Hello fellow readers! Thank you for being so patient with the awkward error from last chapter, I have since fixed it and lets cross our fingers my computer doesn't try to screw up again. On a lighter note, thank you all for your wonderful reviews and words of encouragement! As a beginner in writing fanfiction, it really motivates me to write better and more often, which I think we can all agree is in everyone's interest, hehe. Alright, now that all the thank you's are out of the way, here's chapter two! Enjoy!
Chapter 2- Do Heroes Take Sick Days?
The events of previous night were starting to catch up with our young guardian. Marinette could barely hold her head up, and resorted to holding her chin in her palms, the perfect way to gaze at Adrien sitting just in front of her, so close she could almost touch his perfectly golden locks. He was gorgeous to look at, but even still, her eyelids felt like they were carrying weights which made it a constant battle just to keep them from closing. Tikki was doing her best to keep her friend awake by sending mental signals and pushing against her side, but there was only so much concealed inside a purse.
Sitting next to her, Alya took notice of her struggle and lightly elbowed her in effort to keep her awake. Marinette quietly groaned against the irritating prodding and finally gave into the temptation, allowing her eyes to flutter closed and her mind to wander. Alya rolled her eyes and turned her efforts to poking the girl's cheek. Marinette sleepily tried to fan away the irritation, but Alya was relentless. After all, Mrs. Harrison was turning around-
"Ms. Dupain-Cheng?" Marinette's eyes bolted open as she separated her hand from her face, "How are you doing this morning? Seeing as you're trying to sleep in my class, I'd say not so well." She questioned with daggers behind those kind eyes of hers. Marinette forced down an audible gulp.
"I'm fine Mrs. Harrison, really! Just a little tired is all…" She defended with her voice trailing off in a daze. Mrs. Harrison was obviously not amused, her kind smile concealing her irradiation.
"Well, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, if you're so tired, maybe you should go rest in the nurse's office." Marinette, along with the rest of the class, knew it wasn't just a suggestion. Embarrassed in front of her classmates, especially Adrien, Marinette gathered her things with haste and walked to the door. She opened it wide before stealing a glance at her crush. He gave her a reassuring smile that made her heart do somersaults. Realizing she was still staring, she mentally smacked herself awake long enough to make it outside. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she could hear Mrs. Harrison picking the lesson back up from where it stopped. It was a quiet and shameful walk to the nurse's office.
"Well, although not severe, you do have a fever, and you're awfully pale," the nurse assessed, "I think it's best if you take off the rest of the day, eat a nutritious meal, and get some sleep." Marinette nodded in agreement and picked up her shoulder bag. The nurse sighed with her hands on her hips. "Honestly, Marinette, you work yourself too hard. You need an extracurricular to join; something to distract yourself."
She would have laughed if she didn't feel so utterly exhausted. Testing out the miraculous and then trying to complete her homework proved to be a task she was not properly prepared for. Surely, protectors of miraculous didn't have school problems. What had she signed up for?
Taking the early absence note from the nurse, Marinette walked out of the office and passed a boy sitting on a bench. He was hunched over his laptop, with the screen illuminating his face in all the wrong places. He looked almost completely possessed by the machine, utterly enveloped with whatever he was looking at. Marinette pain no more attention to him as she passed through the school entrance and made her way home.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Paris, there was an old evil stirring. A masked man was back at work for the first time in many years, continuing what had been started so long ago. "So the miraculous has shown itself, it seems," he murmured as he observed the electronic screen stretching across the length of the wall. There was no doubt in his mind that what he was looking at was, in fact, the miraculous. But the photographer had obviously fumbled with the camera because it was impossible to distinguish any facial features. If he wanted the miraculous, he needed an identity.
And he knew just how to get it.
He turned away from the screen and made his way to the equally large window across the large room overlooking the hundreds of angled rooftops expanding as far as the horizon stretched. Thousands of white butterflies littered the floor, which then scattered through the air as his figure melded out from behind the shadows and into the light.
"All I need now is a vessel to carry out my resolve," he declared, holding out his palm. Without hesitation, one of the fluttering butterflies landed in his grasp and he covered it with his other gloved hand. Feeling the power surging through his being, he ushered it into the insect, transforming it into a jet black akuma. He admired his work as it crawled around his fingertips.
"Go, my pet, and search out my victim!" He bellowed, releasing the small creature. It fluttered through the window and out into the world. All he had to do now was wait and be patient- a skill he had plenty of time to perfect over the years. He would have what he wanted all in good time.
At school, the final bell rang and students filed out of the classrooms and into the hallways. Teenagers congregated in the commons to meet up and chat about the latest buzz.
Alya was at her locker organizing her book bag with both her homework and Marinette's. Normally, the pair would walk to either of their houses and hang out before the other's mother called her home for dinner. Marinette just had to leave early on the day the teachers decided to gang up on the students and assign all the homework that Alya could possibly carry in just one book bag. It was going to be one long walk to Marinette's place.
