Here is the second part to the story of the Miracles. I don't know if there will be more, I want to make more, but I've kind of already got wrapped up in another fandom. So there might be more to this story but for now this is it.I couldn't see Nathaniel becoming a hero in any other way then in this story. I hope you all like it as much as I loved writing it.I own nothing, the characters and world belong to Thomas Astruc, the only thing I claim is the actual story.Please enjoy.
Phoenix
"Do you think we should make an issue dedicated to the Miracles?'' Nathaniel wondered aloud one afternoon while he and Marc were working in the art room.
"What?" Marc asked as he jotted down the script for the next pages.
"Well after everything maybe we should make an issue about the Miracles to honor them. Capricorn has saved me like five times already. I feel like we should pay them back somehow."
Hearing this Marc couldn't help but smile.
"I think they would like that." he nodded.
"I already started on the sketches." Nathaniel beamed, flipping his sketchbook to the needed pages.
Marc poured over them, already amazed at how detailed and accurate they were.
All the heroes- apart from Bunnix and Capricorn- had a whole new look to them. It was necessary after Hawk Moth found out who they were. They kept the names though, mainly because they didn't want to confuse the public, and because they didn't want to think of new ones. But their costumes were all different.
Viperion stuck to his scale teal color but now had a wide hood that looked like a cobra mane, complete with the diamond eyes on the back. The bottom half of his face was covered with a green cowl that had fang-like designs over the nose. His suit was made of leather scales like the original, but it also looked like a dark green tail was wrapped around his left leg, reaching up to his waist where it widened so he could almost look like a snake-man hybrid. This left his right leg a lighter green. The cobra superhero looked mysterious which fit Luka so well in Marc's opinion.
Rena Rouge's costume had a more dramatic flare compared to the last. Her hair was braided at the sides, pulled back so it could hold the rest of her hair out of her face. The sash she wore around her waist now had nine ends making it look like she had nine tails. Her gloves were a red-ish black as well as her boots and her mask was bigger than the last. It covered the whole top half of her face. It looked like the face of a fox complete with the point triangle ears at the top. She looked like a sneaky sleuth. Alya to a T if he was honest.
Carapace now had a cowl over his head and top half of his face instead of the hood. His eyes were outlined with yellows and reds like a real turtle. But other than that he didn't look all that different. He looked a lot like a movie hero Marc saw somewhere, except instead of red, white and blue, he was red, yellow and green. Nino probably based his costume off the movie hero.
That got a laugh out of Marc.
Ryuko's transformation was more traditional. She had her hair pulled into a little pony-tail and a crown of red and gold horns haloing her head. Her mask and eyes didn't change, but her suit looked more like a skin-tight red, gold and black kimono. Her shoes even looked like traditional Japanese sandals though they were still boots. Traditional and modern mixed into a style definitely sounded like Kagami to Marc.
Pegasus still looked Matrix in a style that really suited Max, but instead of having his white braids pulled into a poney-tail, they fell to the left side of his face like a horse. The wings on his shoes went to his back instead and were only an embroidered design rather than sticking out like real wings. His gloves and boots were also now white. And he still kept his shades. A suit that would make any gamer jealous, he should know.
Lastly, Monkey King. Much like Ryuko's suit looked like a skin-tight kimono, he looked like he was wearing a gold and red skin-tight gi. He was also wearing what looked like red face paint over his eyes instead of a mask and a red scarf around his neck that flowed behind him like a tail. It reminded Marc of the actual monkey king Son Wu Kon legend.
"These are awesome." Marc smiled.
Then he saw the picture of Capricorn. Of him. The hero was smiling kindly at the onlooker. His eyes sparkling with a gentle light. Then the next drawing was of Him throwing out his leg in a wide kick. Looking as heroic as he could.
"Capricorn is pretty cool." Marc said offhandedly- or at least trying to make it sound that way.
"Yeah, he's the best." Nathaniel smiled.
"Better than Ladybug?" Marc teased.
"Well…" Nathaniel put a finger to his chin in thought. "It's impossible to be better than Ladybug but he is pretty damn close."
They laughed at that, a side holding belly-aching laugh that had them holding their table to keep them steady.
BZZ.
Their laughter died as the phone rumbled against the table.
Sadly resigned Marc picked it up and checked the ID.
"Let me guess, your mom?"
"I'm sorry, Nate." Marc sighed gathering his supplies. "You know how strict she is. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." Nathaniel nodded going back to his drawings.
Frowning, Marc slunk down the stairs where Alya and the others were waiting.
"Ready to go?" Alya asked. "Luka and Kagami are already on their way."
"Yeah." he nodded, gripping his arm.
"You okay dude?" Nino inferred curiously.
"Yeah, I just hate lying to Nathaniel. He's my best friend." Marc sighed.
"I know." Alix patted his shoulder. "But we can't tell anyone about who we are, it's for his own good."
"Yeah I know." he nodded.
