"That was an inspiring display of camaraderie." Fuel Tank told the exhausted young Heroes with a rare smile. He stood there upright at the shambled group, some bent over with their hands on their knees to keep them upright, one or two sat down on the ground, and others just panting for breath. Despite having gone through the hell that was the Frenzy Forest, they had come out on top, with their allies at either side. "I am very impressed with your actions."
Groups A and C had caused quite the stir with their entrances. Crossing the finishing line at the same time had been a totally intentional choice. They had worked together, and without the other team, they may not have made it. It was as symbolic as it was making a statement. They may be on opposing teams, but the spirit of Heroism still lived on in them. Rivals, competitors, it made no difference. They were all Heroes.
At least, they all wanted to be. And Heroes stood together.
They stood together.
They stood as one.
"Crossing the finishing line at the same time!" Tatiana seemed to be very excited about the whole occurrence, dropping the stern persona she had help previously, throwing her caution to the wind, and revealing her true personality - A bubbly, excitable individual. A child in an adult's body. "I don't think I've seen an example of that ever happening before!"
"Me neither." Crosscut smiled, proud of the two groups. Sure, it had been done before. Groups uniting in order to complete the course. It had just been a rather long time. None of the current staff had actually seen it with their own eyes. "That's going to give them a huge boost in points too, isn't it?"
"50 points." Fuel Tank said, like he was casually giving them away. 50! That equalled full marks! They passed the test with full marks because of something like that?! "Heroism isn't all about fighting. Being a Hero means sacrifice. And you both displayed the willingness to sacrifice yourselves, and your victory, to save another. That is fully deserving of full marks."
Groups A and C cheered at the news, giving one another high fives, smiles, and even hugs at the news!
Nino patted his blond friend on the back with a smile. "Dude, you're way too altruistic sometimes. You're makin' me look bad, bro."
Adrien smiled back at his friend. "Try to catch up."
"As for the rest of you... Let's move on to full marks, passes or failures for the day's events." Nino's smile shattered in that moment as his heart stopped. Adrien's too. With 50 points, he knew it would be a massive advantage... But without the 30 to make the 80 required points...
"While not all of you met the 80 point quota... Everyone has acquired the criteria needed to pass the tests today. Congratulations."
Wait, what?
Suddenly, the entire class was up in a frenzy.
"What the hell do you mean we all passed?!"
That news had been a massive shock to every single member of the Hero course, causing eyes to widen, jaws to drop, and several members to literally collapse from a combination of relief and surprise. The Hero course from the CFD had one of the highest fallout rates in the country, and they were telling the students every single one of them had passed? But it made no sense for them to all have accumulated enough points to succeed! Many of them knew they had failed the Written Test, without question! So how had this happened?
Crosscut had a smirk on his face, like he'd known that this would be the end result all along. "That's right. Every person in this class has passed the examinations. You've all displayed the skills and quirks needed for Heroes in this society we live in." He spoke with pride and genuine impress, as well as relief himself that he didn't have to expel any students from the course of hopeful Heroes. He always hated doing that sort of thing. It wasn't the kind of person he was, in spite of whatever his appearance may insinuate.
"H... How did we all pass?! I thought we were being graded on information gathering and combat ability!" Juleka was the first one to actually speak up and question how any of this even began to make the slightest bit of sense.
"You were." Fuel Tank confirmed Juleka's assessment with a blunt tone. Despite the cold demeanour he displayed, he was actually impressed with the class's abilities. "And if any of you failed on both of those fronts, I'd have kicked you out before you even finished the Physical Examination. But tell me something. How many Heroes do you know that are masters at both information gathering and combat? "
"Alya's Trait would be perfect for that sort of thing." Juleka answered quickly.
"And that's why she scored 97 out of 100. But how many people have a power like hers? Very few. In our society, our powers are revolved around the ability to defend ourselves and fight. Combat is a line of duty, one that many people are not cut out for. You're a prime example of someone who is. Your power is to do with the shadows, correct?"
"Yeah. I can make them fight for me." Juleka answered, and as she did so, her own shadow began to deform and mutate, becoming a physical object, that surrounded her body. A chunk, about an inch thick, rested itself on her shoulder.
Juleka Couffaine - Trait - Solid Shadow Strike - Juleka's Trait allows her to turn her shadows into a solid object, which she can then use to combat her opponents. More specifically, she is able to take darkness from around her, convert it into a solid object, and control it to fight. She can manipulate her shadow into a variety of shapes, sizes, and control them at will. This Trait works exceptionally well at night, or in darker areas. Subsequently, it is much weaker while it is bright. Additionally, overuse of this ability will leave her unable to activate her Trait, as well as leave her exhausted.
"Your power is an incredibly powerful and versatile one. To choose not to train that power, to nurture it and guide someone so gifted to become a Hero that they want to be, would be a total violation of everything that we as teachers are supposed to stand for." The Plant Trait teacher Titania told her new student. "You chose to use your power to become a Hero. And you possess skill with it. You can be a Hero with it. That's why you passed."
"Likewise, Heroism is a dangerous profession." Fuel Tank added on. "Information gathering Heroes are simply a requirement. The Written test was designed specifically to test which of you were able to use your powers to gather information. Running into a fight blind is stupid, and if you do that after we've spent the next few years training you, frankly, we should get fired. The Physical exam was designed to test those of you who shine in combat."
"Then what was the reason for the points?!" Kim asked.
"There was a point to them." Crosscut said with a smirk. "We said you needed 80 points to pass the examination. We lied. You only needed 50. If you excelled in combat, or in Information gathering, then we would have accepted you in anyway. So many people try to appeal to everything and in the end, succeed in doing nothing. Some of you have powers that let you do both, but many of you don't. Ms. Cesaire is a rare example of a person who possesses a power that allows her to be effective at both combat, and information gathering."
Alya had to blush at the compliment.
