"Oh yes... It's time tostealthe spotlight from ladybug." Alya smirked darkly.
"So, what do I say to transform?" Alya asked Trixx.
"Trixx, let's pounce! And you can use the flute for the power of illustration!" The fox kwami said. "And to detransform,you say "Trixx, let's rest!"
"Trixx, let's pounce!" Alya shouted. The scene zoomed into the necklace's charm as it glowed white. Alya waved her hands in front of her eyes. Her sunglasses turned into a black and red-orange domino mask. Her eyes went from a normal hazel, to green and fox like.
Her body appeared in a slim red-orange, white and black jumpsuit. The top layer of her jumpsuit appeared to be a red-orange swan necked-overcoat with a black vest, white front and black arms and white diamonds in the middle of her upper arms. The back appeared to be a fox tail.
She put two of her index fingers on each hand above her head, causing long fox ears to appear in her hair. Her hair tied up into a high spiked ponytail ponytail with a black headband. She spun around then put her hands on her hips.
"You look so pretty! Can I have a miraculous too?!" Chloe asked like a fangirl.
"As long as we find one, or steal one from Marinette and her bratty friends. But I need a hero name... Volpina is already taken!" Alya said.
"Hmm... well, you're scarlett, and you look like a fox! Why not something simple as Scarlett Fox?"
"Great idea, Chloe! I can always count on you!" She poked her nose, causing the blonde to giggle.
Scarlett tested out her new powers by playing the flute kind of badly. Chloe covered her ears as a weird illusion of candy appeared.
"Oh! Nice! It really DOES create whatever you're thinking of! In that case... I should make ladybug look bad. But I need to practice until the illusion looks right!" Alya crushed the pink candy, causing it to disappear into smoke.
"You're correct! We should practice somewhere where people wouldn't notice! How about that abandoned mall?" Chloe suggested as she put a finger on her own lip.
"Sounds great!" Scarlett nodded. She then carried her friend as she leapt across the rooftops.
The next day... Marinette took her red and black polka dot dress down the stairs. It was neatly folded into a rectangle. She showed the dress to her mother, Sabine Cheng.
"Oh my goodness! Is that the final design?! It's so beautiful!" Sabine said, grabbing it quickly.
"Yes... uh... happy late birthday, mom! S-sorry I didn't finish it sooner!" Mari frowned.
"Oh honey, it's just what I wanted! I don't care if it's a late gift! Thank you so much!" Sabine sweetly hugged her daughter. Mari hugged back and smiled. She was proud all her hard work paid off.
"No problem. Love you!" Marinette happily said.
"Love you, too! I'm gonna try it on! I'll be right back!" Sabine kissed her daughter's cheek, then went into the bathroom with her dress.
Tikki popped out of Mari's pocket.
"That was very sweet of you to give her that beautiful dress Marinette! I'm sure you'll be a great fashionista one day!" Tikki whispered.
"Yeah! I thought my mom would hate the dress! I guess I let my anxiety from school and hero work get to me..." Mari whispered back.
Tikki nodded. She lifted an apple off of the table and took a tiny bite out of it.
"Might wanna chew a bit quieter, Tikki... mom might hear you!" Marinette took the kwami along with the red apple. She ran up the stairs.
"How do I lo— Marinette?" Sabine said once she opened the bathroom door. She had goofily wide grey eyes.
The raven haired teen placed Tikki on her desk. She was eating away at the Fuji apple, happily looking up at Marinette with blue eyes.
"I'll be back, okay?" Marinette gently poked Tikki's forehead. Tikki giggled.
Marinette was about to go back downstairs, when suddenly, she saw her open photo album. She saw the picture of her, her parents, and Félix with his family. They were all dressed in black, beautiful oak trees in the background with white roses and decorations. Most of them looked sad. The only ones who were kinda smiling, was Félix and Marinette. They held hands.
She stared at the picture for a long time, filled with regret that she grinned at her boyfriend's funeral.
"Mariiiii!! Did you go upstairs?! Is everything alright?!" Sabine yelled from below, causing Mari to snap out of it. Marinette fell back from the chair, dropping her book.
Mari got up, went down, closed the attic door, and ran back down stairs.
"It's... it's alright, mom! It's just that I was thinking about the funeral yesterday. You look beautiful in the dress, by the way!" Mari blushed red.
The smile faded from Sabine's face. "What about the funeral?"
"Well... you remember the group picture Jean took?"
