"Come on…" Markiplier muttered as he tried to get through the regularly busy traffic near LAX. His friend, JackSepticEye (known as Jack for short), was moving to Los Angeles, and wanted Mark to pick him up. For some reason, Mark thought Jack wouldn't want to move to the city, but he didn't seem phased when they talked about it earlier.

Soon, Mark had gotten through traffic, made it to the airport, and gotten a decent spot in the airport parking lot. He got out of his car and locked it, a messenger bag slung around his shoulder. Now that he was here, he had to weave his way through the traffic that surrounded the airport. The parking lot was easy, but between it and the main building of LAX was a busy crosswalk. All of them were waiting in a huge mob to go to the building, except for one.

Mark saw an old man, with a Hawaiian shirt, white pants, and a trim moustache-beard combo, hobbling across the walk on a cane. Mark realized that the sign signaling people to cross was still red, and nobody looked willing to help, putting this man in danger. Quickly, Mark ran out into the crosswalk, grabbed the man, and pulled him to the safety of his side of the walk.

Then, the light for people to cross turned green and Mark walked with the mob. He sighed, "I hope Jack doesn't miss me…" Next, he looked back to the old man and said, "Ah, have a nice day, sir!"

The old man smiled and pulled out a strange-looking box, having just placed the other in Mark's bag. "Thank you very much, young man." He then walked away from the scene, not even using his cane.

"It's him!" someone shouted, and JackSepticEye looked up at the distant shout; was it directed at him? He looked around, and was glad airport security was tight in America, for once. He could see people crowded outside airport check-ins, but in the arrival area, he was safe. No fans should have been here, since he wanted to keep his move to a crowded city secret, but some fans had found a way.

As Jack looked around at the things of the arrival area, the JackSepticEye fans left, as they either noticed he was in no hurry to leave or thought they'd missed him. Jack felt slightly guilty about not at least answering to his fans, but he had other things to worry about now. Once he left the area, he looked around for Mark, his ride, but couldn't spot him around; he had told Jack traffic might be a problem.
Then, Jack heard a groan of agony to his left. He saw an old man, with a Hawaiian shirt, white pants, and a trim moustache-beard combo, who was reaching out for the cane he dropped. Somehow, in an airport as busy as LAX, nobody seemed to notice but Jack. After he confirmed he was the only one around to help, he sprung to the man's aid and helped him up, putting the cane in his hands. Then, Jack asked, "Are ya alright, sir?"

"Yes, young man, I am." The old man smiled and Jack pulled his hands away. "Thank you."

"Jack?" He heard a familiar voice call out to him, and turned away from the old man. Not too far away, he saw Mark standing there, and Jack's face lit up.

"Mark!" he yelled, confirming to Mark he'd been seen. The two men hugged, and as they did, Jack said, "I'm so glad you got here. How're you?"

"Well, traffic was a mess, but you know how LAX is. What about you?"

"Ah, I'm a little jet-lagged, but I can sleep it off." Jack pulled out his phone from his bag. "I got the directions to my new place right here."

"Good to hear. Now come on, I got a good parking spot not far from the building." Mark led them to the exit and Jack followed. As they walked away, Jack looked back to see where the old man went, but to his surprise, he couldn't see him anywhere.

Once Jack was safely at his new house, Mark headed to his home, which as he found out on the drive back, wasn't that far away. Mark shared the place with a few of his friends, but all of them except him were busy for the day. He went up to his bedroom to relax for a little bit, and he opened his bag. He rummaged around for his phone, but as he did, a small, foreign, hexagonal box fell out of his bag.

Mark looked at the box that fell out of his bag with intrigue. It looked oriental, probably Chinese, in design and was black with red markings. Something about it felt…otherworldly, but Mark felt no fear when opening it. It was a pair of earrings that looked ladybug-inspired: red with five black dots on each. Immediately after Mark opened the box, a pink ball of light grew from the earrings, and that's when he felt fear. He dropped the box and fell out of his chair, muttering, "Nope, nope, nope, nope!"

From the pink ball of light, a small creature formed, and Mark watched the short process with awe. The creature looked like some hovering-chibi-thing with the same ladybug pattern on its body, its long antennae and big blue eyes complimenting this. "Oh my gosh!" Mark exclaimed. "You are the cutest little fairy thing I've ever seen!"

Tikki giggled. "Oh, that's so sweet of you to sa-"

"I need to make a YouTube video about this!"

"Wait, what?"

"I'm gonna set up the camera!" Mark got up from the floor.

"No! Mark, wait!" Tikki flew in front of him, managing to stop him before he grabbed his camera. "Mark, this is serious. You can't tell anyone about me."

"Got it. Except for Tyler, Ethan, and my followers."

"B-But you can't tell anyone!"

"Hearing you loud and clear. Just Tyler and Ethan."

"NOBODY! Not a single person!"

"Soooo... just Tyler?"

