"You've reached the voicemail of Gabriel Agreste's office. Please leave a message."
"Hi father, it's me. It's Parent's Career Day at school, remember? I was hoping that you were gonna show up. Call me back." Adrien sighed, leaning against the wall outside of his classroom,
Plagg popped out of Adrien's bag, looking concerned for his friend, "You okay?" He asked.
Adrien shrugged it off, petting his Kwami's head, "Yeah, whatever. Nothing new." When he walked back in he saw Marin taking out croissants from delivery boxes, placing them all on a tray as his father spoke to the class. Marin looked at him for a moment, two making eye contact for a moment before Adrien looked away sadly.
" My day begins at 4 a.m. every morning because the bakery opens at 7. You think that the life of a baker is pretty routine, making the same pastries, rolls, cakes... but actually, it's different every day. One day someone might order a cake in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, and another day you might be catering for a rock star's alligator." Tom joked as a few giggles erupted from the class. He then placed a hand on Marin's shoulder who walked around the room passing out the pastries starting off with Sabrina. "Marin will come around and pass out some croissants baked fresh this morning."
"Thank you, Mr. Dupain. Now, let's meet Alya's mom, who is head chef at the Grand Paris hotel, owned by our mayor, Mr. Bourgeois." The teacher said as Alya's mother walked towards the front of the class.
Marin saw Chloé opening a small round box, revealing a golden bracelet.
Sabrina's eyes lit up. "It's beautiful!" she remarked about to pick it up, but Chloé slapped her friend's hand away.
"Look, don't touch!"
"Sorry!" Sabrina looked downtrodden for a moment until Marin placed a croissant and a napkin before her. "Thank you."
Chloé smiled smugly, noticing Marin standing next to her. "I wonder how many croissants your dad would have to sell to buy you one of these? What am I saying? He'd have to sell the whole store!" she cackled as Marin placed a croissant and a napkin before her.
Marin rolled his eyes. "If I had the money to buy that I'd go with a silver, then it wouldn't clash with your outfit."
Chloé grumbled under his breath. "Ugh, jealous." Before putting away her jewelry into her purse.
As Marin passed out the delicious smelling criossants most eyes were on him, not on the small black Kwami popping out of Adrien's bag.
Plagg's eyes lit up as he saw the round box that Chloé placed into his bag. "Is that Camembert?" He asked, flying under the floor into her bag. He quickly opened it, but was disappointed, seeing that it wasn't his favorite treat. "Huh? Oh, that's not Camembert... But it is very shiny. I like shiny!" He overhead applause as he took the bracelet out of the box. He played around with it for a little while, trying to balance it on his head, but a problem arose as the bracelet got stuck on his head. Trying to escape, he accidentally knocked over the bag, causing Marin to trip over a fallen box and have the now empty tray hit his face.
Marin winced in pain as Chloé laughed, "Geez, is there a day when you're not tripping over something?" earning a glare from half the class as Alya helped her friend up.
Miss Bustier announced the next guest. "Next on the list is Sabrina's father, a policeman. Officer Roger!"
Sabrina stood next to her father as he looked proud to talk about his career. "I've been a police officer for 15 years, and I firmly believe that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty."
Suddenly, his speech was interrupted by a shrill scream as Chloé had an empty box in her hand. "My bracelet! It's gone! I had it a second ago!" She then glared at Marin who was near the front placing the tray away into a box. "You! You stole it!"
Marin turned towards her in confusion. "What?"
"You purposedly tripped on my bag so you could steal my bracelet! You're a policeman! Arrest her!" Chloé demanded as Sabrina's father looked started by the sudden demands.
Tom immediately stood in front of his son. "My son is not a thief!"
Chloé looked hurt, glancing at her father, "You're calling me a liar?! Daddy!"
"Roger, I demand you to search that boy!" The Mayor demanded as Chloé smiled victoriously.
Miss Bustier tried to quell the situation, "Please, everybody, let's all just calm down-"
A sharp whistle drew everyone's attention as Roger blew his whistle. "Hold on a minute, Miss Bourgeois, we don't accuse without proof! Now, everyone, calm down, please. Maybe you simply misplaced your bracelet.
