Response to Review:

Guest: It's true, Giovanni Rossi is Lila's ancestor. He can't possibly be as bad though, for that is an incredibly hard thing to do.

As Always, Please Review!

The warehouse bustled with activity, as workmen prepared the goods within for the upcoming trading season. The space was stuffed full of exotic goods from the east, soon to be put on board the great trading galley fleets and sent to ports in the Spanish Netherlands, France, and England. There were huge bags of Spices from the Indies, which had made the gruelling trip overland across the warring Ottoman and Safavid empires of the Near East. Other bags stacked near them were full of salt, gathered a lot closer to home in order to be sold on at a profit. Panes of glass produced in the city were piled carefully in one corner, and several cases full of other goods were stacked up in the centre of the room, the pile as tall as a man. A particularly large chest was wheeled in on a cart by a group of workers, as an overseer nodded sagely and ticked it off a list.

They moved into position against one wall, stepped back to admire their handiwork, and then went to leave, their work done until it came time to load up the trade ships. Once the last man had exited the warehouse, the doors were shut and locked. An eerie darkness blanketed the room.

It was interrupted by a flash of yellow.

Judging that the coast was clear, a familiar yellow blur descended from the ceiling where it had been lying in wait and crept towards the chests. She delicately plucked a box off the top of the pile and gently shook it, holding it up to her ear; not hearing the telltale clink of coins she sighed, putting the box down before her attention was caught by the huge chest still sat on its cart.

"What are you?" She whispered, moving towards it. She ran her hands along the edge of the lid, admiring the handiwork of it, and then frowned. A strange, faint but unmistakable green glow was coming from the keyhole. Had it been any lighter she probably wouldn't have noticed it. She began to back away, moving one hand to her weapon.

There was a rumble and the lid burst open, coming entirely free of its box and jumping about five feet in the air. Four figures, two in black and two in red, sprang out and entered combat stances in front of her.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

One of the figures in black, wearing a strange helmet in the shape of a cat's head, said something she didn't understand, but the other, who wore only a mask on his head, just shrugged.

"Hello," he said in a strange accent. "I'm afraid we're going to need that."

"Need what?"

"Your miraculous!" Adrien explained.

The woman in yellow shook her head. "I need it!"

"For what?" Ladybug asked in halting Italian. "You're... a thief!"

"Exactly! I've got to make money somehow!"

"So you're using it for a life of crime." Adrien stated. Behind him, Ocelotl put his hand on the weapon on his belt.

"Who are you to judge me?" The woman in yellow straightened up, affronted. "I'm sure it's easy for you to condemn me from your easy lives, but I do what I have to do!"

"You know nothing about us," Adrien pointed out. "And our lives are anything but easy at the moment, believe me."

"Then let's fix that," the woman replied. "I am Vespa. And you are?"

Adrien was momentarily thrown by Vespa appearing to name herself after mopeds that she couldn't have known about, but then he put the pieces together that Vespa just meant wasp in Italian.

"I am Chat Noir, and this is Ladybug," Adrien replied tersely. He saw the cogs in Vespa's mind turning at the use of the French names, and then she pointed at him accusingly.

"What's a Frenchman doing in a secure Venetian warehouse? Are you spies?"

The thief straightened up, no longer preparing to run or fight, but her expression grew heated.

"Did that old man put you up to this?" She demanded, waving her arms animatedly. Adrien nodded.

"Hold on, you came here to rob this place, why are you making us out to be the villains?" He demanded, but Vespa ignored him.

"I should have known. First he sends monsters after me, then when that doesn't work he sends you. You're like me, aren't you?"

"As in we have miraculouses, then yes?"

"Exactly! I'm sure you've got things you need to be doing, and so do I. I won't get in your way if you don't get in mine."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, two slight problems with that solution. One, apparently you hurt people to get what you want and that's not on, and two, we're from the future. Well, they aren't but we are. We need that old man's help to get home."

The woman stared at him for a few seconds, and then to his companions. Then she doubled over laughing.

