The night was picturesque.
The moon hung in the sky, a glowing crescent placed there from the tides of the astral ocean. Surrounded by a foggy halo, it shed it's silvery light, painting the scenery beneath it with gentle strokes of an invisible brush.
The cities' lights below beat out the light of the stars. They shimmered and danced in a kaleidoscope of color. Their glow illuminated the mist lining the streets, seeping in from the banks of the Seine River. Windows reflected the glimmer, refusing to let the light lose its vibrancy.
But the sky above was left a poor reflection, with the only light remaining being a mere moon. A yellow haze obscured all but the brightest stars.
Vincent van Gogh was truly inspired, but he would have chopped his other ear off if he saw the state of the night sky nowadays. What humanity had stolen from nature. Stars, trapped and contained on the ground, had lost their freedom.
It was beautifully bittersweet.
A figure dropped to the ground, just outside of where the works of revered artists lay. The doors were locked, but it wasn't anything he couldn't break.
The guards patrolled with flashlights and batons, but that didn't dissuade him.
What right did these people have to sell the view of masterpieces painted by long dead artists?
He crept through the halls, concealed by shadows. He avoided tripping any sensors with ease and catlike grace.
And then he found his target.
The painting of a woman many believed to be full of enigmatic beauty and charm.
The Mona Lisa.
With a grin, he unsheathed his claws, slicing open the display. Alarms started blaring and red lights began flashing, illuminating the figure with crimson. The figure paid them no heed. He carefully reached in and extracted the legendary painting.
He slipped away through the ceiling, leaving a trail of rust and dust behind as he burst through the glass.
"Get him!" He heard one of the guards shout.
He smirked.
They'll have to cat-ch him.
. . .
It was early in the morning, the sky was still gloomy and dark. Frost covered the windows. just a few minutes before class started. I was wearing a hoodie underneath my normal hawaiian shirt, because the weather decided to throw us a curveball and dropped below freezing again, instead of steadily rising in preparation for Spring.
Adrien was also willingly committing crimes against fashion, ever since I introduced him to crocs. Currently, he had taken the opportunity to wear fuzzy socks with a nice neon orange pair.
However, instead of people averting their eyes in disgust like Nino and I had expected, people stared with confusion and appraisal. Apparently, anything Adrien wore was considered fashionable because of his natural charisma and reputation as a model.
Just about everyone was wishing for sleep, it was a Monday morning, afterall. Conversations were quiet, if present at all.
And then Alya got up to the front of the room.
She got everyone's attention with an entirely unnecessary whistle. "Hey, ladies and gentlemen! I want to get your opinions on something. It's for an article on the Ladyblog."
This sparked most people's interest.
"Alright, I don't have a whole bunch of time, so I want everyone to stand up!"
I groaned. How was Alya always so chipper in the morning?
"I want to make a short discussion about everyone's favorite superheroes! Everyone who likes Ladybug the most, go on this side," Alya gestured to the right of the classroom. "People who like Chat Noir the most go on the other side."
"What about Ghost?" Adrien asked, because he was considerate like that.
"Come down to the front," Alya said. "Is it ok if I record this? I'm not going to post the video, it's just so I can remember what happened when I write the article."
A murmur of consent rippled through the crowd.
"Alright, go!"
People began flocking to areas.
I had no idea who to choose. This was a little more personal for me, considering I actually knew the people in question. It was like asking me to choose between Adrien and Nino! They were both great in their own way. Chat Noir was super sweet and he always tried his best to bring levity to difficult situations. Ladybug was super competent, but I also got the vibe that she didn't like me very much.
If I was picking them based on who I wanted to hang out with, I'd pick Chat Noir. But if I was picking them with an akuma fight in mind, it was still a bit complicated. Chat Noir and I fared well enough against Evillilustrator, but he was literally a push over. Ladybug beat both Chat and Evil Cupid by herself. So probably Ladybug for that category.
I couldn't choose myself, for obvious reasons.
Most everyone had already chosen their side, almost everyone was with Ladybug. The people who weren't, were with Chat Noir. I shrugged and walked over to Chat's side, standing next to Marinette.
"Now that everyone's chosen, I want someone from each area to say why they chose their hero! Let's start with Ladybug!"
