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Encounter with the enemy

As soon as Ratigan was seen, the hatred was reflected in the faces of Basil and Ladybug. The heroine knew he was just one more victim of the bearer of the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous, but being the archenemy of her childhood hero, the young woman couldn't help but let her fury out. Chat Noir was cautious, attentive to any action of the villain and his sentimonster... wait a minute, where was that bat?

"My Lady, I don't see Fidget..."

"I never thought the day would come when the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Padraic Ratigan, would ask for help in achieving victory." Basil taunted his rival. Despite the mockery in his voice, his gaze continued to be hard, reflecting the hatred he had for the rat.

"You are not far behind, Basil." Ratigan replied. "I see you made a new friend." The professor looked at the doctor, Dawson was overwhelmed by the look of the rat. Chat Noir noticed and stepped in front of the doctor to protect him. "Which I find funny and pathetic, you're getting help from a couple of brats! And one of them couldn't even get me the first time!" The villain let out a laugh followed by his thugs who also came out of the shadows and surrounded the detective and the others.

Hearing the rat's taunts, anger and humiliation coursed through Chat Noir's body. As Severus Snape was used to and put up with them, but as a superhero... he wouldn't let that filthy rat get away with it. The laughter intensified, that was enough for the hero. He gripped his staff firmly with both hands and ran towards Ratigan past Basil, Ladybug and Olivia.

"CHAT NOIR, NO!" the heroine shouted.

Ratigan stopped his laughter and looked superiorly at the young man running towards him as an evil smile appeared on his face. The thugs warned their boss, but the professor remained calm in his place, confident absolutely nothing would happen to him, and so it was: Chat Noir raised his staff over his head and as soon as he was in front of the professor, he attacked him with his weapon... but nothing happened.

Everyone present looked surprised at what happened: Chat Noir's attack was stopped by a semi-transparent force field of black-purple energy.

"What...?" stammered the motionless feline-rodent, still with his staff in contact with the energy field.

"Nice try, kid," Ratigan scoffed. The professor raised a hand and the hero felt as if his weapon had become stuck in that energy field. He tugged on his staff, but it didn't move; seeing him, the villain's evil grin widened. "That's what you get for underestimating me."

Ratigan snapped his fingers and the energy field shocked Chat Noir. As soon as the electricity stopped, the professor's defense disappeared. The rat held the other end of the weapon with one hand and smoothly flung the feline-rodent towards his friends. The hero crashed to the ground and rolled until Ladybug stopped him.

"Chat Noir!" exclaimed the heroine. She helped his friend to sit down and looked him over from head to toe, checking he wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?" The young man looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, standard question."

The Miraculous bearers stood up and stared at Ratigan in shock. What kind of powers did Papillombre give him?

"What the hell was that!?" Basil asked puzzled.

"It's the power Papillombre gave Ratigan." Ladybug reminded him. "Though we've never seen anything like it before."

"That's because Monsieur Papillombre gave me complete freedom over my powers." Ratigan boasted, overhearing the conversation between his nemesis and his targets.

"What?" exclaimed the heroes.

"Unlike the opponents you're used to defeating, from the beginning I agreed with Papillombre to do everything my way, including my abilities and Fidget's, because you don't know me or Basil. In short, you don't know our world. Proof of that is Papillombre thought I was the 'rodent version' of Professor James Moriarty, and you two naively believed the same thing when I first contacted you through the sentimonster. But hey, this is a huge advantage: facing the unknown. However, the fact you managed to bring Basil and his fat friend is a sign I should not underestimate you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Basil asked puzzled.

"Pardon?"

"I always knew you had a twisted mind, and once again you prove it. Even though Ladybug told me about the Miraculouses and their powers, everything you say is implausible! It's natural for humans to be unaware of our world, so how the hell could one of them find out about it and still mistake you for their criminal James Moriarty? And how come Papillombre obtained the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses if they were entrusted to mice? Therefore, he would not have to know of their existence, not to mention they would have to be of a size too small for him and any other human.

»"And that's not the craziest thing of all: bringing Dawson and me? What do you mean by that? I just met him today and this is the first time you see him, how is it possible you know him?! Plus you talk like he and I shouldn't exist, when you and I have been fighting each other for YEARS! Absurd! TOTALLY ABSURD!"

Ratigan chuckled and glared at the Miraculous bearers. Ladybug and Chat Noir both tensed in bewilderment; weren't Basil, Dawson, the Flavershams, and the thugs supposed to be creations of the akuma? They remembered Fidget's reaction to seeing the detective and the doctor in the toy store and what he yelled. So how could the two possibly exist if Ratigan didn't bring them along when he transformed the city and its citizens? That wasn't what Ladybug was worried about at the moment, that rat wanted to reveal the truth to Basil and the others.

