“My name is Mademoiselle Needle and you, Miss Marinette, better run before I show you my craftmanship.”
Marinette’s hand mindlessly searched for Adrien’s and Adrien took her hand and tugged her back upstairs. Mlle. Needle’s cackles were heard from down below and balls of… wool? came flying at them. The wool barely missed them, Adrien leading Marinette down the corridors.
“A-Adrien, where, where are you taking me?” She kept looking back, hearing the creepy cackles of the akuma.
“You need to hide. She’s after you.” They turned down a hall and towards the library. Although it was a vast library, Adrien never went in there. It was mostly full of old designs and documents, rather than books.
“But what about you?” She asked. The two went into the library, Adrien navigating her through the maze that was the bookshelves.
“I’ll find a way to distract her.” Once they found a safe, hidden corner, he pulled her forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “Please, stay here. Stay hidden and don’t go out there. Please.” He leaned forwards and kissed her forehead lightly.
“Adrien–”
“Don’t. I’ll be fine, stay here.” He pulled away slowly and rubbed her shoulders gently. Before she could say anything else, Adrien turned and headed out of the maze.
Exiting the library, Adrien started to head down the corridors.
“So, what’s the plan, kid?” Plagg peeked out from Adrien’s pocket. “The akuma is in the house, without Ladybug, she could destroy the whole house!”
Adrien nodded. “I know, I need to get the akuma out before the whole estate goes down.”
A big ball of yarn started to roll down the corridor and Adrien had to zip into the nearest door before getting squished.
Surprisingly enough, it was Marinette’s.
“Time to transform, kid.”
“Yeah, Plagg –” Adrien’s phone chimed. “What?” he pulled his phone out, looking down at the notification.
“Time to move Chat Noir! Akuma in the Agreste Estate!” A message from Alya’s Chatblog. Well, it seems that Marinette got in contact with Alya.
“Well lucky for us, we’re already on the scene!”
“The one time we’re lucky.” Plagg snorted.
Adrien chuckled. “Plagg, transform me.”
Bounding out of Marinette’s window and across the roof to the library, Chat Noir scaled down the wall and tapped a window that was close to where he left Marinette.
After a couple taps with his baton, Marinette opened the window. With a thud, Chat landed in front of her.
“Chat! There’s an akuma in the estate! And, and I caused it!”
Chat shushed her gently. “I know, Mari, I know.”
“But Chat, my brother, he’s–”
“He’s fine. Don’t worry about your brother.” He reassured. “I locked him in his room.” He smiled.
“Locked him in his room…” She shook her head. “Chat, what are we going to do about the akuma.”
“We have to lure the akuma out of here before it does more damage.” Chat Noir got closer to Marinette and she took a step back, eyeing him slightly.
“What are you doing?”
Chat smirked slightly. “You better hold on.” His hand went around her waist and tugged her close, making Marinette yelp slightly.
“Chat, wait–!!”
Chat lifted her up bridal style and looked down at her. “Get cozy – it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Chat headed out of the library and down the corridor, where Mlle. Needle was barely coming down.
“Oh, lookie here! There seems to be a bad design in the mix!” Mlle. Needle stood at the end of the hallway, her hands to her hips. Her two needles were resting across her back.
“Let’s get straight to the point, Needle.”
Marinette rolled her eyes.
“I’m gonna need you to leaf this house, before you fall into major purroblems.”
Marinette looked up at him. “It’s a spring design and you’re bringing in autumn? Good lord, you’re terrible.”
Chat chuckled. “I’m purrfectly fine, what do you mean?”
Mlle. Needle pulled her needles from behind her, scoffing at the other two’s bickering. “Sorry, but I can’t let you leave. You see, I need your miraculous. I think it would be the perfect accessory for my wardrobe.”
“I’d love to stay and chat, but this cat’s gotta go.”
Not a moment later, a big ball of wool was rolling their way. Marinette’s grip on Chat tightened and he only smirked, jumping over the ball and towards Mlle. Needle.
Mlle. Needle didn’t expect that and brought her needles up to shield her face, Chat stepping on the crossing of her needles and using the momentum she provided to jump over her.
“Hey!” She cried as she was pushed down as he jumped.
“Sorry, but this string’s gotta fly.” He winked and darted down the hallway.
Chat headed down the hall and leaped down the staircase and was out of the Agreste Estate in a flash.
“You think she’s following us?” Marinette tried to look behind Chat’s shoulder, but before she knew it, they were jumping across the Parisian skies. She gasped softly and closed her eyes quickly, her grip tight around Chat Noir’s neck.
