Sin of Reveal

by Gale-Dragon

What would happen if Lila summoned a Lord of Hell to make Marinette suffer? Well, if you're Satan and Asmodeus, you wonder how someone botches a summoning and then just do what is paid for to be done with it. Not their fault that they discover Tikki and Plagg's Holders during this. With a side plot of Chloe learning to be a big sister to 5 siblings! Ongoing story.

4. Chapter 4

Sin of Reveal, Chapter 4

~}I{~

Wang Fu panted as he rode his bike towards the school that Ladybug and Chat Noir attended, pedalling as fast as he could while adhering to the road rules of Paris. That text from Marinette was the reason behind the Guardian of the Miraculous' current actions. As he kept peddling, Wang thought, 'How did more people find out?' It didn't take him long before he got to Dupont. After carefully looking around for any onlookers, he quickly locked his bike to the school's bike rack and then rushed into the school.

Wang felt his heart stop when he saw… 'This many!' the Guardian immediately thought when he saw the members of Miss Bustier's class who were there, Luka, Kagami, Miss Bustier, Ms Mendeleiev, Damocles and Tikki floating out in the open. That alone was enough to tell the Guardian who these people were. Wang could feel the panic inside his gut surge a bit when he thought, 'How did this many people find out?!'

Tikki floated over to Wang when she said in a tone that was unusually down for the usually cheerful Kwami, "Hi, Guardian… Yes, all these people know and I'm sure you want to know how." Wang nodded dumbly, still in shock over all this. Tikki huffed before she narrowed her eyes and turned her whole body to look toward the girl's restrooms.

Wang Fu looked in that direction only to see Satan leaning against the wall next to the girl's restroom, on the opposite side of the hinges. The Lord of Wrath noticed that the old human was there before he said, "Ah, you're the Guardian human that Tikki contacted. I'm Satan, the Lord of Wrath." He shrugged when he said, "You can blame me for blowing that secret to these mortals." He ran a hand over his face before adding, "How I missed all of them is currently beyond me."

Wang looked at Tikki when he asked in a bewildered tone, "Again?!"

The red Kwami gave a shrug when she said in that same uncharacteristic tone, "I'm just as surprised as you. Especially on this scale."

Raguel walked in when he stated, "I was sensing right. Fate had a hand in that outburst." The only things Satan did was scowl and click his tongue.

Wang was confused and startled by the sudden appearance of this person. Tikki quickly filled the Guardian in on what was currently happening, which relieved the Guardian. At least until Wang noticed Jason Blood nearby but standing off in the corner with Kathryn. The two stared at each other for a good few seconds in silence before Wang asked the redheaded man in a defensive tone, "What are you doing here?"

Jason glanced away from the Guardian when Satan stated, "Asmodeus pulled in a favour from him." The Lord of Wrath sighed in annoyance, "He and Raguel are the ones on the Search for that annoying Over-Summoner that just can't seem to understand that they are not doing the Summon right, or even understand that they aren't Summoning me. And don't get me started on the frequency of those Summons"

For some reason, that scenario sounded familiar to Max.

After a few seconds, Jason glanced back at Wang when he stated, "I'm not here for the Miraculous, but the Over-Summoner is actively causing problems in Hell that could upset the Balance." Kathryn looked between her father and the older human.

Wang Fu glared at the redhead before he turned his attention to the group of onlookers when he stated, "As long as you don't touch any of the Miraculous, I guess I can tolerate this."

The group couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two.

Wang sighed before asking, "So where's…" He paused, unsure if he should say Ladybug or Marinette. Not to mention he was NOT comfortable with how many people were here and KNEW who she was.

Ms Mendeleiev motioned her head towards the girl's restroom when she stated, "She's in there. Just blowing off steam over what happened. Mr Blood gave her some kind of noise-suppressing charm so she can scream if she wants." She folded her arms when she added, "Can't blame her, but at least Hawkmoth won't sense her emotions."

Wang raised a brow when he asked how that was possible. Satan was more than willing to explain, "I'm absorbing her emotions since it all falls into the Wrathful category." He sighed before he added, "It would be a rather nice meal if it weren't for the circumstance surrounding it."

Alya raised a brow at this before asking with some mixed emotions, "Uhh, not to be rude but… Shouldn't you be happy that… Uh, someone feels a lot of wrath no matter the reason or something along that line?"

Satan shrugged and stated in a rather nonchalant tone, "Meh, that's a fair thought. And yes, while I adore the idea of you mortals being all hateful and angry with one another, there is a difference between wrath that is one's own and wrath that is made because of unavoidable circumstances that you just can't stand." He made a circular motion with his right hand when he stated, "This whole thing would be considered the latter."

Raguel added, "Aside from Fate interfering in Satan's ability to sense mortals within this building, this whole event is because of an unknown mortal that is idiotically becoming a major problem for all involved."

Satan growled before he stated sourly, "Agreed! What kind of moron of a mortal refuses to listen when they're told that a Summoning is incorrect?! Multiple times in a short timeframe, mind you!" He then grumbled out in annoyance, "A Summon every two days! How impatient can a mortal be?!"

While something finally clicked in Max's mind as he slowly glanced at Kim, Juleka couldn't help but say in a deadpin tone, "So… Whoever is causing this… "Thing" is causing major problems and keeps doing it by beating the dead horse despite the warnings…"

Satan and Raguel asked the goth in pure confusion, "When did the beating of a dead horse get involved in this?"

The group just stared at the Angel and Sin with an "Uhh…" look when they heard this line.

Jason wirily explained, "Beings of Heaven and Hell are quite literal, so it would be best to avoid using any type of slang around them. It is one of the main reasons why you have to be careful with the wording when it comes to contracts with them."

Ahh, okay, that explains the quirk of the "Otherworldly" individuals.

Satan slumped against the wall when he got out, "Despite this… Issue, it might work in our favour with more mortals on the lookout for this annoying Over-Summoner."

"More mortals?" Everyone but Kim, Nino, Kagami, and Luka stated in confusion. Those four were looking a little pale.

"Lord Satan! It might not be the best time to say that," Jason got out before the Lord of Wrath could continue on that.

However, Adrien seemed to put the facts together and thought about them for a few seconds before he glanced at Nino and Kagami, both of whom noticed and couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the whole thing coming to light in such a way. Adrien then glanced to the side, and the feeling of betrayal started surfacing.

Everyone snapped out of their confusion and thoughts when Raguel stated a little too calmly, "We can at least remove these mortals from suspicions with one question."

Tikki couldn't help but fold her stubby arms when she deadpanned, "Must be nice to be able to do that no matter the situation."

Satan groaned before he got out, "Tikki, just let him do this so we can at least eliminate these mortals from that suspect list, and honestly, I don't care that he does it long as there's some kind of progress on finding this Over-Summoner."

Tikki glared at the Lord of Wrath before sighing and conceding to the process, whatever it was. Jason did vocalise that it needed to be done as Kathryn looked between her father and Wang Fu.

Raguel turned his head towards the group of mortals, causing them to be filled with a nice bundle of uneasiness, before he finally asked them, "Are any of you the person who despises Marinette Dupain-Cheng enough to summon a demon of Hell to cause her nothing but misery?"

A flurry of emotion filled the area. Most are dismayed and confused. Everyone exclaimed that they would never hate Marinette or do something like that to her. Chloe and Zoe ended up jinxing, "Hating Marinette that much is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" It caused the half-sisters to side-eye each other, but it didn't make them feel better about what was happening. No one could blame them.

Wang Fu and Kathryn were undoubtedly confused by how… Blunt the Angel was being… Even less so when Raguel stated after everyone has calmed down a little, "All of you speak the truth. Therefore, you all are eliminated as the Over-Summoner."

Okay… That was a little confusing… Not to mention weird…

Jason quickly explained, "Archangel Raguel can tell when someone is telling falsehoods. This is a handy tool for someone whose main duty is to uphold Justice."

Raguel hummed a little before he stated, "It is also good for eliminating individuals that have nothing to do with certain events or have no knowledge of them." He turned an ear towards the entryway when he added, "However, it seems as though this was meant to happen."

Wang Fu, Tikki, Adrien, and a hidden Plagg glanced towards the entrance to the school to see what the angel was talking about. Though they saw a quick flicker of light, they assumed that it was from a passing car, they didn't see anything else.

That was when Alya finally realised the facts in front of her when she exclaimed in shock, "Oh my God! That's why Marinette kept saying that Lila was lying about being Ladybug's Bestie! She's Ladybug!" Satan, Raguel, Kathryn, and the teachers were confused by this outburst while the rest of the mortals were looking at the blogger with a "really?" look. Alya took notice of the looks when she stated, "Now it all makes sense why Marinette never got along with Lila!" The faces didn't change. Alya couldn't help but ask, "Why aren't you guys surprised by this?"

Ivan couldn't help but say, "That Marinette is Ladybug, yes, we're surprised by that."

Adrien couldn't help but think bitterly, 'Some of us…' Satan could feel the blonde model's anger and was more than happy to absorb it, but the Lord of Wrath had to pity the Black Cat for being the reason why he found out this way.

That was when Ivan added, "Learning that Lila lied about being best friends with Ladybug, not really. Especially since she's lied about all her other famous connections and some of her achievements."

When Alya almost sputtered out the question of what her classmates were talking about, they were more than willing to lay out the facts for the blogger. How Jagged Stone never owned a cat and that no one could find any information about an unreleased song entitled 'Lila', how Clara Nightingale always credited the people who helped with her music, how Prince Ali of the Kingdom of Achu has only worked on children's charities, how there was no way that Lila would have met Bruce Wayne at the base of Mt Everest because he was working on a charity involving preserving the rainforests during the timeframe Lila gave them, though for some reason Jason looked the most confused when he heard this, how impossible it would've been for her to have met Stan Lee last summer, and the less said about how Lila knew the former Style Queen the better.

Kathryn couldn't help but say, "Why does this remind me of half my classmates from last year when we have to share our weekly story assignment?"

Jason couldn't help but say, "Well… That's… Quite a lot of tales this classmate of yours had told…"

Raguel commented in a deadpin tone, "If she was telling those as a means of entertainment, it wouldn't be much of an issue. But from what I'm hearing, she's telling these lies for attention and adoration." He turned his attention towards the students when he asked, "Though I would like to hear more about how Marinette doesn't like this Lila classmate."

Nath said, "Well, Marinette doesn't like liars so she never tried to get along with Lila, but then again, Lila doesn't exactly like Marinette either."

Satan's interest peaked when he asked, "How so?"

Rose twiddled her fingers together when she admitted, "Well… Marinette never fell for Lila's lies, so I guess Lila took offence to that or something."

Alix placed her hand to her chin when she commented, "And Lila is willing to be petty against Marinette, but I never saw anything more than that…"

Alya quickly said, "But Lila HAS tried to mend fences with Marinette, but you know how Marinette is! Besides, Lila might've told a few lies but she's not some kind of a vindictive jerk! She's been nothing but nice and kind to the rest of us! No way she could Summon anything, let alone a demon! Plus she's been sick a lot lately!"

Raguel's brows furrowed slightly at this when Satan got out, "Oh, so the little liar is just prideful. *Scoffs* Getting one's pride slightly bruised isn't enough to warrant such a lengthy list of Wrathful things to do to another soul." He then thought about that for a bit before he asked, "What did you mean by her being sick a lot?" Miss Bustier was the one to explain that Lila got sick three times over the past two weeks. She threw in that she planned on telling Lila's mother about maybe taking her to a doctor if she got sick again. Raguel raised a brow when Satan commented, "Hm, sometimes I forget how fragile some of you mortals are."

That was when a loud bang was heard from the girls' restroom door. The sound was sudden and made everyone jump. Well, everyone but Satan.

The Lord of Wrath glanced at the door when he stated, "I see, she's been holding in a lot of rage for a while. Hmm, feels like most of it came about before the Over-Summoner. I'm going to guess that the Hawkmoth character is the reason behind that." He sighed before he commented in a somewhat exhausted tone, "Honestly, a Soul like her shouldn't have to bottle up that many negative emotions. Even if it is beneficial to me at the moment."

Then things were quiet.

}I{ At the Same Time }I{

Hawkmoth was just standing in his lair in confusion.

Well, confusion would be an understatement for what he currently felt. He was utterly baffled! Completely and utterly baffled!

He had felt the unbridled, raw anger and emotions from Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He also felt some emotional distress from some others at Dupont, but they were mere candles to the inferno coming from the aspiring designer!

At first, he was ecstatic that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was finally feeling some negative emotions! She had so much wonderful potential to become Hawkmoth's masterpiece! She would most certainly get him Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous! But as soon as Gabriel scurried to his lair and transformed into Hawkmoth, that wondrous emotion he wanted to lock onto as quickly as possible to send the Akuma had up and vanished! Just like that! Just gone all of a sudden! It was as if someone flipped a light off without warning!

Now Hawkmoth was just… Just trying to lock on the other emotions he felt close to Marinette, but he couldn't feel those either! Nothing! Absolutely nothing was coming from his son's school! All those emotions! The anger! The disbelief! All just gone! Like they were never there!

"How was that even possible?!" Hawkmoth said out loud in shock.

}I{ Back at Dupont }I{

Ms Mendeleiev was wrapping bandages around the semi-swollen left hand of an unusually quiet Marinette.