The professor looked at the heroes and then at his rival, his mischievous smile grew as he slowly laughed, finally letting out a laugh.

"Oh, this is better than I expected! I will definitely treasure this moment!" Ratigan gradually calmed down, wiping away the tears came from laughing. He took a deep breath and continued. "The youngsters present here (Papillombre's archenemies and also bearers of those magical jewels), are actually human beings transformed into mice thanks to my new powers, granted by the black butterfly, known as akuma.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were in shock as were the three protagonist mice. Basil, Dawson and Olivia looked at the youngsters in surprise while they stood motionless, not daring to look at their mouse friends. Ratigan enjoyed the chaos he was causing, so he decided to add fuel to the fire.

"And there is more, dear friend. If you were shocked to discover they are human, this will leave you breathless..."

ENOUGH!

Ladybug couldn't take it anymore. From the beginning she intended to tell Basil and the others the truth once the mission was over, the akuma and amok purified and before everything returned to normal, but thanks to that sewer rat everything was ruined.

Ignoring the cries of her friends, forgetting her weapon and what happened to the feline-rodent trying to attack the rat, the coccinellid-rodent ran towards Ratigan raising her fist, ready to strike him. However, as expected, the attack never reached the professor, only this time the energy field didn't muffle it, but rather the villain held the young woman's fist, stopping her aggression. In a quick move, the professor spun Ladybug pinning her by pinning her arm behind her back and grabbing her chin making her look directly at Basil.

"It's a shame. We are both mere tools in a human battle has nothing to do with us or our world." the professor said, staring at his nemesis. He looked away from Basil and looked at Ladybug. "I'm surprised you would trust a woman again after what happened last time, especially a young girl."

The last thing Ratigan said caught Ladybug's attention. A woman? Did Basil...? She never read the books, but it didn't take a genius to figure out if Basil was Holmes, then the woman the rat was talking about had to be the mousy version of Irene Adler... This wasn't the time for that!

The professor saw the reactions of the Miraculous bearers, his archenemy, the paunchy man, and the girl. Why hadn't it occurred to him before? This was better than he planned! He moved his head a little and as he did so a sweet scent reached his nose; he instinctively closed his eyes, followed the scent and as he did so he felt Ladybug squirm.

"What are you doing?"

Ratigan opened his eyes and realized his nose was almost buried in the girl's hair. So the scent was coming from her.

"I was just trying to get a better look at those pretty earrings. They really are unique."

Ladybug knew the rat was lying. That attitude reminded her of the villain of another Disney movie and her skin crawled.

Finally remembering her left arm was free, she elbowed the rat in the stomach and finally broke free. She ran towards his friends while taking out her yoyo, ready to fight. She was a few steps away from them when she heard Ratigan laugh, she turned and saw the professor sitting up and still laughing. Before the confused expression of the heroine, the villain explained:

"Naive young lady! With everything I revealed, do you think you can defeat me?"

"Of course!"

"Then explain to me why Basil looks at you that way?"

That puzzled Ladybug. She turned around and felt her heart stop as she realized what Ratigan was saying: Basil looked at her coldly and hard. Hatefully, as if the professor was before him and not her.

"So that's what it was about. From the beginning you only used me." Basil framed Ladybug. "You knew you couldn't stop Ratigan on your own, so you went to 'ask for help' when really you just wanted me to do your dirty work."

"No!" Ladybug shouted upset. "I explained everything to you..."

"If that human has so much power why use someone else to do his job ESPECIALLY SOMEONE FROM A WORLD THAT DOESN'T CONCERN HIM?!"

"I DO NOT KNOW! FROM THE BEGINNING HE HAS USED INNOCENT PEOPLE AS TOOLS!"

"AND YOU ARE DOING THE SAME RIGHT NOW!"

"OF COURSE NOT! I KNEW YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WE COULD TURN TO TEAM UP AND BEAT THEM!"

"A TEAM, YES OF COURSE!" Basil walked over to Ladybug and grabbed her arm tightly. The young woman had never felt this terrified before. "Women are always the least suspicious, blinding men with their charms and thus manipulating us! What other secrets have you been keeping from me? But you know what, I'd rather listen to you... BEHIND BARS!"

"ENOUGH!" Basil looked over his shoulder. Chat Noir glared at him with his hands at his sides and clenching his fists tightly, the hand that had the staff trembling. "If we didn't tell you anything it's not because we're using you, IT'S BECAUSE WE KNEW YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE US! DID YOU FORGET YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU SEE US?" The feline-rodent growled and glared at the detective. "NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DISCUSS THIS!"

"You're right about that." Basil agreed. He turned his attention back to Ladybug; he released her, took a couple of steps back still looking at her with revulsion. "I trusted you and I thought you trusted me, there would be no more secrets between us, but you continued to hide information and used me." Those words not only hurt the heroine but also himself. "For a moment I came to believe we could be friends. How naive."

