It had been three weeks since Adalia and Feyline made their debut and the entirety of Paris was still chatting about them. Everywhere she went there were mentions of the new heroes.
Emma slipped her headphones on to tune out the chatter about the two heroines, grabbing her bag and heading out of the room, only to fall over and smack her head against the door.
"OW!" She cried, rubbing her forehead gently and wincing as she tried to stand up.
"Are you okay, Emma?" Kit asked, helping her friend up without missing a beat. She always seemed to be ready and willing to help anything that moved, something most of the class admired about her. "The past three weeks you seem to be a walking disaster!"
"I'm fine! The akuma's have just been, uhh- really… loud?" She awkwardly skirted around the mention and correlation between her bad luck and the new appearance of Feyline. "It's just been keeping me up, so I've been tired!" She covered up her stress with a grin and a small wave. "Thank you for helping me though." She rushed out of the room, heading to the canteen.
"I still don't understand why you have to affect me. " She hissed under her breath into her purse as she walked down the corridor.
"Listen, kid. You've got the miraculous of destruction." The kwami replied, mouth half full of camembert. "Bad luck comes with the job." He let out a sloppy burp before slumping against her soft wallet.
"Whatever. Just be quiet." She rolled their eyes, grumbling and closing the zipper as she walked into the canteen, taking a seat beside Anthea.
"I managed to snag you an extra cookie!" She joyfully exclaimed with a smile. "They made an extra one and gave it to me." She explained, slipping the treat onto her friend's plate.
"Wow! You've got good luck, An'!" Emma remarked, happily chewing on the gifted sweet treat.
"Uh,- yeah!" She ran her fingers through the end of her hair fretfully. "Just really lucky recently! For no reason!"
"Hi guys!" Roxy sat across from the two girls, allowing them to exit the awkward route the conversation was going down with a lack of excuse to cut it short.
"Hi Rox! Do you want my hot dog?" Shelly asked, the two always shared their food- presumably girlfriend perks.
"YES! I love you honey!" She exclaimed, leaning over to kiss her partner's forehead with a joyful grin before munching down on the donated lunch.
Her joy was cut short by a menacing and almost evil cackle.
"What are you, too poor to buy your own food?" Bluebell mocked, laughing obnoxiously.
Anthea rubbed the collar-like necklace in her purse with her thumb, grumbling at the unwelcome voice.
"Oh shut up. Nobody cares what you think." Kit argued, defending her friend without a second thought.
"It's fine, Kit." Roxy mumbled, pushing the food away, a dejected look traced around her eyes. "She isn't wrong. At least, not compared to her."
Bluebell,the daughter of Lila Rossi, was one of the richest girls in school. Her mother had a large accounting firm.
Roxy, on the other hand, lived on a boat with her family. They weren't poor but they were nowhere near as rich as Bluebell.
"I bet you wish that you were me." She remarked, rolling her hand and shooting the table a dirty look before giggling and walking off.
Everyone on the table crowded around Roxy, comforting her and promising her that Bluebell was wrong.
Emma was the first to step away, Anthea following suit shortly afterwards. She hung closer to the canteen than Emma did though, keeping an eye on what properties this Akuma would have.
They had both spotted the purple butterfly that was heading towards their friend, dashing in opposite directions as the akuma took hold.
"That bluebell is a piece of work, kid." Plagg remarked, scarfing down a chunk of cheese.
"Ugh, I know." She groaned, rolling her eyes at the thought of that bully and slipped into a locker, dropping her bag outside of it. "Plagg, Claws out!" she whispered the transformation words, careful not to be heard by anyone fleeing from the canteen.
She tumbled out of the locker with a grace the miraculous only granted her while transformed, spinning her baton around with a mischievous grin.
She slipped out of the door, stealth ingrained into her steps - something she had learnt the importance of a week ago while fighting an akuma with literal eyes on the back of her head.
The screaming of people was muffled by a sharp and clear voice appearing beside her.
"Hello, minou!" Adalia greeted her partner with a smile, spinning the yoyo around with one hand, the other resting against her bucked out hip.
"Hello, little bug!" She replied, pausing the baton's twirling to greet Adalia. "A student at the school, Emma Dupain-Cheng, told me what was going on. It seems a girl called Bluebell was mocking one of Mme Dupain-cheng's friends, causing this akuma." She explained.
"Yes, Anthea Cesaire caught me up." She nodded. "I was also told it seems to be a body swapping akuma, so best keep on your claws kitty cat. Shall we go?" She waited for the bob of a head from Feyline before the two headed into the canteen, back against back and weapons bared.
It was like a dance, slipping between each other with learnt grace. For a duo that had only been working together for a few weeks, they seemed to have molded their battle strategy to accompany the other with ease, like yin and yang. They balanced each other out with courteous elegance, allowing their powers to work in tandem. It was almost as if they were waltzing to some soft tune that drifted through the air.
