Anyone who met Marinette Dupain-Cheng would say that she was a sweet girl, who smiled at strangers on the way to school and helped her parents in the bakery.
Right now, Paris was no place for a sweet girl.
"Bye, Dad! Bye, Mom! See you later!" Marinette closed the bakery door behind her. She hefted her backpack onto her back, clutching the strap tightly. The sidewalk of her street was cracked and dirty, with empty soda cans lying every way you turned.
A block later, she heard it.
"Please-stop-" It came out as a whimper, a plea. Following it, a brief snort of laughter. The man- she assumed it was a man, from the deep voice- began listing what they would do next. As she passed the alley, her foot landed next to a penny. Marinette knew better than to pick it up.
She arrived at school early and out of breath from running, as she often did these days. As Marinette walked down the loud, moving halls to her locker, she made sure no one noticed as she checked to see if anyone was hurt. All she could find was a black eye on Max and Kim's bruised knuckles. Almost sighing in relief, she opened her locker and began unpacking her things for classes.
"So you're saying it's the police's fault." Alix put her hands on her hips, ready for battle
"I'm not saying anything, I just think that the law enforcement in this city is- well -it sucks!" Kim exclaimed. "People get hurt and they just have to what, file a report?"
Max pushed his glasses up his nose. "Yeah, Kim, that's kinda what the police are about. Doing nothing is what they get paid for. "
Sabrina elbowed her way to the center of the crowd. "Excuse me, but that's my father you're talking about," she snapped.
"Honestly, Sabrina, I wouldn't be surprised if your dad was in the Akumas, at his pay rate."Sabrina gasped, almost comically, and Kim turned to face the rest of them. "Don't you see! That's the problem with this city. There's no one we can trust to fight them, because no one knows who the real enemy is."
In the silence from this solemn proclamation, the bell suddenly rang. Everyone sprang away from the group to gather their bags, except Marinette. She was too busy thinking about Kim's words.
There's no one we can trust to fight them, because no one knows who the real enemy is.
Marinette kicked her chair away from the desk and started spinning wildly. Tikki looked at her with a what's wrong? sort of glance.
"Another Akuma victim? Another one? I don't know what to do, Tikki. I'm scared-well, everyone's scared!- and I want to help, but I'm just a kid!" She got up. "And I know that they dragged kids into it a long time ago, and-don't look at me like that!" The poor hamster hadn't done anything. "But I'm worried that someone I love is going to get hurt, and that I won't be able to help when they do. I'm useless, Tikki. I can bake- and I talk to my pet hamster and-" Her eyes widened as an idea popped into her head, but she shook it off as soon as it occured to her.
But the thought persisted. It held on, through dinner and sleep and breakfast the next morning. In fact, it held on up until school the next day.
Marinette was halfway up the school steps when she heard the yell. She visibly winced at the sound of it. It hurt, sounded like someone had died, and her heart immediately started beating faster. She dashed into the school to see what had happened- but was stopped halfway through the door by the sight of Ivan, sobbing as though his heart was broken.
Marinette had never seen Ivan cry before. No one had seen Ivan cry. Everyone had stopped in their tracks to stare, but no one had helped him. She shook off her fear and kept running, almost tripping over her own feet to get to him. When she got there, he didn't even seem to notice her until she put her hand on his back. He flinched, but leaned into the touch, tears still cascading down his face. She slowly rubbed his back, feeling his sobs shake his body.
Footsteps. They came closer, until orange sneakers stopped near Marinette's face. She looked up to see Adrien, wringing his hands. What did he want? He couldn't want to talk to her- not now- No! She couldn't get distracted. He could help. She looked up, his eyes met hers, and she motioned to Ivan with a twitch of the head. Adrien nodded and knelt next to him, making soothing noises as he patted Ivan on the shoulder awkwardly.
Marinette couldn't help it. "What happened, Ivan?"
"Mylene-she's-she's-" A fresh wave of sobs rippled over Ivan as he continued. "She's hurt. Bad. Sh-she got in the- in the way-" He bowed his head as his body trembled.
Marinette's eyes locked with Adrien's, and the look seemed to say everything. He looked shocked, and scared. She was terrified, but yesterday's idea-the stupid, stupid idea- was crawling back into her head. And it wouldn't go away.
Marinette had done many stupid things in her life. But as she looked in the mirror, this was by far the stupidest. She didn't even look the part, with her stupid, bright red, only-tank-top-I-have, shirt. Her accidentally-not fashionably ripped black leggings. Her too-big black hoodie. And, of course, her pigtails, tied with hairbands with ribbon. Ribbon!
The real problem, of course, was that everyone could clearly see her face.
She turned away from the mirror with a frown, trying to remember if she had anything in her closet. Her face brightened as she remembered that for some reason, one school day, she had worn a bandana. Digging it out of her closet, however, was a different story. She had painted it for costume day at school, she recalled, but she had taken it off at lunch because Chloe had teased her endlessly about her "baby costume".
Unfortunately, a bandana was a bandana. And at least it matched the tank top.
She tied it onto her face, painted-on spots and all, and slowly climbed the ladder to the roof.
The stars were beautiful tonight, she noticed. If I die tonight, at least the sky will be beautiful.
She looked over the edge of the balcony, seeing the cobblestoned street below. She lifted one leg over the barrier, then the other. Holding on tight to the rail behind her, she second-guessed herself.
She wouldn't actually do this. She couldn't actually do this. What kind of person did what she was about to do? She-
She let go.
Marinette let go of the barrier and jumped off the roof.
She slid down, turning as she did so. When she reached the bottom, she grabbed the edge and hung for a second until she dropped down.
Now it was just Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the Akumas, and the looming skyline above her.
