lucky charms
❛ v. rogercop ❜

━━━━━ "ARE YOU SURE?"

               fiorenzo nodded. "my schedule suddenly changed."

               charlotte frowned, finding that nearly impossible. her father's work schedule revolved around what her mother needed since fiorenzo worked for her in her architectural firm. "but —"

               "designing clothes, sweetheart," fiorenzo explained before she could finish her question. "my deadlines have been pushed forward all of a sudden."

               she didn't like his answer, but relented. "so mom's gonna go then?"

               her father nodded. "it'll be better for her to go in my place since she owns the firms!"

               but it's so hard for her to find time off, charlotte thought to herself. instead of voicing that thought, she replied, "okay, dad."

               her mother, jolena, came down the stairs, brushing off the front of her pink blouse.

               "how do i look?" she asked the two.

               "perfect, mom," charlotte assured. she sent her father one last glance before picking up her bag. it was odd being driven to school by her mom rather than her dad, but fiorenzo said he couldn't do career day anymore with sudden deadlines. fiorenzo had promised charlotte that he would be the one to go attend career day, but last-minute changes happened and jolena was going to go instead. it sucked, but him starting to bail on the family was becoming more and more common.

               jolena stood off to charlotte's right, patting her daughter's shoulder. marinette and her father, tom dupain, stood up there together as he nervously explained what he did in a day. he clasped his hands nervously together, looking around at all of marinette's classmates watching him.

               "my day begins at four every morning because the bakery opens at seven," he explained as marinette held a tray of freshly-baked croissants. "you think that the life of a baker is pretty routine, making the same pastries, rolls, cakes ... but actually, it's different every day. one day someone might order a cake in the shape of the eiffel tower, and another day you might be asked to create a cake designed to look like the seine river."

               charlotte glanced over at the windows of the classroom that gave a sight into the courtyard, spotting adrien pressing his phone to his ear for a third time. she frowned slightly, noticing he was the only one without a parent present that day.

               "there's never an exact routine." tom nodded to the croissants in marinette's hands. "of course, there are things we bake daily, but there is always something new each day. it keeps us on our toes in the best way possible! now, speaking of croissants, marinette will come around and give each of you a croissant baked fresh this morning."

               the students clapped happily as marinette walked towards them. the girl winked at nino filming and handed him a croissant. adrien walked inside, his eyes kept downward as marinette placed a croissant in front of charlotte and alya.

               "thanks, marinette," charlotte said quickly as the girl moved up the classroom. she kept an eye on adrien as nino noticed the sullen attitude as well.

               "thank you, mr. dupain," said miss bustier as tom quickly went to stand beside marinette's seat behind ivan and in the very back. "now let's meet alya's mom, who is head chef at le grand paris hotel, owned by our mayor, mr. bourgeois."

               alya sent charlotte a grin, sliding out of her seat to walk after her mother. alya's mom, marlena césaire, had on a white chef tunic with three buttons trailing down the front. she even held a tall chef hat with le grand paris embroidered in gold.

               "i can't say my day is too different than mr. dupain," said marlena. "my days are never repetitive. of course, just as mr. dupain said, there are commonly made meals, but i think any chef could make that claim."

               charlotte's eyes slowly slid over as chloé reached down into her bag and pulled out an expensive-looking circular case. she watched a little closer as the blonde opened the case to reveal a just as expensive-looking bracelet inside. it was gold and jeweled with round sapphires. silently, charlotte rolled her eyes, knowing only the daughter of the mayor would have that kind of bravery to bring a bracelet like that to school.

               "it's beautiful," sabrina gushed about to grab the shiny bracelet.

               chloé stopped her and hissed, "look, don't touch!"

               mr. bourgeois had noticed, too. he leaned down and whispered, "put it away, chloé. it could get in the wrong hands!"

               marinette had reached their table, blocking charlotte's sight of the blonde and her friend. she was about to hand chloé a croissant when the girl sneered and sneered, "i wonder how many croissants your dad would have to sell to buy you one of these? what am i saying? he'd have to sell the whole store!"

               marinette bristled with irritation and skipped over chloé, only handing sabrina a croissant. "since you're so rich, you don't need a free croissant!"

               chloé scoffed and rolled her eyes. "jealous."

               "unfortunately, i have no dishes to share," said marlena, catching charlotte's attention again. "but maybe mr. bourgeois will invite you all to the hotel and treat you to lunch!"

