Miraculous Tales of Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Pegasus

by Gale-Dragon

More along the lines of a "What If?" A/U where Master Fu also gave Max the Horse Miraculous alongside Marinette and Adrien. And along with the challenge being superheroes, Marinette, Adrien, and Max also have to prove in their normal lives that being disabled doesn't mean you are unable to do things normally. They just do things just a little differently.

~}i{~

Gale-Dragon: Well... On one hand, I always seem to come up with the weirdest ideas for fanfictions and that can be a bit annoying, especially when I'm already working on other ongoing fanfics. On the other hand, I do think it would be nice to have a bit more representation in entertainment media and I do like one particular Miraculous fan theory that I have come across a few times. So I might as well light a match for this crazy idea.

~}i{~

Miraculous Tales of Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Pegasus. Prologue.

~}i{~

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Tom and Sabine knew there was something special about their daughter the moment they brought her home. They spent months preparing a room just for their child and then painted it after they found out the gender of their child via ultrasound.

Tom and Sabine did worry about their daughter during some instances, mostly when she was hungry or needed a change. Marinette was a very quiet baby, her parents could keep her in a baby carrier behind the cash register and customers would never notice she was there unless either Tom or Sabine glanced down to check on her. Marinette didn't cry when she wanted or needed something, she'd just whimper instead. The only time Marinette cried was when she got upset, which both parents would admit was a little inconvenient when they had to leave their shop. Yes, babies cry when they're upset, but baby Marinette cried whenever there was too much noise. All the cars whizzing by on the streets, a blaring radio, people talking loudly to one another, a buzzing light fixture, or any sudden loud noise was enough to set off Marinette in a crying fit.

Tom and Sabine have had playdates with the Lahiffes since they had a son named Nino who was roughly Marinette's age. Both sets of parents couldn't help but notice that the baby girl had no interest in playing with the baby boy when he played with the blocks or the teething rings, she seemed content with spinning the wheels of the toy cars or petting a fluffy plush toy. Marinette was just not acting like what Tom and Sabine read in the parenting books, so they started worrying.

So they made an appointment with a pediatrician immediately.

It was during that very appointment they got a diagnosis. It shocked both Tom and Sabine to the core. They tried to deny the diagnosis, but the facts could not be ignored, period. They loved their daughter, so they did their research and took note of Marinette's likes and dislikes. While the research helped Tom and Sabine understand their daughter more, it was their genuine interactions with her that allowed them to truly understand her diagnosis.

}i{

Present

"Morning maman, morning papa," Marinette, now 14-years-old (and canon appearance, but with a bigger pack that had what appeared to be a carrier-case with air-holes attached to the bottom of the pack), said to her parents as she walked down from her room.

"Morning sweetie, are you ready for school?" Sabine asked her daughter with a soft smile.

Marinette happily nodded before saying, "I packed everything the night before."

Tom handed Marinette a fresh batch of macaroons in a box with their new logo, courtesy of their daughter, when he said, "We sent in the paperwork for you last month, so you don't have to worry about a thing."

Marinette smiled when she took the macaroon box and kissed her parents on the cheek, she then told her parents that she'll see them later after school as she left the bakery.

Tom and Sabine smiled as they watch their daughter race off to Collège Françoise Dupont with the homemade macaroons.

While they initially didn't like the diagnosis they got all those years ago about their daughter, they wouldn't change a single thing about it. They learned alongside their daughter on how to both live and work around certain issues. Nothing can change those moments between parents and their child. The diagnosis was still in their minds as they watch their daughter dart out of sight.

"Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng, the diagnosis is clear. Your daughter is on the Autism Spectrum," the pediatrician said to them on that day.

}i{

Marinette was standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light change. She glanced at the others waiting at the crosswalk, nearly all were on their phones. They were either texting, reading, or too engrossed in a conversation to notice anything around them. That was when Marinette noticed an elderly man in a red Hawaiin shirt attempting to cross without noticing the oncoming car.

The teenage girl panicked at this, and immediately leaped into action and pulled the elderly man out of danger just in time. But she dropped her macaroons during this moment of heroics.

"Thank you miss," the elderly man said. He then noticed the now open box of macaroons with half of the content on the ground, and added, "Oh, but what a disaster."

The moment the light changed, the other pedestrians started walking, only half paying attention to what's going on around them. Some even stepped on the macaroons on the ground and almost stepping on the teenage girl kneeling on the ground to pick up her box.

Marinette sighed when she carefully held the box with the few remaining sweets inside before turning to the elderly man and said with a small smile, "Don't worry, sir, I'm no stranger to disasters. Besides, there's still a few left." She offered one of the unbroken macaroons to the elderly man.

He took one and took a bite. "Mmm, delicious," the elderly man said with a rather happy grin.

Marinette smiled before she realized that she had to get to school. She quickly told the elderly man to have a good day before she rushed off to school so she could arrive on time.

The elderly man reached into his pocket and pulled out a black octagonal box. He stared at it for a second or two before he glanced up in the direction Marinette raced off in and muttered to himself, "Thank you very much, young lady." He then walked into the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.

}i{

Marinette burst into Miss Bustier's classroom, just as the bell rang.

