11. Chapter 11

A pair of blue and green eyes glowered towards the approaching man then hovered behind him where his two companions stayed. It didn't take much time for the teenagers to know that these strangers were bad news.

"Hi, Missy." the burly man greeted her with a wink. "Fancy meeting you here."

Adrien stepped forward but Marinette beat him first. There's no need for her to see his facial expression to know that he was pissed off with the man, and more when she blocked his way.

"Mari - "

"I didn't expect to receive such...reception from you, Monsieur," she responded to the man with a fake smile while nudging her companion to stop.

Creating another scenario was the last thing she wanted to do there.

However, Adrien didn't get her subtle warnings. She felt his hands stiffed on her shoulders, and when he insistently pushed himself forward, she was left with no choice but to whirl around...

...and tried not to flinch when she saw his green eyes darkened with slit-like pupils that rabidly locked on his prey.

"Why don't you check the counter and inquire for some spare chargers?" she told him, trying not to wince when he bolted her some dagger looks.

"What?!"

"Adrien, we need to charge our phone," she emphasized. "And our friends here want to have a chit-chat. You won't mind, right?"

Of course, he'd mind.

He didn't like those people ogling his friend like hungry wolves, and he would be more than happy to snap each of their bones like chicken drumsticks.

However, his sweet, kind, and thoughtful friend have other ideas, and he didn't like it. The suggestive murmurs from the audience didn't help him either.

Crossing his arms, he hissed "I'm not leaving."

"Who says you're leaving?" she replied warmly but with stoic eyes. "I thought you'll be checking the counter."

He's Chat Noir, damn it, and he was supposed to be on the front lines!

But then, Marinette wasn't Ladybug to know his abilities, thus he was left with no choice but to suck it up.

Adrien walked an earshot away to the counter where a perturbed owner was observing the scene. He did ask him for a charger, but with a hushed inquiry about the catcalling trio.

"What a way to manhandle your boyfriend." one of the men snickered.

"He's just considerate." the designer countered as she mustered herself not to punch his ugly face.

Not that she didn't want to clarify their misconceptions about their relationship; she didn't want to involve Adrien on a possible brawl after she led him away from the danger.

She believed that her classmate was quite capable of protecting himself. She was touched that he actually defended her, but he was outnumbered and the men were twice of his size.

Unlike him, she has an alter-ego who slug giant and feisty Akumas for breakfast.

Which was why these three burly and stinky drunkards were nothing to her, even without the aid of her Miraculous.

Pulling her superheroine's sassy confidence, Marinette asked the leader. "So...what are we talking about?"

"Uh. Oh yeah." he cleared his throat. "My friends and I would like to invite a lady like you for a drink. My treat."

The designer raised her brows, unmoved, and her apathetic gesture made the other follower tapped his leader's shoulder for a whisper. She was a bit impressed that these guys were sober enough to read signs.

"Oh, geez. My bad. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Peter Debre, and these are my buddies Leon and Olivier. I believe you've heard my name."

"I haven't."

Peter clicked his tongue. "Maybe because you're not a local here, that's why. Lucky that you're in the presence of a Councilor's son, Miss Beautiful, whom I doubt has a name."

Her clenched fist that she hid behind her back turned into white as she suppressed her anger, especially with the knowledge that there was a filthy rich brat who would flaunt his parent's political reputations to shame. She almost lost her cool when the said brat grabbed her hand and blew a stinky mouth smell. She stopped him by palming the guy's face with a push before he could plant a kiss.

"I believe beauty." she huffed. "Is in the eye of the beer holder."

Instead of being offended, the trio only laughed like it was a ludicrous joke. When she managed to slip her hand from his grasp, the damned guy was spruced enough to grab it again and became insistent to blow a kiss.

"We should make a beer commercial." he teased. "'Coz it sounds simply intoxicating."

Her jaw slacked with mortification. This lowly drunkard brat just flirted with her with a horrible pick-up line!

Even horrible than Chat Noir's!

Well, Marinette thought for a second, at least her poor kitten was cute and creative enough to invent puns and pick-up lines that doesn't sound boring and repetitive even on insane ears.

Unlike these guys...

The girl smirked devilishly and realized that she could manhandle her second-rate flirter without breaking a sweat.

"Listen up, guys." she began.

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Adrien was still fuming, though unreadable, despite the fact that Marinette handled the troubles in a very civilized manner.

Such scene was a reminder that his clumsy, charming and cute friend was good at dealing with her stuff, but never expected that 'animal taming' was one of her repertoires.

Chat Noir must be wary of his Princess' prowess.

A cold glass was nudged on his knuckle, and when he looked up, he met the pub owner's thin smile.

"It's just a pineapple cocktail. In the house." the owner told the model when he refused the drink then glanced at his companion. "Your girlfriend there knows how to handle her fight, eh?"

Correcting him would be futile, so the boy shrugged the idea. "I might hold her coat when things get bloody."

"Be careful with the bodyguards. They're police officers, and they can arrest anyone here in just a snap."

Adrien fervently gripped the glass then gulped half of the contents before he could slam and shatter it out of anger. The superhero in him considered bad cops and corrupt officials as a disgrace to society, much worse than Papillion who only targeted their Miraculous for certain reasons.

