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The Miracle Gang, consisting of Ladybug, Volpina, Rena Rouge, King Monkey, and Plagg the Cat, stood in front of the ruined, eerie mansion.
Volpina shivered in the night air, positioning herself closer to Ladybug. Their homemade costumes do little to protect them against the cold winds.
Ladybug peered at the mansion. Rusting metal, crumbling brickwork, overgrown vines, all indications that no one should be living here, and yet, apparently, someone was.
“So, THIS is where the Morpho Investment clue leads?”
Rena Rouge nodded, tablet in hand.
“Most of our previous ‘supernatural’ criminals received investments from the company, and the only address that I could find online traces back to this mansion. The Louvre Wisp, The Seine Serpent, The Phantom, Style Queen; all of them frauds and phonies, and all of their funding can be traced back to THIS exact location!”
A unsettled expression crossed Volpina’s face, “Except for Mr. Pigeon, remember? That guy was just…weird.”
King Monkey peered into the derelict structure, seeing a flash of something unknown in the window. He quickly stepped back, startled.
“Uhh, hey guys, we should just go get burgers. After all, the police constantly decry us as vigilanties, we can just leave this to them! They seemed well equipped to handle this sorta case, right?”
He gulped as Ladybug shot him a dismissive look.
“...Right?”
Rena scoffed, and flicked something on her tablet again.
“Hardly--You remember what happened with that Françoise Dupont Demon. The place was closed for weeks before we stepped in!”
King Monkey dejectedly kicked the ground.
“Right…”
Plagg the Cat licked his front paws, before stretching.
“Well, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m gonna go find a moonbeam to lay in.”
Plagg started to walk away before being hoisted up off the ground by King Monkey.
“Oh no buddy, you’re sticking with me. If I have to go inside this spooky mansion, you have to as well!” he said.
“I could bite you.” Plagg said, vicious eyes shimmering in the moonlight.
“Why do you think I wear such thick gloves now?”
---
The gang entered the foyer. Cobwebs and white marble gave Ladybug an ominous feeling. Her gaze turned to the giant minimalistic butterfly painting hanging above the stairway.
Volpina tried flipping a light switch. A fizzling sound is heard, before a loud bang occurs and black soot erupted out, hitting her in the face. She steps back, coughing and rubbing her face.
“Didn’t think I needed more eyeshadow, creepy mansion, but it’s your call” she muttered, as the foyer remained in the dark.
Rena takes a picture of the painting, the flash stunning King Monkey, before she quickly turns around and starts taking down notes.
“This is going to make for such a great blog post, I just know it!” she excitedly said, glancing around the room, “On the trail of the Mysterious Morpho! Uncovering the man behind the myths!”
An abrupt purple flame appears in the dark foyer, hovering in front of the gang. They all watch, cautiously, as it rises towards the painting. The fire spreads across the painting, the room now illuminated by a roaring, seemingly supernatural fire.
A man steps out of the fire. He’s wearing a purple suit, with a white and gold butterfly mask. He has an unreadable expression as he judges the intruders.
The gang get into fighting positions, with Ladybug speaking up.
“I suppose your Mor-”
“Silence!” the man interrupts.
“I am ‘Morpho’, as you so claim, and you shouldn't be here! But now that you are, I will make sure you do not exit alive.” he says, his voice dripping with malice.
The doors snap closed behind the Miracle Gang, startling the group. King Monkey swiftly turns around and pulls against the handles to try and open it.
Ladybug throws her homemade yoyo, only for the flames and the man to disappear instantly, returning the room to moonlit darkness.
“This is why I suggested burgers…” King Monkey moans, flopping against the door in anguish.
“Anyone know why he just disappeared?” Volpina questioned, walking up the stairs to the painting.
“Maybe it’s a ghost?” Plagg said, sniffing where the man stood.
“Oh please, keep your head on,” Rena said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, it’d be great if it was, just, 99 to 1 odds here. None of our previous encounters have been supernatural.”
Rena looked around the room, seemingly trying to pinpoint something. After humming, she shrugged, the lead clearly lost.
“Ladybug, any ideas?” Volpina said.
