Night fell, silently covering all of Paris.
The city's pulse didn't stop with the passing of the day; instead, it donned a more dazzling, more enchanting set of attire.
Countless lights, like shattered diamonds scattered on velvet, outlined the graceful contours of the streets, buildings, and the Seine River.
In the distance, the Eiffel Tower, like a noble lady draped in a golden veil, silently emitted a gentle yet majestic glow in the night.
On the rooftop of an extremely luxurious five-star hotel, located across the river from the Louvre, two agile figures stealthily lurked, like the most vigilant Guardians blended into the night.
"...Still no movement." Cat Noir crouched low, his emerald-like cat eyes unblinkingly fixed on the brightly lit, enormous presidential suite window on the top floor of the hotel opposite.
His voice carried a hint of imperceptible impatience, "Are we too early?
Or... have they already gone in?"
The evening breeze, carrying a cool chill unique to high altitudes, ruffled his unruly blond hair and the black leather belt tail that served as an ornament at his waist.
"I don't know." Ladybug squatted beside him, her posture full of vigilance and focus.
Her blue eyes, which usually sparkled with optimism and vitality, were now shrouded in a deep, unshakeable worry, "I just hope we're not too late."
Her gaze was also locked on that huge French window.
Through the bright and clean glass, they could clearly see Chloé, alone, pacing boredly in her palatial, luxurious room.
And what struck them as most bizarre was that Chloé was actually... wearing a red-and-black polka-dotted jumpsuit that looked identical to Ladybug's!
She even held a yo-yo, idly "skating" it back and forth on her thick Persian carpeted floor.
"Is that..." Cat Noir almost fell off the roof in surprise at this sight, "Ladybug, is she... is she cosplaying you?"
"...Probably." Ladybug's tone was full of helplessness.
"But... where are Jaden and Alya?" Cat Noir's gaze, like the most precise radar, scanned every corner around the hotel, "I've been watching here the whole time, and besides the luxury car that just brought Chloé back, I haven't seen any other suspicious figures.
Logically, if they were coming, we should have noticed..."
"Perhaps... they'll appear in another way." Ladybug's heart sank.
She remembered Caline's frantic description over the phone.
To silently incapacitate an experienced teacher in place, this already exceeded the capabilities of most Akumatized Persons she had faced in the past.
This time's enemy... especially the Akumatized Jaden, his power, she feared... was unfathomable.
And the two of them, as well as the oblivious Chloé, who was playing "cosplay" in the room, were completely unaware.
In their blind spot, on the quiet street below the hotel, brightly lit by neoclassical streetlights, two slender figures, hand in hand, slowly and unhurriedly, like an ordinary couple strolling in the night, walked towards the magnificent hotel entrance.
Along the way, they had a wonderful time.
Mr. Information used his incredible ability to transform the street billboards into romantic dynamic images displaying their figures;
He made the streetlights gently and rhythmically flicker with their footsteps, as if accompanying them.
And Lady Wifi, like a child with a new toy, used her phone to control the traffic lights, making all red lights turn green just as they approached an intersection.
This journey, which should have been filled with vengeful anger, under the deliberate and elegant guidance of Mr. Information, actually became like an unreal dream full of fantasy and sweetness.
When they finally arrived at the palatial, luxurious hotel entrance, the sky had completely transformed into a deep, midnight sapphire color.
"Alright, we're here." Mr. Information stopped, his eyes, covered by a data waterfall, calmly watched the brightly lit room above.
He held Lady Wifi's hand, his wrist slightly exerting force, seemingly intending to directly use digital teleportation to appear before their target.
However, Lady Wifi subconsciously, and with more force, tightened her grip on his hand.
She... she didn't want it to end so soon.
This dream-like journey was so beautiful, so beautiful that she almost forgot her wronged indignation and anger.
How she wished... how she wished this road could be a little longer, just a little longer... But she didn't know what excuse to use to keep him, to keep this... brief moment of tenderness that belonged only to the two of them.
She could only express her inexpressible, small bit of longing with silence and that tightly clasped hand.
Mr. Information seemed to have understood the small, contradictory struggle in her heart.
In the depths of his eyes, which always held absolute calm and machine-like precision, a minuscule, almost negligible, gentle ripple flashed.
He no longer insisted, but simply followed her pull, walking with her, step by step, into the magnificent, high-society-filled hotel lobby.
