Tales of Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir Re-Write
A/N: This story was inspired by (and received permission to create from) two videos created by WireMagician on youtube:(Why Miraculous LadyBug is bad, and Fixing Miraculous LadyBug Rewriting the show) this really got me into his work and I could not have started writing this story without his videos explaining how this show could have been better and given us, as fans, an even better Miraculous show. I really recommend that you guys check out his videos and see for yourself.
AA/N: The characters are aged up a bit in this version, they are now around the ages of 16 to 17 as to the original show's 13 to 14 ages.
Episode 1: The Tale of Ladybug and Chat Noir
The school day was coming to a close for The Dupont Highschool as the students were eager to end their day and head home as soon as possible. Many students were watching the clock on the wall waiting, with bated breath, to leave as soon as the bell rang, others were just praying for a swift end to the seemingly endless day they were facing.
However one student was actively taking notes and listening to her teacher's every word, so she could complete her homework with ease and pass the upcoming test at the end of the week. Her name was Marinette Dupain Cheng, a dark haired girl of mixed race origins, half French half Chinese, who loved fashion and hoped she could get into the industry one day and become Paris's most famous Fashion Designer. This was the reason for her absolute focused attitude towards the lectures, she needed outstanding grades in order for her to get into a top university that would teach her the in's and out's of fashion and put her on the path towards her dream.
However when she became focused on any given task she tended to get tunnel vision and today was no exception; and so when the bell rang the hyper focused Marinette, jumped out of her seat tossing all of her papers into the air. If the other students noticed they didn't care as many of them left the classroom as if their lives depended on it, only a few actually smirked at her outburst as they passed by. This was a common occurrence for Marinette, as she was easily startled by anything that caused a loud noise, caught her unawares or just so happened to sneak up on her. The latter being easier than most thought possible.
As Marinette nearly grabbed the last of her papers a hand grabbed the final few pages and handed them to her in a neat little pile. As she looked up she saw it was none other than Adrien Agreste, in her eyes he looked like a gallant knight or a prince from a fairy tale. She darted backwards out of habit before taking a deep breath and carefully grabbing the last of her notes.
"Th-th-thankyou" she stuttered as she tried to fight the massive blush expanding across her face.
"Your welcome" he replied with a voice that sounded warm, but to one who could notice, felt hollow, as if it lacked any true genuine feeling.
Marinette had noticed this when she first met Adrien at the beginning of the school year just two months ago and always tried to understand why he acted cold to others despite many people, specifically the teachers, reaching out to him. It puzzled her and she longed to learn more about him and what kind of a person lay beneath. Thankfully as if the universe heard her, she managed to find out at least surface level answers in one week. What she learned was surprising to say the least, he was an expert fencer, took several martial arts classes both armed and unarmed at school, after class, and he was a model for his father's young adult male fashion line. That last one she found out by chance when she saw a billboard with his face on it smiling and wearing a designer suit. She still couldn't believe that she had passed the very same billboard for weeks on end and only then noticed that the model was Adrien. While this satisfied her curiosity as to what he did with his life, she hoped that one day the handsome boy in her class would open up to someone, before he remained alone for the rest of his life.
After packing all of her school supplies into her bag she quickly ran towards her locker ready to gather her remaining personal effects before heading to her after school activity when she heard an all too familiar voice call out to her.
"Marinette!" Chloe Bourgeois hollered from across the hallway.
"Yes Chloe" Marinette responded with a smile as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"I have a task for you, the student council's budget report needs to be printed out for all of the students we've been having a few discrepancies and I was hoping to bring them up at the next meeting" Chloe said with a tone that sounded half business and half entitled, it was probably due the fact she was both the Mayor's daughter, and class president. She gave Marinette the report and left before she could give a response.
"I'll get... right... on... it" she replied out of a force of habit, if lack of a recipient.
Marinette quickly headed to the computer lab where she began copying the entire thirty page report for each of the student council members, all ten of them. She had to change the ink in the printers twice due to the amount of colored ink being used. Why Chloe had to have a multi colored font to go along with her reports was baffling, as it just wasted valuable time and resources that could be allocated elsewhere.
'She probably thinks that using flashing colors will get people's attention instead of hurting their eyes' she tried reasoning with herself only to shake her head in disbelief at her own words.
After her task was complete she stapled and bound each and everyone of the reports before taking them to the student council room. Placing them at each designated seat in perfect alignment with one another to fit the high standards Chloe held for the student body government, as if it were her personal kingdom and not a symbolic club meant to get students to care about their school. It didn't matter to Marinette; she took great pride to make sure that each request was met above and beyond what was asked of her. As soon as she finished she heard a loud beeping on her phone, she quickly looked down and saw the time and panicked.
"OH NO! I promised Mom and Dad that I'd help them with the bakery today after class!" She internally screamed as she grabbed her things and ran out the door passing a very nice limo along the way.
Marinette made her way back to her house as quickly as possible narrowly avoiding pedestrians as she navigated the crowded streets of Paris only stopping at the occasional closed crosswalks. She was used to doing this as she often found herself running late to places on a daily basis, and only running to her destinations did she manage to just arrive on time.
As she stopped at the crosswalk just a short block away from her home she failed to notice the large puddle right in front of her, instead focusing on the signal waiting for it to change. Because of her lack of focus she managed to get hit by a massive wave of water drenching her completely. It was such a shock to Marinette that she stood there frozen while the people surrounding her slowly moved past her as they made their way across the street. Only one person stopped to ask her if she was alright and all she could do was put on a big smile and say "Yes."
She entered her home through a side door that entered into the bakery proper where she wouldn't be spotted by any potential customers. She quickly dried herself off with a few spare hand towels before heading back to where her father was taking out the last of the day's bread and pastries.
