Bloom

"Oh for goodness sake!"

We were trapped in net. And we couldn't get out. But let me rewind just a little bit.

Sky and I started at the start line, as did Ladybug and Chat.

"On your marks," Ladybug began, "get set, GO!"

We all started running, but Ladybug dove to the left, and Chat to the right. From their laughter, I guessed they had found each other again, but we couldn't see them.

I flew upwards but they were nowhere in sight. I dropped back down again.

"Let's just go forwards," I suggested, and Sky whistled for his bike.

We both headed forwards, with me flying and Sky riding his bike. However, the route wasn't straight: we kept being met by corners, bends and dead ends.

"I think we're lost," Sky finally said. We stopped.

We knew that the Parisian duo probably had won by now, but the real test was to see how long Sky and I took to get there.

I scanned ahead. There was a crossroads.

"You take the lead, Sky. I took the lead last time."

"Alright." He looked either way, and finally pointed to the left.

The road was too narrow though, so Sky dropped off his bike. He ran and I followed.

We were just about to turn a corner when Sky stepped forwards, me just behind, and we were flung upwards into the air.

Yelling, I put my hands in front of my head to brace myself. Then I realised I wasn't moving anymore. And also that I felt very squashed.

I opened an eye.

Gasping, I tried to sit. But I was pressed against a net on one side, and against Sky on the other.

We struggled but it was no use.

I was just about to shoot fire at it when Sky grabbed my wrist.

"If you blast it, we could get burned too," he pointed out. I looked at him. "Well, I would get burned."

"Okay, but how do we get out of here?"

"Working on it."

Sky dug into his pockets and brought out a small device. "Heroes assistant, remember?" he smirked.

Oh right. It was this small device that could do useful things to help heroes out. Mostly it would blast things, but hey, it was the best shot we had so I wasn't going to complain. Sky's sword wouldn't be any use here as we'd both get skewered in this tight fit.

"I upgraded it just before we left," he said, fiddling with the controls. "There should be a sharp, pointy thing somewhere-"he was cut off by a small blade that shot out at the side of the device. "Bingo!"

It was tiny, but using it Sky gnawed at the net. It took a few minutes but he cut out a hole big enough for us to get out.

"Let's go that way," I said, pointing forwards, and we both ran.

Finally, the road became big enough so I could actually fly again. My wings had been pressed against each other in that narrow passageway so I couldn't flap them.

Shooting upwards, but not too high, I noticed thin wires held perpendicular to the buildings on a path just in front. I could barely see them, but tilting my head helped as the light from the moon glinted off of the wires.

Without thinking twice I blasted at the wires. They burnt and snapped through.

"All clear!" I yelled and motioned Sky onwards.

I was just about to fly straight when I slammed into something. "AAAH!" I screamed as I tumbled backwards from the air straight to the ground.

"Got you!" Sky said, catching me.

I smiled gratefully. But I felt something strange.

"Hang on, what's going- WAAH!"

We plummeted downwards.

"Oof," Sky groaned when we crashed.

Wow, so many traps in one place. The superheroes must have guessed we would have come this way. Well, we really didn't know the area. Our best bet was to just go straight as much as possible.

Heaving, I lifted myself up and looked above. We had walked straight into a pitfall. Luckily, it wasn't too deep.

"Grab my hand," I instructed to him. He held it firmly.

Mustering as much strength as I could, I bent my knees and aimed upwards. Thankfully, my wings were strong enough to hoist us both up and land us on the path again.

I looked up to see what I had bumped into to make me fall and ultimately result in both of us falling down the hole. On closer inspection, it looked like a sheet of cling-film had been attached from one window to the other.

Ladybug and Chat were good. They had guessed I was flying and had planned a trap accordingly. And clingfilm was clear! You could barely see it if you didn't look closely.

"We should tread a little more carefully now, or we'll take even longer," Sky mentioned. I nodded curtly and we jogged, rather than sprint.

Dodging another net and pitfalls on the way there, we could almost see the stadium.

Weaving through the streets we finally came closer to the area.

"All right, let's fly up and land on the green," and I stepped forward to launch myself into the air.

But I couldn't move.

"Huh?" I exclaimed in confusion. Why wasn't I in the air by now?

I looked down and growled. I had stepped into a puddle of sticky, gloopy tar.

"Bloom, wait I'll help you!" Sky rushed forwards.

"No!" I yelled but it was too late.

Sky didn't see the puddle of tar in front of him because of the dark, and as he rushed towards me he stepped right into the middle of it.

"Great," I muttered, as we both struggled.

And then it hit me.

"Heat!" I said excitedly, snapping my fingers. "Heat will make the tar melt and we'll be able to get free!"

I pointed my palms to my feet which were thoroughly stuck in the black, treacle mess and concentrated. A glow of heat emanated.

Sadly, it was slow. But it was our best shot.

Sure enough, the tar started to melt. I pulled free and helped Sky.

"Alright, here we go!"

We jumped up and landed on the green.

Chat Noir

"You think we made the traps too hard?" I asked.

Ladybug was standing beside me. In the moonlight, her hair was darker with tints of blue coming out here and there. She looked…older, more refined. Her face held a thoughtful expression.

"No," she said finally, "they're both tough. They can handle this."

"But are you sure they'll take the path we think they will?"

She smirked. "You were right that they don't know this area Chat. So they will take the easiest route. They don't know our shortcuts. So, yes, they will take the path we think they will."

I looked at the stopwatch I had set up. "It's been quite a while."

"If its less than 15 minutes, well then that's pretty impressive."

"Well, we may as well sit."

I sat down and stared up into the sky. The night sky was unpolluted enough that stars were visible and constellations decked the galactic ceiling.

Somewhere out there, lay an answer about me and my life, my soulmate and my future. Somewhere in the Universe there was something that would answer my questions and one day, everything would finally make sense.

"Chat," Ladybug said softly, "what are you thinking?"

I sighed and smiled at her. "I was wondering when I'll find out the truth," I confessed. I saw her freeze; it was only a slight movement but I knew her so well I could see it.

"The truth about what? Our identities?"

I tilted my head. "Well, that's one part of it, I guess," I hedged, "but don't you ever think of finding the truth about your own life? About what it means, and what it'll hold? Of why there is mess and when it can get fixed?"

She stared at the ground. It was a long pause until she spoke again.

"My my, Chat," she laughed hollowly, "you are so different now, I wonder if you notice it yourself."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess people around you can make you change, or make it seem like you've changed. Maybe people bring out parts in you that were already there and others have just never noticed it before."

I stopped. Her eyes had started to water.

"My lady," I faltered, alarmingly, "I'm sorry, I went too far-"

She clamped my mouth shut with her hand.

"No Chat," she whispered. "It's me who's gone too far. And I'm so, so sorry."

Getting a bit emotional at the end!

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