Inside the presidential suite.
Chloé impatiently threw her yo-yo onto the huge princess bed with its velvet bedspread.
"Why aren't they here yet?!" she grumbled discontentedly at her beautiful reflection in the mirror, wearing Ladybug's jumpsuit, "What about the 'appointment' we agreed on?
Has my Winter Knight gotten lost?! Honestly! No sense of time at all!"
She paced boredly around the room, her blue eyes filled with anxiety and anticipation.
Just then, her latest pink phone, placed on the bedside table, suddenly vibrated with a "buzz, buzz, buzz."
She lunged for it, and when she saw the two flashing names on the screen—"My Winter Knight (Jaden)"—her face, which had been full of impatience, instantly broke into an incomparably brilliant, victorious, sweet smile!
She immediately answered the phone! Without even waiting for the other party to speak, she said in a cloyingly sweet, coquettish tone:
"Hello, my Winter Knight, you finally—"
Her words were cut short.
From the other end of the phone, there was no gentle voice she expected. Instead, a dazzling, intense light, a mixture of pink and blue, suddenly burst forth from the phone screen!
"Ah!"
Chloé, startled by the sudden glare, instinctively screamed and threw the phone onto the nearby carpet!
The light projected from the phone screen rapidly condensed and intertwined in mid-air, with countless tiny numbers and codes, like living, dancing fireflies, slowly outlining two slender and elegant figures.
The light dissipated.
Mr. Information and Lady Wifi's figures, like deities descended from the digital world, slowly appeared before her.
"Who are you?" Before Chloé could recover from her shock, the woman beside her, whom she knew so well yet now found so strange, with a Wi-Fi symbol flashing on her chest, spoke first.
His voice was cold and full of sarcasm, "'Miss Chloé,' how forgetful the distinguished are."
"A... Alya?!" Chloé's eyes instantly widened! She pointed at her classmate, dressed in a strange jumpsuit, her face filled with disbelief!
Then, her gaze slowly shifted to the familiar yet strange figure beside her, who made her heart skip a beat.
It was him!
But... "Originally," Mr. Information slowly began.
He stated calmly, in a gentle and elegant tone, as if reciting a sonnet, "I was supposed to be your Winter Knight."
"However, now..." He slightly turned his body, his eyes, covered by a data waterfall, gently watching the Lady Wifi beside him.
"...I am this Lady's Mister."
"Wha—at—?!"
These words were like a heavy hammer, striking Chloé's heart fiercely!
Her beautiful face instantly twisted with immense shock and anger!
"Jaden! You... you're Akumatized again?!" she shrieked hysterically, "And... and you're not even here for me!
Not to play with your Miraculous Queen!
But... but with this four-eyed nerd?!"
Her gaze, like a poisoned sword, shot directly at Lady Wifi!
There was no fear in her eyes!
Only burning fury, betrayal, and offense!
"I am 'Lady Wifi' now!" Alya retorted, not backing down, enunciating each word.
"I don't care what damn Lady you are!" Chloé retorted, hands on hips, in her usual arrogant and unreasonable spoiled-girl tone, "Where is your Akuma Butterfly?!
Hurry up and give it to me!
And! Jaden, he's the Winter Knight I've set my sights on!
His power rightfully belongs to me—the Miraculous Queen!
You despicable thief! Give him back to me now!"
A war without smoke, full of verbal conflict, instantly erupted in this luxurious, enclosed room!
"Give him back to you?!" Lady Wifi heard this and burst out as if she'd heard the funniest joke of the century, "Chloé, on what grounds?!
On the grounds of your mayor father?!
Or on the grounds of your vile character that twists right and wrong and bullies the weak?!"
"You—!!" Chloé was hit where it hurt, her face flushing crimson with anger, "You parasite who only hides behind others and climbs to the top by seeking sympathy!
What right do you have to tell me what to do?!
If Jaden hadn't been blind, you would have already been crying at home with your tail between your legs, accepting your one-week suspension!"
"Today, I'm here to make you pay for what you've done!"
"Pay? What a joke! I, Chloé, have never known how to write the word 'pay'!"
The atmosphere between the two was tense, as if at any moment, the verbal conflict would escalate into a physical struggle!
Mr. Information watched this scene, his face still maintaining that elegant, seemingly detached calm.
