Tales of the Bug and Cat: Book 2

Chapter 32: Dummy

Sunday, February 18th Late at night

Chat Noir left his room as soon as it took for him to "get ready" for bed, and bid his parents good night. He used his baton to leave through his window. Bouncing from roof to roof, his black suit blurred into the dark night, making him practially invisible. 

He couldn't wait to get there and start practicing with Ladybug and Master Fu. Chat Noir was the most exciting thing to happen to Adrien. Maybe the best thing... being able to go to school and meet Nino, Mari, Alya, and the others was amazing, but this second life made it so he could be himself without being Adrien Agreste, without having so much to uphold that his soul gets imprisoned. Not as Chat Noir, though; as Chat Noir, he was himself, but more confident, more carefree.

Chat landed on the roof of the school, Master Fu was already there, but Ladybug was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello Chat Noir." Master Fu nodded in Chat's direction, more focused on setting up the dummy  in front of him. "Sorry for the late notice, but I'm going out of town for a short bit, and I wanted to get in a training session before then. You and Ladybug need as much training as possible, as soon as possible." 

Chat guessed they'd be practiced on the two dummys Master Fu was setting up, but tilted his head, curiously, as Master Fu poured a liquid onto both dummys. Fu saw Chat staring, and chuckled.

"It's a potion to make the dummys mobile for a short time. I doubled the strength so it should last half an hour before the effects wear off." Master Fu's focus shifted to right behind Chat. "Welcome, Ladybug."

"Hi." She walked up right besides Chat, and he couldn't help but just look at her the whole time. His cat ears perked up, and he turned right to the dummys where they were slowly starting to move their limbs. 

"You'll be fighting these dummys together. They won't do any real harm to you, but they are trying to win. Good luck." Master Fu instructed before walking away to the other side of the roof. 

Chat Noir and Ladybug stepped up to the dummys, grabbing their weapons tight, unsure of what to expect. Chat Noir extended his baton a bit, and lightly stabbed one of the dummys. In response, the dummy grabbed his baton and threw Chat across the roof.

"Chat." Ladybug ran after him, giving him a hand up. The dummys ran after them.

"They're fast?" Ladybug started swinging her yoyo as a shield. 

"How fast are you?" Chat asked, tilting his head, and holding up his baton.

Master Fu watched curiously, unsure of what they was going to do, but Ladybug seemed to understand. She tied one end of her yoyo to Chat's baton, and then both ran in opposite directions, circling around the dummys. Chat jumped over Ladybug as they reached the opposite side, going around the dummys a few more time, trapping them.

"Oh." Ladybug sighed.

For a second they seemed to be trapped, but then the dummys broke the string. 

"What now?" Chat got into an attack position, ready to jump.

Ladybug was silent for a second. He looked over at her, a concentrated look upon her face. 

"LUCKY CHARM!" She activated her power and a pair of handcuffs appeared. "Activate your power.  I'm going to cuff them together and get them down on the ground, them you can use your destruction to make the dummys disappear."

"You got it, my lady. CATACLYSM!" A black glow appeared in his fist. Seeing his power actiated, Ladybug ran towards the dummys. Chat prepared to run the second they were cuffed together, so there wouldn't be any time for them to break free.

In a second, their ankles were connected, and with a pull on her yoyo, Ladybug dragged them both to the ground. Chat ran forwards, reaching his hand out to touch the heels of both dummys at once. In a second, they disappeared, a slight bit of ash left behind.

"We did it!" Ladybug breathed out, relieved. 

Chat walked towards her for a fist bump. "Pound it." He said as she reciprocated.

"Okay that's enough for tonight." Master Fu sat up. "Say miraculous ladybug, Ladybug."

"Miraculous Ladybug?" She questioned, but with a small burst of light, the dummys returned, as if Chat had never used his powers on them. 

"Good session. I'll see you both soon enough."

"That's it?" She asked.

"Yep."

Chat thought it seemed short to stop after one fight, but didn't argue as he thought of his warm bed. "Bye Master."

"Bye Master Fu." Ladybug helped Master Fu pick up both of the dummys. Placing his cane on top, he had no trouble in walking towards the exit.

Ladybug turned back to Chat, just the two of them left. "Well, bye Chat. I'll see you soon, I guess."

"Wait." Chat touched her elbow and she moved to yoyo herself back home. "We weren't here for long. I..I want to learn more about you." He blurted out.

Ladybug seemed surprised. "Well, we can't know who each other are..."

"We don't need to know each other's names in order to know each other's favorite food." He countered, smiling at Ladybug.

She laughed and smiled back. Chat knew at once it was the most beautiful things he's ever heard and ever seen. 

"Macarons." She said with a blank stare, maybe thinking of a specific macaron.

"Those are amazing." Chat agreed, walking past her to sit on the edge of the roof, like they were last time. "For me I have to say those brownie cookies desserts." Maybe it was just the memory of the dessert earlier tonight, or maybe it is his favorite. Either way it tastes amazing.

"Really?" Ladybug asked, not even knowing the last time she made those. 

"They're the best. Gooey chocolate..." Chat make a kiss to the air like a chef would after perfecting a dish. 

"God, I love gooey chocolate!" Ladybug agreed, sitting down crisscrossed next to Chat. "The way it melts in your mouth."

"It's fan-cat-stic." Chat nodded. He noticed that she rolled her eyes.  "You don't like my jokes, my lady?"

Ladybug tilted her head. "..I don't even know. It's just so out of place. We're supposed to be fighters, heroes, and jokes don't fit there."

"But jokes are part of the fun. They lighten the mood in a world of despair. We could die, might as well go out smiling." Chat mused.

Ladybug and Chat stared at each other for a second. Neither making a sound. 

"You go from hilarious to serious in one second."

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Chatton." She elbowed him, teasingly. 

Chat loved the way she smiled, her glow in the dark. "Hey, I got an idea." He stood up, grabbing Ladybug's hand to pull her up.

"What?"

"Just hold on tight." He wrapped a hand around her waist and she placed hand around his shoulders right before he took off into the sky, taking her with him.