Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug, Cat Noir and Steel Butterfly.
Chapter 5: A Santa Claus Christmas Special.
(Author's notes: I know it's technically not Christmas just yet, but I couldn't resist making this chapter. Now, in this new take on the Christmas Special, Ladybug and Cat Noir will be singing their different takes on the winter holidays at different times of the night. In particular, Steel Butterfly will be singing alongside Ladybug during their turn to sing. As for who's gonna stop Cat Noir from using Cataclysm on the Christmas tree... instead of a vision of his mother, it'll be two very important people in Cat Noir's superhero life. And it's all too easy to guess who they might be.
Also, just like my first two takes on the Christmas Special, I'm using the hash tag sign as song notes. In case you all have forgotten, the reason why I'm using the hash tag sign as song notes is because, for some reason, any fanfiction story chapter with songs that get posted onto fanfiction dot net don't show any song notes in any song being sung by any of the fanfiction characters whatsoever. And no matter how many times I edited my original takes of the chapters, the song notes still didn't show up. AND THAT IS ULTIMATELY AND UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE.
Additionally, because of the direction of this take on the Christmas Special, Santa Claus will not be Akumatized into Santa Claws.
Lastly, something to point out. In a future chapter, when Purple Tigress comes to be – it'll be someone Miguel Guevara knows, but it will not be Juleka Couffaine – there'll be a change in the appearance and main superpower of the Tiger Miraculous. For some reason, whoever uses the Tiger Miraculous has the ability to unleash a shockwave-inducing energy punch that launches enemies very far away instead of providing a traditional sonic roar. And for some reason, the hand of the Tiger hero with the panjas bracelet is the only one with a glove that has tiger claws on it. That's completely unacceptable. I mean, any superhero or supervillain with the theme of a house cat, a lion, a cheetah, a leopard, or even a tiger is supposed to have two gloves with claws on the fingertips, not one glove with claws on the fingertips. I mean, seriously, where's the thinking behind what Purple Tigress wears on her right hand with the Tiger Miraculous? So, in my stories, the Tiger Miraculous will be two panjas bracelets instead of one. That way, Purple Tigress will have the two traditional clawed gloves to further place her in the superhero ranks of cat-themed superhumans that have two gloves with claws on the fingertips. And I have to say, Purple Tigress' claws are really elegant-looking and quite razor-sharp.
In the meantime, enjoy my new take on the Christmas Special and consider it an early Christmas present for all of my readers.)
(Paris, France, December 24th, 2014, Dupain-Cheng Bakery, third person POV...)
Marinette, Alya and Manon enter the bakery.
Tom and Sabine sing in unison, "#Merry Christmas to all!#"
Marinette sings the next set of lyrics, "#Mom and Dad, I'll help you in the bakery. To hand the Christmas logs to all of my friends you see.#"
Marinette passes the first Christmas log to Alya, but it falls. Thankfully, Alya manages to catch it.
Marinette finishes the first verse, "#Merry Christmas to you, Alya, and to your family!#"
Alya takes her turn as she sings the next verse, "#Thanks, my BFF. Same to you three!#"
Alix Kubdel and her father Alim Kubdel arrive.
Marinette hands the next Christmas log to Alix and Alim as she sings, "#For Alix and her dad, Merry Christmas to you!#"
Alim Kubdel sings in response, "#Tom, Sabine, Marinette, Happy Holidays to you too.#"
Rose and Juleka arrive and Marinette passes the next log to them.
Marinette sings the next verse, "#Rose and Juleka, gifts for you, you bet!#"
Rose sings her part, "#Merry Christmas to you!#"
Juleka sings her part calmly, "#Merry Christmas, Marinette.#"
Nadja Chamack arrives and Marinette passes Manon to her with their Christmas log.
Marinette sings the next verse, "#Manon, Merry Christmas to you and Nadja!#"
Nino arrives.
Marinette passes the log to him.
Marinette sings to him, "#Merry Christmas, Nino.#"
Sabrina arrives and Marinette sings, "#And Merry Christmas to you, Sabrina!#"
Chloe and Lynnette arrive wearing skeptical looks.
