Let's Take It From The Top, Chapter 2: The Opening Act
Adrien recoiled in fear... only to see the bright light replaced by a tiny, floating, harmless-looking black cat.
"No WAY!" marveled Adrien. "Like the genie in the lamp!"
The cat grinned at him. "I met him once. So he grants wishes.. big deal! I'm way more personable! Plagg. Nice to meet you. About time your dad gave me to somebody."
"Plagg? That's your name?" asked Adrien. "And he didn't exactly... give you to me..."
"Give, take; possession is nine-tenths of the law. Doesn't bother me how I got here... Yes, kid, I'm Plagg. And you are?" replied the cat.
"I'm Adrien," he said. "Let me do this first..." He closed the safe and restored the portrait to its original position. "C'mon, let's... um... talk!"
Adrien and his surprising new friend headed for his room. The moment they reached the door, Plagg took off flying rapidly, checking out everything he could reach.
"No! Don't touch that! Come back here!" Adrien called, as Plagg approached his foosball table, then his computer, then a video game.
"Ohh! So shiny! Can you eat this? No, you can't. Ooh, what about this?" babbled Plagg.
Across town, a small green figure flew to the side of an old man, as quickly as it could.
"What is it, Wayzz?" asked Master Fu, sensing his distress.
"Master, the Black Cat Miraculous!" panted Wayzz. "I felt its aura! It, too, has been awakened!"
"What?" the old man gasped. "I thought it had been lost forever!"
Wayzz grimaced. "I thought I felt both it and the Moth awaken over the past week - just a flicker from each, so I wasn't sure. If it was the Cat awakening, he went back to sleep very soon after. The Moth's was a little stronger. But this time, there's no doubt - Plagg is active."
"Hmmph! It's likely, then, that one person has recovered both. Them popping up separately at the same time would be too much of a coincidence. What else do you sense from the Cat?"
"It is not a negative aura," said Wayzz. "I feel no evil in it! Not yet, at least. But that it has awakened at all..."
"Indeed," worried Master Fu. "If it was one of the lesser Miraculouses, it could spread evil upon the world. But the Black Cat... could literally DESTROY it if misused! This is a most serious emergency."
He ran to his hidden jewelry box, taking a quick inventory. The twelve Zodiac Miraculouses, the Bee, the Peacock, the Fox and the Ladybug were all in place, and the Turtle remained on Master Fu's wrist. Only the Moth and the Black Cat were unaccounted for.
"What will we do?" asked Wayzz. "The Cat has activated right here in Paris!"
"Good! That will help us locate its host more quickly. But at my age... I will need help."
"Oh, come on, Master. You're only a hundred and eighty-six..." the Kwami replied.
"That's enough, don't you think?" chided Master Fu. "I will go out and see if I can locate a suitable candidate. If the Cat is loose, only the Ladybug stands a chance of capturing him, should that become necessary."
"Who might be a suitable Ladybug in this day and age?" Wayzz wondered.
"I have no idea... yet."
Adrien crept up on the wandering Plagg, leapt suddenly, and grabbed him with both hands. "Okay, so I called you into existence, somehow. I still don't know what you're doing here," he said.
Plagg shrugged. "Look, I'm a Kwami. I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction, got it?"
Adrien shook his head, negatively. "Uh-uh."
"Good. Now, you got anything to eat? I'm starving..." Plagg quipped, prying himself loose and taste-testing the room again.
"I'm serious, Plagg! I read some of that book, I saw the figures in costume, from all over history... is that what you do?" Adrien asked, intently. "Transform people? Do magic?"
"That's a decent way to put it, I guess," allowed Plagg. "If you say the magic words - and where the heck did you get 'A la peanut butter sandwiches' from, kid? - you will become Chat Noir, have amazing powers, and hold pure destruction in your hand when you need it."
"Whoa," Adrien muttered, a bit overwhelmed. "Okay. So... by any chance, do you know a Nooroo?"
Plagg spun around, astonished. "NOOROO is here, too? The Moth Miraculous? Wow, your father is quite the collector!"
"How do you know my father, anyway?" asked Adrien, cautiously.
"He put the ring on, briefly. I told him who and what I was, he thanked me for explaining, then he put me back to sleep," Plagg responded. "He must've talked with Nooroo already and learned what Miraculouses are, because he didn't freak out when he saw me. And now, here you are."
"Yeah, here I am. So... tell me more about who I can become," Adrien asked...
