Forty-Three: Sleight of Paw

Author's Note: Chat and Ladybug follow Manon, determined to separate the teenager from the Miraculous she appears to have obtained. But do so will require all of the cunning Chat has in his toolbox.

Manon moved quickly once she was clear of the museum.

We followed at a discrete distance, trying to trail her as stealthily as we could given both of us were moving about as fast as our own enhanced Miraculous skills allowed us to do. It had been years since I'd begun to feel fatigued when helicoptering or pole-vaulting my way across Paris, but by the time Manon and her neon-green electric cloud curled around a corner and disappeared into an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, I was breathing hard.

Dropping down beside Ladybug on the flat roof of an adjoining warehouse, I took a longer moment than normal to try and catch my breath. Snapping open my baton, Ladybug leaned over as we both watched the cat tracker logo vanish from the screen. "End of the line," I said. "What do you think?"

"I'd say it we were almost looking at a trope," she smiled. "Villain has a secret hideaway tucked into a neglected neighborhood? I'd walk out of this movie, to be honest."

Arching a masked eyebrow at my partner, my tail wrapped around her waist. "Even if I'd paid for it, Milady?"

"Especially if you'd paid for it," she laughed as she gently batted away my tail.

"This is quite real," I pointed out. "I'm not a psychologist, but I feel like this tells us something about her. Besides the fact that she's wearing more than one Miraculous."

Ladybug shuddered slightly at that and quickly recovered. I was aware that she'd successfully pulled off using nearly the entire Miracle Box some years earlier but hadn't done it since; though she had studiously avoided talking about it, I knew the experience had rattled her pretty badly – and that was before I knew she was Marinette. Now that I had that nugget of info, I intended to use the full force of my purrsaive powers to get her to open up a bit more.

Not wanting to force the issue too badly at that point, I very gently asked: "She's wearing more than one Miraculous, isn't she?"

Ladybug visibly shuddered again. "Yes, I think so."

"That's damn dangerous."

"Yes," she acknowledged. "But it also means that while she's charging one kwami, she may still have the full use of the other." Ladybug looked at me. "Or more."

My masked eyes widened. "More? Where on earth did she come across one, let alone more?"

Ladybug sighed. "Maybe she came into possession of a Miracle Box of her own? Stranger things have happened."

"She's a teenager," I cried. "I doubt she's ever left Paris! I can't believe she'd stumble across one, lying on the sidewalk by the Seine!"

"I agree," Ladybug nodded. "And yet, here we are. At the very least, she is a holder. But it would behoove us to assume she's more powerful even than that."

"To manage a whole Box, though, she'd have to be a Guardian, right?" I asked. "Like Master Fu?"

"Yes."

I looked down at the abandoned warehouse below us, a million thoughts rapidly coursing through my feline brain. We'd fought hundreds of akumas over the years, but aside from Hawkmoth and Mayura, had never directly taken on another Miraculous holder. And why should we have? Everything that I knew about our roles as heroes meant we were supposed to be the protectors of the city we loved, not the antagonists. Hawkmoth was supposed to be the exception to the rule.

"This is not random," I said softly. "Someone intended for her to find the Miraculous that she has," I added as I turned my feline eyes on my girlfriend. "And I would wager that while they may have provided her with more than one, they didn't trust her with an entire box."

Ladybug nodded slowly. "You might be on to something," she said. "And I can only think of one person that would come up with a plan like that."

I sighed. "Hawkmoth. It's clever, actually; she'd not akumatized so technically his hands are clean. He gets her to take us on, and then swoops in when we're the most vulnerable to take us out."

"He's not controlling her, though, is he?" she mused. "That's risky on his part."

I shook my head. "He's been using people's emotions against them for more than a decade, Milady. I suspect Hawkmoth thinks he knows teenagers better than most."

Ladybug smiled. "We were teenagers once, too," she said as she looked back at the warehouse. "And were a bit more recently that Hawkmoth, I'll wager."

"I'm glad you think I've finally grown up, bugaboo."

"I didn't say that," she chuckled as she scratched behind my ear. "Listen, we already know she's pissed off about her mother. I feel like we should be able to use that to our advantage here."

"In what way?"

"Well, she's an angry teenager, right? Do we try to calm her down? Or make her more angry, hoping she makes a mistake?"

Arching a masked eyebrow, I replied. "Given how it went in the museum, I would submit the calming down option would be ineffective. But… she does think she knows you. Knows us. She was really surprised when you vanished after casting your Lucky Charm."

Ladybug started to smile. "We've been a public duo for years now. And with her mother covering ever last detail of our exploits… yes, there it is," she said softly, and I could see once more her Lucky Vision kicking in.

She stared into space for a few moments, and then snapped back to the here-and-now. "Do you trust me?"

