Lan Wangji hit the roof in a combat roll, springing to his feet and casting his yoyo out once more. It wrapped around a distant chimney and he leapt forward, swinging to the next building. It had taken him several attempts to get the hang of using it, and Wangji still wasn't sure a yoyo could be an effective weapon, but Tikki said that every Ladybug since the dawn of time had used this yoyo; it certainly made for efficient transport.
There was still no sign of the partner Tikki had told him about, but he was certain that if he followed the path of destruction that Stoneheart had carved into the city the two of them would run into one another eventually. At least he hoped so. He didn't want to attempt to take on a giant stone man alone with only a yoyo to protect himself. A shadow fell over him as he paused to observe his surroundings and he looked up to see a young man clad in all black falling into his view, crouched on the tip of a long silver stick.
"Look out below!" The boy called, grinning wildly as he finished his less than graceful arc onto the rooftop. Wangji took a single step back to accommodate him, frowning when the boy tripped and nearly fell over. His superhero partner straightened to face him, running his fingers through a windswept ponytail, clawed fingers bumping awkwardly against a set of leather cat ears as he did so. "You must be my new partner!"
Wangji took in the boy's black leather bodysuit. It had pockets, which was nice, but it also had several elements of what could only be flare that served an aesthetic purpose: a bell at his throat, a belt so long it looked like a tail, and the cat ears pinned in his messy hair.
"My name is, hm, Chat Noir! Yeah, that has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Wangji looked at him. "Not the chatty type, huh, Ladybug? I like your headband!"
Wangji shot him a sharp look. "I don't think that name is appropriate for me." Certainly, dressed as he was in red and black polkadots, with sections of solid black to break up the monotony, his costume heavily suggested ladybugs. At least his headband was solid red.
"Well how about we brainstorm? How about Lord Bug? That's like the boy version of Ladybug."
"No."
"Hm, alright. How about Mister Bug?"
"Focus."
"I am! I'm the only one making suggestions- oh you meant on Stoneheart, yeah, okay, good idea."
As he spoke the sounds of metal tearing and stone crumbling drew both their gazes to the Paris skyline. They looked on in horror, taking instinctive steps forward as the building tilted dangerously, then tumbled out of view. A massive cloud of dust rose up in its place. Chat Noir gulped and straightened.
"Let's get going," he said, jovial lilt falling into steel.
"Right," Mister Bug said, swinging in the direction of the destruction.
Minutes later the two of them landed together on the roof of an open air soccer stadium at the same time that Stoneheart, considerably larger than he had been the last time Mister Bug saw him, leaped clean over the wall and crashed to the ground, shaking the entire stadium. Screams filled the air as the students dropped what they were doing and fled in all directions.
"JIN ZIXUN!" Stoneheart shouted again, reaching out for the target of his rage.
Chat Noir leapt into action, soaring through the air and extending his stick so it struck the ground between Stoneheart and Jin Zixun. He slid down the length of it, grinning, all of his cocky bravado returning to him at once.
"Hey, don't you know you shouldn't pick on people smaller than you?" He asked, retracting his stick and slinging it over his shoulders, glancing surreptitiously behind himself to check on the safety of the students.
"I guess you're talking about yourself!" Stoneheart retorted, taking a swing at Chat Noir.
Chat Noir backflipped out of the way, then jumped over the next swing of Stoneheart's fist. On his descent he brought his stick down hard on the weak point between Stoneheart's neck and shoulder.
Mister Bug stood where Chat Noir had left him atop the stadium, watching the fight with a critical gaze, eyes widening as Stoneheart glowed brightly and grew larger right in front of his eyes.
"Where are you, Mister Bug?" Chat Noir called, doding Stoneheart's massive hands frantically. He made no further moves to attack, however, apparently having made the same connection between the attack and Stoneheart's increase in power that Mister Bug had.
"What are you waiting for?" Luo Qingyang shouted. Mister Bug turned to see her crouching behind a water spigot with her phone in her hand and a fearless expression on her face as she filmed the entire encounter. "The world is watching you!"
Stoneheart picked up one of the goal nets and flung it at Chat Noir, who deflected it easily. The smug grin he wore after batting the net away with his stick was wiped off when the net careened toward Luo Qingyang, who had looked away from Mister Bug too late to make a dodge. Mister Bug lifted his fist to throw his yoyo, but the flashing of silver beat him to it.
Chat Noir pressed the expanding button on his stick and flung it desperately at Luo Qingyang. The expanded stick landed on the walkways above her head and blocked the goal, bending dangerously under its weight. Luo Qingyang scrambled away, making it to safety just as the stick reverted to its original size and clattered to the ground with the goal. Chat Noir heaved a short lived sigh of relief just before Stoneheart snatched up the now weaponless superhero.
He shouted in alarm as Mister Bug spun around and cast out his yoyo, wrapping the string around Stoneheart's legs. He sprinted forward and retracted the wire to pull himself toward Stoneheart, hitting the ground and bracing his feet as he slid between the villain's legs before using the string and his momentum to pull himself upright and drag Stoneheart to the ground.
