Lo and behold! I am not dead!

"Welcome back to everyone's favorite live game show: The Challenge!" Alec greets the audience with his usual pristine white smile. "You all know the rules, but for the newbies, here's the sitch! We call up several nominated lucky guests to the show, and based on a challenge set up by the viewers, they have to show their unique talent to a randomly selected celebrity guest to get the reaction the viewers want! You lose, then suffer total humiliation! No pressure!"

Some pressure on Nino's end, because he was one of the "lucky" guests for this week's show! He doesn't want to do this, but playing his music on live TV could get him recognized and make or break his career!... Well, so far, he's deejayed Sweet Sixteens, Mitzvahs, and the occasional wedding on a weekend, but still! Who the hell even nominated him to get challenged by a bunch of random people?!

Marinette's not that evil, Kim is way too sweet to spring that on him, Max has way better things to do with his time, and Alya took one look at Alec and said "Nope." Adrien likely knows Alec personally, and he knows none of his other friends would do something like that. So who decided to punish him for no reason?!

"Nino!" His thoughts come to a quick stop when Myléne grips his hands tight, and he's brought back to reality. He's in the dressing room with his friend, best friend, his third and fifth best bros, and girlfriend. There's a timer on the wall counting down the minutes until his utter humiliation, and his equipment is resting on a cart, ready to be rolled into the studio where his pants will probably drop on live television because he didn't wear a belt!

'Why didn't I wear a belt?!'

"Okay, I need you to calm down for me," she gently coaxes, looking him right in the eye. "Can you do that for me?" Nino gives a jerky nod of his head, but it's enough for her. "Okay, good. Let's just breathe; breathe like when we're meditating, okay?" She takes a few deep breaths in and out, trying to get him to follow her patterns. Nino's breathing comes out choppy, but he manages. "Good. Okay."

"It's not too late to back out, you know," Marinette offers with a sniffle. Alya holds her phone up she Nino can see her better.

"N-no way. Alec already said my name, people are expecting me, and if I back out, the guy's never gonna live me down!" Myléne mutters a few unsavory things about the man under her breath. "I've got to do this!... Or I could fall down the stairs. Where are the stairs?!"

Alya and Adrien grip his arms when he attempts to escape.

"Not happening." Alya tilts her head toward the couch. She and Adrien have Nino sit back down while Ivan guards the door. "Nino, you are going to do amazing out there." Alya sits next to him and takes his hand. "And Alec can go and... I don't know, sit in honey. Let the bugs get him." Marinette snorts out a laugh. "You're the best and only deejay I know, so in three minutes, get your ass out there, do that mother-fucking challenge, and show this whole city the amazing guy you are!!"

The moment would be sweeter without all of his friends in the same room, but it was still sweet nonetheless. So, feeling more determined, Nino squeezes Alya's hand, a silent message to let her know that he's okay. "I will."

"YEAH!" Myléne cheers and pumps her fist in the air. "And while you're at it, maybe humiliate Alec a bit. Some backhanded compliments if you can pull it off." The tension in the room begins to dissipate as the group starts laughing, coming up with all the ways Nino can subtly flip Alec off. "Stare him dead in the eye and readjust your glasses with your middle finger! It'll be perfect!" When she's in a smaller group of people, Myléne can be surprisingly bold.

Alya nods in agreement before demonstrating with her glasses. "A timeless classic. Rude, but also sophisticated."

"Well, that makes insulting him in another language look like amateur hour," Marinette snarks. "But, hey, flip the guy off. You do you."

"Guys, I love all of these ideas, but I think we're missing the bigger issue here," Nino tries to remind them, but when they all look confused, he just comes out and says, "Who nominated me?!"

Marinette holds her hands up. "Don't look here, man."

"I had enough trouble just forcing myself to get up for this," Ivan admits with noticeable bags under his eyes. No doubt he was up late last night working on another poem. "I'd say an Austin, but Austin Quinlan had you deejay his party last year."

Before they all could speculate some more, a woman with a clipboard and headset pokes her head into the room. "You've got one minute, M. Lahiffe." And she left without another word.

Startled, Nino looks up at the countdown and sees that he does, in fact, only have one minute left. "Shit! How did the time go so fast?!"

"Nino, bro, I am morally obligated to slap you if you do not calm down," Adrien warns. "What have we been saying? You've got this!... I need you to say it."

"I've got this."

"Say it like you mean it!"

"I've got this!"

"Louder!"

"I've got this!!"

"You what?!"

"I've got this!

"TEN PERCENT MORE!"

"I'VE FUCKING GOT THIS SHIT!"

"Uh..." They all turn back toward the door where the same woman from earlier is walking in again. "I just dropped my pen in here..." She reaches down to pick her pen up off the floor. "... Thirty seconds." And she leaves again.

