Here we are a chapter with an original villain. Probably not an imaginative one but an original nonetheless.

It was another day in Paris. Ladybug and Chat Noir were chasing down some bank robbers in a car. However, the robbers got a surprise in the form of a brick wall appearing in the middle of the road. The car exploded and as Ladybug and Chat Noir ran to the burning wreckage, bits and pieces of the robbers rained down on them. Big-Head patted his hands. "Well, that's that. Oh, I'll probably want to get rid of this." He took out a golf club and ball and placed the ball in front of the wall. "FORE!" He swung the ball and it struck the wall, destroying it. "My work here is done," he said as he took off.

Ladybug and Chat Noir growled. "Oh, that Big-Head," hissed Ladybug.

Alya frowned at the news footage of Big-Head committing a double homicide. "How is it that Ladybug and Chat Noir can't catch that guy? Or won't..." The bigger question was who Big-Head was. Maybe she was missing something. She looked into her notes of Big-Head so far. "Let's see. The Mask of Loki gives him the power to run on cartoon physics and become invincible. But it also makes you not care about the consequences of your actions. There's got to be someone who matches that profile."

She thought of some people. Alix? She was rash at times, but she was selfless. The same goes for Kim. It couldn't have been Chloe, despite being such a spoiled brat. And despite her faults, it couldn't have been Marinette. Besides, Big-Head was a man. And it couldn't have been the Mayor. Despite his corrupted nature, he didn't strike her as someone who would want to be a hero.

Then she thought of one person. Someone who was not afraid to express his hatred for Adrien's father. Someone who had a habit of breaking things whenever Adrien's father was brought up. Someone who liked to taunt people and not care about what he said.

"Rudi?"

At school, Alya was keeping a very close eye on Rudi. So close, she didn't see where she was going and bumped into Marinette. "Are you okay?"

Alya rubbed her sore forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What's going on? Normally, I'm the klutzy one."

Alya eyed Rudi suspiciously. Marinette followed her gaze as he walked into the bathroom. "Aw, I see. You've got a crush on him!"

"What?! No! This is serious! And, a bit more dangerous. I probably shouldn't say anything."

Marinette put her hands on her hips. "Alya, you're doing it again!"

Alya was confused. "Doing what?"

"Keeping secrets from me again! What is going on?"

Alya eyed the bathroom and dragged Marinette behind a pillar. "Okay, you know how I've been doing some research into Big-Head as well as Ladybug," she whispered.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Well, you know that part about how the Mask of Loki makes its wearers not care about the consequences of their actions?" Marinette nodded. "I think I might know who Big-Head is."

Marinette gasped. "YOU DO?!"

"Shh!" Alya put a hand over her friend's mouth. "You've got to keep this quiet! If I am right, this might be big!"

"So, who do you think it is?" Marinette asked, hushing her voice.

"I think..." Alya eyed the bathroom door again. "I think..." She couldn't say. Instead, she took out a slip of paper and wrote something on it. Marinette took one look and her eyes widened. "Rudi?"

"Think about it," said Alya. "He's always mouthing off people he doesn't like and practically laughs every time he gets a reaction. And of course, there's his hatred for Adrien's father." The more Marinette thought about it, the more it made sense. "Maybe we should tell Ladybug about this."

"Yes, we should." The bell suddenly rang. "Oops! We'll talk about it after school."

While the girls walked to Miss Bustier's class, Tikki whispered from Marinette's purse, "We should also tell Master Fu about this!"

"I know! We have to get that Mask away from Rudi!"

What the girls didn't know was that Rudi heard the whole thing.

See? I told you she wasn't to be trusted.

"Nah. She's just running on an assumption. There has to be a way to get her off my back," Rudi said as he closed the door to the bathroom and walked into one of the stalls. "And I think I might know how."

Marinette's mind was reeling. Had she been friends with the Big-Head killer this whole time and not even realize it?! She definitely had to tell Master Fu and Lieutenant Kellaway right away! Suddenly the teacher called out to her. "Yes, Miss Bustier?"

"I said have you seen Rudi? He's not here."

Marinette's eyes widened before turning to Alya. Her eyes were just as suspicious. "He went into the bathroom last I saw him."

"Probably got stuck in the toilet,"

"I'll go check on him," Adrien said.

Adrien knocked on the bathroom door. "Rudi? Are you okay?" No answer. He knocked on the door again and to his surprise, it fell in. His surprise turned to shock when he saw what was in the bathroom. Or what was left of it. The stalls were destroyed, the sinks were ripped off the walls and pipes were bursting out, spraying water everywhere. And there was a man-shaped hole in the wall.

