The Enigma

by I write thingies

Three months after the events of Dark Heroism, things seem to go back to normal for Ladybug and Cat Noir, for the most part. But as a mysterious new threat appears, old wounds are reopened, leading to a chain of catastrophic events that will push our heroes to the very limit, and threaten the city of Paris as they know it.

4. Real Deal

A/N: Back for another one, it seems. I did not expect to get this far when I first sat down to write this story, but here we are. Anyways, good to see that whoever stuck around is still interested in the plot, but I can promise that things will get just a bit more complicated as this chapter progresses. So...happy reading.

The doors to McClay Enterprises opened like Chad and Adrien were heroes from a fantasy novel, walking through the village and receiving praises from the grateful citizens. Well, that's how the billionaire saw it, in reality the doors were wedged open a foot by an employee who was running on fumes and coffee alone. Still, they were inside, though the bustle of the environment definitely caught Adrien off-guard.

Walking alongside Chad felt weird, since he'd only just learned that the man and his own father weren't on the best of terms. But that wasn't the only reason for his discomfort, it was how the atmosphere of the building shifted the second the billionaire appeared. The rushing and bustling of workers was a normality, from what he could gather, but things only grew more stressed and frantic as Chad made his way down the hall. Employees at McClay Enterprises seemed to be methodical, like they'd rehearsed their steps every second of the day before work even began. In his presence, mistakes were being made, and the expressions of the workers twisted into ones of complete anxiousness.

But it wasn't just Chad who provoked these types of reactions from people. Every celebrity in Paris had this effect on others, the most shining example being his father, Gabriel. Whenever his father spoke to fashion designers over his tablet, he could hear the frequent cracks and strains in their voices before they inevitably disappointed him, and their dreams were crushed into a fine paste in less than ten minutes. Adrien tried not to follow this celebrity-like behavior, though he was able to rest assured for now, since most of the time he was chased by rabid fans instead of frightening them.

He didn't want to waste time daydreaming, and set his attention back onto following Chad through the building. "Okay, so this is the display room, where a few of the inventions that I created are placed in those little cases for people to admire. That's why most people show up, and it's really the only area that is public.", he said, motioning towards the rows of glass cases before taking a right down the next hallway, where several other rooms were ready to be mentioned. "Those are the restrooms, very luxurious, there's even a bonsai tree in there somewhere. I mean, I didn't put it there, some visitor left it behind and no one bothered to take it out, so it's just part of the restroom now. Although we…didn't really let them have it back. Whatever is left in McClay Enterprises, stays in McClay Enterprises forever.", he continued, before leading Adrien further down the hall.

The tour was more…casual than Adrien had expected, almost luring him into forgetting why he was there, before his instincts returned and he set his mind back on the investigation. "That's the break room, not used very much, that's one of the many rooms that we store our company files in, and that's the old photo of my father: Thomas Breckenridge Hampterfuppinshire. Yes that is my real middle and last name, doesn't matter, moving on…", he added, motioning towards a golden-framed painting of an old, bald man with a furious glare in his eyes. "Don't touch it, Billy Bob guards it twenty three hours a day"

It was pretty obvious that there was something up with that painting, Adrien had seen every spy movie ever released in Paris, and a secret door was definitely a possibility. He had to check it out later, somehow. "And lastly-", Chad began, before a loud siren blared through the building, followed by the abrupt dimming of lights that spread through the skyscraper. "What was that?", Adrien asked cautiously, hoping it wasn't some Akumatized Villain who cut the power. "Oh, shoot my monkey.", the billionaire cursed. "That's the signal for nap time. You see, it appears that Mayor Bourgeois comes up with some really stupid laws sometimes, and one of them was to require every large business like mine to have a scheduled nap time for an hour each day, because apparently he doesn''t want people to be 'oVeRwOrKeD'.", he explained, making air quotes.

Blindly feeling around in the darkness, Chad grunted in pain upon walking into a wall, using his right hand to hold his nose before turning towards Adrien. "So…you impressed? Do you want that internship or not?", he inquired, but he didn't have to wait long for an answer. "I'll do it, Mr. McClay. This place is…charming, I think I can see myself working here.", he said. "Not working, people who are working get paid.", Chad corrected with a smile, before pulling a massive clipboard out of his back pocket and handing it to the model. "That's a list of assignments that you need to take care of today, but don't worry, there's not too many. Only ten…eleven…twelve tasks, no biggie."

Widening his eyes as they trailed down the list, the billionaire watched as the McClay Enterprises employees collapsed from exhaustion once nap time struck, including Rosa, who was curled up in the corner like a cat deep in slumber. "Anyways, my broskie, I gotta skedaddle. So…peace in the middle east.", he said coolly, doing these awkward finger guns as he backtracked out of the hallway, turning the corner and disappearing from Adriens line of sight…only for him to peek his head out a second later. "...My company is trying to be hip with the kids."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Did it work?"

"Not really"

Nodding awkwardly once the criticism was dealt, he did one last finger gun before leaving the boy alone, walking down the hall as fast as humanly possible before two buzzes from his phone caught his attention. The first was a notification from the TVi news channel, with a live video that played before Chad could have a chance to click away. It was of Nadja Chamack, surrounded by a crowd of people who stood in front of the Louvre Museum, which was wrapped in police tape. "This is Nadja Chamack coming at you live, don't be bemused, it's just the news!", she quipped, before her expression shifted into one of concern. "Persians are distraught to witness a mysterious message spray painted on the Louvre, which we are almost certain is the work of The Lurkers, who were spotted creating the eerie message at four thirty last night by several eyewitness reports."

The message read 'WE ARE THE PEOPLE', in dripping purple and green paint that ran down the glass surface of the Louvre. The watchers of the message had varied looks on their faces; some were of confusion, others fear, but a few of the citizens stared at it…differently, to say the least, but the camera didn't linger on them for long before turning back to Nadja. "Though no one knows the true meaning of the message, the police department is hard at work trying to find the hideout of the Lurkers before any more trouble is caused. I'll report updates as soon as I receive them."

With that, the news report ended, and Chad watched the screen intently even after the video concluded. The graffiti was a bit too bold for his taste, but he doubted that the orders the Lurkers received weren't a mistake, and he knew to trust the giver of those orders long ago. "Now time for the next little inconvenience…oh, you've got to be kidding me.", he grumbled, realizing he'd received an email from Gabriel Agreste. Deciding that he might as well see what the man wanted before crushing his expectations into the dirt, he clicked on the message to read what the fashion designer had to tell him.

We have business to discuss. Meet me at my mansion in fifteen minutes, don't be late.

