Chapter 10: A lesson in heroics
"I don't understand how these flavours are meant to go together." Marinette said as she held up her 'soulmate' ice cream.
"Maybe Andre really does magical powers, but he can only use them for ice cream." Luka suggested, half joking.
"Well, considering Ladybird and Chat Noir, and Iris, why not a superpowered ice cream man?" Marinette replied.
Marinette and Luka then laughed.
Scooping out some the ice cream and eating it, Marinette made a face at the weird combination of flavours, causing Luka to laugh some more.
In response, Marinette took another scoop and shoved it in Luka's mouth.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Luka choked out around the small plastic spoon.
Unfortunately, their date was about to be interrupted.
"I shall teach everyone a lesson that they won't forget!"
"Of course, you deserve attention and respect. And defeating Ladybird and Chat Noir will prove that."
Turning, Marinette and Luka's shoulders slumped when they spotted a man dressed in exaggerated old-fashioned teaching attire, Iris stood next to him.
"Really?" The both of them questioned.
Unfortunately, that made Iris take notice of them.
"Look, Headmaster." She pointed her Akumatised victim towards them. "Those two look like they could be taught a lesson or two."
"Eek!" Marinette squeaked as she and Luka quickly stood and backed away from the Akuma whose attention was now on them.
"Hmm." Headmaster regarded the two as Luka placed a protective arm in front of Marinette. "Out on a date, eh. On a weekday?"
Headmaster withdrew a stick from his robe's sleeve.
"Such an irresponsible waste of time." He lamented as the end of his stick glowed. "Your lessons shall be to spend your free time more productively in refining your skills!"
Unfortunately, Marinette and Luka's position had left them cornered, leaving them no choice but to be hit by the light shot at them.
A table suddenly popped into existence in front of Marinette, along with a large supply of fabric, paper, stationary and sewing supplies.
"Ah!" Marinette cried in alarm as he arms suddenly jerked towards the table out of her control, grabbing some paper and sketching out a design and the rough pattern for it.
Meanwhile, Luka's guitar suddenly appeared in his arms as his own body began moving out of his control, playing the song that he and his band were in the middle of workshopping.
Iris regarded the duo's involuntary actions, especially those of Marinette, with an unsatisfied face.
She had been hoping for Headmaster's "lesson" to be something more entertaining, like some of the other "lessons" he had already given out since being Akumatised.
Still, she couldn't voice her thoughts, as control over her Akumatised victim hinged on seeming like she was on their side.
Still, Iris stayed to watch the two be forced unwillingly into their activities before following after her Akuma, who had already found more people to 'teach'.
But before the glowing light of the 'lesson' could hit the unfortunate victims, Chat Noir landed in front of them and spun his baton, the magical weapon seeming to absorb and dissipate the magic.
"Haven't you heard, teach? School ended an hour ago." Chat Noir quipped, motioning for the people behind him to run.
"A good teacher doesn't limit their lessons to just in class." Headmster responded. "And a good student should be always willing to learn."
Chat Noir dodged out of the way of a 'lesson' sent at him while also avoiding Iris as she decided to join the fight.
"Haven't you got anything better to do than interrupt people's day?" Chat Noir asked Iris as they clashed weapons.
"Oh, I have plenty I could be doing that doesn't involve you losers. But I feel the need to hold out a hand to those that need a little…boost." Iris responded.
She then stamped on Chat Noir's foot, throwing him off enough for her to momentarily grab him with her cane and flute, holding him still.
Turning his head, Chat Noir's eyes widened when he saw Headmaster preparing to shoot another 'lesson'.
Thankfully, just before it could be fired, a yoyo wrapped around Headmaster's wrist and yanked hard, sending the 'lesson' off into the air while the pointer stick flew out of the Akuma's hand and into the waiting hand of Ladybird.
"Ladybird! Right on time." Chat Noir said, breaking out of Iris' hold.
"Young lady, return that teaching tool immediately." Headmaster demanded.
"Mm, nah." Ladybird responded, snapping the pointer stick in half and dropping it to the ground.
She then frowned when no Akuma flew out of the broken pieces.
"Because of course it can never be that easy." Ladybird muttered to herself as Chat Noir joined her side.
"Pah." Headmaster scoffed. "As if class would be cancelled just because of some missing tool."
Then, to the heroes' dismay, he produced another pointer stick from the folds of his robe.
"Now, let the lesson continue." Headmaster proclaimed.
Ladybird and Chat Noir assumed defensive positions.
"Any word from Queen Bee?" Ladybird asked.
"No." Chat Noir shook his head. "But with how loud our dear teacher is, she'll probably be here soon."
"Hey, it's past time for my appointment! What's taking so long?" Chloe demanded.
"Miss Bourgeois, there's an Akuma attack going on." The hairdresser told her client.
"And?" Chloe questioned. "It's a mile away. You're wasting time just cowering there when you could be doing your job."
"Miss-"
"Just do your job, or I'm calling my dad, who's the mayor." Chloe threatened.
