Hey Everyone! I wanted to thank you all for your kind words. I also want to apologize for how long it took me to come out with this chapter- I had a lot of school work and there were a lot of things I had to rewrite because I was unhappy with them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please tell me what you think!

Episode Two: Origins (Part 2)

"What do you mean, we were supposed to capture the Akuma?" Alya fretted to Trixx as she paced back and forth. All had been well for the brunette after leaving the stadium- she detransformed in a public restroom, and enjoyed a lovely walk home. All of that ended, however, when upon approaching her apartment building, Alya had watched her older sister transform into a giant, unmoving stone person right before her eyes.

"It's not my fault Wayzz didn't tell his wielder!" Trixx whined as she flew to and fro, following Alya's movements. "He's the one who hangs out with Master all the time! He would have known!"

"Well, what do we do now?" Alya asked the kwami, panic rising in her tone. Who knew how many Parisians had been turned into stone statues? What if one of her parents were turned? What if Marinette was turned, What if-

"Alya, please calm down!" Trixx flew in front of the panicking teenager's face and booped her on the nose. "We can fix this, I promise! First, I need to recharge. Do you have anything spicy? Like chili peppers?" Alya nodded in response, her wide hazel eyes still locked on the stone statue that once was her sister. Without speaking, the teenager rushed up to her apartment, kwami in tow. No sooner did she enter the apartment was she met with a bone-crushing hug from her father.

"Where have you been, lass? Yer mum and I have been so worried!" The usually stoic man exclaimed as he clutched his second daughter close to his chest. "Ye could've been crushed! Ye could've turned into one of those!" The man pointed to the TV, where images of the many Parisians turned into stone beings were being shown whilst Nadja Chamack spoke about the strange occurrence.

"Don't worry dad, I'm fine. You might want to worry more about Nora than me." Alya told her father, breaking free from his grip and looking down in shame. She had superpowers now, but she couldn't even protect her own sister. "I'm just going to grab a snack and go to my room. I want to call my friend and make sure she's okay."

Otis nodded absentmindedly, obviously worried by the current events of the day. "Aye, lass, you do that. I hope yer mum gets home with the girls soon. I'm worried about them," the man mumbled, sitting back down on the sofa and continuing to watch the news with nervous attention. Alya quickly grabbed a jar of chili peppers and headed to her room. While Trixx was munching on the peppers, Alya dialed Marinette's number and gave her a call. She couldn't forgive herself if something happened to her new friend- she wasn't even sure if she could forgive herself for what happened to her sister.

"Hello?" Marinette picked up the phone, causing Alya to sigh in relief. Thank goodness!

"Hey! It's Alya. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay. Sorry for ditching you earlier today, girl. I didn't think it would be so crazy," the brunette apologized, happy that her friend was safe.

"It's no problem, Alya! I was just about to do the same. Don't worry about it, you were right- it seems Paris does have Superheroes now, after all. Though, it seems we need them again already," Marinette laughed nervously.

"Yeah, those Stone Beings are scary, aren't they? My older sister was turned into one, and my mom and sisters aren't home yet. My dad's really worried. Hey- I have to go," Alya began to excuse herself from the call when she saw that Trixx was finished with the jar of Chili peppers. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Okay! See you tomorrow, Alya. Mama says you're welcome to come over after school if you'd like."

"That sounds great, let's plan on that. See you tomorrow, bye!" Alya clicked the 'end call button' before turning to Trixx, who still was smacking her lips from her very spicy meal.

"Alright, you've recharged. Now what?" Alya inquired of the tiny trickster God, anxious to return the Parisians-turned-Stone back to their normal state. Trixx gave her a small smile and once more booped her nose.

"Now you get to recharge! We can take care of the Stone Beings tomorrow. It's really heroic of you to want to do this all as soon as possible, but it'll be no use if Rena Rouge is too tired to pick up her flute." Trixx told her ward, nudging Alya towards her bed.

"But I- we need to-" Alya tried to protest, though she knew the kwami was right. She'd be no help to anyone if she was exhausted, and she was aiming to decimate Carapace. She'd show him who the sidekick was! "Fine. We can deal with it tomorrow. I just hope I haven't messed everything up permanently." Trixx shook her head, still giving the girl small nudges towards the bed.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Alya. Hawkmoth is the one hurting those people. Not you." Trixx reminded the brunette, who nodded in response.

