So, We’re Heroes?

by Books-R-Better-Than-People

Evan and Connor didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when they put on magic jewelry, and became ladybug and cat themed superheroes

6. Shred Tide

Connor knew that he could be... Intimidating from time to time. His height and love for dark colors often sent people running, but he didn't give two shits about those cowards. There were some people who were brave enough to be seen with him, though. Those few never pretended to not know him when someone asked if they were friends or called him a freak. Jared did, but that's just his weird way of being friendly.

"Kid," Plagg said as he floated in front of Connor while the long-haired boy was looking through his locker and putting the textbooks he needed for today into his bag, "just go ask him. The worst he can say is no."

"Or he just won't say anything and just run," Connor retorted while whispering so no one would hear and think he was talking to himself.

"He's not gonna run," Plagg assured him, "he's your friend."

"Are you kidding? Sometimes I think Evan's afraid of me." He sighed with his shoulders slumped, "Whenever he's around one of the others, it's just a little stammering, but around me, it's like he'd rather be anywhere but there."

"Come on!" Plagg urged, now getting annoyed, "Look. Here's how it'll go. You'll ask him, he'll say yes, you guys will be hanging out and talking a little, and you'll see that Hansen isn't afraid of you."

"... Fine. Okay." He's about to shut his locker close with Plagg still inside, but the Kwami flew out a second before he can get locked inside, "Very funny."

Connor smirked, "Come on," he opens his jacket, allowing Plagg to fly inside, "I'll ask him after class." He picked his black messenger bag up off the floor, struggling to due to the weight of his books, set the strap on his shoulder, and made his way to class.

Evan flinched as the teacher slapped her hand on the desk next to him. Ram Sweeney's head jolted up from his desk at the loud sound and blinked a bit before his eyes traveled up to meet the gaze of the guidance counselor and English teacher, Ms. Fleming, "... Hey."

She let out an exhausted sigh, "Ram Sweeney, asleep in my class again?"

He scoffed and leaned back in his seat like nothing was wrong, "I was paying attention."

The flower-child teacher didn't look convinced and narrowed her eyes at the jock, "Okay. Then tell us what the quote means to you."

The linebacker just sat there with his mouth hung open as he tried to recall the quote the class had just read. A few giggled while some rolled their eyes, and Evan could see why. The quote was written clearly on the board in red marker, 'Those who matter most are the ones who are present in our lives.' Ms. Fleming would sometimes write a quote on the board and have the class go over what it meant to them, and read short stories that relate to that quote.

Fed up with him, Ms. Fleming said, "Never mind." Her eyes scanned around the classroom for someone to give their interpretation of the quote. Seeing Evan sink into his seat and looking down, she smiled, "Evan?" The boy froze, "Why don't you go?"

"... O-okay." He straightened himself up, looked at the board again, and read the quote quietly to himself before reluctantly answering, "I... I think it means that we should focus more on the ones we know who are close to us rather than the ones we also know but are never there, physically or emotionally."

Ms. Fleming nodded, "Excellent, thank you, Evan." She heads back over to the board, "That is basically what the author is saying. It's better to just surround yourself with those who are present in your life. It doesn't matter if you've known one person forever, if they aren't there for you when you need them, they are not worth your time."

Christine raised her hand and asked, "Even if they're family?"

The teacher hummed in thought, "Well, I'm not sure if I can answer that. But in my opinion? Yes. A family should be there for each other, not estranged, distant, or any of that stuff. The same should go for friends. Always stay with the people that are there in your life. Again, my opinion. Do whatever you kids want."

At the sound of the bell, the students began to gather their things and put them into their bags. Ms. Fleming erased the door, saying, "Alright, class, I'll see you next week. Enjoy your weekend. And remember to fight the power, make a difference, and take down the establishment until it's rubble beneath your feet." Some of the students chuckled at her daily exit speech.

"Hey, Evan?" He looked up from his bag and saw Connor standing across from him. Evan fought so hard to keep his cheeks from turning bright red around his crush when he asked, "Can I ask you something?"

Evan gulped, "S-sure," he nodded. He slung his bag over his shoulder, just so he wouldn't be standing so stiff, then continued, "Abo-about wh-what? I-is everything okay? D-did I do something? Whatever it was, I-" "Evan! Breathe," Connor told him, making Evan realize that he was rambling and not taking any breaks.

He took a few breaths, and Connor sighed with relief, knowing that one of his friends wasn't going to pass out on the floor. "You okay?" Evan nodded, "Alright. Why don't we go outside?"

Another nod. Connor reached for Evan's shoulder to steer the shorter boy to the door, all while remaining oblivious to Evan's flushed cheeks. Once the two were gone and Ms. Fleming was alone in the room, she chuckled to herself and sighed, "Young love."

"S-so, what did you want to talk about?" Evan asked as he and Connor walked to their lockers. Connor smiled a bit at him not stuttering as much this time, 'Okay, this is going well so far. Just come out and say it.' "Well... I was just wondering if you were free this weekend." Evan suddenly stopped walking, and Connor realizes what he just said. 'Too far! Too far! He probably thinks I'm asking him out or something!'

'Is he asking me out?' Evan eagerly thought to himself, 'Oh my God, it's happening! Stay cool, Evan!'

Connor rephrased his words, "N-not like that!"

'...Oh.'

"Lemme start over," he said with a nervous chuckle as he opened his locker and started putting his books away, "Percy, a friend of mine from summer camp is competing in a swim meet on Saturday at the pool. Some of his friends are coming, and he asked if I'd like to go."

Evan blinked then opened his locker and transferred a few items from his backpack into it, "Oh. O-okay."

He continued, "And, I was wondering if you'd like to come."

Evan pursed his lips for a moment in thought before answering, "Y-yeah! Of course."

Connor smiled, "Great! It'll just be us, Annabeth, Grover, Katie, Silena, and Clarisse there cheering Percy on." Off his confused look, Connor explained, "We all went to the same camp. You'd like them, especially Katie. She's really into nature, so you got someone to talk about trees with," he joked, and Evan actually laughed. Not one of his nervous or forced laughs, this was genuine, and Connor couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I can't wait to meet them. What time does the meet start?"

"Starts at 2:30," He answered, "Katie will drive us."

"Well, I can't wait to meet everyone." He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and checked to see who was texting him. "Jared's waiting. I gotta go or he'll leave me here... Again."

Connor rolled his eyes, "Asshole."

