To anonymousfriend27: Alya did develop something of a mean streak in her interrogations, didn't she? The "missing pieces" get put together in this chapter, and will lead directly into the next batch of stories… none of which are written yet. They are planned, but this is a busy season for my profession, so I'm not going to be doing much writing for the next month or so. I will give a little more of a "what's coming" in a day or two.
To Speckleflower: "Legality" and "superhero-detective" don't always seem to go together… The only thing of questionable legality that she did (in that chapter; her interrogation in chapter 1 could have been borderline-torture!) was the search of his apartment. If they didn't have Spider as a corroborating witness, Janet's lawyer could probably get the flash drive thrown out, though warrant laws don't exactly apply to private citizens. But the Heroes aren't strictly private citizens, so… Janet's trial could be an interesting case study in superhero law in this universe!
To Dragon Lord Draco: … Anansi didn't actually do anything to him… I don't think anyone actually noticed the last cliffhanger in this story!
Rena Rouge stared in stunned disbelief at the spot where a man's head had been a moment before. Anansi, kneeling on the opposite side of the body, wore an identical expression. But only for an instant. Before the echo of the gunshot had faded, both heroes sprang into action. Rena Rouge extended her flute to full length, turned to face the direction the bullet had probably come from, and started spinning her flute to form a shield. She stood up and moved to interpose her flute-shield between the shooter and Anansi, who was scanning the rooftops surrounding them.
"Sniper!" she shouted unnecessarily, peering through her spinning flute and looking for movement.
"We need to get to cover!" Anansi called, putting a hand on Rena Rouge's shoulder. "Pity you didn't bring your boyfriend this time!"
"Someone had to watch the twins, and I figured you were already busy!" Rena Rouge retorted as she slowly shuffled out of the alley and away from the alley's entrance.
"So what now?" Anansi demanded, slumping against the wall.
Rena Rouge gauged the distance to the roof and crouched down, coiled and ready to spring. "Stay here and keep an eye out. I'll try to flush them in this direction." And then she leapt.
Rena Rouge reached out and grabbed a small protrusion from the wall and used it to propel herself up to the window ledge on the next floor. Without slowing down she pulled herself up by the arms, braced her feet on the ledge, and pushed off, quickly scaling the building. As she neared the top she jammed her flute into a small hole in the façade, swung around it, and threw herself upward, slipping the flute out of the hole in the same motion and torquing her body to swing over the roof edge. She landed softly and rolled to crouch on one knee behind a chimney. After waiting a moment, she peeked out around the chimney.
On the far end of the roof she could just make out a darker patch standing out against the night, kneeling near the edge of the roof. It did not appear to be facing her, so Rena Rouge slipped out from behind the chimney on the opposite side, away from the alley. She carefully picked her way across the rooftop, sweeping with her feet to avoid loose gravel and discarded building materials, eyes trained on her target. She was still 20 meters away when she stepped on a bird's nest. She winced as it crunched under her feet. The shadow on the far end of the roof sprang up at the noise and immediately bolted away from her, opposite the direction in which Anansi was waiting.
Rena Rouge cursed and gave chase. The sniper didn't slow his pace on nearing the edge of the roof. He leapt from that building to the next one, hotly pursued by Rena Rouge. The next building's roof slanted, and the sniper climbed hand-over hand to the roof's peak, swung over it, and slid down to the roof edge where he jumped to the next building. Rena Rouge lost sight of him with the roof peak between them, but followed him over the roof. However, the sniper had vanished in the space between the buildings. She searched the area where he should have been carefully, but could find no trace of him.
Rena Rouge groaned in frustration as she made her way back to the building where she had first seen the sniper. Finding the spot where the sniper had set up and made the shot proved to be relatively simple; the sniper had left behind his brass. Rena Rouge picked up the casing for Max to examine later. On the edge of the roof she saw the expected lynchpin, which she also collected.
"Any luck?" Anansi asked when Rena Rouge dropped to the ground next to her.
"What does it look like?" Rena Rouge retorted, kicking the wall in frustration before tossing her the lynchpin.
"This one looks different from the others," Anansi observed, holding it under the streetlight for her to see. There was a thin red band around one end of the pin. "What do you think it means?"
"Have you seen one like this before?"
Anansi shook her head.
"So either there's a new player, or this hitter is special," Rena Rouge commented. "Or maybe the hit itself was special. Either way, Lynchpin must have been concerned. This guy was the closest we've come to a corner piece in this puzzle, and he must've known he'd break if he was caught. He must have had the sniper watching just in case. And that's why White Suit was the target instead of us"
"And now we're back to square one," Anansi grumbled.
"At least we can get Adrien out of his legal trouble," Rena Rouge said, shrugging. "Maybe something new will turn up. Can you take Spider to the police station in the 21st Arrondissement? I'll meet you there after I collect my other prisoner."
"Not a problem, sis," Anansi assured her, making her way back down the alley to where Spider had passed out against the wall.
"Don't hand him over to anyone but Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix!" Rena Rouge called after her. Without waiting for an answer she took off at a dead sprint back to Janet's apartment building. On the way she used her flute to make a phone call.
