Symbiotic Whiskers

Chapter 2

Adrien used to have a dull life, despite being a fashion model teenager with a famous fashion designer as his father the boy was stuck in the same routine. Private lessons, music theory classes, the thousands of photoshoots, and only sometimes were the fencing classes fun.

Now? Within a short few days his life had completely changed! Sort of, he still did all of those other things but now he got to attend school, make friends, and one other thing.

"COO COO!"

Fight the weirdest villains in his secret alter ego, Cat Noir.

Surrounded by an army of pigeons, trapped in a giant birdcage, Cat Noir and his fellow superhero Ladybug faced off against the man in a feathery onesie.

Mr. Pigeon.

"Give me your miraculouses!" The man demanded, the birds atop the cage hammering the top part of it down as all the surrounding ones pointed their rears at the heroes. "Or else you will be coated in-"

Cat Noir flexed his toxic green claws out, launching himself at the bars keeping them hostage. He sliced through them with ease, smirking under his mask by the shocked expression of the villain who stammered backwards closer to the ledge.

Ladybug quickly came to his side, throwing out her yo yo to wrap around the man's waist and yanking him forward. He fell on his face, accidentally crushing the small instrument worn around his neck releasing a dark magical butterfly. Once the object of his powers were broken, the spell was undone and he returned to being an everyday citizen.

"No more evil-doing for you little akuma."

Opening her magical tool, she re-spun her yo yo to intercept the creature. "Time to de-evilize!"

Cat Noir watched as she managed to cure it, releasing it into the air in its purified form to fly off. It must not be a bad thing to release it if she was the one doing it. She knew better than him about this, and just about everything regarding their powers.

"Our powers are magic right?" He asked while they had a short moment.

"Yeah."

"So is that why you always say the same thing every time you use your powers? Like a spell chant?"

"Oh, um." The girl couldn't look him in the eye as her cheeks burned, embarrassed over being called out on it. "For most of it, well, I figured it was a superhero like thing to say. Like special moves and all that? Not to say that there aren't certain words I just make up! Like when I summon my lucky charm or fix things after a fight or-hold on, do you not have to say anything to transform?"

"No?" Tugging at his 'super suit' Adrien was curious as to why his powers worked differently than how Ladybug said they did. "I just keep it with me, and when I need my suit I just think it and it happens. Oh hey! You didn't use your lucky charm yet! This guy didn't really cause any damage to the city so we have some time to finally talk!"

"Hmm, maybe." Ladybug stepped over to the edge, looking down to seeing that while traffic did get clogged up from all the pigeons there really wasn't anything to fix. Then she remembered, she was on a time limit today that didn't relate to her super life.

The chance to win Adrien's heart!-no, the chance to win a competition to have Adrien model the derby hat design she made. It was hopefully a step in the right direction to impress the boy she had a hopeless crush on.

"I actually have to go." Ladybug stepped up to the edge of the building, much to her partner's displeasure. "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, it's just-"

"I get it." He didn't really, because he didn't know who she was or why she was so busy. But as someone who's schedule was so closely monitored for so long he could at least relate to having a busy life. "See you next time!"

He waved her off with a smile as she leapt away, swinging through Paris with her fantastic yo yo. Once she was gone, he sat down where she was just moments before, kicking his legs over the open street. He grabbed one of the feathers left behind by one of the many birds, twirling it between his fingers. Huh, guess his super powers also got rid of his allergies. Or it was just because his suit covered his nose and mouth. Either way, he wasn't going to complain about it.

"Um, excuse me." The man who was a villain just a few minutes ago spoke up. "Can you help me get down from here?"

"Oh yeah, sure."

After taking care of that, Cat Noir flipped, spun, sometimes just got as high as he could just to enjoy the sensation of falling before swinging on the black yarn that came from his hands. He wasn't sure if he should keep calling it yarn, it was more sticky and stretchy.

Like melted mozzarella, if it was black.

Once his school was in view, the hero flipped onto its rooftop, looking for a short opening below that no one was currently watching. Once he spotted it, he leapt down, his costume retracting back into his shirt to let Adrien walk the Earth again.

He arrived just in time, as several students of the school he was attending had several podiums to display their work. Adrien wondered why his father agreed to judge a student fashion competition, or why he would allow their work to be featured in another one of his photo shoots. Was this his way of trying to get involved in his school life?

He could just show up for parent teacher conferences instead.

"Adrien." His father's personal assistant, Nathalie, had arrived with a tablet in hand. "Are you liking school so far?"

"Yeah! It's been great." He honestly shared with enthusiasm, taking a look back towards some of his classmates present. Spotting Chloe with her personal 'friend' Sabrina. Nino, one of Adrien's closest, if not, best friend wasn't here but there were others he could think fondly of. Most of the people he got to know he actually enjoyed their company. Even with how different they could be, and even if they didn't hang out regularly Adrien appreciated the way they all honestly expressed themselves.

The only person he felt like he was still trying to patch things up with from the beginning of the year, was Marinette.

She was over at one of the podiums, talking to her best friend Alya about her newest creation. Wow that hat was really well made, those sketches Alya showed him that Marinette had made earlier didn't do her final work justice. While Alya seemed cool with him, Marinette seemed to be really stiff around Adrien and hesitant to even talk to him.

