Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all the support on my first chapter of this story. I'm very sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter in over a year. Yeesh.. now that I say, or write, that out loud, that sounds really bad. I'm really sorry, this is a longer chapter than the last one. I promise I will keep this story going as long as I can and have less than a year gaps between chapters. I am busy with school and personal life so please keep that in mind. If you have suggestions on what I should have into this story, feel free to let me know. As always, I don't own any of the shows or characters mentioned in this story. Now, without a further ado, From Duo to Trio, Chapter 2 - Miss Monarchy!
Chapter 2 - Miss Monarchy
Miss Monarchy - Baker's Daughter, Blogger Girl, Mr. DJ, and Designer Boy
That fight was interesting. They both had their own unique skill and power sets. Cat Noir seemed to have the power to destroy whatever he touches. On the contrary, Ladybug seems to have the power to create objects out of thin air and definitely seems to be the smarter one of the duo, I mean, she makes these super complicated plans involving her random object she gets using her, what does she call it? Oh yeah, her lucky charm. I start to wonder how long the two have been working together, and if they could use another temporary team mate, I mean wouldn't it be fun for an American and Parisian hero team up? I mean, think of how many more tourists would want to visit America after they see the great Ben Tennyson (or at least the alien versions of me).
I decided to go and get croissants at that place Patelliday was talking about. I searched up that Dupain-Cheng bakery place on the map app I have and selected the first thing I saw with a somewhat similar name. I started to walk around the vast, never ending streets of Paris when I found new places to explore. I'm about halfway there when I see Ladybug swinging by. She was heading towards the bakery as well. I was just watching her swing gracefully from building to building. The way she moves so elegantly through the air. I just love how she smiles. It's such a gentle smile. Her rosy cheeks (or at least what I can see of them). Now, enough about Ladybug…
When Ladybug turned the corner, I followed her, still not knowing where she was heading. I know that she probably has some top secret hide out she goes to that no one should know about but… still. Anyway, as she continued swinging from building to building, like Spider-Man, my curiosity continued to grow. She eventually landed on a building called Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. She landed smoothly on this decorated balcony. It had lawn chairs, an umbrella, and other nice items as well. She opened a hatch on the balcony and hopped inside. The next thing I know, there was a bright red flash coming from the circular windows that the room had. I was really curious now. I reached the steps that lead up to the doors of the bakery. I wonder if the owners know that Ladybug went inside of their building.
Slowly opening the door, I peer inside the brightly lit bakery. I took a step inside and saw a really bright, warm face smiling at me. I slowly walked inside the pastry scented room. Something about it just felt really welcoming and safe (and it's not because Ladybug landed on the roof and went inside the building).
"Welcome! Are you new here? I haven't seen your face around here before." The lady behind the counter asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm on summer vacation." I replied.
"Oh? Where are you from? Here in Paris, the kids are still in school. Maybe you can visit one day and see what school is like here in Paris. I have a daughter that goes to the high school here." She replied.
"That would be fun. Who is your daughter? Maybe I have seen her around the streets. By the way, I'm Ben. I came from the U.S." I stated.
"My daughter's name is Marinette. I'm Sabine by the way. My husband, Tom, and I own and run this little bakery of ours." She put on a sweet smile.
A second later, a girl came running down the stairs. She looked to be about 15.
"Marinette, come introduce yourself and your friends." Sabine gestured to the girl by the stairs with dark blue pigtails, beautiful bluebell eyes, and a floral print shirt. Then she nodded towards a group of teens sitting in the corner of the bakery. The girl by the stairs looked a lot like Ladybug in a way. I try to imagine a mask on her, swinging from building to building, saving the entire city with her partner, Cat Noir.
"H-hi!" The girl said as her cheeks turned rosy red. "I'm M-M-M-Marinette! These are my friends, Alya and Nino." The girl with two dark blue ponytails gestured to the people in the corner. The girl in the corner had long, wavy brown hair with lighter brown ends, and the boy with a red baseball cap and a blue shirt that had an eyeball on it. The shirt was a little weird to be honest, but I didn't really care. Both of them had glasses. They kind of looked cute together (don't tell anyone I said that though). Next to them sat a short haired, blond boy with what looked like a basic designer brand outfit. "Hey, I'm Adrien!" the boy said. I look at him with curiosity. "Are you that boy on the billboards all around the city?" I question. Adrien's cheeks turn pink. "Hehe, yeah. My dad is a really famous fashion designer here in France, and possibly some parts of the world." he replies. "What's your name?" asks Nino. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ben. My cousin, grandpa, and a couple friends, came for summer vacation. We flew in from America."
