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It was once again time for the weekly art club review, and Nathaniel and Marc had chosen to present the progress they’d made on their comic first.
“So, in this issue, we’re bringing back-” Nathaniel began, opening the newest iteration of their comic to the middle, which showed a drawing of a large flower that was inked, but not colored yet.
“Ugh, it’s La Fleur again,” Chloe interrupted. Nathaniel frowned, his hands crumpling the edges of the comic slightly. “Can’t you come up with anyone better than that loser? He’s not even a challenge- he’s worse than Mr. Pigeon! Why don’t you put Queen Wasp in your stupid comic- at least she would bring some class to it. Not that I think you could do her justice, but you could at least try.”
Marc stepped forward, putting a possessive hand on the comic just beside Nathaniel’s. He still wasn’t quite comfortable speaking up most of the time, but when it came to the comic, he could defend it just as easily as Nathaniel could.
“La Fleur is a great villain!” Marc said. “He’s nuanced, has complicated motivations, and-”
“He’s a flower!” Chloe scoffed. “How dangerous can a flower be?”
M. Monlataing stood up from where he sat at the back of the group on a stool.
“Chloe, you know I always encourage constructive criticism, but you also know it has to be civil . Your complaint, as stated, is neither. I hate to ask you to leave, but unless you can tone down your remarks and be specific, I will.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, and Marinette was sure she heard her mutter, “ridiculous, utterly ridiculous” under her breath, but she didn’t say anything else. Unfortunately, Chloe’s criticism had set off a kind of chain reaction, and other students started to critique the featured villain, too- albeit a lot more politely than Chloe had.
—
In his evil lair, Hawkmoth sensed new prey. He beckoned to one of the white butterflies thronging around him and it landed on his open palm.
A black butterfly soon fluttered through the Parisian sky, intent on finding two roiling hearts.
—
M. Monlataing stepped in again, holding up his hands to stop what was increasingly less a critique and more an attack. “Alright everyone, I think they both get the idea. Marc, Nathaniel, thank you for sharing your hard work. I hope you remember that you’re always welcome to share, even if your fellow artists don’t always agree with your vision. Now, Alix is next, I believe.”
Marinette watched Marc and Nathaniel walk around to the back of the group, still wearing matching scowls, and wondered if she should go over and talk to them- try to smooth things over. She always hated it when people didn’t understand her vision… As Alix started talking about her newest street art, Marinette resolved to talk to them after the club meeting.
No one noticed the black butterfly squeezing through the crack between the window and the window frame. It flittered down and landed on the comic that both Marc and Nathaniel were still protectively clutching between them.
—
“Evillustrator, Reverser, what a sad reunion! I, too, am often derided for my artistic choices. Let’s show them what you’re really capable of! Reverser- I will give you the power to reverse reality and pull the people who doubt you into the world your partner creates. Evillustrator, now is your chance to prove the mettle of your villains! All I ask in return is the miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir! Now go, my clever akumas, and take your revenge!”
The two boys chanted in unison, “Yes, Hawkmoth…”
—
Marinette tried to get away to transform, but Reverser sent so many paper airplanes around the room that she was kept busy dodging them. Most of the other members of the art club had already been hit. They had turned into paper doll versions of themselves, and started sliding inexorably toward the giant comic book at the back of the classroom.
Marinette had tried to help them, of course, but their paper doll hands just slid out of hers, leaving quite a few paper cuts behind. Temporarily defeated, she was dodging airplanes on her way to the door when Chat Noir burst through the window. He immediately started spinning his baton into a shield, deflecting the homing airplanes. Marinette looked at the door- so close!- but she glanced back just in time to see one of Reverser’s paper planes loft up over the shield and perform a graceful loop to come at him from behind.
“No! Behind you, Chat Noir!”
But it was too late. Chat stiffened as the airplane connected- then his solid body faded into a barely shaded pencil sketch. A vision of Chat Blanc flashed before Marinette’s eyes, but while her partner’s skin and hair went paper-white, his mask and suit only faded to the uneven slate-gray of scribbled pencil lead, and she could breathe again.
Sketchy Chat’s mouth moved in a weird, low-frame rate kind of way, but nothing came out. He started sliding away from her, toward the back of the room where Marc and Nathaniel’s comic had been enlarged to gargantuan proportions and now served as some kind of glowing gateway. Chat did his best to break free, trying first to leap away, then grab onto something. His hands slid off of every solid object, and when he tried to use his baton it bent like a limp noodle, refusing to catch on anything.
Despite the fact that she really needed to get out of there so she could transform herself, Marinette rushed across the room to try and anchor him. After all, she needed him for the coming fight- he would be no use to her inside a comic book! At least Evillustrator and Reverser were gone- they’d left to find more people to pull into their comic. But the paper planes, though fewer, were still flying around the room, and she still had to dodge them. She put on a burst of speed and managed to grab his right hand just before it disappeared.
Marinette pulled with all her might, but instead of pulling him out, he pulled her in. She braced her feet against the paint splattered floor boards, but it was no use. The edges of his fingers left more paper cuts before disappearing into the comic. Marinette was left standing in front of it with angry tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall.
“You stupid cat,” she whispered. “What am I supposed to do now?”
