꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂
Chloe's POV
After patrol with Nightwing and Robin, who seemed more solemn than usual, we decided that it was time to finally let them access to our base.
"We need to show you something," Ladybug said, gaging their reaction.
"Tt. What?" Robin finally asked.
"Follow me," Mari said, and we followed her blindly, soaring over Paris in the nighttime. Chat was next to me, while Nightwing and Robin were a bit more cautious as they tailed us.
I rolled my eyes. If we wanted to hurt or trap them, we would've done it by now.
Ladybug lands on the roof our base, and opens the trapdoor. One by one, we drop down into the room, that's only being lit by the moon.
Marinette claps, and the lights turns on. It's mostly empty, and the Miracle Box has been put in a safe space. Just because
"What's this?" Nightwing asks as he studies the room.
"This is where we go to train. This is sorta our base." Chloe, now Princess Honey, explains.
"Why didn't we come here in the first place?" Robin asks annoyedly.
"Trust is earned." I warned him. He was getting on my nerves, almost as badly as Lila. Robin glares, but says nothing more.
"It's nice," Nightwing offers. "After next patrol, we should spar here."
"Why not now?" Robin challenges.
"It's late," Nightwing reminds him, trying to control him like a chihuahua on a leash.
"Tt." He says in contempt.
Seriously the noise he was making? Ridiculous, utterly, ridiculous.
"Why not now?" I ask him back. "We have time."
Robin smiles, while Nightwing sighs, saying, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt."
Chat Noir says, "It's you we should be concerned about. Our suits protect us, and we only get hurt with magic."
"Perfect," Robin says, taking his katana out of its sheath on his back. "Who wants to go first?"
Adrien is about to volunteer, since he's the only one who does it professionally, but Marinette stops him.
"I'll fight with you. But I have a life tomorrow, so after this, we should call it a night," she says.
"Deal," Robin says.
I watch as Marinette picks a katana from our chest of weapons, that were once once by Master Fu.
She stands up straight, and whirls it around her, trying to warm up a little before they fight.
"You're left handed?" Robin questions Ladybug.
Ladybug shrugs, cutting the air in an arc with her sword.
Robin smirks, which is the first time I've even seen him move his mouth into anything that's not a sneer. He switches from his right hand to his life. "We'll see," he challenges.
On the fighting mat, they slowly stalk each other, like a lion watching their prey. Marinette mirrors his movements perfectly. Neither wants to make the first move, because the more you attack, the more you reveal.
Robin suddenly lunges, and tries to hit Marinette on the right, but she easily blocks it. With extra force, she throws him off of her, gaining space between the two.
"You're better than an amateur," Robin taunts, and Marinette's eyes turn to slits. Robin is trying to provoke her, it won't work, but Ladybug will add more fuel to her fire.
Marinette scoffs and says, "Funny, I can barely say the same about you."
It's Robin's turn to get back, and he lashes it. He strikes Marinette's with a series of attack, each harder than the last, and she blocks them all perfectly. She's studying his style before she makes her move.
Expecting the next hit from Robin to be harsh, she steels herself, but instead it's soft. She stumbles because of the way she positioned her body weight, but easily recovers she rolls away from him.
"You're going to lose," Robin tries to play mind games.
"No, I'm not," Marinette defends.
"Why?"
"Because know something you don't." Ladybug taunts.
"And what is that?" Robin asks.
"I'm not left handed," Ladybug looks down to her left, and then switches to her right.
Robin chuckles darkly and states, "I'm not left handed either."
This time, Marinette lunges, and attacks.
They parry back and forth, neither gaining an advtange. Marinette is light on her feet, always moving and acting defensively for the most part. Robin is more brutal, but he's graceful, as if he's carried a sword his entire life.
"It's like watching a dance," Adrien says, his green eyes entranced on the two fighting.
I nodded my head in agreement. Mari had always been our unofficial official leader. She was good at everything, because she felt like she had to be. She put her heart, soul, and mind into everything she did. And it paid off. I added, "They mirror each other."
They parried, back and forth, neither gaining and advantage.
"He's finally met his match," Nightwing said, discreetly videoing their fight through his mask since the beginning.
Robin finally twists Ladybug's swords out of her hand. "Yield." He commands.
"Never," Ladybug says, and kicks his wrist, knocking his sword out of hand while he's caught off guard. Marinette grabs his sword, while Robin is forced to lunge after the one of the floor.
Marinette prepares to corner him, and Robin moves out of the way in the nick of time, grabbing Marinette's discarded katana, twisting his body to block just in time.
Nightwing nudges me, "I taught him that."
I swear Robin is Nightwing's emo little brother who just happens to dress in bright yellow, green, and red.
Marinette strikes down on Robin with a powerful force, and now it's a will of strength. Marinette will win, but at the last moment, Damian pushes it away, and Marinette's sword clatters to the ground, along with her.
Robin's katana is at her throat, and he has won.
"It's been a long time since someone has challenged me." Robin admits, outstretching his hand to help her up. Based on his track record, it's the closest thing to a compliment that we'll ever get.
Ladybug knocks away his hand, standing up on his own She says with a grin, "You mean, it's been a long time you almost lost."
"But I didn't." He challenges.
"This time." Marinette says with an equal fire.
"Good work Ladybug," Nightwing praises. "Ingenious thinking and technique."
"Thank you," she offers graciously.
Robin asks her, "How long have you been fencing?"
"Just over a year," she admits honestly.
Nightwing's slits in his mask widen, and his jaw drops. "You're joking."
"No?" Marinette questions herself.
Nightwing laughs, "Robin's been doing this for his entire life."
Robin turns red with anger. "Tt. I still won."
"For now," Ladybug pushes it.
"There's always next time," I add.
Nightwing and Robin leaves, one a little more annoyed than the other, as Marinette, Adrien and I laugh at him.
Life was almost perfect right now, and I hadn't been this happy in a long time.
꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