School was cancelled for the remainder of the week. There was a full scale investigation on the explosion at the bar. There was to be a memorial service for the victims some time in the month. But the worst part of it was, the killer got away. And the only description of the killer was that he had a big, bald, green head. Marinette was convinced an Akuma was responsible for it as she went on her way to school. "And the worst part, I was asleep when it happened!" she whispered to Tikki. "I couldn't do anything. Chat Noir couldn't do anything!"

"I know how you feel," the little Kwami said in her purse. "I'm feeling horrible about what the families and friends are going through right now. And yet..." She looked away, wondering. "I'm not so sure an Akuma is responsible for this."

"Who else could have done it?"

"Think about it, Akuma victims are usually flamboyant and like to make themselves known to the public. Whoever did this wasn't."

"Akumas are unpredictable," said Marinette. "And that's what scares me about this one. Who knows what this guy will do next?"

She was just about to cross the threshold to the school when she saw a limo enter the parking lot. Out stepped Adrien accompanied by a huge man who resembled an ape; his bodyguard. The man walked the blonde boy to the school until Adrien entered the building. "What was that all about?" asked Marinette asked him.

"My dad," explained Adrien. "He's very scared about the murders last week. And he's not the only one."

"I know right," said Alya, finishing grabbing her school supplies from her locker. "Did you hear? Sabrina and Chloe both had their fathers drive them to school."

"This killer's got everyone riled up," said Nino, also grabbing his school supplies.

"Speaking of the killer," said Alya. "I just read that a woman got her purse snatched, but it was brought back by the killer!"

"WHAT?!" the three students yelled.

"That's not all," continued Alya. "An officer tried to take him back to the station, but he escaped. A couple found the officer nearly drowning in urine. They even found the purse snatcher. Only..."

"Only...?" asked Marinette.

Alya looked like she was trying her best not to laugh. "He was hanging from a light post by his underwear. He was screaming in a high-pitched voice, saying a guy with a big, green, bald head did it."

Someone broke the atmosphere with laughter. It was Rudi. "His underwear? Is this guy six or something?" He realized no one was laughing with him and he recomposed himself. "Sorry. I am so, so sorry. It's just...this guy sounds like a living cartoon character. From what those witnesses said, he was pulled a rocket launcher from his pants."

"Exactly why I think it might like those bad guys Ladybug and Chat Noir fight," said Alya. "No one else can do that. Except..."

"Except what?" asked Marinette.

"That description. A guy with a big, green bald head that runs on cartoon physics. I can't put my finger on it, but it sounds so familiar."

Everyone shrugged their shoulders as they went to class, but before Rudi could take his seat, he saw out the window, one of the thugs who beat him up yesterday walking down the street, talking to his phone. He narrowed his eyes grimly at him and clenched his fists.

"Rudi, is something wrong?"

The boy stopped himself and said a little too quickly, "I'm not feeling well. It must be something I ate. It's all right, I can hold it."

Eventually, Ms. Bustier came into the class to start the day's lesson with a reminder on safety like having any close one's number on their phone at all times, dial any emergency hotlines, etcetera, etcetera. This was no doubt in the wake of the attacks last week. While everyone was attentive, Rudi however, was not. He was still having those dark thoughts and worse yet, the temptation to put the Mask in his backpack on was telling him to put it back on again. Not yet, he told himself, not yet! Eventually, however, he gave in as the minutes drove by.

"Now, with that out of the way," said Ms. Bustier, finishing the lecture. "I would like to talk about-"

"Ms. Bustier, can I go to the bathroom?!" shouted out Rudi. "I can't hold it anymore!"

"All right, all right! Make it fast!"

Rudi tore out of the classroom and to the nearest boy's bathroom. He didn't even bother to answer why he was grabbing his backpack. He locked the door to one of the stalls and unzipped his backpack, revealing the Mask. "Like the teacher said, let's make it fast."

(!)
Theo was in a mechanic's, hanging out with one of his friends, Ed. He was in mourning. One of Theo's friends had died in the bar explosion last week, and he was very close to him. "And he just had to get drunk off his ass and get caught in an explosion!" he said. Dark circles were under his eyes, it was obvious he was crying for a long time.

"I always told Larry to quit cold turkey," Ed said, finishing the touches on an RV that needed a new carburettor. "That ass was too stubborn to listen to me."

