Her mother had been acting off recently, well more off than usual. Kagami knew it, but Perceptive as she was, she didn't know why. She'd assumed it would be because she was now managing the Agreste brand, which was currently in the midst of a controversy, but she wasn't even in her office, so it couldn't be that. So why was she out of the house so often? Without so much as a mention of where she was going. It didn't make any sense to her.
Frankly, it was getting under her skin. Her mother held her to such a tight schedule, but she could go gallivanting off. Who knows where? How was that fair?
Kagami might have a curfew, but you know who didn't? Ryuko. She transformed, leaping out of her window onto a nearby rooftop, though she stopped when she saw Chat Noir seemingly heading towards her house. She paused for a moment to think. He already knew her identity, so seeing her here wouldn't change anything.
"Going somewhere Chat Noir?" She piped up, catching his attention. He almost went into the wall but managed to catch himself kicking off the wall, flipping around in mid-air and landing next to Ryuko.
"You're certainly taking a risk going out. We're wanted criminals now, after all." Not that he really took that seriously. It wasn't as if they could catch him.
"I could say the same about you. What brings you here?" There was no way he'd come here by coincidence.
"I need to tell you something, but you can not tell anyone else, and I need you to remain calm."
Ryuko was a little taken off guard by his uncharacteristically serious demeanour, but she nodded slowly. Whatever it was, she could handle it. She was used to acting calm even when she was stressed.
"Alright then, I think you need to know that we're investigating your mother as we believe she may be working with Chrysalis."
"That's quite the accusation. Do you have any proof?" She did her best to sound neutral. Part of her didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't help but consider it. It sounded plausible.
"Not really, but she was close with Gabriel, and she was aware he was Monarch." Chat knew that didn't prove she was involved with Chrysalis, but it was suspicious. "At the very least, I think it's worth questioning her."
"I'll admit her knowing doesn't paint her in a positive light. Have you told Ladybug about this?"
"I have, I'll tell her I told you later" He had considered asking but decided Kagami had a right to know that, Tomeo was her mother after all.
"Somehow I don't think she'd approve of you telling me before you knew for certain." Kagami mused. "What if I told her you were investigating her? You'd never find any proof if she was aware you were looking. Didn't it occur to you that I might side with my mother?" There was a tense pause before Ryuko punched Chat on the shoulder playfully. "Glad you feel like you can trust me. I won't say anything, don't worry."
Chat dam near had a heart attack. Why did she have to joke like that? "There is one more thing, I know it might be a big ask, but do you think you could keep an eye on her?"
"I expected as much, I will, of course, and I'll contact you or Ladybug if I see anything suspicious"
Too most it would seem like Kagami was taking this remarkably well, but Chat, of course, knew her too well to fall for that. She just wouldn't let it get to her in front of other people.
Ladybug had been a little out of the loop about what was going on, but since Chat had investigating Tomeo well in hand, she decided to go after the other suspect. Lila Rossi or whatever she was actually named.
She'd managed to convince Alya to help, and though she didn't seem to buy that, Lila was Chrysalis she did help Marinette look for information about her. Which just led to more questions.
For one, Lila Rossi wasn't her real name. Neither was Cerise for that matter. They couldn't find a concrete date of birth or who her parents were. It was as if the girl didn't exist.
"How has nobody put all this together before? I can't find any evidence of a girl named Lila Rossi before 1 year ago when she first came to France." How had she gotten into a school without any sort of birth certificate? There was no way a girl her age could achieve this without help "it's as if she's deleted every last record of herself."
"Nothing really surprises me anymore with her. It's like people just believe whatever she says no matter how nonsensical." Marinette complained as she looked over what little Alya had managed to find, nothing useful.
"If she's this good at hiding information, it won't be easy to find proof that she's Chrysalis if you're right." The amateur journalist mumbled mostly to herself, Marinette was sleeping over at Alya's. Her parents were out, and her sisters were asleep, so they didn't need to be careful about what they said.
"We've got her address, though, right? I could go snoop around for evidence." Marinette suggested looking out the window.
"One You don't have the authority to do that, and Two If Ladybug shows up, she'll know we're suspicious of her." Alya dryly pointed out the flaws in her plan denting the poor girls ego.
"Well then, what do we do?" She asked aloud, flopping facedown onto her bed with her head on her pillow
"I can keep looking into her, let you know if I find anything, but you'll need to be more careful, you can't let her or Tomoe know you suspect them until you're ready to confront them." Alya knew Marinette wasn't a fan of waiting, but in this case, she simply had to.
"You're right, but it doesn't feel right to do nothing when they could be up to who knows what." Her voice was muffled by the Pillow, but it was just about understandable.
Chrysalis had chosen to be a little more discreet than her predecessor, while Monarch would have his villains go after the Miraculous right away. She'd settled on a more subtle approach.
