Another day of ballet was done. Dinner had been eaten in his own company and now he was in the solace of his room. He had a few free moments to figure out the mystery that had been plaguing him all afternoon.

His hand picked up the unmarked envelope that only had his name written in plain scrawl. It looked noticeably feminine by the cursive and he wondered if one of his female classmates had gotten the guts to go into the boy's locker room during break and slipped him a confession. He stuck a finger through one of the spaces and tore the top open. A mostly blank note card with the same handwriting greeted his eyes. He expected a letter, but the mystery kept widening as he read.

"Got some Miraculous Moves? Welcome to the Underground! Don't come as you are; your anonymity is precious and no one cares. See you at midnight...if you got the guts!"

He read it and reread it. He flipped it to the back and found some random, fairly cryptic address that he didn't recognize on the bottom of the card. This made less and less sense the more he tried to figure it out!

What in the world was going on?! What was this random paper and why did he get it? Did someone get bored and decide to play a prank? Did he accidentally get this in someone else's stead?

There was no one he could ask these questions to and he didn't know how he could even start doing so. He found this in his locker at lunch and when he picked it up, no one seemed to pay attention when he did so. Everyone seemed oblivious to the theoretical cog thrown out of whack in his life with this envelope so he didn't know if it was even anyone in school who was behind this.

His lips pursed as he tapped the card against a leg and idly looked to the sunset outside his windows. Maybe asking wouldn't be a bad thing, so long as he did it the right way. There was a way to get answers if he only made sure to phrase his questions right and not incriminate this letter randomly given to him. It may end up being nothing; it may end up not even being his. If it was a mistake, he'd wheedle info out of his classmates and then give it back later.

He gave a nod and put the card in a drawer at his computer before getting ready for bed. There was nothing else he could do right now, so he may as well go to sleep and forget about it.

01010

"Have you guys ever heard about something called Miraculous Moves? Or...well...I guess it's called the Underground? Something like that I think...I don't know. It seems really weird."

"The Underground? Where did you hear about that?!"

His brows rose at the sense of elation laced in his classmate's voice. He blinked, head tilting. A quick rephrase of his next few questions suddenly seemed crucial at the near sparkling eyes directed his way. "I don't really remember..." He gave a quick laugh and scratched the back of his head when more eyes greeted his. "I think it was somewhere around here? Maybe? I've never heard of it before recently and I wondered if someone here did."

Everyone looked to each other at the same time. There was a pause of silence and he suddenly felt totally outside of the vibe he had just created in the room. He was almost nervous for even attempting to get information.

Then the eruption happened.

"What the...?! He's never heard of the Underground! I can't believe this!"

"Give him a break...he's the owner's son. Do you seriously expect him to be able to know something like that?"

"Dude, who DOESN'T know? How do you just not know of the Underground in Paris? It's been around for years!"

"So you think anyway..."

His eyes kept jumping around as each person butted in on the other until he couldn't stand it any longer. "Okay...so I live under a rock. I think we all understand this. Enlighten me to this amazing thing that I'm apparently clueless on." His classmates looked like they wanted to pounce on him and he suddenly wondered if he chose the wrong words. "What?"

"Dude...it doesn't exist."

"Yes it does. You only say that cause you've never been there!"

"Like you have?"

"One of my friends has. But that's all hearsay, you know. She's not allowed to talk about it or she'll get kicked out. Very hush-hush you know."

"It's true. One of my friends used to go, but after the relocation, he didn't get an invite back for some reason."

His ears perked up. A brow ticked and he leaned in a little too much in his curiosity. "Invite? You can't just show up and do whatever?" He received patronizing smiles for his comment and he felt like an idiot. He scowled and shut his locker. "Help me out here! You're all confusing me and giving me opposite points of view all at once."

One of his classmates shoved the other out of the way and plopped down on the bench with him. "It's like this in a nutshell, Adrien. The full title is Miraculous Moves Underground. It's a dance club that's shrouded in mystery to the point that people doubt it even exists. Some swear that they've been there or have had friends that went for a time."

