Chapter 11: Haute Couture Attacks!

Reptile had found the perfect target. That girl's heart was filled rage, anger and bitterness. A winning combination that his master, the insidious Hawk Moth was looking for. He was sure that she would become a fine akuma.

"I must inform the master at once." -he told himself. Concentrating, he tried to communicate with Hawk Moth through the telepathic link that existed between the vile villain and his lieutenants. Seconds later, he managed to get a hold of him. –"Master, I found it!

Hawk Moth, who was meditating in deep silence, quickly picked up his lieutenant's thought transmission.

"You did? Excellent work. And who might our victim be?" -Hawk Moth asked, as he used his powers to see through the eyes of Reptile. –"Ah, what a lovely girl, and I can sense a huge amount of hate and rage in her heart, with a few sprinkles of disrespect… what a lovely mix. Don't let her out of your sight. I will send you a present for her, in just a minute." -he ordered Reptile, as he broke the psychic link.

Getting up from his armchair, he took the moment to inhale the almost intoxicating smell of incense that he had been burning, in the air, before heading to where his Akuma Butterflies rested. Approaching the glass dome, he touched the icy-cold glass and smiled, as he looked at his precious creations. Using his powers, his right hand began to glow, enabling him to pass through the glass and gently grab one of the butterflies. Holding it in his hand, he then created an energy sphere around it.

"My beautiful creation, it is time for you to do what you were created for." -Hawk Moth said, as he gently touched the sphere with his fingertips. Concentrating, he made it disappear, just to reappear in front of Reptile. –"You know what you must do." -he said telepathically to Reptile.

"Yes, master." -Reptile acknowledge, breaking the psychic link.

Closing in on her, Reptile changed his appearance once more to keep a low profile. Taking on the appearance of an old gardener, he followed Nina as she walked across the Champ de Mars. Finally, she stopped, and he hid himself behind a tree, waiting to see what her next move was going to be, as the wind started to rise, blowing hard from the west.

Nina took a seat on one of the garden benches. The hatred she was feeling for her former boss was quite big, and though a part of her was telling her the woman did not even deserved her vengeful thoughts, the other part was telling her that Amélie deserved to be taught a lesson, and that she should be the one to teach it to her. And the more she looked at what was left of her sketches, the more she was inclined to agree with the part that wanted to teach her a lesson.

"What a witch… if I could, I'd make her pay for what she did to me, and pretty much everyone else she bullied." -Nina said out loud.

"Time for you to do your job…" -Reptile said, as he released the Akuma butterfly from its bubble and let it fly.

The dastardly black insect flapped its wings and flew towards Nina, who was too distracted to see it approaching. And even if she had been focused, she would have never heard it approaching from behind. Landing on Nina's back, a sudden wave of energy coursed through her body, making her eyes glow purple. She was now under Hawk Moth's control.

"Good afternoon, my dear. I'm Hawk Moth and I have a proposition for you." -Hawk Moth talked to her through telepathy. –"If you do me a favour, I'll give you the power to exact revenge on those who have made you cry. Would you be interested?"

"Yes, Hawk Moth." -she answered.

"Very well, then. What I want you to do is to cause chaos and mayhem to attract those infernal members of the Miraculous Team. Your mission is to capture them, and then destroy them as well as those infernal miraculouses."

"I will do as you command, Hawk Moth."

"Then… rise, Haute Couture! Go and exact your revenge!"

With those words, Nina's body was fully enveloped by a cloud of black purplish smoke. When this dissipated, Nina had changed. She now had icy-blue spiky hair, light-grey skin, and was wearing a red suit covering her arms, legs and neck, along with an icy-blue long-coat with a high collar with spiky ends. She also wore white long boots with red high heels.

"So, that witch, she thinks that coming from me, no design is good enough?! Then, we'll see about that! Everyone will wear my clothes and love them… and then, when I find her, I'll make her pay for what she did to me!" -Haute Couture said, as she saw a pair of old folks near her. They were both wearing what she considered dreadful clothes. Out of style, bland colours… and that would just not do. –"You! Those clothes will just not do! You need a proper makeover!"

