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Once upon a time, in a plane of reality unperceivable by the mind of a mortal, a race of godlike metaphysical beings lived, each the embodiment of a major aspect of the universe, birthed when their concept was first executed and fated to perish when that concept dies. These beings, named Quamis, roamed their realm, unable to interact with the physical world or the mortals that lived within. That was until a human mage found a way to not only anchor a Quami to the physical realm, but to also harness the Quami’s energy in a method that allowed mortals to access it, albeit a percentage of it. This process was completed with several Quami, linking them to magical jewels known as the Miraculous. These jewels were used by heroes throughout history for the greater good, however, there were rare times in which one or more of these jewels fall into the wrong hands. In these cases, the threat level is inconceivable. Especially when said jewel is a little…..purple….butterfly-
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“AGH!” an old Chinese man by the name of Fu jolted awake in the middle of a cold Paris night. His breaths were quick and heavy as he gripped the side of his mattress with one hand and his chest with the other. As his breaths slowed he raised his other hand to his shirt and quickly unbuttoned his Hawaiian shirt, revealing the burning bright chinese kanji on his chest. “This can’t be happening.”He scurried off of his bed and speed-walked down the hallway of his humble abode/massage parlor, muttering, “No, no, no, no-” When Fu reached a certain door, he reached up into what hair he had left and pulled out a small, uniquely shaped key that he pushed into the door’s key fob. He twisted the key before pushing the door open, walking straight into what looked like a small, mystic workshop, containing several desks, benches, odd tools, and unidentifiable substances in vials, adorned by burgundy red decor that carried the same kanji branded onto Fu’s chest.Fu pulled open a steel shelf, plunging his hand inside and frantically rummaging around in it before pulling out a small compact box. He opened it, revealing a small black-stringed bracelet with a forest green clasp with the shape and pattern of a turtle shell. He slipped the bracelet on, and almost immediately, the clasp glew a vibrant green, and a shimmering ball of green light arose from it.Along with the sphere came a peaceful, assuring tune as the ball began to change shape. A voice emerged from the light, “Be not afraid, mortal, for you are safe. I am the embodiment of preservation, and you-oh.” the light shed away in a blink, revealing a small, 4-inch tall being with the dominant features of a turtle and a beige and forest green color scheme, “It’s you.”The being crossed it’s tiny arms and asked, “What did you fuck up now, Fu?”If it were any other day, the man would be annoyed, but he had more important things to worry about now. “Wayzz, my sigil just went off, did you get a transmission from Nooroo?”“Nooroo? He’s been inactive for years, if someone found his Miraculous, I’d have gotten a transmission by n-” Wayzz’s dismissive response was interrupted when his eyelids were snapped open, and rings of blue spread throughout his round eyeballs, fading away just as fast as they appeared. Wayzz took a deep breath, saying, “Well, I got the transmission.”Fu clutched the side of his head, saying, “This can’t be, I thought I had more time.”“Assuming you had time was one of your many, many mistakes.” Wayzz snarked.The old man looked up at the being with a glare, saying, “Not the time, Wayzz. I need to transform and retrieve the Miraculous before it’s used haphazardly, or worse, for evil purposes.”Wayzz looked Fu up and down before asking, “You sure you want to do that?”“Positive.” Fu stated as he entered an ancient position, channeling the might of all those that came before him, feeling the energy race through his body and enter his wrist as the green turtle bracelet on his arm began to glow. He raised his arm in the air with intent, exclaiming, “Wayzz, Armor U-”However, Fu seemed to forget that he is ancient himself, so right before he could finish the phrase, one of his hamstrings disintegrated, every single one of his muscles ached, his hair somehow got greyer, his spine dulled, and another tooth fell out. Fu fell to the ground in pain.“Wow, if only someone had tried to warn you.” Wayzz said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He continued, “You should’ve known with how old you are, you’re not in the right state to transform.”“I’m only 186, that’s practically a toddler compared to my ancestors.” Fu responded as he slowly pulled himself up to his feet.Wayzz rolled his eyes before asking, “So, what’s your plan now?”“I…” the old man paused. Not one inch of his body wanted to admit that he didn’t know where to go from here.That was when a feminine voice arose from an unseen source, “I have an idea.”“What?!” Fu whipped in the direction of the voice, only to see nothing.“Ah, yeah, I agree.” a raspier male voice came from the other side of the room. Fu turned in the direction of that voice, and saw nothing once more.“I thought those two entered a millenia-long slumber.” Fu said aloud, backing up.Wayzz reminded, “Time isn’t as linear for us as it is for you.”Fu backed up until he collided with a nightstand carrying a music box. He turned around to see the top of the music box slowly opening like a hatch, small streaks over pink and gray dancing across the buttons in the front of it. The music box opened up, and a large, black, hexagonal box with scarlet ancestral symbols drawn across it elevated out of the space. The box opened by itself, revealing several pieces of jewelry in their own compartments, however, the most important were a pair of earrings and a ring that each glew vibrant colors as they began levitating.“Oh…shit.” Fu said as he realized exactly what he had to do.
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“Marinette, your alarm has been going off for 15 minutes! You’re going to be late for school!”The scream yanked a young, blue-haired girl by the name of Marinette Dupain-Cheng out of her slumber. She quickly scrambled out from beneath her sheets with a yell of, “Coming, mom!”In her haste, she immediately slipped off of her bed and went plummeting to the floor. Fortunately for her though, she’d gone through this hundreds of times, so she just enacted an epic superhero landing and completely mitigated the fall damage. She sprung up to her feet and told herself, “Just a little setback. Everything’s gonna be okay.”She turned and walked towards her closet, only to immediately trip on the leg of her swivel seat and fall on her face. “Ow.”Marinette didn’t stay down for long, springing back up to her feet and walking to her closet. She reached into her closet, where five outfits hung in a line, each one labeled by a different day of the week. She grabbed Monday’s outfit and pulled the doors closed.One shower, combing of the rogue heart-shaped strand of hair on her dome, and a getting-dressed montage later, Marinette made her way downstairs, where her mother, Sabine, stood at the stove. “Good morning, Mari-oh. What’s this from?” Sabine asked as she noticed the new bandage on Marinette’s forehead.“Oh, just tripped on my chair. I’ll be fine.” Marinette explained nonchalantly as she sat down. She began assembling her breakfast of milk, chocolate powder and…wow, okay, that’s it.Her mother shook her head and said, “You have to be more careful, Marinette. One of these days, you’ll give yourself brain damage.”Marinette was about to respond as she placed the canister of powder down. Unfortunately, she applied two more kilonewtons than necessary, triggering a sequence of events that resulted in the stovetop setting ablaze. Marinette and Sabine simply deadpanned before pulling out their fire extinguishers.
Four minutes and an impromptu fire extinguishing later…
The bluenette was finally enjoying her breakfast as Sabine wiped foam off of the oven. Sabine suddenly looked hesitant about something before asking, “So, got any big plans for the school year?”“Mmhmm, I’ve got a new study plan for the weekdays, and I’m starting to understand chemistry even though it was my weakest subject, I’ve heard my new science teacher is kind of strict, though, so I’m thinking I should get back in contact with my old tutor-” Marinette’s ramblings were interrupted when her mother raised a hand up.“No, I meant, like, socially.” Sabine clarified slowly.Marinette blinked. “I don’t follow.”Sabine sighed and continued, “Marinette, you’re a bit of a…lone wolf. You’re friendly with a lot of people but you don’t have many friends.”“I have Bridgette!” Marinette retorted.“Who you can only talk to once a week.” Sabine recalled.“Nathaniel?”“Who?”Her mother shook her head before saying, “Look, Marinette, I was just thinking that maybe you could try to connect with your peers more this year, make some more friends, maybe branch out from this…plan of yours?”“Ha! No way! When I branch out from the plan, that’s when bad things happen. Besides, no one wants to be friends with me, remember? They don’t want to end up in Chloe’s line of fire.” Marinette stated. She then groaned and continued, “Ugh, Chloe! She’s going to be in my class again this year for sure.”“Are you sure, Marinette? This would be the fourth year in a row, I don’t think that’s likely.” Sabine chuckled.Marinette rolled her eyes. “It’s Chloe, Mom. She’s like, obsessed with me or something. I’m pretty sure she bribed the principals to keep herself in my classes. She can’t even leave me alone for a second.”Sabine frog-blinked as a group of dots circled above her head, dots that started to adopt a color scheme of orange, white, and pink. She then shook her head and hugged her daughter from behind, saying, “Well, whatever happens, I know my smart little girl will get through it.”“Aww, thanks, Maman.” Marinette responded with a smile.The stovetop then lit on fire again.“Oh, come on!”“We just put that out!”
Five minutes and another fire extinguishing later….
Marinette made her way to the downstairs bakery, where her father, Tom, greeted her with a spin and handed her a cute pink box. Marinette opened it and saw the collection of unique macarons within. “Dad, these are so awesome!” she exclaimed excitedly.“Glad you like them, sweetie.” Tom responded with a proud smile.A proud smile that dropped when Marinette said, “I can totally win my teachers over with these.”Tom awkwardly said, “Well, actually, I was thinking maybe you could give them out to your classmates? Maybe, I don’t know, make some friends through pastries?”Marinette crossed her arms and said, “First mom, and now you, Dad? It’s like you two rehearsed this.”Tom and Sabine shared a look that did not go unnoticed by their daughter.“You two rehearsed this, didn’t you?”“Yeah.”“Yep.”Marinette sighed and said, “Look, guys, I’ll be fine. I always have a plan and friends…just don’t fit into it. I mean sure, maybe I can make them fit but I’d rather just go with my own flow, you know?”“I mean, I guess.” Tom said. Sabine seemed reluctant but she eventually nodded.“I promise, I’ll be good. I appreciate the concern, though, swear.” Marinette said. She kissed both her parents on the cheek before saying, “I have to head to school, now, see you in a few hours! Love you!”Her parents smiled and waved for her as she walked out of the bakery door. As she made her way down the street, her parents’ words began to pop back up in her mind. A small part of her was won over by their plights, but every other part of her proceeded to scream that part down. Unfortunately for them, this story is a musical, so it didn’t take long for Marinette’s feelings to burst through her mouth in the form of lyrics.
🎵What I could if I believed in me🎵
She continued forward as the orchestral instrumental arose from an unseen source.
🎵Maybe today, I’ll find a way, my dreams will set me free🎵
In her inner conflict, she almost bumped into a construction worker who proceeded to curse at her and then catcall her, as construction workers do.
🎵I can’t make up my mind, always getting left behind🎵
She soon found herself caught in a crowd, who completely ignored her existence as she struggled to push herself between them.
🎵What I could be~🎵
Marinette managed to force her way out of the crowd with a twirl full of wonder-
🎵If I believed in me~🎵
-and then immediately crashed into a telephone pole.
🎵What would it be like?🎵
The girl questioned after she was handed a cup of coffee by a barista and noticed a group of teenagers leaving the cafe, chatting like the friends she wished she had.
🎵To live somebody else’s life?🎵
Marinette envisioned herself in their group, laughing along with them. She went to try and follow them, and almost made it out the door before bumping into one of the employees. She backed up out of the building.
🎵Those daydreams don’t last, and the all fall apart-🎵
She accidentally backed into a truck carrying wine barrels, and her elbow smacked into the unloading button. She looked up just in time to see the truck panel falling down.
🎵pretty fa-aaast~🎵
Marinette sprinted down the road, being chased by a line of angry rolling barrels.
🎵The merchants arrive, they know exactly how and why🎵
The girl walked down a wide staircase where merchants and street-performers stood wall-to-wall with their stands beside them, serving and entertaining customers.
🎵They do what they do, I wish that could be true for me too🎵
She spun out onto the sidewalk before mysteriously attaining a pink bicycle for the sole purpose of this musical number.
🎵What I could be if I believed in me🎵
Marinette sang as she pedaled across a bridge, the bundle of balloons tied to the back of the bike she definitely didn’t steal swaying in the wind.
🎵Maybe today, I’ll find a way, and everyone will see🎵
She continued as she came to a halt, the sun shining on her figure and a flock of conveniently placed pigeons flying past her.
🎵The colors in my mind🎵
She compulsively sketched suits and dresses she thought would look good on the strangers she passed.
🎵All the shapes and the designs, they’d be set free🎵
Marinette held her sketchbook to her chest as she continued.
🎵If I believed in me~🎵
The girl passed by another cafe and her eye caught a couple people she recognized, they were her classmates from last school year! And it seemed they noticed and recognized her too, and started trying to wave her over.
🎵I smile and wave🎵
She almost went over too, but then she dove behind a car, the self-doubt and diffidence taking over her body.
🎵But never know the words to say🎵
She took deep breaths before scuffling behind the row of cars and standing up at the end of the sidewalk.
🎵I just know, I’d be so out of place🎵
She stopped in front of a glimmering white dress displayed in glass casing, the banner above it advertising it as a Gabriel Original. She reached out and touched the glass, wondering aloud.
🎵But how would it feel, to make all of my daydreams real? To discover that fate?🎵
Her hand drifted down to her sketchbook, and she opened it to see a slightly similar dress on the first page.
🎵But the moment I act, it’s to late~🎵
The pages of her sketchbook shimmered with gold light as the wind picked up and rapidly turned them all. Gold dust arose from between the pages, and Marinette’s fantasy took over, the instrumental becoming grander as the vibes of Marinette’s lyrics changed.
🎵Is this a new day?🎵
The gold dust surrounded a pair of passerbys, putting one in a unique, single-breasted suit and the other in a corresponding ball gown.
🎵Maybe they’ll all see🎵
Compelled by the power of musicals, the pair began slow-dancing. Marinette’s sketchbook levitated out of her hands, the pages still rapidly flipping.
🎵I can stand proudly🎵
Marinette reached for the book with a smile, but it playfully dodged her before flying around her and blasting off into the sky.
🎵Cus’ I believe in me~Oh-ooh🎵
A pink glow overtook the sketchbook and circled the Eiffel Tower before exploding into rose fireworks. With a growing smile, Marinette continued as the city around her was covered in white clouds, and everyone she could see wore fashionable clothing straight from her imagination.
🎵What I would see if I believed in me🎵
Gigantified pages from her sketchbook formed a staircase that she walked straight up, taking in the way the environment had changed.
🎵Maybe today, I’ll find a way, my dreams will set me free🎵
🎵I will make up my mind, I won’t shy away this time🎵
She reached the top, where a platform of white clouds awaited her.