Adrien awkwardly coughs into his fist. "Okay, let's... Let's start rolling your equipment out, yeah?"

🃏🦋

"Uuuuugh... Guys... Help me... Get me out of here- Uuuuuuuuugh."

"Honey, we're sorry you got stuck with assholes for siblings," Aurore says while gently combing her fingers through Cosette's hair while she remains facedown on the couch, continuously groaning. "But this is your chance to prove them wrong, you know?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh... Push me down the stairs, please."

Marc shakes his head even though they can't see him. "Not happening. You're gonna get up on that stage and wow everyone, and I do mean everyone. Because let's face it, your makeup art is on point. I would murder for your smokey eye technique."

"Yeah." Ismael sits by Cosette and gives them a little nudge with his elbow. "And after you win and move on to the next round, we'll stop by your place and rub it in Yvette and Jordyn's dumb faces. We'll be like, 'Hey! Check it out! Your sister fucking won the stupid, pointless game show you nominated her for because you're assholes who wanted to see her fail!' How does that sound?"

"... Pretty damn good."

"Of course it is! But real talk, though, first, you gotta learn to groan right if you're gonna be all mopey."

"Hey, it groans fine," Denise chides.

Ismael makes an unsure sound. "It just sounds weird."

"Uuuuugh. How was that?" They can almost hear her smirking.

"So you groan, then, Ismael," Jean snickers, playing along. "If you're so good at it."

"Aaaaagh."

Aurore arches an eyebrow. "That's a groan?"

"Yeah. Aaaaagh."

Deciding to join, Marc steps in. "I'll do it. Let me do it. Uuuuuugh..."

"Aaaaaagh..."

"Uuuuuuuhh..."

For a while, everyone is just groaning in their own way- some a little weirder than others- until Cosette just bursts into a fit of laughter that has everyone else laughing along with them. She lifts her face off the couch cushion and readjusts her beanie. "Alright, no more weird groaning! I'm fine!"

"Good, because we have only got about twenty minutes," Reshma reminds them. "Now, let's fix up your face a bit before it's time for you to go on. Your eyeliner got a bit smeared." As she's looking through her purse, the television in the room switches from the timer to the studio.

"Hey, check it out!" Jean cheers. "It's Nino!"

🃏🦋

"So, the challenge the viewers have chosen for you is... To get the mayor of Paris, André Bourgeois, to dance!" Nino's jaw drops. Who are the people in charge of this show?! He looks up at the screen where André Bourgeois' image is displayed. Judging by the lackluster applause from the live audience, no one is too glad to see him. "Thank you for agreeing to play with us today, sir! What are Nino's chances tonight?"

"Zero. I despise dancing," he huffs. "The last time I set foot on a dance floor, Madonna was in kindergarten."

'How old is this guy?' Ivan wonders to himself.

Nino arches an eyebrow in a challenging fashion. He looks the man dead in the eye and pushes up his glasses with his middle finger. "Game on, old man." He heads over to his turntables and picks out a record. He's got just about every genre from rock, punk, pop, techno, and a little classical. 'Alright, let's see if Antonio Vivaldi's Winter gets that stick out of your ass.'

He looks to his friends for some reassurance and starts the song, but backs the melody up with some techno. So far he's got most of the live audience already dancing a bit or nodding their heads to the beat, pretty good considering he's not going for such a big reaction. He just wants to see the mayor humiliate himself. Maybe he'll quit mid-show and think he's turned his camera off, but it's still on, and he's dancing and humming the tune.

Oh, one can dream.

"Victory! Challenge conquered by Nino Lahiffe!"

'Huh? What?' He turns around and sees the mayor still in his chair, not at all dancing. Did he miss it? Sometimes he gets a little caught up in the music, but-

"You moved your head to the beat, Mayor Bourgeois! That counts as dancing!"

'Does it, though?'

The mayor sputters a bit. "That is not true! My neck had an itch, that was all!"

"Relieving and itch to the beat counts as dancing, too!" Alec exclaims with a smirk and approaches Nino, who is looking very confused. "Nino, congratulations! You'll be returning in one week to meet your next challenge! And now, for our next contestant..."

Nino just sort of tuned him out as he made his way back to the group where he was met with congratulatory pats on the back along with a kiss from Alya as they were escorted back to the green room. "Uh, thanks, guys. But it doesn't feel like I won this. I mean, who counts nodding your head to the beat as dancing?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ivan about to raise his hand, only for Myléne to shake her head. "Kinda feels like he just wanted to mess with André."

"Valid," Adrien nods. "But, on the upside, you probably got more people to hear your music. So... Feel good about that." When he shrugs, he slings an arm around his shoulders. "That's the spirit. Now let's watch this guy, alright?" The others turn their attention toward the TV screen, showing a flamboyantly dressed man already being humiliated by Alec. "Poor guy."

