Chapter 25: Onyx Leopard
The chapter opens in mid-battle where Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Froppy are facing an akumatized victim named Banshee. She can fly in a rather ghostly way and, as her name says, has supersonic screams. The battle is tough, but the heroes prevail. They're able to de-akumatize her, revealing her to be Stella's younger sister, Kendra Tenebrae. (Stella has been running after the fight, trying to get through to her sibling.) Ladybug purified the akuma and reverts the damage of the battle. "Pound it!"
In his lair, Hawk Moth slumps from his most recent defeat. He clearly put a lot into it, and he's exhausted. He transforms back to Gabriel Agreste. Nathalie Sancoeur helps him to his office and gets him comfortable in a chair. She tells him she can help. (She's actually the primary focus of this chapter). With the B Team helping Ladybug and Cat Noir more and more, he can't fight alone. She first suggests that she becomes Catalyst again, but Gabriel says it's not time. He wants to know the secret identities of the B Team first, so he can follow them to their homes or so that they give their miraculous without kwamis to Ladybug and Cat Noir so that he can follow the golden duo. That's why he's letting the B Team run free for now. But the leash is still on them.
Nathalie then suggests that she use the peacock miraculous again so that way his akumatized people have allies in battle themselves. Gabriel says he won't risk it. The broken miraculous is too dangerous. Making the space whale (see Startrain) was a pure emergency; she's not going to do that again. Nathalie internally tells herself that she knows better than to mistake his concern for anything more than platonic kindness, but her heart wants to tell her it's because he does care about her. However, it also hurts as she knows he does all this for his wife. She can never compete with that, no matter how she feels. He loves Emilie.
Nathalie verbally accepts his plan and then says she'll get him coffee while he rests. By the time she returns, he's fallen asleep in the chair. She raises a hand to brush his cheek but then she withdraws it. She knows her place in his heart—and it's not there.
Meanwhile, it's a day without school, so Marinette Dupin-Cheng has to help her parents in their bakery. Alya Cesaire calls with the other girls in their class, inviting her to join them for a movie. Marinette, however, declines so she can help her father with a huge order. In the background, he tells her to hurry up because she overslept (she was actually out dealing with Banshee in the morning).
Alya hangs up with a sigh as she turns to Juleka Couffaine and Rose Lavillant, who are also hanging up a cell phone. They say that it's "just as well" since Adrien Agreste wasn't able to get permission from his father to join them. Operation: Hook-up was a failure before it even began. They all shrug it off and head to the theater.
It pans to Adrien, who is in his room. He's practicing his piano, rather bored, while talking to Plagg. Plagg comments that it's nice to have an afternoon off especially since they had a busy morning. It's not likely that Hawk Moth will attack again so soon, so they might as well enjoy it. Adrien laughs and points out that that's what Plagg said right before Startrain took them all into outer space.
In Gabriel Agreste's office downstairs, Nathalie has draped a blanket comfortably over him and is scanning her tablet with intent focus. She has information pulled up about all seven miraculous without kwami users, including Snow Leopard and Queen Bee.
She looks up at Gabriel. His plan as Hawk Moth has always been a fire hose. Create a huge scene to flush out the heroes and then simply overpower them for their miraculous. It has yet to be successful. Nathalie wants to prove it to him that she can be by his side—that she can at least help him as Mayura (even if it means it will lead to her ultimately giving him up forever). She decides that if he's a fire hose, she'll be a scalpel. She'll strike with precision and depth.
The problem, Nathalie notices, is that Ladybug and Cat Noir are simply too good as a team. They need to be separated if Hawk Moth and Mayura stand a chance. It's getting even harder with the B Team nudging in and Ladybug and Cat Noir expanding their allies. She, as a scalpel, needs to cut through and isolate her target: Cat Noir.
(Remember, Unspoken Plan Guarantee. The fact that the readers are seeing her plan now means it's going to go off rails when it comes time to enact it.)
She notices that Cat Noir acts rashly when Ladybug is threatened, so that's the weakness Natahlie'll target. She'll also need an ally who can distract the B Team and lead them on a wild goose chase, away from Cat Noir, while she claims his ring.
Nathalie calls out to Nooroo, who pokes his head out from behind Gabriel. Nathalie asks for confirmation that Hawk Moth could sense the miraculous without kwamis gathering. Nooroo glances down at sleeping Gabriel, uncertain how much he should say. Nathalie states his name again, and Nooroo folds. Nooroo confirms this is true. Nathalie says aloud that that means most likely that the B Team is communicating with each other. A phone call or text message only needs seconds. For her masquerade to work, she needs an opponent they won't be able to see through immediately. She zooms in on Snow Leopard.
No one has heard of the snow leopard in a while. Hawk Moth even lost track of it. That either means that the wielder took it off long term, moved outside of Paris, or…gave it to Ladybug, just like the bee. Nathalie mentally runs the scenarios and figures the Snow Leopard moving outside of Paris is the most likely. Since no one can communicate with her, no one will know the truth behind her reappearance.
