Chapter 1: Element Gang in, Paris Part 1: First Day
A man was using a pickaxe on the wall a sewer tunnel. He was following a voice that instructed him to do so. It was all raspy and a little demonic.
The unknown liesssss here.
Locked away, never to sssssee the light of day.
Yesssss, almossssst there.
Power isssss within your reach.
The man stopped after he found some kind of symbol that was behind the wall. He put both his index finger and his thumb to the ring around it and turned it. Then he stopped where the ring was starting to change the image and did the same to the one around it. He then stopped when it formed some kind of spider. Then the wall glowed and, after it faded away, the man found himself falling through a secret passage. He looked around and found himself inside some kind of passage.
Come. Your dessssstiny awaitsssss. The voice said. He then looked forward and saw a pedestal with a box on it. It had the same symbol as the one on the door. He tried to open it, but the voice said No, not here. Outside. He then got out and ran away. When he got to a mansion, he went inside and into a room, where he opened the box and found a black spider. It open its 4-red eyes and looked at him. The man looked at it with shock and said "What are you?"
"I am Nevix, the Ssssspider kwami. And I can help you get what you desssssire." It said. "Imagine it, to sssssee your beloved once again, to have her in your life again. All you need to do is do me a favor."
The man's eyes became foggy as a few tears escaped and fell down across his cheek. His finger caressing the image of his beloved, the locket resting on his palm. He longed to be with her once more. To hear her voice, to feel her lips upon his own, to hear her laughter, to see them all be the family they once were. His heart grew harder and harder with each passing day after her death. This new friend had good reasons and chose to accept him.
"What do I need to do?" he said as he closed the locket, hiding the face of his beloved before clenching his fist with the jewel within it.
"Get the ssssseven Miraculousssss at any cossssst."
"Yes, I will find and take the seven Miraculous and then I will use them to return my beloved to me." the man said, the light of the window shining behind him, his shadow extending across the empty room surrounded by small little white butterflies. His body appeared dark before the creature, further increasing his intimidating appearance. He unclenched his palm and looked down at the pendent with the image of his beloved still inside. His eyes narrowed down at Nevix, who rest on his shoulder. "How can I get them?" he said, as Nevix went into his open palm.
"All you need to do is accept my power and you will be able to get them." Nevix explained with a nasty look in his eyes.
The man's lips curled up into a smirk. "Interesting. What is your power?"
"You can induce a creature of any kind with darkness and ussssse it to create your own ssssservant."
"I need this absolute power!" the man stomped his expensive looking shoe hard onto the floor, causing several of the butterflies to scatter and fly around the empty room, with only a window as its source of illumination.
"Then do we have a deal?"
"Yes. Help me obtain what I most desire."
"Then accept the gift." Nevix said. "Just sssssay the word, massssster, and the power of the Ssssspider Miraculousssss is all yoursssss."
With a wicked smile, he raised Nevix into the air. Once he did, a swarm of butterflies surrounded his body from head to toe along as he called out his new kwami's name and command.
"Nevix, dark wings rise!" the man shouted.
The little kwami laughed evilly and leapt onto the center of his collar, glowing brightly and turning into a brooch. Its blood red color illuminated the room, even more so than the outside light, and the butterflies around the man's body glowed as well, morphing his cloths and filling him with incredible powers. The man could feel the magic coursing through his body, increasing and growing with every breath he took. He felt one with the winged insects around him. He felt Nevix's power. He felt like a new man. His heart filled with incredible pride and excitement, reminiscent of a young boy playing with a new toy.
Once the transformation was complete, the butterflies dispersed and the man gazed upon his reflection on the surface of the glass window. He barely recognized himself. And he liked it.
This was his first step to achieving the ultimate power and having his heart's greatest desire come true.
"From this day forward, I am...Hawkmoth."
I didn't know it, but another little green kwami, who I knew as Wayzz, was sleeping soundly inside an empty box of matches inside an old phonograph, when suddenly he snapped awake. His body vibrating as if something was amiss. He immediately flew from his napping place and hurried to see his master, who was meditating inside his shop. The man was a short elderly Asian man wearing a Hawaiian shirt, who I knew as Master Fu, sitting in a white lotus position with his hands placed together in prayer form. Most other meditators would had their hands on their knees, but he much preferred it this way. He always enjoyed mixing various styles from various cultures, that's one of the reasons he moved to Paris. Something about the city always fascinated him and it was a marvelous way to share his culture with others and learn a thing or two himself.
"Master! Master Fu!" the little kwami shouted, breaking the man's concentration. "Master, forgive me for startling you, but I sensed the Spider Miraculous. Nevix has been freed!"
The elderly man's eyes widened in horror at this news. "Are you certain?"
"Yes. I could feel its aura. It's very near, it's somewhere in Paris."
"How can this be? Nevix was sealed away."
"Apparently, somebody found him. I sense a deep darkness in this new wielder's heart."
Master Fu sat up straight, his elderly bones slightly cracking as he did. "That pesky little, kwami. He haves an evil heart and can easily manipulate people."
"What shall we do?" the kwami asked with worry.
"We have to find him. If this Miraculous continues to spread its power, who knows what kind of misfortunes would descend upon the world!"
"Master, you're not suggesting…?"
"Oh, yes I am."
The little kwami only rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." he said with a sigh.
Master Fu raised his left hand, revealing a bracelet with a turtle shaped emerald, which I knew to be the Turtle Miraculous, which is Wayzz's Miraculous. While Nooroo's a butterfly, Wayzz's was a turtle hence the turtle shell on his back. Master Fu struck a few action poses and cried out "Wayzz—Argh!" Master Fu nearly collapsed to the ground, thankfully he managed to balance his fall buy landing on the face of his meditation bed, where his patients would rest while he performed acupuncture.
"Master, please be reasonable." Wayzz said to Master Fu. "You're far too…"
"I'm still young!" Master Fu protested. "I'm only 186." he said with a grin, to which Wayzz only arched an eyebrow while crossing his little arms. Master Fu sighed as he stood back up. "But, you're right, old friend. I won't be able to do this alone anymore."
