Well, I just hope everything goes well today…Mr Dupain looks pretty nervous…"

"He's just a little camera shy…but everything will be fine," she assured her. "Here, I'll take Fang to get some air while they get started."

"Thanks…," Penny sighed, handing her the leash. Chloé smiled and gently tugged Fang out of the bakery. A big screen had been set up outside the bakery for the crowd of Jagged fans to watch the show from the sidewalk. A few members of the paparazzi and photographers from magazines immediately started snapping pictures of her and Fang as she walked him away from the building.

"Mlle Bourgeois," one reporter called to her. "What are you doing with Jagged Stone's Crocodile?"

"I'm just taking Fang for a walk. He was getting restless inside the bakery," she told them and Fang tried to pull her towards the park.

"Why?"

"Oh, I'm interning with Jagged's manager for the week," she told them. "I should get going," she excused herself and took Fang to the park. He went straight for the fountain and she went to find a park keeper to get permission to let Fang roll in the water for a few minutes. The officer was confused, but consented, likely recognizing her and not wanting to bring down the wrath of the mayor for refusing his daughter something. She sighed and sat beside the fountain while Fang splashed around. She could see the show from where she was sitting, and she put her phone in her lap so she could answer immediately if she got a call.

"Welcome to 'Fill My Shoes'!" Alec's voice called from the screen. "We're live in the Patisserie Tom et Sabine, where our guest star Jagged Stone is filling the shoes of…a baker!"

"Yo, Rockers!" Jagged greeted when the camera panned to him.

"The head baker, and co-owner of this bakery, Tom Dupain, is generously allowing us to be here today."

"Uh…hello!" Tom said nervously, waving at the cameras. Jagged started to show off a fake guitar he'd put together earlier in the day out of day-old bread. Tom got him back on track as he started a fresh batch of bread. Jagged excitedly started chopping at the dough with his hands. "You have the right energy, but watch me," Tom said gently, showing the proper way to knead the dough.

Chloé smiled a little as the show progressed. Jagged and Tom got their loaves of bread into the oven and the show went to a commercial break. She tugged on Fang's leash and he obediently got out of the fountain and followed her back to the bakery. She went in through the back door and stuck her head into the bakery.

"How's it coming?" she asked, holding Fang back in the hall.

"Great! Where have you been?" Marinette asked, coming over to her.

"Taking Fang for a walk. He was just playing in a fountain, so I didn't want to bring him back into the bakery. Are there any towels I can use to dry the floor?"

"I'll get them," Marinette laughed and went to get the towels. They dried the floor together. "So, things are going well with the show…"

"We're back on the air in thirty seconds!" Alec called.

"So, while the bread is baking, we're gonna make some chocolate croissants for an order," she heard Tom tell Jagged. "I don't want to reveal my secret recipe on the air, so I premade my flour blend."

"Your dad seems less nervous than before…," she noted.

"As long as he focuses on Jagged and not the cameras…," Marinette sighed. They heard Alec go into his secondary intro.

"I was just informed that this bakery is also home to the artist of the cover for Jagged's upcoming album, Rock Giant. This is a true family of artists!" he declared and Marinette blushed brightly. Chloé kissed her cheek lightly. Tom announced what they'd be baking and helped Jagged get down the flour blend they needed.

They watched from the hall as Tom helped Jagged mix and knead the dough for the croissants and then they made the chocolate blend to twist into the croissants. Just before they were about to put the croissants in the oven, Fang tugged the leash out of Chloé's hand and waddled into the kitchen. She gasped and rushed to catch him, but the crocodile bumped into Jagged and knocked him over into a giant bag of flour. The tray of croissants flew out of Jagged's hands and Tom barely managed to save them. Chloé caught the crocodile and tugged him back out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to take Fang back to the hotel," she told Marinette as the adults played off the accident. The show went to another commercial and as she pulled Fang out of the building, she heard Marinette direct Penny and Jagged to the nearest restroom so he could clean up. She took Fang back to the hotel and up to the pool. "Honestly, Fang…I know you want to play, but some places you can't do that…," she sighed, taking him off the leash when they got to the pool.

Fortunately, there weren't any guests at the pool, so she just let Fang play in the pool and asked for some hard to break but toys to be brought up for him. Once Fang was handled, she found a lounge chair and sat down with her phone tuned into the show. The commercials were still going, so she took a moment to get comfortable. Her butler offered to get her something to drink and she nodded. "Thanks…Just some strawberry lemonade…," she told him and he hurried off to take care of that.

"And we're back on the air with Jagged Stone filling the shoes of a baker!" Alec exclaimed from her phone and she looked to see that they were filming in Marinette's room. "Let's see how this Rockstar cleans off all that flour." Chloé sat up, staring in horror at her phone. The camera panned to Penny trying to wipe the flour off of Jagged while he gushed about Marinette's in progress designs.

"Aw look at these pics!" he gasped and the camera zoomed in on a candid shot that Adrien had taken of her and Marinette kissing. "They're so cute together…makes me wanna write a song about teenage love…"

"Mlle Chloé?" Jean-Yves asked as he came back with her drink. "Are you okay?"

"This is a disaster…," she mumbled. "My parents still don't know!"

"What are you guys doing in here?!" Marinette shouted on the video.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Penny sighed. "I couldn't find the restroom."

"Hey Marinette," Jagged greeted as if her room was a public space. "You want me to sign this poster?" The camera panned to Marinette, who was red in the face either from embarrassment or from running upstairs, or both.

"No! I just need everyone to get out of my room!" she shouted.

"You heard the lady," Penny sighed and started herding everyone towards the door. Abruptly, the live footage was lost and Chloé groaned.

"I need to go check on her…," Chloé sighed. "Fang should be okay up here alone, but if you could bring up some raw fish from the kitchen for him?"

"Of course, Mlle. I'll close the pool for maintenance so a panic doesn't ensue," Jean-Yves said lightly before going to do just that. Chloé made sure he was fully gone before transforming and vaulting away to the bakery. She landed on Marinette's balcony just as an Akuma flew into the apartment from a front window. She gasped and threw the skylight open to drop into the room. Marinette was sitting by the trap door to her room, trying to compose herself.

"There's an Akuma in the apartment," she told her, pulling her up. "What happened when the footage was gone?"

"Penny accidentally unplugged one of the cords…everyone was talking at once as she pushed them downstairs…and then she shouted at them that she'd meet them downstairs in five…," Marinette sighed. "I'm sorry…I should have gone with her and Jagged to the restroom…"

"We'll deal with it later, but for now, the Akuma?"

"Right." Marinette called for her transformation and just as they were about to head downstairs, they heard screaming and noises from the bakery. They stopped in the living room just as a villain that was clearly just Penny with a punk style and pasty white skin rose through the floor. "Oh good. You came to us."

"Mind making this easy for us and handing over your Akuma?" Catastrophe suggested.

"Not likely!" she laughed and threw a book from the shelf at them. Ladybug dodged the projectile and threw her yo-yo at the villain. She clicked her pen and the yo-yo phased through her. Another click after the yo-yo retracted and she was solid again. Another book was thrown at them and Catastrophe hit it away with her baton.

Penny lunged at them and Catastrophe blocked her path. Ladybug moved around behind the villain and grabbed her. Catastrophe made a grab for the pen, but a single click had their opponent phasing through the floor. The heroes groaned.

"So, I'm guessing that the Akuma's in the pen…," Ladybug sighed as they shifted to stand back to back.

"Wouldn't surprise…she fiddles with and clicks it when she's stressed out, I've noticed," Catastrophe agreed. "And at least we know that her strength is her weakness…"

"Yeah…she can't touch us if we can't touch her," Ladybug grinned and called for her lucky charm. A broken plate landed in her hands.

"Cryptic as always…," she noted as Ladybug looked around for something to help with the plate. "Ladybug on your left!" she shouted as the villain lunged at them. They both moved out of the way and Catastrophe called for a cataclysm before trying to engage the villain. Every time she nearly had a hand on her opponent, the pen was clicked and the villain literally slipped through her grasp.

She chanced a glance at Ladybug to see her partner find a tube of glue and use it to cover her earrings. She knew her ring was safe with the Cataclysm active, but there was only so long she could force Plagg to hold that. And the villain wouldn't go for the ring until the danger of the destructive power was passed. She nearly got her hands on the pen, but it was used again and the villain turned to Ladybug, clearly realizing that fighting against Catastrophe was going nowhere. Catastrophe started to defend her, but Ladybug shook her head, readying the broken pieces of the plate as if she planned to use the sharp edges.

