Marcus entered his house with five minutes to spare.
"Kayla, I'm home!" He declared as he ran up to the kitchen and placed the groceries on the counter. He turned around to see her standing in the doorway, still dressed as the infamous Hawkmoth. "Rather bold to be wearing that outside of our secret room, don't you think?"
"What? Oh! Yes, sorry." She rubbed her eyes and took off the pin. She set it on the counter as she transformed back into her normal clothes. "Today's been a long day, and I just need to get some sleep."
"Well, I'd say there's nothing that can prepare you for sleep better than an evening snack." Marcus pulled out the cheese spread he'd bought from the store and smiled.
"I'm sorry," Kayla looked to him sympathetically, "but I was thinking of sleeping at my house tonight. Even though my parents let me stay here a lot, and they're the best for doing that, they do want me to come home every once in a while." Marcus' smile wavered.
"Well, would you like to stay for the snack before going?" He asked pleadingly. "I could show you something interesting I found on the way home."
"I really should be going." She gave him a quick kiss and headed for the door. "You know, I always say you can stay over at my place. I told you we wouldn't mind the extra company."
"No, it's fine, I'll be fine." Marcus waved her off. She smiled and left the kitchen, he waited until he heard her shut the door before slumping down into a chair, groaning. "Alone again." He sat for a few minutes before remembering what he'd found on the ground. He pulled it out of his pocket to look at the ring more thoroughly.
It was quite large and plain design, he didn't understand why someone would wear something so bulky if it didn't even look interesting. Out of curiosity, he decided to put it on to see what it was like. Suddenly, a bright yet familiar flash of light started to glow from the ring, which coalesced into a ball that flew around him until it took the form of a small black creature.
"Ah, finally," it exclaimed with annoyance, "do you know how hungry I got waiting for you?" It turned around to see Marcus staring at him in shock. "Oh dear, you're not… um, who are you?" Marcus raced through all the thoughts he had in his head, he knew what a miraculous was and he figured Ladybug probably held onto the rest when it was only her and Chat Noir. He couldn't risk letting this thing know how much he knew, especially with the pin that held Nooroo sitting so close to them.
"I'm Marcus," he stated in a timid voice, although he wasn't fully faking it, "and what might you be?"
"Alright, this will sound strange to you, but you know Ladybug and Chat Noir, right?" Marcus nodded, trying not to glance at the pin sitting on the counter. "Well, their jewels, the miraculous, house us beings, which are called Quami. That's about all I want to say to you right now. Where did you find me?" It asked.
"Um… on the street, I didn't notice anything else though." Marcus tried to remain calm. "Did you say you were hungry before?"
"Even if I did, there are more important things we need to-" he stopped and sniffed the air, turning towards the counter. Marcus tensed up, thinking furiously for a way to distract the small black creature. Luckily, it focused on the cheese sitting on the counter instead of the pin. "Is-is that cheese?"
"Uh, yes!" Marcus shouted, standing up from his seat, "and you can have as much as you want, you can have all of it if you want!"
"Well, I shouldn't. But if you insist." It flew into the container and began devouring the cheese. Marcus calmly walked over towards the pin, trying to keep it distracted.
"So… you creatures inhabit the miraculous of all the superheroes we've been seeing around Paris?"
"That's correct." The quami answered with a mouthful of cheese. "It isn't camembert, but it'll have to do."
"I must say, you look remarkably similar to Chat Noir, do you know him?"
"I sure do! For I, Plagg, am the quami of the cat miraculous, which gives Chat Noir his powers." The creature floated into the air to face Marcus and, in a desperate move, he slammed his hands on the table, covering the pin with one of them.
"You're what?"
"I'm Chat Noir's quami, and that ring you have is Chat noir's miraculous." Plagg explained. Marcus' vision began to turn blurry.
"No, no it can't be. I was just making conversation, I didn't know you actually belonged to Chat Noir." He rested his head on the table and began taking deep breaths.
"Are you okay there kid?" Plagg asked, becoming slightly concerned.
"I think I'll be fine." Marcus kept breathing. "It's just that, I stole Chat Noir's miraculous. Ohh dear, Ladybug is going to kill me, and when she returns the ring to Chat Noir, HE's going to kill me."
"Hey, wait a minute," Plagg interjected, "Ladybug isn't going to kill you, especially if you return the ring to her right away." He tried to reason to the boy, but he was stuck murmuring the same sentence over and over again.
"I stole Chat Noir's miraculous, I actually stole Chat Noir's miraculous." Marcus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, they flashed open when he came to a realization. He raised his head and stared directly at Plagg. "I. Stole. Chat Noir's. Miraculous." A slight grin started to form on his face.
"Right," Plagg answered nervously, "and I'm sure he'll forgive you if you return it immediately and admit it was an accident."
"The power of destruction is literally at my fingertips." Marcus looked at the ring and started giggling hysterically. "I have Chat Noir's powers."
"Uh, yes, but before you get any more ideas, I should tell you about the great responsibility that comes with that ring." He tried to reason to the boy, but Marcus had stood up and started pacing around the room, bursting into a fit of giggles and tears. "Are you laughing or crying?"
"I may be doing both, I need to speak with Kayla about this." He sat down in a chair and pulled out his phone, causing Plagg to frantically fly in front of him.
"Wait! You can't speak to anyone else about this!"
"But I tell Kayla everything, we never keep secrets from each other."
"This is a secret unlike any you've ever made before," Plagg instructed Marcus, "you absolutely cannot tell anyone about me." Marcus understood this, but he needed to play dumb to make sure Chat Noir's Quami wouldn't suspect him.
"Alright, I won't tell anyone," Marcus stated, "but it's too late to go out searching for your previous wearer now."
"Don't worry," Plagg tried to reassure him, "I can just take the ring from you and fly back to its rightful owner. You won't even need to leave your home.
"I don't know, with Chat Noir being separated from his powers and Hawkmoth and Mayura on the loose, I think it might be better to have someone accompany you on your return." Marcus watched the little creature eye him skeptically. "Please, just stay with me this one night? I'll let you eat the rest of this cheese."
"I suppose one night wouldn't hurt," Plagg stated slowly, "especially if I get this good cheese out of it. But first thing tomorrow, you need to let me find Chat Noir."
"Of course, but for now, lets just talk." Marcus relaxed into his char and spent the next few hours making pleasant conversation with the little quami before falling asleep for the night.
I hope you like this premise. It took me WAY too long to finish up this chapter and get it published, I just never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything I want. I will try to write more frequently, but it will probably be spread out across other works, so another chapter might take some time to be released.