She'd had her Akuma working quietly for a week now, letting them make a plan of attack and gather some unwilling allies. With luck, they'd overwhelm the heroes.
She herself had another job to do this time, not on her boss's orders. This was something she thought would be useful. She had set her sights on the miraculous of the turtle. She'd keep the others busy and single Carapace out. It'd worked with Sabrina, after all.
"Are you ready to get things started?" A purple outline appeared over her eyes as she contacted her Akuma.
"I've been ready all day. This city's gonna burn." The Akuma known as Anarchist smirked as he snapped his fingers. "People of Paris, have some fun."
Marinette had been pacing around Alya's room for the better part of an hour now. Research really wasn't her thing. She just needed to be active.
The two girls were pulled away from their work by the sound of a crash outside. Nobody looked hurt, but Marinette decided it was a good time for Ladybug to lend a hand. Before Alya had a chance to say anything, she was transformed and off into the city.
She landed not far from where the bus had crashed. The driver was uninjured, and he was the only person on the bus, but she couldn't say the same for the lamp post. As she turned her attention further up the road, she saw the cause of the crash, but she couldn't see anything.
"Huh, I guess driving a bus is different from driving a car" The man spoke casually as if this was the most normal situation in the world.
"If you don't have a license, why are you driving it!?" Ladybug yelled at the woman who seemed offended that she'd even asked the question.
"This is a public bus I paid to get on. I can do what I want" He snapped
"But you're going to get yourself killed!"
"Well even if I do, that's my decision" he crossed her arms, refusing to move.
"Wh-wha? B-but you. Why take the risk? Just get out!" Ladybug was definitely not following this logic.
"Who the hell do you think you are!? You can't tell me what to do" He tried to reverse the bus, but Ladybug grabbed his arm to try and drag him to safety, and the man attempted to kick her.
Ladybug avoided the attack, but the man ran after her, Ladybug wasn't at risk of losing the fight, of course, but she was hesitant to strike back. Eventually, she just settled for restraining the man.
What was that all about? She thought to herself before she got a call from Ryuko. "It's kinda rare to get a call from you. What's the matter?"
"Since you sound a little out of breath, I'm guessing you've already dealt with one of them." Kagami answered, picking up on the tiniest details as usual.
"I was just attacked by a man who I think stole a bus for no reason"
"He's not the only one. We think it's an Akuma. Those affected have no inhibitions. They just do whatever they want, and they don't fear anything. If you try to stop them, they become aggressive" Kagami explained calmly.
"When you say 'We' is someone else with you?"
"Chat Noir, he's a little busy fighting a woman who tried to steal a TV at the moment." She was watching from the side lines, but he didn't need help. "From what I can tell, it's all over the city. We need to focus on finding the Akuma that's causing it."
"Right, I'll contact the others and then join the search. If it's like this all over the city, we'll need all the help we can get." She climbed her way to the nearest rooftop before temporarily dropping her transformation and taking out her phone.
"Mom, Dad, this is important. Lock the doors, go upstairs, and turn the lights off. It's not safe outside, I'll be okay at Alya's"
"We can see what's happening on the news. Your father has already locked the doors, be safe, sweetie."
She bid them goodbye before slumping against a wall, this would be a long night.
It took her about an hour to get everyone, but every hero who could help was on the scene searching for the Akuma while helping anyone who needed it.
Carapace had just gotten done rescuing a couple of kids who'd tried to jump into the river when he saw a figure watching from the rooftops, Chrysalis.
She seemed aware he'd seen her and turned to run, so of course he pursued he couldn't risk losing track of her, so he didn't have time to contact the others.
After a few minutes of chasing her, she attempted to slash him with her sword, but he ducked the attack, rolling as he landed and turned to face her.
"You're awfully quick for a Turtle, hopefully you put up more of a fight than Sabrina."
The police were, of course, overwhelmed with about a third of the cities population suddenly losing it, and they simply didn't have the people to contain this situation.
Roger had just arrested a 70 year old man for trying to steal a police car. This was getting ridiculous. "This is impossible. Where are those 'Hero's' when you need them?" He lamented, leaning against a police van.
"Oh? I thought the 'Hero's' were reckless vigilantes, Officer Raincomprix?" A mocking voice called down from atop the van.
A young man in a purple puffer jacket with the hood up, jeans, and red boots with Violet skin hopped down in front of Roger, welding a stop sign as if it were a weapon. "Don't tell me you abandon your viewpoint so easily. They're okay when you need them?"
"They have their uses, that doesn't mean they aren't reckless" The officer defended his position. But the villain didn't seem too convinced.
"That aside you really need to relax, just take a moment to smile" The villain places a smiley face sticker on Rogers chest and he felt his worries fade away, what did he have to be afraid of? He could do whatever he wanted.
I know I tend to take a while between chapters, but in all honesty? I have to want to write if I force myself to write it won't be any good, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was a bit of a wait.