*sprints in for the first time since June*
HEY... hey... lemme just catch my breath...
Sorry all, I was super stuck for the longest time. On the bright side, I've got two chapters ready to go now, soooooooo let's go~
(A summary of things in case you forgot in the last 4-5 months: Chat Noir asked Ladybug to prom and got turned down bc secret identities, Chloe gave up on Adrien and agreed to go with Kim instead, Max got asked by Alix and ultimately got twice as akumatized as anyone else. What comes next? Stay tuned...)
Ladybug swung onto the roof of the Dupain-Chengs' bakery, detransforming once she landed.
"If I hurry, I can still ask Adrien to prom," Marinette said to Tikki, hastily grabbing her schoolbag and her promposal supplies.
"You haven't eaten all day," Tikki reminded her.
"Food can wait. I've only got five minutes left of lunch break."
Marinette ran downstairs and across the street. She sprinted up the stairs to the school, across the yard, and up the stairs to her class.
Adrien wasn't there yet, but Alya was. "Nino said Adrien asked someone to the prom yesterday," she whispered.
"Did she say yes?" Marinette asked.
"No. That's why he was all bummed."
"Who would say no to Adrien?" Marinette said, bewildered.
"I mean, I would, but that's cause I'm taken. Nino also said Adrien's okay with going with someone else. So you should still ask him."
"Mm. Okay."
Alya looked at her. "I shouldn't have told you, should I? Don't back out of this."
"Oh no, it's fine. I'm glad you told me."
The door to the classroom opened. Marinette looked up, expecting Adrien. But the door swung shut without anyone appearing.
Marinette frowned. That was odd.
Chloe squealed suddenly. Marinette glanced over to find a dark red… teddy bear?... standing on Chloe's desk threateningly.
"You'll pay for this," it said, throwing something small and dark at Chloe. It hit her in the head and burst, showering her hair in a neon green powder.
Chloe and Sabrina screamed. Everyone else in the room scrambled for the door.
"You can run, but you can't escape me," the bear said, chasing after them.
Alya and Marinette stopped just outside the doorway and pressed themselves against the wall. The other three bolted down the stairs. The akumatized bear ignored Marinette and Alya and went after the others.
Marinette turned to Alya, who had her phone out. "We've got to hide somewhere."
Alya flipped to her phone camera and started recording. "You go ahead. I'll be getting the scoop."
Marinette patted her shoulder. "Stay safe."
Alya smiled. "I will."
The akuma and the other three had already headed outside. Alya ran back into the classroom to get a window view, while Marinette ran downstairs into the girls' restroom.
"Tikki, transforme moi!"
The Agreste limo pulled away just as Juleka, Rose, and Kim hurtled down the front steps. Adrien dodged the girls as they took cover in the space behind the stairs; Kim booked it down the street.
"Hyahhh!"
Adrien turned his head and saw a small red bear hurl something small and dark at Kim. The object hit Kim's leg and expanded into a brown mass, cementing his leg to the ground. Kim faceplanted on the sidewalk.
Adrien sprinted toward the restrooms. Halfway there, he saw Ladybug emerge from the other one.
"Ah! Uh, you should, you should probably take cover," Ladybug stuttered, slowing as they passed.
"Will do," Adrien said, still running. He didn't stop until he was alone in a bathroom stall.
"Plagg, transforme moi!"
Kim scrabbled at the ground, trying to get away from the advancing teddy bear. "Who are you?" he demanded, trying not to sound scared. "What do you want?"
"Don't you know me?" asked the bear, putting his hands on his hips. "You're the reason I'm like this, after all."
A flash went through Kim's eyes. "Max?!"
"I'm not Max anymore. I'm–"
His voice sounded like a radio confused by two stations at once. Kim heard something along the lines of "Chocolate Knight" and "Solibear" at once.
"M-max, why?" Kim stuttered.
"I literally just told you my name! And because–"
His voice split into two voices at once – Kim made out the distinct phrases "alone" and "not alone."
