Chapter 1: SentiShark

Richard "Dick" Grayson and his wife Starfire/Koriand'r walked down the streets of Paris, swinging their four-year-old daughter, Mar'i, between them. 

After much convincing from Barbara and Stephanie and a puppy dog pout from Kori and Mar'i, Dick agreed to take a two-week sightseeing trip across Europe for their five-year anniversary. 

It was the end of their first week of travel and the beginning of their stay in Paris. For lunch, they decided to go to the best bakeries in France, which happened to be across the street from a school.

When Dick opened the door to the bakery, the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries filled their senses. 

"Mmm, it smells fantastic," Kori smiled, closing her eyes and taking another deep breath.

Mar'i ran out of her parent's hands and ran up to one of the displays of brightly decorated pastries, pressing her face against the glass to get a better look.

"Mar'i, don't press your face to the glass." Dick lightly scolded, walking over to his daughter.

Fortunately, the Grayson family arrived at the shop after the usual lunch rush. The bakery was empty except for them and the teenage girl sitting behind the counter drawing in her sketchbook.

"Désolé pour elle," Dick said in slightly broken French, smiling sheepishly at the teenage girl behind the counter. 

"It's fine," the girl giggled in slightly accented English. 

She wore a black blazer with a royal blue t-shirt that matched her lipstick. The girl's black hair with blue reflections wasn't in her usual pigtails but in a french braid ponytail reaching down to the middle of her back. She also wore a silver necklace that vanished under her shirt.

"You speak English?" Dick asked, slightly surprised, as he picked his daughter up into his arm. 

"Along with conversational Japanese, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, and survival German," Marinette counted on her fingers. 

"Inshō-teki," Dick smirked. 

"Don't start, Dick," Kori sighed. 

"Dick?" Marinette asked, a little confused.

"Oh right, my name is Richard Grayson. Dick is a nickname for Richard," Dick replied, "and this is my wife, Kori, and our daughter, Mar'i."

"Well, that's a coincidence. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My parents own the bakery," Marinette smiled.

"Your name is just like mine, but longer," Mar'i smiled. 

"That's right." Marinette smiled back.

"Well, we came here to eat, so any recommendations?" Kori asked.

"Well, in my personal unbiased opinion, everything here is amazing, and you can't go wrong with anything," Marinette smiled widely. 

"Yes, that's a completely unbiased opinion," Dick smirked back.

"Any allergies?" 

"Metallic Chromium," Kori replied.

Marinette looked confused as she tried to figure out what Metallic Chromium translated to in French. 

"Twenty-fourth element on the period table," Dick supplied.

Marinette raised a finger and did a quick internet search on her phone. 

"I know some of the utilizes we use to make the pastries contain stainless steel. Is that okay if those touch the food?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, that's fine. That isn't enough to trigger my allergies," Kori kindly smiled.

"That's good."

Marinette returned the smile and looked at Dick and Mar'i.

"I don't have any allergies, and we haven't tested to see if Mar'i shares her mother's allergies, and here wouldn't be a good place to test that," Dick replied. 

"Hmm, have a favorite food?"

"Mustard," Kori replied.

"Mustard is the best!" Mar'i happily shouted.

"I always enjoyed a good Ciambellone," Dick added.

Marinette thought briefly before saying, "I think I got an idea."

She went into the kitchen.

"Something the matter, Marinette?" Her dad asked as he worked some dough.

"No, just grabbing some mustard for some customers," She replied, taking some Dijon mustard from the fridge. 

She grabbed a pair of plastic tongs from a drawer and a small plastic spatula on the way out to be safe. When she came out of the kitchen, she grabbed several slices of pain d'épices. She placed the bread in a paper basket before putting the basket, mustard, and small plastic spatula on the counter next to Kori.

"Try this with the Dijon," Marinette smiled.

"Happily," Kori smiled back excitedly.

Kori squeezed some Dijon mustard onto the bread and used the spatula to spread it. She only spread the mustard on a couple of bread slices before looking at Dick and asking, "Do you want to try it with the mustard?" 

"Sure, but just a little."

Kori spread a thinner layer of mustard over a slice of bread before handing it to Dick.

"Thanks."

The Grayson family all took their first bite of mustard-covered bread together. 

"Delicious!"

"Yummy!"

"Not bad."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Marinette smiled.

  Kori opened her mouth to say something, but an alarm on Marinette's phone cut her off.

"What is that?" Kori asked as Marinette checked her phone.

"An akuma alert. Hopefully, it's nothing," Marinette replied, already thinking of some excuse to slip away to deal with the akuma. 

"What is an akuma?" Dick asked curiously.

"It's…" Marinette began to explain as she pulled up the akuma alert app on her phone. When she did, her eyes widened in terror as the name of the akuma appeared, Syren, along with a poorly captured image of the akumatized Ondine. 

Marinette swore in French before running back into the kitchen.

"Dad, we need to get to the akuma shelter now!" She shouted in French.

Her dad jumped in surprise at his daughter's shouting, dropping the dough he was working on.

"W-what!?" 

"We need to get to the akuma shelter now!" Marinette repeated. 

"A-alright," Her dad stuttered out, taking off his apron.

Marinette reappeared from the kitchen and gave the Graysons a small apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, but there is a dangerous akuma at the moment, so we'll be closing down for a short period. My papa will guide you to the nearest akuma shelter just down the street," Marinette said in English. 

She made her way toward another door that led to the staircase leading up to the Dupain-Cheng's living area.

"Wait, what is an akuma? And why do we need to go to a shelter?" Dick asked, confused and worried. 

Marinette stopped at the door as her father exited the kitchen door.

"Dad, take our customers to the akuma shelter. I have to grab something real quick. I'll be right behind you," She told her dad before disappearing behind the door before anyone could argue. 

"Okay, but what is an akuma?" Dick asked again.

"Sorry, I will explain when we are safe," Tom Dupain-Cheng apologized in heavily accented English.

