#mlb corssover

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Course Of Nature (5)

Chapter Summary: A fight! Word Count: 2,507 (it’s a short chapter IM SORRY but this and chapter 4 were originally one chapter that I split in half for pacing purposes) Rating: G Pairing: Daminette Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six

The Akumatised person they were fighting was called ‘Bud Omen,’ which was considerably better than at least half of Chat’s puns. 

Before his akumatisation ‘Bud Omen’ was a passionate gardener, and from what Marinette could put together, people kept tearing and uprooting his lovely roses. She only wished his anger granted him a non-aggressive ability.

Now, he was an instrument for Hawkmoth, dressed in green leaves, with long, wide, red petals extending from his neck, looking almost like a dog cone. Both his hands had been replaced red flower buds, which didn’t look particularly attractive.

One of Hawkmoths worst designs yet, Marinette decided. The outfit was simply outrageous.

“Finally!” Queen Bee (Chloe), said in lieu of greeting. “Carapace got turned into a cactus, and—“ She was cut off by a giant thorn aimed straight for the two of them. The girls rolled out of the way just in time for the projectile to crash land onto the street and reduce the roads to crumbling pieces. “And this idiot won’t stop throwing thorns at me!”

Queen Bee had turned to yell the last bit at Bud Omen, who threw yet another thorn at her. (Surprise, surprise.)

“Nobody can stop me!” Bud Omen announced. “Not until people learn to respect my flowers!”

Bud Omen extended an arm, though instead of manifesting a giant thorn, a bright green beam shot out towards Queen Bee. Marinate pulled her aside with her yoyo, watching with wide eyes as the red Toyota behind Bee transformed into a succulent, sitting comfortably inside a brown pot. “That’s what happened to Carapace,” Queen Bee said. “I think his right-hand shoots out thorns, and his left-hand does that.”

A dual wielder then. Lucky for him, unlucky for her. “Well it’s creative, I’ll give ‘im that.”

Queen Bee ducked to the side as another thorn was launched in her direction. “I can’t get close enough to use my venom!” She cried, hissing as her hands grazed gravel to prevent the rest of her body from sliding across the ground.

If Bee couldn’t use her power then she was likely to become a quick liability. “Prioritise getting people to safety! I’m sure I can hold out, at least until Chat gets here.”

Queen Bee nodded her head in affirmation, sprinting away to rescue innocents. Taking some time to assess her surroundings, Marinette deduced the safest way to apprehend the villain. Or at least the safest place to direct it. 

There was a park nearby, she remembered, open and wide enough to minimise potential damage created by the thorns, and easy to evacuate as it would give her clear vision of any innocents. “Hey! Uh, flower power!” Marinette called, using her yoyo to sweep Bud Omen to the floor. He saved his fall by extending his arms, but the flowers that replaced his hands wilted and bent out of shape from the impact.

It looked like they were real flowers and susceptible to damage. That was sure to be useful for later. Bud Omen grunted as he rose, running after Marinette who was already on her way to the park. “Clear out!” She yelled as she approached. “Akuma!”

The citizens complied easily, filing out in rushed lines like a disturbed ant farm. She was barely a few feet within the park grounds when was pushed forward by a harsh force, the right side of her back aching as she was forced to eat grass. She heard Bud Omen’s stilted laugh and winced. He’d nailed her in the back with a thorn. It hurt like crazy, throbbing as she tried to get back on her feet, but she counted herself lucky he hadn’t gone and turned her into a cactus instead. 

She was saved from further pain when she was scooped into the arms of a familiar black-clad hero. “Chat!” She exclaimed, relieved.

“Looks like it’s not growing very well, M’Lady,” Chat grinned, setting her down to her feet. The park was now suffering from a decent-sized crater, green thorn sticking out of it. 

They hid together behind a particularly wide tree, peeking out from the sides to check on Bud Omen. “Watch out for his left, Chat, you don’t want to become a cactus.” 

“We’ll just have to end it quickly then.”

“That’ll be a bit of a problem,” Marinette admitted. “I’m not exactly sure where the Akuma would be, just that the flower-hands are damageable.”

“Peony for your thoughts?”

“Think you can get to him without getting hit?”

Chat puffed his chest, bringing his hands to his waist. “Of course I can, bugaboo, you just have to beleaf in me!”

Chat Noir jumped out from behind the tree, rolling under thorns and jumping over cactus-transforming beams with lithe granted to him by his miraculous. Aiming straight and true, he leaped straight toward Bud Omen.

The villain had no choice but to parry the close-quarters attack with an arm block. He growled as one of his petals fell, bruised and brown. “How dare you!” He exclaimed. 