"Animal cruelty? How shameful," he said.
The force of the fall jolted the fist holding Chat Noir open and he managed to wriggle out and come running back to Mister Bug's side.
"Nice save, Wonderbug, you sure know how to make an entrance! Now let's kick his ass!" Chat Noir leaped forward to charge into battle once more, but was stopped dead in his tracks when Mister Bug grabbed him by the tail.
"He grows larger and stronger with every attack."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," he said, grinning sheepishly. Chat Noir tugged his belt back and caressed it like Mister Bug had caused him pain by grabbing it.
"We need to think of something different."
"I know! Let's use our powers! Cataclysm!"
Mister Bug looked down at Chat Noir's clawed hand to observe the black energy roiling around his palm, centering around his ring.
"So your kwami didn't have to pierce your ears," Mister Bug said idly. He'd half assumed the earrings in his partner's ears had also been a miraculous.
"What? No. My miraculous is my ring. Your kwami had to pierce your ears? I bet that wasn't fun."
"She used magic, it didn't hurt but…"
"But what?"
"I'm going to be in a lot of trouble when my uncle notices."
"OOF."
Mister Bug cast him an annoyed look. "What is your power?"
"I can destroy anything I touch, and that's my superpower too!" Chat Noir chuckled at his own joke while Mister Bug watched impassively.
Before Mister Bug could protest Chat Noir reached out and touched the soccer goal beside them, grinning wickedly when it was consumed with his destructive energy, the entire thing turning to rusted scrap metal. He then darted away so quickly that Mister Bug couldn't even snatch his tail again.
"Let's go!" He sprinted forward, ducking under Stoneheart's swing and slamming his hand- now devoid of destruction magic- onto Stoneheart's foot. When nothing happened he plopped awkwardly down onto his butt and grinned sheepishly up at Stoneheart. "Oops, I guess I only get one shot, huh? AH!"
Stoneheart kicked Chat Noir viciously back in the direction he'd come from. Mister Bug stuck out one arm and caught him around the shoulders, expression never wavering. He withdrew his arm as soon as his partner regained his balance.
"Now you only have five minutes before you transform back. Did your kwami not explain anything to you?"
"I may have jumped the gun because I was excited to be a superhero," he said sheepishly.
Mister Bug frowned. The rest was up to him, then. "Lucky Charm!" He tossed his yoyo into the air, watching as red, black, and pink light all swirled and solidified until a red and black spotted wetsuit dropped into his hands.
"Hey, no offense, but what the fuck?"
"Mine is the power of creation. My Lucky Charm creates whatever I need most at the moment."
"And we need a wetsuit, why?"
Mister Bug shot him another annoyed look. "My Kwami told me that we have to break the object where the Akuma is hiding, it should be somewhere on his person."
Chat Noir cast a surveying look at Stoneheart as the villain started lumbering his way across the field toward them. "Hey, Bug, have you noticed that Stoneheart hasn't unclenched his right fist this entire time? That must be where the akuma is!"
Mister Bug nodded once. He needed to get him to unclench his fist. Mister Bug looked from Stoneheart, to Chat Noir, to the wetsuit in his hands, the water hose at his feet, the finally Luo Qingyang and the water spigot she had been crouching behind. "We need to let him capture us."
"Huh?" Chat Noir asked.
"I have a plan." Mister Bug braced himself for what was probably the rudest thing he'd ever done in his life and flicked his yoyo out, wrapping it around his partner's ankles and swung him around twice. "Apologies," he said before flinging Chat Noir toward Stoneheart.
"WHAT THE FUCK BUDDY?" Chat Noir shouted as he flew through the air. Stoneheart reached out and snatched him out of the air with his free hand.
Quickly Mister Bug shoved the end of the water hose into the wetsuit and tied it off, hopefully making a water tight (enough) seal before running forward. Chat Noir watched with a stunned expression as he leaped into the air, long hair and headband tails fanning out behind him before he came to a sudden halt in a fist made of stone. He was so distracted by how pretty Mister Bug looked in that moment that he almost missed the blackened object falling out of Stoneheart's hand and hitting the ground beneath them.
The akumatized object!
"The spigot!" Mister Bug shouted, turning to Luo Qingyang. She blinked in shock, hesitated for only a moment more, then reached out and turned the water on full blast.
The water flowed through the hose and filled the wetsuit quickly. The expansion of the wetsuit forced Stoneheart's fist open enough for Mister Bug to slip through his fingers and land gracefully on the ground. He stomped on the akumatized object, shattering it and releasing a… black butterfly of all things? Mister Bug was reaching for his yoyo when Chat Noir's shout of alarm caught his attention.