The airplane that hit her shoulder sent an instant shockwave of energy through her. Marinette didn’t even have time to register her new existence as a paper doll before the comic sucked her in with a blinding flare of light.
When she could see again, a different world spread out before her, marked only by pencil lines and suggestive shading. Marinette looked down at herself, marveling at the sketchy lines that now defined her hands and body. Chat Noir stood in front of her with a concerned expression, but she ignored that to focus on their new surroundings.
She recognized the park from the comic, which Nathaniel had modeled on Place de Voges. If she remembered correctly, Marc and Nathaniel’s villain was going to be akumatized here a few panels on, but right now it was empty except for the usual structures, and the members of her art club. Some of them seemed fine, but others appeared to be cowering away from… weird things. She couldn’t quite see them clearly, but her classmates seemed terrified of them. Some of those who weren’t terrified were trying to help the others, and there seemed to be a general consensus of ‘running away’ from the others.
As she watched, new pencil lines appeared in front of Alix, joining into what looked like some kind of… eraser, maybe? A speech bubble appeared over it, reading, “There’s nothing you can tag that I can’t erase! No one will ever see your “art” again!”
Alix, snarling, charged at it in that choppy way they all had of moving instantly between poses and Marinette turned away, starting to really panic.
She spied a window-looking thing that looked like a comic panel, but real, i.e. not reduced to pencil sketches. She immediately tried to put her hand through it, but it was like a wall of thick glass.
Marinette pounded on it with her fists, making neither noise nor the smallest dent, though two little spiky impact bubbles with the word “thud!” inside them appeared next to her hands when they met the surface. She blinked and stared at them, then at her hands. She felt a vague ache, but nothing too terrible. Her ears itched, like a mosquito was buzzing around beside them, except there was no accompanying whine.
Marinette jumped as strong hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her around. Chat Noir was in front of her again, eyes literally drawn wide with concern. Two speech bubbles hovered over his head as his mouth moved- still in a low-frame rate kind of way.
“Don’t hurt yourself, princess!” one speech bubble read, and “I’m sorry I dragged you into this. Why didn’t you get away when you had the chance?” said the other.
Marinette started to reply, but stopped, weirded out with the way her mouth moved and her throat vibrated, but no sound came out. She looked up and saw another speech bubble above her own head.
“Ladybug needs her… partner…” it read.
Marinette spoke again, watching the words form in yet another speech bubble, while the first few grayed and slowly faded away. “This is so weird.”
I wonder if thought bubbles appear, too? Marinette wondered, thinking about how readers could often see a character’s thoughts while the people in the comic remained oblivious. She looked up over her head and her eyes popped wide as she did indeed see a thought bubble, with the characteristic scalloped edges and her most recent thought inside it. Her gaze shot over to Chat Noir, who was standing in front of the window to reality with his hands on his hips, obviously trying to think of a way to get back through.
Hmm, she thought, watching another thought bubble appear. Time to try something…
She looked back at Chat Noir and spoke, knowing the speech bubble would appear over her head. It was still extremely disconcerting not to actually hear her own voice, but she needed to know if he would be able to see her thoughts like she could. “Chat Noir, can you see what I’m thinking?” she asked.
She knew now that he wouldn’t be able to hear her- after all, she hadn’t known he was speaking to her until she turned around after he grabbed her shoulders- but to her surprise, one of his cat ears twitched, and he turned his head toward her.
His eyes flicked up, presumably reading her speech bubble, before his mouth moved. “Is this really the time? We have to get out of here, before Evillustrator can draw us some custom villains,” his next speech bubble read.
Marinette hoped she couldn’t blush as a paper doll. He had a point, but… “But we- and everyone else- can see what we say! What if other people can see our thoughts, too? You might give away your identity without knowing it!”
Chat was already paper white, but little sweat drops suddenly appeared on his face. “Good point. Okay try it, but make it quick!”
Marinette took a deep breath and then, before she could think herself out of it, thought, I like Adrien, but I also like you and I have a hard time remembering that you are just a friend. She glanced up to see the thought bubble, and looked back at Chat. Her heart pounded. What if he could see it?
“Don’t worry, Marinette,” his speech bubble appeared, accompanied by the sweet reassuring smile Chat sometimes gave Ladybug. “You’ve got some anime sweat drops, and your heart went ‘thump-thump,’ but I didn’t see any thought bubbles!”
Marinette drew a relieved breath. “Good! I guess not even being in a comic can make me a mind-reader. ”
She didn’t even have time to realize what she’d said before the oddest thing happened. Chat Noir’s body briefly morphed into a chibi- one with heart eyes and an open kitty mouth, his little paws clasped under his chin.
“Marinette! You punned!” read the speech bubble over Chibi-Chat’s head. Marinette stared at him wide-eyed.
“We have got to get out of here,” she muttered, and wondered the next instant how that tone would influence the text of her speech bubble.
Fortunately for her sanity, Chat was abruptly back to his usual, though currently two-dimensional, appearance.
“Well yes, but why do you say it that way?” he asked, his hand on his chin.
“Because you just turned into a chibi.” Marinette blurted it out before she thought.
To her dismay, Chat chibi-fied again, this time with sly eyes and a smug kitty mouth. “Oh? Purr haps it was too much cuteness for Princess to handle?”