Tom used his large body and arms to corral the Graysons towards the door gently.

"I'm sorry, but we need to get to the akuma shelter," Tom apologized again.

The Graysons allowed Tom to herd them out of the shop, and once outside, Tom pointed down the street.

"The shelter is just down the street."

Tom and Grayson start quickly walking in the direction of the shelter. They only managed to take a few steps before they heard rushing water. They turned around and saw a massive tsunami rapidly coming toward them. Their eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Marinette!" Tom shouted.

He started running towards the bakery in the direction of the approaching tsunami.

"No, wait!" Dick shouted.

The tsunami was approaching too quickly. Tom would have only been able to reach the bakery and take a few steps inside before the tsunami hit the bakery.

"Kori."

Dick turned to his wife, who immediately understood. He didn't need to say anything more. The look on his face and the pain in his voice as he said her name told her all she needed to know. She wrapped her arm around Dick's waist and flew forward, grabbing Tom by the arm. She then rocketed into the air carrying Dick, Mar'i, and Tom above the height of the tsunami just in time for it to crash against the bakery.

"MARINETTE!!!" Tom cried out and struggled to escape Kori's superhuman grip as the rushing water carried away everything in the bakery's lobby, not nailed down.

  Dick's and Kori's hearts clenched painfully at Tom's cry. However, Kori's grip only got tighter as Tom struggled, not wanting to lose him as well.

They hovered over the water for a minute as the rushing water calmed down to a gentle current. Everything was flooded, only the tallest buildings having anything raised out of the water. 

"Kori, did you see his daughter get carried away in the current?" Dick asked in tamaranian so Tom couldn't understand them.

"No."

"Then she may still be inside the bakery. Take Mar'i for me. I'll go look for Marinette," Dick replied.

He moved Mar'i closer to her mother. Mar'i wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. Dick then wrapped his arms around Kori's waist as she lowered them until they were only a couple of feet above the water. Kori let go of Dick to ensure their daughter was securely attached to her. 

"Be careful," Kori whispered in English.

"When am I not?" He smirked back.

Kori's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Right, not the time for jokes. I'll be careful."

His smirk vanished, and he took a deep breath before letting go of his wife and dropping into the water. He suppressed a yelp when he plunged into the chilling water. When he opened his eyes to look around, he felt the familiar sting of salt water. He took a second to let the stinging subside before swimming towards the balcony of The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.

Dick spotted the skylight door that led into the bakery as he approached the balcony. When he reached the skylight door, he tugged at it and was glad to find it was unlocked. He poked his head inside and looked around the room.

It didn't take him long to figure out the room was Marinette's bedroom. However, he didn't see her, so he pulled himself the rest of the way through the skylight and swam into the middle of the room.

Dick took another look around but still didn't see Marinette. He did notice that the girl was a fan of Jagged Stone, was into fashion, made clothes and other accessories, and liked the color pink. He moved on to the trap door that led to the rest of the Dupain-Cheng's living quarters. If he had been paying closer attention, he would have noticed a multi-colored dress, with the letters CDM hidden in the stitching, that a particular singer/musician would be wearing at her upcoming concert in a few days. 

He swam downstairs to the living room/kitchen. The open floor plan made it quick to check if Marinette was there. However, he didn't find her. 

Dick did see a girl who appeared to be about 15-17, dressed in a red scale bodysuit and eye mask with black polka dots, and pinkish-purple flippers and fins on her forearms, swim through one of the busted-out windows. She had the same hair color as Marinette, but it was in two pigtails that reached the small of her back. The girl looked around for a second before her eyes landed on Dick.

She removed a red yo-yo with black spots off her hip, and it slid open as she swam closer to him.

"Breathe through this," She said in French, offering him the yo-yo.

Dick gave her a confused look as he looked at the yo-yo strangely.

"Uh, do you speak English?" She asked in lightly accented English, "Put this to your lips like these, and breathe."

Ladybug put her yo-yo up to her mouth as a demonstration before offering the yo-yo to Dick again. He hesitantly took it before putting it to her lips as she had shown him. His eyes widened in surprise as he was able to breathe through the odd device.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked in English.

"Mlmm mfm m mgml" Dick tried to say around the yo-yo turned breathing apparatus. 

"Right, my bad. Let's get you to the surface so we can talk."

Ladybug reached out to grab his arm, but he pulled away from her. He shook his head no. He quickly looked around for some way to communicate with her when he saw a family photo on one of the shelves that somehow hadn't been swept away. He quickly swam over and grabbed it before showing it to Ladybug. He pointed at Marinette in the photo. 

"The girl?" 

Dick nodded and started pointing down.

"She's below? Here?"

He nodded again. 

"You came to get her?"

He nodded a third time.

Marinette thought it was sweet that he would risk his life for her despite barely knowing her. She was also grateful to his wife for saving her father, seeing them high in the air only moments ago. She knew she would bring him back after beating the akuma and using her lucky charm, but still, it wasn't a pleasant experience or thought. 

However, she knew he wouldn't find Marinette in the building. She was Marinette after all. So, she went with the morbid but effective approach.

"I'm sorry, but I swam past her body further down the street," She said somberly.

Dick's eyes widened. Neither Kori nor he saw Marinette get washed away in the tsunami, but with all the debris and rushing water, they might have missed her.

Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Hey, I'll bring her back. She'll be perfectly fine."

He looked at her in bewilderment and confusion. Could the girl in front of him bring people back from the dead? 

"Let's get you and what I assume is your wife, daughter, and Mr. Dupain-Cheng somewhere safe."

Dick's bewilderment only grew.

"Best bread in Paris. I'm a frequent customer," She couldn't help but smirk.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the closest broken window. Thankful, he didn't try to get out of her grip as she pulled him out of the building and towards the surface.

When they breached the water's surface, they saw Kori had risen back up a couple of dozen feet into the air. 

"Dick, did you find her?" Kori asked.

"No."

"Who's that with you?"

Dick looked at Ladybug, realizing he never got the red and black themed hero's name.

