ᴄʜᴀᴘɪᴛʀᴇ ᴜɴ - ᴄᴇɴᴅʀᴇꜱ
Chapter One - Ashes

Note: I do not own the following characters
Rey Lopez/Snow Drift, Lucky Touch, her lasso as a weapon - Sci-Briana14

Professor Bourgeois - GeekyCookie1

Language checkpoint
"D'accord, allons obtenir ça." - "All right, let's get this over with."

Trigger Warnings
Explicit display of physical (medium) and verbal abuse (low to medium)
Implied lust for a underage character - low to slightly medium
Implied mention of a eating disorder - low

~~~~

"Good morning, love."

Planting a kiss on his beloved wife, the red-haired fair-skinned male stared at the woman whose dark amber eyes glowed from the tender touch. As she proceeded to smile, the woman gave him a kiss in return before glancing over.

"Cleo!"

Almost at once, the red-haired male stared at the teenage girl and noticed how her eyes were beautiful — perhaps, more beautiful than her mother's eyes — as her darker amber eyes lingered at him with disgust.

"Here's your breakfast," the girl reluctantly mumbled, promptly pushing the brown bag in his direction as the male gave a tense smile. "Cleo," he began, but it was clear, there was a level of sharpness in his tone.

"Lance," Cleo remarked in turn, not bothering to mask the bitterness in her tone as she ignored her mother's stern but mostly furious look. "Cleo, be nice now. He's your father, after all," the girl's mother sharply insisted as she later squeezed her husband's firm and rough hand, her touch soothing the latter.

"Thanks, Jolene," he began as Cleo wrinkled her nose from seeing their lips interlock, rolling her eyes afterwards as she placed her mother's breakfast on the table and began to make her way out of the front door.

"Cleo, where are you going?"

"To school. Where else?" Cleo mumbled, refraining herself from being more sarcastic in her tone. "Oh, didn't you hear, dear?" her mother began, trying to keep her voice sweet but there was a sense that Jolene was only calling her 'dear' to look good in front of her husband.

"Your father got assigned to your school now," Jolene softly continued as Cleo slowly looked up to see Lance's grim-like smile, which came across to her as a haunted nod that he was going to get his way.

"Doesn't Captain Abbott have better things to do than watch high school students?" the girl pointed out, now crossing her arms as Lance kept his tense grim-like smile before turning to his wife.

"Jo, my love, could you give me and Cleo a few minutes?" Lance began, his tone now catching Cleo's attention as she had picked up on his heightened intensity of anger in his voice.

He kept himself leveled and composed, but she knew he was going to snap at her and as she felt her heart racing, she looked at her mother for some sort of empathy, a nurturing woman who would come in to save her.

But Cleo got none of that from Jolene.

Rather, a subtle smirk came over her mother [who knew what was about to occur in the next moment as Jolene knew the signs] which she sweetly replaced the moment she saw Cleo looking in her direction.

"Of course, Lancey-boo," Jolene affectionately told him, her voice dripping with honey as Cleo felt the venom seeping through. When the two had made eye contact once more, there was no empathy; only a look of cruelty and greed as Cleo's heart sank from seeing  her mother's response.

She was on her own.

Like usual.

As her mother made up some insignificant excuse to make her way upstairs, Cleo took a shaky, deep breath and bolted towards the front door, only to be beaten by the snarling older man who eyed her with a level of lust and fury.

Her right hand was on the doorknob ready to be turned as Cleo had briefly opened the door, only to be stopped by Abbott, who had slammed the door. As the girl tugged on the door, she ceased all movement when she felt Abbott's tough grip on her right arm, forcing the girl to look in his direction.

"Cleo, you should learn how to respect men who watch over you," Abbott slowly began, his voice stern as he began gripping her arm harder. Cleo quietly tried to ignore the pain, telling herself that her mother did worse but his grip was firm and rough; each time he repeated the action, she felt like dying.

When Cleo felt she was going to scream by his grip, she bit back her tongue and silently kicked herself to refrain from screaming. But when she felt a tensed amount of pressure from her right wrist, Cleo couldn't handle the amount of pain swelling in her right arm and proceeded to use her strength to harshly kick his leg, which led him into twisting his ankle from the improper leg position.

While Cleo was able to free her arm, she forgot to brace herself for her stepfather's next move and by the time she had reacted, she felt a harsh, stinging sensation on her face on her left cheek. So when Abbott had the girl pinned to the door, the girl's back ached from the impact as she forced herself to bite back another scream.

As the girl kept a neutral expression on her face, that didn't stop her heart from rapidly beating as Cleo stared into the eyes of a fiendish monster; a stranger who had somehow managed to win her mother's heart.