🎵What I could be, if I believed, in meee~🎵
She finished the song with a spin, at which point the musical environment change faded away, the clouds did the same, and Marinette fell on her ass in the middle of a crowd of people. As they all looked at her, she stood up and sped-walked away.She continued down the road, coming to a stop at the end of the sidewalk as she waited for the light to turn green. As she rhythmically tapped her foot, she saw a short old man walking across the street in her direction, looking a little lost in thought. She looked past him and saw that the light was red and not green. She thought about calling out to him and letting him know that he’s jaywalking, but she ain’t no snitch.She then looked to the left and saw a fucking Cybertruck speeding down the road, DIRECTLY in the path of the old man. Marinette started panicking and tried to get the man’s attention, but it wasn’t working. She then sprinted into the road, grabbed the old man’s arm, and pulled him out of the road just in time to avoid the Cybertruck that sped down the road and immediately exploded, fortunately only taking the life of the dumbass that bought it.“Oh my god, sir, are you okay?” Marinette asked as she checked on the man, ignoring the box of macarons and her purse that’d flung off her body in the rescue.The old man simply blinked at her before muttering, “Shit, I’m going blind.”“Huh?”“I mean, I’m great, miss! Thanks to your quick thinking, of course.” he responded. He looked down and saw Marinette’s belongings on the ground. He said, “Oh no, let me help you with this.”He kneeled down and began to pick up Marinette’s possessions, the girl quickly following suit. As he grabbed Marinette’s purse and the sketchbook that’d slipped out of it, he’d accidentally caught a glimpse of it’s contents. He looked it over with an impressed hum before handing it and her purse back to Marinette, saying, “That is one incredible drawing, young lady.”“Oh, you saw that?” Marinette nervously replied as she scratched the back of her neck, “It’s just a little doodle, nothing special.”The man chuckled before responding, “On the contrary. Don’t be so modest, this is something to be proud of.”“Thank you.” Marinette said with a soft smile. She held out the macaron box to the old man as a silent offer.“Likewise.” the old man said as he carefully opened the box and took a macaron.Marinette then heard a ringing bell and remembered just how close to the school she was. “Gotta go, sir! Try to be more careful, yeah?” The old man nodded and Marinette whipped around and practically sprinted across the road. Fortunately, the light was green.As she sped away though, she could’ve sworn she heard the old man talking to…his bag? Something along the lines of, “Are you serious? She’s just a child.” She didn’t have much time to dwell on it, though.She burst through the front doors, accidentally knocking the janitor out cold. She sprinted to her classroom and practically kicked the door open, relieved to see that she wasn't late. “Nino, why don’t you sit in the front this year?” her teacher, Ms. Bustier suggested. A dark-skinned boy wearing a cap and headphones groaned as he got up and trudged to a seat in the front. Marinette snuck over to her usual seat before Ms. Bustier could exploit her fear of change too, however, the second her gluteus made physical contact with the wooden seat, a blonde girl materialized next to her, looking down upon her with nothing but malice.“Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe spoke coldly.“Ugh, here we go again.” Marinette dejectedly remarked.Chloe leaned down, entering a chin rest as her elbow landed on the table, “I’m going to have to ask you to pick another seat. Sorry not sorry.”“But Chloe, this seat is literally perfect, it’s in the line of a window so I get sunlight, but not too close so I don’t get too much sunlight, it’s close to the door but not too close, it-” before Marinette could finish her rambling, she was lifted into the air. She exclaimed, “What the hell?!”“Don’t care, didn’t ask. New seat time for you.” Chloe’s sidekick, Sabrina, said as she held Marinette in the air with her muscle mass and moved her away from her chosen seat. Chloe continued and gestured to a girl in the upper right seat, “So why don’t you just go and sit beside that girl over there?”“Oh my god, sure, just put me down, please!” Marinette panickedly spat out. With a smirk of bitchy accomplishment, Chloe gestured to Sabrina and the orange-haired toady dropped Marinette to the floor. Marinette massaged her back as she hissed in pain.Chloe flipped her ponytail and explained, “Listen, no hard feelings, but Adrien Agreste is arriving today, and if that’s going to be his seat, this is going to be my seat.”“Who the hell is Adrien Agreste?” Marinette asked as she slowly got up to her feet.“Ha!” Chloe exclaimed loudly, the sudden shift in volume causing Marinette to stagger back and fall again.“WHY?!”“What rock have you been living under?” Sabrina teased with a laugh.“He’s only the hottest, richest, most famous boy in Paris. And I need a seat above him so I can make sure none of you…undesirables hurt him. So again, sorry not sorry.” Chloe said in a low tone that only Marinette could hear.Marinette looked up at Chloe with uncaring silence. After not getting the reaction she wanted, Chloe said, “Just scram, Dupain-Cheng.”The new girl Chloe had motioned to earlier had had enough, the heroic spirit flaring up within her as she sprung up from her seat and pointed in the direction of the blonde. She exclaimed, “And who made you Queen of Seats?”Sabrina gasped, while Marinette and the rest of the class whipped to her with looks of shock and wariness. Chloe herself, though, only looked amused. She let out a low chuckle and said, “You must be new around here.”The girl stood bravely, although she fought the urge to squirm under the blonde’s almost sadistic gaze. “Yeah, so what?”“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Chloe Bourgeois.” The blonde extended a hand, and not knowing any better, the new girl went to shake it.However, knowing better, Marinette exclaimed, “No!” and grabbed the new girl’s hand before she could shake Chloe’s. The bluenette awkwardly laughed and said, “We’re just gonna get out of your hair.”She practically dragged the new girl back to her seat. Once the two were seated, the girl asked, “What’s their deal?”Marinette responded, “Their deal is that they’re the most popular, and terrifying girls in the school, and you almost got on their bad side. And I say ‘almost’ weakly, you might already be on Chloe’s bad side. She holds a hell of a grudge. Or, at least she holds one against me. She’s literally the daughter of the mayor. And Sabrina’s dad is a cop!”“They don’t look so tough. Over there chuckling and eating macarons.” the new girl said with an eyeroll.“Maybe, bu-wait, eating macarons?” Marinette whipped around to see Chloe and Sabrina eating macarons straight out of the box she brought in. “Ah, they're eating my macarons!”Sabrina scoffed and said, “If they’re so important to you, then have them back.”Chloe haphazardly tossed the macarons in Marinette’s direction and the bluenette clumsily caught it. She opened the box and immediately grimaced. She went, “Damn it, they ate half!”“Why do you let them walk over you like that?” the new girl asked.Marinette let out a sigh and said, “It’s not worth it. They’re too powerful, and taking them on would only screw me over.”The new girl whipped out her phone and showed Marinette a picture of a sexy, musclebound blonde woman from a comic book. “Y’know, Majestia says that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.”“...isn’t that an Edmund Burke quote?”“Yeah, but nobody knows who that guy is and Majestia’s an icon. Lady Gaga plays her in the movie.”“Ooh.”Ms. Bustier, having zoned out during that whole ordeal, snapped back to reality and wrote her name on the chalkboard. “Alright, everyone, I am Ms. Bustier, your new classe principale teacher. Well, new for most of you. I can see some familiar faces.” she began, sending a wink Marinette’s way. Marinette sent her a kind wave before the teacher turned around to write some new information on the board. As she continued, Marinette looked at the new girl, who was focused on the board.Remembering her parents’ words, Marinette sighed and tapped her on the shoulder. She opened the macaron box and sneakily handed her one, whispering, “To thank you for getting Chloe off my back.”“No problem, girl. I’m Alya.” the girl, Alya, whispered back as she took the macaron.Marinette nodded and responded, “Marinette.”Unbeknownst to either of them, Chloe was watching them with a barely concealed sneer. She didn’t like that this new girl was getting friendly with Marinette. What she also didn’t like was that Adrien still wasn’t there. She looked down at what was supposed to be his seat and muttered, “Where is that boy?”
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“Good afternoon, my devoted Parisians, it’s my pleasure to announce this year’s Gabriel Fashion Showcase!”An eccentric voice filled the room as several pot lights shined through the darkness, showering the catwalk with blue-ish purple light. A pop music instrumental played as background noise as the voice continued, “You’ve all been gathered here today to bear witness to designs birthed by the mind of Gabriel Agreste, by his own son, Adrien Agreste!”The music grew in scale as the curtains at the start of the catwalk were pulled apart by wires. The waiting was suspenseful, but a presence could be felt exiting through the curtains, and a humanoid figure shot through the curtains, skating across the catwalk…only to fall directly off the end of it.The pot lights turned off and regular white light filled the room, revealing it as completely empty as a group of suited adults clamoring around the fallen figure, only to realize that it’s a mannequin with an outfit and a poorly drawn face scribbled over it, complete with blonde hair. “What the-?” one of the suited men said as the others devolved into confused chatter. One of the women, however, named Nathalie Sancoeur, knew exactly what just happened.“God damn it.” Nathalie muttered as she turned and walked away from the group, getting herself ready for another chase.You may be asking, where is the young model anyway? Well, that is if you never read the old fic and you’ve never watched Miraculous.Anyway, pedaling with every bit of force his muscle toned legs can exert, the missing Adrien Agreste rode his bike through the streets of Paris, displaying the bicycle proficiency passed down to him by Jennifer Valente. Why he chose a bike when he’s easily rich enough to buy a dirtbike, or a car, or a tank, or a jet, or an airship, we’ll never know.Pursuing him by the second option was his Nathalie, along with his bodyguard, THE GORILLA.As Adrien sharply turned a corner, his pursuers quickly swerved after him, nearly running over a child but only knocking his ice cream out of his hands instead, arguably a fate worse than death. The car matched his pace as it accelerated next to him and the window rolled down. “Adrien, please reconsider! You know what your father wants!” Nathalie exclaimed as Adrien snapped towards her with a determined expression.“This is about what I want! He’s just gonna have to deal with it!” Adrien yelled. THE GORILLA tapped Nathalie on the shoulders from the driver’s seat. Nathalie turned forward to find herself trapped in with all of the lanes full and a taunting red light keeping all of the cars in place. Adrien stuck his tongue out at her before performing an Akira slide so bodacious that words would fail to describe it and then pedaling the other way. Nathalie stuck her head out of the window and yelled, “Adrien!” Her calls landed on deaf ears as Adrien pedaled on.A few miles later, the young model reached where he wanted to go: Lycee Francois Dupont, his day in the sunshine, his taste of normalcy. He could almost feel it dancing across his fingertips. Adrien smiled as he parked his bike against one of the pillars and strided up to the stairs, running a comb through his hair and straightening out his turtleneck to make sure he looked good for all his soon-to-be friends. Halfway up, he heard an elderly voice yelling, “Lā Shǐ!”.The blonde turned to his right and saw an old man with a Hawaiian shirt laying on the ground in the Family Guy injured pose with his cane lying just a few feet in front of him. “Ugh, my spine. One of you fetch my cane, please.” he begged. A series of voices arose from his bag, all saying a variation of “Fuck no.”Adrien was fully prepared to leave the man there, but then his mind flashed back to a conversation he’d had with his mother shortly before her death.
“Adrien, I’m sorry, but, I won’t last much longer. Not like this.” his mother said, cradling the hand of an eleven year old Adrien.
”I know, mother.” Adrien replied solemnly, tears gathering at the ends of his eyes..
His mother had cupped his face, saying, “No, no, don’t cry. Listen, there’s more to you than even you know. You were made out of love; the love between me and your father, and the love I had for the world. Even though I have to leave you all, please, don’t let that love go to waste, Adrien. Spread it into the world, because, frankly, it could use some.” The two softly chuckled at that last part as the flashback ended.
As Adrien was yanked back to the present, he quickly hopped over the guardrail of the outside staircase and ran over to the old man.He picked up the old man’s cane and pulled him to his feet. He could’ve sworn he heard a trio of little voices groan when he did so. “Thank you, young man. I was down there for quite some time.” he admitted gratefully as he leaned on his cane.“No problem, sir. Just try to be more careful, please.” Adrien said with a chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck.The old man chuckled as well, responding, “You’d think with the amount of times I hear that, I’d start listening.” He then gave a respectful nod before turning and walking away.Adrien smiled before turning back around, thinking that if he hurried he could at least get inside the building. That hope was crushed when he collided with the wide chest of THE GORILLA. “Shit!”The bodyguard tossed Adrien over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him back to the car. As that happened, he could’ve sworn he heard the old man whisper-yelling to his bag as he walked away, sounding like, “You only picked a kid because she picked a kid!”Before Adrien could question it, he was set on his feet and ushered into the backseat of the car. He reluctantly pulled his seatbelt down and sat in silence. As soon as THE GORILLA got in the passenger seat, the car started and Nathalie peeled off. The car ride was filled with nothing but quietude. Until halfway through, Adrien asked, “Do you think Father will be mad?”“Your father’s going to be livid.” Nathalie stated bluntly. After a few seconds, though, she continued, “But maybe if you complete this rehearsal, and the subsequent photoshoot, he’ll go easy on you.”“You really think so?” Adrien asked, doubt clear in his voice.“There’s no harm in hoping, Adrien.” Nathalie responded with a sigh.Adrien let out a sigh as the car pulled into the building’s parking lot. Within minutes, Adrien found himself in his dressing room, the door closing behind him as several employees left him alone. He considered pulling the mannequin stunt again, but he knew where that’d get him. And he didn’t want to push Nathalie to her limit…again. So he sucked it up, bottling up his feelings like he’d expertly trained himself to for years.Unfortunately for him, this story being a musical made bottling up feelings impossible.A more pop-influenced version of an old classic instrumental was generated by the narrative as Adrien sat in his swivel seat and sang.
🎵Eleven-AM, the usual morning sightings🎵
Adrien combed his hair, spritzed himself with cologne, and applied his facial cream.
🎵Throw on an outfit, lather in facial cream🎵
He reached for the outfit hanging up on a hanger in the closet and pulled it down, immediately transitioning to the catwalk as he strutted down it. As the suited adults took notes on their clipboards, he continued singing,
🎵Keep a straight face and strut under rainbow lighting🎵
The rehearsal soon came to an end and he handed the outfit, completely folded up, to the nearest person.
🎵Change again, and by then, it’s Eleven-Fifteen🎵
Adrien sang as he checked his watch. He fell backwards, transitioning to his massive bed with a video game case in his hand.
🎵And so I’ll load a game, or maybe two or three🎵
🎵I’ll add a few new manga to my library🎵
He sang as he slid a couple hardcover manga into the large bookshelf in his room.
🎵I’ll shoot a net, play foosball, climb and basically🎵
He fell down from the rock climbing wall in his room onto his couch with a sorrowful expression.
🎵Just wonder, ‘when will my life begin?’🎵
His sulking was interrupted when Nathalie opened his door holding a stack of papers. Adrien groaned and ran a hand through his hair before returning to a calm expression and leaving his room. He transitioned to a set full of fake trees and grass, leaning against a tree as he awaited the flash of a camera.
🎵Had my free time, back to these stupid poses🎵
Several business people with pens and papers shook his hands and spoke to him, but by now it all tended to melt into the same drivel for him.
🎵Thousands of questions, as if I have a choice🎵
He struck another pose, this time smiling at the camera and waving at it as a rain of red roses fluttered down around him. As the cameras flashed rapidly, Adrien continued,
🎵Smile and wave under showers of crimson roses🎵
A rose flew over his eyes and he transitioned to find himself in a chair in a meeting discussing the marketing of his new photos, the others involved in it not even thinking to involve him, as always.
🎵Act unique, never speak over staticky noise🎵
He went to say something but then a pit of darkness opened up beneath him, dragging him all the way back to his bedroom as he continued.
🎵And I’ll replay the games, if I have save slots left🎵
He didn’t.
🎵I’ll reread the manga, they’re still fun I bet🎵
They weren’t.
🎵I’ll wonder how I haven’t just gone crazy yet🎵
He was almost there.
🎵Stuck in the same place I’ve always been🎵
He spun around the center of his massive bedroom, singing.
🎵And I’ll keep wondering, and wondering, and wondering, and wondering!🎵
🎵”When will my life begin?!”🎵
As the musical number came to an end, Adrien plopped down on his couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. Nathalie peeked into the room, and announced, “Adrien, you’re late to lunch with your father.”Adrien groaned for the seventh time that day, not looking forward to facing his father after what he’d done just an hour ago. He internally prayed that his father would get caught up in something business-related, the same thing that happened whenever Adrien actually wanted to eat with his father.
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Things rarely seemed to go Adrien’s way, however, as he soon found himself sitting on the opposite end of the dining table as his father, Gabriel Agreste. The man all but glowered at Adrien, the boy felt like his every move was being studied under his father’s gaze. Adrien kept himself straight and proper, but he was undeniably nervous. He opened his mouth to say something, to try and break the awkward silence, but he was interrupted.“You snuck away from the rehearsal this morning.” Gabriel stated matter-of-factly, like there was no room for debate. The man slowly took a bite of food, his teeth chomping down on the metal of the fork as he dragged the fork between them. His every movement felt so practiced, unnervingly so. After swallowing, Gabriel continued, “Where exactly were you trying to go?”Adrien quickly snapped back to attention and stuttered out a lie, “I saw a new volume of Dragon Bolt came out and I wanted to get a physical copy.”“If that were the case, you could’ve just ordered it online.” Gabriel challenged the claim.The model countered, “I wanted to get it as soon as they hit the stores. They lose value the longer you wait, y’know?”Gabriel hummed before taking a sip from the glass cup of water that sat beside his plate. He sat the cup back down before saying, “Adrien. One of the many traits you inherited from your mother was your intelligence. So I’d expect you to be smart enough to know I wouldn’t fall for a lie like that one.”Adrien sighed before saying, “It was worth a shot.”“Where were you really trying to go?” Gabriel asked once more.“School.” he admitted. Gabriel rolled his eyes, something Adrien swore he hadn’t seen the man do in years.Gabriel sighed. “Again? How many times do I have to tell you, Adrien? You cannot attend public school.”“Come on, father. Why can’t I just go to school like any other kid?” Adrien asked with a groan.“Because you’re Adrien Agreste. Paris’ golden boy, the face of the Agreste brand, and therefore you have an immense target on your back. Even leaving the house without supervision would be putting yourself in incredible danger. Compared to what you’re used to, the world is a dark forest. You’re not like any other kid, Adrien.” Gabriel responded logically.Adrien took a deep breath and said, “But I want to be. I want to go to school like you and mother did, I don’t want to be cooped up in this mansion my entire life. Please, father.”Gabriel narrowed his eyes in deep thought. Then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. “That must be my board of directors. I’ll be seeing you for dinner, Adrien.” Gabriel said as he stood up and strided out of the room, bringing the conversation to an abrupt end.The young model laid his fork down on his plate leaving through the opposite door. Adrien pushed open the door and laid down on his bed, sighing after another failed conversation with his father.He laid with his arms spread out across his gray sheets, staring at the ceiling. He took a breath as he let the air around him drift across his body. The crisp air of the mansion filled his room, undisturbed by any other being but him. Only him. The loneliness began to consume the blonde as thoughts crossed through his head. The silence turned to static as absolute nothingness plagued him. To anyone else, this would be calming, but he was much too used to this feeling to be calmed by it.The silence was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He slipped it out of his pocket and read the Caller ID: “Chloe”.He let out a sigh before pressing answer.