"Meanwhile, someone like Mr. Agreste possesses the powers and skills better suited to that of a combatant. His powers are designed to be used in combat, while someone such as Ms. Raincomprix excels at information." Fuel Tank expanded on the reasons the tests were based as they were, to a now contently listening class. "In a hypothetical situation in which Adrien and Sabrina were forced to work together to take down a Villain, what reason, or even slight chance, would Adrien have at gathering information on their opponents?"
The comparison was suddenly clear to every student there. Logic would dictate that in that scenario, Adrien should be the fighter, while Sabrina acted as his back up, calling out moves that his opponent was going to attempt by reading their minds.
"Use what you have. Possess a skill level high enough, and it can take you anywhere. Every one of you proved that you have qualities that a Hero must inhabit. Adrien. You showed exceptional skill at fighting. Kim and Chloe, you both displayed exceptional leadership abilities." Marinette almost choked when she heard that compliment being thrown for Chloe of all freaking people. "Marinette has displayed incredible intelligence and ingenuity." Now she blushed. "Ivan displayed the fierce protectiveness a Hero must show all citizens in the line of duty. I can list off every single one of your talents and qualities all day if I had to."
Every single person here had a gift. A talent. A Trait. Something that belonged to them, and them alone. Each of them had chosen to use their gifts to help other people.
"Just know this. Your powers have brought you this far, and your individual merits have helped you take the next step to becoming a Hero. Tomorrow, it is up to you to make the commitment."
Each and every one of them was going to continue on their journeys to become Heroes... The thought suddenly filled the shy blunette with excitement and determination. No one had to give up on their dreams here... They all passed!
"Tomorrow, you shall be finally joining the Elite and Valour courses in their training exercises. Anyone who wants to back out, now is the time. Anyone who felt they couldn't handle what was in that forest, don't bother coming in tomorrow. Because it's only going to get a thousand times worse from here on out. The training session tomorrow will prove that. Dismissed."
The office of the head of the legendary College Francoise Dupoint, Mr. Damocles, was often a busy place, with teachers and Heroes coming and going, delivering him reports and requests whenever they were able to get a free moment. As a teacher, and a headmaster, of France's pride and joy in education, as well as a successful retired Hero himself, Mr. Damocles was a highly respected individual in the industry he worked in. His years of experience, combined with a passion for teaching the next generation on their gifts and powers, made him an excellent choice to lead the school.
Hiring Crosscut, Fuel Tank, and Flora had been a choice he had made himself, personally. He had wanted professional Heroes to teach at the school, to give the students the best chances that they would be able to get to see how the professionals operated, how they viewed the Heroism career path, and what an individual needed in order to utilize their powers, regardless of their origins. Heroism wasn't a discriminatory business. It couldn't afford to be. Not in this world of Superpowers.
That was also why they couldn't afford to be easy on their students. Every task was designed to challenge them, every test made to make them fear failure, every training exercise to install the real feeling of combat, be that a thrill or a phobia for their students.
Mr. Damocles heard a knocking at his door, and gave the person on the other side the permission to enter. Fuel Tank was the one who opened the door and entered, his oil-like fluids visible underneath his skin. With papers in his hands, he stood smartly, like he was at attention, in front of the headmaster's desk. "Sir. I have the reports on the students who passed their entry criteria that you asked for."
"Thank you, Keros." Damocles addressed the Hero by his birth name, and gestured him to place the files on the desk in front of him, which the Oil-Trait user did so without question or complaint. There were a large number of files, each sheet filled with lines of information about one individual per page. Names, powers, species, and the course they chose. Just the crucial information that was needed. The retired Hero noticed the number of files and smiled. "A lot of students passed the process this year, it would seem."
"All of them."
"I beg your pardon?"
"One hundred percent of all the students who got past orientation passed, sir. We've had no dropouts, no failures, and no expulsions. Each student has proven themselves worthy."
This had certainly not been an outcome the headmaster had been expecting. He looked at the stack of papers, roughly over a couple hundred of them, and then back at the stoic Hero, whom Damocles had been certain would have failed several of the students. He had almost been expecting half the students to be dropped by Fuel Tank alone. "You're not getting soft, are you?"
"Hardly." Came the curt response, still laced with the tone of respect. "Every student here has what it takes. Some of them still have some quirks that need to be smoothed out, but there isn't a single person I can point to and say 'Get out' to. Now it's up to them if they wish to continue pursuing this path."
A full pass rate! Every single student passing the CFD's entry criteria had been unheard of in its three hundred year history. It had been assumed to be totally impossible. A Traits power, the quality of the individual, and their individual talents, all combined and tested by point systems as well as Heroes, strict and critical in their nature.
Heroism was a dangerous business. It was a brutal, bloody business. There really couldn't be any other way of describing the life of a Hero. An ever changing battlefield of superpowers, Villains, Akuma, and a never-ending spiral to the violent natures of sentience. Even the Superpowers in the world were an ever changing phenomenon.
Particularly in the last few decades, with recent discoveries...
"This is looking to be quite the interesting year." Damocles said, turning his seat around to overlook the courtyard as the students filed out and made their way to their respective homes. These children were the future. He knew that. He had assembled his entire staff, and taught the pupils based on the knowledge. These were the next Heroes, the next officers, soldiers, designers, the people who would lead the world of Heroics in the next few decades. Each of them had to be taught with the utmost care, tailored specifically for their needs.
And it looked like this year, the students possessed some of the most powerful abilities he'd ever seen.
Marinette's parents had shown just the same level of excitement that they had shown her when she had first gotten into the CFD. Hugs and cheers, and even a few tears of joy had been shed from the Euro-Chinese family, expressing their pride and love of their daughter and her academic skill. The young girl had had to forcefully escape her parent's clutches before she was able to go to her room and just come to terms with everything that had happened over the day.
She had succeeded in the tests... All of them. She was now a member of the real meat of the CFD's Hero course. The legendary Hero course... It never was a place she expected to end up at, not in a hundred years. Never had she believed that she'd end up in the course for the next wave of Heroes to take to the streets and defend the country, no, all Humanity... And yet, she had done it. And she couldn't have been more proud of herself.