Alya's jaw drops like she had just seen something amazing. "You're from the U.S.! What is it like there? What time is it right now in the U.S.? How different is it than Paris? Can I have an interview for my blog?"
I almost fell back from being overwhelmed by the amount of questions.
"w-well" I start to mumble… "America = burgers and hotdo-" I then get cut off…
"America can be described in a number of ways depending on who you ask, but for me, I think of it as home, and its people as family."
I was confused who answered because I sure didn't. I quickly spin around to see who answered and found Gwen leaning on the wall to the right of the door frame. She was standing there with her arms crossed and a small grin on her face.
"Hey! I'm Gwen, Ben's cousin. Also, the answers to the rest of your questions, it is about 8:30 A.M. right now, in many ways, it is really similar and different at the same time. I mean, we have lots of monuments, and restaurants, and tall apartment buildings everywhere, but at the same time, we don't have many fancy bakeries everywhere. Lastly, sure! I'm not sure if Ben would want to though, but I'm up for it." She said as she pushed up her glasses and started to walk over to our table.
My jaw dropped. "WAIT! Why are they allowed to call you Gwen and I have to call you GWENDOLYN!? That is SO UNFAIR!" I frown.
"Fine, you can call me Gwen instead of Gwendolyn." She said, rolling her eyes.
Alya and Marinette started to giggle a little.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Alya, this is Marinette, Nino, and Adrien." Alya pointed to the people as she said their names.
"Nice to meet you, too!" Gwen gave a friendly smile.
Miss Monarchy - Acquaintances
Once we got the donuts, we left the bakery. We all decided that it would probably be best if Marinette and her friends gave us a tour around Paris, or at least the "touristy" areas.
We walked out of the warm bakery to find ourselves facing Grandpa Max approaching a door talking to another man. The man was on the older side with a collared shirt with light blue lines going down the shirt. He must be older than Grandpa Max because his hair is much whiter than our grandpa's.
"Hey kids! Meet Mr. Rolland Dupain. He has a granddaughter close to your age." Grandpa Max said, gesturing to the man on his left.
"Oh, hello there! I see you met my granddaughter, Marinette. I'm Rolland." The old man said.
"Hi! I'm Ben and this is my cousin Gwen. We met your granddaughter and her friends in the bakery," I explain.
"Hey grandpa, how did you meet Marinette's grandfather? Wait let me guess, you met him at some food store?" Gwen asked. I'm glad she did ask because I was wondering as well.
"I was actually on my way to the bakery because I knew I would find you guys there, then, we kind of just bumped into each other."
"Yup. Actually that's exactly how we met… we just kind of ran into each other in the streets." Rolland said.
"Well… okay then." I say. "Shall we continue with the 'tour' then?"
"Sure!" exclaimed Alya.
And with that, we continued throughout the city of love, Paris.
Miss Monarchy - Temptations
As we wandered through the city, I grew closer and closer with the group. Alya was really out going. Turns out she has her own blog and she's practically Ladybug and Chat Noir's number one fan. Next up is Nino. As I thought, they were cute together, and, surprisingly, Alya and Nino are actually dating. Now it just reminds me even more of how lonely I am. Any way… Adrien talked about how his life as a model made things hard for him to enjoy hanging out with his friends and how his strict father made it hard for him to have a normal life. Lastly, whenever I tried talking to Marinette, she just turned pink and muttered strange things (I'm pretty sure I also heard something about hamsters for some strange reason).
After about an hour of walking, we came close to a very big bridge.
"Hey! Is this the Pont Des Arts bridge?" Gwen asked.
"Yup! We came here because it's pretty famous, also-" Marinette starts to talk but then gets cut off by Alya, "We came here because we heard that the ice cream match maker, André, is here today."
"Ice cream match maker?" I questioned suspiciously.
"Yup! Rumor has it, if you and one other eat his ice cream together, you and the person you eat it with will become happy lovebirds…" Alya stated. "…and you know it's true because Nino and Alya are a happy couple." Adrien added on.
