The bats seemed to be coalescing near the Eiffel Tower, orbiting it like thousands of planets around their sun. We jumped from rooftop to rooftop. On a ledge of the great Tower sat a red-haired boy with a striped black-and-white shirt. He was scribbling on a tablet attached to his arm, muttering angrily.

"Is that-" I began.

"The Evillustrator!" she finished for me. Where Evillustrator drew, black splotches came forth and formed into bats, which hence flew away. Off to terrorize the city, no doubt.

"We have to get his tablet from him," Ladybug whispered in my ear. My stomach fluttered. I could almost hear the butterflies. No wait, that was all the bats. "You go left, I'll go right, okay?"

"Roger, Milady!"

We separated.

I crept stealthily like a cat. I pounced, a foot outstretched. "Trick or treat!" I yelled as my foot collided. Evillustrator dispersed, his form breaking into dozens of bats, which scattered into a frenzy.

"Ladybug, help!" My Lady's yo-yo pulled me from the horde of rats. "Thanks!" We stood back to back.

"Evillistrator's learned a few tricks since we've encountered him last," said Ladybug.

Movement. I turned. Approaching was a swarm of bats. They parted, and from their center came the form of none other than Vuplina herself. But not our ally Vuplina, whom Ladybug had recruited. This was Hawk Moth's akumatization of Lila Rossi, my classmate!

"Ladybug, they're illusions!" I called.

"Right," she responded. She threw her yo-yo out, spinning it around, intending to disperse the illusions, but they swooped out of the way.

Lila laughed. "They're no illusion! And if they were, you couldn't stop them if you tried! I've grown more powerful!"

The bats behind me coalesced again, I saw over my shoulder. From their depths, another figure appeared. Juleka, likewise akumatized!

"Juleka! But how?" Ladybug yelled.

"I am Reflekta! You will address me as such!" responded Reflekta.

I threw myself to the side as Reflekta's beam cut across the air. I jabbed out with my staff. She batted it aside, almost effortlessly.

Ladybug and Vuplina exchanged blows, fist against fist, yo-yo against flute. Vulpina shot around, surprisingly swift, and as Ladybug struck her, she dissipated into mist.

And then something jerked me backward and spun me with force. I saw from the corner of my eye the real Vuplina, no illusion, grasping me by my suit's tail. She let go and I sailed toward Ladybug. We crashed together, skidding closed and closer to the edge of the Tower.

Ladybug's yo-yo saved us in the knick of time. We zoomed back to the top.

Vuplina, Reflekta, and the bats were gone.

. * . * .

We took to the rooftops once more.

"Hawk Moth has been akumatizing multiple people a lot recently," Ladybug said.

"He needs to be stopped!" I agreed.

"There!" she pointed. On the horizon, I could just make out another flock of bats.

We made it to the outskirts of the bat storm. I was surprised to see we were at Le Grand Paris, the hotel owned by Chloe Bourgeois' father. Ladybug groaned beside me. The sight of the hotel always morphed her face into one of aggravation.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing," she responded. "Let's go." Ladybug jumped from the ledge and swung to the entrance. I followed, extending my staff to the ground. I slid down it like a firefighter.

"How did Vuplina and Reflekta make or control all these bats? Do you think there's another Akuma?" I whispered as we snuck through the front door. The lobby was empty.

"There must be, otherwise Lila and Juleka were akumatized at the same time with the same object, like all other times more than one person was akumatized," Ladybug postulated.

"Unless one of them is a Sentimonster," I added. "Like that Ladybug Sentimonster."

"There hasn't been one of those in so long, I almost forgot those were a thing."

All of the sudden, she grabbed my hand and pulled me down behind the front desk. She raised a finger to her lips, shushing me. Then she tapped her ear and pointed toward the stairwell door. She'd heard something from the stairs! I got into a ready pose, crouched behind the desk. And waited.

And waited. But Ladybug still held my hand, so I wasn't too picky.

But then his Cat Noir ring slipped off his finger and his eyes snapped to it, in Ladybug's grasp. I felt the Cat Noir transformation end; light flashed and Plagg appeared.

I and Plagg gaped at Ladybug. She'd stolen my Miraculous! She revealed my secret identity! I lunged forward, intent on grabbing it back.

She danced away. Without my ring, I was a regular human, physically speaking. Compared to her, with her Miraculous, I was a turtle. As she got further away, I finally noticed that attached to her lower leg was a teddy bear. Despair Bear! Chloe's butler, Jean.

How many akumas were there? The last time there were this many- Puppeteer the first time, then Scarlet Moth the second. Who was akumatized now? How many people? Did they now know my secret identity? Did Hawk Moth? What was I going to do if he did?

I knew that Hawk Moth knew what his akuma did. Was Despair Bear the akuma? Or was the akuma a superpower bestower? One who gave Despair Bear his power, and was indirectly connected to Hawk Moth? If the latter, there was hope my identity was only know by Despair Bear. And once he was un-akumatized, he would have no recollection of me being Cat Noir!

I hoped. Luckily, Ladybug wouldn't remember seeing his face, because Despair Bear's victims never remember what they did when he controlled them.

But now, I had to get Despair Bear off of Ladybug. I looked back at Ladybug, but-

She was gone.

The elevator dinged. Ladybug was entering the elevator. With my ring!

I raced after her. Closer and closer I got, but I wasn't fast enough. The doors closed- Despair Bear used Ladybug's face to gloat. I slammed into the elevator. Then I hit them again, this time in frustration.

I bolted to the stairwell and sprinted up them, three at a time (any more and I was likely to trip). I didn't know which floor she was going to get off at, so I checked every flight. Already I was running out of breath.

There! I saw her turn a corner. Gasping, I dashed after her.

I found her- or should I say them- for through the only open door stood Vulpina, Reflekta, and Ladybug, who stood before the Evillustrator and Reverser!