To Lyger 0: They probably could use a little help around the rest of the city.

To Geft: I actually don't know anything about Naruto, though it does see as though Amun is doing good for his own good.

"How the hell did all of this happen at once!?"

"It's because Lila hates us, that's why."

"Obviously. But I mean – how?"

Pedro stood near the edge of the butterfly garden in the Heroes of Paris' headquarters, head cocked to one side, listening to the raised voices coming from the conference room. This garden had always been one of his favorite places in the Mansion, because it was quiet and removed from the busyness upstairs. Max often worked in the lab against the far wall, joined occasionally by Paola or Cissy. Occasionally, Sabrina would come to meditate in the grotto, though for the last couple months the majority of her time had been spent elsewhere. But most of the time, he could come down here to find a quiet spot for meditation and training.

Just after lunchtime today, he and John had come down here to continue their training in peace. While John had completed his Dark Acolyte training just before the Ox's appearance, so much of what the Dark Acolytes taught about the miraculous, the Kwamis, and even their own history was patently untrue; Pedro had spent the better part of the summer just working to correct those misconceptions. Today, it was the proper use of the miraculous, and the role of the Reformed Disciples of the Mage therein. But that lesson had been entirely put on hold within minutes when a klaxon siren in the lab had disrupted the peace. Within minutes, Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hato Gozen had appeared on the elevator platform, bursting out the moment it opened and rushing into the lab. Pegasus had shouted something, followed by the echoes of bellowing roars and grinding gears, all of which cut off abruptly, replaced with a deathly silence. John's eyes had widened at that, staring at Pedro in shock until, three minutes later, Max and Sabrina had stepped out of the lab together and disappeared upstairs. Within fifteen minutes, one of the portals against the other wall had opened and Alya and Nino had stepped through it.

That had been when the alerts had started pouring in from all sides. The Superhero Liaison Department requested assistance with an abduction attempt of Mayor Bourgeois. Sent-Bee had been attacked. Creatures had attacked on the Champ de Mars. A bank robbery along the Rue Gotlib, three blocks from Collège François Dupont. A speedboat crashing into the riverbank not far from Notre Dame.

All of that had been nearly six hours ago. Adrien and Marinette had returned to the Headquarters through the elevator four hours ago. Since then, they, Alya, and Nino had been sequestered in the conference room, the occasional raised voice the only indicator that they were still there.

John raised an eyebrow at Pedro doubtfully as the voices in the conference room increased in volume again.

"We all know how they managed to target Aurore," Nino pointed out. "They already knew her identity – they'd known it for a while."

"True," Adrien agreed, "but why would they attack her today? She got outed and stayed with us for weeks already before now. She and Mireille had been in the same apartment all along, and Lila definitely knew where they lived. So what's changed?"

Marinette groaned. "Isn't it obvious? Lila knows that we know her identity now. That's got to be it."

"Yeah, but we've known for a week already," Adrien pointed out. "She could have done it any time this week. Why today?"

"I'm not going to pretend to know what goes through that woman's mind," Alya grumbled. "I doubt that Lila knows what's going on in Lila's mind!"

"It's too bad we couldn't find a way to hide the fact that we'd rescued Nadine from her clutches," Nino mused. "If we'd had a week or two, we could have planned it out and brought her in without giving her a chance to do anything about it. Hell, even a day or two would have helped, knowing what we know of her."

Alya scoffed. "What? You mean like send Victor in to just pretend to be Nadine for weeks straight?"

"That could have worked…" Adrien began, before Alya cut him off.

"No, it wouldn't. First, he couldn't maintain an illusion for that long all at once. Second, he wouldn't know how to emulate her mannerisms or her voice. But third, and even worse, Lila would have figured it out the moment she tried to touch 'her' and her hand passed right through!"

"And even if she hadn't," Marinette added, "Killer Bee was right there when it happened. I don't know if Multiplice and the others could have hidden the fact that Nadine had survived."

Alya growled irritably. "The fact that Lila tried to do something like that to someone as sweet and innocent as Nadine…"

"Do they normally argue like this?" John muttered to Pedro, furrowing his brows.

Pedro shrugged and sat down cross-legged in the grass, trying to slow his racing heart, concentrating on his meditation. "Sometimes they're even worse than this," he answered. "Especially when there's a lot happening all at once and they don't know what to do. But it seems to work for them."

"Huh." John cocked his head in surprise, leaning to one side and craning his neck to look through the slightly-ajar door. "I thought Ladybug and Cat Noir always knew what to do."

"Enough!" Marinette interrupted the other three sharply, cutting off all the other voices. "None of that really matters at the moment, does it? Now, what are we going to do about Aurore and Mireille for now?"

Alya let out a heavy breath. "They couldn't go back to their apartment, of course."

"Anarka agreed to let them stay with her, at least for now," Nino supplied. "Aurore's family is going to meet them there."

"They're not there yet?" asked Adrien.

"Her sister was out with friends for the day; they needed to wait for her to get back first."

"They're in the system, though, right?" Adrien pressed.

"Ever since we found out Aurore's identity was compromised."

"There's one crisis over…" muttered Marinette.

"Chloe and the SLD have her parents locked down pretty tightly at the hotel," Nino assured her.

Alya snorted. "We might just need to protect Audrey from Chloe now…"

"That's everyone Lila knows about, right?" Marinette asked.

