Chapter 19: Rocketear

Turtle Noir was holding three huge T-Rex dinosaurs back with a Shellter force field at the soccer stadium. The creatures butted against the field hard, causing it to crack. He was worried that he was about to find out how much dinosaurs eat.

Ladybug came swinging into the stadium, carrying a woman in a white lab coat.

"We found the dino call," said Ladybug.

"It rolled under my cyclotron," said Anne-Jeanne du Bocquale, the scientist.

The whistle tamed the raging T-Rexes and the problem was solved.

"Pound it!" said Ladybug and Turtle Noir.

The Ladyblog had been critical of Ladybug recently. Alya had interviewed people who had been hurt by akumas and sentimonsters, including her own family. She complained that Ladybug's knowledge that she can reset things made her less concerned about civilian suffering.

Now there was a new video up on the blog.

"There's a lot of talk about Ladybug, but hardly any about Chat Noir, and he's really an amazing superhero! Brave, funny, handsome; coming right up, a montage of some of the most impressive stunts of a superhero who's every bit as magnificent as Prince Char-meow-ing. Stay connected!"

After watching the video, Nino called Adrien.

"I knew it! She's in love with someone else!" said Nino.

"You guys spend every minute together," said Adrien. "I'm sure you're just imagining things. Who else do you think she'd be in love with, anyway?"

"Chat Noir!"

Adrien laughed.

"Yeah, right. What about Jagged Stone's crocodile, while you're at it?"

"She deleted every image of Ladybug and Chat Noir together from her blog. That has to be jealousy."

"I think that's in response to the Couple of the Year article. Ladybug didn't like that at all."

"Did you see the video about Chat Noir?"

"Come on, that's just some video from the Ladyblog, not proof."

"I'll find proof, then you'll see that I was right!"

After discussing things with Plagg, Adrien decided to visit Alya at her home just in case, to see if she was possibly starting to be attracted to him.

He went to the balcony patio of her family's apartment, and knocked on the sliding glass door. Alya's room was closest to that side, and she heard the knock.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" asked Alya, coming out on the patio.

"No, no! Everything's fine!" said Chat. "It's just that I saw you posted a new video about me. I'm super flattered, really, but it made me wonder: you've been following Ladybug and me from the very start. You take photos and videos, and we even saved you a couple times. What I mean is, we're starting to know each other pretty well and... it's made me notice a couple of small things. I hope I'm just under the illusion that there's something, but uh..."

"Illusion...? What illusion? What small things?"

"It's kind of hard to explain, but I wanted to make sure that in all this time you've spent admiring me, you haven't built up some kind of uh... feelings for me. I mean, I get it. Hey, I am the Cat's Meow."

"Huh, what feelings for you?"

Chat Noir made a heart shape with his hands. "Well.. you know..."

Alya laughed. "Are you insane?! I was just building you up to put Ladybug down! I already have a boyfriend! And FYI, with him it's not just..."

Alya gestured a little heart.

"... it's more like..."

Alya gestured a huge heart.

"Sorry, that was so silly of me," said Chat.

"Yeah, sorry, Chat Noir, but my Nino is a thousand times more irresistible than you. Besides, I don't know your real identity and I could never fall for someone I didn't really know," said Alya.

"Oh, hey, Nino! I gotta tell you something," said Adrien the next day.

Nino was wearing a coat, a Sherlock-Holmes-style hat, and a fake mustache for some reason.

"No! I gotta tell you something!" said Nino.

Nino dragged Adrien to a table down in the boiler room. It was set up like an office in an old hard-boiled detective movie. A radio was playing atmospheric music. Nino pulled out a chair and ordered Adrien to sit down.

"Uh... when did you set all this up?" asked Adrien, sitting in the chair.

"I'm the one asking questions! Remember what I told you yesterday? I got proof now. What do you say to this?!"

Nino showed Adrien a video recorded on his phone that showed Chat Noir visiting Alya on her balcony. The paused image showed them hugging.

