MiraculElse #6: Once in a Lifetime

by DFC

Chapter 1: An Explosive Revelation

Gabriel Agreste was beside himself, pacing around his office like a possessed man.

Forty times, he had sent out Akumas to bestow power on patsies of his choice. Forty times, his supervillains had rampaged across Paris in one form or another. Forty times, he had tried his hardest to obtain the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir, the keys to his salvation, the pieces necessary to the end that he desired more than anything else.

And forty times, two children in costumes had thwarted him.

Gabriel felt like he was slowly running out of time. He had tried almost everything he could think of to defeat Paris's heroes - subtlety and subversion, ridiculousness and excess, firepower and chaos, craftiness and cunning, zombies and floods and illusions and a fifty-foot baby. Nothing seemed capable of stopping them, much less making them surrender their totems of mystical power.

A tiny part of him wondered if he might appeal to their better natures, somehow. Call a truce, explain his aim, beg them for their help and the single, solitary wish he needed to be granted? He could even give the Miraculouses back to their proper owners afterwards. Was that so much to ask?

He sensed that it would be. He had put dangerous threats in their path far too many times to ever be given the benefit of the doubt. Worse yet, it would lead directly to his capture and arrest as Paris's most wanted villain, the man who endangered the lives and welfare of Parisians time and time again.

No. It was time to go with a method that he found distasteful at best, unpleasant in its implications, but one that might succeed where all others had failed.

It was time for fanciful, subversive supervillains to make way for focused force.

*BOOM!*

The sound echoed throughout the Rue de Grenelle shopping district. Any doubts that it was intentional were dispelled when it repeated, then again, then again. Running feet, screaming tourists, breaking glass, car alarms all added to the cacophony, with just a hint of barking laughter in the background...

A garish red-and-orange figure wandered aimlessly, enjoying his newfound ability to spread chaos. Simple gestures sent concussive waves crashing into everything in sight. Cars tumbled, windows shattered, anything loose went tumbling down the street.

Sometimes I swear that Hawkmoth follows me around, thought a young woman, from her vantage point in a nearby shop. Can't a girl buy shoes in peace?

She checked that her traveling companion was out of harm's way and not running straight at danger with her cameraphone out for once, ducked into a darkened hallway, and transformed...

"Chat? Trouble at Rue de Grenelle. This one looks nasty, meet me when you can..." Ladybug said into her communicator, then swung into action. She landed on the street a short distance from the villain, sizing him up carefully.

"Hi there! What's your story?" Ladybug called to him. "Didn't like a boutique's return policy?"

"They call me Blastwave..." he yelled.

"Who's they?" chirped Ladybug, staying on the move. "Everyone seems to be running away, not asking you for autographs."

"Don't you want to know who'll be taking your Miraculous off your corpse?" Blastwave taunted.

"Yeah, yeah, haven't heard THAT one before," she said. She examined the villain for likely Akuma locations. He's got goggles on; that's a prime suspect. Looks like he's got pockets; something in one of those, maybe?

WHOA! she thought, leaping away as he flicked a blast in her direction; the street beneath where she had been standing cracked. Head in the game, Ladybug. This guy's not fooling around.

"You want my Miraculous, ugly? Come and get it," she said. I'll lead him away from this crowded area.

Blastwave laughed. "I've got a better idea, little girl..."

He turned and pointed both arms at a department store across from him. "Give it up now, or I take this building down. Lots of people hiding upstairs... about to be downstairs, the hard way!"

Ladybug approached, carefully. "Look, there's no need to target innocents. Hurting them won't get you anything," she called to him, hands out in a defensive posture.

Chat? Please hurry... This would be a great time for a baton upside this guy's head.

A group of shoppers, hiding in a restaurant across the street, decided that this would be an opportune time to make a break for it. They took off at a dead run, but one of them stumbled over a chair, leaving himself and three others wide open...

NO! shouted Ladybug in her head, thought becoming action in an instant as she leapt to defend them. He could blow them into next week!

