Moira: A person's fate or destiny

She jerked awake.

Her chest heaving and heartbeat thundering in her ears as her gaze locked onto the night sky above.

Blue eyes desperately tracking the few stars that could be seen in the light-polluted sky.

Feeling her throat grow tighter and tighter, she threw the covers off of her body and opened the window above her with clumsy hands.

Relishing in the cool air that grazed her sweat-covered and overheating skin.

Greedily sucking in the fresh air, the young teen felt her heart slow to a normal pace and let her back hit the mattress once more while watching the light dots and passing airplanes through the window. Counting them like one would count sheep to fall asleep.

It was that dream again. 

That weird jumbled mess of colors and voices that had been getting louder and brighter with each passing day, almost as if it was warning her from something. 

It made her uneasy. 

An understandable reaction, if one considered that she just woke up from something that was most likely a nightmare and, if it really was a nightmare, an reoccurring one as well. 

Marinette sighed and turned around, blindly grabbing the phone on her pillow before she noticed that she, much to her dismay, had forgotten to plug it in the charger again.

Turning it on, she squinted from the light that assaulted her eyes and checked the time on the blinding screen.

3: 15 in the morning.

Way too early for her to be awake.

Sighing again, she rolled onto her back, holding the glowing device to her chest while she rubbed her eyes with the other hand.

For a short while she stayed still, debating if it was worth falling asleep again, but ultimately decided against it.

Preferring to mindlessly scroll through whatever app she had used before she turned it off, rather than risk having that horrid dream again.

It hadn't been very long since those dreams started, all things considered. Maybe a couple weeks if not a month or so. 

She could never remember what she saw in detail, but the feeling of fear and oppression was enough to let her know that whatever she dreamt about wasn't very good. Though, it was strange that the color red was so prominent in there.

According to Chinese culture, the color red was a lucky color and symbolised happiness, vitality, good luck, success and good fortune.

Thus, it didn't fit well with the feeling of danger that she experienced every time she dreamt those things.

Maybe it was a mix of both? A sign of good fortune and success at a terrible price?

Well, Marinette sure didn't hope so.

After all, today was the first day of school after the summer break and she would be damned if something terrible were to happen this early into the year, especially now that she was in tenth grade.

Just thinking about what could all go wrong gave her a headache.

Maybe she should just consult her mother about the meaning of her dreams. She certainly would have some useful advice as to what they meant.

Snapping back to reality, Marinette noticed that she had been scrolling up and down her school calendar app for the past five minutes while she was lost in thought. Her phone's battery flashed in a bright red, announcing that she only had 2% left.

Sighing for the utmost time, she turned it off and plugged it into the charger. Resigning herself to her phoneless fate. 

Gathering as much of the blanket as possible, she curled into a fetal position and shut her eyes.

Hoping that, maybe this time, she would be granted a dreamless sleep.

"Marinette! Your alarm has been going off for fifteen minutes! It's time to wake up or you'll be late for your first day back at school!"

With a loud thump, the poor girl fell out of her bed as she tried to untangle herself from her blanket, still far too deep in her sleep-drunken state to process things properly.

Dazed she sat up, brushing a hand through her hair as she grabbed her fully charged phone and turned off the alarm, proceeding to throw it down onto her divan where it bounced off and landed safely in a pile of pillows.

'Why are school mornings always like this?'

She wondered as she brushed her teeth. Staring blankly at her tired reflection in the mirror, while silently observing the light eyebags, dishevelled black hair and paper-white skin that made up her face.

Usually she would've been awake hours ago, already busy with designing new clothes and accessories since the night is the best friend of an artist.

But alas, nothing lasts forever and her peaceful mornings are no exception to that, which is why she wasn't suprised in the slightest that she felt as if a double-decker bus ran her over when on other mornings she would've been perfectly fine.

Marinette frowned a little while she dressed herself, struggling to find a usable shirt in the mess that inhabited her floor.

It would be nice if her school year was normal for once, but as sweet as that thought might sound, she knew that that was highly unlikely to ever happen.

For the past few years, something would always happen in her class.

No matter when or where.

Once, there was a giant chemical disaster in the lab because someone thought it would be smart to try and set something on fire.

That resulted in them panicking and trying to put it out, but they moved around so much that some other chemical bottles crashed into each other and yeah... they couldn't use the lab for at least five months and the kid responsible for this got kicked out of school.

Another time, her class went on a trip to the zoo and everything was going well until Chloe got the genius idea that she wanted a tiger as a pet and somehow opened the cage, which led to a mass panic when the tiger escaped and they nearly got banned because of it.

Or those countless other times were either Chloe fucked up, or more school property got damaged in nearly unexplainable ways.

Still lost in thought, she walked down to the living room and saw that her mother had already prepared breakfast.

Marinette's face lit up as she smiled at her mother Xia-Bing (she had changed her name to Sabine when she moved to France, though she still preferred to use her birthname when not talking to customers or other strangers), who waited for her to get seated.

"Good morning mom!"

She greeted and kissed her mother's cheek as she sat down to eat.

The table was set up with a rather light and bland breakfast. Nothing spectacular really, with the croissant from her father, that he lovingly called "Marinette's croissant" and always left at the same spot for her to eat, a yogurt, some milk with cocoa powder and a bowl of fruits.

Some might say that it was too simple, but personally, she wouldn't have it any other way. After all, it was nice to have a routine. To have something constant in your life that would lessen the burden of time on your shoulders. Well, that and because she couldn't handle heavy things so early in the morning.

The apartment they lived in was divided into two parts. The lower half had the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom of her parents, while the upper half beneath the roof belonged to her entirely.

There she had her workspace with a platform for her bed and a small terrace on the roof from where she could see the Notredame.

To be honest, sometimes she wondered how they could even afford their house considering how expensive the rent in Europe was, but regardless of her thoughts, she was thankful that they managed pretty well with their bakery and the art classes her mother gave.

"Are you excited for the new school year?"

Her mother asked as she washed some dishes in the sink that were still dirty from last night's dinner.

Her french had a light Chinese accent, a trait that had yet to lessen throughout the years that she had spent in France. But she was not alone in that matter as Tom, her husband, also had a subtle Italian accent, though his was less prominent than hers.

"Not really, I bet you anything that Chloe is in my class again."

Marinette sighed, staring into space as she sipped the warm cocoa from her bowl.

"Really? Four years in a row? Is that even possible?"

She nearly snorted.

"If it's her then yes. Hah lucky me~"

Chloe was that typical bully that you would find in every superhero show.

Rich, blond, arrogant and an absolute brat whose favourite pastime was tormenting poor people and throwing money left and right.

So, it shouldn't be a surprise to know that she was the daughter of the mayor of Paris, who also owned a Luxus hotel where she had her very own suite.

