A/N: Stormy Weather rampages across Paris, and the city witnesses the debut of the heroes Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Stormy Weather is heeeeere! This was the very first episode I ever saw of this show (I mean, duh, but y'know what I mean) and this is when I fell in love with its magical girl stylings! Oh now naïve I was...
I also may have given her one too many weather puns. Oops.
Whispers abounded this week, students pointing and glancing as a smiling blonde in pigtails sauntered her way down the red carpet. She paused to coyly wave to a few boys, one of whom began to blush. Girls called out to her, waving, and she giggled and winked to them, twirling her parasol before pulling it shut.
Aurore Beaureal was on top of the world, and nobody could topple her.
"Is it today?"
"It is, isn't it?"
"I can't believe it's time for the-"
"Did you hear?" Alya popped into the living room, startling Marinette and making her almost drop the doll she was making.
"Wah!" She exclaimed, managing to prick her finger with the needle. "Ow! I mean, uh, what? Hear what?"
"Today's the KIDZ+ weather girl contest!" She urged, shifting Manon to her other hip. "C'mon, let's change the channel! I wanna see who wins this!"
"Oh!" Completely forgetting her project, she dove for the remote and landed on the couch, flipping to the airing.
"-Who will be the lucky winner? Vote now! Text 1 for Aurore and 2 for Mireille. And remember, standard text messaging rates apply."
"Aurore? And Mirielle?" Alya questioned, turning to her friend with a raised brow.
"They're in Madame Mendeleiev's class," she explained. Then she paused. "Oh, wow, two students from our school are in the finals! What are the chances?"
"Right?"
Manon squirmed in her hold. "Put me downnn! I wanna play!"
"Oh? You don't wanna play with me?" Alya held her up, earning a squeal of surprise from the little girl. "But don't you want to help me conquer Atalantia?" She let out a dramatic sigh. "And here I was all set up to grant you three wishes should we succeed…"
"Wait, what? Oh, I forgot!" Manon pulled a pout. "Can I still get the wishes?"
"Only if you help me defeat the evil queen and save the princess from the dark cauldron," she answered mysteriously, giving the little girl a grin.
"For the princess!" Manon cried, laughing when Alya switched her to riding piggyback.
"Onward, my brave knight!" Alya exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.
Marinette watched them go with an amused laugh before turning back to the TV.
"What's the big deal about this weather girl contest?" Felix inquired boredly as Adrien pulled him to sit in his room, flicking the TV between channels.
"I heard from Nino that it's the most popular TV program in Paris!" He exclaimed. "Everyone's voting today!"
"Who-" Felix glanced up. "Oh, it's those two from Dupont."
The confident grin on Aurore's face and the shy smile on Mireille's filled the screen, along with a message to "VOTE NOW!"
"I hope Mireille wins, personally," Adrien admitted as he tapped on his phone.
"Here I thought you would go for the outspoken blonde girl," Felix snarked back. "What's up with you, cousin?"
"I dunno, Aurore already has the charisma and practice of being in front of crowds." The boy shrugged his shoulders, smiling faintly at the screen. "But Mireille looks so shy… being the face of the weather broadcast could be a real confidence booster for her."
Felix looked at him for a few moments, humming in thought before going back to his book.
Adrien noticed that he wasn't paying attention; leaning on his shoulder, he looked down at what was in his hands. "What are you reading?"
"I'm trying to get a leg up on that project Miss Bustier gave us yesterday," he answered distantly. "She paired me with Nathanael; I don't even know a single thing about him other than that he's always got his nose in a sketchbook. If he's going to be the weak link on this research paper…"
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll work out." He reasoned with a laugh. "Besides, I got paired with Chloe and Sabrina. Chances are that she's gonna try and make Sabrina do all of the work for the both of us."
His older cousin grimaced, patting his shoulder. "That's rough."
"Tell me."
"-This is the moment we've been waiting for!" Alec's boisterous voice recaptured their attention to the TV. "The viewers at home have made their decision, and the new KIDZ+ weather girl is…"
"Mireille!"
"What?" Marinette groaned in unison with Aurore's shocked gasp.
"Man, she sure blew you away, eh?" Alec laughed, nudging Aurore in the side.
The girl growled under her breath, whirling about-face and storming away.