"Well that's easy!" Chloe stepped forward with a flick of her hair. She looked a lot better than she did after I freed her from the closet. I still felt a bit guilty; it had affected her more than I expected it to. She looked like she had been crying for hours after she emerged from the darkness. Shaky in a way that wasn't from being mildly uncomfortable. I did that to her.
"I'm Ladybug's biggest fan, she saved me!" Chloe bragged. I must have missed the first part of her monologue.
"She always saves the day," Rose added dreamily.
"Great!" Alya said. "Now how about Chat Noir?"
The people on this side were a little more hesitant to speak up.
"Uhm," Marinette spoke up. "Chat Noir is always trying to bring smiles to people's faces. I'm sure Ladybug is glad to have him around."
"Thank you," Alya said. "Now for Ghost!"
I rolled my eyes, because no one was standing- wait.
Adrien was standing at the front, all by himself. Why? Ghost wasn't funny. Ghost was the worst hero of the three of them, the weakest.
"I didn't think I'd have to share my reasoning," Adrien nervously chuckled. He paused for a while. It almost looked like he was trying to come up with a reason at the top of his head.
"They're mysterious," He eventually said. "They don't talk, but I think it'd be fun to get to know them."
"Their cloak covers their features. We can't even see their face," Alya mused. "We don't even know their gender"
"What?" Chloe scoffed. "With that hair, she's obviously a girl!"
Marinette rolled her eyes. "Like there aren't boys who have long hair."
...This was incredibly bizarre. I felt like I just walked into a room full of people talking about me, without them noticing I was there. Which was exactly what it was, but that didn't make it less weird to hear people's unfiltered opinion about me.
"That's another question to ask during the interview." Alya noted.
"...You have an interview with the heroes?" I couldn't help but ask, because I did not remember agreeing to that.
"No..." Alya grumbled. Then she pumped her fist. "But I can't give up!"
I edged away from her. I could see the metaphorical fire in her eyes. I did not want to get caught up in the shonen protagonist vibes she had going on.
Madam Bustier ushered us back to our seats, saving me from further interaction with the blogger.
"Why'd you pick Chat Noir?" Marinette asked.
I shrugged. "He seems like a cool guy to hang out with. Not that Ladybug isn't cool, but I don't really know how I'd talk to her."
I struggled to keep my face still, because the pun was completely unintentional and only I understood the context, so it'd be weird to start laughing out of nowhere.
Marinette tilted her head. "What about Ghost?"
I shrugged again. I couldn't exactly explain that I was Ghost, not to Marinette anyway.
Class started and everything settled back into place.
. . .
Or it would have settled back into place if Alya hadn't posted a news report on her blog.
It was lunchtime and I was getting ready to interrogate Adrien on why he chose Ghost over Ladybug. Nino and I both knew he had a crush on Ladybug, so why wasn't she his favorite? It didn't make sense.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Nino plopped down next to me. "Dudes, have you seen this?"
"Hmm?" I immediately became distracted.
"Seen what?" Adrien asked.
Nino put his phone on the desk, propping it up against his water bottle so we could all see the screen. It was a post on the Ladyblog that happened only a few minutes ago.
"Is this the article she wrote?" I questioned. I wasn't all too interested in reading it. It was also in video format, so she lied about not posting the video. Rude.
Nino just wordlessly pressed play on the video.
It was not the article.
It was security footage of a shady figure sneaking through some art museum. The camera changed several times as the person made their way through the exhibits.
"Is that the Louvre?" Adrien asked.
"Just wait," Nino shushed him.
Eventually the intruder made it in front of a very specific painting. One that I recognized.
"Is that the Mona Lisa?"
"Shut up!"
The intruder stared at it, before breaking into the display, quickly and efficiently. This triggered the alarm system and he was illuminated with red light.
"Chat Noir stole the Mona Lisa!?" I blurted out.
"What?!" Adrien cried out. "I didn't- There's no way Chat Noir did that!"
"Oh my gosh-" My eyes widened. "He's a cat burglar!"
"No he's not!" Adrien denied vigorously.
"Yeah, this goes a bit beyond burglary," Nino said.