The two tussled for a moment before Ladybug was pinned to the ground and Penny was trying to remove her earrings. Ladybug laughed as the villain struggled and then couldn't manage to remove her own hands. Catastrophe chuckled and reached to grab the pen with her charged hand. The pen crumbled and the Akuma was released. Ladybug somehow captured the Akuma from her position pinned under Penny and called for everything to be fixed. The ladybugs deposited Penny on the ground behind the couch and Catastrophe went to touch her shoulder.

"What happened…?" Penny asked slowly. "Where's Jagged?!"

"Easy there, Penny," Ladybug said gently. "Jagged's fine downstairs."

"You spend so much time worrying about everyone else," Catastrophe sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"I…," Penny paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine. Thank you, Catastrophe…Ladybug."

"Helping people is what we do," Ladybug said lightly. "Maybe you could consider hiring someone to help you with your workload?"

"Well…I've had Chloé Bourgeois interning this week and she's been a big help…maybe you're right…I should find someone more permanent to help…but for now…I should get downstairs. The others are probably worried…"

The heroes nodded and went upstairs and out the skylight. They waved to the crowd below and vaulted away in separate directions. Catastrophe went back to the hotel and hid on the roof. As promised, the only one on the roof was Fang. She smiled and dropped her transformation before stepping out and returning to her lounge chair.

She checked the feed on her phone and Alec was apologizing to the audience about the show being interrupted. Jagged thanked Tom for his time and they finished the croissants. Chloé was glad that none of the baked goods had been burned or ruined in the chaos.

That evening, Chloé's parents had dinner with her and there was a tension in the air that had the staff afraid to do their jobs near them and guests giving them ample space. They all had something to say, but none of them wanted to break the silence. Finally, her mother put her fork down and sighed.

"So, about that photo of you and that Marinette girl…," she started. Chloé steeled herself. "Did your so-called friends dare you to kiss her?"

"No," she said immediately. "I kissed her because we've been dating since Valentine's Day." Her father dropped his fork and Audrey's jaw dropped.

"And you've managed to keep this relationship a secret from us?" her father asked after a moment.

"Well considering you two only seem to bother with me when you want to lecture me, it wasn't that hard," she snapped. Chloé put her fork down and started to call over their server to get her plate to-go to finish in her room.

"There's no need to leave, Chloé…," her father tried.

"Why? I'm really not in the mood for another lecture when I have summer homework and my internship to get to in the morning," she griped.

"We're not going to lecture you," he sighed. "In fact, we've been discussing it and since you're determined to be…nice, we've come to a decision."

"Right…," Audrey sighed. "You're our daughter first, whether we're happy about your behaviour or not…"

"So…what? You'll just silently resent me?"

"Of course not! It's just taking some getting used to, is all," her father assured her. "You liking girls is a surprise, though…"

"Not that your preferences are a problem," Audrey said lightly. "We're just worried that these 'friends' are taking advantage of your newfound generosity."

"Well, they're not," she sighed. "I've stopped being a bully, but that doesn't mean I forgot how to say no. Why the sudden change in your stand on my being nice?"

"Well…," Audrey trailed off, looking at her husband.

"We were approached by an investigator with the child welfare office…," André sighed.

"So, it was…tolerate the changes and stop hassling me over it…or what? I get taken away?" Both adults nodded in reply. "Great…glad we had this talk…"

"You realize that your father is under scrutiny over that fiasco with D'Argencourt," Audrey griped.

"Yes, I realize," she snapped. "I doubt that they're concerned about my trying to be a better person when they're watching how you two treat not only me, but everyone around us." She picked up her plate and stood. "I'll finish eating in my room."

Chapter Text

There was a lot going on for the day. It was Chloé's first official photo shoot, and the first time Marinette's clothing would be featured in a magazine. There was also a competition in its final round at the TV studio, so they were honestly anticipating the photo shoot to be interrupted by the loser. As it was, Chloé was in wardrobe with Marinette, adjusting her dress while the makeup artist worked on her face. Final touches had already been made on Adrien's ensemble.

"So, how's the job experimenting been going?" Marinette asked her as she fixed a pleat that had come undone.

"I ended up spending a lot more time with Jagged and Penny than I'd planned," she sighed. "Mostly because it was fun. You know I tried baking earlier this week and it did not end well. Sure, the bakery was clean when you got home from your internship, but it was a disaster. After this, I've got a couple of other things on my list but I think I might go with being an assistant…"

"We're ready on the set!" Nathalie called just as Marinette finished with the stitching and Chloé's makeup was done. They stepped out of the tent and Chloé went to join Adrien in front of the cameras. As the photo shoot started, she lost track of everything but her poses and the instructions from the photographer.

She was so happy to be showing off one of Marinette's designs, and the dress made her feel like a princess out of a fairy tale. Sure, Adrien looked like a prince beside her in his tailored suit with the embroidered shirt and feather-like accents and the brilliant hat that was the centrepiece of the shoot. Her dress was a sleek black ballgown with a pleated grey front to the skirt and a matching bustle that emulated the bird theme of the shoot with the intricate gold embroidery of birds in flight and its 'feather' trim. The bodice was a black corset with gold trim and swirling embroidery to match Adrien's shirt, and she was wearing a grey shrug with long, flowing sleeves that had faux feathers placed strategically. To top it off, her hair had been curled into a gentle style with a wire tiara that had been twisted into the shape of a pigeon in flight.

"It's a shame she didn't pick swans for the theme bird," Adrien whispered as they were allowed to take a short break.

"The swan princess dress that Marinette would come up with would be too powerful for the mortal gaze," she joked. Then she noticed something near the play area of the park they were in. "Is it just me…or are there only balloons with that girl Mireille's face on them?"

"Yeah…that's kind of weird…I haven't been keeping up with the weather girl contest, but aren't there two finalists?"

"And they're announcing the winner today," Marinette sighed, joining them to make sure their outfits were still in order.

"We're losing light!" the photographer called and they went back to the shoot. Just as they were getting into the first positions, a cold wind blew through the park. They all looked to see a girl that was obviously an Akuma floating above the park with a parasol that she was using to direct the winds. She shouted in rage and waved her parasol, directing the winds to destroy all of the Mireille balloons.

The park devolved into chaos as the villain turned the fountain and several other things, including fleeing civilians, to ice. Chloé took the opportunity to slip into the wardrobe tent. When she was sure she was alone in the tent, she transformed and rushed out the other side of the tent. Catastrophe leapt into the area and spun her staff to protect a group of civilians.

"Hey, Ice Queen!" she called to the villain. "Can't you pick on someone your own temperature?"

"My name is not Ice Queen!" the villain shrieked. "It's Climatika!"

"Right…now…you're the girl from the Weather Girl competition, right? Aurore?"

"Aurore was a drifting cloud blown away by the tornado of Climatika!" Climatika declared, using her parasol to summon a tornado that picked Catastrophe up and threw her into a building. She landed in a heap on the sidewalk and shook her head to regain her bearings.

"Okay…so reasoning with her is out, as usual," she sighed. Ladybug landed beside her.

"So, we were right about that competition."

"To a point. You saw all that merch for Mireille…they must have rigged it for Aurore to lose…," Catastrophe told her. "And that parasol of hers is no joke…"

"Yeah…attacking her outright will just be met with whirlwinds…and as usual, reasoning with the victim is out of the question…"

"Where was Nathalie when you got away?" she asked quietly as they moved to a roof to scout out Climatika.

"With Adrien and his bodyguard. Unless she manages to get away from them, I doubt we'll have to deal with a Sentimonster on top of this…"

"Good. There she is," she sighed, pointing towards the villain. "Maybe we can sneak up on her?"

"Let's try it," Ladybug sighed. They got into position behind Climatika. Ladybug threw her yo-yo and Catastrophe pulled out her whip and threw it across the street and they tried to swing at Climatika, but the villain had apparently seen them coming at some point and spun around, opening her parasol and spinning it to send them flying back with a powerful wind. They barely managed to catch themselves on a roof as Climatika cackled and flew away.

"Okay…new plan. We lure her to us and take her by surprise."

"Maybe the Eiffel Tower? Wait…no…she could use that as a lightning rod…"

"Hello, viewers!" Climatika said from a TV. "Here's the latest forecast for the first day of Summer!" she laughed, pointing to a map of Paris with her parasol. "Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans! Summer vacation is officially over!" a snowflake covered the city on the map and she cackled.

"Looks like she's trying to set a trap for us," Ladybug sighed. Catastrophe nodded.