Marinette recoiled away from him, hoping whoever was in charge of changing their forms and expressions would not draw her blush. “Um. Y-yes, you were… very cute. But it is SO weird to see you like that.”
Chat Noir laughed, suddenly back to his normal appearance. Again, Marinette heard nothing, but unlike actual speech, the word ‘Ha’ just appeared rapidly around him in different places and varying sizes.
Marinette groaned. “... If I stay here much longer, I’m going to lose it…” Once again, ellipses appeared to indicate her tone. It was effective in conveying her mood, but it was just strange to see it written out like that. Not to mention she was getting seriously worried about getting out again so they could beat the akuma duo.
“Don’t worry, Marinette. I got you into this, and I’m going to get you out.” Chat put his hands on his shoulders and gave her a confident smile. Marinette gave him a wan smile in return.
“I don’t think we’re getting out this way.” Chat tapped the reality window with a claw tip. “Maybe we can find another way out, though. Come on!”
Even as she put her hand in his, Marinette couldn’t decide if she should be mad that he was spending time trying to help her instead of finding a way out for himself, or proud of him because he was helping her. Or possibly… something she wasn’t ready to admit to.
She pondered it while they headed elsewhere. The park, as drawn, didn’t extend very far, and at the edges there were what looked like long, white sidewalks beside tall white walls that led to white ‘corridors’ at the corners. She assumed the hallways must lead to other panels of the comic. Suddenly “*snrk*” appeared over Chat Noir’s head.
“Well, at least this akuma could be a clue to how old Hawkmoth could be. Mind you, that’s still an awful lot of men in Paris to go through, but I’m guessing between late 30’s to late 40’s.”
“... I’m lost. How does this akuma tell us how old Hawkmoth is?”
“Well, he’s obviously a fan of a- h a .”
“A-ha? A-ha, what? Did you find a way out?”
“No, just, a- h a … you know, the Norwegian band? That old 80’s music video?” He started choppy-dancing, while new speech bubbles appeared over his head. “Taaaake ooooooon meeeeee? (take on me) Taaaaake meeeeee oooooon! (take on me) I’ll beeeee gooooone, in a day or two!””
Bizarrely, tiny music notes appeared around the last speech bubbles of what were obviously intended to be lyrics. Given how his expression changed toward the end, exaggerated as it was now, Marinette thought the last few bars must have been at the top of his vocal range or even beyond it. She was kind of glad she couldn’t actually hear him, but it was cute- she couldn’t help but laugh. Still…
“Chat, there’s no telling if it’s Hawkmoth that’s a fan of this band or if it was poor Nathaniel or even Marc. I mean, you know about this video, so by your logic Hawkmoth could be our age.”
“There’s no way he’s our age!” Chat protested.
“Of course not! Everyone knows he has to be at least an adult, because he can hold on to his transformation after using his powers. And since no one knows exactly what “adult” means to a miraculous, he could have just graduated from lycee… or he could be as old as my grandpa.”
“Okay, you have a point,” Chat pouted, crossing his arms. “But how do you know so much about it?” He gave her a half-suspicious look.
“Oh, uh, well I was Multimouse that one time! A-and Ladybug, she uh, she came by that night to explain a little more about why I couldn’t be a hero anymore, so I asked her some questions. You know, things I’ve always wondered about.”
“Huh. Ladybug doesn’t usually visit civilians…”
“Unlike a certain kitty?” Marinette teased, poking him gently on the nose. It was only because she needed to distract him before he could go further down that particular path, of course. It worked, because he pulled back and she thought his cheeks darkened a bit.
“Hey, that only happened one time!”
Satisfied with her deflection, Marinette continued. “Anyway, at least this akuma power makes more sense than some of the other akumas he’s sent after you. These akumas might actually be able to give him your miraculouses if Ladybug gets hit, too.”
Chat gave her a strange look. “Right. Because that’s a… good thing?”
“I’m just saying… I’ve seen a lot of akumas- on the Ladyblog!- and some of their powers make no sense at all when it comes to getting your miraculous! Like Reflekta! And, Animan could change into different animals, right? But Ladybug ended up jumping into his mouth when he was a T-rex! How was a T-rex going to get her miraculous anyway, even if he hadn’t literally eaten her?”
“... Can we stop talking about my partner getting eaten?”
“Oh. Sorry, Chat.”
Marinette patted his shoulder and his grimace disappeared.
“It’s okay, Marinette. I know ordinary people think of us as invincible- and we work hard to keep up everyone’s faith in us! But the truth is… Ladybug doesn’t like it when I jump in front of her during a battle, but I just can’t forget that when it comes down to it, it’s more important for Ladybug not to get hit. She’s the one who can restore everything, so if she goes down…”
Chat Noir wasn’t looking at her, but Marinette wished he would. Even though she couldn’t actually hear him, she somehow knew exactly what tone of voice he was using- the sad one she didn’t like. She put her hand on his shoulder again.
“Don’t say that, Chat Noir. Yes, Ladybug can restore everything after the battle’s over, but that’s only because she has you by her side, helping her out. I’ve seen you two fight akumas- you know, on the Ladyblog,” she hastily clarified, “and I’ve noticed. Anytime you get knocked out of the fight, well, Ladybug doesn’t do so well. I mean, she obviously finishes the fight every time, but… I don’t know, it just seems like she really struggles when you’re not there right next to her.”
