In a secret lair where white butterflies are covering the floor like a glowing carpet, underneath the beautiful city of Paris, a small purple kwami, floats in front of a man standing in the light coming from a large round window with an intricate metal butterfly motif going over it, covering his face to those witnessing the kwami as he spoke.
"Many centuries ago, magic jewels with extraordinary powers were created, these were the Miraculous. Throughout history, heroes have used these jewels for the good of the human race. Two of these Miraculous are more powerful than the others, the earrings of the Ladybug, which provide the power of creation, and the ring of the Black Cat, which grants the power of destruction. According to legend, whoever controls both these jewels at the same time will achieve absolute power." The kwami said as the man in front of him looked at a small purple jewel brooch with black metal detailing on it; opened up to reveal a picture of a beautiful woman inside of it; in his right hand.
"I want that absolute power, Nooroo." The man said as he closed the brooch, and looked at the kwami floating in front of him.
"I must have those Miraculous." the man said while Nooroo looked at him nervously.
"But nobody knows where these Miraculous are." Nooroo said while the mysterious man evilly smiled at the kwami's claim.
"I found you though, my little Nooroo." The man said before he looked back down at the brooch in his hand.
"Your Miraculous, remind me of its powers again." He said before rubbing his pointer, middle and ring fingers along the top of the brooch.
"The butterfly brooch allows you to give someone their own superpowers and to make that person your devoted follower." Nooroo said, while the man stopped rubbing the brooch, and covered it with the fingers that were previously rubbing the top of it.
"And when it comes to luring superheroes, what could be better than creating supervillains?" The man said as he looked away from the brooch and back at the nervous kwami.
"But Master, the Miraculous are not meant to be used for evil purposes." Nooroo said, trying to reason with the psychotic man. But unfortunately, his reasoning fell on deaf ears.
"I must have this absolute power!" shouted the man as he stomped his foot onto the ground like a child throwing a tantrum, causing the butterflies to start flying up from the floor and into the air around the kwami and man.
"Your miraculous is in my control! I am your Master now! And you must obey me!" The man said as he pointed at Nooroo threateningly as the little kwami shook in fear.
"Yes, Master." Nooroo said with sadness, hanging his head down in resignation, while the man pinned the brooch onto his shirt.
"Nooroo… Dark Wings, Rise!" The man said before the butterflies swarmed around him, right before Nooroo got sucked into the brooch, transforming the man.
"From this day on I shall be known as Hawkmoth!" The newly made villian said as he faced the window while laughing like a maniac as the butterflies fluttered around the lair without a care in the world.
Meanwhile, in a massage parlor on the other side of Paris, a small green turtle kwami was peacefully dosing away in an empty matchbox with a spool of thread as a pillow, hidden in the horn of a gramophone in a room where an old Chinese man is attending to a customer. But the turtle kwami was suddenly woken up, and quickly zoomed out of his hiding spot and towards the old man as he was attending to the customer.
"Master, master." The kwami said, as he flew to the old man's right side, which alerted the customer he was attending to. The kwami quickly hid behind the old man, as the customer rose up from his previous position of laying on his stomach to see what was the noise.
"Master, master…" The old man began chanting, thinking quickly to hide the kwami from the customer while a chime sound came from a radio.
"Chanting… it's part of the treatment. Master, master." the old man continued, trying to help sell his cover before he helped the customer to his feet and pushed him to the door.
"Thank you for coming. See you next week." The old man said right before closing the door behind the customer. As soon as he was gone, the kwami flew out of his hiding place and floated in front of the old man.
"Master, the Butterfly Miraculous, I felt its aura." the kwami said, much to the old man's surprise as he held his chin in thought.
"I thought it was lost forever." the old man said before the kwmai continued to speak while he floats in the air
"But master, it's a negative aura. I fear it's fallen into the hands of a dark power." The kwami said, worry filling his voice as he looked up at his little companion.
"We must find Nooroo and his Miraculous. If it has gotten into the wrong hands, there's no telling what evil will come upon the world." the old man said as he walked back to the massage mat where the customer was on before, and then lifted his right arm into the air, where a leather cord bracelet with a jade turtle charm; was tied around his wrist.
"Time to transform! Wayzz…" The old man began to say while stretching his limbs, before he heard some of his bones crack, causing him to groan in pain, and crouch to the ground in pain while the kwami; now revealed to be named Wayzz, flew in front of him.
"Please Master, be reasonable, you are…!" Wayzz began to say.
"Still young, I'm only 186 and a half! " the old man said, looking up from the ground and interrupting the little kwami. But unfortunately, he could see that Wayzz was right.
"But you're right, Wayzz. I can no longer do it alone." he said as he got up from the ground, and stood up to face the gramophone.
"We'll need some help." the old man said as he walked to the old gramophone. Once he reached it, he pressed the eyes of the decorative dragons which revealed a set of hidden buttons, and pressed some of them, imputing a code. The gramophone then opened, revealing a black wooden box with a red symbol on top.
Meanwhile, on the main road, at 12 Rue Gotlib, in a bedroom on top of the Dupain-Cheng family bakery, an alarm clock has been blaring loudly for the past 15 minutes in an attempt to wake up the girl in the loft bed, trying to catch up on some much-needed sleep; by blocking out the sound of the alarm with her blanket; despite being on summer vacation the previous day. Said girl was still trying to sleep, but in the end, her mom called to her from the living room, below the hatch that led to the room to wake her up.
"Marinette! Your alarm has been going off for 15 minutes. You're going to be late for your first day back at school." the girl's; now revealed as Marinette; mom said as she stuck out her hand from her blanket, grabs her phone, and turned it off before sticking her tired head from out under the blanket
"Got it, mom." Marinette groggily said before she got up from her bed and went downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Coming…" She said as she went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Once there, she kissed her mom's cheek and went to the table, where the ingredients for her breakfast sat waiting for her, while her mom went to the coffee machine.
"I bet you anything, Chloé will be in my class again." Marinette said while she grabbed a bowl and poured some milk into it before placing it on the table on the left.
"Four years in a row? Is that possible?" Marinette's mom; Sabine said as she turned to face her daughter, while she grabbed the cereal box.
"Definitely. Lucky me." Marinette said as she poured the cereal into her bowl as her mom stirred a ladle in a pot.
"Don't say that. It's the start of a new year. I'm sure everything will be fine." Sabine said while Marinette nods in agreement, before setting the cereal box back onto the table on her right. But the amount of force she placed it down with, caused an orange from the fruit bowl on the table to roll down a piece of bread laying on the rim of the bowl. The orange then rolled on a butter knife that was laying on a stick of butter, with the weight of the fruit caused it to see-saw the orange to the other side of the stick of butter, and knock it into a spoon that sat in a bowl of sugar cubes, causing one to fly out of the bowl and knock into the cereal box, while the orange knocked into the open milk carton on the other side of the table, causing both to spill onto the floor, while the orange continues to roll around the table, and knock into a cup of yogurt, making that fall to the floor as well. Marinette could only watch as her legendary clumsiness struck once again. Sabine only tiredly smiled as she set the pot she was holding onto the counter next to the kitchen sink, grabbed a dishcloth, and went to help clean the spilled milk from the ground while Marinette set the cereal box upright and closed it with a small whine and a frown. But her mother strokes her cheek with the back of her curled finger, bringing a smile to her daughter's lips. Soon after Marinette finished eating, she raced up the stairs to her room to get changed for school. Instead of wearing the same look like last year, Marinette decided to change it up a bit, starting by styling her hair into low twin pigtails tied with red hair scrunchies, rather than into the high bun she had last year. Another change to her look was changing her capris jeans rolled up to her mid-calf and ballet flats, from blue into bright pink, while a small pink purse with a pink and black floral design on it rested on her left hip by a black cord strap on her right shoulder. Everything else about her outfit; a charcoal gray jacket, lined with white and pink polka dot fabric, and a white shirt with a pink and black floral design on the top right part; remained the same as she looked over her reflection in the mirror with a smile. Satisfied with her new look, Marinette grabs her phone, takes a picture of her reflection and sends it to a group chat that she, Toby and her brother had made a few years ago.
Group Chat: Arcadia Oaks Troublemakers
MariFairy: (Image) Check the new look for the first day of school. You guys like it?
It didn't take long for her brother and her honorary brother to reply while she was packing her bag for the school day.
Group Chat: Arcadia Oaks Troublemakers
Jimbo: You look great, sis. Hope you have a good day.
Toby Pie: Jimbo is right, MariFairy. Good luck with the She-Devil today.
MariFairy: If you mean Chloé, then thank you. Here's to hoping that I don't have her in my class this year.
Jimbo: When has that been the case?
MariFairy: Never, but one can hope. Talk to you later. Bye ❤️
Toby Pie: Bye ?ᅡᅠ
Jimbo: TTYL ✌️
With the texts from her favorite boys, Marinette happily went downstairs to the bakery on the ground floor of her apartment building. Once there, her dad, Tom gives her a box of yummy looking yellow-green macaroons as he hums the French National anthem.
