The Masked Adventures of Ladybug and Chat Noir

by Light Seeker 001

Based more on the Dark Horse comic series rather than the movie. The Mask is tossed into the Atlantic and floats all the way to Paris. Now Ladybug and Chat Noir must not only deal with Hawk Moth's Akumas but also a psycho named the Big-Head Killer. Constructive criticism would be nice. No flames. Rudi Schaefer and his family are my OC's. DON'T STEAL THEM!

10. Chapter 10

Rudi was late. Again. Miss Bustier gave him a stern lecture on being tardy and ordered him to take their seats and turn their text book to the pages on French history. But he was glad he wasn't alone when it came to being late. Apparently Adrien and Marinette have a habit of being late or taking long bathroom breaks. Rudi noticed that Marinette hadn't returned from her bathroom break now; her backpack and handbag were there, so it's obvious she was gone a long time. But he brushed it off and focused on his own problems. It was getting hard to come up with good excuses the past few weeks like getting stuck in traffic or being held up. His parents were getting worried which also worried him. How long until someone figures out about the Mask or worse, that he's the Big-Head Killer? People would blame him for all the killings in the United States and he would find his ass sitting in jail or worse, death row.

He was kicked out of his worries when he heard someone snipping scissors. He turned and saw Alya cutting off the face of Ladybug's picture and peered through the hole, scanning the room and focusing on the female classmates. Well, she was until she realized the teacher was watching her. "You're still doing that Ladybug blog Alya?" asked Rudi.

"Of course! I am the admin and the main writer."

Rudi thought for a while then said. "Have you ever thought that maybe you should shut it down?"

"Shut it down?! Why would I do that?"

"Well, let's see," He began counting with his fingers. "The following people could be dead: her friends, her family, her pets-"

Alya scoffed, "You think I would be stupid enough to put Ladybug's real name on my blog?"

"Well..."

"Oh, come on! I can keep a secret! There is no way I'm revealing Ladybug's true identity to anyone for any reason!"

Rudi raised an eyebrow. "How good are you at keeping secrets?"

"Very." Rudi didn't look convinced. "All right, you want proof? Tell me anything." Rudi leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Really?" Rudi frowned at her. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Just watch."

"Is Marinette still in the girls' room?" asked Ms. Bustier.

Alya answered honestly, "Uh, I don't know, miss."

"She sure does have a habit of disappearing," pointed out Rudi. The bell rang.

The teacher announced, "Tonight I want you all to read chapter three of the breathtaking France, the First Thousand Years. Then, answer this simple questionnaire." She gave the questionnaire to Alya. "See to it that Marinette receives her homework."

(!)

Outside the classroom, Alya tried to give her friend a call, but all she got was her voicemail. "Still nothing?" asked Rudi.

"I hate it when she does this," she answered. "She's going to be in a lot of trouble."

"She couldn't have gone far."

"You're right. Let's split up. Ask anyone if they've seen Marinete. I'll go to the girl's bathroom, see if she's in trouble."

Rudi nodded and the two went their separate ways.

(!)

"Anything?" asked Rudi.

"Nothing. I even asked Rose and Juleka. No sign."

"We haven't checked the locker rooms."

"I'll go there. You just keep asking people."

Inside the locker room, Alya was disappointed; Marinette wasn't there either. But she caught a glimpse of something interesting. It was Chloe, putting a red and black spotted yo-yo in her backpack! Could it be? "Chloé's Ladybug?"

(!)

After school, Alya stealthily followed the rich brat to her limousine and ride off. "Hey, Marinette. Ring me ASAP. We gotta talk," she said to her phone. Then she caught a glimpse of Nino. "Hey, Nino!"

"Yeah?" Nino gasped in surprise when she grabbed him by the arm and took him to a bench. "Come with me, I need your help!"

This was awkward. "So..." But Alya shushed him and tried to call Marinette again, but...

"It's Marinette, leave a message. Beep! Hee hee."

Alya groaned in frustration. "I hate when she goes AWOL. She's not calling me back! Where is that girl?!"

Nino agreed. "Seriously. My man Adrien's the exact same way. But I guess you gotta be sly when Mr. Control Freak is your daddy-o."

