"I left it right on the counter last night!" Marinette gave a panicked groan as she rifled through a drawer of the bathroom cabinet and eventually turned all the contents out onto the floor,

"Bridgette!" she yelled, "Have you seen my toothbrush?"

Bridgette reached through the bathroom door, "Here it is," Bridgette reached through the bathroom door, toothbrush in hand, "You put it next to your bed last night so you wouldn't forget it," she bent over to double check her bag, brushing one of her long black pigtails away from her shoulder.

A slightly shorter girl peeped out of the bathroom, her toothbrush was still crammed in her mouth, and her hair was half pulled back into one pigtail,

"Thanks Bridgette!" she gurgled through foamy toothpaste.

"No problem Mari," Bridgette said as she fingered a photo of her mother. She placed it carefully in her binder and zipped up the backpack.

"Hurry up Mari!" she called as the trapdoor swung open. It led down a ladder to the main floor of the apartment, where Sabine Cheng was waiting with a full breakfast of pastries spread across the kitchen table.

"Good. Morning Bridgette," Sabine sang cheerfully.

"Good morning yímā," she called back, eyeing the table and carefully selecting a Danish from the spread, "Sorry Mari and I won't be able to sit down today," she took an enormous bite and grabbed another one for the road, "I can't believe it's the first day and we're already gonna be late," she laughed, jabbing an elbow at the trapdoor, "Is she always like this?

Sabine made a show of sighing and nodded playfully, "Every morning."

As if on queue Marinette threw herself through the trapdoor and jumped down the steps.

"Ok let's go!" she said, grabbing a plate of macaroons and stalked out the door with a dismissive, "Bye mom!" as she bolted down the stairs.

Sabine rolled her eyes, "Tom or I would drive you, but there was a big rush this morning and Tom's already downstairs…"

"No problem," Bridgette interrupted with a glance at her phone, I'm sure we'll make it in time." She planted a kiss on her aunt's cheek and flew down the stairs behind Marinette.

"Good morning Bridgette!" Tom exclaimed. He turned round mid-order and handed her a small pastry box.

She lifted the lid to take a peak, "Macarons!" she exclaimed.

"For your class," Tom explained, heaping another box into her arms, "and please bring this one to Marinette, she ran out before I could hand it to her."

Bridgette nodded, "No problem," she said as she slipped around the counter and towards the door.

"Have a good first day! Tom called out, waving over the long line of customers.

"Thanks!" Bridgette called back as the jingle of the door sounded behind her. She glanced around to find that Marinette was already a block ahead of her,

"Mari!"

Marinette stumbled to a stop, just long enough for Bridgette to catch up, "Mari," she panted, "Your- dad, sent these… for your class," she held out the box of macarons.

Marinette's eyes widened, she swiped the box and performed a body count before breathing a sigh of relief, "Thanks Bridgette."

Bridgette nodded, still panting, "Slow down, Mari," she said, gesturing ahead of them, the school is right…"

But Mari wasn't paying attention to her cousin. At least half a block away, an old man stood in the middle of the street, apparently completely unaware of the impending traffic and the limited time allowed for crossing.

"Bri! There's an old man!"

"What?" before Mari could explain herself, Bridgette had practically thrown her the second box and was sprinting down the block as fast as her thin, gangly legs could carry her, nearly tripping at every crack in the pavement.

"Sir!" she yelled, the blare of horns sounded in her ears as she practically flew into the street, "Sir, please!"

In an instant of confusion she felt herself crash against a hobbled form, a horn blasted in her ear and she crashed to the pavement.

Her denim shorts lefts her legs unprotected and she could feel the sting of scars and scabs that would last for a long time after.

But when she heard the whoosh of a car pass in front of her, she knew that the worst was over, and allowed a sigh of relief to escape her lips. She could feel every bone in her body aching and she didn't want to know how many scratches were running down her legs currently.

There was a clamor of a large crowd gathering. Bridgette suddenly shot up, reminded of the entire reason she was there, "Are you alright sir?" she groaned, pivoting her head to look for him. He was gone, she realized as she scanned the crowd, but where he should have been was a small wooden box

"Bri!" Marinette was suddenly by her cousin's side, "Bri are you okay?"

Bri nodded as Mari helped her up, "Yeah," she answered through gritted teeth, it hurt a little when she stood up.

"Hey, Mari?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you see where that old man went?" she held up the small box. It was made out of a smooth wood, a kind she'd never seen before, and intricately carved, p right down to the tiniest detail, "I think he dropped this…"

In one swift motion Marinette swiped the box from her hands and shoved it in her bag, "We can bring it to the police station later, we're gonna be late for school!" She took off at a run down the pavement and Bridgette sprinted after her, despite the stinging cuts on her legs. She could just go to the school nurse later, for now she didn't want to bother anyone

Wang Fu nodded contentedly to himself as the two girls disappeared into the school, then took off at a steady pace down the street, either of them would make a fine ladybug.

He had been studying the citizens of Paris for some time now, and after much debate he'd settled upon the perfect candidates for the miraculous' in case the time ever came. That time was now.

It was just yesterday that his Kwami Wayzz had alerted him to a dark presence awakening the butterfly miraculous. It was only a matter of time before whoever found it used it.

He made his way to the bus stop in front of the school, where he was sure he would meet a young man, waiting to take the bus to an interview that could mean a possible promotion. After careful study, Fu had discerned that this was the man fit for the miraculous of destruction. He was a man with a cool temper, who calculated the risks of everything he did; he would use the miraculous wisely. If, of course, he passed the test

Wayzz peeped out of his pocket, "He's coming Master!" he squeaked in excitement.

Fu leaned forward on his cane as far as he could go and tried to look as old and decrepit as possible. The test would show whether this man believed an innocent life to be worth more than his own gain.

The man passed by and Fu collapsed, "Help!" he cried, weakening his voice a little to sell the act.

The man turned and squinted as if trying to decipher some code. He turned on his phone and made a few swiping motions before walking over to help the old man. Just then, the bus flew by.

Fu smiled and thanked the young man who nodded dismissively and walked in the opposite direction, but not before Wang Fu was able to slip a small miraculous box into the outer pocket of his bag and smile satisfactorily