Band of Secrets (Miraculous)

Panting could be heard as Cat Noir rushed to fight crime under the heat of the sun in the afternoon. Unfortunately for him, by the time he got there

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Ladybug had used her superpower to fix everything after defeating a supervillain again. Cat Noir sighed as he watched Ladybug give the recently de-akumatized person a magical charm, before fist-bumping Rena Rouge.

“Pound it!” the girls happily said.

“Pound it indeed,” an unhappy Cat Noir commented out loud, landing right behind them and catching their attention.

“Cat Noir!” Ladybug responded, “I’m sorry, but you’re too…”

“Late? Of course I am, the villain’s already been defeated the moment I got here! Again!” Cat Noir pointed out.

“Sorry Cat Noir, we just got to defeat the villain as soon as possible!” Ladybug apologised.

“I know, but we’re still a team, aren’t we?” Cat Noir asked, frowning.

“Of course we are! You’re irreplaceable, remember?” Ladybug reminded.

“Sure I remember, but you still just…” Cat Noir began, before being cut off by Ladybug’s earrings and Rena Rouge’s necklace beeping.

“Looks like we’ve got to go now, really got to go!” Rena Rouge pointed out.

“Sorry Cat Noir, but we’ll see each other again, soon!” Ladybug waved, “Bug out!”

Cat Noir sighed after the two superheroines left together, leaving him alone. He then returned to his room, saying, “Claws in,” and detransformed into Adrien.

“What a terrible waste of time!” Plagg ranted, “We transformed and went all the way across the city just to see that it wasn’t necessary to do so?!”

“Plagg, Ladybug just defeated a supervillain without me, again!” Adrien added.

“And isn’t that a good thing?” Plagg asked.

“What?! No! She’s defeating villains without me! Without Cat Noir!” Adrien voiced out.

“So that means she doesn’t need you to be Cat Noir to help her out! And that means our days of work and transforming are over, and we can just enjoy a luxurious routine of eating cheese…” Plagg began, before noticing his owner’s sad expressions becoming even worse.

“I’m so sorry, Adrien! That hurts, doesn’t it?” Plagg asked, concerned.

“More than ever…Ladybug’s been saving Paris without me more often now…as she’s got Rena Rouge!” Adrien sadly sighed.

“Come on, I thought you liked more superhero allies!” Plagg pointed out.

“Sure I do…as long as they don’t replace me…” Adrien clarified, just before both he and his kwami heard a loud explosion.

“What was that?!” the teenager asked, looking out his window.

“Another supervillain I presume?” Plagg asked.

“In that case…Plagg, claws out!” Adiren shouted, as he transformed into Cat Noir, rushing out to save Paris. But before he could even do something…

A bee-themed superheroine appeared and immobolized the supervillain, allowing Ladybug to break the akumatized object, release and purify the akuma, before shouting, “Miraculous Ladybug” to return everything to normal.

Cat Noir frowned as he silently watched the entire scene; Ladybug, Rena Rouge and Vesperia fist-bumping and saying, “Pound it!” before running off to detransform.

Meanwhile, at the top of the Eiffel Tower…

"Told you…I can…do…it…” an exhausted Kim panted, after climbing the stairs all the way up to the top.

“I told you that you should take the lift like the rest of us! Now you’re 58 minutes and 49 seconds late!” Max informed.

“Let him rest, Max!” Max’s pet robot Markov insisted.

“At least we’re all here, now.” Nathaniel added.

“And now we’re down to business!” Nino declared, “Adrien’s not being himself lately; he’s getting gloomier and gloomier each passing day!”

Nino showed photos of him and Adrien at school, and neither of them ever smiled.

“Aren’t you looking gloomy too?” Kim asked.

“That’s because he’s concerned for Adrien,” Nathaniel explained.

“Nathaniel’s right. I am concerned for Adrien! He’s my buddy! My bro! I’m his best friend!” Nino explained.

“And?” Ivan asked.

“As his best friend, I got to cheer him up!” Nino declared.

“So that’s why you called us up here?” Kim asked. “To talk about cheering Adrien up?”

“Well, yeah! Partially yeah, because this is the one place where no one can find out about what we’re doing, and this is serious!” Nino replied.

“Serious indeed, because when someone is unhappy for over 90% of the time, they can get unhealthy and ill from feeling such negative emotions for so long…” Markov stated.

“So that’s why we need to cheer him up!” Nino returned to the main topic.

“But with his dad and busy schedule, there’s no way we can just cheer him up anytime!” Nathaniel pointed out.

“We can send him another video like on the anniversary of his mum’s…disappearance…” Ivan suggested.

“Didn’t we already try that?” Max asked.

“Now that you mentioned it, we did.” Kim commented.

“But that didn’t do much good,” Nino held up his phone, before playing a video that was Adrien’s response.

“Thank you all for trying to cheer me up, guys. I’m lucky to have friends like you…but I’m afraid that that’s not enough…to completely cheer me up…”

“He still looks really gloomy…” Nathaniel commented.

“Sounded very gloomy, too..” Ivan added.