"We better get going, Luka said he has something to show us." Max told the others.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Kim asked, already taking a running start out the door.
Rolling their eyes his schoolmates followed.
"There you guys are." Luka called, waving everyone to where he and Kagami were waiting by the Seine. "I'm glad you guys could make it. Follow me."
They went a ways till Luka had them stop at a manhole cover.
"Hold on," he told them, lifting it up.
"You wanted to show us a way into the sewers?" Kim wondered.
"Not at all." Luka smirked. "C'mon,".
They followed him down and beamed as he switched on the lights. Inside was a space-ish room with a table, a desk with a typewriter sitting on it, and a map of Paris pinned to the wall.
"This place is so cool." Trixx cheered as she and the other kwamis burst out of their hiding places and started zooming around the room with happy little chitters.
"What is this place?" Kagami asked.
"It looks like an old World War II bunker." Max guessed.
"Yeah, I found it a while ago." Luka told them. "Now we got a place where we can gather, kind of like a clubhouse or training area."
"Awesome!" Alya cheered. "It's the Miracle Hole!"
"We are not calling it that." Nino snorted.
"Oh whatever, we'll figure out the name later." Alya waved him off. "What matters is that we got a meeting spot so we can train and meet up. It's perfect Luka."
"Glad you like it." Luka smiled.
"I suggest we meet up here once every week," Kagami suggested. "So we can practice our combat skills and teamwork."
"Agreed." everyone nodded.
"Yeah." Marc said less enthusiastically.
More lies to tell Nate and more excuses to tell mom. Yippee. I love being a superhero.
"Maw-rc, are you okay?" Ziggy asked, floating next to his face.
"Yeah." he lied, putting on his best forced smile though she didn't seem to be convinced.
"So first order of business," Alya started looking around at everyone. "We need to figure out who the leader of our little group is."
"Isn't Ladybug our leader?" Alix asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, but not directly." Alya shrugged. "We all know who each other is. We got each other's backs no matter what. Until Ladybug and Chat are on the same page as we are we mostly got each other. So we need to work on teamwork and every team needs a leader."
"Who do you suggest?" Kim wondered, laughing as Xupuu started using his hair as a trampoline.
"Well, normally I would say myself since I was the first Miracle." Alya smiled, rubbing her neck. "But I'm not really the best person for the job."
"So then who?" Max pushed.
"I think it should be Luka." Alya nodded looking to the blue-haired boy.
"What? Why me?" he asked, looking surprised.
"Because your calm and rational and your power as Viperion allows you to make the perfect plan."
"Not to mention his weird ESP thing." Nino laughed. "He can sense when there is a problem with us or if we're not harmonized."
"I agree." Kagami nodded. "Normally I would suggest myself as well. However, your skillset is better geared for the leader position."
"Plus you make us all comfortable." Marc smiled. "I've only known you for a little while and I'm already okay with coming to for just about anything."
"Plus you're cool." Kim smiled.
"But, I, well I mean-"
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Alya assured. "It was just a suggestion. Though everyone seems to think you're perfect for the job."
"I have to agree, young Luka." Sass hissed gently.
"And it's not forever." Alix assured. "It's just till Ladybug and Chat tell us who they really are. Then Ladybug will take over."
"So," Max smiled, holding his hands together like he was begging. "Will you do it?"
Luka looked around a bit uncomfortable with the attention, but he could feel their hope. Feel the melody they made with it. It was imploring him to give in. It wasn't forever. Just long enough for Ladybug to figure out her Guardian duties. He could do it, especially if it was for her. The melody he always hears.
"Alright, I'll do it." He nodded.
"Yes!" they all cheered, clapping him on the shoulder and thanking him.
"With that taken care of." He called getting them to calm down. "Let's celebrate our first official day in the House of Miracles."
"Now that is a good name." Nino raised his fist.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alya rolled her eyes, getting a laugh from everyone else in the 'house'.
Marc's smile became genuine for the first time since he left school. Things were gonna be tough with Nathaniel and his mom, but with teammates like this, he figures he could handle it. They had his back, and who knows maybe Nathaniel will even become a Miracle.
I really love being a hero.
The weeks that followed were filled with tons of Miracles activities. Hawk Moth was using Catalyst more meaning more scarlet supervillains. The Miracles, Ladybug and Chat Noir were practically on call every second of every day. Add school work and their weekly training sessions and they had barely any time to spend with their friends.
So when Marc finally, finally had a day where he didn't have to worry about supervillains or Miracle training, he rushed to the art room where Nathaniel was working on some pages.
"Nate." he smiled, taking his usual seat.
"Marc," Nathaniel jumped, surprised to see the other boy. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean?" Marc asked, pulling out his notebook.
"I mean that I haven't seen you in like a week." Nate rolled his eyes.
"I know." Marc sighed. "I'm sorry. I've kind of joined another club that has been taking up my time, but I think we can work it out now so I can do both."
"What club?"
"Sort of a self-defense class."