"Prepare for the worst weather in history!" Climatika cackled on the screen. Ladybug and Catastrophe headed towards the TV studio.

"So, if she's setting a trap for us…she's probably plotting to draw us to the roof so she has the advantage of space to fly," Catastrophe said lightly.

"She might be waiting for us inside…we can set a trap on the roof and then go inside and 'play along'," Ladybug suggested and called for her Lucky Charm. A red towel landed in her hands.

"Tikki really likes giving you cryptic as crap items…"

"Yeah…but it works out. Let's get to that roof and see what we can do to trap her in her element." The pair headed for the roof and hid for a moment to make sure the roof was clear.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Let's see…," Ladybug looked around and after a long moment of planning, she nodded. "Okay. Use your cataclysm to weaken the supports on that far billboard." Catastrophe nodded and did just that before Ladybug closed her eyes. "Good thing I know the layout of the studio after so many Akuma in here…"

"That's it?"

"Yeah, she seems pretty fond of blizzards, so that sign will be the only thing we need."

"Okay…I love how brilliant you are, because I can't see how that'll work out…," Catastrophe laughed and Ladybug used her second power to drop them into the studio lobby. They headed for the studio where Climatika was broadcasting and feigned surprise when the lights went out.

"Fools! You've fallen right into my trap!" Climatika laughed from the door and threw an air tank at them. They rolled out of the way and chased her up to the roof. "It's over for you!"

"We'll see about that," Ladybug laughed as Climatika opened her parasol and pointed it to the sky. The wind picked up and hail started to fall. Ladybug tapped a medallion on her belt and it expanded into a shield that she held over them to block the hail. "Finally…I've been waiting for a chance to use this shield."

"It's cool." The sign started to fall and Climatika blasted a hole in it to avoid being hit. Ladybug threw her yo-yo and it latched onto the villain's ankle. Then, Ladybug ran across the roof and slid under a pipe before leaping onto a fan and holding her towel open. The wind from the fan filled the towel and lifted Ladybug into the air. The wire of the yo-yo went taut and jerked Climatika to the ground. Catastrophe took the opportunity to leap up and snatch the parasol from her. "Thanks for this!" She landed and broke the parasol to release the Akuma.

Ladybug let go of the towel and captured the Akuma on her way down. Everything was fixed and they left Aurore on the roof. When they got back to the park, they went back to their respective hiding places and detransformed.

Chloé dusted her skirt off and went back out to the set. They finished the photo shoot without any further problems and she changed back into her regular clothes before heading to get some lunch with Marinette.

Chapter Text

A summer fair was going on at the Place de la Concorde and Chloé took the chance in some off time to drag Adrien out to join her, Marinette, Alya, and Nino for a group date. Of course, they also ended up bringing all of the younger siblings along, but it wasn't like they were planning any romantic getaways with Adrien along for the ride. They took turns riding rides with the kids and playing games with them. They spotted a dance game and the twins started demanding they play on it.

"Your legs are too short," Noel taunted as the group went to the game.

"More than just your legs," Adrien said gently. "Look girls…" he pointed to a height restriction sign that the younger kids were at least ten centimetres below the minimum.

"Then can you guys play it?" they asked together. Alya and Nino exchanged tired looks and Marinette stepped up.

"I'll do it. I love classic DDR," she laughed. Chloé nodded.

"It's a two-player game, I'll join you," she volunteered and they got on the pad. The attendant launched into an explanation of the game and they picked a song. The girls started dancing and their friends cheered them on.

"Wow, a perfect score!" the attendant declared when the song ended and the score came up. She pointed to a selection of toys. "Take your pick ladies! One each." They let Ella and Etta pick the prizes and moved on.

"Nice little ballet there," a voice taunted behind them.

"Nora!" the twins shouted and ran to hug the person that had come up. The woman smirked and ruffled their hair. Chloé looked the woman over to see that she was clearly related to Alya and the twins, very muscular and wearing boxing gear.

"How was the match, sis?" Alya asked her.

"Total knockout, of course!" she laughed. "As usual. My fight name is Anansi."

"Like the trickster spider in some African myths?" Chloé recalled.

"Yeah! Shouldn't you guys be getting home though?"

"Why? It's barely about to be lunch," Marinette laughed.

"Well, with all the akumatized peeps it's whack dangerous!"

"We can handle ourselves," Alya argued, folding her arms.

"And the superheroes always save the day!" Noel shouted.

"Yeah sure, and if Miss Kitty's off playing with some string and that Beetle's been sprayed with bug spray? What then?"

"Have you seen Ladybug and Catastrophe fight?" Adrien defended them. "They're unstoppable!"

"What if they don't show?"

"We can handle ourselves until they get to the scene," Alya snapped.

"Yeah, like you handled yourself all the times you got kidnapped?"

"I only got kidnapped twice and they caught me by surprise!"

"I'm hungry!" Noel whined, prompting the twins to start complaining as well. "When's lunch?"

"I'm getting hungry too," Alya sighed. "Let's go eat right now." All attention was turned to discussing where to get food and Nora stormed off in a huff. Chloé looked at Marinette and she nodded, clearly thinking the same thing Chloé was: they should be on the lookout for Nora to be Akumatized. As it was, they decided on a place to eat and took the kids there.

"You know what? Since this was my idea, I'll cover everyone. You kids want milkshakes?" Chloé offered as they started for the line. That garnered a chorus of cheers and demands for chocolate. She smiled a little.

After lunch, they got on the Ferris Wheel, Nino and Alya insisting on riding with their siblings while Chloé and Marinette rode with Adrien.

"Thanks for kidnapping me, Coco," Adrien laughed as the ride began to move. "And…I'm glad that Nino and Alya brought their little siblings…I would have felt like a fifth wheel otherwise…"

"Just because we're two couples doesn't mean we saw this as a double date," Marinette said lightly.

"Yeah," Chloé agreed. "I actually invited a couple of others from our class, but everyone else was busy."

The ride shuddered to a halt and they all looked out the windows. A four-armed Akuma was spitting spiderweb at the central gears, clogging them up. The ride creaked and shuddered as the spider like villain climbed up and ripped the cabin that their friends were in off of the Ferris Wheel. Chloé made a face and looked at Marinette.

"We were planning on including him anyways. It's safe," Marinette sighed.

"We haven't approved that plan with him yet…," she pointed out. "But you're right. Adrien, we have something to tell you."

"What?" he asked, clearly worried.

"First of all, this is top secret. Absolutely no one else can know about it," Marinette said, pulling her necklace from under her shirt. Chloé pulled her bracelet out of a pocket and slipped it on.

"O-Okay…why are you pulling out jewellery?"

"Because we can't transform with our Miraculous hidden," Chloé said lightly and called for her transformation. Marinette followed suit and they looked at Adrien, who was simply staring at them in shock.

"You okay there, Adrien?" Ladybug asked him, smiling gently.

"Yeah…oh my gosh…this whole time you two have been…no wonder you changed how you treated everyone, Coco."

"I haven't been lying when I said that nearly dying at the beginning of all this was a lot of a wakeup call, but yeah…," Catastrophe laughed. "Now…we've gotta get a move on. Just be careful when talking to us in public now that you know." He nodded and Ladybug smiled.

"All right then. For starters, let's get out of this cabin and go take care of this." She opened a portal below them and Catastrophe pulled Adrien through it. They came out at the base of the Obélisque de Louxor. "Stay here and out of danger, Adrien." He nodded and found a spot to hide as the villain carried the cabin that she took to the Arc de Triomphe.

The two heroes ran to catch her as she suspended the cabin in a web within the arch. Catastrophe could hear the kids screaming for help and Alya and Nino trying to calm their siblings. Ladybug called for a Lucky Charm and a gong dropped into her hands.

"Guess it's time to accelerate the plan…," Catastrophe sighed, recognizing the piece.

"I guess…but will the Miraculous we were considering work…?"

"I was talking to him and that one can copy a power or cast an illusion…," she said softly. "I'll keep her busy while you get that taken care of."

"Okay." Ladybug swung away and Catastrophe snapped her whip at the villain.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" she shouted, extending her staff and taking up a position. The villain crawled down to her and she started fighting her. Catastrophe took note that the villain mostly used her lower arms to strike blows and her upper arms to guard her face.

Marinette rushed to Fu's home and explained the situation to him. He contemplated for a moment before going to his gramophone and opening it up.

"I didn't want to put more Miraculous into circulation, but you make a fair point. You need a third set of hands…," he sighed and set a box on the table before Marinette. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng…pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the Miraculous and return it to me."