“That’s the problem! Nothing we tried has cheered him up!” Nino blurted out, “Something’s upsetting him really badly! But he never even let us know what it is!”

“He might have a hard time telling us…” Kim suggested.

“If only he could and would…” Ivan added.

“I think I have a solution!” Max announced, “What if we gave him a sketchbook to write or draw, or express what’s bothering him to us, in any way he likes?!”

“Expressing something anyway I like has always made me feel good…” Nathaniel smiled.

“It works for me too! No matter how strong I can ever get!” Kim added.

“Then it’s settled! Operation: Cheer Adrien Up, is in go!” Nino announced, before the boys did a fist-bump together.

The next day in School, the boys’ plan was set into action. Adrien got a text from Nino saying that there was a change in school plans on that very day, he and the boys needed to be there earlier than usual to meet up.

“Don’t worry father, my friends assured me, it’s just for today…” Adrien told his father through the phone, before ending the voicemail.

As soon as he got into the classroom, Adrien gasped to see the rest of the boys in his class all waiting for him.

“Adrien Agreste, as your dudes and bros, we have come together to make you this!” Nino presented a newly-bought sketchbook to his best friend, with Kim, Max, Nathaniel and Ivan behind him(Nino).

“Don’t need to thank us nor pay us, it’s a gift!” Ivan added.

“We bought it with our own savings all together!” Kim added.

“100%!” Max added.

“Thanks you guys, but…I don’t really do much sketching…” Adrien replied, trying to smile and not hurt his classmate friends’ feelings all at the same time.

“Actually, we got it for you so you can express what’s in your mind anyway you likeNathaniel informed.

“Wait, what?” Adrien asked.

“We all figured out that there’s something bothering you, dude.” Nino began.

“But you won’t tell us what it is,” Ivan added.

“So we got you the sketchbook…” Nathaniel continued.

“For you to express it through any way you like!” Kim ended.

“Okay, that’s sweet and thoughtful of you guys, but I’m afraid that there’s no way I can express what’s bothering me…” Adrien responded, holding up one of his hands like a stop sign.

“Come on, Adrien! We’re your dudes! Your buds! You can tell us!” Nino assured.

“We promise we won’t tell anyone else, 100%.” Max saluted.

“I’ll try my very best to keep it a secret!” Ivan added.

“That’s what best friends are for!” Nino continued.

Knowing that if he told them the truth about what was upsetting him recently, his secret as Cat Noir would be out of the bag. In order to keep his secret identity safe, Adrien closed his eyes before unleashing them open, angrily blurting out, “You know what, guys? I don’t want you as my friends anymore!”

The five boys gasped to receive that response from their friend.

“Dude...I mean Adrien, you can’t seriously mean that…” Nino tried to talk some sense into his best friend, but his efforts were in vain.

“I am serious! I mean it! I do not want to be friends with you anymore! Leave me alone!” Adrien shouted, before storming out of the classroom, leaving his speechless friends looking down in despair.

From his lair, Shadow Moth sensed the five boys’ negative emotions and sad out loud, “The feeling of losing one of the dearest person in their lives! What can be better prey than that for my little akumas?”

After turning a white butterfly into an akuma, Shadow Moth told his minion, “Fly away my little Akuma, and evilize their broken hearts!”

In the classroom…the five boys were still upset with what recently happened with Adrien.

“I can’t believe I just lost my best bud…” Nino sadly said, as he passed the sketchbook to Ivan.

“I never thought that this would happen…” Ivan sadly cried, as he passed the book to Kim.

“How can we ever thought that this will work?” Kim asked sadly, as he passed the book to Max.

“I should have known that there’s no such thing as a 100% of the time!” Max cried, before finally passing the sketchbook to Nathaniel.

“It….just can’t end like this!” Nathaniel cried, before the akuma infected the sketchbook he was holding, causing him and the rest of the boys to get akumatized.

“Bubbler, Stone Heart, Dark Cupid, Gamer and Evillustrator, I am Shadow Moth, and you all are now the Band of Secrets! Your friend doesn’t want to be your friend anymore just because he’s keeping some secrets from you? I’m giving you all your powers back, so you can force him to tell you his secrets! But don’t forget to get me Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous in return!” the moth-and-peacock themed supervillain told the teenaged boys.

“Adrien will be our bro again!” Nino declared.

“No matter what!” Ivan added.

“100% affirmative!” Max continued.

“We will succeed in learning his secrets!” Kim went on.

“Every last detail!” Nathaniel ended, before the akumatization was complete, turning them into their previous akumatized forms.

“I’ll go capture him!” Bubbler declared.

“I’ll make him tell us his secrets, by making him hate keeping secrets!” Dark Cupid added.

“I’ll draw him everything and anything he wants to make him happy again!” Evillustrator continued.

“He’ll be our friend again, 100% affirmative!” Gamer went on.

“And if any of those annoying super goody-two-shoes try to interfere, Stone Heart will take good care of them!” Bubbler ended as Stone Heart hit the ground with his mighty stone fists in response.

