A rattling noise sounded inside the toilet.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng?" Tyrone called as he rapped the door. No one answered.
With a cold concern, he pulled out his keys to open the locked door. He swung it widely, surprised that the girl didn't turn on the lights. Before he could switch it on, a spotty red arm knocked him unconscious.
Two men only heard the loud thud, so they immediately headed towards the assistant. The last memory they had was a red and black blur.
Ladybug clapped her hands satisfactorily as she dragged the men into the toilet. She peeked in the study area before she went out. Once the coast was cleared, she hacked some cabled wires attached on the walls - she couldn't use the landlines to contact the authorities anyways - and used it to bind the men separately, with their hands tied behind their feet. She finished them by stuffing a crumpled paper in their mouths.
She folded her hands, silently prayed that no one would mistakenly kink shame her for a shibari, then walked outside.
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"Erm, sir?" a boy's muffled voice echoed inside. "I think there's a problem with the flush."
One of the guards looked at his companions with skeptical eyes before he entered the room. He was taken aback when a baton knocked him out unconscious.
The three caught the assault, but their reaction was a bit slower compare to the dark-clad superhero who whacked their heads cold.
Chat Noir cupped their clothes to confiscate their weapons then flung it all outside the window except a silencer. It was a 9mm Maxim pistol which snugged perfectly on his fingers.
He cracked it, suppressing the feel of releasing the trigger to one of the men's head and instead aimed it at the mechanical knob. This would give those people some trouble disengaging the locks from the inside.
He might be housing a god of destruction, but he got morals to adhere.
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While Ladybug rushed to the direction she believed Adrien was being brought to and Chat Noir to the room where Marinette was confined, the two didn't expect to meet their respective partners along the hallway.
"Ladybug?!"
"Chat Noir?!"
"What are you doing here?!" the two chorused, only to realize that it was not an appropriate time for them to dilly-dallying.
"Have you seen Adrien?!"
"Have you seen Marinette?!"
Then the two stopped, shocked at their partner's inquiry. But before they could ask, Chat's ears perked up at an incoming people.
They leaped and glued themselves above the ceiling as they observed a group of frantic men.
"We saw Tyrone gagged inside the toilet and found this." one of the men reported as he showed a cable wire. "That Chinese girl was missing."
Chat Noir had to control his growl and the temptation to pounce the men below. He felt Ladybug's breath hitched when the other men commented.
"I'm not seeing that blond model anywhere either. You think those two were together now?"
The superheroes eyed each other and saw dome-like shaped device hanging near their heads.
Of course, there will always be a house camera.
A communicator immediately sounded below, making both dropped themselves to the floor and caged their aggressors. With Ladybug on her yo-yo and Chat on his baton, they were able to nuke the men easily.
Since there was no need to hide the evidence, the two hurriedly ran towards the end of the hallway, only to be greeted by assault rifles.
Ladybug twirled her yo-yo to deflect the bullets as her partner leaped outside the window.
Chat Noir almost grazed by a stray one, only to determine that there was a manually operated sniper above. He threw his spare baton like a boomerang then killed the machine.
The superheroes were outnumbered, but not overpowered.
His spotted partner suddenly grabbed his tail to swing herself outside, bluffing their oppressors that the two jumped on the bushes below.
If he wasn't familiar with the maneuver, his backbone might've been snapped into two.
The two stealthily landed and rolled inside a dark, empty room above the hallway.
"I know it may sound dumb." Ladybug breathed as she eyed the closed door behind them. "But Chat, are you alright?"
Using his tail as a bungee? Purr-ty fine.
Using his body as a fulcrum? No paw-blem.
Using his tail like a retractable string and his body like a yo-yo altogether? Meow-velously ow-kay.
The feline hero didn't voice out his sarcasm while stretching his almost-dislocated spine when he fell on a carpeted floor. He got lots of things to be taken care of - and one of them was the sudden appearance of his partner.
"Why are you here, My Lady?" he asked while rubbing his back.
"Same goes with you, Kitty." she retorted. "I don't think this is an appropriate place for cats to stroll."
"I never wished that paw-bably on their hiss-pare Buggy, but one of my beloved fur-iends was taken here."
Ladybug froze with an ashen face.
