Chapter Text
“Marinette, come on ,” Alya urges, dragging her best friend behind her. “You literally can’t mess this up. Give him the macarons, tell him you really need his opinion because everyone else tried them, and they’re tied on what new flavor your dad should use in the bakery. Invite him to coffee. Done!”
“I can totally mess that up! He could hate both flavors, or can’t decide between them, or—"
“Girl, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Alya says, putting a finger to her lips. “Repeat after me: Adrien, would you please help my dad and I choose which new macaron flavor to use in the bakery?”
“But what if he’s busy or—"
“ No , it’s, ‘Adrien, would you please help my dad and I—‘”
“Okay, I get it!”
“You can do it, girl! When he chooses a flavor, invite him for coffee and the reveal of the new flavor. It’s foolproof!”
“You’re right!” Marinette says, strengthened with new resolve and her friend’s confidence. “I can do this! It’s just a choice of macaron. Then coffee. Easy-peasy, totally got this.”
“That’s my—" They’re interrupted by a loud explosion, not too far off. “What the—"
Both their phones go off at the same time with an akuma alert.
“This is it, it’s a sign from the universe that I shouldn’t be with Adrien,” Marinette moans. “I knew this was a bad plan!”
“ Marinette , akuma? Running to safety??”
Another explosion shakes the ground, as if on cue. “Right, running!”
The two girls make their way through the streets of Paris, merging with the crowd that the police are directing into emergency shelters. With all the people rushing away from the explosions, it isn’t hard for Marinette to get conveniently separated from her best friend. Paris really has gotten much more efficient with their evacuation system over the past few years, so it doesn’t take long for the streets to empty. Marinette ducks into the first alley she comes across, the ground still shaking every so often.
“Come out, come out wherever you are~ I’ve got a bug to squash and a kitty to catch!” the villain booms.
“That’s our cue. Tikki, spots on!”
It doesn’t take long to find the villain once Ladybug is suited up and ready to go; giant robots are hard to miss any day, but especially ones as complex as this one. It’s beautiful, in a way, the metal swirls and gears blending together to form a delicate yet deadly female automaton. The fact that she can tell from a rooftop, so far away, means the ensuing battle is going to be far from easy.
“You called for some IT, m’lady?” Chat Noir comes up behind her on the roof, equipped with his usual grin.
“I think you need to update your pun repertoire, Kitty; you’re running out of good ones.”
“So you admit, you think I’m funny?”
“ Focus , Chat. We’ve got a 20-story robot to deal with.”
He squints in the distance, leaning on his staff. “Is it just me, or does this one look… better than Hawkmoth’s usual villains?”
Ladybug frowns. “I was just thinking that. Maybe he’s getting stronger?”
“Maybe it’s the emotion. What do we do about it?”
“We’ve gotta find a way to get close without—"
“I see you~” the villain calls, aiming an arm cannon in their direction. “Someone call for an exterminator?!” The two superheroes barely jump off the building in time before it’s completely leveled by a bright purple beam. “I will have your miraculous!”
“Woah, this villain isn’t joking around! She singed my tail,” Chat Noir pouts, cradling said tail in his hands.
“We’re gonna need some serious firepower if we want to defeat this villain,” Ladybug replies, grabbing her yo-yo.
“Perhaps a friend, m’lady?”
“We’ll see, Kitty. Lucky charm!”
A stuffed unicorn falls from the sky, dropping into her hands. “Princess Twinklepeach?”
Chat Noir laughs, somewhat hysterically. “Got some babysitting to do that I don’t know about? What is that thing?”
“It was my friend’s, but she lost it to—Oh!” She holds the stuffed animal up. “Wait, really?”
“Whatever you’re gonna do Ladybug, do it quick!” The villain steps over buildings, making her way onto their street. “But I’m gonna try my luck first. Cataclysm!”
“Just keep her busy, Chat!” Pulling out her yo-yo again, she slides it open, using its cellphone function to access the official Ladybug Twitter feed (Rena Rouge’s idea, don’t ask). Before she even gets a chance to implement her plan, Chat Noir crashes into the building next to her, thrown by the villain with such force he practically brings the building down around him.
“Chat!” Ladybug rushes to his aid, picking her way through the rubble. “What happened to your cataclysm?”
He grimaces as she helps him to her feet, clutching his side in obvious pain. “It barely did anything, and she just regenerated! This villain is no joke. Did you figure out what the lucky charm is for?”
“I think so, but we’re gonna need a little more time,” she replies. Acting quickly, she pulls him along, running upstairs before she throws her yo-yo, zipping them out of the building. She lands them a few blocks away and pushes Chat Noir into another empty building, pulling up Twitter once more once they’re safely settled inside.
