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Evolution

"You haven't lost me."

Through her tears, Ladybug looked over at Chat Noir. "Why don't you just give up on me?" she asked. "I lost all of the Miraculous. I'm the worst Guardian ever. I wanted to control everything... I didn't listen to you... I lied to you... I kept you at a distance. Every time you offered me a helping hand I never took it." Overcome with despair, she put her head back to her knees. "I really made a mess of everything!"

A moment passed.

"M'lady," Chat Noir said, reaching his hand out toward her.

Looking up, Ladybug heard a clap of thunder as she stared at him. Then, after slowly extending her arm, she clasped his hand and he pulled her up into an embrace.

"We're going to get them back one by one, until the very last. And we'll make sure this never happens again."

"You... and me?" she asked hesitantly.

"You, the best superhero there ever was," he replied before breaking the hug. "Them, the people of Paris," he added, gesturing to the large crowd who suddenly appeared on the streets below. "And me, your loyal partner."

Ladybug stared at Chat Noir for a brief moment before closing her eyes. Opening them again, she looked straight ahead to the image of the stolen Miraculouses hovering in front of the Eiffel Tower. And she knew in her heart that what he had said was the truth.

The Rabbit, the Mouse, the Pig, the Fox, the Ox, the Goat, the Tiger, the Bee, the Dragon, the Horse, the Monkey, the Snake, the Turtle, the Dog, the Peacock, the Rooster and especially the Butterfly Miraculous, they were all going to be retrieved.

Seventeen Miraculouses. That's what they had to get back.

************************************

But maybe not.

Pennybug ran through the burrow, quickly followed by Flairmidable. Reaching the opening they both jumped through, landing on a rooftop.

"Fluff, Kaalki, divide!" she said before transforming back into the normal Ladybug. Then she opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the scene before her.

It was a scene straight out of an end-of-the-world horror movie. Paris was engulfed in an orange haze while three monstrous beings, duplicates of the sentimonster Strike Back, were destroying the city.

Ladybug glanced around in a panic, finding her other superheroes close to total defeat. Her eyes finally landed on Chat Noir, who was battling one of the sentimonsters. "Hurry!" she said to Flairmidable. "He won't last long!"

Grabbing the ball from his neck, he called out his power. "Fetch!"

The ball glowed and quickly flew off. A moment later, the ball and the akumatized object appeared in his hands.

With a smile, Ladybug picked up the frog stuffed animal and ripped off its arm, releasing the purple and black butterfly from within. "No more evil doing for you, megakuma," she said before capturing it with her yo-yo. Then she threw the ticket into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Millions of magical tiny ladybugs dispersed across the city, removing the frog marking from the backs of everyone's necks.

Ladybug turned to Flairmidable and clasped his hands. "Well done! You did what needed to be done on your first try. I knew you were the one I needed. You really are the best Adri..." she stopped and put her hands to her mouth. "Uh, I mean..."

He smiled. "Flairmidable. Call me Flairmidable."

She smiled back. "It really suits you."

The pair fist bumped. "Pound it," they said simultaneously.