Guess she's still mad at him from the start of the school year, but just pretending to be nice.

Nathalie soon revealed to the Principal standing nearby what was on her tablet, a video chat from Gabriel himself to judge the competition from afar. As he was taken to each of the derby hats, everyone quickly saw there was an issue.

Chloe's hat and Marinette's were exactly alike.

"You cheated off me!" Chloe quickly accused Marinette, who seemed oddly confident despite how horribly they got along. "I put all this hard work into this hat to show Mr. Agreste that I-"

"I think I can fix this." Marinette ignored the blonde, showing Gabriel the hat she brought and all the detail behind it. From the stitching to the embroidery design, and how if turned upside down the art revealed her own name.

Just as Chloe's was knocked down by accident, it was left bottom up to reveal the very same detail. Adrien bent down before the blonde could try and hide it, the boy examining it himself to confirm.

She cheated? Chloe, his first friend tried to lie to his father and copy someone else's work? Even if he didn't get along with Marinette as much as he'd like to, he knew she was talented in fashion. So that left one issue. "Chloe, why did you do this?"

"W-well I didn't do it!" She tried to defend herself as Gabriel was congratulating Marinette's work. "I had my father find someone to help me make this! They must have stolen the design I didn't know! You know I wouldn't lie to you!"

He didn't know that. Adrien was aware that before Chloe had some bad habits. He hoped she would have grown out of it. Yet judging from the way everyone reacts to her, the way she treats them, he didn't know what to think of her anymore. She still enjoyed his company, and when she wasn't back talking about others she was good to be around.

"I don't know what to think." Adrien handed the hat back to Chloe, disappointed and left with a sinking feeling in his gut. He was about to go over, congratulate Marinette and maybe start to make things better between them, but Nathalie had already arrived with the original hat.

"Your father is already setting up a set for the next photo shoot. He wants to have you and the derby there right away."

Letting a discontent sigh escape his lips, Adrien followed her to the car. He shouldn't really complain, his father had been more lenient with him and granted him a wish that only a genie could have answered. So, he'd keep up his end and do his best to keep his father happy.

If he even was capable of smiling.

"ACHOO!"

Great, those feathers in the hat were real.

As Marinette stepped back into her room, she crashed into her bed as she excitedly kicked her legs up in the air. "I won! I can't believe I won!"

Her constant companion, Tikki zipped out from her bag. "I always knew you could do it, even Adrien had confidence that you could win!"

Now that she was thinking about the boy, Marinette rolled over onto her back to quickly pull out her phone, trying to see if he was already out there posing with the hat that she made. She wished she would get the chance to talk to him after, but Chloe just had to whine and shed those crocodile tears away at him. Thinking about it, even if she did have the chance to talk to him she would probably end up tongue tied again.

Finding no news about the boy yet, Marinette glanced away from her phone to see Tikki hovering near her shoulder with an unreadable expression. "Everything ok Tikki?"

The kwami had bugged Marinette about it before, and so far from what she's heard there had been no changes to Cat Noir. If Plagg was sick, there would be some kind of fluctuations to his transformations but for some reason the boy was still incredibly strong even if he didn't use cataclysm.

So why was Plagg not talking to his master?

"Have you had the chance to talk to Cat Noir yet?"

Reminded by the task she had kept putting off for so long, Marinette grumbled as she sat up. "Not much today. I had to go back to the school to win the competition, remember? It's just hard between my time outs and managing my own life. I don't know how much room I have for Cat Noir."

"I understand how hard this can be." Tikki gently placed her own tiny hands along Marinette's. "I've help many Ladybugs before, and many have struggled to find the right balance. But that's why we always have a partner. Cat Noir has handled himself well so far, but eventually he needs to know about his powers too."

"I only ever see him when Paris is in danger." The teen plopped back down on her bedding. "It's not like I can just call him."

"Why not?"

Why not?...yeah, why not? Running through the options in her head, Marinette quickly found the issue. "I only have one phone number, and I don't have the money to have a side super phone on me."

Tikki was about to tell Marinette about how their weapons/tools could communicate between miraculous wielders, but if Cat Noir didn't have anything like that then there was no point. "Then maybe you can go on patrol."

"Remember the last time I tried that? I was up for hours wandering the city and I never ran into him! I kept dozing off in class and Adrien kept laughing every time the teacher woke me up!"

"We can't put this off forever Marinette." Tikki gently reminded the girl. "I know it's extra work that no one expected, but this is a weakness that Hawkmoth could exploit if he discovers it."

The trouble about talking with Tikki sometimes is that she was always right. Helpful and definitely looking out for Marinette but there was no getting around the kwami. "Ok, I'll try spending some more time going on patrols to see if I can run into Cat Noir."

A notification popped up at the top of her screen, Alya posting another update to the ladyblog. Curious about what her friend came up with this time, Marinette clicked on it. While having a double life could be hard sometimes, it was always hilarious having a best friend trying to solve the mystery be blind to the answer right next to her.

Another financial breakdown on how much her powers saved Paris. Eh, not her most favorite topic, especially when the before and after photos showed how much damage the villains Hawkmoth created caused to the city.

Wait a second, did Cat Noir also follow the ladyblog?

"Tikki, I have an idea."

Alya was going to flip.

