I was late to school again, but this time I didn't mind. It was career day today, meaning everyone's parents had come in. My dad left earlier this morning than usual, leaving me an extra long apology note, for both what happened when I found him in his room last night and that he wouldn't be able to make it to career day.
Ellie hadn't brought it up this morning when I read the note silently to myself. She instead asked if we could make some cookies together when we got home, and that she'd pour in the chocolate chips herself. She couldn't usually help very often since she was so small, but it was nice she was making an effort.
"Hi father, it's me. It's parents career day at school, remember? I was hoping that you were gonna show up. Call me back." Walking towards my classroom, I accidentally arrived just as Adrien was getting off the phone. He looked sad.
"Your dad can't make it either?" I asked. He turned to me, and I held onto my backpack straps. "Sorry, I overheard your call."
"It's fine," Adrien replied and shook his head. He shoved his phone back in his pocket. "My father's probably got a lot of work. That's usually why he's always locked up in his office."
"My dad's got a lot of work too, so I can kind of understand where you're coming from," I said with a small smile. He seemed a bit better now, his eyes not quite as sad. I peeked into the classroom.''It looks like Marinette's dad is handing out croissants. If we don't hurry, they'll be too cold and stale by the time we get in there."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," Adrien agreed. I pushed open the door quietly, him following right behind me. Marinette was walking around and handing out the croissants.
Everyone was clapping, since Mr. Dupen's presentation had just ended. I quietly snuck to my seat in the second row behind Chloe, who was showcasing a new bracelet to Sabrina. Ignoring the mayor scolding Chloe as Alya's mother began presenting, I sat in my seat boredly.
"You seem sad," Alix mentioned as I placed my bag beside me. I looked over to her in surprise, and saw her dad beside her. "Is something up? Your parents aren't here either."
"Oh, I'm just tired. And my dad couldn't come in today since he's too busy," I dismissed it with a smile. She looked at me warmly, but had her attention diverted when a croissant was placed in front of her. One was placed in front of me too. "Thanks Marinette."
Marinette smiled and nodded, then tripped as soon as she took a step down. It looks like Chloe's bag had spilled over, and Marinette tripped on a book. The croissants went flying.
"Are you alright?" I asked her as I placed my own croissant down on the table, and began helping her pick up the fallen pastries.
"I'm fine," she sighed. She then looked around. "Where's your dad?"
"Busy at work," I answered and averted eye contact. It made me slightly jealous that everyone else had parents to bring to school, but mine were either busy or gone forever. I kept it under control, though, not wanting to cause a problem and get akumatized.
"My bracelet! It's gone!" Chleo wailed just as I got back in my seat, having finished cleaning up with Marinette. Sabrina's dad was now presenting, and he was a police officer. The blonde turned angrily at Marinette and I with an accusatory finger. "You two! One of you stole it!"
"What are you talking about?" Marinette exclaimed in disbelief. Chloe turned to me angrily.
"You purposely tripped on my bag, then your friend here stole it!" Chloe accused, leaning in close to Marinette's face.
"Oh please. I don't want any of your junk," I took a bite of my croissant and rolled my eyes. Chloe seethed as she turned to Sabrina's dad.
"You! You're a policeman! Arrest them!" She demanded. I nearly choked on my croissant.
"My daughter and her friend are not thieves!" Mr. Dupen was quick to defend Marientte and I.
"Are you serious right now? You have no proof we stole your dumb bracelet!" I shouted angrily. Chloe looked at me with narrowed eyes and leaned in close to me.
"That 'dumb bracleet' could pay for your house five times over!" Chloe retaliated and poked my chest. I glared at her and narrowed my eyes.
"Back off before I-" A whistle being blown interrupted my sentence, which was probably for the best because it wouldn't look very good to threaten someone with violence after being accused of stealing something.
"Now hold on Miss Bourgeois. We don't accuse without proof!" Officer Roger interrupted. Chloe leaned back a bit and turned angrily to the officer. "Everyone calm down, please. Maybe you just misplaced your bracelet."
"You're calling me a liar? Daddy!" Chloe screeched, and I grit my teeth in annoyance as we all waited for Mayor Bourgeois to speak.
"Roger, I demand you search these girls!" The Mayor demanded.
"You can't do that. You don't have a warrant," I immediately defended myself.
"That doesn't matter. Daddy's the mayor. He can do what he wants," Chloe responded with her nose stuck up.
"Well, your daddy would be breaking the law and a bad mayor then!," I muttered and crossed my arms. God, I am so sick of entitled people.
"Please, everybody," Miss Bustier tried to calm everyone down.
