Cheshire

by RozonRozark

Summary:

The Cat Miraculous was never given to the Order of the Guardian, and was then passed down through generations to commit many evils. Plagg would have been happy to never be used again until he met a young girl. Now the two must face the dangers of Paris when every other user is against them.

Chapter 1

A long time ago the Miraculous were made to help mankind. Jewels that held Kwami’s, spirits that represent certain aspects of the universe with the most powerful being the twin pair of creation and destruction. A pair of earrings and a single ring that were meant to be partners for all eternity, key word meant. Plagg could do nothing but stare in horror as his first user told him how he had betrayed the fledgling Order of the Guardians and was now on the run from them.

He followed his user from place to place till the man died and a thief took his miraculous. From their he was passed around from criminal to murder to deranged physco. The only time he saw the other kwamis was when they were yelling at him for what his users had done or not trying to fight back against their control.

Thus the passing down continued with a few humans who tried to do good using the ring only to get drunk on his power and run truly wild with it. He got tired of watching them do as they please and mostly shut himself off from the people who picked up the ring. He eventually even stopped trying to defend himself from the other kwamis who had started saying he was the cause.

So it was with a bit of glee that after a police chase, for some reason the other miraculous users haven’t bothered to show up in a while, chase his current holder seemed to have fallen into a river and the tide caused his ring to slip off and be carried off by the stream. So there he sat undesterped for a long time. Then the tide shifted which caused him to get grabbed by a fish that was then grabbed by a bird. After the fish was grabbed it held onto the ring for a bit but a particularly strong gust of wind caused it to drop the ring which fell to the ground below. So there it sat undisturbed until a little lonely black haired girl picked it up.

~~~~~~

Marinette wasn’t having a very good week. She had gone to school that Monday expecting to share her treats she cooked with her best friends Nino and Chloe. But things had gone down hill, no down mountain quickly. First Chloe had taken the treats she had brought and dumped them on to her. Nino stood to the side not moving to help her and when she had looked over to him for help he just glanced away.

“As if I would ever be friends with a stupid backers daughter like you.” Chloe answered when Marinette had asked why she had done it. “That goes for for everyone too.” The young blonde had looked around the room glaring into all of the other students' eyes. Nobody stood up for her and a small voice in the back of her mind told her that nobody ever would.

“What’s going on here?” The teacher asked walking in to see the young black haired girl covered in destroyed food.

“Dupain-Cheng dumped the food on herself right?” Chloe asked looking at the others who all nodded with Kim yelling that he saw her do it. So that was how the day went with her becoming an outcast that nobody moved to help and a few others who wanted her former friends to spread nasty rumors about her. Thankfully things hadn’t gotten physical, yet. Knowing Kim and Ivan it would only be a matter of time.

So with her head down she walked home only to slightly perk up when she saw Nino waiting outside alone. Maybe now that they were alone he could be her friend? Walking toward him the french-asian girl only had a second to feel someone push her and Nino sticking out his leg to realize what was happening. It was too late to do anything but brace herself as she hit cold ground. “Good job Nino,” Kim said from behind her but her gaze went to Nino who still wouldn’t meet her blue eyes.

So with tears in her eyes she ran off in a random direction not caring. So it was no shock to her that as the days dragged on so did the bad events. The cafeteria was no longer accommodating to her so instead she took to going outside for lunch. It was on one of these walks that she saw something fall out of the sky. Walking over she saw it was some type of mud ball/dirt clump.

“Whatcha got there Dupain-Cheng?” Acting on instinct she shoved her find into her pocket before turning around to Chloe. “A sandwich really?” Chloe said before gesturing to the said as Ivan slammed his big hand down on hers causing her lunch to hit the dirt below before she could even grab it Kim snatched it up and joyfully ate it in front of her.

“Thanks for the food,” Kim said, not bothering to clean it off. They all laughed will Nino just looked on before as a group walked away. Not wanting to deal with them she made her way home, it was a half day anyway so she wouldn’t be missing anything. Arriving at home she saw her parents pitying gaze, they had tried talking to the school only to run into a brick wall.

Pulling the dirt out of her pocket she noticed a black shine hidden in the ball. Walking over to the sink in her connected bathroom she started cleaning the mud as chunks fell off to slowly reveal a beautiful black ring with a green cat's paw on the face of the ring. Staring in awe at the big ring she slid the big ring onto her finger. The big ring tightened around her while turning a rose gold colour. A black blur shot out of the ring and eventually took the shape of a cartoonish black cat with bright green eyes. A scream caught in the girl's voice while staring at the floating blob.

“So you're my new user,” the floating cat-mouse-bug thing said while giving her a nasty glare. “So what do you want?” A stream of unitenable words and sound came out of her mouth as she tried to put her mind together. “Well, don’t act like you don’t know who I am.”

“I, I don’t know,” the young girl muttered backing up till she tripped into the tub.

“Really now?” The little being asked staring right into her eyes. They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity before the spirit flew back a bit. It took a position of thinking before speaking again. “Alright I guess I should inform you off some things then.” Taking a position of teaching the little being began speaking, “My name is Plagg and I am an ancient kwami bound to the ring you are currently wearing.”

Marinette cursed her parents for raising her right as her first instinct upon Plagg introducing himself was to offer her hand and name. “My n-name is Marinette,” the young eight year old girl stuttered out offering her shaking hand, “it, its ni-nice to meet, um, you.”

Plagg stared at her again for another while before rolling his eyes and grabbing a finger to shake. “Nice to meet you too.” Floating around for a second Plagg hovered in front of the mirror looking at himself. “Been awhile since I saw myself.” Not seeming to like what he saw, Marinette swore he deflated.

Daring to get out of the tub the girl approached to more closely observe the little cat. Getting within touching distance she saw that what looked like pristine black fur was instead filled with matts and she swore she could see his ribs. “Are you okay? Should I get you some food?”

Hearing her voice the cat spun around to see how close she got and quickly flew out of reach. “Hey you shouldn’t get that close to someone without their permission!” The thing yelled at her with its hackles raised up. “And yes I would like something to eat.”

“Okay I’ll just let my parents know and-” whatever she was going to say was cut off by Plagg yelling a no and zooming in front of her.

“You can’t tell anyone about me alright!”

“But they’re my parents.”

“And I’m your kwami.” Plagg said but then seemed to want to withdraw it.

“What does that mean?” Marinette's young brain tried to figure out what her kwami said. Remembering back to this morning with her betrayed friend bullying her and her finding the ring… “Oh I get it!” This seemed to shock the black cat. “We’re meant to be like super best friends right!” Taking a step forward she gave an excited smile, “Okay I’ll grab some food and we can talk some more about our super friendship!” With that she ran downstairs to grab some food and drink!

~~~~~

Plagg watched the human child, Mari something, descend the stairs with his miraculous. The kid had a kind set of eyes but he couldn’t trust the parents. Adults were protective and would ask questions. Questions they would make him answer, just like all the others. While he felt bad manipulating the kid he really needed a break. He was sure it wouldn’t take long for her to force him to answer every question they had. Glancing back at the mirror one more time he cursed the pitiful existence he had become.

“I’m back,” Pigtails said coming up the stairs carrying a tray of what looked like pastries. Even when he had somewhat good holders they had only given him small amounts of cheese and just pure cheese. Don’t get him wrong he had a problem with just eating cheese but they had given him bad cheese. So with a bit of hesitation he flew down to grab some sort of cheese bread thing.

Walking forward she put the dish on the ground. Looking at him with her eyes still sparkling. “So, um, what are my responsibilities as your kwami friend?” Oh right, he didn’t know why he said that but it seemed to be working for him. Talking a bite of the bread he was delighted with the taste that hit him.”

“Well you already did the first part by giving me good food.” Plagg said only to see her shocked expression. As she quickly dashed back down as he took another bite only to see her come tumbling back in.

“I forgot your drink, I'm so sorry!” The girl began another rambling spew of words as he stared at the milk she was holding out to him. Huh she was the only one to ever offer him a drink.

“Hey kid I’m really grateful but I don’t think I can hold that thing.” He said interrupting her. She put the drink down before rushing to her desk and grabbing a straw which she put into his milk. “Thanks now for the next part of Kwami friendship as I said don’t tell anyone about me.”

“Could I please ask why I mean if I can.” She asked as he drank the milk.

“If people know you have me they might try and take me from you.” Plagg answered, taking a break from the milk to answer her. “So now the time comes for what I can do to help you.”

“I, well I don’t need much help.” Pigtails said messing with her pigtails. “I just right now need a friend.”

“So you just need me to be a friend?” Seeing the kid nod Plagg crushed the hope blooming in him. She would show her true colors just like all the others. “Okay then now that the conditions are set I guess we’ll be together for a long time to come.” With that he dived back to the milk and stared drinking while the girl clapped her hands.

“So what do you want to do first? Watch movies?” Pigtails asked, almost bouncing on her bed.

“What is a movie?” That seemed the wrong thing to say as she turned wide eyed toward him. So it was that day that he was introduced to the wonders that was buttered popcorn, oh and some disney movie.

Chapter 2

It had been a few months since Plagg’s ring had been found by who he now dubbed ‘Bread’ or ‘Pigtails’. She wasn’t a bad kid and really tried to do right by him. “I want to be the best friend I can be.” This meant he got different types of cheese based food until he found one he liked, he really liked this part. He also got brushed and while he hated it, she gave him baths too. Though she did let him choose what type of shampoo and conditioners he wanted. It was nice to look in the mirror and see the improvements to his appearance (Marinette happily blabbering about how soft his fur helped).

Another thing they did was movie nights. Though he didn’t admit it he liked when they watched movies or tv shows together and while she had stopped doing it every night they still (thankfully) did it at least once per week. Some nights he got to pick what they watched.

She only ever asked one question, well she asked a lot of questions but she only made him answer one, and it was one he was more than happy to answer. During school, ugh he still couldn’t believe humans still had those, some of the brats in bread’s class had tried to steal his ring. Cheese almighty he could only imagine the horrors if she had managed to steal it. So when the young girl asked how she could hide the ring he had explained that the ring only needed to be in contact with the ring so it was possible for her to put it on a string or some other form of hiding. Within half an hour Plagg saw pages filled with different ways to hide his ring from others.

Bread’s parents were something interesting to him. They tried to be there for his holder but it seemed as if they were being overworked since the mayor was constantly hiring them to cater events. So while their business flourished they didn’t seem to notice how their daughter slowly withered away. They still gave her their attention to her as best they could when they weren’t making a catering order, preparing for tomorrow, or even planning for further developments of the business. So needless to say it wasn’t a lot of time, but it did allow him more time to not needlessly fear them catching sight of him.

Of course all good things had to come to an end. She couldn’t stay ignorant of his other abilities forever. It happened after school when Marinette was working on her projects and Plagg was going through different fabrics for his new bed. Bread was working on making a room for him out of an old doll house, she said it was so he had a place to hide and that was his own. He was quite proud of it due to him picking out the colours they used to repaint it along with the color of the fabric. But the tranquility was broken when Bread let out a dramatic sigh.

“Whats up?” Plagg asked, floating over to her.

“I just wish I could head out for a bit.” Looking out the window she saw the sun slowly setting. Plagg let out a hum thinking of whether or not he should tell her what the miraculous could actually do. “I just feel like I need to run you know?”

“I’m a cat.” Plagg said, giving her a flat look.

Marinette let out an oh sound as she slumped forward. “Hey do miraculous holders ever wind up with side effects? You know like, um, should I be worried about purring and such?”

The kwami let out a sad sigh. “It depends on who picks up the ring. Depending on the level of trust between holder and kwami there might be some side effects. The stronger the bond the more side effects. Why did you even bring this up?” Only his first holder ever experienced the side effects he never trusted the others or was proven right about them.

“Well I was just wondering if me suddenly wanting to run has something to do with the miraculous.” Plagg turned to her wide eyed. Could she actually have side effects! Had it been so long since he had gotten a little bit of kindness from what she was doing for him that much to earn his trust.

Thinking fast Plagg cleared his throat, “I suppose it might be possible. So how about we head out for the night and get some fresh air.”

“NO!” Pigtails looked shocked at him. “Do you realize how dangerous it is out there at this time of day?” Kwami almighty was glad Bread’s parents were out for the week on an overnight catering job. “I could get shot in an alleyway and bleed out then someone would shake down my body and you would wind up in the hands of them. Then you would remember me as the horrible holder who lost you just because they couldn’t walk down a street safely!”

While a bit catastrophize she had a point. He would hate to wind up on another punks hand so fluttering around a bit the black cat came to a decision. “Well you have a point there, besides even if that happened you would still be the best.” Plagg muttered the last part quietly. “Well I suppose since we trust each other enough I can tell you another power of the miraculous.”

Bread’s head snapped up looking at him with shock. “Okay now listen closely, and please let me finish explaining before doing or saying anything.” He got a bobblehead nod from her. “So the miraculous was made to protect humanity and it should be used to protect okay?” Plagg was slightly concerned as her head continued the bobble head impersonation. “So to unlock that power all you need to say is ‘Plagg, Claws Out’,” Marinette’s mouth opened and feared the worst only to see her slam it shut then cover it with both hands. Repressing a chuckle he continued, “and to end the transformation just say ‘Claws In’.”

Marinette let out a little laugh, “Good thing I waited.”

“Yup now a few more things to know about the transformation, you will have night vision, enhanced hearing, enhanced reflexes, and since I am a cat you will also have claws. You will also have protection from any mundane weapons or attacks, heck even if you got in a fight with another user the cat is the most durable.” The girl was looking more and more excited. “Last is the weapon.”

“Wait, aren’t the claws the weapon?” Bread asked looking confused, not that he could blame her.

“No they are just a bonus from being a cat. So the main weapon is a baton that can expand.” Plagg explained, the thought of mentioning any of the other abilities of the miraculous not even entering his mind. As long as the other miraculous didn’t show up she shouldn’t need them.

“What will I look like?” Marinette asked, tilting her head forward.

