Chloe waited impatiently, sitting in Marinette's desk chair and spinning around wildly.

It had been 10 minutes since Marinette, er, Ladybug, left to deal with Serpentina.

And Chloe would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit worried for her former nemesis.

Then again, she was the Ladybug. Defender of Paris, applauded hero. She could handle herself, right? Right?

This akuma was definitely not like any of the ones she had seen before, though. It was the demon spawn Louise herself! Ladybug and Chat Noir would've defeated her by now. Speaking of which, where was Chat?

All of a sudden, Adrien began to stir. He softly moaned in pain, his eyes squeezing tightly.

Chloe jumped to her feet, grabbing a hair brush and pointing it at Adrien. He could still be hypnotized, so she needed to defend herself.

"Stay back!" Chloe yelled dramatically. "I'm warning you!"

Then, one of Adrien's emerald green eyes cracked open, scanning Chloe. His face was still contorted in pain. "Chloe? What are you doing?" he asked, slightly wincing. As soon as he said those words, he closed his eyes again in pain, grabbing his head. "And why does my head hurt so bad?"

Chloe dropped the hairbrush, laughing awkwardly. She shrugged. "Oh. I don't know..."

Adrien's eyes widened, remembering the events that had conspired before he turned into Serpentina's servant. "Oh no," he gasped. "I was under Serpentina's control, wasnt I?"

"Yes," Chloe mumbled, crossing her arms. "And I kinda had to whack you in the head. I had no other choice, you were attacking Marinette."

Adrien felt his entire world crumble. He attacked Marinette? Did he hurt her? He immediately sat up in the bed, despite the immense amount of pain radiating throughout his skull. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Chloe nodded quietly. "But she is really busy right now."

"Chloe, where is Marinette?" Adrien repeated, his face dead serious.

She is transformed as Ladybug right now, fighting Serpentina by herself.

"I... can't tell you," Chloe answered, biting her lip.

"I need to see her," Adrien said, leaning over the side of the bed.

"No!" Chloe yelled, pushing Adrien back into bed. "You're hurt and need to rest."

"I don't care, Chloe," Adrien murmured, swinging one leg over the side of the bed. "You won't tell me where she is and I need to make sure she's okay!"

"Please trust me when I tell you that she is completely fine."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Adrien shook his head, swinging his other leg over the bed. His bare feet touched the cold wood flooring, waking his senses.

Chloe wanted to tell Adrien that Marinette was Ladybug so bad. That way, he would know where she was and that she could protect herself.

But it just wasnt her secret to tell, and Chloe didn't want to break the trust Marinette put into her.

Chloe watched as Adrien tried pushing himself into a standing position, but his legs wobbled, and soon he was plummeting towards the floor.

Luckily, she caught him and kept him sturdy. "See," she said. "You aren't well enough to walk on your own. Your muscles and nerves are probably out of whack since they were taken over by Serpentina. Who knows what her poison did to you."

"Fine," Adrien winced, allowing Chloe to lay him back onto the bed. "But as soon as I'm well enough, I am looking for her."

"No promises," Chloe mumbled, turning around and checking the news on her phone.

Nothing so far. Not even the Ladyblog was updated. That must've meant that Alya was affected by Serpentina. Chloe turned her phone off, nervously nibbling on her nails.

A few agonizing minutes of silence stretched on, until Adrien spoke up quietly.

"Hey Chlo?" he asked, "Could you get me some water? I'm very parched."

Chloe sighed, standing up. "If that'll get you to stay put, then fine." She trudged out of the room and down the stairs.

Once her footsteps faded out downstairs, Adrien immediately swung his legs over the bed and jumped out with ease. His limbs weren't giving out on him, that was merely a ploy to distract Chloe. He sighed, whispering to himself. "Sorry Chloe, but I need to find Marinette. She's in danger, I can feel it."

Plagg whizzed out of Adrien's jacket, coughing violently. "Finally!" the kwami screeched. "You know how long I've been stuck inside your jacket? Too long!!"

"Sorry," Adrien replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Serpentina didn't find you, did she?"

"While you were busy kissing up to her? Nah, thankfully not," Plagg answered, sticking his nose up and crossing his arms.

"Good. If anything happened to you..."

Plagg squeezed his eyes shut, sticking his hands in his ears. "Wah wah wah, save the yucky sentimental stuff for your girlfriend, kid."

