It's been a while, hasn't it?

Before we get started, I want to apologize and explain my absence really quick. To make a long story short, I've just returned to college and it as been an exhausting experience. I go to school eight hours away from home, and with the current atmosphere that transition for me has been far more difficult than I anticipated. I've been working on this as best as I can, and almost had it done when I ran up on a wall and had to take a step back to work on other projects. I finally finished it tonight though, and I'm super excited to wrap up this arc and start the next one - I have some crazy stuff planned. Love to all you who stuck with me despite this absence and are reading this - it means a lot.

That being said, I don't think there's any real need for an intro on this - let's just hop right in where we left off, with a very panicked Rothan...

"Marinette is Ladybug."

As Rothan stared into space, Staffe inwardly cursed his luck and began to hover around the room anxiously. "Alright, Rothan. This is, obviously, difficult. But it's not all bad. Knowing who Ladybug is could be a real benefit! After all, it means… It means…"

Staffe fumbled for a reason why this early-morning run hadn't just turned into a disaster while Rothan gaped like a fish out of water. Finally, the boy seemed to process the events of the past few minutes and inhaled deeply. "Oh, Staffe, she's going to kill me. I'm so dead. I'm going to lose my Miraculous and you and Lady Lapis is going to be furious. Mum's going to be so disappointed and how am I going to protect the city and what if these new allies of Hawkmoth make a move? They could be in real danger and I won't be able to stop them and –"

"For the Swarm's sake, Rothan, breathe!" Staffe darted down in front of his face and gave him a sharp glare that instantly silenced the boy, then began barking out orders. "Deep breath! One, two, three, four! Release! One, two, three, four!" With Staffe's help, the teen was able to calm himself down from the edge of hyperventilation, but even after the quick series of relaxation exercises finished, Rothan's hands still shook with anxiety. "Oh, kiddo. It's going to be okay."

"I – it's just insane! How did I not see?" Rothan put his head in his hands and groaned, shaking his head in frustration. "It was so obvious – her frequent disappearances during Akuma attacks, her busy schedule, her initial irritation with my interview, her mounting stress – it's not like she was doing a great job of hiding it."

"It's part of the magic of the Miraculous – there are certain enchantments in place, designed to protect the identity of the wielder should the need arise. However, they can only bend so much before the illusions shatter."

"Well, why did it have to shatter for me?" Rothan shook his head, his voice choked. "This is just awful."

"Rothan, it will be alright. It was obviously a mistake, and nothing more. We can deal with this." Staffe shrugged. "Do you really think that Ladybug is going to punish you for an accident like this?"

"She sort of freaked out when Mum found out."

"We will deal with this, I promise. It's not as bad as it seems, I promise you." Staffe saw a wave of conflicting emotions crash across his partner's face and sighed. "Maybe you should try and get some sleep. I'm sure this will all seem more manageable in the morning."

Rothan gave him a doubtful look but shrugged. "Not a terrible idea. I guess it did get pretty late." The teen slipped his shoes off and lay back, already changed into his sleeping-clothes, and slipped under the covers. As he got comfortable, Staffe flipped off the light, then hovered over and settled himself on the pillow next to him, putting Rothan between himself and the door so he couldn't be seen if someone decided to join them unexpectedly. As they both got comfortable, Rothan let out a sudden snort of amusement. "You know what would be stupid? Imagine if Chat Noir went to our school too. It would literally be the dumbest thing ever."

"Mhm. At least we don't have to worry about that." Staffe yawned and snuggled deeper into the pillow as his voice drifted off. "After all, what are the chances of that…"

Rothan heard the Kwamii's breathing even out and smiled softly. As he turned to face the ceiling, however, he couldn't help but begin to consider this possibility. What are the chances, actually? Could whoever gave Ladybug and Chat their Miraculous items have gone as far as to ensure they stayed within such a closed group, and risk outing them as a whole at the same time? He pondered this with concern for a moment. Yes, actually. If I was a Guardian, I'd want to make sure the people I chose were close enough to one another that they could protect each other, even if it did put all my eggs in one basket. I suppose that does raise the interesting question of who it might be. Or if I really want to know.

Despite acknowledging that this was almost certainly something he did not want to know, Rothan couldn't help that his mind drifted repeatedly to the subject as he tried to fall asleep. It could really be anyone. The magic on the Miraculous is so strong, I didn't realize Ladybug was Marinette even though they look so similar. And even if we go with similar looks, there are a fair few blonde kids in our school. That's not enough to narrow it down even a bit. Suppressing a yawn, he rolled back over and looked at Staffe, who was sleeping peacefully. Ah, well. It's not something I'm sure I even want to figure out, anyways. A mystery for another day. Then he smiled and let his body relax, drifting into a light, dreamless, but relieving slumber.

Marinette stumbled down the stairs into the living room and glanced around, blinking blearily at the sunlight flooding through the windows. Despite having a deep and uninterrupted night of sleep, it had not been exactly a restful experience, which was frustrating – even when I sleep well I don't seem to get any less tired. Ridiculous. On top of that, she had woken up sore and uncomfortable, and had no idea why, nor was Tikki any more forthcoming or knowledgeable on the issue. But as she woke up she had begun to feel marginally better, and was now at least coherent enough to blink wearily and glance around. "Am I the first one up?"

"I guess so." Tikki zipped down through the open hatch door and settled in Marinette's shoulder. "I'm surprised you're not still asleep, to be honest. Usually you sleep in on Sunday mornings, with no school and the bakery closed."

Marinette shrugged in reply. "After I woke up feeling so sore, I didn't really feel like sleeping any longer. Hopefully getting up and moving about will help."

"If you really think so." Tikki hummed to herself as her partner made her way into the kitchen and began collecting ingredients from the fridge. "Breakfast already?"

"Why not? Maman surprised us with breakfast yesterday, and now it's my turn."

The red Kwamii didn't say anything as she watched Marinette turn on the stovetop and begin to mix up the beginnings of what would become omelets and bacon. After a minute, however, she sighed and shook her head. "Are you sure you're not just trying to create a distraction for yourself?"

"What?" Marinette paused in the middle of whisking up her eggs and gave Tikki a rather surprised look. "I'm not distracting myself from anything. What on earth would make you think that?"