Looking back on it, Marinette wondered, did her being Ladybug have anything to do with it? Fighting against Sunstreak, and learning the ropes of Heroism alongside Chat Noir, that had to have something to do with it. There wasn't any real doubt about that. She didn't doubt that the experience that she had gathered when fighting a Villain like that had been invaluable in the fight against the Akuma in the Frenzy Forest test.
It had made her an asset to her team. She had been able to help. Really, in an event like this, it was honestly all you could ever want to be. Useful. Someone who would contribute to the team, and aid in the overall victory.
Marinette did what you could call a small celebratory dance at her own success in her room before she was interrupted by her phone buzzing, and for a brief moment, she thought she had been caught. Her heart restarted, and she reached for the device. A text from Alya awaited her.
'Girl, Nino's parents are letting him throw a party to celebrate passing! Everyone's going, minus Chloe and Sabrina, obviously. You down? Meet me at 6 outside yours if you are!?'
Marinette smiled. Nino was definitely the type of person to throw a party to celebrate. He'd already thrown a few over the course of the year, a couple of which Marinette had gone to. One of those, Chloe had been invited to... And it had not gone well, so it wasn't a shock that Nino hadn't invited them. Marinette wasn't a huge party person, since she could be a bit awkward at times, but it wasn't the sort of thing she hated. And what the heck, they'd earned it tonight, hadn't they?
She quickly typed in an agreement to tag along to the party held by their Hydrokinetic friend, and threw open her wardrobe to select some of the many, many clothes she had. Looking threw them now was a bit odd to the blue haired girl. She had always done these clothes as practice for the Design course, and now, she was using them as party wear? It was a reminder on just how much she had changed over the past year. How much Adrien's actions, how much Hero's actions, had inspired her to change her path, to something where her Trait would be put to good use. Better use. The use of helping people.
Browsing through her creations, she selected some casual clothing, nothing too fancy. A pair of dark grey, skin-tight jeans, coupled with a black T-shirt, this particular one being made out of textiles such as wool and rayon. To go over it, to help fight these colder nights in the European capital, she brought along a black jacket, that had tints of blue, similar to her hairs natural colour, this one, again, designed by herself, and again, made of the similar materials to that of her -T-shirt.
It wasn't anything special, but it would do. Glancing at the clock, Marinette noticed that she was already at 17:50, leaving her with about ten minutes to let her parents know where she was going, as well as grab a quick bite to eat before she spent the next few hours at the social event with her classmates. Practically throwing herself out of her rooms floor-based door and crashing into the floor beneath her, Marinette quickly dashed into her family's kitchen, and grabbed some of the first thing she saw - Chicken, as it turned out to be.
"Going out, dear?" Marinette heard her mother's voice from behind her, soft as usual. She had inherited her mother's soft side, as well as her natural blunette hair colour. A few thousand years ago, blue hair would have never been a thing. Thanks to the world of superpowers they lived in now though, blue hair wasn't uncommon at all.
"Mmhmm." Marinette made a noise with her throat before she swallowed the mouthful of meat she had stuffed inside her mouth, before shutting the door and finally answering with an understandable language. "Yeah. Alya invited me to a party at Nino's house."
"Celebrating passing?"
"Yeah. Most of our class is gonna be there. Alya's gonna be here in a few minutes, so I just wanted to get something real quick."
"I'll leave you something in the fridge for when you get back." Sabine smiled. "Just make sure not to get too drunk. You still have to go back to school tomorrow, and you don't want to make a bad impression after getting through today, do you?"
"I didn't plan on drinking, Mom." Marinette smiled, good naturedly. "I don't think Nino can even get hold of alcohol. You know what his family is like." It was a bit of a joke between people at their classes. Their Hydrokinetic friend's parents knew fully well of his powers and his partying personality, so they made it a point to keep liquor very well hidden from him.
"Don't stay too late."
"I won't!" With that reassurance, Marinette felt her phone buzzing, and checked her screen. Another text, once again, from her scarlet haired friend. "Crap! Alya's already outside! Gotta go!" Marinette planted a quick kiss on her mother's cheek, as she traditionally did, before running straight out of the house to meet with her waiting friend. She made sure to grab her bag, though. Just in case.
Where Marinette wore blue and grey, Alya wore red and black. The Broadband Trait user seemed to have a skill when it came to choosing clothes that Marinette was certain were designed specifically to upstage her, although Alya reassured her again and again that the clothes she had on suited her fantastically. It amused them both, when they stopped to point it out - They had spent the day fighting Akuma, pushed to the absolute limits, and had passed the most brutal course test in all of the country, and they were fussing over how their clothes looked for a party with classmates. The two of them shot jokes at one another, asking if they thought Nino would be DJ-ing, if someone would finally be able to convince Juleka and Rose to get over their public awkwardness together and dance, and - This one was mainly at Alya's amusement - If Marinette would fall to pieces upon seeing Adrien at the event.
"Adrien's going?!"
"I did say everyone, girl. What's up, don't you wanna see him?"
"Ah-aaaa, I'm a mess..." Marinette muttered to herself. She hadn't even considered Adrien being there. It just hadn't clicked. She would have done her hair better if she'd known. She'd have done... A great many things, actually, if she had known.
"Relax, M." Alya patted her friend's shoulder with a mischievous look on her face. "This could be the day I get Nino to play a slow dance for you and Adrien, and you get whisked away by your handsome prince!"
"Please don't." blushed the Conversion Trait user, covering her hands to hide her red face.
"I was gonna do it for Rose and Juleka anyway. And Ivan and Mylene. Might as well get you and Adrien in on it."
"Please stop playing matchmaker with everyone."
"This coming from the girl who helped ignite the spark between those two?" A reference to Marinette's intervention when Ivan was attempting to convey his hidden feelings to the timid Push-Trait using girl. Marinette had given Ivan invaluable advice, - Which translated to telling him to just up and just give her the song he had written to serenade her; Far more politely, of course - which resulted in the friendly and almost loving relationship the two seemed to share. Everyone was convinced all they needed was a single push before they finally went through with it.
