Treasure Trove of Miracles Summary: A collection of unrelated Miraculous Ladybug stories centered on Marinette or Adrien. Prolly lots of akumanette ideas. Most are unfinished story ideas. Some may be quick notes for potential AUs. What may be found in this treasure trove? Who knows.
Notes: Originally posted this on Tumblr. Due to such positive responses, I decided to go ahead and post here on FFNet (and AO3) too. Much easier to keep track of everything! Thanks again to those who read and commented. Helps motivate me to write more.
ch. 1 Summary: Her classmates believe she is the enemy. She's not. But maybe she should be.
Warnings: Minor violence, angst
Chapter 1 – The Enemy Part 1
"For so long you've endured, treated like an enemy by your so-called friends."
Damnit. Marinette grimaced, huddling tighter against the bathroom wall. Tikki, please be safe. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Because I don't think I can fight this time…
"Help me gather the Chat Noir and Ladybug Miraculous and I will help you, Final Straw."
She barked a laugh, the powers of the akuma steadily coloring her thoughts. "Final Straw?" She had a glimpse of a masked man and the negativity delved deeper. The butterflies flittered within the outline of a familiar symbol. Strange. Hadn't she seen that before? "No, no, absolutely not."
"Oh?" The voice deepened with an unspoken threat. "Surely you want justice?"
"Of course I do." Black spotted her vision. Ah. She realized. That's where. "But not with a name like that."
"Creative one, aren't you?" A clack echoed: an agitated cane against a stone floor. "Then what do you propose?"
"If I'm truly an enemy to them…" Pastel lips stretched into a steady grin, unfamiliar power rolling through her veins. "Then why not be an enemy to all?"
Including you, Gabriel Agreste.
Like walking into a room at night, she reached within her mind and pulled. Her emotions rippled like a wave of white hot water before it crashed. Somewhere a connection snapped. Black flooded her vision. Noise vibrated in her head and she curled tighter into a ball before she realized she needed to breathe and when she did–
It was like flipping a switch.
Her vision cleared. The emotions short-circuited into nothing. No pain. No joy. Just the dull sensation of numbness. Her head tilted as she examined herself. Interesting. No visible difference. So she was still herself? She didn't feel the same, so then..?
Hawkmoth's voice buzzed in her head like a pesky fly. "What have you–"
She swatted the nuisance aside. Troublesome. So then she had been akumatized. That would explain the strange emptiness. Logically, she knew she should feel more than muted surprise at her discoveries. Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's father, is Hawkmoth. And so what did that matter? Her one purpose was to defeat Hawkmoth and return the misused miraculous to Master Fu. So that's exactly what she planned to do.
Pity she still appeared normal. School would be a bother but she had to keep up appearances or risk Hawkmoth discovering she knew his identity. True, she didn't know where that rat had holed himself. But she would find out. Soon.
Marinette idly straightened her clothes and stepped out of the stall. A glance at the mirror confirmed she still appeared as her civilian self. She adjusted her pigtails. There. Presentable to a reasonable degree. Now, what class did she have again?
She pulled out her phone. Several notifications had covered her lock-screen. Her thumb briefly slid along the glass to roll through the messages and she exhaled.
"To change from a hero to a villain." She checked the time. Right. Physics. "Were they ever my allies at all?"
Did it even matter? No. Not right now. What mattered now was taking down Hawkmoth and restoring order to Paris. She'd deal with her classmates later. For now… For now, she had class to attend and notes to take.
She turned from the mirror and strode out of the bathroom. Hallways stretched before her, lined with doors, and she walked to Ms. Mendeleiev's classroom. Class had already started and the door was closed. Her knuckles rapped against the door in quick succession and she waited.
The door opened to reveal the purple haired and sharp-eyed teacher. "So glad you could join us, Ms. Dupain-Cheng." Marinette waited, silent. The teacher eyed her critically but, when the silence stretched, Ms. Mendeleiev huffed. "Hurry along, now."
Marinette breezed her way into her seat. She ignored the others as they shot the occasional spiteful glare her way. She continued to ignore them until lunch time when Lila staged another scene.
In the cafeteria and surrounded by their classmates, the liar wailed. "And then I went to comfort her like a good friend should but you know what she said to me?"
On cue, Max's voice prompted her. "What?"
"She threatened me! She said she'd get revenge and take you all away from me. But I didn't do anything to her! I just don't know why she hates me so much."
Marinette had just bitten a forkful of her pasta when rapid footsteps approached and two broad hands slammed against the tabletop. She frowned as her cup of water toppled to the side and splashed onto the rest of the noodles.
"Kim," she started to say.
"What is wrong with you, Marinette?" The taller boy exploded. "Can't you see your actions have consequences? Why do you keep hurting Lila?"
