Chapter 91: Youkai
The weekend has rolled around because only God knows where those fall in this storyline any more. Despite the fact that her parents need her help with prep work in the bakery, Marinette Dupain-Cheng refuses to leave her bed. She is still feeling humiliated over what happened the prior day. Plus she's in shock that she was actually able to confess to Adrien as she powered through her twisted tongue flubs—though she still stammered almost incoherently. She laments that she dreamed when she told him about her feelings, she'd speak eloquently and flower petals would fall. She never imagined she'd be crying and stuttering. She's half convinced herself that Adrien thinks she's a mess and will never want to see her again, let alone speak with her, especially after how she hurt Luka how she did. Tikki tries to encourage Marinette as much as she can, but Marinette is incredibly dejected and emotionally frazzled. Her parents both try on separate occasions, but Marinette still won't get out of bed.
The doorbell rings, and Sabine calls up the stairs that one of Marinette's friends is here to see her. That does get Marinette stumbling out of her room, still in her pajamas though it's the middle of the morning, wrapped up in her comforter. She tells Tikki she's glad Alya decided to stop by as she could really use some girl talk and a whole gallon of ice cream.
When she enters the living room, it's not Alya. It's Adrien. He smiles and waves. Marinette misses the fact he's holding flowers. All she does in panic in a very Marinette way, drop her blanket, let out a strangled scream, and flee back to her bedroom. Tom wonders what's going on and follows her.
Alone, Plagg pops out and sits on Adrien's collar. "Are you really sure she's Ladybug?" Adrien recalls Ladybug once throwing "what if" questions at him. Would he love her if… And one of the first questions she asked was "would you love me if I was clumsy?" Now Adrien knows why. He smiles. He is absolutely certain she's Ladybug.
Meanwhile, Marinette buries her head underneath the pillow. "Why is Adrien downstairs?!" She laments about how on Earth she could possibly face him. Tikki once again tries to encourage her, pointing out Adrien came all this way—and it's clearly not to talk to Tom and Sabine. Then Marinette realizes she faced Adrien while she was in her pajamas with her hair and teeth not brushed, her eyes all crusty, pillow marks on her cheek, wrapped in a comforter. She's the biggest dork ever! There's no way he isn't completely embarrassed by her—she's completely embarrassed by herself!
Meanwhile, Nathalie Sancoeur is deep in Hawk Moth's lair, reviewing all the information she has on the golden team, the B Team, and the Western Order. She's comparing the information on her tablet to the pages in the digital grimoire as well as reviewing footage (ironically, from the Ladyblog) to study how her various opponents fight. She already knows she has a ton of useful information on Ladybug's allies—the most useful being that they will surrender if there's a hostage situation. The second most useful is that they're susceptible to communication failing. However, she does not yet have that kind of information on the Western Order. She can tell that Team Ladybug works really, really well together while there's tension within the Western Order. Mistrust, a lack of cohesion. Would the Western Order be willing to sacrifice for each other? And to what extent? It's a cold-hearted move, to be sure, but it's a strategic one. Nathalie knows to find the answer; she needs to push back. She reaches out to Nicholas, telling him to watch as things progress from the eaves. After all, she can't guarantee her next scheme will be live-streamed onto the internet. Then, she transforms into Mayura and sends an amok feather out into the world. There's one clear target—one person with a Western zodiac miraculous whom she knows the identity of.
Tikki peeks through the floor and reports that Adrien is still there, waiting for her. It would be rude to keep him waiting, right? Marinette just moans, and Tikki goes on to say that it looks like Tom is bringing Adrien macarons and striking up a conversation with him. There's no telling what parental anecdotes he'll spill while stalling for time, after all.
That does spark a fire for Marinette, and she leaps into action, getting herself ready, clean clothes in one hand and a hairbrush in the other. She gets herself presentable at warp speed and hurries downstairs just as Tom breaks open the family photo album for Adrien to see. Adrien is actually interested, but Marinette basically throws herself across Tom's lap and the book in order to prevent Adrien from seeing any embarrassing childhood pictures. Of course, since Tom and Adrien are sitting together on the couch during this, this means Marinette has half-thrown herself across Adrien too. Marinette turns crimson, and Adrien averts his eyes to hide his own blush. Marinette then scrambles to her feet, thanks her father for entertaining her friend for her, and then hastily pushes Adrien out the door with her before her parents can say anything more on the matter.
During this, Chloe Bourgeois has left her manor for a self-centric spa day. To be honest, it's not as if she has anyone else to spend it with. Just on the outskirts of the Bourgeois property, a few of Mayura's lingering spyders are active. They can't get any closer to the Bourgeois manor without evaporating because of the wards Ivory put there. This also applies to Francoise Dupont High School, giving Mayura a more limited window in which she can even get at Chloe without attracting suspicion. And Mayura decided to let the wards as she doesn't want to provoke Ivory into putting more wards all around the city and endangering Nicholas most of all and any attempts she would make of ever using a senti monster again second. So the spyders wait as close as they can, watching Chloe just in case they can follow Chloe back to Ivory—or, at the very least, figure out which of her many accessories in the Scorpio miraculous. So far they've had no luck at either. But since Chloe is on the move, they report this back to Mayura, which plays perfectly into Nathalie's hands.
Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette have moved to the park near her (Marinette's) home. Adrien keeps trying to make eye contact with her; he has a huge smile on his face. Marinette, however, is firmly looking at her shoes and mala-propping worse than usual while she tries to apologize for what happened yesterday and this morning. Adrien insists she doesn't have to apologize.
He presents the lovely bouquet of flowers to her, which includes red roses and baby's breath. That gets Marinette to look up, and her face flushes as she realizes where this is heading. Her heart is pounding loud enough to be heard, and she's so flustered she can't even utter a sound. Adrien begins to explain how he realized she has always been by his side. How she's funny and courageous and creative and never, ever gives up. He says he can't believe he never noticed she possessed all these wonderful qualities, but now he can see her for who she truly is—and he can't get her out of his mind. Or his heart. He hands her the flowers.
At this moment, Mayura's feather lands on an item near Chloe—perhaps even her cell phone. It forms into a kimono-wearing oni youkai spirit in the limo she's currently riding in, causing her to justifiably freak out. The senti monster introduces itself as Youkai, claiming that it's here to take Chloe away. It then immediately reveals its powers by turning inanimate objects to life. This includes the carpet on the floor of the limo, which it uses to bind Chloe. This is based off of the Tsukumogami lore. When an object has existed for 100 years, it gains a spirit—which is also the lore used for an akumatized item to become a miraculous.
Chloe, of course, isn't going to let herself be abducted. Not now that she can protect herself. She immediately declares "Sting, Barbarra!" which pulls her kwami into her miraculous. And now, through Youkai's eyes, Mayura now knows that the Scorpio miraculous is the hair tie. Chloe, who is now Queen Scorpion, immediately uses her acidic chain whip to cut herself free, destroying the carpet tsukumogami in the process. She then glares down Youkai before leaping through the (still closed) nearest window and escaping.
Youkai, of course, pursues her, which attracts all kinds of attention. Which is again just as Mayura wanted. Queen Scorpion stands her ground in order to fight, and nearby civilians begin reporting things through the Akuma Alert app. Youkai continues to pursue its goal, bringing objects to life in order to capture the Scorpio wielder. She's tripped by a trio of rolling garbage cans and nearly eaten by a dumpster. Of course, there's rationale to this—Youkai is trying to force her to use "Dissolve." After all, being a senti monster, one single Dissolve would end its existence. Youkai can't have that at all, so it keeps sending tsukumogamis after her. And initially, Queen Scorpion holds her own well. She is one of the more skilled Western Order wielders due to constantly sneaking out to practice. But due to sheer numbers, Scorpion starts to become overwhelmed.
This is happening parallel to Adrien confessing his feelings, in turn, to Marinette. He's at the part where he's about to say, "Marinette, I'm in lo-" when the Akuma Alert siren goes off on both of their cell phones. Both then hesitate. Adrien does not want to stop in the middle of what he's saying, and Marinette is stunned/happy/frozen and wants to hear it. But they both have their duties as superheroes. Adrien flinches and tries to ignore it. "I'm sorry. As I was saying, I'm in…" The alarm goes off again, leading to yet another awkward pause and a moment killer. Adrien again tries to power through his confession, but that's when the Bourgeois limo flies by on the nearest street. And "fly" is meant literally, as Youkai has also turned the entire limousine into a tsukumogami, giving it the ability to levitate. Upon seeing that, neither can ignore the situation any longer.
Marinette finally looks Adrien in the eyes. She apologizes, but she has to go. It isn't safe out here, and she's worried about her parents. "But…But I really want to hear what you have to say. Please, finish sometime. Promise me?" Adrien blushes at her remark. He then decides to push things, just a little. He says he can head back to the bakery with Marinette to make sure her family is safe. After all, that limo hurled down the very road they're on. Marinette makes an excuse, insisting that she'll be fine and that Adrien should go see about his own family. They need him the most right now. It's clear Marinette is referring to the fact that his parents are comatose and that she is worried about them and that she knows Adrien is very worried too. Adrien does have to agree to this; he is worried about his parents. And it does give him a chance to sneak off and transform into Cat Noir. It also hints even more strongly to him that Marinette is Ladybug as she turned down his offer to escort her; after all, if she is Ladybug, she'd want to get away to transform ASAP too. It's not concrete evidence, but it is exactly how he predicted Ladybug would react—even though she did have a good and true excuse handy.