In the Locker Room, Adrien sighed as he looked at all the photos he took with his classmates. Plagg silently watched, just before noticing some super bubbles headed their way.

“Adrien look out!” the kwami called to his owner, causing Adrien to notice the danger he was in; he was surrounded by huge super bubbles that could only be made by none other than…Nino’s akumatized form the Bubbler!

“No need to be scared, Adrien! It’s me! Your dude!” the Bubbler announced, standing on top of a bubble close to the ceiling of the Locker Room.

Adrien gasped to see his best friend akumatized and targeting him.

“Now tell me all your secrets and I’ll spare everyone in the city from getting trapped and sent to space!” Bubbler threatened, “And if you don’t…you already know what will happen!”

Fortunately for Adrien, a yo-yo came in and snagged him away from Bubbler and the supervillain’s bubbles.

“Ladybug!” Bubbler growled, as the superheroine zipped off with Adrien.

“Don’t worry Adrien, I’ll get you to somewhere safe!” Ladybug assured, carrying Adrien in her arms and running on the roofs of the buildings just before she stopped to dodge Gamer’s beam.

“You’re not leaving this game with Mr. Not-so-Perfect, Ladybug!” Gamer scowled from inside his floating pyramid.

“Gamer?!” Ladybug and Adrien asked in unison.

“Just give us Adrien and your Miraculous, little lady…” the Evillustrator approached, threatening to draw something on the akumatized sketchbook he had, which would come to life and be used against his targets.

“Or I can simply shoot you both and change your minds by making you hate what you refuse to do now!” Dark Cupid added, aiming two arrows at the superheroine and supermodel.

“Or we can separate you two, with Stone Heart taking a hold of your Miraculous, Ladybug!” Bubbler pointed his wand at Stone Heart, letting the stone supervillain get noticed by their enemies.

“This can’t be!” Ladybug cried, “Another group of five people getting akumatized at the exact same time?!”

“It’s…kind of a long story…” Adrien sadly responded.

“Enough talking!” Dark Cupid shouted, annoyed.

“Your chances of getting away from us are as slim as 10%!” Gamer added.

“Unless you surrender to us!” the Evillustrator smirked, closing in on the surrounded Ladybug and Adrien, just like the other villains.

“The Band of Secrets!” Stone Heart finished.

Hiding in Marintte’s room, which was near the school, Rena Rouge witnessed the supervillains confronting Ladybug and Adrien, before playing her flute.

“Mirage!”

The sky suddenly turned dark and lightning shot down right in front of the villains, surprising them and distracting them so they would not notice Ladybug and Adrien escaping.

“What’s this?!” Evilustrator asked.

“How can it suddenly turn so cloudy?!” Gamer asked.

“With lightning?!” Dark Cupid added, just before he turned and noticed Ladybug carrying Adrien, was already far away, hopping off to get away from the Band of Secrets.

“They’re getting away!”

“Oh, they’re not going to do that so easily!” Bubbler declared, “Get them!”

The five supervillains rocketed after their enemies, but unbeknownst to them, that what they were chasing was an illusion, so was the sudden dark clouds and lightning. Rena Rouge had created it in order to lure the villains away on a wild goose chase.

Underneath the city, in the sewers, Ladybug led Adrien to safety in a room with lockers.

“I know that this isn’t the cleanest place to hide, but it’s the one place I can think of where the villains won’t think of looking for you.” Ladybug explained.

“It’s okay Ladybug, you know that I’ve hidden from villains here before,” Adrien assured, “Like when Desperada attacked.”

“Speaking of villains, I have to go back up there to fight them. Hopefully Rena Rouge and Cat Noir are already doing something.” Ladybug said.

Adrien was surprised to hear her say that. “Did you just say that you hope that Cat Noir is doing something about the villains?”

“Even though I have Rena Rouge on my side so often nowadays, I still need Cat Noir. He’s irreplaceable, helpful and most of all, important to me. I can never imagine being Ladybug without him.” Ladybug explained and described, causing a warm smile to grow on Adrien’s face.

“Well, I hope Cat Noir shows up just as much as you do.” Adrien replied.

Ladybug smiled in return, before remembering the situation, “Great to know, but don’t forget. You got to stay here until it’s over. I’ll come back down here to get you as soon as I defeat the Band of Secrets!”

“Whatever you say, Ladybug.” Adrien responded, before hiding in one of the lockers. Ladybug smiled before leaving, running off to get back to the ground above the sewers.

As soon as the superheroine left, Adrien began a conversation with his kwami, “Did you hear that Plagg?”

“Sure did! Ladybug said that Cat Noir is important to her!” Plagg replied.

“That is everything I needed to hear to cheer me up…” Adrien dreamily said, just before he was interrupted by the loud stomping of Stone Heart.

“And that is everything I need to hear that says there’s some super mumbo jumbos on the loose up there!” Plagg added.

In Paris, the Band of Secrets were indeed wrecking all the havoc they could wreck, all while looking for Adrien.

