Adrien needed a way out of this. Marinette needed him—well, needed Chat Noir. He glanced at his phone. An akuma alert had popped up; London Panics as Akumatized Villain Wreaks Havoc. Adrien wasn't sure he'd call it havoc, but it might be dramatic enough to bring Ladybug here.

Felix sat against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest, face in his phone. Volpina should have taken him. It was his fault. If Marinette was the one here, Adrien could have found a safe place for her to hide. She'd stay put, then he could transform into Chat. But now he was stuck with Felix, unable to transform, unable to save Marinette. Unable to do anything.

"I can feel you fretting from here. Calm down. The police are going after your friend."

Adrien looked for something he could use to distract Felix. Nothing. Only a dumpster; he doubted he'd be able to convince Felix to climb in there. There had to be something he could do, Marinette needed him.

"Oh, I get it. If you don't want to help me because you're afraid, you can just stay here."

Adrien expected anger, enough to make Felix storm off again. Instead, Felix chuckled. "Scared? I've held my own against three akumas. I just don't see how that stupid girl is worth getting hurt for."

"Of course you don't, you don't have any friends of your own." Felix jolted back as if Adrien's words were a blow to his face. It was over in an instant, but Adrien managed to catch a sight of it; a flash of sadness across his face. "Felix, I didn't mean—"

"Your concern for your friend is turning you into an idiot." All the emotion was wiped from Felix's face. "If you go after her, you'll just upset Lila. Unless you've secretly been Ladybug this entire time, I don't see what good would come from that."

"Right." Adrien rubbed his hands, his rings scraped together as he did. If Adrien had to tell someone he was Chat Noir, he had no idea who he'd pick. But he was almost certain it wouldn't be Felix. Yet here he was, out of options.

They'd been close once. When asked, Adrien always said Chloe had been his childhood best friend. She wouldn't let him say anything else. But if he thought about it, he and Felix had been closer. When Mother disappeared, Felix was the first person Adrien called; Chloe wouldn't have understood. He and Amelie came a few days later. Adrien and Felix spent the whole time locked away in Adrien's room, he hadn't wanted to speak to anyone else. Not even Father. Adrien and Felix hadn't talked much since, but all those years together didn't just disappear. A spark of their former friendship was hidden away, waiting for him to strike it with a match. And he had planned to—he just didn't expect that match to be Chat.

"Actually," Adrien's voice caught in his throat.

Felix's eyes grew wide. He pointed toward Adrien. "What is that thing?"

Something small and black floated beside his head. Plagg? Adrien hadn't felt him rustle out from under his shirt.

"I overheard you saying you needed a hero. I can help!" a voice said. It was high-pitched but smooth. Definitely not Plagg.

"Did that giant cockroach just talk?" Felix reached for a decent-sized rock on the ground beside him.

"Felix wait," Adrien grabbed Felix's wrist. "I don't think it's a bug. It's like, uh, magic or something."

"A magical giant talking cockroach?" Felix shuddered. Adrien bit his tongue to stifle a laugh. "Did Shadow Moth make that?"

"Great. They're idiots." A deep, gruff voice said. Felix nearly jumped at the sound of it. Another kwami floated beside them. This one was gray with wings.

"God, that one's even uglier," Felix said.

The kwami shrugged. "Really? I was just thinking you were the uglier twin."

"Uglier . . . what?"

The first kwami jumped in between them. "We didn't mean to scare you. I'm Wissp, and this is Wingg. We're kwamis. We give superheroes their powers."

"Like Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Adrien asked.

"Exactly! We can turn you into heroes and then you can rescue your friend!"

Wingg sighed and looked from Adrien to Felix. "Great. Well, if this is what we're stuck with, you can take that one, Wissp." He motioned toward Adrien. "This one smells better."

Felix calmed down a bit. "Your name is Wingg? Kind of a stupid name for a bat."

"I'm a kwami . Not a real bat. I'd love to hear what your stupid human name is."

"My name's Felix Graham de—"

Wingg cut him off with a cackle. "You think Wingg is a stupid name but you're named

after graham crackers?"

