"Hang on, 'cause we're going for a ride. Freak out! What you got here is no ordinary book, it's a tenth-grade history book. And I should know, 'cause I've got this very same book. Could our very own Ladybug be a high school student, in real life?!" Alya exclaimed in excitement
Adrien stared at the post in amazement, turning towards his Kwami sitting on the bed."That's crazy! What are the odds that we have the same textbook? Maybe we even go to the same school!"
"Why bother yourself with possibilities when you could be enjoying this? Reality." Plagg remarked tossing a piece of cheese in his mouth.
Adrien chuckled, "For one, Ladybug probably smells about a thousand times better than that cheese. And for sure he's much better-looking.
Plagg glared at him for a moment, "You smell like Camembert and I'm not one to complain." He said gorging himself on an entire wheel as Adrien simply sighed as his Kwami's antics.
" My only loss is my appetite," Adrien commented looking back at the video, wondering if Ladybug saw these vlogs as well.
Marin had his head in his hands as Tikki replayed his best friend's latest blog post. Not even lifting his head as Tikki tried to console her partner by offering him a brownie.
"This is fine."
" Can you believe it? All I gotta do is find to do who this history book belongs to and BAM, I
figure out Ladybug's true identity! I'm so on this one!" Alya exclaimed as they walked through the Louvre.
Marin glanced at her friend warily. "You really think you could figure out who Ladybug is from a textbook that every high school student owns?"
Alya nodded, "Yep. 'Cause our school is the only school that uses that book! HA! So, all I gotta do is find out which dude in tenth grade lost his history book last week. There are fifty-five guys, not counting you-"
"You're really counting me with everyone else?" Marin questioned, hesitantly. "You really think I could be Ladybug?" He half-joked, while the other half was screaming internally.
Alya giggled as she elbowed Marin in the side, " You know I can't be biased with a friend. After all there was a certain someone who didn't have their textbook in class yesterday."
Marin blushed in embarrassment, "You know how scatterbrained I can get."
Alya eyed him suspiciously for a moment, as Marin stopped walking. "What is it? Is there something in hair again?!" He asked then messed up his hair even further, reminding her of how a hamster groomed itself.
But his friend only smiled, "Only reminding myself how cute you are." She said trying to fix his hair. "Of course I'll only drop you from my investigation when you bring your history book back to class."
"Excuse me!" Someone called from behind them as they suddenly crashed together. Papers were sent flying as well as a medallion that Marin eyed. Quickly, the man zeroed in on the jewelry "It's not broken!" He exclaimed in relief.
"Uh, we're okay too, thanks for asking," Alya remarked in annoyance as Marin helped her up, then handing over the loose papers he had gathered.
"I'm sorry. Hey, you're in the same grade as Alix, right? I'm her older brother, Jalil Kubdel. So you're into Tutankhamun too?" His attention was then stolen by someone else approaching, as he walked towards Alix's, his father. "Dad!"
Alya shook her head, "And you think you're the scatterbrained one." She remarked as Marin glanced away sheepishly, "Weird. So again, why are we here? All I see are dead people and old relics."
"Well, uh…" Marin gently tapped his bag, "An acquaintance of mine told me about this, but uh, we have to find it on our own to confirm it!" He blurted out suddenly as Alya sighed.
"So you're telling me, we have to look for something, and I can't know what it is we're looking for?" She questioned.
"You'll know it when you see it!" He quickly said walking over to some old stone tablets as Alya took out her phone, looking bored. "Tikki, help me!" He harshly whispered as his Kwami popped out with crumbs on her face.
Alya only sighed again as Marin scanned the papyrus.
"Hm?" Her attention was grabbed by someone else approaching, a large person with the face of a hawk. Resembling one of the stone carvings in the exhibit. Immediately, Alya lifted her phone towards this person who reached for the staff of Tut behind the glass.
"Hey, you! No touching the exhibits!" A security guard yelled walking towards the golden being.
"Thoth, give me time!" The person said as their face warped into a jackal, trapping almost every civilian in golden bubbled that made them slow down. "Get out of here, faster!" The person said in a booming voice as the only civilians left were Marin and Alya.