"Basil."

"In the end it turned out you are no different from Papillombre, nor from Ratigan."

Ladybug's eyes widened, her jaw dropped slightly as her mouth trembled. Hearing those words come from her childhood hero caused her heart to ache, as if it had turned to glass and shattered. She dropped her yoyo and looked at the ground in defeat; she hadn't felt disgusted with herself since she discovered her kinship to Lord Voldemort. Now being compared to Papillombre and, worst of all, Ratigan? This had to be a nightmare.

And talking about the enemies...

The professor watched with delight the chaos he caused: antagonizing his nemesis and targets. While the bearer of the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous sensed a great negative emotion. He knew whose he was and that aroused his euphoria.

"You truly are The World's Greatest Criminal Mind ever lived, Professor Ratigan!" Papillombre praised.

"Thank you very much, Monsieur Papillombre. Now that spirits are low, snatching their jewels will be child's play."

"Do you have any idea how to eliminate your enemy once and for all?"

"Oh, I have so many ingenious ideas I don't know which to choose!"

"I have a suggestion."

"I hear you."

"Make Ladybug kill him for you, and Chat Noir along the way."

"That's an excellent idea. Let's see if my power allows me to control her."

"It will not be necessary."

"What are you talking about?"

"I feel negative emotions coming from Ladybug, caused by the detective and it will allow me to akumatize her without problems. So would you like to have female company?"

"Of course I do," Ratigan agreed with a wicked laugh.

Papillombre extended a hand and a white butterfly landed on it, he closed it making it absorb negative energy and when he opened it the butterfly turned black and flew from his hand.

"Fly away my little akuma, make Ladybug join us!" Papillombre cried and the butterfly came out of the den.

The akuma arrived at the toy store and entered through the roof window. Olivia and Dawson looked at what happened in front of them without understanding anything, suddenly the girl heard flapping noises; she looked up and saw a black-purple butterfly fly towards them.

"A dark butterfly!" The little girl warned, pointing her finger at the insect.

Hearing her, Chat Noir looked up and felt his heart sink at the sight of him. An akuma! But what...? Right away he understood, his ears paled and he was about to go over to protect his friend and the detective, but he backed away when shots crashed to the ground almost hitting him in the feet. That must been Fidget, hidden somewhere.

"Damn it!" the hero muttered. He saw the evil bug approaching and alerted. "Ladybug, watch out! An akuma!"

Hearing this, Basil looked around and saw the purple-black butterfly approaching them. Amazingly the insect shrank as it approached them. He looked at Ladybug, she didn't move or give any indication she had heard her friend.

"Basil, don't let the akuma touch Ladybug!" warned the feline-rodent trying to move forward, but the bat's shots prevented it.

The detective looked at the butterfly and then at the young woman. The heroine continued to stare at the ground in defeat, ignoring what was happening around her. Aside from its dark color and its cringing, Basil didn't understand the fuss. Chat Noir seeing the mouse did nothing and the akuma was a few meters away from them (in mousy measures), he shouted again.

"HOW DO YOU THINK PAPILLOMBRE GAVE RATIGAN HIS POWERS!? IF THE AKUMA TOUCHES LADYBUG, THEY WILL CONTROL HER AND NOW SHE WILL JOIN THEM! DO YOU WANT TO HAPPEN!?

That got Basil's attention. He was still angry with her, but if what the young man told him about Papillombre and what he would do to the young woman was true, then he had to avoid it. But how to stop something unknown to him and he cannot touch? He looked once more at the dejected Ladybug. Now what was he doing?

"Hey... that butterfly..." said the detective feeling silly for not knowing what to do.

"HURRY!" Chat Noir yelled.

The akuma was almost on top of Ladybug. Basil hugged her and turned around. That action made the young woman finally wake up from her trance and she saw with horror the dark butterfly behind the detective.

"¡Basil!"

The akuma was unable to touch the mouse because it was repelled by a semi-transparent pink energy field. The butterfly moved away from both mice and hovered over them. As with Chat Noir's failed attack on Ratigan, everyone looked surprised at what had happened, especially the hero and the professor.

"What happened?" demanded the professor.

"No! It's impossible!" Papillombre bellowed.

"What the hell was that?"

"That brat! Remember I told you about the new powers those two have discovered! One of them is to prevent akumatization!"

"WHAT!"

"But there's no point in me using that power right now! She always does when she saves my victim and gives them some kind of protection so they won't attack again, NOT BEFORE!"

As Ratigan and Papillombre talked, Basil and Ladybug looked at the akuma kept hovering over them.

"So that butterfly is Papillombre's power and it gave Ratigan his."

"Exactly."

"Fascinating."