“Adrien, my dude?!” the Bubble called, as he went rocketing through the streets, capturing everyone out in the open inside his super bubbles. Gamer then zapped the bubbles with people trapped in them, gaining power points to power up to a robot with two legs.

“Level 2! Much better than level 1!” Gamer exclaimed before laughing evilly.

The Evillustrator erased the walls of the buildings around him, exposing he people inside and allowing Bubbler’s bubbles capture them so that Gamer could turn them into energy points to continue levelling up.

Stone Heart threw cars and vehicles all over the place while Dark Cupid shot his arrows at the not captured citizens from afar, causing them to shout, “We hate Paris! We’re leaving this pathetic city forever and live somewhere else!”

Back in the locker room in the sewers, Adrien told Plagg, “You’re right. Paris is in danger! All because of me…I got to fix this! And save my friends!”

“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien shouted, and transformed into his superhero alter-ego, Cat Noir. Unlike most of the times, instead of a smile, he transformed with a frown, sad that everyone was in danger because of him.

As soon as the transformation sequence was over, Cat Noir received a message from Ladybug on his staff.

“Cat Noir, I know that I’ve been getting lots of help from Rena Rouge and our allies lately, but I still need you! I can never imagine being a superheroine without you! Please, help! Rena and I can never take on five supervillains called the Band of Secrets without you!”

Cat Noir smiled to see that message, before saying out loud, “Aw, thanks m’lady! That’s the most meow-vellous thing I’ve heard!”

Back in Paris, Rena Rouge and Ladybug were waiting at the exact place where Ladybug would start her patrols with Cat Noir.

“He’s been taking a while, isn’t he?” Rena Rouge asked.

“Oh…I hope that he can make it this time! One of the last times he didn’t show up, was because he was turned into a pigeon by Mr. Pigeon! “ Ladybug voiced her worries out loud, before gasping, “What if he’s already captured in one of those bubbles and absorbed by Gamer?! Or, injured by Stone Heart?! Or…left Paris because he was shot by Dark Cupid?!”

“Ladybug, if he can’t show up, we’ll handle this together!” Rena Rouge assured her best friend.

Ladybug smiled for a while, before looking at her yo-yo in its phone mode, “But…I already told him…that I can never imagine being superheroine without…him…”

“I’m gladder than ever to hear that, m’lady,” Cat Noir said, caching the girls’ attention as he showed up.

“Kitty!” Ladybug happily cried, hugging her partner.

Rena Rouge smiled to see the two hug, before they let go.

“I’m just glad to know that I’m still needed here,” Cat Noir told his lady.

“It’s great to see that you can make it this time, Cat Noir. Because dealing with five villains is not going to be easy, especially when anyone of them can have the akuma that gave them their powers.” Ladybug explained.

“And until we destroy their power source, none of them are getting de-akumatized.” Rena Rouge added.

“How about that plan you got the last time there was a five-supervillains-group with the words ‘of secrets’ in their name?” Cat Noir asked Ladybug, giving her a wink.

“Of course! Thanks for the reminder, kitty!” Ladybug replied.

“So…which villain are we going to separate from the rest?” Rena Rouge asked.

“How about the Bubbler?” Cat Noir suggested, gaining the girls’ attention.

“The Bubbler? Why?” Ladybug asked.

Cat Noir struggled to reply, before he quickly came up with a reason, “Because…with the ability to trap us in unbreakable bubbles that only my Cataclysm can break, isn’t he the most dangerous?”

“Now that you said that, I suppose you’re right, kitty!” Rena Rouge commented.

“That’s the purr-fect idea Cat Noir! You’re really becoming helpful!” Ladybug praised.

“Was that a pun I just heard, m’lady?” Cat Noir asked, smirking as he inched closer to her.

“No time for more, kitty! We got work to do!” Ladybug reminded.

“Adrien Agreste!” the Bubbler shouted, as his bubbles broadcasted his words, “If you must know, we’ve already gotten rid of everyone in Paris but you! You only got us to spend time with, be with, and tell everything to! Show yourself or we might as well go to even higher levels by eliminating the rest of the world!”

The next second, Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up to confront the supervillains.

“You’ll never find him!” the ladybug-themed superheroine declared.

“The moment is now. Seize their Miraculous!” Shadow Moth ordered the supervillains.

“You guys take care of Cat Noir! I’ll get Ladybug, and Adrien!” Bubbler instructed the other supervillains.

“Roger that, Bubbler!” Dark Cupid replied.

“100% affirmative!” Gamer added in his powerful, fully levelled-up to maximum power robot.

“Easy as I draw!” Evillustrator went on, before they parted ways with Bubbler.

Little did the supervillains know, was that the Ladybug and Cat Noir they were chasing were illusions made and controlled by Rena Rouge, who was in Marinette’s room with the other kwamis. The real Ladybug and Cat Noir were in the stair way at the Mayor’s hotel, waiting for Bubbler to fall into their trap. As soon as the Ladybug illusion went into the staircase lobby, Rena spoke the cancellation words, “Mirage vanish!” causing both illusions to disappear, without the supervillains seeing.

“Where is that cat?!” Dark Cupid asked.

