School is over for the day, and it's time to go home.
For Marinette, she is going to have a surprise when her best friend, Alya, shows up in her bedroom with a very important talk.
"No stops?" the bluenette read the paper the redhead gave her. "What is this?"
"It's an anagram," Alya answered. "I'll give you a hint. It spells backwards."
"Ooh, I know this one," Marinette realized the answer. "Spots on."
As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth. Much to her shock, she realized that by saying the phrase, her secret has been outed, and there's nothing she can do to stop the transformation from happening. Bright light covered her entire body, and once it dissipates, she is now wearing a red mask and skintight bodysuit with black spots.
"I knew it!" Alya squealed in excitement. "So this is how you transform! I'm so excited!"
"You knew about this?" Ladybug asked.
"Yes, from yesterday," the blogger admitted. "When the akuma attacked, I forget to get my phone, so I went to my locker to get it. Just as I got it, I saw you running from a different direction, so I followed you. That was when I saw you saying 'Spots on' and you transformed. If I didn't know any better, this is how you transform into Ladybug. Anyway, you look cool."
"Y-You think?" Ladybug blushed.
"Yes, I think so," Alya smiled. "I won't tell anyone about this. I'm not even going to post this on the Ladyblog. I promise."
"S-So you're okay with this?"
"Yes, I am."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ladybug crushes her best friend in a hug, relief that she is going to keep her secret safe. "Alya, you're the best."
"You're welcome, Mari," the redhead pulls out of the hug. "Now, can you transform back to normal?"
"Gladly. Spots off!"
With those words, the bluenette got her normal clothes back, and a red creature came out of her earrings.
"So you're the creature who transforms her into Ladybug by going into her earrings?" Alya attempted to communicate with the source.
"Yes, I am. I'm Tikki, and I'm a kwami," Tikki introduced herself. "It's nice to finally meet you, Alya."
"Same here, Tikki," the redhead greeted in return.
"Now that you know her secret, how about I tell you about what happened before she showed up for her debut?" the kwami suggested.
"Ooh, an origin story. Tell me," Alya looks excited about her friend's origin story.
"When Marinette first met me, she called me a giant bug, then a mouse, and then a bug-mouse," Tikki started.
"Tikki! Do you have to tell her that?!" Marinette looks embarrassed as she remembered this moment.
"Come on. It's not that bad, girl," Alya snickered while reassuring her by putting a hand to her shoulder. "Some superheroes have origin stories that involve a talking creature."
"See, Marinette?" Tikki agreed with her on this one. "Your friend here is much accepting of what you called me at first because she likes superheroes so much."
"Now, continue on, please."
"Very well."
Marinette couldn't believe that all it took was a trigger phrase to get Alya to know her secret. Even though she unknowingly revealed her secret to her friend, she is glad that this happened.