"Sounds cool, maybe I'll check it out."
"That'd be cool." Marc smiled thinking how cool it would be for Nathaniel to be part of the Miracles. "I've been working on the script when I could, where are you at with the sketches?"
"I'm -"
"Marc Anciel!"
They both jumped at the booming voice, swiveling around to find a woman with red hair and green eyes stomping toward them.
"I thought I told you, enough of this artistic writing nonsense." she gritted, grabbing Marc by the arm.
"Mom, wait I-" Marc tried to explain.
"No, I've had enough of this. I've told you, I won't put up with this anymore. Enough of this childish foolery, its time for you to grow up and think about your career."
"Mom, I don't want to be a metallurgist." Marc protested. "I love writing, and I love making comics with Nathaniel. Please just-"
"Enough."
"Mrs. Anciel, please just hear us out." Nathaniel pleaded, he just finally got his friend back, he didn't want to lose him now. "Our comic is really popular, and writing makes Marc really happy. You have to at least understand that.''
''This has nothing to do with you young man." Mrs. Anciel accosted. "And frankly, your parents should be ashamed of themselves for allowing you to part take in this pointless drabble."
"Mom please." Marc begged.
"I said enough. From now on you will come straight to my lab after school so we can get a head start on your future career."
"Mom!"
"Ma'am you can't. Writing is everything to Marc." Nathaniel urged.
"I won't say it again. C'mon Marc."
Looking back as he was dragged away, Marc mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' before disappearing out the door.
All Nathaniel could do was watch.
The following couple of days Nathaniel was noticeably down, which caught two particular students' attention. Marinette especially kept an eye on him, as his friend and a superhero, it was her job to make sure he was okay. Adrien didn't feel like he could do much, but he still kept an eye on the boy just in case. He even talked to Kagami about it who promised to help in whatever way she could.
Finally, the truth came out that Friday.
Marinette was waiting for Luka after school- they were working on some new designs for Kitty Section posters for their upcoming show- when she noticed Nate sitting alone at the foot of the steps.
"Hey, Marinette." Luka called heading up to her. "What's wrong?"
"My friend, Nathaniel seems upset." she told him. "But I don't know why."
"Oh, hey Marc." Luka said suddenly as the boy came through the school doors. "Hey, are we gonna see you tomorrow."
"Sorry, I'm not sure but I'll try." Marc promised with a whimper.
"See him for what?" Marinette asked.
"Marc's helping Rose and I write lyrics for a song." Luka told her simply.
She knew the real reason why they were meeting up but didn't say anything for obvious reasons.
"Marc!" Nathaniel called rushing up the steps. "Marc, we can't let your mom do this, I'll help you but you have to-"
"I'm sorry Nate." Marc murmured, shaking his head. "But I can't."
"Why not? Are you really gonna let her force you to quit writing?" Nathaniel demanded.
"I'm sorry." Marc whimpered rushing past them and up the street.
"Marc wait!" Nathaniel hollered.
"Nathaniel, what's going on?" Marinette asked.
"Marc's mom is making him give up writing." Nathaniel gritted.
"Why?" Kagami asked as she and Adrien joined their group-they had a fencing lesson.
"She wants him to become a metallurgist, like her. So she's forcing him to go to her lab every day after school."
"That's awful." Luka shook his head. "You should never try to force someone to do something they don't want to do."
"So why doesn't he just say no?" Marinette shrugged.
"Saying no to your parents is hard." Adrien offered with a knowing frown.
Beside him, Kagami nodded with the same frown.
"Then maybe we should help cheer him up." Marinette smirked.
"You got a plan?" Kagami wondered.
"I do, and I'm gonna need all you for help." she beamed.
"You can count on us." Luka encouraged.
"And this is a sample of liquid silver, or as it's commonly known, mercury- Marc are you even paying attention?"
"Yes, mother.'' Marc sighed showing her his notes.
"Don't mother me, young man." She huffed.
"Dr. Anciel," someone called from the door, getting their attention. "Do you mind coming and checking some reports?"
"Be right there, Dr. Duple." Mrs. Anciel nodded. "Stay here and look over my notes. Don't touch anything."
"Yes ma'am." he affirmed.
She gave him a tired shake of her head before following her colleague.
He sighed again, laying his head down on his arms. This was the worst. All he wanted to do was work on his script with Nathaniel, but he was stuck here all because his mother was prejudiced against artists.
"Are you okay, Maw-rc?" Ziggy asked gently, popping her head out from his hood.
"No, but what can I do?" he sighed thumping his head on the table. "Too bad I'm not the Reverser from our comic, then I could reverse mom's hatred for art into... tolerance at the very least."
"Why don't you talk to her? If she hears how maw-ch you really love writing she maw-ght let you."
"No, it will only make her mad."
"What about Nathaniel? He would help."
"I can't drag him into this." Marc's eyes began to sting with the force of his tears. "Her words are harsh, I don't want to put him through that. I don't want to hurt him like that."
