Chapter 13: Mind over instinct

Friday brought with it a clear blue sky with the odd white cloud lazily floating above the city. The pleasant day infiltrated the school, the students eagerly anticipating the end of the week. Wanting to leave the confines of the building and enjoy the freedom of the outdoors.

The decision to meet Master Fu allowed Adrien to clear his mind from his problems, deferring them for later. As a result, he had the most productive school day of the entire week. He caught up most of what he missed the last few days, and not a single teacher complained about his attention span.

He was once again enjoying lunchtime break at the school with Nino and Cheriss, the other two discussing the latest song by XY. Adrien looked around the room, his eyes falling on Marinette sitting with Alya while drawing on her tablet. He wondered what cool design she was working on today.

He should get her to design something for him. Knowing her, she will do it for free. He should commission her so he could pay her. Then his father will see her talent and take her as an apprentice, and might even pay for her education. That will be great for her parents, who will need to spend a fortune on their new branch. Marinette lifted her tablet to eye level and turned bright red. He wondered what that was about when Cheriss turned around and asked him a question.

"S-sorry," Adrien stuttered. "I missed that."

"I was asking your opinion about the song?"

"XY's song?" Cheriss has never asked his opinion before. It confused him. "I don't listen to XY. I much prefer Jagged Stone's albums."

"Jagged Stone hasn't put out an album in almost two years," Cheriss turned around, giving her back to Nino. "He's old news."

"They say that every time and then he comes back and takes out all the competition."

"That is true, dude," Nino joined in.

"Until he makes a comeback, XY is topping the charts once again," Cheriss insisted.

"I doubt for very long. Jagged doesn't like XY. He would want to bring him down." Adrien was getting into the discussion. "We should ask Marinette if a new album is on the way. She might know as she designed the cover for the last two."

"If we are already speaking about Marinette, what costume are you wearing tonight?" Nino took a sharp turn in the conversation.

"You know I'm not going. And what has that got to do with Marinette?"

"Simply that I know she's going to be there, in costume."

"She is?" That surprised Adrien. "She goes to fewer parties than I do." He did not enjoy parties which had more than his close friends. Out of school, the girls suddenly remembered he was a model and gave him too much unwanted attention. He went because of Nino. Marinette has not gone in months. He missed the days when they would go as a group, Nino, Alya, Marinette and himself. For some reason, it kept all the other girls away. Except for Chloe, of course. But nothing would keep Chloe away.

Thinking of Chloe made him realize she had been away, sort of. He'd seen her around school, but she's been more subdued than usual.

"Adrien! Are you even listening?"

"Sorry! What?"

"Man! I mention Marinette and you disappear. You have it bad."

"What? No. I was thinking about Chloe."

"Dude! I mention Marinette and you think about Chloe? Now I am really worried."

"Have you noticed Chloe has been quiet the last few days?" Adrien ignored Nino's comment. "None of her regular destructive behavior. Maybe she's turning a new leaf."

"I doubt it. She's storing it up for a special target." Nino took off his glasses and wiped them. "Anyway, stop changing topics. You're coming to the party today. That wasn't a question. I'm telling you, you're coming."

"But I don't have a costume," Adrien attempted another avenue of resistance, out of habit. He wanted to go to the party to see Marinette in costume. She must have designed something herself and it will look amazing. His eyes wandered back to where she was sitting, disappointed she was no longer there.

"Seriously? You going to try that? Go buy something on the way home."

"You can dress up as Chat Noir," Cheriss suggested. "You will look good in black leather."

"Cheriss! You cheating on me with my best friend?"

"Don't worry," Cheriss leaned in and placed a kiss on Nino's forehead. "I belong to you. But you must admit, Adrien will look good in leather."

"Cheriss, my love. You boost my ego, wanting me more than him," Nino wrapped his arms around his girl, "because Adrien will look good wearing a sack and covered in ashes."

The fire alarm went off. Instead of the usual ring, it rang with three short bursts, a break followed by three short bursts. Akuma alarm! All schools and many office buildings used the fire alarm this way. It was Ladybug's idea.

Adrien considered the chaos which follows the akuma alarm a blessing. It made slipping away and transforming much simpler. That was what he did, losing Nino and Cheriss, finding an empty classroom, transforming to Chat Noir and escaping through the window. Moments later the escaping students welcomed their black-clad hero entering through the front doors.

A few eager witnesses directed him to the second floor. Chat ran up the stairs, dodging the last few students to escape the upper floor. Rounding the corner, he almost bumped into Marinette, who was pacing across the corridor, talking to herself.

"Marinette?" She stopped pacing. "What are you doing here? You need to get away."

"There are people stuck in the lab and cannot get out. I wanted to help them, I really did." she sounded like she was about to cry.

Everyone else was running away except for Marinette? She wanted to help.

"You are very brave, Marinette. Let me do this for you. I will help them."

