It was almost funny. Tikki, little miss perfect, had lost her chosen Ladybug.

No, actually, it was hilarious, Plagg decided. It was the funniest thing to happen since Nooroo got their head stuck in scabbard for a week. There was no way he could let her live this down, not now, not ever.

Quickly, Plagg scooped up some cheese pieces for the road and climbed out of the dairyland mountain as carefully as he could, trying not to be seen. He floated under the table and, when he was sure no one was looking his way, flew towards the alley, giggling under his breath the whole time. He flitted about the bins, looking for his sister under the discarded rubbish.

"Spots! Hey, Tikki! Where are you, I know you're here, I saw your massive head from a mile away, you complete dust cloud." Plagg kicked a bin lid. There was a tiny 'ow' from underneath. He flew closer, popping another cheese piece in his mouth. "Tikki, come on, it's me! Get out from under there."

A red head peered up at the grinning cat from under the bin lid, eyes wide. Her mouth dropped open. "Plagg?"

"The one and only! What are you—"

He was suddenly knocked back by Tikki flying at him, crushing him in a hug, the two of them spinning madly through the air on collision. By some miracle, he didn't drop any Camembert, though it was significantly more squished now that he'd been attacked. Tikki sniffled into his shoulder. Plagg instantly stiffened. "H-Hey, Spots, don't cry, I... I don't know what to do when you... Tikki, come on."

Tikki hovered back a bit and wiped her eyes. She tried to smile, but her lip wobbled. "Sorry, sorry, Plagg, I don't mean to..." She sniffed, "I'm just a little emotional. I can't find my chosen." She blurted it like she'd just confessed to murder.

"What?" Plagg said innocently, pretending he hadn't already put two-and-two together, thinking that might calm her down a little. "You lost your charge?"

Tikki, now she was letting it out, couldn't stop the word vomit, "I was in a river, and I nearly drowned and I had to lift the bag, because it's her favourite and she made it all. by herself, and the phone was wet, and then I got lost and now you're here and I... I don't know what to do! I don't know where I am and what if there's an attack? What... what if she's already hurt, Plagg?" She sniffled again, looking on the verge of a full-on melt down. "Plagg, she's so tiny and so fragile and so... so...clumsy!"

Frowning, Plagg handed her a piece of cheese in the hopes it would make her feel better. She smiled weakly, but didn't make any action to eat it, just held it in her paws.

The two of them silently flew deeper into the alley so that they wouldn't be seen, though Plagg's eyes still glowed green in the darkness, illuminating the little corner they carved out for themselves. They sat in silence for a while, the only sound being the occasional tiny sob from Tikki's overthinking. As they did every time they met, they spent a moment glad that there was always someone who understood. No matter what situation they ended up in, or whichever holder they had, or even what year they made it to, they knew that they still had each other, no matter what happened. Both Kwami inwardly hoped they could stay like this, peaceful and without outside constraint, for endless days, but inevitably Plagg broke the silence.

"So, how did you lose your Ladybug this time?" He tried for a reassuring smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. "Slowly, this time."

Tikki smiled a little and recounted the story to Plagg, though she left out details like Marinette's identity, just in case. Her counterpart, for once, listened intently, occasionally making a comment or inhaling some more Camembert.

"So then, what?"

"Well, after a little thinking, I thought it would be a good idea to follow that Alya girl home. I think she wants to be a reporter, so she often runs towards Akuma victims, so if there was any attacks today, my Ladybug might be there too. But, instead she came here and I lost her in the crowd." Tikki sighed, "My chosen is probably worried about me. I don't doubt she's looking for me, but I need to find her as soon as possible. More for her than me... she's uhh, she's a worrier."

"Hmm. You match then." Sliding the last cheese piece into his mouth, Tikki having handed it back to him quietly when she saw him running low, Plagg considered this. He wanted to help Tikki, she was his sister and therefore very important, however he knew the rules: no Kwami should reveal another Kwami's holder, i.e. only the chosen Chat Noir and Ladybug should reveal themselves to one another (something, something, balance), he mustn't be seen by anyone who wasn't a miraculous holder and he must remain loyal to his holder.

The last one always seemed stupid to him— being the embodiment of destruction kinda gave way to a lot of evil holders— so Plagg chose to ignore it, unless he had a chosen he dubbed 'worthy'. His traitorous brain instantly thought 'like Adrien', so he chose to ignore that too. Obviously there was only one solution if he wanted Tikki to stop crying.

He put a tiny paw on her shoulder. "Come with me then, you can meet my Chat Noir and he can get you back to your Ladybug."

Tikki gasped, "Plagg, you know the rules, no one can know! Not even us! Not until they've told each other... if they tell each other."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

"Okay, that time was different, they already knew, they were just too shy to admit it."

"Hmm, no, I seem to remember it differently, I'm certain a certain someone was using their good luck powers to—"

Tikki put both her paws on Plagg's mouth, trying to get him to be quiet. "Shush, now is not the time to debate over the past, right now I need to find Mari— umm, my Ladybug."

Plagg wriggled out of her grip. "Sure, then my Chat Noir can help you. Let's go. He's in the market somewhere looking at presents or something."