Neither of them noticed they were still hugging each other, the only ones who did were Chat Noir, Dawson and Olivia. The feline-rodent was relieved the coccinellid-rodent was saved from akumatization, amazed at that pink energy field protected her and Basil... and angry the two were still holding each other. Papillombre felt a new negative emotion, realizing it was now coming from the young hero.

«I failed with Ladybug, but I can akumatize Chat Noir» thought the villain maliciously.

He snapped his fingers and the dark butterfly flew towards the boy. Ladybug and Basil watched it fly away from them and head straight for...

"Chat Noir! Dawson! Olivia! WATCH OUT!" the heroine warned.

Finally the young woman and the detective realized they were still holding each other. Ears flushed, they let go and turned toward their friends, only to be pushed back by gunshots.

"What the hell...?" Basil exclaimed, looking around. "Where did they come from?"

"Fidget! Ladybug answered. "He must be hidden in the shadows!" She reached a hand to her waist to grab her yoyo, but she was startled not to feel his weapon where it always was. She searched all over his body, altering with each movement. Where the hell...?"

"Were you looking for this?"

The heroine looked over her shoulder, her soul returning to her body as she saw Basil handing her yoyo.

"Thank you." the young woman said, retrieving her weapon.

Both advanced, but again their path was cut off by the shots. That winged rat...

Olivia was amazed to see what happened to that dark butterfly trying to touch Basil and Ladybug. She heard the young woman warn them about the "acuna" and saw the insect go towards Chat Noir and the young man didn't realize it because he looked angrily at his friend and at the detective. She then thought; if Basil could save Ladybug, therefore, she could do the same with the boy. She steeling herself she went towards the feline-rodent, she jumped and hugged her waist.

Dawson saw the akuma approach them and then the girl hug the young man protectively. He understood what the little girl was doing, went towards them and also hugged the hero. Chat Noir was so focused on Ladybug and Basil he didn't pay attention to his surroundings until Olivia and Dawson hugged him.

"Hey, what are you...?"

He stopped when he heard the noise of something colliding in front of them. He looked ahead and saw the akuma being repelled by the same pink energy field that had protected his lady and the detective. The butterfly flied away from him and the two mice.

"It worked!" Olivia cried happily.

"Amazing!" Dawson exclaimed, impressed.

Sensing no more negative emotions, the dark butterfly began to fly away from the mice. Those present saw the strange insect leave. The heroine held her weapon tightly.

"¡Oh, no! ¡No te iras, pequeño akuma!" (Oh no! You won't go, little akuma!) Ladybug said. She opened her yoyo and spun it around. "Je te libera du mal!" She threw it and caught the bug. "Catch!" she opened the yoyo. "Goodbye..." the interior of the weapon released an intense white light. The heroine pushed it away and the purified akuma came out in its normal size! "...butterfly."

"Fascinating!" Basil said impressed. "But was all pantomime and phrases necessary?"

"Shut up," Ladybug said embarrassed, to which the detective just laughed.

"Interesting." The five mice looked at Ratigan. "So that way you defeat Monsieur Papillombre's villains. Interesting, especially your 'lovely' pantomime and catchphrases." and he burst out laughing, which was seconded by his thugs.

Ladybug didn't know whether to be angry because the professor made fun of her or to be scared because Ratigan said the exact same words as Basil. She shook her head away from that crazy coincidence and faced the villain.

"Laugh all you want, but your wickedness ends here and now!"

"I want to see you try it, girl. You can't even get close without Fidget stopping you."

Right, the sentimonster. First they had to capture that annoying bat. How to find him? They could use Revelio; however, if they used it they risked showing what they had barely managed to hide from Basil and the rest. Another option could be the Summoning Charm, but they had never used it on a living being, would it work? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Accio...!"

The spell was interrupted by a shot grazed the back of Ladybug's hand, cutting her. The young woman dropped her wand because of pain, took hold of her wounded hand and watched in amazement and horror as blood flowed. How was it possible? Her Miraculous was supposed to protect her from any injury.

"Ladybug!" Basil and Chat Noir yelled as they approached her.

The detective was closer to the young woman, gently took her hand and checked the wound.

"Fortunately the cut is not deep." Basil said a little quietly.

He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and with it he bandaged Ladybug's hand. While the detective attended to the coccinellid-rodent, the feline-rodent observed the place trying to find Fidget. Where the hell was that bat? Once the heroine's hand was ready, the detective returned her wand and they both faced the rat.

"Any other bright ideas, my friends?" Ratigan asked mockingly. "With Fidget as my sniper hiding in the shadows, there's no way you can do anything about it, other than surrender and hand over your Miraculouses to me."

"Ratigan asked sarcastically. But seriously, any ideas?" Basil asked.

"I have something," Ladybug replied. Then she turned to her partner. "I'll try to cast the Summoning Charm again and while I'm at it you'll cast the Shield Charm, got it?"