Adrien listened to Plagg's brief recitation of the basics: transformation words, Chat Noir's powers, Cataclysm, the time limit, Miraculouses in general.
"And 'Invoke two... cast your wish.' What is THAT all about?" asked Adrien.
Plagg stared at him. "You... DID actually read the book! I thought you were kidding about that."
"I could only read a little. I'm learning Chinese, but most of the book wasn't in Chinese. Other people had left notes and comments, though. So what does that mean?"
Plagg flew up close. "Listen close, kid. That's some POWERFUL magic that you don't want to mess around with. If you invoke both Creation and Destruction at the same time, you can make a wish with their combined power. It'll come true. But there would be huge side effects, and..."
"For real? A wish?" muttered Adrien.
"Yes, BUT..."
Adrien's mind trailed off as Plagg lectured him on dangerous magic and needing specific Miraculouses and rituals that CAN'T BE INTERRUPTED BECAUSE THEY'RE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IF THEY ARE, ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, HUMAN? and balance in the universe. He couldn't help it. It was as if the tiny cat had said "oh, by the way, this lever right here makes you win the lottery" and expected him not to lunge for it. His rational thought process was tucked away in a box in the back of his mind, labeled "Come back for this later."
There's one thing I want more in the world than anything else... and it might actually be POSSIBLE? How to make it happen might be right here, LITERALLY in my hands?
This all sounds insane! he thought. But so is the idea that I'm arguing about wishes right now, in my room, with a tiny floating cat genie who's glaring at me.
"Creation and Destruction," Adrien mused... "...and you're Destruction."
"Yep, that's me," grinned Plagg.
"And the Moth can create superpowers... so that must be CREATION! I've got it, I can DO this! Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"
Plagg looked panicked. "No, wait! I haven't finished explaininnnnnnnggggggggg..." he called out, as he was sucked into the ring and the transformation began.
This is UNBELIEVABLE!
Chat Noir bounced around the room like a Superball. He was something of an athlete already, between martial arts and fencing... but this was power, agility, and speed like he'd never DREAMED of possessing!
He tried out the baton, launching himself across his room and nearly whacking the ceiling. Laughing, he tumbled back down to the floor and landed cleanly. I probably would've broken both legs landing from that height, if I was myself! This costume is the real deal!
There are so many things I can do with this! Save people... fight crime... join the French national football team...
Chat paused. But that can wait. Before I think of myself... there's someone else whom I need to help first.
A few minutes later, Nooroo felt the pull of awakening once more. "Hello again, Master. Have you... AAAAGGGH!"
The Kwami froze at the realization that it was not Gabriel Agreste holding its brooch... but an unknown Chat Noir!
"Hello... Nooroo, right?" Chat smiled. "Pleased to meet you."
"Yes, I'm... Nooroo. YOU'RE not... you're Gabriel's son, aren't you?" mumbled Nooroo, trying to come to terms with the situation. "How did you get this Miraculous... and HOW did you get the Black Cat, too? This is highly-"
"Relax, Nooroo! I'll put you right back when I'm done. I just need to borrow your power for a minute," said Chat.
"When you're done... what?" asked Nooroo, unsettled. "What is it that you think that you're going to-"
"Nooroo... TRANSFORM ME!"
Chat Noir looked himself over. One Miraculous transformation was crazy enough - getting used to being a superpowered cat-man was going to take a lot of time and practice - but TWO at once was really freaky! Now, his costume was a combination of black and silver, with strange accents and highlights all over it and small white butterflies floating around him.
What do you know, Plagg was right! he thought. The generic transformation words worked just as well.
Okay! So... I've invoked two Miraculouses, but I didn't really see any instructions on how to cast my wish. Plagg said something about a ritual, but I don't know what that involves, so I guess I'll just... try it and see what happens? Figure it out from there?
Chat sat on the floor, in his best impression of a meditative position. He focused his thoughts inward, and thought to himself...
I wish... I had my mother back.
I wish... I had my mother back.
I wish... I had my mother back.
He opened his eyes. Nothing had happened, as far as he could tell.
Of course nothing happened! This is all ridiculous. Magic isn't real, stupid!
Looking down at himself, he thought, And magic not being real explains where this costume and Plagg came from, right?
There's more to it than just wishing out loud. Of course there is. Do I need to be in a specific place, or say specific words, or what?
Chat reopened the safe and picked up the book, very gingerly. He rummaged through its pages, but got nothing new out of it; less, actually, than he'd gotten from the annotations on his father's digital copy. Frustrated, he put it back where he found it, careful not to damage it.