“The costume will look how you want it to.” Plagg waved her off. They looked at each other for a while before his tail twitched. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“I guess your permission?” Bread said blinking in confusion. Plagg sighed before giving a nod. “All right let’s try this! Plagg, Claws Out!” Bracing himself Plagg felt the familiar suction into his ring.

~~~~~~

Marinette blinked as the green light faded. “Plagg how do I look? Plagg?” Looking around she saw no indication of the small Kwami before she remembered seeing him being sucked into the ring. Stopping she rushed over to her body mirror and stared in shock at what she saw. Her eyes were now just like Plagg’s and popped against the black mask that sat on her face. Her hair remained in pigtails but her typical hair ties were now black with small beads hanging off it. Black cat ears also sat on her head and gave a twitch to show they were somewhat real. The skin tight suit itself was mainly black with a secondary colour of dark gray and highlights of green. The design was based off of chinese origin with a light jacket and gloves being the extra besides the skin tight leather. A flickering object brought her attention to the long black belt with a silver cap that seemed to be her tail. It was tied around her waist with a silver cat’s paw pin holding it in place.

Well this was an interesting costume. But since transforming she felt the itch to run increase immensely. So not wasting a second more she took the chance to jump out onto her balcony before surveying the city. Hopping to the next roof she felt a rush of excitement. This felt natural, as if she was doing this before, like she was meant to do this. As she lept from rooftop to rooftop she felt a smile bloom on her face. This was what she wanted. Her tail flicked behind her as she evenly stopped to look around and came to a realization. She was lost, oh and the sights of the city were pretty, but she was really lost at the moment.

Looking down she saw a young girl being led into an allway by a bunch of men. Leaping over to the ledge of the roof near the allway she peered down to see the girl being led to the back of the alley. Marinette bit the lower part of her lip as she watched the girl press up against the wall. Looking around she saw no sign of coming help so with a deep breath she reached behind herself to pull the small silver baton that with a press of a button grew into a staff.

Landing in between the thugs and short girl she acted quick by hitting two of them back. “What the hell!” Thug one yelled stepping back while his two helpers got back up. “You think you some kinda hero!” The thug yelled while waving his knife around. Biting the inside of her lip Marinette didn’t say anything in fear of showing them how scared she actually was. “Fine, don’t talk! Come on boys let’s show this brat why there's no heroes in Paris!”

Looking to the side she saw the other two thugs run toward her so with a spin of the baton she hit one of them on the side but saw she wouldn’t have time to whack the other as he charged forward. So with an idea coming to mind the young cat pressed the button and saw the man’s eyes widen as the staff expanded and hit him in the stomach. Stopping the growth she instantly shrunk it back to a comfortable length only to see thug one bringing his knife down on her. Reacting on instinct she raised her arm to try and protect herself only to watch in shock as the knife hit her gloved hand and stop. Looking at the thug she closed her fist intending to take the knife away only to feel it break in her grasp. “What the hell.” Thug two muttered staring at her, or more precisely the shattered blade in her hand.

“Boss I don’t think the kid is playin dress up.” Thug three fear clear in his voice.

“Screw this,” thug one yelled, tossing what was left of the knife away, “we’re leaving.” With that the three thugs ran out of the ally leaving her and the girl alone in the ally. Marinette debated in her mind about what to do. Should she chase after them or… what does she do now!

“Thank you!” A voice behind her drew her out of her thoughts. Turning around she saw the girl she saved with an awestruck look on her face. “You were so cool!”

“Oh, my gosh are you okay!” Releasing the pieces of the broken knife in her hand the girl rushed up to check on the other.

“Yeah, though I think I won’t be staying out so late next time.” The shorter girl said rubbing the back of her head while laughing.

“That would be the smart thing to do.” Marinette said with a nod. “So what were you doing out here so late?”

“Oh I just got these really nice skates!” With a lot of pride she showed off her roller blades. “I was having so much fun that I lost track of time, and where I was.” The final part was muttered but thanks to her enhanced hearing the new superhero was able to pick it up.

Not wanting to humiliate the girl the cat themed hero looked around for something. “You know those guys might come back, do you want me to walk you home for a bit.”

“Sure if you want.” The shorter girl said trying to sound relaxed but her shoulders relaxing spoke more than words would. As they headed out of the ally the other girl looked at the clock near them. “Man it is going to take forever to get home.”

“Well we could race.” The words were out of her mouth before Marinette realized what she said. The cat hero wanted to smack her head, she had no idea where the other girl lived and she mentioned that she was lost.

“Oh yeah that would be quicker!” The other girl was bouncing on her feet and looked excited. “I live close to the Louvre, we could race there.” Sitting down she was quick to get her skates on. “I’ll have you know that I’m rather quick on wheels.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” You know this was the perfect chance for her to really test her speed. Looking around she spotted a map nearby and was quick to point it out to… “You know I never got your name.”

“Oh call me Alix.” With a bright smile the two turned down the road as they waited for the agreed upon starting signal. A pigeon stared at them before giving a chirp and flying away. Thus the race started as both took off. Marinette found it easy to keep pace with Alix and knew she could pass her but decided that it would be best to keep even with Alix.

As they neared the Louvre she saw Alix pick up some more speed. Feeling a flare of competitive spirit the young pigtailed girl also picked up speed and passed Alix. This caused Alix to also pick up speed but was quick to realise that she couldn’t stop in time. Before she could slam into the wall though something black got in front of her. Hitting the body she looked up to see the cat hero. “Um, looks like you won.”

“Yeah I did.” The hero muttered while backing up. “So you okay getting home from here?”

“Yeah, I’ll be good.” Alix said while getting steady. “So I know it's a bit late but what do I call you?”

“...Cheshire, call me Cheshire.” The hero gave a nod. “And please don’t mention meeting me, I’m trying to remain unknown.”

Alix let out a sigh. “Okay, if you're sure, I guess I owe you.” So with that the black cat flew up to the roofs as a smile grew on her face. Tonight was a good night, she had saved a life and (maybe) made a friend to boot! Things were looking up.

Notes:

I know everyone hates time skips but I kind of need them for this story until we catch up to the the beginning so for now please bear with it.

Chapter 3

Cheshire let out a sigh as she laid out on the roof. It had been a few years since she became a hero and it seemed that with the good came the bad. For you see her civilian life had gone straight to crap. As the years went on Chloe and her classmates seemed to find new ways to make her life hell at school. She had to find better ways to protect her lunch and places to hide to eat her food. The amount of days where her food was destroyed or ruined were becoming stupidly high. What made it worse was that given how little time her parents were home Marinette had to start making her own lunches.

The teachers had turned a blind eye to her suffering. After all it was a quite friendless weirdo against the daughter of the mayor and everyone else. Hell her reputation had spread to everyone else so nobody else wanted anything to do with her.

Then came Alix, who she thought would be a civilian friend. But nope she had become a bully just like all her other former friends. The two faces she saw were mind boggling. Then again she had to act like the bullying never happened when out as Cheshire.

Speaking of Cheshire, Marinette was happy to report that the cat hero was good at staying an urban legend. While she had managed to stop a lot of muggings and attempted rapes the police had never seen her and the victims were more than happy to not mention the black cat when she asked them too.

Letting out a sigh she spun her baton in her hand. Pressing the button she saw part of it slide up showing the cell function of the phone. That had been a pleasant surprise. It seemed that when she transformed her phone had been absorbed into the baton so now she had internet access on her weapon. When she had asked Plagg why he didn’t mention it the kwami had just shrugged his shoulders and asked how he was supposed to know. After all, the last time he was out radio was the most advencaded thing people had made.

So now here she was on a lonely rooftop waiting for something to happen so she could forget how her grades were suffering from destroyed homework and projects. Honestly the only thing keeping her grades up was the tests. Not that they hadn’t tried, but thanks to sitting at the back or retakes the teachers would now just roll their eyes and leave her be.

Looking away away from the screen Marinette saw a blue figure jumping around the roofs. Well looks like she found a way to pass the time.

~~~~~~~~

Emilie waited until it was late at night to sneak into her husband's office. “Time to wake up Duusu,” the actress quietly said while grabbing her miraculous.

The blue kwami flew out of the brooch with a yawn. Looking over their face lit up, “Miss Agreste! It's fantastic to see you again!” The little blue being flew around her while Emilie tried to keep the little peacock quiet.

“Not so loud, Gabriel and Adrien are asleep.” Duusu let out a quiet gasp while vibrating.

“Are we doing some sort of secret amok making?” Emilie shook her head in the negative.

“No we are heading out, I saw another holder last night.” This caused the Kwami to let out an even more dramatic gasp while dropping out of the air. Emile caught them in her hands. But just like usal the shock wore off and they happily flew back into the air.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Alright, Duusu Spread My Feathers!” With that the blue kwami flew into the jewel and the magic flowed through her. “Time for a bird to find a cat.” Taking one more second to grab the spellbook Emilie then used her enhanced abilities to make her way towards the city.

After a few seconds she landed on a roof while snapping her fan open. “Alright how to do this…” Emilie looked around the city trying to spot the… black cat. She was trying to find a black cat at night when everything was dark. “Yeah I didn’t think this through.”

“Didn’t think what through?” A voice asked behind her which definitely didn’t make her jump. Turning around the peacock user saw the very girl she was looking for.

“Oh nothing you need to worry about.” Emilie said, giving her a bright smile.

“Well now I’m more worried about it.” The girl said while pouting and her ears flattening against her head.

Emilie let out an aww which only caused her pout to deepen. “Well I suppose I should get down to business.” Taking a deep breath she held herself up straight. “I am the holder of the peacock miraculous, Bella Blue, it is nice to meet you.” When she finished the blonde took a deep bow before looking at the other girl.

“Oh, um,” she saw the girls' green eyes shoot around, “I’m, I guess I am the holder of the black cat miraculous, uh, I guess Cheshire. It is really nice to meet you.” Whereas her bow was slow and flowing using years of practice Cheshire’s was jerky. Hmm, seemed she wasn’t used to formal stuffy greetings.

“Relax, I just wanted to meet you.”

“How did you hear about me?”

“Oh I have seen you around.” Emilie said while fanning herself. Cheshire seemed to study her for a few seconds before giving a nod. “Now onto the important matter.” With a quick movement she pulled out the spellbook. “I was wondering if you could help me with this?” She held out the book and waited for the young girl to take it.

After a few seconds the cat took the book and started flipping through it. “Is this a book about other miraculous holders?” Emilie felt some of the hope she held leave her. They didn’t recognize the book. “Huh, this is interesting.”

“So you can’t read it either?” She needed to check, she needed to know.

“No, but I do recognize some of these symbols.” She said before pointing to one of them.

“You do!” If she could read some of them then that would be a great start!

“Yeah, any way I could take this with me?”

“Sorry I can’t do that.” Emilie said, shaking her head. It would be difficult to explain to Gabriel how it went missing.

“Oh do you not have a copy of it?” Cheshire asked, looking confused.

“Copy?” A copy of the spellbook? “That is a spellbook, it's not like there are more out there.” That would make things so much easier.

“Then why not make a copy?” Cheshire asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“How would you suggest we do that? It's not like there is a magic… printer.” As Emilie was saying this she opened her fan on instinct only to stop and look at it. “You know I think we might be onto something.” Leave it to a child to come up with a solution that should have been obvious. “Come with me we need to grab something then we’ll get you your own book.” Getting a confused nod Emilie giggled before noticing something twitching behind Cheshire. “Wait is your belt a tail?”

Cheshire looked down at the black belt that moved a little; she tried to look more at it only for it to go out of reach. So much like a kitten she moved to follow it. At the third time around Emilie couldn’t restrain herself and pulled the girl into a tight hug. “You are just too cute.” If only she could introduce her to Adrien. Oh the photo ops with the two would be amazing!

The poor girl let out a babble of words as Emilie rubbed her face into the cat’s hair. “Copy, book, need sleep.” Slackening her hold the blond let out a dramatic sigh.

“I suppose people like us do need to keep up appearances.” Walking a few steps away she dusted herself off. “Alright keep up.” With that she headed off. Did she do a few flips and tricks just to show off. Absolutely, she worked hard on her gymnastics and damit she wanted someone to stare in awe of what she could do!

Arriving at the office she saw Cheshire freeze up. “Is something the matter.”

“We can’t go in there! It would be illegal!” Oh right she doesn’t know who she is.

“Don’t worry I’m good friends with the owner plus I’ll leave some money.” Cheshire seemed relieved by that so the two crept in. With that the two were quick to arrive in front of the printer.

“We are going to use up so much ink and paper. Oh we’re also going to need hole punch.” As Cheshire was saying this Emilie grabbed an ink cartridge from the printer.

“I suppose that would be the normal way of doing things.” Opening her fan Emilie slowly pulled a feather. Infusing it with magic she let it flutter down to the ink cartridge. As the magic flowed through both she saw the dark blue smoke transform them into something that looked like a toad mixed with a dinosaur.

“Yoshi!” Cheshire exclaimed while jumping back.

“Yup, he is going to help us with our little problem.” Holding out the spellbook Emilie only flinched a little as its tongue shot out. The slimey appendage grabbed the book and seemed to eat it. The ‘Copshi’ pulled its arms in as a few beads of sweat dripped down its head.

“Is it going to come out the opposite end?” Cheshire whispered looking scandalized.

“I really hope not.” Emilie whispered back right as the ‘Copshi’ spat out three identical books. Reaching down the two holders grabbed the books. Flipping through them Emilie noticed no difference. “Looks good.”

“Thank you Yoshi!” Cheshire said, patting the thing on it’s nose while the amok stood proudly of itself.

Emilie was about to comment only to start a coughing fit. With a bit of will she willed the amok away leaving her once more holding the cartridge again and the printer sitting slightly askew. Once the coughing had died down she saw Cheshire holding a cup of water in front of her while the kitten was babbling about needing to know if she should call 112. “Okay, I’m okay.” Emilie said, taking the water cup. “I just need to head home and rest.” With a steadying breath she downed the cup.

“Okay?” Picking up two of the books while Cheshire took the last one. “I will work on translating this as best I can.”

“Thank you, and please keep me updated.” With that Emilie shot off as fast as she could back home. Was she worried about Cheshire following her, maybe. But the blonde liked to think she was a great judge of character so she wasn’t too conserended.

Arriving at home she barely got out ‘Fall My Feathers’ before falling into another coughing fit. “Wowwy that was so fun!” Duusu happily said after appearing out of the miraculous. “So what kind of amok did we make? Oh, when did we get another spellbook?”

The light in the room flipped on shocking both of them. “Yes Emilie. Please do tell us how we got another spellbook or why you were using that broken jewel again.” The cold voice of her husband cut through her like a hot blade through butter.

“I needed its power because I had an idea I wanted to check.” The women got out before glancing at Duusu. The message was clear to the kwami who gulped before nodding. There was no way she would let Gabriel anywhere near that sweet girl. Heck she had to put in a lot of hard work just to get him to behave like a father to Adrien. She might tell him something eventually if it bore fruits but at the moment it would be best to keep as much distance between the two.

“And what idea did you have that required you risking your life!” Hmm, maybe she should listen to her sister's suggestion and take her husband to anger management.

“Well I remembered Adrien mentioning how in one of his shows the characters used things like invisible ink and such to hide messages. I thought the spellbook might also have such protections. But it would be foolish to risk the only copy we have on a hunch so I made us a perfect copy.” Emilie explained while putting her miraculous back along with the spellbook.