Sighing, the hairdresser shrugged and indicated to one of the sink seats, deciding that it wasn't worth arguing with Chloe.
"But my Queen, the Akuma." Pollen whispered to her wielder from Chloe's bag out of the hairdresser's view.
"Ladybird and Chat Noir can manage on their own until I'm done." Chloe waved her Kwami off. "It won't take long."
Then, Chloe walked over to begin her appointment.
"Catch!"
Chat Noir caught the mortarboard hat as Ladybird tossed at him and tore it in half.
Unfortunately, no black butterfly emerged from it.
"No good!" Chat Noir reported back to his partner.
"Ugh. What else could it be?" Ladybird grunted as she avoided attacks.
"It could be hidden in his robes." Chat Noir suggested.
The alternative was that Headmaster had left his Akumatised object where Iris had found him. Which would be really bad considering that neither hero was familiar with the victim's civilian identity, meaning that they'd have no idea where to start looking.
"We can barely get close enough to him to grab what he has on display, let alone search his robes." Ladybird said, throwing her yoyo at Iris. "We could really use Queen Bee about now."
"She must have been struck by Headmaster before she could transform." Chat Noir said, getting in between Headmaster and his partner to deflect a 'lesson' away from her.
Using the opportunity, Ladybird got ready to toss her yoyo.
"Lucky-you know what? I'm not even going to bother." Ladybird interrupted herself before she could use her power. "It's just going to tell me to get backup, so why waste the energy?
Looking around, Chat Noir spotted the Louvre nearby.
"Lose them in there." He indicated his head.
"Right." Ladybird agreed.
The two heroes lured the villains into the museum, where Ladybird used the multiple rooms and corridors to then leave without being noticed, detransforming when safe.
"Hopefully, Nathaniel and Marc weren't hit." Ladybird said to her Kwami as she ran to Fu's shop.
"We need to be quick. Chat Noir only needs to be hit once to be captured." Tikki added.
Chat Noir was lying on his back in an alcove, idly keeping an ear out for Iris and her Akumatised victim.
Like Ladybird, he'd managed to give them the slip in the Louvre, then activated the museum's security systems to lock them inside. Meaning that Chat Noir had a little time to rest while they slowly broke their way through the barred doors and continued to search the museum for him until they finally worked out that he wasn't there anymore.
"So, this is what you do when Ladybird relies on you. Just laze about? Ridiculous!"
"Wah!" Chat Noir flailed around as he startled at the sudden appearance of Queen Bee.
It seemed that he wasn't as alert as he believed himself to be.
"I wasn't 'lazing about', I have the situation handled." Chat Noir defended himself as he tried to calm his heart. "Wait a minute, where have you been? We thought you'd been hit by Headmaster's power."
"I was busy with other important things. I do have a life outside of being a hero." Queen Bee stated, Chat Noir clearly hearing the 'Unlike you' insinuation in her voice.
Chat Noir frowned but didn't argue.
His own busy schedule had made him late to the fight without being able to warn Ladybird more than once.
"So, where's Ladybird?" Queen Bee asked.
"I'm back and I got Púca." The hero in question appeared, followed closely by her chosen back-up.
Today, Púca had been given the Snake Miraculous, their costume looking much different to when Kleos wore it.
"Wait, why are you here?" Ladybird pointed at Queen Bee.
"To save the day." Queen Bee said like it was obvious, putting a hand on her hip.
Ladybird sighed, rubbing between her eyes.
Like Chat Noir, she knew that real life could lead to any of them being extremely late to the fight, but now she couldn't help feeling like she'd gone to fetch Púca for nothing when she could have just waited a little longer.
"We need to work out better contact." Ladybird muttered to herself.
Púca shifted awkwardly, feeling like the friend-of-a-friend invited to a party.
"Uh, it's nice to meet you, Queen Bee." They said.
They then lowered their head as Queen Bee eyed them.
"What is he doing here?" The heroine questioned. "I told you that you don't need to call on the sidekicks anymore with me around."
"We needed backup and you were late." Ladybird answered simply. "Still, with four of us, especially with both the Snake and Bee paired, things should be much easier."
"I think that I can already guess the plan." Chat Noir said cheerily.
"Yep. Púca, you stay on the side lines and set your save point. Then Queen Bee can go in with her Venom while Chat and I distract. If Queen Bee gets hit by Headmaster, Puca can just reset until she gets through." Ladybird laid out her plan.
"Got it." The other heroes chorused.
There was the sound of concrete falling as the villains finally made it out of the Louvre, Headmaster already firing off 'lessons' at everyone he saw in frustration.
"Let's go." Chat Noir said, running off.
Ladybird quickly running after with Queen Bee and Púca following.
"Just stay on the side-lines like Ladybird said." Queen Bee told Puca as they ran. "Your help isn't needed. I can do this in one shot."
Púca bit their lip at Queen Bee's attitude towards them, not understanding why they were being treated in such a way.
When the heroes reached Headmaster, Púca stayed at a distance while the others ran in to engage him.
