Marinette had always known she wasn't fit to be a superhero. It wasn't an issue of wanting to be one, or believing she wasn't a good person. Rather, it had everything to do with her basic ability. Any time she pictured herself as a superheroine the scenario ended one of two ways, with her tripping over herself and accidentally saving the day or the villain and all of Paris laughing at her clumsiness.
Marinette took it in stride though. These were all theoretical musing anyway, nothing to hate herself over. She had other strengths, bringing almost any kind of creative musing to life. She could bake delicious cakes and cookies, put together a working outfit out of leftover scraps of fabric, and draw impressive works of art. Not to mention she believed herself to at least be a pleasant person to generally be around.
All this to say that while Marinette didn't believe herself to be superhero material, she didn't believe that to be a bad thing. She was made to create joy for others, not fight them. So when she jumped to the rescue of an older man crossing the street followed by a faceplant to the ground, she thought nothing of it.
"Thank you, miss." The old man smiled as he helped her back on her feet. Marinette smiled sheepishly, bending down to pick up some of the still whole macaroons her father had baked for her class.
"No problem, sir. Though you should probably be a little more careful when crossing the street next time." She got up and dusted her knees before hearing the school bell sound across the street. She looked back at the old man only slightly panicked.
"I've gotta go, gonna be late for class. Have a nice day!" And she was racing across the street into the school building.
In her haste, she missed the wise smile and ornate box the old man now carried as he followed her with his eyes. After some contemplation, he smiled and walked away.
At school, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that not only was her new homeroom teacher Miss Bustier, but that she was also still taking attendance and assigning seats for the class.
"Welcome to class, Marinette. Nino could you please sit in the front row this year?" Miss Bustier called, giving Marinette a polite smile and writing down on her seating chart.
Marinette went to her usual seat, one she had been seated at for the past four years at this school, only to be stopped by another staple of her four years here.
"Dupain-Chang, how not nice to see you again. You're in my seat." Chloe Bourgeois slammed her hand on Marinette's desk, her sidekick Sabrina smirking behind her. Marinette looked up at her long time tormentor and sighed.
"But this has been my seat for four years now, Chloe?" She gripped her bag in a protective hold. Chloe huffed and flipped her blonde hair off her shoulder.
"That was before Adrien was a classmate of ours. He's sitting there and that means I'm sitting here." Marinette followed her hand as it pointed to the front row spot next to Nino. She tried to think of who this Adrien guy could be, but she had no clue why Chloe of all people would care about anyone.
"Who's Adrien?" Two scoffs answered her.
"Who's Adrien? Only the most popular fashion model and son of famous designer Gabriel Agreste, and I'm his longtime favorite childhood friend." Chloe practically preened as she spoke about this new student. "Go sit with that new girl over there. You two can be ugly together."
Marinette had certainly heard of Gabriel Agreste, he was an icon for fashion and one of her professional inspirations, but she had never heard of his son before. She also hadn't noticed the class had another new addition. She looked over to see a rather pretty girl, dark skinned with awesome red tinted hair. This girl was practically glaring at Chloe behind her glasses. The new girl stood up and marched behind Chloe, hands on her hips as she addressed her.
"Who made you in charge of the seats?" She spoke, and Marinette was almost jealous at how she didn't sound intimidated at all. Chloe was not as impressed.
"What are you going to do about it, four-eyes?"
"That's enough girls!" Miss Bustier called from behind her desk.
The new girl grabbed Marinette's hand and led her down to the front seat of the opposite side of the room, accidentally causing Marinette to trip over herself and lose another macaroon. Marinette happily smiled as she sat next to the girl and offered her half of the last macaroon.
"Wow, I wish I could handle Chloe like that." the new girl took the offered sweet and frowned.
"That's because you let her walk all over you, girl. You need to stand up for yourself like a superhero." She excitedly opened up her phone to a comic strip with a flying woman on the cover. "Majestia always says that all that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. You just need that confidence" She smiled.
Marinette held out her cookieless hand. "I'm Marinette." The new girl shook her hand. "Alya."
"Alright students, I know you are all excited to see everyone again but we do have to learn something today." A small chuckle echoed through the class.
The first half of the day went by smoothly for Marinette. It turned out Alya was quite the personality and they both enjoyed sneaking in conversations when they could. She had already told Marinette of her dreams of being a reporter and gushed over Marinette's work trying to be a fashion designer. Marinette had a feeling they could grow to be really good friends. This was also helped by their shared, and slightly guilty, pleasure at seeing Chloe's frustration over the lack of her so-called childhood friend.
Finally the bell rang to signal gym class or study hall. Marinette immediately started babbling to Alya about the possibility of making a Majestia style coat when she heard a yell from behind them.
"Cut it out Kim or I'll…" Ivan crushed a note in his hand while holding his other up in a fist.
"Ivan, no! Cut it out" Miss Bustier called quickly moving from her desk to the two boys.
"It's Kim, I'm so gonna…"
"To the principal's office, Ivan!" The boy looked dejected down at his fist before gathering his things and leaving through the door.
Alya looked over to Marinette with a quizzical eye. "Is that normal around here?" Marinette turned back to her and shrugged.
