Episode 1: A New Hero in Paris

It was a lovely day in Paris. The citizens were going about their happy lives. No problems, no worries, no troubles what so ever… you know, so far at least. For two certain crime fighters, the city's resident daily saviors, Ladybug and Chat Noir, this was considered a slow day, meaning that they could relax for the time being, but could never truly let their guard down.

But for a day as perfect as this, what could possibly go wrong? "I can't believe I slept in… again! I'm so late!" Oh yeah, there's that. "Oh, excuse me!" said Marinette as she tried her best to weave through the crowd of people on the sidewalk. "Pardon me!" Once she was through, the only thing standing between her and her goal point was the crosswalk, which was currently covered in cars. "Oh! Hurry up! I have to get to school before the first bell!"

"I tried to tell you staying up late studying was a bad idea." Said Tikki from inside Marinette's bag.

"I know, I know! I thought that some extra-extra studying would better prepare me for the test today! Now I'll be lucky if I make it in time for the test!"

As soon as all of the cars had passed, she was ready to cross; unfortunately, so were the people behind her and in front of her crossing from the opposite side, all of which rushed to get across the road. with so many people, she eventually became confused and once all of the people had dispersed, she finally saw that she was on the other side of the wrong crosswalk, somehow.

"What?!" She exclaimed in surprise.

She turned around and saw her school. Worried for how little time was left until the bell, she decided to make a run for it, hoping to make it before the light changed. Unfortunately, with her home blocking her view, Marinette had no way of noticing the eminent danger that she was rapidly approaching.

"Excuse me! Sorry!" she said as she ran past more people, albeit, less than before.

She was in such a rush, she didn't notice the light for the crosswalk turn red or the large truck driving down the road, until it was too late.

"Marinette, LOOK OUT!" shouted Tikki, noticing the large vehicle. Marinette turned her head just in time to see it as well as her life flash before her eyes.

"AHHHHHH!"

HONK HONK

VROOM

As Marinette felt a gust of wind, as well as heard the truck rush by, she opened her eye to find that she was sitting on the sidewalk. In front of her was a pair a legs in long black pants. She followed the legs upward to see a black shirt with red at the bottom rim, neck line, and at the edges of the sleeves. The hands wore black fingerless gloves with red on the wrists and gold ring-like bracelets of some-kind. When she finally reached the head, she saw spiky black hair, with red highlights.

"Are you alright?" said the deep voice of the stranger before her who refused to turn around.

She stared at the back of his head for a while, wide eyed, as she tried to piece together what had just happened in her head. She knew that the last thing she saw right in front of her face was the front of the truck. Then, all of a sudden, she was right on the sidewalk. Then it hit her, but it still didn't make much sense.

"Did you just… save me?" she asked the dark stranger. He crossed his arms and nodded in response, still facing his back to her.

"You should get to school. You don't want to be late." He said before turning the corner and walking down it. As he turned to his right, it allowed Marinette to see the side of the face of her savior. He had a somewhat darker complexion than her, and his eye was red. This was what she took note of most. His dark, mysterious red eyes that held rage, grief, indifference, but also mystery and for a split-second… relief. Perhaps that she was unharmed? She did in-fact, know one thing, but also didn't know another. She knew that she had never seen him before, but she didn't know how he had saved her so fast from imminent danger.

Her examination of his face didn't last long, though. After he began walking down the sidewalk, she couldn't see his face anymore, he kept walking until he reached an alley and then turned allowing Marinette to see the side of his face one last time. Just before he entered, Marinette remembered that she wanted to know how he saved her so quickly. She then got up as quickly as possible and ran after him.

"Hey, wait!" She called as the dark stranger entered the alleyway. "I wanted to ask you-"

Her sentence was cut short as she immediately saw once she had finally reached the alley, that he was gone without a trace.

"Uh, Tikki?" She asked the kwami in her bag. "Did you see that?"

"Uh-huh." She said in response. "Where do you think he went?"

"I… don't know." Her expression turned from curious to bewildered. "He just… vanished."

"We can figure it out later. Right now, you should get to class."

