"W-what are you?" Amira stared at the small red creature floating in front of her.
"I am Tikki, the kwami of creation." Its voice sounded motherly, gentle, and kind.
"I must have hit my head during the mob rush." It was the only explanation for the sudden appearance of the small creature in front of her. She hit her head and this was just a dream. She was probably in a coma in the hospital. Yeah, that had to be it, this couldn't be real.
"This is no dream, I was sent out to find a new holder for the Ladybug Miraculous." Tikki explained, "The Butterfly Miraculous is being used in the wrong hands and is creating akumas out of negative emotions."
"So that was a akuma?" She hadn't seen an akuma in person before, all she knew came from stories or old news articles. She had heard about her father's experiences, he used it as lessons, to never let emotions drown you or be manipulated by others. She thought it had been the baseless fear and panic of the older generation, a familiar sight of a supervillain in Paris, but Mother May I was a real akuma. She could cause real harm, real danger, real chaos.
"Yes, a servant of the new butterfly holder." Tikki floated closer to her, touching her shoulder with her paw (hand? limb? It was so small that Amira couldn't tell what exactly it was) in a calming motion.
"Why me? Why can't the Miraculous Squad handle the akumas?"
"The Ladybug is the only one who can properly purify the akuma. If the akumitized object destroyed but the akuma is not purified or destroyed by another miraculous ability, it could lead to disastrous events, cataclysmic effects."
This wasn't like her parents' stories, this was real life, and her sister was in trouble.
"What do I need to do?"
"You must catch and purify the enchanted butterfly connected to the akumatized object, it usually comes in the form of something close to the akuma. You will have a main ability known as Lucky Charm. This will call forth an object that can help you succeed in tough situations. It is up to you as to how you use it. But it will start a timer, you will have five minutes until you detransform." Amira nodded along with Tikki's explanation, placing the earrings into her lobes.
"You will also have another ability: the Miraculous Cure. This power will fix damage caused in battle. You must throw the charm in the air and say the words, 'Miraculous' followed by your name."
"How do I transform?"
"You must say the words: Tikki, Spots On."
Amira couldn't stop herself from laughing, "I'm sorry, really?" It sounded like a catchphrase from a children's tv show or an lighthearted anime.
Tikki cracked a small smile, "The language has changed over the centuries, but that is the modern version. To change back, say 'Spots Off."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, you are to keep your identity a secret unless it's an emergency." Her tone turned serious, "No one can know, not even your friends or family can know. The more people that know, the more danger you'll be in, especially since the butterfly preys on emotionally vulnerable people."
"Got it, classic superheroing 101: don't reveal my secret identity to anyone." She adjusted the earrings using her phone's camera. She was taken back by the red and black spotted studs transforming into small silver orbs.
"Okay…" Amira stood up from her crouching position, she took a deep breath, and said the magic words. "Tikki, Spots On!"
She felt a surge of warmth and light overwhelm her, a tingling sensation ran up and down her body. It was like electricity, static prickling her clothes and her skin.
Amira now wore a red domino mask with large black parts. Her outfit consisted of a black top with a single red spot on her chest, her sleeves were also black though with her lower torso and upper legs, it was the opposite. They were scarlet red tights with black dots. She wore black knee high boots, Amira sighed in relief as they were flats. She did not want to run around in pumps, especially heeled boots. She felt something on her back, some kind of black half cape, slitted to look like ladybug wings.
She gasped as she saw her reflection in a fun house mirror. Amira didn't look like herself. Her eyes were no longer amber anymore, instead they were pure white. No irises or pupils were visible in the eyes below the mask. Her hair now had red highlights, her ponytail had unwounded to her shoulders, showing off bright red highlights. The final touch came in the form of a small yoyo attached to her hip.
"Really? I couldn't have gotten a sword or something a bit more lethal?" She swung it around awkwardly, nearly hitting herself in the face with it.
"Let's focus on the task at hand, find Nessa, stop the akuma, purify the butterfly, and avoid getting killed." She stared out into the festival grounds.
That should be easy enough…right?
"I-I don't think this is a good idea, Nessa." Kumiko whispered to Nessa from their hiding spot. "We need to leave."
The two girls were watching the fight from some upturned chairs, Nessa holding the MM plush in her hands.
Mother May I was now attempting to squish the copies of Miss Mischief with her giant mace. Honeycomb had tried to grapple her and to use her Venom on her, but she had been thrown into the stage, knocked out. Wyvern had stepped into Mother May's I game of whack-a-mouse, now dueling the akuma with his sword. Carnivore Reign was nowhere in sight, but Nessa thought she saw a pair of yellow eyes from behind the stage.
"We can't leave! This is an akuma, the first in a billion years! We finally get a chance to be real heroes!"
