Nine: Not So, Nice

Author's Note: For those of you following The Three Chats, this is what was supposedto happen the day Future Chat finds the Rabbit Miraculous on his kitchen countertop. -ep

"I'll be a bit late tonight, Chat," Marinette told me as she shrugged on her briefcase.

I smiled and kissed her before using a claw to play slightly with the ribbon she'd used to tie up her ponytail. "How late? Late as in I do crock-pot beef stew? Or late-late, as in I make you a sandwich you'll grab from the fridge at midnight?"

She laughed at me, hand on the door. "Late-late."

"Damn," I said, kissing her one more time. "I'll put the roast back into the freezer."

Marinette rang a finger along my mask, then used it to tap my bell. "Save it for the weekend," she smiled. "At least we'll have that to look forward to," she added somewhat despondently.

"Purrincess, it's not your fault," I smiled warmly, as I drew her into a hug. "I expected you'd have situations like this. It happens all the time in our industry."

Her head popped up from my chest. "Our?"

I groaned inwardly. Since returning from the Riviera, I'd increasingly found myself accidentally dropping in tidbits from Adrien. What was worse was Marinette had started to notice, too. "I feel like I am living vicariously through you," I said smoothly.

"Ah," she said, still looking a bit distraught.

"There will be another time, I purromise," I added, planting a final kiss on her head. "I'll be here when you get home."

She leaned up and kissed me. "How did I ever score such an understanding gentleman like you?" she asked.

"You didn't," I quipped. "You adopted a cat instead."

A smile finally broke out on my girlfriend's face, and I trailed a claw along it's edge. "That's more like it," I purred. "Now go get 'em, Mari."

And with that, she was out the door and off to her life as a junior fashion designer.

I backflipped to the kitchen counter, more because I could than any other reason, and cleared away the dishes from breakfast, then took my coffee over to the main balcony of our apartment. We had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower, and I slid the door open to stand in the morning sunshine for a bit. I was free that day, with no modeling engagements. Originally, we'd planned on a long weekend getaway to Nice, but Marinette was tied up on a big new clothing line and had to bail at the last minute. I could use the break, anyway; the last few weeks had been pretty hectic for my alter-ego.

Pulling myself up, I balanced sideways on the rail with my tail hanging off to one side, and closed my eyes. I was going to sit there and soak in every photon for the next few hours, giving myself over to my baser cat instincts.

Oddly, Hawkmoth had been pretty quiet. I'd not seen Ladybug in more than ten days, but I had texted her just to make sure she'd remember who I was (she'd told me I was impossible to forget). I'd also let her know that my weekend plans had changed and I'd now be in Paris, and she'd told me how sad she was I'd not be able to have the romantic getaway I'd been regaling her about.

I dozed off, thinking happy thoughts, only to be startled awake by some disturbance in the apartment. Landing in my pounce crouch, I took a brief second to apologize to the smashed coffee mug laying in pieces on the balcony before creeping back into the apartment

Nothing was amiss, but my baton was buzzing its way off the kitchen counter. I'd taken it off with the intent of lounging on the couch and had forgotten about it. I popped it open to see the very worried face of Ladybug. "Chat! Where are you?"

"Home," I said, nonplussed. "I was apparently taking a little catnap," I added before registering her furtive glances offscreen. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Where are you?"

"Chateau Le Blanc," she said, still glancing off screen. "An akuma has taken over the design studio—"

I was already vaulting out my bedroom slider, trying to tamp down my anxiety. That was exactlywhere Marinette was supposed to be today. "On my way now," I said, as I leapt off my balcony and into the air. "Be there in less than five."

"Belay that, kitty," she said. "We need Cap and Rena. And maybe Viperion."

I hit the roof of the building across from mine and crouched, phone still open. "It's that serious?" I said, my stomach knotting.

"Yeah," she said, turning back toward me. Her look softened slightly. "Marinette is safe," she said softly. "I got her and most of the staff she was working with off the floor before it completely took the place over."

"Milady—"

"Thank me later. Get our friends and your cute kitty butt over here, pronto."

I arched an eyebrow as I started to run for the roof edge. "Milady, I had no idea you'd noticed."

"How could I not?" she laughed. "Especially clad in tight leather as it is."

Soaring over the rooftops of Paris, I made good time getting to Master Fu's new apartment. He'd moved from the location where I'd first seen him as we entered University; apparently, he never stayed in one spot too long for fear of discovery. His new location had the added benefit of an alley-facing window with a tiny ledge, just wide enough for a certain feline super hero to alight upon and tap his claws on the glass.