"Uh... Come on, that doesn't make any sense," said Adrien, turning the radio volume down. "You're wrong, that's not at all what happened!"

Nino turned the radio volume back up.

"How do you know? You were there? You're in on it too?"

"No, no. Of course, not! But it's impossible! I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Alya and Chat Noir have nothing in common. They barely know each other!" said Adrien, turning the music down again. "Alya is just a superhero fan; she's been filming Ladybug and Chat Noir, that's all!"

"They know each other well enough!"

"But no one knows Ladybug and Cat Noir's secret identities. Can you imagine Alya falling in love with someone she doesn't really know? The girl who wants to be a reporter, who always wants to know the truth, no matter what? Who wants to share everything with the boy she loves?"

"They actually know each other much better than you think!" said Nino, turning the volume back up again.

"You can't assume that from this video," said Adrien.

Nino came around the desk, put his hands on Adrien's shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Listen, here's what you don't know! I'm not talking about the video, dude. I'm talking about something I shouldn't be telling you. A mind-blowing secret. Alya used to be a superhero. She was Rena Rouge!"

"What!?"

"Ssh! I know what you're about to say: 'That's nonsense, and how would Nino know that anyway?' I know because... I used to be a superhero too. I was Carapace!"

"Huh? You were... Carapace? But... the two of you knew?! You knew each other's secret identities?!"

"Of course, Alya and I have never kept anything from each other. Until now, with all that Chat Noir business!"

"Wait a sec, I don't understand! I thought that secret identities had to be protected at all costs. If it were true, you'd never just tell me like that. Ladybug would never agree to that!"

"Are you kidding? Ladybug is the one who gave us both our Miraculous at the same time."

Adrien's mind was reeling from the shock, but he wasn't willing to throw away the trust that he had built up with Ladybug. A memory came back to him.

"Wait... Rena Rouge first appeared to fight the Sapotis. Are you saying Ladybug recruited you that same night? I didn't see... I mean, you weren't in the news."

"I don't mean then. It was on Heroes Day when she did that."

Adrien thought, "Heroes Day... when there were so many akumas that Ladybug had to gather the whole team as fast as she could. Maybe that's the explanation."

Aloud, Adrien said, "Okay, you were Carapace, she was Rena Rouge and Ladybug's okay with this. But it still isn't like Alya or Cat Noir to be... you know?"

"You don't know what Cat Noir really is, but I do! I'm part of the team! I see how he acts in real life. Sure, as soon as Ladybug shows up, he throws himself at her feet with roses and big declarations. Mwa-mwa-mwa-mwah! But he gets blown off every time, because Ladybug thinks he's obnoxious, and she's right! And then whenever Rena Rouge shows up, it's like, 'Why, hello there, pretty lady, you look so fine! You smell so good!' So yeah, it's easy to figure out that the first mission I missed - I mean, Carapace missed, he made his move and, BAM! This is what happened. Now, I'm all alone. I've lost the love of my life. If I could, I'd sew his sweet talking mouth shut with his own whiskers!"

"There's got to be an explanation, Nino. We'll work it all out!"

An akuma butterfly entered Nino's glasses. Adrien gasped as a mask outline appeared on Nino's face.

"I know what you want, Shadow Moth. Don't worry, the only thing left of them will be their Miraculous."

Nino transformed into a blue-costumed villain with a tear-shaped helmet.

"Nino, you have to fight off this-" said Adrien.

Rocketear shoved Adrien away and he hit the floor.

"You're not my enemy, Adrien. Chat Noir is!" said Rocketear, leaping off.

Plagg, emerged from Adrien's pocket.

"I know what you're about to do but I would advise you not to, considering what your pal's got in store for Cat Noir," said Plagg.

"I can't leave Nino like that! Plagg, claws out!"

After transforming, Chat Noir recorded a message to Ladybug.

