Chapter 2: Take me back to the night we met
"Here you go, sir!" Adrien panted, ducking back into the street corner and holding out the green and yellow umbrella. "These are the colors you wanted, right?"
School had ended twenty minutes ago and Adrien had spent the last fifteen of them running non-stop around all the stores in a five block radius, looking for the exact umbrella that had been described to him. And he quite literally meant non-stop. His lungs were on fire.
But thanks to years of practice masking his emotions, no one would know by looking at his face that he was fighting for his life.
"Thank you, young man," said the stranger in the Hawaiian shirt, reaching to take it from him. "You don't give up easily, do you?"
"Oh, it was no trouble. I knew I'd seen it somewhere. And look, I was right! Now you'll be safe from all the..." Adrien glanced up at the cloudless sky, "...rain."
"Even so," the old man said, marveling at his new umbrella, "I truly appreciate it..."
"Uh, Adrien," he supplied.
"Adrien. I wish there were more people in the world like you."
"Thanks, but... I'm probably not as great as you think I am." Adrien rubbed the hair on the back of his head. He frantically tried to remember what his last good deed had been before today, but kept coming up short. "Lately, I've just been trying to help others a little more. I-I felt like it was about time, y'know?"
"But that's exactly what I mean," the man said, not deterred in the slightest. "I'm not talking about people who are naturally kind. I'm talking about people who are able to reflect and realize that they can do better." He looked up at the boy in front of him, eyes shining with an emotion Adrien couldn't read. "Those are the people I admire most."
Not sure how to reply, Adrien smiled politely. It was a nice little sentiment, sure, but he didn't really believe it. This 'new him' he was slowly trying to build up was more of a wish than a promise. And he couldn't shake the feeling that it would eventually all come crashing down.
"Well, I'd best be off." The man cheerfully patted the blond on the side of his arm (he couldn't quite reach his shoulder). "It's time for me to almost get hit by a bus. Do take care, Adrien."
"You too," Adrien said, watching the man walk away, using his umbrella as a cane to lean on. He stood there for a moment, trying to make sense of this very random exchange. Then those words finally processed in his brain and he had to do a double take. "Wait, what?!"
But in that time, he'd blinked. And the man was already gone.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
"Hmm," Alya contemplated, tapping her pencil against her chin. "You're right, that is weird. Chloé doesn't seem like the type to do the whole 'friend' thing. But you never know! Maybe this boy's telling the truth."
The sky was darkening as Marinette and Alya sat on a bench together on the outskirts of their school. Gymnastics had just finished (because Marinette's parents had insisted she take up at least one after-school activity) and now Marinette was trying to recover from the mortifying experience of falling flat on her face at least four separate times.
"How awesome would that be though?" Marinette said, staring off into space as she snacked on a bag of chips. "To not have Chloé making my life miserable at every opportunity."
"If she's as bad as everyone says she is, then pretty awesome," Alya agreed, sticking her tongue out as she went to write something down on the pad of paper in her hands. "What's his name anyway?"
"Adrien, I think."
Alya's pencil lead snapped at the tip. "Adrien? As in Adrien Agreste?!"
Marinette paused her chewing. "Well, if that's the only Adrien in our year—"
"Do you not know who he is?"
"No..." She swallowed her mouthful. "Should I?"
Alya twisted round to face her properly, her excitement growing. "Girl, he's only the son of Gabriel Agreste, the famous fashion designer! I know I've only just got here and everything, but even I'm relatively up to date on the trivia of Paris."
Marinette was glad she'd finished eating, otherwise she would've definitely choked. "What? Really? Gabriel Agreste is one of my icons! Half the designs I created were inspired directly from his work. Wow..." She blinked, contemplating. "I had no idea he had a son."
"Daddy's boy and friends with Chloé?" Alya smirked. "He doesn't seem like the kinda person you'd wanna get involved with."
Marinette's brow furrowed. "Who said I wanted to get involved? He's helping me out with something—"
"Allegedly."
"—allegedly, and I appreciate it. That's all there is to it."