               "that'd be something ..." charlotte muttered under her breath, her mother giving her a look as her classmates clapped around her.

               "thank you, mrs. césaire!" miss buster said, motioning for charlotte and her mom to walk down to the front. "now let's meet charlotte's mom, who runs several of her own architectural firms!"

               charlotte grimaced as the class started clapping once more. she didn't want to stand up in the front, in front of all her classmates. still, she stood up, following after her mother all the way to the front of the classroom.

               the black-haired girl stood dutifully by her mother's side, pretending to listen as her mother rattled on about her job. it was a spiel charlotte had heard time and time before, wanting to go into architecture like her mother.

               ("lots of schooling!" jolena warned her daughter.

               "yes, mom, i know. you've told me before," charlotte sighed.

               "i need to know you hear me! it isn't an easy career, sweetheart!" jolena said before going on a rant about all the work she had to finish before she got where she was today.)

               "my days are long and tiring, but i love my job more than anything," jolena said earnestly, and charlotte shot her a look. "er — not more than my kids, of course!"

               the class laughed lightly and clapped, signaling for the two to go back to their seat. charlotte did, happy to escape the prying eyes of her classmates, but not noticing on the way to her seat that chloé's spilled handbag across the aisle.

               the black-haired girl grunted as she landed on the floor, wincing with pain. she heard alix and kim covering laughs as chloé sneered. "geez! is there a day when you're not tripping over something?"

               charlotte grumbled under her breath not-so-kind things about the blonde as adrien leaned over. "here, charlotte, let me help," he offered, grabbing her arm.

               "s'fine," she said, standing up. "maybe chloé should realize when her shit's everywhere instead of blaming it on me ..." charlotte shuffled back to her seat, her butt hurting and her ears red with embarrassment. alya gave her a sympathetic smile as miss bustier said, "next on the list is sabrina's father, a policeman: officer roger!"

               sabrina and her father walked to the front, causing charlotte to notice how similar the father and daughter looked, both with vibrant red hair and bright blue eyes. officer roger tugged the blue cap on his head further down, grunting, "i've been a police officer for fifteen years, and i firmly believe that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty."

               chloé gasped loudly. "my bracelet! it's gone! i had it a second ago." she looked at charlotte accusatorially, who was nursing her bruised butt. "you! you stole it!"

               charlotte's grey eyes widened. "what? what are you talking about?"

               "you purposely tripped on my bag so you could steal my bracelet!" the blonde stood up suddenly, pointing at charlotte wildly. "you're a policeman! arrest her for theft!"

               "i didn't steal anything!" the part time hero snapped.

               "hold on, young lady." jolena frowned. "my daughter is not a thief!"

               "hang on a minute, miss bourgeois," officer roger said, trying to placate the issue. "we don't accuse without proof! now, everyone, calm down, please. maybe you simply misplaced your bracelet."

               chloé gasped, her eyes widening. "you're calling me a liar? daddy!"

               "roger," mr. bourgeois puffed out his chest to seem bigger, "i demand you search this girl!" he pointed to charlotte, who sank low in her seat.

               "please, everybody!" miss bustier spoke up, trying to diminish the situation.

               the mayor of paris stomped his way toward the teacher's desk, slamming his hand against it. "need i remind you that as mayor of this city, i am your superior!"

               officer roger looked taken aback. "but sir, it's against the law! i can't just go and —"

               "all right, then," mr. bourgeois sniffed, rearranging his suit. "then you're no longer a police officer. you're fired!"

               the students' mutterings stopped abruptly. they all looked at the mayor shocked. officer roger was beyond stunned. "mayor, you can't be serious! over a missing bracelet?"

               "this is my daughter's bracelet we're talking about! you're incompetent and you're fired! get out!" the mayor pointed to the classroom door, his eyes ablaze with anger. the classroom watched in stunned silence as sabrina's father shuffled over to the door, tears brimming in his eyes.

               "good!" chloé huffed, breaking the silence. "let's call coccinella. i'm sure she'll actually do something!"

               so all of charlotte's anxiety about this day ending horribly was for a good reason. she was accused of theft and now chloé was demanding charlotte's alter ego come to save the day from charlotte's "thievery"

🐞

the situation only escalated from there. and, no, coccinella was not able to come and save the day.

               "my daughter is not a thief!" jolena insisted to the mayor.

