Note: For this version, the timeline goes: Simon Says, Princess Fragrance, then Volpina.

"In today's news, Chat Noir successfully saved several brainwashed victims, including Prince Ali, from a recent akuma attack. He wasn't alone, however, a student from École Francoise-Dupont—"

Pause.

A girl with long, brown hair and striking olive eyes scans her computer screen with somewhat of a glare. Not at her favorite superhero, but at the pig-tailed girl standing next to him.

Who is she?

She wouldn't have minded it being Ladybug of course, but this civilian who has no super-powers whatsoever, this civilian who's nothing special—she got to partner up with Chat Noir?

Having moved from Italy to Paris, Lila felt it necessary to do some research to know what she was getting into. That's when she stumbled upon the LadyBlog and Miraculous Chat, and it's no denying she instantly fell in love with Chat Noir.

Sure, he may be conceited and rude sometimes, but deep down, she knows he's good at heart. She knows it's just a defense mechanism so as to not make the civilians worry—being a kid who carries the weight of the whole country (or even world) on his shoulders, he must be tired.

Ladybug is all she's ever wanted to be. To be able to work with him and talk to him, Lila would give so much just to be a hero like her. She did feel undertones of envy every now and then, but it's never been as strong as now. From the way that girl interacted with Chat Noir, she must be pretty close to him.

She replays the Princess Fragrance news report one more time, casting a glance at the student registration paper on her desk.

École Francoise-Dupont. The next day, Lila's going to be in the same school as her. She's going to be walking down the same hallways, sitting in the same classrooms, talking to the same classmates. Her lips curve into a smile when an idea comes to mind, and she unpauses the news report to continue watching.

"Just you wait," Lila says. When the camera focuses on the pig-tailed girl, she continues, "I'll be the one working alongside Chat Noir."

Who Needs Love?

Episode 26, 2.0

Season 01 Finale

Volpina: Green with Envy

Adrien enters the school grounds, noticing immediately the change in atmosphere. He can sense excitement in the air, but drops of envy as well. While walking towards the school's entrance, he overhears a bunch of her classmates talk about someone he isn't familiar with.

Who's Lila?

"Can you believe Lila knows Prince Ali?!" Rose exclaims excitedly to Juleka. "She even flew in his private jet with him!"

"Why did Jagged Stone write a song about Lila when he could've written it about me?!" Chloe growls as Sabrina attempts to calm her fuming "BFF" down.

Adrien sees Nino and Alya together amongst the crowd of people, the two of them watching something on the latter's phone, and he rushes over to them. "Hey, what did I miss? Who's Lila?" Adrien asks, and while keeping their eyes glued to the phone, Nino and Alya point off in the distance. Adrien follows their fingers and raises an eyebrow when he sees an unfamiliar girl screaming excitedly with Marinette.

"She's Lila? Where did she come from?" Adrien asks. To be completely truthful, he finds Lila really pretty. Chestnut brown hair, olive green eyes, tall stature; she's like a model, but to him, unmatched by Marinette's simple pigtails, ocean blue eyes and bright smile.

"Lila's a new student from Italy, and I'm telling you, man—she has the most exciting life! Her parents are both diplomats and she's been to too many places to count!" Nino exclaims. "And from what I've heard, she personally knows Jagged Stone, Prince Ali and a bunch of Hollywood directors! She promised she'd mention me to Steven Bielsberg himself!"

"Wow, that is amazing," Adrien admits.

"That's not the best part—she personally knows Chat Noir!" Alya exclaims with a huge grin on her face.

"What?!" Adrien screeches, catching the attention of a few students. "Where did you get that kind of information from?!"

"Lila, of course!" Alya says, tapping the Play button on her phone. Adrien feels himself shaking with rage while listening to the lies. How could she lie about that?! Now, he's really starting to doubt what she said about knowing all those famous people.

When the video ends, Adrien looks back to where she last saw Lila and Marinette, fuming when she sees the brunette link arms with her. Lila and Marinette walk into the school library looking like new best friends, and that's enough to get Adrien going.

"Guys, we should stop them," Adrien says. "I don't want Marinette hanging out with a liar."

"Liar? How do you know she's lying?" Nino asks.

"How could she personally know Chat Noir?" Adrien asks. "She just moved here! If Chat Noir saved her, wouldn't we hear some news about it from Italy? Wouldn't it be on the Miraculous Chat, Alya?"

Alya frowns. "I mean, I get that the Miraculous Chat posts updates about him, but how can I know everything about him?" she defends.

"Good point, but aren't you even the tiniest bit afraid she might take your best friend away from you?" Adrien asks. "From the looks of it, she's getting a little too close to Marinette…"

"You have to calm down. Lila is apparently on Team Chat too; she's probably just excited to have made a new friend who likes him just as much," Nino says. He then smirks, "Maybe we'll help you if you admit you're jealous."

"How could you say that?!" Adrien screeches. "I'm not jealous!"

"Whatever you say," the couple smirks and continues watching the videos. Adrien scowls when he realizes he's all on his own, and decides to take action himself.

