"Juleka, look!" Rose exclaimed. "Mylene and Alix got caught under the mistletoe we hung!"
Sure enough, Juleka turned around to see the two short girls standing underneath the artificial plant hanging from the doorway.
"Now you have to kiss!" continued Rose. Alix looked down at her feet, unwilling to meet the rainbow haired girl's eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with kissing girls," Juleka said. "Besides, it's just for tradition." Still, Alix was hesitant to look up.
"Ivan won't mind, honestly. It will be a new experience for me," reassured Mylene.
"That's not it," Alix muttered, still staring holes in her shoes. "You wouldn't understand."
"You're not homophobic, right Alix?" Juleka asked. "That's just not cool."
"If you really think so little of me, then I'll just leave!" Yelled Alix, as she turned around to storm out of the room. She ran through the halls and into the nearest restroom. Throwing open the stall door, she locked herself in and broke out into tears. Distraught over the embarrassment she faced in the art room, she didn't notice the corrupted butterfly land in her bracelet.
"The broken soul of one whose friends do not respect is a powerful one," Hawkmoth began. "The Confiner, I give you the power to trap others as they have trapped you. In return, I only ask for the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat- er, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes, Hawkmoth," The Confiner said, the energy of the akuma changing her appearance. She sported an entirely black and grey jumpsuit and face mask, purple and white hair escaping it's confines. The arm with the bracelet morphed into a cannon, from which a purple sphere of energy would fire, confining whatever it hit.
One of the purple balls zoomed past ther classroom the group of superheroes plus one were working in. The four students looked up to see students and other classrooms boxing in on themselves. Alya rushed out the door, giving a half hearted excuse about getting video for her blog. Nino followed the brunette out of the classroom, but ran in the opposite direction of her. Chloe and Nathaniel both stood confused at the sight. Before Chloe realised that there was an akuma on the loose, The Confiner stood in front of the doorframe.
"Alix?" Nathaniel called out, recognizing the akuma victim by her stature and hair. "Not Alix, but The Confiner," she said. Raising the arm with the cannon, she fired a blast at the two and left the room.
Reacting to the purple sphere headed their way first, Chloe jumped in front of it, letting it hit herself instead of Nathaniel. The wall in front of her turned white and separated itself from the left of the classroom. As it began moving forward, Chloe and Nathaniel moved closer to the windows. The wall stopped almost halfway down the classrooms. Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but the rear and front walls turned grey and black. They too closed in the two even more.
Chloe's eyes darted to the windows. Already the surrounding wall was beginning to turn purple. "Don't tell anyone you saw this," she said to Nathaniel. Calling her transformation with a shout of: "Pollen, buzz on!," she grabbed the red haired artist by the waist. Shooting her trump through the window, Queen Bee and Nathaniel flew out of the school.
She swung herself and Nathaniel on top of the school building. "Stay here and close your mouth. You'll catch flies," she told the artist, before swinging down into another open window. Back on the roof, Nathaniel still hadn't closed his mouth.
Meanwhile, the fox and turtle heroes were dealing with the akuma. After splitting up as their civilian selves, they transformed and encountered The Confiner.
"Rena! Over here," Carapace shouted from the other side of the school courtyard. The Confiner was firing blasts at him, which he deflected with his shield. Rena Rouge made her way to her ally and swung her flute at The Confiner, causing the akuma to lose her footing.
"I think the akuma's Alix," Rena told Carapace. "I wonder what got her akumatized anyway."
"I received these powers to show others what it feels like to be trapped is societal norms. By physically trapping them!" The Confiner said. She shot another blast of purple towards the superheroes, who quickly dodged it. A crash was heard from above, and Queen Bee flew through a window to the ceiling of the courtyard. Carapace threw his shield at The Confiner before she fired a blast at Queen Bee. Circling around the akuma, Rena retrieved the shield and tossed it back to its wielder.
Queen Bee opened her trompo and sent a message to the other two heroes
Jump above her and activate mirage to make doubles. Advance quickly and trap him with shellter. While she's distracted, I'll drop down ready with venom.
Rena Rouge and Carapace got the message and ran to The Confiner. Jumping above her, Rena called out "Mirage!" and many copies of the fox and turtle appeared and spread out. They all collectively advanced towards The Confiner, who was deciding who to target. Taking a random guess, she fired her blast directly at the real deal.
"Shellter!" Carapace called. A green sphere surrounded Rena and himself. Queen Bee shook her head in disappointment. Then, the blast hit Rena square in the chest. The walls and roof surrounded the shield, unable to move past it.
"Darn it!" Rena said. We're trapped in here and-" Her miraculous sounded its five minute warning beep. "And we are running out of time. Great."
"We'll have to detransform. We can't be seen as our civilian selves if Queen Bee gets us out of here," Carapace reluctantly admitted. "At the very least, I could detransform, recharge, and possibly use shellter again to get us out of this mess."
"I need to feed my kwami anyway. This way, I can be sure no one else but you will see me," Rena reasoned. "I should go first. Trixx, let's rest." The suit dissolved from hRena's body, leaving the plaid shirted reporter in her place.
"Alya!" Carapace exclaimed. "It was you this whole time? What are the chances three superheroes are in the same class!"
"So you are Nino them. Don't transform in front of the hostage you're trying to save."
"You could see me from there?" Nino said, dropping his transformation. The second the shield dissolved, the walls lurched inwards, smashing the two teens together.
"This is unexpected," Nino said, head more inches away from his partner.
"Just kiss me already," responded Alya.
Back outside, Queen Bee was struggling against The Confiner. She had seen the flashes of orange and green light from the box where her partners were trapped.
"Darn, I could use their help about now," she said to herself. Running around a corner, she managed to lose The Confiner. She shot her trompo back up towards the rafters in order to survey the school turned battlefield. Then she had an idea. Spotting The Confiner in the corner of the courtyard, she invoked venom.
"Hey stupid!" Queen Bee called out. "Catch!"
She threw her trompo towards the akuma, who turned around ready to block the weapon. Ignoring Hawkmoth's warning, she grabbed the trompo from the air. Instantly, she froze in place. Queen Bee dropped down from the rafters and walked up to the frozen villain and removed the arm cannon. Slipping it over her own hand, she walked over to the confinement Rena Rouge and Carapace got trapped in, and fired a blast at the walls. The structure dissolved and Queen Bee was presented with the worst PDA she had seen.
"Ahem," she coughed. "Transform so I can start releasing everybody."
"So much for secret identities," Nino murmured.