Mr. Bourgeois glared at him as Chloé hugged her father, looking distressed but probably was just a facade to garner some sympathy. "Need I remind you that as mayor of this city, I am your superior!"
Roger tried to reason with his boss, "But sir, it's against the law to search anyone without probable cause! I can't just go-"
"All right. Then you're no longer a police officer!" Mr. Bourgeois suddenly said as Roger was stunned.
"Mister Mayor, you can't be serious! Over a missing bracelet?"
But Mr. Bourgeois only doubled down, "This is my daughter's bracelet we're talking about! You've refused to obey direct orders from a superior thusly, you're fired! Get out!"
Roger looked downtrodden as Sabrina tried to follow him out, only stopping as she heard her best friend speak up once more.
"Good! Let's call Ladybug! I'm sure he'll actually do something!"Chloé cackled.
Then all the attention was on Marin who could feel all the tension on his shoulders.
"Now I demand to turn over your bag to be searched!" The mayor demanded, but Marin's father once more stood in between his son and the person threatening him.
"Don't even think about getting near my son or his bag!"
Mr. Bourgeois glared at the baker, "Do you know who I am?"
The two had a standoff as Miss Bustier pushed herself between them, "Please, gentlemen! This is a school here! Think of the children! Surely the bracelet is around here someplace."
"It probably just rolled out of her bag or something," Marin said as Alya stood beside him.
"If I were her bracelet, I'd try and get as far away as possible from that crazy brat too." Causing Marin to chuckle, but his laughter faded as he saw Sabrin standing next to the door looking sad. He walked over to her as the class started talking.
"Nino's been filming everything this whole time! We can see what really happened!" Alya recommended as now all attention was on Nino, who looked around nervously.
"You alright?" Marin asked as he stood next to Sabrina, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. She looked conflicted between what to do as Chloé was her best friend, but she loved her father dearly.
"Well, there you have it! Sabrina was holding Chloé's bracelet!" Someone called out and now everyone looked at Sabrina.
"I...I didn't-" She started to say but Marin placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Sabrina didn't take the bracelet, why would she? Chloé's her best friend after all." He pointed out. "There's no way she'd do anything to harm her friend. Also, Chloé put it directly back into her bag after showing it to her, so there's no way she'd have been able to take it." He pointed out as Sabrina looked up at him gratefully, a little tension off of her shoulders.
Chloé glared at him, "If you're so quick to defend her why don't we take a look in your bag?!" She demanded, unintentionally hitting Nathaniel's sketchbook, where a few pages slipped out. One revealing a drawing of the bracelet, causing Chloé to gasp as her animosity now had a new target. "You?!"
Nathaniel looked up fearfully as Chloé bared her fangs. "I just sketched the bracelet from your Instagram feed!" he insisted. While across the room Mr. Bourgeois stood before Nino. "Give me the tape! I'll have it analyzed by professionals!"
Nino shielded his device away. "No way dude, that's my phone!"
" Who do you think you're dealing with? I am the mayor of this city! Where's the school principal? I want to see the principal!" He ranted pushed Sabrina and Marin out of the way to lodge a complaint.
Meanwhile, Adrien felt something at his feet, he was shocked as he saw Plagg rolling around with Chloé's bracelet stuck on his head. Acting quickly, he grabbed his Kwami and passed by Marin who noticed him leaving with something in his hands.
"I won't bother you with the story. It's a long, boring-" Plagg tried to brush off the severity of the problem but he couldn't escape Adrien's anger as they stood in the locker room.
"Oh yes, you will explain it, and fast! You realize we have a big problem, don't you?!"
"If by big you are referring to my rock-hard abs? Well, thanks for noticing!" Plagg remarked, touching his soft stomach with his little Kwami hands.
Adrien heard some loud footsteps, he peaked towards the main hall where he saw a giant blue robot talking to Mylene's father who was sweeping. They talked for a moment, seemingly trying to remove the robot from the campus. But was shot and was now running laps with a red and blue light on his hands. "Now we have a bigger problem! Plagg, cla-"
"No can do!" Plagg immediately interrupted.
Adrien looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean I can't transform?!"
" If you transform, the bracelet will get absorbed with me and damage your powers!"
Adrien glanced at his partner, then groaned in frustration. "Ahhhh...I wonder if Ladybug has problems like this with his Kwami."