"Like you have to ask," I said as I rolled my eyes. "But when you do ask me that, I generally don't like what's coming next."

"You won't," she laughed. "Now, take off your tail, please."

Ladybug was quite right, I did not like the plan she came up with.

After arguing with her until I was blue in the face, less than ten minutes later Marinette roughly yanked me through the doorway we'd seen Manon go use and into the dark interior. She'd looped my belt around my lower torso a few times, cinching my arms tight against my sides, and was using the excess as something of a lead. "I'm not a dog," I growled as she yanked me again, causing me to stumble slightly on the uneven surface.

"Quiet," she said loudly.

"Mari," I growled louder. "This is a mistake. Don't do this."

"Shut up," she said.

It wasn't hard for me to stay in character as her irate captive; I'd been glaring from the moment she'd explained her plans and then de-transformed. "I'm not feline complying," I growled again, and yanked against her pull. In theory, I should be able to break free of her, but the belt was made of the same nearly indestructible material as my costume. I was more than a little worried she'd handicapped me more than intended.

"Manon!" Marinette cried out, ignoring my tugging. "I've got this mangy alley cat! Take him off my hands!"

"What are you doing?" I hissed as I struggled a bit more. "Mari, whatever you think I did with Ladybug—"

She whirled on me. "I know exactly what you did with that vixen!" she yelled.

It took all of my model training not to burst into laughter. "It meant nothing," I yelled back, staying in character. "I love you, Mari!"

"Whatever," she huffed as she yanked me, hard.

I'd expected that particular move and I feigned a stumble; to my surprise, though, Marinette deftly wrapped the belt around me again as I tumbled to the dusty floor. The musty odor assaulted my feline senses and I frowned. "That wasn't in the plan!" I accused quietly.

"Dramatic license," Marinette replied softly before placing a foot on my side and cinching the belt tighter.

"Hey!" I howled at the uncomfortable embrace. "Look… let's talk about this!"

"Manon!" She yelled again.

"How did you find me?" Manon's voice filtered from the nether regions of the space.

"I didn't," Marinette said. "He did. And I was following him."

"Why did you follow him?" Manon asked, her voice growing louder. "That's a curious action from a girlfriend."

Marinette shrugged. "He claimed he wasn't seeing Ladybug any longer; I needed to know for sure. When I saw him with her earlier, I knew he'd lied. He only came here because you've killed his one true love."

I glared at Marinette, only partially acting; she was certainly laying it on thick.

"She'd better not be dead," I growled as I struggled – for real – against my tail.

Man, I thought, she's wound it tight.

I narrowed my masked eyes menacingly at Manon. "If you've hurt her in any way—"

"Boys," Marinette sighed dramatically. "Am I right?"

"Why are you here?" Manon appeared out of the shadows, once more atop her neon cloud. "What do you want from me?"

"He—" she said before shoving me with her foot, "—told me what you've done to my former friend, Alya." She looked at me. "I want to control him like you control her. That's the only way I can keep this tomcat to myself."

I twisted around to try and look at Marinette. "Mari," I said urgently, letting a tiny amount of panic appear in my voice. "What… what are you doing?"

"Fixing things," she said. Turning back to Manon, she asked: "I want your help. Can you give me the Lovers Bracelet?"

"Marinette!" I hissed. "No! Look, I know you're angry, but seriously? You can't put a collar on this kitty!"

"That's exactly what I want to do," Marinette said, glaring at me. "It's for your own good," she said pointedly before turning back toward Manon. "Once I've trained him better, maybe he can be more useful to whatever it is you're trying to do here."

Manon slowly circled us, considering. "Are you proposing some sort of partnership?" she asked.

"Maybe." She looked down at me. "I get a more pliant feline, and you get some muscle." She looked back at Manon. "Besides, without Ladybug, he's not all that useful to Paris any longer anyway, right?"

"He could be handy," Manon considered as she circled even closer. "Chat could be a dangerous animal in captivity," she mused. "I no longer pull the strings of Alya or her boyfriend; my connection to the bracelets has been broken, and I think your feline boyfriend here had something to do with it."

"Maybe," I said smugly. "You shouldn't mess with magic you don't understand."

"I know exactly what I am wielding!" Manon said coldly. "As your beloved Ladybug discovered to her peril."

"I wasn't talking about your Miraculous," I growled, narrowing my masked feline eyes again.

Ignoring me, Marinette stared at Manon. "Do we have a deal? Two spurned girls with the Power of Destruction behind us?"

"I'll never help you," I said coldly. "I will fight you claw and tooth."

Manon paused in front of me and started to hold up her hands, palms to the sky. "I doubt that very much," she said with a cruel laugh. "Bijoux mystiques créer!" she cried.

