Together, We're Miraculous

by ghirahim

[Discontinued] Every few hundred years, there's a new cycle of Miraculous holders and a Guardian to protect them—and, you know, the world. When a Miraculous gets stolen by some clown calling himself Hawkmoth, The Guardian puts a team together to stop him. But first they have to get used to one another and the concept of teamwork.

7. Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby (Part 1)

In all his years as Guardian and through the tales of every Guardian before his mentor, Fù has never heard of anyone being akumatized – for good or evil – that did not transform into a personification of their most prevalent emotion.

It's been two weeks since that incident and there hasn't been not one akumatization.

Nino, Kagami, Alya, and Marinette are all seated on the mat before him. Fù takes a deep breath as he begins pacing, "I know the four of you have not been a team for very long, a little over two months now, but it is time I choose my successor." He clears his throat, "one of you will be the next Guard—"

"Kagami." Nino, Alya, and Marinette interrupt. Kagami does a double take.

Fù strokes his beard and nods, "yes, yes. That could work. However, it would mean nothing if Kagami herself doesn't agree with the decision."

"Did you not have a choice, Master Fù?"

"I did. And I had my doubts."

"I-I'm not sure. I'm flattered you all think I'm the best candidate but why not Marinette? Wouldn't Ladybug be the logical and natural choice and best person suited to be future Guardian of the Miraculouses?"

"See!" Marinette points at her, "that right there is why you should be the new Guardian. None of us would think anything like that."

"You're selling yourselves short. I believe all of you have exemplary qualifications for a Guardian." The three of them group hug her.

"Then it's settled. Kagami Tsurugi, if you accept, I will teach you everything I know about being Guardian of the Miraculous."

"I will not let you down, Master." Fù smiles at her. "And thank you all for giving me the shot."

"And yet..." Plagg leans on Kagami's shoulder as the others release her, "she still doesn't have a full-time partner."

"Perhaps by being Guardian, she'll find a kwami best suited for her that I overlooked." Plagg opens his mouth, "no, Plagg. You only wish to be her partner full-time because you have similar natures."

"Why does Sugarcube get a human hand-carved to be like her while the rest of us have to be content with our opposite? How is that fair?"

"You don't have to be active at all." Trixx mocks.

"Unlike you, Dreams, I'm actually needed."

Trixx laughs loudly, "if you were needed Brie Breath, you'd have a partner." Plagg snarls then lunges at Trixx tackling them to the ground, "what are you gonna do Plagg, crack me again? Go ahead. Prove why you don't deserve a permanent partner." Plagg bares his fangs.

"Enough." They turn to Kagami, "I see the reason you two are never active in the same cycle. Plagg, get off them." Huffing, Plagg complies then angrily floats over to Kagami. "As the next Guardian, I give you my solemn vow I will find you a partner."

"B-But I wanna partner with you! C'mon Gams, we already have proof we're an unstoppable team. And with you as the new Guardian you have the power to make our partnership official. I doubt either of us will find another partner that gels as well as two of us together."

Kagami turns to Fù, "why do we make such a terrible team, Master?"

Fù sighs heavily, "destruction is not a power that needs to be amplified. Plagg has a tendency to get carried away—" Plagg scoffs, "and yes you two would definitely be partners if either of you required a matching aura but you are both headstrong and need someone opposite to bring out your potential and other redeeming qualities. Certain kwamis require matches and others require opposites."

"Besides—" Tikki cuts in, glaring at Plagg, "do you need a reminder of the last time you and your partner 'gelled together?' It was citywide destruction from a superhero! Not to mention he nearly got his partner killed!"

"My boy Kuro knew what he was doing. And he only got a few broken bones out of the ordeal."

"'Kuro?' I thought kwamis were prohibited from speaking their partner's name out loud?" Alya asks. "Trixx starts foaming at the mouth when they try and speak my name. But when we first met they said my name no problem."

"It's true. I asked her name and then she said—" Trixx starts coughing and foam dribbles out of their mouth.

Tikki shakes her head, "did you forget? Kwamis can't speak our partner's name out loud once both parties accept the partnership. By asking her name you accepted she was your partner full-time."

"But why was I allowed to say it in the first place?" Trixx rubs their mouth with their hand.

Plagg groans, "because you weren't official yet, dumbass! It's why I – who has no partner as your presence keeps reminding me – is able to utter everyone's name. Marinette. Alya. Nino. Kagami. I have no issue saying any name..." He floats back over to Kagami, "but once we make it official—"

"We got so off topic. Who is Kuro?"

Plagg huffs, "Kuro is short for Kuroneko. It was my previous partner's handle—superhero name."

"Which translates to Black Cat." Kagami says with a hum.

Plagg shrugs. "He wasn't good with names. He was fun but terrible with names."

Kagami nods. "How about this, Master: if we can't find a suitable partner for myself or Plagg the two of us partner up full-time?"

"That's a terrible idea!" Tikki flies over to Kagami waving her arms in the air. "This is exactly why you two are terrible together. Master Fù is right about destruction needing a gentle hand, it needs to be curbed not spurred on by impulse."

"I'm aware of my impulsive nature, Tikki, I wouldn't be a member of the team otherwise." Tikki frowns. "Master Fù, may I see the Miracle Box?"

Fù nods then retrieves the box from the other room, "as the next Guardian it is a good idea you get acquainted with all the kwamis and their powers." He opens the box in front of them and takes a step back.

"Let's see..." Kagami stands and does a headcount on the open spaces in the box, "minus the four active, and four missing there are ten remaining Miraculouses. Everyone pick three and put them on."

After they do as they're instructed, the ten other kwamis spin into existence and like a beacon they float over to Kagami. "Guardian Fù, what's happening?" Roarr asks.

"I am introducing you to the next Guardian." He gestures to Kagami, "some of you have already met her but this is Kagami Tsurugi." The kwamis look at her in awe.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." They happily surround Kagami.

"She's a natural." Marinette whispers to Alya who nods in agreement.

"It's been a while since the last akuma attack." Kagami states, "we know Hawkmoth is using this time to come up with something. Coupled with the fact that Nooroo was recuperating because of over usage. Something big is on the way. Long story short? We need to be prepared. We might even need to call in some extra help." The kwamis all cheer.

"Maybe the kid who smells like lemongrass and oats knows something? No one gets akumatized and just stands there. I speak from experience. That shit twists inside of you when it's been used for evil." Plagg folds his arms over his chest.

"How do you know what he smells like?" Alya asks.

"We still smell stuff when we're synced with our Miraculouses. Just a heads up."

Alya nods slowly. "O-kay. Do any of you guys know who Oats and Lemongrass scent is?"

"His name is Adrien." Nino replies. "He just came to Paris and is supposed to be in our school."

"He's grounded." Kagami adds. "Apparently my mother is friends with his father. She took us over to the manor the other day. M. Agreste is the reason we moved to Paris in the first place."

"Should we send him a fruits basket to thank him?"

Kagami chuckles, "I wouldn't. Like attracts like. Gabriel Agreste is a real hardass. Probably not as much as my mother but—" She shrugs, "there it is. He grounded Adrien for not contacting him during the play. I'm guessing he doesn't know Adrien got pseudo-akumatized that day."

"It didn't really make headlines. The only people who know are us because we were there and, obviously, Adrien as it happened to him."

"But people saw the akuma fly into his hand." Nino protests.

"Thanks to me." Marinette says with a sigh, "but he disappeared from sight. No one would've known he didn't transform into anything."

Kagami brings her hands together. "Then we need to pay Adrien Agreste a visit."

.

Adrien thankfully didn't have to stay long under the scrutiny of Team Miraculous' helmeted faces. The team seemed to come to a unanimous albeit silent consensus regarding him, then they escorted him to the park and thanked all the performers for making a play about them. Several performers fainted once they made contact but all in all it wasn't a bad day. (Akumatization notwithstanding.)

By the time he got home, however, his father was pissed he never texted him. So Adrien spent what was supposed to be his first day of public school at home because he was grounded.

The only saving grace was Nathalie slipped him Chloé's flight information on his way back to his room.

It seems he'll have to wait another two-and-a-half-weeks to be reunited with his best friend, while simultaneously being grounded.

The last time he got grounded, it lasted until the move here. His father was always reclusive but after his wife died he got (much, much) worse. Adrien lost track of how many commercials and photo shoots had to be relocated so they were close enough to his father in the past year. It was his aunt who thankfully talked her brother-in-law out of keeping them both locked in a hotel in Marseille to do all the photo shoots and commercials until his dad returned to Paris.