Adrien accepts this and heads to the opposite park entrance. He then looks over his shoulder. "Marinette, I promise." Marinette turns pink before running back to her family. Adrien faces massive temptation in that moment to follow her, but he knows that in doing so he would destroy all trust they have. And he absolutely cannot do that now, not after everything, not after they're growing so close. Adrien ducks into an alleyway. "Plagg, claws out!"
Of course, Marinette finds the first hiding place she can and transforms. "Tikki, spots on!"
By now, Youkai has boxed Queen Scorpion in. Adamantus has also arrived, sticking to the shadows, to watch as things go down. Scorpion, of course, isn't giving up. She does a rather impressive acrobatic twist and sees her opening; Youkai is defenseless. She declares "Dissolve" and lashes her chain forward. However, that was a feint on Youkai's part, and a fire hydrant tsukumogami tanks to hit. The fire hydrant is destroyed, and Youkai is unscathed. This leaves Scorpion on her timer, but she's still determined enough that she keeps fighting. After all, even after using Dissolve, her chain still has a limited amount of its own natural acid.
But Youkai's advantage is numbers. It turns a canopy into a living net and three lampposts into attackers. The canopy binds one of Scorpion's arms. When she goes to cut through it with her chain, one of the lampposts whacks her across the wrist, causing her to drop her weapon. She curses, but from there on it's easy for Youkai to subdue her. Not that she stops struggling.
Youkai then turns to the nearest civilian who wasn't smart enough to flee and who instead decided to live stream. It makes sure it's still in the shot, but the senti monster also tries to look as if it doesn't care. It wants the next part to be filmed, but it doesn't want it to be obvious that it wants it filmed. Youkai gloats over Scorpion, declaring her his prisoner. It says that her miraculous now belongs to Mayura; it then threatens that it'll take her apart, piece by piece, as a lesson against the Western Order intruders. Paris belongs to Hawk Moth. Scorpion shouts her defiance at Youkai, but inside she is scared and hurt—she knows no one cares about her. No one is going to come to save her.
And in part, she's right. Madam Gros is watching the livestream. She hears Youkai threatening Queen Scorpion and her miraculous. But she realizes that this is a power play. If she sends in some of her underlings to rescue Scorpion, that'll reveal Ivory cares about the fate of her wielders. That would, in turn, give Mayura and Hawk Moth power over the Western Order as the butterfly team would realize they could manipulate Ivory's team by taking hostages. And Ivory cannot allow herself and her Order to be controlled like that. She shrugs; the teens she recruited, after all, are only pawns. And pawns are always expendable. However, it is true I cannot let them steal the Scorpio hair tie from me. I need alltwelve Western miraculous for myplan to work!
Ivory considers her options. She gets in touch with two loyal allies, giving them the orders to discreetly keep an eye on the situation. If Youkai succeeds in taking the Scorpio miraculous, follow it long enough to get a general idea of the direction its heading before destroying it from its blindspot and reclaiming the miraculous. Otherwise, do not intervene. The last things Ivory wants is for Mayura to realize they bow to hostages. Both allies she contacts agree to her terms, transform, and make their way to the scene.
Meanwhile, Youkai is doing its best to terrorize Queen Scorpion as it restricts all of her movement with tsukumogamis before hauling her up to the top of the largest nearby building and letting her hang off the side. If she did succeed in escaping, she'd drop. Youkai is on the sadistic side for a senti monster, so it is deliberately milking this moment. But it does eventually get around to following orders, which includes going in for the Scorpio miraculous. Scorpion tries to writhe away, but she's trapped. All she can do is either fall or have her miraculous taken—then fall.
That's when Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the scene. Queen Scorpion, as grateful as ever, replies with a barked "it took you long enough!". But neither hero really hears her. Ladybug takes a discreet glance at Cat Noir before turning red and averting her eyes. A moment later, Cat Noir looks in her direction. All he sees is the back of her head, but he can't help but smile like a love struck kitten.
Youkai doesn't even bat an eye when they arrive. It just sics more tsukumogamis on them while the senti monster itself turns its attention back to Queen Scorpion and the task of stealing her miraculous, which is beeping on its counter. Ladybug and Cat Noir deflect the tsukumogamis with their weapons, and Cat Noir makes a remark about how pretty Ladybug looks today before commenting that they need to find out where the akuma is and possibly why this person was akumatized in the first place.
Queen Scorpion interrupts, shouting at him to flirt later. She then informs them that this is a senti monster possessing her cell phone; she insists she had nothing to do with the amok appearing. Ladybug and Cat Noir don't believe her, but in this case, Queen Scorpion is telling the truth. Cat Noir asks where the cell phone is, and Scorpion said it's still in the limo—the same limo that is currently and literally flying around the city (poor chauffeur). Ladybug wonders why Scorpion is helping them and if they should even believe her. Scorpion insists she's not helping them. She's helping herself. And it's in her own best interest if they destroy Youkai for her. Cat Noir decides to give Queen Scorpion the benefit of the doubt, to Ladybug's ire. He then suggests they send some allies after the limousine and pulls out his cell phone to contact them through Discord.