Tikki bashed her head repeatedly against a wall, feeling like the wall was smarter than Mark was acting at the moment. Slowly, Mark put down the camera. After thirty seconds of head-bashing, the Kwami took a deep breath and turned back to him. "Allow me to introduce myself properly now. My name is Tikki."

"Oh, sorry about that. Hi, my name is Mark. I guess I also go by Markiplier." He extended a hand for her to shake, but then he realized his hand was massive compared to her arm-paw-appendages. He then put his hand back to his side sheepishly. "So what are you, exactly?"

"I'm a Kwami, Mark. I was sent here to give you extraordinary powers!"

Mark's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "Extraordinary powers? Like a superhero? I'M GONNA BE A SUPERHERO!?"

"Yes, yes! But you can't tell anyone!"

Mark nodded frantically, starting to calm down. "Right, right, you established that. Sorry about earlier, Tikki—my excitement got the better of me."

Tikki smiled, and Mark tried hard not to squeal at how adorable she looked. "It's okay. Now, put on the earrings so your powers can activate."

He blinked, and said almost robotically, "Put…them on."

The Kwami stopped smiling, and tilted her head. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, I… I don't have my ears pierced." Mark grabbed his earlobe to show her, and she flew over to it just to make sure. Sure enough, there was no small hole to indicate piercing. "It's not really a thing I've been interested in."

"Y-You need to get them pierced! If you don't pierce your ears, THE WORLD COULD BE DESTROYED."

"Can't I just have clip-ons, Tikki?!"

Tikki folded her arms. "That's not how it works! The earrings only allow for pierced ears."

"I don't care! I'm NOT getting my ears pierced!"

"It's not weird for a guy to get his ears pierced nowadays! R-Right?"

"But I don't wanna piece my ears! What if I told you to poke a needle through your flesh to leave a permanent hole?!"

"Well, uh..." Tikki phased through a nearby table, appearing underneath it. "Kwami don't have a permanent form." She chuckled nervously.

Mark knelt to talk to her from under the table. "Exactly. So, NO piercing my ears."

"But Mark, if you don't wear them, I..." She looked at him sternly. "I won't come back, and you'll never get your powers."

Mark frowned, folding his arms. "FINE! I'll pierce my damn ears to become a superhero!"

"Yay!" Tikki nuzzled his cheek, and he couldn't help but blush.

When he got to his new house, Jack had to make it through a maze of boxes and movers just to make it to his bedroom. There wasn't much yet, but at least there was a bed to sleep on and a lamp in the corner. He flopped down on the bed and rummaged through his bag for his phone, but he felt something else. He pulled the thing out and found an ornate-looking box in his hand. It looked oriental, probably Chinese, in design and was black with red markings. Something about it felt…otherworldly, but Jack felt no fear when opening it.

Inside was a black ring with a bright green cat's paw in the center, and after Jack opened it, a green ball of light grew from the piece of jewelry. Jack still held the box, and watched as the orb turned into a small creature, that looked like a chibi humanoid black cat. It yawned as it woke up and looked to Jack, who was still in shock. "Uh, hey, I'm Plagg. Nice to meet you...uh…and your name is…?"

"I-I'm Jack. Can you explain jus'…" Jack trailed off as Plagg floated to the bathroom connected to Jack's bedroom.

"Ohh! So shiny!" The Kwami exclaimed as he looked around. He then noticed Jack's toothbrush. "Can you eat this?" He pouted as he found the thing inedible. "No, you can't."

"Hey, don't stick that in your mouth!" Jack pulled the toothbrush from Plagg's little hands. "Now what—"

Jack's tube of toothpaste then caught Plagg's eye. "Ooh, what about this?"

"Ah, no!" Jack grabbed the Kwami with his free hand. "Yer not eatin' anything until you tell me what the fuck you are!"

Plagg explained quickly, "Look, I'm a Kwami. I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction. Got it? Good. Now, you got anything to eat? I'm starving..."
Jack picked up on the "I grant powers" part immediately, but then he realized the "Kwami" was hungry. "Well, I don't have much in the way of food right now, but how about some peanuts I got from the plane?"

Plagg shook his head, and Jack frowned. "How about I go down the street and get s-!"

Again, the Kwami shook his head, and Jack got a little more irritated. "Maybe we could go out for lunch, 'cause-!"

Yet again, Plagg shook his head. "Then what DO you wanna eat, ya dick!?"

Plagg floated out of Jack's hand. "If you expect me to get my energy back after a transformation, I need to eat something more... delicate!"

"What?" Jack asked, not having a clue what the Kwami was talking about.

"If you want to be able to transform into a superhero, then stinky cheese is the deal, my friend!"

Jack sighed and went down to the small shop he tried to tell Plagg about earlier. Considering it was a small "quick-stop" store, there were only a few types of cheeses. Since he didn't want to look like a weirdo for sniffing cheese, he decided the pack of swiss slices would be the "most stinky."