“He must be here somewhere!” Gamer insisted.

“Let’s all find him!” Evilustrator declared.

“And take his Miraculous!” Stone Heart ended.

At the Hotel’s staircase, Bubbler was immediately caught by the real Ladybug as she lassoled him with her yo-yo the moment he opened the door to get in. Cat Noir then grabbed he supervillain’s bubble wand out of its owner’s hand and broke it, only to find no akuma in it.

“Bad luck for you two, super goodies! Especially when you got a black cat! I sure don’t have the akuma!” Bubbler taunted.

Cat Noir was offended by the supervillain’s words, especially about him, but he forgot it all when Ladybug began a new conversation.

“Doesn’t matter, we just wanted to talk to you.”

“No way, dudes! There’s no way I’m talking to you, bug lady!” Bubble retorted, turning his head way from the superheroes.

“Perhaps I should take this one, m’lady?” Cat Noir suggested, before approaching Bubbler, “Bubbler, you’re a DJ and a student named Nino, am I right?”

“Still not talking!” Bubbler continued retorting.

“Listen, I’ve heard that Nino is best friends with Adrien Agreste, the famous supermodel in Paris. But I can tell that Nino’s a true friend to Adrien, for liking Adrien for who he is as a person, and not as a celebrity!” Cat Noir continued, “And from what I can tell, Adrien’s really lucky to have Nino, a friend he can talk to all day…but now, it seems like something’s gotten in between them…like a fight…I can tell that by what you did today, Nino…”

Bubbler started to get affected by Cat Noir’s words, before Shadow Moth began telling the akumatized supervillain, “Do not listen to him! He just wants you to get rid of your own powers!”

“Nino, I know you’re in there. Whatever that got between you and Adrien may hurt, but that doesn’t give you the right to go to extremes just to get what you want from him! If there’s something Adrien is keeping a secret from you, he might have a good reason to do it. Not even BFFs know everything about each other. Like, I’m sure can’t know everything about my BFF’s life history 365 days every year since they were born.” Cat Noir continued, “But the main point is, you do not really need to know literally everything about your friend. You should respect his privacy if he has something he wants to keep a secret from you. Learning to respect his decision proves that you are someone he can trust. Right now, I trust you as I have told you all this! Please, reject Shadow Moth’s power!”

“Don’t listen to him, Bubbler!” Shadow Moth’s voice shouted through the lightmask on Bubbler’s face.

“I trust you, Nino! I need you! I need Nino Lahiffe!” Cat Noir cheered, encouraging Bubbler enough to de-akumatize him, causing him to revert back into Nino.

“You did it, kitty!” Ladybug praised.

“No, Nino did it.” Cat Noir warmly replied, as he helped Nino out.

“Band of Secrets, your friend Bubbler had betrayed you. He’s on Ladybug and Cat Noir’s side now!” Shadow Moth informed the rest of the villains, “Get their Miraculous before they take away your powers, too!”

“What’s the akumatized object?” Ladybug asked.

“The sketchbook that Evillustrator has, but there’s no way you dudes can get it from him! Especially when he has his 3 super bad guy friends to keep him company!” Nino informed.

“Then we’re calling more backup!” Ladybug declared, before using her yo-yo to summon the Turtle Miraculous. “Nino, we’re going to need Carapace, now!”

“Wayzz, shell on!” Nino said out loud, as soon as he put on his Miraculous.

“Great to see you again, Carapace!” Cat Noir told the recently transformed Nino.

“Sure, but we don’t have much time, the rest of the Band of Secrets are probably on their way here! We need to leave, now!” Ladybug declared, before leading the boys down the stairs and out of the building, only to come face-to-face with the remaining supervillains.

“Finally we found you, Ladybug and Cat Noir.” Evillustrator smirked.

“Now hand us your Miraculous!” Gamer ordered.

“And Adrien, too!” Dark Cupid added, getting his bow and arrow ready.

“Never!” Ladybug refused, before shouting, “Lucky…”

Before Ladybug could receive something, Evillustrator drew a puncher that hit her in her abdomen, sending her flying back towards the wall.

“M’lady!” Cat Noir cried, just before Carapace shrieked, “Look out!”

Thanks to Carapace’s warning, Cat Noir managed to dodge both Dark Cupid and Gamer’s attacks.

“We got to retreat!” Ladybug called.

“Already on it, Ladybug!” Carapace replied, before running off with Cat Noir.

Unfortunately for Ladybug, before she could get away, Gamer, Stone Heart Dark Cupid cornered her, distracting her long enough for Evillustrator to draw a belt around her mouth to prevent her from calling for help.

Soon, Cat Noir and Carapace were hiding in an alley far away from the hotel.

“I think we lost them, dude.” Carapace commented while panting from running such a long distance.

“Yeah, but, where’s Ladybug?” Cat Noir asked, noticing his lady’s absence.

Just then, the two superheroes saw a huge projection of the Evillustrator in the Paris sky which showed the supervillain broadcasting himself, “Cat Noir, wherever you are, you are given one very big choice to make: Either surrender your Miraculous, or see us take your lady’s then throw her into the Seine river to drown!”