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“I told everyone you were coming here…Damn it, I told you, you should’ve just let somebody drive you…I still don’t know how he hacked a ca-that’s not the point here!” Chloe Bourgeois angrily ranted into her phone in the corner of a hallway.Marinette and her new friend, Alya, watched the debacle from a distance. The latter leaned to Marinette and asked, “What’s got her all worked up?”“I don’t know and I don’t think I want to. I’m off to Physics. See you around? Maybe? Please?” Marinette said before realizing how desperate she sounded. She quickly straightened up and leaned on the wall, saying, “I mean, y’know, if you want to. Your choice. No pressure.”Alya, where most would’ve ran away and never spoke to the bluenette again, just laughed a little and said, “Of course. See you around, Marinette.”As Alya walked away, Marinette pumped her fist. “New friend acquired. Now I don’t have to make any more ever again. As is the way of the world.” she said triumphantly before heading into her Physics class. As soon as she entered the room, Marinette was hit with a familiar combination of Axe Body Spray and pork rinds that she thought she’d never have to smell again. She looked up in the direction of the smell and saw a tall, lean, athletic boy in the back of the classroom; Kim Le Chien.On the list of people Marinette prayed every night of summer that she wouldn’t have to share a class with, Kim was right under Chloe. Because wherever he was, trouble followed. And not because he was unlucky like our navy-haired girl, but because he caused it. Intentionally.Her fears were immediately confirmed as she saw Kim sneaking a note under another boy’s binder while he wasn’t looking. Her first instinct was to let the other boy know lest he find it himself, however, the teacher walked in and started class before she could. Marinette panicked a little bit before somersaulting into her seat and entering a classic ‘acting normal’ position.As the lesson went on, Marientte tapped her fingers on her desk, more focused on worrying about what will happen when that note is found than the actual lesson. She impatiently sat there, waiting and waiting until finally, the bell rang.Marinette immediately whipped around to do something, but her body came to a rigid halt when she saw the absolute BRICK of a student that was Ivan Bruel reading the note Kim left under his binder. What little shadow there was in the room covered the top half of his face as he read it, leaving Marinette to assume the only emotion coursing through the giant was cold, hard rage. As Ivan stood up, Marinette got ready to get the hell out of there before she ended up involved somehow. Yes, she was unlucky enough for that.Meanwhile, as Kim got out of his seat, he was approached by the titan. Even though they were roughly the same height, Ivan towered over Kim, his skull pins and crimson hat adding to his menacing ambience. The shadows were still coating the top half of his face, as if they were afraid to move. The jock wasn’t intimidated, bracing himself for a fight, knowing exactly what he did to deserve this. The boy raised his fist in the air, seemingly preparing to bash Kim’s skull.But instead of that, Ivan put his hand on Kim’s shoulder and politely spoke, “Excuse me, Le Chien Kim, but I simply must inquire with you about the note you left on my desk.”“Huh?” Kim asked, confused.“You see, earlier today, you slipped a note underneath my binder while I wasn’t paying attention, quite the sneaky move, I’ll give you credit there. However, the contents are what worries me.” Ivan pulled out a note and held it up to his face, “the note’s contents read, ahem, ‘You haven’t even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her, pussy boy’. Now, I appreciate your concern at the state of relationship between me and Mylene, however, I do not appreciate the foul language and negative tone portrayed. I kindly request an apology.”“No.”“I must ask you to reconsider.”“No.”“What’s going on over there?” the teacher asked as she arose from her chair.Before Ivan could expose the truth, Kim immediately claimed, “This big guy’s trying to fight me and he’s being way unchill.”“Ivan, you can’t just try to fight the other students!” the teacher scolded.“That is a lie, Mrs. Charpentier, Kim here left a rude note on my desk-” Ivan tried to explain, but the teacher cut him off.“Don’t lie to me, Ivan Bruel.” she said.Ivan held up the note and pointed at the bottom of it. “He literally signed it.”The teacher narrowed her eyes and, in fact, on the bottom of the page was Kim’s full signature, as well as his street and IP address, as well as the words ‘Find me and fight me, bitch’.“I don’t see anything.” the teacher claimed.Before Ivan could say anything else, Kim ripped the note out of Ivan’s hands with his teeth, chewed it to nothingness, and swallowed it like a piece of prime rib. Ivan gaped at the feat, but the teacher had had enough.“I’ve had enough!” she said, indicating that she’d had enough, “Ivan, go to the principal’s office.”“But, I-”“Now.” she interrupted sternly. Ivan sighed before politely squeezing and shuffling his way out of the classroom.A few seconds after he left, Marinette peeked out from under the table and said to herself, “Well, I’m sure that won’t have any lasting repercussions, especially any that affect me directly.” Fate didn’t appreciate Marinette doing the verbal equivalent of flipping it off and punching it’s grandmother.
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Unbeknownst to everyone else, that entire scene was being watched. Watched, by a purple, origami butterfly. As Ivan sullenly walked down the hallway towards the principal’s office, the butterfly followed, its paper mandibles salivating.The beefy student made his way into the principal’s office, only to be met with-“Excuse me, young man, hasn’t anyone ever taught you to knock?” the principal snarked.Ivan paused for a few seconds before saying, “But sir, your door was wide open.”“Nuh uh. Go back outside and try again.” Damocles demanded. Ivan sighed, walked outside, and closed the door to the principal’s office.“Today is just not my day.” Ivan remarked softly before the butterfly landed on the note that he had neatly folded and put in his pocket. It then proceeded to melt into a liquidy, black-ish purple energy that seeped into the note, turning it completely black.Ivan didn’t notice this until he felt the strange urge to look up. When he did so, he saw a fleshy tendril of black rapidly growing from the ceiling above him. “Oh, dear.”Before Ivan could even think of running, the tendril grew and spread, raveling around Ivan and forming a cocoon. All he could see was black, but that black soon became…purple? Ivan looked around as his environment became a void of bright purple, with butterfly-shaped golden stars in the distant sky. He blinked in confusion, using his regained bodily autonomy to turn and gauge his surroundings.“Hello, there.” a voice startled Ivan out of his confused silence.“Gah!” the boy exclaimed as he staggered back. He almost tripped on his shoelace, but he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt before he hit the…whatever it was he was stepping on.Ivan looked up and saw a being that he could only describe as magnificent.This being had a masculine figure, but it seemed to be made up of this radiant black energy with lines and circles of white across it. The only part of this being that wasn’t black or white was the huge purple cloak that draped behind him, with four split segments that almost made them look like butterfly wings. The being’s eyes were glowing white, and there was a purple, vaguely butterfly-shaped sigil around them.The being pulled Ivan back up to his feet before walking across the void. Ivan finally mustered the courage to ask, “Who are you? How did I get here?”“Who am I, what are you doing here, all trivial nonsense. All that matters here is what I can do for you.” the being said before waving his hand. In a coalescing of dust, an illusion of the scene in the classroom manifested before Ivan, on a much smaller scale.Ivan was dumbfounded. “How, how did you see any of this? Were you spying on me?”“Oh, trust, young one, it was completely unintentional. One of my butterflies got out and I see everything they see. Unfortunately,” the being held out his hand and one of the butterfly-stars fluttered into the beings palm as he lightly rubbed it with his finger, “they are as nosy as they are elegant.”“They are quite beautiful.” Ivan agreed. The being nodded and sent the butterfly star on its way.With a spin, the being was now behind Ivan, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened here?” he asked.“You’re…asking for my side of the story?” the boy asked, clearly surprised.“I take it that doesn’t happen often.” the being remarked as he floated over Ivan and hovered over the floor in a sitting position.“Not really.” Ivan admitted with a sigh. He continued, “My classmate, Kim. He takes immense pleasure in harassing others, and my size tends to make me a prime target in his eyes.”“Oh, so this is a classic bully situation we’re dealing with here? I’ve been bullied myself once and I can tell you it’s no smooth ride.” the being began as he stood up from his invisible chair, “That was, of course, because I lacked power.”“Power?” Ivan asked.The being turned away and said, “Yes, power. It’s the only thing people like this Kim fellow are afraid of. The powerful fear the even more powerful, as they say.”“I don’t think I’ve heard that saying before.” Ivan admitted with the smallest of chuckles.“Really? Hmm. Well, anyways, power is something I don’t mind sharing, especially with an underdog such as yourself.” the being said, rubbing his thumb and index fingers together.Ivan rubbed the back of his head and said, “I don’t really know what I’d even do with power, sir.”“Well, I have an idea. I can make you stronger than you’ve ever dreamed, help you put on a show, and once you’ve asserted your dominance, you can get that apology you’ve been refused, and make this boy admit to the damage he did to your reputation.” the being suggested as he waved his hand, an illusion of Kim bashfully bowing in front of several teachers and the principal as Ivan stood behind him appearing before them.“I-I don’t want to hurt anybody.” Ivan said.“And you don’t have to. You just have to scare the living daylights out of him.” the being assured.Ivan stayed silent before nodding. “How do I-”“All you have to do, Ivan, is shake my hand.” the being said before extending a hand. Ivan hesitated for a moment, before finally taking the beings hand. As black butterflies began to circulate around their joined hands like moons orbiting a planetoid, the being continued, “Oh, and as for who I am. You can call me Atlas.”
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In the outside world, the cocoon that had seized Ivan began to tremble as glowing white cracks spread across it, startling the student who had been trying to cut it down to sell on Ebay for the last five minutes. The cracks caused the cocoon to open, at which point Ivan’s new form fell out and landed on his hand and knees.He was now twice his already titanic height and size, and his body was completely composed of smooth stone. His rocky skin was tattered by radiant yellow cracks, all of which gathered in the center, forming a vaguely butterfly-shaped symbol on his chest. His pants has become black, his boots developed steel soles, and his smooth head was adorned with a crown that held the pins that were previously on his hat. This was no longer Ivan Bruel. This was…Stoneheart.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
KABOOM
Stoneheart kicked Damocles’ door straight off its hinges before unleashing a terrifying roar that shook that foundation of the room.The principal only took a sip of herbal tea and said, “Ah, ah, ah. Knock first.”“...but I’m a terrifying stone beast.”“And I’ll process that when you enter the proper way.”Stoneheart blinked before picking up the door and squeezing the hinges back together with his massive fingers. He then politely knocked.“Ah, that’s the sound. Proceed.”
KABOOM
The door was launched off its hinges again and Damocles cowered under his desk as Stoneheart stomped through his office. “My deepest apologies for the property damage I have and am about to inflict.” Stoneheart genuinely stated before punching a hole through the wall. He then created an unnecessary second hole in the wall by running straight through it.Damocles frantically typed into his office phone before his call was answered. “Hello? Police?! There’s a giant rock monster in my-...oh, hardy-har-har, make fun of my Owl days, real funny, Boucher, get down here NOW!”Of course, being a high school principal, his summon constituted an emergency, which is why there was an entire police force stationed in front of Stoneheart within seconds. “Fire!” one of them roared, prompting the rest to unleash Bullet Hell upon him.Stoneheart just stood there as every bullet shattered upon impact, and with each impact, his body grew exactly 1.93849 times bigger.“Huh.” one of the policemen said curiously as he pulled out a minigun and let it rip, only to have the same effect.“Huh.” another policeman said before whipping out an RPG and shooting a missile at Stoneheart. He doubled in size.“Huh.” the entire police force said in unison before Stoneheart plunged his fist into the ground, inducing a shockwave that blew them all away.
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Meanwhile, a crowd of students in the library, which included Marinette and Alya, watched that entire debacle on the library TV, which is a completely normal thing for a school to have in their library. As they struggled to pick their jaws off of the floor, one thought crossed all of their minds: “What the hell!?” As students started evacuating, Marinette started having a mild heart attack.“Oh my god, what is that thing? It’s gonna destroy the school! Then it’s gonna destroy the city! Then it’s gonna destroy the country! Then it’ll destroy the world!” Marinette spiraled, but then took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She said to herself, “Marinette, calm down. We just need to stay safe and far away from the danger.” She turned to Alya, who was heading out of the nearby door.“Alya, where are you going?” Marinette asked.“Directly towards the danger.” Alya replied enthusiastically.“WHY?!”“Because wherever there’s a supervillain, there’s always a superhero close behind!” Alya explained, prepping her phone to film.She sprinted out of the door as Marinette yelled from behind her, “Alya, the views aren’t worth your life, come on!”“I’m doing it for the Vine!” Alya yelled back as she continued running. Marinette sighed and thought, “Oh well, having a new friend was fun while it lasted.” The bluenette reached into her backpack and pulled out her emergency mining kit, preparing to dig her way home.
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In his room, Adrien was bored out of his mind as he listened to his history tutor drone on and on. The tutor paused his mind-numbingly boring speech to ask, “Who was the culprit behind the Great Culinary War of 1993?”Adrien monotonously answered, “It’s the common consensus that the Bakers were to blame, but hidden evidence explains the Chefs was the one to initiate the conflict, however, the Chefs bribed Paris’ higher ups with delicious steaks and escargot to alter the history taught to the masses.”“Very good, Adrien.” the tutor said. The tutor got a notification on his smartwatch, and as he went to open it, he chuckled. “Jesus, Mathilde.”“What’s that?” Adrien asked as he tried to get a peek, only for the tutor to smack his hand over his watch and say, “Nothing! Nothing. Uhh, I’ll be right back, do some independent study for a while, yeah?”The tutor scurried out of the room, and Adrien rolled his eyes before coincidentally turning to his room TV. He grabbed his remote and turned it on, flipping through a few channels before reaching the news’, at which point he immediately got a good view of a giant fucking stone man walking down the streets of Paris. Adrien’s eyes widened before he backflipped over to his couch to get a closer look.
Meanwhile…
Marinette slowly opened the door of her home to see her parents nowhere in view. “Mom, Dad?” she called out.“Down here, honey!” she heard her father’s voice coming from behind the counter.She walked to the counter and peeked over it to see her parents on the ground trying to wrench open some kind of trapdoor, several floor tiles laying on the ground around them. Marinette blinked. “Do I even want to know?”“Back in the day, during the Great Culinary War, your grandfather built a bunker underneath this building.” Sabine said as she struggled to pull the trapdoor open.Tom continued for his wife, “We’ve been trying to get it open since that monster started attacking, but it just won’t budge.”Marinette looked at her average sized mother, and then pivoted her vision to her absolute hunk of a father. “Hey dad, why don’t you try?”Tom blinked before trying his hand at it. The trapdoor immediately popped open with little resistance.“Huh. Well, time to camp out in here until the monster’s gone.” Tom said.“Wait, I just need to go grab something from my room, I’ll be quick, I swear!” Marinette said before sprinting up the stairs to her bedroom.She got to her room, looking around at the pretty pink girly area before falling into her swivel seat. “First days at school are the worst.” she muttered.She then looked down and her eyes fell on a small black hexagonal box laid on her computer desk. “Huh? I don’t remember making a box like this.”
Meanmeanwhile…
As Adrien watched the stone monster do stone monster things, his foot brushed against something. He looked down and saw a black hexagonal box on his floor. “What’s this? Did the tutor leave this here?”In perfect unison, the teens picked the boxes up, and slowly pulled them open. The second the boxes were fully opened, they released an upward volley of pink and grey light respectively. Both felt an equal amount of shock, but the experiences they were about to have weren’t exactly equal themselves.
In Marinette’s room…
The triumphant drums and horns of war blared from the upwards spiral of light as streaks of pink energy arose from the box and coalesced into a singular being. It resembled a ladybug, with black segmented limbs, a layered maroon torso, six bright blue eyes, and a shiny red shell, black spots of varying sizes scattered all across it. It looked gentle for a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “It’s time for violence.”“AAAAGH! BUGMOUSE!” Marinette exclaimed in terror as the creature turned towards her.“Mouse? No, that’s Mul-” before the creature could finish, Marinette lunged at it, preparing to deploy the martial arts skills that were mandatory for all fictional Asians to learn at the age of 7. Marinette threw several skilled punches and kicks at the creature…only for them to phase right through it. “Ooooh, you’re already eager to train! How neat.” the creature stated before darting at Marinette’s forehead at the speed of lightning and slapping her with enough force to send her flying into a wall.“Ow.”
Meanwhile…
An intense, absolutely fucking epic guitar solo erupted from the upwards spiral of light as streaks of silver energy arose from the box and coalesced into it’s own being.It was a creature just like the last, but resembling a cat with fuzzy black fur, a very long tail, and five silver eyes.“Yo.” it said.“Uhh, yo?” Adrien responded confusedly. He was just about to ask the first of a hundred questions when the thing flew away.“So can you eat this?” the creature said before unhinging its jaw and taking a huge bite out of Adrien’s couch. “Eww, no.”Before the creature could repeat the process with half of his bedroom, the blonde himself leaped down from the second floor and captured the little cat thing within his hands. “Woah, not cool dude!” the little creature exclaimed.“What the hell are you?” Adrien demanded.The creature groaned and said, “Listen, I’m Plagg and I’m a Quami, a metaphysical personification of the concept of Destruction and all that implies . I grant you my powers, you beat up bad guys. Got it?”Adrien shook his head. “Good. Now, can you hook a brother up with some food, I’m starving!” Plagg said dismissively.“My dad’s pranking me right? Wait, he couldn’t be. He had his sense of humor surgically removed last year. “ Adrien noted.Plagg straight up phased through Adrien’s hands and said, “Nah, you’re gonna have to keep my existence under wraps, kid.”
