Adrien amused himself for the brief ride back by logging onto the Ladyblog and calling up the video of the latest akuma battle. What with all the fuss with Chloe, this was the first chance he'd gotten to see the thing, and you didn't spend years as a model without developing a keen interest in other people's depictions of you. There was more than one reason he'd been such a devotee of the Ladyblog.
As he'd more than half expected, there was only a single place set at the table. Natalie was hovering nearby, but his father was nowhere to be seen.
"Father busy?" he asked Natalie.
"Yes, Adrien," she replied.
"Will he at least be available for dinner?" asked Adrien. "There's something I need to talk to him about."
"I'll make the appointment," said Natalie with a small smile. "Is this about that new ring you're wearing?"
"Uh, yeah, actually it is," admitted Adrien. "Thank you, Natalie."
"You're welcome, Adrien," replied Natalie, before heading out of the room. "And congratulations," she added from the doorway.
By the time Adrien had finished his lunch and the Caffeinator video, lunch break wasn't even half over. He quickly got all his things in order, trotted over to the office, and poked his head in.
"Natalie?" he asked.
"Yes, Adrien?" she said, looking up from her tablet.
"I'm going to run over to Marinette's, in case my dad asks where I am. I'll be sure to be back at school on time."
"Very well. See you this evening, then," she responded with a little smirk.
"See you this evening," said Adrien, and then he turned and dashed for the door before she could change her mind.
Once outside the gate, it was the work of a moment to find a secluded niche to transform.
The bakery was packed. Even from the next roof over, Cat Noir could see the press of customers filling the shop and spilling out onto the sidewalk. Fortunately, he could also see his Lady on the balcony, enjoying lunch and doing something with her sketchpad.
Here goes…
He took a few steps back, then dashed forward and leapt across the street to land atop Marinette's balcony with a thud.
Marinette jumped, nearly upending her water.
"Adrien!" she gasped. "You startled me!"
"My a-paw-logies, Purr-incess," said Cat Noir with a smirk, dropping into the chair across from hers. "Plagg, claws in." The familiar flash of green light obscured his vision, and he felt the heat of the transformation fade away. When his vision cleared again, Marinette leaned across the table to give him a peck on the nose.
He smiled and stretched, drinking in the sight of her busily sketching away. "So, what are you working on?" he asked after a minute, gesturing to Marinette's sketchbook.
Marinette smiled. "It's for one of your father's design contests, actually. The one with the 'The Four Seasons' theme. I've already finished Spring and I'm working on Winter, and right now I'm trying to figure out what to do for Summer. So far I'm kind of leaning towards an almost tie-dyed look, something to showcase the vibrancy and vitality of summer."
"Wait a sec," said Adrien, "You're entering dresses for all four seasons?"
"There's no rule against it," said Marinette with a cheeky smile. "And four entries means four times the chance to win something, right?"
"Yeah, but it also means four times the work," said Adrien. "Seriously, how are you finding the time to make four different dresses, go to school, fight akumas, and get any sleep?"
"Same way you manage to find time to do schoolwork, model, and fight akumas," said Marinette.
"Ok, fair point…"
Adrien trailed off, his gaze suddenly drawn to the flashes of white light coming from behind the potted plant in one corner.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing.
Marinette twisted in her seat. "I have no idea," she admitted. "Let's find out."
They tiptoed over and leaned in for a closer look. In the corner behind the plant was a pulsing orb of brilliant white light. Adrien and Marinette both glanced back and forth from the flashing ball of light to each other a couple of times, identical expressions of bewilderment on their faces. Finally, Adrien shrugged and, before he could have an attack of common sense, quickly poked at the ball of light.
As soon as Adrien touched the orb, it exploded into twin bolts of energy. A bolt of green fire shot towards Adrien, slammed into his leg, and exploded into Plagg. The cat-kwami's pupils were hugely dilated, the tip of his tail was twitching back and forth, and he had a huge grin on his face. At the same moment, a bolt of red light shot in the opposite direction, hit the wall, and exploded into an equally smiling Tikki, who let out a string of chiming giggles.
"Oi," said Plagg, "give a kwami a little privacy, would you?" He looked as though he were trying to glare at Adrien, but he couldn't seem to suppress his grin.