"I can sense your jealousy from a mile away," Plagg says in a sing-song voice. "I didn't think you were this protective. I mean, she's no real threat unlike Theo or Nathanael—this Lilac girl probably just wants a friend."

"Lila, Plagg. You really are bad with names," Adrien whispers. "And I'm not jealous."

"Whatever you say, kid," Plagg says, and Adrien could hear the smirk in his voice. Adrien groans as he rushes to the library to catch up with Marinette and Lila.

Adrien peeks his head into the library, and when he sees Marinette sitting at one of the tables, he hides behind a bookshelf to spy on her. Adrien dives behind the bookshelf when he sees Marinette looking around, and after a few seconds, he takes a peek to find Marinette looking through her phone with a smile on her face.

"Hm, I wonder what she's looking at," Plagg says, flying out of Adrien's pocket. "I'll go check!"

"Plagg, get back here! Someone might see you!" Adrien whispers desperately. The black cat kwami disobeys him and flies over to a bookshelf near Marinette to take a better look at what she's watching. Its' the news report from the whole Princess Fragrance attack, and she's watching the part where she's seen talking to Chat Noir.

"Now we can get going on our history homework. It's so much faster doing it in groups, don't you think?" Lila says as she enters the scene carrying some books. Marinette quickly throws her history textbook over her phone as an attempt to hide it. Lila takes a seat next to her, notices the unusual bump on her textbook, and pushes her textbook off of it to get a better look. "What are you watching, Marinette?" she asks.

"Oh, nothing," she says, scratching the back of her head. "It's just the news report on Chat Noir from a few days back."

"Oh, I've seen this one," Lila says. "You got to work with him, huh?"

"I did," Marinette nods. "He's really amazing."

"He is," Lila says, and a ghost of a smirk appears on her face when she notices the dreamy look on Marinette's face. "I actually happen to be very close friends with Chat, did you know?"

Adrien's jaw drops upon hearing her lie again, and just as he's about to turn around and leave without looking back, he bumps into a book cart. This gives him an idea, and Adrien follows through with it shamelessly. He crouches low enough to hide behind the book cart and subtly pushes it near Marinette and Lila's table to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Really?!" Marinette exclaims. "He's never mentioned you before though…"

"He may be pretty rude to Ladybug sometimes as we can see on the LadyBlog and Miraculous Chat, but he really does have a heart of gold. Maybe he didn't mention me so as to keep me safe, you know?" Lila covers up. "We can talk more about it if you want—not here though. Why don't we meet at the park after school and I'll tell you everything?"

Adrien accidentally overreacts, causing the book cart to roll away and slam into the wall. Marinette and Lila stand up in surprise, and Adrien quickly dives under the table, hoping not to get caught.

Marinette's phone suddenly beeps, and she opens it up to check his notification. "I have to go," she says as she starts packing his things. "My parents need my help at the bakery."

"Your parents own a bakery?" Lila asks.

Marinette nods. "The Dupain-Cheng bakery! It's not too far from here, actually," she says. "Come by if ever you want any sweets. My dad makes the best macarons."

While she's packing up, Adrien sees Lila purposely make Marinette drop all her things, causing her to drop her phone and bag. "I can count on you to be at the park later on? I'll tell you what I know about Chat," Lila asks.

Marinette nods. "I'll see you later!" she says, sprinting out of the library. When she's out of sight, Lila packs up her things, heads towards the exit.

"That was too easy. Now, all I have to do now is get her to introduce me to Chat Noir," Plagg overhears Lila say to herself as she walks out of the library.

"This new girl's planning on using Marinette to get to Chat Noir," Plagg says as she flies over to his wielder.

"Really?" Adrien asks. "Why does she have to drag Marinette into this?"

"I don't know," Plagg shrugs. "You humans and your lies. It's crazy how you would go through great lengths to get what you want."

"Yeah, well that's how we are sometimes. I have to stop her from going," Adrien says, walking out of the library. "All I have to do is keep her away from the park all afternoon. I can do this."

"Good afternoon—Adrien?"

Adrien walks through the doors of the bakery with a smile and a wave, and Marinette raises an eyebrow in suspicion. "Hey there, Marinette," Adrien says, leaning over the counter.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. "Are you seriously here to distract me and ruin my day?"

Adrien places a hand on his chest, and pretends to be offended. "How could you say that?" he asks, and Marinette merely rolls her eyes. He grins, "How much longer until your shift ends?"

"The rush just ended, so I'll probably just stay for ten more minutes in case any new customers come in," Marinette says. "Are you here to buy something or…?"

"Not really," Adrien shrugs. "I actually… thought that maybe you'd want to hang out after those ten minutes are up?"

Marinette raises an eyebrow. "Okay seriously, what do you want?" she deadpans.

"Nothing," Adrien says with an exasperated sigh. "This new ice cream parlor down the street just opened up, so I thought you'd want to try it out with me? It'll be my treat."

