gullwhacker | Less than one season in and already thinking of a crossover...

"Now, Cutting Edge! Trim away their Miraculouses!"

The lavender sign of the butterfly shone brightly over the masked Akuma's face, and she snarled in response to the demand. "This is my runway and my style - I don't need you ordering me around! Now sit tight and watch an artist at work!"

Flowing train behind her, the villain stalked forward toward the rubble surrounding the heroine in red. The yo-yo lashed out to try to snag a gargoyle, but with a casual swipe of her scissors in its general direction, the ugly thing was cut free of its building to tumble down. "As for you, Ladybug - I shall show you what beauty and power can accomplish-"

The impact blindsided her, and as she hurtled through the air, she was barely able to piece together what had happened. The very gargoyle she'd cut down - that ridiculous red scarf was attached to it, and it had swung like a pendulum - how could she have known?

There was a tug, and she stared as Chat Noir - lurking behind another of those abominable statues - waved cheekily. In his other hand, he held the scissors she had wielded so easily, now rusting and crumbling away. Once again, victory turned to defeat in bewildering moments-

The pavement was rough, but Cutting Edge welcomed the blackness. A failure after all, the final stitch being that distant cry of 'Pound it'...

Nate hit the pause button on the remote as the video - taken by a security camera with abysmal quality - showed Cutting Edge reverting to a woman in a business suit. "And this is our client."

"A maniac wielding some kind of magic scissors?" Eliot quirked an eyebrow, disbelief written clearly in his expression. "I know we're not exactly on the up-and-narrow, but this is something of a swerve."

"The woman isn't a maniac - at least not on a normal day. Paris has gotten...strange over the last year or so, and she is just as much a victim here as any of our other clients." With another press of a remote button - and just a little bit of flourish - Nate brought up a more normal-looking photo of the woman. "Adèle Couture, a burgeoning fashion designer. Recently started work at Gabriel, more recently dismissed from said studio. Claims that her boss stole her designs - including her private work not covered by the work contract. Was called away from her desk, and when she returned, personal devices had been wiped clean - no obvious evidence. And that's...where things get messy."

Hardison stepped up, stumbling slightly as he clutched a mug of coffee like it was a lifeline. "I just want all of you to appreciate the effort I go to - because man, this info was not easy to get." He gestured at the screen, and a grainy photo of a man's head appeared - or rather, a head made of butterflies. "So the news in Paris is staying in Paris, by order of the Mayor. Only the first little snippet even made it out at all, and it's been squashed hard. So this guy is Hawkmoth - some kind of criminal mastermind with mind-control shenanigans. Finds people having a bad day, brainwashes them and equips them with superstuff, I don't even know, and boom. Supervillains terrorizing Paris for months."

Nate cleared his throat. "So this happened to Adèle, turning her into 'Cutting Edge'. The good news is that people being brainwashed aren't liable for their actions. The bad news is that her boss immediately fired her for being 'too emotional' - which he can do, because the mayor passed some laws to try to reduce the number of these 'Akuma'." He smiled wanly at the group - particularly Sophie's outrage - and then brought up the next slide.

The photos on the screen were replaced with a file photo of a single stern-looking man. "So here's the principal target - Gabriel Agreste, founder and head of Gabriel, and the likely culprit behind the design theft. Our main goal is to figure out if he still has Adèle's work, steal it, and get it under her name. Ideally while doing as much damage as we can to his reputation in the process. That's going to work well with the secondary target-"

Sophie practically recoiled from the screen. "Him?! But he's - you can't mean -"

"André Bourgeois. The owner of Le Grand Paris, the current Mayor of Paris, and the one passing all kinds of lovely little laws like the one Gabriel used to fire 'emotional' people. You might be wondering if being mayor and running a hotel is a conflict of interest; he wrote a law claiming it isn't. Naturally, he fits right in with our usual targets. And there's a case to be made that there's conspiracy." Nate brought up a third photo, of a woman in concealing sunglasses. "Audrey Bourgeois, the 'Style Queen' - André's estranged wife, and Gabriel's mentor. Also happens to be a terrible person, so we've got a trifecta of worthy targets."

The next few minutes were spent going over maps - a model of Le Grand Paris, aerial photos of the Agreste Mansion, some of the surrounding landmarks. Parker's eyes were bright when Hardison cleared his throat.

"So before we all get excited over classic European cities and the potential for parkour - Parker - there's one other complication we've got with our plans." He gestured with the coffee mug, and two more photos appeared on the screen - a girl in a red-and-black bodysuit, and a boy in black leather with cat ears. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, the 'heroes' to the 'villain'. Good news is they seem to be on the side of the angels, and are keeping the Akuma in check - just like you saw in that little video. The bad news is that they're on the side of the angels, and might take offense to a little innocent criminal activity."

"Eliot, our best 'in' with Gabriel is probably going to be his son Adrien. Conveniently for us, his Mandarin tutor recently retired, so as long as you can learn a bit of vocabulary-"

"Can't do it." Eliot tapped one of the photos in the folder bluntly. "The kid's bodyguard is the Gorilla - I'm not going to get away with claiming to be a normal tutor."

"Are you sure this guy will recognize you?"

Eliot leapt onto the hood of the Jeep as it sped out of the compound, locking an arm around one soldier's throat and throwing him off the moving vehicle. Branches whipped by, forcing him to duck - and then throw himself down as bullets riddled nearby trunks.

The driver grunted, somehow audible over the screams of the prince in the backseat, as he shook another soldier in one meaty fist before dropping him off the side of the speeding vehicle. Eliot shook his head, pulling out a tire iron, and swinging wildly at the nearest motorcycle. "I've got your back - you just drive and get us out of here!"

"...pretty sure, yeah."

"Fine, Parker will be the tutor."

Sophie plays the part of a personal assistant for Chloé, because she is clearly the mayor's weak spot. Shenanigans ensue.
Nate just gets angrier and angrier at how much corruption is going on.
Eliot winds up going undercover as a temporary assistant baker, after the Leverage team arranges for an absence. This is of course Tom and Sabine's, he has a great time learning new bread recipes, and possibly catches Tikki stealing cookies.
Parker doesn't know much Mandarin but does know a lot about parkour, climbing, and picking locks. Adrien is absolutely delighted.
Hardison gets Parker to attach gadgets to the electrical systems. "Smart home. Not so smart." Gets most of the cameras; sees power usage connected to other rooms, eventually gets access to the second network. At which point we have our second-act twist, because Mr. Pigeon flies again.
May need a decoy at some point to draw out a butterfly from Hawkmoth. It's probably Hardison or Sophie, because Parker has trouble getting angry enough, Nate is kind of there as a baseline, and no one wants Angry Eliot But Now With Superpowers.
Bonus: Possible Lila Redemption. Sophie sees her in action, and isn't that cute, a baby grifter. Gives her some earnest life tips - while casually undermining her current schemes to show how short-sighted they are - and basically gets to play mentor while suggesting some more deserving targets. The bigger the catch, the more interesting the game.
This may end in Lila cheerfully scamming Audrey Bourgeois out of her entire empire.

"Let's steal a Miraculous."