Alya winced. "Oh, Marinette... Boys don't just do things to be n—"
"DUPAIN-CHENG!" The shriek caused Marinette to flinch violently, spilling chips all over herself. "Could you stop running away from me for FIVE MINUTES?!"
Marinette whipped round to see Chloé stalking towards the bench she was sitting on, Sabrina hurrying to keep up behind her. As much as the pipe dream excited her, the reign of Chloé's harassment clearly hadn't ended yet.
"Ohhhhh shit." Marinette abruptly stood up. "I, um... I gotta go. This isn't something I wanna deal with right now. Here, take this!" She shoved the remaining chips into Alya's chest and then bolted. "See you tomorrow!"
"Wait!" Alya cried, holding up a pink duffel bag, as she watched her new friend disappear into the road of busy traffic. "You forgot your...!" She sighed in defeat. "...gym clothes."
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
"Adrien?"
He knew as soon as he entered his house that Nathalie would be waiting for him. Sighing, he let the door slam shut and turned to face her. She stared down at him through reflective glasses.
"Care to explain why you didn't ride home with Chloé?"
Adrien thought back to the frantic umbrella search and the mysterious little man.
"I got held up with something."
It was partially true. The other reason, of course, was the fact that his oldest friend had been avoiding him all day. Maybe it was because he'd failed to disguise the anger on his face every time he'd tried to approach her, and Chloé had never been one to tolerate admonishment. That was her job, after all.
"I see," said Nathalie, completely deadpan.
Sometimes Adrien couldn't figure her out. He was never sure whether she was on his side, or trying to stack the cards against him. "Are you going to tell Father?"
"That depends. Are you going to make a habit of doing this?"
"Well, I really wouldn't mind—"
"Nathalie," Gabriel Agreste said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "I need to talk to you."
He approached them in a calm and collected manner. The same way someone would behave at a business meeting, and not in their own home. His eyes briefly flickered over to his son before landing back on his assistant.
Right, Adrien thought. That was his cue to leave. He turned on his heel and began his ascent up the staircase. Never mind the fact his dad hadn't seen him in literal weeks. And sure, maybe that was partially Adrien's fault for never leaving his bedroom.
But it's not like Gabriel ever came to check on him.
"Yes, sir?" asked Nathalie.
"Is there anything I need to be made aware of?"
Adrien's heart faltered for a second.
"Yes. Your world-fashion interview is scheduled for tomorrow, first thing."
"Fine. Merci, Nathalie. Is that all?"
"Dinner... With your son, sir."
Adrien paused. He looked back at the two adults, leaning against the balcony as he waited in anticipation for whatever happened next. Surely, his dad could see him. Adrien was standing right in his peripheral vision. But Gabriel didn't so much as glance up at him.
"No." The word was cold and emotionless. "I have work to do."
Gabriel walked away from her and pushed open his office doors.
"He needs his father," Nathalie tried. And at this point, Adrien just wished she wouldn't.
"And I'd appreciate if you minded your own business." Without a backwards glance, Gabriel disappeared.
Neither of them moved, the echo of the door slam receding and leaving them in utter silence. Eventually, Nathalie turned around to face him.
"I'm sorry, Adrien."
"It's okay." His voice was robotic, like he'd practiced this mantra one too many times. "I know the drill." He pulled himself back to a stand and left to find his bedroom.
Today had been a lot.
He was realizing that now, after all the chaos had faded away and he was once again alone with his thoughts. But even thoughts felt like too much work right now. Exhaustion crept into every vein in his body, weighing him down until his head was too heavy for his shoulders.
So what if his father didn't care about him? So what if his best friend was a terrible person? So what if an old man wanted an umbrella to accompany his sunny day? These weren't things that were important right now.
After shutting his bedroom door, he knew there was only one thing he desired. Fatigue clearly wanted to drag him under, and he wasn't much interested in stopping it.
Not even bothering to remove his shoes or jacket, Adrien let himself fall forward. He face-planted his unmade bed and didn't move again for the next several hours.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
"I'm sorry, Chloé! I don't know which direction she went in."
