Wayward Wings
For Marinette it was a day just like any other. A mixture of patrols and stopping yet another akuma attack made by Hawkmoth that left her utterly exhausted by the end of the previous day. Such exhaustion once again led her to sleeping too long and having to rush to avoid being late for class. Grabbing her purse, making sure Tikki was safely hidden within its seams, she briskly jogged down the stairs, practically inhaling her breakfast plate of bacon, eggs, and ham made by her mother in order to make as much time as possible for her rush to the school. As much as she wanted to become Ladybug to make her trip quicker, she knew that such laziness and abuse of powers was unbecoming of a defender of Paris.
By the time Marinette had arrived, practically bursting through the door shortly the bell rang, Miss Bustier greeted her with the teachers normally peaceful and welcoming tone. As she walked by Adrien's desk, her attention falter, just enough for Chloe to take advantage while Marinette was on her way to her seat by sticking out her foot, tripping Marinette up the stairs. By the time Marinette had gathered her thoughts, it was already too late as she found herself falling toward the floor, landing with a usual thud. As soon as Marinette started toward the floor, Chloe retreated her foot back inside her desk to avoid being called out or reprimanded for her action, though it was easily discernible given the extent of almost everyone's opinions of both the mayor's daughter and the class representative.
As Marinette started to pick herself up off the ground, she heard a soft voice nearby and when she looked up, an unfamiliar yet concern ridden face was close by with an extended hand offering to help her up. "Are you alright?" The voice spoke looking directly toward her. Given the fact that everyone was used to her stumbling, at times induced by her clumsiness around Adrien or just caused by Chloe's attempts to remove any chances between Adrien and Marinette, the hand was initially was met with some surprise at first but was accepted without much hesitation afterwards.
"Are you alright?" The voice repeated itself as Marinette was getting her mind caught up with the series of events that her body acted upon nearly out of instinct. Once the words registered with Marinette's brain, she turned her attention toward the source of both the hand and the voice from earlier. It was a young man with bowl cut blond hair, a light blue shirt fitted with several diamonds inside each other, slightly disturbed by unknown brown splotches at several spots, blue jean pants also dotted with the brown splotches and black and white tennis shoes tightened by straps across his feet rather than laces. A small portion of his bangs hung over his eyes in a futile attempt to hide his presence from the rest of the class as he assisted Marinette.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Thanks." She still wasn't very sure who the person was or how to approach them, but she wanted to make sure that his concerns were addressed as well as not seem like she was ungrateful given the time he took out of his day to go to her aid.
The young man only nodded his head softly as an immediate response before his voice once again left past his lips as a verbal response. "Okay, I'm glad." His voice harbored a greater concern and relief in the tone than was presented in the nearly inaudible volume that it was presented in. Before Marinette could respond, the young man retreated from the area as mysteriously as he appeared, taking a seat besides Nathaniel in the back of the class.
Marinette's thoughts lingered on who the young man was before Miss Bustier's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Marinette gave a mildly embarrassed apology given how she had lost herself in thought and quickly went to her seat besides Alya.
Once class began, Marinette would drift between taking notes, daydreaming about Adrien, and a wonder about the young man from earlier that day that she couldn't hear Alya saying her name several times despite the two of them being seated right besides each other. "Marinette, what is up with you today girl? You are zoning out more than normal." Alya presented her concerns directly at Marinette as was customary between the two best friends.
As the class progressed, Alya and Marinette chatted between themselves, serving to keep Marinette from daydreaming about Adrien as was a given purpose. "Alya, who was that young man that helped me up from earlier?" Marinette presented her curiosity. She figured that with Alya being in class longer that day that she would hold a greater grasp about the young man's identity than she currently did given her haste.
"His name's Marcus. Before you ask, that is only because he introduced himself before he went to his seat and that was all he said." Alya responded as she turned her head back and forth between the board and the notebook while still maintaining small talk with Marinette about the brought-up topic.
Marinette turned her attention and head briefly toward Marcus's direction, only to come up against a large red folder that was suspended in front of a large majority of his face and what wasn't obstructed by the folder was blocked by his hair, leaving his appearance to everyone's imagination. "He looks lonely like that." Marinette muttered softly toward Alya a mild melancholy tone in her voice, given her nature.