"I - I was just trying to be nice!"
"Sure thing, Mari. Sure thing."
The two continued their walk to Nino's house, hearing the music that they knew for a fact Nino had chosen, and seeing the improvised water display, that they had no doubt was thanks to Nino's Trait, before they even had reached his house. Alya knew for a fact no one would be able to hear them if they knocked, so she sent a quick message, courtesy of her Trait, to Nino's phone to inform them that they had arrived.
By the time they had reached the front door, there was their dark skinned friend, smirking and tapping his foot to the beat of the music. He was dressed in light fitting clothes, indicating he fully expected to be on the dance floor at some point during the evening. Judging by the level of sweat he was covered in, it was very possible he already had been on there. "Dudettes! Good to see you!"
"Thanks for having us, Nino." Marinette smiled at her classmate, before she took a look at the waterworks above them. It was almost like the water was acting as fireworks and disco lights, various liquids and colourings dancing, exploding and doing all manner of incredible things that natural water effects couldn't dream to create, all dancing above their heads. "I'm guessing that's all thanks to your Trait?"
"You got it!" Nino smiled, taking the opportunity to show off his superpowers. "Makes for good party entertainment!" He then stepped to the side, allowing the two girls to enter his home. He lived in a relatively wealthy home, nowhere close to what Adrien could boast, but just a small bit more impressive than Marinette's humble bakery home. "Come on in, girls! Get ready to party!"
"Is everyone else already here?" Alya asked, wiping her feet on the doormat so she didn't trek in any mud or any other sorts of debris onto her friend's carpets.
"Mylene hasn't shown up yet, but everyone else has. Final door on your left, you two! I'm just gonna grab more drinks."
"Alcohol?"
"Try energy drinks. My parents hide booze from me."
"Shocker." Alya chuckled to herself, before grabbing Marinette by the wrist and leading her through their classmate's home, and towards their other classmates in the back garden. "This is gonna be fun, Marinette! I can tell!"
Reaching the door to the garden, Marinette was able to spot a DJ set up, connected to some speakers that were blaring out some sort of techno-Electro genre of music, designed for parties and raves. Given that being a DJ was a pastime of Nino's, it didn't surprise her that he had some very good equipment to do it with. Filling up the garden were members of their class, all in small groups, some of them, like Alix and Kim, dancing and making absolute idiots out of themselves, while others like ivan and Nathaniel preferred to just sit on the sides, preferring to not be thrown into the spotlight like the more carefree members of their class did. Conversational groups were the largest type here today, with Adrien being in one with Lila, Max, Juleka and Rose.
Over the course of their time at the CFD, it had been a rare opportunity for their class to be like this, as a group, as friends. But after tonight, there would be even less time for it, so they had to make the most of it now, before they were thrown into the deep end of their education into the world of Superpowers.
Once Alya slid open the door, Alix was the first person to notice their arrival. She stopped her haphazard break-dance style moves, and smirked at the two young women who had entered the party unnoticed. "Look who decided to show up!"
Her declaration had managed to turn a few heads to see whom had arrived, welcoming the pair with a warm cheer, raised hands, and the occasional clap from someone else, somewhere. While it somewhat embarrassed Marinette, Alya took to acting like she had just hopped out of a limousine onto the red carpet, waving both her hands and smiling like a Hyena, and dragging Marinette along with her. She was just along for the ride at this point.
"Good to see you two made it." Juleka welcomed the two girls as they joined in the conversational group.
Alya had made a very conscious, very deliberate effort to make sure Marinette stood right next to Adrien, while she stood at her opposing side, so she couldn't call out her friend on it. The girl then laughed and grinned at everyone there. "Good to see you all too! We did it!"
"That we did." Max nodded with just as bright a smile. Of everyone there, Max had probably been the most concerned about his ability to actually pass the tests. His Trait wasn't a very useful one when it came to combat, so he had been worried. He was however, an absolute master at information gathering so he had had nothing to worry about. Not to mention, with the way that he was academically minded, not only had failing been a total breakdown to his system, it would have been a shock to literally every other person there.
"And tomorrow, we start proper training!" Rose stated, in her peppy, happy voice, bouncing up and down next. "I'm so excited."
"We've all been working hard." Adrien commented, slamming his left first, now covered in charcoal blackness from his Destructive power, into his natural skin coloured right hand and smirked. "I'm pumped! We're gonna be awesome!"
"You mean you're gonna do awesome." Lila commented, a smirk on her face.
"Sorry?"
"Lila's right, Adrien." Nino suddenly appeared, surrounded by many levitating balls of cold, icy water, each of which contained a fresh drink for the party guests. He sent each concentration of the liquid to a member of the party, and once they had taken it, brought that liquid to the centre of the conversational group, allowing them to use the water as a cooler. "You've spent a lot of time helping everyone out over the last few weeks. I don't think a lotta people would've passed if not for you, dude."
"I - I think that's pushing it a little..."
"No way." Juleka agreed with Nino. "Couple of hours with you, and I knew what I was doing with Solid Shadow Strike. I owe you one. And you too, Nino."
The compliments towards the Agreste child kept flowing in, causing him to blush and laugh nervously, but he appreciated them all the same, no matter how much he denied that they were true. He didn't really feel like he deserved such praise, since he was just doing what he felt anyone should have done in his situation, but if you were to ask literally any other member of his class, they would disagree wholeheartedly.
Adrien was, and always had been, a massive help to anyone who had ever needed it. He had earned the respect of everyone in his class for his relentless Heroic personality, work ethic, and willingness to help.
And the admiration of quite a few of the girls too. One of which planned to make her move.
They had been talking for quite a while, perhaps twenty or so minutes, before Lila had managed to make her way around the group to Adrien, and began to tug at his wrist. "Adrien, come on, we should dance!"
"Wait, what now?" The suddenly flustered Dual Trait holder managed to stutter out, while still being dragged away from the group, watching in amused surprise as this happened.
