Chapter 69: Secret Agent Danger
The next morning, Le Chien Kim checks on Ondine's salt water prison, hoping for the best. But no, the cocoon is still solid with no signs of cracks. He hears someone entering his family's apartment, so he quickly dumps another basket of dirty laundry on top of Ondine's sphere and heads into the main room, half dressed for school.
What he sees are two police officers talking to his parents. Kim freezes. He's about to creep back to his bedroom and lock the door when his parents notice him and motion for him to join them on the couch. Kim does, sweating.
The officers explain that they are here on behalf of Ondine's family, as she's been reported missing. And Kim, being her boyfriend, they want to ask him questions. Does he know where she went? Did she ever say anything to him? Does he know what's going on? Kim denies it and insists Ondine isn't the type to runaway. The police officers point out that she lied to her parents and friends, claiming to be sleeping over at several different houses but didn't show up at any of them. So that makes abduction less likely and running away more likely. So does Kim know about anything at all—any little clue. They imply she might have gotten into some illicit activities, and Kim very loudly denies pregnancy and drugs as an excuse. He then falls back to his rational and insists she was abducted by aliens.
This actually causes the police officers, as well as his parents, to just stare at him. Kim crosses his arms and insists he's right. After all, they have superheroes running around Paris, ancient pharaohs trying to resurrect the gods, trains that can take people into outer space—so why not aliens? The police exchange a look and say that they've asked all the questions they've had. But if they hear anything about Ondine, contact them immediately. Kim, being Kim, asks them if they're going to spy on him like James Bond or Austin Powers or Spiderman-Noir to see if he actually knows anything. His parents lightly scold him, and the cops leave.
Kim's mom laments about Ondine's poor parents and "how could she do this to them? Her mother must be worried sick!" Kim insists Ondine has to be fine. His father asks him again—do you know anything. Kim insists he doesn't and repeats that it has to be aliens. His father tells him to get ready for school (Kim is still in his pajama pants). Kim leaves the room. But it is clear that the news of Ondine's disappearance really does affect Kim's family.
Once out of sight, Kim's dopey smile fades and he lets out a sigh. It's hard and frustrating on him. But Ondine is counting on him to protect her—and he is not going to fail.
Elsewhere in Paris, other students are getting ready for their day. Snow Leopard/Giselle Winters-Blanchet leaves a quick message on the Team B Discord server that she'll be out of town for the foreseeable future and doesn't even have her antique akumatized item on her (due to the events of Burden). Chip Bluestone/Jean Duparc takes a moment to change his account's password on Pegasus's advice.
Marinette Dupin-Cheng finishes frosting cookies for her father before heading out. She checks her cell phone as she walks to see if Blue Ox or Mini Mouse have joined the A Team's server yet—but they haven't. Much to her surprise, she gets a private message from Rena Rouge/Alya a moment later. "I've been meaning to ask—have you got any word from your master recently?" Marinette as Ladybug replies and tells Rena Rouge that she's been getting notes from him and he insists he's fine; he's just in hiding due to Team Draco raiding his clinic. Rena Rouge replies with a "I'm glad he's okay. When Snow and I found his front door kicked in… We've both been really worried about him." Ladybug is surprised by the mention of Snow and asks about that. Rena Rouge confesses that back during Mad Hare, she and Snow Leopard arrived at "the master's" at the same time. So yes, she knows who Snow really is—and Snow knows who she really is. Rena Rouge apologizes as she knows she should have done better at keeping her identity a secret. But both she and Snow have kept their lips shut this entire time. Ladybug accepts the apology.
Elsewhere, Sabrina Raincomprix takes the long way to school, going on a prolonged walk with Barkk in her purse. Adrien Agreste gets car/limo-pooled with Felix Graham de Vanily and Nicholas Sancoeur, as usual. Chloe Bourgeois is also driven to school. She has the chauffeur drive along the river as she's still looking for a place to practice as Queen Scorpion. But no luck yet. Nicolette Lacroix arrives at school early and strikes up a conversation with Etienne Fontaine. Which surprises a good number of people as Etienne is known for only caring about himself. What people don't see is Nicolette's crab kwami, Trapper, and Etienne's koi kwami, Bubbles and Betta, greeting each other. Bubbles is friendly while Trapper is waspish and Betta is aloof.
