Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all! I'm really happy people are enjoying the pacing. If I could I would totally do nothing but write and update once a week but alas I have to adult in all but my spare time...

ParadoxicOrder8... Yes Chat does still have Cataclysm and its a touch more dangerous in this story since its not a one off deal like in the show. He can also control it to a degree.

Marinette is a detective who can't keep a partner while hunting down the notorious Hawkmoth gang. Chat is the new cat burglar on the streets who never gets caught. After Marinette gets handed his case it's it won't be long before their fates collide especially when monsters start roaming the streets.


Sabotage

Looking around the dim space Adrien recognized the room. It was the obstacle Marinette had described to him earlier when she tried to explain the set up of dangers run. Long boards of varying widths stretched about the room covering areas of the floor that resembled Swiss cheese. The wider boards seemed to meander through the room before eventually making it to the other side while the thinnest made a nearly direct cut across. The in-between sized boards zigzagged through both sets of boards and a single platform sat in the middle of the room. The other door was just barely in sight to his eyes through the gloom and he couldn't imagine how dark the area was to Marinette.

"Can you do the thinnest walkway?" Marinette asked turning to him as she pulled a length of line from her sleeve.

Thinking back to all the times he had practically run down telephone wires as Chat he almost laughed. "I'll be fine on them as long as they don't try and roll me off like those rolling pins did." Adrien answered with a chuckle as she wrapped her chain around his waist clipping it together with some other seemingly magical device she pulled from her pocket.

"Not that I mind being attached to you but why the tether?" Adrien queried as Marinette turned away and moved towards the wooden beams.

A length of line played out between them and Adrien spied an already clipped in ascender in her hand as they moved out onto the obstacle. To his surprise Marinette didn't answer him right away but Adrien forgave the lack of response. The beam they were on wasn't wide at all and it took a surprising amount of concentration to keep his balance well and truly centered. Of course the line shifting about his waist didn't help, but it didn't mess up his physical balance, just his mental. Less than a minute passed and they were on the center platform where Marinette's eyes glanced about the room as if she was searching for something.

"The tether Princess?" Adrien reminded her when it seemed like she was going to move on without giving him an answer.

Marinette snorted "What you don't like being on a leash?"

"As long as I don't have to wear a collar I suppose I don't mind." Adrien said startling a laugh out of Marinette and making her go still on the platform since she didn't want to fall off the beam they needed to finish crossing.

Before she could fully recover Adrien moved in front of her and out onto the next section of beam a grin flicking across his face as he walked backwards down the section. He was determined to not worry about his balance, letting his inborne equilibrium and skill at traversing these type of obstacles finally loose. Marinette swiftly followed behind him before the line between them could go taught, although she couldn't help her surprise at seeing him move down the beam backwards.

"You are such a dork." Marinette accused making Adrien chuckle

"I can't seem to help myself around you My L-"

A large crack sounded before Adrien could finish his slip up and before he could even begin to fathom what the sound meant he was falling.

"Adrien!" Marinette cried jolting forwards as his weight pulled her right off the thin wooden beam. The fall lasted a mere second or two before the line around him jerked taught, causing him to swing through the air like a pendulum. A moment later he saw Marinette's legs incoming since his weight had pulled her off the beam too and they collided with his upraised arms a moment later.

"Dammit." Marinette hissed as their bodies bounced off one another a second time and Adrien stifled a grunt of pain. Marinette's wire had probably just saved his life but he knew that he was going to have a bruise where it had jerked taught around his chest especially since it was still digging into him. Pulling out the ascender Marinette had given him earlier, Adrien clipped it into the line taking some of the strain off his chest and onto his arms.

"What just happened?" Adrien hissed as he reached up to Marinette.

"We are being sabotaged. That's what just happened and if it had been anyone else, this would have killed them." Marinette hissed back furiously and Adrien instantly felt bad for whoever it was that had ordered this sabotage.