Using her powers, she shot a blue beam from her index finger that hit both elders enveloping them in a blue aura. A few seconds later, the aura disappeared, revealing that they were now wearing clothes like the ones she was wearing. They looked fancy, but they restrained their movements, making it impossible for them to take a step without falling on their faces.

When she was turned into Haute-Couture, her fashion sense was heightened to the point that whatever clothes she would produce with her powers, they would all look hideous. But not to her eyes. To her eyes, they were perfect and she was going to make sure everyone would know that, and would wear them.

"Yes, perfection!" -Haute Couture said, as she noticed a group of people approaching her. –"You! You also need a proper makeover. Those clothes won't do!"

Everyone that appeared in her field of vision was instantly hit with her "fashion beam" and their clothes would change into ghastly and garish versions of the same. Even dogs and cats that happened to be passing by would also get their collars turned into the most ridiculous outfits one could imagine. As she did this, she would continue to laugh like a maniac.

"Well, I guess that's enough beautifying for now… After all, I must not keep a certain someone waiting." -she said, referring to her former boss.

A girl who managed to avoid her, had taken refuge behind one of the trees and was now calling the police. It did not take her long to put two and two together and figure out that what was going on had something to do with the mysterious terrorist Hawk Moth.

"Please, pick up…." -she said.

"112, what is your emergency?"

"I think there is someone or something related to that Hawk Moth terrorist here I the Champ de Mars." -the girl said.

"Can you describe it?"

"It's a woman that… I know this will sound crazy, but she's shooting beams out of her fingers and it's changing everyone's clothes!"

"Remain calm. We'll send in a police car to see what's going on."

"One car?! Send in the whole army! This woman is dangerous!" -the girl exclaimed, thinking about what happened when Hawk Moth released Gargantua in the city.

At the same time, a brother and a sister, who upon seeing Haute Couture and what she was doing, decided to hide behind a jeep that was parked there, so as to escape her sight. Though the girl was frightened, her brother was not and was determined to be the first one to photograph her and post it online.

"What are you doing?"

"Photographing her and posting it on Facebook. And I'm also sending it to the Miraculous Blog." -he told his sister

"Are you kidding me?! That maniac is doing, God knows what, and you're photographing her, so you can post it online?!"

"She's just turning people's clothes into uglier versions of the same. I don't think that's the most dangerous thing in the world…"

But little did he know that the worst was still to come, and all those whose clothes had been changed by Haute Couture's fashion beam, were going to play an important part in it. She was making her way to where the Paris Fashion Week event was taking place, when a police car showed up and stopped in front of her, blocking her path. Exiting the car, the two police officers tried to understand if that earlier call had been just a prank or if it was real. Ever since Gargantua had appeared, the emergency lines had been receiving tons of fake phone calls and prank calls. Still, after seeing what she had done to some of the people that were now trying to either trying to get up from the ground or move in some of the weirdest looking clothes they had ever seen.

"Okay, lady, stop right there!" -said one of the policemen.

"Oh, the police… I must say that I'm impressed that you are already here." -haute Couture smirked. –"And good thing too, because those outfits just won't do. They're so out of fashion!"

Saying that, she used her powers once more and changed both policemen's uniforms into garish versions of themselves, making them fall on their faces.

"S-Stop." -one of the policemen ordered her, as he tried to get up.

"Sorry, but fashion waits for no one!" -Haute Couture laughed manically, as she left them.

When they both finally managed to get back on their feet, they tried to take off those clothes, but they would not come out. It was if they were glued to them by magic or something. Knowing what they had in hands was too much just for the two of them, they decided to call for back-up.

"Dispatch, we have a code 57 in Champ de Mars, I repeat, we have a code 57 in Champ de Mars. The suspect is heading towards the Paris Fashion Week site. Send everything you got. We're going to try and capture the suspect."

Inside, the event was going on without any disturbances. The Dolce & Gabbana show was about to start and Marinette, along with Chloé Alya and Sabrina, was seated in front of the runway. She was stunned by the sheer beauty of every dress. Seeing them, just made her even more eager for the day when she would start to work on the fashion business herself.

"So beautiful…" -Marinette told herself, as she admired the clothes.

