Fifty-Six: Direct from the Page to the Screen

Author's Note: Reassembled again in Southern California, Chat and Team Miraculous begin to investigate the possible akuma for SHIELD – with help from one newly added recruit.


"Did you make your suit?"

"In a matter of speaking," I replied, working hard to keep my inner fanboy under control.

I tried to mask my goofy smile as I turned toward our newest – albeit honorary – member of Team Miraculous. Director Fury was so certain our unique talents were up to the task at hand that he'd sent the SHEILD force that had been in Santa Monica down the coast from our location to investigate the appearance of what he termed a "suspicious artifact." All, that is, save for one rather exuberant Avenger who appeared eager to make some new friends. The irony I'd swapped one bug partner for another wasn't lost on me.

Spider-Man looked me over again – at least, that what I thought he was doing, for I was finding it hard to read his expression behind those mechanical eyes in his mask. "You hid the seams pretty good," he said appreciatively. "Is the zipper—"

"It's decorative," I said hastily, hoping to derail the conversation. "Though the pockets are functional."

Those odd eyes of his went wide. "Then how do you get in and out?"

Ladybug and I had been of a similar mind to keep our cards close to the vest, unwilling to provide too much information to our new friends from SHIELD with respect to our Miraculous magic. Both of us were unsettled to no end that they had apparently come up with a scientific way to track us – especially when transformed – so the less they actually knew about us, the safer we felt. It was likely self-delusion on our part, and deep down I think we both realized we needed to consider our options when we returned to Paris. I felt as though Master Fu's amazing ability to avoid detection over the last century might be able to provide us with some guidance, but on the other hand, he'd never had to stay hidden from machinery designed to look (virtually) under every rock.

The fact they had nearly located us in our civilian forms at the Santa Monica beach house had seriously unnerved me – much more than I had shared with Ladybug. So I looked away, leaned around the cupola we were hiding behind and quickly changed the subject.

"Are you really sure something is in there?" I asked, tail tapping against the roof. "We've been keeping watch for some time now, and even my superior feline eyes aren't picking up anything."

Unfortunately for me, Spidey wouldn't let it go. I'd only been hanging out with him for a short period but had already determined he was nearly as curious as a cat, with an intellect to back it up. I heard him slide down his webbing from where he'd been hanging wrong way round from the overhang and then flip into what I presumed was a crouch quite similar to my own. It was hard not to stare, for he was as graceful as a dancer in his movements: fluid, and in full command of every muscle. But I kept my masked eyes firmly planted on the building across the street despite the soft rustle of fabric beside me.

"Dude, all of your team members have outrageous outfits! You've got to tell me how you created them. I mean, mine is pretty sweet, but this one is from Mister Stark. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you about my first costume."

That caught my attention, for I assumed he was talking about Tony Stark, the ultra-rich tech entrepreneur and very public member of the Avengers. I chanced a glance and was shocked to see Spider-Man had slipped his mask off. He was holding it toward me, stretching the fabric as he spoke. "There was no way I could have created something like this," he was saying excitedly. "I'd drawn up plans for a smart neural interface while I was working out the formula for my webbing-"

"Uh… look, its clawsome you want to take our relationship to the next level, but, uh…"

He turned his face upward toward mine and it quickly registered both shock and embarrassment. As tall as he had turned out to be in real life, I'd assumed he was college-aged. But seeing the youthful face that had been hidden beneath the mask quickly led me to conclude he might be a year older than me, or two at the most. I wondered if he had the same challenges I did, trying to balance school and love with being a superhero. Not to mention all of the normal hormonal challenges a teenage male was forced to endure at that point in our lives. I tried not to smile at Spidey's obvious discomfort.

"Mister Fury is gonna kill me," he groaned. "Everyone on the Avengers knows who I am," he explained as he idly crumpled the mask in his gloved hands. "I'm so used to pulling off the mask to talk to them, I forgot who I was with."

