A/N Wow! Thank you all so much for the favourites, follows and comments! I was not expecting to get so much interest in my fic! I hope you like this chapter as much as the previous one. And once again thanks to RoninReverie for the help with the plot and villain name. Xxxxxxxxxxx
Nathalie watched as the man who called himself John ended the call. Slowly he turned around to face her with that sickening grin.
"Now all we have to do is wait. I hope he gives me my money soon. I would hate to get bored."
Nathalie took a deep breath. She tried to keep her wheezing under control as well as also keeping her body and expression as still as possible.
"He's not going to give you the money." She told him simply.
John prowled over to her. He then lifted up his right hand that Nathalie saw was still red from the impact of her face and cupped her jaw. It was hard for her not to immediately recoil at his touch.
"For a pretty face like you, I have a feeling he will."
From his lair Gabriel managed to control his shaking fingers long enough to call Gorilla.
"Are you at her apartment yet?" He asked as soon as he picked up.
Gorilla grunted in affirmation.
"Is she there?"
Through the phone Gabriel could hear the sound of a door being kicked down followed by various scrapes and bangs. A minute later Gorilla gave a grunt of disappointment.
Gabriel felt the glass of his phone crack in his hand. But he stopped before he could snap his phone. He needed to keep himself together for Nathalie's sake. Besides, a man like him always had a back-up plan.
"What kind of bodyguard are you if you let Nathalie disappear from right under nose? If you can't protect her then why should I trust you to look after her my son? You're fired!" He ended the call before he could hear the man's reply.
A few moments later he felt the familiar agony of someone else's pain.
"A bodyguard fired from the job that gives his life purpose. What perfect prey for my little akuma."
Gently he cupped one of the butterflies that surrounded him and infused it with his energy before releasing it into the outside world. Not long after he experienced a surge of power as he found his target. Through the eyes of Gorilla, he saw Nathalie's apartment that had been turned inside out as the man had searched for her. He promised himself that after he found her, he would have someone refurbish it for her.
"Gorilla, I am Hawk Moth. From now on you will be known as Cœur l'fantôme. You were not able to find your boss' assistant, so I will give you the power to do so."
His power grew as he consumed his prey. He saw the transformation in the reflection of Nathalie's mirror. His design was genius. Emilie would have loved it.
He smashed the mirror.
"Maybe she just went out to get some camembert?" Plagg suggested as he stuffed another slice of said cheese into his mouth.
Adrien shook his head. He pressed play on the piano music on his iPod before calling Nathalie yet again only for it to go to voice mail.
"No. Nathalie doesn't just pop out for stuff. She has every second of day planned for the next few months. Or more likely the next few years. She's never missed a day of work even when she was really sick, and father had to send her home. I think something bad has happened to her. Even father is worried about her."
"You can tell when your father is displaying different emotions?"
"Sometimes." Adrien sighed as he lay down on his couch. "And trust me, he was really worried."
He thought back to the time when Nathalie tried to convince his father to let him go to school and invited his friends' round for Christmas. She might not always have succeeded but she tried to help him which was more than most people, especially his father. He didn't know what he'd do without her.
"Well what's point of being a superhero if you can't help the people you care about. You should go out and find her." Plagg said interrupting his thoughts.
Adrien jumped from the couch with new found enthusiasm.
"You're right Plagg. Claws out!"
"Wait! I meant after I finished my camember-ahhh!" the kwami cried as he was sucked into his ring.
Once he transformed, he texted Nino to apologise for not making it for ice-cream and called Ladybug.
"Hello m'lady. I received a tip off that someone could be in danger. Meet me at the usual spot." He said as he jumped over the rooftops of Paris.
"I'm on my way." He heard Ladybug say before she ended to call.
He hopped over a nest of pigeons that followed him for a while as he ran. He leaped between them until he came to the rooftop opposite the fountain near Marinette's bakery. He watched them carry on their path. He may be allergic to birds but sometimes he was jealous of their ability to fly away.
"What's up pussycat?"
He turned around to see the beautiful face of his Ladybug standing in front of him. He then shook the thought from his head. His feelings for Ladybug would have to wait.
"I believe Nathalie Sancoeur assistant to fashion designer Gabriel Agreste is in danger."
"Then we need to find her "Ladybug said, trusting his word immediately. Just not enough to entrust him with her secret identity, a voice in the back of his head added.
"Who told you she was in danger?"
"Adrien Agreste."
"Adrien Agreste?" Ladybug squeaked, her eyes widening as her arms flailed outwards. For some reason the action reminded him of someone. "You know Adrien?"
"No!" He shouted before quickly composing himself. "I mean no I don't. I was just passing by the neighbourhood and he called to me from his window."
"Oh." She said, her appearance deflating. "So, you wouldn't know about his feelings towards any of his friends then?"
"Err no?" Chat Noir answered, unsure what exactly Ladybug was asking. At least she didn't seem to have discovered his secret identity. "Although he seemed like a decent guy. I'm sure he loves all his friends equally."