"Uh… buh… wah," sputtered Marinette.
My sentiments exactly, thought Adrien. He instantly decided not to ask any further questions. There was all too great a chance Plagg might actually answer them.
Suddenly, he saw Marinette's eyes go wide. "Tikki, spots on! Duck!" she barked. Adrien dropped to the balcony deck and called, "Plagg, claws out!" He heard the whir of Marinette's yo-yo as it shot through the air above him, and then the transformation hit. As soon as his vision cleared, he rolled to one side and sprang to his feet in time to see Marinette's yo-yo fly back to her hand.
"Goddamnit!" she snarled. "I missed!"
"Missed what?" asked Cat Noir, though he suspected he knew the answer.
As if to confirm his suspicions, there was a bellow of fury and numerous shrieks of terror from the shop below them.
"Akuma," said Ladybug.
Marinette flipped over the railing and landed on the sidewalk before almost being bowled over by fleeing shoppers. More were trying to force their way out through the doors, too many bodies trying to fit through too small an opening.
Suddenly there was a bellow of pain and fury from inside, and a moment later, Officer Raincomprix came flying out through the window, landing in the middle of the street in a mess of blood, shattered glass, and smashed display pastries.
Marinette dashed over to him. "Are you alright, Sir?" she asked, extending a hand to help him up.
"I'll be fine, it looks worse than it is," he said, staggering to his feet and limping over to the sidewalk. "You take care of that akuma."
Marinette turned to get her first look inside the shop. The akuma was shaped something like a hugely obese boy, albeit one taller and broader than her father. Its skin was the color of bread dough, and its mouth had swollen to impossible dimensions, stretching from almost literally from ear to ear. It was rubbing at its piggy little eyes with one flabby arm when Marinette first got a look at it, but even as she watched it turned to one of the display tables and began to shovel bread and stand alike into its maw.
Before Marinette could figure out what to do next, Cat Noir leapt through the broken window and smacked the akuma in the rear with his staff. The akuma bellowed and spun around, one pudgy hand grabbing for Cat Noir. Adrien ducked under the grasping fist and jabbed the akuma in the belly with the end of his staff before backflipping out onto the street. The akuma glared at him for a moment and then snarled "GO AWAY! DOUGHBOY WANT EAT!" before turning to smash open one of the display cases and starting to shovel the food within into its gaping mouth, along with quite a lot of broken glass.
"Any idea what the akuma might be hiding in?" asked Marinette. She bounced her yo-yo off the back of Doughboy's head, and it yelped and spun around to glare at her.
"No idea," said Cat Noir. "Nothing seemed particularly out of place. Maybe…"
At that point Doughboy grabbed an empty table and threw it at Marinette, with another yell of "GO AWAY!". She leapt over it and it smashed through the front window of the store on the opposite side of the street. The akuma turned around, but before it could go back to gorging, Cat Noir charged into the wrecked bakery and smacked it in the rear again. It spun around yet again, and swiped at Cat Noir, who ducked under Doughboy's grasping fingers and jabbed at its eye with the end of his staff. The staff ended up hitting Doughboy in the nose, prompting it to let out another bellow of anger. This time, when Cat Noir rolled to his feet and sprang out into the street, Doughboy lumbered out after him. Marinette darted one way, bopping Doughboy in the head with her yo-yo. It turned to chase her, at which point Adrien darted in and smacked it in the rear for a third time. It spun around again and went lumbering after Cat Noir, who dashed off down the street.
In the distance, past Doughboy and Cat Noir, Marinette saw Alya round a corner and skid to a halt, phone already up and recording.
Cat Noir skidded to a halt and planted his staff like a pikeman bracing for a cavalry charge. It elongated, and Doughboy rammed itself into the upraised end. The akuma let out a howl of pain as the silvery metal sank into its bulging gut.
"Lucky Charm!" called Marinette, tossing her yo-yo up in the air. She still had no idea what the akuma was hiding in, but maybe the Charm would give her a clue.
Cat Noir thumbed the pawprint on his staff, retracting it to baton-length even as Doughboy grabbed for it. Behind the akuma, he heard his Lady calling for her Charm.
