The sun was shining brightly as Mari walked outside again at the end of the schoolday, but the air was still crisp and cold. She hugged herself a little tighter and hopped down the stairs, then skipped along the road on her way home. It wasn't until she arrived and was safely up in her bedroom that her kwami, Tikki, flew out of hiding. "Is it just me, or does Félix actually care for you at least a little bit?"
Mari shrugged. "I'd certainly hope so. I mean, for you-know-why in the first place, but also . . . he doesn't have any friends. And I wanna change that. Not just because I like him, though. I don't want anyone to be alone all the time. It doesn't seem to bother him, but I've seen him look lonely before. I want to be his friend, but he doesn't seem to like me at all."
"If he didn't like you at all," Tikki pointed out, "he wouldn't have given you your phone today."
"Maybe." She sighed. "Maybe not. I'm sure everyone has at least a little good in them. And besides; he might just like the attention I give him. I've heard of that before."
"Maybe." Her kwami grinned. "Maybe not."
"But for now," she added, her voice more upbeat, "all I can do is wait, wait, wait. Maybe he'll like me for real someday."
"Way to be positive," Tikki encouraged.
Mari was about to continue, but was cut off by a sudden, loud rumble of thunder from outside. Startled, she jumped up and raced to her round window, remembering the calm weather from when she'd first arrived at home a minute ago. Now, the once-clear skies were filling with dark, orange clouds, which rumbled and occasionally flashed with purple lightning. To top all of it off, there were strange beams of purple and green fire shooting up into the sky from all across the city.
"An akuma's been released!" Mari jumped in alarm. "Hawk Moth's here!"
"We've gotta transform before someone gets hurt!" Tikki urged, and her hostess agreed.
"Tikki, transform me!" She flicked a hand over her small black earrings, which abruptly began shining with a brilliant pinkish-red light. And in just those moments, magical material spread all across her, coating her momentarily with a bright red suit with black spots on the top half, accompanied by long red ribbons tied to her two black pigtails. Lastly, a ruby-colored mask materilaized around her eyes, hiding her true identity.
"Let's go!" She leapt through her window and soared out into the dark exterior, freezing wind blowing her bangs from her face. She landed easily on the hard pavement, then jumped up again and was only racing along the road for a few seconds before leaping up to the roof of a building again. Up there, she could get a better view of things and therefore spot the akumatized victim faster.
Not finding anything after a quick patrol throughout a section of the city, she stopped on a random roof and frowned, scanning the darkness warily. Where was the supervillain?
A soft, barely audible thump behind her startled her, making her spin around in a ready fighting stance, but there turned out to be no need to defend herself. It wasn't a supervillain facing her, no matter how much he looked like it, with his black suit, unnaturally green cat eyes, and cool expression. He stared intently back at her, and eventually smiled faintly. "Hello, Ladybug."
She inwardly calmed herself, then drew herself up and boldly returned his steady gaze.
"Hello, Chat Noir."