Miraculous: Tales of Blaze and Artemis
PokemonFreak90: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! (Not my fault, BTW.) Also, unlike the previous chapters, I'm the one who came up with this chapter's title. Look familiar?
MDM: Okay, I get it! This took forever! Geez! College is really giving me a hard time, but finals are coming up in a couple of weeks. That's one good thing. Maybe with the free time I'll have before the next semester starts, I can update a few other stories that you readers have been eager for more.
But yeah. Onto the more positive stuff, let's see if you guys can get the reference of this chapter's title. Now, I think that you guys have been waiting long enough. Let's get on with Chapter 12! Roll it!
Chapter 12
Kung Food Fighting
One afternoon, Allen and Bianca were in the former's bedroom, Allen pacing back and forth nervously while his best friend and their Kwamis watched him. Bianca was just staring at him blankly, knowing that he was just working himself up over nothing, and it was starting to get on her nerves.
"Come on, dude!" She exclaimed, making her best friend stop in his tracks. "Just ask her out to lunch! It's not that big of a deal. You're Blaze, a charming and good-looking phoenix superhero! Use some of that hero confidence."
Allen glared at her and said, "Well, I don't know if this happens to you, or to Ladybug or Cat Noir, but when I'm my superhero self, I feel like a different person with different feelings that I don't naturally have when I'm just Allen. That's where I get the confidence to talk to Alya when I'm Blaze. Do you act differently or feel differently when you're Artemis, compared to when you're Bianca?"
"Of course I do." She replied. "But I think I'm the only one out of the four of us heroes that is learning to be Artemis while also being Bianca."
"So...how do I let out my inner Blaze?" Allen asked, calming himself, knowing that Bianca was only trying to help him. "I thought that only our transformations could do that to us."
"The way I do it is just to...not separate myself so much." Bianca began to explain. "Artemis and Bianca are both me, but I can be both without revealing my identity. I can rely on Artemis's bravery when I need it to help me overcome some of my problems as Bianca. Claaw told me that the masks give us the courage to be who we are capable of becoming. But it isn't the masks themselves that give us that strength. We've always had that courage somewhere inside of us, we just need to find it again, without the help of a mask. It's a little harder, yes, but not impossible."
Allen took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. "Okay, I'll try it." He said. "But I hope you know what you're talking about, Bianca."
The Canadian auburn-haired girl smiled at him as she tossed him his phone. "Hey, when have I ever let you down?" She asked him.
Allen rolled his eyes at her before unlocking his phone. He went over to his contacts and found Alya's number and pressed it. As he waited for her to answer, he felt his nerves starting to eat at him again. He was about to hang up when he saw the glare from both his best friend and their Kwamis. He gulped again and brought the phone back to his ear just in time to hear Alya answer it.
"Hey, Allen!" She greeted him cheerfully from the other end of the line.
Allen felt his face flush as he cleared his throat. "H-Hi, Alya!" He greeted her back with a slight stammer. "Listen, I, uh, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about."
"Sure. Fire away."
"Well, uh, um…" Allen trailed off, not sure on how to continue. The Kwamis were urging him to keep going, but Bianca was focused on the TV in his room. Her eyes widened when she saw something on the screen.
"Uh, Hoops?" She called, getting her best friend's attention and turning up the volume while pointing over to the screen. There was a news report of the entire Le Grand Paris hotel being covered in gallons of caramel! That had to be the work of another Akuma!
Allen resisted the urge to curse under his breath. Akumas had the worst timing! "Uh, actually, I'm gonna have to call you back. Okay, Alya?" He quickly asked her. "Gotta go!"
After he hung up, he groaned in annoyance. "Why do these kinds of things always happen at the worst time?!" He exclaimed.
"Either it's sheer coincidence, or Hawk Moth actually keeps a schedule about when to attack someone who is vulnerable enough to manipulate." Bianca muttered.
When they looked back at the TV, Allen's eyes widened, along with a smile forming on his face. "I've got an idea! Come on!" He exclaimed, and then rushed out.
"Allen, where are you going?" Bianca asked him as she started chasing after him, both of their Kwamis quickly zipping into her purse. She was confused as to why they didn't just transform and get over to the hotel.