Master Fu appeared immediately and pulled the window open. "Chat Noir," he bowed. "I won't ask why you've come," he said as he stepped aside for me to leap into his small living room area. His television was on in the corner, and I got my first look at the akuma. I tried not to swallow too hard when I saw the building was smoking from several floors and now sported a gaping hole about where the design studio was located.

"Ladybug sent me," I said. "We need Rena, Cap and Viperion."

He nodded. "We'll have to have a chat with Ladybug," he said as he moved to the gramophone. "I will deliver these for you, but it may well be time for her to share the identities of the rest of the team with you. Or," he said as he pressed the combo for the Miraculous Box into the face of the ornate wood, "perhaps it is beyond time for our young members to retain their Miraculous in between deployments."

"I'll take that up with her," I agreed as I turned and leapt back out through the window. As I worked my way toward Ladybug, I couldn't help but think that Master Fu was correct on at least one count: my knowing the identities of our other team members would be handy at this point. This wasn't the first time one of us had to split to get them. And I knew I could get around the city faster that the wizened yet spry Guardian.

Landing on the same rooftop from which I'd watched Marinette head in for her first day of work not too long ago, I surveyed the smoking ruins of the upper reaches of the high rise. It didn't seem to be a far stretch to assume our akuma was a designer done wrong, and for a fleeting moment, I was tempted to try and call Marinette to ensure she was safe.

I dialed Ladybug instead, who picked up. "I'm here, and our cavalry is being summoned now."

She nodded. "I'm on the fifteenth floor, just above the studio," she said.

"On my way." I snapped the baton shut and then used it to pole vault from the roof and into the air; somersaulting, I dove through what was left of a window close to where I judged Ladybug would be. Rolling into a crouch, I tried not to smile as I saw she was standing next to me.

I started to say something snarky when both of our phones buzzed. I popped mine open to see Viperion; I smiled slightly. Over the years, he'd become quite a friend and a valuable asset to our team. I was more or less certain I knew who was under the mask (heck, I was pretty sure about Carapace and Rena, too), but had long ago played along with Ladybug's insistence on adhering to the Superhero Golden Rule. "Hey Viper," I said, falling into my shorthand for him. "I cat wait for you to get here."

"I'm just a few minutes out," he said, and I could see the wind ruffling his oddly colored hair as he moved through the air. "What are we looking at?"

"I haven't seen it yet myself," I replied, "but whatever it is, it's taken over an entire floor of the building."

"Okay," he nodded and rang off.

I looked to Ladybug. "Rena says they are on the far side of the city but will be here as quickly as they can."

I frowned. "Viper is closer," I said. "We'll have to make do. What's the plan?"

She motioned me over to where she had been looking through a crack in the floor, giving a relatively unobstructed view of the mess below us. I crouched and then leaned through upside down.

The floor was covered in pattern dummies, and it took a moment for me to realize the headless torsos were actually movingacross the space in all directions. I assumed they were what was left of the victims Ladybug hadn't evacuated. Toward the center of the space was a tall woman, dressed in fine silk of gorgeous colors; her hair was done up in a triple-top bun, ringed with braids of pearls. She had something longish in one hand, and I watched in horror as she upended a design station to uncover a cowering worker. One tap on the head with the long stick and the worker flashed into another pattern dummy.

I pulled back. "Oh, lovely," I said. "What is she holding?"

"It was a pencil at one point," Ladybug said. "I'm thinking this akuma was a designer."

"Makes sense," I nodded.

There was a rubbery thump behind us, and I turned to see Viperion crouched by the window I'd come through. A fraction of a moment later, Carapace and Rena tumbled through the same window, landing together in perfect synchrony. I tried to stifle a knowing grin; they couldn't be any more obvious about how much time they spent together – in or out of the mask.

I turned back to Ladybug. "Looks like we can start the meoweeting, Milady," I quipped.

She grimaced and let it pass as our three teammates moved to us. Quickly, Ladybug sketched in what she'd seen, then launched into the plan. "From what I've observed, the pattern dummies are acting as protective drones. Chat will try and distract the akuma toward the center of the space; Viperion and Rena, I need you to pull the drones away from the akuma. Once it's just Chat and me, Cap, I need you to pull Shell-ter around us so we can work uninterrupted."

I nodded. "Lucky charm?"

"After Shell-ter," she said. "I won't know what to ask for until I'm sure we've isolated the akuma."

"Got it," Cap said.

"Ready when you are, LB," Rena said.

"I'll save Second Chance until you need it," Viperion added.

"Good call." She turned to me. "Ready, kitty?"

"Always, Milady," I waggled my eyebrows at her.

"Keep it up and I'll tell Marinette you're hitting on me," she laughed.

There was a sharp cackle from Rena. "And I'll back her story," she added.