At first Marinette was surprised that he statement was only met with a light laugh from Alya but it was soon responded with a friendly pat on Marinette's shoulder by Alya's right hand. "I knew you were going to say that. We'll talk with him after class." Alya cheerfully answers, Marinette smiling joyfully as she nodded her head, eager to meet with her nice yet mysterious new classmate.
Once the class period had ended, Marinette and Alya acted to meet with Marcus before he could leave their sight for who knows how long. "Marcus?" Marinette inquired softly, hoping not to startle her classmate. Despite her best effort, her attempts proved fruitless.
A mild squeak of surprise emanated from Marcus's lips as he jumped a bit out of his seat causing the folder barrier to fall onto his desk, only to later fall backwards in his chair, only adding more to his fright as the members of their class had mixed emotions of surprise and worry toward the source of the commotion. Alya and Marinette quickly ran behind the desk to help him up. "Are you alright?" The statement came out more of a proclamation of concern rather than a question as Marinette's voice was higher due to a mixture of concern, worry, and slight fear of what Marcus would think of her given her earlier situation and the current one.
A small groan was the first thing that issued from the young man's lips following his fall as he shook his head in response to the inquiry. "I'm fine." He responded softly as his eyes remained opened, revealing the sapphire blue irises hidden behind either folder, hair, or eyelids. He climbed to his feet as he placed his left hand over his breast to try and calm his racing heart following the dual subsequent frights, though neither was intentional.
Marcus resumed gathering his belongings which had mainly been obscured by the folder that served to try and hide his presence while Marinette and Alya sat the chair back up. When his belongings had been gathered and the bookbag containing them on his back, Marcus turned his attention toward the two girls that had approached him. "You wanted me?" His soft voice had an unknown tone that could be placed as either anxiety, fear, and/or discomfort, though it was impossible to determine which and the extent of it.
Marinette and Alya nodded their heads in near synchronous timing, glad that it didn't appear that they had scared him off by calling his name. "Yeah, I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to Francoise Dupont College. My name is Marinette and I am the Class Representative." Marinette brought herself to respond first before Alya chimed in to add on. "I am Alya, I am the deputy."
Marcus nodded his head as he took in both girls' positions as well as their names but didn't speak. "Thank you again for helping me up. Are you getting situated or do you need a tour?" Marinette wanted to help him at least get comfortable with the school if not comfortable talking with other people.
Marcus would close his eyes to gather his thoughts and gauge both his knowledge of the school as well as whether to accept the presented offer. Once his eyes opened, he spoke briefly in response. "I could use a tour. Thank you both." His voice had lost a small portion of whatever lay within his voice, though the majority remain. The young man pushed in his chair before turning to face the two girls, his arms in front of him, hands clasped roughly at his belly button. He would simply wait for the two girls to lead him through the school.
Marinette and Alya went around the two levels of the school in pieces between classes as Marcus followed behind them as the two explained each of the classrooms, the various students and the faculty.
At the end of the day, Marinette and Alya were once again in class with Marcus and once the school day had ended, the two girls went to check up on Marcus to see how he had been holding up over the span of the day. "Marcus?" Marinette once again kept her voice low to not startle him and once again it proved to be a fruitless venture.
Just like the first time Marcus let out a small squeak of surprise and did jump out of his seat slightly, this time though not to the extent that he ended up falling backwards in his chair. A small whine was the first thing that left his lips as he wished that he wasn't that easy to startle or scare. He sighed softly to himself before turning to face the two girls. "Hello Marinette and Alya." Would be the only words that left his lips as his tone hadn't changed since they last talked. Such a fact was met with slight concern from Marinette given that it was her duty to help and that he was her classmate.
"How has the rest of the day been for you? Do you need any help with anything?" Marinette was the first one to inquire and see if he needed any help. Marcus would shake his head as an immediate response before speaking. "I am fine, thank you for the offer though." His voice was slightly cheerful but still had the unknown tone from earlier.
"Oh, okay. You are probably as new to the city as you are to the school. If you want, the three of us can walk around town and show you around." Marinette only ventured a guess given it was his first day and figured that it was better to find out that he had lived in the city and only transferred to a new school rather than not offer and find out that he was new to the city as well as the school. Once again Marcus would offer a shake of his head for an immediate response before speaking. "I appreciate the offer and would take you up on it, but I have plans already made." The young man sounded neither excited nor happy for having to state such a fact. The plans were neither ones he made nor ones he wanted to follow, but he didn't have any choice regarding following them or not.