"You know what I mean," I waved him off. "Besides, people steal the Mona Lisa all the time."
"No they don't."
"That's probably not even the real thing."
Adrien nodded frantically. "Yeah, there's no way Chat Noir stole the Mona Lisa!"
I continued, "Because Chat Noir stole a fake Mona Lisa."
"What!?" Adrien wailed. "But that's not Chat Noir! Chat Noir is way more handsome!"
Nino and I didn't say anything for a moment.
"...Are you sure it's Ladybug you have a crush on?" Nino asked.
" What!?"
I winced and rubbed my ear. That was loud. And Adrien did seem pretty distressed over it.
"Chat Noir probably didn't do it," I agreed. "Why on earth would he want the Mona Lisa, anyway?"
"Exactly! It's definitely an akuma trying to frame Chat Noir!" Adrien pointed a finger into the air dramatically. Then he snickered. "He's a Copycat !"
Nino shook his head in disappointment. "Dude..."
"That was more creative than your usual ones, I'll give you that." I said.
Unfortunately, nobody else seemed to agree that it was an akuma that looked like Chat Noir. So Adrien was in a funk for the rest of the day. Mayor Bourgeois even put out a wanted poster! What was this, Colorado circa 1850?
. . .
Nino watched as Adrien got up to throw his lunch away. Keana had pulled out her phone and was scrolling, so he took the opportunity to get up and follow Adrien.
"Hey, dude," Nino put his hand on Adrien's shoulder. The blond jumped slightly before turning to look at Nino.
"Hey," Adrien sounded subdued.
"You okay, man?" Nino asked. Adrien had been looking down for a bit, ever since the last akuma attack, really.
Adrien didn't say anything for a bit. "Maybe it's silly, but... I'm not sure if I'm in love with Ladybug anymore."
Nino blinked in surprise. Adrien was pretty die hard for her last time he checked. A celebrity crush dying really wasn't a big deal, but Adrien seemed pretty torn up. "Why do you say that?"
"It's just..." He exhaled and ran a hand through his golden locks, messing them up thoroughly. "I don't know how to explain it."
"Well, just try your best," Nino encouraged.
Adrien sighed again. "Okay, uh, Ladybug's great, right?"
Nino nodded.
"She's pretty, smart and confident," Adrien listed. "But recently, I don't know, she's still all those things but..." He shook his head. "You ever realize something about someone and don't know how to think about them after?"
Nino mulled over the question. Adrien was getting pretty deep about a person he hadn't met before, but Nino humored him. "Dude, what's something I do that bugs you?"
Adrien blinked, caught off guard. "What do you mean? You're my friend."
Nino nodded. "Yeah, dude, but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to be upset with me."
Adrien stared at his shoes. "I-I, uh, I didn't like it when you made fun of Chat Noir earlier..."
"Hey," Nino said, when Adrien couldn't look back at him. "We're still friends, right?"
"Y-yeah?" Adrien stuttered.
Nino nodded. "Yeah. You're still friends with Me and Keana, even though we joked around when you were upset. Just because there's something you don't like about someone, doesn't mean you aren't friends with them, or not in love with them. It means that they aren't perfect."
"What? But," Adrien looked nervous. "But Ladybug is perfect."
"No one's perfect," Nino said. "And that's okay. It's good to know people aren't perfect. 'Cause-"
Nino shook his head. "Imagine if you thought your dad was perfect."
"He's not." Adrien objected.
"Hear me out," Ninio said. "If you thought your dad was perfect, then you would say yes to everything he wants you to do, because he'd always be right, right?"
Adrien nodded slowly.
"Then you never would've run away to go to school. You never would've met us." Nino continued. "You get where I'm going?"
Adrien's brow was pinched together.
"It's good to know other people's flaws." Nino continued. "Chloe's your friend, right?"
"Yeah," Adrien nodded, "even though she isn't very nice."
"Well, imagine if you thought she was always right."
"I'd think that her awful attitude was okay." Adrien said. "But it isn't."
"Yeah. But it's important to know everyone has flaws," Nino said wisely. "If you think someone is perfect, it's easy to think whatever they do is fine, even if it hurts you."
"Yeah..." Adrien's gaze was distant.