When she finally caught up to him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a nearby alley. "What are you doing?" She hissed at him. "Blaze and Artemis are supposed to be finding a way into the hotel."
Allen then fished out his phone from his pocket. "I can get some footage of the battle for Alya!" He exclaimed. "With this, I can easily ask her out to lunch so that she can see the footage and then upload it to her blog!"
"Uh, it is a great plan, Allen," Bianca began, "-but have you forgotten that we are supposed to be up there fighting the battle, not recording it?"
"But this could be my chance to really make some real progress with her." Allen insisted.
"I thought that you WERE making progress with her." Bianca replied. "Remember what you told me about what happened the other day?"
Flashback
That day, Allen was staying behind at the school to shoot some basketball hoops. Bianca had already gone home, eager to work on recording a new song and uploading it to her blog.
As he was trying to score a three-point shot, Alya came into the gym to wait for Marinette, who was helping with the art club. She then saw Allen make his shot, but it barely missed, the ball spinning on the ring of the hoop before falling off the edge. He ran to get it, and then dribbled back over to the three-point mark. He took a brief second to wipe some sweat off his brow before dribbling the ball in place. Alya then noticed that his whole body seemed to glisten with sweat, and his cheeks were flushed a nice pale red color, drawing more attention to his handsome face.
Right before Allen was about to try again, he saw Alya looking at him from the corner of his eye. His flushed cheeks turned a little more red when he caught her staring at him. But then, he decided to take a couple of deep breaths before playing it cool.
"You like what you see?" He asked her, turning around to face her with a cheeky smile.
Alya's eyes widened, realizing that she had gotten caught, and she felt her face beginning to heat up with embarrassment.
"Um...would you be totally weirded out if I said yes?" She asked him, hoping that she didn't sound too nervous.
Allen smiled at her. "Not at all. I like it when a cute girl like you has her eye on me. Maybe I should ask you to watch me practice more often."
Alya knew that her blush was almost as red as a tomato. Oh, if Marinette saw her act this way, she would never let her forget it. But she quickly regained her composure, dispelling her blush. If he wanted to play it cool, then two could play at that game.
"Then I might take you up on that offer." She answered, a coy smile on her face. "And you are looking mighty fine, hotshot."
End of Flashback
Allen felt his cheeks flush at the memory of that day. Bianca did have a point, though. He had actually made some progress with Alya, even going so far as to flirt with her when he caught her looking at him for a little longer than necessary.
"Maybe you do have a point." He admitted. "But flirting doesn't exactly mean that she's interested in me. Some people do it for fun. Like-"
"Actually, Cat Noir really is in love with Ladybug." Bianca cut him off. "But then again, his flirting is both super cheesy and somewhat charming, and his timing needs work."
"Right, bad example." Allen said. "But still. Other than that movie and us spending Valentine's Day together, I feel like there's nothing else there."
"Yes, there is." Bianca replied. "But right now, we have to battle the Akuma before we get back to figuring out a plan for you to ask Alya out to lunch."
"Are you sure that we can't record some battle footage for her?" Allen asked, waving his phone and making a puppy face at her.
Bianca groaned and held her temple with her fingers. She hated it whenever he would use that. "Darn it!" She snapped. "Fine! How about a compromise? We transform, get in on the battle, and we'll place your phone somewhere hidden to record some footage? Deal?"
Allen smiled brightly at his best friend. "Deal." He said, placing his phone on the ground, and Fenixx zipped out of Bianca's purse, followed by Claaw.
"You left me behind, lover boy!" The phoenix Kwami shouted at his owner. "How would you even transform into Blaze without me?"
"Eh, sorry, Fenixx." Allen apologized. "But right now, let's see if we can join in on this food fight. Fenixx, Flames Up!"
"Claaw, Let's Prowl!"
With a flash of gold and silver light, Allen and Bianca became Blaze and Artemis. Blaze grabbed his civilian phone from the ground and they headed over to the hotel through the air.
When they saw the roof, they saw that the pool had been filled to the brim with boiling hot soup, with Chloe dangling from above it, tied up. Both heroes rolled their eyes. "Of course she would be involved in this." Blaze muttered.