Miss Bustier (canon appearance) told Nino (also canon) that he was sitting in the front row this year as Marinette took her usual seat. The girl said hello to Nino as he passed by, he nodded a hello to her as he took his new seat. Marinette then spotted Kim (canon) and Max and bid them a hello as well. They replied to her greeting with a simple hello. Miss Bustier stepped out of the classroom for a bit.

All these greetings were part of Marinette's daily routine. A routine that made her feel safe, that everything was structured soundly. Routine was calming to Marinette, like a safety blanket. Hence, why Marinette was practically an expert at time management.

Suddenly, a hand slammed on Marinette's desk area. It was Chloe Bourgeois (canon appearance).

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," the blonde stated in her usual stuck-up tone.

"What do you want Chloe?" Marinette said with an annoyed sigh. The dual-national girl hated the bully, she always tried to disrupt the school routine in one way or another. Not to mention Marinette always seemed to be Chloe's favorite target to harass for some reason. Always made fun of her for being "Mentally Inept", which was an inaccurate statement, to say the least. Marinette was one of the best students in the class when it came to grades and she made her own creative designs by hand.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Autistic, not inept, period. End of discussion.

"This is MY seat now," Chloe said without much care for the other's tone.

"No, it's not. It's my seat," Marinette stated with a frown. This was HER assigned seat. Miss Bustier sent out the seating chart to her students a week before school started, and the teacher made no notion that there was a seating change. So Marinette KNEW she was in the right seat. 'School bearly started and she's already ruining the routine,' the bluebell eyed teen thought angrily.

"Not anymore," Sabrina (also canon appearance) said as she slid next to Marinette before adding, "New school year, new seats."

"So why don't you just sit next to that new girl over there," Chloe said as she pointed to a teenage girl with shoulder-length autumn ombre hair, dark brown glasses that were slightly squared, wore a red and white plaid short-sleeved shirt with blue skinny jeans, and was holding her cellphone in her hands. The new girl glared at the bully.

Marinette folded her arms, shook her head, and said, "That's not what the seating chart says. My seat is here, not there." She was not moving, unless the teacher said so, period.

Nino turned to face his childhood friend and bullies, and said, "Really, Chloe? School hasn't even started and you're already making a fuss. And over seating arrangments too? Not cool."

"I concur," Max (canon appearance, except that his glasses are tinted black) stated, getting the attention on him. He then said, "If you had any issues with the seating arrangement, you should've contacted Miss Bustier about it a week ago. Her contact information was given with the seating chart. Since you obviously haven't told her that you wanted a seating change, you have to sit where the seating chart tells you to sit."

Chloe huffed as she turned to Max and snapped, "Mind your own business and quit eavesdropping on me."

"It's not considered eavesdropping if someone is talking loud enough to be heard by others," Max stated in a flat unamused tone as he pushed his glasses up.

Chloe scoffed before she said in her snooty tone, "If you must know, Adrien is arriving today and that's *points at the desk in front of Marinette's and next to Nino's* going to be his seat. *Places hand on Marinette's desk*, So this is going to be my seat, get it."

Marinette kept her ground when she said, "Then you should've told Miss Bustier that when you got the seating arrangements. But you didn't, so this is MY seat and I'm staying here. I don't care who this Aidian person is or who he is to you, so go sit in YOUR assigned seat." Marinette couldn't understand why the blonde bully wanted to sit behind one boy.

Chloe turned red when she heard that. She was baffled by how this girl could NOT know who Adrien is. But before the blonde could put in another word Miss Bustier cleared her throat from the doorframe of the classroom.

Miss Bustier folded her arms and gave Chloe a stern look when she said, "I believe your assigned desk is over there Chloe," as she pointed at the desk the new student was sitting at. The teacher looked at the new student and said sweetly, "Ms. Césaire, your seat is next to Marinette. *Points to the desk where Sabrina was currently sitting at*. And Sabrina, you're sitting next to Chloe. *Claps her hands*, now to your proper seatings please."

With that, the three girls moved to their assigned desks.

The new girl slid next to Marinette and said, "You did pretty good with not letting that bully get the best of you."

Marinette shrugged when she replied, "She can be a pest, but she's done worse than complain about seating. Besides, this is my assigned seat and it has been for four years."

The new girl chuckled when she said, "So you're a bit territorial, huh."

"Not really, it's just the school routine," Marinette sated bluntly before adding equally a bluntly, "Chloe should know by now that I don't break the school routine."

The new girl raised a brow at this. Nino turned to the girls behind him and explained, "Mari's on the Autism Spectrum, so she likes things to be routine or on a schedule. Also, a little warning, Mari's blunt as heck so don't take anything too personally."

"Mom keeps telling me that I was born without a filter," Marinette said in a flat tone as her bag started to shake a bit.

Nino smiled when he said, "See what I mean. By the way, I'm Nino Lahiffe and you already met Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

The new girl giggled when she introduced herself as Alya Césaire.

"Mur-row," a sound emitted from Marinette's bag as it wiggles some more.

Alya looked at the moving bag and asked, "Umm, what was that?"

Miss Bustier smiled when she said. "Marinette, if she's on a harness you can let Miki out now."