"Well, find her! This is really important."
Terrified and distracted, Marinette ran straight into a pile of crates, letting out an involuntary squeak of pain as they noisily clattered onto the concrete. Either way, her location was very much compromised.
Sabrina appeared around the corner and stared at her in surprise. Pushing herself into the door behind her, Marinette gestured at her with the universal sign for 'please'.
A few torturous seconds ticked by, until Sabrina finally opened her mouth.
Don't—
"Not here!" she called. Then she quickly scurried off to catch up with her friend.
Marinette leaned her head against the wood behind her, letting out a sigh of relief as all the tension of the past five minutes left her body.
"It is you!" The crazy man's words echoed in her head. "You are the one with the pure heart. You are the one who'll save the world!"
Clearly, it was utter nonsense. He was just in shock from his near-death-experience. And on top of that, he was completely wrong. Marinette couldn't save the world. She couldn't even save a croissant for later—
The door suddenly gave out under her weight and all that tension came rushing right back. It swung open, causing an unprepared Marinette to fall backwards and clumsily roly-poly through the open doorway, landing in a heap on the dusty wooden floor.
"What the f...?" she groaned, rubbing her head. Her eyes warily took in her surroundings in the dim lighting. Eerie statues, glass pots and strange artifacts littered the room. Judging from the door being unlocked, she could only assume she'd stumbled into an abandoned corner shop.
But then why were there so many lit candles?
Marinette stood up, dusting herself down. This was fine. She'd wait a few minutes for Chloé to disappear, and then she'd sneak out and find her way back home. There was absolutely no reason to—
Several pots rattled on the opposite side of the room, as if something small and agile had scurried across them very fast. Marinette froze, heart pounding in her ears.
"H-Hello?" she tried, eyes unblinking as she stared at the containers, daring them to move again. "Who's there?"
It felt arbitrary; whatever had made that noise surely wasn't big enough to talk back to her.
The canisters rattled again, a glowing pink tinge emerging from one of them, slowly solidifying in color. Adamant not to let fear overtake her, Marinette decided to just start being louder than the pots.
"Look, I've had a really rough day. I was almost late to school, I've had books fall on my head, I've had several cars nearly run me over, I've had to save someone else from getting run over, and I've been hiding in random places all day because this crazy girl called Chloé won't freaking leave me alone, so if something is about to jump out and scare me, PLEASE JUST GET IT OVER WITH!"
The pink tinge apparently heard her. It sprung out of the jar, knocking the lid sky-high, and began swooping and gliding through the room, a glittering pink trail left in its wake. Marinette watched it in fascination, eyes following it as it ducked under tables and circled around sculptures.
The ball of light drifted past a stone relic, which Marinette noticed had an engraving on it. She approached it, squinting.
"'Who saves a life saves the world'?" she quoted. And under normal circumstances, maybe she would've been more interested in the cryptic message, but the light was already moving on. It traveled towards what appeared to be an ornate cauldron and dove under it.
The light faded.
Nervous but curious, Marinette crept toward it. She carefully lowered herself to her knees and peered under the cauldron. A pair of red earrings with black spots greeted her, glowing faintly.
She reached out to collect them in her hand, wanting to have a closer look. Something sparked through her skin as she touched them. The earrings pulsed with light and warmth. For lack of a better way to describe it, she would say they felt alive.
Marinette didn't know what compelled her to attach the strange and mysterious jewelry to her ears. And no matter how many times she looked back on this moment, she couldn't find any logical explanation. Perhaps it was impulsivity. Perhaps the earrings willed her to do it. Or perhaps she just knew deep down that it was the next step in the process.
Nothing happened.
And then everything happened all at once.
The pink orb reappeared in an explosion of blinding light, causing her to squint her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she found the orb morphing into something more... tangible. Marinette gaped as a weird little red creature manifested into existence in front of her.
"That took long enough!" the mysterious thing squeaked in a high-pitched feminine voice. Then its eyes, which were just as bright and depthful as any human Marinette had ever seen, lit up with curiosity. It (she?) began floating sporadically around the room, inspecting different gadgets and gizmos.