“Is now really the time for browsing your feed?”
“This is hardly a social pastime, Chat Noir. Did you know that whatever you put on the internet stays there forever, timestamped and GPS-tagged for anyone to see?”
Chat peers over her shoulder: “’Bunnyx, we need you’? What’s that going to do?”
A portal opens behind them before he even gets a chance to finish his sentence, washing them in pale blue light. A grown Bunnyx pokes her head out, clearly displeased with this turn of events.
“You know everything you put on the internet stays there forever, right?”
Ladybug grins. “That was the plan, Bunnyx. Glad you were keeping an eye out. Got a solution for us?”
Her frown deepens. “Unfortunately. This villain is no joke Minibug, and you’re gonna need some serious manpower. Believe me, I looked at every other option, and it fails every time; that’s the only reason I’m doing this. You’ve got until midnight, then he’s gotta make like Cinderella and poof, got it?”
“He?” Her confusion is momentary, and Bunnyx’s upset suddenly makes sense as an unexpected companion steps out of the portal. “Chat Blanc!”
“Chat what ?” Chat Noir cries, jaw practically on the floor.
“Hello again, love,” he says, smiling gently.
“Love?” Chat Noir protests. “Again??” His exacerbation only increases when Ladybug throws her arms around the newcomer, hugging him tight. “Hey, how come this whitewashed copy gets all the love and I don’t? Who even is this guy!”
“ Midnight , Minibug,” Bunnyx repeats, pointing a finger in her face. “Not a second later.”
“Of course. Thank you, Bunnyx.”
“Hellooo, am I invisible here?” Chat pouts, tapping his foot impatiently as Bunnyx disappears back into her burrow. “Someone wanna explain what’s going on?”
Chat Blanc grins, seemingly taking delight in Chat Noir’s annoyance, which only makes him more annoyed. “What’s the matter, didn’t anyone ever teach you to share?”
“I see you’re doing well, Blanc, and I would love to catch up, but we’ve got a villain to de-akumatize. Bunnyx give you any idea what you’re supposed to be doing to help us?”
He frowns. “Not sure, something about Chat Noir’s cataclysm not being strong enough.”
“My cataclysm is just fine, you little—"
The ground shakes beneath them, bringing them all back to the matter at hands as the villain rips the roof off above them.
“I found you~ And look, you have a fun new friend! More for me to crush .”
The trio scatter as she reaches down, blindly rummaging around until Ladybug is in her grasp. The heroine struggles as she’s raised to the villain’s face, frantically looking for a solution. Maybe another lucky charm?
Her face brightens as Chat Blanc lights up in her vision, then the villain, and suddenly it’s all clear.
“What’re you gonna do now, pest ?” the villain growls. “I’m stronger than anyone, even you! Doesn’t matter how many strays you bring in, I’ll be stronger!”
“You haven’t seen all the tricks up my sleeve yet. Chat Blanc!”
“Way ahead of you, love,” Chat Blanc purrs, aiming a cataclysm at the arm of the robot. A blue light slices through the metal, which releases Ladybug from its grip as it crashes to the ground. Chat Blanc makes quick work of the robot’s other arm as Ladybug throws her yo-yo to a nearby building, using the momentum to wrap around the robot’s legs until it tumbles and falls. With the villain successfully disabled and sprawled out on the street, victory feels so close.
“No!” the villain screeches. “I am the strongest You cannot beat me!”
“I think we already have, kiddo,” Chat Blanc says, placing a hand on the robot’s head, decay working its way through the whole machine. The metal melts away, revealing a girl no older than 13 clutching some kind of controller and dressed in an all black unitard. The three of them circle her as she jumps to her feet, sneering at them.
“You seriously think it’s that easy? You’re dumber than you look!” She reaches the hand with the controller out, and pieces of metal fly from all directions, forming a canon around her arm just as intricate as the robot they had just destroyed. “Did you not hear me? I’m the strongest there is!”
Another purple beam erupts from the canon and the heroes scatter, taking turns drawing her attention.
“Keep her busy, boys,” Ladybug calls out, ducking out of the way of another blast. “I just need-“
“A little more time, got it,” Chat Blanc finishes. “We’ll keep her on her toes.”
“Yeah, how hard can keeping a teenager occupied be?” Chat Noir adds, just narrowly missing another blast.
“I’m not some stupid kid!” the villain roars, charging at them, her attention completely drawn away from Ladybug.
“Lucky charm!” Though her miraculous has gotten more powerful over the past few years, two lucky charms without detransforming is seriously pushing it, so whatever comes out better do the trick.