"OMG. Coming to you live, Ladyblog viewers, I'm at the scene even before Ladybug or Cat Noir with my best friend! This is insane!" Alya harshly whispered as Marin simply stared at her in disbelief. Just before they noticed the golden being standing over them with a staff in his hand.
Adrien watched in shock as Alya caught Marin getting grabbed by the Pharaoh and getting tossed in a sarcophagus. While he turned his attention towards the recorder.
"No time to waste. Plagg, claws out!"
"You know that's considered stealing," Alya called out as Pharaoh stood before her. Though she was worried about her friend, knowing all too well about Marin's claustrophobia.
" Your face. Fate has placed you on my path. Come with me!" He quickly grabbed her, easily slings her over his shoulder like a sack and then walking towards the locked gate where someone was already waiting.
"Hey! Hands off the threads. I can walk myself!" She yelled, struggling against her captor. \
"Sekhmet, give me your strength! (His face changes once more, this time into a cat as used his strength to bend the bars,
"Sorry, but this town isn't big enough for two kitties," Chat Noir remarked cooly just as he tried to attack the Pharaoh, but instead he was caught, being held like a kitten just before he was tossed into the coffin.
Just before that happened, Marin successfully opened the lid, breathing some fresh air before he saw a cat being tossed at him.
"WAHHH-"
"OW!" Marin yelped out as the hero slammed again him, trapping them both in the coffin together this time.
"Uh, good evening?" Chat Noir greeted in complete blackness as Marin groaned in displeasure, now re stuck in the stone sarcophagus.
The Pharaoh threw Alya to the ground just outside the Louvre.
"Hey!" She complained but was ignored.
" Anubis, bring me, mummies!" His face morphed into that of a jackal as beams of light shoot from his eyes, transforming civilians into mummies. "Soon, we'll be together again, my Nefertiti! My long-lost love!"
" This is gonna be one major scoop! " Alya remarked, tapping the Pharaoh's shoulder," Uh, excuse me, Pharaoh, but, uh, what exactly is going on?"
"I'm going to carry out the secret spell, to bring Nefertiti back!"
"Ahh, hmmm. Gotcha! Lost loves and all that, very romantic."
"Indeed," The Pharaoh rumbled as the mummies began to approach," The one hundred mummies and the offering!"
"Offering?" Alya questioned, "What offering?"
"An offering to persuade the sun god Ra to give me my sweet princess, I must give him something in return. A pure soul!"
" Dude, that's hard to come by.
"But I've already found her! You look so much like her!"
Alya was stunned as the Pharaoh gestured towards the papyrus and an image of someone that did resemble her right down to her beauty mark. "This is heckin crazy!" She said as a wave of excitement washed over her, "And I have a front-row seat!"
Marin sighed, as he could feel Chat Noir trying to turn over so they were both on their sides, faced towards each other, but along the way, was scratched again by his claws. "Seriously?!"
"Cut me a break here!" He complained, "You're the one who said I shouldn't use my Cataclysm! Don't you want to save your girlfriend?!"
"Why waste it? If I could get out of here by myself, we can do it easily together. Besides, Alya can take care of herself. Also, she is not my girlfriend."
"If you say so, she seems like a brave gal." Chat noir remarked as they both pushed against the lid.
"If by brave, you mean bossy, feisty, and stubborn as all heck? Yup, that's her!" Marin heaving the last of his strength only to get blinded by the ceiling, as he gasped for breath.
Cat Noir jumped out first, helping out his classmate as Marin fell to his knees.
"If I know her, then Alya's got a live stream on her blog."
"Of course!" Chat Noir remarked, "You got a phone?" But Marin shook his head.
"Mine broke a while ago." That comment made Chat Noir flatten his ears, remembering that he had a hand in that whole ordeal.
"Well, you'd better hide, as soon as Ladybug comes, we'll save everyone for sure." He said, then noticed the unintentional scratches he left on Marin's clothes. "Sorry about that by the way."
"Don't worry about it." Marin said standing up.
Chat Noir only nodded as he ran through the hole left by Pharaoh as soon as he was out of sight Tikki flew up.
"Well, that was too close for comfort." She remarked and Marin simply nodded.