Speaking of Discord, the entire B Team was already online when Youkai first appeared. They were planning to get together to practice this evening and were arranging times. Alpha noted that it's still best if they practice in the catacombs, in the shrine to Lazare Carnot, since the cemetery is no longer safe. Plus, there's Angelica and her Sniper to worry about at night. They compared their schedules and had just about chosen an hour when the Akuma Alert activated. Of course, they all stayed online to figure out what was going on and to see if any of their skill sets were needed. Alpha keeps them all focused, organizing them. The reports are a little muddled due to the tsukumogamis appearing in places away from Youkai, so they're not fully sure where the crisis is. But Alpha and Froppy keep filtering through reports so that they know where they should send allies and where they should investigate in their on-going search for Hawk Moth's lair.
Many members of Team Ladybug are also checking things out on their phone. Luka, being both Alpha and Viperion, is jumping between both chats. He slips up once and posts his Viperion message on the Team B Discord, but he lies and hides his mistake well. He's also literally right next to Juleka, who is Tigress, and they're discussing things between themselves as the events unfold. Kagami Tsurugi is also watching things intently, hoping for a chance to shine as Ryuko, Kamaitachi, or Ryutsume. Sabrina Raincomprix is online as Hachiko; she's anxious about the whole situation due to her complicated past with Chloe, whom she knows is Queen Scorpion. Others who are logged in include Minimouse, Blue Ox, Nom de Plume, Buck, and Bunnyx. Pigella is notably absent as Rose Lavillant is currently volunteering at the hospital this weekend. Cat Noir requests that Kamaitachi and Nom de Plume head off after the limousine due to Kamaitachi's natural speed and Plume's natural flight ability. Both immediately agree and depart.
Back at the fight, Youkai proves to be difficult for Ladybug and Cat Noir to handle alone due to the sheer amount of tsukumogamis it can create. It can create them out of any objects laying around—and there's a lot of objects on the streets of Paris. These can become offense or defense for Youkai. Cat Noir is exceptionally vulnerable while texting for back-up, causing Ladybug to have to focus her attention on defending him, which leaves Queen Scorpion on her own, in her own precarious situation. Of course, Queen Scorpion with her self-serving mentality sees this as Ladybug and Cat Noir deliberately not helping her rather than them being in danger of being swarmed themselves and thus being unable to help her.
Ladybug tells Cat Noir she has a plan, and Cat Noir trusts her enough to go along with it, no hesitations. She's able to flank and outmaneuver the tsukumogamis by using the terrain to her advantage. They're not all that far from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, so she knows the streets well. This allows Ladybug to fake them out, causing them all to become clustered together. Cat Noir swoops in then and gets them all with a Cataclysm. This opens the way for them to tag-team Youkai itself and help Queen Scorpion.
Meanwhile, Kamaitachi and Nom de Plume are in different parts of Paris, trying to track down reports of the out-of-control limousine. They're talking to each other through their cell phones/weapons/Discord to cover more ground. In addition, their allies are relaying news reports to them. It's Hachiko (who ultimately hears things through her father's police scanner) who points them in the right direction. The two converge on the limousine.
Back at the main fight, Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm in order to further their advantage over Youkai. Youkai looks around, but it sees nothing else it can use in the immediate area to create a new tsukumogami. It used all the available items, and Cat Noir wiped them all out with Cataclysm. All Youkai has is Queen Scorpion, still wrapped up in a carpet. So Youkai thinks fast and throws Scorpion at them before escaping itself. Cat Noir catches Queen Scorpion before she can get hurt, and she replies with a curt "don't expect a thank you" before heading away from them in a huff.
Mayura notices this move that Youkai did, and she is grateful her senti monster thought quick enough to get itself out of a situation before being flanked. However, her goal is to see if the Western Order cares enough to protect its own. Will it save Scorpion, or any others, if they became hostages? So she orders Youkai to double back in order to keep up the pressure. So far, there's no sign of Ivory or her followers.
Speaking of the Western Order, they do have a presence. Both Odette and Tarantula have maneuvered onto the outskirts of the fight, watching to reclaim the Scorpio miraculous if need be. Tarantula flat-out doesn't care what happens to Queen Scorpion. He's in this to push Ivory's agenda, which is fueled by their desire to find out the truth behind Grant Theroux's disappearance. Odette is marginally more compassionate. She can see Queen Scorpion is about the same age as her son, which makes her more open to sympathy. But she isn't that keen on fighting by herself, and from her angle, it seems as if Scorpion isn't in too much peril, so she merely waits.