Normally, the stern science teacher would have scolded the student for being so reckless when throwing a fit. But given the current situation and what has been revealed…

"How does that feel? Not too tight is it?" Ms Mendeleiev asked the bluette as she finished off the wrappings.

Marinette tested the mobility of her hand, which was a little difficult given the swelling and bandages, but she was able to move her fingers well enough without too much discomfort. The bluette shook her head, not trusting her voice at the moment.

Meanwhile…

Adrien took the opportunity to talk to Nino and Kagami, in private. While Satan was absorbing all the negative emotions, it didn't mean that the emotions weren't being felt… But the two did pacify the blonde by telling him that they promised Marinette that they wouldn't tell anyone that she was Ladybug after the previous time Satan blew the secret.

Nino placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder that didn't have the Wrathfly on it when he said, "While we weren't going to tell you, we would've encouraged either you or Mari if one of you wanted to tell the other identities."

Kagami couldn't help but say, "We thought it wouldn't have taken long before one of you wanted to tell the other, but…" She sighed when she added with a more crestfallen look, "We certainly didn't think Satan would expose Marinette for a third time…"

Adrien raised a brow when he asked, "Third time?"

Nino explained, "Satan had to tell Mari's parents so he could reach an agreement on what he can do for the payment without doing too much harm to Mari after the first of those summonses. We were the second time." Now Adrien understood. The red-capped teen tilted his head to the side when he said, "You can still tell her about… Chat, but…"

Adrien nodded when he said, "Yeah, it might be a good idea to wait a few days… She's already under a lot of stress and I don't want to add to that until that settles down a little bit." He glanced at the Wrathfly on his shoulder when he tickled its cheek when he asked, "You think she would be okay with me giving her my Wrathfly for a few days?"

Kagami shrugged when she said, "It might help with preventing Hawkmoth from targeting her when she's at school or out and about, but she will still be feeling those emotions."

That was when Nino pointed out, "And Satan is currently crashing at the Dupain-Cheng residents, so he's helping even if it is for a more selfish reason." Well… That was true… He sighed before he said, "Honestly, after all the Summons and seeing how it was affecting the literal embodiment of Wrath and what he's mentioned about how it was affecting Asmodeus… We haven't been able to find one person who would hate Mari THAT much, let alone someone who wouldn't bother listening to a higher power."

Plagg floated out and landed on Adrien's free shoulder when he got out in a thoughtful tone, "Yeah, that's an oddly specific person…" He tapped his chin when he mused, "Asmodeus told this Over-Summoner that they were summoning the wrong Sin, but not the real price for that long list. But since the Miraculous are involved, they can't…" Plagg scratched his head when he added in annoyance, "Damn! If that Over-Summoner would listen to Asmodeus, all the protocols for Over-Summoners could be followed and all this could've been avoided!"

Adrien patted the Kwami on the head as he agreed with him.

Also at the same time, in another room…

Max folded his arms as he gave Kim a stern look when he stated dryly, "So, that "script" of yours?" Markov was hovering next to the techie.

Kim rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle when he got out in an equally nervous tone, "Yeah… I was a little worried about the Heather part giving it all away."

Max raised an amused brow before he said, "Well, I can understand why you used different names that sounded similar, but why did you use Heather for Chloe?"

Kim twiddled his index fingers when he said, "My sisters like the movie and musical… And Chloe does somewhat share the same characteristics as the Heathers."

Markov vocalised, "Kim does have some logic to that."

Max nodded before he asked, "So the whole Mystery part of that "script", is that the situation that the real Satan is talking about?"

Kim nodded sadly when he said, "Yeah, pretty much… Satan was oddly nice during the whole thing. He was rightfully annoyed, but believe it or not that outburst today has to have been the only time he's been wrathful. Outside him wanting to torture the Over-Summoner, of course."

Max placed a hand to his chin at this before he said, "As fascinating as that is, I believe our main priority is locating this Over-Summoner and stopping them before anything worse can happen because of their illogical haterade of Marinette."

Kim folded his arms as he raised a brow and questioned, "Illogical haterade?"

Max stared at the tall teen when he stated as he moved his arms to emphasise what he was saying, "Look me in the eye and tell me anyone who would hate Marinette enough to summon a demon constantly. Just Marinette and not including Ladybug."

Both Kim and Markov did have to agree when they stated, "Good/Valid point."

}{ About Five Minutes Later, in the School's Library }{

Raguel held out a simple silver lock with an old-fashioned scale pressed into the metal when he stated, "Here, this lock is programmed to detect and store the fingerprints of whoever touches it. I recommend that you use this in place of your usual." Marinette timidly took the lock and looked it over, as she did the metal turned gold wherever her fingers made contact. That was when Raguel stated, "To anyone without any Magical or Spiritual Awareness, it should look identical to your usual lock but it will use a different key. I'll give that to you before I leave."

Marinette looked at the angel when she asked, "But it's not going to stop whoever is breaking into my locker, it just tells us who they are, right?"

Raguel simply said, "It should work as a normal lock, but given how this person has been getting in. I am sorry to say that it might be a possibility."

Marinette looked at the lock when she said, "But… If this lock keeps track of fingerprints then… You'll be able to figure out who the person is… And hopefully, the Over-Summoner too."

Satan scoffed when he stated, "That IS the goal, but I know Ozzie isn't going to like the fact that it might cost another unwanted Summon." Raguel and Jason agreed to that.

The next thing everyone knew, Miss Bustier's class came in with some office supplies and somewhat dumped them on one of the library tables, closely followed by Zoe, Kagami, Luka, and Damocles.

Jason and Satan looked over the items when the Hell Lord asked, "What are all of these supposed to be?"

Rose was the one to say with a smile, "Oh, these are just supplies we're going to use to help find out who this Over-Summoner person is!"

Juleka popped next to the other when she added, "Write down people who might not like Marinette, think about possible motives to hate her and figure out if we can contact them to confirm or deny our suspicions."

Nath poked his head out from behind the headmaster when he said, "And since some of us are visual thinkers… We thought it would be a good idea to use a board to show who might be a possible suspect and who has been eliminated from the list."

Jason folded his arms when he said, "Not a bad idea, but I hope you have a place to keep that so no one outside this group doesn't find it."

Ms Mendeleiev shrugged her shoulders when she stated, "I can keep the chart in one of the empty cupboards in my classroom. It's probably the only place in the school where a locked cupboard isn't going to pique anyone's interest or even notice." Well, that was a true statement. Given that the science teacher was known to keep some dangerous chemicals locked in her classroom when not in use, it made hiding the chart in there all the easier without it looking out of place. Ms Mendeleiev folded her arms when she stated, "But to keep this whole… Thing a secret from the rest of the school body, it would be best to work on it either after school hours or in smaller groups while making sure to communicate the results to one another."

Yeah, that was reasonable.

Jason nodded at this before he stated, "That might work, but Raguel and I are still going to have to find and talk to whoever is getting into Ms Dupain-Cheng's locker." He looks at the Angel when he adds, "Raguel will obviously be the one to interrogate them to see how involved they are with the Over-Summoner." The Angel of Justice only gave a nod.

Not even a few minutes later, everyone started on the "project". Everything went smoothly until Alya said, "Hey, guys, since this is kind of a class project, maybe we should bring Lila in on this. I mean, she might've lied about knowing people but she would certainly want to help us with this."

Marinette's response was immediate when she snapped, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" She was quick to wave her hands when she added in aggravation, "There is NO WAY she is going to be told about this!"

As a few of the girls tried to calm Marinette down, Nino told his girlfriend, "Babe, I get it she's your friend and you want her involved, but given the tension between Mari and Lila… I don't think that's a good idea as of now." The red-capped teen didn't trust Lila with this knowledge nor could he fully trust Lila not to make things worse over pettiness. However, he wasn't going to let Alya's trusting nature get the better of her right now.

Alya tried to protest, but Alix did point out that while Lila is nice and caring towards the rest of the class, minus Chloe, she does not seem to want to even try to get along with Marinette despite what she claims. Mylene did add that they currently couldn't trust Lila to help Marinette without causing some sort of issue. Although Kim did comment that he wouldn't put it past Lila to try to sabotage their mission in some way out of a misguided attempt to be petty.

However, it was Raguel who ended the discussion by saying, "In case you also forgot, Marinette is the Ladybug Holder and the number of mortals who know is already too many. It would be in everyone's best interest to keep it at that number." He then turned his attention towards Alya when he added, "Also, given from what I've heard, this Lila seems to adore attention being on her and has been frequently absent from school. From experience, I can tell you that this combination is not something that should be included in this group."

Satan glanced at Marinette when he commented, "And given your reaction, I take it trusting that Lila is one of your reasons to "dislike" her?"

Marinette folded her arms in a huff when she stated sourly, "Given how she started with that "Ladybug's Bestie" claim, I don't even want to know what she would do if she knew I was Ladybug!" This made Alya feel very guilty about her part in that. The bluette hunched her shoulders when she added, "Besides… We can't trust her with this information, period."

Satan did point out that since she's been absent from the school during most of the period of the rapid summonings she couldn't have known that "The List" was even being done. He then huffed out that they should keep her out of this no matter what while somewhat giving the blogger a stern look. Alya shrank in fear under that, but who could blame her? He was the freaking embodiment of wrath!

It didn't take long before they went back to the "Project". The first person they eliminated was XY.

~}I{~

After explaining to the Dupain-Chengs the new situation, the whole Ladybug Group spend the majority of the next day looking at the people who might've disliked Marinette, went over their motivations that resulted in that dislike, checking on their whereabouts during the timeframes for the Summonings, and then update the board once the information was confirmed.

Max, Markov, Alya, and Nath checked out the people online who had some issues with the MDC brand, but the majority of those were outside Paris and wanted Marinette to be able to ship the commission while the minority thought that Marinette should charge more for her amazing designs. It was safe to say that no one hated MDC and wanted her harm or knew her real name, so those 'critics' were quickly eliminated from the possible Over-Summoner list.

The rest of the class, Luka, and Kagami did a lot of the gumshoe tasks of doing some surprise interviews on the few people who didn't like Marinette who lived in Paris. A good amount of those people did have some good motives for not liking Marinette, however, none of those people had any kind of direct connection to Dupont or any means of knowing the bluette's whereabouts enough to learn that 'The List' wasn't getting done. There were a lot of eliminations in this section, but there was still a good number that couldn't and were on the pending list.

Miss Bustier, Ms Mendeleiev, and Damocles checked some of the school records to see if there were any issues with Marinette from some students and former students. They found nothing too major and most of those were misunderstandings. The only constant students with issues with Marinette are Chloe and Lila, but Chloe's gotten better and is now on more friendly terms with the bluette while Lila was out for the majority of the time of the Summons. So there was no one that they could add to the Possible Over-Summoner list. However, when they looked at the timing of the theft reports Marinette filled out they noticed that the timing and amount of items taken were… Odd…

Well, it certainly made the science teacher wonder if the person getting into the bluette's locker thought that she wouldn't notice if all these items went missing. It also made Damocles wonder if he should add security cameras to the locker area, but after looking through the School Board Guidelines that idea was quickly snuffed out. Well, there was a security camera right outside the locker area. All they needed to do was watch the timeframe from that camera around when the theft reports happened, but that was still a lot of video feed to go through… Markov happily volunteered for that.

Tom and Sabine took a more subtle approach when talking to their customers, but they weren't able to find anyone as of yet.

Chloe and Zoe opted to keep an ear open when they were out with their siblings and fathers for anyone saying anything suspicious since those were prior commitments that they couldn't miss.

Jason and Kathryn decided to do a different type of gumshoe investigation, with some of the Stationed Angels. They would be asking around the Magical Side of Paris hoping to find the location where Asmodeus was being summoned to. Though it would be more along the lines of them asking if the magic civilian has noticed any new pockets of Miasma looming around any areas or looking for these pockets. Since the Lord of Lust has been summoned so many times in a rather short time, there had to have been a large cluster of Miasma in the place where they were summoned to. So far, nothing was coming from that. Which was both odd and very concerning.

Master Wang Fu was… Meditating the whole day to come to terms with the fact that so many people now knew who Ladybug was…

While the Ladybug Team was updating the Board, Satan and Raguel made some calls that seemed oddly cohesive…

Satan was on his hellphone, apparently talking to a Stationed Devil, when he stated in a tone that was trying to control his aggravation level, "Listen here! I need you in Paris within the next day to help find a huge ass cluster of Miasma. I'm sure you've heard of that Over-Summoner so I don't need to explain why."

Raguel was talking to a Stationed Angel on his skyphone, explaining the situation before saying, "I know that there are already Stationed Angels here in Paris, but this situation is becoming rather big very quickly."

Satan ran a hand over his face with a growl when he told the devil on the other end of the call, "Then tell that husband of yours that you won a sightseeing trip in Paris or something. I don't care what excuse you use, just get your ass to Paris! We're going to need all the help we can get to stop this from getting even worse!"

Raguel nodded his head when he replied to the angel on the other end of the call, "I understand that you already made a commitment to your partner, but perhaps you can do two things at once by doing those promised things in Paris while you seek out the Miasma cluster."

Satan stifled a cackle as Raguel raised a brow before both of them said into their respective calling devices, "Not with the way you always talk about him." After a beat of silence, the two then said into their phones, "Good, now do your best to get to Paris, Crowley/Aziraphale."

