Miraculous: Adventures of Princess Bug and Kuro Chat

Chapter 1 - Manon and Noel

Ladybug and Chat Noir Killed - Akuma in Custody

That was the headline that stopped all of Paris. That was the headline that filled an entire city with grief and fear. For a time, it seemed like the worst was yet to come. That Hawkmoth would take advantage of the situation and akumatize everyone - that the city would be destroyed. But nothing happened - no Akuma. No chaos. Nothing.

As if the great villain was quietly relishing his own victory.

But for Paris - it was chaos. It was only a matter of time before people figured out who they were.

Ladybug, lady luck and heroine of Paris, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Twenty-two year old university student with a passion for fashion and design.

Chat Noir, the black cat and hero of Paris, was Adrien Agreste - Twenty two year old fashion model.

And of course, news broke that they had been dating - because of course the heroes of the city of love would be in love. How much more fitting could it be? It just made the tragedy all the sadder to know the two heroes of Paris, who fought so tirelessly to bring a happy ending, could be denied one for themselves.

Funeral plans were prepared to lay them to rest. Together. They deserved that much. Many assumed it would be a private affair. Adrien was the son of the famous recluse Gabriel Agreste. The guy wouldn't even show up to his fashion launches. However, the man gave no protestations and even paid the expenses out of his own pocket - a public funeral would be held so that the whole city could put them to rest. And for one day, it was like the whole city came together to mourn them.

Manon had to go. Marinette had been her babysitter so many times when she was younger. Granted she didn't do much babysitting - always running off to some other commitment she'd forgotten about. Manon always assumed it was grown up stuff - never once assuming it was because she was Ladybug. It made sense in hindsight

But it was more than that. She brought the dolls Marinette had made of the heroes when she was younger. The same dolls she would always try to steal so she could play with them until her mother caught her with them. It was no wonder Marinette never got upset over it. Ladybug was just too kind to get upset.

Too much of a hero.

At the funeral, both Marinette's parents were there. There was another woman who was there with the couple. She didn't look anything like Adrien. Maybe she was Marinette's aunt or something? That's what Manon thought until the woman spoke - she had been Adrien's caregiver. At first she said little, speaking of Adrien like he was just an acquaintance. It made Manon sad to think that this was the eulogy he would get, some informal list of his life like it was a checklist.

Then she paused, faltering for a moment before mumbling to herself. The woman then started talking about Adrien like he was her own son. And her tone shifted from one of cold indifference to one of sadness. His father may not have bothered to show up but she… the way she talked, she may as well have been his mom.

When she finished, Marinette's parents took their turn to speak. Both of them went up together. Her dad was a wreck, barely able to contain himself from crying. Her mother was doing a better job of holding together, but her words betrayed the front she was putting up. She paused a lot to swallow, to sob, to calm down.

She was too far away to actually hear any of it. But the sadness of her parents was felt through the whole of Paris. Then the time came to lower them into the ground; the two heroes of Paris in their coffins, lowered side by side into the ground forever while a priest read them the last rites. The crowd lingered a little while longer afterwards, each person taking a turn to come forward and pay their respects to both the deceased and their families. Manon's eyes kept going back to the tombstones that marked their graves, lingering on the words etched on their shared stone.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste

The Heroes of Paris

Together Until The End

They really had been. And now they would be together forever. As it should have been.

Noel slammed his fist on the counter, "Why can't I see my brother? Stop treating me like a kid!"

The officer on the side groaned, "How do I even know you're his brother? Kids get fake IDs all the time."

"Just let me see Nino! He didn't do anything wrong!" Noel complained, "He was under the control of the akuma and-"

The officer finally stood up and Noel felt his bravery suddenly fail him. The officer made his way around to the other side of the counter and folded his arms, "He's not locked up because we're punishing him. He's locked up because right now, most of Paris blames him for their deaths. If we let him out, it'll be straight into a mob."

"But it was Hawkmoth's fault!" Noel protested.

The officer gestured outside to the angry crowd gathered outside and demanding justice in their own sick way, "Tell them that. "

Noel finally understood the point and turned to leave, "I'll be back. And next time, you'll let me see my brother!"

"Get out of here kid," the officer said, shoo-ing him outside. Noel grunted his disapproval and walked out into the assembled crowd held back by the police line. It was completely unimaginable to him that his brother could be treated as a pariah for something that wasn't his fault. He just hoped Nino was okay, wherever he was.

