Mr. Pigeon (3)

Mr. Pigeon watched Ladybug and Cat Noir from out of sight. Those two were vigilant and worked well as a team. He would have to be careful with how went about getting the Miraculouses.

Hawk Moth's voice slid into his mind. "If you want to give Paris to the pigeons for good, you must first rid the city of those two pests."

Mr. Pigeon blew on his whistle, signaling the birds into action.

* * * *

"Call me crazy but I feel like birdseed all of the sudden." Ladybug watched as hundreds of pigeons took flight.

"You're not crazy," Cat Noir said through gritted teeth. The pigeons swooped in closer, flying circles around the two heroes. "Any ideas?"

"Not at the moment."

The sound of clanking came from above them. Between the blurring bodies of pigeons, Ladybug caught sight of a cage being lowered. Soon, Ladybug and Cat Noir were trapped within the metal bars.

The pigeons stopped flying and the two heroes could finally see. Floating before them on a tightly knit flock of pigeons was Mr. Pigeon.

Mr. Pigeon cooed triumphantly. "Chirpy day! I'm so ruthless." He and his pigeon cloud moved closer. "Roo! Roo! Your Miraculouses. Give them to me or face the wrath of my feathered friends."

Cat Noir shook his head and looked straight at Mr. Pigeon. "How are they your friends when you are controlling them?"

"Don't provoke him," hissed Ladybug.

Mr. Pigeon narrowed his eyes at Cat Noir in a glare. "Clearly, you know nothing of our friendship. I have and always will be a friend of pigeons." Mr. Pigeon blew on his whistle and a group of pigeons formed a ring around the base of the cage; their butts facing inward. "On the count of three, my lovely pigeons will open fire. You can still save your sorry skins by handing me your Miraculous. One, two. . ."

"Cat Noir."

Cat Noir nodded. "Cataclysm!" He put his hand to the bars and watched as they dissolved.

Ladybug and Cat Noir stepped out of their former cage, weapons at the ready. "And who said pigeons can't be chickens," Ladybug joked when Mr. Pigeon backed away.

"Me?" I'm not flying away. I'm just killing two birds with one stone." Mr. Pigeon blew on his whistle before falling backwards off the building with a coo.

Startled, Ladybug and Cat Noir ran over to where Mr. Pigeon had once stood. They got there just in time to see him land feet first on a flock of pigeons. He rose up in to the sky, higher and higher. A flock of pigeons separated from the mass and dove toward the heroes. "Merry Christmas!" Mr. Pigeon cooed, his voice mocking and triumphant.

Ladybug and Cat Noir ran to the rooftop's exit door and entered the hotel. They slammed the door shut just in time as the pigeons dove beak first into the door.

"We really need to get that necklace," Cat Noir panted.

Ladybug sighed in exhaustion. "We will " she rose to her feet and lent a hand to help Cat Noir up.

"Thank you." Cat Noir took her hand in a firm grip and lifted himself up. "Can I have my hand back?" He asked when Ladybug didn't release it.

Ladybug reluctantly released his hand. A blush rose to her cheeks and laughter bubbled up in her embarrassment. "S-sorry."

"No problem." Cat Noir teased as he brushed off her behavior.

Ladybug couldn't fathom how it was possible for someone to be so cool and kind at the same time. "W-we should probably go." Ladybug ran down the stairs, trying to keep a head of Cat Noir so that she could calm her racing heart and focus on the task at hand.

Cat Noir's ring beeped, signaling that he was about to change back. "I need to find somewhere to lie low."

Ladybug stopped and looked back at her partner. "Want me to wait for you or to keep going?"

"We need to stop Mr. Pigeon. Keep going, I'll catch up."

Ladybug nodded. "There are no cameras here. Stay here." She put her hand on the railing and turned her back to him. "I'll keep going, so you don't have to worry."

Ladybug took off down the flight of stairs. After a few floors. She finally reached the first floor exit door. In the lobby standing protected behind the glass doors were mayor Bourgeois and the hotel staff.

Mayor Bourgeois turned when he heard the door to the stairwell open. "Ladybug, you're here." He ran over to the Parisian hero. "I'm in great danger of losing money if my guests leave Paris. You need to get rid of those pigeons."

"Don't worry mayor Bourgeois, we're working on it."

"We're?" Oops, Ladybug forgot that Cat Noir wasn't beside her. Her eyes flickered to the stairwell door. "Is Cat Noir here?"

Ladybug moved in front of the mayor, trying to stop him from passing. "He is but I can't allow you to go in there." She sighed in relief when she heard the door open.

"You're still here?" Cat Noir asked as he came to stand beside her.

"I got held up." Ladybug watched as Cat Noir brought a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter. He was so cute when he laughed. "Shall we get going, now that you're here?" Cat Noir nodded and gestured for her to lead the way.

Ladybug looked up to the sky once they were outside. The pigeons were flying in ball-shaped flocks and were all heading in the same direction. "Let's follow them."

* * * *

Ladybug and Cat Noir followed the birds to the Grand Palais. The massive doors were opened to reveal a cage full of Park Keepers. "So this is where Mr. Pigeon is keeping the Park Keepers."

"It's a good thing that I found my friend earlier and took him someplace safe." Ladybug looked at Cat Noir in confusion, not sure what his friend had to do with this, unless his friend was a Park Keeper. Just how old was Cat Noir?

