May 27: Kitty Noir
Lyra: You know, it's amazing how quickly kids can do the things we never would expect them to do. Have I told you guys about my kids and the flour? Oy.
MR: You have! This is why I keep my children chained up. Far less chance for mischief.
Ep: (covered in flour, spluttering) I thought it was just a story... so much for letting them help in the kitchen.
Today's story is by LyraMaeArcher.
Adrien's ring was practically a permanent addition to his finger. He rarely, if ever, removed it - the value of it far too precious. So, when he heard Emma's sweet toddler voice crying out, "Pwagg. Cwah's out!" far too early on a weekend morning, he just smiled to himself from the comfort of his bed.
It was the sound of Plagg practically screaming his name that jolted him to consciousness and flung him out of bed in panic, the realization that somehow, some way his ring was no longer on his finger. Emma stood in the hallway, her arm outstretched in far too familiar a stance. His ring - his Miraculous ring - dangled from a tiny finger clenched into a fist in front of her. A terrifying flash of green left his heart on the floor, washing over his daughter to transform her into a shockingly similar version of himself.
Black from head to toe, ears popping out of her tousled dark hair and a mask sliding into place around the grey of her eyes, tail shooting out her back. It was quick - so fast that he almost missed it as she stood there grinning with pure mischief. Instantly, Adrien realized something terrible - Plagg and Emma together would be the end of the world.
Kneeling beside his daughter, Adrien tried not to let the panic he felt on the inside show. Placing a soft hand on her shoulder, he smiled. "Hey, Kitten. I need you to say 'Claws in,' please, ok?"
In a look so much like the steel determination of her mother, Emma's eyes hardened and chin tilted upwards with complete defiance.
"No. Me Kitty Noir!" And she ran. Superpowers with an already overactive toddler made for a dangerous combination - the agility the suit afforded making her laugh with excitement as she discovered her new abilities to tumble and leap around the room. Adrien tried - hands and feet scrambling over the couch and the tables - to catch her, a sudden understanding of how every akumatized person must have felt as they chased himself and Ladybug across Paris.
Beneath her exuberant actions, Kitty Noir knocked over the couch, the sounds of furniture crashing and breaking making him wince.
"What the heck is going on out h-" Marinette slid into the hallway, her voice trailing off as she instantly pieced together the sight of their daughter running rampant as a superhero. "Emma!"
The tiny kitten version of himself skidded to a halt at the sudden and stern use of her name, freezing as her wide eyes turned to look at her maman. Adrien seized the opportunity, jumping across the room to grab her around the waist. Kitty Noir screeched, laughing as Adrien pulled her into a hug, little feet kicking to be free.
"Now, Kitty Noir, give me your Miraculous~" he sang, tugging at the ring she held in her fist.
She started to thrash, screaming out "no, no, no!" in rapid succession.
In hindsight, he should have seen it coming, the sharp glint in her eyes the only warning he had before she yelled "Catacwysm!" and her fist became a bubbly shock of destruction. Instantly dropping his hand from hers and grabbing her wrist to keep the power from touching either of them, he cussed loudly before he yelled for Marinette.
"I'm on it!" her voice shouted from somewhere behind him - a blur of unknown colours flashing into view and onto Emma's hand to turn to dust. Emma burst into hysterical tears. Instant relief filled him, nearly crushing her to his chest as he collapsed to the ground with her in his arms.
"Oh, my little kitten," he murmured, rocking her slightly when Marinette's arms encircled them both.
"I think, kitty, that it's time to stop with the bedtime stories about Chat Noir from the first person point of view," she offered, pulling Emma from his arms to cuddle her close.
"I think you are right, princess."
When the final beep of the transformation released, Emma lay sleeping in her mother's arms, the excitement and action of the day having worn her tiny body out. Plagg looked thoroughly distraught. Enough so that he instantly agreed to remain hidden from her from now on.
Adrien pulled the ring onto his finger, wiggling it slightly as it returned to its proper home, pressing a kiss to the forehead of his sleeping daughter.
"She's a handful," Marinette muttered. He couldn't help but smile as he kissed his wife, too.
"Just like her maman."
(Consider the story from Do Not Disturb - Chapter 16 - as a future story from this one.)