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Adrien looked around, frantic. This was bad, really bad. His mind was reeling. Reflekta had hit him, turning him into one of her copies, again! This wasn’t the worst of it, though. There was also a huge doll at large. Not another akuma, certainly. But something that wreaked havoc and wouldn’t make his job easier.
If he could do his job at all. Would this be just another time when he was rendered useless by the akuma and would have to just stand by and watch his lady do the fighting? Where was she, anyway? What if she’d been incapacitated as well?
His jumbled thoughts were interrupted by a little red thing that flew into his line of vision. It was the cutest thing he’d ever seen, a miniature ladybug! Ladybug! This was Ladybug’s kwami! But what was it doing here? What had happened to her?
“Ladybug!” The word flew from his mouth before he could stop it. He thought he’d been frantic before, but now he was positively panic-stricken. What was he going to do if Ladybug wasn’t there to fight the akuma?
“Adrien, calm down!”
The voice was gentle but commanding. He found himself following its order without even realising it. Was this where Ladybug got her authoritative personality from? No doubt it was useful in their line of work.
“You…,” he started but couldn’t finish. He didn’t know Ladybug’s kwami but was it any surprise that she knew him? There had been numerous occasions where they’d been forced to detransform in front of each other. They’d of course kept their eyes closed, at his lady’s bidding. He had been tempted to sneak a peek but couldn’t possibly betray her trust like that. But their kwamis didn’t have such qualms. They had seen who the other was. The fact that she knew his name was another matter. This most certainly meant that his lady knew him in real life. The implication of this were too big to comprehend in his panicked state, though.
“Tikki, my name’s Tikki,” the little creature shot at him. “I need you to concentrate. We have an akuma to catch!”
“We?” was all he could get out.
“Yes! Don’t you get it? You get to be Ladybug for the day! There was a mix-up. I’m terribly sorry, there is no time to ease you into this. You just have to do it. I know you can!”
Her gentle nature and sweet demeanour were so different from Plagg’s constant snapping and annoying attitude. Well, he loved his in spite of that but still, it was a welcome change. It was good to have someone encourage him, believe in his without really knowing him.
“What do I do?” He finally focused on the task at hand.
“Here, put the earrings on and say “Tikki, spots on!” The little kwami dropped two tiny, matte earrings into his hand. That’s all it took for him to lose himself in his thoughts again. His lady’s earrings. Her Miraculous. He was going to have to put them on. He wondered why she wasn’t wearing them. This brought his panic back to the forefront of his mind. But Tikki would’ve said if something had happened to her, right? And Plagg would have been with her too. The fact that he wasn’t probably meant that he had ended up with his lady. Poor her.
This somehow brought him back to the earrings in his hand. His mind was running in circles but he couldn’t help it. He knew why he’d taken off his ring. In hindsight, it hadn’t been a good decision, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter. This photo shoot required the use of specific jewelry and he hadn’t wanted to draw attention to his ring by asking to keep it on him. What about Ladybug, though? Why had she taken off her earrings?
Since Tikki was looking at him expectantly, he tried to put these thoughts aside for the moment. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he started putting the earrings on. The fact that he’d just gotten his ears pierced, in preparation for this very photo shoot, seemed pretty fortuitous all of a sudden. Of course, nothing happened once the earrings were secured on his ears. But it was still a strange sensation. Not long ago they had been on his lady’s ears and now they were on his. It seemed strangely intimate. But this was not the time to think about that, not at all!
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the inappropriate thoughts, but this was his weakness. He was susceptible to his feelings and emotions. They ruled him, guided him even at times when his reason should be at the helm. His father scolded him for this at every opportunity. Adrien himself had long ago given up on berating himself for this fact.
Yes, he worked hard to focus on practical matters when the moment demanded it, he didn’t want to make a fatal mistake because he was distracted, after all. He also did his best to rein his feelings in when he was himself. But this was such a big part of who he was that he set it free when he was Chat Noir. And he accepted it. This was who he was. Rash, reckless at times, impulsive. And he couldn’t hide his feelings for the life of him. If someone thought it was too much, too bad. He only hoped that it wasn’t too much for Ladybug, although it was pretty clear that it got on her nerves pretty often.
There he was, once again obsessing over how he felt instead of doing what he had to do. Tikki had said he would have to go along with this new development and had urged him to hurry up. But she must have sensed the turmoil inside of him because she was surprisingly patient. Unlike Plagg. He was glad she’d given him a minute to come to terms with all this. He surely needed it. But now it was time to act.
“Tikki, spots on!” he said and felt the familiar feeling wash over him. It was the same but not exactly. Normally, he would struggle to explain how the brief moment of his transformation felt like. Not that there was anyone to explain it to, anyway. It was so quick, over before he could concentrate on the sensation of the suit embracing him. But this time there was something more. An irrational part of him was trying to convince him that it felt like that because he was in Ladybug’s suit. But this was stupid. He was perfectly aware that it was not a suit they discarded at the end of a fight to hide in their closet until the next time they needed it. So it wasn’t something that’d fit her body like a glove that now enveloped his, much to his disappointment. Yet, he couldn’t help feeling closer to her in a way.
He didn’t know how the magic worked but it never ceased to amaze him. How he was just Adrien, one moment, in his normal clothes, looking like he always did. And the next, he wasn’t. Plagg had told him that the suit represented his own idea of what it should look like. The person’s own mind determined how it’d look. It was his subconsciousness at work. When he’d first transformed into Chat Noir, he’d hardly given it a thought, he’d been too giddy with excitement. And he was now stuck with the way it turned out. It was a good thing he liked it and it suited him.