"Dad, these are so awesome!" Marinette said as she looked into the box.
"Glad you like 'em." Tom said before he closed the lid of the box, while Marinette hops up and down in excitement.
"Thank you, dad, my class will love them. You're the best." She said as she took the box into her hands while her dad affectionately tussled her hair.
"We're the best. Thanks to your amazing designs." Tom said as he lifted a drawing of Marinette's redesign of the bakery's logo. Smiling with pride, Marinette jumps up and hugs her dad tightly. But in the process, she drops the box of macarons. Tom, used to his daughter's clumsiness; quickly catches it with his foot, and then tossed it up in the air, before catching it again and handing it back to Marinette while her mom held out her backpack to her.
"Thanks" Marinette said as she took her bag from Sabine with a kiss on her mom's cheek, and then went to her dad to kiss him on the cheek too.
"See you tonight." She said as she ran out the door, box in hand as she managed to get her backpack onto her back, while she made her way towards her school, which was thankfully right next to her house, but in front of a crosswalk. She waits for the light to change, but is surprised to see an elderly man dressed in khakis, sandals, and a red Hawaiian shirt with white flowers walking across slowly. Worried, Marinette looks to her left and sees a car coming towards the old man, unaware of a car heading their way, about to run him over. Without a second thought, Marinette ran to the old man and pulled him out of the way of the car, and onto the sidewalk, but tripped on the curb in the process, making her drop the box of macaroons, spilling the contents onto the ground.
"Thank you, miss. Oh, what a disaster." The old man said as he looked at the spilled macaroons while Marinette tried to pick them up. As she was about to pick up another one, a man stepped on it, much to her disappointment, but she picks up the unharmed ones and puts them back in the box before standing up
"Don't worry, I'm no stranger to disasters. Besides, there's still a few left." Marinette said as she held out the box to the old man, letting him take one. He takes one of the macaroons and takes a bite, soon smiling from the flavor.
"Delicious." The old man said while Marinette closed the top of the box with a smile before the bell rang in the distance.
"Oh no, I'm going to be late! Have a nice day sir." Marinette hastily said as she bowed to the man and then ran along the crosswalk towards the school. Once Marinette had rounded the corner to run along the front of her school, the old man looked down at a small box; similar to the one hidden in the gramophone; in his hand, and smiled.
"Thank you very much, young lady." The old man said before he walked to the door to Marinette's family bakery, holding his cane behind his back, and walked inside.
Meanwhile, Marinette raced through the front door to the school, just before the janitor was about to close them and raced to her homeroom class with Miss Bustier.
"Nino, why don't you have a seat in the front row this year?" Miss Bustier said as Marinette clumsily made her way through the door and made her way to her normal seat as Nino grumpily made his way from the back row, and to the front, dragging his bag with him with his headphones over his ears. As soon as Nino sat down, and took his headphones off of his ears and let them hang around his neck, Marinette sat in her seat and placed the box of macaroons in front of her. Marinette would have liked to say she was ready for a new school year. She really did enjoy learning, but it wasn't the learning or teachers that put her off. It was one Chloe Bourgeois, her long time bully. It was possible that they would finally be in different classes, but with her luck it was unlikely. So now she was hoping beyond all hope that a familiar blonde wouldn't be in her class this time. But her dreams were dashed when a familiar well-manicured hand slammed onto her desk, surprising her to see who it belonged to.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." A blonde girl; Chloé Bourgeois; said tauntingly, much to Marinette's dismay as she rolled her eyes and stared down at her desk. No such luck this year.
"Ugh. Here we go again." Marinette said to herself knowing the whole routine by heart at this point.
"That's my seat." Chloe said as she lifted her hand from the table and held it to her chest as she spoke.
"But Chloe, this has always been my seat." Marinette said as she averted her gaze from the desk and then back at Chloé.
"Not anymore! New school, new year, new seats." A voice next to Marinette said, causing her to turn to her left and see Sabrina, Chloé's 'best friend' sitting next to her with her arms crossed in front of her chest as she tried to intimidate Marinette. And now with the sidekick, she was cornered.
"So why don't you just go and sit beside that new girl over there?" Chloé said while pointing to her old seat, where the new girl looked over at the conflict, raising an eyebrow as she looked them up and down.
"But-" Marinette began before Chloé interrupted her.
"Listen, Adrien's arriving today and since that's going to be his seat, this is going to be my seat. Get it?" Chloe said as she slammed her hands down on the desk as she moved further into Marinette's space, while two more students; Nathaniel and Ivan; moved into their own seats.
"Uh… Who's Adrien?" Marinette asked, confused, which caused Chloe and Sabrina to start laughing. At least it got Chloe to back up a little.
"Can you believe she doesn't know who Adrien is?" Chloé said as she guffawed with Sabrina.
"What rock have you been living under?" She said to Marinette after laughing, while her question was still not answered.
"He's only a famous model." Sabrina said, which finally answered Marinette's previous question.
"And I'm his best friend. He adores me. Go on, move." Chloé said, continuing to bully Marinette into giving up her seat, but thankfully, luck was on her side that day.
"Hey! Who elected you Queen of Seats?" The new girl asked as she was standing behind Chloe with her arms crossed. When Chloé heard the new girl speak up, she turned around and focused her attention on her instead of Marinette.
"Oh look, Sabrina. We've got a little do-gooder in our class this year." Chloé said before getting up into her personal space.
"What're you gonna do super newbie? Shoot beams at me with your glasses?" She asked tauntingly before the new girl got up in Chloe's face.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she nearly growled before heading over to Marinette and grabbing her arm.
"Come on." The new girl said giving Marinette a few seconds to grab her stuff, before she dragged Marinette to sit with her, causing the girl to trip, drop her bag and let the macarons spill… again. It really wasn't her day. Marinette could only mutter apologies about the mess as she picked it up and sat next to the new girl.
"Alright, has everyone found a seat?" Miss Bustier said as she faced the class behind her desk, while Marinette got into her seat and stared at the near completely empty box.
"Chillax girl, no biggie." The new girl said, bringing Marinette's attention from the box, and to her.
"I so wish I could handle Chloe the way you do." Marinette said as she faced her before looking back at the box.
"You mean the way Majestia does it." The new girl said as she lifted her phone to Marinette to show a picture of a very famous hero from New York to her.
"She says all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing." She continues to say before she turned Marinette to look back at Chloé while the bully in question sat in Marinette's original seat.
"Well, that girl over there is evil." The new girl said as she pointed at Chloé, before turning Marinette away from looking at Chloé and into a huddle.
"And we are the good people. We can't let her get away with it." She said with a confident smile.
"Well that's easier said than done. She likes to make my life miserable." Marinette said, bringing up how Chloé has tormented her for the past couple of years. But that didn't stop the new girl who was on a roll.
"That's cause you let her, girl! You just need more confidence." The new girl said, wanting to continue, but didn't know her name. Sensing this Marinette took the only survivor out of the box of macarons and split it in half and handed one to the new girl.
"Marinette." Marinette said, introducing herself to the new girl with a smile
"Alya." The new girl; now revealed as Alya; said before she takes the macaroon and eats it with her new friend as class starts with Miss Bustier writing her name on the board with a piece of chalk.
"For those who don't yet know me, I'm Miss Bustier." She said as she turned to face the class.
"I'll be your teacher this year." Miss Bustier said while Chloé stared at the still empty desk in front of her as Miss Bustier started the class.
"Ugh, he should have been here by now." Chloé complains to herself, wondering where her friend was.
Meanwhile, outside of the school, a boy with blonde combed hair, and bright green eyes, while wearing a white short-sleeved over shirt, a black shirt with five different coloured horizontal stripes along his chest, blue jeans, and orange sneakers tries running toward the school building. The boy's name was Adrien and he was so ready for school. He'd never been allowed to go before… Well he technically wasn't allowed this year either, but Chloe had helped him get set up to go to her school, so all he had to do was make it in the building before he got caught. He was running through the streets of Paris fueled by pure joy. He had to be somewhat careful that no one recognized him, but it thankfully wasn't too busy that morning. Unfortunately just as he was nearing the building, the car that had his bodyguard and his father's assistant in it also closed in. Just when he was about to climb the stairs, Nathalie; his father's assistant comes barreling out of the car, towards him.
"Adrien, please reconsider. You know what your father wants." Nathalie said, making Adrien stop running and turned to look at her with determination in his eyes as both Nathalie and his bodyguard reached the bottom of the steps to the school
"But this is what I want to do!" Adrien said as he turned to face her before turning away to continue his way up the stairs. He was so close and was about to go in when he heard a groan. An older man was on the sidewalk reaching for his cane. Instead of running up the steps, he ran to the man and helped him up.
"Thank you, young man." the old man said, making Adrien smile. But when he turned around again the Gorilla and Nathalie were blocking his path. He dejectedly walked over.
