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Feb 7, 2022

Bad Moon Rising

The team sat on top of the roof, waiting for the Louvre to lock up before heading down to investigate. They watched the last person leave, gently closing the door behind her.

She was cute. With short dark hair into pigtails, blue eyes shining as she shoved a couple of sketch pads into her bag, walking away.

“Hey Rob, you’re staring.”

“I am not,” he shot back, tearing his eyes away to look at his friend, ignoring the snickering behind him from Artemis.

“Someone’s got a cru-ush,” Wally sing songed behind him.

“Whatever,” he muttered, jumping off and making it to the Louvre, pulling open the door for the rest of his team to get inside. Closing the door, silently behind them, he had barely gotten the schematics to pull up the word “upstairs,” on his tongue before in a flash he was gone.

—-----------------------------

Robin spun around, alone in what appeared to be a jungle when moments before he'd been stepping into the Louvre with the team.

The soft rustle of a plant behind him broke the eerie silence, drawing his attention. He moved slowly, eyes darting around stopping as they met an almost luminescent toxic green pair starting down at him from a tree branch. A Cheshire grin joined shortly after before jumping down, landing lightly on their feet.

"I take it you are Robin?" they asked, studying him closely. "Would you care to enlighten me to why you are here and where here is?" she continued, pulling her attention from him as she moved around the small clearing. "Last I remember I was walking home in Paris and next here with you," she finished.

“Maybe if you tell me who you are?”

“Lady Noire at your service.”

“I thought Paris only had one cat themed individual running around.”

“Chat Noir retired after Hawkmoth. I take up the mantle on occasion,” she explained, looking into the woods.

Robin nodded, pulling up the map on the holographic computer in his glove. “Got word that a Lord of Chaos was coming after a powerful magical artifact in Paris. My team came to investigate, barely made it into the Louvre and got landed here,” he explained, frowning. “That’s weird. This says we’re still in Paris.”

He moved to recalibrate it before a small spark lept out before the screen flickered and disappeared. “Great.”

He looked up over to his companion, watching as she scanned the woods around them, the ears resting in her hair twitching, angling back slightly. He blinked, not expecting the seeming leather ears to move and act as real cat ears would.

“We should get moving. I don’t know what happened but there is a lot of Chaos magik here and it’s source is not something I think we want to encounter yet. How comfortable are you with moving through the treetops?”

He grinned. “Lead the way.”

He followed her up into the trees, calling out into the mental link, hoping to get some sort of contact.

‘Miss M? KF? Artemis? Any of you guys here?’

Silence seemed to echo in his head.

‘Aqualad? Superboy?’

Even better. He thought, almost barrelling into Lady Noire as she came to an abrupt halt.

Lady Noire scrunched her face as the ears on top of her head laid flat, her long braid almost seemed to lash back and forth as she whipped her head around to look back, as a screechy voice rang out through the forest.

“HERE KITTY KITTY. HeRE kiTTY kiTTY!”

“That voice is like nails on a chalkboard,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes back the way they came. “Go left.”

Robin lead the way, taking her occasional direction through the trees

“Get to ground,” she hissed silently to him, dropping down, landing silently as a red bolt hit the branch where she’d been moments before, She quickly pushed him into the bushes as someone rounded into their view. He spotted Klarion and his familiar, as Lady Noire growled, ears laying flat, braid appearing to lash the air again.

“You,” she spat, her eyes narrowing at Klarion. “I thought Ladybug kicked you out of Paris last month.”

“Takes more than a yo-yo and a fancy little bug to get rid of me. I want a Miraculous. And Paris has the biggest stash of them.”

“Then I guess I’ll finish what she started. You’re not getting one.”

He laughed looking at her, dropping his familiar onto the ground.

"Don't think you'll do much, Kit. You're oozing chaos and I'm chaos personified. Ladybug at least had good luck and order on her side."

She crossed her arms, tilting her head as she looked at him, giving him a once over. "I hate to break it to you, but while you may be 'chaos personified.' I am bad luck incarnate. And I reckon I have the upper hand here."