Slowly, she lifted her gaze from her water-logged food to the fuming boy. She blinked, slow and steady, and shifted her gaze onto the rest of the group. They watched with equal faces of ire. Silently, she picked up the cup and wiped the dampness with a napkin.
"Aren't you listening?" Kim yelled. "Why do you–"
Without a word, she picked up her tray and stood. She pivoted, Kim hot on her heels, and walked to the trash bins.
"Marinette, I'm talking to you! Stop ignoring–"
She emptied the tray and placed it with the rest of the dirty trays atop the bin. Shame she had to waste food, but. Her vision darkened as Hawkmoth yelled inside her head. But she had priorities. Finished, she shoved aside the man's voice and she turned away from Kim's yells and she tuned out the clamor of agitated students. She walked out the door.
She didn't get very far. This time it was Alya storming after her.
"What was that, girl?" Her former best friend blocked her path, hands on hips. "You don't get to just brush off our friends like that."
"Your friends." Her mouth corrected before she could think. "Kim is not my friend."
"What?" Alya shot her a look. "Girl, your jealous streak has gone way too far. You need to–"
"I don't need to do anything." Marinette corrected once more before she amended. "Well, except for one but that's irrelevant."
"What is with you?" Alya crossed her arms. Typical closed-off posturing, Marinette idly noted. Why waste my time? She made to move around the other girl but Alya shifted to block her way. Marinette made to turn around but Alya stepped in front once more. "Stop trying to run away, Marin–"
It was then that a flash of anger struck.
"I am not Marinette." Oops. That was the Akuma talking for sure.
"…what?"
Hmm. How to fix this? "I am not your Marinette, Alya. Not your friend, not your anything. Not anymore."
"What?"
"You heard me just fine." She leveled steely blue to startled brown. "You want Lila? That's fine. But you don't get me too."
With that, she stepped forwards and made it two steps before a hand grabbed her by the shoulder. The anger surged and before she could rein herself in, she had already flipped Alya over her shoulder and down to the ground.
"Stay out of the way, Césaire." Marinette bared her teeth in a smile. She released the startled girl. "Or you'll find I'm just as strong an enemy than an ally."
Alya lay there, winded, as she walked away. Nuisance. Her brows pinched together and a brief bubble of guilt popped in the haze. That's not right. I could've hurt her. I should apologize. But for what? She wasn't in the wrong. She had one goal. Césaire was in the way and had been warned. She's my friend. I shouldn't… She had one goal. She shouldn't worry about a little thing like teenagers.
She had one goal. And she would achieve it.
Change of plans, Hawkmoth. She mused. There's no reason to waste time here. Not when she could be revealing the truth. In quick paces, she found the stairwell. She climbed up and up until she reached the roof. Without a thought, she jumped off the ledge.
Familiar words rolled off her tongue. "Spots on."
A flash of black erupted around her. She flung a black yo-yo out of the smog and swung from rooftop to rooftop in search of butterfly windows and a mansion. It wasn't until she arrived atop the mansion's roof did she realize Hawkmoth had been oddly silent.
She darted around until finally she decided to just enter the house. Unsurprisingly, the doors were locked. One smashed window and several severed bars later, she stormed her way through the building. Distantly, police sirens roared but she paid them no head as she tore through the mansion in search of the hidden lair.
The noise increased as she stood in the foyer in front of a mosaic painting. Emilie Agreste.
"Come on out, little butterflies." She cooed and reached inwards. Like before, she found a string and pulled. Beneath the painting, a butterfly fluttered. There.
Behind her, the mansion doors busted open. "…m'lady?"
"Not your lady." Slowly, she turned. "Never your lady, minou. What kind of enemy has allies, after all."
"Bugaboo…" the concern was clear, "what happened?" To you? Went unspoken.
Many things, kitty. She shook her head clear of black spots. "No time, chaton. Hawkmoth is here."
He straightened. "What? But–"
The butterfly flittered around her pigtails before settling atop her shoulder. "Ah, little butterfly." She murmured. "I'll set you free."
"Lady–"
With that, she flung her yo yo backwards and ripped apart the painting. Oddly enough, Chat yowled like she had struck him instead. She didn't have time to concern herself with that, though. No. She had to reveal the truth.
Her yo-yo shredded the fabric to reveal a passageway filled with butterflies. Without a backwards glance, she sprinted down the path, guided by white wings. She didn't have time to wait for her partner. She needed to end this. And she needed to end it now.
"Come out, Hawkmoth." Her voice echoed within the underground rooms as she vaulted through them. "It's time."
Doors opened beneath her slinging yo-yo and she flung herself into the last room: a room lit by a butterfly shaped window. Alone in the light stood a familiar figure. Hawkmoth.
"…just who are you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
"I'm who I need to be." She offered a smile and twirled her weapon. "The enemy, remember?"
Notes: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review, if you'd like.