"I just want to go to school like everybody else. What's so wrong with that? Please don't tell my father about all this." Adrien said, trying to appeal to Nathalie's better nature. But it doesn't do much as Gorilla guided him back to the car as Nathalie led. If it was up to him, Adrien would be allowed at school, but Nathalie was on a tighter leash from their boss and outranked him. They drove back to the mansion and Adrien felt his hope slip away with every passing second, not even seeing that the old man he had helped, smiled to himself, and walked away with no trouble at all while he held his cane on his shoulder.
(Time skip)
Not long after the events at the front of the school, the first class of the day was done. After their first class, some students had P.E. while others would go to the library.
"Those of you who have P.E, Mr D'Argencourt is expecting you at the stadium." Miss Bustier said, just as Kim passed Ivan a note that clearly upset him, while the others were getting ready to head to their next class.
"The rest of you can head over to the library." The teacher continues to say, just before she is suddenly interrupted.
"KIM!" Ivan; one of the students said, causing Miss Bustier and the rest of the class to look over at him, only to find he was ready to throw a punch at Kim; who was smugly smirking at the angered boy; when the teacher caught him.
"Ivan, what's going on?" Miss Bustier said, turning the boy's attention from Kim and to her, as he tried to defend himself.
"It's Kim! I am gonna get…" Ivan said, right about to punch Kim before Miss Bustier stopped him.
"Ivan!" Miss Bustier called from her desk.
"Go to the principal's office." She said with a firm voice. In response, Ivan crumpled up the paper and reluctantly did as he was told, Kim laughing all the while. He saw red before he could hear Miss Bustier scolding Kim, while he hung his head in shame as walked to the principal's office.
Meanwhile, in an evil lair hidden somewhere in Paris, a large round window opens up to let the light shine into the space, awakening hundreds of butterflies from their resting spots on the floor and making them fly around the lair as Hawkmoth stood in the very middle of the fluttering creatures.
"Negative emotions. This is perfect." The villain said as the butterflies fluttered around him.
"This is just what I need. Anger, Sadness." Hawkmoth said as he clenched his right hand in anticipation. A second later, he held out his open left palm, allowing one of the butterflies to land on it.
"Burn a hole into his heart, my horrible Akuma." The psycho said as one of the white butterflies landed on his palm, before he covered it with his other hand, transforming it into an Akuma. Once the process was complete, he removed his right hand, allowing the Akuma to flutter free and begin its track out of the lair, towards the window.
"Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilise him." Hawkmoth said to the Akuma as it flew out an opening in the center of the window and out into the city in search of Ivan.
Back at the school, the students that had P.E. left with Mr D'Argencourt, with the others going to the library, while Ivan had just gotten to the principal's office, and walked in. But unfortunately, Mr Damocles just made things more irritating for him.
"Excuse me, young man, hasn't anyone ever taught you to knock? Go on, out you go, let's try it again." Mr Damocles said while Ivan groaned as he closed the door behind him to try again. He'd been through this enough times to know it would end better that way.
"Go on, knock." The principal said, but before Ivan could knock, the Akuma had flown to the paper in his hand, and corrupted it, while he heard a voice in his head and a purple outline of a butterfly appeared on his face.
"Stone Heart, I am Hawkmoth. I give you the power to seek revenge on those who have wronged you." Said the slightly more successful fraternal twin brother of Denzel Crocker as he spoke through the mind link.
"Ok, Hawkmoth." Ivan said just before a strange dark aura enveloped him and everything disappeared. Meanwhile, inside Damocles's office, the principal was patiently waiting for the boy to come in, but he hadn't.
"Well, come in" The principal said, only to be answered by his door being crushed and a giant stone golem crashing into the office.
"KIM!" Stoneheart roars out with his fists raised into the air as he did so. A second afterwards, he lumbered over towards the principal.
Meanwhile, Marinette was in the library talking with her new friend, Alya when the whole school shook, knocking them out of their seats. Everyone began aimlessly running and yelling in a panic and Alya dragged her to her feet.
"Come on!" Alya said as she dragged Marinette to the monitors in the library that showed security footage. There was a giant stone thing yelling outside the school standing on top of a cracked sidewalk that definitely wasn't like that when she came in.
"KIM!" The beast roars out before leaving the school, while Damocles was fearfully calling the police on his phone as he watched Stoneheart leave from his destroyed office window.
"Hello, is this the police? Get me the army!" The principal said as he cowered away from the retreating monster. Meanwhile, Marinette and Alya were still in the library, watching everything on the monitor.
"Wh- What's going on?! He had… Ivan's voice?" Marinette said, having never seen anything like this before. What the heck was going on?
"It's as if he's been transformed into a real-life supervillain!" Alya said excitedly before digging into her bag and pulling out her phone while Marinette just stared at her, confused.
"GPS? Check. Battery? Check. I am so out of here!" She said before she ran to the library door, confusing Marinette even more.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Marinette said, her voice shaking, barely enough to be noticed which Alya didn't as she turned around to address her.
"Where there's a supervillain, there's always a superhero close behind! No way I'm missing this." Alya said before racing out of the library. Marinette watched Alya, who she thought was way too excited for the situation, run out the doors. She looked at the monitors once more just as the monster threw a car at the camera, ending the footage. Just great! Her new friend was crazy! She got enough of this from Jim and Toby during the summer and in the past, why can't she ever get away from it?
Meanwhile, at the Agreste mansion, the old man from before is standing at the entrance to the subway as he looks ahead at the gates to the giant fortress of a house. He looks down at the box he holds a small box like the one he looked at before in front of Marinette's house and heads towards the mansion with a smile. Inside the Mansion, Nathalie was going over Adrien's homeschooling lessons in the large dining room of the mansion, while Adrien; having not made it to school; was instead being quizzed by Nathalie.
"Who was the 1st president of the 5th French Republic?" Nathalie asked as she walked along the length of the dining room table, while Adrien sat at the end of it, bored out of his mind. The boy usually didn't mind learning, especially when the subject was interesting, but Nathalie did not make things easier for him, considering she went about teaching him like a robot.
"Everyone thinks it was De Gaulle, but it was actually René Coty before the first elections." Adrien said boredly as he leaned his jaw on his right hand while his elbow was planted firmly on the table to keep his head from falling to the table.
"Excellent Adrien." Nathalie said, proud of his knowledge of the question. But it was soon interrupted when his father came into the room.
"Give me a minute would you, Nathalie." The basket case of a fashion mogul said, bringing Adrien and Nathalie's attention to him as he stood on the other side of the room.
"Yes, sir." Nathalie said before she walked a few feet to the side, while Adrien waited for his father to speak. He was almost excited when the man asked for a minute, only to be horribly disappointed when he received a scolding.
"You are not going to school. I've already told you." Gabriel said, right before Adrien looked at Nathalie, who looked down to her feet. At least she had the decency to feel bad about telling on him.
"But Father-" Adrien said, rising from his seat, trying to defend himself.
"Everything you need is right here where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you outside in that dangerous world." The boys 'father' said, interrupting his son, and asserting his authority.
"It's not dangerous father! I'm always stuck in here by myself. Why can't I go out and make friends just like everybody else?" Adrien said as he stood in front of his seat while he tried to stand up for himself.
"Because you are not like everyone else! You are my son." Gabriel said as Adrien backed off, allowing his father to see in Adrien's eyes that he had given up protesting.
"Continue." The 'father of the year' said before he left the room, while Adrien stared at the ground in anguish, as Nathalie waited until her boss left the room to speak.
"We can leave it there for today if-" Nathalie begins to say. That was all Adrien needed to run to his room and flop down face-first onto his bed. But soon after, he heard and felt the Earth-shaking, but not in a consistent wave like an earthquake. It seemed more like… giant footsteps? He ran outside to see what was happening where he found many police cars and officers in front of his house facing off against… What was that?! Some sort of monster? Maybe the outside really was dangerous… but if things like this happened often he would have studied it with current events or at least come across it in his hours of web surfing. Meanwhile, the stone golem was still walking towards the blockade, where the police captain and some officers were ready to attack.
"Ready?" The captain said as Stoneheart got closer and closer until he was in firing range.
"Fire!" The captain said, right before they shot tasers at the golem, but that only caused it to grow. The officers were forced to run and the thing threw one of their vans after them. Adrien immediately went back to his room and turned on the news where the mayor was giving a speech.
"I'm asking all Parisians to stay at home until the situation is under control." Mayor Bourgeois said, right before the reporters surrounding him started to hound him for more questions and information, right as the screen turned to the usual newscaster Nadja Chamack.
"As incredible as it seems, it's been confirmed that Paris is indeed being attacked by a supervillain." Nadja said as the live feed switched from City Hall, to where the police are facing off against Stoneheart.
"The police have been struggling to keep the situation under control." The reporter said, just before the screen switched from her, and to another reporter, as they interviewed the captain involved in the attack, whose arm was now in a cast and sling.
