"Why would Lila tear up Marinette's doll?" Alya demanded to Chat. "She and Marinette are friends! She likes Marinette! She wouldn't destroy something Marinette made!"
Chat just eyed her though, like he knew more than her. That he knew yes, Lila tore up the doll.
Alya didn't like it.
There was no way.
They were friends, she's seen it. Seen them smile and hang out, and Lila had her number, she was always checking to see if Marinette was free.
They were friends.
Lila wouldn't do that.
"I don't think she likes Marinette."
Alya whipped around, facing Nino. "What?" she demanded.
Nino kicked at the street, frowning and not meeting her wild stare. "You didn't know since you moved here," he voiced, ignoring the pairs of eyes watching him. "But Marinette, she, she used to be real withdrawn before you came. Didn't really talk to anyone, was kinda friends with people, but not." He shook his head, meeting Alya's critical stare. "Ever since you and Lila started hanging out, she's sort of gone back to that. She's not smiling like she used too, she's gone quiet, she…"
Chat held up the doll, eyeing that smile on the doll's lips. "Lila's trying to tear you two apart," he murmured.
Alya gaped at both boys, confounded. "W-why would she…? It doesn't make any sense why she would intend to hurt Marinette!"
"She doesn't like liars," Chat stated, gaze still on the doll.
Alya turned to him, surprised. "What?"
"She doesn't like liars," he repeated.
And Lila was a liar.
And his lady knew this. She couldn't hide her distaste for this as much as she wanted or would've liked too.
And Lila, so observant was she, would catch on. And how petty she could be.
He tightened his grip on the doll.
"But, they're friends," Alya insisted, pleaded. "I've seen-"
"Did they really look like friends," Nino asked. "Have you really seen them hang out outside talking in the hall?"
Alya falters.
She hasn't.
And thinking back… Marinette's posture was stiff. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. She was looking more and more tired and was getting more secluded.
Alya gave a start when Chat demanded, "Where did Lila go? Where would she go?"
His Lady can be quite confronting when she wants to be.
And akumas will go after those that hurt or enraged them.
He shouldn't expect anything different.
Lila was in danger.
And he was tasked to protect her however he can.
He'll take care of what she's done later.
Alya scrambled across from him, surprised and stiff and just so, unsure and confused and frustrated. She did answer Chat though. "She lives across Trocadero. She has to walk through it to get home."
"How perfect."
The three tensed, whipping around and looking up to see the copy perked above them on a lower roof, his green eyes locked on Chat, sort of settling on the Ladybug doll in Chat's hand. The copy smiled. "I'm sure Ches will be a wondrous host for her."
The three went stiff.
"Ch-Ches?" Alya uttered, "Marinette's big cat plush?"
The copy leaned down, mocking, "Oh, he's much bigger now. Just like I am."
Nino made a fearful noise.
"I gotta go," Chat uttered, but the copy dropped down, slashing at him.
"Sorry to say," the copy bid, "but some pays are due." His lips curled up, revealing teeth. His green eyes turned to Alya, sharp and accusing. "She hurt her. Princess has a right to justice." His gaze settled on Chat's claws, where the ring was set. "Just as the Butterfly deserves his own due."
Chat grimaced. Throwing what was left of the doll to Alya, he turned and ran away, calling, "Here Kitty, Kitty! You got to get the ring from me first!"
The copy growled, and pursued, more focused on getting the ring than turning his claws to the girl that had hurt his princess.
Alya and Nino stood stiffly, staring after the two.
Alya turned her gaze down to the ruined doll.
Beside her, Nino pleaded, "Alya?"
Alya tightened her grip on the doll. "I'm going to go see her."
Before Nino could grab, she turned and dashed off, ignoring his frustrated shout after her.
The copy seemed especially aggressive this time. He was persistently on his tail, claws ready and reaching. Chat couldn't catch a break with how persistent the copy was.
Anytime he tried to counter the copy, he was there, ready.
He ducked under Chat's baton, he charged with claws reaching for him. Chat scrambled to dance away from those claws that were always on him.
And there was little Chat could do to deter the copy, this large doll serving the akuma.
Why was he so aggressive this time?
Did something happen?
Was Hawk Moth tormenting Marinette?
Caught up in concern for his lady, Chat misstepped, and the copy took advantage of his distraction.
Chat hissed when he was knocked down to the ground, the doll pressing on him, his green eyes locked on the ring, just in his reach.
Chat struggled to push the copy off, but the doll was set to stay on top, set to keep him still, set to rip that ring off his finger. He was so close…
A red blur darted out of Chat's pocket and slammed into the copy's face, earning a surprised yowl from the cat.
The copy scrambled back, unintentionally kicking Chat in the stomach in his scramble to get away, winding the hero still.
Tikki meanwhile was an angry blur around the copy, slamming against him, magical pink bubbles flaring after her with each hit, nearly disorienting the akuma's creation.
But Chevalier was based off Chat, and like the inspiration, his reflexes were sharp and quick. With a fast grab, he caught the kwami, earning a squeak from her. Chevalier brought her up, eyeing her.
Tikki squirmed against his claws, glaring at him.
There was a winded hiss, and Chevalier looked over, spotting Chat getting up, claws set to this stomach, teeth gritted.
Instinctively, he tightened his grip on the kwami.
He turned tail and fled, quickly losing Chat as the hero started to pursue.
Hawk Moth was abuzz in Chevalier's head.
"Ladybug's kwami? We have her kwami? What is Ladybug doing without her kwami?"
It both stressed and amused the villain, and Chevalier felt he was bordering a laugh, stuck in bafflement in this development, that Ladybug was without her kwami. That they had no way of knowing where Ladybug was and her miraculous was hidden in the city still.
And now she won't come because her kwami wasn't with her.
"Who knows," Chevalier murmured back, keeping his grip on the little god tight, but gentle. Princess loved the little being. And her being here was a risk.
He glanced down at her as Tikki squirmed, biting down on his finger in a struggle to get free.
"She must be looking for her," Chevalier offered, keeping Hawk Moth from thinking of his latest victim, his princess.
If Hawk Moth ever suspected her…
"Keep a look out Chevalier," Hawk Moth ordered. "I want those earrings."
"Of course," he murmured, trailing towards his princess' home, where there was an item she had he knew could trap the kwami. He's seen it done before.
It should work.
Slipping into her home, he went to the open box where her diary lay.
He dropped the kwami in there and quickly closed it before she could dart out.
He held still, listening to her shuffle and bounce off the roof, trying to find a way to phase out.
She wasn't escaping.
She was trapped.
With Hawk Moth stuck in his muse, Chevalier gently picked up the box and slipped back out, intent for Trocadero.
He didn't know how his princess would react to the kwami. But he rather her kept close.
