Part 2!

When we last left off, Ladybug's yoyo had been affected by the akuma, making it too heavy to move. Chat Noir is on the scene already.


Marinette sprinted toward le Trocadéro. She'd retransformed briefly to check on Chat Noir's location, and now she was on the way. If you've ever dismounted a bike and then tried to run, you'll know how she felt running instead of swinging between buildings.

She stopped to catch her breath. From here she could see Chat Noir, Alix, and Chocolate… whoever he was, fighting near the monument. Marinette found a good statue to hide behind.

"Tikki," she whispered. "Transforme moi."

Ladybug emerged from behind the statue, leaving behind her heavy akuma-affected yoyo but taking the string. A chocolate bonbon burst in Chat Noir's face, sending him into a coughing fit. Chocolate-Solibear-Knight grinned wickedly and coiled his fuzzy arm, ready to throw another piece while Chat Noir's guard was down.

Ladybug gathered a long strand of yoyo wire, doubled it up to make a long loop, and hurled it at the akuma. It didn't have quite the same effect without the weight of the yoyo, but it was just heavy enough to smack the chocolate out of his hand.

"I can't see!" Chat Noir cried out, rubbing his eyes.

Ladybug looked around quickly. Alix. The bear. The bottle from her Lucky Charm.

"Alix, get the bottle from Chat Noir!" she yelled.

Chat Noir pulled out the bottle and held it in the air, eyes closed. Alix got up from the grass and skated his way, grabbing it from his hands as she passed. Ladybug flung her yoyo wire at the akumatized bear, managing to loop it around him. She swung him in circles.

"…aaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaa…"

"Alix, now!" Ladybug shouted.

The akuma flew at Alix, who splashed him with the contents of the bottle – a clear fluid that seemed to be water until the teddy bear's movements slowed down.

Fabric stiffener, Ladybug realized.

The bear stiffened and stopped moving altogether. She walked up to him and tore the bow from his neck, releasing a little violet butterfly.

"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," she said, catching it in her yoyo. Alix whizzed by and handed off the bottle, and Ladybug threw it in the air. "Miraculous… Ladybug!"

A swirl of ladybugs enveloped them – Chat Noir opened his eyes, Alix slowed down, Ladybug's yoyo flew to her. "Bien joué," she and Chat Noir said, bumping fists.

"Alix, thanks," Ladybug said.

Alix saluted. "Glad to help."

They turned to where the akuma had been. "Max–"

It wasn't Max. Or, it could have been Max, but it was more accurately the Gamer, holding a flat black box.

"I keep telling you," he snapped, "I'm not Max. My name is Chocolate Knight, and she pressured me to go to prom."

Alix looked distraught. "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to–"

Max opened the box and pulled out one of his chocolate projectiles. "It doesn't matter. I'll make you regret it." He hurled it at her. Chat Noir batted it away with his stick.

"A double akuma?" Ladybug wondered.

"Let's hope he's not a triple," Chat Noir remarked.

They sprang into action. Max's – er, Chocolate Knight's – throw rate was faster than it had been when he was a bear. Chat Noir tackled Ladybug to prevent her from getting clocked by an exploding bonbon.

They rolled. She ended with her back on the ground, his face above hers. He ended with his heart just a bit immobilized.

"Chat Noir, watch out!" she gasped, trying to push him out of the way.

He was at a bad angle for her to do so – a piece of chocolate shot into his side. His vibrant green eyes turned pale.

"Not again," he groaned. "Love is blindness."

Ladybug helped him up and pulled him behind a post. "Lucky charm!" she shouted. Her yoyo spun and released a flashlight. She looked around the pillar – shoot, she'd forgotten about Alix. Alix was on the ground, skates broken, trying frantically to pull them off before Chocolate Knight got to her.

Ladybug looked down and realized the flashlight's bulb was incandescent. I need more time, she thought.

"Chat Noir, hold on to this," she said, switching the flashlight on and handing it to him.

"Wait–"

Ladybug ran. There wasn't much he could do, incapacitated like that. She threw her yoyo, knocking aside a chocolate that was aimed for Alix. Chocolate Knight refocused on her, hurling bonbons her way. Ladybug blocked chocolate after chocolate, making some explode and some fall away with no other effect. She snagged Chocolate Knight around the wrist and tugged hard, pulling him down. He rolled back onto his feet and yanked the wire back. Ladybug yelped and flew towards him – a bonbon met her halfway, bursting into a net that wrapped itself around her. Ladybug fell to the ground, struggling to break free.

Chat Noir was blinded. Alix was too far away, and still stuck in one of her skates. Ladybug's stomach turned as Chocolate Knight knelt in front of her. She couldn't move enough to cover her ears.

"I'll just be taking this," Chocolate Knight said with a smirk, reaching for her Miraculous.

A silver rod hit him solidly in the stomach, pushing him back. Chat Noir dropped down next to Ladybug and held out a Cataclysm-loaded hand. She pushed the net into it, causing it to disintegrate.

"But… How?" Chocolate Knight spluttered.

Chat Noir grinned. "I guess I'm accustomed to being blinded by love."

He swung his baton wildly, aiming in the direction of the akuma's voice. Chat Noir handed the flashlight to Ladybug, who sprinted toward the akuma, yoyo whirling. Chocolate Knight hurled chocolates at a rapid-fire speed – all of them ricocheted off of her spinning shield.

Ladybug caught his wrist – the one with the box in it. He reached down with his other arm, but Chat Noir's baton kept it away. Infuriated, he grabbed the baton and jabbed it at Chat Noir, hitting him hard in the chin. Chat Noir stumbled, and Chocolate Knight kicked Ladybug away and reached for his box…

"What?" he exclaimed, finding a box full of liquefied mush. Still holding the now-very-hot flashlight – which she'd used to melt his chocolates – Ladybug kicked the box from his hand and threw her yoyo at it. The yoyo looped around the box, which was warm and soft enough to rip down the middle when she pulled tight.

And it was finally over. Ladybug caught the akuma and threw the flashlight into the sky, restoring their small part of Paris. Max emerged next to a white box of chocolates; Chat Noir's eyes turned from white to green.

"Chat Noir, that was incredible," Ladybug said, smiling.

He smiled back. "I couldn't let my lady down."

They fist-bumped and looked at Max. Alix's skates were repaired, and she'd made it over to him. They were talking now.

"Best leave them to it."

"Yeah."

They stood there for a bit.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug said awkwardly.

"Yes, my lady?"

"I'm sorry we can't go to la bal together."

He blinked in surprise. "I– That's all right, I understand."

Ladybug nodded. Her earring and his ring beeped, reminding them that they had to go.

"Hey," she said. "I'll be there with you in spirit, okay?"

She couldn't see him turn red beneath his mask. But she could see him smile. "Okay."

The two heroes of Paris swung out of sight.