"What new ice cream parlor? Are you talking about Jen and Berry's? Because that's been open for a while now and you know the owners are on vacation for a week, right?" Marinette says, and all the color drains from Adrien's face.

"Oh, I… I didn't know that," Adrien says, and he could hear Plagg slap his forehead in his pocket. "Then do you have anything else in mind?"

"Well, there's actually this other ice cream shop I've been wanting to go," Marinette says honestly. "It's on the other side of the city, though."

"That's perfect. So, ice cream in," Adrien eyes the clock behind her. "Four minutes? I'll treat you! Order an extra scoop or two, just come with me!"

"Are you okay? You sound really desperate," Marinette says. "And if I think too much about it, you're making it sound like a date."

Adrien's face turns bright red. "Let me get this straight—it is not a date," he says.

"Good," Marinette says, and then proceeds to make a thinking pose. "Hm… is it really your treat? Are there really no strings attached?"

"Yes, it's my treat and no, there's no catch," Adrien assures. "I'm just a nice person asking a good friend of mine if she wants to hang out. I'd hate to waste such a nice day, and besides, we've already hung out together before. Don't make this weird."

"Alright, geez. I'll go with you," Marinette says, and Adrien lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh, wait!"

Adrien's heart stops. Don't say it, don't say it—

"I have to meet up with someone after my shift," Marinette says.

"Can you meet them some other day?" Adrien asks almost too quickly. "I'm being nice here. How could you pick someone you've met today over someone you've known for almost a year now?"

"Cancelling last minute would be rude," Marinette says. "Besides, I already told her I'd meet her and I have no way of contacting her to cancel. Maybe some other time?" She turns to look at the time, and she sees that her ten minutes are up. "Well, time's up. I'm heading out now, let's hang out some other day, all right?"

Marinette walks past the counter and past him, but Adrien grabs her wrist before she could go. She turns to him with a shocked expression on her face, and Adrien keeps a determined look on his face.

"Don't go," he whispers. "Stay with me."

Marinette blinks. "Adrien—?"

The bells above the door jingle, signaling that someone has just entered the shop.

Adrien and Marinette look up to see Lila standing at the door. Upon realizing that he's still holding onto Marinette's wrist, Adrien lets go, and the couple turns away from each other with burning cheeks.

"Was I interrupting something?" Lila asks with a smirk.

"No, no, nothing at all!" Marinette exclaims, still red in the face. She rushes over to Lila's side and continues, "Adrien was just telling me about… something…" She laughs nervously, and Adrien just scratches the back of his head bashfully.

"Well, if you don't mind, Adrien," Lila says. "I'm going to steal Marinette for the rest of the day."

"Take her," Adrien says, looking up at her with a straight face. "I'll see you around, Marinette."

Marinette nods, and walks out the door followed by Lila, leaving him behind.

"Well, you certainly failed," Plagg says unencouragingly. "You probably could've stopped her from going if you had just said it was a date. It would've seriously thrown her off, seeing how uncalled for it is, and she probably would've forgotten all about her hang-out with Lila."

"I don't want to ask her out like that…" Adrien says. He looks out the window of the bakery, seeing the two girls sit on a bench at the park. "I'm following them," he says, walking out the door.

"Unless you have sonic hearing, you'd know we're too far from them."

Adrien and Plagg are hiding behind one of the trees aligning the park Marinette and Lila are in. Adrien takes out his phone and opens up the camera, using it to zoom in on the two girls.

Through this, he sees Lila taking out a fox tail necklace and holding it up for Marinette to see. "I have to get closer to them," Adrien says, running behind one tree to the other until he's crouched down behind the closest tree.

"Do you really know Chat Noir?" he hears Marinette ask with slight doubt in his voice.

"Of course I do. Not only did he save my life, but we've become close friends because we have something very special in common—it's what I wanted to tell you about," Lila says. "I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine myself, Volpina."

"Volpina?" Marinette asks. "You mean to tell me you're a Miraculous wielder too?"

"That's right," Lila lies, pointing at her necklace. "My grandma gave me this necklace. It's been passed on from generation to generation. I think it's finally time I use it for good, don't you think? I'm sure Chat Noir would be glad to see me again."

"He would… wouldn't he?" Marinette says, somewhat sadly. While she may already be close to Chat Noir as Ladybug, Marinette can't help but worry—worry that Chat Noir and Volpina will become Paris' new superhero duo and leave Ladybug behind.

Chat Noir may say that he doesn't like partnerships, but he's worked with Marinette a few times before already. If Volpina's a close friend of his, then he'd no doubt partner up with her. Where does that leave Ladybug? No more patrols, no more late-night talks.

She'll be alone.

"You seem pretty close to him yourself," Lila brings up, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts. "You think you can get him to meet up with me so we can reunite?"

Not wanting this to continue any further, Adrien gets up and sprints in the opposite direction, followed by his kwami. "I think she really is planning on using Marinette and then leaving her in the dust. Well, too bad her plan's going to fail. PLAGG, TRANSFORM ME!"

