I decided to go on with this story. I'm still not entirely sure where this could go since it was 'just an idea', but I have got a few ideas. Unfortunately I can't incorporate them all into this story so I decided to make a second story like this but that won't be published until at least the second season comes out. Enjoy this new chapter. :)
The park was mostly deserted after the akuma cleared through it, so finding a hiding place wasn't so hard. Alya stayed behind the tree as she glanced around one more time to make sure no one was watching her. Satisfied, the girl opened the bag she had recently started wearing everywhere, "Okay, Tikki. We're clear."
The red and black spotted kwami flew out of the bag and floated in front of Alya's face. "Marinette sounded really worried about Manon." Tikki glanced back over to the merry-go-round.
"She's scared. They both are." Alya noticed Tikki's frown and shrunk back a little. Alya swore to try her best as Ladybug but she knew Tikki still missed the first one. Sometimes it made things difficult between them and while Alya was keen on trying to better her relationship with the little god, she knew now wasn't the time. "Let's go get her outta there." Alya ignored Tikki's forlorn nod and spoke the words given to her barely a week ago when she was trapped behind that car. "Spots on!"
Once the flash of pink died down, the newly formed Ladybug ran straight over to Marinette and Manon. "Need some help?" She grinned at them both as they turned to her.
Marinette stood up and faced her with urgency, "Ladybug! Can you get her out!?"
Ladybug took the yoyo from her waist. "Let's find out. Stand back Manon."
The little girl blinked, "How did you know my name?"
Ladybug stopped swinging the yoyo in shock at her slip up. 'Come on, girl. Secret identity. Get with it.' The heroine hadn't noticed that when she ceased her movements, gravity took over the yoyo and sent it straight to her head. "Ow! Uh... Alya told me, when she sent me over here." She rubbed the sore spot and fought back the blush. Clearing her throat, she started swinging again and motioned for the girls to stand back. With a powerful throw, she hit the ice with all she had.
Only for it to bounce off harmlessly and come soaring back at her. Not looking forward to getting her noggin hit with a yoyo again, Ladybug quickly dodged and recoiled the projectile.
"Okay, that didn't work." She muttered. She wanted to get Manon out of the ice but she knew she had to go after the akuma. She would only waste time here and cleansing the akuma was the only sure-fire way to get her out of there. "Ah! I can't bust through this and I have to go after the akuma. You call the fire brigade, they should be able to break through this thing or something." It wasn't the best idea, but she needed to give them something.
Marinette nodded and pulled out her phone. Just before Ladybug zipped away in search of the akuma, there was a burst of cold air from just outside the park gates, followed by a screaming black figure sailing through the sky. The girls all watched him go. With a sigh, Ladybug took off after him, not noticing Marinette's sad smile.
Seeing Chat Noir fly through the air like that reminded her of how they first met.
"Marinette?" Marinette turned to Manon who was looking at her questioningly.
The teen remembered the phone in her hand and quickly dialled. "Don't you worry, little Angel. You'll be out soon."
Chat Noir was incredibly grateful for his suit at that moment. He knew that without it, that fall would've snapped bones.
"And here I thought cats always landed on their feet." The teasing voice of a Ladybug entered his ears. But it wasn't the voice he wanted to hear. Looking over he saw what confirmed his fears. It was the first time he'd seen this Ladybug since the Stoneheart incident and he'd held a hope, however small, that she was just a one time thing. That the first Ladybug would be returning. But looking up at her now, he felt that hope crushed like his bones would have been without his super-suit.
He stood slowly, "Well, we can't have everything now can we?" His voice was just as teasing as hers, but Ladybug could hear the sadness behind it. To be honest, she was a little shocked that Chat Noir would miss the first Ladybug like Tikki did. Tikki knew the girl. Spent real time with her. Chat Noir on the other hand, barely knew her for half an hour. It made Ladybug a little uncomfortable. She hoped they could work past this. They would work better together if they got along.
Chat looked over at this new Ladybug. She had darker skin, longer brown hair tipped with red like her suit and golden eyes. Her suit was also different from the first's. She had black gloves going up to just below her shoulders, the V-neck of her suit revealed more black underneath. Her legs were black and her boots were ladybug spotted like the main part of her suit. There was a black band around her waist and just below it, the fabric split to go down and behind her. Forming a sort of half-skirt. Her mask was like the firsts but it didn't have the spot in the middle, only having four.
