It was late afternoon before Marinette woke. She didn't want to open her eyes, a feeling of dread settling over her. For a moment she couldn't remember why, before everything came rushing back- the akuma, the explosion, and Chat…Chat was gone. Missing, she corrected herself. She took a deep breath as tears sprang to her eyes. She swallowed hard. She would not cry anymore, she decided. Crying only gave her a headache…like she had now, from falling asleep after crying so much. She made a face, finally opening her eyes.

Tikki and Plagg were curled up on the pillow next to her, still sound asleep. She looked to the bedside table. It seemed that the kwamis had fetched a glass of water for her before going to sleep. She took it gratefully, downing the entire thing quickly before climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom to wash her face.

By the time she got back, the kwamis were stirring.

"Ready to go look for Chat?" She said, determined to sound upbeat. Tikki floated over to her, nodding her head enthusiastically. Plagg looked wary. "What's the matter, Plagg? Didn't you get anything to eat while I was down for the count?"

Tikki answered for him. "I made sure to get him something," she said, not explaining further. Marinette raised an eyebrow, but let it go. He was probably just worried about Chat, she thought.

"Alright then. Tikki, spots on!" A moment later, Ladybug was sprinting towards the Seine.

A short while later, Ladybug had to admit that she had found nothing. There was no trace of the ash from before, no sign or hint that Chat Noir had ever been here at all. But she refused to give up. Just as she was turning to check again, or possibly use a lucky charm to aid her search, an alert sounded from her yo-yo. Another akuma.

Before, where Ladybug would have considered an akuma attack to be a mild annoyance at worst, now she was positively frozen in fear. She still had not found Chat Noir! Most of her plans had relied heavily on him in order for them to succeed. She had fought akumas before who had bewitched Chat, so then she had to fight both him and the akuma…but it felt different this time. Different in the knowledge that there was no one else. Nobody was there to have her back. Not this time.

"Spots, you gotta go, now!" Plagg hissed in her ear from where he'd hidden in one of her signature pigtails. She forced herself to take a deep breath. Panicking never helped anything.

"Thanks Plagg," she whispered back, taking out her yo-yo and launching herself onto a rooftop in order to get a better view.

Striding down the street was a person dressed to the nines in what looked to be a pirate costume. It was perfect; a tri-corner hat, long, matted hair, dramatic make-up and clothes, and high-heeled boots. He carried a sword and two pistols, which, instead of shooting bullets, turned his victims to gemstone statues.

Ladybug watched for a moment, deciding the akuma was probably either in his hat or his sword, or maybe the gold skull pendant around his neck. She sighed. That was the problem with pirates. So over-the-top. Finally, she could wait no longer and swung down to meet the villain.

"Alright, that's enough," she said sternly. "Hand over the akuma." She desperately wished Chat was here. He always had witty comments and insults to throw at the villains. She'd tried to think of one to put herself at ease- there had to be hundreds of good pirate puns- but she'd come up empty.

The pirate just laughed. "Not bloody likely. I have me orders from Hawkmoth!" He pulled one pistol faster than Ladybug could blink, but she had anticipated his movement and was already leaping away. A purple butterfly mask covered the man's face for a moment- she assumed Hawkmoth was laying into the guy about her almost becoming a sapphire statue before he could take the Miraculous- before he put his pistol away and drew his sword, leaping nimbly after her.

Ladybug knew she was in trouble. Her yo-yo was a distance weapon, not meant for hand-to-hand combat. She could use Plagg's powers, but she wasn't sure if there were side-effects to using the Ladybug and the Cat together. She didn't really want to find out in the middle of a battle, anyway, and she definitely didn't want to tip off Hawkmoth that Chat was missing at the moment.

She flipped over the pirate's head, grabbing the hat as she went. She tore it in half, but the akuma was nowhere to be seen. Not that one, then, she thought unhappily.

