A/N I've fallen hard for this show. In the last week I've watched every episode, and devoured so much fanfiction about it. I've said time and again that romance isn't a big draw for me, but this show does it so well that I'm rooting for Marinette and Adrien to stop being idiots and get together already! Yeah, I'm really liking those two dorks, and even if the show is a bit formulaic, I can't wait to see more. I might actually finally have an OTP, I've never cared enough to have one before.
That said, this is not a fic based on the romantic aspects of this show. This is just a few words of wisdom one reporter can impart on another.
By the way, this crossover takes place in the Original TMNT Movie Universe, mixed with Ladybug of course.
Part 1
Alya practically bounced in her auditorium seat in anticipation as she waited. In the seat beside her, her best friend Marinette smiled at her in a mix of amusement and fondness as the two waited for the event to start.
When Alya had heard that a journalist she idolized was coming to Paris to give a lecture on said career path at the local college, she had nearly died of excitement and bought tickets for her and Marinette to go immediately.
Marinette had never seen her best friend so excited. This lecture was all she'd talked about for the last week. It was entirely possible she was even more enthusiastic about this than she was about discovering more about Ladybug, and that was saying something.
Not that that had put a damper on Alya's attempts to investigate the identity of the heroine, or that of her partner Cat Noir. If anything it had made her even more persistent during the last few days. She had hoped that if she managed to capture hard hitting footage of their fights it would help garner attention from her idol.
Marinette sighed as she thought back over the last Akuma attack, and how Alya had recklessly put herself in danger just so she could film the fight. Her actions had made the battle that much more difficult since the two heroes had to keep an eye out for her as well as watch their own backs against the villain.
In the end, they managed to stop the Akuma, but it had resulted in more scrapes and bruises than they otherwise would have had.
To top it all off, Cat Noir's identity had nearly been caught on camera as his ring ran low on power just as the fight ended. Ladybug had had to push him off the roof into a dumpster to hide him from both herself and Alya (something he was still pouting over when he called her afterwards), before sweeping the inquisitive girl to another rooftop so they wouldn't see him change. She then had to flee herself before her own transformation wore out, leaving Alya shouting questions after her.
Marinette rubbed her head in embarrassment as she recalled those events, and hoped that after this lecture, Alya might calm down a little.
Then again, she wasn't holding her breath. Not even her luck was that good.
Suddenly, Alya reached over and grabbed Marinette's arm in a death grip. "It's starting! It's starting!" she said gleefully, shaking Marinette in anticipation.
Sure enough the lights in the auditorium dimmed, and the spotlights on the stage brightened as a woman stepped out from behind the curtain.
Alya squealed at the sight of her, and Marinette couldn't help but feel excited too. Even she had heard of the intrepid reporter, April O'Neil.
The spotlights reflected off the woman's vivid red hair and yellow suit jacket as Ms. O'Neil stepped up to the podium and gazed out at the gathered audience with a warm smile.
"Hello," she said in decent but American accented French. "Thank you for coming here today. I must say, the greeting I have gotten here is much warmer than the one I'd get back home in New York City." She then smiled wryly. "Of course, you can get better ones most any other place, New York's not the friendliest place to be, but then, it is home…"
The lecture that followed was very good. Alya spent the entire time leaning forward in her seat, and hanging on to every word. Even Marinette, who was not as passionate about the subject as her friend, still found the American woman's words fascinating.
When the lecture ended, Ms. O'Neil walked off the stage to a thunderous applause, with Alya clapping the loudest.
The second the applause ended, the teen journalist grabbed Marinette by the wrist and began dragging her through the auditorium towards the backstage area.
"W-wait! Alya, I don't think we're allowed back there!" Marinette protested as her friend blatantly ignored the 'Authorized Personal Only' sign on the backstage door, and hurried through it.
"Better to ask for forgiveness than permission," said Alya, shrugging off Marinette's protests with a wave of her hand. "I've just got to talk to Ms. O'Neil. Besides, what's the harm?"
But her eager march was brought to a halt when a voice called out, "What are you kids doing back here?"
Alya and Marinette both winced as they heard the shout, and turned to see an angry looking security guard stalking towards them.