"Kim, who's the akuma?"
Kim looked up to see Ladybug running his way. "It's Max! Help me!"
Chocolate Knight/Solibear looked up and leaped away, throwing something small and dark at Kim. Kim flinched, but it never hit him; rather, it expanded to cover him in a brown dome.
The akuma threw something at Ladybug; she countered with her yoyo. He threw a flurry of small objects at her. She whirled her yoyo to stop them, but one burst near her face, and she caught a whiff of –
"Chocolate…" she mused.
Suddenly, she recognized the bear: it had been in the confectionary where she and Alya had seen Alix.
She must have asked Max, Ladybug realized.
She hit another chocolate with her yoyo, but this one was different; her yoyo suddenly fell straight to the ground. Ladybug pulled the string, only to find that it was too heavy to lift.
"You're mine now!" the akuma growled, throwing one last chocolate at her. Ladybug pulled an excess of wire from her yoyo and spun it, shielding herself from the bonbon.
"Well, well, an akuma without an A," said Chat Noir, dropping in from above.
"Where have you been?" Ladybug huffed. "And what are you talking about?"
"Kuma? Japanese for 'bear'? No?"
"I don't know Japanese."
"Neither do I, but I know this word."
"Let's save the multilingual punning for another time, and deal with– Hey!" Ladybug shouted, realizing the akuma was getting away.
"Shall we pursue?" asked Chat Noir.
Ladybug imagined running and leaving the body of her yoyo behind, tangling the entire city in yoyo wire. "Not just yet. Let me think."
She analyzed the situation. Chat Noir exhaled internally. His heart still ached from the night before, though he was doing his best to remain focused on his duty as a superhero. It was what she would do.
"Right. Okay. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug announced.
Her yoyo spun, releasing a red-and-black spotted bottle. She handed it to Chat Noir. "Go on ahead. He's probably looking for Alix next."
"What about you?"
"I'll be there soon."
Chat Noir nodded and started to run in the direction the akumatized Max had gone. Ladybug threw a loop of yoyo wire around the dome of chocolate and pulled; the dome shattered, uncovering an unharmed (though shaken) Kim.
She took a little time to release him, then bolted for the bakery across the street. Ladybug rounded the corner, detransforming in the alcove of her back door. The weighted yoyo disappeared.
"What's the plan?" Tikki asked.
"Cookies, and then we're running."
Alix skated lazily toward le Trocadéro. She had walked outside after asking Max to the dance. When Juleka texted her, warning her about an akuma at school, she figured it was best not to return.
She was thinking about Max still. She wanted to believe she'd done the right thing… or at least, that she hadn't done the wrong thing. She really did want to go with him. And she was very sure he didn't have any plans to ask anyone else. But she still wasn't sure if it was okay or not.
She would become sure in three… two… one…
Something hit her skates. Alix suddenly felt herself fly forward much faster than she should have, causing her to overbalance and fall. Looking up, she saw a small red bear behind her, running her way.
She narrowed her eyes. She knew that bear.
"I'll make you pay for what you did," it growled.
Let's be real for a sec here. Max wasn't going to remember this. And he'd just given her super fast skates.
Alix smirked. Who was she to give up a challenge?
She pushed herself to her feet and got going. The skates let her rocket forward at an exhilarating speed. Something burst just behind her foot; she started zigzagging to avoid follow-up shots.
Alix looked behind her. Where was that bear?
Her foot hit something in the road. She watched the ground whiz past, growing near–
Something large hit her from the side. It hit the ground before her, and they rolled to a stop in the grass by le Trocadéro.
"Are you all right?" Chat Noir asked her, letting go of her quickly.
"Yeah," said Alix. "Thanks."
They got to their feet. The bear reached them. "You can't stop me," it said. "I need to make sure they–"
A sense of radio static filled his words. "–don't–forg–leave–again," said the akuma.
"…Okay. And what was your name again?" Chat Noir asked.
"Choc–libear–ight."
"…Right." He brandished his baton as the bear leaped.