"I don't know, the fact that you haven't slept well since the fight with Timeskip, when the Mantis got hurt? Or because you're stressed about having to find wielders for all of the Miraculous again. Or –"

"Tikki! I'm fine, really I am." Marinette gave her a frantic wave and tried to change the subject. "Do you think Rothan would prefer mushrooms? Or tomatoes? Or –"

"Marinette!" the Kwamii protested and rose to eye level with her. "You can't just avoid this forever. You won't feel better until you talk about it, at the very least."

"There's nothing to talk about, and there's no reason for you to be worried about me. Really, I'm fine!" The blunette pursed her lips and turned back to the stovetop. "Now, I think Rothan is sort of a tomato and spinach type of guy."

Tikki sighed, knowing she was fighting a battle she couldn't win, and decided to change tactics. "You really should think about talking to the Mantis about what happened, more than just checking his stomach area."

Marinette broke at this, sighing as she stopped whisking the eggs to look at her partner. "I know. I feel awful. I can't believe I just left him there. And now he's hurt, because of me."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't blame you for anything. He knows you reacted without thinking, and you would have gotten him too if you had the chance. You should call him and ask if he wants to meet tonight to talk it out."

"Yeah. That's a good idea." Marinette gave her a shaky smile before she heard a door creak down the stair. "Someone's up! Tikki –"

The little red being was already gone, hidden somewhere only she knew, and Marinette tried to put on a straight face as the living room door creaked open. After a moment, she saw a familiar shock of brown hair pop into view. "Oh! Good morning, Marinette. I'm surprised to see you up so early."

"Me too!" The blunette smiled at him and waved him into the kitchen. "I thought I would make breakfast."

"You all are never going to let me cook, are you?" Rothan made a face and Marinette stifled a giggle. "Well, I can't say I'm complaining. Everything I've eaten while I'm here has been delicious."

Despite the lightness of his tone, she couldn't help but notice he was standing stiff and straight, like there was something bothering him. But he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it much either, so she let it pass and offered him a pair of tongs instead. "Do you want to get started on that candied bacon you made a few weeks ago? It was pretty awesome."

"Sure thing." Rothan immediately set to work and visibly relaxed, humming a bit as he went. "So, what were you thinking for today? Hanging here? Headed out?"

"I was actually thinking about texting Lyra and seeing if she had the day off today. There's supposed to be a really cool exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre that I think she would be really interested in, and I thought it might be fun for the three of us to go and look around."

"That does sound neat. We can head out in a bit and be back in time for lunch." The boy straightened up and gave her a dry look. "Which, by the way, I am cooking."

Marinette just laughed. "As long as it's not already done by the time we get home."

"That's not going to happen."

"Whatever you say."

This is pretty awesome. Lyra glanced around the large exhibit and tapped her foot against the floor – a tic she developed whenever her emotions ran high – and waited for Rothan and Marinette to catch up with her. She was lucky that her parents had given her the day off to come to the Louvre, and even more so that Marinette and Rothan had been wanting to go as well. She loved being able to look at his paintings and inventions, and there was no better opportunity than with his assorted works right in front of her.

Rothan tapped her on the shoulder as they passed by, a small smile crossing his face. "You coming? These exhibits won't see themselves, you know."

"I was just waiting for you two. You're slow." She swatted his arm playfully and fell into step beside him and Marinette, then pointed at a model of one of his proposed inventions. "Come on!"

Rothan followed behind her as she approached the display and bent over the informational sign to peruse it. "A hydraulic press? Very interesting. He was so far ahead of his time – what an incredible man." As his fingers brushed across the surface and he mumbled to himself, she kept her focus firmly divided between him and the display. Even once they had arrived at the museum, Rothan had been seemed off. He was tense, and more sporadic than normal, with a tendency to dart off before returning, embarrassed that he had been so easily distracted. At first she had thought it was simply the fact his mother was away, but the longer they were here the more jittery he seemed to get, like there was something on his mind he couldn't quite shake. Once Marinette had slipped off to look at some of the paintings, she scooted closer and bumped his shoulder. "Hey, you doing okay?"

"Huh?" Rothan glanced up in surprise. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just tired, got a lot on my mind. You know me."

"You seem pretty anxious today."

"Does it show that bad? Yeah, today has been worse than usual. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Alright." She smiled softly at him and reached over, grabbing her hand. "If you change your mind, or even if you don't, I'm here. Okay?"

"Thanks." Rothan smiled back, a rare occurrence some days, and squeezed her hand back. She felt a rush of pleasure at the familiar gesture, even more so when even after he returned to the plaque he didn't let go. She and Rothan had grown very close over the past six weeks, and while she certainly hadn't gone looking for it, she had occasionally wondered if their relationship would evolve into something more. And this definitely set her in the "maybe" category.

For now, however, she was content to be someone to lean on as the two of them slowly made their way through the plethora of exhibits and displays – though when Marinette gave the two of them the side-eye and Lyra a knowing smile, she couldn't help but blush a bit. They walked and chatted quietly as they made their way through the crowd, stopping in front of a large wall filled with Da Vinci's paintings. Rothan looked up at them, impressed. "He certainly was a talented bloke, wasn't he?"

"He was." Lyra gestured to one painting and grinned. "Hey, that one looks sort of like you."

"Him? Yeah, maybe – if I wore nothing but a loincloth, and gained about thirty pounds of muscle."

Marinette made a face at the mental image, but Lyra just grinned. "I happen to think he's rather cute."

"Him?" Rothan scoffed. "He's buff, sure, but I wouldn't say he's much of a looker."

"I suppose. There's better-looking boys in real life anyways." She nudged him with her shoulder and watched as his face ran the gamut of every possible color as his brain processed the implications of what she was inferring. When he settled on a grin and a light pink blush, she smiled back innocently. "What was that all about?"

"I – err – hmm." Rothan shrugged, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you tell me?"

"You two are ridiculous," Marinette growled playfully as she kept her attention firmly on the paintings in front of them. "Can't you enjoy this without being complete dorks?"

"Nope." Lyra grinned and winked at Rothan, who tried not to laugh. "It's in my nature to be a complete dork. After all –" She was cut off by a series of panicked shouts form behind her and her eyes widened. "What's wrong?"

"Akuma attack!" Rothan shouted and hissed in irritation, taking off at a run and dragging Lyra behind him. Marinette was lost in the crowd of now-stampeding civilians as he dodged and weaved, but the blonde was too startled to fight back as he made his way through the chaos and found a supply closet. "This will do."