Suddenly, Alya's phone rang. She turned it on and a news video began playing. Then Alya remembered, "Hey! I think I've just sniffed out who the real Ladybug is!" She looked around then whispered, "Chloé."

Nino looked as though he heard a good joke. "Chloé? Seriously? She's too self-absorbed to think of anyone but herself, much less save the world. You are cray-cray, lady!"

"I am so not! You'll see!"

(!)

"No cell reception," groaned Rudi, tossing his phone into a wall. "And just when I was about to respond to Alya's text message!"

Do you think she knows Ladybug's real identity?

"Nein. She draws conclusions too quick. I'll find out what it is tomorrow." He sat up and approached his bed. "Might as well do that homework."

(!)

The next day, Rudi met Alya and Nino at the entrance of the school. Nino looked as though he was being told a humorous joke. "So, did you give Marinette her homework?"

"Yeah," said Alya. "But this is more exciting!"

"What?"

"I believe I just figured out Ladybug's real identity!" Rudi's blank expression showed that he wasn't convinced. "It's true! I even saw the yo-yo in Chloe's locker!"

Rudi blinked, then he walked over to her and tapped her forehead. "Is this turned on? Chloe is a bitch. A BLONDE bitch. Ladybug has dark hair." Speaking of which, Chloe arrived via her limo. She greeted everyone in her usual snooty way, "Hey there! Hi! You look totally fab! Uh, no, not you. Hey, it's still a month from Halloween, you know?" Everyone watched as her and Sabrina walked into the school.

Nino said, "I agree with Rudi. You need to have your head examined. If she's a superhero, then I'm the Wizard of Oz."

"I'm telling you, she's Ladybug!"

"Can you prove it?"

Alya nodded "And you two are coming with me." She started to go to the locker room when Rudi grabbed her. "You're not thinking of going to expose Ladybug on that blog are you?"

"I told you, I'm not! I just want to know what she is and then that's it. I won't tell a soul!"

(!)

At the locker room, the three kids peeked from behind a corner and saw Chloe taking some stuff from her locker.

"Alya, this is invasion of privacy!" said Rudi. "You're going to be in a lot of trouble for this!"

"Look, I'm just going to take a quick picture with my phone and no one will notice. You and Nino, be my lookouts." She pushed Nino toward Chloe. "Now don't mess up your lines."

Nino skidded to a halt in front of Chloe and began stuttering. "Oh, uhhh... Ladybug! Look over there!"

"Uhh, what kind of lame joke is this?"

"Coast is clear," whispered Rudi. "Go!" Alya crept up behind Chloe and aimed the camera at her locker.

"Uhh, well, that was... Did you see Ladybug yesterday? Isn't she amazing?" Then he got up close to her face. "I wonder who she really is."

Chloe pushed him out of the way in disgust. "Uhh... up too late DJ-ing, Nino? Obviously you didn't get your beauty sleep."

Rudi gasped and whispered, "Abort! Abort! Get back here!" Too late. Alya snapped the photo and Sabrina shouted, "Chloé! Alya's looking in your locker!"

Everyone present stared at Alya. "That's a lie! I so was not!" Suddenly, Kim took the phone and raised it out of reach. "Hey! Give it back!"

Unfortunately, it got worse. Kim gave Chloe the phone and she saw the photo. "Who's the little liar now?"

(!)

Rudi pressed his ear against the principal office's door. He winced at what he was hearing.

"She's guilty of invasion of privacy! I have proof!" Chloe's voice rang out.

Alya's voice cried, "What?! Seriously! All I did was take a measly photo!"

Mr. Damocles's voice said, "I'm sorry, Chloé. But there's no school policy on invasion of privacy."

"Then... then breaking and entering!"

"I didn't break into her locker! It was open!"

"And nothing was stolen?"

Chloé's voice tried to make a sob story, "Only my very soul! My locker is my secret garden! He who enters uninvited burglarizes my inner being and steals my life force!" And down came the crocodile tears.

Mr. Damocles sounded like he had no choice. "Right. An hour of detention for you, Alya."

That was not good enough for Chloé it seemed. "Are my ears failing me? Did I hear you're giving one miserable hour of detention to a... a heinous criminal? Sabrina!"