He turned to see a cloud of dark light receding from around Stonehart and suddenly he was Su She again. Chat Noir crashed to the ground, landing flat on his ass. He swore loudly before looking between Mister Bug and the wetsuit and Su She. Mister Bug worried briefly that he would be angry at him before Chat Noir started cackling.
"Holy fuck, Mister Bug, that was amazing! You were just like YEET and fucking threw me at a supervillain!" He clutched at his belly, falling backwards onto the grass, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. "YEET!" He repeated. "I can't believe that worked! You're a genius!"
"Ridiculous," Mister Bug muttered, stooping down to pick up the now ordinary crumpled paper and flattened it out to see an insulting comic, no doubt drawn by Jin Zixun, mocking Su She for his interest in superheroes.
"Here," he said, to a very confused looking Su She. "You shouldn't let anger overcome you." He'd meant the words to sound comforting, but judging by the expressions of Su She and Chat Noir it had sounded like a scolding.
Chat Noir got to his feet and strode to Mister Bug's side, wiping away tears of mirth. "Your bedside manner could use some work."
"Mn."
A high-pitched beeping sound drew both their attention to Chat Noir's ring, where his final green glowing paw pad blinked frantically. "You need to go." Mister Bug's earrings sounded out a matching alarm sound.
"You too. See you soon, partner!" He waved merrily as he ran away, using his stick to carry him up and over the stadium.
Business almost finished, Mister Bug turned to Luo Qingyang and gave her a nod. "Thank you for your assistance."
"Ah, sure, Mister Bug. No problem."
Mister Bug's earrings flashed another warning, so he turned and left, acutely aware that he'd have a lot of explaining to do if he transformed back before he got home and had to knock on the front door to get back inside the house.
Above the heads of thousands of Parisians, too insignificant to be noticed by those still reeling in the wake of the Stoneheart attack, a little black butterfly flew over the city, the two new superheroes having failed to perform their sacred duty to purify it.
Over damaged property and broken powerlines, the akuma flew until it reached the Eiffel tower, meandering up it's length, buffeted to and fro by the strong winds, until it perched delicately on the very tip of the tower. It flapped its wings more urgently, stuttering faster and faster before it began to multiply. Multitudes of identical black butterflies spawned from this one, original akuma, fanning out from the tip of the Eiffel Tower in great twisting tentacles of malevolent black.
It wasn't long before the first of the akumas reached the ground and perched on the shoulder of an unsuspecting tourist. The tourist was swallowed by a cloud of black light, and transformed.
Mister Bug returned home through his open window and dropped his transformation, hoping that no one had noticed he was gone. It wasn't unusual for him to retreat to his room for long periods of time, but after today's events he wouldn't be surprised if his brother or uncle had felt the need to check on him. However, when he knocked on his uncle's study door and was told to enter, neither man seemed to think anything was off. They didn't appear to have left Lan Qiren's office at all.
"What is it, Wangji, is everything alright?"
"I was wondering if school will resume tomorrow as usual?" Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren both nodded like they should have expected this question.
"We're trying to sort that out now. We have someone out examining the school for structural damage to see if it's even safe to be in there right now," Xichen replied.
"And I'm on the phone with the school board members discussing potential safety protocols should this sort of thing become the norm for us." Lan Qiren seemed to be dealing well with a phenomenon he had previously dismissed as a hoax. Wangji lingered in the doorway, eyes on the bandages that Xichen wore on his head.
"You don't need to worry, Wangji, the doctor said I was very lucky, I don't even have a concussion." Wangji sighed through his nose and nodded, about to withdraw when Xichen called him back.
"Yes?"
"How are you?"
"I was uninjured."
"I know," Xichen said patiently, "but how are you?"
Wangji looked at his brother and uncle, both of whom were fixing him with concerned looks, and realized that he would not be allowed to dodge the question. He paused, trying to think of a response that would be believable, honest, and wouldn't endanger his new secret. Already Tikki had impressed upon him the importance of his secret identity. Even now she was sitting in his breast pocket, a warm reminder to watch his words.
Fortunately, Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen were used to Wangji taking his time to formulate concise answers to questions, so they waited patiently for him to speak.
"I was alarmed by the appearance of Stoneheart, but I am very grateful that Xichen is okay."
"I'm sorry that your first day was so… violent and scary. I promise it's normally much more… normal."
Wangji nodded. "Today was a first for all of Paris." Especially himself.
"I'll let you know if school is back on tomorrow, Wangji."
Wangji took this as a dismissal and nodded before retreating to his room.
"Did I hear your brother say today was your first day of school? As in ever?" Tikki asked when he closed the door behind him, blinking up at him with her big purple eyes.
"Mn."
"What bad luck, an akuma attack interrupting your first ever day of school!" She said as she took a bite out of the cookie he'd given her. He resisted the urge to say no speaking while eating. It seemed like it would be rude to try to enforce his family rules on her. "I know, why don't you turn on the news to see how people are feeling about the two new heroes of Paris?"