Master Fu approached his old phonograph, which had two Chinese branch dragons on the side of its base. Upon pressing their eyes, they glowed brightly red and a slide opened up with a few buttons. He pressed a few in a specific password and the phonograph slid open, revealing an octagon shaped box which rose upwards. The box was black with a few golden buttons on the side, and a grand designed on its lip, colored bright red.
"It's time for some new heroes."
Here's where I come in. You see, today me and my team are now heading to Paris as part of a new student exchange program. My friends were just excited to do that. We got to get a tour of it before our first day of school and stopped our first crime there. That was great. But it wasn't the next morning when I woke up. I was a little groggy but I was able to hear what Nooroo was saying. I was shocked to hear me and my team only had a 3 minutes left before school starts.
"Sweet mother of flames!" I shouted as I went to my drawer, plucked out my clothes, and put them on with my super speed. "I can't believe I overslept!"
"I can't either." Nooroo said as he watched me run around the room. "This isn't like you. But I guess it was a long night with those jewel thieves."
"Yeah. Too long." I then barged into everyone's rooms and shouted "Guys, wake up! We're gonna be late for our first day of school."
"Come on, Axel. 5 more minutes." Jay said.
"Get out of bed, hose brain!" I then pulled the sheets, which pulled him out of bed.
"All right! All right! Yeesh!" he groaned as he walked to get his clothes.
I then rushed into the bathroom, where I ready I got my proper oral hygiene. I would've made a mistake with putting deodorant on my teeth and brushing my armpits if Nooroo didn't tell me. Then i got halfway down the stairs, but went back up when I remembered I left my binder and backpack in my room. I checked to make sure I had everything. Then I opened the pocket on the side of my backpack and Nooroo slipped inside. Then the others came down the stairs and were looking as frantic as me.
"No time for breakfast here." I said as I handed them plastic bowls. "Just eat them on the way. Come on!"
We then said goodbye to our parents and were out the door, running as fast as we can to get to school. Meanwhile, as we didn't know it, but another student was having the same situation.
"Marinette! Your alarm has been going on for fifteen minutes! You're going to be late for your first day back at school!" Sabine yelled at her daughter from downstairs.
Marinette lazily turned off her phone's alarm and pushed off the pink and black covers of her bed. "Got it, mom." She groaned.
She headed out of her room and made her way down her white steps. "Coming." She kissed her mom on the cheek and sat down at her family's dining table, where her breakfast was waiting for her.
"I bet you anything Chloé's going to be in my class again." Marinette complained, pouring milk into her cereal bowl. She set the carton down and picked up the cocoa powder.
"Four years in a row? Is that even possible?" Sabine turned around from what she was doing to look at her daughter, who was depositing some power into her milk.
"Definitely." She continued to dump some powder in the bowl. "Lucky me!"
Sabine continued to stir whatever she was cooking. "Don't say that, it's a start of a new year! I'm sure everything will be just fine."
Marinette smiled gratefully at her mother, then set her Choco powder a little bit too hard next to the fruit bowl. Marinette's grin turned into a frown as an orange rolled down a knife, into the butter, knocking the milk down. Then, it tumbled over the banana, and somehow the powder fell down too. Lastly, it strikes the yogurt, and Marinette looked at it in disbelief as her mother came over to help clean it up. Sabine rubbed her daughter's cheek, causing Marinette to calm down. Tom Dupain-Cheng hummed the French National Anthem and showed his daughter a bunch of pistachio macarons loaded in a box.
"Dad! These are so awesome!" Marinette squealed.
"Glad you like them!" Tom grinned, closing the box.
"Thank you, dad, my class will love them, you're the best!" Marinette said as her dad handed her the box with the macarons. She took the box with two hands, and smiled gratefully at her dad.
"We're the best!" Tom rubbed her daughter's head and picked up a notepad with her design. "Thanks to your amazing designs."
The bluenette looked at the design for a few seconds, then she reached up and hugged Tom, and accidentally dropped the macarons. "Oops!" Tom chuckled, catching the box with his foot. He picked it up and handed it to Marinette.
She took the box and balanced it on her forearm. "Thanks, see you tonight!" She ran out of the bakery's doors, and to the crosswalk.
As she made her way to the crosswalk, Master Fu using a cane for support didn't seem to run when a car was heading his way, and the car didn't even show signs of stopping!
Marinette looked between the car and the man, and chose to rescue the poor man in the Hawaiian shirt.
She ran over to him, grabbed him by the cane, and made her way back to the sidewalk.
"Bleh!" She uttered, dropping the macaron box. She dropped to the ground and started to pick up the little treats.
Master Fu leaned on his cane. "Thank you, miss!" He looked over at Marinette who was trying to retrieve all the macarons. "Oh, what a disaster."
The crosswalk turned green, and people started to walk on the macarons without even noticing it. Marinette flinched as a shoe stepped on a still good macaron. She looked over at the box, and made sure all the remaining macarons were good.
"Don't worry, I'm no stranger to disasters. Besides, there are still a few left!" She offered the old man a macaron, and he graciously accepted.
He took a bite of the macaron, and smiled. "Delicious!"
She smiled back, and heard the school bell. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!" She turned to the old man and bowed. "Have a nice day, sir!" She said quickly as she ran across the crosswalk and to the school.
He laughed to himself as he took a jewelry box out of his pant pocket. "Thank you very much, young lady." He said while looking at the small case.
Marinette made it there with a few minutes to spare. Look like things were going her way. She did not regret helping that poor old man, but luck really wasn't usually on her side. She was hallway towards the stairs that led to the school's doors, already panting. She would breathe a sigh of relief once she reached her destination. Marinette ran swiftly across the basketball court, and into Madame Bustier's classroom where she was behind her desk. She put her hands on her knees and started panting.
Madame Bustier looked over at all over the students. "Nino, why don't you have a seat in the front row this year?"
Nino groaned as he slid out of the back seat and lazily made his way down the stairs and into the very front seat. Though it was just her luck when she found another girl at her seat, shocking her as she gasped.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." the blond girl said. She worried a white and black striped shirt underneath a bright yellow jacket with a brown belt and white pants. Her hair was styled into a ponytail and wore sunglasses on her head.
"Oh, here we go again." Marinette asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion. "Chloé, what are you doing in my seat?"
"Well, it's mine now."