"But cutting him out your life is supposed to hurt him less?"
"No." Marc whimpered, burying his face in his hands. "I know this is hurting him, it hurts me too. But I don't know what to do."
"Oh, Maw-rc." Ziggy cooed before ducking back into his hood with a gasp.
"Psst, Marc, over here."
Looking up he couldn't help the watery smile as he saw who it was.
"Nate." Marc addressed, whipping the corners of his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Come with me and you'll find out." Nathaniel told him.
"I can't, mom will be back any second.''
"This won't take long, and it might even help with that."
"It won't." Marc murmured.
"You won't know until you try." Nathaniel smiled holding out his hand.
With a sigh, he took the boy's hand and let him lead the way.
As long as he was back before his mom it should be fine.
"There he is." Marinette smiled waving them over to where she, Luka, Adrien, and Kagami were waiting out on the university's lawn.
"What is all this?" Marc asked, spotting the displays set out. "Why are our comic issues printed out on tryboards?"
"It was Marinette's idea." Luka credited patting her shoulder.
"It's to show your mom how cool yours and Nathaniel's work is." She told him. "I even included comments from your readers, only the positive."
"Now your mom has to let you work on the comic." Nathaniel told him. "We proved it's not nonsense since lots of people read it and love it. And if you tell her how much you love writing she'll have to let you keep doing it."
Marc had to admit that this was all impressive, but it didn't change anything.
"Thank you guys, this is all really cool, but it's not gonna help anything." he sighed gripping his arm.
"What do you mean?" Kagami asked.
"My mom won't change her mind. She hates art and that's that."
"Why?" Adrien Pondered.
"My dad."
"What does your dad have to do with this?" Marinette wondered.
"He was a painter." he groaned. "They weren't even married when they had me. He left when I was five, saying how he needed to find inspiration somewhere else. He never came back. From then on mom blamed the arts and swore she would never let me follow in his shadow."
"But she can't blame the arts for your dad bailing." Nathaniel shook his head.
"Tell her that." Marc snorted.
"I'll do just that." he huffed, turning to the university entrance.
"Wait, Nate, don't! You'll only make her angry!" Marc cried grabbing Nathaniel's shoulder and trying to drag him back.
"By all means, let the boy try."
Surprised, they all jumped looking up to the University roof seeing a new supervillain. She seemed to be made out of copper, while her hair spiked up in a silver crown and her eyes blazed bright white with ignited magnesium. Lastly, she wore a lab coat like a dress
"Mom!" Marc cried, recognizing the coat.
"You will call me Metal Ma'am." The villain named herself. "You have disobeyed me for the last time, Marc."
"You leave him alone." Nathaniel roared, pushing Marc behind him.
"Nathaniel, don't." Marc urged.
"You cannot stop me." Metal Ma'am laughed. "All I have to do is turn you to metal and you'll never be able to influence my son again,"
Laughing she pointed a glowing hand at him, shooting a beam.
"Nathaniel, look out!" Marc cried pushing the boy out of the way, letting the beam hit him and turning him into a steel statue.
"No!" Nathaniel cried. "How could you, he is your son!"
"Yes, and now I will use my powers to erode away his love for writing." she smirked, jumping down she grabbed the statue and leaped away further into the city.
"MARC!" Nathaniel called rushing after them.
"Nathaniel, wait." Luka cried, hurrying after him.
"We'll go after Nathaniel, you two get help." Kagami told Marinette and Adrien.
"I'll get the police." Adrien offered.
"I'll contact the news station, maybe they can alert Ladybug and Chat Noir." Marinette told him, getting a nod before he took off.
They separated, not intending to do any of that.
The two of the Miracles, the model and the fashion designer all found hidden places to transform.
They had a fellow superhero to save.
"Ladybug!" Nathaniel called getting her and the other hero's attention. "You have to help my friend. His mom was akumatized, she turned him into a steel statue and trapt him and herself in that."
He pointed to a fifty-foot gold pillar.
"You have to help him, she's going to take away his ability to write. Writing is everything to Marc. You can't let her do it!" Nathaniel urged.
"A little cat power will take care of that thing." Chat Noir smirked, flexing his fingers.
"You can't." Ryuko urged him. "It might destroy the hostage, if he is really a steel statue, your cataclysm could spread to him."
"Then what do you suggest?" Chat asked.
"Perhaps I can use my powers of the elements to blast a hole in the side." She offended with a determined smile. "LIGHTING DRAGON!"
She turned into a bolt of lightning and shot forward, striking the pillar. But instead of creating a hole it just shot out the top. They all jumped back surprised then settled as she came back down.
"Gold is superconductive." Ladybug reminded. "Lightning won't work."