Chat hardly had enough time to fall flat on his stomach, barely avoiding a thorn missile to the face. At such close quarters, a hitting move would definitely have taken him out of commission. Her partner showed grace true to his animal, flipping over following beam attacks from Bud Omen. He must have been getting pointers from Nightwing or something, because his usually already-impressive combinations had well smoothed out, and he was confidently executing tumbles he hadn’t proved to know earlier. 

Timing her attack just right, she waited for the exact moment his hands swept upward, eyes narrowed in concentration. Now! Spotting her window of opportunity, Marinette flung her yoyo at the villain, tying his hands together. 

“Uh-oh,” Chat grinned at Bud Omen, “looks like you might be in a bind?”

“You won’t be able to stop me so easily!”

Chat smiled, showing off his canines. He always looked just a touch wild when he was truly excited during a fight. “When I got closer I saw a necklace, M’Lady, might be where the Akuma is hidden.” Finally, a lead! Marinette returned her partner’s smile, digging her heels into the ground as she prepared to end the match. “Let’s get it then, Minou!”

Bud Omen growled. Too stubborn to stop even while obviously detained, Bud Omen shot another beam at Chat Noir. Though Marinette was sure her partner could evade it, she had never been the type to sit back and watch where she could intervene. With a yank, she changed the course of the shot.

It would have been the perfect stop had a new body not occupied the previously empty spot that Bud Omen’s beam was now redirected to.

“Move!” Chat bellowed, springing into action. There was a bright light as the beam made contact, and her blonde partner was left to sit on the floor as a cactus in a pot. 

The newcomer who he’d saved was sprawled on their back, eyebrows in an all-too-familiar furrow.

Marinette gaped. “Robin?”

He dusted himself off, nose wrinkling at the sight of the cactus that was once Chat. “I could have avoided the attack on my own.” He said, “your partner was foolish.”

“Chat is a hero!” Marinette retorted, not at all appreciating Robin’s apparent lack of gratitude. “He helped you because that’s what heroes do.”

A thorn shot to the ground between the two of them, its impact shaking the ground enough for the two heroes to stumble, unbalanced. 

“Shit,” Marinette cursed under her breath. Her grip on her yoyo had loosened thanks to Robin’s sudden appearance, and now they were back to square one. 

Robin tutted. “Should have held on tighter.”

“We don’t have time for this!”

The two of them ducked behind the wide end of the thorn, hiding from the trigger happy villain who seemed intent on turning them both into cacti. “We need to come up with a plan,” Marinette said, thinking back on what she knew. “His flowers can probably be destroyed, and I think he can only use one at a time.”

Robin scoffed, unsheathing the katana attached to his hip. “I have it handled.”

His first step out from behind the shelter of the thorn was celebrated by a yellow body slamming right onto him.

Queen Bee rolled off him, obviously miffed. “What were you doing in my way?” she demanded. 

So brat meets brat. Really, what a great day for Marinette.

“Me? What were you doing in my way?”

“As far as I know it’s my father whose Mayor of Paris not yours. This park is Paris public property, so I’ll ask again. What were you doing in my way?

It was astounding, the leaps and bounds in logic that Chloe could make. Even more so was the way that Robin looked prepared to argue back as though what she was saying was actually relevant in any way at all. She clapped her hands to get their attention. “Queen Bee, this is Robin, Robin this is Queen Bee. Alright now that you’ve met each other, it’s time to make a plan.”

She thought she sounded authoritative enough, but as soon as she was finished talking the two were back at it again. Is this how teachers normally felt? So dejected? “They should call you Bumble, since that’s all you seem to do.”

“Oh? Do people call you unnecessary annoyance, since that’s all you seem to be.”

“Well, well, well. Looks like Hawkmoth will be happy with me.”

That was certainly not Bee or Robin, and they certainly sounded very close. As if Bud Omen had snuck up on them while they were arguing. 

Slowly, the three teens turned, to be met with the towering figure of the villain. They reacted automatically. Marinette swept at Bud Omen’s legs, watching with satisfaction as he fell. A sting from Bee’s ‘venom’ came a second later, paralysing Bud Omen as a Batarang shot out and shattered the silver string around his neck. 

In the blink of an eye, the fight was over, and all Marinette could feel was dumbfounded.

She purified the Akuma, and watched as the city was restored, feeling relief fill her as her partner returned to his cat-clad state. 

“See how helpful I can be now that I have my miraculous permanently?” Bee asked, smug.

Marinette sighed. “It’s still temporary, just longer this time. Until we’ve beaten Hawkmoth for good. Hawkmoth and err… Queen Bee.”

