The week following Marinette's time babysitting Rayla, there wasn't much action for either hero other than keeping an extra sharp eye out for Mr Damocles in his pursuit of becoming a superhero himself. Yes, their meddling did unintentionally lead to his akumatization into Dark Owl. Still, all turned out well after their suggestion for Mr Damocles to focus on safer options to show his heroism. But now it was the weekend, and Marinette intended to make the most of her rare free time since becoming Ladybug to spend with her gal pals. This led to Marinette sitting with most of her female classmates in her room, a spread of treats her parents made for the occasion in the middle of their group.

Well, that actually wasn't so simple.

"You really want to invite Sabrina and Lila?" Alya asked her incredulously, "I know Sabrina has been decent for a while, but she still follows Chloé around. As for Lila, she's... Well, I don't know what her deal is. But if you decided to work with her, she must be nice."

"I know," Marinette answered, "But if we don't have Sabrina feel like part of the group, she can't feel safe leaving Chloé, as for my partnership with Lila, I want it to only be the start of getting her to be part of the class. So, what do you think girls?" she asked her female friends

"Alright," Alya said, while Juleka, Mylene and Rose nodded too, "At least we're sure Adrien will only be a minor topic with these two there." Juleka mumbled, much to Marinette's embarrassment.

"At the end of the day, it's gonna be a hang out at your house, so it's your rules first," Alix added, "I have no problems with Rossi, and as long as Sabrina will continue to not be a bitch to us, or try to use the hang out to embarrass us to please Chloé, she can come too."

Despite her words, the girl's look was all but casual "Hey Marinette, I know I benefit from it so you can ignore me if you think it's none of my business, but... Be careful about your kindness."

Thankfully, Lila was easily able to get Alix to warm up, and the others were quick to accept Sabrina once she apologized for her wrongdoings. It did help that she looked so pitiful, which made being angry against her feel a bit wrong.

"Okay, Alya. Truth or Dare?" Alix asked the fiery ombre-haired girl, a smirk on her face alongside her impish side-eye.

"Truth. I'm not taking a dare from you after the one you gave Marinette." Alya replied, a wince appearing as she recalled the dare of the two of them arm wrestling... with Marinette winning.

"Good call." Alix remarked with a fond eye roll. "So your truth is... what's the deal with you and Nino? Ever since Animan was akumatized, you two have been pretty chummy with each other." the roller-blading inquired, prompting the others to become interested in the answer.

"OOOOH, I've been wondering too!" Mylène exclaimed, propping her head in her hands while her legs idly swung in the air behind her.

"Well, if you must know, Nino and I are now official!" Alya announced, causing all the girls except Marinette to squeal.

"About time! I was wondering how long it would take for you two to start dating!" Marinette cheered as she took a soda can and opened it, leading the others to stare at her in shock at her words.

"Wait, you knew, Marinette?" Sabrina questioned, absentmindedly taking one of the cookies from the snack spread and raising it to her mouth to bite into it.

"I knew that they were locked in a cage during Animan thanks to Ladybug's efforts to keep them safe, but I had a suspicion that their time together would lead to them getting closer. Looks like I was right." Marinette admitted with a smirk, followed by her taking a sip from her soda.

"Either way, that's great Alya! We're happy for you!" Rose cheered, earning a nod of agreement from Mylène and Juleka alongside Lila and Sabrina's 'hmm hmm's.

"Huh, looks like Ladybug might have some good points after all." Lila muttered to herself, looking off to the side while grabbing a macaron from the snacks.

"Speaking of certain opinions of Ladybug..." Alya began, her attention turning to the Italian with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Lila, truth or dare?" the reporter asked, pointing to the girl in question.

'Might as well get this over with.' Lila mused to herself, knowing there wouldn't be any avoiding Alya's questioning. "I chose truth." the olive-eyed girl responded, tossing her macaron into her mouth.

"Why is it that you seem to not like Ladybug, even though you claimed to be her best friend?" Alya questioned while Lila chewed her treat, her eyes glowing with her curiosity.

"Oooooh!" All the girls cooed, the only one not doing so being Marinette; who just winced at the question since she knew the answer.

"Let's just say we had a... falling out. And now we're not friends anymore." Lila revealed, leaving the girls shocked by her admission.

"Oh, what happened?" Rose asked in a concerned voice, wondering what happened to cause such 'seemingly good friends' to break apart.

"It's just... complicated. I'd rather not get into the details." Lila declared, earning solemn nods from the girls surrounding her.

"Of course, you wouldn't! We won't dig any more." Mylène assured Lila, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder with a soft smile while the others continued to nod in their support.

"Thanks, girls! You're the best!" Lila said, a grateful look appearing on her features at her friends. "But how about we get back to our game, huh?" the Italian girl inquired, hoping to avoid any more questions about her fake friendship with Ladybug while she turned her attention to Marinette.

"Marinette, truth or dare?" Lila asked the pigtailed girl, resting her head onto her propped-up arm as it rested on her criss-crossed knee.

"How about we go three-for-three with truth?" Marinette replied, placing her soda on the floor before casually leaning back with a smirk.

"Alright, then! Let's go with a classic truth or dare question." Lila decided, looking to take advantage of Marinette's casual reaction to either leave her stumped or find out the answer to a hunch she had. "Do you have a crush on someone?" the olive-eyed girl questioned with a sly smile, causing Marinette's cheeks to turn a brilliant red before her hand nearly slipped out from under her amid her surprise at the question.

"Well..." Marinette began, catching herself from falling to the floor and nervously sitting up straight again. "There is this guy in our class." the designer bashfully admitted, looking at the floor as she rubbed the back of her neck and her cheeks color started to fade a little bit.

"Adrien, right?" Alix sneakily questioned, prompting all the girls to chuckle at the suddenly shocked Marinette.

"What!? But how did you know?" Marinette squawked, her eyes wide as she snapped her gaze from the floor and onto them.

"Well, it is pretty obvious." Mylène replied amid her chuckling, her smile as infectious as the others while Marinette panicked at the news.

"So, do you think... Adrien knows too!?" Marinette gasped in mortification, her hands flying to her face to cover her face in her shame.

"No way! Boys never pick up on things like that." Rose cheerfully assured, the last of the girls chuckles finally dying out before they 'mm-hmm' in agreement and Marinette sighed in relief.