"Yes. We were all there. I know the funeral was a shock and a hard time for all of us. But I'm sure—"
"It's not that... it's... Félix and I. We were both smiling while holding hands in said picture. Was this... rude? I mean none of you reacted but... it just urks me that I didn't even notice I smiled at a funeral!" Mari interrupted her mom.
"You kissed Félix too. Your father scolded you for that. But I didn't mind since at least you weren't being rude, thank goodness! Maybe despite his father's death, you two made each other happy. There's nothing wrong with finding joy in a place of darkness, dear." Sabine put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, you're right, mom." Mari smiled.
Suddenly, a bunch of screaming was heard coming from outside the bakery. Mari and her mom ran out, only to discover that an evil copy of Ladybug was causing chaos, destroying parts of Paris.
"I thought Ladybug was a hero! She saved Paris from Hawk moth! Why is she acting like this?!"
"I don't know, but I've got a feeling that's not the real Ladybug!" Mari said with a glare.
"Let's get back inside, dear!" Sabine went back inside and dialed for the cops.
Marinette was about to go upstairs to get Tikki, when suddenly, Scarlett Fox jumped into the scene.
"Not so fast, Ladybug, you're days of bugging people are over! For I am Scarlett, the only superhero Paris needs!" Scarlett Fox pointed at herself.
"You're not going to stop me! Hand me your fox miraculous!" The fake Ladybug said. She swung her yo-yo at Scarlett, only for the fox girl to grab it and swing the fake ladybug into a building.
The fake Ladybug grunted in pain and got back up. She used a lucky charm airplane to shoot bullets at Volpina. Scarlett summoned herself wings. The Parisians rain for ther lives as bullets and debris fell from said building. Scarlett played her flute, causing the bullets and debris to disappear. People cheered Scarlett's name. Marinette hid inside the house but still watched the fight.
"Don't you think it's weird, this superhero just appearing out of nowhere?" Mari asked her mom.
"Well, at least she's getting the job done. If she hadn't been here Ladybug would've destroyed most of Paris!" Sabine clasped her hands together.
Scarlett ran off with a tied up fake Ladybug as people cheered. Once she was hidden under a large bridge, Scarlett played her flute causing the fake Ladybug to disappear. She giggled hoping that everyone would hate ladybug, but she knew she needed to put in more effort than just one day.
"Trixx, let's rest!" Scarlett turned back into Alya. She fed Trixx some fancy cheese from her lunchbox, the fox kwami happly ate it. "Good job, buddy. Now let's go and find my parents before they get pissed!"
Back at the Dupan household, Marinette transformed into Ladybug while hidden in her room. She swung out from the window trying to look for Scarlett and the faker.
"Hey! It's Ladybug! She's still trying to cause trouble!!" A young man yelled.
"Since Scarlett isn't here, let's get her!" People threw garbage and tomatoes at Ladybug, much to her pain and discomfort.
"Ow ow ow! Knock it off! What you saw before wasn't the real- MEEEEEEEE!!!" Ladybugs yo-yo string was snapped by a broken bottle. She nearly fell to her death, when Chat blank swooped in and caught her.
The two landed on a rooftop, away from prying eyes. Police helicopters looked for Scarlett and fake ladybug, forcing the hero couple to hide near Mr. Pigeon Man's sanctuary.
"I know you wouldn't do that type of crazy stuff, that was formerly Chat Blanc's job. Again, so sorry for putting your life in danger, Bugaboo!" Blanc whispered before kissing her hand.
"Then what Ladybug was that?" Marinette whispered.
"She was an illusion. A fake. Haven't you noticed that the debris that was sent flying from that building didn't make a dent after she played the flute? And the bullets poofed away in that same orange smoke. I bet once Scarlett carried that "Ladybug" away, she disappeared too. She's just aiming to make you look bad. That's the fox miraculous for ya." Blanc whispered.
"Ugh! I should've known! I thought she put someone else in the mask! Are you in illusion?!" Ladybug pinched both of his cheeks. He made a deadpan expression and said: "Ow."
"Sorry, babe. Eh heh heh... But how will I prove myself innocent?!"
"That's sadly the hard part, babe."
'Wait... Lila had the fox miraculous first. That girl wasn't Volpina, then that means...' Ladybug gasped mid thought.
She stayed mouth wide open for several seconds.
"Um... You good?" Blanc asked.
"We need to find Lila!"
"Why?!"
"No time for questions!!" Ladybug grabbed Chat Blanc and swung off the rooftop.