"It seems that in order to go, you get some invite out of the blue with an address to wherever it is and then you're in. No one knows how the invites occur or why people get picked. Apparently, there have been some relocations since it started because some idiots go snitching to everyone when it's a private club where only specific people get invited to. Some have said they've gone the next day and the entire place is wiped clean like it never existed. That's what makes it a mystery. Only the loyal get reinvited to the new spot once it gets set up and the rat is found out."

His brow went up when the huge sleuth of info was done. "You sound like you used to go."

His classmate smiled and leaned forward, voice low. "Just between us, my sister used to frequent it last year. She eventually got bored with it and stopped, but she never told me where it was...just some basic details about it."

"Uh huh... Anything else since you seem to be the expert here?"

His classmate sat back and swiped a pair of fingers across his eyes with a smile, voice tone returning to normal. "She said that people go there to dance and no one knows the name of the other person. No one wants to know because they go to escape the confines of society."

"I'd love to be invited..."

"Why? You're supposed to love ballet."

"I do! But, I also love being able to just dance sometimes. Loud music, late hours, being out without the parents knowing... The thrill of it all! The fun! No stuck up school with harsh teachers and hours upon hours of practice. No offense Adrien."

He grinned. "None taken."

The ears must have had walls in that second at the mention of harsh teachers because there was a loud, insistent knock on the exit door to men's the locker room. "It's now eight and practice is supposed to have started! Get out of there right now and get to class or it's punishment moves for taking too long in there!"

Everyone groaned and quickly started slamming locker doors shut. A hand clamped down on his shoulder and he jumped before whirling around. He locked eyes with the classmate who gave the most detailed information out of the lot of them. There was a subdued, somewhat serious look on his classmate's face. "What's up?"

"Just keep that conversation between us okay? The place is for those who want to dance freely. It's not like here, man. My sister was always tired after she got home from the Underground, but she was never happier. I think she went there because she needed to be there and whoever sent her that invite knew this. Don't go speaking of this, okay? It's got a good position as an urban legend right now for those that need it. Anyone that goes is safe to do whatever it is they do there and get along better in life."

He seriously nodded and patted his classmate's hand, lips tilting a little. "Her secret is safe with me. Who's going to believe the son of a ballet school owner about a mysterious dance club, that no one knows the location to anyway?" His smile widened almost knowingly. "It does sound kind of farfetched when I put it like that..."

01010

It had been a very long, boring, distracted day of practice after that conversation. He could barely concentrate on anything The Beast said and he paid for it too. There were a few times his male classmates gave him knowing, wary looks whenever their teacher asked in front of everyone just what was wrong with him. He fumbled for excuses, actually happy the few times Chloe spoke up for him and stood up on his behalf.

He sat on his bed with the sunlight all but gone, the letter in his hand. He read the invite words and stared at the address on the back. He had to look up just where it was because he usually didn't go out by himself around the city. He was going to have to draw a map if he wanted to attempt this debacle.

He stared at the written time and flopped on his bed with a quiet groan. Midnight? Why so late?! He had to get up around six in the morning and he was going to drag all of class tomorrow if he tried this!

Not to mention that there were security cameras in the main entryway and a few around the outside front courtyard for thieves. They were turned on once everyone went to their rooms at night for the rest of the day and would get turned off by those that came in the morning to cook and clean. If he tried to go out his front door like a normal person, he'd set them off and have some serious explaining to do.

He stared at the huge expanse of windows for what felt forever before heading to them. He looked down to the ground floor below. He was on the first floor; how did he think he was going to get out without breaking something and still be able to get back? These windows would do no good because they had no way to stabilize him on the way down. He stared out of them before his eyes slowly gravitated to the set in his bathroom. He hurried to them, curiosity burning a hole in him as he threw the windows open and stared down. These were also on the first floor, but there was a wrought iron railing he could use to climb around, along with the one on the ground floor. He could stand on that and hoist himself up.

Or maybe...

Feeling a bubble of excitement, he turned and made for his closet, grabbing a few sets of blankets. He suddenly grinned as he tied a knot in one and pulled. It held well enough and his smile twisted a little. "Just like the movies. I guess this IS something of a prison break after all..."

So, his escape and reentry route were taken care of. He went back to the card and stared at the vague words again.

"Don't come as you are; your anonymity is precious and no one cares."

