"Dad… I have a question… if it's not too much trouble."
Roger Raincomprix slurped down the last of his takeout noodles before addressing his daughter's question. "Sure thing, sweetie, what is it?"
Sabrina looked at him timidly from her seat across their small table in the center of their small apartment. "You've said many times that 'protect and serve' is our family motto… but what exactly does that mean? Why do we need to protect? What cause are we serving?"
Her father stroked the non-existent beard on his chin while he composed his answer. "Well… you see, throughout history, the world has been driven by big thinkers. Not everyone can be a big thinker, so it's important to stand behind the ones you agree with. Or, in some cases, in front of them, because other thinkers and those who support them sometimes want to enforce their ideas through force. By protecting and serving the people you believe in, you are doing your part to support the cause."
A glint shone in his eyes, and he then slammed the table with his hands to rise from his seat. "And the Raincomprix family has dutifully served its proud nation of France for hundreds of years! From Napoleon to Louis Napoleon, the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth Republics," he counted them on his fingers, "de Gaulle… well, he also led one of the Republics, and d'Estaing, who signed the bill establishing the Paris mayorship that Mr. Bourgeois now holds. Basically, if they're in charge, the Raincomprix are at large! Wherever the country was headed, we helped make sure it got there in one piece!"
Sabrina blinked with wide turquoise eyes. His speech was certainly… impassioned. But if she understood it correctly, it sounded like her family's allegiance wasn't actually held to any ideology like he described, but rather changed its loyalty pretty much to whoever was winning at any point in history. It only increased her uncertainty about the concern behind what she had asked.
"But, Dad…" she replied, feeling invisible compared to his loud presence. "What if I simultaneously believe in two people who oppose each other?"
"Uh, well… how exactly is that possible…?"
"It's– well, it's Chloé," she explained, "And Ladybug. You see, after I was akumatized into Miraculer, Ladybug took away Chloé's privileges to be Queen Bee. Chloé pushed herself away from all the hero stuff after that, the comics and roleplay and such, which was understandable. But then her parents were akumatized last month and now… I really don't know what's gotten into her. Not only does she refuse even to hear Ladybug's name, but she's pushed me away, too. She usually has me come along to Marchanderie to shop for her, but just last week, she said I wasn't worthy to see her in the latest trends and banned me from going. She hasn't spoken to me since she caused that akumatized girl to come after her.
"It's like she's back to who she was before Ladybug appeared, almost as if… she's in denial, trying to forget that anything happened. And that doesn't make any sense to me, because I didn't think she liked who she was then, she was trying to be better, and I definitely don't like who I have been, and I can't just turn my back on Ladybug because she's Ladybug and–"
Roger stopped her now-distraught rambling with a large hand on her shoulder. "Slow down there, let's take this one statement at a time. I understand what you mean and why this is so troubling for you. You're saying you can't continue to serve Chloé's needs while also supporting Ladybug, who protects and serves the city of Paris."
Sabrina calmed her breathing. "Y-yeah. I'm starting to wonder if I even can help Chloé. If… I even should help Chloé."
Her father frowned at her. "Now, that's not the young lady your mom and I raised. I taught you that when someone is at their lowest is precisely when they need to be helped the most."
"Well it's not just about her, it's also… someone else. Do you remember a girl by the name of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
He nodded. "Yes, the baker's daughter. The one Chloé accused of stealing her bracelet, which led to me getting akumatized. She had guts, standing up to a Bourgeois."
The teen blinked again. It wasn't surprising that he remembered the fiasco at Career Day last year, but Marinette's involvement was not the cause of it, and most people didn't like talking about their akumatization experiences. She certainly didn't.
"That is… something else that has happened since Ladybug first appeared, actually, and one that wouldn't go away even if Ladybug did. As time goes on, Dupain-Che– Marinette's opposition has only grown firmer. Not long after that incident, she stood up to Chloé to win class representative, and the entire rest of the class has gone to her side. Because she… well, she takes her duty seriously and serves everyone's needs, just as we do."
She removed her glasses to wipe some dust off and closed her eyes wearily. It was weird, pulling these memories back up only a few days shy of a full year after they actually happened, but they were events she could recall vividly, and her dad was rarely around for her to have this sort of discussion with him anyway. Reflecting on it now, she wasn't sure that he would have approved of the sorts of things she and Chloé had been doing to Marinette over the last several years. He had scolded her for attempting to steal Marinette's diary that day of the election.
Sabrina replaced her glasses. Right now, her dad looked deep in thought, his left hand placed awkwardly on his forehead where she knew he usually held the rim of his police cap. She took a drink from the glass of water placed next to her half-eaten meal.
"There was one time where she even convinced me to stand against Chloé and not do all the work for her, when the three of us were assigned a project together. She said that Chloé only ever took advantage of me and that a real friend shouldn't do that."
"She did?" he replied immediately, his contemplation replaced with confusion. "It doesn't seem like anything has changed between you."
"No… it hasn't," Sabrina confirmed. "Marinette failed to coordinate any sort of work on the project and made excuses as to why, just like Chloé always does. I wound up doing all the work by myself and never gave her advice a second thought… until all this started happening."
She meshed her fingers together on the table in front of her, staring through them. "I remember Chloé's immediate response to Marinette's comments. She said that because she was my only friend, it didn't matter how she treated me, because I was nothing without her. And she was right." She paused, the silence emphasizing her feelings for her.
"So… what if Marinette is also right? Why should I continue to devote myself to Chloé, when she doesn't want me around and actively despises the heroes that protect Paris? Maybe I dismissed Marinette – and the friendship she offered – too readily."
Again, Roger was silent. He had always been encouraging of her and Chloé's friendship, so she wondered how he was receiving this new conundrum under the hood.