"Move it!" she yelled, spinning her yo-yo in what she prayed would be a functional shield. "Get out of here, before he..."

She looked up and saw Blastwave in her face, both arms extended. "He... this?"

*BABOOOOOM!*

Inside the restaurant, all was chaos. Chairs and tables went flying, every bottle behind the bar broke, bricks and rubble crumbled and sprayed the room. A red-and-black blur shot through a window, catapulted across the main dining room, smacked into a far wall and fell to the ground, lying very still. No one saw when the red-and-black figure abruptly shifted to gray, white and pink... but neither did the figure.

Some say that the mark of a hero is to hear the sounds of danger and to run towards them, rather than away. Others would call that foolhardy, even suicidal. Most of the patrons of the restaurant agreed with definition #2, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

One, though...

One person in the restaurant heard someone cry out in pain amidst the chaos, and thought to herself, I have to help her, whoever she is! Not for a reward, not to make the papers, not because she recognized that the flying form had been Ladybug... but simply because she was there and she could.

With a wary eye towards the street and... whatever was causing this, the young woman crawled to the back to see who had been attacked and if she could help.

When the would-be rescuer reached the fallen figure, she gasped loudly...

That's MARINETTE!

At the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie, the TV in the corner of the room abruptly switched to news coverage of an Akuma alert, as had been happening far too often for most Parisians' liking lately.

"Again?" muttered Sabine Cheng, in the midst of ringing up a customer. "You'd think Hawkmoth would get the idea after a while."

The newscaster quoted reports of explosive devastation, a sighting of Ladybug at the scene, and warnings to stay away from the Rue de Grenelle until an official all-clear was given.

"Ah, but Ladybug is there. Nothing to worry about," smiled Tom Dupain. "She and Chat Noir never fail."

"...Tom?" Sabine looked at him, with an intensely worried expression. "Wasn't Rue de Grenelle where Marinette and Alya were going shopping today?"

"...Now that you mention it..."

"We've been told that Ladybug and Blastwave, as witnesses say he calls himself, engaged in battle. We can see Blastwave on the move; Ladybug's current whereabouts are unknown," the reporter said. "We will be covering this story as it happens. There are reports of some civilian injuries..."

Tom did his best to reassure Sabine. "What are the odds?" he asked. "If something had happened, I'm sure that we would have heard something by..."

Then their phone rang.

Chat Noir reached the shopping district not long afterwards, finding disarray and demolished storefronts instead of active battle. He pushed a button on his baton and called, "I'm here, Bugaboo. Where are you?"

No response.

He searched several of the affected buildings, asking passersby and paramedics if they'd seen Ladybug. Some had seen her in action, but none of them seemed to know for sure where she had gone. One mentioned seeing her taking a good shot from the villain, but hadn't seen her since.

Not a good omen, Chat thought. He watched the paramedics help some of the injured out of the damaged stores and restaurants, scanning for any sign of his partner.

Two of them carried a stretcher out of a heavily damaged restaurant. Chat took one look at its occupant... and nearly lost his mind.

A doctor came to meet Marinette's parents, huddled up in a hospital waiting room, and assured them that she was in no immediate danger. "Your daughter has some minor cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. We believe she's suffered a concussion, but not a severe one. We're doing some precautionary tests, but all signs are pretty good so far. We might keep her for a day or two to make sure, if it's all right with you."

"Thank goodness," sobbed Sabine. "To think she was right in the path of that... whatever he was..."

"May we see her?" Tom asked.

"Certainly." The doctor led them to a quiet room where they found their daughter, lying back in a simple hospital gown, who smiled warmly as soon as she saw them.

"Mom! Dad!" she beamed. "I'm... okay..."

"Oh..." Her mother ran forward to hold her, trying to hold back tears. "When that phone rang, I was so terrified that you'd..."

"I was... just unlucky... wrong place... wrong time," Marinette said. "Kind of dizzy."

"Lie back, dear. The doctor says you're concussed, but you're not hurt badly otherwise. You'll probably stay here for a couple of days at most," explained Tom.