"I-I could use my skills to get people to do what I want, but it's only for entertainment purposes, and the person I'm hypnotizing needs to consent-"

Alec is quick to cut him off. "So, your challenge today, Jacques Grimault, is to use your skills to bring a pompous brat of a celebrity to this very TV set!"

Alya tilts her head. "Simon Cowell?"

"Everyone, throw your hands in the air for teen pop music sensation, Xavier-Yves Roth, mononymously known as XY!"

"Fuck," Myléne groans, startling her friends. "Not this guy! If I had to choose between eating rusty nails and listening to his music, I would put ketchup on the nails!" She groans louder when XY and his smarmy face appear on the screen. "Your music sucks!" Ivan looks at his girlfriend fondly. It was always lovely to hear her be so outspoken.

XY dismisses her with a quick, "Buy my next album!" His eyes linger on Jacques for a moment before he sneers. "What donation bin did this clown crawl out of? Look, my old man told me this was an interview, but if prancer is going to steal my screentime, then-"

"Settle down, XY," Alec tells him and gives Jacques a firm pat on the back, making him almost drop his cards. "Or better yet, Jacques! See if you can bring the kid here with your hypnotic persuasion, and, I don't know. Have him do a little dance for us!" Jacques averts his gaze while shuffling his cards.

"I-I told you, I don't force people to-" He's cut off by a scoff from XY, who gives a slow clap of his hands.

"Wow, a shy hypnotist! I've seen it all! Hey, here's a tip for you, Fairy Houdini. Stand in front of a mirror and hypnotize yourself into actually being worth my or anyone's time!" He gives a quick thumbs down. "I'm out!" And his screen cuts off, leaving Jacques humiliated in front of not only the live audience, but the thousands of people watching the show. And Alec was doing nothing to help.

"Oof. Tough break, Si! Looks like XY has turned on your challenge. Game over! Pack your stuff!" When Jacques remains still, he snaps his fingers and has a security guard lead him off of the stage. "Well, since that took less time than expected, we're gonna have a little break before we introduce our next contestant who was nominated by their dear brother and sister! So, don't go anywhere!"

🃏🦋

"That. Was cold," Aya states when the live show switches to a commercial. Devorah uses up all of her willpower to not throw the last bit of popcorn at the screen and just pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay, that poor man didn't even get a chance, and those two just shut him down!"

Nathaniel shrugs his shoulders. "What do you expect, mom? It's Alec Cataldi. It's like he feeds off of the humiliation of others. He knew what was going to happen with Jacques." Omar nods in agreement. "He did the same with Aurore, you know."

"Well, if Alec keeps acting the way he does to others," she says while getting up off the couch. "Then Monarch is going to have a field day. Does anyone want more popcorn?" When her friends and son all raise their hands, she takes the bowl and then heads into the kitchen.

The incident with Dylan last week had shaken Aya's nerves, not that she'd ever admit it, but her employees/friends were all very perceptive. It was obvious she hadn't gotten any sleep judging by the heavy bags, and when a plate dropped, she had put Omar in a headlock. Everyone in the diner was quite surprised that such a petite woman could neutralize a man twice her size.

It took a bit of convincing from them, along with Nathaniel's puppy eyes to get her to take a day or two off so she could relax after such a traumatic experience. She was stubborn but eventually gave in and closed the diner for a day... After Maya and Omar wrapped her in a weighted blanket and dragged her away from the diner.

"Okay, before the show comes back on, someone's gotta explain it to me again," Maya requests. "Do people go online and nominate someone? How do hundreds of people all pick three random contestants to go on the show? Do those people audition and post videos online, or... Wh-what happens?"

Devorah puts her hands up. "Oh, you're asking the wrong girl. I only watch that Steve Harvey fellow." She bites her lips just thinking about the man. "What I would not give for a night in bed-"

"Devorah," Omar says sternly and gestures to Nathaniel. "There is a child present."

"I'm almost sixteen."

"And you're still the same shaggy-haired kid in my eyes." He tussles the boy's red locks, prompting Nathaniel to slap his hand away. "Now, as for the show, I'm pretty sure they select... I wanna say celebrities, local celebrities, and young start-ups. I heard that Lahiffe boy is slowly making a name for himself with his music." Maya nods, beginning to understand.

"That, or Alec is botching it just to embarrass people," Ezra claims then takes a sip of his soda. "I agree with Nathan; this guy is awful to humiliate people for views, so I wouldn't put it past him to select people at random for his crappy-ass show."

Devorah points to him. "Now that sounds like a conspiracy theory."

Nathaniel laughs a bit and turns his body slightly so they won't see his Miraculous glowing. He really should've anticipated this. "Hey, I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick," he murmurs, just loud enough for Omar to hear, and heads upstairs. By the time he's in the upstairs hallway, Nooroo comes out from hiding behind his bangs. "We've really gotta find you some better hiding spots."

