Chapter 5: Mr. Pigeon 72
Adrien was up early, for a commercial photoshoot at the local swimming pool. He was in the changing room alone with Plagg. He was already in his swimsuit, but the cameras were still being set up and he had a few minutes.
"I'm gonna have to break it to ya 'cause I'm the only one who can," said Plagg. "This is totally insane! Jumping into freezing water first thing in the morning when we could be peacefully eating cheese?"
Adrien opened his pool bag, showing Plagg that it was full of cheese.
"Yahoo! I take back everything I said! Everything is great! Just great!" said Plagg.
"You can get back into that in a minute," said Adrien. "I just had an idea. I can get the girl of my dreams to watch me perform in a swimsuit, if I use my buzzer. Plagg, claws out."
"Aaaw!" said Plagg as he was pulled away from the cheese and into the ring.
Chat Noir got the buzzer from the pocket of his civilian pants, activated it, and left a message on the baton phone.
Ladybug was running magical experiments in her room, trying to recreate formulas from the grimoire. She was wearing her bathrobe and a towel over her hair (which was damp from a shower), but she was transformed to protect herself from her experiments exploding.
Her buzzer went off. She picked up the message on her yo-yo phone.
"Hi M'Lady. Call me back if you can. There's a potentially dangerous situation, but no akuma... yet."
"Hi Chat, what is it?" asked Ladybug when she called back.
"You know how sensitive Mr. Ramier can be. He's supplying trained pigeons for a fragrance commercial that Gabriel Agreste is making," said Chat.
"Mr. Ramier can probably handle that just fine," said Ladybug. "He's a skilled bird trainer."
"But do you know who's directing the commercial?" asked Chat.
"Who?" asked Ladybug.
"Bob Roth. It's a recipe for disaster," said Chat.
"Oh... I see," said Ladybug.
"Roth is cutting corners by pretending the pigeons are a more expensive breed of doves. Pigeons are a kind of doves, but not the kind Mr. Agreste wanted."
"Well, that could be trouble, I suppose" said Ladybug.
"If anything goes wrong, Mr. Roth will put the blame on Mr. Ramier," said Chat.
"Poor Mr. Ramier. He's been akumatized 71 times! He's just a harmless guy trying to take care of his pigeons. It's so not fair! I'd promised him I'd find a way to keep him safe from Shadow Moth, but I just can't figure it out. I don't understand a thing in this spell book! My formulas keep exploding."
"Exploding?"
"I told my parents I'm doing chemistry experiments for school."
"You shouldn't do that alone," said Chat. "I want to help."
"You can't, because the only place I can work is my room," said Ladybug. "You can't know where that is."
"What if we found an abandoned building and set up there? If you're setting off explosions in your room all the time, it'll disturb your family and they might catch you."
"I need pots, chemicals..."
"We can get those things. I just want to help."
"I think I'm close on this one... I'll just add a bit of pepper and..."
BOOM!
"How long have you been working on this?" asked Chat when she had picked herself up off the floor.
"I dunno, six-seven days, maybe ten. Now that I'm on spring break, I finally have time to put my whole heart into it! "
"You should take a break, and go watch over the commercial," said Chat. "It's at the same swimming pool where we just caught Timebreaker."
"Why don't you watch? I'll unify with Kaalki and I can teleport there in an instant. Just buzz me if anything goes wrong," said Ladybug.
"I'm going to be busy this morning," said Chat.
"I'm busy too, with these formulas," said Ladybug. "If it's an emergency and you don't have time for a message, just give me three buzzes in a row and I'll be there."
Chat Noir tried one more time to convince her.
"Adrien Agreste will be there, modeling for the commercial, and he may need watching over, too. He's been pretty upset since he broke up with Kagami. It wouldn't be good if he was akumatized."
"Adrien broke up with Kagami!?" said Ladybug excitedly. She caught herself and spoke in a calmer voice, "So, he broke up with Kagami. I'm sorry, but I can't involve myself in civilian affairs."
"Oh," said Chat, trying not to show his disappointment.
After she hung up with Chat, she said, "Ladybug can't be involved, but Marinette can! Tikki, spots off!"
Marinette raced downstairs. "I have to go and console Kagami!"
She returned for her regular clothes when her parents pointed out she was in her pajamas. She also got her pool bag, and she took a basket of pastries to eat on the run for breakfast.
Kagami was practicing sparring with her mother in the Tuileries Garden.