Cat Noir calls out to Queen Scorpion as she keeps her distance from them, suggesting that they can work together in order to take out Youkai. He even says he's not looking for Scorpion's alliance. It'd just be a temporary agreement to take down a mutual foe. This is something Scorpion does not want to hear. She doesn't want to trust people. She's been hurt too many times recently, and she tells them as much. Her childhood friends abandoned her; her mother deserted her. She sees no reason to trust anyone, even temporarily, unless she has the power in the situation. Of course, these are self-serving memories on her part. She's the one who abandoned Sabrina Raincomprix as well as being the one who stopped talking to Adrien when he revealed he loved someone else. But she is right that her own mother turned on her when she did absolutely nothing wrong in that relationship. And she does have a soft spot for her own father; it's often to use him to get things she wants, but it is a bit deeper than that. But as a burgeoning anti-villain, Queen Scorpion refuses to cooperate with the golden duo. And during her rant, when she isn't looking, Ladybug hugely rolls her eyes—after all, she does know the truth about Sabrina, and she does realize Chloe's memories are inaccurate.
Cat Noir sighs at her attitude as all he sees is his first friend, hurting and hurtful. He then suggests that if she isn't going to help them to at least not actively hinder them. Queen Scorpion refuses to agree to that; she declares she hates them both, especially Ladybug (for "stealing" the bee comb as well as the guy she likes). Ladybug shakes her head and tells Cat Noir to follow her; they still need to find Youkai. Cat Noir agrees, and they depart. Queen Scorpion moves to follow her own agenda, but her hair tie is really low at this point. She knows she can't risk detransforming in front of Youkai, but she really doesn't want to leave the situation unresolved by her own hand either. She decides to risk it and follow.
During this, something completely unexpected and unpredicted happens. Mayura, who is still within Hawk Moth's lair, vanishes completely with a flash of light. There's no warning and no evidence as to what happened. The only one who notices is Adamantus, who was telepathically communicating with her at the time. He desperately reaches out, trying to find his aunt, but he's unsuccessful. He's rather panicked at this point and abandons his post watching Youkai in order to race back to the manor and ensure Nathalie is all right.
Ladybug and Cat Noir continue to pursue Youkai and box it into a courtyard. However, the ambush is on them as, due to them stopping just a moment to talk to Scorpion, Youkai had ample time to create more tsukumogamis. And its first strategy is to separate Ladybug and Cat Noir. The second phase is to keep them preoccupied while their timers tick away. It won't be long. In addition, being a construct of Nathalie the Strategist, Youkai doesn't merely wait and watch. It turns its powers onto creating a tsukumogami out of an entire building.
Ladybug is the first to realize what the senti monster is doing and calls out to Cat Noir. Cat Noir understands, but he points out he can't stop it as he already used his Cataclysm and that he has his hands full dealing with tsukumogami garden hoses and watering cans. Ladybug looks around, frantically, for a plan, Lucky Charm in hand…
Meanwhile, Nom de Plume has taken to the air. He notes that this probably would be easier with Firefly as he could use Firefly's standard attack to herd the tsukumogami limo right to Kamaitachi. As Plume, his special ability is Levikinesis—levitating objects. Plume looks around, trying to figure what he can do. Kamaitachi is racing the limo below, and she's doing a rather good job at keeping up with it as she's among the fastest characters. Plume then sees a bridge ahead and gets an idea. He shouts at Kamaitachi to be prepared, then he darts on ahead.
He uses his giant feather on the bridge itself. It starts to rip away from the ground, leaving the limousine tsukumogami with no where to go. Kamaitachi takes advantage of this and uses her Speed Strike to break through the already broken window and break the surrounding door in the process. Once inside, she searches for the cell phone. But the limo doesn't make it easy. It begins bucking, trying to throw her out. When that doesn't work, it tries to subdue her with seat belts. Kamaitachi recognizes this strategy from Ikari Gozen and slashes through them; she's no one's prisoner.
Ladybug realizes what her Lucky Charm (whatever it is) can be used for just as the building tsukumogami takes its first step forward. She tells Cat Noir it's okay for him to let the garden hose tsukumogami through. Cat Noir doesn't even question it; he just does. Youkai, of course, is intelligent enough to know that letting them have their way is a bad idea, so it moves to stop them. Cat Noir, in turn, stops it, fighting in close quarters with his baton like a rapier. Ladybug races ahead with the hose on her heel, zigzagging across the courtyard. Perhaps her lucky charm is a croquet set? As she goes, she drives the wickets into the ground. Before long, the hose tsukumogami is stretched out and trapped. It struggles to get free as the building steps forward in order to back-up Youkai against Cat Noir.
However, the building stumbles over the garden hose. As it begins to fall, Youkai prepares to bail as it sees a clear escape route using the building tsukumogami's fire escape. Ladybug, however, anticipated this. She uses the croquet mallet to launch one of the croquet balls at Youkai. Youkai evades it, taking to the next rooftop—right where Queen Scorpion is waiting. She lashes it across its masked face with her acidic chain.
At the same moment, Kamaitachi locates the cell phone within the tossing tsukumogami limousine. She slashes it in half with her sickles.