"She is Miss Bustier," Marinette said as she unlocked a hidden lock the lower section of her pack. When the hidden lock was undone, a small door opened, and a white short-haired cat on a baby blue walking harness sauntered out. Marinette pulled a leash that matched the harness out of her pack as the cat jumped onto the bench, right between the bluette and the ombre-haired girl. The cat then sat down before moving into laying as Marinette attached the leash to the harness.

Alya was a little confused by this. Were pets allowed at this school?

Marinette stroked the cat's head when she explained, "This is Miki, she's my therapy cat. She helps me with keeping my anxiety levels down."

"Aww, she's so cute," Alya cooed as she raised her hand to pet the cat, only to have Miki growl at her. The new student quickly retracted her hand at that.

"Probably should explain, Miki's not fond of being petted by strangers. She won't hesitate to bite or scratch you. And as of now, you're a stranger to her," Nino explained, before snickering and adding, "Though, she still hasn't warmed up to Kim after all this time." The red hat-wearing teen then glanced at the French-Korean with a knowing smirk.

Kim puffed his cheeks when he said, "I'll win her over eventually!"

"It wouldn't be taking so long if you hadn't pulled her tail when you first met her," Max said in a deadpin tone, not even glancing at the others. Kim did turn pink at the statement though, causing most of the class to chuckle.

Alya glanced down at the cat, who seemed to be glaring at the glasses-wearing girl with her mismatched eyes (the right eye is yellow and the left is blue). "I'm sure she'll warm up to me eventually," Alya said with a small smile.

"Kim said the same thing, and Miki still doesn't like him," Marinette stated bluntly, without really thinking about what she was saying. Miki rubbed her cheek against her person's leg as she moved closer to the bluette.

Nino pointed a thumb at the bluette when he said, "See, she's blunt."

"So I've noticed," Alya said with a small smile.

A few seconds later, a handsome fair-skinned slender teenage boy with brushed-back blond hair that is swept to the right, emerald green eyes, had a rosy tint on his cheeks, nose, and the tips of his ears, wearing a white button-down shirt with an upturned collar and sleeves rolled up above his elbow, which he keeps unbuttoned. Underneath, he wore a black shirt with five horizontal stripes around the chest which are colored, from top to bottom, yellow, olive green, bright green, dark green, and periwinkle paired with blue jeans, and orange sneakers with white laces and a logo of a black butterfly in a circle on the sides scurried into the classroom almost out of breath.

Miss Bustier glanced at the new boy before smiling and saying, "Ah, you must be Adrien Agreste. *Points at the empty desk next to Nino and in front of Marinette's* Your assigned seat is right there. You are technically late, but since it's the first day of school, I'll let it slide. Do try to be here before the bell rings."

Adrien nodded as he made his way to his seat. Chloe immediately jumped on the blonde boy, hugging him and saying "Adrikins, you're here!"

Miss Bustier cleared her throat, making both Chloe and Adrien turn to her. The teacher then said, "Chloe, hands to yourself and please return to your seat." With a huff, the blonde bully complied.

The blonde, green-eyed boy went to his seat, looking a little confused over what had happened.

Miss Bustier then wrote her name on the chalkboard and said, "For those who don't yet know me, I'm Miss Bustier. I'll be your teacher this year."

~}i{~

Adrien Agreste

Little Adrien Agreste was 6-years-old when it happened. While he didn't know what caused it to happen, it still happened.

It was at a family reunion with his mother's family, Graham de Vanily, when it suddenly happened. Adrien was happily playing with his cousin, Felix, when he suddenly became thirsty, so the two went to the refreshment table to get something to drink. The fruit punch was really tasty, that Adrien remembered well.

"Umm, Adrien, you okay? That's your fourth cup," Felix asked his cousin in a weirded out tone. He'd never seen the other boy drink so much in one setting before.

Adrien finished the cup before he said, "I'm fine, I'm just really thirsty." He then got another cup of punch.

Felix rolled his eyes when he said, "If you get sugar high here, uncle will get mad." The boy didn't bother hiding his dislike of his uncle, Adrien's father.

"I'm not gunna get sugar high," Adrien said as he drank down his fifth cup.

Felix raised a concerned brow when he said, "You sure? You really are drinking a lot of the punch..."

"I said I'm fine!" Adrien snapped in annoyance.

Felix raised his hands in a 'calm down' motion when he said. "Okay, okay, you won't get sugar high, no need to get as irritable as you dad." The sudden snapping was a new thing with Adrien, that Felix knew. The Agreste child took after his Graham de Vanily mother than his stern father, so the snapping was out of character.

Adrien now had a guilty look on his face as he took his sixth cup of punch and said, "Sorry Felix, I don't know why I snapped at you..." He then took a sip of the drink. Why was he so thirsty? 'Wait a second, did Felix always look fuzzy?' Adrien thought as his cousin started looking a little blurry. He then glanced down at his cup and realized that it was starting to get blurry too.

"Adrien? Are you okay, you're starting to-" Felix didn't get to finish his sentence when he saw his cousin collapse to the ground. The punch that was still in the cup splattered everywhere on the ground near the fallen child. In a panic, Felix started calling out, "MUM! AUNTY! COME QUICK! ADRIEN'S SICK!"