Usually whenever someone he hated emailed him, he gave them the old 'mMMmmM Is this spam? Don't contact me again' reply, but something about the request intrigued Chad, enough to have him pocket the phone and walk towards the exit down the hallway. "Billy Bob, look after the painting while I'm gone.", he ordered, glancing over to his bodyguard, who was sleeping while standing up. Opening one eye and nodding lightly, he gave the billionaire the cue he needed to leave McClay Enterprises, intent on finding out what Gabriel wanted. Luckily, he had his flask stored in his right pocket, secure and ready if things turned out like last time.

…

Yelping as the Yoyo launched her onto the building nearby, Ladybug landed safely on her feet, the tool retracting into her holster conveniently. Her mind was moving at a mile a minute, the information that Jak had provided was enough to give her hope for the business with Enigma. She wasn't quite sure when they would strike again, or how for that matter, but she was definitely one step closer into figuring out the conspiracy they were connected to.

Pacing back and forth on the rooftop, the heroine stroked her chin lightly as she went over what she knew at the moment. Abels cult was built on worshipping the Enigma, so that was one question answered. She really did appreciate Jaks assistance back at the prison, enough to have her keep her word and notify Roger and the other officers to watch over the man until further notice. However, while it did help, it still left a lot of loose ends that still remained. Chad McClay was definitely an ally of The Enigma, though concrete evidence was needed if she hoped to get him behind bars. That left Cat Noir to do his thing, alone.

Another question of hers was Enigmas true plan. Ladybug was no stranger to being wanted dead; whether it be by Shadowmoth or misguided citizens who felt that the heroes of Paris were spawns of Satan. However, she doubted that an elaborately created cult created by a man who'd lived for decades would build up to killing two teenagers. Something about it didn't seem right, and there were no ways for her to figure out the big picture at that moment. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Receiving a notification from the TVi news station, the heroine noticed the headlines almost immediately, prompting the woman to lower her eyebrows with discouragement. It seemed that the Lurkers had been making their mark on the city; The Louvre was the first victim, but several other messages displayed in graffiti were spotted around Paris after that incident. Clicking the link, she was brought to an article sitting under the recording of the first broadcast, with images showing the different areas that the Lurkers had tagged. The Arc de Triomphe was another one of the landmarks that was hit, along with the Pont Des Arts bridge, Notre-Dame, and the Palais Garnier. The Eiffel Tower remained untouched, but she didn't rule out that it would be vandalized next. The messages were also worth noting; each of the sentences sprayed onto the surfaces found were horribly cryptic.

'WE ARE UNDER FALSE RULE'

'ENIGMA LIBERATES ALL'

'THE MASKS WILL BE LIFTED'

'JOIN US AND LIVE FREE'

Squinting at the images, Ladybug was admittedly puzzled by the context of each message. For a group of criminals, their displays of 'art' seemed far more self-righteous than she'd predicted, any other villain would've sprayed something threatening into the walls. That only raised her suspicion, and upon putting her phone away, the heroine knew that the Lurkers were probably building up to something big.

Right as she turned away from her built-in device, she was startled to see the woman and her two cursed miraculous-wearing allies standing right behind her, nearly making her fall off of the roof. "Jesus, do you ever show up normally?!", she exclaimed, taking a moment to catch her breath. "We heard of your encounter with Enigma. I am glad that you and Cat Noir made it out alive, there's no telling what could've happened if you hadn't fled."

She thought about setting things straight with the interference of Bunnyx, but then her mind landed on the womans words on the theory of time travel. Telling the woman and her two comrades about a time traveling heroine would definitely throw things off track, so she kept her mouth shut on the matter. "Yeah, well we didn't exactly have much of a choice. You three didn't exactly trip over your own feet to assist us.", she said venomously, squeezing her fingers into fists as the thought of Enigma appeared in her mind.

Cocking her head to the side, the woman didn't bother to look at her two silent comrades before taking a single step forward. "I apologize. We were busy investigating other matters-", she began, before she was cut off by the heroine before her words could be finished. "I know, the three of you are off following your mission while Cat Noir and I are actually doing the fighting. Have you seen what the Lurkers have been doing lately?", she questioned, pulling up the screen on her Yoyo and waving the images of the graffiti in the womans face before putting it away once the point was made.

Gripping both sides of her head and taking a deep breath, Ladybug turned away and dragged her palms down her face, letting out a low groan as she did so. "I just don't understand why you three even bothered to make yourselves known. When we first met, you three appeared to threaten me to stay away from…Tigre. Now you act like you're my secret little allies, but you haven't even done anything for Cat Noir or me. You didn't help with Abel, and you haven't been helping with this either. Like, who even are you three?!", she exclaimed. A long period of silence followed, and once the frustration wore off, Marinette was left more exhausted than she had felt earlier.

Taking a seat at the edge of the rooftop, she let out a deep sigh as she slouched hopelessly. "Jabari.", the woman spoke; the name caught Ladybugs attention and prompted her to glance at her, a dumbfounded look on her face. "You asked who we were. My name…is Jabari.", she repeated, before motioning to the man on her left, who stood taller than the other two miraculous wielders. "This is Adonis.", she continued, before glancing to the man on her right, who was skinnier than Adonis, but appeared to be far more agile. "And this is Lucio."

It was definitely jarring to hear their names for the first time, and slowly, Ladybug began to stand up from the surface of the roof. "We haven't been very good allies to you. Though our mission is important, we have not assisted you as much as we wanted during this event.", Jabari said, her voice sounding less robotic than the heroine had ever heard it. "How can I make it up to you?" Ladybug definitely needed a moment to go over her question, not expecting the sudden shift in atmosphere to hit her so hard.

What could Jabari and her two allies offer her? As far as she knew, her Yoyo was okay against Enigma, or about as good of an option as she had, so new weapons weren't required. She didn't need money from them, not that they had it, or any sort of resource that might be of use. Finally, an idea popped into her head, and her eyes sparkled with wonder as she leaned forward to make the request. "You three kicked my ass that time you ambushed me, and clearly, you know a lot more about fighting than I ever could.", she began. "I want you to train me to fight like you. I can't beat the Enigma without your help.

Though she was wrapped in a dark silk outfit, Jabaris eyes widened enough to show her utter shock at what Ladybug had asked of her, before shifting into a stern stare. "No.", she said firmly, catching Ladybugs off-guard. "What?! Why not?!", she protested, but this time, Jabari was the one to cut her off. "We were trained in horrible forms of combat, meant to brutally incapacitate our enemies, when we aren't drenching ourselves in their blood. You are a child, you're not meant to learn such barbaric styles of fighting."

As if her spirit had been crushed into a million pieces, Ladybug had to hold back a thunderous scream that threatened to bubble up from her chest. But nothing came out, and Jabari turned around alongside Adonis and Lucio, who glanced back at the heroine, hesitating to follow their comrade off of the roof. Eventually, they leapt off of the edge together, before Ladybug fell to her knees, defeated.