"What's the big deal?" He called after her. "You lost by only half a million votes!"
"Alya," she called.
The girl reappeared in the doorway with a giggling Manon, along with the little plastic crown she brought with her.
"What's wrong, did I miss it?" She questioned, leaning in to better see the TV. "Oh, Aurore won."
"That announcer guy certainly didn't help." Marinette couldn't help but frown as she watched him congratulating Mireille on her surprising win. "Geez, mocking the contestant that just lost is seriously unprofessional."
"It's TV for kids, what do you expect?"
"I guess." Shrugging, she reached to change the channel.
Alya adjusted her grip on Manon's legs before a thought hit her. "Hey, how about we swing by the park? It'll be good to get some fresh air and tire out little munchkins."
"Hey, I'm not a munchkin!" Manon giggled, playfully slapping the girl's shoulders.
"You're the munchiest munchkin that ever munched!" She exclaimed, bouncing the girl up and down, smiling at every shriek of laughter.
"Well?" She asked, turning to her friend. "You in?"
Marinette cracked a smile. "Sure, why not? What's the worst that could happen?"
"I just had to say it!"
With a yelp, Marinette ducked behind a tree and watched in horror as a girl wielding a magic parasol froze the entire carousel with one swipe of her arm and a tornado of wind.
"What- what is that?!" She gawked, watching as the girl laughed maniacally before floating on with the wind. "She just- froze the entire thing like it was nothing!"
"Wait, the carousel!" Leaping to her feet, she dashed towards it, crying, "ALYA!"
"Marinette!" The girl yelled from inside. Her voice was muffled by the thick ice, face troubled as she hid Manon's face in her chest. "We'll be okay from here. Go run and hide!"
"But… but I can't just leave you here!" She protested.
"We have no idea what we're dealing with here, and I'm not exactly in the best of places to find out." With another shaky glance at the ride creaking with the volume of ice, she repeated, "Go! Get help!"
"O- okay!" She choked, slapping a hand on the ice. "Manon! We'll get you out in no time, okay? Listen to Miss Alya and be a good girl for me!"
Manon peeped up from her spot and nodded a teary confirmation, lower lip wobbling.
With one last desperate look at them, she turned and ran away, tears blurring her vision.
"What can I do?" She desperately wondered, looking around as the air seemed to get colder, much colder than it should have for September. "What should I do? Alya and Manon are trapped… and I can't do anything to help!"
Her toe made contact with a rock and she tripped, a cry escaping her as she fell through the air and landed right on her chest. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and she let out a weak cough as she struggled to get up.
"Owwww…" she moaned, rubbing the sore spot on her chest. "Of all the times to trip and fall…"
Wiping the tears and pebbles from her face, she sniffled and looked around for her bag. Locating it not too far away, she reached to get it - and paused in surprise upon seeing an unfamiliar box among the lipgloss and band-aids that had fallen out.
She didn't remember putting a box in her purse this afternoon.
"What…?" She wondered softly aloud as she picked it up, brushing the debris from its glossy top. It didn't appear to be damaged at all from her fall, and as she opened it, her eyes widened at a pair of equally-glossy studs, red with black spots.
"Oh…" hesitantly taking one out, she turned it over and over in her hand. "What in the world is this for? Earrings?"
"Not just any earrings," a sudden voice added, making her jump with a yelp.
Marinette fumbled with the box, barely managing to keep her hold on the earring she'd taken out of it. Whipping her head around, she exclaimed, "Who said that?!"
"I did."
Before her eyes floated a doll-sized red-and-black… thing. It couldn't be a stuffed animal, and that was no rat or mouse that she'd ever seen.
"E- eeeeeek!" She squealed, dropping the box and skittering backwards. "Talking creature! Monster! B- bug!"
"Yes, no, and yes," the being giggled - and Marinette guessed it must be a she - voice tinkling like merry little sleigh bells.
The noirette openly gaped in amazement - and a little bit of fear - as the floating bug-thing came closer. Here she could see the two red antennas poking out of her head, and something like wings peeking out from her back. If she weren't already crazy enough to believe she was seeing floating creatures, she would guess that this was supposed to be a… ladybug?
