Queen Bee touched down to the ground, shooting a net of honey at the akumatized children without missing a beat. That should hold them until Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived. Now, Tomato Head needed his inhaler; where was it...?

Her thoughts trailed off, and she stooped to retrieve two scraps of paper from the ground. They were dirty and crumpled, but when she matched up the torn edges, she could see the once-intact drawing clearly.

Purposefully keeping her mind blank, the super-girl folded the page and tucked it into her pocket. Then, she gathered up Nathaniel's things, finally spotting his inhaler on the opposite sidewalk.

She leapt back up beside him.

"Here you go. Stop freaking out," she huffed, tossing his belongings to him. They landed soundly in the gasping boy's lap, and she turned away so that he wouldn't see her face twist with worry. She listened as the red-head sucked in his medicine and got his lungs working again. When his breath finally came steady, she faced him.

"Who are you?" he asked, eye sparkling with wonder.

No one had ever looked at her like that. What was she supposed to do with this kid, this one who completely threw her off balance? The flustered girl cleared her throat and regained her composure, returning her nose to its skyward position.

"I'm Queen Bee, the new superhero. I save Paris. But mostly, I save Ladybug and Chat Noir so that they can save Paris. I'm humble, you know? Hoh, hoh." Merde, seeing Tomato Head was making her Chloe side show through.

He didn't seem to mind. Instead, his smile widened, and he almost hyperventilated again. "That's amazing!"

She waved dismissively with false modesty. "What can I say? I like helping people." She gave him a hand up. "Now, where do you live? I'll take you home."

The artist shook his head. "But no! What about the akuma?"

"They're stuck down there," Queen Bee explained. "It'll be fine until—mmmph!"

A crazed ballerina tackled the superhero from behind, and she threw it off, leaning over the railing to see several more climbing the walls of the building. The akumatized children were licking their lips, clinging to the bricks with sticky fingers. Had they... eaten the honey?!

"Talk about sugar overdose," Nathaniel commented. "They are literally bouncing off the walls."

"Ugh!" Queen Bee grunted in frustration. "Those two will have to deal with this. I'm getting you out of here!"

And then, before the boy could react, she scooped Tomato Head up into her arms and took off over the roofs of Paris.

Gorilla pulled up to the curb just as Plagg pinched Adrien. The boy froze in his steps. He was due for a photo-shoot, and would already be late because of school. If he missed it, Father would be furious.

Adrien winced as Plagg pinched a second time, this time more insistently.

Father would just have to deal.

Gorilla had already circled the car and opened Adrien's door, waiting for him to climb in, but instead, the boy backed away. It took a few seconds for it to register in the driver's brain that his charge was fleeing, but by then it was too late. The model had retreated into the school and hid himself in a bathroom stall to transform.

Not even attempting to chase the Agreste son, Gorrilla shook his head. He wondered briefly if he should call and inform M. Agreste... No, he decided. He'd tell a white lie about a fender bender, and it might spare the boy a lecture. Just this once.

Just this once, Gorilla would not have to see Adrien exit his father's office with a tear-stained face.

Hawkmoth watched in satisfaction as Ladybug arrived on the scene. The bee miraculous holder had long since disappeared, off to bring some civilian to safety. That was fine; Hawkmoth didn't need her Miraculous. It was Ladybug and Chat Noir he was after.

Already, he could see that his plan was working. Ladybug was flustered because the akuma victims were children; because there were so many of them at once; and because she thought she'd already cleansed them. Her uncertainty would work to her disadvantage, as it already had: the children were grasping at her yo-yo string, deliberately tying knots in it as she struggled to tear it away. Not wanting to hurt them, she made no other attempts to fight back.

Hawkmoth smirked. Her kindness would be her downfall.

Then, Chat Noir showed up, and things got iffy. His boundless energy and trickery led the hypnotized children in circles, until they were wrapped up in Ladybug's yo-yo, hopelessly tangled.

Hawkmoth grew desperate, an emotion that was only heightened when he received a phone call from one of his employees.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT AT THE SET?" Gabriel roared through the line at the flustered costumer.

Hanging up, the villain focused his anger. This needed to finish soon. Adrien could be anywhere right now, and if things went as planned, it could get messy. His son needed to be somewhere safe.

He activated the purple mask, shoving his voice into the minds of his minions.