After transforming into Chat Noir, he vaults himself over to Marinette and Lila, the latter looking especially horrified. "Hey, Marinette, it's nice to see you again," Chat Noir says with a smile. He then turns to Lila with the same smile on his face, but with anger in his eyes. "Nice to see you again too, Lila."

Lila's eyes widen, and she stays silent.

"Long time no see. I saw your interview on the Miraculous Chat," Chat Noir says, slamming his staff on the bench between Lila and Marinette.

"I…" Lila mutters before burying her face in her hands shamefully.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been since I saved you? Since our last talk? Oh, but hold on, I'm having a blank here. When exactly did that ever happen?" The superhero makes a thinking pose, and then raises a finger as if he remembered something. "Oh, right! Never." He then turns to Marinette and says straight-up, "She was lying to you to get to me."

"Lila, you…" Marinette begins, shocked.

"I don't appreciate lies about me. But most of all, I don't appreciate people using others to get what they want, especially if those people are friends of mine," Chat Noir says. "And really? Lying on a worldwide-famous blog? I wonder how you'll survive once everyone finds out you were lying."

"So… I guess you aren't the descendant of a superhero, huh?" Marinette asks the now embarrassed girl.

"How dare you?!" Lila screams at Chat Noir before getting up and running out of the park.

"Lila, wait!" Marinette calls out to her. She then turns to her and scolds, "Chat Noir, don't you think you went a little too far?"

"Just like Ladybug, I hate liars," Chat Noir says. "I was protecting you, Princess. Don't I deserve a little thank you?"

"Well, your way of dealing with things isn't very mature if you haven't noticed," Marinette says.

"Whatever," Chat Noir says, extending his staff. "Stay mad all you want. At least now I know you're safe."

Marinette shakes her head and runs off to try to find Lila.

Chat Noir makes his way home and transforms back into Adrien upon landing in his room through the open window. Plagg falls into his hands and says, "That counts as using your powers irresponsibly."

"It was to protect her, how is that irresponsible?" Adrien argues. "I'd say it was for good cause—what's that?!" He runs to his window, gasping when he sees a meteorite heading towards Paris.

After a second transformation that day, Chat Noir vaults out of his room and towards the meteor, ready to cast Cataclysm on it, stopping when he sees someone in a fox costume flying towards it instead. He watches in shock when they successfully manage to throw the meteor back into space.

The orange-clad heroine then lands on the roof of a building and announces to the Parisians cheering for her, "I am Volpina, the only superhero Paris needs!"

Chat Noir lands on a roof, shrinking his staff. "Volpina?" he asks.

Ladybug lands right next to him. "Looks like we have a new rival," she says.

"Is she really a superhero?" Chat Noir asks. It's a bit too coincidental that Lila said she was a descendant of the superhero Volpina, who just so happens to have the same name as this new "hero"…

"You're judging her before getting to know her," Ladybug says. "You did that with me, and now you're doing that to her? What's with you?"

"You see, your problem is that you trust people too quickly. That'll be the cause of your downfall," Chat Noir says.

"At least I give people a chance! You never let anyone make up for their mistakes—as if you don't make any either!"

Volpina suddenly interrupts their arguing by landing between the two of them, making both rivals cast each other a look. "Hey guys! Glad you dropped in," she says with a (fake) smile. "I think there's something you two should see…"

"Any reason why we should trust you?" Chat Noir asks, arms crossed.

"If you want to end all this akumatizing once and for all, then trust me," Volpina says, flying off. Chat Noir and Ladybug look at each other questioningly before following the new superheroine. They all land on a nearby roof, Paris' two rivals gasping at the sight of the figure standing on top of one of the roofs.

"It's Hawkmoth!" Ladybug exclaims. "In the flesh!"

"He never shows up! Something big is going on—really big!" Chat Noir exclaims.

"We can take him down, but it's going to take all three of us," Volpina says. "We better make the most of our individual talents."

"Time out," Chat Noir says, and Ladybug looks over at his rival with a sigh. "I hope you know that Ladybug and I aren't partners. On top of wanting me and that klutz to work together, you want us to work with you too? Who are you, really?"

Volpina holds a hand out, while the other points at her necklace. "Volpina, wielder of the Fox Miraculous," she says, and Chat Noir eyes her hand suspiciously. "You can trust me, Chat Noir."

"We'll see," he says, brushing her hand away.

"Come to think of it, there's something fishy going on here. A meteor and Hawkmoth on the same day? A little unusual, don't you think?" Ladybug steps in.

Before either of them could add on to anything else, Hawkmoth teleports from roof to roof. "He's getting away!" Volpina cries, following him, and Chat Noir and Ladybug follow closely behind. When Hawkmoth stops, they stop on the roof they're on. "We have to catch him before it's too late. Ladybug, go to his left. Chat Noir, you take the right, and I'll come from behind."

"Hold up, I don't even listen to her instructions," Chat Noir says, pointing over to Ladybug.

