Chat in New York

Summary: Even while not in Paris Chat Noir can't help but save someone in trouble. If this person just happens to be dressed up as a red bug and swigging from building to building on what appeared to be wire, well, it's an honest mistake.

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.

I think I found a new Fandom . . . I'm so sorry everyone, but it just sucked me in and now it wont let me go. It's been almost a year now and I just . . . can't . . . stop . . . writing . . . ideas! Arg!

And it's a romance based cartoon! I. Don't. Write. Romance!

Or at least I didn't.

Before I found Miraculous Ladybug.

And cute Chat Noir.

Why do I have such a weakness for people in masks? Especially cute, clueless, little kittens?

I did not say that and this is not going to be part of my AN. (Note to self: delete if ever published).

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1

Adrian's irritation showed clearly as he wrapped the dark grey tie around his neck, face fixed in a grimace. Next to him a small black cat-like creature hovered with a bored expression.

"At least it's only a few days, kit. And Hawk Moth hasn't caused trouble for nearly two weeks. You'll be back before anyone even realizes that you're gone," Plagg commented, landing on Adrian's shoulder.

Hand jerking a little harsher than he'd meant to, Adrian winced as his tie pulled tight, and then slowly loosened it until it rested professionally over his flipped collar. Green eyes sparked with anger as he finished smoothing down his appearance and making sure he looked presentable. "You say that Plagg, but I shouldn't be leaving Paris at all. What if Hawk Moth strikes while we are gone? What if Ladybug gets hurt? What if-"

"Kid," Plagg zoomed in front of Adrian's face, "Repeat after me. It. Will. Be. Fine."

Adrian scowled at his companion and opened his mouth to protest, but was stopped when a knock echoed through his room and Plagg dove into the suit pocket. He swallowed and glanced in the mirror one last time, making sure no wrinkles marred his appearance. Sighing, he straightened and tucked his hands behind his back professionally, turning to the door.

"Come in."

Natalie swung the door open, her typical emotionless face staring at him as she glanced down at the ever present tablet in her hands. "It is time to go, sir. Your father is waiting."

Adrian bit off an irritated growl and let his face drop into a polite mask. "Of course, Natalie. You can tell him I'll be right there."

He just knew he was going to regret coming on this trip.

After he'd slipped out of his room and into the limo a quick, near silent car ride took both Adrian and his father to the airport. Adrian kept his focus outside on the passing buildings, purposefully ignoring the elder man a few feet away. His father didn't say anything as he continued to work on his own personal tablet.

Just like always.

Adrian forced the thought away and took a deep, calming breath.

I get it, I really do, but why can't he even look at me? We've been sitting here for thirty minutes and he hasn't even glanced at me once.

Focusing his glare out of the window helped distract him as his green eyes flicked between the colorful buildings they zoomed past. Pedestrians crowded the streets on every side, laughing and talking as they walked down the cobblestone streets. One young family caught his eye and he smiled slightly as he saw a little blond haired kid licking at a chocolate ice cream cone.

This was Paris. Home. Before becoming Chat Noir it had simply been just another part of his life, but a superhero's perspective really made him look at things differently. On the street corner sat a smiling old man, a recent Akuma victim that he and Ladybug freed nearly one month before. Adrian felt warm as he watched the man smile brightly down at his grand-daughter.

A brief flash of brilliant red caught his eyes and Adrian craned his neck to glance upward, his smile widening as he caught a glance at Paris's favorite Superhero, Ladybug. He'd talked to her a few days back about the trip, so she knew that he would be gone for a while, but he still wished that he was up there with her, jumping impossible distances between rooftops and cracking unappreciated puns.

All too soon the limo pulled into the airport and Adrian was shuffled onto his father's private jet. The interior looked nothing like the public commercial airplanes, but that was to be expected. Adrian settled into the soft leather seat opposite his father, who was still looking over his tablet and muttering to himself. With a quick glance around Adrian sighed and buckled up. Besides the windows looking out into the busy runway, the inside of the jet could have been the reception area for an expensive hotel with it's decorative dining table, real plants, and fully dressed waiters hidden just behind the screen in the back.

Settling back into his chair, Adrian prepared himself for a long ride.

0~o~0

Plagg fidgeted inside Adrian's vest pocket, forcing himself not to groan in despair. The last of the cheese that his charge had provided for the trip over was gone, to the last crumb. There was nothing left, and Plagg was still hungry.

Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that Adrian had somehow fallen asleep. Which meant that Plagg couldn't just ask him to get more cheese.

Which left him with the last option, to get it himself.

Plagg peaked out of Adrian's pocket, green eyes narrowed. Gabriel Agrest paid no attention to the small creature that popped out of his son's jacket, to focused on the design he was working on. Determining that the coast was clear, Plagg dove down under the seat, sniffing the air attentively.

Sure enough, the smell of sweet cheese drifted out at him from the back of the plane. With a grin, Plagg sped off.

Nothing would stand between him and his cheese!

0~o~0

Adrian woke to a scream.