She leapt back, dodging his blasts as she pulled out her baton, spinning it around to create a shield. She frowned. As he pressed on, sending a red demonic hand pulling the staff out her hand, flying into the bushes, landing next to Robin. The other demonic hand went to grab her, she lashed out, the claws on her gloves slicing into it, dissipating it, with a hiss.

“You are playing with forces older than you can comprehend, witch,” she spat at him.

He kept on the offensive attack after attack, forcing her to dance out of the way to avoid the deadly talons the red hands possessed, while swiping to get rid of them.

“I want it, I want it. I WANT IT! GIVE IT TO ME!” he yelled, landing a lucky blow and smacking her into a tree, the wood cracking from the force of impact as she dropped, landing on her feet, but not recovering straight away.

A birdarang flew from the bushes, scratching his cheek as Robin moved out of the bushes, throwing Lady Noire’s staff back to her.

She caught it, putting some of her weight on it as Robin made his way to her.

“no No NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HOW DID YOU GET HERE!” he screeched, the blood trickling down his cheek.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Klarion?” he asked, cackling as he threw a few more bridarangs, pulling Lady Noire away as they began to flash, toppling trees left and right as they evaded Klarion. They’re quick escape was cut short as they found themselves, at the edge of a cliff, Teekl popping out of the woods moments after them. Klarion sure not to be far behind.

Lady Noire glanced over at him. “Do you trust me?”

“Do I have much of a choice?”

“Nope,” She said, giving him a quick grin. Placing her hand on the ground and calling out “Cataclysm!”

Robin couldn’t help the small yell that escaped his lips as the cliff edge disintegrated from under their feet, dropping them into free fall, Klarion’s demonic energy hands soaring harmlessly overhead. Lady Noire, wrapped her arm around his waist, using her other hand to grab her baton. She extended it, halting their free fall as she balanced on the tip, holding him a good two hundred feet up in the air.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her impossible long staff shrank, bringing them closer to the ground.

“A bit more warning would have been nice.”

“Sorry,” she offered, “I figured it was better than those claws ri-” A sharp beep beep cut her sentence off short. “Merde,” she muttered.

“What was that?”

“My timer,” she said, tense as she set him down and reholstered her baton. “Come on. We need to put as much distance between us and the witch boy as we can in the next four minutes.”

“What happens in four minutes?”

“My transformation drops,” she said, taking off into the woods, Robin taking off shortly right after her.

The two weaved between and through the trees before Lady Noire stopped in a small clearing, not too unlike the one where they first met.

“Stay here.”

“Where are you going?”

“Up a tree. I’m not looking to give away my identity so willingly,” she said, using her staff to carry herself up and landing softly on a branch, her long braid the only thing visible, before a bright green flash, and it was gone.

“Merde!”

“Everything okay?” he called.

“Everything is fine. Just fine. You wouldn’t happen to have any food on you? Preferably cheese?”

“Now’s not quite the time for a snack!”

“I know that! It’s not for me!”

“Then why are you asking?”

“Because I can’t transform back.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know about the heroes in Paris but not how their powers work?”

“Couldn’t get our hands on the information, not for lack of trying.”

The annoyed huff was faint but distinct. “In the long run that’s a good thing but- I can’t transform until I feed my kwamii.”

“Kwamii?”

“The mini-god that allows me to transform and channel the power of bad luck and destruction. Safely, I should add.”

“Safely?”

“Atlantis was caused by Plagg.”

“Hey, I resent that! It was an accident. I’ve gotten better at controlling it.”

“The dinosaurs?”

“I was young!”

“Who is that?”

“That would be Plagg. The Black Cat kwamii- Get back here!” she hissed, cutting herself off.

Robin looked up, spotting a small black shape flying towards him, stopping to float in front of him hovered what looked like the combination of a black cat if you scaled it down to the size of a mouse and made it a bug. It zipped around him before looking at him with the same toxic green eyes that he’d first seen on Lady Noire.

“I like this one, Pigtails! He seems fun!”

“No! Plagg, whatever you’re thinking, No!” her voice was annoyed, as the rustling of tree branches marked her descent down.

“Aw, c’mon let me have a bit of fun.”

“No.”

“You never let me have any fun.”

“I’m sorry, would you like me to stick you back in the box when we get home?”

