Marinette was in her room, on her bed, watching a trailer for a Ladybug movie on her tablet with Tikk. "She's scared of cats," The trailer voice announced dramatically. "But powerless without this feline."

"What?!" Marinette said in an annoyed tone. "That is so not true. I'm not scared of cats. And if I was I wouldn't be now."

"Cat Noir and Ladybug: two heroes facing their destiny. Coming soon to theaters." The trailer ended and the tablet now showed an interview with the movie's director. He was a corpulent man with green eyes, black hair, and a beard. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt, over which he wore a black jacket. At the bottom of the screen was the director's name.

"The real Cat Noir and Ladybug won't be able to make it to tonight's premiere," The director said to the interviewer. "But I hope that they'll love my movie as much as we love them."

"Maybe. I don't care about the new look. Just get the personalities down and you got gold."

"You turned down an invitation to the premiere?" Tikki asked.

"I'm a superhero, Tikki, not a star. It's my job to protect the city, not sit around at a movie premiere. Besides, there are some Ladybug fans out there that will be enraged if the movie didn't do Ladybug justice, and they might get akumatized. Ladybug needs to be ready when it happens."

"Well said, Marinette!"

Nadja Chamack appeared on the tablet. "According to inside sources, the young actor and his co-star Kagami Tsurugi still had lines left to record before they disappeared but the studio refused to delay the movie to accommodate their return. How did you get around that?"

The director was back on the screen. "Jeremy was concerned about the impending date but I did not want to scrap what those two had done. With these two being at such a young age, I couldn't bring myself to make that call."

Nadja reappeared. "That's sweet of you, but that's not what I asked."

"Oh, sorry, Nadja. We managed to get two other actors to finish their lines for them."

"Were there any other factors that affected your decision to keep the original actors?"

"My experience as a father was also a contributing factor. I mean, I can only imagine what Gabriel Agreste and Tomoe Tsurugi went through. I would climb mountains to find my daughter. Thankfully, two other actors in the movie were able to record the lines and flawlessly imitate the voices of their co-stars. Adrien's cousin Félix Graham de Vanily was hired to provide background voices for the movie and we asked him to fill in for Adrien. He was more than happy to oblige."

The camera cut to a photo of Félix, a tall teen with blonde, combed-back hair. He had a passing resemblance to Adrien. The big differences were that Adrien had almond-shaped, emerald green eyes and a snub nose, whereas Félix had more rounded ocean blue eyes and a Grecian nose. Another difference was in Félix's clothes. He was wearing a light gray long-sleeved dress shirt underneath a dark gray vest, a black tie, dark gray dress pants, and black dress shoes. "Well, I only did it for Adrien," Félix said. "I don't really care about superhero movies anymore."

"He's Adrien's cousin?" Tikki asked.

"Yeah, he is," Marinette replied. "His parents are the head of the movie production company, Graham Films."

Back on the screen, Félix was asked about his opinion on movies. "Now don't get me wrong. I had fun working on this movie, and I don't think all superhero movies are bad. There are some good ones and this one might be the best one ever but I think for me, they just oversaturated the market. I'll be at the premiere though. Free movie, can't complain."

Marinette turned the tablet off. "Well, I got a day off. Maybe I should see if Courtney can get me Amy's number." Marinette walked down to the living room, where Tom and Sabine were writing down a checklist of items.

"So we've got six hundred macarons plus eight hundred petit fours?" Tom asked his wife. "Not to mention the Ladybug and Cat Noir tiered cakes."

Sabine looked over the list again. "We should have hired someone to help us serve all these guests at the premiere."

Marinette's ears pricked up and she turned her attention to her parents. "Do you mean the premiere for the Ladybug and Cat Noir animated movie?" Marinette asked.

"Uh, yes," Her father answered. DING-DONG! The doorbell rang and Tom went over to answer. "Are we expecting anyone?" When he opened the door. Standing in front of him were Jim Lake and Claire Nunez. "Who are you? And how'd you get in here?"

"Jim! Claire! What are you two doing here?"

"We had to get out of that hotel!" Claire answered. "Chloé's mother is... ugh. Sorry, sir. Claire Nunez. Nice to meet you." Claire held her hand out to Tom.

Tom smiled and shook Claire's hand. "Tom Dupain. Nice to meet you, Claire." Tom turned to Jim. "Nice to meet you, Jim."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Dupain," Jim replied.

"Are you classmates with Marinette? She's never mentioned you."

"We're recent exchange students from America. Do you mind if we come in?" Tom stepped back and let Claire and Jim in. "Thank you." Jim saw Sabine sat at the table, with the long list. "Oh, are we interrupting?"

"Not at all!" Sabine answered. "Come on in." Jim and Claire walked into the living room.

"Wow," Claire said. "Your bread must be something else if you make enough to afford a place like this."

