Symbiotic Whiskers
Chapter 5
The metal bar crammed itself next to the handle, shifting up and down as the masked man did his best to jimmy it open.
"Hurry up!" One of his fellow accomplices whispered loudly, keeping an eye out around the street.
"Man chill." The calm, focused burglar continued to inch the crowbar further into the door frame of the pawn shop. "No one is out this late."
"I wouldn't be so sure." A voice spoke from above, a black substance shooting out and tangling the man's hand to the door.
Cat Noir was perched right over them, sitting on the wall as he lazily counted five guys. "Do you want to turn yourselves in, or-"
The four not trapped all pulled out knives, Cat Noir rolling his eyes in response. "Ok, really? I'm up here, out of your range, routinely take on super powered villains, and you think you're going to reach me with those?"
In response to the taunt, one of them tried to throw the knife at Cat Noir, only for him to watch it spin around in the air before bouncing off the bricks just under him. "Man this is pathetic."
Cat Noir barely had to move, just yawning as he kept snapping his arm out to wrap the guys together, keeping in mind not to let them accidentally stab one another. Once they were a tight bundle of unwilling cuddles, Cat Noir let himself drop down to the ground to fish in one of their pockets to find a phone. Bingo.
"Hello officer." Cat Noir spoke into the thief's phone, knowing that using his own would put him at risk of getting caught. "Yeah, me again. Need a pick up at-"
Ladybug
His eyes flicked over to one of the nearby rooftops, seeing Ladybug leaping towards his position.
"How about you just track the phone, ok?" Cat Noir offered as he tried to hang up sooner rather than later.
"Cat!" Ladybug called out as she jogged across the empty street towards him. "Hey, I want to talk about-"
"Sorry." Cat Noir pointed to the mobile in hand. "Can't talk, I'm on the phone."
The girl's shoulders sagged, Ladybug waiting for him to finish before she spoke up again. "Cat Noir, please just talk to me."
"I am."
"You know what I mean." Ladybug glanced over towards the hooligans for the night, seeing that things had already been taken care of at the moment. "Can we please, just talk? Like we used to?"
Shortly debating the options in his mind, Cat Noir felt his chest tighten at some of them. He gave in, nodding as he jumped up with Ladybug to get a little more privacy but still keeping an eye on the robbers.
Ladybug sat down next to him, reaching over to place a hand on his but he pulled away before she could. "Are you mad at me?"
"No." Cat Noir quickly shook his head. "I'm just, trying to give you space."
"It feels like you're pushing me away." Ladybug leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of his face. "You still help take down akumatized villains but other than that you don't show up for our regular patrols together, or our usual hang out spots. I know I wasn't enthusiastic about doing more than taking down villains together but I miss having you as a friend."
"I miss it too." He admitted, scratching his claw against the roof to keep himself grounded. "But I also can't just get rid of my feelings, and I'm trying. The chocolate isn't working anymore."
"The chocolate was to feed your kwami so you wouldn't have your emotions influenced by it." Ladybug wanted to reach out, just to assure him that she was here to help. "That doesn't mean what you feel gets erased."
"I wish it would." The news felt exhausting to the hero. Ladybug wanted to help carry his burden, but so many times he would be facing something that she didn't understand. His powers were unusual, unpredictable, so much so that not even Tikki was certain why.
Wait, his powers were tied to his anger, but could they also be tied to his other emotions? He's already feeding his kwami, but if they increased his strength, speed, reflexes, what about his feelings? "You're always wearing your suit right? In one way or another?"
"Just about." Cat Noir hunched over, and even though being next to Ladybug reminded him of his heartache it was still comforting just to have the air begin to clear up again between them. "Why do you ask?"
"I think you should try going a day without your suit-"
NO
A wave of anger rushed through Adrien's body, making it stand up on its own as his claws snapped out. The eyes of his mask glared down towards Ladybug, the heroine holding her breath as she hardly recognized her partner for a moment.
Cat Noir looked down towards his own hands, seeing how angry he got at the idea of just taking off the suit for a day. It scared him, seeing how little control he had of himself, and he didn't ever want to take that out on someone he cared for. "I have to go."