She had just closed her locker when a familiar voice was shouting across the commons.
"What did I tell you, David? I wanted my French essay by the end of the day, and what do you tell me?" accused one angry male voice.
"I-I was just-" stuttered the belittled computer wiz trying to slowly back away from the bully, who Alya now recognized as Justin, the school's slacker who just so happened to be the son of a personal trainer and gym owner. The school student body wasn't big enough to have any competitive sport teams, but Justin made sure to be the captain of all the athletic clubs. As the strongest and most athletic student in school, who would want to stand up against him? Definitely not David, the school's specialized computer genius.
David had won a few awards over the years in technology and engineering. His most prestigious accomplishment was when he built a functioning computer with just a few scrap parts he scavenged from old television sets. However, socially, his reputation wasn't as respected in comparison to Justin's because in school, brawn has always beat brains.
"You were just what, Colbert?" Justin advanced, using David's surname, "You need to pull yourself out of your stupid stories and do what I say.
"Trust me," he tried to assure him, as a chiseled arm landed around his shoulders, "I know what's best for you."
David laughed uncomfortably, letting Justin's arm slide from his tense shoulder. "Yeah, you're right. I'll start the essay tonight and have it ready in the morning." David concluded. He turned to leave but letting him have the last word definitely did not bode well with Justin.
"Actually, you just reminded me of something," Justin rattled on, "The essay has to be hand written, and lucky for you, our handwriting is just as...unique. So I'll be taking that laptop as collateral until you're done."
Justin's arm swung to seize the computer, but at the mention of his laptop, David was on high alert. He dodged Justin's grip and dashed from the commons, shouldering his backpack as he ran. Justin was left yelling after him, but decided it wasn't worth the effort, letting the computer geek make his escape.
Alya observed the whole ordeal, and sighed regretfully. Now that David was gone, she wished she had been able to stand up for him. The now silent commons began to return to its regular volume of chatter as Alya left the school building behind and began the gruesome trek to Marinette's apartment.
When David had finally run out of breath, still thinking he was being chased, he turned into an alleyway and crouched down, making himself as small as possible. He was on the verge of panic, blinking back tears that stung the back of his eyes. All he wanted was to be left alone without anyone trying to manipulate him. Why was that impossible to ask?
Fluttering high above the city was the little black akuma. Along its journey, it sensed a sudden gloomy and distasteful aura coming from below. It instinctively descended from the atmosphere to its target.
David, staring at the ground, noticed the little butterfly shadow dancing on the gravel road and looked up to admire it. But he suddenly realized that no matter where he moved, the creature was heading towards him.
Immediately cautious, David began to back away from the threatening black bug and down the alleyway until he found himself back up against a metal fence. His hands gripped through the wiring, calculating his odds of making it over the fence. He guessed it couldn't have been taller than ten feet, but then again, any type of physical activity was not one of his strongest areas.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway because the akuma was now descending for the final attack. Out of options, David released the railing and tried to swat away the black butterfly with his laptop, which was all the akuma needed to secure a hold on its victim.
It allowed itself to be absorbed into the computer, as its influence spread uncontrollably like a virus around both it and David. It happened instantaneously, leaving David unable to make any sort of effort to call for help. Like a feather in the wind, all David's terror was replaced with one thought- revenge.
"Hello, Tech Reaper," began a low voice, "My name is Hawk Moth and I'm here to give you everything you want: the recognition you deserve, freedom to do what you want without persecution, but most importantly, I can give you the revenge you crave so viciously." Without the distraction of a proper conscious, David saw no reason to reject a perfect deal.
"All I ask for," Hawk Moth continued, "is that, in return, you retrieve something that belongs to me. Do we have a deal?"
He chuckled darkly before answering with mischievous enthusiasm, "Well, how can I refuse an offer like that? I'll show them what real strength is!"
"Excellent. Bring me the miraculous and all that you desire will be yours," replied the faceless benefactor before the link went silent. The akuma absorbed into his heart and left in place of the computer genius, a villain like no one had ever seen before. A vortex of layered computer codes enveloped him, slowly unraveling to reveal his villainous form.
He wore a skintight black sleeveless tank, accompanied by baggy military styled capri pants and a pair of freshly shined combat boots. His attire was completed with a dirt-brown duster coat that, at first glance, looked harmless, but if under further inspection, one could point out the numerous colored wires that coiled from his precious computer to a pair of wide rimmed circular goggles strapped around his face. Impressed with the amount of technology at his fingertips, he strapped the laptop to the mechanics wrapped around him and strutted to the entrance of the alleyway.
With the goggles he wore, Tech Reaper could see the entire city in one glance. He saw thousands of pedestrians walking through the streets, running between errands and places to be. After a moment, he was then suddenly aware that all of the different angles had something in common; they were all looking from a high angle, and only showed public areas. He saw the magnitude of streets around town, the docks, various parks, and even the alleyway he was currently standing in. The edged of his mouth curled into a childish smirk. He pulled down the specs and searched across the street until he finally found it- a security camera glinting against the late afternoon sun.