"I thought it was a Camembert box! Anyone can make a mistake!" Plagg reasoned, but Adrien quickly retorted his claim.
"You're always thinking with your stomach!"
Back in class, Chloé was only growing angrier, " As far as I'm concerned all of your are suspects!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I didn't swipe the bracelet!" Nathaniel retorted.
Marin sighed, as Chloé spoke on. "Someone in this room definitely took it, if you have nothing to hide then empty out your bags!" She demanded to hold out her hand, to which Nathaniel recoiled from, taking a step back. Marin felt sympathy for his classmate, knowing that Nathaniel kept a ton of loose paper drawing in his bag. If Chloé had her way, all of them would be revealed to the class.
"Hey, no one's searching his bag, unless you want a piece of me!" Alix suddenly said as she stood between Nathaniel and Chloé, who now glared at the smaller girl furiously.
"Fine." Marin suddenly said, "If you'll stop this witch hunt, I'll empty out my bag." He said as Chloé sneered at him victoriously. But then it was Nathaniel's turned to glance at Marin in worry, as he knew his taller friend was in the same boat. As Marin too had a bag of loose sketches that weren't properly kept away and would be completely exposed if shown.
But then, Tom placed his hand on Marin's shoulder just as his son held his bag. "Marin, let the adults handle this."
"But Papa, she's calling everyone a thief."
"Yes, but you shouldn't have to give up your privacy just because someone is being unreasonable."
"What about Adrien? His desk is right next to Chloé's." Max pointed out.
"Then we haven't seen him since!" Kim brought up as Marin suddenly became nervous for his absent classmate. He did see Adrien duck out of the class with all the commotion holding something in his hands, not to mention he looked sad earlier. What if he felt guilty because he was about to something bad towards his childhood friend?
But Marin spoked up again, "It can't be Adrien, he's one of Chloé's friends as well, he has no motive to steal."
"Yeah!" Nino chimed in, defending his best friend as then everyone started talking over each other.
Wait a second, motive...
Marin thought to himself. What if stealing it wasn't the motive. What if someone took the bracelet to hide it from Chloé? But that didn't make any sense. Why would someone want to hide the bracelet from Chloé? Unless there was something he didn't see in the video. Adrien was a kind person, but was he the kind of person to hide something from a friend to protect their feelings? But what could have happened to the bracelet when it had fallen to make Adrien take it? Maybe a jewel falling out?
But then everyone stopped talking as the door was ripped from its hinges, and a giant blue robot with a person inside stepped out.
"Where is the mayor?"He demanded in a robotic tone.
"Dad?!" Sabrina called out, her face ridden with worry.
Marin just stared at the thing as he felt something in his gut that told him to get out of the room.
"Hello, may I help you?" The teacher asked as Marin sprinted out and towards the principal's office. Tikki floated beside him as he ran.
"That was a whole mess." She commented as Marin agreed.
"Yup, maybe it didn't help that Adrien ducked out right in the middle of all that." He commented as then he hid behind a pillar. "First things first. Tikki, Spots on!" He transformed quickly and ran into the principal's office.
"Mr. Principal, I demand that you find who stole my daughter's bracelet ASAP! Or your job is on the line, sir-" Ladybug overheard as he stepped in. The mayor and principal glanced at him in shock.
"Mister mayor you're in danger-" Ladybug quickly said as he stepped forward.
"Just a moment Ladybug." Mr. Bourgeois interrupted as he turned back towards the principal. "I'm warning you! If you don't find my daughter's bracelet by this evening, I'll cut off all your city funds for the school. Understood?"
Ladybug slammed his hand on his forehead, he then grabbed the mayor's arm having to drag him out as he was still complaining, just as the robot entered the room.
"Didn't anyone teach you to knock before entering?" Mr. Bourgeois asked angrily, swatting away Ladybug's grip on him.
"Justice doesn't need an invitation. Mayor, you're under arrest for abuse of power but order of Rogercop." The villain said pointed his lasers towards the mayor.
Mr. Bourgeois gasped as Ladybug acted quickly, using his yo-yo to wrap his arms and direct the lasers elsewhere. Giving the mayor and principal a chance to escape as Rogercop's attention was now on the superhero.
