The Disposables Chapter 1, a miraculous: tales of ladybug & cat noir fanfic

Gosh this is probably the most nervous I've ever been to post a fanfic since I first posted fanfic.

Welcome to The Disposables, a Miraculous Ladybug Suicide Squad AU fic! The original AU was created by tides-miraculous on Tumblr, and I am honored to have been given permission to write this!

It won't be following the exact plot of the movie Suicide Squad; I'm hoping you guys like this!

This chapter was beta-read by wishfulina and flautist4ever , who are both on Tumblr!

~anipwrites

Nino absolutely hated this jail.

Granted, he'd probably hate just about any jail, but this was the jail he was in so this was the one he hated. From the quality of jails he'd heard about before, this jail was absolutely detestable. The officers seemed quite fond of beating him unconscious for fun, or shocking him with their tasers just to hear him scream. He did his best not to pleasure them with it.

But the beatings weren't even the worst part. He'd been knocked around a few times, in his years in the shadows. The worst part about being imprisoned was that, when all was quiet and the officers were too busy to mess around with him, there was nothing to do but think. Not even pace, just sit in his cot and think. He could lay down and stare at the ceiling, or he could sit up and stare at the wall, hang upside-down, anything. Nothing changed the train of thought. He always thought back to his years in the Metagene Facility, with good old Ivan and a good many scientists setting some kid in all sorts of dangerous situations to test his capabilities.

After they'd escaped, he and Ivan had stuck together for awhile, until they got separated by some of the scientists trying to hunt him down. He wasn't sure if Ivan had been caught, or if he managed to get away, but he couldn't worry about it. He had to survive, with or without him. So he'd sold himself out to all kinds of people; the ability to control water was pretty good for getting information from people, or wreaking havoc whenever he wanted to or was asked to.

He didn't technically go to school. He'd made friends with some kid-Carter Stowes or something-who would teach him what he could. Science was pretty useful to him. He was just beginning to hope that maybe, if he got some new clothes and kept his powers in check, he could blend in and have a good future or whatever. Do something that involved being around the water, something with oceans. But Carter Stowes, as it turned out, liked Ladybug and Chat Noir-heroes of the city-more than he cared about his friends. First chance he got, he'd ratted him out to the supers and set up a trap for him, in the middle of the summer heat. He'd been forced to surrender when any puddles nearby dried up and he lost too much water to sweat (damn hoodie), and sent to the Francoise-Dupont Penitentiary for Metahuman Criminals. There he was, left to rot for who knows how long, any hopes of seeing water outside of a small drinking cup dashed. His fingers still tingled with the need to use his powers on something-something, in such a way that the small forms he could make with drinking water weren't enough.

His life was hell. He sure hoped Ivan wasn't going through this.

Ivan was bored out of his goddamn mind.

Fuck Ladybug. Fuck Chat Noir. Fuck da police. Fuck everybody.

He punched the wall again. The small dent was getting bigger. Maybe? He'd been at it for a year now, maybe more? It's hard to keep track of time at Francoise-Dupont, the surest sign of passing time being the guards coming with food, drink, and trying to beat the snot out of him.

He'd been living the life before all of this. After escaping a facility full of maniac scientists, he and a friend had been trying to find a place for people like them. Though they were separated eventually, Ivan had found that place; Timebreaker and Horrificator. They'd been the best friends-and the only friends-he could have asked for in a while. They'd dallied in all sorts of crimes, rigging buildings with explosives and scaring the shit out of people just for the hell of it. With his stony appearance and Horrificator's abilities, it was easy. They'd been caught up in a few fights with other metas who didn't like their definition of fun, but could hide out with the Mime's goonies until they were caught. They'd all been forced into this place, but knowing that someone was suffering probably as much as he was, as horrible may this be, made him feel just a bit better. He could take it. But he'd kill anyone who touched Horrificator. On. the. Spot.

Jail sucked.

She knew that beforehand. Her dad had been in jail multiple times. He'd always managed to bust out. Usually she didn't get caught up in it. The life of crime wasn't for her. But then she got sick. Deathly sick. No end to the constant pain in sight, because she was too damn stubborn to just close her eyes forever. Her father searched every corner of the black market for a cure, but none was to be found. They'd lost hope until someone approached him with a solutions.