And that was the last thing Adrien remembered before everything went black.

}{

Adrien wasn't sure how long he slept for, all he knew was that he woke up in the Hos-bital place. Hoes-sical? Hostical? No, the word is Hospital. The beds were nice but they were a little too white for the boy's taste. Adrien remembered his mother, father, aunt, uncle, and cousin by his bedside, all looking worried. Adrien couldn't fault them for that, he did collapse during a family get together. But... What the boy couldn't figure out was why or how he collapsed.

The doctor came in a few minutes after his father told a nurse that he was awake. The hospital ran a blood, what was the word gain? Do-te-nir-tix? Die-more-it-ix? Die-od-knot-tis? Ah, right. Diagnostic. The word was Diagnostic! The hospital ran a blood diagnostic on him while he was sleeping. And the doctor had the diagnostic report. Adrien wasn't sure how they could run a test when someone was asleep, but if it solved how Adrien collapsed. Well, he wasn't going to complain.

The doctor took a deep breath before finally saying, "Mr. Agreste, Mrs. Agreste. According to the test results, your son has Type One Diabetes."

}i{

Adrien got used to having his pinky finger pricked by needles over the years. It wasn't hard when he didn't have a choice. But with all the technological improvement with diabetic technology, he didn't have to prick himself as often anymore to check his blood sugar. As soon as a confirmed and reliable technical advancement was made in diabetic healthcare, Gabriel Agreste made sure to get it for his son and that the entire household knew how it worked. The Insulin Pump was one of Adrien's favorite, no more finger pricking, and long waits to know his blood sugar level. He did have to be careful with that one during a few activities, but it gave Adrien some liberties. He still had to make sure he drank plenty of water to prevent himself from getting any dizzy spells. Adrien quickly learned that his dizzy spells were not fun and that water was the best thing to combat those.

Felix and Chloe became rather protective after they learned about Adrien's diagnosis.

Felix, more or less, personally inspected every food item that was served, especially the sugar levels, whenever he was with his cousin on set. If something was too high in sugar, Felix had it removed. While Adrien appreciated the gesture, he did have to tell his cousin more than a few times not to harass the catering/food staff about it.

Chloe, kind of sort of, became a second bodyguard of some sort. Adrien has lost count of how many times he had to explain to Chloe that he just couldn't produce insulin naturally and had to monitor his blood sugar levels. Don't get him wrong, he did appreciate his childhood friend caring for him enough to try to protect him, but he did wish that she understood that having diabetes didn't mean that he was frail.

Adrien's mother, Emilie, was the rock of the Agreste family. She made sure Gabriel didn't go overboard with the company and she told Adrien that his diabetes didn't have to rule his life. She helped moderated the family an kept it as a family. So it hurt a great deal when she disappeared a year ago. Adrien was able to keep control of his diabetes, despite the pain of his mother not being there, but Gabriel... He... Well... At least Nathalie is making sure Gabriel comes home from the office every once and a while... And that he ate... And had a son...

Adrien becoming a model for his father's company was okay. It wasn't really his favorite thing to do, but he didn't exactly hate it either. The job gave him extra money and it got him out of the house. Adrien supposed that one of the pluses to being a model was keeping an eye on his weight. He has had problems with his weight before, mostly with sudden/unintended weight loss, but his doctor told him that it was normal for someone with diabetes. Either way, the modeling gig helped Adrien pick up tips on healthy weight gain and caused him to pick up a 'keeping water on hand' habit.

But the thing that Adrien hated was the fact that his father practically had him on house arrest, except when he was out modeling. Wouldn't even let him go to school, but all that was going to change, whether Gabriel liked it or not.

}i{

Present

Adrien raced down a street, making sure to avoid the pedestrians as he made his way towards his new school. He's already tricked both Nathalie and his bodyguard into thinking he was studying in his room and won't bother him for a while. He already snuck a few snacks for himself for when he's at school, just in case his blood sugar got low. He had two bottles of water in his bag too, so he can control his sudden thirst and avoid his dizzy spells.

As he ran, he started seeing the school building becoming larger and larger as got closer and closer. That was when he noticed an elderly man in a red Hawaiian shirt on the ground, trying to reach his cane that was just out of his reach. Without really thinking, Adrien helped the elderly man up and handed him the cane.

"Thank you, young man," the elderly man said graciously once he was on his feet, with the assist of the cane.

"It's no big deal, you looked like you needed the help anyway," Adrien said with a small smile. That was when he heard the school bell ring. "Uh-oh, I got to go!" the teen said when he realized that the bell meant that school was about to start. Adrien quickly told the elderly man to take care before he raced off.

The elderly man smiled fondly as he picked up his cane and rested it on his shoulder before he walked off, whistling a nameless tune as he did.

}i{

Adrien quickly scurried into the school and quickly located his assigned classroom. He managed to get to the room, but he was almost out of breath.

The teacher glanced at the new boy before smiling and saying, "Ah, you must be Adrien Agreste. *Points at the empty desk next to a teenage boy with a red hat and headphones around his neck and in front of a bluebell eyed girl blue pigtails* Your assigned seat is right there. You are technically late, but since it's the first day of school, I'll let it slide. Do try to be here before the bell rings."