Jason was the only one in the Ladybug Team who seemed to know what was going on with those calls.

}I{ Meanwhile }I{

A disguised Lila walked back into the apartment building she and her mother were living in with take-out from her favourite fast food joint that was luckily close by. Yeah, she had to leave the apartment to get it but she couldn't risk using the delivery option and the other residents taking notice of how often and where it was being delivered too. Lila didn't want any blabber-mouths telling her mother that she ordered food from a fast food place a lot. Not because her mother would've given her that boring lecture about how bad it was to eat fast food so often, but because that would have made the woman suspicious as to HOW she was paying for the fast food. Sure, Mrs Rossi gave her daughter a nice allowance every other week but it wasn't enough to be eating fast food every day, sometimes more. This, in turn, would lead the mother to check Lila's bank account and see that she was receiving payments from the Gabriel Brand and learn that Lila somehow got a job without her knowledge. And Mrs Rossi, unfortunately, has the authority to remove Lila from that job and possibly learn about the school never closed for extended periods of time. That would be bad for both Lila's income, having time with her Adrien, and her little kingdom at school. So, walking to get her favourite food was worth her mother not finding out about her manipulations. And Lila made sure to toss the wrappings from the fast food in the rubbish bin that she had in her room since her oh-so-trusting mother didn't touch that.

As Lila walked into the main lobby, she heard one of the other tenants of the building throwing one heck of a coughing fit. It made her jump because of how sudden it was before snapping her head to the person, an elderly man with his worried daughter and son-in-law standing nearby. Lila scowled at the people before she continued on her way back to her unit a little faster than before. As much as she loved lying about being sick to get sympathy and having people do stuff for her, she didn't want to actually get sick.

Not noticing the "stranger" left, the couple fussed over the older man when the daughter got out, "Papa, are you sure you took your medicine today? You're coughing more than usual."

The daughter's husband then said in a concerned tone, "Agreed. Maybe we should stop at the doctor's office and get you looked at, just in case."

The elderly man didn't want to but knew it would be best to do so. He coughed again, but this time, a faint dark purple nearly black mist escaped his mouth. However, none of them saw it.

Lila got to her unit without much delay and then proceeded to eat her lunch as she scrolled through her phone. She DID think it was a little odd that her loyal little puppet didn't send her the daily updates but brushed it off as Alya thinking that the day's events were too boring to tell her.

Lila frowned when she realised that that meant that Satan STILL hadn't done anything to that goody-goody! 'Why the hell isn't that stupid demon NOT doing what I want even after all those sacrifices?' Lila thought with a growl.

Well, she knew what she was going to do after she ate. But those plans got delayed when she realised that she didn't have any more items she stole from that goody-goody's locker. Lila clicked her tongue at this. Yeah, this was annoying but this didn't deter her, she already had her perfect method of getting into that goody-goody's locker and she was brilliant enough to avoid suspicion from all those gullible idiots at school. Lila smirked when she thought, 'I don't even have to worry about those inspectors. There are other ways to get things from that goody-goody,' before she glanced at the printout she made of the Summoning Circle for Satan from that website on top of her desk.

}I{ Later that Night }I{

Everyone on the Ladybug Team returned to their respective homes, exhausted by all the work they did but still uneasy by what they found out regarding the reason why the Miasma needed to be found. Not just because it was the place where Asmodeus was being summoned, but because the Miasma was being released into the area with every Summon and that stuff was toxic to mortals… And that there was a legitimate website dedicated to Summoning Angels and Demons.

Yeah, Jason Blood showed them the website since it was the most accessible place to get that information. At first, he thought that there might've been an error on the Satan page, but when he looked it over, the information was correct. This caused Jason to theorise that the Over-Summoner either skipped a step on the Summoning or did not follow the instructions that were in place.

}{

Adrien was sitting at his desk as he looked through the Summoning Website on his computer. "Wow, this Desmond Tiny is incredibly thorough," the blonde told the black Kwami as he scrolled up to the summoning circle. He then pointed to the text right above the image when he added, "And check this out."

The text clearly read, "All Summoning Circles Must Be Drawn By Hand. Please Use The Image Directly From Our Site As For Reference. Do NOT Print The Summoning Circles Out, Doing So Will Corrupt The Image And The Summon Will Not Work As Intended."

Plagg floated by Adrien with his arms folded when he said thoughtfully, "Maybe Jason is on to something with the Summoning that the Over-Summoner is using. Most Humans are prone to making mistakes when they don't follow pre-established instructions."

Adrien looked at the Kwami when he said, "True, but these instructions are pretty hard to miss…"

Plagg glanced at the blonde when he asked, "Have you heard of the "What Colour was the Horse" story?"

Adrien nodded when he told the Kwami the short story about a crime involving a mounted police officer on a horse and how dozen of CSI were meticulously going over the scene, taking pictures and notes for hours. As Adrien came to the end of the story, he stated, "After the Chief of Police finished reading the reports, his only question was "What colour was the horse?" After all that time gathering evidence and taking pictures and notes, none of the CSI noted the colour of the horse. The moral of that story is "If you can miss something that obvious, what else could you have possibly missed?"... Oh…" He got a sheepish look on his face when he got out, "I see your point."

Plagg patted the teen on the cheek when he said, "It's okay, I understand that you notice the obvious rules, but there are people out there who either skim them over or don't even bother to read them." He glanced at the computer monitors when he added, "It seems like the Over-Summoner is in the latter category…"

}I{ Meanwhile, in Vacant Room Inside the Eiffel Tower }I{

Raguel was going over the information he had just acquired. He tapped his cane as he reviewed the "oddities" during the interactions with those mortals. More specifically Alya's and Miss Bustier's words regarding Lila.

The angel felt the wall for that particular piece of information before tapping it, causing it to play out loud, "But Lila HAS tried to mend fences with Marinette, but you know how Marinette is! Besides, Lila might've told a few lies but she's not some kind of a vindictive jerk! She's been nothing but nice and kind to the rest of us! No way she could Summon anything, let alone a demon! Plus she's been sick a lot lately!"

Raguel placed a hand to his chin as he went over this oddity. 'The words that were spoken are lies yet she believes that she is speaking the truth… Interesting…' The Archangel of Justice thought before he went over what Miss Bustier said about this Lila. Raguel furrowed his brow when he thought, 'Same with her…' He then tapped his left hand to his chin when he thought, 'Both involve this Lila…'

After some thinking, Raguel decided that he needed more information to solve these oddities.

}I{ A Few Hours Later }I{

Satan was sleeping on the couch of the Dupain-Cheng residence. The Lord of Wrath was still low on energy even after multiple viles of Liquid Wrath. He would have drunk the last one, but he decided to save that for an emergency. So he still had to sleep occasionally to replenish his energy, but at least he was also absorbing the negative energy from the neighbourhood.

Satan rolled to his side as he continued to sleep.

The Dupain-Chengs had a guest room, but the Lord of Wrath declined the offer to sleep there. Citing that he needed to be close to the doors in case one of his underlings came by and needed his attention. Plus, what Satan did NOT want to admit was that he… Felt weird when he was around the Dupain-Chengs… They… They were good people… They were kind people… Definitely not the kind of souls that would be in Satan's circle, both socially and in his Ring… But… It was… Strangely nice for some bizarre reason… Satan knew that they would be loved by Azr-.

Suddenly, there was a loud blaring noise that echoed throughout the residence.

Satan shot awake with a jolt, nearly falling off the couch. As he tried to figure out what was happening, he felt a breeze coming from the back of the residence, the same direction as the noise. He was quick to move towards that location, to find the source of both the sound and the breeze. On the way, Tom, Sabine, Tikki, and Marinette joined the Lord of Wrath in following the noise. All looked rather spooked by the sudden wake-up call.

That was when they saw that the back door was open a quarter of the way.

Satan ran a hand over his face when he got out in a loud, groggy tone, "Who forgot to lock that?"

Tom walked to the door as Sabine turned the lights on while Marinette moved towards whatever was making the noise. The taller human inspected the door as the youngest shut the noise maker off. Tom saw the scratch marks on the lock of the outside end of the door and told the rest of the small group, "No one forgot to lock it, someone picked the door open!"

Satan frowned when he stated, "Then I guess it was a good thing you set the alarm system. The thing scared the would-be intruder off." As Tom closed the door and re-locked it before using a sack of flour to block the door from opening, the Lord of Wrath then said, "But why is the damn thing so loud?"

Sabine joined her daughter to look at the alarm system when she stated, "It's not supposed to be." She analysed the system and noticed an addition that was certainly not there the last time it was looked at. "Who added that?" Sabine asked as she pointed to the addition.

Marinette turned pink when she got out nervously, "Oh… I thought I told you about it…" Both Tom and Sabine looked at their daughter when they asked why she did it. Marinette nervously fidgeted with her fingers when she admitted, "I… I just… Just wanted to make sure that… That you were all safe… Especially since…"

Satan watched as the parents told their daughter that they understood but they gingerly told her that the siren was too loud to use. He watched as Marinette adjusted the volume of the make-shift addition as Tom wrote a note to get someone in to add extra locks to the back door. Sabine then told Marinette to go back to bed. The youngest complied as she headed back to her room with a yawn. Once he heard the sound of the hatch to Marinette's room close, Satan glanced at an uneasy-looking Kwami and asked, "Tikki, do you know anything about that little extra attachment to the alarm system?"

The little Kwami was quick to say, "I thought she was making that to put in her school locker! You know, to help alert everyone that it was being robbed so that they can catch the person breaking in! I didn't think she would instal it here!" She shrank a bit when she added meekly, "You can't blame her for it… She deserves to feel safe in her own home… Her parents too…"

The Dupain-Cheng couple knew it was true, but that didn't stop them from worrying. Satan could feel the emotions of the youngest member of the house and learned something unexpected. The parents were next to return to bed. However, the two entities weren't ready to go to bed just yet.

Satan told Tikki to follow him as he went to the front of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He made a small red light and silently commanded it to light up the doorway. The red Kwami gasped as she covered her mouth with her paws at what she saw. Another make-shift siren was attached to the alarm for the bakery entrance. Tikki's antenna twitched when she got out in disbelief, "When did she!? How did she!? Do all the doors have one?!"

Satan folded his arms, causing the light to dissipate, when he said, "Yes, they are, and all are armed to go off should someone try to force their way in. I have no idea how she installed them without anyone noticing."

Tikki's antenna dropped in worry as Satan narrowed his eyes in uneasiness.

~}I{ At Dupont, A Few More Hours Later at 08:55 }I{~

Marinette yawned as she rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up more as she sat in her assigned seat in Miss Bustier's classroom.

Alya nudged the bluette before she whispered to her, "Gurl, please tell me you didn't pull another all-nighter."

A still sleepy Marinette shook her head when she got out in a tired tone, "No. Someone tried to break in and set off the alarm... Woke everyone up…"

Nino and Adrien were quick to turn around in their seats when the blonde asked the bluette in shock, "Someone tried to break into the Bakery?!"

Marinette shook her head again when she said, "Not the Bakery… Our residence…" She then yawned again as she rested her head on the desk when she grumbled, "I couldn't fall back asleep after that…"

Nino had a worried look when he asked, "Was anything taken?" The bluette grumbled out a No and the alarm scared the would-be intruder off before they could get in. He then asked with a raised brow, "Mari, are you going to be okay today?" When he heard the bluette grumble out a she'll be fine and that she was just tired, the red-capped teen then asked, "Don't you think a nap in the nurse's office would be a good thing?"

Adrien offered to help walk Marinette there. The bluette told the blonde that she'd think about it but she didn't want to fall behind in class. Everyone glanced at each other in a worried manner. Who can blame them? After, eh-hem, recent events, Miss Bustier's class was even more worried about the bluette. She didn't need any more things to stress her out. They needed to both find a way to cheer her up and hopefully find some clue as to who this Over-Summoner was.

}{ Meanwhile }{

Lila frowned as she chugged her coffee down as she made her way to school. She was annoyed that she needed the coffee to wake herself up and by the fact that she failed to break into that goody-goody's home to steal any small trinket to use later to summon Satan, more to avoid having to break into a locker with two extra sets of eyes around. As she tossed her now empty coffee cup into the rubbish bin a little harder than needed, Lila thought in aggravation, 'Urg, what kind of idiot sets an alarm on the back door of their house?' That alarm nearly stopped her heart and could've gotten her caught! She huffed before she thought, 'If her stupid parents put the alarm on the back door, then they wouldn't have any alarms on their bakery door.' Oh! That would also allow Lila to wreck the place so they won't open! And she can steal something from that goody-goody while she's at it! She can do that tonight if she wanted!

Lila quickly plastered on her best smile as she came to Dupont when she thought, 'Yeah, but so Mama doesn't find out, I'll take a few things from that goody-goody's locker and then wreck that bakery during the night. I just need to keep watch for those investigators, but that should be easy.' Lila walked into the school without much care, already had her wonderful tales ready to tell her gullible classmates so they can adore her as they should.

On the upper level of the school, Kathryn watched the brunette enter. Her dark eyes on the new arrival with a critical gaze. The black skull on one of the child's earrings glowed slightly. Kathryn brought her hand on that same side up to the earring and rubbed it with her index and thumb. She narrowed her eyes at Lila, who entered her assigned classroom.

