Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Stranger in Town

Chapter 29: Make A Wish

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Help comes from some unlikely sources.

Don't own, of course.

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Make A Wish

Ladybug-Marinette Dupain-Cheng-felt as though she'd been hit over the head with a large rock. Several times.

The love of her young life-Adrien Agreste-was her partner, Cat Noir. And he'd never told her?

Well, actually, her traitor mind remembered, she'd told him not to. It had been her decision for them not to reveal their secret identities to each other. For mutual protection of them both, she'd said to herself, at the time…

…but had it really been?

Well, of course!

Really?

She remembered all the harsh things she'd said to him, from time to time, things she never would've said to Adrien, of all people…and how he'd just…

…forgiven her?

Ayla was watching her friend. Now she nudged her. "Go on, 'bug. Say something." She, herself, had halfway suspected Ladybug's partner's secret ID.

"Uhm, I, er, uh…"

"Nope, that's not it. C'mon." And she levered Ladybug off the bed and into the bathroom. Leaned her up against the wall and jiggled her face. "C'mon, 'Nette. Wake up."

"Wake, uhm, what now?"

"C'mon, you gotta snap outta this, 'bug. So you just found out your future hubby is, has been your partner all along. But that's a good thing! I mean, really, how well did you know Adrien, before? Now you've got a leg up on the matter."

"Leg up on the-wait, what did you call him?"

Outside, in the bedroom, Cat Noir was even more despondent. "I really blew it, Deanna."

She rubbed his back. "You did not."

"Yes, I did. Did you see the look on her face? She couldn't have been more shocked if I had turned out to be Monarch!"

"And what were your choices? Hide behind that mask the rest of your life? I know how you feel about her. I know what you want with her. It had to happen sooner or later." And with all that's going on, there may not be a later.

"Yeah, but now she probably feels like I deceived her all these years. And if there's one thing I know about girls, it's that they really hate to be lied to." He was thinking of Kagami. That only brought him more pain. He pinched the bridge of his nose, hard, closing his eyes. "I guess I thought I'd win her heart by being the swashbuckling superhero. How could I have been so stupid?"

"You win a girl's heart," said Deanna firmly, "by being there for her when she needs you. And every time she's needed you, you've been there for her. Now, haven't you?"

"I've…certainly tried."

"You've done more than try. You sacrificed your relationship with Kagami-yes, I know all about that-for her, to be there for her. Do you have any idea how many guys just wouldn't do that? After all, she's a genuine superhero. She can take care of herself. That would be the way most guys would think." Even as she spoke, she knew she had to be careful, use her empathic senses well. Adrien was in a delicate emotional state right now.

"Still feel like a heel."

"For what? Being the second greatest guy in Paris?" Timing is everything. She casually kissed him on the cheek. His surprise kept him from asking the obvious question…a question she couldn't afford to answer just now.

"Ah-hem." This from the direction of the bathroom, where Rena Rouge and Ladybug had just exited. Rena had her hand up to her mouth, trying to look somewhere else, whilst it was obvious that Ladybug couldn't look anywhere but at the couple on the bed. Specifically, at Cat Noir / Adrien. Even more specifically, at the cheek where he'd just been kissed. With eyes that looked like they were about to pop out of her head and roll around on the floor like ball bearings.

"Adrien," said Deanna, pulling him up off the edge of the bed. "I think you have something to tell Ladybug." Adrien, I'm taking a chance here, trusting you on this. But if anybody on Midgard would say the right words, it's you. She led him over to a seemingly-paralyzed Ladybug.

He stood in front of his love. "Uh, yeah, uhm…" He scratched the back of his head. Then the words came out in a rush. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I, I know I deceived you, all these years, and, and, I'm, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Her only response was to wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his shoulder. He heard her gasping, and realized she was crying. His Ladybug was crying. Had she been that badly hurt by him?

"You…you've got nothing to apologize for. I was the one who didn't want to exchange secret IDs. I was the one who told you not to tell me, remember? There's…there's no way I could blame you for that." Her shoulders were shaking against him. It made him feel even worse. I'd give all nine of my lives to stop those tears.

"Well," she said, pulling back slightly. He didn't have a handkerchief to offer her, so she wiped her eyes on her sleeves, "This is certainly a night for revelations. I suppose-*"

"Uh, 'bug?" interposed Rena Rouge, "You sure about this?"

Ladybug nodded, still getting herself under control. "I'm sure. The only person in this room who doesn't know my ID is the one person who should." She turned her red eyes to Cat Noir. "Adrien, I'm-*"

"Hey, everyone!" Chloe had burst through the door. "Meet up on the roof! Morax says he's got an idea!"

….