"You should've done a little more research on us," Ladybug says. "We take any route we want." Without it being said, Chat Noir is going to attack from behind, and Ladybug heads over to the right.

Lila watches both heroes go with narrowed eyes. It's a lot harder to convince them than she initially thought.

Her first target: Chat Noir.

Chat Noir is running from roof to roof, trying to catch up to the teleporting supervillain. However, while walking on a townhouse's roof, a red square blinks around his foot, making him stop in her tracks. He looks up, gasping to find over a dozen bombs surrounding him, and behind them—Volpina.

"I wouldn't move an inch if I were you," Volpina cackles, making Chat Noir gasp. "Don't look at me like that. If anything, I should be looking at you like that. You did humiliate me after all."

Chat Noir's eyes widen. "Lila?!" she exclaims.

"I'm not Lila anymore! From now on, it's Volpina!" she screams.

"You're not a superhero!" Chat Noir screams. "You're another one of Hawkmoth's akumatized victims!"

"You humiliated me, Chat Noir. You're going to pay for it. But before I get rid of you, you are going to give me your Miraculous or that building goes down." The akumatized victim points over at a building in the distance.

"You wouldn't do that," Chat Noir says, holding his ground.

"Watch me," Volpina says, blowing on her flute. The building she pointed at earlier starts crumbling, and many Parisians are screaming in horror at the sight.

"Stop!" Chat Noir says, and with trembling hands, he reaches for his Black Cat Ring. Before he could take it off, however, a pigeon hits the building, and the horrible sight vanishes in a puff of smoke. "An illusion?"

"No!" Volpina gasps.

"The meteor, Hawkmoth… it was all a lie!" Chat Noir exclaims. "That's your power, isn't it? Illusions—lies!" The black cat superhero extends his staff and hits the bombs with a swift twirl, making the illusions of bombs disappear. Chat Noir manages to escape secretly while the clouds of smoke blocked him from Volpina's view and he immediately calls Ladybug on his staff.

"Chat?" Ladybug asks from the other line.

"My Lady, did you catch up to Hawkmoth?" Chat Noir asks.

"Nope. Lost sight of him," she answers. "He teleported and just… never reappeared, so you can't say anything about it being my fault!"

"I wasn't going to blame you. He was never there in the first place," Chat Noir says.

Ladybug pauses before continuing, "What are you talking about? We saw him with our own eyes."

"That's Volpina's power. She creates illusions. The Hawkmoth we saw wasn't real," he says. "She's not a real superhero—she's an akumatized victim, and… it's all my fault."

"What did you do?" she asks.

"I called her out on her lies in front of a new friend she made," Chat Noir sighs. "I lost my temper and… you know how I am when I'm angry. I don't think."

"Lila?" Ladybug whispers to himself.

"I'll send you her address, meet me there," he says before hanging up. Ladybug receives a text message a few seconds later to find out that he sent her the address to his house.

"It is Lila," Ladybug says to herself before heading in the direction of her house as fast as she possibly can. She made before Chat Noir or Volpina could, and transforms back into Marinette after landing in her room past the trapdoor.

"I think Ladybug would help more in this situation, don't you think?" Tikki asks.

"If I'm not wrong about Lila being Volpina, maybe I can make her see sense as Marinette. Maybe then she'll listen," Marinette says, gesturing for Tikki to go inside her purse.

Marinette hears a thud on the roof, and climbs to her balcony to find Volpina leaning over the rails. "Do I… know you?" Mairnette fakes.

"Of course you do, Marinette. Don't you remember this necklace?" Volpina says, pointing at the accessory around her neck. "I didn't know how to tell you the truth, but at least this way you can see for yourself that I'm not lying. I'm a superhero."

"Lila?!" Marinette exclaims, pretending she didn't know at all.

"You can call me Volpina," she says. "I'm sorry about the scene in the park earlier today. I forgot to mention that Chat Noir and I got into a bit of a fight, which explains why he acted the way he did—"

"Volpina," Volpina and Marinette turn to the window to see Chat Noir shaking her head. "No more lies, and keep Marinette out of this."

"I'm just clearing things up for her," Volpina shrugs. "You must like her a lot if you're so keen on protecting her."

"I'm a superhero," Chat Noir says. "I have to keep her safe."

While Chat Noir and Volpina battle it out on the roof, Marinette sneaks back into her room to transform back into Ladybug. Tikki flies out of Marinette's purse. "Ready to transform?" she asks.

"We better hurry," Marinette nods. "TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!"

After transforming into Ladybug once again, she leaps out the open window in her room and jumps to the roof. "Sorry I'm late! I had some trouble… finding the place," she laughs nervously.

Right after Ladybug arrives, Volpina realizes that she's outnumbered two to one. With a blow of her flute, she creates a dozen more Volpina's and jumps inside the group to hide from them. Ladybug uses her yoyo to hit them, and they all vanish without a trace.

"If these are all illusions, where's the real Volpina?" Chat Noir asks.

