In The Bag

The introduction of drones to the populace had long been one of the most contested pieces of debate people have been going on in a variety of topics. Will they have rules to be used? Are they safe to use for kids? Will they get caught in the telephone cables? Would these things be used to spy on people? All these and more were the questions that people often asked. And there were no small number of people that called the police to tell them to arrest someone for using a drone for 'peeping on them'. Though apart from all those issues, they were still one of the best toys people could give one another for special occasions. Because they were oh so handy when you wanted to take pictures from great heights, good to give people a bird's eye view of their home and granted them one of the closest feelings to flying people would get without having to have a pilot's license and own a plane to use.

Those, however, were not the reasons that Izuku Midoirya and his team were using their own simple yet nimble drone.

"Target in sight." Mina looked at the screen before her as Alix flew the drone.

"How much did this fancy mini-helicopter cost you, Izuku?" Alix asked.

"It was expensive but it was a good purchase if we can get our hands on some more information." Izuku looked at the screen while Alya pulled up the blueprints of the house.

"Okay, we're going in through the left wing's chimney," Alya said. "That should get us close to the office on the first floor."

"Got it, a little to the right and then slowly start to descend." Mina instructed as watching the video feed coming from the camera.

"Slow and steady. We'll need an exit route in case we're spotted." Izuku looked at the blueprints with Alya, looking for another exit route. "It seems that there's a window big enough next to the dining room. Which isn't far."

"Perfect, in case we can't go back up the chimney. Let's go down!" Alix pulled down the joystick, taking the drone down.


The drone moved slowly and silently down the chimney, making sure to avoid any loud noises. Its camera swiveled down, looking for any form of obstructions on their path. Feeling like the chimney was lit, the drone's pilots waited with baited breath, sweating like they were being dangled down by a thin rope. As it arrived at the exit of the chimney, it flew out, keeping low in case of anyone being there. The camera moved from side to side, observing the room the drone had just landed on. Its lens stopped at the Agreste Family portrait, making the operators narrow their eyes at them.

"We're in." Alix whispered.

"Okay, exit the room through the door on your right and then turn left." Alya followed the path of the blueprints as Alix and Mina kept an eye on everything.

"Mina, keep the camera steady. We need to be sure that no one is moving about." Izuku instructed.

Mina nodded, keeping her eyes open in case of anyone scurrying around, even if it was a mouse.


The drone flew out of the room, moving quickly and as quietly as possible. The drone's microphone didn't pick up on any sound as it made its way through the hallway. The silence of the house was filled with the tension that accompanied having a sword dangling over your head by a horse's hair. It almost felt like a sneak peek at an abandoned mansion while it was being haunted by ghosts. Like stepping into the lion's den, the drone moved on as the camera spotted their target.

"Office door in sight," Mina said.

"Honey, you're up." Alix turned to Izuku.

Izuku pulled out a separate controller, a simple joystick that controlled a robotic hand attached to the drone. He looked at the screen as he moved the three-fingered mechanical hand to the door handle. Pressing a button, he opened the hand, making sure it was tightly gripping the handle. Nodding to Alix, he signaled her to move the drone back.


The drone pulled back, pulling on the handle, but it didn't budge. It repeated the action two more times, only to get the same result. The drone's camera looked at the door, noting the lock on it.


"It's locked." Mina groaned.

"Who locks their own office inside their own house?" Alya asked.

"There must be a key?" Izuku looked at the blueprints, finding the master bedroom on the second floor. "Adrien must have it in his room. He wouldn't leave it out of his sight."

"In that case, take the stairs on the front hall going to the left." Alya traced the path on the blueprints.


The drone released the door handle, turning around to go to its new target. It quickly flew through the rooms, surveying them in case of any unexpected security. It caught sight of the same pictures and artifacts that Izuku and Mina had seen and observed when they were allowed inside the mansion. Which meant that there was bound to be more information in the master bedroom and the office, or at least the drone's pilots hoped so.

The drone flew quietly up to the master bedroom, keeping low enough to stay out of sight. The drone's camera spotted the door of the room. Slowly twisting it as quietly as a church mouse sneaking in for a bite of cheese or a cat sneaking into a dangerous room filled with dogs, the drone opened the door. It quietly took a peek inside the room with its camera, spotting Adrien Agreste sleeping in his bed. But he wasn't alone. The drone's camera zoomed in, catching sight of a flowing bed of pale brown hair on top of Adrien.

"Looks like someone got lucky." Mina rolled her eyes before moving the camera.

The drone's camera spotted the keys next to the nightstand, just waiting to be picked up.

"We'll need to do this quickly before he notices the drone," Izuku said, getting nods from the girls.

The drone moved quickly and as close to the ground, sneaking up on the sleeping villain.

Izuku prepared the mechanical hand to snatch the keys as quickly as possible. Alix turned to him as they saw Adrien roll away from the door and the nightstand. He nodded, giving her the sign.

The drone quickly flew high enough to be at eye sight with the keys. It's mechanical hand grabbed hold of the keys, making them jingle from the motion.

Everyone froze. Sweat rolled down their backs as they hoped that it had gone unnoticed. Izuku, Mina, Alya and Alix held their breath as the camera snapped back to the two sleeping figures. Five seconds passed. Then ten seconds. And finally fifteen seconds passed, and there was no motion. The heroes let out a breath of relief. They had gotten away with it by the hair on a bald man's head.

The drone turned to leave, making a slight wave of air to pass over the two sleeping figures.

The woman stirred, lifting her head up. Her eyes caught the sight of the drone's lights.

"What the-?"

The camera turned back, getting a good look at the woman.

The eyes of the whole group went wide at the sight of the woman and who she was.

"Oh, no…" Izuku groaned.

"Lila, go back to sleep." Adrien groaned.

"Darling, we've got intruders." Lila growled, despite being naked.

Adrien's eyes snapped open, full of rage and anger. He snapped, looking at the drone before it flew off in fear.

"After it! Sound the alarm!" Adrien activated one of his Miraculous, making his clothes go to his body.

"And let the police have all the fun~?" Lila's eyes turned to slits. "Not likely." She rushed out with her weapon in hand, not bothered that she was partially naked with her Miraculous acting as an impromptu suit.

