Ladybug threw her yoyo, grabbed Gamera, and jumped. Behind them, the twin spears pierced hard into the rooftop where they had just been standing, blasting tile in every direction. Ladybug swung them across the street, behind Sabertooth, then dropped Gamera.

Gamera hit the ground running. Sabertooth turned to meet him, grinning wide. She held up her hands, and the spears tore themselves free of the roof, flying back to her hand. "Face-to-face combat! So the Turtle has bravery after all!" She moved her arm in a circular motion, slamming the sharp ivory down for his chest.

He blocked with his shield, then blocked down to catch the rebounding spear coming from below. Gamera stepped forward, trying to push the shield at her. She stood her ground, raining more spear strikes at him. Trying to push this girl off-balance was like trying to push at a brick wall.

"Hey, Snaggletooth!" Ladybug called from behind. The yoyo wrapped around Sabertooth's ankle, pulling it out from under her. The woman snarled as she was pulled toward Ladybug, throwing a spear.

Ladybug ducked, distracted just long enough for Sabertooth to free herself. She rolled to her feet, aiming her second spear for the red moving target, only to suddenly flinch and spin around moments before Gamera could hit her from behind.

"You may have more numbers," she hissed, beginning to hit at him again. "But it will not save you. I am ten times the warrior you are, honorless coward! One with your limited abilities shouldn't even be in battle!"

Gamera was being driven back and back by the flurry of assaults. It took all the concentration he had just to keep blocking everything she threw at him. Whoever she was, she was strong, and she was very, very experienced.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug called from somewhere in the distance.

Sabertooth feinted, then swept low suddenly. Pain in his right leg. Suddenly, he was on his back, with no memory of having gotten there. Heart leaping, he raised his shield, only to feel it kicked out of his hands. Sabertooth loomed over him, one short spear aimed at his chest. "Utterly underwhelming," she said. "As obvious now as it was then. Thousands of years of combat experience cannot compare to...whatever this one brings with him." She lifted her spear. "Well? Are you going to face me yourself, finally?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Gamera asked, really wishing that he could reach his shield about then. "It doesn't get more face-ey than this!"

Sabertooth ignored him, aiming her spear. "I'm going to kill your host, you coward," she whispered with loathing. "You're really going to stand by and do nothing? If someone tried to steal my property from right in front of me-!"

She paused, suddenly, a confused look on her face. Lifted her head, sniffing. "What is that? It smells-"

Rumbling, then a roar as brown sticky liquid suddenly poured from above, gallons and gallons of it in a concentrated stream. It slammed into Sabertooth and knocked her off balance, covering her. Gamera scrambled backwards, scooping up his shield. "What is that?" he yelled. "It smells like-"

"Maple syrup?" Ladybug crouched on top of the building above them, one arm hooked around the spout of the giant, over-sized maple syrup bottle leaning over the roof's edge. "You got me. This is one of the weirder things Lucky Charm has summoned. And believe me, that's saying something."

Sabertooth was trying to say something, to yell at them. But the words were coming out garbled beneath the sugary goop flooding into her mouth. She spat out, trying to reach down for her spears, even as the syrup began to harden, to slow her down bit by irritating bit.

"Oh no you don't," Ladybug said, swinging down. It was quick work, with Sabertooth slowed and distracted, to loop the yoyo string around and around until the woman's arms were pinned to her sides.

"Thanks for the save," Nino said, walking up beside her. "Careful. She hits hard."

"I won't say I told you so," Ladybug said, holding tightly onto the string as the syrup-soaked woman thrashed and yelled at them. "The bracelet. It's got to be."

"Right." Nino grabbed at the woman's wrist, wrestling the golden bangle off of it. Her yelling increased to a fever pitch, only to suddenly die off the moment the bangle left her skin. She went limp in the hold of the yoyo string, her supervillain disguise beginning to crumble to reveal the waitress's uniform beneath.

Nino lifted the piece of jewelry, ready to throw it down, to try to break it to reveal the akuma, if there was one. But before he could even get it above his head, it glowed, bright red. A small flash of light, and just like that, it disappeared.

.:|:.

"Alya! Look at that!"

Alya smiled as they strolled through the park, watching the peacock kwami stare at a passing dog walker in amazement. "That's a bulldog," she said. "Doesn't his face look funny?"

"That's a dog?" the kwami asked. "It's very different from the other dog I saw!"

"Because he's a bulldog," Alya patiently explained. "There's many different kinds of dogs, all-"

"I've never seen one like that before! Oh!" The peacock kwami zipped over to the other side of the street suddenly, staring at the balloons bobbing above an ice cream vendor's cart. "Look at these!"