}{ In the Locker Area, a Few Minutes Later }{

Jason Blood was testing the door to Marinette's locker. It had such a nasty creak that he stopped after the second test. 'Urg! Why is this one so noisy?' the redhead wondered as he closed the locker and locked it with the new enchanted lock. He placed his right hand to his chin as he moved to an unoccupied locker and tested the door. It hardly made any sound. Finding that odd, Jason decided to test the doors of the other lockers that didn't have a lock. The last time he was here, he and Raguel only looked in Marinette's locker and looked around the immediate area, but this time… He was checking all the doors to the lockers he can open.

Jason closed the door to the last locker without a lock before placing a hand to his chin to think about this weird discovery.

"Is there something wrong, Mr Blood?" Fred Harprele asked as he noticed the redhead in the locker area.

As the part-time teacher walked in, Jason stated, "I guess you can say that." He motioned towards Marinette's locker when he said, "Ms Dupain-Cheng has informed me that someone has somehow been breaking into her locker and stealing some of her supplies and asked if I can figure out how this unsub (1) is breaking in. She permitted me to look at it on the condition that I lock it when I'm done."

Fred nodded when he said, "I've heard about that." He folded his arms as he thought about those reports before he said, "Though I do have to admit, that this is quite bizarre…"

Jason raised a brow when he asked, "How so?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders slightly when he said, "Well, for one thing, whoever is getting into Ms Dupain-Cheng's locker has been taking one to four things at a time and seemed to assume that she wouldn't notice."

Jason looks at the bluette's locker when he said, "I did see that her locker looks messy, but I noticed that it's oddly organized. Perhaps whoever is breaking in thought she wouldn't notice missing items in a supposedly messy locker."

Fred looked at the locker in question when he vocalised, "True, but the items being taken are stuff that they could've just asked to borrow from other students." When Jason asked what sort of items, the part-time teacher stated, "Stationary stuff mostly. You know, pencils, erasers, markers, glue sticks, and pencil cases. I think a few of Ms Dupain-Cheng's spare hair ties have been taken… And I believe her little doodle sketchbook was taken." When Jason asked how small the sketchbook was, Fred moved his hands to give a size estimate when he said, "Smaller than her usual sketchbooks but bigger than those pocket notebooks."

Jason narrowed his eyes when he thought, 'So everything that has been taken are things that you can stick in a pocket or a bag relatively quickly.' He then told the part-time teacher, "I think Ms Dupain-Cheng is more upset that this person is breaking into her locker and bypassing her lock than the items taken."

Fred grimace when he said, "I can't blame her. Heaven knows she deserves someplace safe to put her things here at school."

That got Jason's attention pretty quickly when he asked, "Are you saying that Ms Dupain-Cheng had her locker broken into in the past?"

Fred gave a sad nod when he said, "That's the reason why she started using a lock and kept using the lock even after the issue with the other students has been resolved." He then noticed the new lock when he said with a sigh, "Let's hope that will keep this person out, especially if this person somehow made a copy of the key to the prior one."

Jason raised a brow at this before he stated, "Let's hope so… But maybe you can answer one question I have about Ms Dupain-Cheng's locker." When Fred asked what it was, the redhead stated, "Well, when it was opened it has such a terrible creaking sound, which is making me glad that my daughter and Raguel aren't here. I thought it might've been age but none of the other locker doors has that creaking issue. Did anything happen to the door to cause it to become creaky?"

Fred shook his head when he said, "Besides the occasional Akuma attack on campus, which is fixed later by Ladybug's Miraculous Cure, I don't think so. Plus, I doubt Ms Dupain-Cheng would do anything to her own locker."

Jason placed a hand on his chin with a hum of suspicion before he asked, "What about the other occupied lockers? Do any of them have a creaking issue?"

Fred shook his head again when he said, "Not that I'm aware of, but you wait for the next class change and listen for any if you want."

Jason folded his arms when he said, "I might have to do that."

}I{ Later, During Lunch }I{

"Hey, Alya, should Marinette be falling asleep in class like that?" Lila asked her pawn oh-so-innocently, hoping for a chance to both dig at the bluette and to get information on if her list is being done.

As the blogger glanced at Marinette, who was still having trouble staying awake at a different table, she debited on telling Lila the entirety of the situation. On the one hand, her classmates told her facts that proved Lila was lying the entire time, but on the other hand, she was her friend and shouldn't be left out. However, the class, Angel, and Lord of Hell explicitly told her not to say a word about it to Lila… Plus, if she told Lila then that would breach the trust she had with Marinette! Not Ladybug, Marinette!

But Alya really wanted her two best friends to get along… 'Maybe I can use this to help and technically I'm not breaking my word not to tell her,' the blogger thought before she turned to Lila when she said softly, "Someone tried to break into Marinette's residence last night. Poor gurl couldn't fall back asleep afterwards."

Lila covered her mouth to hide a smirk, but it appeared to be in shock to others, when she got out, "No! Why would anyone break into her home?" Internally, the liar happily patted herself on the back for manipulating her obedient little pawn so well.

Alya shrugged when she said, "I don't know, the alarm system scared the idiot away before they could get in."

Lila bit the palm of her hand at this, to prevent herself from saying anything about that. 'Grr! I wish I could forget about that! Damn thing made my ears ring the entire night!' she thought in annoyance before she plastered on a worried look when she asked, "That's still terrible. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Alya smiled as she patted her friend on the shoulder when she said, "I wish you could and I would love for you too, but maybe you should wait until Marinette is less sleep-deprived. She might not be in the best mood."

Lila smiled when she said, "Oh, okay, thanks for the advice." But internally, she was smirking at the opportunity to paint that goody-goody in a bad light. But she couldn't help but think, 'So Satan isn't doing my little task list. But at least I know what to do later~. Both during PE and tonight~.'

What happened next made Alya happy but Lila annoyed. Adrien was taking Marinette by the hand and leading her in the direction of the nurse's office, he was clearly worried about her. Alya uttered a, "Yes!" under her breath while Lila frowned.

The brunette was going to have a nice word with Adrien later at the shoot today.

}{

On the way to the nurse's office, the two Heroes made a quick detour to the locker area. Marinette just wanted to grab her spare jacket, for some familiar comfort and warmth because the nurse's office was always cold. Adrien was still pretty worried about his partner, and what happened last night was just adding more and more unneeded stress on Marinette. The cat hero wanted to help his lady out in some way.

Adrien quickly glanced around, making sure that there wasn't anyone around, Marinette unlocked her new lock. The blonde cringed when the creaky door opened. The bluette noticed and said, "Sorry about that…"

Adrien rubbed his ears when he said, "It's not your fault." He looked at the locker door when he added, "But I don't remember your locker being… Noisy."

Marinette grabbed her jacket, then quickly closed the locker to avoid listening to the creaking, and relocked her locker when she said, "Yeah, I don't know what happened. It was fine one day and then started making creaking noises the next…"

As they made their way to the entrance of the locker area, Adrien placed a hand on his chin when he said, "That's kind of weird that it came out of nowhere, M'Lady." Marinette nodded. However, once both registered what was said, they paused before slowly turning their heads to look at each other.

With a shocked expression on her face, Marinette got out softly in disbelief, "Ch-Chaton?!" Before Adrien could even think to deny that, Plagg poked his head out from his Holder's jacket pocket and gave the bluette a wave with a nervous chuckle. Marinette faced forward, pinched the bridge of her nose when she grumbled out, "I am not awake enough to have this sink in…"

Adrien shrank a bit as he twisted his Miraculous on his ring finger before he finally said, "Sorry…"

Marinette sighed before she said, "It's not your fault… It's… It's the "recent events"... Arg, I think Mr Raguel might be right on that fate thing being involved…"

Adrien placed a comforting hand on the bluette's shoulder when he asked, "Uh, maybe a nap will help you process this a little better." Marinette only nodded, fingers still pinching the bridge of her nose. The blonde gently encouraged the bluette towards the nurse's office, not realising that Raguel was nearby and heard everything.

As the angel turned an ear to the footsteps of the two heroes. "{Seems you are still lingering around, Fate,}" Raguel said softly in an unknown tongue that was spoken among the other angels. That was when a giggling noise was heard echoing nearby, however, only a few would be able to hear that. Raguel made no motion to pinpoint the noise when he asked, "{What reason do you have to expose the identity of Tikki's Holder to so many people and caused Plagg's Holder to speak a word that allowed another to find out who he is?}"

The giggling voice did so for a few seconds before saying, "{Oh, just setting forth things that need to happen, all according to plan~.}"

Raguel furrowed his brows at this as the giggling vanished. 'So… Lord Destiny is involved in this…' The angel thought before going over the facts that he was aware of. Destiny, the eldest of The Endless, had absolute power over their realm, which was a garden containing all possible destinies of present, past and future. Destiny has power over the predetermined course of events as well as the absence of necessity and constraint in choice, but that only pertained to beings that were not Entities or other Endless.

Raguel placed the second knuckle of his right index finger on his chin when he thought, 'Lord Destiny can only influence and interfere with mortals while their child, Fate, can cause or create specific events to push mortals in the direction Lord Destny needs them to be, but…' He moved his hand away from his chin when he thought, 'Neither can directly interfere with the Lords of Hell and the Virtues of Heaven. The only reason Fate was able to mess with Lord Satan's ability to sense mortals was the fact that he was trying to conserve what little energy he has stored and the fact they were targeting the mortals directly… This also means that Lord Destiny couldn't interfere with the Summoning Website since that directly affects Lord Asmodeus…' Raguel had to conclude that Lord Destiny was trying to set everything up for something big later in time.

Raguel knew better than to question what the event could be. The Archangel of Justice could trust Destiny's decision. Not like there was any choice in the matter.

"Something wrong, Raguel?" Jason asked the angel when he walked up to him.

Still, in that language of the angels, Raguel stated, "{It seems that Plagg and Tikki's Holders now know who the other is.}"

Jason folded his arms, understanding the other perfectly, when he asked, "By choice or by accident?"

Raguel responded, "{There are no accidents when Fate is involved.}" This caused the redheaded man to raise a brow. The angel then stated, "{Rules of the Miraculous or not, this is Lord Destiny's will. The Guardian will have to accept that and help assist in this endeavour.}"

Jason stiffened as he looked to the side when he said, "I think you would have better luck convincing him than I would…"

Raguel raised a brow at this before he said, switching to French, "That is a rather odd truth…" He could sense that the other did not want to talk about whatever transpired between him and the Guardian in the past. The angel nodded when he said, "Very well, I shall go to his residence and talk to him, after the school day."

It was Jason's turn to raise a brow when he asked, "You think something will happen today?"

Raguel tilted his head to the side slightly when he said, "Not particularly, but there is something I would like to confirm."

That was when Jason's cell phone went off. Raguel asked what was going on, since as far as the angel was aware the only people who would contact the redhead at the moment were Kathryn and that-

"Akuma Alert?" Jason vocalized as he looked at his phone screen. Raguel raised a brow at this as the redhead read the alert that he didn't remember setting. Jason narrowed his eyes at the news when he stated, "Seems Hawkmoth is being active. Should we get our little Heroes and help deal with the Akuma?"

Raguel shook his head when he stated, "I'll catch up with the Plagg, you stay with Tikki. She needs her rest." And with that, the angel motioned for the other to follow as he headed towards his destination. Jason didn't need to think too hard about what that could mean.

}I{ A Few Minutes Later }I{

A decision was made and with a plan in place, Mr Bug and Raguel headed off to fight the Akuma while Jason stayed behind to keep an eye on a sleeping Marinette with the Black Cat Miraculous on her ring finger and Plagg snuggled in the pocket of the jacket she had.

}{

While everyone from Dupont was either out following the strange Akuma battle or following the news of the battle from a safe place, Lila walked out of the locker area with a smug smile on her face as she zipped her bag shut. 'Seriously, that goody-goody is so stupid she hasn't noticed anything missing from her messy locker,' Lila thought as she flipped her hair when she decided to head home to start her little ritual, and then she'll head to her latest photoshoot with the Gabriel Brand and remind a certain blonde that she should be the only girl he should pay attention to. The liar just couldn't wait to remind Adrien that he was hers and for the eventual downfall of that goody-goody. She was so enthralled in her thoughts that she didn't notice that someone had spotted her.

As Lila left the school, Kathryn poked her head out of the school's main entrance. The child watched the teen walking off the school's ground as if it were just a normal day and nothing was happening. Kathryn thought that was a little odd. That brunette was a little too at ease walking outside, given that there was an ongoing Akuma attack that could come along at any minute. Kathryn raised a brow at this.

The black skull earring glowed again.

}I{

The battle with the Akuma was oddly easy. Mr Bug had a hunch that the fact that he was using the Ladybug Miraculous played a factor in that, but he was sure that no one would've anticipated an actual angel joining in on the fight. Well, at least the Akuma battle didn't take as long this time around.

Raguel used his sword to break the item the Akuma Butterfly was residing in. Once the corrupted little creature fluttered out, Mr Bug caught it with his yo-yo to purify it. The red-clad hero then tapped the yo-yo to open and let the now pure white butterfly out when he said, "Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Raguel held his sword as he would a cane when he asked the hero, "Just out of curiosity, why do you and Ladybug say that every time the Akuma is captured?"