Chat’s answering half-smile wavered. Literally. “Thank you for saying that, Marinette. But you don’t have to try and cheer me up. I know my place, and it’s in the background.”
Marinette thought hard. “Chat, that song you were singing earlier… was some of it sung by back-up singers?”
Chat frowned. “Yes?”
“So, would it sound the same- be as great as it is- if those backup vocals weren’t in it?”
“... No.”
Marinette smiled. “Not that I really think that you’re a ‘backup singer’ to Ladybug, but even if that was all you were- which you aren’t!- she still wouldn’t be able to do what she does without you.”
The corridor they were in opened up into a new panel- another park scene, but this one was chaotic and dangerous. The villain of the comic, in gigantic flower form, was raging. He appeared to be modeled on a sunflower, considering the darkly shaded center and the flaming seeds it was spitting out of its mouth like a machine gun at all the terrified civilians running around. Marinette didn’t think they were actual people that had been pulled into the comic, though, because none of them actually ran away.
Chat immediately pulled her back into the corridor, but it was too late- the penciled akuma had seen them. The flaming seeds stopped, and a giant speech bubble appeared, the edges of it warped to indicate the mental instability typical of akumas. Unfortunately, from their vantage point in the corridor, they could only see part of what the akuma said.
“--hat Noir! They said I wasn’t good enough to face yo–
–s if my perfume couldn’t easily overwhelm you. But it –
–our lucky day! Come out and fight the new and impro– ”
Marinette and Chat shared a look of confusion. Then Marinette pointed out to the open. After all, the seed barrage had stopped, and they knew they couldn’t get out by going back. The only way out would be through. Chat Noir motioned for her to stay behind him, and then he calmly walked out into the open, Marinette taking cover behind him. He started spinning his staff- or at least Marinette assumed that was what he was doing, although it looked like he was just holding two crossed staffs in front of him while motion arcs extended in opposite directions from the tips of them. Hopefully it would actually repel anything that came at them.
Once they were well and truly out of the corridor, Marinette looked over Chat’s shoulder. The akuma’s speech bubble was almost completely grayed out, but still readable.
“Come out and fight, Chat Noir! They said I wasn’t good enough to face you! They said I wasn’t a challenge! Ha! As if my perfume couldn’t easily overwhelm you. But that wasn’t enough, was it? Well, today’s your lucky day! Come out and fight the new and improved La Fleur!”
A new speech bubble appeared over Chat’s head. “Aw, are the readers throwing you some shade? You should just get clover it! After all, you are one big damn delion! I think it’s time to pull you up once and flor- all!”
Marinette smacked her forehead and groaned silently. Flower puns? Really??
Despite her conflicting feelings about the way Chat Noir had a pun for every occasion- or akuma- Marinette tugged at his shoulder. She could see a darker corridor to their left, and if they tried to edge along the side of the panel, they might be able to reach it without getting attacked. From there they could decide what to do.
Chat tensed a little as she touched him, but though he looked briefly over his shoulder at her, he didn’t move. Marinette grumbled, then said, “We don’t have time for you to fight him!”
Chat’s ear flicked back at her, but he didn’t turn his head to see what she’d said.
Acting on intuition (and remembering the Rule of Funny, as explained to her by Marc a few months ago) Marinette reached up, grabbed her speech bubble and whacked Chat upside the head with it, brandishing it in front of his eyes when he turned his head to glare at her. Chat’s eyes crossed as he read her speech bubble, then he gave her a deadpan look and gestured to the akuma with a ‘what do you want me to do’ expression.
Somehow, his staff was still shielding them, which was good, because the akuma was spitting seeds at them again. Or at least, a flock of tiny ‘thwip!’ sound-words hovered around its mouth while a blinking line of seeds led directly to their position. Matching tiny ‘tic’ sounds hovered around Chat’s staff shield, and Marinette saw the odd seed occasionally “bounce off” before disappearing entirely. Honestly, the whole thing made her wonder if the seeds would even hurt them if they hit. They were still on fire, after all, but if this was all just drawings…
Then, a lucky seed bounced off the top of the “spinning” staff, ricocheted off the “wall” behind her and landed on her shoulder. It shouldn’t have startled her so much, but the seed was hot .
“Ack!” Marinette hurriedly brushed it off her shoulder. In doing so, she bumped into Chat, who lost his rhythm and fumbled the staff, which went bouncing away in a choppy animation sequence.
Everything froze for a second. The stream of flaming seeds stopped as La Fleur followed the motion of the staff. Then he turned back to them, grinning a suspiciously toothy grin for a flower.
“Time to go!”
Marinette barely had time to read Chat’s speech bubble before he grabbed her hand and started pulling her along the “wall.” Fortunately, he headed toward the new corridor Marinette had spied, instead of further out into the open. Marinette had a hard time keeping up with him, what with his enhanced speed. It wasn’t long before she felt another couple of flaming seeds hit her back.
Apparently her flinch was enough for Chat to spin around, see what was happening, pick her up and keep running- all without stopping. It was apparently a long panel, though- possibly a whole page spread- and by the time they actually reached the upper boundary, Chat had gotten hit with a lot of flaming seeds. He winced every so often, but kept going. Marinette reached up and brushed smoldering seeds out of his hair as they reached shelter and the barrage of seeds stopped.