"Oh okay, maybe another day then. Hope you have a nice day." Marinette and Alya waved before they set off to leave the school for the day. Marcus would only sigh to himself. "If only that was possible." He mutters to himself, eyes looking downcast and off to the side. He would gather his belongings and leave the classroom shortly after the rest of the class but would leave the school shortly before most of the class as he didn't stop by his locker on his way out. Alya and Marinette finished putting their stuff in their locker and saw Marcus heading over to a deep crimson car with a woman in a violet suit waiting by the passenger door.
As Marcus drew closer to the car, the woman opened the passenger for him and he sat down inside for the woman to close the door for him. Marinette and Alya stood watching the display, the woman would turn her attention to the girls, startling them slightly. The woman only gave a warm smile and waves toward both before heading over to the driver's seat and driving off. "Do you think Marcus knows Adrien?" Marinette asks looking over at Alya.
"It's possible, but don't even think about it." Alya reprimands Marinette for thinking of even trying of using Marcus's possible relation with Adrien to try and get closer with the model. Marinette only laughed nervously as she nodded her head, "Yeah, I know. Do you have any ideas of how I should tell Adrien how I feel?" Marinette quickly changed the subject as she knew that such an option wouldn't be something she would want to do and didn't know how it would impact Marcus.
"How about you just tell him?" Alya asked, mainly joking as she knew how Marinette would react and find it amusing in a playful and teasing way, not meaning any ill will. "Seriously Alya? Do you know how weird that will be?..." Marinette would begin her usual complaint of answer the straightforward approach option, during which Nino and Adrien would begin walking down the steps at the front of the school.
"Hi Marinette." Adrien spoke, unknowingly interrupting the conversation, which cause Alya to simply turn and face the two boys and for Marinette to jump and turn to face them shortly afterwards. "Oh, A-Adrien, it's nice to day you…I-I mean it's a great see today." Marinette sputtered out, being a bit short of being one giant word mashed together out of haste. Adrien laughed playfully as did both Nino and Alya.
"We were wondering if the two of you wanted to join us to the park. Adrien has some time off and it'd be better with some more company." Nino replies, Marinette's face brightening up at the mention, but it was Alya that gave the already known response. "Sure, neither of us have plans for the moment."
Meanwhile, as Marcus's car passes by the park, the young man was only gazing outside, his right arm against the window ledge of the door and his chin resting on the palm of his right hand. "How was your first day Marcus?" The driver asked warmly as she kept her eyes on the road, only turning briefly while the lights are red. The young man would only shrug his shoulders, for him it was only the same thing as the last couple schools he had been to.
"Did you make any friends?" This time the driver's voice was a mixture of curiosity, concern, and worry knowing what such a question instills in Marcus's psyche.
As anticipated, a shiver ran up Marcus's spine as the question was being spoken. "No, you know how I feel about that Samantha." The words were more of a defiant whine than spoken words, only earning a soft sigh from Samantha's lips.
"I know, but I also know that you'll find someplace where you'll make friends and given the fact, I was told you won't be moving anymore, I am sure that it will be here, just give it time." Samantha did her best to cheer up Marcus for the topic at hand.
Marcus could only muster a sigh in response as his body shifted so he was curled up into a ball around his seatbelt. "I hope so." His voice was only a defeated and dejected mutter which caused Samantha to become slightly depressed, but she knew that she had to be a source of light and optimism for the young man and cheered up as she drove past the Agreste household and then for another block and a half before turning into a separate mansion where a well dressed and refine man was waiting at the door.
"I am here Mr. Montriel." Marcus would state devoid of any true feeling before heading inside with the man behind him as Samantha went to park the car.
As Marinette, Nino, Adrien, and Alya walked toward the park, they walked past a junkyard with a compactor and a small crane. A small argument could be heard through the noise of the city. "Max, I told you I wanted this pile of trash smashed into cubes yesterday." One voice would say. "I'm sorry sir, but Phil is still out sick, and he is the one that operates the crane." A second voice would respond in almost a hush. Such a conversation would continue as the group gathered distance from the junkyard.