Marinette came charging out and grabbed Kagami from behind.
Marinette started babbling about getting Kagami back with Adrien, pushing her away and leaving the basket of pastries with her mother.
Kagami could barely get a word in edgewise, once even having to call Marinette on her phone to tell her she didn't want to be with Adrien anymore.
Marinette insisted they go to see Adrien at the pool where he was starting a new ad campaign, and that Kagami would fall in love with him again if she just saw him again. She distracted Adrien's bodyguard by calling in a group of fans, so that they could get into the closed swimming pool.
Inside, Adrien did his first dive, with pigeons flying around him. They were far enough away so that his allergies didn't bother him.
Bob Roth was trying to sell the dive as perfect for the slogan, "Dive into romantic, magical, eternal Paris! Splash, the new fragrance by Gabriel."
"Something... is missing," said Gabriel Agreste from his tablet.
It turned out he wanted one of the pigeons to carry a red rose up to Adrien as he fell, putting it into his mouth. Mr. Ramier was confident that his best pigeon, Edgar, could do that.
But things started going wrong. First, the pigeon feathers made Adrien sneeze and he couldn't take the rose.
"Your pigeon isn't up for the job! He's not supposed to come back with the rose!" complained Roth.
"The sneeze frightened him," said Ramier.
"I told you, I'm allergic to pigeons!" said Adrien.
Mr. Roth gave him a noseplug. "Here, for your allergies to the doves."
On the next dive, Adrien thought he saw Kagami and Marinette in swimsuits, watching him from an upper floor. The distraction turned the dive into a belly flop.
He explained to Mr. Roth, but there was nobody in sight when they looked,
On next dive, Marinette herself lunged out and crashed into him! They both flopped into the water together, taking Edgar with them.
"Edgar!" called Mr. Ramier.
"Marinette, what on earth are you doing here?" asked Adrien after they got out of the water.
"Me? Well um- I just came here to do a few laps and wind you up- I mean, unwind... How about you?"
"Well, we're in rehearsal for a commercial. The pool is supposed to be closed."
"Closed? Oh well, that's why there was no one at the front desk. Oh boy, I wouldn't want to kiss you- I mean, keep you, keep you from your job. So I'll be on my way."
Marinette tripped on her way out, causing some floating balls that were used for pool games to fall into the water.
Adrien saw Mr. Roth, Mr. Ramier, and his father get into a big argument. In the end, Ramier was fired and Roth was threatening to tell the mayor to ban pigeons from Paris.
Mr. Ramier started to leave, looking very unhappy. Adrien called after him, but Ramier just said, "I failed."
Adrien's earlier conversation with Ladybug came to mind. This was just the sort of thing that could lead to another round with Mr. Pigeon!
"Mr. Roth, I know it's going to take you time to find a replacement trainer. I'm going back to the changing room to dry off."
"Whatever, kid," said Roth. "Just be sure to tell your old man this wasn't my fault."
Back in the changing room, Adrien pressed the buzzer three times. Then he transformed.
Marinette was preoccupied with her plans. She was about to tell Kagami to try one more time, to re-create the moment they first fell in love.
Marinette had kept the waterproof buzzer on its string around her neck, just in case Chat Noir needed her. Now it gave three buzzes.
"I guess you're right, Kagami," said Marinette, now needing to get away. "Adrien's not in the best mood after I messed up his dive. We'll try another time."
"You try another time," said Kagami. "It's obvious Adrien is perfect for you, not me."
Just then a black pigeon struck Kagami, turning her into a bird like itself! Marinette looked around and saw black pigeons everywhere. She ducked into a small changing room and locked the door. Pigeons smashed into it, trying to get in.
"This is not the time to get trapped," Marinette told herself. "Tikki, spots on!"
Her earlier plan about using Kaalki to get here came to mind. She could use that now, to get to Chat.
Ladybug reached into her yo-yo portal and got the Horse Miraculous.
Kaalki appeared. "This seems to be a low-class stable, not at all what I am used to."
"We're just here for a moment," said Ladybug. "I need to get to Chat Noir."
She used the yo-yo phone. "Cat Noir, hurry up, I'm not gonna make it through this without you!"
Chat Noir picked up. "I'm trapped in a changing room at the pool. Can you find me with Kaalki?"
"Did you see Adrien?" asked Ladybug.
"Don't worry, I got him to safety," said Chat.
"Kaalki, can you locate the changing room with Chat? It's in this building."