Felix clenched his teeth in irritation. "It's Graham de Vanily."

"Wingg was just kidding," Wissp said, "we know your last name. Our Miraculouses had been passed down your family for generations. Now that the rings are together again, we could find you!"

"Rings? The Graham de Vanily Twin Rings?" Felix asked.

Adrien looked down at his mother's ring. He'd heard her call them that before, the Twin Rings. He'd never thought to ask what that meant. "But, we only have one of them." The other must have been with Father. Adrien could almost picture it: Gabriel Agreste with a Miraculous, jumping across the rooftops of Paris after an akuma.

"Actually," Felix twisted a ring on his hand. "I have the other."

"Yay!" Wissp cheered. She flipped in the air, her golden eyes and the bulb on her back flashed. "Our twin Miraculouses are back together, with our twin holders!"

"Twins?" Felix asked.

"Oh, we're not twins, we're cousins," Adrien corrected.

Wissp looked between the two of them. "Your family always has twins, and they always get the rings. Besides, you two look the same."

Felix looked off in another direction. His brow was furrowed and eyes distant, lost in thought.

"I'm sorry, you're mistaken," Adrien said. "Our mothers were twins, though."

"Look, we aren't here to stir up some family drama. All that matters is you have our Miraculouses. Congrats. You're heroes now," Wingg said.

Adrien looked at Felix's ring. It was a perfect match; the other Twin Ring. Aunt Amelie had asked for it, but Father refused. He was not a man to change his mind.

"Felix, these were my parent's wedding rings. How did you end up with one?"

"Good question. But shouldn't we get Marinette? How do we do the whole superhero thing?"

"Oh, we're suspiciously changing the subject I see. Well, to transform say 'nightfall.' Then to use your power you say 'eclipse.'" Wingg explained.

"Eclipse and nightfall?"

"You weren't supposed to say it yet!" Wingg snapped as he disappeared into Felix's ring.

There was a flash of light. Felix was replaced with a superhero. He wore a mostly gray suit. Across his shoulders, he wore a short red cloak that hung down his back. Felix reached a hand to touch the gray mask over his eyes, then slid them up to his head and the pair of gray bat ears that stuck out from his hair.

"I don't know how I feel about the ears," he started, moving his hand down to stroke the part of his cloak that hung across his upper chest, "but the rest of it is nice." Felix jumped onto the dumpster, and from there to the roof. "Come on," he called over the edge before taking off again.

"Wait," Adrien called, but Felix didn't respond. Wissp giggled. "He seems excited. To transform with me, say 'light up.' and your power is 'sunspot.' There are some other rules, you should tell your broth—uh, cousin."

"Is it the same as all other kwamis?" Adrien asked.

Wissp blinked in surprise. "You've met other kwamis? I think it's all the same."

"Good. Wissp, light up!"

Transforming felt the same as it did as Chat Noir. A wave of power rushed through his body. A feeling of warmth crept on him as his clothes were replaced by his costume. He was left in a dark suit. Yellow stripes ran down the sides of his arms and legs. Across the rest of the uniform were tiny golden specks breaking through the inky black.

Panic overcame him. His suit was black. Just like Chat Noir's. Felix had only seen Chat Noir once, but Marinette had a habit of running into Adrien when he was transformed.

Adrien took a deep breath, trying to cut through the thoughts dancing around his brain. Even if Marinette put together this hero was Chat Noir, she wouldn't know it was Adrien. Just Chat Noir with a new Miraculous—and another hero who looked suspiciously similar to him. That sent his mind off again.

"I can't believe it," Plagg whined. "I leave you for an hour tops and you find yourself a new kwami. Do you have no respect for me?"

"You were gone?"

Plagg groaned. "Doesn't matter. Don't you remember how bad Aspik went?"

Adrien shivered at the memory. Thousands of attempts to save Ladybug, all failures. Visions of her falling to the villain again and again had haunted his dreams for weeks. Sometimes they still crept up, on lonely nights, in the middle of difficult battles. If he failed to save Marinette, he didn't even have a redo button.