"Be confident. The strong arm of the law will come crashing down on…" The captain said as he lifted up his bad arm into the air, which caused him to groan in pain, and brought it back down, where he held onto it to stop the pain.
"I mean the other arm." The captain said, continuing his earlier statement. Adrien could only watch in amusement. A supervillain? That thing was a supervillain? He then looked down to the ground in thought… only to find a small black box on the coffee table in front of his T.V. and in front of him
"Huh? What's this doing here?"
Meanwhile, in the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Marinette had made it back home safely and was watching the same news report as Adrien was at the moment, on her computer. Only she was sitting on her knees, in her swivel chair, backwards and holding onto the top of the chair as she watched the report as the captain finished his interview.
"I hate first days back at school." Marinette said as she watched the news, only for her eyes to drift downwards and come upon a box she had never seen before as it sat on her desk, next to her monitor.
"Huh? What's this doing here?" Marinette picked up the box and she opened it to find a pair of earrings and- bright light! She threw the box away from her in surprise and looked away from the light, but as she slightly opened her eyes to look at it, she stared at it in shock as a small red creature appeared before her. But when the tiny creature opened its bright blue eyes, Marinette jumped out of her chair in fear and towards the other end of her desk.
"Ah! Help! It's a giant bug! A- a mouse! A bug-mouse!" Marinette said as she constantly switched from holding onto a support beam that held up her loft bed, and holding onto the desk behind her as the creature floats in the air in front of her.
"Everything's ok. Don't be scared." The creature said, in an attempt to calm the nervous wreck of a girl. But that proved to be the wrong choice as Marinette put her hands behind her and reached for things to throw and keep them away from her.
"AHH! BUG-MOUSE TALKS!" The girl said as she kept throwing things at the creature, who only evades the stuff thrown at her.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Adrien had opened his own strange box to find a ring before a green flash of light nearly blinded him. But as the light dies down, Adrien could only stare in surprise as a small floating black cat was revealed, sleeping and curled up on itself. After a second, the cat yawned and drooped in the air out of tiredness while Adrien looked at it in amazement.
"No way. You're like the genie in the lamp." Adrien said as he went to poke the creature, but it stopped him before he could.
"I met him once. So he grants wishes. Big deal. I'm way more personable. Plagg. Nice to meet you." The creature; now introduced as Plagg; said, right before he began to take in the room and move around it.
"Ooooh, swanky." Plagg said as he flew around the room, as Adrien watched while the creature's first instinct was to bite one of the heads of the metal foosball players.
"NO! Don't do that!" Adrien said as he tried to catch the little gremlin. But before he could, Plagg flew to the next thing that caught his eye, which was one of Adrien's game joysticks.
"Hey, come back here." Adrien said as Plagg flew to the game console.
"Oh, it's so shiny. Can you eat this?" The tiny nuisance said before he tried to eat the joystick, only to find that he couldn't.
"No, you can't. OH, What about this?" Plagg said before he flew away from the game console, just before Adrien could catch him as he looked at the little cat creature in annoyance. He had his work cut out for him.
Back in Marinette's room, the confused girl was still throwing stuff at the red creature as it floated in front of her, but she had moved from her desk to the foot of her vanity.
"Listen Marinette, I know everything may seem a bit strange to you, but-" The creature said, just as Marinette swung a glass down over the top of it, trapping the tiny creature.
"Ok. If that makes you feel safer." The creature said, not even seeming a little upset about being trapped as Marinette stares down at the creature.
"What are you? And how do you know my name?" Marinette said, interrogating the creature, who only smiled in response, happy that Marinette was willing to listen now.
"I'm a kwami, and my name is Tikki. Now just let me explain." The creature; now introduced as Tikki; said through the glass, with a wide smile.
Meanwhile, Adrien gave up on trying to protect every little thing from Plagg's searching teeth and instead used his rock climbing wall to get the drop on the little creature. He was able to get a hold of him and land safely on the couch with the kwami in his clenched hands.
"I still don't know what you're doing here." Adrien said to Plagg before the kwami turned to face him with narrowed eyes.
"Look, I'm a kwami. I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction, got it?" Plagg said tiredly, to which Adrien shakes his head 'no'
"Uh-uh." The model said, considering he very much did not get it. But Plagg didn't seem to care.
"Good, now you got anything to eat? I'm starving." The kwami said as he looked around the room for something to satisfy his hunger, while Adrien got up from the couch while still holding Plagg captive.
"My dad's pranking me, right? Wait, he couldn't be. He has no sense of humor." Adrien said, trying to make sense of what the heck was happening before Plagg managed to free himself from his hold and float in front of Adrien.
"Your father must never know that I exist. Or anyone for that matter." Plagg said in a serious tone, much to Adrien's surprise considering that the kwami seemed to not care about much except eating.
Back at Marinette's house, Marinette was not believing anything that was happening right now and went to open the trap door to her room.
"Mom! Dad!" Marinette shouts out as she opens the door, much to Tikki's fear.
"No, no, no!" Tikki said worriedly before she phased through the glass to get in front of the girl to stop her.
"I'm your friend, Marinette. You must trust me. You're the only one who can stop Stoneheart!" The adorable kwami said, much to Marinette's shock as she stares at the kwami.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the old man from before was holding the lid of the mysterious box from the gramophone open, revealing it to be a jewelry box of some sort and several unoccupied spaces where one would put the jewels in, while two of them held a jewelry piece in them. The orange space had a foxtail necklace, and the yellow one had a bee shaped hair comb, while Wayzz floated on the old man's right.
"Do you think they'll be up to it, Master?" Wayzz said, worriedly, while the old man looked in the box in front of them.
"I only got it wrong once." The old man said, right before he turned his gaze from the contents of the box, and back to Wayzz.
"It will never happen again. At least I hope not." The old man said right before he closed the box, and it sank back into the gramophone, with the top going back on to hide it from the world once more.
Meanwhile, Marinette had already closed the door back up and stared at Tikki in denial.
"This must be some mistake. The only superpower I could have is super awkwardness…" Marinette said, trying to make Tikki see reason; at least her reasoning; that she wasn't cut out for the job before the answer suddenly came to her.
"I know! Alya would know! That's my friend, well at least I think she would. She loves superheroes! She'd totally be up for the job. You should go see her-" She said, trying to get Tikki to change her mind, but it didn't work as Tikki flew right up to Marinette's face, much to her shock.
"Marinette! You're the chosen one!" Tikki said, trying to get Marinette to see that she was the one for the job.
Back in Adrien's room, he had just gotten a similar explanation from Plagg, while the kwami entertained himself by playing with a roll of toilet paper.
"But I'm stuck here! I'm not even allowed to go to school. What good is a superhero that's imprisoned in his own house?" Adrien said, right before Plagg passed by him as he balanced on the roll of toilet paper as he used his legs to make it roll forward.
"No good. That's why it's all going to change soon. If you're willing to change, that is." Plagg said as Adrien looked down at the ring in his palm as Plagg continued playing with the toilet paper. Adrien was ready for this. He was determined to have his life changed.
Meanwhile, with Marinette, she was looking down at the earrings in her palm, while she stood in front of her mirror.
"Ok, so all I have to do is break the object where the whatchamacallit is hiding?" Marinette said as she put her new magic earrings on.
"It's called an akuma. you must then capture."Tikki said as she floats next to Marinette as she looked over at the kwami
"Got it. Capture it. And what's that charm thing again?" Marinette said, tapping her pointer fingers together nervously as Tikki continued her explanation.
"Your lucky charm, it's your secret superpower." Tikki excitedly said, while Marinette sighed and fanned her face with her hands.
"This is all going too fast, Tikki. I- I- won't be able to pull this off!" Marinette said, not thinking she could do what needed to be done.
"Trust yourself, Marinette. Just say ``Spots on." Tikki said, bringing Marinette's attention back to the little kwami
"Spots on?" Marinette asked, confused, not knowing that she had activated her transformation. The earrings flashed pink and Tikki was sucked into them with a smile.
"Whoa! WHAT IS HAPPENING." Marinette said as was enveloped in a pink light and felt her clothing change. She was not ready for this!
Back with Adrien, the boy had just slipped the ring onto his finger, excited to become a superhero.
"Claws out, that's how you transform."Plagg said after he popped his head out of the now-empty toilet paper roll and turned to face him.
"Got it. Plagg claws out!" Adrien excitedly said, much to Plagg's worry, as he was brought out of his playing by his words.
"No! Wait! I haven't finished explaining-" Plagg tried to say as he was sucked into the ring, and Adrien transformed into his new alter ego. After he transformed, he looked in the mirror to see his new look. He was in an indescribable black full bodysuit, with zipper pockets, clawed gloves with widened cuffs at the ends of his hands, steel toe boots with an enlarged cat paw design on the bottom of both, with slightly widened tops, a black belt; doubling as a tail; wrapped around his waist, a large gold bell at his neck, and an extendable sliver baton with a neon green paw print on it sat right above the tail. His normally combed blonde hair became messy and shaggy, and his bright green eyes became catlike as a black mask concealed his identity
"Too cool." Adrien said as he glanced down at his new look.
