I own none of the songs used or referenced in this chapter; they belong to their original artists.

Ladybug looked around worriedly when she heard the familiar yell of someone getting hit with Earworm's powers. Her eyes fell on Chat Noir, who was curled up in a ball, and she thought his voice sounded muffled in his arms. "Chat Noir! Are you okay?" Oh, this was bad, she thought, oh, this was so bad! If Chat Noir got hit with Earworm's powers, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything. He couldn't call on his power, he couldn't help her defeat the akuma, Hawkmoth would get their miraculous…

"I'm fine!" Chat Noir's voice was still muffled as it cut into her thoughts, but Ladybug saw his shoulders quivering, and it almost sounded like he was laughing.

As she looked him over, Ladybug noticed that Chat Noir actually did look all right, but now that she thought about it, she had seen a few people cover their ears when they were hit by Earworm's powers. However, she saw that Chat Noir had his hands over his face instead of his ears, and now that Ladybug listened closely, she thought she heard…laughing?

When she heard the song, Ladybug couldn't help but start laughing herself.

Nashville cats, play clean as country water
Nashville cats, play wild as mountain dew
Nashville cats, been playin' since they's babies
Nashville cats, get work before they're two

Chat Noir finally looked up, and Ladybug was laughing even harder as she said, "Why, Kitty, I had no idea you looked so good in black and red!"

"Well of course, milady, don't you remember my stint as Mister Bug?" Chat Noir, whose face was as red as his lady's outfit, grinned. However, he couldn't help but think, 'Plagg will never let me hear the end of this, but I don't care!'

"Silly Kitty," Ladybug giggled as they emailed the song to themselves, "But that song is most definitely well deserved! And it's my favorite one in this fight so far!"

"That makes two of us, milady!" Chat Noir smiled.

"That's my dude!" Nino called from his and Alya's hiding spot, giving him a thumbs up as he emailed the song to himself and Alya, who was busy livestreaming the fight.

At the same time, Alya was grinning as she looked at some of the comments that were coming in as she livestreamed the battle.

"But wait a minute," Ladybug frowned as they both sobered. "If you didn't get hit with the song, and I didn't get hit with the song, then who did?"

At that moment, they heard Lila screaming about another song in her head. As they thought more about it, it somehow made sense. Lila had offered to help Earworm, the akuma had refused, and although the heroes had knocked the wires away from themselves, Lila must have gotten the song instead of them. And of course, since everyone around the victim could hear the song, that must have been why Chat Noir had reacted the way he had.

"Again, I say, serves her right!" Ladybug grinned. "Lila will only get in trouble if she runs in front of an akuma!"

All too soon, the lighthearted mood was ruined when Hawkmoth growled in Earworm's head, 'Earworm! You're supposed to use a song to drive Ladybug and Chat Noir insane so they can't concentrate and defeat you! Not play songs that honor them!'

"Okay, first, the music's on shuffle, so I don't know what songs are going to come out," Earworm snapped at him through the butterfly mask that appeared over her eyes again. "But you probably already knew that when you gave me these powers, right?" When Hawkmoth didn't reply, Earworm continued, "Second, while it's true that I have a few cat-related songs on here, I don't have any songs about ladybugs, if it makes you feel better. Third, I'm sorry, but I don't have Butterfly Kisses on here for you!"

Ladybug smiled softly as she murmured, "Butterfly Kisses…parenthesis…question mark…send!" After she emailed the song to herself, she saw Chat Noir curiously watching her. She smiled and explained, "I think I have this one, but I'll have to check later. But really, my father used to sing this to me when I was little. He also said that he wanted to dance with me to this song at my wedding!"

Chat Noir's smile was as soft as hers as he took her hand and kissed it. "Don't worry, milady, I'll make sure that dream becomes a reality for you when we get married!"

"Oh, have Earworm really put a cat song in your head!" Ladybug giggled as she gave him a playful swat.

***LBCNLBCNLBCN***

At that moment, Lila, who was surprisingly doing very well for having so many songs in her head, screamed at Earworm, "You stupid akuma! If I'd been given those powers, I wouldn't be wasting my time putting annoying songs in other people's heads! I'd torture Ladybug and Chat Noir until they gave me their Miraculous!"

"Is she saying what I think she's saying?" Chat Noir sobered quickly as he dropped Ladybug's hand.