Meanwhile²…
“-so in conclusion, I’m a Quami, Tikki, the metaphysical personification of the concept of Creation and all that implies. Through the power of the mystical jewelry in the box, you can wield my power to gain an array of mystical abilities, including Fabricate, which you can use to will any item into existence given-.” the scarab Quami, Tikki, was explaining with a smile when the girl cut in.“That’s great and all but don’t you think you could’ve told me all of that without putting me in a headlock?” Marinette asked as Tikki held her in a headlock tighter than your mother, her arm stretched and enlarged to wrap around Marinette’s neck.Tikki reluctantly released her. As she recovered from the neck pain, the reality of the situation she’d been thrusted into hit her like a wrecking ball. “What? Oh my god, what? No! I can’t be a superhero! The only power I could possibly have is super clumsiness! If I tried to be a hero, I’d probably trip up and blow up the country! I’ll be labeled as a terrorist and put on Death Row! I won’t even be able to see my parents before my inevitable demise!” Marinette spiraled.“Calm down, Marinette. I chose you for a reason, It’s because I know you can do this.” Tikki reassured.
Meanwhile again…
“I’m literally imprisoned here! What good is a superhero that can’t leave his own home?!” Adrien demanded as he held a shiny black ring with a cat’s head-shaped symbol on it.Plagg rolled around in a toilet paper roll and agreed, “No good. Which is why that’s all going to change. We’re kind of alike, kid. I’m a free spirit, and you’re a spirit longing to be free. I think we can help each other.”“How?”“Well, I grant you the freedom and power to escape your home whenever you please, and in return, you defeat bad guys and buy me food. Deal?” Plagg asked before shuffling his right nub out of the roll and extending it into a long black hand, offering Adrien a kind handshake. Feeling a strange mix of amazement, fear, and confusion, he shook Plagg’s extended hand.“Are you a genie?”Plagg answered, “Kind of. Now, to transform and use my power, Cataclysm, all you gotta do is say ‘Plagg, claws out’. You’ll probably need Bad Touch too-”“Plagg, claws out!”“Oh, you’re just gonna interrupt me while I’m speaking? Okay.” Plagg said as he was dragged into the ring in a streak of silver.
Meanwhile x3…
As Marinette spiraled further at the prospect of wielding magic power, Tikki realized that she might have to try a little harder to convince her. Then she remembered what kind of world she lived in.
Tikki
🎵You are Ladybug, and you can do this🎵
Tikki sang as the air produced a building orchestral instrumental, zipping around to face Marinette.
Tikki
🎵So when things get tough, together, we'll fight through it🎵
Marinette cut in, backing up from the Quami.
Marinette
🎵You've made a mistake🎵
“Nope.” Tikki said with an eyeroll.
Marinette
🎵It's clear to see🎵
“Obviously not.”
Marinette
🎵You need a hero🎵
“Precisely!”
Marinette
🎵And that is not me🎵
Marinette bumped into a wall, causing one of the hampers in her closet to fall. She caught it before Tikki phased through it and pushed the top open and closed to the beat.
Tikki
🎵I applaud your humility🎵
🎵I've picked a good Ladybug in you🎵
Tikki zipped around Marinette’s room, phasing through her walls and several of her belongings.
Tikki
🎵But you can be real with me🎵
🎵Deep down, you know it's true🎵
Tikki reached around the borders of the screen with her godly, third-wall defying power and pulling down, transitioning the area into a brown page of an ancient book. Marinette walked across the page, each step creating a puddle of pink light.
Tikki
🎵I have one job, I’m good at it🎵
🎵Been doin’ it, for so many years🎵
Tikki zipped around Marinette as she continued.
Tikki
🎵I find hearts with the will of champions🎵
🎵A love that can drive out all fears🎵
Marinette’s eyes followed Tikki’s speedy form as she cut in again.
Marinette
🎵But why me? I'm nothing special, bug🎵
Tikki quickly retorted.
Tikki
🎵Wait and see, what you’re capable of🎵
Marinette argued.
Marinette
🎵I can’t be saving the world today🎵
Tikki
🎵Just trust me when I say🎵
Tikki flew above Marinette and pushed the matter further.
Tikki
🎵You are Ladybug🎵
Marinette
🎵I’m honestly not🎵
Tikki
🎵You don’t know ‘til you’ve tried🎵
Marinette
🎵You’ve honestly got the wrong girl🎵
Marinette backed up further and further, trying to escape the situation.
Tikki
🎵And when things get tough🎵
Marinette
🎵I’ll hide in a dream🎵
Tikki
🎵Just be who you are deep inside🎵
Marinette almost fell off the edge of the book platform before stumbling back. “What do you mean?!” she asked.“Let me break it down for you.” Tikki said, rolling all six of her eyes before, in fact, breaking it down.
Tikki
🎵Look, I’ve been choosing champions ‘fore humans advanced🎵
🎵Fighting villains, demons, monsters, with every power enhanced🎵
🎵So, in the darkest of hours, when every hope has been lost🎵
🎵There’s always been a knight to stand and fight no matter the cost🎵
Tikki flew around as illusions of gold dust formed examples of several polka-dotted heroes across history, each one fighting their own foe or terrifying monster, and Marinette paled at the thought.
Tikki
🎵They never stand by, you can’t hide, now put on the mask🎵
🎵I have reasons, for believin’, you’re up to the task🎵
The Quami flew around Marinette in a circle as she continued.
Tikki
🎵And, I rarely make lapses in judgement, I see all your talent, potential is pugnant🎵
🎵You’re up to the challenge, now quit all the fear, get in gear, you’re the type of person I have been hunting🎵
Marinette
🎵What’s in it for me?🎵
Tikki
🎵I’ll tell you what’s in it for you🎵
🎵You can become someone brand new!🎵
Marinette became overwhelmed, and threw her arms to the side, sending a wave of emotional power through the altered landscape that did away with it, returning her to her bedroom as the intensity of the instrumental came down. She begged.
Marinette
🎵Just leave me alone, I wanna go home🎵
🎵I'm not the one that you want in the lead🎵
🎵I'm not the person you need🎵
She looked at herself in the mirror; the same overthinking, overhesitatant, anxious girl she’s always been. Tears almost breached her eyelids as she sang.
Marinette
🎵I'm not ladybug, I can't do this🎵
🎵When things get tough, I make excuses🎵
At this point, Tikki had had enough of the hesitation, cutting in to argue with Marinette.
Both
🎵I'm not ladybug (I'm about to kick your butt if you don't start to listen)🎵
🎵I can't do this (I'm about all out of patience making your decision)🎵
🎵When things get tough (things get tough for everyone, you'll learn to push through)🎵
🎵I make excuses (guess I'm gonna have to decide it for you)🎵
Tikki flew around Marinette rapidly, a pair of golden, scarab-shaped earrings floating from the box that Marinette had set aside and entering her fortunately already pierced ears. Marinette began to be lifted a few feet off the ground as she continued pleading.
Both
🎵I'm not ladybug (there's no time, if you don't know I do)🎵
Tikki
🎵You are Ladybug!🎵
In a streak of pink, Tikki forced herself into the earrings, and an expanding flash of pink light filled Marinette’s room.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Marinette’s eyes flickered open after having been blinded by the light. She stood up, trying to regain her senses. The memories of the last hour slowly arose in her mind, but it was so absurd that she figured it was all some kind of fever dream. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. She groggily looked around until her eyes landed on her form in the mirror, and she realized that she looked completely different.“What the-?!” she exclaimed in shock as she took it all in. She was wearing a red form-fitting jacket with black spots tattered across it, as well as black sleeves with white spots on the shoulders, and a black scarab acting as the zipper. She had a black belt with a circular ladybug symbol as the buckle, and below that were black pants with white spots on the sides of the thighs. She had thigh high boots with the same color and pattern as her jacket, as well as elbow-high gloves of the same scheme. She had a black, split cape on her shoulders with white spots near the top of them, and they draped down to a bit above her waist. Her hair had become pitch black, along with developing wavy bangs over her forehead and being tied into a long ponytail, the rogue heart-shaped strand atop her head changed to the shape of a four-leaf clover. And finally, a red domino mask adorned her face, with the same black spot pattern and bright blue lenses over her eyes.“Oh god, I look like something from a comic book.” Marinette groaned.“Marinette! Honey! Are you okay up there?!” her mother yelled from downstairs.“Umm, yeah, totally, I-” she bumped into her computer table mid-excuse, causing some of the things on it to fall down.“Marinette?! I’m coming up there!” she heard her father yell, the sound of his thick ass footsteps arising from below.“Ahh, crap, crap, crap.” Marinette panicked before jumping up the ladder and through the trap door that led out to her balcony. She closed the door and walked further onto the balcony, trying to rationalize the situation to herself.“Okay, I’m some sort of magic superhero now, great. I’ve got a super suit, and some kind of…super yo-yo-what is this?” she questioned as she reached to the side of her belt and pulled off what had just appeared there; a thick, imperial yo-yo with a red and black-spotted base and a white string.Going out on a limb, Marinette flung the yo-yo into the skyline, at which point it sprouted insectoid wings from it’s side and shot through the sky, guided by magic to latch onto the first thing that got close enough. Unfortunately for Marinette, that happened to be a gargoyle on top of a skyscraper. “Wait, no, fuck, no, NOOOOOO-” Marinette exclaimed as the yo-yo’s string retracted, pulling her into the sky as Mach 2.
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Meanwhile, Adrien stood atop a building after having ran across several miles of rooftops. Transforming had felt heavenly, like a bottomless pit of energy had opened up within him and he had all the freedom to exert it. He was now fiddling with his own weapon, a black baton with forest green rings near the ends. He eventually looked up and his eyes met his own reflection in the window of a taller building. Adrien looked on in awe, the adrenaline from transforming was so intense that he hadn’t even gazed upon his changed appearance until now.His outfit had become black, ninja-esque garments, with lightweight and incredibly flexible fabric, as well as a gold bell in the center of the collar. There was an angular, silver claw symbol on the back of the jacket of the garments. His forearms were completely bare, but he wore elbow-high, black leather gloves over his lower arms, along with silver-clawed gloves. His leather belt stretched out behind him to form a tail-esque allusion, and the buckle of the belt was the same as the symbol on his ring. His eyes had become vertical and cat-like, adopting a silver color as opposed to the usual green, and his hair had become much wilder along with the fake cat ears atop it. Finally, his face was adorned by an angular black domino mask.“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” he said to himself with a cocky smile.Before he could continue sucking his own dick, he happened to look up and notice a red blur careening through the air in his direction. He blinked and came to the most reasonable conclusion possible in the situation.“Oh crap, an asteroid!” he yelled before leaping up in the blur’s direction. He was prepared to strike it with his baton, but then he noticed that the asteroid was…yelling. And that it was suspiciously person-shaped. Before he could finish that thought, the ‘asteroid’ crashed into him and sent them both barrelling to the ground.“Well, hey there. Nice to see you drop in.” Adrien quipped as the person-shaped asteroid crawled off of him.“Oh my god, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Marinette apologized as the smoke cleared, allowing the two of them to get a much better look at each other.Adrien chuckled and said, “I bet you’re the partner my Quami told me about. Call me…Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. And you?”“I…haven’t come up with a name yet.” Marinette admitted sheepishly.“Don’t worry, we can workshop it.” Chat Noir replied enthusiastically. Suddenly, the ground shook and sounds of calamity came from nearby the football stadium. With a confident smirk, Chat Noir leaped from rooftop to rooftop towards the destruction. Marinette did the same and asked, “Hey, wait, where are you going?”“To save Paris, right?” Chat Noir answered before leaping ahead of Marinette, enjoying the light, carefree feeling that this transformation had given him.Meanwhile, Marinette reeled from the pressure her’s came with. She sighed and whispered, “Trust yourself, trust yourself.”She tried to swing after her partner…and immediately crashed through a window.
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One of Paris’ football stadiums was where the unfortunate target of the monster’s ire stood, being his usual asshole self.“So,” Kim leaned over as Alix took off her rollerblades, “I’ve got the house to myself all day, gonna be pretty lonely. How about we get out of here and take this opportunity-?”“Kim, I’ve told you a thousand times, I like girls!” Alix angrily exclaimed.Kim popped a breath mint and replied, “So do I, we have so much in common already.”“KIM!” a thundering voice roared from the heavens as Stoneheart spun to the ground like a meteor. He landed in the stadium, inducing a shockwave that knocked Alix on her ass and nearly did the same to Kim, luckily his godlike ankles protected his stature. Stoneheart leveled a glare at Kim, his eyes pulsing with yellow energy. He then cleared his rocky throat and refinedly spoke, “Before I do what I’m about to do, I would like to inform you that you still have an opportunity to reconcile, make amends, realize the error in your ways and change them. All those who have been hurt by your actions, including myself, would certainly benefi-”“No.”“I must ask you to reconsider.”“No.”“Charge Wave!” Stoneheart declared like a pokemon before slamming his fist into the ground, releasing another, much more powerful shockwave. Before the shockwave could send Kim and Alix blasting off again, a blur of black and gray picked them up and carried them out of the stadium before darting back in.Alix turned to Kim and said, “Well, that was we-”She found the jock trying to kiss her. She slammed her skates into his face.Meanwhile, Chat Noir landed in front of Stoneheart and quipped, “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”“I…I don’t think you apply to tha-”“Cram it, rockhead!” Chat Noir roared before flinging his baton at the stone monster’s face. It had no effect, not only did the baton just bounce off of Stoneheart’s cranium, but the monster also grew exactly 1.93849 times bigger.“Huh.” Chat Noir said as the baton landed back in his hand. He smacked Stoneheart’s ankle, resulting in another growth.“Huh.” Chat Noir said before picking up a chair and throwing it at Stoneheart, yet again granting him more size.“Huh.” the hero said before being punted across the stadium.He quickly recovered and looked up to his partner, who stood nervously on top of the stadium. He yelled, “Hey, I think he’s growing with every hit!”Marinette gave him a nervous thumbs up as she internally spiraled. Doubts and fears circulated in her mind as her breaths got heavier. Thoughts of ‘can I do this?’, ‘how do I do this?’, ‘I can’t be the right choice’ plagued her psyche as she watched her partner get pummeled, the fear paralyzing her.“Ooh, what does this button do!?” Chat Noir exclaimed as he pressed a button on his baton, causing it to grow in length, pushing him off of the ground as he held on to the top. He cockily exclaimed, “Ha-ha, Now we’re even, Stonehe-AAAAA!” The baton wouldn’t stop growing, taking him far above Stoneheart, the tallest of buildings, a skyscraper, even the Eiffel tower. “Turn it off, turn it off!” he frantically yelled as he tried to look for the ‘off’ button. He found it just as he was breaking through the clouds and pressed it, shrinking the baton to the size of an average quarterstaff.“Hooray!” he cheered before looking down. The joy flushed from his face, “Oh no.”Falling to his probable demise, Chat Noir yelled, “Hey partner, I could really use some help!”“What are you doing, super red bug?! The world is watching you!” Alya bellowed from the sidelines.The encouragement from one of her new friends and the desperation from the other finally pushed Marinette to take action, leaping into the air and catching Chat Noir in her arms and landing on the ground like an epic superhero. “Thanks, partner.” Chat Noir said.“Of course..I’m sorry it took me so long.”“It’s fine. Now let’s kick his rocky behind!” Chat Noir leaped from Marinette’s arms and entered a fighting position.Stoneheart genuinely said, “Awww, that was swee-”“Cram it, rockhead!” Chat Noir roared before flinging his baton at the stone monster’s face. Stoneheart grew once more.“Forgot about that.” the hero admitted as the baton spun through the air and landed back in his hand.“We have to do something different, Chat Noir.” Marinette concluded.Chat Noir asked, “Different how?”“Uhh-I don’t know.”“I think my Qua-whatever said something about powers.” Chat Noir said before stroking his chin. He wondered, “What was the name of mine, again? Something like, Catastrophe? Catalyst? Cataclysm-”Upon uttering that third phrase, Chat Noir’s hand involuntarily shot up into the sky as bubbling, liquidy black energy formed and coalesced around it, forming a claw-like shape. “Wo-ho-ah, awesome!” he exclaimed as he admired the new claw.“That doesn’t look safe at all.” Marinette said as she took a big step back.“You’re damn right it isn’t!” Chat Noir said excitedly. He sprouted a grin, and with one forceful swipe of his new claw, he cleaved the field goal behind him in half, both halves crumbling to gray ash. “Jesus Christ!” Marinette exclaimed in shock and horror.Feeling the courage, Chat Noir sprinted towards Stoneheart, despite his partner’s protests. “It’s just me and you now. Let’s do this!” Chat Noir said before leaping into the air and swiping his foot. Instead of cleaving the thing’s giant foot off, Chat Noir just smacked his hand against pure stone. He yelped in pain as he clutched his hand and grumbled.“Are you alright?” Stoneheart asked.“I’m fine!”“You sure?”“Yes!”“Cool.”Stoneheart punted Chat Noir back across the stadium. As he slid across the ground he said, “Guess we only have one shot at using our special power.”“And now you only have 5 minutes before you detransform. Didn’t your Quami tell you anything?” Marinette asked.“Well,” the cat hero sprung back up to his feet and brushed off the pain, “He probably did, but I was a little too excited about my new life.”Marinette took a deep breath and said, “Alright then, guess it’s my turn. Mine said that I can will any item into existence.”Chat Noir’s eyes lit up with admiration. “Oh my god, that’s the coolest thing ever! What are you gonna make?”