Alya laughed, following. As old as the peacock kwami was, chances were good that he probably actually had seen a bulldog at some point. But thanks to the amnesia that kwamis seemed to sometimes get, he couldn't remember any of it, or anything at all, really, from before a few months ago. Combined with his personality, it was almost like dealing with a small child.

Alya didn't mind. Alya liked children, was good with them, even. "Could I buy that balloon?" she asked the vendor, already reaching for her wallet.

She fished out a few coins. When she looked up again, the car was back, black, a sports model. She was absolutely sure it was the exact same kind as the one that had been circling around the school all during literature class. It slowed down near her, windows tinted, driving by very slowly before turning a corner.

The vendor, smiling, held out the big yellow balloon the peacock kwami had been most fascinated by. The kwami took the string, giggling. "It's trying to pull me up!"

"Little guy," Alya said, a little unnerved as she placed the coins on the vendor's cart. "Let's go home."

"But why?" the kwami asked, pulling the string up and down, testing his new balloon. "We've only been here a few minutes!"

"I know. I just have a bad feeling." That car was going to circle around again. She could tell by the path it was taking. She intended to be gone by the time it had. "Besides, you wanted to watch me play video games again, right?"

"Video games!" Excited, he flew forward, phasing through the ice cream cart to take the most direct route home. The balloon did not phase along with him, and Alya reached out quickly, snatching the string up before it could float away.

"Slow down!" she called, chasing after him.

.:|:.

One Miraculous Ladybug and a quick run across town later, Marinette and Nino stormed into the massage parlor, seconds after detransforming. Their kwamis trailed behind them, slightly worn out from the fight.

Master Fu, who had been cleaning up after an appointment, poked his head out into the main lobby. "Hello, you two. I didn't know you were coming. Is something the matter?"

"The butterfly miraculous," Marinette said, slightly breathless. "Do you still have it?"

"Why, yes, but-"

"Can we see it?" Nino asked. "Please."

Confused, Fu waved for them to follow him back past the shop rooms, toward his living quarters at the very rear of the building. He cautiously closed the door behind them, then activated the trap door in the gramophone sitting on a low table, getting to the black box underneath. Carefully, he undid the locks and, finally, opened it to reveal the colored compartments inside. Five of the seven compartments were empty, their miraculouses already claimed. Resting inside the other two were the bee comb miraculous and the butterfly brooch miraculous, their kwamis somewhere inside the jewels in deep hibernation.

Marinette picked up the butterfly brooch, examining it. "Are we sure this is the real one? It hasn't been replaced like Volpina's was, or anything?"

"That happened when I was very young and inexperienced," Fu said, unoffended. He moved toward the refrigerator, noting the tired condition of the two kwamis. "Believe me, this is still our butterfly."

"Can we wake him up?" Nino asked. "Just to be sure."

Fu glanced at Wayzz. "What is going on?"

"They ran into an old enemy of ours," Wayzz said, frowning. "One that should have been long-ago defeated. I doubt this is the case, but they're checking to make sure it wasn't an akuma."

Tikki leaned forward, grabbing on to the edge of the brooch. It began to glow softly under her hands. "Noo-" She caught herself. "Butterfly kwami," she said sweetly instead. "Wakey wakey."

The purple stone at the butterfly's center slowly lit up. After a moment, purple light bloomed out from it in a small circle. The butterfly kwami unfolded from it, solidifying, stretching his wings out with a sleepy yawn. "Good morning, Tikki," he said, rubbing at his eyes. "Wayzz. Marinette, Nino, Fu. Have you been well?"

"Yes, very well. Thank you," Marinette said. She cupped her hands around him, looking him all over. "So-"

"How long have I been dormant?" he asked, shaking himself awake. "Do you have a new partner for me or something?"

"No, no, not yet," Marinette said. "And I think the last time you were awake was… Two months ago?" A glance at Fu, who nodded. "Two months ago."

"Two months." The kwami suppressed another yawn. "You were right, Wayzz. That's probably the most comfortable nap I could-"

"Were you really asleep?" Nino asked, moving closer. "This is very important. Has anyone woken you up, or used you for anything at all, since the last time?"

"Well… No," the butterfly kwami said, looking up at them. "How could they? Nothing happened while I was asleep, did it?"

"Not that we know of," Tikki said, gratefully accepting the small pile of grapes Master Fu laid down on the table for her. She picked one up, letting herself sink to the polished wood with a sigh. "I'm not sensing any dark energy in him, Marinette. I don't think it was him."

"What was it, then?" Marinette asked. "That wasn't just some girl running around in a costume. She had full superpowers! Who was she?"