"What do you mean?" Lyra asked as he tugged it open. "Are we going to hide here?"

"You are going to hide here," Rothan corrected, taking her by the shoulders and gently pushing her inside. "I'm going to go find help."

"What?" Lyra squeaked in surprise. "No, I don't think so, you're going to stay right here with me. I don't want you anywhere near whatever is going on."

"Lyra, I'll be fine. I'll be careful. Besides, I need to go find Marinette, before she gets hurt." A serious look flashed through his eyes. "I can't let her get hurt."

"But Rothan –"

"Promise me you'll stay here and be safe, okay? You won't come running after me?" He gave her a pleading look, and the concern for her in his eyes made her defenses crumble. "I just want you to stay safe."

"I – okay." She gave him a frightened look. "But if you get hurt, buster, I'm personally going to find you and knock some sense into you."

"That won't happen." He smiled and quickly took her hand, planting a small kiss on her knuckles that made her blush. "I'll be back soon, okay? Stay safe." And with that, the door was closed, and he was gone. In the dark, Lyra pressed herself as far into the corner as she could and began to wring her hands anxiously. Be careful, Rothan. Don't do anything stupid.

Rothan rolled out from behind one of the larger displays, already transformed and blades out, and dropped into a defensive position. Marinette – Ladybug – gah this is going to be confusing – was already engaged with a guy in an all-black business suit, complete with a mask and very focused on his new opponent. As they fought, he launched beams from what appeared to be a modified smartphone, all of which were going wide and hitting civilians who dropped to the ground unconscious after being targeted. Rothan rushed over to one to check that they were alright, and raised his eyebrow at the soft snore that emanated from him – sleeping? Now that's a weird superpower – before hurrying to join the fray. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Mantis!" Ladybug's voice seemed cheerful even though she was fully focused on the foe before her. "Am I glad to see you. The Akuma is in his phone."

"Got it." Raising his hands he glared at the assailant and nodded. "Let's make this quick." He darted in, using his blades to parry blasts of energy while Ladybug attempted to use her yoyo to pin him down. But neither one of them seemed to have much luck, especially when Rothan ended up running in front of her and taking a yoyo to the head. "Ow! Sorry."

"Watch where' you're going," she replied as he backed away, exasperated. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. This isn't working so well, though." He brandished his blades and shook his head. "We need another plan. Or some backup."

"Backup would be good." Ladybug agreed as she spun her yoyo to deflect another attack. "Where is Chat? He's taking forever to get here."

"Did someone say my name?" A familiar, playful voice called out as the black-clothed feline slid into the room. "Sorry I'm late. I was – erm, caught me at a bad time."

Rothan nodded to the incoming hero. "Well, we're just glad you could make it. We could really use a hand –" Suddenly he paused and glanced at the hero again, blinking in confusion. Why does he look so familiar all of a sudden? It's like I should know who he is, but –

Suddenly everything seemed to stop as Rothan's mind screeched to a halt. Wait a second. Wait a second. There's no way – surely it couldn't possibly be –

Then Chat rubbed his neck in an all-too familiar gesture, and Rothan's mind, already unintentionally primed to look for similarities, made the connection, shattering the magic protecting the identity of the Black Cat. Oh my gosh. It's Adrien Agreste.

Rothan just stood there for a moment, too shocked to even say a word or move, unable to hear anything that was happening. His head was spinning, completely baffled by this turn of events, and it took the equivalent of a psychic scream from Staffe to bring him around. Rothan! ROTHAN!

The teen looked up just to see a bolt of energy streaking towards him, and by instinct raised a blade to parry the attack. But Ladybug was faster, lunging in front of the blast with a frightened shout, and Rothan watched in horror as she took the attack and crumpled to the ground, fast asleep. Dimly he could hear Chat roar in anger at the villain, and he felt a similar well of anger rise up inside him as he whirled on their unnamed assailant. "You," he snarled as he raised a blade, "Are going to regret that."

The man rolled his eyes. "What are you going to do? Your precious ladybug is down for the count – ack!" He squawked as Chat hurtled into him, spitting and hissing and attacking ferociously with his staff. It sent the man off-balance enough to allow Rothan an opening, and he took it, jabbing forward with his blades and catching the modified smartphone in a single stroke. Despite the man's firm grip, he was able to get enough leverage to wrench the device free from his grip and send it hurtling through the air, and Chat was there to catch it and crush it in his paw, no Cataclysm needed for the delicate piece of machinery.

As the butterfly was released, Rothan leapt away from the villain and reached into his pouch, retrieving his emergency jar and unscrewing the lid. "You rouse Ladybug, I've got this! Will of the Mantis!" Rothan's vision went red as he flung the glass jar, then reached out and used his telekinesis to guide the object to scoop up the butterfly. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Chat helping his partner over, Ladybug leaning on his shoulder and blinking awake, and Rothan thanked his lucky stars that the effects seemed to be very short term. Using her yoyo, she scooped inside the jar and retrieved the creature, then muttered sleepily as it was purified.

One Miraculous Cure later, the others were waking up and the Akuma victim was looking around in confusion. "Where am I? Last thing I remember my phone had died, and I was in the middle of a really important call."

The heroes shared a knowing look and Chat helped the man to his feet. "Akuma attack. It must have been super important – do you want to borrow my staff to finish it?"

The man nodded gratefully, and quickly found a quiet corner to call his client back while the three of them gathered together. Rothan gave Ladybug a serious look. "We need to talk."

"I know." She hung her head, stifling a yawn, and Rothan felt a pang of worry go through him. "I'm exhausted though, and my timer seems to be activated despite not using my Lucky Charm. I don't know what happened."

"Splatter Shot." Rothan growled in irritation. "I'll bet you anything he was involved. He has a power, called Chemist's Special, that allows him to concoct potions that do a variety of things. He probably powered up this Akuma."

"Why would he do that?" Chat wondered aloud, scratching the back of his head. "That guy wasn't exactly powerful even with an upgrade."

"I don't know, but I imagine it's why the Miraculous Cure wasn't nearly as effective as we would have liked." Rothan gave Ladybug a worried look. "You should really get home and get some rest. I get a feeling that was an appetizer, not a main course. We may be seeing another Akuma tonight."

"Then I'd better get going." She gave them a pained smile. "Shall we meet tonight for patrol?"