"Welp, I don't really care if it makes me fall in love, I just want ice cream!" I exclaimed. Everyone just started laughing.
We started walking up the bridge when suddenly a bright blue rug came flying in from the other end of the bridge. As the rug came closer, we saw a girl in a very dark blue suit standing there. She looked like a circus director standing up there with her brightly colored suit, and the coat tails, oh the coat tails make her look very professional. The girl had a cane with a circular orb as the handle. This person had a silk top hat which matched their out fit.
"Well, well, well, well, what do we have here? Why, it looks like a group of average, everyday high schoolers getting some ice cream… to bad, I was really hoping you guys could join my army. ACTUALLY, YOU WILL!" The villain cried. Just as soon as she finished her sentence, a hoard of people started to appear from the other side of the bridge. The girl flew up above her army. Everyone was in shock at the flying girl. With the mob of people still crossing the bridge, Alya, Nino, Marinette, Adrien, Gwen, Mr. André, and I started running back from where we got on the bridge (the side with no mob of people). "What a pitiful way to get captured. You aren't even putting up a fight! So sad, oh so very sad." The villain cried out.
I was really resisting the urge to just transform and get this over with.
Once we crossed the bridge, we decided to split up so that it would be a little harder for the villain to capture us. Marinette, Adrien, and André all ran on their own, Alya and Nino ran together, and Gwen and I ran together.
"Hey Gwen, do you think I should go fight the villain?"
"I think you should wait a little longer first. I'm sure Chat Noir and Ladybug will show up sooner or later." Gwen said with a face that told me there was nothing to worry about but she herself was starting to have her doubts.
"Mmm, okay then…" I say as we continue running.
Miss Monarchy - Explanations
"HOLY SMOKES! HOW ON EARTH DO THEY DO THIS EVERY DAY! I NEED AT LEAST A WEEK TO REST BETWEEN FIGHTING VILLAINS!" I was actually shook at how much stamina Chat Noir and Lady Bug have! Gwen and I found a safe spot to hide near the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Gwen and I decided to hide some where near the back of the building (sort of near the dumpsters, and let me tell you, it didn't stink as bad as I thought it would have. Definitely not like the United States). We hid for about 5 minutes until Mr. Dupain-Cheng came out to find us sitting near the corner of the dumpster.
"What are you kids doing out here? Here you know what, come in side, we have a fresh baked batch of croissants cooling so you guys can have some of those."
Gwen and I followed Mr. Dupain-Cheng inside. Inside the bakery, we saw Mrs. Dupain-Cheng sitting by a little TV on a side table near the ovens. On the TV was the news with Nadja.
"BREAKING NEWS FOLKS! HAWKMOTH HAS RELEASED ANOTHER AKUMA AND NOW A NEW CITEZEN HAS FALLEN VICTIM. WE ADVISE NOT GOING OUT. IT IS DANGEROUS." Nadja continues, "ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THIS AKUMA IS HOW THEIR POWER ALLOWS THEM TO MAKE ANY NORMAL CITEZEN BOW DOWN TO THEIR BE CAREFULL."
"Oh dear, this can't be good. I hope Marinette and her friends are alright." Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said, sighing to herself.
"Hey honey, I found Ben and Gwen hiding out back." Mr. Dupain-Cheng said.
"Uh, hehe, hi! Sorry for sorta hiding out back, we were running from the villain and we ended up outside the bakery." I explained.
"Oh poor things, here have a croissant…" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said as she handed us a croissant, "… wait a second, weren't you guys exploring with Marinette and the others?" Her and her husband started to worry.
"We decided to split up because it would have been more difficult for the villain to capture all of us if we were all separate." Gwen explained further.
"Oh, okay then. I just hope everyone is alright and that Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive soon." Mr. Dupain-Cheng said. We all looked at each other with a very worried expression.
Miss Monarchy - Decisions
It's been about 30 minutes and still no sign of Ladybug and Chat Noir. The entire city of Paris was being destroyed.
About 15 minutes ago Gwen and I moved up stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng let us hide out in Marinette's room. Gwen and I were talking about very serious matters… which is better : peanut butter or strawberry jelly. In the end I won the debate by stating that peanut butter is better because it is easier and doesn't have to be refrigerated (Author's Note : If you don't refrigerate your jelly or jam, please do so).