"Hello, Marinette, I've been eager to meet you," the creature greeted with a giddy smile. "I am the Kwami of the Ladybug Miraculous, and I need your help to stop that rampaging akuma before she destroys Paris."
Cat Noir grunted, slamming his staff against the akuma's parasol over again. "Damn it, don't you ever just quit?"
"Aw, what's the matter, kitty-cat?" Stormy Weather teased, a mischievous grin spreading across her face as she leaned in. "Feeling a little under the weather?"
"You wish!" Grunting, he did a backflip to narrowly escape the lightning strike that hit the ground inches away from his boot. "How shocking - a weather girl that commands lightning. What's next? A blizzard? Rain?"
"Hey! I'm the only one with the weather jokes here, Cat!" Raising her parasol above her head, she added, "Hope you like cold fronts - this one's sure to leave you frozen in fear!"
Before either of them could react, a yo-yo wrapped around the parasol and yanked it away from the akuma.
"Hey!" Stormy Weather exclaimed, growling irritably down at the newcomer. "Who the heck are you?"
"I'm Ladybug," declared a long-haired, pigtailed girl, antennae bouncing free from her hair ribbons. A red-and-black domino mask covered half her face and matched her suit - a red shining bodysuit and matching red elbow-length gloves with black spots over opaque black mesh that concealed the rest of her torso, as well as a black-spotted skort and black mesh leggings. Amusingly, she had a short cape pinned to her back that seemed to emulate a ladybug's wings.
The red knee-high kitten-heeled boots polished it off, though her smirk caught their attention as she pointed the parasol right back at its owner, her other hand flattening under her chin in a ridiculously-shoujo pose. "A hero that defends citizens, defenseless! One who triumphs over evil and topples villains, breathless! Don't you dare forget the name, because it's the one that will haunt your worst nightmares, endless!"
A beat.
Comically, an unrelated breeze rushed past the three to fill the gap in the stunned silence.
Ladybug's eye twitched. "That sounded a lot cooler in my head…"
"You've got to be kidding me," Cat sighed to himself to mask the chuckle that threatened to escape. "That's the best you could do, Ladybug?"
"Ladybug?" Stormy Weather balked loudly as Cat gave the akuma an incredulous stare. "What kind of name is-"
All of a sudden a glowing purple butterfly insignia appeared in front of her face, stopping her cold. "Stormy Weather, the Miraculous! Get me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous!"
"Alrighty, big man," she sneered, eyeing the heroine's ears. "One category five Hurricane Hawkmoth, coming right up!"
"Ladybug, dodge-!" Cat exclaimed as the villain dove for the parasol.
Yelping, the girl leapt away as Stormy Weather made a swiping grab for the parasol, raising it over her head to keep it out of reach.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed, glancing between her and Cat. "What do I do?! Where's the, uh, where's the evil butterfly?"
"It has to be in that umbrella of hers," Cat Noir answered as he leapt down in front of her. "We break it, we purify the butterfly."
"It's not an umbrella, it's a parasol!" Stormy Weather hotly corrected with a huff. "Boys - they never get these things right!"
"Well excuse me for not bothering to correctly identify your freaky weather wand," he sassed back with an eye-roll as he raised his staff over his shoulder.
"Cat, don't!" Ladybug shouted, making him pause. "Don't hit her!"
"She's an akuma!" He gave her a bewildered look, completely missing the fact that she disappeared from sight.
"That doesn't mean-"
"I'll be taking that, thank you!" The akuma cackled as she plucked the parasol from the girl's grasp. "Now for your Miraculous!"
Ladybug stiffened, raising a hand to her ears. "Well, Cat? Ready to put those nine lives to the test?"
"You know that's a myth, right?" He retorted, swirling his staff. "What do you think? Have you used a Lucky Charm yet?"
That made her take pause. She squinted, giving him a calculating look. "And how would you know about that?"
"The Miraculous," he answered as if it were obvious, pointing to the ring on his right hand. "My kwami told me everything."
"Oh." She answered lamely, face flushing in embarrassment. "Right. I knew that."
"Hello? Earth to Ladybug and Cat Noir?" Stormy Weather obnoxiously called overhead, hands on her hips. "Are we fighting, or what?"
"Oh, uh, right." Clearing her throat, she threw the yo-yo into the air. "Lucky Charm!"
