Perched safely on top of a building, Ladybug surveyed the trail of debris left behind by the Whammer. Her yo-yo buzzed, and she flipped it open. Huggy's face took up most of the screen, with nondescript buildings filling the background.
"The Whammer's out and about," Ladybug said. Huggy's eyes widened and he chattered worriedly. "Me too," she replied, glancing up momentarily. "I think he's heading towards the museum, but I can't tell for sure. Where are you, and where's Miss Question?"
Huggy tilted his communicator, showing her a view of City Hall and Miss Question flitting around the pillars and taking aim at random, terrified passerby. Ladybug sighed. "Why is she… ugh, never mind. Can you try and steer her closer to my location? If we can get them in the same place, maybe we can use their powers against each other. It'll at least give us a better chance against them than taking them on alone."
Huggy nodded, and the screen went dark. Ladybug flipped the yo-yo closed and moved to put it away, but stopped when she saw the center dot flash green, indicating that the Cat Noir miraculous had been activated. Her heart leapt to her chest. She flipped open the device and looked at the map - he was only a few blocks away, right next to the car crash.
She probably passed him in the street and had no idea.
Ladybug stared at the green paw-print for another long moment, then snapped the yo-yo shut and leapt up to follow the Whammer's path of destruction. From the rooftops, she swung past Miss Question and Huggy's sort-of fight without a second glance.
•••
Cat Noir sprinted through the streets as he followed the Whammer's path of destruction. He had no idea how to beat the villain, but he was certain he'd figure something out when he got there. He was a genius, after all.
A camera flash brought him back to reality, and he nearly tripped in surprise. The jolt brought him to a jog, which slowed to a stop as he realized that there were people around him, staring.
Thankfully, he saw no flicker of recognition on their faces.
Tobey cleared his throat and awkwardly motioned something between a salute and a wave. A little kid waved back, but everyone else stood still, waiting for something. For him to do something.
"Greetings, citizens of Fair City. As your newest h- hero," he stumbled, "I'm here to save you all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an akuma to defeat." He didn't stick around to see their reactions.
He'd only run half a block further before the familiar voice of Miss Question reached his new ears.
•••
Huggy was doing his best to keep people out of danger, but he just couldn't keep up with Miss Question when she had no rhyme or reason to her attacks. One moment aiming a confusion ray at the Mayor leaving City Hall, the next cackling as she perched on top of the building's roof - Huggy wasn't sure how long he could keep this up, let alone lure her somewhere else. She'd made it obvious that she was content right where she was, and Huggy had no bargaining chips.
He switched on his communicator and relayed a short message to Ladybug - I can't get her to move - then ducked as the villain shot yet another amnesia blast at his face.
A few seconds later, Ladybug's voice replied. "I can't get the Whammer to move any closer to you, either. I think they're trying to stay away from each other. Honestly, I'm running of ideas here -"
A third voice replied from behind Huggy. "Ahem. Maybe I could be of service?"
•••
"Who's that?" Ladybug asked, watching the Whammer carefully from a nearby rooftop. He had taken to stalking up and down the street and shooting low-power whams that bent the top of each streetlamp at odd angles, but disturbed nothing else. That meant he was saving energy now.
"Cat Noir, apparently."
"What?" The new person was saying something else now, but she couldn't catch all of it. "Huggy. Is he here to help?"
"I think so?"
"Good. Get Miss Question to chase him - let's meet halfway. After that, emergency plan number eight-hundred and three should work." She snapped the communicator shut and got ready to strike.
•••
"Cat Noir?" Miss Question announced gleefully. "Not as much of a scaredy-cat as Hawkmoth thought, then?"
"Oh, please," Tobey scoffed, glaring up at the villain. He held his baton in his left hand tightly, though he had no idea what to do with the weapon yet. "As if I'd be intimidated by your powers."
"Ooh, well aren't you an arrogant kid?" she laughed, flying a bit closer to the ground. "What, you get some magic ring and you think you can just show up and defeat me? Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?"
Miss Question shot a confusion ray at him and he stumbled to the side. She shot a second one and he flinched, accidentally raising the baton in front of him. The golden beam reflected off of it and vanished as it hit the pavement between them, leaving behind a scorched mark.
Tobey let out something between a laugh and sigh of relief, then straightened up and pointed his baton directly at her, striking what he hoped was a dramatic and intimidating pose. "I do, in fact, know exactly what I'm getting into. Do you?"
•••
Captain Huggyface, who had been watching from the sidelines and muttering into his communicator, suddenly chattered loudly and ran up to Cat Noir. "What -" he exclaimed as the monkey dragged him away from the villain. "What are you doing?" he said, almost in a whine. "I was about to defeat her."
