Disclaimer: I don't own ML.
Thanks to The Keeper of Worlds, Multimouse, Shiranai Atsune, acosta perez jose ramiro and yellow 14 for your reviews :)
As Ladybug swings through Paris after Adrien's departure, people stop and point and whisper after her, but she can't find it in her to give half a damn about what they're saying. Honestly, being Marinette would be way preferable to being Ladybug right now, because then at least she could go undetected in the crowd and not have to deal with the fallout of Adrien's revealed identity nearly as much as she does now, because there's no way that's not what at least half the people down there are talking about.
God, what is she even going to do if Adrien does lose his Miraculous? Sure, she can work with another partner to get the job done, but…they won't be Chat Noir. They won't have that nearly-unspoken bond that she and Chat Noir have built. They won't have the experience, they weren't there on that first day when she was at her most inexperienced and her lowest, but she's being selfish by continuing down this train of thought, she needs to do what's right for Paris –
"Uh, Ladybug?" Chloé's tapping her foot with crossed arms in front of Ladybug. Huh. Ladybug's on the roof of Le Grand Paris. When had she arrived at the hotel? "Are you gonna stand there all day, or should I just go and announce your presence to Hawkmoth?"
"Sorry." Ladybug shakes her head. "Just…got a lot on my mind."
Chloé's face softens. "Whatever. Just c'mon, already. Souris, Ryuuko, and Luka are already here."
When Chloé had mentioned a superhero suite, Ladybug had been picturing a spacious hotel room; nothing too big, but certainly big enough for a team of six – now seven – superheroes. What she hadn't been expecting, however, is a massive spread of three rooms to rival Chloé's imperial suite, and her mouth falls open when Chloé holds the door open for her and she gets her first glimpse.
"I know, right?" Chloé says smugly. "Daddy nearly fell over himself to arrange it when I said that I came with a request from the superheroes themselves. It doesn't have much yet, but I can get whatever movies we want and a mini fridge and microwave in case we want snacks or need to refuel our kwamis, and there's only one bed but I plan on getting more –"
"Chloé. Honey," Ladybug interrupts with a wan smile. "It's perfect. Thank you for being so considerate."
"Oh, of course." Chloé tosses her ponytail. "Anyway, I'm gonna go back up there to wait for the fox and turtle."
"Thanks, Chloé."
Once Chloé shuts the suite door behind her, Ladybug turns to head into the right room, assuming the layout is the same as Chloé's suite. Sure enough, she finds Ryuuko, Luka, and Petite Souris waiting on massive white couches, with platters of food on the table for them to snack on.
"Ma – Ladybug!" Luka's eyes light up when she enters the room.
"You," Ladybug growls, "are an idiot and I'm going to kill you."
Luka's face falls. "I don't regret a thing," he says. "I'd do it ten times over if it meant keeping you all safe."
"Logically, it was the smart move," Ryuuko says. "But I agree with Ladybug. I just might end up throttling you for it."
"I don't understand anything that's going on right now, and I'm afraid to ask," Petite Souris says, looking between each of them while blinking slowly.
"You'll find out soon enough," Ladybug says. Ryuuko and Luka's eyes widen.
"Are you sure?" Ryuuko says.
"I'm positive," Ladybug says. "Hawkmoth knows who Chat Noir is now. We need to be able to fully work together as a team, in and out of the masks."
Chloé returns at that moment with Rena Rouge and Carapace, who look like they've been bashed around the head as they take in the suite. Chloé just snorts and sits next to Petite Souris, whose jaw drops along with Luka's at the sight of Pollen poking her head out of her cardigan.
"What?" Chloé snaps. "I know I fucked up as Queen Bee, but I've been a damn good Honeybee."
"Hey, no one's saying you're not," Ladybug says. "Calm down, Chloé. I just don't think they were expecting you to be Honeybee because of how we made sure to throw everyone off the trail."
"Oh. Right."
"It doesn't feel right without Adrien here," Rena Rouge says after a few seconds of silence. Ladybug sighs and pulls her legs up so that she can hug her knees.
"I know. I hope his father doesn't grill him too much. But there's no way we're replacing him, no matter how angry Mr Agreste gets."
"Y'know, I never hated anyone except Hawkmoth before," Carapace says. "But I kinda feel like that about Lila now for all the shit she's done."
"Don't hate her," Luka says. "That's energy you could be directing elsewhere."
"Luka's right," Ryuuko says. "Pour that energy into Adrien instead of Lila."
"Um," Ladybug says. "So, uh…I guess I should tell you all that I'm not in a four-way love square, but I am dating Adrien. Chat. Both."