The brisk night air was always calming, relaxing, but kept him awake. Especially when tightrope walking five stories above the ground. With hardly any crime occurring ever since Paris turned into a battle between heroes and villains, his patrols had started becoming a little stale.

"Get me out of this!"

A petty burglar who smashed in a store window was currently stuck right above the entrance upside down, Adrien ignoring him as he kept himself balanced on a single string above the road. He hardly felt like he was the one maintaining his balance, like his weight shifted on its own to keep him on his toes.

His phone buzzed, Adrien holding his hand to his thigh as his suit surfaced the device. No, it wasn't the phone his dad gave him, but when you have access to cash buying a phone and using his heroic identity to convince a store clerk to keep secret about who was paying for the line certainly helped.

Tilting himself over the side of his impromptu circus act, his tail latched out to tether himself to the tightrope as he checked his 'hero' phone. No, it was not self absorbed to buy a Cat Noir phone case if Cat Noir was going to use the phone.

His masked eyes widened when he saw the special notification on his phone. Alya had posted something new, that apparently people were saying that Ladybug was out on patrol near a park.

This was his chance!

His tail yanked himself up, Adrien not caring to wait for the cops to arrive to pick up the vandal as he sprinted to his new destination. Leaping over a bakery, swinging under a bridge, Cat Noir soon spotted the last place that Ladybug was reported.

Pacing back and forth along the monkey bars, he kept refreshing his phone to see where she might have gone. "Come on, come on."

"Wow, looks like smartphones are distracting." Ladybug's voice teased from a nearby building, the heroine revealing herself.

Placing the phone against his outfit, he let his suit pocket it as he gave a short boy to the lady. "No one is as distracting as you."

Brushing off his compliment, Ladybug waved for Cat Noir to follow her. "Come on, let's talk somewhere more private."

Meow.

As if she could read his thoughts, she pointed towards a few cars pulling into the area with over eager fans and many cameras. Right, of course she wouldn't want to stick around here.

Following the girl, Adrien couldn't help showing off in front of her. For every jump she did, he had to sail over her. Any flip, he had to somersault five times over in the air. Anytime she swung, he'd be right beside her upside down.

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug finally halted their chase with a view overlooking the Louvre museum with street lanterns all around to set a mood he couldn't help but take advantage of. As she sat along the edge, he slid right up to her side and-

"You know this isn't a date right?"

Ouch.

"Then how come you wanted to see me?" He toyed, laying down beside her and propping his head up with his arm.

"To have that talk, about our powers."

Ah, right, that.

Taking things a little more seriously but still cherishing the rare opportunity, he sat up and crossed his legs. "I do have a lot of questions. I don't know what I do know or what I don't so, where do we even start?"

"Well, I guess I should ask why your kwami doesn't talk to you."

"I don't know at all." Tugging at his outfit, Adrien wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that. "It just, doesn't."

"Why do you call your kwami an it?"

"Well how am I supposed to know the gender of my suit?"

"Wait, when you're not transformed how does your kwami act?"

"At first, it kind of just kept out of sight, hiding under my bed and stuff." Adrien confessed as he looked back out towards the city he was helping to defend. "Now I just wear it as my shirt all the time."

Ladybug tried to wrap her head around the fact that he could do partial transformations like that. "Did you do it on accident one time?"

"My suit is actually pretty adaptable!" Adrien stood up, holding out his hands to the side as he imagined one of the many outfits he had worn before. Feeling the material against his skin again, the way it tightened in some areas, until his super hero suit shifted its surface to look like a more formal suit, leaving the mask in place of course. "Tada."

Ladybug stood up, shocked over the possibility that their suits could even transform into different outfits like that. In fact, the one Cat Noir was wearing was really similar to one she'd seen before.

Adrien wore that, except this one was pitch black besides for the neon green trims and the tie.

"Guess you've got a better handle on your powers than me." Ladybug admitted her inability to ever have thought to do something like that. She planned on being a future fashion designer for crying out loud and she never bothered to think to change her super hero outfit to something other than a second skin?

"Don't sell yourself short." Cat Noir reverted his outfit back to its usual self, wanting to hold her hand to somehow comfort her but knowing it would be pushing her boundaries. "Yeah, I've got a few tricks up my claws but I'm not the one who can 'de-evilize' an akuma. Speaking of which, how does Hawkmoth do that?"

"He has a miraculous like us, except he uses people's negative emotions to corrupt them and turn him to his will using akumas."

"But as for the how?"

"Magic."

"Guess that's as good as an answer as I'm going to get." Though his costume, didn't seem like some kind of magical artifact or ancient doo dad. It was different, organic.

His suit acted like it was alive.

"As for everything else, to be honest I think you've seen it all in person during our fights." Ladybug did a few stretches before giving her yo yo a few test swings. "You know how my powers work, you know how Hawkmoth operates, how we defeat the villains, and I don't think either of us really know why your powers act differently."

"Maybe my magic is boosted from my 'charming' personality."

Giving a short smirk to the kitty, Ladybug stepped closer to the edge as she started to mentally picture her route back home. "Well, I guess we had our talk. See you at the next-"

"Wait." Cat Noir couldn't hold back anymore, grabbing her wrist to keep her from leaving right after they managed to solve something. "I know this might be talking more about my personal life but, I really don't get the chance to be this open with anyone."