"My goodness... You discovered electricity. Exciting!" She zipped over to Marinette and flew around her body, eyes quizzically scanning her over. "Girls can wear pants? Finally! Although... maybe that isn't such a good thing for you, personally. You seem to have yours on backwards."
The pent-up shock and fear finally exploded out of her, as Marinette screamed at the top of her lungs.
The creature cringed, antennae flattening against her head. "I forgot how loud this part could be..."
"What the hell are you?!" Marinette demanded. Then she clutched her head and groaned. "Wait, why am I asking you questions? This is clearly a dream. Wake up, Marinette. Come on!" She pinched the skin on her arm. When this didn't work, she tried biting herself.
"Wait, stop!" said the red thing, diving forward and pulling her arm away from her mouth. "I'm real, Marinette. See? You can feel me and everything."
"Y-You know my name?"
"Yes. But don't be scared. You're the Chosen One!"
Marinette laughed so she wouldn't cry. "Wh-Who am I, Harry Potter?"
The creature frowned in puzzlement. "Okay, listen. My name is Tikki, and I'm the kwami of creation. I've been sent with a very important job: I'm gonna turn you into the savior of Paris! Essentially, I give you magic powers. You'll get to wear a suit created by your own imagination. You're gonna be the next Ladybug! Isn't this exciting?!"
Utterly dumbfounded, Marinette just stared at her, brain scrambling to make sense of why a sentient bug was talking to her and proclaiming she was somehow special.
This wasn't how she imagined her Tuesday would go. A part of her wanted to make a mad dash out of this room and pray the bug didn't follow her. To write all this craziness off as a side effect from lack of sleep. But she couldn't deny a part of her was also quite intrigued.
And since she was already in this situation, Marinette figured she should probably make the most of it.
"Alright..." she said slowly. "Let's assume for a moment that this isn't a dream, and I'm not hallucinating. Why exactly does Paris need saving?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Tikki said enthusiastically, settling down on Marinette's knee. It took the girl a strong amount of willpower to not instinctively swat the kwami away. "We don't have much time, so I'm only going to say this once. Here is everything you need to know."
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
As Adrien slowly rose from the depths of slumber, the first thing he became aware of was that his nose was itching. He twitched it, wrinkling it this way and that, until the feeling faded. He hoped to fall back into unconsciousness without much hassle.
The itch acted up again. Irritation growing, Adrien reached up to rub at it with the back of his hand. This seemed to do the trick for a few moments.
Then something sharply smacked him across the nose.
"What the—?!" Adrien's eyes flew open and he sat up. The sun had completely set in the time he'd been asleep, encompassing his room in darkness. A slight glimmer of illumination shone through his window thanks to the full moon, but that was about it.
Besides, even if there hadn't been any moonlight, Adrien would've probably still seen the glowing green eyes watching him from the shadows.
Wait a minute—
Yelling in fear, Adrien threw himself backwards on his bed, slamming into the wooden headboard as he blindly reached out to flick his bedside lamp on. He eventually found the switch and the room lit up.
The green eyes were still there, but now he could see that they were attached to a floating black blob.
He yelled louder.
"Shut it!" a nasally voice demanded. "Do you want your whole family to think you're getting murdered?"
"Wh-Wha...?" Adrien lost all concept of language upon realizing the voice had come directly from the black blob itself. As the strange creature flew closer to him, it became apparent that it wasn't just a blob with eyes. This thing also had tiny ears, legs, arms and a tail. If he didn't know any better, Adrien would say it strongly resembled a cat.
"Are you Adrien Agreste?" asked the cat-blob, flying even closer. "I mean, I know you are, but I just thought I'd check, because once I had a holder who was a twin and you'd never guess—"
The creature was promptly cut off as Adrien kicked it across the room.
"GET OUT!" he shrieked.
