Nebula - Adrien Agreste

Chapter 24 - Goalkeeper

I didn't get to see Serenity Swan that night.

Not that I was surprised. He was probably taking in that pervert who tried to do unspeakable things. People like that make me sick to my stomach. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Adrien, and we told each other everything. I didn't need him to go black cat mode and try to find the dude...

"Are you alright, Char?" Gulla asked, looking concerned as I laid on my back. School was already over, and instead of going out with friends like I would normally do I gave the excuse that I didn't feel well. Which wasn't exactly a lie, per say, though I could tell Adrien did not completely believe me. I was blessed with a boyfriend who didn't push too far in certain situations.

Taking a deep breath I turned towards Gulla, who was sitting on the pillow beside my head. "I don't know," I admitted with a sinking feeling. "Some part of me is glad that I interrupted. The girl got away safe and sound. Though parts of me wondered if I should have just stayed out of it. I'm a superhero, sure, but some things are better left in the hands of the law right?" I winced at that, knowing I would have felt bad if I witnessed her almost get raped and not done anything about that.

She gave me a sympathetic look. "Think of it this way. You helped put a bad person in jail. Isn't that always a silver lining?" She wondered, patting my shoulder as she snuggled into me. I smiled as I stroked her head with my finger, earning a happy buzzing noise telling me she was enjoying the pets. She was right, of course.

I hummed as she cuddled into the side of my neck. "I guess so," I shrugged helplessly, not knowing what to think. "I wish I would have been able to talk to Serenity Swan though to get some clarity." I admitted with a slight laugh. "Is that a bad thing?"

Gulla gave me a small smile. "Of course not. It's never a bad thing wanting clarity from someone who's been in the field longer. Serenity Swan has been doing a lot of good vigilante justice, I think he's bored - but he's also here for a reason. Not just to help the citizens of Paris with their lesser needs." She reminded me, and I nodded.

"I wonder what he's here for though. Do you know?" I wondered, turning to face the Kwami who made a face. I gave her a narrowed look. "So you do know but you're not allowed to tell me? Is that it?" I pouted.

The Kwami sighed a tired sigh. "I'm sorry Charlie," she said and I sighed, "Master doesn't want you to know why he's here, or how he's here. He doesn't even want Ladybug or Chat Noir to know. In honesty, you already know too much..." She chuckled faintly. "You and Serenity Swan keep meeting up at awkward times. I would say it was fate for you two to meet like this." She added as an afterthought, making me smile slightly. "You weren't even supposed to know he was here."

"It's kind of hard not to when he's been in the news," I teased her, making the Kwami laugh at that - nodding her head. "I was just kind of hoping he was my father," I admitted with a sigh, causing the Kwami to frown.

"Hey, we haven't had any evidence he's not," she reminded me, "who knows. Maybe he came knowing you were Nebula. The older Miraculous Users get immune to the magic that hides your true identities. Mostly because the older you get it doesn't really matter if the other party knows," she explained and I nodded my head.

Before I could say anything else a crash was sounded outside of my room. Eyes widening I glanced over at Gulla before rushing over to the balcony and peering down.

A girl in a soccer costume was laughing maniacally, throwing her head back as she kicked at a soccer ball. "COME PLAY LADYBUG, CHAT NOIR AND NEBULA! LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT A GREAT GOALEE I AM!" She shrieked, laughing as she punk kicked some kid in the road with her soccer ball.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "A soccer player? Really?" I mocked Hawkmoth, causing Gulla to laugh. "He's really losing his creativity here." I snickered, rolling my shoulders back some. We did have a few free days, which had been amazing, but looks like we were back to fighting villains in the streets. "Gulla! Screech Increese!" Soon I was transformed into Nebula and making my way down to the battlefield.

Seeing some random kids making a getaway and screaming at the top of their lungs, I watched with wide-eyes as the soccer ball made its way towards them. Thinking fast I flung my boomerang to make the soccer ball go the opposite direction. "NO!" The soccer girl screeched, twirling around to see me standing there with a smirk.