"I wouldn't call it regular. Ivan's usually pretty quiet, but Kim's always trying to push somebody. Usually it's Alix though." She pointed to a red headed girl putting a helmet on.
"Come on, let's get to the library. I'm sure they have to have some interesting reporter… stuff?" Marinette awkwardly laughed, but Alya smiled and hooked on her backpack.
"Alright, lead the way to this reporter stuff."
The talk on the way to the library was fluid, and Marinette had never felt so excited about a new class. She had talked to her classmates before for certain, but never had this sort of comfort while being near them. Alya seemed so honest and nice, and really Marinette just wanted the day to continue like this. Then she could go home and tell her mom that everything had turned out so much better than she had hoped for.
Unfortunately, her joy was short lived as the televisions lit up with news of a literal stone monster terrorizing the city. A creature over ten feet high that broke the sidewalk as he jumped, throwing cars and benches at passersby. Fear gripped Marinette's heart as this impossible being made its way down the street, destroying everything in its rampage. She looked at Alya and gripped her arm, running through her head what they should do.
"Alya, we can hide here or we can run to my house, it isn't that far but I don't know which is saf-"
Alya cut her off with a finger to her lips. "Girl, did you hear the monster? That sounded just like Ivan! He must have somehow been transformed which means…" Alya motioned for Marinette to fill in the blanks, but Marinette was still trying to decide if the school was safer than home, or if running as fast as they could in the opposite direction was any good. Alya sighed and started digging in her bag.
"It means that we have a real live super villain on our hands. And where there's a super villain," She pulled out her phone and showed Marinette the picture of Majestia again. "There's gonna be a superhero!" Alya started rummaging through her stuff again, muttering "Batteries, check. Camera, check. Notepad, check."
Marinette did not know how Alya was not freaking out about the stone monster destroying the city right now, but she supposed that was just how awesome Alya was. She wasn't afraid of anything. But Marinette was, and as Alya ran out the door to go get the latest scoop, she could only stand there and watch.
Eventually, a security officer for the school came down and instructed all the students to return home if possible. Policemen were ushering the students into cars and driving them home. Marinette was able to run across the street to the bakery, trying her hardest not to stare at the cracks in the cement left by possibly one of her classmates turned evil stone monster.
Her mother and father hugged her tightly, everyone terrified of this new threat. Her parents rushed her upstairs to her room before coming downstairs to barricade their home as best they could. Marinette grabbed a stuffed black cat from her bed and curled up on her chair. She closed her eyes and let a few tears leak out as she internally panicked.
Monsters were not supposed to be real. They were inventions for books and stories so that people didn't always have to fight other people. This can't be happening. How could anyone fight that thing?
She opened her eyes and clutched the doll to her chest as she set the news to run on her computer. She had to know what was going on. She had to be prepared in case they evacuated the city. She also hoped she'd see sight of her new friend, hopefully safe and away from the danger.
After watching for a couple of minutes, she noticed something hidden behind her computer. A black and red ornate box just sitting there. Marinette had never seen this box before, and curiosity overtook her as she reached down and opened it.
Inside was a pair of black earrings that immediately glowed with a bright red light until before her was a little red and black creature. Marinette screamed.
"OH MY GOD IT'S A BUG, OR A MOUSE, A BUG MOUSE?" She took her stuffed cat and held it like a shield in front of her, blocking the weird creature from her view.
"Marinette, please don't be frightened. I'm here to help." Marinette's eyes widened as she peered over her stuffed cat's shoulders.
"Did you just… talk?" Her blue eyes stared at the creature floating in front of her. It seemed, pleasant? Marinette wasn't so sure, but at least for now this thing seemed to not harbor her ill will.
The creature smiled and nodded. "I'm Tikki, a kwami."
"A Kwami?"
"Yep, I'm a being that gives powers to those that have my miraculous."
"A miraculous?" Marinette put the stuffed cat back down on the bed before sitting herself. Tikki moved over to the box with earrings and brought it over to Marinette's hands.
"These earrings allow me to give someone the power of creation. You can use this to defeat Stoneheart!" Marinette lifted one of the earrings to look at in the light. "Who's Stoneheart?"
"The stone monster, or actually it's your classmate whose been akumatized into a stone monster" Tikki spoke as if that wasn't important information. Marinette paled.
"I can't fight that thing! It's a giant stone... thing!" She stared at the screen across the room, still playing footage of the monster moving through Paris. The police were surrounding it, trying to use their cars as a blockade and shooting the creature with tasers. Nothing was working, Stoneheart easily broke through the cars, caring little about the human resistance.
"That's why you use my powers and become a superhero!" Tikki exclaimed. Marinette looked back at her with fearful eyes.
"Me? A superhero? No, no, no, no…. I'm definitely not superhero material. You should get someone else." Marinette tried to hand back the box of earrings to the kwami, but Tikki just pushed back.
"You were chosen for this, Marinette! That means you absolutely can!" Tikki grabbed the earrings and started to attach them to Marinette's ears. Marinette lifted her hand to stop her, but meekly put it down again.
