Adrien Agreste looks out the window, watching the rain slide down. "How dull," he murmurs, eyes dark. "Same thing, over and over..."

"Dude, you might want to pay attention to the lesson?" Nino suggests, raising an eyebrow. "Instead of doing the dramatic model angst thing?"

"Nino, it's just so... do you realize that the whole world is falling apart, and we're helpless to stop it?" he frowns, tension creasing his forehead. "I hate feeling powerless..."

"If you don't graduate high school, you're going to be helpless forever," Nino deadpans. "Pay attention to the lesson."

"I know it already," Adrien sighs. "Anyway, I... wait, what?" He blinks, as the sky opens up slightly, and a beam of light is sent down... something falls from the sky, just past the window. "Nino, did you see that?"

"See you staring out the window, and totally missing everything the teacher's talking about? Yes, yes, I did."

Adrien watches, before flinging his hand in the air. "Miss Bustier, may I be excused?" She nods, and he ignores Nino staring at him like he's lost his mind. Something fell, in a shaft of light, from the sky. Something like that... it warrants checking out. He runs down the stairs, heading out to the lawn, where a small book lies on the concrete of the path... He frowns, leaning down, and lifting it up.

"The Death Note," he murmurs, flicking it open, noticing how the rainwater doesn't seem to hit it. "How to Use," he reads out. "The person whose name is written in this note will die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds." He stares at the writing. "Well, that... sounds simple enough, I guess? This can't be real..."

Still, he slides it into his bag before heading back up to the classroom.

...

Marinette Dupain-Cheng gasps, eyes widening as she jerks up from bed. "Tikki!"

The woman smiles, entering the room. "Yes, Ladybug?"

"I just had a wonderful dream..." she smiles slowly. "A challenge. A mystery I couldn't figure out... in Paris. A serial killer with beautiful green eyes..."

"Are we to go to Paris, Ladybug?" Tikki asks calmly. She does everything calmly...

Marinette nods slowly. "I think so. Not right away. I'm no psychic, but... but I really do think..." She shakes her head quickly. "What am I saying? I'm acting like an actual sixteen-year old. Dreams mean nothing."

Tikki sighs, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking Marinette's hair. "You are an actual sixteen-year-old. It's natural that you'd want that kind of challenge. Just remember that you're more than emotions. You're the World's Greatest Detective."

"The World's three Greatest Detectives," the girl corrects. "Don't forget the Paon and Papillon identities."

"See? You're beyond this. Just wait out the emotions, and by the time you're an adult, you'll be able to forget them completely," Tikki promises.

Marinette sighs, closing her eyes and remembering that clear, vivid green gaze. "What if I like emotions?"

"Your mind is too important for that, and you know it."

She nods. "Got it. Of course, Tikki, you're absolutely right." The woman nods, and Marinette tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, looking out the window. "Still... do you think I could maybe take a more hands-on role? On the next case? I've never really..."

Tikki thinks. "We'll see."

Marinette is the top three detectives in the world. She's smart enough to know that 'we'll see' means 'no.'

...

Adrien gets home, and smiles to Nathalie, before going up to his room, flicking on the tv.

On the news, a story tells of a man holding a class of children hostage. His name is Armand D'Argencourt...

Adrien yanks the Death Note out of his bag, writing the name down in clear, neat handwriting. "Thirty nine... thirty eight..."

He slowly counts down from forty, and the moment he reaches. "One... now!" there's a disturbance on the screen.

"The children are coming out! Sources say that the shooter appears to have died of a heart attack!"

He gasps slightly, eyes widening. "It... It actually happened..." he shakes his head. "It could be a coincidence, but... no. No, it's too exact."

A smile traces across his face. Things just got a lot less boring and helpless.

...

"You were right," Tikki slams a file in front of Marinette's desk. "The killings appear to have started in Paris."

The headline inside the file says it clearly:

"HUNDREDS OF CRIMINALS DIE OVERNIGHT"

Hundreds of criminals, all having committed some disgusting, violent crime, died of heart attacks last night. There seemed no way for it to be a coincidence, and yet, no way for such a grand conspiracy to truly be carried out... The police were baffled, governments stunned.

It's exactly the kind of case that Ladybug takes.

"So, Paris then?"

"Paris."

...

Adrien leans back, hands behind his head. "The internet's screaming. My internet history is deleted. And there are almost five hundred of the worst people to exist, in new graves."

"Well aren't you impressive?" a voice comes from behind him. Adrien spins around, screaming at the sight of the giant, hulking cat-beast. "Now, kiddo. I expected something interesting when I dropped the notebook, but half a grand of bodies in a night? I'm impressed!"

Adrien takes a shaky breath, getting to his feet. "You're the one who this book belongs to."

"Got that right. The name's Plagg."

"Are you going to kill me?"

The cat-beast... Plagg, laughs. "Are you kidding me? Nah, kid, I have a proposal for you! You entertain me... and I let you keep that book."

Adrien frowns. "Entertain you?"

"Keep up the murders. Become someone the world will watch."

"I already am," he smirks, opening the tab on his computer. "They're calling me the Chat Noir on line. Because if you cross my path, you die. They say I'm a god..."

"Keep it up then. And I'll let you hang onto that book. Do you accept?"

Slowly Adrien nods. "Alright, Plagg. I accept your proposal." He stands up. "I'll become Chat Noir. The hero this world needs."

Thunder cracks, and only thirty miles away, Ladybug lands in Paris.