It seemed like that was going to be the perfect Saturday, and then, Alya got an email alert on her cell phone. Checking it, she saw it was something that had been sent for her blog. She would usually just ignore it and see what it was later. But on that moment, something told her to open it, right there. And to her surprise, she saw that someone had seen one of Hawk Moth's akumas, near where they were.

"Girls, we got trouble." -Alya whispered to Marinette and the others.

"Trouble?" -Marinette asked her.

"What kind of trouble?" –Chloé asked, overhearing the two of them.

"The Miraculous kind." -Alya declared.

"You mean?" -Marinette said.

"Yeah…" -Alya waved her head. –"This was just sent into my blog." -she showed them the photo that depicted Haute Couture.

"Are you sure this isn't some prank?" -Chloé asked her. –"Because I'm really enjoying myself, right now."

Before Alya could answer her, a loud scream was heard, followed by a group of people running like maniacs, to which more joined in.

"I don't think it's a prank, Chloé." -Sabrina told her.

"We've got to go and find the others." -Marinette told them.

"Way ahead of you." -Chloé said, as she grabbed Sabrina by the wrist and started looking for a way back to the backstage area, while dragging the redhead with her.

"Wait for us!" -Alya exclaimed, as she and Marinette tried their best to move through that panicking crowd.

As the four heroines tried their best to meet up with the rest of their team, Haute Couture was having a blast, changing everyone's clothes, while looking for the one who she felt was the cause of all her troubles… her old boss, Amélie Dufayel.

"No, that will not do!" -she used her powers to change the clothes of an entire group of people that was in front of her. –"There, much better." -she cackled evilly. –"But that's enough for now. I've got a score to settle with a certain someone."

She knew where Amélie was, and she knew just what she would be doing. She would be cursing everyone for her bad luck… everyone, except herself. Heading to the part of the backstage where she would be, Haute Couture saw her path blocked by yet another group of security guards. She had taken care of a few of them, who were determined to not let her through, when she entered the event.

"You just don't take a hint, do you?" -she asked the security guards, who were pointing their taser guns at her. -Then again, with outfits like those, you can't be very smart, now can you?"

"Stay where you are!" -one of the security guards ordered her.

"I don't take orders from insignificant fools like you!" -she yelled at them, as she displayed yet another power. The fabrics that composed the security guards' clothes began to change, and soon, the uniforms were turned into straitjackets. –"And now… begone!"

Taking control of their clothes, she held them in the air, and then tossed them to the side as if they were ragdolls.

"And now, for you, Amélie." -Haute Couture said, as she made her way to the backstage area.

Amélie Dufayel was so caught up in her thoughts, that she did not hear the whole commotion outside. She still couldlnot believe that Gabriel Agreste had beaten her once more. With so much hate inside her, she tried to concentrate on her work. She had told her other assistants, as well as the seamstresses to leave her alone with the Rosenberg dress, so she could see for herself if the dress needed something extra to it. The Rosenberg had been conceived as a dinner dress, but after she redesigned it, it looked more like a wedding dress, than anything else. She needed to concentrate on something, so as to not go mad with rage. The producers responsible for the event had told her that they decided that the Gabriel brand was more in vogue that year, and so, it should be Gabriel Agreste to close the event, and not hers, adding that even if they wanted to change things at the last minute, it would be impossible at that point. If they had been in the same room as her, she would have mostly likely snapped their necks.

"So, they think that they can just switch things, without having me in consideration, is it?" -she thought to herself. –"Well, then I'll show them that my show is better than that pompous swine! Once they see the Rosenberg on the runway receiving all the applauses, they will understand the big mistake they made!"

As she was about to take a new line cart, she began to hear noises and screams outside. Still, she decided to ignore them, and go back to work, when someone knocked at the door.

"I don't want to be disturbed." -she said, only to hear knocking at the door once more, this time with a lot more strength. -"I said, I don't want to be disturbed!"

Saying that, someone knocked at the door once more, and this time it felt more like

"ARE YOU STUPID OR WHAT?! WHAT PART OF I DON'T WANT TO BE DISTURBED, CAN'T YOU GET?!" -she yelled, as she went to open the door. Opening it, she was scared by what she saw in front of her. A strange woman with pale blue skin and icy-blue hair and wearing what she considered to be the clothes with the most extravagant style she had ever seen in her whole life.