"What else is new?" Artemis added.
Then, she scanned the roof, not seeing anyone else, other than a large man with gray skin, spiky bright yellow hair with a white chef's hat on top, and a face painted with red and yellow, wearing an orange chef outfit. "That guy must be the villain." She said to her partner, pointing to him. "But other than him and Chloe, I don't see anyone else there."
"Good." Blaze said. "Makes it easier for us to sneak in."
"We might want to land on the platform on the far side of the hotel." Artemis said. "Hopefully, it's not covered in caramel."
They quickly jumped from roof to roof, out of sight of the Akuma, to the other side of the hotel. Luckily for them, the platform that led to the roof wasn't covered in caramel, and Blaze and Artemis leapt onto it. Then, they quietly snuck over to the emergency stairs, but not before they found a good place to put the phone to record where it seemed that they were hiding.
Finally, they headed down to the floor right beneath them, where Ladybug and Cat Noir had just defeated some of the Akuma's minions. The minions were still human, so they guessed that they were being mind-controlled.
"Are we too late to join the party?" Blaze asked as he and Artemis landed behind their superhero teammates.
Ladybug and Cat Noir turned to face them. "Where were you two?" The former asked.
"We had to find a different way in." Artemis explained. "But since all the exits were cut off, we had to sneak in through the roof."
"Well, glad that you two could make it." Cat Noir said.
"What can you tell us about this Akuma?" Blaze asked.
"Hawk Moth calls him Kung Food." Ladybug began to explain. "He's a chef that was in the cooking competition being held here. But since a certain queen bee that we all know hated his food, and was on the jury, and she sabotaged his food."
"Will that brat ever learn?" Artemis muttered sourly.
"She'll need a major wake-up call that involves dropping her in the wilderness alone, and without her phone." Blaze added darkly.
"As much as we can talk trash about Chloe all day, I think we need to find the chef of this cooking cat-tastrophe." Cat Noir ended the bitter discussion while pointing up towards the roof, where there was a large hole in the ceiling, due to the battle.
"Yeah, I think it's about time we got to the second course." Ladybug agreed as all four heroes hurried to the stairs.
When they got there, they could already hear Chloe screaming as she was about to be lowered into the soup. But Artemis fired an arrow and it sliced through the rope that was holding up Chloe. Ladybug quickly caught her before she could fall in. The heroes then each took a stance in front of the villain called Kung Food.
"Ladybug, what took you so long?!" Chloe demanded. "Just wait until I tell everyone-"
Ladybug just narrowed her eyes and then promptly dropped Chloe onto the floor to shut her up. "Oops." She said in an unapologetic tone.
"Oh no!" Kung Food exclaimed. "My Brat Soup will be so flavorless."
"Hello, Goku from "Dragon Ball Z"!" Blaze teased, seeing the Akuma's orange outfit and yellow hair, making Cat Noir laugh.
"Good one!" He exclaimed, while the girls just rolled their eyes.
Then, Ladybug tried to negotiate with the Akuma. "I know you're more honorable than this, Cheng Sifu!"
"I am not Cheng Sifu, I am Kung Food: The greatest chef in the world!" The villain exclaimed. "And nobody will stop me from finishing my Brat Soup!"
He then reached into his bag and pulled out two tonfas that appeared to be made out of sushi. The superheroes quickly got ready to fight. "Get back, Chloe!" Ladybug said to her.
"Seriously?" Chloe demanded. "I'm not done telling you about how you could've gotten to my rescue faster, so that I wouldn't be smelling like grease!"
"If you don't get out of here right now, Chloe, I'll toss you into that soup myself!" Blaze threatened. That made Chloe quickly leave. Artemis was amazed that her friend could be that threatening when he wanted to be.
"I take care of you two myself!" Kung Food exclaimed. "Along with the new surprise ingredients."
Blaze then leaned in close to his partner. "Time for me to take a page from your book, Blizzy." He whispered to her. "Remember what you did against those officers when we fought Rogercop? And considering that this guy calls himself Kung Food..."
