Exiting the room, Micro decided to call Ladybug.
"Ladybug, what's happening?" Micro asked.
"Joker's escaped." Ladybug said. "He's sealed himself off. He's got your father."
"Dad." Micro said, beginning to get worried.
"Don't worry. I'm getting him back." Ladybug reassured her.
"Ok. I know...but." Micro said, still worried.
"Micro, I'm getting him back." Ladybug said, this time more firm. "Joker will not win. I won't let him. I'm starting where he was taken. A guard named Frank Boles attacked. If I find Frank, I'll find your father."
"Marinette, hurry please." Micro begged. Ladybug turned off the comms and went back.
Finally arriving at the Holding Cells, Ladybug saw both her best friend and wife in costume, talking with some of the guards.
"Rena Rouge, Stinger." Ladybug said.
"Ladybug." The girls said, rushing to their friend and hugged her. Rena Rouge and Stinger's costumes had also changed over the years.
Rena Rouge's costume still had the same color pattern when she first received her Miraculous, it had a bit more armor layer. Her boots made it easier to grip. Her flute had been customized to split in half. She had fur on the edges of her gloves and boots. Three whiskers on each side of her cheeks.
Stinger's costume looks like it originally did so nothing was really change a lot. But what really stood out was that at some point, she decided to keep her hair short and had gotten a side shave on the right side of her hair.
After a bit, they released each other from the hug.
"Are you ok?" Rena asked.
"Micro told us what's been happening since you got here." Stinger said. "We were starting to worry about you."
"I'm fine, girls." Ladybug said. "But right now, we have another problem. Sabrina's dad was taken hostage."
"What?" They both asked.
"Yeah." Ladybug said. "Someone named Frank Boles captured him. I was just about to find a trail so that I can find Frank."
"We'll help you." Rena said.
"Yeah." Stinger said, putting a hand on her wife's shoulder. "You're not doing this alone.
"Ok." Ladybug said, then she contacted Micro. "Micro, I'm at the Holding Cells. Rena Rouge and Stinger are with me. We're going to set up a crime scene."
"So, what's the plan?" Micro asked. "Isolate something in that room unique to Boles?"
"Exactly." Ladybug said.
"Don't worry, Micro." Stinger said. "We'll get him back."
"We got you." Rena said.
"Thanks, girls." Micro said, ending the call.
Ladybug turned on her evidence scanner and began searching for anything. She stopped when she saw a scent of bourbon. She scanned the area.
"We can follow traces of alcohol from Frank's bourbon in the air." Ladybug said, then she called Micro. "Micro, we've got a trail."
"That's great." Micro said. "You three follow it. I'm grabbing every reference to Arkham I can find. May be useful later."
The women follow the trail along corridors when they stopped at a reception desk. The phone was ringing. Before either of them could pick it up, another person answered.
"Hello?" A woman asked. "What's happening there? I'm trying to contact Steve. Is he there." But who answered sent a shiver down their spines.
"Hold one second." Joker said. "I'll see if I can find him."
"Oh, thank you." The woman said.
"I'm sorry." Joker said. "I've looked everywhere, but I can only find his head. I'll get back to you when I find the rest of him!" He ended the call with a laugh.
"Damn bastard!" Ladybug yelled, making a dent in the wall with her fist.
Stinger put her hand to cover Ladybug's. There would be times when Ladybug would lose her cool, even yelled at her team at times. They knew she never meant any of it. Over the years fighting meta humans and deranged criminals really took a toll on Ladybug, both in mind and body. But usually, Stinger would always be the one to keep her anchored. From simply looking at her wife's eyes to just holding her in her arms, that always seemed to calm her down.
Ladybug looked at Stinger as she put her forehead on Ladybug and she immediately began to calm down.
"We're going to stop him." Stinger said. "But we need you to relax. Focus on the objective in front of you. We need to find Roger."
"She's right." Rena said. "We'll worry about Joker when we get there." Ladybug took a few shaky breaths before breathing normally.
"Ok." Ladybug said. "Let's find Roger."
They entered a room, which had a guard trying to get the elevator to work.
"What's wrong with this thing?" The guard asked, trying to get the elevator working. "Stupid, unreliable..." Ladybug felt like something was off. "How did Joker get free?"
"Be quiet." Ladybug said.
"What's going on?" The guard asked.
Ladybug used her Detective Mode to keep scanning for the trail when it was interrupted when Harley Quinn landed on a beam.
"Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, LB." Harley said. "Mr. J doesn't want you following us just yet." She then noticed Rena and Stinger and let out a fake gasp of surprise. "Foxy, Bee girl, you two weren't even invited to Mr. J's party, but I'm sure he'll make an exception."
"Flattered." Rena said, sarcastically. "But don't think you'll ever beat us."
"Wasn't planning to." Harley said.
She pulled out a detonator and pushed it. The elevator was at the top with a bomb planted on it. The bomb exploded which dropped the elevator and sent Harley up. Ladybug saw and quickly reacted.
"Get down." Ladybug said, pushing the guard out of the way and dodging the elevator as it impacted the floor and destroyed it.
"Oww, what the hell happened?" The guard asked.
"How did ya like that, LB?" Harley asked. "No way you're following us now. You three are trapped down til me and Mr. J are ready for ya."
"Now what?" Stinger asked.
"Roger was taken up to the surface in the elevator." Ladybug said. "If we want to follow him, we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."
"Great." Stinger said.
They jumped on a platform before jumping on a ledge to which they shimmied along the edge. When they had enough room, they heard Joker over the intercom.
"Hey, Bugsy." Joker said. "I know you can hear me. Harley told me that Rena Rouge and Stinger were here as well. I don't remember saying you could bring friends on the invitation. Then again, you didn't find out about the party until it was too late, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, I've got a little something for you to listen to. Harley and Frank are nearly out of the building with the old man. How are they going to get past all those guards? Let's have a listen, shall we?" As they kept climbing, they continued to hear the intercom.
"Frank, where have you been?" A guard asked.
"Joker's got more men on the way." Boles said. "They're coming around the front of the asylum. Gotta stop them getting in. Quick! Get over there! Dammit. C'mon. Everyone. Cover the main entrance."
"How many are there, Boles?" The guard asked, before he realized something was off. "Wait, hang on, how the hell do you know what..." was all he got out before he was shot.
"Boles! Frank, what are you doing? No! Put it down!" He was shot dead.
"Frank! What the hell?" He was shot dead.
"Quinn, it's clear." Boles said. "Get your ass in here."
"You're some piece of work, Frankie." Harley said. "A girl could fall for someone like you."
"Stop flirting with the hired help, Harley." Joker said.
"Don't worry, sweetie." Harley said. "You know I only have eyes for you."
"Did you hear that, Bugsy?" Joker asked. "Sounds like Frankie is working out just fine! Another valuable employee for the organization."
"You know, there are days where I wish I could just strangle that psycho until he changes his hair from green to blue." Rena said.
"That would only be proving him right." Ladybug said. "That we would be just as corrupt as the next person."
"I know, but still." Rena said.
They continued to climb up and defeat a group of inmates. When they were finished, Micro called.
"Ladybug." Micro said. "How's it going. Any sign of dad?"
"Not yet, but we're getting close." Ladybug said. "Harley Quinn tried to slow us down. Dropped an elevator on us."
"Did it work?" Micro asked, amused.
"Like that bitch was ever that snarf for us." Rena said.
"We'll get back to you when we reach the end of the trail." Ladybug said.
When they approached the door, it wasn't opening. Ladybug saw a nearby vent that they were able to enter. After tearing the grate off, they entered it and when they got to the end, they heard gunshots.
"Please." A guard begged. "I've got a kid. You don't have to..." was all he got out before he was shot. Ladybug quietly opened the vent.
"You're right, I don't have to." A inmate said. "I just want to. Ok, boss says no one gets past. Anything moves, shoot it."
"Micro, Joker's men have taken contact of the Cell Block Transfer corridor." Ladybug said.
"That's not good." Micro said. "I patched into the guard radio. It sounds like Joker's crew have got their hands on weapons."
"I know." Ladybug said. "I'll calibrate our masks vision mode to isolate armed henchmen."
"What now?" Stinger asked. "The direct approach is suicide."
"Then, we need to be smart," Ladybug said. "Find another way."
They spotted gargoyles and grappled on them. When they were behind the inmates, they silently dropped down. Ladybug took out one, Rena another, and Stinger the final one. When they were done, they continued and heard a voice talking to Joker. They silently walked up the stairs.
"No problem, boss." An inmates said. "The boys are just finishing off. The Arkham chumps never stood a chance."