He opened the box and an assortment of jewels was revealed. She barely took a moment to take in the sight before picking up the Fox Pendant. That was the one that they had been talking about giving to Adrien, since the Mirage could be used to fool the cameras so they could gather their evidence against Gabriel.

"I've told Chloé the powers of some of them, but you haven't had the chance…the Fox has the power of Magic and can either cast an illusion or copy the power of another Miraculous," he told her and she nodded.

"Right," she said lightly and checked on her Kwamis. They both gave affirmation that they were good to go and she hurried out of the building, slipping into an alley to transform. She returned to the Obélisque de Louxor and found Adrien.

"Everything okay, Ladybug?" he asked as she checked for witnesses and cameras.

"Yeah. I'm just checking for witnesses. Catastrophe can only fight for so long. We weren't planning on dragging you into all this until later, but we need an extra set of powers," she pulled the box she'd stored the Fox Pendant in. "Adrien Agreste, this is the Miraculous of the Fox, which grants the power of Magic. If you're willing, you can use it to help us in this fight." He nodded and took the box from her. "However, once the job is done, for your safety, I must ask that you return the Miraculous to me."

"You can count on me, Ladybug," he said and opened the box. The Kwami awakened and bowed to Adrien. "Whoa…that's so cool!"

"Good afternoon, my name is Trixx. The powers I grant are magical in nature, the usual of which being a powerful illusion."

"We'll be needing the power mimic in this situation," Ladybug told Trixx. "Take a moment to discuss and try to join the fight at a different time than me. We don't want to give Hawkmoth the hint that Catastrophe and I have access to additional Miraculous."

"Right. Make it seem like I'm completely unaffiliated with you guys," he agreed and she vaulted away to help Catastrophe.

When Ladybug returned, Catastrophe was blocking a strike with her staff and had her whip around one of the villain's wrists.

"Where's your buggy girlfriend, Miss Kitty?" the villain asked, confirming that Ladybug had left before they had been spotted.

"Well, for one, we're not dating," she laughed, kicking the villain back and pulling her to the ground with her whip. "That would be reckless. But she's right behind you."

"What?!" the villain turned and her face was struck with the yo-yo. Ladybug pulled the coin from her belt and it expanded into her shield.

"Sorry I'm late, Catastrophe," she said lightly.

"Better late than never," she agreed and they put some space between themselves and the villain. "You got it?" she asked quietly.

"Yep, he should be here soon," she whispered. Catastrophe nodded and blocked a blow with her staff. "Drive her under the web."

"Copy that," she said lightly and started the push. She spotted a flash of orange atop the monument and grinned. Once she had the villain under the monument, Ladybug's yo-yo swung around and turned the area into a sort of boxing ring. "Tag out!"

"In we go!" Ladybug traded spots with Catastrophe, suddenly wearing boxing gloves with her shield on her back. She must have called for a Lucky Charm and that was what she got.

"Hah! One punch and you're out bug-eyes!" the villain taunted, throwing a punch at Ladybug, who dodged expertly.

"That's if you can land one," Ladybug taunted, moving to a corner as she dodged hit after hit. Finally, all four corners were damaged enough that when Catastrophe tugged at the yo-yo string, everything groaned as if the monument was about to topple. "Catastrophe, now!"

"It's over, Spidey!" she shouted, pulling the yo-yo enough to cause the structure to crumble. Ladybug used her power and teleported out of the danger zone.

"Shellter!" a voice called from above and a glistening orange orb surrounded the cabin in the web, protecting it as the structure crumbled around it. Catastrophe and Ladybug helped get the cabin onto solid ground and helped the group out of it. A fox themed hero joined them, putting a long flute against his back. "Thought you guys could use some help," he said lightly. "The name's Renard Voleur."

"Nice to meet you," Catastrophe said lightly. Their opponent crawled out of the rubble and stared blankly at Renard Voleur. She rushed the enemy and called on her Cataclysm, destroying the headgear before the villain could block. Ladybug captured the released Akuma and fixed everything. "I've got plenty of time, so I'll get these kids back to the fair," she told the others before herding the kids back to the fair.

When they got there, Catastrophe parted ways with them and went to find Marinette and Adrien. The pair was hiding in an alley while the Kwamis ate to recharge. Adrien was in the middle of returning the Miraculous to Marinette.

"Alya and Nino will be looking for us," she told them, dropping her transformation.

"So, I won't have time to return this…in fact, the easiest method right now would be to burrow back to the Ferris Wheel and when I have a chance to get away, I can return this."

"We have lessons with him this evening," Chloé pointed out as Marinette called for her transformation and teleported them back to the Ferris Wheel.

"Oh my god, you guys are okay!" Alya gasped when they finally joined their friends on the ground. Alya and Nino hugged them each in turn.

"We're glad that you guys are okay," Marinette laughed. "When that Akuma showed up and swiped your cabin we were worried."

"Catastrophe and Ladybug showed up and saved us," Nino said lightly.

"There was a third hero, but I didn't catch his name…we were pretty caught up with taking care of our siblings…"

"Wow, did you at least get to see the fight?"

"It was right below us, but as the Arc de Triomphe was collapsing, the new hero showed up and put a sort of shield around the cabin," Alya told them. "The weird thing was that he looked like he was a fox hero, but I heard him say 'Shellter'…foxes are not usually associated with protection…"

"Well, a lot of cultures associate them with magic…maybe he used a spell of some kind?" Nino mused as they headed towards another ride. "It was cool that he was there to help out."

They went back to their outing, but about halfway through the afternoon, a giant puppet monster appeared and started tearing up the fair. Chloé and Marinette slipped away in the chaos and transformed to take care of it. They figured out quickly that it was a Sentimonster and cleaned it up in barely a few minutes of fighting.

The outing was ended shortly after that with ice cream at Andre Glaciée’s stand. Chloé got Adrien home and met up with Marinette at Fu's to return the Fox Pendant.

Chapter Text

Chloé found herself helping Marinette setting up for a small family get together, decorating the apartment with all sorts of red decorations and Chinese good luck charms. She had her hair in a bun and was wearing a nice Cheongsam that Marinette had made for her. The bakery was closed for the month, but they could smell the baked goods and traditional cooking that Sabine was doing downstairs for the reunion.

"Everything okay, Marinette?" Chloé asked when it seemed like her girlfriend was on the verge of a freak-out.

"Yeah…I just haven't seen anyone on my mom's side of the family since I was six…and I know that they're very traditional and I'm not sure how they'll react to me being gay…"

"Everything'll be fine," she assured her. "Now…do any of them speak French?"

"Not that I know of. But I can translate as long as they don't prefer Mandarin."

"Great…"

"Marinette, can you come help me?" Sabine called from the bakery.

"Coming Maman!" Marinette hurried to go see what her mother needed. Chloé finished putting up a lantern and went up to Marinette's room. Their Kwamis were playing with some headphones by the computer. She went to the bathroom and straightened up her hair. She vaguely heard noise downstairs as Marinette and her mom got the food set up.

More voices joined them and Chloé went down to see that Tom was back with the Cheng family in tow. There was a lot of chatter in some kind of Chinese and Marinette gestured towards Chloé. Whatever she'd said, the reception seemed mostly positive and Marinette grinned.

"Okay…what's going on?"

"Sorry," Marinette laughed. "I just introduced you as my girlfriend and they were congratulating me on such a…," she paused, blushing. "Um…fetching catch…or at least that's the closest translation I can think of…the phrase doesn't really have a French equivalent…"

It was awkward, but they all sat down for food and then they headed to the hotel to cheer one of Marinette's uncles on in the 'World's Greatest Chef' contest.

Almost immediately after the contest, Fashion Week started. All of their friends were there to model Marinette's designs in one of the fashion shows. Chloé helped with the details, most important of which was keeping Marinette calm, as well as getting into her designated outfit.

She was grateful that she was modelling for this show rather than having to attend with her parents. She reassured Marinette that everything was under control and would go without a hitch before the designer was rushed out to her seat by Nathalie. Chloé peaked out to look at the stands, where the seats were full except for three spots. Of course, Marinette's entire family was there, packed into one section while Sabine seemed to be explaining things to them in Chinese. Marinette rushed to them and started to sit down in the open seat beside her parents, but Chloé's mother sat down there first. Chloé scowled and started to leave the backstage area, but Nathalie and Gabriel approached right as Adrien caught Chloé's wrist.

"We're about to go on, Coco…," he whispered to her.