"Then should I try my power?" Chat wondered
"Not until we know for sure what we're dealing with." she shook her head. "We may need it since we don't have Capricorn with us. We'll just have to hope luck is on our side. LUCKY CHARM!" The yoyo went up and what came down was… interesting. "An egg? WHOA!" the spotted egg cracked in half revealing a spotted exclamation point inside. Looking up she saw Nathaniel light up with spots. "Of course. I know what to do, but first I need to get Nathaniel to safety."
"But I want to stay and help." Nathaniel protested.
"Trust me, you are" she promised, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Keep looking for a way in, I'll be right back."
They nodded, already having an idea of what she was gonna do.
Ladybug waited till she could duck into the nearest subway tunnel before getting the boy down.
"Before we continue, I need to know." She started. "What are you willing to do to help your friend?"
"Anything." Nathaniel insisted. "Writing makes him happy, it makes him smile. I'd do anything to protect that smile."
She smiled softly at this.
"He means a lot to you doesn't he?"
"... He means everything to me." he answered turning red.
"Then I know that I'm making the right choice." She nodded reaching into her yoyo and pulling out a hexagonal box. "Nathaniel Kurtzburg, here is the Miraculous of the rooster which grants the power of the sun. You may use it to help your friend and the people of Paris. When the mission is done you will give it back to me. Can I trust you?"
"I won't let you down, Ladybug." he promised, taking the box.
Opening it he unleashed an orange pixie light that flew around his head before settling in front of him.
"Morning young chick." the little bird kwami chirped. "I'm Orikko."
"Hi, I'm Nathaniel."
"I look forward to working with you, Nathaniel. All you have to do is say Orikko, rise and shine and my power is yours."
Nodding he put the gold talon ring on his left thumb watching as it turned into a white arrow.
"ORIKKO! RISE AND SHINE!" He held out his hand so his thumb was pointed up and his fingers spread to the side.
Orikko flew into the ring turning it back into a talon and beginning Nathaniel's transformation. He pulled his hand back, using it to brush his hair out of his face and turning it into a mohawk and creating an orange mask with a small gold beak over the nose. Next, he held his arms up, crossed them then bent down so they brushed the top of his feet. As he straightened gold feathers followed his hands coating him and creating a pair of red boots and orange leather pants. Once he was standing straight he let the rest of the feathers complete the orange suit till they reached his wrists. There two gold gauntlets were molded to his wrists while his hands got gloves that were orange on the top and red on the palms. His transformation complete, he placed a hand on his hip and balled his other fist at his side.
Another hero, a Miracle, was born.
"Sorry to make you wait.'' A newly recharged Ladybug told Chat Noir and the two Miracles. "Had to pick up another hero to help us out."
Nathaniel landed effortlessly next to her, a confident grin on his face.
"Well hello there." Chat smiled putting his hands behind his head. "Welcome to the team…"
"Phoenix." the new hero introduced himself.
"Welcome to the team, Phoenix." Chat smirked.
"Will you be able to help us get inside?" Ryuko asked, guarded.
"Yeah." he nodded, stepping up to the pillar. "My power is the sun. Gold has a low heat tolerance, I can melt a hole in the wall." placing his hands on their opposite wrists, he cocked his gauntlets, activating his power. "SOLAR FLARE!"
The heat his gauntlets radiated had the heroes stepping back. Fisting his hands he pressed them to the golden wall and watched as it melted. This power would last for five minutes if he wished, but it would cancel when he wanted meaning he couldn't use it till he transformed. For the moment he could only think about getting to Marc. Once he was completely through he finally got a good look at the inside.
"Whoa." he gasped. "It's like the Relativity in here."
He wasn't exaggerating.
Inside was a confusion of staircases running in every direction and in impossible ways. It resembled the lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher perfectly. The only difference was that it was all gold.
"This place could be filled with traps." Ladybug hummed looking to Viperion. "Go ahead."
He nodded taking hold of his bracelet.
"SECOND CHANCE!"
"Let us move forward." Ryuko urged stepping forward only for four walls to jump up and trap her in a pyramid that was shrinking.
"Ryuko!" Chat cried.
"SECOND CHANCE!" Viperion called taking them back a minute.
"Let us move forward." Ryuko told them.
"Wait," Viperion told her, pulling her back. "I've done this five times already. Follow me, I know the way through."
"Lead the way, Viperion." Ladybug nodded.
They had a few close calls, Chat almost fell into a bottomless pit, then Phoenix was inches away from getting skewered by a gold prong. But each time Viperion pulled them to safety-or in Chat's case, Viperion called to Ryoko to use her wind powers to snatch him back to her.
"Thanks." He huffed, giving her a genuine smile.
"Of course." She nodded with her own smile before moving forward.
But eventually, they made it to the top of the pillar, and the sight that greeted them was... unnerving yet beautiful.
"Marc!" Phoenix had to stop himself from calling it out loud-since his identity had to be secret and knowing Marc would reveal him without question.
Marc was placed on a gold pedestal in the center of the room, a single beam of light shining on his discolored metal surface. What once was a grey silver sheen was now a dull red-ish-orange. This distorted the look of protective panic on the boy's face turning it into a look of fearful pain.