She was really doomed now. The Enigma was coming to get her and her partner, and she was left completely defenseless. Her heartbeat began to quicken, and on cue, the thought of Tigre entered her head. Now she knew how it felt, to feel completely helpless, and she began to draw in deeper, more desperate breaths as she recalled the night she lost him. "It's just a moment…it's just a moment…", she mumbled, placing a hand over her chest as she tried to get a hold of herself.

In the middle of her crisis, she failed to notice the figure dressed in a jet black, high-tech suit several rooftops away, standing at the edge as they watched her from afar.

…

Fumbling angrily with his tie, Gabriel stood diligently in his office in front of a mirror on the wall; his eyebrows furrowing as he struggled to complete his task. Across from him, Nathalie watched her boss in his period of distress, before marching forward and joining him in the reflection. "Chad McClay won't be here for another fifteen minutes, just take a minute to try and relax." she suggested, folding her arms lightly as Gabriel continued to struggle with the tie.

It was odd, the man usually had no problem putting himself together every morning, this was definitely a first. "This was a bad idea, he's not going to tell me anything. He'll probably just act like an idiot and do that annoying thing he always does. You know, that thing where he walks into a room and pretends he's on a sitcom.", he grumbled, as Nathalie moved forward to examine his tie. "I hate that thing.", she said evenly, reaching forward to move his hands away from the tie, hoping he didn't notice the faint flush in her cheeks as the smooth skin on her hands brushed against his. "Be straightforward. Chad will have to give up something if you grill him. Then the connection between him and the leader of the Lurkers will be made all the more clear."

As she worked the long piece of cloth into a halfway decent tie, Gabriel watched her silently, eyeing the womans elegant movements with complete intent. "Perhaps. But then what? I doubt he would be so willing as to grant me a meeting with them, even if he gives us what we need to know.", he inquired, but it wasn't like he didn't have a plan. He was fully aware of Chads nature, and knew that forcing the information from him was a risky, but effective method.

However, buttering up the billionaire with false flattery could've also proved useful, but he definitely has an idea of which one he preferred. "We'll figure it out. He's a petty billionaire, not a secret agent, it shouldn't be too difficult to make progress happen.", she reassured him, before backing up a foot from her boss, having finished her work with the tie. "Thank you, Nathalie.", he said sincerely, before the sound of the front doors being thrown open echoed through the main hall. Making their way out of his office, Gabriel sighed deeply and entered the mansion hall, as Chad kicked open the front door alongside his assistant and bodyguard.

As soon as he entered, the billionaire threw out his arms expressively, a wide smile on his face as his eyes darted around the room before landing on Gabriel and Nathalie, who stood at the top of the staircase, realizing he was about to do the sitcom thing again. A long, awkward silence followed, only broken by Chad once it had become unbearable. "...This is the part where you clap.", he said, his expression frozen in place nonetheless.

When he received no applause from the two, Billy Bob and Rosa opted to clap instead, satisfying him enough to break him from his deluded reverie, before the man yelped once he realized Billy Bob was there as well. "What are you doing here, I told you to guard the painting!", he exclaimed, but the large man stared at him blankly. "I put some employees in charge of that once you left, I knew Mr. Agreste would give you…trouble.", he replied.

Glancing between the large man and Gabriel rapidly, he let out a sigh and dragged his hands down his face before returning his attention to the fashion designer. "Wow, I've never actually seen the inside of your mansion before, Gabey. You weren't kidding about your love of decor. And…holy hell, you are TALL!", he exclaimed, purposefully choosing the most annoying nickname possible. "It's…good to see you, Chad.", Gabriel spoke, noticing his sons bodyguard slinking out from the corner of his eye. He was a large, ape-like man, who had never said a word to him in his entire time spent working for him. Glaring animalistic at the billionaire, the gorilla man marched downstairs with his chest puffed out…before Billy Bob set a hand forward, stopping the man in his tracks and wearing a cold stare that destroyed the gorilla mans sense of toughness.

Making his way down the stairs with Gabriel, Nathalie opted to walk towards Rosa; the two women studied each other with focused stares, before Rosa put out her hand awkwardly for Natalie to shake. "Rosa Albir.", she said, a polite smile curling up on her lips. Figuring that making enemies with the woman would only make things more tense, Nathalie smiled as well and shook her hand. "Nathalie Sancoeur.", she said evenly, while Chad met Gabriel face to face once the fashion designer made his way to his level.

Once their eyes met, time seemed to come to a screeching halt. The delighted facade that the billionaire put up was lowered, and a mutual glare of contempt was shared between the two men. "Why don't I…invite you to my office?", Gabriel offered, his voice cold and gravelly. "That…would be nice.", Chad responded, his eyes narrowing at the man. Taking a few very slow steps back, the fashion designer treaded up the stairs with his eyes locked on the billionaire, who gave him an equally tense stare as the two made their way up the staircase.

It went on like this for about five minutes, until Gabriel finally made it to his office, fumbling at the door knob behind him before finally being able to enter. Taking three steps into the room, he sat down daintily on the chair behind his desk, allowing Chad to take a seat on a plush stool across from him. Before a word could be said, Nathalie appeared in the doorway alongside Rosa, appearing far more comfortable with the woman than the two men did by a longshot. "Mr. Agreste, Rosa and I are going to have a few drinks from the liquor cabinet. I hope you don't mind."

For a brief moment, the tension was broken, and Gabriel breathed a short sigh of relief as the air grew more clear. "You don't need to tell me, Nathalie. Enjoy yourself.", he said, with a light smile. "Yeah, just don't have too much fun." Chad joked, wearing a wide grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. Once the two women left and made their way downstairs to the kitchen, the billionaire turned his head slowly towards Gabriel, his smile instantly dropping as his expression twisted into a callous stare. "What do you want?"

It was more of a statement than a question, and one that Gabriel wasn't exactly enthusiastic to answer. "I think the larger, more important matter to discuss is…why are you in Paris?", he questioned, squinting at him judgingly. "When we met briefly in Dubai, you seemed very keen on taking your matters to America." Pausing, Chad didn't let his guard down, though the conversation wasn't as straightforward as he thought. "I did, Gabriel. Unlike you, I don't wallow in one place like a damn tree stump.", he rebuked. "So that brings me to my question…why are you here? A seasoned fashion designer like you should be mingling at galas every second of the day. Don't tell me you're still sticking to that isolation crap."

Now the tension returned, and Gabriel tented his fingers lightly before leaving forward in his chair. "What I do with my time is none of your concern, Chad.", he said coldly, but the billionaire wasn't fazed in the slightest. "You know, that's rich coming from you. Especially since what you brought up back at that gala.", he replied venomously. "I didn't know you-", Gabriel began, but he was promptly cut off before his sentence could be finished. "Don't. Just tell me why I'm actually here. I didn't struggle to hop your gate for an hour to be lied to."