"I'm Ladybug. Nice to meet you," Ladybug answered for Dick with a smile and a wave.

"Nice to meet you too," Kori happily replied.

"Hello, Ladybug," Tom smiled and waved.

"Hey, Mr. Dupain-Cheng," She waved back.

Right after she finished saying hey to her dad, a sentishark that was at least 25 meters (82ft) long, had deep pink skin, and rows upon rows of razor-sharp triangular the size of Tom's hand jumped out of the water behind Kori, Mar'i, and Tom.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Kori and Tom turned their heads to look at the sentishark leaping out of the water toward them. No one had time to react as the sentishark's mouth engulfed Kori, Mar'i, and Tom before clamping shut with a sickening crush.

"NNNNOOOO!" Dick screamed in agony as the sentishark came crashing down into the water.

When the sentishark plunged back into the water, it caused a giant wave that came crashing down onto Ladybug and Dick, sending them underwater and back a couple of meters. 

It took a couple of seconds for them to get their bearings and swim back to the surface. They heard the muffled sound of buildings collapsing beneath them. They looked down to see that the sentishark had crashed into some buildings before turning towards them.

Their eyes widened in fear as the sentishark swam toward them. Ladybug grabbed Dick and started swimming away from the sentishark. Even with her enhanced swimming speed, Ladybug knew there was no way she would outswim the sentishark. She racked her brain for a way to escape the situation. 

She saw her yo-yo turned breathing apparatus in Dick's mouth, and a solution popped into her mind.

"I need this for a second, sorry," Ladybug took her yo-yo out of his mouth.

She flicked open her yo-yo and pulled out the horse miraculous. She put the glasses on, and Kaalki came out. Kaalki didn't get a chance to speak or even time to try and understand the situation before Ladybug said, "Kaalki, unify!"

Kaalki was absorbed into the horse miraculous, and Ladybug transformed into Pegabug. The majority of the front of her suit turned white, along with her forearms, brown upper forearms, and lower biceps, and her legs faded from red to white. Her hair also changed from pigtails to a ponytail. 

"Voyage!" Pegabug shouted, making a portal right in front of them.

They swam through the portal just in time. The sentishark's jaw snapped close around the portal a second after they went through it. 

Pegabug and Dick came out of the other end portal above the Eiffel Tower. She used her yo-yo to wrap around one of the beams that were still above water and pulled them onto one of the beams. Once they landed, she gently sat Dick down on the beam.

Dick's mind raced a mile a minute. He had experienced quite a bit in his time as Robin/Nightwing, but this was one of his more jarring experiences. In the past five minutes, he went from having some delicious bread with his wife and daughter, to a tsunami wiping out most if not all of Paris, the kind girl who gave them the delicious bread being killed by the said tsunami, met one of Paris's heroes, or was she a vigilante, which he didn't even know they had, watched his wife, daughter, and the father of the kind girl get eaten by a giant shark creature, almost get eaten by the shark creature, and now he and Paris's hero/vigilante were sitting on the Eiffel Tower. Why was he having so much trouble breathing?

Pegabug cupped Dick's head and turned his head to look at her.

"Hey, hey, you need to calm down. You are hyper… hyper… breathing too fast," Pegabug said, "I know you think that you just lost your wife and daughter, but I promise you that I'll bring them."

"B-bring them… back? H-how?" Dick stuttered, trying to get his breathing under control.

Dick was familiar with the aspect of resurrection. He had two brothers and a sister who had been raised from the dead. And hadn't Ladybug also mentioned that she would bring Marinette back earlier?

"It's my miraculous ladybug power. After I beat that giant shark thing and the person controlling it, I can use my miraculous ladybug to reverse all the damage they have caused. That includes bringing people who were killed by them back from the dead," She replied calmly.

"How can you bring back so many people?" Dick asked.

In his experience, the resurrection method tends to be a somewhat limited thing, and it looked like all of Paris was flooded. How many were killed in the flooding? How many of those who survived the flooding got eaten by that shark thing? How many people were even still alive? He knew Marinette and her father mentioned an akuma shelter. They only managed to reach about half a block before the tsunami reached them. They would have been killed had it not been for Kori's flying ability. How many people had managed to get to an akuma shelter? Did the number even reach the triple digits? And what was Paris's population again, a couple million?

"As I said, it's my miraculous ladybug ability. I know it sounds hard to believe, but it's true. I need you to trust me," Pegabug said.

Dick steadied his breathing. If the only way to see his wife and daughter again, along with reviving the rest of Paris, was to trust in the hero/vigilante in front of him, then he didn't have much choice. 

"Al-alright, how can I help?" Dick asked.

"Stay here and-" Pegabug started to say before Dick cut her off.

"No," Dick said, his voice leaving no room for argument, "That shark thing just ate my wife and child. If you think I'm just going to sit here and do nothing, you are sorely mistaken." 

However, while Dick's voice may not have left room for argument, Pegabug still had all the cards.

"Sir, I understand what you are going through. I've lost my parents in this attack too, but I will get them and your wife and daughter back after I defeat the akuma and sentimonster," Pegabug replied calmly and sternly. "Besides, you would need a miraculous to even be able to fight them."

"Then, can you give me one? Let me help," Dick pleaded.

"No. Miraculous can be very dangerous in the wrong hands," Pegabug said and gestured to a flooded Paris. "And I'm sure you're a great guy; you risking your life to save Marinette is proof of that, but I don't know you, so I can't give you one. Now please stay here and wait. I've been doing this for three years and haven't lost yet."

She gave him a confident smile and jumped into the water before he could say anything in response. 

Dick stared at the spot where Pegabug had stood for a second before growling in frustration and slamming his fist onto the steel beam, leaving a slight dent. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew she was right. They were dealing with some kind of magic, and while magic wasn't his forte, he knew enough that it wasn't wise to mess with magic he didn't understand. And there was a lot about this situation that he didn't understand. He wasn't even sure what an akuma or sentimonster even was. As far as he understood it, the miraculouses were accessories that housed some being that you merged with after saying the magic words. He didn't even pack his Nightwing gear on the trip. So, he did about the only thing that he could do. He sat down, crossed his arms and legs, and sulked.