"We get the bulk from providing catering for events. We're preparing for the premiere of the Ladybug and Cat Noir movie."

"Oh, yeah..." Jim said. "Well, we won't take up any more of your time. We needed to talk about a school assignment. Marinette, can you help us?"

"Sure. Follow me." Marinette led Claire and Jim up to her room. When they were upstairs, Marinette closed the trapdoor and Tikki emerged from Marinette's jacket.

"Hey, Tikki!" Jim stroked the Kwami. "I couldn't get a hold of a cookie, but..." Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of shortbread. "Will this do? It's from both of us."

"Oh, thank you!" The kwami responded in glee. "I wasn't expecting anything!"

"Well, we felt like we neglected you and the other kwamis while you were in Arcadia," Claire replied. "So, Marinette, about this Hawk Moth. What do you know?"

Marinette sat on the floor with Jim and Claire, forming a triangle. "I only ever had a big suspicion on one person and the clues were there but then... It was Gabriel Agreste. Adrien's father."

"Whoa..." Jim said as he and Claire sat down on Marinette's sofa. "I bet Adrien didn't take that well."

"Better than you'd expect, but I think he was downplaying his shock cos we didn't know each other's identities at the time. He still asked for proof and... then Gabriel got akumatized."

"So you ruled him out?" Claire asked curiously.

"At first." Marinette began typing on her computer. "But since then, Chloé was akumatized as Queen Bee which means that Miraculous Holders can be akumatized. Which might mean that it's possible that Hawk Moth could akumatize himself."

"Is there any way of ruling out akumatized people?"

"Yeah. A lot of the villains tend to talk to Hawk Moth, likely through telepathy. And we have a body type for Hawk Moth. Two hundred and twenty centimeters. Based on the area of his face that isn't covered by his mask, he has fair skin. His voice actually sounds like a deeper version of Gabriel Agreste's."

"Sounds like it is him," Jim asked.

"It's very possible. But if I tell Adrien, I think he'll do something he'll regret. If it turns out I'm right and don't tell him..."

"I think you should tell him what you told us," Claire said as she stood up to check what Marinette had typed. "It can be hard but honesty is always the best way with things like this. But if Adrien tries to help his dad in this... Well, I don't think we can let our own feelings get in the way of taking Hawk Moth down."

"Thanks, Claire... Now, what do I do about Chloé?"

"Chloé?" Jim asked in confusion. "What about her?"

Marinette turned her chair to face Jim. "Chloé revealed her identity to the entire public. That includes Hawk Moth. He used her parents to get to her once. I've been told by... someone who would like to remain anonymous but he's basically my Merlin if that makes sense. He's told me that Chloé cannot be Queen Bee again. But... Well, before she became Queen Bee, Chloé was so spiteful. She spent four years bullying me and it was Alya who helped me come out of my shell."

"Then why did you give her a Miraculous?"

"I didn't give her it. Her mother had been akumatized into Style Queen and could turn people into gold glitter statues. I was gonna give it to Alya but Style Queen turned her into a statue before she could use it. I dropped it on the Eiffel Tower and normally the Miraculous Ladybug will undo anything that happened during an Akuma attack. Except return the Miraculous to where I got it from. Chloé found it."

"So she's made her bed with this then. What's the problem?"

"If I take the Miraculous away from Chloé, she might revert to her old self and now she knows who Ladybug is. Two plus two equals...?"

"Chloé outing you and Hawk Moth targeting your parents or Adrien."

"But if Adrien's dad is Hawk Moth," Claire chipped in. "He wouldn't attack his own son. Would he?"

"Assuming Gabriel isn't Hawk Moth," Marinette answered. "When he was akumatized, he was really angry. Then again, an Akuma exaggerates someone's anger. Still, Gabriel's always been a bit cold towards Adrien. Not to mention, he was furious over Adrien misplacing a book. That had secrets about the Miraculous." Marinette's trapdoor was knocked on.

"Marinette?" Sabine asked. "Can we come in?"

"One sec, Ma," Marinette switched her computer screen off and Tikki hid behind a photo of Adrien. "Come in." The trapdoor opened and Sabine walked in.

"It's about the movie premiere. We were wondering, would you be able to help us out?"

"Er... I don't know... If I can."

Sabine sighed. "I understand, Marinette. You wanna show your new friends around Paris. Fair enough." Sabine went to go back downstairs. "I thought you'd jump at the chance. The Agrestes are gonna be there..." Sabine winked.

"The Agrestes?" Jim said before shooting an 'OMG!' look at Claire, who nodded. "Marinette, if you agree to help your parents out, we'll help too!"

"What?" Marinette was startled.

"Yeah!" Claire added. "That way there'll be even less workload."

"But what about-?"

"Perfect!" Sabine shouted in glee. "Thank you, both! We'll get everything sorted for you all!" Sabine headed back downstairs. "Tom, we've got some more staff!" Sabine closed the trapdoor behind her.