He pressed a button on his katana's handle, and then the song "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas started playing. Artemis snorted in amusement at the song choice, Cat Noir bit back a smile, while Ladybug just facepalmed and groaned in annoyance.
"Although it was fitting, you just couldn't resist, could you?" Artemis teased her partner.
"Why, hello, pot. My name is kettle." Blaze teased back, reminding her of when she did the same thing against Rogercop.
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Lay off, Fireball." She grumbled.
Then, the battle began. All four heroes attacked and dodged the villain's own attacks until Ladybug finally managed to kick away the sushi tonfas. Then, she caught them herself and threw them out of reach. But Kung Food reached back into his bag and this time pulled out a bo staff made out of a super long burrito.
"Guys! The Akuma must be in his chef's hat!" Ladybug realized. "Try to grab it!"
Cat Noir made an attempt to reach for the hat after he managed to kick away the bo staff, but Kung Food got back in his bag and blew some spicy powder in his face. "Ow! It burns!" Cat Noir exclaimed, eyes beginning to water from the stinging spices.
"Haha! Like it spicy?" Kung Food asked him.
An ice arrow landed in front of the villain, preventing him from going any further. "I prefer cold and sweet to spicy." Artemis taunted.
Ladybug took that as her cue to use her power. "Lucky Charm!" She exclaimed.
With a flash of red and pink ladybugs, a red and black polka-dotted check dispenser fell into her hands. "A... check?" She asked out loud.
"And I think it's gonna be a steep one." Cat Noir added.
"No kidding." Blaze agreed.
Kung Food suddenly pulled out from his bag a gigantic sword that was made out of pizza, shocking the superheroes by the size of the blade. "You think you can beat me with a piece of paper!?" He shouted.
"You're one to talk, Kung Food." Cat Noir taunted. "You've been trying to defeat us with sausages and cheese! Without any luck, I might add." The villain just growled and charged at the superheroes, swinging his pizza sword.
"With a sword that huge, I think that's a clear sign that you're overcompensating for something...if you know what I mean!" Blaze exclaimed, dodging a swipe of the sword with Ladybug, who landed at the other side of the pool.
"That might be a little over-the-top, don't you think?" Artemis added as she flipped away from the deadly pizza blade.
As the other three superheroes kept Kung Food busy, Ladybug looked around with her Lucky Vision to figure out how to use her Lucky Charm. She then saw the pool of boiling hot soup briefly light up in red and black polka dots, and then the check dispenser. Realizing what she could do, Ladybug began pulling out as much of the paper as she could, and then dipping it into the soup.
Kung Food actually managed to slam his pizza sword against the other three heroes, knocking them to the ground, away from their weapons. They didn't get slashed or stabbed, but for a giant longsword made out of pizza, it did hurt.
But before the villain could bring the sword down for a final blow, Ladybug managed to use the sticky paper like she would with her yo-yo, entangling him and holding him in place. The other three heroes breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Cat Noir, all his weapons come from his bag." Ladybug pointed out. "Destroy it!"
"Got it!" Cat Noir answered. "Cataclysm!"
His power was activated and black specs of power appeared around his hand. Then, he got up on his feet, went over to Kung Food, and touched the bag, making it disintegrate into ashes.
"Now it's our turn." Blaze said as he and Artemis got back up and then kicked Kung Food, knocking him down. Artemis then grabbed the hat on his head and tossed it to Ladybug. Coincidentally, that's also when the song that Blaze was playing earlier ended.
"Your days are over, little Akuma!" The red-and-black-spotted hero said as she ripped the hat, and the purple butterfly appeared from the remains. She then opened her yo-yo and began the ritual to cleanse the Akuma.
"Time to de-evilize!" She exclaimed as she whipped her yo-yo and caught the enchanted insect before it got away. After bringing the yo-yo back to her, she opened it up, and the purified white butterfly came out and fluttered away.
"Bye bye, little butterfly." Ladybug said to it before Cat Noir tossed her the check dispenser. She then threw it into the air, calling out, "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Swarms of magical ladybugs appeared and began fixing all of the damage that was caused inside and outside the hotel. Then, the powerless Kung Food had a cloud of black and purple ooze appear over him before he was turned back into his normal self.
