As dusk swept over the city, I stood on the rooftops, watching and waiting. Ladybug and Chat Noir had disappeared at daybreak, and I had no doubt that they would soon be appearing again, to resolve their differences. I suspected tonight would be the night when each would realize their error in thinking the other to be akumatized.

Sure enough, I soon saw a flash of red darting through the evening sky, moving faster than I ever could. I followed, trying to see where she was going. I caught up to her in Montmartre, where she stopped at the foot of Sacre-Coeur. And there she waited. I hid myself in the belfry, watching and listening.

"This is taking so long!" Hawkmoth exclaimed angrily in my head. "It's been a full day and I still don't have those Miraculous! Tonight is the time to act!"

"Don't worry, Hawkmoth," I whispered. "It may take a few days, but my plan is foolproof. And when I'm done, they'll happily hand over their Miraculous to me."

"I'm growing impatient," he snarled. "You have one day. And if I don't have the Miraculous by then, say goodbye to your powers."

"Why?" I asked. "If you take away my powers, you get nothing, and you'll have to find some other way to get the Miraculous. And how many times have those plans failed? You'll save no time by creating another villain in my place. In all likelihood, if you take my powers away, you won't get the Miraculous at all."

Hawkmoth growled. "I don't like your attitude, Volpina. Perhaps I'll take your powers away just for that."

I laughed. "Hawkmoth, I want to see Ladybug fall just as much as you do. I know what that feels like. And that's how I know you won't take my powers away. Because deep down, you know this is the best chance you have. I've turned Ladybug and Chat Noir on each other, and that's far more than any other villain has been able to accomplish."

"That's not actually true," Hawkmoth retorted. "Dislocoeur did the same thing, and far more easily."

"And look how easily that was derailed. With a simple kiss. It's because Ladybug knew how it happened, and still had faith in Chat Noir. Once I've destroyed their trust in each other, it'll never return, and taking the Miraculous will be child's play."

"Fine, then. Take the time you need. But if you let me down, know that I will make you suffer."

I shrugged. "Doesn't bother me."

A minute passed in silence. I watched Ladybug pacing at the foot of the cathedral, evidently waiting for Chat Noir. Then she looked directly up at the bell tower where I was hiding.

"I know you're watching me," she said calmly. "Come on down from there and let's talk."

I froze for a second. Was she talking to me? If so, how did she know I was there?

I then sensed motion on the other side of the belfry. It was Chat Noir. True to his name, he'd hidden perfectly in the shadows. I hadn't even noticed him just a few paces away.

Fortunately, it didn't look as if he had noticed me. Extending his staff, he leaped out of the tower and gracefully landed by Ladybug's side. "Glad to see you, my lady. Now would you mind explaining what's going on?"

Ladybug nodded. "There's been a misunderstanding. You've been trying to fight me because you believed me to be akumatized. And I've been trying to fight you because I believed you to be akumatized."

"You told me to give you my Miraculous."

"I'm sure I did. And you told me the same thing."

"But how is that possible?" Chat Noir asked, confused. "I never told you anything of the sort."

"And neither did I," Ladybug replied with a grin. "You see, I've figured out what's been going on. Neither of those conversations ever happened between us."

Oh no. This seemed to be going in a direction I very much did not want it to go.

"So then…who was I talking to?" Chat Noir inquired.

"We've both been deceived, kitty cat," Ladybug teased. "We've been played by a villain. One who is very skilled in the art of trickery, and tried to turn us against each other."

"And what villain might that be?"

Ladybug drew a deep breath. "Volpina."

She'd actually figured it out. But how? How was that possible? I was sure I'd been playing my cards perfectly!

Then I realized. It was Marinette. She'd passed on what I told her to Ladybug, even after she promised not to. That had been the one weakness in my plan: blinded by my feelings for her, I had told her everything. And now, I was faced with the harsh truth: I'd seen her as perfect, but she was just as much of a dirty liar as I was.

Chat Noir nodded. "So, you're telling me…when you attacked me and tried to take my Miraculous, that was an illusion?"

"The first time, yes. Then she managed to bring us face to face, and let us fight each other, each of us with the assumption that the other is akumatized."

