What if Shadow Moth was more suspicious when Alya tried to trick him with the bathroom ruse?
Alya was in an impossible situation. Her family and friends were being held hostages in bubbles. When Chat Noir came, he would be heading into a trap. Marinette was bubbled up in the air in plain sight, in no position to transform into Ladybug.
She looked around for ideas; Sentibubbler, the bowl of fruit on the dining room table, and the bathroom door seemed to light up in her mind.
"Say, uh, Sentibubbler? I have to go to the bathroom."
"Not now," said Sentibubbler sternly.
Alya pranced in place. "Seriously, it can't wait. Must be the stress. Sure will look weird if Ladybug finds me like this, after I pee my pants."
"Just remember that if you try anything, I'll send those bubbles right into space!" said Sentibubbler.
Alya raised her hands in a shrug and walked from the porch window and around the table. "I can' t try anything without a Miraculous, anyway. I just need to go to the buh-"
Alya deliberately tripped, upsetting the dining table. The silver bowl of fruit fell to the floor in front of her and the grapes she need for refueling Trixx rolled out.
She was hidden for a moment from Sentibubbler.
"Trixx, let's pounce!" she whispered. The transformation dance played in her mind, but the effect in the real world was instantaneous.
Rena Rouge puffed very softly on her flute and called "Mirage!"
She created a fake Alya carrying an empty silver fruit bowl above her head. It would give the idea that Alya was cleaning up after her fall, explaining the short delay while she was out of sight.
Fake Alya set the bowl on the kitchen counter with a fake clicking sound.
Rena Rogue moved to a more concealed position at the far end of the table, just in case Sentibubbler walked around to check, but he didn't.
As Sentibubbler followed the illusion to the bathroom, Rena Rouge slipped back around the table, and into the room of her little twin sisters, picking up the fallen bunch of grapes along the way.
She expanded the illusion around fake Alya, creating the appearance of her opening the door to the bathroom, going in, and closing the door. This was rather tricky with Sentibubbler watching at close range. because the real door remained closed and the illusion couldn't touch it. The fruit bowl on the counter was just an extension of the Alya illusion, and she let it lapse without thinking about it. Sentibubbler wasn't looking that way and it wasn't in Shadow Moth's line of sight.
"You've got thirty seconds," said Sentibubbler.
Rena Rouge called "Reality" and let her mirage drop. So far, so good.
Shadow Moth was on a roof almost directly across from the porch.
He continued dictating a countdown for Sentibubbler, but there was suspicion in his mind. A hostage needing to use the bathroom was often a ruse. He decided to cross to the porch to keep a closer eye on things. He might be spotted by an arriving Ladybug, but it was worth the risk.
He slipped into the room from the porch door. He saw objects spilled from the table – and there was the silver fruit bowl on the floor! On the counter there was nothing.
"Sentibubbler, open the bathroom door! You were a fool to let her close it."
Trixx was still refueling with a grape. There was nobody in the bathroom when Sentibubbler kicked it open.
"An illusion! Rena Rouge is here; she can't have gone far! Flood the rooms with small bubbles and pop any illusions!"
Rena Rouge had transformed again and created a concealing illusion, but it was too late. Tiny bubbles slipped under the door and filled the twin's room where she was hiding. They touched her illusion and dispelled it. She gasped in surprise.
Hawk Moth crashed open the door to the twin's room and towered over Rena Rouge. He grabbed her flute.
"So! I didn't think Ladybug would be foolish enough to leave the Fox Miraculous with you on a permanent basis when I knew your identity. Even though my Optigami saw you with a free kwami, and you handed out a Miraculous to my Senti-Nino. It seems you are much closer to her than I thought. I'm going to make you tell me everything you know about Ladybug and Chat Noir!"
