First Ladybug and Cat Noir met Batman, then they met Wonder Woman. And now they're back in an all new crossover as they get to not only meet a DC superhero...they get to meet a DC superhero TEAM! That's right, our Parisian heroes are here again in an all new adventure as they team up with the very superhero team that had a show that was cancelled and then came back, the Young Justice! :D

Me and my co-writer, Reece Wooldridge, couldn't be more excited to bring you this story with Ladybug and Young Justice together as they take on the Light and try to put a stop to their latest scheme. So what will happen and will the story reach the heights of its predecessors? Only one way to find out. Read on and we hope you enjoy this brand new crossover epic! :D

Prologue: Infiltration

It looked like another easy day for the Bialyan workers. But as anyone on Queen Bee's payroll knew, just because it seemed like an easy day, it didn't mean it was going to stay that way. Many years of fighting against their queen's enemies had taught them as such.

The compound they occupied was alive with activity. After it had been set up, everybody who worked there had wasted no time in getting it running efficiently. There were bases for the workers and soldiers to sleep at night, storage warehouses for their weapons and vehicles and, naturally, a prison complex to house any of their unwilling captives. The buildings were huge, showing to anybody who happened to see the compound that this was a place that could house an entire army. Soldiers were patrolling everywhere, observing every inch of the area with guns in their hands, spotlights swept over the compound to illuminate every darkened area for any sign of trespassers and jeeps and trucks purred as they drove around carrying whatever loads they had, their tyres making loud crunching sounds on the gravel. It seemed appropriate that the compound be set up here for it was quite close to where Wonder Woman had saved some captive women a while back.

These men weren't just goons for Queen Bee, the vile ruler of the country of Bialya. They were also traffickers, the lowest of scum that loved to make money from the abduction and trading of other people, be they young, old, male or female. They had gotten their hands on some children a few weeks after the compound had been set-up and they had locked them all up in the prison complex. There was no way out of the building except through the door, which was always locked tight and had two guards standing on either side to make sure it wasn't possible to get anywhere near. The guards were given the order of "shoot to kill" and would do so if anyone even remotely suspicious dared to come close. They would ask about who that person was afterwards. Queen Bee wasn't taking any chances, not when the Justice League could be planning to foil her operations any moment from now. She'd even made it clear that if the compound was seized by the heroes of the world, there'd be severe punishments all around for her workers. Nobody dared to disappoint her.

And so far, it looked as if there would be no punishments going round tonight. Everything was still in order, the children were nicely contained until it was time to sell them off and they hadn't had an intruder in all the time that had passed since they'd set the whole place up. Maybe for once, they would carry out their operations without superhero interference. It was a little boring for the guards who had so far had nothing to shoot at but they could see the bright side of this: if there were no intruders, there was no risk of failing their queen. They still kept their guns in hand and kept a close watch, knowing that anything could change at the snap of someone's fingers.

And unknown to everyone in the compound, everything was about to fall apart for them.

Despite the searchlights being set-up, they couldn't see everything they shone over. That was just as well for the lone purple-clad figure that had chosen to hide inside a deep hole in the side of a nearby cliff to spy on the compound. The figure had seen everything through a pair of hi-tech binoculars that looked more like something out of science-fiction than any reality. She smiled to herself, once again grateful for the genius of her leader for inventing them. The binoculars not only allowed her to see far away with very clear vision, but she could also take photographs, zoom in very close to see the very tiniest details and also came with heat and night visions so even the dark didn't make things any harder for her to see. The woman was dressed in a purple bodysuit with matching hood and cape, black gloves, black boots and her face was concealed by a mask that left only her eyes visible. She lowered the binoculars and put a finger to her ear, switching on the commlink she wore there.

"Spoiler to Robin, I've finished observing the whole compound." the woman said, "Your binoculars worked like a charm. I could see anything and everything despite my being miles away."

"Roger that Spoiler." came the reply of her team-leader, "Glad they worked for you. So what are our chances?"

"It's gonna be risky breaking in." Spoiler confirmed. "The Bialyans have made sure they've covered every area. Men on patrol, spotlights shining everywhere, roaming trucks. It's lucky for us we have Miss Martian, Impulse and Superboy with us otherwise we'd have NO chance getting in!"

"We still have to take this carefully. I don't wanna risk anyone's life out there, especially the children." Robin murmured, "We'll still take the stealthy approach and if all else fails, we'll go all out. Meet up with us as soon as you can Spoiler."

"I'll be there." Spoiler confirmed, "Over and out."

It didn't take long for the purple clad girl to rendezvous with her friends, meeting with her leader by the river at the bottom of the cliff. If one were to look closely, a visible outline of a ship of sorts was behind Robin, who wore exactly what one thought he would: red top, green sleeves and gloves, black leggings and a domino mask. He looked quite young, about late teens with neatly combed hair. He gave her a smile, pleased she made it back safely.

"Glad you got back in one piece, Spoiler." he said gratefully, taking her hands into his in a brief moment of joy. She patted her boyfriend's arm, giving him a wink behind her mask.

"Don't you worry, this is almost as easy as slipping in and out of Gotham's alleyways! Just more fun." she said as she then pulled up a pad that produced a holographic layout of the compound as two others joined them. One was a beefy looking teenager who wore a black t-shirt with the Superman symbol on his chest and greyish combat trousers and boots. The other was a slim looking kid with long brown hair, goggles and wore a cream like spandex suit with a red lightning trail on his torso.

"Heavily fortified, which means there's a lot of guns. Not up for a load of bullets tearing through my t-shirt again." the boy with the Superman symbol said.

"No, but M'gann would be up for it, Conner." the boy in spandex said, giving him a nudge. The buff boy, Conner, glared at him with a blush.