Tikki nibbled on the grape, thinking. "She said she knew us from Thermopylae. But I don't think I was at Thermopylae at the time."

"No, she was confused" Wayzz said, flying over to join them, dragging a heavy orange with him. He took a seat on a book, holding in a yawn. "Scarab was at Thermopylae. You were waiting back with the others in Athens, Tikki. Probably the smarter decision, in hindsight."

"Wait," Nino said. "So she did actually know us, then? Or you guys, at least? She was talking to the kwamis all along, and ignoring Marinette and I, wasn't she?"

"Mm-hmm." Wayzz swallowed his bite of orange, eating it peel and all. "There was a saber-toothed tiger kwami involved in that fight. I think. My memory gets a little fuzzy, going back that far. But if she's the same one, she should have been one of the ones that was captured and destroyed afterwards. I remember Jackal was very adamant about the issue-"

"Kwamis," Nino said. "There are more kwamis on earth. Not just you seven?"

Wayzz gave him a baffled look. "Of course. Hundreds. Or there used to be, anyways."

"Then where have they been all this time?" Nino asked. "How one earth were all of you a secret for so long, without anyone finding out?"

"It's a long story," Tikki said, working through her second grape. "Literally. Thousands of years. But the short version is that we weren't, for a long time. It's just that people these days read stories about strong ancestors with powers fighting monsters, and they just immediately decide it's a myth."

Wayzz nodded. "It doesn't help that for a long time now, the mass majority of kwamis have been locked away. There was a big war. Like Tikki said, it would take weeks to tell you all of it. But nowadays, the number of active kwamis working around the entire earth is…" A shrug. "We've estimated maybe a dozen or so. It's better that way. That's all the world really needs, anymore."

Tikki opened her mouth, about to disagree, then thought better of it and took a bite of grape instead.

The butterfly kwami was eyeing the fruit jealously. Marinette lowered him to the table, close to the apple Master Fu had laid out for him. "So," she asked, "this Sabertooth. That was a kwami at work? But the waitress was so confused, when she woke up. I doubt she made any kind of contract- she didn't seem to be in control of her actions at all."

Tikki and Wayzz glanced at each other. "Marinette," Tikki said slowly, lowering her grape. "The way I and the others do things… It's a little different. Most kwamis aren't quite so nice to their hosts. And some of them, like the sabertooth kwami… Some of them are really, really mean. That waitress doesn't remember because she probably didn't have any choice. The miraculous was probably forced onto her arm, and then Sabertooth took her over."

Kwamis could do that? Marinette shook her head, going over the new possibilities. If that was the case, the others that were somewhere else in the world, dozens of them… "So when the bracelet- the miraculous- disappeared at the end…?"

Wayzz exhaled. "...We haven't figured that out, either. It shouldn't have been able to do that. Your guess is as good as ours. But Sabertooth is still out there somewhere, and she's apparently willing to possess people without their consent. You're protected by your miraculouses, but for everyone else in Paris… She could strike again at any time, until we stop her and find a way to contain her."

"Okay," Nino said, reaching into his pocket. "I'm calling the others, then. Before we go in any further figuring out how to deal with this, we should get everyone together."

Marinette nodded. "Is Adrien in his room?" she asked, setting her bag down on the ground.

"No," Fu said, with a small frown. "I was beginning to wonder about that, actually. His note said that he would only be gone over the weekend. Yet it is Monday night, and he still hasn't returned."

"Really?" Instant worry. She pulled out her own phone, checking. No calls, no texts, nothing. "I'll try to get a hold of him. Nino, you get Alya and Lila."

Nino nodded, already in the process of getting it done.

.:|:.

The timer went off, pinging in the quiet air of the library. Chloe groaned, face in her hands. "Finally," she said. "My brain can't handle much more of this."

"You did very well today," Miss Bustier said gently from the other side of the table. "You both did. Just keep taking it one line at a time, and we'll be through this poetry unit in no time."

Sabrina smiled encouragingly at Chloe as she stood up, beginning to pack their books and papers into both of their respective bags. "If anyone can do it, it's you, Chloe."

"It had better be," Chloe said, pushing away a book whose lines of letters had long since become a blurred-together mess in her vision. "I am not sacrificing salon time and putting bags under my eyes just to get grounded anyways."

Miss Bustier was flipping through papers, preparing for the next tutoring session in a very long night ahead of back-to-back appointments. Alix and Mylene were already waiting on the other side of the library to start theirs in five minutes. But she paused, hesitating with a glance at her calendar. "Chloe. You don't have any further study sessions tonight, correct?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, with a loud yawn. "That's right." In five minutes, she would be in the back of her private limousine, not having to think about anything hard at all. One stop to get her nails done, a couple of stops to make an appearance at press events for Daddy, then straight home, to sink deep into her very soft, comfortable bed for the rest of the night.

