The next day, at Sloppy Joe's, Marinette decided she needed to cover her bases. She had lied to Alya the previous night that she was helping a friend plan a party, and the number one rule of alibis is that you stick to them.

It was this line of thinking that led Marinette to wait an hour after her shift ended to catch Lila coming in for her own. As the brunette sashayed by, Marinette got up from the table she had been loitering at and rushed to speak to her before she went into the locker room.

"Lila!"

Lila smiled and waved gently. "What's going on?"

Marinette stammered, suddenly nervous. What if Lila didn't need any help planning her party? What if Marinette was being impertinent by assuming she did? "I just… well, you're still planning that party, right? I was wondering if maybe you needed an extra hand."

Lila's eyebrows rose and her olive-colored eyes lit up. "Oh! You want to help me plan the huge bash? That's awesome, Marinette! So nice of you."

Marinette colored, remembering that Lila was sweet and understanding, and would never think someone was impertinent for offering help. She exhaled, losing the tension, and nodded. "Of course! You decided to throw it for us, so I figured it was the least I could do."

Lila grinned and tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "Hmm. Maybe you could help me figure out the music? You probably have great taste; you could make a jam playlist!"

Marinette thought about that for a moment, but none of her favorite musicians fit the bill. Most of them were grungy rock stars, and she shuddered to imagine everyone being bored at the party, or worse, leaving early. But she did want to help Lila, so she thought fast. "I'm not sure my music is cool enough, but I have a friend who's a DJ. I could ask him if he'd be down to do the gig as a favor."

Lila's eyes widened. "No way! You know a DJ? That would be sooo cool! Thank you so much, Marinette!" She jumped up to emphasize her excitement.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Marinette ducked her head. It was nice to do things for other people.

"Well, if it's nothing, as you say…" Lila began, and Marinette's eyes snapped back to look at her friend. "I remember a certain conversation we had where you mentioned you'd bake something for me if I asked you…" she teased, her tone lilting.

"Oh! Of course!" Marinette recovered, thankful it was something doable. "Would you like croissants, macarons…?"

Lila pursed her lips. "Hmm. The thing is, I'm not sure how many people will be there yet. I'll make sure to find that out tonight and maybe we can plan it out some more tomorrow?" she asked, her eyes apologetic.

Marinette nodded, her mind shuffling through her schedule for tomorrow, trying to find an opening. She had a little bit of time between class and her internship. "Yeah, alright! I'm free for about an hour at 13:00. Does that work?"

"Totally!" Lila exclaimed, her hand moving to the locker room door handle. "Here?"

Marinette shook her head. "No… Maybe we can try your place? That way we can plan out where to put tables and where the DJ can set up."

A flash of something passed behind Lila's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by sheepishness. Marinette's brow furrowed but she forgot her concern as Lila spoke. "Ahh… my place is kind of a mess still, with boxes not yet unpacked — it would be inconvenient for you. Why don't we try your place instead?"

Marinette considered that. It was the afternoon, so her roommates would be in class. She smiled as she agreed to Lila's proposal. She didn't want to disturb Alya, Juleka or Mylène since she didn't know how much space she and Lila would take up, or if they'd be playing loud music.

"Cool! See you then! And thanks again for being so awesome, Marinette!" Lila's smile was so wide it made her eyes crinkle.

Marinette waved and let Lila get ready for work, feeling buoyant. So it was an alibi, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to have fun with it.

The time arrived on the following day, and Marinette was surprised to find Alya lounging on the couch when she came back to the apartment from class.

"Hey," she greeted her friend. "Don't you have class right now?"

Alya shrugged, putting her phone down. "Yeah, but the prof cancelled lecture today. So I've just been bumming it. Probably gonna call Nino later."

"Okay," Marinette replied, a bit abashed. "Had I known I wouldn't have let Lila come over."

"Lila?"

"Yeah, she's my coworker. The girl whose party I'm helping plan?"

"Ahh. Well, don't worry about it. She can be here — I'm not doing anything important," Alya smiled, gesturing to her sweatpants and worn out concert t-shirt.

Marinette got everything arranged so that she could leave for her internship as soon as possible, and set out her homework so that she could hit the books as soon as she got back. She relaxed for a moment when the doorbell rang and she jumped.

Plagg peeked out of her shirt pocket. "Company!"

She gave him a look and he darted back out of sight with a chuckle.

Marinette moved to the door and met Lila's radiant grin when she opened it. "Hey you!" Lila called, stepping over the threshold and wrapping Marinette up in a hug, as if they were the closest of friends. A little confused, but not wanting to be rude, Marinette embraced her back.

