"Give me your Miraculous now!!!"

Just another standard run-of-the-mill akuma attack. Today's lucky victim was a student who had an unsettling association with the Napoleonic era. He had been akumatized into a robotic replica of the diminutive Emperor and was using his bugle to turn people into soldiers for his new Grande Armée.

"Where's the Russian winter when you need it?", Cat Noir exclaimed as he dodged a volley of musket fire. Ladybug rolled her eyes and groaned while lassoing a group of soldiers and knocking them down with her yo-yo. "No time for jokes, Cat Noir!! Cover me!!"

He nodded and picked up a manhole cover from the street, using it as a makeshift shield from the lead balls. Some of them actually deflected back and struck down the soldiers, turning them back into civilians, unharmed.

Ladybug used her Lucky Charm and she got a tennis ball.

"What the? What am I supposed to do with this?"

She looked around, highlighting everything she could use. There was Cat's baton, Napoleonator's bugle, and the ball itself.

"Cat Noir!! Let's see how good your batting is!!"

He whipped out his baton and took a baseball stance.

"Batter up, M'lady."

She was midway through the throw when Cat Noir decided it was time for another snarky comment.

"Hey, when we're finished, you wanna go watch the orchestra in the park?"

Ladybug's eyes locked in a face of shock, pupils dilating to the size of pinpricks. The ball flew out of her hand and went straight past Cat's baton, bouncing off a nearby building and knocking him in the back of the head.

"Ow!!"

The soldiers were about to fire again, and Cat was still trying to recover from the failed plan. Ladybug tackled him at the waist and they got out of the way just as another volley shot past.

They rolled safely out of the way and rolled into an alley, Cat on top of Ladybug, their noses touching.

He grinned happily, but Ladybug groaned in aggravation and pushed him off. "Enough fooling around, Cat Noir. Let's try this again."

Her earrings beeped. "And let's hurry before I transform back."

They managed to defeat Napoleonator, restoring everything that had been destroyed. Cat Noir stood triumphantly with his hands on his hips and turned towards Ladybug with his fist raised. "Pound it?"

She huffed and ignored him, swinging her yo-yo to latch onto a building. She was about to swing away when Cat grabbed her shoulder. "Ladybug, where are you going?"

"I have to go before I turn back, Cat Noir. You made me waste my Lucky Charm by screwing up my plan with your flirting."

"All I did was ask if you wanted to go watch the orchestra perform."

"In the middle of a battle!! That was the most boneheaded thing you could've ever done!! One, because you almost got yourself killed, and two, because I don't wanna go on a date with you and never will!!"

The spotted heroine swung away, leaving Cat Noir standing there, his head hanging low in sadness and his heart in pieces.

Marinette safely detransformed back at her place and gave Tikki a cookie to restore her energy. The girl then stared pacing the room, kicking around a pillow that was on the floor.

"Stupid cat. Flirting in the middle of a fight. Does he have no common sense?"

"Marinette, those things you told Cat Noir were really mean. You probably hurt his feelings."

"Well just having his feelings hurt is better than being dead, Tikki. It would've been terrible if he had..."

She leaned against the wall and slid down till she hit the floor, hugging her arms close to her sides. "That would've been awful."

"So you're saying you only got mad at him because you were worried about him?", Tikki asked as she sat on the human's shoulder.

Marinette sighed. "I...I guess I was. I should probably apologize next time we see each other."

"Why not go apologize now? Cat Noir didn't use his power, so I'm pretty sure he's still out there."

"You're right. Tikki, spo-"

*Knock knock knock*

Marinette almost jumped through the ceiling when she heard tapping on her roof. She climbed out the trapdoor and her eyes widened.

"Cat Noir?!"