They both called their powers at the same time, voices mixing together to create a harmonious charm.
The steady melody retained itself throughout the fight, close to the end and three minutes from transforming back, it was like that previously steady melody was interrupted by a slam of a piano. The cry of an injured civilian, held in the clutches of an akuma resounded around the room, a sharp noise that snapped the metaphorical string holding the two heroes to each other.
Without considering the dangers of what would happen, Feyline dived to free the girl, breaking the duet that the two heroes were accustomed to. Adalia muttered under her breath, lunging towards her partner to push them out the way of the steady, blue beam that was aiming at the leather-clad teen.
However she was a second too late, both girls caught in the beam felt their being extract itself from their body before being pulled into the others.
By the time they had gathered their surroundings and the situation, the akuma had leaped out of the classroom in chase of the girl they had tried to save. leaving the two alone in a destroyed room.
And their timers were almost out.
"Shit. Okay. Fey' keep your eyes shut. I have cookies for Tikki in my waistcoat pocket, they're in a small bag." Anthea's voice came from Feyline's body, it felt unreal. Like it was some weird nightmare.
But she knew it wasn't.
"A waistcoat? Who do you think you are, the prince of england?" She playfully mocked, trying to raise the spirits in the room regardless of the current, unideal to say the least, situation.
"Oh Har-har." Adalia replied, humor finding it's way into her voice with an amused tinkle. "Akuma, Fey'."
"Uhm- yeah. I've got some cheese in my overall pocket. It's in a little container. If you can't find it, ask Plagg to get it for you." she shut her eyes tightly, feeling the warm rush wash over her as they detransformed.
"And you make fun of me. Overalls? God, not only do you act like a child you dress like one too?" She giggled out, this time it was her time to mess around.
Emma patted down the side of the body, searching for a pocket, eventually finding one and reaching in to feel the soft, silky fabric of a clutch purse, similar to her maman's.
Behind her she heard Adalia fumble and drop the container, it landed with a soft * clink* . Emma chuckled, such was the way of the bad luck that seeped from her ring.
"Ugh, how do you live with this thing? I don't think I can get through this figh-" She cut herself off with a gasp, the same gasp she always had when she had come up with a brilliant idea. "Feyline, take the earrings off! You have your ears pierced right? I noticed those little cat shaped ones you've got!"
"Take the earrings off? Are you insane?" Emma raised her voice an octave as she neared the end of her sentence. "What are you going to do, transfo- OHHHHH" The cogs in her brain clicked and she swiftly reached to her ears, slipping the cold metal off and turning around to face Adalia with her eyes screwed shut.
As she passed the studs to her partner with her left hand, she felt a familiar ring press into her right, flicking it up and onto her middle finger.
"Plagg, Claws out!" She felt the familiar sensation wash over her, the familiar wrapping of fabric around her and the power that embedded itself into her veins like a birthright she had inherited. Albeit, it was true. The ring was hers by descendancy and the god of destruction's choice. The energy and potential she had been granted was nothing short of a birthright. What that said about her, the power being to destroy whatever she wished, she didn't know. All she knew is that it suited her, she was fond of the ring, the god and all that it entailed.
"Tikki, spots on!" The girl beside her cried out, a pink light washed the room behind her closed eyes.
She knew that her partner, the yang to her yin, felt the same about the fortune that swam through her blood as if it belonged there, and it did. It belonged to her as much as the duo of the ladybug and cat belonged at each other's side. It suited her, they had to admit that, the prosperity that had accompanied her earrings. It was like an aura surrounding her, one of love and warmth. She felt it slip around the girl, like water around a moving baing. Liquid smooth and as gentle as the girl that it created a ring around.
The two cracked their eyes open, weary not to open them too soon, revealing their own body in a different suit than used to.
"I would have thought it would be our normal outfits. Is this like a cat walker situation?" The cat themed hero asked.
"Fe- I mean-, well what should I call you. You aren't exactly Feyline right now, are you?" She smirked.
"Katsen! Call me Katsen for the time being, my dear bug." She swept herself down, pressing a light kiss onto the warm hand of her partner. "And what shall I call you, gorgeous?"
"I don't know, Sospita?" She replied before scowling as she realized what Katsen had said. " Are you seriously cat-calling yourself right now, Katsen?"
"Ah, cat- calling. I see I'm a wonderful influence, sospita." She chuckled. "Now, as much as I look brilliant in red and black and you look hilarious with cat ears, I'd much rather see that blue and blonde hair accompany my ring. Preferably with me wearing it. Shall we?" She reached a hand towards Sospita, gaining a light smack in return.