The thought seemed to panic Marinette, for some reason. "No! I have to..." She reached up to the sides of her head, and her sense of alarm redoubled.

"Marinette, what's wrong?" asked Sabine. "You have to get some rest and heal. What is it?"

"My earrings...! What happened to my earrings?" asked Marinette, with very wide eyes.

Inside the restaurant, the rescuer had done her best to comfort the fallen girl. On the plus side, nothing ELSE seemed to be attacking the building, so she guessed that poor Marinette had been an innocent bystander, caught in the crossfire.

"Are you all right?" she asked, watching Marinette slowly regain consciousness.

"What... what happ..." Marinette mumbled. "I'm..."

"Shhhhh," said the rescuer. "I'm here. We're getting help for you. I won't leave you."

"I'm..." Marinette looked at her outstretched hands, and seemed quite alarmed by what she saw. WHERE'S MY COSTUME? flitted through her fractured thoughts. WHY AM I NOT STILL LADYBUG?

"Ear... rings..." she murmured, then laid back, visibly dizzy.

"I'm here, Marinette. Just be still. Help is coming," soothed the voice.

I know that... voice? Marinette thought, before things went fuzzy.

When the paramedics reached her and assessed Marinette's condition, the witness stepped back to let them do their work. She saw something shiny against a far wall; investigating, she found a pair of red-and-black earrings. That must be what she was looking for! They must've fallen out when she hit that hard. It's a miracle that she's not more badly hurt.

The rescuer pocketed them. They must be important to her. I'll make sure she gets these back when I find out where they're taking her...

Marinette sat up in bed, perplexed and now more than a little terrified. How could my earrings be gone? she thought. Did Blastwave take them from me? Does Hawkmoth have them now? CHAT! Chat will be all alone against that villain! I...

...Whoa. Lightheaded...

"Easy, Marinette!" her mother said, easing her back down onto her pillow. "It's okay. Nothing's coming after you here."

"I..." You don't understand, Mom! But how could you?

"Do you remember anything of what happened?" her father asked.

"Not... really?" I'm too loopy to come up with a decent cover story. "Was out with... Alya!"

"She's okay," her mother said. "She called us to let us know what had happened and where to meet you."

"Good... Don't remember... much else... heard a big boom."

A doctor leaned his head in the room. "Miss Dupain-Cheng? You have an... unusual visitor."

Marinette and her parents all looked towards the door, where a black leather-clad figure stood, fidgeting nervously.

"Marinette?" Chat Noir said, hesitant to enter.

"Come in, son," Tom said. "We won't bite."

"Thank you," he replied, taking a seat by Marinette's bedside. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Kind of," she said. "Concussion. Not much else. Lucky, I guess."

"Do you know anything about what happened?" Sabine asked him, gently.

"Not really," said Chat. "Probably not much more than you. I got a call from Ladybug that there was a villain in the shopping district, I got there as fast as I could, but he was gone... and so was she." He shuddered. "I was terrified that she'd been taken, or... anyway, I was searching for her and I was there when they brought Marinette out."

Chat reached out and touched her hand. "I was so worried about you... I had to come and make sure you were okay."

"You're sweet, Kitty," she whispered. Ladybug wasn't taken, she thought... but I don't know when you'll see her again.

"I'm sorry to have to ask, Marinette, but... did you see any signs of Ladybug when you were attacked? No one has seen her since," asked Chat, nervously.

"I... don't know," she lied. "Maybe something will come to me."

"It's okay," he reassured her. "I know she's okay. She has to be. She's the toughest girl that ever was."

He stood up, still holding Marinette's hand gently. "I do have get back and keep searching, for her and for Blastwave. Is it okay if I come back and visit again, Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng?"

"Of course it is," her mother answered. "I know you two are friends, and I'm sure she'd appreciate the company."

"Okay, then. Marinette, I'll be back soon..."

"Be careful," she said, her eyes pleading with him. Don't do what I did, she thought.

Chat squeezed her hand gently, then was gone.