"Ours don't come off quite so easily," I laughed as my masked eyes narrowed in good humor. "I purromise to keep this between us."

He smiled as he pulled the mask back on. "Thanks, Chat," he said, voice muffled once more by the fabric. "Do you always do that?" he asked belatedly.

"Make people feel better?" I said as I turned back toward the building. "Yeah. It comes with being a feline."

"No – I meant those puns of yours," he replied.

I chuckled. "It's part of my persona as Chat," I started. "I didn't realize I was doing it until Ladybug called me out on it."

"So your civilian self isn't that corny?"

I laughed again. "Oh, he's a true nerd." I turned back to Spidey. "The mask frees me from the insecurities of my day-to-day existence. Allows me to be the person I want to be."

"I kinda understand that."

I looked back across the street. "The longer I'm in this gig, though, the more Chat traits seem to pop-up in my alter-ego."

"Really? Like what?"

"Let's just say I have a hard time passing through sunbeams."

Spidey laughed. "I can imagine. Do you go to school?"

Realizing Spidey had been pumping me for information, I sighed. Not bad, Fury, I thought. Pair me with a teenager and hope I'll lower my guard long enough to reveal more than I should. The only good news? Spidey has unwittingly done the same.

"This isn't really the time to compare notes," I reminded him gently. "But if we get through this, maybe we can—"

The earwig I'd inserted before accessing the roof beeped and Ladybug came on. "Kitty, we've got some movement from our angle."

Spidey's eyes went wide. "Kitty?" he repeated. If he hadn't had his mask on, I was sure I'd see he was grinning wildly. "Are you two—"

I groaned. One more secret blown. "Later," I whispered with a not now gesture.

"Chat? What was that?"

"I'm here, LB," I said louder, my frowning masked visage still facing Spidey. "Want us to circle around?"

"Not yet," she replied, and I could hear some humor in her voice. "Carapace is on his way to what looks like a loading dock along the rear. Rena, what can you see?"

"I had a great line of sight into what looks to be the main office space on the second floor; that is, until just a moment ago," Rena's voice said. "The windows have been occluded now by splotches of paint – at least, that's what I think it is. In every color imaginable."

"Damn," Ladybug said and paused for a moment; I could nearly hear her thinking across the open line. "Chat… do you see that small tower on the roof?"

I scanned the rooftop. "Yes," I said.

"I think we need a more forward approach," Ladybug started. "You and Spidey head for that tower – unless I miss my mark, it has to provide some sort of access to the building."

I groaned again as I pulled out my baton and snapped it open. "Milady, I am a fool," I said as I furiously tapped clawtips on the device.

"I know that," Ladybug laughed. "But I thought that was only over me."

Ignoring the look I knew I was getting from Spider-Man, I continued. "I've accessed the building plan database here in Los Angeles County. One second…"

Spidey leaned around to look over my shoulder, the fabric of his costume whispering as he moved. "How on Earth did you do that?" he asked, amazed.

"It's an app on the baton," I shrugged. "I have to admit, I wasn't sure it would work outside of Paris but—gotcha! It's decorative, LB, but it has a maintenance hatch that leads into the HVAC system its hiding." I looked up at the building. "There appears to be a small access corridor leading to the second floor."

"Can you get over there easily?" Ladybug asked.

My masked feline eyes flicked upward. "Yeah, I can leap and then helicopter." I looked to Spidey.

"Easy-peezy," he said, looking at his fingers.

I rolled my eyes. "Did you—"

"Yeah. All right, head over and use all of those stealthy black cat tactics of yours to see if the two of you can sneak in. I'll converge with Rena and Cap from three other sides; Cap will see if he can get in through the loading dock, and Rena will try the front."

"And you?"

"There's some sort of employee entrance on this side, I think."