“I don’t…really know yet.” Marinette admitted.Her partner started rambling, “Oh, man, I mean, you could make a giant cage to trap him, a giant sword to take him on, a car to throw at him, a helicopter to throw at him, a plane to throw at him-” “Fabricate!” Marinette declared, cutting Chat Noir off. The black spots of her outfit suddenly glew pink as streaks of rose light coalesced into a sphere of vibrant energy that floated into the air, catching everyone’s attention. The sphere grew in intensity with each passing second, before finally, with a ‘pop’, it transformed into the ultimate weapon that would be vital in the destruction of this unholy monster.“GAH!” she exclaimed as a red and black-spotted car jack landed directly on her head.Chat Noir looked down at the ground and pointed at the jack. “Why’d you make a carjack?”“I wasn’t trying to make a carjack.”“What were you trying to make?”“I don’t know, okay?! The only thing I could think of is ‘something to defeat the monster’.” Marinette said frustratedly, rubbing her head where the car jack landed.Chat Noir suggested, “Maybe you need to be more specific.”“I’m not in the right headspace to be specific right now!”Stoneheart said, “So, like, are we gonna fight or-?”A light bulb turned on in Chat Noir’s brain and he said, “I have an idea.”“Ow.” Stoneheart said as the carjack bounced off of his stone dome.“Welp, I’m out of ideas.” Chat Noir said as the carjack landed right back on Marinette’s forehead.Marinette shakily pushed herself to her feet as she groaned, “Ugh, I think that’s my sixth concussion today.”It was actually her eighth, but that thought led her on a train of them that caused her to start developing an idea. She whipped around to see her partner, and then looked over at Stoneheart, specifically at his right pants pocket, where she saw an odd indentation that was absent in his left.“Chat Noir, I have an idea.” Marinette said.“Ooh, how can I help?” Chat Noir said giddily.Marinette turned to the cat boy. “Yes,” she grabbed his collar, “Yes, you can.”Chat Noir barely had any time to question it before he was launched straight at Stoneheart like a missile.As he barrelled towards the villain, Stoneheart thought, “You know, I could punch him. I could slam him. I could dodge and let him fall…but I’m you know what? I’m gonna grab him.”He did exactly that, catching Chat Noir in his tight rocky grasp. “Alright, this is a bit of a tough situation, but we haven’t hit rock bottom yet. Hehe, rock bottom. I just need to trust that my partner’s plan won’t get her captured herse-”Seconds later, Stoneheart caught Marinette in his other hand. Chat Noir blinked before asking, “Is this part of the plan?”“Yep!” Marinette said before squirming inside of Stoneheart’s grasp.Stoneheart confusedly asked, “Uhh, what are you doi-OH!”He was interrupted when his hand was suddenly forced open by the surprisingly strong car jack, freeing Marinette. Marinette dove down Stoneheart’s massive body, right into his right pants pocket before he could even process it. She squirmed down his pocket before reaching around in the darkness, eventually grabbing onto what felt like rectangular rock.Stoneheart reached into his pocket and pulled Marinette out, but by that time, it was too late, Marinette had already used her new super strength to clench the rock in her hand, shattering it immediately.Purple energy began to crawl across Stoneheart’s giant being, the cracks on his stone skin rapidly switching from purple to yellow as he collapsed to his knees and shrunk back to the size he was before all of his growths, subsequently letting the two heroes go. Chat Noir landed on his feet and looked at the twitching Stoneheart, saying, “Oooh, that doesn’t look good.”“Oh god, what have we done?!” Marinette immediately began panicking. She tried to touch Stoneheart, only to get shocked. “Fuck!”“That’s gonna be an ouch from me, big dawg.” Chat Noir said before touching Stoneheart himself.“Dude, you literally just watched me get sho-why aren’t you getting shocked?” Marinette asked,“Ha, guess I’m just built different.” he boasted, taking a good three years off of his writers’ life.He tried to pull his hand off, but his claws were seemingly caught on something. He put a little more force into the pull, managing to make some distance between his hand and Stoneheart’s back, his claws pulling out some gaseous purple energy with them.“Uhhhh-” Chat Noir vocalized with fearful confusion.Marinette gasped, an idea popping up in her head. “Keep pulling!”Chat Noir really had no idea what was going on, so he listened to her and kept on pulling. He pulled with all of his magically enhanced strength before finally yanking out a giant mass of gaseous violet magic out of Stoneheart’s back.The stony boy in question roared in pain before shrinking down and reverting back to the young Ivan, scars in the shape of his previous body’s cracks adorning his current.“Oh, where am I? What’s going on?” Ivan asked as he looked around.Chat Noir approached his unnamed partner and said, “You were incredible, miss... uh... Bug lady. You did it!”“No. We did it, partner.” Marinette said as they bumped their fists.“Pound it.” they said in unison, cementing a tradition that would carry on for years. Unfortunately, while they were busy pounding each other, they didn’t notice a purple goo-like energy seeping out of the stone and reforming into an origami butterfly that fluttered away, carrying glowing white writings across it’s paper.The sound of beeps came from both of their jewelry, Chat Noir’s sounding significantly more frantic. Marinette said, “You should get going. Our identities must remain secret.”“Alright then. Farewell, partner. I hope I get to see you again soon.” Chat Noir said before leaving the stadium with a magic-propelled leap.“Hopefully under different circumstances.” Marinette said before picking up what was left of the akumatized object: a note. She read it to herself, “‘You haven’t even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her, pussy boy.’ Oh god damn it, Kim.”“A boy named Kim wrote it. He has begun to take immense joy in aggravating me.” Ivan explained softly.Marinette sympathetically said, “Listen, Kim is an asshole, but there’s no shame in telling someone you love them, Ivan.”“How do you know my name, miss?” Ivan asked with a raised eyebrow.“Oh! Uhh-” Marinette stuttered before Alya ran up to her.Alya unloaded, “Uncanny! Amazing! Spectacular! Ultimate! Marvel’s! Are you and the cat boy gonna be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Were you bitten by a radioactive ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask you, uh, miss... uhh...what’s your name?”“Ehh, well, there was a whole musical number saying I was Ladybug, so I guess I’m Ladybug. Can’t disobey the musical number.” Marinette, no, Ladybug said.“As is the way of the world.” Alya said before Ladybug flung her yo-yo into the air and uncontrollably flew off into the distance. “You heard it here folks, our brand new heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Alya claimed to the camera as she did.
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“So thanks to this amateur footage, the people of Paris now know the names of our heroes! Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Nadja Chamak’s voice came from Marinette’s computer as she processed the situation.“I did it. I’m a superhero.” she said to herself.Tikki sat on her shoulder and said, “I told you you could do it. Despite your age, you’ve done well.”Marinette smiled, feeling very accomplished. She let out a yawn, which Tikki noticed. The Quami said, “Yes, yes, you should rest up. You’ll need the energy for your training.”The bluenette perked up and asked, “...training?”“Well, of course! How else will you become a competent warrior if I don’t train you. Now, you’re pretty young, so maybe I’ll start you off with push-ups, curlups, ooh, you should probably tackle parkour first, you’re going to be jumping and swinging a lot. You’ll also have to train your mind to maximize your usage of Fabricate. And perhaps-” as Tikki rattled off, Marinette’s expression gradually filled with dread.
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Plagg silently looked down upon a plate of food on a silver platter with disdain. Adrien watched him with wary eyes. The blonde spoke, “Do you li-”“Adrien,” Plagg interrupted, “what is this?”“It's a medium rare steak fried with butter exported from Belgi-” before Adrien could finish talking, Plagg’s tail grew in length and girth, whipping towards Adrien and slapping him in the face. He exclaimed, “Ow, what the fuck!?”Plagg leveled him with a glare that carried the rage of generations behind it. He spoke, his voice exuding wrath and destruction, “Never offer me such a disdainful meal ever again. This is an insult not only to me but to my glorious taste buds.”“Actually, that’s a part of you.” Adrien corrected before getting tail-slapped again.“The only aspect of this plate that seems mildly enjoyable is this stuff. What is it?” Plagg asked while pointing at a ball of white cheese on the plate next to the steak.“That’s cheese, camembert to be specific.”The Quami suspiciously eyed the camembert, floating around it for a bit before taking a small bite.The moment his tongue made contact with it, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he dropped to the floor, convulsing wildly. Dark green drool pooled from his mouth and his tail spiked up.“OH!” Adrien jumped up and kneeled down to Plagg, “Plagg! Are you alright?! What’s going on?!”This continued for a minute before Plagg calmed down and slowly rose into the air. He stared into space with no discernible expression on his face.“...you alright, buddy?” Adrien asked.Plagg stayed silent for a few seconds before chomping down the rest of the camembert with one bite. After one big swallow, he spoke, “This cheese is the best thing that has graced my godly taste buds. I have eaten living creatures, planets, stars, but none of them comes close to this human creation.”Adrien blinked before saying, “Awesome sauce.”
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Meanwhile, a dark chuckle escaped the lips of a certain butterfly man as the origami butterfly fluttered into his hand. He stood in complete darkness, with only his glowing cape and the butterfly itself illuminating the area, if only slightly. With his other hand, he held up what seemed to be a thick, butterfly-shaped book with a hard cover, and opened it with a small motion. The origami butterfly unfolded, becoming a larger set of pages and retaking it’s place in the book. With a snap of his fingers, the rest of the pages adopted the same dark purple color as the other.
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Tikki and Plagg’s concealed eyes both snapped wide as they came to a complete halt. Their respective holders turned to them with concern.Tikki floated up to Marinette and asked, “You captured the akuma, right?”“Capture the akuma?” Marinette confusedly parroted.“Oh no, no, no, no.” Tikki panicked.In Adrien’s room, Plagg was explaining, “Kid, when akumas hold a bunch of biodata in them, when they escape back to the person who made it, that data can be copied and pasted onto a bunch of other akumas, and used to make a hell of a lot more monsters.”“Crap. So, now we have to fight a bunch of Stonehearts whenever this butterfly guy plays his card?” Adrien asked.Plagg sighed and said, “I guess so, kid.”As Tikki explained that all to her, intense waves of guilt and self-doubt crashed into Marinette like a freight train. She couldn’t believe that she thought she could actually do it for a second. That she wouldn’t mess it up like she did everything.“They’ll be linked to the original, though, so nothing can be done until that Ivan boy is-” Tears began to well up in Marinette’s eyes, which Tikki immediately noticed. She interrupted herself, floated up to her holder and put a tiny hand on her shoulder, saying, “No, no, Marinette, don’t panic. We can handle this.”“How can you know, Tikki?” Marinette asked, her voice shaky.“Because you won’t give up. There’s too much on the line, and you are the only one who can fix everything.” Tikki desperately reasoned.Marinette’s breaths became heavier as she said, “I wasn’t supposed to be chosen, I know I wasn’t! This was a mistake! I can’t do this.”Tikki opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped short when she noticed Marinette reaching up to her ears to take off the earrings. A look of familiarity seemed to cross Tikki’s face before being shaken away as Tikki yelled, “Don’t!” She tried to fly up to her holder’s face, but she was too late, as Marinette clipped the earrings off of her ears. She took a deep breath before backing up against the wall and sliding down it as tears fell across her face.Back in Adrien’s room, he asked, “How do I get in contact with Ladybug? We can come up with a plan or something.”“I know as much about her as you do kid, including that she caught on to her Miraculous fast, and you did too. You’ve got what it takes to bring this stone guy down.” Plagg encouraged.Confidence overtook Adrien’s expression as he smiled and said, “You’re right, Plagg.”“You were wrong, Tikki.” Marinette muttered.“I can/can’t do this.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“While the city of Paris is still reeling from yesterday’s events, we all give our thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir, our dedicated heroes, for saving us from the terrifying monster we have taken to calling Stoneheart. The Mayor himself is making an announcement.” Nadja’s voice arose from the news channel as the camera panned over to the mayor sitting at his desk.The mayor quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, “Now, I’m sure many citizens have questions regarding these new heroes, many of which I’m not sure how to answer myself, however, there is one I’d like to get out of the way right now.”He cleared his throat before continuing, “While vigilantism is still illegal in most cases, I have the sense to recognize that giant magical monsters aren’t something my police force can handle…yet. So, Ladybug and Chat Noir are now exceptions to the vigilante law.”“You heard it here folks, Ladybug and Chat Noir are now allowed to dispense unauthorized justice.” Nadja said as the camera panned back to her.“Hold on, maybe don’t say it like tha-”The mayor was cut off as Nadja said, “Ladybug, Chat Noir, if you’re watching this, the city of Paris is honored to have you as our heroes.”
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Marinette watched the news, the guilt multiplying tenfold with every word. She internally debated herself, a part of her wanted to retake the mantle and face her mistake head on, but another knew she had fucked up big time, and she didn’t want to risk making it all worse. In her vacillation, she unintentionally backed up and bumped into the counter, which startled a cockroach who scurried off, bumped into a pretty female cockroach, leaned on a bottle of olive oil trying to spit game, and pushed the bottle off of the drawer. It smacked Marinette on the head. “Ow.”Tom put a supporting hand on his daughter’s shoulder and said, “Listen, I know how upsetting and scary this all is, but don’t worry, we’ve got two superheroes looking out for Paris, and the best way of helping them is to show them we’re not scared, because we trust them.”Marinette sighed and said, “But what if Ladybug and Chat Noir fail?”“Then, well,” Tom said darkly as he pulled out a giant mallet made of French bread, “I’ll be there to save you. Super-Baker to the rescue.” He gripped the yeasty pole of the mallet with his gigantic hands.Marinette chuckled and wrapped her father in a tight hug. “Thanks, Super-Dad.” she said before scurrying upstairs.“No, I said Super-Ba-nevermind.” Tom said with a sigh as he put up his bread mallet.The bluenette entered her room and immediately threw on her bag. How she forgot her whole purse is beyond me. She was about to leave when her eyes drifted over to her bright pink vanity complete with a built-in sink (“normal girl” my ass), specifically to one of the drawers. She sighed and opened the drawer, pulling out the small hexagonal box. Unfortunately for her, the moment she picked up the box, it started trembling in her hand before a pink blur flew out of it, colliding directly with her forehead. “GAH!” she exclaimed as she stumbled back.“There you are! I’ve been waiting all night! Finally ready to reassume your role?” Tikki asked sternly.“I’m still not going back to being Ladybug.” Marinette deadpanned.The Quami scowled. “Why are you so determined to squander your potential?”“I’m not ‘squandering my potential’, I’m…leaving a position which shouldn’t belong to me.”Tikki narrowed her six glowing eyes before saying, “Fine. But I’m coming out with you.”“I=what? Why?!” the girl questioned.Tikki zipped up to Marinette’s face, the latter instinctively leaning back as the Quami spoke, “Because if you’re going to so blatantly throw away this chance, then you’re going to find me a new holder. Got it?”Marinette blinked before fearfully nodding.
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Nathalie stood in the dining room, waiting patiently for Adrien to arrive. However, as seconds turned to minutes, the pendulum clock rang loudly and Nathalie looked at it with a suspicious gaze. She walked to Adrien’s room and opened the door slowly. She took a deep breath and put her hand over her eyes as she entered, saying, “Adrien, I know you’re a teenage boy and all, but it’s a little too early for-?”After noting the lack of frantic sheets shuffling and muffled moans, she lowered her hand to see the room completely empty. Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the room, the extensive manga collection, the pool table, the stripper pole, the arcade games, and finally, his bed. The gears turned in her head before she sighed.
a few minutes later…
“He escaped? How peculiar.” Gabriel said as he stood atop his podium, looking down at Nathalie and THE GORILLA. He continued, “Last I checked, this is one of the most secure buildings in Paris, almost France as a whole. Any idea how he could’ve escaped so easily?”Nathalie answered, “I have no idea, Gabriel. He has your determination and Emilie’s intelligence.”“You know if anything happens to my son, you’ll be to blame, correct?” Gabriel asked sternly.“Yes, Gabriel. Come, THE GORILLA, let’s go find Adrien before someone tries to steal his organs…again.” Nathalie said as the Gorilla cracked his knuckles and got ready to fight some hypothetical organ harvesters.Gabriel held up a hand. “Wait. You’ve already failed at catching him once.”“He was on a bike!”“You were in a car.” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, I had celebrity engineer Tul Hardy dismantle a cybertruck and use every part worth repurposing to enhance the car.”“So, like, five?”“Three, actually.”“Also, that seems like a grievous misuse of company funds.” Nathalie stated.“I didn’t use company funds.”“Oh, well-”“I took it out of your paycheck.”“WHAT?!”
