Ladybug (TAoMToLaCN)

'Ladybug' is an episode of Thomas' Adventures of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

SUMMARY
Lila manipulates all Marinette's close ones, [except for OpThomas Prime, Big Hero 6, and the Incredibles] who turn against her, but an even bigger problem awaits Marinette: she and her super friends have to face sentimonsters that have taken the appearance of Baymax and Ladybug!

PLOT
In a flashback taking place before the events of “Befana”, Adrien makes a lucky bracelet for Marinette. He asks Plagg what he thinks of it, but Plagg insists that a gift that doesn’t have a scent or can’t be eaten is no good. So at dinner, Adrien asks his father what he thinks of the bracelet, explaining that it is a birthday gift for Marinette and that his whole class is organizing a surprise party for her. Gabriel reminds Adrien that he never gave him permission to go to the party, but when Adrien pleads with him, he agrees.

In the present, Gabriel approaches Lila at the park in his car and reminds her that she was supposed to be protecting Adrien from Marinette, the one she called a bad influence. Lila says that her plan is taking longer than expected but promises that he won’t be disappointed. She also asks if he’ll keep his promise if she succeeds. Gabriel insists that he always honors his agreements and then leaves. In the car, Nathalie tells Gabriel that he works too hard, but Gabriel tells her that it isn’t the time to ease up.

As Miss Bustier’s class enters the classroom, Marinette overhears Lila tell Nathaniel that she’s friends with the best manga publisher in Japan and can talk to him about his comic. Marinette calls Lila a liar, but Alya tells her to stop obsessing over her. Miss Bustier announces that she graded the class’ Mock Exams but before she can hand them back, she needs to check Marinette’s schoolbag for something. After Marinette brings her bag to her, Miss Bustier reveals that someone left an anonymous note claiming that she’d stolen the test answers. Looking inside Marinette’s bag, she finds the answers in there. The whole class is shocked, but Marinette insists that she didn’t steal anything and that someone put those answers in her bag. However, Miss Bustier points out that Marinette answered every question correctly. Marinette insists that’s because she studied, and Alya points out that Marinette always does well on tests. When Lila tells Marinette that she’s usually so well-behaved, Marinette realizes that she’s the one who put the answers in her bag and calls her out on it. Lila pretends to be offended, and Miss Bustier tells Marinette that she can’t accuse someone without proof. Though Marinette insists that Lila stole the test answers, Miss Bustier doesn’t believe her since Lila got the lowest grade in the class. The entire class comes to Marinette’s defense, pointing out that she’d never cheat, so Miss Bustier sends Marinette and Lila to the principal’s office to straighten everything out.

On the way there, Lila reminds Marinette that she’d promised to make her life miserable. Marinette tells Lila that she won’t fall for any of her traps, but Lila whispers that she already has. She goes down the bottom of the stairs and pretends to have hurt her leg, claiming that Marinette had pushed her. Mr. Damocles hears this and angrily tells Marinette to come into his office.

In the principal’s office, though Marinette insists that she didn’t do anything, Lila tells Mr. Damocles that she doesn’t understand why Marinette doesn’t like her as she always calling her a liar and pushed her down the stairs. She also claims that Marinette stole a fox pendant she’d received from her grandmother. Tom and Sabine refuse to believe that their daughter stole anything, so Lila takes them to the locker room to prove her claims. Mr. Damocles tells Marinette to open her locker, and when she does, Lila’s pendant is found inside. Marinette insists that Lila is lying and turns to Adrien for help. He almost says something to Mr. Damocles, but Mr. Damocles expels Marinette from school, much to the shock of all her classmates.

Hawk Moth is pleased with the chaos Lila created. As part of the next phase of his plan, he akumatizes Nathalie into Catalyst and then Catalyst turns Hawk Moth into Scarlet Moth. Scarlet Moth makes multiple akumas and sends them after Marinette and her friends. The akumas infect several students and staff inside the locker room, including Marinette and Sabine. While the others are turned back into their akumatized selves, Scarlet Moth prepares to turn Marinette and Sabine into Princess Justice and Verity Queen with the power to expose the truth in exchange for Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses. Marinette almost removes her earrings, but Catalyst then begins to cough violently, so Scarlet Moth rushes to her aid and drops his transformation, resulting in everyone being deakumatized.

