Group projects have always been dreadful; if not for the discomfort that arises from being surrounded by people she doesn't know how to talk to, then for the fact that only a handful of students actually contribute to the assignment. In this project, said students include Juleka, Alya, and Marinette. The others include Chloé and Sabrina, who take two of the three laptops provided to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube. In turn, Juleka and Alya take the remaining laptop and begin researching drama skits. Marinette sits between the two dyads, toes furiously tapping against the floor, and drags the tip of her pencil against her paper.
"Well, this is pathetic." Ladybug materializes beside Marinette, eyes full of disdain as they scan the room. "I never did understand why you humans are so insistent on sending your young to these places. They're nothing but breeding grounds for hormones and misery", she muses, reaching out to pull a curl from Marinette's bun. It falls between Marinette's eyes, loose and careless, and tickles her pores.
Marinette brushes the curl away; huffing in annoyance when it falls back into place, she tightens her grip on her pencil and scribbles, "Go away."
Ladybug places her hand over her heart and pouts. "I'm only here to help, my sweet Mari", she explains, her voice thick with faux sincerity. "I thought you knew that by now."
"I don't need help", Marinette writes, the letters dark and blocky by the pressure of her hand. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."
"Right." Ladybug drapes herself over Marinette's back, catching the eye of her team when the movement propels Marinette against her desk. "Because sitting on your ass and hoping your teammates will notice you at some point is totally helpful." She leans further, smirking when Marinette growls in resistance, and snickers. "Let's face it, honey, I think I need to take over for a bit."
Marinette wipes her hand over her mouth and mutters, "Not gonna happen."
"You let me help whenever you talk to Adrien."
She reaches for her pencil again and scribbles, "That's different. That's my social life; this is work. Kind of."
"Uh huh. And what is it, exactly, when you need help mastering your Miraculous?"
Her fingers fumble with her pencil. It slips and drops onto her desk before bouncing onto the floor. Once again, her team glances over at her, only this time, they don't look away.
"Hey, uh, Marinette", Alya starts. Her fingers still on her keyboard, and she smiles. "We're having a hard time finding skits. Do you think you could get us another laptop from the Computer Lab? It'd really be a big help."
Chloé mutters something, Sabrina titters, and Ladybug clenches her fists. Before she can fully evaluate the situation, Marinette rises in her seat.
"Sure", she mumbles, turning to walk towards the door. When she hears it slam behind her, she grabs Ladybug by the wrist and hisses, "I know what I'm doing."
"Oh, yeah, I've no doubt of that", Ladybug says with an eye roll. "I just wanna make sure you understand what you're doing. I'll work with you, Mari, but only if you go all the way. I want to help you because Lord knows you need it. But we're not half-assing this. Understood?"
"Yes." She crosses the hallway and enters the Computer Lab. Heads swivel upon her entrance, and Marinette pauses, cheeks tinting red and breathing coming to a halt. Ladybug smiles, pushes her forward, then starts for the end of the room. Marinette follows after, scooting between a row of tables, and stops before the cart of laptops lining the walls. Crouching to retrieve a laptop from the cart, she murmurs, "But can we keep the public discussions to a minimum?" She pulls the charger from a laptop and frowns, taking note of the red light along the side. Looking back up, she finds those that remain have similar lights and the other slots to be empty. She lets her laptop rest in her lap and sighs. "People think I'm weird enough as it is", Marinette continues in a subdued voice. "The last thing I need is them thinking I'm talking to myself."
Ladybug growls. She drops to the floor in front of her, pushes herself through Marinette's bubble, and presses her lips to the outsides of her ear. "What the hell does it matter what they think", she hisses. "They are beneath you. They are weak, and they are selfish, and they are foolish. Their silly opinions do not matter. You are Ladybug. You are the best thing this damn city has to offer, and they dare think to ridicule you?"
Marinette stares down at her. She leans back and takes a jagged breath. "I'm really not that...good."
