It was just a regular workday. That's exactly what it was. He was a normal boy with a normal life, even if other people have their kind of a normal life. His simply involved working in construction at high height.
Hamad still went with that pointless, mock helmet-placing gesture. It helped him feel better for some reason, despite having no real helmet to go with it. The strapping point part, that he couldn't even play-pretend. At least he knew one was supposed to exist, just like the railings that were meant to prevent him from falling. While these actually did exist occasionally, their reliability has left him wondering more than once. Would they stop him if a moment of truth came? He'd rather not think about that one at all.
The other thing he would have rather not thought about, but couldn't get out of his head, was that he finally knew why all of that was happening. That day when he saw the money change hands, out in the clear… and they didn't even care he saw it!
No one would have believed him or any of his co-workers. That much felt almost like a universal truth. He was in a foul mood just thinking about it, and thus escapism drew its lure again. His favorite choice of escapism? Taking a sneak peek at the view of Paris from the 20th floor he's working at.
The clear sky and the look of the Eiffel tower brought about some comfort. He imagined the smell of a home-cooked meal on the stove, the warmth of a family that would definitely dwell here in two or three years, with someone living a perfectly happy normal life here.
"Hey, get back to work!" He heard the voice of his superintendent, as the smell of soup made way in favor of the acrid smell of cement that needed mixing, of dust particles filling the air, of planks lying about and steel rebar being welded. The view was not his to enjoy, he remembered now.
He quickly tucked the smell of soup into a deep corner of his heart before returning to mixing the cement again in numbing, repetitive motions, a blank look on his face.
Light shone on Hawk Moth's lair as its window expanded, triggering a fluttering of the numerous butterflies waiting for their turn. An almost inaudible flap, like bristling of leaves, mixed with the pacing of shoe soles against a concrete floor.
He stopped and relished that negative feeling he was picking up. At first, it tasted like apathy of the bland and boring kind. But upon further inspection, a lacing of venom appeared. At first a trace, and then a mouthful. Like popping a caviar egg to salty goodness. And he, Hawk Moth, would be the one to help that spread its wings in the most spectacular fashion. A piece of art, indeed.
"Those who are numb of fearing for their lives may yet hold the most emotions of all, simply waiting to be unleashed." His voice intoned it as if an onlooker was there. Occasionally Nathalie would be there to listen to him. Not this time, though. He kept the habit nonetheless as it greatly entertained him.
"Go forth, my Akuma, and help him realize his burning desire for justice."
He called his power as he infused the butterfly with dark energy and sent it off towards its target, A look of appreciation following its trail. He turned around and rubbed his hands together, anxious for the butterfly to make rapport again, small shivers of delight passing through his body in anticipation of the conversation he was about to hold.
Hamad noted his superintendent was missing again. He always felt short-changed for his hard work, so stealing yet another glimpse of the view made him feel no remorse. He couldn't see the Akuma butterfly casually making the slow ascent towards him, as his foot hit the smallest of bumps on the concrete floor. Losing balance, he quickly grabbed at the railing, only for the thing to crack.
Looks like it couldn't hold him after all.
He felt the acceleration, the rush of wind as he spun downwards, the resistance of air building up against his momentum.
He dreamed this would happen one day, and that day now came. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact.
But then, a firm grip caught him and he heard the 'twang' sound of a yo-yo string. That wasn't a part of his dream, but from that day onward he'd embrace that and never let go. He felt his descent slowing down gently as he opened his eyes to find himself in the hands of a certain red-clad superheroine.
But then, he felt another thing. A pair of greyish-blue eyes prying into his very soul. A warm male voice soothed into his mind.
"Mixalot, I am Hawk Moth. Isn't it time someone mixed the cruel reality of construction safety with the serene reality of otherwise blissful Parisians?"
He uttered a soft, barely audible "yes" before he felt a rush of power, and then nothing.
Ladybug watched in horror as the person she was holding quickly got engulfed in black-purple mist and sent an indiscernible appendage towards her earrings, before even completing the transformation.
She cocked her head to evade his grab and tried to push herself away. Her yo-yo got tangled and she barely made it, a few meters above ground, only to fall a second later. Only lightly beaten, Ladybug found herself facing an unharmed Akumatized victim at a disadvantaged reclined position. Her mind tried to assess the situation as quickly as feasible. The thing in front of her was similar to Stoneheart to an extent but made more of concrete plates and protruding steel rebar. His shoulder was composed of a steel beam and his second hand was now a jet hole spouting cement mixture. The ground shook a little with every step he took, combined with earth-shattering noise and the smell of wet cement. The iron scaffolding around her looked like that creature's preferred home turf to pick a fight on.
She felt two quick bursts of viscous cement hitting both of her arms, pinning her to the ground. Given enough time she would have been able to move her joints and recover, but this was time she simply didn't have, as Mixalot charged for a much larger shot of cement, one aimed straight at her face.
He's going to choke me and knock me out.
Ladybug braced herself for the impact as much as she could given her situation.