"Well…" he finally began, looking at her with an oddly serious face. "Firstly, I stand by what I said that you shouldn't abandon Chloé in her hour of need. I would disgrace myself as an officer of the law if I did such a thing, because it just ain't right. I can count on my squad to have my back, and they can count on me to have theirs. You should do the same for the people you care about."
"Oh…" she whispered.
"However," he continued with a softened expression, his old chair creaking as he leaned back, "I also know that there's a firm line between selflessness and self-destruction. Your concern about protecting yourself is valid; trying to force yourself onto Chloé when she's being distant is only likely to hurt one or both of you even more. From your description, Marinette Dupain-Cheng sounds like a good ally to have, but if you don't think you can side with either one without the other declaring you an enemy, the safest play would be to declare neutrality. Keeping the peace and getting a truce to form could pave the way to everyone working this out civilly. This way, the worst anyone can do to you is say no, and if Marinette's as supportive as you say, she might even encourage some of the others who could be more willing to receive you."
Neutrality? Sabrina considered.
"Do you really think she would do that?" she decided to ask.
"Of course I do! The more support you have, the better, I say, and I'm sure Ladybug would agree since she picked out those superhero allies of hers. I, for one, wouldn't know what to do if I had to dismiss any of my proud brothers and sisters in the line of duty."
Meanwhile, across the city, a different Bourgeois placed an intimidating pile of paperwork onto the center of a large, ornate wooden desk. A well-built man dressed in fire-safety clothes looked up from his seat nestled in the inner curve of the desk's edge.
"Sorry to say, Captain Hessenpy, but you're going to have to dismiss a decent amount of your employees," the mayor declared, sounding less sorry than his words suggested.
The fire captain's blue eyes shrunk with dismay. "What– why? How could you do this?"
"Budget cuts, my dear boy. The city's annual review shows that fires are at a record low with the extra precautions being taken to prevent akumas, and Ladybug's miraculous powers do a great job of cleaning up any messes caused by those pesky villains. There's just no need to keep so many people on staff when the money could be better spent on paying off my backer–, uh, backlog of contracts and outstanding fees for other essential services."
Hessenpy felt like he aged five years in the last five seconds. "I… I can't… I'll need some time to decide, to figure out who can afford to be let go."
André shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me who it is. Since it's already late, I'll be generous and give you until the morning, but I expect you to have an answer by then."
The portly man turned and left, leaving Hessenpy to bury his forehead in his hands.
The golden light of sunset pooled into the observatory constructed at the top of the Agreste manor. Hawk Moth took a moment to appreciate the calm that radiated onto him through the hole in the center of the observatory's ornate window. The calm before the storm.
It was not yet the time to reap what misery the chaotic elements of life had thrown in some poor fool's path, however. For he had made a promise that he intended to keep; chaos was not where his interests lie today. He had promised to adapt, to become smarter and stronger, and his new theory had been given credence by Snow Wonder and could very well tip the scales like never before. He needed to go further, be more selective, and that meant he would need to plan more of them ahead of time when he could afford the opportunities.
He closed his eyes, and the wings of the Butterfly Miraculous began glowing white and bright. The touch of physical light faded, and a dazzle of smaller lights formed around him in his mind's eye, like the many stars of a galaxy. Each one was a soul in Paris, shining with a color and intensity indicating their desires, and they spoke to him when he turned his attention their way.
A violet light, large and flickering with irritation. He felt a patient yet perfectionist play director's errant wish to be able to control the people in her production as she neared her wit's end with a struggling new actor. It would have been suitable before, but it wasn't going to meet his expectations for today. Still, plays took several months to produce, so he could keep an ear on it in case these disputes blossomed into a real problem.
A magenta light, pulsating with frustration and stubbornness. He felt an imaginative young man's… strange desire to steal rare artifacts to prove they are miraculouses… to win an argument on the… forget it. Miraculous-based powers were always strong, but he had akumatized this theorist before, and the boy proceeded to allow his wild speculations to distract him from his assignment and get tricked into losing.
A red light, burning with anguish and pressure. He felt a well-respected, well-principled fireman's hopeless plea to escape the very ugly decision being forced upon him, violating every part of his good conscience, and on a short deadline. Since he was a member of the Paris Fire Brigade, that meant he had some military training alongside his preparation for hazardous situations. He should be more than capable in a fight.
His plight was perfect, and when time was up, Hawk Moth would feast on the flames.
Although it was supposed to be a short midmorning walk from the Metro to the gate of the Agreste mansion, space seemed to contort itself to make each of Marinette's steps longer than the last. Her feet felt like magnets, and her arms clutched her tablet so tightly that she had to keep adjusting it so it wouldn't break.
Her stomach was paradoxically a collapsing void and an expanding bubble at the same time. Each beat of her heart was a swell of heat and passion followed by a pump of guilt and dread for feeling that way, because her brain was trying to reassure her that she wanted to do this, to be a friend and help Adrien. This was no big deal, it was just studying, not a study date– ohhhh, why'd she have to think that particular word!
Her throat constricted in a gulp as she reached the gate, her eyes fixating on the port where she knew the camera-on-a-stalk was going to pop out at her when her finger finally reached the call button... at the sluggish pace she could manage to move it at. Her ears confirmed that motion's completion with the buzzing of the intercom, and two seconds later she realized that she needed to remove her finger after that happened.
The red dot of the camera's unfeeling eye immediately bore into her as it emerged, seemingly filled with annoyance. She grinned at it sheepishly.
"Uh, hi, studying!" she jumbled, presenting her tablet to the lens. "Adrien, mathematics, this time of day? Please?"
The orb receded with an equal lack of amusement, and Marinette sighed as her wits decided to return to her after their instantaneous disappearance. A small part of her was grateful that the large gate began its inward swing to allow her in, rather than deciding that her presence had no value and should be turned away.
