After the bell rang, Adrien approached Marinette. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Mari..." He glanced at her ring, raising his eyebrows. "Is that new?"
She gasped, before nodding, "oh, yeah, my dad gave it to me! Apparently it's a precious family heirloom? Heh..." She scratched the back of her neck, beyond anxious.
Adrien narrowed his eyes at her. She was normally like this around him, he knew that. He sighed, and lowered his eyes. "See you around, Marinette." He offered a slight wave, before he headed down the stairs.
Outside of the school sat a new kid, named Bridgette. She pushed up her glasses, as she stared at an assortment of photos she had collected, of various people. It included akumatized villains, superheros, and civilians.
"Ew, look, Sabrina, we found a little stalker!" said Chloe, snatching the pile of photos from Bridgette.
She gasped, adjusting her glasses, "hey, those are mine! Give them back!"
Chloe tore the pile in half. "Whoops!" She threw the torn photos on the ground behind her, laughing as she left with Sabrina.
Bridgette stared at the photos in anger. "I wish I could put you in your place," she muttered.
Meanwhile in Hawk Moth's lair, the window to the world opened, revealing infamous villain. "Ah, a powerless girl, her great collection destroyed by uncaring people..." A pale little butterfly landed in his hands, and he covered it, focusing evil power into it. He let it go, and it flew towards the window. "Fly away, my little akuma, and evillize this young girl!"
Bridgette gasped as she noticed the black butterfly flying towards her. She cocked her head, before snapping a photo of the little bug - right before it sunk into her glasses, darkening them. The girl's face reddened, and a purple butterfly shaped outline floated in front of her face.
An identical outline appeared in front of Hawk Moth. "Changer... I give you the power to take on any identity you see. All you have to do is bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. Do we have a deal?"
The girl shook. "If I said yes... Wouldn't I be a supervillain?" she asked, biting her lip.
He shook his head, "No, those miraculous belong to me. You'd be a hero... Able to take down villains, like Chloe, just like you want. That is what you want, isn't it?"
She lowered her eyes, and smiled, "Yes, it is, Hawk Moth..." Her form bubbled over, until she was transformed - into a perfect replica of Ladybug.
"Wonderful... Now here's my plan."
Adrien and Nino walked out the door. "Seriously, though, the earrings? I'm really not sure they look good on you," Nino finally admitted.
The blond guy chuckled, "what's not to like? They're purrfect!"
"Why am I still friends with you," Nino asked, shaking his head.
Marinette and Alya followed suit, "...so then he asked me about my ring! He noticed the ring, Alya!" Marinette exclaimed, giggling.
Alya was on her phone, and a Ladybug alert popped up. "Oh, shoot, I gotta go. I can't miss this!"
"What's going on?" Marinette asked, tilting her head.
Alya showed her, "look, Ladybug just showed up at the Eiffel tower. She's handing out autographs!"
Marinette gasped, staring at her phone in disbelief. "That can't be..."
"I know, right? She never gives out autographs! I gotta get one!" Alya yelled, before running off, leaving her friend in the dirt.
Marinette ran into an empty alleyway and frowned, "what if it's just Chat? Oh, no, what if he's abusing my power? I should never have traded miraculous with him..."
Plagg laughed, nibbling on some cheese.
"Seriously, Plagg? This is no laughing matter! Plagg, claws out!" she shouted, and transformed.
Adrien watched Alya run. "Wait, what is she running from?"
Nino shrugged, before yelling, "Alya! Why are you running?"
"Ladybug's at the Eiffel tower handing out autographs! I can't miss it, she never does stuff like this!" Alya shouted back, before hopping on her bicycle and biking fast.
Adrien shook his head, "no way... Ladybug? But..." He glanced in a mirror, at his earrings. He groaned. "Nino, you should catch up with-" he turned to his friend, only to see he was biking with Alya. He sighed, "Alya. Right."
Tikki frowned at him, "If that's not Ladybug up there, it has to be an akuma!" she chirped.
The blond boy nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking... Tikki, spots on!"
Ladybug grinned at everyone below her, sitting atop a beam on the Eiffel tower. "Hello, Paris!
A loud cheer answered her. Alya pushed her way through the crowd. "Ms Ladybug! Hi! I'm a huge fan!"
The superheroine paid her no mind, simply smiling and waving at all the crazed fans.
Suddenly, a woman stepped forth, dressed in Chat Noir's costume, but with dark blue hair in pigtails, and bluebell eyes. She gasped upon seeing Ladybug. "You're not... You're not the real Ladybug! Imposter!"
Ladybug gasped, before laughing, "and who are you supposed to be? Nice costume, by the way!"
"I'm Chat - Chat Lady!" She hopped up to the same beam 'Ladybug' was sitting upon. She muttered, "this was a horrible idea..."
Changer gasped, "it's an akumatized villain! Everyone run!" she shouted, and the crowd began to disperse, yelling and crying out in fear.
"I'll save you, my lad-y?" asked a hesitant voice behind Chat Lady. The bug themed hero gasped, "wait, who is she?"
Chat Lady groaned, "she's an akumatized villain. Obviously she hasn't kept up with the times... Don't you know we switched miraculous?" she asked Ladybug.
Changer blinked twice. "Villain? Ha! I'm a hero! You're the villains! You stole Hawk Moth's miraculous, now I will return them to him!"
Bug Noir shook his head, "we didn't steal anything! We just-"
"LIARS! I know what you really are - you're supervillains! Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes, you fiends! Liars like you should be punished!" She spread her arms, and said, "Time for a little change!"
Chat Lady and Bug Noir gasped, exchanging glances. In a second, the Ladybug imposter had been replaced with none other than Hawk Moth. "No way..." gasped Chat Lady, staring at the towering villain in disbelief.
Changer chuckled, and spun his cane, calling a swarm of white butterflies to him, before snatching one from the air, and evillizing it, before letting it go. "You can't catch both of us!" Hawk Moth shouted, before using his cane like a helicopter to drift down, before running in the opposite direction of the akuma.
Chat Lady's eyes went back and forth. "Ugh, Bug Noir? Go after the akuma and purify it. I'll tackle Hawk Moth!" She sprinted after him.
"Sounds good, my lady!" called the blond boy, before racing to catch up with the evil butterfly.
{Earlier...}
"Step one, get their attention. Since you're disguised as Ladybug, people will think you're Ladybug - except for the real one. So go create chaos, do something, drawn in a crowd. Don't be afraid to get messy."
"I won't hurt anyone," vowed Changer, "except Ladybug and Chat Noir. They are thieves. I'll go to the Eiffel tower... And offer autographs, as Ladybug."
Hawk Moth let out a sigh, "Sure, why not? Step two, split them apart. Transform into me, and release an akuma - with my power, you should be able to quickly choose a suitable victim. Ladybug will go after the akuma, since she is the one with the purification power, and Chat Noir will follow you. You... Will come to me." The villain knew this was risky, but risky got results. He was tired of the akumas failing. This one, he promised, would not.
"What's step three?" eagerly asked the Ladybug imposter, anxious to get started.
Hawk Moth chuckled, "Step three? Step three is the fun part..."