               "then there should be no problem in searching her bag!" mayor bourgeois crossed his arms.

               "and there's no proof i did anything besides the fact chloé's always looking for a way to get me in trouble!" charlotte snapped, glaring at her classmate. "you know that's true, chloé."

               alya placed a hand on charlotte's shoulder. "it probably just rolled out of her bag or something." she leaned in closer to whisper, "if i were her bracelet, i'd try and get as far away from chloé, too."

               but charlotte didn't laugh along, pointing to nino's phone. "nino's been filming this whole class. i'm sure he caught something."

               nino, in fact, did not catch something. he caught nothing. charlotte fought to urge to just grab the phone and lodge it at chloé's smug face.

               there was one thing charlotte clung to. "there! you see?" she pointed to nino's phone, which was showing sabrina holding the gold bracelet as charlotte walked by. "i didn't take the stupid bracelet!"

               "yes, but i gave it back right after!" sabrina pointed out.

               "but i never had the bracelet!" charlotte insisted, pointing to herself. "chloé's only accusing me because she doesn't like me."

               the blonde gave a loud gasp. "that's not true! i mean — yes, i don't like you. but i know you have the bracelet!"

               "no, i don't!" charlotte yelled, getting more frustrated by the minute. "actually, chloé, how about you look in sabrina's bag since we know she had her hands on it, hm?"

               "are you calling me a thief?" gasped sabrina.

               "i'm only doing what chloé's doing," charlotte frowned. "which is accusing people with zero proof!"

               (it hurt a little to admit she was acting like chloé, but charlotte only ignored that fact.)

               "give me the phone!" the mayor stepped in and held out his hand to nino expectantly.

               nino hugged the phone close to his chest. "no way! it's my phone."

               the mayor's face turned to outrage. "who do you think you are dealing with? i am the mayor of paris! where's the principal? i want to see the principal!"

               miss bustier stepped in. "principal damocles is busy right now, sir! we can't just —"

               "i am the mayor!" chloé's father snapped, swinging the wooden door to the classroom open. "if his audience is more important than me, he needs to reevaluate!"

               and he slammed the door closed behind him. they all watched him walk away, but then chloé took a loud breath — "you're totally getting expelled, charlotte!" she sneered at the part-time hero.

               charlotte gritted her teeth. "i didn't take your stupid bracelet, chloé."

               "then where did it go?" chloé crossed her arms.

               before charlotte could answer, the door to the classroom swung open again, but this time, it wasn't the mayor standing there. this time it was a ... robot? the robot (man?) was quite tall and muscular, and he wore a dark blue armored jumpsuit. his chest, hands, upper arms, and legs were all coated with this black futuristic fabric, and his shoulders, front legs, feet, lower arms, and top part of his chest were guarded with the the blue metal.

               his skin was quite pale from the small part of his lower face charlotte could see past the helmet he wore. his helmet covered his whole head except for his lower jaw — it was blue, and gave a lighter blue visor to cover his eyes. and his left and right shoulders blinked red and blue respectively, like the lights on police cars.

               "where is the mayor?" the man's voice was tinny and robotic, too.

               sabrina's face was horrified. "dad?!"

               "that's your dad?" charlotte's eyes widened.

               miss bustier steeled her shoulders and asked, "may i help you?"

               officer roger walked further inside, and charlotte slipped out of the classroom behind him. she took a running start down the upper part of the school, letting tikki out of her hiding spot. she slid into the girl's locker room, peeking her head out as she watched officer roger leave the classroom, in search of mayor bourgeois. faintly, charlotte could hear the mayor yelling at principal damocles from the man's office.

               charlotte watched officer roger walk across the upper balcony, slinking further into the locker rom as he got closer. "i only meant to defend myself from chloé, not to accuse sabrina of taking the bracelet ..."

               she frowned as officer roger got closer. "truth be told, i don't think anyone took it. not me, not sabrina, not any of my classmates!"

               "you'll find a way to make it right with the others," tikki promised. "but right now — you need to transform and stop rogercop!"

               "tikki, spots on!"

               the kwami was pulled into charlotte's left earring, disappearing as a pink light. the pink light engulfed charlotte's body, lighting the walls of the locker room. the familiar sensation was back, and charlotte took it in stride.

🐞

coccinella vaulted up to the second floor, running along until she saw the tall figure of rogercop. the akumatized victim was standing in the doorway (more like a gap since he knocked down the door) of principal damocles's office.

               mayor bourgeois turned around, frowning at rogercop. "didn't anyone ever teach you to knock before you come in?"