"Second-agh!" Puca's attempt to summon the Snake's power was cut off by a something hitting them around the back of the head, sending them flying forward from the force.
"The same old tricks, Ladybird." Iris sneered, twirling the flute she had just struck Púca with. "It's predictable when you go for back up."
Iris moved to strike again but Puca thankfully recovered enough to bring up their lyre, blocking the hit.
The flute then slipped in between the wires of the lyre. And, thinking quickly, Puca twisted their weapon sideways, trapping the flute between the wires and sending it flying out of Iris' hand and into their own.
"You can hardly speak about same old tricks." Púca commented, twirling the flute in their hand. "When your own plans follow such a played-out formula."
…
"Why won't this guy give me an opening?" Queen Bee complained, darting away as an opportunity to strike Headmaster closed up too quickly for her to take advantage of.
"Because he doesn't want us to defeat him." Chat Noir gave the obvious answer. "Then again, have we ever actually tried just asking for them to give up? Excuse me, Mr Headmaster, do you mind handing over your Akumatised item, please?"
"Don't ask such stupid questions." Headmaster responded with a sneer.
"Come on, isn't there some lesson about the easy solution being the best?" Queen Bee questioned, mis-remembering the actual saying. "We all know how this is eventually going to turn out, so you may as well skip to the point where we save the day by breaking your object."
Wondering where Iris was, Ladybird looked around and was unhappy to find the villainess fighting Púca.
Her chosen hero didn't seem to be having any issue holding his own against Iris and had even managed to steal her flute, forcing the villainess to fight with only her cane. But the entire point of giving Púca the Snake was for them to use its power, and Ladybird doubted that they had managed to activate Second Chance yet.
"Damn." Ladybird cursed mildly, moving to split from the others and help Púca out.
Headmaster, however, had noticed Ladybird's inattentiveness towards him and wasn't happy.
"Keep your eyes on me!" The Akuma yelled his lesson, firing it at Ladybird.
Ladybird quickly turned around at the exclamation to see the attack coming her way, feet automatically shifting in preparation to dodge out of the way, despite it being very unlikely that she'd be able to dodge in time.
However, before Ladybird could attempt to avoid the attack, Chat Noir threw himself in front of her, allowing it to hit him instead of risking it hitting Ladybird.
Instantly, the lesson took effect, Chat Noir swinging around and locking his eyes on Headmaster, incapable of looking away.
Instead of being grateful for being saved or looking worried for her partner, Ladybird just looked annoyed.
"Seriously?" Ladybird complained. "Again?"
"What?" Chat Noir questioned, unable to turn his head to look at Ladybird.
"You just let yourself get hit!" Ladybird pointed out in exasperation. "You're lucky that it wasn't something worse."
"Oh, so I was just supposed to let you get hit?" Chat Noir shot back, unhappy with the lack of appreciation he was getting.
"I could have dodged out of the way." Ladybird claimed.
"You could not." Chat Noir shot the statement down. "It was too close. You would have been the one who got hit if I didn't jump."
"And look where that got us." Ladybird gave a broad sweep of her hand. "One of us still have their eyes stuck on Headmaster, you just decided that it'd be you instead of me."
"Did you want to get hit?" Chat Noir argued back.
"No. But that doesn't mean that you getting hit is any better." Ladybird responded.
"Of course it is, because-"
"Let me guess, because I'm the one with the Ladybug Miraculous? Ugh! You always do this! Just because I'm the one with the Miraculous Cure doesn't mean that you can just leave me to clear up the mess."
"Hey, I can still fight. We need to keep Headmaster in sight anyway."
Queen Bee quickly decided to remove herself from the arguing heroes and lend Púca a hand, just to get way from the arguing.
"Hya!" Queen Bee sent her trompo at Iris, who managed to block with her cane at the last second.
"Thanks." Puca said. "But I thought that you were fighting Headmaster."
"I'd honestly rather deal with Miss Eyesore right now." Queen Bee deadpanned, indicating her thumb over to the arguing heroes.
They weren't even fighting Headmaster anymore, the Akumatised villain just staring dumbstruck as Ladybird and Chat Noir argued in front of him.
"Eh." Púca looked at a loss for words, unused to seeing the heroes in such a way. "We should probably do something."
A combined kick sent Iris tumbling down the street, allowing the heroes to go back to Chat Noir and Ladybird, Queen Bee following behind Púca reluctantly.
"Guys, come on." Puca tried to raise their voice to interrupt the arguing. "Can you resolve this some other time."
"Resolve it when?" Ladybird didn't look ready to calm down. "No matter when I say it, it never gets through his thick skull."
"Because you're making it a bigger deal than it is." Chat Noir shot back.
"I am not! You never care about how much stress you put me under!" Ladybird refuted.
Queen Bee sighed loudly.
"Let them argue it out." She said. "Mother and Father aren't going to stop just because we ask."
Púca gave Queen Bee a critical look.
"That's not really an option considering the circumstances." They said, gesturing at Headmaster and Iris, who was making her way back over to them.
