The next day, after Kiku's attack, the Miraculous Team, both former or current all waited at the school entrance, hoping Marinette and Adrien would arrive.
"Are you sure that they will come, babe?" Nino asked Alya.
"When I saw Marinette come over to my house this morning, she seemed a lot happier. She even mention that Adrien came over to her house yesterday during the whole Kiku attack." Alya said with a small smile. "I guess with no hero responsibility as Ladybug, she must've found the courage to at least be in the same room him,"
"Well that's positive," Sam said with a smile, "Now it's all a matter of if Marinette can as least share a meal and hold Adrien's hand."
"From what I heard from my bro, Adrien seems to be in a good mood today too." Nino said while having gotten a call from Adrien, and from what he saw, his expression was much happier than yesterday.
"But we shouldn't let this get our hopes, Marinette still has a few 'issues' to iron out," Molly said, giving a subtle glance at Kim, "And we can't forget, the really tricky part of our plan,"
"Monarch." They all said with a serious look.
"Everyone just do as we planned and watch what you say. Knowing Monarch, he could watching and we wouldn't even know it." Daniel instructed, keeping his guard up.
"And just to be on the safe side, incase he escape to an area," Molly said while turning to Jacob. "Jacob, maybe when you're alone, you think you can make sure we know the precise time and location Monarch would go once he has Tikki and Plagg's Miraculous?" She asked.
Jacob gave a thumbs-up as they all saw Adrien's car arrive and then Marinette came running up the street, "Well, this is it, be cool, cool." He said as they all act natural before their friends came up to them.
"Hey, guys. What's up?" Marinette asked with a smile.
"Oh, you know, we're planning on having a Resistance meeting once you two show up." Nino explain causally.
"Is this another one of those force akumatization again?" Adrien asked, hoping it is not it.
"Oh, no. It's not that." Daniel spoke while walking up with a smile and wrapped his arms around the two. "We have a plan to help avoid that, me and Nino did some discussing and we found an idea that just might work, if you two lovebirds are game?" He said with a teasing grin.
Both Adrien and Marinette then blushed with a sheepish smile before they gave a nod. "Well, we are part of the resistance, so we're game." Adrien said.
"And can you not, well, tease with the whole love thing please?" Marinette asked embarrassedly.
Daniel gave a chuckle as he patted her shoulder, "Say no more, say no more. You two need more time, we get it," he said understandingly as they all walked up to the others. "Now let's go. We have a meeting before lunch time, we'll meet at the basement HQ before then." He instructed as the two nodded and enter the school.
Daniel gave a small smile before turning to the others with a serious look. "Okay, incase Monarch is watching, no one talks about each other about having, a thing, and we pretend we don't know who's behind the you-know-what. For this to work, we gotta keep low." He instructed.
The others all nodded as Tikki and Plagg appeared in the bags. "You two sure you want to do this. I mean, what if we don't get there in time?" Kara asked quietly to the two Kwamis.
"Not to worry, if things go south, I have an idea to buy you some more time," Plagg whispered while Tikki gave a worried expression.
"And what plan is that, Plagg?" Tikki asked.
"If I tell you, you wouldn't like it, just trust me Tikki." Plagg said to her, which didn't assure Tikki but she nodded.
"Well, let's get going. We don't wanna miss class. Just remember what we talk about. And if this works, not only will Marinette and Adrien will finally be together, but maybe we can stop Monarch and get the rest of the Miraculous back in one swoop." Daniel said as they all nodded and they continued their way to the Resistance HQ.
A little bit later, before lunch, the team all gathered in the same room while Nino and Daniel spoke up since they're the leaders.
"We never knew who Ladybug and Cat Noir were and we never will." Nino started, covering that up in case Monarch was nearby. "Today we pay tribute to them."
"The Miraculous having been pass on to new holders doesn't changes anything, for our support in their mission to get the other Miraculous back remains the same. And our support isn't a matter of people, but one principle, and that principle is called freedom." Daniel continued as they all listen to their friends.
"Speaking of which, Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel is about to change the Ladyblog into the Scarablog and do a story on the new superheroes to show their support." Nino stated while gesturing to Alya as he turned off the music.
"I wonder what happened to Ladybug." Adrien said in thought.
"I hope Cat Noir is okay." Marinette said in the same expression, which made Adrien gasped a bit as she turned to her and held her hand.
"I'm sure he is." Adrien assured with a smile, before Marinette shouted and flinch before she blushed and gave an embarrassing giggle.
Their friends smiled secretly to each other, knowing that they were talking about themselves before Daniel continued. "Continuing on, thanks to Max and Markov, we finally set up the anti-Akumatization system to prevent or held off any akumatized villains." He said while he gestured to the two while Kim nudged Max.
"Marokov installed an app on your Alliances or smartphones." Nino said as he held up his phone to show an alarm. "You can activate it if you see someone being akumatized at school."
"If you press here, a signal is sent to this box," Daniel continued while gesturing to the box on the map of Paris. "Which will broadcasts the warning music, written by Kitty Section, throughout the school." He added while they all look at Ivan, Rose and Juleka. "Test is out, Nino." He instructed.
Nino nodded as he press the button, which made a really loud rock music as the group all cheered on for their success before Nino continued while showing some drawings. "Then Kim, Marc, Jacob, Mylene, Molly, and Ivan will take care of evacuating the school, while Rose, Juleka, Zoe, Kara and Max try to stop the Monarch's victim from being akumatized. Lastly, the rest of us will gear up with paintballs so we're ready incase there's no way to stop the akumatization." He explained.