"Right…," she sighed. She glanced through the curtains again to see her mother storm out of the space with her father close behind. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Bad feeling about what?" he asked and she pulled him aside. "Chloé?"

"Did Marinette get the Pendant from you?"

"She brought it back the next day…said whoever gave it to you guys said I could keep it…," he whispered. "That it would be safer for me with powers…what did she mean?"

"Then she told him our theory…just…be ready to slip away if things go south…," she hissed and he nodded before they got in line with the rest of their friends. "And…I'll tell you the rest later."

The fashion show went well, with Nino working the music and all of their friends wearing outfits that perfectly suited them. Adrien was the last to go before the planned climax of the show, which was all on Chloé. She hated that Marinette wanted the spotlight on her. She had enough spotlight with her parents. And she was barely okay with their relationship being public.

The music changed and Adrien sauntered out. Chloé took a deep breath and waited for her cue. The record scratched and the music stopped. Concerned, she peaked through the curtain to see a statue of glitter standing on the stage. Adrien was at the end of the runway and his father leapt onto the stage to get in the way.

"Audrey?" he questioned.

"Not anymore you ungrateful fashion disaster!" her mother screeched and brandished a staff. "You're fired!" she declared, firing a blast of glitter through Gabriel and into Adrien. Chloé bit back a yelp as Adrien was transformed into a frozen statue of glitter.

"Everyone needs to get out of here!" she hissed at her friends and the models in the wings. Then, she hurried out of the space to try and find a hiding place. In the chaos, she made her way to a closet and looked around for witnesses. There were no cameras, and no one was paying attention in the panic to escape the glitter bombs that the Akuma was firing. She called for her transformation and went to find Marinette. She found Ladybug in the rafters.

"Style Queen!" Ladybug shouted, pulling her shield up.

"You must be Ladybug! That outfit is atrocious with those spots! You're fired!" she fired a blast of glitter at Ladybug, but it bounced off of the shield. "What?!"

"Glitter is so last season," Ladybug laughed and shot her yo-yo towards the enemy. The glitter that made up Style Queen shifted and the yo-yo merely passed through.

"You're a couple of sizes too small to beat me, Ladybug," she snapped and fired another shot of glitter, which Ladybug blocked with her shield. Catastrophe took the opening to slash her staff through the villain. "What's this? A tacky feline come to the bug's rescue?"

"Excuse you but the only one tacky around here is the glitterazzi in front of me," she said, twirling the staff. "You're after Gabriel Agreste first, right? If he wasn't here, then he's still hiding in his house." Style Queen shrieked and pointed her staff at Adrien and he dissolved. In a whirl of glitter, they were left alone.

"How can we beat what we can't touch?" Ladybug sighed, jumping down beside her.

"Maybe we can get through this. Adrien was wearing the Pendant, right?"

"I think so. You think we can enlist Trixx?" she asked quietly. On cue, the little fox Kwami flew out of hiding.

"Nasty situation we've got here," Trixx said lightly. "What do you need from me?"

"Maybe a little honeycomb if you can manage it?"

"I can do that," the Kwami promised.

"Great. You can hide in my hair," Catastrophe laughed. Trixx flew into her ponytail and they headed away from the venue.

"After she scopes out the house, where do you think she'll go?"

"Mother's favourite spot to look down on the world is the highest point in the city," she sighed when they were on a rooftop. "Once her search for Gabriel fails…if that wasn't really him at the fashion show…"

"And just when I was starting to think we might have been wrong about Gabriel…I wonder how he managed it…"

"We'll worry about that later," she said lightly as they headed for the Tower. She spotted a trail of glitter flying towards the Tower. "There she is!"

"So, we sneak up on her and trap her with a honeycomb…find her Akuma and save Adrien," Ladybug said and they headed out to enact their plan.

Catastrophe came to a stop above the landing and watched as her mother materialized and banged her staff on the floor. Adrien materialized on a bed of sorts and Style Queen set a rose in his mouth before a sparkling shield appeared around him. She spotted Ladybug on the approach.

"All right, Trixx. You're up," she whispered to the Kwami in her hair. He flew out and did a little dance before flying around the area. A wall of honeycomb appeared around the Tower, fully enclosing them. The stage set, she dropped to join Ladybug. "I think the Akuma's in that rose she put on Adrien. You distract her and I'll take care of that barrier."

"Do your thing Kitty," Ladybug laughed, getting ready with her shield. "Fashion disaster spotted at the Eiffel Tower," she taunted. Catastrophe dodged a glitter blast and barely paused to watch her partner drive Style Queen into the wall of honeycomb. She called for a Cataclysm and punched the field around Adrien. She picked up the rose and broke it.

"Got it!" the Akuma flew out and Ladybug snatched it up with her yo-yo. Everything was fixed and Trixx discreetly flew into Adrien's pocket. Catastrophe promised to 'escort Adrien' and took him to the elevator.

"So that was crazy…," Adrien sighed when they were in the elevator. "How did that attack just pass right through my dad?"

"Maybe Nathalie will answer that…and their explanation better be good…," she muttered. They made it to the ground and Ladybug joined them.

"All right, your mom's still pissed, but she declined my offer to take her home. So, shall we take the shortcut back to the show?"

"Yes please!" Adrien laughed and they burrowed back to the Gran Palais. They parted ways and hid to drop their transformations. When Chloé got back to the runway, she heard Adrien demanding answers from Nathalie.

"Adrien, you know how bad your father's Agoraphobia got after your mother's disappearance…," the secretary sighed. "We've been replacing face time calls with a hologram…I guess he got in the way on instinct and forgot that he wasn't really here…" Chloé made a face. "If everyone's back, we should continue the Fashion Show," she told the crowd. Agreements were expressed and Nino started the music back up.

Adrien struck his pose at the end of the runway and then sauntered back to the curtains. When he was halfway back, Chloé took a deep breath and started her walk. Once Adrien was fully backstage, the music and lighting shifted and Chloé almost faltered.

For the first time in her life she was nervous about having all eyes on her. But she tried to own the moment like she always did and showed off Marinette's design. The dress was simple and elegant, but what really made it special was the way that the lighting reacted with the fabric that Marinette had used, giving it the look of changing colours with every step she took. Chloé struck her pose at the end of the runway and paused for the cameras before strutting back to the wings.

Everyone in the class did the walk again and Marinette stepped out of the audience to pose with them for the cameras.

After the show was over, Chloé met with Adrien and Marinette to talk about what happened. They slipped up to Chloé's room at the hotel, not wanting to risk people hearing their conversation.

"So…you mentioned a theory earlier, Coco…," Adrien started.

"Marinette, did you find anything?" she asked instead of giving Adrien the explanation.

"Tikki found a missing Grimoire in the safe behind the portrait of Mme Agreste and Tasan found an elevator shaft. We also figured out the code," Marinette sighed.

"Then he must have done that hologram thing to try and throw us off the trail. But I could have sworn he left his house before…"

"I'm pretty sure that was a bad projection," Adrien sighed. "So…what trail?"

"Adrien, there's no easy way to say this," Marinette said softly. "With the evidence we've found…we're about ninety-nine percent sure that your father is Hawkmoth."

"That's why we wanted to get you a Miraculous and the Guardian apparently agreed that you having powers could help to protect you when we confront Gabriel," Chloé agreed. "And with Trixx's illusions, you can fool the cameras in your father's study long enough to get the grimoire and maybe even find out how to access that elevator."

Adrien was quiet for a long moment, fiddling with the pendant. Chloé started to worry that he wouldn't agree with their plan.

"I want to help. If my father's been the one doing all of this…he needs to be stopped," he said at last. "The portrait of my mom…in the Atelier?" Marinette nodded. "I probably won't be able to do anything until school starts back up…I'll have about five minutes between my father going to his office to do paperwork and when I have to leave for school to get into the Atelier and get that grimoire and access to the elevator."

"Hopefully that's all you'll need," Chloé sighed.

Chapter Text

Chloé paced her room nervously on the first day back to school. It had been a year almost to the day since she was given her Miraculous and if everything went well, it would be over before the day was out. Her phone went off and she answered it when she saw that it was Adrien.

"Hey, Riri," she greeted. "You got it?"

"Not yet. My father's in there arguing with someone on the phone…," he whispered. "Wait…he's getting off the phone and putting a book in that safe you guys told me about. He's closing it…oh crap he's coming this way." Chloé bit her lip and Adrien suddenly sighed on the other end. "He pushed a couple of spots on the painting and disappeared…I think that's how he gets that shaft to open. I'm gonna go get that book and I can hack into the security cameras later to see exactly what he pushed. I'll see you guys at school." The call ended and Chloé sighed in relief.