The pirate advanced on her again. She leaped and dodged, trying her best to stay away from the blade, using her yo-yo to deflect his strikes. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being sliced repeatedly, she supposed. She finally decided it might be better to retreat to call her lucky charm. Throwing her yo-yo, she swung away into the maze of chimneys. Finally with a lucky object in hand (a hang glider), she hurried back to where she'd left the akuma. He hadn't gone far, thankfully; he seemed to be amused with gathering as many sparkling statues as possible, not overly concerned about where Ladybug had gone.

She waited, hoping her lucky vision would tell her how exactly to go about winning the battle, but…the lucky vision never appeared. Ladybug watched in horror as the villain continued strolling through the streets, crystalizing citizens as he went.

"Spots, what are you waiting for?" Plagg demanded.

"My lucky vision hasn't kicked in yet," Ladybug answered. "I can't just-"

"If you don't act, the entire city will be frozen solid!" Plagg reminded her. "Get a move on, kid!"

Ladybug was terrified. If she messed this up, her transformation could very well fail just as she was in close proximity to the akuma. But if she waited, more and more people would be effected. She steeled herself. She would do this. She had to do this. For Chat.

She readied the glider, carefully holding her yo-yo in her right hand and kicking off from the roof hard. As she soared down, she threw her yo-yo, grabbing both pistols away from the pirate with a snap of her wrist. She let go and grabbed the pendant with her left hand, yanking it from his neck as she curled into a forward roll, smoothly coming into a standing position. She efficiently caught and purified the butterfly, then threw the hang glider into the air yelling, "Miraculous Ladybug!" She turned on her heel, preparing to leave. She'd done it. Alone. Without her Kitty.

"Aren't you going to talk to him, kid?" Plagg's voice sounded quietly in her ear.

She had no words of comfort to give the victim; she was just so…so tired. She shook her head and swung off to her apartment. It should have been a victory, but she didn't feel like celebrating. Her partner was missing, and the minimum was done. She'd given all she felt she had in her for the day.

Jean Luc was covered in flour. Monsieur Dupain was teaching him how to knead bread dough. Now that he had been fed and put on an apron, the Dupain-Cheng's were eager to get him started. He moved carefully, trying to put up a good front as his body was still rather sore.

"You just need to get a steady rhythm going," Tom was saying, as he showed Jean Luc the movements. Jean Luc copied him expertly. "Yes, just like that," Tom encouraged. "Keep going until it feels elastic, not sticky." Jean Luc nodded and continued on. There were several batches of bread dough that had to be baked soon, so he was going to get lots of practice. Once he got going, he found that the rhythm and the feel of the dough under his fingers was strangely comforting. He was so engrossed in his task that he almost didn't hear the alert.

"Ladybug is fighting a pirate akuma near here!" One customer out front was saying excitedly, showing his friend a live feed playing on his phone. "Chat Noir isn't there yet."

Jean Luc was confused. He turned to Tom, who was looking concerned. "What's… an akuma?" He asked, wondering if it was something he, too, should be worried about. Tom seemed to have forgotten he was there, because he jumped slightly before answering.

"Oh, right! I forgot you said you were from out of town. An akuma is a magical purple butterfly that possesses a person who is feeling strong negative emotions," he explained. "The akuma victim is given powers temporarily to right the wrongs they feel have been done to them in return for handing over Ladybug and Chat Noir's- the heroes'- Miraculous- the source of their powers- to Hawkmoth, the supervillain behind all the akumas." Tom finished finally.

Jean Luc shook his head to clear it, feeling that pang in his chest. This was familiar, somehow; he just knew it. Tom chuckled briefly. "Confused yet?" Jean Luc nodded. "Don't worry. You'll catch on. In fact, I don't mind if you take a break if you want to go catch a glimpse of Ladybug and Chat Noir in action. They're really something spectacular to watch."

Jean Luc considered this, then decided he might as well go find out what all the fuss was about. He made for the door facing the street, before Tom set a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, son?" He asked, looking concerned.