Alix flew the drone away from the room as quickly as it would allow her as Mina kept track of anything that came after them.

"Take the next right, we gotta get them away from the chimney to escape!" Alya instructed.

"You got it!" Alix replied as Adrien and Lila attacked the drone.

The drone bobbed and weaved from side to side, avoiding any of Adrien's attacks. It took a sharp right, flying down to the first floor. Just then, ten Lilas appeared before the drone sporting an evil smile. As they pounced on the drone, it flew under the clones, knocking over different things from the shelves and the tables.

"Foxthrob's clone attacks are meant to overwhelm the opponent. Keep moving and create obstacles." Izuku maneuvered the robot arm, knocking down some vases at Lila's clones while keeping hold on the keys.

As the vases and objects fell and struck the clones, they dissipated into orange smoke.

Adrien landed behind the drone, giving it a hateful glare.

The drone used the smoke as cover, flying into it only to send it at Adrien's face.

"Drop the smoke bomb!" Izuku instructed.

"Boom baby!" Alya pressed a button.

The drone dropped a smoke bomb inside the hall, blinding Adrien and Lila with the smoke. It flew away only for Lila to throw her flute at it. It was struck from behind, breaking one of its wings, but it was still able to fly away and up the chimney.

"This will not stand." Adrien's body heated up as Lila picked up the broken wing piece.


Back with the heroes, they looked over the damaged drone and the keys.

"Well, so much for stealing that guy's stuff." Alix sighed.

"Though we did learn how deep Lila is." Alya replayed the video.

"No better way to get better in a competitive job than by sleeping with the evil boss." Mina wanted to punch Lila so badly that she cracked her knuckles.

"We already knew that she was involved with Hawkmoth, but it seems that this is a deeper relationship than what we thought." Izuku couldn't help but feel bad for his friend.

Not only was Katsuki being Lila's patsy but he was now being cuckholded by Hawkmoth. To Izuku, being tricked was one thing, but being manipulated by love and understanding was something rotten in his book. As someone with three girlfriends, he knew the value of being loyal and faithful at all times. Something that Lila clearly didn't feel even slightly bad about breaking.

However, despite the slightly shocking and unpleasant discovery of Lila and Adrien were bumping uglies, their mission was a partial success. They had managed to steal the keys to Adrien Agreste's personal office, but he also knew that someone had been in his home. That meant he'd have to move his more secure files and information somewhere else.

"Alix, in your experience as a catburglur, what do most people do when they know they will be robbed?" Izuku asked.

"Well, they'll move anything valuable to where I want them to. See, the whole point of stealing someone that knows you're stealing from them, is that they make the moves I want them to make." Alix explained, remembering her heist days. "Are you planning a heist, babe?"

"No, but if I ever do, you're the first person I call." Izuku blushed. "But, Adrien knows that someone is trying to get in his office, so if that's the case…"

"Then he'd have to move his most sensitive information to a more secure location. But it knowing we're dealing with a dangerous kingpin, he wouldn't have it in a ledger just to have it stolen despite the ease there is to destroying them. A computer is a lot easier, but also easily stolen." Alix felt the wheels of her burglar days. "He'd download it onto a hard drive or a spare disc that no one can get their hands on. But not at his home."


Adrien watched his records and computer information being downloaded into a separate harddrive as he held the broken drone piece in his hands. He didn't like being caught off guard and he was certainly not a fan of being spied on. Though he did have a good idea of who was the one responsible for this latest attempt on his private life.

"You're behind this, aren't you, Chat Noir?" Adrien tightened his hold on the broken wing as the download finished.

"That damn vigilante has been a thorn on your side for far too long, my darling." Lila draped herself on top of Adrien's shoulders.

Even with their night of passion cut short, she never hesitated to wrap herself around Adrien's body. She had been doing it ever since he set out on this venture of revenge and she didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. Sometimes Adrien didn't know if she was actually nuzzling against him with true affection of if she was wrapping around him like a snake waiting to strike when he was most vulnerable.

"So far he's been more than a thorn on the side of my business. His determination isn't anything to scoff at." Adrien pulled Lila off of him as he walked to the hard drive. "Someone that is willing to go that far to achieve their goal while sticking to their values is rare and commendable. A shame he is not on my side."

Lila smirked a sinister smile.

"You actually admire him? He is nothing but a fool that's been lucky so far." Lila laughed. "In a one on one battle against anyone with real power, he'd be a stain on the ground that we walk on. I bet I could take him if your other employees are having trouble."

"Do not underestimate him, Ms. Rossi. I did that once, and now he's grown even bolder." Adrien looked at the hard drive. "Bloody his nose and he comes back twice as bold. And now he plans on coming here for this."


"If he doesn't hide it in his home, then he'd have to give it to someone that he trusts." Alya paced, following Alix's thought process.

"And that list is very short." Izuku added.


Adrien looked at Lila like one would look at a bottle of poison, knowing that it was also a cure to an illness. He remembered very well how she got to where she was. Normally he would've taken her Miraculous away and called it a day, but she was a necessary evil for his plan to succeed. And now, she had as much to lose as he did, which made her all the more likely to stay by his side.

"I want you to take this and hide it where no one, not even your boyfriend will find it." Adrien handed the hard drive to Lila.

She smiled, reaching for the hard drive. Only for him to pull it away.

"You still don't trust me?" Lila pouted. "And here I thought all our nights together meant something." She opened her hand for Adrien to hand over the drive.

"We're business partners in this, Rossi. And if one goes down, so does the other." Adrien slowly handed her the drive. "And I don't need to remind you what will happen if that happens, do I?" He held the hard drive tightly as Lila tried to pull it away.

Lila narrowed her eyes at Adrien until they were a pair of knife points aimed at his head. She waited for him to release the hard drive before putting it away in her bag. She'd had far too many close calls as of late and she needed to prove that she was still a relevant part of this picture, even if she had to play second fiddle to Hawkmoth's ambitions and desires for his father's legacy.