She texted Marinette that Adrien almost had the book and headed to school. The quad was buzzing with rumours about the new girl. The name Lila Rossi was familiar but at first, she couldn't place it. Then she remembered. Mme Rossi was a secretary at the embassy and since they lived in the district, her daughter Lila was supposed to attend the Lycée courses at Françoise DuPont. In fact, Lila was slated to be in Chloé's class.

"Can you believe Lila knows Prince Ali?" Rose raved to a group of friends. "She even flew in his private jet with him!"

"Jagged Stone wrote a song about her too!" another student gasped.

"Lila knows all of the Hollywood directors," Nino told Max and Nathaniel. "She promised she'd mention me to Steven Spielberg!"

"Who's Lila?" Marinette questioned behind Chloé, just arriving.

"A new student," she explained. "Her mom's a secretary at the Embassy. Recently transferred from Italy…there's no way all those things are true. Jagged doesn't write songs about people unless they're Penny or Ladybug…"

"So, she's trying to make friends, I guess?" Marinette sighed.

"I don't know…apparently she told Nino she'd get him an in with a big director in Hollywood…," Chloé sighed and approached Nino and the others nearby. "Hey guys! How was your summer?"

"Great!" Alya laughed. "Have you met Lila yet? She has the most incredible life!"

"I've met her mother," Chloé sighed. "She's a secretary at the Embassy. I went with Signore Vincent while I was interning with him last week to get some shots of some visiting dignitary and Mme Rossi was working the desk…"

"Working the desk?"

"She's a secretary at the Embassy, transferred in from Italy a couple weeks ago. Honestly…all those things floating around about Lila are probably just tall tales…," she said gently. She didn't want to see her friends hurt even by innocent lying. Alya's eyes went wide and she immediately pulled her phone out. "Alya?"

"I need to take that video down!"

"What video?"

"Lila gave me an interview for the Ladyblog, claimed she was best friends with her from before she came to Paris! I totally should have fact checked before posting it…," Alya hissed. Chloé noticed Adrien going with Marinette to the library.

"Hey, it's hard to get hold of Ladybug so you had no way of knowing," Chloé tried.

"But I could have at least looked up to see if Ladybug had even been active anywhere else…she's so tight lipped with her identity I doubt even a best friend would know her secret identity…a lover maybe but not a friend."

"Thanks for updating us, Chloé," Nino laughed, pulling his own phone out. "Wow, yeah…that would have sucked epically if I got my hopes up about meeting some of my idols on Lila's promise…there's literally nothing about Lila anywhere except the basic White Pages info…"

Chloé smiled a little and looked up to see an unfamiliar brunette hurry into the library. Her smile faded and she headed after her. Adrien and Marinette were sitting at a table with a book spread out. She joined them, glancing around for the other girl.

"Look at this, Chloé," Marinette said brightly.

"And you didn't get caught?" she asked Adrien. He shook his head.

"It was a close call, but I managed to get out with the book before Nathalie came looking for me," he laughed. "I was terrified my father would come back before her though…"

"Ooh," a sickly-sweet voice gasped. Chloé looked to see that brunette from before. That must have been Lila. "Are you guys talking about superheroes?" Marinette snapped the book shut.

"It's just a little group project," Adrien said lightly. "Getting a head start on some extra curriculars."

"You must be Lila," Chloé said brightly. "We haven't officially met, but I'm Chloé Bourgeois…this is my girlfriend Marinette, and our friend Adrien. Welcome to Paris."

"Oh. I've heard of you guys. Ladybug told me all about you." Lila pulled up a seat. Adrien's phone went off with an alarm.

"And that's my cue…I've got an early lesson with Mr D'Argencourt," Adrien laughed nervously and hurriedly packed up the book before rushing out.

"Lila…you don't have to lie to make friends," Marinette sighed.

"Why would I lie?" Lila asked sweetly before heading out after Adrien.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…," Chloé groaned and the two of them hurried after them. Once Adrien's bag was unattended, Lila started digging through it and left with the grimoire. "That little thief!"

"And once we check in with a faculty member it's pretty much a free day…," Marinette sighed. "I'll go after Lila and you get with Adrien." Chloé nodded and they split up.

Chloé waited for Adrien's lesson to end and she met up with him as he started to panic about the book being missing.

"Coco! The book!"

"I know. Lila took it out of your bag," she sighed.

"Seriously? And she insisted that I meet up with her in the park to talk 'alone about Ladybug' during lunch…"

"Great…we can get the book back from her then…," she said lightly and texted Marinette.

Lila wants to meet with Adrien in the park during lunch, she sent.

And after digging through the book for a few minutes, she's heading to a jewellery store, Marinette replied.

"That's weird…she's heading for a jewellery store," Chloé mumbled.

"You don't think she'd try and get a fake Miraculous…? Since my dad had the book, he's probably put some fakes into circulation in his jewellery line…"

"And if that's the case she might be planning to claim to be a superhero…," Chloé sighed. "We'll see where this goes. For now…let's get through the morning and Marinette and I will be hanging close at the park." Adrien nodded and they headed to study hall.

When they headed for the park, Chloé found a secluded spot and transformed. She perched on top of the carousel and used the camera feature on her baton to watch Lila from afar. The girl slipped on a replica of the Fox Miraculous and Catastrophe chuckled a little. She panned the camera to see Marinette hiding behind a tree and stifling laughter. Adrien came on the approach and Lila stood quickly, hiding the book behind her back. She dropped the book into a nearby trash bin. Catastrophe frowned and put her baton away.

She moved a bit closer to hear the conversation while Marinette moved to get the book out of the trash.

"So, you do know Ladybug, for real?" Adrien asked carefully.

"Not only did Ladybug save my life, we've become very close friends…," Lila said conspiratorially. "Because we have something very special in common…it's what I wanted to tell you about. I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine, Volpina…"

"Volpina?" he repeated, barely concealing disbelief. "Hm…pretty sure I saw something about a vixen hero in my book…," he mumbled, moving to dig in his bag. Lila reached to stop him.

"Of course, she's in your book! She's one of the most important superheroes out there! More powerful and celebrated in the wide world than Ladybug," she raved.

"Really?" Adrien snapped. "So, you have a Miraculous? What powers does it give you? Something better than a magical reset button?" Catastrophe took Lila's stunned silence as a cue to approach them.

"Hey Adrien," she greeted him. "All's quiet on the first day of school this year, I see."

"Yep," he said lightly. She looked at Lila and acted as if she'd just noticed her.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were with a friend."

"She just started at my school, and since I remember how hard it was being the new kid…," he shrugged. "Lila, surely Ladybug told you about Catastrophe?"

"O-Of course!" Lila laughed. "Of course, Ladybug told me about her sidekick…"

"We're partners, actually," Catastrophe said lightly. "I couldn't help but overhear your claims, actually. You might want to think before claiming to be friends with a superhero or having a Miraculous when our city is currently dealing with a terrorist."

"Yeah," Ladybug snapped, approaching them. "I saw the interview on the Ladyblog before Alya removed it a little while ago. Awesome job putting a huge target on your back." Cornered, Lila put on a show of running away in tears. "Honestly…I got the book out of the trash. It's on the ground…if you'll put it in my locker at school, Adrien?"

"Of course! Do you think she'll be Akumatized though…?"

"Most likely. We might need you, so keep an eye out," Ladybug sighed. He nodded and got the book before hurrying to the school. Catastrophe and Ladybug nodded to each other and headed out to patrol.

Everything seemed calm, until people started screaming and Catastrophe saw what looked like a flaming meteor heading right for the Louvre. Knowing it had to be the work of an Akuma, Catastrophe called Ladybug and hurried towards the museum.

"I see it and I'm heading that way!" Ladybug gasped when she answered the call. "Two guesses who and what we're dealing with…"

"Probably Lila and her lies," Catastrophe agreed. She saw an orange streak fly past and then a fox themed figure seemingly catching the meteor and hurling it back to space.

"I am Volpina!" the girl declared to the crowd below. "The only superhero Paris needs!"

"Definitely Lila and her lies," she sighed and ended the call, moving to join Ladybug.

"By the look of it, her 'Miraculous' is probably where the Akuma is…," Ladybug sighed. "And really…no one down there is questioning a meteor that had literally no warning?" Catastrophe shrugged and spotted orange on the approach. Volpina landed near them.