Adrien only had slightly more freedom staying with his maternal aunt and uncle for a few weeks.

He spent the last two weeks after the day of the play in his room flitting from arcade machine to arcade machine to his computer to his phone; only leaving his room for mandatory family meals. It was hell. Pure, unadulterated hell. Particularly as his father wasn't any more talkative than normal for the past week. They just ate together in pensive silence. Nathalie wasn't even there to fill in the awkward silence. But that would've been one hell of a job way too big for her. Way too big for anyone, except maybe Chloé.

It reminded him of the last family meal they had together with his mom. There was a minor disagreement between his parents about the location of his mom's latest movie so the three of them were eating together in silence with his parents constantly sending glares at each other.

Adrien wouldn't be surprised if his father wanted to resurrect his mom just to continue their argument.

Everyone who's ever met his mother said he not only inherited her looks but her stubborn personality.

He has to wonder if his mom was aware of the existence of kwamis and Miraculouses before her death? What if her death was linked to it? His mother always had an interest in the supernatural and magical; something she made sure to instill into him.

As he's getting ready for yet another day of doing nothing, his father opens the door. Being in here for a whole two weeks, Adrien's cleaned the room from top to bottom several times. He even reorganized his bookshelves in every which way before finally settling on placing them by genre. But it was his mother that was more obsessed with cleanliness than his father. It may have only been about a year but it feels like he's been so much longer without her. Or maybe it's because he's not used to just being with his father without his mother hovering close by?

She wasn't perfect but she was definitely the lesser of two evils compared to his father; much like how Chloé's father is slightly less homophobic than her mother. All in all? Not great – not even remotely – but compared to their partner they might as well be achieving sainthood.

"You know I worry about you, Adrien." He's tempted to roll his eyes but he refrains as he turns to his frowning father, "when you hadn't contacted me..." He sighs, "the pessimist in me figured something bad happened. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I lost you too."

Adrien sits up, "you made it perfectly clear that I'm not going anywhere, dad."

"Everything I do is to protect you. And there you go ahead with your horrible habit of exacerbating the drama of the situation for no reason."

"No reason? I was supposed to start school two weeks ago but you took that away from me. And even if I called that day, you would've found some way to keep me here."

"How am I supposed to trust you when you break your word?"

"I could say the same for you."

Gabriel's eyes narrow, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"You never let me do anything because everything is 'too dangerous' for me. Yet you expect me to learn and grow from all the mistakes I make when I'm never given the opportunity to do so. You keep saying you'll ease up and let me be a teenager but here I am, again, cooped up in a room under your watchful eye."

"I'm doing what's best for you."

Adrien laughs bitterly, "you can keep telling yourself that, dad, but don't expect me to take it at face value."

Gabriel sighs then walks over to the bed and sits on it, "I didn't come here to fight with you, Adrien. And if I'm being honest, I'm surprised you hadn't found some way to sneak out of the house."

"There's no point. You made sure everything I could ever need is in this room."

"But clearly it isn't enough. The one thing I can't give you in this room is the human interaction you crave. From your peers." Gabriel adjusts his glasses, "okay. Here's what's gonna happen. I will allow you to go to school and make a conscious effort to 'ease up' and give you a little space."

Adrien raises an eyebrow, "and?"

"'And?' And what?"

"What do I need to do? There has to be a compromise on my end."

There's a small smirk on Gabriel's face that disappears as quickly as it appeared. "All I ask in return is you do the best you can in school, like you would with your tutors. Don't get into any trouble. Let your bodyguard take you to and from school. And contact me at least three times a day."

"Two."

"You're seriously trying to negotiate?"

"Dad, I'm not gonna be able to use my phone in school. Chloé said so—" Well, if anyone would know it's the girl glued to her phone, "the only times I'd be able to use my phone is possibly during lunch and some sort of study hall thing."

If there's one thing Gabriel can count on for sure it's that Adrien's never lied to him, and he hopes that's something that'll continue. "Okay. Twice a day. And when Chloé arrives, I'll hold her to the same standard. Though I wouldn't hold my breath on her not getting into trouble."

"Thank you, father, I'll do my best."

"You should. Know that this is a privilege I can easily revoke if you don't hold your end of the deal."

Adrien nods, "I know."

Gabriel nods, "good. I love you, son."

"Love you too, dad." With one final nod, Gabriel gets up then leaves the room closing the door behind him.

Adrien sighs and flops back on the bed. He might have very well signed his own damn death warrant. Thankfully it's Sunday so – if all goes well – he'll be starting school tomorrow.

There's a tapping on his window and he sits up to see the members of Team Miraculous each hanging in one windowsill waving. Gasping, he scrambles off his bed and runs to the window Carapace is leaning on. There are bars over all of them so unless they have stretching powers they're not getting in and he's not getting out.

Carapace slowly signs R-O-O-F at him then points up.

Adrien nods then the four of them simultaneously jump up and he can't help but swoon a little. As soon as he opens the door Nathalie is on the other side, "y-yes?"

"Uniform." Adrien's eyebrows furrow, "Collège Françoise Dupont wears uniforms. You can get them from any uniform store or the school itself. Your father told me to make sure you have the uniform and a spare and to get Chloé's uniforms as well."

Adrien nods slowly, "I'll do that!" Nathalie blinks at him, "what? I'm more than capable of doing this simple task by myself."

"I know you are." Her eyes narrow, "but I also know when you're planning something."

"I haven't been out of this room in two weeks. I'm obviously planning to do a little sightseeing before I have to spend more time in this room."

Nathalie hands him a black credit card. "Just be careful?"

He thanks her and accepts the card, "always am~" She fondly shakes her head then leaves his room. It takes him about fifteen seconds to change his clothes, grab his phone and wallet, place the card in the wallet, and leave the room. "Bye! I'll be back." Then he's out the door before he gets a response.

He makes sure he's away from any of his father's studies and all the windows before he looks up. "There you are." He jumps at least a foot in the air as he comes face to face with Rena Rouge. "C'mon. Let's hit the rooftops." He nods wordlessly and allows her to scoop him up in a princess carry and head to the roof of the closest building that's not his house. (She smells incredible. Like cinnamon and apples.)

The rest of the team jump rooftops to join them. "If this is about what went on the other day, I'm not sure what happened." He can't just tell them his father is Hawkmoth, even if that makes him complicit to every future akumatization that happens in the city. He needs to be smart about this. Get some more information before just blurting everything out. Whether he likes it or not, he's playing the long game. "I'm sorry."

Ladybug puts a hand on his shoulder, "don't be. We're still trying to piece together what happened because it's very unlikely it was Hawkmoth behind your akumatization and it's almost guarantee what happened to you will never happen again." Adrien nods fervently, "you need to be careful. We think Hawkmoth's kwami – Nooroo – tried reaching out to someone and got you. He might try to contact you again."

"W-What should I do?"

"Do whatever you can to help." Carapace replies, "he's being used against his will. Everyone needs someone or something to confide in."

"I'll do whatever I can to help." Chat Noir approaches him and holds his hand out and there's an ear piece in his open palm.

"These are linked up to our suits." Ladybug explains, "if you remember anything at all or if Nooroo tries contacting you again, let us know—"

"Just don't do it when he's contacting you. It might scare him off." Rena Rouge adds.

Adrien cradles the ear piece in his hands, "thank you and I'll be extra, extra careful." They nod at him, "now, um, do you guys know the closest uniform store?"

.

It wasn't a lie – not really. He didn't know how he got akumatized or why and certainly doesn't know how he managed to keep his emotions in check after the bomb Duusuu dropped.

The next day The Gorilla drop him – in his newly purchased uniform – and Nathalie off at school a half-hour earlier than the school day is supposed to start, yet there are a handful of students in the hallways chatting.

He fit the ear piece he got yesterday securely into his bag. Nathalie is walking him to the office with her tablet in her hands; there's no doubt in Adrien's mind his dad is glaring at his tablet back home, in his second main study, waiting to be connected. Nathalie glances at him and he grins up at her unable to hide his excitement He's never been inside a school before, not even for a photo shoot! It's so surreal! Even more surreal than chatting with Team Miraculous yesterday.

When he spoke to Chloé yesterday at the uniform store, she basically gagged at the uniform before proclaiming she'll fix it up to suit her standards when she gets here. Adrien just hopes it fits her, Chloé could've very well grown in the past year; unlike him.