When they stepped away and Lila began to ask Marinette where a good place to set up would be, Marinette noticed Alya narrowing her eyes at them in her peripheral vision. She tried to ignore her roommate and answer Lila. "The dining room table should be enough space," she gestured to it as she spoke.

Lila headed over and took a seat when Marinette figured introductions were in order. "By the way, Lila, this is Alya, my roommate. Alya, Lila."

"Nice to meet you! Any friend of Marinette's is a friend of mine!" Lila smiled, her voice bright and chipper.

Marinette was about to relax at that response, but Alya merely lifted up a chin in Lila's direction. "Charmed."

Lila's shoulders fell, her eyes lowering into her lap, clearly hurt. Marinette gave Alya a look. Alya responded by putting her palms up and raising her eyebrows, as if to say, "don't look at me!" Marinette sighed and knew she'd talk to Alya about it after Lila left.

"So," she tried to steer the afternoon back on track, turning to her guest. "Did you find out how many people will be coming?"

Lila perked back up, nodding excitedly and pulling out her phone. "Yeah! I wrote it down here… It looks like it'll be fifteen people! Which is going to be awesome! It'll feel like a full house since my apartment is about the same size as yours, but it'll be intimate too."

Marinette's brain kicked into action. "Fifteen people — so they'll probably have about two croissants each, or three macarons… Or maybe, a croissant and some macarons," she winked at Lila, and both girls giggled.

"Thanks for being a champ and offering to do this!" Lila gushed. "Do you want any help baking? I'd rather you do whatever is easier for you, but I have to admit, having both pastries would be awesome…"

Marinette chuckled. "I'll see what I have. If we do croissants, that's about thirty, which isn't too hard. For macarons, forty-five… and for both… about fifteen croissants and thirty macarons. So it's not impossible."

Lila wiggled excitedly in her chair. "Okay, sweet! We can start now if you want my help with it!" she offered again, but Marinette just laughed good-naturedly.

"It would take a lot longer than we have time for to make them. I have to get to my internship anyway, and I don't want to burn the place down. But thank you."

Lila's shrugged humbly. "Okay. So we've figured out the snacks. Did you talk to your DJ friend? Is he available?"

Marinette jumped in surprise. Her eyes darted to Alya, who was pointedly looking at her phone and seemed to be ignoring them both. But Marinette knew better. She sighed. "Hey Alya?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Nino would be able to DJ the party we're planning?"

Alya's eyes whipped to Marinette's in a flash. Her expression shifted from shock, to disbelief, to excitement. "For real?"

Marinette nodded. "No pay, though. We're all broke college students."

Alya's joy dampened a little. "I'll ask. He probably will, but have a backup, just in case." She went back to her phone, and Marinette hoped she was texting Nino about it right then and there. If he said no, her music library would be the backup, and she tried not to sweat thinking about it.

Marinette turned back to Lila, who had a strange look on her face. "You okay?"

Lila shook herself, coming to. "Yeah. I just feel bad bothering Nino."

Marinette smiled. "That's nice of you, but Nino's a sweetie. He gets a few gigs but nothing crazy. He's still a student, so it's hard to find the time. This party will be casual, so I'm sure he'll want to do it, just for fun."

Lila still didn't look convinced.

Marinette sighed. "Don't worry. If anything, I'll make him some extra croissants as an incentive." She winked and Lila brightened again immediately.

"Okay, that makes me feel better. I didn't want him to feel used."

Marinette smiled and shook her head reassuringly, amazed at how compassionate Lila could be about someone she'd never met.

She was about to say as much, when Lila opened her mouth. "Sorry to impose, but could I be directed to your restroom?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. It's through that door, at the end of the room." Marinette gestured to her bedroom.

"Thanks!" Lila stood up and Marinette watched her until the door closed behind her, ready for Alya to speak as soon as it did.

"Marinette!" her friend hissed.

"What's your problem?" Marinette replied.

Neither girl moved from their places as they spoke. "How do you stand her?"

Marinette boggled. "What are you talking about?"

"Umm… everything? That girl is so fake. From her perky little voice to the way she walks. I'd be surprised if anything that came out of her mouth was genuine."

Marinette's head was reeling. Lila, fake? In what world? Lila was one of the sweetest people Marinette knew. What was Alya getting on about? "You don't even know her!"

Alya stood up off the couch, moving towards their room. "I don't need to. I can tell just by watching your weird interactions together," her tone implying that it was obvious.

Marinette sat back in her chair, winded. Alya disappeared into their bedroom and Lila still hadn't returned.

Plagg poked back out of Marinette's pocket. "What do you think of all this?" she asked her kwami.

He shrugged. "She seemed like a nice, normal girl to me. But I trust Alya."