“Nope! Fine! I won’t do anything!”

“Thank you!” she breathed, now firmly on the ground, her back on the other side of the tree. “Plagg, how long do you think it’ll take you to regain your energy without any food?”

The kwamii shrugged, disappearing around the tree trunk. “I don’t know. One, maybe two hours at best.”

“Great. Robin, does your cape come off?”

“Yes.”

“Throw it over here.”

He pulled it off, throwing it over to where she was hidden, a hand darted out, catching it, and pulling it in. A minute later, she stepped out around the tree, cape folded and tied over her shoulders in a way to create a hood, she had pulled low over her face.

“Thank you.”

“Can you see?”

“Well enough. Keep an eye out for any berries or fruit that may be edible.”

“Pigtails-”

“I don’t have camembert and we have a Lord of Chaos on our tail, Plagg. It’s going to be whatever we find here or whenever you regain your strength, whichever comes first. I’ll give you all the camembert you want when we get back. Now snuggle in please so you can rest up.”

“Fine.”

Robin watched the small cat fly through the cape and disappear beneath the hood, as she started off.

“Go on. I know you have questions.”

“Tell me more about the Miraculous.”

“Miraculi, magical jewelry that allow kwamii to share their power with mortals, transforming them and granting them access to certain abilities. Kwamii, they power the Miraculi, small animalistic gods representing abstract concepts. Plagg as I said is Bad Luck and Destruction. His counterpart, Tikki, the Ladybug kwamii is Good Luck and Creation. They are the two most powerful Miraculi, and should never be combined.”

“Why is that?”

“The amount of power. For one thing it is incredibly taxing to wear more than one Miraculous and for another, it grants the wearer a wish.”

“And what’s so bad about that?”

“The Miraculi, especially the Cat and Ladybug, are about balance. You wish for one thing; something must be taken in return. The Black Death was the result of one such wish.”

“So what happens, do you just find them, do they get passed down, magically appear and choose you?”

She laughed as he asked this. “They seem like they magically appeared, at least the first time I was given one.There is a guardian, they hand them out when needed and take them back when not. They do their best to match the Miraculi to the users but that’s not always possible.”

“Where is this guardian?”

Noir was tense as she shrugged. “No clue. I have no idea where they are.”

Robin didn’t believe her but didn’t push as the two continued on through the woods, the silence welcome reprise for a moment to regain their bearings. They’d lost Klarion for now. He’d need to be taken care of in order to return the two of them back to Paris from wherever they were currently, but Noire needed to be able to transform again before that happens. Ideally, anyways. They’d only need a bit more time before Plagg thought he’d be replenished if they could just avoid the Witch Boy until then. Plagg’s bad luck didn’t seem willing to grant them any favors apparently as they turned the corner to Klarion’s back.

Teekl grabbed the Witch’s attention as he turned to the two teens. He looked over the two of them, pouting slightly as he failed to notice the Cat heroine.

“Did the kitty run away? Too scared to play? I would have liked to get their Miraculous. But the rest of them will do! Give me the box, Guardian!”

Noir was about to respond when the irritated mrreeoow from Teekl cutting the sharp words on her tongue off short.

“I know! Teekl I feel the destruction on her! That Cat went and got her! Of course it’s stronger than the others,” he snapped. “Stupid cat.”

Marinette felt Robin’s eyes staring at her. She glanced over giving him a small shake of the head, missing the demonic hands flying her way, diving out of the and rolling to a stand, cursing as the claws snagged the cape, yanking it off of her. She turned, taking in the situation quickly, Klarion standing with Teekl, his annoying smirk ever present as he took her in, and Robin-

And Robin was staring once more, quickly turning his head away as her eyes met his as he forced the faint blush on his cheeks as Wally’s voice from earlier sang ‘Someone’s got a cru-ush,’ in the back of his head, repeatedly.

She shook her head as Klarion spoke.

“A lot younger than the previous Guardian aren’t you? Where is the box? Where is it!?”

She shrugged. “”I couldn’t tell you. Especially since I have no clue where I am right now.”

“Please! The Guardian always kept the box on them. Have for Millenia. So where is it?”