Adrien nodded as he made his way to his seat. Chloe immediately jumped on the blonde boy, hugging him and saying "Adrikins, you're here!" Oh right, she was in his class.

The teacher cleared her throat, making both Chloe and Adrien turn to her. The teacher then said, "Chloe, hands to yourself and please return to your seat." With a huff, the blonde girl complied.

The blonde, green-eyed boy went to his seat, looking a little confused over what had happened. Where there rules in this class that he wasn't aware of?

The teacher then wrote her name on the chalkboard and said, "For those who don't yet know me, I'm Miss Bustier. I'll be your teacher this year."

Adrien smiled. His first day of public school! He couldn't wait to see how the day goes!

~}i{~

Max Kanté

Max didn't have his father when growing up. The man left him and his mother when he was bearly a year old. Max never had infantile amnesia, so he could easily recall the day his dad left.

The boy was sleeping in his crib when he awoke to the sounds of a loud argument. The voices belonged to his parents, that the baby was sure of. Little Max didn't know what they were arguing about, he was too far away to hear the specific words used, all he knew was that his parents were loud and they sounded very angry. It scared the small child. He never heard his parents so mad before.

That was when little Max heard the sound of something breaking, maybe a plate or bowl or something ceramic. Then a few seconds later the sound of a door being forcefully opened, and then a door slammed shut, hard. Little Max let out a whimper, genuinely scared about what had just happened.

Little Max then heard footsteps. After the shouting and the door slamming, the footsteps just added to the baby's fears.

The door to little Max's room opened, and now he heard someone sniffed in sadness like they were trying to stop themself from crying. "Oh, Maxie," said a familiar voice filled with sorrow and tears.

Little Max recognized the voice, it belonged to his mama! But why was she sad now? She was mad earlier... Did papa do something mean to mama?

Little Max heard his mama moved closer to his crib before she picked him up and cradled him in her arms, holding him close to her chest. Oh, she was wearing a soft shirt, little Max loves soft clothes. They were good to nap on.

"I don't care what that... That jerk thinks! He had no right to say all that about his own son!" Claudie Kanté seethed as she hugged her baby boy close to her chest, tucking his little head under her chin. Little Max didn't understand who his mama was talking about, but whoever it was had to be a mean person if mama sounded upset when talking.

Well, she knew that after that nasty argument she was getting full custody of her son, no ifs ands or buts about it. Claudie glanced down at her baby, who fell back asleep in her arms and mumbled to herself, "I know you're going to be amazing my little Maxie, I just know it. Disability or not." The baby continued to sleep in his mama's warm embrace.

The next morning, little Max found out his papa was no longer home. Mama told him that papa left and he was never coming back.

}i{

Present

Max cooked breakfast this morning. It took some practice, but he can cook on his own now with no problem. No fancy or complex meals, just day to day meals for everyday life. Max was proud of his cooking accomplishment as he carefully placed the food on the plates. He then carefully carried the plates to the diner table. Max couldn't wait for his mother's reaction!

The moment Max placed the plates on the table, he heard his mother's voice. "Oh my! Max did you make breakfast? By yourself?"

Max smiled when he said, "I did, and while I know the food isn't going to be considered high-class or top-notch, it is 100% edible and palatable."

Claudie walked over to her son, hugged him, and said, "My Maxie's growing up so fast." She then kissed him on the forehead.

"Aww, mom," Max said with a small smile as he hugged his mom back. The teen then said as he separated from this mother, "Now let's eat. You have to be at the train station at precisely 09:00 so you can start the train at 09:15, and I have to be at school at the same time." He then moved to a chair and sat down.

Claudie smiled as she took her seat at the table and the two started eating. The train operator easily cut her food with the knife, then used her fork to pick up the pieces, and then ate the pieces. She smiled again. Her son was right, the food was good enough to easily be considered palatable. Claudie couldn't stop herself from glancing at her son as he ate. Just like her, he cut his food with a knife, but instead of just using the fork to pick the food up, he used his knife to ensure that the pieces of food was skured on the fork before he brought the fork to his mouth and ate the food.

"Mom, is everything alright? You've stopped eating," Max asked, pausing his actions.

Claudie shook her head when she said, "Everything is fine, the food's fine too. But I was thinking, maybe I should drive you to school today. Just so you don't have to worry about being late."

Max gave her a soft smile when he said, "Mom, Collège Françoise Dupont is in the opposite direction of the train station. If you drive me to school after we finish eating, then you will be 7.37 minutes late. 10.4 minutes if traffic is accounted for. Therefore, I shall walk to school and you drive to work after we finish eating. That way we both will arrive at our respective locations on time."

Claudie giggled before she said, "Well now, I guess I can't argue with those facts." This made Max smile before he continued eating. With a smile on her face, the train operator said, "I guess I'm just being an overprotective mom. I know you know the route to school by heart, but I can't help but worry."

"Don't worry mom," Max assured his mother before adding, "I added a proximity sensor to my belts. Those will alert me to anyone getting too close to my person. And don't forget about Markov." Max put down his knife and tapped his tinted glasses.

Claudie laughed for a few seconds before she said, "Sorry about that, Markov. But it is a little too easy to forget your presence every once and a while."

