When are these Miraculous Brats, ever, going, to give up?!

She'd attack and attack, but recently they managed to dodge and/or counter every one of her spells.

And they're making the monsters she summon look more like babies than monsters.

She can't lose to these losers! She's going to win and make these Miraculous Insects grovel before her feet!

"I'm guessing you're having a moment of raging soliloquy."

Mida Evil turned around, only to find Rena Rouge behind her, leaning on a tree while she crosses her arms.

The villain slammed her staff to the ground. Several copies of herself appeared, surrounding the fox hero.

Instead of attacking the copies, Rena leaps and whacks her flute at a tree, a tree that wasn't there before, and the "tree" disappeared, revealing Mida Evil on the ground.

"How?!" The villain glared at the fox heroine. Just how is she not falling for her tricks?

"Deceptionally immune, remember?" Rena reminded while Fang wrestled down a plant monster that tried to sneak up on her from behind.

"Inappropriate use of terms!" Arachnid called out as he was running away from a bear.

"Face it, Lila;" Queen Bee knocked down a rock monster, "Our friendship will win against your tricks, every time."

Mida's eyes twitched.

Friendship... Friendship...?!

Mida gave the heroes the most raging glare they have ever seen.

"Let's see if your friendship can survive THIS!"

She opened her book to a particular page and slammed her staff down to the ground. Dark purple energy of immense power surrounded her, so powerful it consumed every monster she summoned.

The dark energy soon towered before the heroes and Fang. They watch in complete shock as a menacing creature emerged before them.

The town was almost deserted. Not a single soul present.

Except for two clashing entities in the sky. One crash-landed to the ground. The other hovered before her with his large dark violet butterfly wings.

"Please don't suffer any more." Hawk Moth asked, with a hint of guilt in his voice.

Ladybug painfully got up, "I wish I could."

He wished it didn't have to come to this. He didn't want to hurt her. Truthfully, he doesn't, not to the woman he loves.

A long extended staff knocked him out of the sky. He fell on the ground. He got up and glared as he was surrounded by the rest of the Miraculous Warriors.

And yet, he feels guilty, betraying the love of his life.

Marinette didn't know why she had that vision. She just sheds a tear.

She feels weird. It was as if she was there, as Hawk Moth.

He was in love with her predecessor, the Ladybug before her.

She could feel his guilt, yet also of his feeling of betrayal.

Why? Why would he betray his friends? They were so close. What happened years ago that made him turn his back on the people that cared for him?

Hawk Moth snaps her back to reality by wiping her tear with his finger. She faces him, noticing the small smile on his face. She wasn't sure if it was a small, sad smile, or if he was slightly amused.

No wonder he goes easy on her all these times. He was in love with the past Ladybug, and now she was the new Ladybug...?...!

Marinette clapped her hands and gave Hawk Moth a nervous smile, "O-kaaay... Here's the thing... There's a certain classmate of mine..."

"Who you, 'admire', yes." Hawk Moth clarified, "And who's in the same age gap as you."

Both Marinette and Chat gave out a breath of relief. Chat was glad Marinette only reminded Hawk Moth of the previous Ladybug and not that.

Still... He'd feel a lot better if Butterfly Brain would show a little bit of evil by grabbing Marinette's Miraculous. Or something.

"Although I do wish he was chosen other than the holder of the Cat Miraculous." Hawk Moth spoke the last two words bitterly.

Chat glared at the butterfly villain again. Just so you know Hawk Moth, she faints every time he saves her as Chat Noir. Internally. Probably. She gives him a weird smile every time.

Marinette placed a hand on her hip as she sternly faces Hawk Moth, "Just because he's a black cat, doesn't mean he's bad luck to us. But if he is, it's on you."

Chat smiled in amusement. You said it, Princess.

Hawk Moth slightly smirked in amusement, "Atleast I now know how Ladybug managed to figure out my champions' plans."

Marinette smiled widely with nervousness at the villain. She wondered if her reminding him of his lost love was the reason she was accidentally gifted to sense upcoming akumas.

Suddenly, the tower began to shake. Seconds later, the tower collapsed, causing everyone to fall down.

As she fell, Marinette was about to call her transformation, when a dark blur caught her and landed safely on the ground, away from the collapsing tower. Marinette smiled back at her smiling knight in shining black cat leather.

...

"Sooo... He's older than you." Chat looked away nervously while she did the same and nodded her head furiously.