Evan chuckled, "A l-little bit, yeah." He shut his locker closed, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Once he was out of sight as he rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, Plagg flew out of Connor's jacket with a smirk. "Alright, not bad. Some notes, though. Next time, think before you say. Hansen was probably about to combust when you asked if he was free on Saturday, also-"

With a flick of Connor's fingers, Plagg found himself in the locker. Connor shut the door with a smug look on his face that turned to shock when the Kwami of destruction phased through the metal door, "H-how did you-"

"I'm a god, kid," was his answer. "I can do all sorts of weird shit." To demonstrate, he phased through Conor's bag and came back out through one of the side gaps covered by the flap with a small plastic bag of cubed cheese, "Voila!"

Once he was out of the school, Evan looked around to make sure he was alone before letting out an excited squeal and bouncing up and down, causing Tikki to dizzily fly out of his pocket, "Evan, calm down!"

"Sorry, but I can't help it! I'm hanging out with Connor on Saturday," he said dreamily.

"And six other kids," Tikki reminded him.

"Just let me have this small win," he mumbled.

"Okay, so just to clarify, and I won't ask again... It's not a date?" Jared asked for what had to be the twentieth time, much to Evan and Alana's annoyance. He, Alana, and Evan were in the latter's room, picking out an outfit for him to wear tomorrow at the swim meet. "Are you sure?"

Evan set a few sweaters down on his bed, "He clearly said," He made his voice lower to imitate Connor, "'Not like that!' I don't know if I should be offended, or relieved. But we're still gonna hang out together."

Alana looked up from a cyan polo shirt, "With a bunch of other people that you barely know." She looks next to her on the bed and holds up a pastel green sweater, "What about this? It'll probably be cold there. They always have the fans on to dry the floors during meets."

Jared shook his head, "Nah, knowing Connor, his friends are probably badasses wearing a bunch of black, leather, spikes, piercings in weird places. Evan will be eaten alive! Do you want that, Alana?!" He stood and approached Evan before squishing his slightly chubby cheeks. "Do you want to see this boy get hurt?"

She was about to retort but thought about it. If Connor's friends were anything like him, they'd probably intimidate Evan a little bit. "Yeah, let's pick something else. Oh! Connor said you looked nice one time in..." She snapped her fingers when she remembered, "Your purple shirt! Where is it?"

"Somewhere in there," Evan glanced over at the pile of clothes on his floor and started looking through it to find the shirt Alana was talking about. "B-but why me, and not one of you guys, o-or all of us?! Wouldn't that be less awkward? I mean..."

As he continued his rant, Jared's gaze met Alana's. The two gave each other a deadpanned looked and started a wordless conversation. Alana shrugged while Jared rolled his eyes and then glanced over at Evan. This was a normal thing between them, and sometimes Zoe whenever Connor and Evan acted like idiots around each other- Connor for not seeing that Evan likes him, and Evan for freaking out whenever Connor did something he found cute or just weaseling out of confessing his feelings for him.

"Well?"

Snapping them out of their silent conversation was Evan. He gave each of them expectant looks and then asked, "What do you guys think?" The two stayed silent for a moment, having no idea what Evan was talking about. "Come on!"

"Well..." Alana thought for a moment, thinking back to what she said before she and Jared tuned him out. "You should definitely go to the swim meet," Evan arched an eyebrow, "Yeah. You'll meet Connor's other friends, friends who may know some other stuff about him such as his likes and dislikes."

Jared caught onto what Alana was saying, "Yeah, Acorn. They can tell you a bunch of stuff about him. You can use that to get Connor to like you as more than a friend. Easy."

Alana tensed at his word choice, "But ease into it. Ask what Connor was like at camp."

Jared smirked, "Ask for photos, too. I would die a happy man if I saw Hot Topic wearing one of those bright-colored camp shirts! I'm serious, I will pay you to get me some photos."

"I-I don't think so. But, I guess I can try asking them some stuff about Connor. Thanks." Alana and Jared were about to fist-bump when, "Also, I asked which purple shirt Connor said I looked nice in." He held up a purple polo shirt with darker purple stripes in one hand, a purple v-neck in the other, and narrowed his eyes at his friends.

"Oh... I think it was the polo shirt," Alana answered in embarrassment.

Jared looked around the room cluttered by clothes for a way to change the subject until he found it, "Why don't you pair it with this?" He gets up off the bed and walks over to a pile of jackets and hoodies on the floor. From the pile, he pulls out a denim jacket with a white hoodie, "Pair this with some jeans, and you're set, man!"

"Oh! And..." Alana walks over to the pile of shoes and pulls out a grey converse sneaker, "Find the other shoe, and you'll look so cute! Your outfit, plus those earrings," she points to the disguised Miraculous resting in Evan's pierced ears, "Connor won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

Jared snickered, "Yeah, the swimmers won't be the only people who are wet." Off his inappropriate joke, Alana threw the shoe at him, hitting the side of his head, "But seriously, Acorn. You'll look nice, and you won't look like the black sheep when you're hanging out with Connor's friends."

"But wouldn't he be the white sheep since they all probably wear black?" Alana wondered out loud. Jared furrowed his brown in thought, "Oh, you're probably right. Or maybe he'd be the innocent little baby sheep with a bunch of wolves."

Evan loved these two but, even if they get on his nerves sometimes.

"You look so cute!" Heidi gushed as Even walked down the stairs in the outfit Alana and Jared helped him pick out, "Connor is going to love you in this." She engulfed him in a hug, "My son's first date!"

Evan groaned, "Mom, it's not a date. We're just going to cheer one of his friends on at a swim meet," he explained."

"That may be true, but he only asked you to go with him."

Evan still didn't know why Connor only asked him to go with him. He wasn't complaining, but it made him a little anxious. What if Connor had to tell him something he couldn't say in front of the others? Would he say it when his camp friends were around? If he is, why can't he say it in front of Jared and Alana?

"Honey, I know what you're thinking," Heidi said, rousing Evan from his thoughts, "and stop it. Connor probably just wants to spend time with you. You told me he shares most of his classes with Jared and Alana, right?" Evan nodded, "Okay, then this is a way for him to get to know you a little better."

With a thoughtful look, Evan smiled nervously, "I guess. Thanks, mom."

"No problem, honey." She ruffled Evan's locks, making him groan in annoyance, "I just fixed it." Heidi chuckled before checking the time on her phone, "I better head out." She grabs her purse off of the coat rack, "I'm working another late shift; there are turkey chops in the fridge, and if there's another Akuma attack, stay where you are and call me to let me know you're safe."

"I will, mom."

She sighed, "I'm serious. Please be careful." She pulls him in for another hug. This one was much tighter and she had her head resting on his shoulder, "Every... Every time I heard about an Akuma on that girl's blog, and it's at school, I just... You have no idea how worried I get, a-and sometimes you don't call-"

Evan wrapped his arms around his mother, "Mom, I'll be fine." 'Because I'm a superhero.' "And the school's wifi isn't that great, so my calls never really go through." 'Did that make sense?'