Of course, all those facts caused her ego to be the size of mount Everest and usually, Marinette wouldn't be bothered by it, if she hadn't been the victim of her schemes for a little over three years.

She was also very annoying, so that's that.

"Ah nonsense, I'm sure that this year will be a good one Marinette. Everything will be fine and you'll do well in school, I promise."

Her mother said warmly, hugging her daughter from behind as the latter had finished her breakfast while she was lost in thought.

Smiling, Marinette's eyes fell onto the clock.

'OH SHIT!'

Nearly falling from the chair, she scrambled back up into her room and got her school bag. Panic flowing through her veins because she had only ten minutes left before classes would start.

Unbeknownst to her, while she ran upstairs, she somehow managed to turn the once clean breakfast table into a battlefield by pushing the milk from the counter, letting an orange throw the yogurt down which then acted as a catalyst for the cocoa box to fall over.

But she did not notice that. Her mother smiling in pity as she knew how clumsy her daughter could be when she was stressed.

Rushing through the bakery that was right below their apartment, her father quickly handed her a box filled with green macarons and sent her off with a goodbye and a light chuckle. Waiting for his wife to tell him of her newest chaos and if he could use it as an inspiration for his recipes.

Thankfully the school was right next to their home, or she would never make it in time.

The stoplight on the street was red.

For some reason, it felt like it had been red for hours.

Curse her for thinking that this year might at least start off well.

Of course, that was just her anxious mind trying to fool her big time, and she knew that.

But while she was raging war against her brain, an elderly man walked across the street, seemingly unaware that the light was still red.

Noticing that, and the fact that a car was speeding towards him, her mind blanked and she rushed forward, grabbing his arm and pulling him to safety onto her side of the street.

Sadly, as the price for the older man's safety, her box of macarons fell onto the dirty sidewalk, spilling the contents with only a few remaining inside.

Gasping, she kneeled down and quickly collected the few that were still whole and not on the dirty part of the ground, before standing up again with a slightly damaged box. The rest of them turning to mush beneath the shoes of strangers. 

"Thank you, young lady, I'm sorry that that happened."

The man said, smiling at her apologetically with kind grey eyes.

Just like her, he had warm beige colored skin with golden undertones.

The most noticeable things about him though were his wooden cane and his rather obnoxious red Hawaiian shirt.

"Ah, no problem sir, it happens all the time. Have a good day!"

She said with a small smile and bowed to him, before rushing towards her school. Knowing full well that she was losing time and couldn't waste it talking to an elder, no matter how disrespectful it would seem.

He smiled as he watched the girl run inside.

A mysterious glint entering his eyes as he pulled out a black box with red carvings from who knows where.

Nodding to himself, he turned to the bakery and murmured,

"It seems that I have found the perfect candidate."

Panting, Marinette rushed up the stairs towards her classroom like an Olympic marathon runner running away from their ex. The only difference was that she was far less epic than the ones on the screen.

Only a few seconds were left before the bell would ring.

She slammed the door open.

As if on cue, the horrifically loud jingle appeared, announcing the start of a new school year and simultaneously another year of hell.

She sighed in relief.

Walking towards her usual seat she dimly heard how the teacher told one of her classmates to sit at the front this year. Nino if she remembered correctly, a typical loner with only music in his head.

But she was too occupied with calming her breathing, so it wouldn't seem like she just wrung her lungs out for sprinting up those ridiculous stairs, to really pay attention to her surroundings.

Sadly, her little moment of peace didn't last long, as, as soon as she sat down, Chloe barged into her space. Dead set on annoying the hell out of her.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, what are you doing in my seat?"

She sneered, shooting death beams at her with her electric blue eyes.

"What do you mean? I always sit here."

Marinette retorted, scowling at the offending girl who then slammed her hand onto the table.

"Well not anymore! Listen, Adrien's arriving here today and since that's going to be his seat, this is going to be my seat, got it? So you can be a good little peasant and sit over there."

She said, pointing at the row in the front. The place where she and her friend Sabrina, who was more a lap dog than a friend, always sat.

But it was the first time that she heard that stranger's name in her mouth.

"Who's Adrien?"

Chloe stared at her with a rare, dumbfounded expression.

God, she wished she had a camera right now.

"Hah! You don't know who Adrien Agreste is? Oh don't worry, he's just a very famous model, and we are best friends! He adores me! But of course, a commoner like you wouldn't understand."

Marinette scowled and whispered, "I didn't even know you have friends."

"What was that Baker girl?"

The blonde brat snarled, looking more like a chihuahua with rabies than the prim and proper "lady" that she proclaimed she was. 

"Nothing."

Not wanting to deal with Chloe's high-pitched voice anymore, she stood up and simply switched seats.

It was useless to fight with her anyway or she would start threatening the teachers by saying that she would call her father again.

Her mother would agree with her that it was sad and pathetic to see how little authority the teachers had at this school.

Nowadays she could even learn more from the internet than school if they kept bending to Chloe's will and not act like proper authorities.

Well, all except for Madame Mendeleiv, the science teacher. Even though she was strict, at least the students could learn something from her and she didn't get pushed around by that blonde snob.

Soon enough, her own best friend, who was a little late due to a traffic jam, spotted her and moved to the front with an unreadable expression. 

Marinette smiled and waved at her, making some room for her to sit on the long wooden bench that they had instead of chairs. 

They knew each other since kindergarten when their mothers had bonded over cooking and the arts.

Alya had always been the more extroverted one of the two, which was made obvious by the glare that she sent towards Chloe.

She didn't even try to hide it, causing some of her classmates, that looked at her at the wrong time, to flinch.

Though, as usual, Chloe was way too self-absorbed to notice.

Sitting down next to her, Alya turned to Marinette, a faint scowl marring her face.

"Why is she sitting in our seats?"

Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Apparently some new guy that she is friends with will come today and she somehow found out where he'll sit."

Alya raised an eyebrow. Her glasses glinting in the light.

"Ok? But that doesn't explain why she has our seats?"

"Well... I just sat down in my seat as usual, and then she just came out of nowhere and sent me away."

"And why didn't you fight back?"

"Uhhh....I...didn't want to deal with her?"

She looked away sheepishly, her voice growing quieter at the end of the sentence.

Alya sighed and lifted her glasses to rub her nose bridge. 

"Mari, look at me. How often have I told you to stand up to bullies like her? Stop letting that rich white girl push you around as if you are nothing. It's not like I want to deal with her either but that doesn't mean that she can just always take what she wants."

"I know Alya, I know... but- I can't just go and tell her to fuck off?! What if she threatens my parents? Or worse, what if she threatens you and your family? I know how much your mom loves her job."

Despite knowing that Chloe was just an arrogant girl, it didn't lessen the fact, that she was still a serious threat if angered. She could easily order her pushover of a father to do something to her family or ban her from school, or ruin her reputation or, or, or you get the point.