"Use any means," he demanded. "I don't care what you do—use your teeth if you have to—just get their Miraculouses!"

"Yes, Hawkmoth," they said in unison.

"My Lady, what do you—YEOW!" Chat reeled back as the third child in a row buried her teeth into his flesh, breaking the skin on his leg. "I don't think these are human," he whimpered.

"They are, Chat! They're just akumatized and they need help," Ladybug countered, full of determination. She was busy unreeling her yo-yo further and winding it around a lamppost so the children would stop moving around. How she was going to call Lucky Charm with the string bound up like this, she had no idea. For now, stopping them would be enough.

"But how come there's—ow—how come there's so many? And I thought we cleansed Mama Donna?"

Ladybug frowned in determination. "I don't know, Chat. My kwami says that Hawkmoth must have gained new powers."

Finally dancing out of range of the gnashing teeth, Chat rubbed one of his sore arms. "Yeah, my kwami said something similar. They can hide their akumatization now. But we've never seen multiples like this before."

"He must be putting all of his cards on the table," Ladybug guessed.

"I hope this is all of his cards," Chat countered. "Where do you think the akuma is?"

Ladybug was struggling to keep hold of her yo-yo while the children wiggled and clawed their way to freedom. She took a close look at each of the girls. They were dressed plainly in pink leotards, ballet slippers, and their hair tied up in neat little buns. No jewelry, hair clips, bags—nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

Wait. Wait. There! It was almost imperceptible, but each girl had a golden star on her shoulder—the kind of stickers that teachers hand out for good behavior. The stars were black around the edges, purple motes lingering around them.

In that moment, something gave in, and Ladybug's yo-yo unraveled all at once, reeling itself back and colliding painfully with her hand. She almost dropped her magical weapon, but this was no time to let her guard down.

"Chat! It's in their stickers!" She shouted as the children burst free and charged in all directions.

He steeled himself, taking an en guarde stance. "Right. What's the plan?"

"Don't ask me—what are they doing?"

The akumatized ballerinas had taken a circle formation, surrounding the two superheroes. They proceeded to execute an organized barrage: one child charged, and when that attack was deflected, the next came. Neither of the superheroes wanted to hurt the children, so they had taken to gently shoving them away. The result was that both Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting off continuous attacks from all sides, and were quickly overwhelmed.

Ladybug felt her back bump against Chat's, and she let herself press close to him. As the battle grew increasingly viscous, she was thankful for Chat's presence, like an anchor beside her. She'd never be able to do this alone. She cleared her throat awkwardly, and spoke between attacks.

"Chat... I wanted to let you know I'm sorry."

"For what?" he grunted, making a failed grab for one of the children's stickers. "Whatever—whatever could you do that you should be sorry for?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I mean about the other day, when we fought Mama Donna, and after—look out—! After, I yelled at you."

She felt Chat shrug against her shoulders. "Nothing unusual," he noted.

Ladybug slung her yo-yo around a ballerina's torso and flung her into a bush. "Come on, Chat. You know I was being selfish. I—get OFF of him—! I should respect your lifestyle, even if I don't feel the same way. I guess I just hoped—I mean I knew you were a flirt, but maybe somehow—"

"Uh, Ladybug," Chat cut her off. "Could we talk about this later? Maybe when we're not being torn to shreds by rabid children?" He hissed and wiped at his cheek where one of the girls had scratched him.

Hawkmoth would pay. These children didn't deserve this. They were being made to behave like animals! And all so that Hawkmoth could gain power. Chat was disgusted.

Without warning, a ballerina came running at Ladybug, ramming her shoulder into the red-suited girl's stomach. The latter's breath whooshed out of her, and she fell backwards, taking Chat with her.

"Ladybug!" Chat cried in concern, but she couldn't answer him—she couldn't breathe.

In a last-ditch effort of defense, the cat-like hero raised his baton, only to have it kicked out of his hand. The children closed in.

Chat threw himself over his partner, shielding her with his body as all of the children tackled at once.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and for supporting and encouraging me this whole time! Seriously, you guys are so sweet ^_^

AmyNChan, one of my readers on AO3, has made a fanart for this story. Look her up on Tumblr! And while you're at it, read some of her fanfics on AO3-they are super adorable~

Hope you guys are having a wonderful night!