…..A bottle of soda. Seriously?
When she looks at the bottle in her hand, the only other thing that lights up is the controller in the girl’s hand, buried under the tech that makes up her cannon.
“Of course,” she mutters, more to herself. Chat Noir and Chat Blanc are still keeping the villain busy, but she manages to catch Noir’s attention, and he makes his way over.
She hands him the bottle. “Shake this up, as much as you can. Use a cataclysm if you have to. When you see your chance, spray it all over that controller in her hand. Got it?”
“Anything for you, m’lady.”
He dashes off, Ladybug close behind, and she takes his place in keeping the villain busy. Chat Blanc has done well on his own, but Ladybug can tell he’s getting tired, and there’s no telling how much longer any of them can last.
“We need to get rid of the cannon,” she manages to tell him. “Expose the controller; your cataclysm is the only thing powerful enough to destroy her tech.”
“Of course, m’lady,” he grins. “Ready when you are.”
Together, they attack. It’s a dance Ladybug didn’t even know she had memorized until now. It’s perfect, yet effortless. Whenever she needs him, Chat Noir is there, perfectly complementary to her every move. Despite how long this fight has drawn on, they press on with new vigor, the end finally in sight. The girl tires, and though her cannon is as strong as ever, her aim is not as quick. Soon, they overcome her, Chat Blanc finally getting close enough to get the cannon in his grip. The girl shrieks in fury as her canon melts away, but before she even has a chance to reform it, Ladybug is calling for her partner.
“Chat Noir, now !”
He’s over her shoulder in a flash, spraying sugary liquid all over the girl and her controller. It sparks in the girl’s hand, and she throws it away from her with a shocked cry. Before she can fully realize her mistake, Ladybug is retrieving it with her yo-yo, breaking it in her hands to release the akuma.
“No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!” The girl sinks to her knees as her costume melts away, visibly exhausted. The four of them watch as Ladybug releases the butterfly, then her lucky charm, fixing the extensive damage in a flash of light and ladybugs.
Chat Blanc helps the girl to her feet, and Ladybug hands the now-fixed controller back to her. She sniffles as she accepts it, holding it close to her chest. “I’m really sorry…”
“It’s not your fault; we all experience dark emotions sometimes, it’s Hawkmoth who weaponizes those feelings,” Ladybug assures her.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Chat Noir asks. “You made a seriously strong villain, those must have been some strong emotions.”
The girl sniffles again. “I go to this fancy engineering high school, and I’m the youngest person there. And I’m a girl ,” she adds with a sneer. “Everyone makes fun of me and the robots I make, that I’m too weak to make anything good.” She sniffles and wipes at her face. “They broke the prosthetic I made…”
Ladybug puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing something amazing, don’t let those bullies get to you.”
“But maybe you should tell an adult,” Chat Blanc adds. “It’s not fair they’re treating you that way.”
“Chat Noir, why don’t you take her back to school,” Ladybug suggests. “I bet they won’t be able to tease you after they see what close friends you and one of Paris’ finest heroes are.”
She seems delighted by the idea, eagerly accepting Chat Noir’s open arms. “I’ll make sure she gets back safe. And you, m’lady?”
Her earrings beep, as if on cue, and the exhaustion of the day’s fight is starting to make itself re-known. “I’ll take her home,” Chat Blanc answers before she gets a chance. “A pleasure working with you, Chat Noir.”
A million questions and protests are caged in Chat Noir’s throat, trying to keep the peace in front of the civilian. “You too. We should talk soon though, Ladybug.”
She all but winces at the ice behind his words; he hates when she keeps secrets from him, but how was she supposed to know Bunnyx could bring Chat Blanc to them? She kept the story of that day to herself more out of sadness than anything.
They bid one last farewell before zipping off in opposite directions. Ladybug only makes it a few blocks before she has to duck into an alley and detransform, catching an exhausted Tikki in her hands as Chat Blanc lands beside her. Tikki stares at the pair in confused awe, but Marinette is far too tired to explain it all now. “Ask me later,” she tells her kwami as she gently places her in her bag to eat and rest.
“Marinette,” Chat Blanc says, taking her hand. “I still have a few hours before Bunnyx comes to fetch me. Please, let me stay with you, just a while longer?”
“…Okay.” It’s just because she feels bad, she tells herself. Who knows what his new life is like, and it must be terribly lonely starting over. That’s the only way she can excuse pushing their professional boundaries like this. It has absolutely nothing to do with the reverence in his eyes when he looks at her (Marinette, not Ladybug), or how sure he feels when he pulls her to his side and launches them both into the dusky sky to take her home. No, nothing to do with that at all.