Ladybug stared at her outstretched hand in disbelief. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Earlier, she had quickly located the problem with the sprinkler system and had attempted to fix it but nothing she tried worked. With the flames raging on without calming down, she finally decided to try the Lucky charm and to her surprise, it worked, giving her a piece of equipment that solved the issue.
But as the sprinklers activated and doused the flames her mind was elsewhere instead, occupied with questions about what just happened. As far as she knew her lucky charm had only ever worked on/or around akumas. An unsettling idea crept into her mind and soon, she had to test it out.
"Miraculous ladybug!" She said as she threw the lucky charm in the air and in seconds it had repaired the damage done by the fire, the pink ladybugs surrounding the entire building and repairing it.
"Which means, an akumatized person started the fire. But there's no one here. Except Cat Noir and I." Her eyes widened in realization and she darted for the door. She barely heard the slight click behind the now fixed door but she reacted in time and threw herself clear of it. It exploded a second later, sending smoke through the open space. She covered her mouth and nose as she dashed through it, eager to find her partner before her worst fears came true.
She went from room to room as fast as she could while being cautious of any more traps. She couldn't find any, nor a trace of the black cat. She tried his communicator but still nothing. He had simply disappeared. She slumped against a wall, her chest constricting and she found herself taking in dragged breaths. Her vision swam and she fell to her knees.
Wha... What i-is ha-ppen..ing?" Her voice barely a whisper now as she dragged herself forward on her arms.
A low whistled tune reached her before the accompanying footsteps did. She reached a hand forward, one eye barely open. "W-ho?"
"Riddle me this, light as a feather, but not even the strongest man can hold it for long?"
She looked up and in her bleary vision, made out a person wearing a gas mask and a very familiar Butler outfit crouch by her. She groaned and slumped forward.
"Answer? Your breath."
I let out a sigh of relief when she didn't move when I flipped her onto her back. I crouched down and checked her pulse to feel it slow down.
"I can't believe that worked so well." I said as I brushed a hair strand out of her face, electricity dancing on my fingertips. "Thanks for being such good people."
"Ladybug? Are you in here?"
My head shot up when I heard the voices coming from down the hall. I bent down to pick her up but she suddenly sprung forward, and jumped out the glass window. I stood stunned in shock; I couldn't believe she was conscious let alone have enough strength to try to escape.
"Noo!" I screamed as I snapped out of it and run to the window. She was barely hanging onto a windowsill two floors down. There was no way I could reach her from here. I quickly backed away when I saw that everyone outside was now staring, some even pointing lights at us.
"Wow." I could feel my eye twitching as my frustration kept building. I took off the gas mask and run my fingers through my hair. "I expected her to be lucky but this is just bullshit."
I heard a door opening downstairs, no doubt the firemen getting closer. I grunted and leaned out the window and yelled.
"You may have gotten away, ladybug but if you want to see Cat Noir ever again, you'll meet me at the Louvre within the next hour. Don't be late."
I doubted she could hear but I'm sure those who did would pass my message on to her. And I'm sure hawkmoth would hear about this which means we are still on schedule, just switching to plan b.
"You! Stop right there."
I ignored the fireman and run up the stairs. I stopped to booby trap the wall then picked up Cat-Noir's still unconscious body.
"Sorry, but I guess it'll be just the two of us for now."
I jumped out of window, using my powers to quickly slide down a metal pipe. In a few minutes I had disappeared into the darkness without a trace.
.........*..........*..........*..........*........*.........
Ladybug slowly opened an eye when she heard a rapid beeping sounds right by her ear. It took her a second to come to her senses and realize what it was.
"Oh no!" She sat up as fast as she could, almost headbutting the paramedic that was leaning over her. "Sorry, sorry."
She tumbled off the stretcher and fell to her knees. She quickly got back up and dazedly pushed out of the ambulance she was in. She shielded her eyes from the bright lights that surrounded her. A crowd people rushed at her, reporters leading the charge. She turned and threw her yo-yo at a sign and pulled herself into a nearby building, blocking her face as she crashed through the glass window. Not a second later, she run out of time and her suit disappeared with Tikki collapsing in her lap.
"That was too close, Marinette." Tikki breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her human.
"Yeah." She rested her head against the window and took in a few deep breaths to help clear her head. She gingerly peeked through the curtains to see everyone was still outside, cameras pointed at her. She turned back to the exhausted kwami and offered her a cookie retrieved from her bag.
