Chapter 20: Wishmaker
Marinette was at Paris Career Expo, at the booths set up near the Île aux Cygnes island on the Seine. She hadn't planned to go at first, because she was certain of her dream to be a fashion designer. But a conversation with her kwamis made her realize she wasn't that sure, so she decided to go check it out.
André the ice cream vendor was there. So was Alec the TV personality, recording for a show. A crowd gathered to see what would happen.
"Welcome to 'You Gotta Be Kidding'!" said Alec. "Today, we're live at the Paris Career Expo where I'm gonna be introducing you to the most pointless jobs ever! And to start off, here's a perfect example: André, the Ice Cream Maker, the ice cream man that is never around! Let me remind you how this goes: André doesn't have a shop, no one knows where he is, it takes forever to find him, and he gets to pick a flavor of your ice cream! You've gotta be kidding!"
Alec made a face at the camera, with a mocking thumbs-down.
"André!" called Alec to the vendor, "Give me one reason why I should bother to chase after you when I could get my choice of ice cream in any corner supermarket!"
The crowd started to laugh, though Marinette didn't join in.
André said, "Well, people don't just come for ice cream when they find me. They come to share their love and experience of magical moments! A supermarket cannot do what I do! I am a creator of magical moments!"
"'Creator of magical moments'? You've gotta be kidding! That's not a real job!" said Alec.
"You're right, dear Alec. It's not a job, it's a career!" said André.
The crowd grew silent.
"But you found me today! I have some ice cream just for you: lime for the sourness you show on the outside, and chocolate cinnamon for the sweet dreams that still live inside of you! One day, you too will figure out what you really want to be!"
Alec looked mortified that the interview wasn't going the way he expected.
"Cut! Cut!"
He and the cameraman went away, and the crowd dispersed.
Marinette was impressed with André's confidence. She went over to him.
"André, how did you know that making ice cream would be your job?" Marinette asked.
André told her his story, that he had once had a boring office job and that his only joy was making ice cream at home.
"...Until one day, in the same way that ice cream enchanted my daily life, I wondered if my true calling would be to try and enchant other people's lives, too! That's what a truly successful career is: a blend of flavors of what you can do, what you love to do, and what you can bring to others!"
André scooped up ice cream for Marinette.
"Strawberry and cherry for the indecisive lady, cafe au lait for the young woman who is a mixture of sweetness and bitterness."
Marinette realized there was someone behind her, and she turned to look.
"Hello, Marinette!" said Zoé.
Marinette yelped in surprise. "Zoé!" To André she explained, "Zoé and I are just –"
"Buddies," said Zoé, with a wry grin.
"You don't necessarily have to be in love to enjoy your own scoop of magic," said André, handing the ice cream to Marinette.
"Have a good day," said Marinette and Zoé.
They walked away. Marinette offered the ice cream to share, and Zoé accepted.
Zoé said. "So that's the famous ice cream vendor of love. He has the same first name as my stepdad, Chloé's father."
"It's a common name," said Marinette.
"Kagami said you visited André once with her and Adrien, and he gave you a choice of three flavor combinations."
"Yes, orange and mint for Kagami and Adrien, blackberry and mint for me and Adrien, or blackberry and orange for me and Kagami."
"Blackberry and orange sounds good. The other two sound horrible. So... you go both ways?"
Marinette blushed. "No, not really. Not that much."
"I could see it. I admit I felt attracted to you when we first met, but I wouldn't go out with someone with a life as complicated as yours."
"I wouldn't go out with you, or Kagami either. I'm really stuck on Adrien."
"I'm glad to hear that, since I've started to like Kagami myself."
"Wow, really?"
"Don't tell her. I haven't exactly told her myself."
"Like I haven't been able to tell Adrien. We have something in common."
They went by a booth where Luka was showing his hand-made guitars.
"Sorry I can't join you," said Luka. "These instruments are valuable and I'm the only one manning the booth."
Marinette took Zoé to a private corner where they could talk without being overheard.
Marinette said, "Zoé, you said you would like to help me? I have something to ask you."
"What is it?"
"It's something to help Ladybug."
"Are you admitting you're her?"
"I... guess I have to."
"The way you act as Ladybug is pretty bad sometimes. I'm not sure..."
"I know I offended you with that time as Vesperia. I'm really sorry. I have a different Miraculous in mind that I think would be good for you."
