Chapter Twelve: Puppet (Part Two)
Ladybug manages to stop Puppeteer from possessing her partner. When she is forced to de-transform to keep from being controlled herself, Chat Noir must trade his Lady for his Princess, teaming up with an out-of-costume Marinette.
This was the longest Chat had ever been silent - at least, when he was around his Lady.
No, that wasn't true at all. He was usually really quiet in class, he was a good student, he seldom spoke out of turn during lessons, and Marinette sat right behind him. And Marinette was Ladybug.
Marinette was Ladybug. Marinette was Ladybug.
Marinette. Was. Lady. Bug.
Nope, still not processing. It might take a while - a very, very long while - to come to terms with-
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
Chat Noir re-focused the glazed green eyes he had fixed on the middle-distance as he processed this incredible discovery. He found that Marinette was smirking at him, lips turned up in that knowing way that was so her; despite how she nervously twisted her hands together, in a manner that was entirely the other her.
Wait a minute - Marinette was Ladybug!
Hadn't he just been thinking how favourably his Lady compared to his Princess? Hadn't he just suggested that she might be naturally creative in both her civilian and costumed forms, and who could he possibly think of who was more creative than Marinette? (His father didn't count, and frankly, his classmate left a lot of professional designers trailing in her wake.) He was the one who had considered she could be Marinette, regarded it as fully plausible that she was possibly Marinette. As it turned out, she really was Marinette. Talented, considerate, responsible Marinette was his bold, quick-witted, courageous Ladybug.
These two incredible girls were the exact same person - and she just made a cat pun!
Slowly, he felt his mouth rearrange itself from a perfect 'O' of surprise into a sideways 'D', cracking into an ecstatic smile.
Rattle rattle rattle!
Chat gave a jolt, his tail standing out straight behind him. At the same moment, he saw Marinette's blue eyes widen in alarm. Another loud clatter echoed down the hall. Someone was banging on the studio doors, trying to get out.
Whoever they were, they would be coming after her.
Acting faster than he was thinking, Chat Noir seized Marinette by the arm, eased her back through the door, followed her inside, and shut it behind him. Pressing his ear - his kitty one - to the wooden panelling, he listened intently. After a few more nerve-jangling crashes, the noises stopped. He waited another minute, but only heard silence.
He let out a sigh of relief. He relaxed for a nanosecond; then he hastily drew his fingers back, feeling his claws momentarily snag in soft fabric. He'd still had his hand on Marinette's shoulder.
Perhaps startled by his sudden movement, she teetered on the spot. As she moved, her shin nudged a mop that was standing upright against the wall, knocking it towards her. He caught it before it could hit her, the bristles tickling her ear and making her jump; she nearly stumbled over several bottles and boxes that were littered around her feet. Belatedly realizing that everything around him appeared to be tinted green and he was the only one with night-vision, he caught hold of her again, this time by the elbow, to keep her from tripping.
"Hang on-" He spied a cord hanging from the ceiling and pulled it. The next instant, he and Marinette were blinking at each other under the glare of a bare light-bulb.
What he had taken for an empty room was actually a janitor's closet. Cleaning supplies were littered around the cramped space, arranged on shelves or stacked on the floor in neat piles. Marinette had already unwittingly knocked over several packets and bottles, explaining the clatters he had heard before.
Realizing he was still 'hanging on' to the string that served as a light switch, as well as still supporting her by the elbow though it was no longer dark, he hastily lowered both hands. "S-sorry, that wasn't... I-I mean, I didn't mean that t-to be a pun, I just..."
Marinette stared at him as if he had just grown two heads (it was her who had become two people!) and gave a sardonic snort, lowering herself onto an overturned bucket that served as a makeshift seat. "That would be the first time. This must really have you out of sorts."
She kept looking at him, watching for some further reaction. He gazed right back at her, seeing her anew. No, not anew, he'd seen her -both hers - plenty of times before. Just differently. Though she was still the same. They both were. Gah - this was taking a lot of getting used to!
"Don't worry about your faithful knight, my Lady - or should that be Princess?" In a bid for time as he desperately tried to adjust to all of this, he began to babble. "Either way, one can't argue with your obvious air of distinction. But if you're a lady of royalty, which one are you? Perhaps fair Snow White, with her hair black as a cat, lips as red as a ladybug?"
He was extremely gratified when Marinette - meek, mild-mannered Marinette - rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? You are so lucky you didn't just say anything about 'white as snow'! Do you really have to-"
"No, wait, I've got it!" He was delighted by her reaction, and hoping he could surpass it. "Anyone who sees us would say that we're obviously Beauty and the Beast!" He raised a clawed hand in a dramatic beast-like pose, illustrating his point.
This elicited a groan. "You are just- What is with this whole 'princess' thing anyway?!"
"Or maybe Cinderella," he went on, as if he hadn't heard her (he most certainly had), "who used magic to get ready for the ball? Given our current surroundings, that would be the most appropriate. No need to do any cleaning just to fit the part; though if you do, you might want to whistle while you-"
"Stop." Marinette held up her hand, in a perfect repeat of her earlier gesture; the lack of a red glove was the only difference. "This better not be leading to a Disney reference, or I will personally turn you into Sleeping Beauty." The slim fingers curled into a threatening fist.
Though the ring on his finger made him more than an easy match for her - probably - he held up his own hands defensively. "Then I won't say bibbity-boppity-boo." When her fist swiped half-heartedly at him, he backpedalled hastily, rubbing his newly-bruised arm. "No, I won't. I promised, didn't I? Besides, the cat in that film was a villain, and I'm not a bad guy - unlike some other cat I could mention."
She let out a breath that was half-huff, half-sigh. "Since Theo became an evil cat-clone because I didn't show up to the unveiling of his statue, I can hardly blame him. And I even made the dolls that Puppeteer is using. Some hero I turned out to be." She glanced morosely up at him. "I guess it's 'Princess,' not 'Lady'," she said, in reply to his earlier question. "Possibly for 'ever after'. How fitting: I need to be saved right now."
He stooped so that his head was level with hers, gazing concernedly at her. "Never you, Buginette," he insisted. He paused, blinked heavily, then smirked broadly to himself. "Ha! Bug-inette! The end of Lady-Bug, and half of Mar-inette! I didn't even know that, and I still-"
"Enjoy the joke while you can," she muttered. "That was the end of 'Bug' alright - the last of Ladybug. I honestly don't think she ever really existed."