"Ah Marinette your here, could you please be a dear and clean up the mixers and trays, I'd do it myself, but as you can see my hands are full" her father said with a smile, his dad jokes often being more stale than week old bread. But she forced out a small chuckle, she knew he meant well, only telling them to try and bring a smile to her face, and that was all that mattered.
"Of course dad, I'll be sure to take-E-claire of your mess" she replied with her own bad pun before heading off to work.
The large pile of dirty trays, rollers, knives and mixers would have seemed daunting to anyone other than Marinette, who had been assisting her parents with the bakery for years now; It was just another thing that she tacked on to her long days of helping others with their tasks. A small part of her wanted to ask her parents to hire an employee or two to assist them with the bakery, it would allow her to spend more time focusing on her own pursuits and maybe even spend more time with her friends at school. But alas, despite the amount of traffic her parents received on a daily basis, they could barely afford to pay for her art supplies let alone a few part time employees.
After the mountain of dishes had been cleaned she climbed the stairs to her room at the top of the bakery. It had once been an attic that her parents refurbished before letting her move into it. It was the one place she had some semblance of control in her life, she could choose when to fall asleep, work, play, or just simply relax after a long day. As she made her way to her desk she opened up her bag and came to a realization that everything had gotten soaked. All of her notes were liquified, her most recent sketch pad was smeared beyond all recognition, and her phone, the one her parents recently bought her was now ruined.
It was then that the smile she had worn all day finally fell from her face, and tears began to flow from her eyes. It was as if all of the pressure of the day finally broke the dam that held back her emotions and she just let it all out. It was too much for her, the pressure of school, home and life in general were taking its toll on her and it was unfair.
She wanted to tell Chloe to do her own report herself, as she wasn't even the treasurer for the student council. She wanted to tell her parents how she felt and live her own life, and she wanted to tell the boy she liked how she felt and maybe get to know him as a friend, maybe more. But she couldn't, she was too afraid to face the outcome of her actions. She was afraid of the influence Chloe had in and out of school, she was afraid of letting her parents down and she most definitely was afraid of facing rejection from the boy she liked. She wished she could be more confident, she wished that she could speak her mind and be more assertive.
"But that was all they would ever be, wishes" she thought to herself as she curled up into a ball and continued to cry.
Almost immediately after she broke down a flash of bright red light shone behind her, causing her to turn around with tear streaks still fresh on her face. She shielded her eyes from the bright light that offered comfort and warmth to her before finally dissipating and leaving a small black box with red chinese symbols where the light originated.
She wondered how the box arrived in her room in the first place as she reached out and grabbed it. It was small, small enough to fit in her hand, yet it appeared large enough to be a jewelry box. Curious she slowly opened the box and inside was a set of simple red earrings. They didn't look all that special aside from the fact that they managed to shine brightly even in limited light. Despite not knowing the origins of these earrings and not even sure who put them there, despite every logical fiber in her being telling her to close the box and call for her parents, she decided to put them on. Within a matter of moments a bright flash occurred once more forcing Marinette to shield her eyes once more. When the light finally died down she saw a small red creature with black spots hovering right in front of her; then in a squeaky little voice the creature said the following words.
"Hello, my name is Tikki, what's yours?"
Across the city Adrien Agreste had just arrived home and entered his room after another day at school. Despite convincing his father to allow him to go to a school with others his own age, he somehow found it boring. Most of the subjects were already things he knew making the lessons seem redundant, this thankfully meant he didn't need to take notes, but it did not offer him a challenge. Even the after school activities such as fencing and martial arts while at first able to satisfy him, were only able to go so far before he began defeating all of his opponents with ease, only his instructors managed to get him to go all out.
The only thing that seemed to bring him any challenge, and joy, now was music. He arrived at the grand piano at the center of his room and sat down and began to play Chopin's prelude No. 15 in D flat major, op. 28. He practiced this song often as he could, as it was a true challenge for him to complete. It also happened to be one of his mother's favorite songs.
His father often wanted him to play it in order to see how his talent with the piano was progressing and it was one of the only times they got to spend with one another outside of breakfast or in a professional setting. He naively believed that if he managed to perfect the song he could gain some kind of positive reaction out of his father, like a smile or an "I'm proud of you." But that was just a dream of a time before his mother's disappearance.
After completing the song he looked up from the piano and walked towards an old picture sitting on his desk. It was a photo of him, his mother and his father, all of them were smiling; all of them were happy. He smiled at the memory, it was a day they spent at the beaches of Marseille before enjoying the local entertainment spread out across the city. That was seven years ago, before his father had him modeling for his company, before he was absorbed by his job, before his mother disappeared.
He set the picture frame down gently before rubbing his eyes in an attempt to fight the stinging tears threatening to shed at the memory. He quickly turned around once he heard a limo door close. His father was home after another long business trip, and that brought joy to the young man, as he rushed out of his room towards the grand entrance. Perhaps today would be the day that his father would actually ask him about his day, or he might even get the chance to play for him.
He bounded down the hallway before sliding down the banister of the stairs and landing on the floor gracefully before standing perfectly upright as his father entered the front door. Adrien still had a large smile on his face as he made his way towards his father ready to greet him on his return home. His smile fell however when his father stopped just out of arm's length and held out his hand in front of him. Adrien's smile faltered a little, but did not disappear as he shook his father's hand.
"Father, how was your trip?" he asked as he shook his father's hand firmly.
"It was productive, I hope you are keeping up with your studies Adrien?" his father Gabriel asked as he began walking towards the stairs.
"Yes, and I have been practicing the piano often, perhaps I could show you" Adrien replied following close behind, hopeful that his father would accept the offer.