Luka Couffaine grabs his guitar case and heads out of the houseboat. His mother, Anarka, stops him. "You kept your promise, didn't you?" Luka realizes she's referring to his promise not to contact or interact with Jagged Stone despite knowing he's his father. Luka insists he did. Anarka then wonders, mostly to herself, why Jagged Stone decided now of all times to show up and try to insert himself back in her life. Luka suggests it's a mere coincidence. He knows even when he met Jagged as Alpha, he kept his promise. But then…he has memories of his own dark side blowing a gasket… Why? Why do I remember that? Anarka tells him and Juleka to stay away from Jagged—she makes them promise. Luka tells her that he understands how much she's hurting. But she can't let the past ruin the present. He heads to school with his sister, leaving Anarka off guard.
Once Anarka is out of hearing distance, Juleka asks about Luuna. Luuna fazes through the guitar case and greets Juleka. Juleka pets Luuna's head, and it's clear the two have been introduced before. The three strike up a conversation on the way to school with Luuna hiding whenever someone else gets close.
Back at Francoise Dupont High School, Monique Imhof and Mathieu Anciel skate up, holding hands. It's clear there's something a little different between the two (likely stemming from Monique's confession that she can't have children), but the two are still happy together. Mathieu's little brother, Marc Anciel, watches them for a moment and then returns to writing his sequel manuscript, using them for inspiration for his fictional love triangle between Ladybug, Cat Noir, and the Mighty Illustrator. Rachel Beauchene is running a bit late as she had to walk her younger brother to his elementary school. She meets with her best friend, Meg Delphinus, who notes that Rachel is now carrying a wooden kendo sword. Rachel is quite happy as she has been able to find a place that gives kendo lessons. But then Meg notices Rachel's long, garnet nails. "Don't those get in the way?" Rachel looks at them, confused, and shakes her head without elaborating on the subject. Mylene Haprele and Rose Lavillant are working on some type of project that involves paper, ribbons, glitter, and markers. They're pretty happy and giggly. However, when Alix Kubdel asks them what they're doing, they insist "nothing" and try to hide the supplies. Adrien tries to talk with Chloe—he knows he cannot ignore her having the Scorpio miraculous, even though he still feels bad for her because her mother walked out and he had to reject her romantic confession. However, Chloe completely blows him off and refuses to speak to him, causing Adrien to realize he might have no other option but to follow her as Cat Noir, as Ladybug suggested.
((All students can be found here: (( photos . app . goo . gl / cgLSrNi71rxfep9e8 ))))
The bell rings, and everyone disperses to class. For the second day in a row, Le Chien Kim is absent (due to the events at home with Ondine). Not even Max Kante knows why. Miss Bustier notes it in her attendance log and continues.
Madam Dolores Gros pokes her head into Mr. Haprele's class to call Giselle Winters-Blanchet for her mental health screening, especially in the wake of her being akumatized into Burden. Mr. Haprele explains that Giselle is absent today as her father called her off; they're out of town. So instead of talking to Giselle, Madam Gros checks her list and requests Rachel Beauchene. Rachel leaves her stuff behind and follows Madam Gros to her office.
Once inside, per the usual (I hope this isn't repetitive), Madam Gros asks Rachel about her grades and hobbies and friends and family and emotions. Rachel says she's recently started studying kendo and is very eager for her next lesson. She gets along well with her best friend Meg Delphinus, and she and her boyfriend, Tristan Fortier, have been dating for several months now. She loves cheering him on during his boxing matches. She gets along well enough with her family, though often times she has to babysit her younger brother Jakob (who is in elementary school); she has a younger sister too named Lilian (middle school aged) who spends her time locked in her bedroom. Rachel comments she wishes her parents would pay her standard babysitting rate—she could use the money.
During this same time, the scene changes to Rachel's little brother, Jakob Beauchene, at the elementary school. This is the same elementary school that Chris Lahiffe and Guilliame Beaureal attend. Jakob is enjoying recess, playing with his best friend, whom is recognizable as the same little boy who got akumatized into Dread Pirate Scarbeard way back when. This time, instead of playing pirates, they're playing spies. Jakob and his Scarbeard-friend are having a blast imagining themselves leaping from train to train, using cool gadgets, disarming bombs, and taking out bad guys with thrown tranquilizer darts.