"Oh shut it, Bart, this is no place for jokes." Conner told him in a quiet tone.

"You don't have to worry about spending money on another t-shirt tonight, Superboy, already got it planned out in my head." Robin assured him as Spoiler counted up the vehicles for him.

"There's about fifteen trucks and one cargo van. Should be enough to get them dismantled in a short amount of time." she told him, looking at Bart in a knowing manner. He stood straight with a big grin.

"Tell me when to go on, I'm itching for it!" he said, eager to run in there. Robin turned to him with a relaxing smile.

"I can tell you are, Impulse, but do you think you can wait for a few minutes? My plan is different than sending you in first" he told the young kid, who then pouted.

"Knew you'd ruin the fun." he muttered as Robin then pressed an earpiece.

"Aqualad, I know your second in command, but can you stay at the river on standby in case a few stragglers try to make a run for it?" he asked. Some static was heard before he got a response, the voice wise and mature despite sounding young.

"Copy that. I'll make the best use of a surprise if they try to leave." said the voice, before a figure dropped out from the ship, a black teenager with short blonde hair, a red vest and blue leggings came towards them.

"I just hope your on the spot plan doesn't get us into trouble. We can't afford to lose anyone on this mission, friends, enemy, or hostages." Aqualad reminded Robin, who nodded.

"I understand. M'gann is mentally linked to us, so I'm sure she knows what my plan is" he assured, before looking up at the invisible ship with a sharp smile, already feeling the positive outcome of the mission.

A few minutes later, safe from the searchlights thanks to the technology of the Bioship, the group found themselves flying above the main building of the compound. A circular exit was formed at the bottom of the ship, with Robin, Spoiler, and Superboy standing right near it. They looked up to see the pilot, a green skinned girl with brown like orange hair, a white shirt, blue cloak, skirt and Red Cross, giving them a nervous look.

"Please try not to get anyone too badly hurt. Sometimes these on the spot plans can get too reckless." she pointed out to Robin.

"Don't doubt him, M'gann, we've not lost a mission before thanks to him and Aqualad" Spoiler assured her before taking hold of Robin's hand, giving him a look filled with warmth.

"Ready?" she asked, getting a nod from him.

"Ready." he replied, his eyes full of charm that almost melted her.

With that, he, her and Superboy leapt out of the ship and landed on the roof, with the Bioship taking off to a higher level to keep itself at a safe distance. Crouching low, the Superheroes looked at their surroundings and the eager eyes of Robin spotted a terminal, making him grin.

"Just as I guessed." he said pleasantly, running over there and pulling out a small pad from his belt, putting a plug into a port of the terminal. Superboy, however, gripped his shoulder.

"Before you do anything, let me just give the building a scan, see if there's any heavy hitters in here we might have to deal with." he said sharply, getting a nod from his leader.

"Sorry, just love it when it comes to hacking these." he chuckled.

Superboy smirked as he then stood in the middle of the roof and looked down, his eyes glowing blue as he looked through the building with his unique vision. What he lacked in heat, he made up for in x-rays. He so far just found what he guessed, soldiers walking around with guns, some carrying crates of weapons, others standing around and joking with the traffickers. But it was then something caught his eyes, something that made him groan in frustration at the sight of the disgusting man with pale skin, his brain exposed and his eyes full of cruelty and smugness as he sat at his computer.

"M'gann, are you seeing this?" he asked within his thoughts, still mentally linked to her.

"Yeah, I see him. Psimon" came the bitter reply, before she stretched out her voice, "Robin, when you cut the power, keep your mind clear, Psimon is in there. Don't let him find you." M'gann told the hacker, who sighed.

"That's great, gonna have a headache after I do this hack." he grumbled, only for Stephanie to giggle.

"Just think of pies, doughnuts and cakes, that'll confuse the creep!" she pointed out, making him smirk at his girlfriend's goofy outlook.

He then worked his fingers away.

"Okay, hooked up and looking in. Let's see, food storage, not interested in that...porn room? Ugh...oh, here we go. Do I want the power off? Thank you, I gladly will." Robin said, as if he was talking to the terminal like it was a person. With one hard push, he created the enduring chaos for those committing these crimes.

Lights went off, the skies were no longer lit up, and the buildings now looked empty with near to no activity. The whole compound had simply been plunged into darkness. Within his office, Psimon looked up from his computer, alarmed at the sudden darkness. He gritted his teeth, standing up and outstretching his mind.

"What is this? Why have they gone out? Urgh, so much confusion, can't lock onto anything!" he growled, hearing the confused cries of everyone around him, not knowing he was being watched from within the plane of the mental world by M'gann, who saw him like he was stuck in a cloud.

"Looks like he's a little lost in all the thoughts of his friends. Impulse is good to go." M'gann said brightly.

"Finally!" Impulse replied mentally, standing tall from the bottom of the cliffs.

"A load of tyres are gonna be put out of use!" he declared as he then sped towards the compound at great speed.

Of course, Robin had had a contingency ready for when the lights went out so Impulse would have no trouble navigating in the dark. His goggles switched to night vision, turning the blackened compound into a mixture of greens as if he'd stepped into the Matrix instead of an army compound. He could run at top speeds and still see where he was going, something that gave him an advantage over the Bialyan workers and soldiers. The world became a blur to him as he ran, a feeling that he was sure all speedsters felt when they went this fast. He was inside the compound within seconds and, just as he'd been instructed, he raced around every single vehicle from the jeeps to the trucks and also the cargo van and burst all four tyres on everyone of them. None of them had been moving at the time, or at least it looked like they hadn't to Impulse as he'd been running so fast he was sure time had stopped around him, so there were no accidents as a result of this. After the speedy boy had finished, he laughed to himself as he heard the Bialyans shouting and cursing angrily in their native language as they realized their tyres had gone flat, their vehicles now useless to them.

