Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.

AN: This idea has been kicking around in my head for some time now.

For Marinette Dupain-Cheng, it was a relatively normal day at school. Adrien was cute, she was tongue tied, Chloe was a brat and Tikki was sweet.

There were no akumas for her to worry about, no monsters coming out of the corners and not a hint of black butterflies or any kind of superpowered trouble whatsoever. It was, for most of the day, a perfectly normal, trouble-free day. Indeed, it looked like today was going to be just another quiet day, with nary a sign of trouble from Hawkmoth whatsoever.

Just the kind of day she liked really.

It was in the middle of the last class of the day that Marinette's life became…well complicated. Or at least, a lot more complicated than it already was…

The class was French Literature, with Miss Bustier teaching them about comparisons between Classical French Fairy tales and those of other European countries such as Germany and Britain.

Suddenly there was a sudden bump and the class was surrounded by a thick grey-ish fog. The windows, even those facing inwards, were surrounded and even the door refused to budge when pulled.

Then there was an explosion somewhere above them and crashing through the ceiling was an impossible figure, a figure that simply did not, could not exist.

Picking herself up and staring at the hole from which she had fallen, was none other than Ladybug herself.

This, Marinette told herself, was physically impossible. For one thing, she was Ladybug. (She was pretty sure that she wasn't crazy. Or at least that crazy. Surely Chloe hadn't managed to drive her over the edge like that?)

What's more, this Ladybug was…different. She had reddish-brown wavy hair instead of Marinette's usual pigtails. Dark skin as opposed to Marinette's paler shades. Even her eyes were the wrong colour, a pair of hazel orbs instead of Marinette's blue ones. There was something teasingly familiar about the figure in front of them, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Oh my God, it's Ladybug!" Alya squealed, abruptly pulling Marinette out of her trance. She whipped out her phone and began recording. "Ladybug, in my classroom!"

"Yeah, but…"

"But is it me, or does Ladybug look different?" Alya continued, barely noticing Marinette's confusion. "Her hair's changed. And her eyes. And…wow. How is this possible? Maybe she'll answer a few questions."

"Alya, Marinette! Join the rest of the students at the other side of the classroom!" Miss Bustier shouted at them and suddenly Marinette became abruptly aware that the rest of their class had moved towards the back of the classroom.

"But-"

"You can still get good footage from back here," Marinette said with just a touch of exasperation as she dragged Alya away. "And stay out of the danger zone."

"Do not worry children, you are in no danger from me," a high pitched male voice said almost conversationally as the akuma floated down. "No harm will come to you from me I promise you that."

He was a rather bizarre looking creature. A man wearing a neon green trenchcoat with a pair of skintight purple gloves and a pair of bright pink trousers and shirt. To say it looked garish would be something of an understatement. It actually hurt Marinette's eyes to look at it.

"God, what on Earth are you wearing!?" screeched an all too familiar voice. "It's hideous! What are you called, Fashion Disaster? You're worse than Maritrash!"

Several members of the class rolled their yes at Chloe's outburst in unison. It was almost spooky really and the akuma turned to face her with bored expression on his face.

"My name," he began in an amused voice, "is Many Paths," from inside Marinette's bag, Tikki gave a startled gasp, but fortunately nobody except Marinette seemed to even notice as the akuma continued to talk. "I am the one who sees what could have been, what paths were never taken, what words were never spoken-"

He was abruptly cut off when Ladybug's yo-yo swung around him and held him tightly. He looked down and a puzzled o graced his lips. Then he clicked his fingers and suddenly everything changed.

The classroom shifted once more and the greyish fog was replaced by the Parisian skyline once more. Ladybug fell to the ground screaming as her suit began to flicker in and out of existence.

"You are not Ladybug here," the akuma said in a calm, refined voice as he slowly walked over to her and picked her up by the throat. "You are helpless. And when you die, I will take your miraculous."

A textbook came flying at the akuma and smacked him in the back of the head and with a gasp, he dropped the Ladybug.

"Leave. Her. Alone."

All eyes turned to see the normally so mild Adrien Agreste standing there, his whole body radiating anger. The akuma simply chuckled and waved his hand at the class.

"How rude of me. You may leave now. I am sure that you have safer places to be after all and I will not stop you," he said but before anyone could move, Ladybug's transformation dropped entirely.

Marinette gasped.

Alya dropped her phone in disbelief with a muttered impossible.

Miss Bustier reached forward uncertainly.

Laying on her knees with an unconscious kwami cradled in her hands, was Alya Cesaire.