"He didn't deserve that! Getting blown up by a crazy lunatic! Where the hell did he even get a rocket launcher?!"

Ed slammed the hood close as he approached Theo. "Truth be told, the description does sound an awful lot like the Big-Head Killer case in America."

Theo looked confused. "Big-Head? America?"

"Yeah, he's this crazy guy that runs on cartoon physics. He can do, well, anything. Heck, he can even survive getting blown up by a firing squad!"

"And you think it might be some copycat?"

"I don't think it's a copycat. No copycat could pull a rocket launcher out of his pants."

Before the two could go on with their thoughts, a chilling presence loomed over them. "Hold on to your lug nuts, it's TIME for an overhaul!"

(!)
"You certainly took your time," said Ms. Bustier. "You were in there for five minutes!"

Rudi looked red in the face. "Montezuma's revenge," he said quietly.

"Oh. Well if you're feeling sick, please report to the nurse."

"Yes, ma'am."

Before the teacher could carry on with the lesson, the sound of sirens echoed throughout the classroom. Adrien and Marinette looked out the window to see five police cars racing past the school. "Now what?!" they both thought.

"Ms. Bustier," they both shouted. "I have to use the bathroom!" They both looked at each other, confused.

"Just go already. And do go straight to the nurse's office if it's something else," she said, giving a look to Rudi.

(!)
In the boy's bathroom, Adrien plucked Plagg from his pocket. "What is it, it better be impor...Ooh, camembert!" The little Kwami didn't even have time to savor it as the boy took the whole slice from his backpack and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Savor it later, Plagg, this is important. Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" In a flash of green, Plagg was sucked into his ring and Adrien transformed into his black cat suit with a belt tail, ears and domino mask and his regular blue eyes turned green.

(!)
"Hurry up with that cookie, Tikki!" Panicked Marinette. "I don't want to miss the Akuma this time!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" The red and black spotted Kwami finished the chocolate chip cookie and let out a burp. "Okay, I'm ready!"

"Tikki, SPOTS ON!" With that, the Kwami sucked herself into Marinette's earrings and the transformation began. Marinette transformed into her red and black spotted jumpsuit and domino mask and her yoyo formed at her hip.

"Let's go," said Ladybug. "I am NOT going to miss you this time, Akuma!"

(!)
On the rooftops, Ladybug followed the line of police cars down below, praying that she got to the Akuma in time before...but she didn't want to think about the explosion the week prior. Suddenly, a black figure jumped next to her. "You too, Chat Noir?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be cat napping on the job again, my lady."

"No jokes! I just hope..." Her fears were confirmed when she saw more police vehicles and an ambulance parked in front of a mechanic's. "Oh, no..." Both her and Chat Noir landed in front of the police line, only to be greeted by Officer Roger, the father of Chloe's friend/assistant Sabrina.

"Sorry, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Police business only."

"This IS our business!" shouted Ladybug. "Saving the day is what we do!"

Roger shook his head. "I know. But, I'm telling you this because..." He looked back toward the garage. "I don't want you to see the mess in there."

Ladybug's heart dropped. "M-mess?"

"Oh, my..." Chat Noir peeked over the crowd of officers and paramedics and his face turned greener than his eyes.

"Chat Noir?"

Then the paramedics pulled two bodies out on stretchers and Ladybug could see that he definitely had a right to get sick. One body had a chain going down his throat, out his bum and wrapped around his neck; there were car tools sticking out of his nose, mouth and ears. The other looked like he had somehow swallowed a muffler and tailpipe, the skin of his head stretched over the muffler.

"I told you," said Roger. "The only witness from across the street said a weird guy with a big green head came into the place carrying the muffler and tailpipe."

"Him again?!" screamed Ladybug. She started shaking. "No...this...this can't be happening!" Chat Noir sensed she was starting to cry and gave her a comforting hug. Suddenly, Roger's radio beeped.

"Hello? Yes, we're just...what?!" Chat Noir and Ladybug looked at him. "No, no, no!" He placed his palm on his face. "I'll send in the boys."

"What's wrong?" asked Ladybug. Roger shook his head. "That big headed guy again?"

"Yep. Caused a taxi crash."

"WHAT?!"

(!)
4 minutes earlier...