Elsewhere in the city, a young woman sat in her bedroom, watching the news intently.

"Today's Akuma attack in a busy Paris shopping district remains somewhat of a mystery," the anchorman stated. "The battle ended unresolved; the villain is reportedly still on the loose, and there has been no sign of Ladybug since witnesses reported seeing her hit by a concussive blast. Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of Ladybug is encouraged to contact authorities..."

Oh, no! thought Marinette's rescuer. If something has happened to Ladybug, we're all in trouble!

I wonder if it was the same blast that hit poor Marinette...

...

WAIT a minute...!

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the earrings that she had found at the scene. They were cherry red, with black spots on them in a very familiar pattern.

They say that Ladybug's Miraculous is in her earrings. If I found these, just as Ladybug went missing... Could they be...?

But THAT would mean that MARINETTE...!

An awful lot of things crashed together in the young woman's head in a hurry.

The rest of the day flew by for Marinette. Her parents were there for as long as they could, though doctors eventually convinced them that Marinette would be just fine and needed nothing more than rest, and SO DID THEY and home would be where they could try to get some. Marinette was fine with that - of course they'd be back in the morning, and she'd be fine alone, she assured them.

She had quite a few visitors - so many that they kind of became a blur to her. Some she recognized, some were a little fuzzy around the edges. Many were friends from school - even a couple of her teachers. Some were people she knew from her neighborhood. Alya had visited, with her mother. She seemed to remember Manon and her mother at one point. About the only people she didn't remember seeing were Chloe... and no great loss there... and Adrien. He probably hadn't heard, she thought. And he's used to me acting dizzy around him, anyway.

The one on her mind the most, of course... was Tikki. I wonder if I could get someone to go to that restaurant and find out if they found my earrings there? I don't want to draw too much attention to them, but nothing is more important than getting them back. And if Hawkmoth has them...

That was a thought she really didn't want to dwell upon.

Chat Noir visited again after hours, as Marinette had guessed he might. "They don't make it easy to sneak into hospitals," he said. "Your room's windows don't open."

"Hi, Kitty," she said with a tired smile. "I'm glad to see you."

"How are you feeling?" Chat asked.

"Not too bad. This is more precautionary than anything else. I'll have to take it easy for a while, let my head heal, but then I'll be fine," she assured him. "Talk to me. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine..." ventured Chat.

"You're not fine. I'm running on half a brain and even I can see that," Marinette scolded. "Sit down. Talk it out with me."

"Marinette..." Chat said, nervously, "I didn't come here to ADD to your worries..."

"You came here because you're my friend," she smiled. "This is what friends are for."

"Okay," he muttered, taking a deep breath. "I'm so glad you'll be all right, but... something else has me terrified, Marinette. I can't find Ladybug anywhere."

"I know," Marinette replied, sadly. At Chat's quizzical expression, she added, "The news reports all said there's been no sign of her."

"I've checked all our usual meeting places, called her dozens of times, even searched the hospitals... nothing." His voice was shaky. "If something terrible happened to her, I have no idea how to handle that..."

Chat's eyes were watering up. Marinette reached out and took his hand. "Chat... I know she's one tough customer. There are other explanations."

"Such as?"

"Like..." Careful, Marinette. "Maybe they're taking care of her somewhere where she's being watched, and she can't leave or transform. Or maybe she got separated from her Miraculous somehow, and she can't contact you. You... don't know her secret identity, right?"

"No, I don't," said Chat. "This is one of those times that I dearly wish I did."

"It's a longshot," added Marinette, "but maybe head back to where that fight was. See if you can find any signs of her Miraculous there. They're... earrings, right? It'd be tough to find them in all that wreckage, but it's a starting point."

"You don't think that Blastwave took them?" Chat asked.

"Well, you know more about these villains than I do..." Marinette said, evasively, "...but if he had one of your Miraculouses, wouldn't he be coming after you with everything he had to get the other one?"