"Say, what?" Rena Rouge squints at Ladybug. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"Because I'm tired of keeping secrets." Ladybug clenches her fists. "Hawkmoth already knows who Chat Noir is, and part of the Miraculous magic means that akumas can't read our minds or make us say who we are. The only thing they can do is take our Miraculouses themselves or brainwash us into physically coming to them as a Miraculous holder."
"We're revealing our identities?" Chloé says. "I mean, your identities, since everyone already knows who I am. Thanks, Shellhead."
"Hey, that's my nickname for him," Rena Rouge complains. Chloé flips her off in response.
"Ryuuko and Luka already know who both of us are," Ladybug says. "And Chat and I know every one of you. So, back to why I just mentioned the whole relationship mess." Ladybug takes a deep breath and laces her fingers. This is it. No going back. But she'd trust every single teammate with her life – even Petite Souris, after today – and if knowing each other will strengthen their bonds? "We need to be able to fully trust each other, in and out of the mask. We're a team. We've got the group chat to coordinate, but some of us know an identity or two, so our dynamic is rather…imbalanced if you ask me. And since Hawkmoth knows who Chat is, he could target Chat to find out our identities. It can't possibly be any more dangerous for all of us to know each other if the pay-off is a stronger bond between all of us. Unlike Hawkmoth and his akumas, we can rely on each other."
"Dude, if you're trying to convince us, I don't think you need to," Carapace says. Ladybug's lips twitch.
"I just want a promise from all of you," she says. "Today, I was nearly distracted to the point of uselessness because someone I care about – Luka – was hurt by Sanguisuga. And ever since Chat and I found out each other's identities, it's become so much harder to watch him take hits for me. I want you all to promise that you'll see each other as teammates first and friends second. Don't just ignore your teammates and not care, obviously, but don't let yourselves get distracted and take unnecessary hits. One of the reasons to keep our identities secret is so that if, say, two of us were best friends or dating, we wouldn't let our emotions get the better of us in the middle of a fight."
"Of course," Ryuuko says. "And besides, your cure fixes everything."
Ladybug lets out a shaky laugh. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. But even if I'm not around to fix things –"
"Ridiculous," Chloé scoffs. "Ladybug always wins. You just have to accept that if it comes down to it, we have to take the hits for you so you can fix everything. It's not us being ridiculously noble or whatever. It's literally just common sense."
"Apart from Adrien," Rena Rouge snorts. "God, now I get why he was crushing so hard on Ladybug. But hey, I haven't been ridiculously noble, have I?"
"No," Ladybug says. "You've done a good job of prioritising the mission since Faux News."
"I promise," Petite Souris says. Rena Rouge and Carapace chime in their agreement, so Ladybug cracks a weak smile while still fiddling with her fingers.
"So, uh, who wants to go first?" she says.
"Ooh, me!" Rena Rouge bounces on the spot with gleaming eyes. "If I have to keep it a secret any longer, I'm gonna explode. Let's rest." In a flash of orange light, Alya's sitting in her spot with Trixx drifting down to sit on her shoulder. The way Carapace's eyes pretty much bulge out of his head behind his goggles is so comical that Ladybug almost ends up in hysterical giggles. Almost. If she didn't have to be professional about this…
"I – uh – guh –" Carapace splutters.
"Eww!" Chloé leans away from Alya. "I've been bonding with Césaire?"
"You think it wasn't a slap in the face knowing you were Honeybee?" Alya says with a raised eyebrow. "Especially since I had to help you by throwing everyone off after Malediktator?"
"Blueberries!" Trixx zooms at the plate of fruit and dives into the berries. Chloé wrinkles her nose when he shovels one into his mouth.
"At least my kwami is dignified," Chloé says. Pollen laughs and slips out of Chloé's jacket to hover in mid-air.
"Indeed, my queen," she says.
"Shell off," Carapace manages to force out. An ashen-faced Alya chokes and nearly falls off the couch when Nino appears next to her in Carapace's place.
"Nino?" she shrieks. "My superhero rival – my boyfriend?"
"I hated your guts!" Nino jabs a finger at her. "I thought you were flirting with me!"
"I wasn't! I thought you were a dick! We hated each other because we loved each other?"
"Wait, you love me?" Nino's eyes fill with stars. Alya groans and facepalms.
"Yes, you idiot! I even started to like Carapace, like some sort of superhero cliché, but noooo, I had to be loyal to my boyfriend because I'm not polyamorous! And it turns out that he was my love-hate rival!"
"DJ Tupac? Of course!" Chloé throws her hands up in the air. "And let me guess, dragon girl's secretly Marinette or something?"