He seemed more desperate this time around, Ladybug hearing the loneliness in his voice. It never occurred to her that someone with such an outgoing personality would feel that way. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I'm the right person for that. We're supposed to keep our identities secret, and if we keep revealing what we're going through then that puts things at risk."

He understood, he couldn't get any closer. As much as he craved the chance to get to know her better, she wasn't willing to open up to him. They trusted each other enough to save Paris, so how come she wasn't willing to trust him? Still, he wouldn't betray her by shutting her off all of a sudden.

"Well what about just casual chatting and company?" In one last desperate attempt, he at least wanted to spend some more time with her. "It's a lovely night, it would be a shame to waste it."

He took a step backwards, falling as Ladybug lurched out to catch him only to see he was standing along the side of the building. "What do you say?"

Ladybug weighed her options, because she did appreciate Cat Noir and considered him a friend. He kept making all sorts of time for her, and she never managed to show even a small hint of appreciation. Feeling guilty for all the times he had spent the night outside waiting for her, Ladybug could at least offer the rest of the time she had originally planned to talk with him. "Alright kitty, I'll play your game."

The pet name made him shiver, Adrien cursing how easy she was able to make him quiver at the smallest gesture. "I assume you're a local, but let me give you the tour that only supers can get to."

His tail flexed out on its own, shooting out to latch onto a lightpost as he gave a friendly little wave before his body launched out into the air. Ladybug followed, no longer pressed on time, no longer running to and from danger, so finally she could just enjoy being super.

Is this what he felt like every night? Is that why he was so desperate to share this to the one other person he could? Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss his invitations.

Time continued to pass, Adrien getting more adapted to his powers, saving the save alongside Ladybug, and getting closer to his classmates. Not to mention he was easily at the top of his fencing classes. Maybe he shouldn't be wearing the suit underneath his fencing gear, but he felt too vulnerable without it. Things were turning out so well, that even the mayor had a statue commissioned in their honor!

Arriving with a bit of flair, landing on a single hand in front of the citizens, he waved happily to the audience. He had managed to secure a proper friendship with Ladybug, and for the moment he didn't need anything more. Things were so good, he didn't want to be selfish enough to ask for more.

"And now to celebrate our heroes who continually fight for Paris without reward, a small token of our appreciation!"

As the mayor unveiled the statue, Cat Noir turned around to witness it with everyone else. He knows Ladybug was busy sometimes, but she was really missing out on the detail behind this thing! Well, detail on her end. HIs looked kind of bland in comparison. Giving the artist the benefit of the doubt given how he doesn't wear flashy colors that would make parts of his outfit stand out, he just admired the handiwork while he could until eventually after posing for some photos without the stress of needing to please a professional, he was left to shake the hand of the mayor.

"Sorry Ladybug couldn't make it." Cat Noir apologized for the absent girl.

"I can't really complain." The mayor chuckled as he glanced back to the woman's image frozen for all to witness. "She always arrives when we need her."

"Let's hope that's not anytime soon then."

The mayor left, people left, and now it was just him and the artist who was staring longingly between his work and a photo in his hand. He seemed kind of let down, so Adrien would try to cheer him up. Who wouldn't want a super complimenting their work.

"These are really amazing!" Cat Noir propped his elbow on the man's shoulder, almost making him choke on the sucker in his mouth. "Though it does make me look shorter than I really am. Not your fault, you never got the chance to have us model for you."

"What I would give to have Ladybug model for me."

Yep. Mhmm…..huh?

"Run that by me again?" Cat Noir asked, the man almost distracted in his own fantasy.

"If I could just, have some time with her to talk, then maybe she'd see how many things we both appreciate, have in common, or love."

Cat Noir felt the air in his lungs grow cold, his shoulders stiffening as something came over him, something dark. He felt his claws slowly inching their way out of his hand, and he had the thought of scaring the work in front of him so that Ladybug would keep away from the man.

But as soon as he looked back to her face, he immediately threw the foreign thoughts out of his mind. How could he tarnish her image like that? Yet this guy clearly was stepping into territory he did NOT belong in.

"I don't think anything like that's going to happen." Cat Noir gave a few, harsh, pats to his back. "I mean, any spare time she has she already gives to me."

Not that she often does have spare time.

"What are you saying?" The artist narrowed his eyes down to the threatening green orbs, flinching by the venom bleeding through the gaze.

"We're partners, and we don't appreciate a third wheel." He almost hissed through his gritted teeth disguised as a menacing smile, having the urge to just rip his eyes out so he would never pervert them-

What was wrong with him?!

Leaping away and rushing back to his fencing class, Adrien tried to shake off the dark impulses that were swimming around his mind. He better be careful, Hawkmoth apparently targets people with negative thoughts and emotions. Last thing he needs to be is a villain hurting his partner.

Arriving back to the school, his hero outfit slipped back under his fencing attire as he managed to sneak back into the locker room unnoticed to gather his belongings. His bag, some drinks, and-where was his phone?

He tried searching through his bag again, the locker, looking all around for it but it was nowhere to be found. "Anyone see my phone?"

All the other fencing students shook their heads, Adrien checking one more time for where it could be. It wasn't an immediate emergency, but inconvenient because that was the phone his father would contact him on.

Luckily he just so happened to have another phone without the man's knowledge. Once he was packed up, he ran out to where his bodyguard was silently waiting in the driver seat. "Hey, I can't seem to find my phone. I know it's here but I'm going to spend a little more time looking around ok?"

