LAST TIME: As our heroes prepare for Heroes Day, so do our villains. Volpina has tricked the people of Paris into believing that Ladybug has joined Hawkmoth and killed Chat Noir with his own Cataclysm. Phase One of Hawkmoth's plan has been fulfilled. Now he moves on to Phase Two...

"Wow. That took longer than I thought." Adrien wiped down the counters as Marinette and her parents packed the last of the delicacies for that evening into the Dupain-Cheng catering van. "Was that the entire lunch break?"

Marinette wiped her brow. "And then some. I hope we can get an excused tardy. It is Heroes Day after all." She unlocked her phone for the first time since arriving home. "Uh… I have 37 missed calls from Alya…" Adrien showed her the same number of missed calls from Nino on his device. The girl held the phone to her ear as it rang. "Something must be wrong."

"Marinette?"

"Hey Alya. What's-"

"Are you okay? Are you and Adrien safe?"

Startled by the question, Marinette turned the conversation to speaker so that Adrien could hear as well. "We're fine. We just took a little longer than we thought helping my parents. We're about to leave to head back to school." She heard Alya sigh with relief. "What happened? Why did you call so many times?"

"I can't explain now. Just get back to the school as fast as you can. Find Nino and me when you get here."Without another word, the girl hung up. The teens shared a brief glance before rushing to grab their things.

"Maman, Adrien and I are going back to school! Bye!" They were gone before Sabine had a chance to pop her head around the corner.

Marinette patted her bag to alert Tikki that they may need to transform soon. The teens raced into the school courtyard, seeing everything crying, on their phone, or both. Adrien lost his breath for a moment as Nino crashed into him.

"DUDE! You're alright!"

Alya quietly tried to pry them apart. "Nino, we need to keep a low profile, remember?" She hissed. The girl rubbed Marinette's back as if to reassure herself that her friend was actually there.

"Guys, WHAT is going on?" Marinette looked around the courtyard again. Nino led the group to a secluded area under the stairs.

"We have to show you." Alya already had her news app open.

"The reports are as we feared, Parisians: CHAT NOIR IS DEAD. It appears Ladybug has joined forces with Hawkmoth. This is dark day for our city." Nadja struggled to keep her on-air persona together. Behind her, Jagged Stone held a weeping Clara Nightingale.

"With those kids gone, nothin' will be rock 'n roll again." Jagged muttered.

Clara's sobs stopped as she pointed off screen in fear. "What are those?"

An angry swarm enveloped the trio in a malevolent, red light. The screen turned to static before revealing a terrifying sight. Marinette clutched Adrien's arm.

"Sorry for the interference, folks." Nadja was gone. In her place was Prime Queen. "We just needed a moment to prepare for the coming of…"

Guitar Villain leapt into frame, shredding an eerie tune. "…our new lead rock star…"

Frightningale twirled into view. "…Scarlet Moth!" Her innocent smile turned into sickening grin. "Wanna meet him?"

Suddenly, the school courtyard was flooded with red akumas. Screams rang in the air. The four teens remained stock-still under the stairs until they heard a commanding voice shout, "Don't let the fear control you! Stand strong. WE. ARE. PARISIAN! This way, everyone!" They emerged from their hiding spot to see Chloé ushering people into the building.

Spotting them, relief filled her face. "Am I glad to see you guys! We need to get everyone to safety and then take care of things!"

Marinette was first to snap into action. Grabbing Mr. Damocles, she pointed out where Chloé was sending the students. "Once they're all inside, you need to seal any cracks under doors and windows to keep any akumas out. Find a way to keep everyone's spirits up."

The principal nodded. Jogging to the door, he motioned to Ms. Bustier who was sheltering several students. "Caline! You're with me!"

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to find safety. Marinette whirled around as Ivan screamed. Mylène had transformed into Horrificator. Stoneheart appeared not long after.

Rose tripped as she ran with Juleka. She shrieked as the red light enveloped her. Juleka hesitated only a moment before running for safety. There was nothing she could do for Rose now; it was up to Ladybug.

Adrien knew that the teen heroes needed to leave the courtyard before something prevented them from leaving. He was about to shout at the team when suddenly, the boy yelped as all of the air was squeezed from his body. Turning his head, he saw that it was the Gorilla, transformed into Gorizilla. He kicked his legs as the creature tightened his grip.

"ADRIEN!" His head shot up. Marinette was pursuing him out of the courtyard and into the street, her arm outstretched.

