Chapter 3: Identity Crisis

In the evening, Ladybug knocked at the window of Adrien's room. This wasn't a welcome development, but he wanted to use the opportunity to ask questions. He let her in.

"What is it, Ladybug?" Adrien asked. "Is there an akuma?"

"I have something for you," said Ladybug, opening her yo-yo and pulling out a black ring with a green paw-print on top.

"What is this?" asked Adrien.

"Adrien Agreste, I present you with the Cat Miraculous, which has the power of Destruction. You will use it for the greater good."

She tried to hand it to him, but he pulled back his hand.

"Hold on," said Adrien. "What happened to Chat Noir?"

"He just quit on me," said Ladybug. "I need a new Cat."

"Just quit on you..." Adrien thought. "That's not the whole story."

"You really want to use me as a temporary holder after how badly things went with the Snake?" asked Adrien.

"I know that was hard, but I believe you will do very well with this Miraculous," said Ladybug. "And I need you... as a long-term holder, not just a temporary."

"A quick replacement for me," thought Adrien. "I expected that."

"Long-term? I'm not sure about that," Adrien said aloud. "I was willing to help that day, but I'm pretty busy most of the time..."

"I know. But please accept. Saving the world is important."

"Let me take a moment to think. Something happened recently that troubled me. What are your rules about secret identities? How many of the heroes know each other's identities?"

"None are allowed to know, and you'll have to keep yours a secret from everyone," said Ladybug.

"A lie," thought Adrien. "But I can challenge her as myself when I couldn't as Chat Noir."

Adrien said, "Not long ago, I watched my best friend Nino get akumatized into a villain who could shoot tears."

"You saw that?" asked Ladybug.

"Right before that happened, he was arguing with me that his girlfriend Alya was in a secret relationship with Chat Noir. He'd made a video of them together."

"There's nothing to that. The video was out of context."

"That's what I thought. I argued that was impossible, that Alya just blogged about heroes and there was nothing between them."

"That's right. What was it that troubled you?"

"He told me that he was Carapace and that Alya was Rena Rouge."

"What!?"

"He wasn't lying. At least, he believed it. His emotions were real or he wouldn't have gotten akumatized."

"How dare he tell you that? You were a civilian with no need to know. I need to have a serious word with him about secrecy!"

"He was trying to convince me, to win the argument that Alya was cheating on him."

"That's no excuse. He's in big trouble."

"He also said that they both knew each other's identities because you gave them their Miraculous at the same time. It seems like that breaks your rules."

"It's true that they know each other's identities. It was an emergency when there were all those scarlet akumas. I didn't have time to give them out separately."

"That's different than the way Nino was talking about it, but it makes sense. He made it seem like both of them were recruited at the same time."

"I first recruited Alya for the Sapotis, and Nino for Anansi. They only got them together later, on Heroes' day."

Adrien felt a little better after hearing that. "Okay, I can understand that. Is it a problem that I know who they are? Is that a reason for me not to join the team?"

"Not really. They were both compromised by Miracle Queen. I've taken away the Miraculous from Rena Rouge. I made that decision after her family was threatened by Sentibubbler."

"Nino has a family, too."

"I'm probably going to take his Miraculous too, since he can't keep a secret. It's just hard to find replacements."

"But Chat Noir is getting replaced by me?"

"It's important to have a Cat hero to balance the Ladybug."

"More on identity rules. Does anyone know your identity?"

"Well... one person does because I had to go out of town and I left the Ladybug Miraculous with her. You may have seen her on the news: Scarabella. It was a one-shot deal."

"She told the truth this time, at least," Adrien thought.

"One more question: what was it that Chat Noir did wrong? I don't want to make the same mistakes."

"He flirted with me too much, tried to press for a romantic relationship I didn't want."

After all that had happened with Ladybug, it was easier for Adrien to be cool towards her.

"You won't have that trouble with me. I know how annoying celebrity crushes can be. I hope I don't have problems from you, either."

"F-rom me? Why would you say that?"

"Remember I spent months with you as Aspic. You got pretty fangirlish sometimes, and it distracted you from the fight."

"I-I won't do that. We'll keep things professional."

"All right, I accept," said Adrien. He took the ring in his hand.

Plagg appeared in a flash of light.

"Hi kid, I'm your kwami," said Plagg with a wink at Adrien that Ladybug didn't see. "Name's Plagg. To transform, say 'Claws Out' and to transform back, say 'Claws In'. Ladybug can explain your powers."

Adrien said, "I don't want to look like Chat Noir. I want to be my own hero."

"No problem," said Plagg. "Just form an image in your mind of what you want to look like."

"Can I change my hair? It's pretty recognizable."

"Yeah, the hairdo is easy to change. You can even make it green if you want. Quantum masking will hide your identity even more."

"I might try that hair idea. Plagg, Claws Out!"

Adrien transformed. His hair was in its original style, but dark green, matching his new eyes. His black costume had a gray front, resembling a business suit.

"Wow, that's elegant, Chat," said Ladybug.

"Call me Catwalker."