"Later Adrien, I have some work that I must take care of before dinner and it cannot wait" he replied as he made his way towards his office. The two went their separate ways once they reached the top of the stairs making the hallway that divided them seem wider than it was.
"Later...always Later" those were the words Adrien always hated hearing from his father, whenever he tried to get close. No matter how many times he tried to bridge the ever expanding gap between them, Gabriel would always brush him off further damaging their fragile relationship.
It didn't help that his father was distant in his life; he was also overly protective of him, to the point that any attempt to go live his own life was nearly impossible thanks to the work schedules thrust upon him after his school work. It was suffocating, his life was planned out each and every day, eat this, go here, work here, do this, complete homework, practice piano, go to sleep. He couldn't take it anymore and if he didn't have a change in his life soon, he might run away out of spite and never look back. He'd find a way to live on his own, he knew quite a few skills, he was smart and athletic, given enough time he could become his own man. But, his father would find him within a day at most, it was hopeless, until he reached the age of maturity he could never get out of his father's constrictive grasp, and that was a terrible fate in and of itself.
Adrien entered his room and shut his door harder than he intended by thankfully it didn't make too loud of a noise to alert his father. As he made his way towards his bed he noticed a small black shadowy orb spread across the top of his pillows. He was worried for just a moment before it dissipated and a small black box with red chinese symbols covering it appeared. Adrien was hesitant to open the small box, yet there was also a greater curiosity nagging at him to approach the box and look at its contents.
His curiosity got the better of him as he reached out and quickly opened the small wooden box and gazed upon the contents. There in the center was a silver ring that looked fairly insignificant to him. Everything logical in his mind was telling him to close the box and ignore the contents, yet something compelled him to put the ring on his right hand without a second thought.
With that action a black blob shot out of the ring startling Adrien causing him to nearly take off the ring, only to stop as the black blob took the form of what appeared to be a black cat with bright green eyes. What was even more surprising for the young man was when he heard the creature speak.
"Hi, do you have any food?"
"Hi, I'm Tikki what's your name?" the little red creature asked Marinette as she waved her tiny red hand.
No sooner had "Tikki" finished her words Marinette began squealing and swatting at the flying creature in an attempt to defend herself. From whatever effects it may have, from poison to mind control, she didn't know, all she knew was that it was not a normal thing to see. She threw pillows books and even a few pencils at the little red creature before she finally ran out of things to hurl at it.
After realizing she had nothing left Marinette tried to make a run for her bedroom door only for Tikki to zip right in front of her and yell "STOP!" Marinette jumped back and fell to the floor doing her best to crawl away as Tikki continued to float towards her face.
"Please listen to me I mean you no harm, I just wanted to congratulate you and know your name"
"Congratulate me and know my name?" Marinette replied confused.
"Yes, you have been chosen to be the new wielder of the LadyBug Miraculous"
"The LadyBug Miraculous? Wh-what is that supposed to be?" Marinette asked as she grabbed a fresh notepad and several multi colored pens to start writing down any and all information she was about to be given.
"It is an ancient artifact from long ago used by many valiant warriors who have protected people from evil and defended the helpless, with you receiving the Miraculous of the LadyBug, once you say aloud "Tikki Spots On!" a suit shall cover your body and it will increase your natural strength immensely, and allow you to perform great feats unattainable by normal humans, you will also be armed with a yoyo that will be used as a weapon in battle, a tool to help you find clues to catch the criminals, and a means of traveling quickly across great distances!"
Tikki paused for a moment allowing Marinette to quickly scribble down the information on a piece of paper before continuing once more.
"You will also be able to use it to purify corrupted spirits that possess people-"
"Wait! Spirits? Are you serious!?" Marinette asked, making sure she indeed heard what she thought was said.
"Yes, there are the occasional spirits that must be purified from time to time, but don't worry, I don't feel any corrupt or dangerous spirits in this city" Tiki said with a smile as she continued to float around enjoying her new companion.
"However, you can only use these powers granted to you by the Miraculous of the LadyBug for good, you cannot use them for harmful selfish means, this is very important do you understand?" she said with a serious tone emphasizing the importance of the role given to her.
Marinette nodded as she continued to work on her notes, before hearing a squeaky little cough. She looked up and saw an annoyed face on Tiki, that looked more adorable than intimidating.
"Now that I have answered your question, may I please know your name?"
"Marinette Dupain Cheng" she said with a smile before going back to work.
Marinette quickly finished the last of her notes and neatly stacked them in a nice little pile, before folding them into a nice little square, then placing it into the box Tiki exited from.
"What are you doing?" Tiki asked confused as she saw Marinette prepare to take off her earrings.
"I'm putting instructions in this box for the real wielder of the Miraculous, I'm sorry but, I don't think I am the one you want using this power, there are millions of other people out there who would be better than me so I'm going to have to refuse this Miraculous so someone better can have it" she said with a sad tone, Tikki seemed nice, but what she was asking for was just impossible for someone like her.
"Wait, you can't do that, you were chosen for the role as LadyBug!" Tikki cried as she tried to stop Marinette from taking off her earrings.
"Again I'm sorry but, I'm not the right person, you need to find someone else" she said, apologizing once more for rejecting the powers offered to her. She reached for the earrings ready to take them off and place them back into their box.
"You can't you've been chosen for this task, you and you alone can use the Miraculous!" Tikki squeaked flying in front of the black box in an attempt to stop Marinette.
"I'm really sorry, but I'm not that kind of person, I lack confidence to stand up for myself, and I do every task someone asks of me even if I don't want to, what good could I be as a hero?" Marinette asked the tiny kwami.
"I'm powerless in my regular life, how do you think I'd fair in a real fight?"