"Whoa," Plagg said. "Looks like Rudi got a really bad case of the runs!"

"I don't think it's digestive problems that caused this!"

Adrien ran into the classroom, panting heavily. "He's gone! And the bathroom's a wreck!" Everyone in the classroom gasped and started murmuring.

"Do you think..." Alya whispered to Marinette.

"He must be!"

Suddenly, the wall burst with a huge explosion and Big-Head sauntered in before sitting down on Chloe's desk. "Sorry I'm late, teach." He tossed an apple at Miss Bustier, knocking her out.

"What are you doing?!" Chloe shrieked. "Get off my desk and get out of my class!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Alya. "I mean, I REALLY can't believe I'm saying this, but Chloe's right! Get out!" A spitball hit her between the eyes.

"Nah," said Big-Head as he put down the straw. "I came here because I want you all to be the first viewers to see the latest video!"

"What video?" asked Nino.

"Check your phones."

The kids did so and were shocked to see what was on it: Rudi in the middle of an abandoned warehouse with a sack over his head and tied to a chair. He was struggling and screaming, but it sounded as though he was gagged as the screams were muffled.

"What did you do to him," exclaimed Adrien.

"Brat didn't want my autograph." He jumped onto the desk. "So, I'm just keeping him there until he says yes."

"You won't get away with this, you green-faced meanie!" Rose shouted at him.

Big-Head patted her head. "Cute." He placed a rose in her ear and she yelped when the thorns cut her. "Well, I'm off! Gotta find a pen." He ran out the hole and down the street.

School was over early thanks to the damage Big-Head caused. The students chatted amongst themselves about what had happened. "Why would he kidnap that kid," Ivan asked Mylene.

"I don't know. I hope he doesn't hurt him."

"One less brat to worry about," Chloe said with a scoff. "Who knows? Maybe the next kid won't be a loser!" Sabrina laughed with her.

"Guess we can rule out Rudi being Big-Head," Alya whispered to Marinette as they walked home.

"Yeah. Now we know why the bathroom was destroyed. Big-Head wrecked it when Rudi didn't want his autograph. Why would he do that over an autograph?"

"Don't know. Like I said, he makes the Sapotis look like child's play." Alya paused. "The folklore, not my Akumatized sisters."

"I gotta get home," Marinette said. "My parents are probably worried."

"Right. See ya."

"See ya." The girls went in different directions and went home. Or so it seemed. Marinette looked around then ran behind a dumpster. She let Tikki out of her purse. "I can't believe he kidnapped someone again!"

"First Adrien, now Rudi," said the little Kwami.

"I'm going to give that olive head a piece of my mind."

"Wait! You don't even know where Rudi is!"

"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"

"Didn't you hear what I saaaaaaiiiiiiid...!"

Tikki was sucked into the earrings and in a flash of red and black, she turned into Ladybug. Ladybug ran out from behind the dumpster when someone tackled her. "Watch it!" She gently removed the woman from her body and patted herself off. "Wait. Aren't you Rudi's mother?"

"Please!" Mrs. Schaefer cried. "Find my son! When I saw that video, I..." She broke down sobbing.

"There you are!" Rudi's father ran up to her and wrapped her in his arms. "Ladybug," he said. "Do you know where my son is?"

"No. I don't. But I'll..." Ladybug's words were drowned out by Mrs. Schaefer's sobs. "I'll find him!" she yelled over the sobs before taking off.

Gabriel met his son in the dining room. "Perhaps I made a mistake taking you to school," he said. "I should have you home schooled again. That way I can keep my eye on you and make sure miscreants like Big-Head won't hurt you."

"No!" Adrien exclaimed. "Father, please don't!"

"Two people, Adrien. Two people have been kidnapped. You and now that mechanic's son. If something like this happens to you again, I am taking you out and transferring you to a new school far away from Big-Head." He left the dining room and closed the door behind him.

Adrien's fists clenched as Plagg came out from his shirt. "I know that look."

"I won't let Big-Head hurt my friends and I won't let him be the cause of me not having any. Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"

"Wait, you don't know the WAAAAAYYYYY!" Plagg was sucked into the ring and in a flash of black and green, Adrien turned into Chat Noir and jumped out the window.