All of a sudden, Marinette's computer woke up from its power saver mode and the news with Naja came on. "MORE NEWS CAME IN. LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR ARE NO WERE TO BE FOUND! WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PARIS? IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE STAY INSIDE AND STAY SAFE!"
Gwen and I just looked at each other. I looked at her with that face that sorta says it all. I need to get out there and help fight the villains. Gwen just looked at me back and she had that face that showed I should wait a little longer, then she looked out the window, and said, "I don't think they are going to show up after all. If you are going to go out, please make sure you do it quickly and if anything goes wrong, leave at once." I just smiled and ran up to the balcony with the lawn chairs and umbrella.
I was trying to see if I could see the villain from where I stood. Good news, I could see them, bad news, they were headed this way.
I quickly started scrolling through the Omnitrix to find an alien that would suit this job. I ruled out Grey Matter, Diamondhead, Ripjaws, Way Big, Upgrade, and Heatblast either because they weren't suited for the job, or they were going to make a giant mess of the city. I only had a couple left I could pick from. In the end I had a hard time picking between Ghostfreak, XLR8, and Stinkfly.
Miss Monarchy - A New Hero?
I started racing through the city. In the end I decided to go with XLR8 because he won't do much damage and he is to fast to actually be seen. Also, since he is tangible (unlike Ghostfreak) he can round up all of the people on the ground and get the villain.
The villain was making all the people in the park bow down to her will. Apparently I was so fast and silent that she didn't even notice. I snuck around the back of her and hid behind a tree. I was trying to figure out a way to get up to the rug and stop her.
All of a sudden she started moving even closer to the bakery. This can't be good, and there is still no sign of Ladybug and Chat Noir, or at least until I saw a very bright red flash from behind a building, it looked very similar to the one I saw in Marinette's window. Huh, strange. All of a sudden Ladybug came swinging out and stood in the villains path.
"Ah, Ladybug, about time you showed up. Now, where is your little kitty cat? I kind of need both of your miraculous to actually full fill my duty in return for even having these powers, curtesy of Hawkmoth."
"Yeah, I know the drill," Ladybug called out, "but what exactly do YOU want?"
"WHAT I WANT?! HAH! I ALREADY GOT WHAT I WANT! NO ONE WAS LISTENING TO ME AND THEY WOULDN'T EVEN LET ME TAKE CHARGE, SO NOW THEY HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME AND BOW DOWN TO MY WILL!" The villain called out with a psychotic look on her face. Suddenly her expression changed to a fake sympathetic look, "My oh my, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! Hi, I'm Miss Monarchy, pleasure to finally meet you personally Ladybug. Now, I will ask once more, WHERE IS CHAT NOIR!" Honestly, I found it scary how Miss Monarchy could change her mood in an instant. If anything it made her look even more psychotic, to be honest.
All of a sudden, Miss Monarchy swung around. She must have heard me shift around in a bush as I ran out from the tree.
'WHO'S THERE?!" She called.
I decided that it was time for me to introduce my self.
I ran out to almost the center of the park.
"Oh, no one in particular," I say sarcastically. "Say, I don't believe you have ever met me before have you? Well in that case, I'm XLR8. Basically the fastest person… err… alien in the whole world (unless you count the other faster aliens back at HQ, but I didn't tell them that)."
"WHO ARE YOU! WHAT ARE YOU! AND SINCE WHEN CAN HAWKMOTH AKUMATIZE MORE THAN ONE PERSON AT ONCE?!" Ladybug was freaking out.
"I literally just told you who I am, and what I am, and who the heck is Hawkmoth and since when was hakuna matata a bad thing? And if hakuna matata is a bad thing that turns people evil like her…" I point to Miss Monarchy, "…then I am not a bad person. Actually I came here to stop the villain since you and Chat Noir weren't showing up, but right as I got here, you showed up. So I guess I am not needed here." I say as I start to walk away.
Miss Monarchy was just sitting on her flying carpet watching this conversation between me and Ladybug happen.
"WAIT DON'T GO!" Ladybug calls out. I stop walking. "If you say you are truly on my side of the fight, then I could use your help, I'm not exactly sure where Chat Noir is, he won't pick up when I call him, but I could still use your help. Please don't go." She pleaded. We both started to blush, except it was hard for both of us to tell.