"Don't come as I am? How am I not supposed to be myself there?" The card tapped against a cheek as he tried to figure out that puzzle piece. "Anonymity is precious... Anonymity..." He suddenly looked down to the clothes he often wore. They were utterly boring, but they were safe and expected of the owner's son of a famous ballet company. His public image was always under possible scrutiny and anything he said and did, his looks and actions, were something he had to take great care of.

A hand touched his well-groomed, perfectly parted hair. His mind whirled for a minute before he suddenly looked to his closet and went to it. He threw the doors open and started haphazardly pushing hangers around at clothes he had bought years ago on previous ballet trips around Europe, but never got the ability to wear. He would admit that some of them were kind of odd, but he liked them. However, his father didn't and thus they sat and gained only dust.

He paused when he saw a black hoodie he had never worn...mainly because there were cat ears on top and an accompanying bell necklace. It had been a gag birthday gift from a classmate and he didn't think it was bad, but no way would he have ever been able to use it!

He quickly pulled it from its resting spot and turned it around. It was a mix of green lines, cat paws on the front, and black for the rest of it. It was short sleeve and it was the most awkward item in his closet. His lips tilted as he pulled it off the hanger. "Don't come as you are, huh? I don't think anyone would expect me to ever wear this in a million years..." A hand floated up to his pristine hair. "It might hide my usual 'do, too..."

He looked to the rest of his extensive, unused wardrobe, brain whirling. He couldn't wear anything he usually did and he needed subtlety to be able to get out of here. He quickly threw his normal clothes to the floor and grabbed a pair of baggy black pants, a black shirt for the evening chill, green and black sneakers to match the hoodie, and a pair of black gloves to handle the escape to the ground.

He grabbed everything and checked the time, finding it around ten thirty. Way too early to head out, but he had a feeling he would miss something if he waited closer to midnight. Plus, he needed to find the place.

He donned everything, mussed his hair up, and left the jacket open for now. He stood in the mirror and took in this person staring back at him with a grin. He looked...odd...but, he liked it. The bell was extra strange for his usual perfect personae. He twirled a little to practice any other kind of dance in this new outfit, but ended up doing a habitual ballet style. He stopped and gave himself an annoyed look. That would stop tonight...somehow!

His veins pulsed a little quicker at the concept of being able to dance anything he wanted. He knew how, but hours upon hours of one thing was going to be hard to change. Hopefully, once he got there, this problem would correct itself.

He grabbed the card off the floor and hurried to his desk to type in the address. He drew a map from his place to the area and erased his tracks online just in case. He then looked around his room, mentally bidding goodbye to Adrien for the evening, and hurried to his bathroom window. He grabbed the sheet and made a basic loop to keep from worrying about the knots coming untied on the way down (1). He looked down for a bit as he tried to figure out exactly how he was going to do this without breaking his neck or causing a scene to the street below. Teeth bit his lip as he calculated everything before throwing a leg over freezing metal.

There was a lot of fumbling and surprised cries as his legs flailed for the wall before he got the hang of things. He breathed a sigh of relief that the sheet held firm in his fumbling. His first escape attempt and it was a lot less cool than he wanted it to be! He was thankful that no one was in the area because his face couldn't feel any hotter than it was right now.

This was one of the few times he was thankful for having to lift girls above his head in ballet practice because it gave him the ease to get down his railing without injury. He quickly brushed himself off, adjusted the hood over his hair, zipped the jacket up against the chill, grabbed the map, and took off for the location.

The distance felt greater only because he was traveling by foot. It seemed to take forever and he wondered if he got lost a few times in the process, but all street signs were as he wrote down. He wound around streets, leading him away from the more well-developed areas into the shadier-looking spots.

A sense of trepidation started rising as his nerves perked up for danger, but that never occurred. The streets were merely empty and he almost wondered if he was the shady one for lurking around, hunched down low as if running away from search lights. This was not the movies, but it totally felt like it! His heart was pounding so much at this and he couldn't get himself to calm down.

When he finally reached his destination, he was standing in front of an abandoned building. He looked to the map with help from a nearby streetlamp, head whirling around at non-existent noises every few seconds.