That part also filled her with some resolve, because if she could complete this first step, she didn't want to squander the opportunity and lose her chance to have a second one.
When the gate's control panel notified Nathalie of a visitor, she quickly examined it to confirm that it was the person who was arranged to be here. She pressed a button on the landline connected to the panel and spoke as soon as the phone confirmed the call's recipient had been reached.
"Adrien, your friend is here. Take care that she doesn't wander."
He laughed on the other end, a rare expression from him. "Of course. Thank you so much, Nathalie!"
She hung up and unlocked the gate, watching from the other cameras in the security feed as the plucky girl strolled into the courtyard. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an intriguing character, even though Nathalie had only seen her a handful of times. She carried herself with a complete lack of confidence or grace, even for being in the awkward teenage years of her life, and yet her actions seemed to speak with a wise sincerity that her bizarre word choices never could. The more Nathalie learned about her, the more she came to understand why Adrien, most of his classmates, and several high-profile figures like Jagged Stone valued her so much.
That was why, contrary to what Gabriel told Lila, Nathalie considered her a good influence for Adrien. She wasn't sure if her boss really believed that, given his interest in her design talents; the man could be inscrutable at times. In the case that he did, she had decided to schedule this study session without his knowledge. For Mr. Agreste was preoccupied with, shall we say, prior arrangements at this time…
Light began pooling into a dark observatory for the second time as a lens opened its cover blocking a large window. It was a display that always pleased the one inhabitant of the room, especially on an occasion such as this where he could already sense the bright beacon that his akuma would be drawn to.
"Just as I expected. The fireman's heart is crushed by the gainless choice he has to make."
One butterfly flew into the palm of his hand, which he clasped with his other and imbued with a dark power that blackened the butterfly to a deep purple. His empowered minion knew its task, and with a wave of Hawk Moth's cane, it instinctively flew out of the gap in the center of the view to the streets of Paris.
"The stage is already set, my akuma. Now be the spark that ignites it into a blazing inferno!"
Hessenpy dragged himself to his desk, unceremoniously collapsing into his office chair. Despite his musculature, he felt like a limp balloon, and the bags under his eyes seemed to droop down as he looked at the blank termination forms still sitting on his desk.
He couldn't do it. He made hard decisions all the time out in the field, but this one… he just couldn't do. All of his firemen and women were perfectly qualified, and most of them needed their jobs as Paris' economy struggled through the prolonged war against Hawk Moth. It tore him apart, how grateful he and the rest of the city's emergency responders always were that Ladybug could restore the buildings, streets, and everyone in them over and over with that cure, yet now it was also breaking those brave people down. He took off his badge and stared at the miserable man that appeared in the reflection.
The sheen of light was eaten by murky darkness as a purple butterfly entered the badge, and the sensation brought the fire captain back to attention as Hawk Moth's butterfly insignia appeared around his eyes and the man himself appeared to him through it.
"Burnmaster, I am Hawk Moth. A little butterfly told me that Ladybug is putting your people out of work. Well, as the one responsible for the messes she cleans up, I can grant you the power to make this city burn and continue to burn so that Ladybug's cure won't be able to keep up. Your fire department will never run out of job security again, and once she is exhausted, you can give me her miraculous, and Chat Noir's as well, so that your woes will cease for good. So, what do you say? Will you sign off on this plan instead of those termination papers?"
Hessenpy was trembling. To side with Hawk Moth against the city ran afoul of his pledge to protect it… and yet, it spoke so much to the shadows surrounding the dwindling flame inside of him. To keep his people paid and doing good work instead of letting Ladybug do it all in their place…
He couldn't bring himself to speak. Silently, he re-pinned his badge, lowered the mask of his helmet, and allowed the dark matter to consume the rest of his body as it just did his heart and mind. Only red eyes glowed through the glass covering the darkness of his face.
In and out. In and out. With each step up to the imposing mansion, Marinette took a breath. In and out. The left door opened as she reached the very top, and Mr. Perfect himself appeared with a perfect smile on his perfect face.
"Marinette!" he greeted with a perfect wave. "Come on in!"
"Perfect! I mean, yes, I shall do that. Whatever you say! I mean, um, thanks!" She said imperfectly, not trusting her tongue to do anything other than continue to thrash about while he stepped back to hold the door and let her in. In and out.
A different thought of In and out came about to her then, suggesting that she turn around and bolt right back out the door. She fought it away with a mental stick, trying not to look too bashful as the door closed and they proceeded through the foyer.
I have nothing to worry about, she told herself in her head. Adrien is leading me to his bedroom, and I'm fine, everything's fine, we're going to study mathemati–
"Marinette, can I just say that you coming over means a lot to me?"
–I'm not fine, we're not going to study mathematics, and everything's a disaster!
"Marinette…? Are you okay?"
"A disaster!" she blurted, her already blushing face quickly accelerating its course. "Err, uh, I wasn't saying this was a disaster, I'm happy to be here, y'know, we'll be alone in your room, just the two of us, and, uh, what I really meant was… I'm the disaster," she finished, sounding deflated.
"You're not a di–"
"No, please don't start this again," she interrupted, trying to force herself to calm down. "This shouldn't be so hard. Talking to you, I mean. Just because I'm, uh, such a, well, y'know–"
"Such a big fan of mine. Yes, I know," Adrien finished, though he didn't sound enthused by it.
"… right. Totally star-struck, that's me."
That can't really be it, can it? he questioned. Marinette's the kind of person who wouldn't let her feelings get in the way of doing what's best. She knows just as I do that we're both spoken for, as Plagg put it, so she shouldn't be nervous around me for that reason, right? Is it possible that she's a fangirl after all? Maybe she still doesn't understand why this is important to me…
"Marinette," he said firmly, with a matching grip on her shoulder. He noticed how her eyes got wide when he did that. "I don't see you as just a fan. I'm sorry if I made you think that. You're a friend, and a great one at that. I mean, I'm still learning how friends work, even though it's been a whole year...