Pegabug swam through the water with ease. She took out her yo-yo and slid it open to reveal an application on it. The application revealed a short list of names: Aurore Beauréal, Kagami Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine, and Zoé Lee. Aurore's name was the only name on the list in green. While Zoé's was yellow and the other two were red. 

Pegabug, or well, Ladybug at the time, had given everyone on the list a ladybug keychain. The ladybug keychain told her if they were alive or not, and if they were available to help her. The green meant they were available to help her, the yellow meant they were alive but unavailable to help, and the red meant they were dead. 

Pegabug clicked on Aurore's name, sending a signal to her ladybug keychain that told Aurore that Pegabug was heading her way, and her location appeared on the screen.

Pegabug swam back to the surface and said, "Kaalki, divide."

Pegabug turned back into Ladybug, Kaalki's power left her, and Kaalki appeared before her.

"Sorry for the quick summon, but we didn't have much time," Ladybug said.

"It's okay. I know how close that was," Kaalki replied.

She raised her yo-yo above the water and opened it. She pulled out open out a sugar cube. "I'm going to need your assistance at least one more time today."

Kaalki took the sugar cube and swallowed it whole. "I'm always happy to assist someone as noble as you, Ladybug,"

"Thanks, Kaalki. Unify."

Kaalki was absorbed into Ladybug, turning her into Pegabug again. She opened her mouth to say "Voyage" when she saw something pink in the distance. Her eyes widened as it grew closer, and she could see what it was. It was the sentishark.

"How did it find me so quickly?"

She looked back to the Eiffel Tower behind her. She had swum far enough away that Dick was little more than a dot on a beam of the Eiffel Tower. The sentishark was approaching quickly from the other direction. She thought about opening a portal to Aurore and leaving Dick behind, but she wasn't sure if the sentishark would follow her. She turned around and started to swim back to Dick.

Dick, still sulking on the beam of the Eiffel Tower, saw Pegabug coming back towards him and wondered if she had changed her mind about giving him a miraculous, or if she had forgotten something. He didn't have to wonder long as he saw the pink dorsal fin of the monster that killed his wife and daughter. 

He immediately figured out why Ladybug was coming back. He jumped off the beam into the water and started swimming towards Ladybug. 

"What are you doing!? Why did you get off the tower?" Pegabug asked when she reached Dick.

"It was quicker than waiting for you to reach me by yourself," Dick replied.

Pegabug stared at him. She didn't know what to make of the man. No sane person would have jumped into the water and swum toward her when a massive sentishark was behind her, especially after watching his wife and daughter get eaten by it.

"PORTAL!" Dick pointed at the dangerously close sentishark, breaking her out of her momentary stupor.

"Voyage!" 

Pegabug didn't even bother turning around to see how close the sentishark was before making the portal appear behind Dick and tackling him through it. They came out the other side of the portal in the air in front of the TVi studio, plummeting into the water.

When they resurfaced, Pegabug wrapped her arm around Dick's waist. She threw her yo-yo onto the roof of the TVi studio several stories above the water line and pulled Dick out of the water onto the roof. 

"Ladybug!" They heard someone shout when they landed on the roof. They saw several dozen people that had sought refuge from the flood.

"Hello!" Pegabug put on a brave smile and waved at everyone.

"Aren't you actually Pegabug right now?"

"What's the akuma like? Is there a sentimonster?"

"How long do you think it'll take for you to beat the akuma?"

The people bombard her with questions. She held up her hands and said, "Wow, wow, calm down, one at a time. Yes, I am, Pegabug at the moment. I haven't seen the akuma yet, but there is a sentimonster that is a massive shark, so stay out of the water. And I don't know how long it'll take, but hopefully, it'll be soon."

While everyone was focused on Dick and her, Pegabug saw Aurore slip through the door that led to the roof. 

"Now, I'm off to defeat the akuma, so you stay here and be safe," Pegabug said, then turned to look at Dick, "That means you too." She then started to walk away from the crowd towards the door Aurore slipped through. 

"Wait, how are you going to beat that thing by yourself?" Dick called out.

"I'm not alone; I've got back up on the way," Pegabug said, giving him her best confident smile as she left the roof through the door.

After Pegabug closed the door behind her, she sighed in relief.

"You, okay?" Aurore asked from her position at the first flight of stairs landing.

"Yeah, just need a minute," Pegabug replied, "Haven't really had a chance to catch my breath since the akuma happened."

"Anyone else coming to help?" Aurore asked. 

"Nope, I'm afraid it's just you and me today," She replied.

"Well, I'm sure we can do it," Aurore smiled brightly.

Pegabug gave a small smile back.

Marinette had added Aurore to her small group of allies during a tough battle with an akuma when no one could help her. She couldn't rely on any of her classmates that she had previously given miraculous to after Lila had turned her entire class against her with her lies. In fact, Lila had basically destroyed her reputation at school as a whole, with Aurore being one of the only people in the school who didn't believe Lila's lies. 

Pegabug opened her yo-yo and pulled out the dragon miraculous.

  Aurore's time as Stormy Weather made her a relatively good fit for the Longg's powers. Kagami was fine with Aurore partnering with Longg when she wasn't available, and Longg had no objections either, as he found Aurore to be a polite young lady.

Pegabug gently put the miraculous in Aurore's waiting hands. Longg came out of the miraculous and bowed to Aurore.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mlle Aurore."

"It's good to see you too," Aurore bowed back.

"Kaalki, divide," Pegabug said.

Kaalki came out of Pegabug, turning her back into Ladybug. Ladybug pulled a sugar cube out of her yo-yo.

"Here you go, Kaalki."

"Thank you, Ladybug," Kaalki took the sugar cube and ate it whole.