"Thanks, girls. That means so much to me." Marinette said, a smile appearing on her face after she let her hands fall back to her sides. "Huh, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to tell you. Way easier than telling Adrien I like him." the pigtailed girl breathed out in relief, once again leaning back where she sat now that the cat was officially out of the bag.

"Considering Jim has an easier time talking to Claire, I'd say you're the only one in your family with such problems." Alya remarked as she grabbed a choquette from the snack pile and popped it into her mouth, only for Marinette's face to morph back into shock at her words.

"ALYA!" Marinette shrieked, once again sitting up from her reclined posture as she sent a glare towards her best friend for her blatant slip of the tongue.

"What?" Alya questioned Marinette, only to suddenly realize her blunder. "Oh..." the ombre-haired girl muttered with a wince, turning her attention to the other confused-looking girls in the room.

"Uh, who's Jim?" Sabrina asked, sending an arched inquisitive eyebrow at the two girls. At the questioning stares from their friends, Alya's reporter instincts immediately caved in to spill the beans.

"Well, we might as well tell them. The cat's out of the bag now." Alya declared, turning to face the other girls with an excited smile. "But FYI, this is seriously hush-hush, top secret, classified information." the reporter chided, hoping to prevent the present girls from running their mouths off for Marinette's sake.

"Wait, Alya!" Marinette exclaimed, halting her best friend from saying anything else before leaning towards Alya's left ear. "Do you think this is such a good idea?" the red-tipped-haired girl asked Alya in a horse whisper, her eyes flitting back to the others amid her nervousness.

"They would find out about it eventually, right? Why not let it happen sooner?" Alya pointed out in a matching whisper, leaving Marinette speechless in her reasoning and nodding in agreement with the idea. "But remember girls, your lips are sealed. Got it?" the fiery-ombre-haired girl reiterated to the others, earning a round of 'Mm-hmm's' from them.

"All yours, girl." Alya announced after she turned her attention back to her bestie, her smile easing Marinette's lingering nerves about telling their girl group about her family's past.

"Thanks, Alya." Marinette thanked, followed by her turning her gaze back to the others, specifically Sabrina since she asked the question to begin with. "To answer your question, Sabrina, Jim is my older brother." the designer proclaimed, causing all the girls except for Alya to stare at her in shock.

"You have a brother?" Juleka questioned, her voice soft yet filled with awe at the news she and the others had just learned.

"Yeah, I do." Marinette confirmed as she got out her phone from her back pocket, pulling up a photo of her and her brothers from last summer. "That's me in the middle, my brother Jim on my right, and our long-time friend Toby on my left." the pigtailed girl said as she pointed to the person she named, a smile on her face as she shared this part of her life.

"Wow, I thought you were having a laugh, but the resemblance is nearly uncanny not to be true!" Alix crowed, scooching closer to Marinette to get a better look at the two boys in the picture, specifically the one with the same hair and eye coloring as her friend.

"You'd be surprised by how many people say that when first meeting us. But seeing as Jim is two years older than me and I have more Asian features, that's not the case." Marinette replied as she put her phone away, amused by Alix's comment while the others drew closer as well.

"Wait, he's sixteen? I would have thought he was older than that seeing as we haven't ever met him before." Mylène commented, her features now full of confusion at Marinette's admission of the age difference between her and her brother.

"Is he a child prodigy and studying abroad?" Rose inquired, causing Marinette to suddenly let out a laugh at the idea.

"Sorry Rose, but my brother can't even get an A+ on his math homework on a good day, let alone have the intelligence to be in college already." Marinette guffed as she wiped away a stray tear of joy from her eye, her laughter dying down now that she got it out of her system.

"Then why is it that we haven't met either Jim or Toby before? Surely we would have at some stage." Sabrina asked, hers and the other's curiosity growing the more they learned about Marinette's previously unmentioned brother.

"That's because they don't live in Paris. They live in the States in a town called Arcadia Oaks, located in California." Marinette answered with a slight smirk, now starting to have a little fun with giving confusing answers as she straightened her posture from her earlier laughter.

"So, your brother isn't smart enough for college, but he and Toby can live by themselves with no problem at only 16?" Lila inquired, continuing the sort of interrogation with how little the explanation was making sense despite always gaining more information with each question answered.

"Oh no! Toby lives with his nana and Jim lives with his mom." Marinette assured, once more throwing a wrench into the girl's understanding of her familial connections.

"But, your mom is here in Paris. How does that make sense?" Juleka brought up, hoping to finally get an answer that would crack this new headache of a story wide open. Upon being asked the question, Marinette knew she couldn't keep messing with the others and chose to end her little game.

"Well, the thing is, Jim and I are only half-siblings. Same dad, different mom." Marinette finally admitted, once again leaving all the girls except for Alya to stare at her in their combined shock. "And before you bring up the fact that my parents have been married for 20 years, at least let me tell you the full story before you say anything, okay?" The red-tipped-haired girl questioned the group, to which the girls nodded and patiently waited for her to continue.

"Now, my family's complicated story starts on the day of my parent's wedding, where my Aunt Barbara; Jim's mom and my dad's oldest friend, was my mom's maid of honor." Marinette began, now getting into the nitty gritty of her family's complicated past.

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"And that's all I've got to say for the moment. I would say more, but I'd rather have Jim and Toby around to talk about those." the designer finished, steepling her fingers and resting her elbows on her knees as she spoke. "That's about it for that story. Any questions?" Marinette asked, smiling at the speechless girls in front of her like she hadn't dropped such a major bombshell on them.

"None from me. I'm just... surprised." Alix uttered, looking Marinette up and down in her surprise as mentioned above as she processed the information.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Mylène inquired, finding her voice again as she brought up the only remaining question she had.

"Pretty much everyone in Arcadia knows about my family's complicated story, seeing as it is a small town. But nobody over here in Paris except my old friend from last year Socqueline, Nino, Alya, Adrien and now you guys know this story. All in the order I've told them." Marinette replied as she once again leaned back where she sat, once again leaving the others shocked by her answer.

"Heavy." Juleka breathed out, looking at the ground in front of her.

"I didn't think you'd be holding that kind of personal info back for so long. Especially when Chloé was bullying you, too. It must have been horrible!" Rose nearly wailed, feeling bad that Marinette had to keep such things from them and not share that part of her family with them.

