Chasing Ladybug 📸 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

19 • Now | Imitation is The Sincerest Form of Flattery

NOW

A week has passed since Marinette's disappearance.

Paris still thought Cat Noir was behind her kidnapping, as he didn't have enough proof to clear his name, and with her still gone, the more hatred grew for him.

Cat Noir never gave up looking for her, though, and has even been skipping school to spend his days searching all over France. He searched all over that tiny city Copycat led him to, further, even, but all he keeps finding is dead ends. No one's seen or heard anything about Marinette.

Adrien paces back and forth in his bedroom, late to his first class. He didn't plan on going, anyway, and thankfully his father isn't home to reprimand him. "I don't get it, Plagg. I thought following Copycat would lead me to Marinette, but every time I chase him, follow him, he leads me to a different city. Does he keep moving her?"

"Sounds like a game of cat and mouse," Plagg comments from the couch, burping.

"What do you mean?"

"Copycat's making you chase him, but that doesn't mean he's leading you to Marinette. He's probably leading you away from Marinette.

Adrien's eyes widen. "Holy shit! I didn't even think of that!"

"I know, I did."

"So that means Marinette could be somewhere local, somewhere in Paris, maybe..." The model walks over to the window and stares out across the city. "Theo's studio?"

"Let's go check it out, Detective Noir."

Adrien nods. "Plagg, claws out!"

Cat Noir leaps out the window, avoiding crowds on the sidewalks, and races across the city. Marinette has to be there... I've searched everywhere for her. He extends his staff and throws himself over the movie theater, down a few more blocks until he reaches his destination.

He peeks through the open ceiling, searching around the large studio. No Copycat, and even worse, no Marinette. There's random art pieces around the room, and a table with a camera and scattered pictures across. Copycat's not here... but that doesn't mean he won't be back soon. Maybe there's something here that can tell me where Marinette is.

Cat Noir drops in, his steps quiet as he carefully looks around the room. He takes a step forward and trips on a rug, curled up, and he flattens it out with his boot. Copycat can't know I was here.

He turns and faces the wall, his eyes widening fast. One wall is covered top-to-bottom with pictures of Ladybug, some posed, some candid, and most taken without her knowledge. There's close-ups of her face, full body shots from far distances. Any picture with Ladybug, Cat Noir's face is crossed out.

"What the hell?" Cat Noir notices the other shrine, but this one is dedicated to... him? There's dozens, maybe hundreds, of photos of Adrien Agreste, from his ads, photoshoots, paparazzi shots, and candid ones he's never seen before. Then there's the same for Cat Noir, pictures printed out from the Ladyblog, clippings from magazines and newspapers.

A red string connects pictures of Adrien Agreste and Cat Noir.

"Theo knows I'm Cat Noir," He whispers to himself, eyes widening in fear. He looks back at Ladybug's side, and thankfully there's no pictures of Marinette. He doesn't know Ladybug's secret identity... that's good.

Cat Noir steps throughout the room and in the corner, he sees familiar red and black polka dots. Blue eyes illuminate in the dark. "Ladybug?!" He shouts, mouth wide in a smile as he runs over. "I'm so glad you're—" He cuts himself off when he realizes it's the statue Theo made for the gala.