Marinette didn’t know what it was, but there was something almost nostalgic about vaulting through the Parisian skies in broad daylight. The feeling of the wind ripping through her hair and clothing, the scary, yet familiar feeling of free-falling.
Chat tried to ignore the little giggles that soon graced his ears, looking down at her with a smile. “It’d be a shame if she didn’t follow someone as cute as you.”
There was a prompt blush on Marinette’s cheeks.
“As cute as a button.”
She rolled her eyes. “Way to ruin the moment, tom cat.” She mock punched his shoulder.
Chat smirked slightly. “Oh, my apologies, my lady. I didn’t know we were having a moment there. Should I start it up again.” He teasingly leaned closer to her face and she scoffed, bringing up her hands to push his face away.
“Please, you wish.”
Chat Noir simply chuckled and he landed down in front of a shop.
Marinette looked up, blinking her confusion. “The Dupain-Cheng bakery? Why are we here?”
Chat let her down slowly, but kept an arm around her shoulder. “I have some good friends here. They always offered help, so I’m going to need that today.”
The small bell tinkled as they entered the bakery. “Welcome to Tom and Sabine’s bakery and pastry shop, what can I–” Sabine’s voice cut off when her eyes spotted the two. “Chat Noir? Marinette?” Panic slowly started to show on Sabine’s expression.
“It’s okay, Ma– Madame Cheng.” Don’t give yourself away by calling her Mama, Adrien. “There’s an akuma after Marinette at the estate and I need to hide Marinette.”
Sabine came around the counter, her hand seeking Chat’s empty hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her.” Her hand left Chat’s and she offered it to Marinette. “You’ll be safe here.”
Marinette looked up at Chat hesitantly, before looking down at Sabine’s hand.
“You’ll be safe, and I’ll come back to you as soon as I can.” Chat took Marinette’s hand and kissed the back of it gently. “Please, stay here, okay?” Chat lead Marinette’s hand to Sabine, slowly ushering her to join her other world mother.
Marinette took Sabine’s hand and walked to her, a blush evident on her face as she looked back at him. “Be safe Chat.”
Chat nodded, smiling. “No worries, my lady, I’ll be back before you know it.” He took a couple steps back as Sabine took Marinette further into the bakery.
The care in her voice, the worry, made his heart churn.
“We’ve got to make this quick, lover boy. Don’t want to keep your princess waiting.”
Chat Noir stepped out of the bakery, vaulting up to a nearby rooftop. He started to jump across the roofs, back towards his home. “Keep your whiskers on, I’m getting there.”
Chat was a street away from his home when a ball of yarn came flying his way. With a yelp, Chat used his baton to vault in a different direction to avoid collision.
The ball of scarlet yarn fell to the ground, rolling down the semi-occupied streets of Paris, a strange feeling of wanting to chase the ball growing.
“Can you make me stop feline these cat tendencies?” Chat muttered with a shake of his head. Plagg snickered quietly, while Chat turned his attention Mlle. Needle, who was in the street below.
“I finally found that stray string!” She sang, looking up at him and shielding his eyes.
Chat looked down at her, his baton coming down to normal size. “What are you going to do, snip me?”
Mlle. Needle giggled. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Using her needles, she gathered up several more balls of yarn and started to throw them at Chat.
Chat jumped onto another roof, hissing under his breath at the sound of glass breaking. Sparing a quick glance back, he noticed shards of glass falling to the ground. And unfortunately for him, someone was in the way of those shards.
Instincts kicked in and Chat dove down, scooping the person up and leaping out of the way. With a skid, Chat leaned and set the person down, a young male, who gasped slightly.
“C-Chat Noir?” he exclaimed.
Chat momentarily ignored his surprised companion, his eyes scanning the male quickly. “Are you injured anywhere?” He asked.
The boy stood, looking over himself. “No, I’m fine–” His voice stilled as he looked at Chat. “But you, you’re hurt!” He pointed.
Chat blinked, looking down at where he was pointing. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was the magic Plagg had, but he hadn’t noticed the thick shard he had in his left bicep.
“Oh fuck.” Chat sighed. The pain was slowly starting to build and he could hear tiny apologies coming from Plagg.
“I-I don’t think you should pull that out.” The boy commented.
Chat paid no mind, of course, grabbing the shard by its thickest end, that earned a hiss of pain. Taking in a deep breath, he quickly yanked the shard out.
Chat threw the shard to the ground, noticing the red-tinged tip breaking into smaller fragments. His skin was cut and reddened, the blood disappearing into the black latex.