And it was even worse for Alya, whose mother worked as a chef in the Luxus hotel that the mayor, André Bourgeois, owned.

Seeing the genuine worry and fear on her friend's face, Alya's eyes softened, suddenly feeling bad for pushing her boundaries like that.

She knew pretty well that the wound left behind by that blonde bitch, still hadn't fully healed and they had a lot of work to do if she wanted to see the self-confident kid again that she had met in kindergarten and who had inspired her to follow her dreams like no other.

Alya just had to be patient. And maybe learn some tricks from her older sister Nora, just to be safe.

Playfully shoving Marinette's shoulder she said,

"Hey, don't worry too much about it ok? For now, I'll do the talking and you try to work on your self-confidence in front of people other than myself, ok?"

Blushing lightly, she felt her worry melt away and smiled at Alya, opening the box and offering her some of the less damaged macarons, which she gladly took. 

At least she could always count on her friend whenever her feelings got the better of her. 

Meanwhile, outside of the school, a young blonde teen was running up the stairs in a hurry.

He ran as if hell was after him, or at least if one could count the silver car that was following him.

Halfway up the stairs, the car stopped in front of the school, and a black-haired woman in a suit rushed outside, followed by a very beefy and intimidating man who had a worried look in his eyes, even though you could barely see it.

"Adrien! Don't do it! You know what your father will think of this!"

She yelled, looking just as desperate as the teen in front of her, though for a different reason.

"But this is what I want!"

He retorted, his green eyes wide with fear, spite and determination.

This was his dream after all, to just be normal and go to school and make friends like everyone else, instead of being some child model and face of his father's company.

He didn't understand why his father would want him to be stuck at home forever as if he was safe in there like a bird in a golden cage. 

Opening his mouth to argue with his personal tutor and the secretary of his father, Nathalie, he took a deep breath to start but stopped when his eyes spotted someone in the distance.

A few meters away, he locked eyes with an old man who wore a rather obnoxious red Hawaiian shirt.

He was lying on the ground, his wooden cane lying too far away for him to reach it and he would certainly not be able to stand up on his own.

Feeling the urge to help, he abandoned his spot on the stairs and rushed towards the elder as fast as he could. 

Quickly gathering the wooden cane, he helped the man back up and gave him the cane back, making sure that he stood on steady feet before moving away.

"Thank you, young man."

He said, a warm smile gracing his face.

"Oh, it's no problem."

Adrien replied and turned around with a smile of his own. Though it vanished as soon as he saw his bodyguard and Nathalie standing on the stairs with stoic expressions, effectively blocking his way inside the school.

Resigned, he walked back and pleaded meekly,

"Please don't tell my father about this."

Before going back into the car. There was no way he could get past his bodyguard without getting caught anyway. 

The old man, who watched the exchange in silence, had a mysterious glint in his eyes once again.

Swinging the cane over his shoulder, he leisurely walked off towards the Agreste manor and once he stopped in front of the black iron gates, he pulled out another small box and smiled.

As the day went on, Marinette never saw that mysterious friend of Chloe, even though she insisted that he would show up, sounding strangely desperate when she said that.

But the longer she thought about it, the more unlikely it became as she was sure that it was just another one of her lies to gain sympathy or something.

Their new teacher for this year, Madame Bustier, finished with the introduction and gave them all their new school books and timetables, before dismissing them so they could go to their individual classes.

In the back of the class, Kim, the local sports fanatic snickered as he threw a paper ball at Ivan.

The rather quiet and very tall "built like a tree" Russian.

He grunted and threw a glare at Kim, before unfolding the paper and reading the messily written message.

A sudden shout drew the attention to the back.

Ivan, grabbed Kim by the hem of his shirt and looked like he was ready to strangle him.

Even scaring Kim with that expression, though the Vietnamese hadn't much to worry about.

"Ivan! Kim! What is going on?!"

Madame Bustier exclaimed, swiftly approaching the pair, though at that moment she looked more like the character "Granny" in that one horror game rather than the kind and soft language teacher they all knew.

"It's Kim! He threw this at me and-"

"Ivan. Even though he threw paper at you, it doesn't mean that you can just go around and start beating others up."

Madame Bustier said, cutting him off and painstakingly separating the two teenage boys from each other.

Kim grinned at Ivan who was being scolded.

Almost too happy at getting away with his schemes. But his joy didn't last long when he heard the next words,

"And Kim. I understand that you are all young students and still driven by your hormones and childlike brains," He winced at that, and huffed, turning away like a little toddler, "but that doesn't make it ok to just throw things at others that could harm them in any way."

Madame Bustier continued, looking at them with a stern and disappointed gaze that sent shivers down their spine.

"To make sure that this will not repeat itself again, especially now that you're both in the tenth grade and have to start being more mature, you'll both be sent to the principal's office. Now!"

The two students were shocked at the brash words of the usually soft and gentle teacher.

But there was nothing they could do anymore. 

Huffing, the pair walked off and out of the classroom with bowed heads, accepting their punishment in silence.

Exhaling, Madame Bustier calmed herself and looked at the shocked class that still stared at her, their mouths wide open and faces pale as if they've seen a ghost. 

"Don't you have classes to attend to?"

She asked with a raised eyebrow, observing how they unfroze and immediately scrambled outside, leaving her standing alone in an empty classroom.

The air around them was tense as they both wandered to the principal's office.

Neither of them wanting to do such a humiliating thing.

Kim, who was walking close to the railing looked down and spotted his P.E. teacher, Mr D'Argencourt with whom he was supposed to be right now, gathering the class and explaining them his plans for today.

Looking nervously at the tall Russian next to him, who was still fuming and would definitely not hesitate to throw him off the building if he said anything wrong right now, Kim began to rummage for a plan to escape in his mind as he absolutely couldn't miss P.E.

Not when this was the best and easiest part of the school day, since he knew perfectly well that this was the only class that he actually did well in, and because he was sure that no one would excuse him from the class as Mr D'Argencourt was extremely strict and would not accept excuses without a teachers notice.

A notice that he did not have.

Growing more and more nervous by the minute, they both stopped in front of the office and Ivan looked over to him, his black eyes widening slightly when he saw how pale the other had gotten.

Was he really that scared of the principal? Or was it something else?

Ivan opened his mouth to ask Kim just that, but before he could react, Kim's hand shot out and swiftly knocked on the door, gaining the principal's attention on the other side.

Baffled, Ivan stared at the door and heard the principal tell him to come in, but when his gaze returned to Kim, the other was long gone and racing outside to catch up with the others who now had P.E.

Leaving him behind with only a yelled "Sorry man!" echoing through the courtyard.

That dirty little son of a-

Ivan clenched his fists.

Enraged beyond limits, that that absolute moron would pull such a dick move on him, knowing full well that he couldn't even chase after him because the principal was waiting for him to enter.