"Why paintballs?" Sam asked with a brow.
"It's the only weapon we can make at school alright?" Daniel said with a look before shaking his head, "Anyway, that should buy the heroes enough time to show up and take care of the rest while we hold off the victim. And since Ladybug and Cat Noir are out of the picture, we need to help the heroes as best we can."
The bell then rang above them, "There's the bell, it's lunch time!" Molly declared.
"For every minute we're late to the cafeteria, we have a 30% chance of getting fries." Max noted as they all headed for exit.
Daniel hanged back a bit, glancing around, 'Come on Monarch, come on and get it.' He thought, having a feeling Monarch was watching the whole time as he exited the basement.
Just then, Daniel thought right as Monarch appeared, being invisible the whole time and having heard the whole meeting and disconnected the box. "All I have to do now is wait for a negative emotion. This shouldn't take long in a school. Multitude!" He exclaimed, turning into five small copies of himself and ran out while turning invisible again, thinking he's on to them, not realizing he had fallen into their plan.
At the cafeteria, everyone sat down while acting as normal as they could get while also keeping their guard up, not knowing that Monarch and his clones were watching them, more specifically Alya and Zoe, but he wasn't aware that they planned this.
"He's close, you sense it right?" Daniel whispered to his friends.
The others nodded while their Kwamis peeked out. "Your plan seems to be working, young Daniel." Huanglong whispered.
"Don't count your chickens yet," Sam whispered, not making eye contact, "We still need him to make the first move."
"But how exactly? Because from this point, there's hardly any negativity right now." Baihu pointed out.
"Which is why I ask for some help to get Monarch his 'diversion'." Daniel said as Chloe came by and leaned towards Daniel.
"Is he nearby?" Chloe whispered.
"I think so," Daniel said subtly, "You know what to do."
"Well, people still think I'm still the old me, so I doubt Monarch would know." Chloe whispered as she sighed. "I just hope those two will understand."
Daniel shot a smile, "Don't worry, they already know, you just have to do it just once, and then, we never do this again." He whispered assuringly. "It's the only way to draw him out so the team can get him by surprise, and we don't know any other who's better for the job than you."
Chloe smiled and nodded as she sat with Sabrina and Lila, acting like how she used to be while the others turned to Daniel.
"Using Chloe to trick Monarch into akumatizing her. Pretty sneaky, Dan." Jacob said with a smirk.
"Well, she volunteer when I told her about our plan to get Adrien and Marinette closer together and bring Ladybug and Cat Noir back," Daniel explained tilting his head, "I guess you could call it a redemption of sorts."
"Let's hope this works, because here come our stars," Molly said as Marinette and Adrien walked in and sat with each other on a fancy table with a rose, a fruit bowl and a water pouring.
"Oh, looks like Adrien set up a special table for his girl." Jacob said with a smirk. "Subtle."
"I guess he's finally going to bring in the fancy for his lady." Kara said with a smirk.
Molly shushed them as Adrien pulled a seat up for Marinette. "Thanks, Adrien." Marinette said as the entire cafeteria all look at the two in the center of the room while their friends smiled at them.
Marinette gave a blush as she look at her friends quietly cheered for them , she even thought there was a subtle smile on Chloe's face.
She looked to the Zodiac Team as Molly and Kara smiled brightly, Sam winked, Jacob gave a thumbs-up and Daniel gave a 'Go-On' wave of his hand.
"Did you see today's lunch salad is heart of palm?" Adrien asked with a smile.
"Yes, palms. They remind me of the beach." Marinette said as she pick on her food.
"What about the hearts? Do they remind you of something?" Adrien asked.
Marinette look up at him with a smile. "Of course they do. They remind me of the heart of the beach." She said nervously, which made the others balk and facepalm, but then they hear both of her and Adrien chuckling as they are smiling.
"Okay, humor can help with romance," Jacob said as he and Molly gave secret smiles and hold each others hands under the table.
Lila sat next to Chloe. "You're very generous to let Marinette get so close to Adrien." She said.
Chloe said nothing before she looked to Daniel as he winked, giving her the signal, which she made a small nod and put on her 'usual' face. "'Generous'? What does that mean?" She questioned, acting like her rude self as she look at her Alliance ring. "Alliance, define 'generous'." She commanded.
"I'm having trouble understanding your question." The ring answered as Chloe shook her hand.
"Ugh. That thing never works. Sabrina!" Chloe said, which Sabrina turned to Chloe as she gave a wink to her, and Sabrina winked back and took out her Alliance ring.
"Alliance, please define 'generous'." Sabrina asked her Alliance ring as it answered.
"Giving freely and lavishly." Sabrina's ring answered.
"Lavishly? Freely? Ew! There is no way I'm being generous." Chloe denied, acting along so Lila and Monarch wouldn't suspect a thing. "I'm going to destroy Dupain-Cheng." She swore, which Lila smiled at her.
Adrien offered his hand but everytime Marinette tried to hold it she trembled and reeled back to try again.
"You okay, Marinete? If you're not ready, you don't have to." Adrien said with a smile.
"No! I can do this." Marinette said determinedly as she tried to force her hand to Adrien's.
"Well, at least she's trying," Kara said.
"Even when she's this close, she's still uncertain about it." Sam commented.
