No Way Out

A Series of Numbers and A Watermelon

Marinette slowly stood from her desk and faced the other person. Even though quantum masking made her unrecognizable, she already knew exactly who it was. "Actually Lila, it's Marinette Agreste now," she said.

The ladybug villain smiled at her. "That's right. I almost forgot. You go by a lot of different names, don't you? There's Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marinette Agreste, Ladybug, and the Guardian of the Miracle Box. It's so hard to keep track of all of them." She shook her head in amusement. "I still can't get over the fact that it's you. Clumsy, stuttering Marinette turned out to be the great Ladybug. And you ended up with Hawk Moth as your father-in-law. That must have been tough for both of you, huh?"

"Not really. Gabriel Agreste is a very understanding and forgiving person. Especially if you wake his wife up from an enchanted sleep."

Her eyes widened. "So, that explains it," she murmured. "How did you do that, by the way? I've always wondered."

Thinking of something, Marinette didn't answer the question. Instead, she asked her own. "And what name do you go by now? Should I still refer to you as Lila? Or Hawk Moth? Or something new?"

"I was thinking of the name Coccinella for my new look. What do you think?"

Marinette nodded. "It's very appropriate."

"I thought so too," she replied, casually grabbing her yo-yo. "And speaking of names, you have a lot of names locked up in that pretty little head of yours. Names that I'm desperate to know. So, let's start with the easiest one first. What is Chat Noir's real name?"

Raising her eyebrows, Marinette stared at the villain for a second. "Do you seriously think that I'm going to tell you anything that would put the holders in danger? After all we've been through, I thought you knew me better than that."

Coccinella took a step forward. "Look Marinette, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your time is up, and I can either make it quick, or I can draw it out. It's up to you." There was a pause as she looked her up and down. "Obviously, my best friend Simone went way too easy on you yesterday. At least she wasn't completely useless. She was able to get your earrings, after all." Another pause. "Now let's get to it. I can make it quick if you cooperate. So, I'm going to ask you one more time, what is Chat Noir's real name?"

Another moment passed. Then she finally responded. "Griffin."

Coccinella half smiled. "Griffin what?"

"He never gave me his last name."

That was better than nothing, so she decided to move on. "And what are the other holders' names?"

"Queen Bee's real name is Chloé Karagiannis. And the Butterfly holder's name is Emilie Agreste."

Her eye twitched. "I already know those ones," she hissed. "Tell me the others."

Marinette shook her head. "I'm not going to help you." Then, as a thought crossed her mind, she felt her heart rate quicken before glancing over at the safe in the corner.

Coccinella followed her gaze and decided to move on again. "That's a nice safe you got there. Anything interesting inside?"

There was a momentary pause. "Yes, there is. The Miracle Box is inside of it."

"How convenient," she said, starting to get suspicious that Marinette was trying to trick her somehow. She jutted her chin over to it. "Go ahead. Open it up."

With a deep breath, Marinette walked over and pressed a series of numbers on the keypad. Three, five, seven, eight, three, two, four, eight. Then she pressed her right pointer finger against the sensor. After a second, there was a noise as the bolt released, and finally, Marinette turned the handle and pulled open the door.