Chapter 59: Uglifier & La Belle Vampire
It's incredibly late into the evening; half of the cast are already in bed and the other half of the cast are getting there. Marinette and Adrien are asleep with their kwamis on their pillows; it has been a long day for them.
The B Team is wrapping up their practicing. Chip Bluestone is further integrating himself with the team just by being himself. They all trust him and have no reason to think he's a literal sleeper agent. Heck, Chip himself doesn't realize he is.
Chip practices against Alpha, trying to corner the leader and counter his (Alpha's) speed by cutting him off with Escape. They take a moment to catch their breath alongside Snow Leopard and Firefly, who were taking target practice together with ice and light, respectively. As the four sit, they watch Froppy and Tsukuyomi speed through an obstacle course around the graves. Chip notes how they act together. "So...are they a couple?"
Dauphine insists that Froppy and Tsukuyomi are together because "it's obvious." Firefly insists they aren't because neither has admitted to it. Snow Leopard comments that she didn't think the frog and crow were "quite there yet." Chip ponders this. He then rises and challenges himself against Honey Bee, who is working on making her Venom longer-range. She tells Chip that if she stings him, it should wear off after 5-10 minutes. But she also wants to increase that time as well. Chip smiles and says "well, I guess I'd better not let you catch me then." They all continue to practice for a bit longer before calling it a night and heading to their respective homes, where most shower and go immediately to bed.
Elsewhere, Etienne Fontaine, the resident narcissist from Mr. Haprele's class, is performing his nightly beauty routine: lotions and moisturizers and what not. There's quite a lot of bottles on the sink. He actually gets them imported and writes reviews of the products online in a blog that gets a lot of reviews from northern Europe.
That's when, to his utmost horror, he finds a pimple coming through. It is the worst thing ever. Etienne sobs skyward and then goes through his many drawers of "handsome-care products" to find a cure. He can't go to school tomorrow with a pimple!
And in Hawk Moth's lair, Nathalie Sancoeur senses his distress through the butterfly miraculous. She transforms, using both the butterfly and peacock miraculous. "Such distress for such a small non-crisis." Still, Etienne's emotions are ridiculously powerful. Nathalie, however, usually would ignore something so petty. After all, she opts to plan everything careful. It was Gabriel who would prey upon anyone vulnerable in a blanket attempt to route the heroes. But Nathalie has to make it appear as if the same Hawk Moth is still operating to keep suspicious off of Gabriel. After all, if Hawk Moth stopped operating the same time Gabriel Agreste fell into a coma, people might put two and two together. So Peacock Moth does what Hawk Moth would have done—she sends her akuma.
Barely a minute later, Etienne is akumatized into "Uglifier." "If I can no longer be gorgeous, then no one can be gorgeous!" He gets two squirt guns based on shampoo and conditioner bottles and leaps into the night. Anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with him winds up doused in cream rinse, which turns them ugly. I'd also like Etienne to comment back to Peacock Moth what a horrible villain name "Uglifier" is before she subverts his free will.
Monique Imhof and Mathieu Anciel, who are returning from a movie, are among his first victims. Monique is horrified by the warty blue skin Uglifier gives her. She starts crying. Mathieu comforts her—though it's hard for him to talk with the ridiculously long tusks now growing from his mouth. Marianne Lenoir is also struck, as is Mr. Hugo Caquet (Mireille's father), and Xavier Ramier. People begin sending Akuma Alerts and following a now-standard procedure, such as evacuating the area and staying inside their homes.
Marinette Dupin-Cheng awakes, groggy, as her phone alerts her to the crisis. She laments not being able to get a full night's rest. Tikki tells her it's part of the job. Marinette acknowledges that it is, transforms into Ladybug, and leaps into the night.
Adrien Agreste is also awoken in a similar manner—but it's Plagg who's complaining about the lack of sleep. Adrien promises him some extra gooey epoisses cheese for breakfast and then transforms. He, too, leaps into the night to find their opponent.