"You know, we can just be friends, if you prefer." Adrien suggested.
"No! I don't wanna be friends with you." Marinette called out, which made Adrien gasped a bit.
"I see." Adrien said a bit hurt.
"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Marinette quickly said in regret before looking at her hand. "My hand will obey me!" She exclaimed.
Marinette then forced her hand forward so much she fell right out of her chair.
"Ooh, so close." Daniel said with a cringe.
Then Chloe came up to Marinette. "So, finally back where you belong, baker girl?" She mocked, acting so Monarch would fall for it.
Zoe got what her sister was doing as she stood up while putting on a serious look. But stopped when she saw Chloe crossing her fingers.
"Crawling at my feet, of course." Chloe taunted, not wanting to be mean to Marinette anymore, but if Daniel's plan was going to work she had choke down this pill.
Adrien then stood up. "Chloe, go back to your seat, please." He insisted as he reached his hand out to Marinette.
Marinette smiled as she accepted his hand and he helped her up and Adrien brought up her seat.
"Don't be so nice to the baker girl, Adrikins." Chloe said as Marinette sat back to her seat. "You're giving her false hope, because you know what? No, you'll never guess. It's so ridiculous." She said as she gave a fake amusing chuckle. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng is in love you." She finished as she gave a cackle.
Adrien gave a glare. "You can't reveal someone's secret to everyone, Chloe." He firmly said as he sat back into his seat. "It's really mean."
Chloe knows she deserved that, but she have to press on. "A baker girl who thinks she's good enough to be with a rich and famous model. What a joke. It's funny, right?" She asked the students in the lunch room, which they all stood in silence. "Right?" She asked again but again, silence. "Sabrina?"
"Oh, yes. Very funny, Chloe." Sabrina said with a smile.
"That's enough, Chloe." Mylene told her, playing along.
"Leave 'em alone, Chloe." Alya added with her arms crossed.
"Seriously, this is their first date can't you just this once, let them have it?" Sam asked.
"You're not laughing because she's missing something." Chloe said with a fake smile as she picked up Marinette's humble pie on her tray. "A piece of humble pie. Get it? 'Cause she's a baker girl." She said as she ready to throw the pie at Marinette, but she hesitated to do it, since she wanted to make the difference.
However, to her relief, her arm was caught as her sister, Zoe came in. "Should I call Mom and have you sent back to the hole you should never have crawled out of?" Chloe questioned as Zoe place Marinette's pie back into her tray and drag Chloe back to her table.
"Maybe I'll go back to New York, maybe not." Zoe said firmly, already knowing that her sister is just acting for the plan so she played along with her. "But what's for sure is you're going back to your seat and leaving Marinette alone!" She scolded as she place Chloe back to her seat.
Chloe gave a fake scoff. "You're worse than her." She said before all the students in the cafeteria cheered for Zoe. "And you all. You're even worse than they are. I'll crush you all!" She yelled and slam her fist on the table.
Zoe gave her sister a smile and them saw Marinette giving Zoe a grateful smile as she returned it.
Chloe knew that this is one of the moments where Monarch will akumatized so she focused her rage as her face turned red.
Daniel looked up and saw a black and purple butterfly fluttering in, "Show time." He muttered.
"Chloe's about to get akumatized!" Sabrina yelled out.
Chloe stood up, hating to do this, but it was for a greater cause as the Akuma went into her goggles as she stood on the table.
"What do we do?" Mylene acted, seeing that the plan was in motion.
"The Resistance has only one enemy: Monarch." Nino said as he tap on the app, but it's not setting off the alarm. "It's not working!"
"Doesn't matter! You all know what do to!" Daniel said as they all scattered while evacuating the other students before Chloe transformed into Sole Crusher before she turned Max and Mylene into golden talking shoes.
"Chloe, you're so pretty I'm just a shoe, what a pity. Sole Destroyer is your name. Crushing us is your vile game." The two shoes sang.
Daniel ducked into an abandoned class room as Haunglong came out, "Turning people into singing shoes? Surely Monarch can do better than that." Haunglong said.
"Maybe, but the sooner we get to the Arènes de Lutèce, and catch Monarch, the sooner Chloe will be deakumatized." Daniel said.
"You seem to be quite concerned with Ms. Bourgeois, Young Master." Haunglong noted, "Concern I detect is more than that of a friend's."
Daniel went wide eyes before giving his Kwami a look. "What are you, an emotion detector?" He asked sarcastically. "You know that Chloe wanted to change for the better, and her willingly getting akumatized to help is enough for me to be concerned."
"Whatever you say Young Master," Haunglong said coyly, "For now, let's see if your plan works."
"Then we better meet up with the others at the Arènes de Lutèce Monarch will show." Daniel said while giving a determined expression. "Haunglong, Heavens Ascend!" He exclaimed as he transform into Dragold and went out the classroom and out of the school where the other Zodiac team followed, already transformed.
"Everybody ready?" Dragold asked his friends.
"We're ready, but shouldn't the others come with us? We might have a better chance with more." Caspian pointed out.
"Incase if Chloe lost control, they have to stay behind to keep Sole Crusher occupied and keep Monarch from suspecting anything, they'll meet up with us when they can." Dragold said, looking ahead. "Now hurry, because I don't think Alya and Zoe were able to transform." He stated.
"Right!" The Zodiac Team all exclaimed as they all ran over the rooftops.