"Huh?... Oh RIGHT!" She then continued her sprint across the street and on to class, but not without still wondering… "Just who was that?"

Later in her class room, Marinette managed to sneak in undetected by her teacher, who was busy looking for the test papers. Those who saw her didn't want to play the part of the snitch, and Chloé was too busy reapplying her make-up to notice. Sabrina, her loyal "friend", was too focused on holding the mirror for her at the perfect angle to make sure that she didn't miss a spot.

On her way to her seat, Marinette gave a quick wave to her boyfriend/crime fighting partner, Adrien, a.k.a. Chat Noir. He waved back and gave a quick wink to his girlfriend as she passed by. Adrien's best friend, Nino, also acknowledged her presence by waving, which she happily returned. As she sat down at her assigned seat she was greeted by her best friend, who sat next to her, Alya.

After the test papers were finally acquired, Marinette and Alya agreed to talk later, Marinette was acknowledged for coming in late by her teacher (she knew all along), and the test began. After the class finished their tests, did the bell ring, signaling five minutes of free-time. In that time, Alya, Adrien, and Nino decided to talk to Marinette about why she was so late.

"So what was it this time?" asked her friend Alya.

"(sigh) Where should I start?" Marinette responded. "Tikki and I decided to get some extra-extra studying done…"

"Uh-huh…" Alya said skeptically.

"(sigh) Alright, I decided to get some extra-extra studying done last night. So then I slept through my alarm and I was running late-"

"Why didn't Tikki just wake you up?"

"Marinette had me read her questions off flashcards. (yawn)" Tikki said, poking her head out of Marinette's bag.

"That's another thing about us kwamis." Said Plagg, as he appeared from Adrien's pocket and rested on his shoulder. "We're full of energy, but we still need to sleep and eat just as you humans do. Speaking of which..."

"You'll get your camembert at lunch, Plagg, now get down before someone sees you." Said Adrien, taking the dark, feline-like, kwami and putting him back into his pocket.

"Anyway," said Marinette, continuing her story. "then I had to run all the way from home to school and I almost got hit by a truck-"

"WHAT!" the entire group said out loud gaining the attention of some other students passing by. Only after the other students continued on with their own business, did they continue on.

"Are you alright?!" Adrien asked her, checking for even the slightest scratch on her face.

"I'm fine, Adrien." She told him as she removed his hands from her face and held them in hers. "He saved me before the truck hit."

"(sigh) Well that's a reli— Wait, 'he'? 'He', who?"

"I don't know." Marinette began to recall the past events in her mind. "All I know is that one minute I'm seeing my reflection in the truck's front bumper, and then the next minute I'm sitting on the sidewalk, seeing black pant-legs."

"'Black pant-legs'?" asked Alya.

"Well, that was the first thing I saw before I looked up and saw the rest of him."

"Well, what did he look like?" asked Nino, finally joining in the conversation verbally.

"Well," Marinette tried to remember the details of her mysterious savior. "other than the black pants, he had on a black shirt, and he had dark hair with red highlights."

"Highlights? Seriously?" said Alya. "Did you at least see his face?"

"Only half of his face. He never looked directly at me. His skin was kind of tanish, and his eyes were… red."

"Red? Like he was crying?" asked Adrien.

"No, his eyes were literally red. You know the color around the pupil?"

"Whoa, red eyes? Seriously? That sounds awesome!" exclaimed Nino.

"I've definitely never seen him before. I definitely would've remembered those eyes. Those… deep mysterious crimson eyes."

"Whoa, watch it girl. Or else kitty here might stick his claws into your new 'friend'." Said Alya amusingly pointing to Marinette's boyfriend who's face held so much jealousy.

"What? I'm perfectly calm." Adrien obviously lied.

"Heh, what's wrong buddy?" Nino whispered while nudging his best friend's shoulder. "Big, bad Chat Noir can't handle his lucky Ladybug being saved by someone else for once?" Nino continued to chuckle quietly into his fist until Adrien decided to get back at him by elbowing his arm. "Ow! Hey!"

"Nino? Not helping." Adrien told him.