With Ladybug in danger and the snow leopard returned, that should be a suitable trap for Cat Noir. Nathalie notes that there is a downside to her plan. It's likely that Ladybug and Cat Noir also communicate—maybe even know each other's secret identities. If the real Ladybug calls Cat Noir before he shows up to the battle, her plan crumbles. Nathalie again weighs her options and tweaks the details. There's no going forward without risk.
She's going to do it.
She opens the safe and steals the peacock miraculous. Nooroo timidly tells her to stop, but Nathalie tells him to remain quiet. She exits the estate. Not far down the road, she buys two trinkets from a souvenir vendor. Nathalie then enters the subway. When no one is looking, she slips down the tracks, walks along the edge, and then hides where there's a maintenance passage. After checking to make sure there's no security cameras, she transforms into Mayura. There, she uses her powers to create two senti monsters.
The reader only sees the senti monsters at first from the feet up—one in ice skates, one in red and black. The effort to make two nearly floors Mayura, and both senti monsters help support her. Mayura now knows why Hawk Moth waited until Audrey Bourgeious was brainwashed before akumatizing her at the same time as her husband. Even as adults, dual use of their powers takes its toll.
The senti monsters ask for her orders. Mayura tells them that she and the first one are going to mock fight against the second. They're to lure Cat Noir alone. If anyone else shows up, the first is to lead them away. She whispers the rest of the plan.
Elsewhere in Paris, Giselle Winters-Blanchet is leaving skating practice. She says good-bye to Phillipe and starts on her way home. The Akuma Alert app on her phone goes off. She checks it, only to realize the conflict is nearby and getting closer—fast!
Ladybug swings overhead. In pursuit of her are Mayura and a black Snow Leopard, calling herself Onyx Leopard. Her conjured ice is black as well, making it hard to tell if it's rock or frozen water. Other civilians are watching the fight and submitting their own akuma sightings. Nadja Chamack arrives and begins to broadcast it. Giselle whispers "but…but that's not me!" She immediately begins entering information into the Akuma Alert app, insisting that this is a trap and a fake. She also immediately begins to get downvoted. Giselle runs her fingers along her scalp. What can she do? She has no one she can contact! Cat Noir is in trouble! Only Ladybug and Master Fu knows she's Snow Leopard…Master Fu! She takes off at a run towards his acupuncture clinic, dialing as she goes, trying to get through.
The moment the newscast goes live, Adrien Agreste picks it up on his phone. The fight has progressed to one of the rooftops where Mayura and Onyx Leopard have Ladybug cornered. She gets struck but struggles to rise to continue. Adrien doesn't think twice. He instantly transforms and races to his lady's aid.
Marinette happens to get the same broadcast on her father's television. Her reaction is the same as Giselle's "but…but that's not me!" She also realizes that Master Fu has the snow leopard miraculous, but accepts it's within the realm of possibilities that Hawk Moth simply copied its powers as he did with Copycat. As she watches, Cat Noir leaps onto the scene and begins to fight alongside Ladybug. Marinette tries to hurry off to transform, but her father makes her continue to decorate. Marinette shoves her cell phone into her apron pocket and quickly sends Cat Noir a warning text—"it's a trap!" She does wonder briefly if the Cat Noir she's seeing is a trap too. Could this be Volpina again? Is the whole thing an illusion? Marinette charges through her baking duties and bolts out the door.
Back at the fight, it's now two on two with Cat Noir and what appears to be Ladybug fighting against Onyx Leopard and Mayura. That's when Froppy and Dauphine land on the scene. Froppy tells them that they'll handle Onyx Leopard because Snow Leopard is one of their own…they think. Cat Noir tells them to be careful (there it is, "be careful" again!). He can't say why, but he tells them that that might not be the Snow Leopard they know—that she's probably a trap from Hawk Moth. (As he by now also knows Master Fu has the snow leopard bracelet, and since Cat Noir is by "Ladybug," he's calmed down at least enough to think that far. He does realize it's unlikely that this is Snow Leopard akumatized, but he also accepts, like Ladybug, that this could be a clone or a mimic or just someone Hawk Moth gave Snow Leopard's powers to.)
Mayura's eyes narrow as she realizes that Cat Noir realizes that her Onyx Leopard is a fake. She decides she needs to up her game and keep the pressure on him before he realizes everything—and before the real Ladybug shows up. Based on their plan, Onyx Leopard splits, urging Froppy and Dauphine to fight her. Froppy tells Cat Noir that they'll stop her while he and Ladybug take on Mayura. Froppy and Dauphine chase after Onyx Leopard, who leads them all over Paris.
In that brief moment, Mayura tells her Ladybug to act out the following fight. Mayura rushes in, under Ladybug's guard, and slams her in the gut with her fan. Ladybug cries out in pain. Mayura lands another blow and then another (though she isn't really hitting her senti monster), and Ladybug goes down, hard.
