Hi everyone!

Yeah, I know. ANOTHER fic.

I can't help it. This show has me thinking of a new fic at least every week. (Thankfully I've managed to merge this one with another idea I'd had, so that helps).
Anyway, this is an AU of episode 18 where The Puppeteer gets Ladybug's doll instead of Chat's. I seriously loved this episode, though I was a little sad that they made Chat seem so incredibly redundant after really trying to drive home that they were a team in the last episode. I have a few theories about this ep that I'm going to slip in in the next chapter too. It's a little rushed, but you guys know this part of the story. The next chapter is where it gets good.

I hope you like it!

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It's Too Late

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Adrien grinned as he stepped into the carriage. He barely used the subway, and still found it quite entertaining. It was a novelty. Of course, he was still in a good mood having slipped away from Gorilla. Sure he was going to be in a lot of trouble, but it would so be worth it.

He looked at his phone, ignoring the texts from his driver and checked the screening times for the movie he wanted to see. It wasn't often that he got to do things like this, and it gave him a rush of excitement almost similar to the one he got being Chat Noir.

As he slipped his phone away, he looked round at the rest of the carriage. Seeing someone familiar, his eyes darted back to the window. Through the window in the other carriage, he could see Marinette and Alya. Though, as soon as Marinette saw him look, she ducked out of view in panic. It made him frown a little. Did he really scare her that much? He waved to Alya with a small smile. She returned his wave, looking apologetic for her friend. He watched her mutter something before dragging Marinette from behind her and making her wave too. ...When did she end up hiding behind her? Shrugging it off, he just waved to the shy girl who grinned nervously at him.

Suddenly, as he was watching, a bright blue light began to shine around Alya. She dropped her friend's hand and was yelling in confusion. As the light travelled up her body, her normal clothing was replaced with a black suit... A very familiar black suit.

He rushed to the window in panic. He needed to be in their carriage. He had to do something! But all he could do was watch as Alya once again became Lady Wifi.

Oh god, Marinette was still with her.

Instantly, Lady Wifi stood and whipped around to her friend. She pointed at her, shouting something he couldn't quite make out. Marinette looked shocked and confused. Suddenly Lady Wifi looked like a child throwing a tantrum, and he heard her quite clearly shout the word 'dolls'. W-what was going on? Why was Lady Wifi acting like a child? What dolls? Whatever Marinette was saying to her, she seemed just as confused as he was.

As soon as the train stopped and the second the doors open, Lady Wifi was speeding away on one of her symbols. Huh... that was weird. He didn't remember her having that power last time. Marinette ran after her. He dashed out of the train in time to hear her shout something about 'we're not playing!' He wasn't sure what she was on about, but that could wait. He had to find somewhere to transform.

Looking about, there wasn't anywhere very good out of sight. And he couldn't dash back into the train, there was too many people there. The only place that wasn't packed was... the conductor's booth.

He ran up to the front of the train and grabbed the attention of the driver. "Excuse me, sir. There's... there's a cat! There, in the carriage!" he cried. It was a flimsy excuse, but it got the man to leave and check it out. Quickly, he stepped inside and let Plagg out.

"A cat?" his Kwami scoffed.

"Plagg, we need to do something!"

"But we just got rid of your Gorilla!" he complained.

"Plagg, Claws Out!"

"So, we're just going to forget about the cinema and the delicious popcorn-" He was cut off as he was sucked into the ring, the transformation already starting.

It was barely a second later that Chat Noir dashed from the driver's car and ran back to where he could see Marinette standing. She was looking down into the small bag at her hip. She was saying something, but stopped short when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped in shock, turning to face him.

"Hey, that was Lady Wifi," he said, pointing the way she had gone. "Did she say something to you?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but Lady Wifi was talking like a kid I know. It's a bit like she was controlling Alya, my friend. I mean, Lady Wifi." As she spoke, she used wild gestures, and he had try hard not to grin at how cute it was. She wasn't like this in front of him very often. It was like as Chat Noir he got to see a whole other side to her, and he loved it. He shook his head slightly, trying to focus on what she was saying intently. "And all that from afar. Ah, it's so weird!"

"And what was that with the dolls?" he asked. He realised a bit late that he shouldn't know that, but if Marinette noticed his slip up, she didn't say anything.