At the Arènes de Lutèce, the five Monarchs came out through a portal. "Fall in!" He exclaimed as he turn back into one Monarch and took out the earrings and ring. "I've waited long enough for this moment." He said excitedly as Plagg and Tikki appeared, paralyze. "My wish is within my grasp!" He exclaimed.
Monarch then snapped his fingers to bring Tikki and Plagg out of their paralyze state as they saw that they were with Monarch. "Cataclysm!" Plagg exclaimed as he aimed at Monarch's face, but it was canceled out the moment he touch his smug look.
"He's using Resistance!" Tikki realized.
Plagg panicked, and knew they needed to buy time, "Quick, fly away!" He called out as he and Tikki took off as fast as they could.
Monarch just kept smirking. "Nooroo, Tikki, Plagg, unify!" He exclaimed.
With Tikki and Plagg, they then felt themselves being pulled to their jewels, having a feeling that Monarch said the unification words as they tried to resist, "We need to buy the others more time!" Tikki exclaimed as they tried to pull away from the force.
"I'll take care of Monarch to buy more time!" Plagg called out.
"But there's nothing you can do against him-" Tikki tried to say.
"Not against him!" Plagg stated as they kept fighting their jewels. "But he wasn't wearing our Miraculous when he made himself invulnerable." He explained with a determined look.
Tikki then realized what Plagg was planning, "You can't do that Plagg!" She called out, not wanting Plagg to sacrifice himself.
Plagg gave an assuring smile. "We all knew the risk to get our holders together and happy. And for Monarch to not make his wish, I have to take it," He said.
"But if you do that, you won't be able to connect with the mortal world! I can't lose you, Plagg!" Tikki pleaded with a sad look.
"Don't worry, Sugarcube. We'll see each other again." Plagg assured her with a smile. "You know that you and I are one." He said while Tikki still gave a sad look before she slowly nodded in understanding. "Do your lucky charm for Ladybug. And fast."
Tikki knew that without a holder, their powers are dangerous, but it's a risk they'll have to take. "Lucky charm!" She exclaimed, using her powers to create a trashcan and created multiple Eiffel Towers and other buildings all over Paris.
Where the Zodiac Team are, they saw identical buildings as they are closer to Monarch. "What the heck!?" Hydrake exclaimed in shock.
"Tikki and Plagg are trying to buy us time! Step on it!" Dragold said as he turned to Caspian, "Don't wait for us, Caspian, go!"
Caspian nodded, "Tiger Dasher!" He called as he zoomed towards the Arènes de Lutèce while the others followed behind.
With Tikki and Plagg, they were then pulled towards Monarch as they are inch away from their Miraculous as they kept trying to fight it.
Plagg saw Tikki was getting close to her earrings before he manage to push back with a determined look. 'This is for you, Adrien!' He thought.
"Cataclysm!" Plagg exclaimed, bringing out his powers and charge at his ring, which caused a dark energy explosion that spread all over Paris.
"Whoa!" Caspian yelled as the black wave blasted him right off his feet as flipped back and skidded across the ground as he looked up and saw all the buildings that randomly appeared destroyed and rebuilt magically over and over again, "Plagg." He muttered before the others caught up to him.
"What did Plagg do?" Terrapin asked after they were nearly blew back by the Cataclysm explosion.
Dragold's eye widened, "He, used Cataclysm on his own Miraculous." He gasped.
The others all gasped in realization. "He wanted to make sure Monarch doesn't say his wish, so he destroyed the other Miraculous he needed." Hydrake said.
"Does that mean he's…" Phoenix trailed off in worry.
Dragold shook his head, "No, Haunglong told me that when a Kawmi's Miraculous is destroyed, it doesn't destroy them but just cuts their method of interacting with the mortal world." He assured.
"So he's alive, but not in the mortal plane." Hydrake said in relief. "He's one brave Kwami to sacrifice himself to buy us time." He said in an impressive tone.
"Then let's make sure it doesn't go to waste and make sure the plan still works!" Dragold said as they ran to the Arènes de Lutèce, or what's left of it.
Monarch was at the center of a crater that was once the Arènes de Lutèce as he got his bearings before he notice that the Cat Miraculous covered in green cracks before turning to dust, which made him gasped in shock.
Tikki got her bearings when she saw what was happening, and knowing what caused it as she gave a concern look. 'I hope this works, Plagg.' She thought to herself before she tried to fly away from Monarch, but then she was stopped as Monarch stood up.
"You stay here!" Monarch ordered before someone jumped on his back, "What?!"
"Finders Keeper!" Dragold called as he tore the earrings right off Monarch's ears before he grabbed Tikki and jumped back to his team. "You alright, Tikki?" He asked the Kwami in concern.
"I'm fine. B-But Plagg…" Tikki paused, looking sad.
Dragold rubbed her head, "He's still alive, you know that. And once things are fixed, he'll return to us." He said to her while Tikki gave a small smile.
"That was crazy to use your powers without a holder, though." Phoenix stated in surprise while gesturing to the chaos Paris was in with many buildings and their identicals appearing or disappearing randomly.
"Zodiac Team! What is the meaning of this?!" Monarch demanded. "And where's Plagg!?"
The Zodiac Team all turned and glare down at Monarch. "You idiot, we didn't do this, you forced the Kawmis to use their powers without holders, and this is the consequence of that." Caspian told the villain, gesturing the to the Destruction and Creation everywhere.