In Marinette’s room, Tikki tells Marinette that if she’d been akumatized, nothing would have stopped her from handing her Miraculous over to Hawk Moth. Marinette knows that she’s right and insists that she won’t let Lila nor Hawk Moth win. She vows to prove her innocence but wishes that Alya could help her. Tikki points out that Alya hadn’t been akumatized and is sure it’s because she trusts her, so Marinette calls her. Alya points out the facts: Marinette is accused of stealing the Mock Exam answers and the evidence is that the answers were found in her bag. Marinette is also accused of pushing Lila down the stairs, and although no one saw this, they did see Lila at the bottom of them. Furthermore, Marinette is accused of stealing Lila’s pendant as it was found inside her locker. Marinette sarcastically thanks Alya for her help, but Alya insists that she trusts her and is just pointing out that the evidence is stacked against her. However, she offers to investigate the matter, and Marinette happily thanks her. Sabine then comes in and asks to speak to Marinette, so she hangs up. Sabine tells Marinette that although she and Tom love her, the whole situation is very complicated and until they find a new school for her, she should help with the bakery. Marinette insists that she didn’t do anything and asks how she’ll be able to prove her innocence if she’s spending all her time in the bakery. Tom insists that it’s fun and hands her an apron.

At the Agreste mansion, a doctor tells Gabriel to make sure Nathalie gets a lot of rest. After she leaves, Nathalie tells Gabriel that he can still take advantage of the chaos Lila created, but Gabriel says that plan is pointless without her. He decides that there should be no more Mayura as the damaged Peacock Miraculous is affecting her health badly. Nathalie insists that she doesn’t care as she wants to help him, but Gabriel refuses. Meanwhile at Collège Françoise Dupont, Alya investigates for Marinette.

Later, when Gabriel is asleep, Nathalie takes the Peacock Miraculous from him, buys an Eiffel Tower keychain at Place des Vosges, and then goes down the sewers. She puts the Peacock Miraculous on and Duusu is delighted to see Nathalie feeling better, though she takes her comment back when Nathalie starts coughing. Nathalie tells Duusu that she’s going to create a very powerful sentimonster. Duusu tells her not to as she should be resting, but Nathalie declares that she wants to be the one to give Gabriel Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses. Duusu calls Nathalie’s dedication romantic, and Nathalie transforms into Mayura. She then creates an amok and places it inside the Eiffel Tower keychain, creating the Sentimonster Ladybug. Mayura tells her that she’s Cat Noir’s true teammate with one goal: to get ahold of the Miraculous. Sentimonster Ladybug agrees. Unbeknownst to her, Caesar, as Caesura, had been spying on her, and he decides to create a sentimonster to try and thwart her; and upon sensing the presense of Hiro and Baymax flying by, he creates a sentimonster based on Baymax.

At Dupain-Cheng bakery, Tom teaches Marinette how to bake. In the middle of his lesson, Alya calls. Marinette asks if she can answer, but Tom hangs up and tells Marinette that they aren’t finished. Alya leaves a message for Marinette claiming that she found no fingerprints or evidence. Adrien overhears and immediately realizes that Lila is behind Marinette’s expulsion. He prepares to confront her, but then he hears that Ladybug is fighting Mayura at Arc de Troimphe. So he hides inside Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom, transforms into Cat Noir, and heads to Arc de Troimphe. He witnesses Mayura injure Ladybug and rushes to her aid, unaware that she is a sentimonster.

While working at the bakery, Marinette hears that Ladybug is fighting Mayura at Arc de Troimphe. Recognizing it as one of Hawk Moth’s traps, Marinette looks for a way to get out of baking. She covers herself in flour and asks her dad if she can wash up, but Tom says that getting dirty is alright and she can wash up after she’s done decorating the gingerbread men. So Marinette quickly decorates them. Meanwhile, Sentimonster Ladybug pretends to be injured and “confesses” to Cat Noir that she’s has always had feelings for him. She leans in for a kiss while secretly trying to steal his ring, but then the real Ladybug shows up and stops her. However, Sentimonster Ladybug insists that she’s the real Ladybug. Cat Noir believes that the real Ladybug is just an illusion and throws his staff at her, but Ladybug catches it and says that she’s real before throwing the staff back at him. Cat Noir is perplexed by the appearance of two Ladybugs. Sentimonster Ladybug claims that the other Ladybug is a fan akumatized by Hawk Moth. Frustrated that Cat Noir keeps falling for Sentimonster Ladybug’s manipulation, Ladybug “admits” to being a fake but tells Cat Noir that she won’t let him Cataclysm her earrings. Cat Noir prepares to do just that, but Mayura comes out and shouts at him not to damage the earrings, revealing which Ladybug is real. Mayura orders Sentimonster Ladybug to steal the Miraculouses and not to hold back, so Sentimonster Ladybug calls on her SentiCharm and receives a sticky blaster. Ladybug calls on her Lucky Charm and receives a fork. The four then engage in battle.