"It certainly sounds like it," Ladybug agreed.

At the same time, Earworm was snapping at Lila, "Yeah, well, Hawkmoth didn't give you any powers, so if you don't want another song in your head, I suggest you back off and let me get the miraculous for him! And just so you know, I have control over the songs I'm using, so you don't get any say in this! Let's see; I've given you the Irish Rovers, the Lovin' Spoonful just now, Celtic Woman a few minutes ago…" Here, Lila glared at her when she heard the song Tir Na Nog playing in her head at that moment, as if Earworm mentioning the song made it start playing. "Back off right now, or you get…" she paused, recalling how before she had been akumatized, Adrien had told her that Lila hated country music. "Charlie Daniels sounds good. And The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a fitting song for a devil like you, don't you think?"

"What was Hawkmoth thinking anyway, giving you the power to drive people to the brink of insanity with songs in their heads?" Lila continued as Ladybug and Chat Noir quickly emailed that song to themselves, then continued holding her back. "Yours are the stupidest powers I've ever seen!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Earworm smirked as she advanced toward Lila. "What about that one guy from the Ladyblog and the news reports I've heard about who gets akumatized every other day…what's his name again…Mister…Birdbrain?"

"It's actually Mister Pigeon, but I think Birdbrain works too!" Chat Noir snickered as he tripped Earworm with his staff.

"Yeah, but don't let Mr. Ramier hear you say that, or we'll be fighting him tomorrow, since we apparently face him every other day!" Ladybug agreed.

"And let's hope Hawkmoth doesn't use that as his new name either!" Chat Noir added.

As Earworm got up, Lila looked up to the sky and screamed, "Hawkmoth! If you can hear me, do us all a favor and take this useless bitch's power away from her, get these pathetic songs out of my head, and give me powers that are even stronger than hers! I can get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous for you, and I'll do a better job of it!"

"Wait…say what now?" Earworm actually paused, letting the earbuds drop.

"I never thought say this, but I agree with her!" Chat Noir looked as surprised as Earworm.

"Lila actually wants Hawkmoth to akumatize her?" Nino gasped. He automatically knew that Lila was a liar, especially since Lila had told him that she could introduce him to Steven Spielberg, as she was his goddaughter, as well as a few famous people in the music industry, since she was related to them as well. Nino had immediately seen that she was a liar because of that, since none of the dates when she said she was with them matched up, or some of the artists she talked about didn't have children, were unmarried, or were reclusive. He tried to tell Alya that Lila was trying to deceive her, but Alya didn't believe him. So instead of listening to Lila's tall tales, Nino would keep a close eye on his girlfriend, hoping that she wouldn't get hurt as she listened to the stories. He even went so far as to send some anonymous reviews to some of the Ladyblog's interviews with Lila, asking for credibility on the sources, but Alya always said she deleted those, since she said Lila was telling her the truth.

"But that doesn't make sense!" Alya frowned. "Lila's Ladybug's best friend! Why would Lila say something like that?"

Alya's protests were cut off by Ladybug tapping her shoulder. She looked up to see the spotted heroine, and she was motioning to her phone. Alya obediently aimed the camera at Ladybug, who stated firmly, "Attention, citizens of Paris! As you probably just heard, Lila Rossi is a willing accomplice of Hawkmoth! She is willing to accept his akumas and do anything to get Chat Noir's and my miraculous! She has often stated on the Ladyblog that she is my best friend, but that couldn't be further from the truth! What kind of best friend would voluntarily work with the individual who's been terrorizing Paris for over a year now?"

"In addition, Lila Rossi tricked me into leaving the fight against Oni-Chan!" Chat Noir jumped right in when he saw what Ladybug was doing. "She pretended to be injured so I'd have to take her away from the fight and leave Ladybug alone with one of the deadliest akumas we've ever faced! My lady was almost killed because of my stupidity!"

"You weren't stupid, but I forgave you for that a long time ago, Kitty," Ladybug murmured. "Now please forgive yourself."

"I will, milady, and thank you," Chat Noir smiled.

"Yes, this is all very touching, but let's talk about handing over your miraculous now," Earworm hissed, waving one of her earbuds menacingly at the group.

"And I'll be the one taking them!" Lila screamed. She ran at Ladybug, who barely managed to use her yoyo to trip her, then leaped out of her reach.