"Uh, anyway, my point is, I've never had a friend over to my house before. Not intentionally, at least, since that one party was a surprise and the time before that was Lila's sweet-talking. This is the first time that I've invited someone to spend time with me, and my father allowed it. Well, I think he did, at least. I can't imagine Nathalie keeping a secret from him… um, sorry, I keep getting distracted.
"What I'm trying to say is, even if it's just studying mathematics, this is an important occasion for me. And I can't think of a better friend to achieve that with than you."
I'm the one that should be sorry, she thought, continuing to stare at him like he was made of solid gold. Actually, not that, because he had been turned to gold by Style Queen, and that wasn't fun to see at all. Whatever he was, a realization had come to her. Here I am, so absorbed in myself and my own feelings that I forgot about yours. Maybe this was what Tikki was talking about with not being ready for a commitment like this. Though complimenting me like that certainly isn't helping at all!
"That's ve-ve-ve-very quind– erm, kind of you to say, Adrien," she managed to vocalize while continuing to process his confidence. "I'm here be to ha– happy to hereby for– with you. Argh, there I go again."
Adrien smiled, with those gorgeous white teeth that made her own teeth bite her lip with desire. "Relax. Just think of me like you would any of our other classmates."
I'm already trying to do that… she sulked internally. The model stopped at the very first door after they had walked up the central stairs, and he gestured for her to proceed. "Here we are. Ladies first?"
"You make it hard to think of you as just a classmate when you're being such a gentleman," the girl copped, accepting his offer regardless and stepping into his room. "I mean, not that I want you to be rude, or anything, that would be silly…"
Adrien let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry, I get what you mean. Just the other day, someone at school was in a rush and accidentally bumped into me. I apologized for being in the way, and then Alix told me I was too polite all the time!" He turned on the lights in his room, as the sky had grown very dark outside from cloud cover. Huh, we weren't expecting a storm today. Shouldn't the meteorologist be back from vacation by now? he thought.
"Better to be too polite than not polite enough?" Marinette offered.
"Maybe, but I want to get it just right, like a normal person. I think I've gotten into a habit from all of the formal events I've been dragged to. Anyway, my point is that I should treat you as just a classmate, too. I mean, neither of us would say things like this to Nino, would we?"
Marinette laughed at that, a genuine laugh with no nervousness. "Maybe we should, just to see how he would react."
"That's brilliant!" Adrien exclaimed, showing a sudden excitement Marinette had never seen in him before. "Especially because of that sort-of-date he messed up at the zoo. It's been a year since then too, huh? Do you know if he and Alya have any anniversary plans?"
"Yes, but they refuse to tell me what they are, because of," she couldn't help but smirk just thinking about it, "what happened at the Bois de Vincennes."
"What was that?" he asked, his face flipping quickly to serious mode. "Is everything okay between you?"
Marinette resisted an urge to giggle. Oh, Adrien, you are so clueless sometimes. "Oh yeah, everything's fine," she answered overdramatically. "I just implied some things that, uh, let's just say, aren't suitable for the audience of a children's show."
"Is that so?" His face was hard to read. It seemed to be a mix of surprise, humor, and… pride?
"Am I going to have to worry about that?"
In record time, the slightly-blue-haired girl had a more-than-slightly red face, and her brain more-than-slightly shut down. Did Adrien really just say that? Pure, sheltered, Adrien Agreste? What kind of cosmic karma was this?
"I-I-I-I uh, why said you that is? Err, uh, why do that you say? Why are you–I–doing this?"
Before any holes could be dug deeper, an obnoxious tone was heard from both of their pockets, snapping them both to attention. They withdrew their phones and saw that it was an akuma alert, apparently with a new notification sound to get people's attentions.
AKUMA ALERT
LOCATION: 13TH ARR. (LAST KNOWN)
WARNING: MASSIVE FIRE HAZARD
POTENTIAL TO AFFECT ALL OF PARIS
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY
Without flinching, they hurried to Adrien's window wall. In the distance, they could see a massive plume of smoke, which spread throughout the sky and was the true source of the darkness rather than anything in the stratosphere.
"Wow," Adrien spoke, finally. "This might be as bad as Stormy Weather's volcanic winter."
"No kidding. I need to go make sure my family is okay!" Marinette turned quickly and ran to the door. Not as Marinette, but…
"Wait!"
Now the blue-eyed girl flinched, her hand hovering over the doorknob. She looked back at Adrien, who had concern written all over his face.
"Be careful out there. I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe tell Alya this isn't an akuma to run after."
She gave him a small, yet genuine, smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Can't make any guarantees about Alya, though. You take care too… though you're probably not going anywhere."
He didn't say anything, lest he make a slip up. The moment she closed the door behind her, Plagg came out of his jacket, holding a red slice of cheese.
"You're really going to have a snack right now?"
"No. I told you, I hate transforming. I'm holding this so you can't make me eat it!"
Smoke stung Marinette's eyes and heat clung to her skin from the moment she opened the front door. Grimacing, she kept moving; the Agreste mansion almost certainly had exterior cameras, and she wasn't going to transform in front of those. She crossed the street into an alley, and Tikki immediately popped out of her purse holding a red macaron.
"You're going to need this!" she said with a serious face.
Marinette took the magicaron while crouching to shield herself from the acrid air. "Technically, you are."
"Tikki, power up!"