"I don't see you coming up with a solution." Queen Bee put a hand on her hip.
"I don't know." Púca shrugged. "Maybe grab them and split up?"
"Yeah, that will work." Queen Bee said sarcastically. "Do you have any experience in two people arguing this much?"
With that, Queen Bee and Púca ended up slipping into their own mini argument.
On the side-lines, Headmaster and Iris watched the entire thing unfold, frozen by their disbelief at how they were being ignored.
"Hey, excuse me!" Iris spoke up, tapping Ladybird on the shoulder.
"Bugger off!" Ladybird whacked Iris' hand away before delving right back into her argument as if she'd never been interrupted.
Iris' eye twitched in annoyance.
"Well, they're right there doing nothing." Iris told Headmaster. "Do something."
"Uh…oh." Headmaster suddenly remembered his deal with Iris. "Hmm. Drastic argument caused by a lack of understanding. Your lessons shall be to walk in each other's suits!"
Still affected by the 'lesson' that he'd taken for Ladybird, Chat Noir stopped arguing as he saw the new 'lesson' heading towards them.
Unfortunately, Headmaster was too close for him to warn the others or even dodge out of the way himself before it hit them all.
The sudden surprise of being attacked snapped everyone out of their arguments, leaving them to realise that they'd basically let themselves get his as the light faded away.
Ladybird sighed and hit herself on her head for getting lost in an argument during a fight.
She then paused when she didn't feel her beaded braids brush against her shoulders while her fist came into contact with something pointed on her head.
"What?" She questioned, feeling around her head, finding that her hairstyle had completely changed to a non-braided ponytail.
"Your suits!" Púca exclaimed, pointing at the others.
The other heroes looked at them, Queen Bee gasping in shock and outrage.
"What are you doing with my Miraculous." She pointed and accusing finger at Púca.
She then noticed that her own hand was green and gasped again, looking down at herself to find that her yellow and black costume had been replaced with shades of green.
"We've swapped Miraculous." Chat Noir realised, looking at the red and black suit he now wore.
Thankfully, the new 'lesson' had cancelled out the last one.
"You idiot!" Iris burst out. "Why didn't you just tell them to hand over their Miraculous?"
Instinctively, the team reached for their weapons, only to pause when they realised that they no longer had their original weapons, hesitantly taking up their new ones.
"The lessons I give are important." Headmaster defended his actions. "And I do not appreciate your tone young lady. Respect your elders."
"And you respect me." Iris glared. "Don't forget that I gave you your position and can easily take it away."
She clenched her fist and Headmaster winced slightly, clutching at his chest.
The Akumatised victim said nothing, turning back to the heroes.
"Fallback." Chat Noir ordered, realising that they were currently at a disadvantage with being unused to their Miraculous.
The others had no issue with his orders and ran, the villains following after.
"Okay." Chat Noir sighed in relief. "I think we lost them for a bit."
"Why did we need to run?" Púca questioned. "It's not like we've been depowered."
Since Ladybird frequently brought them new Miraculous to use, including in the current fight, it wasn't exactly an issue to them to suddenly have a new Miraculous.
"We've always had our Miraculous without change, suddenly switching to new ones means fighting muscle memory." Chat Noir explained.
"And getting used to the different costume details." Ladybird added, feeling her new cat ears and finding oversized bells attached below them, flicking them experimentally and grinning when they ringed.
Chat Noir nodded.
His belt tail had come in useful more than once, and Ladybird's current tail didn't look as easy to take off, meaning that using it in a plan wasn't likely to be viable.
"Can't we just switch back?" Queen Bee questioned. "I don't want to be a slimy Snake for the fight."
"We probably won't have the time." Chat Noir said. "Not unless we want to give up our identities to each other."
Queen Bee huffed.
"So, call me Mr Bug for today." Chat Noir said.
"Hmm." Ladybird said, once again flicking the bells in her cat ears. "Call me…Carillion."
"No point in changing my name." Púca shrugged, their name already made for multiple Miraculous.
Eyes turned to Queen Bee.
"Queen Bee." The heroine stated.
"But…" Mr Bug raised a finger.
"I'm not changing my name." Queen Bee stated. "I am and will always be Queen Bee, no matter what."
"Okay." Mr Bug held up his hands in surrender. "So, uh…"
Mr Bug turned to Carillion, who was now shaking her head side to side to make the bells in her cat ears ring.
"Carillion." Mr Bug said to get her attention.
"What?" The heroine asked, head coming to a stop.
"What do we do next?" Mr Bug asked.
"I don't know." Carillion shrugged. "Isn't that your job now?"
"What?" Mr Bug questioned.
"Well, you're the one with the Lucky Charm, aren't you? So, you'll have to come up with a plan for it once it's summoned, so you'll have to tell us what to do." Carillion reasoned.
Mr Bug's head tilted as he tried to figure out whether Carillion's logic made sense.