Mr Bug shrugged when he said, "It's just something we do." He then looked at the Lucky Charm that he created earlier that he didn't even use... An old simple red key with black polka dots… Same as last time… How weird… But Mr Bug threw the Lucky Charm into the air as he called for the Miraculous Cure, which in turn fixed everything that was destroyed or altered.

Raguel walked over to Mr Bug as the little ladybugs did their work when he asked, "What was wrong with the Lucky Charm?"

Mr Bug shook his head when he said, "Nothing was wrong with it, it was just… The same item M'Lady got the last time we used the Miraculous Cure." Raguel raised a brow before he asked what the Lucky Charm was. Mr Bug replied, "It was an old-looking key. Don't know what it goes to or why we got it a second time in a row…"

Raguel said nothing until he sensed that mortals were starting to gather. "It would be best to return before those uninvolved notice your absence," the angel told the red-clad hero. Mr Bug nodded before they headed off before any of the civilians could ask any questions.

}I{

It didn't take long before Adrien and Raguel were back at Dupont and no one was the wiser. Marinette woke up from her nap and traded the Black Cat Miraculous for her Ladybug Miraculous before they headed back to their last class of the day. It was noted that Lila was absent. Alya texted her, asking where she was. When Lila texted back, saying that she felt safer at home rather than at school during the Akuma attack, Jason and Raguel thought that odd. However, once it was explained to them that one of the Akuma attack protocols was to stay or go to someplace safe, it was brushed off as normal but a tad odd. Though Raguel felt something out of place about the text, he couldn't read the text on a mortal device, he didn't know what it was.

On the upside, they were able to add more information to The Board that some of the smaller groups had gathered.

~}I{ An Hour Later, At a Gabriel/Ash-Mode Brand Photoshoot }I{~

"How long does it take mortal businesses to process sexual harassment claims?" The blonde Lust Demon with the blue highlights and lowlights asked their fellow demons and Gabriel employees. They then morphed into Adrien Agreste in a plume of blue mist and then added in their own voice, "No seriously, when did we send the first one to Mr Agreste?"

The Lust Demon with the high braid scowled when they said, "You'd think he would be all over those claims, but given what Axel learned…"

The Lust Demon with a New Yorker accent then said, "Tha dick should at least take notice of the numbuh of claims and complaints he was gettin', especially since they involve his kid."

Vincent couldn't help but add, "Sometimes I think the boss just believes that guys can't be sexually harassed." He waved a hand while he set up his camera when he said, "He always seems to find a way to downplay those "Touches" in one way or another. Sometimes he even tells the staff who send in the complaint to stop making up lies regarding his son."

As another Gabriel staff member got the set ready, they said, "Hence why everyone started sending in their complaints regarding any sexual harassment of any kind anonymously."

The tallest of the Lust Demons, Kippin, scoffed when they stated sourly, "The number of Sinners condemned to the Ring of Lust that have targeted males for their sexual pleasure would say otherwise." This made the humans look at this Lust Demon with somewhat baffled expressions. They shrugged when they stated, "What? Sinners who've been condemned to Hell are sent to one of the Seven Rings, sometimes more than one, depending on what crimes they've done during their life. The Ring Lust gets the Sinners that have done Crimes Against Lust to, eh-heh, torture for as long as they're condemned."

The mortals glanced at each other at this. What the Lust Demon said made logical sense, but… Okay, maybe they should ask questions about that at a later date.

Lila arrived on set, none the wiser about what had transpired. She happily hugged "Adrien", who did not welcome it. But before the Lust Demon posing as the blonde model could try to pull away, Lila hissed in "Adrien's" ear, "We need to talk about your actions earlier and if you know what's good for you, you'd better come with me during the break."

Before "Adrien" could answer, Lila pulled away and headed towards her changing room. The demon posing as the model scratched their cheek in confusion before asking Axel when the liar was out of range, "Umm, did something happen between Lila and Adrien at their school or something? The little annoyance wants to talk to "Adrien" during the break and apparently isn't taking no for an answer."

Axel only raised a brow at this.

}{

As Miss Bustier's class worked on "The Project", Adrien got a text from Axel. The blonde boy read the text with a confused look.

"Did something transpire between you and Lila today? Or anything out of the ordinary?"

Adrien thought back on the day. Other than his catty slip-up and fighting as Mr Bug with Raguel… There was nothing out of the ordinary that had happened… And Lila hasn't bothered him at all today… Adrien replied to the text.

}{

Axel read the text he got from Adrien with a critical eye.

"Can't say anything big happen involving Lila today, and she hasn't bothered me at all. I think she's finally understanding my boundaries!"

Axel narrowed his eyes at the text before pocketing his phone and said to the Lust Demons, "Adrien says that nothing has happened, but I don't think he's aware of what Lila thinks needs to be "talked about"." He glanced at the Lust Demons when he stated, "Zahare, humour her, but make sure to do so in the range of the security cameras that can record sounds."

The Lust Demon posing as Adrien, Zahare, said in the blonde model's voice, "Way ahead of you on that." They fold their arms when they stated, "Hopefully, it will be something that will make Mr Agreste act." A gleam reflected off of a silver vine-shaped band on their middle finger.

"Good," was all Axel stated before they went to their places for the photoshoot.

}I{ At Dupont }I{

Jason Blood cringed as he hung up his cell phone before he told the group of humans, "Well, that Over-Summoner acted again. Asmodeus and Lord Satan aren't thrilled…"

A thought came to Marinette when she got out, "You don't think that…"

Jason raised a brow.

The next thing everyone knew, they were in the locker area and Marinette quickly opened her locker. The door practically screeched as it did. Nearly everyone covered their ears at the sound.

"Sorry…" Marinette said self-consciously before she inspected her locker. She let out a growl when she snapped, "My emergency sewing kit and my sweatbands have been taken!"

Jason inspected the locker door when he said, "I just checked this, the only thing off about this is the noise." Marinette apologised again. The redheaded man waved a hand when he said, "It's not your fault for that, but…" He held up the new lock when he said, "We might have our little thief's identity at hand."

Progress!

}I{ At the Photoshoot }I{

"All right! Everyone take five!"

Everyone on the set happily relaxed at those words. "Adrien" stretched his arms forward, the vine-shaped ring gleamed in the light. That was when Zahare noticed Lila giving them the look. "Adrien" rolled his eyes before he went along with the liar's whims. Zahare managed to subtly direct Lila to a secluded area that had security cameras that could record audio. When they stopped, right in the range of that security camera, Zahare asked the liar in Adrien's voice with a sigh, "What did you want to talk about, Lila?"

Lila scowled when she snapped, "Don't play dumb with me, Adrien! You know what you did!"

Zahare frowned when he said, still playing the part of Adrien Agreste, "Lila, you haven't bothered me at all during school, so I have no clue what you're implying. If anything you think happened that I should know, tell me what it is to make me understand." He folded his arms when he stated, "I'm not a mind-reader, you know." Though the Lust Demon couldn't help but think, 'Thank goodness on that.'

Lila let out a growl when she snapped, "You spending time with that goody-goody instead of me!"

Zahare raised a brow when they vocalised in Adrien's voice, "Pardon?" They couldn't help but think, 'What the heck is a goody-goody?'

Lila rolled her eyes in annoyance when she stated sourly, "That Marinette bitch. We had a deal, remember."

"Adrien" cringed at the tone. Somewhat thankful that the real Adrien told the Lust Demons about that so-called "Deal", Zahare said in a controlled voice, "I remember. However, just because that means that we're "friends" as long as You adhere to your end, doesn't mean that I can't hang with my other friends."

Lila growled when she spat out, "That deal meant that you were mine! And I don't want you spending even a second on that goody-goody!"

Zahare took a step back in uneasiness when they got out, "Lila, the deal was I don't expose that you're a full-blown liar to the school and you leave Marinette alone. There was nothing in that where I agreed to be "yours" in any way whatsoever." The demon couldn't help but think, 'Did Adrien… Misunderstand what this brat was talking about at the time? No, he couldn't have, he laid the groundwork for that deal.' If that was the case then what was this liar's problem?

Suddenly, Lila shot her hand out and gripped "Adrien's" upper left arm in almost a death grip. She glared at the blonde with a snarl on her face.

"Owch!" Zahare got out as he moved to try to remove the appendage cutting off his circulation. They could only barely feel that the brat was digging her nails into their arm. Okay, maybe it wasn't "painful" for a demon of Hell but it would certainly be painful for a human, especially a teenager. Zahare had to play that part to avoid suspicion.

Lila yanked "Adrien" close until they were nearly face-to-face when she snarled out, "Now, you listen here, Adrien. You are MINE! You are NOT to spend ANY time with any of the other girls outside of the school's classes. I will only allow you to spend time with those idiotic boys because they are worth something." She clenched "Adrien's" arm tighter when she snapped, "I can just as easily get rid of anyone in the school as I can get your father to remove you from school!" Zahare could sware that he was losing feeling in their arm when Lila snapped, "You are MINE to do with as I please, got it!"

"Adrien" yelped in pain as Lila gripped his arm even tighter before he got out, "Owch! Okay! Okay! Owch! Now let go!" Zahare couldn't help but think, 'Yikes! What the Fuck?!'

Lila smirked as she released her grip on her prize. "Adrien" immediately cradled his arm to relieve some of the pain. Then Lila said in a sweet tone as if nothing had happened, "I'm glad you saw the error of your ways. I'll see you tomorrow at school." She then happily left, thinking that she made her point and that it would be adhered to and not caring what she had just done. Lila didn't even notice "Adrien's" green eyes glowing purple as he glared at the back of her head.

The other Lust Demons rushed to the scene, alerted to the situation by the demon watching the live feed from the security cameras.

"Zahare! Are you okay?!" one of the demons asked as they helped their fellow hell-born up.

Axel was quick to inspect the injury on "Adrien's" arm. "What the?! You're bleeding?" Sure enough, blood was slowly oozing out of the little nail indents on Zahare's arm and was already starting to bruise. One of the other Lust Demons was quick to apply first-aid to the injury while another took pictures to add to the case file.

That was when Kippin said, "If that brat was gripping Zahare THAT tightly! She could've done worse to Adrien if it were him!"

The Lust Demon with the high braid gasped at what they were seeing before looking at Axel when they said, "Axe!"

Axel already had his hellphone out when he stated, "Already ahead of you on that." He quickly dialled a number before moving the device to his ear. When the Lust Demon heard the contact pick up, he stated, "Jorni, make a copy of the security feed from camera T-66, audio included, and put it on a jump drive. I'm bringing that to Mr Agreste, personally." Axel's eyes narrowed at that last part as they glowed a vivid shade of reddish-blue.

~}I{ Meanwhile }I{~

Wang Fu was sitting in the middle of his residence, just taking in the information that Raguel had just told him. The Guardian of the Miraculous took a deep breath before he let it out slowly and then said, "You know this goes against what I have been taught, right?"

Raguel made no motion when he stated seriously, "That may be true, but whether or not you are willing to go along with this ordeal, mortals cannot fight Lord Destiny."

Wang Fu let out another sigh before he said, "Just… Just let me think about it… Before I make a decision…"

Raguel only gave a nod as he made his way to the door. Before he could leave, he paused when he stated, "It would be best not to linger on that for too long." With that, the Angel left.

Wayzz was floating nearby as he stared worriedly at Master Fu, who had his head lowered in deep thought.

~}I{ Back at Dupont }I{~

Ms Mendeleiev wasn't sure what she was witnessing when she saw Jason Blood use a USB connector and plugged it into the enchanted lock before connecting it to the computer in the school's library. She and the rest of the Ladybug Team watch anxiously as the red-headed man typed on the computer, apparently using whatever program needed to get to the information on the enchanted lock. Kathryn was by her father's side, watching him work.

When Jason Blood was able to pull the data he was looking for, he stared at the screen when he uttered, "That can't be right…"

Ms Mendeleiev looked over the redhead's shoulder to see what he was looking at. She narrowed her eyes at what she saw when she asked, "This is… Accurate?"

Jason clicked a few keys and used the mouse to refresh the page. Nothing had changed. He folded his arms when he said, "Seems like it, but that raises even more questions…"

Marinette looked over the redhead's other shoulder and hovered right above Kathryn's head to look at the results. She did not like what she was seeing when she asked in an uneasy tone, "Mr Blood… How come only you, me, and Mr Raguel are logged in as having touched the lock?"

Right on the monitor, showing just what the bluette described, were the images of Raguel, Jason Blood, and Marinette. Even showing which fingers had touched the lock. But that was about it.

Jason Blood narrowed his eyes at the data when he said in a calm tone that was a little unnerving to the students, "It seems like this person got past the lock without touching it."

Ms Mendeleiev narrowed her eyes in suspicion when she folded her arms when she asked in that always logical tone, "Then how did this person get into a structure that only has one means of getting in when it has a mechanism blocking it that you cannot avoid touching and leaving it unscathed?" She remembered the current weather before she added, "It would be too warm for gloves and I'm sure it would have been noticed if someone was wearing latex."

Jason nodded when he stated, "Quiet true… And if you don't include Meta-Humans, individuals with unnatural abilities, and magic… I'd say there's something I missed when I looked at the locker…" He narrowed his eyes when he added, "Whatever method this person is using, it's safe to assume that they're doing it so they can grab items of Ms Dupain-Cheng to use for the Summoning…"

There was an oddly familiar squeak from the main entranceway of the library. Everyone turned to see Fred Haprele staring at them with a rather bewildered look.

