Chapter 4: Shaggy and the Sasquatch

Zoe Blanchette smiled as she checked her reflection in her large bathroom mirror.

"Okay. Clean face, teeth and hair. Check! clothes, check! Sunglasses, Check! School bag, check! phone, check! Belt, check! wallet…hmmm…oh here it is. Check!"

"And don't forget my chocolate!" a small white rabbit piped from the side of the basin.

"Don't worry Pooka it's all packed and ready to go" Zoe patted the little Kwami with her finger before turning back to face her reflection.

She was wearing a pair of black denim shorts with a sporty light grey tank top and of course her favourite green and white varsity jacket over the top.

She chewed her lip as she made to settle her pink framed sunglasses over her dark curls and favourite pink bandanna and pulled her top over the top of her miraculous belt buckle, much to her Kwami's amusement.

"Will you relax. You look fine."

"Are you sure" Zoe gulped as she fiddled with her pockets "You don't think I should've gone for the skirt?"

"Na! Besides this suits you better. Looks more like…like..."

"Like a daggy scrawny kid that doesn't have a clue what to do and will most likely stuff up on her first day at school?" Zoe sorted and Pooka shook his head.

"Actually, I was going to say it looks more like you."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you Zoe, are a very brave person to show yourself for who you are in front of a whole heap of strangers."

Zoe blushed, feeling her ears burn hotly, but before she could comment there was a knock at her door.

"Zoe! Natalie's going to get the limo" a boy's voice called eagerly.

"Oh-uh! Coming Adrien! Quick Pooka hide" Zoe hissed and at once the little floating rabbit zoomed to the pocket of her jacket just as the door to her bedroom opened and Adrien's blonde head poked through with a grin.

"Hey! You good to go?"

"Uh yeah. Totally super" Zoe smiled back, only to feel the roaring in her gut swell up once more. "So a limo huh?"

"Yeah. I'd rather walk, but father doesn't like me wandering about on my own" Adrien mimed quotation marks green eyes rolling dramatically.

Despite all the stress, Zoe felt her nerves abate slightly.

Just one of the many great things about her cousin. He always somehow made her feel very relaxed and calm, no matter how anxious she got.

Even as they hopped into the long black limousine five minutes later, Zoe could feel her heartrate slow right back down to normal. And by the time they had pulled up in front of the school and stepped out Zoe felt quite sure that she would definitely not puke.

That was until a hush suddenly descended upon them and many faces turned to stare in their direction. Stomach still rolling horribly, Zoe shouldered her backpack, trying and failing to concentrate on the familiar worn material as it grazed her shoulder so that she didn't have to look at the onlookers.

All of them were teenagers around their age, most of the girls whispering behind their hands to their friends.

"Who was that?"

"Did you see that? She just hopped out with him?"

"You think that's his girlfriend?"

"Dunno. She looks so…boyish. I always thought he'd go for someone more feminine like-"

"Does this always happen?" Zoe hissed quietly to Adrien who just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah-most of the time. Don't worry you get used to it after a couple of days. HEY NINO!" he suddenly called, waving an arm in the air towards a boy at the top of the steps.

He was tall, with short dark brown hair, golden brown eyes framed by glasses and dark brown skin. He was wearing very casual clothes: a blue T-shirt with an eye on it, blue-grey jeans and a red cap that almost flew off his head as he rushed down to greet them.

"Hey Adrien, mah-man! How's it going!" he smiled wide as he and Adrien fist bumped playfully.

"Not too bad. What about you? How was your weekend?"

"Aw, y'know the usual. Had a great time mixing together a great new song for the radio show. It's totally wicked, I'll let you listen to it at lunch. Whoa, who's this?"

Nino stared in wonderment at Zoe who firmly gulped down on her embarrassment as Adrien quietly nudged her forwards.

"Nino, this is my cousin Zoe Blanchette. Zoe this is Nino, my best friend."

"Dude! You have a cousin?! Since when?" Nino's eyes bulged with excitement and Adrien shook his head in amusement.

"Since fourteen years ago. Our moms were sisters" Zoe felt herself smile as Nino's eyes lit up with even more wonderment.

"Dudes that is like so cool! Are you a model too?"

"Nope. Not me. I'm just your normal average French girl"

Who just so happens to be able to transform into a bunny themed superhero with super-speed and teleportation abilities! Yeah totally normal.

Zoe added in her head only to cringe as Nino suddenly blurted out:

"Wait-wait Blanchette? Are you by any chance related to Renee Blanchette, the famous celebrity stylist?"

Crap.

Zoe could feel Pooka nuzzling her comfortingly in her pocket, but it did nothing to alleviate her dread as she shut her eyes and nodded in resignation. There was no point denying it. She looked a lot like her mother after all. People would be bound to see the connection sooner or later.

In this case soon meant right now.

"Oh…woah…dude…but didn't she disappear-" Nino gaped at Adrien who clamped a hand quickly over his mouth.

"SHH! NINO! Not so loud. People aren't supposed to know. I'll tell you about it later okay. Just don't talk about it to anyone please!"

"Okay, okay! Fine my lips are sealed" Nino shoved his friends' hands off him only to turn to Zoe and ask excitedly:

"So, are you a stylist too? Which big time celebs have you met?"