"Ladybug. Paris has a new righter of wrong. Your services are no longer required." Rogercop stated, trying to shoot him, but Ladybug avoided his lasers by jumping over him, using his yo-yo to try and lock his arms above his head. But to no avail, as this giant robot man probably weighed over a ton and Ladybug clocked in at around 100 pounds. He grabbed his yo-yo back and tried to put some distance between him and the villain. He only narrowly avoided the lasers as Chloé then walked up to him, undeterred by the situation at hand.
"Mr. Rogercop, I need your help." She clearly stated as Rogercop walked to the first floor, seeing that the Mayor was escaping. "Hey! Come back!"
Ladybug spotted him trying to pursue his target. He removed his scarf, wrapping it around his wrist with a plan in mind. Then lept off the second floor, trying to land on his shoulder. But was foiled as Rogercop quickly turned around, grabbing him by his waist with one hand.
"You are disturbing justice, Ladybug, You are going to pay for this." He said as he tightened his grip, essentially almost crushing him if Rogercop didn't hear another voice.
"Dad!" He turned to see Sabrina standing nearby with a pleading expression. This seeming to trigger something in Rogercop as he loosened his grip, allowing Ladybug to breathe some.
Rogercop then snapped back to focus as he glared at Ladybug. "Justice must prevail in the streets of Paris!" He remarked, throwing him with great force.
Back in the locker room. Adrien slapped his forehead as he realized a more simple solution to his conundrum. He took off his ring, making Plagg disappear for a moment as the ring dropped to the ground. Just as he was about to put it back on, something slammed into the locker, denting them as the person fell to the ground. Adrien turned in shock to see Ladybug attempting to stand but was clearly in pain as he held his side.
"Hey- are you okay?!" Adrien immediately asked as he helped the superhero to his feet. Ladybug let out a slow breath, gritting his teeth as he bit down on his hand.
"Fine." He said, resting his back against the lockers for a moment. His eyes widened at Adrien for a moment as he saw what was in his hands. "Chloé's looking for that you know." He remarked as Adrien's face ran red with embarrassment.
"I know... I just-" He tried to think of an excuse but Ladybug shook his head, still using the locker as a crutch as he held his side.
"It's fine. You don't have to explain anything, but you should probably give it back soon." He remarked as he took another deep breath.
"I'll make sure it gets back," Adrien promised, "Do you need any help?"
Ladybug let out a chuckle, "Can't put civilians in the way of danger, but if you see Chat Noir, let him know this new Villain has a solid grip." He advised, walking out of the locker room.
Adrien watched for a moment as Ladybug broke out in a run, but wasn't as fast as he normally was. He immediately placed his ring back on, revealing Plagg before him who looked annoyed.
"That wasn't very nice!" The Kwami remarked.
"Sorry Plagg, but we have a partner to help out. Plagg, claws out!"
Chloé stood before Rogercop as he was trying to blast Ladybug now shielding himself with his yo-yo, but stopped for a moment as he recoiled in pain. "Mr. Rogercop! I've got a serious problem! Worse than a bad hair day!"
Rogercop stopped shooting as Chat Noir jumped down shielding his friend with his staff, turning towards the small girl. "Come with me and we'll talk about it."
Chloé nodded eagerly. "Okay!"
"Chloé, no!" Cat Noir called out as he helped Ladybug to his feet. Immedietly, Ladybug threw his yo-yo onto it as it got caught on the spoiler both of them able to jump on just as it became airborne. Ladybug quickly tied his scarf around it so both could have a better grip, just in time as the car started to spin. When it stopped, they both attempted to stand on top, but a sharp right turn almost sent Chat Noir to his demise if it weren't for Ladybug saving him with his yo-yo. As he was pulling his partner to safety he heard a door opening up, overhearing.
"I just know that Chinese boy is the one who stole my bracelet. He shoulder be arrested! Hello? Are you listening to me?"
Just as Chat Noir was safely on the car they stood before Rogercop pointing his lasers at them.
"Did I ever thank you for the lift?" Chat Noir asked as both of them split up to attack. But neither of their attacks did much damage as the man was an absolute tank. Unmoving even as he signaled the car to perform barrel rolls. The two heroes had to run against the spinning, unable to do much else as otherwise, they would fall.