"Wha-?" He was shocked by how hard she was taking this. "What are you talking about?! You are-"
"Look at me, Chat!" She gestured at her pink capris and black jacket. He was already very familiar with the outfit; now that he looked more closely, he noticed that the jacket had a polka-dotted lining, and pink was really just a lighter shade of- "This is not superhero material!" she interrupted his inner fashion-review. "You don't know me - I mean, this me - but if you did, you'd realize how ridiculous it is that I was ever able to vault over roofs, or somersault between tall buildings, or swing a yoyo without accidentally demolishing half a city block. It's not like any of that heroic stuff was ever actually me. That was just the power of the Miraculous, and Tikki's doing - not me."
At the word 'Tikki', the purse she wore on her hip (the same way she slung her yoyo!) opened a fraction. A red kwami was nestled inside, clutching a half-eaten cookie. It looked pleadingly at Chat through the purse's clasp. He silently agreed: someone had to set his Lady straight.
"I am absolutely hopeless the rest of the time," Marinette went on, "a total klutz. I wasn't kidding when we first met and I said I was 'maladroit', it's no exaggeration to say that I'm the clumsiest girl in all of Paris. I consider it a good day when I've only managed to run into a wall once - that blind corner near the locker room always gets me! I can't even-"
"You think any of that matters?" Chat Noir cut in. Because, yeah, it couldn't be denied: Marinette was a klutz. But: "Most people, however athletic or agile, or whatever the opposite of 'klutz' is, they didn't get a Miraculous - you did. And look at all you've done with it." He reached out, gently laying a hand on each of her shoulders. He had comforted her like this before; it had worked then, he sure hoped it worked now. "And just look at what you've done, even without the suit. You dodged the Gamer's attacks-"
"-after causing Max's akuma in the first place," she interjected.
"-rescued me from Antibug-"
"Another one that was my fault, and I was in costume at the time!"
"-told me how to escape Evillustrator's trap-"
He was rewarded with the shadow of a grin. "Couldn't have you becoming the clichéd 'cat in a box', now could I?"
He beamed at the quip - he typically rejoiced over every dig she took at him, and this one came at an opportune time. "Well, the suit obviously doesn't affect your sense of humour. That sass is definitely all you."
She opened her mouth to utter some retort and stopped, surprised out of whatever she had been about to say. He was pleased to see that his words were starting to work - though they were actually her words; she had said something similar to him after Reflekta had zapped him.
The memory made him chuckle wryly. "No wonder you thought it was hilarious when Reflekta got me; she turned me your favourite colour."
She scoffed at the suggestion, smoothing down the creases in her jeans. "My favourite colour is pale-petal, not fuchsia." He had enough time to realize these were both fabric swatches used by his father's label, before she added: "And I thought it was funny because you looked utterly ridiculous!"
He couldn't argue with that, so he returned to a debate that he knew he would win. "Well, I don't think anything about you is ridiculous - other than the fact that you're ridiculously amazing." Giving the compliment a few moments to take effect - he was pretty sure the half-believing smile she gave him added years to his life, taking him well beyond the typical nine - he moved on to more pressing matters. "This will be just like that time with Reflekta, when I had to help you without my powers. I know that you can help me defeat Puppeteer, even without being able to transform."
"How?" she asked, all the signs of confidence he had carefully coaxed from her rapidly fading. She avoided his eyes, toying idly with a nearby feather-duster; he resisted the urge to back away, ignoring how his nose started to itch just looking at it. "How can I do anything like this? I was at fault this time too, Manon was akumatized because of me. She only got upset because I gave her the doll against her mother's wishes, I shouldn't hav-"
"Wait..." At her words, a glimmer of a plan began to form in Chat Noir's mind. "This was all because you gave her the dolls?"
"Just one doll. I didn't see the harm in it, but I shouldn't have caved, all because she did her puppy-dog eyes at me-"
"She wants the dolls," Chat Noir repeated, making her look at him as if he were a dunce. She would understand soon enough, though he really didn't want to ask... "What if we gave her more dolls? Enough of them to make her forget about giving Papillion our Miraculous?"
"I haven't got any more, I just made-"
"Well, not actually give her more." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, using the back of his hand to avoid scratching himself with his claws; she hastily swallowed a smile at how cat-like the gesture was. "Just promise her more. Really awesome ones. Spectacular ones, like those already made by the most talented, creative, nimble-needled seamstress in all of Paris." He tossed his head meaningfully in her direction. "I bet she'd like that. She'd want to have that genius toy-maker by her side, don't you think?"
As she noticed the words he placed emphasis on, comprehension dawned in her face. "Ah, yes..."
He examined a cluster of spray bottles on a nearby shelf, hating what he was about to suggest. "You'd be able to get close enough to her. It's risky, without the suit you could-"
"-but I've been in situations like this before without the suit, and I survived."
Marinette stood up. A drastic change had come over her; though she was still dressed in her same set of casual civvies, she looked like she could be clad in her usual spots. All of a sudden, she was the girl who had stared down Papillion and sworn to protect all of Paris. Chat remembered all over again why he was so in awe of 'his Lady' - and his 'Princess' by no means had him any less impressed. He grinned adoringly at her; she grinned back, in a decidedly more platonic fashion.
"Let's do this," she said. Every ounce of her considerable determination was contained in those few words.
"Alright!" Glancing round, Chat snatched up a clean dust-cloth from a nearby pile. "I'll even provide us with the necessary prop!"
"A Chatty-Charm?" she suggested, with a smile.
He chuckled. "Something like that. Whatever it is, even though it's not my colour, at least that means it's not unlucky - since it's the opposite of black, it should bring us a whole lot of luck!"
The lights were back on inside the studio. The room became even brighter, as the double doors leading into it creaked open a fraction.
Puppeteer and her puppets tensed; phone, baton, stylus and ray-guns were all focused on that same point. A broom-handle was thrust through the gap; a white duster was tied to it, in a rough approximation of a flag.
"Truce!" Chat Noir's voice called from outside. "I surrender!"
The opening widened. Chat sidled in, moving slowly and cautiously. He held up his 'white flag' with one hand; the other was raised in full sight of his opponents, showing them that it was empty.