"But if I just disappear and Chat Noir suddenly shows up, Felix might put it together. I can't sit around and think anymore, Marinette needs me."

He took off and got himself onto the roof. The jump made his head spin. That was unusual; he never felt dizzy as Chat Noir. Being Chat Noir always felt so right. Something was wrong. He hadn't transformed since leaving Paris; the longest he'd gone since he'd gotten the Miraculous. He told himself his body just wasn't used to it anymore. There was no time to question it.

Felix hadn't gone far. He was on the next roof over, his head down. Adrien landed next to him.

"Not sure how great of a weapon this will be." Felix turned a metal boomerang around in his hand. "But, it turns into a little computer-thing." He pressed a button and it opened a little compartment, housing a screen. "It's got some information on how this all works."

"We don't have time to read the instruction manual."

"Right." Felix hooked the boomerang to a belt around his hip. "Let's split up, we'll find her faster." Adrien nodded. He took off in one direction, Felix in the other. Adrien did not get far before he felt his legs collapse under him. For a moment he felt separated from his body until a pain rattled behind his eyes and sent him back.

"Are you okay?" Plagg asked.

"No. I don't know what is wrong with me. I feel weak." It took all his strength to force himself back on his feet. His legs shook but he managed to stay upright.

"It's probably because you're wearing two Miraculouses," Plagg said.

"I've worn two before, and I'm not even using one."

"Look, all I know is I vaguely remember a guardian at one point mentioning not to mix different miracle boxes. Something about the balance of power."

"You can't give me more information than that?"

Plagg shrugged, "that was probably hundreds of years ago. I can't remember."

Felix hopped down to the roof where Adrien was. Plagg flew off just in time. He lurked nearby, Adrien could feel Plagg's eyes on him, almost hear his purr of irritation.

"I found them, come on," Felix took off again.

Adrien's hand moved to his unused Miraculous. Sure, Plagg wanted him to take the other one off, but it was a little late for that. His hand hovered over his finger. He'd keep it. Just in case. If things went wrong, he'd need Chat to fix it. A painful spasm ran from his shoulders down to his feet. He pushed the pain and doubts aside and followed after Felix.

Solutions usually came easy to Marinette. All she had to do was look around the room and she'd find something she could craft into a plan, usually with the help of her Lucky Charm. At home, she had a room full of things she'd made with whatever she could get her hands on.

But as she looked around the abandoned lobby she was trapped in, hands tied to a radiator behind her and Volpina close by, she had nothing. Tikki peeked out from Marinette's open purse. Without words, Marinette knew what she was thinking. Transforming meant giving away her identity to Volpina and Shadow Moth. Waiting meant whatever Volpina had planned for her. Her only hope was Shadow Moth would realize Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't coming and give up.

Something passed by the window. Marinette only caught it for a second. It was fast, a figure dressed in black. Volpina hadn't noticed. Marinette met Tikki's eyes. She was nearly ready to cry in relief, but Tikki's doubtful glance stopped her. It was impossible. He couldn't be—

"Marinette!" a voice called as the figure climbed through the window.

"Chat Noir?" He didn't have the normal cat-eyes, but they were still green. His hair was the same blonde. His suit was black, but different. There was too much yellow, and none of it was in a bell that Ladybug would never admit she found cute and charming, if a bit silly. It couldn't be Chat. But it looked like Chat. Sounded similar. Knew her name.

"No, no," he said quickly. "I'm, uh, Lightning Bug."

"Lightning Bug? That's what you're going with?" There was another one behind him. A different hero, with a different suit. But the rest of him looked the same. Now Marinette was really confused.

"Yes, Lightning Bug. I'm sure you came up with a better name."

"What do I need a name for? You know my real one. Besides, what good is a superhero name going to do? Everyone here knows you, and there's a billboard with your face on it across the street."

It all made sense. The smile, the eyes, the hair; they didn't look familiar because they belonged to Chat. It was him. "Adrien?" That meant the other must be—oh no.

Lightning Bug's eyes narrowed under his mask. "Look what you did now."

Felix rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just grab her so we can leave."