However, the play time dissolves into an argument over who gets to be the hero and who has to play the bad guy. Being a busy recess, the teacher doesn't notice immediately to mediate the situations. Unfortunately, Nathalie Sancoeur's brooch alerts her to the brewing negative feelings. She's even more attuned to these as she had been specifically watching members of Wayhem, Rachel, and Viktor's families for a moment like this. She wants to put subtle pressure on those three to see how her items are slowly developing. She, like Gabriel, is really not inclined to work with children so young. But the passion is undeniable, as is the thirst for super-human abilities. With no one else watching, she heads into the lair and transforms into female Hawk Moth. Once she does so, she sends a long-range message to Nicholas. Watch the bear. He understands and complies.
Meanwhile, Madam Gros asks Rachel how she handles stress, and Rachel admits to beating up her pillows and watching slasher films, which surprises Madam Gros as Rachel appears to be a make-up and fashion loving girly girl. Rachel admits she does like fashion and make-up. And she also likes blood and guts. "But don't tell anyone, please?" Dolores promises complete confidentiality of her clients.
Back at the elementary school, Jakob Beauchene has been akumatized into Secret Agent Danger – super spy and is running amok. He insists everyone else is an enemy working for The Organization, and he has to take them down. So he produces an array of gadgets off of his utility belt. This includes trapping pretty much everyone in the school with silly string-style super glue, which seals the door shut and keeps everyone inside. Those who were out at recess get targeted in other ways, such as trapped in magnetic spheres. All of his methods are fairly physically harmless and just restrain people as Jakob/Secret Agent Danger is still a child and deep down doesn't want to severely hurt anyone and the super spy shows he has seen use these kinds of methods versus the lethal methods of James Bond.
At the same time, Rachel and Madam Gros are still in the middle of the mental health screening. That's when the Akuma Alert goes off, requiring everyone to evacuate and lockdown. Rachel sorta just rolls her eyes with "again?!" as Akuma Alerts are just about a daily occurrence. Madam Gros had to do her duty to keep up the front as a counselor and escorts Rachel to the safety zone with the rest of her class.
Of course, the heroes get the alert as well. Adrien tells Orikko and Ziggy to create a diversion. When they do, he slips off to transform into Cat Noir. The same diverse helps Marinette, and she ducks into her locker to transform into Ladybug. Not so far away, Luuna clutches her ears as the alarm is loud to her sensitive hearing. Luka tucks her into his hoodie pocket to protect her and grabs his cell phone to communicate with the rest of his pack.
The B Team is struggling with availability. Dauphin is silent, and Dauphine is still trapped. Chip Bluestone and Honey Bee are both benched, and Snow Leopard is not only benched but out of town. It even takes Firefly a while to log in due to the lockdown. Which leaves just Froppy and Tsukuyomi and Alpha on the server.
In the middle of Paris, Secret Agent Danger jumps off the back of a moving taxi (because why not, it's what a spy would do) and declares there's a bomb hidden somewhere in the city that he must disable. This causes people to panic not only from the bomb threat but also from the appearance of what is clearly an akumatized victims. Alerts are sent, updating Parisians of the location of the antagonist.
Ladybug and Cat Noir land in front of him and order him to stop. Danger replies by insisting they're working for The Organization and that he's the one who's going to stop them. Cat Noir comments that he feels bad about beating up on a kid. Ladybug attempts to bind Danger with her yo-yo, but he evades it and throws a flash grenade disguised as a pen at her. It goes off, temporarily but severely blinding Ladybug. That causes Cat Noir to get serious, and he charges Danger. Danger, however, reveals a jet pack underneath his jacket and he flies out of range. He shouts that he doesn't have time to deal with them because he has to find the bomb and then jets off.
Ladybug and Cat Noir exchange a look. "Do you really think there's a bomb in the city?" It's clear Secret Agent Danger is quite delusional. However, his powers come from Hawk Moth. And considering Hawk Moth is willing to kidnap a hundred kids…well, they can't put it past him (or rather, him and her since they know Hawk Moth is two people) to have snuck a bomb into the city. Ladybug gets on her phone/yo-yo to call in back-up to search. She really wants Minimouse, as Minimouse could divide and conquer and cover a lot of ground. However, Minimouse still hasn't made her chat server account yet. So instead, Ladybug requests several other allies to search Paris for a bomb.