"I got to leave this place! Theo sent that message that the Big-Head Killer is here in Paris and that he's coming after me!" Paul stuffed the last of his belongings into his suitcase and ran out of his room. "I got to leave France, no, leave Europe all together!" He hailed a taxi as soon as he got out of the apartment building and quickly stuffed his suitcase into the trunk and got into the passenger compartment. The driver looked surprised to see him rush into his cab. "Sheesh, you act like someone who just committed murder and is trying to get out of dodge!"

"Someone is trying to commit murder, and I'm the victim!" screamed Paul.

"Whoa, slow down. Look, I'll take you to the station if makes you feel better."

"The police won't help me. Not even Ladybug and Chat Noir will help me! The guy who's after me is the Big-Head Killer!"

"Excuse me?"

"Big-Head! He's this crazy guy with a big green head who acts like a cartoon! He slaughtered people in America and now he's here!"

"You know, that sounds awful familiar. I think I might have heard of him somewhere."

"You believe me, don't you?!"

The driver peeled off his skin to reveal a big, green bald head with red eyes and huge teeth. "Of course I do."

"H-h-how?"

"Well, it wasn't that hard." Big-Head pulled out a bloody cellphone Paul instantly recognized as Theo's. "Theo did give you that warning fast enough."

Paul screamed as he floored the taxi.

(!)
Five minutes later...

Ladybug and Chat Noir could only watch from a rooftop as the taxi was fished out of the river. Paul was found on the side of the road, with paramedics trying to gather his teeth after he was tossed out of the car and slammed face first into a fire hydrant. "He did all this in five minutes!" screamed Ladybug. She kicked the side of the roof and began crying. Chat Noir placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. I wish...I wish we could have got here faster."

"Me too." She then realized something. "Oh, shoot! I have to get back to class! My teach - er, I mean, someone's expecting me!"

Chat Noir caught her panic. "Er...I have to be somewhere too! Someone's expecting me as well!"

They both took off in different directions and back to the same class. Ms. Bustier wondered if Montezuma's revenge was contagious.

(!)
When the reports of the same killer became public, everyone was panicking. The reports of the Big-Head Killer from America being in Paris was putting everyone on edge, but the worst part was everyone was starting to doubt their heroes.

"Why weren't Ladybug and Chat Noir fast enough to stop these attacks?" asked a reporter on TV. "Have the city's heroes finally met their match? I don't know but I do have one thing to say: Ladybug, Chat Noir; please don't let us down. Not after this!"

Rudi switched off the TV and threw the Mask down on his bed and kicked the side of his computer chair. "Big-Head. That's why Alya thought my description sounded familiar. I've already left my mark in America!" Then he realized. "No." He pointed to the Mask. "You left your mark! You're nothing but trouble!" He was about to throw the Mask out the window in rage when he stopped himself. "What am I doing? I can't get rid of you. Some schmuck is going to find you and put you on and will probably be blamed for everything that I've done." He flopped onto the bed and felt tears running down his face. "What am I going to do?"

So be Big-Head then. You still got that brat to take care of, after all. Your desires aren't granted yet.

"SHUT UP! I'm not listening to you ever again!"

Look, you got all of Paris so afraid because of you killed three kids. Three nobodies. Maybe they won't be so afraid if you were to go after Chloe.

"No. No. If the mayor's daughter winds up dead...I'm dead. They'll probably tear down all of Paris trying to find me. Find you."

Then don't kill her! Just give her a good reason not to bother you again. What was that about her not being able to text again?

"Forget it."

"Rudolf?"

Rudi quickly hid the Mask under his bed when he heard his mother coming up the stairs. When the door opened, Henrietta found her son reading a book. "Rudi, I thought I heard you talking to someone."

"I was just reading out loud," he replied in an irritated tone.

"Rudi? What's wrong?" That's when she saw the tears going down his face. "Dear? Why are you crying?"

"Just read a really sad part. Lover got gunned down in front of her or something."

Henrietta looked at the book. "You're reading Harry Potter."

"What's it to you?"

Henrietta didn't like that tone. "What's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm scared, okay! Are you happy! I'm fucking scared!"

"Of Big-Head?"

"NO!" Then he started to cry. "Y-y-yes..." Henrietta sat next to him. "I thought Paris would be amazing. I thought I would get at least an autograph from Ladybug and Chat Noir, but now..." He sobbed into her shoulder. They both looked up to see Max at the threshold.