Marinette starts to sing, "#Merry Christmas, Chl-#"
Marinette stops singing upon seeing their skeptical frowns.
Miguel pops out of the wall behind the counter and asks, "Hey, what's wrong?"
Chloe replies, "Adrien's spending Christmas alone again, and his father's not doing anything about it."
Lynnette adds, "And on top of that, one of the people who used to torment me years ago has shown up in Paris, and Steel Butterfly warned me that, and I quote, 'This disgraceful abomination of the human race will stop at nothing to ensure you feel miserable this Christmas.' And you pretty much already know my story to guess who I'm talking about."
Ever since the averted Princess Fragrance incident, Lynnette turned over a new leaf permanently and spilled her life story to the students and staff of Francoise Dupont.
As it turned out, Lynnette was initially bullied for being rich.
So, she took to bullying people she considers inferior to hide the emotional pain and trauma she felt when she was growing up before making it to Francoise Dupont.
And as it also turned out, when he was tickle torturing Lynnette, Steel Butterfly became aware of Lynnette's past and the reasoning behind her being a bully. But he kept it to himself initially so as to prevent the timeline from being screwed up.
In the present day, Miguel adds, "Yeah, and before you or Tom suggest anything, Sabine, this former bully of Lynnette is not gonna change whatsoever, even for the winter holidays. So I suggest you leave the situation to me. Because even though it's already Christmas Eve, let's just say Judgment Day has come for Yannick Dominici thousands of years early in the form of a new version of KRAMPUS."
Chloe and Lynnette shakily leave with their Christmas logs.
Miguel exhales as he says, "Sometimes, I wonder if those two have what it takes to permanently change."
Placing her hand on her taller comrade's back, Marinette replies, "Like you once said, people tend to change for the better and for the worse. But sometimes, if you let those people change, they can surprise you and themselves. But like you also said, some people might never want to change not only because they might relapse into their old habits, but also because they refuse to change due to having grown addicted to their not so good habits. And in the case of criminals and supervillains alike, they choose not to change because they love the supervillain and criminal life, and because they're insane enough to continue using almost all of the same plans over and over again in the hope of expecting different results."
Adrien's bodyguard arrives and Marinette hands him Adrien's present.
After getting special permission from her parents, Ladybug and Steel Butterfly fly over the city via their respective winged jetpack and normal armored wings as she sings the first verse, "#It's Christmas in Paris, all is cheery and bright! And we're out on patrol tonight!#"
Ladybug and Steel Butterfly make their way over to the Cesaire apartment and hover in front of the window via their respective buzzing and flapping wings.
Ladybug knocks on the window and both flying superheroes wave to Alya's entire family.
The Cesaire family waves back with Christmassy smiles on their faces.
Alya got out her phone and takes a picture of Ladybug hovering while doing a Santa Claus pose for the Ladyblog. She also takes a picture of Steel Butterfly doing a pose of riding a flying horse.
Ladybug and Steel Butterfly continue flying as the butterfly hero sings the next verse, "#Families are together with their gifts by their side! And Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight!#"
Steel Butterfly does his next part by handing out presents to kids walking on the cold streets of Paris.
Surprisingly, they happen to be presents that Santa initially couldn't give to them in the past, either for being naughty or because there initially wasn't enough space in his sleigh.
The two flying heroes make their way to the Grand Paris Hotel, where Chloe and her father, Mayor Bourgeois, are having a luxurious Christmas dinner.
Chloe sees Ladybug and Steel Butterfly hovering outside the window and squeals in delight.
Mayor Bourgeois waves at the two heroes and Steel Butterfly makes a "tipping your hat" gesture as a greeting, even though he was only pretending to wear a hat.
As the two heroes continue flying, Ladybug sings the next verse, "#Snug as a bug in a rug, and everyone gives us hugs! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight!#"
The two heroes go around the city streets, letting citizens hug them, shaking hands with some of them, and assuring them that they'll be protected from the likes of Krampus, demons, and even from Hawk Moth.