"Dunno what they're saying, but I bet it's nasty!" he sniggered, "Hey team leader, we're all crash here! Tyres are out on the trucks!"

"Great work Impulse!" Robin cried enthusiastically, glad to see everything was going according to plan, "Now we have confusion and surprise on our side, we can get the hostages out!"

"Preferably before they get the lights back on." Impulse noted.

"Don't worry about that, I've made sure the power's gonna stay off for quite a while." the tech-wiz replied.

Impulse only smiled with amazement. That Robin never ceased to amaze him with his technical skills. He had to wonder if he'd be the next Batman once his time was up.

"Miss Martian, you go to the prison area and sneak inside." Robin ordered, "You'll be the best way of getting us in without drawing too much attention."

"You got it Robin." the green-skinned woman replied.

She was already invisible so she had no chances of being seen by anybody, even if the lights were still on. As she descended from the bio-ship, she landed on the roof of the prison complex and carried on going straight through it. Once again, she counted her blessings that intangibility was among her species' many great abilities. She was now inside the building, still descending slowly as she reached the floor. Miss Martian touched down and quickly ran her eyes over the area. The prison complex was a large building with no features of any kind. No windows to see out of, no beds to sleep on, nothing, just four blank walls and one blank ceiling with a two large doors tightly locked shut. She tried not to gag as the foul stench of human waste reached her nostrils. These monsters couldn't even bother to install a toilet for these poor kids?! What was wrong with them?! She daren't imagine how long they'd been left there to simply soil themselves like this. Miss Martian looked over and saw the kidnapped kids, her heart aching at the sight of their horrified faces and dirty clothes. They even looked very thin and pale, suggesting they hadn't been fed properly in all the time they'd been held captive. How could anyone treat children like this? She didn't care if she wasn't a human, she still sympathized with them and hated to see them being treated so cruelly. She noticed they were staring at her, clearly amazed at the sight of this green, caped woman that sunk through the ceiling like some kind of ghost. Thankfully, they didn't seem scared of her, more quietly interested. She smiled reassuringly at them.

"I know I must look weird, being an alien and all." Miss Martian said sheepishly, "But you don't have to worry. I'm part of a superhero team that's here to break you all out. We're gonna get you all home to your moms and dads tonight."

The children's faces lit up with delight. That was just the kind of news they wanted to hear after being locked up this whole time.

"I know, you've been waiting for this but you've gotta keep still and quiet for a minute." Miss Martian said hastily so the children wouldn't make a noise, "I'm gonna unlock the door and then lead you out of here. Wait until I give you the all clear, OK."

The children were eager to get going but they could see what Miss Martian was asking of them and nodded. They didn't move as their extra-terririestrial saviour sneaked over to the door and phased her arms through it. She found the two guards by the door and seized them by the heads. Before they could react, she slammed them both together, knocking them both out instantly. Now they were down, she phased all the way through the door and observed it. It was bolted shut with thick steel bolts that could stop even a dinosaur from breaking in or out. It didn't have any locks, just a keypad suggesting she needed to put in a code in order to make the bolts slide aside to open the door. Using her telepathy, she informed her leader about this.

"The door needs a code to open it. You'll probably hack it in no time." she said.

"You have super strength, M'gann, pretty sure you can phase your hand through and pull the wires." Spoiler responded, cutting in before Robin could reply. Miss Martian smacked her forehead sheepishly.

"Hello Me-no, no time for that, just do it!" she thought to herself, before putting her hand through the keypad and pulled the wires with all her strength. Surely enough, the bolts instantly pulled away and opened the door, giving the prisoners their first taste of freedom. M'gann gestured at them to wait as she then stood back and allowed the Bioship to land in front of the door, it's size morphing to hold the numbers of the prisoners. M'gann smiled at them.

"Don't worry, it's our ship. I'll use it to fly you to safety." she assured them, earning a collective sighs of comfort as they all began to pile onto the ship. M'gann stretched her mind out to inform her team-mates.

"Everyone is getting on board. There's still Psimon you have to worry about, and the soldiers." she warned them as the ship began to fill up.

"Don't worry, I've disarmed a few of the guys, they didn't even see me. I'll run to the nearest military base and tell them about the compound, leave a little note on the boss's desk. Be back in a few seconds!" Impulse replied, before he vanished from the mental link.

M'gann helped get the last two on board, a mother and her infant child, patting them gently as they took a seat on the comfier chairs. It was then a voice rang in her head.

"Boom! The dudes are on their way here, armed and ready to take these creeps to jail!" Impulse declared proudly, making M'gann groan.

"Yup, thanks Impulse, try not to be so loud. Regroup with Robin on the roof." she calmly told him.

"Roger!"

With that done, M'gann closed the doors to the Bioship and phased through to the controls, taking off and turning it invisible again to avoid getting seen. She now had to hope her friends would be okay in cleaning up the rest of the place before the military got there.

On the roof of the other building, Impulse regrouped with Robin, Spoiler, and Superboy.

"Okay, I'm here, what do we do now?" The kid asked excitedly, with Robin holding up a smoke grenade.

"Smoke them out." he said simply, giving Impulse a wink.

Inside his office, Psimon was greeted by the captain of the Bialyan soldiers he was working with, the man looked somewhat nervous to be around the creepy looking man with the exposed brain.

"Sir, our tyres on the vehicles have been punctured! Are we under attack!?" he asked in a state of fear and confusion. Psimon groaned, starting to realise the situation.