“Why didn’t you mention this to me? We could have just used the other miraculous to get the same result.”

With a dramatic rolling of her eyes she turned back to look at Gabriel who still hadn’t gotten out of his chair. “We both know how much I hate being turned into an akuma so no thank you.” God that one time they had tried using the butterfly’s power to restore her to health had left her more than disgusted enough. She would more than like avoiding it at all costs.

“That’s no excuse!” Gabriel shouted at her, raising up from his chair. “You could have worn the other jewel and akumatized me!”

“And put you through that hell?!” Emilie exclaimed shocked. “You know I would never do such a thing. Now quite down unless you want to awaken our son.”

She could easily tell that Gabriel wasn’t going to let this rest but it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to it at this point. But maybe she should sleep in one of the guests' rooms for a night just to be safe. Hopefully Cheshire was having better luck with the translating. She really hoped that the girl could get it done and get it done soon because based off of how hard it was getting to breath her time was nearly up.

Notes:

Well looks like someone got their hands on a certain book all while meeting a nice bird. Hmm, I wonder what changes could come from this? Well hope you guys are liking things so far and I think I'll cut back on describing fashion/costumes because I kinda suck at it.

Chapter 4

Marinette wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. When she had gotten home and transformed Plagg had told her he couldn’t help her translate the book. When she asked why he just said that he didn’t know how to read anything in there and wasn’t interested in learning. So with that Marinette knew she needed to come up with a story to get her mom’s help.

It was a faint memory but she remembered one of her older family members using a couple of the symbols from the books so with any hope her mom would know how to translate the book.

“Where did you find this?” Sabine asked, looking in shock at the book.

“I found it while going through a pawn shop.” Marinette waved it off. “But see,” the little black haired girl said pointing at the symbols, “don’t these look like those symbols great grandpa wrote with.”

“Yes they do.” Sabine said with a faint smile.

“Do you think you could help translate it?” Please say yes, please say yes.

“I’m sorry but I can’t.” NO! Sabine let out a chuckle as she saw her daughter’s face crash into the table. “But luckily for you I think I have something to help you.” With that she raised from the table and made her way into the storage room. A few minutes later she came out holding a beaten up jornal. “This was your great grandpa’s.”

Gently taking the book from her mom the young girl gently flipped through the journal seeing the same symbols along with more all written down. “How is this going to help me?”

“Well your great grandpa apparently tried to teach my grandfather how to read those symbols. He never bothered to learn since nothing ever used them but the translation for them exists.” Sabine watched in amusement before she noticed her mom’s smirk. “You just need to learn chinese first.” The look of slow horror that drew across her face almost had her laughing.

“Honey we got another big order!” Tom yelled from the bakery.

“Another one? *Sigh* we really need a break.” Sabine said before heading down to help her husband. “You mind helping for a bit? I’ll give you some extra spending cash.”

“I’ll help for awhile then I want to get started on this.” Giving a nod the mother went down while the daughter went upstairs to drop off the book and journal.

Upon arriving in her room Marinette set them down before looking over at Plagg’s house. “Hey I’m going to help downstairs for a bit, do you need anything?”

Plagg just turned his head a bit to look at her. “Just leave your computer on so I can mess around a bit on it.” Giving a nod the girl turned on her computer before rushing downstairs to help her parents. Plagg waited a bit before floating out of his bed and arriving at the computer. Moving the mouse, heh, he accessed the internet to start looking for something to pass the time. As the cheese documentary began Plagg let his mind wonder.

After Bread’s first time out as Cheshire she had instantly started thanking him for letting her use his power. She had made him a special cheese sauce while regaling him about her time out. Apparently she had saved someone while out. While that did put her in front of like ninety percent of his former holders but he wasn’t letting his guard down all the way.

Then came last night. Looking over at the spellbook he felt a tingle go down his spine. She claimed to have met Duusu’s holder and that they made an amok to give her a copy of the book. When pigtails asked him how the ‘Bella Blue’ had made the ‘yoshi’ he had simply told her that while each miraculous had special powers you had to practice to gain control of the power. That seemed to satisfy her but then bread turned it back on him by asking how she should practice. With a simple shrug he told her that she just needed more trust from him along with time in the suit.

Plagg wanted to keep the kid as far away from his powers for as long as possible. Speaking of powers that brought him back to the spellbook. Part of him wished he could just turn it to dust while another was curious about how far the order got. Has he seen or heard of the other kwami’s using the special powers but he himself never got a chance. For now he would bread do as she pleases while trying to keep his ears plugged.

Turning back toward the computer Plagg focused back on the documentary. Hearing movement from down below he saw the trap door open as his holder came up. He heard her groan as she closed the door. “How was it?” Plagg asked as she moved towards her closet.

“They left me with the dishes.” Pigtails muttered while moving things about.

“Please don’t pet me until your hands are not prunes.” Plagg said as the documentary finished. Now that he didn’t have an excuse to ignore his holder he turned to see that she had set up a teapot and cups. “What’s going on here?” The kwami asked while floating over.

“I want to get to know you better and I remember my mom saying that she got to know some of her best friends over a glass!” Pigtails said, looking very proud of herself. “So now we can have a cup and get to know each other better.”

Plagg let out a hum, while floating down to a chair while deciding to humor her. Once he was seated on the comfortable cushion she poured him some tea before offering him some treats. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Well I always wanted to have a tea party sleepover but never got the chance.” She said with a sad look on her face. Well he couldn’t refuse now now could he.

“So what do you want to talk about.” Plagg said while tasting the offered cheese.

“What do you feel comfortable talking about?” Marinette asked while looking to the side. “I noticed that you don’t like talking about some things and I don’t want to push.”

Plagg paused as he ate. Was he really that obvious? “Well… how about what type of stories do you like.”

“You mean like movies?”

“I guess, or like books,” So with that topic the two fell into conversation which ended with a surprise movie night as it was apparently a horror that he never saw Star Wars. By the end of the night they had gotten to the end of the second (though it was called the fifth apparently) movie. “So why are we watching them out of order?”

Bread just shrugged, “It's tradition according to papa.” She had started reading the journal along with another book to help her understand basic chinese. “This is going to take me awhile.

“Would help if I could but unfortunately I’m not the kwami of knowledge.” Plagg jocked but stopped when he saw pigtail’s confused face. “It’s a kwami joke.” She just gave an oh before looking back to the book. That was another thing he appreciated, she knew when to press for answers and when not to. They both knew he would have to answer someday but at the moment they both were content with the somewhat easy friendship.

“I’m thinking we just go out once a week or every other day.” Marinette said while turning off the computer.

“You could just go out whenever you feel like it, you know. Nobody’s forcing you to do anything and you don’t want to be dead on your feet during the day.”

“I know but we could just go out for a half hour to a hour. As for the days I guess you have a point but I want to set up something of a routine so Bella can get into contact with us.”

“Yeah just make sure to keep your identity protected. It’s a very important rule.”

“Okay? If you insist.” Plagg gave her a firm nod so she sighed and went back to work. “Hey, I’m not trying to be mean, just bad things happened to other miraculous users when their identities are discovered.” He should know, his users were the ones who did said horrible things to the users and their families.

“Alright, I trust you Plagg.” She slowly reached her hand out to pet him but stopped when he drew back. “I hope you can trust me too one day.” He did but trusted her more than his past holders but he still…

As night fell Plagg watched the girl lock both the journal, translation book, and spellbook in a drawer before tucking into bed. “Goodnight Plagg.” With that she turned off the lights. Once the lights were off he turned and tossed in the bed she made before floating up to sleep near her.