"Why does he look like that?" Phoenix asked tapering down his worry.
"He's rusting," Viperion answered. "Once it's completely covered him the metal will fall away and a minion for Metal Ma'am will take his place."
"We can't let that happen!" Phoenix urged with an underline panic.
"You'll have no choice in the matter."
They all jumped back as the supervillain landed before them, a liquidly silver whip in hand.
"My son will forgo all artistic nonsense and join me in the study of metal." She told them with a menacing laugh.
"We won't let you do that Metal Ma'am." Ladybug insisted.
"You won't have a choice, now gimme your Miraculous!"
Leaping into action, Ryuko and Ladybug started to scuffle with the villain. Phoenix and Chat were about to do the same when Viperion grabbed them, halting their advances.
"Wait, the girls can handle her, we need to save Marc; we don't have much time." he urged pointing to the statue.
"How do we do that?" Chat wondered. "There are probably a ton of traps around him."
"There are." Viperion nodded. "I know where most of them are, but I can't block all of them and I can't free him by myself. So I need you two. Phoenix can use his gauntlets to deflect the projectiles and Chat's cataclysm can free the hostage."
"Seriously? Why don't I just use it now and bring the whole thing down?" Chat exclaimed.
"The pedestal Marc's on isn't touching anything in the pillar, all you would do is waste your power and we need it to save Marc." Viperion urged.
"Then we'll follow your lead." Phoenix nodded.
Agreed they followed Viperion around the battle and toward the boy.
"Phoenix, to the left." Viperion called.
Phoenix jumped forward pulling up his arms and using his gauntlets to shield himself and the other heroes from the piercing arrowheads. Anything he missed he used his own arrows from his gauntlets to diverge their trajectory.
"Good work." Chat told him.
They continued this, dodging and jumping out of the way of traps with Viperion's guidance. Phoenix reveled in his super reflexes and the awesomeness of his weapons. His dream of being a hero made real and not disappointing in the slightest.
Finally, they made it to Marc.
"Do your thing Chat Noir." Viperion told him.
"CATACLYSM!" he called placing the charged hand on the statue's shoulder.
The rust and metal fell away allowing the boy to breathe. He fell forward, Phoenix rushed forward to catch him as he began to cough. The bird-like superhero soothed him by rubbing his back and speaking softly to him.
"You're okay now." Phoenix hushed.
"What happened?" he choked, rubbing his arms and legs which were quite stiff. "Where is my mom?"
"We need to get him out of here." Chat said, deflecting another volley of projectiles. "Then help Ladybug and Ryuko."
"I'll take him." Phoenix offered helping the boy to his feet. "It'll give me time to recharge my miraculous."
"Hurry back." Viperion told them as he and Chat went to join the girls.
"C'mon." Phoenix said, lifting the boy into his arms and taking off back the way Viperion led him.
"Marc! Don't you dare disobey me again." Metal Ma'am howled after them.
"You should be focusing on us, Metal Ma'am." Ladybug told her smacking her with the spotted yoyo.
"Insolent whelp." she growled, losing sight of Phoenix and her son. "You'll pay for this."
"Hopefully Marc will be able to become Capricorn and we can end this quickly." Ladybug hoped inwardly as she dodged another set of projectiles.
"You should be safe here." Phoenix sighed, putting the writer on his feet once he got to the subway tunnel where Ladybug gave him his miraculous. "Stay here till we finish this."
"Wait." Marc called making the hero pause. "Who are you? Are you one of the Miracles?"
"Not exactly." he chuckled, striking a pose. "Call me Phoenix, I'm a new hero called on for the first time."
Marc giggled.
"I'm sure the Miracles would love to have you." he assured.
"That would be awesome." Phoenix smiled "Stay here."
With that, he dashed off to an ally so he could feed his kwami.
"I have an idea of who that hero is." Marc hummed.
"Do you want to confront him?" Ziggy asked.
"Not yet." he shook his head. "Not until Ladybug lets him keep the Miraculous. Until he is officially a holder his identity must stay secret. He has to be protected."
"Then you should turn into a hero to maw-ke sure he stays safe." Ziggy encourage.
"You're right." Marc smirked pulling up his hood. "ZIGGY! JUMP UP!"
"You must be Phoenix." Capricorn greeted as the hero came back to the pillar. "I ran into a civilian who filled me in on what's going on."
"It's nice to meet you, Capricorn." Phoenix nodded, a small smile on his face. "We have to hurry, the others are holding her off, but they could really use your powers."
"Lead the way." Capricorn nodded.
They rushed off, Phoenix shouting out warnings whenever Capricorn got too close to a trap. But with the combined powers of his boots and Phoenix's gauntlets, they were able to keep each other safe and make it to the main room where everyone was struggling with Metal Ma'am.
"Capricorn!" Ladybug called using her yoyo to shield herself from Metal Ma'am's blasts. "Use your power, find her akuma."