Gabriel sat in his office, staring out the window to the city. It was sunny out. Of course it was. It was sunny the day his Emilie was…

It was all such a sick joke to him. Like the universe was laughing at him for trying to save her. He heard the door open behind him and he knew Nathalie had returned from the funeral. She closed the door behind him and quietly said, "I'm back sir. The funeral...a lot of people express their condolences. All of Paris was there."

He wanted to go. He didn't deserve to go. It was his fault, after all. He was the one who killed…there was no time for that. He pressed his hands together and remarked, "We're going to bring him back, Nathalie. Bring them back."

"Sir," she began, "Is this...the best decision? We...you've already lost so much in pursuit of the miraculouses. Don't you think it's time to...look to other things?"

"Nothing was or is more important to me than bringing them back Nathalie," Gabriel answered bitterly, "What happened to Adrien...was my fault. But if I can get them, I can set things right. I can save them both. I was so close. I will see them again."

She was silent. It was uncharacteristic of her to be that way. Gabriel turned to see her hanging her head quietly, "Sir...I'm tendering my resignation."

As she said that, she removed the peacock miraculous from inside her jacket. Gabriel stood up, his brow furrowing at the betrayal, "How dare you, Nathalie."

She didn't falter, setting the miraculous on his desk, "Sir...I've supported you through so much over the years. But this...Adrien...this was too far. I can't do this anymore. Not if this is what you're prepared to do."

Now he understood, "This isn't your fault, Nathalie."

"I know. It's yours," she replied. Those words would've stung if it weren't for the intense grief he was already feeling. Nathalie turned, "I...I want you to know that I loved you, Gabriel. All this time. But I can't love someone who was willing to kill someone else...especially not their own son. I'm done. I'm leaving."

She paused for a moment and he could hear her trying to calm her breathing. He could see she was shaking too but it didn't stop her, "I won't tell anyone you're Hawkmoth. For your sake...but please, give this up. Goodbye Gabriel."

Then she left, closing the door behind her. He closed his eyes. It seemed he was truly alone now. He sank back into his chair… he would need to be careful going forward. His goal, his mission that had been within reach, now seemed so far away.

Manon got home to find her mom was still out. She'd been very busy with the news ever since Ladybug and Chat Noir fell. It seemed now was no different, especially since she was covering the funeral. She saw dinner waiting for her on the table with cling film wrapped over it, ratatouille.

After helping herself to an okay dinner, she went back into her room and logged into her computer. The internet was full of people talking about the funeral: goodbyes, thanks to the heroes, sharing stories of times they'd personally been saved, saying they would miss them. It wasn't long before she turned her computer off again. This was too depressing. And the last thing she needed was to be reminded of the funeral.

At least until she heard a rattling from her dresser. She turned around to see her jewelry box rattling. Confused and alarmed, Manon rushed over to investigate, grabbing a hold of her book to swat at whatever had made a home in there. Slowly, she propped the lid open and saw…

...a small red ladybug with an abnormally large head cradling two earrings. Manon stared at the bug and the bug stared back before both of them started screaming. The bug flew out of the jewelry box as Manon swung her book around, "ACK! BUG! DIE! GET OUT!"

"I AM NOT A BUG! STOP SWINGING THINGS AT ME!"

The panic from seeing an insect was amplified by hearing it talk, "IT TALKS!"

"STOP IT!" It flew right in front of her eyes and Manon finally got a good look at it. It was kind of cute now that she could see it. Of course, that wasn't going to stop Manon from taking a swing at it. A swing that did nothing as the book passed through the critter.

"Are you done?" the critter asked.

Manon took a moment to calm down and nod, "I...yeah…"

"Thank you. Do you have any cookies? I'm hungry," the creature asked. Manon shrugged, "Maybe? I can...wait...hang on, more important stuff right now. What are you?"

"Hungry," the ladybug answered. Manon sighed, "Fine, who are you?"

"I'm Tikki, Manon," the creature said. It knew her name. How did it know her name? She opened her mouth to ask but Tikki cut her off, "I've been living in your jewelry box for a week, I think. And I'm really hungry. Can we please get something to eat?"

"I...sure," Manon said as she went out to the kitchen and went through the pantry, "There's some sugar cookies. Are those okay?"