"What were you thinking?" Marinette exclaimed.

"We were thinking that we can try and get some information out of Gabriel that might pin down if he's Hawk Moth!" Jim answered.

"Except Gabriel won't show up. He never turns up to these things. It'll be Adrien, his bodyguard, and Gabriel's assistant. He'll be on some tablet that Nathalie carries with her."

Jim and Claire looked at each other and facepalmed. "Well," Claire perked up. "At least we'll rub shoulders with the rich and famous!"

That afternoon, outside the movie cinema. Nadja Chamack was reporting the premiere on the news to the camera. "Don't be bemused, it's just the news. Nadja Chamack coming to you live from the premiere we've all been waiting for: the brand new animated movie of the adventures of Cat Noir and Ladybug." As Nadja spoke, the famous pop singer Clara Nightingale walked past. "As you can see, the gorgeous Clara Nightingale, who sang all the songs in the movie, has just arrived!" Clara walked up to the man who was security at the front door.

"Good afternoon, Clara!" The security guard said, trying not to geek out. "I'm your biggest fan." Clara smiled before she entered the theater. The director walked up to the door whistling but was stopped by the doorman. "Excuse me! This is a private event, sir!"

"Huh?!" The director bellowed in shock and confusion. "Excuse me? I'm the movie's director." The director showed the doorman his ID.

The doorman gave the ID back. "You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?"

"Er, it's a 2D animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draws the—"

"OK, I don't care. No one wants to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters. They want the real deal." The doorman waved the director in. "Go on." The director walked inside, disheartened. At that point, Félix Graham de Vanily showed up with his mother. His mother was identical to Adrien's mother Emilie, though she wore a dark suit. They showed the doorman their IDs.

"Amelie and Félix Graham de Vanily," Amelie told the doorman.

"Go on in."

"You need to work on your people skills, sir!" Félix snarked as deadpan as possible. "Ladies won't go for that attitude."

"Félix..." Amelie whispered. As she and Félix walked into the event, people gasped at the sight of Amelie.

"Oh, for god's sake..." Félix whispered before announcing out loud. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not Emelie Agreste and I am not Adrien. This is Emelie's twin sister, Amelie Graham de Vanily and I am her son Félix, Adrien Agreste's cousin. I am saying this out loud so that I don't have to repeat myself to every person who drools on me because they mistake me for my cousin. That is all I have to say, please don't be stupid. Thank you." The crowd started murmuring and Amelie facepalmed.

At the back, Tom was showing Jim how to hold a tray of macarons. "So you put your thumbs here and look straight ahead."

"I feel like a butler," Jim joked. "Who wore this suit?"

"Some guy who helped us when we started doing events."

"So, does Marinette normally help you out with events like these?"

"We don't normally handle events like these."

Meanwhile, Claire and Marinette were wearing matching maid outfits as Claire held a tray of macarons, and Sabine gave Marinette an empty tray. "Uh, ma," Marinette questioned. "Shouldn't there be macarons on the tray?"

"Yes, yes," Sabine answered, trying to save face. "We'll put them on as soon as you're ready."

"Dad, Mom! If you thought I wasn't ready, why did you ask me to help?"

Sabine and Tom gave each other a glance. "We were seriously short-staffed," Tom answered. "Sorry, sweetie."

"Ugh. Thanks for the honesty, and the vote of confidence. Trust me, I may be clumsy but I'm not stupid." Tom and Sabine looked at each other again and sighed before swapping out the tray for one filled with macarons. "Thank you." Marinette walked off with Claire and Jim following.

When Marinette walked out earshot, Tom spoke to Sabine. "Oh, our little girl's spreading her wings. Maybe we don't give her enough credit."

Marinette walked around the theatre serving anyone who wanted a quick snack. As she was walking around, she heard a piece of a conversation from Félix. "Now I have a great abundance of favorite movies," Félix said. "But when people ask me what my favorite movie is, they often follow up with 'Hey, Félix. Why is Camelot, of all things your favorite movie of all?' and I often say this: It gave me some insight into what I consider a great foundation for a personal philosophy. If you have power, you should use it to do good. Anger can be a strength at times but is ultimately a weakness, compassion is vice versa, and revenge will earn you nothing. I. Love. That. A lot of people might admire Ladybug and Cat Noir because they take down the villain and save the innocent but there's more to them than just that. They recognize that most of the villains they fight are victims as well, and they help them see that what they did was not their fault and show them as much compassion as they would anyone else. And even when they were confronted with Hawk Moth, they still gave him a chance to turn it around and redeem himself. That is the key to a true hero."