Heidi let out a content sigh and pulled away from their hug, "Okay. Well, when you get home, let me know how it went," she said with a smile then kissed his cheek, "Love you, honey." She grabbed her keys off of the rack and made her way out. Evan went over to the window and watched her drive away. Tikki flew out of his jacket pocket once she was gone, "Are you okay, Evan?"

"Y-yeah, I just don't like worrying her like this," he admitted as he rubbed his thumb over the black earring in his left ear.

Tikki nuzzled against his cheek, "My previous holder didn't like worrying her parents either. Whenever she was out fighting Akuma, they'd always be so worried when she wasn't home."

"How'd she cope?"

"Well, she always called them whenever there was an Akuma and she wasn't transformed. Maybe you can try that."

"... I guess. Thanks, Tikki," he stroked her head with his pointer finger, making the goddess of Creation smile contently. Evan checks the time on his phone and starts messing with his hair, "Connor should be here soon. Do I look okay?"

Tikki helped smoothen out his hair, "You look fine, Evan, and Connor will think so, too. Have a little faith in yourself."

"I'll try."

Tikki rolled her eyes, "Close enough." She glanced out the window and saw a forest green car driving up to the house, "That must be Connor and Katie." Hearing that, Evan took a few breaths, "You've got this. You're just hanging out with Connor and his friends, everything will go well. If you can defeat Akumas, you can do this!"

"You're right." Evan said as he made his way to the door, "I've got this." Before he heads out, Tikki flew into his jacket pocket

Katie's car was an electric car with a license plate that read 'DEMETER', and there were a few pride flags and 'Go Green' bumper stickers that helped to eased Evan's nerves a little bit. Connor stepped out of the front passenger side and waved, "Hey, Evan."

Evan could've fainted right on the spot. Connor's hair was in a messy bun, he was wearing a black short-sleeve hoodie over a white long sleeve shirt, black jeans, and black checkered sneakers.

He greeted back as he walked to the car, "He-hey, Connor!" He was about to open the passenger side door, but Connor beat him to it. Evan hid his blush as he got inside where he was greeted by three girls. At the wheel was Katie, a girl with curly brown hair and freckles dotted on her face wearing a flower crown. Sitting next to him were two other girls. The first one in the middle seat is very muscular with dirty blonde hair styled into a pixie cut, and the girl next to her had blue eyes and was brushing out her long, curly black hair.

These were not the people that Evan was expecting.

The girl brushing her hair looked at Evan and smiled, "Connor! You didn't tell me your friend was so adorable!" She squealed when Evan started blushing at the compliment, "Clarisse, look at him, and tell me he isn't cute!"

Clarisse, the muscular girl sitting in the middle seat took one look at Evan with a sneer that had him hunching his shoulders. Relief took over when she started laughing, "Relax!" The wind knocked out of Evan a little when she wrapped her muscular arms around him in a vice-like grip. "Gods, you are too easy! Con!" He looked at her as he got back in his seat, "If anything happens to blondie here, I'm blaming you, got it?"

He rolled his eyes, "Got it, LaRue."

"Yeah, just making sure." She unwraps her arm from around Evan, allowing him to breathe again, "So, Murphy tells us you're a flower child or something?" At that, Katie's gaze was fixed on him. She asked, "Favorite tree? No wrong answers, they're all amazing!"

Not wasting the opportunity to talk about trees, Evan quickly answered, "Elm trees."

"Yes!" Katie cheered. "Connor, thank you for blessing us with this beautiful boy!"

Connor chuckled at his friends' antics, "Well, let's hope Percy, Annabeth, and Grover like him as much as you guys do."

Katie backed out of the driveway and started driving down the road, "If they don't, then I will drown them all in that pool."

Evan was so glad Jared picked out this jacket for him. Alana was right about the pool being cold, but this denim wasn't really helping him stay warm.

"Annabeth! Grover!" Silena waved at two people sitting in the middle row of the bleachers with the other people there to support the swimmers. Annabeth is a blonde girl with fair skin wearing a denim jacket over a striped shirt and black jeans, and next to her was Grover, a boy with skin a few shades darker than Annabeth's wearing a blue baseball cap, tie-dye shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt and jeans. The group made their way up the bleachers, and Evan's eyes widened when he got a closer look at Grover. He looked very similar to Michael.

As if reading his thoughts, Connor said, "I know, ut's so weird. They could be twins."

Grover chuckled, "Lemme guess, you thought I was some guy named Michael?" Evan nodded. He even sounds like Michael, "Seriously, you guys need to put me in the same room as him! I feel like you're just pulling my leg when you're saying I look like him." Evan was about to laugh until he saw the crutches resting next to Grover, and he immediately shut himself up. Once he and the others took their seats, he looked at some of the swimmers practicing their strokes in the pool, "So, which one is Percy?"

"The one being a total boss right now!" Grover exclaimed in a way that had Evan wondering if he was Michael in disguise as he pointed to the swimmer wear a blue swim cap and briefs swimming much further ahead than his teammates. He looks over at Evan, "When I first met him, I thought he was part fish. I still think he is."

Clarisse rolled her eyes, "Well, I still don't get the point of this. They could at least make it exciting by letting the swimmers push each other back so they can't get ahead!"

"Then everyone would just be fighting each other in the water," Annabeth pointed out.

The muscular girl shrugged, not seeing what was so wrong with that, "Yes, and?"

"So, where's Percy's mom?" Silena asked as she looked around the bleachers, "Is she getting snacks?"

"Oh, Sally couldn't make it," Grover said as he looked down sadly, "She got sick and is staying home. But," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, "I'll be recording the whole thing for her."

"What about his dad?" Evan asked, making everyone tense up. He wonders why until the worst comes to thought, "O-oh my gosh, i-is he-"

Katie rests her hand on his shoulder, "No, no. Don't worry, he's still alive. It's just... Percy's dad is kind of-"

"A total deadbeat," Clarisse said bluntly, making Grover and Connor burst out into laughter. "You all know it's true. The guy is never around."

"I'd use the term, 'estranged' to describe him," Annabeth said, "But yeah, he was only with Percy and his mom for a few months after he was born, then just walked right out. And get this, after so many years, Percy and his mom finally hear from him. He said he was going to come here to support Percy."

Connor narrowed his eyes, "You believe that?"

"... Not really. But Percy seemed really happy about it." She looks back at the swimmers and smiles as she watches her friend. "Let's hope he does show up. I wouldn't want to see him as an Akuma."

