It wasn't like pigeons could swim. If they miraculously could, well then, Ladybug was screwed because that meant nowhere in Paris was safe. She found it hard to navigate through the streets of Paris with pigeons flooding the general area. She had given herself a macaroon so she could power-up and become Aqua Ladybug.
With all the commotion going on, she was sure that Chat Noir would have been here. Better that, before her. He seemed to always have a lot of free time. So, his absence surprised her. But, it wasn't the first time he was absent. She had to remain mindful. Superheroes weren't perfect. They couldn't wait on Paris hand and foot. Yet, they relied on them so much. Was the pressure getting to her at this point? She had school, designs, friends, etc to focus on as well.
Realizing how overwhelmed she was, Ladybug took a deep breath. She reminded herself about how she wasn't alone anymore. She didn't have to lie to Luka anymore. Knowing that she had told him her secret made her feel at ease. She assured herself that everything was going to be alright. Then cleared her mind.
Aqua Ladybug opened her yo-yo to the phone feature and dialed Chat Noir's baton phone.
"Hey, M'Lady, if this is you, I'm running a little late. But don't you worry, your knight in shining armor will arrive!"
Goddammit! Voicemail! She really needed him and she couldn't afford to waste any more time. A superhero took any necessary means to save the day. Her Miraculous cure would make sure everything was back to normal. She was going to risk everything to ensure Paris' safety.
From the news, the start of this madness was at the pool where Adrien was filming his commercial ad. Her heart dropped at the thought of Adrien in danger. Determination filled her. She threw her yo-yo across Paris once more. With her agility, she avoided pigeons left and right and managed to get into the pool with other pigeons slamming right into the door when she closed it behind her. She looked across the pool to see Adrien slide into one of the doors that led to a changing room.
He was trying his best to get away, but to Ladybug's horror, he was turned into a pigeon.
"Adrien!" she cried out. The ladybug themed superhero swung her yo-yo out to avoid pigeons coming near her. To herself she says, "Not the time to be taken advantage of!" Ladybug reached behind herself to grab the handle of one of the changing rooms. She again managed to slip inside and slammed the door shut. Once again, she was safe, but the cost? Adrien was turned into one of those pigeons.
Ladybug opened her bug phone. She had to reach out to Chat Noir once more. Her back was against the door with the rampaging pigeons on her back. The door was pushing into her back.
"Chat Noir! I need your help!" She didn't even notice a black creature phasing through the wall. The only thing she heard was the black cat kwami's voice.
"You'll be on your own for this one, Ladybug. Chat Noir's is a pigeon!" Plagg's voice was frantic and full of worry.
There was only thing she could do. She threw he yo-yo up and called her lucky charm out. Her lucky charm turned out to be a hand-held drill. She gasped softly as the drill fell onto her waiting hands.
Plagg had asked what it was, but ended up answering his own question. "You won't be able to escape through such a small hole," he commented.
She knew Plagg was right, but that wasn't going to stop her. She closed her eyes in an effort to concentrate. Her mind visualized the kwami in front of her, her bug phone, an item in the pool, Luka, and the lucky charm in her hands. A light bulb had appeared above her head and she determined a solution. "Who said anything about escaping from here?" A smile crossed the hero's face as she told Plagg what to do.
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
Luke could only imagine what Marinette was going through when it came to be the guardian of the Miraculous. Taking on such a huge role was a major responsibility. Though, he was able to understand her through the gentle music notes that radiated from her heart. He could feel those feelings pulsing through him. Every time she was frustrated, her melody would get louder and fling itself into madness. When she was angry, the melody grew louder and louder until it burst and there was just nothing left. To hear her giggle and be genuinely happy was the melody in her heart he just adored the most. That melody rang through his head on repeat.
There was no one else quite like Marinette.
The guitarist picked up one of the pages with notes. Seeing these notes was nothing like he had ever seen before. Math? That subject came easy to him because it had a pattern as music did. But this? While it was translated to a language he understood, it still didn't make sense. And now he understood greatly how Marinette was just frustrated.
He admired her determination, but once in a while, he needed to remind the bluenette to take a break. Self-care was important.
Luka picked up the pages of the spellbook. To himself, he thought, "What if its' not a potion mix?" As he tried to delve deeper, he was interrupted by the sound of something or something bonking themselves into the windows. He looked up to see pigeons flapping their wings, trying to get to him.
Fluff, the rabbit kwami who was floating near him placed her little arms up in shock. "This isn't normal! It's a catastrophe!"
He pulled his phone out to watch the news. Nadja was behind a car with an earpiece in one of her ears and a mic in her right hand. "Mr. Pigeon is back and he's turning people into-" Right before the poor news reporter could finish her sentence, she was turned into a pigeon herself.