Max pushed back his glasses when he said, "Markov forgives you, and we're working on making him a new form that'll suit him better. He finds the glasses a little too cramped for his programming."

"I can understand that," Claudie said before they continued with breakfast.

Once breakfast was finish, the two Kantés got ready to leave. Claudie made sure to grab her conductor's hat and coat as Max grabbed his pack and his white cane. The mother gave her son one last hug before they parted ways to start on their way to their destinations. Claudie slid into the driver's seat of her car and quickly checked her mirrors as she started the car, as she did she watched her son walking off towards school in the rearview mirror. The train operator saw her son swish his cane in front of him from side to side as he walked. Claudie sighed in relief as a small smile formed on her face. She then drove off towards the train station, knowing that her son would be fine.

Max might've been born blind but he was completely capable of taking care of himself.

}i{

"Max, the crosswalk signal indicates that you are to stop and wait until it is safe to cross," a voice coming from the temple tip (1) of Max's glasses.

"Thanks, Markov," Max said as he stopped at the crosswalk, where the sidewalk curve had the bumpy structure that was specifically made for visually impaired individuals.

Max had a passion for machines, technology, and coding, this passion caused him to make devices of his own. While it took a lot of research, most of it being trial and error due to most of the research not being in brail or in a method that Max could not do. But after countless hours of hard work and finding methods that work for him, Max was able to make his greatest creation, Markov.

Markov was an AI, or artificial intelligence, that Max had developed to aid him in his endeavors to function in a word dominated by people with sight. Telling the teen the current crosswalk signals, important road signs, reading the school textbooks that did not have a brail edition to Max, signs, and banners for local events or menus, and even alert Max to any unexpected events that might happen around the teen. While Markov's main dock is in the computer in Max's room, the glasses Max wore were specifically made so Markov can function in them as an Electronic Eye to the blind teen, so to speak. Those glasses were a prototype of Max's design to see if an AI could act as a pair of working eyes, which did work, but the glasses didn't have much memory space for Markov to function fully and the battery life of the glasses only lasted for a maximum of 12 hours. Max already had an idea in mind to improve both Markov and his glasses.

"The signal has changed, it is now safe to cross," Markov happily announced. Max smiled, thanked Markov, and started walking. The AI then took note of the weather patterns and commented, "Today can be categorized as "pleasant" for individuals who enjoy outdoor activities."

Max smiled when he said, "I concur, the temperature is in the acceptable range and the weather is calm. A pleasant day indeed." The teen heard Markov beep happily.

"Someone! Stop that man! He stole something!" Max and Markov heard someone shout from behind.

Max turned towards the shouting, allowing Markov to use the cameras in the glasses to see what was happening. The AI easily pinpointed the thief, since he was the only one running. "Max, the thief in question is heading right towards us at the average speed of an adult male. And it appears that the item that he has taken is in a small box-like container."

"That gives me roughly, 7.34 seconds to act," Max muttered. Markov was about to dispute the idea, but the AI quickly calculated that the amount of time was insignificant enough to give a proper reason.

When the thief got close enough to Max, the blind teenager jammed his cane where he heard the thief's feet. This caused the thief to fall flat on his face and allowed the police to apprehend him and return the stolen goods to its rightful owner. One of the officers thanked Max for his help, but he did have to tell him that the thief could've been dangerous and could've hurt him.

The owner of the stolen goods personally thanked Max for his heroics. To the blind teen, the owner sounded like an older gentleman and since the voice sounded like it was coming from a little below his ears, Max concluded that the gentleman was also a little shorter than him. "Is there a way that I can repay you, young man?" The elderly man asked Max in a thankful tone.

Max shook his head when he said, "You don't have to do that, I wanted to help." That was when his cell phone went off. 'There's a high probability that it's from Kim,' Max thought as he wished the elderly man a good day and then continued on his way to school.

The elderly man in the red Hawaiin shirt watched the blind teen go. This elderly man then glanced down at the black octagonal box in his hand before looking back up in the direction that the teen headed off in. Then he left the scene and returned to his place of residence, still thinking about the actions of the blind child.

}i{

When Max arrived at Collège Françoise Dupont with 8.267 minutes to spare. He was greeted by two of his best friends, Kim Chiến Lê and Alix Kubdel (both are canon appearances), both of whom were waiting outside the school for him.

"Hey Max, did you get my message?" Kim asked as Max got to the stairs that led up into the school. To the blind teen's ears, the other sounded a little nervous when he asked his question.

Max shook his head when he said, "Negative, I don't listen to messages when I am walking. I was planning on listening to it when I got to the classroom. Mom told me that the seating arrangments are the same as last year, correct?" While the blind teen knew the layout of the school, and therefore the classrooms, desk and chair locations shift every so often.

Alix nodded, out of habit, when she said, "Yeah, same seating as last year, so I'm going to assume the furniture is still in the same locations too."

That was when Kim added, "And the same classmates as last year too, but we have two new students in our class. Not sure how their family names are pronounced, but their given names seem to be Al-i-ah and Adrien."

Max placed the back of his right index finger to his chin when he said out loud, "So we have a new girl and a new boy in our class."