Adrien wasn't the only one they've kidnapped?!
She saw how her partner's eyes grew larger, with pupils suddenly darkened into slits, and that made her realized that she uttered those words out loud.
"How did you know that Adrien was here?"
Chat Noir didn't ask her how she knew Adrien since the two formally met during Jackady's.
"I - I saw him being brought here - "
"If that's the case." he interrupted her with both hands on her shoulders. "You've seen Marinette as well, right?"
She gave him an impassive look. "How did you know Marinette was here?"
"I - I saw her." he stammered. "And she's with Adrien. Right?"
"I see." she sighed. Of course, her Chaton knew her civilian self. "Then we should focus on Adrien and your friend first - "
"Wa - Wa - wait a minute!" he interrupted her again but with a lashed tone. He even squeezed her shoulders tightly. "What about Marinette?!"
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "She's fine, Chat. Don't worry about her."
Chat Noir gaped at her incredulously. He couldn't believe that his Lady disregarded her Princess that way.
"I can't believe I'm hearing those nonchalant words from you, of all people!"
There were cases he got mad at her, like when she jumped into the dinosaur's mouth without any warnings. This time, it was a full-packed anger enough to make her shudder.
"Are you telling me to abandon a civilian in a dangerous place like this?!"
"That's not my point!" she grunted out of frustrations.
How will she able to convince him that she - Marinette - was okay without jeopardizing her identity?
Their heated discussion suddenly halted when several stomps were heard outside the room, alarming them both.
Chat slipped his hands away from her then balled them into fists. He wasn't the only one who was fuming with anger though.
"I don't care what you think about her, My Lady." he hissed with a lowered voice. "But I'm going to find Marinette."
"Better look for Adrien first, and she might show up," she answered grimly.
"That's impossible, Bugaboo. She'll never find him."
The heroine sprung to grab his collar. "What do you mean?!"
"I - "
The two immediately ducked behind a large upholstery when the door creaked and swung open.
Three shadows entered the room.
"Alpha Two to Sparrow. I've heard some voices here - like they're fighting or something." a deep voice said, followed by a short static noise.
[Did Bobby forgot to turn off his telenovela again?] the communicator cracked. [I'm not seeing any movements inside, Alpha Two.]
"The lights are off here, Sparrow. Let me locate the switch."
Ladybug tapped Chat's shoulder, signaling him to deal with his right while she handled the left. Nodding, they simultaneously circled the intruders silently, then knocked them unconscious before they could give a reaction.
[Alpha Two, what happened?]
The hero casually plucked the communicator. "No problemo amigo. Got tripped and fell, Sparrow."
[You better be careful, Alpha Two. We're dealing two pesky superheroes here, not to mention our hostages are on the loose.]
"Yeah, right." he snorted.
Tapping his shoulder, Ladybug pointed the house camera near the hallway. "Hey Sparrow, can you see some changes on my location?"
[Negative, Alpha Two. Still dark as a fuck.]
The superheroes saw another house camera installed inside the room.
If they weren't lucky enough to get Alpha Two before he flipped the switch on, Sparrow would be the reason why they were captured as fuck.
"How about the hallway here, Sparrow?"
[Still negative, Alpha Two. What's going on there?]
He gave his smirking partner a shit-eating grin. "We have a bit of a paw-blem here, Sparrow. Seems like our system got bugged."
[Oh? Then let me send some reinforcements there, Alpha Two, and don't - ]
"Don't fret, Sparrow. I can cat-ch the bug and bring 'em to you instead." he retorted immediately. "But I forgot your location."
"Two floors below. Control room, Alpha Two."
Seems like Sparrow would never see a daylight again.
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It took them two punches from Ladybug and a jab from Chat Noir to isolate the Control Room.
After disabling the original occupants, the heroine flipped her yo-yo then activated its mobile function. Tyrone might be right that all cell receptions were blocked within the vicinity, but hers was nothing but miraculous.
"We need to contact the authorities," she suggested as she dialed 112. "I don't want these people to get away easily."
"It's your call, My Lady," he answered sprightly as he toggled the monitor screens.
The mansion was definitely big, and Howards' people were aplenty, and even though they haven't summoned their Lucky Charms and Cataclysms yet, he knew there would be a point wherein one of them became exhausted and ended up sloppy.
