Chapter Text
Adrien absently thumbed the black ring currently hanging from his neck by a silver chain as he poured over his father’s notes on fixing the peacock. Strictly speaking, the information wasn’t entirely relevant to his current predicament, but Adrien Agreste was nothing if not studious. The same drive and willingness to commit that had propelled him to top of his class and made him such a fantastic Chat Noir had returned full-force, and Adrien had thrown himself into his newest project with gusto.
Behind him, the TV chattered out a news report.
In the weeks following Chat Noir’s reappearance, the heroes of Paris have made a major reappearance.
Adrien examined a photograph of the damaged peacock miraculous, barely aware of Njada’s voice in the background.
After the steady decrease in hero activity over the past year, people are asking why the sudden change?
“Dust of meteorites?” he grumbled, flicking through Gabriel’s exceptionally neat handwriting. “That’s so...vague. What makes them so special? It’s not like meteors contain elements that don’t exist on Earth.”
And that’s not all folks, the heroes have started patrolling in Rouen too.
While his father had made sure to record his methods, if he possessed any theories of his own, he hadn’t seen fit to write them down.
No official statement has been issued yet by Ladybug, but we assume that she is trying to find and reunite with her missing partner.
“Maybe it’s the compounds,” Adrien theorised, tapping the stylus against his lips thoughtfully. “Minerals that don’t naturally form on planets.”
The only question is, will Chat Noir return? Or is he determined to remain in hiding?
“Or it could be the impact? Maybe the impact pressure forms chemical structures that we can’t get here.” Adrien rubbed his finger against the black ring. “What do you think Plagg?” Predictably, his kwami didn’t answer. Renouncing the ring might have kept them safe and undetectable, but it was far lonelier than he’d thought.
That’s all viewers, wishing you a good day.
Adrien sighed, setting the tablet and stylus on the coffee table. He needed a break. He needed to do something other than sit at his desk and work. He’d been at this since noon, and already dusk was drawing near. Adrien leaned back to look at the tablet. Not even a third of the way through the PDF.
The fridge was almost bare. In the week since he’d arrived, Adrien had only left his home once to buy food. The past eight days had been a frenzy of research and experimentation; he’d only just finished his project before lunch and waiting until nightfall to test it was killing him. At least he had a late dinner with Nino afterwards to look forward to.
He grabbed an apple and bit into it, wincing as the cold stung at his teeth. There was a spare whiteboard marker on the kitchen bench. Adrien grabbed it and moved to the living room, where the couches had been pushed aside to make room for a large whiteboard.
“That’s another patrol sighted in Rouen,” he muttered as he glanced at the TV, making a note on the board. He took a step back and looked at his work, drumming his fingers against his leg in an erratic pattern. Despite his best efforts, he’d been unable to work out a pattern to the patrols. A part of him wasn’t surprised at his failure; planning had always been Ladybug’s wheelhouse. He folded his arms. If he couldn’t work out a pattern, the next phase of his plan would need to be played by ear. The thought was uncomfortable. Chat Noir had played things by ear his whole life, and had only made it this far because his partner had the foresight to plan for the both of them.
Now, that same partner was working against him. Chat Noir would need to take care of his own plans from now on. He tossed the pen back onto the couch, if only to avoid the temptation to gnaw on it, something that had started on day five of his isolation.
“No time to learn like the present,” he said, mostly to himself but a little bit to the kwami that couldn’t hear him. There was no snippy comeback, no drawling sarcasm. Adrien reached up to rub at the ring hanging at his neck. It was almost sundown.
Surely letting Plagg out a bit early couldn’t hurt?
Being stuck inside for five days straight had taken its toll and his patience was well and truly frayed. Adrien checked the Ladyblog. Sure enough, the heroes were still out in Rouen, and Adrien slid the ring onto his finger. Plagg appeared in a flash, yawning and stretching his tiny arms.
“Hey, Plagg,” Adrien said, scratching his friend between the ears. “I missed you.”