When she and her mother had first moved to Paris, she was confused as to why Jolene fell in love with some hot-shot from London. But now as she stared into his cold and callous dark grey eyes, Cleo could see why her mother fell for him.

Monsters know how to look for their kind and by luck, her mother had found her match.

Jolene had found a kindred spirit in Lance Abbott.

So as Lance forcibly grabbed a hold of Cleo's pastel pink T-shirt, the man silently fumed as the girl did her best to conceal her nerves. However, she must have offended him in the process because he snarled.

"You think you're better than me, Monroe?" Abbott snared and in that moment, the girl could smell the bottle of whiskey in his mouth. "You're drunk," she quietly pointed out, but that was enough for Lance to forcibly grab a hold of her face. "What I do isn't your business, Monroe," Abbott sharply said, his sharp nails digging into her skin as he later tossed the girl onto the ground.

As Cleo fell to the ground, she gently touched her left cheek and felt a small, droplet of blood, glancing back at the man who truly looked more beast in the moment. She didn't scream; there was no point.

She numbly remained in her spot and as Abbott glanced at the clock, his eyes widened and in the moment, the man had appeared to sober up, albeit slightly. Still, there was a decent amount of anger in him as he flung the girl's backpack in her direction, to which Cleo had silently caught.

"Get up."

Without saying a word, Cleo had scrambled onto her feet, already moving her hair to cover the bruise and her stepfather's scratches on her left cheek. As she proceeded to move out of her stepfather's way, Abbott grabbed his keys and forcibly held the girl's arm, angrily slamming the door as Cleo briefly winced.

"Did you say something, Monroe?" the man angrily snapped before looking at the girl and at her hands, which were caught in the doorway. Tossing the keys to Cleo, she had unlocked the door to free her left hand as the nails were beginning to turn to a purplish shade from Lance slamming the door.

As she quietly gave the keys back to him, Abbott glared at her as his anger continued to rise. "You don't know how to say thank you, brat?" he lowly echoed to her as Cleo had unwittingly jumped by his voice. "T... Thank y... you," Cleo awkwardly said, trying to retain her dignity but then Lance began to pull on her ear.

"T... Thank y... you s... sir," Cleo quickly corrected, trying to stop herself from stuttering and keep her tone from rising but she only succeeded in keeping her whimpering well-hidden and her tone leveled. Though her stepfather released his grip on her ear, Lance then proceeded to grab her arm as the two made their way to the front of the apartment exit in silence.

As Abbott and Cleo rode in silence, the girl quietly began to treat her scratches on her face, careful not to make a sound as she worked. "Remember not to let anyone know. I don't need to remind you what happened when your professor found out, do I?" he told her, his voice cutting through the silence.

"Maybe if you and mom didn't hit me in obvious places, she wouldn't have found out," Cleo had bitterly shot back but she regretted her decision when Abbott aggressively halted the truck.

"No. If you didn't make it obvious, Professor Bourgeois would have never found out," he sharply corrected. "Your beloved mother and I are now in this mess because of you," the man sharply continued as he began to release her arm with a heavy, dejecting sigh.

"Your mother says you want to be a cop, but if you ask me, you don't have what it takes to be one. You lack the courage and the backbone, but you somehow manage to keep doing a fantastic job at being a disappointment to me and your mother," he continued as Cleo rubbed her arm.

"I'm not a disappointment," she had mumbled but her voice was low in comparison as her stepfather openly laughed at her false claim. "I'm sure your mother would attest to my statement if she was here in the car with us," Abbott continued and that was enough to get Cleo to stop defending herself.

Instead, the girl had looked at the window and when she spotted the school's eight large arched windows, Cleo timidly requested her father to stop. "Oh, look, you're here," he coldly stated as the girl thanked him and quickly made an effort to get out of his car, a sense of dread swelling inside her.

"I'll be at the high school later this afternoon chatting with Sabrina's dad about how to strengthen the security around the akumas. If Roger sees you, you better not disappoint me," he continued, now pulling the girl closer. "You better talk about how great I am to him and preserve my image. Got it?" the man urgently whispered as Cleo pushed herself away from him.

"I got it."

"Good. Disappoint me and you'll know what to expect when we meet," Abbott sharply said as Cleo stepped back. As she saw her father recklessly driving off, Cleo took a shaky, solemn sigh.

As she glanced back to stare at the steps leading up to the entrance door, Cleo made her way inside as she stared at the double entrance dark oak doors with gray handles.