               "justice doesn't need an invitation," replied rogercop.

               so he's that type, coccinella thought to herself, reeling her yo-yo back like a baseball.

               rogercop took one large step inside, the wooden door crunching under his feet. he raised right air, his clenched fist level with the mayor's eyes. "mayor bourgeois, you are under arrest for abuse of power."

               the mayor gasped, giving the man a look of pure disbelief. "look who's talking!"

               part of rogercop's armor raised, ready to shoot at the mayor, but coccinella threw her yo-yo; the red body wrapped around rogercop's forearm, stopping him from firing. robotically, rogercop turned his head nearly a hundred and eighty degrees to "glare" at coccinella. (it wasn't exactly glaring as his eyes were nearly devoid of emotions, but coccinella figured he would be glaring; they always glared like she was the one causing trouble.)

               "coccinella," he practically announced. "paris has a new righter of wrongs. your services are no longer required."

               "rogercop — you can't go around accusing everyone of every little wrongdoing," she yelled back. "you won't ever have time to catch the real bad guys!"

               instead of responding, rogercop chose to act. he fired three shots at her. quickly, coccinella unraveled her yo-yo, jumping backward to avoid the lasers. the three shots landed in quick succession, ten feet from her.

               she jumped over the ledged as rogercop marched after her, a line of shots following her. she ran across the courtyard, dodging in front of the running janitor, who had red and blue cuffs on his wrist. coccinella scowled to herself, knowing that it was all rogercop's doing.

               she ducked inside an empty classroom, and sighed when the shots ceased. "cat noir, where are you ...?" she muttered under her breath, glancing through the windows to the dark classroom.

               chloé stormed out of miss bustier's room. "mr. rogercop." she crossed her arms, an angry look on her face. "i need your help."

               "chloé," sighed coccinella, ready to smash her head against the glass. "are you serious?"

               from the principal's office, coccinella could see the mayor sneaking out, quickly descending the stairs and running out the front doors. but rogercop noticed, too; he turned his back on chloé, eyes laser-focused on her father.

               rogercop jumped from the top floor to the courtyard. "hey, come back!" chloé yelled after him, stomping her foot. but rogercop didn't listen, marching for the open front doors. coccinella shrunk down as rogercop strode by, and snuck out and reeled her yo-yo back.

               the yo-yo wrapped around rogercop's wrist, but that didn't slow him down. not at all. coccinella was pulled off her feet and pulled a foot along the ground before she reeled her yo-yo back in. the mayor was running to the silver car that he arrived in. rogercop kept marching on, and aimed to shoot, then —

               cat noir dropped from the sky (probably just the top of lycée françoise dupont) and landed on rogercop's arm, messing with the man's aiming. instead of hitting the mayor with his shots, he only hit the mayor's car.

               cat noir rolled across the ground, grabbing rogercop's attention as the mayor drove away rapidly. "you're obstructing justice, cat noir," rogercop declared, pointing both of his guns (were they guns?) at the blond boy. "you are going to pay for this."

               "you can add bodily harm to the charges." cat noir grinned and weaved through rogercop's shots, gaining closer to the akumatized victim. he jumped on rogercop's back, then launching himself off the man's shoulders, raising his silver staff above his head. but before cat noir could swing the staff downward, rogercop grabbed the weapon, and launched cat noir towards the trashcan outside the school.

               coccinella winced to herself and climbed to her feet. "listen, rogercop!" she yelled at the man. "you're sabrina's dad — and a good cop! you were a good guy before — this! stop listening to hawk moth. this can all be solved without his evil powers!"

               a purple butterfly appeared over rogercop's face, and coccinella knew it was in vain. she knew hawk moth was only whispering more lies into rogercop's ear now — lies that coccinella was some horrible person or something.

               the butterfly disappeared and rogercop raised his arms, aiming for coccinella. "justice must prevail in the streets of paris," he listed monotonously.

               coccinella rolled to her right, sliding down the concrete ramp to her school. she vaulted off the end, trying to attack over head — but rogercop only grabbed her leg and spun her once before letting her fly over the roof of lycée françoise dupont. coccinella slid across the courtyard five feet, grumbling under her breath.

