Chat dodged around Style Queen's gold blasts. He'd been lucky to avoid it as Adrien, but now he had the agility to actually pull it off.
Ladybug tried getting close as she was distracted, but as soon as she tackled Style Queen, the villain's body turned into gold dust and the heroine fell right through her.
"M'Lady!" Chat screamed as the supervillain pointed her staff at the hero.
"Mom- I mean, Style Queen!" Chloe yelled, distracting the Supervillain. "If you want to find Gabriel Agreste, I know where he lives. You can take care of Ladybug later. She's worthless anyway."
As Ladybug backflipped away from the golden woman, Chat jumped to her side.
The Supervillain, now targeting his Dad, because of course she was, took Chloe and left, Ladybug gave chase.
"Wait…" Chat said.
"Chat?" Ladybug asked.
"I have an idea. Can you keep track of them?"
Ladybug raised an eyebrow but nodded before running off.
/
Adrien walked into the unassuming tea shop as casually as he could. Once he reached the backroom, he knocked on the door.
"Come in." A familiar voice called out.
Adrien walked in and nodded to the old man sitting in the middle of the room. "Master Fu, this Supervillain we're facing is completely untouchable. We can't fight her like this."
"Hmm… that is a problem."
"And that's when I remembered. You told me that there's a miraculous that allows the user to immobilize any opponent. Would ones made out of dust count too?"
Fu nodded as he walked over to where he kept the Miracle Box hidden. "Very clever. And do you have anyone in mind for the Bee Miraculous?"
"I think so." Adrien said.
"Just remember. Like you can't tell Ladybug your secret identity, you can't tell her the identity of the holder you choose."
Adrien sighed, "So many secrets."
Fu chucked as he opened the box. "I understand your frustration, but it is important to maintain the upmost security."
Adrien picked up the comb. "The upmost security huh?"
/
His mansion was wrecked. That was the first thing Chat noted as he jumped into the window to his room. Parts of the roof were missing, there was a hole in his wall, and he could hear the sounds of fighting. He'd hoped that she would still be around but…
"Chat Noir?"
Adrien turned his head.
Chloe looked up from her hiding place next to his bed.
"Well," he said. "That's lucky."
"Lucky?" Chloe asked indignantly. "My mom is fighting Ladybug and trying to destroy Adrikin's Dad. None of this is lucky!"
"Hm, well, I'm black cat." Chat said with a shrug. "I'm only lucky in certain cultures. But fortunately for you, that seems to include Paris today."
"W-what?"
"Do you want to help us take down Style Queen? Like with Despair Bear."
Chloe stared at him. Then she began rambling, "I-I'd love to, but she'd be so mad and disappointed and she's…"
"Not your mom." Chat interrupted. He breathed in before continuing.
"That's not your mom." Chat said. "Style Queen is running around trying to defeat Ladybug, and we need to stop her." He held up the box with the Miraculous. "Are you willing to become a hero and work with us."
Chloe stared at the box in shock.
"You want… me?"
"Please say yes, this whole being serious thing is not working out for me."
Chloe hadn't heard him as she reached for the Miraculous. "You want me to…"
"Under two conditions." Chat said, pulling the box back. "First no one can know. Not even Ladybug."
"No one?" Chloe asked. "But isn't Ladybug like, in charge and all that?"
Chat chuckled. "She does take the lead a lot. But there are rules. And if you accept this Miraculous from me, you can't tell her that it's you. You can't tell anyone." An idea occurred to him. "Ladybug insists. She'd be really upset if you broke one of the rules she so…" he searched for a word, "frustratingly sticks to.
"And the second rule. You need to return the Miraculous to me as soon as Style Queen is defeated. We can meet here."
There was an explosion.
"We don't have time to argue this," he said. "Are you in or out?"
/
Ladybug just barely managed to avoid the desk Style Queen had thrown at her. And then she barely dodged the golden beam before it hit her.
She prepared another charge, her flypaper Lucky Charm in hand. She's already taken some of her stomach away. Now she just needed to aim for a leg.
"Miss me, M'Lady!" Chat yelled. Both turned to look at him. He was standing in front of the door casually spinning his tail.
"Chat!" Ladybug yelled. "Where have you been?