"Don't worry, my love. I'm game. And I'll make sure that no one ever connects the dots between you and dear old daddy Hawkmoth." Lila smirked, hearing Adrien crack his knuckles at the mention of his father. "But back to the matter at hand, won't Chat Noir and his allies come after me? They must know by now that you and I are in bed together."

"Something that they wouldn't have suspected had you not tried to kill one of your 'rescuers'." Adrien narrowed his eyes at her for a change. "But for now you are my best agent on the field and I need you to keep it safe. Lay low if you need to but don't let them get a whiff of where you might be. I've got enough troubles to play babysitter for you."


"In that case, we have to take that information from them and they'll be as good as ours!" Mina pumped her fist. "We can still salvage this mess with another heist."

"Only this time they'll be expecting it, so there's going to be more hurdles to overcome." Izuku pointed out. "First we find the carrier, what have they been given by Hawkmoth, and then we take it from them. The most likely suspect is Lila Rossi given her closeness to the situation and how she was also there."

"The fox hunt is on!" Mina cheered. "Present company excluded, Alya." She turned to Alya with a sheepish smile.

"No problem, babe. I'll get even with you on a date later on." Alya licked her lips.

"We'll celebrate later, now, we need to get ready to plan our next move." Izuku laid down the law, getting between Alya and Mina. "Foxthrob will be looking for a place to hide her master's loot, so we need to track her movements and see where she is hiding the information and how she is connected with Hawkmoth. She must've met him before becoming a hero and his secret mole. We find that out then we have our man."

"Naomasa would be proud of us." Mina gave Izuku a thumbs up.


Lila despised being looked down on. She liked to be on top and have everything her heart desired given to her. Lies and twisting the truth were the skills that made her who she was and her Miraculous did everything that she wanted based on those skills. The idea that she was something that had to be casted aside enraged her. All those that looked down on her would kiss her feet. That was the mission that she had set for herself. And she would make everyone adore her, even if they didn't want to do so.

"Don't worry, Adrien," Lila said with a meek, almost playful tone. "I won't let anyone or anything get in the way of our happily ever after. You can be sure of that. Besides, there's only so many lives a mangy cat has to offer the world." Lila cupped Adrien's face, caressing his lips with her thumb.

"Don't do anything that you'll regret, Lila." Adrien replied coldly. "You can't survive with illusions."

Lila made a note to make to pay him back for that little jab at her abilities. She watched him leave the office after shutting down his computer, purging it of any other bit of information that could be used against him. She always wondered what he was thinking, even if he didn't see her as desirable or as a proper partner in his machinations, she could read him like a book thanks to her insight into his mind and who he really was. As much he dominated the role of a ruthless mob boss and supervillain, she smiled at his weaker and more humane emotions. And that was leverage.

Love, anger, ambition, desires, fame, fortune, redemption, damnation, justice were all just words to Lila. Words that she could twist and manipulate to get whatever she wanted from everyone else. No matter how big or small they were, people and what they wanted were leverage to Lila Rossi and she would play them all like fiddles if it meant that she got ahead of them even in the smallest of ways. But her little Hawkmoth was different from every single one of those peons she saw in her daily life. As she held the hard drive against her chest, she shivered in excitement at how he understood her and saw her for who she was. There was no emotional leverage she could go for, but their ambitions matched and as such they had dirt on each other. Knowing that he was as willing as her to pull any trick to get ahead and alive made her desire him all the more. And with one final look at the hard drive, an idea was hatched inside her twisted dark little mind like a black rose blooming under the moonlight.

"Time to catch myself a cat." Lila whispered.


Izuku and Mina were working on some backed up paperwork at the police station while looking for any clues as to Lila aka Foxthrob's movements and likely base of operations. Thanks to several police reports that dealt with the heroine's heroic acts, they were able to mark up spots of where she had been spotted and in which direction she had gone after the deed had been finished. This in turn gave them a little bit of a puzzle.

"This make sense to you, Izuku?" Mina asked in a whisper.

"No, some of these reports show that she showed up right before any other hero and then moved on. Even Enginuim and Mirko, the roaming heroes, don't have this kind of luck catching villains in the act, sometimes they have to run in the complete opposite direction to catch up to them." Izuku pulled up a map on his computer, marking each point she had appeared in.

"Wow, she gets around." Mina looked at all the dots.

"Worse, she's right at the moment they need her. And all the criminals she caught just so happened to be there committing a crime where several news outlets were waiting for it to happen." Izuku noted that things were way too convenient for Foxthrob and her rising superhero career. "These were all set ups. We need to check out the reasons for them to be at those spots at a specific time."

"Found anything interesting, you two?"

Izuku and Mina fell back off of their chairs. They accidentally threw their paperwork into the fans above them to be spread through the office. People were blinded, causing them to bump into each other and spill their own paperwork unleashing chaos.

"Ha, this time I wore a helmet and got my drink in a cup with a straw!"

Only for the paperwork to blind the man, making him snort out his drink, burning his nose.

"AH! Why?!"

Izuku and Mina looked up to see an unamused Kendo looking back at them.

"Finished?" Kendo asked.

"Hey, boss, what are you doing here?" Mina asked in her usual chipper fashion.

"I work here. Like you two," Kendo replied, looking at the chaos. "Supposedly."

"Is there anything we can do for you, Capitane Kendo?" Izuku asked, picking up all the paperwork from the floor. "We heard of your close call with um…"

"In my office, both of you." Kendo walked away. "After you clean this mess up."

Izuku and Mina shared a look between themselves as they saw the papers floating in the air.


After recovering all their paperwork and apologizing for the chaos they had accidentally caused, once more, they went to Captain Kendo's office. They didn't know what to expect from her but they did know that they were in for a slight scolding about misusing police resources and causing chaos among the officers.

"Close the door." Kendo instructed from her seat.

"Captain, we apologize for the chaos we caused. We'll make sure to focus on our assignments." Izuku bowed his head in respect.

"Yeah, plus we cleaned up the mess." Mina added.

"That's not why I called you in here," Kendo said. "Remember the theory that there was a mole amongst the heroes?"

Izuku and Mina nodded.

"I have a lead that I need you to follow. Some of the information on Foxthrob doesn't add up." Kendo handed Izuku a file. "I want you to check up on this information and see if there's any connection to the underworld. That way we can open an investigation on her past. I want this by the book but quiet."

