Hey guys, here's the second chapter of Miraculous: Rise of Vesperia. As I said in the previous chapter, this is an alternate universe and mostly won't be following canon. Anyway, on with the story.
It was another day at the local middle school, around lunchtime. Marinette was sitting at her usual table with her friends, mainly the girls Alya, Rose, Juleka, Alix, and Mylene. That's when blue-haired girl spoke.
"So, you know that new girl Zoé?" she asked her friends.
"Yeah," they all replied.
"What about her?" Alya asked.
"Well, she's been here a month now I've never seen her hang out with anyone," Marinette said.
"Me neither. I don't think she has any friends," Alya added.
"That's so sad…" Rose said with a small pout, feeling bad.
"Maybe we can change that," Mylene chimed in.
"There she is right now," Juleka pointed in the direction the blonde girl was coming from.
"Hey, Zoé!" Marinette called out to her, getting her attention, "Wanna have lunch with us?"
Zoé pointed to herself. Marinette replied with a smile and a nod. A faint blush briefly filled Zoé's cheeks before she walked over to the shared table, taking a seat next to Marinette, opposite of Alya.
"Girls, this is Zoé. Zoé, these are my friends, Alya, Alix, Rose, Juleka, and Mylene," Marinette introduced everyone to each other.
"Hey," all the girls said in unison.
"Hi," Zoé greeted them.
"So, where are you from, Zoé?" Marinette asked.
"What brings you to Paris?" Alya chimed in.
"I'm from New York. And I'm here because… Well, let's just say I didn't have much of a choice," Zoé said rather vaguely.
"So, what're you in to?" Alix asked.
"I like to skateboard. Although I'm more of a casual skateboarder," Zoé said with a small shrug.
"Ok, she's piqued my interest," Alix thought with a small smile.
"I also like to—"
The blonde girl was cut off by the lunchroom doors slamming open. In came a girl with orange hair and glasses.
"Bow down, peasants," the girls said.
"Oh, great, it's Sabrina…" Alix muttered with slight annoyance.
"Which can only mean—"
"Make way for your hero. Your Queen Bee…" Sabrina stepped aside to gesture to a blonde girl with blue eyeshadow, "Chloe!"
Chloe wore a black and white striped shirt under a yellow jacket, white pants, and white slip-ons.
Everyone at Marinette's table groaned. Well, everyone except Zoé that is. Zoé furrowed her brows. She remembered when they first met.
[Flashback]
Zoe stood in a certain room at her new home of Le Grand Paris. Her arms were folded as she looked down with an upset look. In came Chloe.
"So, you're Zoé…" Chloe started, "Blonde hair, blue eyes," she examined the girl up and down, "Yeah, I can see the family resemblance. I'm still surprised at the whole thing. Mom hadn't told me until now that I even had a sister."
"Of course she didn't. That woman only cares about one person, and that's herself…" Zoé thought to herself.
"So, what brings you to Paris?" Chloe asked.
"My dad can't be with me anymore. I don't have any other relatives on my dad's side—at least not in America—so, I have no choice but to live here with you and our… mother," Zoé said, saying that last word bitterly, like it was a poison in her mouth.
Chloe looked at her again, this time at her clothing.
"Well, you should be lucky to have such a fashionista for a mom. Those rags you call clothes are just ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," Chloe scoffed, causing Zoé to furrow her brows, "Your daddy must have—"
"Choose your next words carefully," Zoé cut her off with a stern tone and glare to match, "Otherwise, you'll wish you were still an only child."
The two sisters continued to stare each other down.
[End of Flashback]
Chloe walked through the lunchroom, Sabrina walking beside her, carrying her stuff like the servant she was. The two glanced at each other.
"Zoé," Chloe spoke.
"Chloe," Zoé replied.
"I see you're having lunch with Dupain-Cheng and her loser friends," Chloe said mockingly.
"And I see you're about to have lunch with your lameass lapdog," Zoé countered.
"Ooh!" the girls sang in unison.
"Whatever. See you at home," Chloe said, walking away.
"At home?" Juleka repeated.
"Wait, Zoé, are you and Chloe…" Marinette started.
"Sisters? Yeah. I mean, we're only half-sisters on our "mother's" side, but yeah," Zoé informed them.
"Well, for what it's worth, we already like your more than Chloe," Alix said.
"Thanks," Zoé smiled.
"So, Zoé, Kitty Section is performing later tonight," Rose pulled out a flyer.