Ladybug and Cat Noir meet up on a roof near a park where Uglifier has taken to mutating young couples out on an evening stroll. Ladybug yawns as Cat Noir lands, and he's frequently rubbing his eyes. Ladybug points out that while this akuma victim has a power that can hurt others psychologically, it wouldn't be the worst thing to be made ugly—as in, it wouldn't stop them from stopping him. Cat Noir replies that it doesn't matter to him what Ladybug looks like as he loves her for who she is deep down. This causes Ladybug to freeze up. Which Cat Noir doesn't even notice as he goes on to say, "I saw you as an old woman, after all, and that changed nothing about how I feel." (Referring to the events of Mother Time.) Uglifier passes closely by the golden duo, and Cat Noir ambushes him. It takes Ladybug multiple beats to regain her bearings and follow.
On the chat servers, half of everyone hasn't even logged in as they took showers, muted their phones for the evening, and went to bed. Froppy and Alpha were also awoken, just like Ladybug and Cat Noir. Tsukuyomi logs in, having stayed up late himself. They cannot get in touch with anyone else on the B Team. (Nathaniel Kurtzberg fell asleep across his drawing desk in the middle of working on his manga.) On the A Team server, Rena Rouge and Carapace both log in—but they're the only ones. Rena Rouge comments that she hopes that Ladybug doesn't need anyone else's skill set. Carapace comments that maybe it's part of Hawk Moth's diabolically plan—to strike when the heroes are sleep deprived and can summon less allies.
Meanwhile, back at the fight, Ladybug and Cat Noir have to spend a lot of time dodging Uglifier's liquid guns. Nadja Chamack is struck while reporting the incident from what she thought was a safe distance. The golden duo fall back, and Cat Noir comments that they have to find out which item holds his akuma. Ladybug suggests catching Uglifier in a pincher attack as he can only target one of them at a time. Cat Noir agrees to this, and they race forward.
Uglifier almost panics as they enclose in on him, but then he gets an idea and coats the flowers in the park's garden with his cursed cream rinse. They warp from beautiful flowers into ugly, toxic plants with huge thorns. This forces the golden duo to evade, and during their distraction, Uglifier escapes.
He leaps from rooftop to rooftop, searching for new targets. Marie Chauveau, a student who is also in Mr. Haprele's class, is up late reading a cringe-worthy paperback yaoi vampire romance. Uglifier targets her through her bedroom window before moving about his night.
Marie winds up looking like an undead zombie, and she absolutely freaks out. She hates zombies with a passion despite her rabid love of vampires (and her fetish of gay men). She goes on a full on rant/fit over what just happened. She's unaware it's the result of an akuma and that she'll likely be cured because of Ladybug; she was busy reading and didn't hear the akuma alert.
Peacock Moth, deep in her lair, senses a second massive spike of negative emotions—negative emotions from a rather petty origin. She hates to let this chance slip her by…but she hasn't tried to ever akumatized two people with two different akumas at the same time before. Now, while she doesn't quite have the same count down timer as the heroes, she still does limits with how much she can exert herself using her miraculous' special abilities. But since she's fused with the peacock… Now, had Nicholas been around, he would have cautioned her against using her powers so much after just waking from her coma. But Nicholas is upstairs asleep—even as a senti monster, he's made to act human, so he needs sleep. And Peacock Moth focuses all her energy, forcing it into a second butterfly.
Elsewhere, Ladybug and Cat Noir track Uglifier down, not far from Marie Chauveau's apartment. Ladybug aims to ensnare him with her yo-yo, but he's growing more adept at mutating the landscape to keep them at bay. Cat Noir vaults over the bramble and engages Uglifier at close range. This puts Uglifier at a distinct disadvantage as his weapons are long-range, and he has no close-range weapons.
However, that's when a new akumatized victim lands. She looks like a traditional vampire meets the Vamp, and she dive-tackles Ladybug and bites her, which distracts Cat Noir from Uglifier. The new akuma victim however immediately releases Ladybug after spitting out her blood. "I hate women," she says.