He only grunted in response, and after some time Adrien learned how to decipher the man's silent language. Stepping around the doors and out of anyone's view, he pulled out his other phone which had several accounts sync with one another to keep his contacts and other private messaging. It also let him track his phone to-

"A bakery?" What's his phone doing at a bakery?

The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Adrien could just ask his driver to take him there, but that meant his father figuring out that he lost his phone.

So, that was just one more excuse to dawn his hero attire.

Kicking off the stairwell railing, grabbing the bottom of a floor and flinging himself up as his costume enveloped him, Cat Noir went out to search for his smartphone at a bakery. Did Ladybug like sweets? Maybe he could grab her something from there. The thought of buying something as Cat Noir made him chuckle slightly, or better yet maybe they would give it to him for free for saving Paris a bunch!

He deserved it, it was the least they could-wow he was in a bad mood today. He was starting to sound like Chloe. Thinking of her only left a sour taste in his mouth. Adrien had kept putting her aside lately because hanging out with anyone else sounded significantly better than being around her.

Was that something a friend would do? Obviously not, but did he still consider himself friends with a girl who's attitude kept unintentionally turning people into villains?

He would think about it later, right now the bakery was right under him. Landing on the rooftop, he noted the fun little balcony he was on. Wait, was this a house and a bakery? That was awesome! Crawling along the side, he wanted to get a better view of what kind of living this family had living at where they worked.

Phone

The word, or the image, a vague sense touched his thoughts using his own memories. It wasn't just that, it was pointed in a certain direction. Following the odd direction, his ominous green eyes widened when he spotted his phone on none other than Marinette's desk, the girl wearing mittens and some safety glasses as she went over the screen with a swab.

….what?

Marinette seemed to be mumbling to herself, but kept glancing over to the little red toy sitting on the desk beside her. Huh, it was like a chibi ladybug. Cute.

But what was she doing with his phone? Oh no, don't tell him that Marinette hated him so much that she was trying to break into his phone to send embarrassing pictures to his friends! Adrien thought that he was making good progress getting her to forgive him for the whole gum thing!

He was going to save himself, as Cat Noir.

*Tap tap*

Marinette jumped, the cotton swab in her oven mitted hands launching ahead as she snapped her head towards him. She froze as he waved awkwardly, waiting for her to slowly bring herself over to where he was and open the window. "H-hi Cat Noir! W-what can I do for you?!"

Yeah, she clearly was surprised she was caught in the act.

"A kid named Adrien asked me to look for his phone." Cat Noir then pointed to the very one on her desk. "That wouldn't happen to be it, would it?"

Somehow she seemed relieved, then suddenly panicked again as she stepped between him and where the phone obviously was.

"U-um…well I just…Adrien he.."

The girl sighed, slumping her head as she took off the mitts on her hands in defeat. "I'm sorry, it's just, I didn't have his number before and when I tried calling it went to voicemail and I was talking with Alya and said some embarrassing things and it saved and I just…I'm sorry."

Adrien could easily tell Marinette was crushed by this, her hands balling up as she wiped her nose across her sleeve. He felt absolutely awful, even if she was the one who took his phone she honestly didn't want him to hear whatever she accidentally said. Was she trying to patch things up on her end too?

"Tell you what." Cat Noir leaned further out, only having his right limbs keeping him routed to the surface. "I'll just send Adrien over to the bakery downstairs, and you can tell him you found his phone. I'll vouch for you."

"Seriously? But what if Adrien thinks I-"

"Trust me." Cat Noir genuinely promised as he calmed her with a touch against her arm. "He won't be mad with you."

Thinking more and more about the bakery, Adrien began to grow hungry enough to where he left Marinette, swinging around the corner before walking back out in his civilian attire. He approached the shop, trying to act a little lost in an unfamiliar part of town.

Pushing open the bakery door, Adrien let the smell flow through his nostrils as something in the air made him very hungry.

"I know that look." A very, VERY big man with the kindest face he ever saw with a full mustache smiled towards the boy. "Anything in particular catch your nose?"

Adrien just followed his senses, letting them lead him towards some of the baked goods with plenty of chocolate cooked into them. Ohhh that chocolate cake looked amazing, his mouth watering as he could smell so many details within.

"A chocolate lover I see." The baker came over, enjoying seeing the young man stare at his goods with pure hunger. "Tell you what, I tried making some chocolate Soufflé bites. Would you like to try some and let me know how they are?"

"Yes please!"

"Haha!" The man laughed at Adrien's eagerness, bringing the tray out from behind the counter. "Here, have-"

Adrien already snatched one, moaning over the goodness that flowed over his tongue. Sweets were rare with his modeling diet, but he swore chocolate never tasted so good before! Reaching into his pocket, he scrambled for his wallet as he practically slammed the money down. "I'll take them all."

"Woah son." As happy as he was to have a paying customer, he didn't want to take advantage of the boy. "How about I bag up the rest of this tray for you and you only pay for that? I don't want you spending all your money at once, especially if you're going to be back here again."

"Trust me, I'll come by whenever I can." Adrien happily allowed the man to sift through the cash, handing back a good chunk of it so he could spend it here again as he began wrapping up the goodies. Now that he was thinking a little more clearly, Adrien looked around at everything they had here. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have something good to give to a friend. Something that could last a few days cause I don't know when I'll get to see them next-"

Ladybug.