“Night bread.” Curling up near her hair he started drifting to sleep.

~~~~~~~ A Few months later ~~~~~

Emilie looked down at the sprawled out hero. She had found Cheshire where they usually met up and was now a bit concerned. “Are you okay?” The prone hero let out a groan while opening her eyes. It had been a few months since she had last seen the girl but it was all Gabriel’s fault. She had tried to get out more but her husband had stopped her everytime she had tried to get the miraculous. Thankfully he had left for an overnight trip so she was able to find where he ‘hid’ the jewel.

“Why does work suck?” Ah so it was one of those problems.

“Is something going on with the spellbook?” Emilie asked in a little bit of concern. Did she want to fix her miraculous and get back to feeling better? Yes, but she didn’t want to burden someone else with work.

“Translation is taking long.” The kitten whined holding up a notebook. Letting out a happy noise the actress snatched it and flipped it open to find that only a few pages had been filled in. “Sorry I was trying but the only method I have is going from one langue to another then turning it into french.” Cheshire explained while doing hand motions to help explain.

“I see,” Emilie let out a sigh, “is there any way I could help? Sadly I’m not very good with other languages.” It had taken her way longer then she would like to admit to just learn the basics of french.

“Hmmm, not anything I could think of.” Cheshire let out a slow sigh.

“Well how about something to get your mind off of things.” Emilie prompted while sitting down on the roof after cleaning the spot. “I hear someone is becoming a bit more well known.”

“Despite my best efforts.” Cheshire said, giving a small smile. “I just want to go out at night and run around but it seems like I can’t help but find someone in need.”

“Well that’s because you are such a good person.” Emilie replied with a gentle smile. The young girl just groaned before rolling to her side. “Come now it is not that bad.” Cheshire looked in her eyes for a few seconds before relaxing.

“Yeah, I guess things could be worse.”

“Well somebody just jinxed themself.” The peacock user dramatically raised their hand to their head and let out a long sigh. “Twas nice knowing thee for such a short time!”

“No, I have raised my doom flags!” Cheshire whined while her tail twitched. “Remember me for who I was!”

“I will remember you for the cute little kitten you were!” Emilie went on her knees while giving the best dramatic performance she could. The two were about to continue only for her to dissolve into a coughing fit.

“Are you okay?” Cheshire asked running up to her. Emilie gave a weak nod as she raised up to her feet. The blonde let her know that she was heading home. So within a few minutes she was in the office barely holding it together. Before she could say anything the transformation had ended.

“Whoa, what happened?” Duusu asked while rubbing her head. Looking down the kwami saw their holder laying on the floor gasping for air. “Oh, my gosh are you okay miss Agreste?” The little blue spirit asked while fluttering about.

“Hopefully I will be soon.” The actress got out in between gasps for air. Lifting herself up she tore off the miraculous and quickly put it back where she found it. From there she slowly made her way to her room. She needs to find somewhere to hide the notebook she ‘borrowed’ from Cheshire. What she just ‘forgot’ to return it to the smiling cat before she left. Honest mistake, could have happened to anyone.

“Mom?” Looking over an answer came through a slightly cracked door.

“Hey honey,” Emilie gave a bright smile to her son, “did I wake you?”

Adrien shifted a bit before looking at his mom in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Hopefully I will be soon.”

Adrien lit up with a smile, “Did you get some new medicine or find a treatment method?”

“Something like that.” Emilie hated rushing things but she could feel her body wearing down. “Hey do you mind if I hide something in your room? I don’t want your father finding it.”

“Oh okay?” Her son was obviously confused but he very much trusted his mom so he let her in without question. He saw her walk around and move a few things around before walking back towards him and giving him a hug.

“Thanks for being such a good son.” Holding the hug for a few more seconds she reluctantly let go. “See you in the morning.” Giving him a small smile she left for her room. Hopefully Cheshire was having more luck and would be back with more pages filled out. So with a slow breath she went to sleep not even noticing when her husband got home and not even giving a reaction when he started shaking her. All her son knew was that she went missing that day.

Notes:

Alright there is only one major time skip (Like two months) left along with the another major change in status quo.

Chapter 5

Marinette gave a smile as she talked to an older woman. She had stopped a purse snatcher and after returning the item had found herself stuck having all four ears talked off. “Oh look at the time.” The elder said with a soft laugh. “I had best be home before Johny starts getting worried.”

“Oh well I hope your night stays moew-vilous.” Cheshire joked getting a giggle before both departed. Tonight had been good so far though she was a bit miffed that Bella had taken her notebook. She would have to start over but at least she was getting better so it shouldn’t take too long to get the work back.

Stopping in her walk she saw a short old man standing on the side of the street. Well one more small good deed for the night. “Hello there,” walking up to him she gave her best namesake grin. The man spun around with his eyes blown wide, “Lovely night isn’t it.” Deciding to show off a bit she spun her baton out and extended it to lean on it.

“Wayzz, Shell ON!” A flash of green bloomed from the elder as a suit appeared on him. Marinette had only a second to blink as a green shield flew right at her. The young girl only had a second to block the attack as the weapon bounced off and returned to the man who caught the weapon and then charged at her.

Cheshire only had a second to jump out of the way of the other user as she avoided his attack. Wayzz, that was what he called his kwami right? The kwami was mentioned in the spellbook, it was the turtle of protection. So if someone was using his miraculous then they were probably defensive minded.

“Whoa there turtle man-” Marinette had to dodge another attack and redirect a punch.

“You will hand over your miraculous villain!” Turtures yelled, landing a hit that sent her over the roofs. The blow had hurt but not as much as expected. Landing on the roof she rolled on the roof.

“You are not taking Plagg from me!” Screw diplomacy! She was not letting this man take her kwami! With a sweep of her baton she forced the other user who had just landed on the defensive. The baton hit the shield and the elder who had just landed was forced to readjust his stance. Taking the chance, Marinette moved swipe at him with her claws only for the man to catch her left hand.

“You will hand him over now!” Leonardo yelled as he tossed her towards the next roof. Landing on all fours she gritted her teeth, could she attempt running away? No that meant she would give him the advantage by exposing herself as she ran. Maybe she could try making an opening to escape? Yeah that could work. Make an opening then show him her heel and run home.

“Make me Michelangelo!” Twisting the baton she was able to separate it into two. Rushing forward she slammed both down as hard as possible once onto the raised shield. Using the chance she stepped onto the shield and launched off.

Putting the staff back together she was quick to land on the new roof. Barely having a second to catch her breath she felt something hit her back hard. Stumbling forward she turned to see the shield return to Donatello. “You will hand it over.”

“Since when was running from old men this hard?” Cheshire questioned while settling into a loose stance. While she only had a little fighting experience, thanks for that random muggers, she did know the main rule. If fighting for your life: do whatever you have to to win.

The rejected ninja turtle looked at her and seemed to settle into place. “I see you have chosen the hard way.” Well it was more like it was forced on her by him but still…

“You better get ready to pray for meow-cery.” Taking one second to steady herself she dashed forward. Venus raised his shield to block her staff she brought down. The second he looked at her she smiled at him before throwing gravel at his face. The man let out a yell as she swung her clawed hand at him. Seeing that her window was closing she shifted her feet to launch a kick his way.

A pained noise escaped her lips as the man brought his shield down onto her leg redirecting her kick. Digging the pole into the ground she expanded the pole to shoot away from him then flicked up the end to toss more dirt into the air. “Why do you keep doing that!”

“Well some people learn street fighting but me I’m an ally fighter!” Cheshire joked while her eyes shot around. This man was way more skilled than her. She needed to run away now! Looking down at her hand she saw something silver caught in her claw so she was quick to shove it in her pocket. “Well as much fun as it is playing the villain I litter-ly have a million better things to do.”

“What are you saying!” Raphael looked furious at what she said.

“I’m saying it’s time to bust out the powers!” This caused Shredder’s disappointment to step back in shock. “Hope you don’t mind if I start, Cataclysm!” To her surprise a rush of dark energy wrapped around her hand as bubbles of toxic black waffed off of it.

“SHELL-TER!” The man yelled as a burst of green hexagonal light dome came into existence around him. While she wasn’t expecting the power to manifest Marinette at least knew the basics of it thanks to the spellbook. So acting quickly she rushed towards the man but instead of touching the forcefield as he was expecting the cat went into a handstand.

“To slow turtle,” With that the energy left her as the roof grew weaker, “Have fun down below.” Springing up right as it collapsed Cheshire wasted no time sprinting away before dropping bellow. “Claws in.” The whispered words brought Plagg out who she then grabbed before he could say anything. Waiting a few moments she heard noises above but relaxed when she saw a shadow passed. “Was he trying to kill me?” That hit to her back still hurt alot. Heck she thinks she felt a bruise on her leg. If the fight had dragged on then would he have killed her? She shook at the thought and how despite her best efforts she wasn’t able to hurt him.

“Calm down bread.” Plagg comforted her after taking a piece of cheese from her purse. “We survived, that’s enough for now.” While Plagg would love to see the other kwamis again he wouldn’t want it to come at the cost of his first good cat. “Besides look on the bright side. You used my power for the first time!”

“I did, I did do that!” Marinette exclaimed, her eyes shining up at him. Her face quickly fell though. “Oh god I destroyed somebody’s roof!” Grabbing her pigtails she looked horrified. “I don’t think their insurance will cover superhero damage!”

“Who knows maybe they do.” Plagg gave a shrug as Marinette made her way back home. “Back in the day they had some of the most insane things like dragon insurance. Thankfully I took care of those things for you humans.”

“What did the dragons ever do to you?”

“They burnt my cheese!” Plagg whined while dropping onto her shoulder. “I was saving that cheese for a special occasion!” The special occasion being when he reunited with Tikki. Sadly that still hasn’t happened. How long had it been since he had even seen another kwami. They had soon arrived at her empty home, her parents having been hired by the mayor to help host a party.

Arriving in her room the young girl let out a tried sigh. Plagg gave her a look before going into his house. While she loved Plagg more then anything she wanted another friend. Laying down she felt something press into her thigh. Reaching into her pocket Marinette pulled out a gold necklace with an orange white tipped fox tail attached. “Was this what I got off that man?” Well not a total loss, so without hesitation she swung the necklace on her finger before a thought occurred to her so raising her head the necklace descended around her neck. With a spark the necklace turned pink while the chain became rose gold. A ball of orange flew out as a small orange fox with a white underbelly came into existence.

“Wow took you long enough master.” The orange fox let out a yawn as they stretched. “Smells nice here.” With that the kwami opened their purple eyes to see a happy bouncing girl. “Oh hi, nice to meet you.”

“Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you!” This was perfect! She had a chance for another perfect friend! “What’s your name!”

“Oh I suppose introductions are important.” The fox said with a smile based on its namesake. “The name is Trixx, kwami of the miraculous you're wearing.” The kwami twitched its ears while settling down onto the bed. “So just out of curiosity how did you get my necklace?”

“Oh… that… well I might have accidentally stolen it…” The two looked each other in the eyes before Trixx started laughing.

“Alright this sounds like a story I have to hear.” A bright blush was forming on her cheeks but now she could be mistaken for a tomato.

“Well I was out for a patrol when I came across an old man who looked like he needed some help. But when I approached him he used his miraculous to transform.”

“Why would the Guardian attack you?” Trixx pondered out loud while he rubbed a paw on his chin.

“I don’t know they kept saying I was a villain and attacking me!” Marinette screamed pulling on her hair. “I’m not a villain! I like helping people!”

“Then why would he attack you?” Trixx pressed really wanting the answer.

“That would be because of me.” Plagg flew up and settled down on her pillow.

“Well it's been a while.” Trixx snapped their hair standing on end. “No wonder he thought that, you are one!”

“What no! I swear I’m a good person!” Marinette defended herself.

“I have to inform the guardian!” The fox said getting ready to leave.

“No stay!” Trixx flew right into an invisible barrier before looking back at the two.

“Nice work bread, now he can’t rat us out.” Plagg flew up to the fox who looked very miffed as they bumped into another barrier.

“So it’s going to be like that?” Trixx grumbled while floating around the room testing the barrier. “To think I thought you were a good person.”

“I… I, I’m sorry,” Marinette whispered curling up on bed.

“Take it easy bread. He just hasn’t gotten to know you yet.”

Marinette’s face pinched as sleepy thoughts came to her. Both the turtle user and now this fox had judged her as being the villain so what if the problem was this guardian person or group. “Plagg have you ever met the guardians?”

“No never got the chance.” Plagg admitted while kneading her hair in a comforting gesture.

Her sleep deprived brain thus came to a conclusion. “Then I’ll become a guardian! One that will be worthy of both of your trust!”

Trixx’s ear twitched and slowly turned to look at her. “Oh and how are you going to do that? I very much doubt that you are going to talk to the current one.”

“I’ll make it up as I go. But first I need to get more miraculous!” Slowly lifting her hand she started scratching Plagg. “Maybe I could ask Bella if I could hold onto her miraculous.”

“Bella?” Trixx popped out of one of the desk drawers looking confused.

“Bella Blue, Duusu’s user.” Plagg explained while trying not to appear to enjoy Marinette’s scratches.

“Oh I wonder what they’re like?” The girl let out a sleepy hum. “Maybe I should make one of those boxes the book talked about.” With that her hand slowed down as sleep took her.

“Is that true?” Trixx was floating near Plagg’s house. “Did you guys really make contact with the peacock?”

“Yeah, I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him.” Plagg watched the fox, his tail twitching. “Stay away from my house.”

“Oh this is yours?” Trixx asked, floating closer. Plagg narrowed their eyes at the fox that was now creeping closer and closer to the house pigtails made him. A slow hiss escaped as they touched the painted black exterior of the former pink house. “You must like it.”

“Oh course! It’s mine! I mean it has my nice comfortable bed and a spare phone so I can watch my shows!” If there was one good thing that came from bread’s parents being busy all the time, they had a lot of money to give to the daughter they loved. So when she got a new phone they had put the old one into his house so he would have some entertainment.

“What’s a phone?” Trixx asked while floating away from the house so as to not upset Plagg more.

“How do you not know what a phone is?” Plagg asked, blinking in confusion. Seeing how relaxed Plagg had gotten Trixx took the chance to speed into the dollhouse. “HEY!”

Trixx looked in amazement as they flew through the dollhouse. The place was fully decorated. While some of the decorations were plastic the fox found that some of the things were made of nice fabrics. “Oh is this the bed?” With little preamble they were quick to try it out. “Oh now this feels nice.” The fabric was nice and comfortable with some extra scrap laying around for them to toss more on to make a burrow.

Plagg came storming in and looked at the smiling fox who had laid claim to their new bed. But to the fox’s confusion a smile came upon the cat’s face. “Well if you want my old bed I guess you can have it.” With that the cat flew out of the main room and up into his room. Making sure to rub in how wrong the clever fox was Plagg turned the phone on to watch/listen to some random music. Pigtails had spent a while watching videos so she could learn how to wire the phone into the dollhouse so it would remain charged. “Ah this new bed feels so good!” Plagg said as a nice orchestral piece began playing from the speakers.

“Where is that music coming from?” Trixx’s ears were no doubt twitching trying to find the source. “I know for sure there was no music player laying around.” Deciding not to answer Plagg settled down in his bed with a comfortable purr. Yeah the relationship was off to a rocky start but Trixx was a good judge of character so he had very little doubt that bread would win them over in no time.

But how would bread go about getting more miraculous and where were they planning on storing them? Hmmm, maybe that book had something? Yeah if he remembered right it should explain about the miraculous box that the guardians were planning to make before his first wielder had run off. Yeah that would be a good starting spot. Wonder how that old man was doing?

~~~~~~

Fu closed the door behind him as his heart slowed down. “Shell Off,” a swirl of green magic took away his transformation along with the energy that kept him going.

“Master!” Wayzz yelled while shooting down to the older man. “Why did you transform?”

“Plagg’s wielder is active!” Fu tried to explain. “She came right after me! They were just as terrifying as the guardians said!”

Wayzz let out a terrified gasp. “You fought them! Master do you realize how dangerous that was!” The little turtle frantically flew about dragging herbs and other things together. “You need to be more careful! If anything had happened to you what would have happened to the rest of the kwamis!”

“I’m sorry Wayzz I just reacted.” Taking the herbs his kwami had gathered the old guardian started making his brew. “Thankfully it seems that this cat is still young and untrained so they shouldn’t be able to cause too much damage at the moment.”

“That is good.” Wayzz agreed with a nod before their face pinched together. “Master we might have to use the other miraculous, you are getting too old, especially to fight Plagg’s user.” Fu gave a sad sigh as he looked toward the old record player where he hid the box.

“You are right my old friend but we shouldn’t rush into this. I remember the old stories of what happened anytime the miraculous users fought the cats.” The stories always spoke of ruthless evil wielders who caused widespread destruction wherever they went. He had been a bit hesitant to believe them but seeing the young girl walking so confidently up to him was enough to make him believe all of them. The fact that she had joked around throughout their whole battle was further proof to him.

So with that Fu walked forward and opened the secret carpment to bring out the box. “Which ones to use?” Unfolding the top all the sides opened up to but Fu’s eyes darted to an empty slot. “Where is Trixx?!”

“Remember you took him out this morning because he was getting bored?” Wayzz reminded him.

“Oh right.” Reaching into his pocket Fu found them both empty. Wondering where it could have gone, the guardian’s mind dredged up a memory. He remembered something shining in the cat’s hand right after they had tried using their claws on him. “No, nonono,” there was no way he had lost another miraculous.

“What’s wrong master? Did you misplace Trixx?” Wayzz softly asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking out in worry. Seeing the shake of the old man’s head and the growing horror the turtle let out a gasp. “No, don't tell me they have him?” A horrifying silence grew between the two. “We’ll get them back.” With that Wayzz entered the box to inform the others.

Fu looked down at the remaining jewels as he hardened himself. He would have no choice but to send out two miraculous. Yes he would get Trixx back and he would redeem himself by putting an end to the legacy of the evil cats. But he could not rush into this. He must first figure out which two to send out and then he must find who was worthy of their powers. He just hoped Trixx could endure until they were ready.

Notes:

Oh no! A misunderstanding due to indoctrination? Fu is still a kind old man but he was raised on the stories of the guardian. So now we get to the second main change, Marinette's mission to gather the Miraculous and make herself the new guardian of any miraculous she can get.

Chapter 6

Marinette held back tears as she rushed out the doors of her school. It was the end of the day and the young girl didn’t want to be in there longer than she could help it. She could feel Plagg escape her soaked backpack and flew up to her cheek. “Hey bread, don’t worry about your notebooks and books. They are safe.” Marinette gave a weak acknowledgement as she walked home. “Come on lets focus on something more important then dumb pre-teens. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do for summer!”

“Why does summer matter?” Trixx asked, also coming out of her backpack. “Also why did those people dump water on you?”

“Because they are jerks with too much time on their hands.” Plagg answered back for the girl who still hadn’t talked.

Marinette bit on her bottom lip. Today had been the last day of school, so she had the rest of summer to figure out what she wanted to do. Glancing at Trixx who was fluttering about looking at nature she remembered her promise. “Plagg is there anywhere to store miraculous when I get more?” Trixx’s ear twitched but beside that acted like they hadn’t heard her.

“Well if you are serious about this whole guardian thing then I would suggest making a miraculous box.” Trixx gave another twitch but stayed quiet. “Sorry I don’t know how to make one but I think you know where to proceed from here.”

“Thanks Plagg,” with that Marinette made it home and dug around in her dresser pulling at a hidden string.

“What’s going on here? How did I not notice that?” Trixx asked, finally speaking up as Marinette retrieved the hidden spellbook. Flipping it open Marinette was at this point fluent enough to understand most of what was written. “No way, how did you get your hands on that!”

“Bella Blue gave it to me.” Marinette answered flipping through the book scanning pages till she could find what she was looking through.

“Right, the person you said had Duusu.” Tixx gave a nod as Marinette stopped her random flipping on a page featuring a book. “Are you going to meet up with them?”

“Maybe, I have been translating this for her.” Trixx looked at the place where she had taken the spellbook from and saw a notebook along with a journal sitting there. Not wanting to risk looking into either of those, Trixx instead tried to find a way to entertain himself. Looking and floating around provided nothing so Trixx decided to do the next logical thing. When you can’t find anything to entertain yourself, find someone who will. If they don’t then make them.

“Plagg,” Trixx whined as he floated into the cat’s house, “I’m bored!” Floating in the fox went right past where they slept last night and up into the kwami’s room. Arriving they saw what seemed to be a screen projecting a film. The film was something to do with cheese, so of course Trixx didn’t care about it. “Could we do something fun?”

“What are you doing here? Leave!” Plagg said while trying to get the other kwami to leave. “This is my room!”

“But I’m bored!” Trixx whined while flopping down. “Come on, there has to be something fun to do!”

“Watching cheese being made is fun!”

“For you!”

“For beings with taste!”

“Terrible taste!” Now he was getting somewhere!

“How dare you!” Plagg rose from their bed with a hiss.

“How dare I speak the truth?” Trixx gave a wide smile as Plagg hissed at him. Both of their tails twitched. With a yowl the two went flying from his house in a ball of magic fur. Trixx wasn’t expecting this, he just wanted a duel of wits not to get into a fight against another kwami.

“What’s going on here!” Marinette demanded grabbing both and forcefully separating them.

“They started it!” Plagg spat out along with some orange fur.

“I was bored and just wanted to play!” Trixx defended themself while squirming in the human’s grasp.

“Plagg how about you go relax I promise Trixx won’t bug you anymore.” With some grumbling the cat left but not before throwing a glare at the fox. “Hey don’t forget to grab some cheese.” Perking up the cat flew into a small white box where they came out with cheese. Waiting until Plagg was back in his house Marinette let out a sigh and let go of the fox. Trixx floated up ready to find somewhere to hide only to hear a sad sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Trixx asked intrigued.

