CHAPTER 25 – RED WITH BLACK SPOTS

Cat Noir watched his black suit dissolving around the bright yellow patch on his leg. He had to get out of dodge quickly before his true identity was revealed for all to see. He vaulted back onto the roof and glanced down again at his leg.

Instead of the blue of Adrien's jeans though he was surprised to see a red fabric instead. Bright red. With big, black dots. Suddenly the penny dropped. "I'm becoming Mister Bug?" he thought. "How could that be?" His skin tingled slightly as his Cat Noir costume turned bright red.

Mister Bug dropped down to the Courtyard again. His staff was now a yoyo, which he spun round in a protective arc.

"What!?" said Seamstress in anger. "You should be a helpless civilian. Hawk Moth, what's gone wrong?"

Mister Bug smirked. "Your patch was designed to turn me into the opposite of Cat Noir, which you assumed was my civilian self. But my civilian self is neither weak nor helpless, the superpowers just make it easier for me to do what I've always tried to do as a civilian. Just by doing good my civilian self is already a hero, certainly not the opposite of Cat Noir.

I've only just worked it out myself. The cat miraculous holds the power of destruction. It's opposite is the power of creation, which is found in the ladybug miraculous. So your patch actually worked Seamstress, just not as you intended. I am indeed the opposite of Cat Noir."

Mister Bug bowed low. "I am indebted to you though Seamstress, for Ladybug seems to be delayed, and right now I could really use her LUCKY CHARM!"

The yoyo flew into the air, spinning with a blinding pink light until a red and black sewing case fell into Mister Bug's hands.

"A sewing case? What am I meant to do with this?" he said, dodging Seamstress's bobbin. He looked around frantically but nothing came to mind. Maybe inside it?

Mister Bug spun his yoyo around, creating an impenetrable shield while he opened up the case. It was immaculate inside, needles neatly stacked, a set of sewing scissors, a thimble and several bobbins of thread, each in their own compartment to stop them getting … TANGLED.

Mister Bug smiled. He grabbed several bobbins of thread and threw them at Seamstress. As they flew towards her they unraveled, trailing red and black cotton behind them like streamers.

"Don't you just hate it when your thread gets tangled up?" he asked.

Seamstress swung her bobbin to try and ward off the cotton flying towards her, but soon it was soon hopelessly tangled and useless.

"NOOOO!" screamed Seamstress dropping to her knees and trying to untangle her bobbin. Mister Bug walked up to her nonchalantly, picked up her bag that had fallen on the floor and ripped it in half, releasing the akuma.

"Time to de-evilise!" he yelled, throwing out his yoyo and capturing the akuma. Shortly afterwards he released the purified akuma.

"Bye bye little butterfly," he waved, before heaving the sewing kit into the air. "Miraculous Mister Bug" he called.

Clouds of butterflies flew around Paris, returning prisoners to jail, returning people to normal and fixing the road accidents caused by the milling crowds. Finally they swarmed over Mister Bug himself, removing the yellow patch on his leg and turning him back into Cat Noir.

"Pound it!" he said, slamming one fist into another. "That's my first solo gig, I wonder where Ladybug got to?" Then he turned to the Seamstress, who had turned to a purplish-black cloud which rapidly cleared to reveal … MARINETTE?

-000-

Normally de-akumatised people were confused but calm. Marinette was not like most de-akumatised people. She stayed huddled on the floor, weeping profusely.

Félix watched her from the locker room. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw the consequences of his actions first hand. The normally sweet girl who sat behind him in class was obviously in great distress. He raced up to see if he could comfort her.

As he drew close she looked up. Her whole face changed.

"YOU!" she snared. "YOU!" Her hand snatched out at him, trying to scratch him. Félix backed off. "HOW COULD YOU? GET AWAY!"

Suddenly Cat Noir was between him and Marinette. "Best that I take over from here," he said, picking Marinette up before vaulting off in the direction of the bakery.

Félix suddenly felt a dark lump in his chest. "What have I done?" he whispered to himself.