Well, excluding Alya and Marinette. Marinette watched in what could only be described as sheer horror, while Alya watched in surprise. When the heck had Lila shown any sort of interest in Adrien? They had all known each other for over a year, and not once had she shown any sort of curiosity, romantic feelings, or even acknowledgement in the way of the rich model.
"When the heck did she start to like Adrien?" Marinette hissed towards her tanned-skinned friend, the panic in her voice very clear. The only other person she'd had to compete with until this point was Chloe, and she was certain beyond certain that Adrien didn't like the blonde-haired bossy girl, even if they were friends. But Lila? She had no idea what Adrien thought about her!
"I have no idea girl." Came back the equally surprised answer. "But you might wanna make a move. Rapidly girl!"
"What am I supposed to do now?!" What could she do? Shove Lila into the DJ set? Grab Adrien's other hand and have a tug-of-war over him? Punch one of them? What exactly were her options here?!
"Figure it out quick!" Alya told her, preparing to push her friend straight at the couple about to reach the dance floor - Well, dance patio. She was literally a second away from pushing her towards her crush and the Italian when she was cut off.
"Isn't Mylene here yet?" Ivan's voice seemed to boom over everyone else's, even though he was speaking at normal volumes to Nino. The question seemed to echo above everyone else's, for no real reason, stopping Lila from dragging Adrien, and Alya from pushing Marinette towards her crush.
"I don't think so, Ivan." Nino responded, his own arms folded. "She said she was coming... I dunno what's keeping her." He flipped out his phone and showed his exchange of text messages with the naturally dreadlocked girl, proving his innocence in her absence. "She isn't answering anything I send her either."
The Terrakinetic teenager was worried. It was obvious, to anyone who even looked at him. The care he showed Mylene above every single member of their class was apparent to anyone with even a quarter of their brain functioning. He was obviously head over heels for her.
And she wasn't here. And he was worried about her.
It wasn't like his worry was unwarranted, either. With the violence Paris had to deal with thanks to Villains, thugs, and all manner of things criminal or crooked thanks to their society of Traits and Superpowers, it wasn't like it was unthinkable that something had happened to her.
Not that the reassurance that Ivan's worst case scenario could be accurate would improve his mood.
"I'll go look for her." Adrien announced to his previous teammate. "I'm pretty fast. I'll have a look around for her at her house and around the streets, and let you know if I find anything."
"Wait, what about our -" Lila began to protest, but by that point, Adrien had disappeared into a puff of smoke.
He hadn't even waited for anyone else's opinion on him Teleporting out of the party to go in pursuit of the missing teenage girl. Mostly because they'd know it wouldn't have stopped him. He was long gone by the time they had even processed what he had said he was going to do.
Marinette had to admit too, she was worried about Mylene, now that she had noticed she wasn't here yet. With Villain attacks on the rise, and a growth of violence surging throughout the city, and the entire country as of late… Travelling alone in Paris these days would be dangerous for anyone...
She wouldn't go back. She couldn't go back.
Watching cars go by her home, Mylene sighed for maybe the one hundredth time that day, hoping to get the pain in her chest expelled in some way. Her parents had been ecstatic about the news of her passing the CFD courses. They'd been overjoyed. Over the moon, and various other words that meant happy and proud. Joy had been prominent from the very start of her sentence.
She'd passed the hardest course in the entire country! She had to be proud! She had to be happy! How couldn't she be, she'd done what was impossible to thousands of people every single year! She was one in a thousand – Literally! So of course, that was how she acted. Smiling and laughing.
But that all betrayed her true emotions.
What she really felt.
And what she really felt was that she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve to pass the tests presented to her today. She didn't deserve to go onto the CFD's Hero course.
What was it that she had done to deserve it? In the Written portion of the exam, she had been worthless. She knew none of the answers at all, and couldn't even begin to try and gather the answers from those around her. She would have been caught and instantly failed immediately. And the Physical exam?...
What a joke she had been.
She was more than aware that her Trait was a powerful one. If she put in enough force, she could probably knock over a city block if she desired to. Push converted her kinetic energy, and multiplied it to inhumane levels, her body the only body on Earth that was capable of withstanding such an impact from the inside. Her Trait pin cushioned her body with internal impact dampeners, and rubbery muscles that could take the recoil.
And what had she done, while he friends and teammates fought to protect her?
She'd cowered in fear in the centre hoping everyone else would keep the Akuma away from her.
What sort of Hero could she be if she couldn't even help her teammates when they had needed her the most? What sort of person could she be with that sort of mentality, to hide when everyone else fought in her name? She had wanted to be a Hero to learn to face her fears, to overcome them, to become stronger than them, and stand tall as a person who wouldn't let her timid nature dominate the person that she was.
And she couldn't even manage that.
She was pathetic. She was a waste of a Trait.
Tears prickled her eyes as she thought these things. She was a waste of a Superpower. There were a thousand other people out there who would want this power, who deserved this power... Someone who... Someone...
Someone who could actually put this ability to good use.
"Mylene!"
Hearing the poof of smoke that came with it, the depressed girl suddenly found Adrien stood next to her. She should have expected it, of course someone would come looking for her. She hadn't had the heart to turn down Nino's offer. She should have done, but she just hadn't been able to bring herself to do it.
"There you are!" The blond boy's voice was filled with relief, clearly thankful to have found her. He had searched all around the streets surrounding her house before actually making his way up here. Thankfully, there had been no violent acts in motion, so he hadn't been too concerned about her getting caught up in something dangerous. "We've been worried about you!"
"Please leave..."
"Huh?" Adrien's small smile was totally gone now, surprised by what he had heard. Mylene was a gentle person. She wouldn't say something like that to someone, no matter who it was that they were. It just wasn't in her nature. No, something was wrong. Adrien knew it. "Mylene?... What's wrong?"
"Please... I wanna be alone..." It was a struggle for the small girl to hide her tears from her classmate. He was in close proximity to her, and he had a very good eye. Hiding anything from him would be impossible.