“For not paying attention to you.” The pigtailed girl elaperated. “I had a bad day at school and was focused on my own problems. I forgot that you are in an unfamiliar location.”

“Yeah I guess you forgot something.” Trixx muttered while floating down. “I guess I’m also not used to being ignored.” The fox was very much used to being surrounded by the other kwamis and the stuff they accumulated.

“Well if you are okay with it I would love to correct my mistake.” Marinette almost whispered while rubbing her arm.

“Hey come on now,” Trixx flew forward to rub his paw on her cheek, “you wanting to do something is no mistake. I should have told you I was bored instead of bugging Plagg.” Now that was a mistake he wouldn’t be making again. He had gotten a little too comfortable with the surroundings and thought he could mess with the black kwami just as he had all the others.

“Alright well I would still like to get to know you. I mean I do want to be your guardian.” Oh yeah they were still dedicated to doing that.

“Alright but if you want to do that then I will require some food.” Trixx joked only to get a smile. Seeing the girl heading downstairs Trixx followed them. Soon they were in a bakery where Marinette rummaged around.

“Are you okay with macaroons?”

“As long as they taste good.” Trixx joked while the girl got out the ingredients. Soon enough the two were joking as the cookies were put into the oven. Once they were pulled out Trixx flew down as they happily took a whiff. “Oh I think I’m going to be quite happy with these.”

“I’m glad you enjoy my family's recipe.” Waiting impatiently for them to cool down Trixx heard movement behind them. Turning around they saw the girl happily pulling down a tea kettle and cups. “Any type of tea you enjoy or do you want some juice?”

“Juice?” Trixx intended it to be a question but the girl didn’t seem to notice as she brought out a jug and poured him a glass. This juice thing smelled faintly of apples, so that was at least nice.

“Sorry looks like we’re out of normal straws.” The girl commented as she put a ‘straw’ that had a lot of loops in it. Watching the other girl suck on the end of her own ‘straw’ Trixx decided that they had nothing to worry about. With a slurp Trixx watched as the juice traveled the pipe through all the loops. Well it seems that they did have something to worry about because this juice stuff was delicious! It tasted like sweet sugary apples.

Letting out a content noise Trixx took their time enjoying the juice. “Hey if you can pull yourself away I have something else for you.” Looking down he saw macaroons, right they had made those. Letting out a burp, Trixx took a red one and bit into it. “So I think I figured out your plan?”

“My plan?”

“Yeah you want to make me so comfortable and fat that I can never leave.” Trixx joked with a smirk. Were they still mad that he was technically being held hostage but compared to the one evil user they had, well this was wonderful. “Though I do wonder how you will keep me entertained when not stuffing me full.” Tossing the macaroon into the air he swallowed the whole cookie.

Marinette sat down and tapped their fingers against the table going deep into thought. “What do you like doing?”

Giving a shrug Trixx answered, “A bit of everything. I’m a bit chaotic so it depends what type of mood I’m in.”

“I think I have an idea, can you wait here for a bit.” Giving a nod Trixx went back to his juice while the girl went back up to the apartment. Trixx took the chance to try dunking a part of a macaron in the juice only to find it was not as good. Hearing footsteps coming down the fox kwami turned to see what the youngling had brought. “Here try this.”

What they brought was a rectangle box that Trixx flew around studying. “What is this?”

“This is a DS, its a game station.” The human opened up showing two screens that lit up. “I have a whole bunch of games that you can play on here so when I’m to busy to hang out with you, you can instead play games on this.” To illustrate what she meant Marinette tapped on one of the icons. Trixx sat down between her hands as he watched her play her game. “See you need to get mario to the end of the level.”

“I see,” Trixx nodded their head as he relaxed a bit. “But can we talk for a bit.”

“Um, uh, sure I guess.”

“Okay, I just wanted to ask you why you are so set on becoming a guardian?”

Marinette looked down for a bit before chewing on her lip. “Because I want to be your friend. I want all of you guys to be friends.”

“You could do both of those things if you just talk to the current guardian.” Trixx commented. The small god went close to the pigtailed girl so they could look in her eyes.

The girl flinched as they rubbed her arm. “I don’t think I could do that. He attacked me, he tried to kill me.” As she was talking Trixx noticed that her arm rubbing was getting a bit more violent. “He tried to take Plagg from me. He tried to take my friend from me!”

“Whoa, whoa calm down kid.” Trixx got right into Marinette’s face as he waved his paws. “Hey how about we talk about something else. Like um, hey how about I tell you about the miraculous box!” This seemed to get her attention. “The inside of the box is a whole other dimension! All of us kwamis live there.” So for the next bit of time Trixx told her about the inside of the box and what it was like.

“So it’s a blank void?”

“Well if you want to put it that way.” Trixx shrugged their shoulders happy that his holder had calmed down. “I mean we got some things to shove into the box. Of course Longg insists that all be in one massive pile for him to sleep on.”

Marinette gave a short nod before slowly reaching their hand out to scratch at Trixx’s head. The fox butted their head up against the girl’s finger enjoying the contact. “Trixx when was the last time you were outside the box?”

“Hmm… yesterday.” The orange kwami admitted while leaning more into the touch.

“Thanks Trixx. I promise I’ll make you and any other kwami I get the best box ever.” Well shoot looks like that tactic didn’t work. Different tactic time.

“Well you should know that it took a whole group of guardians nearly a year to make the first box. That’s not even counting all the failed attempts, you shouldn’t waste your money.”

“Yeah but that was them using the materials they had back then.” Marinette gave the little kwami below them a sharp smile. “I bet they didn’t have laser cutters and engraving machines. Come on I’ll show you what I have planned, the wiring might take a while but I think you’ll like what I have.” The kwami of illusions gave a sigh as they followed the human up to her room. He had to keep trying, the little kwami would succeed in turning her down the right path. If he could bring her around not only would Plagg be put in cantonment but they would also have the spellbook back. Plus as an added bonus she had made contact with Duusu’s wielder and Trixx really wanted their feathered tail back in the box.

So for now the tiny fox god would just have to suffer eating delicious macaroons and drinking juice until that time. Yes they truly were living a tortured life. “Oh and you bring the DS up with you?” Oh yeah that also had that portable arcade machine. Hopefully it had something fun on it for them. Though Trixx’s mind drifted to the old guardian and their fellow kwami. How were they doing?

~~~~~~~

Tikki floated around within the void of the miraculous box. It had almost been a week since Wayzz had flown into the box with the bad news. The other kwamis had flown up to the turtle asking what was going on. A few of the optimistic kwamis, herself included, had believed that the master had found an apprentice to train. But seeing Wayzz’s sad shake of his head the kwami’s had felt their spirits and selves droop.

But then Barkk had brought up the worst thing. The dog had asked where Trixx was. The patient turtle then delivered the worst news to them. Plagg was active once more… and his user had Trixx. It had taken Tikki a while to get her thoughts together.

The kwamis had once met Plagg back when he had first user and while the cat seemed lazy and uncaring they were still good. But as time passed and more and more evil cats appeared they had to question just how good the kwami was. At the moment there was almost no kwami who hadn’t lost a user to a cat or in Tikki’s case two users to a cat. Thankfully they had avoided the worst case scenario of losing a miraculous to one. But now the dark time was here.

“The master has decided who he is going to use.” Wayzz stated while flying into the box.

“Who hass the masster decided to send out?” Sass hissed out while twitching.

Wayzz took a deep breath before speaking. “We have no choice but to use Tikki so the master has decided to send out another miraculous to go with her.”

Tikki perked up at this. They would be getting a new bug and their bug wouldn’t be fighting alone! “Who else is he sending out?” The whole of the box was vibrating in excitement at the idea. All of them had in some way a grudge against the cat so all of them were equally as invested in taking them down.

“The master has decided that in order to deal with the cat’s speed and agility they will send out Kaalki.”

“Oh the master has indeed chosen wise.” Kaalki stated while floating up to the turtle. “I simply can not wait to work with a truly noble user to rain in that dastardly feline.”

“I hope our users get along.” Tikki said giving their fellow kwami a patient smile.

“Oh I have little doubt about that Tikki.” Kaalki gave back their own smile. “Why I believe that between the two of us we shall have this cat caught by their tail within a few days.”

“When are we heading out, Wayzz?” Tikki asked looking over at the turtle who gave a sigh.

“The master and I believe it would be best to take our time finding proper users.”

“Well that is a smart decision, though I must ask how long you feel this will take.”

“... The guardian wants two or three months to find and test the users.” Wayzz informed the group which caused a ruckus amongst the kwamis. “Please hear me out! I swear the master has good reasoning!” Once it was calm again in the box the turtle continued. “The master wants time to make sure that whoever he chooses is strong enough to deal with the cat. Plus the master must be extra careful now that the cat has seen his true face. Fu must be ready to move at a moment's notice.”

“That is a good reason.” Tikki whispered while fidgeting with her paws. “We just don’t like the thought of leaving Trixx in that evil cat's hands any longer then needed.”

“I feel the same but we don’t want a repeat of past encounters with the cat either Tikki.” All present kwamis gave a flinch as various memories were stirred for them. “So please just give the master and me time and we should have you in your users' hands soon enough.”

Both goddesses gave nods. Seeing that he was done, Wayzz shot out of the box to return to the guardian. Letting out a sigh Tikki flew done to the various scraps laying around the box. She would just have to wait for now. Hopefully she would find a good user to bond with and make into a good bug.

Notes:

Alright one more chapter and we should be ready for the start of the show. Also Fu has chosen his users to send out. I bet you know who is getting the miraculous and which one Cheshire will lay her paws on. But how and when will for now be a mystery.

Chapter 7

Marinette felt a bead of sweat form on her brow as she leaned over the miraculous cube that she had been working on. Yes cube, not box. Marinette had come to the decision that if she was going to make the box then she should at least make it something that wouldn’t look too valuable to a thief. So what better way to disguise a magical box then by hiding it in plain sight as a nerd module. A nerd module of a Borg Cube to be more precious.

“So this is your version of the box?” Trixx asked while fluttering around holding a napkin. “How much longer till it’s ready?” Floating up Plagg used his napkin to wipe the sweat off of his holder's brow.

“I should have the last bit ready by the end of the day then I just hook it up to the computer and we see if it works two hours or so later.” Marinette explained putting down her tool.

“If this cube can do as you say then it certainly would be something to see.” Trixx looked at the cube in obvious interest. “But even still this has to be the most interesting box I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh how many have you seen?” Plagg asked, curious. “Plus I hate to put a stop to your work but you have school tomorrow.” Oh shoot she did.

“Okay I’ll just finish this up then take a break.” Marinette compromised while picking up another tool.

“Yeah, I don't want you burning out from wearing two miraculous for too long.” Trixx added with a grin. Marinette gave a smile back. The consequence of wearing too many miraculous had been told to her. She had originally been eager to have a whole bunch of kwami around her but after the side effects were explained she made sure to redouble efforts for the cube.

Speaking of getting more miraculous it seems that Gamera had withdrawn his head into their shell. They should be relieved not having to up such a well trained individual but, well. Call her a bit greedy but Marinette really wanted to get their hands on some more miraculous.

“Okay that should do it for now.” Marinette felt a napkin wipe some of the new beads of sweat off. “Let’s wind down,” hearing her stomach rumble the raven haired girl laughed a little, “and grab some food.”

“Oh could we get some apple juice while we’re at it?” Trixx asked while putting down his napkin.

“As long as you don’t try touching my cheese.” Plagg muttered while dumping his into the trash bin. “Also as long as we don’t have to taste those potions.”

“Complain as you want but we might need those power-ups especially for when we need to fight the other users.” That and she really needed to figure out the other recipes. The green and purple potion had taken her forever to figure out and make. Don’t even get her started on how long it took her to get the ingredients for them! Thankfully the others shouldn’t be too hard now that she got the first two. Still had yet to test them fully but Trixx had confirmed that they would. What she wasn’t wasting her potions on a one off test.

“Yeah, yeah.” Plagg waved her off as the girl set the dinner table for the three of them. “When are your parents coming back again?” Oh yeah them… she was really missing them. They were able to hire some help but the demand for baked goods made by them was going up still.

“I don’t know.” Even though Marinette had spoken the words the future guardian barely heard them pass her lips.

“Hey chin up! You got Unify down, so that is a plus!” Trixx tried to cheer the girl up. “Why, you are making marvelous progress.” He got a smile as his reward along with a nice glass of apple juice. “Heck the fact that you made your cube so quick is worthy of merit.”

“I just got lucky that my cousin was so into woodwork.” The raven haired girl mumbled while rubbing the back of her hair. The rest of the materials required to complete the box were hunted down by Cheshire or ordered off the net.

“Don’t sell yourself short bread.” Plagg muttered while eating his cheese. “You are doing good work so accept the compliments.”

“Yeah I will need all the self esteem for tomorrow.” Marinette stated while eating her own self made meal.

“Then you should visit that Alix girl.” Trixx said with a toothy smile. “She loves Cheshire.”

“Yeah she loves Cheshire.” Marinette muttered while rolling her eyes. As Cheshire she had visited the girl every once in a while and the sporty girl would take the time to challenge the hero to any random competition she could think of. Heck as Cheshire she had saved Alix’s brother and father once each. The girl was ecstatic about everything involving the cat hero but also took the time to trip Marinette. “I think I would rather go to bed.”

“Okay,” Trixx gave a nod not fighting.

“Night,” with that the girl went to sleep leaving the two kwami’s alone. “So you give up yet on the old guardian?” Plagg asked while looking at Trixx.

“No.” Trixx flatly stated. “The master would be good for her.”

“Your ‘master’ tried to kill her.” Plagg growled at her.

“It was a misunderstanding.” Trixx tried to defend themself. “I’m sure if the two could meet up they could work it out.”

“You mean turning me over?” Plagg almost growled out. “Are the rest of the kwami convinced that I’m as evil as all my previous cats?”

“Yeah.” Trixx admitted seeing no need to hide the truth. “I could put a good word in for you.”

“No need, I think I prefer Marinette’s plan.” Plagg gave a roll of his eyes before floating up to go to his home. Trixx stayed down below eating some of the treats and drinking juice. They had made no progress in convincing Marinette to meet up with the guardian peacefully. The girl almost had a breakdown at the mere suggestion of giving up Plagg. Also the mysterious Bella Blue had also not shown up. Marinette was a bit concerned but was still hopeful that they would pop back up.

So with the food finished Trixx floated up to the dark room. Hmm, Marinette was playing nice soft piano music tonight. Not wanting to deal with Plagg the fox flew towards the girl and settled into her hair. Sleep came easily for the fox and woke up to the first phone alarm. “Kit time to get up.” Trixx yowled while hopping up on the kids face. “Or at least shut off your alarm.”

“Do it…” Plagg muttered while in his house.

Marinette groaned as her arm flailed for the phone. “Up, up, wake up.” Trixx chanted while Marinette just gave another groan that turned into a yelp when she rolled off her bed.

“I’m up.” Came the response from the mass of blankets that now resided on the ground.

“Hi up, I’m Trixx.”

“Har, har,” slowly getting out of the mass of blankets the young wielder made their way out of the blankets. “Alright lets get going.” With sluggish steps the girl made her way to the bathroom to start her day. “Hey Trixx could you boot up the computer? I want to get the cube done while we are at school.”

“Okay, little one.” Trixx flew up to the tower and pressed the power button. Seeing that they still had time Trixx flew and grabbed their DS and put it in the prepared pink backpack. They were really getting to enjoy some of the games Marinette had and she also had a portable energy pack so he could charge if the battery got low. Hopefully he got to keep them when they finally got back to the box.

“Alright lets get you plugged in and then it’s breakfast time.” Marinette muttered while opening the back of the cube so they could connect the computer and cube. “Okay by the time we get home the Miraculous Cube should be ready.” Trixx let out a happy bark while Plagg just gave a grunt. Walking over to her dresser the girl quickly brushed her hair. The girl was wearing what Trixx dubbed her school outfit. It mainly consisted of baggy clothes that Marinette wouldn't mind Chloe or her minions destroying.

“Now that the cube is done you should design some clothes!” Trixx offered while floating up to the mirror. “Hmm, yeah I’m looking good, too good.”

Plagg just flew up to the mirror and looked at himself. While he was content Marinette was quick to grab him and start brushing him. “Hey Trixx do you want to be brushed?”

“Later, remember we need to get to school.” Getting a reluctant nod Marinette went downstairs only to come across an unexpected sight.

“Morning dear.” Sabine greeted her daughter with a smile.

“Moma,” turning the bakers daughter felt her grin grow, “Papa!”

“Moring my little croissant.” Tom said while making a little box. “How are you doing?”

“Good, great, I mean what are you doing?”

“Making you some treats for your class. What does it look like?” Her papa joked while showing the macaroons he had made.

“I meant how are you guys here? I thought that you were busy with some big event?” Marinette explained while Sabine just gave a smile and put some hot pancakes on her daughter's plate.

“Oh, there are only so many events that can be going on at once.” Sabine stated while watching her daughter eat the food given. “Besides how could we miss seeing our daughter off for her first day of school?”

“Mama,” Marinette whispered while holding back tears. “Thank you.”

“Come now,” Tom said, giving his big smile that filled Marinette with warmth. “We’ll see you off. Please give these to your class.”

“Yeah, my class,” Marinette trailed off looking down.

“Hey chin up, this year you just might make some friends.” Tom was still giving his smile handing Marinette the box.

“Yeah.” Marinette muttered not sounding convinced. Finishing her breakfast the girl grabbed the box and headed out. Hopefully today will be a good day.