His eyes snapped up, hopeful to see the heroine but instead saw Marinette at the back of the bakery peeking out towards him. Well he was getting the treats for Ladybug, and if Marinette lived here maybe she knew what the girl might like. Oh, and he was here for his phone too. "Hey Marinette!"

"Uh, h-hey uh…yeah I-"

"Oh, you know this boy?" Who he assumed was her father asked.

"We're classmates." Adrien explained happily. "She did some impressive hat design that even impressed my father."

"Oh?" The man brought an arm around his daughter, pushing her forward until she was out in the open squirming. "You hear that? This boy thinks you have some real talent!"

Her face burned bright red, the girl hiding herself behind Adrien's own phone before holding it out to him. "H-here..you fell this-I mean dropped me-I mean!"

Adrien already knew, both the real reason and the story he gave her. Accepting it and giving a warm smile to show he thought nothing wrong of her. "Thank you Marinette."

"Just-uh." She scrambled on her own words, legs shaking like she was going to trip at any moment. "Don't check your voice messages."

Fighting a laugh, he nodded. "Ok, I won't."

That seemed to put her at ease enough, the baker holding out the treats he just bought. Adrien grabbed them, looking through the other options. "Hey Marinette?"

"YEHA?!" Her voice cracked incredibly loud.

"I was wanting to get something for a friend, but we don't see each other too often so I was hoping you would help me pick something that could last a few days."

"O-oh, ok." She must help her family with work sometimes, because she quickly found some colorful macaroons and packed them as fast as her father. "H-here."

"Awesome, how much are they?"

"Call it an investment." The man pulled his daughter close with an arm to keep her part of the conversation. "For a recurring customer."

"You don't have to, but I appreciate it." Accepting the gifts, Adrien held them in one hand as he waved to the both of them as he left. "See you at school Marinette!"

"Police are still investigating the theft of the Mona Lisa, but they have confirmed the culprit to be Cat Noir."

What?

Turning his head back to the television in the upper corner of the bakery, Adrien saw security footage of himself, walking right up to the painting in broad daylight, and running away with it. That wasn't him, someone was using his identity to steal things.

A deep anger bubbled inside of him, his shirt growing over his torso as he stormed out into the street.

Let's find out if this cat knows how to play dead.

The day began with hope, joy, and above all admiration for Ladybug. Then it was crushed by Cat Noir, leading to heartbreak, sorrow, and the anger. Many proclaimed Hawkmoth was a villain, but he was the one to give him a chance to make things right! Now he had planted the evidence, he had set the trap. All he had to do was wait for the raggedy stray to show up.

He carefully watched the envelope in the center of the warehouse, waiting for the chance to strike. It might take a while, and he might need to leave more hints for that stupid-

"Boo."

Startled, the man who appeared just like Cat Noir swiped behind himself with similar deadly claws, and cut only the empty air. He spun his head around, trying to find where the mangy cat went off to. "Show yourself!"

Something crashed against his face, throwing him to the ground as he reeled from the pain. Looking up at the ceiling, he saw the predator hanging upside down by his tail along the rooftop peering down on him. A voice entered his mind, pulling his focus away.

"You have Cat Noir's powers." Hawkmoth sternly reminded him. "Use them to steal his miraculous!"

The villain complied, throwing his hands out to release a volley of black yarn to intercept the 'hero'. Cat Noir leapt down, cutting through them with his claws as he brought his heel down towards his head! He barely managed to roll away in time, Cat Noir cracking the ground beneath him.

He was strong, but the akuma granted him equal strength.

Charging at Cat Noir, he shot out a string behind himself to attach to a forklift, and with a strong yank he pulled the vehicle from the ground and hurled it at the hero. Cat Noir jumped up, bracing his feet against the projectile and sent out a thick string from each hand to turn himself into a slingshot.

The forklift shot back towards him, the imposter vaulting over it and bringing out his own claws towards Cat Noir. They locked hands, each grappling one another in a test of strength.

"I know all of your powers!" He boasted. "All your strengths are mine, your looks, except I'm a better match for Ladybug to-AHH!"

Cat Noir gripped tighter, sinking his claws into the man's hands and bringing him to his knees. The fake focused on his tail, moving it to try and temporarily blind the other.

But somehow Cat Noir's tail moved while he was busy, wrapping around his throat and choking the air out of him. He gasped, suddenly very very afraid as he wasn't just someone to potentially lose.

He was going to die.

His savior arrived, not as Hawkmoth but Ladybug wrapping her yo yo around Cat Noir's waist and pulling him away. The feral cat scraped along the floor on all fours, as Ladybug joined not the hero's side but his!

"You may look like Cat Noir." Ladybug scowled towards the real one. "But he would never be that cruel."

"Yes, good." Hawkmoth's voice came into his head. "Take advantage of Ladybug's ignorance and have her help you steal his miraculous!"

"Are you ok?" Ladybug asked sincerely towards the akumatized man, making his heart flutter from her concern over him. "Those injuries look bad."

"He framed us!" Cat Noir hissed out. "Used us for petty crimes!"

"You can't even get your story straight!" Ignoring the stinging pain of the blood running out of his hands, he intended to turn the battle in his favor. "I only framed you! Not Ladybug!"