"Don't worry, mon capitaine. Izuku here is a hero encyclopedia and if there's one misplaced comma, he'll find it. In fact, we can swing by her offices if you want us to." Mina wrapped her arm around her partner, making him blush. "But, um, may I ask what's up with the suspicion against her? I'm not a big fan of her anyway but why do you want her investigated?"

"...Some aspects of our shared incarceration made me wonder is all." Kendo brushed it off, making sure that her suspicions didn't sound too outlandish. "It's a hunch but the way she spoke made me think that there was something more to her than meets the eye. Not to mention that her record is almost too spotless compared to other heroes that have gotten some kind of negative commentary."

Izuku knew all too well what their captain meant by that. Remembering how easily Lila tried to kill Alix in the middle of the rescue made him be weary of what she was capable of when cornered. And now she would be on the defensive, waiting for them to come to her. Which worked fine by him. If he could find anything to bring her down, he would take it especially if it was by the book.

"Where should we start, captain?" Izuku asked. "We could go to her office to get some information on her movements and how there have been some issues with the criminals that she's caught as a cover?"

"Do it but don't push it. Keep on your toes when you're there." Kendo instructed them. "And whatever you find, you bring to me. Understand?"

"Oui Capitain!" Izuku and Mina saluted their captain before walking out of the office.


Izuku and Mina went off to their destination with the information provided by the captain. However, when they arrived at the address on file, they were met with a simple office building, looking rather plain and in place in the middle of a city. They walked in through the front door, being greeted by a simple reception desk that for all intents and purposes looked like it would fit a professional hero office.

It had a light orange hue with burnished wood top that matched the colors of the walls. The room only had one person apart from Izuku and Mina. The desk clerk was a young man that was enthralled in his computer while wearing a face of boredom. The only thing that made it seem that he was part of the agency's workforce was the name tag that he wore on his chest. He seemed unaware of their presence and more into his computer than anything else. A far cry of what they saw in Queen Bee or Ingenium's offices where the employees were constantly on the move from one end of the building to another, like an actual working office.

The two officers made their way to the front desk, with Izuku clearing his throat to get the attention of the clerk. He looked up, putting on a more professional look and sitting posture, closing whatever he was working on before clearing his throat.

"Bonjour, how may I help you officers?" He asked.

"Bonjour, I'm officer Midoirya and this is my partner, Officer Ashido. We've been asked to look into some new numbers on your arrest sheets. We were hoping to speak with your criminal analyst to clear this out." Izuku explained, showing the clerk their badges.

"Um, shouldn't this be handled by the district attorney or something?" The clerk asked.

"Look, this could easily be something like a wrong number or a smudge address on the document, so we don't want to make a lot of fuss over nothing." Mina explained, making sure to give the clerk a good flirty smile.

The clerk quickly changed his tone as his face turned red like a tomato.

"I'll-I'll tell them that you're here, miss." The clerk quickly got on the phone, giving Izuku plenty of time to look at the man's computer screen.

His eyes narrowed, noting the solitaire window behind the opened internet window. He wasn't sure why someone working at a hero agency would have time to play solitaire when the phone would ring at any moment. His mind wondered if this was another entry in Foxthrob's catalog of illusions and lies. He followed the clerk, sticking close to Mina as they entered the office part of the building. Darting his eyes from side to side, he looked at every single one of the people working on the office desks and they weren't doing anything related to hero work. Some were working on other tasks, writing articles and pieces pertaining to Foxthrob. Others were looking at the stock market and making moves. While others were just doing online shopping while pretending to look busy for all to see.

If Izuku hadn't smelled a rat long before coming to the building, he certainly was now.

"Here are all the numbers on the record of arrests and the required paperwork you're looking for, officers." The criminal analyst handed Izuku and Mina the papers they'd requested. "Please, let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"We will, thank you." Izuku started going through the papers, noting that all the arrests and criminals had been caught in front of cameras.

He pulled out the files that Kendo had given him and began to compare the information. Most of the criminals were repeated offenders and that they had been told of tips for their crimes. He wondered if this was all part of Hawkmoth's scheme. In exchange for information and a clever enough distraction, common criminals would have to pay a percentage of the total sum of loot they got their hands on. All the while one or some of those common criminals were caught by Foxthrob and other heroes to cover Hawkmoth's tracks. All they needed was to find Foxthrob and prove her connection between these arrests and the network.

"Say, where is the boss lady, huh?" Mina asked. "Is she out on patrol or something?"

"Yes, she's going through some areas to make sure everything is safe." The crime analyst verified.

"Man, she must have nerves of steel. I heard she got captured by some weirdo." Mina pointed out, playing the absent minded officer. "If it were me, I'd stay home and rest up for a month. Just me, the TV, some food, wine and wind down. You get me?"

"I understand the feeling. But that's our hero, Lady Foxthrob is the pinnacle of what a heroine should be. She even keeps a townhouse in the city instead of some lavish penthouse that other heroes have." The criminal analyst slipped out.

"Everything seems to be in order on your end. Must've been a glitch on our side." Izuku handed over the documents to the analyst. "Sorry for the trouble. We'll let you get back to your everyday work."

"Thank you, monsieur, mademoiselle." The criminal analyst bowed his head as Izuku and Mina left the office building.

Izuku and Mina get back to the Alien Queen, dropping their facade of a pair of slightly oblivious officers of the law.

"So, a townhouse, huh?" Mina questioned. "Looks like we've got our first clue of where she could be hiding. We could go look for it while she's out patrolling or doing Hawkmoth's bidding. What do you think, partner?"

"I think that they haven't heard of their 'boss lady' in a while. Usually a hero agency is buzzing with information, calls from people looking out in case of a crime, setting the paperwork for the police to arrest anyone the heroes have captured and managing the more celebrity aspects of a hero's life," Izuku said. "Yet, there wasn't so much as a phone call during the time we were there when on average there's between 15 to 20 calls every ten minutes. And we heard none."

