Marinette woke up alone in her bed. She sat up and saw Zoe staring at her phone on the chaise.
"Is it time?" She asked her partner.
Zoe nodded, dropping the phone gently to the floor. "Yep. He wants me to meet him for lunch. He says we have something to discuss there."
Marinette frowened. This would violate the restraining order for sure. "Do you want to go through with it? We can ambush your father and take him into custody, since we know where he is going to be."
Zoe shook her head. "No, we stick to the plan. He will have arranged things so even if we take him, we won't be able to link him or the twins to the bombing or the robot army. He's a cunning and cruel man, Marinette."
Marinette reached out and rubbed her partner's back. "Alright, I have an idea to make sure nothing goes wrong. I'll call Luka and Adrien and get things arranged. Then we'll get you ready to face your father."
Zoe nodded. "Thank you, love. I'll feel better knowing time is in a nice loop. I suspect he will give me twenty-four hours to comply or he will send his robots to get me."
"That gives us just over 24 hours to get ready. No pressure." Marinette kissed her cheek. "Did you hear from the American heroes?"
Zoe smiled. "Yes, Jess and Aeon responded. They are on standby for permission to join the fray if it comes to a battle. Max is assisting the police with anti-robot weapons."
"I should get Marc as Roosterbolt over there helping them. He can enchant their gear to make them only affect the robots and no cause extra damage. Sorry to leave you alone for a bit…"
Zoe waved her away. "Don't worry, I have Pollen with me. You go and do your Guardian thing, Mari."
Marinette kissed her and dropped a soft kiss on Pollen. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
She rushed off as she heard Zoe and Pollen start talking. She was already starting a two-way call with Adrien and Luka.
*Zoenette-Octocter*
Adrien and Kagami arrived at the Liberty not long after the call ended. Luka, Rose, and Juleka were practicing on the deck as they strolled up. Thankfully the cold weather had temporarily abated and the day was bearable to be outside.
"Hey, Adrien." Sass flew up to him, holding the bangle. "Looking forward to working with you again."
Adrien reached out and pat Sass on the head. "Same, buddy. Sorry to be taking your partner away, Luka."
The trio stopped fighting and walked over to join them.
"I understand. I don't possess my adult powers yet. I can't hold the loop longer than 5 minutes or reset it if a more desirable point occurs. Just try not to get caught in as long as a loop as last time, Adrien."
He chuckled. "Will do my best. Plagg, Sass, unify!"
*Zoenette-October*
Marinette had borrowed the Mouse miraculous from Mylene and became Multimouse again. She slipped herself into several tiny versions, putting one with Zoe and one with Snake Noir to act as messengers, as Multimice could share their hive mind thoughts in real time. Zoe had the tiny hero tucked into her purse next to Pollen. She would relay whatever she head to her other selves and prepare a response. She just hoped it would be enough.
*Zoenette-October*
Zoe was not coming to this meeting alone. Andre was beside her as they walked through Paris to the venue. Her Father had wanted to refuse her demand that he come, but her reminder that she could call the police and advise he was illegally in the country as well as violating the no-contact order, got him to agree. She was actually surprised at this. She had thought for sure that he would refuse and threaten her 'movie'. Still, she was careful as she stepped into the outdoor cafe.
As she did, she noticed something was wrong right away. Her Father was not anywhere to be seen.
"What is this…" Andre began as four men got up from the tables and pulled out guns.
"This, former mayor," One of them drawled in a Southern accent from the States. "Is business. Mister Lee is finally making good on his promise of a girl, after a year we might add. We couldn't wait any longer so he set up this meeting so we could collect her. Now, if you don't want to die, step away so we can claim our property."
Zoe was stunned. Snake Noir was supposed to start the looped time when she gave the signal. This was not the plan, her Father had pulled the rug out from under them. Then she heard Multimouse say from her purse.
"Plan A aborted, switch to Plan B. Release the Butterfly."
Zoe saw a purple butterfly fly from her purse and land in her ring. The men took a step back as a butterfly mask appeared around Zoe's face. She had not been told about Plan B.
"Seriously, sis." Chloe's voice as Fae entered her brain. "How did you all muck up Plan A so bad you had to swap to Plan B? Oh well, I take it you accept this power?"
Zoe smiled as the men fumbled with the safeties on their guns. "Certainly."
Lavender light infused her and she appeared as a normal-looking girl in a blue hero outfit. She could already feel her powers manifest. One of the men opened fire at her but she willed her body to become water. The shots hit her and just fell out the other side, their force completely stopped. She then took her arm and swept it, a whip of water knocking down the man who shot at her.
Another man moved his gun to Andre, likely to use him as a hostage, when something small hit him under the chin. Zoe spotted several Multimice working together to launch themselves at the man and pound him into the ground.
She moved forward and caught the third man, moving her arm over him and leaving him coated in water. She blew her breath out on him and he froze in place.
"Really, Fae? You gave me a body made of water and the power to change the state of my water at will?"
"Sorry, I was watching Fairy Tail with Adrien. I had Juvia on the brain."
Zoe rolled her eyes and moved to the last man, who Snake Noir was already beating up. He grabbed the guns and used his cataclysm on them, reducing them to dust.
"Well, not as well as I expected." He admitted.
Zoe felt the Butterfly leave her and she wobbled just a little bit. She looked at the reunited Multimouse. "Why didn't you tell me about Plan B?"
"Sorry, Chloe contacted me on the way here and suggested it as a back up. I almost said no and I'm really glad I didn't now."
Zoe pulled out her phone and it had a new text message.
"If you are reading this, then my assumption that the heroes are helping you is correct. You have twenty-four hours to surrender or I will release my robots into Paris. How many innocent people will suffer for you, my child?"
Attached was a picture of a burned movie case, some small fragments of film remaining in the ash. If she did not know the real movie was with Suhan, she would be so broken right now.
"Let's go home, Marinette." Zoe took her hand. "I'm so tired."
Marinette hugged her. "Yes, let's. Tomorrow, we will show your father the error of his ways."
Snake Noir laughed. "Yes, we will shove his robots up his ass."
Andre laughed too. "I would pay money to see that. However, I think you two might not be done just yet. These gentlemen cannot be the only ones, or Mister Lee would not still be demanding his daughter to hand over."
Marinette grinned, her blue eyes burning with fire. Zoe loved to see that and it really helped ease the impossible situation she was in.
"Oh, don't worry. Now we have these guys, they won't be in business soon. I know for a fight that Knight Owl has been looking for this ring for months."
The men who were awake shivered in fear at the name.
Marinette dropped her transformation, sending Mullo back to Mylene as she and Zoe headed for the Hotel. Over the next hours, the entire Miraculous team gathered there for the final battle with Mister Lee.
A/N: Next time is the final battle with Zoe's family. Hope you join me for that.