“I. don’t. Know.” she bit out. “All I know is you are going to be out of luck here pretty soon.”

“The only luck clinging to you is Bad Luck, Guardian. It’s in my favor.”

She laughed.

“Bad luck breeds chaos, that’s true, but it can flip the coin for some order just as easily,” she taunted softly, running her hand around the trunk of a couple trees as she danced around Klarion’s attacks before she grabbed Robin’s hand and took off, pulling him through the trees. The loud crashing and yowling behind them startled Boy Wonder.

“That’ll only slow him down for a few minutes. A half hour if we’re lucky. Plagg, how long?”

“Geez, I don’t know, Pigtails. 15-30 minutes?”

“Guardian, huh? Didn’t think to share that tidbit earlier when you lied about not knowing where they were.”

She gave him a small smirk. “I never lied. I have no idea where I am right now.”

“Clever.”

“Kind of my calling card at this point,” she muttered, ducking around a tree, tripping over a root and falling, pulling Robin down with her. “Merde!” she cursed softly, pulling her leg up. “Someone remind me why I took you out of the box today and not Tikki.”

“Because I won Go Fish last week,” the kwamii crowed gleefully.

“We’re playing rummy next time,” she declared, glaring at the small bugcat before looking at the gash on her leg. She hissed slightly as she pulled some debris from the wound. Robin kneeled down next to her, pulling out first aid supplies from his belt as he did so.

“Mind if I-”

“All yours,” she said, laying back, not watching him as he looked at the sliced leg. It wasn’t too deep, not nearly enough to garner stitches.

“How did Klarion not connect the dots between you and Lady Noire?” He asked as he cleaned the wound up, disinfecting and beginning to wrap it up.

“Magic. The suit’s magic makes it hard to connect the dots. Virtually impossible if you don’t see me transform or detransform. Or are near enough to them, I suppose,” she explained as he finished securing the bandage, stowing the supplies back in his belt.

“All taken care of. Are you good to walk, need painkillers or anything?”

“Just need a minute. I’ll be fine just got to get resettled,” she said, sitting up. “You're awfully prepared.”

“B’s made sure to always be prepared for the worst. One of the first lessons: always have your belt on you and fully stocked,” he replied grinning.

She grimaced slightly, pulling herself to standing, blood, speckling the outside of the wrap.

Robin reached out to steady her slightly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ll survive until we make it back. Just need to take care of Klarion and the box first.”

“Where is the box?”

She raised a brow at his question, shaking her head. “Not sharing that information. The less people know the safer it is. But It’s not here. So he’s not going to be able to steal it from me, I can guarantee that much. The only one he could get his hands on here is Plagg and while that’d be bad, I can imagine, Plagg would drive him insane before long,” she attempted to be joking, her tight tone and small smile gave that much away. Plagg looked serious for the first time since Robin had met him as the kwamii looked at his holder.

“Pigtails-”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s not happening any time soon if I can prevent it. How are you feeling?”

“Not as good as I would with some camembert but I can make do.”

“Perfect. Plagg, Claws Out!” she called out, Robin shielding his eyes slightly as she was enveloped in a bright green flash, Lady Noire standing in her place once more.She bounced lightly on her toes, Cheshire grin forming as she looked at him. “And that takes care of two problems.”

“Your leg?”

“Mari’s problem for when I detransform,” she replied quickly, before freezing and looking at him. “Please forget that I just said that. It’s been a little bit since I worked with someone who doesn’t know me under the mask.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Thank you. My leg is fine until I detransform, the suit’s magic has some wonderful protection and healing capabilities. Now, What do you say we finish this and get back to Paris?”

“Asterous.”

She blinked, shaking her head slightly. “I am not even going to ask. I will say however, I think we have a plan. Klarion always has his cat with him doesn’t he?”

“I think so. I wasn’t with the team last we encountered him. Kid Flash dealt with him. But League records suggest so.”

“Perfect. That’s the target then.”

“What?”