~~~~~~

Today was not a good day. It was a very bad day. Fu had felt something was wrong when he had woken up but paid little mind. But now, he knew it was not a wariness in his bones but a foretelling. “You are sure Wayzz.”

“Yes master, I do not doubt it.” Wayzz gave a sad nod of his head. “Nooroo is being used by someone of evil origins.” No why now? Why here? Was this karma catching up with him? To have the wicked cat and now another miraculous being used for evil?

“We will have to speed up our plan.” Master Fu stated while walking up to the compartment where he had hidden the mother box. “I was planning to give these to the chosen shortly put now we have no choice.” Fu had spent the time since fighting with the cat to start scouting out potential users and hopefully chosen. Oh how he wished that he could simply train them so they stood a better chance against what was coming but he could not risk the box. Not after losing, now three miraculous.

So with a heavy heart the old guardian removed the earring and glasses from the box. Grabbing his cane the old man stepped out to deliver the kwami’s to their new holders. The first was easy to find as he was on his way to school. With his training he was able to slip into the boys house and leave the miraculous where it could easily be found. The next one would be more difficult especially with the defences the boys father had set up.

As he was walking toward the mansion though he felt someone grab him and pull him to the sidewalk. “Look out!” A young girl said as a car passed right where he had been. “Are you alright?”

“Yes thank you.” Looking at the girl he could feel her potential. If he needed another user then he knew where to look.

“Oh no!” The girl shouted while kneeling down to start picking up the macaroons that had scattered from her saving him.

“Thank you miss.”

“No problem.” The girl muttered while getting up. It seemed that she had left most of the treats on the ground. Grabbing one from the box Fu lamented that he had already found a user for Tikki because he just knew that the little goddess would love being able to eat treats like this.

“These are very good.”

“Thanks my parents made them. AK! What am I doing? I need to get to school!” With that the girl made her way to school. Yes if he ever needed another user she would definitely be considered. But now there was a blonde that would no doubt spoil Tikki waiting for him. Hopefully him and the other boy had what it took to defeat the cat and butterfly. Yes Adrien and Max would have to do for now.

Notes:

Alright next chapter is the start of canon. How are things going to play out? Now Fu has noticed Marinette and why didn't he before? To put it simply Marinette was busy working on the Miraculous Cube. Now the question is if Marinette recognized him?

Chapter 8

Marinette made her way to her class and upon entering the room her stomach dropped as an eraser hit her on the head. She looked around and saw that her class hadn’t changed at all, well actually it seemed that a new girl had been added. Wonder how Chloe would get her into the blondes fold. So with her head down Marinette stopped at her old seat where she saw Chloe sitting. “What do you want?” Chloe snarked as if she wasn’t in her seat.

Deciding not to say anything Marinette kept her head down and headed up the steps to head to the empty seats in the back. As she walked through the girl barely got time to brace herself as a foot jutted out and tripped her. Hitting the steps Marinette made her way to get up. “Geez Mari you should really be more careful.” Alix jokes, while looking down at her. She heard Kim give Alix a high five while Chloe gave a supportive noise.

Marinette slowly got up and without saying a word. Arriving at the back Marinette slowly opened her backpack to check on the inside. Looking up at her she saw Trixx give a happy wave and mouth a question to her. ‘Are you okay?’ Marinette gave a slight nod of her head as she pulled out a notebook. Oh well Marinette could use her isolation to her advantage by figuring out what the guardian was doing out today.

“Mind if I sit here?” An unfamiliar voice asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

Looking up Marinette saw the new girl standing there. “It’s an open seat but I wouldn’t recommend it.” Taking a glance of the room Marinette saw a few heads in the class turn to look at them. Good thing she brought her booby trap backpack so nobody could get in.

“Why is the chair bad.” New girl joked as if not noticing all the looks from her classmates. Well maybe she didn’t, oh well. “Names Alya btw, nice to meet you.” Alya said while giving a nice big smile and offering her hand.

“Marinette.” Taking the hand Alya gave a firm handshake. “But really you should be careful.”

“Aw, don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.” Alya laughed while flipping her hair. “Besides I try to live by my role model's motto, ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing’.”

“That’s a nice motto.” Marinette said with a smile. Man when had she gotten bad at small talk? Then again the only time the raven haired girl talked to anyone nowadays was as Cheshire. What did it say that Cheshire had a better social life then her?

“Right! It came from my favorite superhero Majestia.” The red haired girl pulled out her cell phone to show off a picture of a superhero. “She is so amazing! Oh I would love to be able to meet her someday.” Huh seemed the girl loved superheroes. Wonder what Alya thought of her other self?

Before she could ask, the teacher arrived and started up class. The day was fairly unremarkable, it seems nobody wanted to do anything big to her on the first day of school. That or everyone was busy catching up to see who did what over the course of summer vacation. Either one was good for Marinette. Meanwhile Alya filled Marinette in about the girl's life. Turns out Alya wasn’t originally from Paris and had just moved here recently. She also had a family it seemed, two little sisters and one older one sister.

The girl had also helped herself to the offered treats. “These are amazing!” Alya moaned in between bites. “You said your parents made these!”

“Yeah, my parents run a bakery nearby though they are away for parties most of the time.” Marinette explained while eating her own lunch. It was kinda nice being able to eat lunch with another human. While she ate with Plagg before it was quite different seeing as they both were on edge since they had to be quick to hide him when somebody got close.

“Oh really?! Who are they?” Alya asked leaning in. Marinette was about to answer when they both felt the whole school shake. “What the heck!”

“KIM!” A voice shouted outside. Running to the window they saw a huge stone monster stomping down the street tossing away cars that got in its way.

“Oh my gosh is that a supervillain!” Alya squealed while looking at the monster.

“KIM!” A distant voice roared. The monster was growing more and more distant so Marinette had to act quickly. Looking back she saw Alya running away, hopefully.

“I have to get this on film.” Alya yelled out while pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“Stay safe!” Marinette shouted out to Alya who gave a thumbs up. Marinette went to find a quite, empty space. “Alright what was that?”

“Hmm, if I had to guess I would say it was one of Nooroo’s champions.” Plagg answered with a lazy drawl. “I say we let it run its course.”

“No, it was no champions it was too dark.” Trixx gave a concerned shake of his head. “Marinette we need to defeat that monster.”

“How? That thing is made of stone, I mean I could hit it pretty hard but I doubt that would do anything to it.”

“The Akuma should have an object on or near it that is the source of its power. If we break it then a corrupted butterfly will emerge.” Trixx informed while giving Marinette puppy/fox eyes.

Marinette’s eyes darted while her mind went into overdrive. She had read about the powers of the butterfly miraculous so she knew what it was capable of. But the spell book only spoke briefly of the gems being corrupted/used for evil. “Plagg how much control of Cataclysm do I have?”

“You have complete control.” Plagg answered confused. “Bread, this isn’t our fight. Just go home, we could just leave.”

“Plagg I can’t leave. I would be just as bad as Nino if I stood by and did nothing!” Marinette answered back before taking a deep breath. “Plagg Claws out!”

“No bread, think about thisss!” Plagg tried pleading again before he got sucked into the ring.

“Alright Trixx let's get going!” Cheshire gave a smile to the little god who returned it. So with a flourish the cat hero shot out of the school. “That thing was shouting for Kim so its probably heading for him.” Looking around Cheshire shot off toward the area. Swapping from pole vaulting to running on all fours the cat’s ear perked up at hearing car alarms blaring. “I think I got a lead!”

“That’s good!” Trixx said, holding onto her collar. “Be careful.”

Arriving at the edge of the roof Cheshire saw the stone monster heading toward a police barrier. “Oh looks like the boys in blue have this.” Cheshire muttered only for their eyes to widen as the bullets hit the monster and caused it to grow. “Well that is doing nobody any good.” Before she could act to draw the things attention it was already smashing past the barrier.

“KIM!” Well no time like the present.

“STELLA!” Cheshire responded back. The monster turned back to her in confusion. “What are we not shouting out random names!”

“Who are you?” Cinderblock asked while Cheshire expanded their baton and took a resting position on it.

“Oh have you not heard of the coolest cat in town?” Cheshire asked fake hurt colouring their voice. “Besides, haven't you heard that one should always introduce themself before asking the other person.”

“You are in my way!” Regirock shouted at her while going to throw a car at her.

“No you just took the rocky road.” Cheshire took out her baton and smacked the car away. Really hoped people got their superhero insurance. “Though I must ask how stoned you are to think you could beat me.” Hmm, he did everything with just one hand. Why was he keeping the other one closed? Could that be it? But how to get their hands to open up to check?

“Stop talking!” Golem yelled while swinging their hands at her. Him they did say catching an object thrown at you was a natural reaction. Should they Unify Trixx? No the book said it was tiring and the one time she had tried it it was just as described. Seeing the car heading for them Cheshire got an idea.

“Why, I find my voice quite purrty.” Cheshire taunted while jumping off the roof they were on. “Borrowing these.” Cheshire said while grabbing the megaphone from officer Roger. Not bothering the listen to his voice the girl turned to Rocky. “Hey how good are you at quick thinking.”

“Are you calling me dumb?” Garnet screamed only to bring up one of his hands and block a thrown object. Looking down he saw a broken megaphone. “What the heck?”

“Think fast!” Bolder brought his other hand to block whatever else was thrown. Only nothing had hit it. “Hey thanks for that.” Looking down he saw the cat dive to grab his dropped note.

“What?” A butterfly mask flashed upon his face but it was too late. With a crunch the ball was destroyed.

Cheshire held their breath as they waited. But a butterfly soon appeared. The butterfly was an ugly purple color with veins running through it. Now to test her theory. “Cataclysm!” Lashing out with her hand the girl caught the insect. The magic flowed in her hand and ran through the Akuma.

“What am I doing here?” A confused voice asked. Turning around Cheshire was a bit shocked to see Ivan sitting where the Geodude imposter once was.

“I would like to know that too.” Roger demanded while slowly getting to his feet. Shoot she needed to get out of here. Maybe. Could she talk her way out?

“Well sure you see… magic.” Opening her hand a pure white butterfly sat. Her hand that now burned. What was going on? Her hand never burned before.

“Magic?” Roger asked with a raised eyebrow. “You expect me to believe magic?”

“Well how would you explain it?” Cheshire asked once more leaning on her baton. “Beside I’m sure our friend here can explain more to us.” Her hand was really hurting now. Also it was traveling up her arm now.

“I… I don’t know.” Ivan muttered looking down at his hands. “I was heading to the principal's office because of Kim but then… I blacked out.”

“Creepy.” Cheshire muttered while rubbing her chin. “Maybe that’s when the Akuma took over.” Looking down the cat saw a piece of paper, the one inhabited by the akuma. With her enhanced vision she could make out what the note was saying.

“Akuma?” Roger asked, raising an eyebrow. Cheshire would have explained more if a beep hadn’t interrupted. Oh right she had to use Plagg’s power so now she was on a limit. Speaking of power her arm was burning now.

“Would explain more but this cat has to scat!” With that she ran from the police. Dashing off to the roofs the cat only made it to the next roof. “AHH!” Collapsing onto the roof Cheshire fell onto the shingles.

“You okay?” Trixx asked in concern.

“It hurts.” Marinette held back tears as the burning pain was starting to crawl into her chest and up part of neck. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know.” Trixx fluttered around the fallen hero. The little god nervously flew down close to the girls hand. “It seems like magic is being built up in your arm.” Concerned purple eyes met watery blue eyes. “Cheshire you need to get rid of this now!”

“Cataclysm should have destroyed whatever was in the bug!” Marinette searched her mind for something, anything she could do! The spellbook though had nothing on Plagg’s abilities so she was empty.