"Certainly. I'm exceptionally good at finding people if I know the general vicinity," said Kaalki.
Ladybug put on the Horse Miraculous glasses. "Tikki, Kaalki, Unify!"
As Pegabug, she called "Voyage!"
The portal brought Pegabug to the small changing room with Chat. It was a little awkward.
Chat Noir had been using his baton to access news on the internet.
"Mr. Pigeon is turning everyone in Paris into black pigeons," he said. "It's hard to get around out there without getting touched and transformed."
"We need a clue," said Pegabug, "Lucky Charm!"
She got a large red slingshot with red spots. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Chat Noir and her yo-yo seemed to light up in her mind. "I've got it! Tikki, Kaalki, divide!"
Kaalki came out. "Kaalki, I need you to recharge. There are carrots for you back in my room."
"Very well," said Kaalki, going through the yo-yo portal.
While Kaalki was feeding, Ladybug got out the Monkey Miraculous crown and handed it to Chat.
"Whee! Action at last! I'm Xuppu!" said the monkey kwami.
Chat put on the crown and said, "Xuppu, Plagg, Unify!"
Now Monkey Noir, he asked Ladybug, "What's the power?"
"Call 'Uproar', and throw your new staff up in the air. You'll get an object. If we can touch Mr. Pigeon with it, his power will be disrupted. Every pigeon in Paris that he affected with his magic should turn into something silly that he can't control."
"Uproar!" said Monkey Noir.
He got a plastic coconut.
"How do we get this to Mr. Pigeon to touch him?" asked Monkey Noir. "We can't move around without being given the bird."
"I can give you a portal to him," said Kaalki, returning through the yo-yo.
"This will help," said Ladybug, handing him the slingshot. "We'll make a portal to his back and you can shoot him with the coconut. Just be careful not to hit a pigeon instead."
"I just need his general location," said Kaalki.
"Let's see if we can get that from the news," said Ladybug.
The news was very disrupted by the pigeon attack, but it seemed Mr. Pigeon was flying on a cloud of his birds around the Eiffel Tower, cooing his triumph.
"Tikki, Kaalki, Unify!" called Ladybug.
"Voyage!" called Pegabug, opening a portal to Mr. Pigeon.
Monkey Noir fired off the coconut, hitting Mr. Pigeon. Instantly, all the birds became wind-up toys. Some were wind-up pigeons, but there were also chattery teeth and monkeys banging cymbals together.
With nothing keeping him airborne, Mr. Pigeon started to fall, screaming.
Pegabug and Monkey Noir leaped through the portal and caught him. Using the yo-yo and the expanding baton to swing and vault from the Eiffel Tower, they brought him safely to the ground.
As wind-up toys rained down, Monkey Noir grabbed the akumatized bird whistle from around Mr. Pigeon's neck.
"Cataclysm!" called Monkey Noir, destroying the whistle.
Pegabug threw the slingshot into the air. "Miraculous Pegabug!"
All the pigeons returned to normal, and so did all the transformed people. Mr. Pigeon returned to his normal self.
"Pound it!" said the heroes, bumping fists.
"Oh no, I was the victim of Shadow Moth again, wasn't I?" said Mr. Ramier.
"I wish I could tell you it would be the last time, Mr. Ramier. But that's a miracle I cannot perform," said Pegabug.
Later, Ladybug and Chat Noir found an abandoned location where they could set up an experimental laboratory.
Ladybug was cheerful. (Marinette and Adrien had shared an umbrella and she had been able to talk to him normally for once. He didn't get to walk her home, but she was very happy anyway.)
Chat Noir looked over the notes. "There's something here about the laws of magic. You have to give something to get something."
"Like when I sacrifice the object that I get to help fight a villain, and I get magic to heal all the damage caused by that villain?" asked Ladybug.
Chat said, "It seems like there's extra magic you aren't using. When you purify an akuma butterfly or an amok feather, you ought to get something in return for the magic that you get from it."
"Maybe I can use that to get a charm that will protect that person from being akumatized again," said Ladybug. "I'll try it!"
Ladybug summoned her will, and her costume changed. There were dramatic new black areas with inverted spots, a swan-necked collar, and a new zipper in the front.
She drew out of the yo-yo portal a small, round charm.
"I'll call this a Magical Charm. I'm going to find Mr. Ramier and give it to him. I think it'll protect him from being akumatized again!"
She headed out to the park to look for Ramier.