"The school rules clearly state that any student guilty of theft should be suspended for one full week." Typical Sabrina, always there to defend her master.

"Yes, but she's hardly stole anything."

Chloé then pulled her favorite trump card. "I'm not sure that my father would share your point of view."

"Uhhh, well, now, Chloé, let's not bother your father, I mean, the honorable Mayor with a minor locker situation..." Mr. Damocles sounded as though he was in a panic. "Ehhh... what I mean is, you're suspended for a week, Alya."

Alya was horrified. "What?! That is so unfair! I am so gonna protest this on the school blog!"

Mr. Damocles sounded defeated. "The school blog is hereby suspended as well."

Rudi couldn't stand it anymore. He kicked open the door and shouted, "You have no right, you bitch!" Everyone turned in shock when he stepped in. "You have no right to suspend her for this. And Mr. Damocles, be a man! Stand up to this smug -" What he said next was so inappropriate, it would have made everyone faint. Or they would have if they understood German.

Chloe had a shrewd idea what he said though. "Ah...ah...who the hell do you think you are, you grease monkey kraut!" She pointed at him. "I'll have you know my father funds this school, so whatever he says goes, so that means what ever iI/i say goes too!"

"You think you're so high and mighty just because you're that frog's daughter?" Rudi's tone grew dangerous. "Let's see how you like having bear traps on your fingers again!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mr. Damocles slammed his fist on his desk. "Mr. Schaefer, apologize to Ms. Bourgeois and get back to your class before I have you suspended for threatening a student!" Chloe looked victorious.

"Oh, inow/i you show some balls," Rudi scoffed.

"Just stop," Alya said. Rudi saw how saddened she looked. "Thanks for defending me, but you were right, Rudi. I shouldn't have done this." She started to walk out of the room, when she paused and looked back at Chloé angrily. "You were also right about another thing, Rudi. She's no superhero, she's super-psycho!" And she stormed off. Rudi was about to follow her when a snarky fake cough stopped him.

"Aren't you going to apologize?"

Rudi took a deep breath. "Fine. I'm sorry for swearing at you."

"That's not what I want. Turn around, face me and apologize-" Her voice grew dark. "- while on your knees. Otherwise, well, I have ways of persuading daddy to have you not only expelled, but deported. How would he feel if he found out you not only threatened his daughter but also insulted him?"

Rudi SOOOO wanted to put on the Mask. But not in front of HER. That would give her a real reason to give him the death penalty. Slowly, he turned around, got on his knees and said, "Please forgive me."

Chloe patted his head. "Apology accepted." Then her cheery demeanor returned. "Now, I'll see you at class." She walked out, followed by Sabrina and Kim (who was there as Chloe's witness). Rudi just sat on his knees in silence for several seconds. Mr. Damocles cleared his throat. "I'll have a word with your parents about this later. In the meantime, go back to your class."

(!)

The circular window to Hawk Moth's lair opened and butterflies swarmed around him. "Ahhh... School life. Such a science experiment. A petri dish of cultivating secrets, lies and betrayal, the thriving vivarium for my evil Akumas." He grabbed one of the butterflies and changed it from white to black with purple streaks. "Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize her!" The butterfly flew out the window and toward the school.

(!)

Alya ran out the school, she didn't even see Marinette running past her. She sat on on a bench outside the main gate and picked up her phone. She tried to call her closest friend. "It's Marinette, leave a message. Beep! Hee hee!" Alya started to cry. She wasn't even there for her. The butterfly flew over to the phone and absorbed itself into it. Alya's face of grief turned blank. A baritone voice echoed in her head, "Lady Wifi, I heard through the grapevine that you're seeking to unmask Ladybug... I'd like to help you if you agree to help me too."

Alya's face changed into one of malice. "I'll expose the lies of anyone who covers up the truth! Sign me up!" Black smoke enveloped her.

(!)

Back in Ms. Bustier's class, Rudi buried his face in his hands. "Oh, why did I have to barge into that office and say those awful things to Chloe?"

"What did you expect?" asked Nino. "You called her a bitch and...something else, but I can't speak German."