Wangji wasn't particularly interested in the public perception of him, but he was interested to see if Tikki had been right and all the damage to the city had been repaired with the akuma's defeat. However, when Wangji turned on the rarely used television in his room, he and Tikki were met with an unfortunate scene.
"Just as Paris was about to celebrate the appearance of our two new superheroes, Mister Bug and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capitol as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters-" the screen switched from a view of the newscaster Nadia Chamack to bystander footage of a little black akuma landing on someone's shoulder and turning them into a perfect replica of Stoneheart. "-these victims, transformed into stone beings, are still like statues. Police are perplexed. What will happen to them? Will they come to life, or will they be trapped like this forever?"
"Tikki, what's happening? I thought we defeated Stoneheart?"
"Did you capture the akuma?" Tikki asked, looking concerned.
"What does capturing the akuma have to do with the other stone beings?" Wei Wuxian hissed, huddled in Yanli's en suite bathroom where he'd ducked after seeing the news.
"Akuma's can multiply," Plagg said over the sounds of Madam Yu on one of her tirades on the other side of the house. On the other side of the door, Wei Wuxian could hear the sounds of Jiang Cheng comforting Yanli.
"Don't worry," he said. "There's two new superheroes out there, I'm sure they will handle it, and even if they don't, A-Xian and I won't let anything happen to you."
"That's why you've got to capture them, otherwise that kid from today can get re-akumatized and then he'll be able to control all these other stone beings like an army!" Wei Wuxian balked. He did not like the sound of that.
"Mister Bug must have forgotten because I messed things up and he had to save me! I'll have to sneak out somehow and make things right!"
"Well you better hope he shows up, kid."
"And why's that?"
"Because only the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous can purify the akuma and repair the damage done by it."
"What?"
"You mean Chat Noir can't do it without me," Wangji finished.
"Afraid not. No matter if you think that you were chosen in error, you were chosen, so now you're the only one who can save the day."
Wangji said nothing. He'd already tried to save the day and failed. The day was thoroughly un-saved. He was not the right person to bear this burden, but what if what Tikki said was true? There was no reason to believe that she was lying to him. Regardless of his personal feelings he was honor-bound to rescue the new stone beings and make up for his blunder.
Su She sat alone in his room, glaring at his phone, hands shaking with rage. Since he'd been akumatized this morning he'd been receiving a string of harassing text messages from his more horrible classmates. Jin Zixun in particular, who had been nothing short of cowardly in the footage Mianmian had taken, was taking this opportunity to further his torment.
You're such an embarrassment, maybe now those superheroes you're so obsessed with will finally take notice of you now that you're a supervillain.
"Such a sensitive heart," Hawkmoth said into the darkness, tapping the end of his staff on the ground. "It's time to return to him, my vile akuma. Go now and evilize him!"
Compelled by the order of it's master, the akuma phazed through the walls of Su She's home and landed on his phone, turning it black as night.
"This is your second chance, Stoneheart. No one can stop you from getting your revenge, just remember that I'll need something in return."
Chat Noir ran along the rooftops, searching for signs of trouble. He knew he wouldn't be able to purify the akuma without Mister Bug, but that didn't mean that he couldn't fight. He also couldn't stand to just sit around while Yanli was so frightened. If nothing else, perhaps having Chat Noir running around looking busy would ease her nerves.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a little silly running across the rooftops of Paris with nothing to do and no one to save. Maybe he should have just sat at home with his siblings and waited for Stoneheart to appear so he could actually have something to fight.
As if on cue, a terrible crash and scream caught his attention and he ran in that direction, bounding from rooftop to rooftop. Sure enough he caught sight of Stoneheart, Jin Zixun and Jin Zixuan clenched in each fist.
"Wonder what the peacock did to piss him off?" Chat Noir wondered aloud.
He put his musings aside as he leaped into action, seeing as how Jin Zixuan was not having any luck talking his way out of the situation.
"It's in your best interest to release us. My father will be calling in the SWAT, the military the entire calvary-"
"Don't forget the superheroes!" Chat Noir finished, landing a hit on Stoneheart as he flipped to the ground in front of him. Stoneheart expanded with a roar. "Oops, I forgot."
"Nice going," Jin Zixuan deadpanned, resting his chin in his hand and looking bored.
Apparently he had given up on talking his way out of the situation, content to merely back-seat hostage negotiate Chat Noir. Chat Noir stuck his tongue out, annoyed that Jin Zixuan was cool as a cucumber. At least Jin Zixun had the decency to be transparently afraid while trying to put on a brave face like a proper hostage should.
"You wanted the cavalry? Well here it is!" Stoneheart shouted.
He threw his head back and let out a great roar. The roar rose back up in the distance, accompanied by the terrified screams of countless Parisians, and Chat Noir realized Stoneheart had just summoned all the stone beings that had been popping up around town. Loud echoing footsteps approached them from all sides and Chat Noir gulped.