For Steel Butterfly, every time someone hugs him, his wings start to vibrate and flap of their own free will without making him fly without consent. And at the same time, Steel Butterfly's wings glow every time someone hugs him.
All the while, Steel Butterfly sings this next verse that he's absolutely sure someone from his dimension made up, "#Every citizen of Paris that hugs me on this beautiful Christmas night makes me feel like an angel getting his wings and his choice of a robe or a suit of God's armor! It makes my wings glow with Christmas-themed compassion, love and biblical pride! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!#"
Ladybug and Steel Butterfly find themselves standing in front of the largest Parisian Christmas tree, decorated with the colors of the French flag, something that previously made Steel Butterfly vomit when he saw it in person for the first time fourteen years ago.
Ladybug and Steel Butterfly sing in precise synchronization, "#People care about us and our team, with the spots on or off, with elegant wings alive or dead, with the claws out or in, and with the power to surprise! We're not alone tonight! We'll take your symbol of joy and polish it up with a few additions! We're the Christmas insects of the night! We're the Christmas insects of the night!#" "#People care about us and our team, with the spots on or off, with elegant wings alive or dead, with the claws out or in, and with the power to surprise! We're not alone tonight! We'll take your symbol of joy and polish it up with a few additions! We're the Christmas insects of the night! We're the Christmas insects of the night!#"
Steel Butterfly pulls out of his cape a large enough selection of Oreo candy canes and plastic replicas of God's angels from the Superbook cartoon, with the majority of them wearing white robes and/or a suit of white and golden yellow battle armor.
Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm, which was a roll of ladybug-patterned tinsel.
Ladybug put the tinsel all around the Christmas tree while Steel Butterfly hung up the candy canes and the angels.
Steel Butterfly puts on top of the Christmas star a replica of Jesus Christ riding a white winged horse somewhat similar to the Pegasus from Greek mythology.
Steel Butterfly remarks, "It's PERFECT! Hahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Steel Butterfly snaps his fingers to recharge Tikki and the Ladybug Miraculous.
The two heroes teleport back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and detransform to have Christmas dinner.
Meanwhile, in the Agreste Mansion, Adrien and Nathalie are decorating their Christmas tree.
Adrien asks Nathalie, "Check it out, Nathalie. Do you think he'll like the decorations we bought and/or made by hand?"
Nathalie doesn't answer, unable to come up with a response while simultaneously concentrating on decorating the tree.
Meanwhile, Adrien's bodyguard Gustavo enters the house.
Adrien states, "He should be down here already. Did you call him?"
Nathalie replies, "Perhaps we should give him... a few more minutes."
Adrien looks disappointed before scowling again.
Adrien replies with a sneer, "What's the point, anyway? He's not coming, so what's the point of celebrating Christmas without him even caring one bit?"
Adrien starts walking to his room and Gustavo gives him Marinette's present.
Adrien takes the present and says with a scowl while continuing to his room, "Thank you. Merry Christmas, both of you. Not that I care anyway."
Nathalie looks on with a fond expression and she hangs her head.
In Gabriel's atelier, Gabriel is staring at a picture of his wife, Emilie Agreste.
Nathalie knocks on the door.
Gabriel calls out, "Yes?"
Nathalie enters the room.
Nathalie points out, "I can imagine how difficult this must be for you, sir. But it's also Adrien's first Christmas without his mother. I really think, sir..."
Gabriel interrupts and says in response, "I know, you're right. I'll go see him. I just need a little more time."
Nathalie replies, "Of course, sir."
Nathalie leaves the room.
Upon entering her room, Nathalie scowls while keeping her emotions undetectable to the power of the Moth Miraculous.
Adrien stews in his anger as he snarls, "He's still only thinking of himself! I guess Simeon Says' power was only temporary, something that I'm pretty sure Steel Butterfly didn't even know about! Either way, I just want this terrible day to be over with! Like The Grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge, Patrick Bateman, The Dursleys, Francis Hancock, Alexandra Hancock, Holden Caulfield, The White Witch, and even Mephistopheles, I officially hate Christmas! Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"
Adrien transforms into his black cat-themed alter ego and takes flight via his jetpack and working neon green bat wings.