"Oh, come on, Adrien. You know your Marinette's favorite hero." Said Alya.

"She's right." Said Marinette holding Adrien's arm and kissing his cheek in confirmation.

"Heh, very well, m'lady." He said kissing her back.

"Still, I wish I could've spoken with that other guy, whoever he was. How did he save me so fast?" Marinette thought to herself.

After school had finally come to a close, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino decided to go see a movie showing across town. They were halfway there when Marinette remembered something.

"Wait, hold on!"

All of her friends stopped in their tracks and turned to look at her. She was digging though her backpack for something but couldn't find it.

"Oh, no. Oh, no! I can't believe I forgot it!"

"Woah, calm down, Marinette." Said Alya. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot that I have to return a library book to the library soon or else it'll be overdue! Oh, I was just in such a rush to get to school, that I must have forgot it at home. I have to go get it and return it right now!"

"Hold on!" said Adrien. "I'll go with you."

"Adrien, that's sweet, but you really don't have to."

"Actually, after what happened today, I think it'll be for the best. I just want to make sure your safe."

"Don't worry about it." Said Nino from behind him. "Alya and I will wait for you guys at the theatre."

"(sigh) Alright, let's go." Said Marinette, heading off with Adrien to her home.

On the way there, they decided to talk about one of their more previous adventures against one of their akumatized enemies. Marinette was enjoying the alone time, that is until she saw something familiar. Spikey black hair with red highlights.

"Huh?! Wait a minute!" she thought to herself.

She recognized the hair and knew who it belonged too. Without another thought, she hurried over to him, leaving Adrien behind.

"Huh, Marinette? Hey, where are goi -" Adrien cut himself off after seeing just where she was going. He had remembered Marinette's description of his hair and recognized it. His jealousy rising, he walked over behind Marinette. She slowed her approach down to a walk, while smiling casually. After approaching the dark stranger, she decided to make herself known.

"(ahem)"

"Hm?"

The dark stranger turned around halfway to his left and saw who it was. Marinette was finally able to see his whole face. His left side was exactly identical to his right, and both of his eyes were indeed red.

"Hello, I'm not sure if you remember me but- um…" she didn't finish her sentence after noticing his face turn away from her. Adrien would've loved to tell him off for being so rude to a lady, his girlfriend, no less, but the serious look that Marinette gave him told him to let her speak. She turned back to continue. "Well… as I was saying, you rescued me earlier and-"

"Don't mention it… ever." He said, only turning around on the word "ever" to make sure his point got through.

"I… um…" Marinette was unsure what was happening but tried to continue nonetheless. "I just wanted to say-"

"You have nothing to thank me for." Said the stranger without turning around.

"Huh?"

"You were going to thank me for saving you, but there is no need. So just forget that you ever saw me."

"Huh? But…!" she never finished as he walked away from her.

After watching the scene play out, Adrien had had enough. Angered, he marched over to the dark stranger to give him a piece of his mind.

"Hey! She was trying to thank you, and you just brush her off?!" Adrien exclaimed in a fit of anger. "Don't you know how to treat a lady?!"

As Adrien kept shouting at the stranger, the stranger seemed to just keep ignoring him. Marinette noticed the stranger reach into his pockets but then drew back and walked away.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you!" Adrien continued.

Marinette saw something fall from the stranger's pocket. It didn't appear to be on purpose since it wasn't in his hand. The back of his hand seemed to just drag it out. The item fell onto the sidewalk and she picked it up.

"Huh?" she said, looking at what had appeared to be a photograph of a young girl in a blue dress and an old man with a long, white mustache, "Who are-" she was once again cut off by the stranger as he quickly snatched the photo out of her hand and deeply scowled at her.

"Never. Touch this. Again." He then turned around, shoved the photo back into his pocket and began to leave once again.

"But… how did he…?" said Adrien wondered as he looked between the stranger and where was standing not even a moment ago.

Meanwhile, across town, in a dark tower, someone was drawn to the feeling of intense negative emotions.

"Ah. I can feel the negativity from here. Whoever they are, they shall get what's coming to them, and I shall have another chance to steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses!"