"Mr Haprele!" "Fred!" "Dad!" were the responses from whoever was in the library, which was pretty much whoever was aware of Ladybug's identity.

Fred gave an uneasy cough as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided eye contact before finally saying, "Umm, Mylene was supposed to meet me in front of the school after it let out… We were going to go over her practice lines for the upcoming auditions for the school play… So when she didn't show, I got worried…" Mylene realised that she had forgotten about her meet-up with her dad and then gave a sheepish yet apologetic look to her fellow students. Fred took a deep breath before he asked, "So the reason why Mr Blood and Raguel are here is…"

Jason Blood gave the part-time teacher a quick and simple explanation of the situation with the Over-Summoner. Since Fred didn't seem to be aware of the "Ladybug Situation", the redheaded man didn't have to delve into that.

Fred took in that information when he said thoughtfully, "That explains the new lock…" He then noticed that the new lock was "plugged into" the computer. He blinked a few times before he added, "Well, that's… New…"

Jason Blood glanced at the computer monitor when he stated, "The "technology" in Heaven and Hell work a little differently from what mortals are used to. However, it's bringing up some more issues regarding Ms Dupain-Cheng's locker…"

This was an uneasy truth to swallow…

~}I{ Later That Day }I{~

Chloe was currently spending some time with Joey Bell and Robert Fog while Zoe was with Donnie Rockkale and Andre Bourgeois. All five families were still adjusting to living together, but they were certainly getting better at that. The schedule that Marinette made was certainly the biggest reason for it.

But right now, Robert Fog was teaching Joey and Chloe how to bake. Nothing complex or anything like that, just some simple cookies. Chloe, of course, has never done this sort of thing before. Both the baking and having a little fun doing it.

Mr Fog placed the tray of semi-circular cookies into the oven before he pressed the button to start the cooking. The adult took the oven mitts off before turning to the two teens when he said, "Alright, cookies should be done in a couple of minutes." He looked the two over when he added with an amused smile, "So maybe both of you want to use that time to wash up?" Joey and Chloe had flour splotches of random sizes scattered all over their clothing, arms, and a few on their faces.

The raven-haired teen with the yellow highlights looked at the blonde with a playful smirk before he said, "Hm, I don't know, the flour-stained look could be the next big fashion fad."

Chloe gave a playful scoff before she struck a pose and said, "Oh, puh-lease, I make this look good."

Joey snickered before he said, "And here I thought Donnie was the flour child of us." Chloe puffed her cheeks as she pouted.

Mr Fog just smiled at the interaction.

~}I{ Meanwhile }I{~

"Has anyone seen Axel?" one of the Lust Demons asked the others and humans.

Kippin thumbed the Gabriel Brand logo when they said, "He's at Mr Agreste's house. He wanted to make sure the dick saw the proof of Lila's actions."

"What happened with Lila?" the Gabriel Brand Staff asked at the same time.

The next thing everyone knew, the sounds of something being destroyed filled the air. The humans' first instinct was "AKUMA!" but the Lust Demons knew better and rushed towards the source of the noise. When they got there, they saw that it was Axel but was surrounded by an aurora of raging blue flames.

"Axel! What happened?!" Zahare got out as the Lust Demons gathered around their ally. Avoiding the debris on the ground.

Axel let out a demonic growl when he hissed out, "Showed the bastard the video. Take a wild guess what he thought."

The Lust Demons looked over their ally, it was disturbingly clear that he was beyond angry. Pairing that with what he had just told them, the reason for the rage was clear as a sunny day.

The Lust Demon with the highlights and lowlights folded their arms when they asked, "Dick didn't care?"

The flames around Axel flared angrily for a few seconds before he said, "Worse! He thought the whole fucking video was fake! He claimed that the brat would NEVER do such a thing to his son!" The flames were now an inferno. The Lust Demons didn't seem affected by the fire, but the humans nearby were feeling the heat. No pun intended.

Kippin growled when they got out, "Puh-lease tell us the dick asked why we would do such a thing or ask about his kid."

"Neither!" Axel growled out, the inferno was still raging. The usually formal Lust Demon then growled out when he said, "Bastard told me that he shouldn't be surprised by demons pulling that kind of skit! Said that he won't tolerate us making HIS staff look bad!"

The Lust Demons glanced at each other before they looked at Axel when one of them vocalised, "Staff? Just staff? The Dick didn't think that the situation his son was in was of any concern?"

Axel pulled the inferno into his body when he said in an eerily calm tone, "Adrien, didn't even come up once when talking to the bastard. Not even when I pointed out how tight the brat was gripping his arm."

"That's fucked up!" one of the humans exclaimed from where they were huddled.

The Lust Demon with the high braid replied with, "Understatement." They looked at Axel when they asked, "Knowing you, you're not going to allow Adrien to return to the Agrestes."

Axel expelled blue smoke from his nostrils before he stated, "I'll talk to the Bodyguard. He cares for Adrien as if he were his own, he'll want him to be safe. And I'm planning on going over Agreste's head at school."

Kippin couldn't help but ask, "What are you planning?"

Axel narrowed his eyes when he said, "Adrien told me that Lila is one of his classmates." He glances at his allies when he added, "You saw and heard what was recorded. I'm sure Dupont would be much more willing to view it with concern and actually take action."

~}I{ Back at Dupont }I{~

"And… Completed!" Max said as he took a step back from Marinette's locker to admire his work.

Unless you were looking for it, the small motion-activated camera was hidden right between the locker's left wall and Marinette's rather large and bulky history book that was angled up to catch sight of whoever opened the locker. Max then carefully looked over the little trigger trap he set up on the back of the locker door latch, making sure that it wouldn't slip out of place.

Alix looked at the set-up when she said, "Okay, so you set this up to turn on and record whenever someone opens the locker door. That'll save the recording space and catch the creep breaking in." She moved to close the locker door, cringing at the sound it made when it did. The skater rubbed her ears when she added, "Wish you can fix that awful sound."

Marinette apologised for it.

Kim patted the bluette on the shoulder when he said, "Mari, stop apologising for something that isn't your fault." Marinette gave the taller teen a wiry smile.

Kagami stared at the locker door before she asked Max, "You do realise that the majority of the recordings will be of Marinette going in there, right?"

Max nodded when he stated, "I am aware, but that's expected since the locker is assigned to her." He then pointed at the enchanted lock when he added, "Plus, who else but Marinette would have a key to that?"

Jason was the one to input, "Given that the lock is technically Raguel's, I'd say he's the only other one who would. Though, I doubt he would open the locker without Ms Dupain-Cheng's permission nor will he give that key out to another." He looked at the locker and felt something odd about it. Like something was different since he looked earlier… But everything looked the same…

That was when Sabrina said with a big smile, "But now we have a way to prove that whoever is breaking in is doing so!"

Juleka was the one to say, "Problem is… We're going to have to wait until after the Over-Summoner uses those items for the Summoning."

Kathryn looked up at her dad when she said, "Aunt-cle Ozzie and Mr Satan aren't going to be happy…"

Jason had to agree with that statement as Marinette sighed. Both seemed aware of what was in store when they had to tell the two Lords of Hell this news.

}I{

And they were right… But as long as there WAS a chance of catching the Over-Summoner, they were willing to tolerate it.

~}I{ The Next Morning }I{~

Damocles paused the video with a bewildered expression on his face before he looked at Axel, who was standing on the other side of the headmaster's desk. The owl-like man took a calming breath before he asked the Lust Demon, "Why are you showing me this?"

Axel pushed his glasses up when he said, "I know that Ms Rossi is in the same class group as Adrien and given how she acted when she thought she was alone with "Adrien", I want you to move Lila to another class. The farther away from Adrien and the fewer classes they have to have together, the better."

Damocles looked uneasy when he restated, "Let me rephrase that a little better… Why are you showing me this and not Mr Agreste?" He held out a hand when he added, "While I'm certainly going to look into the things that involve this school and I do care about the well-being of my students… But considering that Ms Rossi is a model for The Gabriel Brand and… This involves his son's well-being… Shouldn't you show him this video first?"

Axel folded his arms when he stated coldly, "I did."

Damocles felt some indigestion boiling in his gut before he asked in a not-so-willing tone, "And… Is he going to fire Ms Rossi for the… Incident in the video?"

Axel huffed when he stated sourly, "He made a big stink about the video being fake and told "us demons" that he won't tolerate such things against his staff."

Damocles blinked, slowly digesting the information he was just told. He glanced at the computer screen when he asked, "Did… He even bother to check the video with a very specific scenario, wording, and people involved for authenticity?" He looked at the Lust Demon when he added with a raised brow, "Or even asked about his son? Or why you would even cast Ms Rossi in that light?"

Axel folded his arms when he stated with a frown, "He did none of the above."

Ah! Now Damocles understood the demon's concerns regarding Adrien here at school... Especially the part about keeping Lila away from him… The Headmaster took a deep breath before he said, "Let me get this run through an authenticity program, per standard protocol regarding video evidence that was recorded off the school grounds, and I'll implement a class transfer for Ms Rossi." He glanced at the computer monitor again before he said as his eyes narrowed, "To be fair, Ms Rossi has been having some ongoing problems with a different classmate. This video is adding even more to that…" Damocles looked at Axel when he added, "If the video turns out to be authentic, which I'm sure it is, I will have to call Ms Rossi's mother for a parent/teacher meeting to discuss these rather serious issues. I would like to use the video during that meeting, to show Mrs Rossi proof of the behaviours."

Axel unfolded his arms when he stated, "As long as Lila isn't in the same classes as Adrien, that is fine."

Damocles let out another sigh before he said, "This also means that I have to alert the School Board regarding Adrien Agreste's home life if his father doesn't seem all that concerned about him after watching that recording."

Axel was business-like when he stated, "That's also fine. I can give you a copy of the file that I and my allies have already made regarding that topic."

"You…" Damocles got out in disbelief. He stared at the demon before he asked carefully, "I apologise for being rude and maybe a little hypocritical but why would a group of demons care about the well-being of a human child?"

Axel kept up that stern business-like tone when he stated, "Lord Asmodeus and us Lust Demons frown upon those who would harm or abuse children, no matter the mortal species. The entire time we've worked with Adrien, he is showing signs of being groomed." He held up a hand as if to grip something that wasn't there. A quick flash of blue fire appeared before disappearing, leaving a folder in the demon's hand. Axel placed the file on the headmaster's desk when he said, "Here's a copy. Everything we have found out is in there."

Damocles glanced at the file before looking at the demon when he asked in a rather uneasy tone, "When you say "groomed", do you mean…"

Axel cringed when he got out in disgust, "Thankfully, no! It's more along the lines of being conditioned to be compliant and submissive." He was then quick to explain that Lust Demons, in general, despise the idea or action of sex with a child and minors, so of course they would jump in to help them out of a "bad" situation.

Damocles was oddly impressed by this tidbit of information. But he had to tell the Lust Demon, "You are aware that until I 'verify' the video, Ms Rossi will continue to be in the same class as Mr Agreste, right?"

Axel frowned before he said, "Unfortunately. However, I take it that it is on your priority list?"

Damocles nodded when he stated, "2nd from the top as of now. I'll send the video out to the School Board, requesting it be run through the authenticity program as quickly as possible." Axel gave an approving nod at this.

Soon, Axel left the school and the Headmaster was already filling out the request, marking it as a high priority. After Damocles sent the email, he had a thought. Since this was officially an ongoing investigation, he couldn't disclose too much regarding the video but he can certainly ask Miss Bustier to be more aware of Adrien's and Lila's interactions with each other and keep them separated no matter what. Also… It made him question a few things regarding some of Ms Rossi's claims.

Damocles thought about the line of leaving Marinette alone in every way… What did that imply? The headmaster narrowed his eyes as he looked at the computer monitor. He moved to the computer and went right to the video. Damocles quickly fast-forward to the part where Lila's animosity towards Ms Dupain-Cheng was on clear display. The Headmaster stroked his beard as he paused the video.

Damocles originally thought that Ms Rossi was simply misunderstanding Ms Dupain-Cheng's actions, but now… Maybe he needs to take another look at those bullying complaints Ms Rossi made against Ms Dupain-Cheng… And talk to Miss Bustier about those interactions. After all, the redheaded teacher was the one who helped the brunette student fill out those complaint forms.

When he started that process, Damocles paused and thought about Ms Rossi's apparent haterade of Ms Dupain-Cheng. 'That level of hate doesn't just appear out of nowhere…' The headmaster thought before his mind went back to The Board, which ended up being a nice big Venn Diagram. Right now, Lila seems to fit into the 'Hates Marinette' bubble and the 'Access to Dupont' bubble nicely in that video on top of her obvious possessiveness of Adrien…

Damocles placed a hand to his chin when he wondered, 'But… How was she able to get into Ms Dupain-Cheng's locker? And where would she Summon a Lord of Hell without anyone noticing?' He wasn't liking where this thought train was going, even though it made so much sense. However…

Damocles stroked his beard when he thought, 'But… Ms Rossi has been absent the majority of the time during the Summonings and how would she know that nothing has been going on with Ms Dupain-Cheng?' It was the 'Wouldn't Listen to a Higher Power' bubble that he couldn't put Ms Rossi in and as far as Damocles knew, she wouldn't have a location where she could Suommon any Demon without being seen. The Headmaster frowned when he thought, 'Even if Ms Rossi has nothing to do with the Over-Summoner, she has displayed concerning behaviours towards her fellow students both on and off school grounds. I must take the appropriate actions regarding that.'