"Nino" Adrien groaned but Zoe just sighed.

"It's okay Adry. No to the first question, and I can't answer the second one because of my mom's confidentiality agreements, but I can say that there are a couple of big time pop stars on the list, one famous actress and one politician"

"Woah cool!"

Zoe smirked as Nino's eyes bulged out of his sockets but as the other boy turned away, Adrien saw the melancholy in her eyes.

Oh well…there goes our cover

He sighed to himself as he steered the conversation towards his best friend's weekend, hoping desperately that fate would be kinder to Zoe on her first day.

But as it happened, Fate had other plans.

"AH!"

She cried out as she tripped on one of the school quadrangle stairs and stumbled forwards into someone, her body landing right on top of them.

"Zoe!" Adrien called as he and Nino began to dash back for her.

But Zoe was too busy assessing the damage to her accidental victim who lay sprawled beneath her.

It was a boy tall and lean, with tanned skin, shaggy black hair wearing a grey T-shirt and dark grey/blue jeans with black trainers and a black leather jacket. He looked a little ruffled from his fall, but otherwise there was not a single scratch on him.

But that was not what had Zoe scowling.

"You!"

"Hey Bigfoot. How's it going?" He smirked up at her, blue eyes alight with derisive smugness as she scrambled off him, blushing furiously as she spat:

"Shut up! Just because I accidentally trod on your toes once doesn't mean I have big feet!"

"All evidence to the contrary…Big-Foot" the boy winced as he rubbed hard at his foot.

He was saved Zoe's explosion of anger, by a loud voice that boomed over all the hubbub.

"Alright! Move along! Move along! You don't want to be late for your classes now do you"

There was the quick shuffling of feet and a man in a brown suit suddenly seemed to loom up over them with a broad chest, thick bushy eyebrows and grey beard which crinkled as he smiled down at the two teens on the floor.

"You two as well, chop chop!"

"uh sir…" Zoe flushed all anger forgotten in a flash as she scrambled to her feet. "I-I don't have a class yet"

"Yeah neither do I" the boy beside her smirked as he all but swaggered upright.

"Don't have a class but-oh I see then you two must be the new students." The man's face lit up with delight holding out a large hand. "Well then allow me to introduce myself I am Henri Damocles Principle of Collège Françoise Dupont. And you two I take it, are Mademoiselle Zoe Blanchette and Monsieur Raoul Durand"

"Uh…hi" Zoe tried to smile under the weight of all her nerves as she shook the man, but when the boy, Raoul, took his hand he was as cool as a cucumber and just as smooth.

"pleasure to meet you sir"

"Oh no my dear boy the pleasure is all mine. To tell you the truth I was hoping to catch you both out front of the school, but I guess you two were eager to start studying" Mr. Damocles chortled. "Very well then since both of you are rearing to go I suppose I shall escort the both of you to the-I thought I told you be off to class?" the old principle barked as two figures rushed down the stairs towards them.

"Oh… sorry Mister Damocles, we were just uh…" Nino gulped but thankfully Adrien came to his rescue.

"We were coming to bring Zoe up to class. We kinda lost her at the bottom of the stairs"

"Ah well if that's the case then perhaps you could escort Monsieur Durand to class as well and help him settle in too. I daresay Miss Bustier would be quite happy to see you all safely in her classroom within the next five minutes."

"Of course dude-I-I mean sir" Nino grinned nervously under the raised eyebrows of their principle.

However, he needn't have worried because Mr. Damocles suddenly smiled and turned back to Zoe and Raoul.

"Now Miss Blanchette, Mr. Durand the day is young and you two have lessons which I'm sure you'll want to get to as quickly as possible. Should you have any questions or problems my office is always open or feel free to talk with the staff. Your teacher will be explaining your timetables and other necessary procedures to you in class today. Now off with you pip, pip!"

"Yes sir" Zoe and Raoul nodded as they quickly made to follow Adrien and Nino away and up the stairs.

"So, Raoul, you're new too huh?" Nino grinned as they hit the second-floor landing. "Where did you transfer from?"

"Alsace" Raoul answered shortly, but his smirk was quick to fall on Zoe "What about you Bigfoot? Where did you come from? The Alps perhaps?"

"Hey! Don't call her that!" Adrien scowled but Zoe put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Adrien." She glared sidelong at Raoul, brown eyes narrowed with disgust. "As a matter of fact, I did come from Lyon. Not that I see why this should matter to you Shaggy?"

"Just trying to make conversation" Raoul shrugged but his eyes glinted in malicious pleasure "I mean this is the first time I've seen a Sasquatch so far from its natural habitat-"

"GRRR! Why you-" Zoe growled but before she could even leap into action Adrien and Nino quickly grabbed her by the arms and began dragging her back.

"Let me at him! Let me at that jerk! I'll show him Sasquatch!" she hissed struggling as she was frog-marched to the classroom door, Raoul sniggering behind her back all the way there.

"Pff! This is too easy" he snorted under his breath as he made to follow her path, his blue eyes glinting with victory.

When Marinette Dupain-Cheng finally arrived at school on Monday morning her mind was still buzzing and reeling.