“Yeah, yeah I’m sure you did. Enough sappy stuff,” Plagg said, swatting the finger away and flying up to take in the appearance of his holder.
Adrien’s hair was even wilder than usual, and sticking up awkwardly on one side like he’d fallen asleep at a desk. A dark stain that smelled suspiciously like coffee sat on his chest and his eyes were tinged with a slight mania that set Plagg’s teeth on edge.
“How long has it been?”
“Only a week.”
“Only a week?” Plagg exclaimed, his concern for Adrien temporarily set aside. “You mean to tell me I’ve been separated from my delicious cheeses for a whole week?” He zipped away, phasing straight through the fridge door. He reappeared a moment later, looking much rounder. “So kid, you got something good for me?” he asked around a mouthful of camembert.
“Oh do I,” said Adrien, grinning too widely for Plagg’s taste. He made his way into the kitchen and reached for a small packet wrapped in green plastic.
This was it. The culmination of five days and five nights worth of study, practice and sheer determination. Adrien set it on the table in front of the kwami. “I give you,” he began theatrically. With a wave of his hand, he unwrapped the plastic. Inside were a set of multi-coloured slices of camembert. “Power ups.”
Plagg blinked. “I don’t see how being able to breathe underwater and ice-skate will help you hide from Ladybug in everyday life.”
“Those aren’t the important ones,” Adrien said, a little taken back by Plagg’s blasé attitude. He pointed to a very green slice. “That one is. Astrochat.”
Plagg snorted. “What, were you planning to hide on the moon?”
“No, I-” Adrien deflated slightly. “I don’t know why, but I thought you would be more excited than this.”
“Excited?” Plagg looked incredulous. “You’ve massacred the sacred taste of my camembert for this. I’m in deep mourning for the deep, rich flavour that’s been lost. Forever. By you. I expected this from Fu, or Ladybug, but I thought you knew better, that my knowledge of cheese was starting to rub off on you.”
“You- I-” Adrien facepalmed. “Never mind. The important thing is we now have access to high-speed travel whenever we want.”
“Yep,” Plagg said sadly.
“Which is important for the next stage of the plan I’ve come up with,” Adrien said impatiently.
Plagg sighed with exaggerated heaviness and Adrien bit back an angry grumble. “I will buy you as much replacement camembert on my next shopping trip as I can,” he said, silently dreading the day his kwami and Abelard got to meet each other properly. Plagg perked up immediately. “Within reason!” Adrien amended swiftly.
Plagg took a moment to consider his offer, then nodded. “Alright then, lets hear this plan of yours.”
“Thank you.” Adrien strode over to the whiteboard. “So far, Ladybug has limited her patrols to Paris and Rouen,” he began, waving at his list of sightings. “She occasionally brings out the champion, but we’ve managed to avoid detection by keeping your miraculous inactive. But,” he continued enthusiastically, “it’s not a permanent solution. So I’ve come up with a plan.” Adrien tapped his tablet and set it to display on the TV. A map of France appeared on the screen.
“Ladybug thinks I’m hiding in either Paris or Rouen,” he said. “But if we can start having Chat Noir appear in cities further away from Paris, either towards Belgium or Spain, we might be able to convince her that we’re trying to leave the country.” He paused for effect, looking remarkably pleased with himself.
“So where does Astrochat come in?” Plagg asked.
“Astrochat will let us cover the distance to each of those cities fast enough to get in, let someone take a photo of Chat Noir and then get out before Ladybug can scramble enough heroes to intercept us.”
“You want to lead her on a wild goose chase,” Plagg said, nodding in approval as he caught on. “How do you know she won’t figure it out?”
“I don’t,” Adrien said. “But I’m not trying to get her to chase me.” He pointed to the map. “If I let someone photograph me near the train line from Rouen to Dieppe, then on the outskirts of Dieppe-”
“She’ll assume you’re moving in that direction and try to predict your movements.”
