I don't own Les Adventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir, please support the official release.


Roman sat quietly for a time, processing just what the Parisian heroes meant to him. Thinking back through the dark times of his life, leading him to join kickboxing so he could get his frustration out in a constructive way, the nights he spent sobbing into a pillow so nobody else would hear, the glances he made around his room, and the way his eyes lingered on his sole comic book, bringing to mind the recently-announced real life heroes. He immediately grabbed his phone and typed in the words 'French Ladybug Superhero', leading him directly to Alya's Ladyblog.

To everyone else in Mme. Bustier's class, it was only a few anxious moments before he spoke, though to Marinette and Adrien, his voice was much sadder than normal. "Watching them gave me hope." He said. "Hope that the world is a good place, full of good people and good experiences. To me, it doesn't really matter who's behind their masks, and I have no interest in finding out. Whoever they are, whatever responsibilities they may have outside of being heroes, it doesn't affect that when they're needed, they appear to help. Nobody knows who they are, not even each other, and if they stop coming to save the day, nobody can blame them because of that. Even so, they keep coming to be heroes. I asked myself why they would do that many times when I first started watching them. As I continued to watch, the answer I came to is 'because they're heroes'. It's as simple as that. They are heroes, regardless of who they are under those masks, and it made me hopeful that the world isn't as bad of a place I thought it was before I saw them." Everyone was silent for a moment, but then an arm was laid across Roman's shoulders, coming from none other than Ivan. With that, everyone gathered around and - in no uncertain terms - let Roman know that if he ever needed to talk, he could reach out to any of them, even after he went back to America.

Most of the class returned to their seat at this point, though Roman remained with Nino, Alya, Marinette, and Adrien near the front of the class. Alya was looking pointedly at Roman now, and seemed to take a moment before putting her thoughts into words.

"So..." she began, keeping her voice a bit lower than before, "You had some questions about akumas, right?" Roman nodded, and she continued. "It's a bit of a sore spot for a lot of people, considering how most of us have been akumatized, other than Marinette and Adrien.

"I apologize. If it's a sore spot then I shouldn't ask, right?" Roman quickly amended.

Alya responded quickly. "It depends on who you ask, but I think it's better for you to know as much about them as you can. It's easier to protect yourself from them that way."

"Alright, then... how do akumas work, exactly?" Roman inquired. "I know that if you get hit by one, you turn into a supervillain, but I don't really understand the specifics of where they come from or why the supervillains do what they do."

"Well...", Nino interjected, "Akumas are these nasty butterflies that come from this awful supervillain dude named Hawkmoth. He locks onto a person's emotions when they're feeling upset or angry, and then sends his akuma to take control of them. Major freakshow."

Surprisingly, Chloe was the next to speak up; "And that's not even the worst part! His suit is this awful shade of purple paired with a silver mask! He has no sense of style whatsoever, and it shows whenever he controls someone. For example, when he turned me into Queen Wasp, he ruined - absolutely ruined - my skintone by turning me YELLOW!" Despite the notably vain comment, there was a general consensus that the students weren't entirely happy with their villain costumes.

Alya used this lull in conversation to regain control. "Beyond being able to transform people by hunting down negative emotion, they can multiply rapidly if left alone for too long, transforming many more people into villains. This is why Ladybug needs to purify them immediately after destroying the object that they nest inside."

"Oh, I remember hearing about something like that, though it only happened once, since that was when Ladybug first debuted, correct?" Roman inquired.

"You're well-informed, no doubt due to my Ladyblog!" Alya replied with a smug look on her face, before nodding. "Yes, it only happened once, and Ladybug hasn't missed one since."

Nodding in return, Roman continued; "Quite a bit of it is due to the Ladyblog, though I did do a small amount of research before throwing myself wholesale into your blog alone. Next question though; I understand a little bit about the 'Miraculous' items that Ladybug and Chat Noir possess, though why does Hawkmoth want them so badly?"

"I have the answer to that query!" Came Markov's from further back in the room, as he rose from Max's bag. Said exchange student had attempted to make sense of the self-thinking robot over the time he spent with Max, but still could not fully grasp the concept. "When I was akumatized, Hawkmoth explained to me that once he had both Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous items, he could use them to make a wish, though would not elaborate on what kind of wish he desired."

This information, which had not previously been known, resulted in differing reactions from a number of students in the room. A gasp from Chloe, Alya and Roman, nervous demeanor from Adrien and Marinette, and a hidden smirk from Lila. None of these small gestures were given much note, however, as the classroom then erupted into speculation.

"There's no way they don't know about this, right?" exclaimed Alix, only to be countered by Kim; "If they knew about it, they would just wish Hawkmoth away though. Poof! No more supervillain!"

"I don't think it would be that easy." Mylene chimed in, "There are a bunch of stories about how wishes can go badly if you misuse them. You get what you ask for, but you lose something in return." Ivan nodded in response to her comment, patting her gently on the shoulder because she was able to interject during such a noisy discussion.

"In which case, Alya." Roman quickly turned to the Ladyblogger who was already typing furiously at her phone. "We shouldn't spread this information on your blog. There are a lot of people - normal, everyday people - who would be enticed by the prospect of a wish, even one with a cost, to work alongside Hawkmoth. To give Ladybug and Chat a better chance of succeeding in stopping him, let's keep this between us here in the classroom, yeah?"

Sadly, albeit slowly, Alya nodded and began deleting her draft post. "By the way, Roman." She addressed, "You've mentioned a lot about Hawkmoth, but what do you think about Mayura?" The confused look on his face said it all. "Oh my gosh, you don't KNOW about Mayura?!" Alya all but screamed at him.

"No, but I have the distinct feeling that you're going to tell me about them." Was his curt reply. Alya then proceeded to explain the appearance, powers, and nature of the supervillainess Mayura, including all the known details and cases of Amoks and Sentimonsters, and her association with Hawkmoth. By the time she had finished her explanation, it was only a few moments before the final bell rang and students began leaving for the day. Since Kim had stayed to listen to Roman's interview, the two of them left for the pool together. Marinette exited the front doors of the school behind them, alongside Nino, Alya and Adrien. After bidding adieu to her closest friends, she headed home to her family bakery, the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie Patisserie.

Opening the door from the frigid and gently snowing weather outside, Marinette entered the bakery situated under her family's living space and inhaled. The warm scents of freshly-baked croissants, choux pasteries, macarons, and the like made her mouth water. Her father Tom Dupain, a large french man with a bushy brown mustache, welcomed her inside with open arms. Her mother Sabine Cheng, a small Chinese woman, held out a small tray of baked goods for Marinette as she passed through the store and into the kitchen. There were most certainly perks to being the daughter of the two best bakers in all of Paris. Washing her hands and donning an apron, Marinette quickly set to work helping in both kitchen and store as foot traffic soon picked up; the workday was ending for most, and the citizens of Paris tended to enjoy having a warm pastry to keep them toasty in the cold weather.

Soon enough, the evening rush was over, and Marinette washed up before ascending the stairs into her room. Pink wallpaper was decorated with pictures of her friend, classmate and crush, Adrien Agreste, while her desk held not only a workspace for school, but a sewing machine and several materials for designing and making clothing. As she sat down to start upon her homework, Marinette deigned to turn on her phone and look at the local news, checking for any ill-timed akuma alerts. She found the tail end of a show run by the popular TV host, Alec Cataldi, a dark-skinned man in his late 20s to early 30s wearing his usual light blue T-shirt and beige pants. Just as he was wrapping up the show, however, a sinister laugh echoed through the camera, which was soon dropped. The feed sputtered out, and Marinette knew that an akuma had just reared its ugly head.