Which would make sense if he were still in Paris where an unexpected Akuma could strike at any moment, and a terrified scream meant a call for help to Paris's super duo. And as he was Chat Noir, well, he'd become well attuned to terrified screams.

Of course, they weren't in Paris. Their location, currently somewhere over the big blue ocean, no where near any Akumas.

Still, Adrian jerked awake abruptly with a startled shriek and then promptly tumbled off of his precarious perch on the edge of his chair.

His father looked up, startled at his son's abrupt awakening. Adrian spent several confused moments staring into his father's eyes before he flushed dark red and scrambled up.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know-"

Gabriel sighed and waved his hand. "Go freshen up, Adrian. We will be there in two hours. And tell the kitchen maid to quiet down while you're at it. Screaming is clearly unnecessary and disruptive."

Adrian felt his cheeks become even hotter at those words but he nodded and replied, slightly dejected, "Yes father."

Turning quickly Adrian sped out of the main area, avoiding his father's gaze as he did so. The bathroom, near the back of the plane, was his target. Adrian slipped inside and locked the door loudly behind him. For a second he stood frozen, then he spun and hit his back against the door, sliding down until he stopped at the ground with a sigh.

"It's hopeless, Plagg, hopeless!" he groaned, eyes closed "I'm such an idiot for jumping like that! We're not in Paris, I don't even need to worry about Akumas anymore!"

Silence.

Adrian frowned and cracked one eye open. Nope, no flying mini-black cat it sight. No outrageous demands for stinky cheese.

"Plagg?"

A feeling of dread swept through Adrian and he started patting down his suit jacket, cursing softly under his breath. Still, he didn't find what he was looking for.

Another scream interrupted his thought process, and this time he made out several words amid the panicked shrieks.

"Rat! The rat's got the cheese!"

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Plagg."

0~o~0

"I am not a rat," Plagg muttered under his breath as he scampered out of the way of a broom and slid underneath another food rack. Said rack went crashing over when the broom nearly took one of its wheels off, but Plagg had already dashed for cover underneath the doorway. His big head popped under the thin wood just fast enough to avoid the big knife that slammed into the floor seconds later.

Out of sight for the first time since he'd been spotted, Plagg cackled and swooped upwards, hiding in the light fixture. The kitchen door slammed open beneath him, letting out a swarm of angry kitchen ladies. Of course, they didn't bother to look up and simply stormed down the hallway, deadly kitchen implements in hand.

Plagg's snickers became slightly louder and he pulled the large piece of delicious cheese that he'd, ahem, graciously saved from storage. A large bite had him humming in happiness. Until he heard that dreaded word.

"Plagg."

The small kwami froze, then glanced over the edge of the light with wide, innocent eyes. Catching sight of a clearly displeased scowl etching its way over pale features made Plagg wince and float down to eye level, clutching the cheese closely.

Smiling sweetly Plagg held out the cheese like a peace offering. "Camembert?"

Adrian sucked in a deep breath, steadying himself, and then snatched Plagg from the air, growling, "Camembert? Camembert!? That's what you risked everything for? I really don't get why I have to deal with you. You were seen! Do you know how bad this would be if something had happened. Someone could have recognized you!"

Plagg shrugged and swallowed the last piece of delicious cheese, "Yeah, yeah, but they didn't." His face twisted into a grimace, "They thought I was a rat. No harm done."

Green eyes sparked and Adrian opened his mouth to scold the small kwami again but a slight cough from behind them had Plagg diving into his jacket. Adrian straightened and slipped a polite smile on his face as he turned around to see one of the waiters looking over him in confusion.

"Adrian Agrest?"

Adrian nodded.

"The plane will be arriving soon. Your Father has asked that you be in your seat in the next ten minutes."

Hiding a wince Adrian nodded and slipped past the worker back into the main room. As soon as they were out of sight Adrian pulled at a corner of his jacked and peered down at the sheepish kwami hiding there.

"We will be talking about this," he hissed as he approached his seat, eyes flashing, "Later."

Plagg still thought that the cheese was worth it.

0~o~0

The landing, thankfully, was less stressful then the flight over. There was a huge crowd of reporters waiting at the base of the plane, but they were quickly taken care of and the Agrests hurried through. Several hours, and many, many boring meetings spent looking pretty in his father's newest designs later, Adrian finally took the chance to sneak away. The rest of the meetings didn't have anything to do with him anyway; it was all just business talk.

Creeping out of the building, Adrian caught his first real glimpse of New York. Seeing it from a limo window never really did anything justice. Tall buildings towered above him, and smog blocked out most of the sky in a light yellow tint. The smell of garbage and other unmentionables caused his over sensitive nose to twitch and his eyes traced the black paved streets disdainfully.

Adrian wasn't at all impressed.

"Well, Plagg," he muttered, glancing back at the building behind him, "It's either go back in there," turning his attention to the street in front of him he wrinkled his nose, "or brave out here."

Plagg popped his head out of the jacket, took one whiff of the street they were on, and dove back for cover with a hiss while covering his nose.