"As far as we know, that's everyone."

"Then what happened with Sabrina?" Adrien wondered. "Why would they go after her? Could they know her identity?"

"I don't know how they could," Marinette answered him, though her voice lacked its usual confidence. "She's only been out in public a few times."

"My guess, it's just as a proxy, because she's Chloe's best friend," Alya pointed out. "They went after Chloe and her parents at almost the same time, after all. What better way for Lila to get back at Chloe after we freed her 'best friend' from her than by hurting Chloe's best friend?"

"Well, yeah," Marinette allowed. "But–" Suddenly she gasped. "What if they knew she was pregnant!? What if that's why they went after her?"

"Um, I don't think–" Alya began, moments before Marinette abruptly rushed out of the conference room, Adrien hustling along in her wake.

Marinette pulled out her phone, barking orders as she went. "Tell Gorilla to meet us at the bakery!" she shouted behind her into the conference room. "Leïla?" she called into the phone, a hard edge to her voice. "Yes– Yes, I heard. Good job this afternoon… No, you did the right thing. But – I need a huge favor from you: Adrien and I are on our way to the bakery. I need you to meet us there… As soon as possible. I know Killer Bee hates me with a passion, and after everything else today… Yeah… Thanks." She hung up as the portal opened and she stepped through, dragging Adrien by the hand behind her.

"Activate the Mansion's defense system!" Adrien called over his shoulder, halfway through the portal. "The only way in or out is portals until I say otherwise!"

A klaxon alarm sounded overhead, accompanied by a flashing red strobe light. The natural lights overhead suddenly dropped significantly, plunging the Headquarters into alternating red-tinged shadows.

Pedro pursed his lips, still staring at the now-inactive portal. What had just happened? Where had Ladybug and Cat Noir just disappeared to? A part of him wanted to return to his meditation and training… but there was no way he could do that now, not with everything else that was going on around them. Finally, he stood up, rolled his shoulders, and walked over toward the conference room. John started to get up, but Pedro waved him back. Reaching the open door, Pedro paused, taking in the interior. Inside, Alya and Nino sat together at one end of the table, Alya with her head on Nino's shoulder, and Nino staring out at the room around them, one arm around Alya's back. Pedro leaned against the door and cleared his throat to let them know he was there. Pressing a kiss to Alya's forehead, Nino glanced up and shrugged helplessly. "I take it no one has any idea what just happened today?" Pedro asked.

Nino scoffed. "Not even a little bit, dude," he confirmed, shaking his head helplessly. "I take it you heard all of that?"

Pedro nodded. "Kind of hard to miss. You were being a little loud." He sighed heavily. "How is Sabrina?"

"Last I heard, she was okay." Nino frowned. "To be honest, I'm pretty sure Max is more stressed out right now than Sabrina is – not that I exactly blame him…" He squeezed Alya tighter, clenching his jaws. "And of course Marinette's in a panic over her mom."

Pedro cocked his head to one side. "Her mom? What's wrong with her?"

Nino groaned. "Right… they haven't really told anyone yet. Her mom's expecting."

Pedro's eyes widened. "Oh. Well, congratulations to them, then?"

Alya sighed, finally sitting up. She sniffled and placed her hand on Max's knee. Barking out a humorless laugh, she nodded. "Considering that Marinette's always wanted a little sibling, it's definitely 'congratulations'." She rolled her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "Although just wait 'til they start walking…"

"I can see why Marinette would go into panic mode in that case," Pedro observed wryly.

"Yeah, I can, too," Nino agreed. "But still – with everything else going on, is this really the right time to be running off like this?" He glanced down at his phone and let out a breath. "Aurore and Mireille, Sabrina, Chloe…"

Alya frowned. "Don't even think it," she growled, her eyes narrowing.

Nino held up his hands. "I'm just–"

Suddenly, Markov rocketed through the door, his eyes flashing red. "Alert! Alert! I just received a message from Capricorn!" the robot announced urgently. "He says that Geber and King Monkey were attacked when they met for patrol!"

Nino sat up, nearly spilling Alya to the floor. His grip on her shoulder tightened, his eyes narrowing. "What!? What happened?"

"According to Capricorn, Geber thought he was being followed–"

"Transformed?" Alya interrupted, and intense look in her eyes. "Or was he untransformed?"

"Unclear. They were ambushed by Dark Acolytes."

Pedro folded his arms, his mouth set in a thin line. "Are Geber and King Monkey okay? Were their miraculous taken?"

"That is all the information I have at the moment," Markov chirped. "I apologize that I do not have more."

Nino let out a muttered curse. "We need someone to go… preferably not someone with a miraculous."

Pedro shrugged. "The Disciple and I could go," he offered.

Alya nodded slowly but frowned. "With the Mansion in lockdown… How is Max?"

"Max is… improved," came a voice from just outside the door. Pedro glanced over to find Max standing in the doorway, one arm wrapped protectively around Sabrina, a haggard look to his face.

Sabrina looked up at him and gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "We're going to be okay," she assured them.

"Can you send the Heretic and Disciple to the Eiffel Tower?" Nino asked.

Max shrugged, letting out a breath. "Fine."

Markov suddenly whined, spinning around in a tight circle. "Ondine's emergency watch was just activated! M. Damocles reports– M. Beauréal is cal– Emergency alert from Sk8r Girl!"