She'd had another weird dream again. One just like the one she'd had about the rabbit and owl, except this time, the rabbit was not a rabbit, but a superhero with rabbit ears and a tail, and instead of an owl, was the shadowy silhouette of a figure with clawed hands, a furry head and a long bushy tail.

Both had been standing in the moonlight, both high above her and Chat Noir, their stares hard as stone as their mouths opened to speak.

It was then that Marinette's alarm had decided to go off, making her bolt straight upright in her bed with a yelp of surprise, only to have to transform as an Akuma had appeared terrorizing Paris…yet again.

"Seriously Tikki what is with Hawkmoth? That's like the third Akuma this weekend alone" the young superheroine grumbled as she de-transformed back into her civilian form and trudged up the school steps. She knew she should truly be running for class, but she just felt so drained and so was her Kwami.

"Yes he's really putting us through our paces, that's for sure" Tikki sighed with relief as she floated into the girl's pocket and began nibbling into a choc-chip cookie. "Or, and this is more likely, he's probably trying to lure the White Rabbit Miraculous out again"

"Yeah about that Tikki, what is it with the White Rabbit Miraculous and what does Hawkmoth want with it?" Marinette frowned as she pulled out her own cookie and began munching on it as they entered the now empty school quadrangle.

"I don't know" Tikki admitted quietly. "But whatever it is it can't be good"

Marinette's brow furrowed if possible even more as the little red cosmic being avoided her eye and began munching rather fervently on her snack. Just what was with her Kwami? For so long she had been forthright with her knowledge and guidance. But ever since the incident with Bunny La Blanc on the weekend she'd been so secretive and quiet.

Marinette was almost too distracted to notice her teacher's disapproving shake of the head as she walked into class.

"Marinette! Late again?" Miss Boustier groaned pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry Miss. Late night studying" was all Marinette could grunt as she quietly trudged to her desk, where Alya was waiting for her, brow quirked.

"Woah girl…what happened to you? You look like you haven't slept a wink all weekend!" she hissed as her bestie all but slumped in her seat.

"That's because I haven't" Marinette admitted as she tried to hide her yawn behind her hand, and not a moment too soon.

"Now as I was saying before Marinette finally decided to join us," – the whole class sniggered softly - "I have a big announcement to make. We have two new students joining us today, Mister Raoul Durand and Miss Zoe Blanchette."

"Two new students? Wow. But Lila just came in like a month ago" Alya beamed excitedly as she whipped out her smartphone and began swiping on it.

Miss Boustier ignored her rather blatantly as she turned to face the new students.

"Now Raoul and Zoe before you sit down why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves"

Zoe gulped as she glanced sideways to Raoul who smirked smugly.

"Sasquatches first" he muttered softly so that only she could hear.

It was almost a miracle she didn't lunge for him again. Instead she sucked in a deep breath, and turned to face the class room, only to feel her heart freeze at the sight of all those expectant faces.

For a second or two she glanced around, her eyes eventually falling on Adrien and Nino, both of whom smiled encouragingly giving her a thumbs up. It was surprisingly dorky, especially for Adrien, who had up till that moment maintained his cool smooth supermodel charm.

"Hi everyone…" She gulped forcing a smile onto her nervous face "I'm uh…Zoe. I used to live in Lyon that was…" she gripped her hands hard behind her back. (keep it together girl) "…that was until I got accepted to come here for school. But since my Mom's…uh…busy with work back home so I'm staying with my cousin Adrien for now."

She paused letting the gasps of amazement wash over her, taking the time to take a few deep soothing breaths.

Just a little bit more to go and you'll be in the clear…

She told herself, as she tried to hold her fake smile.

"Wow! So you're from Lyon. How wonderful, I hear the Lyonnaise cuisine is to die for." Miss Boustier prompted with a warm smile.

"Oh yes we're very spoiled in the food department. The best though has to be the Coussin de Lyon." Zoe was almost drooling at the memory. It seemed only yesterday she was buying the little green cushions of sweetness from her local pastry shop. If only she had a stash of it here…

Her thoughts of food were interrupted by her teacher's next questions about her hobbies.

Zoe kept her answers brief, after all she didn't have too many extracurricular activities. She liked tinkering with machines, doing her nails, riding her bike, and jogging. There wasn't much else to it. Unless you now counted her secret superhero life.

She was glad when Miss Boustier finished the public interrogation and everyone turned their attention to Raoul next to her.

Raoul was surprisingly, polite, if a little haughty and over confident. He had an annoying swagger to his step that Zoe wasn't sure she liked one bit.

Oh please? Dark clothes, shaggy hair and the oh-so-sensitive bad boy vibe! Ugh! Could this guy get any more muso cliché?

She rolled her eyes to herself as he talked about playing the guitar, and his passion for music which made nearly all the girls in the room suddenly almost swoon dreamy eyed at their desks.

"Thank you, Raoul that was lovely. And since you enjoy your music might I recommend you sign up for the music club. I'm sure they'd love to have you on board"

"I suppose if I can fit it into my schedule!" Raoul smirked winking at a blonde-haired girl and her heavily made up ginger friend in the left front row seats. Both giggled, blushing bright pink.

