Ch12
Claudia Kante pulled into the drive way after a long day of work. As she got out of her car she noticed a light on in her son Max's room. Oh right he must have gotten back from French Guinea already. She took out her phone to see if there were any messages but to her surprise there were none.
She frowned, Max would always send a message that she was back. He must be tired or maybe he got sick. With a shrug she entered her house only to be greeted by how cold it was. "Max I'm home!"
No response.
She closed the door behind her and set her back on the chair. Her phoned beeped. Taking it out she noticed a message from her son's automated robot. "Run?" She looked around but saw nothing was out of the ordinary. For a second she feared an intruder but the place clean, too clean.
She carefully looked around the living room but nothing was amiss.
"Max what do you want for dinner?"
Again no response. "Max!"
Opening the door to her room she noticed it was just as she left it. What was with that message then? Perhaps her son was playing a prank in good humor or maybe it was an error of some kind.
"Max are you asleep?" She looked down the hall and noticed a light on in her son's room followed by the flicker of a shadow.
She frowned and walked down to her son's room and knocked on the door. "Max!" She frowned and slowly opened it only to be greeted by the smell of iron. "Max what is that smell!"
She turned on the light and saw her son standing in the middle of the room his arms coated with red blood. "Oh my god Max what happened?"
She took a step forward but froze when she noticed his eyes, they were silver and gave off an unearthly vibe.
"M-Max? Wh-What's wrong?" She stared into the eyes they were an abyss of silver and one thing was certain they were not her son's eyes. "Who are you?" She asked
Her son's veins bulged as silver threads danced around him. "Welcome to my lair," Max hissed. Except it wasn't Max, it was something that made every hair on her body stand up. "Your not my son what are you!" She yelled as she took a step back.
A large silver substance came out of her son's body enveloping him. She covered her mouth as she saw large other worldly creature form. Oh my god. She quickly turned and ran as the creature laughed. This thing, whatever was in her son's body.
She didn't get far as something knocked her down. Looking up she saw various silver tendrils in the air. "Go ahead give show me a good time. I enjoy a good chase," the creature hissed.
Her heart raced in her chest as she got up and ran, deep down she knew she probably couldn't win but she would give it her all. Max I'm sorry.
Ladybug dodged the akumatized villain's claws as it tried to attack. The villain of the day was an akumatized gardener who was transformed into a scarecrow with sharp metal claws. The crazed scarecrow slashed at her with a mad fury as she dodged the attacks.
Suddenly a black mass of tendrils knocked the scarecrow back. "Sorry I'm late!" Cat Noir landed in front of her with that weird outfit of his. With a flick of his wrist he shot a web of dark material at the scarecrow who tried to cut it but soon found himself wrapped up in a dark mass of web.
Where did he get this power from? It wracked her brain as she looked her partner over. Cat Noir moved with the agility of animal as he lunged at the akumatized villain and began to pound and kick him. The scarecrow tried to get away but her partner threw him against the wall with ease.
Cat Noir held a thin rope in his hand that connected him to the dark tendrils around the enemy. "Cataclysm!"
She watched as the dark energy passed through the tendrils. The scarecrow let out a scream as the attack hit him and soon a dark butterfly was freed.
Though I have to admit he does make these easier. She swung her yoyo and caught the butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" In a flash everything was back to normal and fixed and in front them was an old farmer. I thought I saw something about upset farmers.
"Looks like I caused trouble again," The farmer muttered. "Sorry Ladybug and Cat Noir."
She smiled at him. "Don't worry we all have our bad days. Here take this." She took out a small charm from her yoyo and handed it to the man.
"Thank you Ladybug." The man smiled at them both before heading off.
Cat Noir turned to face her and smiled. "Hey it's been a while."
She looked him over, for a moment she swore the black material on Cat Noir's suit moved.
Her gaze drifted over his body. Cat Noir must have been working out since his chest and arms were much more well defined and his abdomen looked just as good. Oh god why am I staring.
She shook her head and forced herself to look up at her partner's face. "Yeah it has. You've been getting better with whatever this is."
"Y-Yeah." Cat Noir ran his hands through his hair. "You could say I've gotten some outside help."
"Outside help?"
Cat Noir paused and looked around furtively. "Oh just another partner," he said carefully. "But don't worry he's friendly."
She folded her arms. "And who is this partner?"
Cat Noir looked at her calmly. "This may sound crazy but would you believe in things that aren't exactly from this world?"
"What? Like aliens?" For a moment she thought her partner would make a joke but his gaze was serious. Please don't tell me he got into conspiracy theories. Suddenly her miraculous began to beep. Great just great.
Her partner's gaze darted around the area. "Trust me there are other things out there," Cat Noir said as he took out his baton. "We'll talk next time I promise."
I'll hold you to that. She quickly swung her yoyo and flew through the city of Paris and back to her room. "Spots off."
As soon as she transformed back into her civilian persona she looked up at Tikki. "What do you think Cat Noir meant by all that?"
Tikki frowned. "I'm not sure. But if this new power up is some kind of help we should be cautious. Mixing the power of the miraculous with outside forces could have unintended consequences."
She sighed as she rubbed her head. "The last thing we need is for the people in that temple to decide he's an enemy and go after him." She remembered that monk Su Han and how rigid he was with her, she feared what he would do if he found out about Cat Noir. Though something tells me Cat Noir's new powerup could give Su Han a run for his money. Deep down she thought it would be an interesting fight.
Looking around her room and all the bare where her stuff to Adrien used to be before her parents made her throw them out caused a pang of sorrow to fill her heart. "I wonder if he's still made at me."
Tikki looked around the room and shook her head. "Well you made him feel unsafe, I think it might be a while."