Huggy rolled his eyes and waved to Miss Question, who returned the gesture in a silent agreement to a time-out. She turned away as Hawkmoth's mask appeared over her face and began to argue quietly.
Huggy began to explain Ladybug's plan, but stopped when Cat Noir just stared at him, utterly lost. Right, you can't understand me. He sighed and began typing on his communicator. The paw print on Cat Noir's baton blinked blue and the boy stared at it, flummoxed. Huggy rolled his eyes, reached over, and pressed it for him. It shrank down and the back half slid up, displaying a bunch of buttons and a screen with a text message on it.
"Lure her towards museum, Ladybug has a plan," Tobey read quietly. "Do I have the privilege of knowing what that plan is?" Huggy shrugged and typed. "'Later.' Well, that's extremely unhelpful."
A blast of question marks that landed by their feet startled both of them. Miss Question had flown much higher now; Hawkmoth's mask still lined her face but she was staring past it, at them. Her mouth opened in preparation for some witty question, but Tobey beat her to it.
"You want this, Hawkmoth?" Tobey shouted, holding up his gloved hand so Miss Question and company could see the ring. "Come and get it."
If he was akumatized, Tobey would have a million different options for winning this battle. If a more experienced superhero was in his place, they'd know exactly what to do. Tobey, however, was neither. He had a magical stick he barely knew how to wield, a seemingly limitless amount of stamina, an unfortunate lack of physical coordination, his brilliant mind, and… well, that was it. So he did the one thing he'd proven himself to be surprisingly good at that day.
He ran.
•••
An antique airplane model and the patch of ceiling it was attached to crashed to the floor beside Ladybug as she lost hold of her yo-yo's string, letting the Whammer's fists slam together. She backed up, dancing over broken vases and glass to try and get away from the battle for a moment.
The Whammer readied himself for another blast towards her and she launched back into battle mode. Her super-hearing picked up the familiar taunts of Miss Question, but she ignored the voice and stayed focused.
That was, until a black form dropped from the sky onto the floor into a crouch between her and the Whammer. The villain stopped mid-wham, startled. Ladybug simply stared.
The form straightened up, revealing signature black cat ears crowning an unfamiliar mess of blond hair. He whirled around to face her, sky-blue eyes blown wide in panic, then glanced up at the lack of ceiling he'd just fallen through and effectively scampered to the closest wall. He was breathing hard; the baton he clutched like a lifeline amplified how his hands shook, either from nerves or exertion. Great.
Miss Question swooped down a moment later to the place he'd just stood. She caught sight of the Whammer and groaned. "How did I fall for that?" she muttered. The Whammer sent her an unreciprocated wave.
Miss Question's face was suddenly enveloped in blue and brown. She yelled something muffled by monkey fur and tried, unsuccessfully, to pry Huggy off of her face. She stumbled dangerously close to the edge of her floating question mark, arms searching for something stable to grab onto.
"Good, Huggy!" Ladybug shouted. "Keep her distracted -"
The Whammer shot a blast towards Miss Question's head and sent her and Huggy flying in different directions.
"What were you thinking?!" Miss Question yelled, massaging her head as she got up .
"Oh sorry, didn't wham you there!"
"What, yes you - can you speak normally for once?"
"Sure wham," the Whammer replied, and Miss Question looked like she wanted to bang her head against the wall.
As the two of them bickered, Ladybug glanced towards Cat Noir, who hadn't moved an inch. She rolled her eyes and smirked to silently communicate her amusement at the villains' antics. He returned the smile, looking slightly less tense.
But then she side-stepped towards him, and an odd expression flashed across his face. Surprise? Fear, maybe? Weird. She didn't think her public persona was that intimidating….
"Formal introductions have to wait," she whispered. "Right now, we need to figure out how to either take them out separately or use their attacks on each other. Have you used Cataclysm yet today?"
"No, I hav-" the boy cleared his throat, "-haven't".
"Good," she said, speaking low and fast. "Use it only when you must, you have five minutes after using it before you have to detransform and re-energize your kwami. They're going to try and stay away from each other, but if we can lure them into adjacent rooms and use Cataclysm on the wall separating them -"
She broke into a grin. Cat Noir frowned at her. "What?"
"Cataclysm!" she repeated, eyes shining. "I can use Lucky Charm again!"
"How does that… oh," he said, recognition dawning on his face. "Uh, good?"