"Yeah," Adrian muttered, glancing down, "I hear you, but I don't think going back inside is really an option."

Sneaking out? No problem. Adrian could do that anyway. Sneaking back in? That's a little bit more difficult to do without being noticed or turning into Chat, and he wasn't really willing to do that unless there was an emergency. The explanation might be a little awkward if he got caught sneaking into the building as Chat.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, and then sputtering as the awful stench (it's worse than Camembert!) swept up his nose, Adrian stepped out onto the sidewalk and out of the alleyway that the door had opened into. People walked past him on every side, keeping a good three feet from everyone else. They talked on phones, carried briefcases, walked with quick click-clacks, or swept by on rickety skateboards. Even the street was busy with cars, most of them yellow, honking and screaming at each other.

Adrian watched this all with wide eyes. He'd been relatively sheltered within the alleyway, and the world seemed completely different out here now.

He preferred Paris.

Gulping slightly, Adrian picked a direction and started walking. He'd find something interesting soon, right? Maybe even the hotel that he was supposed to be staying in. Glancing down at the address and then up at the towering buildings, he winced.

Right.

Ten minutes later Adrian admitted defeat. He should never have left the building.

0~o~0

Peter Parker knew the moment he stepped out of his house, five minutes late for school and shirt inside out, that today just wasn't his day. Maybe it was the misfortune that seemed to plague him since he woke up, or maybe it was the ominous feel in the air that hovered around him as he dashed to school clutching all of his books to his chest because his bag somehow managed to rip through, but he just knew that something bad was going to happen.

Ok, maybe his Spider-sense also had something to do with his uneasiness.

The streets blurred past him as he ran, feet pounding on the cracked concrete. His Spider-sense tingled every time he almost hit someone and he managed to dodge every close call by inches.

That is, until he rounded a corner and ran straight into a blond kid, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Peter blinked up at the sky in confusion from where he lay on his back, his Spider-sense suddenly, strangely, silent. A groan caused him to turn his head toward the sound, and he spotted the kid that he'd run into. Said kid was sitting up, rubbing the top of his head angrily and muttering in . . . was that French?

"Je déteste voyager," the kid grunted softly and then looked over at Peter, apologetically, "Vous – ah, sorry," wincing, the blond stopped and then began again in accented English, "S-sorry for bumping into you."

Standing, the other held out his hand, and Peter pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head. "It's not your fault, really. I . . . I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going."

Now that they were both standing Peter could see that the kid in front of him really didn't belong in this neighborhood. Designer clothing, only slightly dirtied with the fall, draped expertly over the other's form, and an award winning smile lit up the kid's face. Peter winced again as he realized that he probably ran into some rich billionaire's kid. Again. This one didn't even look sixteen yet.

"Ah," a quick glance down at his scattered books reminded Peter that he still had a class he had to get to, "I really am sorry about running into you."

Peter reached down and started scrambling to pick up his books. The kid shrugged and knelt down next to him, helping him gather the heavy texts.

"No problem. I had nothing else to do. My name is Adrian, by the way," Blondie commented, causing Peter to pause slightly then offer his hand as they both stood back up.

"Uh, Peter," Peter shook Adrian's hand and then reached up to push his useless glasses back over his eyes. Distantly a school bell rang through the air and Peter paled, "Oh, no . . ."

He glanced between Adrian and the direction that the school was in, torn. He'd rather not offend some rich kid and have their parents come after Aunt May, but he also would rather avoid being late to class for the third time that week . . .

Adrian chuckled, tucking his hands into his pockets and shrugging with an understanding look in his eyes. "Go."

Peter didn't need to be told twice.

0~o~0

The tingling, annoying, impending sense of doom that skittered across the back of his neck took Adrian by surprise. He'd asked Plagg about it once and the Kwami had commented that he was just developing his sense of approaching destruction and chaos. In Paris, that usually meant an Akuma was on the loose.

Of course, as Plagg so kindly reminded him, they currently weren't in Paris.

Adrian scratched the back of his head with a wince and turned around another corner, absentmindedly thinking back to the young man who ran into him earlier. His sense of destruction had spiked dramatically around the other for the brief few moments they were in contact, but didn't leave when Peter dashed off to school. Of course, the fact that his 'Akuma Alert' was going off in the middle of New York, hundreds of miles from Paris, was a cause of concern.

Glancing around with a frown, Adrian searched the crowd for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing popped out at him. No shifty characters hovered in alleyways, no stores spontaneously combusted, and no one shouted out in panic.

Another spike of pain nearly made him stumble, and Plagg popped out of his bag with a scowl.

"Hey!" the little Kwami growled, "What's the big idea – Duck!"

Adrian flinched and dropped, feeling a sudden gust of air swoop around him and something clacked shut where he stood seconds before. Rolling to the side, he glanced up at the sky, for the first time noticing what was out of place. Around him, people screamed in surprise and darted out of the way, somehow making the sudden evacuation look professional and practiced even as they shouted their heads off into cell phones.

Up in the sky a dark green and black figure looped around, coming back toward him with glinting, beady, black eyes. Adrian blinked in disbelief as he recognized what the figure was supposed to be.

