Miraculous Next Generations: Tales of Crimson Bug and Cat Midnight

Chapter 4

 Marinette tiptoed through the darkness of the warehouse, Adrien at her tail.

"Hugo?" she whispered into the darkness. "Emma? Louis? Are you in here?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

"It's just me," Adrien whispered. "Listen."

Marinette listened. She could hear what sounded like...sobbing.

Adrien pressed his finger to his lips and departed in the direction of the sound. Marinette followed.

They weaved around a large shelf, and huddled in a corner were Emma, Hugo and Louis, all looking terrified and all unscathed. Louis was the one crying, and Emma and Hugo were comforting him.

"It's okay. Mommy and Daddy will come rescue us. Don't be scared," Emma said, rubbing Louis on the back. "They'll come..."

Hugo was the first to see them. His eyes widened, and he poked the others to get their attention. Emma and Louis looked up, and their eyes brightened.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Louis exclaimed, standing and moving to run to them. But Hugo held him back.

"They could be another one of her illusions," Hugo said.

"But they're not fake," Louis said. "They're Mommy and Daddy."

"Who's illusions?" Adrien asked.

Emma pointed. Perched atop one of the large shelves was a very familiar fox. She sneered down at them, olive green eyes flashing.

"Volpina," Marinette said, voice dripping with pure disdain.

"Spots on."

"Claws out."

---

Volpina threw Ladybug hard against one of the shelves. Ladybug sank to the floor. Cat Noir came at Volpina, spinning his baton, but she threw him to the side. Ladybug stood.

"Doing Hawkmoth's dirty work for him again, are you, Volpina?" Ladybug said.

Volpina growled and charged. Ladybug sprinted away, and Volpina pursued her.

"Cat Noir, now!" Ladybug yelled.

"Cataclysm!"

The shelf that had been beside Volpina collapsed. When the dust settled, she was buried under a pile of rusty old metal, unconscious.

Ladybug and Cat Noir ran back towards their kids. Hugo, Emma and Louis still had looks of shock on their faces.

"Yes, we are Ladybug and Cat Noir," Ladybug said. "No, you are not dreaming and we will explain everything to you later."

"Come on, she won't stay immobile for long," Cat Noir said, helping the kids to stand.

"The exit is just down that hallway," Ladybug said. "Hugo, you take your siblings and run as fast as you can. Get out of here."

"What about you?" Emma asked.

"We'll be right behind you."

"Now go," Cat Noir said.

"It's okay," said Ladybug, nodding.

Hesitantly the three kids ran down the hallway.

"We've got the kids out," Cat Noir said into his earpiece. "Get out. Now."

"Let's get ou-"

"Guys," came Chloe's voice from inside their earpieces. "Something weird's going on out here."

---

"Last chance," Hawkmoth said. "Give me your Miraculouses, and I'll give you your kids."

"We've got the kids out," came the real Cat Noir's voice through their earpieces. "Get out. Now."

Suddenly, Hawkmoth began to laugh. The sound was cold, nothing like a laugh should sound.

"I knew there was something off, Ladybug. Or should I say Rena Rouge."

Alya straightened. They'd been discovered.

"Luckily, I have illusions of my own," Hawkmoth said.

As if on cue the room around them began to fade from existence.

---

"What the heck?" Cat Noir said.

The room around them had begun to fade. Slowly, like a transition from scene to scene in a movie. The room around them had gone from dimly lit warehouse to brightly lit mansion.

"It was all an illusion," Ladybug said, spinning her yo yo.

Volpina was still unconscious on the ground.

"Her illusions must disappear if she's immobile," Ladybug said.

"Do you think that the kids..."

"No," Ladybug said. "They can't have been."

"Oh God," Cat Noir said suddenly. "Oh God oh God oh God."

"What?" Ladybug asked.

"Does this mansion seem at all...familiar...to you?"

"Yes. I guess it does."

"It does because this is my house."

"WHAT?!"

"We have to find Nino and Alya. Fast."