I rolled my eyes and dropped cleanly through the hole and into the center of the room below, landing in a crouch. Something grazed my shoulder and I tumbled left, narrowly avoiding several pattern dummies that had descended on my position. I sprang up again and landed atop an upended cutting table. "Do you know how much cashmere costs these days?" I tsk-tsked. "I hope you have insurance."

"Black leather? So last decade," the akuma said. "Not breathable either, can't wear it to the mall."

I smiled. "I'd have to disagree," I said as I deftly leapt sideways again, landing of to the side of Designer. I extended the baton slightly and interlaced my paws atop it, emcee style. "This little number is just as fashionable as Channel's most popular outfit."

"Doubtful," she said as she lunged at me with what I could now clearly see was a massive number two pencil.

"I get your point," I said, narrowly avoiding being impaled by the business end of the pencil by quickly rising up on the baton. I gripped it and swung around it twice, landing closer to the center of the space. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rena had created a fleet of Chats and Ladybugs; the pattern dummies were dispersing toward the corners of the space, leaving us clear in the center.

Viperion caught my eye – he was circling the space and had doused a few of the smaller fires in the space with a hand-held extinguisher, while simultaneously using it to smack back pattern dummies that hadn't fallen for Rena's mirage.

We were ready.

I moved closer to Designer, and felt Ladybug by my side. I waited a breath and was rewarded with hearing Cap call out for Shell-ter; a moment later, we were surrounded by his shimmering green shield. My eyes were firmly planted on the pencil, and when I finally turned to Ladybug, I could see she'd deduced the same thing.

"Lucky Charm!" she sang out, and from the bright flash of red ladybugs, a massive polka-dotted easel with paper and pencil appeared. Expecting this, Ladybug stepped over and started to sketch.

While still keeping my focus on Designer, I was struck by the efficient strokes my partner was making on the pad. In a few moments, she'd drawn a reasonable facsimile of a bathrobe (of all things). Having as much fashion sense as I did, though, it had to have been the most hideous thing ever created.

And I was further impressed at how easily she had drawn something that looked so bad.

Designer fell for it, and moved quickly to the pad. "Disgusting! Abhorrent!" she cried, and raised the pencil's eraser to eliminate what she was perceiving to be a blotch on the fashion industry.

Ladybug yelled at me. "Now!"

"Cataclysm!" I cried as I leapt toward Designer and her raised pencil. The power hit my fingers a fraction before I dusted them across the pencil; it melted to ash, releasing the purple butterfly almost immediately.

I landed in a crouch and flipped around to watch my partner cleanse the butterfly; one Miraculous Ladybug later, we were standing in the middle of the reconstituted design floor, surrounded by worker bees and one confused looking supervisor type.

We were right – the young woman's design had been struck from the new clothing line in favor of items from a new junior designer. It wasn't much of a leap for me to realize who she was referring to, and I shot a sidelong glance at Ladybug. Her eyes had gone wide as well, and unusually, she took the woman aside to comfort her, much as I normally would.

I went to our teammates instead. "Pound it!" I said, holding out my paw to the others, who responded in kind. We didn't have much time to chat, though, as three of us had chirping Miraculous.

"Thanks as always," I said to all of them. "Master Fu will meet you to retrieve your Miraculous," I added as I watched the three of them head off into the late morning sunshine. While it was nice having the extended team to call upon when needed, I generally found myself nostalgic for the days when it had just been the two of us after such a session.

Ladybug's touch on my pensive shoulder had me turning toward her. "This is ugly," she said, more somberly than normal. "Interoffice politics are not a favorite of mine. I think I've sorted it, though."

"Of course you did," I smiled. "Where did you get those mad sketching skills?"

For a moment, Ladybug looked uncomfortable. As she thought about answering, her earrings and my ring both chirped. "That's my cue," she said. "Pound it!" she added, and I touched my paw to her hand before she, too, leapt out the window.

I smiled after her and leapt out as well; I really wanted to see how Marinette was doing, so I eschewed returning to the apartment in favor of a quiet alleyway where I could recharge Plagg before returning to the rooftop overlooking Marinette's office. Using the baton, I speed dialed my girlfriend.

"Hey," her cute image said. "I'm fine," she quickly added before I could say anything. "I'm heading back to get my gear; they've given us the rest of the day off."

"Good for me, bad for your employer," I said. "I'm just heading back to the apartment now."

"Liar," she smiled. "I'll wager you're on the rooftop overlooking my building."

"Guilty as charged," I replied. "Want a lift?"

She looked at me thoughtfully. "You realize," she started, "I don't have to be back until Monday now. So yes, I'll take a lift, so long as we end up in Nice for the weekend as planned."

"Your wish is my command," I laughed.