Paris was in a state of disrepair. Not anything that a "Miraculous Ladybug" couldn't fix, but the only person with those abilities was currently floating around space. Much to Hawkmoth's dismay, Rena Rouge and Carapace had defeated Moon-Lander. The pair showed up merely minutes after Ladybug and Chat Noir were immobilized. Rena Rouge made Moon-Lander (and Hawkmoth, for that matter) believe that she had Moon-Lander's ray-gun, while Carapace snuck around from behind and stole it. Together, they reversed the direction of most of the rockets. All but two. Ladybug and Chat Noir were nowhere to be found.

Rena returned both miraculouses, as well as the akumatized object, to the strange "Master Fu" who claimed he was a friend of Ladybug's.

"Sir, where are Ladybug and Chat Noir? The ray gun couldn't bring them back. Without a miraculous ladybug…"

"Have patience, young fox. If I didn't trust the heroes, they wouldn't have Miraculouses. However, it would be wise that you both keep your Miraculous. Until Hawkmoth is defeated, we need heroes to stand up to him."

"Yes sir. And… what about the akuma?" Alya asked, clasping the necklace once more.

"I shall try everything I can to purify it, but we cannot let Hawkmoth get his hands on it. It will remain with me until Ladybug returns." With that, the goateed man bowed his head slightly, and left.

Gabriel growled, flinging his walking stick across the room. He was so close! He had foolishly believed that Moon-Lander was the one. But she couldn't even defeat the part-time heroes, Rena Rouge and Carapace! He crossed the bridge in his lair to where Emelie lay. The former model hummed softly in her coma. Gabriel recognized the tune as the one Adrien played on the piano. He fondly remembered how he used to play the song, and Emelie would grab Adrien's hands, and lead him in a dance- Adrien!

He was supposed to be home from fencing a while ago. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if Gabriel went up to check on his son. You know, try to act like a father for once.

In the foyer, Nathalie and the Gorilla were talking in hushed tones. Ignoring them, the villain marched straight up the steps to his son's room. Nathalie stopped to warn him, but it was too late.

"WHERE IS MY SON?!" Mr. Agreste roared. Nathalie inhaled shakily.

"Sir, no one's seen him since he went to the bathroom during fencing. It was almost an hour ago. I-"

"I don't WANT excuses. Find him immediately." Gabriel frowned coldly. Nathalie nodded.

"Of course sir."

Internally, Gabriel's mind was racing. What happened to Adrien? Gabriel knew that Moon-Lander didn't shoot his son, and even if she did, all of the civilians were sent back to Earth. No one could have kidnapped Adrien with a teacher around. And the Gorilla would have seen any suspicious people leaving the school. Did Adrien run away? It wouldn't have surprised Gabriel, given his previous track record.

However, one thought kept nagging Gabriel. What if Adrien was Chat Noir? I mean, yeah, both were seen during the whole "Gorizilla" incident, but… What if that wasn't really Adrien? Wasn't that annoying boy there too? Couldn't he had been mistaken… No. No, no, no. That was crazy talk. There was no way that Adrien could have the black cat Miraculous. Granted, kwamis did have weird eating habits, and Adrien did seem to be eating a fair amount of Camembert recently, even though he hated it before… No! There was no way under the sun that Adrien Agreste was the infamous Chat Noir.

Unless… Unless, of course, his ring was a miraculous, his kwami liked Camembert cheese, and that the boy had stood in for Adrien… But that was crazy talk. Right? But… You can't just ignore all of the evidence… This is insane. No way.

"If Adrien is Chat Noir," Gabriel Agreste mused, "Then my life has just gotten a whole lot easier."

There was only one problem left to solve. Where were Ladybug and Chat Noir?

"What happened out there? You guys were fighting so well!" Shiro exclaimed, worry creasing his forehead.

Ladybug chewed on the inside of her cheek. "We can't really do much once we de-transform. I'm so sorry that you guys had to come bail us out."

"It happens to everyone. No need to get bent out of shape about it." Pidge exclaimed, sitting cross-legged on the couch.

"Nah. It wouldn't be the first time I've been arrested." Chat Noir said nonchalantly.

"Wha- why were you arrested? What did you do?" Ladybug asked in confusion.

"I stole your heart." Chat Noir winked.

Lance whistled. "Dang. That was smooth."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. Pidge was struggling not to laugh.

