Manon
New chapter! Hope you enjoy.
I ran toward the bars and hoisted myself onto them. The routine had been planned for weeks, I ignored the crowed as I focused intently on perfecting the move. Allowing the world to just disappear into the background as I swung and twirled before jumping down landing perfectly on my feet.
The audience applause and I instinctively sought out my cousin, my boyfriend, and my best friend I could just make him out in the back giving me a thumb up in the middle of his clapping. Nathanael was smiling at me softly. Chloé herself was clapping politely, though I could tell she was slightly bored. I blushed but took a deep breath and left to stand by my team mates as I waited for my score to appear.
9, 8, 9.5, and 9. I pursed my lips. The eight may or may not have been a cause for concern. Gymnastics compitation were fiercely competitive. I looked toward my couch her face was a mask but I knew Monday morning I would be hearing it.
We came in 3rd. It wasn't first place but it did allow us to advance to the next round. I fingered the medallion that was around my neck.
"You did great."
I laughed. "According to my couch if it's less then a nine, it's disappointing" I said shaking my head.
Chloé scoffed. "Please, you did well."
Adrien shook his head. "You also have swimming and martial arts, calm down you can't be perfect all the time."
I rolled my eyes.
"He's right you know" Nathanael said putting an arm around my shoulder. "Let's go celebrate your advancement"
I smiled the four of us had agreed to go out to the movies after the competition, a pick me up if it turned out horribly, and a celebration if I did well" Needless to say this could have been considered both.
"So what movie should we see?"
"I'm up for whatever" I said with a shrug. I actually meant that too, I knew every movie that was playing and I was totally down with watching all of them.
Nathanael looked at his phone. "How about the new Marvel movie?" He asked.
Chloé twirled her hair her eyes smiling . "I wouldn't mind seeing it" She said with a soft giggle.
I rolled my eyes at Chloé's antics before answering Nathanael's question. "I'm game" I said turning to Adrien. "You?"
"What is it with paris and Superheroes lately?" Adirne mock complained before he nodded. "Yeah, I'm game" The four of us chuckled as we entered the subway.
"How's your art coming anyway" I asked Nathanael as we stood I was in the middle of the two boys my hand wrapped around the same pole that Nathanael was currently grasping.
Nathanael glanced at me a finger to his lips. "it's a secret" he said with a wink. "Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."
I shared a glance with Chloé but decided not to question it.
"Hey guys it's Alya from class" Adrien said Nathanael and I turned to where Adrien was pointing. In the next car we could see Alya who waved at the four of us shyly. Though by my angle it looked as though someone was hiding behind her, before Alya pulled Marinette out from behind her and had Marinette waving at us too. Chloé looked worried. I glanced at Chloé confused.
"You ok?" I whispered.
Before Chloé could answer. Are attention was turned to the sight in the next car over where we saw Alya transforming into Lady Wifi.
Chloé and I glanced at Adrien his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him Lady Wifi seemed to be saying something to Marinette and just as the train stopped she flicked something on her phone and left the station.
Chloé, Adrien, Nathanael and I looked at each other before getting off the train. Immediately I saw Adrien head off to transform, and I vaguely made out Chloe disappearing into the crowd, but before I could question it Nathanael cut me off.
"Your going to try and help aren't you?" Nathanael said.
I blushed though I wasn't exactly sure why. "Yeah" I admitted I pulled him to where Marinette was. I could worry about Chloe. If she needed my help she had my number. Paris was slightly more important.
"What was that all about?" I asked. Just as Adrien appeared as Cat Noir, Queen Bee right beside him looking perturbed at being in Marinette's presence.
Odd thing was Marinette looked just as perturbed.
"It was so odd, she had the voice of this little girl I baby sit"
"Manon?" I asked. "What did she want?" I asked.
"These dolls that I made for her" Marinette admitted.
I nodded. I pulled my cell from my pocket. "What's Mrs. Chamack's number?" I asked.
Marinette confused rattled the number off, before Cat Noir asked where the dolls would be. Marinette rattled off the coordinates and Queen Bee and Cat Noir ran off. Or more appropriately Cat Noir ran, Queen Bee flew. I turned away from Marinette.