"Well, I'm not scared of Chloé anymore. I promise you that." Marinette assured Rose, smiling when Juleka pulled Rose in for a hug to soothe the pixie-haired girl's guilt.

"Then how come we can't tell anyone else about this?" Sabrina asked, bringing up the current elephant in the room while Rose had calmed down and pulled away from Juleka's hug.

"Because while I'm not scared of Chloé, I'm worried about what she can do to twist the story I just told you into something that can harm my family." Marinette admitted, followed by her averting gaze to the floor. "I know you say she is trying to change her ways, Sabrina, but she's still got a lot to do before I believe that." the pigtailed girl added, ignoring the Tikki-and-Adrien-sounding voices in her mind.

"Look, I know I'm always quick to defend Chloé, but I think you're wise not to let this information fall into her hands. I know better than anyone the time of pain she can inflict." Sabrina replied with a melancholy smile, prompting Rose to pull her in for a side hug with Lila joining in a second later.

"Thanks, Sabrina. And you must know by now that Chloé isn't your only friend anymore. You have all of us, now!" Marinette declared, which caused all the remaining girls to pile in on the 'Hug Sabrina Train' and bring a happy smile to the ginger-haired girl's lips.

"You girls are the best." Sabrina declared as they all pulled away from the hug, happy to have such a great group of girls to call friends. "And we promise to keep your family's private information a secret. Right girls?" the bespeckled girl questioned the others, earning nods of agreement from all of them and settling Marinette's lingering nerves on the matter.

"Again, thank you so much, girls. That really means a lot to me." Marinette replied, happy that more people knew about her brothers. In her opinion, it was about time that she opened up about it more.

However, Lila was giving her a strange look.

"Um, Lila, is there an issue?" Marinette asked, looking confused at the other girl's reaction.

This quickly changed as she smiled, shocking Marinette by giving her a bise.

"Non preoccuparti Marinette, è semplicemente che sei il mistero più bello della mia vita (Don't worry Marinette, it's simply that you're the loveliest mystery of my life)."

Marinette couldn't help but blush, "Wait wh-, are you..."

"I always talk in Italian to people I think are my friends," Lila said smoothly, "The fact you understood it is merely a bonus."

Alix's snickering only made Marinette feel more embarrassed.

"Now that that's settled, how about we focus on something more fun?" Alya asked the group as she sat next to her bestie again, steepling her fingers and setting them on her criss-crossed legs with a smirk.

"Like what?" Rose wondered, curious about what Alya had in mind.

"Like getting Marinette on a date with Adrien!" Alya announced, which immediately caught Marinette off guard.

"Alya... " Marinette began in a warning tone, not liking the sound of what Alya had in mind.

"Girl, come on! You've just told everyone here about your brothers! Why not continue the high by getting a date with your crush?" Alya exclaimed, encouraging Marinette to take another risk that day.

"Because today was meant to be a girl's day, and a girl's day only. Not everything revolves around Adrien, you know." Marinette remarked, hoping to for once have a day where her brain didn't focus on her crush like it always did as of late.

"Well, I don't see the harm in it. I think it would be fun to try!" Lila spoke up, having found Marinette's crush on Adrien intriguing and was interested in seeing how much of a chance she truly had against her. "What's say, you girls?" the Italian girl asked the girl group, leaving Marinette surprised since she recalled Lila's earlier attempt to win Adrien over... despite its limited success.

"I'm down for it!" Alix proclaimed, knowing that whatever happened would be either entertaining or a total disaster. The odds were 50/50 for either option.

"Me too!" Rose cheered, fully on board when romance was involved.

"Same here!" Juleka & Sabrina declared, eager to help Marinette after she helped them out with their problems.

"We know we can always count on you, Marinette. So you can count on us too." Mylène assured the pigtailed girl, happy to join in on the plan they would come up with.

"Aw, thanks, girls." Marinette squeaked out, her cheeks red at all the support she received.

"So... you have any ideas on making that happen?" Lila asked Marinette, seeing that she was now interested in trying to get Adrien's attention.

"Oh, maybe a few." Marinette bashfully admitted, glancing over at a now overly excited Alya as she squirmed around in her spot, barely able to contain her eagerness. If they were going to do this... why not do it right?

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After their game of truth or dare turned story hour, Marinette and Alya combed through the designer's extensive collection of plans for possible dates with Adrien. However, it proved a challenge since Marinette had forged keeping an ear out for Adrien's weekend plans in favor of keeping her focus on hanging out with the girls. It wasn't until they called Nino for an update on where Adrien currently was that they finally found the right plan to use, followed by gathering the group of girls at Marinette's chaise to hear it.

"Right, so let's get down to business!" Alya declared, bringing everyone's attention onto her and Marinette as they stood in front of the latter's pull-down chart, facing the gathered girls surrounding the chaise. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to arrange a ridiculously romantic date between Marinette and Adrien!" the reporter announced, pacing the floor in front of them like a general would do with their troops in a mission briefing.

"You're up, Marinette." Alya said, prompting Marinette to step forward while she walked back to the left side of the pull-down chart.

"Alya and I have come up with a plan. It's called 'Operation: Secret Garden'." Marinette announced, reaching for her chart and pulling it down to reveal a perfect map of Trocadero to the girls.

"Excuse me, but why do we need a plan? I mean, can't Marinette just go up to Adrien and ask him out?" Sabrina spoke up out of curiosity, which unintentionally caused all the girls besides Marinette to start laughing.

"Sabrina, this is Marinette we're talking about here." Alya replied to Sabrina's question, her and the other's laughs dying down as she pointed to the now red-faced designer. "No offense to her, but she can't talk to Adrien normally even if her life depended on it!" the fiery-ombre-haired girl remarked before continuing the explanation of their plan.

"Now, each of you will have a codename based on a flower. Alix, you'll be 'White Daffodil'. Mylène, you'll be 'Yellow Sunflower'. Juleka, you'll be 'Purple Aster'. Rose will be 'Pink Rose', obviously. Sabrina will be 'Blue ​​Hyacinth'. And Lila will be 'Orange Lilly'" Alya said, pointing to each girl as she gave them their respective codename.

"Um, why isn't my name just 'Rose'?" Rose asked, wondering why they didn't just go with simple flower names instead.