"Start asking for forgiveness?" asked Marinette dryly, and Alya had the grace to look sheepish.
"I said, what are you kids doing back here?" repeated the security guard as he came to a halt in front of them.
"Uh- well- you see-" Alya stuttered as she tried to come up with an excuse for the two of them, when a new voice rang out behind them.
"They're with me."
Marinette froze at the sound of the voice, and Alya jerked her head around to see their classmate and Marinette's crush, Adrien Agreste, coming towards them.
The guard immediately straightened at the sight of the model, and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Agreste," he said quickly. "I didn't know."
Adrien shrugged off the man's apology. "It was a simple mistake, no harm done."
The guard nodded, and walked away, and the two girls turned to address their savior. "Thanks, Adrien, we owe you big time," said Alya gratefully.
Marinette nodded her head rapidly in agreement. "W-what-, I-I mean, Why-why are y-you here, Adrien?" she asked, stuttering like she always did when in the presence of the man of her dreams.
Adrien grinned sheepishly, and rubbed his head. "My Dad wanted Natalie to come talk to Ms. O'Neil about her doing an expo on our up-coming fashion line. I had to come and help represent us. To be honest, I should have just invited you two to come with me in school yesterday, we all knew you'd be here."
"We're here now, and that's what matters," said Alya, waving her hand. "So can you get us to see Ms. O'Neil? Please, please, please!" she added eagerly.
Adrien laughed. "Sure, I don't see why not."
He then turned and led the way further backstage to where Ms. O'Neil stood talking with Natalie about Adrien's father's proposal.
As they arrived, Natalie quirked an eyebrow at the sight of the two girls, but Ms. O'Neil smiled at them warmly, before turning to Natalie and saying, "It's not the kind of story I usually do, but I'll think about it and get back to you tomorrow. Does that sound good?"
Natalie nodded primly, before turning to go. "I have a few more people to talk to, Adrien," she said as she passed the three teenagers. "We will be leaving shortly afterwards."
"Okay. Thanks, Natalie," Adrien called after her.
Ms. O'Neil turned her attention back to the teenagers, and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
Adrien and Marinette turned to look at Alya, who seemed to be frozen in awe of being so close to the woman she admired so much.
Seeing as she didn't seem about to say anything, Marinette piped up, "M-my friend, Alya here, is a huge fan of your work, Ms. O'Neil. Would it be alright if she asked you some questions?"
"Call me April," said the woman with a smile. "And I don't mind. Ask away."
Alya let out an excited shriek at those words, making her two friends wince and rub their ears at the volume.
Amused by her enthusiasm, Adrien turned to Marinette. "Let's leave Alya to it, then. I saw a snack table back this way, wanna grab a bite?" he asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
Marinette looked like she might spontaneously combust from the offer, but managed to stutter out a tiny, "Okay," and was led off to spend some alone time with her crush.
Alya managed to partially contain her inner fangirl, and hurried over to stand before April. "I have so many questions," she said rapidly. "Do you mind if I record this for my blog? What is the greatest story you've ever worked on? How do you handle being a woman in this business? Did you ever discover more about that Foot Clan group you said was leading those robberies in the Silent Crime Wave? Who were the mysterious heroes who stopped them? Have you heard of our local heroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir? What is your opinion on them? What-?"
April lifted her hands up as if that would stem the flow of rapid-fire questions coming from the bespectacled girl. "Whoa, whoa, slow down," she said. "One question at a time. My French isn't that good."
Alya flushed sheepishly, and repeated some of her questions more slowly.
April looked thoughtful as she gave her answers. "Let's see, Alya was it? Yes, you can record this." She'd barely said the words before Alya had her phone out and pointed at the reporter.
Shaking her head in amusement, April continued. "For your other questions, being a woman in this business isn't easy, but the challenge is one of the things that makes it worthwhile. The Silent Crime Wave is probably one of my greatest stories, not just for the acclaim it got me, but also because working it is what allowed me to meet my fiancé and some of the greatest friends I've ever had."
Alya blinked in surprise at that response, and for the first time noticed a simple but beautiful ring decorating her left hand. Seeing her looking at it, April smiled and said, "That's right, soon they'll be announcing my name as April Jones instead of O'Neil, and I for one can't wait."