The broadcast then turned to show a struggling Ladybug, who was tied up to an anchor by some metal chains, with the belt still covering her mouth preventing her speech.

“M’lady!” Cat Noir gasped in horror.

“We’re going to count to ten!” Gamer added.

“Once we’re finished, you know what’s going to happen!” Dark Cupid went on.

“Unless you give us your Miraculous!” Stone Heart finished.

“One…” the villains began counting.

“So…now what?” Carapace asked Cat Noir, just before the latter’s staff rang.

“Cat Noir, did you just see the supervillain’s broadcast?! They’re going to…” Rena Rouge began.

“Yes, I know! We got to save Ladybug!” Cat Noir panicked as he replied.

“But how are we going to do that?” Rena Rouge asked.

“Why are you asking me?” Cat Noir asked.

“You’re her second-in-command! You’re the leader at times when she can’t lead!” Rena Rouge replied.

“But not very good at coming up with plans! Obviously when Ladybug was captured by Party Crasher…” Carapace reminded.

“If only Ladybug’s plan to defeat the Gang of Secrets can work just as well with the Band of Secrets!” Rena Rouge commented.

“Wait a second, Rena, that’s it! We’re going to need your illusion power!” Cat Noir replied.

“I’m all charged up!” Rena Rouge replied.

“But, Evillustrator isn’t Timebreaker! His weakness is darkness, not water!” Carapace pointed out.

Cat Noir thought for a while, before noticing the TV Studio, the place where his first battle with Stormy Weather ended. He then remembered that he had to guide Ladybug through the total darkness after the supervillain took out the lights.

“You’re right, Carapace. So there may be a few twists….” Cat Noir replied.

Meanwhile, at the Seine’s bank, Ladybug was becoming increasingly terrified as the count up to ten was almost done.

“Nine and a half…..ten!” the supervillains finished.

“You asked for it, Cat Noir!” Evillustrator broadcasted, “Since you didn’t show up to surrender your Miraculous, we’re going to take Ladybug’s, then throw her into the Seine to drown!”

Just before the supervillains could do so, Adrien suddenly came running towards them, shouting, “Ladybug, no!”

“Adrien!” all four supervillains shouted in unison, before chasing the teenaged boy, completely forgetting about Ladybug.

“Sorry! But I need him for a little while!” Rena Rouge told the villains as she leapt down to grab Adrien and take him to safety.

“Get back here with him!” Stone Heart roared, before he and the others gave chase.

“Wait, no! Go back! Take Ladybug’s Miraculous!” Shadow Moth ordered, but none of the supervillains listened as they were too focused on catching Adrien.

At the Seine, Cat Noir approached the tied up Ladybug and started to free her, starting by taking off the belt covering her mouth, while asking her, “M’’lady! Are you alright?!”

“I am now, but Adrien and Rena sure aren’t!” Ladybug replied.

“Don’t worry, that’s just an illusion to lead the Band of Secrets straight to where we wanted them.” Cat Noir assured, before summoning his superpower to destroy the chains. “Cataclysm!”

As soon as she was freed, Ladybug thanked her partner, “Thanks, kitty. But, where is the illusions going to lead the Band of Secrets to?”

“The TV Studio, where we’re going to get our claws on Evillustrator’s sketchbook and destroy it!” Cat Noir replied.

“So you came up with a whole plan?” Ladybug asked.

“Sure did, just follow me!” Cat Noir instructed, leading the way.

“But, what about my Lucky Charm?!” Ladybug asked, unintentionally triggered her superpower and causing a plastic tubing to appear.

“The same plastic tubing from when Oni-Chan was attacking?” Cat Noir asked.

“It’s super strong, stronger than I originally thought before Mr. Hessenpy told me that it once took two full hours to get a kid untangled,” Ladybug informed.

“Doesn’t matter, Rena’s illusions won’t hold the villains off for long, even though she’s leading them the long way around! We got t get to the TV Studio, now!” Cat Noir insisted.

At the said studio, Carapace was waiting for some superheroes to arrive.

“Ladybug! Cat Noir! You dudes are okay!” he greeted once the duo arrived.

“Rena, we arrived at the Studio, you can start leading the Band of Secrets here now,” Cat Noir used his staff to contact the fox-themed superheroine.

“Roger that, black cat!” Rena answered.

“Quick, follow me, m’lady!” Cat Noir instructed, leading Ladybug inside, while telling Carapace, “You know your part, Carapace!”

“Sure do, dude!” Carapace replied, before walking inside to hide near the entrance.

Soon, the illusions already went in through the doors of the TV Studio, with Evillustrator rocketing after them, chasing them into the stairway. Before the rest of the villains could enter, Carapace shouted, “Shell-ter!” activating the superpower, conjuring up a force field around the entire building to keep the villains out.

“What’s this?! A force field?!” Stone Heart asked.

Inside the Studio, Evillustrator confronted the illusions in one of the huge rooms for broadcasting, “I’ve got you now, you’re not going anywhere until you surrender Adrien!”