"Mister Bug, if you're out there, now would be a great time!" Chat Noir shouted. Even Jin Zixuan looked alarmed, which Chat Noir could take some pleasure in, at least.
Stone beings began to file into the street all around him, large and lumbering and all looking at him. Chat Noir became suddenly aware of how small he was. He crouched low, stick at the ready, and kept his head on a swivel, feeling like a tabby splayed on a carpet, waiting for one of the stone beings to make the first move.
They all attacked at once and Chat Noir became a flurry of movement, dodging the forest of punches and kicks and swipes that were coming his way. He flipped and bounced, jumping over a foot and onto a fist, then using that height to flip onto the ground and dart between the legs of another. While he ran and jumped and dodged Stoneheart turned and strolled leisurely away, leaving Chat Noir to fight for his life and try desperately to pursue him.
If I just let him get crushed maybe Yanli can move on and find a better man, a mean voice in his head said. He told that voice to shut up. Chat Noir was a superhero, he had to do the right thing even if the right thing was helping the peacock.
Chat Noir dodged under the open handed swipe of one stone being and slid between the legs of another, unable to fight back for fear of making the enemy stronger. Another stone being picked up a parked car and flung it at him. Chat Noir batted the car away, then spun in the direction of a high pitched scream to see, for the second time in as many days, Mian Mian standing in the path of certain death.
Chat Noir didn't even have time to wonder when exactly she got there, he could only repeat the move that had saved her this morning and throw his stick to stop the falling car and hope it worked. In a predictable end to this series of events, the now defenseless Chat Noir was once again swiped up, arms pinned to his sides.
"Let go of me you rock head!" He shouted, struggling against the stone man's grip.
Mister Bug arrived on the scene too little too late, watching all of the stone beings turn and follow their leader, Chat Noir clutched in one of their fists, losing a string of foul language that would make Mister Bug's uncle have a stroke.
"Help!" Luo Qingyang shouted.
Mister Bug flicked his wrist in her direction, wrapping his yoyo several times around the car and two nearby lampposts and pulled, tilting the sedan enough that Luo Qingyang could crawl to her freedom. Chat Noir stick clattered to the ground and rolled his way as Mister Bug marvelled at how much control he had over the yoyo. Perhaps he should have foreseen the magical properties the yoyo possessed.
"You can't stay here," Mister Bug said, marching forward. He used his yoyo to knock Chat Noir's stick into the air, catching it deftly without breaking step. "It's too dangerous."
Mister Bug threw his yoyo again and he was off, swinging after the stone beings. He caught up easily; their pace was lumbering, and he bounded off a wall, onto one of their heads, the onto a lamp post, then flipped up and onto a chimney of a rowhouse, searching carefully for Chat Noir. After several seconds he spotted his partner's legs dangling uselessly from a stone being's fist.
"Chat Noir," he shouted, flinging the stick as hard as he could into the space between the monster's thumb and paw where he could just make out the tips of Chat Noir's ears.
"Mister- OW!"
Mister Bug felt a little bad for probably hitting him on the head. Still, a few seconds later Chat Noir was able to extend his stick and force his fist open. He dropped to the ground and landed flat on his butt. Mister Bug wasted no time in using his yoyo to snatch him up by the ankle before the stone beings could crush him.
Chat Noir dangled upside down from the streetlight that Mister Bug was perched on, wearing his wide, carefree grin that revealed a set of slightly pointed canines. His transformation really went all out, apparently. Mister Bug's appreciation for the details of his partner's transformation was interrupted by Chat Noir's pathological need to spout nonsense.
"I'm head over heels for you, Mister," he crooned, making no attempt to right himself, completely content to be held up by Mister Bug.
"Shameless," Mister Bug said, turning and leaping onto a nearby roof, dragging Chat Noir along behind him. He released the boy midair and saw him do several flips before landing perfectly beside him without breaking a step.
"Aren't we going to deal with them?" He asked as they ran atop the row houses.
"If we want to stop the minions we need to go to the Master," Mister Bug replied, taking a running leap and landing solidly in the Trocadero. He straightened himself and pointed directly to the base of the Eiffel Tower where Stoneheart was standing, flanked by press helicopters and a police brigade.
"I demand my son's safe return!" The mayor shouted into a megaphone.
Stoneheart looked down at Jin Zixuan and scoffed. "You know what, you're welcome to him!"
Chat Noir cried out in shock as Stoneheart pulled his fist back and flung Jin Zixuan across the bridge, but Mister Bug was already in motion, halfway to the rescue before Chat Noir had taken two steps. Mister Bug snatched Jin Zixuan out of the air and landed hard in the middle of the Pont d'Iena, setting him down quickly. He glanced up when Chat Noir landed next to him, looking impressed.
"Nice save, Bug!"
"My son!" The mayor dropped his megaphone and ran forward, grabbing Jin Zixuan by the shoulders and looking him up and down desperately.
Mister Bug, who had never liked the mayor on account of all the sex scandals, felt himself soften towards the man slightly. At the very least he loved his son, even if he loved sex workers a bit too much. (Way too much.)