"Oh, what is that?"
"The Snake Miraculous."
"What!?" said Zoé, frowning. "Are you making fun of me? Calling me a snake in the grass or something?"
"No, this is a really good and important power. The power of a Second Chance. You can repeat up to five minutes of time, remembering what happened before even though nobody else does. It's great for undoing mistakes and accumulating information."
"That sounds interesting. Why do you think it would be good for me?"
"You're smart and observant, like the way you figured out my identity. You're good at acting, which would help in replaying a scenario different ways as you learned more."
"And you can't just use it combined, like you do all those others?"
"It's better used off to the side, so that both Chat and I can fight. Then if something bad happens to either of us you can undo it and warn us."
"I'd be willing to try it. I liked the thrill of being a hero, at least until I got turned into a banana."
"What name would you use?"
"Hmm, maybe Serpentina."
"That's a plant, you know. It's used in Chinese medicine to lower blood sugar and blood pressure. I learned about it from my mother. It's also very bitter."
"Then it fits me. André says I'm a mixture of sweetness and bitterness."
They went back by the booth Luka was running, and they found that Alec had come to do a hit job on him next.
"It takes two whole years to make one guitar when you can download an app in two seconds to your phone?" asked Alec, playing a few tinny notes on his guitar app. "Yet another pointless job! You've gotta be kidding!"
Luka picked up a violin from the counter. "Follow me," he said.
Alec and the cameraman followed Luka. So did Marinette.
"Hey, who's going to watch the booth?" Zoé asked.
Nobody was listening. Zoé signed and decided to watch it for Luka as favor.
Luka and Marinette were gone a long time. Zoé waited, bored, until she heard shouts and screams.
"Akuma attack!" someone yelled.
"Merry Christmas, everyone!" called a man in a sleigh with flying reindeer. Presents rained down on the ground as he flew.
Zoé hid under the booth counter until she was sure the akuma had moved on. Ladybug would be active soon.
Zoé watched the news on her phone as Ladybug and Chat Noir fought and took down a giant robot. This akuma apparently made ridiculous things happen – it seemed unlikely she would be needed as Serpentina today.
She was mistaken: Ladybug came to the booth. "Zoé?"
Zoé showed herself and Ladybug handed her a green bracelet.
"Zoé Lee, I give you the Snake Miraculous..."
"Let's not do the ceremony. You already told me about it."
"Okay, here's the deal. Wishmaker can make people live their childhood dreams. I know my dream would unmask me, and Chat Noir doesn't remember his at all. Either of us could get hit as we fight, so we need a second chance so Shadow Moth doesn't learn our secret identities. Okay?"
"Got it," said Zoé. She put on the bracelet.
Sass appeared and told her how to transform and detransform.
"Sass, Scales Slither!" said Zoé.
Serpentina and Ladybug were up on a rooftop. They saw Chat Noir fighting Wishmaker alone at the end of a bridge.
"Use your power now. If Cat Noir and I get hit, you must come back to this exact moment."
"Bossy as usual, Ladybug," said Serpentina. "Okay. Second Chance."
She turned the bracelet, activating it.
"No one can know our secret identities!" said Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!"
A spotted stuffed toy fell into her hands. "A Dino-Huggie?"
"It must mean something," said Serpentina. "Maybe we'll learn something for the next time around."
"I'll ask people near the scene," said Ladybug.
As they arrived at the fight, it looked to Serpentina like Chat was about to be hit. It couldn't happen now – they needed more time to get more information!
Serpentina leaped and pushed Chat Noir out of the way of the shot, but she was inexperienced and not quite as agile as she could have been. She felt the shot hit her in the back.
She had time to hear Chat mumble, "Hey, I wanted to know what my dream was!"
Then a voice sounded in her mind: "Live your childhood dream!"
Zoé stood up, and she was wearing the white dress of a princess.
(In his lair, Shadow Moth said, "Zoé Reed, you were chosen as a hero again. Just as I suspected!")
The childhood dream that inspired her to learn French, her dream to marry a prince in France, was coming true! The prince was Adrien, Chat Noir, right in front of her. A plain silver band appeared on her wedding ring finger. It started out too big for her, but she felt shrink until it was a perfect fit.
(Shadow Moth felt under his left glove. His ring was gone!)
Zoé pointed to Chat Noir. "With this ring I can make you do whatever I want. You are going to marry me and give me everything I could ever desire."