"Thank you, Trixx." Alya offered the kwami a small smile before going to get ready for bed.

The next day, Nino was at school earlier than he'd ever been before in his life. He usually did his best to slide into his seat right before the school bell rings- as much as he enjoyed socializing with his classmates, early mornings were not Nino's friend. However, the teenaged boy wanted to make sure Ivan stayed positive and unakumatized more than he wanted to sleep in 15 extra minutes. Unfortunately, when Nino found Ivan, the boy was being mobbed by their fellow classmates, all eager to talk about yesterday's occurrences.

"You were going ballistic. It. was. So. cool!" Juleka all but squealed, lit up with excitement that was rare for the normally stoic teenager.

"Yeah, man, you were totally trying to crush me!" Kim added, causing Ivan to visibly shrink into himself.

"Uh, sorry, Kim. I wasn't myself." Ivan mumbled an apology, which Kim waved off good-naturedly.

"Nah dude, it's cool! It got us out of school, yeah? That's a win in my book." the athletic teenager laughed, causing Ivan to slightly relax. No sooner did he, though, did Chloe open her mouth.

"Well, if you ask me, it's not 'all cool.' He's a monster and should be restrained." the snooty blonde sneered at Ivan. Without so much as a warning, the much larger boy got up and stormed off. Nino glared at Chloe. He truly had never met anyone meaner.

"Chloe, that was-" the teenager began to tell his classmate off but was interrupted by the new girl from yesterday, who was advancing on Chloe quickly with Marinette in tow, pretty hazel eyes narrowed into an angry glower.

"If you want to talk about monsters, take a look in the mirror, Chloe. You don't have to be such a witch!" the girl practically snarled at Chloe, causing the prissy girl to laugh haughtily.

"Careful everyone, Super-Newbie here is gonna split her panties and turn into the hulk! I'm soo scared!"

"Why you-"

"Alya, no! She's not worth it!"

Figuring that Marinette and the new girl -Alya- had dealing with Chloe covered, Nino headed off in the direction Ivan headed. He found the boy slouched in the boys' locker room; he looked like a kicked puppy.

"Ivan, dude, you gotta ignore what Chloe says. You know she's the worst!" Nino told him, crouching down next to his classmate. Ivan offered him a weak smile, obviously still discouraged.

"Thanks, Nino, but you should've seen how Mylène looked at me. She thinks I'm a monster, too." Ivan sighed dejectedly. Nino shook his head and stood up, offering Ivan his hand.

"You got it all wrong, dude. I'm sure Mylène likes you! She's just like, shy. Maybe you should do something for her, y'know?" He encouraged; Ivan gave him a small smile and accepted Nino's hand, letting the much shorter boy hoist him to his feet.

"Thanks, Nino," Ivan thanked him, "Maybe I'll write her a song! I should probably go get some paper- I'll catch you later!" The much happier boy bade Nino farewell, happy and relieved that Ivan was feeling less dejected. With his self-appointed job finished, Nino continued on his way to class.

Surprisingly, Nino made it into class before most of his classmates- he assumed they were preoccupied with the fracas downstairs. The boy slid into his front-row seat and popped his headphones on, planning on listening to some tunes before class started, when low and behold, Chloe burst into class. She was hanging onto the arm of a boy that Nino never met before. Nino figured he must be famous or rich, and he wanted nothing to do with him.

"Look, Adrikins! I saved this seat especially for you! You'll be sitting right in front of moi~" Chloe squealed, gesturing to the seat right next to Nino. So much for having nothing to do with this kid. 'Adrikins' sat down next to Nino, seemingly awestruck by his surroundings, as if this was his first time setting foot in a school in his life.

"Hi! I'm Adrien, it's nice to meet you." Adrikins- er, Adrien offered his hand for Nino to shake. Nino gave his hand a hard stare, before looking back up at Adrien.

"So. You're a friend of Chloe's, huh?" Nino deadpanned, before going back to his music. Adrien opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by the cackling- laughing, of Chloe behind them. She had ordered Sabrina to stick a freshly chewed up wad of gum onto Marinette's seat. Nino opened his mouth to tell Chloe off, but surprisingly, Adrien beat him to the punch.

