Gabriel sighed.  That was not the answer he was looking for.  He had a feeling everything was going to be unreasonable to Adrien, especially the curfew he was trying to enforce.  Then again, what else could he do?  Iris had a very good track record with parenting.  She knew what she was doing more often than not.  There was nothing wrong with trying...

I'll ask..  Hopefully, it'll work...

Hmm... Even his texts didn't look confident...  Oh well.  There wasn't much else to say on that subject.

Talking will get things done!

Iris didn't need to think twice about her respond. She hit the send button angrily.

Pain was floating above her reading their messages. She frowned. There was no point to tell her to go home. Iris would use her protecting excuse. It was like talking to a brick wall. If only if Gabriel found out on his own.

Gabriel stared at his phone and sighed. He wasn't going to get any other answer from her.  He would just have to try and hope for the best. 'Okay. I will.' He texted back, feeling done with this particular topic.

Good.


Iris just hit send and laid back down on her bed. She wasn't sure if he would reply back. This conversation felt over. She didn't mean to blow up on him.

Adrien listened intently to the lesson, wishing for lunch to come sooner than it was. He hadn't really eaten much at breakfast once he got his ring back. Just enough that his father wouldn't make him stay longer. Breakfast was just too awkward now, and part of him really wished his father would just go back to ignoring him completely.

Mrs. Bustier was just switching to a new topic with the sound of thousands of thumps against the thick glass of the school windows filled the room. His eyes quickly snapped to the source of the sound and saw the large swarm of bats from last night repeatedly slamming against the window. Did they know two of their targets were in this room, or was it just coincidence?  He looked at Marinette. They had to get out of there ASAP.

Just great. The bats somehow found them? Marinette noticed Adrien staring at her. How were they going to get out here? She then noticed their classmates and Mrs. Bustier watching the bats. Their teacher was about to make a comment, when the bats manage to make a small hole in the mirror. One by one they came in and Mrs. Buister gave them the single to run.

Marinette just grabbed Adrien's hand and dragged him out of the classroom. They left the school and she took them behind a bush. Their kwamis were now out.

"Do you think they tracked us here?"

Adrien shrugged, focusing on the school to see if the bats followed them out. "There's a chance... They were definitely attacking the school specifically."

He turned to his kwami, "Plagg, claws out!"

Once he was transformed he opened the phone on his staff and sent a quick text to his father, knowing Marinette would tell him to anyway. "I sent a message to my father. Let's go get them away from the school."

Meanwhile, Gabriel stared down as his phone vibrated and raised an eyebrow. He didn't answer Iris earlier since it seemed like she was also done with their conversation, so he wasn't expecting any other texts.

He grabbed his phone and opened the messenger app to find a text labeled CN (to keep Chat Noir's number separate from Adrien's) and stood as he read it. "Come on, Lycca. The bat has reappeared."

Lycca flew into his pocket and he made his way out of the building before finding a place to transform and heading towards Adrien's school.

Marinette nodded her head and transformed into Ladybug. She quickly sent a text message to Fu so he could inform Peacock. She wondered if she would ever get a new phone. It was really more convenient to send a message to her directly.

Ladybug ran back into the school and came to a halt on the front steps. The bats were coming out of the door thanks to the other students running out the building. She got her yo-yo out. Ladybug wasn't sure if Lucky Charm would be useful here. She'll have to wait a bit more so she just swung her yo-yo at them to get their attention.

Meanwhile Fu found Iris still in her room. He remained in the door way. "The shadow beast is at Adrien's school."


Iris climbed out a bed grumpily. She was still a sour mood from her conversation with Gabriel. She nodded her head.

"Do you want me to show you the way?"

"No I can track them," she said. Iris then walked past him and transformed in the living room. Peacock then left the house and used her tracking device to find Adrien's school. 

When she arrived, she landed in front of the school. Peacock had her fans out. "Is this all of them?"

Ladybug looked back at her. "I think so. Someone needs to check inside of the school."

"I'll go look," Chat volunteered. "Make sure my father knows I'm actually doing something if he gets here before I'm back. I don't feel like another stupid lecture." 

With that, he ran into the school, looking into every classroom for any sign of bats. Most of the rooms were empty, the students undoubtedly evacuated because of the attack. He reached for the last door on that side of the school and opened it to be swarmed by a large number of bats screeching and biting at his face.

Chat quickly turned, running the length of the hall to the other side of the building, and opened a window. He jumped without a second thought, landing gracefully next to Ladybug and Peacock as the bats streamed out of the window to join the rest of the swarm. 

Hawk Moth appeared just as Chat was landing and watched the bats fly out of the school. "Is that all of them?" He asked.

Chat nodded, "I didn't see any others."

The bats swarmed above the school as if unsure what to do for a moment before they quickly merged into the big bat.  It turned to them and blew a gust of wind to try and knock them over before fly straight at them.

Peacock quickly took the skies and flew above the wind gust. Right it was charging a the others she flew back down and kicked it into the school. The bat then burst back into a swarm.

"Darn it," she muttered.

The swarm of bats then scattered off into four smaller groups. Peacock returned to others.