Huffing and puffing and clenching his teeth, the furious boy didn't notice the dark, poisonous-looking butterfly approaching his clenched fist, which still contained the hurtful message that Kim had written him.

All of a sudden he felt cold.

The sounds of the outside grew muffled and dull as he was thrown into tunnel vision, a dizzying feeling overtaking his mind.

He couldn't move and his feelings wouldn't cooperate with him no matter how hard he tried to get them back under control.

"Hello Stoneheart, do you want revenge?"

A cold, yet enticing voice echoed in his mind.

"..what?"

He felt himself slipping into a strange sense of security the longer he heard that voice. He felt warm somehow, as if he could trust that person.

"Don't you want to hurt that cruel classmate of yours? Shouldn't he know what it feels like to be humiliated like that?"

"Yes... you're right, why shouldn't he feel like that too?"

He mindlessly babbled with crazed eyes, the last threads of his sanity slipping through his fingers.

"Exactly. So, will you accept these powers that I grant you to get revenge on Kim?"

"Yes."

"Good boy." Ivan could've laughed at the caring voice, feeling as if a hand was patting his head, "you only have to bring me something in return, but I will tell you when you see it. No need to distract yourself from your goal isn't that right Stoneheart?"

"You're right, master."

Grinning wickedly, he felt an overwhelming, almost addicting rush of power flow through his veins that made him stronger. 

And with that, his world faded to black and he fell asleep to a strange, strange dream.

Mr. Damoclès was a rather impatient man. Everybody and their mother knew that.

But he was also a busy man, so having those snot-nosed brats knock at his door and never enter was the worst part of his day at work.

It was as if they only used him to play ding dong ditch.

"Won't you enter already?"

He exclaimed for the third time in the past five minutes, drumming his fingers impatiently on his table.

A loud bang resonated in his previously peaceful office as he was all of a sudden, face to face with a horrid stone monster that had just charged straight through his wall and was speeding towards his window.

Driven with fear and adrenaline, the owl-like man jumped aside at the last second, only watching in horror as that monster shattered his beloved window and landed on the street, creating deep craters whenever it's... feet? Collided with the ground.

Gathering his phone with shaking hands, he frantically typed in a number and said, "Hello? Is this the police? Bring me the Army!"

Shakily awaiting a response as he prayed to god that this wouldn't be cut from his salary or someone would be fired today.

To say that Marinette nearly had a heart attack when she heard that loud explosion from above was an understatement.

Immediately grabbing the next best person to balance herself, her hands clutched the checkered red-orange jacket that Alya wore who sat beside her as they pretended to study in the library. Even though, in reality, they chatted about her new designs and whatever new and interesting story Alya had managed to obtain once again.

"What was that?!"

She gasped, following Alya who dragged her through the mass of panicking students and towards the surveillance TV that showed their school grounds and who was where, although it was weird that their security set-up was located in the library and not in a normal room.

Outside, right in front of their school stood a giant stone monster that was busy throwing a tantrum, shoving and throwing cars or stomping around in anger.

The other students around them whispered and cried in fear as none of them knew what to do now.

One of the students, who couldn't see the TV due to the giant crowd around it, opened the news app, watching in horror at the news of some monster prancing around on the streets with the police and the army doing their best to keep it at bay though nothing really seemed to stop it.

Marinette turned to Alya, mouth opening to ask her if she wanted to hide with her in her room, as it was too dangerous for Alya to get home since she lived farther away.

But she quickly closed it again when she saw the starry eyes of her friend who could barely contain her excitement.

For a moment she was horrified, was her friend suicidal or something to be happy about such a thing?!

Then it dawned on her, and all previous thoughts flew out of the window.

Alya Cesaire was, is and will always be a huge fan of heroes.

No matter if it was from Marvel, DC, Anime or Majestia. She loved each and every one of them.

So naturally, with the appearance of a supervillain, how could she not be excited?

"Alya, don't."

The girl jumped at the commanding tone in her usually quiet friend's voice.

Alya's golden brown eyes met the blue ones of Marinette who looked almost as serious and terrifying as when she had accidentally lost the lucky charm she had made for her.

"But Mari, you know how much that means to me! I'll possibly never get such a chance again!"

At this point, Alya was ready to plead on her knees to be let go.

But Marinette was relentless and rightfully so.

"You won't go anywhere when you could get killed as soon as that thing spots you!"

She exclaimed, looking at her with desperate eyes as she pointed at the screaming thing that kept on repeating something but it wasn't clear what it was saying in all that chaos.

At that moment it threw a car at the camera and cut off its connection.

Surprised, Marinette's gaze jumped towards the black screen, shuddering involuntarily when she imagined how that would feel if it was a real person.

Then she froze, feeling that something was a miss, only to notice that she had taken her eyes off of her stubborn and way too reckless friend. Said friend already sprinting and weaving her way through the masses and after the monster for one of the best stories that she had yet to write.

Marinette wanted to be swallowed by the ground.

Ancestors help her if Alya got out of this alive, she would make sure that she wouldn't survive once she and especially her mother got their hands on that stupid vixen.

Boredom was a constant in Adrien's life.

As well as the colors grey, white and black that were everywhere in the mansion that he lived in.

With the only exception being his far too large room that seemed more empty than joyful or relaxing most of the time.

But at least it had colors.

At least that.

"Adrien, are you even listening?"

Nathalie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, forcing him to recite the answer to her french history questions out of instinct.

They had done this so often that he knew the answers by heart at this point. A pretty useful skill if he were at school but as it is, he hadn't made any progress in that matter yet.

"Nathalie. Can you give me a few minutes? I need to speak to my son."

Adrien flinched at the voice of his father, sitting up a bit straighter and putting all his focus on him, so he would not disappoint him anymore than he already had.

"Adrien. You are not going to school, I already told you."

Gabriel Agreste stated, a man that hadn't been his father in years, so holed up with work as he was.

"But father?!"

He exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and sending an accusing and helpless look towards Natalie, who avoided his eyes like the plague.

"Everything you need is right here where I can keep an eye on you. Why do you keep disobeying me like that? You know I just want the best for you."

"Father... I- I just want to go to school! If you wanted the best for me why do you keep me trapped in here?!"

His father frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he slowly approached his son. Towering above him.

"I will not have you go outside into that dangerous world."

Adrien shuddered, his heart clenching at the finality of his voice.

"But- I don't wanna be stuck here, I want to go outside and make actual friends like everyone else."

He exclaimed meekly, hoping to finally get his point across as he stared up at the indifferent gaze of his father. Praying to whatever God's there were that his father would see reason. 

"But you are not like everyone else, you are my son." Gabriel snarled, glaring at him as if he was just some disobeying employee of his before he stopped and averted his gaze. His face became blank once more, eyes growing colder and all signs of emotion fading away until there was nothing left that resembled a human.