Of course, news is getting out as Nadja Chamack reports and more civilians stream the incident. Rachel Beauchene is able to pull up the footage on her phone while she waits in lockdown. And when she realizes that this akuma victim is her little brother, she freaks out. She charges forward, demanding to be let out so she can help. Principal Damocles refuses to let her go and insists she has to wait where it's safe and leave this to the pros. (She should have just kept quiet and snuck off like everyone else.) Rachel argues with her, insisting that she needs to help her brother. She is adamant that Ladybug and Cat Noir aren't good enough, expressing hostility towards them. She has to go. It has to be her. She's the only one who can. Principal Damocles has to threaten her with suspension to get her to stop ranting. Rachel sits down and sulks very bitterly. Through it all, Nicholas Sancoeur watches her. Her skin does not change color at all; she shows no signs of corruption. And despite being at a very seriously place emotionally, her nails aren't activating to transform her. It's just as Aunt Nathalie planned.
At the same time in yet another part of Paris, a certain salt water sphere begins to fracture.
Ladybug and Cat Noir are able to track Secret Agent Danger to the Eiffel Tower. They catch him in a pincher attack, but he turns the tables by ensnaring Cat Noir by using a wrist-mounted net thrower. Ladybug is still struggling to see, so Danger takes advantage of that and hits her with a stun gun that drops her to the ground. Hawk Moth tells Danger to go take the earrings, and he moves to do so. This causes Cat Noir to throw off the net and rush to protect Ladybug.
Below, Rena Rouge and Carapace and Kamaitachi have divided Paris into sections and are scouring them to see if there truly is a bomb. Froppy and Tsukuyomi join them in the hunt, trying to cover as much ground as possible while still being thorough.
Ladybug picks herself up as Cat Noir defends her against Danger, but the akuma victim just as so many gadgets. Ladybug decides they need a gadget of their own and uses her Lucky Charm. It turns out to be yet another cool spy gadget, which makes Danger jealous. He tries to steal it and then trip Ladybug up so she drops it. Cat Noir complains; he can't believe how much trouble a kid is giving them.
Ladybug gets an idea and she dangles the cool device in front of Danger. "You want this, don't you? Tell me where the bomb is, and I'll give it to you." Danger, being a kid, immediately folds and tells her the bomb is at the very top of the Eiffel Tower. He then dives for the Lucky Charm. Ladybug orders Cat Noir to head up while she deals with Danger. Cat Noir agrees and launches himself upward with his baton.
During this all, Rachel is watching from her phone with a very stressed out expression. That is her little brother, after all. And Nicholas continues to watch her. She still shows no signs of corruption.
When Cat Noir gets to the top of the tower, he realizes that there actually is no bomb at all. "He lied to us!" Cat Noir looks down, as he realizes he left Ladybug alone with the akumatized victim. He races back as fast as he can.
Ladybug sees him coming. They make eye contact and nod. They know each other well enough to coordinate without any more than that. Ladybug distracts Secret Agent Danger by tossing her Lucky Charm at him. He catches it, elated to have a new spy gadget. However, this keeps his hands full, so he can't pull out one of his own devices. Cat Noir clobbers him during the distraction, taking advantage of Danger's own grappling hook to tie him up. This spins Danger close to Ladybug, who takes advantage of the moment to steal and break his akumatized item. She purifies the akuma and then activates her "Miraculous Ladybug!" All the damage is reverted, and Team Ladybug disperses back into their civilian identities with the threat over. Jakob comes to his senses and is instantly terrified, being on the Eiffel Tower, as he's afraid of heights. Cat Noir helps carry him down. He and Ladybug both "Pound It" and then go their own ways.
Female Hawk Moth, however, is elated by this test. According to Nicholas, Rachel Beauchene's garnet nails did nothing the entire time. They didn't corrupt her; they didn't empower her. Furthermore, she's showing an increased animosity towards the golden duo. It's everything Nathalie could have wanted in a test. At last, her items have been perfected.
Back at the Kim residence, Kim sees his pile of dirty laundry wiggle. Come on, it hasn't been that long since I last washed clothes! Then he remembers Ondine is buried in there. He dives forward, throwing dirty socks everywhere, and quickly digs her out. She's still transformed into Dauphine and exhausted. The first thing she does in complain that she "smells old feet." Kim hugs her tightly he's so happy she's awake. Her anklet is beeping quite a lot, and it depowers in mid-hug.