Tikki nodded in reluctant agreement as she moved out of the way, just as Marinette once more attempted to take off her earrings she was interrupted once more.
"If you want to relinquish the Miraculous that is fine, however you must find the new owner whom you are sure will be worthy of the task given to them, less they use the powers for destructive purposes"
"Okay, I will find them, I promise, until then I will keep the Miraculous here"
Marinette placed the earrings back into the small black box before hiding it in her desk's drawer, it would be safe there for a while as she searched for the right owner to take her place. After she hid the box, she heard her mother calling for her from downstairs.
"Marinette, can you please go to the store and pick up a few ingredients for tonight's dinner, I meant to do it earlier today but, since we were swamped with so many customers, I never got the chance" her mother asked.
"I'll get it Mom, don't worry!" Marinette responded as she grabbed the list from the counter before heading out. Hopefully she might be able to find a more worthy candidate to use the powerful tool given to her.
Adrien Looked at the black, cat-like, creature and blinked, had it really just asked for food? It didn't tell him who it was or where it came from, but instead asked for something to eat.
"What?" Adrien asked as he tried to understand what was going on, was this a trick from his father, a test to see if he will act like some kind of fool? Was it a hallucination brought upon by stress and depression, he honestly did not know.
"Food! I'm hungry, it's been far too long since I've had something to eat and I'm not telling you anything until you do!" it replied angrily as its apparent hunger was starting to affect its mood.
"Alright, fine what do you want anyway?" Adrien asked, becoming more annoyed than fascinated by the moment.
"Do you have any cheese? I've always loved cheese!" the black cat said with his tongue hanging out, licking his lips in desire.
"I've got some Camembert in my mini fridge" Adrien replied quickly as he rushed to get the food in an attempt to get some answers soon.
After five whole minutes of the tiny black cat eating no less than seven large slices of Camembert did his mood change for the better. It was five whole minutes that Adrien would never forget, especially the terrifying speed in which the cheese was devoured. For several moments he feared he was going to run out of the cheese only for the cat to announce that he was full.
"Ah… nothing like a good meal to get you in a good mood" it said as he patted his tummy which at one moment looked like a bloated ball, now shrunk down to his original size.
"Thanks there uh...what'd you say your name was again?"
"I didn't and it's Adrien, now what are you and why did you come out of the ring?" Adrien asked, tired of being at that disadvantage.
"I'm a Kwamii in your ring that will give you the power of the Chat Noir a dark shadowy figure that wields the destructive force of the Cataclysm and twin batons to combat ev-"
"How do I activate it!" asked an eager and curious Adrien, this was the second time today that he was acting upon emotion and not his rational thoughts, which were now telling him to learn everything before he took the great leap.
"I was getting to that hang on will you, your supposed to say "Claws Out and then a suit will appear increasing you-"
"CLAWS OUT!" Adrien yelled sucking the now shocked kwamii into his ring within an instant.
A black suit covered his entire body with the exception of his hair which now grew slightly longer and was messy with two leather black cat ears, and all that covered his face was a simple black domino mask. Adrien looked at his hands and saw there were claws jutting out from the tips of his fingers while behind him was a black belt like tail. A quick look in the mirror also showed him the golden bell around his neck and the bright green cat's eyes staring back at him. He liked what he saw, and a large Cheshire like grin grew on his face. He turned towards his window and leapt out smiling all the way as he climbed the buildings of Paris with ease, leaping across great gaps throughout the city. He was free and no one, not even his father could stop him thanks to this Miraculous.
He didn't know how long he had been jumping across the city's rooftops when he started to notice his jumps becoming weaker and weaker. He quickly stopped to catch his breath when he felt the suit disappear leaving him in his regular clothing while the tiny black cat reappeared in front of him.
"WHY DID YOU TRANSFORM BEFORE I FINISHED TALKING?!" the black kwamii shouted.
"I wanted to get out of my house and you gave me the chance to do it," Adrien said, smirking at the angry little cat.
"Well aren't you a spoiled little brat, I tell you I've been on some bad dates before but you didn't even ask me my name before taking me out for a spin" the little creature turned around and shrugged accepting his lot in life.
Adrien was taken back by that, sure he was a little standoffish and found much of his school life boring, but he wasn't intentionally rude, or spoiled. But that was mostly due to his father's upbringing, no friends that he didn't approve of, no clubs that wouldn't assist him in the modeling or business world. He understood that his actions were rash and that he needed to apologize to this little creature that he didn't even know the name of.
"You're right, sorry, I decided to act before you finished telling me everything, up to and including your name" he apologized.
"Thank you, anyway my name is Plagg, so as I was saying you are a holder of the Chat Noir Miraculous and as such you will fight evil and avenge the wicked deeds committed by villains! You will do this using your twin batons and your most powerful weapon the Cataclysm a very powerful and dangerous tool that can destroy whatever it touches, however be forewarned that you can only use it five times before the suit loses power and you revert back to your normal form. Once that happens, well, I'll need to eat in order for the suit to recharge."
"I'm guessing that means I need to keep camembert on me at all times then?" Adrien asked with an amused look upon his face as Plagg nodded enthusiastically.
Just then the unmistakable sound of a speeding car and gun shots being fired followed by loud police sirens were echoing throughout the city streets near him. Adrien and Plagg quickly looked over the side of the roof and saw the chase passing by, a beat up white van was crashing through the streets while two of the passengers fired upon the pursuing police. It was as if it were a scene from an action film you'd see in America. To Adrien it was exciting to see, as he often only saw these kinds of things on the news where they only managed to show the aftermath of the action and nothing during the events discussed. Just as the cars began leaving his sight Plagg got his attention by pulling on his shirt.