"But Hawk Moth didn't take that chance," Marinette butted, earning the attention of everyone who was immersed in Félix's speech. Marinette startled herself and almost dropped the tray. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"It's no problem. In all honesty, I was thinking nobody was listening. They were just waiting for me to shut up." People started laughing. "That's the thing. If you don't mind me continuing. As much as I'm sure Ladybug would want Hawk Moth to redeem himself, the truth is not everyone can be rescued from that dragon's den. If Hawk Moth keeps going... Well, I believe that desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Desperate measures?"

Félix winced. "Hawk Moth is... For lack of a better term... A terrorist. I don't condone murder but I won't be shedding tears for that man if it comes to that. No one will. If he turns out to be someone famous, people won't cry. They'll say just 'Oh my god!' and boycott his work."

"I don't think Ladybug would try and kill him."

"She wouldn't kill anyone. It's not in her nature. Sorry, I'm holding you up." Félix took a macaron. "Félix. Thank you miss..."

"Marinette."

"Thank you, Marinette." Marinette resumed server patrol and she reached her favorite rock star Jagged Stone, who was talking to the movie director.

"Ladybug is one of my best buds!" Jagged praised. "I can't wait to see her movie!"

"Well I'm— I'm the director," The director remarked. "So actually it's more my movie, so to speak."

"Oh, so you're the one who created the story?"

"Well, I was one of the screenwriters who co-wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug and Cat Noir's exploits."

Jagged nodded. "Oh, ok. And you did all the drawings?"

"No, no. The animators do all the drawings."

"So what do you do then?"

"Well, I—" The director couldn't go any further as Jagged had spotted Marinette.

"Woah. Hey Marinette! Now she can draw! She does it all herself. Just check out these groovy sunglasses here she made!" Jagged took the sunglasses that Marinette made for him out from his jacket.

"Well, that's impressive."

"She even designed my album cover!"

Marinette giggled awkwardly. "Er, thanks. Er, macarons?" Jagged took a macaron and the director went to take a macaron but hesitated.

"I'm okay, thank you." Someone came up to the director and whispered in his ear. "Amy's here? I'm sorry, I gotta go."

Marinette continued her patrol when Adrien arrived, wearing his special black suit. Adrien waved to her but she simply nodded back before she just walked continued on her job, reaching Chloé Bourgeois and talking to a movie producer.

"You!" Chloé snapped at the girl. "Go fetch me a chocolate macaron, but make sure it's dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. Got that?"

"Do you see a maid outfit on me, Bourgeois?!" The producer snapped. "I'm a movie producer!"

"Oh, so you helped make the movie?" Chloé asked.

"Yes."

"Is Queen Bee in your movie?"

"You'll see when you watch it."

"And you never thought to hire me for the role of Queen Bee."

"You can't act, plus you sabotaged a student film by bullying the lead actress so you could get the role. The girl then got akumatized, didn't she?"

Chloé changed the subject. "Maybe you can tell me why they left Queen Bee out of the trailer for the movie."

"I'm not supposed to spoil the movie but you need to be taken down a peg. Queen Bee's not in the trailer because she's not in the movie."

Chloé shouted. "WHAT?! Ridiculous!"

"Utterly ridiculous?" The producer remarked sarcastically. "You didn't start your heroics alongside Ladybug and Cat Noir, did you?"

Chloé gave a confused and slightly scared look. "Uh, no?"

"No. So you don't get shown in their first movie. Plus, you revealed your identity to the public AND Hawk Moth, and almost killed a bunch of citizens on the train you sped up. Now I suppose you did save your father after he was akumatized- Oh, wait, you caused him to be akumatized in the first place. And the school threw you a party because you cleaned up your own mess." The producer clapped. "Bravo! You know, I have a source in that school that heard about the first villain, Stoneheart. You said to the kid, 'Once a monster, always a monster.' I guess it takes one to know one."

Chloé was starting to tremble. "Do you really think that?"

"Yes. And you better accept it, because I guarantee that I am not the only one who thinks that. I considered getting the director to use Queen Bee but only because your mother wouldn't stop nagging me until I talked to him." The producer walked off, pinching a macaron from Claire's tray. "Thank you, Mademoiselle."

Chloé pondered on the producer's words before she noticed the girl from another dimension. "Claire? How did you get in here?"

"Marinette's parents needed help," Claire answered. "Jim's here too."

"Are you two finding the hotel okay?"

"It's amazing, Chloé. It makes us feel bad about cramming you all in our house."

"Hey, you did everything you could. You could've left us to live on the streets."

"Still." Chloé nodded. "Thank you, Chloé."

"Hey, you'll be beloved as Mari-" Chloé stopped herself when she realized her mistake. "Ladybug and Cat Noir, when you take down Hawk Moth. You deserve to be pampered."

At that point, Marinette was walking over. "Well, we seem to have a big suspect. Marinette was telling us about it earlier."

Chloé turned with intrigue to Marinette. "Really? Any ideas who he is?"

"I don't have any certainties yet," Marinette responded. "Well, I do... But if it's him... It will affect everyone."