"You really think I can, Tikki? Do you think I can save everyone?" Marinette thought of her parents downstairs, scared and boarding up their house. She thought of her classmates at school, cowering behind bookshelves as police escorted them outside. She thought of Alya, so confident a superhero was going to show up to save her. And she thought of poor Ivan, who had just sadly walked out of the door and into some villain's trap.
"Ok Tikki. I'll give it a try." She held her hands up to her ears to feel her new earrings. "So what do I do?"
The kwami seemed to shine. "Well, you have to find the item the akuma is hiding in. Once that is destroyed, a butterfly should come out. Catch it and purify it and everything will be fine." Tikki moved Marinette to her full length mirror. "You also use your special power, Lucky Charm!"
Marinette looked oddly at Tikki. "Lucky Charm?" Tikki smiled.
"Lucky Charm is a power you use to get a lucky item. You then can see a solution to getting to the akumatized item! Afterwards, you shout "miraculous ladybug" and the lucky charm fixes all the damage the akuma caused." Tikki moved over her shoulder.
"Ok, find an item, use lucky charm, break item, catch butterfly, and then use lucky charm to fix everything?"
"Yes, but you'll only have five minutes after you use lucky charm before you will become Marinette again. And you can't share your identity with anyone!" Tikki warned. Marinette nodded at herself in the mirror, trying to psych herself up for the stupidest thing she had ever done.
"When you are ready, just say spots on."
Marinette took a deep breath.
"Spots on"
Swinging from rooftop to rooftop was both terrifying and exhilarating. The brief moments of panic between swings were outmatched by the pure joy of flying over the Parisian sky. The idea that her super weapon was a yo-yo was still strange to think of, but it certainly was a super yo-yo if it could do this. Marinette felt more confident with each swing. However, Marinette had always been more clumsy when she wasn't as careful. One accidental flick of her wrist at the wrong moment and she was careening towards the ground. Her yo-yo trailed behind her only to tie itself around a metal staff elongated across two homes.
Marinette flinched as the ground came closer, barely noticing that she was about to hit someone else. She moved her hands to block her face from the impact, and with a large slam she and her unfortunate victim collided. The yo-yo string wrapped around both of their bodies, slowing their descent before they landed on the ground.
She was quick to get up and untangle them, panicking over the fact her first act as a superhero was to probably kill a civilian with her body.
"I'm so so sorry, are you ok? Do you need a hospital? God, why am I so clumsy?" She wrapped up her yo-yo and started to look over the boy. That was when she started to actually look at him. He was a blonde haired boy, looking to be at least close to her age. The rest seemed a mystery because he was wearing a black suit, mask and cat ears not unlike the spotted suit she wore.
"No worries, nice of you to drop in." The cat boy stood and shook his hair. He glanced over at her. "You must be the partner my kwami told me about. I'm…"
He put his hand under his chin and seemed to think for a second.
"I'm Chat Noir. And you are?"
Marinette looked up at him and reached a hand out. "I'm Ma… a mess. Bit clumsy, still trying to figure this out." She gave a nervous smile.
'Well Clumsy girl, don't worry. I'm just learning the ropes as well." He shook her hand and gave her a warm smile. Marinette's cheeks began to burn a bit. Their conversation was cut by a roar and a collapsing building. Chat Noir immediately sprung into action, extending his staff to the next roof.
"Wait, where are you going?" Marinette called after him. He turned his head and gave her a playful smirk.
"I'm going to save Paris!" And with that he disappeared.
Marinette stood there for a minute psyching herself up to follow. Every time she heard the creature roar or the collapsing of some structure, she flinched. She could do this, she just had to believe in herself.
"Ok, let's go save Paris." and she swung towards the sound of mayhem, towards the stadium.
Arriving later than Chat Noir, Marinette was welcomed with the sight of him and Stoneheart already engaged in combat. Punches and strikes were exchanged, but nothing Chat Noir did seemed to phase the monster. If anything, he seemed to be growing bigger with each hit. Marinette looked over to make sure no one else was around, but spotted Alya filming under the stands.
For a moment, Marinette was relieved. She was so happy that her new friend was still safe and seemingly unharmed. But then terror overtook her as she watched Stoneheart pick up the soccer goal and throw it at the defenseless reporter. Marinette couldn't move. Her bluebell eyes followed the net hurtling towards her friend, her body shaking, eyes wide, mouth agape in a silent plea for Alya to somehow get away in time.
Lucky for both girls, Chat Noir's reflexes kicked in and he tossed his staff. It extended in front of Alya, providing a quick barrier to the goal post. Marinette sighed with relief as the net bounced harmlessly off of the staff and landed on the field. She took a deep breath and looked back a Chat Noir, watching as he jumped again at the monster; all while her body continued to shake.
"I knew it, Tikki. I'm not cut out to save anyone."
"Hey! Bug Girl! The whole world's waiting on you!" Marinette's head snapped to Alya, registering her voice. She couldn't help but wish Alya hadn't noticed her, or at least hadn't said that while holding her phone out to clearly film her. Already Marinette could feel herself panic, but looking at the field, watching Chat Noir do his best against that monster despite not even leaving a scratch, Marinette knew she had to at least try.