"Cat Noir wait!" Ladybug yelled out but it was too late. He had already left, just as she was starting to piece something together. He was using his powers too much, and it was making him suffer for it.
Whether it was circumstance, relations, or duty, something always kept Nathalie from Adrien. It was her obligation, both from work and her own morality to make sure the boy was well taken care of. While he would often isolate himself in his spare time after his mother passed, she worried about his worsening condition.
She had gotten reports of him being quiet in his classes, Adrien barely listening to photographers during photoshoots, and now any moment they were home he would lock himself in his room. Normally there was something she could hear, either him doing his piano lessons, playing some of his games, or just watching the television.
Standing between the door and his room, Nathalie knocked twice on his door. "Adrien? Are you feeling well?"
No response, no noise, just quiet.
"I'm coming in." She announced in case he wasn't properly dressed, taking her time as she opened the door to allow him to speak up. Once inside, she could see the maids had kept up the room well enough. The only thing left alone was the pile of untouched stacks of fan mail and gifts that had been building up since Valentine's day. "Adrien?"
Sweeping the area, she quickly discovered the lump under the covers. "Adrien, are you awake?"
He moved further under the blankets, hiding from Nathalie as he curdled up on himself. The woman cursed herself for not noticing sooner, and hated to think that Gabriel was aware but not intervening. "Are you feeling sick?"
"No." Adrien uttered, proving he was awake and had been listening the whole time.
How was she supposed to help right now? She wasn't a parental figure in his life or someone qualified to deal with the complex emotions of a teen. Still she sought to do everything in her power. "Can I get you anything?"
"No thanks."
Whatever was happening, whatever he was going through, she wanted him to get help even if it wasn't from her. Giving him some space to not intrude anymore, Nathalie stepped back to the door and lingered in the hall just outside his room. "If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."
Waiting for a minute in case he did call out, Nathalie was disappointed when he kept to himself. It wasn't surprising, there was no reason for him to trust her enough to tell her his deepest feelings. There was someone else though, who could tell if anyone in Paris was feeling down.
Marching through the house, Nathalie made sure none of the house maids followed as she entered Gabriel's private study. The man was standing towards the back, looking up towards the portrait of his wife with his hands tucked behind his back. "What is it Nathalie?"
"Are you aware of how Adrien is doing?"
"Fine." The topic of his family still got his attention, Gabriel looking back towards his personal assistant. "Why do you bring it up?"
"Because he's not fine." Nathalie spoke up, daring to confront the man directly. "He's just as bad, if not worse compared to when Emilie-"
"Impossible." Gabriel denied immediately. "If he was even the slightest bit upset over spilled milk I would know."
But his knowledge wouldn't stop him from worrying over the chance that Adrien was hiding his own suffering. "I will look into it, thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"Of course." Nathalie was partially satisfied, knowing that Gabriel wouldn't spare any effort to assure his family was ok. "Is there anything I can help with?"
The man's will faltered at her request, his gaze flickering to the towering image of Emilie. "I couldn't dare ask."
His plans failed, time and time again and his most recent one more so than ever. Gabriel shuddered, recalling his observations of Dark Cupid in his encounter. The plan was simple, turn Cat Noir against Ladybug, alongside several citizens and his akumatized villain she couldn't win.
But Cat Noir didn't turn on her, he turned into something else. His powers were proving more dangerous than he anticipated. For a minute, as the fear gripping Dark Cupid's heart flowed through Hawkmoth's empathic skills, all he could do was watch in horror as his akuma was hunted, captured, and only his nightmares told him what would have happened if Ladybug didn't intervene.
He could remember it like he was there, fleeing desperately like his life depended on it.
Whatever he did, it wouldn't be enough with Cat Noir stalking in the shadows. He needed to find a way to divide Ladybug and Cat Noir even if it cost him his sanity, and he couldn't do it alone.
"Sir." Reading his silent debate, Nathalie stepped forward to accept the task. "You don't have to ask, I'm willing."
She would do whatever it took to help their family, giving them back the missing piece they needed desperately. To help Gabriel, and to help Adrien.
