To Lyger 0: Indeed! She and Fu talked about le Maquillon during "The Woman out of the Fridge."

To Butterfly and yellow 14: Thanks! I enjoy expanding on the lore. I'm even thinking about a WWII-era anthology at some point to flesh out more of that history. Would people be interested in that?

Lila stood in the center of a small group of girls from the German class, staring up at the Victory Column with its winged figure on the top, while the rest of their two classes wandered around the park. Kim and Alix seemed to be in the middle of a stupid race with one of the Germans, sprinting laps around the traffic circle while that stupid girlfriend of Kim's cheered them on. Marc and Nath were huddled together over a tablet, probably something to do with their silly comic book. A couple of the German boys were trying to hit on Aurore and Mireille, though neither of them seemed particularly interested.

They had been in Germany for three days now and visited a half-dozen museums, and she was still no closer to finding answers.

"Do you remember Jagged Stone's music video from last spring?" one of the girls, Inga, asked.

Her friend, Veronica, furrowed her brows. "The one with the Heroes of Paris?"

Inga nodded, smiling dreamily. "That's the one! The outfit he was wearing was so amazing! And the Ladybug song was pretty awesome."

Lila grinned slyly. "Did you know I actually introduced Jagged Stone to Ladybug?" she asked. "It was during an Akuma attack a couple years ago. We were hiding together backstage at his concert when the Akuma was getting closer."

"Really?"

She nodded seriously. "He thought it would get us for sure, but fortunately I have Ladybug's number. I called her, and she came by straightaway to save us!"

"That's pretty cool," Veronica commented, shaking her head. "I don't know if I would have wanted to live in Paris with all those Akumas flying around."

Lila shrugged. "It wasn't so bad once you got used to it. For most of them, as long as you stayed out of the way you could just keep going like everything was fine. Some of them were pretty scary, but even then, the Heroes would swoop in sooner or later and put everything back to normal. Of course, then there were the times that the Heroes got into trouble and needed a little help."

Hanna's eyes widened. "I thought the Heroes of Paris always won!"

Lila turned her smirk into a look of embarrassment. "Oh, I must have said too much! Ladybug will be so disappointed…"

"Wait, why?"

"She's my best friend, and I really shouldn't be telling people how she makes mistakes…"

Inga shrugged. "I mean, I think everyone realizes that the Heroes of Paris make mistakes," she consoled her. "Didn't Ladybug announce a while back that she'd actually lost a miraculous?"

Lila's grimace wasn't faked. "She did," she confirmed, nodding. "And she feels so guilty about that – I don't like to bring it up with her."

"So many of those Akumas were just so terrible." Veronica shook her head, sighing. "Did Hawk Moth really Akumatize a baby?"

Lila nodded, shifting her expression to one of sympathy. "I know, it was so awful, wasn't it? I'm so glad he's gone and we can get back to normal."

Hanna frowned. "What does 'normal' even mean in Paris anymore?" she wondered. "I mean, you have the Heroes of Paris running around, and it's so cool how they help so many people."

Lila grinned wider to mask her grimace. "They really are the best, aren't they?"

"But they're not the only supers in Paris, are they?" asked Veronica, raising an eyebrow. "Even with your Hawk Moth in prison, there are still all these super-villains running around. What do they call themselves?"

"'Lynchpin-ions'," answered Hanna.

Lila stifled a grimace. Why had the Heroes decided to name her group the "Lynchpin-ions"? There were so many better names out there – the "Bee Hive" for example. Of course, it could have been worse. She schooled her expression and allowed herself to show some sadness. "I know, right? It's too bad that Ladybug and the Heroes are so busy fighting super-villains these days…"

"I know I wouldn't want to live in Paris…" Veronica asserted. "Far too many superheroes and super-villains running around there. Too much excitement for me."

Hanna gave her a surprised look. "You wouldn't want superheroes around? I think it would be cool to meet Ladybug and Cat Noir!"

"Meet them, sure," Veronica allowed, nodding slowly. "But that's it!"

Inga arched an eyebrow at her. "You know, it's not like there aren't any unusual things that happen in Berlin," she pointed out. "Remember last month? The break-in on Museum Island? Or that girl who almost got run over by a truck the week before?"

Veronica shuddered. "How could I forget?"

Lila cocked her head curiously. "What happened?"

"With the museum? Someone managed to get inside and look around without being found," Inga explained. "But then a security guard caught whoever it was. They haven't released any details on how he died, but…"

"Apparently there wasn't much left," finished Veronica, a disgusted look on her face.

"Too bad there weren't any superheroes to stop it," Hanna muttered pointedly, arching an eyebrow at Veronica.

Lila's eyes widened in surprise. "That's… I actually hadn't heard anything about that…" Perhaps this trip wouldn't be a waste after all… "Was anything missing?"

Inga shrugged. "The museum didn't say."

"Do they know anything about who might have done it?"

All three girls shook their heads. "No – or not that they've admitted, at least," Veronica explained. "But the papers have been speculating a lot."

"That's so sad!"

Inga shrugged. "Still, that's only two incidents – not like Paris."

"It seems like the crazy things are happening every week in Paris!" Hanna agreed, nodding. She furrowed her brows, examining Lila carefully. "So if you know Ladybug," she began slowly, "do you think you could ask her to come out to Berlin and help us with… whatever this is?"