"And as for Plagg, he's been disconnected from our world without a Miraculous." Phoenix added with a mean glare. "If we have to guess, he used Cataclysm on his own ring, right?"
"Yes. But I need both Miraculous to make my wish!" Monarch yelled out. "How do I bring the ring and the Kwami to me?!" He demanded.
"The only thing that can undo the damage is Ladybug throwing the Lucky Charm Tikki created into the air and say the magic words." Dragold answered. "But as you can tell, we don't have the Lucky Charm with us, and you're not getting the earrings back!"
Monarch gave a challenging smirk. "Oh, you think so? Voyage!" He exclaimed, teleporting into a portal and disappearing.
Monarch appeared behind and then Dragold whipped around, "Oh no you don't!" He exclaimed as he blocked Monarch's hand, "Phoenix! Think fast!" He called out, throwing the earrings and Tikki to Phoenix.
"I got her! I got her!" Phoenix called out with her hands out and caught both Tikki and the earrings. "I'll get these to Ladybug!"
"No you don't! Voya-!" Monarch was interrupted as Caspian pounced on him.
"Don't turn your back on a tiger, butterfly!" Caspian growled before he was kicked back by Monarch.
Monarch stood up as he saw Phoenix flying away with the earrings. "No! Voyage!" He called out, opening a portal right in front of Phoenix, which caused her to slammed into Monarch in surprise.
"Drats!" Phoenix exclaimed while keeping a firm hold on the earrings and Tikki.
"Venom!" Monarch exclaimed as he tried to slam his stinger on Phoenix, who manage to dodge it and jumped back.
"I can't go anywhere as long Monarch using teleportation to keep us here!" Phoenix called out. "I'll never get to Ladybug in time!"
"You won't need to!" They all looked up to see Marinette wearing a makeshift Ladybug Costume with a painted biker suit and masked helmet to hide her Identity, "I'm right here!"
"Ladybug!" The Zodiac Team exclaimed in joy.
"Ladybug?!" Monarch questioned in disbelief. "I thought I was done with you!"
"I'm afraid your dreams haven't come true yet, Monarch." Ladybug taunted.
"Ladybug, I got your earrings, but Cat Noir's Miraculous is toast when Plagg used his powers on his ring to keep Monarch from getting his wish!" Phoenix informed.
"And I think you can guess how this happened?" Hydrake, gesturing to the chaos around them.
"I do. And I have just the thing to fix all of this!" Ladybug exclaimed as she brought out the trashcan lucky charm she manage to bring. "Phoenix, toss me my earrings and Tikki! I can't use the lucky charm without them!"
"On it!" Phoenix nodded as she ran to Ladybug and was about to toss it when…
"Venom!" Monarch called out, stabbing Phoenix in the back, paralyzing her and caused her to drop the earrings.
"Phoenix!" Hydrake called out before he charge at Monarch, tackling him away from the earrings. "Keep Monarch away from the earrings! We gotta get them to Ladybug!" He called out as he struggled to keep Monarch down. "And quickly!"
"Leave that to me!" A familiar voice called.
They all turned and saw Adrien at the other end of the crater, while also wearing his Cat Noir suit but his eyes aren't green or cat-like under his mask.
"Cat Noir!" The heroes exclaimed in surprise, while Monarch and Ladybug were also shocked by this.
"Wait, you don't have your Miraculous. How can you?" Ladybug asked, confused as to how Cat Noir was in his suit without his Miraculous.
"Just had to get a little Creative Bugaboo," Cat Noir answered shouldering a makeshift staff, "And I don't need Plagg to be a hero!" He exclaimed as he slid down the crater.
"You don't even have any powers." Monarch said with a smirk while Dragold secretly grabbed the earrings. "What makes you think you can stand against me, Cat Noir?"
"It's not the power that makes the hero, but the hero who makes the power!" Cat Noir quoted as he jumped and clashed with Monarch, "Do your thing Milady! And bring Plagg back!" He yelled as Monarch and him clashed weapons while Cat Noir was pushed back.
Dragold then went up to Ladybug and gave the earrings and Kwami to her. "Transform and fix this, fast!" He said.
"On it!" Ladybug said as she was about to put on her earrings, but then to their surprise, Monarch was behind her and grabbed her wrist. "What?!"
"Do you really think I didn't see this coming!" Monarch questioned while gesturing to the second Monarch Cat Noir, Terrapin and Caspian are fighting. "I use multitude when you all were distracted by Cat Noir!" He exclaimed before Dragold charge at him, but he was punched back and took Ladybug's earrings and knock her into the crater.
"Aagh!" Dragold exclaimed as he and Ladybug fell to the others, which knocked them to their team while Ladybug and Cat Noir hit each other.
The two look at each other. "So, nice crafty costume there, MiLady." Cat Noir commented.
"Well, have to be prepare." Ladybug said.
The others got up as they look at the two Monarchs. "Fall in!" He called out as they form back into one. "Nooroo, Tikki, Unify!" He exclaimed as Tikki fused with Monarch and gain polka dots ladybug color with his eyes a bit red while holding the lucky charm. "Watch me make my dreams come true." He said to them.
"He got the lucky charm!" Dragold exclaimed.
Ladybug didn't seem worried though, "Wait for it," She said.
"Miraculous Monarchbug!" Monarchbug called as he toss the trashcan into the air, but then it just fell back down and open up to reveal a white inside, "What?" Monarchbug gasped in shock.
"Impressive." Ladybug mocked.