…..

"You imbecile." Hawkmoth was probably shaking his head right now, giving up on this chance. No! He could still make this right!

Ladybug backed away from him, glancing over towards the very frightening Cat Noir with caution. "Cat Noir?"

The hero stood up to attention, hearing her say his voice with such a distance he never heard before…..he saw his flaws, looking down at the blood on his claws. "O-oh my gosh."

"Cat." Ladybug shook her head, trying to get herself and her partner refocused. "Do you know where the akuma is?"

"T-the photo." He reorientated himself. "He was looking at a photo earlier, I bet that's it."

He knew already?!

Ladybug summoned a lucky charm, the man backing away with his injuries as he realized he could hardly fight like this. A bag of marbles? How was she going to-

A kick met his gut, Cat Noir managing to knock the wind out of him as his legs scrambled to catch him, only him to trip on the many balls coating the floor, where his arms and legs were quickly bound against the ground by Cat Noir's sticky yarn, and as he grabbed his tail Ladybug searched his body for the akumatized object.

"Where are your pockets?" She asked Cat Noir.

"My whole suit is a pocket." Adrien tried to act a little more chipper, but Ladybug was not willing to play with him right now. She kept searching over, until her well trained eye spotted a slight opening in the copy cat's outfit. Snatching the photo from him, ripping it shortly and curing the akuma with less vigor than usual, she grabbed a handful of marbles and threw them up into the air to repair the damage that was done.

Luckily that included the artist's hands. The man got up, confused at first by his surroundings until he noticed Cat Noir and Ladybug were in his private dwelling, and the last thing he remembered was feeling-oh, he was akumatized wasn't he?

"Sorry I couldn't make it to the unveiling." Ladybug apologized as she handed the photo back to him, Cat Noir turning his back to the scene and examining his cleaned claws.

"It's alright." Pulling a pen out of his pocket, he took advantage of the moment and managed to get her to autograph the image, this time not expecting her to stick around after just saving him.

Ladybug walked past Cat Noir, stopping a foot ahead of him and not even looking at him. "We're going to talk about what happened, tonight."

"Yes." Cat Noir hung his head in defeat, knowing very well this was going to put a massive wedge between the two of them.

Hawkmoth, as aggravated as he was about the lost opportunity transformed in his chamber. Gabriel stood in place as Nooroo exited the brooch, waiting to speak until spoken too. Though the kwami could see that something was troubling the man's mind.

"Nooroo."

"Yes master?"

"Can the miraculouses affect the wielder's emotions?"

As the butterfly kwami, Nooroo had heightened empathic abilities. This was necessary for the wielder to use a person's emotions to give them abilities. Yet that was as far as it went, nothing like what his master just described. "No, only if the miraculous is severely damaged could it possibly alter its wielder's emotions. If that was the case, the kwami and the wielder would be at severe risk of….dying."

"Hmmm." Gabriel paced the room, butterflies along the floor fluttering out of the way as he was deep in thought. As he was viewing the action through his akumatized victim, he saw Cat Noir act downright vicious. That was nothing like he predicted the heroes to act, and he hesitated to think about pushing Cat Noir further into this feral attitude.

Because if Cat Noir continued to be this aggressive, he would be in terrible danger if the wielder of destruction found him.

He would have to take time to reexamine these current developments, see what caused them and if they were permanent or not. Perhaps Ladybug would intervene for him.

And what did Cat Noir mean by 'us'?

Across Paris, the day coming to an end and everyone safe, someone else was faced with a massive dilemma. Marinette's rapid footsteps went back and forth in her room, Tikki worriedly watching on as the teen's stress was only elevating. "What if it was an accident?"

"Cat Noir looked like he was going to kill him!" Marinette shouted aloud, pulling at the puffy pigtails on the back of her head. "He was so, animalistic, feral, and if I didn't manage to show up in time he might have-"

"Marinette!" Tikki flew up, grabbing the girl's nose and making her look the kwami in the eye. "Breathe."

Following the magical ladybug's advice, Marinette paused as she tried to calm herself down. She thought she knew him, they had actually been spending a lot of time together outside of chasing down akumas. Now he just goes and does that, and it's like all of it just vanished. "I don't even know him anymore."

"Do you really think Cat Noir would want to hurt someone that bad?" Tikki asked, trying to understand it all herself because it sounded like his miraculous had somehow gotten damaged and no matter how peaceful a person was they weren't immune to magical influences. She also knew Master Fu would never choose someone who was so quick to violence.

"I don't know Tikki, after today-"

"You said he looked down." Tikki reminded the girl. "That Cat Noir seemed just as shocked as you."

Nodding in agreement, Marinette grabbed a nearby pillow (that just happened to have Adrien's face hand embroidered onto it) and hugged it tightly as she sat down in her chair. Tikki softly landed beside her, supporting her wielder.

"It's scary, seeing someone you trust act out irrationally. But maybe we can rationalize it."

"How?"

"We ask questions, learn as much as we can." Tikki offered as she pointed towards the rooftop balcony above. "It's almost time anyways, and maybe he's just as scared about this as you are."

It never fully occurred to Marinette that he was scared too. The sudden thought that she could suddenly go berserk was terrifying to the point where she would quit right then and there. But she still needed her kitty to help save the day, and without him she couldn't see herself winning a lot of the battles they've had. "Ok, I'll go see him. Tikki, spots on."