"So that we'll be busy fighting each other and thereby allowing her to slip in and steal the Miraculous!" Chat Noir inferred.

Ladybug shook her head. "That's what I would have expected as well. But her motives are actually quite different. She wants to bring down Hawkmoth. And she thinks that if we believe Hawkmoth is threatening us directly, it'll provoke us to go after him once and for all."

Chat Noir winked. "And that's even more proof that we're made for each other, my lady. But how do you know all of this?"

Ladybug returned his wink. "That's my little secret."

But then Chat Noir started to look confused. "So if we thwart Volpina's plan…does that mean that Hawkmoth wins?"

"I don't know," Ladybug replied. "I think we should talk to her. I bet she's watching us right now."

"But if she's watching us…then won't Hawkmoth be watching too?"

Ladybug's grin disappeared. "Oh no. And so we've just revealed her entire plan to him."

I smacked my forehead. Those idiots had just ruined everything. Again.

"Well, then, Volpina," Hawkmoth's voice said. He was speaking very quietly, in almost a whisper, and I could feel that he was absolutely livid. "There's been a lot you haven't been telling me, I take it."

"When you akumatized me for the first time, you made me your enemy," I replied, trying to keep my voice as calm and steady as possible. "I'm not somebody you want as your enemy. I've been playing you this whole time. And if those imbeciles hadn't given me away, you would have fallen."

"You tricked me into akumatizing you."

"Having my powers would make it much easier to bring you down."

"You spun an entire plan that was completely fake."

"I couldn't exactly tell you my real plan, could I?"

"You told me that your akuma had 'fallen off.' I assume that was because you didn't want me to see something."

"Of course it was."

"But I thought you hated Ladybug!" he insisted. "Why would you do something that would help her?"

"And that's the thing that nobody seems to understand. I don't hate Ladybug because of what she said to me at the park. Besides, she already apologized for that. I hate Ladybug because she's the one with the power to stop you, and she doesn't use it. I don't hate her nearly as much as I hate you, and so if she's not going to take you on, that duty falls to me."

Hawkmoth let off an evil laugh that reverberated in my bones. "A noble effort. But futile. And now, I'm going to make you pay."

I shook my head. "Sorry, Hawkmoth. You'll do nothing of the sort." With one swift motion, I ripped off my necklace, breaking the chain, and flung it out of the bell tower. "Ladybug!" I shouted.

As both Ladybug and Chat Noir turned at the sound of my voice, the necklace crashed into the cobblestones beside them, shattering into a hundred pieces. The akuma hesitantly unfurled its dark wings and took flight.

Ladybug knew exactly what to do. "No more evildoing for you, little akuma!" she said triumphantly, swinging her yoyo and capturing the butterfly straight out of the air.

I could feel my transformation fading. My suit shifted into my regular clothes, my mask evaporated, my flute disintegrated, and the two fake ears on my head disappeared.

"Bye bye, little butterfly," Ladybug said softly, and I was Lila again.

"Let's go talk to her," Chat Noir said, and they leaped up toward the tower.

"You imbeciles!" I shouted angrily as they arrived. "You can't do anything right!"

Ladybug put her hand on my shoulder. "Lila, listen. That was a very brave thing you did. I don't think anybody else could ever pull it off."

"Then I guess we're doomed," I retorted. "I came closer to bringing down Hawkmoth than you two ever did. You haven't even tried! Even though it's your job to fight evil—you just deal with his villains when they appear, and never cut them off at the source."

Ladybug nodded. "You're quite right. Chat Noir, I think you'd agree that we've been far too casual in letting Hawkmoth endanger the city. We need to double down on our efforts."

"You don't know what it's like to be akumatized," I explained. "It's a terrible experience. It—"

"It magnifies what you percieve to be the worst part of yourself," she interrupted. "Yes, I know. You already told me."

I frowned, confused. "I never told you anything of the sort." I'd said that to Marinette.

Ladybug blinked, looked worried for a moment, and then shrugged. "Sorry. I must have heard that from somebody else."

I continued. "But regardless, you can't let this happen to any more people. You think your power fixes everything, but it doesn't. Even now, I'm left with a lingering terror from my first akumatization."