Before either could say anything more, another voice spoke, "We should be expecting lightning storms like right now!" Stormy Weather pointed her umbrella to the sky and a loud 'crack' nearly drowned the sound of her evil chuckles. The sky darkened to black so quickly it was like the blue was swallowed by the thick clouds. A long line of purple lightning reached down, aiming straight for Chat. Ladybug just barely pushed him out of the way. When the two rolled to a stop, Chat was on top. He blinked the shock off and got up as quickly as he could.
"You've just won yourself a cat fight." he called.
"Chat, wait!" Ladybug called when he started running. She'd read enough comics to know that rushing headfirst into danger was never a good idea. Whether he heard her or not, there wasn't enough to time to stop when Stormy froze the road, causing the cat to slip to a stop. The gush of wind that came next was strong enough to lift the cars as well as both heroes of the road.
Ladybug flung out her yoyo in desperation. It was pure luck that it caught on something. A streak of black flew past her and she marvelled at the reflexes she had in the suit, having caught him so quickly. The wind stopped suddenly enough for them to crash into the ground. Ladybug was glad no one was around to see that.
The sounds of destruction got further away but Stormy was still in their sights.
"A little Chat Noir will take the wind out of her sails." Chat cracked his neck and started after the villain again.
Ladybug caught his tail again, 'Really? Did he not learn his lesson?' "Okay. Why don't we make it a new rule to not go running into danger without a plan." Ladybug wondered if his tail really was in pain when he rubbed it like that. He was the only one of them with actual animal features after all. She just got the spots. It would have been cool to get wings. 'Why didn't I get wings?'
"Well then do you have a plan?" Chat pulled her from her musings.
Ladybug looked towards the akuma, "Let's try the higher approach."
Their attempt only got them flung across several streets and buildings. Adrenalin fuelled the both of them as they dodged the numerous cars that fell from the sky. They both froze when they saw the bus coming their way. Looking at her yoyo, Ladybug decided to test something Tikki had told her about her weapon. She swung the yoyo as fast as she could and pulled Chat under with her. The now razor sharp yoyo cut through bus easily. She winced when the yoyo hit Chat's head. "Sorry." She knew how that felt.
His mock glare let her know she was forgiven, "Come on." He said, "Let's go find Stormy."
"Uh... How do we get out."
Chat answered her by sliding open the window above them and extending his stick. "Ladies first." He said with a bow.
'Gentlemanly.' Ladybug noted. She was a journalist at heart, and she wanted to understand her new superhero partner as much as she could.
"Hello viewers." The broken screen flickered to life with Stormy Weather's message. "Here's the latest forecast for the first day of summer. Looks like Mother Nature had a change in plans. Summer vacation is officially over!"
"And now we know where to find her." The two shot off.
Stormy's message was still going on when they arrived at the Kidz+ building. They only stopped when Chat noticed the cut-out of Aurore.
"The akuma's gotta be in her parasol." Ladybug deduced when looking at the similarities.
They found the room where Stormy was recording in, but were shocked to find it empty. "It's a recording!" Ladybug cursed herself. 'How did I not see that coming?'
A giggle from behind was all the warning they got before the lighting rig fell and the lights went out.
"Frosty the Snowgirl's getting away!" Ladybug tried to find her way to a light source but tripped on the broken rig. "Do I hear a damsel in distress?" Chat teased.
"Hey! I can't see alright!" She was glad for his teasing. Things weren't hopeless between them.
"Well cats can see in the dark, so allow me." Without waiting for permission he dragged her from the room. She shrieked in surprise. "No need to bug out. Just trust me." She decided she was going to have to.
Marinette was using every bit of willpower she had to remain calm. It wasn't easy. But she did it.
She'd told Manon to stay under the merry-go-round's cover when the icicles started cracking and lowering. The little girl was reluctant to leave the edge of the ice and Marinette didn't want her to be alone but she knew she was safer under there.
But when the icicles started breaking through the top of the ride, Marinette's heart went into overdrive.
"Can't you go any faster!?" She frantically asked the firemen who were trying to break a hole in the ice with axes.
"We're going as fast as we can. Don't worry miss, she'll be out in no time." The one closest to her tried to console her. It didn't work. She wouldn't be okay until Manon was safe and back in her arms.