At that moment, Earworm felt the familiar glow of the butterfly mask over her eyes again. She looked up, and spoke as if she was talking to someone on the phone, "Mm-hmm…Mm-hmm…Mm-hmm…Okay. Right. Got it, Hawkmoth. I'll tell her," She turned to Lila and said to her, "You're fired."

"WHAT?!" Lila shouted, stumbling as she turned toward her.

"Fired, axed, got the boot, kaput, So Long, Farewell, Auf Weidersehen, Goodbye; take your pick," Earworm snapped over Ladybug and Chat Noir's barely contained giggles at the reference to one of their favorite musicals, "Look around you, Lila, you just volunteered to take Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous in front of a few dozen witnesses. Hawkmoth doesn't need someone who can't keep their big mouth shut about helping him on his side, so you're out of here!"

Lila glared at Earworm with so much hatred that Ladybug and Chat Noir were half tempted to save the akuma from the liar. "You can't say that!" she roared as she started running toward her, "I still work for him! I won't let you destroy everything I worked for!"

***LBCNLBCNLBCN***

"Milady, I think it's just about time for a Lucky Charm right about now!" Chat Noir called as Earworm wrapped her earbud wires around Lila and put the aforementioned Charlie Daniels song in her head.

"You're right, Kitty," Ladybug nodded and threw her yoyo up in the air as high as she could. "Lucky Charm!" She looked in bewilderment at the objects she caught. "Two pairs of earplugs and…is this an…airhorm?"

"Why would we need earplugs if we're going to a sporting event?" Chat Noir asked, recalling how Nino had told him (as Adrien, of course!) that he and Chris used airhorns at the football match they had gone to with one of their cousins a few weeks ago.

Ladybug shrugged as she looked around, hoping to find a way to use them. A few moments later, her vision became gray, with a few things highlighted in black and red, two of them being Chat Noir and Earworm. "Wait…I think I know what to do," she murmured as she made a plan.

Aim the airhorn at Earworm and squeeze it as hard as you can.

Since we know Earworm is really Jasmine, and Jazz is sensitive to loud noises, she'll be distracted.

Have Chat Noir use cataclysm on Earworm's iPod, since that's where the akuma is likely to be.

Capture the akuma.

She raised her voice as she stopped her ears up with a pair of ear plugs. "Chat Noir, put these in your ears and wait for my signal. You'll use your power on Earworm's iPod, since that's probably where the akuma is."

Chat Noir nodded and put the second pair of ear plugs in his ears. He didn't have much time to wonder what the airhorn was for until he saw Ladybug aim it at Earworm, who was running toward them, and squeeze it as hard as she could.

Along with several other people who were covering their ears at the loud noise, Earworm tripped, then crumpled to the ground, covering her own ears, but quickly regretted it since she heard the high-pitched squeal of what sounded like a microphone's feedback blaring in her ears, because the earbuds were so close to her, and the stereo speakers on her boots magnified the noise. "Son of a nutcracker!" she groaned as Ladybug motioned for Chat Noir to get over to her and squeezed the airhorn again.

"NO!" Lila screamed as she covered her own ears in pain. "I was so close!"

"Quick! While I've got her down and she's distracted!" Ladybug shouted as she pinned Earworm down and grabbed the hand that had the iPod fused to it.

"On it, milady!" Chat Noir agreed. "Cataclysm!" As he called on his power, he couldn't help but think, 'Well, at least we sent the songs she used to ourselves so we can have a little souvenir of the fight. And we know Alya's livestreaming so we can watch it whenever we want!'

Ladybug actually smiled a little when she saw him pause, but they both knew that as heroes, they had a job to do, and they couldn't play favorites…even though Earworm was now officially their most favorite akuma ever! 'Well, at least we have the songs she used as a little memento of the fight,' she thought, already getting an idea for a new design for her line of costumes based on akumas and the superheroes, 'And I can start designing her outfit right away for my akuma cosplay line, since it's fresh in my memory! And we can watch Alya's video of this anytime we want!'

At the same time, as he lowered his glowing hand to Earworm's hand where her iPod was, Chat Noir looked around and whispered to her, "You are, and will always be, my favorite akuma!" He touched the iPod, disintegrating it, and watched as the little black and purple butterfly flew out of the rubble.

