Continuing Tales

Both of You

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by Maerynn

Part 44 of 53

<< Previous     Home     Next >>
Untitled Document

"Are you falling asleep on my shoulder, Princess?" Adrien's tone was teasing, yet gentle. His fingers were still drawing lazy circles on her hip, his other hand benevolently holding hers on his chest and stroking her fingers with an expression of sheer awe on his face. Marinette sighed contentedly against the fabric of his suit, nuzzling her nose in the crook of his neck.

"I'm just really, really happy right now," she whispered just loud enough to be heard of him above the gentle cheesy love song playing. Adrien lightly squeezed her fingers lingering on his heart in answer and pressed yet another soft kiss on her forehead, eliciting a quiet giggle from her.

"I'm really happy too, Marinette," he said, tightening his hold around her waist longingly. They were barely even dancing anymore, instead basking in each other's embrace, in each other's warmth. "This is perfect," he breathed against her skin, "Being here, with the woman of my dreams, dancing the night away, I couldn't dream of a more perfect moment…"

Marinette beamed at him, her eyes sparkling with love and adoration. She let go of his hand to snake her arms around his neck and rest her forehead against his. "Hush, silly kitty, you're going to jinx it."

"Not when I have my very own lucky charm with me," he chuckled, leaning in with half-lidded eyes. The young woman laughed and rose up on her tiptoes, meeting him halfway into what should have been a sweet and gentle kiss between two young people hopelessly in love with each other.

What should have been, if all too familiar screams hadn't startled them out of their little private bubble, breaking the charm and bringing them back to an unpleasant reality where supervillains were still a thing, and superhero responsibilities still beckoned upon them. Marinette and Adrien groaned simultaneously as they regretfully broke apart from each other. Couldn't they have just one single evening free of fights and drama?

Adrien held his hand out to her, a sorry smile dancing on his lips. "I'm sorry, Princess. My infamous bad luck finally caught up with us it'd seem."

She slid her hand into his, grinning at him reassuringly, "Don't worry, the night's not over yet. Let's take care of this as quick as we can."

"Lead the way, my Lady."

Hand in hand, they broke into a sprint, heading for the exit of the hotel and away from the screams and commotion caused by what was probably an akuma. Their momentum was halted before they were even halfway across the room as the double door of the ballroom crashed violently open.

On the threshold stood tall a lean lady, clad in a searingly crimson ballroom dancing dress. Perched on a dangerously high pair of scarlet heels, her black mane was slicked into a tight bun without a single hair out of place. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she scanned the now very still room with icy dark eyes.

"Why aren't you all dancing?" she snarled, pointing a perfectly manicured hand toward a bunch of students. With loud pitiful yelps, they all started to undulate to the music, executing near professional steps with a level of skill and grace that didn't match their terrified and hopeless expressions.

Adrien and Marinette ducked behind a table in perfect sync, just in time to get out of sight of the akuma who squinted her eyes in their general direction. "Now that's settled, where's Adrien Agreste? I'm the Dancing Queen, and the Queen deserves nothing short of the best dancer as her eternal partner."

Dancing Queen started to walk slowly toward them, long ribbons floating in a non-existent breeze in her wake, forging other rather odd dancing pairs as she progressed at an unsettling pace through the room. In any other circumstances, Adrien would've been delighted by the uncanny and hilarious sight of Mr. Damocles breaking into a near-perfect salsa with Mme Mendeleiev as an impromptu partner, while Mlle Bustier was caught into a breathtaking tango with Max. Merely even a few feet away from where he and Marinette hid, Ivan and Kim were unsuccessfully trying to figure out how to stop their frenetic foxtrot with matching utterly panicked faces.

The akuma was getting dangerously close, and when Adrien's eyes met Marinette's, he read similar worries in her gaze. "This is bad," he half-mouthed, half-whispered to her, anxiously scanning their surroundings for an idea, an escape, anything that could get them out of their predicament, to no avail. She nodded, an uncomfortable lump in her throat. If Dancing Queen was after him, they couldn't possibly stay there. They had to leave the room as soon as possible, and get Adrien out of her reach, whatever it was he had unknowingly done to beckon the akuma's affections upon him. But how could they escape the premise without bringing desperately unwanted attention upon them and derailing the plan they hadn't thought of yet before they could even set it in motion?

As Adrien was contemplating their less than appealing options, trying to choose the lesser of two evils of either deflecting the akuma's attention as his civilian self to give Marinette an opportunity of slipping out to safety, or making a mad dash to the front door together and hope for the better, something small hit him in the back of his head. Startled, he spun around, still crouched behind the table, his eyes warily searching the source of the attack.

Never in his life would've he expected to see Chloe, out of all people, urgently beckoning them to a half-closed, half-concealed door. Figuring she was their only chance considering how bad things were, Adrien nodded briefly toward her and gently nudged Marinette, tilting his head in the door's direction. He saw his girlfriend's eyes widening briefly when she understood what was happening, but a Ladybug's steel-like resolve almost immediately washed over the surprise, and she nodded in turn, following his lead.

Carefully crawling toward his childhood friend, Adrien made sure that they were still out of Dancing Queen's line of sight. The villain was still busy making dancing pairs, ranting about how hard it was to find a worthy dancing partner and asking each and every of her victim if they had seen the Agreste heir.

After a painstakingly long moment that felt like an eternity, Marinette and he both reached Chloe. Without skipping a beat, the blonde yanked them through the door and wordlessly slammed it shut behind them, hastily locking it. She sighed in relief, resting her forehead on the panel. "I honestly thought you'd never make it. This is getting ugly out there, I don't think I'll ever overcome the trauma of witnessing Jagged Stone tangoing with XY, and I don't even want to know where that rose came from!"

