Chapter Text
Akuma were frequent during the day, and their activity was almost nonexistent during the hours of the night, but being a creature of the night, Chat Noir found himself leaping over the rooftops in the dark every chance he could get. He always felt at home roaming the streets of Paris rather than in his empty house. If he had to make the choice of being alone in his house and being alone roaming the city, he would definitely choose the latter. With a promise of camembert, Plagg would allow a couple of hours of freedom for Adrien.
But it’s not just freedom he was after while escaping the eyes of his unknowing father and his assistant. His job as Chat Noir is to defeat the evil that shows itself in the city, Akuma and other alike. And while the Akuma are away, the other evils will play, and it was his duty to stop it.
Perched on a roof’s edge, his eyes and ears were trained in the dark, watching and listening for any sign of trouble. The sounds of the city were flooding into his ears: cars rushing by on the streets, people chatting and turning in for the night, the barking of dogs in their homes, an aggressive voice and shuffling and a knife’s steel against stone- Chat turned his head to that last sound, using his enhanced hearing to pinpoint the sounds’ location.
Four blocks. A dark alley between two jewelry shops. A woman’s crying and a demanding voice. Chat was leaping off the roof and sprinting over to the alley in a matter of seconds. He knew once he got there, there wouldn’t be much time before the man would be running. He had to act fast.
At the top of the roof above the alley, he could see a large, hooded man wielding a just-as-large knife, cornering a woman against the building side, a bag held between them. Dropping down, Chat landed lightly on his feet further into the alley, his dark suit keeping him hidden in the shadows while the man grabbed the bag and turned in Chat’s direction.
“You know that phrase ‘while the cat’s away, the mice will play’? Well sometimes the cat comes back earlier than planned.” His staff stretched out at his side and he stepped out of the shadows. The hooded man stood frozen in his spot. No doubt he didn’t plan on having the Chat Noir, hero of Paris, ruin his night. His hesitation was for only a moment before he moved his knife in between him and Chat.
“You know,” Chat held his staff at the ready. “When bad guys come face to face with me they usually take the easy route and drop what they were doing and take off. Looks like you chose the hard way.” A smile and a ‘come-at-me’ finger motion from Chat triggered the man to rush at him with the knife.
It was all Chat could do to stay away from the slashing of the blade. Usually he could take down a man twice his size in just a couple moves, but with how narrow the alley was and how the thief moved and fought like he knew what he was doing, Chat was having a difficult time.
The thief was forcing him back, and Chat was too focused on avoiding the knife when his shoulder clipped the electrical box of the building.
“Ahh,-” The distraction was all that was needed to give the thief an opening. The knife thrust forward, grazing against Chat’s forearm.
Chat was taken back, watching as a drop of blood dripped from the blade. Had he… had he just been stabbed? Even the thief seemed a bit taken back, but that surprise faded as he realized he had just cut Chat Noir. Maybe the famed hero was less untouchable as he seemed, and more human because he can bleed, and the proof glistened on the blade and flowed down the hero’s arm.
A confidence now shone in the thief’s eyes, and he lunged again at Chat. The thief moved with a new vigor which hadn’t been there before, and Chat knew that he was in for trouble.
Swings were dealt from both sides. A knife cut here, an unsuccessful disabling attack with a staff there. This cycle repeated again and again. This guy fights just as well, if not better, than my fencing instructor. He has some kind of training. If I’m going to beat this guy, I have to really gamble this next move.
Chat pulled his staff close to his body, lunging forward without restraint. The thief thrust his knife forward, the edge gliding across the flesh of his cheekbone, but before the knife could be swung again, the staff’s end had met its mark. The sound of ribs cracking was prominent in Chat’s ears, and the thief fell to his knees. A quick blow to the head knocked the man down unconscious.
Chat stood victorious over the man, sweat and blood mixing on his suit and on the ground. The thief wouldn’t be up for a good while. Long enough to give the police some time to get him.
Stepping over the man, Chat picked up the handbag that was dropped and approached the woman who had backed away to the end of the alley, staying in the safety of the light of the streetlamps.
“Call the police. They’ll be here soon to pick up the garbage.” He placed her bag into her hands. “I hope you have a good night, miss. Be safe walking back home.” With a two finger salute, he extended his baton and flew up to the roof of the building behind him.
His hands were slick with his blood, and he slipped off his baton at the last minute, stumbling onto the rough tar. Not the most graceful moment of his life, and generally he was pretty graceful, minus that time with Stormy Weather flinging him across town, and the whole Mr. Pigeon incident, and with Mr. Mime’s disappearing jail… but that’s beside the point. He was bleeding, and with his adrenaline levels dropping, the pain was starting to set in with a vengeance. He probably pushed it too far this time. He needed help, but he didn’t know where to go. He couldn’t go home, he couldn’t risk Natalie finding him and telling his father. He couldn’t go to the hospital, they would ask too many questions, and that would also end with his father finding out.
Leaning against the column of a chimney he weighed his options. He was still losing blood, the gash on his chest the main offender for that.
If only my Lady were here. She would know what to do… Wait! He pushed off the wall and staggered over to the edge of the roof. He could just barely see the building in the distance from his position. It was close enough. It would have to do.
She’s not my Lady, but maybe Princess can help.
I’ll be safe with Marinette.