"Well, why didn't you wear a hoodie? Those are my favorites."

"The air conditioner's busted," he explains for the fifth time. "Do you wanna be drenched in my sweat?" Nooroo remains silent and folds his arms with a pout. "Just as I thought. You ready?"

"When you are."

"Nooroo, Wings Rise." Just in case someone does come upstairs, he heads into the bathroom and locks the door. "Make this quick, little guy," he pleads to the newly made Akuma and sends it on its way. He counts ten seconds in his head before he feels a connection. Jacques Grimault. Oh, he's got a few ideas for this guy.

"I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"No... Just in the middle of my pride being wounded."

"Yes, I watched the show, and those two were out of line. My sympathies," Monarch says genuinely but also trying to speed things along. "Look, and feel free to say no, but if you'd like, I can help you prove how amazing your talents as a hypnotist are. And once you've finished showing those who've doubted you your power, all you have to do is bring me Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black's Miraculous. Do we have a deal, Simon Says?"

"... Simon Says yes."

"Wings Down. There," he chirps as Nooroo goes back to hiding behind his bangs. "Quick and easy." After running his hands under the water for a few seconds, Nathaniel heads out and back downstairs where he catches the adults watching his latest Akuma interrupting the next guest on Alec's show. Maybe he should have waited so they could show off their talents, but it's fine. Nino and them are safe in the green room, and with the hardly lethal powers he gave Simon Says, then-

"Nathan, don't you know them?" The redhead perks up in alarm and pales at the sight of Mme. Mendeleiev's students all running around the studio to avoid Simon Says' cards, or to disorient him by the looks of it. The way they all scattered around the studio looked so organized, and while Simon Says was trying to hit Cosette, Jean, and Simon with his cards, Denise and Marc were helping those still in the studio escape- Wait, MARC?!

"Simon says you are slow. As slow as a turtle!" The next card he throws manages to hit Jean, and his movements are now all in slow motion.

'... Shit.'

🃏🦋

"Open already!" Alya continues to hit the vent screwed to the wall with the chair, creating many dents, but not getting it to budge. Meanwhile, Ivan and Nino were busy keeping the door barricaded from the people under Simon Says' control. With one final huff, Alya gripped the chair legs as tight as possible, and flings it at the vent, finally getting it to come loose and fall to the floor. "Let's go before that Harry Houdini motherfucker gets us!"

"Wait! What about the others?!" Marinette shouts from where Alya's phone is set facedown on the floor. They all glance at the television right as Aurore pushes an audience member out of the way before a card can hit them. "You should at least give them a hand, right?"

Adrien bites his lip. "Uh... Okay. No man left behind, I guess."

"No man left behind," Nino repeats and readjusts his beanie. "But, Mari? We're hiding out at your place and eating all the pastries we can find!" Before she can retort, he asks, "Ivan? Do you mind being a human tank?

"That, I can do." He hits his fist against his palm for emphasis, and Myléne gives him a quick peck on the cheek for good luck.

After he checks to make sure the others have grabbed some sort of makeshift weapon, Ivan opens the door and is already met with a small mob of hypnotized people trying to push their way into the room. He barrels his way through the crowd with the strength of an American pro football player while also incapacitating a few with a couple of swift kicks to the shins.

Nino, Alya, Adrien, and Myléne follow him into the studio with little to no casualties, only needing to whack a few hypnotized people out of their way with the staff Nino made out of a lamp.

Alya points and yells, "Denise! On your left!"

They sidestep out of the way just in time before one of Simon Says' cards could hit them. They shoot Alya a smile as thanks. The rest go to help the group get the audience members to safety while also neutralizing anyone under Simon Says' control.

Aurore and Nino go back to back. With her parasol and his makeshift staff, they knock away cards that bounce off of different surfaces. "We're thinking the Akuma is in his card deck since he had them with him when he left-" She smacks a card away. "But we aren't seeing it on him!"

Nino narrows his eyes at the Akuma. There are no visible pockets on his outfit, but the card deck could be anywhere. If he's based on a magician, then the deck could be in his hat, sleeves, or tucked under the lapel of his tailcoat. There could even be secret pockets in the lining of his jacket like some magicians have. Monarch is undoubtedly creative enough to put those in.

"Alright, let's take a risk and see if they're in his hat." Nino takes a quick look around the room to see if there are any more bystanders. When it's just his friends, the other class, and the Akuma's minions, he takes the opportunity to charge at Simon Says. Whatever cards he threw at him, he'd block or avoid.

When he managed to get close enough, Nino knocked the small top hat off of the Akuma's head. And to his disappointment, no cards spilled out. "Shit." His arm was suddenly in Simon Says' grasp, and he met his unnatural eyes with cartoon hypnotism swirls in place of pupils.

"Simon Says," he croons and summons- No, draws a card from his glove. "You're one of my soldiers."