"Ladybug, Nino Lahiffe just got akumatized. He thinks his girlfriend, Alya, is cheating on him with me. It's because of a video he made that he took out of context. I'll bring it with me. I don't think he'll get violent until he sees me, so let's meet to plan first."

He activated the buzzer and waited for Ladybug to call back.

A short time later, Rocketear was shooting explosive teardrops at Chat Noir. Cars were getting exploded and flipped each time Chat dodged.

"I don't want to fight you," said Chat Noir.

"Silence!" yelled Rocketear.

"Let me explain!" said Chat Noir.

"I don't wanna hear your lies!" said Rocketear.

"You wanted proof? Here's proof," said Chat Noir, dropping his baton to the ground.

"That doesn't prove a thing!" yelled Rocketear.

The next shot of tears hit Chat and knocked him back into a van, denting it.

"See? I don't wanna hurt you. Can we talk now?" asked Chat in a weak voice.

Shadow Moth sent telepathically, "Shut him up for good! But before you do, seize his Miraculous!"

"It's over, Cat Noir!" said Rocketear.

"Don't do this," said Chat.

Rocketear tried to fire a fatal shot, but a yo-yo line yanked his arm so the shot went wild, hitting a building.

Ladybug called from the top of a building, "Nino, stop! Look, my Lucky Charm gave me a super-advanced projector that will allow you to hear the sound of the video that you shot. I don't know what Chat Noir said to your girlfriend, but I trust him. Now look and listen carefully."

A projection in the air showed Chat Noir making a heart shape with his hands. "Well.. you know.."

The video Alya laughed. "Are you insane?! I was just building you up to put Ladybug down! I already have a boyfriend! And FYI, with him it's not just... it's more like..."

"Sorry, that was so silly of me."

"Yeah, sorry, Chat Noir, but my Nino is a thousand times more irresistible than you. Besides, I don't know your real identity and I could never fall for someone I didn't really know."

Rocketear's expression changed from anger to determination.

"Shadow Moth! I should never have doubted Alya," said Rocketear. "You can have your lame powers back! Ngaaah!"

With that, the akuma butterfly was expelled and Nino returned to normal.

Ladybug caught and purified the akuma. Then she threw the Lucky Charm projector into the air. "Miraculous Lady Fox!"

Magical butterflies flew everywhere, undoing all the explosion damage.

Ladybug gave Nino a Magical Charm, even though he claimed he would never need it.

The real Alya came out from the school and hugged Nino. "Nino! I was so scared for you!"

"I can't believe I ever doubted you," said Nino.

"Well, I saw that projection. We need to talk about you spying on me and taking secret videos of me in the middle of the night," said Alya.

"I'm really sorry, Alya. And Chat Noir, I guess I was wrong about you, my dude. I'm sorry," said Nino.

"Everyone has doubts now and then," said Chat.

Chat thought, "You almost had me doubting, too."

"Pound it!" said Ladybug and Chat Noir together.

They moved their fists close, but didn't actually touch them together.

Alya looked at Ladybug. "Thank you for saving Nino. But I'm still not happy with you about the pictures."

Ladybug said, "I came on too strong... I was really angry at the time."

"I really don't like being threatened."

"What if I gave you an exclusive interview for the Ladyblog, explaining why I wanted you to take the pictures down?" asked Ladybug.

"That would help," said Alya.

""It would help me if I had a platform to tell the public my point of view. I'll get with you later," said Ladybug. "For now, I have to bug out."

Chat met with Ladybug on the top of a nearby rooftop.

"They didn't notice the different name when you called for a Miraculous Cure," Chat said. "Lady Fox instead of Ladybug."

"Reality."

The Ladybug covering illusion dropped, revealing Lady Fox.

"I'm glad you remembered the conversation well enough for me to make an audio dub illusion," said Lady Fox.

Chat smiled. "My memory is furr-lawless, M'Lady."

He thought, "I can't ask about that Heroes Day thing, because Nino only told Adrien that. But I'm sure that's the explanation. I trust Ladybug."