She readied her yo-yo and let it fly, swinging down towards Stoneheart. She landed on his shoulder and quickly somersaulted off, landing semi-gracefully next to the cat hero.
"Sorry about the wait." She sheepishly apologized, trying but probably failing in concealing her still shaking hands. Chat looked over and gave her another smirk.
"No problem, Clumsybug. Now we can give him all we got." And he moved forward to attack.
Marinette's eyes widened and she quickly grasped his tail before he could get too far. He yelped in surprise before giving a confused look back.
"I don't think attacking it is working at all. In fact, it looks like attacking it only makes him stronger." Her and Chat leaped backwards as a set of chairs from the stands were thrown in their direction.
"So what do you suppose we do?" His green eyes glanced over before returning to the battle.
Marinette looked over Stoneheart. Tikki had mentioned an item being the key. She looked over every inch of him, but it all seemed to be the same stone. Then the stone giant smacked the ground beside Chat with his right hand, open palm. A quick look at his left hand confirmed her suspicions.
"Chat! The akuma-thingy is in his left hand!" She called out before jumping away from another thrown chair. The field was now completely a mess of torn-up turf and broken stadium pieces.
The boy gave an excited grin. "Alright! Then time to test my powers! Cataclysm!" He raised his hand as a black and brown energy fizzled and swirled around it. He smiled and touched the collapsed goal behind him.
The sport equipment rusted up in less than a second before crumbling into a pile of brown dust beneath his feet. He smiled and started to run towards Stoneheart.
"Wait! Chat!" Marinette called before chasing after him.
The excited hero reached Stoneheart and with a mighty cry laid his hand upon the monster's foot. After a second of nothing, he looked up at the villain sheepishly.
"Guess I only get to do it once?" His smile faded as Stoneheart threw a punch at him. He flinched and braced for impact, when he felt the pull of a string wrapped around his waist.
He grunted as his body was pulled out of the path of its fists and landed on the fleshy body of his partner. Marinette blushed heavily at the contact before standing and pulling him up.
"You only get one chance with your power and then you only have 5 minutes till you transform back. Didn't your kwami tell you anything?" Marinette took a look at Stoneheart before returning to Chat.
"Ok, my turn right?" She felt nervous but tried to smile anyway, throwing her yo-yo above her. "Lucky Charm!" A wave of sparkling pink and red energy flowed around her and manifested into a wetsuit.
Chat Noir snorted into his hand as he failed to keep a straight face. "Sorry, just how are we supposed to beat him with that?" If he was losing confidence in her, his smile didn't show it.
"Well, we have to think…" Marinette looked around at the field, thinking hard about how to use the suit to get at the akumatized item. She backed up a bit while she examined the rubble of the stadium. Her foot caught on something behind her, and she flailed about trying to keep herself up before falling onto the ground, the wetsuit flopping on top of her head. She glared at the offending object that had tripped her up.
Her eyes widened upon the realization that she had tripped on a hose, a hose that happened to be attached to a water nozzle next to where Alya was trying to hide and film. She turned towards Chat and smiled triumphantly under the wetsuit.
"Chat, I need you to get caught!" She yelled as she jumped up and prepared the wetsuit, tying all but one hole up. The cat hero looked at her with a stupefied look on his face.
"Are you crazy?"
"Just do it!" She pushed him forward towards the stone giant and turned to attach the hose the wetsuit. Chat gave her one fleeting glance, eyes heavily conveying his lack of understanding her plan, before rushing headfirst towards Stoneheart.
Marinette watched and counted down in her head. She didn't need to time anything, but counting the seconds was keeping her mind occupied on what she needed to do rather than on how stupid this plan would be if it fails. A cry of pain from Chat echoed out as he let Stoneheart get a good grasp on him. Marinette winced and reminded herself to apologize to the boy afterwards.
She jumped forward, hugging the wetsuit and hose, as she aimed for the monsters right hand. Stoneheart reached with his clenched fist, and for a second Marinette really doubted that her plan would work. At the last second, the fist opened and caught her, but the goal had been achieved. She watched with elation as a small black crumbled up wad of paper fell to the ground. She quickly turned her head to where Alya was filming.
"Alya! The water hose!" Her friend looked up over her phone and over to her right where the hose was attached. Dropping the phone, she sprinted over and started the water flow.
Marinette could feel the wetsuit filling up beside her, and as it grew bigger the more pressure she felt on her chest. She looked up at Stoneheart, willing him to open up his fist just a little, just enough for her to squeeze through. Seemingly on her command, the monster opened up his fist and dropped the girl and the ballooned wetsuit. Marinette ran over to the black paper and stomped on it as hard as she could, almost crying in joy as a black crackled butterfly flew out of the pieces into the sky.
Behind her the stone monster started to fizzle with black energy, shrinking into the form of Ivan. He held his head in one hand, nursing a headache but otherwise unharmed. Chat also fell to the ground, landing gracefully before helping the poor boy up.
"What just happened? Where am I?" He looked around at the destroyed stadium with no recollection.