Since this wasn't work related Marinette didn't have to go by the book and Adrien already knew she was capable of doing quite a bit of damage all on her own. Adding in the fact that she was backed by the whispers, Adrien wondered if the saboteur would even have a chance in surviving the week if they managed to get away tonight. If their little saboteur did get away Adrien entertained the idea of asking to be a part of the hunt for them. It would probably be a lot of fun and even if Marinette said no, he could always show up as Chat. For now though Adrien put the idea of a hunt out of his mind since the first thing they needed to do was get back up to the obstacles level again. They were literally hanging under the floor, her manriki line looped over a beam that they had luckily fallen off to either side of. The board Adrien had broken through was partially hanging and from their angle they could see that it had been sawed at until no weight would be supported by it. Unlike the wall this sabotage was deadly and with a shudder Adrien looked down not having to wonder what would have happened if Marinette hadn't hooked the line to him. In the dim light Adrien could make out the shadow of what looked like the floor below them and he shuddered.

"Adrien are you ok? I know the line snapping taught around you couldn't have felt very good." Marinette seethed, gritting her teeth as they swayed in the darkness.

"I'll be fine Marinette, just another bruise to add to my collection." He answered flippantly then back tracked as he felt her go stiff against his arm. "I mean, I am totally good it barely hurt at all and oh geez please don't get upset. I don't care about getting bruised. You saved me and that's amazing that you had the foresight to think someone would mess with this obstacle."

Marinette didn't answer and Adrien scrambled in his brain trying to think of something to say then her voice drifted through the dimness even though it wasn't much of an answer. "We need to climb back up before we get too tired. Hopefully it was just this board that was sawed through."

"O-ok" Adrien managed feeling terrible about his lack of a proper response.

Seeing Marinette start to shimmy upwards Adrien gripped the line in his one hand before jerking his other one clutching the ascender upwards. His jerk made the line slide across the beam since he was heavier, hauling Marinette up several inches to her surprised grunt.

"Well that will make this simpler." He muttered and did it again and again until Marinette was up at the beam under the hole she had fallen through. At this point there was enough slack in the line that Adrien could rest his knee in the loop allowing him to rest his arms for a brief moment as Marinette climbed up on the beam.

Putting one hand on the beam Marinette pulled herself up high enough to peek over the edge. There was no one in the room nor were there any sounds to suggest anyone lying in wait for them. Gritting her teeth Marinette swung her legs over the beam straddling the wood as she braced herself against Adrien weight. He was a few short feet under her and with her help he climbed the last few feet easily before joining her on the wooden strut.

"I didn't see any marks on the underside of the beams from here to the door. I think we are safe on this track but I saw some saw marks on some of the wider tracks." Adrien murmured taking a calming breath of air now that he wasn't hanging precariously over the abyss.

"Good let me just tell Stormy what happened and we will get moving." Marinette answered, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.

Pulling the walky-talky out again Marinette was just about to hit the button when Adrien put a hand out covering hers. His eyes were pinned in the direction of the door and before she could say a word he whispered. "Let your line run. There is someone behind the doorway and I think I want to have a little talk with them."

Marinette nodded unclipping her ascender as Adrien stood without a single wobble. Tightening her legs around the beam she was straddling in case a beam broke under him again, she watched amazed as Adrien suddenly leaped to the slightly wider yellow course then two steps later jumped back to the red. Marinette wasn't sure even she could make those jumps and as soon as Adrien's feet touched wood he was off, barreling down the thin red beam as if it were a wide open sidewalk. Her line quickly played out and a moment later Adrien was through the door, a loud thump and shout of terror quickly following. A touch wobbly Marinette gained her feet and she edged over to the yellow track making a much smaller jump than Adrien had. Since he had run down the red boards onwards Marinette felt no hesitation to return to the red track as soon as she was able, all the while reeling in her manriki line. A body came flying through the doorway as she stepped onto the ending platform and Marinette glared down at the young man who slid to a stop practically at her feet. It was one of Spikes cronies and Marinette had to wonder how in the hell he'd managed to get out to this point alone.

"Were you the one who sabotaged this course?" Marinette asked her voice devoid of any warmth.

He was young too, probably having just entered his upper teenage years. Mentally she sighed quickly realizing that this teen was probably conned into doing this sabotage. The young mans face paled his hands shooting up as if to protect his head. His hands were devoid of any Hawkmoth marks but Marinette didn't let the lack of a mark fool her. He could still be in Hawkmoths gang without a mark for it was really only the insecure members that felt the need to be branded in a showy place like that.

"Yes I did! I didn't have a choice! He's got weight on me!" the teen cried cringing worse as Marinette nudged her foot into his side.