Marinette threw the Red Magicaron into the air, which Tikki dove onto and ate. All of her black spots began to glow with white energy that swirled around her until she was just a whirlwind. When it dissipated, Tikki's forehead spot was shaped like a flame, and her legs had been replaced by a trail of fire like a meteor.
"Tikki Torch!" she exclaimed with a pose.
"Tikki Torch, spots on! Haa!"
Instead of Ladybug's usual domino mask, a full set of goggles and gas mask grew out of flames. After her bodysuit had formed, light armor plates grew into existence from spots on her shoulders, torso, and thighs, along with gloves and boots reaching to her elbows and knees. The Ladybug symbol formed on her waistline, creating a black bland to form a belt, with a holster where her yo-yo spawned. She stomped to enter a modified version of her usual finish, and glowing spots flared up on all of the black armor in spurts of fire.
Adrien stopped to catch his breath on the cubbies in the middle of his room. "You know, Plagg… I read the guide to your miraculous when I got those skis. I learned that I can transform first and then eat the cheese to power up that way. And if I did that, you wouldn't get any."
The cat kwami turned from his position on the second floor. "I mean, if you really want to eat stinky cheese… oh, but I so want this all to myself! Decisions, decisions…"
"Fine," he concluded. "Have it your way."
"Plagg, power up!"
Adrien threw the Red Magembert into the air, which Plagg dove onto and ate. His body began to glow white, and he spun rapidly as his form was consumed. When the light dissipated, Plagg had a crest of fire on his forehead, and the ends of his tail and antenna were also on fire.
"Plaggma!" he exclaimed.
"Plaggma, claws out!"
Instead of Chat Noir's usual domino mask, a pair of green-lensed goggles grew out of flames, followed by a front-breathing gas mask that grew whiskers. Orange bands appeared surrounding his wrists, and thick black armbraces formed beneath them at the same time as a matching cuirass on his upper body. Stretching both arms out triggered his bodysuit to form down from them, meeting with the lower half that formed up from knee-length boots with bands of their own. They coalesced into the Black Cat symbol, which then sent flames to both sides and out the back to create his belt. He crouched to scratch the fronts of his boots, then stood and quickly scratched each shoulder, both sides of the torso where his pockets were, and his armbraces. To finish, he posed with his left arm pumped and right one stretched at a downward angle, causing glowing green vents to flare up in the places he scratched.
Once Firebug cleared roof level, she immediately knew that this was going to be her least favorite Power-Up yet. With the other two, the novelty of swimming through a flooded city or sledding through Paris' greatest snowfall in history could at least distract her from the massive casualties that came with it, and in normal circumstances, those activities were pleasurable on their own.
Here, there was nothing to see or wade through but fiery carnage, and less than five minutes after the alert sounded, it already looked like an entire arrondissement was up in flames. How many thousands of gruesome deaths had already occurred?
"Ladybug!" a very familiar yet slightly muffled voice called from behind.
Fire Chat landed next to her, and she immediately noticed how fearsome he looked in his Fire suit. The heat suddenly felt like it was getting to her.
"Chat Noir, thank goodness you weren't caught at ground zero," she said.
"You too. Looks like Hawk Moth's threat was more than mere theatrics."
She didn't need to see his face under the filter mask to know what he was thinking. No puns, no calling her Bugaboo… he was taking this seriously. Good.
"I'm starting to believe that he really is trying to use up our Power-Ups intentionally. But let's not worry about that right now; we need to focus all of our attention on stopping this akuma as quickly as possible."
Her partner nodded, and they began running over the rooftops towards the growing inferno.
"Okay, Chat," Firebug said before long, "I need your help deciding when I should use my Lucky Charm."
"You're thinking about that already?"
"Yes, because my Charm often relies on items from our surroundings during battle. If this akuma is incinerating everything around it, figuring that out could become very hard and very dangerous to execute."
"Ah," he recognized. "But on the other hand, if you do it now, you run into the problem of not having any information to guide your Lucky Charm."
"Exactly. I see Bugaboy has learned a thing or two!"
"Oh, now you're joking?" he replied amusedly. He was rubbing off on her! "Does that make this Power-Up your clown costume?"
"It certainly lights the mood!" Her expression did lighten under her goggles.
"And it's a great way to vent!"
Firebug's smile faded and she signaled for them to slow down as they drew near the flames' edge. She observed the scene and didn't see any people around, and that was… probably not a good thing, since everyone was supposed to be evacuating. The air was so smoky around her that visibility was reduced to only a couple of blocks, which gave her an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu from their last Power-Up adventure.
"I think our first challenge is going to be even finding the akumatized villain in all of this fire," she commented, examining a nearby piece of smoldering wreckage. "Until we know what the akuma's powers are, we're not going to know how, or even if, we can track it by studying the fire."
"Right… which is another point for using the Lucky Charm now. Every second we burn is more of the city burned as well."
Firebug sighed, which came out more like a huff of exhaust through her twin filters. "Why can't these decisions ever be simple anymore? Fine, let's see what it has in store for me today."
"Lucky Charm!" she shouted, throwing her yo-yo into the air to exude a multitude of hearts. The hearts formed together into a long, L-shaped red bar with small black spots, which then fell into Firebug's hands.
"Like I said," she bemoaned. "A crowbar is the perfect tool for pulling out some part of something nearby to use."
"Try not to overthink it, Ladybug. Your Lucky Charm sometimes has a simple solution that just needs to look complicated to confuse the villain, like the tape dispenser last week."
"I know… but sometimes I miss the early days when superheroing felt more like it was about the action and thrill of outwitting my opponents, and not... all this," she explained, gesturing to the obvious.
"I feel the same way… but now's not the time to burn out, eh, Bugaboo?" he joked, nudging her with his elbow.
She smiled at him, hoping he could see it under her own mask. "Well it sure doesn't stop you from being an insufferable goofball all the time!"