"A sus órdenes, jefa." (At your service, boss.)

Ladybug giggled upon hearing her partner's response. Returning to a serious stance, Chat Noir discreetly drew his wand from him. On the count of three, the heroine raised her wand and said the spell once more. Immediately the shot was heard and the hero acted.

"Protego!"

The spell covered all five mice. The shot ricocheted right back toward its source, hitting Fidget in his broken wing. It was her chance. Chat Noir lowered the Shield Charm and Ladybug used the Summoner once more:

"Accio Fidget!"

To they good luck, the spell worked. The sentimonster came out of his hiding place in the shadows and headed straight for his enemies. However, Ratigan used his power to retrieve him causing the bat to fall carelessly next to him.

'Nice try, youngsters. But Fidget stays with me." the professor said. "Enough games already. Get them!" He ordered his henchmen.

"Yes, professor!" The thugs answered and approached the five mice they had surrounded.

Dawson hugged Olivia. Basil and the heroes surrounded them to protect them.

"Now what?" the detective questioned.

Ladybug and Chat Noir glanced at each other. They knew if they used their powers afterwards they would only have five minutes before they would return to normal, it wouldn't be easy to hide to protect their identities and feed their kwamis, but right now they had no opinion. The coccinellid-rodent put away her wand, exchanging it for her yoyo.

«Por favor que sea algo bueno. Siendo Ratigan tiene que ser algo a su nivel.» (Please let it be a good thing. Being Ratigan has to be something on his level.) the heroine thought looking worriedly at her weapon.

"Lucky Charm!" She activated her power and into her hand it fell... "A pipe!? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!" Ladybug yelled bewildered, hitting her forehead with her hand.

Chat Noir also hit his forehead with his hand. He knew the Lucky Charm provided the 'correct' item to defeat the villain, but right now (as did his friend) he doubted it would be of any use.

Basil, Dawson and Olivia were impressed to see Ladybug's power, they had never seen anything like it and it was fascinating. However, the detective didn't know what puzzled him more: seeing an object appear out of nowhere and that apparently it wasn't very promising, or at the moment of invoking it, Ladybug's clothes changed completely. It was to be expected she kept the ladybug theme, but her outfit changed its design was strange, especially since it was something he had never seen before: Ladybug was now wearing —what the detective assumed— a red formal suit with black spots, black shirt, black gloves with a red spots on the back of the hands (he supposed they were both the same because the right one was bandaged with his handkerchief), and black dress shoes with red laces. She didn't have a tie and on her head, where her deerstalker used to be, now there were glasses with dark lenses, surely black.

"Is that the famous 'power of creation' of the great Ladybug?" Ratigan pointed out, the mockery in his voice. "Do you plan to defeat me with that 'peace pipe'? That's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life!" The professor burst out laughing, followed by Fidget and his goons.

The heroine had completely red ears. She looked with hatred and shame at the villain and his minions laughing at her. The detective saw the girl's mood decline, with everything he discovered he knew she was the only one with the power to defeat the professor, so he had to help her.

"Now what happens?"

Ladybug looked away from Ratigan and turned her attention to the detective.

"What?"

"The power of the creation of your Miraculous gave you that pipe which, upon closer inspection, looks like mine, only the colors are obviously different. So now what happens?"

The coccinellid-rodent had to admit she was surprised to hear the mouse encouraging her to continue without questioning her about the object. She took a deep breath to give herself courage and looked around her. Seeing her do this, the detective deduced the young woman was analyzing her surroundings to know what to do since the object was only a piece of the puzzle. So he imitated the action.

A/N: Ladybug's Vision: Red with black spots. Basil's Vision: Brown.

Heroine and detective saw the pipe. Above them a shelf with a free hook. Ladybug also saw Chat Noir, Olivia, and Basil. The detective took the pipe from the girl's hand and examined it.

"It's lit and overfilled it with tobacco. If someone smokes it they will drown. And to blow it..."

The mice looked at each other and had an idea. Basil handed Ladybug's pipe back and took out his along with the container where he kept the tobacco and the box of matches. As the detective prepared his pipe like the other, the heroine turned to the girl and spoke to her.

"Olivia, lend us your ribbon, please."

"Sure"

The little girl took off her hat, took off her red ribbon and held it out to the girl. Ladybug received it and tied one end of to her pipe. The pipe ready, Basil tied the other end of the ribbon to his own.

"What are you doing?" Dawson asked.

Chat Noir turned to the others and saw his lady and the mouse each holding a pipe, tied together with a red ribbon.

"Ok... And the plan is...?"

"Olivia, you stay with the Doc and Chat Noir." Ladybug pointed out. She then turned to her partner. "On our signal, you three climb up to the shelf above us. Cover your nose and mouth with something."

