Marinette rolled out of bed the next morning and stretched deeply. Despite only having slept a few short hours, she felt deeply refreshed and strong, ready to face whatever the day might bring her. "Wow, Tikki," she said, "Master Fu's potion sure did wonders for me."

"I'm glad, Marinette," Tikki replied. "That's especially good, because I have a feeling Hawk Moth is going to cook up some nasty villains for us now that Cat Noir is gone."

"I still don't understand why it had to be like that," Marinette said. "I mean, why couldn't Master Fu have hidden Cat Noir at his place?"

"I don't understand it either. But I'm sure Master Fu knows what he's doing."

"Well, I guess I've got to figure out a way to follow Cat Noir's advice to use Adrien Agreste for help. It's not a bad idea, you know? Adrien is so brave—there was that one time he saved me from that horrible villain Arachnid. And I'm sure he loves his father, so maybe there's a way we can resolve this without too much violence. Because if Hawk Moth gave me a concussion so bad that I barely remember anything, then I'm no match for him alone. There's just one problem I foresee in all of this…time."

"Time?"

"Yeah. Pretty soon, Hawk Moth will realize Cat Noir isn't showing up to the party. And when that happens, it'll be akuma after akuma and I won't have time to be Marinette. I'll just have to be Ladybug, all the time…"

There was a knock on the door. Tikki whisked under the bedcovers.

"Come in," Marinette said.

Sabine pushed open the door and peeked in. "Marinette, there's a little old Chinese man here to see you. He said you met him on the street and had agreed to design a dress for his granddaughter's prom?"

Marinette blinked, wracking her brains for a moment trying to figure out who on earth that could be.

Then it clicked.

"Oh yeah, him! I'd almost forgotten. I told him to get his granddaughter's measurements and drop by sometime."

"You're just meeting people in the streets? That seems a little dangerous…"

"We were both looking at prom dresses in a shop window. We just happened to strike up a conversation. Apparently he's footing the bill for her and she's really particular. He was worried he couldn't find a custom designer who'd do it under a certain price. I figured it couldn't hurt…I'm sorry, Mama."

"All right, I suppose it's fine. He seems harmless enough. Just be careful, Marinette!"

"I will. Tell him I'll be down in a minute."

After Sabine closed the door, Marinette threw on her clothes, grabbed her backpack filled with unfinished homework, and quickly swept her hair back into her signature pigtails. Tikki popped into her purse, and then Marinette ran down the stairs. She blew a kiss to her parents as she ran past the bakery and out the door, where Master Fu waited for her.

"I brought you my granddaughter's measurements," he said, winking. "Would you like me to walk you to school?"

"Sure," Marinette replied. She called farewell to her parents and then followed alongside Master Fu.

"Marinette, now that you are without Cat Noir, you will need other allies," Master Fu said, in hushed tones. "Very few of the Miraculous holders would have power or strength equal to his, but there are two in particular that might aid you in your quest: the Fox, which grants the power of illusion, and the Bee, which grants the gift of paralysis. Here, open your bag." Master Fu pulled out two small jewelry boxes. "I am entrusting these to you. Surely you know people of good and upright heart who can aid you along the way—but keep in mind that only people with a certain type of aura can use the Miraculous at all."

"I can't see auras, though," Marinette said.

"No, but you can sense them. When you are transformed, you will be able to do so much more easily. Follow your intuition, and you cannot fail. Once you have defeated Hawk Moth, you must return both Miraculous to me."

"Why's that?"

"Only the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are intended to be held for an extended period of time. You see, the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are what keep the universe in balance. The other powers are intended to be used at Ladybug's discretion."

"I still don't understand."

"It has simply been the way of things since the Miraculous were first crafted. Imagine how easy it is to abuse the powers of the other Miraculous—look at what Hawk Moth has done."

"But you can abuse the powers of the Ladybug and the Cat, too!"

"Which is why they are granted only to those with the most powerful auras of good."

"But…I abused Lucky Charm…"

"But you repented easily of it. Cat Noir kept you in balance. You abused the power of creation, and he countered it with his power of destruction. The two keep each other in balance by nature, while the other Miraculous spin easily out of control. They are more…volatile, despite being less powerful. They have no natural counterbalance."

"But if I chose people with good, strong auras, why couldn't they keep the Miraculous?"

"They can use it again in the future if needed—but you see…I made the mistake of giving the Peacock and Moth Miraculous to other members of the order when it was not my job to do so. It seemed that the only way out of a dire situation was to do this. But things turned catastrophic, and the entire order of the Guardians was destroyed, simply by the misuse of two Miraculous. There was no Ladybug and Cat Noir at that time to stop things. It was…it was all my fault." Master Fu hung his head. "So choose wisely, Marinette, and even then, do not entrust them to their new holders for longer than necessary."