"I sure hope that man is going to be alright." Marinette worries about the inadvertently overheard conversation. Nino smiles and rests his right hand on Marinette's left shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be fine, they'll work it out one way or another." Nino does his best to reassure Marinette of the situation, to which Marinette nodded her head believing in the goodness of all the citizens of the city.
Marcus would only sit with his elbows on the dining room table that was serving as the desk for his after school extra lessons on pottery and sculpting that his father signed him up for, without his input for that matter. He would simply watch as the hired instructor provided a lecture about textures, flows, thicknesses, designs, and angles for pottery that he thought was going to help him become successful through his sculpting later in life. The young man didn't even want to do such a thing as a career, but his opinion didn't matter to his father who was rarely available for him to even have a chance to do such a thing.
Back at the junkyard, the end of the argument or discussion that had transpired ended with Max getting fired. Max would remain in the area of the junkyard, resting his back against the fence as he sighed, pulling out a necklace with a locket at the end. He popped open the locket revealing a picture of him with his wife and a young daughter. "I'm sorry Natalie." He would softly mutter to himself as tears ran along the line between his eyelids then down along his face.
In Hawkmoth's lair, the large window overlooking the yard opened as the butterflies inside the room started to fly and flutter off in various directions as the villain emerged in the center of the gathering. "A simple junkyard workers dreams crushed like the cars he smashes. In his ruin, I shall build my victory against Ladybug and Chat Noir." The villain simply states to himself as one of the butterflies fly into his hand. The villain covers his hands around the butterfly, imbuing it with his dark energy before releasing an akuma butterfly that begins to flutter through the small hole in the window. "Go forth my akuma and evilize him." Hawmoth would bring his cane up and lightly tap it along the floor of his lair as he spoke those last words.
The butterfly would slowly yet gradually find its way toward the worker's locket before merging with it. A papillon symbol would form around the worker's eyes. "I give you the power to right the wrongs that have been wrought upon you. All I ask in return are the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do we have a deal Construct?" The villain wasted no time as he began his telepathic coercion of his next victim and his next minion to try and retrieve the items he desired.
"Deal." Max agrees with little hesitation as he grasps the locket with his right hand before a purple vapor form around the locket and expands outward from it and from his right hand which was grasping the locket. As the vapor ran along the victim's body, the flesh and clothing were replaced with metal and magically melded pieces of construction and destruction equipment. A wrecking ball, a quick drying cement machine, a crane, steel girders, a hydraulic powered set of hands, all of which were changeable on both sets of his arms and both of his legs, though the legs were mainly kept with hydraulic power for greater speed and power.
Construct brought a steel girder blade right through the fence, the sound of which alerted the authorities as well as the manager who was the target. As soon as word had traveled far enough, the alarms started blaring, "AKUMA ALERT! AKUMA ALERT!" Incessantly to alert everyone within the city to take shelter and leave the rest to Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Once the group had heard the alert, they quickly formulated a plan for after the attack had been stopped. "We'll come back once the akuma has been stopped." Alya stated, wanting to take the opportunity to catch Ladybug in action on film. Marinette and Adrien were more than willing to comply, though for other reasons. The four of them broke off, heading in separate directions to make their ways home.
Once Adrien and Marinette were both out of view, they quickly turned into the nearest vacant street, which were both luckily close by due to the alert which had vacated the streets for the most part.
Marinette pressed back up against the wall before opening her purse to look down at Tikki, who promptly flew out of Marinette's purse once it was open as she had heard the siren through the purse. "So much for having time with Adrien, Tikki." The girl's voice was forlorn as it was one of the few times that she could actually manage to spend time with the boy she had a crush on.
"Don't worry about it, Marinette. You can meet up with him after you stop the akuma." Tikki did her best to be supportive of her chosen's situation, but also had to keep her mind on the task at hand. Marinette simply nodded her head, she knew that she had to put off her personal desire to see Adrien to keep the akuma from causing people harm or grief.
"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said the required phrase in order to begin her transformation into the Parisian hero, Ladybug. Tikki flew in a swirling pattern into Marinette's left earring. A magical red light would sweep across her body, changing her civilian clothes into the red with black spotted skintight leotard that was the signature of Ladybug. Twirling her yo-yo, she caught it on a rung of an escape later nearby and used it to launch herself up onto the roof where she promptly took off toward the akuma.