"Need I remind you as Mayor of this city that I am your superior?" Mayor Bourgeois reminded Officer Roger. Calm down, [Y/n], I told myself. I breathed in and out once, refusing to have a reason to get akumatized. They probably aren't going to search you. It's not like you did anything anyway.
"But sir, it's against the law. I can't just-"
"Okay, then you're no longer a police officer," the mayor said. I blinked a few times in surprise and sat back in my seat, actually surprised. Chloe had her arms crossed and nose turned up like the snob she was, pleased that her best friend's dad had just gotten fired because she didn't get what she wanted.
"Mayor, you can't be serious. Over a missing bracelet?" Officer Roger asked in disbelief.
"This is my daughter's bracelet we're talking about," The mayor clarified. "You're incompetent and you're fired. Now get out!"
Officer Roger looked down sadly and walked out. His shoulders were slumped forward.
"Good. Now let's call Camoufler. I'm sure she'll actually do something," Chleo remarked, and I refrained from rolling my eyes.
The situation only escalated form there as Mr. Dupen got angry. Marinette stood beside me behind her father as Chleo clung onto her dad, who was standing opposite of Mr. Dupen.
"Don't even think of touching my daughter's bag, nor her friend's either!" Mr. Dupen pointed angrily at the mayor.
"Do you know who I am?" Mayor Bourgeois fired back. Everyone knows who you are.
"Gentlemen, this is a school here. Please, think of the children," Miss Bustier intervened. "Chloe's bracelet is around here someplace."
"It probably just rolled out of her bag or something," Marinette suggested, and I nodded in agreement. She then turned to Nino. "Nino's been filming everything this whole time! We can see what really happened."
We gathered around Nino's phone, beginning to watch the video. It fast forwarded to Sabrina holding Chloe's bracelet.
"There you have it. Sabrina was holding Chloe's bracelet," Marinette said as we stood around Nino's desk. We all looked to Sabrina.
"Yes, but I gave it back straight after," Sabrina argued.
"Chloe, why don't you take a look in your BFF's bag?' Marinette suggested.
"Are you saying I'm a thief?" Sabrina asked with her hands on her hips. Marinette smiled and shrugged.
"Nope, Chloe's the one calling people thieves without any proof. I'm simply going from what's on the video."
Sabrina made an angry growl and turned away with crossed arms. In the process Nathaniel dropped his sketchbook. It fell down and some papers fluttered to the side, revealing a sketch of Chloe's bracelet. He hastily picked it up.
"Yes, I did sketch the bracelet, but I didn't do anything else," Nathaniel insisted. I sighed and shook my head as everyone started arguing again.
"This is such a mess," I murmured to myself.
"Give me the tape. I'll have it analyzed by professionals," Mayor Bourgeois demanded Nino's phone. The boy immediately drew his phone back towards him.
"No way, it's my camera," Nino refused. Mayor Bourgeois leaned in.
"Who do you think you're dealing with? I am the Mayor of the city!" He said.
"That doesn't mean you should have absolute power and be able to do whatever you want," I interjected, and he sent me a glare. He then turned to Miss Bustier.
"Where's the school principal? I want to see him right away!"
I didn't fail to notice Adrien sneaking out of the classroom, but I didn't mention it. I doubted he had stolen Chloe's bracelet.
"See, Chloe? I tripped on the bag and [Y/n] helped me clean up, but Sabrina held the bracelet and Nathaniel sketched it. That would make us all suspects," Marinette said after more deliberation.
"What's that supposed to mean? I didn't steal the bracelet," Nathaniel responded,and I nodded.
"And neither did I, or [Y/n], or probably Sabrina either. But when it comes down to it, Chloe could accuse anyone and everyone," Marinette spoke.
"Fine then. Since you're a suspect, you'll have no problem with me searching your bag," Chloe stated.
"Okay! As long as you search everyone else's too." Everyone got annoyed by Marinette saying that, groans and protests emerging. "See? Nobody wants their bags searched."
"Girls, let the adults handle this," Mr. Dupen stepped in. Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.
"Papa, she called us thieves! I'm just defending us," Marinette explained quietly.
"But you're also accusing all of your friends like Chloe is doing to you," Mr. Dupen countered with a sigh.
"I'm Chloe's BFF! I'd never steal from her," Sabrina chimed in.
"What about Adrien? He was in at least four and a half seconds of that video," Max spoke up from near the back of the classroom.
"And we haven't seen him since," Kim added on.
"I doubt it was Adrien. He doesn't seem like he'd steal a bracelet," I stuck up for the missing blond. Before anyone could argue anymore, the door opened.