“We should do something about that,” Chat said, coming closer to the little huddle. Robin sniffed as though he was unimpressed, but his eyes shifted to Queen Bee expectantly.

The group fell into a momentary hush, shattered by a disgruntled Bee. “Are you guys serious? You want the villain to keep her name?”

“Well if we knew where she was, we’d ask,” Chat snarked in return. Seeing how she was genuinely upset by the idea, his approach softened. “Just until we take her down, Bee.”

“Ugh, I so don’t have time for this right now.”

Right, she’d used her big move and all. Marinette stole a glance at the hairpin, counting the stripes. There were still two left, which gave them about three or so minutes to figure it out. 

Chat extended his baton, pushing a few buttons. “It’s easy. Just google types of bees. Or even easier call yourself abeille”

Amused, Marinette let out a chuckle. “Seriously Chat? Google? Is that how you got your name?”

Her partner made a face. “Well no, but if I hadn’t been so clever from the beginning it’s what I’d probably do. So, Google search?”

Bee groaned, but didn’t argue. The four of them huddled closer together, leaning in to look at Chat’s baton screen as he did he a quick google search. 

“Ooh! You could call yourself carpenter bee!”

Chloe glowered at Chat, who had the sense to swipe out of the page quickly.

Not one to sit in silence, Robin tutted, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Strange how there’s no imbecile bee. Would have been fitting for you.”

That comment earned Robin a swift kick from the blonde heroine. Her reaction seemed to satisfy him, however, as he didn’t do anything to retaliate.

“What about Andrena?” Marinette suggested, reading from the search options. 

Chloe clicked her tongue, looking quite unhappy. “Well if you think so Ladybug… Then fine. Andrena. But only until we beat that awful hag. Then I’ll be Queen Bee again.”

“Thanks for your co-operation, Andrena.”

Andrena’s miraculous beeped, ending the conversation before she and Robin could fight again (who knew there’d be someone else to butt heads with him so aggressively?) “Well, we might as well all get going,” Marinette said, waving the group farewell.

She ran a couple meters until she was sure it was safe to detransform, only doing so when she was safely tucked away in the crevice of an alleyway.

Tikki flopped into her bag, eager for some cookies. Seeing as there was nowhere she had to be for the time being, she took a moment to breathe, resting her head against the cool brick wall behind her. Her back still ached.

Today was a bit of a mess. She and Robin still lacked the synergy to fight well together, and adding Andrena to the mix seemed to make everything even more explosive. 

There was the fact that Robin was so dismissive of Chat’s help too. She figured why; his admission that night was pretty direct (don’t think about what happened after, don’t think don’t think don’t think -- yeah she was blushing again) but that didn’t mean it was nice or right of him to brush Chat’s actions off to the side like that. 

“Marinette?”

Her head shot up, meeting the poorly disguised concern in Damian Wayne’s eyes. Why he was in this side of Paris, she had no idea, and really, it was inconvenient for him to bump into her while she was doing some deep thinking. Like, did he want her to get distracted and think of something stupid? Probably not, he wasn’t so bad after all, and oh god she hadn’t replied yet. 

“Yes.” Well. That wasn’t any less awkward than the silent eye contact. “I mean, yes! Hello!”

Damian snorted, finding humour in her inability to function like a normal human being. Curse her wandering mind! “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the bakery or something?” 

“Uhhh… I got turned into a cactus! Yeah, I was a cactus and I guess someone carried me here or something… HAHAHaha...ha...ha.” She scratched the back of her neck, eyes looking everywhere but his face. She couldn’t even look in his direction until she heard him snigger. 

“Alright then, do you need help going back to the bakery? It’s a bit of travel on foot, and my brother will be around with the car in a moment.”

Marinette searched his eyes. Satisfied when she found nothing but sincerity, she nodded her head. “Thanks.”

End Notes: I feel like I might’ve missed something while editing this so give me a heads up if there’s something I need to fix. It’s 100% not my best chapter, but I had to get it out and over with. Good news is that this chap ends w promise of future Daminette which is something I’m really excited about!

Also! The Queen Bee problem has been temporarily resolved!!! Sort of. Hurdles up ahead, but hey it’s just how it be I guess Tag List: @just-rant-and-write-fic-idea @kceedraws @mystery-5-5 @2sunchild2 @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @treebrosha @mooshoon @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @aarushi-03 @ladylb @crazylittlemunchkin @kurogaya913 @ki117h3dr4g0n @xxmadamjinxx @sidefrienda @7-sage-7 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @felicityroth @tritaledkitsune @constancetruggle @creator-josie @theatreandcomicfreak @northernbluetongue @yin-390 @ayuchan07 @fatimaabbasrizvi @emjrabbitwolf @resignedcatservant

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