This was it?! It was an abandoned building!

He wondered the last time anyone had been in this place and walked around the ground level for a bit for verification. The windows were boarded up and it didn't look like entry was even possible. He almost thought he really was played by his classmates till he spotted a closed door subtly wedged just an inch out with a board on the ground to hold it open.

He took a deep breath as a hand slowly went for the handle. "Now or never..." Teeth bit his lip as he warred with himself for just a second. He finally pulled the door open with difficulty, hearing it creak like in the movies, and cringed. He looked behind him as if someone was going to jump out and attack.

When his sense of paranoia eased, he looked to the near pitch black entrance. The only way he could even see the stairs going to a lower level was a solitary light shining weakly from down below. "Not creepy at all..."

He was thankful there was a even handrail to use! He slowly edged down as if the stairs would collapse, ears finally picking up the very muted sound of a beat. This must be the place...

He paused under the light, finding the words 'this way' with an accompanying arrow painted on the wall next to another door to the basement (2). "Oookaayyy...down the rabbit hole it is..." He muttered, looking at the final door. A hand reached out and pushed it open only a few inches, the music finally blasting in his ears. This really was the place! A smile of anticipation split his uneasy mood in two. "So...it really does exist..."

He pushed the door open enough to stick his head through and looked around. No one was in the poorly lit hallway. Music was playing somewhere else, but extremely loud. It was stereotypical club volume and he had a feeling his ears were going to be ringing by the time he got out of here. He couldn't believe that such loudness was being kept at bay with two metal doors and a flight of stairs!

He finally entered the rest of the way and found random colored bulbs occupying the original light fixtures. It helped illuminate the hallway and empty, accompanying rooms, although that was an overstatement.

He let the door close and looked up and down the narrow, short hallway. It was plain, gray brick on the wall and concrete for the floors. Typical...yet scary. There were a handful of other rooms, but the one he was most interested in had lights flashing into the hallway mere feet away from him. The music was coming from there; his reason for showing up. It was some hip hop beat with words he didn't understand, but it had him bobbing his head in a matter of seconds and his feet took him in its direction on their own.

He passed a room without a door and saw a regular bulb shining in a corner, along with a pair of people inside. He paused in his curiosity as he watched some guy paint a girl's face red (2). Neither seemed to notice his being there and so he indulged the view for a second.

A brow went up as he watched some kind of goop get put on, starting to hinder her real identity. He didn't know how good it worked, but the lights were pretty low and it was kind of hard to see her in this lighting...save for the actual bulb. He figured he'd find out soon enough... He took in the girl's revealing top and baggy pants before turning and continuing on to the music.

He stopped in front of the doorway to what he suddenly dubbed heaven and gaped for a second, eyes impossibly wide. The music was all encompassing to his body and the beat stole his heart's ability to keep its own time. There must have been a few dozen people dancing on some randomly designed floor, all doing their own thing to the beat directing them. There was an actual dj in the corner with a bunch of colored lights to help brighten the room a little.

He tried to see the peoples' faces and found that the face paint did a lot better than he originally thought it would. He took a step into the room, practically floating in this unknown world that was quickly stealing his rational thought. There was a distinct motion from the corner and his vision went to it. He hurried to the dj beckoning him over with a smile.

"Sup? This your first day? Well, no prob! Just check us out for a night and let me know if you're up for a round two, yeah?" The dj looked away with a head flick and a grin. "L.B., you up!"(2)

He whirled around to the same revealing, polka-dotted top and black pants confidently striding into the room. Her hair was done in low pigtails. He openly stared at the red face paint, finding her more mysterious and alluring with it on in these low lights. She gave him a grin and a wink, fingers flicking against her forehead in a greeting. "Thanks for showing up, kitty. Hope you can keep up."

His mouth fell open to answer her, but she immediately disappeared into the crowd...or did it open up and swallow her into the middle in its acceptance? He lost sight of her, but kept his eyes on the moving mass as if she would reappear any second. He was at a loss for words when she walked away and still hadn't found them. She was...there were no words to describe the confidence and sexiness she exuded! He could barely see when she moved and a foot took a step forward to see her better.