A small, blue dolphin kwami floats free. Kim and Ondine both just gawk. The dolphin kwami introduces himself as the kwami of (insert unused concept here) and says he's proud to meet his new master. Ondine squeals happily and hugs him, then she corrects the kwami and explains he has two masters. She introduces herself and her boyfriend. Both have met kwamis before (Kim met Xuppu, and both met Dark Shadow and Froppy), and they say they're happy to work alongside… "what's your name again?" The dolphin admits he has no name. So after some consideration, the couple names him Finn.
Kim's mom pounds on the door, asking what's going on in there as they heard a loud squeal. Ondine's eyes grow wide and Kim pales. He lies and tells his father that he fell out of his chair, no biggie—while motioning for Ondine to keep absolutely silent. Kim's father believes it and leaves.
Kim then turns to Ondine and tells her, in all urgency and seriousness, that she has to leave. Now. Ondine is a bit frightened and wonders what's going on as she's never seen Kim act this way before. Kim explains that the police were here this morning, looking for her. Her parents filed a missing person's report. Ondine nearly panics. "How long was I asleep?" Kim points out it's been three and a half days. Ondine realizes this is far longer than she hoped and that she is in major, major trouble. There is absolutely no way she can explain this to her family. Kim tells her to insist it was aliens, which does get a smile from Ondine.
Then she takes off her anklet and hands it to Kim. Kim insists she should keep it, it is hers more than his. She shakes her head. She is going to be grounded for eternity. And if the police are involved…They can't find her now-real miraculous. And they can't find Finn. Kim has to protect both. Kim doesn't like this. He says he can head home with Ondine, help her explain…something. She shouldn't have to be punished alone. Ondine insists it has to be this way. They're heroes. They're Dauphine and Dauphin. And since she knows she's going to be lockdown for a long while, it's up to him to be Dauphin and help the B Team and protect Paris for both of them. She convinces Kim to pinky swear on it. Then Kim helps her sneak out of his apartment. She kisses him one time for good measure before getting on the bus and heading home. Finn hovers by his ear. "I don't understand what any of that was about." Kim tells him "Come on, little fish friend. I'll explain everything over pizza. You like pizza, right?"
Ondine arrives home and heads inside, braced to face the worst. Her mother hugs her out of relief. But that's the only reprise she gets. Her parents have her sit down and demand to know where she was. Ondine attempts to flub an excuse, but they don't buy it. So eventually she just has to say the honest truth, "I can't tell you. But I wasn't doing anything wrong or illegal." This only makes her already emotional parents more emotional, and they start yelling at her, demanding to know if she's gotten into a gang or anything like that. Ondine insists she's fine, she's not doing drugs, and that she didn't break any laws. She just can't tell them. She also reminds them that if they keep getting worked up, they're liable to get akumatized. Her mother just about goes onto a rant about that, but her father does see the wisdom in that remark and calms himself and his wife down. However, the storm is not over for Ondine and they lecture her and yell at her and threaten to take her to a doctor and, of course, ground her indefinitely. Ondine hands over her phone and tablet. She's also banned from swim practice and even seeing Kim. She knows it's not fair, but there's little she can do but weather the storm. After a great length, maybe even an hour or two, she's dismissed back to her room under the most strict of circumstance. Ondine takes a deep breath when she's alone to stop from shaking. At least she knows both Kim and Finn are safe—and that the anklet is in trusted hands. Plus, Kim will tell the rest of the B Team. So all she can do now is rebuild her parents' trust. It's the same thing Alya faced during Draco's debut chapter.
Elsewhere, Mylene Haprele and Rose Lavillant have finished what they were working on in Rose's pink bedroom. Before them are an array of cutesy birthday invitations. "Juleka is going to love it!" cooes Rose. Mylene agrees. She gathers her things to leave since they're done, and she offers to put the cards in the mail box on her way out. Rose thanks her for it.
Mylene does so and then pulls out her phone on the way home. Mullo pokes her nose out of Mylene's backpack and asks what she's doing. Mylene says she was just checking her email, but seeing Mullo reminded her that Ladybug requested she join the heroes' Discord server. Mylene is nervous at first but she takes a deep breath to summon her courage, and she makes a fake account.
Minimouse has joined the chat…
To be continued in Chapter 70: Sir Silver Hart…