"Of course." Rothan nodded. "Be careful, you two, and I'll see you tonight." He waved and darted off in the direction of Lyra, looking for a place to change out of his costume as he went. But he couldn't ignore the gnawing worry in his gut as he ran, the feeling in his chest that warned him that something was definitely wrong.

"This is ridiculous." Marinette glanced at Rothan, who was busy texting on his phone with an irritated expression, and stifled a giggle. "I cannot believe her."

"What's wrong? Lyra again?" She slid over to glance at his phone and saw a message pop up – I know you were just trying to help. But that doesn't make what you did any smarter. They were both sitting on her couch, back at her house, resting after the crazy events at the museum. Rothan still believed that she had gotten hit by an errant attack, which wasn't technically a lie – he didn't need to know she had jumped in front of it as Ladybug. But she was painfully drained still, and Rothan had insisted that they head right home so she could rest. Lyra had agreed, but was still evidently frustrated with Rothan's behavior while they were there.

"Yeah. Golly, I was just trying to make sure you were alright – which you obviously weren't. It's not like I charged the guy." Rothan rolled his eyes before sending back a message saying exactly that. Marinette chuckled as the conversation went back and forth for a bit, until finally he sighed in relief. "There we go. I think she's a bit better, although she's probably not going to let me out of her sight tomorrow. I guess she thinks I'm not thinking straight with Mum gone."

"You have seemed a bit out of it lately. She's just worried about you."

"I know. But I'm really fine."

Marinette shrugged. "Well, fine or not, she cares about you a lot. Let her fuss over you a little bit – at least she'll feel better."

Rothan sighed and gave her a sidelong glare. "You and Alya are the worst." This only drew a laugh from Marinette, and he also cracked a smile. "Alright. I'll let her fuss as much as she wants tomorrow."

"Good." Marinette patted his arm and handed him a remote. "You look exhausted. Why don't we just relax for a while, since we finished our project yesterday? We could even turn on the television if you want."

"That sounds nice." Rothan nodded and hit the power button. "I chose Friday, so why don't you decide what you want to watch?"

They both flicked through shows until Marinette settled on a cheesy anime, and Rothan retrieved his writing materials so he could free write for a bit. But he didn't make much progress – after a bit, he ended up drifting to sleep, letting Tikki come out of Marinette's purse and grab some air. She immediately flew over and settled in her lap with an irritated expression. "Marinette –"

The blunette cringed and bit her lip. "I know I messed up, Tikki. I was just trying to protect the Mantis! He was so out of it all of a sudden, and I was worried he was going to get hurt –"

"That you didn't think about your own safety." Tikki sighed and rubbed between her eyes. "It was a very brave and sweet thing to do. But the Mantis could have protected himself! He's not as strong as you are, but he's much faster and has incredible reflexes as part of his powers. He would have been just fine."

"Oh." Marinette's voice was very small as she considered this. "And Chat was so worried – oh, Tikki, I feel terrible. I never meant to doubt him, he just keeps getting hurt. I don't know how he keeps going."

"My guess is his Lady Lapis friend is helping him somehow." The little red Kwamii smiled and hovered up to eye level. "She's very powerful, and rather special – she has the original grimoire that Mr. Agreste has a copy of. I'm sure there must be a healing potion in there somewhere she has him taking. Combine that with the sped-up healing from wielding a Miraculous, and I'm sure it helps him stay on his feet."

"Still, every time he hit, I worry he's not going to get back up. He's just so new and inexperienced, and –" Marinette paused and took a deep breath. "He scares me. I was already responsible for so much, and now I have to worry about keeping him safe. I don't want to be the one responsible for him getting hurt."

"I know you'll keep him safe, Marinette," Tikki soothed, smiling at her partner. "There's no reason to worry."

"I'm not so sure. He's so reckless sometimes." Marinette shrugged. "I'll talk to him tonight though. Maybe I'll feel better after I see him."

"I'm sure you will."

Marinette gave Tikki a half-hearted nod and yawned. "I'm so tired. That villain took more out of me than I thought."

"Maybe you should try and sleep for a little bit," the Kwamii suggested. "That way when you go on patrol tonight, you'll be able to stay awake."

"Maybe that's a good idea." Marinette agreed sleepily, leaning over and resting her head on Rothan's shoulder. "I don't want to be tired if something happens."

"Good." Tikki flew over and planted a small kiss on her nose. "I'm going to go relax for a bit, but I'll be nearby if something happens."

"Mhm." Marinette blinked and closed her eyes with a small smile. "You know, for as much trouble as I give him, he actually makes a nice pillow."

Tikki giggled as Marinette drifted off, then made her way upstairs. She's such a sweet girl. I'm so glad she's the bearer of the Ladybug Miraculous – Master Fu truly selected well with this one.

I hope she's going to be alright.

"Ten o'clock," Rothan announced to no one in particular, looking up from his writing tablet to the midnight sky beyond his window. "Should we get going? I did promise Ladybug I would meet them for patrol tonight."

Staffe glanced up from his nest, where he was curled up with Rothan's phone reading. "If you think you're ready."

"I'm absolutely not ready. But I don't think putting it off is smart either." Rothan let out a dry, bitter bark of a laugh and stood. "Come on, buddy. Let's go take care of business – Scythes out!"

Moments later, Rothan was crawling out of his window and to the rooftop above, cloaked in his deep olive greens and blacks. Once he found footing on the balcony, he stretched and looked out over the city – my city – with a feral grin. With a whoop he flung himself from the roof and across the skyline, content to take a moment to clear his head and enjoy being back in the suit. I missed this – morning patrols, afternoons exploring the city. It's more than a responsibility for me these days – it's a way of life.

Which is why I've encouraged you to embrace it. Perhaps now you will be less hesitant to allow yourself to take these moments for working. Staffe's psionic hum drifted through his mind, then paused as it hit upon a particularly prominent thought. No. I do not care for this idea at all.

"Staffe!" Rothan protested as he cleared another alleyway. "I can't just hide this from Ladybug and Chat forever. They deserve to know that I know who they are."

I didn't say forever, now did I? But this is not something that you can just dump on that poor girl without giving her an anxiety attack, which you know would be bad. Not to mention it would out your own identity,

"Would that be such a bad thing though? If we know each other identities, we can protect each other, work together."

And you will also be much more obvious in both civilian and hero's clothing. And there's another fact you must consider.

"Which is?"

The delightful mess that is Adrien and Marinette.