"Perfect. Now Raoul, Zoe if you would take your seats, there are two available in the back there right next to Rose and Juleka."

Oh, you've got to be kidding me?!

Zoe groaned internally as she saw two seats at the back.

With another heavy sigh of resignation, she trudged all the way to the back, giving a tiny wave at the sympathetic pair of Adrien and Nino, not noticing Marinette's wide amazed eyes or the blonde haired girl's appalled gasp as she took her seat next to Raoul.

Thankfully she was on the aisle seat right opposite a girl in pink who leaned over excitedly and whispered.

"Hi Zoe, I'm Rose and this is Juleka. It's so lovely to meet you" she pointed to the dark, grim purple haired girl next to her who waved lazily.

"Hi"

"Hi. Nice to meet you too" Zoe whispered smiling as the teacher called out for silence so she could begin the lesson, which happened to be (Zoe shuddered) Maths.

"Stuck already Big Foot?" Raoul smirked quietly as Zoe struggled to solve an equation on the board. "But I'd have thought you'd already know how to count, especially when you have to count all your toes-"

"Shut up!" Zoe snapped, cheeks reddening.

Trust her to get stuck next to the biggest jerk of the century. Oh well, at least she can escape from him at lunch.

"I can't believe Adrien has a cousin now!" Alya groaned irritably across the cafeteria table as she checked her phone "Let alone the daughter of Renee Blanchette! Oh how could I have been so slow on this scoop-"

"Renee Blanchette?" Marinette gasped, her sandwich nearly falling from her gaping mouth "W-w-wait you can't mean the stylist. The one-"

"Who went missing? Yeah who else girl?" Alya huffed, as she dug into her own lunch "I mean come on, why else wouldn't she be here in Paris with her daughter. The woman's one of the most famous stylists in the world, she could afford to move to London or even America if she really wanted to-"

"Wait her mom's missing?" Juleka frowned as she and Rose came up to sit beside the two of them.

"Oh the poor thing. I was wondering why she was looking so down in class." Rose simpered sympathetically glancing to a faraway table, where Zoe sat along with Nino and Adrien, glazing out as she listened to their animated conversation, only to scowl as Raoul passed her by with a smirk.

"Can't exactly blame her" Alya muttered quietly to Juleka and Marinette "I mean she has to sit next to that jerk all day…oh well, at least he's cute" she added as she looked over his smug face.

"I don't know, I mean he can't be all that bad…can he?" Marinette frowned only for Juleka to shrug.

"Dunno. But he can't be any worse than Chloe"

The three of them sniggered, much to Rose's annoyance.

"Oh don't be mean" she pouted "He may look all rough and tough, but deep down he must be-"

"Shallow? superficial? full of himself?" Juleka deadpanned oh-so-helpfully.

"Sensitive" Rose steamrolled over, Marinette and Alya's snorts of laughter. "I mean, did you hear the way he talked about his music. He was soo passionate-Ahh" she sighed dreamily absentmindedly twirling her fork in her hands.

"Well whatever. Who cares about Sensitive musos?! I've got something better" Alya suddenly piped up, leaning in excitedly "So you guys remember that new hero that we saw on the news last week?"

How could I forget?

Marinette grumbled in her head, though she kept her derision hidden behind a politely curious smile.

"You mean the rabbit girl?"

"Yeah! That one! Well…I've got an interview with the villain she, Ladybug and Chat Noir faced!"

"WHAT?" Rose, Marinette and Juleka all cried out.

"Yes!" Alya gushed with a squeal. "I got to talk with Vandalizer, well at least I talked with the guy who became Vandalizer. But anyway, here check this out"

And with that she shoved her smart-phone into the three girls faces.

It was, as Marinette had guessed, an updated page of the Ladyblog complete with a small video interview with a young nervous looking man, who scratched the back of his head as he answered Alya's burning question.

"-and Maurice are there any more words you'd like to say before we bug out?"

"Yeah. Bunny La Blanc, if you're seeing this, I-I'm sorry and thank you for saving me and Paris. O-oh yeah same to you Ladybug and Chat Noir-"

"Wow" Marinette blinked in surprise as she checked the number of hits the page had received.

"I know! And I thought Volpina's scoop was huge! Ah!"

And she wasn't even a real superhero

Marinette sighed to herself letting her three friends excited ranting wash over her, only to startle as a loud bang suddenly sounded from outside.

There were shouts and cries of excitement as nearly all the students quickly ran over to the windows.

Through them Marinette could see something long and thin suddenly shoot past the window.

"Oh no not again" She groaned head thumping on the table.

"Another Akuma?! That's four times in three days!" Alya all but squealed as she, Rose and Juleka all sped up to the windows for a closer look.

And it wasn't just her, even Nino was pumped to watch the action.

"Come on dude!" he tried dragging Zoe and Adrien. But both hung back, quickly taking advantage of the excitement.

Both quirked eyebrows at one another in confusion.

"Uh, what are you doin?" Zoe frowned and Adrien smirked.

"Bathroom. And You?"

"Uh..." Zoe gulped, cursing herself mentally. Damn her cousin for stealing her hiding spot. Now where was she supposed to transform?

