Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or any character from the franchise.

Miraculous: Tales of the Nail

Chapter 1: The Nail

"Thank you for the ride, Chloé." Sabrina Raincomprix told her best friend Chloé Bourgeois as the both of them were riding the latter's limousine on their way to school.

"Today's a special occasion, Sabrina." Chloé replied. "Not only we're starting a new year, but it's the first time my Adrikins will attend school as well. We must make sure he'll sit next to me."

"Don't worry, Chloé." Sabrina reassured her friend. "If everything else fails, you can use your Dad's power to threaten Principal Damocles into seating you and Adrien together."

"Sabrina!" Chloé scolded her friend. "You know how I feel about using that influence to bring him into things he's not supposed to inter…"

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the limousine going out of control. After it stopped, the girls and the driver got off to check what was wrong and they found a popped tire and the nail that caused it. "Ridiculous!" Chloé said. "Utterly ridiculous! Whoever put that nail there should be fired." She then looked at Sabrina. "Sabrina, we're only a few blocks from school. Let's run." She later turned her attention to the driver. "You'd better have the limousine ready to pick me up after school or you will also be fired."

"Affirmative, Ms. Bourgeois." The driver replied.

As the girls ran towards school, they eventually approached a bakery owned and ran by Tom Dupain and his wife Sabine Cheng, parents of Chloé and Sabrina's classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng. One block away from the bakery, the spoiled girl and her friend accidentally bumped into an old man. During a rare moment of maturity, Chloé understood it wasn't the old man's fault she and her friend bumped into him. "Sorry, Sir." She said as she picked up his walking cane and handed it back to him.

Sabrina saw a box and picked it up as well. "Is this yours, Sir?" She asked the old man.

"Apology accepted, young lady." The old man replied as he took his stuff back. "And thank you both for your help."

"Don't mention it." Chloé said, wanting to end that incident as soon as possible.

"Goodbye, young ladies." The old man said and walked away. The girls resumed their running and eventually arrived at school. "Is he already here?" Chloé asked.

"He who?" One of her classmates asked.

"Adrien Agreste, Alix." Chloé answered. "He's joining our class today."

"A-hem." A girl Chloé and Sabrina never met before said. "I am the new student here and I'm no 'he'. My name's Alya Césaire."

"Césaire?" Chloé asked. "As in Chef Marlena Césaire, who works at Le Grand Paris Hotel?"

"Do you know my Mom?" Alya asked in confusion.

"I'm Chloé Bourgeois, daughter of Mayor Bourgeois, who owns the hotel where your mother works." Chloé replied, glad to see the surprise at Alya's face. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well." Alya replied and, for reasons she didn't know, everyone around her was surprised.

"I'm glad you're already befriending one of your new classmates, Chloé." The teacher said as she entered the classroom.

"One of?" A male student asked.

"Kim, as Chloé Bourgeois pointed out, Adrien Agreste is joining our class." The teacher said.

"Well, it's Chloé so you understand why I thought it was a lie, right, Ms. Bustier?" Kim asked.

"No, I don't." Ms. Bustier replied and then everyone's attention was turned out to the door opening. "Close call, Marinette." Ms. Bustier commented.

"Sorry, Ms. Bustier." Marinette replied.

Another student then entered. "Adrikins!" Chloé happily screamed and Ms. Bustier made the proper introductions. "Adrien, you're late but I'll let it go this time since it's your first day as a student here." The teacher said.

"Sorry, Ms. Bustier." Adrien replied.

"Great." Nino muttered. "Two new students and one of them befriended Chloé and the other one's already friends with her."

Classes went normally except for when Ms. Bustier sent a student named Ivan Bruel to the Principal's office. Some minutes later, he returned as some sort of monster called Stoneheart and everyone ran away. As Chloé and Sabrina ran outside, they saw the former's limousine waiting for her. The two girls ran inside it. "Sabrina, what're you doing?" The Mayor's daughter asked.

"Your limousine is the fastest way to escape and I forgot something at your home anyway, Chloé." Sabrina answered.

"Whatever." Chloé said and then saw Adrien leaving the school building. "Adrikins, would you like a ride with… I guess he was in too much of a hurry to notice me." She and Sabrina were then driven back to Le Grand Paris.

Back in Chloé's room, she found a tiny box she was sure wasn't there when she left earlier that day. "Is it a gift from your Dad?" Sabrina asked.

"Without a card to confirm it, I find it unlikely." Chloé answered and, reluctantly, opened the box, finding a pair of ladybug-themed earrings. She briefly wondered if somebody was trying to set a bug-themed trend but, before she had a chance to vocalize her thoughts, a ball of light came from the earrings and revealed a floating creature that resembled a ladybug but bigger.

"Greetings, Chloé." The creature said. "I am the kwami of creation and you've been chosen to wield my Miraculous."

"Was I chosen to become a superheroine?" Chloé eagerly said.

"Yes." The so-called kwami was happy that Chloé figured it out on her own. "How did you know?"

"A magical creature shows up after one of my classmates is turned into a monster and I doubt it's a coincidence." Chloé commented. "Uh, is there a problem that my friend is with me? Superheroes are supposed to keep their identities a secret from family and friends even if some American ones don't follow that rule."

"Normally there'd be but, since she was also chosen to be a Miraculous wielder and you both already know each other…" The kwami answered, somewhat reluctant about the idea. "My name's Tikki, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Tikki." Sabrina replied. "So, will Chloé and I wear one earring each?"