"Mylene, you can talk to me you know." Adrien tried to understand why she was so upset, but he couldn't think of any reason as to why. "I - I mean, we're friends, aren't we? You can share what's - "
"How are we friends?" Mylene asked, clearly biting back the tears now. "How can you even think that we're friends?"
"U-Uh..."
"Didn't you even see what I did today?" Mylene was on the verge of shouting, yelling at the poor model who was just trying to help. She couldn't help it anymore though, the words just began to tumble out. "You, Marinette... Ivan... You all we amazing... You all actually could fight! You weren't afraid to fight! And what did I do?! I... I... I hid! I didn't do anything! And somehow I passed too!"
It quickly made sense to Adrien why she was so upset. The truth was, he had never thought of it like that. Not at all. "Mylene..."
"I don't deserve to pass! I shouldn't have passed... Not when you were all so brave..."
"You passed the CFD's Hero course, didn't you?"
A third voice had joined in the conversation now, which made Adrien and Mylene's heads jolt towards the source. Stood on the roof now, was the girl in the red and black outfit the entire town had been talking about - The Vigilante Ladybug.
Without another word, the girl skidded down the tiles and jumped down next to the two teenagers. Shooting a look at Adrien, a look that told him to let her deal with the situation in front of them, and she knelt down by Mylene and patted her on the back. "Congratulations on passing." She then sat right next to Mylene, and watched the cars pass with her.
There was some obvious shock, and even a trace of fear in Mylene's expression. The media had portrayed Ladybug and Chat Noir as Vigilante's, as no better than Villains. Dangerous people who took matters into their own hands, who had no respect of consideration for the law, or the people who were around them. People who needed to be in jail. People who you shouldn't associate yourself with under any circumstances.
"I was scared, you know." Ladybug said, suddenly.
"H-Huh?"
"When I first became Ladybug. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I did something... So impulsive, so stupid... And then ended up becoming a Vigilante that everyone ended up talking about... And I couldn't even begin to think that I could live up to what was now expected of me. That's how you feel right now, right?"
Mylene's head dropped back onto the streets as she let out another sigh, and a small nod of confirmation. She was exactly right.
"When I fought Sunstreak... That Villain... He terrified me." It wasn't a memory Ladybug was proud of. In fact, it was one she was utterly ashamed of. That moment had seen her feeling more useless than she had ever felt in her entire life.
Adrien nodded, although it wasn't seen by anyone. He had also been pretty intimidated by the Villain's Pyrokinetic abilities. The burn marks may be gone now, but he could still feel the flesh burning on his chest. It wasn't the sort of pain you could easily forget.
"I wasn't even able to move... That's how scared I was... And... Chat Noir ended up getting really badly hurt... And he still saved me... And for the longest time... I didn't think I could be a Vigilante... I didn't even think I could be a Hero... Or even someone who could Design clothes for Heroes... I just... I was so pathetic... That's what I thought." Ladybug tilted her head to look at Mylene's. "That's what you're thinking now, isn't it? That you can't be a Hero?"
Mylene just nodded.
"Well you're wrong."
"What?..."
"Your friends... They fought because they cared about you. Because your Trait would be dangerous at that range. They knew that your body wasn't suited to fight Akuma, of all things. You want to become braver, don't you? Then you can't let this be what beats you. How do you think your friends would feel, knowing that you gave up on your dream? I know how I'd feel."
"But..." Mylene tried to argue. "I can't... Do anything..."
"That's not true." Ladybug told her. "You have a very powerful ability, don't you? Push. It's an amazing power, and it's your power. You can do anything with it. It's yours. And when you learn how to control it... you'll never have to be afraid again. That's what the CFD is for, right?"
The words were sincere, and they made sense. Very good sense... Mylene couldn't even really argue with them. They were... Accurate. Very accurate. Of course, logic was asking why and how Ladybug knew what her Trait was… But she ignored it entirely, in favour of admiration.
"Ivan's worried about you." Ladybug told the girl, standing up. "If I were you, I'd give it a shot."
The dreadlocked girl felt her grip around the metallic bars that made up her balcony fences tighten. Maybe... Maybe Ladybug was right. Just maybe... She could try...
"You know... The media... They said you're a bad person. A really dangerous person..."
Ladybug sighed. She had expected such a response to her existence. The society of the world just did not like Vigilantes.
"But... You're really nice, aren't you?"
Adrien just smiled. The respect and love he felt for his lady had just reached an all-time high.
Within just a few moments, Adrien returned to the party, alongside him, to which everyone cheered for her. Ivan had been so happy to see her, he had just straight up hugged her, apparently not caring for any jokes or embarrassment that would be fired his way. It was heart-warming to see, for Adrien. He had agreed to not tell anyone about her crying, and he fully intended to keep true to that promise. He didn't think he'd be able to bring the current mood down anyway.
Marinette had shown up just a few moments later. According to Alya, she had said she had to run home to get something. What that something was, she hadn't bothered to disclose. She had shown just as much happiness at Mylene's arrival at the party as everyone else had. As her teammate, she must have been concerned about Mylene. That's the conclusion Adrien came to. He couldn't help but smile.
It wasn't long before Nino took to his stand behind his DJ set, and began to play some upbeat tracks, and the majority of the class migrated to the dance floor, fuelled by energy drinks and the knowledge that tonight was the last night they would have in a long time to be able to do something like this.
Adrien said that he needed a minute, as Teleporting so frequently had left his stamina depleted. The only other person who was sitting out was, interestingly enough, Marinette, claiming to not be up to it at the moment. She seemed shy almost. Such a shame to see her pass this up... Armed with an energy drink, Adrien went over to her, standing up tall, and with a smile plastered onto his face. "Hey."
Her eyes widened like a deer in the headlights, and she stuttered out a greeting back, drying her hands of what Adrien assumed to be sweat off in the air around them. "H-Hello!"
"Mind if I sit by you? You seem a bit... On your own here."
"N-Not at all..."