While she gave Kaalki the sugar cube, Aurore took the opportunity to put the dragon miraculous around her neck.

"Longg, bring the storm!"

Longg got absorbed into the chocker, transforming Aurore into Tempête. Tempête's outfit was a red jumpsuit with black legs that started at mid-shin and went down, black hands with black dragons that came out of her wrist, warping around her arms before ending with their arms open mouths around the three element symbol in the middle of her chest. Her mask and horns were the same as Ryuko's mask and horns.

"So, what's the plan?" Tempête asked after she finished her transformation.

"Let's see," Ladybug replied before using her lucky charm. Her outfit changed slightly as she did. Her hands, waist, and upper thighs turned black, her neck turned from black to red, and she gained a zipper down the front of her suit.

Her lucky charm was…

"A kite and string?" Tempête asked.

"Yeah…" 

Ladybug looked at the kite and string. She had plenty of string, but the kite wasn't that large. It was a simple diamond kite 1m(3.3ft) tall and 0.66m(2ft) wide. It wasn't big enough to use as a hang glider or something similar to fly over the water. 

Ladybug's eyes started to look around to see if anything in the stairwell might help. Her eyes eventually landed on Tempête, specifically the three elements symbol on her chest. An idea then hit her.

"Lightbulb?" Tempête asked seeing Ladybug's expression change. 

"Close but think a little further back," Ladybug smirked. 

Tempête was about to ask what Ladybug meant by that when the door to the roof opened. Dick appeared in the doorway, and his eyes immediately landed on Ladybug and the new hero.

He opened his mouth, looking to ask something, but seemed to decide against it and instead said, "Shark thing is back."

"Again!?" Ladybug exclaimed.

"Yep."

"Kaalki, Unify," Ladybug said turning into Pegabug again.

They followed Dick onto the roof and to the crowd gathered at the roof's edge. They pushed their way to the front of the crowd, where they could see the massive pink sentishark making a beeline straight for them.

"How did it find us so quickly?" Pegabug asked.

"Well, you're magic, and it's magic, right? Sharks have a great sense of smell. Could it have smelled your magic when we dropped into the water earlier?" Dick asked.

"I guess that's possible," Pegabug replied.

"Well, any ideas on what to do about that thing?" Tempête asked.

"You better think quickly because we don't have much time," Dick said.

"Okay, okay, first drink this," Pegabug pulled out a blue potion and handed it to Tempête, who immediately drank it.

Tempête's outfit turned to scales, and she grew red flippers and fins on her forearms after drinking the potion and saying, "Power up."

Pegabug opened her yo-yo and pulled up the last update from akuma alert. "Okay, hopefully, Syren hasn't moved for her last known location with the sentishark swimming around."

"Don't sound very confident," Dick commented.

Pegabug and Tempête ignored his comment.

"So, I'm going to open a portal to Syren's last known location and stand in front of it to lure the sentishark in. And before that thing eats me, you're going to use your water power to push me out of the way, and we're going to follow it through the portal," Pegabug said.

"What about after we're through the portal?" Tempête asked.

"Figure that out when we're through it," Pegabug replied.

"Doesn't sound like a very well-thought-out plan," Dick said.

"Don't exactly have a lot of time," Pegabug pointed to the rapidly approaching sentishark.

"Fair."

Pegabug jumped into the water.

"Voyage."

A gigantic portal appeared behind Pegabug. She forced herself to stare down the sentishark as it rushed toward her. When the sentishark got close enough, it opened its mouth, showing her rows and rows of massive razor-sharp teeth. She bit back a scream as she felt a strong current push her out of the way at the last second. The sentishark went through the portal, and Pegabug used her yo-yo to wrap around the dorsal fin of the sentishark, getting pulled through with it. Tempête, in her water form, followed them through the portal.

They all came out of the other end of the portal at the swimming pool Kim and Ondine frequented, crashing through the front of the building. 

Pegabug retracted her yo-yo from around the sentishark's dorsal fin, getting left behind as it crashed through the rest of the building. Tempête returned to her standard form next to Pegabug. 

They saw Syren hunched over a bubble containing an unconscious Kim, protecting it from falling debris caused by the sentishark crashing through the building.

"Hello, Syren. I don't suppose you'll make it easy on us and hand over your akumatized object, would you?" Pegabug asked.

"Pegabug!" Syren shouted before looking at Tempête. "And who are you again?"

"Come on; I'm Tempête. How come everyone else gets their name remembered after their first suit-up but not me?" Tempête huffed and crossed her arms.

"It's okay," Pegabug patted Tempête's arm.

"Anyways, give me your miraculouses and the cat miraculous," Syren demanded.

"No," They replied in unison.

"Sentishark devour Pegabug and Tempête, so I can get their miraculous," Syren ordered.

The sentishark turned back towards the heroes. 

Pegabug gave Tempête the kite. "Take this up and wait for my signal before turning into lightning."

"Got it," Tempête took the kite and started swimming toward the surface while Pegabug held onto the spool of string.

The sentishark locked onto Tempête's movement. Seeing the sentishark lock onto her, Tempête transformed into her wind dragon form to rocket the kite upward. The sentishark swiftly chased after the kite.

With the sentishark distracted, Pegabug took the time to observe Syren, trying to figure out what the akumatized object was. She tried to remember what Syren looked like over two years ago when she was akumatized last time. 

Pegabug didn't get long to think as Syren charged toward her once she noticed that the sentishark was distracted with Tempête and the kite. Pegabug dodged Syren's charge by moving to the side.

"Give me your miraculous," Syren growled. 

She lunged at Pegabug, who dodged and weaved around her strikes and grabs while letting the string unwind and wrap around Syren. Syren didn't seem to care about the string wrapping around her as it wasn't restricting her movement. 

Once Pegabug was satisfied with how much string wrapped around Syren. She kicked Syren away and took out her yo-yo. She clicked a button to send a message to Tempête, who had just left her wind dragon form after it ran out of time. The sentishark was right behind her.