At the warehouse, Big-Head walked toward the bound boy and snickered. "We sure fooled them, huh?" He patted Rudi's back and the head fell off. It was just a dummy. Rudi took off the Mask and kicked the dummy off. "Now I just wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to arrive," he said as he put on a gag and slipped a bag over his head and put on trick handcuffs. "They rescue me, and I'm off Alya and Marinette's hook!"

Did you really think this through? Like who else might see that video?

"Sure! Ladybug, Chat Noir, my friends..." Rudi's eyes widened. "My parents." He felt like slapping himself if he weren't handcuffed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Ladybug was running across the rooftop when she ran into Chat Noir. "Hey, Bugaboo!"

"No time for quips, Chat Noir," Ladybug said as the ran. "We've got to find Rudi!"

"Do you know where he is?"

"No."

Chat Noir froze, stunned by what he heard. Then he caught up to Ladybug and asked, "Wait, you have no idea where to find him?! What are we even doing?"

"I...I don't know!" She stopped. "I looked over the video! I can't find any indicator where he could be!"

"Did you really look closely?"

Ladybug took out her yo-yo and replayed the video. "See? There's no indication where Big-Head's holding him."

Chat Noir took a look at the video. His eyes squinted for a minute. "Wait. Do you see the logos on those crates behind Rudi?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"It's the logo of a shipping company in Marseille."

"Then Marseille is where we'll go."

Meanwhile, the Schaefers returned home, but Rudi's mother was still despondent. She clutched onto a locket containing a photo of Rudi as a three-year-old. She sobbed, "Oh, Rudi!"

The circular window to Hawk Moth's lair opened and butterflies swarmed around him. "What could be more powerful fodder for my Akumas than a mother's grief?" He grabbed one of the butterflies and turned it from white to purple before letting it go. "Fly away my little Akuma and evilize her!"

Mrs. Schaefer never noticed the butterfly flying toward her locket and it absorbed itself into the locket. Her face went blank as a baritone voice spoke in her mind, "La Llorona, I am Hawk Moth. Your cries of grief shall paralyze anyone standing between you and your son. In return for your service, you will bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous and Big-Head's Mask of Loki!"

"Anything for my son," Mrs. Schaefer wailed as purple smoke enveloped her.

"Henrietta?" Mr. Schaefer came into the living room only to freeze in terror at the sound of a wailing cry.

Up on the rooftops, Ladybug and Chat Noir were racing toward Marseille when Ladybug's yo-yo rang. She checked it to see a news update. "This is Nadja Chameck reporting and..." Nadja's report was interrupted by a loud, piercing wail that suddenly made her freeze in fear. Someone stepped in front of the camera. It looked like a woman in a long white dress, wild black hair and pale skin. Her eyes were leaking a waterfall of tears. The woman wailed, "AY MIS HIJOS!"

Ladybug's eyes widened in realization. "That's Rudi's mother!"

"We have to go back!" Chat Noir said.

"But, what about Rudi?"

"We'll deal with him later. We got to capture the Akuma."

Ladybug nodded. "Right."

With that, the heroes turned around and headed back to Paris.

They were surprised to find the people in the street frozen with looks of fear on their faces, some of them familiar like Alya, Rose, Nino and Juleka. "What happened to them?"

"Get down!" Chat Noir tackled Ladybug to the ground as a loud wail sent a blast of wind at them. "AY MIS HIJOS!" La Llorona wailed. She let out another scream, but Ladybug and Chat Noir blocked the sound with their weapons. "Well, she's definitely a coloratura."

La Llorona screamed again, sending a hurricane wind that sent the heroes flying off their feet and onto a roof. "AY MIS HIJOS!" she cried, causing the building to shake.

"I really feel sorry for her," said Ladybug. "But we have to put an end to this. LUCKY CHARM!" She twirled the yo-yo...or should I say tried to, but she couldn't feel her hand. "What the-"

"It was her scream," Chat Noir realized. "It must have froze your arm!"

"Well, I still have one more arm, though I'm not a lefty." She twirled her yo-yo in the air and the magic created... "A stick of gum?"

"Might as well," said Chat Noir. "She could use a breath freshener."

Ladybug used her Lucky Vision to find how to use the Miraculous, but it seemed to be leading them away from Paris. "This isn't right. It's leading us to...Marseille!"

"But that's where Rudi is," said Chat Noir. La Llorona jumped up to their level and was about to let out a wail when the heroes jumped down to the streets.

"AY MIS HIJOS!" she cried.

"Then Marseille is where we'll go!" The Miraculous heroes raced over the streets with their yo-yo and staff.

Hawk Moth's voice rang in her head. "Follow them, Llorona! Or you'll never see your son again!"

