Return of a Killer

After

" Little kitty on a rooftop, all alone without his lady..."

" Hey bugaboo, so what was that sudden call for?"

" I did it."

" I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm purr-fectly fine with it."

It had been a few days since he and Ladybug had exchanged those words, but he really was happy for her that she completed whatever secret mission she had this time. The gaping hole in his memory was a bit of an issue though.

It seemed like weeks, heck, even an entire month or so had just outright vanished. He had already dropped by Marinette's house as Chat Noir to talk to her about it, and when he talked to Ladybug, she told him she was missing the same memories too. Paris had been mostly peaceful, but something nagged at him about his lack of memories and a lack of activity from Hawk Moth. Plagg had been telling him it must be related in some way. At least he was able to attend class in full now, when photo shoots let him of course.

Chat Noir shook his head, it was his turn to patrol, and he had to focus on it. He paced back and forth on the roof he was standing on, wondering where to go. He surveyed his surroundings and realized exactly what roof he was standing on, the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, home of Marinette Dupain-Cheng herself. Maybe a little patrol of the bakery shelves will do him some good. Plagg can't think on an empty stomach, and it isn't good for a superhero to starve, is it? 

He contemplated going down as Adrien, but then he'd have to feed Plagg to get him to power up again. So, just to show off for himself, he backflipped off the railing and landed on his feet, like all good cats, and strolled inside. The ring of the bell alerted nobody other than Marinette to his presence in the shop. She looked up from a randomly selected tile on the floor and immediately snapped to attention when she saw Chat Noir. " Good meow-fternoon, Marinette!" he greeted her cheerfully.

With a sigh she said, " Hello," and left her greeting at that. She was much too tired for his puns today, as both Marinette and Ladybug.

" Is there anything a cat can grab on the go today?" he asked, completely unbothered by her change of mood.

" Sorry, all out of pet food." Marinette replied sarcastically.

" Even cat treats?" he pouted.

" They all got taken by the last stray that wandered in." Marinette had to admit, it was a little bit fun to be on the teasing side.

" Maybe a couple macarons, then? Passion fruit, please." he requested.

" Coming right up." She said as she gathered up a small box of macarons, " That'll be £2."

Chat felt around for his wallet, but then realized he didn't have it on his person when he was transformed. And he flat out forgot it at home on top of that. He chuckled nervously and asked, " Could you hold on to that for me for a moment? I have to go get my wallet." to which Marinette looked annoyed, which he admittedly didn't like. So, he tried to soften it a little, " Because I saved you from Evillustrator?"

" You played that card three days ago." she responded.

" What about Gamer?" he added.

" That was your second card pulled that day."

" Puppeteer as Lady Wifi?"

" You just asked me what was going on and then left."

" Befana?"

" The day after."

" Glaciator?"

" Four days ago."

" Reverser?"

" Nope."

" Your own dad?"

" You used that last Thursday," upon hearing this, Chat Noir sulked, fully defeated by his own use of excuses. But his spirits were restored when he heard, " But, since you have saved me so many times, I will do it."

" Thanks Marinette! I promise I'll be back!" he said as he rushed out of the bakery and up onto the rooftops.

He would be back. But, as fate would have it, not for the macaroons.