"Yeah I'm sure he loves them as friends." Ladybug said with a sigh. Before Chat could ask what was wrong she shook her head and resumed her usual confident demeaner. "It doesn't matter. What's important is that we find Nathalie. Adrien is counting on me- err us. And we don't want to let any of our citizens down. Any ideas where we should start?"
"Her apartment would make sense." He suggested.
"Perfect. Wait do you know where it is?"
"Yeah err Adrien told me. Come on. We should hurry."
But before they could move the world was plunged into a flash of darkness.
Nino looked at the beautiful girl sitting on the bench beside him. As bummed as he was that his best bud's old man wasn't letting him go out, being able to spend more time alone with his girlfriend was a more than acceptable compromise.
"Marinette told me she didn't want to go out now that Adrien's not coming." Alya grumbled at her phone. Nino smiled. He was always amazed by Alya's dedication to helping their two best friends get together. They would be perfect for each other if it wasn't for Adrien's total obliviousness and celebrity crush on Ladybug.
Nino took her phone out of her hands much to her protest and replaced it with Andre's ice-cream.
"You spend so much time trying to make other people happy which is one of the many things I love about you. But you need to take time to make yourself happy too." He said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. He marvelled at her blush as she leant against his shoulder
"Thank you Nino. I need to hear that."
"No problem girlfriendette." He leant his head against hers and closed his eyes. However, when he opened them, he found the entire world had become black and white with the shadows much more elongated than they should be for this time of day, and the contrast between the darkness and light exaggerated.
He turned to face Alya who's shock, and confusion mirrored his own. So it wasn't just his eyesight playing up. Then that would mean-
"It has to be another akuma attack." Alya said finishing his thoughts.
Immediately the pair jumped off the bench in an attempt to spot the akumatized villain. But they couldn't see anyone obviously transformed anywhere.
"I think the colours started changing from there." Ayla said pointing at a row of apartments over the bridge before rushing off in that direction.
"Wait!" Nino cried grabbing her hand. "Shouldn't we be heading in like the opposite direction. We haven't got our Miraculous on us. It could be dangerous."
"I know. But even without our Miraculous we could still help. Besides I want to get another scoop for my Ladyblog."
Nino allowed himself to be pulled along by her. That was one of the other things he loved about her. Her desire to help.
They ran over the bridge to the apartments, but they couldn't see anyone there. Nino was about to suggest heading somewhere else when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
"What did you see?" Alya asked, noticing his reaction.
"I dunno. I thought I saw something over there." He pointed at the middle of the road where a band of light separated the shadows from the buildings surrounding it. A moment later, a dark figure wearing an oversized jacket and hat crossed between the shadows before disappearing. His shape was too large and angular to be human.
"I think we just found our new villain." Alya stated. She brought out her phone using her free hand and started live streaming. "Come on."
Nino followed her, hoping that Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived before she got them into trouble.
Chat Noir started at the world of black and white around him. It reminded him of the noir movies his mum used to star in.
"What's going on?" He wondered out loud.
"I don't know. But I bet you my yo-yo it has something to do with Hawk Moth."
"Well then I bet you a date that it doesn't."
Ladybug rolled her eyes. They both knew he probably wasn't going to win. He watched as she brought up the news channel on her yo-yo.
"This is Nadja Chamack with a special live report. Paris has been transported back in time to a 1950s noir film with the entire city now being rendered in black and white. While this has the trademark stamp of Hawk Moths handiwork there have been no confirmed sightings of an akuma victim so far."
"Maybe Alya spotted something." Ladybug said, switching to the ladyblog.
"For those just joining us, we here on the ladyblog believe we may have found Paris' latest supervillain."
The camera showed the black and white street in Paris' more derelict district. A moment later a figure who's features seemed to almost be made of shadows appeared in the light. It could have been an ordinary man if it wasn't for the unnatural way he turned invisible in the shadows.
"I wonder why he hasn't attacked yet." Chat Noir said. Hawk Moth usually made it dangerously obvious where his victims were to attract their attention, so he could steal their miraculous. Was he finally changing his plans?
"I don't know. But I'd rather we defeat him before we find out." Ladybug replied.
"But what about Nathalie?" Chat asked quickly.
Ladybug sighed.
"I'm sorry. The safety of everyone in Paris outweighs the needs of one person who we don't know for certain is in danger. I promise that as soon as this is over we will find her."
Chat Noir nodded reluctantly in understanding. He knew the decision was hurting his Ladybug too. It was her nature to try and save everyone. To put other people's lives over someone else's must be destroying her. But they both knew it was the right thing to do.
To Rose Tiger: Thanks for your comment! I'm glad that I managed to intrigue you! Xxxxxxxxx
To meapuniveverse: Omg thank you and you're welcome! I was so worried that they weren't in character since I'd only just gotten into the show and I hadn't written them before so I'm relived that you felt like they were! Xxxxxxxxx
To mihael kuro usagi: Don't worry there will be a few more chapters! I hope that you continue to enjoy my little story!(Lo siento, no hablo español, así que puse esto en google translate. No te preocupes, habrá algunos capítulos más! Espero que sigas disfrutando mi pequeña historia!) Xxxxxxxxx