“Exactly. Ladybug is the smartest person I know. She’s going to predict, rather than pursue, so in order to escape her I need to make sure she’s predicting the wrong thing.” Adrien pursed his lips, considering the map. “I can’t be photographed too often though. And only at night, to sell the illusion that I’m moving in secret while trying to escape.”
“In that case, you should skip a city,” Plagg said.
“Skip a city?”
“Say you’re going to Belgium,” Plagg explained, “You go from Dieppe, to Amiens, to Valenciennes right?”
Adrien nodded.
“Chat Noir getting spotted in all of those cities in a row is bound to throw up a red flag for Ladybug. So skip Amiens, wait another couple of days, then show up in Valenciennes.”
“Which would give the illusion that I passed through Amiens without being detected,” Adrien said, snapping his fingers as he appreciated his kwami’s sly streak.
The gesture, his grin and the food stains on his shirt made him look all the more maniacal and Plagg took a moment to enjoy the chaotic energy his charge was exuding. “Precisely kid! You’re finally getting it. And while Ladybug is tying herself up in knots about where you’re going next, you’ll be right here in Paris waiting for your birthday.”
Adrien nodded. “So, what do you think?”
Plagg folded his tiny arms, appraising the map. “Suitably cunning,” he said, smiling toothily. “As long as we keep Astrochat a secret, the bug won’t have a clue what we’re up to.”
“Excellent.” Adrien tossed the power up to Plagg. “I think there’s time for a test run before I catch up with Nino for dinner. Should only take fifteen minutes tops.”
“Now?” Plagg caught the cheese, wrinkling his nose. “That’s a little hasty don’t you think? What if we run into...complications?”
“Dinner with Nino is two hours away,” said Adrien, the urge to get out and run crawling across his skin. “We’ve got plenty of time to get into trouble, and out of it again.”
Plagg looked at the map with a frown. “I’m normally all for this “gung-ho” behaviour, but kid, there’s a lot on the line here.”
“I’ve been inside for six days straight,” Adrien said, raising his arms overhead in a vigorous stretch. “I need to get out and do something.”
“Go for a run then,” Plagg said, folding his arms. “What happened to almost panicking over a lack of secrecy?”
“I’ve got live updates for hero sightings on my baton,” Adrien argued. “I’m not looking for a fight, I just want to make sure the power-ups work properly.”
Plagg groaned. “Fine. But if you get even a feeling that there’s trouble you turn tail and run. The last thing we need is to get drawn into a brawl with the heavy hitters Ladybug’s been sending out lately.” The kwami blinked, then scowled ferociously. “Damn kid, you’ve got me acting responsible. Me! You’re lucky I like the cheese you buy me.”
Adrien chucked him one of the Astrochat power-ups, practically vibrating with excitement. “We can visit a fromagerie tomorrow and I’ll let you take your pick of cheeses.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Plagg said.
Adrien grinned. “Let’s go then.”
The French countryside wound gently beneath Astrochat, hidden in darkness save for the occasional lights from homes and towns. In hindsight, perhaps trying to cross the country in the evening sun had been a touch risky. Sure, he’d taken the bus to the outskirts of Paris and only transformed when he was well and truly alone, but there was something to be said for the rocket trail he was leaving as he streaked across the sky. At least while he was this high up, he had as much cloud cover as he would ever need.
Rouen loomed in the distance and Astrochat checked his baton. Right on schedule. He touched down in a park on the edge of the city, checking to make sure there was nothing watching and then letting the power up fade. Chat Noir stretched lazily and made his way onto the nearest rooftop. A quick google search on his baton revealed that none of the heroes had been spotted out and about. Adrien frowned. He would have much preferred they be active in Paris so he was sure of where they were, but at least they hadn’t been spotted in Rouen.
He made his way across the roofs, enjoying the feeling of the wind on his face. His week inside had been agony after finally transforming again. There was nothing that could compare to the freedom of being Chat Noir, to the relief a simple jog across the rooftops could provide. Chat Noir closed his eyes and sucked in a lungful of cold night air, relishing in the way it stung his nose.