"Aww, leaving so soon, boys? But I was about to start the fun." Volpina had managed to climb up into the rafters without Marinette noticing. She looked down with a smile on her face.

Both of the boys reached for the weapons at their hips. Felix had a boomerang, already poised to aim at her. Lightning Bug's looked like a flashlight. Heavy enough it might hurt if he swung it. Marinette had to admit, some Miraculous weapons didn't appear like much at first. She'd felt unsure when Pegasus appeared before her the first time with nothing but a horseshoe.

"That's your weapon? And I thought mine was bad. At least I can do this!" Felix threw the boomerang at Volpina. It cut right through the illusion and hit the wall on the other side.

"You're supposed to throw it so it comes back," Lightning Bug teased.

Felix swiveled his head back and forth. "Where did she—"

"That was an illusion," Lightning Bug explained. "She does that."

Felix crossed his arms. "You could have warned me."

A laugh came from a dusty corner of the room. "Aw, are the new heroes bickering already?" Lighting Bug turned just in time, flashlight in his hand as Volpina rushed toward him. It was longer than a normal flashlight would be and cut through the air with a whistle. Volpina disappeared as it hit her. Another illusion.

Lightning Bug let out a pained groan. His feet shuffled in an attempt to keep his balance. "Are you okay?" Marinette called.

He flashed her his best model smile. Blush spread across her cheeks. "Just getting used to this."

They needed a plan. A Ladybug plan. A Lucky Charm. Tikki had retreated to the bottom of the purse, Marinette's only source of comfort hidden away. If Ladybug couldn't be here, it was up to her. She looked around the room again; nothing but old furniture and dust. She pulled against the ropes around her wrist, they didn't budge. Probably the only thing here not falling apart. Ladybug couldn't be there; it was up to Marinette.

She had nothing. "What about your powers?" Some Miraculouses were self-explanatory: Ladybug was good luck, Black Cat was bad luck. Some, not so much. Looking at them she could barely begin to guess. Felix's cape looked like wings, could he fly? Adrien had some type of antennae coming out of his head, another Queen Bee power?

Lightning Bug scratched the back of his head. "We don't know what they do. Someone transformed too quickly to hear an explanation."

Felix rolled his eyes. "Remember those instructions you stopped me from reading? When you interrupted me, I had just finished learning what I can do. I think I have a plan." He leaned in close to Lightning Bug. Marinette could see his lips move, but was too far to hear. She could only imagine what kind of a plan he'd come up with.

If he was being honest, Felix was nervous. Reading what would happen on a tiny screen was something he could handle. Actually doing it, calling upon magic, real magic, not his silly card tricks, to manipulate the world around him; that was something new. And Felix didn't like situations he couldn't predict.

If he was very honest, he'd been nervous since the moment that cockroach-kwami-thing first showed up, yapping about powers and magic rings and twins. Luckily, Felix didn't need to be honest. He'd trained for years to hide his thoughts behind a blank face and biting words. It had slipped for just a minute at the sight of the kwamis; it wouldn't again.

He raised his hand in the air and hoped the others didn't notice how it shook. "Eclipse!"

He expected more. A tingle of power kissed his fingertips. Then it was gone and the room was in darkness. He could see, just as he'd read. He could make out the outlines of Lightning Bug's face, the sway of Marinette's pigtails as she turned her head in confusion. For her, it should be pitch black. Even the windows had grown dark.

"I can't see at all," Lightning Bug said.

Great. The instructions hadn't been completely clear, but Felix assumed Lightning Bug would be able to see too. "We'll figure it out." The one good thing was if Lightning Bug couldn't see, Volpina wouldn't be able to either. The magic of his Miraculous wasn't canceled out by Shadow Moth's.

Volpina appeared in front of him. She was turned in their general direction, but not quite looking at them. His boomerang was still on the ground somewhere, but he didn't need it. He'd have to thank Mom for insisting he keep up with karate. The Miraculous made punches stronger; Ladybug had been kind enough to show him that. No way she would have been able to hit so hard without hers.

Something moved on the other side of the room. Felix turned; another Volpina. And another a few feet away from that one. And another. At least twenty in total, all stumbling around in the darkness.