"It's alright if you're not in love with Ladybug anymore," Nino continued. "But you don't have to stop loving her if she isn't exactly what you thought she was."
"A big part of being in a relationship is knowing their flaws and accepting them for who they are." Nino finished. "At least, that's what I think love is."
. . .
Sh4d0wD3m0n : Polkadots4Ever you don't think Me0w0 did it right?
Polkadots4Ever : no he's not smart enough to plan a heist.
Me0w0 : Polkadots4Ever I resent that also: THX SO MUCH ;w;
Capricornicup : Polkadots4Ever Sh4d0wD3m0n Me0w0 I know this is the meme chanel and you guys are just roleplaying but plz be a little more aware we kinda in a crisis 3
WhiskerMeAway: Capricornicup D: CHAT IS INOCENT D:
Chumpchamp: Capricornicup WhiskerMeAway If you're going to fight, take it to the Serious Talk or Theories channels. No one wants to see it here.
I put my phone away; it was good to see everyone was on the same page. And that Chat still had his #1 fan.
I still had a rehearsal to get through before I could meet up with them. Chase would kill me if I skipped it, superhero or not.
. . .
"So," Ladybug said, arching an eyebrow. "The Mona Lisa, huh?"
Chat Noir wilted.
"I wanted to see if it matched your beauty?" Chat Noir joked.
But under the facade he looked bothered by the situation. He'd seemed bothered a lot recently. He hadn't been cheery since Dark Cupid a week ago. And he's been avoiding any questions about that.
I couldn't say I wasn't concerned. He never looked me or Ladybug in the eyes. I imagined he felt guilty about trying to kill me. I didn't blame him, so he shouldn't blame himself. Probably should make sure he knew that actually, maybe that could stop him from feeling so bad. Unfortunately it wasn't that simple: I couldn't just vanish negative feelings.
...If I could do that, then this whole entire akuma situation wouldn't be a problem.
But I couldn't and we did have an akuma to deal with and that definitely wouldn't go away with just a wish.
We got to work, but soon hit a very major roadblock:
We had no idea where Copycat was.
(Chat Noir suggested the name with the same snicker that Adrien did. I wondered if they had the same lame joke book.)
It didn't matter if we knew how to deal with him if we couldn't find him. We figured Copycat had a similar power set to Chat Noir. He disintegrated the window as an escape route in the video, so he clearly had cataclysm. He probably didn't have the countdown till transformation limitation - if he did he was probably masquerading around as Chat Noir's alter ego during the day time.
Chat Noir dismissed the idea immediately.
"What makes you think he's not waltzing around as you right now?" Ladybug questioned.
"Let's just say if he was, it would be obvious."
They let it slide. if Ladybug tried to dig at any more info, it'd go into secret identity breaching territory. It'd be hypocritical of her to break the rule she set. They'd have to trust him on this.
In order to find Copycat, they needed to predict his actions. To predict his actions, they needed to find a motive.
' He either really loves you or really hates you.' I wrote in chalk. Signing was great in a pinch, but I wasn't good enough to have an in depth conversation. ' Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all .'
"Who doesn't love me?"
"It's probably hate. He's impersonating Chat Noir, but instead of trying to pull a body snatcher move, he's discrediting your reputation." Ladybug reasoned, completely disregarding Chat's input.
"I wasn't joking this time!" Chat Noir defended. "What actual reason would a person have to hate me enough to become akumatized to look like me? Isn't that backwards?"
' He has a point .'
"Hmmm." Ladybug's brow punched together. "...Maybe he's jealous?"
That made a lot more sense.
Chat Noir nodded. "That's a great reason to not like me, while looking exactly like me."
"And he has most of Paris hating you right now as well," Ladybug mused. "So it would be counterproductive for him to go around shouting," she pitched her voice up, "'Ladybug and Chat Noir, give me your Miraculous!'"
Chat chuckled at her impression. "Isn't it a little rude that they always ignore Ghost?"
I nodded. ' They should try to be more inclusive ."
Ladybug huffed out a laugh. "So he has no reason not to steal another valuable artifact. Doing that will make people hate you even more."
Chat slumped a little. "Yeah..."
' Copycat probably isn't going to target the Louvre again .' I wrote. ' Attacking the same place isn't as dramatic .'