Here we were, the front door of Collège Françoise Dupont. Luckily we managed to finish our breakfast and went in to find our class.
"Out of the way, Blondie!" I said as we ran passed a boy on the way in. He looked like around my age with slight tan skin, bright blond hair, and bright forest green eyes.
We burst into class, just in the nick of time. The teacher had just started calling out the students' names. Once we arrived, we breathed a sigh of relief and took the first empty seats we could find on one of the bench-like desks, fit for six students, even though there was only two per desk. My eyes scanned around the room. Our class was most certainly a colorful batch, and there was not one specific group of specific school stereotypes like at her old school. A Goth girl was sitting next to a girl wearing pink, and the two were chatting like lifelong friends. Another desk had a strong-looking jock-like boy sitting beside a nerdy looking boy. The joke commenting on something his companion had on his phone.
At our old school, a boy like this would had stuffed this poor smaller boy into his own locker. One boy wearing a cap and headphones around his neck waved at me. I smiled and waved back, it would be rude of me not to. Maybe this new school wouldn't be so bad after all. A wave of relief and joy filled up within me. Though when we looked in a different direction, we ended having to see to see a black-haired girl frowning at a blonde girl who was leaning on her table with a scowl.
"But that's my seat." the black-haired girl said.
"But this has always been my seat." The blonde said, quietly.
"Not anymore." A shrill voice sounded, and all of our eyes drifted to a small girl next to the black-haired girl. "New school, new year, new seats."
"So, why don't you just go and sit beside that new girl over there." The blonde pointed over to a brown-haired girl who turned around and glared at her.
"But…"
"Listen, Adrien's arriving today, and since that is going to be his seat," the girl pointed at the vacant seat in the front before glaring and pointing the black-haired girl's table, "this is going to be my seat. Get it?"
"Who's Adrien?" I asked in confusion.
The two girls laughed obnoxiously before explaining who this Adrian Agreste character is and demanding the girl to move once again which really ticked me off.
"Hey, who elected you the Queen of Seats?" The other new girl piped in.
The two girls started to coo and laugh at the girl's attempt to defend the black-haired girl.
The girl just growled and pulled the black-haired girl up.
"Hey!" I started, walking forward to the blank seat. "You were making her leave because this spot is where this…Adrian Agreste's going to sit, right?"
"Yes, and he adores me." The blonde girl yipped.
"Okay." I raised an eyebrow, used my super strength to her pick up, and switched her with the black-haired girl sat there.
"Wait! What are you? But that's where…"
"Not anymore." I said as I put the black-haired girl in her assigned seat. "Now you made her leave for nothing."
"Look at you, trying to be cool and strong. It's not working. Get out of the way." The small girl said as she tried to get back there, but I blocked her.
"Not happening." I shrugged and gave her my dragon glare. "Good day." I then began my walk back and into my own assigned seat.
The blonde groaned before sitting back down.
The black-haired girl smiled at me. "Thank you."
"No problem." I grinned.
"I'm Alya, the new girl." the brown-haired girl explained.
"Well, bonjour. Axel Eugene Frank, at your service." I said and I then pointed to each member of my team as I introduced them. "These are my friends: Basar Blood, Meri Mock, Trustin Kelsch, my cousin, Tricha Gray, and Jay Richey. We're part of the student exchange program."
"Marinette." The black-haired girl smiled. "The blonde there is Chloé and the girl next to her is Sabrina. Chloé usually gets what she wants because she's the mayor's daughter, that's why she was like that."
I nodded and smirked at Chloé. "Get used to not getting your way when we're here, Chloé."
"Yeah. You tell her, Axel." Basar said, supporting me.
The blonde growled, smiling suddenly as the teacher walked in and introduced herself. "For those of you who don't yet know me, I'm Madame Bustier. I'll be your teacher this year."
Chloé looked worryingly down at the seat in front of her. "Ugh, he should have been here by now."
While outside, that same boy was looking around looking for his classroom. Then a limo stopped in front of him and a desk assistant and what looked like a bodyguard.
"Adrien, please reconsider!" The woman yelled at her charge. "You know what your father wants!"
"But this is what I want to do!" The boy countered, turning away only to see an old man trip. He runs over to the man and helps him up, smiling.
"Thank you, young man." Master Fu leans on his cane.
He turns back to see the assistant and the bodyguard. Walking towards them, he says "I just want to go to school like everybody else, what's so wrong with that? Please don't tell my father about this." He pleads as he is escorted back to his limo.
"Those of you who have P.E, Mr. D'Argencourt is expecting you at the stadium." Madame Bustier reminded her students. Some picked up their bags and left. "The rest of you can head over to the library.
Kim, a tall, athletic boy with the tips of his brown hair dyed blonde passed a note over to Ivan, who also had blonde tips. Ivan accepted the note and started reading it.
"Day about to be done, your prince charming's gone." Me, Basar, and Jay sang at Chloé as the last bell rang.
Chloé growled at us, where we picked our bags up with smirks and ran to our new friends, Marinette and Alya.
"Library?" I said.
"Kim!" He yelled angrily, making a fist.
"Ivan, what is going on?!" Madame Bustier questioned.
"It's Kim!" Ivan accused, pointing to the boy who was taken aback. "I'm so gonna get…"
"Ivan, go to the Principal's office." Madame Bustier interrupted sternly. Ivan crushed up the note and took his backpack, as he heard people snickering behind him.
"What was that all about?" I asked. Our two companions shrugged.
That window opened in that same dark room, and those white moths started flying around everywhere like crazy.
"Negative emotions." Hawkmoth said deviously. "This is perfect. Just what I need. Anger, sadness, burn a hole into his heart, my horrible akuma." The tall man summoned a moth and turned it black with just a touch. "Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!" He yelled as the little akuma flew over Paris.
Ivan walked to the principal's office, angrily clenching the crumbled piece of paper in his hands. He didn't do anything wrong, and yet he was the one being punished. This just wasn't fair. Not fair at all. Ivan burst into the Principal's office door looking angry. Mr. Damocles noticed this, and went back to his paperwork. "Excuse me, young man. Hasn't anyone ever taught you to knock? Go on, out you go, straight again!"