"Because plain 'Rose' is your real name. It won't be a codename if we call you just 'Rose'." Alya explained, prompting Rose to think about the reasoning for a moment and soon see the logic behind it before nodding in understanding.

"Now that codenames have been given, it's back to the plan, ladies!" Marinette declared, pulling everyone's attention onto her as she whipped out a pencil from her back pocket.

"Thanks to Nino's intel, we've learned that Adrien; Codename 'Gold Buttercup', has a photo shoot at the Trocadéro fountains this afternoon." the red-tipped-haired girl began while Alya placed a sticky note drawing of Adrien on the map, pointing at it with her pencil as she spoke. "His bodyguard; Codename 'Nanny', will be waiting for him on the other side of the esplanade in the car; aka the 'chariot'. He's supposed to take 'Gold Buttercup' back home after the photo shoot." Marinette continued as she pointed to the corresponding spots on her chart, causing Alya to place a drawing of said bodyguard near the top of the map.

"Except that's not gonna happen." the designer announced, covering the second drawing with her hand to emphasize her point. "And this is where you guys come in." Marinette stated as she turned her attention to the girls, who nodded their heads in agreement while waiting to hear their parts of the plan.

"Step one: 'Violet Aster' and 'Orange Lilly' will have a fake 'No Parking' sign. They'll go over to—" "Um, who's 'Violet Aster' and 'Orange Lilly' again?" Mylène asked, raising her hand as she interrupted Marinette's explanation and Alya's demonstration with the drawings of Juleka and Lila.

"Juleka and Lila, of course!" Rose replied, leaving Alya and Marinette impressed by her retention of their plan thus far.

"Rose is right. And just to make sure no one is confused again, Alix is 'White Daffodil', Mylène is 'Yellow Sunflower', Juleka is 'Purple Aster', Rose is 'Pink Rose', Sabrina is 'Blue ​​Hyacinth', and Lila is 'Orange Lilly'." Alya recited, once again pointing at the girls in order of their codenames. "Everyone got it?" the reporter asked, to which the girls nodded again before letting Marinette continue.

"So, step one is 'Violet Aster' and 'Orange Lilly' putting the fake sign next to the 'Nanny's chariot'. Step two 'Yellow Sunflower' will go find a police officer and tell him that the car is illegally parked." Marinette explained, pointing at the drawings Alya placed on the map as she outlined the plan to the others. "Step three: He'll go and tell 'Nanny' to move the 'chariot' to another spot, and there'll be no more 'Nanny'." the pigtailed girl proclaimed while Alya took away the drawing of Adrien's bodyguard, causing the girls to nod their heads in understanding.

"Step four: 'Tiger-Lily' will let us know as soon as 'Gold Buttercup' is done with his photo shoot." Marinette continued.

"Just for the record, I'm 'Tiger-Lily'." Alya said as she placed a drawing of herself on the map, pointing at herself to avoid any more confusion. "But, instead of meeting up with the 'Nanny', Adrien's gonna find... 'Lotus'!" the ombre-haired girl added as she moved the drawing of Adrien to the near top of the map, followed by placing a drawing of Marinette next to it.

"That's Marinette!" Rose cheered, earning an approving pat on the head from Juleka as she sat behind her.

"But when 'Gold Buttercup' sees that the 'chariot's' gone, he'll just text his 'Nanny', won't he?" Alix asked, using 'quotes' hand gestures for the codenames before Marinette chuckled at the idea in mock evil triumph.

"Impossible. 'Gold Buttercup' always leaves his personal items in the car when he's on a photo shoot, even his phone!" Marinette countered, mimicking Alix's hand quoting as she revealed just how prepared this plan was despite it being so last minute. "Such a professional!" the red-tipped-haired girl sighed adoringly, praising Adrien's commitment to his profession.

"She knows everything about Adrien! A little creepy, no?" Lila whispered as she leaned towards Rose, prompting Sabrina and Alix to nod in agreement.

"Yes! It's so romantic!" Rose squealed, not even registering the thought of how Marinette even got that type of information and leaving Lila, Alix and Sabrina concerned for the blonde's mental state.

"Anyways, when 'Gold Buttercup' sees 'Lotus' and greets her, this is where 'Pink Rose' and 'Blue ​​Hyacinth' will spring into action!" Alya continued, pointing to Rose and Sabrina amid her explanation.

"You two will give the signal to the rickshaw driver to come and park in the 'Nanny's' car spot, then all I need to do is say to Adrien—" "Bdi-di-di-di, di-di-di-di, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-dii!" Alix interrupted with a silly expression, causing all the other girls to laugh at Marinette.

"She's right! That's usually how it goes!" Alya remarked after her laughs died out, wrapping an arm around Marinette's shoulders while the latter merely gave them a playful glare.

"But this time I'm ready! I've got you guys with me. I'm gonna do it, I promise!" Marinette declared, to which the girls cheered in excited encouragement. "So back to the plan, I'll suggest that we ride home together and point out the conveniently placed rickshaw right next to us." the designer went on, Alya once again moving the drawings around to illustrate her plan.

"We then find ourselves taking a romantic ride along the banks of the Seine and over the Pont des Arts bridge, where we just happen to run into André, the sweethearts' ice cream maker!" Marinette explained in an increasingly love-sick tone, watching as Alya moved the drawings of her, Adrien and the rickshaw to the aforementioned bridge and a drawing of André the Ice Cream Maker. "And then, 'White Daffodil' skates by and showers us with rose petals!" the pigtailed girl concluded, her eyes sparkling at the idea while Alya moved a drawing of Alix around the ones in her dominant hand.

"It's gonna be perfect!" Marinette sighed in her patented love-sick tone, Alya placing the drawings off to the side now that the plan was explained.

"It's...it's... so beautiful!" Rose blubbered out, tearing up after hearing the possible date between Adrien and Marinette.

"Any questions?" Alya questioned the group, to which Juleka raised her hand and earned a frustrated facepalm from Alix.

"Which flower am I, again?" Juleka asked.

"You're 'Purple Aster'." Rose replied. "That's right, right?" the pixie-cut-haired girl inquired as she turned to Marinette and Alya.

"Yep!" Marinette confirmed, smiling at Rose's retention.

"Yes!" Rose cheered triumphantly before all the girls stood up and walked over to Marinette and Alya, putting their hands in the middle of their group.