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“Woohoo!” Chat Noir exclaimed as he leaped throughout the city, launching himself into the sky and doing super sick flips and dips to retain momentum. He spun through the air like a skilled acrobat, his fear of gymnastics brought on by that one scene in Final Destination 5 having been conquered immediately, and landed in an alleyway. “Claws in.” he said as he stood up and his super suit disappeared in sparks of neon green. Plagg materialized in front of him and said, “You’re such a strange kid. Who would want to be at school when you could stay at home all day?”“You don’t get it, Plagg,” Adrien said with an eye roll, “I’m sick of being cooped up at home all day. I want to meet people and make friends, and go to a normal school like everyone else! Besides, it’ll help me keep an eye on that Ivan kid so I can grab that akuma.”“That’s smart, but how do you expect to go to school without being mobbed? Your face is on every billboard in Paris, there’s no way you won’t be recognized.” Plagg asked skeptically.Adrien snickered and adopted a mischievous grin as he explained, “Well, I have a disguise that’ll fool everyone. The pinnacle of impersonation, one that’ll make sure that no one will possibly think that it’s Adrien Agreste under it.”Plagg, interested and entertained, grinned as he asked, “And what’s this disguise of yours?”Moving slowly to build tension, Adrien reached into his messenger bag and whipped out an object shrouded in golden light, spinning around and holding it in the air like it was a gift from the gods themselves. One would swear they heard angelic voices in the background as the golden light faded and revealed…a pair of glasses. Plagg’s grin dropped as he said, “...what?”The model plopped the glasses on and said, “No one will recognize me under these.”“I doubt that.” Plagg said.“Trust me, Plagg, these’ll work perfectly. As long as I wear these glasses, nobody will recognize me. For I am now, CIVIL IAN!” Adrien declared confidently.“...okay, whatever.” Plagg said before his hand melted into a clay-like substance, twisted, morphed around until it formed a gun which he pointed at Adrien. He said, “Cheese time.”Adri-I mean Civil Ian groaned and pulled a piece of camembert out of his jacket. “You know what’s really strange? That the only human food you eat is this disgusting, rotten camembert cheese, and that I have to smell like it 24/7. That’s strange.” Ian said as he tossed the cheese to his kwami, who unhinged his jaw and shredded the cheese to mush with his razor-sharp teeth before swallowing it in one gulp.He cleared his throat and said, “Well, if you want to keep your superpowers and rugged cat boy get up, this is the price to pay.”Ian rolled his eyes and rushed in the direction of the schoolhouse.
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“Ladyblog, bringing you all the greatest news about the coolest superhero, Ladybug.” Alya said as she proudly showed Marinette her new blog, “How awesome is that? Check out the number of views since the latest video!”Marinette raised an eyebrow and asked, “What about Chat Noir?”“He can get a subreddit. No way I’m giving up that pun.”Marinette blinked and said, “Sure, but why do you trust Ladybug so much? If more dangerous villains come out of the woodworks…”“She’s gonna handle them.” Alya said confidently.“But, what if she’s not cut out to be a superhero even though everyone thinks she is? What if she made a huge mistake that will result in even more destruction? What if she’s a teenage girl who can’t go a minute without blowing something up underneath the mask? What if she renounced her magical jewel like a coward in shame?! What if-” Marinette’s rant was interrupted by Alya putting a hand on her shoulder.“Girl. You hatin?” Alya asked with a raised eyebrow.“No, I’m just…worried.” Marinette answered through a forced smile.“Well, stop worryin’ girl, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes! Ladybug is a true superheroine! She’s gonna protect us all! I believe in her.” Alya said with a smile before walking off, leaving Marinette in awe of the support for her scarlet-dressed alter ego.Marinette caught up with Alya and the two turned their heads towards quite the upsetting scene.“So you really don’t remember anything?” Alix asked as she and half of the class crowded around Ivan, who was sitting on a bench with his head in his hands.“You went totally berserk, man. It was so cool.” said Juleka Couffeine, local monster appreciator.“You were seriously out to crush me, dude.” said Le Chien Kim, local asshole.Ivan raised his head from his hand to see Mylene staring at him from behind his classmates. She quickly looked away as their gazes met. Ivan sighed and spoke, “Friends, I promise I remember nothing of the incident that occurred yesterday. It was a very perplexing experience. It felt like I was being taken control of by my own emotions, my thoughts misconstrued into their most negative interpretations by some kind of magic.”A familiarly bitchy snark was heard from the left, paired with a, “Yeah, likely story.”Everyone turned their gazes to Chloe, leaning on a pillar and flipping her blonde hair.“Chloe-” Alix began to speak angrily.“Oh, don’t get mad at me. I’m not the one who turned into a giant rock monster and destroyed a whole city block. Just because he’s ‘normal’ now doesn’t mean we forgot.” Chloe said. The crowd murmured as the blonde’s words began to make sense in their minds. Chloe continued, “As far as we know, he probably did it to himself, and is just trying to dodge the charges. Lord only knows why he isn’t in jail right now. I mean, look at him. Once a monster, always a monster.”That seemed to be Ivan’s last straw, as he took a deep breath, got up, neatly rolled up the newspaper that he had the whole time, and sullenly left the courtyard.
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Humming his theme song that he made up and trademarked thirty seconds ago, Civil Ian strolled up the stairway leading to Lycee Francois Dupont. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he stopped before looking around. Nothing seemed off, the clouds were clouding, the grass was grassing, Paris’ one homeless man was chilling on the edge of the staircase. Seeing nothing too abnormal, he shrugged and kept walking.“RAAAAH!”“Huh?!” Civil Ian yelled as he heard a war cry followed by his father’s assistant tackling him to the ground like she plays for the insert football team here.“Haha, I got yo-Wait a minute.” Nathalie said as she noticed the glasses. She groaned and said, “You’re not Adrien, you’ve got glasses.” The two got up and dusted themselves off before Nathalie narrowed her eyes and asked, “Who are you then?”“I am Civil Ian!” Civil Ian declared.Nathalie blinked before throwing a gift card at him and tiredly saying, “Whatever. That has 20,000$ on it. Don’t sue us.” She then walked back to the car where THE GORILLA stood leaning on the hood.“Shut up.” she said before her coworker had the chance to snicker. She began to drive off, but internally wondered, “I swear I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”Peeking out from Ian’s collar, Plagg said, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”“Told you it would work.” Adri-I mean, Civil Ian said before excitedly prancing into the building.
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Back in said building, Alya approached Chloe and said, “How could you say something like that, Chloe? You’re the real stone heart!”Chloe chuckled bitchily and retorted, “Oh, so I’m the one who broke Sabrina’s dad’s arm?”“He might have to get it amputated.” Sabrina said grimly.“He might have to get it amputated.” Chloe repeated before continuing, “Just because your ye-ye ass footage of those super losers got shown on TV doesn’t mean you have to get so high and mighty.” She then proceeded to blow her bubble gum in Alya’s face. Alya looked down at Chloe with eyes that portrayed nothing but rage. Those watching could’ve sworn they saw translucent waves of wrath radiating from Alya’s being. She calmed herself with a huff before stomping away.The classmates scattered, Chloe almost following suit until she heard her name being called from the end of the courtyard, “Yo! Chloe!”She turned to the source and saw Civil Ian strolling up to her all casually. She looked him up and down with disgust as she said, “Excuse me? Who are you?”Ian chuckled and said, “Chloe, it’s me.”He lifted up his glasses slightly, and that was all Chloe needed. She excitedly exclaimed, “Oh my god, Adrikins!” She wrapped him in a hug so tight it almost crushed his diamond studded ribs. She let him go and asked, “Why are you wearing glasses?”“To disguise myself. Don’t want to get mobbed, now do I?” Ian explained.“Ha! There’s no way that would work!” Chloe exclaimed with a laugh.“...it worked on yo-”“Besides!” Chloe interrupted, “You should be good to take those off now, right?”Chloe slowly took the glasses off of Ian, revealing the supermodel underneath. Smelling the scent of sexiness, local Adrien lewd collector Wayhem Affré stopped in his tracks. He took in a deep breath of the aroma and slowly turned around, his joints loudly creaking as he did so. In a terrifyingly raspy voice, he spoke, “I smell the blood of a handsome one.”“Put the glasses back on, put the glasses back on!” Chloe hurriedly exclaimed as she fumbled and shoved the glasses back onto her friend’s face.Wayhem made eye contact with Civil Ian, holding it for a long and suspenseful five seconds. His legs were twitching, as if at any moment he would lunge at Civil Ian like a rabid animal. His voice and stature suddenly shifted back to normal as he said, “Oh, you’re not Adrien. You have glasses.”Wayhem happily skipped away as Chloe and Ian watched, mortified. “Maybe you should keep those on…forever.” Chloe said.“Yeah.” Ian agreed before they both hurried off to class. He happened to notice Ivan walking into the locker room and suddenly stopped. “Actually, I’m gonna go check on something real quick. I’ll be back in a few, kay?”Chloe narrowed her eyes in suspicion before saying, “Okay. Just stay safe.”Civil Ian nodded before walking off after Ivan.
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Meanwhile, Marinette had found him, silently sitting with his back up against a locker and processing his emotions as his headphones blasted hard rock directly into his ears. She kneeled down to place a comforting hand on his knee…only to slip on the recently mopped floor and eat shit. “Ow.”Ivan took off his headphones with concern as Marinette pushed herself off the ground and asked, “Are you alright, Ivan?”“I feel I should be asking you that question.”Marinette sat down and slid beside Ivan as she explained, “Oh. No. Trust me, I’m basically a walking disaster so I’m used to falling on my face.”Ivan sighed and said, “I guess I should be used to this too.”“What do you mean?” Marinette asked.“Due to my…stature, people tend to look at me and immediately think I’m frightening and troublesome. They think I’m a ruffian, a thug…a monster.” Ivan said as he looked down at his hands in sorrow, specifically the new marks across them.Marinette’s gaze softened as she said, “You’re not a monster.”“I wish Mylene could see that.” Ivan admitted.“I’m sure she does.” Marinette said, thinking back to the dozen longing stares she’d seen the girl in question direct towards Ivan. She suggested, “You should tell her how you feel.”Ivan sighed once more and said, “I’m not too effective in the ways of woman woo-ing.”As he looked to the ground, Marinette put her hands on his meaty arm and said, “No, no negative emotions, Ivan.”“Hmm?” Ivan asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.“What I mean is, be positive.” Marinette said quickly, “Besides, you don’t just need words. How about a gesture? You could get her some flowers or paint her something.”Ivan thought for a moment before saying, “I could write her a song.”Marinette gasped and exclaimed, “That’s great! You love songwriting, and what girl wouldn’t love a romantic song written just for her. Go for it Ivan, and stay positive.”Ivan smiled and wrapped Marinette in a hug, standing up and spinning her around like she weighs nothing. “Thank you, Marinette!” Ivan exclaims before gently setting Marinette down and quickly sprinting out of the locker room to go write his song.The dizzy bluenette stumbled around as she stuttered, “No-no prob…lem.”She then proceeded to once again eat recently mopped shit on the recently mopped floor. As Ivan ran straight past him, Civil Ian watched as Marinette picked herself up, his gaze lasting on her for a good couple seconds before he snapped out of it and walked in the opposite direction. “Good, that girl with the pigtails fixed it. Now I can go back to enjoying my day at school!” he whispered to Plagg in his jacket, who narrowed his eyes in response.
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Chloe clung to Adr-I mean, Civil Ian’s arm as she led him to the classroom. Students watching them walk want to ask why she’s clinging onto some guy like that, but most of them want to keep their lives. They stopped outside of the room and Chloe ran in, spinning around and gesturing to an empty seat saying, “This is your seat, Adrikins.”“Ian.”“I’m not calling you that. I saved this seat for you, right in front of me.” Chloe said with pride.“..why’d you save one in front of you instead of one next to you?” Civil Ian asked as he took off his glasses as Chloe basically deadnamed him already.“Reasons.” Chloe said.“Good enough for me.” Adrien said with a shrug before sitting in his seat. He turned to Nino, the boy sitting next to him, and extended a hand for a shake while saying, “Hey, I’m Adri-”He was silenced by the glare of disgust and annoyance Nino shot at him. “So, you’re friends with Chloe then, huh?” Nino asked with disdain before pointing behind Adrien.The blonde turned around to see Sabrina putting gum on a random seat. “Sabrina? What are you doing?!” Adrien asked as he stood up.“Calm down, Adrikins. The girls who sat there yesterday need a bit of an…attitude adjustment. It’s nothing serious, they just need to realize where exactly on the food chain they lie.” Chloe explained flippantly.Adrien’s eyes widened as he said, “But that’s mean! You can’t do that!”This statement made everyone turn their heads to Adrien in shock, including Nino. No one was expecting that from a friend of Chloe’s. The girl in question only sighed and said, “Oh, my dear Adrien. You have much to learn about the world. People will keep trying you until you put them in their place, especially when you have the status we do.”“Even if they keep…’trying us’, this is just unnecessary.” Adrien said before kneeling down and trying to take the gum off with his hand instead of a napkin or something like someone with common sense. Unfortunately, before that idea could register in his head, time screwed him over.
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“Alya,” Marinette spoke as the pair of besties walked to their classroom, “Wouldn’t you like to be a superhero and go out and fight monsters and villains?”“Oh hell yeah, that’d be awesome!” Alya answered ecstatically.“Even though you’d have to risk your life fighting powerful magic supervillains and the superpowers are tethered to a magical fairy thing that wants nothing more than to mold you into the perfect soldier?” Marinette asked.“Worth it! Why do you ask?”“No reason.” Marinette chuckled before maxing out her stealth stat and slipping the silver box into Alya’s conveniently open bag. The two entered the classroom, and through a sick twist of fate, arrived right as Adrien was pushing around the gum on her seat. She exclaimed, “What the FUCK?!”“Uh oh.” Adrien said.“What do you think you’re doing?” Marinette asked angrily as she walked to Adrien.Before Adrien could answer, Chloe and Sabrina started laughing their asses off because Marinette being mad is funny, I guess. Marinette narrowed her eyes and said, “Okay, I get it. Good job, you three. Very funny.”“No, no, I was just trying to take this off!” Adrien defended.“Oh, like I’ll believe that!” Marinette angrily spoke before kneeling to her seat and placing a napkin over the gum. She looked up at Adrien with a judgemental glare before saying, “You’re friends with Chloe, right?”“Why do people keep saying it like that?” Adrien asked with a sigh before both of them sat at their respective seats.Marinette muttered, “Should’ve expected that when I learned he was coming here.” “Daddy’s boy, teen supermodel, and Chloe’s buddy? Not a good combo.” Alya said.The silence between the two boys was a bit awkward, well, at least it was for Nino. The boy in question asked, “Why didn’t you tell them it was Chloe’s idea?”“Well, I’ve known Chloe since we were little kids. I know she has..” Adrien paused to find the nicest word for it, “quirks, but I can’t throw her under the bus like that. She’s practically my only friend.”Nino sighed in sympathy before extending a hand and saying, “Well, I’m Nino, and I think it’s time you made some new friends, dude.”Adrien’s eyes lit up and the two exchanged the long fabled perfect dap up, establishing a new, prosperous friendship.
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“Aaaaand, there!” Mylene exclaimed as she unclogged the toilet with one mighty push of the plunger. After vanquishing the monster shit she had just taken, she washed her hands a good five or six times and left the bathroom, only to run into Ivan with two première students he’d politely asked to help standing behind him with instruments.Mylene chuckled and softly said, “Oh, Ivan,” she did the Radio Rebel smirk, “You scared me.”Ivan nervously shuffled before stuttering out, “I-I made this for you.”He gave a signal and the nerds started playing their instruments, releasing a soft and caring tune. The first première student softly strummed the strings of his harp, while the second blew into his french horn. Mylene, realizing what was about to happen, blushed and smiled. Seeing his crush smile like that caused Ivan to smile as well, his confidence in this plan growing as he licked his lips and looked at the lyrics he had written onto the page. Lyrics he had poured his delicate heart into, making sure that every word was a tribute to his love for Mylene. After a few more seconds, he knew it was time to sing. He opened his mouth and started singing his heart out.Unfortunately, it immediately became clear that he could 100% write a song, but could NOT sing one. Ivan’s grating and deep voice shattered any kind of romantic mood that the music had set. The nearby windows broke themselves to escape it, as did every pigeon in the area. Back inside, Mylene plugged her ears and vacated the locker room as fast as she could. Seeing this, Ivan signaled the others to stop. The first student said, “Wow..uh, that was…uh..”“Could you two please leave?” Ivan asked politely.“Sure, man.” the second said awkwardly before the two walked out of the locker room. Ivan took a deep breath before crumpling the paper in his giant meaty hand. His disappointment and anger at himself hit it’s peak as Ivan turned around and threw a giant punch at the nearest locker, only to stop at the last second. He retracted his hand and stumbled back, his back hitting the wall as he realized that he was giving in to the preconceptions people had of him, which only made him feel worse.An origami butterfly perched atop a windowsill, it’s mandibles practically vibrating. The butterfly flew off of the sill and fluttered over to Ivan, colliding with the crumpled piece of paper in his hand and melting into a liquidus black matter that was soaked into the paper.When Ivan opened his eyes, he was back in the void of purple and butterfly-stars. “No, not again.”Atlas reappeared in front of Ivan, kneeling down to his level. “Now, this just won’t do. What happened?”“Please, leave.” Ivan said.“Come now, Ivan. I just want to help you.” Atlas said, sounding concerned for the young boy.“The last time you ‘helped’ me, you turned me into a giant rampaging stone monster, and now everyone thinks worse of me.” Ivan sullenly retorted.Atlas sighed. “Oh, young Ivan, that was a case of misunderstanding.”Ivan perked up as Atlas continued, “You simply wanted to get an apology out of the one who wronged you, nothing else. And you were demonized for that fact, just like you always are. It seems the preconceptions people have of you always overshadow your good intentions, don’t they?”“...that’s exactly it.” Ivan admitted. “Even with Mylene. She seems so afraid of me. She’s always stuttering around me, so nervous, her cheeks turning pink with fear.”“Mmmm, girl troubles, then?” Atlas asked.Ivan took a breath before saying, “Mylene has so many fears, I just don’t want to make myself one of them.”Atlas hummed before saying, “And you don’t have to, Ivan. You can be her knight in shining armor, the treasured giant who shields her from the horrors of the world. You can use your size to become the hero of the story…as long as you retrieve the earrings and ring of Ladybug and Chat Noir. They parade themselves as heroes, when they’re fighting against someone who only wants good. We can’t have that, can we?”“No. We can’t.” Ivan agreed.“I believe you know the drill.” Atlas remarked as he extended a hand, wisps of purple circulating it.With only a few seconds of hesitation, Ivan wordlessly took the butterfly man’s hand.