Puppeteer eyed him resentfully; having been left in the dark must have really rankled with her. "If you've come to admit you lost, just say you give up and hand over your Miraculous." She extended her hand. As if tugged by the same string, four other arms reached out simultaneously.
Facing an entire team of villains who demanded his Miraculous in perfect synchronization, Chat Noir fought the urge to clench his fist tighter round the handle of his 'flag', if only to reassure himself that his ring remained firmly on his finger. He flashed what was, he hoped, a disarming smile. "I know when to admit that I'm beaten," he said, throwing in a self-effacing shrug for good measure. "That's why I've come to negotiate. After how well you played the game, you deserve a fitting prize."
"Prize?" Puppeteer's ears perked up metaphorically; Chat Noir didn't allow his to do so literally. The trap was nearly set, and Puppeteer just might take the bait, if he continued to play the part of the vanquished foe. Speaking of bait...
"Yes." He adopted his most flattering manner. "It's a pity that such an ingeniously talented doll-master should have so few dolls to play with. That's why I brought - ta da!"
"Marinette...?" Puppeteer asked, with evident surprise; the fact that the akumatized child recognised her babysitter was encouraging.
Marinette had indeed lurched into the room, Chat having tossed aside his 'flag' in order to haul her in by the arm. She staggered and nearly overbalanced, just managing to right herself at the very last moment. It was so completely characteristic of her, Chat Noir wondered if she had really tripped, or just faked it to better sell their ploy. The sidelong glance she gave him warned him not to show any signs of amusement - for his own good.
"Hello Manon," Marinette greeted her baby-sitting charge. Seeing the villainess glower at the name, she fluttered on the spot. "I-I mean Marron- no wait, that is Marionette- uh, Ms. Akuma, ma'am." Chat Noir bit his lip hard to keep from snickering. Marinette longed to kick him, but thought better of it, fixing a nervous smile upon her face. "I've come to sew more dolls for you."
"More dolls...?" Puppeteer still seemed wary, but betrayed obvious signs of interest.
"Yes. Chat Noir was so impressed by how well you handle the puppets-" Chat nodded vigorously in agreement "-and he thought it was a crime that you had so few dolls to work with; and so he brought me here to make you some more."
They had definitely gotten Puppeteer's full attention: she leaned in expectantly, her four existing puppets all but forgotten. "What sort of dolls?" she wanted to know.
"Any kind of dolls you want. I can make all the different villains for you!" Marinette began to expertly reel off the names, counting them on her fingers; she focused on the ones whose costumes she thought would best appeal to the tastes of a little girl. "The Bubbler, Reflekta, Chronogirl, the Mime, Climatika-"
"Aurore?" Puppeteer wrinkled her nose. "Mireille is way better."
Glad that Manon was acting like herself, but cautious of getting on her bad side, Marinette changed tact. "Of course, since you now have a Copycat doll, you will need me to create a new Chat Noir for you." Chat gave a small, depreciating wave, managing to make his grimace pass for a smile. "And," Marinette went on, going for her ultimate trump card, "while ordinary villains are okay, for heroes as incredible as Ladybug and Chat Noir-" Chat hastily covered a cough "-only an arch-nemesis will do. You must have the first costumed figure to ever appear in Paris - the fearsome, awe-inspiring Papillion!"
"Ooooh!" Puppeteer's eyes lit up at the suggestion - then lit up literally, as a glowing visor appeared to surround them. It took Marinette and Chat all their will-power not to laugh out loud; though they couldn't hear Papillion's outraged protests, they could well imagine them.
They managed to get Puppeteer's side of the conversation: "What do you mean, Papillion? I want your doll, let me have the dolls! You said I could have all the dolls, you promised! Going back on your promise is so lame! Don't call me a child, you're a stupid-head! You had better let me have the dolls, or-"
While she was arguing, Marinette had been edging closer to Puppeteer unnoticed. When she was within arm's reach, she glanced at Chat, gave a tiny nod, and then snatched the wand from the little villainess' hand. Before Puppeteer could do anything more than gasp in surprise, she was already sprinting across the room with it.
"That's mine!" Puppeteer wailed behind her. "Give it back! No fair, give it-"
"So says the thief who stole from Marinette in the first place," Chat crowed. "Looks like you've been given a taste of your own medicine!"
He didn't have much time to exalt over how the tables had turned. He had other villains to keep tabs on: his partner's safety was at stake, and she carried a star-shaped target in her hand!
Copycat and Evillustrator were the first puppets to react, but they were still too slow. Before Copycat could reach for his belt, another baton knocked him off his feet and sent him colliding with Evillustrator; the box that the latter had been drawing dropped on top of them both, trapping them beneath it. Rogercop was next, but as he went to raise his weapons, Chat Noir was already somersaulting over his head, landing behind him and quickly restraining him. He was so much broader than the hero in his automated suit, Chat had to partially extend his baton and brace it against Roger's chest, pinning his arms down by his sides. Only Lady Wifi was left, and she was swiftly sizing up Chat, her finger hovering over the screen of her phone.
Marinette gulped; if Chat Noir got 'paused', she would be left alone to face two villains, with the others able to free themselves soon after! She glanced over her shoulder mid-run, veered a little to her right, then began to shout and wave her arms in the air, making herself as noticeable as possible. "Chat, I got it! The wand, I got it! Here, the akuma is in-"
Lady Wifi turned away from Chat Noir to focus on her instead; with a vicious smirk, she aimed a glowing icon at her. As soon as she saw it take to the air, Marinette stopped short and let her knees buckle, ducking under it just in time.
The pause instead hit Puppeteer, who had been standing directly behind her.
As soon as their manipulator froze, the puppets also stopped in place. Evillustrator had the eraser-end of his stylus pressed to the screen of his tablet; Copycat was poised with one leg raised, caught mid-step through the hole he had created in the side of their prison.
Chat Noir slowly let go of Rogercop when he realized the villain was stuck stock-still. Gazing wonderingly at Marinette, he gave a low whistle.
"Not bad - for a civilian." Though he was trying to appear casual, his unspoken admiration for his un-costumed partner was clearly apparent. He was very glad that Marinette still had her back turned towards Puppeteer; the victorious smirk on her face was all Ladybug, and though the akuma herself was frozen, Papillion might still be watching them through her.