" 'Operation: Secret Garden', here we come!" Marinette announced, causing the girls to raise their hands into the air and cheered in excitement.

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A little while later, the girls gathered all they needed for the plan and made their way to Trocadéro in no time at all. When they arrived and were getting ready to set the plan in motion, an unaware Adrien was still in the middle of his photo shoot... which he wasn't all that invested in.

"Come on, more happy! Smile like you're smelling a delicious lunch in ze kitchen!" Vincent exclaimed while Adrien was leaning against one of Trocadéro's many half walls, the boy's model smile plastered on his face as he tried to follow the 'suggestion'.

'Anything to make this end faster.' Adrien thought to himself as he adjusted his posture and tried doing a bigger smile to please Vincent's strange prompt. 'Why father has me doing so many of these unnecessary photoshoots, I will never understand.' the green-eyed boy thought to himself, trying to figure out the method behind his father's ideas.

The majority of the time, Adrien didn't have much of a problem with photoshoots if they involved his father's designs and/or a certain theme to it. But those didn't happen as often as he would have thought, leading him to be subjected to many of his photoshoots just of shots of him in different locations in Paris playing the part of a teenager. More often than not, those lasted at least an hour on a good day if he was lucky and didn't give him much of a break in between since Vincet tended to get a little carried away in the 'moment'. This was one of those times... which was proven when Vincent was starting to not like the photos he was getting of him.

"Ah! No, no! Something is not right!" Vincent grumbled as he took a look at his latest photo, soon looking around for inspiration. "We need a...A lollipop!" the photographer trailed off in his search, only for his gaze to land on a nearby truck selling lollipops.

With that, Vincent zoomed over to the lollipop truck to retrieve one of the sweets to use as a spontaneous prop, leaving Adrien staring at him in confusion when hearing the idea. Seconds after Vincent left, a mother walked by him with her baby, August, in a stroller, unaware of the peculiar scene that just took place. Regardless, Adrien was glad for the short break and waved at baby August, who returned the wave while shaking his rattle and earning a chuckle from the model.

'Cute little guy.' Adrien thought to himself, smiling at the friendly little infant before Vincent suddenly returned with the lollipop in hand.

"There!" Vincent cheered, holding the lollipop out to Adrien and pulling him out of his thoughts.

But Adrien wasn't the only one who heard Vincent. Baby August heard him too while his mother kept pushing the stroller away, now chanting 'lollipop!' in hopes of getting one too. Unfortunately for him, he was ignored by both his mother and Vincent and could only try to turn his head around his stroller to stare at the treat while the photoshoot continued.

"Lollipop! Lollipop!" August whined the further he and his mother got from the photoshoot, accidentally dropping his rattle in the process and forcing his mother to stop and pick it up.

"No, August. Lollipops are not for babies." August's mother gently chided her baby, walking to the side of the stroller and kneeling to pick up the toy to give it back to her son. "Your snack is a delicious bottle of milk." she said as she reached into her giant purse and pulled out a bottle of milk, feeding it to her baby to soothe his craving before continuing on their stroll.

Unbeknownst to either the attendants of the photoshoot or the mother and son, Marinette and her friends had finished their preparations and were now in position. Granted, they had a small hiccup in getting communications set up between them, but they figured it out and were back on track. However, it wasn't until Alya and Marinette were in their perch at the top of Trocadero and spying on Adrien that they started to enact the plan.

"Are all the flowers planted?" Alya questioned the others, pressing on her earpiece to connect to the connected call between them.

" 'Violet Aster' and 'Orange Lilly' planted." Juleka responded, both she and Lila standing behind the cart holding the fake 'No Parking' sign a little ways away from the Agreste car.

" 'Yellow Sunflower' planted." Mylène confirmed as she hid behind a tree that Officer Roger was standing a few feet in front of, ready to play her part.

" 'Pink Rose' and 'Blue Hyacinth' planted!" Rose and Sabrina cheered at the same time, standing next to the waiting rickshaw on the opposite side of where Juleka and Lila were. Upon hearing their friends were ready, Marinette couldn't help the excitement bubbling within her as she hid with Alya at the Trocadéro.

"Perfect! 'Violet Aster' and 'Orange Lilly', you're clear to proceed!" Marinette exclaimed as she pressed her earpiece to join the call, prompting Juleka and Lila to push the cart with the fake sign toward the Agreste car.

But as if there was some kind of cosmic force against Marinette's plan, the wheel of the cart quickly got stuck in a slot on a manhole cover. As soon as Juleka and Lila realized they couldn't move the cart, they soon found themselves trying to push it free with limited success.

"Um, guys, we've got a problem." Juleka grumbled, connecting to the call again to get Marinette and Alya's attention.

" 'Violet Aster', 'Orange Lilly', what's going on?" Marinette asked as she and Alya turned away from their spying, concerned about what had happened to have already derailed the plan.

"The cart is stuck in a grate. We need a little help here!" Lila explained while she and Juleka decided to try and carry the fake sign themselves, only to rapidly have difficulty lifting it from its base.

"Uh oh!" Myléne muttered out of concern when she looked over at the pair to check on them, followed by her catching up with Juleka and Lila to help carry the sign after they pulled it free. If it weren't for Myléne grabbing the top part, the two girls would have dropped the sign and the loud noise would have given away their plan. But thankfully that didn't happen and the three girls walked over to the Agreste car with their surprisingly heavy cargo.

"What's this sign made of?" the girl with rainbow braids asked Marinette and Alya through the call in a strained voice, genuinely curious as to why their prop was so cumbersome to carry.

"Metal, like normal road signs are made of. Why?" Marinette replied, leaving the other girls surprised by her answer.

"Couldn't you have made it out of cardboard or something? It's a little overkill." Lila managed to groan out, a little concerned about Marinette's commitment before she noticed Officer Roger walking away. "Go and get the police officer, Juleka. We'll take care of this." the Italian girl said to Juleka, moving to take her end of the sign so that Juleka could get Roger.

As soon as Juleka left, both Mylène and Lila struggled to carry the sign over to the Agreste car, their strength rapidly draining. But knowing that the problem was being taken care of, Marinette and Alya turned back to their spying on Adrien.