"Where'd you get those shoes? I could use a pair like that!" Chat Noir asked as he noticed Rogercop was stuck in place. But suddenly he moved, slamming against Ladybug who was sent flying to the ground. He tried to throw his yo-yo towards Chat Noir to catch. But just as his partner was about to catch the device Rogercop grabbed him, now only able to watch as his partner was about to fall to his demise.
"NOOOO! Ladybug!" His entire body filled with adrenaline, every part of his body telling him to jump after him, but he couldn't as Rogercop had him trapped. He glared at Rogercop who tried to take off his ring. But Cat Noir skilly threw his baton to his feet and stuck it inside the exhaust pipe using his legs, triggering a small explosion that made Rogercop lose his grip on Cat Noir, who then fell towards the city, trying to catch his baton.
Mid-air he reached out, but suddenly closed his eyes as he wouldn't make it in time. All of a sudden he felt a collision next thing he knew he was in LAdybug's arms as they tumbled onto the road, bumping into a wall. Chat Noir quickly stood up as he saw Ladybug wince at the impact, probably still feeling his earlier wounds. "That guys should arrest himself for animal brutality." He remarked, using himself as a crutch for Ladybug, holding his arm over his shoulder as he held his partner's waist.
"There's only one place Rogercop would go." Ladybug said, breathing in and out slowly to try and work through the pain.
Mr. Bourgeois spoke across the emergency broadcast channel, with a somber expression, "Paris has a new superpower. His name is Rogercop. I hereby relinquish all authority to Rogercop. All citizens are ordered to answer to him."
He was then replaced by Rogercop who was staring at the screen. "Ladybug and Cat Noir are now outlaws. They must be hunted out and taken into custody immediately."
"So now, we're the nation's most-wanted felons?" Chat Noir remarked, laying Ladybug down with his back to one of the roofs overlooking city hall. Night was falling and the Hall was swarming with cops. "What do you think, should we take this to court?"
"Not while Rogercop's the Chief of Justice." Ladybug remarked holding his side.
Cat Noir sat next to him, sighing. "How many times have we saved Paris again? They all turned on us pretty easily."
Ladybug turned his head noticing Chat Noir's ears flatten slightly. "We're still saving Paris." He remarked holding his yo-yo, trying to stand on his own as his partner glanced at him in concern.
"Are you sure you're up for a trademark Ladybug plan?" He asked. "Rogercop isn't exactly in our weight class."
Ladybug nodded, "Which is why we're going to use that advantage against him." He remarked holding out his hand to help his partner up. "And relying on our bravest one to handle the reinforcements." He remarked with a sly smile, confusing his friend.
Cat Noir lept down to the middle of the police brigade which was under the overlook in Mayor's hall. Where Rogercop stood with his two hostages, out of the corner of his eye he saw Ladybug circling around back. He danced for a few moments, garnering attention.
"I don't think he believes I'm the braver one. What do you all think?" Chat Noir asked openly, but the only response he got was every officer trying to attack him.
Meanwhile, in the main hall, Ladybug snuck into the room, which luckily he could do better without his scarf lingering behind him. He peaked over a table, seeing that Rogercop was preoccupied with Chat Noir's distraction. Just as he was about to sneak up upon him again, he froze as he heard a voice.
"Go, Ladybug, go!"
Not even turning around towards Chloé, who had just given away his position and made his job at least ten times harder. He made a break for a nearby table, using it as cover as Rogercop began shooting at him. Almost immediately he threw up his yo-yo. "Lucky Charm!" and received a single oven mitt.
"Ladybug, it is time for justice to prevail," Rogercop remarked as he walked towards him, his footsteps banging on the ground. Ladybug looked around the room once more seeing a belt in the side closet and a yellow oven mitt on a snack tray nearby. Even if he was handicapped, he raced across the room gathering these items as Rogercop received interference from Chat Noir breaking through the window. His partner ducked for cover right behind the same table that Ladybug was sitting behind.
"What's that?" He questioned, looking at the items that Ladybug collected.
"Incomplete." Ladybug responded as the room didn't have the item he was looking for. "I need some kind of ring to brace the buckle against..."