“Magic is hard to control without a tether. It’s wild. Unpredictable. Plagg without a holder sunk Atlantis and killed off the dinosaurs. With the small modicum of control he can muster without being in the ring, he can crack a city in half. On a good day. If Klarion truly is ‘chaos personified’ to have the amount of control over his magic is impressive. As in it shouldn’t be possible without a tether. Something anchoring him and his magic to this realm. And something tells me it’s his familiar. Get rid of the familiar, get rid of the Witch Boy.”

“You know a lot about how magic of other realms work,” he observed.

“You learn a lot about magic caring for small gods,” she replied with a sly grin.

—-----------------------------

The pair stepped into the clearing, the light of the full moon illuminating the small area. Lady Noire taking a look around before letting out a shrill whistle.

The cat entered the clearing first, the soft rustling of bushes indicating Klarion wasn’t much further. Robin made his move, the bolas wrapping around Teekl’s paws, knocking the cat to the ground, the small impact causing Klarion to almost blip in his spot as he came into the clearing.

“TEEKL! Low blow attacking a harmless kitty cat,” he snarled at the pair, picking up the bound cat.

“We all know that cat’s have claws, and that one is very precious to your time here.”

“NO! NO you don’t know that!”

“Then why don’t you put the cat down?” she asked, tilting her head, advancing on the Lord of Chaos.

“After you assaulted my poor little cat? No!”

A bridarang flew, nearly hitting the cat before a red shield flew up, deflecting it at the last minute, as Lady Noire came from the otherside, flipping over the witch and snagging his familiar from his arms, holding it by its scruff.

“NO TEEKL!”

“You have two options here. You can take your familiar, drop me and Robin off safely back at the Louvre, or there’s a very lovely cliff not too far from here, I don’t think you’re familiar has enough lives to keep you and your magic tethered here if they even survive,” she threatened. The Witch Boy glared at her before giving a soft but decisive snap.

And just like that the jungle they were in disappeared in a flash, leaving the two standing in the Louvre, Teekl and Klarion gone. Lady Noire blinked, noting the weapons drawn, a bow pointed right at her. She instinctively dropped into a fighting staff, baton held extending in a defensive position, ears laying flat against her head as she narrowed her eyes.

“Rob!”

“Woah. Guys relax. She’s a friend. This is Lady Noire. One of Paris’ heroes.”

The other young heroes relaxed, looking the two of them over.

“Kid Flash. Lovely to meet you M’Lady,” he introduced, kissing the back of her hand. “And I’d love to take you out sometime.”

Her eyes gleamed, playfully as she laughed. “M'Lady, that's new for this costume,” she said with a grin. “Sorry, KF. I think Boy Wonder gets the first pass here,” she replied with a light laugh. “And I need to run. Pleasure working with you, Robin. Nice to meet the rest of you,” she said, before extending her staff and disappearing over the rooftops.

“She was in a rush,” Artemis, replied cooly.

“She’s got some responsibilities to take care of.”

“What happened, Robin?” Aqualad asked.

“Honestly, I'm not sure. But Klarion’s been taken care of. The magical artifact he was after is safe. He won’t be getting his hand on whatever’s here for a long time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

The team moved out exiting the museum, Robin barely making it out before another body rammed into him. Robin, moved quickly catching the body before they hit the ground. His cheeks heating up slightly as he saw Mari in his arms.

“I am so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Thank you for the quick save,” she said, collecting herself and hurrying off, a blush of her own present on her cheeks.

Robin watched as she walked away, the small limp in her gait barely perceptible had he not been looking for it as she rushed off. She looked back at the group once more and with a soft smile as she made eye contact with Robin, giving him a wink as a small piece of paper dropped from her bag, before she ran to catch up with a boy carrying a guitar case. The two of them walking off into the Parisian night.

“Looks like your little Paris crush is already taken, Rob.”

Robin hid the small grin on his face as he shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll be right back. Going to call B real quick for a quick check in.”

Robin split away from the team for a moment, after making his hasty excuse and picking up the paper that’d fallen, grinning at the dancing script reading Marinette, with a phone number hastily scribbled underneath.

The Boy Wonder’s gleeful cackle echoed through area around the Louvre as he pocket the paper, promising to call it the next day.

#No beta this is war #Maribat #Dickinette #GUITAR BOY #mgicivilwar2022 #MGI Civil War 2022

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