He really should have seen the creepy vulture coming.

An inhuman screech fell from the malformed, wrinkled beak and Adrian dashed to the side again, just missing its claws.

"What did I ever do to you?" he shouted as he ran, shoving his bag over his head for protection. Plagg darted from the flap into his open shirt, waiting for the chance to transform.

Ragged wings pumped angrily as the human sized vulture forced itself to gain altitude again, still focused on him. Barley hominoid words hissed past the chipped beak and Adrian winced again, "Rrrich kiddd. Hostaggggge. Sssspiderrrr."

Ok, he was not dealing with this right now. Ducking out of the way of another swipe he threw his bag at the back of the giant human-bird and took off running as it crashed into the ground. Managing to duck into an out of sight alleyway as he heard its roar of outrage, Adrian pulled the edge of his suit coat outwards so that Plagg could fly out.

"Well," Plagg yawned, "This is different."

Adrian scowled at the unconcerned Kwami, "You want to explain why there is an Akuma in the middle of New York before or after I go out there again?"

Plagg blinked slowly, "Kid, that is not an Akuma."

Frowning, Adrian glared at the catlike being, "It looks like one."

"Nope," the small black Kwami swayed back and forth, "There was nothing miraculous about that ball of feathers. It's all natural," Plagg snickered at his own pun.

A loud crash shook the ground as the Vulture screeched and launched back into the air, knocking an abandoned car on its side as it did so. Both Adrian and Plagg winced at the loud, grating sound.

Shaking his head to clear out the sound Adrian ducked further into the alleyway, muttering, "Well, it might not be an Akuma, but that doesn't mean I can let it rampage and possibly hurt people. Plagg?"

"What – oh no you don't! I haven't eaten any Camembert!" Plagg yowled and dodged, but wasn't quite fast enough.

"Claws out!"

The Kwami spiraled into the silver ring, turning it dark as the Black Cat covering started to spread over Adrian. Claws sharpened, ears popped into existence, and a belt like tail dropped into place lashing back and forth. With a fanged grin, Chat Noir leaped up, using the fire escapes as temporary platforms while he sought higher ground on top of the building. Green filled eyes darted back and forth as he back flipped up over the roof of the building, landing in a controlled crouch.

For a second everything was still, and then Chat ran toward the other side of the roof, his ears twitching as he glanced down, full of nervous energy. Below him the vulture like human circled, screaming about its escaped prey. With a grin Chat stalked forward until he was in the perfect position to pounce, crouched lower, and then paused. Eyes narrowed as they caught sight of something red swooping in on the human bird.

"Ladybug?" Chat whispered and then changed his mind. No, this person had too much blue mixed in with the red. And it was a guy. "Not Ladybug."

The blue and red masked man slammed into the vulture and they fell into a controlled spiral. Chat settled back further on the rooftop as he frowned, watching.

He hadn't been aware that there were other superheroes besides him and Ladybug. Now, he wasn't the most informed Cat, but that didn't mean that he was naive. News of this other super should have reached him, and the fact that it hadn't made him suspicious.

Hesitantly, Chat decided to just observe unless he was needed.

Something wasn't right here, and Chat couldn't help but think that Paris might be right in the middle of it.

0~o~0

Peter really shouldn't have bothered getting out of bed that morning. He also wondered if hurrying to school turned out to be worth it if he only stayed for one hour before having to run off and play hero. Really, couldn't supervillains give him a break for one day?

Shoulder pulling painfully from where he was slammed against a brick wall earlier, Peter dodged the sharp claws of the malformed . . . vulture (?) . . . in front of him. Really, if he wasn't so tired, he'd be trying to figure out where all of these animal based criminals were coming from; first Goblin, then Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Scorpion, and now a vulture.

"Holddd Sssstil!" Vulture hissed, lunging again. Peter shot and web upward and pulled, launching himself out of reach just in time for the human sized bird to thump headfirst into the wall.

"Um, how about no?" Peter quipped sarcastically, "I'd rather not get squashed."

"Pessssky Bug!"

"Don't get your feathers in a twist, bird brain."

Of course, that's when his bad luck had to kick in. The windowsill that he landed on tilted and crumbled, sending him tumbling down with a yelp. He threw out another web, only to have it shredded by the airborne vulture, which then barreled toward him. Not having enough time to send out a new strand and being too far from any building to catch himself, Peter twisted midair so that the vulture's claws would catch his back instead of his chest.

Closing his eyes he braced himself for impact with sharp claws, only in never happened.

Vulture screeched, this time in pain, and someone caught Peter around the middle, halting their fall.

"Sorry," A new voice spoke up and Peter blinked blurry eyes up at his rescuer, "I was a bit prey-occupied."

"Um . . ."

They tilted to the side, and Peter panicked for a moment, thinking that something had happened, but they simply landed gently on a fire escape. Strong arms dropped Peter unceremoniously and the Spider themed hero twisted around to get a clearer picture of the person who had rescued him, only to frown.

