Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the Golden Tabby

Une Horrible Surprise

Luka looked at himself in the mirror. He definitely looked different from Viperion. On the News Report, he had been lean, lithe, and wore a teal bodysuit. Now, he looked much, much different.

The comb was glowing a little yellow around his wrist, golden lines tracing around it. His two gloved hands were black, and his arms were yellow spandex with golden markings. His chest had a big black zigzag that pointed upwards, and the rest was the yellow of his arms until it shifted to gold around his collar. A golden button clipped the collar together, and two golden glowing lines vines wove up his neck into his hair, which led to two long and thin antennas. Luka's legs were covered with yellow spandex that had black lines that drifted off and on like tiger stripes, though more "stable" looking. He had on knee-high black boots with yellow zig-zags.

"Cool! Pollen's got style!" Luka grinned, before bursting through his bedroom's doors and leaping off the boathouse. He was inches from hitting the water before he remembered the spinning top Queen Bee had to use Venom. He shot it at the top of the nearest building he could see. It stuck to it, like a sticky grappling hook.

Luka pulled himself on top of it and grinned even wider. "I just got to do this until I find the team."

And as Luka jumped and leaped toward the Eiffel Tower, he got to wondering. Why had there been extra miraculous given out today? Nothing had been out of the sort. Although, spending his life with Juleka reminded him that perhaps the dangerous Akuma was hiding in the shadows.

Luka spotted a cluster of heroes on a building facing the Eiffel Tower. He aimed his spinning top at them, and it hooked onto a vent. As Luka swooped down, he noticed how the heroes weren't the ones from the original miraculous team.

A girl with golden hair and emerald eye had her hands on her hips, a determined look embedded on her face. She wore an orange suit with gold, white, and black tiger-like stripes. She had shiny, metallic boots and a gauntlet on her right hand. Her domino mask was decorated black stripes against gold, and sharp tiger ears poked out her sunny hair. The girl had her hair in a loose bun and a long, swishing tiger's tail.

Next to her, a grim-looking man sighed. He was the older, male version of Ryuuko, the dragon hero from a month ago. His brown hair had black spikes and horns from his neck to his forehead, and shining blue eyes glanced out of a red mask. He had a golden cape that weaved in and out around his body, and a red suit with a black dragon's tail design embedded on his right leg. The tail became a golden boot, and on his other leg, he had a black boot. 

A small woman played around with her foxtail. A live foxtail. Her grey eyes peered out of an orange domino mask, and fox ears flicked left and right. She had a dark orange jumpsuit with white and golden markings and black elbow-length gloves. She didn't have boots, so he could see lithe and graceful feet wrapped in white.

And last but not least, the Snake.

She had golden-brown eyes, with a scaly mask that was embedded on her face, like snake scales. Her short, dark hair had streaks of yellow and green, her outfit was much less showy than his, just forest green with golden gloves and boots. She was smiling sadly at the ground, and he swore he saw a snake tongue flick out.

He coughed into his hand, and their eyes flicked to him. The tiger-heroine smiled at him. 

"Ah! Monsieur Bee! How fantastic to see you." She gestured at herself. "I am Golden Tabby, and I'll be filling in the lead role for now." She winced. "Ladybug-Ladybug is... out of town."

Luka nodded, worry etched on his face. Ladybug had never not shown up to an Akuma fight.

"Have you picked your name?" A feminine voice popped his bubble. "I am Kogane no Hebi, but you can call me Kogane." The snake girl pointed at the fox-woman. "That is Hu-Li, and the... " she paused for a moment. "New dragon, is Vouivre."

Hu-Li gave him a sweet, motherly smile, and Vouivre nodded, his blue eyes distracted.

"I'm..." Luka gave it some thought. "Stikkende. Stikkende Bie."

"Bit long," Hu-Li mused, flicking her tail. "I shall nickname you Bie Bie."

Stikkende Bie laughed. "If that's what you want."

Vouivre and Kogane gave them amused looks, and Stikkende Bie chuckled. He noticed Golden Tabby stare at the distance and mutter to herself. 

"You okay?" He asked, noticing how stiff she was. Her melody was running wild, the usual placity ruined in herself.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just Peachy." Golden Tabby looked up at him. "I'm just worried about the Akuma we have to face. All of you will be surprised when you see her."

"Any clues on who she is?"

Golden Tabby sighed, and Luka noticed her frown. "I know who she is, but I think it would be better if you find out for yourself."

Suddenly, an Akuma in a delicate and beautiful robe, wearing a blindfold, appeared from below the building. She held a golden sword and silent tears flowed from her blindfold, and a scale trailed after her.

Luka's head throbbed as she heard Golden Tabby whisper, "Marinette."