Ivan closed the door. He was so lost in his angry thoughts he became completely unaware of the dark butterfly approaching him. The insect touched the surface of the paper in his hand, instantaneously dissolving into black particles which sunk into the paper, turning it dark purple. Ivan felt something overwhelm him. A strange yet incredible wave of power coursing through his veins. Red butterfly winged markings appeared around his eyes. His heart yearned for revenge, for justice, for satisfaction. His instincts were taking over, clouding his mind, his heart, and soul.
"Stoneheart, I am Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth said. "I will give you the power to seek revenge on those who have wronged you."
Ivan smiled evilly. "Okay, Hawkmoth."
From his palm, the crumpled paper began releasing dark colored ooze that extended from his hand and covering his body. His proportions started to change, the negative energy of the dark butterfly altering his appearance as well as his own soul. His skin became hard as stone, his eyes glowing a pure gold, his size increasing and his fists clenched tighter than before, still holding onto the crumpled piece of paper. The only thing reminding him of his motivation.
Inside the office, Mr. Damocles was waiting patiently for the student to knock. "Well, come on in!"
Instead of a teenage boy, a large, ugly, grey stone monster barged through the door, causing The Principal to be knocked off his seat. "Kimmmmmmm!" It groaned.
Inside the library, we were sitting with Alya and Marinette and eagerly listened to Alya's stories of superheroes, especially about the Element Gang. We were amused that she spoke all about them and had no idea that she had one sitting right next to her.
There was a loud rumble and everyone ran.
"Ahh!" Marinette yelped, as she fell on the ground, but Alya grabbed her wrist and dragged her away along with me and Jay.
Alya ran over to her and helped her up. "Come on!" She exclaimed, taking Marinette by the arm and the two of them ran to a screen to see what was going on.
"Did you see that?" A random kid asked.
Stoneheart was on the school sidewalk, destroying school grounds. He was still looking for Kim.
"Kim!" He roared.
"Hello?" Mr. Damocles pressed the phone to his ear. "Is this the police? Get the army!"
Everyone was crowded around the surveillance camera, gasping at the person who seemed to be made of rock.
"What's wrong?" Marinette asked, alarmed.
"He has Ivan's voice?" Basar asked back in confusion.
"It's as if he was transformed into a real-life supervillain!" Alya squealed.
"Guys, huddle up." I said as my team did as I said. I then whispered "Looks like Ivan got evilized, but that would only mean that the Spider Miraculous is back."
"Are you sure?" Jay asked.
"No doubt about it." I answered. "We'll need to find the akuma and catch it."
"Then let's get to it." Basar said and then we broke it.
"GPS, Check. Battery, Check. I am so out of here." Alya sprinted to the exit doors.
"Where are you going?" Marinette asked in alarm.
"Where there is a supervillain, there's always a superhero close behind!" Alya squealed. "No way am I missing this!"
I shook my head and grabbed Marinette.
"Go home and stay there, okay?"
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
"We're going to get help."
We then went out the doors and found a place where no one could find us.
"Okay, time to transform, Nooroo." I said.
"Right!" He said as he got out of the pocket.
"Nooroo, Let's fly!" I shouted as Nooroo was sucked into my Miraculous and I began to transform. In this form, I get my special Miraculous armor and a staff that is able to catch and contain akumas. Then the others transformed too and we all went off to face this new villain.
Back at the mansion, Adrien was take a quiz.
"Who was the first president of the fifth French Republic?" Nathalie asked, looking at her notes.
Adrien displayed a bored look on his face as he answered the question. "Everyone thinks it was De Gaulle, but it was actually Rene Couti before the first elections."
"Excellent, Adrien!" Nathalie praised.
"Give me a minute, would you, Nathalie?" Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's father asked.
"Yes, sir." Nathalie obeyed, standing in the corner of the room.
"You are not going to school, I've already told you."
Adrien looked in disbelief because he just realized Nathalie had not kept her promise of telling his father.
It wasn't really a promise, because she didn't actually promise.
"But, Father…"
"Everything you need is right here where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you outside in that dangerous world."
"It's not dangerous, Father. I'm always stuck in here by myself. Why can't I go on and make friends just like everybody else?"
"Because you are not like everyone else, you are my son!" Gabriel turned to his assistant. "Continue." He left the room.
Nathalie took a look at her notes. "We can leave it here today if you have…"
Adrien ran into his room, and stuffed his face in his pillow. "Ugh."
THUMP!
A loud noise came from outside, and there were sirens. Adrien headed out into his balcony and looked out to see a stone thingy moving.
"KIM!" It yelled, grabbing a police van and throwing it at a policeman.
But Apolloid managed to catch it and throw it back at him.
We all went on the attack hitting him with everything we got, but somehow the villain got bigger and stronger. When Apolloid went off hit him with an assault of punches, I saw what was happening and shouted "Apolloid, stop! You're making it worse!"
"Huh?" Apolloid said as he stopped, but he soon found out when the villain's hand grabbed him for now he was even bigger. He tossed him away right at us.
"What happened?" Apolloid asked.
"With every blow we hit him with only makes him grow bigger and stronger." I said.
"What do we do if we can't hit him?" Posidacus said.
"I'll try reasoning with him." I said as I walked up to him. "Ivan!"
He then looked at me.
"I know you don't want to do this. We know how to stop this, just let us help you." I said, hoping he would see reason.
Then that symbol formed up again.
"Stoneheart, he haves one of the Miraculous. Get it! His brooch!" Hawkmoth ordered.
"Yes, master." Stoneheart said. "There's no Ivan. Only Stoneheart. Now give me your Miraculous!"
I then dodged his attack and we all tried our best to avoid any of his blows without hitting him in the process.
It seemed to be broadcasting all over Paris.
Adrien headed back inside and hopped on his white couch. He grabbed his remote and turned on the TV.
"I'm asking all Parisians to stay home until the situation is under control." Mayor Bourgeois said to all the reporters near him.
The TV program switched back to the news reporter. "As incredible as it seems, it's been confirmed that Paris is indeed being attacked by a supervillain. The Element Gang are fighting this villain, but seem to have trouble beating him. Even the police have been struggling to keep the situation under control."
The program switched to a red headed police officer with a cast on his right arm. "Be confident, the strong arm of the law will come crashing down on the…" He hit the arm with his cast as to mimic the crashing down part. "I mean, the other arm."