"Yes," the creature said, suddenly flying straight for the box and disappearing. The box rattled for a second before the insect flew back out, "That was good. Yummy."

"Huh," Manon examined the now empty box before tossing it into the recycling, "Um...Tikki...what are you?"

Tikki burped and covered her mouth in embarrassment. Whatever she was, she had a big appetite. The bug replied, "I am a kwami - a little god. The kwami of creation, in fact."

"Kwami? Of creation?" Manon repeated, at a complete loss for what she was talking about. Tikki nodded, "That's right. I was also Ladybug's kwami. I'm the one who turned her into a superhero!"

A superhero. Manon had always liked the idea of being a superhero. Even when she was a little girl being babysat by Marinette. Marinette…

Her heart sank just thinking about what happened to the young woman. She didn't deserve a fate like that, to die so pointlessly. Manon looked up, "If you're Ladybug's kwami, what were you doing in my jewelry box?"

"I was hiding the miraculous," Tikki replied, producing the earrings she was cuddling. They seemed so normal that she could've easily grabbed them by mistake. Tikki added, "These miraculous are what Hawkmoth has been after all these years. It's what lets a person transform into a superhero and gives them super strength, speed, and reflexes! After...during the last fight, Ladybug-"

"Marinette," Manon stated. Everyone knew she was Ladybug. There was no point trying to keep it secret any more.

Tikki paused for a moment, "-Marinette knew that was the end. She took off the earrings and...asked me to hide them. I ran...I flew away as far as I could...I only stopped when I flew in an open window and...here we are."

Manon did a double take on the earrings - this is what Hawkmoth was ready to kill for. She almost wanted to throw them away. But this is what Marinette gave her life to protect. And now it was in her room - she couldn't let Hawkmoth get them. She swiped them out of Tikki's little hands, "I'll protect them!"

"Manon, wait!" Tikki stopped her by snatching the earrings back, "This isn't your responsibility. You can't just take the miraculous! That's what Hawkmoth did and look what happened."

"So you're saying if I just take this, I become a bad guy? That sounds dumb," Manon replied matter of factly. Tikki frowned, "That's not what I meant."

Manon wasn't convinced of that and asked, "Okay, then what did you mean?"

Tikki's eyes darted back and forth before she answered, "I need to return to the box. The other kwamis and the miraculouses aren't safe and I-"

"Other kwamis?" Manon gasped out - mind racing. Tikki said she was the source of Marinette's powers as Ladybug. She supposed that made sense as well for Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and all the other heroes. Which begged another question: where were they?

Tikki paused, "Yes. Marinette was the one who safe guarded the other miraculouses when they weren't in use. Without her, they could be in serious danger!"

"Well then I'm coming too!" Manon cried out, "I can't just sit back and do nothing!"

Tikki cracked a small smile, "You sound just like Marinette."

Gabriel scrolled through the Internet on his computer, looking up everything he could about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He felt some pang of regret for not recognizing her despite his son's relationship with her. He would've felt shame if he actually cared about the girl, but she was just an unfortunate casualty of his true mission.

Adrien would forgive him once he brought them back. He would understand.

After some time searching he found her home address. More accurately, the address of her parents' bakery. If she was the Guardian, that was where the Miracle Box would be. That must be where the miraculouses disappeared to. Further searching of the internet revealed to him his last akuma had a fiancee. Alya Césaire, an aspiring journalist and operator of the Ladyblog which was the main source for all things Ladybug and Chat Noir. And the only post on the blog in the last few days had been a plea to forgive her fiance for his actions; surely the stress of the situation and backlash from the readers who were less forgiving was eating at her. All perfect for an akuma. He moved from his computer to his secret room, transforming into Hawkmoth and sending for his akuma.

Noel returned home to find his parents still at home. Neither of them had really left the apartment since they found out about what happened and Nino was named as the akuma who killed Ladybug and Chat Noir. But he wasn't afraid to go out; which meant between school and his club activities he'd been doing all the groceries. He didn't get why though. It wasn't Nino's fault. He was akumatized at the time. He had no control over what happened.

Why couldn't anyone see that?

His parents saw him and cracked small smiles, "Welcome back."

"I'm going to my room," he said, still annoyed that they didn't even come with him to get Nino released from the police. Didn't they care? Their son, his older brother, was locked up for something he didn't do!