Tempête quickly transformed into her lightning dragon form as it opened its mouth to devour her whole. She electrified the kite and string. The sentishark bit down on the kite, but its teeth didn't sever the magically created string. So, Tempête's lightning form electrocuted the sentishark and Syren, who was wrapped up in the string at the other end. 

Syren screamed in pain as she was electrocuted, making Pegabug wince. After a few seconds, Syren passed out, and Tempête left the string at Syren's end, reforming back into her regular form next to Pegabug.

With the chance to finally breathe, Pegabug noticed the seashell necklace around Syren's neck that she didn't remember being there last time. She could also vaguely remember Kim talking about giving Ondine a necklace a few months back. She snatched the necklace from Syren's neck and slammed her fist into the seashell, breaking it and releasing the akuma and the amok.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Pegabug said as her yo-yo transformed into capture mode. With a single swing of her yo-yo, she captured the akuma and amok. "Gotcha!"

  The akuma and amok were purified instantly, and she quickly released. "Bye-bye."

She then tossed the spool of string upward, shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug."

The spool exploded into a swarm of ladybugs that swept through Paris and fixed all of the damage caused by the akuma and amok.

Once everything was fixed, Tempête walked to Pegabug and offered her fist. 

"Pound it." They said in unison and bumped fists.

Pegabug then walked up to Ondine, who was shaking off the effect of the akumatization.

"Hey, Ondine, how are you feeling?" Pegabug asked.

"What happened? Did I get akumatized?" Ondine asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry, everything is alright now," Pegabug replied.

"I'm sorry for getting akumatized again," Ondine apologized.

"It's alright," Pegabug put a comforting hand on Ondine's shoulder. She then created a blue ladybug magic charm and offered it to her. "Here, this lucky charm will protect you from being akumatized again."

"Thank you, Lady- er, Pegabug," Ondine took the magic charm.

"You're welcome," Pegabug smiled. Her earring then beeped loudly, remaindering that she was almost out of time. "That's my time signal to bug out."

Tempête and Pegabug rushed out of the building. Tempête ducked into a nearby alleyway to transform back into her civilian form while Pegabug jumped on a nearby roof.

After Marinette gave Tikki a cookie to recharge and transformed back to Ladybug, she jumped down to the alley Tempête had used. 

"Thanks for the help, Aurore," Ladybug said. 

"Yes, you did a miraculous job today," Longg said.

"Thank you, but I'm happy to help," Aurore smiled.

She took off the dragon miraculous and offered it to Ladybug.

"Until next time," Longg bowed, returning to the miraculous as Ladybug put it in her yo-yo.

Aurore gave a slight bow back as Longg left.

"Would you like a lift back to the studio?" Ladybug offered.

"No, I think I'll walk back. Enjoy the nice weather," Aurore smiled.

Ladybug rolled her eyes at the pun. "Alright, suit yourself."

She got ready to leave but waited a moment to see if Aurore actually wanted a lift back. Once Aurore made a small gesture for Ladybug to go, she threw her yo-yo and swung off. 

Ladybug made her way back to the bakery. She landed on the bakery's roof and dove through the skylight into her room. She leaped off her loft bed onto the floor, landing silently. She transformed into her civilian form and got Tikki to hide in her ponytail just before her father opened the trapdoor to her room.

Her father scanned the room for her but didn't see her as she stood behind him.

"Hey, Papa," Marinette smiled at her father.

Tom spun around to face his daughter. He quickly rushed over to her and wrapped her up in a bear hug.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay," Tom said.

"Can't… breathe…" Marinette squeaked out.

"Oh, sorry," Tom said bashfully. He released his daughter and held her at arm's length. "I'm just glad you're okay, sweetheart."

"I'm glad you're okay too, papa." Marinette smiled. "Now, go back downstairs. I'll be down in a minute."

"Alright, but what were you coming to grab before the tsunami hit?" He asked.

"Homework." Marinette's smile turned bashful.

"Marinette-" He began to scold, but she cut him off.

"I know, I know, but being stuck in the akuma shelter is the perfect time to do homework. Plus, I didn't think it would reach us that fast."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Well, alright, but hurry down, okay?"

"Yes, papa."

Tom disappeared back down the trapdoor. Marinette waited a few seconds to ensure her father was gone before staggering over to her chaise lounge and sitting down as she felt dizzy.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki asked, coming out of Marinette's ponytail.

The other kwamis came out of the miraculous box, except Plagg, who came out of Marinette's chest where his miraculous was her silver necklace. The necklace was made of magic, allowing the cat miraculous to phase through it whenever she needed it since the necklace was too short to fit over her head, and there was no clasp to undo to take it off. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette rested her head in her hand, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

"Kid, you can't keep going like this. You need to find a wielder for the cat miraculous," Plagg said, "They both need to be active to maintain the balance."

"I know," Marinette looked down so the kwamis couldn't see her roll her eyes. However, it was evident in her voice.

She had taken the cat miraculous from Chat Noir, who turned out to be her one-time crush Adrien Agreste, about six months ago. 

His playful flirting quit being as playful and became more severe despite her multiple attempts at telling him that she wasn't interested. He would also become irate if she devised a plan that put him on the sidelines in a minimal role. At the same time, she relied more on temporary miraculous holders or defeated the akuma before he arrived. He felt that since they were a pair, he should be a central part of her plans, or she should wait until he arrived to defeat the akuma so they could beat it together. Her being the Guardian only worsened the problem. They went from being equals to her being in a leadership position, and he didn't like being ordered around. To make matters even worse, people started to get angry at the heroes for not defeating Shadow Moth or making any progress in identifying him in the past three years. Their criticisms of heroes only served to anger Chat Noir more than they should have, and she had to stop him from blowing up civilians several times. 