"Uh…I left something in my locker for sports…" She finally decided before quickly adding "I was gonna get it earlier but I didn't want to be rude to Nino. Uh…meet you back in the quad?"

"Yeah sure! The quad sounds good" Adrien smiled somewhat nervously, hoping against hope that she wouldn't notice the way his ring was glowing on his hand.

There was a very embarrassed pause, during which something crashed, and a blur of red with black polka dots zipped past the window.

"Right! see you later!" both Adrien and Zoe spluttered in unison as together they sped in completely different directions.

A good thing I'm good at remembering directions or this would've been tricky.

Zoe huffed as she quickly sidled into the girl's locker rooms, quickly side stepping into the shower room which was mercifully empty.

"Okay let's do this" she whispered as Pooka flew out of her jacket.

"Just say the word" he geared himself up to go.

"Say what word?" a voice smirked behind them.

Zoe and Pooka both leapt back, the human literally climbing air as she wheeled around, only to come face to face with-

"YOU!" she snarled as Raoul sniggered at her surprise. "THIS IS THE GIRL'S SHOWERS!"

"So this is what the great Sasquatch does in her spare time. I guess that explains why Paris' new superhero had such big feet. And don't bother hiding that Kwami" he added as Zoe quickly tried snatching Pooka back into her jacket.

Both human and miraculous holder froze.

"W-wha-h-How on earth did you know-" Zoe spluttered only to gasp as Raoul opened up the side of his leather jacket and let something grey zoom out.

"Raoul!" a feminine voice groaned as the silver blob suddenly stretched out. It was about the same size as Pooka, with two large canine ears, a collar of fur around her neck that matched a long wolfs tail.

"I was resting" The kwami glared at Raoul with icy blue eyes.

"Sorry pup, but we've got company" Raoul smirked as the Grey Wolf Kwami suddenly started sniffing the air. She spun around where she hovered, only to suddenly get bowled over by a very excitable-

"Luuna!" Pooka all but squealed as he spun his fellow kwami about in mid air. "My old friend! I've missed you so much. How are you? Where have you been? I thought I'd never see you again! How did you get here I thought-"

"You know her?!" Zoe gaped open mouthed.

"Unfortunately yes he does." Luuna deadpanned quickly swatting off the white rabbit. "Okay, okay. This is a happy reunion I get it. Now will you get off me! We have a city to help save"

"oh yes right of course" Pooka quickly flew back to Zoe who was now spluttering worse than a faulty spigot.

"Whoa-whoa wait a second! What do you mean city to save? You're not-he's not a-"

"Zoe, calm down I'll explain everything later" Pooka gently soothed her flying down to tap at her miraculous belt, hidden under her tank top. "Now come on! Say the magic words"

"But-"

"Clock's ticking big-foot" Raoul tapped his watch.

"why you-"

"Zoe!"

"Okay fine! But I still want answers!" she growled hands flying to her belt buckle "Pooka, ears up!"

"Luuna, fangs out!"

"What took you so long?" Ladybug grunted as she landed back on the ground next to Chat Noir. The new Akuma, or rather Akumas, smirked as they stood high above them. They were a boy and a girl, both dressed in black and yellow body suits. The girl had a white minus on her black headgear and the boy had a white plus. In their hands they both held black and yellow tipped wires like whips.

"Sorry, came from the other side of town" Chat smirked looking up at their two new foes. "Who are these two clowns?"

"Clowns! How dare you-We're the Charge Twins! What do you think Plus? Should we teach the kitty some manners?" the girl sneered at the boy who growled.

"Dunno, Minus. Perhaps he's just shocked at the sight of us"

"Yikes, who let these two leave the big top?" Chat sniggered.

"Who else but Hawkmoth?" Ladybug narrowed her eyes, only to cry out in alarm as one of the Twins cracked their whip down hard, yellow electricity sparking off the length of it.

The two heroes leapt out of the way quickly, the whip missing them and hitting a nearby shop sign which instantly overcharged with energy and exploded.

The twins both grinned widely as many bystanders in the street began screaming in panic.

"What do you think Plus? Shall we wrap this up?" Minus smirked as her brother cackled manically.

"I think we shall. After you"

There was another crack and another explosion as the whip hit a traffic post this time. The effect was such that it made all the other connected lights on the street blink off. There were loud crashes, glass smashed and metal groaned as all cars on the road collided or skidded into one another.

"We got to find their akumas quickly before they black out the entire city-Whoa!" Ladybug stumbled away as the lightning whip almost hit her.

"Ladybug!" Chat cried out as he leapt towards her not noticing the electrified coil that was hurtling his way.

"CHAT LOOK OUT!" Ladybug screamed as she fell backwards.

Chat Noir turned, eyes widening as he saw the tip of the whip was nearly inches away from him-

"GOTCHA!"

There was a blurry mass of white as a pair of hands grabbed at Chat Noir's tail and tugged hard.

At the same time a pair of grey gloved hands grabbed at Ladybug and hoisted her away from another crack of the whip.

"Bunny La Blanc?" Chat blinked as the White Rabbit superhero tugged him to hide behind a turned over car.