"I too thought so," he said solemnly. "I'm actually starting to regret coming here."

"Don't say that!" said Rudi. "I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will be able to stop Big-Head!"

Max shook his head. "Sometimes not even heroes can save anyone, super or not. They can't be everywhere at once."

Rudi was starting to feel fear. He had just settled down and now he was going to move back to Deutschland?! No! He couldn't go back again! Then he thought, 'Perhaps I can give Ladybug and Chat Noir what they want.' He thought of the Mask under the bed. "Perhaps they'll catch Big-Head this time," he said. "Third time's a charm as they say."

Max sighed, "It better be."

Don't worry, we'll make sure they get what they want.

(!)
That night, Chloe was watching the news in her room. She was becoming more and more afraid as her idols, Ladybug and Chat Noir were failing to catch this Big-Head guy. "Stupid Americans. Pushing all their problems on us Europeans," she grumbled. "Why don't you just go back where you came from, olive head!"

Suddenly she heard a knock on the door. "Room service!"

"It's about time!" she sauntered over to the door to her bedroom and opened it. "I wanted my nightly manicure over ten minutes..." She widened in fear when she saw a big, green, bald headed man in a suit.

"Oh, for shame! Just look at your fingernails!"

The next thing Chloe knew she was tied to a chair, gagged and her hands were being manicured with a chisel! "My, I bet you monsters lead interesting lives," said Big-Head in a perfect imitation of Bugs Bunny. "I said to my girlfriend just the other day - 'Gee, I'll bet monsters are interesting', I said. The places you must go and the places you must see, my stars! And I'll bet you meet a lot of interesting people, too. I'm always interested in meeting interesting people. Now let's dip our patties in the water!" He placed Chloe's fingers in two bowls in front of her.

(!)
Ambulances and police vehicles swarmed Mayor Bourgeois' mansion a few minutes later. He found her daughter squealing her head off while tied to a chair and bear traps snapped closed on her hands. He was not pleased when Chat Noir and Ladybug arrived just in time to be driven to the hospital. "Why couldn't you save her?" he asked grimly. Tears stained his face.

"Mr. Mayor, I..."

"Quiet! Just stop! What good are you if you couldn't save one little girl, let alone three teenagers?!" Ladybug was taken aback. She could understand the mayor would be furious over something like this, but that didn't make her ineffectual!

"Now hold on there," Chat Noir tried to defend, but was interrupted by the Mayor.

"Ugh! Just leave me alone! I have to see that my daughter is safe! At least one of us is doing that!"

The mayor stomped off to his limo, angrily slamming the door.

(!)
Somewhere in Paris, the circular window opened and butterflies fluttered around Hawk Moth. "Ah, what could be so powerful than a parent's love?" he said gleefully. "And that love can make him blame anything make him perceive everything he sees as a threat!" A butterfly landed in Hawk Moth's hand and he covered it, changing its colors from pure white to black and purple. "Fly away, little Akuma, and evilize him! Let him avenge his daughter's misfortune!" The butterfly flew out the window and into the city, hunting for a grieving mayor.

(!)
The butterfly slipped through the sunroof of the limo and absorbed itself into the mayor's sash. Instantly, his eyes grew dark and a butterfly marking appeared around his face.

"Inquisitor, I am Hawk Moth," said a voice in his head. "And I am here to mend your broken heart! Those who placed your daughter in the hospital will pay, but after that, you must give me something in return: Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses!"

"I AM MAYOR OF THIS CITY! I WILL DEFEND IT MYSELF!" Black smoke enveloped him, giving him an instantaneous costume change. He burst out of the limo, garbed in a robes only monks from the Spanish Inquisition would wear and was carrying miniature versions of medieval torture devices on his sash. "I will be the hero this city needs! And after I judge Ladybug and Chat Noir, I will find Big-Head and condemn him!"

(!)
Marinette and Adrien were grieving back in their homes. Both of them were thinking the same thing: "Are we ineffectual?"

"Don't you dare think that!" scolded Tikki. "It's not your fault Chloe is in the hospital! It's Big-Head's!"

"Really?!" shouted Marinette angrily. "Then maybe you can tell me why I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO GET HIM!" She banged her fists multiple times as she said that.

"And you're just going to give up because of what one man said?"

(!)
"No," said Adrien at the same time. "I just...I just want to know how this Big-Head got to those people so fast?"