Adrien was about to go over and talk to his friends but he was stopped by his father's assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur. "Adrien," She called out. "You're expected to welcome the Tsurugis." Nathalie gestured to the door where Kagami Tsurugi and her mother were entering with their arms interlocked.

Kagami was wearing a red and black Japanese dress with loose pants instead of a skirt and geta shoes on her feet. Kagami's mother was a pale-skinned slender Japanese woman of average height. She had long dark blue hair that was arranged in Chignon style, which was held with a red clip. She wore a white shirt, long red pants, and black sunglasses. She was holding a bokken like it was a support cane.

Marinette, Claire, and Jim saw Kagami and her mother and Kagami looked into the distance. Adrien went to greet the Tsurugis while Gabriel Agreste was seen on a tablet held by Nathalie. Jim grunted. "I don't get it," He said. "His son is starring in a movie and he doesn't even show up in person?"

Meanwhile, Adrien greeted the mother and daughter in their native language. "(Good evening Mrs. Tsurugi)" Adrien said as he bowed to the Tsurugis. "(Nice to meet you)"

Mrs. Tsurugi bowed, pulling Kagami down into one. "Gabriel-san," Mrs. Tsurugi spoke, ignoring Adrien's greeting. "Per our discussion at our last meeting, I've brought these documents."

"(Thank you very much, Mrs. Tsurugi)" Gabriel replied. Please follow Nathalie. Nathalie took Mrs. Tsurugi's arm and led her away. Leaving Adrien with Kagami.

"I'm glad to see you again, Kagami!" Adrien said to his friend. "Nathalie didn't bruise you, did she?"

"I've had worse," Kagami said, in a tone that sounded like she was a bit zoned out.

"Kagami, are you okay?"

Kagami snapped back. "I'm... so tired. I wanted to stay away but Mother wouldn't let me miss the premiere." Kagami spotted Marinette and Chloé looking at her with worried expressions. "Can you get me a drink of water?" Adrien helped Kagami to a seat.

"Stay here." Adrien walked over to Tom and Sabine. "Do you guys have any cold drinks?" Tom handed Adrien a plastic bottle of lemonade. "Thanks." Adrien went back to Kagami and gave her the bottle. She opened the bottle and took a slow drink.

"Thank you, Adrien," Kagami said after exhaling from taking a drink. "I thought that she'd know better after I went missing but it's just the same." Claire noticed Kagami and set her empty tray down to check on her.

"Kagami. Are you okay?"

"No..." Kagami responded. "I can't stay here but my mother just doesn't care." Kagami stood up and almost collapsed on the floor, coughing up a storm in her sleeve. Claire helped Kagami to her feet. "I gotta get outta here..." People began staring and someone snapped a picture. Marinette saw what was going on, put her tray down on a table, and helped Kagami as well. "Thank you, Marinette." Marinette helped Kagami outside. "Adrien's driver brought us here." Adrien's bodyguard, nicknamed The Gorilla noticed Marinette and Kagami. Marinette let go of Kagami when The Gorilla came to her aid.

"She needs to see a doctor," Marinette explained. "Could you take her there and then drop her off home?" The Gorilla nodded and escorted Kagami to the car.

"Thank you... Marinette." Marinette went back inside after The Gorilla drove off.

Back inside, the movie director was standing by himself minding his own business when a bunch of children charged into him yelling Ladybug's name and howling. "Woah! Careful children!" He exclaimed.

"Ladybug isn't here children," The teacher explained. "We came here to meet the director of the movie." The teacher's words were met with groans from the kids and a look of disappointment.

In another part of the event, Tomoe and Nathalie were signing documents, with Tomoe using a stamp. "And we're done. Thank you, Mrs. Tsurugi."

"I look forward to our new partnership," Tomoe replied. "Kagami?" She called out, receiving no response. "Kagami?" Tomoe stood up and walked around. "Kagami?!"

Adrien saw Tomoe looking around and went to explain Kagami's disappearance. "Kagami felt too ill to stay, Mrs. Tsurugi. I think my bodyguard took her home."

"What? Without my permission?"

Adrien was flabbergasted. "She was barely able to stand! My friend had to help her walk to the limousine! Why did you even bring her? You might not have been able to see how bad she was but surely you could hear her struggling to breathe!"

"And Kagami speaks highly of you? I thought you would understand."

"I think I understand Kagami more than you do. I'm guessing Nathalie told you about the school party."

"Yes, and how Kagami attacked her."

"Is that what she told you?" Adrien just walked away.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Adrien ignored her as children hassled the director.

"But if you didn't make the story, and you didn't make the drawings, then you didn't do anything," A child complained.

The director sat down on a chair and looked sadly at the floor. "I spent three years of my life working day in day out to get a directing job and then an extra year for this!" The director sighed in hopelessness. "I just wanted something for my little girl to remember me by." The director looked around and saw no one paying any attention. "Oh, people couldn't care less." The director stood up and walked dejectedly into the bathroom stalls.