"Kitty Section?" Zoé cocked an eyebrow, taking the flyer into her hands, the flyer showing an image of Rose, Juleka, and two boys dressed in cat outfits.
"It's a band started by me, Rose, our friend Ivan, and my brother Luka," Juleka informed her.
"We'd oh so love it came to our showed up," Rose said in her usual sweet tone.
"For real?" Zoé asked, Rose and Juleka nodding in response. She had never been invited to a concert before… or anything else for that matter. It could be fun, "I'll take it into consideration," she replied.
"Here's your dog, ma'am," Zoe said, hand a little pug back to its own which was an old lady, "She got a good number of steps in and used the bathroom without any problems," she informed her.
"Oh, thank you, Zoé. Here you go," the old lady handed her a few bills.
"Thanks. See ya," Zoé said as she walked away, "Sweet. Things are coming along nicely," she said while counting her money.
[Flashback]
Zoé exited the hotel and hopped onto her skateboard as she rode to the closest pizza place. Being a superhero, fighting crime and using her powers tended to burn calories. Plus, pizza was her favorite food.
Sometime later, she was in range of a pizza parlor. She could smell it from here. However, out of the corner of her eye, something else caught her eye. She stopped in front of what was bike shop. It sold not only bikes, but scooters, rollerblades, and skateboards as well. Behind the window was an electric skateboard. Unlike those shitty so-called "hoverboards" that only went 2-5 mph, these things went up to 20 mph. Zoé eyes went wide and twinkled with delight. But the delight diminished when she saw the price. Let's just say the price would've been WAY lower if she were buying it in America. Zoé, however, was not deterred.
"It will be mine!" She said with a grin.
[End of Flashback]
Zoé whistled a tune to herself as exited the elevator, ready to head out of the hotel.
"Oh, Zoé," a voice caught her attention, stopping her. Her turned her head to see her stepfather, Andre, the mayor of Paris, "I was wondering if you could do me a little favor."
"Sure, what is it?" Zoé replied.
"Your mother's birthday is coming up. I got her a lovely necklace with her name engraved on it and I need you to go pick it up at the jeweler," he told her.
Zoé inhaled deeply through her nose, "No problem…" she said with a feign smile.
"Excellent. Thank you, Zoé," Andre said.
"Thanks," Zoé said while exiting the jewelry store.
Zoé opened the case containing the necklace. The jewelry in question was gold with a huge pendant containing a large diamond. On the back of the pendant was her mother's name engraved on it. Seeing her mother's name made her roll her eyes and groan. Pulling out her phone, she checked the time.
"It's almost time for Kitty Section's concert," she said to herself then looked at the necklace, "Eh, I can drop the necklace off later," she shrugged, putting the jewelry in her hoodie pocket before running off.
Zoé arrived at her destination, but was taken back a bit at where the concert was located.
"A boat house?" Zoé questioned with a mutter.
"Hey Zoé," she heard a familiar voice. She turned her head to see Marinette and Alya walking towards her, the sight of blue-haired girl making her blush.
"Oh, hey Marinette, hey Alya," Zoé greeted the two of them, "So, this is where Kitty Section is performing, huh?"
"Yep," Marinette nodded.
"Not only that, it's also where Luka and Juleka live," Alya chimed in.
"Well, we better get going. They're probably going to start any minute," Zoé said, the three of them then boarding the ship. Someone bumped into her but she shrugged it off.
Zoé was surprised at how many people were here. Granted, most of them were kids from her and Marinette's classes, but still, it was a huge turnout. Kitty Section must've been a popular band, even if it was just amongst their peers at school. Even the internationally famous teen model, Adrien Agreste was there. There was one person there though that Zoé wasn't expecting to see there.
"Chloe?" Zoé said with surprise.
"Oh. Hey…" Chloe replied.
"What're you doing here? Wait, you like Kitty Section?" Zoé asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk.
"Pfft! Of course not," Chloe replied with a roll of her eyes, "I'm just here to support my Adrikins," she swooned, looking over her shoulder at the blonde-haired male model who was the occasional keyboard player for the band, "I couldn't care less about the band, but as long as Adrien is happy and having fun, I can at least tolerate it," she said, smiling at him from a distance.
"So, my sister does have a softer side…" Zoé thought with a small smile.
"And don't even think about trying to take him from me," Chloe told her sister, jabbing her in the chest.
"Trust me, Chloe, you won't ever have to worry about taking Adrien away from you," Zoé responded, lightly smacking her sister's hand away, and then added in a thought, "Or any guy for that matter…"
"Excellent," Chloe smiled.