Apparently, every single building in Paris closed that day because of the stone-person.
*Marinette's room*
"I hate first days back at school!" Marinette complained, watching the story on her computer. She and Adrien both at the same time looked down to see a fancy Chinese box.
"What's this doing here?" They both asked, taking the boxes in their hands.
They both opened it up, and lights of green and red shone. At the exact same time, both Adrien and Marinette opened their respected boxes, which contained some kind of jewelry inside. Adrien's carried a silver ring while Marinette's carried a pair of black earrings. The moment the lids were lifted, a beam of bright light emerged from the jewels, causing the two teens to drop their respective boxes and step back from the lights. Adrien's was green while Marinette's was red.
With Marinette, when the light faded, she saw as a little creature appeared in front of her face. It was incredibly small, bright red in color with a red dot on its forehead, and a slightly larger head compared to the rest of its body. I knew this creature to be Tikki, the kwami of the Ladybug Miraculous. Tikki floated in front of the teenage girl. The creature opened its big blue eyes, and stared directly at Marinette.
"Ahh!" Marinette yelped, backing away from her desk. "Help!" She said, hugging a pole. "It's a giant bug! A mouse! A bug-mouse!"
"Everything's okay, don't be scared!" Tikki said, flying towards the bluenette.
"Ahh, bug-mouse talks!" She yelled, throwing random things at Tikki.
*Adrien's house*
The same happened with Adrian watched as he was face to face with a creature the same size as Tikki. Adrien's was colored black all over with cat-like ears and cat-like green eyes with a little tail and two long whiskers sticking out of his cheeks. I knew this one was Plagg, the kwami of the Cat Miraculous.
Adrien still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Plagg yawned and Adrien pointed at it. "No way, it's like the genie in the lamp!"
"I met him once, so he grants wishes, big deal!" He stretched. "I'm way more personable! Plagg. Nice to meet you. Ooh, swanky." Plagg flew over to the foosball table and started to try and eat the tiny human toys. "Oomph."
"No, don't touch that!" Adrien tried to grab Plagg, but he flew away. "Hey, come back here!"
"Ooh, it's so shiny! Can you eat this?" Plagg chomped on the red controller. "No, you can't. Ooh, what about this?"
"Listen, Marinette, I know everything may seem a bit strange to you…"
Marinette cupped the Kwami with a glass, and the Kwami seemed to be unaffected. "Okay, if that makes you feel safer!"
"What are you?" Marinette asked. "And how do you know my name?"
"I'm a kwami and my name is Tikki! Now just let me explain."
Adrien climbed on the right side of his room, where there was a climbing wall. Plagg was trying to eat the remote, and then Adrien fell from above, onto the couch, capturing the kwami.
"Ahh!"
"I still don't know what you're doing here."
"Look, I'm a kwami, I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction, got it?"
Adrien nodded and still didn't let Plagg go.
"Good, now got anything to eat? I'm starving!"
Adrien held up the Kwami to his face. "My dad's pranking me, right? Wait, he couldn't be, he has no sense of humor!"
Plagg wiggled his way free and flew up to Adrien's height. "Your father must never know that I exist, or anyone for that matter."
"Mom!" Marinette screamed, opening the trapdoor. "Dad!"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Tikki teleports out of the glass, and goes in front of Marinette's face "I'm your friend, Marinette! You must trust me. You're the only one who can stop Stoneheart!"
Master Fu looks at the case one more time while his own kwami talks to him. "Do you think they'll be up to it, Master?"
"I only got it wrong once. It will never happen again. At least I hope not."
"This is must be a mistake! The only superpower I could possibly have is super-awkwardness…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 totally go see her!" Marinette rambles.
"Marinette, you're the chosen one! You need to help the Element Gang!" Tikki reasons.
"But I'm stuck here! I'm not even allowed to go to school! What's good of a superhero that's imprisoned in his own house!" Adrien deadpans.
"No good!" Plagg says, balancing on a roll of toilet paper. "That's why it's all going to change soon! If you're willing to change, that is."
Adrien looks down at the white ring.
*Marinette's room*
"So all I have to do I break the object where the whatchama-call-it is hiding?" Marinette asks, putting on the earrings.
"It's called an akuma, but the Fire Dragon needs to capture it." Tikki explains.
"The what?"
Tikki then went to her computer and manage to find a picture of me in my elemental form, even though she had to go through corrections. "This guy."
"Oh. You mean El Dragon."
"Is that what they're called these days? Guess I should've seen that coming."
"Wait, you know El Dragon?"
"Yes. Well, I met his ancestors. It's tradition that every Fire Dragon must become the new leader of the Element Gang on their 10th birthday."
"So you're saying this El Dragon is someone else, not the same person?"
"Mm-hmm. There's always a new Fire Dragon." Tikki nodded.
"How old would this one be?"
"By the looks of him, I say he's just about your age."
"Really? So he must be someone at my school, but how do you know about him in the first place?"
"Because he wears the Moth Miraculous."
"Wait. So there's more of those things and more of you?"
"Yeah. The kwami of his Miraculous is Nooroo. He's kind hearted. He's been with nearly every Fire Dragon that existed."
"So they've been here for quite a while, huh?"
"For about 800,000 years."
"Wow! That's a long time."
"Yeah. And you can help him."
"Oh, right. What's that charm thing again?"
"Your Lucky Charm, it's your secret superpower!"
Marinette slumps her shoulders. "This is all going too fast, Tikki! I-I won't be able to pull this off!"
"Trust yourself, Marinette." Tikki reassures her. "Just say, Spots On!"
"Spots on?"
Marinette's earrings activate and then Tikki was immediately sucked into the left side's earrings, which shimmered, changing from black to red, and five spots appeared on both earrings.
"What's happening?!" she cried out.
The young girl felt a sudden wave of power overwhelm her body, her hair flew upwards as if by an invisible wind, frightening her all the more. Pink colored sparkles surrounded her body, and before long all she could see was pink. Her room faded from sight as her body began to change. Her muscles tensed, becoming firmer and she could feel her meek form shift into someone stronger, more confident and courageous. She felt like she could lift a person with ease over her shoulder if she wanted to. These new emotions frightened her. Her hair was no longer black with blue hues but was now instead a cobalt blue shade, removing any trace of black she once had.