"Where is the mayor?" A robotic voice asked. Looking to the door, I saw what looked like a blue transformer.
"Dad?" Sabrina uttered, and we all looked at her in shock.
"That's your dad?" Marinette asked.
"Hello, may I help you?" Miss Bustier walked up and asked him. Taking this as an opportunity to slip away, I quietly made my way to the door. Along the way, I noticed Marinette doing the same. We looked at each other.
"It looks like an akumatized villain and I'd rather not get caught up in that, you know?" I laughed nervously. She nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah! Yeah, totally," she nodded. "I.. feel the same.. but I have to tgot to the bathroom!"
Marinette waved quickly then ran off to the school bathroom. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't bask on it and ran to the art room, where I was positive nobody else was.
"What a disaster today is," I muttered as I looked around the room, Ellie flying out of hiding.
"Tell me about it. I wonder what happened to the bracelet. I don't think any of your classmates would've stolen it," Ellie inputed her opinion, and I nodded.
"Yeah. Nobody in our class seems like a thief," I agreed, then put a smile on my face. "We can figure it out later. For now, I've gotta transform. Ellie, camo on!"
That familiar blue light flashed, my hand swiping across the top of my head as the blue flowered headband appeared. I smiled once I quickly finished transforming after that, then ran out of the art room.
They're probably in the principal's office, I thought to myself as I ran to the office. The door was already busted down, Ladybug's yo-yo halfway inside as she restrained the villain I couldn't see.
"Your services are no longer required. Rogercop now has control," the villain said, turning around and beginning to shoot at Ladybug. I appeared right behind her, using my whip to shield her from a blast since she didn't have enough time to retract her yo-yo and use it as a shield.
"Thanks," she thanked me as I swung my weapon in front of the two of us. I smiled.
"No problem." I then turned to Rogercop, who left the principal's office. "We can't let you go around accusing everyone of every little wrong-doing!"
Rogercop ignored me, instead firing more shots. I tucked my whip away and began dodging, Ladybug doing the same, and we both hopped down to the first level. Quickly running under the balconies of the second floor, we went out of his range and slid out the front door. We each pressed our backs against the walls on either side of the door, the mayor coming out a second after us. We then waited for Rogercop to come out.
He emerged a second later, and both Ladybug and I flicked our weapons forward and each restrained a wrist. It didn't do anything, as he kept walking no matter our tugging, making us both fall forward. As Rogercop fired a shot at Mayor Bourgeois getting into his car, Chat Noir jumped down and onto his arm and made his shot hit the car rather than the man.
"You're obstructing justice Chat Noir. You are going to pay for this," Rogercop said as the car drove away.
"You can add bodily harm to the charges," Chat commented as Rogercop then started firing at him with both arms. Chat dodged as he stayed close to the ground, and used his staff to try and hit him, but was flung into a trashcan near Miss Mendeleiev.
"Listen, you're Sarina's dad and a good cop," Ladybug said as we both got back up. "Don't let the evil cop who gave you these powers make an evil cop out of you!"
Rogercop almost looked startled as a moth mask lit up his face, but he returned to normal a second later. "Justice will prevail in the streets of Paris."
As he shot at us again, we both dodged and approached from both sides. I jumped at him from the left, while Ladybug came from the right. He grabbed onto our ankles, spun us in a circle, then threw us over the school roof. I screamed as I was flung towards the ground of the school's courtyard, but used my whip to swing down safely.
Ladybug and I hurried out, just to see Rogercop getting away in a flying cop car. Ladybug and I rushed after it, and used our weapons to swing up to it and join Chat on top of the trunk.
"Oh my god," I murmured as I tried to comprehend us soaring higher and higher above Paris. We were steadily approaching the clouds. I screamed as the car began spinning in circles, trying to knock us off, but the three of us hung onto the car and kept our grip.
Just as we regained our balance and sat up straight, Rogercop slammed on the brakes. Chat Noir was thrown off, but I quickly extended my whip and wrapped it around his arm to keep him from falling to the ground. I grunted as I yanked him towards the car, and let out a breath of relief when he climbed back on.
"Thanks for the lasso, lassie," he said with a bow, which made me roll my eyes, but my attention was diverted when Rogercop climbed out of the now self-driving car. "Did I ever thank you for the lift?"
A three versus one battle then began on top of the car, us three Miraculous holders trying our best to beat the akumatized villain. After half a minute, Rogercop jumped once on the side of the car, making it begin to spin again. We had to run quickly to keep up with its quick spinning speed to make sure we didn't fall off, while Rogercop's shoes kept him attached to the roof.