'Shit,' 'Spruce,' Connor and Evan mentally cursed. They were still tired after Apex Queen and needed some well-deserved rest from having to dodge all of her attacks. When the group started listing the ways Percy could get Akumatized if his dad didn't show, they just wanted to go home and crawl under their sheets.

"Maybe he'll turn into Poseidon!" Clarisse speculated.

"Per-seidon," Katie joked. "His outfit would be in darker colors, he'd carry a black trident-"

"Has Hawkmoth ever akumatized someone into something non-human?" Silena wondered, "Maybe he'll turn Percy into some sort of sea monster."

Connor and Evan thought about what Silena said. All of the Akumas they fought kept their human appearances, with the exception of Rich when he was Inferno, but his skin just turned grey and his hair was on fire, but he still looked physically human. They wondered if Hawkmoth could Akumatize someone so that they don't look anywhere near human and what it would be like to fight them.

The sound of an airhorn snapped the two out of their thoughts and they now realized how crowded the bleachers are. They looked down at the pool and saw the swimmers who were practicing earlier getting together with their respective teams. A referee blew his whistle, and six swimmers, three from Percy's team, and three from the opposite made their way to their lanes.

"Alright, they're about to do the freestyle stroke," Annabeth explained. "It may take a while because sometimes coaches start with their slowest swimmers and save their best for the end."

"So, Percy will be going up last?" Evan asked as the swimmers dived into the pool and started swimming to the end of the pool as their parents and friends cheered them on. Grover shot him the finger guns, "This guy gets it!" He exclaimed as he started recording the swimmers on his phone.

For once in his life, Evan felt so calm and relaxed. Connor's friends were amazing and welcomed him immediately with open arms. During breaks, he and Katie would geek out about their favorite trees and how barbaric using wood-made objects were; Silena messed with his hair a little bit, told him all the ways he could style it, and made an insinuation about Connor liking blondes; he and Clarisse expressed their confusion for the sport they were watching, but she was more confused as to why there was no physical contact; Annabeth explained the different strokes the swimmers were doing and how the scoring worked, and Evan was still wondering if Michael had a twin brother he never talked about.

"Hey," Connor tapped Evan's shoulder. "Percy's up next." He points to the blue-capped boy and the other swimmers going to their lanes.

Clarisse looks around the bleachers for Percy's dad, and the doors to see if he's just walking in, "Damn. His dad still isn't here."

"You think he'll notice?" Silena asked.

Grover sighed, "Trust me. He notices."

They see Percy looking to the bleachers as he gets on the diving board. There's some hope shown in his eyes, but it's very faint. He snaps out of it when the referee blew his whistle, and he dove into the pool with the other swimmers. The group cheers him on, much louder than the others.

"Come on, Jackson!"

"Swim, you beautiful half fish!"

"Go, Percy!"

"I've seen him swim way faster than that," Grover said, drawing the group's attention away from the coaches tallying up the scores after all the swimmers went, ending the swim meet. "I mean, he was still dominating, but he wasn't giving it his all, you know?"

"Well, you'd be in a slump too if your estranged parent didn't show up to one of your events while the other is sick at home," Katie said. "I hope he isn't too upset."

Evan found himself sympathizing with Percy a little bit. He couldn't exactly relate since his dad left when he was a kid, so he knew him a little bit while Percy barely knew his own dad at all. He still understood the struggle of having your own parent walking out on you.

Percy's teammates cheered when the referee announced that their team had won. A few even jumped back in the pool and took victory laps. The spectators made their way down the bleachers to congratulate the winning swimmers and cheer up the losing swimmers by saying they tried their best. The group looked around for Percy, but couldn't see him due to the many people obscuring their vision. When the room cleared up a little bit, they finally saw Percy sitting by the edge of the pool.

Grover hobbled his way over to Percy and leaned down as far as he could due to his crutches, "Perce, you uh... You did great. You really knew how to backstroke." He sighed when he got no answer out of him. "I-I know you're disappointed, but-"

"Guys, I'd like to be alone right now."

"... Sure, man." He gives Percy a pat on the shoulder using his crutch and leaves with the others. Soon, it's just Percy alone at the pool.

"There truly is nothing worse than a child being betrayed by their own parent. It can ruin the calming waters and turn them into a disastrous rip tide."

Hawkmoth held out a hand, beckoning for a white butterfly to perch itself on their gloved palm. Their free hand covered the butterfly, and, through the power of their Miraculous, dark energy was stored in the butterfly. Hawkmoth lifted their hand up, and the now black butterfly flew away from them, "Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize him!"

Percy needed to clear his head so he decided to swim a lap around the pool. He should've expected this; his dad disappears for years then finally decides to show up? Yeah, not likely. The bastard got his hopes up for nothing. Just as he made it to the end of the pool, the black butterfly hit the beaded necklace around his neck before he could swim back. He was now just wading in the water.

"Shred Tide."

Percy's face grew dark with a scowl as the purple butterfly outline appeared over his face.

"You can drown all of the emotions holding you back, use your rage to create city-flooding tidal waves, and show all your pain. Bring me the Miraculous, and no one will hold you back."

Instead of answering, he let out a hissing sound before submerging underwater as blackness bubbled up from his necklace and around him.

"Percy?" Annabeth called out as she walked back to the pool, "We're going to Burger King in a bit. Are you okay?" When she got no answer, she looked around, "Percy? Are you in here?" She sees his swim cap by the edge of the pool and arches an eyebrow. "Percy?" She looked in the pool but didn't see her friend anywhere in the water. She was about to go look for him somewhere else when she caught a glimpse of blue poking out of the pool before going back in. She looked closer and saw a figure with dark hair swimming towards her. "... Percy?"

The figure slammed a wet, teal hand down by her foot, making Annabeth jump back in fright. She was too paralyzed to move even more when the figure floated above the water, revealing an aquatic creature that had black claws, deep blue eyes with aquamarine sclera and cat-eye irises, long dark hair, fin ears that were a few shades lighter than its skin. There were two patches of fish scales on its shoulders and forearms, and two spikes on each of its' arms that faded to black at the tip. Its body faded to black, starting at the waist, and ended at its ankles where light blue fins formed, and on its hips and calves were fins the same color as its' ears.

The more Annabeth stared at the creature before her, she noticed the beaded necklace and realized who this creature was. "Percy?"

"Annabeth!" Grover yelled as he made his way in, "Did you find- WHAT IS THAT?!" Shred Tide let out a snarl that showed off his sharp white teeth, making the two teens flinch away. "Oh, gods. Okay, le-let's focus on the good thing. He's a fish, he has gills, he can't get out of the water. We'll wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and- Is the water rising?"