Marinette could feel Adrien coming up behind her, could feel his annoyance but looking at the cringing teen before her she noted that he didn't have a single mark on him. Adrien hadn't hurt him. "You realize that any other person running this course would have been dead had they tried to cross here right?"

The young man gulped hands creeping down so he could peer at them and see the fury on their faces. "No… I pulled a net below. Hung it actually… you guys would have been hurt probably but you wouldn't have been killed."

Marinette's eyebrow raised and she pressed the button on the walky-talky. "We found our saboteur and he is one of Spikes lackeys. We need pick up at the beams. Don't cross them when you get here I'm pretty sure the other sections have been cut I just don't know where."

"Acknowledged, we are close by and are coming." Stormy answered and Marinette sighed taking a seat.

"Wait what are you doing?" The teen asked eyeing her as Adrien slipped back out the door having already disconnected himself from her manriki line.

"Waiting for pickup." Marinette answered feeling a touch cranky over the turnout of this race. She had actually been excited in a way that hadn't been felt since Tiki died to do this run and these Hawkmoth idiots had ruined it. Realizing the teen was still looking confused she continued though she let her annoyance fully out as she did. "The race is finished as far as I'm concerned and with you here as proof we can kick Spike out. Besides I'm assuming the rest of the course is littered with traps and I'm in no mood to run into them."

"He'll say I did it on my own and had nothing to do with it." The young man replied

"Doesn't matter, the course has been compromised due to outside influences and that cancels the race and bet according to the rules we have here." Marinette answered rising to her feet to walk to the edge of the platform then back again since she felt more than a little jittery from the close call.

Dam though, she wished she could finish this race. Finish it and stuff the victory in Spikes face before throwing him out on his butt. Now though it wasn't really possible to win, they had wasted too much time between climbing out of the beam trap and talking with this idiot. Choosing the moment to flow out of the shadows Adrien came forward making Marinette jump a little at his totally silent approach.

In his hands was a length of rope and before Marinette could say a word he dropped into a crouch before the now cringing teen. Green predator like eyes pinned the kid in place and Adrien briefly wondered if he was overdoing the intimidation bit. Holding up the rope Adrien found he simply didn't care although he was glad Marinette wasn't barging in on the conversation. "I am going to tie you up and you are going to wait here for your pick up. They can untie you when they get here if they wish." He said as he shifted behind the guy.

"Adrien you don't need to tie him up they will be here in a few minutes." Marinette sighed even as he pulled the unresisting mans arms behind him. The guy looked totally resigned to his fate, matter of fact he looked a little green as if he were afraid or ill.

Adrien's eyes glanced up to hers and for a brief second she saw what had made the teen so compliant but then Adrien grinned at her breaking the intense look apart. "I don't trust him not to run and this way I know he won't. We on the other hand are going to finish this race and crush Spike and his little buddy. If he does run though… I suppose I could do with a hunt later either way." Adrien said patting the poor now very white teen on the shoulder.

Wisely the kid had nothing to say but Marinette sighed. "Adrien Spike and his buddy are far ahead of us by now and we don't know which obstacles are sabotaged. The only way we could win now is if we flew across the rooftops or…" face scrunching Marinette fell silent her hand pulling the walky-talky back to her lips. "Stormy the guys tied up on the final platform out here and we are going for finishing the race. I don't know if we will win but be prepared either way when you get back."

"Acknowledged." Stormy's voice panted back and the walky-talky cut off again.

With a final tug Adrien stood looking satisfied over his knotting job then he turned to Marinette who grabbed his arm, hauling him out the door. "Wha?" he managed as his feet nearly tangled in his attempt to keep up with her sudden break neck pace.

"Your right we can still win because Spike has to have taken the easier routes. As long as we work with one another we will win. Besides all that… I know a short cut. The real question is do you trust me?" Marinette asked her words coming out in several panting breaths.

"I've got your back Marinette. Trust was never a question." Adrien answered

His words made Marinette's heart pound although she told herself it was because of the exercise and she decided that Adrien was a bit of a flirt when he decided to relax. "We are taking the black obstacles which are half built but cut straight through these buildings. We will end up popping out just outside the rope ladder on the yellow course. Our entrance to the underground is ahead and you have to slide into it so watch your head."

"Sounds fun!" Adrien answered while dropping back behind her so he could follow her cues.