"I know what it means," Adrien said. "And I am NOT repeating it."

"Well, at least I get to be punished along with Alya," Rudi said with a smile.

Suddenly, the door silently opened and Marinette snuck into class while the teacher's back was turned. She immediately realized her old friend was not in her seat. "Where is she?"

Nino said it delicately. "She's been suspended..."

"What?!"

"Marinette, if you're going to come late, would you please do it discretely?"

"Sorry..." Marinette apologized to Ms. Bustier.

"Real smooth," said Rudi sarcastically. Marinette flicked his nose before asking Nino, "What happened to her?"

"The short story? Accused of breaking into Chloé's locker. I mean, Ladybug's locker..."

"WHAT?!"

The teacher had had enough. "That's it, Marinette! Go to the principal's office!" Marinette was quick to get out of there.

"What are you talking about?" asked Adrien to Nino.

"Exactly what I said, bro. Alya says Chloé is Ladybug! She is crazy!"

Adrien looked over to Chloe who gave him a wink. He shuddered at the idea that she of all people is Ladybug!

"And when I tried to defend her," said Rudi. "It resulted in me nearly getting suspended for cussing out at Chloe." He buried his face in his hands again. "My parents are going to have a field day!"

"Well, you really shouldn't have called her that," said Adrien. "Even if we agree with you." Rudi groaned. "Look, you got to find a way to vent your anger otherwise, calling someone you don't like something really inappropriate will be the least worrisome thing."

"Well, I'll just have to endure whatever screaming my mother has in store once she figures out what happened. I might get a sore bottom as well."

Suddenly, the projector came on automatically and footage of the principal's office began playing. There was Mr. Damocles, tied to his chair. Next to him was...

"ALYA!" shouted Nino and Adrien at the same time.

Only Alya was different: she wore a black and white suit with a white WIFI symbol on her chest and her glasses were replaced with a white domino mask. "I'm Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth!"

"Well," said Rudi nonchalantly, though inside he was panicking. "Looks like Alya found her way to vent out her anger."

"For our first exposé, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you. So, Mr. Damocles, is it true you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?"

The bound principal said hesitantly, "Uh... yes, it is."

"So, you were biased? Unfair? Totally unjust?!"

"Yes, I was."

"For my next scoop, I'll be taking you to meet the girl who's been hiding behind the Ladybug mask!" Lady Wifi tapped her phone and a pause button icon appeared. With a flick of her finger, the icon slapped itself onto Mr. Damocles, freezing him in place. Then she said before turning off the footage, "Stay connected!"

Ms. Bustier went into protective teacher mode. "Everyone, for your own safety, go directly home right now! And don't forget to read chapters four and five!"

"Nicht wichtig!" shouted Rudi as he and everyone else left the building.

As soon as he was sure he found a safe hiding spot, Rudi pulled the Mask from his backpack. "We gotta go to Chloe's penthouse!"

Uh...why?

"Look, Alya's determined to find out who Ladybug is and she thinks the blonde Hündin is her. We've got to beat her there." He smiled wickedly as he put on the Mask. "And give her a real scoop! IT'S SHOW TIME!"

(!)

In Chloe's penthouse, the snot-nosed brat was dressed in her Ladybug costume and practicing what she's been doing in secret: pretending to be her hero. Obviously, she wasn't very good at it. The moment she spun her yo-yo around, it tangled itself around her legs and she fell over. She untangled herself quickly when her phone rang. "Hello?" No one responded, but a light began to glow, forcing her to toss the phone. Then a figure stepped out: a girl in a black and white suit with a WIFI symbol.

"Well, hello there, Ladybug!" Chloe tried to run away, but a quick swipe of Lady Wifi's phone caused a pink pause symbol to appear and froze her in her place. Lady Wifi then made a record icon appear above the two of them and she announced, "Well, well... So my hunch was correctamundo." Lady Wif's face suddenly appeared all over the phones, computers and TVs of Paris as she announced her "discovery". "Everyone thinks the girl beneath the Ladybug costume is a little angel. Think again, people! The real Ladybug is..." And she yanked the mask clean off. "Chloé Bourgeois, everyone!"