               she hurried to her feet, catching sight of a blue and white car driving away — and a figure clad in black hanging on to the back. coccinella spotted the honey-blond hair and knew it was cat noir. she reeled her yo-yo back as the car started to fly into the air, and the yo-yo wrapped around a tire. coccinella was pulled onto the trunk, landing next to cat noir.

               she smiled at the boy. "miss me?"

               he looked ready to respond when the car started spinning. they hung on, feet dangling in the air, and yelling loudly. coccinella's vision swam by the time the car stopped spinning, and she could feel her brain practically rattling against her skull.

               cat noir pulled himself higher on the car, about to help coccinella when the tail end suddenly flew higher into the air. rogercop slammed on the brakes, and coccinella was nearly sent flying. cat noir wasn't so lucky; his feet went out from underneath him and he was tossed from the car. if it wasn't for coccinella catching him with her yo-yo, he would've become a cat popsicle.

               rogercop turned the car to the right at a sharp ninety degrees, and cat noir flew along behind with coccinella trying to reel him back in. she helped him back onto the car, and cat noir smiled at her. "thanks for the lasso, lassie."

               coccinella grimaced. "don't call me lassie, cat. and my yo-yo isn't a lasso."

               the driver's door opened and out came rogercop. the car kept driving without his assistance. coccinella and cat noir's eyes widened as he climbed in front of them. faintly, coccinella could hear chloé inside the car; "hey! where are you going? who's going to drive this car?"

               rogercop stared down at them, but cat noir grinned up at him. "did i ever thank you for the lift?"

               he grabbed his silver staff and launched himself at the tall man. coccinella had no other choice but to fight rogercop. she and cat noir attacked relentlessly, but they were making much progress against the man. besides, they had no idea where the akuma was either even if they wanted to take care of this quickly.

               rogercop jumped to the left side of the car, and the car started tipping in that direction. coccinella and cat noir had to run the opposite way, rogercop separating them like a bulky, tall light pole.

               "where'd you get those shoes?" cat noir yelled to rogercop, who was rooted in place to his car, like his shoes were magnetic. "i could use a pair like that!"

               THWACK!

               coccinella yelped, her feet coming out from underneath her. rogercop had shot his arms out, and only cat noir had enough time to dodge — coccinella's head jerked backward as her nose hit the man's fist.

               the car was still spinning, and the momentum from running sent her flying over the edge. her nose pulsing with pain, she unhooked her yo-yo and threw it. "the yo-yo — grab it, cat!" the yo-yo made a sharp zip! as it flew toward him, but it was just out of reach.

               cat noir screamed to her as coccinella fell through the air. the yo-yo trailed behind her, waving in the wind. the ladybug gritted her teeth and reeled the weapon back in. she was falling for the seine river, the water sloshing as she fell closer. her heart lodged in her throat as she reeled her arm back, aiming for the pont des arts bridge.

               the wire wrapped around the architecture of the bridge and coccinella swung underneath the bridge. her momentum kept her going, and she swung into the air, and over the railing to the pont des arts bridge. people gasped all around her, backing away as coccinella stumbled to her feet.

               she didn't pay them any mind, looking upward for rogercop's car. she cursed under her breath, seeing how much space it had cover, and broke out into a sprint. she vaulted to a rooftop of a building, and saw a small figure starting to fall from rogercop's car.

               faintly, coccinella could see the person was clad in black, and she cursed. "dammit, cat noir ..." she grumbled, jumping to a taller building. cat noir fell closer to the ground, and coccinella threw her yo-yo around his ankles. he gasped and looked at his feet, but then panicked once he realized how close he was to the ground. before he could try and save himself, coccinella threw her end of the yo-yo around the overhang of a light pole and pulled tightly.

               cat noir's face was five inches from the ground when he realized he was alive. he looked around wildly, spotting coccinella's feet. he smiled and coccinella started rolling the string up, hiking cat noir higher.

               she smiled at him. "hey, cat. you okay?"

               "sure am!" agreed cat noir. "and i sure am head over heels to see you, m'lady."

               he puckered his lips and started to lean closer. coccinella's smile fell and she dropped the yo-yo. "ow!" cat noir yelped as the yo-yo untied his feet and he fell head-first into the road.

               "you owe me one, cat noir." coccinella hooked her yo-yo back onto her waist and held out her hand to cat noir. he grumbled under his breath, but grabbed her hand to help him back onto his feet.