"That's all part of the job, M'Lady. I may not be able to carry the load for you, but I can make it feel," he flicked the flaming bell on his costume, "lighter!"
Reminding her of how much fell on her shoulders didn't exactly cheer her up, but she could see where he was coming from. She was starting to understand his side of their conversation when they had switched miraculouses. Being Lady Noire was great stress relief, and it let her see the side of a fight that Mister Bug might not have due to tunnel vision. Hmm… was that related to whatever problems Chat Noir was having? Did he need this to have stress relief from his civilian life?
I can ask him about it later when we talk, she decided, switching gears in her mind. "Let's get this load taken care of, then."
They resumed their leaping through the flames, but each one was shorter, more calculated, and remaining aware of potential hazards or signs of the akuma. Firebug felt weird not swinging around on her yo-yo like usual, but she didn't trust the buildings' structural integrity not to fail the moment she pulled on anything.
It was only a short time before they encountered a lead, and a molten lead at that. Some sort of flaming liquid had been sprayed onto the streets and the buildings, providing a starter for the massive conflagrations that were eating up the city. The liquid was still burning, and Firebug had no idea if it was recent or not.
"See any pattern to this, chaton?"
"Hmm… not exactly, but…"
"But what?"
"Well… it kind of looks like it was sprayed in a circle," Fire Chat replied, before jumping up onto a clear part of a nearby rooftop and peering out. "Especially from up here."
"Is that so? But that would mean… the akuma released all of that and then just left."
"Hey, I think I see something!" Chat suddenly called, sounding on alert.
Firebug tensed, grabbing her yo-yo in an instant and clenching the crowbar held in her left hand. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure; all I saw was something moving through the smoke. For all I know, it could just be heat haze."
"Let's follow it anyway. The fires are too big for this to be the only source, so the akuma must be on the move to make more. It could be what you saw."
Chat remained on the rooves, using his staff to test his footholds and safely vault between buildings as he led his partner in the direction he thought he had seen the movement in. He had an idle thought about whether the Mage who made the miraculouses intentionally designed their tools to be different for situations just like this, so as to prevent everyone from being handicapped at the same time.
"There. I see it," he reported in a whisper, pointing his staff down around the corner from her.
Firebug moved quickly yet cautiously while Fire Chat quietly dropped to her side. An imposing, humanoid shadow was visible through the smoky air, but it didn't lighten as they approached. What stood before them wasn't an elemental being but a charcoal-black figure, large and burly and with burning cracks in its exterior resembling some kind of vest. Instead of hands, it had two nozzles like those from a hose.
The akumatized villain turned to them, and what should've been its face was shrouded in darkness behind a clear, curved plate, with two red lights shining out where its eyes would normally be. The only other source of light was a burning badge of some sort on its chest, right over its heart. Fire Chat couldn't make out the details, but he had a good guess that the akuma was hiding in there.
Burnmaster wordlessly pointed its arms at them, dripping with what Chat recognized as that liquid fire. Before his conscious mind had even registered what was happening, he reactively dove away, barely dodging the white-hot streams that spouted from the nozzles with great pressure.
He tucked into a roll and began strafing their opponent, observing Firebug do the same on the opposite side. The akuma turned to follow the heroine, its fiery jet sweeping towards her and forcing her to jump onto the wall to avoid incineration.
In actuality, Firebug ran into the wall, as it instantly collapsed under the force of her jump. She broke through to the other side and became obscured in the rubble. Chat gasped, but quickly shook off the astonishment. The akuma was already readying for another round to finish her off.
Only one idea came to mind, and it wasn't very bright, but there wasn't time for brainstorming. He stuck his pole out and vaulted directly at their brutish opponent, keeping his legs straight to deliver a jump kick directly to the back of its head.
Burnmaster merely flinched from the attack, but it accomplished its goal, as the cracks in the akuma's body erupted in indication of its rage. Fire Chat felt the heat emanating into his soles in the brief moment before he kicked to backflip off of it, dodging the swing of its cannon-hand as it turned around to knock him off.
Its other cannon was already aglow with a counterattack, and Chat noticed it a moment too late. He was only saved by a sudden jerk in its arm that threw the magmatic deluge's aim above him and to the right, registering the signature whoosh of the restraining yo-yo as it happened. He bolted from the spot before any superheated debris could catch him, sliding under the villain's free arm to meet Firebug on the other side.
"Run!" was all she cried as she released her hold. Burnmaster turned clockwise towards Ladybug, so she dashed to Chat, who had his staff extended and wasted no time in vaulting the both of them over the building she had crashed into.
They kept moving once they landed on the next street over, neither of them feeling like they could stop to catch their breath.
"That's some serious firepower," Chat commented, knowing he was stating the obvious. "Literally. Good save, by the way."
"You too," Firebug responded. "And you're right, it's almost like this thing is too… dangerous to fight…"
Aha! Her crowbar… her yo-yo…
Like a fiery meteor, Burnmaster leapt through the air and crashed down only a handful of meters behind them, sending splinters of cobblestone flying. The two of them instinctively jumped away to avoid being shaken by the impact, and Firebug looked back. That badge…
She turned to her partner. "I have an idea, but I need a little more breathing room than this to put it together!"
"You got it! All aboard the Chat Noir Express!"
Firebug surprised him by wrapping herself around him to hold on, but he couldn't linger in the hug and took off on his staff to avoid scorching flames that shot out towards where they were.
"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually, M'Lady!" he joked.
"Oh, please, I just needed my hands free for a bit."
He landed in a plaza, and sure enough, she let go as soon as he did. He could see that she had tied the Lucky Charm to her yo-yo, and she holstered the tool to wield the crowbar as her new weapon.
"What I'm going to try will only have one shot before it catches on, chaton. You need to give me an opening."