"True," mused Chat. "And, you're right, maybe I am jumping to conclusions. It's just... this has never happened before. I'm so used to seeing Ladybug bounce back from everything, and I'm usually there to protect her. I'm the one who's supposed to take the big hits. Not her."

"Chat, you can't be everywhere at once," soothed Marinette. "You got there as soon as you could. I'm sure she thought she could handle it, and from what I heard on TV she got hit protecting innocents, not taking chances without you. It might have happened even if you'd been there."

"I know," he sniffled. "I'm just so scared for her."

"Come here," Marinette beckoned, and he leaned in for a long hug. She tried to keep her own tears at bay. "You're not going to lose her. I promise."

If the earrings never turn up, she thought, I can still ease your worries. I'll just have to tell you who your Ladybug... was.

The next morning, Marinette's rescuer was beside herself with anxiety. What in the WORLD am I going to do about this?

She considered the situation. Marinette had seemed shaky, but mostly okay when she'd visited her yesterday... but it was obvious that she needed rest and healing, not to get up out of bed and go toe-to-toe with supervillains.

Which seemed ridiculous in and of itself. MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG was LADYBUG? A sweet, gentle schoolgirl was Paris's greatest hero and a mighty warrior?

Her personality... certainly matches. Marinette cares so much about everyone she meets; that fits Ladybug perfectly. But trading punches and flip-kicks with rock golems and zombies and evil pirate queens?

Think about this. From what you know of Ladybug... AND of Marinette... she's going to want to dive back into the fray when she gets the chance. And if she does that in her current state, she'll get slaughtered.

I just can't let her do that to herself.

But I can't just sit on what I know and do nothing...

She needed answers. And, like it or not, there was only one person who could give her any, but she had to handle this extremely delicately. She gathered her belongings, then made a run down to the corner store...

Marinette dozed through a fair amount of the morning. She had several visitors and did her best to be sociable to them, but her anxiety about the situation was wearing her down and her heart wasn't in it. Her mother could tell something was wrong beyond the obvious, but didn't press her as to what it was.

After lunch, she put her empty food tray back on the table... and noticed something that hadn't been there before. Someone had left something on her table, not very large, wrapped up in a piece of paper with FOR MARINETTE written on it. Huh. Where did that come from? she wondered.

Marinette picked it up and removed the paper, and saw that it was a cell phone, one that she didn't recognize. Maybe one of the nurses left it by accident, she thought. But then why does it have my name on it?

She flipped it open to try to tell whose it was, and saw a picture of a ladybug as its wallpaper image.

THAT chilled her for a moment. Can that be... any kind of coincidence? But who could possibly know?

She checked the contacts. There was only one name listed, with a number programmed in for it:

PLEASE CALLME

Well, THAT'S not suspicious at all! she thought. But... it's here for a reason.

She pocketed the phone so that her parents wouldn't see it. When nobody's here, I'll see if I can reach my anonymous friend. I sure hope it's a friend...

Marinette's rescuer paced back and forth. Did I do the right thing? Will she find it? Will she call me if she does? Am I taking the biggest chance of my life here-

Her phone rang, and she nearly dropped it from nerves when it did. The incoming number matched the cell she'd left for Marinette. Hesitantly, she answered. "Hello?"

"Hi," said a quiet voice. "Who is this, please?"

"I'm... the person who found you, who helped you at the restaurant yesterday. Is this Marinette?" she asked, trying to disguise her voice a little.

"It is."

"Is this... did I put the right wallpaper on that phone, Marinette?"

She heard silence for a long moment in return.

Marinette closed her eyes. This is the biggest secret I have, and someone I don't know is asking me to just give it away to her.

But what real choice do I have but to trust her?

In a quivering voice, she whispered, "It is."

"Thank goodness!" cried her rescuer. "There'd been no sign of your... other self, and I was fearing the worst. I promise that your secret is safe with me. Always."

"Okay..." said Marinette, hesitantly. "I appreciate that more than you know. Can I ask you HOW you know?" I can't place her voice. She might be my age, she might be older.

