Someone New - Chapter Two
Read Chapter One HERE / AO3 LINK
CWs: Minor violence (typical of the show)
-
Adrien noticed pretty quickly that Ladybug was acting very different with this version of him.
She stuttered over herself, her body language nervous and fidgety. Adrien almost sent her falling off a roof when Catwalker called her ‘honey’, picked up once again from Felicity, in lieu of ‘my lady’.
That, and Ladybug was so… blushy , in a way Adrien had never seen before.
Was it that jarring, working with someone other than Chat Noir? It made Adrien feel a bit smug, that Ladybug was so off her game without the him that she was used to, a small modicum of satisfaction that he selfishly squirreled away deep in his mind.
“C-Catwalker, um-!” Ladybug called after her, hastily landing on the rooftop when she paused. “What—where, um, I mean—“
Ladybug was red again, pulling on the string of her yo-yo in a nervous fidget. “How did Plagg find you?”
Catwalker blinked. Ah, damn, she’d have to make up a story…
“Isn’t it against the rules to share any personal details, Ladybug?” She opted to ask back, smirking a little. She couldn’t resist teasing her lady, in this nervous state she’d never seen before.
Ladybug turned even redder. “It is!! It absolutely is, I just-!” She cleared her throat.
“I-I’ve just never seen someone like you before, that’s all,” Ladybug said, wincing at herself. Catwalker huffed a small but real laugh.
“Like me?” She tilted her head, her expression playful, and that sent Ladybug stammering again.
“N-nevermind, just forget it-!” Ladybug threw her yo-yo and launched away in the blink of an eye, leaving Catwalker to follow with her line of sight.
Adrien felt a strange feeling in his chest, as Catwalker raced to catch up. For some reason…he liked hearing that.
Someone like you.
-
Their time “getting to know each other”—a moot point, since Adrien already knew Ladybug, but he had to play along—was cut short by an earthquake that shook the roof they were standing on.
Catwalker grabbed onto Ladybug to keep her steady on complete instinct, and Ladybug’s breath caught.
“Akuma?” Catwalker asked, her eyes and ears swiveling around to catch sight of evidence of Hawkmoth. Ladybug stuttered.
“H-huh? Oh, oh, yes! An akuma!” Ladybug shook her head, and for the first time since Catwalker met her, she looked like that confident superhero Adrien knew.
“Come on!”
Catwalker leapt after Ladybug, keeping up with her as she swung through the Parisian streets towards—well, presumably the source of all this, though Adrien still had no idea how Ladybug managed to find the villain of the week so quickly like that.
They rounded the corner of the Montparnasse area, to see a giant akuma of a black cat toy using the Tour Montparnasse as a scratching post. Ladybug gasped in horror.
“No, Chat Noir, stop!” Ladybug cried as they came closer, startling Catwalker. “This is ridiculous!”
“You think that’s Chat Noir?” Catwalker asked, failing to keep the incredulousness out of her tone as the two of them dodged a swipe from the akuma cat’s giant claws, sprinting away from the beast.
“Of course it’s Chat Noir!” Ladybug replied, her eyes wide and distressed. “He must’ve been akumatized because he regrets having given up his Miraculous!”
Catwalker hesitated as she ran, glancing to meet Ladybug’s eyes.
“What if it’s not Chat Noir?” She posited, as vaguely as she could without outright telling Ladybug that she knew for a fact the akuma wasn’t her ‘old’ partner.
“Leave this to me, Catwalker,” Ladybug commanded, that determined look on her face that made Adrien fall in love over and over. “I know him really well.”
The akuma then smacked Ladybug into the Tour Montparnasse hard enough to crack the glass in a radius, and Catwalker gasped. “Ladybug!”
The cat akuma slammed a massive paw down on Ladybug, pinning her to the skyscraper. Ladybug only barely managed to catch the akuma’s massive claws before they tore into her, though she was obviously struggling with the akuma’s size and strength.