They looked down and saw the pool was indeed over-flowing. They backed away before the water could touch their feet, but it just kept rising. Annabeth and Grover ran out to go and warn the others.

Outside, the group silently waited in the parking lot by Katie's car. Silena leaned on the trunk as she re-applied her lipstick, Clarisse stretched out her legs, Katie texting was on her phone, and the two secret heroes were discreetly feeding their Kwamis snacks they got from the concession stand. While Tikki ate, Evan decided to ask, "Is Percy going to be alright?"

Silena looked up from her makeup pallet and shrugged, "Not sure. We've never seen him this upset."

Connor nodded, "It's probably best just to let him swim it off; it helps him relax." 'And will hopefully, keep him from getting Akumatized.'

"Damn," Clarisse cursed, "did it rain while we were in there?" She looks down and sees about two inches of water covering the ground.

Katie furrowed her brow, "It's not supposed to rain today." She starts standing on her toes as the water slowly kept rising. "What's going on?" She climbs on top of her car once the water reaches her ankles. Evan, Connor, Silena, and Clarisse follow suit. People in the vicinity who are now just noticing the rising water try climbing nearby trees and getting on the roof of their cars.

"Where's all of this water coming from?!" Silena frantically asked

"I don't know, but we need to warn Annabeth, Grover, and Percy," Connor said, reminding everyone of their three friends still in the pool. Before anyone could say more, a loud thump was heard. The source was coming from the inside of the building. Evan narrowed his eyes so he could see through the water that was now rear-view mirror level, and saw Annabeth and Grover pounding their fists against the glass door. The water is coming right up to their hips.

"They're still in there!" Evan yelled. Without even thinking, he jumped right into the water, much to Connor's protests, and swam to the doors. Evan was surprised at himself; the old him, before Ladybug, would've screamed at the top of his lungs how dangerous that was. But, he didn't care. His instincts were telling him to save two people he barely even knows without being Ladybug right now. He pulled on the handles to try and open the door, but there was some difficulty due to the water pressure. By the time he got the door open, the water had risen to their chests. Remembering Grover, he ducked under the water before emerging with him in his arms, bridal style. He and Annabeth swam back to the car where Clarisse helped get Grover up on the roof.

Annabeth panted, "Thanks, Evan!" The blonde smiled in response as he and Connor helped to get her up. "I mean, it was crazy and a little dumb, but thank you!"

Not sure what to say, Evan just nodded and lifted himself onto the roof of the car. Being Ladybug and constantly throwing the yoyo helped build up a little muscle. Even though he didn't need it, he allowed Connor to help him up.

"Guys! Percy got akumatized!" Grover shouted. Before anyone could react, Annabeth said, "We need to get to higher ground; he's making the water rise!" With a nod, Connor helped to get Grover on Clarisse's back just as the water was merely inches away from reaching the roof of the car. "There's an apartment complex not too far from here with a fire escape on the side. We can climb it and make it up to the roof. Let's go!"

The group jumped off of the car and took Annabeth's directions. As they swam, Evan and Connor thought to themselves, 'How am I going to transform without anyone seeing? Maybe I can sneak away once we make it to the apartment. There's gotta be a crowd of people trying to get to high- What is that?'

Quickly making their way towards them was a blue shark-like fin. The group swam in the opposite direction to avoid whatever the owner of that fin was, but paused and started wading in the water when Grover yelled, "Guys! That's Percy!" Proving him right was Shred Tide, leaping out of the water like a show dolphin. Everyone recognized the bead necklace and gasped when they saw the Akuma that used to be their friend. He dove back into the water and emerged with his sharp, pearly-whites bared.

The group quickly swam away with Shred Tide right on their trail and the water rising every few minutes. Finally, they made it to the apartment. The water rose to thrice their height. The stairwell was crowded as many people were climbing the fire escape to get to the roof, so Evan and Connor used that to their advantage and snuck away from the group. Evan climbed through a window that was open a crack and into what looked like a living room.

He sighed with relief, "That was close." He shut the window so no water would come in and turned around so he was face-to-face with a young man, "Oh! I-I'm so sorry I... I got separated from my friends, and the fire es-"

The man chuckled, easing Evan's nerves a bit, "It's fine. The roof is getting crowded anyway, so there wouldn't be much room." He held out his hand, "Name's Joe."

Evan smiled and politely shook his hand, "Evan." He turned around and saw that the water is almost reaching the window. "Oh, gosh. This is bad."

"Well, I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will take care of everything." Evan noticed that Joe's eyes were on his black earrings and self-consciously brushes some hair over his ears so he wouldn't recognize them as Ladybug's earrings. "Why don't you call your family and let them know you're okay? My Wi-fi's out, so you'll have to go in a different room."

Evan held in a 'Yes!' with a fist-pump. That gave him an excuse to transform. "Thank you, sir," he said before walking to the door. As he did, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Connor and let him and the group know that he's okay. But then he looked at the top right corner of his phone and saw that he had four bars. The Wi-fi wasn't out. It was strange why Joe told him his Wi-fi was out, but he wasn't going to complain; he had an excuse to leave and transform.

Once he was out of the apartment, Joe walked into his kitchen and stood before a large pot surrounded by many different ingredients sitting on the counter. Next to the pot was a heavy book in a strange language resting on a cookbook holder.

"Okay... Now what the hell is," he squints his eyes as he reads from the book, "a 'branch from the dragon king's garden'?"

Heidi's worried voice asked through Evan's phone, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, mom," Evan said as he and Tikki ran through the halls of the building, looking for a place to transform without security cameras. "The windows are shut tight, no water's getting in."

Heidi sighed with relief, "Okay. Well, the doors here are barricaded. Although, I'm not sure how that will help." Evan could hear the annoyance in her voice. "Please promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, mom. Love you."

"Love you too, dear." Then she hung up.

Immediately after, Evan dialed Connor's number to also let him know that he was safe. He picked up the phone after two rings. "Evan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Are you guys alright?"

Connor, hiding in the apartment's laundry room, answered while Plagg made noises in the background to make it sound like he was on the roof with the huge crowd of people, "Oh, yeah, we're fine. Where are you? I can't see you anywhere."

"Oh! I got separated, and I'm in someone's apartment. Th-they were so nice to let me stay here-" He hears a splashing sound and frowns, "Gosh, it sounds bad up there."

Connor gives Plagg a thumbs up as he uses a laundry detergent cup to splash some water onto a wall, "Yeah, but don't worry. The water stopped rising and it would take a while for it to reach us. We're fine, trust me." Evan let out a breath of relief, knowing that he was okay. "Are you going to be fine without us?"

"Yeah, don't worry." He feels Tikki pulling on his jacket sleeve and realizes he needs to transform, "He-hey, my battery is about to go dead, s-so, I'll c-call you later. Bye!"