"Of course, it's those annoying little rats! Check the prisoners, make sure they're still inside!" he ordered, getting a nod from the Captain, who quickly left the room to give the order, having to do it personally as radios were down due to the loss of the terminal. Psimon looked around, trying to see anything out of place.

"I know you're here, you Martian weakling! Come out and fight!" he said mentally, knowing well M'gann would be in on this, yet he didn't know where she actually was.

It was then several loud bangs were heard, startling Psimon as he turned to see the hallways outside getting filled with smoke.

Out in the hallway, on the bottom floor, the soldiers staggered around, trying to see anything through the thick smoke they found themselves lost in. The only thing they could see, for just a second, was a zip of yellow lightning and heard a few mechanical clicks coming right close to them. They let out cries of confusion, wondering if they got company within the smoke...well, they got their answer when a screaming body of one of their soldiers came flying through the smoke, crashing into one of the others and leaving the two on a heap.

A fist shot out and crashed into one of the soldier's faces, leaving his mouth toothless and dazed from just one one punch, before he was tossed through a wall into the other room. The remaining soldiers, hearing what was going on, instantly took aim at whatever they could see and pulled their triggers...but no bullets were fired. Confused, they looked down to see their guns had been disarmed, leaving them unable to protect themselves from the incoming punches of Superboy, who leapt through the smoke and drove his fists into two soldiers' guts, driving the wind right out of them as he threw them down the hallway, leaving just a few left. Superboy pounded a fist into his hand as he saw it was only two left as the smoke cleared.

"Think carefully, guys. Don't want to knock anymore teeth out if you want to eat anything in jail." he warned.

The soldiers looked nervous for a second, but loyalty came first, for they served their queen until the last second. They cried out and ran at Superboy, throwing a punch at him. He just caught the fist and twisted it down, slamming his face into the soldier's and knocking him out, before kicking the other in the chest hard enough to knock him out and leave him on the floor. Superboy shook his hands to ease the tension.

"There's this floor. Now the next one." he said, as if he was getting started.

On the floor Psimon was on, he listened in as he could hear the soldier's in the hallway getting their butts beaten. He pulled open a draw to find the device he needed to get away, but was too fast about it so the draw was flung out and its contents scattered everywhere. He got on the floor to look for it, not knowing time was against him.

In the hallway, one soldier received a bash on the face from a baton while the other cried in agony as he felt a knee drive into his groin, his eyes like golf balls before he received a smack on the head that knocked him out.

"There's always something fun about a nice, quick kick to the balls on an enemy." Spoiler sneered as the soldier hit the floor.

"Yeah, you can't deny its effectiveness." Robin joked in return.

The super-couple pressed on, knowing that Psimon had to be close by. Their every instincts told them he was on this floor and the closer they got to him, the more cautious they had to be. It was paramount to take extreme care when there was a master-telepath like Psimon to deal with. Superboy was close behind in case they needed the extra muscle to restrain their enemy. They ran down the hallway, noticing an open door at the end. They stopped in their tracks and moved slowly so as not to alert themselves to Psimon in case he was in there. Spoiler went in first, rushing in with her baton in hand. Psimon was still on the floor scrambling for the device he was searching for in the draw and only just realized someone was coming towards him. He saw only a flash of purple before suddenly, he was sent reeling away with his head spinning and a spasm of pain flaring through it. He clutched his transparent cranium, trying to ease the pain enough so he could use his mental powers to subdue this enemy but he wasn't given any time to recover. Robin reacted quickly, seizing his moment to incapacitate the telepath, grabbing hold of his shoulder and sending a terrific electrical surge through his glove onto Psimon. The pale man let out a blood-curdling wail of anguish before he fell into unconsciousness, slumping on the floor like a sack of vegetables. Now the biggest threat to them was down, the team could continue operating as normal with no interference.

"No Simon Says from you." Robin crowed, "Spoiler, Superboy, you see anything useful in here?"

"There's Psimon's computer." Spoiler addressed, seeing the machine and noticing it was still on, "I'll bet there's some juicy information in that thing. Though he was on the floor when I ran in so who knows what he was looking for."

"I think this is it." Superboy added, bending down and picking up the device Psimon had been menaing to get in his mad hurry to escape before the team got to him.

Robin eyed it with interest.

"A teleport device, probably was gonna use it to get himself out before we got our hands on him." he said as he was handed it by Superboy while Spoiler picked up the computer.

"Its wireless, best we download it quick before we lose anything." she pointed out as she put a drive in and began to download the info that was on the machine.

A beep rang in Robin's ear, so he pressed his finger on his ear com.

"This is Robin, what is it?" he asked.

"This is Impulse! I might have super speed and knocking these guys down is like hitting a target at a funfair for me, but some are getting away!" came the fast boy's response. Robin just smiled.

"You don't have to worry, Aqualad is on hand." he assured.

Surely enough, outside, several of the soldiers' and traffickers had managed to escape from Impulse's fast punches and kicks, running for the cliff that would lead them to the river. They were planning on retreating into the desert to call in for their military to pick them up. They didn't realise they weren't gonna get far.

When they reached the bottom of the cliff, they were met by Aqualad, who stood closely to the river as he bore his two aquablades. The soldiers stood there almost frozen with fear at the sight of the half Atlantean as his tattoos glowed, the water stretching up from the river to help solidify his blades. The fear sort of wore off as the soldiers, those that still had bullets in their guns, fired at him.

In response, Aqualad spun his blades in a circular manner, almost at lightning speed as they formed a shield, deflecting the bullets as they bounced off his water shield like rocks being thrown at a brick wall, ripples circulating across his shield. He then slowed down the speed of his spinning, the water creating a circular ball around him. Keeping his arms outstretched like he was on a bike, Aqualad ran on the spot, sending his ball of water rolling towards the soldiers, who gasped in shock at what was coming.