"What does dramatics have to do with it?" Chat folded his arms.
'He's impersonating you .'
"That's a good point," Ladybug said. "He targeted the most famous work of art in that museum, so he'll probably go after similar pieces in different places."
"I'm getting bullied," Chat mumbled.
I patted him on the back.
"The question is what he's going to target next," Ladybug mused.
There were several different options, including d'Orsay and the history museum I forgot the name of. It was also possible that Copycat might target a well known jeweler. We had no real idea which he would target next - he had only stolen one thing so far. But we had narrowed the options down based on how dramatic it would be, Chat Noir was a significant contributor. We also had no idea when Copycat would attack; during the night yes, but was he going to take a break, wait a day, a week?
So we decided to do a stakeout.
We didn't want to get caught off guard and miss the opportunity. We weren't going to stop him from stealing whatever it was he was stealing - Ladybug's magic would return it once they beat up the akuma, anyway. The whole point of it was so we could track him to wherever he was hiding out and take care of it. Then probably have some sort of public announcement of Chat Noir's innocence.
Each of us were going to sit at one of the suspected next targets. And we'd sit there, all alone, all night.
If that sounded miserable to you, I couldn't even play on my phone to pass the time, because it had to be at a good battery percentage, in case one of the others spotted Copycat.
It was torturous.
And he wasn't even spotted on the first night.
I got fifteen minutes of sleep that night - I nodded off in my morning shower.
I made up that sleep in Madam Bustier's class, and then I crashed in the safe space that LOAHE had set up. It was a lounge set up in an unused classroom, full of bean bags and blankets and a few couches. I was too tired to notice that Adrien had also passed out in the lounge, rocking my iconic eyebags. Nino, the good bro he was, made sure we got our notes and homework…and insisted that we both get at least 4 hours of sleep tonight.
If the first day of stakeouts was this bad, I was pretty sure the rest of the week would actually kill me.
Fortunately, we lucked out on the second night.
. . .
Chat Noir was lounging across a roof. His eyes were peeled, but if he hadn't gotten a few cat naps that day, it would be an entirely different story. The boredom alone would be enough to put him to sleep, but his thoughts were enough to keep him wide awake.
He couldn't stop thinking about what Nino said. About 'knowing the flaws of who he loved and accepting them for who they were.'
The words echoed in his brain, bouncing around. So he started simple.
Keana was his friend. She was quiet, but dropped jokes with a dramatic flair and a dry wit. But... She was sometimes oblivious to people around her. And as funny as her deadpan delivery was, it often made it difficult for Adrien to tell when she was joking or not. That didn't make her not his friend.
Nino was his friend. He was relaxed, and always seemed to know when he needed to lend an ear. He could dish out advice, even if he didn't fully understand the problem. But sometimes he kept his headphones on while Adrien talked.
His father...
Chat shook his head. He didn't think he was ready to think about that one yet.
It was dark outside, which made sense, considering it was midnight, but that didn't hinder Chat. He had excellent night vision and great hearing.
So when he saw a flicker of movement, he didn't dismiss it as a bird or something else. It was far too big, not to mention it was darker than the night around it. His ears flicked and his eyes narrowed. It was distinctly person shaped.
Chat Noir knew he had caught the suspect. Who else would be on a rooftop at midnight?
He waited and watched as the figure snuck into the building. No more than ten minutes later, the copycat snuck out carting a bag of ill gotten goods.
He quickly texted the others that he was in purr suit of the copycat and began tailing the thief.
Copycat must have thought he was in the clear, because he hardly ever looked behind himself to check if he was being followed. Chat Noir, seasoned escapee that he was, would never make that mistake. He made sure to stay extra sneaky, not even using his baton to go between buildings. If Ghost could manage without a magic transportation weapon, so could he.
Chat followed Copycat for several minutes, and soon was led to a small nondescript warehouse, though it looked more like an unfinished garage.
Copycat went through the front door, while Chat snuck in through a window. He stayed out of view of the akuma, pulling out his communicator and texting Ladybug and Ghost the coordinates. Below, Copycat dumped out his bag of goodies and began sorting them.