Meanwhile, at Marinette's house, the girl in question had just transformed for the first time, and afterwards, Marinette turned around and looked in the mirror, seeing herself in the superhero persona. Her outfit was an indestructible red full bodysuit with a high black collar and black spots scattered around it, with a yo-yo wrapped around her waist and resting on her left hip. Her hair was still in the pigtails she had before, but were now tied with red ribbons, while her bluebell eyes popped with her mask; with two spots above and below her eyes, and one in between them; hiding her identity from the world. While she thought the outfit looked great on her, Marinette was now starting to have second thoughts about her choice.
"How do I get this thing off? Tikki? If you can hear me, I want my normal clothes back. I'm not going anywhere." Marinette said as she walked to the middle of her room, looking for the kwami. But her search was interrupted when the news caught her attention.
"Stoneheart is heading to the Montparnasse tower. The monster seems to be unstoppable." Nadja said, as the screen shows a live feed of Stoneheart making his way to the Montparnasse tower, while Marinette could see Alya riding up behind the villain on her bike.
"Alya?" Marinette said in shock. Her new friend was going after the supervillain. Suddenly, her phone started to ring from her desk. She quickly picks it up and her eyes widened at what she saw on the screen.
"It's noon already?" Marinette said as she looked at the clock on her phone, seeing it really was noon. Marinette could only sigh in resentment. The timing could not be more inconvenient. Sure she loved it when her brother called, but this was not the time. No one could know, that's what Tikki said. But she and Jim had promised to call no matter what, and they always told each other everything, so… she had no choice but to answer. No sooner than she did, her brother's face appears on the screen.
"Hey, Jim. How's it going?" Marinette said nervously, when Jim's face turned from happy, to confused in a matter of seconds.
"Who the heck are you? Where's Marinette!?" Jim said, worried that someone else was in his little sister's room, and talking to him. Then Toby; who was Jim and Marinette's best friend/honorary brother, and staying over at Jim's house to work on a class project; came over and looked at the screen in shock.
"Who are you? Some kind of superhero?" Toby asked, taking in Marinette's new look.
"Guys, it's me, Marinette." The girl in spots said, trying to get them to see that it was her. And if by some miracle, her words allowed them to see that it really was Marinette in front of them.
"Mari? Is that really you?" Jim asked, finally seeing that it was his little sister.
"Yes, it's me." Marinette said, glad that they now knew. But that didn't stop Toby's questioning.
"You look like a superhero! Is that a commission, or a personal project? Either way, can you make me something like that?" Toby said excitedly, thinking it was another one of Marinette's creations.
"Hate to break it to you Toby, but it's not something I made. It's a long story, but a supervillain has shown up in Paris, and I'm now in charge of taking it down." Marinette said nervously, while both Jim and Toby's mouths dropped to the ground like anvils, much to her nervousness. But before she could continue her mom called up to her from the living room.
"Marinette, did you get home ok?" Sabine said from the other side of the trapdoor, much to Marinette's panic.
"Yeah, mom! Just super!" she whispered to herself before looking back at her phone to Jim and Toby.
"Look, I got to go. I'll tell you what happens later tonight. I promise, but do not tell anyone about this, ok?" Marinette said before she went to hang up which got Jim and Toby out of their shock.
"Wait, Mari…" Jim began to say before she hung up, putting the phone on her desk and going up to the balcony just as Sabine opened the trapdoor that led to her daughter's room.
"Marinette? Are you in here? Tom, we'd better call the school." Sabine said when she couldn't find Marinette in the room, as she went quickly up to her balcony and closed the skylight behind her.
"Ok. I have special powers." Marinette said to herself before grabbing the yo-yo attached to her waist.
"And.. apparently this super yo-yo thingy?" She said as she hooks the ring around her finger and lets the yo-yo go up and down, before grabbing it with her hand. She then. threw the yoyo, letting it fly before it secured itself on a gargoyle. Then with a strong pull, the yo-yo sent her flying through the city.
Meanwhile, in Arcadia, Jim and Toby; who had already finished the project before calling Marinette; were gobsmacked about her hanging upon them, especially since Marinette seemed to now be a superhero.
"We aren't dreaming, right? Marinette is now a superhero? And she's going to battle a supervillain?" Toby asked, trying to make sense of what they just saw, while Jim just stared at his phone in shock.
"This is crazy, what the heck is going on over there?" Jim said, looking over at Toby, freaking out about his little sister's safety.
"We should find out. Do you still have a subscription to the Paris News channel?" Toby asked, causing Jim's face to light up with realization.
"Yes, I do. Hang on a second." Jim said as he opened up his phone, and pulled up the Paris News app, seeing that there were a few new stories to watch.
"Let's go to the first new one. That's a good place to start." Toby said, pointing to the first video on the list. Jim immediately opens it up.
"Alright, let's see what's going on in Paris." Jim said as the video started up, while Toby watched from behind his shoulder.
Back in Paris, Adrien had been very impressed with himself for figuring out how this whole thing worked so fast as he walked along with his extended staff as it sat across the space between two buildings as if it was a tightrope.
"I'm starting to get the hang of this." Adrien said as he held his arms out to balance himself as he walked along the staff. But that changed when he saw a girl in red flying through the air towards him… or was she falling… Oh, yeah. She was falling. She fell right on him, and they were both knocked down, but her yoyo caught on his staff and tangled them up, saving them at the last second from crashing into the concrete, but making them sway in the air as they were hanging by the yo-yo.
"Well, hey there. Nice of you to drop in," Adrien joked as he looked at the girl in front of him as she nervously smiled at him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose."Marinette said as they stopped swaying in the air. Soon after, They were able to quickly detangle themselves from the yoyo string, and land on their feet in the street below.
"I bet you're the partner my kwami told me about." Adrien said as he landed in a crouch and rose to his full height in front of Marinette.
"I'm…" He began, thinking for a moment of a good name.
"Chat Noir. Yeah. Chat Noir." Adrien; now Cat Noir; said introducing himself as his new alter ego.
"And you?" The newly named hero asked while Marinette was still trying to dislodge her weapon from Chat Noirs.
"I'm, ma- uh… I'm ma-" Marinette tried to say, before she finally got her yo-yo and the staff free, allowing both the yoyo and staff to drop onto her partner's head, making Chat Noir rub the spot where it hit as Marinette just looked at her feet in embarrassment.
"Madly clumsy. I'm so clumsy." Marinette said, ashamed, while Cat Noir picked up his stick from the ground.
"No sweat clumsy girl. I'm learning the ropes, too." Chat Noir said right before their conversation was interrupted by Montparnasse Tower falling to the ground a few blocks away. Immediately taking that as a call to action, Chat little jumped into the fray, much to Marinette's shock.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?!" Marinette said as Chat Noir extended his stick and pole vaults to a rooftop, only stopping to turn and answer her.
"To save Paris, right?" The boy said, just before he went back to head towards the action, while Marinette was still on the ground.
"Ugh. Trust yourself, trust yourself." Marinette kept repeating to herself a mantra while she pulled out her yo-yo and started swinging her yo-yo as she had before, hooking it onto a chimney. With a firm yank, she is sent flying through the air screaming, in the same direction Chat Noir had gone in.
Meanwhile, at the stadium, the half of Marinette's class that had left the school for PE were still at the field, not having heard the news. But they were in for a surprise when Stone Heart jumped on top of the stadium and found who he was looking for.
"KIM! So, who's the wuss now?" The stone golem said causing most of the class had the sense to run as soon as they saw a giant stone monster flee. But Kim waited until said monster had jumped down and was chasing him. He was nearly caught before a pole came down next to him and in front of the monster as Chat Noir touched down onto the ground.
"Hey. It's not nice to pick on people who are smaller than you." Chat Noir said as Kim took one look at the leather-clad boy and decided he didn't have time to unpack all of that at the moment so he ran for safety.
"I guess you're talking about yourself." Stone Heart said as he swung for the newly appeared cat boy. Chat Noir dodged easily, being smaller and more nimble than his opponent. The fencing lessons didn't hurt either.
Meanwhile, in Hawkmoth's lair, the wannabe villain was watching the action of the battle through Stoneheart's eyes and was rejoicing that his plan was working.
"Everything is going to plan. Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous have been activated." The villain said as he watched the battle continue.
"Here they come to save the day, and now my supervillain will destroy them." Hawkmoth said, confident that his villain will triumph against the newly made superheroes.
Back at the stadium, Chat Noir managed to get on the offensive and strike a blow resulting in Stone Heart growing even larger, before he turned to look at Chat Noir with a stomp to the ground.