Guess that leaves me playing matador, he thought as Doughboy charged at him again. He leapt to the side… and the akuma went charging right past him, barreling towards Alya.
Shit, thought Cat Noir, and he leapt up and over the akuma, calling "Cataclysm!" even as he went flipping through the air. He felt the fiery energies of the Black Cat magic surge down his arm and pool in his hand, and he clenched his fist, wreathing it in an aura of primal destruction. He landed in a crouch on his feet and non-charged hand between Alya and the onrushing akuma, and slapped his other hand against the pavement. The ground crumbled out from under Doughboy, dropping it into an impromptu pit.
Adrien straightened to his feet, and spotted his Lady coming running up towards them, carrying a spotted red-and-black pair of comically oversized scissors like those Mayor Bourgeoise used for ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Doughboy was starting to try and clamber out of the pit, so Cat Noir whacked it in the head with his staff.
"You might want to get a bit further back!" he called over his shoulder to Alya as he jabbed at Doughboy's face, keeping its attention on him and forcing it to abandon trying to climb out in order to ward off his blows. Behind the akuma, Ladybug leapt into the pit, scissors brandished. As she leapt down, she caught Doughboy's shirt in between the jaws of the scissors, slicing it from top to bottom in one swift motion.
The akuma peeled out of the ruined shirt in a flash of shadow, but had barely even started to try and fly away when, with a cry of "Time to de-evilize!", Ladybug's yo-yo flashed out to snap it up.
"Gotcha!" crowed Ladybug as the yo-yo smacked into her palm.
Cat Noir turned and shot a broad smile at Alya's phone, turning around just in time to see the now-purified moth flutter away.
"Amazing, isn't she?" he commented.
"That she is," said Alya with a grin.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" called Marinette. Cat Noir saw the scissors go flying up into the air, where they exploded into a blizzard of sparkly magic ladybugs. When the swarm had cleared, Ladybug was standing next to a young boy, nearly as fat as a human as he'd been as an akuma, on the once-more-intact street. The Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie sparkled in the sunlight, all the damage undone and all the goods back where they belonged.
Cat Noir stepped forward, raising his fist to meet Ladybug's.
"Pound it!" they chorused.
"Ladybug, is there anything you'd like to share with your fans?" Alya asked, pushing past Cat Noir to get a closer shot of Ladybug.
"Sorry," said Marinette, "but I've got to find this little fellow's parents before we can do an interview. Cat Noir, do you think you could keep an eye on him for a minute, make sure he doesn't wander off?"
"No paw-blem, Milady," said Cat Noir cheerfully. "Well," he commented to Alya's phone, "at least our little… what's your name anyway, little fellow?"
"Dudley," the boy said.
"At least Dudley here has good taste," Cat Noir continued. "If there is any boulangerie in Paris whose pastries are worth being akumatized over, it would have to be this one."
"Really?" commented Alya, perking up. "I didn't know you were a customer of the Dupain-Chengs."
Cat Noir laughed. "How would you expect to know, Madame Ladyblogger?" he asked. "You have no idea who I am when I'm not wearing the mask. For all you know, I could work there."
His ring chimed, and he glanced down to see one of the paw pads wink out.
"Oh, so you've been to the Dupain-Cheng's in your civilian identity?" asked Alya.
"In both my identities, believe it or not," he said with a smirk.
"Seriously?" asked Alya. But before she could say anything more, a new voice rang out.
"DUDDIKINS! ICKLE DUDDIKINS!" A rather plain woman in a blue dress rounded the corner and came dashing towards Dudley, with a burly man with an impressive moustache puffing in her wake. Ladybug zoomed by over their heads to skid to a landing next to Cat Noir.
"Momma!" said Dudley, and rushed to meet the woman. She dropped down to one knee and pulled him into a hug. Marinette smiled slightly beneath her mask. Around them, customers began to pour back into the street, hoping to get back in line in a better position than they'd been in when the akuma showed up. Alya, Cat Noir, and Ladybug stepped back to avoid getting trampled.
"So, Ladybug," asked Alya, "Cat Noir tells me he's a regular at the Dupain-Cheng boulangerie. Do you and he go on dates there?"