"What exactly are we doing?" Nathanael asked.
"Shhh…" I said putting a finger to my lips as Mrs. Chamack picked up.
"Mrs Chamack, where are you and Manon?"
"At the station why?" Mrs Chamack said.
"Stay there, and what ever you do, do not go looking for Manon, I think she's been akumatized"
I pulled Nathanael along and we ran toward the TV station.
"You don't think Marinette made an akumatized version of me do you?" Nathanael said worriedly.
I opened my mouth to answer before realizing I honestly had no clue. "I-I don't know" I said. "Hopefully we can talk to Manon before anything bad happens,"
"and if it doesn't?" He asked me.
I sighed. "Then we find away to break the akumatization"
"We'd have to do that anyway."
"Bite me Kurtzburg" I said with a smile.
Nathanael shook his head and together we ran into the building.
Finding Manon was not that hard. A floating 5 year old girl with grey skin, purple eyes and wearing a blue dress is kind of conspicuous.
"Manon" I said softly. "What are you doing"
She turned to me and pouted "I want those dolls!"
"The one's Marinette made?" I asked softly.
Manon nodded.
"What dolls were they? Who did they look like?" I said. "Please Manon"
Manon stopped to think. "Ladybug, and, Cat Noir, and Roger Cop, and, evillustrator, oh and of course verity!"
My eyes widened in shock. "MArinette made a Verity doll?"
Manon nodded. "She's so cool!"
I resisted the urge to smack my head against the nearest hard surface.
I turned to Nathanael, who was looking quite alarmed.
I rubbed his shoulders. "It'll be fine" I told Nathanael. " Calm down"
"What's wrong with him?" Manon asked her small lip jutting out.
An idea formed in my mind "He's scared" I said softly to Manon. "He doesn't want to be Evillustrator again."
"But he'll have these cool powers!" Manon pouted. "Don't you want that?"
Nathanael and I both new the answer to that. Yes, yes he did, but on his own terms.
"I don't want to be turned against my friends" Nathanael said.
"But you'll win" Manon said with a pout.
Nathanael looked agitated. "No, I-"
"Manon" I said my eyes flashing. "What has Hawk Moth promised you?"
"That I could WIN!" Manon said throwing her hands in the air, "and that I could play with those dolls for however long I wanted."
"But Manon- " before I could finish the sentence I was interrupted by Lady Wifi entering the room, Four Dolls hidden away in her bag.
I stood in front of Manon, blocking Alya's path.
"Alya" I said with a sigh. "Please…"
"Move!" Lady Wi-Fi and Manon screamed stomping their feet like little children. "I want those Dolls"
Nathanael lifted his arms up, his hands fisted. "Not a chance"
Good news though. Manon, and by extension her 'puppets' knew next to nothing about fighting, so bringing Alya to her knees Should have been quite easy. Or would have been if Alya had been at normal strength.
Needless to say, bringing Alya down, had a certain cost. Nathanael broke his leg. I broke my arm.
Plus side. I was able to get my hands on one of the dolls. I was able to get my hands on the Cat Noir doll, and Nathanael was able to keep Evillustrator away from Manon.
Unfortunately, Verity, a doll with long purple hair wearing a white and black leotard was currently still in Lady Wi-Fi's possession.
"Shit" I hissed holding the Cat Noir doll tightly in my right hand my left hand hung limp. "Manon give me the dolls now" I said holding Nathanael trying not to think how easy it had been to snap our bones.
Manon laughed refusing to listen to us. She grabbed the dolls and we saw first hand how she pointed her wand at each of them in turn white light engulfed each of them in turn..
Lady Wi-Fi had her hands wrapped tightly around my wrist. Nathanael was on the floor unable to move. Though that didn't mean he was doing nothing he was ripping apart the Evillustrator doll making next to impossible to use.
I looked at the Cat Noir doll in my hands even as Lady Wi-Fi was dragging me towards Manon. I Put the Cat Noir doll in my mouth and ripped his head off.
Manon screamed. "No!" She said when she noticed that two of the dolls Marinette had made for her had been destroyed. "No! No! No!" She screamed just as I felt Alya being violently torn away from me. I hissed as the suddenness of Alya's movement jostled my broken arm.
