Pole-vaulting across Paris felt fantastic.
Chat Noir's always known she was above even this city, but she had never felt so literally above the city. Everyone looked like ants from her view in the sky.
Well, everyone except for the giant stone villain on the stadium.
Target acquired; Chat Noir was going to dole out justice like the greatest superhero Paris has ever seen. The villain jumped into the stadium, causing some students to scatter. Kim was among them, and based on the trajectory of the giant, a target. Kim began running, but soon tripped on the flat grass. Chat Noir snorted. Wasn't he always bragging about his athletic prowess? And then the one time he needs to run for his life, he becomes as clumsy as Marinette?
Well, this gave a chance for Chat Noir to debut with a rescue. She used her baton to block the villain from grabbing Kim. She landed by retracting the pole, and put herself between Kim and the stone monstrosity. Glowing eyes, cracking skin, clearly heavy and capable of destroying Chloé. She gulped.
Chloé was used to dangers of a less… physical variety. Dramatic ex-friends, jealous classmates, and disrespectful peasants. People that she could out-maneuver with words and schemes. Her greatest weapon was her Daddy, who she could call to deal with the most difficult issues. Chat Noir, however, could not call the mayor to solve this issue. Daddy had already mobilized police against it, and that hadn't worked. Chat Noir had to be the one to solve this, with her own power. But when was the last time Chloé had been in a physical fight? She couldn't recall. She stared up at those blinding, soulless eyes, and felt her heart drop to her stomach. Chloé couldn't fight. She lifted a foot to flee.
Behind her, Kim ran.
Just like Sabrina had back when Chloé had protected her.
Chloé was a protector. Chat Noir was a protector. She could not be a coward anymore. She put her foot back down, bracing herself. Chloé had been ready to throw down with that man that harassed Sabrina back then. So what if Chloé had never been in a fight? She was a superhero now, she was going to figure it out, and she would become the best.
"Hey, you're awfully pushy, aren't you?" Chat Noir started with what she did best: riling people up.
"Get out of my way!" Its voice was gravelly.
Chat Noir laughed. She would not show fear to the enemy. "You must be as dumb as a rock if you think I'll listen to you."
With that urging, it swung its arm towards her. She dodged with somersaults, before eventually finding a chance to jump. She jumped up high, aiming at its back, swinging down with the force of gravity to accent her blow. Her first attack as a superhero! Surely that would knock it down!
Instead of being knocked down, its whole body glowed and it grew in size. Chat Noir bit her lip. If physical attacks didn't work, how was she supposed to beat it? Chat Noir wracked her brain, but didn't have any ideas. Trying to think and dodge at the same time was difficult. She wished she had someone she could call to help her, like Daddy, or her butler, or…
Wait a minute, wasn't she supposed to have a partner?
"Where are you, partner?" She shouted, hoping that would summon the spotted lady.
The stone giant lifted a soccer goal, and threw it. For a moment, Chat Noir was relieved that it missed her, then she saw where it was going to land.
Crouched between the stands was the rude new girl. Abbie? Arya? Chat Noir couldn't remember her name, but that wasn't important at the moment. What was important was that she was in danger, and a perfect superhero would never let anyone get hurt.
Chat Noir threw her staff, activating its extension so it would expand between the stands. It reached just in time, causing the goal to bounce off of it and leaving Anya(?) unharmed. Chat Noir took a moment to catch her breath. That was a pretty cool move to do, especially considering she just got that baton today.
Stopping to bask in her awesomeness turned out to be a bad idea, since it gave the villain a chance to grab Chat Noir. Uh-oh. Chat Noir wriggled in the grip, but it had a tight fist. "How dare you!" Chat Noir declared.
What would happen now? The monster would destroy all of Paris, all because Chat Noir got distracted. Chat Noir was supposed to rescue people, who was supposed to rescue her?
The new girl shouted something about a bug, and suddenly a familiar yo-yo flew into view.