"Hello, Paris!" everyone heard Rose say through the mic, "Glad you could join us tonight. We are Kitty Section and we're here to get you pumped. Let's rock!" Rose shouted, throwing up the rock n' roll devil horns.
"Let's not," a voice said as the amp was unplugged.
Everyone turned their attention to none other than Adrien's father, the internationally famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste. Or at least his face displayed on a tablet. The one that actually pulled the plug was his assistant, Nathalie, who was holding the tablet.
"Nathalie? Father?" Adrien looked at the two in surprise.
"Adrien, you have a commercial shoot in the morning. The last thing we need is you being tired from performing all night," Gabriel told him.
"But, Father, you said it was alright for me to perform with my friends," Adrien replied.
"Change of plans," Gabriel countered.
"But, Father—"
"Adrien, you will do as I say!" Gabriel shouted, cutting his son off.
"Yes, Father…" Adrien replied with a hang of his head, walking towards the limo.
"Mr. Agreste, you can't do this," Rose said.
"We've been rehearsing for weeks," Juleka chimed in.
"I will decide what is best for my son. He does not need to be wasting his talents on such trivial matters. Least of all on a pathetic, talentless band," Gabriel said.
Nathalie then walked away, tablet in hand.
"Way harsh, dude," Nino muttered.
There was a brief pause before they heard the limo carrying Adrien drive away. A minute passed before Chloe spoke.
"Well, I only came to this thing because Adrien was here, but since he's gone, so am I," Chloe said as she too walked away.
Rose clenched her chest in what appeared to be emotional pain.
"I'm so sorry, guys," Marinette told the band.
"Wait, can't you perform without Adrien?" Zoé asked.
"We could, but…" Luka stared.
"It wouldn't be the same…" Juleka finished, lightly patting Rose's back in a comforting manner as the sweet girl silently cried.
"Damn, I was looking forward to this concert," Zoé commented, "Oh well, I might as well drop off this—" she stopped herself midsentence when she reached into her hoodie pockets and found nothing there. Where was it?
"What's this?" she turned her head when she heard Chloe's voice. Over by the walkway, she saw her sister with the box containing the necklace in her hand, "Ooh, this'll look nice on me," Chloe said, putting the necklace on.
"Oh, come on…" Zoé rolled her eyes.
The blonde skater was about to walk over to her sister, when suddenly, a black butterfly flew inside of Rose's microphone, along with a feather flying into one of the amps. The blonde girl's face turned red with rage as a symbol appeared in front of it.
"Sound Queen, I am Shadow Moth. I am giving you the chance to perform for all of Paris. None shall be able to resist your voice. In return, you shall give me Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculouses," Shadow Moth said in her head.
"They shall all hear my voice!" Rose said sinisterly.
Rose was then cloaked in darkness. When the darkness vanished, she was now a pink cat girl dressed in a black, punk rock-themed jumpsuit. The amp had transformed into a giant tiger that had an amp protruding from its chest.
"So, that's what an akumatization looks like…" Zoé thought.
Sound Queen then leapt into the air, doing a backflip as she landed on the tiger's back.
"Let's do this!" Sound Queen shouted.
With a roar, the tiger jumped off the boat house and ran off into the streets of Paris.
"Whoa," Zoé said.
"Don't worry, Ladybug and Cat Noir will handle this," Alya said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Marinette, I think I forgot my phone at your place. Could you go back and get it for me?" she asked her best friend with a knowing wink.
"Sure thing, Alya," Marinette replied with an understanding nod, "Be right back, everyone!"
Marinette then ran off, leaving the boat house. Zoé looked off in the direction Sound Queen left in, and then in the direction Chloe left in. She needed to get that necklace back, but she also couldn't let people get hurt. Zoé sighed to herself. No one ever said being a hero was easy.
"Well, I'm going to go get something to eat. Be back when this blows over," Zoé said nonchalantly as she walked off the boat.
Once she was far enough, Zoé hid in a nearby ally. She then began to remove her clothes, her superhero costume underneath.
Meanwhile, Sound Queen was riding around on her amp-tiger.
"Good evening, Paris! Get an earful of your Sound Queen!" Sound Queen said into her mic.
Sound Queen screamed into the mic. This in turn caused the tiger to roar as a sonic boom to be released from its amp chest. Windows shattered and citizens held their ears. Sound Queen opened her mouth to sing…
"Hiya!" only to be stopped by a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking her onto her back.