“Alright, alright. I’m giving myself up, Evillustrator,” the Adrien illusion said.

“Then tell me your secrets, and I’ll make you feel all better!” Evillustrator demanded, not noticing Ladybug and Cat Noir hiding metres behind him, with Ladybug getting ready to turn off the lights.

But unfortunately for her, Evillustrator suddenly got a message from Shadow Moth, “Evillustrator, the rest of your friends are stuck outside the Studio! You’re in Ladybug and Cat Noir’s trap!”

The akumatized villain quickly spun around to see the duo and their plan. Quickly reacting, he erased the switch, preventing them from turning off the lights. “Nice try, zero heroes, but there’s no way I’m letting you take out my powers!”

Ladybug then tried to use her yo-yo to destroy the lights above, but her plan was seen through by Evillustrator, who erased her yo-yo from existence.

“Don’t worry, m’lady! Just take out the lights some other way!” Cat Noir told his partner, before he charged towards a fight with the akumatized villain.

Ladybug looked around, before figuring out a plan involving her Lucky Charm object and the lights. “Of course!”

“Not even your super powerful superheroine friend can beat me! So what makes you think you can?!” Evillustrator taunted Cat Noir while fighting, not noticing Ladybug using her plastic tubing as a lasso to lasso the lights and bring them down, shattering them and causing the entire studio to be in total darkness.

Evillustrator halted once he realised that he was powerless, as he was unable to use his powers in the dark. With night vision, Cat Noir approached the blinded supervillain and snatched the akumaized sketchbook, before tearing it apart to release the akuma.

“The akuma’s out, m’lady!” Cat Noir called.

“Miraculous ladybug!” Ladybug shouted, throwing the plastic tubing in the air, activating the superpower to fix everything and revert them back to normal.

Outside the TV Studio, the rest of the supervillains changed back into Ivan, Max and Kim, who was falling since he no longer had the power of flight. Seeing the situation, Carapace quickly deactivated the force field and rushed to catch Kim before he could hit the ground.

Inside the Studio, Ladybug got her yo-yo back and began to de-evilise the akuma.

“No more evil doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize! Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly.”

Soon, the superheroes regrouped outside the TV Studio as Nathaniel regrouped with Kim, Max and Ivan.

“Pound it!” Ladybug, Cat Noir and Carapace shared a fist bump, before Ladybug opened her yo-yo to create five Magical Charms, one for each of the recently akumatized boys.

“Kim, Max, Ivan and Nathaniel,” Ladybug said, as she gave out the charms to them upon saying their names, “These are magical charms that will protect you from getting akumatized again.”

The four boys all thanked Ladybug for the charms, before Nathaniel asked, “Wait, where’s Nino?"

Carapace and Ladybug expressed uncomfortableness upon hearing the question.

“Maybe I should give his to him. Since I know his school,” Cat Noir offered.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Ladybug asked.

“Don’t you have other things to do today? Like, take Carapace’s Miraculous back and check on a certain other boy?” Cat Noir asked.

Ladybug thought for a while before realising that her partner got a point; if she did not let him take the Magical Charm to Nino, the rest of the boys might deduce that Nino is Carapace.

“Alright, but inform me as soon as you did so,” Ladybug told Cat Noir, giving him the magical charm meant for Nino.

“Of course, m’lady.” Cat Noir bowed, before running off.

Later, in one of the TV Studio’s changing rooms, Carapace spoke the words, “Shell off,” to transform back into Nino and return the Turtle Miraculous.

“Thanks for your help today, Nino.” Ladybug thanked.

“Don’t thank me, thank Cat Noir. He’s the one who came up with that crazy awesome plan to defeat the Band of Secrets,” Nino informed.

Ladybug smiled, “He really is helpful,”

“Speaking of him, I can’t wait to see him again once he gives me that magical charm,” Nino commented, before asking, “You really trust him, do you?”

“I sure do,” Ladybug replied, “And I’m sorry that you got to wait even longer to get your charm…if your friends see you get your charm right after Carapace returned me his Miraculous, they have higher chances to discover your identity!”

“I understand that, dude. No worries…except for something going on with my buddy, Adrien…” Nino sadly commented.

“Adrien! I almost forgot! I got to tell him it’s safe now” Ladybug said out loud, getting ready to yo-yo away.

“And, Ladybug, can you please tell me how he’s doing?” Nino asked.

“Sure Nino, as soon as I can!” Ladybug replied.

In his lair, Shadow Moth was heard angrily saying, “Ladybug, Cat Noir! You may have defeated another group of powerful supervillains, but there will always be more coming your way someday!”

With that, the supervillain mastermind’s lair window closed, filling the lair with darkness.

In the locker room in the sewers, Adrien was waiting for a certain superheroine to fetch him.

“Adrien!”

“Ladybug! Thank goodness you’re alright!” Adrien responded, hugging her.

“Of course I am,” Ladybug giggled, before getting back down to business, “The Band of Secrets just got defeated, it’s safe to come back out now!”

