Partners in Crime (Miraculous Ladybug)

• C h a p t e r T w o •

The school day dragged by slower than any before it. Although Marinette was sort of excited about hanging with Alya that evening, she couldn't keep Adrien off her mind.

In something of a mood after seeing Lila at school, she didn't eagerly look forward to greeting her parents with such a sour expression. So, surprising herself, she ended up feeling happy when an akuma alert interrupted her walk home.

Smiling slightly, she raced down into an underground train station, raced behind a large wall, and shouted the familiar words.

"Tikki, spots on!"

In just seconds she was transformed into Paris' superhero, Ladybug. Grabbing her yo-yo from her waist, she skillfully flung it up out of the station and swung outside into the sunlight once again.

She was met by people running in all directions and screaming at the top of their lungs. Really, people, calm down, she thought with an amused smile. I'm here now. As she landed on a roof, she paused to look around for the supervillain.

Where . . . Where's Chat Noir?

"Ladybug . . ." a voice sang from somewhere down the road. The weird singing reminded her slightly of Sandboy, which creeped her out. "I'm looking for you . . . Why aren't you here yet?" The voice, which sounded like a young girl's, slowly turned into a snarl. Ready to fight, the spotted heroine leapt off the roof and raced to confront her opponent. "I'm right here!" she yelled, pulling the akumatized girl's attention away from some shrieking civilians.

"There you are!" the girl cried in a delighted tone. "It's amazing you showed up this time!" Then, completely unexpectedly, she flew into a raving fury. "Now give me your miraculous!" she shouted. "You don't deserve it, and Hawky needs it anyway. Everything works out perfectly this way, isn't it funny?"

"I beg to differ," Ladybug retorted, spinning her yo-yo into a shield. "Give me your akuma, and then everything will work out perfectly."

"Never!" the villainess screamed, but in the process covered up a blue bracelet on her left wrist. Immediately realizing the akuma was in there, Ladybug raced forward to meet her, yet was still wondering why Chat Noir hadn't turned up.

The fight went routinely, but over ten minutes into it, after plenty of chaos and destruction had been caused, it was still one on one. Chat Noir was nowhere to be found, and people were beginning to question among themselves.

The little girl, who'd called herself "Iceolator" and went around trapping people in unbreakable wintry prisons, had apparently been in an emergency situation with a loved one, but no one had been able to come to her aid, not even Ladybug. The superheroine wasn't sure what had happened to that loved one, but the resulting feelings had been enough to get even a young girl akumatized.

Finally, Ladybug decided to retreat just until she could get a hold of her missing partner. Leaving Iceolator alone in the snow she'd created, the spotted hero swung away, hid behind a chimney, and tried calling her black cat.

"Has the cat got your tongue? Leave a message!" his singsong recorded voice announced, and she rolled her eyes. Then she lifted the weapon to her ear and said, "Chat Noir! I don't know why you aren't transformed, but I may or may not be in desperate need of your help, because like, there's a supervillain wreaking havoc all over the place?! Please get over here asap!"

In hopes he would get the message and help her, she put her bugphone at her waist and ran off to find Iceolator once again.

🐞 🐾 🐞

That entire struggle, however, was dealt with completely on her own. Chat never came, and by the time she finally managed to rob the villainess of her akuma, purify it, and repair all the damage, hours had passed, and she felt ready to collapse.

Wearily landing on her balcony, she practically fell through the trapdoor as she transformed back and flopped heavily onto her bed. The cool blankets and mattress felt more relaxing and refreshing than anything else at the moment, and it only took a few moments for her to drift off into a nice, peaceful slumber. Tikki curled up beside her and did the same, also exhausted from the long fight.

Oooh, wait until I see that cat again . . .

What the heck was he doing? Why wasn't he helping me?

But by the time the next day had arrived, she still hadn't decided whether she felt angry at him, or hurt.