"Ladybug, watch out!" A female voice called at her.
The source of the voice suddenly appeared between her and Mixalot. Not slowly or gradually, but as if she had always been there. As if she materialized or decloaked at this exact point in space, by a feat of magic or miracle. She was rapidly rotating what looked to be some sorts of a hoop, with four spokes completing a cross form inside. Ladybug could only see her back, clad in a bright cyan bodysuit, a long and wavy honey-colored hair running up until the waist.
Is she… a new superheroine?
The cement shot sprayed in all directions as it encountered the rapidly spinning hoop. The smell of cement intensified considerably as she felt the touch of a few errant mixture drops collecting at her suit.
"Quick, run away!" that same voice quickly returned her to the reality on ground. An Akuma battle was not a good time to properly reconcile such news.
Instinctively responding to the cry she took advantage of the opening to dart to safety, and only then allowed herself a moment of composed thought.
How can there be a new superheroine?
Any more than that would probably take a lot more focus out of the problem at hand.
Ladybug watched the cyan-clad superheroine engaging Mixalot, trying an attack by rotating her hoop angled above her head and extending it.
So her hoop extends and contracts, similar to Chat's baton. That's an odd weapon to wield.
Being experienced, she could foresee the inefficiency of that move and indeed, all it took Mixalot was a plain crouch to evade the attack. She could also guess what would come next, Mixalot firing a shot of cement towards her leg. While a short hop backward saved that girl from being hit by the first one, the second one hit her other leg. Now it was Ladybug's turn to return the favor from a moment ago. She grabbed her by the yo-yo and pulled as hard as she could to get her out of harm's way.
She now had a quick frontal view, noting green eyes which mismatched her bright cyan mask and garb. The miniature hexagon pattern on both her mask and bodysuit confirmed her to be a superheroine. Otherwise, her figure was pretty much similar to Ladybug's own, somewhat short and relatively thin.
She watched with concern as the new superheroine ran tried to redo her hoop extending maneuver again, charging forward then jumping backward. Quickly noting her own safety was at risk, she tried to evade the move, but eventually, the only thing stopping her from being hit was the hoop being contracted.
This isn't going well. At all.
The sound of her partner's voice gave her hope that this tide would now turn, having little confidence in her ability to work in sync with the newcomer without getting hurt.
"Chat Noir! Thanks for dropping!"
"Hey, blockhead, why don't you set for a bit? I wouldn't want to cement our relationship just yet."
She heard the taunt aimed at Mixalot and for once, the puns were significantly appreciated.
It was easy for her to see just how displeased Mixalot was at being taunted like that, charging towards Chat with careless fury. This should make him easy prey for her competent partner. A nimble flip and a baton strike later, her prediction became true. The concrete spade was pinged out of the akumatized victim's belt, right towards the new superheroine.
Come on… break it!
The confused look on the newcomer's face wasn't boding well, evoking in Ladybug memories of her own early career.
"Break it!" She cried, only to see Mixalot grab it from the newcomer's hands.
The girl's face twitched as she crouched and lunged forward while spinning her hoop, aiming for the center of mass. Again this resulted in little more than forcing Mixalot to jump and evade it with ease.
She's letting her emotions get the better of her… is this her first real fight?
That hoop is also one heck of a weird weapon. I wonder if there are better ways to use it.
She watched Mixalot respond by sending two shots in opposite directions, one towards Chat Noir and the other towards the cyan superheroine. Chat evaded the one aimed at him with ease, while the other shot crashed against the rapidly spinning hoop.
At that moment, the realization that she wasn't being targeted dawned upon Ladybug. Such a rare event did not occur much when fighting as a duo, but having three targets did make for this difference. Not being under any pressure, there was ample opportunity for her to summon an item.
"LUCKY CHARM" She called, presented with an oversized four-way rotating water sprinkler.
A water sprinkler? What am I going to do with that?
As she surveyed her surroundings, she saw her own yo-yo, the construction scaffolding, the extendable hoop, the cement mixture jet hole and the sprinkler.
Maybe I can construct something here...
"Keep him busy! Cyan-girl, On my mark, make sure he can't touch the ground!"
Now that would be good use of the hoop, creating a dead-zone which he has to avoid.
She began running around the area, practically weaving a net with her yo-yo's string amongst the scaffolding, as she tossed the sprinkler towards Chat.
"Now!" She cried. Chat lunged towards Mixalot, fitting the sprinkler on the mixture jet hole. At the same time, the cyan superheroine crouched and began to spin her hoop, forcing everyone else above the ground. Mixalot jumped to avoid it and attempted to shoot another cement ball.
The sprinkler rotated very quickly, spraying his eyes and the entire surrounding with cement but more importantly, giving him rotational acceleration which entirely threw off his balance. As she planned, Mixalot now had to choose between landing into the fast-rotating hoop on the ground and clearing the yo-yo string trap, with barely any maneuverability or eyesight available.