"Don't worry about it. You just got saved by Paris's two new superheroes." Chat exclaimed before walking over to Marinette. "That was awesome. Crazy awesome." Marinette was already feeling so many emotions at that moment, and his smile only added to the cacophony.
"Same goes for you, partner" She held out a fist towards him. He responded in kind.
"Pound it." Marinette couldn't help but giggle at the interaction. Unfortunately, their time was interrupted by a beeping.
"You've got to go Chat, we can't let anyone know our secret identities." The boy nodded.
"See you soon then, M'Lady." And he ran towards the end of the stadium, using his staff to reach over and disappear into the Parisian skyline.
Marinette looked over at Ivan. He had his head in his hands, muttering to himself too quiet for her to hear. She reached down at her feet and picked up the piece of paper, now returned to its original form.
You haven't even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her. Wuss.
She frowned and knelt next to the boy, carefully removing his hands from his face.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with telling someone how you feel, but I know it can be scary." She held up the note. "This guy just doesn't know what it's like to feel the way you do." She tried to give her most reassuring smile.
"Amazing! Awesome! Inspiring! Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Were you bitten by a radioactive ladybug?" Alya stood about five feet away from them, filming the heroic end to Paris' first villain.
Marinette felt herself freeze up. "Oh ah, I have to run now." She started moving back, fiddling with her yo-yo.
Alya reached out her hand. "Wait! What do we call you?"
Marinette looked down at her spotted suit and smiled. "Ladybug. Ladybug is fine." With that she took her leave, sailing over the edge of the stadium and towards home.
Sailing over Paris this time was delightful. She had done it! She had saved Paris and its people from a monster she'd been afraid of. She could still see echoes of destruction from his rampage, and a little bit of her twinged with guilt. She knew she wasn't responsible for this damage, but maybe next time she could defeat the villain faster so not as many people had to suffer.
At the thought of next time, Marinette skidded to a halt arriving at her balcony. Did she want there to be a next time? Was she ready to be a superhero called upon by her city in times of distress? She still felt a little trepidatious. Sure she had beaten this monster, but what if the next one was smarter, or had stronger powers, or wielded chainsaws for hands? Marinette shook her head and released her transformation. She could think about those things if the time came, but for now she had saved Paris and deserved to treat herself.
She quietly snuck back into her bedroom. Tikki flew around her and smiled, nuzzling her cheek before hiding in her purse. Marinette blushed and smiled as well. Checking that nothing had been disturbed in her absence, she walked downstairs to the bakery to see her parents.
"Mom, Dad? Everything's ok now, right?" She called out, feigning ignorance to the situation outside.
Her mom came around the corner and hugged her tightly. "Oh yes. Turns out we now have two good people looking after us." Her father came over and joined the hug.
"Let's have some parfait to celebrate, shall we?" He smiled and started to prepare the dish in the kitchen.
Sabine led her daughter to the couch and they both just sat next to each other, Sabine clutching Marinette in a loving embrace. The news was running, with the anchor proclaiming the goodness of Ladybug and Chat Noir. The Mayor went on record, establishing festivities to celebrate the two new superheroes. Each kind word warmed Marinette's heart, and with the arrival of their sweet treat and her father settling in on her other side, Marinette could not imagine a better day.
"Just now, reports have come in that smaller Stonehearts have been appearing all over Paris. It seems people from all areas of the city have become statues in the monster's visage. No threats or damage has been done to the city or its citizens by these statues yet. We'll keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds."
Marinette's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. She sat up out of her mother's arms and stared at the screen in horror. She hadn't fixed anything. Now there were more of them, and more innocent people had been hurt. She needed to talk to Tikki fast.
"Um, I'm going to go upstairs and call Alya." She got up from the couch and made her way towards the stairs.
"Who's Alya, dear?" Her mother called with a worried expression.
"A new friend and classmate. I just want to make sure she's alright."
Her mother nodded and turned back to the tv, clutching Tom's hand in hers. Marinette made her way upstairs, forcing herself to keep calm and breathe. After she made sure the door into her room was locked, she opened up her purse and tears started to form in her eyes.
"What's going on? I thought we beat him?" The red kwami floated up to Marinette's face and tried to soothe the girl.
"Did you purify the akuma?" She tilted her head slightly. Marinette paled.
"Purify… the akuma?" the tears started to run down her cheeks.
"If you don't purify the akuma, it just leaves and multiplies. It then starts infecting random people until the original holder feels some negative emotion again. Then it takes control and they'll have an army!" She waved her small arms in the air with urgency.
"So I did mess up." Marinette's voice was so small, the kwami almost missed it.
"We just need to go out and find that akuma and purify it." Tikki assured, but Marinette wasn't listening. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs.
"I messed up. I knew I wasn't cut out to be a superhero. I'm clumsy, I make things worse when I try to do something I know I'm no good for. I can't be Ladybug." Marinette reached up to her ears and started to undo the earings.
"No Marinette! Only Ladybug can purify akumas. Paris needs you!" Tikki spoke, panicked.
"Then I'll find another Ladybug." And she removed her earrings.