Spinning rapidly, the magical item gave off a bright glow that temporarily blinded the akuma, much to her shock - and when it came back down, so did a black-spotted red rubber band.
"A… what?" She stared at the stretchy item in confusion. "How's a rubber band going to help us?"
"Watch out!" Cat struck her from the side, knocking them both to the ground as ice coated the spot she was previously in.
"Oof! Ow!" She exclaimed, giving her partner a sour look. "Warn me!"
"Sorry, no time!" He helped her to her feet and blocked a blast of wind with his bowstaff. "Well? Any ideas?"
"Um…!" She looked around, and in her eyeline several things glowed in red and black: Cat Noir, Stormy Weather's weapon, and lastly, the rubber band.
"Keep her distracted for me!" She called, putting some distance between them.
"Already on it!" He answered irritably, grunting as he was shoved back by the force of the winds.
"If you aren't careful, I might just blow you away with the sheer force of my power," the akuma boasted with a smirk.
"Oh come on, you'll wind up exhausted eventually!" Cat leapt towards her, aiming his staff like a golf club.
Stormy Weather let out a cry of surprise as she ducked out of the way of the swing, the force of it pushing her back.
Ladybug got to a safe place and pulled the rubber band taut in her fingers like a pistol, squinting as she muttered, "C'mon… I've only got one shot…!"
"Ladybug!" Cat hollered, hooking his staff around her neck and yanking, making her grunt and choke. "Hurry up, take your shot!"
Ladybug closed one eye, following the pair in the air as they struggled against each other, Cat's weight pulling them to the ground.
The rubber band zipped through the air like a bullet.
"Ow!" Stormy Weather shrieked, dropping her parasol to cup her hands over her face. "What the heck- you hit me in the eye!"
"The parasol!" Cat exclaimed.
"Already ahead of you, Cat!" Ladybug yanked the weapon from the air and with a swift movement, snapped it over her knee.
"NO!" The akumatized girl hollered, throwing Cat Noir to the ground as she dove for it.
With little hesitation, Ladybug sent her yo-yo zipping towards the butterfly as it fluttered frantically in the air.
"Gotcha!" She exclaimed triumphantly as the magical item snapped shut around the insect. "Time to de-evilize!"
Pressing a heretofore unseen button on the top of the yo-yo, it opened like a ladybug's wings, revealing a snow-white butterfly determinedly flapping away from the heroine. "Bye-bye, little butterfly," she crooned, before closing and throwing the yo-yo into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
A beam of bright white light pierced the sky, with it a swarm of magical ladybugs that rushed about the city.
"No! Curses, curses, curses!" Hawkmoth raged to himself in his lair, growling low in his throat. "You've chased away the clouds today, Ladybug and Cat Noir, but I will have your Miraculous! Mark my words!"
Cat Noir watched her in amazement as she walked towards the confused, groggy Aurore sitting in a daze on the ground, holding her head.
"Where… where am I?" She wondered aloud, squinting at the sky. "What happened?"
"You lost your cool for a minute there," she kindly answered, extending a hand. "Don't worry, Aurore - everything is back to normal."
"Did I…?" Her eyes widened as she looked around. "Wait- the contest! Mireille!"
"You need me to give her a lift back to the KIDZ+ headquarters?" Cat Noir offered.
"Thank you, Chaton," she answered warmly with a smile before turning back to the befuddled blonde. "Are you okay? Do you need someone to vent to?"
"I…" Aurore hesitated, then her shoulders drooped. "I'm just… I've been wanting to win this contest forever. Ever since I was a little kid, I've dreamed of being a weather woman." With a soft sigh, she admitted, "I'm not even mad at Mireille for winning. I'm just disappointed in myself for losing."
"Hey," Cat Noir chimed in, making the two look up at him. He shifted from foot to foot, an uncomfortable look on his face. "Winning isn't everything, y'know. If all you do is get everything handed to you on a silver platter, it'll make the rare event of getting second place all the more sour. So you lost this time; big deal. Now you've got a bigger motivation to win next time, right?"
Aurore fell silent, contemplating his words as her ocean-blue eyes darted to the ground.