"Oh, but you are. You are. Just keep letting me in. I'll show you things you never even considered to be true. I'll make you see just what you can be when you've got the right kind of firepower." Ladybug nips at her ear and titters. "Then we'll see just how clever those bitches think they are."
"What-what does that mean?"
"It means you've heard enough." Tikki zips from behind Ladybug, pauses to tap her on the nose, and flies towards Marinette. Behind her, Ladybug's shoulders draw upward, and her skin flushes red. But she doesn't say anything.
"Mari", Tikki starts.
"I'm handling it", Marinette insists, making sure to keep her voice lowered. "We've been at this for weeks, and I'm not tempted to go conquering the city or anything."
"You don't get it. This is exactly how the Great Kwami War got started."
Ladybug hops from the floor and walks over to a table. She leans against it, cranes her neck to the ceiling, and sniffles. "It hurts that you'd bring up such a horrid time", she laments, eyelashes batting. "Especially when you know I was clearly the victim in that situation. I was in no way in control of giving the little spitfire the power she wanted."
"You were the victim", Tikki squeals in incredulity. The other students remain focused on their computer screens and their conversations with friends. It's almost odd, how they can be so close and so unaware of the chaos occurring not even five feet away from them. "You corrupted-"
"Yes, yes, but because she wanted me to. I told you, bug, I only bring out the shit people try to hide from themselves. I can only help in ways the wielder wants to be helped. Nanette wanted to be in control. And that's what she got."
"Oh, drop the pity act", she chides. "Nanette may not have been the wisest nor the most moral of the Ladybugs, but she never wanted to take Paris. That was all your doing." She turns to Marinette then, flying up to her face and placing her small hands on her cheeks. "Marinette", she pleads, voice wavering. "Please. Listen to me."
"I am listening", Marinette says. Upon receiving a disappointed stare from Tikki, she retreats into her brain to find a way to reassure her. Before she can find anything useful, though, she's interrupted by the pounding of feet on the floor. Tikki scowls, dips from Marinette's view, and flies into her purse to nestle between her phone and her notepad. Ladybug waves, inhales deeply, and smiles before evaporating into a puff of purple and red dust. When the cloud fades, Alya and Juleka storm through the aisles and towards Marinette.
"We were starting to get worried", Juleka murmurs as she helps her from the floor. "You were gone for so long and-"
"We weren't sure what happened", Alya finishes. She glances at where Marinette had been sitting and frowns. "What did happen?"
"Nothing, nothin." She grips her purse strap tautly and sighs. "I just, uh, tripped. But I'm fine now."
"You sure", Alya asks, her expression skeptical. "Cause we can get you to a nurse if you need one."
"No, that won't be necessary." She offers a half-hearted smile and says, "After all, we've got a skit to put on, right? There's still time, isn't there?"
Juleka returns her smile and nods, saying, "Yeah. We've got another thirty minutes before presentations start. It's not a lot of time, but it's enough."
Alya grabs her and Marinette's hands and begins leading them toward the door. "Then what are we waiting for", she chuckles.
Marinette allows herself to be lead away. But before the door can slam behind them, she tosses a glance over her shoulder and looks towards the computer cart. Ladybug's still gone, but even from here, Marinette can make out the faint smudge of red and purple on the table where she once sat.
Then the door closes, and she's too focused on their approaching skit to give it another thought.
. . .
"You're too tense." Ladybug juts her hip out and stretches her arms into a relaxed T. They then lift above her head and curl into a rudimentary helix. Eyes closed, she lowers into a squat and sighs. "It's all about flexibility", she explains. "You've got to think of your body as an extension of your soul. Stop thinking, stop feeling, and just let go. Once you've done that." She unwinds herself, stretches her head to the open sky above her, and launches into the air, twisting and spinning until she meets the ground once more; spandex fingers meet the crumbly foundation of the roof before her feet land firmly on the ground and she stands upright. Ladybug tosses her hair over her shoulder and leans on her toes. "The rest comes naturally."