"Hey, Sabrina," she greeted her as soon as the call connected.
"You sound out of breath," Sabrina observed, yawning audibly.
"Oh, you know, just out for a run!" Rena Rouge grunted as she leapt from one building to another across a street and rolled back to her feet without breaking stride.
"I'm sure," Sabrina retorted wryly. "That's definitely why you're calling me at 2:30 in the morning. And I'm sure this has nothing to do with why you needed me for some last-minute babysitting help so you and Marinette could run off together. What do you need?"
"So, I have good news and bad news," Rena Rouge answered. "The good news is that I have all the evidence your father needs to not arrest Cat Noir and start a war with the Heroes of Paris. The bad news is that I have all the evidence your father needs to not arrest Cat Noir, and there's no way I'm giving it to anyone but him."
"That's amazing!" she squealed, all grogginess vanishing from her voice. "And you're actually in luck. Daddy switched shifts with the night lieutenant, so he's at the station right now."
Ten minutes later, Rena Rouge landed on the steps of the police station, Janet bound and gagged and slung over her shoulder. Anansi was just arriving herself, pushing a still-protesting Spider in front of her. They met Lieutenant Raincomprix at the station door with another officer.
"What can I do for you ladies this evening?" Lieutenant Raincomprix asked them, eyeing their prisoners suspiciously.
"We've got a couple of packages to deliver," Rena Rouge replied with a smirk, lifting Janet from her shoulder. He landed the officers' feet with a muffled grunt of protest, glaring up at Rena Rouge over the gag. Ignoring him, she pulled out the flash drive. "We were out investigating a case for the Heroes when we stumbled across this idiot sneaking away from the Agreste Fashion House building the other night. When I finally tracked down his apartment tonight, I found this. From what he said, he used it to hack Agreste's files and move some money around. Then one thing led to another and…" she gestured over to Spider, who was giving the officers a wide-eyed look of undisguised terror.
Lieutenant Raincomprix nodded. "My thanks to you, Rena Rouge," he told her, giving her a relieved smile. "And to your… friend. This could help us clear up a very big case we've been working on the last couple days – one that threatened to become very public and very embarrassing. I'm sure my daughter and her friends will be relieved if this does indeed clear everything up. But from what you say, it certainly sounds to me like our primary suspect was framed."
Rena Rouge gave him a serious look. "You need to keep this as close to the vest as you can, Lieutenant," she insisted. "From what the prisoners said, this is just the tip of a very big iceberg. And if you send some men to check out an alley three blocks west of the Place de la Bastille, you will see exactly why. These people have someone in the police department, and you are the only one we trust!"
"Thank you for the warning, ma'am," he assured her. "I had some indicators of just that some time ago. And I thank you for your trust. I promise you, I will be cautious."
"See that you are." Rena Rouge nodded to Anansi, who roughly shoved Spider into the other officer's arms and turned to follow her down the steps. They slipped into an alley down the block where Rena Rouge leaned against the wall, closed her eyes for a moment, and de-transformed, releasing a night's worth of tension at the same time.
"That is never going to stop being weird," Anansi observed.
"You'll get used to it," Alya promised her. She opened her eyes and pulled a few crackers out of her purse for Trixx. "You're going to be seeing it a whole lot more now."
Anansi furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"
"This has gone too far," Alya told her, giving her a hard look. "I need to bring you in. Now. I probably should have done it a month ago. We can't keep my team in the dark anymore. Ladybug and Cat Noir have to hear about Lynchpin after all this."
"No way, sis." Anansi shook her head. "I don't mind helping you out; I don't mind you helping me out. But we've been over this already. There's no way I'm signing on with your group. Give me one good reason why I should loop Spotty and Puss-in-Boots in on this."
Alya sighed and shook her head. "How about three? First, the fashion show that these guys tried to rob. Second, the sweatshop making knock-offs of an Agreste dress that you broke up. Third, the frame job that nearly got Adrien arrested for embezzlement at the same time that they tried to split him up from his girlfriend. Are you seeing the pattern here? I might buy one of those being a coincidence, maybe even two, but all three, and with how elaborate this last one was? This is targeted. We may not be any closer to figuring out who Lynchpin is, but now I think we have an idea what he's after, or at least one thing. And it's Agreste Fashion in general, and Adrien Agreste specifically. Now we just don't know why."
"Fine." Anansi shrugged. "Say I buy your reasoning. What's that got to do with your Super-Pals of Paris?"
"Trust me, when we get to headquarters, it will all make sense."
The fashion show was in "Tit for Tat." The knock-off dress was mentioned in "Along Came Anansi." Also in "Along Came Anansi," Alya essentially revealed her identity to Sabrina because the Heroes have been using her father as their unofficial police contact. And all of the Heroes (minus the Owl, probably) know Adrien's and Marinette's identities since their Headquarters is in Adrien's basement.
This is the end of "The Fashion Disaster." However, I will add a note here tomorrow regarding my future plans.