What else did Plagg tell me about? Maybe the wish needs the hidden powers to be activated to work, he considered.
Downstairs, Nathalie was trying to process some projections for a new clothing line, but kept getting distracted.
What IS that boy doing? she wondered. He keeps running back and forth, and now he's yelling something about 'transforming'... I can't get any work done like this. I'd better go see what he's up to.
She closed her folder and marched upstairs, muttering something unpleasant.
Chat reached for one of the butterflies and held it in his hand. He placed his other palm over it and concentrated, and a glowing energy filled it, changing the butterfly from white to a radiant silver color. It rested quietly in his left palm.
Wow! Okay, that's one half of it. Now...
"CATACLYSM!" he called out... and a furious roar of black energy filled his right hand, ready to disintegrate whatever it touched.
He looked over his hands, amazed and a bit taken back by what he saw. Look at me! You're a wizard, Adrien!
...Am I about to do something amazingly stupid here? he wondered. I am so out of my depth right now. What if I screw this up?
But I've come this far... I have to try again. Try harder... make this work... for you, Mom.
Chat concentrated hard on the whirling energies in each hand, light and darkness swirling, slowly moving them towards each other. He reduced his consciousness to one repeated thought:
I want my mother back.
I WANT MY MOTHER BACK.
I WANT-
A hand reached for his shoulder and grabbed him roughly, throwing him completely off-balance. "WHO in the HELL are YOU and WHAT are you DOING in this house? I-" she yelled.
The energies contacted each other abruptly as Chat stumbled...
A pungent explosion filled the room, throwing both woman and cat several meters away!
"NATHALIE!" screamed Chat Noir, horrified, once he got some of his senses back. She was flat on her back, breathing but unmoving.
What the HECK was that? It has to be something about the combination of Miraculous energies... he thought, in a panic. I need to get RID of this other one!
"Nooroo, TRANSFORM ME!" he called out, and reverted to his black cat form. Ripping the brooch off and throwing it aside, he ran to Nathalie to see if she was badly hurt. As far as he could tell, there were no visible injuries, but she was unresponsive and her breathing was shallow.
Quickly, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed Emergency, calling for an ambulance at his address. He heard pounding footsteps coming his way, surely his bodyguard rushing to find out what had just happened.
Think FAST, Adrien! If your bodyguard runs in and you're dressed like this, he'll pound you to a pulp because he won't know who you are. But if you transform back now... what'll happen to you? How will anyone ever believe a shaggy dog story about magic and cat genies? They'll think you attacked her!
Nathalie... what did I DO to you? I'm SO SORRY! I didn't mean... I didn't mean any of this...
A rush of adrenaline and panic swept over the young man. I have to get OUT OF HERE! NOW!
The bodyguard hurtled up the steps, three at a time, rushing to Nathalie's side... and all he saw was a blur of black leather dashing around the corner, then leaping out of Adrien's open window before anyone could catch up to him.
In a blur of motion, he was gone.
Before Chat Noir even realized what he was doing, he was moving at top speed, bouncing up and over rooftops, putting as much distance between him and the disaster he'd just caused as possible.
WHOA! I'm, like, almost FLYING! he thought, forcing himself to come to a brief halt on a particularly high roof. And I leaped up here like it was NOTHING!
And I... do NOT... feel good...
He sank to one knee, the adrenaline overload and guilt both catching up to him abruptly. Did I just KILL Nathalie? Or MAIM her? filled his young head.
Stop it, he ordered himself. She was breathing and looked decent when you ran off, your bodyguard was right there with her, and you called Emergency to come help her. They will do everything they can for Nathalie. If they CAN do anything...
STOP IT! The more I dwell on it right now, the worse I'll be. I have to figure out what to do now.
Where am I going to go? I can't go home like this. I don't know if I can go home, PERIOD. Dad will know that I messed with his magical doodads and screwed everything up and maybe hurt or killed Nathalie! That's a BIT more than breaking curfew...
I can't face him yet. Or Nathalie. I have to figure out what in the world I can say to any of them.
But right now, I have to keep moving...
He vaulted off the roof, unsteadily.
Wayzz flew to Master Fu again... who was unsurprised by his approach. "A disruption so large... even I sensed that," he muttered. "Our mystery Chat Noir has wasted no time. Wayzz, what can you tell me?"
"The Moth has reawakened, as well. So you were right; whoever had the one, likely had both. They tried to do... something in combination. I'm not sure what, but it backfired badly," worried the Kwami.