The secretary guides them to the principal's office door which is closed and they can hear voices yelling on the other side. He and Nathalie share an uneasy glance until the door flies open and a bespectacled grey-haired woman storms out of the office muttering under her breath. Following behind her with absolutely no enthusiasm, are a pretty purple-haired girl with an eyebrow piercing over her visible eye and a pretty blue-haired guy with a snakes bite piercing under his lip. And the only reason Adrien even knows what the latter is called is because Chloé sent him an image of it yesterday and told him to picture her with it. He can't. But Chloé did get a tongue ring and bellybutton ring (without her parents knowledge), so she's capable of anything at this point.

When Adrien locks eyes with the blue-haired guy, he gets a wink that makes him blush.

The principal leans against the doorway panting when Adrien turns back to the door. "Mme. Agreste, come in."

"N-No, I—" Nathalie clears her throat, "I'm not—"

"Forgive my rudeness, Ma'am, but at this point I'm far too worn out to care. Just come in so we can get whoever this is to you settled in." She glances at Adrien who shrugs before they get up and enter the principal's office.

The man closes the door behind him then walks to his desk and takes a seat in the chair behind it. Before he can open his mouth, the door opens and a redhead rushes in hastily looking around. When her eyes fall on Adrien, she straightens up then walks over to the desk and stands beside the principal's chair smiling warmly. "I apologize if you were waiting long."

"They just arrived, right after my weekly screaming match with Anarka Couffaine."

"Oh...?" At the principal's nod and heavy sigh, the redhead clears her throat, "I'm Caline Bustier. I'm assuming this is Adrien?" He nods. "I'll be your homeroom teacher." She shakes Adrien's hand then Nathalie's. "I look forward to having you in my class, Adrien."

Adrien blushes slightly and nods. Generally, the only time adults are nice to him is when they mention his mother.

"I'm Nathalie Sancoeur, M. Agreste's personal assistant." She boots up the tablet and after a few seconds of the connecting call screen, his father's expressionless face pops up.

"You must be Adrien's homeroom teacher. Gabriel Agreste."

Mlle. Bustier smiles and waves at the tablet, "Caline Bustier. Nice meeting you, M. Agreste. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to get to know Adrien and have him in our class."

"I... yes, well..." Gabriel clears his throat, "thank you for having him."

"It's my pleasure." Mlle. Bustier extends her hand toward Adrien, "if there's nothing else, I'd like to give Adrien a tour of the school before classes start."

"Yes, of course." The principal agrees. "Go ahead."

Adrien takes the hand and gets up from his chair, once they let go Mlle. Bustier puts a hand on his shoulder and they leave the principal's office. Before Mlle. Bustier closes the door behind them, Adrien hears his father's voice but isn't really paying attention to what is being said.

Mlle. Bustier shows him around the whole school in the span of ten minutes, explaining everything of significance in detail.

The last stop on the tour is her classroom. When Adrien peeks through the doorway he sees two students inside already sharing the desk in the back. "If you'd like you can come in now to get a feel of the room. Or you can wait until class starts in about eight minutes and enter then."

"Uh, I'll come in now."

Mlle. Bustier nods then walks in the classroom heading to her desk. She erases the blackboard then starts writing on it. As Adrien looks around, the two students get up from their desk and walk over to him.

"Hi. I'm Mylène." The girl introduces, "and this is my boyfriend Ivan." The big guy gives a little wave, and his other arm is on his girlfriend's shoulder. They make such a cute couple! "Welcome to Collège Françoise Dupont."

"Thank you. I'm Adrien."

"Since you're early we should warn you about some of our classmates—"

Mylène elbows him in the leg, "he's joking. Everyone in our class is great." Ivan makes a vague noise of disagreement beside her.

"You know what? You'll see for yourself and if you need any inside info, we'll help you out."

"Okay. Where do I sit?"

"It doesn't matter. Mlle. Bustier is gonna reassign our seats when everyone gets in anyhow."

"She does it every few weeks to foster positivity and fang moving everything around to give you energy sort of thing?"

"Fang? Oh! You mean Feng Shui." Mylène nods. "That's cool. You get to find out something new about your classmates every time you sit next to them."

"What do you mean?" Mylène asks.

"Maybe there are things you never noticed about your friends when you casually sat next to them as opposed to having to sit next to them and actually staring at them for however long class is."

Mylène hums, "never thought about it that way."

Ivan chuckles, "I bet Kim doodles."

"So do I." Mylène giggles in agreement.

Slowly over the course of the next six-and-a-half minutes the rest of the class starts trickling in. Ivan gestures for them to head to the front of the classroom where everyone else is lining up. The class collectively turn in his direction as he heads down the aisle behind Mylène. He should've walked behind Ivan so they wouldn't see him.

He recognizes Nino and Marinette but everyone else is unfamiliar to him. (Huh. He thought Kagami was in their class as well. Wasn't that what she told him when they saw each other the other day? And the only type of "peer interaction" he had over the course of the past two weeks – excluding Team Miraculous, assuming they were even peers – was supervised by Nathalie and any attempt at actual teenage related interaction aside from school based questions were shut down by a raised eyebrow.)

"Alright." The class turn to Mlle. Bustier behind her desk. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed our newest student. We'll get to know him a bit better once we're all situated." She puts a finger to her chin then starts pairing everyone off.

Adrien gets put next to Nathaniel who takes a sketchbook out of his bag and puts it over his notebook; they're seated in the second row on the left side of the classroom. As Adrien looks around the classroom he notices everyone else getting settled in. He counts fourteen other people in the room excluding the teacher.

Marinette and Mylène are seated in front of him. Nino's on the other side of the classroom, a few rows behind, next to a kid who takes off their red hood.

Someone taps him on the shoulder and he looks back at a smiling brunette, "hi! I'm Lila." She extends her hand and he has to turn slightly to shake it. "If you need anything. Anything at all. Don't hesitate to ask. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Lila."

"Everyone situated?" The class murmurs the affirmative. "Great!" She beckons Adrien over and he stands then makes his way to the front of the classroom. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Adrien nods, "Hi. I'm Adrien Agreste. Um. Yes, Gabriel Agreste is my father. I've never been in public school before and I look forward to getting to know all of you!" There are various coos from his classmates. Even Mlle. Bustier is looking at him with "heart-eyes."

"Thank you, Adrien."

The door opens and the purple-haired girl he saw earlier walks in. "Uh..." The class looks at her and she blows out a breath, "sorry I'm late, Mlle. Bustier."

"No worries, Juleka. Hmm..." She scans the room, "ah! Have a seat next to Rose." The class now turns to the blonde seated by herself in the back of the class, behind Nino and the black-haired kid.

With a shrug, the purple-haired girl—Juleka—hoists her backpack over her shoulder then makes her way to the back row. Lila taps her on the way there and makes a vague questioning gesture at her eyebrows. Juleka has a small brief smile on her face as she shrugs and goes to her seat.

Juleka takes a deep breath as she unceremoniously empties her bag onto her desk. Rose taps her on the shoulder beaming, "I like the piercing. It's so you."

"Uh, thanks." Rose continues to beam brightly at her for a few seconds longer before looking away. Juleka takes another deep breath then frowns at her desk. She picks up her bag and upturns it but no pencils or pens fall out. Great. She glances over at Rose who has about a dozen different colored pens in an open pencil case. "H-Hey—" Rose looks over at her with those damn big blue eyes, "don't suppose I can borrow a pen...?"

"Sure." If possible, Rose's smile is wider than before. "Choose whichever you like."

Juleka picks up the pink pen and thanks Rose before opening her notebook.

As Mlle. Bustier gets on with whatever they're learning today, Juleka props up her chin with left hand.

.

It's a fairly warm afternoon in November, so Principal Damocles allows them to eat outside. Juleka's certain her class only eagerly agreed was because they could crowd the new kid from angles. Lila certainly didn't waste any time.

If Kagami weren't absent, she'd at least have someone to eat lunch with. Juleka sighs. Oh well. She could always call Kagami. Or text. With the majority of the class preoccupied by the blond, even going so far as to share their lunches with him, Juleka finds a nice shady spot under a tree then leans against the tree. "Juleka?" Her eyes snap up to see Rose leaning forward staring at her with concern evident on her pretty face. "Are you alright?" Juleka nods wordlessly. "Do you mind some company?"

Juleka gestures for her to sit and she does, "not interested in mobbing the new kid with the others?"

Rose giggles, "I didn't even get the chance to say hi! How come you're not trying to mob Adrien?"

Adrien. So that's his name. "Not my type."

"Pretty sure he's not Ivan's type either but that's not stopping him."