Colliding with them at top speed, Aqualad sent them flying across the ground, the impact from his water ball and hitting the ground knocked them out instantly. It wasn't all of them though, for there were two soldiers left and one trafficker, who pulled out his knife. Bringing his ball down, Aqualad jumped through the air and sliced his blades down on the guns of the two soldiers, slicing them in half. Before the soldiers could respond, Aqualad landed and finished them with a double fisted punch to their faces, sending them crumbling to the ground. The trafficker cried out as he ran at Aqualad with his knife, only for the water powered teen to simply catch his fist, twist it and kick him in the face, sending him flying onto his back, knocking him right out.

Seeing there was no one else to deal with, Aqualad pressed his finger against his ear com.

"The stragglers are down, no more to worry about, Robin." he said, a slight hint of gladness in his low voice. He was then joined by Impulse, who patted his back.

"The water dude strikes again!" he congratulated, getting a small smile from Aqualad.

Up in the building in Psimon's office, Spoiler pulled the drive out of the computer, pocketing it in her belt pouch as Robin got the message from Aqualad.

"Download done and info stacked!" she proudly declared, getting glad smiles from Robin and Superboy.

However, their joy was cut short as Psimon suddenly opened his eyes, pain and anger in them as he realised the loss he just received. He couldn't risk getting captured though, that would be an even bigger loss for his employers. Reaching his hand out, he let his mind get a grip on the heroes. The three teenagers felt their limbs go stiff, their eyes wide as they lost control of movement. Eyeing Superboy, Psimon used his telepathic strength to open the buff teenager's hand, allowing him to walk up to the Superman clone and snatch hold of his device before stepping away from them.

"You might've shut down this compound, but the war is far from over you little rats!" he said angrily, anger in his voice as he then closed Superboy's fist and used it to punch a hole right into the computer, making it blow up and send the three hurling into the walls of the office from the explosion. Robin groaned in pain as his body throbbed, blurilly catching Psimon vanish in a flash of blue after pressing his finger onto his device.

Wincing as he picked himself up, Robin looked around and quickly ran to Spoiler, who was slightly buried under a cabinet. He picked her up, worry in his eyes as her masked ones looked dazedly around her.

"Stephanie, you Okay?" he asked, scared she got a big injury. His girlfriend shook her head before giving him a thumbs up.

"Had worse, just a bump." she assured, her voice full of slight pain as she found her feet, leaning on Robin for help as he gave her a smile.

Superboy was not happy, picking himself up with his teeth bared and his fists clenched.

"That's the latest he's used me! Ugh, when I get my hands on him, he's gonna need a bandage wrapped around that head of his!" he yelled, angry that the pale skinned creep got away. Robin patted his shoulder, giving him an assured look.

"He got away, but we aren't leaving empty handed." he pointed out as Spoiler pulled out the drive she used to download the info from the computer. He sighed, easing his tension.

"Guess it's something" he agreed, though still slightly angry.

Soon enough, the heroes met up outside, with Aqualad and Impulse running up from the cliff to see the finished work they made.

"Let's hope the military has enough handcuffs for these morons." Impulse said, pointing at the piles of unconscious bodies that scattered around them. Aqualad looked at Robin with some concern.

"How badly hurt are you?" he asked, only for Robin to wave it off.

"Nothing too serious, just some bruises and bumps." he said casually as a light shone on them from above, telling them the Bioship was back.

Now the compound had been seized and there was no more resistance, the Bioship no longer needed to stay invisible. It loomed above the heroes like a big red alien vessel observing Earth's occupants and contemplating whether to invade or not. Miss Martian waved down to them, her face full of delight. Nobody was happier to see the Martian girl than Superboy, his anger now gone at the sight of his love as he waved back to her.

"I got all the hostages!" she called down to them, "How'd you guys do down there?"

"We got what we needed!" Robin called back, "We can get outta here and leave the rest to the authorities!"

With that said, the Bioship lowered down to the ground and extended a boarding ladder down to the team so they could climb up into the ship. Once everyone was onboard, the Bioship turned invisible once more and disappeared into the night, leaving no trace of its existence behind. By the time the team had left, they were too far away to hear the oncoming wails of police sirens as the authorities drove into the compound to arrest its occupants...

The mission had been an almost total success. Bar the escape of Psimon, Robin would've said everything had gone perfectly. He had planned this operation carefully, even going over it several times to make sure he didn't miss even the slightest step that could be vital to the team's success and couldn't be happier the execution had gone so well. For now, his mind had something else to focus on than congratulating himself. He had inserted the drive that Spoiler had used to download info from Psimon's computer into the Bioship's own computer. He was keen to see what secrets they'd swiped from the psychic mercenary, his eyes fixed squarely on the screen as he dug through the data.

As he worked, the rest of the team were putting their focus onto comforting the poor kids they'd released from Bialyan custody. Many of them were still shaken and scared from what had happened to them and couldn't help themselves as they cried. Miss Martian and Spoiler had taken it upon themselves to act as temporary mothers for the kids and gently ease them to sleep, knowing they needed it. It was a sweet sight for the others to watch the girls showing their softer side and showing how good they were with children despite their young ages. Superboy had tried himself, though he wasn't necessarily sure how to properly handle kids as he was still getting used to the world and how life worked. He did his best to keep his patience, something Miss Martian noticed with admiration and she patted his shoulder softly.

"You're trying very well Conner." she said kindly, "You're more like Superman than you think."

Superboy smiled modestly.

"I think being with you brings out that side of me." he admitted.