Sound Queen looked up to see, not Ladybug or Cat Noir, but that new superhero. Vesperia.
"Sorry to cut your little show short, but you were making my ears bleed," Vesperia said
Sound Queen growled, turning the dial on her mic. Aiming the object, she sent out sonic boom which hit Vesperia square in the stomach, sending her flying several feet. Vesperia would've hit the ground, were it not for her being caught at the last minute. The next thing she knew, she was set down on the roof of a building. She saw it was none other than Ladybug who saved her.
"You ok?" Ladybug asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Vesperia replied, dusting herself off, "So, you're Ladybug."
"Yeah. And you must be that new hero everyone's been talking about. Vesperia, right?" Ladybug said.
"That's right," Vesperia gave a confirming nod.
"Well, you might want to get out of here. Taking out a few thugs is one thing, but—"
"Look out!" Ladybug was cut off midsentence by Vesperia tackling her, narrowly avoiding another blast from Sound Queen's mic.
"You were saying?" Vesperia asked playfully with a raised eyebrow.
"Nevermind…" Ladybug muttered.
"So, until the cat shows up, I'm your backup," Vesperia said, helping Ladybug up, "Besides…" she clenched a fist, charging it with electricity, "You two aren't the only ones with superpowers."
Vesperia leaped the rooftop, landing on the ground in front of the giant tiger. Reeling her right arm behind her, she formed a softball-sized ball of electricity in her palm.
"You're in for a shock, furball!" Vesperia quipped.
With an underhand throw, Vesperia tossed the electric ball, hitting the tiger beast square in its chest. The giant cat roared in pain.
"You!" Sound Queen pointed the wasp-themed hero, "You hurt my kitty!"
"Pfft! You wish I'd hurt your kitty. And I'm not talking about the tiger," Vesperia countered smugly, "Speaking of kitties, where's Cat Noir? He should've shown up by now," she said before leaping in the air, avoiding an attack from Sound Queen.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Adrien was in his room, watching tv. He switched to the news and saw an akumatized villain terrorizing the city.
"Ladybug needs my help. Plagg, claws out!" Adrien shouted, transforming into his superhero alter ego, Cat Noir.
The cat-themed hero opened the closest window and jumped right out.
Back with Ladybug and Vesperia, the girls were holding their own against Sound Queen.
"The akuma's in her microphone and the amok is in the speaker," Vesperia said while dodging an attack from Sound Queen's mic.
"How do you know that?" Ladybug asked.
"Uh, just a hunch," Vesperia replied, "Now would be as good a time as any to use your lucky charm."
"Right. Lucky charm!" Ladybug shouted, tossing her yoyo into the air, summoning the charm that would help the win, "A sledgehammer?" she questioned.
"Convenient," Vesperia said, "May I?" she held out her hand.
Ladybug handed the sledgehammer to the electric superheroine. Taking a few steps forward, Vesperia used her electric power to levitate the weapon. She spun around in place like a tornado, and then tossed the sledgehammer like a javelin, the electricity adding to the speed and power at which it was thrown. Before anyone could react, the lucky charm hit the giant tiger in the chest, damaging the speaker. That's when the amok floated out of the tiger's body.
Ladybug used her yoyo to capture the amok, purifying it.
"Bye-bye, little feather," Ladybug said as she released the purified feather, the tiger changing back into a stereo speaker, "Now for the akuma."
"You might've gotten rid of my kitty, but defeating me won't be so easy," Sound Queen said.
"Don't be so sure," a voice said. Before she could react, the mic was suddenly knocked out of Sound Queen's hand by a staff, into the air, "Cataclysm!"
Cat Noir leapt into the air, catching the mic with a flip before landing in front of Ladybug and Vesperia. The mic disintegrated instantly, releasing the akuma in the process.
"No more evil doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug shouted with a swing of her yoyo. She threw out her weapon, capturing the butterfly, "Gotcha!" she retracted the yoyo back towards her, "Bye-bye, little butterfly," she said as she released the purified butterfly, "Miraculous Ladybug!" she shouted, tossing the lucky charm in the air.
The ladybugs repaired any and all damage done by Sound Queen and her tiger. Sound Queen then reverted back into Rose.
"Pound it!" all three heroes bumped firsts.
"Hey, you're that new superhero. Vesperia, right?" Cat Noir said.
"Yeah. You must be Cat Noir," Vesperia replied.
"The one and only. It's a pleasure to meet you," Cat Noir took Vesperia's hand and kissed it.