Replacing the goggles, he made his way out of the shadows and onto the sidewalk heading back towards the high school. The savory sweetness of revenge already danced on his tongue.
Marinette was abruptly awoken from her daytime nap by a pounding at her bedroom door. Letting out an unpleasant groan, she lazily slipped her feet from under the plush comforter and drifted towards the door. Along with Tikki's help, her hand lazily grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
Faster than her half-awake mind could process, Alya slipped into her room with her shoulder bag so compact, it looked like a bomb just waiting to annihilate her brain. Her friend waltzed back and forth across the room until she finally made it to the deserted desk, where she threw down the schoolbag. The table creaked in protest, and Marinette secretly prayed it would hold against the weight.
Wasting no time, Alya skipped the introductions and 'how are you's and went straight to unpacking the bag. By the time she was finished, Marinette's desk was covered with future projects, last minute homework assignments, and even more textbook worksheets.
"Well, that basically covers everything you missed during a half day of school," Alya finished after listing out every individual homework assignment.
The formidable layout made Marinette's head spin. She wanted to go back to sleep and pretend it was all just a simple nightmare. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Settling for a chair, Marinette plopped down in the swivel chair and spun around as fast as she could, distracting herself from the monstrosity she would have to deal with eventually. Alya's hands gripped the back of the seat, causing Marinette to go flying to the floor.
"Ow.." she moaned rubbing her sore backside.
Alya stood over her friend with her hands on her hips with a displeased look. "You don't have time for playing around, Marinette. If you don't start now, you'll never finish." lectured Alya.
Of course Marinette knew she was right, which made it all the more unpleasant. As her eyes trailed along the list of things to do, she could have sworn the number of papers was multiplying by the second.
"Okay, okay, you win. I'll start now, but you have to help me, 'cause I have no idea what I'm doing..." she bartered. If she had all this work to do, she wasn't going to wallow in her suffering alone. After all, don't friends exist for situations like this?
Alya opened her mouth, probably to rebut against her, but a chime sounded from her back pocket, interrupting her. She pulled out her phone and the further she read the text message, the more her face shrunk in exhaustion.
"Looks like I can't. T.J. is being an idiot again and forgot to submit the newspaper edits for the second time this month. Now I, as the only one who would volunteer to be newspaper club president, have to go clean up his mess," she ranted on, hoisting her bag on her shoulder, "I'll go finish this up and I'll be back. It shouldn't take more than an hour."
Marinette waved a final farewell as Alya closed the door behind her. Marinette hesitantly turned her head to her less than appealing desk, debating whether she should get started or go back to bed. He was all for the latter.
"Well, it's not going to magically going to do itself. Better to just start now." Tikki encouraged appearing from her hiding spot in Marinette's purse. Marinette stood from her comfortable spot on the floor and let out an exhausted sigh as she plopped herself back down on the chair.
"If you're going to make me do this, then I'm making you help me until Alya gets back."
Half an hour passed of Marinette and Tikki searching the internet for homework help when her cell phone started ringing a familiar ringtone. It was Alya calling. Marinette picked up the device and hit the 'accept call' button. Instantly, yelling and sirens could be heard coming from the other line.
"Marinette? Are you there?" called a distressed Alya, "There's someone here who's terrorizing the school! I don't know how he's doing it but people are disappearing out of thin air! Please, Marinette, send help!" Suddenly the line went dead, whether intentionally or not.
Panic was starting to sink in as she suddenly stood from her chair causing it to fall backwards and land on its side. Not knowing what else to do, Marinette began to pace around her room, with Tikki flying right behind her.
"Marinette calm down! You know how to fix this!" Tikki encouraged, "This is why the miraculous exists, to help people like Alya; people in danger!"
Her hands ran through her scalp, trying to wrap her head around the situation. Alya, her best friend was in trouble, and from the sound of it, the police were having no luck bringing down the man responsible. But what could she possibly do that the police couldn't? They were the ones who were in charge of keeping the people out of harm's way!
Tikki rolled her eyes, reading her thoughts, "Yes, and what an excellent job they're doing at that." she remarked sarcastically. She flew from behind into Marinette's path, causing her to stutter to a halt. "Marinette," she soothed taking her face in her arms, "you, the keeper of the miraculous have a job to do, and that is keeping the people safe. Remember what I said about me being there to help you? I won't let you do this alone, so for the sake of those innocent people, calm down, and save them."
With Tikki's contagious confidence, the panic faded away like an echo as her resolve settled in. If people needed her, then what other reason did she need to protect them?
"Alright Tikki, let's do it."
That's all for now folks! Keep up the reviews, and I'd love to hear what you guys are excited to read about next! Don't forget to favorite and follow for the next chapter!
P.S. the curtain rises for a certain feline in our future! ;)