He slammed the door behind him and threw his coat off, punching the wall in anger. He had to make them see! To make them understand.

"Do you mind keeping it down? I'm hungry and I'm trying to sleep over here!" a small voice cried from his dresser. That caught him off guard. Who was talking? Had his room been bugged when he wasn't looking? It better not have been. Otherwise he'd personally kick the ass who ever thought that was a good idea. He made his way over to the dresser and gave it a good kick, "WHO'S THERE!?"

"OW!"

A small flying black rat flew out of the bottom drawer where he kept his socks and complained, "Do you mind? I don't come to your home and start kicking things!"

"No, you're just hiding in my sock drawer," Noel fired back. The rat smirked, "Ooh, attitude. I like you."

Noel raised an eyebrow and tried to grab the black thing out of the air, "Stop! Quit moving! What even are you?"

"Name's Plagg. I'm a kwami, little god of destruction. I'm also hungry. Do you have any cheese?"

"Cheese? I'm not feeding some free loading rat!" Noel protested. The rat groaned, "I'm not a rat, I'm a kwami! I smell cheese and Imma eat it!"

He watched the creature fly his way towards the door and pass through it. A solid object - that he just phased through like a ghost. His parents were going to freak out. He threw the door open to see them with their eyes still glued on the TV. They hadn't even noticed the fact that the door was wide open and that food was flying out of it. He hurried to the kitchen to salvage as much of the food as he could. Food that the creature happily named as he threw it out, "Ham. Chicken. Broccoli. Carrots. Butter. Milk. Where's the cheese!"

Noel felt like an idiot, standing there balancing as much of the food as he could before shouting, "STOP IT!"

"Noel?"

That caught his parents attention, and they were looking at him like he was crazy. He must've looked it too, standing in the kitchen with all this food in his arms. He quickly threw it back into the refrigerator and snatched the black rat thing while its back was to him, "Nothing."

He made sure to hold it tight so that it couldn't get loose as he walked back into his bedroom and slammed the door. Then he realized he didn't even want it in his room and went to the window, "Look, flying rat thing. I don't know what you want but I want you out of my room! NOW!"

He opened the window and threw as hard as he could, only to see nothing go flying.

"Nice try kid, but I'm not that easy to get rid of," the rat said from behind him. Noel raised an eye, "What do you want?"

"To help you help me!" the creature said excitedly, floating around Noel happily. Noel crossed his arms, "I don't need help."

"Uh huh, sure," the creature teased, "So how's your brother doing?"

"How do you know my brother?" Noel grumbled.

"Are you kidding? He killed my partner!" the creature remarked. Noel paused at that, "Your partner?"

"Adrien Agreste...Chat Noir! Any of this ringing a bell," it stated. Noel closed the window and looked at it carefully for any sign of deception. All he was able to determine was the rat looked more like a mouse. Maybe even a cat, "What did you say your name was?"

"Plagg, kwami of destruction, Chat Noir's partner, blah-de-blah-de-blah! Look, I can help you get your brother out of jail if you help me take down Hawkmoth," Plagg said matter of factly. Finally, a way to save his brother. Noel nodded in agreement, "Deal, what do I have to do?"

"Whoa! First things first kid, there's a couple of rules," Plagg said, "I forgot to tell them to Adrien last time and he ran right into trouble so we need to go over them first."

"Fine, but make it quick. I'm not letting Nino sit in jail any longer!" Noel answered.

Alya sank into her chair in anger because of what was happening. Her post on her blog saying to forgive her fiance proved more divisive than she realized it would be. And how could people forgive anyway? Nino killed Paris's heroes! Their best friends! Marinette and Adrien.

It had all been too much. She wasn't even allowed to see him right now because he was in protective custody with the police. She just felt so...alone. The frustration and the anger and the grief all came out as her sweeping everything off her desk. Everything except her phone which she couldn't bring herself to throw.

As she sank further into her chair, she failed to notice a small butterfly flying into her room and landing on her phone.

"Sullen.

I am Hawkmoth.

The world blames the man you love for the death of your heroes.

The grief you feel is immeasurable.

Now you will share your grief with the world!

In return, all I ask is the Miracle Box in the Dupain-Cheng bakery."

Alya stood up from her chair, "As you wish, Hawkmoth."

…