"You got it." Capricorn called back reaching for his hood.
"I'll cover you." Phoenix swore, already taking up the defensive stance.
"PROJECTION!" with this Capricorn's body went slack and his spirit was set loose. "I see it, it's in her badge."
Nodding, Ladybug threw up her yoyo in the air.
"LUCKY CHARM!" When it came back down it was a spotted bucket with a block of ice in it. "Ice?"
"Not just ice," Viperion told her using his lyre to block a blast from Metal Ma'am. "It's dry ice."
"Of course." She beamed. "Ryuko, use your powers, become water and create some cover for Capricorn."
"Will do." Ryuko nodded. "WATER DRAGON!"
As water, she mixed with the ice becoming a fog that formed an opaque dome over Metal Ma'am who roared outraged at the situation.
"Now Capricorn!" Ladybug called.
With ease, the goat hero slipped through the fog, weaving through all the villain's attempts to bat him away. His focus zeroed on his target, he got as close as was possible without phasing through Metal Ma'am entirely. He snatched the akuma from the University badge and hurried back to Ladybug letting the butterfly go so she could capture it.
"Good work Capricorn." she smiled snatching it up with her yoyo. "Bye, bye little butterfly."
The akuma purified, Ryuko became solid again and began comforting the victim. Capricorn hurried back to his body and stood at Phoenix's side. With a sigh of relief, Ladybug threw the bucket up in the air releasing her magik ladybugs and fixing all the damage.
"Nice job Miracles." Ladybug assured, holding out her fist with Chat Noir.
With more glee than he thought he possessed, Phoenix joined the other in the group fist bump.
"POUND IT!"
"How did I get here?" Ms. Anciel asked looking around.
"Everything will be fine now ma'am." Capricorn assured, patting her shoulder.
"My son? Where is Marc?" she demanded panicked.
"He's probably back at the university." Capricorn told her.
With a start, she ran for the school not even paying the heroes a thank you.
"Thank you Ladybug," Phoenix said stepping forward. "For letting me be a hero for a day. We should probably find somewhere so I can give you back the Miraculous."
Ladybug giggled at this.
"You have already more than proven that you are worthy to keep it." she told him.
"What, really?" he gapped.
"Yes, you're actions were completely selfless and your willingness to give the miraculous back proves you can be trusted. I'm sure the Miracles would love to add you to their ranks."
"Definitely." Viperion nodded.
"In which case, I'll let you guys handle the rest." Ladybug told them as her earings gave a warning beep. "Bug out."
"Looking forward to working with you again Phoenix." Chat smiled before taking off too.
"If you guys don't mind," Capricorn started, turning to Viperion and Ryuko. "I'll talk to him."
"If you want." Viperion smiled.
"Bring him by the hideout tonight so we can give him a proper welcome to the team." Ryuko told him her guarded expression melting into a smile.
"Of course." Capricorn nodded.
"We'll see you later tonight then Phoenix." Viperion nodded to the new hero.
"Yeah, can't wait." Phoenix laughed nervously.
"Viperon we should go." Ryuko informed the snake hero.
He nodded and together they took off.
"Follow me." Capricorn told the other boy before leaping onto the roofs.
"Where are we going?" he asked rushing after the other hero.
"Back to the university." Capricorn smiled over his shoulder.
"What?" for the first time, Phoenix really looked at the other hero. "... No way."
Capricorn laughed, picking up the speed making Phoenix chase him.
When they made it back to the school, Capricorn found a tool shed for them to slip in. Inside they finally faced each other and Capricorn could only smile at Phoenix's blown away expression.
"ZIGGY. JUMP DOWN." He caught Ziggy as she zipped out of his miraculous, quickly feeding her a blueberry. "Your turn."
"... ORIKKO. TIME TO REST." Nathaniel's hair flopped back into his face as Orikko rested on his shoulder gleefully accepting the strawberry he offered her.
"I knew it." Marc smiled.
"You're Capricorn?" Nathaniel couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah." Marc nodded casting his eyes down. "Sorry I couldn't tell you, secret identity and all that."
"So that day, when I was akumatized, you became a superhero to save me?"
"I had to, just like today. You became Phoenix to save me from becoming an art hater."
"Writing is everything to you. I couldn't let her take that away." Nathaniel urged.
"Exactly." Marc smiled. "Just like I couldn't let you become a villain."
"So all those times you were being called by your mom, it was really the MIracles?"
"Yeah, or well sometimes." Marc sighed. "I hated lying to you. But now I don't have to anymore, you're one of us."
"Do you know everyone's identities?"
"Not Ladybug and Chat's." Marc shook his head. "But a couple of months ago, Chloe was turned into Miracle Queen and had full control of the whole city including the other Miraculous holders. So they all found out who each other was. I was introduced to the team after Lila lied to us. You'll meet them all tonight."
"If you can get away from your mom." Nathaniel huffed.