“Are you okay?” Marinette asked, carefully combing her fingers through his hair to make sure she hadn’t missed any seeds. She couldn’t feel more than an impression of softness, but she knew from prior experience just how soft his hair could be. When she looked down, his eyes were very wide, and he put her down a little abruptly.
His speech bubble appeared. “Fine! And now princess, it’s time to get you out of here.”
“Yes, but how?”
He held up his hand- the one with his ring on it. “My special power, of course! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that immediately. I probably could have gotten us out through that first reality window if I’d been thinking.”
“Maybe. Remember, that window was the way into the comic. It might not have worked.”
Chat Noir just shrugged. “Either way, I guess we get to find out if my power works in here…”
Chat raised his hand and another speech bubble appeared, this one with spiky edges. “Cataclysm!”
Marinette knew what his cataclysm usually looked like, but as this was a comic book world that wasn’t fully finished yet, it… kind of looked like nothing happened. There were no misty black bubbles issuing from around his ring or even empty drawn bubbles or stress lines, or anything.
They both stared at his hand. ‘Gulp’ appeared next to his throat as he visibly swallowed. “Only one way to know…”
He looked at her in a questioning way, and Marinette nodded encouragingly. He’d encouraged her so often as Ladybug, the least she could do was do the same for him. “Go for it, Kitty. The worst that can happen is that it won’t work.”
“Yeah… meaning I have to leave Ladybug to finish the fight on her own.”
Marinette put a hand on his shoulder. He looked so dejected at possibly letting her down- in her superhero guise- that she couldn’t help but reassure him.
“For all you know, she was hit too and might be looking for a way out herself! If your cataclysm does work, then there will be a guaranteed way out, and you’ll be able to defeat the akumas together.”
Chat Noir visibly winced, but Marinette didn’t know if that was the thought of his partner getting hit when he wasn’t there, or what. It didn’t matter though, because he squeezed his eyes shut and smacked his ring hand against the corridor wall.
To her relief, it worked- not in the same way she was used to, though. The wall began to wrinkle , starting out with large lines, but it got progressively worse until one diagonal line grew black and tore itself open, the edges of it giving off black flakes reminiscent of a regular cataclysm. Through the tear, Marinette could see the back of the art classroom- not drawn, but solidly real.
“Yes!”
Marinette had almost started to get used to the fact that she couldn’t hear her own voice while stuck here, but seeing the real world beyond the comic had the effect of making her doubly aware of it. She touched her partner’s drawn shoulder and he opened his eyes with a wince.
“Look!” She pointed toward the tear. “It worked! We can get out!”
“You go first, princess.” Chat gave her an exaggerated bow that didn’t quite hide his relieved grin.
Just as he said that, little flaming seeds started whizzing past their heads. Marinette ducked instinctively, and the next thing she knew she felt a shove in the middle of her back and then she was tumbling through something that felt oddly electric on her skin. She landed on her hands and knees on the floor of the art room and took a second to pat herself down to make sure she was real again. She was back to being solidly three-dimensional, though she had pencil lead shadows all over her hands and arms.
Marinette turned back to the tear in time to see Chat Noir leap cat-like through the opening. She dodged to get out of his way, but couldn’t tear her eyes away. In a flash- almost like the bright light of a transformation- Chat turned from a pencil-and-paper sketch to his fully colored, comfortingly solid, real self. Marinette couldn’t help it- she launched herself at him before he even had time to collect himself.
She hugged him hard, worried about how long it took for him to cautiously return the hug with arms that held her carefully- like she was a priceless and fragile object. It reminded her all too much of how he hugged her as Ladybug, the few times she’d broken down in front of him.
“Thank you, kitty,” she murmured, squeezing him tighter and feeling a wave of relief at hearing her own voice again. “You got us out.”
His arms gradually tightened to a delicious pressure. “You’re okay, right?”
His words sent a shiver down her spine. She told herself it was simply a reaction to hearing her partner’s voice again.
“I’m fine! Just a few paper cuts, nothing to worry about. Now, go! You used your power- you’re going to change back soon. I’m sure Ladybug needs you.”
He pulled back enough to look into her face with concern, paying no attention to the beeping of his ring.
“Are you sure? Paper cuts are awful! I’ll do my best to fix it before-”
Over his shoulder she saw something coming up on the tear in the back of the comic book. It just looked like some kind of white column to her, but then something else came down from the top, and she realized it was La Fleur’s face. Slowly it started trying to shove its way out.
“Chat, go,” Marinette urged. “La Fleur followed us!”
She tore herself away and started running for the door. When she looked back, she could just see Chat Noir’s boot disappearing out the window he’d used earlier. Unfortunately, she also saw the sunflower head of La Fleur rising above the back of the comic book. The now-yellow petals slowly turned in her direction. Marinette ducked out sight and ran for the nearest secluded spot.
—
The neighborhood immediately surrounding Francoise DuPont had been cleared. Reverser had already left the area on his giant paper glider to find more victims while Evillustrator lagged behind. He’d been busy creating villains tailored to the people pulled into the comic by his partner-akuma, and his attention kept being diverted by what was happening there.