The blob caught itself mid-air and swooped back over toward him, unfazed but eyes narrowed into slightly angrier slits. "Nice try, kid, but it takes a lot more than that to kill a superior being like myself. I've survived star deaths and black holes. And even worse, I've survived encounters with cheese strings. You are no match for the kwami of destruction!"
"The kwami of what?"
Adrien brain short-circuited as he scrambled for an explanation. Maybe this was some sort of prank and the creature was actually a little robot toy. Or maybe he'd hit his head earlier, resulting in concussion-induced visions. Because surely, a magic flying imp wasn't actually talking to him. There was no way this was happening—
"Okay, listen." The so-called 'kwami' hovered in front of him, but smartly kept itself out of kicking range. "I've done this process enough times to know the ropes. You're confused right now, so... I'm willing to answer any inquiries you have. Fire away!"
If I do what it says, maybe it won't eat me. Adrien fumbled for an appropriate question to ask. "Wh-What do you want?"
"Cheese. Preferably camembert. But this isn't about what I want," the kwami said, indignantly. "This is about you. I'm giving you the power to destroy stuff! You just have to touch something and say 'CATACLYSM!' and boom! That thing is no more. Honestly, you should be grateful. I'll be able to turn you into a superhero. Isn't that every teenage boy's dream? You're the next holder of the Black Cat miraculous. The fate of the world will be in your hands!"
"WHAT?"
"Come on! Don't you want super speed? Super agility? Super strength?"
Adrien simply gawked at it, eyes blown wide as he hyperventilated, refusing to move from his very rigid position against the headboard.
"Okay, okay," said the kwami, relenting. "Let's try this another way."
You Are Chat Noir
(You Are Ladybug - Adrien & Plagg edition)
"You are Chat Noir
And you'll give me cheese.
I know we'll go far.
Listen to my expertise."
Adrien sprang off his bed and grabbed a baseball bat from the floor, eyes frantically tracking the kwami as he soared around the room, accompanied by plumes of black particles.
"Um hey, what the fuck?"
"What?"
"You some kind of mouse?"
"Well, obviously not."
"I've just woken up,"
"At 8pm?"
"And you're in my house."
"I know you're surprised by this.
It's not every day you meet a god,
But please don't try to resist.
I know it might seem quite odd...
Here we go!
My name is Plagg.
I've been alive
And fighting crime for so many years.
I find kittens
For me to bond with.
When you transform, you'll even grow ears."
Adrien aimed a swing at him, but Plagg just seemed to phase through the wood.
"But why me?
I swear I've done nothing."
"You'll buy cheese
For me so easily."
"So I'm rich.
That's all you see in me?"
"That's not it, let me rephrase.
You are Chat Noir."
"I don't think that's me."
"Don't fret, I'll be your guide."
"I don't want to stink of your cheese."
"And when things get hard,"
"I'm losing my mind."
"Just take a deep breath, and then decide."
"You've been denied!"
The bedroom suddenly exploded into clouds of golden dust. The dust accumulated and shifted into fuzzy imitations of people, all of them wearing some sort of cat-themed costume and brandishing a weapon. As Adrien watched the distorted visuals move through the air and battle mythical monsters, he could only describe his experience as an absolute acid trip.
"Let me break it down:
I always choose the cats with a very strong drive.
There's potential in you, to flourish and thrive.
And though Ladybug will be the one who is in command,
She'll always need a kitten who'll be there to hold her hand.
You'll both be caught up in the action,
Together through thick and thin
And if there's any attraction,
Then I consider that a win!
And though with every breath,
You'll have a slight brush with death,
Your Ladybug will never leave you out of your depth."
"Uh, what's that about death?"
"And there's something in it for you.
You can become someone brand new!"
The golden dust faded away. Adrien dropped his baseball bat and slowly backed towards the wall, arms held up to stop Plagg from coming any closer.
"Please, can't you just see,
I don't want to be
Responsible for any kind of lady.
She deserves better than me."
He caught his reflection in the mirror and sighed dejectedly. Sometimes, when he looked at himself, he could see her looking back at him. And other times, it felt like she was nowhere to be found.
"I'm not Chat Noir.
I can't save no one,
Whoever they are.