"That mace looks real." Kumiko fearfully eyed the weapon Mother May I was wielding.
"Lightning Dragon!" With the command, Wyvern transformed into a visible bolt of lighting. Sparks flew off of him like a metal lightning rod. The girls sprinted as the sparks danced wildly and nearly hit them. Mother May I braced for the shocks, hissing as the lightning piercing through her clothing.
"We need to go! We can't stay here!" Kumiko tried to pull Nessa but she didn't move, she couldn't move.
"No, we're not leaving!" Nessa wasn't afraid, Nessa wasn't scared. Heroes didn't fear anything, they were afraid of nothing. Except she was afraid, she was afraid of the lightning, the flashing lights, the searing heat, the cracking as it impacted the ground. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. Nessa was a scared little kid who got in over her head.
The lightning soon stopped and the akuma was looking bruised and battered while Wyvern returned to his normal physical form.
"P-please please I just want my daughter." Mother May I choked out, even though she had become more resistant than the average human, that didn't mean she couldn't feel pain.
"Good job, I'll finish her off." Carnivore appeared behind his teammate, he wore a victorious grin on his face. The tiger holder rushed forward, his hand formed into a punch.
"Clout."
The earth shook as Carnivore Reign's fist impacted with the akuma's body, causing a shock wave that affected the surrounding area. The ground cracked as if torn by an earthquake, Chairs went flying into the sky, festival debris were swept up like a tornado. The akuma was also blown back, her mace disappearing a cloud of sparkles.
One booth was going to crash straight into the targets of Nessa and Kumiko.
The two girls screamed as they tried to run for cover, but it was much too big for them to run away from in time. They reached for each other, holding onto one another one last time.
Whip!
"Hold on, girls!"
The girls could no longer feel the ground they were once on, instead they were flying through the air being held by a scarlet and black masked hero.
"W-who are you?" Nessa looked up at their masked savior in awe and amazement.
"I'm-oh no." The introduction was cut off as they went crashing into a game booth and landed in a pile of stuffed prizes.
"I definitely need to work on my landings." She groaned, thankfully that her new powers came with some invulnerability. She turned to Nessa and Kumiko with concern, "Nessa? Kumiko? Are you two alright?"
Kumiko nodded while Nessa continued to stare at her
"How do you know our names? Are you psychic? Do you have mind reading powers?" Nessa asked out of curiosity.
She froze, it only took her a few seconds into this costume to almost reveal her identity, "I saw a girl, Amira, looking for both of you, along with some guy named Oliver?" She was really bad at lying, thank goodness for quantum masking.
"Kumiko!" Oliver rushed over to the crash site, "Are you alright? What about you, Nessa? Are either of you hurt?"
"No, we're fine."
"We were saved by a superhero, she-" Nessa turned to the superhero, but she was gone. "Where did she go?"
When Amira arrived back on the battle scene, it looked worse than before.
Oh, and the Miraculous Squad was staring at her. The city's favorite protectors were looking at her.
"Uh, hi." She waved awkwardly at them.
Mother May I looked confused as well until a neon purple mask glowed on her face for a few seconds. "Yes, yes! I understand…I'll get it." She cradled her head as if it was being drilled from the inside, an annoyed expression on her face, then she straightened her posture and turned towards the new arrival, "Give me your miraculous, Ladybug. It is better off in my master's hands than yours."
"Yeah, no." She sighed, realizing that might not have been the smartest answer based on the woman's snarls, "Look, I'll help you find your daughter, just hand over the akumatized object and I will reunite you with your daughter."
"Why should I trust you? No one here has been able to find her! She's lost forever! And it's all their fault!" Out of her purse, a large metal war hammer emerged from the small bag.
Oh, that was big, way too big.
She ducked out of the way of a swing, barely avoiding the spiked hammer.
"Fine, I guess we're playing hard mode." Amira looked at her yoyo, remembering Tikki's words, "I might as well try it…Lucky Charm!"
From her yoyo, a blast of light appeared and the special item that dropped in her hands was…A child's fishing rod.
It was thin, small, and had a flimsy line of string attached to a dull hook. The string was near invisible, yet she could feel the thread.
"How is this supposed to be helpful!?" Amira yelped out as she avoided blow after blow from Mother May I. She was too young to have her remains strung across the carnival grounds. Amira sprinted faster than she had in her life. She felt as if she had unlimited energy, but she knew she couldn't run forever. She needed to do something, anything. She looked at the fishing rod and an idea popped into her head.
She rushed past a booth and hid behind it, the akuma ran past her. The slow, incessant beeping from her earrings made her hurry to tie the hooked end of the rod and run to the other booth, hiding the rod out of sight.
"Hey! You want my miraculous?!" She shouted as loud as she could, getting Mother May I's attention, "Come and get it!"
