Chat paced around Marinette's room. The bluenette had fallen asleep from exhaustion due to her crying. And that pissed Chat off. Not because she was asleep, but because the brutality of what Chloe had done was affecting her very much.
He snarled to himself. Right then he wanted to go out into the streets of Paris and find some unsuspecting moron and disembowel him and maybe make the person eat their ears if their esophagus was still functiona-
He smacked his forehead.
He had been doing so well. He hadn't attacked anyone this week and now the craving was kicking in.
He pursed his lips.
There was a deal made.
Marinette turned and flung her arm off the bed. Chat sighed. She was too innocent and warm-hearted to fend against someone like Chloe, he slinked up to her bed and sat down to play with her hair absentmindedly.
He had planned to go through with part two of his plan to expose Chloe on live television, but with the recent developments, he needed to be a lot more cautious.
Marinette shifted and her face turned so that her cheek lay on Chat's palm. He watched her with furrowed brows.
What he was doing was certainly not safe, not for Plagg, not for Marinette, and not for him.
But something needed to be done.
And it needed to be done immediately.
He leaned forward and nuzzled Marinette's hair before giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead and extracting his hand.
Quietly, he exited her room and walked cautiously to the kitchen. Once there, he looked around with a frown. What an absolute cat-astrophe.
He groaned. This was not the time for making puns.
This was the time for cleaning, then plotting. His eyes trailed the lines of blood along the walls. It was beginning to stink.
He blinked a few times before stepping further into the kitchen.
It seemed that Chloe was unaware that he could be quite sadistic when he wanted to be as well. She wasn't the only psychopath in Paris, and she was most certainly not the worst. If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that everyone had that one breaking factor.
That little weak-point.
It usually came in the form of something unexpected, and Chat knew that Chloe had one too.
Perhaps it came in the form of a blonde, green-eyed model.
He had a basic outline of what he had to do, but it required a whole lot of work, excellent editing, and a script.
Yes, a script would most definitely be mandatory.
He stepped towards the counter, almost tentatively, and looked at the kitten heads. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced around at the walls once more, disgusted at how she had killed them and then further humiliated them by skewering their eyes. He closed his own eyes.
It would only be right if they had a proper burial, but first, they needed retribution. He looked at the blood once again, a vivid plan forming in his mind.
It would probably be the most reckless thing that he had ever done in his entire life.
And Marinette would never let him hear the end of it.
But this would be over soon.
He cricked his neck.
"My turn."
*******************************
*******************************
Chat looks at the mini-fridge in his room one last time.
"Plagg, detransform me."
Plagg zipped out of the ring.
"Oh no, hell no." He says as soon as he comes out,
Adrien looks at him innocently.
"Don't give me that innocent kitten look. I can see right through those green eyes."
Adrien smiles sheepishly.
"Well nobody is going to get hurt this time. I promise." he says.
Plagg narrows his brows.
"Let me guess. This is one of those, back away and nobody gets hurt schemes, right?"
"Weeeeeellll, something like that…"
Plagg stares at Adrien.
"What are you hiding?"
"I thought you could see right through these green eyes." Adrien snickers and Plagg reaches out to smack him upside the head.
Adrien pouts. "It's nothing major Plagg."
Plagg flops down onto Adrien's pillow with a groan.
"Kid, what am I going to do with you?" He says.
Adrien sits on the bed and cuddles with his mini-Marinette, it calmed him.
"Today's mission will probably take a lot of your energy, so you should probably get some cheese and then rest."
Plagg perks up at the mention of cheese.
Adrien hands him a wheel and steps away from the bed, his mind beginning to plan for the script for later.
"Adrien…What are you planning?" Plagg asks again. Adrien snaps out of his daze and looks into Plagg's eyes.
"Nothing bad, Plagg, honestly, I'm serious when I say that."
Plagg tilts his head.
"Being serious is not the same as being responsible." He says.
"Being responsible doesn't always ensure results."
Plagg looked at his cheese. He had to admit, the kid had a point.
He himself was doing the same thing, wasn't he?
Wasn't he being irresponsible by giving Chat freedom? Honestly, he was the most irresponsible Kwami ever.
"I guess so…Nice touch with the Angelicas, white Dittanies, Gardenias, Jasmines, Blue Violets, and tulips." he finds himself saying.
Adrien's face turns red. "They're just flowers…"
"Just flowers? Well, some of my kittens have been horticulturists and lovers of symbolism so I know those types aren't 'just' flowers."
Adrien groans.
"I noticed you didn't get anything red."
"I don't think she's going to like the color red ever again."
"He hee, ohhh I wouldn't bet on that if I were you." Plagg says more to himself with a small smirk.
"What was that?"
"Oh, I was just saying she's going to reeeeeeally hate black and red, yuppp."
Adrien rubs his cheek.
"I'm going to do something very weird today."
"And that is?"
"I'm going to kidnap Adrien Agreste."
************************************
************************************
Marinette woke up with a massive headache. Her eyes hurt a whole lot and she didn't know why…
Oh wait, she did.
She sat up in alarm. Someone was after her. It was still dark outside. She looked to her right and noticed a bottle of water, a few painkillers, and an elegantly written note. She tilted her head, reaching her hand out to the note first.
'Goodmorning Princess
I trust that you know what the medication is for. Please take it. Drink all the water. Today I'm going to do something...A live broadcast, now before you start freaking out, don't worry, I'm not actually going to hurt anyone…But it may be slightly traumatic. I promise to explain everything afterward, okay? Just when you see it, don't panic…
Now go eat some breakfast (heat it up) and have a brilliant Saturday, see you soon.
Claws out
P.s ., if you think it tastes disgusting, spit it out, okay?
C.N
Marinette's lips curled into an absentminded smile before she realised that he was doing another broadcast today.