Juleka chuckles, "got me there." Rose giggles again. Since they're gonna be sitting next to each other, Juleka might as well get a bit more comfortable around her. It worked when Mlle. Bustier put her next to Alix, and Max before that.

Alya comes over to them sighing, "maybe I need to go back to the eye doctor because I just don't see what the fuss is about." Rose presses her pointer fingers against her cheeks. Alya tilts her head in confusion.

"Dimples." Rose clarifies.

With an understanding nod, Alya sits on Juleka's other side. Kim quickly joins the growing group not even five seconds after Alya did. "This is a surprise." Alya taps her chin, "you're the first to swoon over dimples and objectively pretty faces."

Kim laughs, "I know, right? Don't have a problem with his face but..." He shrugs, "not really doing anything for me." He sits down next to Alya, "I'd be happy to start swooning over you again if you'd like."

"Not sure when you stopped but I'll keep that in mind." She holds out her hand to him and he kisses it, "you smooth fucker."

"Only for you, Mademoiselle."

"Um..." They look over at Rose pointing at the blue-haired guy merrily making his way toward them, "do any of you guys know him?"

"No but I wish I did. Damn." Alya silently nods in agreement, "he's way hotter than Adrien." At Juleka's sigh, they look at her. "You don't even think he's objectively hot?"

"Considering he's my older brother, not even objectively."

"B-Brother?!" Kim looks dumbfounded briefly then he physically shakes out of his stupor, "why am I surprised? The half of your face we see is hot. Only natural any relative of yours would be hot too. Oh and by the by, digging the eyebrow jewelry. Really suits you."

Juleka blushes and barely mumbles out a thanks before her brother stops in front of them beaming. "Heya Jules. Hey Jules' friends." Kim, Alya, and Rose wave. "Name's Luka."

"I-I'm Rose, this is Alya and Kim. I love your piercings!" She squeals.

"Thanks. Jules helped me decide on them. I was gonna get a septum ring but she said this suited me more."

"It does."

"Does Rose have a piercing kink?" Juleka whispers to Alya who shrugs.

"If she did I wouldn't blame her." Kim whispers back.

Alya elbows him, "hey, have you spoken to Alix?"

"No. I tried going over there last week but her dad wouldn't let me in. Said he didn't want me to catch Alix's cold. I'd be okay with that if that were the end of it but last time Alix got sick enough to be forced to stay home he let me see her. Man, if he brought some ancient exhibit back to life and had it infect Alix I'm gonna be hella pissed."

Rose and Luka are happily chatting about piercings when Max makes his way over to the group. "Huh. Who's the tall guy?"

"Juleka's big brother. Objectively hot, right?" Kim waggles his eyebrows at Max who shakes his head.

"Objectively hot, I agree." He sits down next to Kim, "have you got in contact with Alix? I went down to the museum yesterday to try and find out something from Jalil and he didn't tell me anything. I think something is seriously wrong."

"Kim thinks their dad infected Alix with an exhibit that came back to life." Alya teases.

"It's been known to happen! Remember that movie where the museum came to life at night? Who's to say that doesn't happen here?"

"Museum, museum..." Juleka taps her chin, "oh. Luka." He turns to her, "didn't you say something about an exhibit opening up at Louvre you wanted to check out?"

"Yeah." He nods excitedly, "there's supposed to be a new Team Miraculous exhibit opening up soon. Or maybe it opened up already?"

"We should check it out." Alya suggests, "we might be able to find out what happened to Alix while we're there."

"Count me in. Learning more about Team Miraculous and making sure Alix is still kicking is the basic definition of a win-win. I mean, if her brother and old man killer her, there are plenty of places to hide a body in a museum."

Max massages his temples, "you're watching way too many horror films."

.

When he got home and told his aunt he was going to the Louvre museum, she checked him for a fever.

Kim arrives at the museum five minutes before the group decided to show up, and he stopped for snacks along the way. He's not really surprised when he makes his way inside the building to find Max there looking at another exhibit.

Max spots him and beckons him over while putting a finger to his mouth. Frowning, Kim silently walks over to him. Max points up and Kim gasps at the lifesize Ladybug statue. Or at least he thinks it's Ladybug. Instead of a helmet there's a polkadot party mask over her eyes – similar to the Hawkmoth outline that appears over an akumatized person – but there are the signature antennas poking out of her head.

"Why are we doing this quietly?" Max jerks his head to the side where Jalil is cradling his phone.

The two of them lean against the corner, out of Jalil's sight to listen in. "No improvement?" The way the phone is angled they can see Alix and Jalil's father's frowning face.

"None. Did she use it or was it just exposure?"

"I-I don't know! I didn't see! We never should've given it to her. I'll..." He takes a deep breath, "I'll never forgive myself if anything happened to her."

"Give it time. Alix is a fighter. She'll be on her feet in no time."

"'No time?' It's been over a month!"

"Give it time, Jalil. That's all we can do."

Max and Kim quietly return to the Team Miraculous exhibit as Jalil angrily hangs up the phone and slinks away in the opposite direction. "I knew it!" Kim hisses, "I knew those assholes did something to her!"

"Yeah, but what? What could she have been exposed to to make her sick enough to miss three weeks of school?" Kim opens his mouth but Max points at him, "don't say an exhibit that's come to life." Frowning, Kim closes his mouth.

"Holy hell, is that Ladybug?" Alya asks taking a picture of the exhibit. The others are behind her also taking pictures.

"Oh! Alix's friends." The group turns around spotting Jalil approaching with a hesitant smile. "You've seen our newest exhibit. We don't know how old this statue is. My father doesn't think it's real but how could it not be? Ladybug exists in the here and now."

Kim narrows his eyes then folds his arms over his chest, "how's Alix?"

"Oh you know her." Jalil looks like he's on the verge of tears, "nothing keeps my baby sis down for long. Hopefully she'll be back on her skates before we know it." Kim and Max exchange a glance.

"What's with the flimsy mask Ladybug's wearing?" Alya asks, lowering her phone, "and her outfit doesn't look all that different from her current one. Just... cheaply made."

"Well this dates back to hundreds maybe even thousands of years ago."

"I"m more interested in the rest of Team Miraculous. Why wouldn't they get exhibits too? They're just as important to Paris as Ladybug is and she definitely couldn't do it all alone." Luka points out.

"Over here!" Rose yells. Everyone goes to the left of the Ladybug statue where there's a statue of a turtle hero that resembles Carapace without their signature hood. Instead, the shell is on the hero's head and they have a mask over their eyes as well. To the left of the turtle and almost completely behind Ladybug is Chat Noir also with a mask over their eyes.

"Check it out." Juleka points down at the smaller statues surrounding the larger ones.

"Aw, really? Is this supposed to be Rena Rouge? Sucks she's so small compared to Ladybug."

"Says their name is Volpina." Alya scoffs. "Everyone has a plaque next to them." Luka leans forward and squints. "I'm guessing it's their previous names? Why is Ladybug still Ladybug?"

"I think it's cool a hero has destructive power." Max muses, "you never see that."

"Where did these come from?" Juleka asks.

"They were donated anonymously." Jalil replies. "Archaeologists believe Kuroneko – whom we now refer to as Chat Noir – and Jade Turtle – now Carapace – and Ladybug were the main team while the others were sort of part-time."

"I get the whole destruction and creation being opposite sides of the same coin..." Max begins, "but what does the turtle do?"

"Don't you remember? They have that badass shell that blocks virtually everything." Kim replies. "I'm guessing blocking stuff helps with their harmony? Really makes the team gel." Max nods with a hum.

"Excuse me. Excuse me." A man forces his way over to the exhibit, "There is no historical accuracy in these fantasy pieces." He snaps his fingers and a dozen sharply dressed men speed walk from all angels of entry to the exhibit to begin picking up the statues.

"Wait!" Jalil cries, "what are you doing?!"

"This is a museum. We're removing these children's toys and making space for real history."

"You can't do this! This is real history!"

The man harrumphs. "What do you and that crackpot father of yours know about real history, Kubdel?" Jalil's eyes widen, "let's go. Hurry up. Hurry up. I want this trash gone by nightfall."

"Stop!" Jalil pleads, grabbing the man who has the Ladybug statue in his hands. He sneers then pushes Jalil aside and continues walking.

"Should we do something? Maybe—" Rose gasps, "akuma!" She screams. Everyone looks up at the akuma that dives into Jalil's phone. As the butterfly outline appears over his eyes people start running around and out of the museum.

"Oh crap." Alya mutters.

"Shit." Kim grouses, he picks up Rose and Max with ease under his arms. "Let's get the hell out of here, maybe?"