"Y'know what? You're right," she finally answered with a determined expression on her face. She looked back into the eyes of the heroes and struck a pose, grabbing her discarded parasol off the ground. "I'm gonna make my comeback next year for sure! Nobody can temper this tropical storm, not even Mireille!"
"That's the spirit!" Ladybug cheered, giving her a high-five. "Good luck, Aurore - we'll be rooting for you!"
"Whew," Marinette breathed as she flopped onto her bed, the little kwami not far behind. "What a day."
"I'll say!" Squeaked the little god with a beaming grin. "You did amazingly for your first day as a hero, Marinette! I'm very proud of you."
"By the way, what was all of that?" Sitting up, she fiddled with the studs in her ears, camouflaged as little onyx stones. "Akumas, the Miraculous - I just don't get it. Who's Hawkmoth, and what does he want with my earrings?"
Tikki's face turned grave. "The Miraculous are an ancient set of artifacts crafted under the watch of the kwami ourselves, magical items which are meant to grant their wielder access to the power we possess. We're far too powerful to act on our own - for example, Plagg, the kwami of Destruction, my opposite, has the power to destroy this entire planet if he wanted to."
Marinette leaned back and sucked in a horrified breath. "You mean to tell me there's a kwami out there that could destroy the world… just because he felt like it?!"
The ladybug kwami gave a little giggle, rolling her eyes. "These days he's too preoccupied with cheese to care about anything concerning world domination, so I think we'll be fine for now."
"So… so what next? There's a kwami out there that lets someone turn people into superpowered monsters?" She waved her hands around for emphasis.
"Well, yes, but it's not by his choice."
"Huh?"
"You see, although we hold power immeasurable to that of humanity, we kwami aren't evil creatures by nature. Not even Plagg, that lazy old housecat. Despite being all-powerful, we're bound to the items we inhabit - and should we fall into the wrong hands, well…" Gesturing to the window, she added, "You get things such as akumas."
"So Hawkmoth has the power to rule the world if he wanted to?" Marinette rested her chin atop her knees, brow furrowed in concern.
"Not necessarily. Although the Butterfly Miraculous has the power to bestow power on others - their Champions, as they're called - the Ladybug Miraculous has the power to counteract that. You have the power to purify akumas, Marinette - and it's a power I don't speak of lightly. Creation is a dangerous element to hold in your hands, and should you misuse it…" Tikki paused. "Well, I don't think I have to remind you how untamed things can quickly overpower."
"Wow…" the thirteen-year-old breathed, her voice fading into a yawn. "That's… a lot to think about."
"Sleep on it for now." Tikki pressed a kiss to her chosen's forehead. "You've still got another school day ahead of you, remember? There can be more time for ruminating later."
"Okay," Marinette gave another little yawn and shimmied into bed. When the lamp on her nightstand flickered off, she muttered, "Good night, Tikki."
The little ladybug god couldn't help but smile fondly as she settled on the pillow next to her. "Good night, Marinette."
Whispers abounded today, students pointing and staring as a wary blonde in pigtails slowly made her way through the halls of the school. She paused to hesitantly wave to a few boys, but they just looked away. Girls sneered at her, daring her to react, and she shrank away from the glares, fidgeting with her parasol before hugging it close to her chest.
Aurore Beaureal was lying in the rubble, and nobody seemed to resist the urge to shovel more gravel on her downed body.
"She actually came to school?"
"I feel so bad for Mireille, can you imagine?"
"I can't believe what kind of sore loser would-"
A sudden hand on her shoulder made her flinch, whirling around to see who it was.
A kind smile greeted her, along with a pair of blue eyes that shone with sympathy.
"Aurore, was it?" The girl asked, before retracting her hand and instead sticking it out before her.
The students lingering in the hall paused.
"What... what do you want?" The blonde murmured, voice trembling from the lump in her throat.
"I thought you would want a friend today," answered the girl gently. Who was this? She faintly recognized the pigtails - was she from the other class...? "Can I walk you to class?"
Aurore stared openly at the hand offered, before her expression twisted and she spat, "I don't need your pity. What are you really after? Do you want to humiliate me even more? Is this a dare? A prank?"
"A friend," the noirette softly corrected. "Why would I want to humiliate you?"