Ladybug recovers from the attack and demands to know who this new person is. She introduces herself as La Belle Vampire—a true denizen of the night. She then turns her attention to Uglifier and Cat Noir. La Belle Vampire dismisses Uglifier immediately. But she remarks that Cat Noir is cute—and probably tasty too. She lunges at him, fangs extended. Cat Noir parries her aside, but this leaves him vulnerable to Uglifier. Ladybug defends him with her yo-yo, and Cat Noir thanks her.
La Belle Vampire shrieks that all women should just die and charges Ladybug. Ladybug hits the vampire in her face with her yo-yo. The akuma victim recoils and flees, leaving the golden duo baffled. "Two akumatized victims in one night?!" The skin color makes it quite obvious that they are, indeed, akumatized victims.
Ladybug makes a split second decision to pursue La Belle Vampire since the vampire isn't interested in biting women. She asks Cat Noir if he's capable of handling Uglifier alone, and Cat Noir insists he can. They split.
Ladybug finds La Belle Vampire near a fountain where she's terrorizing the late night male populace of Paris. One of her victims is in her hands, bleeding from his neck. His eyes are glazed over. A few other vampire thralls surround her. La Belle Vampire barely looks up from her midnight snack and orders them all to attack Ladybug. Ladybug sweats as she realizes she might be in over her head. She's forced to dodge as she's not willing to hurt innocent civilians.
Meanwhile, Cat Noir faces off against Uglifier. He deflects a few blasts, but some of the cream rinse lands on his legs, mutating them into spiked, scarred paws. Cat Noir falls face-first, hardly able to stand. Realizing, he's in trouble, he pulls out his baton-cell phone to call for back-up. However, Uglifier is able to coat the baton/phone in gunk, which warps it to the point of being unusable. Cat Noir is very surprised by this as his baton can handle a Cataclysm.
Elsewhere, La Belle Vampire has her thralls zerg-rush Ladybug. Ladybug does her best but as she realizes she's about to be overwhelmed, she activates her Lucky Charm. Before she can grab it, she's restrained by the men Vampire has bitten. The Lucky Charm falls and konks one of them on the head, but he's oblivious to the pain. But even worse, with her hands restrained, Ladybug can't even use her yo-yo to call for aid.
It's a juxtaposition as Cat Noir cannot use his legs and Ladybug cannot use her hands. For Cat Noir, effectively being unable to move or dodge, he has to use his wits. By now, he has noticed Uglifier's overwhelming vanity. So he appeals to that. He (basically lies) and says that Uglifier doesn't look ugly at all. In fact, he has his own "unique charm" about him. This stops Uglifier from spraying civilians as well as targeting Cat Noir. His weapon falters, and he calls Cat Noir out on his compliments. Cat Noir insists it's the truth, appealing to Uglifier's ego. Uglifier starts to eat it up, which causes him to let down his guard. And in that moment, Cat Noir does a rather impressive handspring while activating his Cataclysm in mid-air. His hand connects with Uglifier's weapon, and he releases the akuma inside. This reverts Uglifier back to Etienne. Cat Noir recognizes Etienne as someone he knows from school, though Etienne is someone he doesn't know very well—he barely knows his name.
At the same time, La Belle Vampire stalks towards Ladybug to steal her miraculous. "Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to bite you are anything," she laughs. Ladybug desperately tries to struggle free of the civilian thralls holding her, but they're just too strong and too numerous. Then, her ankle connects with something. As La Belle Vampire extends her claws and fangs and moves in for the final blow, Ladybug kicks her Lucky Charm (shall we call it a bouncy ball? A basketball?) in La Belle Vampire's face. The vampire howls about being struck there again while the ball ricochets back towards the civilians, knocking two over and tripping a third. (Being vampire thralls, they're not very bright.) Ladybug slide-tackles under La Belle Vampire's range and strikes at her akumatized item from below, freeing the akuma inside. This reverts the vampire back into Marie Chauveau. And, like Cat Noir, Ladybug recognizes the victim as a distant classmate.
As she swings her yo-yo, Ladybug notices the first akuma fluttering by. She purifies them both with a single swing. Ladybug offers to help Marie home. Marie is dazed and wondering why she's in the park in the middle of the night. Ladybug explains what happened, which stings Marie's pride. She insists she's fine and can walk herself back to her apartment. With nothing else to do, Ladybug throws her Lucky Charm into the air and does her world-healing wave.
