Twenty minutes.
That was the maximum time limit for a French police to respond on an assault mission. And that countdown started after Ladybug ended the phone call.
Looking at the monitor screens and observing the commotion presented there, the superheroine mused. "You know, this reminds me of Lady Wifi."
"How so?" her feline companion asked, flexing his claws for a kill time.
"The Play." she pointed the screens. "The Pause, and the Stop." she pointed the navigator keys.
She hit one of the buttons, and one of the doors near the basement auto-locked, caging some of the guards inside.
"I see your point, M'lady. But this reminds me of someone else."
"And who would that be?"
"Stormy Weather," he smirked, pulling the main switch down and all of the light inside the mansion went dead.
The only illumination they got was the orange dusk basked from the glass windows.
"You and your night vision." she awed at Chat's green sclera. "How handy."
"It's kinda sad that the mouse only plays whenever the cat is away. So why not let the Chat invite himself?"
"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and play your own version of Hide-and-Seek."
He chuckled when she shooed him with her hand. He grabbed the said hand then planted a kiss on its back.
"I don't mind paw-ling one for you, Bugaboo. 'Claws you will be my exclusive 'it'"
She gulped, feeling her throat dry when he purred. "Let me consider that offer, Kitty."
"I'll patiently wait, even if it'll take mew forever."
Before he could open the door and left, Ladybug called him.
"Chat?"
"Yes, my Lady?"
"Are you...are you sure that Adrien is alright?"
He was glad that she didn't have night visions to see the blush that crept on his face.
"He's safe."
"I - I see." she fidgeted with a sigh. "That's good to hear."
"You know," he muttered, observing her expression intently. "You cared so much on this Agreste kid enough to hand your Miraculous over to Papillion."
"He's special, Chat. He's my friend."
"Inside or outside mask?"
"Both for me. But for him...he only sees me whenever I have my mask on. Though recently, he told me I'm his friend outside my mask."
Who are you? - an unanswered question he had for years finally made a green light, but he refused to proceed.
It was an opportunity loss, and he knew the situation was perfect to pop it again, but he wasn't mentally prepared. Not now.
As of the moment, there was someone that warrants his attention.
Marinette.
"She's fine. Don't worry." her response surprised him, unaware that he uttered his thoughts vocally.
In the dark room, he could see the smile brimming on her face.
"Let's get our friends back, Kitty." and Adrien.
"Yeah, Bug. Let's get our friends back." and Marinette.
Chat gave a two-finger salute and let himself be swallowed by darkness.
Having a legal immunity, the two superheroes were given rights by the French government to conduct civilian arrests for those who disturbed peace and order, even if it would result in violence. It was an enticing offer, but none of them tried to incapacitate their enemies beyond their physical recuperation, even if the said enemies were assholes that should not exist in the world.
Like Howards, for example.
The mansion may not like the alleys of Paris, but Chat Noir has the control of the place like a cat prancing towards his prey, and the mice were the blinded men unprepared for a scotopic vigilante.
He could clear the whole floor in just a couple of minutes, even without the aid of his heightened senses, but his partner wouldn't like it.
Ladybug timed herself before she entered the dark hallways. She may not have night visions, but like ladybugs, she knew how to camouflage and blend on her environment.
A little tap on her left, and a light kick to the right, she was a ruthless insect.
She stilled when a hand fell on her shoulder for a second then relaxed. She couldn't see his face, but her senses immediately recognized her partner.
"I'm clear. You?"
"All clear."
She felt him nodded, and with a nudge, they entered the main room where the Big Boss likely awaits for them.
They didn't expect that the Big Boss has a Vickers with him.
"I thought he's a smuggler of fabrics!" Ladybug shouted between rounds of bullets as they ducked on a nearby wall.
"Maybe his resume was outdated?" Chat replied with the same volume. "That's why he fired us up!"
Leave it to Chat Noir and he'll find a time to shoot some puns.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Howards yelled as he halted his gun. "Alas, we meet again!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble." the red-spotted heroine snorted. "But we can't remember our first meeting."
"Oh, that's too bad." the man nonchalantly replied. "Because both of you were busy beating that Akuma thing to notice me."
"We didn't expect you to be a loose cannon." the feline hero chortled. " And Howards enough to escape like a speeding bullet."
He answered them with another batch of ammunition.
Ladybug wanted to smack her partner's head, but she knew he was provoking him for distractions. Or probably it was his own way of killing the time. They still have few more minutes to spare till their back-up arrives.
"Did that young Agreste summon the two of you here? From what I've heard, you once saved his stick-ass father from an Akuma he personally triggered before."
"That's quite a low blow, considering you as the worst comparison." Chat Noir growled.
"You know the Agrestes' personally? I bet you've heard how that family dwindled down because the father failed the mother, and now the son carried the burden - or shall we say, the curse of being a loser?"
"You son of a - "
"You don't know any of the Agrestes personally!" Ladybug interrupted with a fury. "And that son you called a loser has a name - and that's Adrien Agreste!"
Chat Noir was shocked how his Lady defended his civilian self, and with his night vision, he could see the anger that puffed on her crimson face. If she wasn't jeopardizing their hiding place, she might've rushed towards the man and rammed her fist into his face.