And with that, Damocles started on that task. The first is re-reading those complaint files.

}{

Marinette yawned, somewhat swaying as she tried to keep herself awake.

The rest of the class, minus an oddly late Lila, was staring at her in worry. While they were impressed that the bluette was able to arrive early again, they couldn't help but wonder why she was so tired today. There wasn't an Akuma last night so…

"What?! Someone tried to break into the bakery?!" Alix shouted after Marinette told the class what happened.

The tired bluette pulled out her cell phone when she said, "Yeah…" She let out a yawn as scrolled through her phone when she added, "Whoever it was tried to get in through the front entrance…" When she found what she was looking for, she showed it to Nino when she said, "Since the bakery is a legal and popular business, so, of course, we have a working security system with active cameras to protect both our customers and livelihood."

Adrien looked over Nino's shoulder as the red-capped teen pressed the play button. From what the two could see, there appeared to be someone dressed in the stereotypical robber clothing, black balaclava and all, picking the lock to the bakery's front door from the outside. The two buds glanced at each other for a second before their eyes were back on the screen. The video continued to play as the intruder managed to pick through the lock on the bakery door and slowly opened it. But before the intruder could even take a step into the building something made the intruder lept a half-meter in the air before bolting off, leaving the door still open. A minute later, the bakery's lights came on and the entire Dupain-Cheng Family came into the camera's view, it was obvious that they came to inspect the scene.

Both Nino and Adrien looked up at Marinette where they were sitting when the bluette said with a yawn, "We called the police this time and gave them the video…" Her eyes were almost closed when she said in a tired tone, "Maman and Papa already called a locksmith to replace all the locks of both the bakery and the home…" Marinette yawned again before saying, "Satan is wondering if whoever tried to break into the bakery is the same one who tried to break into our residence the night before…" Tikki floated out of Marinette's purse to pat her cheek, trying to soothe her a bit.

Ivan was the one to say, "Well, you do have to admit that two break-in attempts over the past two days involving the same location are a little weird…"

Mylene then added, "So, Satan might have a point…"

Alya looked at her friend when she asked, "You… Didn't go back to sleep again… Correct?"

Marinette just slumped over her desk, no longer able to stay awake. Tikki looked at the blogger and shook her head. The little Kwami looked at her holder in worry, not liking how many bad things were crashing down on her Holder like this. Miss Bustier asked Kim and Adrien to take Marinette to rest in the nurse's office. The two did so carefully, Tikki followed by hiding in the athlete's hood on the way out.

As soon as they left, Nath got everyone's attention when he asked, "Guys, does anyone find it weird that someone would break into Marinette's place? I get that her family's bakery is popular, but breaking into the residential section first then the bakery the next night seems… Pretty weird…"

Everyone looked at one another when Rose asked as she shrank in her seat, "You guys don't think…"

Juleka placed a hand on the pink-wearing girl's shoulder when she said, "It would be one heck of a coincidence if it weren't."

Everyone glanced at each other before Alix asked, "We're going to add this to The Board, right?" The rest of the class agreed to that.

}{ Meanwhile }{

Lila growled as she chucked the now-empty coffee cup into the nearest rubbish bin as she made her way to school. She was aggravated about her failed attempt at breaking into the Dupain-Cheng's bakery last night. Just like the night before, the damn alarm attached to the door scared her out of her skin before she bolted off and rushed right home before she knew it. Thank goodness her mother is a heavy sleeper.

Lila fumed as she stomped towards Dupont when she thought, 'Damn it! Who the hell puts an alarm system on a pathetic excuse for a bakery?' She took a deep breath, calming herself down when she thought that she needed to make up an excuse as to why she was late today. Lila frowned when she thought, 'Urg, I should have called in sick, but I already used that ploy too much this month and she didn't want to raise the school's suspicions.' Lila smirked when she thought that she could make up some story about helping a sweet old lady with a litter of cute puppies home and just lost track of time. The brunette smirked when she thought that those gullible idiots would eat that crap up and worship her even more.

~}I{ Elsewhere }I{~

Jason Blood and his daughter decided to do more asking around other areas of Paris. To both bide their time on the Over-Summoner's actions and make some progress on finding the location Asmodeus was being Summoned to.

However, it was raising some major concerns…

"So, those rumours about some stupid human causing trouble with Hell by summoning Lord Asmodeus with a Wrath Summon multiple times true?" a male grey-feathered Winged Sirien behind a fruit stand asked when Jason asked about a cluster of Miasma.

Currently, the father and daughter were in a bizarre within the Magical Side of Paris where a lot more individuals with magic roots and attributes gathered. Both were asking around for the Miasma in question. So far, nothing.

Jason folded his arms when he said, "I shouldn't be surprised that word of the Over-Summoner has spread."

The Winged Sirien made a low clicking sound when he said, "So, it is true."

The creatures nearby heard this and started murmuring among themselves, most commenting on the idiocy of the humans.

Kathryn moved closer to her father when he said, "You are aware that it's just one human doing this?"

The Winged Sirien shrugged when he said, "A really stupid human if they're not listening to The Lord of Lust multiple times." The flying being moved his wings as if they were arms as he tucked one under his chin and the other across his chest when he said thoughtfully, "However, that means that there has to be one nasty spot polluted with Miasma…"

Jason nodded when he stated, "A spot that has to be here within the boundaries of Paris. Where there are easily hundreds of people of all kinds who will be affected by it, even more so if it's not located, purified, and the Over-Summoner captured."

A nearby Minotaur took a step forward when she asked, "If any of us finds this Miasma concentrated area, who should we report it to? You?"

Jason turned to the towering creature when he stated in a serious tone, "You can report it to me if you wish, but you can also report it to any of the Angels or Demons you find. If you happen to know where any Stationed ones are, go there and give them the information. It doesn't matter which, both Heaven and Hell are keeping in communication regarding this issue." He took a deep breath before he added in a more serious tone, "You don't need me to remind you all that you need to avoid getting close to the Miasma Cluster."

There was a surge of murmurs, telling each other to spread the word of what to do.

A little while later, Jason and Kathryn left the bizarre and returned to the more mortal-known streets of Paris. The next thing to happen was the father-daughter duo sitting on a bench in a nearby park, munching on some food while they thought over the situation at hand.

That was when Kathryn spoke up by asking, "Dad… Do you think that this Over-Summoner has some degree of magic and is hiding the Miasma Cluster?" She then took a bite out of her food as she waited for a response.

Jason took a sip of his drink before placing it on the ground next to his feet when he explained, "If it were a low-level or mid-level demon in this situation, then there could be a possibility of that. However, this is a Lord of Hell that is being Summoned, meaning that there is a lot more Miasma coming from Hell with each Summon." He looked off into the distance when he narrowed his eyes when he stated, "It also means that this Over-Summoner isn't using any magic to hide the cluster."

Kathryn swallowed what she had in her mouth when she asked, "So how is the Over-Summoner hiding the Miasma if not by magic?"

Jason placed the side of his index finger of his right hand on his chin when he said thoughtfully, "My best guess is that either the Over-Summoner scouted out a location that would be able to hide the Miasma Cluster from casual sight naturally, or they're doing the Summoning underground where there's little to no possibility of anyone happening onto the location… However, that only applies if the Over-Summoner is aware of the Miasma…"

Kathryn looked at her father with her big dark eyes when she asked, "Dad, do you think that the Over-Summoner can't see how much Miasma is gathering in the Summoning Spot?"

Jason folded his arms, eyes still narrowed, when he explained, "I'm not going to say that all individuals with Magic or have even the smallest amount of Awareness would know that Miasma was bad, but anyone who can see or feel Miasma would stop Summoning when the Miasma gets to the point where it's not harmful yet but it will still look and feel bad…" He leaned back on the bench again when he stated, "The other issues are the Over-Summoner's haterade for Ms Dupain-Cheng, how they know that what they want to be done isn't being done in a short amount of time, and the unwillingness to listen to Lord Asmodeus…"

Kathryn followed her father's actions by leaning back on the bench when she said, "True, that is a weird and specific Venn Diagram."

That was when Jason noticed an oddly familiar figure coming into view, and he could tell that the poor man was… Not in a good state of mind… The redhead narrowed his eyes when he told his daughter as he quickly snatched his cup, "Grab your drink, we're going to see if we can talk down Mr Ramier and prevent him from getting Akumatized again." He then stood up and walked briskly towards the pigeon-obsessed man.

Kathryn followed her father's lead and trailed behind him with her cup in hand.

}I{ Elsewhere }I{

Wang Fu closed the last of the small black boxes with a deep sigh. The Guardian of the Miraculous was hoping he was making the right decision… Even if Destiny is involved in this…

Master Fu then moved to a drawer, opened it, and slowly pulled out a picture frame with an old, black-and-white photograph inside. The image depicted a much younger Wang Fu on the left side of the photo, a young dark-haired man in his early twenties with bright eyes and a smile in the middle, and another person on the right that was obscured by a reflection of light but Wang knew who that person was. He pondered when the last time he looked at this was, but then he remembered why he hasn't looked at it…

The Guardian placed the photo back into the drawer and closed it.

THAT happened a long time ago… No one had any control over any of the factors that caused it… Just… Just how it ended… And it ended Badly…

…

Maybe it was time to finally put it to rest…

~}I{ Dupont }I{~

After Kim and Adrien brought Marinette to the nurse's office, Tikki kept close to her Holder, while the boys left. As soon as they were out the door, the blonde boy got a text from Axel. When Adrien read the text, Kim looked over his shoulder to see the text.

The text read, "Adrien, keep your distance from Lila! Do NOT allow yourself to be alone with her! Keep to your male friends!" The next to be sent was a video with the accompanying text, "Watch in private. It's proof that Lila shouldn't be around you." A following text was sent that read, "You can show to your trusted friends if you need to, just don't let Lila know about its existence."

Adrien and Kim glanced at each other before quickly ducking into the boy's restroom to watch the video.

It was the same video Axel showed Damocles… And neither Adrien nor Kim was able to suppress their shock and dismay when they watched it. Plagg managed to sneak a peak at it via still hiding in his Holder's jacket. The Kwami of Destruction wanted to Cataclysm that liar, right then and now.

Kim was oddly the voice of reason when he told the blonde, "Okay, Axel was right. I'm telling the other guys about this, no argument about it, and we're not letting Lila anywhere near you." He pointed at the phone when he stated, "Given what Lila said, I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about the whole "Replacement Ploy" the Lust Demons have been doing." Kim folded his arms when he said, "Meaning that she thought she was threatening you."

Adrien was feeling his breakfast fighting to come up from his stomach at the realisation. Never has he ever felt his internal organs revolt in such a way.

Kim placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. The tall teen then asked the model, "I'm guessing you never thought she would do such a thing, huh?" Adrien could only give an uneasy shake of the head, not trusting his voice. Kim rubbed the back of his neck when he said with a sigh, "I'm with you on that. I thought that Lila… Just didn't like Mari because of their distinct and somewhat clashing personalities…" He paused, placed a hand on his chin, and commented, "At least that's what was presented to us…"

Adrien finally found his voice when he got out, in a rather weak and uneasy tone, "I just… Just… Just thought that she wanted attention… And that… She didn't like Marinette because she never believed any of her tall tales…"

Kim pressed his lips into a line before he said, "I thought the same thing at first, but once I became aware of the lies and Lila's dislike of Mari, I saw that she was going out of her way to hurt Mari in some way, usually a backhanded comment or a snide." He uneasily glanced to the side when he added, "But that video… It showed some concerning behaviour that's straight out of left field and it's… Worrying…"

Adrien couldn't help but say, "You don't think that…" He didn't want to say it, but it was too hard to ignore.

Kim narrowed his eyes when he said, "Well, Lila has definitely moved higher up on the suspect list, but…" He looks at Adrien when he asked, "Lila's been absent from school the majority of the time of the Summoning, so how would she know that nothing's being done to Mari? Not to mention the apparent sheer animosity from the list that Satan told us about?"

Adrien look at his phone's screen when he got out, "But… Lila showed in that video that she hates Marinette…"

Kim couldn't help but point out, "True, but would anyone be THAT hateful of someone for the callouts over lies?" He took a deep breath when he stated, "But there has to be something else going on between Mari and Lila if there's that much hate towards Mari." The tall teen realised the time when he got out, "Yikes! We need to get back to class!"

As they moved to leave the restroom, Adrien asked Kim in a worried tone, "Umm, you aren't asking about the… Deal I made with Lila?"

Kim's hand was on the door as he looked over his shoulder at the blonde teen and said, "Maybe later, but…" He gave the other a small smile when he stated, "You did it to protect Mari, even if Lila wasn't really keeping up her end."

Adrien blinked in confusion when he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Kim pulled the door open when he said in a weary tone, "I'll explain later. We need to get back to class." He ushered the blonde out and both made their way back to class. On the way, Kim sent a quick text to the guys in Miss Bustier's class saying, 'Keep an eye on Lila and keep her away from Adrien! We're having lunch on the roof for an important meeting regarding her.'