He looks around the place, stopping when he catches sight of an orange figure leaping from roof to roof. He gasps when he sees the villain dragging Marinette with her.

"She's taken Marinette!" Chat Noir screams, pointing out the window.

"That's an illusion too!" Ladybug quickly says.

"How do you know?" Chat Noir asks.

"She creates illusions, she's a liar," Ladybug says. "Think about it—she'd never actually hurt an innocent person, would she?"

"You don't know that," Chat Noir says. He then jumps into Marinette's room and hops back onto the roof. "Marinette's nowhere to be found, that must be her. Volpina's controlled by Hawkmoth after all, I'd say she would hurt an innocent person."

When Chat Noir vaults himself out of the scene, Ladybug groans.

"I'm not even going to try to get out of this."

Both rivals make it to the Eiffel Tower to find a cackling Volpina dangling a terrified-looking Marinette over the edge. Chat Noir and Ladybug are climbing up the tower as quickly as they could, stopping when Volpina says, "One step closer and I'm dropping her!"

"Don't!" Chat Noir screams. "This is going too far, Volpina, and you know that!"

"If ever word goes out that I lied, no one would want to talk to me, and I'd be all alone again," Volpina says, her voice dripping with anger and sadness.

"Again?" Chat Noir echoes.

"And it'll all be because of you!" Volpina screams. "If you're going to make me suffer, then I'll make you suffer too!"

"Volpina, look," Chat Noir says. "I know how it feels to be lonely. But lying to people? Using them? Revenge? No one will like you if you continue like this even if you're not lying!"

"You, lonely?" Volpina scoffs. "You're one half of Paris' beloved superhero duo! You have fans, friends, people falling to your feet—I have no one."

"Lila…" Chat Noir says.

"Once I let go of her, I hope it haunts you for life, knowing that you were the cause of all this," Volpina grins wickedly. "However, I'll spare her in exchange for your Miraculouses."

"Don't even joke about that," Chat Noir growls. "She did nothing wrong!"

"Really? The one person who was there when you exposed me? The one person who knows my lie? No hard feelings, Marinette," Volpina tells her. "But I'd drop you in an instant if doing so would help me defeat them."

"You must be out of your mind if you think we're going to fall for this again," Ladybug says. "That Marinette's not even real—she's just an illusion."

"You want to bet on that?!" the akumatized victim thunders, releasing her hold on Marinette's arm one finger at a time.

"NO!" Chat Noir screams desperately, bringing a hand to his ring. "Just… take my ring. Take it, just don't drop Marinette."

Touched by his words, Ladybug snaps out of her thoughts and holds out her yoyo. "Don't do it, Chat Noir!" she screams, throwing her yoyo at Volpina and Marinette. "It's just an illusion!" When her yoyo hits them, they both vanish in a puff of smoke.

The real Volpina pokes her head out from her hiding place to growl at the heroes. "There she is!" Ladybug points, and she and Chat Noir climb all the way to the top, gasping at the sight of all the Volpina's. Chat Noir throws himself into battle right away, hitting every illusion that comes his way.

"This is for messing with my head," Chat Noir says as he hits a Volpina illusion with all his might. "This is for lying, and this is for Marinette!" Chat Noir throws his hand up in the air. "CATACLYSM!"

The familiar black glow of Cataclysm appears, and Chat Noir slams his hand on the tower, causing over a dozen of iron bars to fall. They each hit a Volpina illusion, making them all vanish, and ultimately trapping the real one.

"I'll take that," Chat Noir says, ripping her necklace off and smashing it with the end of his staff. A black butterfly flutters out of the akumatized item, and the hero paints it white once more. "MIRACULOUS CHAT!"

Magic dust flies all over the town, restoring everything to its former glory. When Volpina turns back into Lila, Chat Noir approaches her and helps her up on her feet. "Lila," he says.

"Chat Noir?" Lila asks, looking away shamefully.

"While I don't appreciate you making up lies about me…" he begins. "I want to say sorry for acting the way I did earlier."

"Forget it, Chat Noir," Lila says, pushing him off of her. "I'm over you." Before climbing down the tower, Lila picks up the fox tail necklace and puts it in her pocket.

"You messed up big time," Ladybug says. "Maybe I was wrong. Your temper will be your downfall."

"You're not making me feel any better, klutz," he says. His eyes suddenly widen, and he says, "Wait… where's Marinette?!"

Ladybug blanches. "Uh, w-well, if that Marinette earlier was an illusion, she should be at home, right? Everything went back to normal after your Miraculous Chat, she should be safe at the bakery!"

"I'm heading back there to check if she's all right. You can head out without me," he says, extending his staff. He's about to jump off the Eiffel Tower, when Ladybug runs in front of him to block his path.

"She's fine! I'll go check!" Ladybug says.

"That's not enough for me. I need to see for myself," he says. "Move out of the way."

His blood is boiling with fear and anger because of the day's events, but they're mostly for Marinette's safety. He was the one who got Lila akumatized in the first place, and it's his fault that Marinette is in possible danger. If she's hurt in any way… he would never forgive himself.