A hand suddenly clamped on his shoulder, scaring him witless. He stifled a shriek, wondering if it would even be heard, and whirled around. He blinked at the redhead he saw moments ago doing the painting. This new person gave a smile and waved before jerking a thumb to the open doorway he just came through. The guy took a few steps back, still beckoning, and he finally went with.

He headed into the room next door and was directed to a simple stool in the middle. The place smelled of paint fumes! It was going to make him dizzy and he wanted to cover his nose, but didn't want to be rude within less than thirty minutes of being here.

"You're not supposed to go on the dance floor until your identity is covered. That's one of the rules. I can tell you're a newb, so I'll give you the details before you head back in."

He took in this person's utterly paint-splattered clothes and arms as a hand reached for a wood paint palette. A brow rose. He wasn't exactly a canvas to be painted on here! "Uh...what are you doing?" His face jerked back at the paint brush starting for his face. "That's not toxic is it? Is it going to stain?"

There was a snort. "Of course not. Who do you take me for, some newb?"

He had a feeling those words would only be understood once he was here for a while and thus he remained quiet on any return retort on his tongue. He squinted as the brush got close to his eyes and closed them. Why wasn't this person's face done too? He could see this guy quite clearly. There were so many questions he wanted answers to before he went back! "So...what do I need to know before I start dancing?"

"Anonymity here is key. No one wants to know who the other person is. Hence the paint. It's not much, but it does the job. It's water soluble, so the more you sweat, the more it'll drip. Just be prepared if you start touching your face. Try not to get it all over you and go touching someone else, okay?" The painter tsked and gave him an annoyed look. "Can you hold your hair back for me? It's in the way."

A hand floated up and obliged. The painting continued for a while longer, covering his entire forehead, nose, and most of his cheeks. He felt like someone else entirely as he sat in this chair with the music changing in the next room, the words still unintelligible. This had never happened to him in his entire life and the newness of it was taking him prisoner. He reveled in this feeling washing over him, still not believing he was here experiencing all this!

"So...the point of the Underground is: we come here to dance like we want to without worrying about what anyone else thinks. You can challenge whoever you want, but don't be surprised if they kick your newbie butt. Tell anyone where we are and we'll move the next day, and that's it for you. We exist for those that want to be free. It's my role to help disguise those that come in before they go dance. So, before you visit that room down the hall, you get in line and get painted. Then you're free for the rest of the evening."

The brush finally pulled away and a critical eye replaced it. "Hmm, black really looks good with this. I thought so. I didn't ask you which color you wanted because I thought it was obvious with your getup. You really want to have some serious subtly, huh? Say no more."

He really wanted to find a mirror and see what he looked like! He felt the paint dry on his skin and resisted the urge to scratch at it when it started pulling. He had a feeling that urge would kill him till he got used to it. He watched the painter put the palette down and turn to him with a phone in his hand. He took it and looked at his image, smiling at what he saw. He didn't look like himself at all! This was great!

"So...what do you want your new name to be?"

He blinked and looked up. He had to go that far? He remembered the words of the card: anonymity was key and no one cared about him as Adrien. No one wanted to know his real name and he guessed it made sense. They were all here to dance and enjoy themselves; names were pointless, but he couldn't just call someone 'hey you'.

A hand floated up to the bell, stopping on the ears on the hoodie. New name...anything he wanted. He was wearing black and green, cat ears, and a bell. A smile crept forward on its own as he remembered the earlier words from L.B. The words left his lips before he could consider them. "Chat...Noir. Yea...Chat Noir."

"Well Chat Noir, it's nice to meet you. You can call me The Illustrator. You're all done and free to go dance anytime you want. Leave when you feel like it; you know the way out."

He watched The Illustrator slather his fingers with red paint and swipe them across his face. He was suddenly reminded of the motions his classmate made earlier today, and smirked. That seemed like an entire lifetime ago already. He turned to let The Illustrator disguise himself and tried not to hurry too much into the next room he came to enjoy.

(1) Something like this: www geospectra net/kite/knots/knot09 jpg

(2) Face painting scene and Nino's speech inspiration: http baraschino tumblr /post/141577999119/cha-cha-real-smooth-%CE%B5-real-smooth-son