"Yeah, basically," Alix said before she pulled Max up the stairs and added, "Now come on, we have to get to class. The faster we get the first-day crud out of the way, the faster we can do fun stuff. Plus, plus you need to listen to that message~."

Max let Alix drag him into the school, he also heard Kim's footsteps trailing behind them. That meant that he was following them to class. Max couldn't help but wonder why they wanted him to listen to the message left on his phone.

Once they were outside Miss Bustier's classroom door, Alix told Max he should listen to the message. Since they were literally right outside their class door and they had time before the bell would ring. This time, Max asked what was so important about the message, but Alix told him that he had to listen to it to understand why. Kim was oddly quiet during this conversation. So, Max pulled his phone out of his right pocket and used the voice controls to access his messages, both audio and text messages.

"You have one new message from Kim Chiến Lê," the robotic voice from the phone announced. The phone then asked, "Would you like to listen to this message now?"

"Yes," Max told the phone.

A few seconds later, the phone played the message, "Hey, Max, it's Kim." Max gave a small smile at the boisterous tone his buddy was using in the message. During this, Alix smirked as she glances up at Kim, who was looking a little nervous. The message continued, "So, uh, listen, I kinda wanted to tell you this in person, but I kept chickening out on it..." Max raised a brow at this. Kim chickening out on something? What was this supposed to mean? Now Max was both confused and curious. What on earth could cause Kim Chiến Lê to back down from something? The message continued, "*Alix's Voice* Quit stalling and just say it you dope!" Max somewhat snorted at Alix's sudden dialogue in the message.

Suddenly, something, or rather someone, collided with Max and he dropped his phone due to the force of the collision. The phone hit the ground and then announced, "Message deleted."

Max heard a scoff before a familiar voice said, "I would love to say watch where you're going, but that wouldn't be helpful advice for you." Wow, that was an old one...

"Chloe! You did that on purpose!" Alix snapped at Chloe as Kim picked up the phone and returned it to its owner, the skater girl and the athletic boy were glaring at the blonde bully at this.

Chloe brushed off the accusation when she scoffed out, "He shouldn't be standing someplace where he knows he'll get hit."

Kim was the one to respond, "Max was standing to the side of the hallway, you could've easily avoided him! But you chose to run into him, since you hit him hard enough to almost make hime lose his footing."

Chloe scoffed before she said, "Whatever." And then she sauntered off.

"She should've at least apologized. It is common courtesy after all," Markov commented, using the mini speaker located on the left side of the glasses frame, near the hinges. Max added that as a small way for Markov to communicate with others in short instances but using the speaker constantly burns up the battery in the glasses faster. So that was only used for important communications. Max quickly made a mental note to fix that issue so Markov could participate in conversations freely instead of just commenting for the teen to relay.

Max sighed when he said, "No offense Markov, but the only time the words "Chloe" and "Apologize" would be in the same sentence would be "Chloe doesn't Apologize". She's nothing but an annoying bully." Max then checked his messages again, his phone replied that he had no new or existing messages. "And she erased the message you left, Kim. Though, it was the byproduct of her action," the blind teen said with a frown.

Before Max could ask Kim what the message was about, Miss Bustier told them to come into the classroom and not loiter in the hallway. So the three did and took their assigned seats. Max collapsed his cane and placed it on the desk.

It didn't take long for Max to hear someone burst into Miss Bustier's classroom, just as the bell rang. There was a 91% chance that this person was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Max then heard Miss Bustier telling Nino that he was sitting in the front row this year as he heard Marinette going to her usual/assigned seat. The girl said hello to Nino as they passed each other, which Max heard. Marinette then bid Kim and the blind teen a hello. They replied to her greeting with a simple hello. Max heard Miss Bustier stepped out of the classroom for a bit.

All these greetings were part of Marinette's daily routine, something Max had learned about rather quickly about her. Kim was a childhood friend of Marinette and that was how Max meet the autistic girl. Max and Marinette didn't seem to have that much in common at first, but as they got to know one another they realized that they were more similar then they thought.

Suddenly, a hand slammed on a desk. It sounded like it was coming from Marinette's area.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," someone stated in a stuck-up tone. Urg, Chloe again.

"What do you want Chloe?" Marinette said with an annoyed sigh. Max could easily understand her annoyance at the bully.

"This is MY seat now," Chloe said without much care for the other's tone.

"No, it's not. It's my seat," Marinette stated with a frown. Max didn't need to see to know that this was going to be drama.

"Not anymore," Max heard Sabrina say. From where the blind teen can hear, the minion sounded like she slid next to Marinette from the opposite side of the autistic girl before she added, "New school year, new seats."

"So why don't you just sit next to that new girl over there," Max heard Chloe said.

'She must be talking about Alya,' Max deduced.

Marinette folded her arms, shook her head, and said, "That's not what the seating chart says. My seat is here, not there." Max knew for a fact that Marinette was not going to move unless the teacher said so.

Max then heard Nino say, "Really, Chloe? School hasn't even started and you're already making a fuss. And over seating arrangments too? Not cool."

"I concur," Max finally stated, getting the attention on him. He then said, "If you had any issues with the seating arrangement, you should've contacted Miss Bustier about it a week ago. Her contact information was given with the seating chart. Since you obviously haven't told her that you wanted a seating change, you have to sit where the seating chart tells you to sit."