He slowly walked behind Lady Wifi and, in his gentle, cello-like voice, softly asked:
"Do you need... my help? My Lady."
"No." Lady Wifi replied flatly, without turning her head.
His gaze, like a hawk locking onto its prey, was fixed on Chloé, "Wait outside, Mister.
This is... our 'story.'"
"As you wish." Mr. Information bowed slightly, then, like the most loyal and patient Guardian, turned and walked out of the powder-keg bedroom, quietly waiting in the living room outside the door.
"Alas... the troubles of love..."
Just as he stood alone by the huge French window overlooking the entire Parisian nightscape, Hawk Moth's voice, full of emotion and helplessness, echoed in his mind.
"But... Mr. Information, don't forget our agreement."
"I naturally won't forget." Mr. Information calmly replied in his mind, "Our agreement is to let him get the 'justice' he deserves.
That's all."
"That's good... that's good..."
In his distant lair, Hawk Moth let out a long sigh of relief.
Compared to the previous Winter Knight, who was difficult to communicate with and only acted on instinct, this Mr. Information, calm, rational, and even able to conduct equal transactions with him, was truly... much better.
"Bang—!"
A slight, almost inaudible landing sound broke the serenity of this high place.
Cat Noir's figure, with a perfect, explosive pole vault, landed precisely on the wide, tiled terrace in front of Mr. Information.
His metal staff, with a "whoosh," retracted to its normal length and was coolly slung over his shoulder.
Immediately after, a red, nimble figure also swung in from the other side of the sky. Ladybug's yo-yo, like a living spirit snake, precisely wrapped around the terrace railing, and with a swing, allowed her to land steadily beside Cat Noir in an equally graceful and agile posture.
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, subtly sandwiched the elegant and mysterious figure who was still standing by the French window, with his back to them, as if admiring the night view.
"Jaden!" Ladybug's voice carried an uncontrollable, urgent worry, "Stop it! Do you know what you're doing?! Hand over the Akuma Butterfly! We can help you!"
"That's right, buddy." Cat Noir chimed in, trying to ease the tense atmosphere with a casual, friendly tone, "Look, you don't want anything to really happen to that spoiled Chloé, do you?
We all know she can be annoying sometimes, but..."
However, Mr. Information slowly turned around.
His handsome face even bore a polite, gentle smile.
"Persuading me is useless." He said slowly, in an elegant and sincere tone, as if stating an objective fact, "My Lady is inside. Your target is her, isn't it?"
He slightly turned his body, indicating with his gaze the closed bedroom door behind him.
"Ladybug," he gazed at her, his eyes seeming to pierce through her mask, straight to her heart that was beating wildly for him, "You can go in. Go find her."
"..."
"Huh?"
Ladybug and Cat Noir were utterly bewildered.
They exchanged glances, both seeing the immense, incomprehensible confusion in the other's eyes.
What... what was happening?!
They had anticipated countless possibilities: fierce battles, cold standoffs, even being ambushed by the opponent's strange abilities... But the one thing they hadn't expected was that the opponent would... just like that... let them pass so easily?!
"Is this... is this some kind of trap?" Cat Noir couldn't help but whisper to his partner.
Hawk Moth in his lair was also completely baffled by this sudden, almost divine turn of events!
"Mr. Information! What in the world are you doing?!"
His voice, for the first time, carried a hint of exasperated questioning, "Why didn't you stop them?!
Your mission is to protect your partner! Not to lead enemies to her!"
"Ha, looks like today will be a very easy mission." Cat Noir shrugged. Seeing that the opponent genuinely didn't seem to intend to fight, he relaxed his guard, ready to rush into the tense bedroom with Ladybug.
However, Ladybug didn't act immediately.
His beautiful blue eyes gazed complexly at the young man before him, who, despite being Akumatized, still maintained that reassuring, gentle elegance.
His heart was a tangled mess. He worried for his safety, and also felt a strange, sour pang of pain because of his current "partnership" with Alya.
He took one last deep, worried look at him, then gritted his teeth, turned, and rushed towards the bedroom door.
Seeing this, Cat Noir immediately followed.
However, just as his foot was about to cross the bedroom doorway—
"Bang!"
A dull thud, like something hitting tempered glass!
An invisible, transparent wall made of countless tiny codes instantly appeared before him, forcefully bouncing him back!
"Ow!" Cat Noir, caught off guard, slammed into the invisible wall, letting out a pained yelp.