“I’m sorry, Chat Noir!” Ladybug cried, her expression tight and distressed as her arms shook from trying to hold the akuma back. “I didn’t realize how broken-hearted you were over this!”
The akuma, predictably, didn’t react to Ladybug’s pleading. Catwalker leapt for her lady, slamming into her and getting her out of the way right before the akuma’s other paw crushed her.
Catwalker managed to roll both of them behind a column and out of sight of the akuma, holding Ladybug to her chest as she watched the akuma run off in the opposite direction to search for them.
Catwalker breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Ladybug, who had gone very red again. “If that was Chat Noir, don’t you think he’d talk to you?”
Ladybug seemed to shake her head, like she was trying to refocus.
“I-it's true, he usually does talk a lot more—he must be really upset that I found someone to take his place!” Ladybug fretted, her hands holding her face in distress. Catwalker tried very hard not to let her expression fall into a deadpan look.
She instead peered around the column again to watch the akuma, which was idly scratching its ear now that it had nobody to chase. Her eyes were pulled to a slot on the akuma’s back.
“With that slot on his back, he looks more like a piggy bank, don’t you think?” She pointed out, and Ladybug started running back towards the giant akuma.
“You’ll see when we de-akumatize him!” She called as she ran. “Cataclysm his bell, I’m sure that’s where the akuma is!”
“Hang on!” Catwalker called in a panic, sprinting after Ladybug. “Ladybug, what if that’s a sentimonster? If I use my power on him, he’ll lose control and become more dangerous!”
Ladybug gasped and skidded to a stop. “You’re right! Wow, Plagg took his job as a coach seriously-”
She then shook her head. “But trust me, I know Chat Noir-”
Catwalker sighed and rolled her eyes. They didn’t have time to argue about this!
She sprinted towards the giant akuma, even though Ladybug called after her in a panic. “H-hey, what are you doing?!”
“Here, kitty-kitty!” Catwalker called, leaping up to run along the edge of a rooftop in the akuma’s line of sight. “Meow-meow, kitty!”
The akuma yowled and leapt after her, but she was just fast enough to stay ahead of the beast while she looked around for-
There!
Catwalker leapt off a roof and landed in a roll on a patch of grass in one of Paris’ parks, looking it over. This would work.
“Meow, meow, meow!” Catwalker called, as the giant akuma thundered into view. “Pspspsps, that’s right, come here~!”
The akuma pounced into the park and reeled back to slam a paw down on Catwalker, but paused when it noticed her purring and miming eating the grass. “Mmm, smells good!”
Just as Catwalker hoped, the akuma paused, before it started to eat giant clumps of the grass. Catwalker got back to her feet and backed away, until she could leap up to the rooftop Ladybug landed on.
“What’s he doing?” Ladybug asked confusedly, watching the akuma with pinched brows.
“Cats sometimes eat grass. It helps them spit up hairballs,” Catwalker answered, forgetting that most ‘normal’ people probably didn’t know in-depth trivia about cats like she did. Thankfully, though, Ladybug didn’t seem to pick up on that oddity.
“Chat Noir loves acting like a clown, but he wouldn’t go as far as to eat real grass!” Ladybug commented, wrinkling her nose. Catwalker winced, feeling both a little hurt and a little offended.
“I agree, honey.” She said smoothly, covering her reaction. “But we don’t know for sure if that’s a sentimonster or someone who’s been akumatized. We shouldn’t make any rash decisions.”
Catwalker watched as the giant akuma hacked a few times, and then ran off again, acting every part like an actual cat. “Let’s wait until we find out more, hm?”
Ladybug’s expression shifted to be crestfallen, and Catwalker hurriedly backpedaled.
“ If that’s alright with you, of course. You’re the Guardian, you know best,” Catwalker smiled at Ladybug, but that only seemed to make her lady more despairing.
“You were right from the start, of course that’s not Chat Noir!” Ladybug scowled at her hands.
“It’s understandable why you’d think that, my—honey,” Catwalker said, softer, nearly slipping up again in the face of her lady’s distress. Ladybug shook her head and threw her arms out in front of her.
