Chapter 22: Startrain
Marinette Dupin-Cheng is visiting Master Fu. They just had an akuma incident, and she's reporting what happened. She also says that once again, none of the B Team arrived (not using the term "B Team"). She wonders aloud if maybe they've decided to retire on their own. Or maybe their "miraculous" aren't working as well any more. Tikki points out they do have two they can test, the bee and the snow leopard, but Master Fu says it's not worth the risk. It's best if they don't have to worry about Hawk Moth controlling the B Team until they know what's going on. During the entire conversation, Marinette is yawning.
Master Fu tells her to go home and get some sleep. She has a field trip tomorrow, after all. Although by now, "tomorrow" is already "today." Marinette says she's going to skip. She can't leave Paris, even for a day, when Hawk Moth is around. Plus, she does need the rest. Master Fu argues that "even Ladybug needs a vacation." He loans her the horse miraculous. It has the ability of teleportation, so if something goes wrong, Marinette can return to Paris immediately. Marinette thanks him and heads home.
The next morning, Miss Bustier's class is meeting at the underwater train to take a day trip to England. Just Miss Bustier's class. The other two classes will be taking different trains later in the day. Max Kante's mother is the conductor. She's a very loving single mother, and she's recently taken a test to become an astronaut.
Much to everyone's surprise, Adrien Agreste is able to show up. Nino Lahiffe figures Mr. Agreste would have never given permission. Adrien says "I know. So I didn't ask."
They're about to board when Ondine shows up. Kim is surprised as she should be in school right now. Ondine says she has to see her boyfriend off; he's going to another country! Kim points out they'll be back before nightfall, but she says she's still going to miss him going away so far. Kim then introduces everyone (except Max, who knows Ondine and Kim are together already) to his "cute girlfriend," which sends Ondine into the depths of happy blushing.
Just before Kim gets on, Ondine slips him the anklet. Kim insists she should keep it; it is hers, really, after all. But she wants part of herself to be with him, and by giving him the anklet, she knows he'll have to return to Paris to give it back. Kim again points out it's a day trip, but Ondine wants to do this. Chloe Bourgeois comments about how revoltingly sweet they are (missing the entire bit about the miraculous part). Kim completely ignores her, which further makes Ondine happy.
What no one knows is that an akuma has gotten locked in Sabrina's Chloe-bag due to happenstance and Hawk Moth losing control over it earlier in the day. He's watching it from afar, unable to do anything about it (all of this is similar to the canon episode).
Class A boards, and Kim says goodbye to Ondine. They all get comfortable in their seats, and the train departs. Nathaniel Kurtzberg sketches while Chloe puts on an eye mask. Kim breaks into the snacks with Max while Rose Lavillant and Juleka Couffaine share a magazine. Lila Rossi again starts with the lies and the bragging. She tells Alix Kubdel how impressed she was with her during the triathlon. Kim asks her what she thought of him, and Lila cringes but says he was "good too." She tells Ivan Bruel and Mylene that she often talks with Cristina Vee, the famous actress, whom both are fans of. Lila says she'll be able to get the couple premiere tickets to Vee's newest movie, which is something both Ivan and Mylene Haprele have been dying to see.
Alya Cesaire is listening to all of this and shakes her head. She thinks, "Poor Mylene and Ivan. They're going to be so heart broken when Lila fails to provide." She calls Lila casually, hinting that Lila had better not disappoint anyone. Lila lies and says "I can get you a ticket too, if you want." Alya keeps her cool and doesn't rise to the bait. She merely repeats her first assertion.
It's not long before Marinette dozes off. Alya convinces Adrien to trade places with her so she can sit with Nino. So Adrien sits next to the sleeping Marinette. However, since Adrien was also up late all night as Cat Noir, it's not long before he's asleep too. The girls in the class notice and coo. Alya takes a picture. Lila, already pissed off, goes to wake Marinette up.
Alya stops her. Lila tells another lie about needing Marinette's help, which Alya expertly redirects. Unable to push farther without getting caught, Lila shrugs it off and slunks away. Her thoughts grow toxic towards Alya.
Inside Sabrina's Chloe-bag, the akuma flutters. By now, it is far out of Hawk Moth's control, and he realizes it. He can't even release it at this range. Nathalie Sancoeur is keeping an eye on the situation beside him.
