A Miraculous Story Book 3: Rivals Part 1: Queen Wasp 2

• Responsible Cat •

Cat Noir stared into the sharp, green eyes of his own kind mother in the photo, then at the messy blonde hair of his younger self. Immediately, a hundred different questions and emotions ran through him. What kind of Lucky Charm was this? Did Ladybug know who he was under the mask? How is this even supposed to help?

Someone suddenly grabbed his wrist, forcing him back into the reality of the fight. Princess Panda clawed randomly at his fingers, feeling blindly for his ring, but he kicked her in the gut, jumping away safely. Princess Panda doubled over and groaned in pain as Cat Noir furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, trying to decipher what to do with the photo.
Shoot, I can't get distracted like that again, he thought. What should I do? Maybe it's best that I get the Lucky Charm back to Ladybug, she'll know what to do with it.
He glanced over at her, but she was busy fighting Albibis. Cat Noir pursed his lips and grabbed at his hair with both hands in a stressed panic. Does he help Ladybug beat Albibis, or give the picture for her to use? Does he help Omuku with Queen Wasp, or does he continue fighting Princess Panda? There were too many options, which one was the best?
He wasn't usually this panicky, but seeing his mother always makes him more emotional, especially when he suddenly has so much responsibility in his hands. He was holding the biggest key to winning the battle. The Lucky Charm had never been fully under his influence, not even when he was MisterBug. Even when he held the Ladybug Miraculous, LadyNoire was still the one who actually figured out what to do with the mirror.

All of a sudden, Cat Noir felt useless. Thinking about it now, he doesn't really ever do much to help win the battle. He only helps keep them from losing, stalls so Ladybug can do something, or Ladybug tells him what to do. Rarely does he make decisions on his own.
Cat Noir frantically looked around again as he felt his panic level rising. Ladybug was still occupied with Albibis across the roof. Princess Panda was recovering. Omuku was struggling with Queen Wasp. And he had the one and only Lucky Charm. This was too much responsibility. He couldn't. He can't. If he ran over and gave it to Ladybug, then she would solve it, right? She could fix everything. But if he left Princess Panda alone, she could be free to do whatever and ruin the plan for good, probably noticing and intervening with 'Adrien' and Chloé's moment. He had to solve it here, himself.
But he can't! He was never able to in the past, there's no way he could now! He was irresponsible and can't make choices on his own.
"Oh, get a grip, Cat Noir!" he whispered to himself, hitting himself on the head. "Ladybug wouldn't have given you guardianship over a whole Miracle Box if she thought you were useless and irresponsible. She trusts you." His distressed expression turned into a calm smile at the thought as he looked down at his mother's picture, feeling himself relax a little. Her frozen gaze for some reason brought him comfort. He chuckled. "Hm, she trusts me."

"Arrghhh! Give me your Miraculous!" Princess Panda shouted tiredly, lunging at his ring again.

With a whole new determined look on his face, Cat Noir used his staff to trip the charging villain. She fell to the ground with a thud.
Unfazed, Cat Noir half-scowled, half-squinted by furrowing his eyebrows and slightly scrunching his nose, looking around for what to do with the photo. He spotted Omuku clearly struggling to connect with Queen Wasp. She was waving her arms around as if she really wasn't sure what she was saying or doing, and had a worried, confused expression on her face. Queen Wasp seemed to have lost complete interest, and Omuku was becoming frantic and desperate.
It all clicked. He knew just what to do. The photo was an inspiration for Omuku to connect with Chloé: through mothers.

"Cat Noir!" Princess Panda whined, thoroughly annoyed as she dusted herself off. "What is that?" she asked, referring to the photo.

Shoot!
He quickly diverted his gaze from Omuku back to the villain in front of him. She can't know that Adrien is still there. "Hm? Oh, this picture? It's nothing." He pulled his classic sly smile and discreetly folded the photo between his fingers so it wasn't visible, tucking it into his palm.
Now that he knew what to do with it, he needed to find out how to get it to Omuku without Princess Panda noticing. If either of the villains noticed, Kagami would be in big trouble.
But how???