Mina remembered that the only noise she heard was that of keys of a keyboard being struck by only a few of the people there. She wasn't one to pay attention to such things but being with Izuku for so long had somehow trained her ears to pick up on those little details. She had to point out that the office was pretty quiet for what Izuku had described to her. Not to mention that she saw a few of the female workers checking their makeup during business hours for no other reason than to see if it was good and not the least bit smudged.

"So you think she'd laying low?" Mina asked. "Then the townhouse won't work."

"She made sure to keep her staff working and pretending to still be in business, but for all we know, it's just a front. There must be information on her to contact her, whether it be by burner phone or email." Izuku pointed out. "We should look into any townhouses and penthouses being owned by any anagrams or aliases of Lila Rossi."

"You think she'd be so gullible to rent something under her own name or something close to it?" Mina asked, turning on her car.

"She's prideful but not stupid. She'll make sure that it won't be linked to her but to some cousin or family relation that doesn't exist." Izuku sighed. "Still, it is the best lead we have. I'll ask Alya and Alix to look into it from their side if they're having no luck with the Graham de Vanyl family angle."

"I hope it does, that means that Adrien has some family history that we can dig in." Mina drove off in search of the unknown townhouse owned by Lila Rossi aka the dreaded Foxthrob.


Alya and Alix were having fairly good luck as a matter of fact on their side of the research. Despite one of them not loving the idea of doing research. She couldn't help it. The idea of planning a heist thrilled her and made her smile. The ins and outs of a safe box often tickled her fancy and made her want to be better as a thief, especially if it meant that she could steal from people that deserved it. But a tiered and burnout groan escaped her lips as she went through another good deed that the Fanthom Graham de Vanyl had done for Britain.

"Man, this is so boring! Why couldn't we go out and look for the damn fox lady?!" Alix pouted.

"Because we don't know where to start. As far as leads go, we need to find anything on both sides of the situation." Alya rubbed Alix's head. "As far as we know, the Fanthom Graham de Vanyl are Adrien's cousins through his mother's side of the family, Emilie and Amalie Graham de Vanyl were the heiresses of their family and as such very much desired throughout the land." Alya pulled up a picture of the two women.

"Like a fairy tale, except one of them married Adrien's old man." Alix glared at the next picture which showed Gabriel Agreste and Emilie on their wedding day. "Talk about a screwy matchup. But I guess if you have wealth and a beautiful bride it makes ruining people's lives go down easier."

"Not sure what made her say yes, but I can take a guess at what made him pick her." Alya pulled up the picture of an old film. "Turns out that he used the Graham de Vanyl connections to expand his drug business overseas. Bastard."

Alix understood Alya's anger, she wanted to get back at the man that took her father and brother from her. But there was something that kept buggying her about the rest of the family. The first picture of the family had a little Adrien, but there are no other pictures of him since five years ago. Which made her curious. How could a cousin look so much like the man in question?

"Moving on from the crazy mob boss psychopath, what do we know about Felix?" Alix asked.

"That's the interesting bit, there is very little known of him." Alya clicked on a link of the young man. "He looks almost exactly like Adrien, they could be twins. No genetics are that perfect. Also look at the big differences between him and his sisters." Alya pulled up the family picture of the Fathom family.

The two girls resemble their father far more than their mother, while Felix looked more like his cousin and his mother than anyone else in his family. They had brown hair and dark eyes while their brother had bright green eyes with blond hair like his cousin. Following the idea of recessive and dominant genes, all the children should've been more likely to have had the dark hair from the father instead of the blond hair from the mother. Their grandparents from their father's side also had dark hair and so on and so on. Which made the possibility of a blond haired boy all the less likely.

"Then what does this mean? Just who is Felix Fathom?" Alix asked.

"That's the other interesting thing, there isn't much about him or anything that truly stands out. According to his school records he was always a slightly above average student, Bs and 8.5s all around. He never excelled in anything, sports, literature, academics." Alya shifted through different pictures of the young Fathom firstborn receiving second to third place awards. "Which is weird because according to some teacher notes, he was always seemingly holding back. Like he didn't want to do the extra work."

Alix looked at the last picture of the man in question. He wasn't even in the center of the picture, instead he was on the side, letting his cousin and his sisters take center stage. She could smell something odd about him and that something was how he was just glaring at the world around him.

"He doesn't want to stand out." Alix narrowed her eyes.

"It certainly looks like that. Maybe he doesn't want the spotlight?" Alya suggested.

"No, I mean, look how he deliberately keeps himself at arm's length from everyone. He wants to be one of those faces that you see and you miss in the crowd." Alix explained. "A thief's best tool is being invisible, the less people know about you the better."

"So, is he doing this on purpose? Why?" Alya asked. "For all intents and purposes, he had the most reasons to excel. Why disappear? Unless that's what he wanted."

"Which begs the question. Why?" Alix and Alya looked at the screen hoping to see the answer for them to follow on.


Meanwhile, Izuku and Mina had gotten a list of all the townhouses near the Foxthrob Hero Agency with any name that even came close to Lila Rossi. However, they hadn't gotten as much luck as they hoped. Most of the names weren't even close to anagrams of their enemy's name. The closest they got was someone owning a house with the last name Rosalia. But they had run into something interesting regarding all the other spots in the city owned by a Lila Rossi.

They had spoken to three women named Lila Rossi in the first three locations, two young college students that were staying at a hostel with different spellings on the name, and spoken to three men that had a mother or an aunt by that name. Yet they all shared the same thing in common. They had all been victims of identity theft over the last ten years. They had had their bank accounts emptied, charges that they never made and rents and leases overdue that they had to be held accountable to. Even if the relation to the name was slim or even spelled slightly off, Foxthrob had found a way to steal enough information to live off of those people. So far the victims of her actions had gotten off by paying for her vices, but they all had to make drastic changes to get their lives back.

"This is impossible. How does she do it?" Mina hung her head on the steering wheel.

"She must be using her illusion to sneak in and take any information that she needs." Izuku flipped through the pages. "We need to stop thinking like someone that wants to lay low. Lila Rossi, or whatever she wants to call herself, isn't afraid to be seen. The guys at her office said that other heroes have penthouses. She wants to be at the top so badly that she doesn't care about being cautious." Izuku flipped to the last page, the address of a penthouse that had been rented out by a Cerise Lila Rossi.