The man looked around, wondering what had happened. But before he could ask questions, the heroes went over to him and helped him back onto his feet, and Ladybug handed the chef his fixed hat.
"Another job well done." Ladybug said to her teammates.
"Pound it?" Cat Noir asked, holding out his fist. The other three heroes just smiled at him and met his fist with theirs.
"Pound it!" They exclaimed.
After escorting the chef over to the stairwell and taking off to the skies again, Blaze and Artemis did a quick fly-by before coming back for Allen's phone, which had been recording the whole time. Blaze ended the recording without being seen by the camera, and then pocketed it. Then, he and Artemis went over to a nearby alley.
"Blaze, Flames Down."
"Claaw, Let's Hide."
With a flash of golden fire and silver ice, Blaze and Artemis changed back into Allen Flint and Bianca Snow. They caught their exhausted Kwamis and put them in their hiding places before Allen took out his phone.
"Oh, I can't wait to show this to Alya!" Allen said, holding it up.
"Just so you know, you still need to invite her to lunch." Bianca reminded him.
"Oh, yeah." Allen replied, starting to feel a little nervous again.
He opened up Alya's contact and reached to touch the call button, but felt his finger freeze, just hovering over it. He was stuck like that for a good eight seconds before Bianca huffed and pressed the button for him. He was about to call her out on it when almost immediately, the call was answered.
"Hey, Allen." Alya called out to him from the other end of the line.
Allen gulped and brought his phone up to his ear. "H-Hey, Alya." He answered her.
"So, what was it that you were about to tell me earlier?" She asked him.
Allen glanced over at Bianca, who gave him a thumbs-up in encouragement. He then took a deep breath. "Well, I recorded some footage of the Akuma fight that happened over at the hotel a few minutes ago. And, uh, well, I was wondering if you would want to meet up with me here and look over it with me over lunch?"
There was a brief moment of silence as Allen waited for her answer. Then, she replied, "Sure! Of course! I'll be right over. Just hang tight and wait for me."
Allen let out a small sigh of relief. "Okay. I'll get us a table. See you soon." Once she hung up, he pumped up his fist and exclaimed, "Yes!"
Bianca smiled. "Nice job, Hoops." She said, patting him on the back. "Now go and enjoy your lunch date. I have to get back home before Claaw starts complaining that I don't have as much beef jerky as he would like."
Allen chuckled, knowing the wolf Kwami's giant appetite, despite him being a small creature. "Have fun with that." He teased her with a smile.
Bianca just rolled her eyes, her smile betraying her supposed dry look. Then she started making the trip home while Allen headed inside the hotel.
When he got to the restaurant area, he saw that the man that had been Kung Food had won the cooking contest and was being broadcasted on live TV with Marinette. So he had a connection with Marinette. Were they related? He'd have to ask her later. At the moment, she seemed a little busy.
Then, once the broadcast ended, Allen watched the chef lead Marinette and Adrien, who was apparently also there to support the older man, over to a table to enjoy his winning dish. He smiled at the scene.
Looks like I'm not the only one who's making progress with their crush. He thought to himself.
And it seemed that Marinette was not acting so nervous around Adrien at the moment. She was just excited to try the chef's dish. That was good. Otherwise, she'd be mentally freaking out.
Nice job, Marinette. Allen said in his mind as he watched the casual lunch between the pretty French-Chinese girl and the handsome blonde model. Then he heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw Alya coming up to him.
Now let's see if I can have just as much luck as you for this one moment. He added in his thoughts as he went over to greet the ombre-haired journalist halfway there. Not to mention that he was also looking forward to tasting Alya's mom's cooking for the first time, since she was the head chef of the hotel.
PokemonFreak90: It looks like Allen is coming ever so close to admitting his feelings to Alya! He just needs one more push to get him over the hump.
What kind of push does he need? We'll find out in the next chapter!
MDM: Let's see if you guys can guess which Akuma the Heroes of Paris will fight next. ;)
Well, that's all for now, you guys. We hope y'all think that it was worth the wait. Please leave a review about what you think. And remember to stay healthy!
Got to fly! ;)