"Yeah , yeah. Akuma, I know furball." She groaned, usually she was the responsible one. "Lucky charm!"
A familiar swirl of red warped itself around Sospita and a sewing box landed in her gloved hands. She flicked her eyes around. Something that was unseeable really due to her eyes being deep pools of black. Much to her luck, the world was still painted in shade of gray. It made spotting the red and black polka dot pattern a lot easier.
"Hey, Kat?" the cogs turned in her head as she calculated every risk. This was the riskiest plan she had yet. "Is there somebody you trust with your life that you can get to on short notice."
"Well, yes but I hope my life isn't actually at stake right now." She looked at Sospita with a concerned tilt of the head. It wasn't as if she wouldn't die to save Paris, more so that she highly doubted her trusted partner would use a plan where that was the risk.
"No but we need somebody to help us, and Its dangerous to trust a miraculous with someone" She explained, frowning as she did so.
"I have just the man for the job!" Kat exclaimed, he would definitely have questions later though. "Although, he's not dumb. He'll probably figure out who I am." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, shifting her feet slightly.
"Do you really trust him?" Sospita sighed.
"Yes." Katsen replied firmly, certain of the fact.
"Then I suppose it's okay." Sospita smiled gently, reaching into her yo-yo and pulling out a box. "Go, Katsen, and give the boy worthy of this miraculous temporary old over the Miraculous of the dog. I'm trusting you, and by extension, him."
Marinette had a feeling something would go awry today and allowed Anthea to pick a single miraculous to assist if her feeling turned out to be correct.
"Thank you." She responded, taking the box and heading towards the boy she trusted.
—
Louis rolled his eyes as he plopped himself into his chair. Of course an Akuma alert had to ring from his phone in the middle of physics. A red alert too, one they had to be sent home for. His favorite lesson, gone!
What made things worse was he couldn't even bug Emma. Apparently she had gone to the Cesaire household till the Akuma attack was over.
He slid his binder off, sick of the way it made his ribs ache before switching into an oversized shirt with Miss Hound's logo plastered over the front and a pair of black shorts.
A lot of the hero merch he had was Miss hound themed. He had always been a dog hero, so it wasn't even a question who his favorite hero was.
Before he could twirl his chair away from the window, towards his monitor where a game of Ultimate Mecha Strike was loaded, he heard a small rapping against the glass.
He jumped as a face covered by a black mask popped into view.
Walking over and opening the window he clutched at the spray bottle he had kept on the windowsill for his plants.
"Adalia?"
"I mean- kinda?" The feline-esc hero slid through the window into his room. "It's a body swapping Akuma so I'm actually Feyline. Uh, yeah we're just using the miraculous that we're accustomed to- Oh yeah!" She cleared her throat dramatically, giving Louis no time to respond to the barrage of information that had been thrown at him.
"Louis Dupain-Cheng, I am Katsen and you have been trusted with a great honor, if you choose to accept that is." Katsen tacked onto the end, however she knew the boy wouldn't decline. "This is the miraculous of the dog, I can see you're a fan." She gave a pointed glance at the shirt before continuing. "It grants you the power to fetch whatever your ball may touch. We need your assistance today."
"FUCKING EMMA? " Louis had listened to her, waiting for her to finish before it had all clicked, and it had given him a minute or so to recognise the voice but he knew it was too familiar.
"JESUS CHRIST THIS QUICK?" She groaned. "Dad is SO going to kill me oh my god." She thrust her palm into her head, rubbing it with an exasperated sigh. "Take the goddamn thing. And don't go around yelling it, dumbass. Sospita will explain what you have to do when we get there." She threw the box into his hand.
Louis opened it, gasping as a ball of brown light flew around his head, fading to reveal a dog-like silhouette..
"My name is Barkk and I'm your Kwami!" It explained, trying to stifle a laugh.
"I'm aware. Maman isn't sly about hiding the box." He giggled, patting the little gods head fondly. "Don't worry, I'm sure Em- Katsen- sorry, Is well aware."
"Aware of what?"
"Oh- I guess that I was wrong? Nevermind, due time my dear sister, due time."
"I fucking hate you."
"Ahh, like cats and dogs!" He said, clasping the miraculous around his neck with a shit eating grin that only he had the balls to give the heroine of Paris.
—-
"Sospita, may I introduce erm-"
"Rex. Just call me Rex, god you're really bad at introductions. Dumbass." He added the final phrase on the end quickly before ducking, narrowly avoiding a smack on the head from Katsen.
Rex appeared a few years younger than the two heroines. He had dark hair and his green eyes were similar to that of the previous Chat Noirs.
"Just do your job. Should have gone to someone else, you were cocky enough before." She grumbled affectionately.
"Aww you love me really!" He teased in return, punching her arm lightly.
