Ladybug gasped, slowly regaining her breath under the heavy weight of her partner. Her face was pressed to the concrete, and Chat's arm blocked her vision, so she could only hear and feel what was going on. She heard the growls and inhuman cries of the hypnotized children; she heard them complain about the loss of Mama Donna:
"She was going to take care of us!"
"Our old parents were too strict! She saved us!"
"Mama didn't want us to achieve anything!"
"We were finally free with her!"
Ladybug shuddered, wondering what kind of twisted ideas had gone into Mama Donna's akumatization. From what she had gathered already, the ballet instructor had seen her students scolded by their parents for not reaching expectations. She had seen these tiny girls being pushed to their limits to succeed, driven to perfection by controlling mothers. In reaction, Mme. Petrov had gone to the opposite extreme, telling the children to do nothing and simply rest. The sad paradox was that in rebelling against domineering mothers, Mme. Petrov had become nothing short of a puppeteer herself.
Now, whatever had been done to these children, they were fighting to avenge their captor. Hawkmoth, as always, had convinced them that he was on their side, and in return for his powers, the children were commanded to steal the Miraculouses.
Thankfully, neither Ladybug nor Chat's Miraculous had been taken yet—she could see the glint of a ring on the hand that blocked her face. But the kids were putting in their best effort. Blow after blow connected, and Ladybug could feel her partner tensing as tiny hands pulled at him.
"Kitty, I'm fine now; can you let me up?" she called to him.
He didn't seem to hear her.
She tried to physically push him off, but was confronted with the weight of not only her kitten, but of several determined children. If only she could call Lucky Charm... but she knew her yo-yo was on the ground, just out of her reach.
The spotted hero was about to give up hope, when a shrill battle-cry cut through the air. By the way her stomach twisted in immediate annoyance, Ladybug knew exactly who it was.
So, she wasn't surprised when, little by little, the children were lifted away, howling, and she was left trapped only under the body of her partner. It would have been a relief had Chat not remained draped over her, deadweight.
This had happened before; Ladybug would have to finish the battle without her partner. But it didn't mean her heart broke any less when she eased out from under him and had to leave him lying there in the street, like roadkill.
Before straightening, Ladybug touched her knuckles to the unmarred side of her partner's face, producing a weak flinch. It was both an apology and a way to reassure herself—he was going to be fine; she just had to hurry and cast Miraculous Cleanse for him.
Filled with renewed urgency, the spotted hero scrambled over to her yo-yo and tossed it in the air, calling Lucky Charm. The akumatized children were trapped all around her in webs of honey, and Queen Bee was touching down by Chat, nudging him with her foot.
"So, where's the akuma?" the blonde girl asked, holstering her gun with a frown down at the black cat.
"It's in the—oof!" Ladybug's sentence was cut off by the impact of a life-size stuffed doll dropping out of the sky. Straightening, the confused heroine saw that she held a perfect likeness of Chat Noir in her arms—although, more like her puppet version of him than the real thing—sporting a goofy, drawn-on face and a red polka-dotted tail.
Her Lucky Charm.
Queen Bee sauntered over, wrinkling her nose. "What is that going to be good for?"
Ignoring her, Ladybug glanced around. The tiny villains were busily eating away at their binds, and she cringed. Even if she had attempted to remove their stickers while they were plastered in honey, she would have gotten a firm bite on the hand by their extra-sharp teeth. As always, rounding up the akuma would take some creativity.
There, between two of the buildings to her left, was a courtyard. It was lined with carefully pruned bushes and topped with a center walkway featuring a happily running fountain. Ladybug patterns mapped out her every move, and the superheroine could see the plan before her eyes.
"Queen Bee! Take Chat Noir away—up to a roof or something; just get him out of here," Ladybug commanded her new teammate.
"Ugh, why?"
"Just do it, okay?"
Without further protest, the yellow-striped girl grabbed the unconscious Chat by the collar and flew over the roofs of Paris, off to deposit him somewhere safe.
Good, Ladybug thought. The further away from here, the better.
And then, she waited. One by one the children were freeing themselves from the honey, stalking towards Ladybug and the fake Chat. As soon as the last one broke free, the girl darted towards the fountained courtyard, drew herself up into the air on her yo-yo, and dropped the Chat-doll into the midst of the bushes.
The akumatized children swarmed. Like pigeons to a loaf of bread, they were upon the doll in seconds, biting, tearing out seams and stuffing. They didn't seem to notice that this wasn't actually Chat Noir. Which was good: this way, Ladybug's plan would work.
The red-suited heroine dropped lightly into the grass of the courtyard, separated from the rabid children only by the space of a bush. As focused as they were on attacking what they thought to be Chat, Ladybug was able to reach through the bushes and yank away the girls' stickers. She managed to get all but one before the last champion took notice of her and swerved away, growling.
Dragging the Chat-doll out onto the street with her teeth buried in its ankle, the akuma villain fled from Ladybug. Filled with determination, the heroic girl was right on the ballerina's tail, diving after her to get to her sticker.
Ladybug had taken the reward stars away from the other were-children, but she hadn't torn them yet, waiting to cleanse them all at once. So the other children soon came to their angry senses and scrambled after the heroine.
Just in time, Queen Bee returned from her trip to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Chloe knew that Marinette was acquainted with Chat Noir, so she figured leaving the black-clad boy on her balcony would be a safe bet. However, on her way back, the winged girl had picked up the tail of that dogged reporter, Alya, and had been followed by screeching tires to the scene of the battle.
Needless to say, Queen Bee was pissed by the time she returned to Ladybug.
This had better be the last time, she thought as she trapped the children once again with her honey. Only one ballerina managed to evade—the one with fake-Chat clenched in her teeth. Ladybug didn't seem to mind, though, and dove after that one with a triumphant cry.
Several things happened at once: one, Nino and Alya drove up to the scene, the latter wielding a camera and calling after her favorite superheroes; two, the hypnotized little girl dropped ragdoll-Chat, who was now missing an arm and covered in dirt, as she reeled away from Ladybug; and, three, Alya dropped her phone in horror, and both she and Nino took off running towards their friends, calling out Chat's name.
The stockinged akuma victim dashed away, stopping only to step on Alya's phone, crushing it. Ladybug took off in pursuit, and sirens started up in the distance.
Just blocks away, Felix had seen and heard the past few minutes play out, and, catching only a fleeting glimpse of what he assumed to be his brother—broken, ragged, and limp—he imagined the worst.