"Maybe he's got a tracker?" suggested Plagg, licking a piece of camembert. "Or maybe the guy's got psychic powers along with these cartoon powers?"

"Get serious, Plagg!"

"I am being serious!"

Adrien was about to say something else when he heard people screaming in the streets. Anger fueled him. "You're not getting away this time!"

(!)
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS BIG-HEAD?!" screamed the Inquisitor. A flash of red and black appeared in front of him, and there appeared Ladybug and Chat Noir. "YOU!"

The two heroes gasped instantly when they recognized the Mayor. But the real horror was right behind him. People were stuffed into gibbets, lashed onto Catherine wheels and racks.

"Why are you doing this Mr. Mayor?" demanded Ladybug.

"I'm no Mayor! I am an Inquisitor! And I condemn you, Ladybug and Chat Noir, to be incompetent and ineffectual! You are sentenced to torture on the rack!" He grabbed a small model of the rack from his sash and it transformed into a larger version of the device.

"Hey, I know cats like to stretch, but not that much!"

Suddenly, the Inquisitor produced a whip and tried to lash out at Chat Noir, but he jumped out of the way just in time. Ladybug followed after him, landing on a car a few feet away from the corrupted Mayor. "That sash with those toys the Inquisitor has must be where the Akuma is," said Chat Noir. "Now if only we could get close to him!"

"I got it," Ladybug said. "LUCKY CHARM!" Her yoyo twirled in the air, and transformed into... "Shoelaces? What can I do with these?" She formulated a plan as her vision highlighted the following objects: an empty gibbet, the Inquisitor's boots, and a street light. "Okay. Chat Noir, I'm going to need you to cover me while I go for his shoes!"

"At your service m'lady!"

Ladybug ran out in the middle of the street, twirling the shoe laces as she ran toward the Inquisitor. "You're attacking me in the open? Foolish girl, you really are ineffectual!" He pulled an iron spider from his sash and it transformed into the real thing. "Just try to come near me, witch!" His laughter was interrupted by a long pole slapping him across the face. Chat Noir's staff struck him repeatedly, just enough to keep him distracted long enough for Ladybug to get close. Unfortunately, the Inquisitor had enough. "You're trying my patience!"

He grabbed the staff and yanked Chat Noir into a newly produced torture device, the iron maiden. The cabinet slammed close on Chat Noir and it landed in the street with a thud.

"Chat Noir!" screamed Ladybug. She stopped her attack and tried to get her partner out of the cabinet, only to find herself trapped in a gibbet.

"Now you're mine!"

"Yes! At long last!" the voice in Inquisitor's head laughed. "After all this time, I finally get the Miraculouses! The world is finally-"

The Inquisitor's eerie march was interrupted by...pie? Everyone turned to see a man with a big, bald, green head garbed in a cowboy suit. He spat out a wad of gum as he said in a Western voice, "Ya'll wanted me, yah got me. Now how's about you let the cat and the beetle go and we can go back to...what ever it is you mayors do in your spare time."

Something in the Inquisitor's head snapped. "BIIIIIIIG-HEEEEAAAAAD!" He jumped onto a giant Catherine wheel and rode it like a unicycle, chasing after the psycho cartoon. But Big-Head stretched his legs and the wheel went right between him. The wheel crashed into a wall, and the villain fell to the floor with a crash.

"Oh, by the way," said Big-Head, grabbing the Inquisitor by the collar and throwing him into a car. "I got to ask. Why do you call it French toast?" He proceeded to pull French toast out of his coat and threw it at the Inquisitor's face. "I mean, how do you get all the egg out of the toaster and on your face?!" Then he materialized three rabid poodles out of his coat. "And why do French poodles have these outrageous pompoms for ears?" He threw them at him and they started biting and scratching his face.

"Get 'em off, get 'em off, get 'em off!"

(!)
"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir's smoking fist burst through the iron maiden and he let out a sigh of relief. "Whew! That's what it feels like to be in a cat's mouth!"

"Get me out of here!"

"Oh, right!" Chat Noir broke the gibbet with his staff, and he heard the ring blinking. "Oh, man, not now!"

"It's all right, I can take the Inquisitor on as long as..." Suddenly, the Inquisitor was seen flying through the air, being pummeled by, of all people... "Big-Head!" the duo gasped.

"On second thought, this will be harder."