All of the humans assembled on the roof. Morax was busy moving between one pentagram to another, evidently, from the look on his face, not satisfied with whatever information he was getting from any of them. He looked up as they thundered up through the roof stairs. Raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Is something the matter?"

Uh oh, thought Ladybug. Something was wrong. She bowed, respectfully, as seemed the standard greeting among demons. "Uhm, sir, we, uh, heard you'd had an idea."

"You did? Where did you hear that?" Uh oh squared.

Every eye turned to Chloe. Even Sabrina gave her a hard look. "Okay," she admitted, "Actually, I had a great idea, but this was the fastest way to get all of you on the roof. Look, I-*"

"Young woman," broke in Morax, "did you actually deliver a message using my name?"

"Er, uhm," said an abashed Red Wasp, tapping her fingers together, "Uh, well, maybe, sorta, kinda…"

"Do not. Do that. Ever again."

"Yes, sir," said Chloe, in a very small voice.

"That being said," he sighed, "let's hear…your…idea."

Chloe perked up immediately. "It's all about Ladybug's 'Lucky Charm!' See, it's-*"

"Uh, oh," said Ladybug. She and Ayla were altogether too familiar with their frenemy's enthusi-gasms. "I gotta baaad feeling about this."

"Well, I mean, it's really like a wish, kinda, I mean, isn't it? I mean, you've got the kwami of creation, when you use it, it creates something for you to solve the problem with, right? I mean, right so far?"

"Well, yeah, sorta," admitted Ladybug. "I mean, I never know what it's gonna send, it's totally unpredictable…"

"But that's the point! What if you could direct it?"

"Direct it how?"

"Ask for something! Make a wish, in other words! Maybe, maybe, I don't know, some sort of weapon that could put out this fire!" She turned to Morax. "Isn't it true, sir, that, without that fire, Akane'd be just an ordinary demon, and you could handle her then?"

"Well, that is true, in part…"

"Chloe, none of us know what forces we're playing with here! Even, even if it worked, it might summon something worse than the Flame!"

For an answer, Chloe turned to the distant skyline, where the flames were leaping brightly. She pointed. "Worse than that?"

Ladybug turned to Morax. "I apologize for my uh our uh friend, sir, she gets a little excited sometimes…"

But his expression was thoughtful. "You know…there is an outside chance that, with a little assistance, it might could be made to work."

….

"Okay, what am I doing lying here again?" Chloe asked, a bit nervously, Ladybug thought (with a guilty twinge of satisfaction), as she lay on her back in the middle of the rooftop, at the very center of a particularly large and intricate pentagram Lord Morax and Lady Luan had drawn on the roof.

"You are to be the focal point for the energies summoned. Oh, don't worry; those energies will no more harm you than the sun's rays harm a magnifying lens as it focuses them. But these energies are coming from a place-well, it would take a long time to explain it, but suffice it to say, a place very far removed from anything remotely like human thought. Hence, Ladybug's tools are often inexplicable, at first. But here, you will provide that human element, and thus we will, if all goes well, get something, something perhaps more immediately and obviously useful." He stepped back, as did Luan, and consulted another pentagram floating in the air beside him. "Hm, yes, all seems to be operating as it should. Within the required parameters."

"I'm staying with Chloe," said Sabrina, in a voice that brooked no dissent.

"As long as you are outside the pentagram, that is fine. But if any part of you strays within the pentagram, the focal point will be lost. The results then will be…unpredictable. Perhaps dangerously so."

"'Brina, it's okay, I'm in good hands here."

I just wish you weren't in their hands at all, thought Sabrina.

I wish you were in mine.

"Now," said Morax, "What I need from you, Chloe Bourgeois, is to picture, in your mind, what is going on around here. I know it's not like you can see from orbit or anything; just a general idea of the fire, the chaos, the danger. Picture what is happening. You, Ladybug: stand outside the pentagram and employ your Lucky Charm as you always have-but angle it so it reaches its apex over Chloe's body, here."

"Alright. Uh, you do know I can only use this once per transformation, right, sir?"

"I am aware. But your standard 'Lucky Charm' attack will not affect the Flame in the slightest. So…anytime you are ready."

"Alright. Here goes…Lucky Charm!"

….

Miss Bustier was hurrying to grab the students' files, downloading them off the school's web. She knew she was in a proscribed area, but her dedication to her students overrode her fear of the fire. In any case, it wasn't all that close. She should have them and be out in a few more seconds. Her back was to the window.

"He's been here," said an unfamiliar female voice behind her. She whirled around, to see a young woman, dressed in a red pantsuit, staring fixedly out the window. She was carrying something behind her back…something that looked like a golden rod with three points on one end…a trident?