He asked her not to panic or freak out. What was that cat planning?
She took a deep breath.
Chat wouldn't lie to her, so if he said nobody would be getting hurt then nobody would be getting hurt.
Her head gave an uncomfortable throb. She winced and reached out for the tablets, popped them and downed the rest of her water.
She slowly climbed down her stairs and went to go check on her favorite bird.
Berry chirped a bit.
"Goodmorning, Cuteness, looks like the alley cat made breakfast, wanna check it out?" She cooed to the little bird who now had a few feathers.
He chirped and she smiled, reaching down and scooping him up.
Ten minutes later, after washing up and feeding Berry, she stood on the threshold of her kitchen. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of last night's events and images flashed in her mind.
She took a deep breath. She doubted that Chat cleaned it up. There was much too much, and from what she knew about the model, he had people at his beck and call, he probably never had to clean in his life.
She sniffed and took a deep breath. She could do this. Her eyes screwed shut as she got ready to move.
She boldly stepped into the kitchen and slowly opened her eyes, but they were not met with what she expected. Her mouth dropped open a little as she took in the spotless kitchen and the multiple bouquets of flowers. Berry looked around quietly.
The kitchen smelled fresh and floral, and the flowers made everything so beautiful.
Oh, she was such an idiot. Of course Chat wouldn't leave her alone to face all of that. She smiled, touching the flowers, she hadn't seen some of them in Paris before, did he fly them in or something?
He was the sweetest.
She looked at the island and noticed a plate covered with foil. She uncovered it and grinned at the huge stack of pancakes, each looked perfectly golden.
Next to the plate was a little jug of syrup, a smaller plate, a knife and fork with a little napkin. She looked around the kitchen only to see a note on the fridge, written in bold saying: OPEN THE FRIDGE…AND THE MICROWAVE.
She giggled, walking up to the fridge, she opened it and found a jug of what seemed to be a berry smoothie, and next to it was an empty glass with a sugar dipped rim. She laughed, okay, he was good with presentation, he deserved praise for that.
She took them out, placed them down on the island, grinned broadly and walked up to the microwave. She opened it and peaked inside.
She couldn't contain her laughter and Berry tilted his head too as they took in the dozen of off-shaped croissants with a note stuck on the inner door of the microwave saying: I tried and failed miserably.
A sad kitty face was drawn.
Marinette ran her hand through her hair.
"Oh Chat , you absolute weirdo." She said fondly, before beginning to laugh again.
**********************************
**********************************
Adrien yawns, he hadn't slept last night and everything hurt, but his script is finally done.
It's only 9 so he could perhaps sleep till two and broadcast at 6.
That would really help.
Plagg looks up from his twelfth wheel of Camembert.
"You look terrible." He says.
"Gee, thanks Plagg."
"No seriously kid, are you coming down with something?"
"I don't think so…"
"Your eyes look a bit red." Plagg says.
"Yours look a bit too green." Adrien says, rolling his eyes.
"And your skin looks all yucky and pasty."
"And you have some camembert stuck to your fur…"
"And you're shivering."
"Am not."
"Are too."
Adrien groans and stands up, a little shakily.
"Doesn't matter, I have things to do.Plagg, transform me."
Plagg squeaks as he gets sucked into the ring.
Adrien instantly feels a bit better. He stretches and looks out into the streets. It's a dull day. He grins and jumps out of the window and begins to make his way towards the News station.
Once there he throws the doors open. All eyes fall on him, and fear becomes etched on everyone's faces. Chat Noir had not attacked anyone recently, and now Paris was on high alert. They knew it was only a matter of time before he did.
He smiles as cynically as ever, sauntering in.
"Good morning." He says to a man holding a stack of pages. The man steps back and trembles uncontrollably.
Everyone tries to get away from him as he walks to the broadcasting section.
"I need a camera. And a good one at that. Something I can…Record with."
His eyes flicker around as the camera crew scramble around trying to find something.
A scrawny looking boy shakily hands him a camera.
"These two a-a-are the b-b-best, sir."
"It better be, or I'll be having skinny stutterer for dinner." The boy looks ready to faint.
Chat looks around for the Make-up room.
"Alright, everyone face the wall. Move."
Nobody wastes any time, and within seconds everyone is at the wall.
"All eyes closed. If I see anyone's eyes open, I will claw them out, don't test me."
And nobody did.
He slinks towards the make-up section, finding an assortment of items. He selects several and walks away.
"See you soon." He says as he walks out.
Once out of the station, he returns the items to his room.
Dead Cat heads and their blood, Check.
Materials, Check.
Gag, Check.
Script, Check.
Camera, Check.
Secretly Stolen Medical Records of Chloe Bourgeois, double Check.
So now he just needs to check his old secret hideaway and also steal some very interesting preserved specimens.
Hideaway first. He grabs his mini-Marinette. He found that things were better when he had his lucky charm, or a miniature version of her, he would place mini-Marinette in his hideaway so it would be less lonely after he got back later…
Chat jumps out of his window again, about to dash off when he's hit with a spur of dizziness.
He holds his head. "Urgh." He says, staggering into a wall. He crouches down in the shadows for a moment. He doesn't feel good at all.
It could be because he'd forgotten to eat anything today, and yesterday, and the day before. It could be because he hadn't slept last night and the night before that. It could also be because he knows he's about to do something that could potentially ruin him forever.
But in the moment, he doesn't understand what was happening, he just knows that he was about to faint. He tries to calm himself down, but a wave of nausea hits him.
"Dude are you…"Someone starts. His head shoots up and he sees a guy with glasses and a cap.
The man's eyes widen.
"Oh shit." He says, realizing he's in an alley with Chat Noir.
Chat hisses and tries to stand but he falls over.
The man's eyes widen even further.
He takes a step back but stops.