Jean Luc's brow furrowed. "I- I was going to…" Tom seemed to catch on finally.

"You don't want to go out there to watch, kid. It isn't safe. You don't want to get caught on the receiving end of those guys' powers. They can do all sorts of things to you- make you do things, turn you into evil minions, make you forget…It's safer to stay inside when all that stuff is going down. Just watch on TV, or on your phone."

Jean Luc frowned, then nodded. "Can I use your TV set to watch then? I- I lost my phone in the move," he lied sheepishly.

Tom nodded, pointing him to a door in the back. "Just up to the next floor and through the door. News should be channel five."

Thanking him, Jean Luc turned on his heel, racing up to the Dupain-Cheng's living room and plopping himself down on the sofa and switching on the television.

"Ladybug is still all by her lonesome," the newscaster was saying. "I wonder where Chat Noir is?"

The young man caught sight of a lady in a red one-piece super suit, which was covered in black polka dots. She was swinging something in her hand, but he couldn't make out what it was from the distance the camera was at; it seemed the news crew was filming from the air. His heart leapt in his chest; there was something very familiar about that girl.

The pirate-man was advancing on her, a huge sword in hand. He definitely knew how to use it, too. He could tell that the girl- Ladybug- was being quickly overwhelmed by the pirate's onslaught. Her weapon wasn't meant for close-range fighting, he could see it by the way she moved about. He wasn't sure how he knew that…but somehow, he did.

He was getting anxious now. Where was that…that Chat Noir, or whatever Tom had called the other superhero? Didn't he know that Ladybug needed him? Maybe they'd had a falling out or something, he thought.

Finally, she found an opening to throw the weapon on a string and swing out of range. The camera lost sight of her momentarily, zeroing in on the pirate again, who had resumed shooting people with his pistols. He didn't seem interested in chasing Ladybug. Jean Luc's eyes widened. Instead of the victims falling to the ground, they were transforming! He watched as one person after another changed, their bodies freezing in place, hardening as ruby, emerald, sapphire, and topaz engulfed their forms.

"That guy should be arr-rested," Jean Luc muttered under his breath.

The camera suddenly panned back out, and Jean Luc saw Ladybug, poised on a rooftop with a red and black-spotted hang glider, as though waiting for something. What was she waiting for? More and more people were being changed as she stood there, not moving an inch. Was she ok? Why was she allowing so many people to be hit without doing anything?

It all happened in an instant. Before he knew it, Ladybug had leapt off the roof, gliding straight for the pirate-man. His pistols were snatched away, along with something else he couldn't make out, and then the man returned to his normal self- a business man in a suit and tie. There was a swirl of red, and Ladybug was gone. The crystal statues had returned to normal as well.

Jean Luc took off his glasses, rubbing his face as he sighed in relief. He kept listening to the newscaster with one ear. Ladybug had done it, no thanks to that Chat Noir fellow, whoever he was. A small smile played around his lips as he played over her epic rescue in his mind. That girl is awesome, he thought. She's crazy awesome! A familiar pang shot through he chest, and he frowned. Clearly, this Ladybug meant something to him. But how? She was a superhero, and he…he was just a normal guy who had no idea who he was!

All of a sudden, there was an uproar in the news station. Jean Luc shook himself, returning his attention to the television screen, finally catching sight of what all the fuss was about. There were still a total of five crystal statues, standing frozen in the streets of Paris.

Back in her apartment, Marinette turned to Tikki as her transformation released.

"Tikki! What happened to my lucky vision?" She wailed with a worried expression as she pulled out snacks for the kwamis. "I- I didn't know what to do, or if it would even work…"

"I don't know, Marinette, I've never seen this happen," the tiny ladybug kwami replied, wringing her paws. "Plagg, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

The black cat kwami was looking worried. "Only twice," he admitted finally. "It…happened a long time ago; a couple of my kittens have had their powers weakened. We didn't know how or why it happened, only…only that it got my kittens killed, in the end," he finished, looking sad.