"Chloe! What are you doing? That's not nice!" the blond exclaimed, standing up. He walked over to the other desk and crouched down, trying to unstick the gum from the seat.

"Oh Adrikins, you're so adorable! The brats that sat here yesterday need to be taught their place. You have so much to learn about high school." Chloe replied, waving her hand dismissively. Adrien didn't say anything back but kept attempting to remove the wad of gum from the desk. Nino, thoroughly impressed that Chloe knew someone who wasn't a flaming POS, was about to suggest Adrien use a tissue to pick it up, when Marinette and Alya entered the room.

From their perspective, Nino knew what it looked like, and it was pretty bad. He watched as the two girls went from happy to irritated in 0.2 seconds flat. Alya's fists clenched, her brunette hair almost seeming to bristle. Nino could've sworn she was about to lay into the other addition to the classroom, when to his surprise, Marinette stomped up to Adrien.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" the normally timid girl demanded, hands planted firmly on her hips. Nino could see the color leave Adrien's face as he began to sputter, and Chloe and Sabrina began to laugh. Forming her own conclusions, Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Hahaha, very funny. Nice job." Marinette drawled sarcastically, causing Adrien to stand up and shake his head.

"No, I was just trying to remove the gum!" the blond defended, though it was obvious that the two girls didn't believe him.

"You should tell them what really happened," Wayzz murmured from his hiding spot in Nino's front pocket. Nino shook his head, trying to be discreet about talking to the kwami.

"No way dude, I don't want to die," Nino whispered back. When he looked back up, Adrien was seated back down next to him, and Marinette and Alya had taken their seats, sitting closer than normal to avoid sitting on the tissue-covered wad of gum.

"Dude, why didn't you tell them it was Chloe's fault?" Nino asked his deskmate, who seemed a little dejected. Nino felt a twang of guilt for how he treated the poor sap earlier- it's not he'd ever done anything to Nino.

"Chloe's my only friend," the blond shrugged, "I don't want to get her into more trouble than she already gets herself in."

"Well dude, it's high time you had new friends. I'm Nino!" the brunet offered his hand to his blond deskmate, who accepted the offer with a grin. Nino couldn't help but grin back.

"That guy seems familiar to me, but I don't know where I could have seen him before…" Marinette mumbled, still seething from the events that just took place. Alya nodded, bringing up Agreste ads on her phone. The boy was on every billboard in Paris!

"Girl, that's Adrien Agreste- look!" Alya gave her phone to Marinette, who swiped through the different pictures, her eyes widening with every one.

"How did I not realize? He's the son of my favorite fashion designer! His dad is a genius," the raven-haired girl exclaimed, handing Alya her phone back.

"Rich, daddy's boy, and friends with Chloe? I wouldn't go near that with an eleven-foot pole." Alya snorted, and Marinette nodded her head in fervent agreement.

"I think you're judging him too harshly, Alya! He said he didn't put the gum on the seat!" Trixx whispered from within Alya's hair, where she was hiding. Unfortunately, Alya didn't have many places on her person to hide the little kwami, and Trixx was averse to staying in Alya's locker. The only place either could think to hide the mischievous little God was in her hair. Alya tucked Trixx further back under her locks, acutely aware of Marinette right beside her.

"Shhh, Marinette's right there-"

"Hm, Alya?" Marinette gave Alya a confused look, having heard her deskmate utter her name. Alya flushed, embarrassed to have been caught whispering to her hair. How weird must that have looked?

"I was just wondering where your house is," Alya laughed nervously, "We're still on for after school, right?"

"Right! But you know you can just walk with me, right?" Marinette giggled. Alya joined in, though her laughter still had a nervous edge. The two girls continued to chat and plan their afternoon as Mme. Bustier entered the room and began to call role. Upon calling Adrien's name, Alya noted that he didn't seem to know what to do until his deskmate gave him a hint. She remembered him as the boy who went after Ivan earlier that morning. He seemed nice- she'd have to go introduce herself later.

"Ivan Brue-" Mme. Bustier began to read off Ivan's name but was interrupted by the classroom door being knocked off its hinges by Ivan, freshly reakumatized into Stoneheart. Alya's expression tensed; her hands curled up into fists in her lap. So much for catching the akuma before it got to Ivan again.