"But I didn't mean to." She shook her head, everything thought she meant to harm Adrien yet all she wanted was to just prepare herself for him. "Come on lets go see Alya."
Tikki flew back into the earrings as she exited her room. On the way her mind drifted to Cat Noir and his new powerup. It does seem otherworldly but where could he have gotten and what is it?
When she arrived at Alya's place her friend quickly opened the door. "Hey Marinette come on in!"
"How's the Ladyblog?" She asked as they walked through Alya's house and into her room.
"Good." Alya closed the door behind her. "Everyone is talking about that new transformation of Cat Noir."
Her friend pulled up a video on her phone. It showed Cat Noir stopping some would be robbers with his tendrils while bullets danced off his chest. Her partner easily did away with the robbers and threw them against the wall and took them out with little effort.
"Yeah he's gotten stronger, really stronger."
Alya nodded. "Yeah he seems a bit more brutal too and then there is this mysterious thing." She showed her another video, this time of that strange dark creature mysteriously prowling on the rooftops.
"What is it?" She asked. "Is it another form of Cat Noir?" It was an interesting theory but something inside of her told her it wasn't.
"It has something to do with Cat Noir that's sure but so far it seems elusive and hasn't target anyone," Alya said. "Maybe its another form of his?"
"I don't know the movements seem off." She shook her head. "Anyway has Nino said anything about Adrien?"
Alya shook her head. "He hasn't. Listen Marinette everyone in the class doesn't want anything to do with helping you get close to Adrien. His family will go after them too."
Her heart sank. "It's not fair though. I didn't mean to harm him."
"Well frankly you crossed many boundaries and he didn't like it," Alya said frankly.
"If only he could forgive me," she said. "I would do anything to get him to see me as a friend again."
Alya placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you want that you have to respect him as a person only and give him privacy. Maybe then he'll want to be friends with you."
She didn't know what to say, a part of her knew even Alya had her limits and this entire thing with Adrien was starting to get on her friend's nerves.
"I just wanted us to be together," she said softly as she fought the wetness in her eyes.
"Well maybe you should reflect on your actions," Alya said. "If you aren't willing to change then Adrien will probably not want you anywhere near him again."
Adrien sighed internally as he moved among the crowds of important who his father wanted to impress. They were all finely dressed and drinking champagne as they spoke amongst each other.
"This party is too stuffy," Venom said in his head.
Yeah I know but father needs me to attend since they are his business partners. He forced a smile on his face and made small talk with the crowds that was when he noticed a familiar person out of the corner of his eyes.
"Hello Adrien."
He froze as he saw Lila walk up to him with a smirk on her face. "What are you doing here Lila?"
Lila smiled. "Oh you know just hanging out and making scouting the crowds for potential contacts. The usual."
"Can we kill her?" Venom asked.
It was tempting but he doubted his father would like it if they caused such a scene in public. Not yet.
"Well just keep yourself out of trouble," he said politely.
"Of course," Lila said. She then leaned closer and grabbed his shoulder. "I heard Marinette has been bothering you?"
He pulled away. "My personal life isn't any of your business."
Lila smirked. "Of course." With that she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
"She's creepy," Venom said.
He sighed. "Yeah she's trouble."
As much as he tried to focus on the party and the dignitaries he had to introduce himself to he still kept his gaze on Lila who always seemed to be in the corner of his eyes. Until he saw her slip out of the room while he was talking with one of his father's friends.
"Excuse me I have to check on something," he said politely.
Lila you better cause any trouble in my own house. He wasn't going to tolerate her schemes here of all places. He motioned for his bodyguard to follow him out of the room.
Upon exiting the room and closing the door behind him he scanned the area for any signs of Lila. "Hey can you hear her by any chance?" He muttered as he slowly climbed the stairs.
"I hear movement from one of the rooms upstairs," Venom said as the symbiote reverberated throughout his body. "Near your father's room."
He frowned his blood boiling at the thought of Lila disturbing the peace in his house. His bodyguard looked at him curiously, he motioned for him to follow him from behind. Storming down the hall he made his way to his father's room where he could hear the sound of movement from the other side of the door.
"Yeah she's in there," Venom said. "Can I eat her?"
"Not yet," he said as he pushed open the door.
Inside he found Lila looking at a photo his parents. She immediately stood up and looked at him in surprise. "Oh Adrien it's you," she said with a smile. "I was just-"
"Get out," he said firmly.
Lila slowly walked up to him. "Oh Adrien I was just looking around and got lost."
It was then he noticed the necklace she was wearing. It was a fine necklace, the very one his father gave his mother the year before. "Take that off," he said coldly.
Lila traced the necklace. "You like it? I think it looks so much better on-"
Venom moved his arms for him. One decked Lila in the face as the other pushed her to the ground. "You shouldn't steal Lila," he said coldly.
Lila's façade broke apart as she glared at him. "I won't-"
He struck her harder and held her down as a symbiotic tendril discreetly undid the necklace. "You shouldn't play games Lila," he said as he took the necklace with one hand.
He was about to stand up when Lila grabbed his hand and bit. Hell no! Venom moved his hand away as he punched her in the eye so hard she fell to the ground.
His heart raced in his chest as he looked at his bleeding hand. "What the hell Lila! Are you insane?"
Lila only smirked, her face stained with blood. "I get what I want Adrien. Tell me why does your blood taste so different?"
"You're a freak," he said as he seriously considered having Venom eat here right then and there.
It was then he heard movement from down the hall, his bodyguard burst in and looked at them both in shock. "Lila broke in, escort her out now!"
His bodyguard looked Lila and frowned as he grabbed her by the shoulder and forcibly dragged her. "You'll regret this!" She said her eyes burning with anger.
