Chapter 2
Silent Partner

Ladybug carried Juleka up the back side of the studio building and entered through a high window. They found an unoccupied office on the same floor as the sound stage. Ladybug signaled that Juleka should go around a corner, out of sight from her.

"I need u 2 be Ladybug for a while," Ladybug texted.

"Okay," Juleka texted back.

"I think my kwami can make u look like me," Ladybug texted. "Don't speak as Ladybug. If Silencer thinks he already has ur voice he won't try to take it."

Ladybug took off her earrings, which caused her to detransform and released Tikki. (They hadn't considered that idea when she talked to Chat Noir before. He thought she would be stuck as a mute Ladybug for life. Now she was a mute Marinette and couldn't transform back... but that would change when Silencer was defeated.)

Marinette sent Tikki around the corner to Juleka, carrying the earrings. As usual when loaning out a Miraculous, she got Juleka to promise to return the magical jewelry after she was done.

In the next phase of the planning, Marinette used her phone to write messages for Tikki to read, and the kwami relayed them to Juleka. That way Marinette didn't have to use her own phone to text Juleka and the messages wouldn't have her ID.

"You can look like the regular Ladybug if you focus on her image when you transform," Tikki told Juleka.

They went over all the steps – the transformation phrase, summoning the Lucky Charm, breaking the akumatized object, capturing and purifying the akuma butterfly, and how to do the world-healing charm.

"I hope I can handle all this," said Juleka.

"You'll be all right if you just have confidence in yourself," said Tikki. "Ready?"

"Tikki, spots on!" said Juleka, holding the image of the regular Ladybug in her mind.

Juleka went into a bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror. The transformation had worked well, except for a tiny streak of light purple in her hair. She hoped it would pass unnoticed.

The new Ladybug needed a lucky object before meeting Silencer. "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug received a medium-sized polka-dotted adjustable wrench. She placed it in the container portal for the yo-yo. She didn't want Silencer to see it and realize she was a different Ladybug, one with a voice.

Ladybug had only five minutes to defeat Silencer. She hurried to the sound stage room where the other Ladybug had left Chat Noir fighting Silencer.

She found Chat Noir on the ground with Silencer leaning on his back.

Silencer reached his hand to Chat's lips. With a "Ssh!" he stole Chat's voice and sucked the little jellyfish-like creature into his helmet.

"You waited too long to come back, Ladybug," said Silencer with Chat's voice. "Now you both have to surrender your Miraculous or be mute for life."

Chat bowed his head in apparent surrender. He held out his right hand and offered it to Silencer.

Silencer was about to try to take the ring, but a message from Hawk Moth made him pull his hand back.

"Tricky, Chat Noir," said Silencer with Ladybug's voice. "You did a Cataclysm. I can't touch the ring for five minutes or I'll be disintegrated."

Ladybug didn't want Chat Noir to time out and lose his secret identity. She came forward and gestured to her earrings.

She needed to get close to use her Lucky Charm. Was there a screw on his helmet that she could undo with the wrench, breaking the object? She wished she had more experience with these things.

"I'll accept the surrender of your earrings first," said Silencer in Officer Roger's voice.

Ladybug got closer. With her left hand she removed one earring – it attached by magic and could be removed easily. With her right she reached into the yo-yo compartment and gripped the wrench.

Her magical disguise began to fade the instant the earring was off. Out of time, she swung the wrench into the side of the helmet in hopes of cracking it. The blow bounced off and the wrench dropped to the floor - with her power fading she didn't have the enhanced strength to pull it off.

Ladybug quickly replaced her earring, but Silencer had gotten a look at her partially-undisguised appearance.

"Juleka? You're Ladybug?" asked Silencer in Alec's voice. "Little sis! I wouldn't hurt you any more than I would hurt Marinette!"

Ladybug smiled at him.

"You can have your voices back, both of you," said Silencer, speaking with both Ladybug's and Chat Noir's voice. "If you promise a truce while I get Bob Roth to confess on the air."

Ladybug nodded, playing along.

He touched the side of his helmet and one red and one greenish-black jellyfish flew out.

"Catch and swallow them, and you'll get your voices back," said Silencer with the voice of the Mayor.

Chat chased after his jellyfish. Ladybug went after "hers," but she was in no hurry to really catch it until she was out of the room and could give it back to its real owner.

A mask of light appeared around Silencer's eyes. It seemed from his expression that Hawk Moth was telling him off for giving back their voices. Silencer jerked in pain and then the akuma butterfly left him. The purple magic drained from it, leaving a plain white butterfly. Silencer turned back into Luka.

Ladybug chased the red jellyfish out of the room.

The akuma butterfly had been severed from the victim, so according to Tikki the prerequisite was met for the healing charm. Ladybug willed the Lucky Charm wrench back into her hand, and instantly it was there. She threw it into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

With a swarm of magical ladybugs, all the voices returned to their owners, including the red one she had pretended was hers.

Ladybug ran back to the room where she had left the original Ladybug. She took off the earrings and pushed them around the corner.

"Tikki, spots on!"

The original Ladybug was back.

"Thank you, Juleka," said Ladybug. "I need to finish things in there, but I'll be back quickly to help you get back to your friends."

In the end, Bob Roth was tricked into confessing his plagiarism on live television. He pretended it was all a joke and that he wanted Kitty Section to perform all along.

As Luka was about to go on stage, Marinette stopped him.

"Luka, did... did you really mean what you said when you were akumatized?"

"I remember everything because Hawk Moth pulled my power. I meant every word. You're an extraordinary girl, Marinette: clear as a musical note, sincere as a melody. You're the song I hear in my head ever since we first met."

Marinette blushed.

"If you ever change your mind and want to give me a chance... call me," said Luka. "If not, I wish you all the happiness in the world."

Luka turned and walked to the stage for the performance.

"That was a real love confession, right Tikki?" Marinette asked the kwami hiding in her purse.

"Yes, one of the best I've heard all my life," said Tikki.

The next day, Marinette arrived in class a little late, as usual.

Alya whispered to her, "Marinette, I have bad news. Adrien went up to Juleka a few minutes ago and asked her out. She said yes!"

Marinette went white with shock. "What? Why Juleka?"

"I don't know."

Marinette could barely focus in class. Afterwards, she went to Juleka to ask her what was going on.

"I don't know. Adrien said something strange about when I was Reflekta. He said with all those copies of me running around, I must have broken free and gotten one of them to pretend to be the real one to protect my identity, or else Hawk Moth took control of one of them. I'm not sure what he was talking about. Anyway, he said he really wanted to get to know me better and invited me out to dinner."

"But, do you want to go? I thought you and Rose..."

"I know that's never going to happen. She's still in a long-distance relationship with Prince Ali," said Juleka. "I bat for both teams. I'm going to give Adrien a chance. If it doesn't work out, at least I get a nice dinner out."

"Good... good luck then," said Marinette.

She walked away, sick with jealousy.

"Adrien thinks she's Ladybug... that's the only reason he wants to date her," thought Marinette. "But how did he find out she stood in for me? Luka and Juleka wouldn't tell. The only other person there was Chat Noir... Adrien is Chat Noir? But that's so shallow! He would only want to date me if he found out I was Ladybug. But... I know someone who appreciates me for myself."

Marinette found a private corner and got out her phone.

She texted: "Luka, I want to give u a chance."

The End