Cat's Eye (Lukadrien)

Volume 3, Chapter 2

As Adrien strides out from the most boring cover lesson on Chemistry ever, he makes a beeline to the toilets. He drops a quick apology text to Luka, letting him know that he's an engagement with a spotted friend and won't be joining him in the dining hall.

Nearly silently he whispers, "Claws out."

As the thrum of Plagg's power infuses into his body, he clambers atop the toilet to the cubicle's window. After so much regular abuse as his escape route, the hinges slide open without any resistance, the screws long since removed. The janitors don't seem to have raised any complaints or made any attempt to fix it, so Adrien is content enough leaving the window hatch unscrewed. Saves him a few extra minutes every akuma attack.

Slinking across the rooftop, he moves with feline grace that would rival an Olympic athlete, moving almost unseen from the building's rooftops until he's confident he's far enough away from Francoise Dupont that he can just use his staff to travel faster, without anyone linking the location he came from to him.

Landing atop the Arc de Triomphe, he notes how unsubtle a meeting location this is. After only now noticing Ladybug already sat there, he retracts his sceptic thoughts. From the ground view, an extra meter or so atop the Arc is functionally invisible anyways.

The spotted heroine pats the spot beside her, and in an act of utter feline defiance, Chat sits opposite her. As much as she tries to maintain her veneer of professionalism, Chat can see the tiniest twitches of bemusement in the corners of her lips, and in his head charts a point for the small victory.

"So," he swishes his tail behind him, "What is this all this about?"

"After the Matriarch fight yesterday, I've been doing some thinking."

Chat nods.

"Shadowmoth seems to be significantly more powerful than before, and he's only just settling into that power." Ladybug's face is grim. "We can only expect him to become more threatening from here. Furthermore, he's changed his tactics, and I'm absolutely certain he's going for the long game."

Chat raises his eyebrows.

"So, I searched through the Grimoire again." Ladybug leans in, her brows raised in the tiniest hint of excitement. "I think I've found something."

Rocking back and forth with his legs crossed, Chat feigns petulance. "Come on then." He grins, "Don't keep me waiting." He pretends to eat invisible popcorn.

"The miraculous' limits are only those that we impose upon ourselves." She reads aloud, eyes twinkling enigmatically. "What limits have we got, right now Kitty?"

"I mean, we can only use our powers once, right?" Chat puffs his cheeks.

Ladybug grins.

Realisation dawning on him, Chat tilts his head a little. "No way. But that's we're kids, right?"

"It's been years since we first got the Miraculous"

"But we're not adults." Chat counters.

"The limit is a safety precaution."

"I mean yeah, but how do we bypass that limit?"

"Simple." Ladybug smirks. "I'm the Guardian. I can invoke commands over the Miraculous."

Chat gasps incredulously. "You've been able to do that the whole time?"

Ladybug puffs, moving a stray strand of hair from out her eyes. "I mean I didn't know I could but, yeah."

"So – when you revoke this limit, what happens?"

"I'm not entirely sure." She admits, brows furrowed, "But the reason adults don't need to detransform is their bodies have a greater stamina to endure the toll of the Miraculous." She pauses. "So, my best guess is that the longer we hold the miraculous transformation after we transform, the more exhausted we'll be."