"Got it."
They turned around to face the incoming akuma as it landed, both cannons dripping and primed to fire. It sprayed both streams to their right and swept them around, forcing them to evade in the same direction. In response, Chat cleverly pinned his staff down at an angle facing the akuma, taking Firebug's hand using his tool as a swivel to pivot up and over the liquid flames.
Midway through their arc, he let go, astonishing Firebug as she sailed farther through the air while his staff bent downward, and he landed to face the akuma directly from its front.
"C'mon, you smoldering Stoneheart knock-off! Let's turn the heat up a notch!"
"Cataclysm!" he shouted, causing a black ball of energy to form in his outstretched right palm. He clenched it and pumped his arm close to show his control over the untamed destruction.
Firebug hit the ground, skidding to a stop in a three-point crouch, then looked his way. Chat made eye contact, and she nodded knowingly.
He wasn't going to Cataclysm the akuma, of course. But the mere threat of it would force their opponent to take him seriously and not simply gun down Ladybug. He anticipated that Hawk Moth wouldn't call his bluff, given how he had obliterated that sentimonster in their latest fight.
Burnmaster's response was to jump backward, nearing the edge of the plaza, so it could aim at both of them simultaneously. Chat readied to dodge, but when the akuma unleashed its flames, they fell short of any human targets. It was instead coating the arena between them to create a floor of lava and walls of fire to keep them away.
Two can play it that way, he decided. If the akuma was going to make everything too dangerous for them, then he'd fight fire with fire and turn the danger so high even the akuma wouldn't be able to handle it. Because if you play with fire… you're going to get burned.
"Hrrrraauuugh!" the black hero shouted, slamming his fist down to the ground. The chaotic sparks of the Cataclysm activated, fanning forward in a wide arc that created fissures over most of what had been covered and extended all the way to the buildings behind Burnmaster. The ground quaked as it broke apart into churning chunks and the buildings began to topple forward onto the stumbling behemoth.
Was it necessary for him to be this dramatic? Not really. Was it freaking awesome? Pawsitively!
"Now, Ladybug!" he shouted, which he knew also wasn't necessary. The heroine had already leapt into action.
Firebug rapidly closed in on the akuma, playing fiery hopscotch on the few safe pieces of overturned concrete. Burnmaster regained its composure and pointed its cannons right at her, firing twin streams that were too late to catch her before she left the ground and landed right on its left shoulder. She hooked the crowbar under its badge and flipped behind it, pulling as hard as she could on her string as she landed on the volcanic terrain.
The maneuver struck true, and the badge was ripped up off of Burnmaster's chest along with a small portion of its chest, causing it to careen backwards and land roughly on the ground. The badge spun through the air like a coin before landing in Ladybug's outstretched palm, and she immediately pierced through it with the crowbar, cracking the surface and releasing the akuma.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," Firebug said, opening her yo-yo like a ladybug opens its wings to the glowing white compartment within. She swung the yo-yo in a circle to charge up her throw.
"Time to de-evilize!"
The yo-yo caught the akuma in one swoop, closing up to perform its magic purification as it returned to her hand.
"Gotcha!"
She opened the compartment again, and a regular white butterfly flew up and away. "Bye-bye, little butterfly!"
Next, she untied the crowbar from her yo-yo string and threw it in the air as well.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
It burst into a swarm of ladybugs, which spread out in groups to restore all the damage. They swept over the plaza to clean up the wreckage, then spread out over the greater area to put out the fires and clear the smoke to resume the bright and sunny day.
Burnmaster was enveloped in a dark substance that soon dissolved into the ground, leaving in its wake an exhausted firefighter.
"Pound it!" both miraculous holders cheered as they bumped fists.
"Curse you, Ladybug! And Chat Noir!" Hawk Moth swore from his chamber, slamming his cane into the ground. "That akuma should've overwhelmed you. He was a perfect target! How do you always find a way…!"
He turned away from the light of his observatory window, and the lens closed behind him and snuffed out the last of his efforts.
Helping the fireman up from the ground felt like it was harder than it should've been with two people, though the akuma fight had been very draining. That had been happening a lot recently.
"Ladybug… I'm so sorry…" the fireman said as she steadied him on his feet.
She gave him an encouraging smile. "Well, you work a stressful and dangerous job… I wouldn't be surprised if Hawk Moth was just waiting for you to have a bad day so he could akumatize you."
Inside, her gears were turning as she tried to place where she had seen this man before.
The man shook his head. "I'm the fire captain. Out of anyone, I'm supposed to be the one who's strong, who can resist that man's devil's bargain. Imagine the statement this is making to them now."
Firebug's mind jumped in recognition. He was the one who had showed up when Chloé pulled the fire alarm last winter.
She formulated a response, but it was interrupted by the loud beeping of her earrings as they went down to their last spot.
"Um, I need to go, but… if they're good people like you are, they won't let something like this ruin their opinion of you. They'll follow your lead no matter what, right Chat?"
"Of course, M'Lady. Even the best of us struggles at times, and loyalty is about trusting each other's intentions and accepting their decisions, even if we don't agree with them."
"Trusting my intentions…" the fire captain murmured. "I suppose you're right. And thank you. I should never forget that we're on the same side."
Firebug revved her yo-yo. "Yes. As I said, our top priority is always keeping Paris safe. Now, this hero needs to keep her identity safe. Bug out!"
That night, Marinette was studying in her math book at her desk in her room. Along with the city, Burnmaster had torched the rest of the time she might have had with Adrien, thanks to his strict schedule (and father) that made sure piano and Chinese lessons were held in higher regard than having a social life.