               "sure thing," he agreed, straightning to his full height. "but i'll take the credit for that." he pointed to the brilliant blue sky, and coccinella saw what he was talking about.

               up high in the air, rogercop's car was leaking black smoke, which trailed after the vehicle as it started to fly closer to the ground. the black smoke gave them the perfect way to follow rogercop.

               coccinella and cat noir followed him until they reached the eiffel tower. they landed on one of the many platforms of the monument, frowning as rogercop flew past at high speeds.

               coccinella sighed as rogercop became out of view. "there's no point in running after him now. not when he came move at such high speeds with his car."

               "if it's the mayor he wants ..." cat noir landed beside her, sharing a look.

               "that's who he'll be going after." coccinella nodded. "and that means — city hall."

               cat noir's cheek twitched. "do i sense a plan?"

               coccinella grinned. "maybe."

🐞

the two landed outside the city hall, where groups of the military were gathering. lined up in blocks, a message from the mayor was being broadcast to the forces. "paris has a new superpower. his name is rogercop. i hereby relinquish all authority to rogercop. all citizens are ordered to answer to him."

               coccinella exchanged a nervous look with cat noir. "this isn't good ..." she murmured as the military started shifting around, glancing at their comrades.

               the mayor was moved out of the way, and rogercop appeared on the screen. "coccinella and cat noir are now outlaws," rogercop's robotic voice declared. "they must be hunted down and taken into custody immediately."

               "definetly not good," agreed cat noir as the blocks of military forces started looking at them. he and coccinella put their backs together as the men started surrounding them. the two part-time heroes (or now, outlaws) had to fight their way through. coccinella vaulted over one man, sending him toppling into another police officer as she slid between the legs of another.

               she spun her yo-yo back and swung to the nearest rooftop, glancing back to see if cat noir was okay. he was; cat noir tossed a guy over his shoulder, sending three other police officers to the floor, before pulling out his staff and vaulting away.

               they met up on the rooftop of a building right outside the city hall. eventually, even more police presence was brought in — helicopters, search teams, and even more officers in general. they tried to make a game plan — a way to sneak inside — but with the growing forces, they were stuck where they were.

               coccinella ducked her head as a helicopter flew over. she sat back down beside cat noir, bracing her back against the cement chimney.

               "so now we're the nation's most wanted felons?" cat noir scowled to himself, glaring resentfully at the police forces.

               "at least it's not our unmasked faces out there," said coccinella.

               "yeah, but i don't know you without a mask!" cat noir gripped. "totally unfair, by the way."

               "cat, we've been over this before!" coccinella sighed. "we can't know who the other is behind the mask. that'll only put us in even more danger — put our families in danger!"

               "i know, i know ..." cat noir grumbled. "m'ladybug, tell me. how many times have we saved paris? they really can't be trying to arrest us while we've saved their asses how many times?"

               coccinella chewed on the inner part of her left cheek. "... we're still saving paris, cat. we just — need a plan."

🐞

"i can't believe you're making me do this ..." cat noir grumbled, pulling out his silver staff.

               coccinella sent him a smile. "it's because you just grab everyone's attention. you're a showstopper!"

               "i know you don't mean that," cat noir rolled his eyes, "but thanks, bugaboo!"

               "don't call me bugaboo."

               cat noir sent the ladybug a wink and waltzed to the edge of the rooftop. immediately, a helicopter spotted him, bathing him in the bright lights of their machinery. the cat leapt from the rooftop, using the staff to slow his fall. once he reached the roads, he braced himself against the staff, giving all the watching police reinforcement smiles.

               "something about paris just makes you wanna dance," he declared.

               for a moment, the police were shocked; some where sharing almost amused glances. then, rogercop's robotic voice declared; "you won't be dancing after i'm through with you. arrest him!"

               that snapped the police into action. they started running for him, but cat noir had enough time to ask, "does that mean you won't be joining me?" as he gave rogercop a sad look. then he leaped out of the way as four police officers tried to dogpile him.

               he kept the officers occupied as coccinella vaulted from the rooftop and to the ground. she crept to the carved-out doors of the city hall and slipped through the car-shaped hole. she crept through the empty halls of the city hall until she reached the mayor's office.

               the office was deadly silent as chloé and her father sat in the chairs in front of the oak desk that originally belonged to mayor bourgeois. rogercop stood in front of the windows in the room, analyziing the outside of city hall, probably watching cat noir and the police force fighting. chloé seemingly heard coccinella, looking over the back of the chair as the ladybug snuck inside.

               coccinella motioned to chloé to stay quiet, and the blonde nodded eagerly. "go coccinella, go!" chloé cheered not-so-quietly.

               silently, coccinella's head hung low as rogercop turned around. the man marched away from the window and coccinella was forced out from behind a table that mapped the city of paris.