"So touching, oh so touching," Miss Monarchy said sarcastically, "If you two are done WASTING MY TIME, then lets get to the part where I ge-" suddenly she stops talking and a purple butterfly frame appears around her face, "Yes, Hawkmoth, I understand," then the purple outline disappears and she continues talking. "So there is a little change in plans, while yes, I still need to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, I also need to get whatever your source of power is Mr. Alien." Mr. Alien?! I told them my name was XLR8! Wait a second, did she say she is going to try to get the Omnitrix? Hah! I'd like to see her try. "I don't think you are going to be able to get my 'source of power'. You see, my 'source' is genetically woven into my DNA and can't, let alone won't come off. So, I'd like to see you try. Also, MY NAME IS XLR8 AND NOT MR. ALIEN!"
In the distance I see Ladybug mouth the words, "Alien", "DNA", "won't", and "XLR8". I think she is still in shock about the alien part though.
Miss Monarchy - JUST GET TO THE FIGHT ALREADY!
"Oh, my, god, I REALLY DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS! I was just told to get Chat Noir's miraculous, Ladybug's miraculous, and your miraculous, if you even have one… and if you don't have a miraculous, and it is woven into your DNA, then I guess I will just have to take you to Hawkmoth himself so he can find a way to get your 'source of power' off of you. AND IF HE HAS TO HE WILL SEVER IT OFF OF YOUR BODY TO GET IT. Now, that we got that over with, lets get to the part where I kick your butts." As soon as Miss Monarchy finished her very intriguing speech, I zoomed around her army, knocking almost all of them to their butts and just stood there with a very confident look on my face.
"So what were you saying about getting this over with quickly? Because I completely agree with you. But, instead of you winning and getting their miraculous and my 'source of power' how about… hmm… well gosh I don't know! How about Ladybug and I completely knock you out and stop your little army? Does that sound good? Okay, sounds good." I say sarcastically and zip around to one of the park trees. Apparently I was moving to quickly for both Ladybug and Miss Monarchy to notice because they were both looking at where I once stood.
"GAH! WHERE DID HE GO?!" Miss Monarchy yelled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I to quick for you to comprehend?" I start to smirk. Then I quickly dart around the park to exactly the opposite side of where I made fun of Miss Monarchy. This time I didn't say anything, instead I quickly got up in the tree, and ran on the branch that reached out closest to Miss Monarchy's flying rug, carpet thing. As I ran on the branch, I could feel it start to bend down towards the ground, in a last ditch effort before the branch would completely snapped in half, I leaped for the rug. Some how I actually made it on and scared the living soul out of Miss Monarchy.
I quickly grabbed Miss Monarchy, held her hands behind her back and jumped down from the rug and handed her over to Ladybug.
I was a little confused what happened in the next 10 seconds. I heard a crack, a yo-yo string unwind and retract, Ladybug say, "No more evildoing for you little akuma," there was a bright flash, and then I heard Ladybug say, "Bye, bye little butterfly."
I was completely dazed by litteraly everything Ladybug did. Though it is hard to tell when I am blushing in my alien form, I am pretty sure that you could see my face turn bright pink.
"Well then, I have no clue what just happened, but I am about to transform back so I am going to take my leave." I say as I once again start to slowly glide away.
"WAIT! I- I mean please wait." Ladybug called out. I stop and turn around. "Yes?" I respond.
"Thank you, sir, err, XLR8 was it? I really don't know where Chat Noir is and I'm just glad that you were here and… and willing to help, I guess I should be saying." Ladybug continues saying while starting to blush ever so visibly. "You know, Chat Noir and I do this thing at the end of every battle… and since he isn't here I thought I could do it with you instead… if you wanted." She said. "Oh, uh sure," I respond.
"Alright then, uh, 1… 2… 3… POUND IT!" Ladybug and I fist bump together when she said, "Pound it."
Ladybug's miraculous started beeping and my Omnitrix started to flash we both decided it was time to make our leave.
Hello! It's just me, RinaRouge808, popping in at the end of your story to tell you thanks for waiting over a year for the next chapter. If you have anyting to say about it, positive or negative, I'm willing to hear it :). My DMs are open. Well that's all, I'll start working on Chapter 3 now. Hope you have an amazing rest of your day, afternoon, evening, or night! Bye!