Marinette shuddered. "My-my powers may not be working correctly?" She asked, concerned. "What about the akuma? And the cure? Those worked, didn't they?"

Not waiting for an answer, Marinette, pulled out her phone, flipping to a video posted on Alya's Ladyblog. Unfortunately, more bad news awaited her- the crystal statues that remained stood a testament to the fact that something was indeed wrong. Marinette groaned out loud in despair. She felt useless. Chat would never have let this happen to him, she was sure- whatever it was that had happened to her.

A new notification popped up, and Marinette opened it immediately. Her jaw dropped in horror as the new video proclaimed her worst fear- several half-transformed pirates were frozen in time around the city. It seemed that her akuma purification had only partially worked; there weren't as many as when Stoneheart had multiplied, but she knew that it was plenty bad enough with the ten or so partially-formed villains.

"If I do the Miraculous Ladybug again, would everything be fixed, Tikki?" She asked desperately. The tiny ladybug thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"It would likely take care of the gemstone people, but the akumas still have to be caught and purified," she said. Marinette sighed.

"Well, let's at least help those we can," she said, her voice laced with resignation. She transformed and did her Miraculous cure again, then released Tikki to more snacks. A few moments later, she received the update that told the story that Tikki had predicted- the partial pirates were still frozen, but the crystalized victims had gone home to their families.

"Maybe…maybe if she uses the ring instead, everything will go back to the way it was? Perhaps there's a problem with the earrings," Plagg was saying to Tikki, an eyebrow raised. Tikki looked resigned.

"It's worth a try," she said. "If the earrings are damaged, we have more problems than just the powers. Marinette's life could be at stake."

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked quickly.

"Using a damaged Miraculous can damage you, too," Tikki explained. "It can cause significant, possibly irreversible health problems."

"Let's have her try Cataclysm," Plagg suggested. "If it's still weakened, it's probably not the Miraculous."

"Plagg, claws out!" She cried, her normal clothes morphing into a leather suit reminiscent of Chat's usual one, though with a few more lime green accents. Her hair was longer, pulled back in a massive braid that reached nearly to the ground, looking more like a tail than anything else, and the belt was missing. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered the first time she and Chat had accidentally traded Miraculous, using each other's powers for a battle. They'd learned a lot about each other that day, and come out of the experience appreciating each other more than ever.

Shaking herself roughly out of her thoughts, she raised her right hand to about head height, looking around for something to destroy. She picked up a piece of scrap fabric, muttering, "Cataclysm," as she touched a finger to it. Instead of turning to ash and dissolving before her eyes, as it had when Chat Noir had wielded the spell, it became faded and threadbare. It wouldn't take much to tear it, but the facts were before them; the problem was not with the Miraculous, but with Marinette herself. She sighed, releasing Plagg for his extra snack.

A voice cut through her reverie.

"Sleep on it, Marinette," Tikki suggested. "Maybe things will get better."

Some weeks later, on the other side of the city, a middle aged man paced restlessly in his office. He was beside himself. It had been weeks since he'd heard from his son. The boy had moved out abruptly and the man hadn't heard from the him since. He'd tried to give the boy space to calm down as they hadn't parted on the best terms, but now he wasn't so sure that had been the right course of action. Thoughts swirled in his head until he caught hold of one in particular. He took out his phone, feverishly typing in the number. It answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.

"Nathalie," his cold voice quivered slightly. "How soon can you come?"

He heard a sigh on the other end of the line. "Sir, I'm supposed to be in a meeting with the building committee in ten minutes. I can't just-"

"Nathalie," he said dangerously. "Now."

There was silence for a moment, before she sighed again. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

There was a click as the call ended.

When Nathalie arrived at the Agreste Mansion, she was surprised when Gabriel answered the door before she'd even knocked.

"Come in," he ordered distractedly.