That seemed fair enough, so he decided not to dance around the main topic at hand. "I want to ask about the Lurkers. They've gotten quite the reaction out of the citizens of Paris, it seems. The group must be led by quite the clever person", he said, maintaining a poker face to shield from Chads increasingly suspicious stare, though the billionaire sat up straighter once the compliment was made. Gabriel noticed this, and continued his plan accordingly. "They're much more effective than Ladybug and Cat Noir. And those tools of theirs, they seem to be quite well-funded."

For a split second, the fashion designer glanced towards the camera hidden near the ceiling, before returning his gaze towards Chad. "How'd you know about those weapons? It was never shown on the news, and the Lurkers are sworn to a code of secrecy, I'm sure.", Chad replied; the revelation registering to Gabriel a millisecond later. "How did you know about the code of secrecy?", Gabriel inquired, dodging the question that was thrown at him.

But Chad wasn't fazed, and instead, gave the man a cheeky wink that nearly set the fashion designer off. "I know you're with the Lurkers, Chad. And I have evidence too, there's a camera in this room right now. So unless you want me to take this to court, you'll do exactly as I say, right now ", he said, pointing towards it with a wide grin, believing he had the billionaire where he wanted him. Instead, he simply turned towards the camera, and matched Gabriels delighted smile in full. "Gabriel Agreste is Shadowmoth, his miraculouses are located around his neck."

Shooting forward and seizing Chad by the collar, he shook him madly before standing up to drag the billionaire to his level. "You're talking crazy. There's no way you could've known!", he hissed, before realizing just how much he'd slipped up in that moment. "Mm, quite the temper you've got, I remembered your anger issues since Dubai.", Chad taunted, but Gabriel hadn't given up yet. "You don't think I didn't get your little hint on camera? I can still take this to court, and edit out the footage that makes me look like a criminal."

Giving a light shrug, Chad grunted as he was shoved back into his chair, smoothing the wrinkles over in his suit with great care. "You don't think they'd notice when footage was edited? Plus, you technically can't use surveillance footage as legitimate evidence in court, especially since you don't have a warrant.", he added, in a sing-songy voice. Gabriel was mortified, the evidence he thought he had was tainted, and whatever leverage he wanted to gain was now non-existent.

First Abel, now Chad. The fashion designer didn't like to be tricked. "You're forgetting, if this surveillance footage is as worthless as you say, that means you can't make people think I'm Shadowmoth either. After all, even if it's not enough to put you behind bars, it will definitely put a blow to your squeaky-clean reputation.", he pointed out, wiping the smirk from Chads face almost instantly. "Oh, shoot my monkey.", he murmured. "That's true, so I guess we're in a stalemate right now. You'll delete the surveillance footage as soon as possible, and I'll get out of your hair and forget this ever happened."

Standing up and tossing a few loose strands of hair out of his face, he took out a tube of hair gel and squirted it sloppily onto his scalp, before glazing the hell over and covering his hair in a smooth sheen. "There's just one thing I don't understand, what makes you so confident that I'm a Miraculous user?", he questioned, as Chad made his way to the door. "The Enigma told me, Gabriel. They told me everything." he said, ignoring the complete shock that took over the fashion designer as he made his way out of the office.

Stomping down the stairs in the main hall, he took a left and entered the kitchen, where Rosa and Nathalie were busy laughing heartily and sipping alcohol, sitting on stools next to the counter. "Ugh, I wish I'd met you ten years ago, Nathalie. Then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess.",Rosa smiled, hiccuping lightly as Nathalie downed another glass. "Same here, Rosa." she said evenly, before Chad cleared his throat noisily, and his assistant shot up from her seat and stood up straight. "We're leaving. Get Billy Bob.", Chad said firmly, receiving a nod of affirmation from Rosa, who seemed to sober up almost immediately.

On cue, Billy Bob emerged from the shadows, casually following Chad out of the room and heading towards the exit with him. "It was very nice to meet you, Nathalie. I hope we can talk again sometime.", Rosa said, before leaving the kitchen as Gabriel raced down the stairs from his office. Marching outside along with his assistant and bodyguard, as Nathalie and Gabriel watched them from the front door, deciding to be courteous enough to click a button nearby to open the gate for them.

Once they'd disappeared from their line of sight, the two exchanged glances before walking back into the mansion once the three were far enough down the block. "He knows who I am, Nathalie. Chad also mentioned the leader of the Lurkers, the person who I saw. He called them 'The Enigma'." he murmured, and the stoic womans eyes widened from underneath her glasses. "What do you propose we do, Mr. Agreste?", she asked, but Gabriel let a faint smirk curl up on his lips deviously. "I know who he is too, Nathalie. I say that we approach him again, but this time, we're going to find an opening in his operation, and we'll obtain exactly what we're looking for.", he said, a menacing glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes.

…

Nap time had concluded long ago, and Billy Bob left, but the painting didn't remain unguarded. Now, Adrien had decided to be loyal to the investigation and did all the tasks that Chad had listed for him, including relocating the Bonsai Tree once the owner had tried to retrieve it once more. Everything was done, but he couldn't get his mind off of the painting. A secret door had to have been behind it, he could feel it in his bones. "How am I gonna get those employees away from the painting?", he murmured, hiding behind a corner across from the group. There were about five of them, each with wide, bloodshot eyes with deep bags under them, as they paced around the painting frantically without any sign of stopping.

At the worst moment possible, Plagg fluttered out of Adriens pocket before being quickly seized by his Miraculous Holder; the sudden burst of movement nearly giving away their position. "Keep still, Plagg!" he whispered, but the Kwami squirmed out of his grip with ease, fluttering upwards to slap the boy across his cheek. Adrien felt zero pain from the blow, like literally no pain, but his Kwami had made his point and glared at him with folded arms. "You didn't have to manhandle me, I know exactly what's going on. You talk to yourself, a lot.", he said matter-of-factly. "Sorry, Plagg.", the boy said apologetically. "Do you have any ideas on how to get those employees out of the way?"

Pondering hard for a moment, Plagg scratched his chin as he went over the possible strategies, before finally coming up with something. "I've got one. First, I'm gonna need a shovel, some latex gloves, and oregano-", he began, but Adrien put up his hands with a horrified expression before his plan could be finished. "No no no, I just need them away from the painting, that's it. Do you…have anything else for me?", he asked, but this time, the Kwami shrugged in response. "Oh. Then I got nothing. You know, it wouldn't hurt to use one of my plans for once ", he whined.

