Now, three things: contrary to usual, I've found a way to include this in the storyline; also, the entirety of "Gang of Secrets" doesn't happen due Lila stumbling in the confidant role in the previous chapter and, well, other things; finally, I'm borrowing a few things from an Italian comic book. If you can recognize the series, you'll get why Lila acts as she does.

06/22: Science Fiction

One thing she had been grateful to Lila for was her talking Chloe out of her mother's toxic influence. She hadn't succeeded in time to prevent the whole Miracle Queen debacle, but now she was back trying to become a good person, and even taking therapy (something Lila also sorely needed, but even if she could be talked into it there was the problem of how it would reflect on her mother's image in the weird diplomatic circles). As an addendum, now Sabrina was in their friends group, something Marinette was usually happy for… But not right now.

"How did Sabrina guess I'm Multimouse?!" Marinette complained to Lila after they were alone.

"Her father is a police officer, one trusted with commanding groups during important operations – she's grown around secrets just like me, she was bound to get suspicious. That, or she saw the Mirage you used to divert Chat Noir's suspicions, and kept the secret because, well, she's a cop's daughter. Still, I would have expected her not to tell the others when Juleka asked about your break-up…"

That was when the Ladyblog signaled that a perfectly normal-looking punk biker had been caught trying to find the heroic Volpina and then sent flying the police officer that had confronted him about it.

"Didn't think Alya would hesitate calling him an Akuma." Lila said.

"After that monster in London?" Marinette asked.

"Well, let's see what we have."

"Let's see… He followed the Mirage me in the Bièvre and swam back to the surface, then shrugged off impact from five rakes, a brick to the head, and even an anvil… What can we say?" Volpina asked the two other heroes as she put away the piano at their insistence.

"That you carry the weirdest things in your Miraculous?" Ladybug asked back.

"That Rena Rouge could have done a lot more had she known about what you put in there?" Chat Noir deadpanned.

"I liked the Loony Toons, so what? But aside for that?"

"It's most likely an Akuma." Ladybug admitted. "Though we need to talk about what else you may have in there…"

Then Mr. Pigeon arrived on a swarm of pigeons and started carrying away the not-Akuma, ranting of how he had squashed a pigeon when throwing away the anvil, while the surprisingly resilient biker tried to fight back.

"I stand corrected. Now what-Volpina?"

Volpina had pulled out a binocular and started cussing like only a Roman of Rome and few others could. Then she pulled out another thing.

"What the-an RPG-7?!" Chat Noir shouted.

"Of course not, it's an AirTronic PSRL-1, it's made of better steel and has better optics, though it can use the same ammunition." came Volpina's reply as she removed the rocket and replaced it with a larger one.

"Put that thing down!" was Ladybug's demand.

"You're right, Mr. Pigeon and his flying rats don't deserve this, and I need to interrogate that overgrown mushroom before killing it. Though I really wanted to finally use the thermobaric rocket…"

With that Volpina put the weapon back in her flute and cast the illusion of a tower of peregrine falcons, scattering the pigeons and making both Mr. Pigeon and his would-be victim fall down – the latter making a metallic noise when hitting the ground. Then, as Paris' heroes dealt with the Akumatized villain, she grabbed the biker's weird medallion and punched through his chest, revealing him as a metallic exoskeleton for a much slimmer individual, that looked perfectly human aside for the green skin and hot pink hands.

"You're not an Evree!" Volpina accused the green man.

"Am I really that ugly?" he replied.

"No, but I couldn't see your face – only the Evree tracker medallion and that you just wouldn't give up."

"Had the owner in my escape pod, before I could eject him in space."

"Did you finish it off?"

"I fired my thrusters in his face.

"What are you talking about?"

Volpina and the green man looked at the two other heroes and the now free Mr Ramier, the latter of which had made the question while the former two were appalled at just how the Vixen and the green man were talking of killing someone, that and the apparent overkill.