Her eyes remained the same, but her eyelashes became more definitive, almost as if she were wearing mascara, but not too much as to make her look cheap. A red mask was now on her face, rounded with black spots and a black outline, partly covering her cheek bones. Her full body suit was also red with red spots all over, minus a pact of black around the high collar of her neck, feet and hands. From her fingers to her elbow the suit was colored black as were her ankles. Around her waist was a rounded red colored object with red spots. She looked like a ladybug themed superhero. The earrings she had placed on were still present, but now resembled her entire new wardrobe, complete with black spots and all. Her pintails remained the same, only had grown but three inches more and her ribbons were now longer, almost resembling bug antennas.
Marinette was freaking out! Here she was wearing a full body superhero outfit which made her blush at the very feeling of wearing it. Her parents wouldn't even left her wear mini-skirts, there was no way they would let her so much as go downstairs in this getup. And she wouldn't blame them. This girl in front of her looked beautiful and confident, which was not Marinette at all.
Adrien slips on the white ring and Plagg pops his head out of the toilet paper roll. "Claws Out! That's how you transform."
"Got it. Plagg, Claws Out!"
"Wait, I haven't finished explainingggg…" Plagg tries to finish his sentence before his sucked into the ring, but he is too late, all while the young boy smiled as the ring itself turned black, and a green paw print appeared on it. From the ring, he could feel whole body changing and a newfound energy coursing through him. There were no words to properly explain what it was that was happening to him, but he never felt more alive. Over his eyes, a black mask appeared, covering most of his face, including the tip surface of his nose and his cheekbones, while leaving his mouth and forehead bare. His hair became messier, which he loved. Under normal circumstances, he always had to keep his hair perfect to maintain that supermodel image. But not this time. A pair of black cat ears appeared on his head, and while he still had his human ears, these new ones still felt just as real.
His entire body became submerged with a green energy, changing his ordinary clothes into a full body black cat suit, hugging his upper arms, perfectly showcasing more muscle than he had before and a yellow cat-bell appeared around his neck. He could feel his physical strength increasing. His hands were gloved with black gloves with long sharp fingernails to resemble claws, and they felt every bit as real as his new ears. Last but not least, a silver stick appeared around his waist, followed by a long belt that resembled a cat's tail, which also felt real and moved according to Adrien's mood. Once the transformation was complete, Adrien admired his new outfit. Normally, a cat suit was worn for female heroes or villainesses, but in this case he made the whole male black cat superhero work.
"Too cool!" He said looking at himself on his laptop.
"How does thing even come off?" Marinette asks herself as she looks in the mirror. "Tikki! If you can hear me, I want my normal clothes back. I'm not going anywhere…"
Marinette was cut off by the sound of the news.
"Stoneheart is heading towards the Montparnasse tower with the Element following behind. The monster seems to be unstoppable!"
A girl that looked like Alya appears on the screen, chasing Stoneheart.
"Alya?" Marinette gasps.
"Marinette! Did you get home okay?" Sabine asks downstairs.
"Uhh, yeah, Mom, just super!" Marinette runs up the stairs to her balcony, just as Sabine pops her head through the trapdoor.
"Marinette? You in here? Tom, we better call the school."
Marinette looked around her sash. "Okay, I have special powers! And apparently this amazing super yo-yo thingy?" She grabs the yoyo, and latches it onto a gargoyle statue. She lets go and it flips her over to the other side.
"I'm starting to get the hang of this." Cat Noir says, walking on a pole.
While that happened, me and the team were trying to catch up with Stoneheart.
"Okay, guys." I said, looking to the others. "Let's try coming up with a plan to take down Stoneheart without being smashed."
I didn't know it, but Apolloid put his attention to was in front of us. He stopped running and then said "El Dragon, look out for that pole!"
"What pole?" I asked. When I looked forward, it was too late. "Oof!"
I had gotten smacked in the gut by a metal staff. The force from the impact was enough to change vertically with the alley way and both me and the new feline hero fell to the ground with him landing on top of me and his staff hitting me in the head. I looked to see what landed on me and was shocked to see the same boy we ran past on our way to school. He laughed nervously as he looked at me and I growled at him. Then we heard a cry for help and looked up only to see a red and black clothed girl headed our way.
"Oh, no." I said as the girl crashed into us. Her yo-yo came down and knocked me in the head. "Ow! Again with the head."
"Well, hey, there, nice of you to drop in." He flirts while they both continued to lay on me.
"I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." She said.
"Well, then get off me!" I said as I pushed them off where that girl was laying on top of the boy.
I growled again, but stopped when I looked at the girl. It wasn't a random one, it was Marinette. But how… That's when I looked and saw that she was wearing the Ladybug Miraculous. I looked to the boy and saw he was wearing the Cat Miraculous. So the old man decide to get more Miraculous warriors. I was grateful that it was a friend, but was annoyed because now I would have to deal with two new rookies.
Stay calm, Axel. Don't expose yourself. I thought to myself. Just pretend you don't know them.
"Okay, who the heck are you?" I asked the boy as I picked them up.
"Hey, there, I'm…" The boy stuttered, before smiling. "Cat Noir. Yeah. Cat Noir. Nice to meet you, El Dragon."
"And you?" I said turning to Marinette.
Marinette pulled her yoyo successfully, wincing as it hit Cat Noir's head.
"I'm Mari… Madly Clumsy. I'm so clumsy." She muttered.
"No sweat, clumsy girl." Cat chuckled, picking up a small cylindrical stick from the ground. "I'm still learning the ropes, too."
"I know you are." I said. "So you two are the new Miraculous warriors, huh?"
We all gasped as there was a loud rumble.
We turned to see falling building.
Cat Noir's staff elongated and he used it as a pole, launching himself off the ground to a nearby building.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked.
"To save Paris, right?" Cat Noir grinned and jumped away.
"Hey! Hold it!" I said as me and the team flew after him.
Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her yo-yo. "Trust yourself, trust yourself!" She reminded herself as she swung her yoyo and latched it onto a chimney. She let go. "Ahh!"
I couldn't help, but laughed as Marinette followed us while screaming.
Kim picked up his backpack and started to head out the gym doors, but a giant monster calling his name stopped him.