Ladybug smirked beside him and caught the butterfly in her yo-yo. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilize!" She wanted to say, 'my favorite little akuma', but she knew that heroes couldn't play favorites. She still caught the akuma, calling out, "Gotcha!" She released the purified white butterfly, murmuring, "Bye-bye, little butterfly…" but she couldn't help but whisper, "I'll never forget you!" She saw Chat Noir glance her way, causing her to shake her head to bring herself back to the task at hand as she tossed the yo-yo up and called out, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Millions of magical ladybugs flew all over the place, curing those who had been hit by Earworm's music curse.

"Wait a minute…what's that sound?" Chloe wondered as she looked around and the magic swept over her a few moments later.

"I don't hear anything," Sabrina frowned as she helped her up.

"Exactly! There's no more utterly ridiculous music playing in my head!" Chloe cheered.

At the same time, the dark bubbles were rising from where Earworm was lying on the ground. When they cleared, Jasmine slowly sat up and looked around. "What's going on?"

Ladybug and Chat Noir fistbumped. "Pound it!"

"Ladybug? Chat Noir?" Jasmine asked. "I repeat, what happened?"

"You were akumatized," Ladybug started gently as she and Chat Noir went over to her.

"And I have to say it: you were the most fun akuma we ever faced!" Chat Noir grinned. "I have to say this as well: you have meow-velous taste in music!"

"Well, if cats weren't meant to sing, a certain musical would have never been composed, right?" Jasmine smirked.

"Very true," Ladybug giggled, knowing which musical she was talking about as she saw Chat Noir smirk in agreement as he tried and failed to hide the blush that rose on his face again.

"And I guess I can cross this off the ol' bucket list," Jasmine added, taking a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket.

"You wanted to be akumatized before you die?" Ladybug gasped.

"No, this is a list of things I wanted to do when I moved here, but if it's on the list and it has parentheses and a question mark, it's a joke," Jasmine explained.

Ladybug scanned the list, reading each entry to herself, "Make new friends...check! Get new recipes…check! Get akumatized…parentheses and question mark…"

"Check!" Jasmine smirked. "Yes, I know, from what I've seen on the Ladyblog and the news reports, being akumatized is no joke, but hey, when in Loony Land, do as the loonies do!"

"Even if it's only in passing, see Ladybug and Chat Noir in person…" Ladybug continued as Jasmine got her phone out.

"Check! And can I see that for a second?" Chat Noir grinned, then he borrowed the phone and took a few selfies of Ladybug, Jasmine, and himself.

"Thanks," Jasmine smirked as she took it back. "I was just going to text my mom and dad and tell them I was okay, but you can use my phone to get a selfie of us too."

As Jasmine sent a quick text to Roger and Nancy, Lila stormed over to them. "Why are you useless heroes taking selfies with her? You should be arresting her for everything she's done! Especially to me!"

"You're one to talk, Lila," Jasmine frowned as she put her phone away. "From what I can remember, you wanted to work with me and get their miraculous! You even tried to talk to Hawkmoth, called me a useless bitch, and even tried to convince him to give you stronger powers than what I had!"

"I did no such thing!" Lila shouted, trying to reach Jasmine, but Ladybug and Chat Noir protectively flanked her. "Those songs made me say things that weren't true!"

"Oh, yeah, and denial's a river in Egypt!" Jasmine snapped.

"Lila, how stupid do you think we are?" Ladybug agreed as she motioned toward Alya. "Did you by any chance forget that Alya was livestreaming the whole time, Chat Noir and I gave her a quick interview during the fight about some of the lies you told, and she caught every word between you and Earworm? And that Earworm told you, through Hawkmoth, that you were fired?"

"Besides, we heard a lot of people yelling about the songs in their heads and they weren't saying anything else," Chat Noir added.

At that moment, Alya marched right up to Lila. "I'll destroy you myself!" she yelled. "My blog is ruined because of you! I put so many of your lies on there that I can't even count them all! I turned on my best friend! I called Marinette jealous!"

"Should we get out of here and let Alya take care of Lila?" Jasmine asked. "Along with Lila for all the crap she pulled, my dad and I were originally talking about suing Alya and serving her with C&D orders and lawsuits for the lies she posted, but it seems like she's going to delete the interviews. Or is it too late for that now?"

"It may be too late for calling those off for Alya, since it looks like she's learned her lesson right now, and the paperwork is probably already being processed, but you can try to talk to your dad about this and see what he says," Ladybug admitted. "But we'll also come by your house and talk to him tonight during our patrol."