Cat Noir bent down to take a look at me. I showed him the ripped up Cat Noir doll.
"You, stupid girl" He whispered kissing my forehead. "You should have let us handle this."
"At least you're not a puppet" I whispered self consciously. Just as Verity, and Roger cop entered the room.
"Queen Bee, Ladybug" Cat Noir said. "Keep these three busy, I'm going to pull these two out of here."
"I can walk Cat" I hissed. "Deal with Nathanael"
Two bolts of red and blue light hit me in the chest and red and blue cuffs appeared on my wrists.
"Damn" I whispered.
"I sentence you to get Ladybug's doll" Roger Cop said.
The cuffs pulled me to my feet, the jostling of my arms caused it to burn in pain. Cat Noir wasted no time and grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back. I cried out in pain.
"Ladybug!" Cat Noir yelled "Destroy your doll!"
Ladybug looked up her yoyo was spinning as she tried to deflect attacks from Roger cop and Verity. Lady Wi-Fi had her phone back - Verity must have created a new one for her. (I did mention that Verity's power involved making everything she said reality right?) She looked as though she had been about to respond when Verity said. "Ladybug handed her doll to Puppeteer"
Ladybug started forward against her will. "What's happening?" She asked worriedly. Each step she took hesitant and jerky.
I was really regretting having told Manon that story. "It's Verity's power, she has the power to make anything she says reality" I yelled. My arms were fighting against Cat Noir's struggle as the cuffs tried to force me to carry out Roger Cops bidding. "To stop her, you have to shut her up."
"Great" Queen Bee Muttered she flew in front of Manon and pulled the doll from Ladybug's hand. Using her knife, she slashed the doll to ribbons. She dropped the pieces of the doll to the floor. Ladybug bent down to pick up the pieces.
"NO!" Manon screamed stamping her feet. A purple butterfly appeared in front of her face. "Attack them all, I want their miraculouses."
Roger Cop continued to fire his bolts. Lady Wi-Fi flicked icon after icon but everyone's eyes were on Verity. She opened her mouth to speak. "Ladybug and Cat Noir- mmmph"
Queen Bee jumped forward and attacked Verity keeping her hand firmly on the woman's mouth and pushed her out of the room.
Wise move. Verity's only weakness was that she had to be heard. If no one was there to her hear then… Hopefully Queen Bee would be able to keep her from talking till the fight ended.
Ladybug blinked and stood. Verity's power over her having ending when Verity was no longer in the room.
"Lucky Charm!" She screeched. A power strip fell into her hands.
Cat Noir grabbed my hands and pulled them behind my back. I hissed in pain as he aggravated my broken arm.
"I'm sorry" Cat Noir whispered. "Just hold on a little longer"
Lady bug started to twirl her power strip and her yoyo eventually wrapping the power strip. She jumped behind a wall as Manon's anger at having all the other doll's pulled away from her escalated. Cat Noir pulled me and Nathanael up into the rafters to hid as Ladybug used the power strip and wrapped it around Roger Cops and Lady Wi-Fi's arms and pulled them out of the way. Just as Lady Wi-Fi started to stand and started to flick an icon on her phone but before she could finish Ladybug grabbed Lady Wi-Fi and turned her so she was aiming the phone at Manon who was standing frozen in mid air.
Everyone under Manon's control froze as well and Ladybug calmly walked to Manon took her wand and snapped it in half.
The Akuma flew away and Ladybug quickly cleansed before tossing the power strip into the air and cleansing everything. To my amusement even the destroyed dolls repaired themselves. My arm healed itself and I saw Nathanael put more weight on the limb that was broken. He immediately came to my side.
"Are you ok?" He asked me. "How's your arm?"
I kissed him. "I'm fine Nathanael
"Are you ok?" I asked Nadja; she was leaving the building her daughter asleep on her shoulder. The miraculous three had already left, Chief Raicomprix had rushed off in hurry right after the battle had ended, Nathanael was kindly waiting for me outside, as I had asked to speak with Nadja in private, and I honestly couldn't tell you where Alya was. "I swear, I didn't know, that this would happen when I told Manon that story."