"Hello, Amélie…" -the strange woman said, as she walked in, making her fall back.

"W-Who are you?!" -Amélie asked, as the enigmatic woman entered, always staring at her in the eyes.

"Don't you recognize me?! Of course, you don't, I changed quite a bit… But, then again, you only care about yourself, so why would you care or remember someone like me? Someone who did everything you told her to do, someone whose talent means nothing to you? Someone, who was humiliated just a little while ago…" -Haute Couture practically whispered her the last part to her ear.

"N-Nina?" -Amélie asked her, puzzled by her new appearance.

"That's right… but please, call me Haute Couture." -the villainess smirked. –"Oh, you were making a couple of adjustments to the Rosenberg, weren't you?" -she asked her. –"It's a pity that no one will ever see it..."

"What do you think you're going to do?"

"What I should have done the minute you fired me!" -she snapped at her former boss.

Making appear out of thing air several pairs of scissors, these were hovering in the air, when Haute Couture told them telepathically to start cutting and shredding the Rosenberg dress. In a matter of seconds, the once gorgeous dress was reduced to a pile of rags in front of their eyes.

"M-MY DRESS!" -Amélie yelled, as she saw the Rosenberg being reduced to a pile of useless rags.

"Your dress?! Ha! How dare you call that thing your dress, when the only thing you did was shout out orders of how you wanted things to be, to me and the seamstresses, while we were drawing the sketches?!" -Haute Couture asked her. –"If anyone here deserves credit for it, it should be me, you witch!" -she said. –"And now, run…"

"W-What?!"

"Run. It'll be far more amusing to watch you run and beg for your life, than just stabbing you in the heart with a pair of scissors and watch you bleed out." -Haute Couture told her in a low deep menacing voice. –"Now, run! -she yelled, throwing two pairs of scissors against her, which missed her face and left arm by a couple of inches.

While the chase started, Hawk Moth observed it from his private chambers. Using his powers, he had created an enormous bubble that served as a window to the outside world. In it, he was watching Haute Couture causing chaos and havoc; and the more chaos and havoc she caused, the more energy he absorbed from her. He was amazed by the akuma she had become… he knew she would become a strong one, but not as strong as she was revealing herself. It was time like these that he truly believed that hate and anger are the most powerful and unpredictable feelings one can have.

"It shouldn't be long now… the Miraculous Team should be appearing any minute now." -he said out loud, when there was a knocking at his door. –"Come in."

"You called me, master?" -Madame Romani asked him, as she entered his chamber.

"I did. I wanted you to be here, so you could witness the end of the Miraculous Team." -he told her, as she approached him.

"So, Reptile did manage to find someone to be akumatized… about time…" -she thought to herself, as looked at what was happening in the bubble. –"Is that the new akuma, master?"

"Yes… I called her Haute Couture, and I must say that she's revealing herself far more powerful than I anticipated." -Hawk Moth grinned. –"But, at this rate, she'll kill that woman before those blasted kids show up. I'll have to tell Reptile to make sure that doesn't happen. We wouldn't want the party to end just yet." -he said, as he contacted Reptile through telepathy. –"Reptile, do you hear me?"

"Yes, master, I do." -Reptile communicated. He had been following Haute Couture from a far, and had now infiltrated back into the event.

"Listen, carefully. I need you to make sure that Haute Couture does not kill that woman, before Ladybug and her friends show up to spoil everything." -Hawk Moth ordered him. –"I'm counting on you."

"I understand, and do not fret, master. I know just how to do that." -Reptile said, as he broke contact with Hawk Moth.

The rest of the gang had returned to the VIP area, where they kept talking with Adrien. They were all alone in there now, as the critic and the photographer had left. They were enjoying each other's company, when started to hear the commotion outside and wondered what was going on.

"What do you think it's happening?" -Max asked them.

"I don't know, but it seems to me like it's something really bad." -Rose said.

"Do you think one of the critics went berserk after seeing something he didn't like?" -Kim joked about.