"Good." Miss Bustier pulled free a sheath of papers from her large stack, sliding them across the table toward her. "Adrien wasn't in class today, nor was he in his tutoring session earlier. He wasn't called in and excused, so I'm going to guess it was another superhero thing, but…" She sighed, looking tired. "I've made him an outline of some notes, and a copy of the homework. Will you bring it to him?"

"Me?" Chloe asked. "Why me?"

"All of your classmates have been taking turns, dropping off homework to students who miss class," Miss Bustier replied. "It's a little inefficient, but it gets the job done. It's just your turn, now."

Chloe bit her lip, considering the papers. It wouldn't be hard for her at all. The Agreste mansion was quite close to her own hotel, barely out of the way. And yet, it was so awkward, seeing Adrien now, remembering how she had chased after him for years, not even knowing that he was a superhero, that he was the one jumping between roofs above while below the buildings were going up in flames and-

"I'll drop it off to him!" Sabrina said cheerfully, suddenly picking up the sheath of papers. Even though, for her, Adrien's house was completely in the opposite direction from her own. "I don't mind! It's a lovely night for a walk."

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked, coming out of her slight daze a little. "Ride with me, at least. I can have the driver drop you off and pick you up while I'm in the salon."

"No, no, that's okay," Sabrina said, dropping the papers into her own bag. "Really. The diet I'm on lately wants me to exercise more anyways."

"Okay," Chloe said, smiling briefly at her, not quite ready to express full gratitude. But… "By the way, make sure that you're not busy this weekend. Daddy and I are flying out to Marseilles, and I need someone to help me apply sunscreen when we go to the beaches."

"I will," Sabrina said gratefully. "Thank you, Chloe. That will be really nice!" She waved goodbye, headed towards the door. If she was going to walk all the way to Adrien's house, and still get back in time for math tutoring with Mme. Mendeleiev, she was going to have to run!

.:|:.

Lila flipped the pages in her textbook, not really reading the words. A waiter stepped up to her table, laying down a fresh cup of tea. "Thank you," she said, without looking up. She waited for him to step away from her table before slowly adding lemon juice. No sugar or cream. She couldn't stand sweet things.

Well, it was becoming obvious now. This was the fourth cafe she had stopped at. At each one, a few moments after sitting down, she would notice it. A man in a business suit- a different one, every time- would also take a seat at a table not far away, in viewing distance of hers. And would stay for as long as she did, even as the hour got later and later. They never looked at her, and she knew she wasn't doing anything spectacularly interesting, reading over her homework. But they were definitely following her, no matter how many cafes she went to.

She was irritated, but she kept the expression off her face. Instead, casually, she took a sip of her tea, then excused herself to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Lila returned to her table, picked up her book, and resumed reading. Volpina, on the other hand, escaped out of the bathroom window, ducking into a back alley. She wasn't sure how long they would fall for the illusion she had left behind. She didn't care. She ran for it, glancing over her shoulder, every muscle braced with nervous tension.

.:|:.

"You are being utterly impossible and paranoid right now."

Gabriel Agreste watched Nathalie flip through his latest sketches, choosing his words. "It's not so impossible," he said slowly. "I would dare say it's even become commonplace in Paris, in recent months, for people to become possessed."

"And whose fault is that, M. Agreste?"

He didn't flinch. That was fair. "You can't deny his behavior was very out of character. You're too intelligent to fall for that, Nathalie, I know you are."

"How droll," she said, holding a sketch of a unique-looking flared skirt up to the light. "Now that you're powerless, and I'm the only one that you think can help you, suddenly you acknowledge that I'm good at anything."

"I acknowledged it before," he protested. "I was harsh with you, perhaps. But I would not have kept you on for so long if you weren't very capable."

"Well, now I don't work for you," Nathalie said, glancing at him. "I work for Adrien. And yes, I admit, he was a little strange at first. But it's jet lag. Lots of people get it. He's recovering now- a little sleep last night, and today he's scarcely any different."

"But a little different," Gabriel said, seizing on that. "Even still."

Nathalie rolled her eyes. "Not enough to throw around baseless accusations of- of what, demon possession? Or do you still have butterflies hidden away somewhere that we don't know about?"

The intercom beeped from a wall console in Gabriel's study. Nathalie reached over, pressing the button. "Yes?"