With a happy sigh, Adrien sat down next to the Conversion Trait user, cracked open the aluminium can of caffeinated soft drink, and took a long, long drink of the energy inducing liquid. It was a weird mix of sugary and sour, but not an unwelcome taste. He sighed once more as he finished his gulp, and turned to speak to the blunette girl. "We did good today, you know?"
"H-Huh?"
"Us. You, me, Ivan, Mylene. We did a good job today. We all managed to pass the exams... And we've got another three years together to learn to be Heroes."
Marinette smiled and blushed a little, before looking back down at the floor, unable to look at Adrien's face for too long, lest she make herself any more obvious. "You... You did a really good job..."
"We were a team." Adrien dismissed the complement, taking another drink. He was actually rather fond of the liquid now, letting it slowly make its way down his throat. "You were awesome too. Your Trait really is incredible."
"Do you... Think I can be a Hero?" A slip of the tongue. A minor, unconscious insecurity that Marinette fought on a regular basis, even as Ladybug. And she had been lecturing Mylene on the merits of self-confidence and Heroism just a few minutes ago...
"Huh?"
"It- It's just that..." Marinette tried to stop herself, but she couldn't help it anymore. "I... I've seen... A lot of really... Really strong people recently... A lot of powers... And a lot of people with really impressive talents... And I just thought... Do I really... Really have what it takes to be a Hero in this world? I mean, your powers... They're incredible... And you... You're... So determined while I just chose the Hero Course on a whim... So... "
"You're one of the most Heroic people I've ever met, Marinette." Such honesty from his voice was so apparent, he was practically leaking the stuff. "You can be a Hero, no doubt about that." He hadn't hesitated, not even for a second. But he didn't give her time to reflect on his answer, before he'd chugged down the can of liquid, grabbed her hand and tugged her to the dance patio with the rest of their class, running on the caffeine buzz from the drink. "C'mon! We're only gonna get to do this tonight before we're too busy!"
Fuelled by energy drinks, excitement for the future, and celebrations, Adrien dragged Marinette to the dance patio, and danced alongside her.
He couldn't remember them laughing and smiling as much in all his life.
The following day was the day every single member of their class had been waiting for. The day where they were finally able to join the Valour and the Elite courses in training. Real training. Combat training. Hero training. The training they had all come to study for.
As the group approached the massive group of students in their gym clothes, Adrien couldn't help but notice two things.
Number one - There had to be at least over a hundred students there, and two, they all looked incredibly unique and vapidly bizarre. Many had physical mutations to their bodies. Some with pale white skin, some with dramatic alterations, such as scales in place of skin, and wings, and dragon like appearances. Skin made of rocks, and markings, and a thousand other additions to the body.
"Looks intimidating..." Nino muttered under his breath.
"I'm excited!" Adrien declared with a smirk. He really was. This was the true test of their abilities as Heroes. Head to head battling.
"Looks like the Heroes finally decided to show up!" A familiar voice from inside the crowd called out to the smaller group of Heroes. A voice both Adrien and Marinette recognized, the hint of the Asian accent, and the tone of which he spoke. The red hair, the black highlight, and the red eyes as well. He looked different in his gym clothes, but they knew who it was the second they saw him.
"Shinuya!" Adrien called out, before his hand was firmly grasped in a handshake by the Japanese student.
"Good to see you again, Hero." Shinuya welcomed the blond model with a smirk. He added special emphasis on the word Hero. "So, you passed, huh?"
"Yeah!"
"Welcome to the big leagues." Shinuya's grin grew even bigger. "This is the place you wanna be for some serious combat practice. Today's gonna be team based stuff. Usually is these days. You'll get a shot at some opponents."
Marinette needed to do a double take on what the hell was happening in front of her. She knew Shinuya was a Vigilante, she'd met him when she was Ladybug, and he had introduced her to the Traitor's Vigilante group. If that was the case, how on earth did he know Adrien, and why were they talking like old friends?
"Who's this, Adrien?" Alya questioned, her phone in her hand.
"Oh, this is Shinuya. He helped me that day I left class early. Helped me get to the hospital so I could get treated." Adrien quickly explained to his group of friends. He left out the part about Shinuya being a Vigilante. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure why Shinuya was being so buddy-buddy with him. Sure, he didn't mind the Japanese teenager, but it wasn't like they were friends. They didn't really know each other well enough. It wasn't unwelcome though.
"Wait, hospital?!" Marinette asked, pushing past Alya. While one question had been answered, another one had rapidly just made itself apparent.
Unfortunately, Marinette had pushed too hard. Her best friend hadn't been expecting the sudden application of force, and suddenly, the phone had slipped straight out of her hand.
Shattering on the floor.
Alya stood there, mortified for a few seconds before she seemed to register that her phone was now in a thousand tiny pieces on the floor. Her fingers suddenly tenses, and she looked like she was about to throttle someone.
"Wow." Shinuya whistled. "That is one expensive phone."
"Oh God!" Marinette bit all her fingers at the same time. "Oh God, oh God, Alya, I'm so sorry!"
It was a very rare event where Alya looked like she wanted to straight up kill Marinette, but this was one of those rare times. The phone was brand new, expensive, and possessed a very powerful Mobile hotspot Wi-Fi signal - Exactly the sort of thing Alya's Trait needed to run at maximum efficiency.
"Chill, I got this." Shinuya told the group, before turning to the large group of Elite's and Valour's students. "Yo, Rex! Can you come help here for a second?"
For a few seconds, no one seemed to move, until a young, pale skinned boy with blue hair began to wander over to the group. He looked a bit younger than the other students, but he stood out like a sore thumb. Everything about him, bar his hair and eyes, was basically white. His eyes seemed to be the most standout feature about him. He had violet sclera, but he had no traditional iris. Instead, in place of where he would have an Iris, was a red cog-like shape. Inside that, was his pupil, black, like a regular Humans. He seemed to be almost artificial.
"What's wrong?" Rex asked, Rex presumably being the name of this individual.