Up it the sky, hovering with his dark purple butterfly wings, Hawk Moth scowled at the cat hero.

He admits he likes the boy behind the mask...without the mask.

Just looking at that black costume brought back memories that he never, ever wanted to see again.

Let's see how bad you are as your predecessor, Black Cat.

Chat and Marinette were snapped back into reality by a shaking roar. They, along with Cookie and Tikki looked up, only to find a towering dark purple dragon before them. A smoky blur passed by them and collided with a large chunk of the destroyed tower. The smoke cleared, revealing a bady beaten Antelope.

"Heads up." Antelope warned.

Marinette and Chat quickly moved out of the way, only for Grizzly Bear to collide with Antelope.

Chat gently placed Marinette back on her feet, only for her to be tackled and licked by a happy Fang.

Soon, the rest of the team appeared. Carapace uses his force field to shield everyone from the dragon's firey breath.

"I thought Hawk Moth took care of you!" Mida exclaimed when she saw Marinette.

Marinette was glad he didn't

"Miraculous, transform me!"

In a flash of light, Marinette disappeared, revealing Medieval Ladybug.

"Glad to have you back, Ladybug." Rena grinned along with their happy teammates.

"Yeah." Queen Bee pointed at Mida, "Lila did an utterly ridiculous job posing as you."

Ladybug was surprised, "Lila?"

Mida was filled with intense rage. Even at the sight of Ladybug being surrounded by her dear friends was enough to make her blood boil.

She commanded her dragon to step forward and crush her enemies with its ginormous feet. The team managed to leap out of the way, with Flamingo grabbing Cookie, and Panda Rouge grabbing Fang.

Queen Bee managed to inform Ladybug that the akuma was in Mida Evil's (Seriously Lila?) spell book. But how to get it with her on top of her hundred-foot bodyguard?

Some of her teammates were getting beaten up just by attacking the beast. Their weapons and powers may have helped them take down a lot of enemies before, but they're going to need a lot more than that to take down that dragon.

Panda Rouge was planning on drawing a large mech to battle the dragon, but he didn't have much time as the dragon swiped him away with his giant tail.

Ladybug knew the only way to defeat Mida Evil was to get as close to her as possible. And the only way to get close to her was if one of them jumped on the dragon.

By the way it looks, the dragon was doing everything in its power to keep them away by blowing fire, swiping its claws, and swinging its tail.

It's just waiting for them to tire out and then...no more Miraculous Team.

Ladybug pushed Arachnid out of the way just before he got incinerated. She realized there was only one way to get near Mida. She just hopes she doesn't regret it after.

"You know, you really haven't changed much, Lila!" She called to the villainess while she dodged more attacks.

This caught Mida Evil's attention, "What?!"

Ladybug went on, "You just can't let it go, can't you?! We're the Miraculous Team! We're the ones who always save the day, the ones who ruined your life just because we told everyone the truth!"

Mida clenches her teeth and points her staff at Ladybug, commanding her dragon to incinerate her.

The spotted heroine dodged. Her teammates were worried and confused. What is she doing? Trying to get herself killed?

"I thought you were great Lila!" Ladybug continues, still dodging, "I thought we were going to be friends! But no! You had to lie to me! To all of us!"

Arachnid realized what she was trying to do. He calls out to Mida, "And to think I actually believed your uncle was headmaster of the prestigious Einstein University! You can't even tell the difference between a university, and the circus!"

This catches Mida's attention, but she looses interest when her dragon almost lands a hit on Ladybug, just as the spotted heroine was about to wrap her yo-yo around the dragon's wrist.

This was the time when the rest of the team realized their leader's plan: Provoke the enemies, make them lose all sense of reason, and when they get close enough, take the dragon express to the revenge-crazy witch, grab her spellbook, purify the dark butterfly, and give everyone the happily ever after they deserve.

Now all they have to do is do just those, and not get barbecued.

"Hey Mida!" Flamingo calls, "You... have really poor life choices."

This, really didn't result into any effect. The villain didn't even turn her head around.

Forest Doe decided to give it a shot, "You... You know that akuma didn't make any improvements to your fashion sense."

Again, no reaction.

Queen Bee rolled her eyes, "Alright. Leave this to the expert."

She clears her throat before screaming, "We've faced tough akumas before, but who knew Hawk Moth was so utterly ridiculous enough to akumatize someone who couldn't even fool us for more than 15 minutes?!"