The subsequent silence unnerved Marinette, but she held firm. She was not a superhero. She was a baker's daughter who could make cookies and dresses, not fight villains and save Paris. She sat down and let herself cry. Cry over what she had just done to Paris. Cry over her clumsy nature. Cry over that brief moment of belief she had in herself.
The next day Marinette resolved to get back to her life as a normal school girl and find someone else who seemed to fit the Ladybug job. Unfortunately, school wasn't much of a help in cheering her up. She was so excited to see Alya again, but to her dismay she had set up a whole blog dedicated to Paris' new superheroine. Marinette tried to keep up a smile, but Alya had noticed the girl's demure attitude.
"Don't be scared, girl. I've seen Ladybug in action and I know she can solve this, no problem." She winked under her glasses and started to discuss getting more content for her blog.
Marinette smiled a bit at Alya's confidence in her. She seemed fearless, and such a good person. Almost like lightning, an idea struck. Shouldn't Ladybug be a fearless, good, smart person? If Marinette could trust anyone to be a better Ladybug than her, Alya had to be a definite yes. She smiled to herself as she palmed the ornate box hidden in her purse. She just needed to find the right time to hand over the box without being seen.
Her attention changed when they walked passed a good portion of their class huddled around Ivan.
"You don't remember anything? You were pretty metal. Super cool." Juleka smiled beside him.
"Yeah, you were seriously out to crush me, dude." Kim laughed.
Marinette sighed in relief as it seemed the rest of the class hadn't decided to gang up on Ivan and instead praise him for what happened to him. Her relief was short lived.
"Once a monster, always a monster." Chloe remarked as she leaned on a nearby pillar.
Ivan glared and growled before getting up and stomping towards the lockers. Marinette's eyes flickered to every corner, waiting for a butterfly to show itself. Only after a minute of panicked searching was she able to calm down. Alya moved over in front of Chloe.
"The only monster here is you." She pointed aggressively at the posh girl, but Chloe looked back unphased.
"I'm not the one the broke Sabrina's dad's arm. Oh no, are you mad? Gonna break your panties and turn into a big muscled stone monster too?" She laughed and Sabrina giggled beside her.
Alya huffed and walked away, grabbing Marinette's hand as she led them both towards their lockers. Alya angrily stuffed her books in hers, muttering about no good rich kids. Marinette just smiled. Someone who feels this strongly over helping another classmate must certainly make a great Ladybug. She was making the right choice in giving her the miraculous.
On their way out, Marinette saw Ivan sitting on the floor, music playing through his headphones. Marinette stopped and motioned to Alya.
"I forgot something in my locker. Go ahead without me, I'll be right back." Alya nodded and made her way to the classroom alone. Once she was out of sight, Marinette turned and tapped Ivan on the shoulder. He looked up with a half glare, but removed his headphones nonetheless.
"You should really go ahead and tell Mylene about your feelings for her." Marinette suggested, as soothingly as she could. Ivan's glare deepened.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He turned his head to look away.
"Aw, come on. I see how you look at her. Just tell her how you feel." Ivan huffed sadly and Marinette started to worry, keeping an eye on the window ahead just in case. "No, no, no. Gotta stay positive. I think she feels the same for you. You just have to talk to her." She smiled in a hopefully supportive way.
Ivan seemed to crack a little and turned to face her. "But I'm no good with words." He looked down defeatedly.
"Well then don't use words. How about a picture? Or a poem? Maybe flowers?" Marinette listed off the top of her head. Ivan's face seemed to light up.
"What about a song?" He asked, and Marinette's face also lit up.
"That's a great idea! What girl wouldn't want a love song just for her?" Ivan quickly packed up his things and made to leave.
"Thanks, Marinette." He left out the door in a hurry. Marinette slowly stood up and brushed off her knees, feeling like she had at least done her part to make up for her disastrous superhero mistake.
The bell was about to ring. Marinette packed up all her supplies and made her way up the stairs towards the classroom. She spotted Alya waiting at the top, messing with her phone.
"Ready for class now, girl?" She smiled and started walking towards the classroom door. Marinette smiled and figured she should probably kind of ask permission before just handing Alya the superhero responsibility.
"Alya, would you like to be a superhero? You know, if you could?" She motioned her hand flippantly like this question wouldn't change her life forever.
"Heck yeah! I'm not scared of anything. It'd be super cool to be a hero." Alya pushed her glasses up and smirked before striking a superhero pose.
Both girls laughed and entered their classroom, but not before Marinette carefully slipped the miraculous box into Alya's bag. A wave of relief crashed over Marinette, and she was sure her stress levels would finally go down until she spotted the blonde boy placing gum on her seat.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She cried, making her way towards him. The boy seemed to instantly straighten up with a red face.
"I was just… I was trying…" He was cut off by the laughter of Chloe and Sabrina. Marinette glared and pushed him aside.
"Oh I see. Very funny you three. I'm guessing you're Chloe's friend." She bent down and placed a tissue over the gum, moving over and sitting beside the mess.
The boy had a dejected look on his face, like somehow she had harmed him, before moving into his seat next to Nino.
Class started and Miss Bustier started role call with the new boy's name. "Agreste, Adrien?"