"A fake lucky charm. Oh, pretty clever, Ladybug." Caspian complimented.
"Grab him!" Dragold called.
The heroes all charged at him, but then Monarchbug manage to push them back, he hit Terrapin to the face before he kicked her back, Caspian pounced at him, but he manage to duck and caught his leg and toss him back into the crater, Hydrake twirl his weapon and they clashed briefly before Monarchbug grabbed his arms and kicked him in the face.
"Foolish, heroes!" Monarchbug roared as he and Dragold clashed swords and went into a stand still. "You Zodiacs have cost me seven Miraculous and my memories of their holders!" He exclaimed as he raised his fist to use Venom.
Dragold dodged his strikes, "Only because your thirst for power has thrown the Universal Balance out of whack!" Dragold told Monarchbug, "Can't you see your actions are gonna destroy the world?!" He demanded as Monarchbug turned invisible and dodged.
Monarchbug then reappeared behind Dragold, "I'll add your Miraculous to my collection!" Monarch declared as he prepared to use Venom.
Until he was bonked in the head by a green shield, "Not before we send you to the world of hurt, Dude!" Carapace called as he and the other heroes and Resistance arrived.
"Charge!" They all exclaimed as the Resistance have paintballs and Pseudo weapons while Sole Crusher is tied up while being carried by Pigella and Purple Tigress.
Monarchbug turned invisible, but the resistance shot their paintballs and Pseudo weapons at him before he could move, which gave him away and slip onto the floor on his back.
Pigella and Purple Tigress then charged at him with Sole Crusher shoes at Monarch. "Give Ladybug back her Miraculous or we'll turn you into singing shoes!" Pigella warned.
Monarchbug then snapped his fingers, which deakumatize Chloe as she turned back to normal. "Huh? What happened? Did the plan work?" Chloe asked.
Cat Noir then ran at Monarchbug while he's distracted and grabbed the earrings, turning him back into just Monarch as the ladybug color disappeared as the two glare at each other before he turned to Ladybug. "Here you are Milady." He said.
"Thanks kitty." Ladybug responded as she got her earrings back and ran behind a wall. "Tikki, spots on!" She exclaimed, transforming into her real hero form and grabbed her bag with the real Lucky Charm she hid behind the wall. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She exclaimed as she toss it in the air.
Soon all the extra buildings, destroyed buildings and the damage from Sole Crusher was reversed and the damage that occurred in the Arènes de Lutèce was fixed.
Plagg and his Miraculous were restored as while on Monarch's hand, which he smiled gleefully before Ladybug tied his hand with her Yo-yo, allowing Cat Noir to pounce on Monarch and snatch the ring, "I'll take that!" He said before ducking into an ally, "Plagg, Claws Out!" He called, transforming back into his real suit as he and Ladybug stood side by side, "Good to have you back, Ladybug." He said with a smile.
"It's good to have you back too, Kitty." Ladybug said with a smile as well before she then saw Monarch's rings on his hand as she recognize the symbols. "You created your own Miraculous?!" She questioned in shock.
"I'm more powerful than you'll ever be, heroes!" Monarch exclaimed while pulling his hand back. "While they were made from the original Miraculous' energy, my partner assured me, they would be just as effective."
"Partner?" Dragold questioned with a glare. "Who are you talking about?! Who's taught you how to create those rings!?"
"That is for me to know and you to never find out! Multitude!" Monarch exclaimed as he transformed into mini clones of himself. "Voyage!" The Monarchs all exclaimed, opening portals as he escaped.
The heroes and the Resistance all stood there, now realizing how Monarch was able to transfer the miraculous powers to his Akumas and more disturbingly someone else taught him how to do it.
In Monarch's lair, he appeared through the portals. "Fall in!" The Monarchs exclaimed as they turned into one and Monarch stood there, realizing what just happened, "They played me. It was all a trick to make Ladybug and Cat Noir stronger." He growled as he wiped his face from the paint.
"The Zodiacs and the Miraculous heroes are becoming more bold and clever, and they had help." Monarch growled. "They can't win. It's just a matter of time. They won't always have someone to help them. And next time, I won't fall for their trap the third time!"
Back with the heroes and the Resistance, Ladybug and Cat Noir rushed to them after Monarch escaped to see if they're okay. "Everyone okay?" Cat Noir asked them.
"We're good." Dragold assured them with a thumbs-up.
"Thanks, Ladybug and Cat Noir." Kim said with a smile.
Ladybug and Cat Noir smiled at their friends. "No. Thank you," Ladybug said as they turned to see Alya and Zoe running up to them, "And thank you two for filling in for us."
Alya gave a salute, "You can always count on us." She said.
"Pound it!" They all exclaimed with their fists together in a circle.
Marinette sat with the girls at the school, they already knowing she was Ladybug, "I don't get it, how did Monarch figure you were Sacarbella and Zoe was Kitty Noir?" Marinette asked in confusion.
Alya grinned, "Maybe because I had this?" She said, holding up her Alliance ring and Zoe did the same.
"You didn't take off your Alliance rings? Didn't you hear what Dragold said about Monarch tracking them?!" Marinette demanded as the girls all laughed. Marinette was confused before she realized, "You did this on purpose didn't you?" She accused with a look.
"Well, we were planning on drawing Monarch out, but we didn't account for the Kwamis to use their powers, even we were surprise by it." Rose explained with a smile.