As she stared above the doors, she saw a white banner with a red outline hanging down. As the young, teenage girl looked above the banner, she saw four rectangular windows, a large circular window, and a smaller circular window on each side.

Upon pushing through the doors, Cleo glanced at the crowd of students and pushed her hair in front of her face, hoping she had covered her bruised face well enough to slip past Professor Bourgeois's detection. Afterwards, she made sure her fingers were well-covered in her bandage wrapping as she placed her left hand in her pocket.

"D'accord, allons obtenir ça."

——————

"Miss Monroe, you're late."

Cleo had barely set foot into the professor's classroom when she was hit with a scent of honey from the woman. Staring at the slightly dark-skinned woman with her yellow, almost-amber like eyes, she would joke in tensed moments in her life that Professor Bourgeois was actually her mother.

As she stared at Professor Bourgeois's dark blue blazer over her light beige T-shirt, her khaki pants and light brown flats, Cleo could hear snickers from the class as her ears and face flashed with embarrassment.

"My apologies, Professor," Cleo replied, but her tone came across as monotonous, which caught the teacher's attention at once. "It um won't happen again," the girl tried to state in a more upbeat tone, but of course, her tone fell flat within seconds. "Talk to me after class," the professor told her as Cleo dejectedly sighed.

"Yes, Professor."

As Cleo reported to her seat, she ignored the snickers that followed her across the room as she placed her book-bag down.

"Class, turn to page one-hundred."

As Professor Bourgeois began to turn her back to the chalk board, Cleo quietly took out her textbook, which had several tears and dried stains. Flipping to the suggested page, she then took out her notebook and other necessities for her class.

"Hey, are you alright?"

As Cleo stared at the olive-skinned girl with her authentic white pearl necklace, she saw the girl wearing a grey shirt with long-sleeves, a pair of black leggings and black boots with white laces on it.

"Hey, Rey-Rey," Cleo affectionately greeted at once, perking up with a playful grin as she proceeded to smile in spite of her own desire to not do so. "Yeah, I'm great. I just woke up late," the girl stated, maintaining the perkiness in her tone as she saw Rey softly chuckling.

"You're always waking up late," Rey lightly teased as Cleo chuckled, even when she had no desire to do so. "What can I say? I am not a morning person," she countered back, a slight shrug as Rey chuckled once more, a soft smile forming on the girl as Cleo had returned the gesture before glancing back at her notebook.

"Miss Schneider, will you please pay attention? I swear, when I had Emery in my class, he was one of my brightest students," Professor Bourgeois sharply stated as Rey and Cleo glanced over to the back where the two [among the other students] observed the light-skinned, nearly tanned girl with light brown long hair occurring towards the end length of her shoulders, coming off as a dirty blonde shade of sorts.

Furthermore, she has warm hazel eyes and dark pink lips as everyone at school knew her for wearing a black long-sleeved crop top, blue denim jeans and black-buckled high tops, accompanied by her miniature gray earrings.

"I don't see why you're getting onto me when Little Miss Perfect over there and her sidekick aren't paying attention," the girl angrily snapped as Professor Bourgeois glanced back at Rey and Cleo, who smiled innocently.

"Rey and Cleo are one of the brightest students in this class, Miss Schneider. Maybe, it would be wise of you to take a note or two from them before you simply accuse the two of something that is rather untrue," the professor insisted, now eyeing a certain light-skinned girl, whose face lit up with embarrassment.

"I don't understand what you mean, Professor Bourgeois. I'm completely innocent," the other girl insisted as the professor only stared at her. "Miss Rossi, do you really want to go down this path with me?" the professor began at once. "I'm pretty sure you still owe me a week's worth of detention for that time you and Mister Parkins attempted to cheat on my previous assignment," she sharply added.

"Forget this. I don't need you or this stupid class," the girl insisted as she darkly glared at the two before storming out of class, slamming the door behind her as Cleo jumped from the effect. She quickly looked to see if Rey had noticed and sighed in relief when her best friend did not see.

"Lorelei, wait!"

Looking toward the professor, the light-skinned girl only scoffed. "She's right. We don't need you or this class," she insisted, grabbing her things as the girl looked at the group of students. "If you're all willing to stick with her, then all of you are wasting your time," the girl insisted before following after Lorelei.

"If anyone follows after Lila, you'll have after school detention with me," the professor firmly stated and as she spotted the girl's boyfriend and her other friend all walk out, she made a note of their names before looking at the class.

"Anyone else?"

When no one proceeded to answer, she then resumed her lesson.