Now it was once again out of his control how he’d look in his new guise. So he was pretty curious to see the end result. He could have given anything for a mirror. It wasn’t a vain thought, just curiosity. But he’d had to make do with looking himself over.
At first glance it was not much different from Ladybug’s suit. Red covered in black spots prevailed but there were also just black parts on his sides, his arms and down his legs, making it look like a ladybug armour on a black background. It looked more masculine, of course. But it was no surprise that it wasn’t that much different from Ladybug’s suit. He’d always liked its simplicity. It was designed with comfort and utility in mind, it was not about how it looked.
Apart from the suit, however, he felt a lot more exposed now than he was as Chat Noir. He kind of missed the fake ears, they were something to hide behind in a way. Now his head was bare, his hair unadorned. Oh, and of course he no longer needed to have cat-like eyes. So he was stuck with his normal ones. Yes, he was sure he looked plain. But it felt good.
His yo-yo was on his hip, as expected, so he gave it an experimental tug and it fell loose in his hand. He threw it at the nearest object he could see it could latch on and felt it go taut. It was light and still secure to the touch.
Adrien let his thoughts guide him, he knew that much from being Chat Noir. He shouldn’t focus on logic or the laws of physics. Instead, he should let go. The floating sensation as he moved through the air was different from what he was used to. He normally jumped around using his baton to propel himself into the air and ground himself after that. This was a lot more like flying. Which was after all what ladybugs did.
As he moved seemingly effortlessly towards the commotion caused by the villain, he was reminded why he was there after all. And yet another thought hit him. His mind was like Grand Central Station today. There was no rest from thoughts bombarding him even for a second. Also, it was true that time was relative. It had been no more than a minute since Tikki appeared before him, but with all the thinking he’d done it felt like hours.
And he had a job to do. A very important one at that. He was Ladybug. No. Wait. He wasn’t. But who was he then? He wasn’t Chat Noir either. He futilely looked for a name befitting his new form until Mr. Bug struck him as the practical solution. Simple, but practical. No time for thinking about something more elaborate. And his role didn’t require it too. He just had to make sure not to slip and say Mr. Big. No good in sounding presumptuous.
So yes, he was Mr. Bug. He had the power of creation and was the only one who could capture the akuma and cleanse it. He was quite familiar with the powers, thanks to fighting alongside his lady for so long. He didn’t think it would be too hard to use them. But this wasn’t about it being hard or easy. It was about how serious it was. Because everything depended on him. He was no longer dispensable, easy to replace. A shield, that could go down at any minute, if necessary. He was the one who needed protection now, it pained him to admit. But it was true. He could no longer afford even a moment’s distraction or hesitation that could put him out of commission. He knew how quickly things changed in the middle of a battle. He had to be quick but also cautious. Come up with a solution and find the best way to catch the akuma without putting himself at risk.
Thinking about this, he also realised that his lady would have to be his shield now. He would have to let her take the hits for him. It went against his very nature and everything he stood for to allow this. How was he going to let her do that? He didn’t have a choice. The only way was to try to minimize the danger for both of them. He’d have to put to good use all his brain cells, prove he was more than good looks. Ok, he was a little vain.
It was as if an invisible weight fell on his shoulders. Was this how Ladybug fell all the time? No wonder she was all business and no fun usually. This was serious. He had to do it right.
And this was the last clear thought to run through his mind. Because when he saw a black-clad figure moving through the air in the same direction as him, he entirely lost the ability to think. His lady. Dressed as him. She was now Chat Noir (or something else she’d come up with.)
The girl he loved with all his heart was now in a black leather skintight suit. He could just about make it out at this distance. It was black, but not the same as his. It was lined in green, making details pop out. And she didn’t have a leather belt tail. Her hair, which was as dark as Plagg’s fur, was somehow much longer than usual and braided, making it look like a tail.
And when she finally looked in his direction, he was practically glued to the spot as he got lost into mesmerising green eyes. She had his eyes! The same cat-like glowing green his eyes became when he transformed. She looked absolutely breath-taking. He didn’t think he had any animal fetishes usually. But as he looked at her petite, slender form, in that black suite, the cute cat ears on top of her hair, that tail-like braid, he felt attracted to her in a way that was even more intense than normal. Since he was head over heels in love with her and had in the time he’d known her entertained all kinds of fantasies starring her (no need to go into detail), it was jarring to feel the intensity of this new desire. He’d never before felt the need to make her his own, the way he did at this moment.
She smiled at him, a mere second before dropping gracefully on the roof in front of him. Not a simple smile. A smirk. Oh God, he was screwed if along with his Miraculous and his animal form she had also taken on his flirty personality.
“What do we have here?” she said teasingly. Oh, yes, he thought at first. But “No, I’m doomed”, won at the end.
“Mr. Bug, at your service,” he said, trying to sound as smooth as usual. He couldn’t resist bowing in his usual manner.
“It’s a pleasure,” she murmured as he took her hand to kiss the black-gloved fingers. “I’m Lady Noire.” She was no longer just teasing, there was a clear challenge in her eyes.
Adrien gulped. She’d gone and done it. She’d finished him off. She’d named herself after him, for God’s sake! As if she was indeed his lady. He didn’t think his heart could take it.