"Thanks." Tikki said before taking a big bite. "I'll ready to go soon."
"Take your time." She smiled but it soon turned into a sad look when she remembered that Cat Noir was kidnapped. She hadn't seen it happen but she remembered some of what he said when she was hanging out the window, though not clearly.
"If only I had thought it through. I should have paid more attention."
"It's not your fault, Marinette. We'll rescue Cat-Noir and defeat the guy in the mask. So don't blame yourself." She held Marinette's face and looked her right in the eyes. "Besides how would you have known that he would do such a thing?"
"I-I guess. He seemed really familiar to me. But I can't place him. What about you?"
"Same here." She nodded and swallowed the last cookie. "But we have to hurry before your mom and dad notice you snuck out again."
"You're right, Tikki." She stood up and the kwami twirled around her before stopping to hover in front of her, a clear sign she was ready.
"Of course."
"Okay then. Tikki, Spots on!"
..........*........*..........*..........*........*...........
Cat Noir groaned as he turned over onto his back. His head was pounding, his ears ringing and he could barely form a thought. But he was faintly aware that he wasn't in his bed.
"Ah, the little cat's finally awake." A voice said out of nowhere, coming from the surrounding darkness. He turned his head towards the side and saw a pair of boots stop by him. He sat up quickly only to immediately fall into his back. I laugh and squatted down to pat his cheek. He reflexively pulled away but I smiled and gave him a bottle of water.
"Calm yourself. Take a deep breath. Your brain needs a moment to catch-up."
You. W-what. Did you do. TO ME!"
"Relax. I tasered you that's all. Extreme, I know but I'm desperate you see." I stood up and walked back to the edge of the roof. "I had to take drastic measures."
"Thanks to someone's interference, my client is now furious with me and is demanding results now. She is a very powerful person and I really don't want to upset her."
"She? Last time you said your client was a he."
"Did I? Hmm. Isn't that something."
He eyed me suspiciously before he gulped down the last of the water and relaxed against the wall.
"So what now? You use me as bait for ladybug. It won't work. It has never worked. Well she would come but she won't fall for your trap."
"Oh, no no. That's where you're wrong. If things go as planned I might even get Hawkmoth too."
"How?" He asked skeptically, one eyebrows even raised but I shook my head.
"All in due time, my little feline friend. All in due time." My phone beeped and took it out to read the notification. "Ahh. she's already in the net. I just have to close it."
He sat there silently watching me and I played with my kunai as we waited. He hesitated a bit before asking.
"What makes you think I'm Adrian. I mean we are both handsome good-looking guys but that's all the is to it."
I laughed and walked over to him while dragging a chair behind me and reverse sat down on the chair and rest my arms on the back rest.
"I know right? It's impossible to be true. Just absurd." I grinned down at him until he looked away slightly before I let out another laugh.
"Next time, make sure you don't appear so quickly to save the day. And everyone knows you're teenagers. All I had to do was cross reference that with students who have a, never been akumatized and b, who conveniently disappeared when cat Noir arrived. Sure, there were a few discrepancies but it doesn't matter anyway." I said with a shrug then suddenly leaned forward to press the kunai against his throat.
"Now, this is what's going to happen and if you do exactly what I say, you get to be home and back in your bed before your dear old Daddy notices, got it."
He nodded slowly with his jaw obviously clenched. I smiled brightly at his expression.
Then let's get to work.
.....
Gabriel Agreste clenched fist tightened the more the news reporter spoke. The mask had beaten him to the punch and just barely got both miraculous. Even leaving ladybug in a weakened state. Unfortunately he wasn't in a position to take advantage of this. After his attempted betrayal, the mask definitely wouldn't work with him again
"What do we do now, sir? Maybe we could akumatized someone?" Natalie stood by his side and watched the news with him. Her hands were folded behind her and she stood at attention.
"No. There's no enough emotions. After all, Ladybug and catnoir have been through worse. Everyone expects them to win yet again."
Suddenly he felt a large amount of despair and pain, so much that he fell to a knee while clutching the hawkmoth brooch.
Gabriel! Are you all right? Natalie quickly helped him back up, her worry evident from her expression.
"Yes. I'm fine. Just a little startled, that's all" She nodded and stepped back. Gabriel smirked when he tracked down the source of the energy.
"Looks like we will have a say in how things play out after all."