"Good enough for me, hon." Mina stepped on the accelerator en route to the penthouse.


Five minutes later, Izuku and Mina found themselves in the downtown area of Paris, near the center. They looked up at the tall tower building.

"She couldn't have sprung for anything more economic, could she?" Mina commented.

"Well she does feel like she should be at the top of the world and apart from the Beugoise Hotel, the Tsurugi Towers are the one place for the super elite to go to." Izuku looked at the penthouses.

Tsurugi Towers were three tall stainless steel colored towers put together by Tsurugi Company fit with top of the line gyms, security, and views fit for kings. They all shined with the light of the sun and were outfitted with enough solar panels that they could run independently of the city. There were guards at the entrances and each floor had at least five guards keeping watch at all times without counting the cameras that kept a watch on every floor. The Towers were also the home of several ambassadors and representatives of companies that were linked to the Tsurugis and their company. Some rumors said that the bathrooms were made out of solid gold and the food that was cooked was all crafted by legendary world renowned chefs. The people that lived in the towers were considered definite elites.

The two officers went in through the lobby, mesmerized by the regalness of the lobby alone. The floor was carved out of marble so white and clean that they could see their reflections. The walls were decorated with ancient Japanese and French paintings, statues and a few modern pieces. The concierge's desk was made out of black marble on top with a beige bottom, giving the man behind the desk an air of professionalism, almost robot-like. And above them were modern chandeliers that brought out the brightness of the lobby even more.

"I feel poor just standing here, Izuku." Mina commented, covering her eyes from all the glow.

"Yeah, me too, Mina." Izuku looked around at all the cameras. "If this were a hotel villa, the average cost of living here is around 1400 US Dollars a night."

"A night? That's 42,000 a month!" Mina snapped. "I'll stay with my cozy apartment, thank you very much." They walked up to the concierge.

"Hello, we're looking for a Mademoiselle Cerise. Last name is Rossi." Izuku showed the concierge his badge.

"My apologies, monsieur et mademoiselle. But unless you have a warrant or an appointment, I cannot let you in or contact one of the tenants." The concierge spoke with a robotic voice, getting raised eyebrows from the two officers.

"I'm sorry, we didn't catch that. What's your name, Mr.?" Mina asked.

"I am Concierge Unit-7998, designated name, George." The Concierge replied as Izuku took a peek behind the counter to see the man was in fact a machine.

"He's a machine." Izuku gasped.

"Ah! What they said about AI is true! They're taking over people's jobs!" Mina panicked.

"What is going on here?"

Izuku and Mina turned to see Kagami Tsurugi out of costume, walking towards them.

"Lady Dragon? I mean, Mademoiselle Tsurugi, what are you doing here?" Izuku asked.

"I live here. You're the two officers that aided us in the Dark Blade case. Officers Midoriya and Ashido, correct?" Kagami asked. "It's alright George, I'll take it from here. Code: Tsurugi 202."

"Yes, mademoiselle." The AI concierge turned away.

"Spooky," Mina said.

"What brings you two to Tsurugi Towers?" Kagami asked.

"We're looking into a string of identity thefts and the latest one seems to be living here." Izuku made up. "We were hoping to ask them if they had any spending they don't recognize."

"Pretty standard stuff. Maybe their bank has already mentioned it but if this is the work of the same gang or person, we want to verify." Mina put her hands behind her back.

"Well, I don't usually help in such types of cases, but I could help you track the woman you seek." Kagami offered.

"You wouldn't mind?" Izuku asked.

"If their identity has indeed been stolen, then there's a chance that it could be a flaw in the system and as such put the rest of the tenants at risk. Better be safe than sorry." Kagami turned to the elevators. "Follow me, please."

Izuku and Mina followed behind Kagami, taking care of watching all the cameras and security measurements the tower had. They noted the fingerprint ID pad at the entrance of the elevator, a camera inside the elevator itself, in the hallways of the building, the emergency alarms on the emergency exits and finally the only way to enter the rooms was with a special ID keycard. And they didn't give out copies to just anyone. Which meant they had to find another way to get in if this was the place they were looking for.

"Man, delivering here must be a chore." Izuku pointed out. "Hope the pizza delivery guys get good tips."

"Any outside food is placed on a special elevator that goes straight to the room and can only be accessed from the front desk." Kagami explained. "Most delivery agents are not allowed to go beyond the lobby."

"So no one that isn't invited in can go up?" Izuku asked.

"Some areas are accessible like the gym and the head office but not the apartments, Officer Midoriya. Thinking of ways someone could break in?" Kagami asked.

"It's just something to keep my mind occupied. Are all the apartments the same size or are they different?" Izuku asked.

"You can see the different types of apartments. They're all meant for either one person or for a small family." Kagami added as the elevator reached the floor.

The trio walked down the hall until they reached the room that they were looking for. They stood before a dark redwood door with the number thirteen written on the side.

Izuku knocked on the door, wondering who would be behind the door. Would they see Foxthrob in her civilian identity or would they be met with someone that didn't have anything to do with this?

The door opened up to reveal a young woman with short brown hair cut in a pixie cut, brown eyes and slightly tanned skin like Foxthrob.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asked.

"Um, hello, is there a Mademoiselle Rossi living here?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, I'm Cersei L. Rossi, how may I help you?" Cersei asked.

"We've been following a strand of identity thefts with all the victims named Lila Rossi, and we were wondering if you've had anything out of place or a purchase you don't recognize?" Izuku looked at her, noticing something odd in her eyes.

"Oh that sounds terrible. But everything seems to be alright and I haven't had any calls from my bank about such things." Cersei replied, looking worried. "I don't know what kind of fiend would do anything as heinous as that." She looked down, giving Izuku a chance to look into her apartment.

He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary except something he didn't understand. His eyes landed on a picture of Lila and Bakugo by the key bowl. He remembered Bakugo telling him about that picture, it was the first picture they took as a couple.

"Is that all, officers?" Cersei asked.

"Oh, um, yes. In case you receive a call or something like that, here's my number." Izuku handed her a card. "Thank you for your time, mademoiselle."