Now this... Oh she did it now.

Mida turned to the bee heroine with big, wide, angry eyes.

She commanded her dragon to attack the bee heroine. Queen Bee just smiles as she uses her top to pull herself out of the way, just before the dragon could squash her with its ginormous claw.

"You even did a poor impression of Ladybug!" Queen Bee continued as she kept on dodging, "Why, if you even have a Miraculous, you'd definitely be a low-class super-zero! Or even lower!"

Now Mida Evil was on the verge of breaking her staff into two. She despises that spoiled brat! Why did those other brats defended her and remained her friend? She'll never know.

Chat joined in, "Yeah! I can't believe I actually fell for your little trick! Even so, I'd pick the geniune Ladybug over some plastic faker any- No! Every day!"

Mida's angry face became uglier, while Ladybug beamed at Chat's words.

Okay. Even with the ring, the boy is still decent.

Hawk Moth was impressed with Chat's insult/defense towards his Ladybug. He didn't really enjoy akumatizing that little dirty witch after what she did during his first assault on Paris.

Just the sight of her... reminded him of the mangy cat that ruined his life...

Soon, all the members of the Miraculous Team were hurling insults at Mida Evil. Even Forest Doe and Flamingo found themselves giving the villainess very, very insulting remarks. More insulting than the poor excuse for trash talk they gave earlier.

It actually felt very good.

The more she was insulted, the more Mida's hatred and rage for the team grew.

She blasted them with her staff, yet they keep on dodging, calling her those iritating, insulting nicknames. And when she relied on her dragon's flame once more... Ugh!

Fang joined in by snapping his jaw in an insulting manner at the villainess. On top of him, Cookie barked at Mida before turning around and tauntingly wagged his tail at her.

Finally, Mida had enough.

Time to give them what they deserve...

The dragon raises its left claw and brings it down at Rena Rouge. Luckily for the heroes, it was just it was just an illusionary duplicate created by the real Rena Rouge.

Before the dragon could lift its claw up, Grizzly jumped on it and pinned it to the ground.

As the bear hero wrestles with the claw to keep it in place, Arachnid helps keeping it in place by wrapping his lasso around the claw.

The dragon attempted to swipe the heroes with its other free hand, but it was restrained by the string Queen Bee's top. Corbeau Noire prevented the dragon from using its fire breath by clamping its mouth shot with her shadows.

And for the final precaution, Flamingo made several copies of herself to restrain Mida, preventing her from freeing her dragon, or even cast spells.

Ladybug smiled at her teammates, then leaps on the dragon, running on its scaly skin, making her way to the akumatized villain.

She reaches out to grab the book... only to stop.

Her teammates were confused. Chat wondered why his lady was hesitating.

But when he saw the surprised look on her face, he realized she wasn't hesitating. Plus, Mida was grinning wickedly while she points the glowing tip of her staff at Ladybug.

Mida Evil was controlling Ladybug!

A powerful force pushed Flamingo and her clones off of Mida. The villainous witch's eyes was glowing with intense dark energy. With her staff, she blasted the rest of the team, including Cookie and Fang, and the ones who were restraining her dragon.

Ladybug tried to break free from Mida's control, but couldn't. She couldn't even bend her pinky finger. She could only watch Mida levitate her in front of the dragon.

Mida chuckled darkly, "Without the mask, you're nothing."

The dragon open its mouth. It strikes.

Ladybug... was gone...

The heroes stared in horror, unable to utter a single word. Rena Rouge collasped on her knees. Carapace held her shoulders in comfort. Flamingo cries in despair while Dragonfly did her best to comfort her teammate.

Chat just couldn't believe it... So many things he wanted to say... So many things he wanted to do... with her...

All his dreams...shattered... just like that...

He never even got to tell her how much he...

Mida Evil cackled victoriously like a maniac. Her greatest enemy was gone. GONE!

A large shadow in the shape of a butterfly looms behind her. She turns around with a smile, ready to recieve Hawk Moth's praise for eliminating the leader of the Miraculous Team.

Her prideful face morphed into a look of horrified shock when she saw who Hawk Moth was carrying in his arms.

The moment the dragon opened its mouth, Ladybug wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't thanks to Mida. When the dragon struck, a dark purple blur grabbed her before she could become dragon-food.

Then she realized she could blink again. When she could finally see clearly, she found herself once more in the arms of... you-know-who. Who is not a hero.

Again... He, saved, her, again...