Rothan considered this as he sped across the rooftops. How would Marinette feel knowing that she had been flirting with her secret crush for two years? And what about Adrien? How would he take the knowledge that Ladybug had been right in front of him the whole time? Not well. He could just imagine the tension that would stretch across each battle. "You're right."

Oh? I'm glad you agree. There was a soft echo of amusement from inside Rothan's head as Staffe seemed to settle down. With Hawkmoth ramping up his attacks and almost certainly having outside help, the last thing you need to do is to damage this working dynamic that the Ladybug and Chat Noir have. You, however…

"I know. I'm going to have to adjust." Rothan shrugged as he slid to a stop, then changed directions. "It's hard though. When I look at Ladybug I also see the sweet girl that wanted to make sure I had friends on my first day of classes. It's disorienting."

You'll adapt. The Mantises always do – always a new adventure with you lot. You're just so strong up here. Staffe, looking through his partner's eyes, gave him a mental tap on the head. That being said, I do believe that Mrs. Marinette is waiting for you. You should join her.

Rothan stopped running to catch his breath once he saw her crimson costume a few buildings away, then took up a more leisurely pace, delicately leaping from ledge to ledge until he dropped down onto the roof beside her. When started out of a reprieve, he held up a hand in apology and offered a smile. "Sorry. Lost in thought?"

"Yeah." She returned it with a smile of her own, then gestured behind them. "Why don't you sit down? I brought snacks."

Rothan glanced that way to see a small blanket and a Tupperware dish with an assortment of baked goods inside, which he recognized as the extras left over from a day of sales at the bakery. He fought his rising discomfort and offered a small smile as he sat on the blanket, and Ladybug joined him. This is going to be harder than I thought. I will have to be really careful to not give anything away.

Thankfully, Ladybug didn't seem to notice his anxiety increasing and instead offered him the container, from which he selected a pair of deep green macrons. As he speared one on the end of a barely-extended blade and began to delicately nibble on it, she picked out a small chocolate cookie and did the same. They both sat there for a minute and ate before he broached the silence. "Hey, I'm so sorry about today. I completely froze up, and let you get hit, and I should know better than that by now. It won't happen again, I swear."

The blunette shook her head and chuckled. "It's okay. You're pretty new to this still, and I shouldn't have jumped in front of you anyways. You were more than capable of protecting yourself. If anything, it's my fault, not yours."

Rothan gave her a surprised look, but decided not to press the issue. "If you say so. It wasn't your fault either, though. Just so you know."

"That's sweet of you to say. At any rate, I'm fine, just still drained from the fight. I don't know who that guy was, but he sure packed a punch."

"You got that right." He offered a small smile before looking back down at his macron, turning it in his hands and thinking. "Why did you jump in front of that bolt? Like, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but I guess it doesn't make much sense to me."

"Well," Ladybug turned pink in the dim lights from the street below and looked away, trying to find the right words. "I – I've been really worried about you lately. You keep getting hurt – seriously hurt, hurt to the point where you can't fight. And I know you can take care of yourself, but – there are so many times I've been scared that the next time you got hit you wouldn't get back up. I've almost lost Chat so many times. I don't think I can stand losing you too."

Rothan sat in silence as he stared out over the city, contemplating her explanation. Finally, he reached over and squeezed her knee with a soft smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

This seemed to settle her a bit, and she returned the smile. "I know that now. But thank you."

"Good. I'd like to think that my bulging muscles and incredible combat prowess would at least convince you of that." Rothan grinned and flexed his skinny arm, and Ladybug choked on her cookie in laughter. He replied with a look of mock offense. "What? Do you not agree?"

"Oh, certainly!" Ladybug was all sarcasm as she gave him a serious look. "You're a big, tough mantis that makes me quake in my boots."

"You don't even have boots."

"Well, if I did, I would be quaking in them."

"Here, I can quake in mine for you."

This drew a snort of laughter, and both friends burst into giggles and collapsed onto the blanket. Rothan gestured to the sky of darkest blue above them and sighed. "It's beautiful tonight. It's a shame Chat is missing this."

"Yeah. It's not like him to be so late for patrol. Something must have held him up at home." Ladybug shrugged. "He'll show eventually. I wasn't planning on doing much patrolling tonight anyways. I figured we could just relax and hang out for a bit. We could all use a break."

"That sounds fine to me." Rothan couldn't complain at the thought of not exerting himself tonight, especially with his fading soreness. It would be nice to spend an evening just relaxing in his superhero form and bonding with the two heroes. "He'd better get here soon before all the sweets are gone, though. I can't promise I won't eat them all."

"You're such a dork." The blunette shrugged and stifled a yawn. "Wow, I'm more tired than I thought. I took a nap earlier today, but it didn't help much."

Rothan nodded, remembering waking up to find Marinette drooling on his shoulder with a grin. "Well, you should try and get some extra sleep then. Last thing we need is the savior of Paris only half-awake during a battle."

"Easier said than done."

"Not sleeping well?" Rothan was surprised to hear this considering how knocked out she had been last night, but Ladybug just shrugged. "Just insomnia or things on your mind or…"

"Guardian stuff. It's a lot of responsibility." Ladybug waved a vague hand and sighed. "It sort of got sprung on me at the same time most of my old team got outed. I'm not sure how to even start rebuilding."

"I feel that." Rothan sighed and rubbed his nose. "I think Lady Lapis is in a similar boat – she's trying to rebuild the Swarm and is having a rough time of it. I really need to get you two to meet, come to think of it. You could both use a little Guardian-to-Guardian chat."

"Yeah. She doesn't get out much, does she?"

"She's a bit older, so I presume not. She's really strong though I think. I like her a lot." Rothan hummed to himself as he stared at the sky. "I think you two would get along pretty well."

He expected a response, but when none came he glanced over beside him and grinned. Marinette had passed out staring at the night sky, and was now breathing softly as she dozed. I'll let her sleep for a bit, until Chat gets here. Heaven knows she could use some rest, as tired as she is. Stretching, he sat up and stared out over the skyline again, taking in the beauty of Paris at night and watching for the figure of Chat to come out of the dark. And after a bit, he did see a figure appear a few rooftops away, silhouetted in the darkness. However, when he waved in greeting to him, he did not wave back, much to his surprise. What's his deal? Surely he's not upset with me about earlier. "Hey! Chat?"