A girl in red slid along the turf, tightening string around the legs of the monster so it fell, dropping Chat Noir in the process. A wave of relief washed through Chat Noir. Unfortunately, she was not prepared for a graceful landing, and tumbled into the net. She quickly jumped to her feet though. The red girl was apologizing, but Chat Noir was already ready to dive back into battle. Surely, if both of them attacked it, they would be able to break through. As she tried to run, though, the girl grabbed her tail. Chat Noir squeaked, then turned to give her a piece of her mind.
The girl spoke before Chat Noir could get a word in though, her words steady and stance thoughtful, "It gets bigger with every attack. We have to do something different."
Chat Noir paused her anger. And turned it into sarcasm. "Got any bright ideas, then?"
Her fellow superhero barely seemed to notice the tone. "I don't know, our powers-"
Chat Noir remembered. "Cataclysm!"
Her fist filled with dark energy. Time to test this power out! She turned to the nearest object, the goal, and slapped her hand on it. Darkness spread through it and disintegrated with a satisfying collapse. With a power like this, the stone would be a piece of cake! Chat Noir ran to the villain and touched its foot.
Nothing happened.
Huh. It works only once? The villain kicked her, and she landed near the red girl. "Didn't your Kwami explain anything to you? The power works only once, and now you'll transform back after five minutes!"
Chat Noir groaned. "I was distracted during the explanation."
"Guess it's my turn, then. Lucky Charm!"
The ensuing fight was a whirlwind. The girl had a mind racing a hundred miles a minute, and with the wet suit she seemed to have formulated a plan. She attached a hose to the wet suit.
"Don't resist; trust me," She told Chat Noir.
Did Chat Noir trust her? She rescued her earlier, but it's not like she had a lot of experience working alongside her yet-
No time to overthink, she was flung towards the monster. "You're crazy!" Chat Noir shouted as the villain grabbed her again.
Was she using Chat Noir as a distraction so she could run away? Chat Noir had cusses on the tip of her tongue until the girl threw herself into the monsters other fist. In the process of opening its hands, the monster dropped a small crumpled purple object. Then Abba(?) turned on the hose, expanding the wet suit and forcing the fist open again so the girl could escape. She crushed the purple object, and the villain disintegrated, leaving… Ivan?
Chat Noir ignored that for now, focusing attention on the red-suited girl. The plan was crazy, but it worked! "That was incredible!" She declared.
"It only worked thanks to you, partner," She returned, lifting a fist for a fist bump.
Chat Noir looked at the fist for a moment. Partner . She hadn't felt this helpful in a while. In the past, Sabrina and her had tried to be homework partners, but it had been too time-consuming. Sabrina took forever to teach Chloé the concepts; it was faster to just have Sabrina do homework twice and give a copy to Chloé. Today, though, she had solved a problem with someone, working together, both contributing. She was a hero, with someone as great as her beside her.
She returned the first bump. "Good job."
According to the interview Chloé watched later in her room, her partner went by Ladybug. Ladybug…
"Could you stop daydreaming? I'm hungry," Plagg complained.
Chloé huffed, gesturing to the spread on her table. "My chef prepared the finest plates of appetizers! Are you telling me none of this appeals to you?"
Plagg turned his nose up into the air. "I won't have the energy to transform you again until I've been properly fed."
"And what's your idea of edible? Caviar? Saffron? Sweet bread? I will have it arranged, just stop your whining!"
"You're the whiner!"
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
This creature was frustrating, but he was the key to her being a superhero, she needed to work with him. She took a deep breath. "What do you want to eat?"
"Camembert."
Chloé wrinkled her nose. "Camembert? Like… the smelly cheese?"
Plagg nodded.
Chloé grimaced. Then called the chef. "I want the finest Camembert available."
So apparently they were supposed to purify the akuma. Whoops.
Chloé didn't expect to have to become Chat Noir again so soon, but when everyone was turning into stone and Ivan transformed again, it was time for the superheros to come back and finish the job.
Chat Noir couldn't help but stare at Ladybug as she purified hundreds of butterflies, and after after such a rousing speech too. And then she followed it with a reassurance that Chat Noir and Ladybug would keep Paris safe. Chat Noir was enraptured, awe gracing her features, heat rising to her cheeks.
Then she realized.
"I'm so gay."