It took Adrien a bit longer to find a good hiding spot, but once he did, he looked inside his pocket. "Plagg, where are you? We need to go." Adrien calls out before hearing a light snore calling from a separate one of his pockets. Upon opening it, seeing that Plagg was sleeping in his pocket. Sighing to himself, Adrien would later mutter to himself. "I'm surprised that people can still stand me since I nearly always smell of camembert." He would state as he pulled out a piece of camembert cheese, which quickly obtained the attention of the sleeping kwami who flew up and ate it. Before Plagg could go back to sleep, Adrien beat him to the punch.
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien said, drawing the unwilling kwami into the ring on Adrien's right hand. Smirking playfully yet cheekfully. With his pointer and middle fingers together, Adrien slides the two fingers across his face, his face now being covered by a midnight black mask spanning from ear to ear. A black light would sweep across Adrien's body, covering the entirety of it in a skin-tight black leotard with a tail.
Taking out his staff, he had it extend and launch him onto the rooftop where he took off in the same direction as Ladybug, straight toward the akuma.
At Marcus's house, the akuma alert would cause his afterschool lesson to be cut short. The young man couldn't tell which part of the akuma alert was met with a great amount of excitement. The fact that his boring and unwanted classes were cut short, or that he had a chance to help Ladybug and Chat Noir with an akuma. As he got up and headed to the door, he saw that Samantha was standing right in front of the door. "I knew that you were going to go out. I am not going to stop you, just be careful." Samantha stated with a warm smile before stepping out of the way of the door.
"Thanks Samantha." Marcus beamed joyfully and grateful at his caretaker's consideration and acceptance of his personality. He opened the right of the two doors to his home's foyer and closed it behind him once he was outside. He ran over to a bush near the front gate and picked up a bag full of pebbles and a slingshot. He was glad that he did practice a lot when he wasn't doing his after-class lessons and while his parents were gone. Attaching the bag to his waist before tying it tight, he took off toward the akuma.
Ladybug stood atop the nearest rooftop to the junkyard when Chat Noir showed up. "What is the situation m'lady?" Chat Noir inquired as he looked over at the akuma while Ladybug continued to gather information about the akuma's abilities as it will be useful in acquiring the akumatized object with the least amount of risk to them, the city, or the innocent people that might get involved.
"The locket around it's neck is the item. Problem is that the akuma is able to switch through different means of attack by a rotating mechanism located on both it's arms and it's legs." Ladybug answered, trying to get an account on how to limit the akuma's arsenal as promptly as possible.
"Not a purr-oblem m'lady. Just one Cataclysm and it will be finished." Chat Noir stated before he jumped down and started his approach and confrontation with the akuma before Ladybug had a chance to state the fault with her partner's approach.
"Chat Noir!" Ladybug tried to call out to stop Chat Noir but would only sigh and shake her head. "You wouldn't be able to get all of them with one Cataclysm and we don't want to waste it and have to worry about you transforming back." She muttered to herself as she started to follow Chat Noir.
Hearing the two heroes approaching, Construct would turn to face the two heroes, the mechanisms on both arms rotated, the one on the left switches to a quick drying cement machine which had been reconfigured during the transformation to become a cannon that would shoot out wet cement, the one on the right switching to a wrecking ball mace. Construct would fire wet cement at the two heroes. Chat Noir and Ladybug moved about to avoid the shots, during which the mace was swung toward Chat Noir who attempt to parry the blow with his staff which worked partially. The blow didn't make direct contact with Chat Noir, but the force of the blow did send Chat Noir's staff across the street.
"I'll be right back m'lady." Chat Noir stated before turning his attention to retrieve his staff. Ladybug nodded her head and turned to provide protection or an early warning for her partner while he went to retrieve his staff, only to notice that Construct had turned its attention right at him and fire wet cement right at his back.
"Chat Noir, look out!" Ladybug called out toward him. It came barely in time as Chat Noir turned his attention and saw the incoming shot. He barely managed to hop out of the direction of the shot, but the cement struck his staff and hardened it, keeping it in place.