But the figure did not move, and when he looked closely Rothan began to notice something seemed off. The way the figure stood, looking at him, was decidedly un-chat like. And where was his baton? His coloring seemed off too, a bit more blue than black. Raising a blade, he made his way to the edge of the roof and looked toward the figure. When it still didn't move he bit his lip, considered waking Ladybug, then shook his head. I've got this. Whatever this is can't be that bad, surely. Leaping out, Rothan darted toward the not-Chat, and the figure darted away in reply. Rothan chased him across rooftops and over streets, and while the figure made a decent effort to escape, Rothan was too quick in Mantis form to be outpaced so easily. Very soon he was making ground on the figure, and then overtook him with a bounding leap that tackled the stranger to the roof. The thing that looked like Chat Noir but was not grunted as it hit the ground hard and rolled with the Mantis to a stop, leaving it pinned by the hero. Rothan used one hand to grab it by the neck. "What are you doing? Where's Chat Noir?"

"I don't think you need to worry about that." A snide, sniveling voice piped up, and Rothan's head snapped in its direction. "He's fine, I'm sure. Haven't seen him since that little incident today."

"Who are you?" The Mantis growled back, his eyes trying to make out the speaker in the darkness. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself about at the moment." The figure slid into view with a sly grin, a college-age kid with an orange and black suit not so dissimilar from his own. "So, we finally meet in person. You're the Mantis, right? The troublesome one."

"What – You're a Miraculous Wielder, aren't you!" Rothan gaped in alarm, which was only compounded when he felt the thing in his hands dissolve into goo. "The wielder of the Spitting Bug!"

"I guess Lady Lapis has kept you informed. Perhaps I am. What are you going to do about it?"

Rothan didn't ever reply, only stood and raised his blades before darting forward. The stranger flipped out of the way and retaliated by whipping out a strange blaster and firing several orbs of orange slop that he easily deflected. They fought like this for a few minutes until Rothan paused and flourished. "You know you're not going to win here. I'm faster than you, and have better reflexes."

"Maybe I'm not trying to win though." The boy spun his weapon lazily and smiled. "Maybe I just wanted a little fun."

"Sure. I know you're here to cause trouble. And you're going down."

"You offend me. I'm not causing trouble." As he spoke, the orange-clad villain cocked his head, and Rothan could hear a piercing scream over the rooftops. A painful one. "She is."

The Mantis's eye's widened as he realized what had happened. "You tricked me! You were a diversion."

"Someone give this kid a medal! And it was so easy, too. You're a gullible one, aren't you?"

Rothan only hissed in response and turned away. "You're going to be sorry for this. You'll get what's coming to you – all of you will, just you wait and see."

"I'm glad you think so. Have fun!" And like that, the villain vanished back into the shadows as the Mantis leaped off, back the way he had come, back towards Marinette and her nighttime picnic, a mixture of fear and fury in his heart.

As he raced from rooftop to rooftop, a heavy dread settled over him, sharpening his mind and clearing his thoughts. How could I have been so stupid? They used me like a pawn in their little game to catch Ladybug, and it worked. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and now Marinette is in trouble. I've screwed everything up – but I can fix it, too.

Grabbing the ledge of a roof with his blades, he slung himself forward a few houses at a time, and quickly he saw two silhouettes on the rooftop he had started from, only one of which he recognized. That one was Ladybug, standing limp and motionless, and the other seemed to be an older woman in a black skinsuit with a large red hourglass over the stomach. Rothan knew enough biology to guess which one she was. She must be the bearer of the Spider Miraculous. I'm going to have to be extra careful.

As he approached, both the woman and Ladybug straightened up and looked at him. The stranger gave him a smile that bore only malice. "So, I see you've decided to join us. I don't believe we've met. You can call me Widow."

"I can, can I?" Rothan growled and raised his blades with a cold anger. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing that will hurt her, I assure you. I'm not like dear old Hawkmoth – I prefer to work a bit more subtly than that." She lazily raised a dagger and waved it about, that infuriating smile never leaving her face. "One of my abilities is rather, shall we say, useful on sleeping targets. And things worked out just perfectly this evening, don't you think?"

"Oh, clearly. I assume that's why that attack happened today? You needed to speed up the clock a bit?"

"But of course. It was unfortunate I couldn't get control then and there, but Splatter's little special was even more potent than we anticipated. So it ended up working even better than we anticipated."

"Except for one thing – you didn't count on me taking you out." Rothan leveled a blade at the Widow and glowered. "I don't know who you think you are, but you're going down."

"Is that so? Well, you'll have to get through her first." The Widow gave a lazy flick of her hand and Ladybug seemed to jolt to life, whipping out her yoyo and spinning it viciously at Rothan. He cursed and ducked out of the way of an attack aimed at his head, raised his blades, and began a deadly dance with the sleeping heroine. As she threw attack after attack, he managed to parry the better part of them, but every attack cause his footing to slip backwards a little more. As the black-clothed villain cackled, he felt his foot hit the edge of the roof and hissed. I can't run from this fight – but I'm sorely outclassed here. Ladybug is my superior five times over, and if she gets even one solid hit on me I'm going to go down. He squeaked as he just dodged another attack and felt his balance begin to go, and decided on a desperate play. "Ladybug!" he screamed, tensing himself to leap away if he failed. "Stop! It's just me, the Mantis. It's okay!"

To his surprise, the heroine did pause in her tracks upon hearing her name, and Rothan breathed a sigh of relief. Not expecting the momentary confusion to hold for long, he circled around before calling to her again. "Come on, fight this! You know this isn't right!"

"Quiet, you!" The Widow snarled and clenched a fist, and Rothan watched a shudder run through his opponent before ducking another yoyo. "You really think you're going to win like that?"

"I was kind of hoping," he muttered as he parried two blows. "You know, power of friendship and the like." As he flipped up and over their heads, he tried to find an opening in Ladybug's defenses and spun out of the way of an attack. His maneuver left him off balance, however, and he realized too late he wouldn't be able to readjust to land. Luckily, he didn't have to. Instead, two arms caught him, and a familiar voice purred. "So nice of you to drop in, Mantis."

"No time for this, Chat." Rothan spun away and deflected another attack. "She's got Ladybug."

"No!" Chat Noir went from playful to fury in seconds. "I'm going to rip her to shreds –"

"Nope, you're going to deal with Ladybug."

"What?"