Chat looks up at him from the ground.
This was not good. He was seeing two of this guy now. He squints and recognizes the man as a friend of Marinette.
"Marinette." The man says.
Chats eyes suddenly meet the Man's eyes.
He follows the man's line of vision to the little doll in his hand.
"Shit." He cusses, holding the doll tighter.
The man stares at Chat.
"She…She said she gave it to a friend." He says, looking at the doll, his eyes calculating, suddenly his eyes widen in realization.
Chat pulls out his baton.
"I don't know who or what you're talking about."
The man stares at him. His face looks like a mix between courageous and frightened.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng. This high. Half-French, half-Asian. Got saved by Chat Noir according to Sabrina's father from a rapist who got into her home. Designer, who mysteriously gets sick for a week the day that Chat Noir carries a bleeding girl out of the Fashion exhibition, the girl who can't properly explain how she got home that night of the exhibition. The girl who spent days sewing THAT plush that you're holding in your hand claiming it was for a new friend of hers and has recently become infatuated with doodling black cats in her sketch pad."
Chat extends his baton into Nino's chest, trapping him on the alley wall.
"What are you getting at, four eyes?"
Nino stares at him.
Chat steps closer.
"Firstly, I don't know the hell you think you are, questioning me like you're some kind of hero. Secondly, I found this outside the Bakery, and third-"
"You're lying."
Chat is taken aback.
"Did I say you can talk?" He hisses.
"You have a blue-violet in your hair. Marinette updated her Profile picture to a picture of blue-violets in a vase in her room. Marinette doesn't buy flowers because she thinks they're too expensive-"
"-Will you stop talking about this girl? I don't know what you're talking about." Chat says through gritted teeth. He hastily removes the flower petals that had somehow gotten into his hair. On a normal day, he could get out of this slickly with an elaborate lie, but he's much too dizzy to think.
He steps away from the man who is definitely his age.
"Run away. This will be the last time I'll let someone get away Scott-free." He says, knowing he's in no condition to fight.
"You're about to faint."
"I said run-away you imbecile, what part of 'run' and 'away' don't you get?" Chat hisses through his teeth, clinging to his staff, using it as support.
The man looks at him, seemingly having an internal debate.
"Just answer me. Did you save Marinette? Did you destroy Chloe's hotel because Chloe and those men were all in on her attack? Are you doing these broadcasts to get revenge for Netty?"
Chat's nose twitched at hearing Marinette being called Netty.
"How dare you generalize her by calling her Netty." He growls out.
The man's mouth drops open realizing that Chat didn't deny a thing.
"I'm sorry, but I may have to dispose of you, you're much too insightful for your own good." Chat says, mustering up all his energy.
"Wait. There's no way she would let you do that to me." Nino says in horror.
"Who would tell her? Corpses don't talk." Chat says lowly.
"So it is her!" The young man exclaims.
Chat realizes his mistake. His mouth let him down. What was he supposed to do? He knows he made a promise to Marinette but he can't let their secret get out either. He's not ready to share it yet. He wants Marinette and their secret all for himself.
Another wave of nausea hit him.
"Are they still after her? Are you protecting her every day? Is that why she doesn't go out with us anymore?"
Chat screws his eyes shut.
This person wouldn't shut up.
"Urm, Chat Noir, sir, you look like you're about to throw up."
Chat takes a deep breath. He's getting nowhere.
Suddenly his heart lurches as he realizes he's detransforming.
The young man's eyes widen and his mouth drops open as Plagg falls to the ground, limp.
Adrien looks at Plagg and his detransformed body in horror.
He feels much less nauseous though.
"Plagg? PLAGG?" Plagg looked almost dead.
"Stupid kid, I told you that you were sick, you're anemic. AND your blood-pressure was deadly low, like fatally low. I'm sorry, I had to give you my energy so you wouldn't die, and now I feel like I have none. This was the first time I've had to do this in twelve centuries…He won't tell. I wouldn't have dropped it if I wasn't certain. He's going to be getting a kwami too eventually." Adrien looks at Plagg apologetically and pulls out the emergency camembert.
He still felt dizzy and nauseous, but he didn't feel like he would faint.
"Adrien Agreste….Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir?!"He shrieks.
Adrien tenses and looks at the man.
"Now you definitely know too much." He mutters.
The young man no longer looks afraid; instead he rushes up to Adrien and supports him.
"Whoa dude, you're like France's sweetheart, I would never have guessed-"
"You can't tell anyone." Adrien says in a panicked way.
The young man looks at him.
"You want me to withhold information that can potentially make Paris a safer place?" He asks flatly.
"You don't understand." Adrien says, trying to get away.
"We need to get you to a hospital."
"Get away from me, I know what I'm doing." He hisses, stumbling against the wall. Never has he ever felt this pathetic in his entire life. He feels so vulnerable; totally at this man's mercy. And that's saying something because he was facing off someone like Chloe.
"I won't tell anyone because you're doing all of this for Net-"
"Her name is MARI-nette."He grits out. "And yes, I am doing this for Marinette, and you won't understand but there's a crazy thing trying to end her and I need to destroy that thing first, I have enough to do so please just go."
He hates that he's pleading, but he can't do anything else.
The young man frowns.
"Do you know who the person after Marinette is?"
Adrien looks away and gives a jerky nod.
"Then I'll help you."
Adrien's eyes turn sharply to the man.
"She will kill me, and then she'll strangle you."
"If it's for her protection then I'm willing to die for the cause. The only thing needed for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing."
"What the hell is wrong with you people? Are you all this reckless, first her ,now you?"Adrien narrows his eyes.
The young man scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh, it gets better, you should meet my girlfriend, Alya."
"The redhead with glasses?"
"That's her! How'd you know?"