"It's gonna take both of us to take this guy out. But first-" He said eyeing Alya's backpack.
Chat Noir reached the front as he fell into a trap, easily caught by the mummies and brought to the Pharaoh.
"Hey! This is animal abuse!" He retorted as the Pharaoh lifted his head up, he radiated anger at the sight of the hero.
"Chat Noir, if you're here…" He turned towards his horde of mummies, " Bring forth the offering!"
"Hey hey now, let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Chat Noir said, almost
"Whoa, back up! Who's that goddess chick with the black spots! There, on your papyrus!" She called out as Pharaoh grew angry.
"My sworn enemy! My nemesis may have kept me from carrying out my ritual 5000 years ago, but she will not stop Nefertiti from coming back to me this time!"
"Did you say... Ladybug 5000 years ago?! And Goddess?" She glanced at him in confusion.
"Oh, sacred Ra, God of the sun, I Pharaoh, offer to thee a pure soul! The sacrifice for the return of Nefertiti!" The Louvre pyramid light up, and as the Pharaoh spoke, a beam into the sky that started spreading darkness all over Paris."I bow to you, and present this gift with my mummies! In company, we pray to you the safe return of princess Nefertiti! Awaken, Nefertiti! Awaken! Awaken, Nefertiti! Awaken!" The mummies chanted alongside
"Chat Noir, you may have opposed me thousands of years ago. But now you'll serve to be Ladybug's undoing. Where the pet runs, the master will follow." Pharaoh remarked smugly as Chat Noir stared at him.
"Listen bud, you've been out of the loop so let me explain. I am not a pet, and Ladybug and I are a team." He explained but was irked as Pharaoh turned his back towards him. Clearly unimpressed at the hero that was captured.
On the roof nearby Ladybug looked over the situation; Alya about to be sacrificed to the sun, Chat Noir captured but still able to fight, an of mummies, and an all-powerful God with a pantheon at his disposal. Using his yo-yo he was able to zoom in towards Pharaoh, eyeing a familiar pendant around that was hanging around his neck.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug said. And from it dropped a box. One holding a Ladybug costume, complete with earings and yo-yo. He suddenly got an idea.
Chat Noir used his claws to cut through the bandages, just about to set himself free when he heard Alya call out.
"Ladybug!"
Seeing Ladybug save Alya from the light, and sliding down towards the entrance of the Louvre. He dropped the girl to her feet, as she ran behind a few trash cans, still recording for her blog.
"What are you doing? Get out of here!" Chat Noir called out.
"Not until Ladybug destroys the pendant containing the Akuma, and turns everything back to normal!" Alya argued back as Chat Noir sighed in exasperation.
"Ladybug! I've waited over 5000 years to exact my revenge."
But Ladybug narrowed his eyes, seemingly taking off his earrings in response.
"What are you doing?!" Chat Noir called in a panic, but his unease was replaced with confusion as Ladybug smirked, throwing up the miraculous. Pharaoh immediately reacted, both of them sprinting towards the magic items, but Ladybug was much more agile. He jumped on Pharaoh's shoulders, flipping off and using the momentum to throw something towards Chat Noir's way.
"A toy?!" Pharaoh observed as he looked more closely at what he believed were the miraculous.
Chat Noir broke free activating his power just before catching the pendant. With the Akuma flying around the Pharaoh reverted back to his normal form.
"What happened?" Jalil questioned as everyone else turned back into normal people, looking confused as he had a pair of earrings in his hand.
"May I?" Ladybug asked, kneeling down for a moment, "Maybe try not to incite powerful magic spells next time." He recommended as Jalil nodded in embarrassment, handing them over quickly.
"No more mischief from you little Akuma. Time to purify!" Ladybug said as he swung his yo-yo towards the possessed Akuma, capturing it in one motion.
Then opening it once more, watching the newly purified Akuma fly away. "Bye-bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!"
Ladybug sighed, placing his hand on his racing heart, glad for a moment of quiet-
"Thank you for saving us Ladybug! But, uh, I still gotta ask: how old are you, really? Why did you have a tenth-grade textbook? Are you actually a goddess because, no offense because you look like a dude, but then again your name is Ladybug so-"
"Miss, he's already gone." Chat Noir informed as Alya looked around.