Before Chat could curse his obscenities or Plagg could apologize any more, the sound of ripping fabric caught his attention.
“You’ve got to put pressure on that, dude.”
Chat looked up to see Nino, the boy who Chat saved was hovering behind Nino nervously.
“It’s gonna hurt a bit.” Nino warned, tightening the fabric that stained deep scarlet on his arm.
Chat gave a hiss, something between a growl and a cat-like yowl, that made the other two males flinch.
“Aw look, it the little kitty cat all cut up?” Down the street, Mlle. Needle cooed with a smirk.
Quickly, Chat turned the other boys with him. “Run and hide. Nino, keep Alya as far away as you can.”
Nino nodded, standing and turning to the other boy.
“Nino,” Chat reached out for the other boy’s wrist. “The Dupain-Cheng bakery is a safe house.” Chat spoke quietly and close to Nino.
Nino’s gaze traced over Chat Noir’s. There was something familiar about the so-called villain, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. “Gotcha.” Nino turned on his foot and ushered the other boy to continue walking.
Chat Noir glanced down at the once white, now red strained cloth on his arm. Oh boy, how am I going to get out of this one?
“Would you look at that. You ruined some perfectly good fabric. There’s consequences for ruining such a good piece of material, you know.” Mlle. Needle frowned.
Chat rolled his eyes. “I get the point, really I do.” There was a forced smile on his expression.
Not only did this akuma trash a couple of the halls in his home and caused him bodily injury (which definitely won’t disappear, by the way), but its target was Marinette and nearly hurt civilians. Chat was quickly starting to lose his patience.
Using his baton, his vaulted to a roof of a car and started maneuvering around the streets, towards the park. The least amount of damage can be done at the park.
“Come on, kitty cat, I just want to play.” She sang, arriving at the park gates.
Testing all patience, Chat groaned softly as he stopped in front of the fountain. “Plagg, is there any way I could summon my cataclysm without saying the word?” There was a silence as Chat waited for a response. His ears twitched as he listened to the akuma coming closer.
“If that’s what you want, I’ll make it happen.”
Not a second later, Chat could feel a small tingling in his hand, the destructive magic slowly increasing.
“Does the kitty cat no longer want to play? Are you going to give in my most wanted accessory?” with one of her needles, she poked Chat’s back.
Taking the opportunity, Chat turned and touched the nearest needle, rust quickly traveling up the needle.
With a gasp, Mlle. Needle dropped the needle as it turned to rust, dissolving into dust. “How dare you?” she exclaimed.
Chat jumped back, smiling to himself. “Hasn’t anyone told you that it’s dangerous to play with sharp objects?”
Mlle. Needle’s head snapped up to look at Chat with a glare. “You want to play with sharp objects? Fine.” She started to nod. “Fine, sharp object you will get, you filthy cat.” She held her needle in both of her hands, before snapping it in two.
Chat will admit that he flinched and his jaw dropped slightly. Why would she snap her only weapon into two?
“Be careful."
It was only after Plagg’s warning that Chat realized that the needle was taking on another shape. Scissors.
“Snip, snip, kitty cat.” She opened and closed her scissors to annunciated her words.
“Oh hell.” Chat’s ears flattened to his head and he started to run for it. Over the merry-go-round, through the trees, on top of the lampposts. The merry-go-round didn’t get damaged but several trees were cut in half.
“Didn’t anyone tell you not to run with scissors?” Chat called back.
Mlle. Needle continued chasing him, cutting anything he landed on. “You asked for this. Now, give me your miraculous, before your tail meets it’s end.”
The next snap of the closing scissors was too close for comfort. With a small yelp, he clutched his leather tail between his hands. “Okay, I don’t want to play anymore!”
“What are you going to do, Adrien?” Plagg questioned.
“I don’t know. I’m not usually the brain of these operations!” Chat replied.
“Well, your timer is almost out! You’ve got to do something!”
What was he going to do? Chat Noir was the only person here and there was no other forms of distractions. His transformation could fall at any moment and he had nowhere to hide.
“If only Ladybug was around to help.” Chat sighed under his breath.
“Hey!”
Mlle. Needle’s attention turned to the new source of noise. “Why don’t you pick someone in your own fashion line.”
Chat jumped ahead, to put some space between himself and Mlle. Needle, his ears twitching at the sound of the new voice. He knew that voice. It was a voice he’d been listening to for so long. He turned around to look and his heart hammered in his throat.
“Need a little help, mon chaton?”