"PRESENT!" Stoneheart boomed, before stomping over to Mylene. Students began to stumble out of their desk, dashing to the classroom exit.

"I-Ivan, what's happened to you?!" Alya heard Mylene ask incredulously, fear evident in her voice. The brunette didn't pick up what the akumatized Ivan said back, but he picked up the now-panicking Mylene. Alya watched in horror as the akuma made its way over and past her and Marinette's desk to Chloe, who was preoccupied with trying to get her father to call in the army. Without hesitation, Stoneheart captured the bleach blonde, knocking her phone out of her hand in the process. The giant Stone Man then did a running jump out of the classroom window, shattering the class and breaking the outside wall in the process.

As Stoneheart lept from the third story window, Alya noticed a turtle-shaped green blur shoot after him, causing the brunette to stand up in indignation. How on earth did Shelly get here so fast? Alya so was not going to let that fly.

"I'm going after him. You wanna come? " Alya announced to her friend, who as expected, began to shake her head violently.

"You can go on ahead- I'm gonna find a safe place to hide," Marinette replied, glancing nervously over at the shattered window.

"Your loss, girl- I'll catch up later, promise!" Alya bade her friend adieu before making her way out of the classroom. The brunette quickly found a restroom, and as soon as they were alone, Trixx popped out of her hair.

"C'mon Trixx, I'm not going to let Shelly steal our limelight again." Alya declared, earning a small 'ahem' from the kwami.

"Well, we're also going to save Ivan and dispose of the akuma. Showing Turtleboy whats what is just an extra perk," she amended with a sheepish smile.

"That's more like it! Remember: You have to catch the Akuma and put it into a container. Like a paper or plastic bag. Anything that subdues it will work. I'll tell you what to do, okay?" Trixx told her ward, who nodded in understanding.

"Got it! Alright Trixx, let's pounce!"

Rena Rouge took no time catching up to Carapace and Stoneheart. Though her kind-of partner kind-of rival was in hot pursuit of Stoneheart and his hostages, there were many Stone Beings detaining him. Perfect- he could keep the Beings busy, and she could save the day. Without hesitation, Rena whipped her flute out and flung herself towards the akumatized Ivan, preparing to hit him with all her strength.

"What are you doing?!" Carapace called out between blows, noticing that his partner-rival had joined the fray. "Rena- dude- NO!" the boy cried, but it was too late. Rena's flute-turned-bo-staff made impact with Stoneheart's rock-hard flesh. The monstrous akuma immediately grew twice in size and batted Rena Rouge away like a fly, sending the teenage superheroine flying into a building. It didn't hurt quite as badly as Rena thought it would, and she didn't die- she was sure she had Trixx to thank for that- but the impact left the girl gasping for air for several moments. Carapace, though visibly irritated, left the two stone beings he'd been fighting to help Rena up.

"Sorry, Shelly. I forgot about that," Rena laughed nervously, giving Carapace a sheepish smile.

"Well, what's done is done, dude. He seems to be heading towards the Eiffel Tower. Can you use your Mirage to lure the Stone Beings away from him? Then I can get Stoneheart alone. As soon as you're done with the Beings, circle back to the Eiffel Tower as soon as you can- it'll be easier to get the akumatized item that way."

"Um, super fun idea, but there's a few things wrong with it. Firstly: I'm not a sidekick-"

"Dude, really? That's not important right-"

"Let me finish. It would make more sense to use your power to fend off the Beings. My kwami's told me your miraculous creates a shield. Use that shield to cut Stoneheart off from the Beings, that way we'll have a better shot at rescuing Mylène and Chloe."

"That's not a bad idea," Carapace conceded. "But like you can't keep your Mirage going forever, I can't keep my Shelter up forever. We'll have to work fast. Why don't you use Mirage on Stoneheart, then? He likes Mylène. Can you work with that?"

Rena gave Carapace a playful salute. "Sure can, Turtle Boy."

"Alright then, let's do this, dude." Carapace returned her salute, grinning. Without another moment of hesitation, the pair of heroes continued their pursuit of the Akuma.

"We're giving you the count of 10 to return Mayor Bourgeois' daughter!" Carapace heard the Chief of Police demand through a megaphone as he and Rena Rouge approached the Eiffel Tower, where a circle of police cars and a tank surrounded Stoneheart. A squad of policeman stood behind the Chief of Police, as well as the Mayor himself.