"You okay?" Bunny panted, white ears flattened by the side of her head as she skittishly peeked over the top of the car.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks. But where's Ladybug?"

"Don't worry, Greywolf's got her" Bunny pulled her goggles down from her head. "right so what's the situation?"

"Two akumatized villains. But we don't know what the Akuma is-whoa-whoa wait who's Greywolf?" Chat narrowed his eyes and Bunny sighed.

"My partner…apparently" she added under her breath pointing towards another car on the opposite side of the road where Ladybug and a figure were also crouching for cover.

It appeared to be a tall male figure, wearing a full grey bodysuit with a darker grey fur lined hood pulled down from his grey masked head, from which two canine ears pointed upwards. His boots and gloves had tufts of dark grey fur and at the back of his belt was a wolf's tail. His mouth, the only exposed part of his face and body was set in a stern frown as he unsheathed a pair eskrima sticks from his belt. Around his neck was a black collar with a grey stone resting over his throat.

"If you two are done chatting yet we've got super villains to take care of" Greywolf growled, and Ladybug was surprised to see that his canine teeth were slightly pointed like fangs.

"Well, if you've got a plan then I'm all ears" Bunny la Blanc scowled, along with Chat Noir who kept his gaze fixed on Ladybug as she made to detach herself from Greywolf's arms.

Was it just him or were her cheeks a little pink.

Oh no! NO WAY! Not on my watch!

"And who're you?" he spat coldly only to blanch as Ladybug called out to him.

"We'll get to that later Chat, right now let's stop these two before – whoa!" She cried out as the two electric whips came down upon them again.

The four of them quickly rolled out of the way, quickly standing in fighting stances ready to act as Ladybug led the charge.

"I'll distract them! You guys figure out how to stop them!" Bunny called out as she began dashing around the twins, corralling them in a wall of white blur.

"Get her Plus!" Minus yelled as she tried and failed to land a hit with her whip.

"She's too fast! Get the others" Plus growled, aiming his weapon at the sky as Greywolf and Chat Noir both leapt down from on high, weapons raised-

Only to cry out in shock and pain as their metallic weapons met the blows of the sparking whips.

"CHAT! GREYWOLF" Ladybug yelled running towards them as they were thrown back at her.

"Wait. Stop" Greywolf grunted as he and Chat struggled to their feet "We've still got a charge. Touch us and you might stun yourself!"

"What can I say, my touch always is stunning" Chat smirked but Ladybug just rolled her eyes.

"No. Greywolf's right. I need to find a way of grabbing their weapons without getting electrocuted."

"Will one of you hurry up already and do something!" Bunny yelled as she was almost smacked in the rear by an electrified whip. She'd already gone what felt like several hundred rounds around the twins already and super speed or no, she was beginning to feel the strain…and the dizziness.

Not…gonna…last much…longer…

"Don't worry Buns. We're thinking of something. So have you thought of something?" Chat turned back to Ladybug who nodded determinedly.

"Yeah I have. LUCKY CHARM!"

And in a flash of red a pair of gloves suddenly appeared in her hands.

"Gloves. What am I supposed to do with this?" she frowned as she caught the pair in her hands.

"They're rubber gloves" Greywolf stated coldly as he used one of his batons to smack a whip to the side, grunting as he felt the electric currents' sting.

"Of course, rubber insulates against electricity" Chat grinned excitedly.

"Make sure you ground yourself first!" Bunny La Blanc cried out as she sped past them on another lap.

"Right got it. Chat! Greywolf! I need you to go back into the ring!" Ladybug cried out.

"On it!" Chat replied with a grin. Greywolf just nodded stoically and joined him.

"God I'm gonna hurl soon" Bunny grumbled as she ran another circular lap around the two villains. She was surprised they hadn't tried jumping away and over her head to escape.

Either way she was glad when Ladybug, Chat Noir and Greywolf all leapt into the fray and charged forward, the former most quickly slipping on a pair of red and black polka-dotted rubber gloves.

"Back for round two! Come on Plus, let's show these twerps what happens to idiots who challenge us" Minus sneered.

"I couldn't agree more" Plus's grin widened.

Together they unleashed their whips at the cat and the wolf, only to blink in surprise as they both leapt aside. With a lunge she reached out for the whips with her gloved hands and caught them. But instead of writhing around in electrified pain, she just stood her ground and tugged. The two villains squeaked as they tripped forwards, only to cry out as a thin cord of a yo-yo suddenly looped around their bodies, tying them together.

"Argh! Minus-"

"I know Plus"

"Bunny la Blanc now!" Ladybug called and Bunny quickly turned her heel and sped towards the pair.

"Finally!"

WHAM! WHAM!

Both of Bunny's fists collided in unison with the jaws of the twins.

At once they fell backwards, both still tied together, hands letting go of their whips which fell to the floor with a clatter.

"The whips… Quick Chat, use your cataclysm on them!" Ladybug called out.

"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir called out, black energy enveloping his claw as he reached forwards.

As soon as his hand touched the whips they both disintegrated and rotted away, even though he still got a tiny shock from the both of them as he withdrew his hand.

"There, that should do…it…"

He turned back to face his friends, only for his face to fall like a stone.