Chat Noir froze and then went to one knee. He said, "Yes, I will do whatever you say. Please marry me, Zoé."
By doing this, he became an easy target for Wishmaker, who struck him with a shot. Chat Noir looked blank for a moment, and then transformed into Adrien Agreste.
("My son?" said Shadow Moth in shock.)
He said, "When I was a kid, I always wanted what my parents wanted me to be!"
"I'm part of what they wanted for you, Adrien," said Zoé, as more of the story her mother told came back to her. "You are the perfect prince and I am the perfect princess. We will claim an object of great power and rule the world together."
"Yes, Zoé," said Adrien.
In the distance she heard a cry of anguish from Ladybug, who was looking over at them in horror. Ladybug dropped the Dino-Huggie she was carrying. A man in a red beret ran up and picked it up to hug it.
It made Zoé strangely unhappy – she was going to steal the person Marinette loved away from her. And then she thought about Chloe; her sister was also going to be jealous and devastated. Besides, Zoé didn't even like guys. This "childhood dream" was a nightmare to her normal self, but it was overwhelming her will.
There was something she could do... Her costume was gone, but the Snake Miraculous bracelet remained on her right wrist. Forcing herself to concentrate and break from the dream, she gripped it and turned back the clock.
"Second chance!"
The cutting off of the spell was a shock.
"No one can know our secret identities!" said Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!... A Dino-Huggie?"
"We have to get there quickly!" said Serpentina. "The toy is important to the man in the red beret at the other end of the bridge."
They rushed to the bridge, arriving a tiny bit earlier. Ladybug ran to the man at the end of the bridge.
"Chat Noir, duck! I saw your dream and I'll tell you it later."
Chat had been told there would be a new Snake holder, and he understood instantly. He dodged.
Ladybug reached the man in the red beret, and... was hit by the shot that had just missed Chat Noir.
She transformed into a flying fairy in a knitted costume, unmasked.
"Awesome! I always wanted to be the Knitting Fairy in real life!" said Marinette.
("Ladybug is Adrien's classmate Marinette? At last! At long last!" said Shadow Moth.)
The man in the red beret picked up the plush toy.
"When I was a kid, I wanted to be in the Dino-Huggie Gang!" said the man.
"Second Chance!" said Serpentina.
"No one can know our secret identities!" said Ladybug. "Lucky Charm!... A Dino-Huggie?"
Serpentina said quickly, "The man in the red beret wanted to be a Dino-Huggie. A shot will be coming straight at him. Stay out of the way."
They rushed into the fight.
"Chat Noir, duck! I saw your dream. I'll tell you later."
Chat dodged, Ladybug stayed clear, and the shot hit the man in the red beret. He turned into a multicolored plushie triceratops.
"Wow! I'm a Dino-Huggie!" said the transformed man.
"Look! Wishmaker needs a big dino hug!" said Ladybug.
"Big hug! Big hug! Big hug! Pretty hug! Pretty hug!" said the Dino-Huggie, running at Wishmaker.
Wishmaker fired at the cute dinosaur, but he couldn't affect someone who was already living their dream.
"Noooo!" shouted Wishmaster.
Caught in a hug, he was helpless to prevent Ladybug from pulling away his staff. She threw it to Chat Noir, who Cataclysmed it.
Ladybug caught the butterfly and purified it, then threw the plushie into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
As always, the magical ladybugs fixed everything.
Ladybug gave Alec a Magical Charm.
Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Serpentina did a three-way "Pound it!"
Ladybug took back the Snake Miraculous from Zoé.
"Thank you, Zoé. Thanks to you, our secret identities were preserved and no one discovered who Cat Noir and I really are. Umm... not even you, right?"
"I saw the Knitting Fairy, but I didn't learn anything I didn't already know."
"It isn't exactly a lie," thought Zoé.
"Okay," said Ladybug. "Bug out."
Later at school, Adrien asked Zoé, "You said you saw my childhood dream?"
Zoé said, "I did, but I'd rather not say. It would just make you sad. It's nothing like what you would want for yourself now."
Adrien thought about this for a moment, as if considering asking more. Then he said, "I may not remember my childhood dreams, but that's okay! It's time to focus on the future and find my inner music, like Luka said!"
Zoé thought, "There's something weird about your dream, and about mine. I'll have to think about what it means..."