"Do I really weigh nothing to you?" Max yells as Kim starts running with them.

Luka eyes Juleka who shakes her head with her visible eye narrowed, "don't you even think about picking me up."

"I'll go if she doesn't want to." Alya hops on his back and they start running with Juleka not far behind.

"Rose, you're backwards can you see what's happening?" Kim asks, "fuck, this isn't as easy as I thought."

"I'm not that slow, you can put me down."

"Shut up, dude, I'm doing us all a favor."

Rose squints then her eyes widen, "he's turning into a sphinx!"

"What do you mean you're doing us all a favor?" Alya asks.

"We lose the genius we're all fucked."

"Good point." Kim's arms give out as they round the corner into the Egyptian exhibits. "Well, this is just a cruel irony." She thanks Luka as he kneels and she hops off.

"Why didn't we head to the exit, Kim?" Juleka hisses.

"And miss Team Miraculous in their glory? I think the fuck not!"

"They're not gonna show up as quick as that akuma did and seriously how did it get here so fast? Does Hawkmoth have the city chipped or something!? Un-fucking-believable!"

"Alya, relax, or you're getting akumatized next!"

Alya growls thumping her head back against the wall. "Have you guys ever seen more than one akuma at a time?" Max asks, "and didn't one of those statues kinda look like a butterfly hero?"

"Yup!" Rose chirps handing Max her phone, "I took a picture. They were called Papillon."

"These names were super unoriginal." Juleka mutters. "So now what? We wait until Team Miraculous shows up?"

"Seeing as how the exits are now blocked with Egyptian tombs, yeah." The others groan.

.

Fù peers around the corner spotting Alya and her group of friends huddled together. Something told him to bring the individual, miniature Miracle Boxes with him to the "Team Miraculous" exhibit, and he's certainly glad he did. They were unquestionably easier to fit inside his briefcase than the much larger main box.

At the same time, he obviously wasn't expecting an akuma attack. (Especially after two weeks of peace. Though he should've known better. Kagami was right when she said Hawkmoth would be back sooner rather than later.)

Bringing every inactive kwami in the same place was risky. The same could be said about keeping them all with him at the shop. Whether they're inactive inside or outside the shop, the amount of risk was the same as the chance of Hawkmoth swooping in – even accidentally – and collecting the lot of them bringing him that much closer to making his wish come true... whatever that wish may be.

Regardless of the dangers, there was no conceivable way Alya and Wayzz could handle this by themselves; particularly as her friends were so close by she wouldn't be able to separate from them long enough to transform. Not only that but none of the current Miraculous wielders were strong enough to tackle an akumatization by themselves, not yet. Two months is hardly enough time to learn everything about their partner; even more so that they're continuously switching every few days. Plus, Fù can't tell the team more about the kwamis if they don't have permanent partners.

The team is imbalanced without a partner for Plagg, and the bond between the two who have their correct partners isn't strengthening with the shifts. It's becoming increasing difficult, scouring the city attempting to find the antithesis for the culmination of all the things that made up Plagg.

He might not have a choice in letting Kagami and Plagg become a full-time team. Kagami was as impulsive and occasionally reckless as Plagg, but she knew when to retreat. Years of fencing taught her when to go for the kill and when to parry. Hopefully, she could instill some of that calmness to Plagg.

Who knows how long it'll take the others to arrive? As Alya couldn't contact them without drawing attention. Could he-should he take an even bigger risk activating more kwamis now? According to his mentor, the last time more than five kwamis were active in the same cycle several of them got cracked due to battling against one another. Thankfully, there are more on the side of good than evil but who knows if and when that'll change. Hopefully it won't but not even Guardians can predict the future.

The sphinx akumatization lifts every piece in the Egyptian exhibit, "you can't hide forever!" He growls, "I'll show you what real history is!"

Fù looks up and sees a sarcophagus heading straight toward him but before it hits him, he feels something—or someone—yanking him out of the way. "Hey, are you alright?" He looks up and sees the tall brunet hovering over him.

"I—" Fù clears his throat, "yes. Thank you, young man."

"No biggie. I'm on a swim team, I'm used to diving." Ah. Such a rhapsodic, spirited aura. Fù attempts to sit up but his back twinges in protest. "Ouch. Heard that. Don't worry, I got ya." Fù watches everyone dodge the sarcophagi being thrown at them though one lands on Alya locking her inside. Well, there goes Carapace. Or it would if Fù hadn't seen her pull off her bracelet and toss it out onto the ground before she got locked in. Smart girl. Yes, she's definitely the best one suited for Trixx's power.

The tiny blonde picks up the bracelet that lands at her feet and screams when Wayzz fades into existence. (Either Alya's aim is unparalleled or that was just a strangely well-timed coincidence.) "What is this thing!? It's adorable."

The purple-haired girl yanks the blonde out of the way of an oncoming sarcophagus and Wayzz floats over to them. "Hello. I'm Way—" She grabs his head, blowing the hair out of her eye.

"The hell is this thing?"

"I don't know but let it go, it's trying to speak."

Fù can't see anymore because the brunet carries him to the forgotten history exhibit, "stay here and don't try aggravating your back further. My aunt's got back problems too. I don't think I can get you anything for the pain but—" He stops talking as Fù takes out a portable Miracle Box from his briefcase with jubilation written on top. "Uh—"

"Take it, you'll need it to help Team Miraculous."

His eyes widen considerably as he accepts the box. "G-Get outta town! You're shitting me!?" Fù shakes his head. Taking a deep breath, he opens the box and shields his eyes as Xuppu materializes in front of them.

"Master." He flies over to Fù, "you're injured." Xuppu sniffs around then flies in the brunet's face, squinting, "what's this?"

"The hell? What do you mean what?! What are you?"

"I'm Xuppu." He blows the brunet a raspberry, "kwami of jubilation."

"Jubi-whatnow?"

Xuppu rolls his eyes, "happiness? Joy? Bliss? Exuberance?" He turns to Fù, "you sure about this one?" Fù nods. "Alright. Pick a transformation and lets get the chaos rollin~"

"What are you—" He flicks Xuppu's ears, "a bear?"

"I'm a monkey." He flicks the boy's ear in retaliation. The boy sticks his tongue out at Xuppu who returns the favor. Oh. Well, maybe Xuppu too requires an opposite aura. He flies into the box and pulls out the circlet, "put this on. Looks like you'll need it."

"Is that a tiara? It's so cool." He fits the circlet over his head.

"Name?"

"Mine? It's Kim." Xuppu nods slowly. "You said something about chaos, right? Then it's showtime!" Xuppu beams as he flies into the circlet. Fù momentarily forgot how bright the transformation is when the brown light suddenly appears in his face. Once Kim has transformed he looks at himself in awe. "No fucking way!" He giggles as he holds his ruyi jingu bang. "This is so cool." He gasps, "do I get to meet Ladybug?"

"Easy, Infant, there'll be time for that later."

"Who're you calling an infant?"

"It's what monkeys call their young, duh. Now listen close 'cause I'm only gonna go through this once. My powers aren't for just anyone to handle. The chaos I unleash isn't as devastating as the kwami of destruction but it could be pretty bad if used improperly."

Kim nods then remembers Xuppu can't see him because they flew into the tiara.

Kim twirls the ruyi jingu bang, "and they said I couldn't flag twirl."

Meanwhile, in the abstract art exhibit Rose and Juleka stared down the tiny floating green turtle. They lost sight of Kim after he tackled that old man out of the way, and Alya and Luka got locked in sarcophaguses. Sarcophagi? Whichever. Max pokes his head out from the tent like exhibit the three of them hid in, "I don't see anything. But I don't think we should move just yet."

The turtle fidgets restlessly at Juleka's raised eyebrow, "so... what are you and where did you come from?"

"I-I lost my partner in the chaos."

"And you are Carapace?" Rose asks.

"N-No. I am Wayzz, kwami of Carapace." He shakes his head. "I mean, kwami of protection and partner of Carapace." He sighs, "I hope my partner knew what they were doing. We need to transform. One of you will have to merge with me and become Carapace temporarily."

"Ooh!" Rose raises her hand, "I'll do it!" The turtle drops the bracelet in Rose's hand. Her eyes sparkle, "what do I need to do?"

"To transform, you simply say shell on."

Rose takes a deep breath, "shell—"

The flap of the tent opens and Max and Rose hide behind Juleka. "Oh." There's a tall helmeted hero in brown none of them ever saw before tilting their head at them. Wayzz blinks at the newcomer then facepalms but it goes unnoticed. "Sup." They greet, "was hoping to find someone around. Gonna need a little backup." They have two hexagon shape boxes in their left hand and one in the right. "When this is over and if we're still breathing, I'm gonna need these back."