"Chat, there's no time for you to check," Ladybug says, pointing at his beeping ring. "You're going to transform back soon."

"I'll be quick," he argues. Chat Noir walks around him, preparing to jump off and fly off with a twirl of his staff. "There's no time to argue, I'm going now!"

Before Ladybug could say anything else, Chat Noir leaps over her and off to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. With a sigh, Ladybug launches her yoyo and swings off into her house's direction as fact as she can.

When Ladybug lands in her room through the trapdoor and transforms back into Marinette, she makes sure to shut it and lock it. Seconds later, she hears Chat Noir land on her roof with a thud. She hears him try to pull on the trapdoor, and he stops upon realizing it's locked.

"Marinette, are you all right?" he asks desperately, knocking on it. "Please tell me you're in there… Princess, can you hear me?"

"Chat Noir?" Marinette calls out. "Is that you?"

"It's me," he says, and she hears him sigh in relief. "I just wanted to make sure if you're all right."

"Huh? O-oh, yeah, I'm fine," Marinette says, climbing up the ladder of her trapdoor. She stops at the last step, and sits on it. "I'm sorry I can't open the trapdoor, the lock got all… messed up. I'm scared to open it and not be able to close it. It could be dangerous at night, you know?"

"Oh, I see," Chat Noir says from the other side, leaning in closer. "I'll be leaving now then. I just wanted to make sure you're all right. I'm glad you are."

"Thank you, Chat Noir," Marinette says softly. "Really, thank you."

Chat Noir and Ladybug—Adrien and Marinette—both place a hand against the trapdoor, with it being the only thing separating their touch, and only their sighs overlap with one another.

Marinette hears rushed footsteps from the other side of the door, and when she hears Chat Noir extend his staff and leap off her balcony, she slowly opens the door and walks out. She catches him jump from one roof to the other, and she sighs sadly.

She wishes she could reveal her identity to him, but she knows he wouldn't want that.

The next day at school, when Mme Bustier dismisses class, Adrien is packing his things when he feels someone nudge him. He looks up to find Marinette standing next to him, and looking down at him with a small smile.

"Remember that ice cream shop I told you about?" Marinette asks, and Adrien nods. Nino and Alya cast each other a look and quietly make their way out of class. "Do you want to go try it out?"

Adrien's face evidently lights up. "You know I do," he answers, getting up. "My treat."

"Seriously?" Marinette asks, and Adrien nods with a grin. "You're being awfully nice these past few days. I like to think it's the calm before the storm."

"Is everything I do associated to bad things?" Adrien sighs exasperatedly.

"Of course, jerk," she laughs.

Adrien and Marinette walk out of the school and walk into the streets side by side, heading towards the subway.

"You don't have to treat me, by the way," Marinette says.

"It's fine, I want to," Adrien says.

"If you really are treating me," Marinette starts. "What can I do in return? I can get you macarons from the bakery, or maybe some cake? Oh, my mom makes amazing almond cookies if you want."

While Marinette continues to talk about other ways of repaying him, Adrien cuts her off by saying, "Hey klutz, you can shut up now. Just spend the day with me. That's good enough for me."

They soon make it to the entrance of the subway, and they both head down the stairs. They wait for the subway to arrive, noting that it should be coming in about three minutes.

"Alright, what do you really want?" Marinette asks, and Adrien just slaps his forehead.

"I can't believe you're this dense," Adrien says, slapping his forehead. "I don't want anything."

"Fine, I'll spend the day with you," Marinette says, dropping her suspicions. "But call me klutz one more time, and I'm going to leave."

"No, you won't," Adrien says firmly.

"How do you know?" Marinette asks.

"I just do," he smirks. "Klutz."

Marinette huffs, but she doesn't move an inch.

Adrien walks into his house with grin on his face and a spring in each step. Even though he and Marinette didn't stay at the ice cream shop for too long, it still made him extremely happy. Sure, there was teasing and arguing, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

His happy thoughts are interrupted, however, when the familiar smell of Camembert reaches his nose. "Ugh, Plagg!" Adrien groans. "Seriously, how are you not sick of that yet?"

Adrien pinches his nose with his fingers as he walks down the stairs of his home. His kwami is sitting on his shoulders holding two slices of Camembert cheese, which he devours in two seconds flat.

"I've been eating cheese for the last five thousand years, kid," Plagg burps. "Trust me, I could go for a five thousand more."

Adrien opens his mouth to say something, but he's cut off by the sound of his father exploding in his study room. The blond tip-toes over to the door left ajar and peeks into the room, seeing his father stomping around angrily while holding a cellphone to his ear.

"This is unacceptable!" Gabriel Agreste thunders while flipping through a thick book. "The sample garment doesn't match at all! All you had to do was follow a pattern. Imbeciles! What am I supposed to do now?! The show is in three days!"

Adrien's eyes widen when he sees his father throw open the painting of his mother, which reveals to have a secret vault behind it. Adrien throws a hand over his mouth to stop himself from gasping.