Sure she reminded him of the woman he loved, but does he sometimes have to save her? Even after he discovered both sides of her?

Hawk Moth landed on the ground and gently settled Ladybug to the ground. He faces Mida Evil with a glare that could kill her.

"I wanted all 14 Miraculouses." He spoke, "Not, 13."

The dragon let out a roar of pain before it suddenly vanished into thin air.

Mida fell. She tried to cast a flying spell, waving her staff around, only to fall down on the rocky ground, hard.

She looks up, only to find Hawk Moth still glaring at her.

Her voice quivered, "I-it was a mistake. I'm, sorry."

Hawk Moth just kept glaring down at her, "It was a mistake, to akumatize you."

He turns around and walks away, passing Ladybug.

"You're nothing without the mask."

Ladybug flashed her signature Akuma Face, the same face she always flashes whenever she senses a new akuma, or has strange visions.

It wasn't Mida. She doesn't recognize the voice, but it was filled with so much hate and resentment. Was this an enemy of Hawk Moth from the past?

He stops to address Ladybug, "Do what you want with her."

One second later, he disappeared in a swarm of butterflies.

Did Hawk Moth... just eliminated her dragon... for LADYBUG?!

Feeling betrayed by the one who gave her her powers, Mida attempts to blast Ladybug. To her dismay, not a single beam of purple light was emitted from her staff.

A foot loudly stomped on the ground, making Mida look up, finding herself surrounded by the Miraculous Team. And a growling dog and a growling croc.

Rena Rouge raises her flute, then brings it down. Mida braces herself for impact.

Rena's flute was slammed on the ground instead.

Cookie grabbed Mida's spellbook with his mouth and gave it to his owner.

Ladybug petted her Pomeranian before tearing the book in half, releasing the black butterfly.

"Consider this payback for not noticing you were gone sooner." Rena Rouge slammed her flute on the akuma, "No more nasty tricks, little akuma! Time to de-evilize!"

The fox heroine lifted her flute, revealing a now-white butterfly who flew back to its master.

Hawk Moth let out a sigh as he watches Ladybug purify the town back to its original modern state.

Once again defeated by a bunch of kids.

Well... He can't blame them entirely. He did pick a terrible candidate for the job.

"You guys always ruin everything for me!" Lila, now normal, screamed angrily at the Team.

The heroes could only look at her in disappointment. Some shook their heads.

Chat approaches the fallen girl, "Lila, we're sorry. But it doesn't hurt to tell the truth either."

"Yeah some secrets must be kept secrets." Dragonfly added.

"But lies won't get you anywhere." Flamingo continued, "They'll just hurt people. Even you."

Lila refuses to look at the heroes and looks down.

"There's still a chance we could start over." Ladybug extended her hand at the Italian girl "As true friends."

Lila continues to look down even as she stood up.

Then she ran away from the Team as fast as she can.

"She's gonna tell people isn't she?" Antelope asked.

The rest of the Team, and the two pets, nodded in agreement. Since Lila now knows who Team Miraculous are behind the mask, no doubt she's going to be surrounded by the reporters the next time they meet.

"I got this." Rena Rouge smiled as she raises her flute.

Ladybug turns around to find Hawk Moth facing her.

"Don't worry." Hawk Moth assured, "I'm not using your love ones against you."

The heroes internally sighed in relief, although a bit suspicious if Hawk Moth was going to stay true to his word.

Hawk Moth slowly backs away, "And next time, I shall bring you an adversary worthy of your defeat."

Of course he will.

He turns around and prepares to unfurl his wings.

"Wait."

He turns around, but was caught by surprise when Ladybug suddenly hugs him.

When was the last time he was hugged?

Though hesitant at first, he returns the hug. Ladybug then pulls away.

"Thank you." Ladybug raises her hand, which was holding a familiar dark purple brooch, "And...sorry."

Hawk Moth was surprised. He actually fell for her little trick!

He could feel his transformation fading, but that didn't bother him. He knew they would find out eventually. He found out who they are, now it's time for them to find out who he is.

Especially her.

"This ends now Hawk Moth." Chat Noir declared as the heroes watch their enemy detransform before them for the very first time.

Once Hawk Moth has finally reverted back to his original form, Ladybug drops his brooch in complete shock.

Her teammates and pets were shocked as well, but not as highly shocked as their leader.

Standing before them...

was a man...

smiling...

with the face...

Of Marinette's great-great grandfather...