And just like that, Nino had taken out Lacey and Ismael with two quick swings.

"Nino!" Alya cries.

Cosette pales. "Oh, fuck, he's got Nino." Without even thinking, they grip the strap of their makeup bag and give it a few swings around. "HEADS UP!" Nino doesn't react in time when the somewhat heavy bag nails him right in the face before he can attack Mireille, knocking him out.

That only leaves Simon Says. Mireille looks through the bag, finds what they are looking for, and throws it at Simon Says before he can throw another card. The blush hits him right in the face and clouds his vision, allowing the group to escape into the emergency stairwell with no casualties... Other than the fact that Nino's under the control of an Akuma and Jean is moving one inch a minute.

"Okay," Simon huffs once they all make it down the stairs. "Note time." Alya whips out her phone to send out an alert on the blog. "The cards only seem to work on organic objects. They bounced off of the walls and any weapons we had, so, look out for that."

"Also," Aurore adds, "If Simon Says' attire is magician-based, his card deck could be where a magician may hide their decks for sleight of hand tricks. Minus the hat, of course."

Lacey smirks. "I don't mind giving the guy a pat down." Reshma and Mireille choke on their own spit. "Look, did any of you see how thick that guy was?" This time, Adrien and Marc blush. "His thighs were fucking insane, like a god's, or something."

Ivan looks anywhere but Lacey to get the mental image out of his head, and notices something off about Jean. While his movements are slow due to the effects of the card, he's still able to blink at a normal speed and is doing it rapidly. "Jean? Are you okay?"

When some blinks are short and some are long, Ivan realizes, "I think Jean's using Morse code."

"Okay," Cosette points to him and nods. "That is cool."

Adrien steps closer so he can see what he's saying. "V... E- Wait, start over. G... L... O... V... E... Glove?"

Ismael immediately understands. "He's saying the cards are in one of his gloves! A lot of times for card tricks, magicians hide their cards in their hands. So, maybe that's where they are." Alya types all of this information down. "Though, I doubt any of us are crazy to get that close to the guy." He opens the door to the back alley where the group is met with a toned-down version of when Magician of Misfortune went on his rampage. "Especially when he's done all of this in just a few minutes."

"Honestly? That's valid," Myléne says without missing a beat. "XY just humiliated him on the air, so of course he wants to prove his worth as the greatest hypnotist of all time. What better way than this? So, what now?"

"We get home, and we wait this out," Marc explains. "There's no telling what Simon Says can do after he hits people with his cards. One command could turn all those he hit with his cards into his army. He'll likely be looking for more people to have them do all sorts of bizarre things before he delivers a command like that."

Alya thinks this over. It's true, they don't know the extent of Simon Says' powers. Monarch's creative, not just in the appearance of Akumas, but also their powers and drawbacks. Princess Fragrance, for example. Who would've thought of those perfume grenades?

"He's right," she says. "But we wouldn't wanna all be hiding in the same place, especially if it's cramped. That'll just give Simon Says a chance to get us all at once if- no, when he fids us, because we can't all fit in that space unless it's a building we can hide in, but a lot of shop and home-owners tend to lock their doors and don't let anyone in or out." She notices a few of them thinking it over, so she adds, "And if we're all split up, we can warn the others if we see Simon Says. Groups all tell their locations, and those who know the area can give out any info on hiding spots. Smaller groups, easy hiding."

Mireille mimes dropping a microphone.

"Hey, I'm all for that," Ismael says, already taking Reshma's hand. "Divide and conquer."

Aurore arches an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that's not what that means."

"Uh, we divide, and then we conquer Simon Says." Ismael just gives her a look that says, "Your move." The two stare each other down until their faux-serious looks melt away into smirks. "I'll look it up, and if I'm wrong, I'll buy your lunch on Monday."

"Deal," she chirps and gets back into planning mode. "Okay, Alya's plan is the best and only plan we've got, so... I'm in."

"Same."

"Here-here."

"I vote for hiding at the bakery."

The groups were quickly and easily formed with Alya, Adrien, Ivan, and Myléne already in one; Denise, Simon Marc, Reshma, and Ismael were in another; that left Jean, Cosette, Mireille, Aurore, and Lacey in the third. They ran off in different directions, making sure to keep their phones on them just in case someone called or texted to warn them of Simon Says' whereabouts.

They all felt some bit of relief when they saw Scarlet Beetle swinging overhead with his yoyo.

🃏🦋

Simon Says carelessly flicks another card at an unsuspecting civilian. Another spectacular show of his power as he made the fool bark like a dog. With a toss of his, frankly, flawless locks, he glides down the streets and soaks in all of his work. He just wants to savor it all for a few moments more before he finds that brat, XY.

