Marinette/Ladybug

The school bell rang, indicating the start of class. Marinette closed her locker door and started toward her classroom, until her best friend Alya caught up and they started walking together.

"So, any new updates on your love life with Adrien?" Alya pressed, grinning at her friend.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Don't you think I'd tell you right away, Alya? Besides, I don't think I've got a chance."

Alya put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't say that, Marinette. Adrien just needs some… time to notice you. And you've got to put a plan into action!"

"My plans never work."

"Or maybe," said Alya, grinning, "You just haven't tried hard enough."

Marinette and Alya walked into class, taking their usual seats behind Adrien and his best friend, Nino. But today, Nino was sitting all alone.

"Hey," Alya whispered to him. "Where's Adrien?"

"I don't know," Nino replied, shrugging. "He didn't tell me. Probably sick."

"Or maybe his father's making him model for something," Marinette suggested.

"Yeah, could be. His father's pretty pushy."

"Alright, class!" said the teacher, her curls bobbing up and down as she spoke. "Today we're continuing to analyze our reading assessments…"

And so, the day went on, and Marinette felt quite lonely… she missed her crush, though it wasn't like they hung out or anything. But still, school didn't seem as worthwhile without Adrien…

She told this to Alya during lunchtime. "Well, look on the bright side," her best friend replied. "At least you've got time to plan out your date with him!"

"Yeah, but… wait, my what?" Marinette squeaked, stopping mid-bite of her food.

"Come on, we're going to make you notice him…"

Marinette managed a small smile. This cheered her up a bit. She still had Alya, after all…

When the day was over, and Marinette waved goodbye to her friend (they were planning to meet after school) she started to walk toward the bakery that was home. The streets of Paris were calm and quiet that day, and a light breeze wafted through the air. Marinette raised her head and closed her eyes, taking it in.

But suddenly she heard cackling and her eyes snapped open. There, right in front of her, stood a huge, burly, and extremely hairy man - he grinned evilly at her, revealing yellow teeth.

Marinette shrieked and took a step back, but she suspected what this man was… another akumanized villain, no doubt. She just had to get out of his line of sight so that she could transform into Ladybug.

"Who are you?" Marinette asked, looking up at the man.

"I," shouted the man, "am Heavy Metal, the strongest man in Paris! And I will crush you!"

He reached out his beefy hands so as to grasp Marinette, but she leaped out of the way and down a side path. She could hear Heavy Metal let out a bark of rage and start lumbering after her, but she quickly turned into an alleyway and opened her purse where she always kept her kwami.

"Kiki, spots on!" she yelled, and with a flash of red light, she transformed. She stepped out of the alleyway, stronger now, and faced the giant man.

To her surprise, he bellowed with laughter. "Do you really think a meager ladybug can kill me? No! I can step on you!" And he lifted his giant foot, but Ladybug got out of the way.

"You may be stronger than me," she shouted, "but you aren't fast enough!"

"Wise words, little bug," Heavy Metal replied. "But they won't do you any good!"

And he started to chase her down the street, making Ladybug wonder where Paris's other defender, Chat Noir, could be. Maybe he didn't know Heavy Metal was in town yet? But the giant man sure was making a lot of noise; there were people in shops and side cafes who were screaming and taking cover. It just wasn't like Cat Noir to be late for a fight.

As Ladybug dodged to the side as Heavy Metal aimed another punch at her, she decided that she'd just have to defend Paris all by herself - if she could.

Getting an idea, she leaped up onto a building so that she was above Heavy Metal. He looked around stupidly, trying to find her, until she yelled, "Hey, big guy! Over here!"

Heavy Metal turned and growled when he saw Ladybug. Taking advantage of his turned head, she jumped down and landed on his face - he yelled and tried to rip her off, but her grasp was too tight. She soon had swung herself around so that she was hanging off of his neck.

Now what? She thought desperately, doubting that her slim fingers could strangle the giant man. She looked around for the place where the akuma could be hidden, and noticed the gleaming earring that the man wore. That must be it, she decided, but before she could reach for it she was knocked off Heavy Metal's back.

As she lay on the ground, dazed, and the akumanized villain stood over her, she thought of how Chat Noir could be helping her, then pushed that out of her mind. She'd think it through over later, there was only one thing left to do - use her special power.

"Lucky charm!" she yelled, and spun her lasso in the air, causing the air to sparkle and something to drop down into her hands. It was a wrench.

"A wrench?" she murmured. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Just then, Heavy Metal tried to land another blow, but she managed to get away, although he did catch her ankle - she felt it twist and held back a scream. She just couldn't focus on that now, however; there were things to do.

And then her Ladybug vision allowed her to see it - the fire hydrant on the end of the street… if she could just pry it open with the wrench, and drench Heavy Metal in water, she doubted that he would like that…

Half-limping, Ladybug ran down the street towards the fire hydrant, and the giant man chased after her, but she reached it in time. Attaching the wrench to the screw at the top, she twisted… twisted… she could hear Heavy Metal come up behind her… and then BOOM, the hydrant exploded, encasing the street in water and - most importantly - drenching Heavy Metal in water as Ladybug used the last of her energy to leap to the side.

He bellowed but got a mouthful of water; was knocked off his feet and was soon flailing in a puddle. Ladybug quietly approached him and removed his earring, which she trapped inside the end of her lasso. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma," she murmured, then watched the little white butterfly fly away. "Bye-bye."

At that moment, her ankle seared with pain, so she made her escape - back towards her parents' bakery, where she had been heading to in the first place.

And all along, wondering where Chat Noir had been.