"Oh, no, Sabrina." Tikki calmly answered. "The earrings are one Miraculous. The one you were chosen to wield is a ring and your kwami is a cat known as Plagg, the kwami of destruction."

"Straight to the point, please." Chloé said. "How do our powers work?"

As the Mayor's daughter listened, Tikki explained about the activation and deactivation phrases, how something she called 'lucky charm' worked, and how, once it's activated, Chloé would have only five minutes before detransforming. "What about me?" Sabrina asked.

"Plagg will explain it." Tikki told Sabrina and the two girls were under the impression the kwami of creation muttered "hopefully" but neither of them made any comments.

"Superbug and Catgirl, in action!" Chloé declared. "Actually, the driver will take you home so you'll get your ring while I keep the monster busy."

"Why don't you take her home as Superbug and then the both of you fight the akuma?" Tikki suggested.

"People would ask questions, Tikki." Chloé answered and Tikki, understanding her wielder meant secret identities, didn't say anything else about that.

While Chloé's chauffeur drove Sabrina home, Superbug went to the stadium where the monster was harming people and noticed her new friend Alya filming the whole thing. 'Does she have a suicidal wish or something like that?' She wondered. "Hey!" Superbug called Alya. "Reporter girl, what do you know about the monster?"

"Are you a superhero?" Alya eagerly asked.

"Yes, and my name is Superbug." Superbug answered. "Now, about that monster…"

"He's actually a classmate of mine named Ivan Bruel but I don't know how he became… that." Alya explained.

"Well, step aside and watch a superheroine in action." Superbug told Alya and approached the monster. "Ivan Bruel."

"My name's Stoneheart." Stoneheart replied and charged towards Superbug, who noticed Stoneheart was carrying another classmate. "What're you doing with him?"

"Kim made Ms. Bustier send Ivan Bruel to Principal Damocles' office." Stoneheart said.

"What?" Superbug asked in shock. As Chloé, she remembered Ms. Bustier sending Ivan to the principal's office but didn't bother figuring out what really happened and it was a good thing since Superbug couldn't know what Stoneheart was talking about.

"He goaded me." Stoneheart said and ranted the details, which Superbug let go on to give Catgirl the time it took her to arrive. Stoneheart's rant was interrupted when Catgirl hit him with her staff. "Any clues to where the akuma is?" Catgirl asked her partner.

"Look at how he doesn't open his right hand." Superbug replied and then threw her yoyo upwards. "Lucky charm!" She shouted and a red diving suit with red polka dots materialized.

"How's that supposed to help us?" Catgirl asked.

"I've got it!" Superbug exclaimed and then whispered something to her partner and the both of them rushed towards him, jumped and covered Stoneheart's face with the diving suit. "Now, Catgirl!" Superbug shouted while holding the diving suit on Stoneheart's face.

"Cataclysm!" Catgirl shouted and then touched Stoneheart's hand with her ring, making it (the hand, not the ring) crumble, releasing a black butterfly and turning Stoneheart back into Ivan Bruel. "Time to de-evilize!" Superbug said and caught the butterfly with her yoyo. She then released a white butterfly, tossed the diving suit to the air, and shouted "Miraculous Ladybug!", which generated several ladybugs that fixed all damages caused by Stoneheart and his fight against the heroines.

"Amazing!" Alya exclaimed as she approached the duo. "May I interview you?"

Superbug didn't want to be rude to her civilian self's newest friend but she remembered the five-minute warning Tikki gave her. "Sorry but my partner and I are needed elsewhere. Bye!"

Later on, the girls and their kwamis were watching the news inside Chloé's room. "You both had a good start." Tikki commented after hearing Alya mention the "de-evilizing", as Superbug called it.

"Thank you, Tikki." Sabrina replied.

"Just for curiosity, what'd have happened had I not purified that butterfly?" Chloé asked.

Tikki was reluctant to answer but Plagg didn't think that way. "The akuma would multiply and each one would turn a human into a copy of Stoneheart and wait until the real one returned to command them."

"What!" Sabrina asked in shock. "Can Ivan be akumatized again?"

"There's no limit to the number of times a human can be akumatized, Sabrina." Tikki answered.

"But how can a person be akumatized in the first place?" Chloé asked.

"Everyone depressed over a seemingly hopeless situation can be akumatized." Tikki answered. "But don't worry. Whoever is doing it is unlikely to go after your friend again so soon."

Neither wielder felt the need to correct Tikki on Ivan being their friend. "So, any snacks?" Chloé asked. "What do kwamis eat?"

"Cookies!" Tikki answered while Plagg said "Camembert!"

"Sorry, I can't understand when you both say your answers at the same time." Chloé said.

"You go first, Sugarcube." Plagg offered.

"I prefer cookies but I can eat other foods you offer me, Chloé." Tikki replied.

"Okay." Chloé said and gave her kwami a plate with cookies.

"What about you, Plagg?" Sabrina asked. "What kind of coo…"

"Camembert!" Plagg exclaimed. "I insist."

Both Chloé and Sabrina were disgusted at Plagg's taste for food. "You didn't seem so picky when you were biting everything in my room and asking if it was edible." Sabrina commented while Chloé called a hotel employee and ordered a camembert wheel.

"Plagg!" Tikki scolded her fellow kwami.

"I was hungry." Plagg moaned.

"You're always hungry, Plagg." Tikki pointed out.

"Better this than holding it up and causing chocolate floods like when…" Plagg stopped when he noticed Tikki's glare.

"Do we even wanna know what they're talking about?" Sabrina asked Chloé.

"Probably not." Chloé answered.

End chapter