Disclaimer: AgentLadybug does not own any part of the Miraculous franchise.

Mirra World

Student life is never easy. Especially when you're trying to balance it with a popular virtual reality game that occupies most of your time—and okay, probably takes priority in your life. But, really, when there's a world where anything is possible, where miracles happen, who cares about academics? Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what's the best place of them all? Why, Mirra World, of course.

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Chapter 1

- Spots On -

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Jump. Duck. Dodge. This was it. The boss, King Spladder, was balancing on its last limb—seeing as it was a giant slime-like spider (ew!), she had no idea how that was possible. She shook her head to focus. It was all up to her now. Her entire party had been wiped out—their spirits were now hovering above their corpses, cheering her on with reverberating voices. Just. One. More. Strike. Arms raised, she flung out her yoyo—

"MARINETTE. WAKE UP! You're late!"

Her eyes snapped open. Damn it! Just a dream. Her fight with Spladder hadn't even happened yet. That would be tonight. But, it felt so real! She hated it when this happened, when her late nights of gaming mixed in with her dreams, when it blurred the lines between reality and virtual space. When had she even gone to bed?

"MARINETTE. NOW."

Right. School.

Pushing aside her thoughts, she frantically climbed out of bed. As she dashed in and out of her bathroom, she stumbled over her game headset. Inhaling sharply, she grabbed the helmet and began cradling it. "Oh my god, oh my god. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Please be okay. Pleeeease be okay!"

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG. YOU HAVE AN EXAM TODAY."

Oh. Crap.

She gently placed her headset on her desk, silently promising to polish it later that night as an apology, before running down the stairs. And proceeding to slip on the penultimate step.

"Ow."

"Honestly, were you up gaming again last night?"

Her eyes, still partially closed from wincing at the pain, shifted to the clock as she shrank from her mother's frown. Silence was best.

Her mother sighed before gesturing to the table. "Hurry, and eat breakfast. You can't take an exam on an empty stomach, and you still have a few minutes before you need to leave."

Marinette nodded quickly and leaped over to the dining table. She grabbed a croissant as her mother placed a steaming latte down. The foam was decorated with a smiley face. She smiled. She didn't usually drink coffee in the morning—only when she stayed up late the previous night. Her mother always knew her so well.

"Thanks, Maman. I love you!" Her mother just shook her head fondly, an exasperated smile adorning her face.

It was a good morning.

As Marinette walked into Mme. Bustier's classroom, she saw Kim and Max waving at her from the back.

"Yo, Marinette! You joining us tonight?"

"Uh, duh! I wouldn't miss it for anything! We're meeting at 6 in front of the Splad Cave, right?"

"Yeah! With Marinette around, King Splathead's as good as gone."

Marinette giggled as she settled in her seat, greeting Alya with a smile as Nino gushed about his newest weapon.

"It's this bright blue and yellow sword with a gap in the middle of the blade. Kinda reminds me of a bubble wand. Anyway, so stoked to use it! I'll totally catch up to you soon, Marinette."

"Hmm. I dunno, Nino. You're being pretty ambitious if you want to catch up to my girl. You can't even catch up to me, and I play half as much as you."

Nino frowned at Alya. "I resent that." Though, his lips were slightly quirked up, revealing his pretense.

"Resent what?"

The three turned to the newcomer, who smiled at them uncertainly. Oh. It was Adrien. She still hadn't forgiven him for the gum incident, and he had never apologized for it. Immediately, Alya and Marinette began their own conversation about the perks of passive abilities as Nino quietly spoke to Adrien. Why Nino changed his mind about the jerk, she would never understand.

"Ugh, I wish I could join you guys tonight. But, Papa wants to do some 'family bonding' tonight."

"That's okay. You can join us next time! What's your père planning on doing?" Alya gave Marinette an unimpressed look.

"Mirra World." Marinette felt her smile falter a little, confusion replacing some of her cheer.

"Girl, don't look at me like that. I know. I don't get what Papa is thinking sometimes. Actually, hang on." She paused. "Yes. Yes, I do. He's only doing family bonding because my mom is getting on his case about it since she's always working at the hotel. But, since he's obsessed with Mirra, this is the next best thing." Alya sighed and turned towards the front as Mme. Bustier entered the room.

Marinette loved Alya's family, and with M. Césaire being a zookeeper, he always had the most interesting stories. But, it was rather amusing that he was so invested in this game. Most parents disapproved of their kids playing Mirra World, claiming it was unhealthy to spend so much time in a virtual reality. Marinette could see where the adults were coming from on this issue. There were many kids who had become more disruptive since the game launched (Manon included). For Marinette, though, Mirra was a world of boundless inspiration. Despite being set in a somewhat futuristic era, every place she visited had an ethereal quality to it. That, and the game itself felt so free. It was the epitome of an open world game. Players started out by choosing one of six primary classes: Beast, Magician, Warrior, Rogue, Archer, and Acrobat. But, from there, everything was up to them. Players could cultivate their own abilities in whatever way they wanted, could even create skills by honing and manipulating existing ones. This defining feature of Mirra World, this freedom to do essentially anything, completely captivated her. In Mirra, the only limit was her own creativity. In Mirra, she could conquer anything as long as she put her mind to it, and she couldn't wait to get back to it tonight.

A sheet of paper was placed in front of her. She sighed, her previous excitement instantly evaporating. But first, she had to conquer this exam.

The bell finally rang. Marinette immediately gathered her notebook, stuffing it into her bag as Adrien turned toward her.