When Jack got back, Plagg looked neutrally at the swiss cheese. "Well, it's not Camembert, but on short notice…" The Kwami dug into the cheese slice pack, phasing through before Jack could even open it. He still opened it so Plagg could get some air as he ate. Jack expected him to only eat one slice, but then he ate a second one, followed by a third.

"Why the fuck do you keep eatin' cheese, you greedy bastard?!" Jack exclaimed. "This is yer FIFTH slice! Just turn me into a hero already!"

"Well…" Plagg nibbled on the cheese in front of him more. "Just put on the ring and say 'claws out'- that's how you transform."

Jack smirked as he put on the now-white ring. "Got it." He thrust out his arm like he was about to bro-fist someone. "PLAGG, GET YOUR FECKIN' CLAWS OUT!"

"Wait, wait! I haven't finished eating yet!" Plagg screamed as he got sucked up into the white ring, turning it black. With finesse and ease, Jack changed into his magical superhero costume in a stylish manner. During the transformation, his hair changed color to green, a color he'd previously dyed it. Once he finished transforming, he felt some strange weight on his waist that wasn't just the tail-like belt. He reached behind him and grabbed what he presumed to be his weapon. It appeared to be a silvery rod, but with a push of the cat-paw symbol in the middle, it extended into a sleek, metallic staff.

"A staff? Why can't I have, like, a katanna?" Jack knew Plagg couldn't answer for him now, so he started pole-vaulting around to get a feel for it. He got out of his house, onto the roof, and then jumped with the help of the staff. Unfortunately, his fear of heights kicked in, and as he landed on someone else's roof, he started to breathe heavily. He backed away from the edge, and once he was safe in the center, he said to himself, "Ho-kay, Jack-aboy, just imagine yer jumpin' around in Clustertruck, but with less rage and more awesome. This is nothin' more than the latest VR game and…"

His speech to himself seemed to work, and he crossed the gap with ease, using the staff to propel himself over the gap between buildings. After getting over the fear of heights, Jack continued jumping over buildings to become more confident in his skills. Nobody would know this was JackSepticEye, after all.

Mark groaned as he exited the tattoo and piercing shop at the mall, rubbing one of his pierced ears; just being pierced meant it hurt like heck. He looked around the mall as he rubbed his ear, trying to be discreet about it.

He wanted to talk to Tikki, who was in his bag, but he couldn't talk to his bag. He got the idea to put his phone to his ear as if he was talking to someone over the phone. "So, Tikki, should I put these on now?"

The Kwami nodded eagerly, and replied, "Yes, put them on quickly. You never know when you'll be needed." Mark headed into the nearest men's bathroom and took out the mysterious box Tikki came from. Inside, the earrings were still there, but they had turned black. He put them on once he was in a stall and Tikki flew out of his bag.

Mark asked her, "So, what do I do now…?"

"Well…" She put one of her "paws" to her chin as she thought. "I think it'd be good to test out your powers before an emergency."

"What exactly are my powers with these on?"

"First you need to say 'Tikki, transform me.'"

"O-kay…" Mark brushed his hair out of his face and stood up confidently. "Tikki, transform me!" Tikki disappeared into the earrings and turned them back to their original ladybug patterning. A ladybug mask appeared over Mark's face, and pink magic spread over his clothes. They changed into a ladybug-patterned top with a black collar and black sleeves, ladybug-patterned gloves, black pants, and ladybug-patterned boots. Transforming with the rest of his outfit, Mark's hair changed from black to red, a color he'd previously dyed it to.

After posing confidently, Mark felt self-conscious being dressed up as a superhero in a bathroom. Going outside the bathroom and into the public space of the mall made him feel even worse. Without the mask on, he was Markiplier, Youtuber, but overall, a normal guy. With the mask on, nobody would identify him, and most people saw a stranger in a strange costume. To calm himself down, he started to think. Once I'm out of the mall, I can practice my powers, I hope… Wait, what's that?

Mark looked up and saw, on the skylight, a black figure with cat ears running across the roof of the mall. Everyone else who noticed it was stunned, but Mark ran outside the mall, just in time to see where the figure was heading. He finally noticed the yo-yo around his waist like a belt, and grabbed it, the string retracting as he did so. He swung the yo-yo, aiming for the roof, and it attached to a rain gutter. As he pulled on the rope, he was pulled up to the roof, and grabbed the edge of it, fearing that he'd drop off.

Once he climbed on the roof, he raced after the figure, who seemed to have no goal in his running. After a few minutes of chasing, it was clear that Mark couldn't catch up, and the figure still hadn't noticed him. To get his attention, Mark exclaimed, "HEY!"

Jack turned to the voice, and saw a man dressed in ladybug-patterned clothing; despite the fact Jack and Mark had met in real life, the magical masks hid their true identities from each other. Jack said back, kind of nervous, "H-Hey."

"Are you like, my partner or something?"

"Partner? I didn't know I was s'posed to have a partner, but anyway, I'm… Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. And you?" He extended a hand for Mark to shake.

Mark smiled, and shook the hand in front of him. "I guess you can call me Ladybug."