~~~~~~~

"It's not fair! Professor Bourgeois is always comparing me to those two idiots! Like, what's so special about Little Miss Perfect, anyhow? Just because she was born better than everyone else? Ugh!"

As Lorelei proceeded to speak to herself, she gripped her inauthentic pearl bracelet and fumed to herself.

On the other side of Paris, a window sill opened as a light purple glow could be seen in the distance. In the dark, shadowy part of the room, a secluded older male resembling an actual moth gripped onto his cane with a smirk.

"The hatred of a old rival. How perfect for my next akuma," the mystery man spoke as he touched a pure, white butterfly which was now corrupted with dark, purple energy as the butterfly mindlessly flapped its wings.

"Go to her, my little akuma and fester her dark heart!"

As the akuma began flapping away towards the direction of the high school, Lorelei had locked herself in the bathroom as she gripped onto the inauthentic pearl bracelet with tears streaming down her face. She hated Little Miss Perfect, her stupid friend and that idiotic professor of theirs!

"Lorelei!"

Glancing up, she could hear a female's voice as Lorelei tried to mask her sniffles. "Go away!" she called out. "Lei, it's me, Lila!" the girl persisted as Lorelei glanced down to spot the girl's light flats.

"Just go away, Lila. Can't you hear me wallowing to myself?" Lorelei mumbled as she heard Lila scoff. "Are you seriously going to let Little Miss Perfect get under your skin that easily or do you plan on actually doing something about it?" Lila shot back as the girl began to wipe her tears.

"Little Miss Perfect is always getting her way and it's time we all put an end to Rey's so-called reputation of hers. The girl has a secret. Heck, everyone has a secret. All we got to do is find out hers and exploit it," Lila insisted as Lorelei began to slightly calm down at the sound of the girl's words.

"H... How?"

"The best way I know how," Lila smugly stated. "But it'll only work if you come out," she added as Lorelei began to hesitate. "Please. Come on, girlie. You're my best friend. Do you really expect Alex and Mako to be effective at my plans?" Lila continued, now being playful with her words as Lorelei let out a sorrowful laugh.

"No," she said in between her tears as Lila chuckled. "Of course not. I need you and I promise I'll help you get revenge against Rey," Lila insisted as Lorelei began to shakily sigh. "Okay, I'm coming out," the girl said at last, preparing to leave the bathroom stall when she realized that she was going to leave her bracelet behind.

As Lorelei reached for her pearl bracelet, she wasn't aware of the akuma that had made its way to her or how the akuma had smoothly entered her inauthentic accessory. So when the girl had picked up her bracelet, she felt a initial shock overwhelm her as the girl froze in place.

"Lorelei? Lorelei!"

"Hello, Shocker. I am Hawkmoth and I can grant you the ability of giving revenge on those who wronged you by shocking your opponents in place. You could make your enemies feel electrified, knowing all of your opponents made the mistake of ignoring your true potential," Hawkmoth began as Lorelei felt a slight tug.

"Mistress, please."

As Lorelei glanced down, she stared at the adorable coyote kwami who she had viewed as a close friend. As the brown kwami with electric dark orange, almost brown eyes and a semi-sharp toothy smile stared at her, she saw that her kwami was even starting to wear the tiny, opalescent crown she made for her.

"Dee, I—" the girl began, only to become briefly in pain as Lorelei winced and gripped her head. "Mistress!" the kwami cried out, witnessing the akuma symbol appearing on Lorelei's eyes upon standing.