"Highly doubtful." -Alix told him.

"Maybe one of us should go and see what's going on." -Juleka suggested.

"No need for that. I'll call Alya and ask her what's going on." -Nino said, as he took out his cell phone, when Alya, Marinette, Sabrina and Chloé walked in. They looked an utter mess. Seeing them like that, Nino had to ask. –"What happened?"

"One moment… got to… catch up my breath…" -Marinette said, as she gulped for air.

"What happened?" -

"Bad news, guys. We got a code Mandarin!" -Alya exclaimed.

"Code what?" -Kim asked her.

"Code Mandarin." -Alya repeated.

"And what it is a code Mandarin?" -Kim asked, confused.

"Seriously, Kim? Weren't you paying attention when we discussed this?! A code Mandarin means that we got an akumatized nearby!" –Alya scolded him.

"Well, excuse me if I didn't pay attention to that, when you were talking about it." -Kim told her. –"I mean, it's not like I broke one of the ten commandments!"

"Never mind that, we got to find a place to transform and stop whatever Hawk Moth has thrown at us." -Mylene told them. Just thinking about it, was making her nervous. Luckily for her, to make her nerves disappear, she just had to hum her happy song, Smelly Wolf.

"But, where do we find a place big enough for us to do that, without risking the possibility of seeing us transform?" -Nathaniel asked them.

Before anyone could answer Nathaniel's question, Gabriel Agreste entered the room. He was looking rather distressed, like he had seen a ghost or something.

"Adrien!" -Gabriel exclaimed. –"Get to the trailer and hide yourself there."

"W-What's going on, dad?" -Adrien pretended he did not know what was going on.

"I don't know, but I don't want you here. Head to the trailer and take your friends with you. And lock the door!" -Gabriel ordered him, before he once more disappeared through the door.

"I guess that answers your question." -Nino told him.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" -Alya told them.

Reaching the trailer was no picnic, especially since chaos had settled in and there was no kind of order. Among screams and yells, the group made their way to the place in question, led by Adrien. When they reached it, the blond quickly unlocked it and let everyone in, before locking the door behind him. The place was a little tight for all of them, but there was still some space to move at will.

"What's the plan?" -Adrien asked, as the screams outside became louder.

"What do we know about this akuma?" -Sabrina asked.

"The only thing we know is that it looks like this and according to the message that was attached to the photo, she's changing everyone's clothes into garish versions of the same." -the brunette showed them the photo on her cell phone.

"How are we going to tackle her?" -Juleka asked.

"I don't know yet. We need more info. Let's transform first, and then we'll think about it, okay? -Marinette answered her.

"Are you guys ready?" -Alya asked the kwamis.

"Yeah!" -all the kwamis exclaimed.

"Okay, then let's do this… Tikki, transforme moi!" –Marinette exclaimed.

"Plagg, transforme moi!" –"Adrien exclaimed.

"Trixx, transforme moi!" –Alya exclaimed.

"Wayzz, transforme moi!" –Nino exclaimed.

"Pollen, transforme moi!" –Chloé exclaimed.

"Mika, transforme moi!" –Sabrina exclaimed.

"Mulan, transforme moi!" –Nathaniel exclaimed.

"Pin, transforme moi!" –Mylene exclaimed.

"Flint, transforme moi!" –Rose exclaimed.

"Tamara, transforme moi!" –Juleka exclaimed.

"Ari, transforme moi!" –Max exclaimed.

"Imp, transforme moi!" –Kim exclaimed.

"Daria, transforme moi!" –Alix exclaimed.

"Muria, transforme moi!" –Ivan exclaimed.

With those words, the whole gang transformed into their superhero alter-egos, ready for some serious action.

"Let's do this!" -Ladybug exclaimed to the others.

"Yeah, we got a city to protect!" -Dragonfly exclaimed.

"Just one question… how do we get out from here without being spotted?" -Flamingo asked.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to tell you all that I'll only update this story next week, probably on Monday ot Tuesday, because I'll be too busy preparing things for my mother's birthday. It's her 62nd birthday, and we're planning something very special for her that requires my full attention.