“Yeah, but, hello! I just confused my former partner with a giant piggy bank! I didn’t see that he was hurt, and I couldn’t stop him from leaving, either!” Ladybug hung her head and closed her eyes. “I must be the worst Guardian ever-”
“Stop,” Catwalker said, firmly, placing her hand on Ladybug’s shoulder and squeezing it. “I won’t have you talk about yourself that way, Ladybug.”
Ladybug’s breath caught, and she opened her eyes to look at Catwalker with a miserable expression. Catwalker met her eyes sternly, channeling that confidence and security in herself to keep up her character.
“You are the best hero this city has,” Catwalker said firmly, speaking from the heart. “And you’re allowed to make mistakes. Okay?”
She stood up, offering her hand to Ladybug. “Let’s just focus on fixing this. Just like you always do.” Her expression softened, and she winked down at Ladybug.
Her lady stared up at her, her blue eyes wide and cheeks flushed. God, she was so beautiful.
Catwalker shook the thought from her mind. This wasn’t about her feelings for Ladybug. That’s what got her in this situation to begin with.
Ladybug slowly accepted Catwalker’s hand, and she pulled her lady to her feet.
“U-uh…thanks,” Ladybug stammered, and Catwalker smiled.
“Don’t thank me, honey. Just doing my job as a partner to the best Guardian around.” Catwalker extended her other arm out towards the akuma, who was currently playing with the Roue de Paris like a giant hamster-ball toy. “Now, shall we?”
Ladybug smiled back, that determined glint back in her eye as they turned to the akuma wreaking havoc on Paris.
The two of them jumped towards the giant cat, who yowled and leapt for them as soon as it saw them, Catwalker and Ladybug splitting to avoid a blow from the akuma’s giant paw.
Ladybug threw her yo-yo to wrap around the akuma’s leg, but it just snarled and threw its paw back, sending Ladybug flying with a yelp. Catwalker grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the akuma, before noticing it had gotten distracted with emergency response helicopters that appeared to distract the akuma and help out their heroes.
Catwalker grinned, darting over to the distracted akuma and leaping up its massive body to snatch Ladybug’s yo-yo back where it hung off the cat’s leg. “Gotcha!”
She landed into a roll, effortlessly springing to her feet and dashing over to meet Ladybug from where she’d been tossed. “Here you are, honey.”
“T-thanks,” Ladybug stammered, accepting her yo-yo from Catwalker with a red face under her mask. “U-um—for charming—I mean-!”
“...Lucky Charm?” Catwalker guided, amused at the sight of Ladybug so nervous, though it concerned her a bit. Did Ladybug hit her head when she was tossed by the akuma?
“What?” Ladybug blinked up at Catwalker. Catwalker blinked back.
“Your…yo-yo?” She said, “For your Lucky Charm?”
“O-oh! Yes!” Ladybug nervously laughed. “Right!”
Ladybug tossed her yo-yo up in the air, the magical tool spinning in a mesmerizing dance of pink and red light. “Lucky Charm!”
Her magic ladybugs materialized into a giant cloth that fell into her hands, and Ladybug got that analytical look in her eye that Adrien knew so well. “A parachute?”
Ladybug looked up, her brows furrowing as she took stock of her surroundings with this clue. Adrien loved when she did this—he could only dream of what went on in her beautiful mind.
Ladybug looked at Catwalker, then down at the parachute, and then at the giant cat akuma. Her eyes widened.
“Grass,” Ladybug mumbled under her breath. “I know what to do! Keep the kitty distracted until I get back!”
Catwalker grinned, nodding to Ladybug and splitting off from her right as the giant akuma got dangerously close to swatting one of the helping helicopters out of the night sky. Catwalker waved her arms to tell the helicopters to back up.
“Here, kitty~! Let’s have a little catfight, huh?” Catwalker sharply grinned, and she skidded on her heel as the akuma yowled and took off after her.
Catwalker was chased all over Paris, always a step ahead of the akuma-
Until she wasn’t.