She then frowned as she got back to the topic at hand, "As for your local heroes, yes, I've heard about them. I read up on them on this website on the flight over. The Ladyblog, I think it was called."
Alya couldn't help but let out another excited squeal. "That's my blog!" she said excitedly. "You've read my blog?"
April's eyes widened as she heard that, but nodded. "Yes, I read it. It was very well done, you should be proud of yourself."
Alya beamed in pride, before getting serious again. "If you read my blog, then you know I'm trying to discover Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities. Do you have any advice on how I can go about doing that?"
To the teenager's surprise, April frowned slightly at the question. Alya couldn't help but get the feeling her idol might… disapprove of such a request.
April then let out a sigh, and motioned for Alya to sit down in some nearby chairs with her. The bespectacled girl did so quickly, wondering what she'd done wrong.
"Let me ask you a few questions," April said in a serious tone.
Alya nodded silently, suddenly feeling slightly shy at the woman's change of pace.
"Do you know how to tell the difference between a good journalist and a vulture?"
Alya tensed at the question, and stared at her idol with a slightly hurt expression.
Seeing this, April gave her a reassuring smile, and added, "I am not saying you are the latter, but I want to know if you know where such a line is drawn?"
Alya glanced down at the camera in her hands and frowned slightly. "I didn't know there was a line."
April nodded, as if expecting such a response. "My next question is, do you know why superheroes try to keep their identities secret?"
Alya started in surprise, before answering, "Not really, no."
April chuckled. "I guess you're not one for comic books then." Her smile then turned serious, and she continued, "In those, at least, the hero typically has several reasons to keep their identity hidden. They may have families that could be targeted by the villains if the truth got out. They may be afraid that scientists, or the government might try to capture them for insidious reasons. Or they're afraid people in their day to day lives will fear them for being different from them." Her mouth then shifted into a smirk. "Or they could just wish to avoid being hounded by the media when they're out of costume."
"The 'vultures' you mentioned," Alya said, her head spinning.
"That's right."
Alya nodded slightly as she tried to work through all the points that April had just mentioned. Honestly, it had never occurred to her what would happen if she managed to reveal Ladybug's identity. The thrill of the chase, and the chance to get her big break upon making the discovery had been all she'd cared about. The 'why' of it all had never mattered before.
But now that possible 'whys' were in her head, she couldn't stop thinking about them. What if she did manage to unmask the heroes, and simultaneously ruin their lives?
She didn't think she could stomach that.
"I am not saying that you should stop investigating Ladybug and Cat Noir," said April kindly, drawing Alya's attention back to the woman. "Your Ladyblog is a fascinating piece, and anyone can tell just by visiting it how much you admire those two, especially Ladybug."
She then stood from her chair, and gave Alya a stern look. "My last question is more of a request," she said. "I ask that you not be a vulture, Alya. Learn where to draw the line, and support those two as best you can. Trust me when I say they need all the support they can get." Her expression turned wry, and she added softly, "Call it personal experience."
With that the red haired woman promised to keep following the Ladyblog to watch her progress, then bid the bespectacled girl farewell, leaving Alya sitting there with her head spinning.
Not long afterwards, Marinette came back to find her, nearly bursting from joy at her time spent with Adrien.
Alya forced a smile on her face as her best friend chattered on about her crush on their way home, but couldn't fully concentrate as April's words kept echoing in her head.
In the end, she saved the recording of her interview onto her computer, but never posted it to the Ladyblog.
A/N Please Read and Review. To be honest, I don't usually like reporter characters in shows and movies. They always come across as kinda pushy and nosey to me, caring only about getting their story, and not caring how it would affect the people they're reporting on. However, there are some exceptions, one being April, obviously, and most recently, Alya. I like April (when she's a reporter in that version) because even though she wants to get her story, she knows when to hold stuff back so that the turtles stay a secret, and she protects them as best she can. Alya's not faced with that in the show (yet, anyway), but I do like her for how supportive she is of Marinette, and some of the situations she gets into can be really funny. Like when she was constantly recording, even though she was being kidnapped by the Pharaoh, and even interviewing him as they went.
Part 2 on Christmas :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.