"Where are you, partner?" The boy in black called out not unkindly but somewhat impatiently, not that he could be blamed for that since he was near becoming a pan-chat. Meanwhile, Marinette was watching worriedly from a distance on the rim of the stadium. She cringed at every near miss the Chat Noir dodged but was having trouble bringing herself to move.
"No, I can't. I'm not gonna be able to do it." She said as she watched in horror as a goal was thrown and would have hit Alya who was previously unnoticed in Chat and hadn't been able to throw his baton to catch it. With that distraction and without his weapon, Stone Heart easily picked him up in one fist, while Alya looked up and finally noticed Marinette.
"What are you waiting for, super red bug?! The world is watching you!" Alya called out to her. Meanwhile, Marinette was nervous and scared and not at all confident, but she knew what she had to do. Once she was determined to do something, she did it, no matter what. She dropped down and wrapped her yoyo around the villain's legs while sliding between them.
"Animal cruelty? How shameful." She said before she pulled the yo-yo string and the giant fell, releasing Chat Noir in the process, and tumbles into the remaining goal, while Alya excitedly watches.
"Sorry, it took so long, Chat Noir." Marinette said as she reached Chat Noir while he got up from the ground.
"It's cool, Wonder Bug. Now let's kick his rocky behind!" Chat Noir said as he cracked his knuckles, then ran out towards the supervillain, and would have charged right back in if Marinette hadn't grabbed his tail before he could.
"Wait! Haven't you noticed? He gets bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to do something different." She said while letting go of the boy's tail, causing him to catch himself before hitting the ground.
"Different how?" Chat Noir asked, wondering what his partner had in mind.
"Uh… I don't know." Marinette said, trying to figure out what to do, but her partner beat her to it.
"Ok then. Let's use our powers. Cataclysm!" Chat Noir said as he felt a powerful chaotic aura coming out of his right hand.
"Apparently I destroy whatever I touch." The boy said cockily as he smirked at Marinette.
"I don't need a superpower to destroy everything." Marinette said to herself before looking back at Chat Noir as he reached for the goal post
"No, don't do that!" She cried out, trying to stop him from doing something stupid. Too late. Chat Noir destroyed the goal at their end of the field, turning it into a pile of rusted ash.
"Cool. It's just you and me now! Time to rumble soon to be rubble!" Chat Noir said as he impulsively ran towards Stoneheart.
"Chat Noir! Wait!" Marinette yelled out, trying to make him stop. Unfortunately, he did not. He ran and launched himself at Stone Heart and landed a hand on its foot… intent on using 'Cataclysm', but nothing happened!
"Huh?" He said before he tried again, but again nothing happened, as Stoneheart glared down at him.
"Uh oh. I guess I only get one shot to use my power." Chat Noir said as he waved nervously up at Stone Heart trying his best to look apologetic. Stone Heart kicked him across the field to Marinette and the accursed cataclysmed goal. She was giving him the look, you know when someone is shocked at how dumb something you just did was just like they had tried to warn you? He'd only seen that look on Chloe and in memes, but he definitely recognized it.
"And you only have five minutes before you transform back. Didn't your kwami explain anything to you?" Marinette said, lecturing the boy for his impulsive behavior.
"I guess I was a little excited about my new life." Chat Noir said as he stood up from the ground and dusted himself off.
"Well, up to me." Marinette said as she took out her yo-yo.
"Lucky Charm!" She said as she tossed her yoyo into the air, as it spun and little magical ladybugs created a… wetsuit? Great.
"Superpower." Chat Noir said as the object landed into her arms.
"My kwami told me I have to break the object where the whatchamacallit- the akuma is hiding." Marinette said as she looked at the wetsuit in confusion.
"Well, he's made entirely out of stone." The boy said as Stoneheart lumbers towards them, causing Marinette to analyze him in the process, and settling on one obvious detail.
"His right hand. It's still closed. He never opens it. It's like the Russian dolls! The object isn't on him, it's hidden in his fist!" She said, quite proud of herself for that one.
"So what's your plan?" Chat Noir said, causing her to look around for a moment before taking action. Her vision caused Stoneheart's closed fist, Alya as she was filming from the other end of the field, the hose tap near her, and the hose at the two hero's feet, to light up in red and black spots.
"This." She said before she picked up the end of the hose that was near them and made a sort of balloon out of the suit around it. She then wrapped her yo-yo around Chat Noir's ankles, before pulling it tight, bringing his feet together next.
"Don't resist. Trust me." Marinette said before she spun around, and pulled Chat Noir into the air.
"This girl's crazy!" Chat Noir shouts out before she launches him towards StoneHeart, who catches him with his free hand. Not that he minded her craziness really, but it was worth noting.
"Catch me if you can!" Marinette said before she launched herself into the air; wetsuit in hand; and caused him to open his right hand to catch her, dropping the object.
"And now, Alya, the tap!" She shouts out to the reporter. Alya immediately got the hint and turned the hose on. Marinette wasn't the best at science, but she did remember one thing, water cannot be compressed. So hopefully her Lucky Charm wouldn't break, but she had a feeling it wouldn't. And her hope was rewarded when the wetsuit expanded, causing Stone Heart to release her as his fist was forced open. She ran to the dark purple object and stomped on it, releasing a black and purple butterfly. She looked in wonder as she watched it fly away. This seemed to release Ivan from his transformation and he now sat on the ground, rubbing his head next to Chat Noir as the stones from his transformation, disappear around them
"This girl is awesome! She's crazy awesome!" Chat Noir said as he was glad everything turned out alright despite him having absolutely no idea what he was doing. Meanwhile, the object turned back into a piece of paper in Marinette's hand and she smiled.
"What's going on? What am I doing here?" Ivan said confused as he. scratched the back of his head and looked around, while Chat ran up to his new companion.
"You were incredible miss, uh, bug lady. You did it!" He said, amazed about his new partner.
"We both did it, partner." She said, as smiled at him
"Pound it!" They said at the same time as they fist-bumped in celebration. But right after, Chat Noir's ring beeped and Marinette saw he was on his last minute.
"You should get going. Our identities must remain secret." She warned in case he hadn't been told that either, despite being a hypocrite for doing so earlier with Jim and Toby.
"Farewell, M'lady," he said with a bow, before running off.
"Let's do this again soon, ok?" Chat Noir said as he ran, while Marinette watched as he ran for a place to detransform, using his stick to pole vault to the roof and out of the stadium
"Uh-huh. Not too soon, I hope." She said before she looked at Ivan and uncrumpled the paper in her hand.
"You haven't even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her. Wuss." Marinette reads from the paper, immediately feeling bad for her friend, as she walked toward him as he looked at the ground in frustration. Aw. Poor guy.
"Kim wrote it. He's always making fun of me." Ivan said as he crossed his arms and continued looking at the ground while Marinette knelt down next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You know, you shouldn't get so bent out of shape about that. There's no shame in telling someone you love them, Ivan." Marinette said, trying to cheer him up.
"Hey, how do you know my name, miss?" Ivan said, wondering how a 'complete stranger' knew his name.
"Uh-" She began, trying to figure out what to say before Alya came towards them excitedly.
"Uncanny. Amazing. Spectacular! Are you gonna be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get bit by a radioactive Ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask you, uh, miss, uh-" Alya spews out; reminding Marinette of Toby, who would most likely ask her a hundred rapid-fire questions; while holding her phone up to record Marinette as she stood up and walked away, but turned around when she trailed off, not knowing her identity. Considering that Chat Noir had come up with a name to call himself by, to keep his identity a secret, why can't she.
"Ladybug. Call me Ladybug." Marinette, now Ladybug said as she turned to face Alya's camera before she ran off to A) make a cool exit and B) avoid all those questions. She loved Alya, but that was a lot.
"Ladybug. Super awesome !" Alya said while she filmed Ladybug as the new hero made her exit.
(Time skip)
"So, thanks to this amateur footage, the Parisians now know the identities of their heroes" Nadja said, reporting the news that everyone wanted to hear as Marinette happily watched the footage Alya had taken being played on while sitting in her desk chair
"I did it Tikki!" Marinette said, proud of herself as Tikki flew up to Marinette
"See? You were up to it!" Tikki said right before she cuddled into Marinette's cheek, causing the girl to smile brightly.
"Marinette, dinner time." Sabine calls from downstairs, causing the young designer to excitedly run down. Who knew fighting villains could make you so hungry? She had just sat down while the news changed from Nadja to the Mayor as he addressed the city in front of city hall
"I am pleased to announce that we will be organizing a huge celebration in honor of our city's new protectors, Ladybug and Chat Noir." The mayor said as he addressed the city.
Meanwhile, Adrien was in his room, sitting in front of the T.V as the same news segment played, while Plagg was flying over a line of cloche plates that was Adrien's dinner
"Ladybug. Her name's Ladybug." The boy said dreamily as he watched the footage, right before Plagg flew up to him, holding what appeared to be a bowl of chocolate-covered fruit, which would be Adrien's desert.