Chat Noir scanned the area, for a lack of a better thing to do while he waited. The walls were lined with graffiti, but it wasn't ugly. It actually all worked together incredibly well, ranging from beautiful landscapes to a spiraling galaxy filled with nebulae and planets to a post-modern piece filled with symbolism he couldn't understand.
But what took his breath away, what blew everything out of the water, was a gorgeous mural of Ladybug, watching over the city at sunset. It spanned the entire length of the wall, from floor to ceiling, and popped with vibrant color, stark lineart, and beautiful shading.
He didn't know graffiti could be used like this; he always thought it was just those weird, messy bubble letters. But these lines were all crisp and intentional, and it was bursting with color.
He had to tear his eyes away from the paintings. In a corner, there was a sleeping bag and a makeshift fire pit. A cardboard box full of clothes was shoved just by a pillar. Metal buckets were splattered with paint and spray cans littered the ground. A dingy battery powered lamp was strung from the overhand just above the set up.
All of this was separated from where Copycat was currently setting up. The Mona Lisa was suspended in the air by a piece of twine, surrounded by the small piles of jewelry the akuma was just finishing sorting.
Copycat stood up, dusted himself off and grinned.
"I'll show you what real art is," He promised to the painting.
The painting did not respond.
That's when Chat Noir noticed on the wall, just behind the Mona Lisa, was a stylized replica made entirely from spray paint.
Belatedly, Chat Noir realized that Copycat was currently getting ready to leave to go on another heist.
And he couldn't let that happen, because Ladybug and Ghost were on their way and they'd have to wait even longer for him to come back. He wanted to get some sleep tonight, so that wasn't an option.
He tensed his legs and waited for Copycat to come into his range. And a few moments later, the akuma was within pouncing range.
Chat Noir leapt off the window sill, tackling Copycat's face and sending them both tumbling to the ground.
Copycat let out a surprised yelp and rolled, attempting to kick Chat off him. Chat held strong.
"Well, look who finally showed their ugly mug!" Copycat hissed.
"I was about to say the same thing," Chat grinned, and then Copy bit down on his hand.
Chat yowled and batted Copy in the face repeatedly, ears pinned back. They separated, and stared each other down, growling, pupils narrowed into slits.
They pounced at each other again, scratching and going for the throat.
"Boys!"
They paused, both whipping their head towards the intruder who barged in, mid cat-fight.
"Ladybug!" They both said. Chat Noir glared at Copycat and moved to-
"Help me beat up this awful copycat!" Copycat glared at Chat.
"What!?" Chat Noir screeched. "You can't trick her like that!"
He turned to face Ladybug, only to see her looking concerned. "You believe him?!"
"You both look exactly the same..." Ladybug defended. "Chat-"
"Yes?" They both said in sync, then glared at each other.
"This is getting annoying..." Ladybug grumbled.
"It's his fault," Chat whined, pointing at Copycat. "He started it!"
"Shut up." Ladybug ordered. Chat wilted and he could see Copycat mirror him in his peripherals. "Just- Whoever can answer this question is the real one:"
Chat Noir perked up at that. That was smart.
"Good?" They both nodded. "Great. What is my favorite color?"
"That's easy it's-"
A dark blur fell from above, smashing Copycat into the ground.
Copycat growled and pried his face from the concrete. "Who-"
He looked up and froze.
Ghost was perched on the akuma's back, void eyes staring at the cat under them. Copycat swallowed, looking thoroughly unnerved by the abyss. Ghost stared into the half terrified face of their victim, judging them and finding him wanting.
"Nice of you to drop in," Chat quipped, thoroughly unfazed by the eldritch being perched on the top of his double like an abomination bird.
Copycat bucked and scrambled away from Ghost, hissing.
"Well that answered that," Ladybug said. "No question needed."
They all got prepared for the battle.
"How'd you know that wasn't me?" Chat Noir asked.
Ghost shrugged. ' I didn't, ' They signed.
"Chat, use cataclysm!" Ladybug called and pointed at one of the support pillars. "Ghost get ready!"
Chat launched himself back into battle.
The pillar crumbled and chunks of concrete rained down on Copycat, who was forced to use his own Cataclysm in order to protect himself, just in time to see Ghost run at him.