"The illusions can't hurt us, right?" Felix whispered.

"No. If they touch you, they'll disappear."

Good as that was, getting distracted by a fake Volpina would leave him open to an attack by the real one. Lila wasn't the smartest; she must have overlooked some kind of detail, something he could use to spot the real one.

He turned to Marinette. A Volpina stood before her, a guard. It would make sense to put an illusion there and keep the real Volpina ready to attack. But an illusion guard would be useless, even Marinette would be able to run through her.

Something about that Volpina's face changed. With his limited sight, he couldn't see what. At first, he took it as a sign she was fake. But none of the others faltered. Felix squinted. A butterfly mask floated in front of her face. Shadow Moth's way of communicating with his victims. Perfect.

Felix grabbed Lightning Bug by the shoulder and spun him to face her. "Volpina is right ahead. Use your power!" He'd only made it halfway through the entry on the Firefly Kwami's power. From what he gathered; it could be a good distraction. He grabbed Lightning Bug's wrist and pointed his hand and flashlight in her direction. "Now!"

"Sunspot!" Lightning Bug yelled.

A beam of light shot out from the base of the flashlight. The room was lit for a second, then fell back into darkness. Volpina stumbled, stunned.

"Now's the chance to—No!" Felix pointed at the floor-length curtain as it began to burn.

"I didn't know it lit things on fire," Lightning Bug yelled.

"Maybe you should have gone with Firefly for your name."

"Was that supposed to be a joke? Because it's terrible. You could have gone with, 'things are really heating up in here.'"

"A little help!" Marinette called. The fire had spread from the curtain to a rug on the floor, and to the other curtain. She was trapped behind a wall of flames.

Volpina came out of her stunned trance and charged at them. She ran right into Adrien and knocked him to the ground. Adrien tried to push her off, but Volpina retaliated with a foot to his gut.

"Get Marinette."

Felix ran toward her. He jumped over the fire, didn't even feel any heat from the flames that lick his feet. "Man, these powers are awesome!" Felix remembered Marinette. "I mean, um, it's cool, I guess. Um, I'll save you."

"I think I'd rather take my chances with Volpina."

Felix swallowed the bubbling temptation to leave her. Her hands were tied to the radiator, tight enough she wouldn't be able to wiggle out, loose enough he could undo them.

Felix's ring beeped. For the first time, he realized it had changed. There were now five tiny gems embedded in the band's surface. Three of them were black; the fourth flashed, then the color faded from it. The last was still red. "I have no idea what that means but it can't be good." Felix scooped Marinette up and jumped back over the flames.

"Ugh, let me down." Marinette tried to struggle out of his grasp.

Felix had half a mind to drop her, but he'd probably never hear the end of it from Adrien. He sped up and pushed through a door at the far side of the room. They were in a hallway, the main exit straight ahead. Light came from the bulbs on the ceiling. Felix guessed that was the limit of his power, he could only affect one room at a time. He wondered how far it would reach if he'd tried it outside. A little experiment for later.

He let Marinette jump down, though she almost dropped herself to the floor.

"Don't bother thanking me for saving your life, all a part of a hero's job."

"Thank you? You're the reason Lila got akumatized in the first place."

"Excuse me, you have no reason to believe that. You don't even know who I am."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You're not great at this whole secret identity thing, Felix."

"I don't even know—" The ring beeped again, and then Felix found himself back in his normal clothes, Wingg floating beside him, hunched over and exhausted. "Why did that happen?"

Marinette jumped back. "What? Don't look at me! Why would I know anything about being a superhero?"

God, how did Adrien put up with this girl? She was so jumpy and nervous all the time. The constant stuttering and sputtering gave him a headache.

Wingg rolled his eyes. "Should have let me explain before. You only have a few minutes after using your power before you change back."

Whatever, a temporary setback. "Just turn me back. Nightfall."

Wingg stretched and let out a long yawn. A bit too dramatic for Felix's taste. "Not how that works. I need food."