"Ew! What is this!" Plagg said in revolt, as he floated next to Adrien.
"Seriously? My personal chef made all this." Adrien said, feeling insulted for his chef, that the little kwami was being difficult.
"If you expect me to get my energy back after a transformation, I need to eat something more… delicate." The kwami said, much to Adrien's annoyance as he dropped the desert before Adrien sighed in acceptance.
"Ok, what do you want-" He asked, eager to get Plagg pacified so he didn't cause any more trouble.
Meanwhile, at the Eiffel Tower, the akuma that Ladybug and Chat Noir had released, had flown to the top of the large monument and landed on one of the highest spikes with a flutter of its wings. But a second afterwards, the butterfly suddenly started to multiply, at a ferocious rate, soon filling the sky with the foreboding sign of the swarm of corrupted butterflies.
Back at Marinette's house, Marinette was washing the dishes, dinner was already eaten, and thoroughly enjoyed, while her parents continued to watch the news.
"Oh, my!" Sabine said, causing Marinette to turn from her task and to look at the T.V as a new news segment was playing.
"Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two new superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transforming into stone monsters." Nadja said as clips of multiple people were transformed into clones of Stoneheart, and were frozen in place. Marinette and her family could only watch in fear as the events happened.
"It's simply unbelievable!" The reporter said, as Marinette panicked and hurriedly raced up the stairs to her room.
Meanwhile, with Adrien, he was still in his room, sitting in front of the T.V. but this time with more contempt than before, because Plagg was now feasting on his preferred snack.
"Camembert cheese, fantastic. All he eats is camembert, which means I'm going to smell like stinky old cheese." Adrien said, resigned himself to his fate of smelling like stinky cheese for the rest of eternity. But he suddenly had bigger problems, though, when he noticed the news was reporting people being transformed like the other boy was.
"These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. Police are perplexed about what will happen to them. Will they come to life, or will they be frozen in time forever?" Nadja said as a picture of the frozen stone beings played on the screen, while both kwami and the boy looked at the screen nervously.
"Plagg, what's going on? I thought we defeated him." Adrien said, wondering what the heck was going on, that caused this catastrophe.
"Did you capture the akuma?" The kwami asked as he turned away from the screen, holding his uneaten cheese.
Back at Marinette's house, Marinette had just asked the same question, and Tikki had just given her the same question.
"What's capturing the akuma got to do with the other stone beings?" Marinette asked, wondering why capturing the akuma was so important.
"An akuma can multiply. That's why it must be captured. If Ivan's emotions become negative again, then the akuma will turn him back into Stoneheart. He'll control those stone beings and bring them to life to serve as his army!" Tikki said as she nervously flitted around in front of Marinette's computer.
"So that means… This is all my fault!" Marinette said, realizing how bad the situation was. This was all her fault! She totally forgot about purifying the akuma. She knew she couldn't do this!
"I knew it! See, Tikki? I'm not cut out to be a superhero! I'm only gonna keep messing up." The young girl said, ashamed of herself for making the biggest blunder she could have made, which was endangering not just her family, but all of Paris!
"Keep calm. It was your first time. You're going to go back and capture Stone Heart's akuma and do it successfully!" Tikki said as she tried to talk Marinette into seeing that it was just a mistake and that she could fix it, but her plea fell on deaf ears as Marinette turned away from her.
"I can't! I told you, I'm clumsy. I create disasters all the time. I'll only make things worse for me, for everyone. Chat Noir will be better off without me. I'm quitting." Marinette said, not seeing any other way to make things better.
Meanwhile, with Adrien, Plagg had just finished explaining why the akuma must be captured, but there was one small problem.
"So I can't do anything without Ladybug?" Adrien asked, wondering why Ladybug's role in their team was so important.
"Only Ladybug can capture Akumas and repair damage caused by supervillains." Plagg said, clearing any and all confusion from Adrien's mind.
But back in Marinette's room, Tikki had just told her the exact same thing, which just made Marinette even more upset.
"If Chat Noir can't capture the akumas then just find another Ladybug." Marinette said as she walked to her vanity, looking into the mirror at her ashamed face, before Tikki flew over to her, causing Marinette to turn and face her.
" I told you I'm not cut out to be Ladybug. I'm sorry, Tikki." She said as she began to remove her earrings, much to Tikki's shock
"No! Don't take the-" Tikki tried to say, but was cut off as Marinette took the last earring out, causing her to disappear from the room
"Tikki?" Marinette said, confused to find she was alone and felt even more dejected. With a sigh, she puts the earrings back into the box that she found them in and puts it into her vanity drawer.
"I'm really sorry, Tikki" She said before she fell to her knees in despair and began to softly cry. This was for the best… right?
Meanwhile, in Arcadia, Jim and Toby were just coming into their school, parking their bikes on the bike racks, when Jim's phone started vibrating in his bag.
"Yo, Jimbo, your phone is going berserk. You might want to check it." Toby said, just before Jim takes his bag off of his back, and sets it on the seat of his bike before taking out his phone. Once it was in his hand, he unlocked it and saw that it was vibrating for a reason.
"Looks like the Paris News just updated. We might know what's happened now." Jim said, excitement filling his voice. Last night, they had watched the older stories about when Stoneheart just appeared, but nothing about how or why Marinette was involved. So when they saw that they updated the feed, it brought excitement to the two boys.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Start the video!" Toby said; seeing as they had time before the bell rang for the first period; as Jim put his bag back on his back, and they walked away from the racks to sit on a bench to watch the videos. As soon as they sat down, they started the first of the new videos.
(Time skip)
"So that's why Marinette was dressed like that." Jim said as he leaned onto the wall behind the bench he and Toby were on, shock filling his mind.
"You mean Ladybug." Toby said in the same tone, copying Jim as he leans against the same wall.
"It's official, she's way cooler than us. She's a freaking superhero, with a partner! AWESOMESAUCE!" Toby continues in a hushed voice, trying to keep their unanswered promise to Marinette.
"That was not up for debate at all. I still can't believe that there are now more of those stone beings. Something tells me that wasn't supposed to happen." Jim said, turning his head to speak to Toby.
"We definitely need to ask Marinette about that in the video call at lunch. As well as more information about her new role. I mean come on, your sister is a FREAKING superhero." Toby said, just before the bell rings, causing both of them to look up in surprise.
"You said it Tobes, but first we have classes to attend." Jim said before putting his phone back in his bag, as the two of them stood up and went to class.
Meanwhile in Paris Hawkmoth was standing in his lair, right in front of the large window while the butterflies fluttered around him, as he relished in the chaos that was happening.
"Ivan has a sensitive heart. It won't be long before anger and sadness strike again, and he and the Stonebeings will come to life." The villain monologues as the original akuma flutters into the lair, and phases through the gem on the top of Hawkmoth's cane and becomes safely encased in the top of the cane.
"Then we'll see how long you remain hidden, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Once I have your Miraculous, you will be powerless against me. Everyone will be powerless against me! I will have absolute power!" Hawkmoth proclaimed before he evilly cackled as the large window closed, leaving the mad man in darkness.
(Time skip)
Later that night, Marinette had gotten ready for bed but was sitting in her desk chair in front of her computer. She then opens up the computer app version of the video chat app and just as the clock turns 9:00, she clicks on Jim's contact, dialing him up. Marinette didn't have to wait long when Jim answered, with Toby with him.
"Hey, guys. Looks like I have some explaining to do, huh?" Marinette said while Jim and Toby smirked at her with raised eyebrows.
"You think?" The two boys said, much to Marinette's fondness.
"Okay, lay it on me. Ask me what you want to know." Marinette said as she stretched out her arms towards the computer screen, gesturing for them to ask. They immediately took the invitation and began to ask questions.
"How did you become a superhero? Can I become one too? How did a butterfly transform Ivan into a supervillain? Who is Chat Noir? Are you two dating now? What's with the multiple stone beings? How was your first day of school? Was Chloé in your class again? Any new students? And if so, are they girls or guys?"Toby rapidly asked, much to Marinette's confusion, and unable to answer his questions.
"Whoa Tobes, slow down. One question at a time. We have plenty of time to ask" Jim said, much to Marinette's relief as they went to sit in the courtyard of the school, next to the bike racks.
"Thanks, Jim. One, my day was good for the most part, two, me and Chat are not dating, three, I don't know who he is, and four, do you mind if I answer those questions in a different order? That way I can tell you how my day went, and answer the questions at the same time?" Marinette asked, seeing only one way she could tell the boys how her day was while answering their; or more so Toby's; questions.
"Go ahead." Jim said as they got out their lunches; which were chicken sandwiches, with macaroni and cheese, with an apple, all made that morning by Chef Jimbo; while Marinette began to tell her story.