Meanwhile, underneath Adrien's mansion, the villainous Hawk Moth monologued as the butterfly window opened up. "The behind-the-scenes creator who never gets any of the credit," The villain gloated. "The perfect type of injustice for my akumas." A butterfly landed in his left hand and he covered it with his right, filling it with dark energy before releasing it to take flight. Fly away, my creature of the dark, and blacken his broken heart!" The Akuma flew towards the movie premier and into the bathroom stall which the director was in and absorbed itself into his ID, allowing Hawk Moth to commune with him. "Animaestro. You're going to show everyone who you really are with power as limitless as your imagination. All I ask in return are Cat Noir and Ladybug's miraculous."

The director replied with hellfire and fury in his voice. "I want them all to see what a director is capable of!" Then, he was engulfed in black and purple energy...

Back in the premier, Adrien and Tomoe were still arguing. "How dare you speak to me like that, young man!" Tomoe scolded.

Adrien groaned. "The movie should have started already. Where's the Director?" Adrien's focus was lost to the sight of the doorman getting thrown across the room, just barely missing Adrien.

"So you really think a director does nothing?!" The supervillain Animaestro exclaimed. Adrien turned to see the supervillain. He was a silhouette of Thomas Astruc but semi-transparent with pencil scribbles filling out his body, and a Ladybug mask. "Let me show you exactly what I'm capable of." Civilians start screaming and running away. "Oh, come on! Don't leave! The show's just getting started!" Red lights shone out of Animaestro's eyes and he transformed into a large green cartoon dinosaur in a puff of pink smoke. The large beast spat a laser out of his mouth that hit buildings and left them with circular holes.

In the building that partially collapsed from Animaestro's transformation, people were trapped under debris. Claire, Chloé, and Adrien were lucky enough to remain free, as were Marinette and Jim. They all quickly ran to the exit.

"Adrien!" Nathalie called out. "You can't all leave us!"

"It would take too long to get everyone out!" Adrien made an excuse. "We'll call the fire department for you!" Everyone ran out and headed to the closest alleyway.

"Is this what it's always like?" Claire asked.

"This is one of the extremes," Marinette said. "I'm sorry, guys. I don't think the Trollhunters will do much good against this one."

"I understand..." Jim replied. "You two deal with the director. We'll help people get out of that building."

Animaestro was still attacking the city when Cat Noir and Ladybug landed on a rooftop. "Whoa, there!" Cat Noir got the villain's attention. "If we knew you were gonna get this fiery, we would've come to the premier."

"Cat Noir, Ladybug!" The villain stated.

"What's with that trailer too?" Ladybug protested. "I am not scared of cats, at all."

"You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?!" The villain snarled.

"He does have a point, you know," Cat Noir replied.

"I wasn't slamming the movie. I was slamming the trailer." Animaestro spat a laser at the heroes and they jumped out of the way. "Oh, I see. You're one of those who can't take even the smallest of criticism." Ladybug threw her yo-yo and it wrapped around Animaestro. "And now you get overly defensive because we pointed out a flaw."

"So it's always about you, isn't it?" Animaestro shot red light out of his eyes and transformed into a white and gold cartoon robot with a crescent moon on his head. "Let's see how much you enjoy the true power of animation." Animaestro shot a laser out of the crescent moon on his head. Cat Noir threw himself and Ladybug out of the way and Animaestro transformed into a cartoon dog. "I am the only true hero."

Meanwhile, in the movie theatre, Jim and Claire, wearing their armor and helmets, were lifting rubble. "We'll have you out as soon we can, Ladies and Gentlemen," Claire stated. Claire heard clanging and looked up to see a steel bar falling. She screamed, flinched, and held her hands out. She closed her eyes, waiting for the rubble to crush her. Holding her eyes shut, she thought the rubble would hit her but the impact never happened. She opened her eyes to see a shadow portal. Claire stared at the portal in shock. Before looking at her hands. 'Did I do that?' She thought to herself. Jim found his girlfriend, looking at the portal.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked. "Did you do that?" Jim held his hand out for his girlfriend.

"I... Think I did," Claire answered, grabbing Jim's hand and pulling herself up. "Don't know how though."

Jim and Claire heard coughing. "HELP!" Tom shouted out.

"Hold on, Mr. Dupain!" Jim called out as he and Claire rushed to Marinette's parents...

"Stay behind me, M'lady!" Cat Noir exclaimed as he ran towards Animaestro who throws a cartoon hole on the ground. Cat Noir, impulsive as ever, fell into the hole and had to be pulled out by Ladybug's yoyo.

"You okay, Cat Noir?"

Cat Noir noticed something. "Watch out!" Large red boxing gloves came flying towards them but they jumped out of the way before they got turned into mush. "How do you beat a 2D character?"