"I got held up." He said with a shrug. "But now, I'm ready to take this fashion disaster down."
"Fashion disaster?" Style Queen screamed in indignation. "I have more style in my left pinky than you have in your entire…"
Ladybug saw it before it happened.
A yellow and black figure leapt onto the stairs from the second floor than leaped off them and right at Style Queen's back.
"Venom!" The girl screamed right before striking the villain. But she didn't pass through her. Style Queen froze.
"I'm sorry what?" Chat asked. "Bee got your tongue?"
"That was terrible." The new hero said.
"Come on Bumblebee."
"Uh, no. I'm Queen Bee." The girl announced with a loud flourish.
"Who's this?" Ladybug asked.
Queen Bee looked at the hero and froze. "OMG! Ladybug! I am a huge fan!"
Ladybug leaned back as the other bug themed hero ran to her and grabbed her hands. "I've always wanted to be a hero and now, here I am, working with the best hero in all of Paris. It's like I'm dreaming! And I took down a Supervillain! OMG!"
"You went to get the Bee Miraculous?" Ladybug asked Chat.
"I figured it would be useful against an opponent who was slipping through our fingers."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ladybug asked.
Chat shrugged. "I figured that it was your turn to be surprised when a new hero showed up." He leaned on his staff. "You got to admit. It was pretty clever of me."
"Yeah, yeah Kitty."
Ladybug's earrings beeped.
"Well as much fun as it would be to see you without your suit on..."
"Chat!" Ladybug squeaked at the double entendre.
"…you should probably fix everything." He looked around at his wrecked home as he walked up to the two of them, a fist raised.
Queen Bee stared at the fist confused. Then she began vibrating and emitting a high-pitched noise.
"Queeny?" Chat asked.
"I'm okay, I'm okay." She said raising her fist.
"Pound it!" The three heroes said as they fist bumped.
"I'll go get Queeny's miraculous," Chat said.
"Actually," Queen Bee said. "Can I ask for one favor?"
Chat raised an eyebrow.
/
Queen Bee yelled in joy as she felt the wind whip through her hair. She landed with a roll and was up in a second, leaping to next roof.
Chat followed her, also taking the time to enjoy the freedom that came with his powers as he did a backflip in midair on a chimney watching his childhood friend do backflips across the roof.
"This is amazing!" she yelled.
"Well I hope you've enjoyed it. Because times up."
It was only then that she realized that her comb was beeping.
"Follow me," he said.
They dropped into an alley right as Chloe detransformed and Pollen shot out of the Miraculous.
"That was excellent my Queen." The Kwami complimented the girl.
"Well of course." Chloe said flipping her hair. "Was it ever in doubt?"
"Well I wouldn't have picked you if it was." Chat said, oozing confidence even though he was nervous on the inside. Now came the moment of truth. He held his hand out. "The Miraculous."
Chloe froze and looked at him. "What? But… are you sure I can't keep it? Please. It's just so…" she trailed off.
"I know." Chat said. "But rules are rules."
"The rules are dumb." Chloe said.
Chat snickered. "I don't disagree."
Chloe pulled the comb off and looked at it. After what seemed to be a moment's contemplation, she looked back at him. "I'll get to do it again, won't I?"
Chat cocked his head. "Maybe. In a perfect world, Hawkmoth takes this failure as a sign and gives up right now. Or we catch him. And then there'll be no more Akumas."
"Is it wrong that that doesn't sound so appealing to me?" Chloe asked.
Chat thought of what he'd be doing if Hawkmoth hadn't shown up. "Well, if it is, we can both be wrong together."
Chloe gave the Miraculous in her hand one last look. And then she handed it over to the Black Cat.
/
So… I can't be the only one who thought Adrien would be the one to give Chloe her Miraculous right? There's no good reason he couldn't. He knew who Fu was at the time (finally) and should have access to the same knowledge Marinette does about what the Miraculous do. And he actually liked Chloe at the time and saw good in her. It made a lot more sense to me than Ladybug being the only one to know anything about the other holders.
Now, Queen Bee is as secret a hero as everyone else and Ladybug just knows her as a fangirl. And who knows, Adrien might get to give some other people the miraculous later, though this is mostly focused on his friendship with Chloe.
Reviews are appreciated and follow me at WriterImmigrant on twitter.