"Adrien you need to transform and go after them, this is what you are supposed to do with your powers" the little kwamii shouted trying to get Adrien to act.
"I'm not going after them" Adrien said nonchalantly as he waved off Plagg.
"What!?" Plagg yelled in disbelief.
"I'm not going after them, it's not my problem, plus the police are going after them" Adrien said looking off at the fleeing chase still commencing.
"But you are the Chat Noir, you're supposed to fight evil, whatever form it takes!" Pagg tried pleading only for it to fall on deaf ears.
"Look, I'm going to go visit a friend right now, so please Claws Out!" Adrien said just before his costume formed around him once more. He leapt off the rooftop towards his destination, hopefully he could spend an hour or two with his friend before he returned home. He didn't think of the criminals driving through the streets endangering the lives of all the Parisians down below. He only cared about himself, and that was all that mattered.
Adrien jumped down into an alleyway just a short distance away from the large hotel Le Grand Paris, where his friend lived. Just as he reached the ground his suit faded away to nothing and out popped an enraged Plagg.
"That's it! I refuse to be used as some cheap transportation across the city, you are a spoiled brat, and I don't know how or why you were given this power, from what you've shown me you don't deserve this power and never will!"
"Like I care" Adrien scoffed at the outburst before taking off the ring, he didn't need to hear this from anyone, especially a creature such as Plagg. He thankfully had brought the black box with him and placed the ring inside of it. He pocketed the box before making his way towards the hotel where his only friend since childhood, that he wasn't related to, lived; Miss Chloe Bourgeois.
Making his way up to the penthouse was easy as Chloe told him of a secret code for the elevator to get to the penthouse without a key card. Once he reached the large penthouse doors he gently knocked announcing his presence to Chloe where he heard a lazy, "come in" before entering.
He entered the lavish room that was filled with everything you could expect and more in a penthouse of Le Grand Paris Hotel. Golden chandeliers, lavish red carpeting, a large kitchen that could have fit twelve cooks at once, and a massive living room that housed a giant screen tv that covered most of the wall. It was the place Chloe called home, and it never left her wanting for anything.
"Ah, Adrien what a pleasant surprise, I'm so glad you're here I was just thinking about you!" Chloe said as she rushed to meet him, giving him a both a big hug, and kissing each of his cheeks. He accepted the affection with a smile, knowing full well it was who she was, correction it was who she was when around him. Aside from her father, the owner of the hotel and mayor of Paris, and her mother, a fashion mogul who occasionally worked alongside his father, he was the only other person to receive this level of affection from her. Yet unlike her parents she was extra lovey dovey with him to the point of near annoyance. But he weathered it, she was his only friend and was willing to let her do whatever she wanted so long as they got to spend time together.
Their history went back to when he was just a child, their parents were in the same tax bracket and as a result of that exclusive club they were more often than not the lone children at parties. They managed to stick close to one another through the years despite the changes, heartache, and professionalism placed upon them, and that was fine for him, though he knew full well that Chloe wanted more.
"Come on there's a car chase on the news and it's going on a rampage throughout the city, and they've almost cornered them"
This was part of their pastime, watching exciting videos, playing strategy games, or enjoying the occasional classical film from America. Despite her surface level arrogance and seemingly spoiled attitude Chloe was just a normal girl with expensive tastes. He knew she was a bit rude at times, but he excused her behavior as that wasn't who she was all the time. Deep down she was a good person, it's just after years of being called a Spoiled Selfish Rude Rich Kid, she slowly accepted the role and would often act upon the label placed upon her. He never called her that and unfortunately due to his close proximity with her, he was also given the narrow minded label and as such he became cold to the outside world.
It was a defense method to keep himself from being hurt by those around him, whether they be people on the street, his fellow models, or his classmates, he knew they saw him as a Bourgeoisie from Versilles in the guise of a peasant. It didn't matter to him, they didn't bother him and he didn't bother them, unless their teachers forced them to. However he often had a nagging feeling in the back of his head, was he becoming the trope of the Spoiled Selfish Rude Rich Kid, or was it just the part he played. He was willing to use the label to keep people at bay, but to actually become what other people thought of you, that was what scared him.
"Adrien look!" Chloe yelled bringing him out of his thoughts once more.
"They've cornered the car and they're about to crash it!"
Adrien quickly ran towards the tv spotting the tail end of the car chase with the helicopter footage panning past each police car chasing down the street. It was exciting, like watching a real life scene from an action movie, the cars sped down the street chasing after the lead vehicle which was just coming into frame and Adrien's smile fell.
The van that the police were chasing was the same beat up white van he refused to chase after earlier. The weight of his inaction hit him with the full force of a freight train and it staggered him. He now noticed that twelve people had been sent to the hospital because of the rampage, with more people being sent if it continued any longer. Then as if the weight of his refusal to stop the criminals didn't crush him even further the van crashing into a bakery's front window. If he didn't feel mortified on behalf of the people who owned the business, then he heard the name of the owner Dupain-Cheng and his face went pale.
"HA! Serves Marinette right!" he heard Chloe forcing him to look right at her. He no longer saw Chloe Bourgeois, he saw the spitting image of a Spoiled Selfish Rude Rich Kid, and saw his future in her and it scared him to the core of his being.
Marinette had managed to complete her errand within record time, gathering all of the ingredients necessary for the meal her mother had planned for dinner. Once she exited the store she made her way back home, slowly walking down the street looking at everyone she passed by studying them with a wide grin. For the first time Marinette had the power over something, and it was a BIG something. She had the power to choose who would become Ladybug the savior of Paris. It was a big responsibility and it was one she could not take lightly. She spotted a girl jogging down the street making her way past civilians with ease until she accidentally bumped into a man not watching where he was going. Instead of asking if the man was okay, she yelled at him.
