Chapter Text
Crimson Beetle held his breath as he flattened himself against the brick wall before slowly sliding down amongst the piles of refuse in the alleyway he was currently attempting to hide in. He was sure it was only by the grace of his miraculous' good luck that his suit's brilliant red pieces of samurai-esque armor were mostly obscured from the black shadow perched above. Just as he was preparing to flee again and attempt to elude his pursuer elsewhere, the shadow passed overhead. The shadow soared high above his hiding spot without sparing him a glance. It was only once he was absolutely sure the young man donning the visage of the black cat was long gone that the hero allowed his tense muscles to relax.
He gulped in greedy lungfuls of air as he regained his footing. Even encased in the magical suit he could feel his knees creak in protest. Perhaps he really had been a stubborn old fool to try and regain the miraculous this way. Though his mind and spirit were willing, his body was beginning to go. He was just getting too old to truly use the powers afforded by a miraculous. He wouldn’t be able to effectively wield the ladybug's true power for much longer at this rate, but what else could he do now? How could he admit defeat when the chance to right his terrible wrong had finally presented itself? He couldn't allow a mistake nearly two centuries old to burden Paris.
When word had reached headlines about a mysterious figure prowling the Parisian skyline calling themselves Chat Noir and leaving destruction and crumbling debris in their wake, he had known the time had finally come. What he had not considered when he confronted the boy was the great hulking golem that had accompanied him. And so it would seem that not only was the black cat miraculous in Paris but the butterfly as well. He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that these wielders could be reasoned with and that he might explain himself and recover the jewels without conflict. However, judging by the playful smirk and almost casual demand that Crimson Beetle turn over the ladybug miraculous, it was obvious that this young man knew exactly what he held in his possession and had no intention of surrendering it.
The red clad hero clutched his side and winced in pain as he felt a rib shift suspiciously. The suit, though magical, could not protect completely against the full force of another miraculouses power, and this boy certainly wasn't pulling any punches. He was sure the pain in his ribs would be excruciating if he were to detransform now, but he couldn't allow the ladybug to fall into villainous hands, especially not one who already possessed the power of the black cat. A feeble injured man attempting to flee from a rampaging monster would be far less conspicuous than a hero attempting to escape from villains. It was unfortunate that he could not use the miraculous cure to repair the damage to the city, but he knew it was time for him to retreat and reexamine his options. Summoning his power now would only give away his position and put the villains back on his tail. The city would have to hold on just a bit longer.
Just as he prepared to call out and drop his transformation a rhythmic clunking sound alerted him to his audience. While he had been lost in thought, Chat Noir had returned, and was now lounging above him on the lip of a building lazily tapping his staff against the brick and grinning down at the older hero.
“Oh don’t mind me.” He called airily as he tossed down a saucy wink. “I’m just catching up on a cat nap. Buuuut I think that guy is pawsitively dying to have a chat with you.”
Crimson Beetle only had a split second to process the cat’s purred taunt and fling his yo yo around a nearby fire escape before two giant stone fists smashed the through side of the building he had just been leaning against. The hero didn’t stop to look back at the damage using the momentum to fling himself ahead of the villains.
“Come on old man!” the cat called after him already in quick pursuit again. “You can turn over your miraculous right now and I purromise to let you go unharmed. You shouldn’t take my kindness for granite. Hawkmoth isn’t as nice as I am!”
Metal sang through the air as the beetle dodged a swipe from Chat Noir’s staff and zipped himself to the next building. If the sound of crumbling brick behind him was any indicator, his other new friend wasn’t too far behind either. Every swing he took sent shockwaves of pain up his side as Crimson Beetle frantically tried to pull together a plan of escape. Seeing no other alternative he quickly dropped down the side of a building causing the black cat to shout in surprise and overshoot his own jump. Crimson Beetle used the few seconds of distraction to call on his miraculous and summon a lucky charm. He paused only for the half-second it took to grab the magical item as it fell in the sky before taking to the rooftops again.
“Seriously?” Guffawed the young man from behind him as he laid eyes on the spotted bottle in the hero’s hand. “That’s the *lucky charm* Hawkmoth warned me about? That’s the mystical object that's gonna give you an edge over me? What are you going to do with it clean my dinner plate?” Crimson Beetle didn’t respond or break his stride as he leapt and flew across the rooftops. However, he was wondering the same thing as his eyes swept his surroundings. Nothing seemed to catch his attention, but lucky charm had never failed yet he just had to find the right angle.
“Look up there! I told you! Where there’s a supervillain, there’s always a superhero close behind!” The hero glanced below and took note of the enthusiastic teen as she crowed and bounced on her toes in excitement. She held her phone in both hands obviously filming the encounter as two other teens attempted to grab onto her arms and drag her away from the fray. Well, at least it seemed some teenagers still had a sense of self preservation.
Crimson Beetle was already turning his back on the onlookers and preparing to continue the chase when a chorus of shrieks caused him to spin on the ball of his foot. He turned just in time to watch the trio of teens dive to the sidewalk narrowly avoiding the car that had been flung at them. It appeared the butterfly’s champion was transfixed by the new arrivals and instead of following on the cat’s heels had begun to charge down the street towards the onlookers.
“WHERE’S KIIIIIIIIIIIIIM?!” Bellowed the great behemoth as he rushed forward at a lumbering gallop, his every footstep shaking the city street below.
“Whoa! Hold on rock head! You’re supposed to be helping me get these earrings or did you forget your deal?” Chat Noir had skidded to a halt as well just a few feet behind, his own wide eyes were watching the terrified teens as they struggled to get to their feet despite the ground quaking beneath them. It appeared the cat wasn't thrilled about the possibility of civilian casualties, for the moment at least.
The silhouette of a glowing purple butterfly appeared over the golem’s stone face, but the creature did not break it’s stride continuing with single minded determination towards the scrambling trio. Crimson Beetle couldn't help but notice that even as they regained their footing and began to run the bespectacled girl still held her phone out behind her, filming even as she rushed for life.
He spared the conflicted cat only a brief glance before tearing off after the twisted champion. Saving these children had just become priority one and he could only hope that Chat Noir wasn’t quite ready to kill for his miraculous. He zipped forward following the monster's trail of destruction. He sensed rather than heard the faint whispering of his kwami pushing against his mind reminding him of his injuries and mounting exhaustion. He prayed Tikki would be able to hold on a little longer. He couldn’t just run the other way and allow these children to be crushed.