"Good." Joker said. "Our friendly neighborhood bug is on her way with her friends. You need to set a trap. They must not leave this building. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, boss." The inmate said. "Those animal freaks are as good as dead."
"I hope you keep your promises, boy." Joker said. "I'd hate to go and punish your family just to teach you a lesson. I can promise you they won't be laughing."
"But Joker." The inmate tried to say as the Joker mocked him.
"Just do it!" Joke said. "And have fun, I know I will." Ladybug crept up on the guy and silently took him out.
"Oh, look who it is! Is your antenna burning?" Joker asked, even though he didn't get a response out of any of them. "I suppose I'd better tell my boys you're on the way. Hey, maybe I won't...It'll be a nice surprise!"
When the screen turned off, they saw another vent they could enter. When they did, they reach the enter to see an inmate taking a gun from a dead guard. Carefully opening the vent, Ladybug room down the inmate. Rena went upstairs to take down another. Stinger used the gargoyles to better find another and took him down.
"Do you really think it was going to be that easy, Bugsy?" Joker asked. "I've sent a few more of my boys your way. Let's see how you deal with these odds!"
More men appeared, but even that wasn't enough to take down the women. They were easily defeated and the heroes continued with the trail. When they reached the end of it, they saw Boles chained and dead.
"Dammit, he's dead." Rena said.
"Joker must've figured out how we were tracking Roger." Ladybug said. "Boles tail ends here as did the rest of him."
"So what now?" Stinger asked.
"Roger must be with Quinn." Ladybug said. "We'll need to figure out where..." she was cut off when her comms started to pick up something.
"...Can you hear me, Ladybug? I know you can." A voice said, one that all three women recognize.
"Oh god." Rena groaned. "Not him. Anyone but him." Ladybug knew who was calling
Eddie Nasthon aka Edward Nigma aka The Riddler aka the biggest pain in the ass Team Miraculous ever had to deal with besides Joker. His specialty is riddles that usually ends up with captured hostages to places of importance to his own brand of Riddler Trophies that are usually a time consuming process. Even other members of Team Miraculous have been caught in his web of riddles. His goal was to prove that he was the most intelligent man in Paris, if not the world, which usually ends with him behind bars. But his persistence doesn't let him give that easy.
"Yes, it is I, Edward Nigma, The Riddler and more importantly your intellectual superior." Riddler said. "My genius has allowed me to easily hack into your primitive communications. My goal is simple! You complete a series of amusingly taxing challenges and, well, you'll see. Ready for your first one? Good. But be careful! "Don't CUT yourself on this SHARPLY observed portrait."
"Great." Stinger groaned. "My most hated person in the world."
Ladybug looked around and saw a painting of Quincy Sharp on the wall and figured that was what the riddle meant and scanned it.
"So you did it." Riddler said. "Well done. I would have expected a child to work that one out, let alone the world's greatest detective."
"Hey Eddie," Ladybug began, "why don't we change up the players."
"Oh, you naive, bumbling, idiot." Riddler said. "Are you scared that you are no match for my superior intelligence compared to you who's as smart as the average infant?"
"Oh, I know I'm smarter than you." Ladybug said. "It's scientifically proven. But Rena would like to solve all your riddles." Much to Rena's displeasure.
"Oh please." Riddler said. "She probably couldn't even find out a simple math equation and you expect this bimbo is smarter than than me?" That comment made Rena fume.
"Why?" Ladybug asked. "You scared of being beat by someone who is ten times smarter than you? Are you really a fraud for being smart, you big man baby?" That made Riddler growl.
"You know what, fine." Riddler said. "Rena Rouge, if you are listening then you will find all the riddles I have laid across Arkham, if you can."
"Oh, I know I will." Rena said, determined to win against Nigma. "Ladybug, Stinger, I'll meet you later." She went off to find Nigma's riddles.
"Ok, catch you later." Ladybug said.
Now with Riddler no longer being a problem at the moment with Rena dealing with that, Ladybug and Stinger were thinking of a new plan to find Roger.
For those of who are wanting for chapters to come out, be patient. I'm going as fast as I can to get chapters out. So believe, I will get chapters out as soon as possible.
But other than that, here's the next chapter. Next time, Ladybug and Stinger find a new way to locate Roger as they go deeper into the depths of Arkham Asylum.
As always, let me know your thoughts.
Oh, and I've decided to try out a new story project while working on this one. I should have it up in a few minutes so check it out.