"You want her? Take her!" Stoneheart roared, hurling the teenage nightmare in the direction of the policemen and Mayor.

"Oh crap," Carapace heard Rena curse, before the girl sprung from the building where they were perched and snatched Chloe out of the air. Carapace jumped down to follow Rena to where the police were gathered. Rena let go of Chloe, who went running straight into her father's arms. Once the Mayor assessed that his daughter was unharmed, he gave a nod to his Chief, who then turned to gesture to the Tank.

"On my mark!" The man bellowed, "Ready, Ai-"

"Hold up!" Carapace interjected, cutting the Chief of Police off. "You're going to fire at him? He gets bigger every time you hit him. You're only going to give him more power."

"Don't forget, he still has Myl- that other girl in his other hand, too. You were planning to shoot him with her still in danger?" Rena added, sounding flabbergasted.

"Listen, kids, you tried your best last time, but you're obviously not up to the task. Leave this to the professionals."

"Oh yeah, sure, dude. We're going to leave it to the professionals who want to sacrifice a fourteen-year-old girl," Carapace retorted sarcastically, earning an elbow jab from Rena.

"Don't call the Police 'dude!' We're heroes! Be more professional!" She scolded.

"Rena, dude, does that really matter right now? They're-" Carapace began to bicker, not in the mood for her weirdness, when Stoneheart began to choke and hack up a large black butterfly that fluttered up and perched itself on top of the Eiffel Tower.

"PEOPLE OF PARIS," an imposing voice boomed from the butterfly, "I AM HAWKMOTH, WIELDER OF THE BUTTERFLY MIRACULOUS. I AM THE ONE WHO HAS CAUSED THIS. RENA ROUGE AND CARAPACE- I REQUIRE THE MIRACULOUS OF THE LADYBUG AND BLACK CAT. SURRENDER THOSE AND YOUR OWN MIRACULOUSES TO ME, OR WATCH AS PARIS IS DESTROYED."

"Dude, what? Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses? I don't know anything about that?" Carapace shouted up at the butterfly, confused.

"Even if we did know where or what they were, we wouldn't give them to you, you villain! We're going to take your miraculous off your hands!" Rena added, before taking the megaphone out of the Chief of Police's hands. "People of Paris, listen up! No matter what the cost, my sidekick, Turtleboy and I wi-" Carapace cut off Rena's speech by snatching the megaphone away from her.

"I am not her Sidekick, my dudes. My name is Carapace, and yes, we will protect Paris, no matter wh-"

"Give that back, Shelly!" Rena tried to yank the Megaphone back, but Carapace held a firm grip

"Stop telling people I'm your sidekick! We're either partners or nothing at all!"

"Oh, like I'd be partners with someone incapable of not including 'dude' in every sentence!"

"Dude, neither of those sentences contained the word 'dude!'"

"WHAT WAS THAT, THEN?"

"LOOK AT YOUR BRAVE HEROES, PARIS! NOTHING BUT A PAIR OF SQUABBLING CHILDREN!" Hawkmoth cackled from the butterfly.

"We'll show you what a 'pair of squabbling children' can do! Carapace, NOW!" Rena retorted, seeming to momentarily forget her fight with Carapace as she refocused on the task at hand.

"SHELTER!" he cast, creating a large green turtle shell-shaped dome to cover the area surrounding the Eiffel tower, effectively keeping the Stone Beings away even as Stoneheart was calling them to his side.

"MIRAGE!" Rena wasted no time using her own power, causing Mylène to vanish from sight. Stoneheart immediately began to freak out.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MYLÈNE?" The akuma roared, opening the hand he held her in, unknowingly dropping the girl and the akumatized item all at once. In a flash, Rena slid underneath the beastly akuma, successfully catching the invisible girl and the akumatized item. Carapace had to admit, when Rena wasn't being completely insufferable, she was pretty impressive.

"Yo, Shelly! I have Mylène and the akumatized Item- can you get the akuma on the Eiffel Tower?" Rena called over, letting her Mirage drop and carrying Mylène over to the police.