"I am not brave." her eyes were shining with her unshed tears. "If I was brave, I would have distracted the akuma with the firehose like I planned so they could all get away while he wasn't looking. I couldn't do it. I was too scared. Why am I so scared? I don't want to be scared anymore."

Adrien had no reply. He has seen Marinette do many brave actions over the years. This was an akuma. She had every right to be scared. But until now, Adrien would have never put Marinette and scared in the same sentence.

"It is ok, Marinette. You have already done more than anyone else in this entire school. Everyone else ran out of here the moment they could while you stayed behind to help and protect others. That is noble of you. Now let the superheroes deal with it. We have superpowers. They come in handy. Your superpower is your heart. As wonderful as that is, it does not help in a fight. Please go downstairs with the others so I can fight the akuma knowing you're safe."

Marinette gave a slow nod, wiped her eyes on her sleeve and headed down the corridor towards the stairs.

"Chat," she said without turning around. "Thank you and be careful. This guy can cover things in some sort of resin, which freezes them in place. If it hits you, activate your cataclysm before it covers you. That way you can destroy it and get away."

"Emm, yes. Good idea. Thank you for your advice," Chat mumbled in amazement, watching Marinette retreat. If it wasn't for Ladybug, he would want Marinette as his partner.

Chat crept along the corridor near the lab, then peered through the open door. The room was silent. Where were the trapped students? All Chat found were big blotches of resin all over the room, some as large as himself. A quick study of the resin brought the frightening realization that the students were still there, stuck inside the resin.

A scraping noise brought his attention to the back of the room. One quick jump took him over the first few rows, landing on a table in the back row. There were four students hiding behind the tables.

"Careful," one of them whispered. "He's still here."

"Where? There is no one…" Chat turned as something hit him on the shoulder. His left arm fell limp at his side as the resin rapidly spread to his neck, chest, and back, rising to his chin, mouth, and nose. The last thing he saw before the resin covered his eyes was a man, orange from head to toe, stepping out of a large resin pile in the front row. The world went black and silent as the resin reached his ears.

Chat panicked, struggling against the resin, to no avail. Ladybug would be very disappointed in him. Only a minute into the fight and he was already in trouble. He hoped she will arrive soon and save him before he lost his Miraculous. That would be disastrous, and very embarrassing. He truly was the useless part of the team, holding Ladybug back. Chat felt the resin cover his feet and his right hand, encasing his entire body.

He felt a tingling sensation pass over his body as the weight lifted off him. The resin over his eyes turned black and crumbled away, dark dust falling to the floor.

The room was once again empty. Chat kept a close eye on all man-sized resin blobs in the room as he made his way out the door. Looking for the akuma would take time. He needed to de-transform so Plagg could recharge. He entered a nearby class, checked it was empty from people and resin blobs, closed the door and de-transformed. Plagg flew out and grabbed the cheese Adrien handed him.

"That was close," mumbled Plagg with his mouth full. "Those were excellent instincts to activate cataclysm. The moment the resin reached your hand, the cataclysm destroyed it."

"That was no instinct. That was Marinette's advice working on my subconscious. I owe her big time for saving me, and she wasn't even there."

Plagg's ears perked up. He dove into Adrien's jacket as the door burst open, Ladybug charging into the room with a twirling yo-yo.

"Adrien!" she cried in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding," Adrien said, truthfully.

"You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous. Come with me, I need to get you to safety."

"Wait," Adrien did not move, "there are other students in the lab. You need to protect them. I'll be fine hiding here."

"No!" The force of her cry surprised Adrien. "They will be fine."

"What if the akuma gets them?"

"It doesn't matter." Ladybug continues in a more neutral voice. "So he gets them, what's the difference? Once I catch the akuma, I will fix them all. Now come with me, I have to take you to safety."

"Why me? Leave me with the others and go catch the akuma."

"Because you are…" Ladybug started, then fumbled. For a brief moment her eyes opened wider and her mouth gaped. She then shut her lips into a tight line and scrunched her eyes. Adrien had the distinct impression that she made an important decision.

"You stay here," Ladybug commanded, "and do not leave until the coast is clear."

Without another word, she left the room.

"That was strange," Adrien remarked as Plagg flew out. "Do you think she knows I'm Chat Noir?"

"I doubt it," Plagg said. "She would not have wanted to take you to safety if she knew that."

"Why would she not protect the other students? She's never had such a disregard to the safety of the innocent. And what makes me so special? Why would Ladybug want to protect me and not the other students?"

"I don't understand either. I could understand the old Ladybug, but why this new one?"

"Plagg," Adrien said, "you're not making sense."

"Sorry, I'm just as confused as you."

"Hurry up and eat the cheese. We need to go help Ladybug."

"No need. I just felt Ladybug use her magic. Everything is already back to normal."

"Wow. That was quick." Adrien said with awe.

"I guess things are much quicker when you don't waste time saving people," Plagg said.

Adrien gave Plagg a hard look, the awe on his face melting into a frown.

A/N Next Chapter: "Masks"