Rose all but thrusts Wayzz in the newcomer's face, "and will you reunite poor Wayzz with the real Carapace?"

"Uh, sure? Why the hell not? Just pick one already so we can drop a sarcophagus or two on this sphinx-ter." Max grimaces, Juleka's eye narrows, and Rose's head tilts to the right in confusion. "no? Sphincter sounds like sphinx which is—"

Max holds up a hand, "we get it."

"I don't." Rose confesses.

"It's best you don't get an explanation." Juleka mutters.

The hero makes an impatient noise and juts their chin at the boxes, "pick one already?" The boxes all have different symbols none of them can translate so they pick their boxes at random. Rose takes the one on the right while Max takes the one closest to him leaving Juleka with the last box.

Juleka's box has a brown and white horse that literally pops into existence before them, inside the box is pair of glasses. (And how they fit neatly into a box that small is a mystery.) A grey mouse slowly wisps into existence upside down from Rose's box which has a necklace. From Max's box comes a sea green bangle and a sea green snake that fades in existence out of nowhere in front of them.

"Uh, is this a trial run?" The mouse asks.

"It's a temporary hookup." The hero replies. "You guys need to come up with transformation phrases, quick." He peers outside of the tent, "I think the sphinx is still fucking around with the suits so we have time but not all day. This place closes at six."

Juleka inspects the horse, fluffing its already fluffy hair that makes it preen. "Mmm. I like you. And I love your hairstyle." They fluff Juleka's hair. "So fashionable. And the bauble? Adorable!" The hero clears his throat. "Away with you. Do you not have a distraction to cause?" The hero huffs then closes the flap and disappears. "So rude. Where was I? Ah, yes. My name is Kaalki, temporary Chosen. I am the kwami of teleportation. I'd prefer my transformation phrase to make sense. Something space or horse related, please. And you must place the eyewear on your person to transform."

Juleka nods, "y-yeah, sure. Got it. Space or horse related." Kaalki nods then extends their hand which Juleka shakes.

"It is a pleasure, dear. May I have your name, temporary Chosen?"

"Juleka."

"Lovely."

"So dramatic..." The mouse utters earning a glare. "I am Mullo, temporary Chosen, kwami of..." They whisper in Rose's ear, "multiplication."

"Now who's dramatic?" Kaalki yells with a huff.

"Ooh. Are you temporarily partnering with Wayzz as well? That's a great idea. We can fuse together." Mullo puts the necklace around Rose's neck, as the blonde is still holding the bracelet.

"You know that didn't bode well the last time. It's why I never told my Master about it."

Mullo scoffs, "what choice do we have we're gonna need you to purify the akuma and if I can amp that up I'm all for it. I have no issue with whatever transformation phrase you elect to use."

The snake flies around Max's head, "you seem knowledgeable. I thank the Guardian for our partnership. I am Sass, kwami of hope and my power is called second chance."

"What kind of power is that?" Max fits the bangle over his left wrist.

"The kind of power that makes you fix our screw ups." Mullo replies, "doesn't seem like a very cool power but it is, useful too."

"I didn't interrupt your monologue." Mullo holds up their hands in surrender and floats backwards back over to Rose. "Second chance is not a power to be taken likely. It allows a 'redo' of a plan gone haywire."

"Like I said, fixing our screw-ups."

"A time loop?" Juleka interjects, "your ability is strangely specific compared to teleportation."

"It's why he's so cranky." Kaalki whispers, "he doesn't get used much." The snake hisses at Kaalki who giggles.

Juleka snaps her fingers as she puts on the glasses, "you said something horse related, right? What about start galloping?"

"Wouldn't be my first choice—" Is all they let out before they fly into the glasses that immediately shade the lenses brown. There was barely enough space in the tent exhibit for the three of them but Max and Rose gave Juleka as wide a berth as the limited space would allow as she gets enveloped in a light brown light. When the light dissipates a helmet fits itself over Juleka's head. Wearing glasses under a helmet doesn't seem like it makes a ton of sense but whatever.

"So cool~" Rose coos, "you said to say shell—"

"Wait!" Mullo clamps a hand over Rose's mouth, "me first. It'll work better if you transform with me first. And you must say unify at the end of both transformation phrases to complete the fusion. Understand?" With her mouse still covered Rose nods. Sighing in relief, Mullo releases her mouth.

"Ooh. Let's get squeaky, Mullo! Then shell on, Wayzz! Unify!" There were two blinding flashes of light one grey and the other green and they both swirled into Rose's body.

Max sighed. Great. No getting out of this now. "I suppose keeping up with the animal theme, I should say something along the lines of scales slither?"

.

The old man – Fù, Kim corrected himself – told him to pick allies he could trust and there wasn't a person alive he trusted more than Max Kanté. Except maybe Alix but she wasn't available so Rose and Juleka had to do. After all, Rose Lavillant could do no wrong and Juleka was cool enough to share in some superhero fame. He would've gotten Alya as well but he saw the sarcophagus drop on her. Hopefully, she's just trapped inside and not crushed to death because he doesn't think Ladybug's lucky charm could reverse something like that. Not that Ladybug was around to use her lucky charm. That's why Fù called in the temps.

The sphinx got fed up with him trying to save the suits from being wrapped up like mummies (and Kim honestly can't blame him, the guy was an ass and more than deserved mummification but temporary superhero and blah, blah, blah, blah). Spinning his ruyi jingu bang to avoid sarcophagi and mummy bandages was tiring out his arms. Just when a bandaged grabbed his leg a horseshoe of all things cut the bandage. Kim looked over his shoulder at the trio.

"Should we pose dramatically?" The weird turtle-rat fusion spoke. There was a jump rope tied along her hip and the shell was on her back and Carapace's signature hood was down hanging over the shell. There were mouse ears on the helmet and a long tail attached to the back of her suit. (Did turtles have tails? Carapace's suit never had one like Rena or Chat's. Or did it?) Her suit was grey in some bits and green in others but it had Carapace's shell pattern all over but those grey boots were killer.

"Might as well." The snake replies, "when will we get the opportunity to do so again?" The snake's suit, unlike the rat slash turtle, was all sea green and has scales covering the entire thing.

The horse shook her head but posed in a Charlie's Angels esque way with the others. Her suit was all dark brown and she had light brown hair protruding from her helmet and the back where her "tail" was. By all rights, it should've been ridiculous but it suited the horse theme and given the fact that Juleka was taller than everyone sans him and Ivan, she was probably best suited to be one of the tallest animals Kim could think of.

"Ooh!" The rat-turtle pipes in as the three of them run over to Kim and shield him with the shell as the sphinx hurls two sarcophaguses at him. They break in two upon impact with the shield, "we need superhero names!"

"I'm gonna go with Pegasus, paying homage to the original name. Or at least the name on the plaque."

"I want something more edgy, like Viperald ooh or Viperboa."

For a second there, Kim thought Pegasus was Max and Viper-whatever was Juleka. Pegasus cocks her head at him, "does it have to be Viper?"

"Well, no. There are thousands of different snake breeds." Never mind. That's definitely Max. "Perhaps python would work? Asper? Taipan? Mamba? Echis? The possibilities—"

"Not to, uh, cut you off but shouldn't you be coming up with a plan?!" Kim exclaims.

Max nods, "oh, right. Yes. Of course. A plan." He nods, "gotta think of a plan."

Pegasus glances at Rose—uh the mouse slash rat turtle. "Did you think of a superhero name?"

"What's that mixed animal called? The one that has a bird face—" She shakes her head, "a bird's wings." She corrects, "and a tail—"

"You don't wanna be Chimera." Max interrupts. "Not making a good mental image." Rose nods, "now we all saw the phone house the akuma and I'm guessing it turned into his scepter. All we have to do is take it away from him, break it, free the akuma, and have our fusion friend purify the akuma."

"Sounds easy enough." Kim replies, "but it'll definitely be harder than it sounds. Team Miraculous doesn't even make it look easy."

"I'm on distraction duty!" Rose cheers. And Kim's never heard anyone be excited be a distraction. "We need you on reserve Viperegal in case we need the power of second chance."

"I don't hate that name but it doesn't suit the hero."

"While you're hiding and covering our asses, feel free to think about the name all you want." Pegasus grouses. "C'mon Bear Guy, let's go on the offensive."