"Hey, Mari—"

"See you in a bit, Mari! The King waits for no one!" Kim yelled as he and Max dashed past. Alix rolled her eyes as she approached Marinette at a more leisurely pace. Marinette grinned, shrugging in a blasé manner. Kim and Max were so active when it came to Mirra that sometimes even Alix couldn't handle them. She grabbed her bag and followed Alix and Alya out the room before pausing. Had Adrien been saying something? She looked over at him, but he was slumped over his bag. Guess not. But…he looked really depressed. Usually, Nino was there to get him out of his funk. But, Nino had some sort of DJ interview today, so he had left after lunch. She frowned. While she still didn't approve of Adrien, he was Nino's friend, and no one deserved to be that upset. She started approaching him, opening her mouth to ask what the problem was.

"Ad—"

"Adrikins! What are you still doing here?!" Chloé shoved past Marinette. Oh. Right. He was also Chloé's friend. She left.

"Girl, where were you?"

"Oh, sorry. I, uh, forgot something in the room. Where's Alix?" Alya looked at her with a raised brow before deciding that it was typical Marinette behavior and shrugged it off.

"She had to get home. Something about a meeting with her Papa before the battle this evening. Alix was thinking of doing a mission on Venus tomorrow night. You down?"

"Oh, definitely! Venus isn't too difficult, so we can probably bring Nino along too." Alya nodded. Akuma on Venus were a bit tough, but the experience was so worth it. And, with Alix and Marinette around, Nino shouldn't have any trouble there.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll still be on tonight, so let me know how the hunt goes."

"Will do! Have a good time with your family!"

Marinette leaned back in her seat and stretched. She whirled around in her chair, taking a peek at the clock. 4:30 pm. Still another hour and a half before she met up with the group. She turned back to her workbench, twirling her pen thoughtfully. She tilted her head to the right. To the left. Back to the right. There was something missing in her design. It was a sleek, black pea coat with purple detailing on the lapels, modeled after M. Césaire's panther form. A swirl here. A button there. Nope. Not working.

"Blah. Might as well just get online early."

She walked towards her chaise, grabbing her headset and wristband as she passed the console's stand. She placed the helmet on her head, adjusting it until the padded lining fit properly, before snapping on the wristband. After checking that everything fit snugly, she relaxed against her chaise. Pulling down the visor, she grinned.

"Spots on."

After she materialized in Mirra, she pulled up the user interface to check if any friends were online. Nope. Not yet. Well, guess it was time for a mini-quest. She swung her yoyo out, latching it on a lamppost. Without hesitation, she jumped up, letting the yoyo retract and pull her with it. She loved this feeling. Loved being an Acrobat. It was such a unique class, one that few other games ever introduced. While she couldn't fly like some other classes, she had focused on her Jumping stat and Yoyo Mastery skill, granting her this ability that not many Acrobats had. Sure, they could jump and perform tricks. But, this? This was all Ladybug. Indeed, she often overheard players exclaiming that they should create an Acrobat, inspired by her abilities, as she flipped over them.

Landing in front of an old massage shop, she gave a gleeful laugh. Thanks to that exam, it had been too long since she felt so free. Well, to be fair, she did play last night despite the exam. But, she had felt pretty prepared for it. And, she had only played for a couple of hours! Never mind the fact that she lost a good three hours of sleep from logging on. She got up and raised her fist to knock on the door. Only for the door to open and have her hit someone's head instead.

"Oh my god! I am so, so sorry!"

"No purroblem! No harm done! Meowster Fu's all yours."

Puns. She disliked puns. Especially, awful puns. She especially disliked awful puns. Nevertheless, she gave a crooked smile (from his reaction, though, it probably came out as more of a grimace).

"Thanks! Sorry again for hitting you."

As she entered the shop, an aroma of herbal spices enveloped her, bringing yet another smile (one more genuine this time) to her face. Mirra never failed to amaze her with its level of detail. How did a game even stimulate the olfactory system?

"Master Fu?"

"Hello, Ladybug. How may I help you?"

"Good evening! I was wondering if you had any quests available for me today."

"No, unfortunately not. I gave away my last one just now."

Marinette wilted. Master Fu only gave out missions once a week. And his missions were so special. Players could raise pets in Mirra World. Depending on how they were raised, the pets could end up being some of the best partners in the game. However, to get a helpful pet—one with potential—was often difficult. Even more so, when they were rare. People often had to perform a series of quests assigned by certain players before they were rewarded with a pet by those players. Master Fu was one such player. Though, what made Master Fu's pets special (and largely, a secret at this point), was that they granted very particular abilities to their owners. That, and there were only seven of them, including Master Fu's own Wayzz. Kwamis, he had called them. Cute was what she called them. Super cute. So cute that she decided she had to get one no matter the difficulty.

Too bad she had to wait some more.

"Heyyyy. Couldn't help overhearing you. Hi, again Master Fu." The player grinned at Master Fu, who returned his smile and nodded. The player looked back at Marinette.

"We could party up, and do the mission together if you'd like. I don't mind, and it'd be faster for both of us." Marinette blinked. She hadn't expected that. Still, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"That'd be great! Thank you so much! I'm Ladybug, Acrobat."

"Sure, anytime. Chat Noir, Rogue."

They grinned. It was the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

Well, at least, for this quest.

A/N: Mirra World. Play on of Mirror World and Miraculous. Chat Noir would be so proud of me. Okay, I'm proud of me.

Also, I have a research presentation this coming Friday which I really should have been working on, but nope. I was struck with inspiration and just had to do this instead. My priorities are so skewed. And, I love writing VR stories. Sorry, not sorry! (: And, if anyone is wondering, I came up with AgentLadybug as my gaming handle before I found out about Miraculous Ladybug.