Three steps later she kicked her legs out and hit the ground sliding, aiming for a cut out hole surrounded by black paint in the floor. It was situated near the wall and was practically unnoticeable in passing. With a swift gulp Adrien dropped as well and a second after she vanished into the dimness Adrien went over the edge. He barely managed to withhold his yelp as he suddenly found himself sliding down a metal sheet that accelerated his speed as he went. It was almost like a laundry shoot and he briefly wondered how many stories they had fallen when he was flung out the end of it. Dropping several feet to the floor He stumbled forwards and slammed into Marinette who actually managed to keep them both on their feet.

"Sorry. I didn't expect the drop." Adrien panted as he gained his feet while looking around. The area they had landed in was dark even for him and Adrien wondered if Marinette could even see anything.

"My bad Adrien. I haven't been down here in a while and kinda forgot to warn you." Marinette said as she clicked on a small handheld flashlight.

"Of course you have a flashlight." Adrien muttered in jealousy staying at her side as she moved forwards. He resolved to himself to number one, become more prepared like Marinette seemed to be and invest in a thin jacket that had numerous seemingly magical pockets like Marinette. Within moments they came to the wall which appeared to have a power box set into it. "This area has power?" he asked in surprise

A startled laugh slipped from Marinette as she flipped the switches on and small Christmas style lights bloomed to life. "Of course we put lights down here! There was no way Tiki and I could build in complete darkness. Lights were the first thing we installed! Although remind me to come back and turn them off once we have creamed Spike ok?"

"Wait you and Tiki built these obstacles?" Adrien asked a feeling of excitement mixed with dread filling him.

Marinette shot him a grin. "Yeah but don't worry too much. We are close enough to the ground now that even if you fall off they won't kill you. Nets are semi installed anyways on the one."

"Sounds like an adventure. Lead on Marinette." Adrien replied successfully hiding his cringe.

Taking him at his word Marinette headed for a hole in the wall and Adrien noticed they were following the strings of lights as they climbed through a second hole before it opened up into the first obstacle they faced. Simply put, it was a climbing net maze that tracked upwards before ending at a doorway nearly twenty feet up. More lines trailed away from the main bulk of netting and peering into the dimness Adrien picked out what looked like pulleys of some kind. A single simple net stretched around and below it and Adrien knew it was there so that when people fell out they didn't get hurt.

"What is this monstrosity?" Adrien asked his eyes picking out the fastest route through the net maze like structure.

"It's the net maze." Marinette answered with a happy sigh. We both need to follow the red lines on either side of the divider."

"If we don't?" Adrien asked following her to the open end of the net.

They both climbed into the net at the same time and as soon as their weight was fully in the net Adrien's question was answered. The net tilted more in his direction since he was heavier and Adrien realized that if they tried to take different colored lines their misaligned weight would cause them to tilt sideways drastically. This not only would make for a very difficult climb but in some areas where they would have to jump across holes in the net it would make the obstacle impossible to transverse.

"This is amazing Marinette!" Adrien called as she leaped a hole in her side.

The net tilted in his direction as she jumped and Adrien held on a little tighter until she landed tilting the net back to its proper orientation.

"Thanks Adrien!" Marinette laughed As Adrien made a jump on his side and together they covered the last few feet jumping at the same time to clear a hole that extended all the way through the net. "It took Tiki and I a month to build this thing and a week to get it into place! The pulleys were the worst to set up though and it took us a while to adjust the weight balance just right."

They climbed through the final rope holes together and due to their combined weight they ended up several feel below the door. Marinette cupped her hands and even though he didn't want to Adrien decided not to try and argue. Stepping up into her hands Adrien was able to reach the ledge above and he quickly climbed out noting the creaking sound the net maze made as his weight left the obstacle. Marinette was just the slightest bit too short to reach the ledge even with him out so he reached down grabbing her hand and pulled her out as soon as he turned around.

"So you guys designed all the obstacles down here?" Adrien asked as they ducked through another section of wall and found a half completed obstacle.

"Yeah although as you can see we are not done down here yet." Marinette answered edging around the obstacle and making her way to some pegs that stuck out of the wall in an abstract pattern that looked impossible to climb. There were two lying on the ground before the wall and Marinette handed them to Adrien. "How fast can you climb?"