"Sure but I'm a monkey, not a bear. And not just any ol' monkey. I'm the King monkey. Roi Singe, at your service Mademoiselle." He takes an exaggerated bow.

Rose giggles, "you remind me of someone I know." She gasps, "did any of you see Kim? I don't think a sarcophagi could hold him."

"He's as tall as Luka, if one can trap him it can trap Kim."

"Uh... r-right. He probably got locked in one of the sarcophaguses."

"It's sarcophagi!" Max corrects, "let me up uh... pal and I'll hide." Rose nods, opening a small part of the shield Max crawls out from. Once he's on his feet, he bolts into another part of the museum.

Rose flings the shield like a frisbee that weighs absolutely nothing and it brains the sphinx who physically shakes out of his stupor and growls at then. "That was hot." He and Juleka utter at the same time then look at each other.

"U-Uh, free the people you have trapped you... you... not nice person?"

Kim shakes his head. "A little more anger would help."

"Jerk?"

Kim waves a hand, "we'll work on it." Rose has a far better handle on her powers than the rest of them – and she had two to content with. If she's not tossing the shield around, she's tripping up the sphinx with her jump rope. She's not a distraction, she's the whole damn show!

Xuppu's in his head talking about all the chaos he could unleash. Fù told him Xuppu is the wildest of wild cards even more mischievous than whomever the kwami of destruction is. Kim beats his chest like the monkeys he's seen at the zoo, "let's cause an uproar!" Ooh. Damn. That should've been his transformation phrase! He bangs his ruyi jingu bang against the floor and howls. Shit from all corners of the entrances start floating around him. Ooh. "Chaos is good." He smirks.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Juleka—uh, Pegasus—yells. "I thought R—uh—the Cara-Rat was distracting!"

"You wanted an all out offensive, right? My power is chaos."

"Huh." Juleka flips the horseshoe in her hands, "wonder what I can do?"

"Uh, temporary Chosen? If I may? You can use the horseshoe to transcend through space. The limits of my power are the limits of your imagination."

"Good to know." She looks around the area then gasps, "I have an idea Roi Singe." She spins around, holding the horseshoe with ballerina type grace then throws what looks like a portal down on the ground in front of them and another portal appears over the sphinx's head.

"Gotcha!" As Rose is effectively beating the shit out of him with her shell and jump rope combo. With the portal and all the items of the museum at his disposal, they drop everything down on the sphinx. Uh-oh. If Ladybug's lucky charm isn't gonna clean this mess up what will?

The sphinx leaps out of the pile and into Rose's jump rope. Damn that girl is good. Kim has to wonder if she's secretly Ladybug.

"What are you doing? You're the one who can purify the akuma!" Juleka yells.

"Oh. Right! Come over here please Pegasus." Sighing, he and Pegasus run over to Rose and hold the jump rope. Just how strong is this girl? They're struggling to hold the sphinx down and Rose was doing it with one hand! The sphinx is shaking pulling them along, making them lose their footing.

"Whatever you're gonna do, do it faster!" Wait! Is wielding two kwamis making her stronger than the two of them combined?!

"Do you guys need my help?" Max yells.

"I was consulting Wayzz on how to purify the akuma! And yes, I need your help Viper-guy!"

"Not loving the name!" But Max runs over to her all the same.

Kim and Juleka are sliding across the floor now as the sphinx gains the advantage of their little tug of war. He finally breaks free and charges at Rose who meeps.

"Second chance!" Max yells clicking the bangle back.

"Not loving the name!" Max shakes his head. Déjà vu. Everyone's in the same position they were in thirty seconds ago before the time jump backward. He nearly breaks stride as he runs toward Rose. "Those two aren't gonna last much longer."

Rose nods. "I need my jump rope back to multiply but I don't know what else we can do to hold him."

"Release him, I have an idea. Get ready to run guys!"

"You'd better know what you're doing Viperguy!"

"As I said, not loving the name! Ready? Give us some cover for a sec!"

"Roger that!" As Rose makes a shield high enough to protect them but doesn't touch the ground, Juleka and Roi Singe (if he heard correctly) release the jump rope that hits Juleka's helmeted face. Once they run over to them with the jump rope, under the shield, Rose relinquishes the shield then actually starts jump roping in front of them then she splits into two.

"Really? That's a badass power."

"Multiplication~" The Roses sing-song in harmony. One is holding the shell shield while the other has the jump rope.

"Does she even need us for anything? I'm pretty sure she can handle it alone." Juleka muses and the others nod in agreement.

"Of course!" Shell holding Rose chirps, "I'm just the distraction."

"Bullshit!" The others yell.

"You're so much more important than a distraction." Max tells her.

"We'll distract him, you go for the jugular." Roi Singe gives her a thumbs up. Jump rope holding Rose gives a two-fingered salute.

.

Perhaps they could've planned things better. Or planned them at all. According to Max, there were thirty-seven uses of the second chance bangle. Thirty-six intended and one accident when his wrist itched.

Rose handled everything with panache and skill that left them dumbfounded. If she wasn't secretly a member of Team Miraculous what the hell were they doing with their lives?

Shell holding Rose made a bubble with her hands not even holding the shell to capture the akuma without risk of getting infected herself. Then she closed her hands together and the akuma purified in her grasp. Unfortunately, without the lucky charm the Louvre was still a mess after the purification. Kim attempted to use his chaos the same way he got everything out of their proper place to put it back. It wasn't perfect, judging by that asshole's bitching but it was good enough. Juleka also used her portal appearing power to help. Where as Rose and Max helped manually. And the four of them made sure to take extra care of the Team Miraculous exhibit, putting that back to the way it was before the suits started dismantling it.

They had to manually – and by they it was all Juleka – open the sarcophagi and free the patrons. Alya had a strange look on her face once she was freed, but she wasn't the only one. Countless people were confused, a few concerned at the newcomers. Kim was all for flashy speeches but this was just a temp gig so he didn't want to get his hopes up more than any "fan's."

Once the Louvre was cleaned up to about eighty percent and everyone left since it was way past closing time, Rose, Max, and Juleka dutifully detransformed out of sight and handed the kwami boxes and their Miraculouses to Kim. The three of them thanked him and made their way to the main entrance in time to see Luka exiting.

"Oh shit!" Kim detransformed and stuffed the boxes into his bag and searched the growing crowd for Fù. He overheard a few people talking about the new heroes but he wasn't paying them any mind. Finally, thankfully he saw Fù exiting the Louvre with Alya of all people.

He waved as Alya made her way to the others and rubbed his no doubt sore back walking in the opposite direction. Kim waited until the others started walking off until he made his way to Fù. "Ah. There you are. You did well, Kim."

"Thanks. It was Rose, really. She did a super good job. It was terrifying." Fù chuckles. "You probably want your boxes back."

"Not here. If I could trouble you to helping an old man one more time?"

Kim laughs, "no trouble at all."

.

Marinette spits out her juice directly onto the television as she sees the news coverage from earlier. There was a short, barely recognizable clip of four new heroes – potentially – battling ...what was that, a pharaoh? Nadja was talking about how much more interesting the city has become in the past two months.

"Are you alright?"

Marinette shakes out of her stupor and stares at her mother's concerned face, "y-yeah. That was just unexpected."

"I'll say." Sabine muses. "I recognized Alya among the crowd of people."

A-Alya was there? Why the hell didn't she try communicating with any of them? Well, obviously not Kagami who was out sick. Or better yet, Kagami would've been the best choice! Marinette takes a seat next to her mother as some patrons start talking about what happened. Only one person had the foresight to record most of what happened, as grainy as it was, but the majority of the patrons were either trapped outside desperately trying to look in or were in the Louvre trapped inside sarcophagi. However, everyone saw the new heroes as they were being released from their sarcophagi prisons through portals. And as they watched the heroes attempt to clean up a huge mess after the fighting was done and the akuma purified.

Marinette squints at the television. Holy hell, was that Fù!? She jumps up to her feet and Sabine's eyebrows furrow. "Sounds like a harrowing experience, I'm gonna call Alya. Make sure she's alright."

"Good idea. Tell her I said hello." Marinette nods then sprints upstairs to her room.

As soon as the call connects she hears Nino's voice, "Dude, how could you not get us!?"

"Sorry, Bro, being trapped in a sarcophagus didn't give me a lot of opportunities to move around enough to grab my phone. Hey, Marinette."

"H-Hey. What happened!? Who was wielding Wayzz!? How did you lose your bracelet?!"

"I didn't lose it! I strategically tossed it aside hoping Fù was close enough to grab it. I saw him out the corner of my eye as the sarcophagus was towering over me."