"COME BAAAAAAACK!" La Llorona screamed, chasing after them and breaking more windows in the process.

Back in the warehouse, Rudi watched the news footage of the battle from his phone. He groaned in disappointment in himself. "What have I done?"

So, are you going to put me on and give your mama a piece of your mind?

Rudi reached his bag for the Mask, when suddenly he heard someone coming. He quickly put the bag over his face and put the trick cuffs back on. "Hello! Is anyone there?" The bag came off and he found himself staring at Ladybug and Chat Noir. "Ladybug, Chat Noir? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you. Duh," said Chat Noir. "Also, your mom's been Akumatized."

Rudi pretended to be shocked. "Wait, what?!"

"The Miraculous led me to you," Ladybug said as she handed him the stick of gum. "Maybe you might know where the Akuma is?"

Rudi thought on it. "She does have a necklace that has a picture of me in it."

"Well, we know where the Akuma is," said Ladybug. "Now we've got to capture it."

"Let me," said Rudi. "It's my fault she's like this."

"No it's not," said Chat Noir. "Big-Head was the one who kidnapped you."

Rudi made a hurt expression. "Still, I feel like I should do something. And I know what to do."

"And what's that?" asked Ladybug.

"La Llorona's looking for me, right? I'll be the bait." Ladybug and Chat Noir frowned at that notion. "Sorry. It's the only way." He looked down at the gum. "Es tut mir leid, Mutter."

"AY MIS HIJOS!" La Llorona screamed, causing the windows of buildings and cars to shatter. People who got in the way were instantly frozen with fear. When she saw Ladybug and Chat Noir on the roof, she inhaled deep to prepare for a loud scream when...

"Mutter!" La Llorona stopped. Slowly she turned around and saw Rudi. "Leave Ladybug and Chat Noir alone now!" La Llorona frowned and advanced toward him. She opened her mouth to scream, but stopped. "Mutter," Rudi said softly. "It's me. I'm here. You don't need Hawk Moth. Let Ladybug and Chat Noir do their thing and let's go home."

Hawk Moth's voice rang out in her head. "How can he be sure? Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't stop Big-Head from taking your son, what's to stop him from doing it again?"

La Llorona's face turned to rage. "No! They couldn't save you from being kidnapped! They cannot be trusted!" She grabbed Rudi by the arm.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"I'll take you somewhere far away where no one can hurt us! Right after I get those Miraculous!" She opened her mouth to scream when suddenly something popped into her mouth. "What's this," she asked in a muffled voice. "Chewing gum?" She glared at Rudi. "You! You tricked me!" She opened her mouth to scream, but instead of a scream, a large bubble came out. Rudi grabbed the locket from her neck and tossed it into the air.

"Now, Chat Noir!"

"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir grabbed the locket and used Cataclysm to destroy it, releasing the Akuma.

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug captured the Akuma and purified it. "GOTCHA!" Then she let it go. "Bye-bye, little butterfly! MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" She tossed the gum in the air and all the damage was undone and La Llorona turned back into Mrs. Schaefer.

"Mutter!" he ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "I'm so sorry, Mutter! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he cried.

Mrs. Schaefer hugged her son tight as she cried with him. "It's okay, Rudolph. I'm here."

Ladybug put a hand on their shoulders. "I think we should get you home, yeah?"

"Home. Yeah."

Hawk Moth swore as the circular window closed. "If you thought La Llorona's anguish was something, Ladybug and Chat Noir, the anguish you will feel from your defeat will be devastating!"

Mr. Schaefer wrapped his arms around his wife and son tight. "Henrietta! Oh, Rudi," he said to his son. "You were probably so afraid! Big-Head captured you and..."

Rudi held his hand. "Nein. Honestly, it was just a stupid autograph. I was more afraid of what happened to Mutter." He turned to face her. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. If I had known..."

"I don't blame you," Mrs. Schaefer said. "Why would I blame you for being kidnapped? That Big-Head is the reason you were kidnapped."

"Still, I got him mad and..."

"Son, listen. You are not to blame. I am not mad at you. I'm just so glad you're safe."

"Thanks Mom."

Rudi tossed the Mask under his bed and buried his face in his hands. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course she got Akumatized! Why else would Hawk Moth go after her!" He plopped his head on the bed.

Well, look on the plus side. Alya and Marinette no longer suspect you.

"Shut up. Never again. I am NOT pulling a stunt like that again!" His eyes flash green and his frown turned slowly into a smirk. "Well, if I can help it."