Instantly Adrien felt as if his face were going to crack he smiled so big and suddenly the random pegs going up the wall made sense. They were footholds and the pegs Marinette handed him were to be his handholds.

"I am an expert climber Princess but how are you going to get up if I have both pegs?" Adrien asked already setting the first peg into its hold.

A zipping sound answered him and he looked to the side in time to see Marinette throw her line straight up where it hooked around a hanging metal pipe. "I have my ways. Race you to the top!" she called hooking her ascender to the line and beginning her walk up the wall.

"Gha… No fair!" Adrien called slamming his next peg into position and hauling himself up to a higher elevation.

Marinette laughed and truthfully it wasn't a race between the two of them since they arrived at the top at the same time. Dropping the pegs back down the ground below them Adrien turned back to Marinette who slid the ascender back into her pocket.

"How much more do we have to go?" Adrien asked as they moved on to the next obstacle. Truthfully he was starting to get tired and he could tell that Marinette was as well. They both should have been faster climbing the wall but their arm strength had been seriously put to the test tonight.

"Just one and it requires us going back to back to walk up this shaft." Marinette said as they arrived at a hole that they needed to crawl through.

"Well at least I can fit through this hole." Adrien sighed following Marinette through. "What was this going to be an elevator shaft?"

The space they stood in was several feet across as a perfect square and glancing straight up Adrien realized it was probably close to 30ft high. Adrien eyed the space realizing if they went back to back they could support each other's weight and climb easily although he wasn't sure how they would get off the obstacle.

Marinette shrugged "Not sure honestly it would have to be an awfully small elevator. It a great set up for an obstacle, although Tiki and I were at a loss as to how we could get a safety net installed for it. It's one of the reasons we haven't included this section yet since there really isn't another way out of this area."

That said she turned her back to him moving close to wall. Adrien grinned and moved into position at her back only belatedly realizing that his back was all sweaty and gross. It made him pause long enough that Marinette turned to him looking concerned.

"Are you ok to climb? I didn't think to ask if you were afraid of heights or anything especially since we have no safety net..." Marinette said softly unsure as to why Adrien had suddenly froze.

To her surprise Adrien face took on a slightly darker shade or red and Marinette wondered if he was blushing or if she were simply imagining things.

"Ah no, I mean I'm fine climbing but I just… well my back is all sweaty and stuff." Adrien finally managed realizing he was wasting time.

Marinette made a PFFFTT sound and then suddenly she was laughing making Adrien feel a touch awkward. Quickly realizing this Marinette shut herself up by slapping a hand across her face but Adrien could see her shoulders shaking a little from the repressed laughter.

"Sorry, sorry Adrien I didn't mean to laugh." Marinette gasped her voice still quivering with mirth. "It just that I'm all sweaty too so it really doesn't matter. Besides I'm going to take a shower once I return home so getting a little bit of your sweat on me doesn't bother me in the least and you're really toned anyways so I… I… um…" Marinette suddenly broke off her face flashing bright and hot in embarrassment but somehow she managed to glare up at him as if daring him to comment. "In any case we need to move if we are going to go do this and win so are you ok to climb or not?"

It was Adrien's turn to hide his laughter and he turned so his back was to her, to better hide his flash of mirth. "I will climb with you anywhere princess. Shall we get started?"

Marinette huffed but after a moment her much smaller back pressed to his and Adrien realized the only thing that could throw them for a loop was the fact that Marinette was in fact shorter than him. Fortunately he didn't say anything knowing Marinette would probably just snipe at him for even mentioning her shortness. By some almost instinctive signal they both moved at the same time pressing one leg to the wall of the shaft and bracing their backs comfortably against the other. Then without even needing signal between them they began walking up the wall. The climb wasn't that hard and was surprisingly comfortable as they shifted their weight in tandem. They climbed past one opening and Adrien briefly wondered where it went. It was only as they neared the top that Adrien questioned how they were going to get out of their braced position.

"Ok Now we shift sideways and there are bars to grab onto so we can climb out the opening." Marinette said as if she had heard his question while pointing at the wall off to the side.