While helping Chloe, Sabrina Raincomprix unlocks the bag and the akuma flutters free. Everyone nearby begins to panic. Chloe remains confident, telling them to all remain calm. After all, she's the only one present with any superhero experience at all. Remember? She's Queen Bee. And you can't be akumatized as long as you remain calm with positive emotions. She actually leads the evacuation effort of the first class car (where she was sitting apart from her class) and locks it.
Her class quickly discusses if it's a real akuma or not. Chloe, Sabrina, and one of the other passengers (Simon) confirms it is as they have all been akumatized before. Kim grips Ondine's anklet. Should he intervene now? Is it an emergency? Well, there is no one akumatized yet. And Dauphin can't purify an akuma. But how will Ladybug and Cat Noir find them under the middle of the English Channel?
Alya and Nino decide to investigate. Despite Miss Bustier telling them not to, they go into the first class car. (They are Carapace and Rena Rouge, after all.) However, they find no akuma. By now, it's entered the ventilation system.
Lila calls Chloe a liar (Alya rolls her eyes at that one); Chloe stamps her foot and insists she's not. At that moment, the akuma preys upon Max's mother, Claudie Kante. Her anxiety over fulfilling her dream and passing her astronaut test overcame her. She as well as the entire train turn into Startrain, and she launches them all into space.
The entire class is initially thrown to the back of their car before Startrain levels out and they all start floating, much to their gaping amazement. The jolt wakes up Adrien and Marinette.
Meanwhile, Hawk Moth can feel what has happened even though he cannot control the situation. He knows someone has been akumatized and that that person has left the stratosphere. Nathalie grimly reports that it gets worse. She relays that the news is reporting the entire train got turned into a space ship (basically)—and that Adrien is on the passenger's list. Hawk Moth actually blanches. "Is all I can do is hope that my enemies save my son?"
Nathalie points out that they have one other option. She asks for the peacock miraculous. (The conversation implies that Hawk Moth has been especially forbidding her becoming Mayura again due to the peacock being broken, which is why Mayura has not yet appeared in Phase 2.) Hawk Moth argues that the risk of using a broken miraculous is too great. (He could use it himself, but then he would need to relinquish his Hawk Moth transformation (they don't know about fusions yet), which could be useful at negating the situation within any given second, should Startrain come back in range. At this range, he can't even negate the akuma—but he is trying, and he knows that he needs to remain as Hawk Moth to do so.) Nathalie counters that the worst scenario is Adrien being lost in space. Hawk Moth concedes and hands her the peacock miraculous.
Nathalie transforms into Mayura and begins creating a senti monster using an amok feather from her fan. This is the first time her powers and transformation will be explained in the fic, so make sure to take the time and provide proper details.
Back on Startrain, Adrien and Marinette duck into different bathrooms in the first class car (since it's empty) and transform. Ladybug runs into Cat Noir first, and they're surprised to see each other. Ladybug lies and says she used the horse to get onto the train. Cat Noir has to admit he was one of the passengers, "but there's like a hundred of them…" so it's not worth the effort to try to find out his secret identity. Ladybug points out she has too much respect for him to do that. He's very, very flattered by that. Ladybug stammers a recovery that what she meant to say is that she has "too much respect for secret identities."
They join the passengers and Miss Bustier's class. Everyone is surprised to see the superheroes made it. Ladybug lies and says that both she and Cat Noir used a miraculous to teleport. Ladybug then organizes everything. She tells everyone to get to the back cars and hang tight, secure any objects they can, and trust them. Kim, internally, breathes a sigh of relief as now Ladybug and Cat Noir can handle it, so he doesn't have to transform in the bathroom.
However, at that moment, Startrain shuts the doors between the cars and locks them tight. The akumatized victim tells everyone to take a seat; she's giving them a grand tour of the stars! Ladybug and Cat Noir try to pry the doors open, but they can't without risking the structural integrity of the train and killing everyone in space. Max Kante then steps up with Markov; together they prove they can hack the doors open. Ladybug and Cat Noir say they need Max to come with them. Miss Bustier is hesitant but agrees.
They get through the next car where they're attacked by laser drones converted from the drones that serve drinks on the train. Max and Markov hack into the next car, which has the heat turned up as far as it will go until it nearly fries Markov. It's Max who rigs a cooling system so they can press onward.