“There are many rooms in this mansion based off the floor plan online, although I now suspect we’ll have more rooms than shown. We’ll cover more ground, and get out of here faster, if we split up. So, let’s split up, gang!”
“I’ll take the kitchen,” Plagg said immediately, wandering off before anyone could stop him.
“Good idea, I’ll go with him! Y’know, for moral support!” King Monkey quickly added, following him as Plagg groaned.
Rena rolled her eyes.
“Kinda thought the point of splitting up was to investigate leads, not investigate the pantry, but whatever.--” Rena commented once they were out of earshot, “--I’ll take the 1st-floor room, on the left. From what's visible from the street view, there was an office set up there. The electricity here is long dead, but if I can hook up my battery pack to the computer, I might be able to get into their system!”
Rena quickly walked downstairs towards the office.
“Well, I guess that just leaves us. Your choice, cara mia.”
Ladybug chuckled, before choosing a door at random.
“This one is as good as any other. Let’s go, partner.”
---
Ladybug and Volpina walked into a room. Large floor-to-ceiling windows, now with metal tiling covering them, dominated the space. It was most likely a teenager's bedroom before it was abandoned, but it hadn’t been used in a long time.
“So, I guess there has to be electricity in this house somewhere, huh?” Volpina said, knocking on the metal coverings.
“What do you mean?” Ladybug questioned.
Volpina motioned to the wall.
“This metal plating, it wasn’t here before, it probably shut us in when the front door locked. And that probably required power. So someone has to have a power source somewhere in this house, right?”
Ladybug smirked.
“Don’t tell me there’s a smart mouth under all that soot.”
Volpina brought a makeup wipe to her face.
“Ha Ha,” she sarcastically retorted. “If I could tell you who I was, you’d be able to see me and my eyeliner techniques for who I really am.”
She leaned in close to Ladybug.
“And you wouldn’t be able to resist me.”
She winked.
Ladybug rolled her eyes.
“Our mission is our first priority, so we’ll just have to wait until Morpho is defeated until we let that cat out of the bag.”
Volpina’s grin widened.
“So, tonight then?”
Ladybug stopped as if considering this possibility for the first time.
“Oh yeah…tonight…”
---
Alya, or Rena Rouge, stared at the computer booting up. She was surprised it still worked to be honest. Old technology could be rather finicky sometimes, especially in such run-down conditions.
She observed the rest of the room. Mannequins with clothing on them were all over.
She did a double-take as she looked at one of them. A dusky, superhero-like outfit that looked suspiciously similar to-
“The Dark Owl!” she exclaimed excitedly.
She took a photo. This definitively proved that Morpho created the other villains they faced! They were nearing the end of their chase!
A ding from the computer alerted her, it must be done booting up. She was in her element here, time to get to work.
---
Ladybug poked around the room a bit more, desperate to hide her blushing face.
“I don’t know why you want to know me under the mask. I imagine someone like you has all the people at school vying for your attention,” she said, trying to look for clues among neatly shelved physics books.
Volpina merely scoffed, and flopped down on the dusty covers of the bed.
“Once maybe, but not now. No one really knows me as a good person under this mask.”
“Wait, really?” Ladybug was genuinely shocked, “I mean, you’re blunt, but…”
Volpina stood up, mindlessly flicking the items on the desk.
“Oh yeah, I did a few things I shouldn’t have done. They got found out though. So I guess you can consider this my penance?” Volpina said, the joking tone not really hiding her insecurity.
“Dressing up, solving crimes, and taking interviews under the cover of a gorgeous costume is a punishment now, huh?” Ladybug retorted, defaulting to their light conversational tone as she scrambled to think of the right thing to say.
Volpina walked closer to Ladybug now, hand resting on her hips.
Ladybug realised this was one of the first times she had stared Volpina in the eyes. Volpina’s face was covered by many things; by a perfect homemade mask, by her bangs, by a light amount of soot she hadn’t managed to rub off, by concealer that blended so well this was the first time Ladybug noticed it.
Ladybug pulled Volpina into a hug, surprising the girl.
“Volpina, I guarantee you, no matter who is behind that mask, I’ll love you, just like I already do.”
And Volpina, for perhaps the first time in years, hugged back.