"Oh my goodness," she managed, limping towards him while still bent over holding her stomach. "You're insane! Insane! Now it makes sense!" She stopped in front of him, still wheezing. "Are you even miraculous holders at all, or just play-acting?"

The laughter abruptly stopped. "Let's find out!"

One moment Adrien was staring awkwardly at the bee thief, the next her spinning top was slamming into his jaw. Stars exploded in his eyes as he was thrown backwards, hitting the chest he had emerged from. The others yelled and turned to make sure he was alright, and his assailant used this opening to make a run for it.

Cursing himself for being caught off guard, Chat straightened up. "I'm fine!" He said. "Let's get her!"

Vespa had already nimbly jumped on top of a big pile of crates and used that extra altitude to grab onto the edge of a hole in the roof; she hauled herself up and out just as the two Mexica heroes got there. They looked at each other, and then Ocelotl picked his partner up and bodily threw her upwards; she soared up until she too grabbed hold of the edge, and climbed out. She then pulled the yo-yo off her belt and threw the end down to him. He grabbed it, she braced herself and then pulled. Ocelotl flew upwards after him, clean through the hole, and then the two of them were away. Chat looked at Ladybug.

"Why have we never done that?" He asked. Ladybug just frowned. "Maybe later," she said. "Come on!"

Soon the two of them had made it onto the roof as well; 50 metres away they could see that the chase was afoot, moving from rooftop to rooftop as Vespa desperately tried to evade her pursuers. Chat and Ladybug followed, watching as Vespa tried desperately to use her spinning top to trip one of her pursuers up. They were not having it though, and every time the top just hit air or roof tiles. Vespa abruptly changed course, moving quickly towards one of the canals.

"She's going to try and swim away!" Chat realized. "I hate water."

A line of houses ran up a smaller canal until it ran onto the wider grand canal, and it was along these that the chase was now moving. But Ladybug was looking ahead.

"If we go that way, can't we get in front of them?" She asked.

"Where?" Chat asked.

"Just follow me!"

And Ladybug veered off to the left, jumping across the narrow canal and making her way across the next set of buildings.

Realizing what she meant to do, Chat followed her, and they began to make their way across the roofs of the city. The chase seemed to get further away, but Chat realised that they were now closer to the canal than Vespa was. Eventually, they screeched to a halt as they ran out of rooftop; the wide waterway ran in front of them, several small boats moving down it.

"Where's Vespa?" Ladybug asked.

Chat looked around, and then caught a familiar flash of yellow.

"There!" He pointed. Ladybug whirled to find Vespa rushing towards the canal about two houses down from where they were stood. She unclipped the yo-yo from her belt and took careful aim. Just as Vespa yelled triumphantly and leapt from the roof towards the murky waters, she let fly, and the yo-yo coiled itself around her ankle. Vespa yelped as she was pulled backwards and ended up face planting just next to the canal. There were shouts of alarm from bystanders.

"Did you get her?" Ocelotl asked as he and Miahuaxiuitl appeared. Adrien nodded, and pointed. Together, the four of them vaulted off the roof and moved to surround their quarry, who had sat up and was rubbing her head.

"Ow!" She complained. "What was that for?"

"You attacked me," Adrien complained.

"You were going to steal my miraculous," Vespa countered. "Then I would have no way of making money."

"I'm sure you would think of something," Adrien pointed out, frowning. Vespa glanced past him, and then a tiny smirk appeared on her face.

"Perhaps I already have," she said, and lunged, a burst of yellow energy shooting towards him. Adrien reacted quickly and jumped out of the way, but just as he was beginning to congratulate himself on his quick reflexes he heard a gasp from behind him.

He turned to find a Venetian civilian who had strayed too close; hit by Vespa's paralysis, suddenly the man had found himself unable to control his limbs. He made full eye contact with Chat, his eyes wide and full of panic, before his unresponsive body toppled backwards, into the dark waters of the Grand Canal.