He might even cheer her for a job well done.
"Adrien is a wonderful, amazing and a humble son. He doesn't have the attitude of a rich brat kid, he even stood up for those who are bullied. He's kind and generous and compassionate. He's a good friend. He's not a loser, much more of a failure - so you better take those words back you bastard!"
Howards laughed mockingly. "A smitten lady, I see. Well then, how will you explain about him bringing a girl alone while traveling to an uncertain place?"
Ladybug was unsure what to tell. "Uh...they were going to their school's field trip?"
"Such lies! That kid has billions of euros, with bodyguards and everything, and he can't summon a simple limousine?"
She didn't want to elaborate further, and the way their conversation goes she has a hunch about his objectives.
Also, Chat Noir went silent - or to be specific, made himself vanished. She barely detected his presence which alarmed her greatly.
What's that proverb about silent animals and still waters?
"That lowly, half-blooded, commoner girl must be an opportunistic gold-digger - "
A growl. She was definitely sure she heard a feral growl.
"- who's slutting herself to get his - "
"Cataclysm!"
"Chat Noir!" she immediately launched herself to stop him but failed. "It's a trap!"
Several bullets were fired again, drowning the manic laughter of a man, and all she could do was to duck and crawl back to her hiding place. She couldn't see things in the dark at all. She didn't know Chat's whereabouts anymore.
So she summoned her power.
"Lucky Charm!"
Despite the darkness, Ladybug was able to catch the dropped item. It was a glowing stick.
"I know its purpose, but what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" she groaned, still concerned about her partner's safety.
"Chat Noir!" she called him with a cold fear that he was wounded somewhere. "Please answer me!"
She almost made a mistake of waving the stick to the void, but when she heard a grunt few meters away, she stilled.
"Chat Noir!" she called again. "Are you al - "
"I'm going to kill you."
The superhero's threatening words were not directed at her but to Howards.
He meant it, she knew, and the tone convinced her that he was dead serious, that he'd surely use his Miraculous to murder a human scum.
All because of an insult towards Marinette.
She didn't have a clue why her partner cared so much about her civilian identity. They only met on few occasions. He barely knew her yet he was willing to kill for her.
"Chat Noir!" she called him for the third time, and with the boldness, she hollered. "Princess won't allow you do that!"
The room went silent as the firings stopped.
"Such baloney - "
"Howards is only taunting you!" the spotted heroine interrupted the tycoon's words. "He's trying to gnaw our weaknesses, and use them to defeat us!"
Still no response.
"You stupid cat! You're supposed to cool down and think before leaping - "
"Thanks."
Ladybug almost leaped, then shrieked when Chat suddenly emerged on her side. She waved the stick near his head then sighed with relief when he beamed a composed expression.
He was unscathed, she noticed much to her delight, and was tempted to hug him but couldn't because of his activated Cataclysm.
She bit her lips to control the spilling tears on her eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm sorry, My Lady. I got sidetracked," he muttered in whispers. "I'm not thinking properly."
"Then better clear your head now so we can wrap him up!" she spat out. "And don't do that suicidal thing again!"
"Cat's honor." he raised his right hand with crossed fingers.
She patted his shoulder with an ease, a silent gesture for forgiveness and at the same time, a signal of alert.
"Cat got your tongue?" Howards said while caulking his weapon. "Did I bug you both out?"
The two didn't respond, even after they were ridiculed with another shower of deadly bullets.
"Any ideas, Bugaboo?" he asked.
She roamed her eyes in the darkness hoping for some clues and got some answers: a glow stick, a dark room, and a Cataclysm.
"Gotcha."
This might not be their usual battle, but the man and his machine gun were less compared to all the Akuma encounters they've defeated before.
"Ready, aim..." she readied herself to heave her Lucky Charm. "Fire!"
Just like what she expected, the man immediately changed his aim and fired where the stick landed, giving Chat Noir a diversion to access his blind spot.
The feline superhero sprinted towards his location then swiped the silver barrel, crumbling the weapon into dust.
Ladybug assumed that Howards has a stealth weapon, so when his reflex focused on her partner, she instantaneously flung her yo-yo and lassoed his feet. She pulled it afterward to hang him upside-down.
"No more evil-doing for you, petty motherfucker," she announced casually.
Chat smirked, seeing the evident fear in Howards' eyes "Can I say 'Bye-bye, Sonuvabitch' as a disclosure?"
"As long as you don't throw him up in the air."
"Oh, don't worry. Spilled guts are kind of difficult to be cleansed."
Two pairs of dangerous eyes loomed on the cowering man, but before they could think of something inhumane, the main door opened.
The police have finally arrived.
"Bien joue!"
Their rejoice were cut short with the simultaneous beeps from their Miraculous. It certainly dawned on them that they have a five-minute countdown till de-transformation.
"Chat, where's - "
"I'm sorry but I need to go now!" he announced as he rushed outside the mansion. "I need to find Marinette!"
Ladybug froze on then gaped at her impossible partner.
"Stupid cat!" she screamed, not only because he would never find Marinette, but because she might need his help to locate Adrien before sundown.