"I... have something of yours. I picked them up at the scene. A pair of earrings..."

"YES!" cried Marinette. "You have no idea how much those mean to me. I was terrified that they'd never be found."

"...And when I found you at the scene, and I found those, and then Ladybug disappeared, and I looked at the pattern on them... it all kind of added together. I'm sorry, Marinette," the rescuer said.

"Don't be," Marinette said. "You did your best to help me in the middle of a lot of danger, and that is amazing of you. Can you get those earrings back to me?"

"I can, and I will," said the voice. "But I have to ask you..."

"...if I did, right now, what could you do with them?"

"I could..." The implications hit Marinette. "...not do a lot right now, actually. I don't think I could... do what I do yet."

"I know, and that's why I'm asking. If these earrings are what I think they are... they are yours, they will always be yours, I will get them back to you as soon as I can. But that villain is out there right now, isn't he?" she asked.

"...Yes, he is," said Marinette, not liking where this was headed.

"...I want to help. I might be the only one who can right now. What can I do?"

"If you're volunteering to do what I... think you are, I cannot stress enough how DANGEROUS that would be!" Marinette scolded. "I've been doing this for a long time now and Blastwave took me out like an amateur. I could never let you put yourself in harm's way like that."

"But someone has to do it."

Marinette went silent.

"And right now, it can't be you. I can't let YOU put yourself in harm's way while you're hurt and recovering."

"But..."

"Do either of us really have a choice, Marinette? Can your partner beat Blastwave on his own?"

Thoughts of Chat Noir being blasted across Paris filled her head. They weren't thoughts that she wanted to keep there.

"Who is this?" begged Marinette.

"I... don't want to say," said the voice. "Because if I'm about to do what I think I am, that name just might end up being... my secret identity. For a little while. We know each other, I'll say that much. I know what kind of person you are as, well, yourself. I never dreamed how much more you truly are."

Marinette's thoughts jostled for position in her weary mind.

Do I really have a choice about this? She saved me. She did reach out to me when she didn't have to. She's asking for my trust.

"...How does it work?" asked the voice. "Please, Marinette. Let me help you. Help me save Paris."

A sentence escaped Marinette's lips. It was a short sentence, but one that changed everything, nevertheless.

"...Put on the earrings."

Marinette heard a rustling sound, briefly, then a loud gasp from her rescuer. "Who are you?" she heard her say.

"Can you still hear me?" called Marinette.

"...Yes," said the young woman, nervously. "Wow! Marinette, I'm guessing that... this is a friend of yours who just appeared?"

"Uh-huh," smiled Marinette. Good, they still work. That much is going right. "If she trusts you, I'll trust you. Can you think up a name I can call you for now? I feel silly saying 'miss' or 'ma'am' over and over."

"Yeah, uh... Call me... Carol for now. That'll do."

"Okay. Carol? I have just trusted you with the biggest secret possible. I need you to promise me some things," Marinette said.

"...Anything."

"My friend's name is Tikki. She's what makes the Miraculous work. Talk to her, tell her what you know. She's probably worried sick. Listen to what she tells you and do what she says, no matter what. And if she says to send the earrings back to me, you promise that you'll do that?"

"I promise. These are yours, now and forever. I'm just borrowing them," said Carol. "Will you call me and make sure I'm doing this right?"

"You know it. And, Carol... PLEASE be careful. Then be more careful than that. This isn't a gift, it's a responsibility, and a very dangerous one. If something happens to you, I'll be devastated," said Marinette, somberly.

"I will be careful. I have the highest standard to live up to," she replied. "I promise that I'll make you proud."

"Carol" hung up the phone, then turned to the tiny red being floating in front of her, looking at each other with a mixture of shock and curiosity.

"I'm... You're Tikki, right? I'm guessing that you've got more than a few questions right now..."

"More than a few, yes," Tikki said. "I... know exactly who you are. Can you tell me where Marinette is, and what happened to her?"