"He hides stuff behind the painting of mom?" he whispers to himself.

"No, don't use him, he's completely useless," Gabriel Agreste says, snapping Adrien out of his thoughts. Adrien quickly hides behind the pillar near the door, watching as his father exits the room. "Call my assistant, Nathalie. She'll give you some other news."

When his father is out of sight, Adrien runs into the room and slowly approaches his mother's painting. His chest constricts at the sight of her, and he sinks in all of her features with glazed eyes before pulling it open to reveal the vault.

"Yes," Plagg says while rubbing his little hands together. "I love dirty little secrets. Open it!"

Adrien takes a quick glance at the door and then at the vault. "I can't do it," he shakes his head. "My dad wouldn't like me going through his stuff. Besides, I don't even know the code."

Plagg rolls his eyes. "What a goodie-two-shoes," the kwami says before phasing through the vault.

"Plagg, no!" Adrien screams before clamping his mouth with his hand after realizing how loud he was. The vault flies open seconds later, and Plagg is sitting next to a picture frame of Adrien's mother.

"My, my, what have we got here?" Plagg asks, flying next to Adrien's head to get a better look at the shelf. "A book on Tibet, an old flyer from a hotel, a load of junk. Aw, come on, where's the good stuff—wait, what's this?"

The kwami knocks a hard-cover book into his wielder's hands, looking down at it with a hint of familiarity in his eyes. "I've seen this book somewhere before, but where?"

"Are you done yet?" Adrien asks, taking quick glances over his shoulder. "Can we go now?"

"Flip through the pages. Maybe I'll remember," Plagg says, and Adrien obeys.

"Why is my dad keeping this locked in a safe?" the blond asks as he flips through the book. He gasps upon landing on a specific page. "Hawkmoth?! What's this villain doing in a book about superheroes?"

Adrien and Plagg gasp when they hear footsteps approaching. Adrien is about to put the book back, but his kwami stops him. "No, take it with you!" he exclaims.

Adrien slams the vault shut and dives under his father's desk when the door swings open and prays that he doesn't go to his desk for any reason at all. The door swings open once more, and when Adrien pokes his out the desk to find no one there, he sprints out of his father's office and into his room.

After catching his breath, Adrien plops onto his couch and holds the book out.

"Why did I take this book again?" he asks his kwami, flipping through the pages of the book he and Plagg managed to take from his father's secret vault. The black cat kwami is sitting on his shoulder, looking down at the pages with furrowed brows.

"There's something about it that's so familiar…" Plagg says as Adrien continues to flip through the pages. When the next page reveals a picture of the Turtle wielder, Plagg exclaims, "Hold up!"

"What?" Adrien asks, and Plagg dives into the book, lying over the page containing coded information about the Turtle superhero.

"I think I remember now," Plagg says, eyes widened. "Get up. We're leaving."

"What? To where?" Adrien asks, getting up from his seat on the couch.

"Just follow me," Plagg says, flying out the door. "This book contains all the secrets of the Miraculous powers. I think it's time he gets this back."

"Who?" Adrien asks.

"The great guardian," the kwami answers. "We have to let him know about this. I don't know why your dad would hide this kind of thing, but we really have to bring it back."

"Plagg, I can't just leave—" Adrien begins.

"Like you don't sneak out every night for patrol already," Plagg shoots.

Adrien locks his bedroom door and opens his window. He shoves the book in his backpack, and slings it over his shoulder. "All right, fine. You win; just tell me where to go," he says.

Adrien transforms into Chat Noir just to get to the ground safely, and once he finds a good hiding place, he de-transforms. He follows Plagg's directions, and finds himself in front of a Massage Shop.

"…Are you sure this is the right place?" Adrien asks, an eyebrow raised.

"If it isn't, at least you get a massage?" Plagg replies sheepishly, and Adrien just glares at him.

The blond walks into the shop, knocks on the door, and the person on the other side says, "Come in."

He opens the door to see an old man smiling up at him. "I've been expecting you, Chat Noir," he says.

Adrien enters the room, and shuts the door behind him.

end card

A/N: End of Season 01.

I hope you enjoyed this extra! I explored Lila's character a bit more; her fear of being lonely, wishing she could be as loved by Ladybug and Chat Noir. Even on the show, she seemed like a sad character to me. I know you can't really compare both versions, but out of the two that I've written, which version of Volpina do you prefer?

Thank you for the favorites, thank you for the alerts, and thank you for the reviews. I don't think I would've been able to complete this story without your support. I really do appreciate you all for sticking to this story until the end. I love you, guys. :') If you can, please leave me one last review. I'd love to hear your final thoughts. And let me know which chapter in this story was your favorite! I think I'd love to hear that too.

And if I ever change my mind and decide to write for Season 2, I hope you decide to read that one, too!

Akuma Capture:
Ladybug: 14
Chat Noir: 14
- TIED -

Thank you for reading, and Happy New Year! :)

I'll see you soon.

~ Kaorei