Cat Noir starts singing, "#It's Christmas in Paris, all is cheery and bright! But I'm all alone tonight!#"
Cat Noir sees Miguel, Marinette and her parents having Christmas dinner.
Suddenly, as if Steel Butterfly sensed what was going on, the world started to move in slow motion without anyone being aware about it, no matter what. Of course, Miguel, Marinette and her parents were unaffected by this and continued to have Christmas dinner undisturbed and unaffected.
Cat Noir continues singing in slow motion, "#Families are together with their gifts by their side. Only Cat Noir is alone tonight.#"
Chloe and her father are shown still having a Christmas dinner.
Cat Noir continues singing once more, "#There's no warmth for me, no tenderness for me. I'm alone like a cat in the night! I'm a sad, lonely kitty! Won't anyone take pity? Cat Noir is alone tonight! Cat Noir is alone tonight!#"
After having finished Christmas dinner with Marinette's parents and stopping the world from moving in slow motion by usage of his replica of The Upside Down Show imaginary remote control, Miguel suddenly teleports everyone in the room – with appropriate winter wear and with Marinette transformed into her alter-ego – to the Christmas tree to witness Cat Noir venting in song about his desire to destroy Christmas.
Cat Noir is seen and heard singing his final verse, "#No one cares about me if I'm lost or I'm found and I'm just like a cat in the night! I'll take your symbol of joy and burn it to the ground. I'm the vengeful cat of the night! I'm the vengeful cat of the night!#"
Marinette and her parents gasp in shock and horror as they realize that Cat Noir is serious and that he's gonna destroy the Christmas tree for real.
As he charges towards the Christmas tree in anger, Cat Noir calls out, "#Ca-ta-cly-sm!#"
His Cataclysm activates and radiates with pure destructive energy, increased by his anger.
But before he can destroy the Christmas tree, Cat Noir is stopped when Steel Butterfly calls out, "CAT NOIR!"
Cat Noir freezes and whirls around to see Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, and Marinette's parents standing there.
And while Ladybug and her parents were aghast at what they were about to see, Steel Butterfly... was not pleased.
Steel Butterfly demanded in his demonic Ghost Rider-style voice, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?!"
While Cat Noir could care less about being called an idiot and while he could care less about Steel Butterfly using profanity on Christmas Eve of all nights in the year, that didn't change the fact that he did act like an idiot when he was about to destroy the Christmas tree and until now, he truly had no idea what the hell he was doing.
Through a force of will, Cat Noir turned off his Cataclysm without starting his timer – he had practice of doing so, even though it was said to be virtually impossible – and knelt on the ground, and he started to cry his eyes out.
Thankful that they had time to kill before Gabriel started to panic, which was approximately fifteen minutes, Steel Butterfly and Ladybug went to their respective partner and hugged him while letting him cry out his sorrows on their respective suits of armor.
Surprisingly, Steel Butterfly didn't mind getting his armor wet for once. If only because Cat Noir was in a sorrowful mood.
Of course, Marinette's clone, Tom and Sabine subtly noticed that some people were recording and live-streaming the whole thing onto the internet.
Steel Butterfly didn't care for the moment, and even though he had prepared contingency plans for even this situation, handling his partner's emotions on Christmas Eve of all nights was more important for the time being.
After a minute or two of letting Cat Noir cry his eyes out, Steel Butterfly started petting his partner like an actual cat.
Surprisingly, Cat Noir started loudly purring as he starts to feel better.
The Parisians recording the whole thing couldn't believe their eyes and ears when they saw Steel Butterfly petting Cat Noir like he was an actual black cat and when they heard the black cat hero purring in response to the affectionate gesture.
After Cat Noir blew his nose and he looked up at Steel Butterfly, only to see the butterfly hero was still not pleased.
Steel Butterfly asks sharply, "Feeling better, kitty?"