Izuku, Mina and Kagami left the girl alone. However, Izuku gave her one last look, noting the evil Cersei's smirk. They had found her and now they had to steal the hard drive without her knowing what had happened.

Cersei went back inside her apartment, tossing the card away.

"What a couple of idiots. But Kagami must be dealt with." Lila dropped her illusion. "Another name for me to scratch."


Izuku and Mina had gotten back to Alya and Alix with the information they had gathered. Now came the heist planning that the former cat burglar had been hoping to get her hands on. They stood over the different notes they had made of the tower's security and all the information they could gather from their website, including the layout of the apartment that Lila was leasing. The layout was simple and at the same time it was large enough to allow for any form of furniture belonging to the tenant. But knowing that this was the hideout of a well known thief and villain that made her livelihood with lies meant that she had some kind of security system.

"Alright, we know that Lila isn't going to leave that apartment any time soon." Alix started looking over the layout, moving stuff around to give herself more room to work with. "So, we need to get in while she is forced to leave and give us time to work through everything."

"Yes, Alix, that seems to be the problem. What are you doing with my furniture?" Izuku asked as Alix finished moving his furniture.

"Trying to make this as close to her apartment as possible. My best guess is that she will have a safe where she'll have the most privacy. According to the tower's contract, she can't have one hidden in the walls, so maybe her closet." Alix scratched her chin.

"Guessing won't help us if we can't get in the building let alone her room." Mina pointed out.

"Their security is top notch. You'll have better luck sneaking into a bank than there." Alya looked over the information about the security. "We can't cut the energy nor sneak in through a blindspot, it doesn't even have anything for updates that we can use to our advantage."

Alix smirked. She didn't see this as an impenetrable tower that held riches for her to steal. She saw it as a door with a lock that was only a little harder to pick and she would see it through. Because she had long learned that there was no such thing as a perfect security system. The trick was to see the whole thing as a jigsaw puzzle that needed to be pulled apart one piece at a time.

"Tsurugi Towers might have one of the best securities in the world. But they all have to fall to the laws of construction and software," Alix said. "We're talking about cleaning out bugs, fixing the broken pieces that glitch the system and forced reboots that can take up to so much time that no one would notice us going in or out."

"What about emergency drills? In most buildings you can't use elevators and the alarms are already blaring, one more won't stand out." Mina snapped her fingers.

Alix replied with a smirk of her own.

"That gets us through the door and up to the floor, but there's no way that Lila won't just say screw it and send an illusion in her place." Alya pointed out. "Unless her Miraculous has a range she can't work around?"

"It hasn't been recorded but the farthest she's ever sent a clone is approximately 20 meters, almost 66 feet." Izuku recalled. "She's more the kind to use illusions for surprise attacks and traps. So the idea of range has never been called into question."

"Then that settles it, now we've got a plan." Alix pulled the whiteboard. "Step 1…"


"We create a distraction that triggers the alarms."

Alya walked into the building wearing a black hoodie and a baggy set of clothes that hid all her features. She carried a pizza up to the front desk of the towers.

"Here's a pizza delivery for Ms. Tsurugi." Alya made her voice deeper like a young man's.

"I'm sorry, but we have no records of such a delivery." George said in his electronic voice.

"It was prepaid and all. She wanted it fresh and hot for when she arrived from her patrol." Alya thanked Izuku's knowledge of heroes. "Must've forgotten to specify it was pizza."

"It does sound like Mademoiselle Tsurugi." George opened the delivery cart. "Please, put the pizza on the tray."

Alya did so before leaving.


As the dumbbell went up, the timed smoke bombs went off inside it. The thick black smoke spread through the floors and into the rooms of the different tenants. It went up to the penthouse and into Lady Dragon's room.

The fire alarms went off.


Lila was sipping a very expensive wine and looking at her investments when the alarm went off.

"What the?" Lila growled in annoyance.

Her phone rang, alerting her to the evacuation. Normally she wouldn't have bothered but she complied. She let out an annoyed sigh as she made her way to the outside through the emergency exit path.

"This is such a pain. I bet one of these fools forgot that there was no smoking under any circumstances in this tower." Lila casted her illusion, locking the door behind her.


Down on the first floor, Chat Noir snuck in as people left the tower, slipping in through the people. Amongst the crowd of people moving to the exits, he blended in the shadows and ran to the emergency stairs. He hid in the darkness, holding his breath as silently as he could as he saw Lila pass him by. Fighting the urge to growl at her, he snuck past her, running up the stairs. He ran up, not being noticed by anyone in the middle of the evacuation.

When he was past the last of the people, he pulled out his grappling hook. He fired it, flying up the next few floors without a hitch. He narrowed his eyes as he reached the entrance to the floor he was looking for. Opening the door, he peeked out to see the camera that looked upon the hallway. With a quick throw of his Kali stick, the camera broke, giving him free reign of the hallway.


"That's great and all but how do we get into the room?" Alya asked. "You need a non-duplicable key to enter the apartments."

"Not if it follows the electronic safety regulations." Mina smirked.

"That's right, electronic locks now have to be shut down due to any emergencies." Izuku remembered. "If the locks are connected to the security system then they have to shut down. This other company had a problem with their locks that actually left people stuck outside their homes when the fire alarms went off."

"Which brings me to Step 2…" Alix wrote on the whiteboard.


"Breaking and Entering Undetected."

Izuku arrived at the apartment door. He pulled on the doorknob, opening the door. Smiling under his mask, he went in before closing the door behind him. A quick look at the apartment gave Izuku a good look at 'Cerisei's' apartment. It was an altar to her own self-aggrandizement and the image that she had been feeding the people of Paris for many years while working under Hawkmoth.

The bright clean marble floor was covered with expensive luxury rugs made out of imported silk, matching the beautiful paintings and pictures that covered the walls. Though, Izuku noted that several of the paintings had an awfully close resemblance to some of the paintings that had been missing from a case a few years back. The furniture was as soft as sitting on a cloud made from Egyptian cotton. Her closet was filled with expensive brands of clothes, most of which were of the Agreste Brand, including fur coats that could easily have been made out of actual foxes. Apart from making a note of that, Izuku noticed the pictures that Lila had gotten from Bakugo. A show of actual affection? No. It was all part of the illusion that she wanted to play out. She had probably placed it there as a reminder of her plan and the role she had to play in it.