Luka wasn't surprised anymore. The first time there were these akumas, he was downright surprised, but seeing this all the time, it became a norm for him. His phone rang gently. He looked to see it was Marinette and answered the phone. Err... Ladybug. He placed his phone against his ear. "Ladybug?"
She answered with, "I'm stuck at the pool." her voice was urgent.
"I'm on my way!"
"No! It's too dangerous to go out there! Chat Noir has been turned into a pigeon already!"
"What should I do then?"
"Ladybug and Chat Noir must bring me, Mr. Pigeon."
"It's the fox miraculous that has the power of illusions, right? Do you want me to bring the miraculous to the one who holds it?"
There was a long pause. "I can't have you do that. There isn't much time. You have to be the one who uses the Fox Miraculous."
"Are you sure I can do it?"
"I trusted you with the snake miraculous, Luka. You can do anything."
Luka nodded to himself. He ended the call and made his way to Marinette's secret box. He input the code and with care, grabbed the fox miraculous. The blue-haired guitarist placed it around his neck. He brought his attention to Trixx. "What's the transformation call, Trixx?"
"All you have to say is Trixx, let's pounce!"
"Trixx, let's pounce!" the fox kwami was pulled into the necklace, starting the transformation. He put both of his hands out, manifesting the flute that the fox-themed hero was always equipped with. He brought it up to his lips where an orange and white skin-tight suit appeared on his body. It wasn't at all similar to Rena Rouge's. While the white chest stomach area remained the same, the rest of the suit was orange. His fingertips with splattered with black as well as his feet. The tale he had was full, but no white tip. He waved his arm up from his chin where an orange mask and orangish-blackish fox ears appeared just atop his head. His eyes and hair changed colors so his identity was kept a secret. Eyes had turned a golden yellow while his hair had turned white with yellow tinges at the tips. He ended with a transformation pose and got into action.
Now transformed, he took the flute out from his side, activating the special power. He placed the flute up to his lips, playing the melody associated with the power, and called out, "Mirage!" He slammed the flute down on the floor.
Atop another rooftop was the mirage of Ladybug and Chat Noir. They took off towards the pool.
With Luka who remained transformed, he quickly got the hang of his powers and reached out to Ladybug with the flute. He smiled gently. "Your illusions are on their way."
"Thank you, uhm..."
"Reynard," he replied. "Call me Reynard."
"Well, thank you." she winked at him.
Now, it was time for Reynard to shine. He made a point that he could see through the eyes of the illusions. Even better, speak through them to make it more believable. He focused on the vision he saw through their eyes.
Through the illusions' eyes, he saw Chat Noir land on the rooftops. Chat Noir was the one who often did puns. So, to start off, he had the illusion say, "In your position, wouldn't it be better to turn them into kittens? Everyone loves kittens."
Illusion Ladybug placed her elbow on illusion Chat Noir's shoulder. "Or ladybirds," she added. "After all, they bring good luck."
From where Ladybug kept herself, she had a proud smile on her face. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Well done," she muttered softly.
"Ladybirds are delicious!" Mr. Pigeon announced. "They'd be a protein snack for my darling pigeons!"
"Want that, you'd have to catch them," illusion Ladybug replied.
Reynard had the illusions run off with Mr. Pigeon to follow.
Ladybug still kept her back against the door where the pigeons were still trying to get in. She reminded Reynard about the illusions. "If the pigeons touch the illusions, they'll disappear!"
"They're coming."
The spotted superheroine looked up at Plagg. She gave the black cat kwami a determined smile. "It's your turn, Plagg!"
He looked a little sad for a moment as he said, "I hate water and pigeons and Chat Noir can't do it for me." but he knew what was at stake and did what he was told. He phased through the door and phased through the pool.
Reynard's illusions burst in and ran from the pigeons with Mr. Pigeon in tow.
Mr. Pigeon laughed manically. "Jewelry isn't allowed." He outstretched his arms.
With the illusions' backs against the wall, the pigeons only drew closer.
"Do it now!"
The fox-themed superhero nodded. He took a more sad turn as Ladybug had intended. Through illusion Chat Noir, he had the illusion say, "We have no choice, M'Lady."
Both illusions placed their hands at their sides. Their heads lowered in defeat. Both of them took of their miraculous, showing two random civilians who still had their heads lowered in defeat.
Mr. Pigeon looked satisfied but screamed in frustration when the supposed illusions threw their miraculous into the pool. "Pigeons can't swim. But I can!" The villain dove into the water from where he stood which was on his pigeons. His eyes widened when he saw a black blob come at him and easily take his bird call. He had already entered the pool. His breath held as he saw the thrown miraculous at the bottom of the pool.
The miraculous disappeared.
This surprised him.
And the illusions of Ladybug and Chat Noir disappeared as well.
He swam to the surface and pointed to his bird call. "No!"