"Demon!" Copycat screeched. "Stay away!"
Ghost did not stay away, and continued chasing the akuma around the room.
"What a scaredy-cat!" Chat jeered.
"Once again," Ladybug rolled her eyes, "he's copying you ."
Ultimately, once the 'Who's who' game was over, the akuma wasn't that difficult to beat. He was just a copy of Chat Noir, but they had the real deal plus two extras. The stakeout itself was more physically, emotional, and mentally draining than beating up a copy. The Mona Lisa and stolen jewelry was safely returned to where they belonged thanks to Ladybug's magic, crisis averted.
. . .
After the stakeout, Marinette's nights have been filled with nothing but cutting, pinning, and sewing.
All of the ensemble costumes have finally been dealt with. She even managed to complete a few of the more complex costumes for the side roles, like Lumiere and Mrs. Potts. For Gaston, she was just waiting for the fake muscles to ship in, then she'd make sure they fit with the shirt.
The Beast costume was a little more complicated, Chase said he didn't want a mascot-esque head, because it would cover up the actor's expression's and also muffle his voice. So she had ordered a wig they could style to look like a mane, along with werewolf gloves and a stretch of faux fur they could cut up to sew at the cuffs.
But Marinette finally got the go ahead to start working on Belle's ball gown.
As much as Marinette wanted to tailor it exactly to the actress's proportions, she needed to make it flexible so it could be used in as many scenarios as possible. Chase said they might try to rent it out to other productions, since, beyond Beauty and the Beast, there weren't that many productions that required the use of a beautiful golden dress. If it were white, they could pass it off as a wedding dress and could use it more, but alas.
That didn't stop Marinette from giving it her all. She delegated the rest of the costumes to her costume department with explicit instructions, and spent the rest of her time focusing on the gown.
Currently, her attention was split between sketching a design and listening to Alya.
"Can you believe it?" Alya was lounging on her floor, typing away at something on her phone. "Ladybug asked me for an interview! Girl, this is huge !"
Marinette could believe it, because she had been the one to send the message.
"She said she wanted to do it next week! Next week! Oh, what do I say?!"
"Yes, probably," Mari bit her lip and waited, staring at her sketchbook.
"I already said yes! I mean what questions should I ask, I only have a few minutes with her!"
"Pick the most important ones from the list." Marinette said.
"You're right!" Alya exclaimed. "I need to practice!"
Marinette didn't want to be put through two interviews. "Did Ladybug say anything else in her message?"
"Oh yeah! I still can't believe she messaged me!" Alya squealed. She waved her hands a bit and took a breath, trying to calm down. "She also said that Chat Noir is innocent, which is obvious, but-"
"Is it obvious?" Marinette arched her brow. "Because most of Paris is convinced that Chat Noir is a wanted criminal right now."
Alya waved her off. "Once I clear it up that Ladybug told me it was an akuma, it'll all be settled."
Alya started crafting her message and they both sat in silence for a short time.
"I think you should apologize to Chat Noir," Mari eventually said.
"Hmm? Why, what'd I do?" Alya tilted her head.
"You dropped a video of Chat Noir stealing one of the most renowned paintings in the world without any explanation." Marinette explained softly. "And then everyone started accusing Chat Noir of doing a crime that he didn't do."
"But I didn't say that he did it," Alya defended.
"Most everyone is convinced that Chat Noir is taking advantage of his powers, just like Hawkmoth is. They wouldn't have come to that conclusion without seeing that video." Marinette continued, "And they wouldn't have seen that video if you hadn't posted it."
She paused mid-sketch to look at Alya. "Where did you even find that video, anyway?"
"I don't snitch on my sources," Alya mumbled. "It's a miracle I got it before the competition."
Marinette sighed. "I still think you should apologize. It doesn't matter what you intended, it got out of your hands the moment you posted it. You run one of the biggest news platforms for the heroes and not everyone believes in heroes as much as you do."
"I need to be a little more responsible?" Alya asked in a subdued tone.
"You need to be a little more aware of what your posts can be interpreted as." Marinette corrected.
Alya nodded slowly.
"Chat Noir deserves an apology," she agreed.
Mari nodded and smiled and got back to work.
