"Between Chat Noir and Marinette, I need to take a break" sighed Arianne as she got into her house. First, she had been trying to help Marinette ask Adrien out, but she was always stalling and got extremely nervous, and now Chat Noir had told something to Theo that made him go away, not to mention his weird behaviour.
"Why don't you watch some TV?" suggested Ayu "It's a way to relieve stress"
"Yeah, I think I'll do that" nodded Arianne. After that, maybe she could practice a bit "But first, I'm thirsty. I need a drink" she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat on the couch in front of the TV. A news report was on.
"There's been a spectacular theft on the Louvre" announced the reporter. Arianne narrowed her eyes as she drank some water "A video showed that without a shadow of a doubt, the thief is none other than the famous hero Chat Noir" upon hearing that, Arianne spit the water from the shock, and, soon, disgust was written all over her face.
"Okay, that was totally disgusting, but what?!" there was no way that the Chat Noir she knew could do something like that.
Arianne watched closely as the Chat Noir in the screen ran off from the museum with a painting underneath his arm, while everyone watched him in surprise.
"That's such a lie!" complained Arianne standing up, as she yelled to the screen "Chat Noir would never do that!"
"I agree with you, Aria" said Ayu, floating in front of her "Something's not right, and we have to find out what it is"
"The break's gonna have to wait" stated Arianne "Ayu, transform me!"
Once she turned into Loup d'Argent, she travelled through the roofs, 'until she reached one that had a perfect view of the Louvre. There were several police officers standing guard, and many people crowding, Alya amongst them. Of course she would be there. She really admired Paris's heroes; she even had a blog dedicated to Ladybug, called the Ladyblog.
She grabbed her bow and pressed a button on it, one she used to communicate with Ladybug and Chat Noir. In this case, she pressed the paw and a screen appeared.
"Kitty, what is going on?" she asked once he answered "I know you didn't steal that painting"
"I knew you'd believe me!" she gave him a 'seriously?' stare, and Chat Noir got the message. He had to take it seriously and stop flirting "It was an impostor"
"I thought so" replied Loup with a nod "Where are you now?"
"The gallery" he replied "I'm trapped"
"Alright" said the girl firmly "Don't do anything stupid. You're already in trouble, we don't want more. I'll get you out of there. I'm a few blocks away"
"Copy that" replied Chat Noir with a nod "Thanks"
"But I still want to know what you told Theo" she chuckled upon seeing Chat Noir opening his eyes wide in panic, before ending the call "Alright, let's get to work"
When she finally arrived to the Louvre, she saw that Ladybug was already there, and a wave of relief washed over her upon seeing her.
"You don't believe he actually stole that painting, do you?" questioned Ladybug looking at her partner, who couldn't believe she was saying that.
"Of course not" replied Loup as-a-matter-of-fact "He's not capable of doing that. He told me that it was an impostor"
"Chat Noir is running away!" they heard a voice informing the guard through the radio, and the duo rushed inside, where all the guards at the stairs were on the floor.
"That cat!" complained Loup, stomping her foot "I told him not to do anything!"
"If he is so innocent, then why is he running away?" questioned the guard.
"Well, if you were wrongly imprisoned wouldn't you run?" shot back Ladybug. Loup was about to say something else, but Ladybug's yoyo rung and a green phone appeared on the screen, which meant that someone was calling. In this case, Chat Noir. The friends exchanged glances before going to a secluded place so the guard wouldn't hear them.
"Kitty, when I tell you 'don't do anything stupid', that's exactly what I mean!" scolded the wolf girl as they rushed up the stairs "And then you go and knock ten guards on your own?! We want to fix this, not make it worse!"
"This is really serious" added Ladybug "Don't play around!"
"I'm gonna find the real culprit and save my tail! I—" the call was cut off when a helicopter appeared behind Chat Noir, forcing him to run away. Ladybug and Loup d'Argent didn't hesitate on rushing outside. He was running through the balconies as two helicopters followed him.
"Aren't you gonna go after him?" asked the guard, looking at the girls.
"We're gonna leave it to the experts" replied Ladybug, so the guard wouldn't be on them all day, before wrapping her yoyo around a light post and flying off.
"See ya!" greeted the other girl, before propelling herself up a roof with her bow.
After some minutes, Chat Noir called Loup.
"Where are you now?" asked the wolf immediately, as Ladybug leaned over her shoulder to see him, too.