"Still not clear to attack," Nie Mingue said, gesturing with the arm that wasn't in a sling. "Snipers, do you have a shot?"
"Don't!" Mister Bug snapped, voice harsh, rounding on the assembled tactical divisions. "You'll only make it worse."
"He's right! That thing gets bigger with every attack!"
"I have a new plan, unlike the two of you! You need to step aside and let the professionals do their work! You've already failed once!"
Mister Bug flinched; just a tensing of his shoulders and a slight shift backward. It wasn't something that Chat Noir would have noticed if they hadn't been standing so close.
"He's right," Mister Bug said under his breath. "If I had captured the akuma before this wouldn't be happening."
"Yeah, so? If I hadn't gone and used my powers recklessly this morning you probably wouldn't have forgotten."
"It's not your-"
"If that kid hadn't been such a dick, then Su She wouldn't have turned into a monster." Chat Noir continued casually, like he hadn't heard Mister Bug speak. He threw his stick over his shoulders and rested his wrists on it. "There's lots of blame to pass around, I'm sure. The point is, it was our first try, no one can be perfect at everything on their first try, no matter how much my aunt thinks they should be. If it weren't for you that guy would be roadkill." Chat Noir nodded to Jin Zixuan, who was now looking at the two of them with a mixed expression. He leaned way into Mister Bug's personal space and winked. "Trust me, you and I are the right two for this job, I've got a feeling about us."
Mister Bug looked at Chat Noir for several long seconds, searching for any signs of dishonesty. He found none, so he nodded, reassured. If Chat Noir could believe in him, then he could believe in himself, he found. Chat Noir flashed him a brilliant grin and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a series of pained coughs from Stoneheart.
All eyes turned back to the supervillain as he coughed and wriggled, clutching at his stone gut until he threw his head back and spat out an enormous cloud of black butterflies. His glowing green eyes blinked twice before closing. Stoneheart fell off his perch on the Eiffel Tower in a dead faint.
The cloud of akumas writhed and control until it had morphed into the huge shape of a disembodied head with two shadowy concaves for eyes, outlined by the arches of the Eiffel Tower. Mister Bug's eyes widened ever so slightly in shock, but he squared his shoulders, face set in determination as the floating head began to speak, mouth moving to shape the words.
"People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth."
"Hawkmoth?" Mister Bug and Chat Noir repeated together.
"Mister Bug, Chat Noir, give me the Ladybug earrings and the Cat Ring now, you've already done enough damage to these innocent people."
"He wants our miraculous?" Mister Bug murmured.
Chat Noir glanced quickly from the furious face of his partner to the horrified and frightened faces of the civilians and police personnel around them. Even Nie Mingue was taken aback. Having already realized that his partner was a man of few words, Chat Noir decided to take matters into his own hands.
Mister Bug looked sharply in his direction as he started to laugh, quietly at first, gradually getting louder and more boisterous (for the drama). He felt every eye in the city turn to him as the camera men in the press helicopters turned their cameras on him, no doubt zooming in for a close up. Chat Noir took several steps forward, hands still resting on the stick slung over his shoulders.
"Oh man, don't tell me you actually expected that line to work?" He asked, looking around at his partner. "Mister Bug, can you believe this guy?" Mister Bug didn't reply so he turned back to Hawkmoth's floating butterfly head. "Let's not get things twisted, Hawkmoth, you're the one who akumatized Su She and terrorized Paris. You could have just as easily not done that. No, I take it back, it would have been even easier to not do it than to do it. And you still think that people are to blame us? Parisians are smarter than that, you know. I'm a little offended on behalf of my city. Mister Bug, are you offended?"
"Yes," he said simply, surprising Chat Noir, who was already growing accustomed to his partners silence.
"There you have it! Mister Bug is offended too! So how about you hand over your miraculous and I promise I won't kick your ass too badly for wasting my time."
"No matter how long it takes, we will find you and confiscate your miraculous," Mistr BUg said, stepping forward so that he was side by side with Chat Noir once more. His face was set in a look of fierce determination that sent a shiver down Chat Noir's spine. He'd only just met the man, but already he had the feeling that his words carried weight.
Mister Bug stepped forward again, twirling his yoyo in the air beside him so fast that it was a blur of pink light beside him. He threw it out and wrapped it around the street lights at the feet of the Eiffel Tower and used them to fling himself up into the air.
The Ladybug yoyo was a blur of pink light in the air as Mister Bug wielded it with a mastery that should not have been possible after only having the weapon for a matter of hours. Each swipe of the yoyo cut a wide slice out of the floating head of Hawkmoth, capturing dozens of akumas with each move. Hawkmoth let out an agonized cry, his fragmented head twisting and writhing until there was barely anything left and the magic binding it together broke, sending black butterflies in every direction.