It was a look that he had seen too often when his father was done talking to someone who he deemed as a "waste of time". 

Adrien's heart shattered to pieces.

"Father plea-!"

"Nathalie. Make sure to keep an eye on my son and don't mess up this time or else. I don't want to repeat this conversation again. Is that clear?"

His cold voice echoed within these empty walls as he levelled his secretary with his stare, who nodded and said,

"Yes sir."

Trying to hide her shaking hands behind her back.

Adrien, who stood frozen at his seat, grabbed his things and stormed outside as soon as his father's back disappeared behind a white wall.

Blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes while he clumsily bumped into some of the staff on the way to his room. Unaware of the pitying gazes that followed his retreating silhouette as they had heard every single word. 

He slammed his door open and threw himself onto the bed, trying to calm down and muffle his sobs as to not attract any unwanted attention. 

It hurt. No matter how long his father had acted that way it still hurt.

He knew he should be used to it by now.

But that didn't lessen the pain it caused him every time that happened. 

Then he heard a loud crash outside.

The yells of policemen and fearsome roars of... something. At least he got a welcome distraction from his feelings.

Throwing himself off of the bed, he jumped over the couch and turned on his TV. Rubbing his eyes harshly to get rid of the tears that didn't want to stop spilling.

"To all citizens of Paris, please remain calm and do not leave your houses. The police and army will ensure your safety."

The mayor, André Bourgeois said, looking quite worried and scared contrary to his words.

It switched to Nadia Chamack, the main reporter for the news channel, who continued by saying,

"As crazy as it seems, Paris is indeed being attacked by a supervillain. The police have been struggling to keep the situation under control."

While they showed footage of a giant stone monster that was causing a rampage on the streets. Throwing cars and whatnot as it made its way towards the stadium.

It switched again to show a Live stream of the police chief, who assured them that the police had, indeed, everything under control and that they would bring the one responsible for this to justice, albeit his broken arm did give him serious trouble in conveying the message properly.

Sighing loudly, Adrien let his head fall back as he leaned onto his pristine white couch. Feeling a light migraine creeping up on him from all the emotional turbulence he had experienced today, not to mention those strange dreams that he kept having for the past few weeks.

At least his nose wasn't as stuffy and his eyes didn't sting anymore. A little Makeup would surely do the rest to hide all traces of his... emotional outburst. 

Once he was sure that he wouldn't get dizzy once he stood up, he opened his eyes and let them flicker towards his table.

They widened in surprise.

There, on the expensive glass table from IKEA, sat a little black box with a very detailed red symbol painted on top of it. 

"What's that?"

He mumbled, opening the box before he dropped it in surprise. A bright green light assaulting his eyes in return.

Right there, where the light ball was fading away, a small black thing materialised before his eyes. Curiosity immediately overwhelming the initial fear that he had felt when it happened.

"Wow, what are you? It's like the genie in the lamp huh?" Adrien asked in amazement as he poked the sleeping black thing. It resembled a cat of sorts, and it was adorable.

Yawning, the small cat thing opened its bright green eyes and stared at him. Looking more annoyed and tired than anything else.

"Met one once but, meh, you know? He grants wishes, and? I have a much better personality. Plagg, nice to meet you I guess, or not."

It said and started dashing around the room looking for something edible. Gnawing at his game stations and other, definitely unedible things, while it kept him busy with chasing after it so it wouldn't break anything.

After a while, he finally concluded that he couldn't just keep chasing it without a plan. So, he looked around and spotted his climbing wall.

Seeing how the thing- Plagg was distracted with gnawing at yet another item that shouldn't be eaten, he quickly climbed up and assaulted him from above. Thankfully landing on his couch and not the floor in the process.

"I still don't know what you're doing here."

He demanded, staring at the cute little thing that felt warm, almost velvety to the touch while he grasped it in his hands.

"Look, I'm a Kwami, I grant powers and yours is the power of destruction got it?"

Plagg answered, seemingly having done it hundreds of times before with how unimpressed he looked.

"Nope!"

"Good now have you got anything to eat? I'm starving."

The tiny black glutton complained, still looking as indifferent as before, while Adrien had to restrain himself from laughing hysterically.

"Dad's pranking me right? Wait, no he couldn't be, he got no sense of humor."

Scratching his head, Adrien let the kwami go and started pacing. Thinking how he should probably ask one of the staff if someone has sent him something or not.

Not noticing the serious and horrified look that crossed over Plagg's face.

"Your father must never know that I exist, or anyone for that matter!"

Plagg exclaimed, flying in front of his face and effectively ripping him out of his musings.

He didn't know what expression he was making, but by the way that Plagg's eyes softened, it couldn't have been very good.

"Look kid," The kwami started with a sigh, all of a sudden looking far older than before. "You're a superhero now, so that means that you have to protect people from the villains out there. I don't care for the people and I don't care how you do it, but if you want them to be safe you have to keep your mouth shut."

A look of contemplation crossed over Adrien's face as he sighed, brushing a hand through his bright blonde hair. His eyes following the kwami that was now flying around again and had managed to get stuck in a toilet paper roll.

He knew that the kwami spirit thingy was right. But at the same time.... this was the first time he had an actual secret to keep!

He felt a sudden rush of excitement in his chest that chased away the remnants of sadness from before. He could actually do the things he always wanted to do! No way he would let anyone take away his one chance of freedom.

"You're right I know... but if I'm a superhero now, how in the world should I safe people when I'm stuck in my own house?!"

A mischievous expression overtook the kwami as he turned to Adrien once more. Looking like a small black blob with big green eyes from the distance.

"Well, I don't know about you but that can change soon, that is...if you're willing to change it."

Adrien's eyes brightened even more, feeling actual joy instead of the fake one that he did during his photo shootings.

His fingers itching to strangle the answers out of Plagg's mouth.

"What do I do?"

"Well," The kwami said, phasing through the paper roll and floating back to the box that was still sitting innocently on the table.

"This is my Miraculous. It's basically a magical ring that allows you to transform into a hero. I, the kwami, will then be sucked in there and give you my powers."

Adrien curiously approached the ring and took it out, carefully putting it onto his ring finger.

"To activate it, you just have to say "Plagg, claws out" and then you can transform. Your power is destruction and can destroy anything you touch after saying "cataclysm". But you can only use it once alright? Only- Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

"Huh?"

Adrien's head snapped up, too busy marvelling at the cool silver ring that he now had to properly listen.

"Ugh, humans these days."

Plagg grumbled, flying right into Adrien's face. At this point, the spirit thing, Adrien was still unsure if he wasn't hallucinating the entire time, looked like a tired parent rather than the lazy uncle that didn't want to interact with the kids.

"Kid, I know this is a lot but I'm lazy and I'll only be saying this once so you better listen or else got it ?!"