Taking Tikki's paw, he started to pull her out of the alley. Tikki pulled against him, shooting past the moment she broke free, sticking her tongue out. "No! I'm not meeting your chosen, I need to find mine!"

"Spots, c'mon, I thought this was important? I don't want to play chase!" Plagg said, though he couldn't help smiling like a cat that got the cream. Tikki gave him a disappointed look, always so motherly. She spun around and zoomed through the air, twisting and turning around table legs and people, with the grace of a dancer.

Plagg, on the other hand, lived up to his name. While Tikki floating past brought luck, Plagg only brought disaster: a man fell over nothing, multiple stalls collapsed and, according to witness accounts, a cake exploded in woman's face. Ironically enough, this was the icing on the cake, setting off the rest of the mayhem.

Adrien's head shot up at the scream. An Akuma? He put down the Ultimate Mecha Strike Original cartridge and murmured a half-baked excuse to Nino. Before he could question him further, Adrien had already run into the nearest alley, leaving Nino's question unanswered in the air. He pulled open his jacket.

He held out his fist. "Plagg, Claws Out!".

He waited for the familiar wash of magic to fall over him as he punched and finessed his way through his magical girl dance routine, jumping out of the alley with a yell as he punched the sky as Chat N... wait a second.

Chat Noir had not miraculously appeared. Instead, Adrien Agreste had just leapt from his second alley today. Though, this time, he'd been a lot less stealthy. People, naturally, were staring. He heard a camera shutter. Adrien felt his face heat up and with an awkward wave, he darted back into the crowds to panic.

Plagg had to be nearby, surely he couldn't have gone too far, he'd definitely been in the pocket when they arrived at the market, but he was couldn't exactly be close either; it was telling enough that the transformation didn't automatically pull him in. Adrien tried not to groan; this wasn't the first time Plagg wasn't where he should be. He had a habit of running off.

The market mayhem was getting worse, Adrien could hear people yelling from across the fair and there were crashes and bangs coming from all sides, so Adrien chose the first thing he could think of and grabbed a scarf, vowing to pay for it later, and ran towards the danger. He wrapped the chiffon around his face as he ran, hoping it would conceal his identity enough. With any luck, he could find Plagg on the way, but if he had to fight an Akuma without him, he sure would try.

There was another scream. Adrien took a sharp right. What was happening? This side of the fair was in shambles: tables were in pieces, merchandise was everywhere and multiple people were crying or taking advantage of the runaway confectionary. Strangely, the only stall still intact was the cheese one.

Adrien's heart sank.

"Hey, kid!" Plagg's voice called from somewhere to Adrien's left.

Beside him, a stationary shop's front legs broke, spilling pencils, sharpeners and rubbers galore onto the concrete. With a exasperated sigh, Adrien turned to face his Kwami.

Of course, there was Plagg, floating next to the stall, desperately struggling with a... red-coloured version of himself? He was almost certain, well, like 75% sure, that Kwami didn't have evil twins, or even twins at all, but then he'd never asked. Even if they did, Plagg would definitely be the evil one, being the little cheese guzzling menace that he was. The other Kwami was a bright, almost glowing, pretty crimson colour, with a black spot on her head and little swishing antennae.

Before he could think too much about what this meant, Plagg growled, "Uhh, a little help?"

He was still holding on desperately to the other Kwami's tails (or were they feathers?) as the two battled for an advantage over the other. The other Kwami was making frustrated squeaking noises as they tried to get away, though Adrien had to wonder why their little hands were over their eyes; it was impeding their escape attempts. Suddenly aware that his Kwami was out in the open, Adrien broke up the cat-fight by quickly scooping the two of them up and shoving them in his pocket, just in time for Nino and, mysteriously, Alya to come jogging round the corner.

Alya whistled, making a 'hooo-wee' sound, "Yikes, what happened here? There wasn't an Akuma was there? Nice scarf, by the way. Green really is your colour, you know."

Adrien shrugged, brain still not quite processing what had happened. The two Kwami were still wriggling in his inside pocket, so he crossed his arms to stop himself from laughing. Who knew he was ticklish? "I didn't see an Akuma, so I don't think this was the work of Hawk Moth, probably just a prank or something. Anyway, when did you get here?" Adrien asked, summoning all his modelling talent to try to look natural, "Marinette told me you had a journalism class?"

The Kwami stopped struggling. Plagg audibly sighed in relief from the pocket. The other Kwami hit him.

Adrien tried not to laugh, hugging his chest to try to constrict their movement. Alya looked up from her phone, having been taking some shameless pictures of the destroyed fair for her blog. She gave Adrien a strange look, "You spoke to Mari?"

Adrien nodded and Alya grinned mischievously. Before Adrien could wonder what that meant, Alya carried on talking, "Oh, I had to get a gift for my mum, her birthday's coming up and she's really hard to buy for. Figured I'd go whilst she was at work."

"Oh, same." Nino shouted from behind them, having stopped to help the stationary stall owner fix his table. "My brother already got her the label maker she wanted, so I'm fresh out of ideas, figured the market might spark inspiration."