Another sweep of the yoyo before Mister Bug flipped down onto the horizontal beam of the Eiffel Tower captured the last of the akumas. He straightened and looked down at his yoyo for a beat before he clicked the centermost black spot and the two halves of the top opened like a ladybug's wings expanding and folded out of the way, revealing an endless reservoir of white light. Mister Bug lifted the yoyo above his head and released a massive cloud of pure white butterflies in a shockwave so powerful that the press helicopters were pushed back several feet.
Chat Noir's jaw dropped as the shockwave reached him, blowing his hair back from his face briefly. He reeled in shock with the rest of Paris. There were several seconds of perfect silence where Mister Bug lowered his yoyo back to his side and Chat Noir realized that this moment called for a dramatic speech, but Mister Bug would not be giving one.
He used his stick to launch himself forward onto the Eiffel Tower to stand beside his partner, who now had his eyes on Chat Noir like he also expected him to be the one doing the talking. Whatever, that was fine. That look was not distracting him at all.
He did his best to project his voice so that the cameras above him would be able to pick up his words over the sounds of the helicopter blades slicing the air.
"People of Paris, take this as a promise that Mister Bug and I will always be here to protect you! No matter what, or how long it takes, we will defeat Hawkmoth!" His face twisted into a grin as the people on the bridge broke into cheers, even Nie Mingue seeming to look on with pride. He imagined the viewers at home doing the same. He imagined Jiang Cheng saying see, I told you so to Yanli.
On the ground behind the two distracted heroes, the glowing purple outline of a butterfly appeared above Stonehearts face.
"Stoneheart, they're trying to take your revenge away from you! You must snatch their miraculouses so they will be powerless against you."
"Okay, Hawkmoth," Stoneheart said, catching the attention of Mister Bug and Chat Noir.
They turned together to see Stoneheart climbing to his feet and Jin Zixun start struggling again.
"Help!" He shouted.
"You'll never take my revenge away from me!" Stoneheart shouted. He turned and started climbing, one handed, up the legs of the Eiffel Tower. "Come to me my stone beings!"
Both superheroes looked around to see the smaller stone beings start to follow in Stoneheart's footsteps, stepping easily over the police barricades and onto the Pont d'Iena. Mister Bug spared a concerned thought for the bridge's structural integrity after this.
"Up!" Mister Bug said, disappearing into the rigging of the Eiffel Tower in a heartbeat. Chat Noir shook his head fondly and followed Mister Bug up the Eiffel Tower as the Stone Being surrounded the base of the tower. "We need to get him to release his fist."
"How are we going to do that? He's not exactly willing to let go of his revenge."
"Lucky Charm!" Mister Bug reached up to catch the… parachute (?) that dropped from above. He gave it a blank look before strapping it on, which seemed the most obvious reaction to have.
"Any ideas?" Mister Bug shook his head and continued to climb the tower, Chat Noir right on his tail.
When Mister Bug reached the upper tiers of the tower he gestured to the platform below him. Chat Noir nodded and dropped back down just as the stone beings started to catch up to them. When the yoyo wrapped first around Stoneheart's thumb and then around the Eiffel Tower Chat Noir understood his intent and jammed his stick in between the fingers and palm and pushed as hard as he could while Mister Bug pulled. Their super strength combined managed to force enough space there that Jin Zixun's wiggling managed to dislodge the akumatized object.
Chat Noir dove after it as black light engulfed Stoneheart and he once again became Su She. Su She and Jin Zixuan dropped like rocks and suddenly Mister Bug understood what the Parachute was for.
Chat Noir spun in the air and wielded his stick like a baseball bat, hitting the akumatized object and shattering the screen. The phone went flying in the opposite direction as the akuma crawled out. Mister Bug, who already had his yoyo at the ready, dove off the top of the Eiffel Tower.
"Chat Noir you get Jin Zixun!"
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir flipped in the air and dragged his hand down the side of the Eiffel Tower, a trail of decay spreading out from his clawed fingertips. He grabbed his stick and jammed it into the now pliant metal and extended it, flipping up and running along the top of the stick to catch Jin Zixun's hand. The force of his fall knocked them both downward and Chat Noir only barely managed to grab the stick with his other hand. His shoulder screamed in protest as the two of them dangled there, swaying back and forth slightly with unspent momentum.
Mister Bug sped through the air after Su She, one hand extended towards him. As they plummeted past where Chat Noir and Jin Zixun swayed he managed to grab him by the shirt and jerk him upwards into his hold. Then he spun and swung his yoyo with his ree hand, capturing the akuma before it could escape before jerking the rip cord of his parachute. Mister Bug and Su She jerked with the force of it and Su She clutched desperately at Mister Bug's neck. Mister Bug gritted his teeth and allowed the contact as the two of them landed gently on the ground, though he wasted no time in extricating himself from the embrace once they were both securely on their feet.