Marinette's stomach twisted. She trusted Alya, too. But it felt like these accusations were coming out of nowhere, completely unfounded. Alya was a journalist. It was unlike her to jump to conclusions without evidence. But were Marinette's interactions with Lila sufficient evidence?

The door opened and Marinette's head snapped up from her pocket. Plagg had made himself scarce. Both Lila and Alya emerged at once, and Marinette's brow furrowed. That was odd. Alya's face was set in a hard line; Lila was smiling as she almost always did.

Lila returned to her seat across from Marinette. "Thanks for letting me use your bathroom."

"Sure," was all Marinette could say, trying to keep the smile from wobbling off of her lips.

They discussed their plans for the party's music a bit longer, and Lila chuckled when Marinette confided that she wasn't sure she was equipped to provide the tunes if things didn't work out with Nino.

"There's no need to worry! We can just make a playlist together! I have some party jams, it'll be cool, even though having DJ would be way cooler." Lila waved a hand to dismiss Marinette's concern.

Marinette let herself relax at how understanding Lila was being. Everything was back to normal. So what was going on with Alya?

Lila's phone suddenly buzzed. "Oh, gosh! I should get going!"

Surprised, but wanting to be a good host, Marinette stood from the table when Lila did. "Already? It's been, like, twenty minutes."

"Yeah, sorry, Marinette. I have to meet with another friend who is making the decorations."

"Ah. I see. Have fun and I'll get the supplies to make the macarons." Marinette followed Lila to the door, seeing her friend out.

"It was fun though! We'll hang again!"

"For sure," Marinette smiled, opening the door.

"See ya!" Lila called as she headed down the stairs.

When Marinette closed the door, her eyes landed on Alya. She wanted to be upset at her roommate, wanted to blame her for making something out of nothing, but she couldn't find it in herself. Her shoulders fell as she met Alya's defiant gaze. "I want to believe you, Alya, I really do. But I've known Lila for a while now, and the two of you have only just met. I'm sorry if I think I'm a better judge of her character as a result."

Alya sighed, scooting over on the sofa, motioning for Marinette to join her. Marinette did so, and Alya adjusted the glasses on her nose before speaking. "Under other circumstances, I'd probably agree with you. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. Maybe the context of our meeting is all wrong. Maybe Lila is just stressed. Any of these reasons might make someone give off a bad impression."

Marinette wanted to be reassured, but she knew the caveat was coming.

"The thing is, Lila didn't go to the bathroom."

Marinette was taken aback. "How do you —"

"I know because when I went into our room, I found her rummaging in your stuff," she interrupted pointedly.

"What…?" Marinette asked, but it was a ghost of a question, a whisper, as Marinette's voice died on her tongue. Her blood was like ice in her veins. Immediately her mind jumped back to the locker break-in. Had Lila been lying when she'd explained it away?

Alya's brows crinkled together with guilt. "I didn't realize how close you thought the two of you were. When I opened the door, she jumped up suddenly and hid something behind her back. She was standing at your bedside; your craft drawer was open. I immediately approached her about it. She tried to lie that she was just grabbing something you needed, but I knew you hadn't asked her to do that. I asked her what her deal was, why she was being such a fake, but she denied everything, of course. She tried to reassure me and even suggested I leave but I laughed at that, told her, 'nuh-uh, honey. I'm not budging till you do.' She smiled at me but I could tell she was annoyed, but she dropped whatever it was she had taken back into the drawer and did as I said."

Marinette just sat there, listening to Alya, not knowing what to think. How could Lila do something like that? And then another more pressing, more haunting question emerged. What was she trying to find?

Alya put her hand on Marinette's shoulder, making their eyes meet. "Look. She didn't tell me anything. Maybe I really am just jumping to conclusions, and Lila is simply weird but harmless overall. But I've never seen someone lie so well. I'm nervous what her motives are."

Marinette rubbed her hand against her arm, mulling over that. Lila had been so kind to Marinette this whole time. What could her motives be for lying? She just moved into a new apartment and must be lonely. Maybe she didn't know how to make friends well, and this was her way of going about it? Poking around in people's things? Marinette sighed. "Thanks for telling me all this, Alya. I'll keep my eyes peeled from now on. But I'm still going to go through with this party. She's my coworker and I don't want to create workplace tension."

Alya nodded, even though Marinette could tell she didn't agree with her choices. However, Alya didn't voice any disagreeing thoughts. "Okay. You should probably go make sure none of your stuff is missing. I don't know what she could have been up to while you and I were talking."

Marinette wanted to say "in the bathroom," because that's where she'd said she'd be, but she stayed silent, only nodding and getting off the couch. She went into the bedroom, closed the door behind her, and just rested against it for a moment. Plagg popped back out of her pocket and flew about the room, sniffing about to see if anything had been touched, scanning to see if anything had been moved.