"Yeah yeah, I think I got everything, thank you. Now, Plagg claws out!"

"Wait! You dumb shit I wasn't fi-!"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as he was sucked into the ring and triggered the transformation.

As soon as the light that had engulfed him went away, he opened his eyes and looked down, his mouth, which was covered by some black cloth or something, falling open in surprise.

In place of his old clothes, was a pitch-black undersuit that apparently covered him from neck to toe, alongside black armored boots, a belt that kept the pair of padded leggings on top of him and a black jacket with lots of pockets, as well as a pair of clawed gloves with cute, neon green cat beans on his palms.

Adrien felt like he could burst from excitement any moment now.

He just had to know what the rest of him looked like.

Slamming open the door to his spacious bathroom, he hurried toward the mirror and gasped as soon as he saw his reflection.

Next to the fact that there were neon green lines spread across his new clothes, which by the way were surprisingly breathable and light contrary to his expectations, the most important part was his face.

A pitch black face mask covered the lower half of it, which had a cat face design on it, as well as the mask that covered his eyes. On top of his head were also a pair of black cat ears that twitched and turned at every sound.

But the coolest part were his eyes.

His now cat-like eyes that were completely green and had slitted pupils.

Adrien could've died happily on the spot.

This was absolutely the coolest thing that had ever happened to him in his entire life.

He slapped himself to make sure that he wasn't actually dreaming as he turned around, spotting a staff on the back of his belt.

He grinned, the pearly white fangs hidden beneath the face mask.

This would be so much fun.

Unbeknownst to him, the same thing was happening right now with Marinette, who had been busy watching the news, in hopes of spotting Alya somewhere in the footage. 

Mumbling something about hating first days back at school, to which probably every single student could relate too, her eyes landed on a small black box that had been carefully placed on her table in front of the desktop.

Surprised, she took it into her hands and inspected it.

"What's that?"

She whispered, placing it back down and tapping her chin with her finger.

She could swear that that hadn't been there before.

No way in hell would she have overlooked something so blatantly out of place in her pink-colored room. If she was being honest, she did have thoughts on changing the color, as it slowly started to get on her nerves. But... maybe not yet.

Anyway, pacing around and debating how that box came here wouldn't do her any good, so she took a deep breath and acted on impulse. Opening the box.

Almost immediatly, she was blinded by a bright red light, causing her to let the box fall which clattered back onto her desk. Though, thankfully, without cracking. 

Materialising before her eyes was the weirdest thing that she had ever seen.

A small bright red creature with a big black spot on its head and strange little...antennas.

It opened its eyes and stared at her, the deep navy blue seemingly swallowing her whole. It was a truly enchanting color that would have certainly captivated her if the thing hadn't opened it's mouth. 

"Hello Marinette, I'm-"

She screamed.

"What the fuck are you?!"

Marinette exclaimed, backing away frantically from the floating thing.

"This can't be real right? Ahaha... No. No no I must be dreaming, there is no talking bugmouse in my room. Exactly. I'm just insane."

Giggling like crazy in hopes of not having lost her mind completely, she closed her eyes and smiled, calming herself as best as possible.

Once she opened her eyes again she turned around, fully convinced that she had developed hallucinations from the first-day-of-school-syndrome that she had made up just now.

Only to be disappointed once again.

"Are you fine now?"

The red thing asked her, looking strangely worried.

"YOU'RE REAL?!"

Freaking out once more, a reaction that was absolutely justified, she started to flee from the thing, searching for something to capture it with while she was at it.

But that flying rat or whatever didn't seem to get the message and follwed ger around while as trying to comfort her. A gesture that, of course, didn't really work when it flew around like a way too big moth on a summer evening that had gotten into her room and spotted her lamp.

Snatching the cup from her sink, she trapped the creature underneath it and spoke,

"What are you and how do you know my name?"

Panting harshly as she stared it down.

The thing sighed and straightened again, looking her in the eyes.

"I'm a kwami and my name is Tikki, now let me explain."

Albeit hesitant, Marinette nodded and decided to listen for now, since she couldn't do anything else anyway. It's not like she could call anyone for help anyway, her parents were still at work and Alya was who knows where. 

"So, my power is creation and allows you to not only summon a "lucky charm" to help during the fight when it gets too much but also defeat and capture the Akuma that allows the villain to be, well, villainized in the first place."

"Once you have defeated the villain, you have to throw the "lucky charm" into the air and yell out "miraculous ladybug" to fix all the damages created by said villain. Once that's done, you have to capture the Akuma with your magical weapon and purify it so it won't do any damage again."

"But beware of the fact, that once you activate your power, you only have five minutes until you transform back. Do you understand?"

A little overwhelmed, Marinette nodded but remained silent. Mulling it over in her head.

This was just too crazy for her to believe. She? A superhero? As if. A hero as clumsy as her would most likely cause more chaos in Paris than any villain would.

"Ahahah," she chuckled weakly, shaking her head as she leaned back, no longer holding the cup in her hands, "there is no way that I can be a superhero Tikki. Maybe we can ask my friend Alya, she has always been a huge fan of superheroes, but... no maybe that's not a good idea, she is already reckless enough when pursuing new stories, there's no way she wouldn't endanger herself even more once she becomes a hero of all things."

Panicking, Tikki phased through the cup and flew in front of her face, holding direct eye contact with the troubled girl.

"Marinette listen. I know all of this is a lot, but no one can know about me alright? Not your family, not your friends, no one! You just have to trust me with this! Please! You're the only one that can stop Stoneheart from doing more damage."

Tikki sounded so pleading when she looked at her like that. She almost made her doubts go away. But only almost.

"Fine. I'll try, as insane as this is, but I can't guarantee you that I can actually pull this off okay? So don't be too disappointed."

Relieved, the kwami gently floated towards the earrings and waved her over to them. Prompting Marinette to stand up from the floor and follow her.

Going over all the things she had to do and know as a hero again, Marinette put the earrings on in front of the mirror and stared at herself. Her doubts resurfacing once again.

"Eh...I'm not sure about all this Tikki. I don't know if I can do all this hero stuff. Maybe you should've chosen someone else for this."

She said in a self-deprecating tone, knowing that what she said was pretty lame but still the truth.

"Ah Marinette just trust yourself, the Mirak do not make mistakes with the ones they choose. To transform, you just have to say, "Tikki spots on"."

Confused, she repeated the phrase out of instinct and was promptly engulfed in a bright light.

Disoriented as fuck, Marinette blinked rapidly to get rid of the bright spots that had appeared in her eyes before she froze in shock when she spotted herself in the mirror.

Instead of her usual clothes, she was now covered in a pitch-black undersuit, with bright red slightly puffy pants, soft yet durable shoes, a red hoodie with black spots and red and black fingerless gloves on her hands. Similar to those that would be needed for hand-to-hand combat.