Queen Bee sighed heavily. "We could go with the original plan." She suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Mr Bug nodded in agreement. "Pu-uh Queen Bee activates Second Chance and Puca goes in for the Venom while Carillion and I play distraction."
Queen Bee crossed her arms when she realised that her role in the plan had been changed.
"I am not going to just stay on the side-lines while everyone else gets the attention."
"That's sort of the role of the Snake though." Puca pointed out.
While he didn't know the exact role the Snake was meant for, its power made it best utilised as support rather than being in the fray.
"I can fight while using-Stop That!" Queen Bee stopped to yell at Carillion, who had gone back to shaking her head to make the bells in her cat ears ring.
"That is getting annoying." Mr Bug reluctantly backed-up his teammate.
"What?" Carillion stopped shaking her head. "I'm just having some fun. What's the point of this if I can't entertain myself?"
Carillion then grinned widely, giving a clear indication that she knew exactly what she was doing.
Mr Bug frowned.
"Is everyone alright with their weapons?" He asked instead of responding to Carillion's antics.
"I'm used to learning on the go." Puca said, testing the weight of their trompo in their hand.
"It can't be too difficult to figure out." Queen Bee said confidently as she looked over her lyre.
As if to show off, Carillion extended her staff and twirled it around.
It did slip from her hands, but she then managed to catch it and act like she did it on purpose.
Mr Bug gave his yoyo some experimental swings, getting a feeling for how he would have to use his new weapon.
"Okay, I think that we're as ready as we can be." He declared. "Let's go!"
"Second Chance!" Queen Bee activated her power right before the heroes leapt back into battle.
Mr Bug headed towards Headmaster, spinning his yoyo to block the 'lessons' sent at him. Puca followed close behind with their trompo at the ready, looking for the right moment to summon his Venom.
Iris went to go after Puca in order to get back the flute they had attached to their waist, only to be blocked by a staff extending in front of her.
"Ah, ah, ah." Carillion waggled her finger. "I think you'll find that your fight is with me."
"I'll win this time." Iris sneered, immediately launching to an attack. "Now that you don't have your yoyo."
Carillion hummed as she casually dodged out of the way, not even bothering to use her staff to defend herself.
"You sure about that?" The heroine cocked her head to the side, bells ringing.
She then used her staff to slid-flip away from Iris' next strike, hitting Iris under the chin with her boot as she went.
"Uh, you got a little dirt just here." Carillion indicated under her chin.
Iris narrowed her eyes, which then flicked to behind Carillion for just a second without the heroine noticing.
Wiping under her chin, Iris advanced, slowing pushing Carillion back as the heroine continued to barely put up the fight she usually did, with the villain hardly able to touch her despite the lack of effort.
Eventually though, Carillion did have to start fighting back as Iris put in more effort herself, the villainess sacrificing some of her decorum.
"You really picked the wrong time to start goofing off." Iris stated.
She then lunged forward, forcing Carillion to take a step back into nothing.
"Ah!" Carillion's arms wheeled as she started falling backwards into the Sein, having not paid attention to her surrounding during the fight.
She quickly extended her staff down into the waters, catching herself before she could hit the water, but this unfortunately left her vulnerable to Iris pouncing on her and dragging her to the ground where Carillion hit her head, dazing her.
"Let's see how good you are without any powers." Iris said, reaching to pull off Carillion's ring.
Fortunately for Carillion, Queen Bee had been watching the fight and saw Iris about to claim the Miraculous.
"I don't think so!" Queen Bee called out to Iris.
Iris looked up as Queen Bee held up her arm to show off the Snake Miraculous, eyes widening as its power activated.
"Second Chance!" Queen Bee called smugly.
…
Queen Bee shook her head at the momentary disorientation from being in a different place to where she had last been before reaching out to grab Carillion's arm before she could run after Iris.
"I think you should go after Headmaster." Queen Bee suggested, not really knowing how exactly to stop the other heroine from messing up if she went after Iris again.
Carillion shrugged. "Fine by me."
With his partner going after Headmaster, Mr Bug decided to keep Iris busy, using his new yoyo to latch onto her cane before she could go after Púca to retrieve her flute.
"Come on, why don't you fight this bug?" Mr Bug quipped.
"I'll win this time." Iris declared. "You're too used to fighting with a staff."
With a jerk of her arm, she used Mr Bug's yoyo against him to pull him closer to her while bringing up her cane to hit him.
Thankfully, Mr Bug managed to bring up his arms in time to block the strike, but that didn't stop it from hurting.
Unlatching his yoyo from Iris' arm, Mr Bug spun it like he'd seen his partner do a hundred times before, trying his best to recall her fighting style instead of his own as he charged at Iris.
The two clashed for a while, Mr Bug doing his best to prevent Iris from getting in Púca's way as Carillion and Queen Bee distracted Headmaster.
"Your lesson shall be to do as you're told!" Headmaster spun on his heel and shot his lesson at Queen Bee, who had not expected to be targeted due to Carillion drawing most of the fire.
"Eep!" Queen Bee quickly ducked, grinning in triumph as the 'lesson' passed over her head by a couple of centimetres.