She knelt down and pressed close to the ice to see Manon. She was huddled up in the little ladybug cart, watching her with scared eyes. "I never should've left her alone." She said to herself. But the man who'd spoken to her heard her. "I should be in there with her." She pressed her hand and forehead against the ice. The man's heart twinged at the crack in her voice. This girl clearly felt responsible for the little girl's predicament. He would've comforted her, but his whole energy was put into getting the child out of danger.
People were starting to slowly return to the park. One elderly man was standing closer than the others. He was close enough to have heard the teen's words.
'She's still selfless.' Master Fu thought. 'Too selfless.'
Ladybug welcomed the return of her vision once they were on the roof. Trusting Chat to lead her through the darkness was harder than she thought. She was happy to note that even though he was unhappy working with her, he was able to put that aside and protect her when she needed it. So while he kept the hail from hitting the both of them, Ladybug tried to return the favour by figuring out how to use her Lucky Charm and end this thing. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out how a bath towel would be useful in a situation like this.
She looked around for clues as her Lucky Vision kicked in. A large pipe, an air vent, a beam, the towel, and the large sign behind Stormy. Why couldn't these powers just tell her what to do!?
She figured that the best course of action would be for Chat to send the sign crashing down on her and scrabbled for a moment until she realised that if he did that, it would break the air vent off.
"Chat Noir. Introduce her to that sign."
While he did that, Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around the distracted akuma's foot. When Stormy went through the hole she'd created, the dots started to connect. 'Did I just pun!?' She decided Chat Noir was a bad influence and ducked under the pipe, then over the exposed air vent. The towel worked like a charm, 'Again!? Seriously!?'.
The whole thing was over in 10 seconds flat.
Alya felt a thrill in her being as the ladybugs went and fixed everything. She saved the day! Like a real hero! She'd done it before but it was still hard to believe. Ladybug was ready to go back to the park to check on Marinette and Manon. But she turned to Chat first, "Well done, partner."
Chat looked at her, "You too, partner."
Ladybug saw the hesitation and knew they needed to talk, but as soon as she opened her mouth, his Miraculous beeped out. "Chat, wait!" She said before he could leave."
"I have somewhere I need to get back to." He hesitated.
"Me too but I was just thinking... I started patrolling Paris at night a couple nights ago. In case Hawkmoth decides to strike then or anyone else needs help. You should join me." She looked at him hopefully. Her earrings broke the silence. They both really needed to go. "If you do decide to come along, I'll be at the Eifel Tower at nine." She didn't wait for a response and swung straight to the park.
When the ladybugs surrounded the ice, Marinette nearly cried with relief. The ice seemed to melt incredibly slow and she launched herself straight through the first hole she could remotely fit in. Stumbling but refusing to stop and gain her balance, Marinette practically collapsed when she reached Manon.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked.
Manon was getting a little teary eyed again but she felt much better in her babysitter's arms. "Yeah. I'm fine." She pulled back after a moment, "Can I have a lollipop?"
Marinette chuckled, "Sure. Let's go find Alya and get you one, okay?"
The five year old cheered. Marinette thanked the firemen on her way out and looked for Alya. Despite the pain she felt in her chest at the decision she made, she was immensely proud of her best friend. She knew she'd make a good Ladybug.
Wandering over to the fountain she saw the two men from earlier looking for Adrien. She hoped he was okay after the akuma attacked.
"Marinette! Manon!" The girls turned to find the third member of their party running towards them, a little out of breath. Marinette knew how exhausted she was. After her first and only transformation as Ladybug, Marinette felt incredibly sore and tired. Tikki said that while she was in the suit, the pain and exertion from battle would be minimised but once the transformation was dropped, it all came rushing back. She also said that it would get better over time but Marinette never got to test that out. She hoped it was true for her friend's sake.
"Alya!" They both cried out. Manon wriggled out of Marinette's arms and rushed to give the girl a hug.
"Where were you?" She asked.
Alya hugged her back, "I went to see if anyone else needed help. I came straight back after I noticed the ladybugs."
Manon pulled back, "You shouldn't have been gone that long. Marinette was getting worried."
Marinette rolled her eyes at the child. Manon was more worried about Alya then she was. She was just stubborn. Alya, however, didn't know that, and looked at her friend apologetically.
"I'm sorry Marinette. I didn't mean to worry you."
Marinette waved her off. "It's fine. We're all here now and we're all okay. Now let's go get that lollipop Manon." Manon cheered again, all negative thoughts forgotten. Kids could be so innocent sometimes.