Rothan rolled his eyes and spun his new partner to face Ladybug. "You deal with your girlfriend. I'm going to show the Widow what a Mantis is made of." Before Chat could protest, he shoved him into the fray and leapt away, switching from long defensive blades to shorter, ones meant for dueling and dropping in front of the woman with a glower. "Playtime's over."

She just glared at him and drew two short knives of her own. "I think you're mistaken, boy. It's just beginning."

The Mantis lunged forward, and the two of them joined in a strange and deadly dance of steel and physique, dancing across the roof edge and bathed in moonlight. It would have been strangely beautiful and romantic if Rothan hadn't been fighting for his life against a woman who was powerful enough to maintain her control on Ladybug and duel with him at the same time. He was pleased that Chat was holding his own, but knew that if he could get a good blow in it would make this fight much easier for all three of them. But while the Widow was not as skilled in blade fighting as he was, her age gave her a distinct strength advantage that she was using to her fullest potential. Every time he slipped, however, he was able to find away to drive her back, and thankfully the fabric of his suit protected him from harm. "You're not half-bad."

"Well, did you expect me to lose?" The Widow gave him an unsettling grin between heavy breaths. "Your Miraculous is as good as mine, you know."

"Over my dead body."

"Well then. That can be arranged."

Rothan balked at the bluntness and narrowly avoided a blade headed right for his face. "Do you have no heart?"

"Did you think I would? Do you really think I got here because I'm a nice person?" The Widow rolled her eyes and snored as she dodged one of Rothan's attacks. "I take what I want, and a child like you isn't going to stop that."

"No, that's fair." Rothan hissed as he took a step back, ducking a knife and raising his blades defensively. He was breathing heavily, and silently he cursed to Staffe. This is a bit of a situation here. I'm small and fast, not strong. I don't have the fortitude for this.

I don't know what you want me to do, exactly. You're driving.

Well, aren't you a real help. Rothan let his blades grow to full length as the Widow began to circle him, each looking for an opening. "I don't think I'm much of a knife fighter. Maybe we'll try keeping you at blade's length."

"You're tiring. I can see it." She smirked. "You time is limited, Mantis. Why don't you just give me that Miraculous of yours and make this easy?"

"Shut up!" Rothan flicked his wrist and was frustrated to find that the Widow simply dodged out of the way. She wasn't exactly wrong, either – he had already been sore and tired, which was likely not a coincidence. And now he was fighting a losing battle without his full strength.

Wildly he flailed to attack, but for every ferocious series of swipes, his opponent was able to elegantly block and jab in with a strike of her own, making him take a step back to defend himself. It didn't take long for him to find himself at a roof's edge, teetering between his foe and the street below. She smirked victoriously as she brandished a knife. "Looks like that's the game, Mantis. Any last words?"

Rothan closed his eyes. Staffe, you better have some sort of desperation play, otherwise I'm going to turn into a mantis pancake. Give me everything you've got.

Staffe hesitated before replying. I – I don't want you getting hurt – but – oh, bother! Screw the risks, Rothan, the activation call is –

"Blurring Blades!" Rothan roared, raising his weapons in a defensive stance and feeling a bright energy flood from them and to his body. The Widow just laughed and darted in –

And the world slowed.

Rothan gasped as time seemed to grind to a standstill, watching the Widow move like she was wading through molasses or amber resin. This is so weird. It's like time has stopped.

Or I'm moving really, really fast.

To Rothan, it felt like an eternity. But to the outside world, there seemed to be a languid ease to which he blocked the knife, one the didn't account for the rapid jerk that nearly launched the Spider Knife into the Parisian night. As the Widow lurched forward and tried to regain her balance, she glanced up in shock at the boy, who seemed far less paralyzed by surprise – possibly because from his point of view, he had much more time to process it. He then followed it with a series of strikes so fast that it gave meaning to his call phrase, sending her backwards in a hasty retreat as he hammered away at her defenses. To his suprise, it only seemed that his hands moved at such a rapid pace, which he filed away for later as he paused in the middle of the roof and raised a hand. "You're bleeding."

The Widow put a hand to the thin line of red on her cheek and snarled. "You arrogant, hateful, miserable child!"

"Someone's a sore loser."

She shrieked in anger and made a rapid series of strikes, but Rothan blocked them so easily it was laughable. With each strike they danced around in a circle, and he felt extreme satisfaction to see the ragged breaths that he had been suffering from begin to affect her instead. "I can't believe you're using a parlor trick of all things to fight me."

"Firstly, what do you call what you did to poor Ladybird then? Second, I'm not fighting you; I'm beating you."

This elicited another growl as she raised her blades. "I'm going to get my hands on that Miraculous if it's the last thing I do, you wretch!"

Rothan's vision went red, and it wasn't from his Will of the Mantis. So when she charged in, he did a foolish – and satisfying – thing; he withdrew one blade, dodged out of the way, and decked her in the nose, so hard that she stumbled backwards in surprise. He noted with grim satisfaction that her nose was broken, which she noticed a moment later as she reached up to feel it and screeched. He shrugged. "I don't know. I think red is a good color on you."

"You – you'll pay for this!" The Widow snarled in rage as she backed away. "I will have that Miraculous, mark my words! Your time is coming, Mantis!"

"Well, not today," he muttered as he watched her turn and flee, then shouted into the night. "And that's Black Mantis to you!"

"Ow!" Rothan spun to see Ladybug clutching her head and wincing, Chat thoroughly embarrassed and trying to put his arms out to comfort her. "What the heck, Chat? Why were you hitting me? And Mantis? Why are your blades glowing?"

He blinked and let the power he was wielding fade, replacing it with a tidal wave of exhaustion that knocked him to his knees, much to Ladybug's horror. As she and Chat rushed over, he raised a tired hand. "I'm okay. Used a new power that was – draining."

Draining is an understatement. Kwamii don't typically teach our more advanced powers until you're an adult for good reason. I'm thankful you're not in a coma.

"Yeah, well I feel like I've been hit by a truck." Ladybug gave him a confused glance and he tapped his head apologetically. "Sorry. Jiminy Cricket is in here chatting up a storm."

I take offense to that.

Yeah, well, ease up a notch. Rothan bit back a grin at Staffe's good-natured indignance and raised a hand. "Mind helping me up? I could –" His thought was cut off by Marinette reaching down, wrapping him in a fierce hug and lifting him to his feet. He blinked in surprise. "Hey, I'm okay, you know."