"What's wrong, didn't get your ball in the goal? So now you're terrorizing the town?"

"I'M GOALKEEPER!" The girl growled, eyes narrowing on me before she smirked. "Nebula, you're the first of your team to arrive. Let's play ball!" With a yell she kicked the ball over to me, but before it made it my way Chat Noir was about to knock it away with his baton.

"Not so fast, Goalie!" The tom cat grinned as he twirled his baton, looking badass as ever. "Not on my watch!" He sent me a wink and I rolled my eyes, though a soft smile was pulled at my lips.

"Don't forget me!" Ladybug called out as she landed on my other side, twirling her own weapon. Who knew a yo-yo could look so threatening? Especially to the Goalkeeper, whose weapon appeared to be a soccer ball that can appear and reappear?

Goalkeeper's eyes scanned the trio, a smirk appearing on her face. "Perfect. Let's play soccer!" Eyes widening I ducked when a soccer ball came at my head, barreling into Chat Noir who fell onto the ground with a thud.

"Sorry..." I trailed off sheepishly, giving him an impish grin as he smirked back at me.

"If you wanted on top of me all you had to do was ask!" He laughed at my shocked look as I blushed deeply at the insinuation.

Ladybug scoffed. "Stop flirting you two!" She scowled, shaking her head. "We have to find out where her Akuma is!"

"Obviously it's in the soccer ball," I pointed out, watching the Goalkeeper kick at it a few times. This Akuma wasn't exactly dangerous, just a nuisance. Not like she can make people disappear, she just wanted to prove that she was the best goalie. Sometimes these Akumas can have some absurd reasoning on becoming an Akuma, but others like these are more relatable.

Not that I related to wanting to be the best goalie. I couldn't play sports even to save my life. Which made me wonder how I could even be a Miraculous Holder to begin with my lack of athleticism.

The red bug heroine nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, so we need to slow her down some. Chat Noir can destroy the soccer ball. And I'll purify the Akuma. Easy enough, right?" She nodded again at the confirmation. As if we haven't done this hundreds of times before.

"So distract? Got it!" Chat air punched the air as he raced towards the goalie without even hearing her say yes. Glancing at each other Ladybug rolled her eyes, motioning with her hand to find the way in to use my powers.

I watched carefully as Chat Noir distracted Goalkeeper. I needed to find my opening, and got very confused when the Akuma started to sway a little bit - as if they were in bliss. Blinking I glanced around, spotting a white clad hero in the distance - giving me a smirk. Rolling my eyes, I activated my power - making it easy for Chat Noir to destroy the object and for Ladybug to purify the Akuma.

"I didn't know you could do that, Nebula!" Ladybug told me in shock as we all landed near each other.

Biting my lip, I glanced back over to where Serenity Swan was - only to see he wasn't there. Narrowing my eyes where the figure used to be I turned back to Ladybug, who was giving me a confused look. "I can't," I admitted, scratching my left cheek impishly. "My power is primarily to slow down the Akuma. Not make it... like it's drunk..." I trailed off, not knowing what else to call it.

The red-clad heroine blinked, surprised at my confession. "Well then that was weird..." She trailed off with a frown, before eyes widening at a thought. "Have you guys seen that new hero on the news? I think his name was Serenity Swan? Could he have done this?" I knew Ladybug was smart, but she caught onto that quick.

Chat Noir and I shared a look before shrugging. "Maybe, but talk to the Master first?" I offered making Ladybug nod, determination in her eyes. "He's never interfered before now though..." I trailed off in confusion, not knowing what to think.

"Maybe he thought we needed help? Goalkeeper was kind of fast..." Chat Noir suggested, and that could be it. Though he might have just been bored. I'm sure we could have figured out a game-plan to stop the Akuma without his help. Now he's possibly put himself in danger.

That is if Hawkmoth didn't already know that he was out here to begin with. Though something told me that they already knew each other, and that was what Serenity Swan was out here researching. The only thing I didn't know was in what way did they know each other. And would that further complicate things in the future?