"Nothing you should worry about, Mr Ramier." Volpina replied. "Though my colleagues may be interested."

The talk had been moved at Gustave Eiffel's apartment over the Tower, of which Ladybug and Chat Noir had the keys. And there they learned that the Evrees that had been fought by the United Heroez and Volpina weren't just some alien pirates but a full alien invasion of planet-looting emotion-eating fungal lifeforms that moved around the cosmo with a mothership the size of a small moon. The ones that had repeatedly raided New York had been vanguards, trying to establish a beachhead and sabotage US defenses to allow a full-scale invasion without facing the US nuclear arsenal – that they could have weathered had they not decided to try and avoid the losses that would have caused, and that they had been stopped right as their emperor had been about to deploy their full force.

"And that is why I came here to talk with you, the broadcast I intercepted spoke of your role in defeating the invaders." the alien – whose world had been conquered by the Evrees – explained. "My world fell, we lowered our orbital defenses for a few minutes as a sign of peace after signing the commercial treaty, and before we could reactivate them they had already overran the capital."

"My role was small." Volpina admitted. "Yes, I beat up a few of them, and was in the strike team, but I was the distraction, Doorman got us in and out, Feniks and the Russian soldiers were the ones that deployed the hundred megaton bomb – didn't think the Russians were crazy enough to rebuild that monstrosity, or generous enough to provide it free of charge – and Jade Turtle saved everyone more times I can count with his shields, and wrecked his back doing so."

"Master Fu did what?!" Chat Noir shouted.

"Considering the situation, I'm more surprised he didn't Cataclysm everything." Ladybug stated.

"He did that, and before he could leave my uncle decided to retire me and gave him my Miraculous." Volpina confirmed. "Found out he was the Guardian only then…"

"I don't know what happened, but from what I found out it was you to talk the surviving commanders into turning on each other." the alien pointed out.

"Honestly, I just helped preserving our nukes, they were weakened enough humanity's combined missiles would have done the job. Anyway, happy to have given justice to your people."

"They conquered my world 36 of your days ago."

"Cosa?"

"They had another planet spaceship and emperor, and it was them who invaded my world. We had an evacuation plan in place just in case, three colony ships – the Xabra they got in orbit, the Xenia escaped but I don't know where, and my ship, the Antra… We were coming here to warn you and give you our technology, we knew you were better warriors than us, but they had an infiltrator on board and got us near Saturn. I'm the only one who escaped, with a full database… And-"

"And I can get you in contact with those who can actually make use of it."

It had been quick – a call to the Italian embassy in Paris, and they had been able to bring the alien (who, when someone finally asked his name, had identified himself as doctor Xarion, First Counselor for Energy for the planet Xerba) to the Élysée directly to the French president. Even after his stunt in New York, Papillon didn't rate that high. Then the three heroes had gone back to what they had been doing before Xarion's arrival… Or at least tried, as Lila was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Lila, what is it?"

"The Evrees!"

"What about them? You and the United Heroez already beat them once, and-"

"And next time they won't toy with us! They'll get serious from the start! And then they'll-"

"A time traveler told me we're going to win."

There. She had said it. Marinette hadn't wanted to reveal Bunnyx' existence, but she just couldn't bear to see Lila in that state. Also, she totally had to snap her out of it before she got Akumatized. And that was the most important part. Seriously.

"It… Is it true?" Lila asked.

"The Rabbit Miraculous has the power of time travel, and the Holder, Bunnyx, arrived chasing a villain created by a future Papillon and told us a few things. Including that we're going to defeat an alien invasion."

Lila looked Marinette for a few moments, processing what she had just been told. Then, surprising both of them, she grabbed Marinette jacked and pulled her so she could stamp a kiss on her lips.

"Oh…" the Italian said as what she had done dawned on her. "See you tomorrow, OK?"

With that, Lila bolted, leaving Marinette to stand for about half a minute before she realized what had just happened.