"But what about the photoshoot?" Alya asked.
"Nah. I'd rather spend some time with you girls." Marinette said. Alya would have pushed further but after the little scare Marinette had with Manon, she decided to leave it.
As they made to leave, though, the photographer came up to her. "You there. I still need an extra to pose with Mr Adrien." The man caught sight of Manon before either could answer. "Wait! Who is this... Angel!?" Manon looked confused for a moment before pointing to herself with a joyous laugh.
"Told you she was an angel." Marinette said to Alya, whose only response was to roll her eyes.
Marinette told the photographer he could borrow Manon as long as she could have a few copies of the photos. He agreed enthusiastically, and Manon had the time of her life. Marinette decided to make a collage of the photos she got when the day was over. One for her, and one for Manon.
At ten past nine that night, Chat Noir landed on the top of the Eifel Tower. Higher than was available to tourists. Ladybug was waiting for him.
"You're late." She said, although there wasn't any malice to it.
"Sorry. I had a few things to take care of." His tone was apologetic. Ladybug could tell he was being honest and deduced a dislike for being late.
"No problem. Double lives can be hard." He took a seat next to her but she noted how he kept his distance.
They were silent for a moment. Neither wanting to break the fragile peace. They could get along well enough in battle but without the distraction, the air between them was thick.
But Ladybug wasn't the type of person to dance around the problem and couldn't stand the silence for very long. "Look," She felt Chat's eyes on her, "I know you want the first Ladybug back but the two of us are going to have to learn to get along." She dared a peek at him. He was stiff and refused to meet her eyes. "She gave me these earrings for a reason and while I don't know why she wanted me to have them, I intend to do her proud. I'm not a replacement, Chat. And I don't want to be seen as one. But I would like if we could just learn to get along. For Paris's sake at least."
He didn't move or say anything for a while. His silence was starting to make Ladybug fidgety. "I don't have a problem with you if that's what you think." He looked her in the eyes for the first time that night. "I actually think you're pretty cool company."
Ladybug blinked. She did not expect that. "Then why are you so upset around me?"
Chat winced. "I'm sorry if I made you think you did something wrong. But the truth is I'm the one I'm upset with."
His explanation just confused her further. "But... Why!?"
His ears drooped like an actual cat's would. "Because the first Ladybug... She isn't here because of me." Ladybug's eyebrows furrowed, but she didn't dare interrupt. "The first time we met she was so unsure and scared. She was afraid of screwing up. When she introduced herself to me she called herself clumsy. Always looking like she was ready to be scolded and I... I didn't do anything." Ladybug watched as he curled in on himself. She wanted to reach out and comfort him but was afraid of how he'd react. "I knew she was scared but I didn't do anything to help her. I was just so caught up in the excitement of being a hero, I didn't stop to see how she was coping. If I had then I would have known that she wasn't excited like I was. My kwami told me that the Black Cats have always been the Ladybugs' protectors. But I failed to protect her! I should have been there to encourage her but I wasn't! I failed her!" He realised he was getting emotional and shrunk back in on himself again. When he spoke next, his voice was quieter. "I just... I wish I could speak to her one last time. To tell her I'm sorry."
Ladybug looked out at the city. She was unsure on how to respond. 'How?' She thought. 'How can he be this attached to a girl he only knew for half an hour?' She looked over at Chat and saw how guilty he felt at a mistake he believed he caused.
'Either they really clicked or... Or he has the world's biggest heart.' Ladybug felt her admiration for him soar.
"I'd like to see her again too." Chat turned to her as she spoke. "I want to know why she gave up the earrings to me. Why she thought I would make a better Ladybug than her. If she regrets it. If she's proud of what I've done so far."
Chat could see the fear in her eyes. The fear that the first Ladybug would think she made a poor decision. That she wouldn't make a good Ladybug. That look was the same as what he saw in the first Ladybug. It wasn't as strong, but it was still there. And that hardened Chat's resolve. He'd failed the first Ladybug. He wouldn't fail this one.
Chat reached out and touched her hand. "You're doing a great job. Of course she'd be proud of you." Ladybug looked at his heart-warming smile and couldn't resist reciprocating it.
"Thanks." She knew why he said it. And that just made her even more determined to find this girl.
For Chat's sake at least.
Also if anyone wants a better idea on how Alya looks as Ladybug, I modelled her suit off Majestia. The hero Alya talks about in the Origins episode.