“Speaking of the Band of Secrets…there’s one more thing you got to know about them…I know why they were akumatized…” Adrien sadly began.

“Really? Why?” Ladybug asked.

“I angrily told them that I don’t want them as my friends anymore…because there’s this secret that I…”

“Can’t tell them?” Ladybug asked.

“Yes…” Adrien sighed.

Having experienced something very similar, Ladybug understandably told Adrien, “I have secrets to hide from my friends, too. And what made me feel better was telling the friend that I trust the most. Maybe you should do the same.”

“Thanks, Ladybug,” Adrien slowly gained a warm smile on his face to replace his frown.

Outside the TV Studio, Nino regrouped with his classmates, “Dudes!”

“Nino! Where were you?!” Kim asked.

“Inside the TV Studio where I got de-akumatized separately,” Nino answered.

“Did you get your magical charm?” Ivan asked.

“Ladybug made one for each of us to prevent us from getting akumatized again,” Max explained, showing his charm to Nino.

“Sorry, but I haven’t gotten mine.” Nino replied.

“Don’t worry, Cat Nir will give you yours as soon as he can, he knows your school,” Nathaniel informed.

Just then, the five boys’ phones all rang in unison, as they got a text from Adrien, saying:

“Guys, I am really sorry about what happened earlier. I was just too angry at that moment and lashed out on you all. I appreciate having you as my friends. Please, forgive me, I’ll do anything I can to make it up to you…”

Soon, Adrien’s bodyguard drove him to the Eiffel Tower, where the teenaged boy’s friends were waiting for him.

“Guys, I’m so glad that this hangout is all you’ve asked,” the supermodel told his friends.

“You’re our bro, Adrien. We’ll never ask you for too much,” Nino relied.

“And we picked the Eiffel Tower out of all places because we believe that looking down at all of Paris from its top will help freshen your mind,” Max added.

“Thanks you guys, you’re the best.” Adrien thanked.

“And here’s the sketchbook,” Kim presented the book to Adrien, “If you still want it.”

“Thanks so much,” Adrien responded, accepting the sketchbook, “This sketchbook will remind me of you everyday, and how lucky I am to have friends like you,”

Time flew by really quickly, and the boys were at the top of the tower, enjoying the view.

“Imagine parachuting from here!” Kim commented.

“No thanks,” Ivan responded, having experienced a fall from such a great height back when he was akumatized into Stone Heart for the second time during Ladybug and Cat Noir’s first days of being superheroes.

“Maybe we should go know, it’s been a while since we were staring at this view,” Adrien suggested.

“You’re right Adrien, looking at the one same view for so long can be harmful,” Max agreed, as he and the others prepared to leave.

“Nino,” Adrien grabbed his best friend’s arm, before telling the rest of his friends, “Mind if Nino and I stay here a little longer? Alone?”

“Sure, best friends love some private time alone with each other!” Kim replied, hugging his best friend Max as he did so.

“Thanks,” Adrien smiled, watching the four boys descend in the lift going down.

“Adrien, is there still something wrong?” Nino asked his best friend.

“Well…yes….” Adrien sighed, “I feel terrible for keeping some secrets from you, that I really wanted to tell you…but I just…”

“Adrien, it’s okay! You can tell me! I know how to keep super secrets!” Nino assured.

“But my secrets are super-super secrets! If you find out about them, everything between us will change!” Adrien cried.

“Adrien, I’m your best friend, if you don’t want to tell me, I respect your choice, I just want you to feel better!” Nino comforted.

“There’s this girl…” Adrien began, “Whom I used to be very close to back when there was just the two of us…but now…she’s got a friend whom she’s doing our special activity with more often now….I feel upset as I feel that she doesn’t need me…”

“A girl whom you do a special activity with?” Nino asked in confusion.

“It’s Ladybug…” Adrien confessed.

“But…isn’t Ladybug always with Cat Noir?” Nino asked.

Adrien then showed Nino the magical charm meant for the latter, causing him to gasp, “The magical charm…that means…”

“Yes, Nino…” Adrien admitted, “I am Cat Noir…”

Nino’s eyes widened as he was speechless. Despite how surprised he was to finally discover his best friend’s greatest secret, he warmly hugged Adrien who hugged him back.

Major Characters:

Ladybug

Adrien Agreste/ Cat Noir

Rena Rouge

Shadow Moth (Gabriel Agreste indirectly mentioned)

Plagg

Wayzz

Akuma

Band of Secrets

Nino Lahiffe/ Bubbler/ Carapace

Ivan Bruel/ Stone Heart

Le Chien Kim/ Dark Cupid

Max Kante/ Gamer

Natheniel Kurtzberg/ Evillustrator

Minor Characters:

Vesperia

Pollen

Chinese Zodiac Kwamis

Markov

Desperada (mentioned)

Mr. Pigeon (mentioned)

Gang of Secrets (mentioned, Timebreaker specifically mentioned)

Party Crasher (mentioned)

Stormy Weather (flashback)

Oni-Chan (mentioned)

Mr. Hessenpy (mentioned)

Adrien’s bodyguard

Civilians