Marinette facepalmed. "Honestly, do you have nothing better to do than speculate about our personal lives?" Her earrings chirped as if in agreement.
"Do you seriously not expect people to speculate about your secret identities?" protested Alya. "You're superheroes! Reporters are always speculating about what superheroes are like beneath the mask."
Cat Noir felt a slight flicker of disappointment as his ring chimed. He'd been hoping to tweak Alya's tail a bit, give her some juicy snippets that didn't actually reveal anything but would start another flurry of speculation on the Ladyblog fora. But his Lady had chosen to go a different route, and he wasn't about to contradict her lead.
"Look, for the hundredth time," Ladybug protested, "if Cat Noir and I were dating, it would be nobody's business but ours. We're superheroes, not celebrities. And speaking of which, I think I'd better be off. Bug out!" Her yo-yo shot out and she flew up into the air.
"Me-out!" called Cat Noir over his shoulder as he leapt up after her.
As Ladybug and Cat Noir disappeared over the edge of the roof, Alya tapped her phone to switch to the camera pointed at her.
"Well there you have it, Ladyblog fans!" she said. "Once again, Paris has been saved by the Miraculous Ladybug! See you next time, whenever that may be!"
She thumbed off the livestream and finally let her smile relax.
Well, she thought, that could have ended better. Still, at least I got some good footage, and that banter with Cat Noir. That'll make a nice addition to the blog.
She glanced at the clock on one corner of her phone display. Hmm… As long as I'm here, might as well pop in and get some pastries. There's still plenty of time until lunch break is over, and the line's a lot shorter now.
She trotted over to the crosswalk, and was waiting for the lights to turn when she heard a familiar voice call her name from behind her. She turned to see Adrien and Marinette walk up hand-in-hand.
"Hello, lovebirds," she said with a grin. "What are you doing here, Adrien?"
"I had time after I finished lunch, and my father was busy, so I thought I'd drop by Marinette's," said Adrien with a smile. "You here for the akuma attack, or did you just want a snack?"
"The akuma attack," said Alya as the three of them set out across the crosswalk. "Though as long as I'm here, I might as well grab a snack. Shame you missed the ending on the attack, it was a pretty good one."
"Oh, I'm sure you caught it," said Marinette with a smile. "And I, for one, would much rather watch akuma attacks on the Ladyblog than experience them in person."
"Thanks for your confidence in my journalism, girl," Alya replied.
"So, any Chloe-related problems at lunch?" asked Marinette as they entered the store.
"Nothing too bad, at least not that I caught," said Alya. "Just the usual levels of brattiness."
"Ok, that's good," said Marinette.
"Which reminds me, I had an idea I wanted to run by you," said Alya. "What if we deliberately pushed Chloe's buttons a bit, brought up you two's relationship in front of her, to try and get her reactions on-camera. If we can get video documentation of her reacting weirdly, that'll be a huge help in getting her dad to accept the truth."
Adrien winced. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he said. "If she isn't as far gone as we think, then we'll just be pushing her into akumatization again. And I really don't want to find out what her next form might be like."
"Good point," admitted Alya. "But isn't there kind of that risk anyway? If Chloe's unstable, then there's no telling what will set her off."
"True," admitted Adrien, "but her delusional state doesn't seem to be progressing towards akumatization. Actually, come to think of it… I noticed she looked really out of it all yesterday after the akuma, and now this morning she's in full denial. Do you think Ladybug's magic put her in denial on purpose, so she wouldn't go akuma again upon seeing us together? Like a coping mechanism?"
Before Alya could respond, the person in front of them stepped aside and they were at the counter.
A few minutes later, all three of them were making their way back towards the school, munching on Dupain-Cheng pastries (and Alya noticed Marinette slipping a couple of wrapped cookies into her purse for later).
"So what are we going to do about Chloe?" asked Alya.
"Dunno," said Adrien. "Seems to me all we can do for now is wait, document as much as we can, and try and get more information. You were right earlier, Alya. Documenting what's going on is going to be vital to getting Mayor Bourgeoise to believe this."
"Besides," he continued optimistically, "who knows? Maybe she'll come out of it on her own in a few days."
"I doubt that," said Alya with a smirk, "but it's worth a try."