He clutched his sore nose, looking at the culprit who was still standing in his original spot, not even having changed his posture, with an accusatory and incredulous gaze!
"Hey! What do you mean by this?!" he fumed.
"I just said," Mr. Information's tone was still so gentle and elegant, as if the prank just now had nothing to do with him, "'Ladybug' can go in."
"I didn't say you could go in too."
"The world inside belongs to the girls."
"You...!" Cat Noir was so angry he almost used Cataclysm on the spot, "Why didn't you say so earlier?! I bumped myself for nothing!"
He rubbed his poor nose, retreated to the nearby sofa, and plopped down.
Although on the surface he still maintained his relaxed and nonchalant demeanor, his body was already tense, his green cat eyes, like the most alert cheetah, stared intently at the unfathomable enemy before him.
And Mr. Information ignored his wariness.
He slowly closed his eyes, as if entering a state of meditation.
Then, in his mind, he responded to Hawk Moth's anxious questioning with an equally calm, emotionless tone.
"My promise is to ensure His 'justice' is served. And His 'justice' requires a stage.
Now, the stage is set, and the actors are in place. All we have to do now is quietly appreciate this... drama that belongs only to them."
Meanwhile, behind the closed bedroom door.
The conflict had escalated to a whole new dimension.
"...You blonde slipper-bug who only looks at people through your nostrils!"
"You four-eyed pond frog who only follows Marinette around and barely survives on other people's pity!"
Alya and Chloé, like two feisty little hens, stood face to face in the center of the room, hands on hips, engaged in a fierce war of words full of personal attacks, a battle whose intensity rivaled a world war!
Just then, with a "bang," the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open!
A red figure, like a savior, descended into the center of this tense battlefield!
The two girls inside, who had been furiously bickering, instantly stopped, their gazes uniformly turning to the uninvited guest.
When they clearly saw that it was Ladybug, their faces showed distinctly different, wonderfully varied expressions.
"Ladybug?!" Lady Wifi's eyes instantly filled with wariness and hostility! She immediately adopted a fighting stance, ready to attack at any moment!
Chloé, on the other hand, looked as if she had seen a loved one, her face instantly lighting up with ecstatic joy!
"Ladybug! You've come at just the right time!" She exclaimed with delight, pointing at Lady Wifi opposite her, and loudly said in a complaining tone, "Quick! Purify her! This crazy woman has been dark transformed!
His Akuma Butterfly is in His phone! Hurry and help me turn her back into that four-eyed pond frog I used to bully!"
Ladybug looked at this absurd yet familiar scene, and for a moment, didn't know where to begin complaining.
She took a deep breath, trying to use her usual preachy tone, full of love and justice, to enlighten her friend whose eyes were clouded by hatred.
"Alya!" Her voice was full of sincerity and concern, "I know you've been wronged!
But please, calm down! Violence solves nothing!"
However, for Lady Wifi at this moment, such preaching was so pale, so... ridiculous.
"It's no use," His voice was cold and full of mockery, "You don't understand what I've been through."
"I understand! Of course I understand!" Ladybug said anxiously, "Marinette... she... she almost cried when she found out you were wronged!
She's really worried about you, Alya!"
"Marinette..."
Hearing that name, a tiny, almost imperceptible flicker of hesitation flashed in the depths of Lady Wifi's eyes.
However, just as this flicker of hesitation was about to spread—
"Oh? Is that so?"
Hawk Moth's voice, like the most insidious venomous snake, slithered directly into His mind through the mental link!
"If your 'good friend' really worried about you that much... then why didn't she call you herself?
Why is it a so-called 'superhero' who comes here to preach to you?"
"Furthermore, think about it, how many times have you assisted your 'good friend'?
How much have you sacrificed for her happiness? But now?
You just wanted to have a few hours to enjoy this rare and wonderful time with the person you love... Is even such a small, selfish wish to be opposed by her, by sending someone to stop you?"
These words, full of instigation and temptation, were like the most potent, poisoned catalyst, instantly transforming the faint flicker of hesitation that had just risen in Alya's heart into an even fiercer, blazing inferno of betrayal!
"Shut up!!!"
She let out a roar, and the phone in His hand instantly glowed with a dazzling pink light! A code-generated energy symbol representing "lock-on" shot out like a laser towards Ladybug!
In the living room.