Not even my mom."
Plagg began circling around his body, pulling at the boy's arms and shirt with his tiny paws. He ignored Adrien's attempts to swat him away.
"I'm not Chat Noir..."
"Listen kid, I know this is not what you were expecting,"
"I'm not mature..."
"But come on please, you need to see these powers as a blessing."
"When things get hard,"
"And it isn't everyday you get to be a star."
"I'm always unsure..."
"Just reach down deep inside and find out who you really are."
"I'm not Chat Noir!"
"Please don't freak out, 'cause this will be bizarre.
You are Chat Noir!"
Plagg sped straight toward Adrien's chest and then disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Adrien froze, breathing heavily. His eyes darted around in search of the little cat, but there was nothing. It was just him, standing alone in his silent and unremarkable bedroom.
He slowly relaxed. Maybe it really had been a fever dream. He was still asleep after all, and any minute now he'd be waking up—
He saw himself in the reflection, and every reassurance he'd tried to push on himself crashed to the ground.
A boy in a black cat suit stared back at him, complete with a mask covering the skin around his eyes, a belt-like tail fixed around his waist, a spherical golden bell resting on his sternum, and a pair of animalistic ears that moved and twitched in correspondence to his emotions. Hence, right now they were flattened against his hair.
The boy instantly mirrored Adrien's horrified expression.
Then he sucked in a breath and screamed bloody murder.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
"Okay," said Marinette, pacing back and forth. She wished she had some sort of notepad to write all this down. "Let me get this straight. There's a command for transforming, de-transforming, and for the healing spell."
"Which is essentially thousands of ladybugs that clean up any mess made by kwami magic," Tikki confirmed, eyes following her new holder as the girl ambulated. "That's correct."
"And I need to stop Hawk Moth."
"Mhm."
"Because making a Wish is bad news."
"Most definitely."
"And the whole city is counting on me."
"Precisely!"
"Okay, wow." Marinette's pacing came to a sudden halt, and she bit her knuckle anxiously. "That seems, uh, that seems like an awful lot of pressure..."
"And that's why you're not doing this alone!" Tikki reminded her.
"Right. The Cat."
"The Black Cat."
"...Are there lots of different colored Cats?"
"Nope. Just the one."
"Oh." Marinette frowned. "Then why do we—?"
"Enough questions, Marinette!" Tikki glided towards her face. "The reign of Hawk Moth has already begun. You need to transform and get out there!"
"But once I do that, I won't be able to talk to you! What if I need advice?"
"How many times do I need to say, that's what you have a partner for! You take advice from each other. Now transform before I do it for you!"
"Alright, alright!" Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She clenched her fists tightly. "Tikki, spots on!"
Pink light washed over her as the transformation commenced. It didn't hurt, not in the slightest. But it was still the strangest sensation she'd ever felt. Like every part of her skin had been simultaneously struck by sudden formication. As quickly as it had come, the feeling left again.
Her eyes opened and traveled across the shining-red material that now clung to each of her limbs, broken up by a few black spots. Material that moved and stretched along with her, never bunching up but also never becoming too taut.
She already knew she could spend a lifetime trying to replicate this outfit through her designing talents and get absolutely nowhere near. Because this was pure and boundless magic.
Excitement growing, Marinette (Ladybug?) rushed over to the large mirror stationed in the corner of the room and pulled the dusty white sheet off it. She looked herself up and down in the reflection.
"Oh..." Ladybug winced. Good god. This is why I'm never getting into fashion school.
She shook her head. This wasn't about what she looked like. This was about protecting the city. She had a job to do!
Something chirped at her side. Curious, Ladybug glanced down at the yo-yo attached to her hip, its theme of red and black mimicking her suit perfectly. She pulled it away from her hip with little difficulty, like it had been attached by an invisible magnet.
The yo-yo trilled and vibrated in her hand. Ladybug inspected it closely, trying to decipher how she was supposed to use this thing to fight evil. Noticing the end of the string had attached itself to her wrist, she yo-yoed it experimentally, letting it bounce up and down.