"Watch where you are going you stupid m-" clearly she was not the right choice.
Then she spotted another girl who was leading her friends around, she seemed to have leadership skills, that was until Marinette overheard her conversation.
"Why yes Jacob don't worry me and the girls are just at the library, we are nowhere near the club district, don't you worry sweetheart mwah!" lying for selfish and harmful reasons immediately disqualified her from the position.
This was a common theme for Marinette, she would spot a hopeful candidate and they would dash her expectations. They were either rude, liars, violent bullies, or some other manner of being that ultimately would use the powers given to them for selfish and harmful gain rather than helping save the city. She pondered if she was the right person as Tikki explained, maybe out of the entire city, she was the one who would do more good with the powers given to her than anyone else.
Those thoughts were quickly dashed once she felt another wave of water splash her across the face. Thankfully the food was in water proof bags so they would be less likely to get soaked and ruined, but she had been covered from head to toe in water once more and she was just sick of it. The day was bad enough as it was and she didn't see any way in how it could get worse. Then she heard the sirens heading towards her house, and her heart sank. Marinette hugged the food tightly to her chest and ran towards her house praying that the bakery was fine and that the police cars and fire trucks were just passing through.
Once she turned the corner, her fear's had been confirmed, with the large van smashed into the side of the bakery, and her parents sitting on the edge of an ambulance being tended to by the paramedics. Marinette nearly dropped the food as she ran to them, almost being stopped by the police, until they realized she was their daughter.
"MAMA! PAPA! Are you alright?!" she yelled careful when hugging the two of them as she was unsure of the extent of their injuries.
"Yes Marinette we are fine just a few bumps and scrapes here and there nothing to worry about." Her father assured her as he patted her shoulder.
"Are you sure you're okay, no broken bones no-"
"We're fine Marinette, I'm more worried about the bakery, hopefully they just took the money in the cash register and they didn't take anything from the house"
Upon hearing that Marinette remembered the Miraculous box she kept hidden in her room. It was a long shot that the criminals broke into her room, but she had to be sure. She quickly ran into the bakery while her parents were giving a statement to the police where she heard that aside from their money only the car had been stolen. Still her parents hadn't checked the rest of the house and that was enough doubt to cause her to panic as she raced up the stairs praying that her room was untouched.
Once she burst through the door to her room she didn't even bother to notice her room was untouched, she ran straight for the desk and opened the drawer. When she looked inside and spotted the black box with red symbols still closed, and undisturbed like she left it she breathed a sigh of release. Quickly opening it she put the earrings on and saw Tikki pop out once more with a big smile on her face.
"Oh good you've decided to become Ladybug and save the city!" She exclaimed as she twirled around in the air.
"No! No, I'm just going to use the powers to get the bad guys that hurt my family, then I'll continue my search for the true owner afterwards" Marinette replied as she stood up in a ready stance, just before she shouted the quote to summon the powers of the Ladybug.
"SPOTS ON!"
Just then a bright light shit out and covered her body in a red skin tight outfit with black dots printed all over. Then for the final addition a Ladybug red and black printed mask spread across her face covering the area around her eyes in a small domino mask. There she stood proud, strong, confident, she was Ladybug.
When he heard the name Dupain-Cheng on the news he knew that it was the last name of one of the girls in his class Marinette. One of the nicest girls at his school, clumsy, yes, late, often, easily startled, a cat could keep better composure than her. Yet, despite all of these things she was smart, kind, selfless, and reliable. So reliable that the entire school, up to and including the faculty asked her for assistance with the most mundane tasks imaginable, and she excelled at them every time. Yet here he was, sitting next to Chole who was laughing at her and her family's misfortune, and he hated it, he was just as bad if not worse than any other Spoiled Selfish Rude Rich Kid, and he hated it. Because he had the power to stop it before it got out of hand, and now people will suffer for it.
When he heard Chloe say "HA! Serves Marinette right!" he knew he was headed down a dark path and it made him sick.
Adrien quickly got up from the couch and headed towards the balcony in an attempt to get some air. This did little to alleviate his feeling of dread as he felt like he was about to vomit right then and there.
The weight of the box in his pocket increased a thousand fold when he realized that he could have stopped them, he could have aided the police and prevented the criminals from doing more damage to the city. But he didn't, because it "wasn't his job, it was the police's." He had to make this right, he had to convince Plagg to let him use the powers of the Chat Noir one more time and find the criminals, and he needed to do it now.
"Sorry Chloe I have to go, otherwise my father will find out I've left home and he'll bolt the windows shut from the outside!" Adrien said as he ran out the double doors before his "friend" could even respond. Adrien pulled out the ring that was in his pocket once he reached the rooftop and put it on summoning Plagg from within.
"If you think I'm going to let you use the suit to get home from here you can forget it, you can-"
"I need to become Chat Noir to find the criminals that we saw earlier! They just robbed a bakery and destroyed half their building; Please, you've got to let me do this!" Adrien half blurted and half begged as he folded his hands together, willing to give him cheese for the rest of his life if he so desired, he just had to fix this one problem.
Then he heard Plagg laugh "So you finally learned your lesson huh? That was faster than I'd expect it to take, well good news for you I'm feeling generous so I'll help you, however, if you ever try to use my powers for destructive selfish reasons again, I'll leave and never come back do you hear me!"
Adrien nodded fiercely as he stood up ready to don the Chat Noir suit once more, only this time it would be for actual good and not to make him feel a sense of misguided freedom.