It came as quite a surprise, then, when she got a phone call to the tune of Snake Charmer from Jagged Stone's Rock Giant album, the one that she designed the cover for, that Adrien asked her to sign! She immediately dedicated a song on the album to her undying love for him, which she now somewhat regretted given that whole "trying to get over it" thing. Not to mention, snakes reminded her of Sass and therefore Luka, her actual boyfriend. But the song had been his ringtone for so long now that it would be just weird if she changed it.
Remembering that she needed to answer the call before it went to voicemail, she took a breath and brought her phone to her ear. Tikki floated herself to the other side of the device to listen in.
"H-hi, Adrien."
"Hey. I'm glad that you picked up. I was worried with how long it was ringing that you were mad and didn't want to talk to me. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that we couldn't study like I had promised."
"Don't be," she responded sharply. "I-I mean, it wasn't your fault that an akuma attacked then. If anything, I should be sorry that your first friend hangout was ruined."
"That wasn't your fault either. But I also shouldn't have teased you like that when we were supposed to be getting ready to study. We promised no more pranks, right?"
Marinette didn't want to think about the incident at the wax museum. "This was nothing like that. You were just trying to make light humor. Really, I'm not mad at you."
"That's such a relief to hear."
The blue-eyed girl paused for a moment to make sure he had nothing else to say. Because she did.
"Actually, I've been thinking about our conversation. You said this is your first time just hanging out, but, um… what about Chloé? Haven't you hung out with her as friends?"
"Not really. Mostly it was events both her and my parents were invited to, or in cases where we weren't allowed to attend, me being sent over basically to be babysat by her butler Jean with her. To be honest, now that I'm getting to experience what real friends in the real world are like, I'm not sure that I consider her much of a friend anymore."
"Wha– really?"
"Wait, that didn't come out right! She's more like a stepsister than a friend, I think. With friends, you find the people you get along with and become closer, right? But with family, you stick it out with them whether you like them or not, because that's what family does. I've known Chloé way too long to give up on her, even if I see now that she's mean to a lot of people for no good reason. And… I don't know what she would do without me, to be honest. She first became really attached when her mom left, and I don't think things ever really got back to normal. I mean, her parents just got akumatized on their anniversary not too long ago."
Marinette shifted uncomfortably in her chair, although Adrien obviously couldn't see it. "Yeah… I feel pretty rotten about having left, even if it saved us from getting eaten by Heart Hunter. That's actually why I was thinking about her. She hasn't been the same since then." Most of that is because of what happened after Heart Hunter, but you wouldn't know anything about that since you were probably mind-controlled like the rest of Paris.
"So… you noticed, too. I thought you and Chloé hated each other, though?"
"I mean, yeah, but… I can't just turn a blind eye to something like this. Chloé didn't choose her parents. I'm really fortunate to have two that love me. If there's something that can be done to help…"
On the other end, Adrien smiled. Yep, just like Ladybug, he thought, always thoughtful and putting others' happiness first. This must've been what was on her mind in the cafeteria last week. He knew she topped the list of people Chloé had been horrible to; his first day at school had made that pretty obvious.
"… which is why I want to ask if you would be willing to reach out to her."
His train of thought came to a halt. "Me?"
"We just said that Chloé hates me. She doesn't want my help – I've tried that a couple times already. She likes you, and you know her situation better than I do. If anyone can get her to open up, it's you."
Can I, though? He didn't know the first thing about understanding people's inner thoughts. That was why the whole wax museum mess-up happened in the first place, because he didn't know what to do to restore the faith in him held by the very person talking to him on the phone right now. He was pretty good at finding words to make someone feel better; Mom had taught him well in that regard. But feelings weren't the same as attitudes. The one time he got Chloé to try to be nice by throwing a party for the class was an accident, and it didn't really count anyway because holding his friendship over her head like that would never instill real change. Especially not now.
It wasn't something he would be able to take on anyway. Keeping his promise to Ladybug to help her be okay and stay focused was already very taxing for him. And now Marinette wanted him to try and pull Chloé out of the maelstrom she has sailed into, with nothing in return from any of them?
Again, his mind returned to his thoughts about being used. It had taken him so long just to voice those thoughts to begin with, and there was a lot he was still processing, his own parents being high among them. Why was it that it took his mother's disappearance for him finally to start sticking up for himself and showing his true colors? Chat Noir… wasn't the whole answer.
"Adrien?"
"… I'm sorry, Marinette, but I can't help you."
"Huh? You can't?"
"I didn't choose my parents either, you know. There's a reason she and I haven't resolved this in the past already. And I really don't want to talk about it. Sorry." Plus, I can't let slip that the real reason she's like this is because she was akumatized herself afterward. There's no way you'd know, because the only way I know is because I fought her as Chat Noir.
He hung up thereafter, leaving Marinette sitting there with the phone still to her ear. She didn't stir as Tikki flew in front of her face. "So… what's your plan now?"
"Nothing, I guess. If I can't do anything and Adrien won't do anything, then that's that. Like you said, I have no obligation to her and don't have any effort to spare. This just isn't worth pursuing anymore."
She spun her chair to release her tension. "Urgh, I thought I was being so careful with this sensitive topic… what was I thinking, asking him to do that? I've really messed up with him now, haven't I?"
Tikki zipped around to meet her with a gentle smile. "I'm sure he understands that you were asking from a place of goodwill. You know how much he appreciates what you do for others. If you're really concerned, though, you should try to apologize for hurting his feelings anyway."
"Maybe… but what if he remembers this, deep down, and then one day when the time's finally right and I finally confess my feelings and ask him out, it comes back to the surface and causes him to reject me forever? Tikki, I'm going to regret this for the rest of my life!"
Tikki sighed, placing her tiny hands up to her head. "Some things never change…" she commented to herself.
Want to see just how fearsome Firebug and Fire Chat are? I drew them up as well: /a/Wd8SvFX