Adrien smirked. "It's good to see you again, Plagg."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's good to see you too, Adrien," Plagg replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Now let's find Marinette," Adrien declared, clenching his fists. "Plagg, claws-"

Chloe suddenly stuck her head out into the room, screaming wildly. "ADRIEN! What are you doing out of bed?!?"

Plagg quickly whizzed out of sight.

"Nothing!" Adrien yelled too loudly.

"I thought you were unwell? I thought you couldn't stand, I thought-"

Adrien dropped his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I lied."

Chloe grabbed her head. "And what was that black thing floating in the air? Was it a giant bug? Or a demon bird?"

"You... saw that?" Adrien mumbled, his voice fizzling out. Oh no.

Chloe felt her heart race wildly. Something wasn't right. "Adrien," she whispered, approaching him and grabbing his wrist. "What is going on? What did I just see?"

Adrien was frozen under her touch. He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to tell her his identity as Chat Noir, and the other part wanted to brush it off like it was nothing.

Could he trust Chloe?

"Uh," Adrien mumbled, smiling awkwardly. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Tell me the truth!" Chloe begged, yanking on his wrist. "Please. I'm not letting you put yourself in stupid danger! I know I havent been the best of friends to you all these years, but you were the first friend that saw through all of my pettiness and rudeness. And I care about you!"

Adrien dropped his defense, sighing. Her words got to him and he felt like she deserved the truth, especially after seeing Plagg out in the open.

"Fine," he said. He pulled away from her grasp and held up his right hand, showing off his ring.

At first, Chloe was confused. "Okay? A ring?"

Adrien breathed out, closing his eyes and reciting the phrase. "Plagg, claws out."

And with a flash of green light, Chloe felt her whole world spiral out of control as this nostalgic transformation reminded her of Marinette's.

No.

Standing in Adrien's place, smack dab in front of her, was none other than Chat Noir.

Chloe wailed, grabbing her head and sinking to the floor. She pounded the carpet. "Why! Why did Adrien have to be Chat Noir!" she yelled helplessly.

Chat Noir knelt beside her, hastily pressing a finger to her lips. "Shhh!"

"Why?" she whispered, burying her head into her hands.

"Because. Her parents are most likely downstairs somewhere," he mumbled, standing up with a sigh. "And sorry I disappointed you. But this is who I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to save my girlfriend and help Ladybug."

"Wait, I dont get it," Chloe said quickly, reaching for his arm. "How?"

"I dont have time to explain. I'll tell you later."

Chloe stared straight ahead, watching him jump out of Marinette's window and out into the street. The more she thought about it, the crazier it became.

If Marinette was Ladybug, and Adrien was Chat Noir, then that meant--

Chloe placed a hand over her mouth to prevent a blood curtling scream from leaving her lips.

*

Ladybug spotted Serpentina near the entrance of city hall. The akuma strided up the steps, her minions following closely behind.

She gripped her yoyo, ready to pounce, fearing that the villain was preparing to take over the entire city.

A strong hand suddenly grabbed onto Ladybug's arm, and her defense immediately went up. She turned around quickly, spinning her yoyo so fast it created a moving shield.

Chat yelped and jumped back, considering the yoyo was inches away from his nose.

Ladybug lowered her yoyo, her eyes immediately lighting up at the sight of her beloved partner who she thought she had lost at the hands of Serpentina. "Chat? What- How--"

He grinned sheepishly, feeling his heart skip a beat at her reaction to him. Still, his stomach turned with guilt as he knew he had to lie to her about why he had been absent.

"I was under Serpentina's control, but I'm free now."

She laughed, her eyes springing with tears. Immediately, her arms flew around him and squeezed him tightly.

Chat returned the embrace. Still, he was confused. She was almost relieved to see him?

Ladybug pulled away, smiling awkwardly. She wiped away a few tears. "Sorry, I'm kinda emotional right now."

"Why?" Chat asked, feeling his heart drop.

"I thought you were gone and that I would have to somehow defeat Serpentina alone. This akuma is different, Chat. I dont know if I could've done it by myself..."

Chat placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled. "Of course you could have. But look, I'm here now, so we are going to kick some butt and end this once and for all."

Ladybug nodded, smiling confidently. She was so thankful her partner was back.

*

Mayor Bourgeois gripped the arms of his chair and stared up at Serpentina in shock, his eyebrow twitching with fear.