"There may be side effects," they added before they left.

Side effects, her ass. Sure, whatever concoction she'd drunk that night had cured her and stopped the pain, but it went… too far, she could only say. She wasn't the same, quiet girl she'd been before. But there were some plus sides. She'd always loved spooking her father and his associates, and now it was much easier to scare just about everyone. Granted, she had sharp teeth, purple blotches of skin, a third eye, and a tail, but it was fun for awhile.

The added features lost their novelty, especially after the Mob got used to her… 'quirks.', which basically meant they weren't scared of her as much, but rather saw her as some beast that needed to be caged. So she went out and found a few new friends; Timebreaker took her in first, and later they met Ivan. They had tons of fun together, robbing banks and blasting up buildings and doing some of the work Mime and his gang couldn't be bothered with. It was fantastic!

But they got too bold. They decided to raid a bank during the evening, just before closing. With hostages involved, it took no time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up with a huge police force. They managed to escape and tried to hide at the abandoned theatre where the Mime held his operations, as always, but… the only problem was that, as night fell, Chat Noir's costume was pretty hard to see in the dark. They all were busted, and the entire organization was arrested and brought to Francoise-Dupont.

So now Horrificator was back to being caged and treated like an animal. Not even like a pet; there were no scratching posts or any sort of enrichment you'd see in a house or even a high-quality zoo. Just a cot, steel bars, and a cold concrete floor with hay all over it. They seriously expected her to use the hay? That was gross!

Alarms had gone off a few weeks ago. Since then, security had upped the ante. Someone had managed to get free. Was it one of her friends? Her father? Why didn't they come for her?

Had they ever cared at all?

Alix knew each and every single spot in her cell that she could plant a bomb in and get out. Assuming the other cells had the same layout, she could probably slip out and free her friends too.

Only problem was, she had no bombs. No bombs, no flares, no skates, she couldn't even get a stick of bubblegum in this place!

It had been a year in this hellhole, and it sucked. Without her bombs and skates, she had come to realize that there was literally nothing special about her. Ivan and Mylene, they were metahumans. Every hero and villain in town seemed to have the metagene in them-except the Splotches, from what she'd heard. If they even existed. They were a myth, practically a legend. They'd never been caught on camera, let alone caught by cops. Anyone who ever ran into them, it seemed, didn't live to tell the tale.

Why were they keeping her in here so long?! What were they planning to do with her? Did she have some sort of life sentence? Were they going to execute her? Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised. She'd planted so many bombs in her life and done so much crime for the Mime, she probably killed at least a few people.

Probably. Maybe more than a few. Blow up warehouses full of enemies of the Mime after they'd squeezed all useable information out of them? No way. Actually, definitely, she'd done that a few times.

Were her friends okay? Metahumans or no, they were still her friends; even if she hadn't seen them in a year. All she wanted was to be out there, on the prowl, spooking people and making some quick cash and watching buildings explode from the roof of another. Would she ever get that back?

Alya may be in jail, but she still had her pride. She wouldn't let any guards near her, let them touch her, none of that. They may have taken away her prosthetics and left her with one arm, one eye, and an eyepatch (which was anything but fair, in her honest opinion), but she was still tough without them. And she let it be known that she hated it here. Every single day for the past four months she'd been here, she'd memorize the guards' schedules. Every time one even so much as glanced at her cell, she spit at them. And she could make their phones go wonky too. Although they may not be as strong without the limb enhancements she'd had, she still had the 'super gene'. Hers gave her the ability to mess with electronic waves. Wasn't enough to get through the security system though. That sucked.

She knew she was going to be here a long time. Selling yourself out as an assassin would get you put away for a long time, if not for life. She'd known that when she signed up. But she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone would come bust her out. But why would that happen? Assassins tended to make more enemies than friends. Those who paid for her services could barely be considered acquaintances, let alone someone who would bust her out of such a high-security prison. She was looking at a long, dreary future of stale walls and bad food.