"KIMMMM!" It screamed and the remaining people except him ran out of the gym.
"SO, WHO'S THE WUSS NOW?" Stoneheart screamed, stopping Kim in his tracks.
Stoneheart made his way from the top of the building to the floor of it, and ran towards Kim, who was already running himself.
Kim fell and shielded himself with his arm, before he heard a clank on the ground.
"Hey!" The boy in cat suit yelled. "It's not very nice to pick on people who are smaller than you."
"I GUESS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF." Stoneheart shot back, getting ready to hit Cat Noir with his stone arm.
Cat Noir dodged it and rolled over, just as Stoneheart was about to pummel him.
I then got to him and said "Stay back, rookie. We got this."
"Everything is going according to plan. Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous have been activated. Here they come along with the Element Gang to save the day, and now my super villain will destroy them!" Hawkmoth made a fist, and continued to watch the fight through his screen window.
"Don't worry, I got him!" Cat said as he went on to strike.
"Cat Noir, don't!" I yelled, but it was too late. He hit Stoneheart in the back.
"You're welcome." He said.
"You idiot!" I said as Stoneheart grew bigger.
"What?" Cat said.
"He grows bigger with every hit he takes." I said.
"Where are you, partner?" Cat Noir called out as we dodged his attacks.
She looked in worry as Cat Noir almost got hit again by the stone creature. "No, I can't, I'm not going to be able to do it!" She cried as she put her hands over her eyes.
Cat Noir dodged the soccer goal Stoneheart threw at him, and as it was about to hit Alya, he whipped out his staff threw it so it would bounce back. The staff came back to him like a boomerang.
Since he was momentarily distracted by his new staff, he didn't notice that Stoneheart was grabbed him.
"What are you waiting for, super red bug? The world is watching you!" Alya yelled at Marinette.
Marinette stared at the caramel skinned girl for a few seconds, deciding if she should do something or not. Then, she finally snapped out of it with a determined look on her face. She clutched her yo-yo and threw it to the ground, sliding between Stoneheart's legs. She stopped herself before she fell flat on her face.
"Animal cruelty? How shameful!" She said, wrapping her yoyo around Stoneheart's legs and pulling it, causing him to let go of me and Cat Noir. He fell face down to the ground, and we were safely inside a soccer goal.
"Sorry it took so long." She said, helping him up.
Cat brushed off the dirt on his suit. "It's cool, Wonderbug. Now let's kick his rocky behind!"
We then looked back at the monster who was on his feet again. He ran towards the stone monster without a plan, making me pull on his tail. "Wait!" I let go of his tail. "Remember? He gets bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to do something different."
"Different how?" Cat questioned, waiting for a response.
"What if we try our powers?" Ladybug confessed, rubbing her chin.
"Not much I can do, so you two try it." I said.
"Okay then!" He held up his ring. "Cataclysm!"
His right glove suddenly had a black spotted outline around it, and he had a smirk on his face as he looked at his right hand. "Apparently, I destroy whatever I touch." He bragged, looking smug at Ladybug.
"Already know that." I said.
"I don't need a super power to destroy everything." She complained, crossing her arms.
Cat Noir had a grin on his face as he touched the goal post, and it suddenly turned to rust.
"No, don't!" I warned, but the goal post already fell apart.
"Cool!" He exclaimed, looking at his hand. He turned back to the stone monster. "It's just you and me now!" He yelled, heading for the monster. "Time to rumble, soon to be rubble!"
"Cat Noir, wait!"
Cat Noir jumped to the bottom of Stoneheart's feet, lightly touching it. He waited for a second for him to crumble, but nothing happened. He tried once more. "What happened?" He asked.
"You guys can only use your power in one shot. And once you do, you only have five minutes before you transform back! Didn't your kwami explain anything to you?!" I answered
Cat Noir grinned cheekily as he put his hands behind his head. "I guess I was a little excited about my new life."
Marinette crossed her arms. "Well, it's up to me!" She threw her yoyo in the air. "LUCKY CHARM!" She yelled, and in her hands was a ladybug printed suit.
"What the…" Cat Noir trailed off, his eyes widened at the suit.
"Her power is creation. Let's not fret on the suit. We have to break the object where the akuma is hiding." I said.
Cat Noir pointed a finger up. "Well, he's made entirely out of stone."
"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!" Marinette said.
"So what's your plan to get his hand opened?" I asked.
From Marinette's eyes, a ladybug design highlighted Stoneheart's fist, Alya, who was recording, and a hose.
"This!" Ladybug says, hooking the hose up to the suit. She wraps her yo-yo around Cat Noir's legs. "Don't resist, trust me!" She spins him around and around, and finally let's go. Cat Noir is caught in Stoneheart's fist.
"This girl's crazy!" Cat yells in terror.
"Catch me if you can!" Ladybug taunts, jumping over Stoneheart's head with the suit and the hose.
He lets go of the paper to catch Marinette. That's when I realized it. She was tricking him into losing the infected object and he didn't realize that at all.
"And now… ALYA, THE TAP!" Ladybug screams.
Alya runs over to the tap and turns it on...and soon the suit is filled up with water, causing Marinette to be released. I then ran over and stepped on the piece of paper, causing the butterfly to fly out.
"My first akuma." I said as touch the tip of my staff and it opened up. I then got ready to catch the akuma. "Now, time to de-evil...oh!" I was about to catch it, but Marinette landed on me and I missed my chance.
"No." I said as the akuma flew away.
Stoneheart soon turned back to Ivan and Cat Noir was released.
"This girl is awesome. She's crazy awesome!" Cat said to himself.
I then got up and angrily looked at Marinette. "You ruined my shot! Now that akuma will come back later!" Marinette looked up at me with sadness.
"I'm sorry." she said.
"Sorry? That doesn't begin to cover it. It take us weeks to look for it."
"Hey, easy up. It was an accident." Cat said, trying to defend her.
"This is why I don't work with rookies." I groaned out. "Just go home, figure out your powers, and stay out of the way until you're ready. Element Gang, let's go."
We all then left to find the akuma.
Then Marinette looked down at her hand to see the black paper turned back into white.
"What's going on? What am I doing here?" Ivan asks, looking around.
