Chasing Ladybug 📸 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

16 • Then | Careful Mistakes

THEN

"Mullo, un-squeak." Marinette took deep, steady breaths as she hid from Shadowmoth's newest villain—Cupid Roulette, a heartbroken love expert with pointy arrows that either drove you crazy in love or madness. She grabbed two macaroons from her purse and fed both kwamis.

"Eat up, Tikki," She instructed.

The red bug ate, annoyed, and wondered why her holder was still using her switching-back-and-forth-between-the-ladybug-and-mouse-miraculous strategy. Yes, it'd been working well for the past two weeks, but Multimouse wasn't necessary for every single fight, and complications didn't stay simple forever.

"Don't give me that look," Marinette said as she peeked out from behind a parked car. Cat Noir was across the street, dodging attacks from the red and pink supervillain. "It's worked so far, hasn't it?"

"I guess," Tikki admitted, eating the last bite, and quickly added, "But why does Multimouse have to be at every battle? Shadowmoth's going to get suspicious soon and, I don't know, maybe try to find out her identity? Which then leads to yours?"

"It's not my fault!" The pig-tailed girl defended. "Either Cat Noir finds me—somehow—before I can transform or that stupid lovesick cat is whining to Ladybug about how much he misses his 'little mouse' and wonders where she is, and then I feel bad."

Tikki glared at her. "You already see him every single night." Not to mention at school when he's unmasked. "You don't have to fight alongside him in battle, except as Ladybug!"

Marinette looked away, unsure of what else to say. "We have a villain to fight. Tikki, spots on!" Ladybug took the civilian's place. She raised her arm and threw her yo-yo, shouting, "Lucky charm!" She caught a pair of red-and-black spotted handcuffs. "Hmm..."

Ladybug looked around as three things flashed at her: her lucky charm, Cupid Roulette, and Cat Noir's staff. An idea came to her and she smiled. She jumped to her feet and revealed herself from her hiding spot, running over to join Cat Noir. "I have a plan!" She shouted.

"Great, what is it?" Her partner yelled back, ducking as an arrow flew by his head. "Cats are agile, but I'm getting tired, and trying not to get hit!"

"Actually, I need you to get hit!"

Cat Noir stopped abruptly and turned to stare at her with wide eyes. "What?!" Distracted, he didn't notice the arrow flying at him, and he groaned in pain as it shot into his side.

Cupid Roulette floated down in front of the cat, wickedly smiling, and waited to see how he'd be affected by her power. "Let's see, Kitty... are you going to be a Casanova or a terrible devil?"

The villain's powers were simple. Once hit with her arrows, one of two reactions happen: love crazy (you fall in love with everyone you see, thus being susceptible to requests, even from bad guys) or madness (you hate everyone you see, thus immediately wanting to harm them).

Ladybug snuck up behind the villain, taking quiet steps, and got the handcuffs ready. Yes, that's it... keep your eyes on him.

Cat Noir's eyes widened slightly before they softened into a soft pink and a red heart appeared on his right cheek. Love crazy. He spotted his partner behind the villain and smiled wide. "I love you, Milady!"

Huh, so he's exactly the same... she thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Pretty kitty," Cupid Roulette purred as she tried getting the cat's attention. His ears twitched and he turned to her sweet voice. "I need you to do something for me..."

Cat Noir started walking over.

"Take her miraculous—"

"Gotcha!" Ladybug leapt forward and tackled Cupid Roulette, twisting her arms behind her back, and pinched the handcuffs on. She used her leg to grab the magical bow. "Cat Noir!"