}I{ With Jason Blood and Kathryn }I{

After a successful process of calming down Mr Ramier, Jason Blood made a quick call to Asmodeus…

Jason had his phone to his ear when he asked, "Every time?"

Asmodeus's voice was heard coming from the other end of the call when they said, "Yes, the annoying Over-Summoner seems to believe that the entirety of blood from those pigeons is enough to warrant any deed from Hell. Don't know why she would think that."

Jason raised a brow when he asked, "From what you're saying, you don't think that this Over-Summoner did any real research regarding the Summoning."

The redhead could hear an exhausted sigh coming from the phone before Asmodeus said, "Given that the little bitch STILL think's I'm Satan no matter how many times I tell her, I'm damn sure she did the bare minimum." The Lord of Lust then growled out, "And it hasn't even occurred to her that she drew the damn Summoning Circle incorrectly!"

'Interesting comments,' Jason thought before he asked the Hell Lord, "Is there anything distinguishing about the Over-Summoner you can tell me? So we can have an idea of what we should look for on our search?"

Asmodeus let out a huff before they said, "She's got quite the ego on her. I mean, despite being in the presence of a Lord of Hell, she expected me to bend over backwards for her!" The Lord of Lust let out an angry growl before snapping, "I expect Lucifer to give me no less than 100 years to punish that bitch in my Ring for all this shit!"

Jason cringed as he pulled the phone away from his ear at the sudden surge of volume to the other's voice. Kathryn looked up worriedly at her dad.

Asmodeus caught themselves before they said through the phone, "Ah, sorry, Jason, but the little bitch is driving me crazy with rage! I can't get anything done and everything that is being worked on is constantly being put on hold every damn time this Over-Summoner comes calling."

Jason put the phone back to his ear when he said, "Understandable, and I'm sure Lucifer will grant you and Satan 100 years to punish the Over-Summoner, each." He rubbed the back of his neck when he asked, "But I was talking about the Over-Summoner's appearance. So anything about her that I should look for while searching through Paris?"

The faint sounds of tapping could be heard coming through the phone before Asmodeus said, "Hmm, I never did get a good look at the bitch, especially after the 8th Summon. However, I do remember that ridiculous hairstyle that's just "Do you honestly think that's stylish?" It makes her look like she's got sausages dangling from her head."

Jason raised a brow at the oddly familiar description when he commented, "That's a weirdly specific visual."

Asmodeus somewhat cackled before they said, "You prefer I use an "Alternative" word to describe that terrible hairdo?"

Jason was quick to say as his cheeks flushed pink, "No! That's quite alright. But what I meant was that that hairstyle would be rather unique and hard to miss." He glanced at his daughter, who appeared to be thinking about something.

Asmodeus let out a hum when they said through the phone, "True, but you know how humans are with their "Fashion Fads", no matter how ridiculous they might be."

Jason sighed before he stated, "True, but next question." He took a breath, let it out, and said, "What was her hair colour?" The redheaded man had a good hunch as to whom would fit that description should the Lord of Lust say one specific colour.

"Either Earth brown or cacao brown, possibly somewhere in between," Asmodeus stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Jason asked the Lord of Lust if there was anything else he should know about. Asmodeus commented that he had a sexual harassment investigation going on with the Gabriel Brand, and asked the redhead if he could keep an eye on Adrien Agreste when he's at Dupont. Jason agreed to that before the call ended. He glanced at his daughter before he asked, "Does that description sound familiar to you too?"

Kathryn look at her dad when she said in a serious tone, "It fits with that Lila Rossi girl." The skull earring glowed a bit when she said, "You know, that girl left the school during the Akuma Attack."

Jason nodded when he said, "Yes, I was told about the Akuma protocols about moving to safe spots and staying safe." He folded his arms when he added in a rather displeased tone, "But the school was already a safe zone and wasn't on the path of the Akuma, so she shouldn't have left."

Kathryn narrowed her eyes when she stated, "She walked out of the school as if it were the end of the day."

It was Jason's turn to narrow his eyes when he asked, "She… Walked out? She didn't look around to make sure it was safe? Moved along the walkway in the shadows? Or kept herself hidden?"

Kathryn shook her head when she stated seriously, "She walked right out into the open and didn't seem concerned about the Akuma coming along."

Oh, that was certainly a flag on the suspicious pole.

Jason unfolded his arms when he said in a serious tone, "That certainly is suspicious." He placed the side of his left index finger on his chin when he added, "Although, that behaviour is rather odd regarding the issue with Hawkmoth…"

Kathryn tilted her head to the side when she asked, "Do you think she's working with Hawkmoth in some way? On top of possibly being the Over-Summoner?"

Jason glanced down at his daughter when he said, "It is possible, but until we have proof it'll be nothing more than speculation." He leaned against a nearby tree, thinking over what he currently knew, and then wondered out loud, "But even if we do find proof, the issue behind both is Why?" Kathryn mimicked her father by leaning on the same tree when she asked what he meant. Jason held up his left index finger when he stated, "First off, why would she, a teenage human, work for a terrorist like Hawkmoth? There has to be a reason behind that." Jason flicked his extended left index finger to create a floating list made of magic in front of the two magic users, for their eyes only. He entitled the list 'Why someone would want to work for Hawkmoth'.

Kathryn looked at the blank floating list for a few seconds before she said, "Well, I guess the powers and abilities one can get via Akumatizion can be alluring." She glanced at her dad when she added, "People are attracted to power. Mr Luthor is a good example."

Jason added that to the list when he said, "You're not wrong, but from what I recall about Hawkmoth, he likes to lock onto negative emotions and use that to his advantage." He tagged that line with the words 'Possibly how they would meet'. Jason then asked, "What else could come from working with Hawkmoth?"

Kathryn shrugged when she threw in, "Maybe protection or exemption from Akuma Attacks?"

Jason added that to the list, tagging the words 'Possibly a way of bribing compliance' under it. He thought briefly before adding 'Sympathizing' and tagging underneath 'Might believe Hawkmoth is right or good in some way.'

Kathryn looked at her father before asking with a raised brow, "Really?"

Jason shrugged when he said, "People like that exist in the world. Doesn't make the person or the reason good, but it's a possibility."

Kathryn looked at the floating list when she suggested, "Well… If we're talking about that kind of thing, what about Hawlkmoth making a deal? Maybe he's offering something else for the person's cooperation outside Akumazation?"

Jason added that to the list, tagging it with 'Possibly more bribery in play or the person is getting something else out of it'. He placed a hand on his chin when he said, "I think we have all that we can think of for this. Now for the next Why." He then created a new list, entitled 'Why Would Lila Rossi Summon Satan to Target Marinette Dupain-Cheng?'. Jason then added the line 'Unbridled animosity towards a human teenage girl' at the top of that list.

Kathryn looked up at her dad in confusion after reading that line.

Jason noticed before saying, "I read the 'To Do List' the Over-Summoner gave to Asmodeus. A lot of what's on it are things Satan would've enjoyed doing if the payment was correct and wasn't targeted towards a relatively pure soul."

Kathryn couldn't help but say, "That makes sense. And if the Over-Summoner is that Lila girl, then the real question would be does she hate Marinette a lot more than she lets on? Or is someone else pulling the strings?"

Jason put the first question on the list when he said, "I'm sure the latter isn't a possibility, since Asmodeus would have noticed another's influence and told either I or Satan." He looked at the new list and asked, "Okay, what do we know so far about this Lila Rossi?"

So the father and daughter added what they knew about Lila Rossi. She was a student of Dupont, classmates with Marinette, liked telling tall tales, apparently lies occasionally, adored attention on her, disliked Marinette because she didn't 'fall' for her lies, daughter of an Italian Diplomat, travelled a lot for her mother's job, and apparently had a weak health record. For the last three points of this, Jason would have to ask the teachers and Headmaster to confirm.

Jason held up his left index and middle fingers when he stated, "Which brings us to the second question regarding if she's both on Hawkmoth's side and the Over-Summoner, 'Is she aware that there are consequences in aiding Hawkmoth or constantly Summoning a Lord of Hell?' Granted the latter is ambiguous at best, but surely she's aware of how dangerous and wanted by the authorities Hawkmoth is."

Kathryn thought about that before she suggested, "Maybe it's like the whole 'Pet Tiger' situation. It's a dangerous creature but some people believe that they can tame it by caring for it and they take comfort in the fact that they have 'control' over it. Maybe Lila thinks that she's in control by 'helping' Hawkmoth?"

Jason conceded that the idea was a possibility, but couldn't help but say, "While this is all interesting speculation, but truth be told, the issue with Hawkmoth is an issue for the Miraculous users and the Paris Police to solve…"

Kathryn had to throw in, "We can still help them. Maybe after we finish the thing with the Over-Summoner?"

Jason glanced to the side as he somewhat hugged himself when he said, "As much as I would like to help… I'm not sure if Wang would accept it…"

Kathryn looked at her dad with a confused look when she asked, "The Guardian of the Miraculous? Why wouldn't he want help with finding Hawkmoth?" She stared at her father, reading his body language and sensing his mood before she asked, "Did whatever happen in the past between you two that bad?"

Jason didn't answer.

~}I{ Back at Dupont }I{~

The class continued as scheduled, even after Lila arrived late. Yes, she spun her little story about why she was late and the class 'praising' her, but Miss Bustier kindly reminded her that while it was good to do a good deed she shouldn't overdo it. Lila, of course, was quick to reply in that chipper tone while mentally patting herself on the back for a ploy well done.

When Lila saw that Marinette's seat was vacant, she tried to suppress her joy as she walked to her seat. However, that didn't go unnoticed by a few eagle-eyed watchers.

}I{ Meanwhile }I{

"I can assume that we have an agreement?" Axel asked the Gorilla in a serious tone.

The bodyguard looked up from the demon's phone screen when he gave a stern nod. The Gorilla handed the phone back to the owner before giving him a firm handshake, sealing their deal. The Gorilla then signed his question to the Lust Demon.

Axel gave a nod before he said, "Your place should be fine, just make sure Adrien is aware of this and you have some of his necessities."

The Gorilla nodded and sighed, "I'll grab those when I go to the Agreste Manor. I doubt the boss or Nathalie would notice me doing that. They've been oddly busy over the past year."

Axel raised a brow when he asked, "How do you mean?"

The Gorilla thought about that for a bit before he sighed, "Mr Agreste is always in his home office and hardly ever comes out, Nathalie usually brings him food to his office. While Nathalie seems to always have her nose in her tablet and unless it is for the job, she hardly looks up from it. Hell, I could probably perform a Riverdance solo somewhere in the mansion and neither would bother looking to see what's going on."

Axel blinked when he said, "That's a weirdly specific scenario, but is that the case with those two?" The Gorilla nods. Axel folds his arms when he asks, "Do you think it's the business or something else?"

The Gorilla's lips pressed into a line when he signed, "They claim that they're working on important things with the Gabriel Brand, but I've worked for the Agreste's since Adrien was a little toddler and I'm aware how the business side of a fashion company is run. From what I've noticed over the past year, Mr Agreste has been having a lot of 'video business meetings' in his home office that require no interruptions unless it's an emergency. Nathalie, on the other hand, has been covering for Mr Agreste a lot. She's been telling people that Mr Agreste was out of the home office when he was actually in and I've noticed that she hasn't been going to the photo shoots as often." He paused to hunt for the right words to use before he finally signed, "But that's also strange since she seems to know what's happening at those shoots she's missing… Mostly…"

Axel raised a brow again when he asked, "Mostly?"

The Gorilla signed, "Well, most of the information Nahalie has about the photo shoots were pretty accurate unless it partans to…" He had a look of realisation on his face before he signed with a more serious expression, "Lila Rossi… Nathalie and Mr Agreste seem to believe she can't do anything wrong." The Gorilla rolled his eyes as he signed that last part.

Axel rolled his own eyes when he commented dryly, "From what I and my allies have seen and experienced, that is far from the truth. And that was long before that security video." He looked at the bodyguard when he asked, "Do you suspect something is going on between those three?"

The Gorilla frowned when he signed, "I know there's some kind of deal going on between Mr Agreste and Lila Rossi. I've heard them mention it a few times I've heard her and seen them interact. Nathalie knows about it since I've heard her 'remind' Lila about it." He shrugged his shoulders when he signed, "I don't know what it could be, but it's got me worried and suspicious."

Axel then asked, "Have you asked either Gabrial or Nathalie about what this deal could be?"

The Gorilla frowned when he signed, "Both told me that it's none of my business and to just do my job." He huffed before signing, "They seem to still think that I'm just the muscles of the staff with little ability to think." The Gorilla sighed before signing, "While I do take my job seriously, I'm not blind to Adrien's discomfort when Lila's around." He frowns when he signs, "But after that video, I'm Not letting her anywhere near him!"

Axel found those statements interesting before saying, "I've alerted the school about Lila. The process might take a while but the teachers will be aware and do their best to keep her away from Adrien until they can transfer her to another class."

The Lust Demon bid the bodyguard farewell as they parted ways. Both on their heading towards their respective destinations.

~}I{~

A familiar giggling echoed through the darkness. Soon, the giggling voice said, "Perfect, all is going as planned."

~}I{~

To Be Continued…

~}I{~

1… An Unsub is a word used by individuals in law enforcement to refer to an unknown perpetrator of a crime and is short for Unknown Subject.

~}I{~