"Chat?" Bunny frowned following his gaze.

He was staring at the Twins, they were still tied together on the ground, their forms unchanged.

"It didn't work" Ladybug's eyes were now saucers.

"No. We didn't find the right Akuma" Greywolf stated stalking towards their captives and kneeling over them.

After a quick few minutes of inspection he looked up and shook his head.

"What? That's it. There's no Akuma?" Bunny frowned.

"What no-that can't be" Ladybug spluttered staring at Greywolf in astonishment.

"Here I'll check" Chat quickly shoved the wolf hero aside and began checking the bodies. But apart from their clothes, the two twins did not seem to be in possession of any other object. Not even a phone.

"There's nothing. Nothing here"

"But…" Ladybug breathed "These are two of Hawkmoths victims. There's no other way they'd have these superpowers if they didn't have an akuma-"

She was cut off by the wailing of sirens and the beeping of something close to her ear.

"Speaking of not here, it looks like you and your partner must escape before your secret ID's become non-existent. Don't worry. We'll handle the police. We'll meet you guys later after you two have recharged." Greywolf nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching gently upwards at Ladybug, who flushed a slight pink much to Chat's annoyance.

"Good idea." She mumbled "how about we meet here at six o clock."

"Yeah sounds good" Bunny piped in, pointedly looking at Chat who grumbled his agreement just as his ring also began flashing.

"Come on Chat. Let's go before we're spotted. Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug added throwing the gloves back into the air.

There was a shimmer of red and black that ran up the length of the street, which transformed back into its pristine self. All save the two supervillains still unconscious in the street, who started stirring just in time as the police cars began streaming into the street.

"Great now we've got to clean up this mess" Bunny la Blanc glowered sidelong at Greywolf who smirked.

"Could've been worse. If you had continued running in circles we'd have to clean up your mess, bigfoot"

"Name calling again? So mature Shaggy.

"And speaking of nicknames, I wonder what's become of your dear Adrikins?"

Beneath her mask, Bunny la Blanc's face paled.

"Yeah. I'd start running if I were you." Greywolf folded his arms, wolfishly grinning as Bunny scowled at him.

Of all the people to be her partner, it just had to be this jerk didn't it?

"ZOE!"

"Adrien…" Zoe puffed as she stumbled out of the girl's bathrooms.

She'd only just used her miraculous powers to teleport back into the school, only to have to throw up into the toilet straight afterwards.

There's got to be a way to stop that.

She grumbled under her breath as she came level with her favourite cousin, who was closely followed by Nino.

"Girl you okay. You look…uh…very green"

"Felt sick. Had to puke in the bathroom. Sorry I didn't mean to make you guys worry." Zoe mumbled grateful as Adrien suddenly taking hold of her hand.

"Come on. We'll take you to the nurse's office"

Zoe didn't even have it in her to refuse. Quite honestly, she needed a break. Especially since she was going back to the scene of the crime tonight.

Oh well…at least I don't have to go to class.

She sighed as after a gentle admonishing from the school nurse for not coming to her sooner, she was given permission to lie back in the bed and relax.

Adrien and Nino were quickly shunted out of the room, with the hurried task of getting todays homework from the teacher. Zoe was grateful for this. She didn't feel like she wanted to explain her sudden bout of sickness just yet.

She'd only been alone in the sick room for five minutes, when she noticed the second bed was also occupied by a dark lump. She'd been so focused on keeping herself together that she'd not even noticed them till now.

As if feeling her eyes on them, the figure turned over and she was face to face with a head of shaggy dark hair and dark blue eyes.

"Hey Sasquatch" Raoul muttered. He too sounded very sick.

"Be thankful I'm too sick to punch you" she muttered lying back in her bed. "So, you handled the police"

"Yep. Got them to tie up the twins in rope and then we lined the car with non-conductible plastic. Best keep them away from metals while they still have their electric touch" Raoul groaned. "So…super speed and teleportation huh?"

"I'd have thought you'd known my powers. Considering you already knew about Pooka and I" Zoe glowered coldly at the ceiling.

"No. I only knew your identity. Argh!" he clutched at his stomach which gurgled ominously.

"What happened to you?" Zoe snorted. "Your head inflate with too much hot gas?"

"Using my superpowers" Raoul grunted. "looks like they both send us for a spin huh?"

"What spin?"

"Luuna. She told me that our powers can be quite taxing on our bodies."

"Your kwami? Where is she?"

"Asleep" Raoul opened his jacket to reveal his little wolf kwami fast asleep in an inside pocket. "Yours?"

Zoe opened her own jacket where Pooka was also napping lightly, coiled about a chocolate bar.

With a shared snort, the two teenagers closed their jackets and rolled back onto their backs.

"So…we're partners huh?" Zoe bit her lip.

"Yeah I suppose we are." Raoul twiddled his thumbs.

"And why are you my partner exactly?" she folded her arms with a pout.

"Believe me big foot if I knew, I'd tell you and save us both the pain" he rolled his eyes. "All I know is that the wolf and the rabbit have been partners since forever. So unless our kwami's decide to choose someone else for the job-"

"-we're stuck with one another"

"exactly."