"I'll take that," Chat said, holding out his hand for the wand. "Thank you very much for your assistance, but please leave de-evilizing to the pros!"
Marinette raised an eyebrow, but obediently passed him the wand. Chat Noir took it by the handle, squeezing tightly; it snapped cleanly between his clenched fingers. He dropped the pieces to the ground, where a dark butterfly fluttered out of them.
"Go, Marinette, get out of here!" Chat instantly shouted to his companion as if he were instructing her, though she already knew exactly what to do. They had agreed beforehand that as soon as the akuma's hold on Manon was broken and she no longer at risk of being controlled, she would find somewhere to transform, then quick come back to capture the akuma. He couldn't resist adding: "And if you see Ladybug anywhere-"
"-I'll direct her back here," Marinette muttered as she ran, her tone a little disgruntled.
Chat Noir watched fondly as the double-doors swung closed behind her. The more he got to know that girl-
"W-where am..." Chat Noir turned to find Manon blinking at him in surprise. "Chat Noir...?" She squinted up at him, a distrust not dissimilar to her akumatized form in her keen brown eyes. "Are you the real Chat Noir, or just a grown-up playing pretend?"
Chat realized now that he saw the real Manon that he actually knew her; when Marinette had told him her name earlier, he should have realized that it was the same little girl she had been minding before. The one who had guest-starred in his summer fashion shoot. With a smug smile, he reached up to adjust the bell at the collar of his costume. "I'll have you know, little lady, that I am the genuine-"
"Is that... an akuma?"
Alya's voice interrupted him. Sure enough, a violet butterfly was hovering about the studio, rising in languid spirals.
"Get away from it!" In an instant, Alya had dashed across the room and wrapped both arms around Manon, shielding her protectively.
At her shout, Nathanael stepped forward, swatting at the akuma with his gallery-program. Theo did the same with a nearby clipboard, urging both girls to take cover behind a large packing case. Captain Roger interposed his bulk between the butterfly and the children, reaching for his radio to call for back-up.
Chat Noir, meanwhile, did his best impersonation of a butterfly-catcher with a hole in his net. He swatted at it with the end of his baton, having to extend it more and more as the insect climbed higher and higher. He was trying to herd it down lower, but it was no use; it kept evading him, gradually gaining height. It appeared to be floating toward a vent set high in the ceiling. Stoneheart was still fresh in Chat's mind: if it got out into the city and found another host-
"Did someone call for an exterminator?"
Chat Noir turned. The broadest grin he had ever yet worn stretched across his face when he saw the triumphant red figure standing in the doorway.
"Ladybug!"
Six voices said the word at once. Chat winced; as one of few people in the room who actually remembered the events of the past half-hour, acting in tandem with these 'puppets', however unintentionally, was a little disconcerting!
Ladybug, meanwhile, was focused on the akuma. It was so high by now, its wingtips almost brushed the ceiling. She could try to snare it with her yoyo, but if she were to miss-
"Lucky Charm!"
She threw her yoyo overhead, but didn't aim as high as the akuma. When the rosy glow emanating from it had dispersed, something that looked unmistakably like a very heavy weapon dropped into her hands.
"Whoa!" Chat's eyebrows shot up; Alya let go of Manon with one hand to take a picture on her phone, while Captain Roger made faintly disapproving noises. "When you said 'exterminator', I didn't think you meant literally! Isn't that kind of overkill?"
Ladybug obviously didn't think so; she was giving the rifle-bazooka-firearm-thing a besotted smile. This almost completely made up for all the setbacks she had faced today... "Don't worry," she told her partner, with a sly wink. "When it comes to bugs, I have a catch-and-release policy!"
Hefting her polka-dotted weapon, she aimed the barrel carefully at the akuma, then fired. A large projectile burst from it with a loud bang, expanding rapidly in the air as it flew. It opened out into a net, which closed neatly around the tiny butterfly; weights attached to its edge brought it back down to the ground. The butterfly wafted vainly back and forth inside it, apparently unable to phase through the fine black-and-red mesh.
"Here's the catch," Ladybug said, gesturing proudly at her handiwork. "Would you take care of the 'release', Chat Noir?"
"Anything for you, 'Nette," Chat responded, earning a chuckle from himself, and a stern frown from his partner. "Cataclysm!"
He let the destructive energy gather around his fist, then reached towards the netting. As soon as his touch made contact, it disintegrated into nothing, setting the akuma free once again. A moment later, Ladybug's yoyo snatched it up before it had another chance to flee. As the pure-white creature began to flutter away, the two heroes turned to each other with fists outstretched.
"Bien joue!"
Ladybug scaled the side of the TVi building, then leapt to the opposite side of the street and vaulted over several rooftops. She lowered herself to the pavement in a secluded alleyway, depositing the bag she carried on the ground by her feet. She glanced around hastily, as her earrings beeped again. It had taken quite a while to return Manon to her mother and reassure Ms Chamanck. She had only just gotten away, after promising to return the dolls to Marinette, and she was running out of time. If no one was around, she could safely de-transform and make her way-
"The coast is clear, Princess."
With a start, Ladybug looked up. Chat Noir was dangling from the eaves of the house across from her hiding-place, his vivid green eyes fixed on her.
"Hey!" She glared up at him. "A little privacy here, please? I'm about to de-transform, so kindly go and-"
"That's why I'm here." Completely unfazed, he used his baton to vault onto the roof's peak. "I'll keep a look-out. If anyone comes, I'll let you know."
He appeared to be watching the next street over, vigilant for signs of any pedestrians who might be heading their way. He genuinely had her back - and anyway, he already knew full well who she was. Ladybug sighed, stalled by giving the deserted alley one final glance, and then dropped her transformation.
Turning away from his street-surveillance, Chat Noir found Marinette standing in the alleyway below, opening her purse to let her kwami get at what remained of her cookies. With a grin, he let go of the roof, performed a quadruple-somersault, and landed neatly in front of her. "My Lady," he said, going down on one knee and taking her hand for the customary kiss.
He was answered, as usual, with the customary poke on the nose. Hey, come to think of it, Marinette had also done it that time when he-
"I think you mean 'your Highness', don't you, oh faithful knight?" she said, in a teasing tone that only partially masked her nerves.