"Bye." And Connor hung up. He turned to Plagg and asked, "I'm not gonna like, freak out and hiss if water touches me while I'm transformed, right?"

Plagg laughed, "Just breathe through your staff, kid. It's like an unlimited oxygen tank."

He nodded, "PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!"

After a while of searching for a place to transform, Evan eventually settled for the stairwell, where there were no cameras in sight. "Does the Miraculous help me swim better?" He asked Tikki. The Kwami looked off to the side and made a sound that had Evan wondering how he would win this battle, "Tikki! How am I supposed to defeat Shred Tide if I can't swim?"

"Well, you can breathe using your yoyo," she said. "It will be hard to fight though since Shred Tide has the upper hand, but you can do it, Evan!"

With a determined look, he yelled, "TIKKI, SPOTS ON!"

Ladybug threw his yoyo out of an open window and swung over the flooded streets to a building across from the apartment. Next to him was Chat Noir, pole-vaulting over floating cars and buses to the same building. The civilians watching from the rooftops cheered when they saw their heroes in action. "Can you swim?"

"I'll sink like a rock," was Ladybug's answer. Chat flashed him a fanged grin and responded, "Good thing I know CPR." 'Why the fuck did I say that?!' They landed on the roof and checked the waters for Shred Tide.

"How are we supposed to beat him," Ladybug wondered to himself, "My Kwami said I could breathe through my yoyo; I'm assuming yours said the same with your staff." Chat nodded, "But if we have to take breaks to breathe, how are we going to de-akumatize him?"

Chat pondered for a moment, "Well, he's a fish. We'll just have to take the fight to our turf." With a smirk, he points to a blue fin poking out of the water and coming their way, fast. Ladybug realizes what Chat meant and gets out his yoyo, "I'm ready when you are." He puts his yoyo to his mouth and Chat Noir does the same with his staff. They leap into the water and swim towards Shred Tide. Instead of sinking to the bottom like they thought they would, the heroes are actually swimming well. It's not perfect, but a lot better than in their civilian forms.

Chat Noir swam ahead and grabbed Shred Tide by his scaly shoulders. He maneuvered around until he was behind Shred Tide with his arms wrapped around his neck. The Akuma allowed Chat in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to puff out his staff. He quickly goes after the weapon as it begins to sink, and lets go of Shred Tide to go after it.

Ladybug surges forward and punches Shred Tide in the face. It's not as effective as he hoped since his movements underwater are slow compared to on land. Shred Tide retaliates by scratching his face with his black claws, making Ladybug recoil and allowing him to attack. He goes up behind Ladybug and wraps his arm tight around his neck. He uses his other hand to pull the yoyo away from his mouth, leaving the hero with no way to breathe underwater.

Chat Noir emerged from the bottom with his staff providing him air once again. He swam back to the fight, and a look of horror crossed his face when he saw Shred Tide with Ladybug in his grasp and keeping his yoyo away as he struggled to get it back. His movements were becoming slower and his face was turning a shade of blue. With Ladybug at his weakest, Shred Tide reaches for his earrings.

'OH, HELL NO!'

Chat Noir swam as fast as he could towards the two. Shred Tide's hands were just an inch away from Ladybug's earrings. He pried the Akuma off of Ladybug, grabbed the yoyo, and put it to Ladybug's mouth. Before Shred Tide could attack him, Chat kicked him away with all of the strength he could muster, then pulled Ladybug back up to the surface. He lifted him out of the water, set him on the roof of a floating car, then climbed on and quickly checked to make sure his partner was okay. Civilians watched. All voiced their concern.

'Ladybug!'

'No!'

'Someone help him!'

Chat pressed his ear to his chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat. There was one, but it was very faint and sounded like it was getting quieter. "Oh my God..." Chat was starting to panic but he snapped out of it, knowing that wouldn't help.

He thought back to his Freshman year. Students were required to take a health class or P.E., and Connor immediately chose health. Their tenth week, they had a lesson on how to give CPR and it was the only lesson Connor really paid attention to since his phone was dead, leaving him with no other option but to actually listen. He removed the victim from the water, next he had to check for a pulse. It was weak.

He tilted Ladybug's head back and pulled his jaw forward, opening his mouth. Chat took a deep breath, pinched the spotted hero's nose, and connected their lips as he blew into his mouth. He felt his chest rising, a good sign. He did this five more times before moving onto the next step. He interlocked his fingers and pressed his hands on the middle of Ladybug's chest thirty times then alternating with two rescue breaths until finally... He coughed. Chat's relief grew when Ladybug's blue eyes began to flutter open. "Cha... Chat?"

"LADYBUG!" The civilians cheered. Chat Noir threw his arms around him and buried his face in the crook of his neck. "I thought I lost you..."

"Chat, I'm okay. I-I'm fi-" He coughs again. "I'm fine." He pulls Chat out of his neck and wiped away a tear forming in the corner of his eye. He smiled, "Thank you." Then, much to Chat's shock and elation, Ladybug gave him a kiss on the cheek to show his thanks. "I'll try to be more careful next time. Come on."

"Uh-huh," was all he managed to say. They put their weapons back in their mouths and prepared to jump back in but this time, Chat was holding Ladybug's hand, not wanting to take any chances. Before they could jump in, they heard a loud whistle. They looked around, wondering where that came from until they saw a hand poking out of a window of the apartment and beckoning them over. With matching shrugs, Chat vaulted over to the window with Ladybug on his back. When they got to the window, there was no one there. They were just standing in an empty hallway.

"Hello?" Chat called out, "Anyone here?"

Ladybug looked around but saw nothing... Except for a note taped to the wall and under it were two green vials, also taped to the wall using duct tape. "Chat," he tapped his partner's shoulder and pointed to the note and vials. He took the note down and read it aloud, "'I've worked for weeks to recreate these potions. No one, not even the Kwamis are allowed to know the recipe, and the previous Guardian said I needed to figure it out for myself in case of evil users listening in. I've managed to create the potion that provides aqua powers, only six more to go. To activate, say 'Power Up!' Use them wisely. Signed, The Guardian of the Miraculous.'"

"Okay," Chat said as he untaped the potions from the wall, "so we just drink these and what?"

"Well, those are the aqua potions, so maybe they allow us to move better underwater," he deduced. "Maybe even breathe."

Chat Noir uncorked one vial and gave the elixir a sniff before grimacing, "God, what is in here?" Hesitantly he took a few sips. 'Tastes better than it smells,' he thought to himself. With a shrug, Ladybug took the other vial, opened it, and started drinking the green elixir. Once they were empty, the heroes yelled, "POWER UP!"

