"A NIGHT OF MISFORTUNE"

By: I Write Big

PROLOGUE

The flickering candle casted a warm glow over the table. Master Fu considered lighting another but had decided long ago to err on the side of caution when around his treasure. He ran his old fingers over the aged leather, the intricate design on the cover felt both familiar and foreign. Another ancient mystery waiting to be solved.

"After all these years," he said, "we can now unlock your secrets." He turned to Wayzz only to find the little turtle Kwami asleep in his vintage record player.

"Well... I can," he chuckled.

As Fu opened the Miraculous Book, a shiver rang through his body. A shiver of hope that the book's contents would aid the Miraculous Wielders in their fight.

The first look filled him with worry. A page was missing. Only the shredded roots remained. Master Fu wondered how long ago this knowledge was taken and silently prayed for its safe return. He turned to the next page.

He hummed to himself and stroked his small pointed beard. The artwork's beauty had not been lost, but the details had turned gray. Next to the drawing of the original Wielder of the Cat Miraculous was a long dead language. The words remained but the text was faded and obscured, no doubt due to age. He could not blame the young Ladybug Wielder for its condition. She only had the book for a day.

Perhaps he had taken too long in his search.

He sighed and reached for his magnifying glass, knowing the deciphering process could take months. He placed his hand on the page only to feel the paper slip out of its binding. Quickly as he could, he pulled his hand away. Fearful thoughts that he had already destroyed this well of wisdom raced through his mind. He controlled the beating in his chest as something caught his eye.

A part of the once clouded page was suddenly clear. Even more vexing, a matching shape of the missing cloudiness was now hanging off the edge of the book.

With a trembling hand he gently pinched the hanging cloud and lifted it up. It did not resist being pulled out as if it was never bound to begin with. Master Fu rubbed his fingers across the crinkling material and peered deeply through it. He could make out hand drawn outlines of what could be a person. The figure was familiar, crouched low... and ready to pounce. His eyes widened as he looked back at the now perfectly legible book and saw it was the same pose as the Cat Miraculous Wielder.

"Is this… tracing paper?"

Marinette flattened another fresh sheet of tracing paper over her Ladybug cocktail dress design and started again. The hem just wasn't quite right, she knew it.

"Maybe a little extra cloth to give a flutter with every step," she muttered to herself. A little song danced its way onto to the tip of her tongue and she couldn't help but sing along. Her tired eyes briefly drifted to her copies of the Miraculous Wielders.

"So elegant," she thought peacefully.

She wished the strange man would've let her hold onto that book a bit longer. Tikki called him Master Fu, but Marinette wondered how exactly anyone can hold the title of Master of anything while wearing a Hawaiin shirt, let a alone be called the Great Guardian. Still, he seemed like a kind old man.

She heard a distant noise, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and returned to her work. The sound came back, but Marinette didn't pay it any heed. Even if it did sound like someone was shouting her name, they could wait.

"Hey!" Tikki screamed, suddenly appearing in front of her.

Marinette let out a yell and jumped back in her chair. In her fright, she jumped back a little too far. She soon found gravity pulling her and her chair to the floor and nearly into her pink frilly bed with a thump. Marinette groaned not from pain but from embarrassment as she heard Tikki giggling at her fall.

"Tikki, don't scare me like that," she chastised the ladybug Kwami, who was no bigger than a mouse.

"Sorry, but you were sitting there like a zombie," Tikki said with a playful smile. Marinette felt Tikki was having too much fun to be truly sorry. "What were you doing anyway? Are these new dress designs?"

Marinette shot to her feet, eager to show her work. "Sort of," she said, "after Master Fu took that book off our hands, I just couldn't get the pictures in it out of my head." Marinette picked up the sketchbook, her eyes flashing with eager delight. She flipped through the pages to show Tikki as many as she could. "And then I got the idea to design a line around the Kwami Wielders! They're amazing! The color, the fabric, the-"

Marinette yawned.

She covered her mouth, a bit surprised she could bore herself with her own work. Tikki gave her a questioning look.

"Did you sleep at all?"

The exhaustion of an all-nighter suddenly hit Marinette like a train. She felt drained, like she had ran a 10k marathon.

"Maybe..." she tried hide behind a smile, but it didn't last, "not really." Marinette didn't like the disapproving look Tikki gave her. She already had a mom for that, she didn't need another. "How could I," she argued, "when today's my big pitch meeting with Gabriel?"

"Uh-huh," Tikki's guiding parental stare quickly shifted to concerned friend, "wait, you're not actually going to use them, are you?"

"Oh come on, it's not like I'm copying the outfits. They're inspiration. Look," she held up her latest design for Tikki to see. "I even made one based on your cuteness."

"That's very nice, but-"

"Can you imagine," Marinette said more to herself than to Tikki, "a whole line of Kwami style dresses and suits!"

...Adrien…

No longer was Marinette in her bedroom. Marinette was far far away in a perfect world with a population of two. Just her and Adrien. He was handsome as ever with twinkling eyes and a soft smile. What made him even more handsome was the Chat Noir tux that fit him so snugly. It was so gorgeous he couldn't help but compliment her work… and her beauty. She leaned in, whispering his name. He leaned towards her, repeating her name. They were so close...

Adrien's face abruptly morphed into Tikki's and shouted, "Marinette!"

Marinette snapped out of her fantasy with another scream. She gave Tikki an annoyed glare. Tikki held back from laughing this time.

"Listen, you really shouldn't be using-"

There was a knock at the trapdoor. It was followed by a familiar girl's voice.

"Marinette, girl, are you ready?" it asked, "We're gonna be late."

"Oh my god" squeaked Marinette, "I'll be right there, Alya!"

Marinette scrambled to get all her designs in her bag. She couldn't leave a single one behind. This was her chance. This was her day.

"Marinette," Tikki called, "we need to talk about this."

"Yes, okay, later," she quickly said, running to the trapdoor, "Let's go!"

Marinette held open her purse and looked at Tikki expectantly. Tikki groaned but obediently flew into the waiting bag.

The stamp of his cane brought him a small amount comfort. The purple orb at the head felt cold in his palm. With each strike, he imagined himself snuffing out the increasingly annoying Ladybug and Chat Noir. He saw himself at last taking their Miraculous and obtaining absolute power.

That dream, though, seemed even further out of Hawkmoth's reach than before.

It was only after yet another failed Akuma plan, that he realized the Miraculous Book was missing. Stolen from his personal safe. If his enemies had discovered his secret identity along with the book, then they were clearly playing with him. He cursed under his breath, berating himself for becoming complacent with his plans of attack.

It was time for a change of tactics.

He clenched the paper in his other hand. He had spent months translating, but it had been worth it. He would have the Miraculous… even if it meant their destruction.

END OF PROLOGUE

Author's Notes:

The stage is set, the players are ready and the story begins with the rise of the sun. But who will survive when all is said and done?

Don't worry, kids, this story isn't rated M.

Next Week: Chapter 1 "Studio Gabriel"