Unfortunately, Queen Bee hadn't been the only one in the 'lesson's path, it continuing its path right towards Mr Bug, who was completely unaware of the incoming attack.
"Mr Bug, look out!" Púca cried out in warning.
However, before Mr Bug could turn his head at the warning, Carillion dropped down between him and the 'lesson', getting hit just as Mr Bug turned and saw what had happened.
Kicking Iris away, Mr Bug grabbed Carillion and dragged her away to a safer distance.
"Are you alright?" Mr Bug checked over his partner.
"I'm fine, surprisingly." Carillion reported.
Despite being hit by a 'lesson', nothing had happened to her yet.
"What was the 'lesson'? Why would you let yourself get hit like that?" Mr Bug questioned, eying Iris who was waltzing towards them.
"Because the alternative was letting you get hit. I didn't exactly have my yoyo to yank you out of the way." Carillion said casually as she prepared to fight the approaching Iris.
"And why is you getting hit any better?" Mr Bug waved his hands.
Carillion raised an eyebrow at Mr Bug.
"Because you're the one with the Ladybug Miraculous. It doesn't matter if I get hit because the Miraculous Cure will just undo everything." She said deliberately.
Mr Bug's eye twitched as he realised what his partner was doing.
Unfortunately, Iris had decided that she'd enjoyed the display for long enough.
"Hold him down!" She ordered Carillion.
Carillion gasped as her body moved without her consent, grabbing Mr Bug before he could do anything and twisting him around to secure his arms behind his back before pushing him to the ground.
Mr Bug groaned in pain as he tried to escape the hold but Carillion's grip was too strong and he couldn't unbalance her either.
"Well, will you look at that." Iris grinned, stopping right in front of the heroes. "Two for the price of one."
Iris began to reach for Mr Bug's earrings as Carillion silently glared at her, unable to do anything to stop her under Headmaster's 'lesson'.
Thankfully, just like the previous time, Queen Bee had been keeping enough of an eye on the other fight that she noticed Iris about to assume victory.
"Hey, fashion disaster!" Queen Bee called out to the villainess. "Forget about someone?"
Queen Bee didn't feel any diminished satisfaction at seeing Iris look up and her eyes widened as the heroine's hand went to her bangle, realising that victory was about to be snatched from her, for the second time.
"Second Chance!"
…
Queen Bee decided to let events play out most the same as before, this time blocking the 'lesson' headmaster aimed at her with her lyre instead of ducking, preventing it from heading towards Mr Bug.
So, the fight continued, with Carillion doing a very good job at drawing Headmaster's attention towards her.
"Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! Teacher hit me with a Ruler!" Carillion sung at the top of her lungs as she cartwheeled around the Akumatised villain.
"Your lesson shall be, to be Silent!" Headmaster said angrily, the heroine's behaviour getting on his nerves.
The 'lesson' came dangerously close to hitting the heroine, but she managed to avoid it just in time.
"Don't like that song? How about this one? Joy to the World, the Teacher's Dead!" Carillion continued to sing.
She was cut off when her back came into contact with something.
Turning around, she was met with the sight of Iris, who also looked surprised to have unknowingly bumped into each other.
Iris was quick to use the opportunity to attack Carillion, who quickly blocked.
Of course, now that Carillion had her attention on Iris, it left her open to Headmaster again. Though, the 'lesson' was thankfully blocked by Mr Bug spinning his yoyo.
"Can you please take this a bit more seriously." Mr Bug scolded his partner. "You're being reckless!"
"What?" Carillion questioned innocently. "I'm just having some fun."
Mr Bug grunted in annoyance at his partner as the fight continued.
"Listen, I know that you want to make a point, but you're being too careless." Púca told Carillion, catching onto what the heroine was doing.
Queen Bee nodded in agreement. "I've had to turn back time because of how you're behaving." She said.
She didn't really care about how Carillion behaved, and it was funny seeing Iris' face as victory was snatched from her, but it was getting annoying to have to do everything again.
"Well, I'm sure if I was taken out then Mr Bug could handle it on his own." Carillion offered.
"Carillion!" Púca exclaimed at the usually-serious hero's words.
"You are so ridiculous." Queen Bee snarled.
"Ugh, fine." Carillion relented with a roll of her eyes. "I'll tone it down."
After that, the rest of the team was relieved to see their de-facto leader return to her usual fighting capabilities, though she still made sure to make more quips and digs than usual.
…
As the fight progressed, it ended up near a construction yard, with Mr Bug chasing Iris close to the under-construction building.
"Gotcha!" Mr Bug shouted in triumph as he managed to loop his yoyo around Iris, trapping one of her arms to her side.
Iris struggled as Mr Bug began to drag her towards him, free hand held protectively in front of the Miraculous' she wore.
"Help me!" Iris ordered her Akumatised victim through their psychic link.
Headmaster made to move towards her but his way was blocked by the other three heroes, who also blocked any 'lessons' he tried to send at Mr Bug.