Chloe huffed as she turned to Max and snapped, "Mind your own business and quit eavesdropping on me."

"It's not considered eavesdropping if someone is talking loud enough to be heard by others," Max stated in a flat unamused tone as he pushed his glasses up.

Chloe scoffed before she said in her snooty tone, "If you must know, Adrien is arriving today and that's going to be his seat. *Places hand on Marinette's desk*, So this is going to be my seat, get it."

Marinette kept her ground when she said, "Then you should've told Miss Bustier that when you got the seating arrangements. But you didn't, so this is MY seat and I'm staying here. I don't care who this Aidian person is or who he is to you, so go sit in YOUR assigned seat."

A few seconds later, Max heard Miss Bustier cleared her throat from the doorframe of the classroom.

Max heard Miss Bustier give Chloe a stern look when she said, "I believe your assigned desk is over there Chloe. Ms. Césaire, your seat is next to Marinette. And Sabrina, you're sitting next to Chloe. *Claps her hands*, now to your proper seatings please."

With that, the three girls moved to their assigned desks.

Max was able to hear the new girl slid next to Marinette and said, "You did pretty good with not letting that bully get the best of you."

Marinette shrugged when she replied, "She can be a pest, but she's done worse than complain about seating. Besides, this is my assigned seat and it has been for four years."

The new girl chuckled when she said, "So you're a bit territorial, huh." Max somewhat smiled at this conversation.

"Not really, it's just the school routine," Marinette sated bluntly before adding equally a bluntly, "Chloe should know by now that I don't break the school routine."

Max then heard Nino explaining, "Mari's on the Autism Spectrum, so she likes things to be routine or on a schedule. Also, a little warning, Mari's blunt as heck so don't take anything too personally."

"Mom keeps telling me that I was born without a filter," Marinette said in a flat tone as her bag started to shake a bit. Max quickly covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Marinette was a little too blunt for her own good sometimes.

Nino smiled when he said, "See what I mean. By the way, I'm Nino Lahiffe and you already met Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

The new girl giggled when she introduced herself as Alya Césaire.

Suddenly Alya asked, "Umm, what was that?"

Max heard Miss Bustier say. "Marinette, if she's on a harness you can let Miki out now."

'Ah, so Miki's here too,' Max thought as he rested his arms on his desk.

"She is Miss Bustier," Marinette said as Max heard her unlocked a hidden lock the lower section of her pack. The blind teen remembered helping the autistic girl with making the pack with pet carrier attachment.

Marinette explained, "This is Miki, she's my therapy cat. She helps me with keeping my anxiety levels down."

"Aww, she's so cute," Alya cooed. That was when Max heard Miki growl at the new girl.

'She must've tried to pet Miki,' Max reasoned logically.

"Probably should explain, Miki's not fond of being petted by strangers. She won't hesitate to bite or scratch you. And as of now, you're a stranger to her," Nino explained, before snickering and adding, "Though, she still hasn't warmed up to Kim after all this time."

Kim puffed his cheeks when he said, "I'll win her over eventually!"

"It wouldn't be taking so long if you hadn't pulled her tail when you first met her," Max said in a deadpin tone. Kim did turn pink at the statement though, causing most of the class to chuckle.

"I'm sure she'll warm up to me eventually," Alya said with a small smile.

"Kim said the same thing, and Miki still doesn't like him," Marinette stated bluntly, without really thinking about what she was saying.

Max heard Nino say, "See, she's blunt."

"So I've noticed," Alya said with a small smile.

A few seconds later, someone new scurried into the classroom almost out of breath.

Max then heard Miss Bustier say, "Ah, you must be Adrien Agreste. *Points at the empty desk next to Nino and in front of Marinette's* Your assigned seat is right there. You are technically late, but since it's the first day of school, I'll let it slide. Do try to be here before the bell rings."

Adrien nodded as he made his way to his seat. Chloe immediately jumped on the blonde boy, hugging him and saying "Adrikins, you're here!"

Miss Bustier cleared her throat, making both Chloe and Adrien turn to her. The teacher then said, "Chloe, hands to yourself and please return to your seat." With a huff, the blonde bully complied.

The blonde, green-eyed boy went to his seat.

Max heard Miss Bustier write her name on the chalkboard and said, "For those who don't yet know me, I'm Miss Bustier. I'll be your teacher this year."

"Markov, start recording today's lesson," Max said softly to the AI. The AI dinged as it complied.

~}i{~

The last Guardian of the Miraculous as finally made a decision. It was a tough one, but he was hoping it was the right one.

The elderly man in a red Hawaiin shirt held a black octagonal box in front of his face before he left his residence.

Hopefully, this will aid the Ladybug and Black Cat holders in their endeavors.

~}i{~

To be Continued.

~}i{~

1) The temple tips are the glasses industry name for the arms of the glasses which go across the wearer's temple. They're not actually just tips, and they can have a big impact on how comfortable a pair of glasses is to wear. On a related note, the temples of glasses are the long arms on the sides of the frame that extend from the hinge and over the ears to keep the glasses on your face.

~}i{~