While none of those reasons by themselves would have been cause to take away his miraculous but all of them combined proved to be a different issue. She did clarify why she was taking the miraculous and that it could be temporary if he was willing to work to improve. He didn't take it very well. He told her he would quit entirely if that was how she felt. She had been using the cat miraculous as Lady Noire whenever there was a need for Cataclysm ever since. 

However, even though Marinette was using both the ladybug and cat miraculouses, there was an imbalance in the miraculouses' energy, with only one wielder for both. The imbalance in energy affected Marinette negatively, generally causing dizziness, exhaustion, or headaches after she drops the transformation. Her strong affinity for the ladybug and the cat miraculouses had managed to stave off the more detrimental effects of the imbalance for the time being.

"We're just worried about you, Marinette. You can't keep burning the candle at both ends," Wayzz said.

"I know," Marinette stood up slowly as the dizziness faded. "And I'm looking for a user for cat miraculous."

"And when have you been doing that exactly?" Plagg asked, "When you stay up all night working on commissions for your CDM clothing store or working out because you can't sleep due to nightmares or anxiety? Helping out in the bakery? Going to that miserable school when you get bullied all the time because of that liar? When was the last time you actually went out for anything that wasn't for an akuma, school, or delivery for the bakery?"

"PLAGG!" Tikki scolded.

Marinette looked down at the floor and off to the side as she grabbed her elbow. Plagg wasn't wrong. It had been several weeks since she last hung out with Kagami, not counting the occasional call or text. She could say the same for Luka, though he did stop by last week for a while, they mostly just talked while she worked on something, and he played guitar. 

"I'm sorry," She mumbled.

Plagg sighed. "No, I'm sorry, Marinette. You didn't deserve that. It's just hard to watch you go through so much while running yourself into the ground and unable to do anything to help you."

Marinette gave Plagg a sad, soft smile and scratched his head gently. "Thank you… all of you. You might not think that you do a lot, but you help me more than you know."

"Now, I have to get down to the bakery before Papa starts getting worried."

Marinette quickly checked the mirror to ensure nothing looked out of place as Plagg and Tikki hid in her ponytail. She raced downstairs to the bakery, where she found the Graysons waiting in the lobby, and she could hear her father back in the kitchen.

"Marinette!" Kori cried.

Kori pulled herself out of Dick's firm grip and flew toward Marinette. She scooped her up in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground and hovering in the air.

"Hey… Kori…" Marinette as she struggled to breathe.

"It's so joyous that you are okay," Kori said.

"Glad… you're okay… too… but need… air…" Marinette replied.

"Whoops, sorry," Kori let Marinette go. 

Marinette staggered back a bit as she lost her balance from the short drop but quickly regained it.

"It's okay," Marinette replied, then realized that Kori was hovering in the air. "Wait, are you flying?"

Kori blushed and quickly landed. "Right, sorry. I'm a tamaranean. We process the ability to fly."

"Oh, like that one hero from the Titans Starlight… Starflare…" Marinette struggled to remember the English name for Starfire.

"Starfire," Kori suggested, to which Marinette nodded. "Yes, she is also from my planet, though she immigrated here before I did."

"That's cool," Marinette replied.

Dick walked up to them, holding Mar'i in his arms. He grabbed Kori's hand and squeezed it firmly when he got close enough, scared that she and Mar'i would vanish if he didn't hold onto them. "I'm glad you're alright as well, Marinette. I didn't believe Ladybug when she said she would restore everything. I'm glad I was wrong."

"Yeah, if it weren't for Ladybug's ability to restore everything after an akuma fight, Paris would have been destroyed years ago," Marinette chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yes, but I wasn't aware that Paris had any heroes or was being terrorized by a villain," Dick said, "Do you think that you could fill us in a little more on what is happening here?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. Though I don't know how well I'll be able to answer your questions," Marinette answered.

"Whatever you can tell us will be fine," Dick replied.

Marinette gestured to some stools in the corner, and they sat down. Dick put Mar'i in his lap.

"Okay, let's start with the simple stuff first. Tell us about the heroes. I've already met two of them, Ladybug and another one whose name I didn't catch, but she was dressed in red and had two black dragons going up her arms."

"That would be Tempête," Marinette chimed in.

"Tempête?" Dick asked to make sure, and Marinette nodded. "Okay, so I've met Ladybug and Tempête. Are there any other heroes?"

"Yes, but most of them are only part-time heroes."

"What do you mean, part-time heroes?" Dick asked.

"Well, the heroes get their power from these things called miraculous. They look like various accessories. Only Ladybug and Chat Noir are permanent holders of the miraculous, while the others are given miraculous when they are needed. Then they return them after the akuma is defeated."

"Okay, so Ladybug and Chat Noir are the only ones to have miraculous all the time. Why is that?"

Marinette shrugged. "I don't know. They were the first two to show up; from my understanding, they are like a pair. Ladybug's power is creation, while Chat Noir's is destruction. So, kind of a yin-yang sort of thing. I think."

"And they give the miraculous to the others?" Kori asked.

"Yes."

"Who gave Ladybug and Chat Noir their miraculous, or have they always had them?" Dick asked.

"We don't know."

"So, how many temporary heroes are there if those two are the only permanent heroes?"

"Well, about two years ago, there was an incident that revealed all the identities of the temporary heroes to Shadow Moth, the villain. Since then, only two new temporary heroes have been added to Team Miraculous, what we call Ladybug and her teammates, and two of the ones whose identities were revealed have been seen in action. So, I guess three."

"Wait, Ladybug has given the miraculous to people whom the villain knows the identity of?" Dick asked.

Marinette struggled to keep the blush off her cheeks. She knew it was dangerous, but she was always extra careful about giving miraculouses to Kagami and Luka and always took them back right after.

"Yes," Marinette answered, too scared to say anything else in case she wound up giving up too much information.

"Why would she do that? Doesn't she know that it's dangerous?" Dick asked, irritation seeping into his voice.

Marinette shrank back a bit at the irritation in Dick's voice and shrugged, not trusting herself to answer at the moment without giving up that she was Ladybug. Dick saw her shrink back and took a second to take a deep breath. Kori also noticed it and took the opportunity to change the subject slightly.

