Somehow, Adrien Agreste had snuck out of the mansion.
Ok, maybe he was a superhero now, but none of that ever mattered to the eyes-of-a-hawk-Nathalie, who never let him out of her sight.
He kind of felt bad, because his father would probably yell at her and this driver for losing track of Adrien. Oh well, it was her job to keep track of him, and it was his job to act his age, and do what he wanted.
"Adrien! This is so exciting! Your first day of school!" Tikki exclaimed from beside him, taking up a spot near his side as he ran towards the school. He really appreciated Tikki's company lately, just because she was always so honest and nice with him all the time. In Adrien's experience, you never really met honest people with good intentions. He could tell that she really did want what was best for him (even though she was a bit hesitant about him running away to begin with), and she was one of the only beings he'd met since his mother's disappearance that had treated him like a human being.
"Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. You think people will like me?" He answered, giving the kwami a sidelong glance. He continued his light jog towards the school at a steady pace.
"Of course! You're Ladybug, the luckiest guy in the city! Everyone's going to love you, Adrien."
The next day, she came to school with the unlucky Miraculous in her satchel. Before she left, she remembered what Plagg said about Ladybug needing Chat Noir to defeat the akuma, so she decided that someone else needed to wield the Miraculous.
Couldn't be too difficult
Plagg also told her that she was the only one that could wield it, but honestly, if she could wear the miraculous, anyone could. Didn't seem to matter anymore.
Despite everything that happened in the past day, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to more mundane things. Would she have Chloe Bourgeois in her class for the third year in a row? With her bad luck, she wouldn't even be surprised. She continued to draw nearer and nearer to her homeroom, and she grew more anxious. She didn't quite understand why she was nervous, school would probably be just the same as the year before that, and the year before that. Something was different she felt, but she chalked it up to her horrible day yesterday. Marinette reached the door, and took her first step. Her blue eyes flitted across the room, searching. Seeking, she forgot what she was looking for. Even in this typical classroom, she felt abnormal, and out-of-place. She didn't belong all of sudden. That first step through that door reminded her that she was bestowed a power that she wasn't strong enough for. It felt as though the entire classes eyes were on her, knowing what she was afraid of, all her darkest secrets. She shifted as if to avoid, and and in her action, her eyes caught Alya's. She remembered Alya at the stadium during Ladybug and Chat Noir's appearance, putting herself in danger despite the odds stacked against her. Alya loved superheros; she was kind, forgiving, and dauntless. She would be a great Chat Noir. With that thought, the weight on her shoulders was forgotten, as she stepped with purpose towards her best friend. Of course, that's what she wanted to do, but the universe seemed to constantly remind her that what she wanted was not what she got. She tripped, and the world spun; Marinette hit the ground hard, for the second time that week.
Blue eyes blinked. She didn't remember the floor being this warm. Upon further inspection, she saw green eyes and blonde hair beneath her, and she was was frozen as a sense of deja vu overtook her.
"I know I'm new, but I didn't expect for you to fall for me so quickly."
Under normal circumstances, she would of been a blushing mess. Don't get her wrong, but this boy was definatly 1000% her type. But all she could see when she looked down was Ladybug. Her pun loving partner was also kind, and fearless- just like she wanted to be. He was also cocky, just like the green eyes that stared back up at her. She needed to stop staring into his eyes that drew her closer, and she involuntarily rolled her eyes as she stood up.
"Please, I've heard better." She smirked, pushing herself up off the ground and leaving the new kid to openly stare at her. Distancing herself, Marinette took her seat next to Alya. The girl looked at her, completely bewildered by the strange performance on the classroom floor. She deserved a long explanation: "It's been a long morning."
"I'll bet. That new guy you just shot down is Adrien Agreste, the model."
Marinette stared at Alya. "Are you serious?"
Unbeknownst to Marinette, Alya only stared back, probably wondering what had her in such a mood. In fact, Marinette was so out of it, she didn't even notice Chloe Bourgeois in the seat across from her.
Figures.
"Oh Adrikins! I'm so glad you're here at school! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, at now fate has let us see each other every single day!" The girl said, obnoxiously loud. Marinette sat there, quiet as she watched the new kid and Chloe interact. He was obviously uncomfortable about the close contact with the girl on his arm, and his efforts seemed impossible to get her off. Marinette laughed internally; finally, someone with worse luck than her. You'd absolutely have to be the unluckiest person in all of Paris to have Chloe Bourgeois permanently glued to your side.
With a loud rap on the table, the teacher called order to the class, and everyone took their seats. Marinette noticed with a bit of sadness that Adrien, the new kid, took a seat at the back. She thought back to the box stowed away in her bag, and the power of misfortune it carried within. Adrien Agreste was by far one of the luckiest people she knew, and boy, did she know him. He was the son of one of the most renowned fashion designers, Gabriel Agreste, the inspiration for most of her own works of fashion. Though she never paid much attention to the son of her idol, she knew the boy had it all- looks, money, prestige, and of course, friends. But what Marinette saw today was not at all what she thought it would be. Adrien Agreste didn't seem to have any friends at all despite his popularity. Chloe Bourgeois counts as a negative friend.
Maybe there was someone more misfortune than Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
In the middle of roll call, an entire wall of the classroom was removed.