The villain's pigeons went after Plagg who easily escaped them.
Ladybug was at work, creating a hole in the door for kwami to have the bird call slide through. It was almost immediate as Plagg had phased through the wall. As well as bringing the bird call through with him. A pigeon had tried to go through, but it was stuck.
Plagg held the bird call close to him. Proudly, he said, "Here's the bird call you requested."
She was given the bird call. Then dropped it. And stepped on it, releasing the akuma. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma." she opened her yo-yo, preparing it for purification. She spun it in front of herself a few times before capturing the akuma. "Gotcha!" she held her yo-yo for a few moments before releasing it as well as waving goodbye. "Bye, bye little butterfly."
Ladybug picked up the lucky charm and threw it up into the air, freeing Mr. Pigeon and the damage done to Paris. She held her closed fist to Plagg and he bumped on his small arms to her fist. "Thank you so much for helping, Plagg."
"Any time, Ladybug."
She watched the little kwami go. A few moments later, she left the stall. She went to the no longer akumatized Mr. Ramier's side. She helped him stand up.
"Oh, no." His voice was filled with sadness. I became a victim of Shadowmoth again, didn't I?"
"As much as I'd like to tell you it was the last one, that would be untruthful of me to say." She held her arm as a sign of guilt. "I can't stop it."
"Don't say that, Ladybug." Reynard had hopped in.
"Reynard?" she looked from the man to the superhero.
He held a spellbook page in one hand, showing a drawing of an ancient Ladybug. "Never forget that you're Ladybug-"
"Was it in the grimoire?"
"There wasn't anything. This isn't based on rules and solutions. It's about the guardians' findings about the miraculous."
Ladybug placed a hand underneath her chin thoughtfully. A lightbulb appeared above her head as she finally understood. "With my creative power..." It meant she had to create. And she was Ladybug after all. Her suit began to transform itself. This awakening made her hair longer and her suit appeared differently.
She held out her yo-yo and pressed the top. Ladybug pulled out a ladybug charm in the colors of Mr. Pigeon.
Reynard's mouth dropped. Who knew such little words could have such a large impact. "What's that?"
"Uhm, it's a magical charm." She gently grabbed the one akumatized man's hand. "Mr. Ramier, keep this with you." she placed the charm in the palm of his hand and closed it gently. "It will protect you from the attacks of Shadowmoth."
He placed both of his arms over his chest and looked between the two heroes. "Shadowmoth won't be able to akumatize me ever again?" Mr. Ramier looked over to his pigeon friends. "Did you hear that, my friends? We will never be harming Paris ever again!" he skipped around the pool with joy splattered on his face.
Reynard and Ladybug held out their fists.
"Pound it!" they exclaimed together.
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
Marinette held an umbrella over Kagami and herself's head. She had apologized to the other girl for leaving her to fend for herself.
A red car stopped at Kagami's location.
"You know, Marinette, despite ignoring the clear hints about your feelings for Adrien, you're right. Adrien is perfect." she looked away from the girl with pigtails. "He's perfect for you." she smiled gently. She walked towards the car and climbed in. The car door closed. And the car drove away.
The bluenette could only watch the car drive away. In the rain, she had the umbrella right over her head. Another car stopped near her. A black one.
"Marinette?"
She shot her head up when she heard his voice. "Adrien?"
"It's raining. Do you want a ride home?"
"That would be nice, but can I talk to you out here for a moment?"
The blond got a confirmation from his driver. He got out of the car and looked up at the umbrella. "Have you kept it all this time?"
She nodded. "Do you remember how you entangled me in it? I mean loaned? It was crying, no! It was raining!" she took a deep breath in order to compose herself. "I mean... there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I've always liked you since you gave me this umbrella. You touched my heart when you stood up to Chloe. But..."
"But?"
"It's not love I feel. It's an obsession. I don't want to put you in danger for that and I value having a friendship with you." she held the umbrella out to the blond. "I know there's another girl you love. I have to accept it. This umbrella is the root of my obsession. So, I'm giving it back to you."
"Y-you wait-" when he had grabbed the umbrella from her, it closed around him. He opened it, wanting to ask Marinette more, but she was gone.
~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉
"You gave the umbrella you cherished so much back to Adrien?" Luka asked.
Marinette nodded. She had told him what she said to the blond as she was indicating she wanted to try again with Luka. Not now, but somewhere further down when she was ready. Somewhere where she wasn't obsessing over someone like a crazy person. "Thank you for helping me today, Luka. You make me feel less lonely and stressed now that you know my secret."
The guitarist smiled down at her. "I'm happy to hear that from you. Never forget who you are, Marinette. You're not alone anymore. I'll always be here for you." he held his arms out for a hug and she complied, hugging him.
A/N: Reynard is another word for male fox. I thought it sounded cool.