"I'm sorry, Bakugo. But she's not the woman you thought she was." Izuku turned back to his mission.


"Once you're inside the apartment, you need to be quick and find the hard drive." Mina explained. "She'll probably hide it somewhere in the apartment. A safe in her closet or a locked filing cabinet next to her bed."

"The point is, you'll have at most twenty to thirty minutes to find it and get out." Alya added.

"Usually you'll need to keep everything tidy and unassuming. But since Lila won't tell anyone that she was burgled." Alix scratched her skin. "But just so she doesn't know what was taken…"


"Be very messy."

Izuku ran through the entire apartment, opening every single door and cupboard that he could lay his eyes on. He threw out anything that could block his sight in search of the hard drive. He pulled down the framed paintings and pictures that were set on the walls, finding nothing behind them like he'd expected. The books were all set during different periods in history and explorations on certain topics like the art of illusions, witty manipulation, photography, observing the stock market and how to make men fall for you with one simple sentence. Moving on to the bookcase, he found several books and albums that could give off the feeling of home. Opening the books and the photo albums, he didn't find anything that he didn't already know. He ran into her large walk-in closet, taking down her expensive clothes made him feel a little childish but very good at the same time.

Normally, Izuku would've felt bad about thrashing someone's home. But he reminded himself that this was the home of a villainess that would've gladly seen him dead if she felt like it. Also he was letting out some of his frustration for her.

Just then, his eyes landed on a slightly shining safe. Izuku knocked over the mountain of shoes out of the way, gazing at the safe. He dropped down to one knee to see what to do. He pressed his hand on his ear.

"Okay, Alix, I see the safe." Izuku spoke.

"Perfect, babe. Now, tell me what flavor is the cake we'll be cutting?" Alix asked through the communicator.

"It says it's a Gorizilla 2018MLB." Izuku read while looking at the keypad.

"Ooh, expensive taste and good security. It has to be opened by getting her fingerprint and the code." Alix explained.

"There goes the idea. How do I get the code and her fingerprint?" Izuku looked around.

"Babe, Alya here. Look for anything she's touched lately." Alya instructed.

Izuku ran off in search of something. His eyes landed on the glass of wine Lila had been drinking from.

"Once you've got it, grab the makeup powder and a roll of tape. Spread the powder on the keypad of the safe before blowing the air off of it."

"Alya, are you moonlighting as Alix's cat burglar assistant?" Mina asked.

Izuku got the idea, snatching the two other pieces. He spread the powder on the keypad and the wine glass. He blew off the excess of the powder, revealing Lila's fingerprints. Taping one of his fingers with the tape, he pressed the tip against one of the fingerprints, taking it with his finger. He moved back to the safe, blowing away the excess makeup powder.

"The numbers are one, two, four and six," Izuku said.

"Okay, small problem. The codes have to be of five digits. We're missing one." Alix pointed out.

Izuku began thinking of what Lila could use as a code. It would have to be something that she knew by heart, a number of five digits that she would never forget. He looked for clues around the room, but he couldn't find any. His eyes landed on the picture of Lila with Bakugo once more. Turning to the keypad he entered the code, 42616, the date she made her hero debut. The day she pulled her biggest trick.

The safe opened, revealing the hard drive that they were looking for.

"We've got you." Izuku snatched the hard drive before leaving.


Lila huffed in annoyance. It took the fire department thirty minutes to completely check the building and another twenty minutes to get the all clear to go back inside. She wanted to strangle someone for making her waste almost an hour of her precious time. Though it did give her the chance to revel in the worried looks of everyone around her. Even the mighty Lady Dragon looked worried and unsure of what was going on. But that would be something for another day.

Lila opened her apartment door and was shocked at the sight before her. All her bravado and self-satisfaction melted away like a piece of chocolate under the summer sun.

"My apartment!" Lila rushed in.

The whole place had been left a wreck. Everything had been thrown out and on the floor. All her luxurious and expensive pieces were flipped and thrown to the ground like they were worthless. The paintings she had taken for her own pleasure were taken down with care while everything else was just tossed like the whole point was to cause chaos.

Lila felt fear grip her heart as she surveyed the mess that was left for her. She sharply turned to her safe, only to find it open and the hard drive missing. Breathing in and out, her heart quickened, beating against her chest. The fear that gripped her heart started to swallow her like someone pulling her into a dark pool. But the fear quickly turned to a burning rage. Like a flame erupting from a pool of gasoline, she started to punch anything that wasn't broken.

She punched her prices for heroism and threw her bottle of wine, shattering it into pieces. Huffing in rage, her mind started to think of who would have the nerve to steal from her and who knew about where she lived. She didn't know how, but she was certain that it was Chat Noir. Or he was somehow involved with it. She needed to find a way to get him to show himself. She needed to bring him into the light and make him suffer for pulling this stunt on her. But what kind of bait would be the perfect kind to make him come out and suffer?

In her angered state, she barely noticed a small piece of paper falling on her leg. Looking down on it, she could make up one name. An insignificant name to her otherwise, but it was perfect for what she wanted.


The next morning, Izuku and Mina were taking the elevator back to the office with smiles on their faces. They had gotten hold of the hard drive from Lila and were only hours away from learning what was in it. They had won.

"You feeling good, partner?" Mina asked.

"I am. We are finally hitting Hawkmoth where it hurts." Izuku said, feeling like he needed to say something else. "This is for Naomasa."

"He'd be proud of our little team." Mina kissed Izuku's cheek. "We're proud. And it doesn't matter that they won't make a parade for us or give us a promotion. We did it for the right reasons and that's it."

"You're right, Mina. I couldn't have done it without you or Alya and Alix. I hope you know that." Izuku held her hand tightly, making her blush.

The elevator doors opened up, revealing Lady Dragon of all people. She sternly pointed her sword at Izuku.

"Izuku Midoriya, you are under arrest." Lady Dragon glared.