Chloe turned around, carefully scanning their surroundings to ensure they were still safe. "Take the elevator," she said, urgency dripping in her voice, "and suit up in my suite. You should be able to come back through the front door without too much hassle. She's busy searching for you, Adrien, I highly doubt she'll go anywhere."

The uncanny lack of response from either young heroes prompted Chloe to look back at her friends, and a satisfied smirk stretched her lips. "What? Shocked I figured you out?"

Marinette, bewildered, was the first to somehow regain the ability to speak, even if she was still staring at the blonde like she had just grown another head. "But … how?"

Chloe chuckled, shaking her head disbelievingly. "Honestly? The real question would be how nobody else pieced it together yet. That kiss picture was very obviously legit, and I know Adrien like the back of my hand. He is so disgustingly in love with you, Marinette, that he wouldn't even dream of cheating on you in this lifetime or the next. Connecting the dots from there was childishly easy."

Adrien only gaped at her, while Marinette's brain seemingly kicked into second gear. "Chloe, no one can know about this, you being in on the secret could put you in dire danger and—"

"I won't tell a soul," Chloe cut her off dismissively, "Now you both need to go and save Paris once again, I've got your backs."

"What are you going to do?" Marinette asked, her heart caught somewhere in her throat.

Chloe grinned, waving her off hastily. "I'm going to distract this baddie until you two make your long overdue heroic entrance. Stop stalling and go!"

Against her best judgment, Marinette nodded and grabbed Adrien by the hand, dragging him toward the elevator. The ride to the highest floor was spent in a tensed silence, both of them more than eager to regain control over the situation.

Kwamis were summoned without further ceremony as soon as they crossed Chloe's bedroom threshold, a sense of urgency washing over them both. Once they were both suited up, Ladybug and Chat Noir slipped onto the balcony and dropped into the street a few stories below, both of them trying to assess the damage that had already been done. As far as they could tell, Dancing Queen was still inside the hotel, her evil cackles reaching their ears as she teased the mayor's daughter about trying to outsmart her. The heroes crouched on each side of the front door, thankful that Chloe had granted them the advantage of surprise, and they were set on using it well.

Their eyes met for a second, and Ladybug briefly nodded, her lips tightened in a determined line. Their luck was already stretched and quickly reaching breaking point, as were their friends from dancing against their will. In one swift motion, Chat Noir extended his staff and the hotel's door swung back open with a loud bang. Dancing Queen spun on her heels, releasing an out-of-breath Chloe, and faced the superheroic duo, narrowing her eyes at them menacingly. "Ladybug! Chat Noir! How kind of you to join us at last!"

Chat Noir chuckled lowly, his eyes shining mischievously, "Stop dancing around the issue, and surrender before it's too late. You won't be able to out rhythm us."

The fight that ensued was messy and confusing. The akuma kept targeting the heroes again and again, while Ladybug and Chat Noir expertly avoided the incessant flow of attacks, swirling, running, jumping, vaulting themselves and all but dancing around the villain. They were a mere blur of black and red twirling around the akuma, deflecting without a hitch every single blow shot their way.

Up until Chat Noir slipped.

His foot landed slightly too much on his side, and he ended up splayed on the concrete, whimpering pitifully and ripping a strangled cry from Ladybug's throat. Dancing Queen lifted him from the ground effortlessly, a mean smile playing on her lips. "I always liked that movie, Cats don't dance. Care to show me if they got it wrong, kitty cat?"

The leather-clad hero's eyes widened in fear, and the villain raised a hand toward him, wiggling her fingers threateningly. For a split second, Chat Noir noticed the bracelet on her wrist shine a familiar shade of purple. He reached forward, his claws brushing against the metal for a single heartbeat, before he lost all control upon his limbs. Obeying an imaginary music, his feet broke into a familiar pattern, well-rehearsed waltz steps leading him to his partner against his will, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her along in his misery. The unexpected movement broke her concentration and made her hesitate, creating the perfect target for Dancing Queen. The next thing Ladybug knew, the magic was bleeding into her, her limbs desperately obeying it.

As they glided together on the street gracefully, just like they had done a few moments prior before all hell broke loose, Ladybug cast a nervous glance to her partner, making it clear that she had no more control on their predicament than him, "Chaton, as nice as this is, we can't spend the evening ballroom dancing. We have an akuma to catch, we have to break the spell somehow."

Grinning at her, Chat Noir brought her into a low dip, purring in her ear, "Just follow my steps, princess. You'll be fine, I won't let it be otherwise."

She smiled, her trust in him bleeding in their steps. "Any clue about where's the akuma hiding?"

"I'm pretty sure I saw her bracelet glisten earlier," he whispered in her ear before spinning her around him gracefully.

Ladybug swirled back in his arms, pausing mid-tempo against his chest to answer bashfully, "Let's get it then, silly kitty."

"Let's tango, my Lady."

At these words, it was like their feet and arms were animated by a new will, a new fire. Step after step, they erased the distance between them and the akuma before the villain could even comprehend what was happening. Chat Noir grabbed his partner by the waist and spun her around him effortlessly. Ladybug stretched her body elegantly in the air, reaching forward and ripping the jewel from the akuma's wrist.

Two steps later, the object was broken, the butterfly released and cured. The imaginary music halted and their frantic dancing feet finally came to a stop. Pulling Ladybug into a relieved hug, the feline hero breathed softly against her hair, "Pound it, my lady."

As soon as Chat Noir lifted his hand for their usual fist bump, a loud crack resonated in the street, followed by an evil cackle. "Not so fast, alley cat."

Both of You

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by Maerynn

Part 44 of 53

<< Previous     Home     Next >>