The absolute gall, the nerve of that boy to insult him and mock not only his impeccable choice of fashion in front of millions but his skills as a master of hypnotism! Him! The greatest hypnotist known to man! And if he won't admit his talent, he'll just make him. And, who knows? If he has time, he'll go after the wretched loins that created the little tyrant.

Needing to burn off some steam, Simon Says pulls out a few cards and says a command for each of them before he starts throwing them all at random. He doesn't care who they hit; he just wants results. Besides, the more people he has under his control, the better. Of course, that'll only be a last resort if getting to XY proves to be more difficult than he anticipated. He almost scoffs at his own thoughts when suddenly, he catches something out of the corner of his eye.

He almost thinks he should call off his card when he sees a young redheaded boy climbing out of what looks like his bedroom window and expertly climbing his way to the top of the roof. But, no, the next thing he does is get on a clothesline between his home and the one across and starts tightrope walking.

Relieved, Simon Says scopes out the area for any other civilians to put under his control, but it seems as though the streets are clean.

Humming, he starts to make his way to Le Grand Paris. He recognized the furniture in the background from when XY was on screen.

The heroes won't know what hit them.

🃏🦋

"And we're telling YOU! That you need to haul ass unless you want your son to suffer the hands of an Akuma!" Ikati Black screams at the top of his lungs and jams his finger into Bob Roth's chest with each syllable.

Ikati Black can admit that, occasionally, he can lose his temper. It's been happening ever since his 'Lion Phase,' as Plagg put it, and even before during his debut when he put Roger in his place. He won't say things got tense, but he will say that he was in the presence of some stupid adults and one teenager who looked like an adult.

Bob Roth, though? "GOD! How fucking arrogant can you possibly be?!"

While the two go at it, Scarlet Beetle glances at XY, noticing that the blonde looks much more scared than his father said he was. Bob Roth had scoffed at the idea of running from an Akuma, claiming he and his son weren't cowards against some, 'Fairy-looking S.O.B.' and even had the gall to try and coerce XY to do a live-stream to taunt and tempt the Akuma to come after him. After that, Ikati Black had just about enough of the guy, slapped XY's phone out of his hand, and just started tearing into the man.

The hoodie-clad hero scratches the back of his head, thinking about what he wants to say for a moment. "... Uh, I can sneak you out while they-"

XY scoffs, his expression morphing into one of confidence. "Please. Like I'm about to run from that guy." He picked his phone up off the floor from when Ikati Black slapped it out of his hand and pulled up the latest post on Bug & Cat Chat. Scarlet Beetle can't help but notice the little red checkmark under the musician's profile, meaning he's subscribed to the blog. "Are you seeing him right now? What's he gonna do, whip his hair in my face?"

While Scarlet Beetle, as Kim, didn't have much of an opinion on XY, he knew the guy was just a bit too proud for his own good. Likely a trait he picked up from his dad due to years of his influence. Without reading any of those celebrity articles, anyone with eyes can tell that Bob Roth is one of those slimy music producer types, from the tacky gold chain to those God-awful sunglasses. He's the kind who's money-hungry and grabs onto the chance to make even more no matter what. That includes pushing his own son into the spotlight and mooching off of his success.

Scarlet Beetle scrolls to an earlier post and shows it to the blonde. "He also has hypnosis powers and can make you do as he pleases." That looked like it got XY's attention, judging by the slight shift of his eyes. When it looked like he was about to say something, there was a knock at the door.

Ikati Black and Bob Roth look from the door to each other.

The leather-clad hero snarls, "Don't you fucking do it."

But his warning means nothing to the man as he storms over to the door. The moment the door opens all the way, a flurry of Simon Says' cards flooded into the room. Bob Roth ducks out of the way just before the first one could hit him, leaving Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black to deflect them before XY got hit.

Bob Roth meanwhile, made a hasty retreat for the door while the heroes handle Simon Says. Whipping out his phone in record time, he starts to dial the police. 'If those two won't do anything about these over-emotional freaks,' he thought, 'I'll get them out of the way myself.' "Answer already!" He shouts when the phone rings for the third time.

Finally, someone answers. Before he starts making demands, his phone is no longer in his hand, disappearing with a white blur. "What the?" He turns and pales at the state of his phone, now embedded in the wall by a white card. "Fuck!"

"Such language," a voice croons. "I can see where your dreadful son gets it from."

"C-come out, you damn fairy! You think I won't kick your sissy ass?!" Bob Roth put on a show of bravery, but him backing toward one of the elevators and hastily pressing one of the buttons did nothing to help sell his act. Relief washes over when the door slowly opens. He runs inside and hits the lobby floor button without a second thought. With the doors beginning to close, he thought that was the end of it until a gloved hand cut through when they were only inches apart, and a second hand helped pry them open.