Adrien looked confusedly around the room before Nino whispered in his ear. Then he nodded and jumped out of his seat yelling "Present". The class laughed at his antics but he seemed to take it in stride laughing along and sitting.
The door burst open and Stoneheart came crashing through calling Mylene's name. Marinette's eyes widened as she gathered her things and ran to the back of the classroom away from the stone man. Her heart stopped as she watched him pick up her classmate in a rock fist.
"Why are you doing this, Ivan?" Mylene cried out, desperately looking for a way out of his hand.
"I'm not Ivan anymore. The name is Stoneheart and I'm doing this so we can be together." His glowing yellow eyes almost softened before zeroing in on the blonde girl hiding underneath her desk.
"Daddy, the monster's back." Chloe cried into her phone before Stoneheart grabbed her in his other hand.
Both girls screamed as he turned and broke a hole in the wall, jumping out into Paris' streets.
Marinette peeked out from behind a seat, looking at the hole he had carved out in the wall with wide eyes. She searched around and saw Alya getting her phone out while the rest of the class started to run into the rest of the school building.
"Come on, girl. We've got to catch up if we're gonna see Ladybug in action!" Alya turned towards her. Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat.
"No Alya, I'm going to find a place to hide. This isn't safe." She grabbed her bag and crushed it against her chest. "I… I don't want to get hurt."
Alya smiled and came up to her, kneeling in front of her crouched friend.
"All right. I get it. It's scary and you're right that it's dangerous. If you aren't up to it, I won't make you come." She smiled kindly and picked up her bag, slinging it around her shoulder. "But I want to be there when the good guys win." She got up and made her way to the door. She took one look back at Marinette to give a salute before running out.
Marinette stared at the door. She was waiting for that rush of relief, that feeling of responsibility to leave, and she could just be a normal scared student. But the knowledge that she had given her new friend a powerful object that in all likelihood would get her hurt or worse gripped her heart. She needed to know she was safe, that she hadn't just sent her friend to an impossible task.
She quickly got up and slung her bag on her back. Taking a quick look out the hole in the wall and the city in a panic, she ran out the classroom door and out of the school following the sounds of screams and destruction. She ran as fast as she could, ducking behind cars and peering down the streets to find her friend. Her heart pounded every time she saw one of the Stoneheart clones. Every other moment she hid as best she could. Soon she could hear the familiar sounds of Chloe's whining nearby.
Around the corner she saw multiple Stonehearts fighting Chat Noir. Her heart clenched in her chest as she viewed her former partner struggling with the horde of monsters. She shook her head and hid behind a nearby garbage can, peering around to watch the fight. Her eyes widened as she noticed Alya filming from behind a nearby car. Marinette squeezed her bag strap.
"Just look once, Alya." she whispered. And then she covered her mouth with her hands as her legs kicked into gear.
A car launched by one of the Stonehearts was heading straight for Alya. Time seemed to slow as she reached out, legs pushing her forward without thinking. She was halfway across the road, heart pounding, Alya's name silently escaping her gasping lungs, she wouldn't make it she wouldn't make it SHE WOULDN'T -
She didn't notice the large chuck of road hurtling in her direction.
Marinette only saw a glint of silver and black before she felt her body lift off the ground, moving away from Alya's hiding spot. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her as she pushed against whatever force was carrying her away. Her hands tugged on leather, her legs kicked against arms, and her voice echoed in the barren streets. She felt the hold around her tighten as they moved around a corner and behind an iron fence. Having lost sight of her friend only made Marinette cry more and her cries of Alya's name became weaker as she struggled to catch her breath between sobs. She was placed on the ground gentilly.
It was only when she heard a voice that Marinette realized it had been a person that whisked her away from her friend.
"Hey, it's ok! You're friend is gonna be ok, but I need you to calm down and breathe." Marinette looked up to see a worried Chat Noir crouched in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. She started to take deep breaths, each one bringing her back to the present situation. Chat seemed to relax as her sobs ended and her breathing returned to normal.
"Good, good. I stopped the car from hurting your friend, so everything is ok. You were very brave, running to save her, but perhaps next time let's leave that to the superheroes, yeah?" He gave her a goofy smile and a wink, the absurdity of it causing Marinette to release a weak giggle. The sound caused his ears to twitch and a big sincere grin to form on his face.
"Now, purrincess, since I have saved the damsel it is time for me to save the rest of the city." He got up from his crouched position and did a deep bow to the stunned girl. "Please stay indoors for the time being. It's safer there." He gave a salute and jumped across the rooftops, on his way to face the Stonehearts again.
She couldn't tell you why, but her heart seemed to be beating twice as fast as usual.
Marinette didn't wait a moment after Chat Noir disappeared behind a building. She immediately started running towards the street Alya had been in. She forced herself to take her time, watching for other Stonehearts and making sure to be as quiet as possible. She looked around every corner before hiding behind whatever object was next on her path. Tears still streamed down her cheeks, but she had control of herself for now. She just needed to see that her friend had made it to safety.