All Shinuya had to do was point at the shattered phone for Rex to understand. He sighed, made a sarcastic comment, and reached out with his palm. Once he did so, the cogs that he had for Iris's began to turn at a high rate, like the pieces of a machine whirring to make the contraption work. in doing so, the phone's scattered pieces began to levitate, and reconstruct themselves back into their original place. The smallest fragments orbited around the pale skinned boy, before fully returning the phone to proper fixed form, landing in his palm, much to the surprise of Alya, and everyone who saw it.
"Take better care of the thing." Rex commented, handing it back to the Broadband Trait user, before returning back to the group. "And for the last time, Shinuya, I'm not your repairman."
"Aw, come on, Rexy-boy!" Shinuya chuckled, displaying a playful side not seen of him before. "You know how clumsy we are!
"Yes. That seems to be quite a prevalent quirk of Humanity, doesn't it?" And with that, Rex was gone, lost in the crowd of students awaiting their instructor to tell them what to do.
"Well... He seems fun." Nino commented.
"I'm so sorry, Alya." Marinette kept apologizing, even after the device was fixed. She also gave her friend a wide berth, not wanting to break the contraption again.
"Just... Be more careful." Alya told her friend, still in shock at what had occurred. She put her phone in her pocket, securing its safety. That had been their first interaction with a member outside their class. Alya wondered, just what the hell sorts of people were they about to deal with?"
The Hero group joined the larger group, but made a point to stick close to the people they knew, even Chloe choosing to do so. They got looks from the Elite's and Valour's, looks that seemed to indicate interest and excitement at the prospect of having new sparring buddies. The sheer number of them was astonishing. Each one of them had a power that was theirs, and theirs alone. An ability that was developed and strong enough to pass the CFD's courses, and throw themselves right to the future.
Their new training mates were to be given a wide berth, until they knew what they were dealing with.
"Alright, settle down." Their teacher for the day, Fuel Tank, suddenly appeared, earning him the sudden silence and respect reserved usually for lieutenants in the military. It was clear that he was admired by many of the students here, but not all of them could hide their grins in anticipation for the day's events. "Okay, first things first kids, you've probably noticed the Hero Course kids have finally decided to grace us with their presence, that's because yesterday, one hundred percent of them managed to pass the Hero curriculum and made it into their first real year or Heroics."
There were a few murmurs of surprise and disbelief at that statement. A One hundred percent success rate?
"That's right. Valour, Elite, Hero, Design, and every other one of your damn classes scored a perfect pass rate also." Fuel Tank informed the students half-heartedly, despite this being news to the Hero course.
Every single person who made it past orientation had passed?!
"So just because you have a year on the Heroes, doesn't mean that you should be taking them any less seriously. Get cocky, and you're fucked." The harsh language surprised the Heroic students, who weren't used to hearing such language from a teacher. "Same to you Heroes too. These guys have been training for a lot longer than you, so come at them with less than a hundred percent, and you're gonna get flattened. All or nothing, right class?"
"All or nothing!" Came the reply from over a hundred other students, excluding the Heroes, whom had no idea that that was coming.
"Good. Exercise today - Search and Destroy." Fuel Tank declared. "You will be put into groups of three, and you will be pitted against another group. Your objective is to find the other group, and defeat them. I'll decide what counts as a defeat, and I won't have any arguments. Your environment? Urban. You'll be put into a building and left to it. There are cameras, so everyone here will be able to see what's happening. You all understand what your task is?"
It was a very easy to understand ruleset. Search and Destroy was a common video game mode, so it didn't need too much explanation. Take out your opponents. Win the match.
Their teacher pulled out a device that would randomly select the names of the students, which would determine the teams for the match. Fuel Tank hit a few buttons, and began to randomly select who would be fighting alongside who in the days exercise. It was a tense moment, especially for the Heroes who barely knew anyone outside their group. It was an opportunity to make a good first impression, and prove to their classmates that they could be useful, and that they weren't to be taken less seriously.
"Group one - Adrien Agreste, Nino Lahiffe, and Tasuka Shinuya."
Adrien and Nino both high fived one another and smirked. They couldn't have asked for a better person to work with in the session. "Alright!"
"So, looks like I'm working with you, huh Agreste?" Shinuya came over quickly, with a smile on his face. The Vigilante's, Ripoff and Chat Noir to fight side by side. Not only was this a stroke of fate, it was an opportunity to prove that the Traitors were worthy combatants.
"Group Two - Rex Alejandro Lightning, Fleisch Quartz, and Kuragari Mushoku"
The members of the opposing group came forward, and Adrien was surprised by the appearances they had. He knew Rex's appearance, but the other two surprised him.
The one called Kuragari was black - Literally. His entire skin was as black as the night, a perfect noir colour, except for two features - His eyes and his teeth, both blood red-scarlet. While it was nearly impossible to tell what part of the teenager was his arm or his leg, his blood red eyes and teeth stood out like sore thumbs. Truly, he had a horrifying appearance.
And the next was Fleisch. He seemed to have claws at the end of each of his fingertips, with the addition of a second thumb, directly opposite the thumb Humans normally have, making his hands individually perfectly symmetrical. Along his arms, were a series of patterns, black in colour, running up to his shoulders, where they seemed to cut off. Aside from that, and his grey eyes, he seemed to look like the average Human, with wildly green hair, and a smirk on his face.
"Hell yeah!" One cry came from the group, apparently from someone who knew the members quite well.
"Diversity Dream Team!" Came another.
"Knock the Heroes down!"
"So... What sort of Traits do they have?" Nino asked Shinua, hoping to gather information on their opponents. After hearing those cries of encouragement, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Traits?" Shinuya craned his head to look at Nino and chuckled "They don't have Traits."
"Then how the heck are they even here?"
Shinuya looked about ready to throw another sarcastic remark at Nino, until he realized that Nino wasn't messing around. Now he was just confused. "Wait, you seriously don't have any non-Humans in the Hero class?"
Nino shook his head.
"Yikes." The Japanese Trait-Absorber sighed. "Well, Kuragari has a Trait. Fleisch and Rex don't."
"You mean?..."
"Yeah. Rex is an Abnormal, and Fleisch is a Primal."