He got to his feet. "Her miraculousness, my lady-like princess," he suggested, dipping her a low bow. "The one and only royal Buginette." He took a step to stand beside her, offering his arm. "May I walk Her Highness home? Someone has to clear the plebians out of your way, and protect any poor defenceless butterflies that may unwittingly cross your path."
She huffed at his ridiculousness in such a familiar way, there was no mistaking her identity. "I guess you could walk me home, since you know where I live."
"Y-yeah," he agreed, though to say even that much felt like an admission of far more. How to explain that he had already been to her house multiple times... though this was the first time that 'Chat Noir' had officially found out that she actually lived above the bakery that her parents ran...
"But you're about to de-transform too, Chat," she pointed out, examining the blinking ring on his finger.
"So I am." He rubbed the back of his neck hesitantly, not sure how she would take what he was about to say. "Um, how about a fair trade? I know who you are, so if you want, you can also..."
She shook her head adamantly at him. "There's no need for that. You found out by accident, and you helped me out a lot back there. You don't have to-"
"Maybe I want to." She was rather startled by the fact that there was absolutely none of his customary humour about him. He eyed her intently, his expression utterly frank. "What if I told you that I just found out you are somebody I already know? What if I have to see you every day from now on, knowing who you are but having to keep it a secret, constantly lying to your face? Honestly, it would be a lot easier on me if I can just tell you who I am, too. I know you'd probably rather not know, but..."
He trailed off nervously. She was staring at him, stunned by his admission. He was... somebody she already knew? Who could he...She had no clue - not the first inkling - of who he could be. But he was willing to tell her. He wanted to tell her.
"When you put it like that," she said, once she had found her voice again. Her words were her permission.
"Okay, here goes." Taking a steeling breath, he took a few steps so he stood straight in front of her... and dropped his transformation.
He was more than a little worried that she was staring. And staring. And not saying anything at all.
Her mouth had dropped open wordlessly, so he took it upon himself to fill the silence. "Uh, hi," he said, waving shyly at her with a hand that wore a silver ring. He ignored Plagg's derisive snort as the kwami drifted into his pocket, zeroing in on his emergency stash of cheese.
"A... A... Adri... en...?" she finally managed to utter, after what felt like nine lifetimes. She had tensed all over, shoulders bristling and limbs stiff, like a puppet with its strings all tangled up.
"Uh, yeah." Her reaction was making him feel like his own strings had been cut. "Um... I told you that we might know each other in our civilian lives?"
When this was only met with more stupefied silence, he decided to abandon humour and try politeness. "Um, can I take that for you?" He gestured at the bag on the ground beside her. Considering the state she was in - or even without considering it - the likelihood of her tripping over it was pretty high. When she still gave no response, he picked it up, finding the Chat Noir doll topmost inside it. Unable to resist, he took it out, holding it up so he could see it better.
"Did you really make this?"
It seemed to take another age for the question to register; finally, it did. Marinette stirred, focused on him, and came to life. "Uh, y-yeah," she said, with a bashfulness that he attributed to modesty. "I m-m-mean, I'd already made Ladybug, and she n-needed a Chat Noir, and I had black fabric left over from the spare jacket I made, and t-there was some yellow felt from the sachet I sewed for my mother ages ago, so I... yeah," she finally finished, fiddling with the strap of her purse.
"It is totally claw-some!" He turned the puppet over and over, admiring every painstaking detail. "No wonder you were able to get the costume so accurate," he added, shooting her a wink. "You'd done plenty of first-hand research, eh, my Lady?"
Still evidently reeling, she only laughed light-headedly in reply.
"Seriously, though, this is incredible." He closely scrutinized the way the ears were attached to the hair, noting how the stitches that tacked them on with black thread corresponded exactly with the pins that normally held his own costume-ears in place. "You could easily become a professional toy-maker with these, I don't blame Manon for coveting them! I know Alya would love to have her own set of dolls. I would too," he admitted, truthfully.
"Keep it."
Marinette's abrupt statement took him by surprise; she seemed to have surprised herself, but she rallied admirably, managing to speak on. "Keep it. I-if you like it so much, I'd like y-you to have it." She smiled shyly, though some of her former familiarity had returned to her manner, making her slightly less stiff and awkward. "Who better to become the owner of this Chat Noir than the real Chat Noir himself?"
"Really? You seriously mean... I can have it?" It was a pretty big deal that she was giving him - and a self-made item, no less. Despite all the envy-inducing features his room boasted, it was rare for him to get an actual gift; his father's birthday present to him this year was a rare occurrence.
"Yeah, go ahead," she replied without hesitation, actually looking glad that he seemed so chuffed about it. She eyed the bag in his hand, suddenly adopting what he recognized as Ladybug's strategizing pose. "I think I'll give them all away. Doing this - trivializing what akuma victims go through by making toys out of them - was a silly thing to do, with dreadful consequences. It's far too dangerous to keep them all around; if Manon still wants them next time she comes over, she could have another tantrum, and this could happen all over again."
He nodded, vividly seeing her point; recollections of seeing his doll clutched in the angry child's hand still sent shivers along his spine. "That would be cat-astrophic."
She was staring at him again. He supposed he must have stared at her much like this, when he had first realized who she was. After a beat, she came out of her trance, laughing bashfully when she realized she had been caught gaping. "Uh, o-of course, if you don't want... that doll, er, the stick came off it, b-but it was- um, it became Copycat for a while there. If you want me to make you a fresh one-"
"No!" He clutched the doll to himself like a spoiled child, making Marinette hastily pull back her hand. Manon probably couldn't have done it any better; there was more than a passing resemblance. "This doll is definitely a Chat Noir doll - you were thinking of me when you made it, weren't you?" He gave her a toothy grin that she well recognized; usually it beamed at her from beneath a black visor. She certainly hadn't seen it in any of her posters of Adrien, though it was the exact same set of teeth. "There can only be one Chat Noir. All other cats who claim to be black are just imposters!"
Marinette did an admirable job of not freaking out over the fact that for one afternoon, there had been two Adriens in Paris. Even if Theo hadn't actually become the real thing, the thought of having been in the presence of double Adriens - when one on his own was more than enough to make her swoon - made her want to shriek and pull on her own pigtails.