With absolutely no warning, the yo-yo warbled noisily and then whizzed away up the chimney.
Ladybug, still connected to it, promptly followed it with a scream.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Screaming did absolutely nothing. Plagg didn't rematerialize. The cat suit didn't disappear. And no one was coming to help him. So he let himself fall silent.
"Okay," Adrien gasped, gripping his hair. "Okay. Shit, what do I do? What do I do?"
What had Plagg said? Something about fighting crime? Protecting a Ladybug? Superpowers?
"Superpowers..." he mused, looking down at his black-clad hand and flexing his fingers. If he concentrated hard enough, he could feel an energetic thrum coursing through his body. One that burned with unstoppable power.
"Don't you want super speed? Super agility? Super strength?"
He did. But there was only one way to find out if he had it.
"Alright." Adrien slowly backed up, eyes narrowed in determination. "Let's see if this works."
He sprinted full-speed toward the wall and jumped. Instead of smashing the plaster to pieces, his black boots carried on running up the vertical surface. With a precision and ease that made it look like he'd been doing this all his life, Adrien gracefully flipped, feet over head, before landing back on the floor with a dull thud.
"Wicked!"
His time to bask in the glory of his newfound abilities was cut short when he noticed a flash of red surge past his window.
Adrien ran to the glass and peered out. A screaming girl hanging onto a yo-yo for dear life as it propelled itself around the darkened city of Paris was not something he'd been expecting to see. And yet there she was.
Was that the Ladybug his kwami kept banging on about?
The girl and her insolent yo-yo vanished behind a row of houses, and the night fell quiet again. He waited a few moments but she didn't reappear.
Adrien didn't exactly know why he'd been chosen to wield these powers, or what he was supposed to do with them. But he knew it had something to do with that girl.
Meaning his first step was to talk to her. And to do that, he had to find her first.
Dammit, Plagg. You could've at least given me a rendezvous point.
Adrien pushed his window wide open and jumped (yes, jumped!) up onto the ledge. He crouched down and warily scanned the ground below him. Okay. It wasn't that far. Even if his powers were suddenly cut off, he probably wouldn't die. Maybe just break every bone in his body. Fun.
He shuddered through a breath. It turned out that all the super strength in the world still couldn't stop his heart from racing. He rolled the tension out of his shoulders, gearing himself up to put his complete trust in something he didn't completely understand.
Don't think about it, just do it. Do it!
Adrien let go of the ledge and leaped into the air.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Whether she held it in a death grip or tried to pull herself free, the string refused to detach itself from her wrist. And the yo-yo refused to stop yanking her through the air. It didn't even seem to have a clear direction, constantly changing its mind and pulling her in circles or back the way she came.
"MAYBE WE CAN COME TO SOME SORT OF AGREEMENT!" Ladybug shouted at the yo-yo, every other syllable lost to the wind. "JUST. PLEASE. LET. ME—!"
The yo-yo immediately stopped. Ladybug shrieked as the momentum bounced her from side to side. The string finally fell still, leaving her to helplessly dangle above the city. Confused, she glanced up at the yo-yo.
It buzzed and trilled softly. Then seemingly making up its mind, it shot forward, dragging a terrified Ladybug along with it.
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" she demanded, noticing the lack of sporadic corner-cutting. This time, the yo-yo was making a beeline for something specific.
Ladybug looked up, squinting through the tears in her eyes. A large stone church was rapidly drawing closer, one that she quickly deduced was Notre Dame. If she had to guess, she'd say the yo-yo was heading for the circular painted window that was nestled between the two protruding towers.
In front of the window, she could just about distinguish a human-shaped blur dressed in black, who seemed to be busy trying to look through the glass.
"Wait," she gasped, as she descended upon the window at breakneck speeds. The yo-yo ignored her. "Wait, stop, STOP! WE'RE GONNA—!"
The mysterious human must've heard her and subsequently looked over their shoulder. For one very brief moment, Ladybug watched the boy's green eyes widen in horror.
Then they both collided with a deafening crash.