What in the world was she doing here? "Miss, you need to go! It's not safe here!"

"Indeed it's not." Now the young woman turned to Miss Bustier, and, even in the lowered light levels, Miss Bustier could see a strange glow, or sheen, in her eyes. "I can tell he's been here, but not where he went." Her face was composed. "Perhaps you could tell me? I would certainly appreciate that." She seemed calm. Too calm.

Miss Bustier backed away, sensing this was no ordinary encounter. "I, I don't know who you mean. Who are you talking about? If it's one of my students, I'm afraid I can't give that information out to just anyone. Are-are you a relative of this person?"

The girl's face hardened. "Oh, I see," she said, "You want him for yourself!" Miss Bustier's desk was between them, but the girl placed one hand on it, and, with one quick movement, slammed it through and out of the window. Miss Bustier's eyes widened; nobody was that strong.

Now the girl grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the wall behind her. "It's truly a shame that your children will be deprived of a mother, but that is of your doing. I've taken all the duplicity I intend to, tonight."

Something blacker than black enveloped Miss Bustier, teleporting her away with only a nanosecond to spare. "Akane!" shouted Daniel, entering from the doorway, "Stop this! You're endangering innocents!"

"No one is innocent!" screamed Akane, pirouetting in place, that Flame-that-was-more-than-fire spraying out from her like a blazing tornado, catching him in the ankle, before he could shadowcloak himself away. "Ah!" he gasped in pain.

He materialized down at the street level, where he'd left Lord Darian and his combined legions. "I was right, Exalted One." He looked up. "She's worse than ever. We've got to do something." He sat, clutching his ankle.

"You do not." Darian summoned some devils to 'port the injured shadonai to medical help, down in Hell. Then, "Deanna!" Deanna made her way to the front, taking in the scene. "I am sure his wife will be worried about him. You've a good relationship with them both; I therefore charge you with contacting her and informing her of matters."

"What? Don't make me call that wo-* But she saw the look he was giving her, and wilted. He was right. "Yes, sir, I'll do it." She pulled out her Hellphone and hit the speed-dial. "Uh, Claire? This is Dee. Howarya? What? Why, there's nothing wrong with him…I mean, nothing a little time in the regression tanks won't cure-no, no, no, he's alright…well, yeah, not alright alright, or he wouldn't need medical-no, no, no! Claire! Listen to me! He's already down in Home, getting the best medical-no, no, no, you couldn't do any good 'cloaking all over the place! Claire, just give him a little time and the two of you will be having the biggest laugh over-well, yeah, I doubt it, too, but, but, I mean, I saw it and it really was little more than a singe! Even a bandaid would've been sufficient! The only reason he's getting regression therapy is simply as a precau-Claire, please don't cry, you know I can't stand that…"

Lord Darian addressed one of the devils attending him. "Could you get a lock on Daniel's origin point?

The devil spoke up, its guttural voice sounding over the crackle of the Flame. "His origin point, yes, Great One, but my instruments indicate the source of the Flame is no longer there." Darian thought several words too vile to put voice to. "I have, however, picked up a fresh trace of the accursed Flame coming from…" He held up his scanner, to show his superior the screen, "Coming from only a few blocks away." And he pointed. "In that direction."

…

The rooftop: Ladybug's toss had arced over Chloe's body and was approaching its apex. "Now," they all heard Morax mutter, "Now we'll see…"

"See what?" asked a nervous Chloe, "This ultimate weapon?"

Morax whirled on her. "You were not supposed to speak!" He looked up, at the whirlpool of energies overhead…a whirlpool that rapidly dissipated, leaving only the smoke from the burning buildings, and the reflection of the Flame on those clouds of smoke. Morax just hung his head.

"Uhm, I screwed things up, didn't I?"

Morax visibly fought for self-control. Ladybug and the others thought that this was the first time they'd ever seen him this upset. For the normally calm, collected scholar-demon to have to so struggle with himself… But then he got control of himself, leaning against a ventilator shaft. "I…suppose you…couldn't know," he said. He looked up. "But I'm afraid the chance has passed." He searched, using his own extranormal senses. "Nothing happened. That's the bad news. However, maybe that's also the good news. There's no telling what the altered spell could have wrought, with even a little bit of chaos induced into it.

"Perhaps it's best this way."

…..

Glenda LeBette had never been so frightened in all her life.

She'd gotten her charges, the children in her day care, to the evacuation terminal, well and good. It was only for children, but the adult transport was not far. Normally she'd take no notice of the relatively small distance.

But there was nothing normal about these times.

Aside from the fire all around (and getting closer, all the time), she was sure she'd seen devils, giant humanoid creatures with red skin and massive horns on their heads, dodging in and out amongst the flames. Paris, it seemed, had literally gone to hell.