Felix's face sunk into a frown. Keeping up his stone-like mask was nearly impossible. Hopefully, Marinette was too shaken to notice. "I don't have any. Now what?" He looked back into the other room. Light had returned. Lightning Bug had managed to get out from under Volpina, but with a kick she sent him sprawling on the floor. Lightning Bug couldn't have more than a couple of minutes left himself.

Marinette buried her hand in her purse. When she pulled it out, she held a bright pink macaroon. Felix's stomach turned at the thought of the lint and who-knows-what it must be covered in.

Wingg didn't seem to mind. His eyes turned wide and glossy. A bit of drool formed in the corner of his mouth. "Ooh," he opened his mouth and grabbed the cookie whole. Which was impressive, it was nearly half his size. "I normally don't like sweets, but since we're in a desperate situation, I'll make the sacrifice." Crumbs dribbled from his mouth as he spoke,

"Ready?" Felix asked.

"No." That sent bits of cookies into Felix's face. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're eating?"

Felix looked back into the other room. Lightning Bug was a good distraction for Volpina, but terrible at everything else. From across the room, Felix could see Lightning Bug shaking. Volpina had to have noticed something was wrong with him.

Felix had nearly forgotten Marinette was there when he heard her voice in his ear. "What's going on? He should be stronger than this." Felix looked at her, and Marinette blushed a deep red. She lurched away from him. "I mean, with the Miraculous! Not that I think about how strong Adrien is, that would be so weird, I—"

Felix had to shut her up. "Are you done?" He yelled at Wingg.

"Patience, Graham Crackers."

Felix ground his teeth together. "Don't call me that."

He turned back in time to see Lightning Bug dodge a swing of Volpina's flute. Lightning Bug panted. Sweat dripped down his face. He tried to lift his flashlight; then, he was on the ground, without Volpina even touching him.

Volpina knelt beside him and grabbed his hand. "Looks like you should have left the saving to the real heroes. Shadow Moth isn't happy about your interruption." She reached for his ring.

"Adrien!" Marinette cried. Felix tried to grab her, but she was quickly out of reach.

"Time's up, Wingg. Nightfall!"

Wingg had eaten enough to satisfy. Felix was a hero again, just in time to see Adrien crumple to the ground. Volpina stepped back, the ring in her hand.

The boomerang was at his side again. He guessed the other disappeared with his detransformation, and reappeared in its proper spot. He threw it. Volpina smirked and ducked. The boomerang curved and came back toward him, a complete miss.

Marinette stood between Volpina and Adrien. Volpina smirked and easily pushed her out of the way. Felix caught his boomerang again and ran toward them.

"I told you to stop wasting your time." The voice made Felix stop in surprise. It was demanding, and oddly familiar. It sent a chill through him. Shadow Moth's butterfly mask floated over Volpina's face again. "Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't coming. Forget the boy and bring me the Miraculous you got."

"Yes, Shadow Moth." She turned back to Felix. He lunged toward her, the boomerang lifted above his head and ready to strike down. The move was rushed and sloppy. Volpina stepped out of the way. "Wish I could stick around to take you down too, but Shadow Moth has other plans. I'm sure we'll meet again." Volpina jumped through a window high on the wall.

Adrien was still motionless on the ground. Marinette had crawled back to his side. Her head snapped to Felix. "What are you doing? Go after her!"

Right. It's like Felix said to Adrien before. Concern makes you an idiot. Felix was a lot of things, but not an idiot. Right now, he was a hero. He followed Volpina's lead out the window and jumped across to the next rooftop.

From the throb in his head, Adrien could only assume he fell. His first thought was one of his fears came true; he fell off the catwalk in a fashion show. How embarrassing; he'd mastered the catwalk; if not as Adrien then as Chat Noir. Despite the pain, he couldn't help but smile at his silly joke. He hoped Father wasn't watching, he'd be mad enough Adrien had made a fool of himself.

But when he opened his eyes, Marinette looked down at him. It all came back. He was in London. Marinette was in trouble. He had a Miraculous. Plagg was probably going to kill him. Volpina was—

"Volpina!" He shot upright. Besides Marinette the room was empty.