"Caution! The photoshoot of 'Gold Buttercup' will be over soon!" Marinette warned the others, watching as their timetable started to decrease the closer Adrien grew to finish his shoot.

"Aw, seriously? Enough with the chit-chat and get on with it!" Alix groaned through the earpieces, bored out of her mind as she leaned against the bridge railing and waited at her post near André the Ice Cream Maker's cart. But while all that was happening, Marinette's phone started ringing in her purse and pulled the girl's attention away from their already derailed plan and onto it. Out of reflex, Marinette took her phone out of her purse and lifted it to her eye level, only to wince when she saw that Jim was trying to call her.

"Dang it. It's noon already?" Marinette wondered as she looked at her phone clock, confirming the time while Alya leaned over her shoulder and saw who was calling.

"Heads up girls. 'Lotus' is going to be offline for a few minutes." Alya warned the others as she once again pressed on her earpiece, earning a smile from Marinette at her assistance.

"What's going on?" Alix asked, the sound of her moving from her reclined posture out of intrigue being heard from her end.

"Daily video call with Jim. I'll tell you guys about it later." Marinette explained before she turned off her earpiece, hoping to take care of the call quickly so that she could fully focus on the plan. "Keep the girls on track while I take care of this, please?" the red-tipped-haired girl asked her BFF, her hands coming together pleadingly.

"You got it." Alya replied, earning a grateful smile from Marinette before she stepped away and picked up the video call.

"Hey, Jim. How's it going?" Marinette greeted her brother, waving to him like she always did.

"Going good, little sis. How did your hang out with the girls go?" Jim responded with a smile, clearly sitting in his bedroom if the wall behind him was any indication to Marinette.

"It's technically still in progress, actually. And while I'd talk to you for longer, we've got an operation going on at the moment." Marinette admitted, the nervous smile appearing on her features immediately giving her away to her brother.

"As in one of your convoluted plans to get a date with Adrien?" Jim asked in a tired tone, his earlier good mood disappearing at the news.

"... Maybe?" Marinette bashfully replied, earning a disgruntled sigh from Jim at her response.

"Mari... I thought you said you'd be ignoring your crush for the weekend." Jim recalled in exasperation, resting his right elbow on his desk and placing his head onto his propped-up arm with a frown.

"I was planning to. But after a little game of truth or dare, it led to where we are right now." Marinette explained in an effort to defend her actions, earning another sigh from her older brother.

"Which plan are you doing?" Jim questioned, clearly unhappy but willing to hear what she had in mind if it wasn't too outlandish.

" 'Operation: Secret Garden' thanks to a quick call to Nino to confirm Adrien's location." Marinette replied, which left Jim relieved by the news.

"And how's it going so far?" Jim continued, hoping for his sister's sake that things were going well at the moment.

"A small snag at the start, but it's being taken care of." Marinette reported, looking over to Alya and receiving a nod to confirm her claim. "But I'm surprised that you're taking this so well. I would have thought you'd be more irritated about this." the designer remarked, sending an intrigued eyebrow in Jim's direction as she spoke.

"I'm just letting you do your thing and playing the waiting game for what happens, okay? " Jim replied, raising his hands in surrender to confirm his intentions. "While I'm not happy that it's taking you so long to tell Adrien how you feel, I'm glad that you're trying to do so." the Trollhunter admitted, smiling at Marinette at his encouraging words.

"Thanks, Jim. And it's definitely a step up from your current interactions with Claire." Marinette teased, earning an annoyed eye-roll from Jim at the reminder of his limited success.

"Not much of a difference, but yes." Jim replied, deciding to not bring up how well the play rehearsal on his birthday had gone between him and Claire. "Not to mention this one is one of your more tame plans in the long run." the blue-eyed boy remarked, earning a copy of his earlier annoyed reaction from Marinette.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Jimbro." Marinette sarcastically replied, a small pout appearing on her features before it turned into an amused smile when she saw Jim's playfulness.

"In any case, should I let you go so that you can focus on your plan?" Jim inquired, smirking at Marinette since he already knew the answer.

"Yes, please! Say 'hi' to Toby and them for me, okay?" Marinette requested, eager to get her focus back on the task she currently had at hand.

"Will do. See you later!" Jim farewelled, waving bye to her and prompting her to follow suit.

"Bye!" Marinette replied in kind, letting Jim hang up seconds later. When he did, Marinette put her phone away in her purse and walked back to Alya. "Okay, I'm back. What's happening?" the pigtailed girl asked, hoping to get a quick catch-up in the short time she was offline.

"Fortunately, you didn't miss much. Juleka just caught up with Sabrina's dad." Alya replied while Marinette turned her earpiece back on, which proved to be true when both girls heard Officer Roger greeting Juleka.

But their hopes of Roger being quickly alerted to the fake sign were dashed when Juleka could only manage to mumble her findings due to her shyness. However, it did buy Myléne and Lila more time to carry the sign to the car, especially when Officer Roger thought Juleka was talking to him about pigeons. Unfortunately, the little misinterpretation left Marinette and Alya a little impatient as they waited for her to finally point out the fake violation.

"Come on! Do it now!" Marinette encouraged Juleka, momentarily forgetting that others were listening in on the call.

"Okay!" Rose cheered from her end, causing her and Sabrina to signal the rickshaw driver to start driving towards the Trocadero. Upon hearing Rose's words, Alya turned away from her spying and pressed on her earpiece with a frantic look on her face.

"Not you, 'Pink Rose'! We were talking to 'Violet Aster'!" Alya exclaimed in a loud yet horse whisper, causing Rose to gasp at her blunder.

"No, wait! Come back!" Sabrina called to the rickshaw driver while she and Sabrina started to chase after him.

While the two girls were going after the runaway rickshaw, Mylène and Lila had just managed to finally reach the Agreste car and hold up the sign. But since the sign was so heavy while carrying it, it took both of them to keep it from falling to the ground while waiting for Juleka to direct Officer Roger's attention to it.

"Come on, 'Violet Aster'. You can do it!" Mylène motivated the purple-tipped-haired girl through the connected call, immediately giving Juleka the confidence she needed in that moment.

"ILLEGALLY PARKED CAR!!!" Juleka shouted at Roger, leaving everyone surprised by her loud volume.

"Yes!" Marinette squealed, proud of Juleka while she angrily pointed to the Agreste car and the fake 'No Parking' sign in front of it.