"Black Panther?" he questioned, but instantly knew that he was wrong. While the color scheme was right, the style completely contradicted the Wakanda hero. Padded black leather accented well defined muscles and green eyes watched warily from behind a half mask that covered barely any of the other's face. Blond hair swept over pale skin, contrasting starkly with the twin black ears perched on his head. "You're not Black Panther."

"Nope," the black clad hero smirked, leaning against a silver baton as he did so, "And I've never heard of anyone called Black Panther, either."

"I can't believe I just got saved by a guy in a cat-suit made of skin tight, black leather," Peter muttered, disbelieving.

Fangs flashed and inhuman green eyes narrowed. Behind the dark clad hero a belt-like tail lashed back and forth irritably, drawing Peter's eyes to it. "My name is Chat Noir, yes I saved you, and don't judge the costume." In his frustration Chat's French accent showed slightly, a startling difference from the typical New York slang.

"Hey," Peter pulled himself to his feet, "No need to get mad, I'm just telling it as I see it."

"Yeah, well, you really shouldn't judge Mr. Full Body Spandex – watch out!"

Chat Noir tackled Peter out of the way as the Vulture dive bombed them, screeching angrily. They rolled off of the fire escape, Peter just managing to catch the edge of it before they both fell. His other hand grasped the surprisingly small one of the cat themed hero.

"Rule number one," Chat sarcastically spoke up, "Never take your eyes off of the Akuma."

Peter wasn't sure what an Akuma was, but the sarcasm was getting on his nerves. "Good advice, Mr. Noir, but do you have any ideas on how to get out of this situation?" Peter called down as he let go of the fire escape, the latches holding it to the wall severed by bird claws in the latest attempt to get the two heroes. Chat Noir released him and grabbed the silver baton, spinning it above his head to slow down his descent as Peter shot a web at a nearby building.

"Well," Chat said as he landed a few feet from Peter, watching the sky warily while the Vulture circled above them, "To tell the truth this is a little different than what I usually have to deal with, so my methods probably won't do much good."

Peter shrugged, his red spandex stretching over his shoulders as he did so, "You never know. And I'm Spiderman, by the way."

Chat blinked and then grinned, glancing at Peter from the corner of his eyes, "Nice to meet you, Spiderman. So, how are we going to web this up?"

Peter forced himself not to twitch. The guy was taking his puns! "Ground the vulture. There should be some sort of vile full of liquid that is giving them their powers. If you break that, they revert back to a mostly human form."

Chat's grin widened, "Now that I can do."

0~o~0

Chat really hadn't meant to join the fight. He hadn't! It's just when he saw the red hero about to take a hit, well, instinct acted and he dove out of hiding.

Of course, now he was internally screaming as he battled along side another hero who wasn't Ladybug.

Dodge left, back flip, jump up, slash at ragged wings, and roll out of the way of a swath of sticky webs.

A flash of yellow on the vulture's back made Chat perk up. "The Akuma is on its back, between the wings!"

And there he goes again. Chat winced and dodged again as the vulture turned its attention to him, missing the web that latched onto the vile and yanked it free. The liquid container fell ten feet before it shattered on the ground into a thousand tiny, glittering pieces. Glancing up he saw the vulture becoming more human and automatically jumped to catch them before they could fall and hurt themselves.

When he landed again he glanced down to see the shocked eyes of an older woman with a beak like nose staring up at him. Chat hastily dropped her, letting Spiderman move in a wrap her up in webs. Ohh, a pun! He bit his tongue to avoid letting it slip out. Definitely not the time.

The sound of sirens pulled closer and Spiderman looked up, his work done. Chat shifted back and forth nervously, not quite sure what he should do.

"So . . ." Chat's ear flicked, "What now?"

Spiderman shot a strand of web up to a nearby roof and glanced back with his expressionless mask, "Now? We run," and then he was gone.

"Wait, what?" Chat startled at the abrupt exit, and then yelped as several police cars spun around the corner. He gripped his baton nervously.

"Spiderman, freeze!" an officer shouted as he hopped out of his car with his taser, only to slow to a stop in shock as he caught sight of Chat.

Chat simply smiled slightly and waved, "Uh, hi?"

In Paris the police were generally friendly with their superheroes.

A second officer followed, and then another. Most of them looked confused, but they still reached for their weapons. The officer in charge shook off his shock and pointed at Chat, "I don't care if it's Spiderman or some new kid in a mask, he is still a vigilante! Fire!"

Chat yelped and activated his baton, shooting up and over the nearest building before several bullets passed through where he had been moments before.

New York, apparently, did not have the same superhero policy.

Hidden on the next roof over, he watched in shock as the police cursed another failed capture and gathered up the Vulture. With a shiver, he decided that maybe he should head back to his father's building right about now. The meetings would be over soon anyway.

Oh, and he should probably avoid transforming in the city if this was how the local law enforcement acted. Really was that any way to treat a hero?

He really wanted to go back to Paris.