"You should be careful!" Marinette said, her voice frantic. "Are you hurt? What's wrong? Do I need to call a doctor?"

A part of Adrien felt guilty for making her worry. He'd been stupid; Plagg warned but he hadn't listened. Now he'd upset Marinette. And it got worse. Adrien looked at his ringless hand. He was lucky no one, even Shadow Moth, realized he wore the Cat Miraculous. But in exchange, he'd lost the other.

Despite all that, despite how much he'd messed everything up, part of Adrien felt warm. Happy to have Marinette so close, her arms on his shoulders in an attempt to keep him still for fear he had a concussion. Happy to have someone care.

"I'm alright." Most of the pain, and that foggy dizziness that had clouded his brain since he put on that Miraculous, was already gone. "I guess I wasn't cut out for the whole hero thing. I'll leave it to Ladybug next time." He tried to give her his signature Adrien smile, but doubted it charmed as much as he hoped.

Marinette smiled back, a real one, small but genuine. She helped him to his feet. They walked together out of the building. Marinette kept an arm around Adrien. He didn't need it to walk but didn't tell her that. For a moment, it was nice to be held.

"What happened to Fel—uh, I mean—"

Marinette giggled. "Oh, I realized it was him already. Once he gave away who you were, that was easy to figure out."

"Right, that makes sense. Since we look so much alike." Good thing he didn't turn into Chat after all. "That reminds me, the kwamis said something about that."

Before he could finish his thought, Volpina ran past them, Felix at her heels. Felix jumped at her, only to fall to the ground. Volpina disappeared like smoke around his hands.

"Lila's smarter than I thought," Felix said as he got back to his feet. "I've been chasing that illusion the whole time. She could be anywhere by now."

"You need to go back after her, she has a Miraculous. If you don't—" Before Marinette could finish, Felix took off and ducked into a side street. "That was rude."

Felix, detransformed, walked back out to join them. He tilted his head toward the other side of the street. Father, Aunt Amelie, and Gorilla were standing there. Amelie saw them and rushed across.

Amelie was frantic. She mumbled some kind of an apology for letting them go off alone when she hugged Adrien. Then she saw Felix, and grabbed him, repeating how happy she was that they were all okay. She even hugged Marinette, no questions on who she was. Gorilla, silent as always, grinned at the sight of a safe Adrien.

Father's face was nearly emotionless. Only his eyes gave away anything. A confused look at Marinette. A glare toward Felix and Amelie. And, finally, a small flash of relief as he looked at Adrien.

"I got a call from Lila Rossi. She said she was akumatized. She just woke up back in Paris. This trip has gotten too dangerous. We'll collect our things from Amelie's and catch the next train back home."

Home. Finally. Adrien had wanted to go back since the day after they left. Still, it seemed wrong to leave so soon. Marinette had just gotten here. He hadn't made up with Felix yet. He hadn't even taken care of the villain.

"You can't leave so soon. The boys were so happy to finally spend some time together," Amelie said.

"I'm certainly not going to trust you to watch Adrien after this. He could have gotten hurt."

Amelie had tears in her eyes. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt. There's never been an akuma in London before. It's usually safe."

"Take us back to the house so we can get our things and go," Gabriel ordered.

Amelie nodded and wiped her eyes. "Yes, of course."

Amelie kept her arms around Felix and she led the way back down the sidewalk. Father followed. The bodyguard waited for Adrien to walk ahead. Adrien turned to Marinette, an apology for running off already on the edge of his lips. But Marinette was already gone.

Halfway down the street, Marinette slipped into an empty subway station. She wondered if Adrien noticed she had left. She pushed that thought away. That wasn't important at the moment. There was no way Volpina had made it back to Paris already, even with the speed a Miraculous gave her. She had to still be in London, which meant Shadow Moth was in London.

"I don't know what I like worse, Shadow Moth with another Miraculous or Felix with one," she said.

Tikki popped out from her purse. "You really think Felix is a threat?"

Ladybug sighed. "I don't know. What I do know is I don't trust him. I'd never give him a Miraculous. But I can't worry about that now. Shadow Moth must be nearby. Tikki, spots on!"