Artists sometimes needed inspiration, a muse.
Marinette had one, one that she had plastered on nearly every inch of her wall.
"I think you should find a new muse." Tikki mentioned, sitting on her plate with a small assortment of treats before her.
"Nahhh." Marinette sighed in her trance, taking in potentially hundreds of different photos of Adrien. "He's just perfect."
"You're so focused on Adrien this morning that you haven't worked on anything." The kwami took a big chomp out of her next cookie. "You haven't even noticed the time."
What time was it? A quick look at her clock showed that it was later than she noticed. "I'M LATE!"
Rushing around to grab her books, proper clothes, trying to get dressed and tie her hair all at once she kept tripping over herself. Tikki just focused on her breakfast, amused by how Marinette mixed up a hair brush and a paintbrush. But, she still had an important question she couldn't bring up with Marinette.
Should she bring Marinette to Master Fu to discuss Plagg?
His behavior was unusual, his powers a mess, and whatever happened on Valentine's day still concerned the magical being. If Cat Noir was hit by the arrow, he should have turned on Ladybug. Tikki was happy he didn't, but something else happened.
From what Ladybug relayed, Cat Noir blacked out during that moment and was oddly silent. Every other person hit was incredibly vocal, saying anything that could hurt whoever they previously loved.
Cat Noir wasn't in control of himself, but he wasn't under the influence of Dark Cupid. The only other thing she could think of was that Plagg somehow got control. That on top of his emotional state from constantly being transformed, or partially, it was all just a best guess.
That didn't sound right, because never in her thousands of years did she witness any kwami manage to take control of their wielder or intensify their emotions. So what else could it have been?
"I can't afford to be late again!" Marinette, finally ready for the day threw open the windows. "Tikki, spots on!"
"Hurry up Sabrina!" Chloe ordered as she reclined further back on her oversized couch in a room so large it could fit a house inside. "My geometry homework isn't going to do itself."
Sabrina, the dutiful best friend of the beautiful Chloe Bourgeois did her best to meet the demands. It was a lot of work being a good friend, and a whole lot more to be friends with Chloe. Higher quality of friends meant higher service to stay by their side, perfectly fair.
As she kept double checking the work, Chloe was helping herself to another serving of a chocolate spread, all while staring at her phone with longing. Ever since Valentine's day, after Chloe had gotten all those people to set up a romantic evening, Adrien never showed up. She could tell her BFF was sad, but she was so strong and confident to not give up!
"Adrien doesn't know what he's missing." Sabrina picked the wrong words. She covered her head, ducking under a shoe that was thrown her way from the fuming Chloe.
"I don't need to hear you say that! I know Adrien is missing out on my generosity!" The girl turned over, her frown deeper than before as she kept staring at the photos on her phone.
Photos of Adrien.
Sabrina felt useless as a friend to her, no matter what games they did or what they purchased with her father's money, nothing managed to fully cheer Chloe up. She would have to work extra hard to make her feel better.
"Chloe, do you want to play Ladybug and Cat Noir?"
"CHLOE!"
The blonde woke up startled, jolted awake as her mind was catching up with what was happening. In class, at her desk, with the science teacher staring down at her with her arms crossed. "We are in the middle of a test, try to stay awake."
"It's not my fault!" Chloe whined. "A ghost's been haunting me!"
"Ghosts aren't real." The woman in the drabby lab coat informed. "Your grades however are."
All around the class began to giggle, mocking Choe for one of the most ridiculous blame schemes she ever came up with. Her instructor wasn't willing to entertain it anymore, moving down back to her desk.
"Ow!" Something yanked hard at the back of Chloe's head, tugging her hair back as the girl moved her hands to the source. "See! This dead person won't leave me alone! I haven't been able to get any sleep, I've barely had anything to eat, and I've barely had anything to wear because it keeps throwing out any clothes I buy! AH!"
Chloe's bag lifted up, the girl grabbing hold of it before it could be taken from her. She pulled as much as her thin arms could, the zipper coming undone and spilling out its contents as the girl was dragged through the classroom.