"Are you alright? That sounds like some intense shit that happened."

"I'm—" She sighs, "hold on, Kagami's calling. I'll put her through."

They hear a cough, "Alya, are you alright? My mother and I are listening to the news about what happened at the Louvre. Lila called me and said you got trapped in sarcophaguses?"

"Pretty sure it's sarcophagi."

"Not now, Marinette."

"Yeah, we—wait. What? Lila? Lila wasn't at the Louvre. It was me, Juleka, Rose, Kim, Max, and Juleka's hot older brother Luka. All of us got locked in the sarcophaguses but—" Alya groans, "I'm getting a headache."

"Huh." Marinette purses her lips. "Didn't take Lila long enough to get back to lying. Then again, I'll honestly be surprised if she ever stopped."

"But she sent me a clip of the fight. She said she took it." Kagami coughs then they can hear something cracking in the background, "why would she lie to me?"

"Leopards don't change their spots, Kagami. And I don't think it's physically or even mentally possible for a pathological liar to stop lying."

"What other lies has she told me that I swallowed down?"

"You have been hanging around me more and more, right? And as a result you're around her less and less. I dunno. Maybe she feels threatened? Wants to get you back all to herself and Juleka?"

"But why would she even want to do that?"

"Yeah..." Alya clicks her tongue, "you know, for someone who claims to be as straight as they come with an army of male admirers, she seems just about borderline obsessed with you and Juleka."

"This is just a theory, okay? But hear me out: what if Lila is threatened by you? Both because you're easily the prettiest girl in the school and the fact that you can kick everyone's ass with relative ease."

"Really, Nino? What about me? Am I not as pretty as Kagami?"

"Oh, Bro. Don't even go there. You're both hot, okay? Pineapples and pears." Alya cackles.

Marinette hums, "that reminds me of what happened last year. Sabrina and I were paired up together on a project so we hung out a lot and I really felt like we were starting to become friends. Keep in mind this was before the big reveal—" Nino snorts but she ignores him, "she somehow got the old mayor, principal, her ambassador mom, and Sabrina's dad somehow involved. Told them all I was a bad influence then Mlle. Mendeleiev put Sabrina with Lila and forced me to work with Kim, who was Lila's old partner. I mean, I don't mind Kim and he was more than happy to be away from Lila but still!"

"Okay but what about Juleka? Sure she's hot but why her?" Alya gasps, "ooh, she'd better not be keeping her around as some kind of gay best friend shit!"

"Hold up." Marinette interrupts. "Doesn't that only work if your 'gay best friend' is a different gender from you?"

"No." Alya grumbles, "I was everybody's gay best friend at my old school. Never mind the fact I'm bisexual. Biphobic assholes."

"I think we need to talk to Fù, find out what the hell he was thinking not contacting us and activating more kwamis."

"No. We shouldn't do that."

"What? Kagami are you serious?"

"We need more kwamis active. It lessens the chance of Hawkmoth grabbing a bunch up at once. I say we ask him non-confrontationally. Given the situation, I'd say he was well within his right as Guardian to activate whomever he chose without us questioning his decision. After all, it's what he did for us."

Marinette groans, "dammit. Damn you and your logical thinking."

.

"Economy class!" Audrey shrieks, "me! Who would make such an utterly ridiculous mistake as to put The Queen of Fashion into an economy class seat yet leave her nobody of a daughter still in first-class!?"

André pats his face vigorously with a handkerchief. He had a feeling he'd need more in the days to come. The Meltdown of Audrey Bourgeois was as international as their flight. Adrien sent him a link to the viral video (and he's not sure how he feels about that).

Audrey made a spectacle of herself without even touching down on France's soil. That has to be a record.

André had been up for the past nineteen hours constantly refreshing the airport's website of incoming flights after the flight from New York to Paris got delayed by fifteen hours.

Thankfully the airport was basically deserted so early in the morning, only with those catching or arriving from red-eyed flights themselves. Either way, he didn't need an audience as sleep deprived as he was. "Now, now, Dear—"

"Don't you fucking dare patronize me, André!" She jabs a finger in his chest, "this entire day has been hell and I'm gonna find the insignificant insect who made that video of me and utterly destroy their life!"

"Think about this, Audrey. This video will blow over—"

She jabs him in the chest again, "never forget I'm the power in this relationship, Dear." She snarls. "The longer this video stays relevant, the more it ruins your perfect family reputation." André grimaces.

Wait a sec. Family, family? Family! He lowers Audrey's hand from his chest and looks around. They couldn't be a perfect family without their child! "Where in God's name is our daughter?"

Audrey laughs humorlessly pointing past his face into the airport. "You'll see."

That was... foreboding. André pats his face with his handkerchief again and enters the airport. Nothing out of the ordinary, except the three large men each pushing full luggage trolleys toward the exit. No doubt the expensive, foreign designer bags belong to Audrey. He looks around and has to do a double take as a full luggage trolley comes into his line of sight. Chloé is sitting on top of it, taking selfies, as it's getting pushed by a tall young woman. Yeah. He feels a headache coming on. There's no way he'll get re-elected for a second term.

He and Chloé need to come to some agreement where she isn't so... Chloé. At least not in public. She has a duty to this family to uphold a certain image.

The luggage cart stops just in front of the entrance, "we have arrived at your destination, Mademoiselle." The brunette helps Chloé down from the cart.

"Why thank you, Mademoiselle was it? I kinda like that." She cocks a hand on her hip, "I believe it's Parisian custom to kiss on the cheek?" Before they can get any closer André all but runs over to Chloé pulling her out of kissing range from the young woman.

"Oh! I'm so happy to see you, Pumpkin!"

"Uh, hi Daddykins." There's a bit of an awkward pat coming from Chloé before she steps out of his embrace. "Yeah, okay. That's enough, you're getting sweat on my sweater."

André fully takes stock of his daughter as she smooths out the wrinkles in her sweater. There are now black and orange streaks in her hair in addition to the pink and purple ones, plus – as if all those colors weren't enough the tips of her naturally blonde hair are bright green. If she gets anymore color she'll be a damn rainbow. "O-Oh. I—wow. Your hair—"

"I know, right? Isn't it utterly fantastic? I'm thinking about adding more color." Oh Dear Lord, no. Chloé turns to the girl and thankfully merely kisses her on both cheeks though they do hold hands during the exchange, "thanks for all your help."

"My pleasure, Mademoiselle."

Chloé giggles, waving to the woman as she walks away. He might have to brush up on his German and consider running for mayor in one of their major cities.

Audrey storms into the airport, "oh, look who decides to grace us with her presence." Chloé's back to taking selfies but she lowers her phone to stare at her mother.

"Sunglasses, indoors mother?" Audrey's right eyebrow twitches.

"I came for you—" She pulls André by the ear, "what's with these limos? I specifically asked for heated seats. Do you want me to freeze to death? And there's no way they can fit all my luggage in just two limousines. Get more or fire your incompetent staff!"

"Maybe you didn't have to bring half of Manhattan with you to Paris."

"The clothes are better company than you." She releases André's ear, "you have no idea what that little slut did on the plane! Just shameless! Utterly shameless! She was basically trying to rearrange the teeth of some poor girl! Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the pilot kept her in first-class to ogle her. With all those rainbow pins and shit she had on her suit. How unprofessional!" She shakes her head, "you're a waste of the good-looks I blessed you with!"

"First of all, slut-shaming? Seriously? When all I did was kiss? If I were into boys and started making out with tons of them and my own goddamn harem you'd tell me how lucky I was to have so many admirers, you fucking hypocrite!"

"How dare you speak to me like that?!"

"And I'm not done speaking to like that! Why don't you tell Daddy all about the 'new friends' you made in Manhattan?! She clearly didn't miss you all that well to fuck around with whomever came calling almost every night!"

"You think he doesn't know? Not like I don't expect him to do the same. Why would we wait around for each other when we're countries away!?"

"Is that why you never wore your wedding ring?"

"Enough!" André shouts, "you know our arrangement Audrey, the ring was supposed to stay on and you were supposed to inform me every time you took on a new partner. It's what I did to you."

"So I forgot a few times, sue me." She folds her arms over her chest, "and you..." She turns her nose up at Chloé, "if you were into boys you wouldn't be such a fucking disgrace. And I'm the furthest thing from a hypocrite."

"No, you just ooze double standards. 'Progressive,' my ass. I hope that video of yours gets made into a TV movie!" She huffs walking out the entrance.

Audrey gasps in outrage, "a TV movie!? I'm the big screen or else!"