"We can try," Jasmine agreed. She was cut off by the beeping of Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, watching as a spot disappeared from Ladybug's earrings and a paw pad disappeared from Chat Noir's ring. "And I'm guessing from the spots and things disappearing from your miraculous, that's probably your cue to go. I don't want to keep you any longer than I already have." When the heroes assured her that she was fine, Jasmine added, "I'll probably see you guys later, but thanks again for saving me."

"See you later, Jasmine! Bug out!" Ladybug smiled as she swung away, with Chat Noir giving her a two-finger salute as he vaulted off.

***LBCNLBCNLBCN***

Jasmine was about to walk back to the school when she saw Miss Bustier's class coming up to meet her. "Guys, I'm sorry…" she started.

"Jazz, there's nothing to apologize for," Mylene smiled as she and Rose hugged her. "Hawkmoth's to blame for this, not you."

"Don't give it another thought, Jasmine, it's happened to just about all of us," Max agreed, stealing a glance at Markov, who was hovering next to him.

"Oh, that's right; I read about Markov getting akumatized too," Jasmine agreed. "I thought Hawkmoth just did that to people, but that just shows what I know!"

"That's okay, but congratulations, Jazz, you're officially one of us!" Kim smirked.

"One of us! One of us!" Alix chanted.

"Of all the utterly ridiculous…" Chloe started, rummaging through her purse. "Where is it?"

Jasmine looked down at her side when she realized what Chloe was looking for. "Chloe, lose something?" she said as she handed her mirror over. "You dropped that when you were running from me when I was freshly akumatized."

"And you kept it safe for me the whole time?" Chloe looked surprised. "Thank you, Dinsmoore!"

"Alya, you'd better livestream this, Chloe just said thank you!" Adrien smirked as he and Marinette came up to the group.

"How often does that happen?" Marinette added, holding a hand to her heart.

"Not very, dudette, so we'd better make the most of it," Nino smirked.

As Chloe pouted as a few people laughed, everyone else started talking about the new akuma, the fight, and what a great job the heroes of Paris had done keeping them safe and helping them.

***LBCNLBCNLBCN***

In his lair, Hawkmoth was starting to do his usual post-defeat monologue. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, things may have ended on a high note for you this time, but make no mistake, one day I'll be the one finding a victory song for myself…" He was cut off when he realized that was just what Earworm had said, and he growled in frustration as he recalled one of the songs she had used, and he could hear it in his head now. 'Well hadn't we the gaiety at Phil the Fluter's ball!' "Blast that infernal melody!" he grumbled. Any time Emilie had sung it in the past with Adrien and even Miss Bourgeois when they were younger, he'd be singing it for the rest of the day. He turned to Emilie's glass coffin and gazed longingly at her, but this time there was a regretful tone in his voice. "My dearest Emilie, I love you more than life itself, but I curse the day you and Adrien discovered that song!"

As he watched his master de-transform and storm off to try and get the song out of his head, and before he followed him, Nooroo smirked to himself as he muttered, "I wonder if this is a bad time to mention that there's a possibility that Adrien has that song now…And if I can get my hands on it, I can use it to torture my master into freeing me!"

Author's Notes

Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some details in this chapter.

Nashville Cats by the Lovin' Spoonful is not mine.

Chat Noir's comment about his stint as Mister Bug is a reference to the episode Reflekdoll.

Celtic Woman's Tir Na Nog is not mine.

Bob Carlisle's Butterfly Kisses is not mine.

Earworm's 'So long, farewell' comment is a reference to the song of the same name in The Sound of Music.

Yes, it seems like Mister Pigeon gets akumatized every other day, doesn't it?

Chat Noir's statements about Oni-Chan were from the episode of the same name.

Earworm's 'Son of a nutcracker' curse is from the movie Elf.

Jasmine's 'I guess I can cross this off the ol' bucket list' is from Zootopia.

Jasmine's 'If cats weren't meant to sing, a certain musical would have never been composed' is of course a reference to the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats!

Jasmine's 'When in Loony Land, do as the loonies do' is from the cartoon Dungeons and Dragons.

Jasmine's memory of Markov getting akumatized is a reference to the episode Robustus.

Alix's 'One of us' chant comes from the 1932 movie Freaks.