The moment the first sound of a fight came from the room!
Cat Noir, who had been sitting on the sofa, seemingly relaxed but actually on full alert, his green cat eyes instantly narrowed!
His reaction was as fast as lightning!
Almost within 0.1 seconds of the sound, he had already unleashed his unparalleled agility and explosiveness as Cat Noir!
The extendable staff in his hand instantly lengthened, and he slammed it against the railing of the balcony! His entire body, like a cannonball launched, swung first towards the distant, dark, undulating rooftops!
However, the moment he reached the rooftop—
The air in front of him suddenly distorted like water ripples.
A tall, elegant figure in a black trench coat appeared silently before him as if teleporting, blocking his path.
"Oh oh oh! This isn't fair!" Cat Noir looked at the elusive person before him, who had been in the living room just a second ago and was now suddenly in front of him, letting out an exaggerated, complaining sound, "This is cheating! It's foul play!"
"In this world, there is no absolute fairness to begin with." Mr. Information stood at the edge of the rooftop, the evening breeze rustling his few unruly strands of hair, streaked with dark blue.
"However..." His lips curved into an elegant, confident smile.
"I can give you a 'fair' chance."
"Come on."
He slowly took off his glasses.
The moment the glasses were removed, those black eyes, which always held a gentle smile, were completely exposed to the air.
However, at this moment, there was no longer any gentleness or smile in those eyes.
Instead, there was an absolute, emotionless, machine-like precision of calmness, and a chilling, profound glow that was rapidly downloading, analyzing, and deconstructing all the combat data of the enemy before him!
"..."
Cat Noir felt an unprecedented, suffocating pressure from him!
Inside the room.
The battle had entered a white-hot stage!
"Lock on! Lock on! Lock on!"
Lady Wifi's phone, like the most deadly, high-tech weapon, continuously fired pink, dangerous-looking energy symbols!
Wherever those symbols went, the air seemed to distort!
Ladybug dodged left and right, using the expensive furniture in the room as cover.
She didn't know what would happen if she was hit by those symbols.
But his hero's intuition was frantically warning him: Absolutely! Absolutely must not be hit!
Just as Lady Wifi's attention was completely focused on Ladybug, she didn't notice that a golden figure, full of jealousy and rage, had silently circled around from His side and back!
"You damn four-eyed pond frog! Die!!!"
Chloé let out a roar, and with an explosive movement completely inconsistent with his delicate young lady image, she suddenly pounced on Lady Wifi from the side, fiercely tackling him to the ground!
"Ha! I got you!" Chloé, in a very undignified posture, straddled Lady Wifi, firmly pinning His hands.
His beautiful face was filled with a smug, victorious smile, "How about that?!
Now you know who the real queen is, don't you?!
Quick! Ladybug! Grab His phone for me!"
However, just when she thought she had won the war—
A tall figure in a black trench coat appeared silently beside her as if teleporting.
Mr. Information didn't even glance at her.
He simply reached out and effortlessly took the phone, the Akuma Butterfly's host, from the suppressed, immobile Lady Wifi's hand.
Then, he calmly gazed at the still-boasting blonde girl in a ridiculous cosplay costume lying beneath him.
"..."
Chloé stiffened all over, stared at by his emotionless gaze, as if he were looking at an ant!
That bone-deep, absolute coldness instantly chilled his heart, which had been full of victorious joy, by half!
The next second, she only felt her body lighten!
Invisible chains made of data gently lifted her body, and then, as if moving a fragile, insignificant piece of porcelain, moved her to the nearby sofa.
After doing all this, Mr. Information reached out and gently pulled up his girl, who was still lying on the ground, somewhat disheveled.
"You...!" Chloé, thrown onto the sofa, finally reacted from her shock! His suppressed anger flared up again!
She pointed at Mr. Information, screaming in a commanding, possessive, undeniable tone:
"Jaden! Give me back my phone!
That's my trophy!
And! You're mine too! You are my—Miraculous Queen's Winter Knight!
Hurry up! Come stand by my side!"
Mr. Information listened to her arrogant and unreasonable screams, and that gentle, sincere, yet heartbreakingly distant smile reappeared on his face.
Then, in his elegant, gentle voice, as if reciting a love poem, he slowly replied:
"I'm very sorry, Miss Chloé."
"My title of Winter Knight now exists only for the one girl by my side.''