"Ha, I understand that pain, I still don't know what to get my mum. Speaking of Mari, however, I've got a bit of a mystery. I found her bag sopping wet on the bridge and I can't call her to find out why— her phone's in the bag— but have either of you seen her since this morning?"

Alya fiddling with her satchel, eventually pulling out a plastic bag with Marinette's signature polka dot purse inside. Adrien frowned, taking the soaked purse out of the carrier bag and opening it. Sure enough, Marinette's name was sewn neatly inside.

Handing it back to Alya, he said, "I saw her earlier today, she was by the top end of La Seine, leaning over the wall trying to grab something. Maybe she dropped her bag then?"

Alya pointed her finger and smirked, "Ah ha! But then how did it get on the bridge? It couldn't have just flown up there by itself! Something else must have happened, but what? Do you think it could have been an Akuma?"

Adrien shrugged, "Why would an Akuma be helpful? They don't usually do any good, though I guess there have been some exceptions... Maybe—" Adrien cut off as he felt his phone vibrate in his other pocket. He pulled it out. The new message read:

(12:37) From Nathalie (The Terrible)

Adrien Agreste, if you do not arrive home in the next 10 minutes exactly, I will be revoking your free time privileges.

Adrien paled. Nathalie had used this threat before and she was serious every single time; if he was even one second later than the time allowed, he'd have an hour taken off the time left aside for socialising with his friends. His phone pinged as another text came through:

(12:38) From Nathalie (The Terrible)

If you take more than 15 minutes to arrive, I will not hesitate to tell your father that you escaped.

Oh god, now he really was in trouble.

"Uhhh, guys I have to go, Nathalie needs me home for something, sorry!"

Adrien didn't wait to hear his friends' replies, he just threw the scarf at Nino and ran as fast as his legs could take him round the corner, cursing his bad luck. There was no way he could get from the fair to the house on foot in time, he'd have to resort to his cat-like cunning. Luckily, there was no one in the street over, the commotion at the fair had likely drawn away all the foot traffic, but Adrien leant against the wall out of sight, just in case.

Plagg hovered out of the jacket when Adrien held it open, little arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "What took you so long kid? I'm running low on cheese already!"

"I'll get you cheese later, right now I need to get home fast. I think Nathalie's really mad at me."

"Fine, but first I need to tell you—"

"Plagg, not now! We've only got fifteen minutes! Claws—" He raised his hand, curling it into a fist.

"No, kid, don't you dare. You're going to hurt Tikki, don't transform!" He snapped, shocking Adrien with his harsh tone.

Adrien blinked. "Oh, sorry... wait, who?"

In his haste to get home, he'd completely forgotten about the other Kwami in his coat. He heard a high pitched mumble that sounded like 'please don't transform' come softly from his pocket. Plagg rolled his eyes and flew closer to the coat.

"Spots, get out of there, he'll have to see you eventually. You're already in his pocket, I think you're past the 'avoiding the problem' stage."

"No! I'm not coming out! What about the rules? I can't break the rules, I'm not you!" was the distressed, muffled and very squeaky reply.

"But Spots, actually think for a second, you're not breaking them! You're not revealing anyone's identity, you're the one meeting him, not your girl, he's definitely a Miraculous holder and you've done nothing but be loyal to your dumb charge, so let's go, c'mon! You've got to come out of there eventually, whether you like it or not."

"But, Plagg, if I come out of here, I'll know who he is! I can't just lie to my chosen like that, what if he's someone she knows as a civilian? What if my charge comes around the corner right now and sees us all here? What then Plagg? There's too many things that could go wrong! It's reckless and, quite frankly, dishonest!" Tikki said, her voice scarily high in pitch as she got more and more distressed.

Adrien watched Plagg throw up his paws, tail flicking irritably as he took a lap around the alley to cool off.

Adrien felt the Kwami in his pocket wiggle awkwardly, "And, for the record, she's not dumb Plagg, she's really very smart. I just don't want this backfiring on me, or her... or you for that matter. You know better than anyone how precarious this situation is."

Plagg sighed. Floating back over, he wriggled his way back into the pocket, tugging gently at Tikki's tiny arm with a Cheshire grin. "Guess we'll need some good luck, then, won't we Spots?"

It was about as considerate as Plagg was going to get. Tikki sighed, knowing full well that resistance was futile, but still wanting to lean towards the part of her that believed the chances of this situation doing more harm than good was ridiculously high, especially if she was going to have to ask Chat Noir to help her find Marinette.

Inwardly, she hoped that Marinette and Chat didn't know each other, that he was a complete stranger, someone neither she or Mari had ever laid eyes on, so the complications could be kept to a minimum, but, alas, Plagg's magic had greater influence over his wielder, so when Tikki silently flew out of the pocket, paws over her eyes, she had no idea that she was about to see a great big blonde problem.

Plagg quietly pulled her hands away and Tikki sighed, opening her eyes slowly as she said, "Hello, I'm Tikki, nice to— oh my stars!"

Tikki was looking directly into the eyes of the very famous, very handsome, Adrien Agreste, the subject of Marinette's massive, uncontrollable, and highly unforgettable crush.

So much for limited complications.