Cat Noir winces as he replies, "Yeah, I deserved that. And yes, I'm feeling better. Slightly, so to speak."
Steel Butterfly states scoldingly, "Cat Noir, I get that Christmas is a difficult time for you because of your father's neglect, but that doesn't give you the right to use your Cataclysm on the Christmas tree. Think about how crushed everyone in Paris would've been tonight if I hadn't stopped you. If they saw one of their favorite heroes destroying something valuable to them this time of year, how do you think they would've reacted?"
When Cat Noir didn't answer, Steel Butterfly provided one as he continued, "Children would've been in tears, there would've been a lynch mob who would've wanted your head on a silver Santa-decorated platter, and most of all, we would've had to administer more severe punishments after running interference on your behalf. And I will be honest. I didn't expect Simeon Says' power on your father to be temporary, but I will rectify that mistake when I get time. But right now, take the time to consider the consequences of your actions the next time you decide to do something as stupid as this. And right now, your father will be arriving at your room in approximately seven minutes, so haul assets and get your bat-winged butt back home."
Cat Noir activates his jetpack and his wings while looking at Steel Butterfly as the butterfly hero adds, "Merry Christmas."
Cat Noir solemnly nods and he takes flight back to the Agreste Mansion.
As soon as Cat Noir lands in his bedroom, he reverts to normal.
After making sure that Plagg is fed with a remaining apple slice from dinner earlier, Adrien waited until his father appeared in the door.
Two minutes later, Gabriel comes up to Adrien's bedroom door while carrying a present.
Gabriel had a Christmassy smile on his face.
Gabriel knocks on the door and lets himself in.
Gabriel says, "Adrien. Merry Christmas."
Adrien replies with a little more fake, undetectable joy, "Merry Christmas, Dad."
Gabriel gives Adrien his present and says, "Adrien, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. It's been so hard without your mother that I tend to be oblivious to the feelings of others."
Adrien mentally asks sarcastically, "Where have I heard that one before?"
Gabriel finishes, "Anyways, Adrien, I hope you like your present. I worked very hard to get it for you."
Gabriel hugs Adrien, and they stay like that for half a minute.
Steel Butterfly is watching the whole thing from a rooftop concealed by the cameras from a good enough distance, and removes his helmet to reveal his Christmassy grinning face.
Of course, what nobody would realize was that underneath his Steel Butterfly helmet, Miguel Guevara had a normal butterfly mask and was wearing black and white face paint resembling the Eric Draven makeup with added red, green, yellow and blue scars.
Putting his helmet back on, Steel Butterfly took off in flight towards the location where the fake Santa Claus would be Akumatized into Santa Claws.
The Santa Claus was in Steel Butterfly's sights as he landed close enough to not be seen for now.
Santa chortled to the two kids in front of him, "Ho, ho, ho! No need to grab now, children. Good old Santa Claus has a gift for everyone."
Santa hands the little girl a snow globe and her brother a tube-like object akin to a mix between a flashlight and a laser pointer.
The two kids throw their presents to the ground as the girl says, "These gifts are so lame, and I bet this is totally fake!"
She starts pulling on Santa's beard.
Santa exclaims a bit, "Hey! Easy on the beard!"
The two kids pelt him with snowballs.
The boy exclaims, "Yeah! Totally. No way are you the real Santa Claus!"
Steel Butterfly roars, "HEY! Stop that right now! Even if he's not the real Santa Claus, what would Santa think if he saw you treating another Santa like trash? And besides, it doesn't matter if Santa doesn't get you what you initially want for Christmas; it's the thought that counts!"
The kids' father says, "Steel Butterfly's absolutely right, kids. You say sorry right now."
The kids state shamefully in unison, "Sorry, Santa Claus." "Sorry, Santa Claus."
Santa replies, "It's no big deal, children. Merry Christmas anyway."
The kids and their father depart as the man replies, "Same to you."
Steel Butterfly says to Santa, "Sorry you had to go through all of that. Are you okay?"
Santa replies, "I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm a tough old Santa. But what are you doing out at this time of night?"