A gasp from below caught his attention and Chat whipped around to the sound. A pair of boys were looking up at him, phones in hand. Chat sprung away from the edge of the roof. He hadn’t intended to put his plan into play so soon, but he supposed there wasn’t any harm in it.
He checked his baton again. If he headed back now, he would have an hour to make sure he covered his tracks carefully. Chat Noir tucked his baton onto his back and dropped into a crouch, preparing to leap back into the park.
The air tingled around him and Chat Noir’s hair stood on end, his feline senses going into overdrive. His eyes widened and he threw himself backward on instinct as a burst of lightning struck the rooftop where he’d been standing. Chat Noir yelped, scrambling back. A figure emerged from the lightning, sword drawn and Chat Noir’s heart sank.
“Hello Chat Noir,” Ryuko said evenly. “I ask that you surrender now.”
There was a grunt from somewhere behind him, then a crash as Minotaurox landed heavily on the roof, glowering down at him.
Chat Noir whistled as he stood, hoping he sounded more casual than he felt. “Ladybug brought out the big guns today.”
Ryuko levelled her sword at him. “You were foolish to come out of hiding Chat Noir. Surrender and return with us or we will make you.”
Plagg’s warning echoed in his ears. Running was probably his best bet.
But.
Ryuko had only used lightning dragon. Her wind dragon form was very much capable of catching up with him, which made running fairly pointless. But, if he could just get her to use it… Chat glanced around. “Should I expect more of you?”
Ryuko pulled her earpiece from the hilt of her blade.
“Guess that answers that question,” he muttered. Ryuko ignored him and Chat Noir grabbed his baton and aimed it at her hand.
“Go long!”
The baton exploded forward, spearing Ryuko’s hand and knocking the earpiece off into the night. Ryuko’s eyes widened and she turned to face Chat Noir, a snarl on her lips.
“Good luck finding that without night vision!” Chat Noir crowed.
“Minotaurox,” Ryuko growled, “contact the team. I will occupy the cat.”
They moved at the same time, Minotaurox backing off and reaching for his hammer while Ryuko leapt at Chat Noir, her sword cleaving down in a vicious slash that he barely blocked. Sparks flew as Ryuko transitioned into the cleanest moulinette he’d ever seen and Chat barely parried it away with a wild swipe that would have made his fencing instructors wince in disappointment. Behind him, he could hear Minotaurox fumbling with the comm.
Chat Noir made a split-second decision and backflipped away from Ryuko, swiping at Minotaurox as he sprang over his head. The larger hero stumbled and Chat kept the hero’s body between his own and Ryuko, drawing him directly into the fight to keep him from calling for help.
“Coward,” Ryuko snarled as she darted around Minotaurox, but Chat was already backing away and hammering at Minotaurox with his baton, who was trying in vain to block the hits with his hammer.
“Strategist,’ Chat Noir corrected, ducking a wild swipe with the hammer. “Gotta even this two on one somehow.” For all his efforts, Minotaurox’s earpiece was still in his hammer and it was becoming apparent that for all his size and strength, he did not have the skill to compete with the more experienced heroes. Ryuko sprung over Minotaurox’s head and slashed at Chat Noir, who brought his baton around in a sweeping parry before putting the pressure back onto Minotaurox. His plan was working, but already his arms were growing sore. Fighting Ryuko on his best days was a herculean task. Trying to do so while keeping someone else from having enough time to press two buttons? It was taking everything he had.
Chat Noir grimaced as Ryuko manoeuvred around Minotaurox again. The big hero reacted on instinct, the hammer arcing up and over, crashing into the roof beside her.
“Watch it,” she snapped, and Chat took advantage of the momentary distraction to grab the head of the hammer and wrench it from the ox hero’s hands. Chat hefted the weapon, testing the weight. It wasn’t as finely balanced as his baton, but with his increased strength, it would do.