They both flinched away as a golden blast of question marks scorched the wall between them. Ladybug somersaulted to take refuge behind a display, and after a moment of hesitation Cat Noir followed.
"This is terrific! This fight should be a breeze."
"Is anyone else getting bored?" Miss Question called out. "Are you really playing the mouse so soon, Cat Noir?"
"Huggy and I will figure something out, you just need to lead the Whammer to the sculpture room. Go!" Before he could respond she released her yo-yo towards the ceiling. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted, and the room filled with pink light. A shiny frying pan materialized and fell into her waiting hands.
•••
Tobey hadn't seen Ladybug - at least, in person and this close - for months. When she had turned towards him and grinned while the villains bickered, his breath caught like it was the first time he'd ever seen her.
He had drastically, fatally underestimated how nerve-wracking this would be - facing Ladybug after so long, not giving himself away immediately, pretending that he'd never met her before, that she didn't mean the absolute world to him. He felt his cheeks start to warm as she began to walk towards him, and was suddenly very, very thankful for the mask the ring had granted him.
His mind stalled, every possible introduction line he'd spent the past few days obsessing over vanishing. Ladybug beat him to it, being as business-oriented as ever. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to stammer something out, let alone remember to drop his accent. Somehow, though, her mere presence made everything feel more real, and he listened intently to her instructions before Miss Question forced them to split.
The battle was over sooner than Tobey had expected. Staying out of the Whammer's way was difficult, but by the time he'd been cornered against a wall Ladybug was already ready to go. Of course she was.
He heard her yell now! through the wall and shouted the word he'd been repeating in his head over and over - Cataclysm - in response. His hands, which were both pressed against the wall behind him, buzzed with a sudden rush of energy. The wall began to crumble underneath his fingers - it had worked.
Tobey fell to the ground as the Whammer's wham shot towards him. A panicked shout sounded from the room behind him. The villain in front of him staggered suddenly, and Tobey suddenly noticed the yellow glow around the man's head. How -
"Good work, Huggy!" Ladybug's triumphant voice rang through the wreck of a museum, and he turned towards the sound. She was looking at - no, past him now, at the Whammer. The villain groaned; dark magic seeped out of him and converged into a small black butterfly, which only managed to fly a few feet before being captured in Ladybug's red disc and purified. Tobey scrambled to his feet as she walked towards him. His ring beeped.
"Hey, great work from you, too," she said, and his heart soared at the sight of her smile. It had been too long since he'd been fortunate enough to see it up close. "What's your name? Hero name, of course," she added quickly. "Civilian identities stay secret."
"I hadn't really -" he stumbled as he met her golden-brown eyes - "thought about it."
"Well, if you want something unique you're gonna have to think fast," she said, and pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the front entrance. "You can't stay in the shadows forever, you know."
Police were filtering in now with handcuffs ready for the villains, and several reporters tagged along behind them (it was no surprise to see Scoops and Rose at the forefront). "I know," he said, glancing at them nervously. "But I'm not - I don't know if -"
"Not ready? You only need to be out there for a minute or so, but if you aren't feeling up to it that's totally fine," she said, and he hated the twinge of pity he heard in her voice. No, that wasn't it - he had faced reporters a million times, he used to love the attention! He didn't trust himself to not give away his identity, not in the state he was in… yes, that was definitely the only reason why he hesitated to face the crowd.
He took a deep breath. "No, I am. Let's go."
•••
Hero.
What's your name?
Are you here to stay, Cat Noir?
How old are you? Are you from Fair City? Do you think you're prepared to face the challenges of fighting akumas?
Do you know what happened to the last Cat Noir?
Tobey managed to channel the confidence of his younger self at first, but all the confidence in the world wouldn't be able to answer the amount of questions shouted at him in the short amount of time he had left. There were a fair amount directed at Ladybug as well, which she seemed to answer with ease.
"Classified, yes, yes, and no," he answered loudly, then nudged Ladybug as his ring beeped again. "I'm afraid I must take my leave," he said.
She nodded. "I should, too. Hey, can you meet tomorrow night? I'm busy today."
"I'm free all of tomorrow."
"Perfect! Let's meet at the clock tower around eight."
"I look forward to it," he returned as they both waved at the crowd one last time.
•••
"Claws in," Tobey whispered, and sank to the ground with a dazed smile. He could still hear people chatting in front of the museum, and decided to stay behind the bush he'd found by the back door a bit longer.
This was really happening.
He'd completely botched his first impression, but everything had worked out well in the end. He could absolutely pull off this whole hero shtick, long enough for him to win Ladybug's heart one way or another.
(And if that took quite a while, well, that was all right with him.)