Steel Butterfly answers, "Oh, I was out on patrol to spread joy for the Christmas season. You see, I have reason to believe that Hawk Moth won't hesitate to Akumatize even you tonight, so me and Ladybug were out on patrol to spread joy to negate Hawk Moth's abused ability to detect negative emotions. But there was a small bump on the Christmas hill."
Santa asks, "And what would that be?"
Steel Butterfly responds, "Cat Noir almost used his Cataclysm on the largest Christmas tree in the city." Santa gapes in shock and horror. Steel Butterfly continues, "And before you ask, he initially didn't know what he was doing because he was mad at his father for neglecting him on Christmas Eve since they're respectively mourning the death of Cat Noir's mother, and his father is too stuck in the past to even move on or to find new love. He's too afraid of the past to change in his dear wife's memory. And I will admit; I may have been a bit harsh on calling out Cat Noir about his actions, but I wasn't just gonna let it slide. Whether his actions are justified or not, he would've emotionally scarred all of the people of Paris and perhaps the spirit of his mother for destroying something that they all loved. And even though Hawk Moth has not yet made a move, it's only a matter of time before he does. And I think you can make an educated guess for why he became Paris' first ever magic-abusing terrorist."
Santa replies, "He wants to use Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses to revive his wife without regard for the consequences."
Steel Butterfly replies back, "Ding ding ding. You got it in one. And yes, Hawk Moth is aware that there'll be a price to pay, but he doesn't care. He firmly believes that nothing matters as long as he gets what he wants and his enemies – including me – are obliterated. But I will be honest. If this trend continues and he gets unmasked, he really will have to serve time in prison. And I really pity any family he has left, no matter if they don't approve of the whole thing or not."
Santa nods in understanding and Steel Butterfly flies off into the night.
Once Steel Butterfly made it to his primary headquarters, he got ready for when the hardworking Santa Claus became Akumatized into Santa Claws.
And as soon as he got word that the real Santa Claus was in town, he realized that the fake Santa who would've gotten Akumatized was in fact the real Santa.
Then Steel Butterfly remembered that in European countries, Pere Noel as he's called in French used horses to pull his sleigh instead of reindeer. And if he were to be Akumatized into Santa Claws, his horses would become reindeer.
Of course, Steel Butterfly couldn't help but go on a flight across the skyline of Paris, singing to the tune of a specific version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town that he heard while watching The Polar Express multiple times in his dimension years ago.
Before you knew it, Steel Butterfly was spinning through the air, twisting, nose-diving, and loop-de-looping while singing the Christmas song that he likes the most.
Santa watches from his perch with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Gabriel, Nathalie and Adrien were having Christmas dinner in silence.
Even though Adrien is grateful that his father is paying special attention to him tonight, he's still not happy that he had found out after the Simon Says incident that his father was the magic-abusing terrorist of Paris by the name of Hawk Moth.
But since Adrien was informed that Steel Butterfly's got a lot of plans to disrupt his father's crimes and put him behind bars if need be, Adrien decided to have faith in his leader. Even if he was a bit of a basket case.
Adrien looks at the portrait with his mother and mentally comments, "Merry Christmas, Mom."
Meanwhile, Steel Butterfly gave Yannick his comeuppance by simply feeding him to Krampus' waiting spanking stick, so to speak.
Steel Butterfly says to the camera, "Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukah, Happy New Year, and stay off Ghost Punisher's radar. Or else she'll come and get you. Mwa ha ha."
The End.
(Author's notes: Just for clarification, the statement about a version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a reference to the version of the song created by the late Frank Sinatra. I didn't add his name in the story because of copyright infrigments.
Also, there's so many people Miguel Guevara has connections with that he's practically gonna make an army of superheroes, with and without the power of his Butterfly Miraculous, to take on threats just like Hawk Moth or twice as worse.
Lastly, in the next chapter, Cupid vs. Dark Cupid, there'll be a battle between a Tenshized Cupid and the Akumatized Dark Cupid, just like my other take on the Dark Cupid chapter.
See you in chapter 6: Cupid vs. Dark Cupid.)