"I found his den!" was Chat Noir's reply.
"Who?" questioned Ladybug, sort of confused. She really didn't know what he was talking about.
"The copycat?" guessed the other girl, and Chat Noir nodded.
"I'm not getting either one of you" said Ladybug.
"If you had been there this morning, you'd know what we're talking about" replied the cat, and Loup opened her eyes wide.
"Wait, Theo? He is the copycat?" that wasn't possible, was it? He looked so nice earlier that day! She had a hard time imagining him as an akumatized person.
"Exactly, and I'm gonna stop him"
"How do you know?"
"Who's Theo?" Ladybug chimed in, not understanding anything they were saying.
"The lollipop stick he had this morning was there in the Louvre. It was the exact same one" explained the cat, ignoring Ladybug's question, and the wolf nodded.
"Can't you tell us where you are?" Ladybug spoke up once again, and she received an answer this time.
"No" he replied firmly "This is between me and him. I got myself into this mess, and now I'm gonna get myself out"
"We are a team!" argued Loup "We—" but she couldn't finish her sentence, because Chat Noir ended the call "Ugh, he's so stubborn sometimes!" she complained, before looking at Ladybug "We have to help him out"
"I agree" she replied "But, first, we got to know where he is" she took out her yoyo, which showed a map, and a paw, showing them where Chat Noir was.
"Hey, I want to have a multi use tool, too!" complained Loup. The only thing she could do with her bow was to call her partners.
"You can turn into a silver wolf, don't complain" shot back Ladybug, as they went in the direction of their partner's position.
Ladybug called him once more after some minutes.
"Ladybug, hurry up!" replied Chat Noir, though it was actually Theo, but either one of them could tell the difference "I've caught the impostor, Theo Barbo's workshop"
"We'll be there in ten seconds!" replied Loup as they ran towards the workshop.
"Don't come here, Loup d'Argent! It's a trap!" yelled the real Chat Noir, but Theo ended the call before they could listen.
"There you are!" said Theo sort of lovingly, as he stared at the wolf girl. Theo was holding Chat Noir against the floor, about to grab his miraculous.
"Chat Noir, he really looks like you" admitted Ladybug, as she was right. They looked exactly the same, practically twins.
"That's because I am me!" replied one of the Chat Noirs.
"Where's his akuma?" asked Loup, ignoring the comment.
"Inside his ring, of course!" replied Theo, showing her Chat Noir's hand "Grab it" the wolf girl nodded and knelt down. She was about to grab the ring, when one of the pads in the ring disappeared.
"He even has the same powers as you" observed Ladybug, impressed.
"Simply amazing, isn't it?" questioned Theo.
"If you don't believe in the real Chat Noir" said the real Chat Noir, staring at Loup d'Argent "Ask him about our love for each other" this caused the wolf to frown "Have I ever liked you, m'lady?" he said with a wink. He was lying, of course, because he was head over whiskers for her, but she didn't know that. Loup smiled, and let his hand go, to lean her face extremely close to Theo's.
"You didn't tell him about us, did you?" she questioned in a flirty manner "'Cause you know, I'd like to keep that hidden"
"W-what?" he stuttered. She was extremely close to him, which made him nervous.
"You know what I'm talking about" she replied with a smile "That night, at the top of the Eiffel tower?" she was inventing the situation, and trying to make it as believable as possible "You know, when we kissed? Don't pretend to have forgotten that" Ladybug and the real Chat Noir were very impressed with her story. If they didn't know she was lying they would definitely have believed it.
"No, of course I didn't!" he replied with a smile, and Loup smiled triumphantly. He was the copycat "I didn't say a word"
"That's good" replied the wolf "That means you are lying, copycat!" she stepped away from him, and Theo looked incredibly pissed.
"I love you, Loup d'Argent! I'm way better than this alley cat!" said Theo, grabbing Chat Noir from the collar.
"Liars are losers, didn't you know that?" she questioned "Chat Noir may annoy me to pieces, but he never lied to me, and I don't think he will"
"Thanks for the compliment" said Chat Noir "I think..." that being said, he kicked the copycat and stood up, though he was still chained.
"If I can't have you, then nobody will!" said the Copycat. He invoked his Cataclysm, and Ladybug her Lucky Charm, which was a spoon.