He smiled, thinking of how many new issues all these new villains would net them, once they’d given Hawkmoth what he wanted. It wouldn’t be long now- they’d already captured Chat Noir and…
Evillustrator frowned mid-thought. He was linked to the comic book world via his tablet, so he could see how the comic’s new characters reacted to the villains he created for them. His first and original villain, La Fleur, had already encountered Chat Noir and pursued him… and found the hole Chat Noir had torn in the fabric of the comic itself. Apparently Chat Noir had escaped, along with his classmate Marinette.
Evillustrator growled, almost breaking his stylus. How dare he?!
Hawkmoth must have felt his surge of anger, because his voice echoed in his head. “What’s wrong Evillustrator?”
“Chat Noir escaped from my beautiful world! He tore a hole in the magic!”
Evillustrator only half listened to the mothman’s response, because he’d just realized something. La Fleur was forcing himself out of the same hole… and his connection to the villain actually strengthened as La Fleur entered the real world. Evillustrator grinned maliciously.
“Don’t worry, Hawkmoth, you’ll get your miraculouses. Chat Noir didn’t know it, but he did me a favor- now my creations can enter the real world, and when they come back, Ladybug and Chat Noir will be outnumbered.”
—
Ladybug met Chat Noir on the roof of the school, prepared to throw him off the scent if she needed to.
“There you are Chat! I was looking all over for you!”
“Sorry, m’lady! I got caught in the akuma’s trap, but as you can see, I managed to escape. I had to use my power, though, so I also had to feed my kwami before I could come to find you.”
Ladybug nodded. “I understand. Did you learn anything we can use?”
Chat nodded. “I did, but first tell me what you know?”
“We’re facing another double akumatization,” Ladybug said. “This time it’s Evillustrator and Reverser, neither of which are easy to fight. Their powers seem to work a little differently this time, though. From what I’ve seen, if one of Reverser’s airplanes hits you, you turn into some kind of drawing and start being dragged away towards this school. That’s why I eventually came here. I haven’t seen Evillustrator actually do anything but draw on his tablet, so I don’t know what he’s doing since nothing seems to be manifesting around him.”
Chat nodded again. “I think Evillustrator might be managing the comic book world. The way it works is that Reverser can turn you into a comic book character, and then you get pulled into the comic book world that Evillustrator creates. When I was in there, I saw a villain he had created- La Fleur was a giant flower that spit flaming seeds at people. When I escaped, I think I may have accidentally led that villain to the exit hole, and he started following me through. So we may find we have more than just the two villains to fight when it comes down to it.”
Ladybug frowned. “That’s bad.” She scanned the horizon, thinking. “We may need to call in a few back-up heroes, just to even out the numbers.”
Chat shook his head. “I think we can handle it, if we can find the akumatized object quickly enough. And I have a pretty good idea what it is.” He grinned and touched his nose.
Ladybug squinted at him, before her expression cleared. “The comic book! Of course- both their powers are tied to it!”
“Exactly!”
“Good work, kitty!” Ladybug praised, reaching out and giving him a little scratch behind the ears. “See? I knew I couldn’t do this without you.”
The look Chat turned on her then was heartbreaking. Not because he was sad, but because he looked so grateful… she couldn’t help wondering what his life was like outside the mask if he reacted like this to the faintest praises she gave him. She pushed that aside for now.
“Since you were clever enough to figure it out, lead the way, kitty!” Ladybug stood and copied her partner’s usual exaggerated bow. He laughed and vaulted over the side of the roof. Ladybug followed with her yo-yo and swung through the art-room window right after him.
Both of them went into immediate defensive stances at the chaos that met their eyes. The giant comic book was still there, of course, but it was now surrounded by at least six new villains, La Fleur among them. As one, they turned to the heroes and growled.
Fortunately, they were all fairly weak in terms of offensive powers, but their attacks were still annoying. La Fleur’s flaming seed barrage was just the first- there was one who created a thick fog, one that created blasts of wind strong enough to blow them off their feet, another that called up hammers that tried to drop on their heads. Of the last two, one made slimy patches to ruin their footing, and the other, bizarrely, conjured sheep.
In no time at all, the art room was a complete mess. Ladybug and Chat Noir found themselves covered in slime and wool, falling every other breath because of the slime or the wind, and almost knocked silly by falling hammers. Fortunately, the wind gusts blew away any fog before it could accumulate, and the slime both insulated against the flaming seeds, and extinguished them, so at least they didn’t have to worry about visibility or things catching on fire.
Somehow Ladybug found the space and breath to call for her lucky charm which happened to be… an oar. For a moment she stood dumbfounded, but then her lucky vision kicked in and she knew what she had to do.
Ladybug made a virtue of all the chaos. She let the wind blow her over to her partner and whispered her plan into his ear. Together, they orchestrated the messiest, clumsiest way of crossing a room ever devised, using the oar to reposition and redirect themselves when needed. In a shorter amount of time than Ladybug had thought possible, the giant comic book was crumbling to blackened dust under Chat Noir’s power.
The villains disappeared and Ladybug picked herself up to capture the corrupted butterfly. “Time to de-evilize!”
—
Nathaniel sat up in the middle of the street in front of the school, holding his head. “What happened?”
Meanwhile, halfway to the Eiffel Tower, Marc found himself stranded on the very pointy roof of an old church.