Not very convinced with the plan, the feline-rodent obeyed his companion. He carried Olivia, and Dawson stayed close to the hero to hold him when the time was right.

Basil and Ladybug turned their backs against each other and brought their pipes to their mouths.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Both mice inhaled as much as they could and blew on the pipes as hard as they could. The smoke from the pipes burst out and covered the five mice, reaching the thugs who were near them and they began to cough.

The noise interrupted Ratigan's laughter. The professor looked to where his enemies were and saw the curtain of black smoke.

"What the hell...!?"

Out of the smoke with the help of his staff Chat Noir, the pudgy mustache, and the brat climbed directly onto the shelf above them. Almost immediately, the heroine's yoyo came out of the dense smoke, entangling itself in the hook, and when it pulled the rope, Ladybug and Basil came out of the smoke coughing.

Ratigan glared at his enemies trying to escape and turned on Fidget and his goons.

"Don't stand there like idiots GET THEM!"

Chat Noir, Dawson, and Olivia removed the bandanas and scarf they used to cover their faces. Soon Ladybug and Basil caught up to them, both still coughing from the tobacco.

"Are you alright?" asked the feline-rodent.

"Yes." the coccinellid-rodent answered breathlessly. "With this, give me less desire to smoke."

"With this amount of tobacco, obviously not." Basil gasped.

The heroine and the detective still hadn't recovered, but they had to move and fast. Ladybug grabbed Olivia by the hand and started running followed by the men. Thanks to Ratigan's power, his thugs were able to quickly climb onto the shelf and corner the heroes.

The thugs drew their revolvers and fired. Ladybug and Chat Noir swung their weapons around to protect themselves; Unfortunately it was not enough, Ratigan's power was very strong and the proof was a bullet grazed the coccinellid-rodent's right arm and another hit the feline-rodent in the left shoulder. Quickly the heroes drew their wands and cast the Shield Charm which luckily worked.

Basil and Dawson went to help the youngsters, the detective to Ladybug and the doctor to Chat Noir.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" asked the good-natured mouse concerned.

"No." Chat Noir answered, holding his injured shoulder.

He removed his hand from the wound, looked at it, and his ears paled at the sight of blood dripping between his fingers. What kind of power did that rat have? Dawson carefully checked the young man's wound. He was bleeding dangerously and there was no exit wound, the bullet had remained embedded in the hero's shoulder. Basil checked Ladybug's wound and was concerned to see it was deeper than the one on her hand and consequently was bleeding a lot. Both mice had to think about how to stop the bleeding or else the youngsters...

The heroine saw the detective's expression. Feeling the burning of her wound, she knew it was serious and they didn't have the resources (or the time) to care for them, so they had to act fast. Despite her pain, Ladybug raised her arm and pointed her wand at the thugs in front of them.

"Stupefy!"

A red light shot from the tip of her wand and hit the closest ruffian to them throwing him backwards and taking with him his companions who were behind him giving the five mice freeway. The heroine grabbed Olivia's hand with her left hand and resumed they escape.

The men seeing the girls move immediately followed them. Miraculous bearers kept the Shield Charm; they knew they couldn't be like this any longer, they needed to come up with a plan.

Suddenly the path ended because a loud shot knocked down part of the shelf and the gap was too big to cross. The mice turned to go back, but in doing so they ran into the thugs. They were trapped.

Ratigan looked victorious at his nemesis and cornered targets. Victory was assured.

"Finally! Ladybug and Chat Noir are defeated!" Papillombre cried.

"After so many years, the end of the short, undistinguished career of Basil of Baker Street!" Raigan cried.

Ladybug, Chat Noir and Basil looked at the thugs and the destroyed shelf. They had to think of something fast, they couldn't lose... not like this. Suddenly the heroine had an idea. She still had her wand in her hand, raised it and aimed it at the feet of the thugs.

"Descendo!"

Abruptly the thugs fell from the shelf. Ladybug immediately blew up where Ratigan's henchmen were a few moments ago.

"Can you tell us what the hell are you doing?" Basil asked, puzzled.

Before answering, the heroine magically bandaged her wound. Also with a quick flick of his wand, he attended to Chat Noir's.

"Keep you safe."

"Pardon?"

"You, Dawson, Olivia and Chat Noir will stay here..."

"Wow, wow, wow! Stop there." interrupted the hero. "How do 'I stay here'?"

"I have a plan to distract Ratigan, Fidget and their men." The young woman continued, ignoring her companion. "You will take the opportunity to escape..."

"And how do we do that if both sides of the road are destroyed?" The detective asked angrily.

"Chat Noir will repair it with magic."

"What makes you think you'll go alone to face them?" asked the feline-rodent indignantly.

"Because if you don't, as soon as we get back to normal I'll turn you into a cat mat."