She lunged at her, her face covered in cracks, showing only blackness on the inside, noticing the near invisible thread she was about to cross.
"Hope you like to swim." Amira tightened up the string, causing the akuma to go flying into the duck pond game booth. As she flew, Amira snatched the dark purple purse from her.
"Please let this work." She ripped the purse, a black butterfly fluttered out of the ruined object.
She chuckled, "This little thing caused all this trouble?" Tikki wasn't kidding about the butterfly part. Then she realized she had no idea how to purify it.
Amira pulled out her yoyo, while keeping her eye on the butterfly, then noticed a thin line along the front. She traced her hand along the surface and it opened to reveal a bright white void within.
She swung the yoyo around, capturing the butterfly and closing behind it. "Time to purify!"
After a few seconds, it reopened to reveal a pure white butterfly, "Fly safe, little guy."
Mother May I vanished to reveal a confused and panicked woman, looking around at all the destruction she caused: the destroyed booths, unconscious security guards, and the frightened civilians
"Right, I also have to clean up." She snatched the fishing rod, the thread was still in one piece, and threw it into the air.
"Miraculous A-" Amira stopped herself, she couldn't use her real name, Tikki advised her against revealing her secret identity. She couldn't use Ladybug, that already belonged to another girl, another holder. She wasn't going to take someone else's name for herself, she needed to be her own hero, her own ladybug. She smiled as she thought of the perfect name.
"Miraculous Miss Chance!" It was good enough. The fishing rod transformed into swarms of ladybugs. As they flew throughout the area, booths were rebuilt, injuries healed, and order was restored.
"W-what happened? Where am I? Who are you?"
"I'm-
"Mama!" A little black haired girl rushed to her side, "I'm sorry, mama!" The little girl was crying, wailing into her mother's shirt, "I ran off, I got lost, I couldn't find you, and-and-" She began crying again.
"Amelia." Maria held her close, her own tears spilling out of her own face. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Ladybug!" Amira turned to see a bunch of reporters and a news crew headed in her direction as well as the Miraculous Squad trying to get past them.
She wanted to stay, but the beeping from her earrings made her choice for her.
"As much as I would love to stay, I've got to bug out." She gave a quick smile for the cameras and used her yoyo to fly off.
The Miraculous Squad could only watch as the black and red girl swung off.
"Who the hell was that?" Honeycomb hissed under her breath.
"That was Ladybug." Wyvern stared in awe, a legend had come back to life.
"No, not Ladybug." Carnivore was less than impressed and stared at the retreating form of the miraculous holder. "This is someone new, someone different."
"So…who's going to tell the boss?" Mischief raised her hand, "Not it!"
Immediately the others raised their hand and Carnivore Reign was a few seconds too late.
"Fine, but let's deal with the sharks first." He gestured to the reporters now changing their target to the four of them.
"Good evening Paris, I'm Aurore Beauréal, reporter for TVi." The blonde haired woman smiled at the camera. "Just a few hours ago, the people of Paris experienced the first akuma in almost two decades. The victim's identity is nondisclosed at this time and will remain concealed to the public, but we have interviewed her and though she does not recall the events during the akuma attack, she does recall a voice in her mind. Is Hawkmoth truly back? Or is someone else taking on the mask?"
"With our greatest fears emerging, we also have confirmation that our miraculous heroine is back in Paris." Her smile brightened as an amateur taken photo of Miss Chance was shown on screen. "Eyewitnesses report a young woman in red and black on the scene going by the name Miss Chance. There were no casualties and none injured, witnesses can confirm the familiar sight of ladybugs in the area of the akuma attack.
"When questioned, the current heroes, the Miraculous Squad, there was no affiliation with them and the Ladybug vigilante. The mayor has ordered a press conference regarding the latest that is scheduled to take place in a few days. This reporter as well as my colleague, Miss Mireille Caquet will be broadcasting live with an update during the conference. Until then, I'm Aurore Beauréal and I just want to say, Welcome Miss Chanc-"
The TV was paused by an enraged Lila who glared at the photo of the spotted heroine.
"Out of all the days, all the years, she had to come back now!?" Lila nearly threw the remote at the TV, instead she slammed it on the couch.
15 years of planning behind the scenes, 15 years of rising her way up the ladder of success, 15 years of controlling the masses with her puppets.
And it was about to go downhill if anyone started to question her.
Not only that the spotted heroine made fools out of the Miraculous Squad. Lila had berated them for an hour for letting her fly away, but really she was mad at herself. She may have most of the miraculous in her pocket, but she should've been aware that the missing miraculous would resurface eventually. Lila wasn't going to make that mistake twice.
Right now, she had a press conference to manage and a pest to squash.