Also, his thoughts were preoccupied with Marinette's safety.
He selected the recordings from the study room, rewinding the video from the last hour, then stopped at the middle. He barely reached the 30-minute mark when he saw the portion wherein a gun was pointed near Marinette's head.
He could still remember the bitterness and the fear as he replayed the scene.
He took a deep breath when the gun was lowered and tucked inside the assistant's jacket. He also saw Marinette's entrance towards a small room, probably a toilet, and Howards' exit together with his two bodyguards. His eyes glued completely to the lack of changes in the scenery until he saw a flicker on Tyrone's face as he headed towards the toilet. Seconds later, the men approached the room.
He froze when Ladybug went out of the toilet.
And the said Ladybug that was on the screen happened to be the same Ladybug that was currently standing behind him.
He turned around slowly and saw how her bluebell eyes grew round like saucers, with blood completely drained out from her face.
The two were staring at each other with a pin drop silence.
Until Chat Noir finally broke it.
"Ladybug...you..."
She stopped breathing.
"...you saved Marinette?"
Ladybug felt like the world collapsed behind her, and with a stupefied expression, she exclaimed. "What?!"
"I saw you heading out from the place where Marinette entered." her partner's voice croaked, with eyes gleaming like he was about to cry. "You spotted her inside."
It took her seconds to respond "...yes?"
"Oh, My Lady!"
She was taken aback when her partner suddenly wrapped her in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry if I got mad at you a while ago! I thought you were insensitive enough not to care for her!"
Chat released her but didn't let go of her arms. "But I didn't see Marinette leaving the place. Where did you hide her?"
"I...well.." she paused for a moment. "The...windows...? Yes, the windows! There's a small window inside, so I slipped Marinette there and told her to run out of the mansion and hide. I also told her not to show up until I say so. Yeah, that's what I did!"
"I see. That's - that's claw-some!" he beamed as he rubbed his neck, a mannerism almost akin to Adrien's.
Ladybug shook her head before her mind got muddled again. "If this is not a simple worry for a civilian, I might misinterpret this as something more romantic."
She was expecting some exaggerated responses followed by his declaration of undying loyalty towards her, but none came. She couldn't help but blushed when his stern green eyes met hers.
"Have you ever feel so scared to change something because you feared that you'll lose everything?" he asked.
"I have," she answered, remembering her feelings towards her classmate and her shifting emotions towards her partner. "But then, change is inevitable."
"Indeed."
"What's the question?"
Chat swiveled his chair then faced the monitor screens again. "Ah, nothing. I'm just wondering whether I should follow my heart or the prompt of my brain."
"And what are those two tells you?"
"To confess now...or confess later." he shrugged with a smile. "But that's something I need to work on after this fiasco. You haven't told me the reason why you're here."
"Yeah, I haven't," she replied as she sat beside him. "Just like yours - they took my friend here."
"So we both need to look for our missing friends."
"Yes," she said with a nod. "And we need to secure Adrien's safety."
"Don't worry, Buginette. He's completely and absolutely safe and secured."
"How can you be so sure?"
The worry on her tone was something he couldn't help but notice.
"I saved Adrien from his oppressors, then instructed him to hide outside until I say so. He was sick and worried for his friend, so I promised him that I'll look for her. Cat's honor."
Ladybug was about to say something, but a certain image from the other screen caught her attention.
"The police will be here in a few minutes," she told him as she eyed Howards' features when one of his bodyguards approached him. It appeared like he was about to leave the mansion, but for some unknown reasons, he didn't.
"They didn't know how to disengage the lock mechanism." her partner smirked, answering her confusions. "Their system lockdown was almost similar to what my father installed in our house. Centralized, and activated by a single biometric signature. However, the downside of that strong fortress was that once tampered, everything will be completely controlled without any hassles."
It wasn't a secret between partners that Chat Noir came from a prominent family, and that he has knacks for gadgets.
"So you hacked the system."
"I tweaked it a little bit." he supplied slyly. "You said you don't want these people to get away easily."
"And we need to buy some time until the authorities get here."
With a knowing look, the two began to formulate their sweet revenge.