"Wait, so because Ladybug doesn't know his identity… she's actually in love with "him". Oh sweet mother of irony! This is entertaining!"

"What's so funny, Pidge?" Keith asked, mildly annoyed.

The brunette realized that everyone was looking at her. "You okay? You kind of spaced out there for a second, Pidge." Hunk said.

"I- I'm okay. Just thinking about… stuff." She stuttered. Allura furrowed her brow, but didn't say anything.

"I'm bored. I'm gonna hit the training deck." Keith grabbed his sword and began walking away. Shiro stopped him.

"Keith, why don't you train with Chat Noir?" Shiro suggested.

Keith shot a questioning look at him.

"Make new friends," Shiro groaned, and motioned for Chat Noir to follow him to the training room.

"Good news!" Coran said, bursting into the room. "We should get to Earth in a few hours!"

Ladybug sighed with relief. "Thank you guys so much! I don't know what we'd do if you hadn't taken us in!"

"Probably have floated in space until you died? I don't know the full extent of your Miraculous powers, but I'm assuming you wouldn't be able to survive without oxygen for long." Pidge said, hardly looking up from her computer.

"I'd be happy to answer any questions you have!" Ladybug said.

Pidge grinned. "Perfect."

"So you've sparred before, right?" Keith asked. Chat shook his head.

"Okay. Some ground rules. Only use about 50% of your power and don't try to kill me. We'll be fighting for about one minute at a time, with 30-second breaks. Let's do about three bouts, and then we'll Any questions?"

"No. Don't think so."

Keith hit a button on the wall, starting the timer.

"Good." The paladin lunged at Chat Noir with his sword. Chat barely had time to life his staff and deflect the attack. Keith was a maliciously good fighter. Every time Chat Noir tried to squeeze in an attack, Keith counter attacked twice as powerful. It was a good thing that Chat was nearly invulnerable as a superhero. Otherwise, that would really hurt.

The minute slipped away slowly, as if through molasses. By the time their first bout was over, Chat was tired. Usually, he was the distractor, not the combatant. All he ever did was make sure Ladybug's plans worked the way they needed to. He wasn't used to this kind of fighting.

"You okay?" Keith panted, tossing Chat a bottle of water. The blond chugged it and wiped his mouth. Chat nodded.

The second match was easier. Chat Noir was learning Keith's fighting style. The raven-haired boy would lash out with his hardest blow, and defend himself as he recovered from the strain. Chat had played enough video games to learn that there was a moment between the attack and defense where he could strike.

Chat Noir knocked Keith to the ground just as the clock ran out. Sweat dripped down Chat's face as he helped Keith stand.

"You're getting better," Keith exclaimed, out of breath. His face was really hot, and Keith wasn't entirely sure it was solely because of the fighting. Quiznak, but Chat was cute. Between his shaggy blond hair and mischievous green eyes…

Not that Keith liked Chat Noir or anything. No, Keith was simply noting that Chat Noir was a very attractive male.

"Besides, Chat's in love with that Ladybug girl," Keith thought somberly. "And he's leaving soon. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's way younger than me. Shame, though. He was kinda hot. Speaking of hot boys…"

Lance swaggered through the door. Insufferable, beautiful Lance. Keith couldn't stand that moron. He was arrogant, stupid, charming, dreamy… Keith almost smacked himself. This was LANCE! He was supposed to hate Lance! Lance was an idiot! A cute idiot… But still an idiot!

"Shiro says that everyone needs to meet in the control room," Lance explained. "We're approaching Earth."

"Cool. I'm gonna go find Ladybug. Thanks for sparring with me, Keith. I had a lot of fun." Chat Noir winked. Keith felt his face heat up.

"W-whatever," Keith mumbled, sheathing his sword and turning away. Chat furrowed his brow, and exited the training room. Lance approached Keith.

"You okay, man?" He placed his hand on Keith's shoulder. The red-clad paladin turned away, his face matching the shade of his jacket.

"Dude. There's something obviously bothering you. You can tell me." Lance's blue eyes were full of sincerity. Keith sighed.

"Lance… I- I think I like you."

Hey guys! How've you been? It's been what, like, five months? I swear I have a good reason. Just give me a minute to think of an excuse.

In all seriousness, things have been happening in the Miraculous fandom. I won't spoil anything, but Kwamibuster was epic. Also, Startrain stole my idea? Rude? Things are getting crazy!

Anyway, I'm gonna try to update more often. See you all soon!

-Bookish Owl