Alongside that, there was also a utility belt around her waist, and a red backpack slung across her upper body. The kind that only had one strap.

But the strangest part was her face, which was covered by a red face mask with black spots and a mask for her eyes that had the same pattern.

Jeez, the backpack sure was an eyesore... wouldn't it be uncomfortable to fight with that thing? Maybe she could like... wish it away or something? 

As soon as she thought that, the backpack lit up in a bright flash and vanished, as if it was never there. Perplexed, Marinette grasped the place where the strap had been seconds ago but all she felt was the soft hoddie underneath. 

And now what? Was the backpack important? Could she get it back? Was she even supposed to do that? 

Before she could decends into a panicked frenzy, the backpack listened to her thoughts and reappeared again with the same flashy entrance around her upper body. The sudden weight of it snapping Marinette out if her thoughts. 

She blinked at it and frowned. Well, this was certainly something... a magic backpack.

Hm. In any case, she didn't think she would need it right now anyway so it might as well stay away and she could get her answers from Tikki later. Maybe the bag was not the only thing that Kwami forgot to tell her about. 

Shaking her head, she ripped her eyes away from her (backpackless) reflection and forced herself to focus.

"Heh. Hey Tikki! Please get my clothes back, I can't go out like this now can I?"

She called, wandering around in her room but not receiving any reply. That's...weird?

Frowning, she called again, this time more urgently. Still nothing.

"It seems that the monster is now moving towards...."

The news report caught her attention, her face twisting into a grimace when she spotted Alya following the monster with her bike, like the insane freelance reporter that she was.

Calling for Tikki yet again, she felt her anxiety spike when she heard her mother call her from downstairs instead.

Asking her if she got home safely.

Marinette couldn't let herself get caught looking like this of course, hence why she quickly fled onto her terrace on the roof before her mother managed to spot her.

Exhaling in relief, she took in a deep breath of fresh air and grabbed the yo-yo thingy that was on her waist. Guessing that this was most likely her weapon as everything else was empty.

Absently she heard her mother call her dad and tell him that he should call the school to inform them of her absence or something. But that wasn't important right now.

"Well, might as well try this out if I'm stuck like this."

Throwing the yo-yo, she was surprised at how far it flew before it twisted itself around a gargoyle on the Notredame and promptly swept her off of her feet.

Sailing through the air like a Falcon she barely had time to register that she was falling towards someone when she barreled straight into another teen who was completly clad in black.

As they fell, her yo-yo wrapped itself around a strange staff that was stuck between two buildings, where the other had been balancing himself across. Causing the two to get trapped within the string, dangling head first a few meters above the pavement. The streets surrounding them devoid of life.

"Oh hello there! Nice for you to drop in."

The boy said, his eyes smiling at her since she couldn't see his mouth.

"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to."

She replied, freeing them both from her trap, though her yo-yo was still stuck to his staff.

He was blonde from what she could see, had bright green eyes and was dressed in a cat outfit of sorts.

It looked a bit similar to hers.

Maybe that was her partner.

"Ah, I'm very sorry about this, I'm still new to this whole hero thing."

Marinette apologized, sheepishly scratching her head as she tried to get the rest of her yo-yo off of the staff.

At least she managed that successfully after a few tugs, causing his staff to drop which he captured with surprising elegance.

"No worries partner, I'm learning too. What should I call you?"

He replied, before her previously falling yo-yo hit him square in the head.

"I'm sorry, I'm just very clumsy... and I haven't thought of a name yet."

Rubbing her arm, she felt her previous self-confidence that she had gotten by an inner pep-talk dwindle before a warm hand dropped onto her shoulder.

"No need to apologise, really, we'll get the hang of this soon enough. As of now, you can call me Cat Noir, clumsy girl."

He said, patting her lightly as he turned his attention to a crumbling building in the distance. Already, extending his staff to launch himself on top of a rooftop.

"Wait! Where are you going?!"

She yelled, a bit perplexed at how easily he seemed to handle all this while she was left struggling more than just a little.

"To save Paris of course! C'mon wonder bug we have to go!"

Hearing that, Marinette threw out her yo-yo and followed him. Promising herself to quickly get a hang of her powers because she didn't want to feel her organs move around inside her whenever she swung around.

Meanwhile, the transformed Ivan jumped onto the stadium's roof and roared loudly, catching the attention of the students on the field.

"KIM!!! LOOK WHOSE THE WUSS NOW!"

Stoneheart screamed, jumping down to chase the pathetic and terrified teen on the ground.

In that instant, Chat Noir swooped in. His jacket and belt swaying in the wind as he hit the monster with his staff, only for it to absorb the impact and double in size.

"Go, get to safety!"

He urged the boy beside him, parrying yet another attack of the overgrown lump of stones.

"You shouldn't pick on someone who's smaller than you."

He taunted, jumping out of reach when Stoneheart slammed his fists down to squash him.

Adrien had honestly no idea where he got all that confidence and sass from, while he could be turned to mush any second now.

But, he had never felt more alive than this. And he'd be damned if someone took that away from him.

Spotting his red partner on the roof he called, "Hey partner! I need some help here!"

Hoping that she would overcome her fear as it became harder and harder to actually fight Stoneheart while his muscles weakened with every clash. Damn him and his model noodle arms. It was time to stem some weights!

Near the entrance of the stadium crouched Alya, who was filming the entire spectacle. A concentrated look on her face as she did her best to capture everything with her phone.

"Bug lady! Yes, you up there! C'mon, do something! The whole world is watching you!"

She yelled, copying Chat Noir as she did her best to support him while hoping that she wouldn't disrupt the audio quality while she was filming.

Sadly, that also gained the attention of the monster, who snarled, grabbing a soccer goal and throwing it at her with all his might.

Alya felt her life flash before her eyes as she saw that thing flying towards her at full speed, regret squeezing her heart since she didn't even have time to apologise to Marinette for not listening to her.

Then she heard a click. Almost inaudible from the blood rushing through her ears.

And right before the goal could hit her, a silver staff extended itself above her head and deflected the flying goal last minute, saving her life.

High above them all, Marinette clenched her fists, her teeth gritting loudly when she saw that her inaction had nearly cost her best friend's life.

Fine, she thought, if she couldn't be brave, she could at least pretend to be and swung into action, her yo-yo wrapping itself around Chat Noir's torso whom she pulled towards safety and right out of Stoneheart's grasp.

"Animal cruelty? How shameful!"

She countered as she did that, landing her and her partner in the other soccer goal, far away from Stoneheart. Her heart thundering in her ears. 

"Sorry, it took so long."

Marinette apologized, as soon as she got them both to safety, feeling guilty for more than one reason, but her partner just grinned and said,

"Well, at least you're here so..."

Feeling grounded by the calmness in his voice, she settled down and began observing their opponent. Mumbling out after a while, that he never opened his other fist.