Whoever he is under that mask, I love that boy, Chat Noir thought as he watched. He smiled warmly at the red and black spotted parachute for a few more moments before pulling himself and Jin Zixun up and onto the nearest crossbeam. After collecting his stick he brought Jin Zixun to the ground and released him, approaching his partner with a molten smile.
Mister Bug pulled out his yoyo and clicked the center black spot. The yoyo opened and a pure white butterfly emerged from the glowing white light.
"Bye-bye little butterfly," Mister bug muttered.
You are so cute, Chat Noir thought warmly. He watched as Mister Bug removed the parachute and threw it into the air.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
A swarm of magical glowing ladybugs erupted from the parachute as it disappeared. They fanned out in massive columns of glowing magic, repairing all the damage to the city. They swirled up the leg of the Eiffel Tower, mending the metal that Cataclysm had ruined, there was a glowing spiral of magic and the skyscraper that had fallen was back in the Paris skyline. The people who had been turned into stone beings all reappeared as themselves and they even swarmed Nie Mingue, who removed his sling and flexed his newly healed arm with a wonderstruck look on his face.
Mister Bug watched in awe as his own magic repaired everything that had been broken. Beside him Chat Noir cackled with joy.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Bug? It's amazing, it's beautiful, it's-it's- MIRACULOUS!" He shouted throwing his arms wide and beaming with pride at his own pun. Despite his best effort the corner of Mister Bug's mouth quirked upward and Chat Noir hooted with triumph.
Once the euphoria of watching magical ladybugs do their work for the first time wore off, Mister Bug and Chat Noir turned to Su She and Jin Zixun.
"With Hawkmoth taking advantage of people's negative emotions, it's probably better for all of us for you to stop being such a dick," Chat Noir said to Jin Zixun.
"Chat Noir," Mister Bug scolded.
"Sorry. I meant, you should try to be a little kinder, and Su She, don't get so bent out of shape over what dicks say to you."
"Chat Noir."
Su She laughed and Jin Zixun crossed his arms, frowning.
Mister Bug's earrings chirped and he drew his yoyo to leave but Chat noir reached forward suddenly and grabbed his wrist. Mister Bug resisted the urge to yank his hand away and instead settled on giving Chat Noir a pointed look. (Which he ignored.)
"Wait! It was a pleasure working with you. I'm looking forward to seeing you again," Chat Noir's ring chirped, but he didn't even spare it a glance. His eyes were locked on Mister Bug, filled with an expression he couldn't place.
Rather than pointing out that seeing each other again would almost certainly mean someone had been akumatized, he said "mn" and swung away.
Chat Noir took one more second to look after him before turning and departing in the direction of his own home.
Half an hour after Wangji returned home and started practicing his guqin a knock sounded at his door.
"Come in," he said after Tikki had hidden herself.
"Wangji, I just wanted to let you know that Mister Bug repaired all the damage done by Stoneheart, even my car," Xichen sounded quite relieved about that, and Wangji noticed he wasn't wearing the bandages on his head anymore, "so school will resume as usual tomorrow."
"I saw the news, it's very fortunate."
"It is," Xichen said, hovering near the door, obviously not intending to stay for longer than the duration of their conversation. "I'm sorry your first day went so amiss, don't let today color your impression of the place."
"I won't," Wangji replied. "In all of Paris, it's unlikely our school will be the epicenter of akuma attacks." (Bitch you thought.)
Xichen looked halfway between relieved and more stressed. "You're right, we're still going to have to write up akuma protocols, but I'm glad Mister Bug and Chat Noir seem to have a handle on this. I'll leave you to practice."
"Wait," Wangji called after him, fingers freezing on the guqin strings. "What do you think of them? Mister Bug and Chat Noir?"
Xichen looked surprised by the question, but took a moment to consider it nonetheless. "They seem like a capable team. Chat Noir seems easy going and quick witted, Mister Bug has good forethought and is rather upright. I think they will balance one another out well. Why? What do you think?"
"I was unsure of them at first," Wangji admitted, "but now I think I agree with you. They will make capable protectors."
Xichen smiled. "I think people will feel safer with them around, already theres a fan blog for Mister Bug and Chat Noir called the 'Ladyblog' I think. One of your classmates, Luo Qingyang, started it."
"I'll look into it," Wangji said. Xichen smiled at him one last time before stepping back out and Wangji returned to his playing.
"So, Yanli, what did you think of him?" Wei Wuxian asked, tossing himself down on her bed.
Jiang Yanli sat at her computer, looking through the rather impressive if a bit new and empty Ladyblog that Mianmian had started.
"I think he seems quite handsome under the mask," she said. Jiang Cheng mimed puking behind her back and Wei Wuxian ignored him.
"Which one."
"Mister Bug."
Wei Wuxian wrinkled his nose, even though he heartily agreed, and Yanli laughed. "Chat Noir is handsome too, but what sticks out to me most about him is that he seems to be such a good boy."
Wei Wuxian couldn't help but swell with pride.
"What are you looking so pleased for? It's not like she's talking about you!"