The bracelet I'd seen earlier on her left hand lit up. and a moment later, the space above her palms burst into light, much like a Lucky Charm. Energy clouds swirled, twisted and pulsed before fading to nothing. In the same spot, a literal cat collar (sized up for a human, of course) spun slowly in the air until Manon grasped it. Despite the dire situation, I had to admit Manon had taste, for it matched my costume quite neatly, right down to a small metallic accent on the non-buckle side.

My masked eyes widened as she stepped off her cloud vehicle and kneeled down toward me. I squirmed a bit and managed to get a few centimeters distant before Marinette yanked on the belt. "Marinette, listen to me," I said, not needing to feign a slight amount of panic. This charade of ours was getting a little too real for my comfort. Squirming more, I tried to lean away from Manon's deadly attention. "This won't solve anything! You're playing right into her hands!"

"You might be right," Marinette said with a smile. "But it will make me feel better."

"Mari—" I started.

"This will only hurt a little," Manon said as she leaned down and started to place the collar around my neck. As it brushed my skin, I could feel a slight buzz of electricity, and my ears flattened against my mane in response. A low, guttural growl came from somewhere deep inside me as I squirmed even more.

Marinette moved in slightly, and I felt the belt relax from around my torso. It was hard not to let the Chat-is-about-to-get-his-prey smile appear on my face, so I settled instead for freezing my expression on get-any-closer-and-I'll-growl-more.

"You might want to hurry," Marinette advised.

"Why?" Manon asked, pausing to look up at Mari.

"No particular reason," she said.

That was the moment of inattention I'd been waiting for. Leaning into my enhanced feline reflexes, I flexed out of my belt restraints, sending my poor tail halfway across the warehouse. Marinette simultaneously tackled Manon to the ground, and in a swift action, I tumbled into her, using one paw to knock the collar away and the other to pin her two hands together.

"Cataclysm!" I cried and quickly brought my ring hand down on the bracelet.

I was aware that I could damage a Miraculous with my power, and it brought me no satisfaction to see the magical jewel glow white hot and then crack into two parts, sliding off Manon's wrist and falling to the concrete with a metallic clang. The de-transformation wave washed over her, removing one layer from her super-suit.

It wasn't enough.

As the kwami from the destroyed jewel appeared, Manon threw the two of us off and rolled away. Shooting to her feet, she started to sprint into the darkness. I turned to the vaguely duck-shaped kwami. "I'm sorry, my little friend," I said sadly as I started to run after Manon.

"You must be the holder of the Cat Miraculous," the yellow kwami observed as it flew next to me. Behind us, I heard Marinette call for her transformation. "Don't apologize; this rather inexperienced holder had fused two of us together. I don't think there would have been other way to separate us."

"She has a second one?" This was from Ladybug who had raced to catch up to me.

"Yes," the small duck said in her cute voice. "And there is a third squirreled away at her home."

We rounded a corner, entering a tall rectangular chamber with a metallic staircase hugging the walls. Manon was flying up the treads, barely touching them as she tried to put distance between us. "What is the second jewel?"

"Lapel pin," the duck said. "Left shoulder."

"Are you sure I have to use Cataclysm?" I asked. "Without your jewels-"

"There's no other way," she said sadly. "The fusing was done wrong. Both jewels have been irreparably damaged now."

"Got it!" I vaulted up the steps, four at a time, and landed in a crouch on a landing halfway to the ceiling. Sliding my baton out, my masked eyes tracked Manon as she continued up the long stairway, presumably trying to escape to the roof. Timing it, I snapped the baton in half and hurled them at her, then leapt into the open space of the stairwell.

The batons forcefully smacked her from behind, the two angles able to used her momentum to push her up and over the railing; I caught her as she tumbled end-over-end, cursing as she fell.

"Cataclysm!" I cried again as we fell, twisting around to tap the hummingbird-shaped lapel pin. It cracked apart and fell away from us, and the second wave of de-transformation washed over Manon; as we dropped into the massive polka-dotted airbag the bottom of the stairwell that was Ladybug's Lucky Charm, I found myself holding a beautiful young woman, albeit with a face twisted in anger.

"No! No!" she cried, belting me repeatedly in the costumed chest will balled up fists. "This is not how it was supposed to go!"

Torn between wanting to hug her to calm her down and needing to get away from her barrage, I opted to roll the two of us off the airbag and onto the floor. A small hummingbird of a kwami, light green in color, joined the duck one, floating a meter in front of me. "Thank you," he said formally. "We were rather trapped there."

"You're welcome, but I am so sorry I had to destroy your Miraculous," I said sadly, then turned my masked eyes to Manon. "Will she be okay?" I asked quietly, for the teenager had sunk to her knees and was babbling rather incoherently.

"Not just anyone can combine more than one Miraculous at a time," the hummingbird kwami said. "This holder was not prepared mentally or physically for the challenge."