There had to have been something he could do, and Adrien knew that the solution was somewhere to be discovered. He peaked out from behind the corner again, and watched the movements of the employees with great intent. They were methodical, and quite robotic, but undeniably exhausted. Behind their reddened stares, they looked like they were begging for a break. "I have an idea.", he grinned, turning to his Kwami. "Those employees look tired, they need a break. I say we should go give it to them."

It took a moment, but soon enough, Plagg was grinning along with Adrien, having understood the plan perfectly and nodding rapidly at his cleverness. "Ohhhh, I get you. So I should go grab the shovel then.", he guessed, but he was seized once more by Adrien and shoved into his pocket again, as the boy raced past the corner towards the group. Like a group of startled cats, they instantly turned towards the boy with wide eyes, completely unsure of what to do. "Hey, I'm the new intern. Chad said that you should take a break from guarding the painting, and go splash some water on your face in the restrooms. Like, right now."

They instantly bolted away from the painting, rushing to their designated bathrooms to do what the boy had said without question. "Damn, the things that minimum wage does to people.", Plagg grimaced, as the boy made his way to the painting. "We gotta focus on this, stop talking about real life problems.", Adrien scolded, glancing down at the Kwami in his pocket. "Okay, I won't talk about the lizard people.", the Kwami said.

Immediately stopping in his tracks, the two soon exchanged tense glares that showed no sign of easing up. "Plagg, don't start this shit-" he began, but the muffled noises coming from the bathrooms reminded him to stay on track. He'd bicker with Plagg later. "Now, if I were a secret door, where would I be?", he mumbled, palming at the surface of the painting to search for hidden buttons or switches. The surface was rougher than he'd expected, and the eyes of Thomas Breckenridge Hampterfuppinshire seemed to stare deeply into his soul.

Watching Adriens pathetic attempts at finding a secret entrance, the Kwami decided to fly through the wall, his intangibility allowing him to pass through fluidly without trouble. A second or two passed before Plagg returned, with widened eyes and rather frantic movements that suggested something had been found. Sure enough, it proved to have been true. "Adrien, there's this massive bathroom behind this painting, it looks completely untouched! This really IS a secret door.

Normally, the boy would've lost hope on finding some secret Lurker lair beneath McClay Enterprises, but something about the mention of the bathroom planted some sort of hopeful thought in his head. Sliding the painting upwards on its hinges, he brushed his hand against the wall adventurously and gasped once a panel clicked into place once contact was made. Immediately, the small area of wall slid down and revealed a secret passage, with the faint glow of the restroom visible ahead. "Good find, Plagg.", he smiled, before he and the Kwami squeezed inside and disappeared from the public area of McClay Enterprises.

It took him about a millisecond to take note of the trapdoor opening up below him the second his foot made it to the bathroom, but it was too late to do anything, because he was instantly dropped down into the darkness before he could even shout. The yelling did eventually follow, once he was dropped into a long, elaborate tunnel that sent him spiraling down at a scarily rapid pace. Plagg followed him instinctively, and their screams mixed together the whole trip down until Adrien was thrown onto the ground, which thankfully signaled the end of the trip.

Plagg also came sliding down a second later, shouting loudly as the momentum tossed him onto the nice, hard floor. Groaning in pain, Adrien managed to prop himself up on his elbows to lift his cheek off of the metallic surface of the ground, weakly opening his eyes to take in the room around him. What he found made him completely forget about the painful trip he'd just taken, and instead rush to his feet to get a closer look. "Thanks for checking on me.", Plagg said bitterly, before his mouth dropped open upon seeing just what had captivated his Miraculous Holder.

A large, shadowy room laid ahead of them, the darkness shrouding every corner and snuffing out whatever light had wandered nearby. From what Adrien could see, there was the faint outline of a large table, with several chairs set neatly along the sides of it. Inching forward with extreme caution, the boy grunted in pain once his knee slammed into something solid, prompting him to hobble forward to the nearest wall and set his hands along it so his balance wasn't lost. Before the pain could disappear, he noticed something quite peculiar about the surface he'd leaned against.

Several sheets of paper were stuck to the wall, coating the entire surface until no trace of what was underneath was visible. Only problem was, the darkness that enveloped the area prevented him from reading it clearly, though Plagg seemed to be getting an eyeful of it, because of the night vision that came along with his catlike eyes.

"Plagg, what does it all say?"

"Wow."

"Plagg, tell me, c'mon."

"I can't."

"Why?!"

"It's too crazy, Adrien."

Huffing and rolling his eyes, the boy suddenly remembered that he had a phone, and hurried to flick on the flashlight feature to aid his investigation. The wall was immediately illuminated, and Adrien had modern technology to thank, because everything that was pasted in front of him was displayed in full glory. Along the wall were an array of different clippings and cutouts of numerous oddities; some were sheets with the McClay Enterprises Logo scribbled into them in a similar fashion that Abels lair did, news reports of the night that the temple burned down, and even images taken of Tigre Blanc, in areas that Adrien wasn't familiar with.

This was definitely weird, why would anyone at McClay Enterprises care so much about the cult? The connection was obvious, but this was far beyond any extent that he would've thought to be possible. "It's like a damn monument to his cult. I had no idea they were so…important to Chad.", he said, though there was no way one person could have set the whole room up the way it was. The Lurkers seemed like a viable culprit, but the real question was, how could someone like Chad McClay coordinate both a cult, and the Lurkers? And better yet, how has the cult remained intact for this long? "This is some serious conspiracy shit, Adrien.", Plagg whispered, unsure of where it all led up.

There was still more that Adrien didn't understand, where did this all lead? What would this many people even be looking for? And how did the Enigma tie into this? His mind was racing, the boy couldn't even settle on one thought without being led to another, with no answers to satisfy his curiosity. "Well, I'd say we need to take some photos, we can show Ladybug them later.", he said, knowing that had to leave soon. "Plagg, you think you can find a light switch?"

The Kwami shrugged, but flew off into the shadows to search for what his miraculous holder requested nonetheless. Breathing a sigh of relief that they'd grabbed what they needed, he turned around to search for an exit…before Adrien was staring straight down the barrel of a gun. Chad McClay was there, his face shrouded in shadows as the firearm remained an inch from the boys face, the cold metal briefly brushing against the tip of his nose.

"What are you doing here?"

He'd suddenly gone cotton-mouthed, and with wide eyes, the boy sucked in a deep breath before attempting to reply. "W-w-w-well I j-j-just noticed the p-p-painting, and I accidentally t-t-touches the wall and then I fell in and…", he sputtered, but Chad didn't move from his spot. "I know that you saw everything. I know it for sure.", the man said coldly, beads of sweat beginning to roll down Adriens face. Was this really how he was about to die? At the hand of a billionaire who caught him snooping around? The thought made him want to throw up.