               "coccinella," said rogercop, "it is time for justice to prevail."

               he raised his arms and fired, but coccinella pulled out the yo-yo and created a pink shield. the two shots deflected and hit the ceiling, creating scorched lines.

               "you've got justice and revenged mixed, rogerop," said coccinella, shaking her head. "lucky charm!"

               from the folds of the red yo-yo came a spotted oven mitten. it dropped softly into coccinella's hands. "what the fuck ..." she murmured, glancing down at it.

               but rogercop didn't give her anytime to think on it, sending two shots of fire her way. coccinella bounded out of the way and across the office. the shots followed after her, leaving a trail of scorch marks to show coccinella's tracks. she flipped a table over, bracing her back against it, and it jerked with each round rogercop fired.

               coccinella held the oven mitten close to her chest, glancing nervously at the doors to mayor bourgeois's office. "any minute, cat noir ..." she whispered as rogercop marched closer.

               not a moment too soon. when rogercop was two feet away, cat noir vaulted inside the office, making rogercop turn around. coccinella flipped the table back over and jumped over rogercop to land beside cat noir.

               rogercop gave them his best version of an angry expression and pulled his whistle up to his lips to blow on it. it let out an ugly screech and he said to chloé and her father, "get coccinella and cat noir!"

               the red and blue handcuffs around mayor bourgeois and chloé's wrist started pulling them out of their seats. with their hands leading them, their feet had to keep up as they were pulled over to cat nori and coccinella. the ladybug hero sidestepped chloé and pushed her out the door, while cat noir picked the mayor and tossed him out and coccinella quickly slammed the doors shut.

               this pissed rogercop off, who started shooting at them. coccinella and cat noir ran and hid behind the wooden table with the 3d map of paris. the table thumped as rogercop repeatedly shot at them.

               "the akuma must be in his whistle," coccinella told cat noir. "that's the only answer i've got."

               "okay, how?"

               the table gave a louder thump than normal, and they both paused. then rogercop's head created a large shadow and the two heroes crawled out from underneath. they went their separate directions once rogercop started shooting again. they ran across the office and slid behind the slab of wood where the mayor hung his clothes.

               she glanced at rogercop, who had his arms raised, ready to fire. her eyes locked on the mechanics the akumatized victim used, then her eyes locked on the discarded rolling cart of food one of the workers left behind — a discarded oven mitt was there, ready to pair with the red one in coccinella's hands. then the belt to one of the mayor's pants caught her eye.

               she ripped the belt out of all the loops with a sharp zip! "okay, i have an idea," she told cat noir. "but i still need something — a ring maybe? something circular."

               the blond looked ready to respond, then rogercop's fist went through the wood. cat noir and coccinella both yelped and escaped. coccinella vaulted over the mayor's desk and grabbed the yellow oven mitt left behind. she and cat noir stopped behind the cart.

               "where am i gonna get a ring from?" coccinella sounded whiny, even to herself, but she couldn't help it. it wasn't like there was a jewelry store right inside the mayor's office, and it was already incredibly good luck there was an oven mitt and a belt nearby.

               cat noir tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed. "coccinella — over there!" he whispered while pointing to a gold bracelet next to a flowerpot.

               coccinella's eyes widened with recognition.

               "chloé's bracelet ..." she murmured. then she grinned. "that's exactly what i need. thanks, cat!"

               her yo-yo looped through the bracelet and snagged it. the bracelet landed in coccinella's hand, and she looked cat noir's way. "deal with rogerop as long as possible.

               he grinned and yelled, "cataclysm!" his right hand was surrounded by the black particles that destroyed. he jumped out from behind the metal cart and slid across the ground, his hand gliding behind him. a three-foot-wide strip of the floor turned a nasty green color and spread until it reached rogercop's feet. in a one-last-ditch effort, he shot at cat noir and managed to hit the boy — cat noir slid across the floor again and slammed into some bookcases, his right hand locked to the ladder.

               but the ground had given away beneath rogercop's feet and his lower half was stuck in the floor. rogercop was struggling to get free when coccinella darted out from her hiding spot. she held her makeshift cuffs tightly in her hands, knowing he could still shoot her with handcuffs.