The duck looked to Ladybug. "If you are the holder of the Bug Miraculous, though, you may be able to help her."

Ladybug frowned. "How? I repair things normally, not people."

The hummingbird smiled. "You hold the Power of Creation," he said kindly. "It can do far more than just repair buildings."

"Can she repair your jewels?" I asked impulsively.

The duck shook her head. "Not even the most powerful Miraculous holder could perform that magic," she said before looking to Manon. "But you can help her."

Ladybug looked to me. "I have a feline you can do it," I smiled.

"Okay…" she said. Knowing the airbag was too big to toss, she simply placed her hand against it and cried out, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The stairwell burst into fireworks of red and white light, and her millions of helpers immediately swarmed around Manon. They had enough energy that her hair started to wave with the force of their movement. Frantically, the helpers spun faster and faster around the young teenager before bursting away in a flash of white light.

As I blinked to clear my vision, Manon came into focus, sitting on her knees with a confused expression on her face. "Chat… Chat Noir?" she asked before looking to Ladybug. A definite frown appeared when she saw my partner. "Ladybug? Where am I?"

"Safe," she smiled as she knelt to put a hand to her shoulder. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Manon blinked. "Uh… I was at home? Alone, again, 'cause Mom had left to get the two of you on camera. Again." She frowned. "I was kinda angry – actually, I was a lot angry, now that I think about it. And then I found these boxes…" she trailed off, a fuzzy expression on her face. "I think?"

"What day is this?" I asked her.

"That's a funny question," Manon laughed. "It's November 29. Why do you ask?"

I shot a look at Ladybug, for that meant Manon had just lost more than a month of memories. The fusing had to have gone very badly indeed. "Let's get you home," I said neutrally. "We'll explain everything on the way."

I found myself stretched out on our couch, clasping a wineglass in one paw as I realized it was four in the morning. I was alone for the moment, as Ladybug was still with Master Fu, dropping off the three kwamis we had so recently become acquainted with. The third one had been in a box buried in the back of Manon's closet; I had surreptitiously searched the house while Ladybug had explained what had gone down to an increasingly upset Nadjia. I had to hand it to my partner, for by the time we left she had the two of them laughing, crying and hugging, well on the way toward healing the fractures that had appeared in their family.

As I'd watched Ladybug carefully point out the responsibilities of parenthood, I'd thought two things: first, my own Father could have stood some of that same lecture at various points of my upbringing, given how distant he had been. I had more than my own share of quiet, empty moments at the dining room table; I'm not sure I wouldn't have had the same issues as Manon if Plagg hadn't appeared in my life when he did. I could completely understand Manon's misuse of her gift of a Miraculous.

Second, I realized as I sipped my wine that Ladybug would make a damn good mother. I knew I wasn't quite ready for kittens – yet – but seeing her in action confirmed for me I was one lucky feline. Suddenly, a mental image of small Chat or Kitty Noirs roaming our apartment, complete with black-leather costumes brought a sly smile to my face, for I wondered if Marinette knew what she might be getting into.

I suspected she did.

I heard the key in our apartment door and lifted my mane up slightly to see over the edge of the couch. "Princess?" I said as my masked eyes caught her tired but still beautiful blue ones.

"Thank God that is over," she sighed as she tossed her keys on the breakfast bar and came around the edge of the couch. Sliding my boots off the couch, she curled her feet beneath her at the end. "Master Fu confirms what we thought, the three kwamis we recovered are from another box."

"Great," I rolled my eyes. "Do they know where it is?"

"No," she said. "They were dormant when removed and given to Manon."

"So it could be anywhere?"

"Likely. It seems quite possible that Hawkmoth came across them as a batch, much as he must have discovered the Moth originally. But we won't know if he found the whole box until he unleashes more Manons on us."

"But another box," I mused. "I thought Master Fu was the last remaining Guardian?"

"He was just as surprised as we were," she said before yawning. "Fu also thinks Manon won't recall anything at all, given what I told him about how the Miraculous Cure affected her."

I smiled. "So Rena and Cap are still on the team?"

"For now," she laughed and the yawned again.

"Come here," I said as I put down my wine glass and held out my arms.

Marinette slipped in front of me and pressed her back into my chest, snuggling her head just below my chin. Sighing contentedly, she said softly, "Can we call in sick to work tomorrow?"

"Maybe tomorrow," I said as my purring started up. "But since it's already today, Princess…"

"Damn," she said a moment before her breathing became very regular.

Smiling, I made sure the alarm on my baton was set before burying my nose in her hair and letting myself drift off to dreams of kittens and chocolate croissants.

Special note: Sorry this is late in posting! I realized as I went to upload this earlier today, where I had broken the story to feed into next week's chapter was just, well, cruel to the reader. So I had to hurriedly finish what would have been next week's chapter. Bonus! Thanks for waiting. -ep