"Okay, I'll start from this morning. I woke up after my mom called me downstairs after my alarm went off fifteen minutes beforehand. I had breakfast while making a mess on the table in the process." Marinette said, bringing a chuckle and smile from the two boys, who were all too familiar with her legendary clumsiness, and habitat of waking up, and arriving late.
"Anyway, afterwards I got dressed, sent you guys that picture, went downstairs, and got a box of macaroons to give to my class as a gift." She said, continuing her story, while Toby suddenly pouted.
"Lucky! I wish we could've had some. Your family's macaroons are so legendarily delicious, they should be illegal." Toby said; remembering the last time he had one, which was the last day Marinette was in Arcadia for the summer; as he licked his lips at the memory, causing Marinette to smile.
"Jim knows the secret recipe. He could make some for you, you know." Marinette said with a roll of her eyes.
"He says they aren't quite the same when I make them. I think he's just being picky." Jim said before biting into his sandwich.
"Sorry, Toby Pie. I'll send some for you in my next care package to Jim." Marinette said, with a smile.
"You are the best! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Toby said, shouting in excitement and anticipation for the promise of the delicious treats, causing Marinette to smile wider.
"You're welcome. Anyway, back to the story." Marinette said, just as Toby pulled out his own lunch.
"So after I left the house, and got to the crosswalk, which I had to wait for, I saw an old man crossing the road just as a car was heading towards him. I managed to help him, at the expense of half of the macaroons for my class." Marinette said, much to Toby's despair.
"NOOOO! NOT THE MACAROONS!" Toby cries out while Jim and Marinette tiredly roll their eyes at him.
"Anyway, after I salvaged the good ones, I raced to my classroom, barely on time. Not much changed in that area. But what has changed is that Ms Bustier had Nino come down from his perch in the back of the class and into the front row. One thing that didn't change was that Chloé is in my class again this year. But she bullied me out of my seat because this guy she knew named… Aiden, or something, was coming and she wanted to sit behind him." Marinette said, continuing her story, while Jim and Toby shook their heads, all too familiar with Marinette's recallings about Chloé.
"You really need to stand up to her, Mari. Otherwise, she won't stop tormenting you." Jim said, much to Toby's bewilderment.
"Says the guy who can't stand up to Steve." Toby said before taking another bite out of his sandwich.
"He's got you there Jim. Anyway, that's where another answer to your question from earlier, comes in. We had a new student come in this year. Her name is Alya. She's a huge fan of superheroes, and she stood up for me against Chloé when she tried to bully me out of my seat. I didn't get to stay in my normal spot, but I think I gained a new friend instead." Marinette said, much to Toby and Jim's joy to hear that she's got a new friend.
"That's awesome, Mari. From the sounds of it, I think she might be a keeper." Jim said after he finished chewing a mouthful of his sandwich while Marinette smiled.
"Thanks, bro. So continuing, the guy Chloé was waiting for, never came, and things were looking fine until the second period started. When the bell rang, Kim passed a note to Ivan, and it angered him, to the point where he almost punched him, if not for Ms Bustier sending him to the principal's office. From there, I have no idea what happened, but the next time I saw Ivan, he was turned into Stoneheart and causing havoc in the streets. Then Alya; who turned out to be an aspiring reporter; went out to chase him, in hopes of finding a superhero that would stop him." Marinette continues, much to Toby and Jim's shock, and understanding of where the story was going.
"And that's where you as Ladybug come in?" Jim asked as he pulled out his container of macaroni and cheese, just as Marinette nodded.
"Yep. And I'm assuming that you guys have seen the news stories?" Marinette asked, causing the two of them to nod while Toby finished off his sandwich and was about to take out his own macaroni and cheese.
"Right, so when I got home and turned on the news, shortly after I did, I found this box on my desk. I picked it up and opened it, and a bright ball of light came out of it. I looked away from it to avoid being blinded by it, but when I looked back at it, a small creature appeared in its place as the light faded. At first, I freaked out and started to throw objects at it when it started speaking to me. Soon afterwards I gathered some of my composure, I caught it on the floor, with a glass on top of it, and questioned it. The creature revealed her name to be Tikki, and said she was a Kwami, a being that grants powers to whoever holds her miraculous, which in this case is a pair of earrings." Marinette said, much to Jim and Toby's shock to learn about all of this information.
"Do you think there are more Miraculous out there? If so, can I get one?" Toby asked, much to the sibling's fondness and a roll of their eyes.
"Trust me, Toby, if either you or Jim are in town, and I find out there are more Miraculous out there, you guys are my first choice to help. Promise." Marinette said, to both Jim and Toby's excitement.
"AWESOMESAUCE!" Toby shouts out in happiness, causing Marinette to smile before continuing with the story.
"So, at first I didn't believe what was happening, and tried to call my parents, but Tikki phased through the glass and stopped me from doing so, by telling me I was the only one who could stop Stoneheart. She then explained all I needed to know, which included having a partner, who I learned later was Chat Noir, and what my powers included, which is the Lucky Charm, which creates an object to help me win the battle, purifying the akuma, and something called the Miraculous Cure. Tikki didn't explain much about that. So after saying the transformation phrase, I turned into Ladybug for the first time. After that, I was having second thoughts but saw on the news feed on my computer that Alya was chasing after Stoneheart, which worried me. But before I could do anything, you guys had called me." Marinette said with a playful glare at the two boys.
"I only told you guys because I couldn't find an excuse as to why I was dressed as a superhero fast enough. And even if I did, you wouldn't have believed me. Plus we tell each other everything, and that's not stopping." Marinette said, much to the two boy's relief and joy.
"Thanks, Mari. So what happened after you hung up and before you showed up at the battle on the news?" Jim asked as he took out his apple, while Toby was just about finished with his macaroni and cheese.
"Right, so after I hung up, and his from my parents on my balcony, I tried out my yo-yo for the first time, which ended up with me being flung across the city, and crashing into Chat Noir." Marinette said while rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment as her cheeks turned red, while Jim smirked at her reaction.
"Are you sure you don't have a crush? Your cheeks say otherwise." Jim said slyly, while Marinette's eyes widened in shock.
"WHAT, NO! I crashed into him, and got tangled in my yo-yo with him as we hung upside down from his baton since he was walking along it like a tightrope!" Marinette said, trying to defend herself, while Toby and Jim just smiled slyly at her.
"Yeah right. Anyway, after we got untangled, and he introduced himself, we headed into the battle. And Alya got the whole thing on video, which is how you guys know what happened, the job was done, and that's it." Marinette said, with a slight tone of nervousness in her voice, while Jim and Toby were now confused.
"Hold on. If you finished the job and saved Ivan, why are there people who turned into stone beings?" Toby asked, much to Marinette's disappointment.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask. But to sum it up, if the akuma isn't captured and purified, it can multiply and infect multiple people, and if the person the akuma originally akumatized feels negative emotions again, they can be re-akumatized, with an army of clones at their command." Marinette said, looking down at the floor in shame, while Jim and Toby were still confused.
"But you captured the akuma… right?" Jim asked, hoping that things weren't like he thought they were. But his fears were proved correct when Marinette looked back at them with tears in her eyes.
"Marinette, what happened?" Toby said, catching onto what Jim was thinking.
"Tikki didn't explain why the akuma needed to be captured, and I forgot to purify the akuma, which is how this has happened. This is all my fault. Which is why I'm going to give the earrings to Alya tomorrow." Marinette said, much to Jim and Toby's shock.
"What! But you were amazing. Sure you messed up, but that doesn't mean you have to quit!" Toby said, trying to get Marinette to see how great she was. But unfortunately, she had such low self-esteem, that it was almost impossible to get her to see what other people saw in her.
"Toby is right. You can't just take the easy way out. That's not what a hero does. Even when they make mistakes, they do everything in their power to fix them, not just give up." Jim said, which cheers his sister up a bit. But before she could answer, the bell for the next class rang, just as Toby was about to bite into his apple.
"Aw, man. I didn't even finish my lunch." Toby said as he got ready to go to class, while Jim did the same.
"Got to go Mari. Remember what we said. Don't give up." Jim said as he and Toby stood up from their spot, and started walking to class.
"I'll think about it. Bye, you guys." Marinette said, while Toby leaned over Jim and waved at her through the screen.
"Bye Mari."Both boys said as she hung up. Once she did and Jim put his phone away, Toby nervously glanced at Jim.
"Do you think she'll do it? Give the Miraculous to Alya, I mean." Toby said as they neared their algebra class.
"I don't know. It's all up to her. Let's just hope she makes the right decision." Jim said as they entered the classroom.
Meanwhile, in Paris, Marinette pushed herself away from the computer and let her chair settle before looking back at her vanity drawer in contemplation.
"Am I doing the right thing?" Marinette asked herself, as she slowly rose from her seat and walked towards the drawer. But before she could touch it, her doubts prevented her from doing so. With that, she turned away from the vanity and climbed up her ladder to her loft bed. Once she was under the covers, she started to try falling asleep, anxious for the coming day.