As Spoiler laid down another sleeping kid, she headed over to her boyfriend to see how he was doing on the Bioship computer. She lowered her mask and hood, knowing she didn't need them now they weren't on a mission, and gave a playful smirk over to Robin.

"Can't keep you away from a computer for more than a minute, can we?" she teased.

"May as well as if you can stop making jokes every five seconds." Robin teased in return.

"Touché." Spoiler chuckled as she leant over Robin's shoulder. Her bright blonde hair hung down over her shoulder and lightly brushed against Robin's cheek.

"Got anything yet?" she asked.

"Just about Steph." Robin replied, "If anything, it gives me an idea on where the Light's next scheme is gonna take place. The data you got has a lot of messages from Queen Bee to Psimon and one of them says something like "Paris is ripe for the picking."

He pointed at the screen, his finger over the message he'd just said. Spoiler noticed, her bright blue eyes narrowed with uncertainty.

"Paris? Why Paris of all places?" she murmured, "Do you think it's something to do with those teenagers that Batman and Wonder Woman have teamed up with lately? Ladybug and Cat Noir, am I right?"

"Possibly." Robin agreed, "The Light would probably be VERY interested with their powers. Batman described the Miraculouses to us and whew, do they sound like powerful items! I hate to think what will happen if Vandal gets his hands on them..."

"That is if the Miraculouses are even the reason they're going to Paris at all." Spoiler noted, "They could be going for any reason, I was just thinking aloud earlier."

"Whatever the reason, we best let Batman know about our find Steph. He'll want to know about this." Robin said grimly.

He still remembered hearing the terrifying story about Batman's showdown at Arkham with a Miraculous-powered Joker. It had taken the combined might of himself, Ladybug and Cat Noir to defeat him despite the great power he wielded. He also shuddered at the image of a Miraculous powered Darkseid, a story that had come from Wonder Woman when she'd informed the Justice League on what she'd been through recently. The last thing they needed was the Light obtaining that kind of power! Robin minimized the data he had been reading for a moment so he could contact Batman through the Bioship. In a couple of minutes, the screen lit up and Batman's highly recognizable silhouette appeared before him, his face filling the screen. He looked as stoic as ever, though Robin could tell he was at least pleased to see him alive and well once more.

"Glad you called." Batman said, "I was about to ask how your mission went. Did everything go according to plan?"

"Exactly so." Robin confirmed, "We got all the kids out of the compound and got our hands on some data that might tell us the Light's next plan."

"And what might that be?"

"It seems they maybe targeting Paris next." Robin explained, "There's messages between Queen Bee and Psimon and they say that "Paris is ripe for the picking" in one of them. Steph and I have a nasty feeling we know why they're interested in that city..."

Batman nodded, his meticulous and well-trained brain coming to the same conclusion.

"Should've known they'd target Paris. With how fractured the place is, from its citizens to its politics, and viewpoints, they're bound to target that. Bring the drive back to me so I can see myself. With everything those people have been through, it's my responsibility to make sure nothing else bothers them." he said grimly, a hint of guilt in his voice as he recalled all the terror and pain those children of Paris were put through.

Robin sensed this though and gave him a firm look.

"Don't go kicking your own ass, Batman. It wasn't your fault. And you ain't looking over these messages on your own, we'll do it together. Can't have you rushing over to Paris on your own without a plan." he told him in a levelled tone, earning a stunned look that turned into a pleasant smile.

"I appreciate it, Robin. In the meantime, take the children to the nearest safety point. I'll be waiting for you. Over and out." he said, turning off his end of the communication link.

Tim removed his mask and leaned back, feeling his body relax as the stress of the mission was finally easing off, though his face literally brightened when Steph sat on his lap, which felt slightly harder the more comfy she got with him. She gave him a teasing look.

"A trip to Paris on the cards? Would've preferred a romantic getaway there instead of another mission." she said, pretending to sound disappointed in what might come next.

He giggled and took her arms into his, with her leaning on top of him as the teasing in their eyes heated up.

"With the time we have on our hands, everyday is a romantic getaway. Just a lot more fun." he told her with a wink as his hands searched through her blonde hair, while she took hold of his cape collar. Pulling him into a kiss, Stephanie moaned pleasantly, not seeing Aqualad sigh in slight frustration as he was briefly distracted before regaining control of the flight.

He himself was full of worry over what their next mission would bring, for going to a city that was greatly damaged from all its previous battles was one he was stressing out over already, and it would require the best of stealth skills as possible.

As they flew on home, they had little idea of what the people of Paris were going to wake up to in a few days...

And indeed that day had come.

In her bedroom, with the curtains closed and her room's light colours darkened from the lack of light, Marinette Dupain-Cheng gently snored, her arms and legs outstretched under her blanket as her head was well rested on her pillow with her hair stretched out around her. No looks of anguish or fear were on her face, nor was she breathing erratically. She was sleeping like any normal person was, and that was a miracle given what she went through two weeks ago. You wouldn't think this was the same girl who witnessed her bully getting her head blown off, Hawkmoth getting killed, and visiting a hellish planet fighting the most evil person in the universe.

But if there was something she learnt as soon as she gotten back, she couldn't keep being so fearful and upset at what happened. She had to move forward. And the last few weeks had helped in that. School was cancelled for a week because Andre felt it was too soon for the children to go back and put themselves under stress of schoolwork with all they witnessed, and this gave her friends enough time to talk more freely and openly about how they felt, plus they all got to see where Adrien was living now. Kim's sense of humour certainly brightened them when he joked about getting a free massage at Master Fu's, though Juleka and Nino did ask if Adrien started smoking due to the strong sense of it in Master Fu's lately. The two lovers knew the truth, but the best Master Fu could say was that he had a British engineer updating the place and smoked a lot.