"Nice pair of shoes! I could use a pair like that," Chat Noir said as we ran. Just as we ran over the edge again, Rogercop's arm hit me in the neck, making me fly back and off the car. I quickly threw my whip cord towards the duo.
"Grab onto me!" I shouted. Their eyes widened as my accuracy was off, and they missed catching the cord. I quickly began free falling as Rogercop restrained Chat, but failed to restrain Ladybug. She was thrown off right after me.
Surveying the area I was quickly falling to, I saw a tall overhead beam that stretched across the street I could wrap my whip around. Doing just that, I swung down to the ground safely without becoming a pancake. Ladybug did the same.
"That was the scariest thing in my life," she panted as she retracted her yo-yo. I nodded in agreement. "Chat Noir's still up there."
"Not anymore," I responded as we saw the male free falling just like we had been doing. He had just grabbed his staff, but since he didn't have a cord weapon like Ladybug or I, he wouldn't make it without our help.
Focusing intensely, I wrapped my whip around both Chat's body and a lamppost. He stopped before he hit the ground, hanging upside down as I walked up to him.
"Well hey. I am head over heels to see you, m'lady," Chat greeted with a smile. He leaned in for a kiss, but rather than giving him what he was hoping for, I scoffed. He perked his eyes open. "No kiss?"
"In your dreams," I retorted. Chat Noir smiled smugly at that.
"You don't want to know what we do in my dreams-" I let go of the cord and he fell on the ground. "Ow."
"You're welcome. You owe me one."
"Sure thing. But I'll take the credit for that one," Chat said proudly and pointed at the flying car smoking in the sky. As it swerved in the sky and changed directions once Rogercop regained control, we began following behind it. We stopped on the Eiffel Tower, watching the car speeding away.
"There's no point running after him anyway. He's way out of our reach now," Ladybug sighed as we watched the car soaring away.
"He'll be headed for city hall if he's after the mayor," I added on. Ladybug and I glanced at each other, smiling.
"Do I sense a plan?"
The three of us swung over to the city hall, landing right behind the cops as the Mayor was making a broadcast.
"Paris has a new superpower. Rogercop. I hereby relinquish all all authority to Rogercop. All citizens are ordered to answer to him," The Mayor said in his broadcast. Rogercop then pushed his chair out of the way from behind, looking into the camera.
"Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Camoufler are now outlaws. They must be hunted down and taken into custody immediately," Rogercop announced. The three of us tensed up as we looked around, noticing how we were surrounded by police officers that were now inching towards us.
They quickly advanced towards us, though we easily evaded. I knocked them down and used their backs as a boost to jump over the others, Chat and Ladybug following as we made our escape despite the protests of the police officers. Using our weapons, we swung ourselves up onto the roof of the city hall, making the cops lose track of us.
~~~
As night fell, city hall became more and more guarded. Helicopters whirred in the sky with spotlights as they searched for the three of us, but we managed to evade them. We now sat right in front of city hall on top of a building, hiding behind a chimney as guards patrolled the ground below.
"So now we're the nations most wanted felons?" Chat grumbled as we leaned against the brick of the chimney.
"All we ever do is save Paris. Those cops were a little too fast to turn against us," I sighed as I peeked over to the cops, then sat back before they could spot me.
"And we haven't done anything wrong," Ladybug added on.
"Exactly. You can't accuse someone without proof," Cha tremarked. Chloe should listen to that advice. Chat darted up to his feet. "We should go defend ourselves in a court of law!"
"That probably wouldn't work out while Rogercop is the Chief of Justice," I countered as I stood up beside him, Ladybug following suit.
"How many times have we saved Paris?" Chat groaned. Ladybug smiled.
"We're still saving Paris."
Chat jumped down to be a distraction, beginning to tap dance under the spotlight and saying something about how something about Paris makes him want to dance. I almost began laughing at that as Ladybug and I snuck into the city hall, but opted for a smile instead and held back the laugh. Ladybug glanced over to me as we made our way to the Mayor's office.
"Camouflage!" I chatted as I then turned invisible. Ladybug hid behind a corner as I successfully took out the guards in the foyer of the city hall. After I signalled with a whistle for her to go up the stairs with me, we repeated this twice until we got to the Mayor's office, and my invisibility had worn off by then. We had successfully made it without getting caught or making a ruckus. "They should be in here."
Ladybug and I quickly pushed open the door as we snuck in. I spotted Rogercop staring out the window, Chloe and her father seated in front of the big desk. Chloe turned around and looked at Ladybug and I as we hid close to the ground, and I held up a finger to signal her to be quiet.