It was then that she realized, to her horror, that she not only pulled the mask but Chloe's entire face! With a scream, she let the flesh go and turned around, facing a male figure with a huge, green bald head with big teeth in his grin. "Next time, you might want to get your facts straight, Rita Skeeter!" he said.

Lady Wifi backed way from Big-Head as he used his tongue to undo the pause button and record icon. "W-w-w-where's Chloe?"

Big-Head replied nonchalantly. "Alive. Freaked out. Tied and gagged in her closet wearing nothing but her bra and underwear." He flinched as he approached Lady Wifi. "And I got to say, these clothes do NOT fit me!" He tore off the costume and revealed an outfit only Elvis Presley would wear underneath. "Ah, that's more comfortable. Now, what shall I do with you?"

"Don't hurt her!" Both characters turned to see the real Ladybug and Chat Noir standing by the window. Lady Wifi growled. "You'll all be sorry." And she fired more pause buttons from her phone, all of them avoided by the trio.

"Alya?" asked Ladybug.

"Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady Wifi. News flash, Ladybug, let's find out who you really are!" She fired more pause buttons, but the trio managed to avoid them. Then Ladybug had an idea. "Follow me!" She grabbed Chat Noir and Big-Head by the wrists and ran toward the emergency stairs.

"So what's the plan?" asked Chat Noir.

"She gets her powers from her phone, so let's lead her to the basement, where there is no service!"

"No service, no power. Nice one, my lady!"

But Lady Wifi continued to fire more pause buttons. "Man, how much of her phone bill does her service cost?" asked Big-Head, barely avoiding another pause button.

"I've got you now, Ladybug!" shouted Lady Wifi from the upper floors.

"So, what do you do when you're not Ladybug?"

The ladybug heroine gasped at Chat Noir's stupid question. "Can't you see we're a little bit busy right now?"

"Hey," Big-Head pointed out. "Does anyone else notice that she's not chasing after us anymore?"

"She's gone back into the hotel!"

The trio rushed back up the stairs, but all the doors leading to the hotel rooms had a pause button icon on them.

"She's locked all the doors!" realized Chat Noir. He continued with his previous question. "Hey, you realize we might actually know each other in normal life."

Ladybug shook her head. "Doubt it." Only the door to the top floor was unlocked.

"She's left this one open."

"Get ready for an ambush on 3. 1, 2, 3!"

The next thing Ladybug and Chat Noir knew, Big-Head grabbed them and forced the door down with their heads. "We're not battering rams!"

"Sorry." No he wasn't. Then he looked around. "Some ambush." Then the trio noticed something odd about the dining hall: all the tables had cellphones on them. "What's with the phones?" He got his answer when Lady Wifi appeared in a beam of light from one of the phones and fired paused buttons from her own phone. The trio were forced to hide behind tables.

"How now, brown cow?" asked Chat Noir. "I thought it was you she was after!"

Ladybug tied Lady Wifi with her yo-yo, but she disappeared, reappearing above one phone after another.

"You can't get me!"

"But I can!" shouted Big-Head, taking out a big mallet. "Let's play whack-a-mole!"

"Okay then," dared Lady Wifi, vanishing and reappearing from the phones. "Whack me!" Turns out whacking Lady Wifi was a lot harder than it was smashing phones. Until she ran out of phones to hide in and fled to the kitchen. "Come back here, you! I'm not done playing!" Ladybug and Chat Noir followed him, but Lady Wifi slammed the door on him.

"Looks like the buck stops here," Big-Head hissed, pulling a shotgun from his pocket and aiming it at Lady Wifi's phone. "Let's see how powerful you are without that piece of plastic." A pause button flew out of the phone but he dodged out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, it bounced back and landed on the back of his head, freezing him in place.

"Now that he's out of the way..." Lady Wifi turned her attention to Ladybug who blocked the pause buttons with a sauce pan until Lady Wifi blasted out of the way and pinned her hands to the wall. Then she activated a record button and aimed it at Ladybug's face. Now the scene was on every piece of media in Paris. "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!" And she began to tug on the mask... but it wouldn't budge. "Why doesn't it come off?!" she demanded.

"Uh...because it's magic?" Ladybug pointed out the obvious.