"Don't worry, Lila," Chat Noir reassured me. "You've inspired us. We'll try as hard as we can to bring him down."

"You know," Ladybug pointed out, "you could have just talked to us in the first place. You could have explained how you thought we should have gone after Hawkmoth, and what it's like to be akumatized, and why we can't let it happen to anybody else. And we'd have understood, and gone after him. All it would take would be a few words." Seeing my angry glare, she shook her head. "But I guess that's not really how you do things."

"I think that just about wraps things up," Chat Noir concluded. "And if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to give us a call!"

And they both left, leaving me at the top of the bell tower. As the sun set and the full moon rose, I sat there in silence for what must have been an hour, and then I began the long climb down.

Eventually, I wandered over to the park where Ladybug had accosted me that first time, the other day. Perhaps I had been too quick to judge her. There was no denying that she was a poor excuse for a superhero, but at least her intentions were just, and she seemed to actually care about what I had to say to her. And besides, without her, I wouldn't have had a plan of any sort to take down Hawkmoth…she was an essential component. I guess Paris needed her after all.

"Lila? Are you all right?"

Startled, I turned to see Marinette, who moved to sit on the bench next to me. I stood up and turned my back to her.

"Listen, Lila, I know you think I sold you out to Ladybug," she began.

"I suppose she told you that I think that?" I shot back.

"No, actually. I inferred that when I saw you sitting here."

"Well," I asked, without turning to face her, "did you do it?"

I heard her sigh. "Yes. Yes, I did."

I groaned, and began to walk away.

"Wait!" she called after me. "I have something to say!"

I shook my head. "There's nothing to say. I thought you were better than me, that you could be an inspiration, something to live up to. And now I know that you're just as much of a cheat and a liar."

"You said you loved me."

"I thought I did."

"And I thought you loved Adrien?"

I shook my head. "I thought he was cute, and so I flirted with him. I do that with lots of people. It's far more casual. But with you, it's something different. I mean, it was something different."

Marinette sighed again. "Listen, Lila, I have something very important to tell you. There's another thing I've been lying to you about."

"Wow, what a surprise," I drawled, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "What is it this time? You and Adrien are together? That would just make my day."

"Actually, it's something different. I've managed to pull off an even larger deception than you did with Hawkmoth, and it's been going for months. I wanted to keep hiding it, but I owe it to you to not keep it a secret any longer. And I think it's best to show you. Please, turn around."

I slowly turned. I hadn't wanted to look at her; I thought it would make it harder. And it did. I had thought she was a beautiful person, and that there was no reservoir of deception under that exterior. Looking at her now, knowing that she was no better than me, was almost too much to bear. I thought back to when I had realized she had the same hair as Ladybug. Now the difference was not striking; I understood that the two of them were practically the same.

Wait a minute.

What was that? Next to Marinette, I saw a small, odd creature, that appeared to be hovering. It had an enormous head, and seemed to be covered in spots.

"Listen, Lila. When you idolize somebody, that in itself is just another lie. Nobody's perfect—not yourself, not any of your friends, not even the heroes that everybody thinks are perfect. But it's not the postive qualities that define a person. It's the flaws, and the imperfections, and the weaknesses. And if somebody dedicates their life to overcoming those weaknesses, even if they're not successful, that's the mark of a good person. And that's what I see in you…even if some people think you're nothing but a liar, I see how you try to overcome that, and how when you can't overcome your lies, you still try to use them for good. So now I'm asking you to acknowledge the imperfections in the girl you love…and also in the hero you used to admire."

I hadn't really been paying attention to what she was saying. "Okay, but what is that thing there?" I pointed.

"I'm Tikki," the creature responded, "and you're being very rude."

"Everything will become clear in a second," Marinette assured me. "But what I'm saying is, if you believe somebody to be perfect, you're only doomed to disappointment, and that's happened twice now. But if you abandon by that assumption, and bear in mind that every person is a person, then that's the way you can get somewhere."

The pieces were falling together in my head. She was right. It was time to give her a second chance, to give Ladybug a second chance, and to avoid false idolizations.

Besides, if my hunch was correct, Marinette never actually passed on my plan to Ladybug. She didn't need to.

"Tikki," Marinette said with a smile, "spots on."