"I don't know what you're thinking," Cat Noir chuckled. "I was just thinking about how worried I would be about him because he's allergic to feathers. I didn't even know about his allergy until I some him earlier near the school, sneezing his head off."

"Dang, that's gotta suck," Ladybug sympathized. "But maybe we should focus." Yes, stop drooling over Cat Noir's seductive laugh, Ladybug chided herself.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Ladybug was secretly thrilled that Cat Noir had revealed a part of himself. That tidbit of information solidified Ladybug's opinion on how caring Cat Noir actually was.

"This is a little weird though."

"That there are no pigeons?" Cat Noir nodded his head to her observation. "It feels like a trap. Follow me." Ladybug led Cat Noir to the roof.

They came to a stop. Down below them was Mr. Pigeon. "You open the window, I'll grab him and yank him up to the roof where you can snag his bird call."

Cat Noir opened the window and Ladybug used her yo-yo. Her yo-yo curled around Mr. Pigeon's waist and and she yanked him up.

Mr. Pigeon cooed in surprise and struggled to break free. He reached for the bird call around his neck.

"No you don't." Cat Noir used his baton to keep the window open. He dove through and snagged the necklace before Mr. Pigeon could use it. He turned himself in midair. "Catch!" Cat Noir threw his prize up to Ladybug.

Ladybug released Mr. Pigeon and grabbed a hold of the bird call. She smashed it to pieces once it was in her grasp. "No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma." She caught the Akuma with her yo-yo. "Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug released the now de-evilized butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She used her other power to return Paris back to normal. She then jumped down to land beside Cat Noir.

"Pound it," they said in unison as they bumped fists.

Hawk Moth's power left Mr. Ramier. "What happened? Where am I?"

* * * *

"Wretched pigeons! Wretched Ladybug!" Hawk Moth seethed in his lair of butterflies. "I'll destroy every one of you."

* * * *

Marinette ran Into her room with Tikki behind her. "There's no time left to lose. I have less than an hour." Marinette pulled out the feather that she had grabbed earlier and quickly placed it in its spot at the base of the hat.

"Finished." She grabbed the hat and ran for the school.

Everyone was already there. She spotted Luka, Nino, and Adrien standing by principal Damocles. Marinette took her place by Alya.

Gabriel Agreste's assistant walked into the school yard. "Hello. I am Nathalie, Mr. Agreste's assistant.: Nathalie produced a tablet. On the screen was a live feed of Mr. Agreste. Marinette was slightly disappointed that he wasn't there in person.

"Adrien, take Nathalie around," Mr. Agreste ordered.

"There's Mr. Agreste. He's coming this way." Chloe dramatically exclaimed.

Marinette looked over inher direction and saw a familiar sight. "Alya, look."

Alya looked over to where her friend was pointing. "That's your hat." Alya balled her hands up into fists. "Want me to do something?"

"I can handle this," Marinette spoke confidently.

Principal Damocles, Nathalie and Adrien finally made their way to where Marinette and Alya stood. Mr. Agreste's mouth drooped into a frown. "Turn the tablet to Miss Bourgeois's hat."

Luka and Nino came over in curiosity. "What's going on?" Nino whispered to Alya.

"You'll see."

"Is this a joke?" Mr. Agreste asked.

Chloe stomped her foot. "No fair! Marinette copied my design. It's scandalous! How could you do that?"

Luka and Nino made a move as if to confront Chloe. Alya stopped them by placing a hand on their shoulder.

"I apologize for the situation, Mr. Agreste. But I can prove that the derby hat is my original design," Marinette spoke confidently.

Nathalie turned the tablet to Marinette. "Go ahead," said Mr. Agreste.

Marinette picked up her hat. Everything on my derby hat is handmade from the embroidery to the weaving and the stitching. And plus, there's a special design element that only the true designer knows about." Marinette flipped the hat upside down to reveal that the gold stitching spelled out her name. "I signed mine."

Chloe backed up and accidentally bumped into the stand holding her hat. The hat tumbled off and landed in a way that showed Marinette's signature, proving that Chloe's hat was a duplicate.

Mr. Agreste smiled. "A very exquisite creation. You have the laboring hands of a hat maker, miss. . ."

"Marinette," Luka and Adrien suplied.

"Miss Marinette. Congratulations. You're the winner."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Marinette bowed in excitement.

"Adrien will wear your derby on our next advertisement."

The other students, except for Chloe and Sabrina, surrounded Marinette. "Its truly an amazing design," Luka whispered in her ear, causing butterflies to flutter in her stomach. Marinette looked up at him in confusion, when did she start liking Luka?

Adrien grabbed her hands, causing Marinette to turn her attention to him. "I can't wait to wear your ha-achoo! Sorry, I'm allergic to feathers."

Marinette pulled the hat away and stumbled backwards. Luka caught her and laid steadying hands on her shoulders. "I-I should change out the feather." How was it possible for two people in the same city to be allergic to feathers?

She glanced up to Luka, who still had a hold of her. There was no way that Luka was Cat Noir, was there? Nah, it had to be a coincidence.

"It's fine," Adrien said, pulling Marinette out of her inner rambling.

"Are you sure?" Luka asked, finally releasing Marinette.

"Ye-achoo!"