Just then the service elevator popped open and Chat Noir leaped out. "You're out of minutes, Lady Wifi!"

She just laughed, "Oh, how romantic. Tomcat's come to save his love bug."

"I am not his love bug!"

Chat Noir winked at Ladybug. "We'll come back to that later."

Everyone jumped in surprise when they heard, "No! Keep talking! And while you're at at it, could you unpause me?"

"How are you still talking?!" shouted Lady Wifi.

"I can do a lot of things. But I'll show you if either you or kitty could press play."

Chat Noir tapped his chin, "Let me think about it."

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

Lady Wifi fired more pause buttons. When one of them knocked him into the refrigerator, she locked the door. "Well, well... what am I gonna do with both of you?"

Hawk Moth's voice said to her, "Get her to use her Lucky Charm! It'll force her to switch back, and her identity will be revealed, and her Miraculous will be mine."

Lady Wifi liked that idea. "If you don't get him outta there fast, your crush will be slush," she said as she removed the locks from Ladybug's hands. "Good luck with your cat popsicle! I have other news to cover!" And she vanished.

Ladybug rushed immediately to the freezer door, and tried kicking it down, but the lock icon remained in place. "I'll get you out of there!"

"T-t-take y-y-your time," Chat Noir's voice rang out. However, she and Big-Head could hear the poor cat boy shivering.

"LUCKY CHARM!" Ladybug twirled her yo-yo and the magic it produced created a popcorn box. "I hope this is a lucky box." Her Lucky Vision showed her what to do, highlighting a microwave oven. Grinning, she ran over to it.

"We're not at the movies, Ladybug!" shouted Big-Head.

"No, don't you get it? The microwave oven! It will destroy the icons' signals!" Ladybug placed the box in the microwave, aimed it at Big-Head and the door to the fridge, set it to "Cook" and turned it on. Almost immediately, the icons on Big-Head's head and the door to the freezer fizzled, then vanished. Chat Noir fell out the door, shivering. Ladybug ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him, hoping it will warm him up a little. At that point, they both heard a beeping. Chat Noir could see the Miraculous earrings starting to lose their spots.

"You used your Lucky Charm...there's not much time left..." He felt warmer and his strength coming back as he got back up. "Zap open the kitchen door!"

"I can't, the microwave's busted!" Ladybug suddenly pulled Chat Noir and Big-Head over to her. "I got an idea." She whispered her plan to the two of them. Big-Head's grin grew wider. "Actually, I just figured out how to improvise it."

"Improvise?" the Miraculous heroes asked, not liking the sound of that. Out of nowhere, he took two safety helmets and put them on their heads. Then he took a jet pack from his coat and strapped it on. He grabbed the two by the arms and shouted, "Hang on to your underwear!"

(!)

On the roof, Lady Wifi watched as Big-Head flew out the hotel and into the skies. "Where is he going with them?"

"Don't let them get away!" shouted Hawk Moth's voice.

"Right!" She suddenly gasped when Big-Head suddenly turned and flew straight toward...the hotel's antenna! "No!" She vanished, and teleported to the top of the radio antenna just as he was approaching it. "Nice try, olive head, but I - AAAAAHHH!" She ducked out of the way as he let go of Ladybug and Chat Noir, making them crash into pottery. She got back up and gasped at Big-Head right in front of her. Before she could have a chance to use her phone, he grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

"Not so tough without your little phone, are ya!" What he did next horrified Ladybug and Chat Noir. He took the hand holding the phone and smashed it through the junction box. Lady Wifi screamed as electricity surged through her.

"ALYA!" shouted Ladybug.

There was a small explosion and the phone shattered. The butterfly flew out of the remains and Lady Wifi passed out.

"No more evil doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug spun the yo-yo and caught the bug. "Gotcha!" She opened the yo-yo and the butterfly flew out, not black but white. "Bye-bye, petite butterfly!" The popcorn box from before appeared in her hand and she tossed into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" The box turned into a wave of magic and undid all the damage caused by the battle and Lady Wifi became Alya once more. She looked around confused as the two Miraculous heroes fist bumped. "Pound it!"

Alya was ecstatic. "Ladybug! Wow! And Cat Noir! Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!"