"Uh, thanks…" Vesperia said, awkwardly pulling her hand away. Why do European guys do that? She never understood that "Well, it was nice working with you. Hope we get to again sometime. See ya," she said before leaping into the air, leaving via the rooftops.
As she leaped across the rooftops in search of a place to change back into her regular clothes, she spotted someone. As fate would have it, she saw her sister Chloe coming out of a store, carrying several bags of clothes. Well, her lackey Sabrina was carrying the bag of clothes for her.
"If Adrien wasn't taken away, I probably would've stayed at the concert. But since he was, why bother?" Chloe said as she and Sabrina walked together.
"What about Zoé? Wouldn't that have been a good time to bond with your sister?" Sabrina asked.
"Half-sister," Chloe corrected, "And what's the point in trying to bond with a relative I didn't even know I—AHH!" the spoiled rich girl jumped when none other than Zoé landed right in front of her, "Where did you come from?" she asked with shock.
"Oh, just in the neighborhood," Zoé shrugged nonchalantly. She looked at the jewelry that hung around her sister's neck, "Hey, that's a nice necklace."
"Thank you. I found it near that boathouse thing," Chloe said, touching the item with her fingertips.
"I bet the person that lost it is missing it right about now," Zoé said.
"Hmph. Finders' keepers," Chole turned up her nose at that, "Besides, gold? Diamonds? It could be worth a lot of money," she added.
Zoé smirked deviously, "Not unless pyrite and cubic zirconia skyrocketed in value."
Chloe blinked, confused.
"The gold and diamonds are fake," Zoé clarified.
"Eww!" Chloe removed the necklace in disgust, "Here, you take it. Get it far away from me!" she tossed it to her sister, who caught it with one hand.
"You got it, sis. See you at home," Zoé said, putting the necklace in her hoodie pocket. As she walked away, she chuckled to herself and thought, "Too easy…"
Moments Later…
Everyone had returned to the boathouse, Kitty Section having comforted Rose for a bit.
"You ok now, Rose?" Marinette asked in a caring tone.
"Mm-hm," Rose nodded, "I just wish we could perform all of our songs."
"Well, don't you have songs that don't involve the keyboard?" Zoé asked.
"We have two," Luka replied.
"Well, just play those," Alya told them.
"Yeah, dudes. We don't mind," Nino chimed in.
The bandmates looked at between each other and nodded. Several minutes in, everybody enjoyed the music that was playing. Even Zoé, who was drinking punch near a table.
"Hey Zoé. Are you having a good time?" Marinette asked, standing beside her.
"Yeah, they're not half bad," Zoé replied, taking a sip of her drink.
"Glad to hear it," Marinette smiled, "You don't always have to be alone. If you want, you can always hang out with us," she offered.
"I'd like that," Zoé smiled.
As Marinette went to join her other friends, Zoé couldn't help but blush. That Marinette. She certainly was a great girl.
Zoé entered the hotel, drinking a bottle of soda.
"Hello, mademoiselle Zoé," Armand greeted her.
"S'up, Armand," Zoé replied with a two-fingered salute as she walked by.
"Hello, Zoé," her stepfather greeted her.
"Hey," she greeted back, "Here's the necklace you wanted me to pick up. If you're wondering where the box is, it fell out of my pocket and someone stepped on it," she half lied.
"It's alright. I appreciate you doing this for me, Zoé," Andre said, placing a hand on his stepdaughter's shoulder.
"Anytime," Zoé smiled.
"Anyway, I heard you were interested in getting an electric skateboard. As thanks for running this errand for me, allow me to buy it for you," he offered.
"I appreciate the offer, Anax, but my dad always told me it's better to earn the things you want rather than just have it handed to you," Zoé replied, kindly declining said offer.
"Hm. Your father sounds like he was a good man," Andre smiled.
"He was. The best…" Zoé said with a small smile.
"How much do you have saved up for it so far?" Andre asked.
"About half so far," Zoé gave a small shrug.
"I've heard how much the staff adores you and how much you've been helping them out. At least let me get you a step closer," Andre offered, handing her a hundred bucks, "Consider it a thank you for the help."
"Thanks, Anax," Zoé said while taking the money.
Zoé stepped into her room and sat at the foot of her bed. She pulled out her phone, looking at the screensaver, one of the images of her with her dad…
A few tear drops fell onto the screen. Zoé held the phone close to her chest as she fell back onto her side, sobbing as she curled up in the fetal position.
And that's the end of this chapter. I had help with this chapter from my friend I Write Big.
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