Youkai vanishes on the spot, and a feather floats free. The building tsukumogami falls to pieces at Ladybug and Cat Noir's feet while the limo stops trying to eject Kamaitachi. Plume lands to make sure she's all right. Ladybug purifies the feather. She does her world-healing wave. She and Cat Noir "Pound It!" They look at Queen Scorpion as if offering her to join, but she waves at them dismissively. Once Plume is certain Kamaitachi is okay, they both "Pound It!" too. They then contact Ladybug and Cat Noir through text, letting them know what happened. The golden duo thank them sincerely and tell them it's safe to head home. Kamaitachi and Plume say their good-byes to each other and part ways.
Ladybug turns to Scorpion and thanks her for her help. Scorpion's transformation breaks at that point, turning her back into Chloe Bourgeois—but the heroes already knew that. Cat Noir again suggests they work together, and Chloe refuses. She's pretty huffy at this point as she is ultimately defenseless against two empowered teens. She cradles Barbarra carefully in one hand and hides the kwami behind her back before sarcastically asking if the heroes are going to steal her Scorpio miraculous too. Ladybug insists she's not a thief. Chloe rolls her eyes; she doesn't believe it.
Still, since she does have a moment to walk away, free, she does. Cat Noir tries to convince her that Ivory isn't someone to be trust on top of the fact that Mayura and Hawk Moth are targeting her. If Chloe is only going to serve her own best interests—than it is in her own best interest to work alongside them. Chloe refuses for a third time. She tells them to their faces that she knows Ivory isn't someone she can trust. But Ivory gave her power, and she's going to use that to any and all advantages she can seize. She sashays away.
Ladybug and Cat Noir exchange a look. Should we let her go? They both realize it's ridiculously foolish to let Chloe walk off with the miraculous—but both are just too scrupulous to mug her. So they do ultimately let her go.
Ladybug then points out Cat Noir is losing to his timer. Cat Noir thanks her and wishes her the best. He then recalls his certainty that he's speaking with Marinette right now—the girl who likes him back. Cat Noir's dopey smile slides into one of joy. He wishes a good day to "milady" and says he'll "see her soon." Really soon, he plans. He runs off. Ladybug leaves in the opposite direction.
And all of this is observed by Tarantula and Odette. Tarantula immediately reports it to Ivory. Ladybug and Cat Noir know Queen Scorpion's secret identity. In fact, they've known for a while. This is something that Chloe has kept hidden from the Western Order. Ivory falls rather silent on the phone. She coldly says she'll consider the best way to handle this going forward. It's also likely, based on the actions of Youkai, that Mayura also knows Chloe is Scorpion—and this is very problematic.
Meanwhile, Adamantus arrives back at the manor and slips into the lair. He does his best to avoid where he thinks Amelie is, but it isn't necessary as she's out being Odette. Just as Adamantus arrives at the underground, Mayura returns in a similar flash of light. However, she's not just Mayura—she's now in her Peacock Moth persona. Adamantus calls out to her, worried. He's surprised he actually feels compelled to hug her; an unusual thing given his usual lack of emotions. Peacock Moth has a very unusual expression of joy with tears. All she can repeat is, "he comes back. He'll be back. Soon." Adamantus asks some questions, and he's able to glean enough to sorta figure that Mayura was pulled into the near future somehow.
Being Nathalie Sancoeur, she's able to compose herself after too long. She brushes off Adamantus's lingering questions to focus on the present. This was a rather successful test. Peacock Moth learned that the Western Order will not bow to a hostage situation. However, she knows that everyone has weaknesses. Even Ivory. She's human. She has motives; she has goals. All it takes is for Peacock Moth to find out what those are—then she can exploit them. And Peacock Moth is confident in her ability to do so. After all, she not only know the neighborhood the Western Order operates from but she also saw what's coming in the future: we succeed. It'll only be a short matter of time before she lures them all out. She'll then seize all the miraculous of both Orders and wish for Gabriel to be whole again. After that, it doesn't matter what happens to her. …Or does it? Peacock Moth, for the first time in Phase Three, hesitates. What will happen to Nicholas when I'm gone?
Cat Noir doesn't head home. He instead turns back towards the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He sprints to get ahead of Ladybug without her seeing him, using his best guess to predict which way she's going. Of course, if she's not Marinette, there's no reason to assume what route she'd take. But he's all but certain she is.
Cat Noir returns to the park outside the bakery and changes back into Adrien. He tucks Plagg away with a piece of cheese, but not before Plagg asks what Adrien is doing. Adrien hushes him.
Adrien heads out of the park and onto the sidewalk, about four buildings from the bakery. When he hits the intersection, he almost collides with Marinette, who is sprinting home at full speed. Now, this makes no logical sense for a normal Marinette. She should already be at home, with her family, with the doors locked, waiting for the "all clear" from the Akuma Alert. There's no reason for her to be about. But her she is, sprinting from the same direction Youkai fell. Adrien smiles again like a love-struck kitten. The evidence just keeps piling up.