"Everything seems the same to me," Plagg announced from under the bed. Marinette said nothing, moving to her craft drawers and opening the top. The fabrics had been shifted, but it was so minute, she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been suspicious. Lila was good at going through people's things, and Marinette didn't want to follow that line of thought to figure out why.

She opened the next drawer. Everything was the same except for a bracelet that was carelessly thrown down next to some sequins and beads. Marinette pulled it out and hung it back on her jewelry tree, which was on the shelf above the drawer. She stopped short when she realized that two of her rings had switched places. Her heart froze. Lila had been examining her rings…?

Without thinking, Marinette ran to her desk and opened the jar of mints sitting innocuously beside her pencil case. She stopped breathing as she lifted it up, opened the lid and —

Her breath tumbled out in relief. It was still there. The bee miracle stone. She put her hand on her chest to normalize her heart rate.

Plagg stiffened on her shoulder. "You don't think… she was looking for that, do you?" his voice hollow, horrified.

But Marinette shook her head. "I don't think so, Plagg. But I've made an important realization. I need to wear this at all times. Even if my purse isn't big enough to fit two kwamis. I'm not sure what I'd do if I lost it."

So, Marinette glanced at the clock. She still had half an hour before her internship. She plugged in her sewing machine, got out some fabrics, a spool of thread, scissors…

Plagg sat atop the machine and watched her cut open the side of her purse after dumping its few contents on the bed. Marinette looked up at him, smiled, laid the purse onto her lap, and slipped the other ring on her pointer finger. She closed her eyes at the flash of light but grinned when Pollen appeared.

"Now you two can have a little company," Marinette offered, beginning to measure out fabric. She was thankful she still had enough left of the pattern from when she had made the purse in the first place.

Pollen flew about, excitedly exploring Marinette's room for the first time. Plagg followed her, scolding her for being nosy but immediately showing off everything he found fascinating. He had her try some Cheese-Itz, but she didn't care for them.

"Pollen," Marinette called. "What snack would you prefer?"

"Anything with honey, majesty!" she responded instantly, vaulting back over to Marinette jubilantly. Marinette giggled, petting the top of the kwami's head with her finger.

"I think that can be arranged."

With a few minutes to spare, Marinette put the finishing touches on her purse, which was now a little larger than twice its previous size. She brandished it out to the kwamis. "Try it out, see if you fit," she asked.

Pollen bubbled, "I've never been carried in a purse before!" and dove right in. Plagg followed suit and Marinette looked in at them, satisfied that they could both sit comfortably inside it.

"You guys will have to keep quiet in there, though. If someone heard my purse talking, they might be concerned."

Plagg waved a paw, as if it was no big deal, but Pollen nodded obediently. Marinette closed the purse, grabbed everything she needed for the Parisian Design House, and left the room, stopping at the kitchen to throw a few honey and butter cookies into a plastic bag for Pollen.

She stopped at the front door. Alya was on the phone with Nino but she covered the receiver and asked, "Anything missing?"

Marinette just shook her head. "Thank you, though."

Although Marinette had every intention to go to her internship, the peacock stone wielder had other ideas. Marinette had just stepped foot across the threshold at the PDH when everyone's phones went off at once. Mireille shrieked and held her phone away from herself, yelling, "A monster! Over by the university!"

Marinette didn't have to make up a phony excuse. She just darted back towards the direction she had come from, unnoticed. She pulled over behind a tourist map and opened her purse. "I hope both of you have had enough to eat."

Plagg still had some crumbs on his whiskers, but Pollen, ever the regal one, looked impeccable. "We're ready when you are, majesty!"

"Alright," Marinette clenched her fists, hesitating. If the last battle was anything to go off of, this sentimonster would mean business. She just hoped that having the extra kwamis on their side would be enough to turn the tables. "Plagg, Pollen, transform me!"

The kwamis vanished into their respective rings, and Buzzy Noire unhooked the spinning top from around her waist and raced to Rue Françoise-Dupont, eyes scanning the rooftops for her red-and-green partner all the while.

She didn't have to look hard to find the sentimonster. As soon as she got close to the university, she could see it. It was huge and bulky, just like the old sentimonsters had been. Buzzy's heart relaxed in relief. Would this be another battle like any other? Was the previous one just a strange exception, and they were going overboard by using their fusions?

Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop as the monster threw its head back and gave a great wailing roar, and Buzzy Noire nearly tripped over a shingle as she got a good look at its face. There was a sentient being in there, all right. If anything, this fight would be more fearsome than the last.