"Kick my sissy ass?" Simon Says clicks his tongue and uses his cards to keep the doors open. "So much anger in such a small, insignificant man. Oh, the things I could do to you." When he notices him about to make a futile escape attempt, Simon Says flicks one of his cards at the sleeves of Bob's cheap white jacket, pinning him to the wall by it, making sweat gather on his forehead. "... But... Where's the fun in that? You're already a deplorable excuse of a human being who ruins talented people."

He grips his face with his thumb and finger. "And you conceived a carbon copy of yourself to humiliate and bring down others. Such behavior cannot go unpunished, Roth." He says the name as if it were poison on his tongue. Simon Says whips out another card and uses it to pin Bob Roth's other sleeve to the wall while the man sweats some more. "Ugh," he scoffs and presses every single button in the elevator. "Clean yourself up."

The Akuma turns on his heel and leaves. Once he's a few feet away, he calls off the card he used on the elevator doors, making them shut.

🃏🦋

After getting past the cards, Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black rushed XY to the most secure room in the hotel. Chloé's. The room came equipped with a panic button hidden cleverly under her bed and activated a small but still effective defense system in the event someone were to break into the hotel, try to kidnap Chloé and hold her for ransom for political reasons. The door and windows would be barred shut, and no one could get in or out until Chloé pressed the button again.

Although, it looked like she wouldn't mind Simon Says getting in.

"Thanks for the help, sweetheart," XY smirks and leans closer to the other blonde, only for her to get up off her bed and approach the heroes.

"I expect selfies and a few tags in your next posts after this." Being a member of the upper class came with some perks and a few drawbacks. For one, Chloé was no stranger to guys her age, and sometimes a bit older, at parties trying to hit on her and combine their wealth... Or for non-financial reasons. XY was no different than them in her opinion. She saw the way Bob Roth's face lit up when her dad introduced her, and ever since then, XY's been seizing every opportunity to hit on her and invite her to his suite.

Yeah, like that'll happen. She has standards. And right now, one of them is standing in her room with a toned body and mysterious silver eyes.

Ikati Black notices the heiress eyeing his partner and hisses a quick, "Noted," before his voice takes on a more concerned tone. "And, if he tries anything, just let us-"

"That wannabe popstar's like a puppy." Chloé gives her hair a quick toss. "Thanks, anyway, or whatever. Just let me know when you're leaving so I can turn the security system off. I'm due for a tan on the deck." Without another word, she gets on her phone and makes her way to the far side of her suite away from XY, no doubt bragging on her social media about how the heroes are at her father's hotel again.

"Okay, what's our game plan?" Asks Scarlet Beetle. "Simon Says can make multiple cards, so look out for that. And Alya has this theory that he might be able to command people already under his control all at once. He could make an army."

Ikati Black racks his brain for an idea, but nothing is coming to him at the moment. A part of him wanted to use XY as bait, but another part kept listing all of the possible ways that could go wrong.

Suddenly, their thoughts are interrupted by a slight vibration going throughout the room.

Chloé is already on alert. "What was that?"

The heroes rush over to the window, and through the bars, they can see a massive mob of Parisians who were hypnotized by Simon Says hitting their fists against the walls of the hotel. Before Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black can wonder how they could cause the vibrations in the room, they get their answer when they see a bulldozer ramming against the wall over and over.

"Okay, Alya was right," Scarlet Beetle says to himself.

"Alright, let's get you out of here!" Ikati Black slings XY over his shoulder. His doubts about using XY as bait were long gone. Now, they needed to lure Simon Says and his army away from the hotel before more people got hurt. He presses the button to the security system with his foot, and he and Scarlet Beetle are out of the room in a matter of seconds.

"You still owe me a selfie!" Chloé yells after them.

Scarlet Beetle made sure he was extra loud when trying to attract Simon Says. "HEY! HOUDINI KNOCKOFF! That haircut does nothing for you!" He gives his partner a quick thumbs up when the Akuma commands his army to follow them, all of them leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. Eventually, they land on a roof to catch their breaths.

XY bites back the insults on his tongue and asks, "Is it even safe up here?"

"Not unless any of them can fly," Ikati Black retorts. "There's no roof access, so you should be okay."

"Simon Says I can jump high!"

"Me and my big mouth."

A strong gust of wind hits their faces when Simon Says shoots up to the sky and lands with the grace of a pro gymnast on the roof. "They've gotten me this far, but I'll handle the three of you myself. Simon Says you're chained up!" When the card hits XY, he finds that he can no longer move his arms away from the top half of his body, or walk as his thighs are stuck together.

Scarlet Beetle throws his yoyo, intending to ensnare Simon Says' legs, but with his newfound power, he easily dodges and catches the heroes off-guard with how he lands faster than Scarlet Beetle's yoyo could retract back to him. Ikati Black throws both halves of his staff, aiming for where Simon Says would land, but the Akuma surprises him by using one of the halves as a platform to leap off of.