"So, you said there are four temporary heroes, including this Tempête person, Ladybug, and Chat Noir. Which should make six heroes total, right?" Kori said.

"Five."

"Five?" Dick and Kori asked in unison.

"Wait, isn't four plus two, six?" Mar'i asked, speaking up for the first time.

"It is," Marinette said, then winced as if she didn't want to say what she did next. "About six months ago, Chat Noir took a… leave of absence due to some personal matters." 

"A leave of absence?" Kori asked, confused.

Dick, however, seemed to understand what Marinette was actually saying. 

"They quit?" He scowled. 

"No, he took a leave of absence. He could come back," Marinette weakly replied, shrinking under Dick's scowl.

"You don't seem confident in him returning," He retorted, making Marinette shrink even more.

"Dick!" Kori exclaimed.

He turned to look at his wife, who subtly gestured to Marinette. Dick then turned back to Marinette, immediately seeing how she was trying to shrink in on herself. His face softened instantly.

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I didn't mean to get upset at you. Today's just kind of been a day for me," Dick apologized.

Marinette seemed to inflate a little at his apology and said, "It's okay, I understand. Akuma attacks do that."

Kori grabbed Dick's free hand and rubbed circles on the top of his hand with her thumb. She looked at Marinette and said, "I'm a little confused. You said that the villain's name was Shadow Moth, but you just called what happened an Akuma attack. Why is that?"

"Well, Shadow Moth has two miraculouses. The butterfly and the peacock. He uses the butterfly miraculous to make akuma, this magic butterfly; he will then send out the akuma to someone who has strong negative emotions, and it will possess an object of importance to the person and akumatized them, turning them into a supervillain with unique powers. The peacock miraculous is similar, except it is a magic peacock feather instead of a magical butterfly. Instead of making a supervillain, it makes a sentimonster that obeys the supervillain."

"I think Ladybug called that shark thing at sentishark. So, would that be the sentimonster you just mentioned?" Dick asked.

"Yes," Marinette replied.

"And what do you mean by strong negative emotion?" Kori asked.

"Anger, anxiety, depression, embarrassment, sadness, stress, et cetera," Marinette answered.

"So, you basically can't have any negative emotions at all, then?" Dick asked. 

"Well, having them for a few seconds every now and then isn't enough to get you akumatized, but generally speaking, yes."

"How long has this been going on?" Dick asked.

"About three years."

"Three years!?" Dick and Kori shouted, causing Mar'i and Marinette to jump.

Marinette nodded, and Dick and Kori stared at her in bewilderment, wondering how Paris had managed under an emotional terrorist for so long. If Shadow Moth targeted people with negative emotions, then no one in the Bat Family would last more than a day in Paris, except maybe Steph and Tim. The rest probably wouldn't last an hour.

"How do people deal without being able to express their negative emotions?" Kory asked.

"A variety of ways," Marinette shrugged, "Everyone has their own coping method, but most just try to ignore it or distract themselves somehow."

"That doesn't sound very healthy," Kory replied.

"Better than being akumatized."

"How come we've never heard of this?" Dick asked.

"I don't know," Marinette shrugged again, "I know the mayor has tried to contact the Justice League a few times now, and I think Ladybug may have tried as well, but as far as I know, we've yet to get a reply back from them. So, I think the mayor tries to keep the issue under wraps so as not to affect tourism. But for tourists who have been here during an akuma attack, I don't know why they haven't said anything."

"That isn't like them," Kory replied while Dick put a hand on his chin as he tried to think why the Justice League wouldn't have responded to something like this. 

A slight delay in the Justice League's response could have been possible if everyone had been preoccupied with something equally as dangerous as a villain ruling over the city. Still, even then, they would have at least sent some kind of help; one of the Titans, someone from the Bat Family, a member of Young Justice. They would have found someone to send for the time being.

"When was the first time that Ladybug or the mayor tried to contact the Justice League?" Dick asked.

"I think during the first akuma attack three years ago," Marinette replied.

"And you're sure there has been no reply?" Dick asked.

"As far as I know. But I'm neither Ladybug nor the mayor, so I can't say for sure," Marinette lied.

She was Ladybug, after all, and she could say for sure that there had been no reply from the Justice League. The first time she called, she did talk with the Flash, who said he would come to investigate, but he never showed up. Every time after that, she either got the Justice League's voicemail or could not connect the call.

Her reply greatly troubled the couple. The Justice League not responding was highly unusual and definitely something they must look into soon. Dick looked to his wife, who gave a small nod in return, already knowing what he would ask before he even asked it and agreed to it.

Dick felt terrible about cutting their trip short, but something this serious going on for so long took priority. 

"Eh, if you don't mind me asking. Have you ever been akumatized?" Kory asked tentatively. 

"I have come close, but it didn't take at the last second for some reason," Marinette replied softly.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Kory reached out and gently put her free hand on Marinette's hands. 

"Thank you," Marinette gave a small smile. 

"Sorry for bringing that up," Dick apologized. 

"It's okay. I'm one of the lucky ones, who managed to escape from being akumatized."

"Still, I'm sorry."

Dick checked his watch and said, "Well, I think we've taken up enough of your time, Marinette. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us."

"No problem, I'm just glad I could help. If you want some more information about the Paris heroes and villain, you should check out miraculousnews.com. A friend of mine created it. You could also check out the ladyblog, but it's kind of turned into a tabloid over the past year or so," Marinette replied.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to check them out," Dick replied. 

"And try not to worry about Shadow Moth while you're here. After an attack like this, he tends to be dormant for around a week, so enjoy your time in Paris."

"We'll keep that in mind," Dick smiled. 

The couple walked out of the bakery, with Dick carrying their daughter. Dick waited until they turned the corner at the end of the street before he took out his phone and dialed a number. It only took two rings before the call was answered.

"Hello."

"Bruce, we have a problem in Paris."