“Help?” he said weakly, clinging tightly to a nearby spire. “Anybody?”
—
Hawkmoth stood in his lair, glowering at the blue sky he could see through the window.
“Next time won’t be so easy, Ladybug,” he threatened the empty air as the window that concealed his lair from above slowly irised shut. “I will get your miraculouses eventually!”
—
After their traditional fistbump, Ladybug and Chat Noir were about to part ways, when Ladybug suddenly turned back to him with a grin.
“Hey Chat,” she called. “When you were in the comic, would you say you were acting kind of… sketchy?”
Chat Noir’s flattened ears and deadpan expression were everything she’d hoped for. “Really? This from the Lady who supposedly doesn’t like puns?”
“I never said I didn’t like puns, kitty! It’s all about the timing!” Laughing at his continued pout, Ladybug swung away to detransform.
—
Things were quiet for another week, although Marinette saw Nathaniel and Marc talking to a lot of people around school they didn’t usually interact with. Eventually she found out why. Apparently they were going to base their next comic on their most recent akumatization.
“So we’re going around asking people to describe what it was like, since we obviously don’t remember anything,” Marc explained. “A lot of the art club members said they saw you in there, and they said you were with Chat Noir! Please tell us about it?”
“But isn’t your comic supposed to be, you know, completely made up so you don’t accidentally give away anything important?” Marinette asked nervously. It was one of the reasons she was fine with them using Ladybug’s image. It wasn’t real so it wasn’t really her.
Marc and Nathaniel shared a glance. “Well, yes. But we do try to get the heroes’ characterization right, even if we show them doing things they never actually did,” Nathaniel explained.
Marinette chewed on her lip. That was actually a good point- and one she could appreciate. “Okay. I guess I can talk about it.”
—
Marinette had almost forgotten about the theme of the writing duo’s new comic by the time they brought the newly printed booklets to school. She was a little surprised when they handed everyone a copy free of charge, but Nathaniel made a little announcement at the beginning of class to let everyone know that it was their way of apologizing to everyone who got hurt by their akumatization. She slipped her copy into her school bag and went back to concentrating on her classes for the morning.
At lunchtime, she was suddenly getting a lot of speculative looks, not only from the rest of the class, but members of other classes as well.
“What’s going on?” she asked Alya when they sat down with Nino and Adrien in the cafeteria. To her surprise, Nino started snickering and Adrien wouldn’t meet her eye. Alya sighed in an amused way, and patted her shoulder.
“Maybe you should read Marc and Nathaniel’s new comic,” she suggested.
Frowning, Marinette pulled out the comic and started reading it, ignoring her lunch. She knew the boys had planned to include her experiences, but Marc had assured her that the character would have a different name, and Nathaniel said he would change her design. Honestly, Marinette hadn’t been worried about it. Apparently, she should have worried after all.
‘Bridgette’ was clearly just Marinette with longer pigtails and a swapped color scheme- a pink top and black jeggings. Worse, either someone else had been able to read her thoughts that day, or Nathaniel had some repressed memories that came out in the comic, because in the panel that showed Bridgette and Chat Noir testing whether or not they could literally read each other’s thoughts, Bridgette thought, “I like Aiden, but I like you too, and I can’t decide between you.” Worse, Marc had Chat Noir thinking, “I wish you could talk to me like this outside the mask.” Marinette didn’t even want to think about the possibility of Chat Noir being someone she knew in everyday life.
Marinette’s eyes flicked over the top of the comic to Adrien after staring and staring at that panel for a full minute. He was picking at his food, not participating in Nino and Alya’s conversation, sometimes glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. And… was he maybe blushing a little?
Marinette jumped as Kim suddenly landed in the chair beside her. Kim smirked as he leaned into her space.
“So Marinette,” he began, “you and Chat Noir, huh? What’s it like dating a superhero?”
“Yeah, Marinette,” Alix leaned in between her and Alya. “Tell us what Chat Noir’s really like.”
And then suddenly all of her classmates, plus some people she vaguely recognized but didn’t really know, were surrounding the table, all shouting questions over each other.
Marinette tried really hard not to panic, but she could feel a deep blush rising. She didn’t know what to do or how to counter this… until someone’s comment on whether or not Chat was a good kisser pushed her over the edge.
Marinette surged up, “Guys! Listen, this comic… sure it’s based on something that really happened, but it’s fiction! Do you get that? Besides, you should have more respect for Chat Noir! I mean, forget me- Chat Noir isn’t just a pretty face! He saves the city with Ladybug everytime Hawkmoth sends out an akuma!”
Marinette’s passion momentarily quieted everyone. She was so worked up that she didn’t even notice Adrien looking up at her wide-eyed, with unaccountably pink cheeks (but Alya did… and filed it away for later). For a moment she thought she’d actually gotten through to them all… until Kim laughed and pointed at her. “Oooooh, she’s got it bad!”
Their relentless teasing commenced again- until Ms. Mendeleiev came into the cafeteria and sternly shooed everyone away. Marinette ate her lunch in deeply embarrassed silence, unhappily aware of Adrien’s occasional pitying looks.
When they all got up to go back to class, Adrien hung back a little and when she was forced to pass him, he gently caught her arm to stop her.