"Go Camoufler go!" Chloe chanted a bit too loudly from her seat, making me facepalm while Ladybug sighed. Rogercop turned around and spotted us, so we stood up and came out from our spot in the corner.
"Ladybug and Camoufler, it is time for justice to prevail," Rogercop recited in his robotic voice. He then revealed his blasters, and the two of us swung our weapons to serve as shields from the blasts.
"You've got justice and revenge all mixed up, Rogercop," Ladybug retorted as she threw her yo-yo up into the air. "Lucky Charm!"
A pair of oven mitts fell into her hands, and she looked at them confusedly before looking around. My Miraculous beeped once, showing I was down to three minutes. Before Ladybug could say anything to me, Rogercop started firing at us again, making us jump around to dodge his blasts.
We ended up taking shelter behind a glass table, no longer at risk of being hit. Chat Noir ran in just then, momentarily distracting Rogercop from us for a moment. We took that to our advantage, flipping over the table and joining Chat on either of his slides.
Rogercop then blew a whistle, and looked at Chloe and Mayor Bourgeois. "Get Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Camoufler."
The two of them ran at us while yelling in protest, though I easily picked up the Mayor while Ladybug picked up Chloe, the two of us tossing them out of the room while Chat slammed the door shut behind them. We dodged and hid behind a table as Rogercop's blasts missed us.
"His akuma must be in his whistle," Ladybug said. I tapped my fingers on my knees anxiously as my Miraculous beeped once again, showing I only had two minutes left. She looked over at my bracelet. "Let's get this done quick."
We ran out of her spot once Rogercop found us once again, jumping on top of the table. We ran to the other side of the room, hiding behind a fallen piece of roof. I looked around in Hidden Vision as Ladybug looked around in Licky Vision, highlighted objects appearing in our visions.
I grabbed the belt from the coat beside us, handing it to Ladybug. The girl sighed, "I've got a plan, but I still need something like a ring."
Before we could continue planning, Rogercop punched a hole through the planks of wood stabbed into the floor. We ran out from behind the wood and over to behind the cart beside the desk where the other oven mitt hung.
"Where would we get a ring from?" I wondered as I looked around.
"Camie, over there," Chat whispered as he pointed towards a potted plant. Chloe's missing bracelet sat right there, shining on the ground.
"Perfect." I used my whip to grab it and bring it back to us, handing it to Ladybug.
"Fend off Rogercop as long as you can. Camoufler only has less than another two minutes," Ladybug directed. Chat nodded. He raised his hand, and activated a Cataclysm. He darted out from our hiding spot, destroying the ground underneath Rogercop and forcing him to fall. However, he got shot with the blasters in the process, red and blue cuffs appearing around his wrists.
Ladybug handed me the makeshift gloves she made, and we joined in the action. Jumping in the air, Rogercop focused on me as he shot at me. I leapt right at him, putting the two over mitts on his hands and pulling them tight. I held the belt and kept his hands bound while Ladybug yanked the whistle from around his neck, destroying it and releasing the akuma.
"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma." Opening her yo-yo, Ladybug swung it around and de-evilized the akuma. Releasing it into the air as a pure whit butterfly, she took the Lucky Charm mitt and threw it in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
After everything returned to normal, Chat joined Ladybug and I.
"Pound it!"
"As Rogercop would say, 'Justice has prevailed in the streets of Paris'," Chat imitated Rogercop's voice, holding out his hands. Just then, both our Miraculouses beeped, mine much more violent than Chat's. As Ladybug turned to Officer Roger to help him up, Chat turned to me. "I'd stick around, but then you'd see me without my mask, and you wouldn't be able to resist me."
"Oh really? I bet you'd fall head over heels for me instantly," I smiled in response. Chat grabbed my hand, kissing the top of it.
"I'll take your word for it, m'lady." He then smiled and ran out, and I was about to do the same until I noticed Chloe's purse. I smiled as I took the bracelet, slipping it inside. Wonder how she'll react tomorrow in school.
I then sprinted out of the room, realizing I had less than a minute to find a spot and turn back. I quickly descended to the first floor of the city hall by jumping over the railing, landing right behind the reception desk. Landing in a squat, I sighed in relief as I transformed back just as I was out of view.
"You've been cutting it a bit too close lately," Ellie noted as we hid under the wooden desk. I sighed as I pulled out a cookie.
"You've got that right," I murmured as she began eating. Poking my head up, I noticed there were no guards anywhere around us and it'd be fine to leave. "Alright, let's go while we can."
Hurrying out of the building, Ellie and I made our way home quickly. Hopefully, we'd make it back before my dad noticed I'd been gone all day.