Nathaniel huffed and let loose a sigh that shifted into a groan, leaning his head back. Ink wouldn't leave him alone today. They kept asking him to let them take full control of his body, to succumb to the darkness or some other dumb shit. And frankly, he was tired of it.

Reflekta looked over, still polishing her blades. "Everything okay, Dessi?"

"Ink won't shut the fuck up."

'I am a being of eternal darkness and destruction, I will not be shutting the fuck up anytime soon! You have no power over me, you weak mortal!'

"Oh yeah, then why am I the one in control and not you?" he muttered.

"Tell Ink to shut the fuck up." the pink-clad assassin seemed mildly amused by the events taking place. Nathaniel would be offended, except he didn't really care at all.

"Shut the fuck up, Ink."

'No! I refuse! You cannot control me, my screeching will not cease until you let me take over! She can go to the seventh circle of hell and suck cocks for the rest of eternity, I'll kill her, I'll kill her dumb girlfriend, I'll-'

"They said no. Also, they're threatening death upon you and Princess."

"Okay. I did my best. Sorry, mate, you're gonna have to deal."

"Okay, no worries, I've got this in the bag." Nathaniel crossed his arms and focused on anything except the hissing demon in his head. He lifted a hand, and let his shadow turn to ink before twisting it into different shapes. Maybe Ink would get tired out, and then stop talking as much.

Footsteps. Reflekta glanced up at the ceiling, where the higher levels of the bunker they lived in were. Princess Fragrance must've come home from her private gig.

Sure enough, the gas-masked gal came down the last of the stairs, taking off her helmet and flipping a few strands of hair off her face. Her girlfriend grinned. "Hey, Fragrance,"

"Hello, Reflekta! Don't hug me yet, I think I mixed the gases wrong, it might burn you." The girl warned, stepping back when her girlfriend came to hug and kiss her. Reflekta clearly understood. Not every mix was perfect, and it was usually hard to tell until they were in use. She let Fragrance glide by to the showers. The blonde paused a moment. "Hey, Dessi, hey, Ink! What's up!"

'Your mother sucks cock in hell, bitch!'

"Ink is being an ass today, they don't deserve any acknowledgement."

"Oh, shame. Be right back," Rose stepped into the shower area and closed the door. Nathaniel sighed and stood to check out what all they had to eat. He needed to be ready for their next commission, which was later that night. It wouldn't do to be hungry.

Tonight, they'd been asked to steal some files from some secret lab operating under the rubble of the old Lloyd and Francis Financial Company building, which had been blown up a few years ago and never rebuilt. They could kill anyone who got in their way, as long as they cause minimum harm to the lead scientist himself and brought him in along with the files. In return for his capture and the papers, they'd be paid a few hundred thousand dollars, nearing a million. Which was on the cheap end, but they'd 'negotiate' the price a bit more once they'd finished the job.

Princess Fragrance came back out of the showers and immediately gave Reflekta a kiss. Nathaniel stuck his tongue out playfully. Really, he didn't mind it at all, but it was fun messing around with them.

"Dessinateur, grab a mask, we're gonna go soon." Nathaniel looked up from the apple he'd claimed and grabbed a gasmask, only half-putting it on so he could finish his food. He never really wore it, never really needed it, but he at least brought it with him to make the Princess feel better.

Reflekta was standing in the mirror with the grease paints, carefully painting around her eyes and on her eyelids. She needed it to hide her identity as well as possible; she worked a small part-time in some gothic book store, if her identity was found out she'd surely be arrested. Any of them were. Fragrance always said they took an abnormal amount of risks for assassins. Dessinateur could often be found selling some of his artworks in a studio, and the Princess herself worked in a Lush store in downtown Paris. But they were so good at hiding their identities, it hardly mattered anyways. They destroyed any security cameras they came across on their gigs, and killed anyone who saw them or brought them in to their clients. Plus, they liked having something to do other than sitting in their bunker all day.

"Evillustrator, you almost ready?" Reflekta turned from her paints.

"Yeah, I'm good." Nathaniel nodded, tossing his apple core in a trash bin. His friend shot him a look.

"You don't even have your sword."

"Oh, oops!" he ran to his corner of the bunker and got it from under his blanket. Princess Fragrance frowned.