"She was out during crime time so I was going to attack her, then Marinette hit me with a pan, and broke my nose. So I met Marinette through her, technically."
"You tried to attack Alya?"
Adrien sighs.
"In my defense she looked at me, in the eyes."
"I think that's where people generally look…"The man says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I tell her time and time again not to go out after five and she just doesn't ever listen to me." He says.
"I would go out after five too if it was to see Marinette." Adrien shrugs.
"You're you dude, you look hot for a living and attack people for fun."
"It's not for fun. It's a very stimulating activity."
The man shivers.
"What do you mean by stimulating?"
Adrien's eyes widen.
"Not that kind of stimulating!"
"You said it weirdly!"
"My God, NO! I attack men, I barely do more than scratch women!"
"You could be bisexual!"
"NO! Urgh, just stop." Adrien says, mortified.
Nino picks him up again.
"Dude are you even eating, how is it that you look fit but you're this light?"
"That's personal."
"I know you're Chat Noir, I think we've passed the level of getting too personal."
Adrien tenses.
"I can't walk around like this. I have to be Chat Noir."
"Why?"
"Because I have a plan to carry out and I can't let it be ruined by having this persona being seen walking around."
"Well, where are you trying to go?"
"That's also personal."
"Are all the Agreste family members like this?"
Adrien sighs, "No, they're much worse."
Plagg burps.
"Done kid."
"Perfect. Plagg, transform me."
In a flash of green he's Chat Noir.
Chat slams the man on the wall.
"Looks like I have to take you hostage."
The man looks stunned. "But I won't tell!"
"I don't trust you."
"Then trust Marinette. She trusts me. Would I ever do something that would hurt her or break her trust?"
"Friends hurt each other all the time."
"I won't jeopardize our friendship by betraying someone she cares about."
"Lies."
"I'm not lying! And I do really want to help you!"
"And after that's done, then what? You'd have no reason to hide my identity anymore. I plan to always be this way. I'm not becoming a hero anytime soon. So what reason would you have to harbor information about a criminal?"
"The fact that Marinette trusts you. For some reason she does. And if she trusts you and has been hiding what she knows about you then it must mean there's something redeeming about you. I trust her judgment completely."
"Words mean nothing."
"I know that, but I swear I won't do it, not unless she tells me to."
"And what if she does want to?"
"She would never betray you like that. And I doubt she knows who you are."
"Why is that?"
"If she did she'd make an extra effort to see you as much as possible in civilian form, she doesn't leave the bakery, and you are out all day every day."
"That's a very dumb reasoning."
"But it's the truth."
Chat grits his teeth.
What was he supposed to do now?
"I don't have time for this." He hisses.
"Then let's go do what you needed to do."
"We? There is no we."
"Dude, you still look sick, and the next person who sees who you really are may actually turn you in. I can help you."
"She wouldn't want me to get you involved."
"She'll never know, I promise."
Chat purses his lips. He's so conflicted.
But he has no other choice than to go with it. What's done is done.
He slowly backs away from the man who rubs his chest, on the place where Chat had slammed him.
"You're really strong." He says to Chat.
Chat just looks at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Jeez, dude, does the cat have your tongue now?" The man chuckles.
Chat smacks his forehead.
"I'm Nino by the way. Nino Lahiffe."He holds out his hand for Chat to shake.
Chat looks at it and back up to Nino's eyes.
Slowly he reaches out his hand to shake Nino's.
"Pleasure to be your accomplice." Nino says with a friendly grin. Chat blinks, okay, this guy was funny, he had to admit.
"Likewise." He says.
"So what are we going to be doing?"
"I was going to check my secret hideaway, but now I'm behind schedule."
"Okay, so how can I help?"
"You can't hel…"He stops, remembering something Marinette had said about Nino.
He was studying movie making, and he was apparently really good at movie make-up and editing…
"Actually I think you can."
*****
"And that's a wrap." Nino unties Adrien.
"Thank you." Adrien says, rubbing his wrists.
"Now tell me, wasn't it a good idea to trust me?" Nino grins.
Adrien rolls his eyes. "I didn't say I trusted you."
"Come on, not even a little?"
"Not at all." Adrien says. He has hardly any energy to argue.
"I think you should eat something." Nino says.
"Later. I only have a few short hours left."
"You were talking about checking out your secret hideout. What's that about?"
"Well if I'm going to be missing, I can't just live in my own house."
"Why not live here?"
Adrien looks at him warily.
"What?" He asks in confusion.
"Stay here. I mean I live alone here. I can help with all your broadcasts. Nobody ever comes here, Alya's mum said no to Alya visiting me at my place, the guys don't ever go to each others homes, and this place is very far from your mansion. It's perfect."
"I feel like you just want to have me grounded so you can turn me in."
Nino snorts.
"Even if I did, we all are perfectly aware that you can take out at least 50 skilled officers in a matter of thirty seconds, how many times have we seen you do that already?"
Adrien purses his lips.
"Something really is wrong with you bunch."
"What do you mean?"
"You speak to me as if you've known me for years and have not seen the things I've done."
Nino rubs his camera.
"Who you are is not what you did." he says earnestly, a small gentle smile forms on his face.
He looks up at Adrien.
Adrien frowns.
"I could kill you , you know."
"You could. But something tells me you won't."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. It's like I know you could rip me to shreds. But something inside me says we should be friends."
"I don't like friends."
"You like Marinette."
Adrien opens his mouth to retort but Plagg flies out of his shirt.
"He doesn't just like her, he loooooooves her!"
Nino who had not seen Plagg earlier screeches at the sight of Plagg.
"Plagg!"
"What is that?!"
"My Kwami-"
"his Kwami-"
"What?"
"Huh?"
"You sound stupid-"
"Eff-sakes! The floating cat is talking!"
"Floating cat? I'm a God!"