0~o~0

Peter shifted nervously as he slid his shoe on and glanced back to where he could still hear police sirens, feeling a little guilty. Really, it was obvious that the other hero didn't know what to in the situation Peter left him in. He could only hope that the other made it out ok.

Pulling the last of his cloths over his suit, Peter hesitated before heading back to school. For a second he debated about going back to make sure that the black clad hero was fine, but decided that it would only cause more problems if he was spotted as 'Peter Parker' at the scene of the crime.

Still, he silently hoped that Chat Noir had the common sense to get out of there while he had the chance.

0~o~0

SHEILD Agent Angela Heartfold glared at her monitor screen as it displayed lines of code and monitoring splayed across the millions of lit up pixels, tracking her senior officer from the corner of her eyes as she did so. The elder glanced around the room one last time, checking to make sure that everyone was working, before nodding and leaving through the back door. Instantly, several other agents relaxed, including Angela.

Smiling slightly and sharing a look with the agent next to her, Angela pulled up the minimized game that she had been playing before her superior walked in. Really, some days were so slow that it was almost impossible to stay awake without doing something. In this case, it was a game.

However, before she could concentrate for more than a few seconds a flashing light at the bottom on her screen caught her attention and she frowned as she clicked on it. The game paused as a new window popped up, displaying a street in New York through a camera mounted on the top of a tall building. Her eyes immediately caught sight of the red and blue figure swinging around a green, bird like one.

As she was trained to do, Angela pushed her intercom button and spoke rabidly, "Spiderman has been spotted. I repeat, Spiderman has been spotted."

Several of the agents around her startled, but went to work within seconds. The room filled with focused chatter as video cameras from multiple angles were hacked into a pulled up on the large screen, showing the current fight.

Spiderman, like so many heroes before him, was a major concern for SHIELD. And until they knew who he was Director Fury was determined to bring him in for interrogation. It wouldn't do to leave an unknown on the streets of a major city.

Huge monitors on the walls flickered to life showing shots of the fight as it played out. Several close shaves nearly clipped Spiderman, but he managed to escape by twisting out of the way at the last second.

"Team one, ready to deploy!" crackled over the radio and Angela leaned forward to reply.

"221 Stargazer Avenue," she quickly said, eyes focused on the red and blue figure flashing over her screen. "You had better hurry Captain; it looks like this one is causing the bug some trouble."

An agent sitting next to her suddenly frowned and leaned toward his screen. She glanced toward him as he started to zoom in on a particular camera feed, puzzled. This particular camera, from what she could see, was quite a distance from the fight itself and overlooked the building right next to the street that Spiderman was on.

And then she saw it.

A black shadow, almost impossible to spot at the angle the camera was pointed, shifted. As her eyes focused on it she could make out the vaguely human shape crouching over the edge of the building and watching the fight.

Suddenly, as if drawn by an unknown instinct, the figure turned and glanced straight at the camera with two glowing, inhumanly green eyes. For a second both agents froze as it appeared like the eyes were peering into their very soul. A moment later the figure leapt over the side of the building and straight into the fight itself, startling several other agents as the new player suddenly appeared on their screens and shredding the Vulture's wings.

The agent next to her suddenly cursed and turned on his comm. "Team one, proceed with caution! There is a new entity on site! Unknown powers. Unknown designation. Do not engage until we have further data."

For a brief moment the dark figure came into full view after saving Spiderman and dropping him on a ledge. Black ears swiveled back and forth on top of blond hair as the camera zoomed in.

An agent a few seats down blinked in surprise and glanced around at his fellow agents, "Is he supposed to be . . . a cat?"

The figure leapt off of the side of the building agilely, rebounding off of several surfaces before landing in a crouch on the ground below. Claws on his fingers caught the light for a brief moment as he lashed out at the Vulture and shredded several feathers, displaying just how sharp really they were.

I cat indeed.

Director Fury needed to be notified.

0~o~0

Chat Noir landed in an elegant crouch on the balcony of his hotel room and, in a flash of green light, transformed back into Adrian. Plagg flew out of the ring with a yowl of protest and turned toward his human with a scowl.

"Camembert. Now," Plagg hissed, rubbing his head.

Without glancing in the mini-cat's direction Adrian threw a piece of cheese at him and Plagg gobbled it down mid air. A frown marred the model's face as he rummaged through some of his bags. Swallowing the bite sized piece of cheese in one gulp Plagg flew down to Adrian's face and hovered next to his ear.

"What has your whiskers in a twist?" Plagg chuckled, happy now that he'd had his Camembert.

Adrien paused and turned searching eyes to the Kwami as he replied, "Plagg, why have we never heard about any of the other superheroes or supervillains outside of Paris?"

Plagg froze for the briefest of moments, the twitching of his whiskers the only thing giving him away, and then chuckled nervously, "Maybe people back in Paris just don't believe that there are other superheroes outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

Adrian crossed his arms and stood defiantly, "Just because they don't believe doesn't mean that it wouldn't be somewhere on the internet. So, tell me the truth, Plagg . . . why didn't I know about the other heroes?"