"A spoon?" she questioned just like every other time the Lucky Charm gave her something "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"A nice cup of tea?" suggested Loup, taking out her bow. The Copycat approached them with his cataclysm, but the silver wolf was fast enough to grab Chat Noir's chains and put them in front of Theo, who touched them and broke them. Then, Chat Noir pushed him towards the wall on the other side.
"Excellent job, m'lady" complimented Chat Noir to Loup, who winked at him.
"Where's his akuma?" questioned Ladybug.
"Photo in his pocket. Let's make a snack!" replied the cat.
"You are going to change back before me!" said the Copycat with some kind of evil laughter. Chat Noir and Copycat started to fight, and Copycat managed to push Chat Noir away. Then, it was Ladybug's turn, and Copycat could dodge all of her attacks.
"Alright" replied Loup with a sigh "I guess I'm going to be the heartbreaker here"
She attacked Theo with her bow, but he blocked her attacks, too.
"He's pretty good" complimented Loup from the floor when Theo pushed her away. It would be hard to beat him.
"Don't need to rub it in!" complained Chat Noir as he fought him.
"Told you I was better than him" reminded Theo, which made Loup d'Argent roll her eyes.
"Nah, I still prefer the kitty" said the wolf, making Chat Noir smile "And either way, Ladybug is better than all of us" she said that as Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around Chat Noir's stick, which Theo had been holding 'till then, and passed it to Chat Noir.
"That is true!" agreed Ladybug in a sing-y voice. Chat Noir and Copycat fought with their sticks, 'till both ended on the floor, but the cats kept fighting, and Loup was growing annoyed.
"Oh, c'mon!" she approached both cats, and wrapped her ponytail on the wrist closer to her (You didn't know she could do that, huh? When she turned, her hair grew extremely long).
"Hey, it's me!" complained the cat whose wrist she was holding.
"He's lying, I'm the real one!" said the other one.
"Oh, shut up both of you!" she snapped "You are both becoming annoying now!" both cats stared at her quietly "Show me your rings, how many pads do you have left?" the cat whose wrist she was holding smirked and showed her his ring. He only had one pad left, while the other one still had four other ones "Thank you!" she said, glad that it was finally solved. She let him go "Chat Noir, scratch attack!"
"Gladly" said the cat "I love a good cat fight!" they started to fight once again, and Loup d'Argent looked at Ladybug.
"Figured out what do with the spoon yet?" she asked "Besides tea" Ladybug looked around and, somehow, managed to make a fishing net. She fished the picture, and de-evilized it. She then turned the dark akuma into a white one again, which went flying away. Finally, she used her powers to return everything to normal.
"I'm so glad you could tell the real cat from the fake one" admitted Chat Noir to Loup. The occasions in which she stayed with them 'till the end were very rare, since, when she used her powers, she immediately had to go, so they wouldn't know who she really was. Because of that, when she could stay, it was great, and they really enjoyed it. They were a team, after all.
"Once I figure out which cat was really in love with me, it was not that hard" she replied, as Chat Noir rubbed his neck nervously "Oh, before leaving, you should know that I know what was going on back at the ceremony" Chat Noir looked at her surprised. Yep, she had recently realized, just some minutes ago, actually, that Chat Noir was jealous of Theo "And you should know that you don't have to worry. Yes, you may be annoying at times, but you are irreplaceable" she didn't know he was jealous in a romantic way, though.
"Thanks" replied Chat Noir, glad to hear that "You better help the fellow out, looks like his crush just got crushed" Loup smiled at him and watched after him until he was gone, before turning to look at Theo.
"What am I doing here?" he asked, looking around disoriented, just like every akumatized victim did after everything returned to normal. The girl knelt in front of him "Loup d'Argent?"
"Hi, Theo" replied the wolf with a kind smile "Hey, I sort of know now what you were going to ask me earlier this morning" he was going to ask her on a date, she realized that when Copycat said she was in love with her. Akumatized people may be controlled, but their feelings were still the same.
"You-you do?" he questioned.
"Yeah" she nodded "And...it's hard for me to say this, but...my heart belongs to someone else" Ladybug looked at her surprised upon hearing that "I still think you're a cool guy, though, and the statues you made were beautiful" she didn't want to completely break his heart.
"I understand" he nodded "And it's alright. Not everyone gets what they want" Loup smiled at him.
"Trust me, I know" replied the girl, thinking about Adrien. Her very platonic, and off-limits, love.