Drabble and Drivel - Marichat and Others

Cat...Fish?

~ Inspired by MerMay... mermaid au in which Paris, France is plunged underwater, turned upside down, and transformed into a mermaid kingdom. :) ~

"Sponge cake! Sponge cake for sale!"

Marinette sighed, swishing her light pink tail beneath her as she called out to market-goers in hope of drawing them to the bakery. Her parents had her working short hours after school to try to bring in a wave of younger customers. "A fresh face." they had said, "You'll encourage the guppies." So far, only Alya had swum by, and she was just loitering until Marinette got off shift.

"You could help me, ya know," Marinette said to her friend, putting a hand on her shiny scaled hip.

The redhead grinned, flicking her tangerine fins. "You've only got a few minutes left anyway. Besides, it seems like you've got it all handled, girl."

Pretending to scowl, Marinette turned back to the fray of merfolk. "Sponge cake for sale!"

"Got any free samples?"

She jumped backwards as Chat Noir dropped down right in front of her, a sly grin etched on his masked face. The single golden spot on the edge of his ebony tail flashed in the watery sunlight, the black ears attached to his head reminiscent of a land creature humans called a 'cat'. Marinette scoffed at his request.

"Sorry, no freebies for scrounging catfish."

"Ha! Good one!" the hero cackled, making Marinette instantly regret the pun.

Alya had whipped out her shellphone, firing up the bubble cam and snapping away. "Chat Noir!" she called excitedly, "Are you free for a quick interview?"

"Anything for my fans." Chat threw a wink at Marinette before swimming towards her friend.

She rolled her eyes, startling when a herald blew the five o'clock conch. "Whoops!" she said, grabbing Alya by the arm, "Gotta go!"

Alya shouted in protest as Marinette forced her to swim away. "What was that for? I was getting an inside scoop!"

"Please, all you'll get from him is cat puns and a siren song about Ladybug."

"Even so!"

"Don't get your tail in a twist," Marinette shook her head, "We have  to get to the kelpyard. Adrien said he'd be there!"

It was Alya's turn to roll her eyes. "Girl, how many times have you thought that only to be disappointed?"

"Well-"

"Akuma!"

Someone had screamed the word from a few feet away, pointing in horror to the newest monster that was making its warpath through the market. The huge blobfish-esque creature was using its newfound power to turn the merfolk around it as grotesque as it was.

"If I can't be beautiful, then no one can!" it screamed in a bubbling voice.

"Swim!" Marinette yelled, losing Alya in the chaos as hundreds of people rushed frantically away. She took cover in a nearby stall that was littered with ocean fruit, calling her kwami from its hiding spot in her pig-tailed hair. "Tikki, spots on!"

With a burst of swirling red light that carried through the water, Marinette's tail turned from baby pink to a ruby red that was dappled with black spots. A mask appeared over her brilliant blue eyes, and she was transformed into Ladybug, Chat Noir's adored partner in heroics.

Swimming above the crowd, Ladybug spotted her partner, who was already in combat with the akuma. He was using his long silver staff to block its magical attacks, attempting to land a physical hit here and there. Ladybug quickly joined him, spinning her water-adapted yo-yo to use as a shield.

"Where's the item?" she yelled to her partner while fending off another attack.

"There's a locket around its... neck?" Chat replied, a lot more serious than he had been just moments before. "I can get it with Cataclysm if you'll just distract it!"

Ladybug nodded, though she worried. It was a bit too easy.

Suddenly, all of the merfolk that had been hit started to attack as well, crowding the heroes into a corner. Knew it.

"Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug received a large net, which she used to throw over the ginormous fish. Chat, calling on his power, reached through it to destroy the locket. The akuma was released, forcing the monster back to a regular teenage girl and her victims back to normal. The merfolk swam easily through the holes in the net while Ladybug caught the akuma, a pesky little angelfish, as it tried to swim away. 

Her Miraculous Cure returned the ocean floor to its ordinary state and fixed the decimated market stalls, while Chat swam over to comfort the girl. She had stolen the locket from her friend, jealous and angry at constantly being ignored while her friend frolicked with every guy in sight. The girl apologized over and over again, feeling terrible and immature, but Chat understood her logic and calmed her down. It was all a day's work for the two heroes.

"Pound it!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir did their traditional fist-bump in celebration of another victory against Hawk Moth. Both of their Miraculous jewels started to beep, in warning of their transformations wearing off. Startling, the heroes quickly swam away from the multiplying crowd of merfolk, accidentally hiding behind the same stall just as their masks disappeared.

"Ma-marinette?"

"Adrien!?"

Marinette's jaw dropped down to the sand as she stared at the green-eyed boy in front of her. She wasn't even given a moment to think before he engulfed her in a hug.

"Thank Poseidon, it was you!" 

A little reveal for ya! This one's a bit shorter. *Shrugs* Hope you enjoyed! ~ Bubbles