However, both Chat Noir's ring and Ladybug's earrings beeped. "You've got to go! You've only got a minute!" They both ran out the door, leaving Alya alone. "Oh, no, where did you go!" Alya then realized she wasn't alone. Big-Head was still there, standing still with a look of stupidness on his face.

"Why are you still here," she asked him. He didn't respond. Alya carefully got close to the cartoon killer to get a good look at him. She looked at his head and focused on the edges of the green meeting the caucasian. "Is this...a mask?" Gulping, she inched her hand toward Big-Head's neck...

(!)

"Your mask will fall one day, Ladybug. You'll have no choice then but to hand over your precious Miraculous!"

"Where am I?" Hawk Moth spun around and saw, to his surprise, an apparition of Big-Head, looking around confused. Hawk Moth was frightened at first, but regained his composure. "So, we finally meet face to face."

Big-Head turned to see Hawk Moth. "So, you're the guy sending out all those moths and butterflies and turning people into freaks, eh? Question, who does your outfit and what am I doing here?"

"Your conscious must be here when you smashed Lady Wifi's Akuma in the junction box. It linked your mind back to the source of its magic." Big-Head blinked. "What? You think Ladybug and Chat Noir are the only Miraculous users in Paris?"

"Miraculous? Those pieces of 'Made In China' jewelry that the pussy cat and the ladybird beetle carry around?"

"Funny you should say that," Hawk Moth trailed off before saying. "That's no important. What's important is that I finally get to meet the one who's in current possession of the Mask Of Loki."

Big-Head raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"What? You mean you don't know? Surely that Mask must have told you."

"What should it tell me? I don't know how you know about my Mask, but it doesn't matter. This Mask gave me this power to help people and made me an unofficial team Miraculous member. That's what I want to call them, so don't you dare claim it as your own. I made the T-Shirts to prove it!" He reached into his coat and pulled out a purple T-Shirt with crude cartoon images of himself, Ladybug and Chat Noir on it. "See?"

Hawk Moth chuckled, "You think this is all a game, do you? I know that everything you do is because of that Mask. Without it, you're just a commoner, a plebeian! You don't even realize how much fear and anger you're causing just from being here! All those negative emotions give my Akumas their power-" Big-Head made his hand move like a puppet, bored out his mind. "-and by the time I've got Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous..."

"Can you get to the gist of it? I'm hungry and I want a croissant."

Hawk Moth felt his eye twitch. "Fine. Here's the gist of it: I WILL get the Miraculouses from Ladybug and Chat Noir. I WILL obtain powers equivalent to a god! And I WILL have that Mask! It's been an enemy of the Miraculous users for thousands of years!" The circular window started to close as he said, "And if I don't overwhelm you, the powers of the Mask Of Loki will!"

Big-Head shook his head. "God, what a narcissist."

(!)

Alya gasped when Big-Head suddenly sprang to life and grabbed her by the wrist. "Hands off the merchandise."

"I-I-I..."

"It's alright, I know no one can resist my good looks," Big-Head said. "However, that is going to cost you."

"Cost me-" Alya gasped as he grabbed the phone, stuck it in his pants and took a picture. "NOOO!"

"Hashtag, my amazing adventure," Big-Head texted, then sending the image to everyone on Alya's contact list. He handed it back, smiling at the look of horror on her face. "Well, that's one thing you can add to your blog."

(!)

There is a silver lining, you know. With Lady Wifi attacking him, the principal completely forgot to tell your parents you got in trouble with Chloe! We haven't heard word from them, you're in the clear!

"Who's Loki?" Rudi asked the Mask as soon as he got home. It was now sitting on his bed.

I dunno...

"That Hawk Moth guy called you the Mask Of Loki," said Rudi. "I would have thought you would have known your own origins."

I don't know. The last thing I remember before coming to America was being used in tribal rituals in Africa until the black market got their hands on me. To be honest, I don't care about what happened. All that matters is now. Hawk Moth thinks he's so tough just cause he thinks he knows me, knows us. I think we showed him he doesn't know us.

Rudi smiled. "Yeah. He'll never know us." A flash of green shimmed in his eyes as he grinned widely.