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The moment that contact was made, a wave of collective wariness washed over the people of Paris, a wariness that was immediately justified when they looked up and saw an army of origami butterflies fluttering down upon them from the clouds. The butterflies hit them, and suddenly, the same emotions that Ivan had held down for so long coursed through them as well, and they were magically transformed into smaller Stonehearts with still yellow cracks. Butterflies flew throughout the city, mystically mutating every living thing they came across. Even a pigeon was transformed into a stoney version of itself.
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Ms. Bustier yawned as she took attendance, “Agreste, Adrien?”Adrien looked around confused before Nino whispered, “You say ‘present’.”“Uh, present!” Adrien exclaimed a little too loud. Almost everyone laughed at him and he sunk down in his seat. Fortunately, Nino placed a hand on his shoulder.Ms. Bustier called, “Bourgeois, Chloe.”“Present!”“Bruel, Ivan.”There was no answer. Ms. Bustier looked around the classroom and everyone shrugged, except Mylene, who looked down with noticeable guilt. Ms. Bustier just marked him absent and called, “Lavilliant, Rose.”“Present!”“Couffe-”“Present!” a loud voice exclaimed as the wall connected to the door was charged straight through. Into the space had come barreling Stoneheart, except he looked almost completely different. His skin was made of pitch black rock instead of gray, and the cracks across his body were a deep, orange-ish red. Everyone gasped with fear and terror.Ms. Bustier just stood there and said, “Already marked you late.”“Damn it.” Stoneheart said.In the ensuing chaos, Adrien slipped out of the classroom, along with everyone else. Mylene gasped and exclaimed, “Ivan?!”Stoneheart softly grabbed Mylene with his giant stone hand and said, “Mylene, my first attempt to confess failed and it’s easy to see why. It wasn’t a grand enough gesture!”“That’s nowhere near why it failed.” Mylene pointed out.Stoneheart ignored that and explained, “I’m going to do something even grander, and have us wed on the Eiffel Tower!”“I…have mixed feelings on that.” Mylene said.“That’s not a no!” Stoneheart exclaimed ecstatically. He then whipped his head towards the door, where Chloe was trying and failing to sneak away.Stoneheart grabbed her in his other hand, “You’re coming too! For…reasons.”“Crap, now I’m gonna have pebbles in my hair!” Chloe complained.Stoneheart kicked a hole in the wall and jumped through it with his two hostages. Alya ran up to the hole and looked down to see the monster walking off. She turned to Marinette and said, “Come on, let's follow him!”“Haha! Hell no. I’m finding a safe place to hide.” Marinette said.Alya rolled her eyes and said, “Girl, you’re gonna miss Ladybug in action!”Marinette gave a guilty glance to Alya’s bag before picking it up and holding it out for Alya to take, saying, “Both you and Ladybug will be better off without me!”“If you say so!” Alya said before starting to run out of the classroom.“Wait, your bag!” Marinette yelled after her.Alya turned around, stared directly at the bag, and said, “Mmmmm, nah.”She then left the room. Marinette yelled in frustration before sprinting after the blogger.
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“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Adrien ranted as he ran into the locker room, “My first day of school and I don’t even make it past roll call.”He opened his locker to see Plagg laying on the shelf with white substance around his mouth, groaning in ecstasy. Adrien groaned and exclaimed, “Plagg, stop overdosing! I have to transform so I can save Paris!”The Quami coughed and sat up as he said, “What are you complaining about? To me, this sounds like a day off.”“Nope. We’ve got homework to do.” Adrien said before exclaiming, “Plagg, Claws Out!”
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“You have no idea who you’re messing with, monster!” Chloe exclaimed threateningly as she and Mylene were carried through Paris via Stoneheart.“You’re Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of mayor of Paris, Andre Bourgeois, and fashion designer, Audrey Lee, formerly known as Audrey Bourgeois before the Great Divorce of 2014.” Stoneheart said.“I guess you do have an idea of who you’re messing with,” Chloe said through gritted teeth, “But nevertheless, my daddy will bring in the police, the army, the entire cavalry!”“And don’t forget the superheroes!” Chat Noir called as he jumped from the top of a nearby building and descended upon Stoneheart. He raised his staff above his head and smacked Stoneheart’s rocky dome. He backflipped as he landed on the ground and saw Stoneheart grow exactly 1.93849 times bigger. Chat Noir put his fingers to his chin and said, “Forgot about that.”“This dumbass.” Chloe groaned.Stoneheart raised a foot and slammed it onto the ground. Suddenly, multiple stony hands arose from the Earth as six Stoneheart copies climbed out of the ground like moles.“Ruh roh.”“Wrong animal. Seize him!” Stoneheart exclaimed.The Stonehearts lunged at Chat Noir. The hero dodged a punch that put an indent in the road. He flipped to dodge another before vaulting upwards with his staff, spinning around, and kicking one of the Stonehearts in the face. Instead of growing, the Stoneheart he kicked roared and tried to attack him again, but Chat Noir tripped it up and jumped off of its back. He landed on another Stoneheart’s head and said, “Hey, I don’t think the foot soldiers grow!”One of the Stonehearts threw a punch at the hero, but he dodged and the punch hit the other Stoneheart instead. Chat Noir smirked, having discovered the winning strategy. He launched at the Stonehearts and kept tricking them into hitting each other. By the end of it, all of the Stonehearts were on the ground, and Chat Noir stood in the center, victorious.“Haha! Now that I’m done with your sediment squad,” Chat Noir proudly exclaimed as he turned around to where the original Stoneheart was, “let’s rumble soon to be rubble!”He then realized that the original Stoneheart was gone. “Damn it!” he exclaimed.Then a giant rock hand grabbed him. “DAMN IT!”
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Alya sprinted to the scene of the fight. She filmed as Chat Noir fought the Stoneheart that snuck up on him. He exclaimed, “If you can hear me, Ladybug, I could use a little help!”“What is she waiting for?” Alya wondered aloud as she kept livestreaming.Down the road, a car drove directly into the conflict. The dumbass in the driver’s seat gripped the wheel as he drove forward, his panicking daughter in the backseat screaming, “DAD, YOU’RE GONNA GET US KILLED!”“MEAN GIRLS 3 IS COMING OUT, SWEETIE! I CAN’T MISS RENEE RAPP’S BEAUTIFUL VOICE!” the dad yelled back.“JUST PIRATE IT!” the daughter yelled, only to get a wrapped up towel thrown at her.“WE DON’T PIRATE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD!”“WE’RE IN A CAR!”During the argument, the Stoneheart Chat Noir’s fighting kicks the car like a soccer ball. The car tumbled on the ground, right in Alya’s direction. “Regret! Regret!” Alya exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet and started to run. She wasn’t fast enough and the car almost hit her, thankfully Chat Noir threw his baton at the car, knocking it off course and making it so that the car simply leaned on her. Unfortunately, that still trapped her. And Chat Noir met a similar fate as the Stoneheart grabbed him and squeezed him in its fist.Marinette then arrived, but dropped the bag as she saw the scene in front of her. She stepped into the closest alleyway and peeked out. The Stoneheart carried Chat Noir off as he struggled in it’s grip, and Alya crawled up above the car, her lower half still trapped. Alya exclaimed, “Help!”As she watched her new friend scream, Marinette couldn’t help but want to do something. But what?She then looked down at Alya’s bag, a siren song playing from within that was inaudible to all except her. She slowly went to reach inside, but she hesitated. Words of self-doubt and uncertainty plagued her mind. Unbeknownst to her, the darkness of the alleyway was growing and growing until suddenly, she’d found herself in a world of pure darkness.The only light was from a faint spotlight shining on her from above. She almost began to panic, but she took a deep breath. She started slowly walking through the abyss, the spotlight following her. On the third step, she heard piano keys playing. She carefully continued as the keys continued, until her thoughts came pouring out of her mouth in the form of lyrics.
🎵It’s so dark, not a star in the sky. With no sound to be heard and reality blurred, dreams are gone with the light.🎵
She continued trekking through the darkness, looking around and only finding more of the sort.
🎵Fading out, ‘til the worlds far behind. I can’t do this alone, I can’t find my way home, with this doubt in my mind.🎵
She turned to the right and saw a smoking ball of pink light in the distance, looking like a flare in the darkness. The flare flew around Marinette, as if beckoning her to follow it.
🎵Gotta find the courage in me, to stand up and be, braver than I’ve been before.🎵
The flare flew away, and Marinette couldn’t help but chase after it.
🎵Time to find to courage in me, so I can believe, this is what I’m destined for.🎵
She desperately sprinted after the flare, as if it held the answers to every question she could think of.
🎵Is this my moment to rise?! Leave the person I was behind?! There are storms to come, can I face each one, is it time?!🎵
She leaped several hundred feet into the air like gravity no longer had any weight on her. She landed on a circular platform as she continued singing.
🎵Is this my moment to rise?! I have started to realize!🎵
As she saw the flare continue flying away, she narrowed her eyes in determination. She started to leap from platform to platform.
🎵Doubts that held me down, begin fading now, is it my…moment to rise?🎵
She landed on the final platform, the flare zipping around her, cutting through a sudden fog.
🎵As I stand, with a new path to tread. The hope in my heart starts to shake at the thought of what might lie ahead🎵
She looked around, the fog dissipating with each movement of the flare.
🎵Should I fight? There's so much I don't know. Do I push through the fears 'til a new world appears, though I might be alone?🎵
Finally, the flare settled in front of her, spreading and expanding until from the light, Tikki reformed. She floated in front of Marinette for a few seconds, completely silent. She eventually spoke, “Are you ready, Marinette?”Marinette answered, her voice full of self-doubt and uncertainty, “What if I fail?”Tikki’s response didn’t come immediately. But it did eventually, “The biggest failure, is the failure to try. You must conquer your own fear to protect the people you love.”The bluenette took a deep breath, the fear and doubt within her slowly being overtaken by necessary confidence. The willingness to at least try filled her as the piano track behind everything built up. And then, she finally spoke the phrase.“Tikki, Spots On!
🎵What was in darkness, is totally different in the light🎵
Sparks of hot pink magic washed over her body, slowly transforming her into Ladybug once again.
🎵And deep in my heart I've found a way, to climb to new heights! I'll go on regardless!🎵
Her yoyo manifested around her hips, the spots on the base blinking in rhythm. .
🎵Of anything standing in my way, harness the power in me for those who need to be saved!🎵
She landed on her feet and pulled off her yoyo, swinging it and letting it fly around her before catching it and sprinting forward.
🎵I won't run, I won't hide, I will soar through the sky! Tonight! I'm not going down without a fight, and now is the time!🎵
Ladybug spun her yo-yo in a circle beside her and launched it into the air, feeling it wrap around something and pull her into the air, freeing her from the abyss.
My moment to rise.🎵
She landed in the middle of the scene and immediately grabbed the car, pulling it off of Alya and throwing it aside like it barely weighed anything. “You can’t stay here, it’s dangerous.” she said as she picked up her partner’s baton. She spun her yo-yo and launched it once more, swinging off to help her partner. Alya watched on with pure admiration, completely unaware that Ladybug crashed into a phone pole right after she swung around the corner.“Yeah, we’re okay too, thanks for asking.” the daughter said sarcastically as she poked her head out of the car.
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“Chat Noir, catch!” Ladybug yelled as she vaulted above the Stoneheart carrying Chat Noir and threw the staff at her partner.“Got it!” Chat Noir yelled as he caught the staff and extended it, forcing the Stoneheart to release him from it’s grip. Ladybug’s yo-yo wrapped around Chat Noir’s knee as she pulled him up to the lamp post she was standing on, just in time to evade a punch from the Stoneheart.“Sorry I was late.” Ladybug said.As he hung from his feet, Chat Noir put his fingers to his chin and rizzfully responded, “Have I ever told you that you turn my world upside down?”Ladybug laughed and said, “You’re quite the jokester, aren’t you?”The Stoneheart summoned two more stony friends and they all started very slowly and suspensefully walking towards the hero instead of running at them. “But your comedic timing could use work! Let’s bail!”Ladybug leaped up to a nearby roof, her yoyo pulling Chat Noir behind her like a balloon. Chat Noir slipped out of the yoyo’s wire and ran behind Ladybug, asking, “Wait, where are we going?! Aren’t we gonna take care of them?!”“No.” Ladybug said as the two landed near the Eiffel Tower, “If we want to save them all, then we go to the source.” She narrowed her eyes at the Eiffel Tower, seeing the giant rocky figure of the original Stoneheart standing below it.
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“Oh, those decorations are marvelous!” Stoneheart exclaimed as he stood on the Eiffel Tower, watching his minions adorned the space below the Eiffel Tower, turning it into what seemed to be a wedding setting.“Oh, those aren’t just right. Just tilt them a bit. Keep going, keep going, there you go!” Stoneheart politely guided one of his minions.Helicopters and squad cars rounded in on the Eiffel Tower trying to bombard the scene, however, the Stonehearts standing guard bitch slapped them away the moment they got too close. The mayor angrily stood in front of a police battalion as he exclaimed into a microphone, “I demand my daughters safe return this instant!”Stoneheart narrowed his eyes at the mayor before saying, “Okay, sure.”“Oh, really?” asked the surprised mayor.“Yeah, I’m gonna be honest, I’m not sure why I even grabbed her in the first place.” Stoneheart admitted before preparing to set Chloe down. However, Chloe happened to sneeze, which caused one of the sharper parts of Chloe’s shoe to scratch a soft spot in his palm. “AH MOTHER FUCKER!” Stoneheart exclaimed as he reeled back and threw Chloe like a bitch-sized baseball. The mayor screamed in fear as Chloe plummeted to the ground like a missile.“Help, I promise I’ll be nice to everyone, say please and thank you, and stop letting Sabrina to pray to me every night!” Chloe panickedly exclaimed as she fell.Ladybug watched nearby with a smile as Chat Noir shook her. He begged, “Ladybug, catch her. Ladybug! Ladybug, catch her! LADYBUG!” “FINE!” Ladybug yelled before swinging to Chloe and catching her before the ground turned her into a nepotism smoothie.As she slid on the ground from the momentum, Chloe opened her eyes and said, “I didn’t prom-”She was interrupted when she and Ladybug made long eye contact. She stared into her beautiful bluebell eyes and a pink blush spread through her cheeks. She felt Ladybug’s arms holding her by her back and noted how much she liked that feeling. She screamed, “AAGH! I’M STRAIGHT!”“Huh?”“NOTHING!” Chloe exclaimed before running off, her confidence in her sexuality cracked.Officer Roger, his right arm wrapped up in a white cast, climbed on top of a car and yelled, “Alright, now that the only person worth saving is safe,”“Hey!” both Stoneheart and Myelene yelled.“We are clear to attack!” Roger yelled, prompting the other officers to ready their weapons.Ladybug turned to them and said, “W-Wait! Haven’t any of you been paying attention? Attacking him will only make him stronger!”Roger scoffed and said, “I have a new plan, unlike you. So move aside and let the pros do their jobs, you’ve already failed once.”Chat Noir narrowed his eyes, extending his staff, and bonked Roger on the head. “Point still stands.” Roger said as he rubbed his head.“He’s right,” Ladybug said as she looked down in shame, “If I had captured Stoneheart’s butterfly the first time around, none of this would’ve happened. I knew I wasn’t right for this job.” She put her head in her hands.The black clad hero sighed and put a supporting hand on his partner’s shoulder, saying, “No, he’s wrong. Without you, so many people wouldn’t be here. You’ve done great. We’ve done great. And besides, they have no choice other than to trust us. Because they don’t have the knowledge or materials to do this without us. Trust me.”Ladybug blinked and smiled as she said, “Okay!”Stoneheart began, “Oh, isn’t that swe-”He was interrupted by a rough cough breaking through his mouth. He coughed out, “Oh, it seems I have been burdened by a sudden coughing fit!” He coughed some more before opening his mouth and releasing a cloud of black butterflies. Stoneheart fell to the ground in the center of the tower.“He’s still holding me! He’s still holding me!” Mylene yelled as they plummeted.The butterflies swirled around and formed a shape. A head. A head that cleared it’s throat before speaking, “People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Atlas. Your antics have hurt the people of Paris all too much, look at all this unnecessary turmoil and war. The only way to reverse this, solve everything, is to give up your jewels, the Scarab Earrings and the Black Cat Ring.”This almost got to Ladybug, as the self-doubt started to plague her mind. However, they stopped when she heard Chat Noir slow clapping. She looked up to see her partner slowly strolling forward as he clapped, saying, “Nice try, Atlas. But we know who the real bad guy is here.”Ladybug smiled and walked up beside him, saying, “Let’s not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent people would be transformed into villains in the first place.”“Atlas. No matter how long it takes.” Chat Noir said.“We will find you!”“We will defeat you!”“And you will give us your Miraculous!” the heroes shouted in unison as they grasped each other’s hand. Chat Noir twirled his baton in his other hand and extended it, vaulting the two of them in the air towards the giant butterfly head. Chat Noir threw Ladybug forward, and she whipped out her yoyo. She spun around in the air and lashed her yoyo through the butterfly head, capturing each and every butterfly composing it.“Oh, god! It hurts! Why does it hurt!” the head exclaimed as Ladybug’s yo-yo sliced through it. When every butterfly was captured, Ladybug and Chat Noir landed on a floor of the Eiffel Tower and turned towards Paris.Everyone on the ground looked up at the two with shock, awe, and admiration. The heroes looked at each other and nodded. Ladybug spoke, “People of Paris! Let us make this promise to you! If anyone wants to harm you, Ladybug and Chat Noir will do everything in our power to keep you safe!”The bug hero lifted her yo-yo into the air, the center spot on it glowing white. A sea of white butterflies burst from the weapon, spewing into the air and then spreading all around Paris. Everyone started cheering and celebrating as the area was showered in white butterflies.Chat Noir looked at his partner with a heartwarming smile and thought, “Wow, whoever’s under that mask, I love her.”