"Dang It!" She crossed her arms in annoyance then sighed in exasperation.
"Yup, I know the feeling. Love watchin' him work but hate to see him leave." Chat Noir commented, resting his head on his baton.
Alya grinned at the mischievously, holding up her phone."In a sec, it looks like you'll be in the opposite situation if you stick around." as she said that Chat Noir's ring beeped, notifying him that he was about to transform back soon.
Cat Noir immediately ran in the other direction, using his baton to lift him on the rooftops out of sight as Alya laughed.
"What happened to you?" Alya questioned as Marin handed back her bag.
"Well, after I got out of the coffin, I hid." Marin said bluntly as Alya giggled.
"That's my boy." Ayla said guiding him out of the exhibit, but she stopped for a moment, checking her bag. "Hey, the book!"
"What's wrong?" Marin asked.
"The history book, it was in my bag. Now it's gone…" She pulled out a post-it note with a ladybug drawn on, as well as a note that read. [Thanks for finding this for me]
Immediately Marin covered his ears as Alya squealed. "I got Ladybug's autograph!" She jumped up and down a few times before wrapping her arms around Marins' neck, hugging him tightly. "If it hadn't been for you I'd never have gotten this, found out that Ladybug is at least 5000 years old, on top of being saved-"
"Wait, hold on a second," Marin backtracked for a moment, still in mid hug. "5000 years old?"
"Yeah, can you believe it? Apparently that Pharaoh dude knew their past lives or something, he even has an illustration in the exhibit. I'm totally coming back tomorrow to blog about this, and then" Alys gripped her fist in determination. "I'll get the ultimate scoop, a live interview!"
Marin could only smile at his friend's determination, though internally he was cringing at anyone paying that much attention to him. Even if she was his best friend.
"I still don't get it though, what was he doing with that tenth-grade history textbook?" She asked pulling away with a questioning look.
" Uh, he... probably had to find out what's been going on for the past 50 centuries, or something…"
"That can't be it, when Hawkmoth popped up, they did too. Oh," Her eyes lit up, "He's probably been hanging around for centuries, taking on different identities."
Marin was dressed in his pajamas, a simple black tank top with pink spotted white pants with a book in his hand that showed the papyrus from the exhibit. Tikki sat on his shoulder munching on the last brownie.
"I don't get it. I know I'm not 5000 years old, so... who exactly was that Ladybug in the papyrus?"
Tikki smiled in melancholy."She was the ladybug of that age, one of the great Ladybug's that I served. Kwamis like me and superheroes like you have always existed!"
"So...that was you in the papyrus?" Marin asked turning towards his Kwami.
"What do you think?"
Marin narrowed his eyes "You don't look 5000 years old, you're a little too cute for that."
Tikki giggled, "Well, I'm not! I'm older than that! I'm the kwami who's watched over every single Ladybug since the very beginning!"
"You must have known much less klutzy Ladybugs than me, right?" Marin asked, stretching out on his bed as Tikki hovered over him.
"Every Ladybug is different, Marin."
Marin's eyes grew lidded, "That's what I thought." He said as he recognized the tone. The - different meaning worse- tone.
But Tikki saw the expression on his face, "Marin, you are different. But different as in surprising, unpredictable and endearing. You're a fast learner, you're efficient in purifying Akuma's. But more importantly," Tikki hovered closer to his face, " No Ladybug before has made me treats that taste this good." She said happily, finishing off her brownie.
Marin chuckled, "Really?
Tikki nodded, "Of course." Resting on Marin's hand as he kissed her a goodnight kiss on her forehead. Then the small Kwami laid down on his chest, as her partner pulled up the blanket.
"Good night sugarcube."
"Good night Marin. Also, you're the only male Ladybug I've been partnered with."
"Wait- what?!"
Notes:
- It may grow more apparent, but I am a fan of the Marichat.
- Marin is usually dragged along with Alya but ultimately, would throw down for his best friend.
- If Chat Noir's getting dunked on alot in these a first few chapters, it will be quelled, eventually. This is a slow burn story.
- Adrien just wants to be friends with Ladybug real bad, but his partner is too good at his job.