"You were incredible. You did it!"
"We both did it, partner. Though it doesn't seem El Dragon see it that way."
"Oh, don't worry about that blow hard." Cat said. "We defeated Stoneheart and saved the day. I say we did a pretty good job."
"POUND IT!" The two of them bump fists, and Cat's ring beeps.
"You should get going. Our identities must remain secret." Marinette said.
"Farewell, m'lady. Let's do this again soon, okay?" He said.
"Not too soon, I hope." Marinette said.
Cat then jumps up and out of the gym. Marinette smiles at him for a moment, then looks down at the ground to see the piece of paper.
"Huh?" She picks up the crumpled up piece of paper and unravels it to read it. "You don't even have the guts to tell Mylene you love her, wuss!" It reads. She feels sorry for Ivan, and begins to walk towards him.
"Kim wrote it." Ivan explains. "He's always making fun of me."
"You know, you shouldn't get so bent out of shape about that. There's no shame in telling someone you love them, Ivan."
"Hey, how do you know my name, Miss?"
"Uh, um…"
"Uncanny, amazing, spectacular!" Alya claps, praising Ladybug. "Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Were you stung by a radioactive Ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask you, Miss, uh…"
"Uhh... Ladybug! Call me Ladybug." Marinette said to the camera. Her earrings beep, and she yo-yos her way out of the gym to transform without anyone seeing.
"Ladybug…" Alya said. "Super awesome!"
"So thanks to this amateur footage, the Parisians now know the identities of their two newest heroes!" The news reporter said, pointing to some pictures on Marinette's computer.
"I did it, Tikki!" Marinette gushed while Tikki flew out of her purse.
"You see? You were up to it!" Tikki said, snuggling Marinette's cheek.
"Marinette!" Sabine yelled from downstairs. "Dinner time!"
Marinette hopped off of her chair and headed down the trapdoor's stairs to get to the base of the house. From there, she went down an even larger case of stairs leading into the living room and the dining room.
Marinette jogged to her seat in front of her mom, who was setting the table.
"I am pleased to announce that we will organize a huge celebration in honor of the newest addition as our city's new protectors. Ladybug and Cat Noir." Mayor Bourgeois proclaimed to the Paris news station, who was currently interviewing him.
"Ladybug. Her name is Ladybug..." Adrien said.
As Adrien watched the news, Plagg took of the top of a silver platter, which he had took a cup filled with fruit. He flew over to Adrien and showed it to him. "Oh, what is this?" The tiny Kwami asked with disgust.
"Seriously? My personal chef made all of this!"
"If you expect me to get my energy back after the transformation, I need to eat something... delicate!"
Adrien sighed and put his hands on his knees. "Okay. What do you want?"
The akuma flew to the top of the Eiffel Tower and rested on a pole. As it did that, several more akuma's emerged and flew in all different directions.
"I can't believe this." I said after I got home.
"Axel, calm down." Nooroo said.
"How can I calm down when there's an akuma out there creating havoc?" I said. "If we don't find it, it's gonna become the biggest problem this world has ever seen."
"Uh, Axel?" Jay said.
"What?" I asked.
"You need to check the news."
I then went there and saw what he and the others were seeing.
"Oh, no. It multiplied." I said in horror for this was what I was afraid would happen with that akuma on the loose.
"Oh, my!" Sabine exclaimed, pointing to the TV. Marinette stopped washing the dishes and watched news with her mother.
"Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two new superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It's simply unbelievable." The news reporter showed a map of Paris in the background, with pictures of several stone monsters behind her.
Marinette gasped and headed up to her room.
"Camembert cheese. Fantastic. All he eats is Camembert, which means I'm gonna smell like stinky old cheese." Adrien said, bored as he watched his Kwami gobble up the old cheese.
His eyes widened as he watched what was currently going on in the news.
"These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. The police are perplexed to what will happen to them. Will they come back to life or be frozen in time forever?" Nadja asked as she continued to talk about another topic.
"Plagg? What's going on? I thought we defeated him."
"Did you catch the akuma?" Tikki and Plagg said at the same time to their wielders.
"What's capturing the akuma got to do with the other stone beings?" Marinette asked, putting one hand on a hip.
"An akuma can multiply, that's why it must be captured." Tikki explained, flying up to the computer screen as she pointed to a stone being. "If Ivan's emotions become negative again, then the akuma will turn him back into Stoneheart! He'll control all the stone beings and bring them to life to serve as his army!"
"So that means…this is all my fault?" Marinette put her hands on her temples as she talked. "I knew it! See, Tikki? I'm not cut out to be a superhero! I'm only gonna keep messing up."
"Keep calm. It was your first time." The Kwami reassured her. "You're going to go back and help El Dragon capture Stoneheart's akuma, and do it successfully!"
"I can't! I told you, I'm clumsy! I create disaster all the time! I'll only make things worse for me, for you and for everyone. Cat Noir and the Element Gang will be better off without me." Marinette exclaimed, keeping her head down. "I'm quitting."
"So neither me or El Dragon can't do anything without Ladybug?" Adrien asked his Kwami, who was currently chomping on cheese.
"El Dragon might be the only one who can capture akumas, but Ladybug is the only one that repair damage caused by supervillains!"
Marinette walked over to her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. "If Cat Noir can't capture the akumas, then… just find another Ladybug." She turned to the Kwami who was flying in mid-air.
"I told you, I'm not cut out to be Ladybug!"
Tikki looked in horror as Marinette took off her black earrings.
"I'm sorry, Tikki."
"No, don't…"
Marinette sighed as she looked around her room for Tikki, who was nowhere to be found.
"…Tikki?"
She sighed again and grabbed the little Chinese box, and plopped her earrings inside. She then put that box inside of her dressing drawer.
"I'm really sorry, Tikki…" She said as she fell to the ground.
"Ivan has a sensitive heart." Hawkmoth observed inside his lair. "It won't be long before anger and sadness strike again. And he and the stone beings will come alive." He concluded as the akuma flew into the glass part of his cane.
"Then we'll see how long you will remain hidden, Ladybug and Cat Noir. Along with you, Element Gang. And once I have your Miraculous, you will be powerless against me. Everyone will be powerless against me! I will have absolute power!" He cackled as his window shut.