Knowing he was screwed either way, he took one more shaky inhale, before setting a stare aimed right at the mans face. He wasn't going to cower away from him, no matter what. After several seconds of agonizing silence, Chad set the gun down, cocking his head to the side and sliding it into his pocket. "You're brave for your age.", he said evenly, smoothing out the wrinkles in his suit as Adrien struggled not to pass out. "Although, it's pretty clear that now that you've seen what this company is all about, you're not going to be working as an intern anymore."

Sighing, the boy knew the investigation was over. Whatever deeper information he wanted to find was locked off now, his mission was completely ruined. "I understand, sir…", he murmured, beginning to walk off to whatever looked like an exit before a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. "You'll need to work more closely to the actual operation, the real deal. You and I will be spending a lot more time together, plus, you're obviously observant if you managed to find this room. I think you'd make a good addition to the team, so what do you say?" he offered, the proposition not even registering to Adrien before a wide smile plastered itself onto his face. But oddly enough, it had nothing to do with the investigation.

He didn't give it too much thought, but he was definitely eager to continue the investigation. "Thank you, sir.", he said gratefully, but the man waved his hand with a light smile. "Call me Chad." he replied, not noticing Plagg zip back into Adriens pocket. "...Now, the exit to the room is also hidden. And I don't remember where it is, so you and I need to find it.", he said, and the boys smile faded. "Oh. Okay." Adrien replied, before the two set off into the room together, awkwardly fumbling around with and touching literally everything around them in hopes of setting off the exit.

…

A light, sparkling snowfall began to dust the city, matching the freezing gusts of wind that hit the city in waves. Flinging herself across town and landing roughly on the edge of a rooftop, Ladybug stared down at the streets longingly as horrible memories began to linger in her thoughts. She wanted to run, badly, until her legs were sore and aching, and breathing became painful. But she couldn't, because the Lurkers were even more public now, and they needed to be brought to justice.

Their graffiti tags were being reposted across every social media platform that was even accessible, spreading like wildfire across the internet before the authorities could even comment on it. The comments were somewhat mixed, with the sensible people calling the Lurkers terrorists and condemning them to a life behind bars, others commenting on how confused they were, and even people talking about how surprisingly artistic the graffiti jobs were.

However, the ones that bothered the heroine were the supportive ones. Through posts, forums, and even live discussions, people spoke positively of what the messages could mean, even saying that the Lurkers might be a benefit for the city, judging on what their intentions might've been. This added gasoline to the fire, it seemed, and people all around the city seemed to be invested in what the group would do next, practically cheering them on to continue their crusade.

Shutting off the phone feature in her Yoyo, Ladybug sighed deeply and sat at the edge of the rooftop, letting her legs away and dangle freely as she stared down at the ground below. "In less than a day, those psychos already have a fanbase…", she mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows and letting out a deep sigh. Things seemed less than hopeful to her at the moment, or at least, until Cat Noir returned with the vital Intel, if there even was any to find. Until then, the McClay Enterprises logo would continue to stare her down from afar, managing to glow brightly despite the cloudy sky and flurries of snow.

The tapping of metal echoing through the alleyway nearby caught the heroines attention, and after a few audible rustles from the same spot followed, Ladybug knew that someone was there. Standing up and treading towards the edge of the roof, her hand rested gently on her holstered Yoyo as she cautiously peeked over the edge…where four Lurkers stood huddled together in front of a bright red brick wall. Shaking a can of spray paint, one of them released a jet of purple onto the wall, beginning to etch out large, jarring letters along the surface. Scattered around them were several other unused cans, as the others watched their comrade work on the message.

She gritted her teeth, they were back at their signature antics yet again. No other citizens were around, it seemed, which worked just fine for her. Leaping off of the roof and landing right in the middle of the Lurkers, Ladybug snagged a spare can and sprayed directly into the goggles of a nearby Lurker, before hurling her Yoyo forward and watching it bounce off of the visor of another satisfyingly. There were two who'd been spared of the assault, but oddly enough, they didn't rush to attack her, instead standing around like a couple of lost children. She paused for a moment, knowing something wasn't quite right, but she instead threw herself forward to smash a knee into one of their stomachs, swinging a right hook across their visor and watching as they collapsed onto the sidewalk.

One was left, but once again, they only stopped to watch her, not bothering to even remove their weapon from their back. Growling with a mixture of frustration and utter confusion, she twisted around to throw her Yoyo once more, the tool striking the Lurker in the middle of their helmet and knocking them to the ground. And just like that, the fight was over, but Ladybug didn't turn to leave the area. Making her way towards one of the downed Lurkers, she kneeled down to examine them closely, noticing their complete lack of movement as they lied still. It was abnormal, though the Lurkers as a whole were abnormal.

The scrape of a footstep up above startled the heroine out of her pondering, but upon turning around to glance up at the rooftop, there was nobody there. But she heard it again, the subtle shuffle wormed itself into her ears, though it seemed no one was behind her either. Facing the entrance of the alleyway, she paused for a moment to search for the supposed threat that continued to evade detection, before the light clack of an object hitting the ground behind her soon followed.

It was a small canister; silver and cylinder-shaped, with no remarkable features or abnormalities that made it seem all that special. The graffiti cans that began to roll under the two dumpsters nearby didn't match the design, and slowly, the suspicion began to set in. Before she could even take a step forward, the object exploded, releasing a massive cloud of smoke that enveloped the alleyway in a matter of seconds. Gasping once the world around her disappeared, the distraction was only followed by horrible, unbearable silence as the Lurkers began to rise up from the ground, before vanishing without a trace. Eyes widened, Ladybug could feel an unnerving feeling crawl up her spine, noticing the faint outline of a figure standing in the corner of her eye…

The punch struck her swiftly across the jaw, sending her stumbling several feet forward and smashing face-first into the dumpster. Grunting and holding her nose, the figure sprinted towards her once the blow was dealt, fist ready to throw a second punch while she was downed. Taking notice of the attacker through the reflection on the dumpster, she rolled to the side and let their fist strike the metal instead, leaving a concerningly deep dent that made the heroine gulp nervously. For a split second, she was able to take notice of their appearance.

Their basic suit looked similar to that of Enigmas, with a sleek, black surface that clearly looked beyond modern technology, but certain features didn't match up to their appearance. For one thing, there were no large, horrifying goggles, instead replaced by a single icy-blue one that mimicked the design of a high-powered rifle scope. On their wrists were long cartridges taking up room on their arms, concealing a tool that was unknown to her at the moment. They'd appeared out of nowhere in the smoke, like an invisible threat. Like a Spectre. She didn't have time to stop and stare though, because her opponent was ready to jump back into battle. "You another one of Enigmas cronies?", she questioned, raising an eyebrow at them upon being met with silence. She'd take that as a yes.