"You two seem to know each other well." Sospita remarked ever so bluntly, she couldn't help but feel a tad bitter. She wanted to banter with Feyline, Katsen or whomever was behind the mask with the knowledge of who they were not a heavy secret between them.
" Very well." Katsen replied, shooting a glare at their brother.
"Either way, Rex, I need you to throw your ball at the necklace." Sospita explained.
It was a couples necklace, Shelly had made it for them.
"And then I'll cataclysm it while you keep the Akuma under wraps?" Katsen finished the plan.
"Jesus and I thought what you had with you know who was sappy. You're both practically in sync." Rex groaned, clearly bored of waiting around.
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
"Oh my god I'm so telling Chat Noir about you and you're gonna be dead~" Katsen teased, quickly being pulled back to the reality of the situation by the screaming of civilians. "Right- Akuma."
The trio rushed out of the room, Katsen and Sospita working as in sync as they always did, Rex lurking in the shadows waiting for his signal.
Katsen distracted the Akuma, twirling and tumbling about gracefully to allow her spotted partner the opportunity to send her yo-yo flying around the beast.
Katsen sucked in her breath, if Rex betrayed them now he was so getting grounded.
Before she had the chance to catastrophize the possibility of her brother tricking them, a brown ball flew out of the shadow and hit the necklace.
"QUICK, KATSEN! HERE!" he clutched the ball in his hand. "FETCH!" he exclaimed, calling his power and retrieving the necklace.
Three.
"CATACLYSM!"
Two.
The necklace was thrown towards her and crumbled in her fist.
One.
The yo-yo released the previous akuma- now normal girl and flew towards the butterfly.
"Bye bye, little butterfly."
Sospita gave a soft smile and wave to the now pure white butterfly before throwing the sewing kit into the air.
"Miraculous Sospita!" She hummed under her breath. Grinning as she looked down, seeing her normal suit and body return to her.
Feyline felt a wave of relief rush over her as she felt herself change back into her own body.
After exchanging a small salute to Adalia, Feyline slipped into a changing room, Rex followed after her.
"AHH! oh my god Louis you did so good! I'm so proud of you!" She wrapped her arms around their brother, a broad smile crossing her face.
"Emma, you are so dead." He whispered in return, grumbling something at the end before removing his necklace. "Just don't get hurt doing this. Please. We can talk more at home." He mumbled.
"I won't get hurt, I promise." She responded, releasing her brother and leaving the room again.
She was back shortly after, this time no longer carrying the box he had placed the miraculous in.
She sat down against a locker, transforming as she hit the floor.
"You did not have to air my feelings for Anthea like that earlier. You did me so dirty." She grumbled. "Come on. Let's go home. I'm sure dad will be thrilled to know that both of his kids above the age of 10 months are risking their lives for Paris." Emma muttered sarcastically.
"Fuck, we're so dead." Louis whined. "Goodbye life. It was nice knowing you." He feigned a dramatic fall to the ground before standing up and wiping himself off. "Do we have to tell him?"
"I mean, what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him." Emma responded, a sly look on her face told him all he needed to know. He was safe from the wrath of a worried father for today.
"Okay but I'm snitching if you don't talk to Anthea about it soon."
"I fucking hate you."
"Sure you do."
—
"TIKKI THIS IS TERRIBLE!" She cried flopping onto her bed overdramatically. "I CAN'T BE IN LOVE WITH FEYLINE!"
Tikki began to talk, trying to comfort her chosen but was cut off by a chiming from the phone that lay beside her.
"What.. do.. You THINK OF FEYLINE?" She blurted out, reading the text she had received from Emma. She buried her head into her pillows with a groan.
""You should respond! It might be good to get it off your chest to someone who can understand love!" Tikki encouraged gently.
"Yeah, you're right." She smiled at the little bug, patting her head with her index finger.
"She's really cool and awesome and so pretty. I would love to.. TALK TO HER? PLAGG THIS IS AMAZING SHE LIKES FEYLINE!" Emma kicked her feet, giddy with love and drunk off the idea of kissing Anthea- regardless of the mask she would have to don.
"That's amazing kid. You're just like Adrien." He ate another chunk of cheese, barely paying attention to his holder.
"I should go visit her!" She clapped her hands in excitement, Plagg had noted it as a common stim of theirs. "Plagg, Claws out!"
"W-wait what! No. NOOOOO"
His cries were sucked away as he got dragged into the ring.
—
"She left me on read, Tikki. She clearly thinks I'm weird." Anthea slammed her head into the wall, waiting for a reply from her Kwami.
Instead a crisp, and familiar, voice spoke up from outside her open door that led to her balcony.
"Don't damage the goods, purr-incess." She grinned, leaning on her baton.