"What do you want?" he asked in bewilderment.

"That's a dumb question," Serpentina scoffed. "What else would I want? I mean, besides the death of a certain few people..."

"Well, you're too late! Ladybug and Chat Noir are coming to stop you. I know they are!" he yelled, eyeing an emergency button on the wall directly to the right of him. He started slowly inching over towards the button in his rolling chair, maintaining firm eye contact with the akuma.

"I don't think they are. I think your pathetic superheroes gave up on you. Haven't seen them in a long time," Serpentina shrugged. "In fact, I bet they're one of my minions right now."

"Are you going to kill me?" Mayor Bourgeois asked in desperate attempt to distract her until he pressed the button. He was so close.

Serpentina's cold and calculating eyes spotted the Mayor's target. She licked her lips and smiled. "Nah." Like a hungry frog catching a fly, her tongue quickly shot out of her mouth and a stream of pink venom flew through the air, landing on the Mayor's cheek. It soaked into his skin and caused him to go limp, with his index finger close enough to graze the button.

A loud alarm blared throughout the building, echoing off the walls and out the windows to reverberate through the streets.

Serpentina straightened her back, hissing in annoyance. "Great, now the whole city is going to erupt in chaos," she mumbled. She looked out the window and saw police cruisers parking in the streets and approaching the city hall.

She snarled, clenching her fists. Where were her stupid minions?

Pounding began to erupt on the door, startling her. Never had she been so close to defeat before! The only thing that would make it worse would be if Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up!

Serpentina bursted through the window, jumping out with a million little sparkling shards. She landed on the ground with minor injuries, however, a few glass shards did pierce her scaly skin. Pink venom seeped out and she winced; she was in no shape to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir or take over the city. She needed to recharge. Luckily, she found a sewer grate nearby. Limping over to the grate, she realized she had no other options. So she lifted it up and dove in. 

*

Ladybug and Chat Noir weaved through the crowd of policeman trying to get into the Mayor's office.

"Superheroes coming through!" Chat Noir yelled, making a path for him and his Lady.

Ladybug tried the door knob before allowing Chat to disintegrate it. Obviously locked, she nodded at her partner.

"Cataclysm!" Chat exclaimed. He pressed his hand to the door and it immediately turned to dust.

"Stay back," Ladybug warned the officers before stepping in, just in case Serpentina was inside.

The duo looked around the room, not finding any sign of Serpentina. However, they did find Mayor Bourgeois. Brainwashed, that is.

He stumbled over towards the superheroes like a zombie, swiping at them. Chat brought out his staff and simply lowered it in front of his feet. Chat whistled and watched as he slowly crept towards them, not even paying attention to the obstacle in front of him. Finally, the zombified mayor tripped over the staff and fell to the ground, banging his head on a chair and falling unconscious.

"That was easy," Ladybug shrugged.

"Indeed," Chat smirked.

"But where is the snake thing?" a police officer interrupted.

Ladybug pointed to the broken window, insinuating that Serpentina had managed to escape. She lowered her arm and cleared her throat. "Can you get the Mayor to the hospital? Chat and I will find her. She couldn't have gone far."

The officer nodded. "Will do. Thank you, Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Anytime," Chat winked.

Ladybug marched over to the broken window and looked down. She saw pink venom on the pavement below. Chat joined her and chuckled. "Purrfect. She left a trail."

"Exactly," Ladybug smiled. She hopped out of the window and landed on the ground behind the path. The pink venom sparkled under the sunlight. "Be careful," she warned. "I don't know if this stuff is still potent."

"Roger that," Chat mumbled, bending over to inspect the venom closer, but at a safe enough distance. He followed the venom trail. It continued all the way over to a sewer grate where it abruptly ended. Chat stood up, placing his hands on his hips. "Sooooo, she's a sewer snake?"

"Are you really surprised?" Ladybug asked. "She must've been injured and needed refuge. Do you know what this means?"

Chat wiggled his nose and grimaced. "Uhh... she's gonna need a long, hot shower after all this is said and done?"

"I mean, yes," Ladybug replied, rolling her eyes. "But this also means that she is vulnerable. We can capture her akuma without much restraint."

"Totally. That's the next thing I was gonna say," Chat shrugged, grinning.

Ladybug lifted up the sewer grate and peered into the infinite darkness below them. This was it. The final showdown. She nodded at her partner and smiled confidently. "Then let's end this."