Cat Noir is furious. As Mayura predicted, he stops analyzing the situation and charges her, enraged. Mayura half-fights him back but makes it look as if he is overcoming her. She tanks several potent blows and then is "forced" to retreat. Cat Noir is about to follow when Ladybug moans in pain. He runs to her side.
The scene is set just as Mayura wants. Mayura hides, watching things unfold, coaching the senti Ladybug. The peacock wielder is also approaching exhaustion herself.
Meanwhile, Onyx Leopard is still leading the B Team on a merry goose chase. They pass by Giselle again, who is thoroughly winded as she's still running to Master Fu. Her mind is panicked as she can only think about Cat Noir being in danger.
Mayura coaches her fake Ladybug into confessing feelings for Cat Noir as Cat Noir cradles her. He buys it, hook, line, and sinker. Ladybug acts genuinely sweet as she moves in to kiss him—and slide his ring off his finger (mimicking the events in the canon episode, Ladybug).
That's when the real Ladybug arrives and separates them with her yo-yo. Cat Noir is befuddled by the appearance of a second Ladybug and is uncertain who he should believe. The real Ladybug calls him an idiot for falling for the trick; the senti monster winces and explains that this new one must be another akumatized victim or an illusion. She's so sweet on him at Cat Noir wants to believe she's the real one.
One swipe of his baton reveals the second Ladybug isn't an illusion. The real Ladybug then calls Mayura's bluff as she realized what's going on. She threatens to destroy her earrings. Realizing that that would forever ruin Hawk Moth's objectives, Mayura cries "no!" as she gives away her position.
Ladybug explains the fake one is in fact a senti monster—as is likely the Onyx Leopard running around. Cat Noir agrees and says aloud that that's because Snow Leopard no longer has her bracelet. Mayura takes note of this information. They then team up to fight the senti monster as well as Mayura.
During the fight, Ladybug is able to get the amokized item away from Mayura. She turns it over to the senti Ladybug, effectively giving the construct the ability to make her own choices. She chooses to join them against Mayura. Cat Noir is pretty much having a "twin fantasy" at that point. Mayura, rather coldly, snaps her fingers and dissolves the senti monster.
Cat Noir rages out again and charges her, demanding "how could you?!" Mayura counters that the senti monster was never real in the first place; why is he getting so worked up over nothing? "She was real enough!" snaps Cat Noir.
It looks as if Mayura is outnumbered two on one; plus she's already at her limit. That's when Hawk Moth, the real Hawk Moth, leaps in to save her. Mayura can feel her pulse quicken despite all of her logic telling it not to.
All four fight. It's intense. Ladybug is able to snag the tired Mayura in her yo-yo while Hawk Moth grapples Cat Noir into submission. They both make threats for each other's miraculous. Mayura and Cat Noir both insist that they should be ignored. However, neither Ladybug nor Hawk Moth can ignore their allies. They do a hostage exchange by throwing their hostage off the roof and forcing their opponent to rescue. Hawk Moth and Mayura escape.
Cat Noir apologizes to Ladybug for not thinking things through. Ladybug accepts his apology and tells him to check his text messages more often to prevent situations like this in the future.
Off page, Mayura transforms back and eliminates her second senti monster. Over the streets of Paris, Froppy and Dauphine are shocked to see their quarry just vanished. They both figure it wasn't the real Snow Leopard, but they don't know that much about the peacock's powers, so they have no idea what Onyx Leopard really was.
Down below, Giselle watches as Onyx Leopard vanishes. She's thoroughly winded and can't run any more. She also sees Froppy and Dauphine escape. Should she talk to them? Should she continue to Master Fu? He isn't answering her attempts at calling him. (It pans to reveal he's on a date with Marianne Lenoir. He turned off his cell, but Giselle only has his business phone number anyway.) She decides to leave a coded message with her own phone number and head home since she saw the battle end with her own eyes. (Master Fu gets the message but doesn't understand it and doesn't call her back.)
Back at the Agreste manor, both Gabriel and Nathalie have returned to their civilian forms. Nathalie Sancoeur is sitting in the chair, very fatigued. Gabriel tells her she never should have taken the peacock miraculous. Nathalie apologizes (calling him "sir") and says she wanted to help. He tells her it's too dangerous. However, he now sees he cannot keep her from getting involved. He allows her to keep the peacock miraculous until Emilie is revived—under the express condition that she only use it when he tells her to. Gabriel also goes on to say that he realized he truly needs her help, her planning skills, her eye for strategy, and her ability to judge their opponents. With Ladybug and Cat Noir gaining more allies, he needs an ally of his own—and he chooses her. Nathalie is trying to keep her heart under control; she knows that Gabriel strictly sees this as a professional arrangement. Outside she is stoic while inside her emotions are everywhere. Nathalie agrees to his terms. She places the peacock miraculous in a box to carry on her person as prolonged wearing of a broken miraculous does harm its wearer. Duusuu is likely to get a cameo in this scene along with Nooroo.
To be continued in Chapter 26: Shadow Boxer…