Such a feat was beyond his ability and soon enough he found the sprinkler tangling with the yo-yo string, slamming him to the ground and dislodging the concrete spade. This time, it was Chat that grabbed and broke it, releasing the Akuma for Ladybug to capture.
Ladybug whipped her yo-yo and swiftly captured the black butterfly before it could get too far.
"Bye bye little butterfly!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir fist-bumped each other while the new superheroine panted for air. Relieved, she finally turned to address the newcomer.
"Hey… thanks for the save. That was very brave of you. But you really took a great risk appearing out of nowhere like this." Her gratitude was inherently mixed with the difficulties the unexpected fight posed. This certainly wasn't the preferred way to make an acquaintanceship.
"Th-thanks."
She noted the girl was still panting for air, placing her hoop on her back and having it just fit there, as if by magic. She asked Chat to tend to the poor overwhelmed construction worker so she could exchange a few words with the newcomer.
"I have to tell you that we are used to fighting in tandem and we change our tactics when there's a third superhero.״
She paused to observe how the newcomer would react. However, that girl appeared to be still busy reorienting herself.
"You'd have to get some training and match the tactics. Um. What should we call you?"
She wanted to have a name, at least.
"Call me… Yamori. or Gecko, if you prefer that name."
"Okay, Gecko, so… um…"
Yeah, now what exactly?
She stood there thinking where all this was leading. Then Gecko spoke.
"Well, since that happened… shouldn't I be joining you?"
She stared at Gecko and suddenly she felt disoriented by the upheaval these simple words caused.
It's simple, isn't it? And yet it's anything but simple!
I mean, we don't work with Rena or Carapace or Queen Bee on a regular basis. We don't need to! And if we did have such a need… I'd like to have Alya as my partner, wouldn't I?
And then again… she is here. How could we not make use of a new superheroine offering her help?
But… don't the people of Paris deserve the most efficient combination to safeguard them?
And who's to say what that would be? Or that my own personal preferences aren't interfering with my thoughts regarding it?
Her head spun, she opted to consult with her partner.
"Ok, Gecko. before we rush into this, or anything of kind… I'd like to have a moment with Chat in private. There are decisions us two need to make."
She and chat stepped aside to discuss as Gecko nodded her approval.
"So, what do you think, Chat?" she whispered to her partner, hoping to get him involved and perhaps mitigate what seemed to be a growing burden on her.
"I say, We already have a yo-yo and a baton. Do we really need a third wheel -"
No no no. keep your humor to other times!
He deserved a good stepping on his leg for that one, and he yelped as she did. His face twisted in pain.
"Chat, That was terrible! Akumatize-her-terrible! She didn't appear here just to have us mock her like that, she clearly looks up to us!" She chided him, then paused and sighed, deflated.
"You're right though, Chat. We don't actually have a need for someone else, much less a rookie. Then again, if we don't train her, she will forever be a rookie. We also can't call her on demand as we do with Rena and Carapace."
A quick glance at Chat showed him having a more serious and contemplative look. She finally got him where she needed him to be at this moment.
"Sorry about the pun. for what it's worth, I felt almost as bad making it. With regards to Gecko, you call it. I'm actually happy to be second in command right now."
So, payback for that comment at the puppeteer incident, huh?
But he did apologize for the pun. And he trusts me.
She noted his smile and loosened up a bit. The thought he trusted her judgement on this very big question with important ramifications, made her feel a bit more at ease.
"I guess honesty would be the right thing with… wait, what did you just say? That I'm her commander?"
She balked at the suggestion, but the Cat went on.
"Looks like you got yourself a trainee. I'm sure you can handle it."
She felt a pat on her back and couldn't tell if it's out of support, out of gloating at her predicament or a bit of both.
Either way, her sense of responsibility made the distinction moot as she focused on making progress towards a decision.
Sincerity is key. I will not lie to her. For it to have any chance of working out, I must trust her and she must trust me.
She and Chat turned back to her, looking at Gecko who caught up her breath by now and seemed to be anticipating what they had to say.
Ladybug broke the silence.
"Here's the situation, Gecko. Me and Chat Noir are a team. Other miraculous holders serve as backup. That's how it has been so far and I just don't see it changing."
She paused for a moment to check how Gecko responded to that, but she couldn't quite discern it yet, so she went on.
"But… we would really appreciate a reduction of the workload. You will patrol alone while one of us will be on standby. once a week your patrol will be with me and once with Chat Noir, as we can't have you stay a rookie forever. I'll also supervise your training. Let's meet here in two hours to check out your skills, as I need to recharge. We have a lot more talking to do, too."
There was an awkward silence. She eyed Gecko, trying to guess her thoughts from her expression yet again.
How is she going to take it? Will she be disappointed?
She then noted a small smile slowly crept to Gecko's face as she heard her answer.
"I would expect nothing less than such wise words from you." Gecko bowed her head and followed it with a hand motion. "I'm happy to serve under your guidance."
Wait… Serve under my guidance? Oh my god, what exactly have I gotten myself into?