Twitching for several moments in silence Plagg suddenly gave in with a whine, "Fine. Kwami magic tends to create a bubble around certain areas. We keep ourselves separate from the rest of the world. While they fight physical foes . . . we fight the magical." He shrugged in the face of Adrian's bafflement.

"So," Adrian drew the word out, "Not only have we never heard of them, But they haven't heard about us. Why?"

Plagg's tail flicked back and forth, "They fight differently than you do. If they got involved then it could cause interference. Besides," Plagg's eyes widened slightly, "Can you imagine a hero, enhanced strength, intelligence, and whatever else, getting akumatized?"

Adrian thought about it for a moment and then winced, "That would be a disaster."

"Exactly." Plagg nodded, "Kwami magic helps prevent that from happening by keeping enhanced humans from Paris itself and away from Hawkmoth's reach."

Sighing softly Adrian ran his hand through his hair and nodded, "I guess that it's a good thing that no one will remember me saving the other hero, then."

"Oh," Plagg waved his arm dismissively, "Kwami magic of that scale only works when there are two or more Kwami in the vicinity," he said and then froze, "oh no."

Both Adrian and Plagg turned toward each other with wide eyes, and then Adrian spoke up gravely.

"I need to warn Ladybug."

Plagg didn't even complain as he was pulled back into the ring for the second time that day.

0~o~0

Director Fury sighed as he stepped off of his transport, grateful that for once he wasn't shot down into a premature landing somewhere in transit. His relief, however, vanished as he spotted Agent Hill waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. A mask of hard indifference slammed over his face as he nodded in her direction.

"What is it, Agent?" he asked as she fell into step beside him.

Silently she handed him a folder and he frowned slightly. Noticing it, she quickly explained, "Trust me, you are going to want to see that for yourself."

Not asking for further explanation he flipped the thin, unmarked folder open and then abruptly stopped walking.

"Agent Hill, would you care to explain this?" he asked in a monotone voice.

Not bothered by the sudden change in atmosphere the agent launched into her report as Director Fury examined the single photograph that rested within the folder.

"At exactly 7:28 PM we received confirmation that Spiderman was fighting a supervillain. As you instructed, a team was dispatched to bring him in . . . but someone else got there first. A second entity entered the situation by the rooftop. He saved Spiderman from grievous injury and then proceeded to work with him until they had brought the vulture down," the paused for breath, "We have run facial recognition software but as of yet there are no matches."

Fury's eyebrow twitched, "None?"

She shook her head, "It is as if the computer doesn't even recognize his features as a face, sr. And while we have agents comparing photo's individually it could take ages before we find something."

Considering it Fury nodded and continued, "Do we know anything else about him?"

Hill hesitated again before shaking her head, "He has above human flexibility, agility, and strength. The ears and tail also appear to move on their own independently."

"A mutant, then?"

She shrugged, "I wouldn't rule that out."

He nodded and closed the file. "Find him, Hill. I want him brought in by midnight tonight. One vigilante roaming the streets is bad enough."

She nodded and turned away, not bothering to tell him that what he'd requested might just be impossible.

They had no idea where the cat themed hero vanished to.

0~o~0

Being a baker's daughter as well as Paris's secret hero Marinette Dupen-Chang was used to being up at all hours of the night. However, she wasn't meant to run on less than two hours of sleep. In the last few days her attitude had drastically plummeted due to her lack of sleep. Extra patrol hours on top of a large order of breaded rolls had her nearly toppling off of her feet. The one good thing was that no akuma had shown up since Chat Noir left on his trip. She was almost starting to relax from her hyper aware watch for supervillains.

Which is why she almost didn't answer when her communicator suddenly rang while she was on patrol. In the middle of the night. On one hour of rest.

Landing with a heavy thud on a rooftop she pulled out her yoyo and stared blankly at it for several moments, the picture of Chat Noir smiling brightly up at her from the round screen.

"Isn't he on some unavoidable 'out of country' trip right now?" she muttered, glancing at the date, and then answered. "You had better have a good explanation, Chat. I was just about to head home from patrol."

The face that greeted her wasn't smiling.

"Ladybug," Chat said grimly, "I think I messed up."

That woke Ladybug up and she shifted her stance to stand more firmly on the roof, "You are at least a country away, Chat Noir, what could have gone wrong already?" she grouched.

Chat winced and rubbed the back of his head, face shifting into a more contrite expression. "Did you know that there are other superheroes outside of Paris?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes, "No, Chat, there are not. And even if there were, Al - I mean, the girl who runs the Ladyblog would have put something up about them."

"That's just the thing," Chat shook his head, "Apparently there are a whole bunch of them, but the magic of the Miraculous blocks us from knowing about them . . . and they don't know about us."

Ladybug stared at her screen, incredulous, "You are kidding, right?"

He shook his head and frowned, then started to type into his communicator. Seconds later a second screen popped up on her communicator with a red blur streaking past tall, glass buildings. Ladybug squinted at his for a moment, confused, and then her eyes widened.

"Chat, who is this?" she asked, examining the slightly blurry video as the figure did several complicated flips in mid air before shooting something from his wrist and swinging farther away.

