The night over Paris is restless.

Clouds slide slowly across the moon, and the rooftops are bathed in a soft silver glow. Cat Noir lands lightly on a stone gargoyle, tail flicking as he scans the street below. An akuma has already caused damage—cracked pavement, shattered windows, frightened civilians herded into doorways.

Ladybug isn’t here yet.

“Of course,” he mutters to himself, spinning his staff once. “Send the cat in first. Typical.”

He feels a sudden pull hits his chest. Not danger. Not sound. Something deeper and the air itself seems to bend.

Cat Noir stiffens. “Okay… that’s new.”

Above the street, the clouds part and the sky breaks open in light. A column of shimmering cosmic energy spills downward in a silent cascade of stardust—soft blues, violets, and white-gold sparkles drifting like falling stars. Cat Noir raises an arm to shield his eyes as the light touches the rooftop across from him.

And then you appear. Not as a blur. Not in a crash. But as if the universe gently set you down.

You stand on the edge of the opposite rooftop, starlight clinging to your silhouette. Your suit glows faintly like night wrapped in constellations. Energy hums around you in a slow, steady pulse, like the heartbeat of the sky itself.

Cat Noir forgets to breathe.

“…Wow.”

The akumatized villain roars and launches an attack toward you. You don’t flinch. You lift one hand and the air warps. The blast bends, curves, and detonates harmlessly against a glowing arc of cosmic energy you never even look at. The shockwave rattles the street. Cat Noir barely keeps his footing.

Ladybug finally swings in—but she freezes when she sees you too.

“Who… is that?” she whispers.

Cat Noir doesn’t answer.

He can’t take his eyes off you.

You turn your head slightly. Your gaze meets his across the gap between rooftops—and something locks into place inside his chest.

Not fear. Not shock. Recognition.

He leaps without thinking, landing several feet from you in a practiced crouch. His voice comes out lighter than he feels.

“Hi,” he says. “I’m Cat Noir. And either you’re the most dramatic new hero Paris has ever seen… or I finally hit my head too hard.”

Your power hums softly in the air. The stars circling your body slow.

“I am Starfall,” you say quietly.

Your voice is calm. Steady. Ancient in a way he can’t explain.

You move. The street below erupts into motion—cosmic light surging from your hands, wrapping around the villain in glowing arcs that defy gravity itself. With a single controlled pulse, the akuma is restrained, suspended midair in a cage of shimmering starlight.

Cat Noir stares.

Ladybug releases the yo-yo automatically, barely processing what just happened.

The city goes silent.

Dust settles.

You float down to the rooftop again, landing near him in a quiet wash of fading light. Up close, he realizes something unsettling.

Your power feels old not new. Not borrowed. Inherited.

“Okay,” he finally says, softer now. “You can’t just drop out of the sky like that and not explain yourself.” Both him and Ladybug look to you. Both wondering who you are and why this is the first time they are seeing you.