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“Hmm, seems the people of Paris have garnered quite the loyalty to the heroes already. I’ll have to fix that.”
“How rude of that Atlas fellow.” Stoneheart said before standing up to his feet.Mylene panickedly said, “Okay, I don’t know how I’m okay after that drop, but I’m scared. Ivan, put me down! I’m afraid of heights!”“I completely understand your plight, however, I simply must climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower.” Stoneheart said.“WHY?!”“Plot.”Ladybug and Chat Noir land on the ground in front of Stoneheart, who said, “I admire your heroism but I will not allow you to ruin this!”He stomped on the ground, inducing a shockwave that knocked the heroes on their asses, before leaping up to the Eiffel tower and climbing up the side of it. The heroes used their respective weapons to follow him, but soon realized that they were being followed by more stone beings climbing after them! They landed on a floor of the tower and looked down as the Stonehearts climbed up after them.“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir exclaimed before cleaving into a lantern on the outside of the Eiffel Tower, causing it to detach and fall directly onto one of the Stoneheart’s face, causing them to fall and take five more with them.Chat Noir turned to Ladybug and asked, “What do we do now? We can fend off the little ones as long as we want, but if we hit the big one, he’ll just grow and become a bigger problem for us! Literally!”“Well,” Ladybug said as she put her fingers to her chin, “We know where the akuma is.”“His clenched fist. The one he’s holding Mylene with.” Chat Noir pointed out.“We also know he’s in love with her. Ha! That’s it! We shouldn’t separate Stoneheart and Mylene, but bring them closer together!” Ladybug said.“...huh?”“We’re gonna make em kith.”“Oh! You think that’s gonna work?” Chat Noir asked.“Well, if it doesn’t, at least we’ll have a big enough window to grab the rock.” Ladybug said before sprinting to the balcony and leaping off of it, quickly followed by her black clad partner. The two hopped up the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug zipped past Stoneheart making a King Kong reference and landed on the tip of the tower.“Fabricate!” Ladybug exclaimed. As the hot pink sphere of creation energy manifested in her hand, she closed her eyes and focused harder than she ever had before. And once the energy erupted and gained physical form, she opened her eyes and found a parachute in her arms. She blinked before muttering, “I was going for a jetpack, but this is close enough!”The cat hero landed near her and yelled, “You sure you know what you’re doing?!”“We’ll find out soon enough!” she responded before throwing her yo-yo at Stoneheart’s hand, specifically the one holding Mylene, the wire wrapping around it and Stoneheart’s neck as the head of the yo-yo lands back in Ladybug’s hand. “Get ready, Chat!”Stoneheart began, “I don’t know what you’re planning, heroes but it most certainly will not-”He was interrupted when Ladybug pulled on the wire, forcing his hand to his mouth and causing his and Mylene’s lips to meet. The kiss should’ve been uncomfortable, after all Mylene was kissing lips made of rock, but for some reason it was…satisfying.In pure shock, Stoneheart let go of Mylene, and subsequently, the akumatized rock. He quickly caught Mylene before she could fall, however, the rock quickly started plummeting to the ground. Chat Noir leaped off of the edge of the tower, plummeted down to the rock’s level, and put his skills he learned in prestigious basketball class to good use, knocking the rock up to Ladybug with his staff.The bug hero grabbed the rock and squeezed it with enough force to crack it in half. Every transformed Stoneheart in the area immediately reverted back to normal, all except for the original. The liquidy purple energy oozed out of the broken rock and formed an origami butterfly that tried to flutter away. Ladybug narrowed her eyes at the butterfly before running a finger along the middle of her yo-yo, opening it and revealing the void of pink within. “No more evil-doing for you, little akuma.” She said as she initiated her super cool akuma capturing sequence that I will not even be trying to draw.“AAAAAAGH!”The scream interrupted her as she looked down and saw Stoneheart, his body crackling with violet electricity, and Mylene plummeting to the ground. “Now that I think about it, I totally could’ve waited to break that rock.” Ladybug thought before she leaped off of the tower. She yelled, “Chat Noir, you take care of Ivan!”Chat Noir nodded and sprung up from his staff that was lodged into the side of the tower. As he descended, he landed on Stoneheart’s chest and dug his silver claws into the stone beast, pulling a mass of gaseous violet energy out of him. As the energy dissipated behind him and Ivan transformed back to normal, Chat Noir grabbed him and extended his staff to the ground, allowing him to slide down it with Ivan in tow.Meanwhile, Ladybug caught Mylene in the air and threw her yo-yo at the akuma. The akuma dodged and let out a cheeky little laugh before Ladybug pulled the yoyo back and caught it. “Gotcha!” Ladybug said before pulling the cord on the pack, releasing the parachute and guaranteeing them a safe and calm landing.Ladybug landed on the ground with Mylene in tow. She opened her yoyo, releasing the purified butterfly. “Bye, bye, little butterfly.” she said as it fluttered away.Chat Noir landed with Ivan on his back, holding onto him so tight that he was constricting the hero’s breath. He said, “Alright big guy, you can let go.”“Are we still falling? I can’t tell.” Ivan said, holding his eyes closed.“Open your eyes.”Ivan did so and released a sigh of relief as he let go. Chat Noir crumpled to the ground. “Lost feeling in ma legs.”Mylene walked up to Ivan and said, “I think we have some things to talk about.”“Yes, we do,” Ivan said before taking a deep breath. He spoke, “Mylene, I’ve..had feelings for you since Collège. I didn’t know how to tell you since, y’know, I’m not the best with words.”“You’re literally the most well-spoken person I’ve met.” Mylene stated. Mylene felt a black finger tap on her shoulder and received the paper Ivan’s lyrics were written on. She read it and gasped, “Oh my god, Ivan! These are beautiful! It’s a shame you can’t hear them when you…” Mylene’s eye twitched as she thought back to the occurrence in the locker room, “Well, ‘sing’ isn’t exactly a good word for it.”“I scared you, didn’t I?” Ivan asked.“You don’t scare me, Ivan. You just startled me.” Mylene said with a soft smile.Ivan smiled back and said, “I promise I’ll be gentle.”“Don’t just be gentle, Ivan. I like you. Be you.” Mylene said. Ivan’s face lit up as he wrapped Mylene in a hug and spun her around as they both shared a laugh.Chat Noir smiled as he watched on from a distance. He inched towards his partner. “So, looks like this is a job well done for the Miracu-Duo. I just came up with that, do you like it?” he asked, not noticing Ladybug staring out at the city.“Not entirely.” Ladybug said sullenly.“What? What’s wrong with it?” Chat Noir asked before his partner, without turning, grabbed his chin and turned his head towards the city. Buildings had been crushed to debris, an entire city block was on fire, and screams of pain rang out throughout the city. “Oh.” Chat Noir said as he took it all in.Suddenly, a piece of brown paper floated through the air and landed gracefully in Ladybug’s hand. She read it aloud, “When the wielders of the Scarab and Black Cat join hands with intent, the Earth will be healed.”The two shared a look of confusion at the passage. Chat Noir began, “I guess it’s worth a…shot?”He noticed the accents across his vambrace glowing a bright silver. “Look.” Ladybug said as she held up her hand, showing that the spot on the back of her hand was glowing hot pink. They looked at each other before nodding, seemingly having the same idea.“Pound it!”They fist-bumped. The moment their fists connected, threads of pink and green energy erupted from their hands, swirling around them and mixing to form a thick beam of shiny white light that spewed into the air and burst into hundreds of white wisps. The wisps flew all around Paris, and as they did, all of the damaged seemingly reversed. The destroyed buildings floated back together and became whole once again, the fires were immediately vanquished, and everyone who was injured in the attack was healed of most injuries.Everyone looked in awe as the wisps literally healed Paris. The beauty of watching a city magically reform in a matter of seconds was breathtaking.The mayor watched on, his daughter by his side. Chloe dropped her phone, losing her grip due to the sheer awesomeness of what was going on. She spoke, “It’s..”“Simply..” Roger said as he dropped his walkie talkie in astonishment.“MIRACULOUS!” the two heroes exclaimed in unison as the wisps all gathered into a ball that exploded into a burst of bright light.“MY EYES!” yelled a nearby Hawaiin-shirted voice.Once the light faded, Paris returned completely to normal. It looked as if Stoneheart never existed in the first place.“That was beautiful.” Mylene said.“Just like you.” Ivan said cheekily as the two walked off, hand in hand.Ladybug watched as they left and said, “Wow, they’re made for each other.”“Just like us.” Chat Noir said with a cheeky smirk as he leaned on Ladybug.“Haha! Thanks for the laugh, Chat.” Ladybug said before their respective jewelry started beeping, “Oop, looks like we’re going to detransform. See you next time, Chat.”As his partner zipped off into the distance, Chat Noir smiled and bowed, saying, “Can’t wait, M’Lady.”
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“So by the time I got to the Eiffel Tower, it was already over!” Alya complained as she and Marinette walked into the school building.“Oh no, you couldn’t thrust yourself into the danger and risk your life for internet approval, how frustrating.” Marinette said sarcastically.“Next target,” Alya said, ignoring the sarcasm, “Ladybug’s Secret Identity. Who’s really behind the mask?”“Oh.” Marinette said, clutching her pen in her fist and shattering it, “Good luck with that.”Outside of the building, the Agreste’s car sat on the road. Adrien sat in the backseat and looked down at the floor. His father looked at him through the video call on the Ipad connected to the back of the front seat. “You disobeyed me, Adrien. It’s a miracle that Nathalie found you, and that you didn’t get caught up in that akuma attack.” Gabriel lectured him.“Ook?” THE GORILLA uttered as the two employees sat in the front seat, which roughly translated to, “How did you find him anyway?”“Well, I had to use my extensive skills to deduce his location.” Nathalie explained.
yesterday…
Adrien, donning his Civil Ian disguise, happily strolled out of the school building after the attack of Stoneheart.“Adrien!” Nathalie yelled as she ran up to him from behind.Civil Ian turned around, showing Nathalie his glasses. She groaned and said, “God damn it, this is the second time! Civil Ian, was it? I swear I’ve heard that name before.”“Well, it must be a coincidence, anyway, I have a normal life to live with a totally not dead mother, bye bye!” Civil Ian exclaimed before turning to walk away.Nathalie then grabbed Ian’s shoulder and squeezed with a surprising amount of force. Her glasses shimmered as she said, “Civil Ian is Adrien’s Danganronpa OC.”He gulped.
present day…
“‘Ultimate Disguise Artist’ my ass.” Nathalie remarked.“Despite your rebellion and the fact that you put yourself in danger…I can’t deny that you managed to navigate yourself just fine. I’m proud of you, Adrien. I will allow you to attend this school as long as your bodyguard is close by.” Gabriel stated.The model’s face lit up in pure joy as he looked at the screen, adopting an expression so pure and childlike, reminiscent of a simpler time to which we can never truly return. “Nathalie has offered to rearrange your new schedule. You’ll be continuing your music, Chinese, and fencing classes, as well as your photoshoots and-” Gabriel spoke, but Adrien didn’t listen, instead looking at Nathalie with gratitude.When his father was done, Adrien hugged Nathalie with all the force his arms could exert before pretty much leaping out of the car and sprinting up into the building. Moments after, Nathalie turned the video call to the tablet in the front seat and let out a proud sigh. “They grow up so fast.”“That they do, Nathalie.” Gabriel agreed.
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Marinette and Alya strolled into the classroom feeling like the baddest of bitches. Right as Alya was about to head to their seat, Marinette put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Do you feel like doing something ballsy?”“I always do.” Alya said. The two walked up to the seat Marinette was banished from yesterday and sat down. The moment their gluteuses touched the wood, Chloe and her indentured servant/friend manifested out of thin air with a thunderous boom. She looked down at the two and said, “You’re in the wrong seat. Go on, get lost.”“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.” Marinette stated.“And you’re just dropping random Majestia quotes, why?” Chloe asked.“It means I’m…wait, how do you know the quote is Majestia’s?”There were a few beats of silence between them. Chloe knew she had two choices at that point; admit she was a Majestia fan or admit defeat. She chose the latter. “Just have the seat.” As the blonde and her servant walked to the other seat, Marinette and Alya high fived, cementing their super awesome victory that would always be amazing and never be spoiled by-And then Adrien walked in. “Oh right, I have to sit behind this douche.” Marinette said disdainfully. Adrien walked up to his seat and tried to wave at Marinette, only for the girl to pin him with a hard glare. Adrien sighed and sat down in his seat next to his new best bro pal.“Yo, you wanna make friends, right?” Nino asked. Adrien nodded and Nino continued, “Then go talk to Marinette, y’know, about the gum.”“But, what should I say to her?” the model asked.“Just apologize and explain the situation. I’m sure she’ll understand, I’ve known of her for a while and from what I’ve seen, she’s pretty chill if you’re not on her bad side.” Nino responded.Adrien smiled and said, “Thanks, Nino.”
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After school, it was raining bullets. Marinette slowly stepped outside, having stayed an hour after school for one of her clubs. “Weather app didn’t say a damn thing about rain.”Adrien walked up beside her holding an umbrella. He tried to give her a nice greeting but she only turned away. Adrien sighed before stepping into the rain and opening his umbrella. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for the gum incident. I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat, but I now realize that playing with it with my bare hands wasn’t the smartest way to go about it.” he explained as he scratched the back of his head.Marinette’s gaze softened as the model continued, “I’ve never had many friends besides Chloe. It’s all kind of…new to me.” Then, he turned to Marinette and offered her his umbrella.Time seemed to pause as fate itself slowed down to savor the moment. Marinette looked the umbrella up and down with shock as Adrien just smiled at her. Marinette slowly rose her hand and gently took the umbrella, only to accidentally close it over her head. Adrien couldn’t help but burst out laughing, but it wasn’t a mocking laugh, it was more lighthearted and endearing. Marinette rose the umbrella and chuckled.Adrien adjusted the strap of his bag and said, “See you tomorrow.”As he walked off down the stairs, Marinette slowly said, “Uh huh, see you tomorrow.”She felt a heat in her cheeks and asked, “Woah, why am I blushing so hard?”Tikki flew out of Marinette’s purse and floated beside her, saying, “Hey, I think I might have an idea.”As he walked to the car, Plagg peaked out of Adrien’s jacket and said, “Wow, first day of school and we’ve already got two lovebirds.”Adrien chuckled and said, “C’mon, Plagg. She’s just a friend.”A choir of tortured screams erupted from the edge of the universe at that very moment. Not that Adrien heard, as he softly gasped and repeated, “A friend.”With a satisfied smile, he got in the car and was driven off. Marinette picked up her backpack and walked down the stairs as well. As she did, Fu, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, stood out of sight beneath his own umbrella with a smirk. Wayzz floated beside him and remarked, “Tikki and Plagg did a good job choosing those two.”“Against all odds.”“So, are you going tell them about us?”Fu thought for a moment before saying, “Y’know what? No.”“What?” Wayzz asked, surprised.“As the Guardian of the Miraculous, exposing myself to them now would only serve to compromise all of our identities. Giving them too much information too soon could be dangerous. I’m going to wait, maybe nine or ten months, to see if they can handle this themselves. Then, I’ll step in.” Fu explained.“I…can’t tell if that’s a smart decision or a dumb one.” Wayzz said.“Good to know I’m gaining nuance.”𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