Chat shrugged slightly, "I ran into him a few hours ago . . . he helped me take down some strange vulture-person."

"An Akuma?" Ladybug worriedly questioned, silently calculating how much is would cost to get . . . wherever Chat was.

Shaking his head Chat replied, "Not an Akuma, just someone with enhanced power. I think," he shrugged again, "I didn't really have the opportunity to stick around and check. The police are apparently not so fond of heroes here as they are in Paris."

Ladybug's brow furrowed as flashes of mocking people echoed through her mind. "Are you alright, Chat?"

Chat nodded and blew a piece of hair out of his face. "Just a little shaken from getting shot at," at seeing her wide eyes he quickly amended, "Don't worry, My Lady, I still have all nine lives left."

"Chat!" Ladybug growled, eyes narrowing, and he winced slightly.

"Too much?"

"Don't joke about it," Ladybug hissed, not unlike a cat. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she brought the discussion back on track, "So, there are other superheroes out there. Why is this such a big deal?"

Besides the fact that no one in Paris knows about them.

Chat winced again, "Well, apparently there is a reason that we don't know about them . . . and I may have just ruined it by fighting someone who wasn't an Akuma."

"Chat . . ."

"Let me put it this way," he continued, and then paused nervously, "Every superhero outside of Paris has a complicated past that drives them to become superheroes . . . which means that they have lots of problems that they haven't dealt with. If they come anywhere near Paris or Hawkmoth . . ."

"They are walking Akuma bate," Ladybug breathed, "Chat Noir, what did you do?"

0~o~0

Tony Stark prided himself on knowing anything and everything that SHEILD knew, and then some.

In this case, however, he was absolutely clueless.

"Hey, JARVIS," Tony called as he walked through the glass doors of his lab, "What is on the schedule today?"

The automated voice echoed back from the ceiling in a slightly mocking tone, "Will you even follow your schedule, Sr.?"

Tony swung down into his seat, sending it spinning around a few times as he unwrapped his fast-food hamburger from its cheap paper wrapping and took a large bite, "Maybe. Depends on if Pepper has added anything to it. Just give it to me, JARVIS."

"Very well, Sr. You have an appointment with several executives at three-"

"Boring," Tony interrupted, "Make Pepper do it."

"Miss Potts specifically stated that if she was forced to do it again she would come up here and drag you down to suffer through it with her."

"Next, JARVIS," Tony said as he waved dismissively toward the ceiling.

"Well, after your meeting you are supposed to meet up with the head of your England branch-"

"Nope." Paper crumpled into a ball under Tony's hands and was then tossed over his shoulder onto his cluttered workbench.

"And Director Fury has requested that you meet up with him immediately."

"When have I ever listened to him? Remind me tomorrow."

JARVIS sighed realistically, "Sr., you are going to have to do something today, at least."

Tony sat up and grinned, "And so I will. JARVIS, pull up my Spiderman wall!"

If a computer program without a face could look annoyed it would be JARVIS, "Very well, Sr. Don't blame me when Pepper comes storming up here to find you."

Screens around the table flickered to life as Tony got up and started flicking through data. "Just lock the door as soon as she starts to come up. I am not here." Enlarging a map onto an entire screen and then turning to another screen he called out, "Pull up all Spiderman sightings for today, JARVIS."

Several new articles popped up, each of them featuring a different part of Manhattan that Spiderman had been spotted in. Tony nodded and started sorting through the information, making notes on the map as he did so. The map itself was covered by digital red 'strings' connecting one place to another. The largest grouping was actually Oscorp, but Tony doubted the Spider had anything to do with Norman Osborn. Other groupings focused on a high school, the Daily Bugle, and large monuments.

In the background his favorite music started playing at its usual level and he absentmindedly thanked JARVIS. As he was working a specific picture caught his attention and he frowned as he enlarged it.

"JARVIS," Tony called out, "Why is this on in my Spiderman wall?"

JARVIS replied in his typical, monotone british, "The article it came from was published early this morning. Spiderman was spotted fighting the Vulture along with an unknown accomplice."

Tony blinked, "Spiderman doesn't work with anyone," he paused, "Is that guy seriously dressed like a cat?"

"The media is exploding with questions as well."

"Well," Tony leaned back and examined the shadowed figure in the picture, "What does he call himself, then?"

"No one is sure, Sr."

"Huh," Tony huffed, "You are no help. Pull up all articles that match the kitty. I want to know if this is his first time on the streets or if he is just a move in from somewhere else."

"Of course, Sr."

Several miles away, Adrian Agrest shivered as a chill went down his spin. Somehow he knew that the situation had suddenly become a lot worse.

0~o~0

To be honest, I probably won't finish this. I wrote it almost a year ago now, but it's an interesting idea, and I figured that I might as well put it up for all of you to enjoy! As always, I have more short chapters that I can publish on different story ideas. You can vote on the one that you want posted next in the poll that is on my profile.

I hope that you all enjoyed!

(8/23/2019)