9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ladybug felt eyes on her. The eerie sensation lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.

Standing in the middle of an abandoned street, she scanned the parked cars, sparse trees, and tall buildings, searching for the akumatized man. A flock of birds shot to the sky. Traffic rumbled in the distance.

Reports said he was tall and slender with short dark hair, middle aged, and wore a tan suit with a belt holding numerous gadgets.

He hadn't attacked anyone, just made an announcement that he wanted her Miraculous. It wasn't uncommon, but something about the situation made her pause.

She walked down the street, her footfalls landing softly against the pavement. "Show yourself," she called to the silent presence. "I know you're here."

Nothing stirred, not even a breeze to rustle the trees.

"I thought you wanted my Miraculous?"

The weight of that unknown gaze sharpened to a knifepoint at her back. She spun to face him, now in plain view yards away.

He didn't move. He just stood there, watching her. It sent chills racing up her spine.

"Hawk Moth wants my Miraculous," she stated. "What do you want?"

"To study you." His voice was smooth and dispassionate. "Do you know there are over five thousand different species of ladybugs? But none are as fascinating as you."

"Thanks?"

He began circling her while maintaining his distance. "Two legs instead of six. Though if I count your arms, four. Lean, which is congruent with the time of year. Bright colors mean you're poisonous. But we all know Ladybugs aren't. They're vulnerable insects."

His eyes roamed her form, not lasciviously. She felt more like a specimen pinned to the spot, about to be dissected.

"You do know that I'm not really a ladybug, right?"

He shrugged, as if he didn't care. "Nevertheless, you still make an interesting subject."

He grabbed a small bug-catching net from his belt. It expanded as he swept it down over her and the wide metal rim slapped the street with a heavy thud. Its net fluttered down to drape around her.

What the?

She pushed away the woven cloth and darted to the rim.

"I wouldn't do that," he warned.

Grasping the metal rim, electricity fried every cell in her body. She fell to her bottom, dazed and twitching.

"I can't have you escaping," he said as the rim shrunk.

She scrambled to her feet and jumped as the net closed, sealing her inside. The cloth pressed against her like concrete walls.

"Off to the lab now. Hawk Moth has granted me only a short time to collect my data."

He moved and the net dragged her along with him. She tried pulling apart the ropes, but they only stretched so far before springing back together.

Only one way out of this. She whispered lucky charm, and a pair of red scissors with black polka dots fell into her hands.

After snipping her way out of the net, she started to run—resupplying Tikki with energy was now top priority—but a cloud of noxious fumes drifted over her. Her muscles seized, tight and unresponsive. She fell to the side, toppling over like an imbalanced statue.

Holding a spray can, he knelt over her with pinched dark brows. "You've ruined this net." He clipped the can to his belt and noticed her gaze was on it. "Think of it as an insecticide." At her sudden rapid breath, he laughed. "Don't worry, it won't kill you. A dead specimen is no good." He picked her up and stood. "It's just a temporary paralyzing nerve agent."

He turned and Chat Noir stood before them. "Just take her Miraculous already."

"Not until I've had time to observe her."

Chat extended his staff. "Do as I say."

"Hawk Moth promised."

Jaw ticking, Chat prowled toward them.

"I will not have another project fail," the dark-haired man muttered.

The scientist put her down, thankfully in such a way she could still see them, then pulled out his can and sprayed Chat. But the blond stood his ground and raised his weapon overhead to strike.

"What? That should've worked."

Ladybug noticed Chat held his breath.

The scientist leapt away from the staff and pulled out two small batons that crackled with electricity. "You will find I am no easy prey."

The two fought, and Chat had to duck and dodge each strike. She didn't doubt that one tap would be enough to drop him like a fallen bag of flour. She could practically smell the ozone coming off the weapons.

At first, Chat pressed hard, pushing the scientist back by swinging at his ankles. He worked low to avoid the short reach of the batons. A smart tactic. His green eyes were focused, searching for vulnerabilities. The only time they'd darted toward her was when she'd been in the scientist's arms. His stony expression had been unreadable, leaving her to wonder if he still cared for her at all.

They moved so fast, they were a blur. Black swirled around a tan center, a tornado of deadly intent.

Then the tide turned and Chat had to flip away to nearly avoid a sizzling baton. The instant his feet touched the ground, a canvas net swept over him, sturdier than the one that had been used on her. It obscured his crouched form for a moment before it was sliced to ribbons. Bits of cloth fluttered in the air like confetti.

Vaulting himself over the scientist, Chat landed behind him and jabbed the akumatized man's back with his staff. The scientist twisted as he fell, lashing out with the baton. It struck Chat's arm, immediately making it go limp. He hissed in pain.

Surprisingly though, it didn't stop him. If anything, he fought harder, meaner.

She'd thought he hadn't been holding back with her the last they'd battled, but no. Compared to this new burst of rage, he'd handled her with kid gloves.

What kind of training had he been doing? And who had been training him? Hawk Moth? She'd considered him incapable of fighting since he'd always used others to do his dirty work, but maybe she'd been wrong.

Her earrings beeped in warning. If her Miraculous lost power in this state, she'd be doomed.