Marinette normally would have dismissed it, or enjoyed the show, but how many times had an akumatized person come after Chloe?
"Adrien!" In a tortured cry Chloe ran towards the boy for protection, grabbing onto his arm as he did his best to focus on his test. Was this some ploy for Chloe to try and get the teacher to let her sit by him or copy his answers for the test? "Please! You have to believe me! No one else will and you're the only friend that-"
"Friend?" Adrien growled out, his aggression bleeding out. "You really think we're friends?"
"Of course!" Chloe, oblivious and desperate clung tighter to him. "Ever since we were little, we-"
"I'm not talking about them." Adrien cut her off harshly, clenching his fist against his pant leg. "I'm talking about now, about how all you ever ask me to do is make you look better."
"Well duh, that's what friends are for."
"THAT'S NOT WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!" Adrien shoved her off, standing up as Chloe stumbled back until she landed on her rear. "I really hoped that you were different Chloe, but you take whatever you want from everyone around you, you insult them, you lie to them-"
Frustrated at the accusations, paired with her lack of sleep Chloe refused to tolerate another second of this as she got up in his face. "I don't have to take things from people because I can just buy it, and I didn't lie to you!"
"You lie to me all the time!" Adrien shouted, grabbing at his hair at how stubborn Chloe was. "You lied about the petition, you stole Alix's watch from my hand, you stole Marinette's hat design and tried to take credit for it! Anything good you either want to keep it for yourself or break it so no one else can have it! It's horrible!"
"I am not horrible!"
"You cause half of the akumas in Paris!" Adrien shouted as he stomped in front of her, Chloe backing up as he went on. "You keep claiming I'm your friend, but until you start treating others with basic respect I refuse to spend another second tolerating you!"
He stormed away, his steps crushing some of the spilled contents of Chloe's bag as he went over to crash the door open and slam it behind himself, cracking the glass in the frame.
Everyone was deathly silent for a moment, none of them ever expecting Adrien to be the one to put Chloe in her place. Not even Marinette saw it coming, but holy crap did she wish she recorded it!
As people began to get over their nerves, Chloe even forgot about the stunt pulled earlier as she ignored her bag, her phone, all of it to run out of the room with tears threatening to build up in her eyes.
"Did you get that?" Marinette whispered to her friend.
"Yeah." Alya lowered her own phone, wondering whether or not this was a good thing. "Guess Chloe found Adrien's limit."
But while Marinette was still looking at the door where Adrien just was, she saw it open on its own, closing again but never seeing anyone pass through it. After Adrien's outburst, she had forgotten all about the possible akuma on the loose. Now she had to refocus, and hope that Cat Noir was ok enough for the fight ahead.
The elevator pinged, Marinette aka Ladybug following her escort, the mayor of Paris himself Andre Bourgeois. The only times she had ever been able to set foot here was as Ladybug, and while it was such a nice hotel all that was in the back of her mind was the fact that Chloe was here. Especially since every time she showed up it was because Chloe was a target.
"I can't thank you enough Ladybug." The mayor even held the door open for her as they stepped into the security room. "You're a good friend of Chloe to always come and defend her from ruthless villains who always seem to target her. I can't imagine what my life would be like if Hawkmoth stole her away from me."
"Friends?" Ladybug questioned, wondering how anyone could interpret that. "I'm here to help all of Paris, not just Chloe."
"But she requested you personally didn't she?"
What was that girl thinking pretending to be close to her? That was the issue, Chloe isn't thinking about anything except herself. As the mayor began pulling back the playback function for all of the cameras, letting a few live ones of Chloe's room stay present on a separate screen in case the villain broke in.
Ladybug pulled up her magical yo yo, which somehow also worked as a smartphone. Double checking her messages, she was glad that Cat Noir at least replied with a thumbs up. Good, he might be just perfect for this task. So long as he keeps a hold of himself.
Now she was going to find out who exactly Chloe managed to hurt, again.
It was Sabrina! Chloe knew she wasn't good enough. No one was!
Not Sabrina, not her daddy who failed to keep her safe, not even Adrien.