Nathalie raised a stoic eyebrow at him. "Distracted" and "Gabriel Agreste" were two words that should never be put together in the same sentence. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Adrien is missing," he said, pacing the room again. "He hadn't answered any of my calls for over a month, so I finally had my security team track down his living accommodations. No one in his apartment building has seen him in several weeks. There's no security footage suggesting his whereabouts. Nobody knows where he is." He turned to her with an intense, slightly insane look. "I need you to become Catalyst again. The akumas will find him."

She looked at him, startled. "Sir, do you really think that's a good idea? You'll give yourself away-"

"I don't care!" he thundered, taking a threatening step towards her. "Don't you understand, Nathalie? He's all I have left!"

Nathalie was incensed. If Gabriel was revealed as Hawkmoth, she would likely be revealed as his accomplice, which would well and truly ruin her political career, not to mention likely wind up with her in prison. She couldn't allow that. Not after all this work. Not after all she'd sacrificed. A plan formed in her mind.

"Alright, sir. Lead the way," she pretended to concede defeat, silently grabbing a statue from a decorative pedestal on their way to the secret panel that hid Hawkmoth's lair.

As he turned his back to her, she raised the statue. A blow to the back of the head left him unconscious on the floor. She stooped down, quickly retrieving the Butterfly brooch, before swiftly turning on her heel and letting herself out through the front door.

Some time later, Gabriel came to. His head was pounding. All at once, everything came rushing back- Adrien missing, Nathalie… Nathalie had come to help him. But then… he turned his head carefully, but there was no sign of Nathalie, only a small concrete statue laying on the floor next to his head. He'd probably been bludgeoned with it, he decided. And the only contact he'd had with anyone other than his housekeeping staff was Nathalie.

Could Nathalie been the one to hit him over the head? But…why would she do that? Shrugging as he resolved to think about it later, he stood shakily, putting in the code for access to his secret lair. He descended, coming into a large room with hundreds of white butterflies. He didn't need Nathalie. He would find Adrien, one akuma at a time.

"Nooroo, Dark wings rise!" he called out…but nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing. Looking down, his heart caught in his throat. The Butterfly Miraculous was gone.

Returning to his office, Gabriel rubbed his forehead against the throbbing headache as he dropped heavily into a chair. His Miraculous was gone, most likely taken by the one person he trusted. His son was gone, vanished without a trace. His wife…well, there would be no hope of getting a hold of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous' now.

Fury swept over him; he pulled out his phone and called Nathalie. Astoundingly, she had the audacity to answer!

"Hello sir?" she greeted.

"I know what you did," he seethed coldly. "You will regret this!"

"Regret what? Sir, what are you talking about?" she asked. He heard concern and confusion lacing her voice. He never had Nathalie pegged as such a good actress.

"You know very well what I mean," he snarled. "I will inform the authorities of your trespassing into my home and-"

"No, sir," her voice was firm. "You invited me into your home, remember? Are you sure you're feeling ok?"

With a scream of rage, Gabriel threw his phone across the room. It shattered, and pieces of glass skittered across the marble tiles.

As the call dropped, Nathalie smirked inside her office at city hall. He couldn't turn her in for stealing the brooch, unless he wanted to out himself as Hawkmoth. Besides, if this particular recorded phone call went public, as well as the one before that, no one would believe him anyway; a reclusive designer who hadn't been out of the house in over ten years calls and threatens the mayor of all people? Please.

She opened the locked drawer in her desk, checking that the butterfly brooch was still safely within, before re-locking the drawer and pulling a stack of paperwork towards her. Now that she had the Butterfly, maybe she could get take care of Ladybug and…well, it seemed Chat Noir had already been taken care of for her. Ladybug had been fighting on her own for weeks. It would only be a matter until that bug got squished.

Once Ladybug was out of the way, there would be no one to challenge her. She could shape reality however she wanted, especially if she had Ladybug's miraculous. She would easily be the most powerful being in Europe, if not the world! She would surpass even Gabriel! She smirked again. It was going to be a great day.