"W-well," she stammered, pulling herself together as best she could, "I'm sure this little Chat Noir will be happy to have a home with the original. And your kwami," she hastily added, as Plagg stuck his head out of Adrien's collar, demanding acknowledgement.
"He definitely will." Shoving Plagg back out of sight so they could move out of the alley and he could make good on his offer to walk his princess home, he held his own doll tucked in the crook of his arm, carefully keeping it separate from the others. "So, these ones, will you...?"
"Yeah." Marinette gazed at the other dolls and flashed a satisfied smile, already picturing what Alya's reaction would be like. "They're also going to be given to their namesakes."
"Omigod, Mari, this is so adorable!" Alya squealed, using the tip of one finger to tap the tiny phone that her Lady Wifi doll held. It was exactly like its real-life counterpart, down to the tiny red-bead bug-charm dangling from it on a strand of thread.
"You do realize you just complimented yourself, right?" Nino pointed out, prompting his girlfriend to punch his arm with the doll's non-phone-wielding hand.
"Shut up, I never got to see what I looked like as an akuma. This is a perfect representation, and it is absolutely darling!"
"Y-yeah, this is great, Marinette," Nathanael agreed from the row behind them, his face nearly the same colour as his hair. As a boy, he couldn't act too excited over a doll - not with Ivan looming behind him, though he simply seemed to be looking on with mild interest - but he put any need for machoism aside in order to praise her creation. "It's very well-made. You got all the details just right."
"I'm glad to hear it," Marinette said, genuinely relieved to have earned his approval; since Nathanael had actually designed his own akuma-costume, that meant a lot coming from him. She glanced across the aisle, dropping her exuberant tone. "I hope your dad likes his too, Sabrina. You can give it to him, or keep it for yourself, if you like."
Sabrina said nothing - under Chloe's disapproving gaze, she didn't dare - but she traced a fingertip across Rogercop's visor thoughtfully.
"Those are so lovely, Marinette!" Rose gushed, leaving her seat in order to get a closer look. "I wish I could make something as cute as those, you are so talented!"
Marinette turned to look at her. Rose had been on her mind soon after she had decided to give away the dolls: if she was going to make anything similar ever again, she would use her sewing powers for good. "I actually wanted to talk to you about that, Rose. Don't you collect toys for Prince Ali's charity? If I can find the time, I'd love to make more dolls to send to kids in hospitals. I c-"
She was drowned out by Rose's excited squeaks, and half-throttled as she was thoroughly hugged. "Oh - could you - would you - really?! That would be, like, so wonderful of you, Marinette! They would make such a difference to those poor children, and I'm sure Prince Ali would be so thrilled, he's coming to Paris later this year so maybe we could give them to him-"
"I'll make as many as I can before then," Marinette promised. She might not be in costume, but right now she sure felt like a hero, in Rose's eyes at least.
"What about the Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls?" Alya wanted to know. She had pressed her doll's phone up to its ear, as if it were the one calling to ask Marinette her question. "You're not giving the Ladybug one away, are you? If you can spare it, I'd love to have it! I'll even pay-"
"Hey, dude, can I have the Chat Noir doll?" Nino interrupted, spinning around in his seat. "If no one else has claimed it yet-"
Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw that Adrien was staring fixedly ahead of him, the tips of his ears looking very red. With a knowing smile at his back - who knew her kitty could be so modest? - she faced Alya apologetically. "Sorry, all of my original dolls are going to the people I made them of. I already gave-"
"You mean Ladybug and Chat Noir have your dolls?!" Nino exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in his seat. "Whoa, talk about celebrity endorsement! What did th-"
"You spoke to my favourite superheroes and gave them things without inviting me?!" Alya accused, leveling a disgruntled stare at her supposed 'best friend'. "Thanks, Mari, you know I've only devoted my life and my web domain and every spare waking moment I have to-"
"I-I-It was really spur of the moment!" Marinette defended, trying to appease her hero-obsessed best friend. "They happened to be passing by, and I was thinking I shouldn't have all the dolls together in case another akuma got into them, so I managed to call them over to my balcony-"
"You spoke to them!" Alya insisted again.
"It just kind of happened," Marinette tried to explain. She had carefully prepared an excuse to explain why she still had her Ladybug doll - obviously she couldn't give it away like she had the others, since she was Ladybug - but her friend didn't seem to be taking it very well in any case. In front of her, Adrien's shoulders were quivering with silent laughter - fat lot of help he was! "I gave Chat Noir his doll, but Ladybug said I should hang on to hers, so Manon will have at least one doll to play with when she comes over, so I kept-"
"You kept the Ladybug doll?" Chloe evidently thought it was time to remind them all of her presence, much to everyone else's dismay. "As if there was anyone less deserving! You're nothing at all like Ladybug, she is-"
"Pfft-!"
Everyone within hearing distance of the front row jumped. Adrien had admitted a strange noise that sounded somewhere between a stifled sneeze and a strangled cough. "Sorry," he said, looking around at their startled expressions and wiping his eyes as he spoke. "I think a pigeon feather somehow got into my schoolbag on my way here."
He was very careful not to look at Marinette, who was having a great deal of trouble not staring at him yet again. She was frankly amazed at how well he had adjusted to discovering who she was, in the middle of a battle and with her powers disabled no less. She had the feeling that it would take the combined magic of every Miraculous in existence to help her even start to come to terms with the fact that the boy she adored to the point of being mortally afraid of him was also the partner she felt more comfortable with than almost anyone else.
With the bell about to ring, the students began organizing themselves for the long school day ahead, pulling tablets and text books from bags. Alya set up her doll on the seat between her and Mari, propping a comic book in front of it for it to 'read' during class. Smirking at how well-received it had been, Marinette bent down to get her pencil case out of her satchel.
"Hey, Princess?"
She narrowly avoided banging her head on the underside of her desk at Adrien's stealthy whisper. He appeared to be adjusting the strap on his own bag, but his green eyes glinted in her direction out of the shadows.
"Y-yes, Chaton?" she managed to murmur back, speaking without thinking and blushing when she realized what she had just called him. The way he gave her a gratified smile in return made her think that perhaps it wasn't too bad a blunder.
"Would you mind if my doll comes to visit yours sometime soon? He misses his Lady, and, uh... I happen to have Saturday afternoon free..."