And with the heroes temporarily disarmed, he lands, grabs the string of Scarlet Beetle's yoyo, and draws another card. "Simon Say your yoyo is useless!"

"LUCKY CHARM!" He cries before the card can hit his yoyo. What drops in his hand is another yoyo, right as his magic one falls apart as if it were a cheap plastic toy.

Ikati Black mutters a curse and reassembles his staff. "What now?"

"Let's work with what we've got and throw him off his game," was all Scarlet Beetle said before charging at Simon Says.

He arms himself with his Lucky Charm yoyo to deflect the cards being used as throwing stars. They hurl right back at Simon Says, which prompts him to avoid them himself while Ikati Black seizes the opportunity to throw him off with his split staff again.

With him struggling to get out of the way of the onslaught of his cards and Ikati Black's staff, Simon Says isn't prepared for Scarlet Beetle wrapping his new yoyo around his wrists, pulling both of his gloves off, and tossing them to Ikati Black, making one or two cards fall out in mid-air.

He catches them in his powered-up hand. Much to his luck, the infected card is still in one of the gloves, and the Akuma is released.

Out of habit, Scarlet Beetle is about to capture the Akuma with his Lucky Charm yoyo. "Ah, right." He threw it into the air. "Miraculous Scarlet Beetle!" As the magic ladybugs sweep across the city, he reaches for his repaired yoyo and hastily catches the Akuma. With the origami butterfly blowing into the breeze, he approaches Jacques and helps him gather up his cards.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Ikati Black and I are considered celebrities at this point."

Jacques's eyes seem to glisten when he realizes what the hero is implying. But when he's about to give his response-

"So, are you gonna put that sissy away, or what?!" Bob Roth's voice screeches from XY's phone. The young musician looks the least bit interested and drifts off into space. "I want him arrested for breaking and entering, kidnapping-!"

"Hey, dumbass!" Ikati Black snatches the phone out of XY's hand. Ignoring his protests, he yells back, "First thing, you were stupid enough to open the damn door even though we told you not to and put your own son's life in danger by almost getting him to taunt a fucking Akuma on his social media! Oh, and no one was kidnapped you dumb fuck!"

For some reason, Scarlet Beetle feels warmer and tugs on the collar of his hoodie.

"You ran like a coward and left your son when an Akuma he caused was after him. And for the record, if we arrested every and I mean every Akuma who kidnapped someone, we'd have at least ten people -some of whom are minors- in jail, idiot! Or, do you just want special treatment for your son so you can make an example out of those who mess with celebrities?"

When Bob Roth pathetically stammers for five seconds, he smirks. "That's what I thought, Roth. And remember this. If you pull this BS again and have the audacity to demand us to arrest victims of Monarch for something out of their control, then I will not hesitate using my Cataclysm to make sure you can't have more kids." He shoots XY a sneer before hanging up and tossing him back his phone. "And if you pull the same BS you did on the show, I will find you."

Seeing the dangerous glint in his eyes, XY gulps and quickly nods.

"Don't be harsh," Scarlet Beetle lightly admonishes. "You've seen what his dad is like." His partner shrugs.

"Hey, when he shows me he's not a little asshole like him, I'll be nicer." Looking over his shoulder, he sees XY nonchalantly looking down at his phone, completely ignoring everything.

🃏🦋

"Welcome back to everyone's #1 game show, The Challenge!" Alec pauses to give the audience members a moment to applaud. "As some of you remember, last week's show was interrupted by an Akuma, but we're back in business and ready to showcase our next contestant who didn't get a chance to go on last week, Cosette Bellamy!"

Cosette makes their way onto the stage and is met with applause and cheering, with the loudest coming from their friends.

Alec continues, "Cosette is an amateur makeup artist who will be wowing us today by giving international rock star, Jagged Stone, a fun and freaky 3D look! Are you ready, Jagged?!"

The rock star slides into view and throws up the goats. "Ready when this little lady is! I wanna have snakes slithering out of my face, and the brightest purple eye shadow in your bag."

Cosette motions for him to sit in the provided chair. "Alright, we're gonna wanna start with cleaning up just... All of this." She gestures to the heavy makeup and traces of body glitter on the musician's face. "First-"

A pale finger moves across the screen, skipping most of the video until it gets to a specific part. The video resumes as Cosette begins applying eyeshadow on Jagged Stone's eyelids, carefully making sure they don't smudge the detailed snake that looks as if it's slithering out of a hole in his face. "You're gonna want to start with a base eyeshadow. Place the color into the crease of your eye when your eyes are open, and work down toward the lash line," they instruct. "That way, you'll never overshoot your crease or end up with messy lines."

XY pauses the video and follows its instructions with eyeshadow a muted shade of purple. Hearing a creak outside his private bathroom, he pauses and holds his breath... Three seconds pass, so he goes back to applying the eyeshadow.