"Oh!" Officer Roger blurted out when seeing the sign, missing Mylène and Lila trying to act nonchalant while holding it up when they realized that Juleka was pointing at it. "Thank you, young lady." the policeman praised Juleka before walking to the car, eager to uphold the law.

"Great job, 'Violet Aster'!" Marinette congratulated her friend, happy to have the plan back on track for the most part.

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Unknown to any of the girls, August's mother had reached the steps leading out of Trocadero and was struggling to pull the stroller up with her. However, Adrien did notice them and grew concerned about her difficulties before moving to try and help her... which didn't please Vincent in the slightest.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Look at me! Give me your best smile!" Vincent lightly demanded the model, forcing Adrien to reluctantly go back to posing with the lollipop while August noticed it again despite the distance between him and the candy.

"Lollipop! Lollipop!" August cried out in desire, waving his arms and bottle around in his whining.

"No, August. Mommy told you already. You're too young for lollipops." August's mother reminded her baby, which only worked in making August loudly wail at her response, tears flowing from his eyes. As a result, August's tantrum did manage to catch Marinette's attention, causing her to look down from her perch and see him and his mother below her.

"That poor lady. She could really use a hand." Marinette said as she rose from her and Alya's hiding place, her desire to help others outweighing her hopes of a date with Adrien.

"If you do that, Adrien will see you!" Alya argued, grabbing Marinette's arm to stop her from leaving.

Fortunately for Alya, it bought August's mother enough time to finally make it to the top of the first set of stairs, which allowed the mother to soothe her son once more.

"Oh, here you go, honey." August's mother gently cooed to August as she reached to get a full bottle from her bag, feeding her baby again to calm him down. Upon seeing August's mother taking care of her baby, a smiling Marinette settled down and rejoined Alya in their hiding place, glad that the small crisis was solved... for now.

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Back over in the Parisian streets in front of Trocadero, Officer Roger had arrived at the Agreste car and leaned down to see Placide I.T. through the side window.

"Sir, move this vehicle right away. This is a no-parking zone!" Officer Roger ordered the bulky man, pointing to the sign that the nervously smiling Mylène and Lila were holding up. When he saw the sign that he wasn't sure was there when he arrived, Placide I.T. groaned in annoyance before deciding to heed the officer's order to avoid a ticket. But when he was about to drive away under Roger's directing arms, Placide immediately stopped when the rickshaw driver was passing by and he almost ran into them.

"Hey, watch it!" the rickshaw driver shouted at Placide, shaking an angry fist at the man trying to leave his previous parking spot.

"He's right! Be careful!" Officer Roger yelled in agreement with the rickshaw driver, neither aware of the bodyguard continuing to lose his patience. Meanwhile, Rose and Sabrina finally caught up with the driver and immediately sat in the rickshaw's passenger seat when they saw the unpleasant scene taking place.

"U-turn, please." Rose told the driver, prompting him to drive the rickshaw back toward where he started and finally let Placide I.T. drive away to find another parking spot. With the traffic crisis averted, a pleased Roger finally walked away from the area, which allowed Myléne and Lila to finally fall to the ground in exhaustion.

"Bravo, girls! Step two, commence!" Marinette cheered when the first part of the plan had finally worked, turning to rejoin Alya and continue spying on Adrien.

But while Vincent was still taking photos of Adrien, Marinette once again noticed that August's mother was still having trouble lifting her stroller up more steps. The problem only got worse when the mother's phone suddenly dropped from her purse, prompting Marinette to immediately rush over to help her.

" 'Lotus'— Uh, Marinette! Stay here!" Alya exclaimed, fruitlessly reaching out for the runaway Marinette to stop her. But her efforts were in vain when the designer reached the mother and son, quickly picking up the woman's phone and giving it back to her.

"Hello, ma'am. Need a hand?" Marinette asked as she walked to the front of the stroller, the mother smiling at her in gratitude while she knelt in front of August. "Hello, little guy!" the red-tipped-haired girl happily greeted Baby August before she lifted her side of the stroller and helped the mother carry it the rest of the way up.

"Thank you so much!" August's mother praised Marinette, grateful for the assistance. But while Marinette was doing her good deed, Alya spotted Vincent finally waving off Adrien from the area, the photo shoot now finished.

"Look out, 'Gold Buttercup's' on the move!"Alya warned Marinette, which surprised her enough for her grip on the stroller to accidentally loosen.

Fortunately, Marinette managed to get a better grip on the stroller, but the sudden movement caused August to drop his bottle, letting it tumble to the bottom of the steps. And just as August started to cry again, Adrien started climbing the stairs to the top and was about to walk up to where the bottle landed.

"Sorry about that!" Marinette said to the mother, racing down the steps she just climbed and grabbed the bottle before Adrien could see her. With the bottle in hand, Marinette ran back up to August's mother, who was grateful for the assist. "Here you go!" the designer chirped as she handed the bottle back.

"Thank you, young lady." August's mother replied, taking the bottle from Marinette's hands before she ran off to hide before Adrien saw her.

"You're welcome! Bye!" Marinette called out as she left, leaving August's mother to try and calm down her crying son. But as soon as Marinette found a good hiding place, she gasped when she saw that the Agreste car had come back to its original location. "Red alert! The 'Nanny's' back!" the pigtailed girl yelled into her earpiece, causing all the girls to gasp at the sudden hiccup in the plan.

Immediately, they got to work making sure the car left again, starting with Mylène, Sabrina, Lila and Rose putting the fake sign back up while Juleka went to find Roger again. Fortunately for the girls in charge of the sign, Juleka was a bit faster in getting Roger's attention on the matter and brought him over to the car just as Placide I.T. slammed the door to stomp over to retrieve Adrien. But the bodyguard's hope of getting out of there before Roger saw him was dashed away when he heard the telltale shrill call of his whistle.

"Hey you, mister!" Officer Roger called to Placide, drawing the burly man's attention onto him. "I've tried to be lenient but you've asked for it, now!" the policeman said in his irritation, now beginning to write up a bunch of tickets for Placide's 'violations'. But seeing as Placide was more focused on leaving with his charge, he angrily growled at Roger as he walked away to find Adrien, his anger rising as he went.