“Marinette you're down to three minutes.” Trixx was worried now. Marinette took deep breaths as her mind raced. Catastr

“CATASTROPHE!” Cheshire screamed out while slamming her hand down. The burning pain had creeped across her chest and up her face all flew back down her arm. Pulsing black energy raced from her hand and then spread out everywhere. After ten seconds of the wave of darkness leaving her hand the cat collapsed onto the ground exhausted.

A small beep sounded out but Marinette just continued laying there. “Come on kit we need to get home.” Trixx pleaded, getting a groan. “Hey tell you what, if you get home I’ll tell you one of my favorite jokes.”

Cheshire crawled to their feet and limped their way home. Trixx coaxed them onwards and Marinette barley made it home as the transformation dropped. Plagg dropped down onto her bed with his own moan. “Please don’t do that again.” Plagg said while going to his minifridge.

“Hey I’m going to go get you some water.” Trixx wiped their paw on Marinette’s cheek. The girl just buried her face into the oversized cat pillow. Going downstairs to ‘borrow’ a water bottle Trixx didn’t see anyone. But they did notice a note sitting on the kitchen table. Looking at the note Trixx let out a sigh as she read that the kit’s parents were called out by the mayor. Grabbing the water bottle the little kwami navigated back upstairs. Hopefully Marinette was going to be okay, but whatever Catastrophe was Trixx hoped it turned out okay. Now she just needed to figure out what Fu was doing out to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien was overjoyed when he had found the earrings and had met Tikki. He was going to be a hero and defeat the villain. Tikki had explained how to use her powers and what his weapon would be. “Alright, we better head-”

“Breaking News!” His computer shouted out drawing both of their attention. “The giant stone monster has been defeated!”

“What?” Adrien and Tikki shouted while running towards the computer. Surely enough on the screen they saw a big blond boy being loaded up in an ambulance. “How? When?”

“According to eyewitnesses the monster was confronted by a superhero dressed in black.” The reporter said while a picture of some type of girl appeared. She wore her pitch black hair in pigtails, a pair of cat ears sat on her head, but most noticeably was that a black mask sat on her face complimenting their green cat like eyes.

“Oh no!” Tikki let out a quiet gasp of fear. Before anything more could be said a wave of black swept over the camera. When the black wave passed over the camera Adrien held his breath. What was going on? When the wave passed Adrien saw that the street and everything else that was damaged had been repaired. Though it seems like that while everything damaged was repaired they still stayed where they were left.

“I wonder how we are getting that car down?” Adrien pondered while looking at the news women trying to figure out what was going on.

“This is worse than I could have ever thought!” The red kwami cried out. “I haven’t seen that power before! This could be one of the most powerful cats!”

“How could this be bad? We have a strong ally.”

“Adrien…” Tikki fidgeted while messing with her paws. “The black cat is one of our enemies. We need to take her down and recover the ring.”

Adrien fell back into his seat and turned to the screen. “Is she also after the person who sent out the Akuma?”

“Most likely. They have already stolen the fox miraculous.” Tikki’s voice was heavy with regret. “Adrien we need to defeat her as soon as possible.”

“Alright I’ll take her on.” Adrien gave a nod though he hesitated while looking at the screen. “Though she doesn’t seem that bad.”

“Adrien you have to understand.” Tikki said while floating in front of him. “No matter what she does or how she acts she is a cat. Cats are evil, that is the simple truth.”

Cat’s are evil? “Care to elaborate?” So that was how Adrien learned just how evil a cat could be and why he had no choice but to defeat the cat. Yes he had to defeat the cat to prevent it from destroying Paris. He would be the greatest hero. He would defeat Cheshire and retrieve her ring for the greater good.

Notes:

Quick Akuma fight but I will justify it by just saying that I very much doubt that Hawky would tell Ivan the importance of the Akumatized object. So it was very easy to get it from him and then destroy it.

Chapter 9

Marinette let out a groan as she got ready for her second day of school. Her arm still hurt from whatever happened earlier. Plagg had explained that the power was one that he had but had never been used before. Marinette could kind of understand why nobody would use it based on the pain alone but it was still a useful one.

Catastrophe: The power to destroy the damage caused by another. The power would essentially reverse all the damage done. Plagg believed that because she destroyed the corruption within the butterfly she was able to reverse the damage the akuma had caused. Why it had hurt her so much Plagg could only guess at. Trixx though was convinced that it was due to first having to use the cataclysm to destroy the corruption within the insect then holding the power within herself instead of instantly releasing it.

Either way Marinette would have to be prepared the next time she had to use the power. Plagg and Trixx were not fond of it, Plagg more so. So with that in mind the girl shifted her backpack to take some of the pressure off her shoulder. “Girl did you see what happened yesterday!” Alya asked running up to Marinette. “I knew there was a superhero! They showed up so quickly that I almost missed the fight!” The red haired girl was obviously excited about the events of yesterday. “I wonder if she was the one to release that healing wave or if there is another hero who did it?”

“Um, I don’t know?” Marinette lied while looking around to see what was going on with the other students. It seemed like Alix and Kim were arguing about something before Max intervened. Huh, was Max wearing new glasses?

“I guess there is no way to know at the moment. But anyway look at this!” Alya brought her phone showing off a webpage that consisted of a black background with a green text title. “Behold the Wonder Blog.”

“Wonder Blog?” Marinette asked seeing that the blog was at the moment only displaying one thing. A news video about her alter ego.

“Yeah I figured if the superhero is going to call themselves Cheshire I might as well go along with the wonderland theme.” Alya explained while waving her hand about.

“Cheshire? I don’t think she gave her name out yesterday.” Marinette thought back to yesterday but couldn’t remember giving out her name.

“She didn’t, but get this, she has been active in secret for a couple years now!” Oh yeah Marinette guessed that with her coming to the spotlight everyone she helped would come out to. “I’m going to add a feature to add stories about people's run in with the cat!” Oh she would have to go through that one. Marinette could only imagine what sort of wild stories people would post.

“Hopefully it doesn’t turn into weird fanfiction.” Marinette laughed a little to herself.

“Oh I guess that is a good point. Maybe I could make a suction for people to post fanfiction or ask the people to prove it somehow.” Alya muttered to herself while looking at her phone.

“Well if it isn’t the monster of the school.” Chloe’s voice rang out throughout the school. “Here I was thinking nobody could eclipse Marinette as the worst person in this school but low and behold.” Coming into the school they saw the blonde tearing into Ivan. Thankfully the other students weren’t around, well besides Sabrina but it would be more odd to see Chloe without her ‘best friend’.

Man can that girl go a day without insulting someone? Marinette pondered only to see said girl turn on her. Oops had she said that out loud. The blonde didn’t do or say anything except to glare at her which allowed Ivan to leave.

“Come on girl,” Alya whispered while dragging Marinette away. While she couldn’t she Chloe anymore Marinette could swear she could still feel the girl’s glare. “That girl is a real villain.”

“We should go check on Ivan.” Marinette said while looking at where the large boy went.

“Hmm, yeah we should go help him!” Alya said with a bright smile. So with that the two of them went into the locker room. “Hey there big guy how’s it going?”

Ivan just gave a quiet grunt pretending not to notice them. Taking a deep breath Marinette decided to venture out on a limb. “You know you should really tell Mylene how you feel.” Both Ivan and Alya looked at her in shock.

“I… I don’t know what you're talking about.” Ivan told the pigtailed girl.

“Wait, is Mylene that short girl with dreadlocks?” Alya asked oddly intrigued. “Oh man dude, you two would be so cute together!”

“Doesn’t matter, I can’t even talk to her.” Ivan muttered while pounding down with his fist.

“Well maybe you don’t need to talk to her.” Marinette offered while putting her backpack down.

“Yeah that’s a good idea!” Alya happily cheered on. “You could bring her some nice flowers or maybe write a poem.”

“... what about a song?” Ivan offered and got a smile from the two girls.

“That’s a wonderful idea.” Marinette said while Alya hummed in agreement.

“Just make sure to check that it’s a type of music she would like.” Alya offered up her advice that the boy nodded before getting up and running off. “Looks like we did good here.”

“I hope it works out between the two.” Marinette let out a sigh. With that the two of them went to class. Arriving at the class Marinette was only mildly shocked to see a blond putting gum on her seat. “Really? Starting early are we?” The blonde turned around showing off wide green eyes. The boy was going to say something only for Marinette to brush him off. “Freshly chewed too.” Marinette observed with a sigh. Reaching into her pocket Marinette brought out a napkin to grab the gum.

“Listen-” The boy tried again only for him to be cut off again.

“Getting a headstart on your job as a janitor?” Chloe asked with a mocking laugh. The boy turned around to look at the mayor’s daughter. “Come on Adrikins we better get from our seats.” Oh he had a nickname from Chloe. No wonder he was so quick to join in on the bullying, they must have been old acquaintances. Maybe even childhood friends.

The boy cast a look back at her before going to sit with Nino. There was little doubt that the two would get along really well. Two bullies, four if you counted the girls behind them. “Hey look.” Alya nudged Marinette’s arm. Getting her to look and see a picture of her fashion idol, Gabriel Agreste, posing next to his son. Well looks like she was right because who else would Chloe befriend then teen supermodel Adrien Agreste. “Daddy’s boy, teen supermodel, and Chloe’s buddy? No, thanks.”

“Total agreement with you there.” Marinette gave the other girl a nod and small smile. Looking back forward she saw Adrien and Nino shaking hands with a smile. Whelp looks like she was right. Wonder what they were boding over?

“Oh, girl look!” Alya held back a squee as she nudged her friend again while gesturing toward the door. Rose wasn’t as quiet with her squee though as Ivan and Mylene walked hand in hand through the door. Mylene with a bright blush on her face. Though to be fair Ivan was just as red. The two split up after sharing a look.

Miss Bustier followed right after the new couple and got the class to settle down. Marinette was about to start toning things out but was jarred out of her thoughts as Adrien jumped up from his seat with a yell of ‘Here’. The rest of the day was going peacefully for the most part until around lunch. During lunch Alya was once again eating with Marinette Alix approached the two.

“Can I help you?” Alya asked, not looking thrilled at seeing the other girl.

“I’m here to give my interview for your blog.” Alix replaid while sitting down across from them. “I have had a couple interactions with Cheshire.”

“I don’t suppose you have proof of this?” At this question Alix gave a smile and whipped out her phone. Oh joy it looked like Alix was going to show off her pictures. “No way!” Alya shouted as her and Alix went through the photos. “Girl you got to see this!”

“Look and weep.” Alix said pride in her voice. “Me and the cat go way back.”

“How did you two meet?” Alya asked, going into full reporter mode. Wonder if this was going to be common.

“Oh so I was out testing these awesome skates I got for my birthday when I was jumped by some muggers.” Alix began to tell her story Marinette fained interest, well actually now that she thought about it it was actually interesting. You know hearing a story from the other side. “She was amazing!”

“I am so jealous!” Alya said with a smile. “Well, I’ll get this typed up and put online.”

“Well I guess that could do for today. Can’t wait to tell you about the other encounters.” Alix leaned forward with a superior smirk.

“Other encounters?”

“Yeah Cheshire is super nice and checks in on people she saves. Well not to brag but my family occasionally has bad luck so let's just say she drops by often.” Alix almost looked proud about that. “Why one time she stopped a robbery at the museum, even saved my dad.”

“Well I better get to posting this.” Alya said with a smile closing the notebook she had started writing in. Reaching out to her phone they were shocked to see it turn on with a bright light. It wasn’t just her phone though, everyone's phones were going off. “What the heck!”

“GOOD EVENING PARIS!” A voice shouted out from the devices. Marinette grabbed her phone from her purse to see an akuma taking up the screen. “I’m Newscaster! I’ll be bringing you the latest up to day news!” The camera drew backwards to show off more of the room. The Akuma was sitting down at the same table as Nadja. “You see yesterday my introduction was ruined by that annoying cat so now I’m here to make them pay. So stay tuned for the defeat of Parisis superhero!”

“What? Is this really happening?” Alya leaned back looking at everyone around her.

“Cheshire is going to kick his ass!” Alix stated while looking down at her phone.

“But first breaking news from the streets. It seems that our field reporter Mark Turnback is stuck in traffic with the police and all the released animals from the zoo!” Sure enough the phone now showed one of the news reporters being surrounded by police and them being surrounded by thousands of wild animals. Did the akuma bring in some from other cities? Either way she needed to get moving now!

“All students please make your way home if possible, if not please follow a teacher to shelter in place!” Damacoles said over the PDA. Thank you for your bad decisions.

“See you later Alya.” Marinette said, grabbing her backpack and running for it. Once she had crossed the street and dropped her bag the girl prepared herself to headout.

“No, no, and throw in a heck no!” Plagg yelled out while flying and his arms crossed in an x. “You are still injured and tired!” Looking at Trixx the girl saw them hesitating.

“We don’t have a choice. People need our help.” Marinette looked at Plagg, who looked back without flinching.

“Fine but if things start going south you have to promise to run!” Plagg stated backing down.

“I promise now, Plagg Claws Out!” With a flash of green light Cheshire stood and headed out to their balcony. “Allright time to head out and save the city.” Looking around Cheshire already knew where to head but didn’t know if she should. The streets were being overrun with thousands of animals.

“While we're waiting for Paris’s hero, how about we check up with Nadja Chamack who is interviewing the mayor.”

“Let us go!” Nadja shouted while rocking in the chair she was tied to. The famous newscaster was in a dark room with lights only on her and the mayor.

“How did I even get here!” Mayor Bourgeois asked, also tied to a chair.

“Now, now, you two should be careful or else you might reveal our explosive surprise.” The voice of Newscastor’s joking voice called out while the lights in the room flashed on for five seconds. With the lights on it revealed a cartoonish amount of TNT. “Oops, hope that didn’t blow the surprise. Well if Cheshire doesn’t want your interview to blow up she better come to face me.”

