"Hey, sugar cube." "Ugh," Tikki rolled her eyes as I caught her in my free hand. I assume these two kwamis knew one another so didn't waste time with introductions. Instead, I tucked them both together in my bag and made my way into the fancy buffet place I was currently standing in front of. With a quick check to ensure it was empty, I closed and locked the front door behind me. The city alarm could still be heard going off in the distance.
Going into the large, fancy buffet room- think very posh, open concept display of food that my family could never afford to partake in- I reopened my bag and pulled out some money. It wasn't much but it was enough to make me feel like this wasn't outright stealing. Plopping that down onto a waiter's tray, I then found the cheese platter and dessert tray. Both kwamis peered hungrily up at me as I reached back into my small purse, giving Tikki a cookie and Plagg a slice of brie. "Here, eat," I instructed. They needed no further prompting. While they scarfed down their morsels of food, I set down my bag and began to pace about nervously.
"Ok, what to do next? Cat Noir's not here. I've gotta handle this one on my own… But how?" I was thinking out loud more than asking them in specific. Plagg polished off his cheese and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He gazed over a Tikki still with mild astonishment.
"So Marinette's your owner, huh? Why am I not surprised? You two are so sickenly sweet, you're well-suited for each other." Tikki was not assumed by Plagg's teasing, sending him a disapproving scowl and shake of the head. "It wasn't easy, hiding from you for ten years." "Hey, that's right! You did hide from me! Why didn't you just tell me that Marinette was Ladybug instead of all that? You know I can keep a secret." "Please! Your moral compass is so broken, its arrow never points in the right direction," Tikki's frown intensified; I don't think these two like each other very much. Plagg waved his hand at her the same way he had dismissively at me a million times. "You worry too much- heh, just like your owner. It woulda' been fine, and it's gonna be fine; you'll see. I can keep a secret; I won't tell Adrien about this." Adrien…. My feet froze as my lips unconsciously parted a little. What am I doing wasting time in here like this? Adrien is still a gold statue back at the fashion show venue!
My eyes turned back their way, as they were still nestled in my bag. This time I had a determined look on my face. "We've gotta stop Style Queen. Everything she owns has been turned into gold, meaning that the miraculous must be solid gold too." "But you can't break solid gold, Marinette," Tikki said. I nodded in agreement before my vision drifted back over to the other kwami present. "No, I can't, but Plagg can." "Moi?" His little hand rose up to his chest. "Yes, you. Without Cat Noir, you're the only one strong enough to break Style Queen's miraculous. You need to save your cataclysm for when I need it." He let out a loud groan. "Nugh, fine. But you better get me more cheese afterward! And make it camembert this time!" "Duly noted. Now there's still the problem of Style Queen herself. She's made of gold, meaning that I can't physically overpower here; not while she's like this, anyway," my folded forefinger rose up to my chin in a thoughtful style.
Tikki and Plagg looked at one another, then simultaneously back at me. "What are you going to do, Marinette?" My kwami inquired softly. I thought about it for another minute before coming over to my bag and pulling out my phone. Both kwamis flew out and sat on each one of my shoulders, still too tired to constantly fly mid-air. Curious, I typed something in my internet search bar, only for my eyes to light up.
"Aqua regia… Yep! That'll do it!" I announced, scanning over the science article. Tikki looked at me in horror. "Wait, Marinette! You don't plan to dissolve Style Queen, do you? That could kill her! And if even your Miraculous Ladybug will turn everything back to normal, she'll still have died before coming back to life," my little friend pleaded with me. But I flashed her a smile saying that everything would be ok. I had no intentions on killing anyone- even Chloe. "Don't worry, I'm not going to dissolve her completely. I don't even know if aqua regia would dissolve gold wholly," though it might, so better not risk it. This is why I didn't get an A in chemistry back in high school.
Setting my phone away, I gave both kwamis another expression of resolve, straightening my posture. My hands curled to fists at my sides. "But it will be enough to slow her down. I just need to get her in a vat of the chemical substance long enough that I can grab her miraculous. Then Plagg can destroy it- just in case the gold doesn't dissolve fast in the aqua regia- and I can turn everything back. It's perfect!" "If by "perfect", you mean full of holes you can drive a truck through," Plagg countered in that mocking tone of his. For once, Tikki seemed to take his side. "Plagg's right. Where will you find the chemicals you need to create aqua regia? Let alone enough to submerge Style Queen in? You don't even know the proper measurements or procedure." "That's what the internet is for," I grinned back cheekily.
Neither of them looked convinced. "You can barely bake a cake, Marinette. How do you expect to create a whole vat of this stuff?" "Yeah. And time's running out," Plagg unhelpfully tacked on. I considered this for another second before snapping my fingers together. "The university!" "The university?" They repeated in unison, completely unimpressed. "It's the best I can think of on short notice. Their labs will have the right chemicals, and I'm sure they'll have something big enough to mix it in." "I don't know….." Tikki still had her reservations. "I need something that'll make Style Queen pliable. Facing her head-on while she's still a gold statue isn't going to work. I need to take a different approach, and since we don't have a human-sized melting pot on hand, this'll have to do," unless I can think of something better.
Plagg and Tikki again peered at each other. The fact that they didn't verbally refute this was a good sign! But that made me think of another problem. Even if I did somehow manage to make a batch of aqua regia at the university's science lab, how would I get Chloe's mom to come there? I doubt she'd waste her time chasing Ladybug around Paris; she has another target in mind. That's when I got an idea.
"The first thing we have to do is create the mixture. Then I need to find Style Queen." "How are you going to get her to come to the university?" It's as if Tikki read my mind. I flashed her a knowing smile. "She's looking for Mr. Agreste, right?" "Uh huh?" They nodded their puzzled little heads. "Since we don't know where he is either, we're going to have to settle for the next best thing." "And what's that?" The black kwami questioned. My grin widened. "Me. Like, "me" me; "Marinette" me. She wants to take revenge on Mr. Agreste for lord knows what he's done- probably has been a massive jerk to her. If she can't turn him to gold, then maybe she'll come after his soon-to-be precious "daughter-in-law"." "I don't think Adrien's dad knows the meaning of the word "precious"," Plagg said matter-of-factly. "But Chloe's mom doesn't know that. My bet is that she's seen the papers, and Chloe must have complained to her about my "stealing" Adrien away from her. Let's turn the public news reports of my engagement to our advantage." "How do you plan to do that?" Tikki next asked me. "Easy. Dangle "Marinette" me out on a string for her and lure her to the university. Once there, we'll get her in the vat of aqua regia- somehow- and I'll snatch the miraculous away from her once she's too weak to fight back."
"Uh, yeah, 'cept you don't know what her miraculous is yet," Plagg noted, somewhat more helpfully this time. My head turned their way once more. "That's where you come in, Plagg. While I'm fighting, and fleeing from, Style Queen, you keep an eye out for the akuma is. Once we know what is it, I'll get it and you destroy it. Got it?" "Mmmmmm, I dunno. You sure about this? There's a lot of steps involved," Plagg hesitated. "And lots of room for error," Tikki added. "I know, but it's the best I can think of right now. We've got to act fast.
For Adrien's sake we've got to beat her, and soon."