Ryuuko snorts. "Wrong red superhero with black hair. Open skies."
The first person who seems to put all the puzzle pieces together upon seeing Kagami is Alya. Her eyes nearly pop out of her head, and she opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish, and then she shakily points from Ladybug to Kagami and then Luka.
"You – all of you – dating – and all of us – ohmygodmybestieisLadybugI'mgonnafuckingdie –"
"Please don't," Ladybug laughs, while Nino, Chloé, and Petite Souris splutter and have their own freak-outs at the realisation of her identity. "I'd hate to have to replace you. Spots off."
"Finally!" Kagami bounds over to Marinette's couch so that she can wrap her arms around Marinette's waist and rest her head in Marinette's lap, while Longg floats up to join his fellow kwamis. Luka's only seconds behind, dropping down next to Marinette and drawing her into a side embrace.
"Hello!" Tikki settles on Marinette's head and waves. "I'm Tikki, Ladybug's kwami! Pleased to finally meet you all!"
"That's the toy I gave Prince Ali! I looked up to Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé shrieks. "All that bullying and then sucking up – oh my god, this is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous –"
"Look at it this way, Chloé," Marinette says. "How else did I know how your progress was going? Why else would I have picked you for the Bee?"
"I – I mean, sure, if you look at it that way –"
"Get calm!" Petite Souris blurts out and turns into Mylène in a flash of pale pink light.
"Mylène?" Alya exclaims. "Wait, since when are you a superhero, girl?"
"Since today." Mylène holds her head high despite how her whole body is trembling. On her knee, the little rat kwami – Mullo, Marinette believes his name is – shoots her an approving look. "I understand if I wasn't your first choice, Ladybug. Chat Noir said that I was the first one he could find –"
"That doesn't make you a bad choice," Marinette says firmly. "You did very well today. You saved me and Kagami, and you tried to take on Sanguisuga even though you were scared. You were super brave. Maybe Petite Souris can help you be brave as Mylène too."
"Ugh, no wonder you were all "triumph of evil is good people doing nothing" and whatever," Chloé says.
"Actually, that was thanks to me," Alya says. "Ladybug's best friend. Who I said I'd do on my freebie list. Oh my god."
"Guys, the reveal was to make us stronger, not make us argue over little stuff," Marinette says before Alya can start freaking out at the realisation that her celebrity crush is her best friend.
"We've been reactive for way too long," Kagami says. "Hawkmoth now knows Chat Noir's identity. We need to proactively try and find him before he can cause more harm."
"Honestly, part of the reason why we've been so reactive is that Tikki didn't think we were ready," Marinette admits. "Who knows how long he's been a Butterfly wielder? But with this team, I know we can take a more proactive stance."
"We should start coming up with some ideas now, then," Luka says. "You can fill Adrien in through the group chat tonight."
"Good idea!" Mylène rummages around in her bag for a notebook and pen. "We can write our ideas down in here. I'm always prepared for when Ivan thinks of song lyrics and doesn't have anything to write them down with!"
"So." Marinette cards her fingers through Kagami's hair; such a normal action as opposed to the conversation they're about to have. "Any ideas?"
But before anyone can toss a suggestion into the air, a tiny black thing comes barrelling through the open window of the superhero suite and skids to a halt above the table of food.
Wait. It's not a thing. It's…Plagg? With the ring around him?
"Plagg?" Marinette gasps. "What are you doing here? Where's Adrien?"
"I'm sorry!" Plagg says with wild green eyes. "I'm sorry, Marinette, I tried to stop it, but I –"
"Plagg, slow down!" Tikki zooms up to Plagg and grabs his tiny paws, and she's joined by Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen, Longg, and Mullo. "Was Adrien compromised? Tell us what happened."
Plagg nods shakily. "So, Pigtails, remember when you and Adrien thought his dad could be Hawkmoth?"
Marinette claps a hand to her mouth to keep down the bile that threatens to rise into her throat. "Mr Agreste is Hawkmoth?" she whispers. "But – Adrien's there! With him! And I just let him go! Plagg, what happened to Adrien?"
"His mother's alive," Plagg rasps. "Creepy dude's been keeping her in some life support thing in the basement. That's why he wants the Miraculouses: he wants to wish her back."
"Wait, what?" Mylène says, while Chloé pales to the colour of chalk.
"A-Auntie Emilie?" she whispers.
"Combining the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses lets you make one wish," Tikki says. "But doesn't he know that he has to pay a price of equal value? What if he has to sacrifice Adrien?"