"Of what, stinky cheese and my mini-fridge?"
"Stupid kid!"
"Plagg get out of my hair!"
"Why is its head so big!?"
"Why, you jealous that its bigger than yours?"
"PLAGG!I told you to stop watching TV!"
"Is he watching Pornog-"
"NO HE IS NOT!"
"Ohhhhhh is that what it's called?"
"Everyone shut up!" Adrien says.
Plagg and Nino look at Adrien.
"Geez kid do you wanna alert the entire city to your presence?"
Adrien's temples throb again.
"I still have a few more things to do." Adrien says rubbing his temples.
"You still haven't eaten anything at all kid."
"Yeah you should eat something-"
"I will,I will but I can't eat knowing things haven't been done. I will eat afterwards Plagg,I promise." Adrien says.
"Dude that's not healthy." Nino says with a frown, crossing his arms.
Adrien rolls his eyes. "I know what I'm doing."
Nino stares at Adrien.
Adrien rubs his temples.
"I'm going to check my hideout."
"Bro, stay here, think about it, it will be a lot easier than having to go steal food or other things you need all the time."
"I can just buy them as Chat Noir." Adrien says.
"Kid, you know I want you to be alright but I can't keep holding your transformations for more than 12 hours, it's exhausting." Plagg reasons.
"Holding his transformation?" Nino says in confusion.
"You'll understand eventually." Plagg says, waving a flipper.
"I don't like imposing."
"You aren't. It's super dead here anyway and it would be awesome to have someone to play video games with."
Adrien frowns. This was becoming uncomfortable. The last friend before Marinette also seemed nice. And she ended up being a monster. How is he supposed to trust this Nino fellow? Sure he seems cool, and is like Marinette's brother, but he doesn't know if he can trust him enough to live with him.
Nino seems to pick up on Adrien's internal war.
"If you stay, I'll tell you all about Marinette."
Adrien freezes.
That was certainly a tempting offer.
"Come on loverboy."Plagg says.
"Why are you encouraging this Plagg? You said nobody should ever know about you."
"As I said, he will eventually be a miraculous wielder. I trust him completely. And by now, you should trust my judgement."
Adrien blinks at Plagg's sudden serious demeanor.
He looks back at Nino who stares at Plagg, trying to figure out what Plagg meant.
"I…"Adrien feels conflicted.
Plagg stares into his eyes.
"Trust me."He says.
Adrien blinks and sighs.
"Alright then… I guess."He says eventually.
"Alright! Welcome to the condo!"
"Can you at least pretend to be scared of me?" Adrien groans.
"Urmmm…Oh no! Chat Noir, I'm so scared, welcome to my condo!" Nino says.
Adrien groans again.
"Anyway, let me go edit this, tweak it a bit,we'll shoot the scene for Marinette soon,and after you can go wash that blood off your face, if you need to leave or enter, you can do it through the trapdoor on the roof, the layout of the apartment is exactly like Marinette's, except I have a mini studio and she has a bakery."
Adrien nods,Nino uploads the video onto his computer, before coming back to record Adrien.
Afterwards Adrien gets ready to tie up loose ends.
"Plagg, transform me."
In a flash he's Chat Noir.
"Whoaaaa!"
"I'm still thinking about killing you."
"Oh, I mean, Ahhhhhhh I'm so scared, Chat Noir is transforming in my house!" Nino says, throwing himself on a wall.
Adrien suddenly laughs, but upon realising what he's doing, he coughs and straightens up.
"I'll be back in half an hour."
"Great, I'll make pizza."
"I don't eat pizza."
"Well Adrien Agreste isn't going to be modeling for a while, I'm pretty sure he can cheat on his diet."Nino winks.
Adrien blinks at Nino, stares for a while, picks up a camera,the medical folder and then takes off.
He's still weak, but Plagg is sharing energy with him, so he feels okay.
Somehow it was 15:00.
So much for having a nap.
He just has a few additional things to do…And then he can rest, and eat, and maybe stare at Marinette if he has enough energy.
It's fairly easy getting into the Specimen Laboratory. The place is almost deserted and smells strongly of chemical and Formalin. He wanders through a series of hallways, and comes upon one that houses vaults: private vaults containing preserved specimens.
People who didn't want their preserved specimens mixed with other ones generally got a vault, from what he knew, the Bourgeois Specimen Research and Storage Laboratory was the only Lab that did something like that.
He stares at the twelve vault doors.
One of them belongs to Chloe…
But which one?
He would have to open all.
He knew his baton had the ability to open vaults, he would just have to swipe the paw-print in front of the eye scanner.
He walks up to the first vault, swipes, watches a tiny red light turn green and let the door open.
It is a dark room, eerie looking. After a few moments, he comes across several bottles on shelves, containing animal body parts.
He crinkles his nose.
Okay so it isn't vault one. He checks the others.
Vault two contains organs.
Vault three contains what he assumes to be umbilical cords.
By the time he gets to vault four he doesn't feel so good.
He shakes his head.
"Come on Agreste, you're supposed to be a doctor, pull yourself together." He says.
After a deep breath, he swipes into vault four.
It's as eerie looking as the first, and it's quite dark. There are many shelves with large bottles on them. Expensive looking bottles, with intricate designs.
He steps into the vault. He has a bad feeling about being in here, and every inch of his being tells him to turn around and run.
But he keeps walking.
He picks up a bottle and freezes upon seeing the contents, and the label.
His eyes widen.
The label reads A.A Jr.,13 weeks.
He puts the bottle down and hastily steps back.
Clearly, it's not far back enough as he sees the multiple bottles on the shelf all saying similar things, all with the same content.
He spins around realizing just how many bottles of them there are.
Around 20.
He feels his blood run cold, and he begins to panic.
She aborted all of them.
There were so many. How was it possible to have this many?