Buzzy's eyebrows knitted together beneath her mask. The sentimonster was tall. And it seemed to be made entirely of sand. Sand poured from the monster's body as it moved, spewed from its mouth when it roared. Buzzy tried to comfort herself with the thought that at least there were no vines to try and tie them up with.

Tortunello joined her, landing at her side as he usually did. "Looks like we've gotten ourselves into a gritty situation," he leered, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Ha ha." Buzzy rolled her eyes, but she chuckled despite herself. "What do you think is the best approach for dealing with this sandman?"

"Don't let him put you to sleep?" he shrugged, still messing around.

Buzzy Noire gave him a look and he dropped the act.

"Okay, okay." He steeled his features, glaring intently at the rampaging monster.

They both watched it until the sentimonster turned to glare right at them. It chuckled, low and ominous, the voice rumbling. "There you two are. Paris' lovebirds. When I'm through with you, you'll both be nothing more than a memory!" The monster threw its head back and let out another cry, sticky sand flying right toward them. Buzzy Noire and Tortunello jumped away from one another to avoid being hit, then regrouped on an adjacent rooftop.

"So. The new sentimonsters seem to like making threats."

But Buzzy's head and stomach spun in unease. The monster was right — they were still Paris' lovebirds. It looked like Tortunello wasn't going to be able to make good on his promise to either break up or reveal by the next fight (i.e. right now) which meant that they were still at a dangerous disadvantage, regardless of their new powers. She gulped.

Tortunello met her eyes, and his own narrowed. Buzzy Noire could see the guilt swirling in those mirrors, and she felt even sicker. This was going to be a disaster.

Tortunello put his hand on her shoulder. "We've got this."

Buzzy Noire couldn't agree but she didn't say so. Instead, she leaped ahead to learn more about their opponent. Tortunello followed as she dodged sandy sprays, both heroes examining the monster from all sides. Where could the hidden victim be?

"No more games!" it bellowed, and Buzzy Noire ducked more projectile sand. No more games? They had arrived on the scene less than five minutes ago!

"Has anyone told you that you need to learn some patience?" Tortunello leered, jumping away from his partner to distract the monster, letting her get out of the line of fire to come up with a plan. Buzzy Noire was grateful, but her mind was blank. All she could think about was how doomed they were, and though she realized her mindset wasn't helping, she couldn't get it to break.

Unfortunately, the sentimonster saw right through Tortunello and turned at the last second to lash its arm out, spraying sand at Buzzy Noire, catching her feet and pulling her to the concrete ground. Buzzy screamed, expecting her fall to hurt, but her cry caught in her throat as she felt no impact at all. She looked down and her lower half was submerged in sand, and the rest of her body was sinking fast.

Not sand. Quicksand.

Buzzy tried not to panic, but it was pointless. She had already been panicking, and with that realization came the hyperventilating. This was it. They were going to lose. She could feel it.

Her miracle stones were already covered, sinking lower. They belonged to the enemy now. There was no hope for them.

Her eyes began to fill as her heart grew heavy in her chest. They failed, and now they were going to lose two miracle stones each. Fu should never have trusted her.

But while Buzzy Noire was sinking further, both figuratively and literally, Tortunello had been coming up with a strategy of his own. He threw himself forward, landing right beside Buzzy from his spot on the rooftop.

"What are you doing?" she asked frantically. "You'll get stuck!" Even if she was a lost cause, he could still get away, still save some miracle stones from falling into the enemy's hands.

But Tortunello looked down at her and gave her his soft, confident smile. "Relax, my love."

His confidence cut through to her. He wouldn't be so composed if the fight was over, if they had failed. Buzzy Noire nodded minutely, trying to get a grip on her breathing. She didn't know what Tortunello's plan was, but she knew she trusted him.

"Protection!" he exclaimed, holding out his turtle shell and surrounding them both with an impenetrable green bubble.

The monster roared in anger at having been thwarted. "You think you're so clever? Even your added powers won't help you!"

But it was an empty threat, because the heroes were safe from everything with Tortunello's protection. He grinned at the sandman before turning to Buzzy.

"Keep still. Struggling makes you sink." She froze at his words and he gripped her under her arms to pull her out of the trap, and Buzzy was amazed that the sand was like putty; it stayed together, leaving her completely clean upon removal.

She took a moment to catch her breath before looking up at her rescuer. "Thank you."

"Always," he squeezed her arm to comfort her for a moment before he turned to look back at the sentimonster. "This one is so big, I'm not sure where the person inside could be. But I say we aim for the middle, because we'll have the best chance of finding them there."

Buzzy Noire nodded breathlessly. "Sure. Your idea sounds excellent."

"Lucky charm!" he called, and when the pink light vanished, the duo beheld a small, hand-sized slingshot.

Tortunello scratched his head, but something above them caught Buzzy's eye.