"I got it, dude!" Carapace yelled back, dropping Shelter and grabbing the nearest thing he could use to contain the akuma -a trashcan- and launching himself up towards the large akuma. Before the pesky insect could flutter away, Carapace grabbed one of its wings and swiftly stuffed it into the trash can. He noticed from his birds-eye view the Stone Beings disappearing and assumed Rena had broken the akumatized item. Keeping the trashcan secure so the akuma couldn't escape, the Turtle-themed hero leaped down to the ground, walking over to where Rena stood. He noticed a plastic, cheez-it filled baggy containing the akuma and let out a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about.

"You got the big one?" She inquired.

"Totally, dude. You got the small one?" He shot back, to which she responded with a nod.

"Cool. I'm heading off, and you should too. We're both about to transform back," Carapace gestured to her beeping necklace and his own beeping bracelet, "But I want to let you know that I'm not super into the idea of working with you in the future, dude. I'm more of a Nightwing than a Robin."

"You know what? Ditto. I can't work with a DC fan. Hope I don't see you too soon, Turtleboy."

"Right back at you, Lucy."

"Lucy?"

"Yeah. Short for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I think it should be your new name." Carapace smirked, watching Rena's expression contort into one of rage, before hopping away to detransform.

"HEY! SHELLHEAD! GET BACK HERE!"

Carapace found an empty alleyway to detransform in, just in the nick of time. He had no idea what to do with the evil-filled trash can he was lugging around.

"Yo Wayzz, dude, what do I do with this?" Nino asked the kwami as soon as the transformation dropped.

"You'll have to bring it back to the Master. He has another kwami, Tikki, who can purify it. I can guide you to his dwelling, but first I'll need to recharge. You'll need to transform back into Carapace when we get close, since Rena Rouge still has the other akuma. You can't let your secret identity be discovered by anyone." Wayzz informed him, perching on the lid of the trashcan.

"Sounds cool, dude. Um… I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich back in my locker. Is that okay?"

Wayzz gave a disappointed sigh. "Yes, that will suffice."

Rena Rouge fiddled nervously with the bag holding the akuma as she stood outside an apartment door, in a building she'd never been in, in a part of town she was unfamiliar with. After her newly declared rival had been so rude, Rena had leaped away herself to detransform back into Alya. She bought Trixx a bag of spicy chips to recharge on, and Trixx had led her to the apartment while the kwami snacked. Having just retransformed to protect her identity, Rena hoped she wouldn't run into Carapace. She should've told him to hand over his trash can. It would have made everything easier.

"Ah, good. You're here." The opening of a door and the voice of an elderly man broke through Rena's thoughts.

"It's, it's you! From yesterday!" Rena exclaimed, pointing a surprised finger at the old man, who chuckled.

"Yes, Alya Cesaire, it's me. Very good. You may detransform, Carapace just left. You don't have to worry about running into him. Come, there's someone I want you to meet." The old man informed her. Nodding, Rena Rouge let go of her transformation. Alya followed the old man inside the apartment, with Trixx trailing closely behind her.

"Tikki, you have another guest," The old man called. No sooner did he do so did a red kwami came loop-de-looping into the room. Bright red and loosely resembling a ladybug, this kwami had to be the cutest thing Alya had ever seen.

"Yes, Master?" The new kwami, Tikki, answered.

"Our friend, Alya, has brought you another treat. Could you take care of it, please?" The old man told her. Tikki nodded resolutely, before turning to face Alya.

"Hi, Alya! I'm Tikki! It's nice to meet you. Could you release the akuma from your bag, please?" Tikki requested, giving the brunette a polite smile. Alya nodded in return, opening the ziplock bag and allowing the dark butterfly to flutter out of it. No sooner had it escaped, however, did Tikki swoop in and swallowed the akuma whole. After a few moments, the kwami burped, releasing a pure white butterfly into the air.

"That's not at all what I expected to happen," Alya admitted.

"It never is," Tikki laughed, "It's a much more refined process when a miraculous wielder does it."

Alya was about to respond, when her cell phone began to ring. Excusing herself, the brunette pressed the 'answer' button and held the phone up to her ear.

"Alya? Are you okay? Where are you?!" Marinette exclaimed. Alya flushed, embarrassed- she'd almost forgotten about tonight!

"Oh no, Marinette! I'm so sorry! When chasing Stoneheart, I got lost. I'm on the other side of town. I'm a little lost." Alya half-lied to her new friend, feeling a little guilty.