Letting the transformation rush over her Marinette moved up to the doorway along the ceiling and leapt out into the city, anchoring her yo yo against a corner of a building and swinging her way to where she had been meeting Cat Noir often.

He was already there, sitting and overlooking the wide fountain from the higher vantage point with his knees tucked close to his chest. The playful cat was usually so chipper when she arrived, coming up with some new flirtatious pun. Not this time, she wasn't even sure he noticed her.

Whatever happened had clearly gotten to him.

"Hey." She sat next to him, leaning forward to try and get a better look at his face. "Are you ok?"

"I messed up." Cat Noir shakily spoke. "I, I really messed up."

She couldn't say he was wrong, but she needed to know if that was really him or something else. "You've never done anything like that before. What happened?"

"I'm not sure." He burrowed his face below his folded arms, curled up tightly on himself. "I've been having, bad thoughts lately that don't seem like my own. When I saw that he disguised himself as me, I took that personally but as soon as he mentioned that you would be better with him I just….was so consumed in the anger it's like I couldn't think of anything else."

Listening attentively, Ladybug felt her chest ache as she saw his shoulders quiver. Never, did she think of him as weak but right now he seemed more fragile than ever. Her earlier thoughts about avoiding him entirely only filled her with guilt.

Cat Noir was hurt, and she almost didn't help him.

Wrapping her arms around him, he only fought harder to keep his sniffling down and his face hidden further away. She leaned further into him, hugging him tighter so he wouldn't dare run away right now. "I'm sorry."

"No." His choked voice cracked out. "I broke your trust, I made things bad I was worse than Hawkmo-"

"Don't you dare say that." She stopped him. He was spiraling down a pit of depression and she refused to let him believe anything the darkest parts of his mind were screaming at him. "Don't you dare think that one mistake would make you worse than someone who has put this whole city in danger so many times just to try and get more power. I depend on you, Paris depends on you, and I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't depend on me."

If he had anything more to say, he wasn't able to. They stayed like that for who knows how long, Cat Noir trying to get control of himself again as Ladybug hid her own pained expression as she hugged him. When eventually Cat Noir was able to steadily breathe for more than a few minutes, Ladybug pulled herself away just enough to let him peek his eyes out to look at her.

"Sorry you had to see that." He tried to joke.

"I never want you alone when you feel this way." Ladybug all but ordered from the boy, now noticing the small, vaguely familiar box resting next to him. "What's that?"

"Oh, I almost forgot." Breaking himself out from his little ball, Cat Noir grabbed it and held it out to her. "I got these earlier today, just as a sort of thank you for sticking by my side. Guess this happened to be the perfect timing for that."

Ladybug accepted the gift, opening it to reveal some very familiar treats. The same ones, the same colors that she arranged when giving them to Adrien. "Macaroons."

"I wasn't sure what you might like. Hope these are ok."

She loved them, that's why she suggested them. Taking another look at the boy next to her, she almost considered that the two boys were one in the same. No, Adrien was someone who always kept his cool, who never lost his temper that everyone liked, even Chloe.

That didn't mean she thought any less of Cat Noir for his moment of weakness. If anything, it made her feel closer to him, that she could reach out and actually touch him instead of being an unreachable idol.

Her massive crush on the teen super model wasn't going away anytime soon, but she could easily see a future where Cat Noir was always by her side.

Well well well, I ended up punching out another chapter. I can't believe the word count I end up pouring into these, even more so that I am CRAVING more of this content. I'm happy to see that this story is being well received, and I'm grateful that people are leaving reviews because it really does increase my drive for writing by a TON.

Not sure how slow burn this will be or not, and I'm sort of speed bingeing the series to get some more ideas for where this plot could go and how I can twist little moments into a whole new dynamic.

In fact, I already have two more chapter ideas lined up ready to be written down. If this story continues to get some more attention, I easily see myself getting between 50,000-60,000 words for this by the end of the month. Sorry other stories I planned on writing, but my brain refuses to let me think about anything other than this.

I'm open to suggestions regarding where this story could go and what small moments could happen between the plot.

Planar-Walking-Entertainment: I'm very hesitant to bring in spider-man, because anytime I read a fic that has had spider-man intervene during a symbiote paired with a character I never enjoyed it. If I did, it would be a very small moment and I wouldn't work it into a big plot point.

vipoluxtor: A lot of the ideas you pitched were ones I was thinking about integrating into the story! Sounds like I'm on the right track then. But I don't think I'll involve spider-man villains, because any other story I read that does that feels like it really detracts from the world setting.

kamenrider13489: What do you mean by that?

RianZx: I'm pretty sure you just mentioned a couple things in the story that I am not even aware of.

Fire turtle: While I'm using a lot of the symbiote rules that Venom goes by, it's more of an original since I don't want the audience to have certain expectations that Venom establishes.

MrMateusz: It's not Venom, that at least I can confirm.

I'm pulling from a lot of symbiote sources at the moment, but I am using the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon as a main reference.

Glad to hear you appreciate my Soul Circuit story! Though I'm curious what story you're mentioning when you said "(says a guy who covered their hero factory robots with magnetic black goo)(still have two robots from that „storyline")"