The sentimonster had unearthed a street sign, and was lifting it up to bash the protective bubble the heroes were encased in.

Buzzy Noire opened her mouth to warn Tortunello, but she was too late.

The street sign came down, and all Buzzy could do was jump on Tortunello to keep him from getting hit. The protection fizzled and disappeared, and the slingshot went flying out of Tortunello's surprised grip.

They didn't have time to look for the lucky charm — they were on their feet in a moment, sprinting and flying away from the monster.

"Why did the shelter break?" Buzzy Noire called over the sound of the wind.

"I wasn't focusing! It was weak!" Tortunello answered, ducking another swipe of the street sign, dodging a spray of sand.

Buzzy's nerves began to eat at her again, but she shook her head. She had been a mess earlier, and look where that had gotten her. She needed to focus, otherwise she'd be weak, just like Tortunello's protection power.

She looked down at her two weapons. She had enhanced abilities now. So why was she stressing out and running away like some weakling? Like an amateur?

Buzzy Noire shifted her attention, putting escaping on autopilot. What did they need the most now? What would be the most helpful?

Time, was the answer that screamed from the depths of her adrenaline-overdosed blood. They needed time to come up with a plan, to think, to find the lucky charm.

Buzzy grinned wickedly, pulling her spinning top from her waist. They needed time, and she could give it to them.

Without warning, she turned around and sped toward the sentimonster, surprising both it and her partner.

"Venom!" she screamed, feeling the electric power spring up in her palm, bright yellow and terribly exhilarating. It pulsed and beat like it had its own menacing heart, quivering and anxious to strike. Buzzy Noire spun closer to the monster, jumping up as she closed the distance, pressing her palm firmly to its chest, feeling relief like a long exhale when the power discharged, rendering the sentimonster completely immobile.

Fluidly, she threw herself over its shoulder, landing on the ground behind it on her feet, with all the grace of a cat. She wanted to holler in excitement, to celebrate, but she knew they must not have a lot of time. She wasn't the most experienced miracle stone holder, or the most confident. A few minutes was all she could guarantee.

Tortunello landed at her side, giving her a smile. "Nice one!"

She nodded happily, and then they split up to look for the lucky charm. As she searched, Buzzy raked over her mind. How on Earth could they use a slingshot? They had nothing to launch at it, and throwing the charm itself seemed silly. What had Tikki been thinking? They had no projectiles. Unless…? Buzzy Noire's eyes grew wide, and she ran to meet with Tortunello.

Buzzy returned to the street where they had parted, hoping to find him quickly. Any second now, the monster would come back to life.

Tortunello was flying above her, using his yo-yo as a helicopter, scanning the ground. Buzzy Noire waved, trying to call him back. After some hesitation, he touched down in front of her. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "I think the charm was a little different this time. More like a clue. I think… it was telling us to shoot something at the monster — and that thing was me."

Tortunello balked. "What?"

Buzzy Noire nodded. "I can't think of how else to use it, even if we found it and turned it into an unlucky charm. It's too small for a foe like this."

Tortunello grew uneasy. "What do you suggest then?" He was narrowing his eyes at her, unsure whether her theory was correct.

Buzzy Noire ducked her head, positive that Tortunello wouldn't like what was coming next. "Detransform? And summon another charm?"

Tortunello stiffened. "No way, I'm not going to leave you defenseless!"

Buzzy Noire crossed her arms, indignant. "I'm not defenseless. And this arguing is a waste of time. If I'm wrong, then the charm will just be another slingshot. But it's pointless to run all over creation looking for it, when you can just make another."

Tortunello eyed the sentimonster, which they could see peeking out above the tops of the buildings, still stiff and unmoving. "Fine. But don't get into another sticky situation — pun not intended!" he called, winking, vanishing into an alley.

Buzzy Noire headed back to the sand monster, to focus on making her power last longer (even though she wasn't entirely sure if that was how it worked), leaving Tortunello alone to feed his kwami. She hoped she could give him enough time.

She spun her top and launched herself to the sentimonster, thinking of nothing but keeping it rooted to the spot. Her feet touched a rooftop and she stared at the being, trying to exert mental strength over it. She wished Mme. Lenoir was here, so that she could ask what it took to become a strong miracle stone wielder. It seemed as though Coccinello already had a good grip on his new powers, but she felt like she was just scratching the surface of hers.

The more she thought about it, the longer she stared at the monster, the more she realized that becoming stronger was all she wanted. She had been so happy, so confident, before the peacock wielder changed tactics. Now that the sentimonsters were tougher, Buzzy Noire felt out of her depths all over again, just like she had in the beginning. She needed to get a strong grip on herself, on the situation, and on her powers. She needed to find out what it took to get there again.