"Split up," Ladybug order and chase them back to here. Everyone agreed and went off after their own group of bats. Ladybug chased after a group that flew up to the roof of the school. She leaped across other buildings. When she almost close to the swarm, something grabbed her by the arm. Ladybug looked back and saw it was a man.

"Hello, Ladybug," he said and twisted her arm.

She let out a scream.

He flipped her down to the ground. "The name's Rin. Now why don't you be a good girl and hold still." He bent down and was reaching her for the earrings.

Ladybug did the only thing she could do she kicked him in the nuts. Rin quickly let go of her and she made a run for it. She launch her yo-yo, but unfortunately the swarm of bats surrounded her and clouded her vision as she was swinging to the other building. She ended up smacking into the building and tumbling to the ground. Crack.

She held back a scream. Her right arm was throbbing in pain. She tried to move it which made the pain worse. It was broken. Ladybug saw the bats approaching. She made a run for it. She didn't want the bats or this Rin guy to attack her like this. As she ran she pulled out her yo-yo and speed dialed Chat.

Chat chose to follow the swarm in the opposite direction of Ladybug.  The bats weaved through the buildings of Paris, not really flying fast enough to lose him but also not slow enough for him to get in front or catch them.  Almost like they were toying with him...  He tried not to worry about it as he followed.

He was halfway through a jump when he heard a very familiar scream. He skidded to a stop on the next building and turned back the way he came, ignoring the bats that suddenly tried to swarm him. He had to know what was happening.  

He was quick to pass the point where they'd split up (seeing no sign of Peacock or Hawk Moth) and continued past in the direction he'd seen her go in. He only paused a moment later when he realized he should check the GPS to make sure he was headed in the right direction. As he was checking, the phone on his staff started ringing. A pang of both worry and mild relief (as he was just given proof she was okay at that moment) struck through him as he noticed it was Ladybug. "Hello?" He answered, completely ignoring the swarm of bats that had again caught up with him. "Are you okay?"

Ladybug ran out into the streets. The bats were fast approaching her. She was worried Rin would spot her. "No. My right arm is broken, Chat. I really need you! I can't fend off these bats and one of the brothers...AH!" she stripped and fell and the yo-yo went flying out of her hand. Her right arm was somehow throbbing even more in pain.

Rin then landed in front of her. He had a grin on his face. "This is too easy." He bent down and was reaching for her earrings.

Then suddenly a hand grabbed his arm from behind and Rin was tossed into the air. He landed the ground a few meters away from them. Ladybug looked up and saw Peacock standing there. There was a look of relief on her face.

"Hey," said Peacock. "I heard your scream. You okay?"

"My right arm is broken," Ladybug replied.

Peacock nodded her head and helped her up by grabbing her left arm. "Run I'll take care of him."

"But.."

"Go. You can't fight like this."

"Not so fast," said Rin as he hopped up to his feet. He then snapped his fingers. Both girls couldn't move. "This will be easier. Should have thought about this spell sooner." He was walking over to them.

Chat pushed himself to run even faster as the call disconnected. He had no time to waste.  She wouldn't be able to defend herself properly with a broken arm.  

He wasn't sure if it was good or bad that the yo-yo hadn't moved from its position on the GPS. 'Please be alright,' he thought, desperately.  He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something were to happen to her while he was not with her.

He ducked down to an alley as soon as he saw Ladybug and Peacock being approached by a man that could only be one of their enemies.  Everything in him screamed to attack this man as quickly as possible, but the fact neither Peacock nor Ladybug were moving had made him pause. The brothers could use magic so... it stood to reason they could stop people from moving.  Which meant he needed to make this hit count or all three of them would be in trouble.

He glanced quickly around his surroundings, silently noting how close the man was getting, before recklessness won over strategy and he lifted his staff and extended it right into the back of the man's head.

WHAM!!!!!

Chat Noir's staff struck right into Rin's head. He lost balance and stumbled forward. Rin was able to catch himself and turned around. He saw Chat standing there and glared at him. 

Both Peacock and Ladybug noticed they regain control of their bodies. Chat's attack cut off Rin's concentration on his spell. Peacock use this opportunity to pin Rin down to the ground. "Chat, get Ladybug out of here now!"

Chat ran to Ladybug's side without hesitation, gently grabbing her around the waist and pulling her good side toward him before extending the staff and landing them on a rooftop. He let go of her and looked down at where Peacock was still pinning their enemy to the ground.  She would need help...

He knew they shouldn't linger too long, but he took the time to open the phone on his staff and call his father anyway.  He didn't give his father time to say anything before saying, "Forget the bats you're following. Ladybug broke her arm, one of the brothers is here, and Peacock's going to need all the help she can get."

The alarm on Hark Moth's face would have been priceless if not for what was going on. "I'll be right there."

"Be careful. His magic can freeze people in place," Chat added before ending the call and turning to Ladybug. "We need to get out of here. Do you think you can get on my back and hold on with one arm? It would be easier..."

Hawk Moth turned away from the bats he had been fighting (or rather trying to get them to stop swarming him) and teleported to the next building before opening the GPS from the hilt of his sword. He memorized the location and headed towards it, teleporting every few seconds to gain as much distance as possible.  Whether Peacock was Iris or not, he couldn't let her fight alone.