               she leapt off the end of mayor bourgeois's desk and managed to weave in between rogercop's fires. each oven mitt slid right over the hands of rogercop, ceasing the fires immediately. but just to make sure, coccinella pulled the end of the belt closer to her chest, tightening the oven mitts for good luck.

               she knelt in front of rogercop and ripped the whistle off his neck. "thank you," she said breezily as she crushed the plastic whistle in her hand. a black butterfly wriggled free, squeezing between her fingers. coccinella's grey eyes carefully followed the butterfly as she grabbed her yo-yo and slid her finger over the top. a line appeared after her finger, and the yo-yo's shell split in half like a ladybug's wings.

               "no more evil-doing for you, akuma!" said the ladybug hero as her yo-yo snapped around the black butterfly, seizing it. coccinella pressed the top of the yo-yo and a single, white butterfly fluttered out. coccinella smiled lightly as she watched it fly away.

               coccinella threw the spotted oven mitt into the air and it burst into a swarm of ladybugs surrounded by a pink light. the swarm spread throughout the room then through the doors, surely on their way to help the rest of paris — flying around to fix anything disturbed or hurt during rogercop's reign.

               officer roger — not stuck in the floor and un-akumatized — looked around wildly. "what am i doing here?" he murmured.

               coccinella smiled at cat noir, holding out her fist. he grinned and knocked her knuckles with his. "pound it!" they said together.

               "as rogercop would say," started cat noir, holding his hand to his chest, "justice has prevailed in the streets of paris."

               coccinella raised her eyebrows as cat noir's ring gave a shrill beep. cat quickly looked down at the ring. he declared, "i'd stick around but then you'd see me without my mask —"

               "you know how i feel about that," added coccinella with an playful eyeroll.

               but suddenly cat noir leaned in close, making coccinella lean away. "you wouldn't be able to resist, m'lady."

               coccinella scoffed at his words. "no way, cat noir! but — if that's what you want to believe." she shrugged, spreading her hands.

               cat noir grinned at her and took a running start away. when he left, coccinella got a good look at what was behind him, and what was leaning against the mayor's desk. chloé's bag. the ladybug frowned for a moment, then grabbed the gold bracelet the blonde had been showing off earlier. quickly, she dropped it inside chloé's white bag.

               done with that, coccinella thought. hopefully, another part of her brain added.

🐞

"i think this belongs to you, miss," said officer roger, placing chloé's bag on her father's desk.

               "my bag!" said chloé, looking surprised. as quick as light, she practically ripped the bag from officer roger's hands and started looking through it. "my —" she gasped. "my bracelet! but how?"

               mayor bourgeois looked relieved. "roger, you found the bracelet?"

               coccinella nudged sabrina's father and nodded. officer roger stated; "it turns out it was in chloé's bag all along." chloé slipped the bracelet over her wrist and started analyzing it. "must've fallen into a side pocket when that clumsy girl tripped over it."

               silently, coccinella winced at the memory.

               "well, roger, i do apologize for being so accusatory," amended mayor bourgeois. "and for firing you for no good reason."

               coccinella stepped in, knowing her five minutes were quickly running away from her. "i think officer roger has proven to be a very excellent part of the force. don't you agree, mr. mayor? i believe it would be unwise to not bring him back."

               "of course, coccinella." mayor bourgeois nodded eagerly. "you're absolutely right! and actually — it's lieutenant roger, now."

               sabrina's father gasped. "thank you, mr. mayor! i'm proud to be on the force, and i vow to uphold my firm belief that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty."

               coccinella's earrings beeped — only two minutes remaining. she slowly slinked away as mayor bourgeois said, "very good! a valuable lesson learned." he leaned closer to his daughter. "right, chloé?"

               chloé rolled her eyes. "yes, daddy."

               faintly, coccinella smiled to herself. "thank god," she muttered as she softly shut the door of the mayor's office behind her.

🐞  OCT. 13TH, 2023  /  hey y'all - it's totally not been - what? - nearly four months?

honestly, the hardest part is getting myself to sit down and write for it rather than actually writing tbh - i also feel like the quality has decreased slowly with each chapter but ,, i just can't let go of charlotte and miraculous ladybug so we're toughing it out

this chapter is also pretty boring because nothing important really happens - it sticks very much to the actual episode