"But we can't just charge in without a plan."

"And what do you propose?"

Her admittedly cheeky partner asked, stretching his arms and legs out while he patiently waited for her to figure something out.

"I don't know..."

She replied, wrecking her brain but coming up with nothing.

Just then, a lightbulb appeared in Adrien's head and his eyes lit up. Already yelling out his power's name before she managed to stop him in his ordeal.

"Well, might as well get the chance to show off my superpower. You know, I can destroy everything with a single touch!"

He bragged, looking like a child in the candy shop as if he didn't know the restrictions.

"Pah, I can do that even without a superpower."

Marinette muttered, her eyes wandering back to Stoneheart who was already halfway across the field but at least he wasn't running at them.

She needed the time.

"Ahahahah how awesome!"

Chat Noir's excited yell turned her attention back to him, her face morphing into a horrified expression.

"Chat Noir wait! Don't!"

Her hand didn't manage to reach him as he jumped out of her grasp and towards Stoneheart, the previously whole goal rusting and falling apart from Chat Noir's power who had touched it while she wasn't looking.

The fool, of course, didn't listen to her and landed in front of the villain, touching his foot and expecting him to fall apart just like the goal did, but nothing happened.

"Oh. I guess my power only works once huh?"

He sheepishly said, being saved by her once again mere moments later before he would've been crushed.

"My turn now!"

She exclaimed, now knowing what to do.

If Stoneheart's fist was always closed, that meant that if they managed to get him to open it, it would be game over for him and they would finally win.

Summoning her lucky charm, she quickly looked around with her special vision that she apparently now had and gathered all the things she needed to execute her plan.

Chat Noir, the poor soul, didn't know what hit him when she suddenly approached him and tied her yo-yo around his waist, throwing him at Stoneheart in a wide arc who caught him with his free hand.

Tying the black and red swimsuit to the garden hose, she jumped towards Stoneheart with it in tow and let herself get captured alongside her partner, who kept on saying how crazy she was, which she couldn't deny to be fair.

A small purple-tinted ball fell onto the ground harmlessly from the previously closed fist.

"Alya! The tab! Now!"

She yelled, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to know her name.

Alya on the other hand, thankfully didn't question her in the heat of the moment and immediately complied, turning it on and letting the water flow into the swimsuit.

Marinette, now unrestrained, quickly ran towards the ball on the ground and stomped on it.

Freeing the tainted butterfly within.

With a small smile, she watched as the butterfly flew away, while Stoneheart fell apart and revealed a very disoriented Ivan who looked like he just woke up from a long dream.

"What- what happened?"

He asked looking around, confused as to why he was in the stadium all of a sudden when he had been in front of the principal's office moments ago.

"Wow! That was amazing Miss...Bug lady! You're insane, amazing but really insane!"

Chat Noir exclaimed as he halted beside her, baffled at what just happened and a little lightheaded from the Adrenaline rush that he had experienced throughout the entire fight.

"But please, next time, inform me of your plan beforehand instead of just throwing me into the fire alright?"

She smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. 

"Ah yeah...Don't worry, will do. But you should better go now, your five minutes are almost up."

Saluting her, Chat Noir smiled and ran off, yelling about doing this again sometimes even though she desperately wished for it to not happen. All that she wanted to do right now was lie down and never get up again from all this trouble she just went through.

As she thought that, her gaze fell onto the now whole piece of paper that no longer held the Akuma and sat innocently on the ground. Enticing her to take a look.

Picking it up, she read the message that was written on it and frowned, hurt at the cruel words of her classmate.

Ivan, who saw that she had read it hung his head in shame, admitting that his classmate Kim had written it and always made fun of him for liking another classmate of his, Mylene but never being able to confess to her.

Trying her best to appear friendly, Marinette approached Ivan and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, everything's fine now. But you know, you shouldn't feel embarrassed about telling someone you love how you feel Ivan."

"Thank you miss but...how do you know my name?"

Stammering in embarrassment, she tried to cover it up somehow but thankfully, in that moment, an overenthusiastic Alya approached her with her phone in her hand and stars in her eyes, spewing question after question at her so quickly that she couldn't even keep up with them anymore.

"But, what should uhm... what should we call you?"

Was the last question that she caught and Marinette mulled it over, finally deciding on one that would fit.

"....Ladybug. Call me Ladybug."

She said with a grin, swinging away with her yo-yo and that's where the footage ended that Nadia Chamack replayed on the news.

Saying how they now knew the names of their new heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir from this Amateurs video.

Adrien watched said news with great interest after getting an earful from Plagg who criticised his reckless behaviour and was now busy picking out a dish to eat, though none of the ones that his personal chef had made were to his liking.

Because, as it turns out, that flying glutton only liked cheese. Camembert cheese to be precise.

"Amazing. He likes cheese, nothing but cheese. Now I'm gonna smell like cheese all the time ugh."

Adrien complained shifting his attention back to the news but the praises and mayor's speech about some celebration were quickly cut short by the report of more and more frozen stone statues that started appearing all over the city.

Adrien felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

'Didn't we defeat him?'

Simultaneously, Plagg and Tikki turned to their respective owners and asked,

"Have you captured the Akuma?"

Marinette grew worried at that question, having just ditched her parents at dinner when the news came on TV and being busy with ignoring the countless messages Alya sent her.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Tikki shot her a stern look before she explained,

"All Akumas can multiply, that's why it's important to catch and purify them because if they're left unattended they can create an entire army of monsters and as soon as Ivan feels angry again, they will come to life and service him until the end."

Marinette backed away from the kwami. Her pupils shook as she processed the new information.

"But...that means that all this is my fault?!"

She exclaimed, gripping her head with her hands as she lowered herself to the floor. Her breathing growing erratic and body shivering in fear.

"Don't worry Marinette, we can just go back and catch the Akuma. It's no problem really!"

Her kwami tried to reassure her, but her doubts had already been cemented and she came to a decision.

"No. No Tikki I told you you made a mistake! I can't be a hero! If I'm the only one who can catch them then just find another Ladybug to fix this."

She said, ignoring how Tikki called out to her to not remove the earrings but it was too late.

With a look of resignation, she looked at the earrings one last time before she placed them into the box and hid it in a drawer.

She would give them to Alya tomorrow.

It would be better if she was Ladybug, rather than someone who messed up like her.

And while the two little heroes had their own crisis to face, one man, hidden away behind a disguise and a window that separated him from the outside world, chuckled lightly.

Smiling as the dark, chaotic mass curled around him like poisonous smoke and turned solid. It's cackling of a thousand voices echoing inside the dark space that was only filled with countless of white butterflies.

"Seems that our game has just begun, Dezas."

He said and grinned, locking eyes with the distorted ones of the entity beside him that was helping him with his goal for its own amusement.

After all, there was no world that could exist without a bit of Chaos.