At that moment, a white butterfly flew down into the palm of his hand and he then covered it with his other one. Suddenly, dark energy began to pour into the butterfly, and as he removed his hand, the white butterfly had been changed into an evil akuma, which he then released. He watched as it flew out the window and toward its intended target.

"Go my evil little akuma, and evilize him!"

The akuma flew across town and made it to where it was supposed to be. Marinette was about ready to give up until she noticed the strange black butterfly flying down and recognized it as an akuma. She decided to immediately inform Adrien. Adrien looked about ready to teach the rude dark stranger a lesson, until he was stopped by the feeling of someone pulling his arm.

"Adrien!" He turned around to see his girlfriend who looked worried about something.

"Huh? What is it?" He got his answer when she pointed toward the source of her worry. His faced turned from curious to worry also when he noticed the akuma, and who it was flying to.

"Hey, wait!" Adrien said as he hurried after the dark stranger.

"Stop!" said Marinette following as well, trying to get his attention.

The stranger stopped and turned his head but it was too late. The stranger noticed the black butterfly and watched it fly down onto his photograph. He tried to shake it off but it had dissolved into the photo.

"What?!"

The stranger watched as it became encased in dark energy until it touched his hand. Marinette and Adrien saw the entire scene play out before them. Adrien was about to pull Marinette off to the side so that they could transform, but Marinette stopped him.

"Wait! Look." She pointed to the stranger, who was now holding his head and shaking it side to side. Resistance to an akuma was something that they had never witnessed before. They were both surprised to say the least.

"Na-augh! I don't care who you are." said the stranger. "Get out of my head!"

"Wow, no way!" said Adrien.

"I don't believe it." Said Marinette. "He's… resisting Hawkmoth's influence."

"I've let others into my mind before. I won't allow it again! Get. Out! Or! Else!" The stranger was shouting at the voice in his head. "This… is… your final… warning!"

Adrien and Marinette watched as the stranger reached into his pocket.

"Get! Out! NOW!"

"What is he doing?" wondered Marinette and Adrien.

"I… warned you." The stranger then pulled out a large, glowing, yellow gemstone from his pocket and held it out in front of him. "My name… is… Shadow!" He held onto the yellow gem with both hands and shouted. "Chaos Control!"

Marinette and Adrien watched as the area in front of the stranger glowed bright yellow. Soon after, the light faded. The two of them were unsure of what had just happened. The stranger was not transformed into a supervillain and his photograph had turn back to normal. All of which confused them further.

Then Marinette saw the stranger look down. He was staring at what was once the akuma that somehow had seemed to have been turned back into a regular white butterfly without her aid. But then, she saw his face. The stranger's face. It was filled with absolute scorn as he stared directly at the little thing. She watched as he moved his white, red, and black shoe over the little creature as it struggled to fly away. Marinette hoped that he wasn't about to do what she thought he was about to do, until she heard him speak.

"Annoying little pest!" She was about to stop him, but it was too late. He brought his foot down with such force.

SQUASH

He smeared his shoe on the sidewalk to ensure that the deed was done. Marinette and Adrien were speechless to say the least. Once he was finished, he continued his walk. For a moment, Marinette just stood there staring at the poor creature's corpse, but then said something.

"Why?" said Marinette, causing this "Shadow" to turn to her. "It was just a little butterfly. Why kill it?"

She looked him in the eyes, but they were different this time. His eyes seemed completely indifferent. As if void of all human emotion. His face held a neutral expression as he spoke with a neutral tone. "Because it was annoying." He placed the photograph and yellow gem back into his pocket and left without another word.

"C'mon, Marinette." Said Adrien, holding Marinette close. "Let's go." They too left, continuing on their way to Marinette's home. One last time, Marinette turned to look back at him. Her face held such disappointment. She had expected the person who had saved her life this morning to be someone kind. Not… this. She was as confused as she was disappointed. She just didn't understand. But how could she understand from what she couldn't see? How could she have known the truth without first knowing the most important truth first and foremost? That her mysterious rescuer… wasn't human?