Quick Message!

I hope you enjoy the Ladybug x Cat Noir story...
If you like anything or dislike something, I really enjoy reading feed back, so give it a shout in the reviews! I'm also going to try to edit out any mistakes as I go along but I really hope you enjoy it!

Underneath It all: Rise of the Akuma

"Perhaps love is the greatest strength of all... but of all, it is also the greatest weakness."

Chapter 1: Down Where It's Wetter

"I don't get it what's going on with the water system. It's shut down all over the city?" Mylene asked.

"Strange. I over heard someone talking earlier at my dad's work…I mean the levels are going down..." Sabrina shook her head.

"Isn't your dad a cop?"

"Yea, yea, exactly! He said they can't find anything wrong...but he thinks somethings going on...water does not just disappear."

"Really? Well I heard something even more strange…"

"What?"

"One of the construction workers went into the sewage system the other day and never came out. My uncle works in construction and, because they're not letting anyone in the main lines-"

"Ugh, nobody cares... Seriously Sabrina? This is a minor issue compared to the real problem at hand! " Chloe disrupted the conversation walking through the group standing at the park.

"Actually some of us might care. This is really important news..." Marinette shook her head.

"The tragic news is that if the water system doesn't start doing it's thing again, my hair is not going to look this flawless. I just can't keep this up! This water issue is such a drain!" Chloe pouted.

"Pun-or pun not intended?" Adrien asked with a raised brow as he approached.

"Ugh, really you too?" Cloe looked to him unimpressed.

"Really? I thought that was a pretty good joke." He shrugged.

"Actually I want to hear more about what's happening. I mean now they've cancelled school too…" Marinette turned to her friends.

"Well, if you want to know, my uncle and his worker friends went after the guy…way they couldn't find a trace of him. Apparently he hated doing the water inspections or something but it was his turn...but they didn't think he'd run off either because of it. Been missing since!"

"Nothing found? That's suspicious. Especially if he's a grown man…" Adrien speculated.

"Well they did say they saw a butterfly in the sewers too but that was the only thing that my Uncle said stuck out."

"A butterfly?" Marinette looked confused.

"Oh yea, some little plain looking thing…said he thought it was strange since the water system isn't really the place for a butterfly to be. No flowers or fresh air. He figured it followed them in."

"I didn't know you were interested in butterflies?" Alya asked.

"No-I-uh-I'm not really... I just thought it was weird. I mean it was weird right? Heh-heh." She tried to brush it off. Great now Adrien probably thought she was some bug freak. But that sounded a bit like an Akuma didn't it?

"Speaking of bugs, I'm going to bug off for now. I thought I heard my dad's assistant talking about the plumbing issue…come to think of it I don't really have that issue at my house." Adrien got up. He wondered...was an Akuma doing this? Maybe he could escape the wrath of Nathalie and his father doing a bit of investigating.

"Your dad probably gets his water imported like mine. My dad is increasing his imports so we can use it to make up for the lack of it...normally we just drink that water, but I'm sure its good for my hair too!" Cloe smirked proudly. "Its cleaner than what we get here..."

"Hmmm. Maybe, anyway see you guys around." Adrien left. Marinette followed his trail away. No chance of spending the day with him now...but...she had an itch to check this missing construction worker thing out...a white butterfly sounded a bit out of place.

"You know, I think I'm going to go home too. My parents need help at the bakery now that we have a shortage of water going on. Bye!" Marinette left. She opened her purse to see Tikki. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yea! Well, maybe... Suspicious butterfly? Man's Disappearance? Water shortage? Sounds fishy to me!"

"Maybe we ought to check out the pipes then. Let's change." Marinette hid behind a parked bus around the corner. "Tikki Spots on!"

As Ladybug she went to the closest sewer opening she could find. "I really hope it doesn't smell down here..."

As she stepped through the whole where the grate would be, she found a ladder going deep down. She silently hoped this would be over soon; small, tight places were never her forte. Just as she took another step down, her foot slipped on something slimey and she found herself falling into the darkness.

She went to use her yo-yo but found it really couldn't find a place to hook to! She couldn't really see where the ladder was anymore! She braced herself to hit the floor hard when she found someone had caught her.

"Agh!"

"Normally your more on the ball Lady-Bug. Cat got your tongue?"

She found herself in Chat-Noir's arms.

"No, I just happened to slip…and it is really dark down here..."

"On that slime stuff?"

"Yea, the- wait you know about the slime stuff? What is it?"

"What? No thank you for saving your life?" He asked, keeping her off the ground.

"I would have landed on my feet. And you know I think you like this too much." She pushed herself out of his arms.

"Didn't look that way, plus I'd land on my feet. Cat's always do! Ladybugs though…"

"What about the slime stuff?" She repeated, ignoring his bragging and gleaming smile nearly shining through the darkness.

"Well there's traces of it everywhere…and the place is pretty dry don't you think?"

"Yea, guess we really do have a drought. No butterflies though…"

"Butterflies? How'd you know?" Chat Noir raised a brow.

"What? Oh me? I-" Ladybug blinked. But how did he know? "I- just overhead. I got ears around the city you know. A butterfly down here sounds suspicious plus that one man disappeared.

"Well informed I like it. Well same here. Maybe we have the same inside man?" He leaned over her a bit.

"Inside wo-man for me actually, so I guess not." She smirked and ran ahead. "This is so weird how does a whole water system just disappear?"

"Well that jello-slime could be part of the answer…"

"Can you see more of it? It's pretty dark down here…"

"Ah, must be fate you landed in my arms. Can't navigate down here without my night vision can you Ladybug?" He leaned closer as he caught up to her.

"I'm sure I'd manage…" She nodded.

"Still never said thank you."

"I'd saved you plenty of times before so I'm not too worried about it. Maybe we're even now." She smirked as she walked on.

"Well you know I'm just going to have to make you beg for it next time you need my assistance. I thought we were a team Ladybug, you have truly broken my heart." He feigned an actor's distress as he ran in front of her.

"Oh you look so heartbroken! Well you have nine lives to get over it! I'm sure you'll find another-"

"Okay now that's cold." He stopped in his tracks.

"Maybe…but you know it's actually pretty cold in here…maybe we're getting closer to the water…" She started to run ahead even faster.

"Ugh, really? Not even a bit sorry?" He asked absently to himself and then followed forward. That's when he noticed something…more slime on the walls…and below where the water would be… not to mention, still no butterflies? What was this?

"Ladybug did you notice that there's a lot more slime up here? Ladybug!" He called ahead. She really must have gone farther. How long had he been standing there? "Oh come on, now after you've hurt me your going to play silent games? Such abuse…you're lucky I'm such a loyal partn-"

"Aggghhhhhh!"

He stopped in his tracks.

That was Ladybug's voice!

What on earth was going on down here?