"I have dolls at my place that she likes to play with."

"Your dolls?" It sounded like she wanted the dolls. And they would likely be at Marinette's house. That must be where she was headed. "Okay, where do you live?"

He already knew where she lived. Heck, he'd been there a few times now both as himself and as Chat Noir. But Marinette didn't know that, and it was better to try and throw her off. It may seem weird if Chat Noir knew where she lived after visiting her house only once to pick her up.

"12 Gottlieb Street," she said quickly.

"Noted. I'll take care of it," he told her, already running towards the stairs.

It didn't take him long to bound across the roofs of Paris to get to his friend's house. Though, he honestly couldn't help wondering what it was with that girl and Akumas. Even though Chloé seemed to cause most of them, so many of them were somehow connected with Marinette. It was like she was a magnet for them. He wasn't sure that was okay, or if it was a bad thing. Was Hawkmoth targeting her vicariously or something? He shook his head at the idea, but was broken from his thoughts by a shout.

"Hey, Kitty! It's over here!" Ladybug's voice rung out from where she stood atop Marinette's roof. How did she get there so fast? How had she even known? With a last little jog, he hoisted himself up, extending his staff all the way up and followed after Ladybug as she swung inside the small round window to Marinette's room. He landed into a graceful crouch on the chase on the lower level, Ladybug beside him. Lady Wifi was already in the process of grabbing toys from Marinette's work bench.

"Puppeteer," Ladybug called, getting her attention. "Aren't you ashamed? It's not nice to steal your babysitter's dolls."

"And creeping into other people's houses with out permission. You deserve to go to bed without any desert," he teased.

"Soon I'll have your Miraculouses," Puppeteer shouted at them. "You bunch of evil good guys, super not pretty!"

Chat cocked his head in confusion. He wasn't quite sure what she just said. He'd gotten the part about getting their Miraculouses (yada, yada, yada), but all he'd understood after that was... 'super not pretty'?

"Super not pretty, you say? Nah, if there's someone here like that it's not me," he joked. Or his Lady, but he doubted she would appreciate that flirt right now. Of course, he couldn't help but say it. He was a model, he was allowed to say those sort of things. It was kind of hard to not know you're good looking when you have all of Paris telling you so, no matter how low your self esteem is. He shot a cheeky grin at Ladybug and she growled in return.

Lady Wifi / Puppeteer growled too, shouting, "Pause!" as she swiped a symbol at him. Thinking quick, he swung his staff around, deflecting the symbol and sending it off to a poster of... him? Wait... He glanced around the room, seeing a few other posters. Those... were not there last time he was in her room.

Beside him, Ladybug let out a small squeak. She jumped forward, using her yoyo as a shield too. "Do you remember how we took down Lady Wifi last time?"

"By putting the relay antenna out of order!" he cried. "On it!" He was already swinging up out of the window again. It didn't take him long at all to get up onto her balcony, then over the wall to where the box was. He called Cataclysm, and within seconds, the antenna had disintegrated.

There was a crash from below, and he looked down to see Lady Wifi speeding off out of the house and through the streets. He jumped down, using his staff to land safely, right beside where Ladybug had just landed herself.

"Did you capture her Akuma?" he asked.

"No, she didn't have one," she told him, much to both of their confusion.

"But that's impossible!" he exclaimed.

Oh god. If she wasn't possessed by Hawkmoth, then what was wrong with Alya? How were they going to turn her back to normal. He didn't think he would be able to face Marinette if he couldn't get her best friend back for her.

"It's the Puppeteer who controls her, she's the one who must have the Akuma!"

"Of course! Lady Wifi was just a puppet!"

This Puppeteer must have a Lady Wifi doll like the others she just nabbed. And somehow she used that to turn Alya back into Lady Wifi. Yes! That meant that she'd be okay when they stopped the Puppeteer! Though, since there were other dolls, it was likely they were going to run into more past Akuma.

He gasped when he suddenly realised that there weren't just Akuma dolls. There was also a Ladybug and Chat Noir. Oh god. What if she started controlling him! "Did you take the Chat Noir doll back?" he panicked.