"Because-!" Her voice raised, and several students shrank back in her peripheral. Sickness swirled in her stomach like a gut punch. "Because I... I lost my temper and I attacked everyone for losing the contest. I attacked my friend. Mireille hates me now."
The other pigtailed girl watched as tears welled up in her eyes, a soft sort of sadness in her own as she stuck her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief.
"Here," she said, pushing it into Aurore's hands. "Let's get out of here. People are staring."
"I know." Aurore snapped, dabbing at her eyes gently. Stupid makeup was running already - she'd made sure to use her best concealer, too.
"I'm Marinette." The girl introduced, a hint of a smile aimed at the blonde as she gently grasped her shoulders, steering her through the hall. "And despite how everyone else is treating you... I don't think it was your fault."
"But... but I turned into a monster!" The blonde protested, sniffling as she blew her nose.
"That's not your fault," she insisted.
They were going up the stairs now, but to where? Aurore didn't know.
"Nobody really knows what that was, but it's not your fault for being upset. Everyone gets upset when they lose." Marinette let out a huff of a laugh. "Even me."
Aurore was silent for a few moments.
"Hawkmoth," she finally began.
"Hm?"
"He... he said his name was Hawkmoth," she continued, gripping her parasol tighter. "He said he could help me get revenge. Revenge on Mr. Cataldi for mocking me, revenge on Mireille for embarrassing me..." She swallowed, clenching her eyes shut as another tear dribbled down her face. "And when I took the deal, I... I felt so powerful. Unstoppable. Untouchable. It was addicting. And scary."
Marinette's soothing hand on her shoulder seemed to break her out of her death spiral, and she let out a shaky breath before turning to the frowning girl. "I don't ever want to be that person again. Do you know what it's like? To feel happy that you're hurting your friends?"
A hazy memory surfaced, unbidden.
Marinette's foot scraped across the floor quietly. "... Yeah. I have the feeling."
"I... I just..." Aurore's bottom lip wobbled. "I wish yesterday never happened. I never wanted to hurt my best friend - and now she hates me for attacking her, I just know it."
Marinette's eyes softened, and she patted her shoulder. "That's not true. Mireille is such a kind girl; I'm sure she knew you weren't being yourself. Why don't you go talk to her?"
The blonde looked at the floor, a deep shame spreading across her face. "If I were her... I wouldn't even bother coming in today. Not after she got trapped in an elevator."
Mireille was a soft, timid thing. From what Marinette had seen of her, she seemed nice enough.
"Tell you what." Her voice broke the silence, and Aurore looked back up at her. "I'll explain the situation to her so you can both discuss this at lunch - or if you want to handle it on your own, I'll let her know you want to talk."
"I... I couldn't possibly ask..."
"You're not a monster, Aurore." Her bluebell eyes seemed to harden, and for a moment the taller blonde winced away - but then her lips pressed into a flat line. "You got angry, you made a mistake, but that's not who you are. I know that's not who you are."
"You barely even know me." Her eyes were shiny wet with tears, she knew, but she couldn't bring it in herself to be ashamed enough to wipe them away.
"The Aurore I've seen is a kind, loyal social butterfly who would never backstab her friends." Her hand squeezed the blonde's shoulder. "Don't ever listen to what he told you - or what others try to paint you as. You know who you are, and your friends know who you are. It's not up to you to dictate what other people say or think. Your only job is to keep being you."
Aurore sniffled once more, nodding her head weakly as she dabbed at her eyes again. "S- sorry about the handkerchief..."
"I've got ten more at home." Marinette shrugged her shoulders, joking, "What can I say? You can never lose too many of them."
The two girls laughed, Aurore's weak and shaky.
"I'm Marinette," the noirette repeated, holding out a hand to shake. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
The blonde looked at her hand once more, before finally, a genuine smile crept up her face. She grasped it and shook. "Aurore Beaureal."
A/N: A bit Marinette-heavy, but I've been dying to introduce Tikki and Cat Noir. I took great pleasure in Ladybug's opening line - in case you couldn't tell, I grew up watching Sailor Moon and Magical Doremi. What's the harm in making her a bit of a hero geek too? I based her off of her PV appearance, but with an altered outfit of course (C'mon, she's Marinette! Give her a more stylish outfit already!)
Please tell me what you thought!