The young woman relayed the whole story: how she'd found Marinette unconscious, how she'd picked up the earrings, that she'd visited Marinette at the hospital a couple of times, how she'd left the phone to contact her, how Marinette was in no condition to go out and get blasted again.

"I see. I'm... not thrilled about this, but I can see how it's necessary," mused Tikki. "Can you take me to see her at some point?"

"Sure! We'll go today. But I'd... like to keep my identity secret for now, if I can, the way that Marinette did."

"Can I ask why?" asked Tikki.

"If she knew who I was... I feel like that would change a lot of things between us. Certainly how we see each other. I need to think about how I want to handle that," Carol replied. "She's carrying enough burdens already."

"Okay," said Tikki. "I'll teach you what you need to know. How much do you know about Ladybug?"

"Only what I've seen up close, and on TV, and in the news..." Carol said. "She's super-agile, she's strong and tough, she has her yo-yo and uses it in a multitude of ways. She captures Akumas and purifies them. If she says 'Lucky Charm!', she creates something that can save the day, but then she only gets a few minutes more before she transforms back. She has to keep her identity secret, unless... um... someone like me gets in the way. And she has the biggest and purest heart in the world."

"Then you're on the right track," smiled Tikki. "You understand just how dangerous this really is?"

"I do. We're talking about an experienced Ladybug sitting in a hospital right now because of this villain," she replied. "But if I can help her by doing this, I need to."

"All right," said Tikki. "Then I'll share the last piece of the puzzle with you. When you want to transform..."

"Before I do... Can we talk about what I'll look like?" asked Carol. "I mean, now that I know who Ladybug is... I can see Marinette in her, very easily. I don't want her to take one look at me and go 'Oh, I know YOU.' Can we modify the costume a bit, maybe modify ME a little bit when I transform, to make sure I won't be obvious?"

"Just tell me what you want, I can work a little magic," Tikki said. "And when you're ready, just say..."

Chat Noir tore through the buildings where the consensus seemed to be that Ladybug had been last seen. He did his best to keep his temper under control, but it wasn't easy.

A thought came to him. If I do find her Miraculous... how will I know who to give it back to?

He pondered the concept. I have no idea who she is beneath the mask. But Plagg does, or at least he's seen her de-transformed at least once. Maybe I can have him guide me and play delivery boy for me? Or he might know who would know.

He dug through overturned chairs and tables, fallen beams, anything he could lift. Nothing was turning up - not that he'd expected to find the earrings quickly, but he'd hoped to have a touch of Ladybug's luck for once.

A quiet voice behind him said, "Chat Noir... you can stop looking."

Chat spun around, and his eyes lit up. A familiar blend of red and black filled his eyes. "LADYBUG! You're..." he began, then stopped abruptly.

The figure that stood before him wore Ladybug's costume... but with several changes. The mask was covering her hair and most of her head, like a luchador's mask, instead of just the familiar domino over the eyes. The costume was a little less form-fitting, a little more padded. The body proportions were different in subtle ways. The body language was off. Instead of Ladybug's quiet confidence, he saw hesitation, timidity, even a little fear.

"I don't know who you are..." muttered Chat, backing into a defensive stance. "But you're not my Ladybug. Explain yourself!"

"I'm not your Ladybug, Chat. But I can tell you that she's fine - a little banged up, but she's in a doctor's care and doing very well," the figure said, holding her hands out to say Whoa, take it easy there! "I promise you that you don't have to worry. She'll be back with you as soon as she can."

"And you know this how?" asked Chat, only slightly pacified. "Who are you?"

"Underneath this? I can't tell you, but you know that," she said. "And I could never be your Ladybug. No one else ever could. But as for being _a_ Ladybug..."

She threw her yo-yo up to the rafters, let it fling her skyward, then twisted and flipped in mid-air and landed smoothly on a counter to demonstrate that she was for real.

"...I am today."

Next time:

* Chat needs more answers. "Carol" has more questions.

* Tikki reunites with Marinette... for a little while.

* A gentleman caller at Marinette's house. And... a second one?

* A little training-on-the-job... or is it more trial-by-fire?