To Butterfly: Let's just say that this battle is the closest I've come to just giving in and resorting to "head-hopping" (jumping POV from between characters in rapid succession – that's common in fan fiction but generally frowned on in writing), or else switched to more of a "fly-on-the-wall" narrative style. The only reason I didn't is because I already established a mechanism for doing exactly that while retaining the same third-person-limited POV! As far as "It Came from Outer Space," that's the title of a 1953 horror movie, and I borrowed it for a title. There really isn't any deeper connection than that beyond the genre and at least one plot element.

To StarDaPanda225: Google Translate is my friend! Some of the time I just play around with translating the animal and/or concept to get the hero name ("Coyotemaria" is "Coyote" and "temeraria" ("reckless") because it's the Miraculous of Recklessness). Given names I use Wikipedia lists of people from their country of origin to get a feel for common names – cus I mean, if Jueran Eazim's name was "Bob," married to "Marsha," with a son "Frank," that would be weird. They're Egyptian Arabs for crying out loud! Sometimes there's a deeper meaning behind the name, though.

It certainly would be a shame if something were to mess up their plans, wouldn't it?

To Annie Holshouser: I love throwing in those little "Easter eggs"/references here and there! At some point both of those teams will definitely have to show up!

Pegasus stood in front of the wall of computer monitors in his lab, all of which displayed split-screen feeds from six different security cameras each. Markov and Turing hovered on either side of him, their own displays activated. In addition to the police traffic cameras, Pegasus had also finished building a quartet of new drones the day before, one of which he had sent with each of their three teams to their warehouses. The three teams of heroes had arrived at their rally points five minutes earlier; all that was missing were the police officers who would assist them. On the other side of the lab, Impératrice Pourpre had two tablets set up in front of her, connected with the American and African teams that were waiting for the signal to begin their part of the operation.

In the security feeds showing the three warehouses in question, all three looked roughly identical: nondescript commercial buildings approximately ten meters in height, set against the riverfront with a short dock jutting out into the Seine. Each building had two doors large enough for semi trailers on the side opposite the river. The loading yards in front of the warehouses were all clear of obstructions to a distance of 40 meters, with shipping containers and wrecked cars placed strategically beyond that distance. The cameras showed no movement from any of the locations. Pegasus glanced at another display: there was a low level of power usage at the warehouses.

"Onça Feroz says that Velocimonio and Coyotemaria are in position and waiting for our signal," Impératrice Pourpre reported, not looking up from her tablets. "Sent-Bee and her team are ready."

"Captain Raincomprix and his men are in position," chirped Markov.

Pegasus nodded and thumbed his communicator to the open channel, his finger hovering over the button to deploy his virus. "Commence the operation in three, two, one… now!" On that signal, the screens in front of him lit up with activity.

At the first warehouse, Taureau Dechaine turned the corner five blocks away and charged down the street, gaining momentum as he went. Three windows along the front of the warehouse smashed outward as the men inside the warehouse saw him and all concentrated fire on him. Taureau Dechaine withdrew the cattle prod from his back, spun it in front of himself as a shield, but did not slow down. Two police vans turned onto the street behind him, raced after him, and stopped on reaching the entrance to the loading yard, forming a barricade. Police officers spilled out of the vans and began firing past Taureau Dechaine at the warehouse guards. When he was halfway across the loading yard, Taureau Dechaine lowered his head and bellowed, "Stampede!" With a final burst of speed he slammed through the center warehouse door, which tore from its hinges and flew across the room. At the same moment, Rena Rouge and Multiplice appeared out of thin air on the warehouse roof as Rena Rouge's Mirage wore off, and the two heroes crashed through upper windows on opposite sides of the warehouse. Pegasus gave a command, and the drone followed Rena Rouge through the shattered window into the brightly-lit main room.

Simultaneously, Viperion, King Monkey, Ayilon, and the Heretic charged the second warehouse from two different directions. As the guards inside the warehouse separated and opened up on them, King Monkey picked up Ayilon and threw her in a high arc so she landed on the warehouse roof. No sooner had she landed than she drew her bow and yelled, "Plec-Drone!" She ran her bow along the edge of the roof, and the entire warehouse began to vibrate and thrum. The energy weapons inside the warehouse ceased firing instantly. Pegasus winced: even the noise-canceling built into the miraculous communicators could not entirely deaden the cacophony. King Monkey in the lead, the other three burst through the warehouse door.

Lupa Gris, Geber, and the Owl appeared from behind the warehouse next to their target, and approached cautiously from its left side. The guards inside the warehouse responded by focusing their fire on the Owl, who whipped his cape in front of himself as a shield. The first several energy beams dissipated across the length of the fabric before it started emitting little wisps of smoke from the edges. By that time, however, the barrels of the energy rifles had all been sliced clean off. Bengalia appeared at the far corner of that wall, where she stuck one of her claws through the space between the door and the jamb and cut through the deadbolt. Geber kicked the door open, and the four heroes charged inside.

"Whatever you did with this cape, it worked remarkably well!" the Owl observed, giving the drone hovering above his head an appreciative node.

"Heat-resistant mesh sewn into the fabric," replied Pegasus, grinning. "However, I would caution you to avoid stress-testing it while wearing it. I have not had the opportunity to find its limit yet."

"Lupa Gris reports minimal resistance," Turing stated. "Viperion reports the same. No Dark Acolytes at either location."

Pegasus furrowed his brow and examined the drone feed from inside Rena Rouge's warehouse. Aside from the three men who had fired on Taureau Dechaine, only two more workers were visible inside the warehouse. All five had already surrendered the moment the Heroes breached the warehouse walls and surrounded them. The warehouse itself was largely empty, apart from the broken-down remains of two wooden crates as well as a conveyor belt along the far wall. Shifting to the other drones, the story at the other two warehouses was the same: a minimal number of guards and other workers inside, and little evidence of the drugs and contraband Lynchpin had stored there. "This makes little sense…" he muttered to himself.