Marinette looked at Tikki with her eyes narrowed, "Tikki, did you know about this?" She asked lowly.
"No need to thank us Marinette, it was our pleasure." Tikki said with a sweet smile.
Marinette's eyes widen in anger as she yelled out. "AW MAN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE COMPLETE IDIOTS!" She yelled out loud, which caused the others to flinch.
Molly was shocked by her outburst as she yelled back with a glare of her own. "Listen, baker girl, the only reason we did all that was for your own good!" She yelled loudly.
Marinette got in Molly's face, "Don't you pinheads realize that Monarch was that close to getting his wish?!" She demanded, "What on earth were you thinking?!"
"We were thinking on making you happy, Marinette!" Molly yelled, which made Marinette surprised by that. "You've been in a depression since your heart was broken and you haven't been out of your room for days! All because you thought couldn't have love, so we knew we had to take a risk for you to bounce back!"
Marinette was shock by her words while she look down a bit in thought before Kara spoke. "Marinette, even if we didn't plan this, I bet you were already planning to give up Tikki, weren't you?" She asked, which Marinette flinch a bit before she closed her eyes, confirming her thoughts. "Yeah, thought so. So we came up with a plan to help you figure things out for a while. We did plan this out, but Tikki and Plagg using their powers, we didn't account for."
Tikki flew close to Marinette, "And for you and Cat Noir, we'd do it again Marinette," She said with a smile, "What's important is that you've finally gotten somewhere with Adrien and proved that you don't need the Miraculous to be Ladybug."
"And Cat Noir doesn't need one to be him either." Alya said with a smile. "You two have been heroes even without the Miraculous. You've even done so much for us as both Ladybug and Marinette."
"So we thought we'd return the favor." Juleka added with a small smile.
"That's what friends are for," Mylene said.
"And what partners and teammates are too." Rose added.
"We know that this plan was dangerous, but we promise, we won't do it again." Zoe promised as she held Marinette's arm. "I've wanted to return the favor of you helping me when we first met and trusted the Bee Miraculous to me to help you when Chloe was Queen Banana, Marinette. And helping you get your heart back on the right path was enough for me."
Marinette look at her friends, the Kwamis and her own as she sigh and gave a small smile. "I guess there's no sense in arguing over friends helping one another." She said as she looked at her hands, "I still don't know why I'm so uneasy around Adrien but I at least fill comfortable talking and sharing a meal with him."
"Baby steps girls, baby steps," Alya told her best friend as they all came in for a group hug.
"And this time, we're gonna go through this together. And don't worry about Cat Noir, he understand that you love someone else. The boys might be explaining this to him right now." Molly said with a smile.
"And if he's anything like you were, he's probably accepting it right now,"
"I can't believe you Cataclysmed your own ring!" Adrien exclaimed to Plagg as the Kwami casually ate some Camembert. "Plagg, that was crazy, even for you!" He added.
Plagg just waved him off, "Hey it's not like I died or something. Beside Ladybug fixed everything and your finally getting somewhere with Marinette, so what's the big deal?" He asked like there was no problem.
"Plagg, I get the Miraculous only let Kwamis communicate to the outside world, but it felt like you died to me!" Adrien told him, which made Plagg turn to him, "I know Ladybug fixed everything but, promise you'll never do that again." he asked gently.
Plagg sighs. "Don't worry. I'm not planning on that ever again. I only did it so Monarch wouldn't make his wish. I tried to stop him without doing that, but he used Resistance to be invincible. I had no choice, even Sugarcube was against it." He explained.
Adrien sighed and turned Nino and the other boys, "Gotta say, that was probably the craziest cupid plan I've ever seen." He said to them with a smile.
"Well, you would've done the same thing in the past." Nino said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, true." Adrien said with a smile.
"Though we know the risk, but we didn't account for Tikki and Plagg to use their powers, Adrien." Sam explained. "He did say he had an idea, but we didn't realize it was like that."
"But if it meant you could finally see Marinette face to face, we'd done it a heartbeat." Marc said as the others nodded.
Adrien smiled at his friends, "Thanks guys, now that Marinette feels okay to talk to me, the only thing I have to worry about now is stopping Monarch," He declared before arching a brow, "Wait, was Chloe in on this plan too?"
"We're not gonna lie, yes, yes she was." Jacob said to him. "She was pretending to be mean and nasty to get Monarch to Akumatize her and draw him out."
"She wanted to make up for what she did to Marinette by helping you and her get together, even if it meant she had to be the villain in your love story," Nathaniel added.
Adrien was surprised by this as he gave in thought. "Wow, so she actually helped. I always knew that she had good inside her, but still, wow." He said with a smile. "I should probably thank her, where is she anyway?"
"Back at her mansion, Daniel's checking on her." Sam explained.
"Really?" Adrien asked in surprise.
"It was Daniel who help Chloe opened her eyes and she volunteer to help to turn over a new leaf." Jacob explained. "And like that, he became her friend. Her first real friend for Chloe's case."
Adrien smiled, glad to know that his oldest friend was back on track to being a good person and she already had someone she can call friend.
At Chloe's place, Daniel was walking Chloe home after what happened. "It was pretty brave to get yourself akumatized like that, you know?" Daniel said.
Chloe looked at him in concern, "I hope I didn't cause too much damage." She hoped.
"Eh, don't worry, the only damage you did was turning others into singing shoes." Daniel assured with a chuckle. "Which is a little funny, even for Monarch's standard. I think he's losing his touch." He laughed.