Nadja eyed her young daughter for a moment, before turning to me. "You couldn't have known" She said softly.
I looked down. "Still, I'm sorry"
Nadja looked at her daughter. "Next time, however, you run stories especially stories about my past by me before you tell Manon" She said sternly. "Is that clear?"
I nodded earnestly. "Of course" I said.
"Do they know?" Nadja said looking past me into the room where the battle had taken place.
"Cat does" I told her. "Cat and I agreed that telling Ladybug would be unwise, considering we don't know if he even knows anything, and you know him if I were to even insinuate that he's responsible…" I put a hand to my head.
Nadja shifted Manon in her arms. "Even if that's true, he would be of use to you, he knows things about the Butterfly Miraculous that would be beneficial, things that not even Master Fu, or you could know"
I looked away. "It could end badly, if she refuses to listen," I admitted.
Nadja bit her lip. "That may be true, but…"
"We haven't found any evidence that he has it" I said. "And if this is so concerning, why haven't you said anything."
Nadja looked down. "I-"
"Want to keep your involvement to the previous Miraculous quiet" I nodded sympathetically. It made sense. From what I heard after she had been captured and subsequently rescued she begged Papillon to never make her a champion again.
Nadja sighed. "I know; a news reporter wanting to keep things quiet. Heavily hypocritical especially with what I've done"
I chuckled. "I'll try to keep quiet, but in return, if things get out, you have to at least try to keep the leakage as minimal as possible" I said.
Nadja shifted Manon to her other shoulder. "Of course" Nadja said. "I shall see you later."
Alya slowly trudged upstairs to her room. Very carefully she closed the door and carefully sat down staring morosely at her phone.
She stared at it before pressing the playback button.
"Do they know?"
"Cat does, Cat and I agreed that telling Ladybug would be unwise, considering we don't know if he even knows anything, and you know him if I were to even insinuate that he's responsible…"
"Even if that's true, he would be of use to you, he knows things about the Butterfly Miraculous that would be beneficial, things that not even Master Fu, or you could know"
"It could end badly, if she refuses to listen,"
Nadja bit her lip. "That may be true, but…"
"We haven't found any evidence that he has it" I said. "And if this is so concerning, why haven't you said anything."
"I-"
"Want to keep your involvement to the previous Miraculous quiet"
"I know; a news reporter wanting to keep things quiet. Heavily hypocritical especially with what I've done"
Alya took a deep breath. Everything in her journalistic bone was practically begging her to release this footage. To reveal that Cat Noir and Paris's wannabe hero were keeping a huge secret from not only Paris but Ladybug herself.
Yet with so many unanswered questions. Alya couldn't help but hesitate. They had mentioned the butterfly miraculous, but they had also stated that it could have changed hands. They had mentioned that Nadja had once been a champion for the butterfly miraculous… what did that mean? Wasn't the butterfly miraculous evil, or did it just depend on who was wielding it? And perhaps more importantly… who was the 'he'?
Alya put a hand to her head. She didn't much care for Annette, but she did care about Marinette. If Annette was driven through mud because of what she did, then Adrien might have gotten sucked in too, and who knows what that could do for Marinette.
Alya sighed and rubbed her forehead. She should at least ask Annette what the hell that was about before making everyone's life needlessly complicated. The last time she had run her mouth and had jumped to conclusions she had gotten akumatised and gone after the wrong girl.
She stared at her phone longingly. But this was huge! It had been revealed that Annette and Cat were friends outside of dealing with Akumas. That there had most likely been previous hawk moths (if her hunch about the butterfly miraculous being the same miraculous hawk moth used was right) and that, Annette and Cat and Nadja both knew who it was.
And yet… Annette was Adrien's cousin, if she posted this (and her Ladyblog was quite sizeable) it could end up hurting Adrien, and if she hurt Adrien…. Marinette might never forgive her. Not to mention how many unknowns that were currently stacked against her.
She stared at the ceiling and breathed a reluctant sight. This was perhaps the hardest thing she had done, she shut off her phone and headed to bed.