"I'm listening," Lorelei spoke in a emotionless tone as Hawkmoth grinned at his latest work. "In exchange for my services, all I ask is that you bring me the miraculouses of Miraculous Ladybug, Chat Noir and Snow Drift," Hawkmoth continued as the villain then smirked.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Lorelei, open the door!" Lila's voice could be heard as the girl tugged — and pulled — miserably as she attempted to open the door on her own. "We can find another way to do this without relying on Hawkmoth!" she insisted, growling as she proceeded to call her boss into pulling back the akuma.

"I'm sorry," Lorelei whispered as she gave a sorrowful chuckle. "But I need to do this," she said as she gave her kwami back her miraculous. "Give this to Lila," she instructed as she stared at the coyote kwami, who had tears swelling in her eyes.

"Kaydee, I need you to be strong. Can you do that for me, please?" she followed up as Lorelei began to wipe her kwami's tears. "Yes, mistress," Kaydee softly said, floating back with the miraculous in hand as Lorelei took a deep breath.

"We have a deal."

————————

"I'm afraid I can't simply reverse my akuma."

"What do you mean you can reverse your akuma? Lorelei is my best friend, you over-grown jerk! She's not just yours to manipulate any time you want!" Lila angrily snapped over the phone as she fumed.

"I would watch your tone if you still want to be Volpina," Hawkmoth spoke with a level of sternness as Lila harshly laughed. "I'll watch my tone the day you decide to actually be a man, grow up from your grief and attend to your sons like an actual parent," she snapped once more as Hawkmoth clicked his tongue.

"You're this close to having me revoke your privileges from using the Fox miraculous," he firmly stated as Lila rolled her eyes. "You need me," she sharply began at once.

"Besides, me and my friends are the only ones who have eyes on this forsaken school," she continued. "We have enough willpower to create as many akumas as you need, but if you keep going after my friends for your pointless work, then you're going to need to start looking for some replacements," she continued as she clicked her tongue.

"We are partners, Moth, not your puppets."

As Lila hung up on her boss, the girl fumed once more as she saw Lorelei's kwami arrive with her miraculous. "The coyote of chaos?" Lila asked as she held the coyote pendant in her possession.

As she did, the pendant went toward a light reddish crystallized shade while the sliver lace turned into a golden shade. "But why—" the girl went on, only to stop as she saw the kwami's face. "Kaydee—" Lila sternly began as the kwami merely shook her head, which was more than enough for the girl.

"Hawkmoth, the next time we meet, I swear you will regret ever messing with me and my friends," Lila whispered under her breath as Kaydee went to unlock the stall, which caught the girl's attention.

"You could have done that this whole time?" Lila snapped at the coyote kwami who gave her an offended look before glaring at her. "Some of us like drama," the kwami snapped as the girl bitterly stared at Kaydee, who had wiped her tears by this point.

"Okay, Lei, I'm coming in and—" Lila sharply began, only to stop herself as she found the girl was no longer in the stall. "You're not here," Lila reluctantly finished as she quietly facepalmed herself. "Great, just great," she said, only to shake her head in the end.

"Fantastic."

As Lila reunited with her boyfriend and their friend, she saw the two racing to her side as she sighed, fumbling with Lorelei's necklace. "Babe, did you have any luck getting through to her?" she heard her boyfriend asked, only to frown when he saw the girl's necklace.

"Oh."

As Lila stared at the lightly tanned male with jet-black hair, midnight blue eyes and freckles across his face, she saw her boyfriend wearing denim cuffed jeans, high-top white sneakers and a light gray sleeveless T-shirt with the words I'm hot, he's not, the only shirt she found rather humorous.

"Of course not, you idiot."

Looking at the tall, muscular male with black hair and dark chocolate brown eyes, Lila saw he was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt, a long gray scarf-like jacket with black lace-infused gloves, black pants and black buckled high-shoes. Additionally, Lila saw him with sliver earrings and his white shark tooth necklace.

"Hey! No one gets to call Alex an idiot but me, so watch how you talk to my boyfriend, Mako," Lila sharply snapped at him as she saw the boy defensively raise his arms in self-defense. "Fine, fine," Mako mumbled as he said an apology to her boyfriend, who softly smiled at her.

"Thanks," she saw Alex mouthing to her as Lila softly smiled in his direction. "You are welcome," the girl mouthed back to him as the two smiled. "Well if Lori is really under Hawkmoth's control and he akumatized her, what are we going to do?" Mako asked as he got the two lovebirds back on track.