Now that he knew they were there Adrien was able to pick out the shelves and handle shaped bars that had been drilled into the wall. Moving sideways a little slower than the pace they had climbed up with they each grabbed a bar before counting to three to release each other from their braced position. With their feet solidly on their shelves Marinette scooched sideways, pushing through some heavy fabric that covered the exit out and Adrien followed silently behind. They stood in an open room and Marinette waved to him as she took off for some gaping windows. She didn't slow as she raced for the openings, simply hopping up onto what could barely qualify as a sill and throwing herself into the empty space beyond.

Gritting his teeth Adrien ignored his fear spazzing heart and leaped to the sill himself. As he leaped out the window he easily spied the metal bars that stuck out of the wall and he hit them a litte harder than he would have liked since he put more power into his jump than was necessary. He caught up to Marinette swiftly as they climbed down the wall and dropped to the street below.

"Are you like this when you chase criminals out on the street too? Simply launching yourself out windows with no warning?" Adrien demanded as they ran full tilt towards the end of the alley.

"Oh no not at all. When I'm chasing criminals I'm much worse." Marinette laughed as they skidded out of the ally and back onto the main track once more.

A growl pushed its way up Adrien's throat but his irritation was instantly squashed since he spied their new prey. Just ahead of them was a purple spiked head as well as another figure and as Marinette had feared Spikes running gate resembled a chickens. Withholding their laughter at the ridiculous sight they sprinted forwards catching up to their running adversaries within a few seconds.

"What the hell?!" Spike wheezed as Marinette breezed past them with Adrien on her heels and Spike was so shocked he didn't even manage to try to trip either one of them.

The finish line was just ahead with two obstacles to go. Two ladders on rope spinners were the second to last obstacle. One person held the ladder on the bottom as their partner climbed and once they reached the top they held the ladder in place for their partner. If no one held the ladder it was prone to spinning to the side or upside down, causing most people to fall off. There were a number of people who could climb it with no one holding the ladder since you really only needed a good sense of balance to do so. Marinette knew she could climb the ladder with no problem and from what she had seen of Adrien she realized he could probably do it as well.

"Follow me up the ladder. We don't want them trying to knock us off if you go to climb their side." Marinette gasped as they neared the ladders and saw Adrien making a move towards the other ladder.

If they had been farther ahead she wouldn't have had any problems with him going up the other ladder as she climbed hers. However with Spike so close she really wouldn't put it past the idiots to try and knock Adrien off. It wouldn't hurt him badly unless he landed on his head and the concrete under the ladders were covered with thick foam for that exact purpose. Truthfully it would also be well within their right to do so since Adrien was on their obstacle. However if Spike did do something that stupid Marinette would retaliate and she really didn't feel like getting into a battle royal with anyone in the Hawkmoth gang tonight.

They covered the last few feet and Marinette leaped onto the ladders rungs passing up the first few and causing the whole thing to tilt alarmingly to the side. Adrien grabbed the base steading it but Marinette had hardly noticed and was already three quarters of the way up the thing. As soon as her feet hit the lip on the wall Adrien scrambled up after her noting how Spike and his partner were just arriving at the foot of their ladder. Since Adrien practically flew up the ladder they were off and running before Spike could even make it two rungs up his ladder.

The last obstacle was a series of climbs the runners had built to make it back to the same elevation of the finish line and this time Adrien didn't bother to follow in Marinette's footsteps. They scrambled over the climbs in tandem using each other as bracing points in more than one spot. People were cheering around them as they sprang over the top and the cheers grew to a dull roar as they crossed the final line.

"AAANNND WE HAVE OUR WINNERS!" Alex cheered pumping her fist into the air with the other runners going wild.

Panting hard Marinette grinned up at Adrien raising her fist into the air. Adrien had a huge grin on his face and Marinette decided that he looked dam good with that smile on his cheeks. Feeling mischievous and filled to the brim with happiness at their win Adrien grabbed her hand yanking Marinette towards him. In one swift movement that had her squeaking in surprise Adrien grabbed her by the waist and tossed her into the air before spinning around like a loon once he caught her. Already over her initial surprise Marinette laughed and didn't even mind when instead of putting her down he simply settled her on his shoulders.

"You are such a dork." Marinette chuckled her voice filled with laughter. With one arm resting on his head her other dropped in front of his face.

"Only for you princess." Adrien replied as he bumped his closed fist into hers.

Together they both crowed "Pound it!" as the other runners started moving towards them in congratulations.