Dashing forward, the Spectre leapt off of the wall adjacent to her to swing a kick towards her, which she'd managed to duck under before the attack connected. What she didn't foresee was them twisting around in mid air to deliver a second blow, and she was struck right in the forehead by their heel before she could raise her arms. Being knocked into the back wall of the alleyway, she yelped and bent her neck to the side to avoid their fist slamming into the bricks behind her, allowing the opening she needed to shove them backwards to grant her some breathing room.

The two briefly stood against the opposite walls of the alley, before they raced forward in unison to engage in close combat. Feinting a strike, the Spectre twirled around to throw a backfist towards Ladybug, who jumped back to evade the blow. Sending a side-kick into their chest, they were struck by the heroines free leg a second later that threw them into a brief daze. Only, that's what they wanted her to think, waiting for her to tread close enough before spinning around to uppercut the woman with enough force to send her onto her back.

Wasting no time to step to the side and kick her straight in the ribs, Ladybug cried out in pain and rolled to the end of the alleyway, knowing the Spectre wouldn't give up until she was either incapacitated, or neutralized. That gave her the incentive she needed to kick wildly at them once they drew close, managing to score a decent strike into their stomach that sent them stumbling a foot backwards. Springing to her feet, she hurled her Yoyo around their wrist to yank them forward as hard as she could, before leaping up to smash her knee right into their chin.

Taking advantage of the bullshit gravity hax that came with being a Miraculous User, she flipped over him in mid-air to leap off of their back like a springboard, hoping to leave the alleyway to take the fight into a more public setting. Oddly enough, they seemed to expect the crafty move, and turned around to seize her by the ankles and let her hit the ground. Reaching down to lift her by her neck and waist, they slammed her into the closest wall in the alley before tossing her towards the other, the sudden burst of strength alarming Ladybug and allowing her to be struck by the blow in full. Whoever they were, they were still pulling their punches, meaning the worst of their onslaught was yet to show up.

Groaning in pain, she forced herself to her feet and clumsily ran forward to meet the Spectre once more, trading somewhat equal blows despite her lingering exhaustion. After it went on like this for a second or so, they glanced towards the dumpsters for a split second before escaping the scuffle, slamming the lid of it shut as Ladybug realized what had just happened. Climbing atop the dumpster and using it as an extra boost to get them onto the roof, the heroine let out a frustrated huff before following their lead and leaving the alleyway.

Hauling herself into the roof as the Spectre began to sprint away, she swung her arm back before launching her Yoyo forward, shooting across the roof and nearing her opponent at a rapid speed. Stopping at the edge of the roof to sidestep the attack, they casually grabbed onto the side of the roof before leaping off entirely, using their grip on the rooftop to swing forward through a window below them. The sound of shattering glass followed by a deafening silence confirmed their entrance into the building. A part of her almost prompted her to inch towards the end of the rooftop, but she wouldn't make the same mistake again, and instead broke into a sprint that mimicked the Spectres until she was right at the edge of the building.

Bounding off of the rooftop, she managed to turn around in mid air and hurl her Yoyo through the shattered window, waiting until the tool hooked onto something solid inside before pulling as hard as she could. The Yoyo pulled her inside faster than she would've imagined, sending her barreling straight into the hallway of the apartment. Luckily, the old, wooden planks were less uncomfortable qthan the solid concrete pavement outside, and she returned to her feet rather quickly. Several doors lined the walls around her, and for a moment, her worries ventured to the well-being of the tenants.

Suddenly, something knocked her off her feet and locked her in a tight constriction, as her vision was blocked by a mesh-patterned net. One of the doors was wide open, and inside it stood the Spectre, with their arm outstretched as the cartridge on their wrist was left hanging wide open as they stood next to a tall wax candle that illuminated the dimly-lit halls. Gritting her teeth and thrashing madly against her restraints, she shouted from a sudden burst of pain as a quick voltage shot through her to prevent her escape attempts. Slumping over as her body was thrown into a state of paralysis, the Spectre crept towards her, staring down intently at the heroine for a split second, before realizing the candle had been knocked over.

Perhaps it was the abundance of wood in the room, or just a big middle finger from the universe, but flames blossomed from the spot where the candle had fallen, which soon began to enlarge and spread across the edge of the hallway to the horror of Ladybug. The two hesitated for a moment, before the Spectre seized her by the shoulders and flung the heroine across the corridor, nearly causing her to plummet down the wide staircase ahead. "Really? You're gonna let this place burn?", she hissed, scrambling to her feet nonetheless as the fire grew hotter and wider.

Breaking into a sprint to meet the Spectre once more, she balled up her fist tightly and reeled it back, while the person decided to stay put and watch the heroines efforts as she neared them at a swift pace. Shouting with fury as she threw a punch forward, in the midst of the blow…she blinked. The Spectre was no longer in front of her, and had materialized behind Ladybug before she could even react. Once again, she was grabbed, before being thrown up against the ceiling back-first as the fire raged on behind her, beginning to spread towards the rest of the apartment area. Smoke began to drift through the shattered window, sending a dastardly warning to the citizens below them.

Gasping for air once she hit the floor, the Spectre paused for a moment, staring down at the heroine as she struggled to rise to her feet. Glancing up at her attacker, she let out a ragged grunt and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around their waist in hopes of hauling them to the ground. Any tactical thoughts in her head were completely gone, all that mattered to her was taking them down and stopping the fire, though neither of those goals looked very hopeful. Backing out of Ladybugs grasp, the Spectre weaved to the side to dodge a clumsy punch, glancing in between her and the fire as a second fist was thrown at them. Finally, they dashed forward to bat one last attempted blow, shooting their own fist forward to brutally smash into her ribs.

Pain exploded across her abdomen, and as if a switch had been flipped inside her, she fell to the floor without a bit of fight in her. The fire had swallowed the hallway, the flames biting at Ladybug as she writhed around with her hand over her ribcage. The Spectre had disappeared, but through the thick, choking smoke and deathly flames, the wounded heroine soon realized that she wasn't alone. Whimpering lightly as she forced herself to roll onto her stomach, she did her best to crawl towards the staircase across from her, before noticing just who'd entered the building from the hallway to her right.

Like soldiers, the Lurkers walked through a wall of flame, purple goggles glowing past the screen of smoke like a lighthouse in the fog. Widening her eyes, she doubled down on her frantic escape, managing to reach the stairs as the Lurkers entered the hallway. Something didn't seem right about the whole thing, since there appeared to be a fire in the room that the group had left as well, but she definitely wasn't in the best place to go through any sort of rational thought at that moment.

She'd managed to climb to her feet using the railing, with her free hand comforting her swollen ribcage, putting all the energy she had into limping out the front door as people began to gather around the apartment. Normally, she would've said or done something to ease the tension, but right now, she could barely even stand. Calling Cat Noir was the most logical next step, and the heroine hurled her Yoyo towards the nearest rooftop to do just that.