"I am going to try to take some sense into her and you two will make sure the heroes don't interfere," Lila sharply said as Alex slowly blinked, mostly in awe from the girl's level of confidence. "Yeah, except I don't—" he began as Lila gave her fox necklace to him.

"Don't lose it and don't let Alya get to it," Lila firmly instructed her lover as Alex softly blinked, now blushing. "You got it," he replied as Mako blinked. "Wait, you're leaving me alone with him?" Mako chimed in as Lila sharply eyed him.

"Yes. I'm leaving you with the best person I know. Do you got a problem with that?" Lila sharply followed up as Mako awkwardly chuckled. "Nope... not a problem," Mako said as Lila grinned. "Good, that's what I thought," she replied before sending Mako and Alex away.

As Lila ran back to one of the open stalls in the bathroom, the girl stared at the coyote pendent as she placed the miraculous on. Seconds later, Kaydee arrived as she eyed the girl.

"Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, it's still the same person," Lila bluntly stated in return. "Kay, just tell me how to transform, so I can get my best friend back," she firmly ordered as Kaydee rolled her eyes. "Fine, but only because Lorelei likes you," the kwami flatly stated before telling Lila how to transform.

Before she got to the rest, however, Lila had stopped her.

"Sounds good enough. I can handle the rest from here, thanks," Lila promptly stated as Kaydee opened her mouth, only to stop as she mischievously smirked at the naive girl, who was so confident. "Sure. Go right on ahead, Rossi," the kwami insisted, hiding their snickers as Lila rolled her eyes.

"Kaydee, claws of chaos!"

——————————

"We meet again, snowflake."

As the feline cat bent over to kiss the snow-leopard heroine, she playfully took out her lasso. "Mission first, Kitty," the heroine insisted as the hero softly pout his lips. "Come on, Snow, that's not fair," he insisted as she chuckled. "You can wait, Chat," she said in turn as the two shook their heads, now grinning at each other.

"Snow Drift, Chat Noir, I need you both to focus."

As the two heroes glanced away from each other, there was a distinctive blush on the two as the polka-dotted spotted heroine softly smiled. Maybe when this mission was over, she would lightly tease the two, but for now, the three had an akuma to defeat.

"I'm afraid we can't let you get to her."

As the trio looked up, the three saw the male's lighter chocolate brown eyes while his hair was longer. Inlaced with a gray-stain jumpsuit, the three saw the villain had a hoodie draped over his face with a gray mask engraved in the Japanese's symbol 戦士 [senshi], roughly meaning "fighter" or "warrior".

"Pawāshāku," the three spoke as the supervillain bared his shark-like teeth towards the trio. "The one and only," the supervillain cockily began as the three looked at the fox villain next to him. "Who's your new friend?" the three asked as Pawāshāku stared at the boy with a level of disdain.

"My name is—"

"His name is irrelevant. All you need to know about him is he'll be acting as Volpina's replacement for today and that he is my sidekick," Pawāshāku briefly stated as the boy grinned at the sight of seeing the fox's confident smile faltering.

"Well, it's no wonder you sharks have no friends. You're a loan shark," Chat Noir smugly began as Snow Drift began chuckling at his pun. "Come on, Ladybug. It was funny," she insisted as Ladybug merely shook her head.

"I'm going for the cat. He's got to go. You, on the other hand, will deal with the snow leopard," Pawāshāku sharply stated as he proceeded to leave the newbie to fend for himself.

"Excuse me, lovely ladies. It seems as though me and mister shark boy over there have some un-fin-ished business," Chat Noir said, bowing at the two ladies as Snow Drift giggled at his pun once more. "You go check on Shocker. I'll handle the newbie. Judging from how he's holding his necklace, it won't take me long," Snow Drift insisted as she saw Ladybug opening her mouth.

"Just go! Me and Chat Noir can handle them," Snow Drift stubbornly insisted as she saw Ladybug's eyes widened at her friend's response. "Okay," she said, almost in awe from her confidence.

"You got it."

As Ladybug took off and left her teammates to tackle Pawāshāku and the new guy, Snow Drift ran to Chat Noir's side as the two stood side-by-side. "Ready, little snowflake?" the feline cat asked as Snow Drift smirked.