"Hmmph! So someone has some understanding of the nature of the Miraculouses... and very few people on Earth have that! But an incomplete understanding. They must've mistaken the Moth for the Ladybug, tried to invoke them together, and not known the consequences! And now we are all in very big trouble."
"What would that particular combination do when invoked, Master? I don't recall it ever having been tried," Wayzz asked.
"I have no idea! Because it _has_ never been tried, to my knowledge. The side effects of a miscast invocation could be minor, or they could be catastrophic," the old man grumbled. "So now we have a Black Cat host in an unknown state, with pure destruction in his grasp, roaming Paris. You still sense no evil in him?"
"I don't think so," puzzled Wayzz. "Not so much evil as a profound sadness. Whatever happened, I think this person didn't intend it, and regrets it deeply. The Moth was deactivated again almost instantly. He or she isn't out there to hurt people, which is our one comfort."
"A thin comfort. Not trying to hurt people, but it may have happened already." Master Fu shook his head. "I must find a new Ladybug. And quickly!"
Gabriel Agreste sat in a chair at an art unveiling, bored out of his mind. We may need to stay on good terms with this client, for business reasons... but attending their CEO's wife's art show is like pulling teeth. The woman's skills are pedestrian at best, and her vision tedious. If Adrien had come along, he'd be hiding in the bathroom by now, he smiled.
Gabriel's phone buzzed with an incoming text message, then another, then another in rapid succession. He looked down at it, annoyed, seeing that they were coming from his son's bodyguard. What does that fool want now? I told him that...
That...
The businessman rose to his feet quickly, rushing to gather his belongings. "My apologies, Francois, Ariane... I have an emergency at my home! Something dreadful has happened!"
He ran for the door, typing back as fast as he could, demanding answers. What had happened? Who was responsible? Was Nathalie in an ambulance yet? Would she be all right? Where was his son?
The lack of answers on that last one chilled him most of all.
I am... not going to make it much further, thought Chat. Whatever that explosion did to me, it really drained me! And my ring keeps beeping, for some reason. Plagg said something about that, but I can't think right now.
Next question... where am I?
His blurry eyes looked around and saw a couple of reasonably familiar landmarks. I think I'm near the school. Lots of places to hide there. Not sure if I'll make it that far, though.
Across the street, he saw a small balcony with some lounge chairs and plants on it. Maybe... yeah, that. I'll just go there, curl up for the night, try to sleep... no one will ever know I was there...
He hopped across the street with all the grace and dexterity of a drunken rhino, plopped down on the deck, and crawled towards a chair before passing out.
Once more, his ring beeped, followed by a flash of white light.
Marinette lay on her stomach on her bed, her feet up behind her, listening to some music in her pajamas before trying to go to sleep. She let her mind wander, much like the pencil on her sketchpad was wandering. So far, she'd come up with the beginnings of a landscape drawing, a women's overcoat design that needed some work, and-
*TH-WHUMP!*
What in the HECK was that? she thought, jumping from her bed abruptly. Did someone just drop a bear on my roof? Whatever it was, that hit HARD.
She listened, and didn't hear any movement from downstairs. Mom and Dad are notoriously sound sleepers, but how did THAT not wake them up? she wondered. I could go get Dad... but I know he has to be up bright and early, baking, and I'd hate to make him get up now. Or...
Marinette picked up a baseball bat that she kept in her room for just such an emergency. Or I could go see if that was Santa Claus making a wrong turn, or if someone is messing with the wrong girl tonight.
Cautiously, she climbed the ladder to the roof and popped the hatch open. "Who's there?" she called out, putting all the gruffness and fear-my-mighty-wrath that she could behind a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl's gentle voice.
There was no response.
Okay...
She climbed up onto the balcony, looking around quickly, with bat in hand. "If someone is messing around with me, they're going to regret... it?"
A figure was laying very still next to one of her lounge chairs, having tried to pull himself up onto one of them and fallen short.
Instinctively, Marinette dropped the bat - this sure didn't look like a potential threat to her - and ran to the figure's side. She rolled him over...
"ADRIEN?" she called out, in shock. Adrien Agreste, passed out on my roof? "What... how...?"
I've heard of trying too hard to get a girl's attention, an errant part of her thought, ...but this is ridiculous.
Next time:
* "If you would like to get hit, by all means, please continue."
* Wings are spread.
* Decisions are made.
* Contact is achieved.
* And the dance begins in earnest...