The Fox and the Ladybug

Part 15.2: Islandia

Marinette's POV

3:52 pm

Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and leaped out of the alley onto the roof of one of the buildings forming the gap the between them. I followed shortly after. I can't believe that Adrien is Chat Noir; they're just so...opposite! I'm gonna have to ask him about that later. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised I didn't figure it out. Although they look somewhat alike, their personalities are complete parallels to each other.

"Lucky charm!" I said, holding my hand up to the sky. I got a rope. Hmm, well I think the akuma possessed Lila's bracelet, but how would I get up to the sky where she is with a rope? I spotted Chat Noir and jumped over to him who was currently dodging Islandia's attacks.

"Chat Noir, how can I get up to where the villain is with a simple rope?" I asked him.

"Maybe you could throw the rope up to her island and pull yourself up?" he offered. I nodded. That sounded like a decent plan. I threw the rope up to Islandia's platform, but she smacked it away with her surfboard.

"Feeling lost, Ladybug?" Islandia cackled.

Chat Noir attempted to knock over the island with his metal pole- wait, that's it! Chat Noir's pole! I ran over to my partner.

"Chat Noir, could you please lift me up?" I asked, helping him dodge the surfboard beams.

"Of course, bugaboo!" he said and extended his pole. I grabbed on and the pole kept extending until I was at the height of Islandia. I grabbed my rope and flung it around her, dragging her down to the ground.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir shouted and touched the bracelet with his gloved hand. After all the "No more evil doing for you, little akuma!" shit purple shadows appeared on Islandia and transformed her back into Lila Rossi.

"Hey, Lila," I said. I helped her up and looked at her facial expression to check she was feeling okay.

"Hey... are you okay?" I asked. She looked ashamed. She noticed I was looking at her despite perhaps being in deep thought. "Oh, yeah, just...thinking," she responded.

"I'll try to come over tonight, but I've got plans with Kagami," I said. "Stay safe, Foxy," I said, winking. "Bug out!"

I jumped down the same alley and transformed back into Marinette. I opened my bag to take out a cookie for Tikki.

"Remember Marinette, you still have to go to Kagami's house," Tikki reminded me.

"You're right, Tikki!" I said. Luckily, the address Kagami texted me is pretty close, so I don't have to go all the way back to the bakery to get my bike or walk a long way. I walked out of the alleyway and typed the address into my phone.

My mind wandered over to Adrien again. I realized that now that he knows I'm Ladybug, he might now be in love with Marinette. Chat Noir is awesome, but the reveal of his identity didn't change anything for my relationship with Adrien. He's just my partner and friend. It's hard to believe that a few weeks prior I would've fallen at Chat Noir's feet, but now I guess I've moved on. Which is good, I think.

It's a good thing that the person I'm now romantically interested in doesn't make me, well... y'know. I guess it's hard for me to admit the fact that my relationship was Adrien previously was unhealthy. I feel ashamed for all the things I did. I feel ashamed that Adrien had a friend like me, who stalked him, stole his things... I wish there was a way for me to apologize without ruining our friendship. 

The phone notified me that I was at Kagami's address and looked up. In front of me was a big mansion with Kagami's self-driving car outside. The house was not as big, but more modern with a theme of black with red accents.  While Adrien's house reminded me of his father: strict, reserved, tall, and discreet, Kagami's house resembled her mom: hot-blooded, sharp, and (like Gabriel Agreste) strict.