"Oh, how scary."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. She took her yoyo and walked to one of the edges of the shelf followed by Basil and Chat Noir. They both complained to the young woman about her plan, but they fell silent because Ladybug turned around, hit the wall hard and looked at them coldly.

"You stay here, UNDERSTOOD?!"

The detective and the hero had no choice but to agree. Stalling the subject, the heroine went down with the help of her yoyo before the worried look of her partner and the mice. The coccinellid-rodent touched down, looked to where Ratigan's men were sprawled still stunned from their fall, and hissed for their attention. The thugs looking around until one of them saw the girl and warned the others. Ladybug stuck her tongue out at them pulling her lower left eyelid down exposing its red underside. That annoyed and disliked the bad guys; they got up and went after the girl.

Ladybug ran away from them, now she had their attention her friends were safe. Unfortunately, the heroine couldn't get far as she soon found herself cornered by more thugs. She looked around her for any gap in the professor's circle of minions, but she found nothing. She was trapped.

"Your little games are over, girl." Ratigan said outside the circle. "And you really thought just by leaving your friends stuck on that shelf they'd be safe? As soon as I take away your Miraculous I'll go get your 'cute kitty' and get rid of Basil." The thugs took a couple of steps forward with the intention of intimidating the coccinellid-rodent. The rat took a closer look at the young woman and commented, "By the way, Ladybug. I just love your new disguise. It doesn't seem like the right outfit for a lady though, does it? And those sunglasses are not much help since it is night and therefore everything is dark."

Ratigan and his minions snickered. Ladybug arched an eyebrow. New disguise? What the hell was that sewer rat talking about? She looked at her body and her surprise was great when she verified her clothes changed. Since she discovered her new powers, and summoned her Lucky Charm, her outfit changed in the process. It never crossed her mind, despite changing her superhero costume, it would transform again by invoking her power.

She checked his new outfit and tried to control the smile formed on her face. Those clothes were the same as those worn by «Lieutenant Horatio Caine» from the police series CSI: Miami, the only thing missing was the sunglasses...wait, Ratigan said she had. She checked her body finding them on her head. She gasped with excitement as she took it and looked at it. It was exactly the same glasses of the character!

«Esto ya se desvió demasiado de la trama de la película. Pero con los cambios que está rata hizo ¿qué importa?» (This already deviated too much from the plot of the movie. But with the changes this rat has made, what cares?)

She put the glasses back on her head (she agreed with Ratigan it was useless right now due to the darkness of the night) and looked with a superior smile at the villain and his minions. Fidget was the first to stop laughing, seeing the heroine's expression, he pulled his boss cape and pointed at the young woman. Ratigan saw Ladybug and arched an eyebrow at the look of his rival, what was that girl up to?

"Don't underestimate her, Professor!" Papillombre warned. "The only reason Ladybug makes that face is because she has a plan!"

"Don't worry, my good friend, I won't let that... lady beat me."

Ratigan snapped his fingers and his thugs closed in on the heroine like a pack of predators poised to attack their prey. Ladybug made a thoughtful expression and counted her opponents out loud.

"Fifteen of you against me, and now what am I going to do?" asked the heroine 'concerned', taking out of her pocket a red handkerchief with black spots.

"Oh please girl! Not even your partner would believe that pathetic performance of yours." scoffed the rat.

"Well, at least I... I..."

Ladybug felt a slight itch on her nose. She then sneezed covering her mouth and nose with her handkerchief, but red smoke came out of it and covered her. The thugs, seeing the smoke, pounced on her, blows were heard and as soon as the smoke disappeared, it revealed Ratigan's henchmen on top of each other trying to capture the heroine who had disappeared.

"What the hell...?" Ratigan exclaimed bewildered and looking around him.

"What happened?" Basil asked, turning to the young hero. "What is she doing?"

"I don't know. I know it sounds ridiculous because she is my friend and partner and I should know what she thinks, but believe me, she does things seems too strange and risky even for her.

He and the others watched the situation with concern. They didn't want to leave Ladybug alone, but they couldn't do anything either because, without Chat Noir realizing it, the young woman used the Shield Charm not only to 'protect' them but to keep them out of the situation.

Suddenly a whistle was heard. They all turned towards the origin and saw Ladybug a few meters from Ratigan and his thugs, to their left. The henchmen rushed at her.

«Hablando de desviarme del tema, hora de sentirme Esmeralda. A pesar de estar en una juguetería.» (Speaking of getting off topic, time to feel «Esmeralda». Despite being in a toy store.)

Though she thought she wouldn't be able to do the same as the gypsy in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ladybug was able to knock out the thugs and even take down Ratigan and Fidget. Once she saw the rat and bat on the ground, she went over to them to search for the akumatized item. Unfortunately, the villain sensed someone's approach, grabbed her hand tightly, and sat up.