From what he knew, there was no limit to the number of abortions a woman could have in her lifetime, and if done in a safe, sterile environment there would be very few implications for the woman's health if not considering possible sterility, but seeing this made him frightened.
Very frightened.
He backs away and his back makes contact with a wall. He tries to control his breathing.
He knew it would be stupid to cry over children than weren't even alive, but to him, these were his children that could have been alive, regardless of whether or not their mother was a molester. They didn't ask to be created.
He shuts his eyes and tries to calm down.
How could he let this happen? He knew she wouldn't allow contraception, why didn't he get a vasectomy?
He knew the answer.
He wanted to be able to grow up and someday still have his own family.
He grits his teeth.
But these were all his. He was so selfish.
He slides down the wall.
"Not now. Not Now. Not now." He groans as he begins to have an anxiety attack.
"NO!" He says, forcing himself up and willing his hands to stop their trembling.
He would not let her win.
She was the monster. Not him.
He dashed away the tears in his eyes and the cold sweat on his skin.
He walked towards the shelves, turning to bottles so that the labels faced the opposite directions.
He takes a deep breath, and hits record.
*******************************************
Chat jumps through his window.
Everything is ready. The final step lay in walking out of his home as himself. He detransforms.
"Are you sure about this, kid?" Plagg asks, a little anxious.
Adrien nods.
"Are you okay after seeing…"Plagg trails off.
"I'm alright."
Plagg gulps and goes back into Adrien's shirt.
"You said you'd eat when everything's done."
"Yes, but everything's not done."
"Adrien…"
"I will Plagg, I promise."
He ushers Plagg back into his pocket and exits his room.
"Young Master, Good Afternoon."
"Good Afternoon." He nods to one of the cleaning staff.
He walks throughout the house, making sure he's seen by everyone.
He enters the kitchens.
"Young Master! Are you hungry? You haven't touched any of the meals we've sent up to your room." The head chef says
"I'm fine, I've just been eating out with a friend. Speaking of which, I'm going out now."
"But Sir, it's crime time!"
"I'll be fine. Just let everyone know I'm out so if I'm not back by six, you can be worried." The chef nods frantically and runs to his intercom and starts passing the message throughout the mansion.
Adrien walks out of the mansion, ensuring he's seen leaving and once away from the mansion, he transforms and makes his way to Nino's place. As soon as he touches Nino's bed, he flops down and cuddles with his Marinette plush.
Nino looks up from the large bag of materials Chat had previously brought.
"Dude, this bag smells terrible."
"It should." Chat says with a yawn.
"Why?"
"You'll see."
Nino huffs. "I'm done with the video."
"Mmm."
"Adrien?"
"Mm."
"Are you sleeping?"
"Mm."
"Like now?"
"Mmm."
"Okay, so I wake you up at six?"
"Mm."
"Okay…You still haven't eaten. Can I make you something to drink for when you wake up?"
"Plagg, detransform me."
He detransforms.
"Please feed him."
"Yes, please feed me." Plagg says, flying up and latching onto Nino's face.
Nino blinks and cross-eyes onto Plagg.
"Sure.Also, I'm going to make you an apple and cranberry smoothie okay?"
Adrien yawns into the pillow.
"Marinette's friends are nice." He says to himself sleepily as he drifts off.
"Hey bud, time to wake up."
Adrien opens one eye.
He felt even more exhausted.
Nino hands him a tall glass.
"It's not poisoned, I watched him make it." Plagg says from his position in Adrien's hair.
Adrien rubs his eyes.
He still didn't have an appetite.
"I'm not hu-"
"Kid, shut up, this will be the third day that you haven't eaten, and I'm not having it, you better down everything in that glass or we aren't going anywhere." Plagg snarls.
Nino blinks.
"Whoa, didn't think you were the responsible type." Nino says to Plagg.
"With this one I have to be." Plagg explains.
Adrien narrows his eyes at Plagg who narrows his eyes back.
"Fine!" He says exasperatedly, taking the glass and beginning to drink up.
It felt horrible, his stomach protested the smoothie as it went down. He winced. He better get this over with and then sort his health out.
"What time is it?" He asks when he's done.
"Ten minutes past six."
Adrien pulls his phone out of his pocket and switches it off.
He stands up.
"Showtime."
***********************
Marinette stares at the TV. Chat said he would be doing a live broadcast.
Just what was he going to do?
She sighs and fidgets a bit with the hem of her shorts.
"-decrease in attacks by Chat Noir this month yet a spike in the rate of crime. It seems that criminals are taking his absence as a catalyst. Chat Noir is known to attack criminals and civilians alike, so experts have come to the conclusion that without Chat Noir to attack them, they no longer fear going out. It seems that Paris can live neither with Chat Noir nor without-"
The person in front of the camera does not notice the black-clad villain walk to the couch behind him and drape himself across it, looking every bit like the model he was.
Marinette's eyes widen as he rolls his eyes at the reporter and slinks up behind the man.
The man looks away from the camera, to the people behind the camera. It seemed as if they were trying to tell him something.
He looks behind his left shoulder and Chat moves to the right. He looks behind his right and Chat moves to the left.
Chat then taps the man's right shoulder, and when the man turns, he comes face to face with Chat.
Chat tilts his head.
"Meow." He says, and the man gasps before fainting.
"It seems that Paris misses me.I'm touched. "Chat says, grabbing his heart.
He looks back at the camera with a crazed look.
"But not enough."
Marinette frowns. She would never get used to him switching from compassionate to…this.
He places his hands behind his back and walks to the couch.
"Dear Paris, don't blame the crime spike on me. Blame your mayor. Perhaps if he knew how to do his job, your city wouldn't give rise to any criminals…But, it has. I did warn you though that the next few weeks in Paris would be hell. Of course I knew the spike in crime would occur once I stopped attacking. But, I'm not here for 'I told you so's',no. I'm here because the person who caused your lives to be more at risk has decided that they want to risk the lives of all Parisians even further."