If she died here (a possibility getting more likely all the time), she'd spend Eternity in this awful place. Wasn't that the way it worked?

No. Just no. She found herself praying constantly, clutching her rosary. She'd accepted the Holy Savior years ago (she thought and hoped), but had the Holy One accepted her? That was the real issue, wasn't it?

There was an ear-piercing screech up ahead, and she dared to look up. One of the empty buses had broken free of its moorings and was hurtling down the hill towards her. There was no room or time to dodge.

No. No. Reflexively, she curled up into a ball, hands over her head in what she knew was a futile gesture of protection…

BOOOOOOM! It sounded as though the bus had run into the side of a building. She didn't dare look up, but continued to pray…

"Miss?" said a calm voice from over her, "Are you alright? Are you injured?"

The sound of the voice broke through her trance, and she uncovered her head and looked up…

Standing over her was what appeared to be a young man wearing a black outfit reminiscent of a uniform, edged with silver trim. But what caught her attention the most was his skin and hair: they were the color of white copy paper. He was extending his hand out towards her. "Are you well? Can you stand?"

The other thing that caught her attention was that he was apparently holding back the dead weight of the renegade bus, on the downhill grade.

With one hand.

"Ma'am?"

"Oh, oh, uh, y-yes, I, I'm fine, thank you…" Automatically, she took the hand he was holding out towards her…strange, his skin didn't feel quite like she thought skin ought to feel, but she wasn't complaining.

She'd prayed to the Holy Savior for a miracle, and the Holy Savior had sent her one.

….

Far away, on a rooftop apartment building: Morax suddenly took on a vacant expression. "Bradley?" said Luan. "Is something the matter?"

"No…no, perhaps not. I just sensed a…ripple, I suppose is the best way to describe it, in the universal aether. I have never encountered anything like that before." He rubbed his chin. "I wonder if it was in response to the enhanced wish?"

"What are the odds that it is?"

"Higher than I like. It occurred at nearly the moment when the wish was cast…in any case, I'd best alert Lord Darian to be on the lookout for anything unusual. That is to say," he said, laconically, looking around, "Anything more unusual than our current basket load of unusual things."

….

Another rooftop, this one much closer to the fire. A flying figure clothed in black and silver landed smoothly by a figure of a girl. She didn't seem surprised to see him. She was a startlingly lovely girl, around fifteen or sixteen, with straight blond hair that reached to her shoulders, clear blue eyes, fine features, and a ready smile. She was wearing a button-down plaid shirt and tight blue jeans, which served to enhance her figure. She'd found a pair of high-power binoculars, and was peering through them, brushing an errant strand of blond hair out of her face. She turned her head slightly to the figure, her smile one of more than ordinary affection. "Good going, Z. That woman's gonna have a story to tell her children." Then she sobered, once again raising the binocs to her face. "Any idea what's going on? That fire…doesn't look natural, to me."

"It is not," he replied. "If my senses are any guide, it partakes of the characteristics of another universe that appears to be encroaching, albeit to a small degree, upon this one. None of the normal means of fire control will affect it, since it is not truly fire in the usual sense."

Now she turned her full attention to him. "Could you stop it? Put it out somehow?"

He shook his head, a gesture he'd picked up from her. "Not without destroying most of this city. Which," he tilted his head up, glancing around, "I judge to be Paris, on Earth. You are home, Kyrie."

"Yeah, just in time to watch it self-destruct." She saw his expression. "Oh, Z! I'm not blaming you! Don't ever think that!" She put a hand on his chest. "Don't…don't ever think that. It's just…sometimes I blurt things out I shouldn't, or in a way I shouldn't. I'm sorry."

He took her hand. She knew those hands could crush rock and deform steel, but, with her, he was gentle. Always gentle. "You need not apologize to me," he said, softly. "Your words are true."

"How did we get here?" she asked, as much as a way of changing the subject as out of curiosity. "One moment, we were…then we were here…where is here, anyway?"

He looked around again, with senses she knew humans didn't even have names for. "I am detecting a different 'weave' to the fabric of this universe. So this is a different universe than the one we were in. Whether or not it is actually the one of your birth, that I do not know, having never been there. But it is Earth. An Earth, at least. Perhaps it is a start. It stands to reason that we were transported here by some extradimensional means. But what those means were, or are, I could not say."

"Well," she said, a bit hesitantly, again taking his hand. "Whether it's my Earth or not, at least, we're…together." Maybe he'd take the hint.

Not a chance. "Yes," he said, intertwining his fingers through hers. "I will return you to your people. On that, you have my word."

Blockhead, she thought.

But lovingly.

To be continued...