Iris growled and looked around for escape, spotting the unstable construction above Mr Bug's head.
Taking her cane, Iris struck it as hard as she could against the scaffolding, causing a domino effect that began to bring it down on Mr Bug.
"Ah!" Mr Bug accidently let his yoyo go slack as he tried to dodge the metal, wood and bricks falling towards him, allowing Iris to slip free and make her own escape.
"Mr Bug!" Carillion saw what was happening and ran over, extending her baton to prop up the falling scaffolding, stopping it from completely coming down.
"Thanks." Mr Bug sighed in relief.
He quickly vacated the danger zone as Carillion prepared to withdraw herself, planning how best to move and remove the support of her baton without the scaffolding coming down on her.
Unfortunately, Iris was still there and took full advantage of Carillion's limited ability to push over the partially-built wall just above the heroine.
Carillion didn't even have time to register the danger before she was buried under the wall of bricks, which caused a loud crash upon hitting the ground and caught the attention of the other heroes.
"Carillion!" The three heroes cried out in horror at the sight of Carillion's unmoving body underneath the broken wall.
Mr Bug quickly ran back towards his partner and began to dig her out, Púca quickly following to help.
Queen Bee just sighed in annoyance and raised her hand to her wrist.
"You lesson shall be to stop escaping consequences!"
With her attention on Carillion and her guard dropped under the belief that time would soon be reset, Queen Bee wasn't able to avoid the lesson sent at her.
Eyes widening, Queen Bee tried to activate her power before the consequences of the lesson could happen.
"Second Chance!"
Nothing happened.
"Second Chance!" Queen Bee looked down at her Miraculous, as if trying to order it to work. "Second Chance!"
The consequences had already happened and now Queen Bee was incapable of undoing what had happened.
Letting out a curse, Queen Bee retreated back to the others with her lyre at the ready.
"Carillion! Ladybird!" Mr Bug frantically tried to get his partner to respond while Púca guarded them from more of Iris' shenanigans.
Carillion groaned in response but didn't open her eyes.
Thanks to her Miraculous, she had been protected from serious injury like a civilian would have gained from a wall falling on them, but she was still knocked out cold.
"Turn back time already!" Mr Bug told Queen Bee.
"Not an option." Queen Bee said in annoyance, uselessly pulling at the snake on her bracelet in emphasis.
Gritting his teeth, Mr Bug looked at his teammates and then to Headmaster.
"Queen Bee, stay with Carillion and protect her. Púca, you're with me." He told his remaining companions.
"Stay here?" Queen Bee questioned indignantly, not liking being kept out of the fight and thus out of the spotlight.
"Do it!" Mr Bug ordered.
Queen Bee shrank back, having never seen Mr Bug/Chat Noir so serious before.
Mr Bug then turned towards the Akumatised villain and began walking.
"Lucky Charm!" He summoned the magical item with none of his expected flair.
Following his lead, Puca decided to activate their own power, realising that they couldn't wait until the right moment and then act anymore.
"Venom!"
Meanwhile, Queen Bee begrudgingly gathered Carillion up in her arms, very glad that enhanced strength came as standard with the Miraculous since the other heroine had a thicker form than her, carrying her away from the under-construction building that had too many crevices for Iris to hide behind.
Iris quickly made herself known again, very willing to take advantage of the prone hero, forcing Queen Bee to prop Carillion against a wall before facing the villainess head on.
Even though they were evenly matched, with Queen Bee meeting Iris blow for blow and not letting the villainess a step closer to Carillion, Iris was grinning.
Because both of them were very much aware of the very limited amount of time Queen Bee had left, while Iris was still at full power due to not using her Mirage yet, courtesy of Púca still having her flute.
Behind Iris, Queen Bee could see Mr Bug and Púca trying their best to pin Headmaster, the villain's robes making it very hard for Púca to accurately sting the man.
But then…
"Cataclysm!"
The very ground underneath everyone began to crumble, causing them to stumble.
Puca didn't waste the opportunity presented and managed to use Headmaster being off balance to finally strike him with their Venom, freezing the villain in place.
Seeing her Akuma defeated, Iris quickly pushed Queen Bee away and turned tail to run.
Queen Bee tried to throw her lyre at the retreating villain but unfortunately missed, while the beeping on her wrist reminded her that she wouldn't have the time to chase the villain down.
"Finally." Mr Bug groaned as he dug around in Headmasters robes, producing a darkened lanyard.
With a great degree of satisfaction, Mr Bug snapped the lanyard in half, the Akuma flying out of it.
Dropping the pieces, Mr Bug then pulled out his yoyo and opened it up the same way he'd seen Ladybird do so many times before.
"I've always wanted to do this." Mr Bug said to himself. "Playtime's over, little Akuma. Time to De-Evillise!" He spun the yoyo around before launching it at the Akuma, catching the butterfly in the yoyo. "Gotcha! Bye-bye, little butterfly." He smiled as he released the purified butterfly from his yoyo."