He stares into the camera.
"I'm pretty sure that the last time I broadcasted, I informed you that someone hurt my Princess. I told you that I would be doing a series of live broadcasts and eventually giving you the name of the person who has hurt her. It was not my intention to do something this…drastic and painful to all citizens…for my second broadcast, but…here we are."
Marinette blinks at the screen, what drastic thing had he done?
"You see, last night, My princess received a rather twisted present from her attacker, after I specifically warned them not to touch what was mine. Not only was it traumatic, but it was vile, it was cruel, it was disturbing. Would you like to know what the attacker sent?"
Marinette tenses up.
"Well, you're in luck."
Chat walks up to the large black bag he has brought with him
He pulls out the box Marinette was sent yesterday.
"Princess, if you're watching, look away."
Marinette covers her mouth and looks away.
Suddenly Marinette's phone rings.
She picks up.
"Hi…yeah Alya. I'm watching it…"
"Now, this looks like a normal box. But just watch."
Chat opens the box and the blood bomb goes off.
Multiple screams are heard in the background and shrieks ring throughout Paris as a splatter of blood hits the lens.
The camera is wiped. Chat is seemingly holding it now.
"Yes, that is blood. Do you hear that music? That was in the box too, and do you want to know where that blood came from? Well, take a good look."
Marinette keeps her eyes shut, but she can hear Alya cussing through the phone.
"So now, we can add Animal cruelty and Emotional abuse to the list of crimes."Chat laughs.
"The best part was the note. 'Game on purrrrincess. You're next.'"
Chat crumples the note.
"So this is just a game for you huh? Well citizens, since this person wants to play games, then we'll play a game. By default, you all have to play too.I think it's my move now,isn't it?"
Chat smiles.
"I'm going to show you what I've been getting up to. Play this clip." He holds something in his hand. A tiny woman scurries up and takes whatever he's holding in his hand.
Chat whistles a creepy tune as they prepare the clip.
"Oh, the clip's ready. Okay Paris, enjoy."
He sits down.
Marinette opens her eyes.
Chat is seemingly walking through a very dark room.
He puts the camera on his face.
"So you all may be wondering where I am and what lays in all these jars. Don't worry, you're about to find out."
He walks up to one of the shelves and zooms into a jar.
"What you see here is a twelve-week old fetus."
He goes to the next jar.
"Oh look, another one, oh and another one, oh look another!"
"Oh this too, and this, oh my, this is thirteen weeks, wow another thirteen weeks, oh look a two-week-old one. Oh and here's another, and another and another, and another, ooooooh look, a twelve and a half week, and another two week old one."
Marinette doesn't understand.
Obviously if he was in a fetus lab, there would be many fetuses.
He goes on and on and on, Marinette still doesn't get what he's trying to say.
"You must be confused. Why am I showing you fetuses?"
He snickers.
"Abortion is nothing out of the ordinary for women who don't want to keep their baby. But what if I told you, that all of these fetuses are the product of one woman? What if I told you that she knew this would be the product of her actions and that never stopped her from taking any precautions whatsoever? What If I told you that this woman supports pro-life and yet this is what she does behind closed doors. OOPS. Did I just reveal that my Princesses attacker is a woman? Here's the best part, you may not know this, but fetuses that are twelve weeks and over are alive. These are not fetuses. These were living babies with beating hearts."
At this point,Marinette's mouth hangs doesn't know what to say.
Chat flips open a folder.
"None of these were miscarriages,so the ones over twelve weeks, well, she chose to go against the law and abort them anyway."
Chat reaches his hand out and grasps the almost invisible handle of a drawer, and upon closer inspection, its seen that beneath each jar, there's a drawer.
He pulls a drawer out. In it lies a few sets of clothing. Chat picks one up.
"Now these,ladies and gentlemen,are not your normal clothing sets. These,are meant for Jars."He picks up what looks like a shirt and pulls it over a jar.
He looks back at the camera.
"So she aborts them… but likes to play mother with them."
Chat snorts.
He looks at the camera. "And I thought I was sick."
The footage ends.
The live broadcast is back.
Chat walks back to the camera.
"Now Paris, don't get me wrong. If you want to have an abortion, that's your choice. But once you do, at least have the dignity to let it be dead. It's dead. Dont taunt it. Dont play around with it like you have that right. You don't. You gave up that right."
Chat takes a breath.
"But that's not all I've been getting up to. You see, she thinks she can go after what's mine. She thinks she can blackmail me. That has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That's not how this story goes. You don't win. You don't get to make the rules for this game. You don't get to hurt my princess and get away with it. Now Paris,this Vendetta was between me and her, but as I said, the only way this game ends is if you all play. So I've taken someone that you all love. And you won't get him back until the end of this game. You want to see who he is?"
Marinette's heart beats frantically.
What has he done?
Who did he take?
He signals for another clip to be played.
Marinette gasps, and drops her phone.
"Oh my my My God!"She grabs her hair.
Tied to a chair,with a barely recognizable blood covered swollen face sits Adrien Agreste, his head lolling around.
"Say Hi Adrien!" Chat says from behind the camera, one can assume he's holding the camera.
Adrien groans and then spits out blood.
"Oh my God." Marinette says, completely forgetting about Chat telling her not to panic
"So Adrien, how's it feel to be held captive?"
Adrien doesn't respond.
"I'm waiting for an answer." Chat sing songs.
Marinette can already hear girls all throughout Paris wailing.
"I…It…It hurts."
Chat laughs.
"What hurts?"
Adrien seems to be trying his best to force the words out.
"Everything hurts."
"You want to know the reason you're here?"