"The important thing is that you're safe, right? Do you still want to come over? If you can find a street sign, my Papa could come to pick you up." Marinette suggested, relief lacing her tone.

"That sounds good, I'll text you the streets I'm next to. See you soon, Bye!" Alya pressed the 'call end' button, before turning to face the old man and the little bug kwami.

"Um, my friend is really worried about me. I told her I'd hang out with her tonight, so I have to go now," the brunette informed them somewhat awkwardly.

"Go on, your work here is done, Mademoiselle Cesaire. Have fun with your friend."

"Thank you, Master! See ya!" Alya bade farewell cheerfully.

"Yeah, bye Master! Bye Tikki!" Trixx followed in suit, giving her fellow kwami a small hug before following her charge out the door.

The next day, Alya headed into class early. Expecting to be alone, she was surprised to find Adrien Agreste's deskmate already in his seat. All the better- she wanted to introduce herself to him. Plopping into the seat formerly claimed by Chloe, Alya tapped the boy on the shoulder.

"'Sup dude? Can I help you?" The boy asked, taking his earbuds out and turning to face her.

"Yeah! My name's Alya. I just wanted to tell you I thought it was really cool how you went to help Ivan yesterday morning."

"Ah, uh, thanks. Chloe can be pretty mean, and I, I didn't want him to be upset, considering the stuff he'd gone through. The name's Nino, by the way." Nino replied, seeking somewhat flustered from the compliment. Alya giggled; he was cute. There was no way she wasn't going to befriend this boy. After a pause, he offered one of his earbuds to her.

"Um, wanna listen? It's Jagged Stone's newest album," Nino offered. Alya nodded, accepting the earbud and listened with him. The pair sat and listened together for ten minutes or so until other students began to steadily trickle into the classroom. Adrien slid into his chair next to Nino, and the two boys shared a fist bump.

"Hey, um, I'm sorry about the gum thing yesterday, I promise I-" The blond began when he noticed Alya sitting at the desk behind him. Alya waved his apology off and offered the boy a friendly grin.

"I realize now what happened, it's alright! You don't have to worry about me. Maybe you should try to talk to Marinette later, though. I know it really upset her. My name's Alya, by the way." Alya offered her obviously nervous fellow newcomer and friendly grin, which he returned.

"Good job, Alya! You're doing amazing!" Trixx whispered from inside Alya's hair, which the brunette chose to ignore. She wasn't about to get caught talking to her hair again. That was majorly embarrassing.

"Thanks, Alya. I'm Adrien. I'll be sure to explain the situation to Marinette later today." He replied, visibly happier.

"Huh, speak of the devil. Marinette! Girl, over here!" Alya called her friend over. Marinette smiled and waved at Nino and Alya, but as expected, gave Adrien no more than a deadpan expression before sitting down next to Alya.

"Don't worry dude, she'll come around." Alya heard Nino comfort the blond as she and Marinette discussed their exploits from last night.

"Dupain-Cheng? You're in the wrong seat." Chloe sneered as she walked into the room. Alya shot the blonde girl a deadly glare and Marinette opened her mouth to lay into her, when to their surprise, Adrien spoke up.

"Chloe, just leave them alone. You don't own that seat. You can sit across the aisle from me." He told the blonde firmly, who gasped at his outburst.

"But Adrikins, I-"

"Chloe." Adrien gave her one last meaningful look, and the blonde let out one more melodramatic huff and flounced over to the empty desk. Alya noticed a large orange ribbon decorated the blonde's ponytail today. Weird. The brunette turned to point it out to her friend, but stopped when she noticed the raven-haired girl staring off with a dreamy expression.

"Girl, are you okay? You look like a space-cadet," Alya nudged Marinette, who jumped out of whatever daydream she'd been in.

"O-Oh? Yeah, I'm fine, it's just- that what pretty cool, wasn't it? Adrien telling Chloe off like that. Maybe he's not so bad." Marinette whispered back, her face flushing at the mention of the blond boy. While Alya would have thought it cooler if he'd let them stand up for themselves, she could tell the gesture had made huge waves with Marinette. Watching her friend drool over the Agreste model, Alya couldn't help but chuckle to herself. This year was going to be interesting.

EPISODE TWO FIN.