Not Alone: A Miraculous Ladybug Story

Chapter 22

When Adrien finally got out of his shoot he immediately grabbed his phone and tried calling Marinette. After the third try, he got a bit worried. Obviously she could be asleep or busy, they had just been in such constant contact the last few weeks, he had grown used to her answering when he called, and vice versa.

Escaping the Gorilla and Natalie, he sent his father's assistant a quick text letting her know that he was walking himself home. She wouldn't like it, but she wouldn't say anything to his father either. He darted down and alley, transforming mid run and vaulted onto the nearest roof. Pulling the screen up on his baton, he saw that Ladybug was on the other side of Paris.

"Huh," he huffed to himself. There was another symbol next to her, almost like there was another miraculous holder there. He gasped, recognizing the orange and white hook shape.

"Lila," he said with not a little annoyance. He had been excited at first to have another superhero join them, and Lila had seemed nice enough in class, but for some reason she had always gotten under Marinette and Ladybug's skin. Finding out later that she was a compulsive liar, Adrien understood why, and that Lila was only trying to come between Chat and Ladybug. Divided, they were weaker. And Marinette is alone with her now!

He broke into a sprint towards their locations, and when in range, vaulted across two rooftops to theirs. He dropped into a crouch, rolling into a ball to break his fall, and was up and running in one fluid motion. A few yards away, he came to an abrupt halt. Ladybug was laughing and Volpina smirked with and eyebrow raised in his direction.

He narrowed his eyes on her. She must be using some illusion on Ladybug. He stalked forward, but Ladybug rushed up to him, putting her hands against his chest to stop his prowling.

"No, no Chat it's okay! It's not Lila. It's actually a new miraculous holder."

He paused, glancing down at Ladybug.

"How do you know?"

"I know. Trust me, chaton," she continued, looking at him softly. He all but melted, and realized that she already knew him well enough to realize what her eyes did to him. That's dangerous, he thought, good thing I like danger.

Marinette looked back at Volpina.

"Can I...?" she trailed off.

"Oh!" Volpina's eye lit up. "Yeah, of course....Um do I just...?" She trailed off, and Chat realized she had never released her transformation before.

"You usually just say the opposite of what you say to transform." He offered helpfully, now curious as to who this person was and why they were so willing to reveal their identity. Not that I have ever really been against it. Still, he thought looking down at the woman he had his arm around, it turned out pretty okay for me regardless.

Ladybug had also wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him an excited squeeze as she practically vibrated with energy.

"Ohkay. Trixx, Ears down!" A flash of orange emanated from the girl, creating a momentary feeling of being surrounded by the sunset.

When Chat opened his eyes again, his jaw dropped.

"Alya?!"

Ladybug spun so she was in front of him. Jumping up and down with her hands plastered to her cheeks, as if she needed support to keep the smile from exploding off her face, and she screeched, "I know! Right?!"

She ran over, grabbed Alya in another hug and they spun around.

"Sorry for scaring you, sunshine." Alya carefully extracted herself from an exuberant Ladybug and transformed back into Volpina. "We were just practicing some of my new abilities. I was too nervous to transform by myself."

"But, how?"

"After you two left to go save Paris," she smiled and narrowed her eyes playfully at them both. "Fu said he knew the second I walked in that the fox miraculous was destined for me."

"Wow," was all Chat could think to say, and Volpina shrugged. "What did Nino say?"

"He was pretty cool with it," came a voice from behind them. "But then again, I'm also apparently a chosen one."

Chat Noir and Ladybug spun, and Chat was pretty sure that his jaw was going to be eternally stuck in the downward position.

"Nino?"

"You can call me Honu, my man." He walked over and leaned against Volpina, his elbow on her shoulder.

"What do ya think? Volpina and I are looking for some baddies to fight. Is there room on the squad for two more?"

Ladybug looked at Chat, and then back at Volpina and Honu.

"This is the best day ever!" She ran over, arms open wide, and enveloped them both in a huge squeeze. Chat walked over much more slowly, but his smile was no less wide as he let Ladybug pull him into the group hug.

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They were all pulled out of their rooftop discussion of various powers by the unmistakable sound of an akuma attack. Ladybug, who had been practically bouncing off the walls before, sobered immediately. She glanced nervously at Volpina and Honu.

"Do you think you guys are ready?"

"Well, it's now or never!" Volpina answered, trying to muster enough enthusiasm to cover her nerves. Ladybug simply nodded and looked at Chat.

"Alright, well, just follow us, and if it gets too overwhelming--"

"Oh, we'll hide," Honu assured her, with a not so assured sounding laugh himself.

"Okay," and, without looking, she and Chat jumped off the roof.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Volpina muttered, conjuring her board that allowed her to hover, and hauling Honu aboard as they floated carefully towards the ground.

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"We have to talk to him, Chat." Volpina overheard Ladybug say to Chat as they walked away from the group of reporters who swarmed them after the attack.

"I know," he sighed. His hand went to reach for hers, but one glance back at the reporters and he pretended to reach up and scratch his head instead.

"Talk to who?" Volpina sidled up next to them. The battle had, thankfully, been relatively simple. It was twin akuma victims, which may have been more difficult before, but with all of their combined powers, it was over pretty quickly. The Doppelgangers had the power to duplicate people, causing mass confusion when people were suddenly seeing double, and were influencing the copycats to do their bidding. Together, Chat and Volpina were able to distract them while Honu and Ladybug went from behind, snatching the mirror they both held and purifying it.

The reception of Volpina and Honu had gone better than expected, probably aided by the fact that neither of them had made any very obvious mistakes. There was a bit of confusion as to who the new superheroes were, but the four fell into an effortless rhythm, and the public couldn't help but love the new additions.

"My father," Chat muttered towards her, cognisant of all the ears still surrounding them, as Honu walked over, finally free of the reporters.

Volpina's ears perked up, and she tried to look up at them, still not used to them responding to her like that. Chat smirked over her and wiggled his own ears. Ladybug rolled her eyes at him.

"Show-off," she bumped his hip with hers. "But any decision can wait until tomorrow, yeah?" She asked getting back on topic. Chat hesitated, weighing his desire to know with his need to take a break. If yesterday was any indication, he was mentally exhausted, and if he was going to have to confront his father, he needed another day at least before he wanted to even think about it.

"Yeah, tomorrow."

Ladybug smiled. Fist-bumping Honu and giving Volpina a brief hug, she leaned over to kiss Chat, stopping at the last second.

"This will take some getting used to," she scrunched up her face. Still leaning in, she flicked his bell. "See you later, Kitty."

He winked and gave her his signature Chat smirk as she threw her yoyo and swung away.