Marinette thought that perhaps she had stayed bending down for too long and the blood had rushed to her head. It was certainly pounding in her ears; if she had heard correctly, Adrien Agreste was asking... was asking her... out on a...
Somehow, she had the presence of mind to remember what she was doing that day, and despite the disappointment, her heart-rate at least dropped a bit closer to normal. "S-sorry, I already told Ms Chamanck that I would watch Manon then-"
"Oh. Well, would it be alright if I... tag along?"
Surely she hadn't heard that right - Adrien Agreste was asking if he could help her baby-sit?! Either he really liked kids, or he had particularly hit it off with Manon, or- or, it was her that he- that he wanted to- that he would be spending time with- that he-
"I w-was... thinking of t-taking her to the zoo," Marinette whispered, trying to ignore how Alya was pointedly tapping on the desk above with her fingernails, perhaps asking in Morse code what she was doing under the table with her crush.
"Sounds like fun," Adrien said, giving her the kind of smile that would have made her knees give way if she hadn't already been sitting down. "We'll finally get to see the new panther. Without it turning into a dinosaur and attempting to eat us," he added under his breath.
Yep, that had been the arrangement she had made with Nino - the panther part, not the dinosaur - and that had been intended as a date, so this was- what he said was- he was asking her on a-
"S-sure," she somehow managed to say, perhaps a little louder than she had intended.
She caught a glimpse of the dazzling smile he gave her - just before the bell rang, and she did whack her head on the underside of her desk.
As Alya made sympathetic sounds over her, still looking mildly miffed that she hadn't been included in Marinette's meeting with the superheroes, it took Adrien all his time not to lean over the desk and offer to kiss his Princess' crown better.
It was a service he would have gladly performed. After all, he was her loyal knight; and no one deserved to be treated like royalty more than his Lady.
Extra bonus ending:
"You never did explain it."
"Hm?" Adrien watched Manon, keeping a close watch over the little girl as she stood on the edge of the red-panda enclosure, pigtails bobbing as she craned to see the cute creature that clung to branch slightly higher than her head. "Explain what?"
"The whole 'princess' thing."
He took his eyes off Manon to look properly at his princess. Marinette flushed slightly, but didn't turn away, like she would have done a few days ago. All through the week leading up until now, Adrien had been working hard at trying to make her feel more comfortable around him. He wasn't sure what it was about himself that made her seem so ill-at-ease, when Chat clearly didn't - after all, Adrien was just as famous, just as gorgeous, and just as witty as his costumed counterpart - but whatever it was, he was glad that they were making some kind of progress.
"Ah, that." He stopped walking, staying out of earshot of Manon while keeping her safely in sight; she was lingering over the red-panda, cooing at it through the fence. "I'm not sure what that was, actually. I was acting, and it was kind of spur of the moment. I mean, I was your escort for the evening, and it was a birthday celebration, which is kind of like a ball, and..." She didn't look convinced by this answer, so he searched the inner depths of his own mind for the real truth. Why had he called her that? "I... guess I was thinking of the first time I met you."
"O-oh?" This time, Marinette coloured more brightly; she clearly wasn't proud of the memory. Then she blinked. "Wait, which first meeting? You mean with me, or with-"
"Our second ever meeting, then," Adrien amended. "From my first impression of you - Marinette you - 'princess' just seemed fitting. I mean, you were definitely regal and intimidating." He hastily added, "A-and I mean that as a compliment. A gentleman would only offer his umbrella to a true Lady, wouldn't he?"
He applauded himself on his successful attempt at flirting; Marinette had turned a colour that almost rivalled the panda that Manon was still admiring. "Oh, t-that was- You didn't have to- I, um, I mean t-thank you, and... I, er, still h-have the umbrella, if you want it..."
"No, you can keep it," he replied, surprised and touched by the fact that she had hung onto it. He'd had numerous other umbrellas since then; he often managed to leave them behind when he went anywhere, in the car or at lessons or on sets of photo-shoots. The way she had carefully hung onto it seemed to have some sort of significance - as did the way her cheeks burned the whole time they discussed it. "It's a poor trade, though, for the doll that you gave me..."
"No!" She overturned his self-deprecation, fluttering on the spot as if she had an adamant point to make. "No, it's great! I mean, it's a good umbrella! Well, it wasn't the umbrella... um, actually, it was- That time, y-you were- I... that was when I-"
"Hey, Marinette!" Manon raced back to them, pointing to a bunch of balloons that hovered in the distance. "They still have Mireille balloons! Can I have one this time?" She stuck out her lower-lip in a pout that was mysteriously compelling. "Pretty please? You did promise me last time!"
Marinette sighed. Besides the fact she was sure she had made no such promise - with Alya was her witness - she had also been warned by Ms Chamanck not to let Manon use her 'puppy-dog eyes' to take advantage of her again. Glancing pleadingly at Adrien, she wondered if having her 'kitty-cat' with her this time would help; she hated being strict, so it might take some Ladybug-levels of willpower to resist that adorable expression! "Sorry, Manon, but I-"
"I'll get it." Both girls turned, surprised - and in Manon's case, delighted - to find Adrien taking his wallet out of his pocket. "Which colour do you want?"
Manon whooped and dashed ahead, chattering excitedly about her favourite colour. Adrien and Marinette followed, the latter barely listening to the girl's exaltations over how great fuschia-pink was. "You don't have to," she assured Adrien. "Her mother told me not to give in to-"
"I don't mind." Adrien pulled a few crisp bills from his wallet. "Considering that I ended up with one of the dolls she wanted, I kind of think I should."
"I-I'll get Ms Chamanck to pay you back," Marinette promised, not sure whether to be more impressed by Adrien's chivalry, or Manon's ability to lay a guilt-trip without even having to try.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Adrien's smirk. "She does kind of owe me. Her daughter almost led me around on a string! If you hadn't acted quickly and Puppeteer had gotten me, it would've be-"
He was interrupted by a sharp poke in the ribs. "We are not in the super-heroing business for monetary gain, Kitty," his Lady sternly reminded him. "Since when do we ever expect anything in return?"
Adrien rubbed his side where she had jabbed him, but smiled happily to himself. If she was willing to scold him, she must be feeling pretty comfortable around him. "Yeah, we let a statue be made in our honour under complete sufferance," he deadpanned. "Does this mean you didn't give me the doll to make up for all those times you hit me on the head with your yoyo?"