"I was born ready."

"Then, lead the way," Chat Noir insisted as he held out his hand to her. "I thought you would never ask," Snow Drift smugly said, a determined grin on her face as the heroine accepted his hand. As he spun the snow-leopard around, she confidently punched the shark's supervillain as Pawāshāku staggered.

Then as Snow Drift caught the newbie trying to flee, she spun Chat Noir who had used his baton to block the new guy from leaving. "No can do, foxy," the feline told him as the newbie crossed his arms.

"Fine. Let's see how you can handle illusions, cat," the newbie sharply stated as he held his breath. "Mirage!" the newbie cried out, half-annoyed when a flute appeared in his hand.

"A flute? You have got to be kidding me! Pawāshāku only told me that I could summon illusions, not some measly, little flute! Ugh! I'm so terrible with flutes! There's a reason why I was never on the school's band!" the newbie angrily exclaimed out-loud as Chat Noir sympathetically stared at the fox-themed supervillain.

"Hey, if it helps, I didn't use my Cataclysm when I first started," Chat Noir gently told the newbie, only for his own eyes to widen as he saw his power activating. "Wait, wait, wait! I didn't—" the feline cat began, only to groan as Chat Noir now had a ball of black greenish destructive energy in his palm.

"Aw, man."

"Yeah and I couldn't use my Lucky Touch correctly," Snow Drift said as she realized the extent of her words too late as Chat Noir failed to warn her in time. As a result, the girl now had a palm of white, positive energy in her palm.

"Not again!"

"Well, I hope you don't mind but..." Chat Noir slowly inquired as the newbie fox merely held his flute over. "Forget it. I'm not even going to try. I know it'll just backfire on me when I play anyways, so be my guest," he insisted as the feline cat grinned. "Thanks," he said before touching the newbie's flute, which disintegrated within seconds as the cat saw the newbie's miraculous glowing.

"Well, we had a tail of a time, but I think you should really start running, little fox," Chat Noir insisted as the newbie rolled his eyes at the hero's puns. "No need to tell me twice," the newbie said before running off. With the newbie out of the way, Chat Noir made his way back to Snow Drift and Pawāshāku as the snow-leopard heroine touched her lasso, which the shark villain had destroyed.

"There," she said, grinning as her lasso was repaired with ease as she had later put Pawāshāku in his place. "Hey, don't get snappy with me, dude," Snow Drift said as Chat Noir began to laugh at her pun, causing Pawāshāku to groan. "I really hate this day," Pawāshāku mumbled, but of course, he naturally went unnoticed.

"You're getting there, snowflake," he began as Pawāshāku rolled his eyes. "You pathetic losers can't keep winning forever. Eventually, you will be brought down to ashes," the young supervillain insisted as the two heroes glanced at each other.

"Well, the thing about ashes is, you can always rise back up and that is exactly what we intend to do," Chat Noir and Snow Drift determinedly insisted together before holding hands and jointly sending the shark villain back to the other side of Paris as Pawāshāku sworn to get revenge on the two.

"That was grate, snowflake!" Chat Noir complimented as Snow Drift couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Chat, you're so—" she began, only to stop herself as the two were close to proximity in kissing range.

As the heroine softly blushed at being so close, Snow Drift was tempted get closer to her partner until their miraculouses began to beep. "Our powers!" Chat Noir exclaimed as he and the girl pulled back.

"Right! We need to help Ladybug before we detransform!"

——————————

"It's not looking too good for you, Mira."

As Ladybug held the coyote villain upside down in her yo-yo, the villainess couldn't help but curse her luck. Mira was here for Lorelei! If the stupid bug wasn't so self-centered to think she actually wanted to attack her, then maybe Mira could have done the bug's job by done!

"Where is Pawāshāku when you need him? Or better yet, where is Voss? He's new but he wouldn't just leave me defenseless here," Mira grumbled to herself as Ladybug tilt her head.

"Voss?"

"That's my - I mean, Volpina's replacement," Mira began, covering up her own mistake before she saw the bug's reaction. "Wait, did he not tell you his name?" she followed up as Ladybug awkwardly nodded.

"Ugh. The next thing you're going to say is that your sidekicks took care of Pawāshāku and Voss," Mira insisted as Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Snow Drift and Chat Noir are not my sidekicks," the spotted heroine sharply stated.