Red and Green bubbles surrounded them. Ladybug's hair became longer and took the appearance of 1950s surfer hair. All around his suit, fish scales formed and a rainbow of colors exploded against them depending on which way the light hit. Translucent pink-red fins formed on his forearms, and from his feet grew flippers the same color as his fins. Chat Noir's baggy pants tightened and his suit took the appearance of a wetsuit. Green, translucent fins appeared on his forearms and sprouted from his tail, then green flippers extended from his feet. Aqua Bug and Catfish were ready.

Catfish took in his new appearance and couldn't help the grin his lips were forming, "No. Fucking. Way."

"I-I can't..." Aqua Bug poked at his fins in disbelief. "This is amazing!"

"Hope the Guardian makes more of these!" Catfish exclaimed then prepared to jump out of the window and into the water. He held his hand out for Aqua Bug to take, "You ready?"

Hesitantly, Aqua Bug took his hand. Then, after he took a few breaths, he and Catfish leaped out of the window and into the water below. When they were gone, Joe peered from around a corner at the end of the hallway and smiled.

Jenna panned her phone towards her, livestream rolling, "Okay, Bugheads and Cool Cats, if you're just tuning in I need to tell you something serious. Ladybug almost drowned." The comments came flooding in, all asking if he was okay, "Don't worry, Chat gave him CPR. I urge you guys to follow his example, take some classes so you can save a life-"

"Jenna! Look!" Brooke pointed to the water. Leaping out were Aqua Bug and Catfish. Jenna pointed her phone to them and got the perfect shot of their silhouettes in front of the sun before they dived back in. "Did you guys see that?!" She pans her phone back to her, "The heroes got power-ups! Will there be more? Stick around!" She turns her phone off and she, Brooke, Michael, and Jake watch the heroes battle Shred Tide with their new powers.

"This is fucking awesome!" Jake yelled, "I love those guys!"

Aqua Bug swam towards Shred Tide at an incredible speed thanks to his slippers. He threw his yoyo, wrapping it around the Akuma's wrist, then he yanked Shred Tide towards him. Aqua Bug tried to grab at the necklace, but Shred Tide scratched him across the face with his claws, making him recoil. Catfish came up behind Shred Tide, grabbed his shoulder, and turned him around before punching him in the face. Catfish knew he was being a little too rough, but he was still so angry at Shred Tide for almost drowning Ladybug.

Aqua Bug threw his yoyo, wrapping it around Shred Tide's wrist, and flung him into a truck that was slowly sinking down to the bottom. Before he could go back and fight, the glowing Akuma symbol appeared over his face. Hawkmoth spoke, "Shred Tide, do not let their new abilities overpower you! You must gain the upper hand!" With a snarl in response, Shred Tide swam to the surface with Aqua Bug and Catfish swimming after him.

When topside, they looked around for the Akuma, but he was nowhere to be found.

Aqua Bug asked, "Do you see him anywhere?" Catfish shook his head. "Well, we should-"

"Look out!" Brooke yelled from the roof, followed by many other voices overlapping each other, "Behind you!", "Move!", "Dive back under!"

Aqua Bug didn't know what they meant until Catfish frantically tapped his shoulder and pointed behind him. His blue eyes enlarged when he saw some of the water rising and forming a massive arm that loomed over the heroes. Wading in front of the arm was Shred Tide with his left arm raised. As his arm came down, so did the water arm. The heroes wasted no time diving back under to avoid the water arm, but still got knocked back a bit by the waves created. Once they recomposed themselves, Catfish pointed out, "Okay, new thing to watch out for: HE CAN CREATE GIANT WATER ARMS!" Aqua Bug nodded frantically then yelled, "LUCKY CHARM!" What landed in his hands was... "A large zip tie?"

Lead Shred Tide to the pool

Wrap the zip tie around Shred Tide.

Wrap it around his legs so he can't swim away

Seal off the doors and windows where the pool is

Have Chat Noir Cataclysm the drain

"Chat, we need to get Shred Tide to the pool! If you Cataclysm the drain, he'll be immobilized, and we can grab his Akuma."

"That could work," Catfish agreed. "But how do we get him there?"

Aquabug pondered for a moment before looking up and seeing Shred Tide swimming towards them. Smirking, he took Catfish's hand, "We'll lead him there." He and Catfish swam as fast as they could with Shred Tide hot on their tails. To slow him down, Aquabug would often use his yoyo to fling submerged bikes at the Akuma. They eventually lost him.

Catfish asked, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Aquabug answered. "But we need to get him to the pool." He thought up a plan for a moment then said, "You go to the pool and wait for us. I'll lead Shred Tide to you." He was about to swim off until Catfish took his hand.

"Will you be okay?" he asked, not wanting to leave Aquabug alone with Shred Tide after what happened. Even though Aquabug couldn't drown, he was still so worried for his partner. "Wh-what if I led him instead?"

"Chat-"

"Come on. You can wait by the pool with the zip tie ready, then I'll Cataclysm the drain."

Aquabug wanted to protest, but the sound of his earrings beeping cut him off. Only four spots left. With a sigh, he hugged Catfish, "Be careful." After giving him a kiss on the cheek, he swam to the pool, leaving his partner with a wide grin on his face he quickly snapped out of then went to look for Shred Tide.

And there he was, circling around a floating car like a hungry shark. Standing on top of the car was Annabeth, much to Catfish's horror. She must've fallen off the roof due to the overcrowding. In dangerous situations like these, the smart girl would always figure out a plan to get out safe, but magic villains and heroes were all so new to her; she probably can't think straight right now.

Catfish pulled out his staff and snapped it in half then swam to the surface. "Yo, Shred Tide!" He flung one half of his staff at the Akuma's back fin and it came back to him like a boomerang. This grabbed the Akuma's attention and also angered him. "Come on, chicken of the sea!" he taunted then swam for his life while hands made from the water sprouted up and tried to restrain him.

"Chat, where are you?" Aquabug wondered aloud as he felt his earrings that now only had three spots. Suddenly, he heard a rapid thumping sound coming from outside. He tucked the zip tie into his belt and swam out into the hallway. At the end of the hall, he saw Catfish trying to open the doors, but there was too much water pushing from the other side and Shred Tide was so close.

Aquabug threw his yoyo. It wrapped around a door handle and he yanked it as hard as he could, opening the door and letting Catfish in. "Get to the pool!" he yelled. With a nod, Catfish swam away and left Aquabug to keep the door open.