Ladybug had noticed the one consistency in all of Animaestro's transformations. "The only thing that doesn't change when he transforms is his mask."

"The Akuma must be in it." Cat Noir and Ladybug became blinded by another flash as Animaestro transformed into a cartoon version of the New York superhero, Majestia. Animaestro now wore a red sleeveless vest with a swan-necked collar, three gold stars and two jagged gold lines on the front, and a zipper-like line down the center of the front, along with a long coattail. Underneath the vest, was a blue suit with exposed shoulders and long sleeves, and there were red knee-high boots with two jagged gold lines around the upper edge.

"Fear the power of cartoons!"

Ladybug snarked backed. "How about you fear the power of the Lucky Charm!" Ladybug's yo-yo shot up into the air and created a headband camera, which fell into Ladybug's hand. "A camera?"

"Well, of course!" Cat Noir quipped as Ladybug put the camera on her head. "Who better to make a movie about Cat Noir and Ladybug, than Ladybug and Cat Noir?" Animaestro fired lasers out of his eyes, destroying the ground beneath Ladybug and Cat Noir, forcing them down into the subway below. "He really doesn't take kindly to competition, does he?"

Hawk Moth spoke to Animaestro from his lair. "Take their Miraculous! They're at your mercy!" Animaestro transformed into a cartoon ninja and summoned pink smoke that filled the subway. Cat Noir and Ladybug began coughing from inhaling the smoke.

"I can't see anything," Cat Noir proclaimed. Animaestro transformed into his original form.

"Protect your Miraculous!" Ladybug ordered. "He could be anywhere!" Practicing what she preached, Ladybug covered her earrings and closed her eyes. Animaestro started to run towards them but stopped the moment Cat Noir closed his eyes. Cat Noir opened his eyes a little and saw Animaestro frozen in place for a millisecond before continuing towards them.

"Look out!" The Cat hero yelled as he pushed Ladybug out of the way. The heroes were continuing to be consumed by the smoke and closed their eyes again, ready to fight blind. As they waited - hearts racing - for Animaestro to attack again, a civilian looked into the hole.

"Is everything okay down there?" Ladybug and Cat Noir tried to throw their staff and yoyo at Animaestro but he transformed into a bird and flew out of the hole as the smoke cleared away.

"He's gone," Cat Noir said as he picked up his staff. "Why didn't he attack us while we were blinded?"

"I don't know," Ladybug answered. "It doesn't make any sense. Something must have happened that we didn't see which explains why the Lucky Charm was a camera." Ladybug took the camera off her head and reviewed the footage. "Protect your Miraculous. He could be anywhere!" Ladybug in the video said. Animaestro started running towards them but suddenly stopped.

"Did you just pause the image?" Cat Noir asked.

"No, did you see him freeze?"

"No. I had my eyes closed because of the smoke."

"Me too."

"Okay, so that's why he didn't take our Miraculous."

"If nobody's watching him…"

"…he stops moving!"

"Just like a movie. If nobody watches it, it's as if it didn't exist!"

"Now we know how to defeat him!" Ladybug and Cat Noir both escaped through the hole, observing the new threat. Animaestro had transformed into a unicorn and was spitting out rainbows at buildings. The rainbows were destroying well-known places such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Elysee Palace. Civilians started recording on their phones. "Uh oh. It won't be easy getting people to stop watching him now. Looks like this show is a sellout!"

Ladybug's earrings began beeping. "Time for the end credits, Cat Noir." The heroes jumped towards some civilians watching the villain. "Close your eyes! Everybody stop watching him."

"Just because it's colorful and shiny doesn't mean it's not extremely dangerous." The civilians closed their eyes, but Animaestro could still move.

"TV! Of course! Cat Noir, keep him busy."

Cat Noir nodded and began taunting Animaestro. "So... Are you jealous of our success, huh?"

"You can play the smart alec all you want, cat!" Animaestro scowled. "Once I have your Miraculous everyone will forget about you soon enough." Animaestro then transformed into a character that resembles Goku from Dragon Ball Z. He started shooting the Kamehameha attack at Cat Noir, who dodged it by a hair.

"Mm, I'll give you this, you got good taste in anime!"

Jim and Claire had evacuated the Cinema when they heard Ladybug's voice from a nearby virtual billboard. They looked at the sign and saw Ladybug "You!" She exclaimed while knocking on the camera lens. "Yes, you watching from the other side of the screen. Close your eyes, do not look at Animaestro. Turn off your screen. Come on, we need every one of you. It's the only way to stop him."

"Ha!" Animaestro scoffed. "You can tell everyone to close their eyes and switch off their TVs, but there will always be at least one person watching me."

In Hawk Moth's lair, the villain was watching the camera feed on a tablet. "I wouldn't miss this show for anything." He said laughing.