"You're so extra." Carillion said as she and Queen Bee came over, the injured heroine having one arm thrown over Queen Bee's shoulder and the other holding her staff like a cane.
"You love me for it." Mr Bug grinned.
"What happened with Iris?" Puca asked, noticing the villainess was already gone.
"What do you think?" Carillion and Queen Bee answered at the same time.
"We need to start laying traps for when she runs away." Puca groaned as the flute he'd been holding the entire fight disappeared from their hand, indicating that Iris had detransformed somewhere.
"Can you just throw the thing already?" Queen Bee demanded of Mr Bug. "I want my Miraculous back and to go home."
"Oh, yeah." Mr Bug said, remembering what he had left to do. "Miraculous Mr Bug!"
Mr Bug threw his item into the air and it exploded into millions of glowing ladybugs, which spread outward to undo the damage done by the villains before swirling around the heroes themselves, returning their Miraculous to their rightful wielders.
"Ah." Ladybird sighed in relief as the pain of her injuries went away, pulling away from Queen Bee's support.
"Finally." Queen Bee said, striking a pose at the return of her yellow and black striped suit.
She then quickly turned and ran off before she could time out.
"Ladybird." Puca indicated their head as their own Miraculous reminded them of imminent detransformation.
"Right." Ladybird nodded. "Meet the usual time and place tonight, Bagpuss."
And thus, Chat Noir was left to deal with the man that had been Headmaster by himself.
Then, he remembered that he also had somewhere he needed to be.
"Ah, she going to be so mad!" Chat Noir cried, running off and leaving the man that had been Headmaster by himself.
"Dumb kids, no respect." The man grumbled.
…
Marinette and Luka sighed in relief as magical ladybugs washed over them, vanishing the craft supplies and guitar and halting their forceful action.
"I don't want to do any fashion work for a week." Marinette sighed.
"Well, at least I finally worked out how to connect the parts of my song." Luka shrugged.
They looked at each other before laughing.
"How about I walk you home." Luka offered.
"Yeah, that sounds nice." Marinette easily accepted.
Chat Noir watched the setting sun with lidded eyes.
The day had just been exhausting.
Thankfully, it hadn't been unending with his bad luck. While Kagami had been understandably unhappy with Adrien disappearing on her, he'd been able to convince her that he'd been hit by Headmaster before he could get to safety with everyone else, so they'd agreed to try for a second date. Adrien still found himself unsure of his feelings, but their date had been going well enough before the interruption.
Chat Noir's ears twitched at the sound of a chord being pulled and he turned around to see Ladybird land and approach him, an unreadable look on her face.
"Hey, so-"
Chat Noir didn't let her get any further, pulling his partner into a strong hug.
"Uh, okay." Ladybird said unsurely, arms sticking out awkwardly at the sudden embrace.
"I'm sorry." Chat Noir said into Ladybird's shoulder.
"Sorry?" Ladybird questioned.
"For not realising…" Chat Noir trailed off before restarting. "When you got hurt protecting me, it felt like my heart stopped, everything was just static. Is that how I…?"
Ladybird patted her partner on the back.
"Yes." She answered honestly.
Chat Noir's breath hitched and he hugged Ladybird harder before pulling away.
"I'm sorry." He apologised again. "That I didn't understand how I was making you feel.
"Does that mean you'll stop doing it?" Ladybird asked gently.
Chat Noir gave a small laugh. "I'll try." He promised.
Ladybird smiled. "I guess that's the best that I can ask for."
Ladybird then sighed.
"I'm sorry too." She said. "I shouldn't have endangered everyone while trying to make a point. I put everyone and myself at risk because I was mad at you."
"You did do that." Chat Noir nodded.
Ladybird scowled at him, though then smiled.
"I was only behaving like you do." She commented.
Chat Noir couldn't deny that. "Yeah, it was a bit hard to miss." He said. "Though, for the record, I am more careful than that, I just make it look like I'm not trying."
"Uh huh, sure you do." Ladybird said, not at all believing him.
"But, if it'll make you feel better, I guess that I can tone down the fun." Chat Noir shrugged.
Ladybird rolled her eyes. "Just don't leave me to do all the work and know when to take things seriously. You're my partner, not my sidekick."
"You got it, boss." Chat Noir saluted.
Ladybird shoved her shoulder into Chat Noir's good-naturedly and the two of them smiled at the new understanding they had found.
Author's note:
I debated on whether or not I'd do the swapping of the Miraculous before or after Marinette joined the team. For reasons that I won't say here due to spoilers for a few chapters down the line, I decided that the placement would be better in the before.
And, unlike Marinette/Ladybug, Casey/Ladybird is not placated by an uncomfortable "you're cute when you're angry" in response to calling Chat Noir out on his self-sacrificial tendencies. She does not like it when Chat Noir gets hurt protecting her and she does not appreciate being left alone to finish the fight.
Casey in general just has a more aggressive and confrontational personality, which is sometimes better for situations and sometimes not.
Like usual, check out my DeviantART and Tumblr for the art I made of Carillion's design as well as some Iris art.