"I know." She let go and pulled back. "I just got scared – what happened? The last thing I remember is sitting on the roof."

"You fell asleep, and I saw something suspicious, so I decided to chase after it. By the time I figured out it was a trick, the Spider Miraculous bearer was here, and I think used one of her powers."

"One of?" Chat gave him a surprised glance. "You mean, they have more than one ability?"

"Well, Ladybug does, and apparently so do I." Rothan shrugged. "I think everyone gets three; you're just not supposed to use some of them until you get more practiced."

"Interesting." Ladybug turned to her partner and nodded. "You should talk to Plagg about that. We've been doing this for a while – I imagine you'd be strong enough to wield all of your abilities." Chat nodded and she turned back to Rothan. "I'm so, so sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"Nah. I'm tired but I didn't get hit by anyone too badly. Left the Widow with a right nasty nose job though. What about you? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, and I think Chat is as well? We've sparred enough that he knows my moves pretty well."

Chat nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He offered a small smile and bumped Ladybug's shoulder playfully. "Though I'm certainly not used to having to be the one to save your hide, Bugaboo."

"Well, don't get used to it." Ladybug gave them both a grim look. "That won't happen again, I promise."

"It's okay," Rothan soothed, shaking his head and smiling. "None of this is your fault. It's not anyone's fault really. We all got played by these guys, and we'll be prepared the next time."

"Okay." She nodded and managed a smile, and Rothan let a wry smirk dance at the corners of his mouth. "I'm mostly just glad everyone is alright."

"Me too." Chat's tail flicked back and forth as he gave them both a particularly cat-like grin. "In fact, we should celebrate our little victory."

"Funny you should mention celebrating, Chaton. I may have picked up some sweets on my way here."

"Why, that's purrfect." Chat grinned and glanced around for the container. Rothan was the first to find it, and held it out to the others, who grabbed a few assorted sweets for themselves. "Do you need to go recharge, Mantis?"

"In a minute, but I won't be gone for long. I can grab some drinks while I'm gone, too. My treat."

Ladybug grinned. "I'd tell you not to, but you would ignore me anyways. So thank you."

"Of course. But before I go –" Rothan grabbed a macron and held it aloft for the others to see. "To the greatest heroes in Paris."

The heroine rolled her eyes as Chat did the same with his own treat. "To us!"

And with a grin, Marinette raised her croissant with a good-natured sigh. "Alright, I'll bite. To us!"

With the final bell of the day, Rothan practically dashed out of the classroom and through the front doors of College Dupont, his eyes roving across the street in search of his mother's car. It took a moment, but eventually he spotted it just down the street, his mother inside reading a novel and waiting for the school day to end. With an exited whoop, he hurried over and tapped on the glass, and she looked up from what she was reading with a grin and hopped out. "Hey there, sport."

"You're home!" Rothan grinned and gave her a fierce hug. "I'm glad to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Reamie laughed as she returned the gesture. "I'm glad to be back. London hasn't changed much."

"That's not surprising." Rothan shrugged and pulled back a bit. "It's not like we've been away that long."

"Feels like it's been much longer though, hasn't it? So much has changed in the past two months." She gave him a knowing wink, and he could feel Staffe squirm appreciatively in his satchel. "We've certainly settled in nicely here, haven't we?"

Rothan just smiled and rolled his eyes, then was pleasantly surprised by a familiar voice behind him. "Welcome home, Mrs. Terresia!"

"Why, thank you, Marinette. Did you two have a good weekend?"

"It was a lot of fun. Rothan can be a lot of excitement sometimes."

"That's a load of hokey, and you know it. We had a nice, quiet weekend." Rothan gave her a mock glare and Marinette laughed. "But it was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad to hear you had a good time." She squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "I already picked up your things from the Dupain-Cheng's, so we ought to be ready to roll."

"Alright." Rothan turned around and nodded to Marinette. "Thank you again for letting me stay with you all this weekend. I appreciate it a lot."

"You know you're welcome to hang out anytime." She softly punched him in the shoulder and smiled. "I like hanging out with you – as do my parents."

"That's good to hear," he joked and offered a half-smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right." She grinned back and waved before heading off down the street. "See you!"

Rothan shook his head and watched her go for a moment before glancing at his mother. "Ready to go?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart. I want to hear about what you all ended up doing." She headed around to the driver's seat and Rothan hopped in across from her, Staffe zipping out as soon as he was settled. "I'm glad to hear things went well."

"They did – sort of."

"Oh?" She gave him a concerned look and raised an eyebrow as she started the car. "What happened?"

As they drove, Rothan quickly gave her the rundown of his rather exciting weekend, omitting the part where he accidentally had discovered his ally's identities – no need to put her at more risk than she already has. When he had finished, she bit her lip in concern and stared out the windshield. Rothan watched her for a moment and put a hand on hers. "I am okay though."

"I know. I'm just really worried. That was a bold move, to come out and attack in person."

"One they won't try again for a while. I think we embarrassed them pretty bad. And next time, I'm going to be much, much stronger."

"He's not wrong," Staffe offered from his partner's shoulder. "We are in agreement that some heavy training is coming in the next few months, for both his telekinesis and his fighting skills. The next time these villains strike, we'll be more than ready."

"I like the sound of that, as long as you don't work yourself too hard." She shot them both a smile. "After all, I want to spend time with you too. All work and no play makes for a very anxious and cranky Rothan, I've noticed."

"I know. And I'm going to make time to rest too, starting with when we get home. I want to spend the afternoon with you as soon as I get unpacked."

"Well, I won't say no to that." They both laughed, and Rothan grinned out into the sunshine of the city. He had no idea what the future held, but he was confident that he could hold his own against it. As long as he had friends by his side and his mother behind him, there was no real reason to fear. With a yawn, he smiled and settled into his seat. There's nothing that can stop us, that's for sure. You'd better watch out, Hawkmoth, because there's a little green Mantis coming for you…

And that's a wrap! Season 1 Arc 1 has successfully come to a close! This has been such a crazy adventure that I am so glad to have shared with you, and I'm just as excited to start the next arc here soon! I think I'm going to take a few days off, but hopefully I should be dropping the first installment of Arc 2 by or around the 9th of September. You'll probably be seeing a recap in between now and then too. And if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can reach me on my Tumblr at james-brafin or my Twitter handle, which is jamesthedabbler. Until next time!