"But first I should tell you something that might help you in your endeavor; if you focus your eyesight and hearing hard enough you can find anyone you are looking for with ease, though it is only good at picking up recent scents so I'd recommend you get a move on kid" Adrien nodded once more before he shouted his transformation quote for the third time that day.
"Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" No sooner had he transformed he leapt off the rooftops and began tracking down the criminals he refused to stop earlier, hopefully he could prove at least to himself that he was not a Spoiled Selfish Rude Rich Kid, but a Hero.
Marinette was shocked to see the ladybug printed suit covering her entire body like a second skin, leaving only her head, aside from a small mask, exposed. So much so that she immediately freaked out and nearly shouted "Spots off! SPOTTS OFF!"
Tikki popped out of the earrings with a worried look on her face zipping all around Marinette. "Are you okay? Are you alright? Did you transform properly?" Tikki asked just as she stopped right in front of Marinette's face.
"Yes, yes I'm fine, it's just that it kind of startled me with the suit coming out of nowhere and covering my entire body" she blurted out still trying to catch her breath in the process.
Tiki gave a sigh of relief before looking at Marinette once more with reassuring eyes.
"That's what's supposed to happen Marinette, a great flash is supposed to occur and transform you into the great Ladybug" she explained with a calm smile.
"Okay but, the mask doesn't cover my entire face, won't people recognize me with my limited domino mask, or what about my voice? Won't that be recognizable to whomever might know me?" Marinette asked, worried that her actions might put a target on her back by her friends, and family, asking her thousands of questions and demanding answers that she really did not have.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that" Tikki chuckled.
"What?" asked a dumbfounded Marinette.
"The mask gives off a mesmerizing illusion that no one can see through, and your voice will sound different to others but not to you. It's a defense mechanism meant for all miraculous holders and you are no exception" the little kwami explained.
The explanation reassured Marinette, as she gathered herself once more, preparing herself for her next transformation.
"Alright Tikki let's try this again, I'll become Ladybug and find the criminals that robbed my parents bakery and save the day! TIKKI SPOTS ON!"
Once again the red suit covered her body with the ladybug printed mask covering her eyes, once the transformation was complete she leapt out her bedroom window and pulled out her yoyo. She quickly pulled out her yoyo and used the screen to scan for clues down on the street, she soon spotted the tire tracks of her father's stolen car that were left faintly on the street. Following the path they took down the street she quickly ran across the rooftops as quickly as she could leaping short and moderate sized distances with ease. Marinette found that despite her lack of athletic prowess found herself keeping a constant pace without running out of breath. Whenever she found herself trying anything athletic she'd be out of breath by this point, now she felt like she could run around the world without breaking a sweat.
Despite her excitement she was focused on the path of the tire tracks until she caught herself nearly falling off the roof tops when she noticed a massive gap between her and the next building. Looking down at the yoyo she saw that the tracks were fading, meaning that if she didn't act soon she would lose her targets. Then she remembered what Tikki told her, she began looking around for something to wrap her yoyo around and found a few flag poles heading down the street. It was perfect but just as she launched her yoyo and wrapped it around the pool it dawned on her, she had never done this before, she had never practiced swinging and here she was, about to swing across the city like it's nothing.
"NO!" Ladybug yelled to herself "You will not be a coward you need to find the men who stole your parents car and money, and committed who knows how many other crimes, you will do this!" With that she jumped off the roof and began to swing.
The rush of air whistled past her as she got closer to the building causing her to pull on the yoyo and launch it towards another location for her to swing from. Thankfully it was a chimney and she continued to swing with relative grace, she'd get the hang of it, hopefully.
Despite the initial difficulties she managed to make her way through the streets with many onlookers pointing in awe at the girl in red swinging above them. Ladybug kept swinging until she found a good point to stop, and attempted to track the robbers once more. Perched upon the ledge she managed to bring her yoyo up once more, seeing the path continue towards the darker parts of Paris, the warehouses and abandoned buildings that many a Parisian knew not to go to.
"Of course they'd go there" she thought and she continued swinging after the men that stole from her family.
Once she arrived on the scene she continued to track the treads of the tires once more to one of the many large warehouses in the area. She quickly navigated the building finding many crates to offer her cover as she advanced towards her first and possibly only action as a superhero.
Then she found them, six criminals huddled around a large pile of money while the unmistakable silhouette of her father's car was hidden underneath a large tarp. She could barely make out what the group were saying but from what she could hear was "...shouldn't have stolen from the bakery…" and "...how were we going to get away...?"
Deciding it was now or never Ladybug jumped out of the shadows pointing a finger at the crooks and yelled "Have at thee villainous criminals for I have come to bring you in!"
The initial reaction was shock on the face of the crooks, only for them to burst out laughing at her statement. To be honest even she thought it was a stupid thing to say, but that couldn't stop her now.
"I'm serious, I'm here to take you in for the crimes of theft, property damage and... endangering... civilians…" Ladybug said slowly as one of the larger men walked up to her and laughed. He was a large man, full of muscles, he smelled like cheap cigarettes and body odor and he wielded a crowbar that he tapped in his hand.
"Look here little girl I don't know what game you're trying to play but I am going to tell you one thing you've seen out faces and for that we can't let you leave, well alive" the man chuckled as he winded up a big swing ready to cave her head in.
Just as the crowbar was swung at her Ladybug quickly ducked down before responding with a solid uppercut to the man's jaw. The crook was staggered for a bit, allowing her to throw another punch to his gut knocking the wind out of him. Ladybug was shocked once again, not only did she manage to land two solid hits on a guy two feet taller than her, but he actually managed to do some damage. She had little time to ponder this as another crook came at her with a pair of butterfly knives swiping at her narrowly missing her gymnastic-like moves by a hair's breadth each time. She managed to backflip out of the way and kick one of the knives away while sending another kick towards the man's jaw, sending a tooth flying in the process.