Meanwhile, Chloe is getting impatient for the rescue. She's beginning to have second thoughts about giving up the bee miraculous. Kim is making the most of it. Since there's no gravity, he's using the time to swim in the air. He happens to look out the window when he sees a giant space whale approaching them. "Cool, a space whale! Wait, a space whale?!"
Back in Paris, this is Mayura's senti monster. She's taxed herself to the limits creating it and programming in it one order: capture the train and its passengers (emphasis on the passengers) and bring it back to Earth. She's exhausted, and Hawk Moth is supporting her—something she finds to be rather agreeable. By now, the whale is out of her control as well. But she was more heavy-handed with programming it, so it has a single-minded obedience to those commands.
Ladybug and Cat Noir also see the space whale, but they have no idea what it is or if it's friend or foe. They know they have to continue onward before they round Pluto or farther. They have to hurry; they don't have time to deal with a space whale—and they're not even sure if they can find an exit in the train without risking everyone inside.
Kim realizes the same dilemma. Ladybug and Cat Noir are busy with the akuma victim. They can't fight a space whale. This is an emergency. And they are far enough away from Hawk Moth…right? He decides this crisis qualifies and slips into the bathroom. He transforms into Dauphin.
Using Dauphin's special ability of Echolocation, Dauphin is able to find a safe route outside of the startrain without endangering anyone. (Echolocation is a technique that allows the user to visualize a route specific to the crisis at hand. It can be an escape route, a way to get to an ally or important item, or the path to a hidden enemy etc.) He escapes and confronts the whale head on. Then he realizes how huge the whale is—big enough to eat the entire train. He's just a dolphin—what can he do? Nonetheless, he holds his breath and braces for the fight with his surfboard.
Markov scans the next car. Startrain herself has vented it. There's no air, and the temperatures are subzero and dropping. Cat Noir points out Max can't survive in there, but they need him to get to his mother. The whale makes a pass by the train, slamming them into the wall. They don't have any time. That thing could rupture the startrain too! But then they hear a loud "whoop!" (would they even hear anything in space? Dauphin is holding his breath; no air.) They look outside to see Dauphin riding the space whale.
All three just sorta blink. Then they decide to let Dauphin handle the whale while they handle the train—however Dauphin managed to get here. Max takes an extra-long look at Dauphin. There's something familiar about how he moves. As he studies outside the train car, Ladybug makes her decision and gives Max the horse miraculous. He meets Kaalki and transforms into Pegasus. And he's amazed by the process as it's "beyond science."
The three enter the cold car. Like Dauphin, they all have to hold their breath. In addition to laser drones, Markov is freezing up. Ladybug comes up with a Lucky Charm to keep him warm. The whale spins as Dauphin does everything he can to redirect it from the civilians. He's doing his best to fight and grapple it with minimal to no friction and his surfboard weapon. Inside, Pegasus does what he can to hold off the drones with his horseshoe boomerang.
Ladybug's team succeeds in getting to the main car just as Dauphin loses control of the whale. They break the control switch, which frees the akuma. The whale flies in front of the train, mouth open, ready to swallow it. Pegasus uses his special ability, Voyage, to open a portal right in front of its baleen. He sends them right into Big Ben via teleportation. Ladybug then does her world-healing wave, teleporting the train back to the station in Paris. This includes Dauphin. "Pound it!"
At the station, "the gorilla" is there to pick Adrien up and escort him home. Back at the Agreste manor, Gabriel Agreste is tending to Nathalie Sancoeur, who is exhausted but insisting she is okay. (With the space whale being single minded in its command, once the train was sent back to Earth, the whale returned as well. Once it was close enough, Mayura could dissolve it.)
Max Kante runs to check on his mother, who remembers nothing of the whole experience (he has also returned the horse miraculous). She laments with a bit of humor about how she was among the stars and doesn't remember it! Then she gets a text alert on her smart watch—she passed! She's going to be an astronaut! Both she and Max are so happy and proud. Alya asks Marinette where she disappeared to. Marinette says she got stuck between two seats and couldn't wiggle free. Alya laughs, typical Marinette, and then says she has something for her. Marinette internally panics a moment. Did Alya not believe me? Did she find out I'm Ladybug? But what Alya shows her is the picture of Adrien and Marinette sleeping forehead to forehead. Marinette squees and hugs Alya as Alya emails it to her. Neither senses Lila glaring behind them.
To be continued in Chapter 23: Desperada…