Minotaurox lowered his head and charged him, just like his namesake. Chat Noir grinned. “Batter up!” The hammer spun in his hands and Chat threw all his weight into the hit. The blow caught Minotaurox in the ribs and launched him clean off the roof. Chat Noir whistled. “Four?”
Ryuko’s blade flashed towards him. Without the cover the larger hero provided, Chat Noir was out in the open. He just managed to bring the hammer up to block the overhead strike, but was forced to dodge the following thrust. The hammer might have been powerful, but against Ryuko’s speed it was weighing him down. Chat drove Ryuko back with a series of swing that she dodged gracefully and turned, hurling the hammer in the opposite direction Minotaurox had flown. His baton was in his hand instantly, blocking the strike to his back on instinct.
“Oh that’s so much better,” Chat Noir said, easily parrying the next three hits. Ryuko’s eyes narrowed and her speed practically doubled, driving Chat Noir back across the rooftop. “Oh come on,” he complained breathlessly. “That’s not fair!”
Despite her speed, Chat Noir wasn’t out of the game yet. Sparks flew as his own strikes grew to match hers in power and ferocity. A nearby chimney was cloven in half by a swing Chat ducked, and the concrete roof shattered under an overhead blow from his staff. Still, Ryuko pushed him back, her strikes as precise as they were fast. Each hit she threw was calculated, and balanced enough to pose a threat without revealing her openings.
It was like fighting a wall. A wall armed with a very sharp sword and intent on turning him into a feline fillet.
“Stay...still!” Ryuko grunted, launching a lightning-fast upward slash that Chat Noir backflipped away from. The tip of her blade grazed his shoulder as it flashed past him.
“Not on your life,” Chat Noir panted, extending his baton mid-flip and stabbing down at her. “Cats do not make good sushi meat!”
Ryuko swiped his baton aside and thrust up at him as he fell. Chat just managed to kick it away, the steel toes on his boots catching the flat of her blade as he landed in a crouch. Undeterred, Ryuko brought her blade around in a brutal, two-handed diagonal cut that could have cleaved through concrete.
Chat Noir rolled out of the way and handsprung to his feet, his reflexes bringing the baton up before he even saw the next hit coming. The ringing of steel told him everything he needed to know and he launched a devastating series of attacks, careful not to overextended himself.
Not one of them got through as Ryuko weaved a web of metal around herself, completely untouchable behind her phenomenal bladework. The difference between his brief battle against Rena Rouge a week earlier and this one could not have been more apparent. Where Rena Rouge used her newfound speed and strength to make up for her lack of skill, Ryuko used it to enhance her own, which at the very least rivalled his own.
Ryuko pivoted on her heel and slashed at him, her blade a blur of light that would have taken his head off had he not ducked under it. He disengaged quickly, dashing backward and extending his baton rapidly enough to send the tip spearing toward her front leg. Ryuko cut down in a diagonal parry, her sword catching his baton and driving it off-course and into the ground.
They were both panting now, eyeing each other warily as they circled, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
Anger glittered in Ryuko’s eyes. Her life had been devoted to mastering the blade. To find herself unable to best Chat Noir in her own arena? Her fingers tightened around her sword. It rankled. Even worse was the fact that he seemed to possess legitimate skill- enough to contend with hers. If he had been untrained, she could have told herself it was simply the difference in the power of their miraculous. But there was more to the black cat than that.
Ryuko growled. His guard was purposefully open, cocky and full of holes she knew instinctively were lies. Every time her blade came close to him it would be diverted by that ridiculous baton or hiss though open air. Each time she had him dead to rights, found an opening that would have led to a hit on any other foe, she connected with nothing but black mist. He was fast, to the point of absurdity. Perhaps if it were Kagami against whomever lay under his mask she could be confident in her victory. But Chat Noir had years of experience and a miraculous that was, quite frankly, in a whole league above hers. Ryuko eyed his baton. Maybe it was time to try something different.