Chat Noir reached for the bracelet that was attached to his belt. He was going to try and sneak this back into Chloé's purse, but this seemed a good a time as any. "Something like this?" He asked holding it up.
Ladybug's eyes widened for a moment, realizing that Adrien probably passed the bracelet along. "Perfect." He completed his contraption as both of them turned towards Rogercop standing before them.
"Ready when you are, my Lady." Chat Noir remarked as he saw his partner nod, then kept to the ground as he slid on the floor, "Cataclysm!" He yelled out, using his Cataclysm to destroy the floor beneath Rogercop, who easily fell through due to his weight. But not before shooting Cat Noir, attaching him to the ladder. His attention was so focused on him that he didn't notice Ladybug jump towards him, preventing him from shooting again, and then tightening the belt so his hands were bound. He struggled, but to no avail as Ladybug took his whistle, breaking it under his foot.
"No more mischief from you little Akuma. Time to purify!"He 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 tossed his lucky charm into the air, returning everything back to normal. He no longer felt any pain within his torso, as Chat Noir walked up to him the two pounding their fists together.
They both recoiled as their miraculous's began to beep. "I'd stick around, but then you'd see me without my mask and... you wouldn't be able to resist me." Chat Noir remarked flirtatiously.
"I'll have to take your word for it." He remarked, picking up the bracelet that started this mess. "You go on ahead." He said as Chat Noir nodded, running out of the building. As Chloé and the Mayor were distracted Ladybug quickly placed the bracelet into Chloé's bag, handing it over to Roger who looked confused.
"I think you've underestimated Officer Roger, Mr. Mayor. You'd be wrong not to keep him on." He remarked, nodding towards Roger who seemed to get the message as Ladybug opened a window to escape.
The next day at school Adrien overheard a conversation between Marin and Sabrina. He asked her how her father was and she responded happily.
"It's Lieutenant Roger now." Mayor Bourgeois was so happy that Dad found Chloes bracelet that he gave him a promotion." She said.
"I'm glad for him, he definitely deserves it after all he had to go through," Marin remarked as he then said bye to Sabrina.
Adrien couldn't help but smile at the news but was surprised as he turned the corner and saw Marin standing there. Looking shy as always, in his hand he held a box with his family's logo on it. He placed it in Adrien's hands, surprising him a little as Marin wasn't usually this forward.
"What's this?" He asked curiously, the box smelled of something familiar, but more pleasant.
Marin rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Well, remember when I asked for that camembert earlier? I wanted to actually try out a recipe and thought you might like it. Okay-bye." He quickly said almost running to class as he tried to get away from him, the bell then rang and everyone went to class.
Adrien eyed him in confusion for a moment as he opened the box. His eyes widened in amazement as he smelled freshly baked bread alongside his Kwami's favorite cheese. It was cut into a hedgehog roll, with various flavorful herbs and spices baked into it with a fondue Camembert baked inside the crevices.
But he had little time to admire it as he could feel Plagg's drool on his shoulder. "Ugh! Gross Plagg-" Adrien was about to complain but his Kwami just dove in, practically breathing the bread, rather than bothering to chew.
"Adrien!" Plagg moaned, in heaven as the Kwami was on the verge of tears. "Please become friends with Marin soon!" He demanded as he continued eating the bread, as Adrien chuckled at his gluttonous Kwami.
Notes:
- Idk if ya'll care about Sabrina having better relationships outside of Chloe but here it is. She is on good terms with Marin.
-With more chapters passing I hope to utilize more of the cast into the chapters. (Cannot wait for Kim and Max's :) )
- I also made Chloe more possessive of her bracelet because Marinette accusing her friends didn't seem in character, replacing that with Marin who tries defending his friends more.
-Utilized Rogercop's size more in combat as he's a tank, and should be seen as such. As a result, Ladybug, who has a lower defense, gets injured more easily. But has to push through because he has one job.
-Slowly conveying Chat's feeling to more romantic, it's getting there, but will probably be cemented in the upcoming few chapters. (Am I doing okay on that part so far? I need to know.)
-Also, continuity, yayyyy. Marin is more of a baker than his canon counterpart, and I'd really like to utilize that more in the story. (Also the bread he made at the end, is actually a thing)