"Hey guys! Glad you dropped in," she greeted them. "I need a hand. Come on!" She rushed off and the heroes followed her. Catastrophe spotted another splash of orange and smirked. They made it to a roof.

"Can you guys move any faster?" Renard Voleur joked, joining them. Volpina stared blankly at him.

"What kind of Akuma trick is this?" she tried.

"I'm sorry?" Renard laughed. "Let me ask you something, Volpina wasn't it? You're a superheroine…how do you get your powers?"

"My necklace, of course!"

"And what powers does it grant?"

"Flight and super strength!" she snapped. "I don't have to answer--" Catastrophe cut Volpina off by swiping her staff through her. She vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Anyone wanna bet where she's going to go since she knows we figured her out?"

"I know exactly where…and I'm kinda creeped out by it…," Renard sighed. "I'll try and beat her to my house and hit her with an illusion of my own…" He hurried off.

"We should head there as well," Catastrophe said lightly and she and Ladybug both headed for Adrien's. They hid on top of the security wall and watched as Volpina made her way to Adrien's room.

Inside the room, they could see Adrien talking to Volpina and then Ladybug swung into the room and Volpina rushed to Adrien's side, shouting something. The Ladybug in the room pulled Adrien away from the Akuma and shoved him into the bathroom. Catastrophe thought it was weird that Volpina never tried to attack or even touch Adrien.

"That Volpina must be an illusion…," she mumbled.

"If touch dispels it, then she wouldn't be able to touch anything. Let's see if we can find the real one…she has to be nearby," Ladybug agreed. They split up and ran along the wall. They didn't have far to look, as Catastrophe spotted Volpina hiding in a corner of the mansion's roof. She pulled out her whip and swung it towards the villainess, but Volpina dodged and swung into Adrien's room. She shrieked in rage and leapt out of the window, dragging along Adrien.

"Ugh she's slippery…," Ladybug griped. Renard landed beside them. "You should hang back…that illusion started your timer…"

"I've got time to help. She's heading for the Eiffel Tower."

The three of them headed to the Tower and watched as Volpina dangled 'Adrien' from a high brace.

"Give me your Miraculous now or I will!" she threatened, swinging her hostage dangerously.

"You are so full of shit!" Catastrophe griped, snapping her whip at Volpina, dispersing the illusion.

"There she is!" Ladybug gasped, pointing to a Volpina hiding nearby. The villain leapt to the top of the tower and the heroes followed. When they caught up with her, there was more than a dozen copies of Volpina standing around on the structure, laughing. Ladybug growled and called for a Lucky Charm. An ice pop landed in her hand and she frowned, opening it up to reveal that the wrapper was reflective on the inside. "Catastrophe, get ready…"

"Gotcha," she laughed, calling for a Cataclysm. Ladybug turned the wrapper to reflect just enough light to cause the real Volpina to flinch. "There!" She rusted some beams to make a cage around Volpina. Renard leapt up to grab the necklace from her.

"I'll take that, little liar," he said lightly, throwing the necklace to the ground hard enough to shatter it. Ladybug captured the released Akuma and fixed everything.

The three heroes bumped fists and took Lila to the ground before Ladybug burrowed them to Chloé's balcony, where they slipped inside and dropped their transformations. They fed their Kwami and headed back to the school on foot, laughing about the whole situation. Marinette got the Book out of her locker and headed out with it. Chloé went with Adrien to his house to try and help him hack into the house's security system.

When they managed to get into the right camera, they saw exactly the sequence Gabriel used to activate his little elevator down to the basement.

Chapter Text

Moments after Adrien and Chloé exited out of the security system, a sharp knock came at the door. Chloé cursed and hid in the bathroom just before Gabriel and Nathalie came into the room. Since they'd just been in the system, Chloé knew exactly what was about to happen. It was part of the plan, if she was honest. Trixx had phased into the safe for Adrien to get the book. There was silence as Chloé assumed Nathalie was showing off the evidence of Adrien's 'crime'.

"Why did you take the book?" Gabriel demanded after a moment.

"I…," Adrien paused. "I just wanted to know what you were hiding behind that portrait that was so important. You…you never told me about those things…," he trailed off, and she could hear the fake guilt in his tone. She smiled a little. "I was intending to give it back to you, I swear!" he lied. "But then…I lost it."

"How can I possibly trust you again, Adrien?"

"Sorry…I'll get you another copy."

"It's one of a kind!" Gabriel snapped. "The book's the source of my inspiration."

"I didn't know that," Adrien mumbled. "I hardly know anything about you, Father," he continued and Chloé almost laughed at him clearly trying to use one of her old guilt tripping tactics.

"You won't be returning to school," Gabriel said harshly. "You'll be home-schooled again. With Nathalie where I can keep an eye on you."

"But--" Adrien tried to argue.

"No argument. Your so-called friends have clearly been a terrible influence on you and I won't allow it to continue. Nathalie, take his phone and make the necessary adjustments to his computer."

"Yes, sir," Nathalie said lightly and after a long moment, the door to Adrien's room slammed shut.

A metallic clanking sounded after a moment and a tap on the bathroom door told Chloé that the adults were gone. She stepped out of the bathroom and stared in horror at the metal plates blocking the windows. Adrien sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands.

"Okay…so that's a lot more extreme than we anticipated…but I have a solution," Chloé sighed and called for her transformation. She hopped up and opened one of the windows and put a hand on the metal plate blocking the exit. "I'm thinking…butterfly?"

"Coco?"

"Just watch," she laughed before calling on her power to change the shape of the metal from a flat plate into a sculpture of a moth with a hawk's head and bird talons.

"Oh my god…," Adrien laughed. "That's hilarious." He transformed and they left the house to meet up with Marinette in Chloé's room.

"Everything okay? I tried texting Adrien and got an automated 'this number has been disconnected' reply…," Marinette asked as they dropped their transformations.

"I just had to literally bust him out of the house," Chloé sighed. Adrien told her everything that happened when his father was doling out his punishment.

"Oh my god…if I wasn't ready to put him away, I'm more than ready now…this ends today," Marinette growled.

Chloé and Adrien nodded in agreement and they made sure the Kwami were fully energized. The trio went over their plan before transforming and heading towards the Agreste mansion. The Eiffel Tower vanished into thin air and they opened up the news on their devices. Nadja Chamack was about to give an update on the situation.

"Don't be bemused, it's just the--" the reporter vanished mid-sentence and a villain that looked eerily similar to Gabriel Agreste approached the camera, showing a sketch of a terrified Nadja in a book.

"Since the book that used to fill my life is gone, I'm going to use your life to fill up this new one!" he declared before the camera feed went blank and was transitioned to an emergency press conference outside L'hôtel de Ville. The book flew across the stage and struck the mayor, causing him to vanish as well.

"He must have figured out how to Akumatize himself…," Ladybug groaned and exited the news stream. She called the police with her yo-yo. "This is Ladybug. We've discovered Hawkmoth's identity and are going to finish this. We would like to have someone on standby to arrest him. Thank you. To protect your officers, it would be best to stay out of sight until he's inside the house, but we're luring him back to his lair. Yes. He Akumatized himself and he's Gabriel Agreste." She finished the call and nodded to the others.

"Then he must realize we're onto him…," Catastrophe sighed.

"Or it's a case of him deciding to try and get your Miraculous himself…," Renard muttered. "Or a combination of both. But either way, we need to take care of this."

"Yeah. Hawkmoth's reign of terror ends today," Ladybug declared. The three of them continued on their path towards the Agreste home. The building was eerily empty, without even a sign of Nathalie. "Did he capture his partner in crime as well?"

"Or she's hiding in the basement," Renard said lightly. They went into the Atelier and paused at the mess.

"He went all out with the diva tantrum…," Catastrophe sighed, picking her way across the mess to the portrait. "We'll have to go down one at a time unless you wanna risk a burrow to somewhere you're not familiar with?"

"I'd rather not. If I knew how far down it was, maybe…but I don't wanna chance sending us into solid earth," Ladybug sighed. Catastrophe nodded and started to push the buttons to start up the elevator.

"Catastrophe, look out!" Renard shouted and Catastrophe looked to see a book flying towards her and her comrades on the floor having dodged out of the way. She dodged just in time for the book to snatch up the painting.

"Crap! That was our way down to the basement!" she cursed.

"And what makes you think there's a basement?" Gabriel demanded, catching the sketchbook.

"Akumatizing yourself won't change that we've figured you out," Ladybug growled, readying her shield and yo-yo.