Marinette swallowed. "That's a lot of pressure," she whispered.

"But I trust you completely," Master Fu said. "I know you can do this."

"Master Fu…without Cat Noir around…who will keep me in balance?"

"Believe it or not, Cat Noir is still out there. The nature of his Miraculous has become attached to him for the rest of his life. If you should ever find yourself out of balance again, he will come to your aid—because it is now a fundamental part of his nature. Does that make sense?"

"Barely," Marinette said. "But I'll take your word for it."

"Then here. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I entrust you with the Miraculous of the Fox and the Bee. Use them wisely, and we will defeat Hawk Moth."

Marinette nodded, then took the jewelry boxes from Master Fu and tucked them into her purse. "Sorry it's a little crowded in there now, Tikki," she whispered.

"I'll be fine," Tikki whispered back.

Once Marinette had arrived at school, she found herself unable to stop thinking about the powers she now had to dole out, and how she could possibly sense somebody's aura and tell whether they could use a Miraculous or not. She couldn't wait until Adrien showed up, so she could talk to him about helping her to defeat Hawk Moth. She would, of course, have to corner him as Ladybug somehow, but she was sure she could pull that off. She was so deep in thought that she jumped when Alya sat next to her and greeted her cheerfully.

"Whoa, girl," Alya said. "What has you on edge today?"

"I didn't study for the test," Marinette said. It was definitely the truth.

"It's okay. I know you'll pass. Just have confidence!"

"Yeah," Marinette muttered. "Confidence."

"Good morning, class!" Ms. Bustier said, without her usual enthusiasm. "It is my duty to inform you that we have lost one of our students today. Mr. Agreste contacted the school this morning to let us know Adrien will not be coming back to school."

Chloe let out a loud wail of despair. The whole class sighed collectively. Nino shook his head and put his palm to his face.

"Oh no…" Marinette whispered.

"It'll be okay," Alya said, putting her arm around Marinette's shoulders in a sideways hug. "You'll find a way to talk to him. I'm sure Mr. Agreste hasn't taken his phone."

As Alya's hand landed on Marinette's shoulder, a sudden tingling sensation swept across Marinette's whole body. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before: a strong, overwhelming sense of goodness and strength—things she had always known about Alya, but feeling them in a tangible way she could not explain. It was as though Marinette's senses were heightened, and she was feeling something that she didn't quite understand…

An aura, Marinette thought. I'm sensing Alya's aura? But how…? Why now, and not before?

Perhaps, Marinette reasoned, it was because of the Miraculous she now had in her possession. Or maybe something in Master Fu's potion had helped her to feel somebody's aura for the first time. But she knew one thing for sure—Alya's aura was good. It was powerful.

It was perfect.

I think I know who's getting one of these Miraculous, Marinette thought, smiling. But which one? Alya is clever and smart…like…like a fox!

Now all Marinette had to do was decide when to give the Miraculous to Alya. The timing would have to be perfect.

Over the lunch hour, Marinette decided she couldn't wait to go talk to Adrien, regardless of what Master Fu had said. She needed to get on top of things before somebody else was akumatized. What if it was Adrien who got akumatized next? He would be so sad about not coming to school, and Marinette didn't put it past Hawk Moth to akumatize his own son, if he was willing to put him in harm's way so much of the time. No, the time had to be now. She found a secluded place in the alley, transformed into Ladybug, and made her way to the Agreste mansion. She swallowed back a lump in her throat, hoping that Hawk Moth didn't have security cameras everywhere, but knowing the Agrestes, there probably were. Stealthily, she climbed the nearest building and surveyed the house.

Metal panels covered all of Adrien's windows. There would be no way to talk to him without going inside, unless there was some way she could make the metal disappear.

"Lucky Charm!" she whispered. Magic congealed in the air above her, and a flute fell into her awaiting hands.

"A flute?" Marinette searched her mind for how ideas on she could possibly use a flute to reach Adrien, when she realized something. Volpina had created illusions using her flute.

Illusion! Marinette thought. That's it. I can create the illusion of there being no barrier between us, and we might be able to communicate with Adrien! Looks like I'll need Alya's help sooner than later. This afternoon will have to do, though…it's almost time to go back to school.

Solid plan in mind, Marinette rushed back to the school.

Now I just need to figure out who will get the Bee Miraculous, and when the best time to use that will be…