"Doesn't even matter right now." Plagg covers his face with his hands and groans. "I shouldn't have left! I shouldn't have ditched my kitten like that! Now he's Phantom and –"
"Wait. Phantom?" Luka leans forward so suddenly that Marinette nearly topples sideways. One look at his face is enough to make Marinette shiver, because Luka Couffaine isn't a boy who gets angry easily, but his expression right now is terrifying enough to make her want to hand over her earrings just to erase it from existence. "Adrien was akumatised?"
Chloé lets out a loud gasp, while everyone else looks to be turning various shades of green. "Adrikins! How could his father do that to him?"
"He tried to resist," Plagg says miserably. "My poor kitten tried so hard. But between finding out his dad's Hawkmoth and his mum's alive…he managed to resist enough to not tell Hawkie who you guys are, though."
"So…is Phantom going to come after us, even if he didn't reveal who we are?" Kagami says, pushing herself up so that she can reach over and grab Marinette and Luka's hands. "He knows our identities."
"Not yet." Plagg shakes his head viciously. "As far as he knows, you guys aren't meeting till tonight. But…he's gonna take Hawkmoth to get other Miraculouses."
Marinette shrieks and tries to jump to her feet so quickly that her arms are forced to windmill so that she doesn't fall flat on her face. "Master Fu! He knows where to find Master Fu!"
"Master who?" Chloé says.
"Master Fu!" Wayzz's yellow eyes are wide with horror. "The Guardian of the Miraculouses! My previous holder!"
"Guys!" Marinette takes a deep breath and starts mildly flapping her hands to give her a physical anchor to focus on. "Okay. Make sure you stick together. We don't know how strong Phantom is or what his powers are, especially if Hawkmoth is with him. I have to get to Master Fu before Phantom does."
"Possession and bending others to his will," Plagg says quietly. "He's literally a ghost. A shade of himself."
Marinette winces. "Great. God, I hope Adrien doesn't remember any of this when we save him…"
"Bits and pieces." Chloé's shoulders slump. "They're not really concrete memories. They're like little flashes that come when there's a reminder."
"We'll come with you," Kagami says, then holds up a hand before Marinette can protest. "You shouldn't go alone in case Phantom and Hawkmoth are there. We can help take down Hawkmoth, and I can at least buy us some time to get away if we need to retreat."
"So can I, with Mirage," Alya chimes in.
"Kagami's right," Tikki says. "Master Fu would much rather you bring back-up, even if it means other people knowing where he is. And if Hawkmoth finds him, it won't really matter much, will it?"
"You're right," Marinette sighs. "Okay. Plagg, where's the akuma, do you know?"
"The charm you gave him back during the game tournament." Plagg's ears droop. "It's around his wrist. That's all I saw before I got the heck outta there."
"Everyone get that?" Marinette says, and her teammates nod. "Don't take unnecessary risks. We've got each other's backs, but don't lose focus, or Hawkmoth could get away with Adrien and the Miracle Box. Speaking of…Luka, if you're willing, could you –?"
Plagg's already swooping down to Luka before Marinette can finish speaking. Luka nods and holds out his hand so that Plagg can rest on his palm and deposit the ring.
"Of course, Marinette," he says, slipping the ring onto his finger.
"Right. Let's do this!" Marinette says. "Tikki, spots on!"
"Plagg, claws out!"
"Trixx, let's pounce!"
"Pollen, buzz on!"
"Wayzz, shell on!"
"Longg, bring the storm!"
"Mullo, get squeaky!"
In a burst of rainbow light, seven superheroes take the place of seven teenagers. Luka's Black Cat outfit is him to a tee: just a green-lined black leather jacket with a green paw print on the back of the jacket and his black fingerless gloves, over a high-collared black top, torn black pants with bright green visible beneath the rips, black combat boots, a studded black belt that falls into a tail behind him, green cat eyes behind a plain black mask, and green-lined black cat ears sticking out of his hair, which is now tipped in bright green. He reaches back to unclip his baton from the small of his back and nods, his mouth set in a stormy line.
"Just call me Noir," he says. "Doesn't feel right to come up with a name and everything when I'm not the real Black Cat. And Hawkmoth will probably guess who I am anyway."
With a terrifying light in her eyes, Honeybee cracks her knuckles and growls, "That son of a bitch is gonna pay for what he's done to my Adrikins."
"Sorry, Honeybee, but you'll have to get in line," Ryuuko says, unsheathing her sword. The zing that results is sharp and deadly, honing Ladybug's focus to the mission before her because with no Chat Noir, it's up to her to step up and be the sole leader. As amazing as Noir is, he's not Chat Noir.
"Everyone ready?" she says. Her teammates nod, so she takes a deep breath. "Then let's go and kick butterfly butt."