Abruptly, the monster shuddered, blinking, and Buzzy Noire looked up in horror as she realized her time was done. She had been focusing so well, too!

She dodged sand as she hopped away, shaking her head, hoping Tortunello was back in action. She would need him if they were going to stop this thing.

She ran around the corner, calling, "Tortunello? Time's up!" Buzzy Noire threw herself against the wall, watching for the sentimonster to come around. A plan was forming in her head. It was a little half-baked, but she hoped it would work…

"Lucky charm!" echoed from the alley behind her, and Buzzy Noire smiled.

"Cataclysm!" she replied, ready to catch whatever he threw at her, even if it was another slingshot.

The monster came tearing around the corner just as Buzzy Noire turned to see a red object sailing through the air. It landed in her hand and turned blackish-purple, hissing with power.

Buzzy Noire jumped backward a few times, glancing at the charm. It was a tube of breath mints.

Buzzy's eyebrows raised. This was a new one. But without further ado, she tossed it to Tortunello. "Launch this into its mouth!"

Tortunello lassoed it with his yo-yo to avoid touching the unlucky charm. Buzzy knew it was her turn to rile up the monster; it seemed to be ignoring Tortunello altogether.

"So, you didn't like that trick I played, huh?" she teased, jumping out of the way, leading it somewhere more exposed, so that Tortunello could do his part easily.

"No!" it bellowed. "You've made a fool of my mistress for the last time, Kitty Noire!" and it launched more sand in her direction, but she saw it coming a mile away.

"Actually," she called over her shoulder, turning and bounding off the side of a building, aiming for a streetlight. "I'm Buzzy Noire now!"

When Buzzy's feet landed, the sentimonster opened its mouth to spew her with sand, and Tortunello whipped his yo-yo, sending the unlucky charm flying right into the monster's gaping — surprised — mouth. Instinctively, it swallowed, and Tortunello wrapped his yo-yo around Buzzy Noire to pull her out of the way before the monster exploded in a shower of sticky sand.

As the dust settled, the heroes looked down to find the victim, a young man, laying in a small pile of sand.

All of the fans that had assembled to watch the fight, but had hidden in order to avoid the quicksand, came out and cheered loudly. Buzzy Noire was relieved that they had won, but she tuned out the excited cries. There was a more important post-battle conversation on her mind.

Tortunello plucked out the evil feather, the victim came to, the heroes helped him onto the waiting stretcher, and then they waved at Nadja Chamack and Clara Contard before leaving the scene.

Buzzy Noire was as nervous now as she had been at the beginning of the battle. Yes, they had won, but the success tasted sour on her tongue. They had also made a lot of foolish mistakes. Yes, they had done better than their last fight, but not by enough.

Tortunello caught her mood shift. He stopped on an inconspicuous rooftop, and when Buzzy Noire tried to gauge his thoughts with a look in his eyes, he glanced away, staring intently at the city around them.

Buzzy sighed. She didn't want to do this, but she knew what Tortunello was thinking. He wasn't ready to reveal identities, and probably never would be; she was kidding herself by holding out on him.

There was only one solution left, the one she had tried to use all along. If they broke up, they would eventually fall out of love, and then they could go back to being level-headed, nothing more than a team in a dangerous game. Buzzy found it very hard to swallow all of a sudden, but she forced herself to be brave. She wanted to be a stronger miracle stone wielder, and if she couldn't be strong now, then there was no hope for her. "Cocci," she breathed.

"Mh-hm," was his response, and it was flat, as if he knew what was coming.

She took a deep breath, steeled herself. She was doing it for the miracle stones. "You made me a promise. You said that by the time we had our next battle, we would have already made up our minds. We would have already revealed ourselves or broken up."

They stood with their backs to each other, staring out at the Parisian afternoon. Tortunello said nothing, and so Buzzy's tears became harder to fight off. Was he really so unmoved by what he knew was about to happen?

Her voice shook when she spoke again. "And since you don't want to reveal identities, I think we both know what I'm about to do."

Tortunello's breath caught in his throat as she said that, and he whipped around to face her, putting his hand on her shoulder, desperately wheeling her closer, trying to see her face. Trying to ascertain if she was being genuine.

Buzzy Noire's glassy eyes fell to her feet. She couldn't look at him while she broke his heart. "We have to end this."

"No we don't," Tortunello whispered fiercely, his grip on her shoulders tightening.

"There's nothing else we can do. I've already proposed a solution. All you've done is tell me you can't bear to break rules. You can't have it both ways…"

Tortunello turned away, raking his hands over his short hair in frustration, but he said nothing.