. . .
Despite being part of the... 'superhero team,' Ghost was fairly difficult to track down.
The amateur info network of the Ladyblog only seemed to focus on the duo of Creation and Destruction. Most posts about Ghost were only mere speculation and thus trivial. Any pictures of them were blurred as they were caught mid fight. All footage of them fighting was poor quality and shaky. The most coverage they had was from the few seconds of zoomed out footage from the news helicopter near the end of the Reflecta fight.
However, Kagami Tsurugi did not need to rely on a novice spy network in order to track down a person. The taste of Ghost's... magic was so lacking it made it obvious. Like eating a dish that had no flavor - the texture is still there, but the lack of flavor draws attention to the fact it has no flavor. It tasted of nothing, but that nothing was still traceable.
Ghost mostly went out at night or in the evening, unless an akuma attacked during the day. There wasn't a pattern or schedule, for the entire month of January that Kagami was observing them.
Kagami had followed the taste of pungent rot whenever it tingled her tongue in an attempt to locate the area of an akuma attack - because surely then she would find Ghost. However, the flavor of corruption was spread throughout the city and even sources of the flavor were covered up by the sheer amount of the disease Hawkmoth had spread through the city. It was evidently a dead end.
However, Kagami discovered footage of Chat Noir stealing a piece of art, she knew she had a chance. Especially when Ghost's taste of nothingness lingered for the entirety of the following night.
Kagami didn't want to interfere with the akuma attack, so she lay in wait, patient as the clock struck midnight and the moon began to sink. She waited for the fight to finish, and the taste of citrus blooming on her tongue let her know it was time to strike.
So she donned a simple disguise and tracked down the one known as Ghost.
She stuck to alleyways, knowing that Ghost preferred them over the roof when it came to travel. They were a winding maze unless you knew where you were going or had a great sense of direction.
So Kagami came face to face with Ghost in an intersection of alleys.
Ghost froze when they spotted her.
There was mounting suspicion in the back of Kagami's mind as she finally looked at Ghost's true appearance.
She began cataloging Ghost's appearance: They wore a pale, horned mask, a ragged cloak with drab colors and a matching scarf. The exact color was difficult to make out in the lighting, but it looked slate grey. The cloak covered the majority of their body, but Kagami could see the pitch black boots they wore.
Then her eyes fell on the cloak clasp that rested on their chest. It was a black stone, etched with swirling white lines, and two white oval dents, giving the impression of eyes.
Kagami's suspicion turned into a cold rage.
It all made sense, the itching familiarity of the outfit, the unique mask. That cloak brooch that must be Ghost's charm.
Together, it held an uncanny resemblance to holders of the Pale Unity.
But where Unity's cloak was white, Ghost's was a dingy grey. Where Unity wore glistening silver amour, Ghost remained cloaked in shadows. They both wore masks of the same variety, bone white and eyes hidden, horns pointing towards the sky. But what sealed the deal was the charm:
It looked exactly like illustrations of Unity's charm, if a person was to switch the glowing white with a void black.
Ghost's charm looked like someone had stolen the Legacy of the Tsurugi clan and corrupted it with black magic.
...Ghost had vanished by the time Kagami came back to herself. It was embarrassing for a warrior to lose themself to their emotions during a fight. Kagami would strive to do better.
She returned to her handler with grave news.
Ghost was making a mockery of the fallen. Ghost was making a mockery of the Tsurugi family. Ghost was making a mockery of the Pale Unity.
Even the name ' Ghost ' was mocking the sacrifice her clan had made.
Kagami asked for permission to engage.
Her request was granted.
And so, a week later, two boxes arrived.
The first box was a long, thin crate. It opened simply, revealing Kagami's weapon of choice: a slim javelin-esque blade, known simply as the Needle.
The next box was covered in ornate engravings of warriors with protection runes carved into it. She bit her thumb to draw blood and pressed it against the lock. It clicked and she unlatched the lock and lifted its lid.
She was the first person to do so in over a decade, and thanked her ancestors for the sacred honor she was given.
Within the box on a bundle of bright red fabric, rested a bone white mask, with dark eyes and two sharp horns.
Notes:
. . .
So who's excited for Silksong?