The trip wasn't easy, or painless, but she'd succeeded in making it to the top nonetheless, so her struggles were not in vain. Propping her back up against a large chimney, she let out a fit of rough coughs as the remnants of the smoke left an uncomfortable stinging sensation in her eyes. Taking out her Yoyo and displaying a screen to contact her partner, she was met with a disappointing voicemail that prompted a defeated sigh from the heroine. Her vision grew blurry, and the pain in her ribs struck her in waves, with the only stamina she had left concentrated in turning her neck to the left, granting her a good view of the building.

What she saw definitely surprised her. The fires had been extinguished, with no flames peeking through the windows, and the civilians watching the incident losing their worried expressions, as the Lurkers exited the building through the front door to meet with the citizens of Paris. They all carried a fire extinguisher, and it didn't take long for the people to put two and two together, before breaking out into a wild applause for the group, who simply watched the people around them cheer with complete silence.

Confusion was the last thought that managed to enter her mind, before the girl slipped out of consciousness, as the faint sirens of the fire department rang through the city. She didn't even notice the four people landing on the roof beside her, as a familiar man scooped her into his arms and turned towards the others. For a brief moment, Ladybugs eyes fluttered open, and the conversation was made audible to her ears past the blaring of the fire trucks.

"This is what happens when you leave her to fend for herself."

"I'm sorry, Su-Han." , Jabari spoke.

"Me too.", a man said, his voice low and regretful.

"Same here.", a second man added,

A low sigh rumbled through Su-Han before the man handed the heroine towards Jabari. "Jabari, Adonis, Lucio…take her home. I will meet you there soon.", he said sternly, before receiving an affirmative 'Yes Su-Han' in unison, before the three leapt off of the rooftop. "If she's going to survive this fight, we need to agree on something."* Jabari said, bounding from rooftop to rooftop alongside her allies.I...I take back what I said. Ladybug needs to be trained. Without our help, the Enigma will take away everything from her, and the city, and it will be far too late to do anything about it…"

…

The faint sound of footsteps echoed through the hidden room of McClay Enterprises, as the billionaire made his way towards the large computer located at the end of the table. Digging into his pocket and pulling out a thin keycard, Chad swiped it against a spot near the large panel, prompting a low humming noise to escape the massive computer that shook the whole room.

In dark green letters against a jet black background, a message was spelled out for the man that made him roll his eyes with impatience. 'COMPUTER REBOOTING, 2% COMPLETED', the screen read, showing little sign of progress for such a high-tech piece of technology. "Shoddy craftsmanship, must've been made in the U.S.", Chad muttered, slumping down in one of the plush chairs near the table and doing a little spin in them.

It was clear that he was gonna do jack shit until the computer was ready, but the billionaire was fine with that. Taking out a flask from his pocket, the billionaire took a long swig from the container before glancing up towards the ceiling, a look of heavy remorse in his eyes. "You would've loved this.", he mumbled, folding his arms over his stomach. "Don't worry, I'll be seeing you again soon enough." With that, he took another sip, doing one last twirl in the chair before catching a glimpse of something across the room that brought his activities to a grinding halt.

Two green lights gleamed in the darkness, prompting Chad to immediately stand up straight from his chair and pocket the flask before any questions could be asked. "I can explain. Just wanted to power up the computer, this was what I was meaning to show you earlier.", he announced, as the Enigma slowly made their way forward, their suit matching the humming emitted from the computer. They glanced towards the screen, the rebooting progress had gone up to 20%. "What is this?", they spoke, their modulated voice coming out raspy.

As if he'd been waiting for Enigma to ask that question since he was born, Chad raised a finger and made his way towards one of the walls. "I've been gathering a lot of stuff for this place since my company moved in here. You know, news report snippets, incriminating evidence, photos of the heroes, and…the script for my Disney channel audition tape several years ago. I still haven't found it, if you do, please don't play it.", he replied, swiftly moving on to the main topic at hand. "But, this isn't just to pay homage to Abels cult-"

The billionaire was swiftly cut off by his boss before the sentence was finished. "The Clandestine.", they corrected, folding their arms lightly. "...Yeah, them.", the billionaire said, with narrowed eyes, not liking to be interrupted. "Well, the main issue with The Clandestine was Abels lack of legitimately useful followers. All of the famous cults in history had people outside their group to be played like a fiddle; whether it be average citizens, or people with power backing them up and a special sense of corruption deep behind their squeaky-clean facades.", he continued, his hands waving wildly as he made his point. "Now, you want to know what's so special about The Lurkers?", he asked, expecting his boss to finish the sentence.

Enigma didn't speak, though not from a lack of knowledge. "...You got it! The Clandestine and The Lurkers are one and the same.", he said chipperly, not acknowledging their cold silence. "However, I figured out their very clear difference when I watched the news reports of their little graffiti jobs earlier, which by the way, was super clever on your part.", he grinned. "As I'm sure you intended, the public is intrigued by their message. But get this, I recruited another helper, and paired them up with the Lurkers to ambush Ladybug, and set fire to an apartment building across the city."

The Enigma turned their head to the side, and Chad immediately took note of the gesture and dropped his enthusiasm, holding up his hands to prevent a worse reaction, as the computer reached 60% reboot completion.. "Hey hey, no one was hurt. Except for the girl, of course, but that's not important. What is important is that they put the fire out, in front of everyone. I checked social media about an hour after it happened, people are calling them a mysterious vigilante group, but some are even referring to them as Heroes.", he explained, the wonder returning to his eyes. "And with support, followers are bound to…well, follow. And that's what this room is for. Those followers, the people who are gonna be by our side for as long as this crusade lasts."

On cue, the screen lit up, and the computer illuminated the room in a dark green hue, as Chad watched proudly before turning to the Enigma. "Do you like it?", he inquired, as the screen switched to a series of cameras across the city, displaying everything that Paris had to offer. A wounded Ladybug was even shown for a split second, causing the Enigma to wince with related discomfort. But what stuck out the most were the marches and the protests outside of the Police Headquarters, carrying signs with all sorts of handwritten messages, copied from the walls that the Lurkers had spray painted. It was one big production, for the newest heroes that the city had acquired. "So, do you like it?", Chad asked, glancing up at the ceiling for a brief moment before returning his gaze to his boss. Once again, The Enigma went silent, before replying with a faint, but definite nod.

"I do…"

A/N: That took a while. Okay, so things are starting to move a little quicker plot-wise, since I know the story started off slow. And I promise, there are no more new characters to be introduced, the entire cast has already been brought in for the story. Anyways, I hope whoever read this enjoyed the chapter, I've been really busy irl so this was hard to write. However, you can definitely count on me starting the next one ASAP.

Until the next chapter…