Chapter 11: The Bubbler, Part 1
The winds died away and Adrien found himself mid-swallow. He choked on what must have been his lunch as Plagg calmly flew out of his shirt.
"You know, choking on your food isn't generally advised," Plagg stated.
"Yeah, yeah," Adrien replied when he managed to swallow. "We don't have time for this. Plagg, claws out!"
"Marinette are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine," Marinette called down as she raced up to her room.
A sudden departure from lunch may not have been the best idea, but she didn't want to delay fighting the Bubbler. Besides, as much as she may want to stop it, her parents wouldn't be in the house for much longer.
"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said, her transformation washing over her.
Ladybug leapt off her ceiling just as the bubbles appeared, but she focused on her goal of reaching the Bubbler. Maybe, if she got there soon enough, she could stop him before he found the rest of her classmates.
She landed on the fence surrounding the Agreste mansion, scanning for the Bubbler. A second later, Chat Noir landed at her side.
"Plenty of bubbles," he said. "No Bubbler."
Ladybug nodded. "I'd hate to wait for him to kidnap those poor students, but it might be best to wait for him here, and surprise him. Besides, the Bubbler was one of the tamer akumas, as far as motivation went."
"But so was Mr. Pigeon," Chat Noir said.
Ladybug sighed. "True. I guess we'll have to wait and see."
"Doesn't look like we'll have to wait very long," Chat Noir said, tensing up.
Ladybug followed his gaze to where the Bubbler had just landed on the roof of the mansion.
"I heard you were trying to crash my party," The Bubbler said.
"Not much of a party to crash," Chat Noir replied.
The Bubbler grimaced, and released his first string of bubbles. Ladybug and Chat Noir fanned the bubbles away with their weapons. The Bubbler snapped, and the bubbles regrouped and trapped the two superheroes into one bubble.
A second later, and they were flying up into the sky.
"To be fair, we probably should have seen that coming," Chat Noir said. He grabbed his baton and extended it, stretching the bubble, but the bubble didn't pop. "Any ideas?"
Ladybug shook her head. "These bubbles seem impossible to break."
"Then shall we do it like we did the first time?" Chat Noir asked, holding up his ring hand.
"Chat..."
"Don't worry. As long as I get a chance to recharge, I'll be fine. Cataclysm!"
The two superheroes fell as the bubble popped beneath them. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the closest thing - the Eiffel Tower - and swung down to a soft landing. Chat Noir landed next to her, having used his baton to slow his fall.
They quickly made their way back to the Agreste home, where the Bubbler was waiting for them.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," Chat Noir called. "But you're not getting rid of us that easily."
"Oh really?" The Bubbler asked. "Bet you didn't see this coming."
The Bubbler sent another string of bubbles at the superheroes. Ladybug fanned one half of the bubbles away with her yo-yo as Chat Noir fended off the other half, but it wasn't enough to keep the bubbles away. The Bubbler snapped, and once again the superheroes found themselves trapped in a bubble.
"Ummm," Chat Noir said. "This is going to be a problem."
Ladybug looked over her shoulder to Chat Noir's ring, where the pads were starting to disappear. "No kidding."
"Ideas?" There was definite panic in Chat Noir's voice.
"Well, um..." Ladybug began. "No."
Chat Noir's ring beeped again. "I'm running out of time."
Ladybug nodded. "I guess we're out of options. Lucky charm!"
A jug of water appeared under the top of the bubble, and Ladybug caught it. She and Chat Noir exchanged looks.
"It can't be that straight-forward, can it?" Ladybug asked.
Chat Noir glanced at his ring as it beeped again. "Let's hope it is."
Ladybug, with an embarrassing amount of struggle, opened the jug and began pouring water into the bubble. Slowly, the bubble began to loosen and sag. Ladybug tossed the empty jug to the side.
"Now try your baton."
Chat Noir nodded and extended his baton against the bubble's surface, and the bubble popped.
"Split!" Ladybug yelled as the two superheroes dove for the surface.
Chat Noir used his baton to guide himself to the other side of the Agreste mansion, and Ladybug swung herself to a secluded spot on the Eiffel Tower.
Double checking for anyone nearby, she detransformed on one of the support beams. The height immediately made Marinette anxious as the transformation faded away, but she forced herself to stay calm as she reached for a cookie in her purse. She came up with nothing.
"Oh, I forgot!" Marinette moaned. "I didn't carry snacks back then... now? Sorry Tikki."
"It's fine, Marinette," Tikki replied. "I think I see a vendor down there. I'll see if I can get a cookie from him."
Marinette nodded and pulled some cash out of her purse. "This should be enough. Don't let him see you."
Tikki nodded. "I'll be right back. Don't fall off!"
Adrien paced the downstairs closet, frustrated.
Sure, it was his house. He didn't really need to hide. But then, if The Bubbler came looking for him...
The closet was fairly spacious anyways, even with Plagg obnoxiously chewing in his ear.
"There has to be a way to pop the bubbles," Adrien muttered. "But how?"
"How about not getting stuck in the bubbles in the first place?" Place suggested, swallowing his last bite of cheese.
Adrien sighed. "It's not like we're trying to get stuck. We just can't always fend off the bubbles."
"Well you can't just keep getting stuck in bubble after bubble," Plagg argued. "Unless, of course, you want to be in the sky with all the other adults."
"Are you done yet?" Adrien asked.
"Unless you have more," Plagg answered.
"Nope. Claws out!
Disclaimer: not mine, not mine, not mine