"Well, there goes that option. Looks like I have to go with my bare claws." Chat Noir answers a mixture of agitation and exasperation lining his voice as he returned his attention back to the akuma and returned to Ladybug's side.
"This akuma is too dangerous to let this drag on." Ladybug answers deciding that with the variety of its arsenal and the ease to change between them that it had a high possibility to cause serious damage to the city or serious harm to people to try and fiddle around with a frontal assault.
"LUCKY CHARM!" Ladybug called out as she tossed her yo-yo into the air, in a growing ring of hearts, the yo-yo would transform into a hot glue gun before falling back into Ladybug's hands. "A hot glue gun? What am I going to do with this?" Ladybug turned her attention to look around for anything that could help her to get an idea of what the item was going to be used for. As she looked at the fence surrounding the junkyard, the gun and the akuma's arms. Thinking through the various combinations, the idea came to her.
"Chat Noir, I need the fence." Ladybug calls out to her partner as she moves around the akuma, striking at its arms with her feet to knock away any potential attacks that would be directed at her partner while he went to retrieve the other item that was needed in order to subdue the akuma.
"Ask you shall receive bugaboo." Chat Noir answers as he runs over toward the closest fence post to the gate to the junkyard. "Save the flirting for after the akuma." Ladybug responded, though she didn't even really like it when the two of them weren't fighting an akuma.
"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir proclaimed as he harnessed the destructive power of his Miraculous into his right claw, he struck at the fence post, causing the metal to rust and wear away to nothing. Pulling off the rest fence from the remainder of the fence posts he started to bring it over to Ladybug.
Seeing the fence on the way, Ladybug kept her attention focused on diverting possible strikes away from her or her partner. "NOW!" She called out as she slid underneath Construct from behind, tripping him up from behind both legs on her way and jumping up to grab the fence she grabbed Construct's right arm that it was trying to use to roll itself onto its stomach and brought it to it's left arm, wrapping both in the fence. Using the hot glue gun, she bound portions of the fence together, following up by blocking the rotating mechanisms on each arm and leg. As Construct worried about breaking the hot glue that was solidifying and blocking the mechanisms, Ladybug broke the metal chain holding the locket by pulling on it when retrieving the locket.
Jumping over to her partner, she grasped the locked with both hands and split it open, revealing the akuma butterfly that started on an attempt to escape. Spinning her yo-yo several times, Ladybug swung the yo-yo at the akuma and captures it inside. After several passing moments, Ladybug opens the yo-yo, letting the purified butterfly fly free. "Bye-bye little butterfly." Ladybug gently waved at the departing butterfly. "MIRCACULOUS LADYBUG!" Ladybug tossed the hot glue gun into the air which sent a wave of hearts which repaired the damaged locket, the fence while Max was being freed from the remainder of the effects of the akumatization. As Max looks around trying to figure out what just happened, Ladybug and Chat Noir look at each other.
"Pound it." The two heroes state simultaneously as Ladybug bumps knuckles with her right hand and Chat Noir's left hand. Ladybug then retrieved the restored locket and handed it to Max. As she stood admiring yet another day that the city was saved, that Hawkmoth's attempt to retrieve the two heroes Miraculouses foiled and damage undone, she heard her earrings let out the first warning beep of her transformation back to her civilian state.
"Sorry got to go." Ladybug explained to her partner, but it was met with a melancholy expression. "But what about the flirting? You said that it would have to wait until after the akuma." Chat Noir stated his explanation for wanting Ladybug to stay a bit longer.
"Maybe next time. Bug out." Ladybug called out before she flung her yo-yo and swung out to avoid other people seeing her transform back. Chat Noir couldn't stay mad at Ladybug and simply watched her fly off before his ring let out it's first warning beep. "Yeah, I should get going too." Chat Noir states running over to grab his staff before running off for the same reason as Ladybug.
Several blocks away, Marcus was still able to see the familiar symbol of Ladybug and Chat Noir having stopped another akuma attack. Dejected that he didn't get a chance to help his idols, he quickly bounced back. With Hawkmoth still out on the loose meant more chances for him to do that and thus returned his attention to making his way back home. He didn't know whether or not his tutor was going to return, though he honestly wished that he didn't at least for the day so he could recover from all the events.