Gabriel wakes up and is shocked to discover that Mayura is fighting Ladybug and Cat Noir. He asks Nooroo why he didn’t wake him up, to which Nooroo says that he couldn’t bring himself to as he was sleeping so peacefully. Meanwhile at Arc de Troimphe, Ladybug uses the fork to scratch a piece of glass, creating a noise so loud that it forces both Sentimonster Ladybug and Mayura to cover their ears. Ladybug seizes the opportunity to grab the Eiffel Tower keychain. She prepares to remove the amok, but she then realizes that there is nothing monstrous about Sentimonster Ladybug as whoever possesses the object holding the amok controls the sentimonster and she couldn’t help but follow orders. Ladybug gives Sentimonster Ladybug the keychain, offers her her freedom, and asks for her help in defeating Mayura. Sentimonster Ladybug agrees. However, Mayura takes her amok away, destroying her. Cat Noir gets furious at Mayura and prepares to attack her, but Hawk Moth shows up and kicks him away. He mocks the two for being sentimental about a sentimonster, though Cat Noir calls him the real monster. The duo fight him, and Hawk Moth winds up grabbing ahold of Cat Noir while Ladybug gets ahold of Mayura. Hawk Moth prepares to take Cat Noir’s ring, but Cat Noir calls on Cataclysm before he can. Ladybug tells Hawk Moth that she’s going to take the Peacock Miraculous from Mayura, but Hawk Moth reminds her that all he has to do is wait a few minutes until the two of them transform back. Therefore, Hawk Moth throws Cat Noir while Ladybug throws Mayura. While Hawk Moth goes to get Mayura, Ladybug catches Cat Noir. Cat Noir tells Ladybug that she had Mayura right where she wanted her and that he could’ve managed by herself, but Ladybug insists that Ladybug by herself doesn’t sound right. Cat Noir leans in for a kiss, but Ladybug reminds him that she’s still in love with someone else. She then uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage. However, Cat Noir notes that Miraculous Ladybug couldn’t bring back Sentimonster Ladybug, and Ladybug agrees that the Peacock Miraculous is even more cruel than the Butterfly Miraculous when used wrongly.

At the Agreste mansion, Gabriel scolds Nathalie for disobeying him and putting herself in danger for nothing. He admits that her plan was brilliant but she does not need a Miraculous to help him. Nathalie reminds Gabriel that he also needed Mayura to help him find the guardian and gives him the Peacock Miraculous, stating that if he ever needs Mayura again, she’ll be there for him.

Later, Adrien goes to his photoshoot and surprised to find Lila there. Vincent explains that she is Gabriel’s new muse and will be doing the photoshoot with him. Adrien asks for a few minutes alone with her. He sits besides her and tells Lila that she didn’t listen to his previous warning as she hurt his friend Marinette. Lila attempts to insist that she didn’t do anything, but Adrien tells Lila that although he can’t prove she lied, she’s going to tell another lie to prove Marinette’s innocence. Lila asks why she’d do that, to which Adrien replies by reminding her that they’re friends. Lila looks towards Nathalie, who approvingly nods.

At Collège Françoise Dupont, Lila tells Mr. Damocles that she has a rare disease that sometimes causes her to lie compulsively and apologizes to Marinette. Mr. Damocles is touched by Lila’s “confession” and allows Marinette back into school. Outside his office, Marinette tells Lila that although she doesn’t know why she felt the urge to start drama and then later fix it, she’s glad to see that at least she can occasionally come to her senses. However, Lila reminds Marinette that things aren’t always what they seem, confirming that their feud isn’t over.

Later at Marinette’s house, Tom bakes a cake to celebrate Marinette’s return to school, stating that he knew all along that she was innocent. However, Marinette sees on TV that Lila was in Adrien’s latest photoshoot and is shocked, though Sabine is happy to see that Lila’s “disease” doesn’t stop her from achieving her dreams. The end card then appears.