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While Placide I.T. was making his way to Adrien, his anger at how stressful his day turned out quickly turned into a beam of negative emotions that his employer/secret supervillain senses for miles. In no time at all, Gabriel transformed into his Hawkmoth persona and entered his lair, the window opening to reveal the city of Paris to him.

"A man who takes his work very seriously, whose blood is boiled by the slightest shortfall." Hawkmoth reflected as his uncorrupted butterflies started aimlessly fluttering around him. "That's what I call an easy target for my dear akumas." the discount version of Crazy Quilt declared, turning one of his butterflies into an akuma and letting it flutter free after the transformation.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!" Hawkmoth commanded the akuma, willing the corrupted insect to fly out of his lair's window and into the streets of Paris towards its target.

It didn't take long for the akuma to reach the Trocadéro, seeing as it was only a short distance away from the Agreste Mansion. But as soon as it arrived, it zeroed in on Placide I.T. while he was still looking for Adrien; who had passed by August and his mother as they neared the exit. Unfortunately for the mother, August was still wailing even after she tried so hard to calm him down from his lollipop cravings.

"You're being quite stubborn today, August." August's mother remarked as she stopped walking to try and calm down her son again, kneeling to be at eye level with her baby just as Adrien reached the top of the stairs.

But Adrien's happy mood from being freed from his photoshoot was put on hold when he saw the akuma descending toward his bodyguard, unaware of Marinette seeing it too. However, a miracle seemed to have taken place when the aggravated man caught sight of Adrien, immediately calming down and forcing the akuma to fly away from him.

"What happened? His emotions just vanished!" Hawkmoth exclaimed from his lair, not understanding why his akuma failed to infect its target. Unknown to him, however, the corrupted bug had now set its sights on the crying August, whose emotions were reaching new heights amid his tantrum.

"Lollipop! Lollipop! Lollipop!" August whined while his mother took a moment to gather her wits, hoping to think of a way to calm her son down. But the moment she closed her eyes, it allowed the akuma to fly into August's ID bracelet and establish the psychic link between him and the now-stunned Hawkmoth.

"This wasn't what I had in mind..." Hawkmoth muttered to himself in surprise, having been taken aback by the turn of events. "But why not? After all, what could be more emotionally powerful than a baby throwing a giant temper tantrum?!" the resident supervillain remarked, deciding to go along with it and see what happened.

"Gigantitan, I am Hawkmoth!" Hawkmoth greeted Baby August, deciding to go the normal route of how he addressed his akumatized minions.

"Hawk...Moo?" August questioned, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"No, not 'Hawk Moo'. Just Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth corrected, already having second thoughts about this akumatization. "Well, you're going to be...big and strong, and you'll get to do...whatever you want. But in return, you must bring me back Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous." he continued, hoping that his explanation would be enough to stick in August's limited attention span.

"Lollipop?" August asked in reply to Hawkmoth, thinking that the 'Miraculous' was actually another word for the treat. He was a baby after all.

"No, not lollipop! Miraculous! Mi-ra-cu-lous!!" Hawkmoth reiterated, which seemed to do the trick in getting August to agree with the deal as he was suddenly engulfed by the telltale dark aura of an akumatization.

"My little baby!" August's mother gasped as she backed away from the transforming baby, shocked and frightened as he grew in size and transformed into .

"LOLLIPOP!!!" Gigantiatan screamed once his transformation was complete, causing everybody around him to start running away from the giant baby. But just as Placide I.T. rushed to stand in front of Adrien to protect him from the akuma, Gigantitan started his tantrum-infused rampage. "Lollipop!" the giant baby demanded as he neared his concerned mother, forcing Marinette to jump in and save August's mother from being stomped.

"Kids these days. They grow up so fast! Am I right?" Marinette nervously remarked to August's mother, hoping to ease some of her worries while Gigantitan kept on in his running amok.

Seconds after Marinette helped the mother to her feet, Gigantitan had circled back towards the exit of Trocadero, where Mylène, Rose, Juleka, Sabrina and Lila saw him and immediately tried to run away. But just as they were about to, Alya suddenly started recording the giant baby for another post for the Ladyblog, not expecting to get such an up-close encounter that day. Fortunately or unfortunately for her, Myléne broke away from the group and dragged her away just as Gigantitan's sights landed on one of the statues lining Trocadero.

"Lollipop!" Gigantitan cheered as he pulled a statue from its pedestal, quickly sucking on it and soon finding it disgusting. "Bleugh!" the onesie-clad akuma spewed out before he threw the statue to the ground, crying while the gold-plated monument embedded itself into the ground near Adrien and his bodyguard.

"Lollipop!" Gigantitan wailed, only to look down and see Adrien and Placide I.T. standing near him. "Ooh?" the giant baby cooed before he reached down and picked up Placide I.T., lifting the poor man to his mouth and starting to suck on him, much to Adrien's concern. Thankfully, Gigantitan quickly found Placide as unappetizing as the statue, pulling the man out of his mouth upon the discovery.

"Bleugh!" Gigantitan whined, followed by him throwing the bodyguard away. Fortunately for Placide, he landed in a tree and was relieved to be free from the giant akuma... despite being covered in saliva and a little traumatized by the experience.

"August!" August's mother cried to her empowered child, trying to reach him so that he would turn back into her sweet little boy again. She would have gotten closer, but if it wasn't for Marinette stepping in to hold her back from getting hurt by mistake, she most certainly would have.

"Stay out of danger, ma'am. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here any moment now and save your little August." Marinette advised the mother, followed by her getting her to safety before she could transform into her super alter ego.

Meanwhile, Adrien used the chance of his bodyguard being stuck in a tree to find a place to transform into his superhero persona, hoping to take care of this akuma as soon as possible. Fortunately, the Trocadero was cleared out enough that he could hide behind the side of the Trocadéro without being seen, leaving Adrien the perfect place to transform. This is what he planned to do after waiting for Gigantitan to move away a little more, opening his overshirt to let Plagg fly out and float in front of him.

"Oh come on! I was just about to take a cheese break!" Plagg complained, holding a piece of cheese in his stubby arms to confirm his statement.

"Aw, don't be such a baby, Plagg! We've got work to do." Adrien chided his kwami, pulling out his rune-stone necklace and activating his disguise before saying... "Plagg, claws out!" the green-eyed model proclaimed, transforming into Chat Noir and literally leaping into the fray.