“Listen… I know how it feels to be surrounded like that. And the way you defended Chat Noir anyway? I’m not saying I think you do like Chat Noir, but if you did… I think he’d be pretty lucky.”
Marinette felt herself flush an even deeper shade than before. “Swanks- I mean thanks, you’re fluffy- NOT FLUFFY- I mean he’s fluffy! I mean… not that fluffiness has anything to do with this. SWEET! I think you’re sweet- you’re BOTH SWEET.”
Marinette couldn’t bear to look at him, but she felt the consoling pat on her shoulder.
“Thanks, Marinette. You’re sweet, too.”
That had her raising incredulous eyes to his face. He was smiling that soft smile that usually killed her… but this time, she just felt warmth in her chest, and actually managed to smile back like a normal person. Adrien patted her shoulder one more time and then followed Nino.
Alya, hovering at her elbow, raised her eyebrow. “You okay there, Marinette? I’m not going to have to guide you to class again, am I?”
Marinette just sighed and met her best friend’s eyes. “Not this time, Alya. But thanks.”
—
That night, Marinette took a snack and her thoughts up to her balcony. Tikki flitted between the various flowering plants, occasionally coming back to take a tiny bite from a macaron Marinette had filched for her. It was a nice night- balmy, with a fresher breeze courtesy of the Seine, which wasn’t stinking for once.
Marinette took in the (relative) peace and quiet and thought about… everything. Tikki and Alya both had told her how well they thought she’d handled herself at school today. After lunch it seemed like most people got tired of teasing her- although Kim was still going strong, and probably would be for a while. He didn’t drop things easily.
But for some reason, despite the potential danger to herself and to her partner, she didn’t really mind. Sure, it was embarrassing… but Adrien had called her sweet! Even after she’d jumbled her words again! And he’d said Chat Noir would be lucky if she liked him. He thought being liked by Marinette made a guy lucky. That was a good sign, right?
Tikki’s sudden zip back down into her room alerted her long before the quiet thrum of her partner’s boots hitting the railing of her balcony, making the metal vibrate a little.
“Hey Chat,” she said, still relaxed and casual.
“Hi, Marinette,” he said, equally casually.
For a while, they just sat in companionable silence, but finally Marinette grew tired of quiet. “So what brings you by?”
Chat reached up to scratch his head. “Well… I heard about that comic those two boys at your school recently published- the one about their own akumatization? With the comic book and all?”
Marinette giggled. “Yes Chat, I remember.”
“Right. Of course you do. Anyway, I got my paws on a copy and well… they weren’t really subtle about who that character ‘Brigette’ was modeled on, were they?”
Marinette surprised herself by giggling again. “No, they weren’t. To be fair, I don’t think anyone who doesn’t go to my school would recognize me in her, though.”
“Sure, but how wide is their readership really? Isn’t it mainly just confined to ou-your school?”
“You’d be surprised!” Marinette answered. “I’ve seen kids buying it in convenience stores, and they always sell a lot of copies at special events.”
“Really? Well… good for them, I guess. At least they go to the effort of trying to get me and m’lady right when it comes to the way they act in the comic.”
“They do,” Marinette confirmed. There was a moment of slightly awkward silence. Marinette had a feeling she knew what he was leading up to, but… she didn’t really want to go there.
“Speaking of,” Chat said after a minute. “I was really interested in, uh, Bridgette’s thoughts… in the comic. I mean, I know you had a crush on me a while ago, but I thought…”
“It’s fine, Chat,” Marinette said. “There’s no way either Marc or Nathaniel could have known what we actually thought at that point. I know I didn’t tell them exactly what it was, and I can tell you that what they printed wasn’t what I really thought.” Not the exact wording, anyway. “I think they just want to introduce a potential new love interest for Chat Noir in their comic.”
Chat let out a breath. “O-oh. Good! I mean, maybe having a fake love interest, even just in a comic, will throw some people off… and having to reject you again… I wasn’t looking forward to that.”
For some reason, Marinette felt a little disappointed at his response. But she pushed that aside. “Don’t worry about it, Chat Noir,” she said softly. “You’re still very special and important to me, even if my feelings aren’t romantic anymore.”
The blinding smile he gave her was more than enough reward for her half-truth. After all, she’d never really had romantic feelings for him, but she had to keep pretending… to keep her cover intact.
“You’re really special and important to me, too, Marinette,” he said softly.
They sat in once-more companionable silence for a few more minutes before Chat Noir suddenly laughed and hopped down off the railing.
“I should go, but I cannot leave you ignorant of the glory of a- h a any longer!”
He pulled out his baton and somehow slid it open to show a screen similar to that of her yo-yo phone. Marinette sat up as he touched it a few times, then crouched down beside her deck chair so she could see the screen too.
80’s synth music started blaring from tiny speakers and Marinette leaned closer inspite of herself- the screen on his baton was tiny. She had to admit, Chat wasn’t wrong about the band- the music was catchy, the lyrics were decent, and the video itself was surprisingly good!- but she had to giggle anyway. It was ridiculous, but it did kind of remind her of what she and Chat had gone through together- minus the speech bubbles and flower villains.
They laughed over that when the video ended, and then he bid her a soft goodnight and vaulted away into the darkness, leaving her with a strangely endearing feeling… and, maybe, hope.