After rushing to get her own Ladybug costume on, taking the elevator back down to prove herself to be as competent as superheroes, Chloe's grip on the stupid choice of weapon lessened. There were so few people she could rely on now, and those she thought that would be by her side forever had betrayed her.
Why? She was Chloe Bourgeois, the most perfect girl ever who shined the brightest. Was she just so bright people couldn't be around her for long?
With a soft ding of the elevator announcing its arrival to the lobby, Chloe was determined to show that she belonged in the spotlight, that she belonged with whoever she chose, and maybe it would be enough to snap Adrien back to his senses.
"The real Ladybug has arrived!" Chloe announced in her red and black spotted outfit, looking around for the invisible foe. The yo yo dropped from her hand, seeing Cat Noir was keeping a red sparkled covered Vanisher pinned with her arms behind her back as Ladybug went through each item.
"Is it the shoes?" Cat Noir suggested, hoisting the girl up as she began kicking. His tail snaked out from behind, wrapping around her legs to keep them still. Ladybug promptly pulled the shoes off and broke them, but no akuma emerged.
"Nope." The heroine scratched her head. "She wears glasses, maybe we can try those."
"RAAHHH!" Vanisher screamed, trying to bite the heroine's fingers. Cat Noir slapped his hand around her mouth for a second, and when he pulled it back a patch of black goo was keeping her mouth shut.
"You're clear." Cat Noir said as Ladybug grabbed the spectacles and broke them too.
"Not there either." Ladybug hummed.
"Ahem." Chloe spun her plastic yo yo around, twirling it while striking a confident pose when the heroes looked over. "It looks like this is a job for-"
"Not now Chloe/Not now Chloe." Both of them ignored her, HER!
"Excuse me!" Chloe shouted towards them both. "I know where the object is so you better listen up!"
"Go back to your room where it's safe." Ladybug ordered. "Vanisher could break out at any moment."
Cat Noir was about to protest, but he decided not to because he wanted every excuse to convince Chloe to leave.
"You need my help." Chloe promptly ignored them, walking closer to the 'conflict'. "It just goes to show that not even superheroes are above me-"
"We don't need you." Cat Noir's jaw was clenched, his grip tightening on his captive who squirmed even more.
"Don't hurt her." Ladybug's hands kept patting around Vanisher's mostly invisible frame, trying to find something that stuck out.
"You're getting nowhere." Chloe tried to reason with them. "If you promise to let me be a part of your team, I'll tell you where the pin is."
Cat Noir was grinding his teeth, Ladybug becoming annoyed as well but she wasn't the one about to break someone's arm out of anger.
"If you want to help then leave us alone!" Ladybug ordered. "Now! Cat Noir and I have this handled and you're only getting in the way!"
Getting in the way, she had heard those words many times before. Chloe never expected to hear them after moving to Paris, she never should have. "Fine! Go be worthless heroes! No one needs you anyways!"
Ladybug watched her leave out of the corner of her eye, and once Chloe was no longer a nuisance she returned to the task at hand of finding the akuma. Briefly she looked through Vanisher's invisible body, making sure Cat Noir hadn't gotten too rough. No claws were out, good. "You did well today kitty."
"I try."
Moving her hands up, Ladybug briefly remembered Chloe mentioning something about a pin.
A pin huh? Feeling towards where she would expect one, Ladybug found the invisible piece of jewelry and let it drop to the ground, stomping it as a dark butterfly emerged. Huh, so Chloe was right for a change.
The moment was perfecting itself, Hawkmoth in his lair observing the girl closely as the night dragged on her depressive state only rose. They wouldn't wait forever, but the stronger the negative emotions the stronger the challenger. "The moment is almost here Mayura."
Coming up to his side, his faithful assistant Nathalie let the moonlight flooding through the window capture her new image. Indigo skin, darkened eyes with rings of bright magenta irises. There was black liner around her eyes, a translucent veil over the right side.
Cloaked around her was a coat of peacock feathers, the woman holding a fan in her hand as she sought out the same feelings that Hawkmoth was observing. "We have to be cautious. They need to believe the sentimonster is just another akuma victim. Are you sure you can keep that girl under control?"