She yelled as the akuma got a lucky shot on her when she turned a corner too narrowly, smacking her into a brick wall and dazing her for a few precious seconds.
The akuma took the opportunity, cornering Catwalker and raising its massive paw to bring it down on her-
And then the akuma’s attention was pulled by a sharp shot of a yo-yo smacking into the side of its head, the beast snapping its head towards the offender with a growl.
“Hey, kitty-kitty! Why don’t you take a snack break?!” Ladybug’s strong voice shouted, and Catwalker watched as her lady leapt into the air, swinging the parachute around, now full of something Catwalker couldn’t quite make out, and heaving it into the akuma’s mouth.
It was a direct shot, and the akuma swallowed the entire bundle, stumbling back and hacking as Ladybug landed beside her fallen partner to help Catwalker to her feet.
Catwalker gratefully accepted the help, wincing a little as the akuma finally coughed up the parachute, a load of cut grass, and a small child clinging to a piggy bank.
Ladybug gasped, and her and Catwalker sprinted to the kid.
“Could you please give me your piggy bank?” Ladybug asked gently, crouching down and holding out her hand. The child shied away from her, a scowl on her small face.
“No way!” She gripped the lucky-cat themed piggy bank tighter. “All the money I saved up to buy kitty toys for my cat is in here!”
Ladybug blinked and looked at the giant cat akuma/sentimonster, which looked a little sick. “Um… him?”
The poor kid looked about to cry. “No, my cat’s ran away.” The girl sniffled. “So Shadow Moth promised he’d give me the biggest kitty in the world to replace him, but this cat is mean!”
She started to hiccup through her words. “I want my kitty cat!”
Catwalker’s heart hurt for the poor kid, so she stepped back to look around while Ladybug consoled the girl, her ears pricking for any sound of a cat.
She leapt on top of a rooftop to better scope out the alleyways, her ear twisting when she heard the sound of a small mew.
Catwalker smiled as she saw a little black kitten with green eyes, a red collar, and a golden bell, just like the sentimonster, warily wandering the Parisian streets. She gracefully dropped down behind the kitten, crouching and offering her hand. “Pspsps, c’mere, little guy…”
Thankfully, the kitten seemed to like people, so with a ‘mrrp!’ and a friendly lift of the tail, he frolicked over and rubbed his head against Catwalker’s knuckles.
“Aww,” Catwalker cooed, smiling softly. “You’re a good kitty…come on, your girl misses you.”
The kitten didn’t protest as Catwalker scooped him up, just in time for Ladybug’s magic ladybugs to explode across the night sky, reversing all of the sentimonster’s damage. Catwalker smiled, and quickly leapt away to reconvene with her lady and the poor girl, keeping the kitten safe against her chest.
She easily landed a few feet away from Ladybug and the little girl, and the kid lit up like a lightbulb when she saw her kitten in Catwalker’s hold.
“My kitten!!” The girl cried, sprinting towards Catwalker, who smiled and easily let the girl scoop the kitten out of her arms and hug him.
Catwalker watched the girl play with her precious pet with a soft heart, looking at Ladybug as she came closer.
“You did good, honey.” Catwalker praised, and Ladybug smiled, her cheeks going that pretty red again. “So did you.”
“Shall we?” Catwalker offered her hand to the little girl, who kissed her kitten on the head and then nodded, giving a sleepy yawn.
“Come on, sweetheart. We’ll get you home.” Catwalker picked the little girl and her kitten up with ease, though she paused when Ladybug’s earrings beeped in warning of her detransformation.
“Oh, uh-” A brief look of panic crossed Ladybug’s face, but Catwalker just waved her hand.
“Go on,” She said easily. “I’ll get her home. Until next time?”
She held out her fist for a fistbump before she could remember not to, but thankfully Ladybug didn’t seem to find that suspicious, shyly returning the gesture.
“Until next time. Thank you, Catwalker,” Ladybug said, genuinely, and Catwalker smiled.
“Anything for you.”