"That's really unsafe, Dessi. You could seriously hurt yourself." she said.

"To be fair, if someone finds their way in here, I won't have to run across the room before I can fight them. Also, Reflekta is literally putting on grease paint with giant knives on her wrists. And your gas mask doesn't even cover your eyes, so there!" The two girls looked at each other, their faces shifting into an 'oh shit he's right' kind of look. Nathaniel couldn't help but grin at the two as they scrambled to make an excuse. "Now, c'mon, let's go do our job."

"Deal." They headed to the garage to get into the car they'd stolen a while ago, and drove off.

When they got to the location, they parked the car in an abandoned parking garage nearby before trying to find the best place to sneak in. A hole in the rubble provided enough space to squeeze in. Reflekta didn't like the looks of it, but after another few searches around, it was all they could find.

"This seems like a trap, guys."she huffed, crossing her arms as she watched Nathaniel slip inside.

"C'mon, sweetheart, we've got this." Fragrance gave her a peck on the cheek

"Who puts a secret lab under the rubble of a bank in the middle of downtown?"

"We're living in a secret bunker just on the outskirts of town. Is this really that different?" Nathaniel shrugged. "Let's just go kill some shit and get our cash."

"Oh, see, look, there's a door just behind here!" Princess Fragrance grinned. "There probably really is something under here!"

"...alright. Fine. But I still don't like this." she sighed before sliding in behind them. Rose opened the door and they all drew their weapons. Nathaniel took a deep breath and let the inky darkness inside run to his fingertips and face. His veins filled with black, and the ink in his face looked like a mask.

It was dark. Quite the opposite of what they were expecting for a secret research facility. Rose stepped in first, trying to see in the darkness. The others followed, trying their best as well. It was too quiet, too dark, something wasn't right here.

When the spotlights flared to life and blinded them, they realized Reflekta was right; it was a trap. A damned, dirty trap.

They were surrounded. The fucking National Police had them surrounded, all weapons drawn and ready to shoot. Amongst them? Ladybug and Chat Noir. Because, of course they were.

"Juleka Couffaine! Rose Lavillant! Nathaniel Kurtzberg! Lay down your weapons, and we can do this peacefully!" Ladybug ordered, spinning her yoyo. Her leather-clad partner stood by her side, spinning his baton.

The small team shuddered. They rarely used their real names, even with each other. Hearing their old names, their old identities, while dressed in the new sent chills down their spines. This was some serious shit going down.

They all looked at each other. What should they do? Were they going to stand down, or fight to the death? With such a bright light, the shadows were pretty strong, especially on the outskirts of the beams. If he could just…

In the space of half a second, Rose shot a stream of thick pink smoke into the crowd. It was strong-smelling, and sent half the cops backing up. The others started shooting. A bullet grazed Juleka's arm, but she ignored it in favor of trying to get back to the door. Nathnael tugged the gas mask he'd brought over his face. This was the only chance they were going to get to escape, if they didn't pull it off now it'd never happen. They all knew that.

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug's voice shouted through the smoke and darkness, even as Chat Noir roared "Cataclysm!" They needed to get out of there before-

All of the smoke was suddenly sucked away, revealing their location to the rest of the officers. They were nearly to the door, but before anything could be done Chat Noir leaped between them and forced them back. His gloved hand shot out for Rose's face, the green and black energy of pure chaos billowing around his hand. Nathaniel swung with his sword, but the cat-boy leaped over it and went for him instead, his hand crashing into his gas mask before he twisted and slammed it into Rose's before all of the power was used up. They cracked and crumbled to pieces. Juleka tried to stab him through the back, but he avoided it and she barely missed hitting Rose. The blonde hero grinned before pulling down a gasmask of his own. What game were they playing-

A cloudy white gas began to fill the area. Nathaniel held his breath instinctively, trying to avoid whatever effect it would have, and attempted to wrestle Chat Noir away from the wall. But he had to breathe, his lungs were killing him. After the first few breaths, he began to feel weightless. The edges of his vision darkened, and he felt his eyelids getting heavy. No, he couldn't let himself fall asleep, they needed to get out of there-

A silver baton struck him in the face, and stars danced across his eyes, and then there was nothing.