"I'm sorry, Nadja but this time to defeat the villain, there must be no live coverage." Ladybug smashed the lens of the camera, causing the screen to display the "Technical Difficulties" screen.

"What? No!" Hawk Moth screamed in panic, drowning out the noise on the tablet before throwing it on the floor. "Animaestro, I'm heading to you. Hurry up and bring me their Miraculous."

Hawk Moth used his secret elevator to get back up to his mansion, missing a crucial piece of information.

"Trollhunters!" Ladybug called out on the still audio-functional camera. "Hawk Moth will make his way to us. Try and keep an eye out for anyone coming in our direction. He'll either take the rooftops as Hawk Moth or speed in a car." Jim and Claire looked at each other and nodded.

Jim held up his amulet. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!" Jim's Trollhunter armor materialized over him and the amulet engraved itself in his left breastplate. His Sword of Daylight appeared in his hand, which he threw into the wall of a building. Claire charged at the sword and jumped onto the lodged handle. The sword bent and launched her up onto the roof. "I love her." Jim ran and did the same trick, landing next to his girlfriend. "The whole city's gone silent."

"Then we should be able to hear a car if he's coming."

Meanwhile, back in the fight, Animaestro turned into an anime-style girl and inexplicably caused an explosion, sending Ladybug flying. Cat Noir stopped and activated his superpower. "Cataclysm!"

"Everybody must watch ANIMATION!" Animaestro fired an explosion at Ladybug and Cat Noir, who lept out of its path.

"Funny, cause I think we're the last ones."

"And once we close our eyes," Ladybug snarked. "It'll be time for the end credits, Animaestro!"

Animaestro realized the heroes' plan. "No!" He screamed as he transformed back into his original form.

Gabriel was speeding to the battle scene when he reached a traffic jam. In frustration, he got out of the car and ran like he was evading a cheetah. "No. No!" Gabriel was so fixated on getting to the crime scene, he failed to notice the two Trollhunters on the rooftops watching him...

Animaestro charged towards Ladybug and Cat Noir. "Shut your eyes tight, Cat Noir."

"You know I trust you blindly." The Cat responded. Ladybug and Cat Noir closed their eyes at the same time, stopping Animaestro in his tracks just before he reached them. Cat Noir reached up and touched his mask with his Cataclysm, disintegrating it and causing the Akuma to fly out just as Gabriel reached the area.

Ladybug opened her eyes. "No more evildoing for you, little Akuma!" Ladybug opened her yo-yo and swung it around. "Time to de-evilize!" She captured the Akuma in her yo-yo. "Gotcha!" Ladybug pressed the button at the top of her yo-yo and released the purified Akuma. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." She then threw the Lucky Charm camera in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The wave of Ladybugs swarmed Paris, repairing all the damage caused during the fight. Ladybug grabbed the ID as Animaestro was consumed by the wave and turned back into the director.

"Huh?" He said in confusion. "What am I doing here? Cat Noir and Ladybug?"

Ladybug handed over the ID. "In the flesh. If you'll excuse me, we're about to transform back." Ladybug and Cat Noir fled the scene...

As did Gabriel, in a calm collected pace. "Ladybug, Cat Noir. Enjoy your apparent victory, because as in all the best tragedies, triumph always comes before failure." He was so sure of himself that he failed to notice he was being watched.

On the rooftop, Claire and Jim watched Gabriel walk away. "After that," Claire said. "Either he's working with Hawk Moth."

Jim finished her sentence. "... Or he is Hawk Moth."

The premiere was up and running again. Marinette was standing at the door watching people go into the auditorium when Jim and Claire returned. Before they could say anything, the director was heard. "Whoa, hold on." He said. The teens turned in his direction to see that he was talking to Gabriel's assistant Nathalie with the man himself on the screen of a tablet. "No mobile devices are allowed in the auditorium."

"Mr. Astruc," Gabriel explained. "I hope you understand that I am a very busy man."

"I understand that, Mr. Agreste. However, I'm afraid that your assistant cannot enter with the tablet. It could be used to record the movie and leak it online."

"And how am I supposed to see my son's performance?"

"Come down here personally if it means that much, which it should."

"I'm afraid that will be difficult. I am very busy and don't have the time."

"Then you will miss your son's movie and he will be disappointed in you again. Now if you're not gonna turn that tablet off and hand it to a member, then you are gonna have to leave."

"And leave Adrien alone?" Nathalie asked.

"Mayor Bourgeois will see to it that Adrien will remain safe. Besides, if what I've heard is true, it might be beneficial for him to have a bit more agency for himself."

Gabriel frowned. "I'll be right over."

"With any luck, you'll only miss the previews." Gabriel disconnected. "You still need to hand the tablet in or security will escort you out."

Marinette smiled at the events unfolding before turning to Jim and Claire. "Well done with saving people in the theatre."

Jim and Claire looked at each other with sadness. "We think we've found out who Hawk Moth is. And it's not good news..."