Looking across the room at Impératrice Pourpre, she had the same worried look on her face that must have been on his. "Why wouldn't there be anything there?" she wondered. "We confirmed it yesterday; what could have happened to change it?"

Pegasus shook his head in confusion. "It could be a coincidence: he elects to move his drugs to a different location as a precaution. However, abandoning three warehouses simultaneously hours before scheduled police raids is too coincidental – the odds of just one are only 20% based on his previous operations; for all three to be abandoned… Based on available evidence, Lynchpin must have discovered our plan," Pegasus replied, his frown deepening. "But how could he have learned it?"

Impératrice Pourpre's jaw dropped, her eyes growing wide. "Dad has known the plan since we made it…"

Pegasus shook his head and leaned over to cover her hand with his. "Do not jump to that conclusion just yet. If Lynchpin had known for that long, it is statistically likely that he would have arranged a trap of some variety, at least at one of the warehouses, if not all three. However, it appears that the warehouses were just… empty. The evidence suggests that he has not known about our plan for long–"

She gasped. "My dad briefed his men this morning!" she told him, wide-eyed. "He mentioned it at breakfast."

Pegasus muttered a curse. "We must have missed a mole!" he groaned, shifting computer feeds to search traffic camera footage since the morning.

"What should we do now?" demanded Rena Rouge, an irritated edge to her voice.

Pegasus groaned, clenching one hand into a fist: how was he supposed to know that? He did not have any answers for her yet – for anyone, for that matter. He switched channels on his communicator. "Captain, when did you brief your men?" he asked curtly.

"Two hours ago," Raincomprix replied, confused. "Why?"

He didn't have time to respond. Plugging the information into a program, Pegasus ran the simulation. All of their planning, and they may still fail to deal the major blow to Lynchpin and his drug dealing operation! "Examine all camera feeds to which we have access, based on this tracking model," he ordered Turing.

"Rena Rouge wants to know what to do now," Markov informed him.

"I know!" he retorted, glaring at the robot, which drifted away from him. He felt Impératrice Pourpre squeeze his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. "Tell her… to search the warehouse for clues," he finally answered. The probability of Lynchpin's people leaving anything behind was no more than 25%, but it was still possible for them to make a mistake. "And task the drones to scan all the warehouses inside and out, as well as the surrounding area," he added as an afterthought. On the screen, he watched the Heroes at the three warehouses looking around at each other, moving aimlessly.

Impératrice Pourpre moved her hand up to Pegasus' shoulder and squeezed softly. "We can't blame ourselves," she whispered. "We are good, but our enemies are pretty good, too."

His eyes still closed, Pegasus took a measured breath and reviewed the data. They had only observed these warehouses for 24 hours before acting on the information, but– His eyes shot open in realization and he hit a button. "Rena, it is unlikely that the equipment at your warehouse could have been moved in the available time," he informed her briskly. "Check for any trapdoors in the floor." Switching channels he ordered Geber, "Use Vigilance. It may locate the enemies who were at that warehouse."

"A semi truck left warehouse two 34 minutes ago," Turing announced, displaying the traffic camera footage on his holoprojector. "It is still en route to its destination."

"Send Viperion the location of that truck," ordered Pegasus. At the same moment he received an alert from Rena Rouge.

"Multiplice found an elevator hidden in the floor," Rena Rouge reported. Taureau Dechaine stood together near the center of the warehouse, while Rena Rouge guarded the two conscious prisoners who were sitting with their backs against the wall.

"Acknowledged," Pegasus answered. "Be careful." Switching channels he called Raincomprix. "Tell your men at warehouse one to advance cautiously. The perimeter is secure, but there may still be resistance inside. The contraband at warehouse two has been moved, and Viperion has the potential location of the vehicle carrying it."

"We're on it," Raincomprix replied.

Across the traffic cameras an orange ring spread through the city, centered on warehouse three. The ring expanded to encompass three arrondissements before narrowing down into a single orange line that shot back in the direction of the warehouse. Pegasus flipped through traffic cameras to find the other end of the line: another warehouse near Boulevard Périphérique. As he watched, one of the men standing outside glanced down to see the orange line before turning to yell something into the warehouse. "Lupa, I am sending you the location for another warehouse," Pegasus reported. "Vigilance has already alerted them that you are en route."

"America reports no problems completing their missions," Impératrice Pourpre reported, letting out a relieved breath. "The Africa team has met some resistance, but Sent-Bee says they can handle it."

The police moved in to take positions at the doors of warehouse one and secure their prisoners while Rena Rouge, Taureau Dechaine, and the army of mini-Multiplice clones entered the hidden basement, the drone hovering above their heads. At the other two warehouses, the drones shot higher into the air to track the teams of heroes racing away after Lynchpin's people, with police cruisers following in their wake.

The lab door opened behind Pegasus, and without turning around he asked, "I assume you have all been watching. What is your decision on Phase Two?"

Ladybug hummed. "Could Lynchpin's mole have told him about the Rouen plan?"

Pegasus turned his back on the monitors, folded his arms, and shook his head. "We did not even inform Captain Raincomprix of the Rouen raid, so the mole cannot know about it," he answered.

Ladybug furrowed her brow in thought. "In that case, let's do it," she decided. "But since the other three teams still haven't finished their missions yet, Cat Noir and I should stay here as backup just in case."

Pegasus nodded and followed her out into the butterfly garden, where the last team was waiting. "Voyage!"

AN: Chapter 2 actually takes place during this chapter and moves to Egypt. The "Dangling Voyage" gets resolved in Chapter 3.