Immediately, Adrien knew that Stoneheart was back, just as Tikki explained to him. It was his fault, he wasn't listening and forgot the very crucial detail of making sure the damn monster didn't come back again.
In the mass panic of his new class, Adrien stealthily slid out of the room to the bathroom where he could transform. He opened his bag, and looked down at the kwami. "Tikki-"
"Wait, Adrien!" The kwami emerged, waving her small legs frantically.
"Someone dropped this into your bag right when the classroom exploded!"
The small ladybug held up the box of the miraculous, the one he received only a day ago.
"What on earth? How did someone get a hold of this...? He stated, inspecting the box. He opened it, and looking further. There was a note inside, along with a ring.
Chat Noir
The note didn't say anything else, leaving only questions, with no answers. Did Chat Noir know who Ladybug really was? That wasn't even the most confusing question, why would Chat Noir give Ladybug her Miraculous? According to Tikki, Ladybug and Chat Noir could only defeat the akuma together. He looked to his small kwami, and she wore a similar expression of worry.
"This can't be good."
It seemed that giving away the Miraculous was already doing wonders for her luck, because Marinette made it out of the classroom unscaved(which in of itself was truely miraculous). She wasn't quite sure where to take cover, and with Alya running around like a hooligan in the dangerous streets of Paris, she decided to try to get as far away from Stoneheart as possible, and headed out of the school and away from her Bakery.
What she quickly forgot was that there was, in fact, more than one Stoneheart now (no thanks to her). Multiple Stonehearts were patrolling the streets, searching for something, and instead spotted her. She quickly turned heel into a nearby shop, as the minions took on a frightening speed in her direction.
Taking cover behind a wall, she fought hard to quiet her heavy breathing as the Stonehearts poked their heads into the small shop, searching. All was quiet, and the silence that embraced the room was deafening. She heard retreating thunderous footsteps, and she waited a moment before taking a heavy gasp of air. Just as she thought she was in the clear, a stone hand punched through the wall next to her and caught her around her midsection.
"MYLEEENEEE"
She was forced out into the open as the minion Stonehearts hand felt as if it were crushing her. The air she had just breathed in startlingly left her like a deflating balloon, and she was left tired and disoriented.
God dammit.
If she was Chat Noir right now, this probably wouldn't hurt as bad, or feel as scary. But she locked Plagg back in the box he came in, and now she was all of the above.
Marinette Dupain Cheng had no one to blame but herself, as the stone monster flung her down the Parisian street way.
She closed her eyes, and let her body fall limp. Now, it was probably up to Chat Noir to save her.
Before she felt the burning of terminal velocity pavement, she felt two strong arms wrap around her. If it was Ladybug, she was going to fucking kill…
It was Ladybug.
Because of physics, they were both now traveling at terminal velocity, but now they were headed straight towards a large factory window. Glass shattered, as Ladybug took the brunt of the impact and they tumbled to the concrete floor.
She glared at her captor. If she had hit the pavement, at least she wouldn't have been the damsel in distress.
Ladybug slowly rose, and she noticed several things from her position on the floor that she had no desire to get up from. His face was bleeding (Glass is sharp. Was she bleeding too?) and his arm hung limply at his side in pain. The last thing Marinette noticed was the five Stonehearts forcing their way into the factory, and the last last thing she noticed was the green backpack with a small box inside it.
Did Ladybug take Adrien's backpack? How did Ladybug know she gave away her Miraculous?
Questions became irrelevant, as two Stonehearts seemed to travel at inhuman speeds towards the duo. Ladybug took up a defensive stance, or, well, as defensive as one could be with a broken arm.
"Marinette! Get out of here!"
Ladybug screamed, facing the danger head on.
It didn't even matter that Ladybug had a broken arm, or that he was bleeding red so dark it matched his red suit. Ladybug had a broken arm, blood in his eyes, and no partner, and he was still fighting, still trying to protect Paris.
Was that a hero was? Someone who fought, no matter the odds, no matter the stakes? With all hopes of Paris upon his shoulders, he did not fall. Ladybug was not afraid.
"WHERE IS MYLENE? WE KNOW YOU HAVE HER SOMEWHERE….. LADYBUG!"
"She clearly ran away when she saw your ugly mug, brick head. Why don't you go pick on someone your own size, like the Eiffel Tower?"
The first Stoneheart swung at Ladybug, and he easily dodged. The second fainted, but the third came from behind, landing a solid hit before Ladybug could block with his yo-yo. Ladybug crumpled like paper meters away from her; his arm broken, his body tired. His yo-yo skidded off to god knows where, and he made eye contact with the startled eyes.
Marinette was wrong, Ladybug wasn't fearless. In his deep green eyes, she saw what he was afraid of, she saw his pain. Maybe they were the same, maybe they were different. His eyes screamed at her to run as his mouth moved wordlessly, and that's when she felt something in her heart break.
She still didn't know what it meant to be a real hero of Paris, and she was afraid of how it would change her life. But in that sharp moment, a lifetime; when a Stoneheart was closing in and Ladybug just kept looking at her, like he could see past her skin and view what lay underneath; she knew she could no longer sit by and wait for someone else.
In one fluid, effortless motion she reached for the bag and threw open the all too familiar box.
"Plagg, Claws Out!"