"Uh, Chat," Spider-Man suddenly said. "You're never gonna believe this…"

I looked up, and then over to where he was pointing, masked eyes widening at what I saw. For the base of the building had started to glow in a manner similar to when akumas transformed - a bubbling, violent purple and black energy wave slowly moving up the side of the building. Two pedestrians that happened to be on the sidewalk beside the building jumped back but not fast enough; little globules of the purple wave detached from the building and quickly enveloped them as they screamed. A moment later, two cartoon versions of humans appeared, with exaggerated heads and colorful clothing that matched the splotches of color on the inside of the windows of the second story.

I frowned. "This is not good." I turned toward Spidey, only to groan as I watched him shoot out one of those weblines of his and take off. "Dear kwami. There goes the neighborhood," I said to Ladybug.

Ladybug swore. "He's almost as impulsive as another hero I know," she said, not without a trace of fondness in the admonition. "We're aborting my earlier plan – Cap, Rena, stand down. Chat, go rescue the kid before he gets into trouble."

"Kid?" I laughed as I leapt up into the air.

"If the shoe fits," she chuckled. "I feel a bit like we have a few miles more under our belt than he does."

"I think you're right," I said as I helicoptered behind Spider-Man, who was gracefully arcing down to the rooftop below me. He landed in that strange spider-like crouch he did, and not to be outdone, I dropped in beside him in my pounce-crouch. "You didn't even say goodbye," I admonished. "That really hurt my felines."

"Oh! I thought—"

"Change in plans," I said. "It would be best to see what this becomes before it fully changes; that way, we'll know what we're getting into. Cats tend to observe their prey before pouncing," I added, arching a masked eyebrow. "I don't know how spiders-whoops!"

Normally light on my feet, I found myself unexpectedly sliding across the roof. Deploying my claws, I arrested my movement and turned an accusing glare on Spider-Man, who hadn't moved so much as a centimeter.

"I stick," he reminded me with a laugh.

"Not funn—"

It took being thrown in the opposite direction (and repeating ten deep grooves in the rooftop) for me to realize the building itself was somehow moving. That it had, in fact, pulled itself up from the foundation. "Are we moving?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes," Ladybug confirmed in my ear. "Have you ever read Baba Yaga?" she asked. "Because the horror show I'm witnessing is straight out of that story."

I looked to Spider-Man. "Let's get out of here," I said urgently.

"With a bit more alacrity, Chat," Rena suddenly cut in. "That purple wave is almost to the roof! From what I've seen it do to civilians-"

"What about the akuma in the building?" Spider-Man asked. "Don't we need to go after it?"

"Safely," I reminded him as I readied my baton. A feline ear swiveled as the electrical-crackling noise of the transformation wave surged over the edge of the roof and bubbled toward us. "Come on!"

I leapt upward and extended the baton to launch further; Spider-Man didn't follow and I paused at the tip of my baton. Glancing down, I could see he was looking intently at the purple wave as it raced toward him from all sides. Swearing, I descended.

"Don't make me tackle you," I growled as I landed next to him once more. "You have no idea the dark magic we're dealing with! This is dangerous stuff! Come on!"

"If we get a sample," he said calmly as he produced a small vial from his belt, "I can analyze what we're working with. Then we can formulate a better plan." He turned his head upward. "Cats observe their prey, you said? Well, spiders take the added precaution of wrapping them up first."

"What the hell are you-"

Spidey said something under his breath and then shot a small string of webbing with an unusual circular pod at the end of it into the purple wave; I blinked when I realized the pod was open on one side. Much like we'd seen on the street below, a globule detached from the crackling field to intercept the webbing. To my amazement, the pod opened further, swiftly engulfing the glob. With a quick flick, Spider-Man yanked it back and into his awaiting small vial, which snapped shut. A shimmering green glow lit up the interior as he looked back at me.

"Now we can go," he said as he leapt up and away.

Swearing in three languages, I vaulted upward after him, barely clearing the purple wave as it washed over where we had been standing.