Marinette was thankful to have had a talk with Alya in finally talking of her feelings over what happened. She didn't tell her everything, just that she couldn't believe Chloe was gone and how, as much as she hated her, she wished she was still there for every life of every child was worth it. Alya did give her a hug as she tearfully admitted she believed her parents were going to get killed by Joker and admitted her fear of what stress they could be going through. But in all those tears, she had support and moved forward. Her boyfriend was there to take her in his strong arms and listen to everything she couldn't tell anyone else, she had her best friend have her over to play with the rest of her family, and had Juleka and Rose come over to continue their crafting models to take their minds off it all.

That, and her dreams were filled with more pleasant memories of kissing Adrien, the sweetest one of all being on her balcony, where they watched the rising stars in each other's arms with his heartbeat echoing gently in her ears. His eyes were beautiful in the night, and with that smile of his, kissing his lips was like putting her lips in the most sweetest of honey syrup that had a bottomless pit. Seeing him smile, with all the pain starting to vanish from his eyes and face, was like seeing him coming back to life in a way, for she felt like her boyfriend really found his feet again and had regained a grip on reality, something that made her heart flutter.

But like most dreams, they came to an end when instincts kicked in, that daylight had come and was beaming through the tiny opening between her curtains. Moaning slightly, Marinette's eyes blinked open, adjusting to the dark room around her. She didn't sit up and make a run for her clothes, she took it steady and sighed pleasantly, her eyes somewhat dreamy as the memory of kissing Adrien was still fresh on her mind. But as usual, she had someone to greet her as soon as she woke up.

The little Kwami, Tikki, had flown out of her makeshift home and sat herself down on the blanket, giving the bluenette a beaming smile.

"Good morning, Marinette!" she greeted.

"And to you Tikki." Marinette said brightly.

"It's nice to see you looking so well rested for a change." the little Kwami commented with her usual sweet smile and chipper tone.

"Yeah, I've been sleeping a lot better lately, which I'm really glad about." Marinette commented, stretching a little, "It's almost like everything I've been through is nothing more than a memory now."

"Well, technically it is nothing but a memory, but I get what you mean." Tikki replied, "I guess when you've gone up against actual gods and lived, anyone can sleep easy after that."

"You bet, because once you've fought a god, it can't get much worse than that! It's all down from there!" the French girl giggled.

Tikki laughed in response. It was true, she thought, that once you've fought a god, nothing could really top that. She herself had worked with the closest thing to a god, that being Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, at one point in her 5000 year life so she had seen and met some of those gods and seen what kind of power they wielded. Whatever Ladybug came up against next, it would be far less of a threat than the Apokaliptian dictator they'd recently defeated with Wonder Woman's help. And yet Tikki could only hope that it would be a while before they ever did go up against a world-threatening threat like Darkseid again. Maybe it would never happen again and all threats would be smaller scale from now on, if any should happen at all. Deciding to change the subject, Tikki inquired about something else.

"Did you dream about him again?" she asked, sounding genuinely eager to hear it.

"What else would I dream about?" Marinette scoffed with a smile, "Ever since me and Adrien made it official, he's all I can possibly dream about! And whenever I wake up, I can sigh with relief knowing that it's a dream that is also a reality."

"I'm so happy that you two are together." Tikki said kindly, "You're perfect for each other. You're both kind, compassionate souls who know not to abuse the power you wield. I'd say it's almost like destiny that Master Fu should pass us on to you and Adrien."

"I'd chalk it up to one VERY happy coincidence myself." Marinette joked, "But I guess destiny might play into it too."

"With that in mind, I wonder if the other Miraculouses will ever get handed out." Tikki mused, her large eyes looking away in thought.

Marinette hadn't expected Tikki to suddenly think about that. She still remembered the time she'd found the book that the villainous Gabriel Agreste, aka Hawk Moth, had once had in his possession and how it spoke of other Miraculouses. The powers of Ladybug and Cat Noir weren't all that Master Fu had to offer, though Marinette had yet to see any of them. She still wondered how many there were and what kind of powers they bestowed. Anything was possible with a Miraculous and with the growing threats that Paris had been faced with lately, the blue-haired girl could only wonder if it might be time for more Miraculers to join the fight.

"I guess they might." Marinette said, "Master Fu might deem it the right time to give more people of Paris a Miraculous. I quite like the idea of there being more of us to fight off villains! Hey, can you imagine if we became our very own Justice League?!" she shrieked, excitement buzzing through her veins, "That'd be so awesome, don't you think?! Nobody would dare mess with Paris again if we became one big superhero team!"

"Ha, ha, ha, I like the way you're thinking Marinette!" Tikki giggled, "The question is who would be deserving of a Miraculous outside of you and Adrien?"

"I can already think of a few." the teen heroine murmured, "And I know some that would absolutely love the idea of being a hero. Namely..."

She wasn't able to go into further detail for a voice suddenly called to her from underneath her floor.

"Marinette! Are you awake yet?" came the voice of her mother, Sabine Dupain-Cheng.

Upon hearing the voice, Tikki quickly hid while Marinette swept her legs over the side of the bed.

"Um, yeah mama! I'm up, I'm up!" she called back, "What is it?"

"You should come see the news! Something terrible has happened!" her mother called back.

Marinette's heart turned to ice. What was happening now? Had another Justice League enemy decided to attack Paris? Had Hawk Moth come back from the dead to haunt her? Was Adrien being mugged?! Her head was spinning with so many worrying thoughts as she lowered the ladder and climbed down from her room. She quickly ran into her living room, noticing that her parents were both huddled together on the sofa with their faces twisted into a mask of shock. Marinette thought they looked as if a ghost had crept out of the TV to play pranks on them.