These scums only raised his interest in hearing the sound of their bones being snapped and pulverized by his hand.

"Oh, they're backing out." the owner's hushed words obstructed his evil thoughts.

He was mildly surprised when the tide was turned, unlike the rest who held their breaths anxiously from the time the teens were approached by the three bourgeoisie.

At the corner of his eye, the model noticed how one of the customers near the bar table relaxed when one of the bodyguards stepped back. The pub owner noticed the changes as well and probably felt that the collective tension inside the establishment gradually dispersed. He felt he was safe to assume that property damages were ticked out from the list.

But superheroes knew better.

When Adrien saw a flick on one of the bodyguard's movement, he decided to thank his friend for putting him on the sidelines.

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Marinette felt the shift in the air too as if she tasted the raw emotion there. She prepped herself before Tikki chirped a warning, but never expected that a pair of lean arms would stretch out above her head, and at the same time would pull her back to a familiar, sturdy chest.

"Time's up, Princess."

Her head immediately lashed out, with eyes popped wide open after hearing Adrien's off-handed comment.

If not for the situation, she might've ended up gooey on his endearing nickname, instead of being mad on his interruption.

She was supposed to block the man's arm, but her handsome, perfect and gentleman friend captured it like a sand viper.

"You're sup - "

"Relax, I did my job well - and I'm done with it." the model replied coolly as he twined his free arm on her upper body to dangle their phones.

She grabbed it vehemently.

Adrien averted his eyes from her burning glares. He didn't want her to presume that he was making fun of her heroism despite being a petite girl. He just wants to keep her safe.

His attention was entirely focused on their offenders.

"So the boyfriend's to the rescue, huh?" one of the men smirked.

Marinette groaned. She knew it'd be a pain to explain everything on a short notice.

"Well..." the blond chuckled darkly. "I don't see a problem with it."

Again, if not for the situation, she might've squealed with delight when he decided not to refute their words, instead of face-palming.

She was inclined to believe that their current predicament will become a running gag between their friends.

Her classmate was still clutching Olivier's wrist, and despite having a bigger and more muscular structure, the man couldn't wiggle himself out from the boy's bony grasps.

"Ah. I see." Peter seethed. "A Prince then, rescuing a damsel in distress."

"I'm not a damsel." the designer quipped. "And I'm not distressed."

"I beg to differ." her companion retorted. "Though I'd rather be her Knight with a hidden armor."

The man couldn't take the pain anymore. "Release me at once, you pussy twat! Or I'll knock your pretty face off."

Leon became defensive on behalf of his partner that he threw a punch squarely on Adrien's face. Much to their demise, the boy casually dodged and blocked it by his other hand.

The gaps between two obese, drunk men to a young, athletic and clear-headed boy - minus the fact that he was a cat superhero outside the leather - were unquestionably big.

Of course, the latter has an advantage in terms of power and dominance, and boy did he mind intimidating his enemies with it.

"I'll spare you for using a feline as an insult," Adrien growled. "But try to touch my girl, and I'll crush not only your bones to pieces but also claw your flesh alive. And savor each of your tortured screams until each of you would claim death."

It must be the model's ambidextrous nature that he twisted his assailants' wrists easily without breaking it. This made the bodyguards crouched and silently yelped in pain, and with teary eyes, the two nodded to agree.

If looks could kill, then Adrien's eyes literally possessed them.

Marinette never saw him that mad - or more like, murderous - before. The sight was quite new to her, and for some unknown reasons, she wasn't scared of him at all.

In fact, she was actually scared on behalf of their aggressors.

"Calm down," she warned him. "Don't make a mess here."

The designer knew about drunk's gutter-like minds, but once she was able to control their game, she could easily bend their will.

Which was why she resorted to a civilized talk. And even though it was inevitable to avoid being physical, she preferred to deal with it using her own way.

But when her calm and composed childhood crush jumped into the scene, she was forced to change her tactics.

Grabbing Peter's lapel, Marinette whispered. "I don't mind letting him do those things to you, Monsieur Debre. And I don't mind if I'll do it either. In fact, I'd be more than happy to hear you scream 'Daddy' until you start to believe that your life has been a lie."

The Councilor's son cowered on her menacing words. "Who - who are you?!"

"We're just Parisians who promote love and peace." was her reply.

And that was how the trio saw it - the intensity of her bluebell eyes and the vigilant on his electric green ones.

Dark hair with pigtails. Messy blond hair.

Small, curvy body. Tall, lean body.

French couple outside a mask.

Ladybug and Chat Noir in the flesh.

The teenagers noticed the paleness forming on their faces, with fish-like mouth bobbing and heads thrashing as if they just saw their ancestor's ghost.

Once released, the three stepped back, and without further ado, they swiftly rushed outside with red blood-shot eyes screaming bloody murder.

There was a pin-drop silence inside the pub as they watched Peter and his bodyguards scrambled to their vehicle and left. And when the coast was cleared, a loud cheer immediately erupted.

Adrien and Marinette were confounded then looked at each other with a similar question.

"What the hell?!"