She surged forward with breathtaking speed, her sword sliding up the length of his staff and toward his fingers. Chat Noir yelped and split his baton in half. The bind lost, Ryuko cut down at his leg and Chat Noir twisted, throwing himself sideways as her blade passed right through where his leg had been. His back hit the ground and Chat rolled backwards, snagged the other half of his baton, fitted them together and pole-vaulted away from her, landing on his feet in one swift move.
Ryuko stared at him and cocked her head to the side as if considering something.
Then she dashed forward again, throwing caution to the wind and launching strike after strike at him. Gone were the precise hits, the carefully balanced blows. Ryuko wanted him down and she wanted it now. Chat Noir stumbled back, throwing everything he had into keeping her blade away. There were openings in her form now, but they appeared and disappeared so fast he barely saw them, let alone had the opportunity to capitalise on them.
Chat Noir deflected a blow aimed at his arm. Ryuko wound back and Chat saw the hit to his leg coming before she threw it. His baton flashed out and caught her across the ribs with a dull crack. Chat Noir watched as shock and disbelief flashed across her face.
“How!?” she hissed. She was out of breath now, maybe even more than he was. Her hair was plastered across her forehead, soaked with sweat.
Chat shrugged, grateful for the reprieve. “Maybe I’m just better than you.”
Ryuko roared, her blade whirling out to meet his baton. They clashed again, faster and fiercer than before. But the tides had shifted. Now it was Chat Noir who pressed forward, battering Ryuko with a strength and swiftness he had not possessed moments ago.
Chat Noir found himself grinning widely as he advanced, his movements as graceful as they were audacious. An overhead strike turned into a thrust which flowed into a coupe; each one was barely turned away by an increasingly flustered Ryuko. There was a grunt from behind him and Chat Noir knew Minotaurox had found his way back to the fight.
The ox hero made to tackle him from behind Chat leapt over him at the last minute, watching as Ryuko was bowled over by the charge. He was on them as soon as they were on their feet, alternating hits between the two. To her credit, Ryuko took it upon herself to deflect the hits he aimed at Minotaurox too, the ox hero having failed to recover his hammer.
They were fighting a loosing battle. Chat Noir kept the pressure up, his breathing steady, even as he pushed them towards the edge of the building. Minotaurox lunged and Chat Noir laughed as he slipped through his fingers like smoke, catching Ryuko’s wrist and kicking her legs out from under her. Ryuko twisted, a desperate attempt at a thrust that Chat sidestepped with ease. Ryuko’s eyes widened-
Minotaurox gasped from somewhere behind him.
-as her blade sank deep into his abdomen. Minotaurox stood behind Chat, arms outstretched and ready to grab him as he stared at the weapon protruding from his midsection.
Chat Noir froze.
Ryuko released her sword immediately, tumbling to the ground.
"Uh oh." Minotaurox paled as he touched a finger to the handle. Chat Noir watched in horror as he sank to his knees.
“Don’t touch it!” Ryuko was on her feet again, batting his hand away and keeping him steady. “We need to call Ladybug!”
Moving on autopilot, Chat Noir split his baton in half and handed her the end with the phone. “Here.”
Ryuko’s face flashed between fury and indignation. She swiped the baton from his hand wordlessly, already dialling Ladybug. She picked up immediately.
“Chat?” Ladybug’s voice was tinny over the speaker.
“It’s Ryuko,” Ryuko said. “We need an emergency portal now. Minotaurox is injured. Badly.”
The massive hero let out a pained groan and Chat Noir stood unmoving, watching in horrid fascination as the blade lodged in Minotaurox’s midsection wobbled. Ryuko was talking, her words too fast and incoherent for him to make out. Something was buzzing in his ears. The air was cold in his lungs. Too cold. Chat Noir coughed, eyes never leaving the sword as drops of red slowly ebbed down the silver blade and leaked onto the roof.
Kid, move!
Plagg’s urge shocked him into action and Chat Noir turned tail and ran. He ran as fast as he could without a care for the direction he went as long as it was away. Away from Ryuko and away from Minotaurox and away from that horrible sword slowly dripping crimson onto the cracked concrete rooftop.