Chapter 4: Catastrophic

Adrien ran from the classroom after Marinette. She was already out of sight.

Then he spotted the purple butterfly flying toward the stairs. It might be after Marinette, tracking her by her emotions. He couldn't let it get to her!

He ran part-way down the stairs where he would be out of sight from the classroom.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Leaping with his vaulting pole, he caught up to the butterfly in midair. It might be a disaster, but he had to take the chance. He willed his destructive power to annihilate the akuma before it could possess him.

"Cataclysm!"

It worked. The akuma was gone.

Chat Noir leaped down to the courtyard and spotted Marinette ducking into the locker rooms, which led to the girl's and boy's bathrooms.

He got to the girl's bathroom door just as she closed it.

"Marinette, are you all right?" Chat called.

"Go away!" said Marinette.

"This is Chat Noir. An akuma butterfly was after you, but I destroyed it."

Marinette opened the door and looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"For a second you sounded like Adrien Agreste. I thought I had feelings for him, but he's nothing but a bully. You know he stole the bracelet yesterday – today he put gum on my seat. He's horrible!"

"I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault. You say I nearly got akumatized? How could Hawk Moth have reacted so fast?"

"I don't know."

"It's as if Hawk Moth knew exactly what Adrien was going to do this morning and he was prepared for it. Could Adrien himself be...?"

"I really doubt that."

"I wouldn't have believed it when I thought he was nice. But now..."

"One other person could have known... his father. But it couldn't be him."

"Why not.? Gabriel Agreste never leaves his house. He's brilliant but cold, even to his son. He's a very good lead. You and Ladybug should certainly check both of them out."

"I don't know..."

Chat's ring beeped.

Marinette said, "You used your Cataclysm, so you'd better go before you time out. Call Ladybug and talk it out with her."

"I can't leave it like this. You have to know the truth," said Chat. "Claws in."

"NO! You? This doesn't make any sense. Why did you act like that?"

Adrien explained how the bracelet got stuck on Plagg's head, how he had to confess to the theft, and how that lead to him doing another prank for his new "bad boy" image.

"You are such an idiot! You thought it was a good idea to prank me, and with gum?"

"I'm really sorry. I thought you would be a good sport about it."

"Well, I'm not. And if there was ever going to be anything between us, it's over."

"You know as Chat I like Ladybug, right?"

"When Ladybug finds out about this, she's not going to be happy either. Don't expect any romance there."

"You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"You expect to keep all this a secret from your crime-fighting partner?"

"Well..."

"Get out!"

Marinette ducked back into the bathroom and slammed the door on Adrien.