She had hoped he was going to give in, to argue that she was right, that he'd rather do anything than lose her. But his silence was telling, and Buzzy Noire shook her head, growing upset with both him and herself. Why was he being so stubborn? Would he really rather lose her than break a rule? She wanted to open her mouth, to ask him, when he finally spoke.

"I just think… it would be worse for us. I think it would make fighting more dangerous if we knew each other. It would make everything so much realer. I wouldn't be able to look at you and think, 'oh, the girl I love is in trouble. But she'll be okay; she's really powerful.' Instead, all I would be able to see is your civilian self, and I know that — if I met her — I'd kill myself trying to protect her."

Tortunello's blue eyes burned into Buzzy's as he said it, and part of her melted into the floor at hearing his unwavering devotion. It was all she could have asked for. And yet, it terrified her. Because he was right.

There was nothing for it. It was dangerous no matter what they did; no matter where they stepped, a land mine waited for them, ready to burst in their faces. Because when it came to the other, they were in way too deep for any solution to work now — and any attempts to lessen the danger they found themselves in as a result, would fail miserably.

Those morbid thoughts threatened to send Buzzy Noire spiraling.

But, amazingly, for the first time, everything was clear. That was just it: there was nothing for it. Nothing they could do at all. They loved each other, and fighting that fact would only weaken them, distract them from focusing on what was more important. She found herself shaking her head, walking closer to Tortunello, trying with a smile to be confident.

"I think we've been operating under an assumption. That there's some end-all-be-all solution that can put us at less of a disadvantage when it comes to the other. But I just had a realization. What are we doing?"

Tortunello's eyebrows came together. "I don't follow."

She chuckled, but it was sad. "I love you, Cocci. I don't want to be apart from you. I want to be as close to you as possible. And yes, things will be dangerous for us, but I can't keep living in this limbo with you. Things have been dangerous for us ever since we became heroes, ever since we fell for each other. The solution to this problem isn't to make things less dangerous — it's to become stronger."

Buzzy Noire could see that Tortunello wasn't quite on board yet, so she held his hands and smiled. "The battle just now was hard. It would have been impossible for us if we were only using one miracle stone each. But we're already getting stronger, I can feel it. The next battle will be even easier than this one, which was easier than the last. Yes, we made some mistakes, but don't we always? Every battle has the possibility of being our last, but for some reason, I never remember that! I go into every fight thinking, this is it, this is the end." She sighed, shaking her head. "I think what will help us to grow is a change of mindset. Instead of being afraid of what will happen, we need to throw ourselves in it and learn to maneuver our way out. Remember how afraid we were in our very first battle? The only thing that made it better was experience… and working together." Buzzy's eyes grew soft as she rambled, lost in her memories, trying to sort out her thoughts while she was having them.

Tortunello put a hand on her cheek, caressing her with his thumb. He smiled gently at her words, his eyes full of adoration.

"So… I think we need to do the same thing this time. We need to fight more battles with our new stones, and we need to work together better, get closer. I know you hate the idea, but I think a reveal is just the push we need. You mentioned that it would make things more real and well, even though I think they've been pretty real, I think making them realer would push us to work harder to protect each other, to help each other, to become a stronger team, and therefore stronger individuals. Isn't that what love is all about?"

Tortunello laughed briefly, then he sighed heavily, holding Buzzy's head in both hands. His shoulders fell. "I guess I don't have much choice, now that you've explained it all so beautifully. And, well, it's either this or breaking up, huh?"

Buzzy Noire's own laugh rushed out of her lungs, a sound of relief. "Yes," she hurried to respond, "I think so, anyway. Unless you came up with a compromise while I was babbling."

Tortunello smiled and shook his head. "No, no. And even if I did, I think I agree too much with something in particular that you said."

His lip turned up into a half smirk and Buzzy's core trembled. "Oh? And… what was that, in particular?" she asked, almost unaware of what she was saying. Tortunello's eyes were bright, captivating, and so sure of themselves. Her thoughts were lost in them, in the anticipation of what he was going to say.

He broke their gaze, eyes landing on their feet. Then, one of his hands slid to her shoulder, pulling her even closer, and he was back, gazing at her from beneath his lashes, a blush creeping up his neck. Buzzy Noire's bones went soft, but then he spoke.

"That I love you, and I don't want to be apart from you, and I want to be as close to you as possible. You pretty much had me right then and there."

Buzzy Noire's lips split into a bright grin, all teeth. "So… this means yes? That… that you've agreed to the reveal?" She could hardly believe it. She had hoped she could convince him, but she never thought she really would.

His slow nod was all she needed. Buzzy threw her arms around him and closed the negligible space between them, holding him tight, her relief overwhelming her.

They were going to do this. And they were going to become stronger for it. That was a promise.