A sad smile appeared on his Lady's face and she took a black doll from her belt, handing it to him. "Yes. It's okay, Chat. It's safe, right here."

He took it from her with a sigh of relief. But that relief was cut short when he noticed something. "Wait... Where's the Ladybug doll?"

At this, her smile fell, causing dread to coil in his stomach. "I only had time to grab the one. Lady Wifi paused me after I grabbed it. She was about to take my Miraculous when you cut the signal.

His eyes widened in horror. "No! No, no, no! We have to get it back. We have to get the Puppeteer before she controls any more dolls, especially you!" He placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes full of concern. He couldn't let her control Ladybug. He couldn't do this without her!

Right then, a beep came from his ring.

"Chat Noir, your ring!" she gasped. "You're going to detransform!"

"But we can't let her control your doll! We have to go and-"

"I'll go get it!" she assure him. "You go feed your Kwami and meet up with me."

He bit his lip, anxious to leave her. But when his ring beeped a second time, he turned and ran off to find somewhere to detransform. She was right. There was nothing he could do to help her as just Adrien.

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He managed to get far enough to hide behind a wide post on an empty street before his transformation wore out. It wasn't exactly the best spot, but no one was around. He peered about, making sure that was still true as Plagg ate. He looked down to see the Kwami starting on his second piece and frowned in annoyance.

"What? I'm savouring my cheese!" he said.

"Yeah well, can't you savour it faster? Ladybug could be in danger!" He didn't give his Kwami a chance to eat his second chunk of cheese. He didn't need it. Instead he called, "Plagg, Claws Out!"

He was running off through the streets before his transformation had even fully finished. Snatching his baton from behind his back, he opened the screen and called his partner. She picked up after only a few short rings and he was greeted with the pleasant sight of her smiling face on the small screen.

"Did you find her?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright for now, Kitty," she told him, a fond smile gracing her lips. "And yeah, I've found her. She's in the Kids+ TV building."

"Okay, I'll be right there!" He hung up the phone and focused on moving as fast as he could. He ran, vaulting on his staff and scampering over the roofs on all fours. He had to help his Lady!

When he reached the reception area, three people, including Alec Cataldi and Nadja Chamack, turned to him and pointed him to the room that Ladybug had gone to. And once again he was sprinting down the halls as silently as he could. He grinned in relief when he saw her at a pair of red doors. He went over an placed his hand on her shoulder.

Suddenly, he was being pushed into the ground, Ladybug trying to hold his arm behind his back.

"Ladybug, it's me!" he cried. For a second, a spike of panic ran through him. Oh god, what if the Puppeteer had already gotten to her?! But that thought was dashed in an instant when she let go with a sheepish giggle.

"Sorry!" she said, scratching the back of her head like he usually did when he was nervous.

"We should get in there quick. Who knows how long it will be until she decides she wants Ladybug as her plaything." His voice came out as a low growl. He didn't like the idea of that one bit. No one messed with his Lady!

"Let's go on three," she said. He knew what she meant, and together they backed up, getting ready to kick the door in. "One, two, three!"

They leapt, using their combined force to break the lock on the door. Both of them landed on their feet and took in the scene in a split instant. The Puppeteer floated in the middle of the room, three puppets floating around her, and Lady Wifi standing off to the side. The Ladybug doll lay on the ground before her.

"Ladybug!" she cried. Eyes widening, Chat Noir ran forward, guessing what was about to happen next, even as the doll floated up into the sky. He leapt, trying to reach for it. "Come to life!"

"Noo!" he shouted, just a bit too late as the blue magic hit the doll. Before he could grab it, it flipped away from him. A moment later, he landed, rolling and twisting so that he was now facing Ladybug and the small doll beside her. They both knelt on the ground, and at the same time, they lifted their heads, a smirk on their face. Her eyes seemed different. They were still the same colour, but now they seemed empty. Cold.

Dread crept through his body as it really hit him, what had just happened. Ladybug was no longer herself. She was being controlled... He was alone.

"Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty," Ladybug said with a malicious grin at the same time as the puppeteer shouted it. "Give me that doll. I want your Miraculous!"

Chat Noir shook his head, his eyes wide with panic as he clutched onto the doll tighter. A single word left his lips, full of horror and despair.

"No..."