"Ma'am, there's a girl here at the front," the security guard's voice replied. "A Sabrina… Ahh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch the last name. She says she has something for Adrien?"

"She's one of his classmates," Nathalie replied. "Go ahead and let her up. I'm too busy to escort her right now, but he's probably in his room."

"Yes ma'am." The intercom clicked off.

Gabriel looked at Nathalie, pleading. "I know my son. Something has happened. I'm sure of it. I'm begging you to help me."

"What has happened is that he is growing up, and you don't know him as well as you think you do," Nathalie said. "You are already being offered a great deal of leniency in this situation, M. Agreste. I'll thank you not to make life difficult for us by invoking the supernatural every time one of us sneezes. I'll permit you to stay here, if that's what the lawyers want. But make no mistake, you are not the master of this house anymore, and you will not be allowed to interfere with our lives at every opportunity in some selfish attempt to keep yourself relevant. Adrien deserves better than that from you."

She slid the stack of drawings back at him. "And these need more work. A-line collars are out of style this season. Adapt to the new trends, or we will go elsewhere."

He took the drawings back, watching her leave with supreme frustration.

.:|:.

Sabrina picked her way up the marble staircase, mentally following the directions the guard had given her. This landing, and three doors down… She paused in front of his door, digging in her bag for the stack of papers.

"Hold on, hold on, I think I've got it."

A female voice? And too high-pitched to be Marinette's. Well. This was interesting. Curious, she reached down and slowly turned the door handle, cracking the door open just the tiniest bit.

Adrien sat with his back to her in the room beyond, staring at a three-sceen computer setup. On the middle, largest screen, a video began to play. A fashion reporter in a shiny golden dress excitedly talked for a moment, before turning and holding out the microphone to Adrien Agreste. The boy, almost bashfully, began to answer her questions about the outfit he was wearing, drawing the focus away from himself and onto the designer, seamstresses, make-up artists, and everyone else involved. Every movement was self-minimizing and focused on the people around him.

"I think I get it," Adrien said from the chair below, watching his own interview. "At the very least, I'm getting a much better sense for his mannerisms and speech patterns now. He's very far from my initial guess- spoiled rich boys from important families aren't usually like this at all."

"Unless they've been sheltered. Or, I don't know, maybe traumatized somehow," the high-pitched female voice said.

"Perhaps," Adrien said, eyes on the screen. "It's all predictable enough, either way. The one thing that's getting me is… Play the other one again. The one where they're interviewing him while he's wearing that mask, and he suddenly turns all smart-mouthed."

The browser suddenly closed. Adrien looked down. "Why did you do that? I wanted to watch that video!"

"I'm trying!" A yellow shape zipped up, with a long striped tail and two small white puffballs, one on either side of her head. "I'm getting the hang of this device, but it was designed for human fingers! These are what I have to work with!" She waved her two stubby hands at him, frustrated.

"Another kwami," Sabrina whispered, stepping away from the door in shock. And something was wrong with Adrien. She didn't understand what was going on, but she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She turned-

A wall of thorny vines had grown up silently behind her while she had been focused on Adrien, blocking off all escape. They filled the hall, thick and dark, the thorns easily twelve or fifteen centimeters long each. In front of her, a very smug-looking gray kwami hovered, feathery wing shapes extending from his back, thick black rimming menacing eyes. "Boo," he said.

Sabrina screamed.

Adrien yanked the door open, stepping through and grabbing her, pressing a bandaged hand over her mouth. She struggled, fighting him. He wasn't transformed, and yet somehow he was still so unnaturally strong, able to hold her tightly with barely any effort. "Good work, Shrike," he said to the gray kwami. "Who is she?"

"I'm not certain," the gray kwami- Shrike- said. "But your host is a student, and she seems to be as well. Perhaps they are colleagues."

"Ah, yes, the school," Adrien said, grip tightening around Sabrina slightly. "I'll have to avoid forgetting about that as well. So much to remember! This Adrien really was a busy kid."

"What do we do with her?" Shrike asked, angry. "She saw us. We can't just let her go!"

"Hmm." Adrien looked down at the girl, watching her thrash and cry, and utter muffled pleas into his hand. "Well. Marmoset was just saying she needed a better body to figure out the computer. Right?"

Behind him, the yellow kwami grinned. She bent down, picking up a bracelet, strung with beads carved from some sort of dark wood. She flew toward them, carrying it.

Terrified, Sabrina tried to pull away as Adrien grabbed her wrist, lifting it. Useless, all of it was useless. He was too strong, and she couldn't stop him. The bracelet was pushed onto her arm, there was a brief sensation of falling…

And then everything was black.