"M'lady, look out!"

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug called out, frowning when she got a mirror. However, her frown had turned to a smirk as she reflected Shocker's electricity energy back at her, which gave the heroine the ability to retrieve the inauthentic pearl bracelet from the akumatized villain with ease.

While Shocker was paralyzed from her power backfiring from her, Mira immediately ran to her best friend's side, looking at the girl with a excessive amount of concern as she was fearful for Lorelei's safety.

"Did you even think about her safety!" Mira angrily snapped but Ladybug wasn't paying attention as she stepped on the bracelet, releasing the akuma as she caught the butterfly in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

As soon as Ladybug caught the akuma and purified the akuma, she grinned. "Bye, bye little butterfly," she softly said before tossing the mirror lucky charm in the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

As the mirror dissolved into a energy of pure red and white light, any damage caused by Shocker was immediately reversed by the bug's special power as Mira growled from the bug's lack of consideration. With the damage reversed and Paris back to normal, Mira and the others watch as Shocker reverted back to Lorelei.

"Pound it!"

As Mira helped Lorelei stand, she growled at the sight of the stupid bug and her equally stupid sidekicks celebrating as though the three had actually done something. The trio were a joke; why couldn't anyone see that?

"Come on, Lei. Let's go," Mira insisted as Lorelei stubbornly stood her head. "But you're so close. Their—" the girl whispered as Mira fiercely shook her head.

"You matter to me more than their stupid miraculouses. We'll get those losers another time. For now though, you need to rest and get something to eat," she insisted as Lorelei reluctantly sighed from the villain's response.

"Fine."

As Ladybug, Snow Drift and Chat Noir fist-bumped, the three had glanced over to see Lorelei and Mira were gone. "Well, today was something. Wasn't it, gang?" Ladybug said as Snow Drift and Chat Noir had laughed.

"I'll say," the two insisted as their miraculouses began to beep with Ladybug's own earrings following a minute after. "Well, this has been fun but..." as the three heroes trailed off, the trio chuckled.

"I gotta bounce!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Lorelei reluctantly stared at the food in front of her, she didn't take a bite much to Lila's dismay. "Girlie, you got to eat something. At least, one bite," the girl had softly pleaded but Lorelei only gave her a smile smile.

"I'm shy of eating in front of other people. I'll eat when I get back home, Lila. Promise," Lorelei insisted but Lila only frowned. "Anyways, I'm sorry about getting akumatized," she followed up as Lila held her hand.

"Listen, you don't need to apologize for anything. The one who should be apologizing is our idiotic boss who thought it would be a good idea to exploit your feelings for his personal gain," Lila firmly stated as Mako and Alex nodded. "Exactly!" Alex chimed in for emotional support.

"Look, we're just all glad that you're okay, Lori," Mako insisted as Lila released her best friend's hand. As Mako held onto Lorelei's soft hand with a tender grip, the girl softly blushed from his warm and affectionate touch.

"Hawkmoth can't keep using us as his slaughter lambs forever! I'm sick and tired of him getting away with using us as some kind of puppets! We are people and he should know that by now," Lila angrily snapped before an idea came over her.

"Actually, it's time that someone replaced the old man," she said as Lorelei, Mako and Alex all briefly glanced the girl, who sipped onto her milkshake with a grin. "What are you planning?" the three asked as Lila smirked.

"I'm saying it's time for ole Hawky's reign to burn down to ashes and for a new wielder to come in his place," the girl began before looking at her friends, a newfound sense of determination and confidence in her eyes.

"It's time we overthrow Hawkmoth and claim the butterfly miraculous for ourselves," she said as Lila stood up and raised her milkshake up high. "Who's with me, crew?" the girl followed up as Alex grinned, standing beside his girlfriend. "Where you go, I go," Alex insisted as Lorelei stood up.

"Count me in, girl. I will ride and die with you to the end," Lorelei insisted as Mako was the last one to stand. "Well, someone has to keep you three in check," he insisted but in the end, he grinned as Lila smirked.

"Hawkmoth will regret the day he messed with us," Lila firmly said as the four clanged their cups together. "Yeah!" her boyfriend and friends exclaimed as Lila looked at her friends and smiled.

"Look out, Hawkmoth. You got another thing coming."