"…Y-*cough*-yes."
"Because , she needs to understand that what she does will have consequences. Not only on her. Paris will never see you again till she's behind bars ,If you mess with what's mine, then I will destroy what's yours. It's a simple concept that that creature doesn't understand."
"Bu-but I have-havent done anything."Adrien sobs out.
Chat clicks his tongue.
"I know, but I do know this woman is probably your number one fan-"
"That's not my fault!-"
"Did I say you can speak?!"
Chat can be heard clicking his fingers. Someone in a black outfit goes up to him. The person holds out a bottle of something and begins to pour it all over Adrien's face. The moment it touches his skin Adrien begins to scream and writhe and try and get it off his skin. His cry is so agonised that Marinette finds herself screaming too.
"Kill me! Please just kill me! Just kill me!"
"Oh it's not that your admirer sees this she'll be after my princess,she may try and kidnap her as a retort,and that won't be happening."
The camera continues to video Adrien whimpering.
"I came up with that mixture has a bit of the chilli pepper I used on those perverts."
Adrien whines as he tries to get loose.
"Don't bother...You aren't getting away any time soon."
"Help…"Adrien sobs out brokenly, his head hanging.
The footage ends.
Chat snickers on the couch, the live feed is running once more.
"It's a shame, I quite liked that shirt he was wearing, now it's all bloodied." He laughs cynically.
"I'm sorry I had to take your golden boy,Parisians,but what else could I do?"
He stands up and stands in front of the camera.
"I'm going to make this very clear. If you ever,EVER try to hurt her again. I will kill blondie over there,and I will wring your demented neck. I will be watching, 24/7,don't think that just because you can't see me I'm not there. I'm everywhere.I warned you,but you wouldn't listen...So now, till youre exposed,everyone will suffer...There's no getting around it, you will be exposed,and I don't care if I die doing it. But you will never hurt her again. Do something,I dare you, that will look really good on your increasing list of offences...Then again, I don't think a corpse can go to jail."
Marinette grits her teeth.
This was becoming too frightening.
Suddenly she remembers that Chat said nobody would be getting hurt. Did he lie to her?
But…but he wouldn't.
Her brows furrow.
"Goodnight Paris,sweet dreams."He says with a tilted head before smashing the camera.
Marinette hugged her knees to her chest.
Alya had cut the call. She was alone.
She trusted Chat.
All evidence seemed to say that he lied in his note but she knew better. She refused to not trust him.
Chat had a reason. An explanation. She was sure of it.
He phone vibrated.
She picked it up from the floor.
She had received an email from…
Alleychat72?
Her eyes widen.
'Delete as soon as youre done.'
She frowns.
She called Chat Alley cat.
He had sent her an…email?
There was a video attached.
She pursed her lips, took a deep breath and pressed play.
Her mouth dropped open, she really needed to stop doing that.
"Hey Marinette, Adrien Agreste here,haa ha, but you probably know that , well, I'm in on Chat Noirs plan...he told me who attacked you...Turns out its someone I know pretty well…Anyway,he's convinced that once he sees you, you're gonna throw a punch at him."Adrien speaks calmly,wiping off the blood and guck from his face.
"He hasn't hurt me in the slightest,and that thing he poured on me was just water with some red food colouring.I happen to be a pretty good actor,thank God for those fragrance commercials...This is corn syrup,see?"He swipes some 'blood' off his cheek and puts it in his mouth.
"Corn syrup and waterproof foundation , you ever want makeup that's indestructible, go for Mac…It just tastes awful, anyway,I'm gonna be hidden for a while, so don't worry about me...And don't be too mad at him,okay?Oh and please delete this once you've watched it,thanks Marinette!"
The footage ends.
She deletes the message,and a feeling of relief washes over her.
He kept his promise.
She walked up to her room.
She knew there was an explanation.
He wouldn't break his promise.
They had a deal.
The past few weeks taught her a lot about the villain.
She learned that everything she knew about him was wrong.
He was actually kind and compassionate and could be really cocky at times,and sometimes a bit annoying.
He was protective and he always kept to his promises, and he turned out to be a whole lot of fun.
He listened to her and gave her advice,and he could make the best croissants and pancakes even if they looked terrible.
She blinks slowly. She probably shouldn't have allowed herself to let her mind wander...And maybe she's being the dumbest girl in the world.
But it's possible, very possible, that perhaps she isn't seeing him just as a friend anymore.
She's falling in love with him.
Her eyes widen at her realization.
She stares blankly at the wall. She's falling for a criminal.
"Now just what has got my Princess in such deep thought?"
She looks to her loft and sees Chat on her bed.
"Chat."
"Hey, Princess."
He slowly comes down the ladder. Marinette frowns.
Chat never took the ladder.
"Chat?" She asks, worriedly.
He sways.
Suddenly he covers his mouth and runs past her to the bathroom.
He begins to vomit."
"Oh my gosh!" Marinette says, running after him. His body shakes and she drops to her knees to rub his back as he empties his system.
She reaches up and fills a glass of water.
He pushes away from the toilet.
Marinette hands him the glass but he tries to push it away.
"Chat drink it." she says, forcing it to his mouth.
He winces at the amount of force but resigns.
Eventually, he tries to stand up.
"Sorry about that. There was a really horrible smoothie that I drank earlier." He says. His voice sounds scratchy.
Marinette frowns.
She reaches up and touches his forehead.
"Chat you're burning up!"
"I know , I'm glad you think I'm gorgeous." He tries to grin but winces.
Marinette leads him out of the bathroom.
Chat exhales, today was absolutely not his day.
"You need to lie down."
He's about to say something when suddenly, everything begins to swirl, and black spots blur his vision. The world turns sideways, and then everything goes black.
Marinette shrieks and catches him.
"Chat!"
He doesn't respond.