Once Shred Tide was inside, Aquabug retracted his yoyo and swam to the natatorium where he saw Catfish standing in the deep end of the pool, and waited by the door. "Get ready," he whispered, and a second later, Shred Tide swam through the door. Quickly, Aquabug secured the zip tie around his ankles, making it hard for him to swim. Then he shut the door and yelled, "NOW!"

"Cataclysm!"

The destructive black magic engulfed Catfish's hand which he used to destroy the drain and create a large, head-sized hole. The water was quickly draining all around them and sucking in anything that could fit in the drain. Aquabug and Catfish held onto the bleacher railings for dear life. Shred Tide tried to create another water hand to catch the heroes, but it got swept up in the drain.

Soon, the entire room was drained of the water, and Shred Tide was at the very bottom of the pool. With only three spots left on his earrings, Aquabug jumped into the pool and ran over to Shred Tide. He ignored his snarling, grabbed the necklace, and snapped it in half, releasing the Akuma.

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" He catches the evil butterfly with his yoyo. "Gotcha!" Emerging from the yoyo was now a pure white butterfly. "Good-bye, little butterfly." He carefully slipped the zip tie off of Shred Tide and tossed it into the air as he yelled, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The magic Ladybugs flew around the town and got rid of all the water, leaving everything dry and set every citizen standing on a roof back down on the ground. Finally, the Akuma's magic washed over Shred Tide, leaving Percy.

"What the hell just happened?" he murmured as Catfish jumped into the pool, and he and Aquabug did their signature fist-bump.

"Pound it!"

The heroes led a staggering Percy out of the building as they explained what happened to him. The memories were slowly coming back to him, including the one where he tried to drown the spotted hero.

"A-again, I am sorry I almost drowned you."

"Percy, it's fine," Aquabug reassured. "You weren't yourself."

Catfish nodded, "He's right. This wouldn't be the first time an Akuma tried to kill us."

"Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Jenna exclaimed as she ran up to them with her phone on record, "You got new outfits, new powers, and the city almost became Sea World! What the hell is going on?!"

"We can't really answer the first two," Aquabug said with a shrug of his shoulders. "This is still so new to us."

"Interesting." Jenna pans the phone over to Catfish, "Now tell us, where did you learn CPR? And was it before or after you became a hero?"

"Oh, I just took an online class," he fibbed. "And it was before. So glad it came in handy." He shoots Aquabug a kind smile, making him look away as his cheeks turned a light shade of red. Before Catfish could say more, Jenna pointed her phone to her, "Who will be Akumatized next? Who is Hawkmoth? And who are Ladybug and Chat Noir under their masks?" She points her phone back to the stunned heroes who stammer for a response until their miraculous beep. In unison, they yell, "We have to leave!" And they swung and vaulted away in opposite directions.

"Nooroo," the Butterfly Kwami turned to their holder. "Where did Ladybug and Chat Noir's new abilities come from?"

"It's from an ancient potion passed down from guardian to guardian, but I don't know it, Master," the Butterfly Kwami answered timidly. "Kwamis aren't permitted to know the recipe."

"Then I will have to find the guardian... Wherever they are."

"PERCY!" He didn't have time to react as Katie rushed over and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Thank the gods you're okay!"

Grover joined the hug, followed by Annabeth, Clarisse, and Silena, "Yeah man, you really scared us!"

"We thought you-" Silena paused and looked around, realizing that two more people were missing. "Where are Connor and Evan? Didn't the Miraculous Cure get them off the roof?" The six of them looked around for the two boys, calling out for them and actually calling them on their phones. Relief washed over when Evan and Connor ran over to them.

"Are you okay?" Clarisse asked.

Connor nodded, "Yeah, we're- Hey!" He yelped as the muscular girl shoved him to the side and went to hug Evan. "I wasn't talking to you, Murphy. You alright, blondie?" When Evan nodded, she smiled. "Everything's fine, you guys! Evan is okay."

As he rubbed his shoulder where Clarisse pushed him, Connor looked to Percy and asked, "You alright, Percy?"

The group's attention was now on him. After some thought, Percy nodded. "Yeah. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up like that, anyway. I mean, come on. Some guy I haven't seen since I was born is just gonna show up out of nowhere?" He chuckled, "You were right, Clarisse. He is a deadbeat."

"Yeah!" Clarisse pumped her fist up, "Screw dads!"

"And moms," Annabeth added. She and Katie high-fived.

"Screw both of 'em!" Connor exclaimed.

Evan giggled then shyly said, "Screw dads."

Silena giggled then added, "But in all seriousness, right now. How cool were Ladybug and Chat Noir's outfits?! And the way Ladybug's spots turned to fish scales? His suit looked so gorgeous when the scales caught the light."

The group made their way to Katie's car as Silena rambled on about the heroes' new outfits. And watching them from a window was Joe and Wayzz with proud looks on their faces.

"Only six more potions to make, Joe," Wayzz told Joe who let out a groan. The Kwami chuckled, "Try not to blow up your kitchen again."

Later that evening, Chat Noir sat on the roof of a building, just watching the sunset over the town. His parents weren't home, and neither was Zoey when Katie dropped him off, so he decided to just go out and have a little alone time.

"Chat?" Chat Noir looked away from the sunset and turned around. Behind him was Ladybug. It was silent between the two until Ladybug walked over to Chat and sat down next to him and said, "... I-I just wanted to thank you again, Chat... Y'know, for saving me."

Chat Noir blushed at the reminder, "Heh. Yeah, well I wasn't just gonna leave you like that," he nervously joked before frowning. "I'd never forgive myself if something bad happened to you... You're just... You're amazing."

Ladybug smiled sadly, "You probably wouldn't be saying that if you knew me outside the mask, kitty. I am a total coward."

"Well, I have a lousy reputation at school," Chat admitted before taking Ladybug's hand in his. "But I'm pretty sure you're selling yourself short. I know that I don't know you, but I bet you're amazing even without the mask, Bugaboo."

'The nickname," Ladybug thought to himself. 'Does Chat like me that way?' He needed to know. He needed to get it out there that he liked Connor. It wouldn't be fair to string his partner along. "Chat?" The leather-clad hero's green eyes met his blue ones. He took a deep breath before asking, "Do you like me... In a romantic way?" His faux ears flattened when he asked that. "I-it's okay if you do, but I have my eye on someone else and..." he trailed off as he looked away from Chat's gaze. "I'd feel pretty lousy if you were wasting your time crushing on me."

He expected tears or angry yelling, but much to his surprise, Chat slid his hand under his chin and turned his head so he was facing him again. "If this person is a total dick who can't see how much you like them, I'm always here for you, Bugaboo." He plants a kiss on the blonde hero's forehead and looked back at the sunset with a smile. Ladybug leaned on Chat, and together, the two sat there watching the beautiful scene in front of them.