Marinette immediately apologizes for colliding with him and then begins majorly malapropping when she realizes that the person she ran into is Adrien. Eventually she's able to spit out her question: why is Adrien here? Didn't he head home to see to his parents? Adrien was prepared for this, and he tells her that he tried. However, the senti monster took out the bridge; he couldn't get home. And this is a true enough statement. However, it was Plume who took out the bridge, but it did prevent Adrien from returning home through normal means. Not that that would have stopped Cat Noir, but as far as Adrien knows, Marinette doesn't know that.
Adrien then goes on to say that he realized it then. There are more people he cares about. And in running to his parents, he left another person behind. He couldn't take that risk while an amok was about. He had to make sure she was safe. "That person is you. I care about you Marinette, so much. I didn't want to see you hurt, so I came back. I love you."
All Marinette can do is manage a little squeak like a mouse.
Adrien studies her face closely, looking for any more sign of affirmation. But she is way too flustered to continue. So Adrien prods a little. He mentions what Marinette said yesterday. He was so happy when he learned she had similar feelings to his for so long; he scolds himself for being so blinded when she was right there, by his side the whole time. Adrien holds out his hand. "I promise, I'll never let you go."
Marinette is absolutely scarlet at this point, but she's able to process enough and puts her hand in his. Adrien squeezes her palm tightly, and Marintte managed to say "I'm so happy…am I even allowed to be this happy?"
Adrien nods. "You are, and I promise I'll do what it takes to keep you happy. Marinette." Marinette just melts when he says her name.
They walk back to the bakery, hand in hand. Tom happens to peer through the window and notices this. When they stop at the front door, he immediately beings eavesdropping. Sabine has to pull him away in order to give their daughter privacy.
On the front step, Adrien asks Marinette out directly. "Will you go out with me? Tomorrow, after school? Just the two of us? A real date?"
Marinette says that she loves him very much—THAT, she would love THAT very much. Adrien repeats that it's a date. He brings the back of her hand to his lips and kisses it in a very Cat Noir-like way. He then departs. And as he goes, Marinette finally gets her words together and calls after him. "Adrien, I love you too!" Both of them make it to their homes (Adrien obviously having farther to go) and into their rooms while walking on cloud nine. Tom watches Marinette carefully. It's clear he has a million questions. But Sabine insists on giving Marinette her privacy until she's ready to talk about things.
At the Ageste manor, Adrien flops down onto his bed and smiles at the ceiling. "I have a date with Ladybug!" Plagg tries to insist Marinette isn't Ladybug, but Adrien doesn't buy it. "I'm just so happy. I can't believe I'm the guy she liked all along!" Plagg shakes his head; he's still not sure this is a good thing. Especially the secrets. Adrien repeats that he doesn't want Marinette to feel she has to choose between their relationship and being Ladybug, so it's best to keep the fact he's Cat Noir under wraps for now. After all, they're finally together! And he wants to talk to her—about so many things. He wants to hear her voice and learn all about her. And now he can! They're together! Adrien picks up his phone and starts texting Marinette.
Things stretch towards sunset, and the B Team has a practice session in the catacombs. Tsukuyomi and Dauphin report that they searched as much as they could during the Youkai incident, but they still found no trace of Hawk Moth or Mayura. Froppy marks it off on a digital map she's created; they've learned a lot about the places Hawk Moth isn't.
Alpha assigns them practice missions that focus on rescue. After all, there's not only Chip Bluestone but also countless people inside Hypnos they want to save. Once paired up, they begin running the drills he prepared. Snow Leopard and Firefly aren't paired together. They usually aren't as light/fire and ice tend to be a bad combination. However, Firefly is alert enough to his teammates, and he does see that Snow appears to be very distracted.
After practice, they all disperse. Firefly follows Snow Leopard out. When they're out of eavesdropping range of the others, he asks if everything is okay. Snow insists that it is; nothing is wrong. Firefly isn't convinced; he saw her body language during practice, and he can see her expression now. Snow's lower lip trembles; she's actually barely holding things together. And she realizes she actually could talk to Firefly. So she asks if he has some time. Firefly remarks, sarcastically, that his parents wouldn't even notice if he was out all night. He has nothing but time. So the two of them head out of the catacombs together and find a quiet place under a remote awning, out of view of the moon.
They sit in silence together for multiple minutes until Snow musters up the courage to explain. She then opens up to Firefly and reveals the whole truth. Her best friends, her secret keepers, have become Swallowtail and Gel Girl. Firefly has to do a double take at that. Swallowtail and Gel Girl are birthstone wielders! Snow nods. She doesn't know how it happened; her friends just found the items in their possession one day. Their personalities are changing; they don't believe her when she says the items are created by Hawk Moth. They insist on using their new powers. And worse… Snow lowers her head. They gave her an ultimatum. She's either to stop being Snow Leopard. Or they're going to tell her secret identity to Adamantus. Which means Hawk Moth will learn who she really is. It'll put her family, her father, in danger. She can't do that. But she also can't afford to not be Snow Leopard when he friends are in danger.
