Chapter 6

"Adrien?!" Kagami echoed Felix, scrambling to their shoulders and peering up at him in awe. "How-how did you keep that a secret all this time?!"

Felix was staring at the ground, unable to maintain a gaze on his cousin now that he was transformed into the superhero.

"I'm not the only one," Chat stated, eyeing Felix steadily. He waited.

"You wouldn't have believed me," Felix muttered softly. "You still might not. I-I wasn't trying to keep you and Ladybug in the dark, I-I was trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"As my cousin," Felix snapped, glancing up, ombre eyes glowing at him in the darkness. "It would be easier if we could go back to Paris together, then I could just show you."

"I just revealed my identity to you," Chat argued, his voice dropping dangerously low. "I've never done that for anyone before. Not even Ladybug. Not even Marinette. You're insane if you think I'm letting you out of here until I hear the truth from you."

Argos let out a small breath, a tragic smile ghosting his lips as he shook his head slightly. "I wish you'd thought this through..."

"I have thought this through!" Chat snapped in response. "Why are you so afraid of telling me the truth?"

"It's not me," Felix almost sounded apologetic. "I-I thought I could spare you. Because Monarch-he's been right under your nose this whole time. He's-he's your father."

As far as devastating revelations went, this one had gone rather well, Felix snorted to himself, watching Chat Noir hobble his way down a nearby tunnel to put some distance between them for a moment.

He'd left saying he needed to 'make a call'.

Whatever.

Felix sighed, detransforming and walking over to sit next to where his girlfriend had curled up against a large pipe, feeling the cold steel seep through his dress shirt as he matched her posture. "Sorry this is taking so long, my queen," he apologized. "I promise you we'll be free of this place very soon."

Kagami's voice was small, echoing a little off the walls. She stared straight ahead instead of at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Oh.

Whoopsie.

His eyes widened. "About Monsieur Agreste?"

"My mother works with him," Kagami pointed out icily. "Do I need to spell it out for you that that means she could also be working for Monarch? Meaning her intentions in creating the Alliance project could be more than just changing the world through technology and projecting her ideals for my life's image. They could be a system that paves the way for global terrorism."

Felix did his best to not panic that this was the first time she was angry with him since the start of their admittedly short relationship and instead carefully consider the facts she was presenting.

Considering them, however, did not make him feel better, as the prospect was quite concerning.

He racked his brain for ideas on how they would deal with this potentially disastrous situation once they got back to Paris. "The most important thing is that you're out of her grasp, my love," he tried to persuade her. "Perhaps, once we get to Paris, Ladybug can help all of us find some answers."

"I hope you're right," Kagami still frowned, although her face softened slightly. She allowed him to take her hand. "And I hope you understand that, if I can be of any help, I will fight beside her, even if it's against my own mother."

"I would rather you stayed somewhere safe. You don't have a Miraculous, you would be in a lot of danger if you tried to do that," he sounded alarmed.

"I may not have a Miraculous, but I still have a duty to my family." Her eyes sparked as she stared straight ahead. "In this case, to put an end to their evil deeds."

Chat limped through the slosh of a trickle of water that still ran through the bottom of the reservoir tunnel, putting some space between himself and his cousin. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other. He couldn't tell if the pressure on his chest was from his broken ribs or from panic, the shock of finding out his father's identity and mission still sending him mentally reeling.

When he finally decided he was out of earshot, he stiffly lowered himself, one leg outstretched, onto a nearby crate that seemed sturdy enough to hold him.

He pulled out his catphone and his eyes focused on the reflection in the dark screen, which he could see much better in the dark now that he was transformed.

This-this Chat Noir, this was the son of Monarch himself?! This was a-a sentimonster? He felt his focus slip and his vision blurred. He had to shake himself to return his attention to the call that needed to be made. Rather than allowing himself to hesitate, he hit the call button immediately.

Waiting would only cause him to overthink. And he could spend a very, very long time before he'd be done thinking through everything that had happened today.

The call went to voicemail, so he started talking, hoping she would see it before too long.

"Hi, M'Lady. Wish I had better news. I'm not in Paris and probably won't be for another couple of hours, soooo...I'm really sorry if there have been any akumas. I'm sure if there have been, you've taken care of them flawlessly as usual."

He offered a slight attempt at a smile, then looked away, letting out a shaky breath.

"Long story short, I ran into Felix and-he told me who he thinks Monarch is. I have no way of knowing if he's telling the truth but-it's Gabriel Agreste."

A long moment passed, as he struggled for the right words, not knowing how much of what was in his head he ought to say.

"Just-promise me you'll wait until I'm back to investigate? It's just-this is Monarch we're talking about. It's not safe to go alone. I want to make sure I have your back. Felix also thinks there may be a big akuma attack soon, hopefully it's not already happening. I wanted to warn you I wouldn't be available, but I couldn't without giving away my identity. I promise I'll meet you as soon as I can, M'Lady. Cat-ch you later," he offered halfheartedly, signing off.

Slowly, he made his way back to his cousin and friend who were waiting for him, boots sloshing through the trickle of muck as he went.

Conscious of their eyes on him, but without returning the stare, Chat hauled himself up on the final rungs of the ladder to their last exit, painfully but with much better balance than the last time he'd attempted the same, the irony of how he'd gotten himself injured hitting hard.

Reaching overhead, even while transformed, was still pretty painful. Chat grit his teeth and stretched one hand up toward the final manhole cover. "Cataclysme!"