Chapter 6: Freakish Control

Earlier in the afternoon

"You look worried. Did something on the TV disturb you, Master?" asked Wayzz.

Master Fu said, "Hawk Moth supposedly gave up. There was a hand-off of the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous to Ladybug. But we know that cannot be. The Ladybug was an impostor. It is either an opportunistic new villain or a sham working for Hawk Moth."

"What can we do?" asked Wayzz.

"It is more urgent than ever that I find replacement holders for Tikki and Plagg before the new villain becomes established," said Fu. "I have been monitoring certain of Marinette's classmates as possible heroes."

"Most of them have been akumatized at one point or another," said Wayzz.

"They could still be good hero material," said Fu. "Alya Césaire has done well as the temporary holder of the Fox. I gather from what Plagg told me that she also did well as the Bee, the Bee/Ladybug, and Ladybug in the fight against Style Queen. She would be an excellent choice for a new Ladybug."

"But Master, her identity is known to one outside person, and that person is known to Hawk Moth."

"Marinette is reliable, she's going overseas, and this new Hawk Moth probably doesn't know her identity."

"Do you have someone in mind for the Black Cat?"

"I'm not sure. I need to make a character test."

Master Fu headed to the Césaire's apartment home. He intended to slip the Ladybug Miraculous into Alya's room.

There was a party just breaking up. It seemed it was a going-away party for Marinette, so they were all her friends. A quick test of character might find someone suitable for the Cat.

One young man split off from the others. "Bye guys, I'm heading off to the pool for a swim."

Master Fu waited until he was out of sight of the others, walked near to him, and pretended to stumble.

Kim caught him as he was about to fall.

"Thank you, young man," said Fu. "Your natural reflexes are quite good."

"Helping others should always be a natural reflex, like swimming is for fish," said Kim.

Master Fu followed Kim at a distance, slipped into the pool changing room, and left the Black Cat Miraculous box inside Kim's locker.

That evening

Cerulean walked up to the helicopter where Audrey Bourgeois was waiting.

"Marinette, what is that outlandish color you're painted yourself with? It doesn't look good on you, nor is it fashionable."

"I am Cerulean. I am here to tell you something: you must not leave your daughter behind."

At the sound of her compelling voice, Audrey stiffened and her eyes turned deep cerulean blue.

"Whatever you say, Cerulean," said Audrey in a monotone.

A butterfly-shaped outline appeared on Cerulean's face. "Tell her to bring the helicopter to the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel and then come down to get Chloé in her apartment."

Cerulean repeated the command from Queen Butterfly.

"Whatever you say, Cerulean," said Audrey. "Helicopter man, whatever your name is, take us to the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel."

"But, what about our schedule to go straight to the airport?" asked the pilot.

Cerulean said, "You will take us the roof of the Grand Paris Hotel."

The helicopter pilot's eyes turned blue. "Whatever you say, Cerulean."

The akuma and her mind-controlled victims took off together in the helicopter.

While they were on their way, Queen Butterfly suddenly turned back into Chloé.

Nooroo landed on a table beside her, looking very tired.

"I need to feed," said the kwami weakly. "Didn't you see the four wings and the center of your pin turning black one by one, and hear the beeping?"

"I didn't know what it meant, so I ignored it," said Chloé.

"From the moment your akuma butterfly infects someone, you have five minutes before you detransform."

"That didn't happen to Hawk Moth, did it?"

"With adult holders, we kwamis can feed on their excess spiritual energy, but we cannot do that with children."

"So I can only akumatize someone for five minutes? That's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

"No, they remain akumatized and they will carry out your last instructions. It's just your link that drops when you detransform. After I feed, you can transform and pick up the link again."

"What do you eat?"

"Flower nectar," said Nooroo. "I prefer marigolds, but many other flowers will do."

"Then get into the terrarium and eat what the other butterflies are eating."

"Your terrarium was put together in a rush. It doesn't contain suitable flowers. Your butterflies are starving."

"How can I get marigolds? What kind of flowers are they, even?"

"They are golden-orange flowers with compact blossoms. I think I smelled some growing in your lobby when you were down there earlier."

"Then hurry up and go eat some."

"I'm very tired. I can hardly fly."

"I'll get Jean-Claude to bring some."

Chloé got on the phone. "Jean-Paul, bring me a large bunch of marigolds at once!"

The mind-controlled pilot made a rough landing on the roof.

"Now we are to go to Chloé's apartment and get her," said Cerulean.

"Whatever you say, Cerulean," said Audrey. "What do we do once we have her?"

"My only orders are not to leave her behind," said Cerulean.

"We could take her to New York, but I only have plane tickets for myself and Marinette," said Audrey.

"She could use Marinette's ticket," said Cerulean.

"They don't let people do that," said the helicopter pilot. "Each person has to have a ticket in their own name."

"The plane is full," said Audrey. "They told me that I got the last ticket."

Cerulean had Marinette's creativity but not her morals.

"The answer is simple. If we kill Chloé, we will not be leaving her behind because she will no longer exist."

"Whatever you say, Cerulean," said Audrey.

"Any objections, Queen Butterfly?" asked Cerulean.

There was no reply from the mental link.

"No objections. Let's go get her," said Cerulean.

"Whatever you say, Cerulean," said Audrey.