"…we need ground rules" Zoe scowled, much to Raoul's amusement.

"Ground what?"

"Rules, Shaggy. We're gonna need them if we're gonna make this partnership work. First off, no flirting with Ladybug"

"What-flirting?"

"Oh don't give me that innocent routine! I saw you out there" Zoe snapped waspishly "Let's just say we don't date or go out with each other or other heroes …agreed."

"Alright, alright, no dating co-workers. Don't see what you're so worried about unless your so jealou-"

"Secondly," she steamrolled over him viciously "You keep away from my cousin. He's already got a lot on his plate and the last thing I want is for him to get dragged into this mess and get hurt."

"a bit too late for that." Raoul muttered, and Zoe was surprised to hear the shadow of the wolf return to his voice. "We're miraculous holders now. That means we attract danger of all kinds. Even so…I guess I could leave your dear Adrikins alone…if you comply with the rule I set"

"And what rule is that?" Zoe muttered warily.

"Never call me shaggy again"

…

…

"Okay. Deal. But you only if you never call me big-foot or sasquatch again"

"*Sigh*…You're no fun…"

"I'm not supposed to be fun. I'm supposed to be your partner" Zoe smirked as her new partner groaned.

"Don't remind me."

Despite herself, Zoe giggled, only to sigh as a thought took her.

"What's up now?" Raoul grumbled turning over to face her.

"Dunno." Zoe glanced down to her belt buckle. "It's just…the Charge twins…"

"What about them?"

"Don't you think that they went down…uh…a little too easily"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…It's just. When I was running laps, they could've jumped over me with their whips to escape but they didn't"

"You think they wanted to get caught?" Raoul frowned sidelong at her.

"Maybe, I don't know" Zoe shrugged biting her lip. "Whatever's going on, I'm not sure I feel good about it"

"Neither do I Bugs Bunny" he muttered quietly.

"I said no name calling" Zoe scowled and Raoul smirked, folding his arms behind his head.

"No, you only said don't call you Sasquatch or Big Foot"

"Argh! I hate you!"

"Sure you do Bugs, sure you do"

Plus and Minus both stared at their prison walls. They'd been in these bare, metal less rooms for less than an hour and already they were anxious.

"patience my pets" A voice purred in their heads. "It won't be long now till the next stage in our plan unfolds"

And then we'll be unstoppable Plus smirked just as his sister thought.

We'll have the power-

"Oh you'll have power" the voice in their heads sneered "If you succeed in getting me those miraculous's"

Don't worry Hawkmoth. Both twins thought in unison.

The miraculous shall be yours. We promise.

"Good…very good." Hawkmoth's sneer morphed into a loud cackle that echoed all over the stark cell walls.

Or was that just their laughs they were hearing.

The twins couldn't quite tell anymore.

"Something's not right Plagg" Adrien muttered to his kwami as he fed him another wedge of camembert. "Those two supervillains must have some Akuma. How else could they have been akumatized."

"I don't know" Plagg admitted unusually thoughtful "Oh well, at least you and Ladybug managed to take them down easily."

"Yeah…A bit too easily" Adrien muttered staring out from where he sat. He was back home, in his bedroom alone. Despite the chaos of the middle of the day, he'd managed to complete his afternoon extracurricular activities in record time.

Zoe was still a little worse for wear though, and was now spending most of her afternoon, curled up in bed next door recovering from whatever sickness she'd had.

The nurse had said it was probably a case of indigestion mixed with nerves.

Adrien couldn't blame her. Her mom just went missing and she's just started school in a city bustling with superheros and supervillains.

Let's just hope she can get used to it fast

The supermodel sighed as he turned on his Television to watch the evening news.

Only to feel his stomach lurch as he read the headline.

"oh no…"

"Ah…that's it. All done" Marinette sighed tiredly as she finished typing up the last of her homework.

"You've done well today Marinette. I'm very proud of you" Tikki smiled, nuzzling her human's cheek fondly as she stretched out at her desk.

"Thanks Tikki. Fighting those twins really took a lot out of me. I still can't believe we didn't find their Akuma"

"Maybe they've hidden it somewhere" Tikki suggested.

"Yeah but where Tikki. I mean we don't know who these people are in the first place. They could be hiding anywhere."

"Maybe when we go back tonight we can pick up some more clues?"

"Yeah maybe…" Marinette trailed off as her ears pricked for the sound of her computer, from which a live feed was broadcasting.

"Wait, hold up, what was that?" she mumbled as she heard the muffled sound of the news presenter start to speak up in a frantic voice.

"This just in, breaking news. The two felons calling themselves the Charge Twins, Plus and Minus, have just escaped police custody."

And that's chapter 4 up.

Zoe meets her new partner BUT where are the supervillain's akumas? I was watching an episode when i realized that the villains always carried their akumas with them which made it easy for LB and CN to defeat them. Then i wondered what if Hawkmoth learned from his old mistakes and hid the akuma this time so that LB and CN couldn't save his latest victims.

Anyways next chapter will have new challenges and what are Greyhound's abilities?

Hope you guys enjoyed and keep reviewing for more.

Till next time.

Cheers

FuzzyBeta