"Were you looking for something!?"

"Get your hands off him, you filthy rat!"

Ratigan and Ladybug turned towards the source of the voice and to Ladybug's astonishment, Chat Noir and the mice were running towards them. How are they...? The young woman would have her doubts, because the professor released Ladybug, but immediately grabbed her waist with one hand and the other on her neck as if he wanted to strangle her, although in reality he was threatening to cut the coccinellid-rodent's throat with his claws. Seeing the threat, Chat Noir and the others stopped; Dawson hugged Olivia, and the frightened girl covered her eyes with the doctor's jacket. The feline-rodent looked concerned at the situation. And Basil... he just looked at the sewer rat and the girl; his brain working at full speed, he remembered still had the pipes tied with the girl's ribbon, but what use could it be to him under the circumstances? Especially since his nemesis had powers he didn't know about.

Seeing the desperation on the detective's face, the heroine knew she had to do something to free herself from the sewer rat and take the akumatized object from him; speaking of which, she had an idea of what she could be, but she needed to be sure first before she made a reckless move. Speaking of acting without thinking...

«Primero CSI: Miami, luego El Jorobado de Notre Dame. Y ahora va Miss Simpatía, la cual tiene sentido porque es policial.» (First CSI: Miami, then The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And now there's Miss Congeniality, which makes more sense because it's police.)

Ladybug calmed down and remembered Gracie Hart's movement. She recited it in her mind as she made the motions of her breaking free of Ratigan and backing away from him quickly. Basil ran to her, grabbed her wrist completely away from his archenemy and hugged her protectively making Ladybug's ears turn the same color as her suit.

"Are you alright?" The detective asked worriedly.

"Y-yes," the heroine stuttered back.

"You don't think you escaped, do you?!"

Basil and Ladybug turned to Ratigan, recovered from the attack, looking at everyone almost madly; apparently he was trying to control the common savage instincts of a rat. The coccinellid-rodent paid attention to her surroundings and her vision highlighted the wooden floor where the professor and the bat were standing (he approached his boss as soon as he fell to the ground), she looked at her partner and the ribbon with the pipes protruded a little from Basil's pocket. A plan formed in her head. She pulled the pipes from the detective's Inverness cape and indicated the feline-rodent.

"Chat Noir, the ground!"

The hero immediately understood his lady had a plan (as always). He put away his staff and fell into a combat pose.

"Got it! Cataclysm!"

Chat Noir's hand charged with destructive energy. Ratigan saw what they were doing and laughed.

"Ha! Do you really think I don't know what that brat is up to? You won't be able...!"

Ladybug hit him with her yoyo directly in the face taking advantage of the professor's distraction. She then attacked Fidget, also catching him off guard; but at the moment of launching the second attack, villain and sentimonster dodged them. However, the yoyo attacks were just a distraction; the heroine was spinning the pipes and as soon as she saw the window of opportunity she launched it hitting Ratigan and Fidget in the legs tying them up and knocking them down. That was Chat Noir's signal; he ran towards them and a few seconds before his partner launched the pipes he slid across the floor touching it and rotting the wood as he passed. As soon as he saw that the enemies were out of the fight, and the wood was beginning to crumble, he drew his staff and extended it, leaping into the air. Ladybug threw her gun at him and the young man caught her yoyo being immediately pulled by her.

The coccinellid-rodent took out her wand and with an Accio retrieved the pipes just in time as Ratigan and Fidget fell. The feline-rodent approached her companion and high-fived his hand with hers.

"Well thought as always, My Lady."

"Merci chaton."

Olivia's cry of excitement caused the Miraculous bearers to turn around, meeting the astonished faces of the three mice.

"Amazing!" Dawson exclaimed, still processing what he had just seen.

"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!" Olivia yelled excitedly.

"Is this how your battles always are?" Basil asked, still stupefied.

"Um... more or less." Ladybug admitted.

"Now, let's go for the akumatized object." Chat Noir reminded.

They almost reached the hole caused by the Cataclysm, when suddenly the toy store began to shake. Olivia hugged Dawson scared.

"Great Scott! What's happening?" asked the doctor scared and confused.

His answer came with a wisp of black, purple, and electric blue smoke, Ratigan's voice coming out of it.

"Don't think you're beaten me! Let's see if you can get out of this!"

The wisp of smoke came out of the toy store and suddenly the place began to collapse. Ladybug and Chat Noir went to the mice protecting them from the rubble with their magic and looked around for a way out; they saw nothing and there was no time or opportunity to use the Horse Miraculous or their portals. The heroine looked at the pipe her Lucky Charm gave her, she had no choice if they wanted to get out of there alive.

She untied the pipe and yelled at the top of her lungs as she saw a huge chunk of roof fall straight at them.

"¡MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

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