She struggled to move, but it was like willing a tree to stand on its roots and dance. Her heart thumped harder. Adrenaline flooded her system, sharpening her senses.

Life seeped into her limbs, just a wiggle of fingers and toes, but she nearly hooted in excitement.

Doing her best to not get distracted by the fight, she willed her muscles to engage. Some twitched. Her earrings beeped again, sending another spike of adrenaline to crash through her.

Come on, Tikki urged. Move.

Her ankles flexed, then her knees. She pulled her legs in, though they felt only partially attached. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated.

Glancing at the ongoing fight to make sure they wouldn't notice her getting up, she forced her arms to cooperate and pushed herself to her hands and knees. It was frustratingly slow, but she grit her teeth and didn't let up, even as her earrings beeped again.

Only a couple left.

Get up!

She stood, wobbling ever so slightly. It felt good to be on her feet. Now, she just had to walk without tumbling over like a drunkard.

With one last look at the fight, she made her way across the street and to the edge of a building. By the time she rounded the corner, the last beep sounded and her red suit vanished.

Tikki fell into her hands and Marinette quickly opened her purse to feed the kwami.

"That was close," Tikki said around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie.

"Way too close," she agreed. "You ready?"

The kwami nodded and was quickly sucked back into the earrings.

"Lucky charm." She caught a giant roll of paper. Flypaper, the label said.

Her lips spread into a grin. "Nice. As to the akuma, I think it's in the belt since all of his gadgets have been used and discarded."

Except the batons, Tikki added.

She peeked around the corner and glanced at the men still fighting. "With the way he's swinging it around, I don't think it's in one of them."

Only one way to find out.

Okay then. She drew herself up and dashed around the building, unrolled the paper with a quick flick of her hands, and draped it over the ground. A strip of grass and flowers separating the street from the sidewalk hid the sticky paper from their line of sight.

Gripping her yo-yo, she stood behind it and cleared her throat. They didn't hear her. "Excuse me," she called.

They stopped mid-swing and looked at her.

"While this is thrilling, I'm getting kinda tired. So if we could wrap this up." Oh boy, she was getting as bad as the old Chat.

Abandoning the fight, they rushed to her in what seemed to be a race between the two. They jumped over the strip of flowers and landed on the flypaper.

Feet stuck, the scientist fell forward to his hands, his batons, a foot in front of him, were equally ensnared. Chat landed, wobbled, but caught his balance before he fell. He tried lifting his boots, but they wouldn't budge.

Avoiding the menacing black cat glaring daggers at her, she walked to a tree and snapped off a small branch to break the baton. When nothing happened, she pulled his belt off. One quick swipe to the sidewalk and a black butterfly tried to flap away. She caught it in her yo-yo, but didn't de-evilize it.

"What are you waiting for?" Chat asked.

"If you think I'm going to let this flypaper vanish while I'm still standing here, then you don't know me at all."

"So you are hiding from me."

She stepped to him. "No, Chat. I'm giving you more time."

"I'm not going to change my mind."

"Why? What did I do wrong? Why do you hate me?"

His mouth went slack and his emerald eyes softened. "I don't. I just need your Miraculous."

She turned on her heel, grumbling, "Then maybe I should take yours." At least that way, he wouldn't get himself into anymore trouble.

"What? No. You can't."

Surprised by the sudden panic in his voice, she looked at him over her shoulder. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Just promise me you won't."

"No." She spun to face him. "No promises unless you finally explain everything."

He glared at her, his jaw clenching. "I am the only one keeping you and Paris safe!" His chest heaved as if it had taken everything in him to utter those words.

Sirens blared as she blinked at him. Keeping her safe? Keeping her safe? Anger burned through her like a wildfire. "What are you talking about? You've been fighting me and terrorizing the city. The only person you're keeping safe is Hawk Moth."

"You don't know anything!"

"Because you tell me nothing!" Her muscles trembled, and she made herself back away from him. One more step forward and she would've been on the flypaper too.

His nostrils flared and he ripped his gaze off her to stare at nothing. "Just go. De-evilize the akuma before the police get here."

"I should let them arrest you first."

"You'd regret that."

"Is that a threat?" she asked, her heart in a vice.

He sighed. "Not from me, it isn't."

She almost asked the same question she'd given voice to a hundred times now. Why? But she ground her teeth and turned around before he caught the tears welling in her eyes. "I don't think I know you anymore. And I certainly can't trust what you say."

She threw her yo-yo and swung away with tears, cool in the breeze, sliding down her flushed cheeks.

AN - Merry Christmas! I made sure to get this written in time as a present for you. And if you don't do Christmas, then it's a thanks-for-reading chapter. :)

The support from everyone in this fandom is amazing and, honestly, touching. It really does encourage me to write as much as I can and post more often, which I'll be able to start doing soon. Yay! Thank you so much for leaving reviews and favoriting and following.

My gratitude also goes to my sister. She reads the chapters aloud to me so I can hear if she stumbles over a confusing sentence or pauses because something I'd written pulled her out of the story. Plus, I get to hear when she chuckles, aww's at the cute parts, and sighs in sadness or joy. It's really helpful and I appreciate the time and effort!

Update: edited!