He decided he really should start keeping a tally of every time he made Marinette turn the same colour as her suit - though he had already lost count. "I didn't- I mean, I did, b-but it was accident- I mean, I d-didn't mean to-"
He waggled his eyebrows in the manner that she usually found particularly infuriating - coming from a certain cat. "If your aim is as bad as all that, I'll have my umbrella back after all - it might make useful protection from falling yoyos!"
"Oooh!" Marinette stamped her foot, much like she had done when Evillustrator had compared her to Chloe (he seemed to recall her doing the same in response to some puns that were perhaps only appreciated by a more discerning audience). "I am hitting you on the head next time we're on patrol, as punishment for making that remark!"
"What, you'll purposefully hit on me?"
"Oh my god, you just- I think I prefer when you call me 'Princess'!"
As they bantered back and forth - keeping a watchful eye on Manon as she skipped towards the balloon-vendor up ahead - they didn't notice how a clump of bushes just off the path quivered slightly.
Nino peered through the foliage, careful not to let stray twigs scratch his glasses. "Do we really have to do this? They seem to be getting on just fine without-"
"Of course we have to!" Alya declared beside him, leaning around a thick branch for a better view; she wished she could hear what the couple was saying, but they weren't nearly close enough. "It'll save me having to lock them in the janitor's closet if they don't come into class holding hands by Monday!"
Nino snorted. Much as he was also a (less-fervent) supporter of 'Operation Adrinette', he seriously questioned some - make that most - of his girlfriend's techniques. "You're just trying to punish them for refusing to wear head-sets this time."
"Whatever gives you that idea?" Alya asked, adopting a pious air that was in no way convincing.
He quirked a sceptical eyebrow at her. "You're enjoying this way too much."
"Oh, and you're not?"
Okay, he had to admit she had him there. Even if Adrien's actions had been well-intended, he still wouldn't mind avenging himself for the way he had been left hanging on his ill-fated 'date' with Marinette, his supposed 'best friend' refusing to show up. Besides, the whole fact that his bud had asked out a girl whom he fully knew Nino had crushed on - even if he had since well-and-truly moved on - really had to have some sort of repercussions. Perhaps just not ones quite as harsh as this.
"Do they really deserve this? Shouldn't it be Ladybug and Chat Noir that we do this to? Ladybug was the one who-"
"Trust me, I would if I had the chance. For now, these two dorks will do instead."
Knowing there was no backing out for him, given the warning look currently on Alya's face, Nino sighed, deciding to claim that he had been coerced by her later on. "Tell me again what I have to do," he said against his better judgement, wondering if he could possibly be arrested as an accomplice. "It's the next enclosure-"
"Yes, the one just round the corner." Alya gleefully rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "My dad only cleaned it out yesterday, so it should be nearly spotless. I could have picked out one that was long overdue for a tidy; but hey, I'm feeling generous. Besides, sending them into a cage full of hyenas is probably a bit too much."
"Probably," Nino repeated, in a mocking undertone which she chose to ignore. "So, I'll wait for your signal to move in?"
"Just watch, and give me long enough to distract Manon; then you push them into the empty enclosure, and slam the door shut. We'll leave them in there long enough to go get the key from my dad's office - and perhaps show Manon the flamingos on our way past."
"Hm, multi-tasking," Nino quipped.
"Like a pro," she retorted.
Reminding himself to never do anything to even remotely upset his girlfriend, Nino reached out to fist-bump Alya in stealthy silence. Then the pair ducked down and crept behind another bush. In a minute, they would spring a prank on their respective best friends, the like of which would make them wish they both had superheroes' powers to help them get out of it.
Author's note: well, so ends another saga. I was wondering why this chapter was taking so long to write, turns out it was just long in general, even by my standards! I didn't divide the two halves very evenly; but can you blame me for wanting to end the previous chapter on that particular line?
I'm so relieved that this plotline has been as well-received as it was! I'm usually a stickler for sticking to canon, so I'm glad no one has minded the minor deviances I took to make this story work.
It had nothing to do with the greater story, but I added Marinette's promise to make toys for Rose to give to Ali's charity on a whim. Every year, I give several bags of old toys to local charities, and buy new toys for a local store's annual 'Wishing Tree' drive. Please consider doing the same, you too could be a hero for making the effort to give!
I agree with the guest who left a review: yes, I am also sick of Chat Noir becoming a damsel in distress/getting mind-controlled all the time. Having it happen once, as a big climatic development further through the series, would have been compelling - but this many times?! Yes, I get that Ladybug is kind of the star of the show, and it is great to have an empowered female super-heroine do the heavy lifting and save the day without having to rely on her male partner - but Chat is so reliant on her, which seems a bit unfair. He is certainly capable in his own right - I mean, he beat down the entire Paris police force single-handedly on two separate occasions! I like re-imagining situations where Chat doesn't become a burden or an enemy like he does on the show, I'm already planning on doing my own version of Princess Fragrance, though I know well enough to leave Dark Cupid alone!
Eagle-eyed readers might have spotted that I borrowed a line directly from my favourite Disney- er, I mean princess film, 'Anastasia'. Just re-discovered it, I never appreciated how good it was when I saw it as a child!
This was my attempt to reason out why Chat Noir asked Marinette for her address in this episode, despite already having been to her house numerous times: according to Chat's timeline, he had met her during Evillustrator and knew that her parents ran the bakery, but he supposedly didn't know that she also lived above it. Also, I imagine Adrien was trying to sell the illusion that he and Chat are separate people, and completely overdid the part.
I've found, strangely enough, that the hardest part about writing this series of one-shots is trying to decide which idea to do next. I have a bunch of plot-outlines written out in preparation and I'm constantly adding new ones, so picking just one to tackle next from my long to-do list can be pretty tough! Fortunately I've had a bunch of reader requests, so I'll try to work my way through those next. I hope you've enjoyed the stories thus far, and stay tuned! ~ W.J
p.s. 'Miraculous' has made me decide to act on a longtime dream, and finally attempt to learn French! So far I've been watching Youtube how-to videos and listening to CD tutorials without much success, anyone have any tips? It's way more complicated than I thought!