Chloe laughed too, but it wasn't like her typical high and mighty cackle, it was a more happy laugh, her real laugh. "Oh boy, that's really funny. If Monarch is trying to be evil, comedy isn't his forte." She joked.
"But hey, the plan worked and we got Ladybug and Cat Noir back." Daniel said as he nudge Chloe. "That was a pretty good acting back there, nearly have me fooled."
"Hey, I spent my whole life acting like that, it's really a hobby, if my sister could do it, why can't me?" Chloe asked with a shrug.
"Heh, I see your point," Daniel said before he remembered what Socueline told him and his team about Marinette's incident last year and knew he confront Chloe about it, "Chloe, the guys and I were talking to Socueline yesterday and she told us what Kim and you did to Marinette last school year." He said as Chloe froze.
The Bourgeois girl then looked away, "Oh. I suppose you'd find out eventually." She said in a bit shame.
"I take it that it wasn't your proudest moments, right?" Daniel asked softly.
Chloe sighed as she look at the floor. "I was pretty much a bad girl back in the day. Back then, I was mostly targeting Marienette and been threatening the other students and teachers to do my bidding. And then Kim, while being oblivious as he is, was pretty easy to trick."
"Knowing Kim, that is true." Daniel said in agreement.
"When I learned that Marinette had a crush on him, I knew it was the perfect chance for me to ruin her completely," Chloe said, "So I manipulated Kim into pranking Marinette at the right moment and well, you know what happened next?"
"The spider thing that spooked her and fell off the railing and you recorded the whole thing?" Daniel guessed.
"Yes, and again, not my proudest moments now that I think about it." Chloe said in guilt. "It just now hit me that a fall like that could've killed her if she didn't manage to find a way to balance her landing." She added in shame.
"Would you have cared at the time?" Daniel asked, he may have been her friend but even he couldn't sugar coat this.
Chloe hugged herself,"Too be honest, I do a little, but I guess I was too much of a heartless Girl to really care," She said in shame as tears fell. "I should've chosen to be a better girl and just left her alone, I wouldn't be surprised if she never forgave me."
Daniel saw this as he place a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe, but if you know Marinette, she's not one to hold grudges for this long. She might vent it out to you, say a few hurtful words but then she'll the new you and give you a chance."
Chloe sigh with a small smile. "That is true, she is forgiving. Though, I hope she does accept me a second chance after everything I done, and I hope Ladybug sees me as the person she thought I was when I was Queen Bee." She said.
"You never know." Daniel said coyly as they arrived at Chloe's mansion, "Well this is as far as I can go, I better get out of here before your mom calls security and fires them for not getting me off her property fast enough." He joked as Chloe laughed again they were so busy talking they didn't see Zoe coming home and heard their whole interaction.
"Yeah, well, see you later, Daniel." Chloe bowed her head.
Daniel raised his hand, "Just call me Dan, and see you at school tomorrow." He said before walking away.
Chloe smiled fondly as she watched him walk away, she then felt her cheeks heating up, "Wha, why am I blushing?" She asked, not seeing Zoe walking up to her with a cheeky grin.
"Thinking about someone, sis?" Zoe asked teasingly.
"Uh, not really, sis. Uh, let's go inside before mom blows a gasket." Chloe said as she quickly went inside while Zoe gave a chuckle.
"This is the first time I've seen her blush for real." Zoe said to herself while looking at where Daniel walked off to, "Looks like Chloe picked a good first real crush." She said to herself before walking inside after her sister with a smile.
At night, the Miraculous Team all gathered at the rooftop while looking out to Paris at the Eiffel Tower.
"Well, I'm not saying I approve of your plan of putting our Miraculous at risk just to help us, I can't deny it was pretty effective at helping us get our confidence back." Ladybug said to Dragold.
"Trust me Ladybug, I didn't like it either, but hey, it worked." Dragold said while looking out to Paris with a smile. "I know that I shouldn't done that, but I put it to a vote before springing it to action, and the team all agreed. Of course Tikki and Plagg using their powers wasn't a part of it, but hey, everything still worked out in the end,"
"And now we know how Monarch can still use the power of the Miraculous even when we take them back because he made his own." Hydrake said while Phoenix sat next to him.
"We also know that Monarch did it with some outside help, from someone who clearly knows a thing or two about Miraculous," Caspian added, sitting with Terrapin, "Meaning it's not just Monarch we have to watch out for." He added.
"So this just got a lot more challenging because even when we reclaim a Miraculous, Monarch can still use their powers." Terrapin noted.
"Though from what we saw yesterday, the powers his rings give to his Akumas is a lot less than the actual Miraculous." Purple Tigress noted.
"It seems that Monarch can only use a fraction of their power into the Akumas while he can have the full power into himself." Phoenix added.
"Which means it's true what he said, he's even more powerful than we thought." Pigella said in worry.
"Well, he might have all the power, but he doesn't have a team." Cat Noir reminded them.
"Got that right!" Carapace said as he and Cat Noir shared a first bump.
Ladybug smiled as well. "Our Kwamis, our Team and to the Resistance." She declared. "Without them, Monarch would've won today."
"And together, we will keep fighting the good fight, and beat Monarch and his partner, once and for all. As one." Dragold announced as he raised his fist. "To teamwork."
"Teamwork!" The others replied, meeting their fists together, knowing that they would defeat Monarch and his mysterious partner one day.