"They can't do anything that I don't permit."
Another exhausting day done, and another person saved, but still nowhere close to catching Hawkmoth. Flopping back on his bed, Adrien's super suit retracted back to be his shirt, the boy laying there as he gazed up at the ceiling. It was difficult, not the fight but just existing. Things had seemed to be getting harder and harder, especially with his emotions. They were just exploding, not just the love he had begun developing for Ladybug but everything.
At first, the chocolate helped keep the random anger in check but now it was like his brain was being turned up way past panic mode. Glancing down at his pitch black shirt, he thought back to what Ladybug said. She didn't use her suit all the time, maybe that was the problem.
The only problem is separation, maybe she's the problem.
No, she was only trying to help.
But she was trying to split them up!
What? But Ladybug kept in touch, checking in on him and helping him with his powers.
She doesn't know anything about how their power worked, they should just ignore her.
How could he ignore the person he still loved?
Ladybug is bad for them.
What? When would he ever have a thought like that? Why were his thoughts all over the place arguing with each other? And where was this 'them' coming from?! Wanting to clear his head, find some peace before going to sleep, Adrien got out from the bed to take a shower.
He expected his shirt to retract as usual, his suit tucking itself away somewhere until he returned.
It didn't, his shirt didn't come off. "Guess it's back to the old fashion way."
Gripping the bottom of it, he tugged upwards, finding it unexpectedly resilient against his wishes. "Come on, I'm just trying to take a shower!"
A shower shouldn't be able to separate them, nothing should.
"I want to be alone for a minute!" Adrien pried harder, his shirt clinging tighter to his skin as it began to spread around him.
What was the issue? They were better together and nothing should get between them. Not father, not Nathalie, not The Gorilla, not Hawkmoth, and not Ladybug.
Why would he try to push Ladybug away?!
She doesn't understand, she never would and no one else. They didn't need anyone, not even mother would be able to help.
Adrien gasped as he lost control of his body, his mind coming to the terrifying realization. These weren't his thoughts, the powers were never under his full control. His eyes could only keep darting around as the black abyss began to swallow him whole, tendrils lashing out from his body to attach themselves to the ceiling and pull him up. It wrapped Adrien into a cocoon, tucking him into the darkest corner and sealing him away to fully bond to its host.
I've decided to split this chapter in half, given how good of a cliffhanger this is. Gabriel has entrusted Nathalie early with the peacock miraculous despite not having fixed it yet. Tikki begins to question the nature of Cat Noir's powers. Marinette obsessed over Adrien as always.
But this time, Adrien finally sees how dangerous the black suit really is.
In other news, I finished the show and the movie. Yay! Though while I'm now aware of more story threads and characters I can use, the story I'm writing is going to go a much different route.
Any grammar mistakes, tag suggestions, or overall story ideas are appreciated. While this isn't as popular as some of my others the reviews I get really keep me motivated to write to see everyone's reactions and predictions.
Planar-Walking-Entertainment: As you could probably tell by this chapter, the symbiote only cares about its bond with Adrien. You can even view it as a means of survival, Dark Cupid never made someone turn on themselves so the symbiote wouldn't try and destroy its host. And when the symbiote's mental connection to its host was overtaken it took that as a threat to its bond, taking control of Adrien's body to eliminate the danger to the symbiosis.
Kamen Rider Sentry: Like I said before, the plans I have for Chloe are going to be much different than canon.
SSJB312: Right now I'm building up a lot of suspense for when it's eventually discovered that Adrien was never using a miraculous, taking into question whether or not he should be involved.
AmazingBran: You say that, and here I am posting a new chapter the next day. Honestly I just can't get this story out of my brain. I'm way too obsessed with it, and when I try to do anything else I don't feel satisfied knowing I could spend more time getting through this story.
Brookdking: That would be cool, now I have to debate whether I want the fact that symbiotes had arrived on Earth before. I think it could cause some good character tension when Ladybug discovers Cat Noir is in possession of a dangerous alien that a past Ladybug had to battle to save Earth.
It's a good idea and I'll see how well it fits in the story.