"Huh? I might actually win this" she thought with confidence. That was until she was tackled to the ground by a third criminal, pinning her arms to the ground in the process. Another crook quickly grabbed her legs and pinned them as well leaving her helpless. What was worse when the one of the final two criminals walked towards her gun in hand aiming directly at her face.
"That was a nice little show you gave us little girl, but you should have known that this was going to end one way" the man said as he readied his gun to fire.
All the while Ladybug was helpless and nearly on the edge of tears, what was she doing? What was she thinking, she wasn't some hero ready to catch the bad guys and save the day, no she was just some girl playing dress up and now she was going to pay for it with her life. Then she looked up, and there she saw the most encouraging sights in her entire life, a pair of dark green cat's eyes and a wide toothy grin staring down at her.
What happened next, played out in all of three seconds. A silver baton flew at the man with the gun's head knocking him back and giving him a black eye in the process, while the man holding her legs was tackled and thrown across the room colliding with a wooden crate. Shortly after this Ladybug, now with her legs free, kicked the man holding her arms in the face, knocking him off of her and allowing her to counter her opponents. She quickly got to her feet and had her back parallel with the person who had just saved her.
"Who are you?" she asked as she saw three of the six criminals ready themselves for a counter attack.
"Same as you, did you get a ring as well?" he asked playfully before blocking and subsequently counter attacking a man with a bat.
"No, earrings" she replied playfully and she used her yoyo to beat back the three men trying to advance upon her once more.
"So what's your name earrings or shall I call you something else on this date?" he asked as he performed a tornado kick sending another crook to the ground before hitting him on the back of the head knocking him out.
"Oh, so this is a date is it?" she replied before tripping a crook and sending him into his buddies in the process.
"Well, I've been told it's polite to ask a girl for her name on a first date" he smiled before sending a backfist to the face of the third man he was fighting.
"Ladybug, and yours" she smiled facing him with a grin.
"Chat, Chat Noir" he replied facing her before bowing down in an exaggerated manner, in the process allowing a criminal to fly over him and fall to the ground with an ungraceful smack. Just as they were about to celebrate their apparent victory a gun shot rang out forcing the two of them to scatter for cover.
Ladybug readied her yoyo spinning as fast as she could, ready to launch it at her final opponent as soon as she was given the chance. Chat Noir prepared to make a run for it, he knew he could use the shadows for cover, and maybe if he was lucky, he could strike once there was an opening. The heroes put their respective plans into action, unfortunately for the two of them they would both fail. Chat in his dash towards the shadows was caught by Ladybug's yoyo, causing her to accidentally pull him towards her causing the two of them to get tangled up together.
The final criminal aiming his gun at the two entangled heroes laughed as he got closer, "You two are pathetic, you are just snot nosed little brats that think, some kung fu and fancy toys are enough against guns? Wrong, and just because the two of you managed to get on my nerves, after I kill you both I'm going after your families and kill them as well, just to send a message, what do you have to say to that?"
Unbeknownst to the gunman, Chat Noir was able to get his arm free and reply with a snarl "Just one word, CATACLYSM!" he yelled as he slammed his hand down on the ground right next to the armed criminal.
In a matter of seconds the ground decayed and collapsed causing a hole to form resulting in the criminal falling down into the small hole that dropped him down to just below his neck. By the time the man realized what had happened the two young super heroes stood above him triumphantly. The two heroes gave a well done nod towards one another, before leaving the building once they heard the sirens blaring in the distance.
"Who are you freaks!" shouted the man buried up to his neck, trying desperately to gain some knowledge from the embarrassing ordeal.
"The name's Ladybug…" Ladybug started as she swung out of one of the windows on the ceiling.
"...And Chat Noir, be sure to remember the names, you'll be hearing them a lot!" Chat added as he leapt after his fellow superhero, disappearing in the dark shadows of the night.
When the police took the criminals away they all said the same thing two people dressed as superheroes beat them up and left them for the police. They were skeptical of the statements and were less than likely to take the word of a bunch of criminals who many have had one too many to drink.
Meanwhile the two heroes sat perched atop a nearby roof looking at the aftermath with pride. Ladybug felt confident in herself, not only had she captured the bad guys, but she also found she wasn't alone in stopping crime across the city. Chat Noir felt a small sense of redemption, sure he had fun fighting the bad guys and winning, but he knew he had done right; maybe there was more good he could do as both Adrien and Chat Noir, only time would tell.
Chat decided to break the silence that hung over them by asking her a simple straight forward question "Will I see you again My Lady?"
"Yes… I think you will see me again, unless you are tired of me already?" she playfully replied with a smirk.
"Get tired of you? Never, I can't wait to do this again and soon, see you later Bugaboo" he said as he leapt off the roof and began heading back home for a long rest.
"So long Kitty" she replied as she began her long journey home.
Unbeknownst to the two heroes a man in a dark purple suit wielding a cane turned off the news and grinned widely. For years he had been searching for others who might have a Miraculous and now two people fitting the description of wielders were right here in his backyard, the universe was funny that way.
"There are two more now, good, once I have them in my grasp I shall be able to enact my wish once and for all" he laughed maniacally as a kaleidoscope of butterflies swarmed around him in a malicious manner.
"These two heroes will give me their Miraculouses willingly or they shall be responsible for the destruction of this city!" Then he slammed his cane, dispersing all of the butterflies, leaving him alone in a pitch black room.
A/N: Well guys what did you think, was it good? Do I deserve to be burned in effigy please send me a comment so I might know what you are thinking, with that I'll leave you all till next time, au revoir!