"What's happened?" she asked.

She soon saw her answer as she looked at the TV. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she saw the news headline that was being broadcasted in today's news show...

Little did Marinette know that her love would soon be seeing the same news story.

In Master Fu's, in his bedroom, Adrien had his head buried in his pillows, sleeping peacefully. It was something he gladly welcomed and was pleased to have, with all the hell he was put through. It was becoming a distant memory, as if a dark sheet had wrapped itself over those memories to shut them out. It wasn't easy, but the words of his girlfriend rang in his ears when they gotten back from Apokalips. He was so thankful to still have those words present in his mind and carry them in his heart.

"We have to go forward".

It wasn't easy, but having her with him was enough to give him a light to focus on. A light he was joined with by others. He had Master Fu looking after him, and while he was angry with him at first for all he knew, he couldn't hold anything against him with everything he suffered when Grail came after him and all the efforts he's done to keep him safe. Constantine, despite being such an ass, was also there to help him whenever he could, being a tough talker when it came to it with his heart putting some passionate words in. But most of all, he had his friends.

First week of being back home, school was cancelled, and this gave his friends all the time in the world to come and see him. He assured them he wasn't smoking, something he begged Constantine to do outside. But the fact Nino finally sat him down and got him to tell him of his feelings about what happened and what he had buried, it was something he needed. Even Nathanaël was there to listen to him, hearing of the agony of his life turned upside down and all his father did. He never thought they'd be so understanding, but they were. Nino promised him if anyone were to hurt him, he'd be there for him like a shield protecting life.

All that talking was painful, but it gotten weight off his chest. He didn't tell them all he went through, so he had to choose his words carefully, but telling them of his difficulties and his fear, Adrien felt more lighter inside his chest and his head was clearer with less tension inside of him. The road to recovery was long, but he felt as if he was halfway there. He didn't want to keep feeling so miserable and angry inside, it was only gone when he was around his girlfriend, but now in general it was all fading. It was weird to say, but he was feeling normal again.

One of the few safe places he could go to was the bakery, where he was warmly welcomed by Tom and Sabine. Adrien did wonder what made them so good hearted and strong with all they went through too, but he was glad to be around more adults that knew a good person when they saw one. And this meant they got to see how genuine things were between him and Marinette, Who taught him how to make a cake. It was messy, but fun, and it certainly involved some licking with him removing some cream off her cheeks, giving her a teasing purr as he did so. His first cake didn't turn out so well, but the first times never work out greatly usually, and it was edible. That and seeing his girlfriend put all her creative energy into something other than fighting was something that nearly melted him, for she was in her element. Seeing her smile and dance with him in the kitchen was like he was living in a world of pure sweetness with a scent of blueberry from her hair and the most brightest of smiles that sent tingles throughout his body.

Sadly, his pleasant lay in was cut short when the stench of Camembert cheese reached his nose, stinging it enough to wake him up. Rubbing his eyes, he glared at Plagg with a slight smirk.

"You really should make a bed out of cheese, it'd be heaven to you." he grumbled as he pushed the blankets off. Plagg nodded as he chewed off another piece.

"Mm hm! And after everything we've been through, I deserve a cheese bed! Heck, you could break into a cheese factory and bring back the biggest of cheeses for me to eat! You'd be powered infinitely!" he exclaimed, his green eyes full of dreams of tucking into the biggest of cheese anyone could make.

He couldn't help but smile at his Kwami, smoothing his little head with his thumb to see he recovered well from getting fused with Joker and Darkseid and meeting Hippolyta again. The little guy had a huge push for going forward, something Adrien was glad to keep up with.

"Well, since only my friends know where I live, and my whereabouts are officially unknown, I don't see any problem in sneaking into a cheese factory and bringing some back here for my bestest kitty." he teased, getting a slight glare from Plagg.

"Call me a kitty again and I'll stick cheese in your pants! Marinette will stay away then!" he almost hissed, only to get a smirk from Adrien.

"I can counter that with a shower! And even if I did stink of cheese it would draw Marinette very much closer." he winked, getting a grin from Plagg.

Sadly, the joking was cut short when the elderly voice of Master Fu called up to him.

"Adrien! Come out here now! There's something on the news you have to see!" he sounded nervous, as if he was struggling to take in what he was seeing. Adrien's eyes sharpened, wondering what was on the news that had his carer so worried, but it clearly wasn't good.

Going out of his room with Plagg following closely, Adrien found Master Fu sitting on his sofa, leaning forward a bit as if he was fixated on the news, with Nooroo and Wayzz sitting beside him and looking just as shocked. His eyes followed to the screen and the blonde boy froze. Tension and twists formed in his stomach as he took in what was on the screen.

It was Nadja Chammock, Manon's mother. She looked sad and grim, as if she was still struggling to getting used to telling these sad news. Beside her was a live air view footage of the Bourgeoise hotel, with several officers standing guard at the doors. Next to the footage was a photo of André, Chloe's father. What came next was a huge punch to the stomachs of everyone watching.

"We interrupt this programme with some saddening news that has again hit Paris as of late. Our Mayor, Andre Bourgeois...has died."

Well this is already off to a hectic start. It seems Paris is in for more unwelcome visitors and now Mayor Bourgeois has died! What will become of Paris now their mayor is dead? Who will be elected in his place? Do the enemies of Young Justice have anything to do with this death at all? And what are their plans for Paris?!

So many questions, but you'll only find the answers as you read on. Tune in next time as our heroes come to terms with this sudden passing and elections are held for Paris's next mayor...