Within the same time frame, Cat Noir sees the damage restored, which includes his own mutated legs. He, too, offers to help Etienne home. Etienne, however, is hiding his face in his hands. He's in public! With a pimple! Cat Noir looks him over and comments that he doesn't see a pimple. Etienne perks up. He hurries to the darkened window of a car. There is, indeed, no pimple; Ladybug's "Miraculous Ladybug" cured that too. Thrilled, Etienne practically dances home, telling everyone who'll listen that his handsome face is now blemish free. Cat Noir watches him leave, bemused; he also notes that Etienne never thanked him.
Ladybug lands beside him, and they both "Pound It!" They ask each other how things went and express relief that things went well. They do have a few minutes left each of their countdowns, with Cat Noir having marginally more than Ladybug. Cat Noir sees this a moment to actually have a conversation with Ladybug, and he comments on what a beautiful night it is with a lovely moon—"you know, when some akuma victim or another isn't raising vampires or mutating plants." He then goes on to add, "I really mean it, Ladybug. I don't care what you look like. 'Uglified' or an old lady or even with a pimple…I'll always think you're the most amazing person ever."
The uncertainties of Marinette surface at his remarks. How she as Marinette can't express her true feelings to Adrien. How even if she could, how could she be so selfish as to bring them up when his parents are sick. How she's actually really clumsy and it's the miraculous that makes her graceful. How she feels Cat Noir, and thus Adrien, is only in love with the black-spotted red suit and not the girl behind it.
So Ladybug voices a small part of that. "You don't even know who I really am. You'd be disappointed if you saw the real me."
Cat Noir insists there is no way that can be true. So Ladybug starts to challenge him on this. She's half-teasing but also half-sincere. How would you feel if I snored in my sleep? Didn't brush my teeth? Was actually very clumsy? Came up with crazy schemes that never worked out the way I wanted them to? Cat Noir insists he'll still care about regardless of those things. "You're still the most wonderful person I've ever met."
Ladybug turns away, her heart in turmoil. "You're just saying those things. I'm not amazing." Her voice practically fades as she adds, "I can't even tell the guy I like how I feel." Cat Noir has to strain his ears to hear the second part, and he's still not certain her words. So he asks her to repeat herself.
Ladybug turns back to him and deviates the topic. "What about you, Cat Noir? Who are you really? Why do you act this way?" Cat Noir is confused by her accusation. Ladybug asks him who he really is and why he puts on the joker act while in the cat suit.
Cat Noir clarifies. "This is the real me. Or at least, it's who I want to be." This greatly surprises Ladybug since she knows it's Adrien speaking. Cat Noir goes on to reveal a tiny little bit about himself, saying he has parents who have high expectations of him and that he's afraid of disappointing them. So he always has to wear a mask as a civilian; he can't be himself. But as Cat Noir, he can be the person he always wants to be.
This does leave Ladybug baffled. Why would the perfect Adrien want to be a goofball? She actually has to repeat, maybe two or three times, that Cat Noir's personality isn't an act—it's him being true to the kind of person he really wants to be.
While Ladybug is still mentally processing everything, Cat Noir continues. He tells her flat-out that they both have secrets. But one thing he loves about Ladybug, whether or not she returns his affections or if they just remain good friends and partners, is how she sees the real him and doesn't reject him for it. He confesses an insecurity—that if he were to behave this way in public, not only would he disappoint his family but also his friends, teachers, classmates…
Ladybug insists this is not true. Her timer is really warning her now, so she latches her yo-yo on an awning. But before she leaves, she tells Cat Noir, "only you get to decide who you really are. And if your friends don't accept that, they're not real friends—but somehow, I think they will accept you. It's just a feeling. And no matter what, Cat Noir, you're my partner. You deserve to be yourself. I want you to be happy." She departs.
Cat Noir takes a deep breath of the cool night air, pondering her final words. Ladybug wants me to be happy. But if I started joking around in class…would Nino and Alya and Marinette and Chloe all walk away from me?
To be continued in Chapter 60: Mink…