When she reached the corner to her destination, Marinette crouched and snuck a peek. Her eyes immediately focused on the car upside down on the sidewalk. It looked completely wrecked, almost cleanly cut in two. She took in a deep breath and continued to look at the debris. Her eyes widened as they saw the demolished center of the road, the road she was running across not five minutes before. In her head, Marinette thanked Chat Noir profusely for saving her from what clearly would have been her death.
A familiar string sound caught Marinette's ears and she ducked as a joyous laughter sounded overhead. Her face broke out into a smile as she watched red and black spots soar over her from rooftop to rooftop. The relief finally set in and she couldn't help the small laughter that left her. There, swinging as though it were the most natural thing in the world, was Alya Cesaire. No, Marinette thought to herself, that's Ladybug.
She continued to swing away towards the Eiffel tower, catching up with a black figure on the way. Marinette stood up and watched as they disappeared into the distance. She couldn't help herself, her legs started moving after them without her thinking. Soon she was running, running towards the crowds that circled the police barricade. She pushed her way through the crowd, maneuvering herself to the front for a clear view. Her hand pulled her phone from her purse. She focused the camera on the two superheroes in front of her, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and she hit record.
The main Stoneheart stumbled from his perch on the Eiffel tower and wretched out a swarm of blackened butterflies. Marinette felt her body go rigid, but kept the camera in focus as the butterflies formed a face confidently smirking at the gathered crowd.
"People of Paris, listen carefully, I am Hawkmoth. Ladybug, Chat Noir, bring me your miraculous. You've done enough damage to these innocent people." The face smirked.
Ladybug started clapping and swinging her yo-yo around. "Nice try, Hawkmoth, but Chat Noir and I didn't release an army of stone monsters to attack the people of paris. You did." She took a couple of steps forward.
"We didn't endanger school children for the sake of getting someone's jewelry. You did." She launched herself up to the Eiffel Tower's base, turning to face the crowd.
"We didn't turn innocent people into monsters. You did." She jumped up and started slinging her yo-yo through the swarm.
"And we don't hide behind the people of Paris. WE FIGHT WITH THEM." The face screamed as it separated into multiple sections, each being absorbed by Ladybug's yo-yo.
With the swarm of dark butterflies gone, Ladybug turned again to face Paris. "As long as Ladybug and Chat Noir are here, we'll fight to keep you safe from Hawkmoth or whoever else wants to bring you harm. That's my promise." With a flourish she opened the yo-yo and a swirl of pure white butterflies enveloped the Eiffel tower, flying around and out toward the rest of Paris.
The crowd around Marinette cheered as the butterflies flew overhead. She continued to focus on filming Paris's two new heroes. Zooming in on Ladybug, Marinette let her smile drop for just a moment. Alya was stunning, confident, in control. She was a great superhero and a perfect Ladybug. Marinette's chest hurt for a moment before she smiled again, regaining her composure. In her head, she knew she was happier this way.
Ladybug than jumped behind Stoneheart with Chat Noir close behind. Both were doing acrobatics around the monster, scoping out a weak point to get him to open up his fist. Ladybug called for her lucky charm and from her yo-yo a parachute fell. She looked at it curiously before yelling something to Chat Noir. Both heroes nodded and lept into action. Chat handed his staff to Mylene, still inside Stonehearts' fist, and jumped back. The staff extended, forcing the fist to unclench and Mylene to start falling off the tower. Ladybug dived after her, parachute in hand.
The crowd gasped as they watch the superhero catch the falling girl and deploy the chute, descending safely. In her hand was the akumatized paper. She crushed it and caught the released butterfly, purifying it in one succinct motion. Above them, Stoneheart began to bubble and change back to Ivan. As he began to fall off the edge, Chat Noir caught his arm, pulling him up before using his staff to lower them both to the ground. The crowd cheered at the successful rescue, someone elbowing Marinette in their excitement. Marinette kept her cool and focused her camera on the celebrating superheroes. They held out their hands to fist bump, and after congratulatory smiles, Ladybug threw the parachute up into the air crying "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Around all of Paris, brilliant colors of red and pink swirled and shone, fixing all the damage Hawkmoth caused with his akuma. Every onlooker was stunned, and from the view of her camera, so too were their new heroes. Marinette stopped the recording and put her phone away before turning to make her way out of the crowd. Marinette hadn't expected there to be an even bigger villain behind all this. She thought this might be a one time deal, maybe a once in awhile situation at most. Hawkmoth's presence changed everything.
Someone was going to be after her friend. Someone who didn't seem to care about whether or not she got hurt. Marinette clenched her fist as she walked back to the bakery. She was right to give Alya the miraculous, she was clearly more suited to fighting than Marinette was. But that didn't mean Marinette couldn't keep her safe in her own way.
At that moment, with the celebration of Paris' citizen's echoing behind her, Marinette resolved to protect Alya with all she had. She'd protect her identity from prying eyes, help her juggle her superhero life and her home life, keep her spirits up when the pressure got to her. Marinette glanced back at Paris' monument.
She'd also find Hawkmoth, no matter how long, no matter the cost. She'd find him before he could hurt her friend.
Perhaps that was something even normal Marinette could do.