Firefly is shocked and immediately insists they tell Alpha and Ladybug. Snow begs him not to, and she's so emotional Firefly shuts down and listens. Snow explains that Ladybug (and Rena Rouge) know her secret identity—and they know who her two best friends are. If Ladybug learns this, she'll learn the identities of Gel Girl and Swallowtail. Snow is terrified that'll put her friends in more danger. Either they'll get caught in crossfire when Ladybug, Cat Noir, the Eastern Order, and the B Team try to pursue them while Adamantus's crew tries to defend them. Or, realizing that their identities are known to an enemy—and that that enemy is a friend of theirs—Hawk Moth will take them as hostages or otherwise hurt them in order to get to Snow…or to get to Ladybug. A few tears leak at this; they freeze on Snow's face.
Firefly agrees that Snow has a point…but he also doesn't think that letting this go is a good idea. If Gel Girl and Swallowtail reveal her identity to Hawk Moth, she becomes the one in danger. And he does not want to see her hurt. Firefly stumbles a bit when he realizes what he says, but he then insists it's because they're a team. They have each other's backs. And at the very least, they should tell Alpha. With the rest of the B Team, maybe they can come up with some type of strategy to keep Snow safe and save Gel Girl and Swallowtail. After all, wasn't that the purpose of tonight's practice? They're going to save people. Snow thanks him for his advice, and she promises to consider it.
Firefly shrugs it off as he's glad to listen. He stands up, thinking it's over, but Snow remains seated, staring at the Eiffel Tower. He tries to play it off, insisting things are fine and that they can't be worse. Snow laughs mirthlessly. "My mother's a former member of the Western Order. That's why she came to France in the first place."
Firefly is again dumbfounded. He speaks a bit too quickly, saying that that's good news as maybe Snow can find out information about Ivory. But he immediately retracts what he says once he brain catches up. He knows Snow got her bracelet from her mother when her mother passed away; her mother is no longer alive. He apologizes for his thoughtlessness. But he turns it around, insisting that while her mother might have worked for the Western Order, she definitely is not one of the people like Ivory, Tarantula, Draco, or Rhino.
Snow wonders how he can even say that. He doesn't know a thing about her mother. Firefly insists he does. He knows that Snow is her daughter, and with a daughter raised with a heart like Snow, there's absolutely no way that her mother would ever use miraculous for selfish purposes. Snow again thanks him, and Firefly continues. He offers his condolences. Snow didn't deserve to lose her mother; it's clear they cared very much about each other. With her mother never telling her about magic and miraculous, it's clear their time was too short. He's sure her mother didn't want to leave her alone. Snow wonders if he's just saying that, but Firefly insists he's being serious. He knows a good family from a bad one, and Snow's isn't one of the bad ones. Snow turns the tables and says that Firefly deserves better. He's clearly observant and has a big heart. It's his own parents' loss for not spending more time with him. And if they're not going to open their eyes and see what a compassionate son they have; they're then fools. Jobs and money mean nothing when the time we have with our loved ones run out. Snow tells him that she hopes his parents finally learn that before something like what happened in her family happens in his—not that she wants anything bad to happen. She just wants better for Firefly. It's then his turn to thank her.
The B Team isn't the only group meeting that night. Ivory contacted Lila Rossi to meet with her specifically and alone. (I wonder if I should better foreshadow the B Team and Lila's appearances in this chapter.) The two meet up in the old factory district (that may or may not even exist in Paris). Lila, transformed into Mink, wants to know what's going on.
Ivory explains that all their hard work is coming to fruition. They'll be able to flush their enemies out of hiding with the lost arts of the Western Order. However, in doing so, they leave themselves vulnerable to counterattack. But that weakness won't happen so long as Mink can pull off a specific part of their plan with her special ability. Ivory adds, "granted, that will remove you from the final confrontation. After all, the Gemini can't use her powers on herself." Mink raises an eyebrow at this; she actually discovered how she can use her powers on herself. But Ivory doesn't need to know this (the fact that Lila Rossi helped defeat Mink in her debut chapter is something Ivory hadn't caught wind of despite how hard Lila was shilling her own engineered heroics.) Mink tells Ivory to continue.
Ivory, however, doesn't give her the details. She's too prudent for an obvious faux pas like that. She merely starts practicing with Mink in order to increase Mink's skill with the special ability of the Gemini: Duality.
It gets late into the night, and Marinette and Adrien are still texting each other. When at last they finally can keep their eyes open no longer, they collapse onto their beds. Adrien happily declares, "I'm dating Ladybug!" And Marinette sighs, "I'm dating Adrien!" They fall asleep to happy dreams.
To be continued in Chapter 92: June…