"Don't worry about that." Marc smiled. "I'll take care of that. It's time for her to realize what art means to me. Your right, writing is everything to me. Our comic… you are everything to me. I won't let it all go without a fight."
Nathaniel blushed at this but still reached out to take Marc's hand.
"I'll be with you every step of the way." he promised.
"Us to." Ziggy swore, nuzzling Marc's cheek.
"Sweet little chick," Orikko cooed. "We'll be here for you no matter what."
Marc nodded, squeezing Nathaniel's hand grateful for his presence in his life.
"Then let's go. It's time I stood up to my mother."
"Oh, Marc." Ms. Anciel cried as he entered the lab with Nathaniel. "I was so worried, are you okay."
"I'm fine mom." Marc assured. "And… I need to talk to you."
"It can wait." she sighed straightening herself. "Let's get home."
"No, it can't." Marc shook his head backing away. "Mom, I don't want to be a scientist."
There was a long pause where the two Anciel's stared each other down.
"Marc-"
"No, mom." Marc insisted. "I love writing, and I love working with Nathaniel. And there are a lot of people who read our comic and they love it too. I know you hate art because dad left. But that wasn't because of art, that was because he was not a good guy. But I'm not like that mom. I'm not gonna leave, not anytime soon anyway. So please, don't take this away from me."
Another pause, both boys held their breath waiting for her to speak.
"I can't say I approve." she sighed making both the boys sag in resigned disappointment. "But this isn't going to change anything. Science isn't the path for you. These last couple of days I've watched as you've done everything I asked and how it's just sucked the life out of you. I don't want that Marc. I just want what's best for you."
"Then let me write." Marc urged.
She sighed again leaning against the lab table.
"Fine." she pushed out defeated. "If this is really what you want."
Both boys beamed, and Marc even threw himself into his mother's arms hugging her as tight as he could without hurting her.
"Thank you mom." he murmured.
"Go on." she told him, meaning for him to go with Nathaniel who was waiting in the doorway. "Be home in time for dinner."
"See you later." Marc smiled running with Nathaniel so they could start on their next issue at the cafe they like to go to.
"In the end, it worked out." Nathaniel smiled.
"Yeah."Marc nodded. "Now we can start that dedication to the Miracles."
"I hope they like me." Nathaniel murmured thinking about how he was going to meet the rest of the Miracles later that night.
"Trust me, there will be no issue with that." Marc laughed knowing who all the Miracles were.
Later that night, Marc took Nathaniel down to the Seine and to the manhole cover.
"The sewers?" Nathaniel chuckled. "Your Miracle hideout is in the sewers?"
"Trust me, you'll like this." Marc smirked, motioning for Nathaniel to follow him.
With another chuckle Nathaniel descended the latter, moving the cover back into place so no one would notice. He expected it to be dark when he touched the ground. But the room was well lit with the industrial lights and the added fairy lights Alix put in a few weeks ago.
"Glad to see you finally made it." the small pink-haired skater smiled to her friend.
"Alix, you're a Miracle too?" Nathaniel gawked.
"We all are." Alya smiled.
This was when he finally got a look at the hero team. Max and Kim gave him the thumbs up while Alya and Nino beamed. They all stood by the map of Paris, their kwamis floating freely throughout the room happily playing a game of tag. Orikko burst from his jacket pocket while Ziggy popped out of Marc's hood so they could join the others. The only person there he wasn't too familiar with was Kagami. But she came forward and bow respectfully.
"We are honored to welcome you to our hide-out, Phoenix-san." She smiled.
"Uh, just Nathaniel out of costume will be fine." Nathaniel told her scratching his head nervously. "You must be Ryuko."
"Indeed." she nodded.
"Welcome to the team Nathaniel." Luka addressed. "And welcome to the Home of Miracles, where we train and rest after battles should we need it."
"This is so cool." Nathaniel said, awed by the underground bunker.
"I'm glad you like it." Luka nodded.
"Luka is our leader, he watches out for all of us." Marc informed him.
"So don't feel free to tell me whatever is on your mind." Luka assured.
"Cool." Nathaniel nodded.
"And now that all that is out of the way," Alix called, directing everyone's attention to the table covered with pizzas and pop. "Let's celebrate another victory for Ladybug, Chat Noir and their Miracles as well as the addition of a new team member, and if I'm not mistaken-" she winked at Marc and Nathaniel, a knowing look that got a snicker out of everyone. "-a new relationship."
Marc and Nathaniel blushed looking away but took the other's hand all the same.
"Aw yeah, finally." Alix cheered holding out her hand to Kim who reluctantly gave her his armband.
"MIRACLES FOREVER!" Alya called, holding out her fist for a bump.
"MIRACLES FOREVER!" everyone- including the kwamis- chorused, meeting her fist with theirs and a blissed laugh.
Miracles forever.
Let me know what you think.I had a lot of fun writing this.I hope you enjoyed.I'll see you in the next story