Lila hummed thoughtfully, one eye on the three German girls. "Perhaps…" she allowed. "I mean, she is really busy, so I don't know if she would be able to come. But I will definitely ask her!" She beamed brightly at them, only for her mouth to turn down into a frown. "But if I'm going to put something more on her, she'll want to know what it is. What am I going to tell her?"

Hanna sighed disappointedly. "So much for 'fostering international relations'…"

Lila glanced over at the benches to find Nadine sitting hand-in-hand with Philippe and chatting with one of the German girls. Nadine pointed up at the figure of Victory at the top of the column. The German girl smiled and nodded before saying something Lila couldn't hear.

Seeing Lila looking at her, Nadine gave Philippe a peck on the cheek, hopped up, and bounced over to her as Inga, Veronica, and Hanna drifted away from Lila, toward where Jean was doing a card trick for Pierre, Valérie, and a couple of German boys. Lila surreptitiously rolled her eyes.

"Isn't this so amazing?" Nadine asked her, bouncing eagerly on the balls of her feet. "I've never been out of the country before! And it's so cool to meet so many new people. Martina is such a nice person."

Lila raised an eyebrow and nodded back toward where Philippe and Martina were sitting together. "It looks like Philippe might think so, too…" she observed, watching Nadine out of the corner of her eye to gauge her reaction.

Nadine cocked her head in confusion. "What?"

"Don't you see how he's smiling at her?"

"What does that mean?"

Lila gasped. "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing," she replied quickly. "It's just…"

Nadine folded her arms and pursed her lips. "Philippe loves me," she asserted. "And I love him. He would never do anything to hurt me."

"I'm glad you trust him so much," Lila told her, patting her arm. She hummed.

"What's wrong?" asked Nadine, her look instantly shifting to concern.

Lila checked the time on her phone. "It's lunchtime; I'm hungry. Are you?"

Nadine furrowed her brows. "Not really…" she replied. "But I could go for a snack. There's a food cart over there, and Martina says you can't come to Berlin without trying döner kebab."

"That does sound tasty," Lila agreed, smiling. Her face fell. "Oh, but I don't have any money left with me: Mom had to send so much back to Italy for my Nonna's surgery that she couldn't afford more than €100 for the whole trip." She gave Nadine a pleading look. "Could you cover lunch for me? I promise I'll pay you back when we get home!"

Nadine nodded, beaming. "Of course! And don't worry about paying me back; you do so much already, I'm happy to help out!"

"Thank you so much!" Lila let out a relieved breath and plastered an easy smile on her face.

"Not a problem!" Nadine placed her hand in her pocket and frowned, patting her pockets. She opened her purse and started rummaging around. Finally she sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I must have forgotten my wallet in the room. I'm sorry."

"Well, maybe you could get Philippe to pay for us?" suggested Lila, raising an eyebrow pointedly. "I'm sure you can… persuade him…"

Nadine furrowed her brows, cocking her head in confusion. "O–okay. I–I'll ask him…"

Lila smirked. "Be sure to bat your eyelashes at him!"

As Nadine walked away, frowning, Lila let out a breath and turned away. Heinrich dragged a couple of his friends – Dietrich and Greta – over to her. On reaching her, Heinrich draped an arm over her shoulders with a little too much familiarity. Greta eyed Lila with a mix of mistrust and resignation. Dietrich hung back, away from the others. Lila's face froze in a mask, examining them carefully, calculating her next move.

"So how are you enjoying this trip, mon chéri?" Heinrich asked raising an eyebrow. "Having fun checking out the column?" He spread his free arm to encompass the Victory Column. "You know, this park is one of the most scenic areas of the city; it will be super green in the spring. You should come back some time to see it!"

Lila hummed seductively. "That does sound like fun…" she purred. "This has been such a… fascinating trip. I may have to take you up on that offer."

"With as short a trip as this is," Greta commented, "you're only really getting to see a fraction of the city. There is a lot more to see!"

Lila nodded slowly, her eyes drifting back and forth between the three. "I've always been fascinated by Germany, especially World War II. Hitler somehow had the world at his feet for most of the war. I've often wondered how he managed it. Was it pure charisma, or was there more to him?" Greta furrowed her eyebrows. Dietrich scowled, his eyes narrowing. "Oh, everything Hitler did was horrible," Lila quickly added. "Whatever power he had, he used it for horrible things. But the ability to control and manipulate his own people so well? That is something that could accomplish a lot of good – in the right hands, of course."

Greta pursed her lips. "It's not that Hitler and his true followers were ever the majority," she replied slowly. "The Nazi Party was only a minority in Germany – but they were a very vocal one. At least at first. More actually joined the Nazi Party as it rose in prominence. But more than anything else, people just got caught up in the furor. Or they were afraid."

"Or they followed because they didn't see another choice," interjected Dietrich, frowning. "They followed because they thought that was the only way."

"Just ordinary people doing what ordinary people do," Heinrich added, shrugging. "Plenty of monsters; plenty more followers."

"Or enablers." Dietrich folded his arms.

"That can't be all there was to it," Lila objected. "Didn't those posters show some Nazi soldiers that looked super-strong, or who had wings?"

Greta scoffed. "Those were propaganda! You saw the one depicting a British soldier as a bloodthirsty monster, right? Or the Jewish 'werewolf'? You can't take those posters too seriously."