"So, you may as well give up now, Gabriel," Renard added, getting ready with his flute.

"There is no more Gabriel!" Gabriel scoffed, in classic Akuma fashion. "There is only…Le Collectioneur!"

"Come off it butterfly-man," Catastrophe griped. "We've gathered evidence and all signs point to you and that basement. Cataclysm!" She summoned a cataclysm and used it on the floor where she figured the elevator shaft cover was. She smirked when a circle of the floor fell away and a gaping hole that couldn't be anything but the elevator shaft was revealed. Le Collectioneur shouted in rage and threw his book towards her. "See you at the bottom!" she shouted, dropping into the hole.

She extended her staff to the bottom of the hole and waited a moment before extending it upwards. Ladybug and Renard quickly followed her down the shaft and she shortened the staff behind them. They reached the bottom and looked around. Butterflies were fluttering around, filling the area and lighting on an indoor garden.

"Is that what I think it is…?" Ladybug gasped, pointing to some sort of cylindrical chamber in the middle of the garden. Renard approached it and the cover opened on it as if it was on a motion sensor. He shouted in horror and backed away.

"Oh my god…," Catastrophe gasped when she saw what had him so upset. "What kind of monster…?" she muttered, staring in horror at what appeared to be Emilie Agreste's corpse in that chamber.

"Renard, are you going to be okay…?" Ladybug asked him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder while Catastrophe looked around. The sketchbook came flying at them and she shoved her friends down to avoid the strike. The chamber was snatched up by the book and it returned to Le Collectioneur, who was calmly walking towards them with a cruel sneer on his face.

"I suppose this plan fell through," he growled. He looked to the side and Catastrophe saw a table with a jewellery box and a stand of some kind on it.

"Make sure he's okay," she told Ladybug before making a run for the table. Le Collectioneur threw his book at her and she dodged it, throwing out her whip to snatch the jewellery box and yank it towards her. The book came at her again and she leapt out of the way, catching the box.

"Why are you doing this, Gabriel? To bring your wife back?" Renard asked, bringing his flute to his lips. He cast an illusion that visually turned the butterflies floating around the area into duplicates of the heroes. The sketchbook flew through a group of the copies and when they disappeared, he checked his book and cursed. Le Collectioneur angrily wiped a page and two butterflies reappeared in the room.

Ladybug called for a Lucky Charm and all of her copies did the same, summoning up previous charms. The real Ladybug got a jewellery box and frowned at it. The book made another round and snatched up some more of the butterflies.

"Keep him distracted so he can't remove the butterflies," Ladybug muttered. The trio ran in, dodging the book when they had to but trying to engage Gabriel in battle so he wouldn't have time to do more than throw his book or try and swipe them up. The plan seemed to work, because Catastrophe found herself making contact with the book but nothing happened.

"All full," she laughed and as Gabriel angrily tried to clear the pages, Ladybug's yo-yo flew in and snatched the book from him. The Akuma was released and everything fixed. "Renard, get out of here before Mayura shows up and finds out who you are." He nodded and rushed to a decorated elevator that clearly led to a different part of the house. Just as the elevator was carrying him up, Gabriel tried to snatch the jewellery box from Catastrophe. She punched him in the face, knocking him back.

A feather floated into the area and landed in the book Gabriel had been using. The defeated villain smirked at them and a giant butterfly monster formed from the book. It beat powerful wings and Ladybug made her way to the base of the hidden elevator shaft. The elevator took her up and Catastrophe braced herself, tucking the jewellery box into a pocket. The wind made her slide backwards until she was essentially pinned against the chamber. She lifted her hand and called for a Black Storm, catching the butterfly up in the vortex.

That taken care of, she walked over to Gabriel and punched him again, this time hard enough to knock him out. Ladybug came back down, using her yo-yo as a phone. She ended the call as the elevator came to a stop.

"The police have Nathalie in custody," she assured her. "And Renard is back in action already. He's making sure she doesn't try anything."

"Great. This only could have gone better if things had gone according to our original plan," Catastrophe laughed.

The news was buzzing about the heroes' victory. In fact, it was all any station seemed to be talking about. Paperwork had been found declaring the mayor as Adrien's godfather, so with both of his parents out of the picture, Adrien was set up with a room at the hotel. Before the cops showed up to examine the house, Marinette and Chloé got the chamber holding Emilie to Fu's bunker.

Chapter Text

A week passed after the battle in the basement. Nathalie admitted to everything when pressed by the police though Gabriel plead innocence.

"I'm not the bad guy in this case," Gabriel told a reporter, his face blurred for the broadcast. The police were being careful to keep his identity secret to protect Adrien from the backlash of being Hawkmoth’s son. The reporter was even kept in the dark on the opposite side of a curtain.

"So, you would say that preying on people's negative emotions isn't wrong?" the reporter gasped.

"The real villains are the ones that stopped me. I help people work out their pain."

"By destroying the city?"

Chloé turned the TV off and turned to the tea she and Marinette were drinking with Fu. Their Kwami were sitting at their own miniature tea table. Just when she was about to say that she needed to get home, Fu emerged from the bunker, sighing tiredly.

"Well? Is she dead?" Chloé asked, though she almost didn't want to know the answer.

"No, just under a very strong curse. I can reverse it, but it will take time," he said lightly, sitting down to the tea.

"So…what? He wanted our Miraculous to break the curse?" Marinette muttered as Fu took a long sip of tea.

"Probably…"

"Couldn't he have just kissed her?" Chloé mused. "Unless 'True Love's Kiss' only works in fairy tales…"

"I've never heard of a kiss being able to break a curse," Fu sighed. "Though I admit that there's much in this wide world that I haven't encountered or heard of…"

"Either way, if you can break the curse please do, sir," Marinette sighed. "And we'll be here to help if you need, right Chloé?"

"Of course," she agreed. Her phone went off and she checked it to see a message from her father.

Where are you? I want you to be at the press conference with us, was the message and she sighed tiredly.

"I need to go…my parents want me at another press conference…," she told them.  "Do I need to leave my Miraculous here…? We've caught Hawkmoth after all…"

"No, I see no need to take your Miraculous," he laughed. "And you can tell your friend that he can keep the Fox Pendant as well."

"Thank you," she sighed before hurrying out and to the hotel to change clothes. She messaged Adrien asking how he was holding up.

Settling in the room your dad set up for me. Did you know he's my godfather? Because I freaking didn't. he replied. You need the necklace back?

No on both. And we can bring your mom back. Got a press conference with dad I'll talk to you later. She put her phone down and changed into a skirt and blouse that Marinette had made her for her birthday. She picked out a pair of shoes to match and grabbed a matching purse. She moved her wallet to the purse and sent a message to her father that she was on the way to City Hall. Her parents greeted her with hugs for the cameras and the family went up on a stage that had been put up. During his speech, her father announced a parade in honour of the heroes.

Later in the day, Ladybug, Catastrophe and Renard Voleur gave a press conference of their own, assuring the public that Hawkmoth really was defeated and things would be going back to normal.

"And we're not going anywhere," Catastrophe promised. "If anyone threatens Paris again, we'll be there to stop them."

"Everyone's been quiet about who was behind the mask," a reporter called to them. "Will you guys share with us?"

"For the protection of his family, who did not know what was going on behind closed doors, we will not be sharing his identity with anyone."

"On the same day Hawkmoth was apprehended, police stormed the home of Gabriel Agreste. Is that a coincidence then?" another reporter piped in.

"It's complete coincidence," Renard provided.

"Renard Voleur, why did you wait until the last minute to join Ladybug and Catastrophe?" Nadja called out to them. "Namely when that heroine Volpina showed up."

"A very personal set of circumstances brought that on, but otherwise, Ladybug and Catastrophe had things well in hand and I wasn't planning on becoming fully active until they asked me to stick around to help capture Hawkmoth," he sighed.

"And that's all the time we have," Ladybug said lightly. "Thank you all for your time today." And with that, the three heroes left the event.

The parade went without a problem and the heroes were able to attend. And a week after the celebrations, they were notified that Gabriel was not only being charged with terrorism but also child and spousal abuse. His lawyers were pushing for an insanity plea, but when he went to trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to time in the mental institute.

It took about two weeks for Fu to break the spell on Emelie and they learned just how Gabriel got the Miraculous and she ended up in that state. She and Gabriel had been on a trip when they found a box that Gabriel made her open, making her take the curse while he took the contents of the box: The Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous.

It wasn't long before Emilie was fully recovered from her ordeal and took over all of Gabriel's assets.

And they all lived happily ever after…