"Don't worry about me!" He shouted. "I'll meet you guys at the Eiffel Tower!"

Marinette slowed her run into a jog before falling to the pavement, her chest heaving. Chloé knelt beside her, trying to get her to move. "Marinette, Adrien can take care of himself. He's got Plagg, right? Right now, we need to transform so we can take down Hawkmoth and help these people out."

"Not without me, you're not." Both girls were startled at the new voice.

"Nate?" Chloé asked incredulously. Her eyes nervously darted between the boy and Marinette. "How much of that did you hear?"

"I didn't need to hear much. I already know that you're Queen Bee." Nathaniel offered each of the girls a hand up. "And I'm guessing that you're Ladybug?" Marinette sighed.

"You knew?" Nate turned his attention back to his girlfriend.

"Yeah. But I didn't want you to know that I knew."

Before Chloé could respond, Marinette held up a hand. "Enough! Nate, we appreciate the effort, but you need to get yourself to safety."

He shook his head. "No way. If you're actually about to go up against Hawkmoth, you're going to need all of the help that you can get. Especially with all of these akumas running around at once." His face settled into a grimace. "Plus, I'd like to get back at that guy for the whole 'Evillustrator' thing."

Marinette threw her hands up in surrender. "Chloé? He's your boyfriend. It's your call." The blonde massaged the bridge of her nose.

"If we don't get him a Miraculous, he's just going to follow us and get himself into trouble." Chloé ducked into nearby alleyway to transform. Queen Bee emerged, swinging her spinning top. "I'll take him to the Eiffel Tower with… Carapace and Rena Rouge and wait for you and Chat Noir there." The heroine grabbed Nathaniel around the waist and launched her top. "Stop looking at me like that, Kurtzberg!"

xXx

Chat Noir was the last one to join the crew on the rooftop of Palais de Chaillot across the way from the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug took two steps before they enveloped each other in a crushing hug.

"You made it!" She sighed, relieved that he had escaped his former bodyguard.

He smirked. "No way I was missing this party, Bugaboo." Chat gestured to the crowd gathering at the bottom of the Tower. "Especially with all those guests." The duo joined everyone else crouched down behind the ledge.

"How many has he 'recruited'?"

Chat shook his head. "There's too many to count. From what I could see, he's got a lot of the heavy hitters like Gigantitan, Gorizilla, and Stoneheart. There could be dozens more, but I couldn't see past the big guys." The boy turned, seeing a new face. "I hate to be rude on the eve of our greatest battle, but… who are you, chicken boy?"

Carapace chuckled. The hero that had joined them definitely had a 'chicken' theme to his costume.

The new recruit simply smiled. "Sorry, Chat Noir. My name is Rocket Rooster. Ladybug generously allowed me to use the Rooster Miraculous and its power of Flamboyance to help you guys out." Chat Noir smiled and held out his hand.

"Welcome aboard."

Queen Bee scoffed. "Yay. We're all introduced. When can we whoop some akuma butt?"

"We can't just fly in there blind, Bee," Ladybug glared. "We need to know what they're planning…" She was cut off as Rena gasped and pointed.

"Look!"

From the shadows of an elevated viewing platform of the Eiffel Tower, emerged Scarlet Moth. The heroes had to strain to hear him from the great distance, but they could make out that he could see them and was taunting them.

Ladybug felt something nudge her leg. Chat Noir held up a megaphone and grinned.

"If you're going to show him who's boss, might as well make yourself heard." She kissed his cheek, taking the device from him.

The heroine stood on the ledge of the building, her team joining her. "HAWKMOTH! Today is the day you will face justice for all of the pain and suffering you have inflicted on the people of Paris!" As Ladybug delivered her speech, she noticed a blue figure standing next to the red. She briefly lowered the megaphone.

"It looks like Mayura is here." She hissed. "He's got to have someone else providing power for all of these akumas." Ladybug directed her next message at the woman by Scarlet Moth's side.

"MAYURA! There is still time. I don't know how he influenced you, but you must see that what Hawkmoth has been doing to Paris is WRONG! Lay down your Miraculous and join us!"

Silence hung in the air.

Ladybug saw Glaciator turn and fire a glob of deadly ice cream at their rooftop.

"DROP!" She shouted. The team followed her lead and the projectile missed sailed over their heads.

"Looks like war then." Ladybug muttered.