She stares at Ladybug. When all she gets is an impatient wave of the hand, Marinette rolls back her shoulders and wiggles her toes. She exhales, rotates her wrists, and widens her stance. Ladybug turns up her nose and stalks closer.
"Relax", she advises, arms wrapping around Marinette's waist. She pulls Marinette's palms close to rest against her stomach. "Feel that? The in and out of your breathing?" Ladybug takes the palms and rests them on her own stomach, watching as Marinette's eye twitches in response. "And that? The ebb and flow of the energy? You can predict what's gonna happen, but it's natural, it's not forced; that's how you've got to be. Know what your plan of attack is gonna be but be willing to deviate from the original plan." Ladybug withdraws her hands and takes a few steps back. Behind her, the sun is setting on the city of Paris. The cries of the emerging nightlife ring from below and greet Marinette with a familiarity. It's been too long.
Ladybug hummed, nodding as Marinette pushes her hands through the air in akin to swimming. Marinette lowers until her knees touch the ground, then rolls onto her back to spread her limbs into a star. Above her, Ladybug raises an eyebrow and considers her. Then, with a sharp grunt, she sprints towards Marinette and leaps into the air, leg pointed towards Marinette's head as she approaches the earth. Before any damage can be done, Marinette launches into a kip up and rolls away, blinking rapidly and panting in broken breaths.
"What the hell", she calls out in indignation. "You could have broken my face!"
"That was kind of the point, princess." Ladybug storms towards Marinette and jumps once more, tossing a kick through the air. Marinette deflects, grabbing the leg and pushing it away; she ducks as Ladybug throws three quick punches. The last in the series catches her in the stomach and sends her tumbling backward. Ladybug smirks and eases forward, hips swaying as she opens her hands and folds them towards herself. "Fight me."
"Don't you think this is a little excessive?"
"No, this is exactly what you need." She pounces and tackles Marinette, pinning her to the ground before pulling back a fist. "You think you are special", Ladybug sneers as she prepares to punch her. Marinette jerks her head to the right to avoid the assault, then to the left. Then she moves backward as Ladybug delivers a blow to her nose. "You think that just because you knock out a few goons. Ladybug grabs Marinette by the collar and pulls her close. "And a few akumatized civilians every few days, you think that makes you somebody? Most of those oafs have never even been in a fight before, which makes them nothing. And a victor is measured by their greatest opponents, which makes you nothing." She digs her knee into Marinette's stomach and grins at the shout it produces.
"I am not nothing", Marinette spits, thrusting her feet into Ladybug's own stomach and kicking her back several yards. Ladybug stumbles before regaining her footing, leaning on an arch with one hand clenched and the other supporting her weight. She rushes forward, hopping over a clothing line, and lands on Marinette's back, legs wrapping around her waist as she pulls Marinette's arms behind her.
"Then prove it", Ladybug challenges, her voice full of manic glee. "Fight me."
Marinette drops to the ground and rolls onto her back. Before Ladybug can squirm away, she grabs her by the throat and pushes her head into the ground. Ladybug pauses in all movements and stares up at Marinette.
"This isn't fighting."
Marinette tightens her grip on her neck. "It is if I say it is."
"Hm." She disappears from underneath Marinette, materializing a moment later on the edge of the roof. "I think that's enough training for today."
"You called Uncle", Marinette notes. She crawls to her feet and extends her neck. "That's not fair."
"It is if I say it is. Besides, I think we just hit a crucial moment in your training. Might be best to let you...marinate for a bit."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ladybug winks. Then, taking a moment to observe the rising moon, she tosses her legs over the edge and falls. Marinette doesn't check to see if she's okay. She just taps her earrings, transforms, and jumps into her nightly patrol, her veins electrified and her blood vibrating.