“To the Akuma it is.” Cheshire said while shooting off. “This is some news week.” Hopefully there wasn’t going to be anything else to report on today.

~~~~~~~~~

Adrien was able to use the crowd to his advantage and ran into a nearby alley way. “Hopefully we can save the victim!” Today hadn’t gone at all as he had wanted. He had been excited for his first day of public school only for it to blow up in his face. Chloe had put a wad of gum on some poor girl's desk and when he had tried to remove it said girl had come in and blamed it on him. It didn’t help that Chloe then mocked the raven haired girl.

“We will Adrien.” Tikki said, giving him a supportive look.

“Right! Tikki, Spots On!” With a flash of pink light Adrien felt power flow through him. “Paris I hope you're ready for Misterbug!” Retrieving the yoyo from his waist the hero flew out of the alleyway and toward the news headquarters. Arriving at the nearest roof the bug was quick to look around. “Well look who it is.” The bug whispered looking down and seeing a black blur running along lower roofs.

Turning he saw a dark brown clothed person stuck in the street surrounded by animals. “Maybe that’s my partner?” Tossing down his yoyo the hero wrapped the person in the string. With a pull the magic yoyo wound itself back up bringing the other hero up with it. “Seemed you were in a hairy situation.” Once Adrien had the person on the roof he could see that his guess was right about them being his partner. The guy had his hair done in braids that led back to a ponytail while also having a dark pair of glasses sitting comfortably on his face. Also he had an upside down horseshoe on his chest and wings on the side of his shoes.

“Thank you that situation was indeed getting quite bad down there.” The horse themed hero said with a nod. “You must be the other hero Kaalki told me about. I’m Pegasus.” The other hero offered his hand out to shake.

“Misturbug,” Adrien introduced himself while taking the offered hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you. Now by my calculations I believe that taking down the Akuma would be the most expedient way to solve this situation.” Pegasus commented while looking over at the building.

“Yeah Tikki said that the Cure should be able to patch everything up.” Misterbug gave a nod while looking ahead. “Now come on we need to hurry before Cheshire gets there.” Taking a running start Misterbug launched his yoyo and felt it latch onto something. “Let’s get going!” With a tug the newest hero on the block went soaring through the air.

“Wait for me!” Pegasus yelled while having to run to catch up. Why wasn’t he using his weapon to help get around? Looking back Misterbug saw the other hero awkwardly jump from the roof he was on to the next roof. The boy was obviously not used to physical workouts. Throwing his yoyo he caught the horse and pulled him to where he was. “It seems that we will have difficulty moving as we are now.”

“Yeah and with every second we wait that’s another second the akuma could terrorize Paris.”

“And another second for Cheshire to do as she pleases.” Pegasus gave a nod while looking down. “Maybe now would be a good chance to use my power.”

“Oh?”

“Behold Voyage!” First the other hero brought his arm back as a ring of energy built up around it before thrusting it forward. The ring flew forward while it extended till it was big enough to walk through. “This should get us going where we need.” Stepping through the portal the bearer of the Ladybug miraculous was shocked to find himself close to the filming room. “Voyage allows me to teleport anywhere as long as I know where in the world it is.”

“Nice,” Misterbug gave a smile and thumbs up while the other came through.

“I’m going to go recharge my kwami.” Pegasus stated while galloping into the closest closet.

“Try not to take too long.” Misterbug said through the door as a brown flash of light came through. Waiting a second to see if he would respond Misterbug shrugged his shoulders before charging down the hall.

As he rounded the corner to enter the main filming room he almost crashed into the arriving cat. “Glad I spotted you in time.” Cheshire joked while straightening herself out. “It would have bugged me to crash into you. I’m quite proud of my reaction time.”

He was face to face with the biggest enemy of any miraculous user. The black cat of destruction had just punned at him. “Yeah that would have been paw-sitivily claw-ful.” Misterbug joked back while reaching down to his yoyo.

“Stealing my puns!” Cheshire acted offended while their hand went to their heart. “I’ll just have to fly away or just wing it on some more.”

“As much as I would hate to interrupt I do have to keep the film rolling.” A voice came over the intercom system. “But since the heroes finally decided to show up, I think it's time for another interview with today's sponsor. Ladies, gentleman and that colorful rainbow in between I give you the one and only: Hawkmoth!”

“People of Paris I am Hawkmoth!” The screen showed a man with a silver face mask against a stone black background. “Cheshire, ladybug-”

“Yeah what do we call you?” Cheshire interrupted the villain who turned to look at her. “Oh are you watching us? Are we being live streamed!”

“Oh thank you so much for airing my grand day premier!” Drawing on years of anime Misterbug began his introduction. “I am the ladybug user of justice: Misterbug!”

“Cheshire, Misterbug,” Hawkmoth ground out, “I demand that you both hand over your miraculous. Don’t you think you have done enough damage to the innocent people of Paris.”

Cheshire gave a slow appolode to that. “Wow tell me buggy, how many stars should we give this spin doctor? I think he deserves a full five stars seeing as how he is somehow trying to frame his Akuma’s actions as our fault.” Seeing the chance Misterbug jumped on the limb.

“Yeah he was the one the that released both the Akuma’s and thus Hawkmoth is the one responsible for all the destruction. So listen well Hawkmoth we shall bring you to justice and take your miraculous! The people of Paris have nothing to worry about as long as me and my partner are here.”

“You shall fail!” Hawkmoth screamed at them as their video feed cut out.

“Partner? I don’t think I agreed to that.” Cheshire joked but didn’t give him a chance to explain as she ran forward. “Put me in the spot-light will they. Shall we go bug them?” Hmm, she certainly was good at manipulating people. A charming villain. But he could do it, he would do it. He would expose the evil villain she was and stop whatever dastardly plot she was plotting.

Chapter 10

Cheshire slowly made her way down the hall. She glanced back at her partner, hmm not quiet at that leave of trust yet, maybe tentative friend. Well at least he has a sense of humor. “We’re getting to the main room. Do you have a claw-ver plan?”

“Not at the moment looks like we’ll have to wing it.”

“Hopefully I come out with all my whiskers.” Cheshire gave them a smile while turning to the main door. “On three,” seeing the nod Cheshire began the count down. On three they both burst through the door and saw the Akuma.

“Welcome, glad to have you on the show!” Newscaster’s voice greeted them behind the desk he sat at. “Now I get to be the one to defeat you live and onair!”

“Don’t worry we’ll make it quite unfur-gitible.” Cheshire drew her baton out while glancing over to their teammate who had a yoyo.

“Breaking news! It seems that the two new heroes of Paris are under attack by security!” As they said this hundreds of guards burst in while running to tackle them! “Oh how will they handle being so outnumbered.” Watching the guards charging her Cheshire took a deep breath as they charged and then planted their baton and pole vaulted over the guards. “Oh bad form but interesting solution.” Hearing a twang they saw the other hero also going over the guards. Shrinking the weapon Cheshire ran toward the Akuma who still hadn’t moved. “Oh charging the host! Now that is quite bad form.” How were they still so far away?

Stopping for a second Cheshire extended their baton forward but even as it expanded it still got no closer. “Huh Misterbug I think I found a bug in the program!”

“This might be quite a problem!” Misterbug said as the guards turned around as a group. “Oh got the guards coming back.” Crap.

“We need a solution!” Cheshire said as the guards came closer. She could try jumping over them again but they might be expecting her to do it again. Misterbug was right behind her and she didn’t know how much training he had.

“Alright lets try this! Lucky Charm!” As the other hero called out his power he threw his yoyo up into the air causing red sparkles to fly out. As this was going on Cheshire had to block a hit from the guard. Knocking said guard back Cheshire dodged another hit while swiping their baton along the ground knocking a few of the enemies down. “An electrical cord? What is this for?”

“An electrical cord?” Cheshire asked while turning around. In Misterbug’s hands now sat an extension cord that was red with black spots. As the cat was looking at Misterbug a hit from one of the guards took her by surprise. Stumbling from the hit Cheshire was quick to knock back said guard while having to dodge another. She couldn’t get distracted.

“Lucky Charm is supposed to create an item I can use to defeat the akuma.” Misterbug informed while looking around. “I just don’t get how I’m supposed to use this!”

“It looks like the heroes aren’t faring too well.” Newscaster said, sounding overjoyed. “It seems that Misterbug has failed in using his powers!” Looking at his power the black cat felt her mind going into overdrive. The item was supposed to help them somehow but how? The Newscaster was the host of the show…

“Destroy the camera’s, I think your power is saying that he is vulnerable if we can get the power off of him.” Cheshire shouted to her teammate.

“NO I was denied my time before you are not taking it from me again!” Newscaster screamed out to the hero.

“We’ll use your extension cord to secure the guards!” Cheshire informed while having to block another hit. Trusting Misterbug to help Cheshire first tried knocking the guards down. The guards though were numerous though. She had to get them piled up though.

“What about the Newscaster?” Misterbug asked joining the fight.

“Guards! We have an emergency!” Newscaster yelled while pounding the desk. “We need to get them out of here!” Looking at the bug hero Cheshire threw a wink.

“Oh he’s not important without his cameras.” Cheshire said while sliding around the ground toward the outlet. But the area stretched and the cord started becoming out of reach. Looking to the side she saw that the camera was positioned perfectly. Using her strength Cheshire planted her baton in the ground before her. The cat flinched as a punch landed on her injured shoulder. Extending the pole Cheshire flew backwards, “Bug!”

“Catch!” One end of the extension cord landed in her hand. Cheshire flinched as she slammed into the camera knocking it over and no doubt destroying it.

“NO!” Newscaster shouted while raising from his desk. “How could you!” Before he could say anything else the cat and bug caught him. The cord caught him by the stomach sending him back into the chair he just rose from. The two ran around each other effectively tying him to the chair.

“Alright now we just need to find the akuma.” Cheshire said holding the cord.

“Mind holding this for a second?” Misterbug said while passing his end of the cord to the cat. Once she took it the hero ran forward and first pulled off his microphone from his shirt and crushed it, nothing. Next was the ID card, snapping that in half got a butterfly. Letting go of the cord Cheshire prepared to grab the butterfly only to watch in shock as Misterbug threw his yoyo after somehow opening it to show a white void. What?

“No more evil doing for you little Akuma.” When the yo-yo had caught up to the escaping insect the red and black shell snapped shut over it. Once the yo-yo had returned to his hand a simple touch of one of the spots now let out a now pure white butterfly. “See you little butterfly.”

“Does that hurt?” Cheshire checked on her teammate.

“No, why?” Misterbug asked, raising a questioning eye. Now that was just unfair.

“What is going on?” The former akuma victim asked while grabbing their head. Seeing that the victim was cured Cheshire was about to unwind the cord from them. Before she could help them though something smashed into the side of her head.

“Step away from the civilian!” Another miraculous user shouted while showing himself. Cheshire took a few steps back while grabbing their head. That attack had hurt, badly and now in addition to her injured arm her head was pounding. Looking towards Misterbug for help she barley had time to roll away from the approaching yoyo.

“Sorry about this. You seem nice but the key word is seem.” Misterbug said while his yoyo landed back in his hand.

“...” Cheshire wanted to say something. To give a witty remark or even say something childish like ‘so did you’ but the truth was she couldn’t right now. She was hurt, Cheshire had let herself trust the other miraculous holder and they had taken the first opportunity to hurt her.

Another hit to her injured arm did cause a yowl of pain to come out though as she glanced back to see the other hero catch a horseshoe. Horseshoe, really? Well looks like she had to fight her way out. But how, and could she take one of their miraculous with her when she did? She did promise Plagg that she would run if things went bad and things were now bad. Hearing a beep from the traitor a plan came together.

~~~~~~~~~~

Max kept his breath calm as his mind analyzed what to do next. In video games you could guess what your opponent would do next but this wasn’t a video game. When he had come into the filming room he was horrified to see Cheshire had tied up the former victim. So acting on instinct he had thrown his horseshoe and gotten a clean hit on the cat.

Misterbug was quick to back him up but seemed that the cat was now aware of them and thus she was quick to dodge. When she had gotten out of her roll Pegasus was quick to throw his weapon again and this time hit her shoulder which got a scream of pain from the cat. The horse user flinched at the scream but steaded himself. Kaalki had informed him of what the suit was capable of so the girl was likely trying to trick them.

A beep beside Max drew his attention to Misterbug who’s earring lost one of its spots. The ladybug user must have used his power recently so they were now low on time. Plus his kwami had informed him of the cure so they needed to do this quickly. A slamming door showed that Cheshire had the same thought because she had just ran out of the door.

“Go after her. I'll be with you in a moment.” Misterbug shouted after Pegasus who was already running after her. Entering the hallway he saw the criminal cat was running down the hallway. Throwing the horseshoe again he saw that the villain’s ears twitched while she dodged to the side. The weapon hit the wall and bounced back to him.

“Hand over your ring and we can end this quickly!” Max informed the villain who had gotten out of the roll.

“No, if you want a ring go get your own.” Cheshire shouted back while jumping forward from their crouching position. They slammed through another pair of doors and Max saw her shoot upwards through the door.

“Where is she?” Misterbug asked now holding a red and black spotted cord. Huh that was what Cheshire had the news man tied up in. Focus Max there is an escaping super villain who could destroy Paris.

“She is this way.” Max led the other hero forward as the faint sound of music echoed in the hall. What?

“Over here horse-see.” Cheshire called out near the stairs before whistling the tune again as they sprinted up the steps. So she was taunting them now. “Cat-ch me if you can.” Something was different about her costume but the criminal was getting away so Max but the thought away for now. Entering the stairwell they looked around for the allusive cat. “Oh I see that your partner decided to show up.”

Hearing the voice coming from above they turned their heads up to see the cat grinning down at them. Before they could get more of a look she vanished back over the railing. “Come on were going up.”

“How is she so far ahead of us!” Max questioned. Cheshire had to be a good couple flights above them yet she hadn’t been in here more than a few seconds before them.

“She must have used her weapon.” Misterbug explained while rounding a corner.

“Somebuggy is using their brain.” Cheshire mocked still from above. “Just don’t get anteni in a twist.”

“She is most likely heading to the roof.” Max deduced while hearing a door open then slam shut.

“We’ll have to make this quick I only have,” another beep sounded, “three minutes left.”

“Then let’s surprise her!” Pegasus said while drawing his arm back. “Voyage!” For the second time that day a portal appeared before them. Both ran through it with little hesitation and arrived on the roof as the portal stay opened behind them. “I’ll leave the portal open incase we need to run back to the stairs.”

“Where is Cheshire?” Misterbug questioned as he started spinning his yoyo by his side. “Keep your eyes open, we need to be careful.” Hearing a faint sound coming from behind both hero’s spun around to see the empty roof.

“What is her plan?” Pegasus questioned while grabbing his weapon from his back. The gamer was ready to throw it at anything that moved. “She is trapped up here, unless she escaped. But then why let us know that she was going up?” Max’s mind was spinning at the possibilities.

“I don’t know. I mean who knows what's going on in her deranged mind.” His partner brushed it off before glancing back at him and taking a rapid breath of air. At the same time he threw his yoyo Max felt something trying to remove his glasses. His glasses slipped a little off his head while he stumbled back. Turning the boy saw Cheshire standing there with her arm now caught by Misterbug’s yoyo.

“Hmm, well that is interesting.” Cheshire gave Max a smile, a smile that sent a shiver down his back. “Seems that messing with the miraculous messes with the transformation.”

“Pegasus fix your glass!” Misterbug yelled while pulling on the wire. This got a hiss from the cat as Max did as he was instructed. “You are a very bad cat you know.”

“And you are a bug that likes stabbing people in the back.” Cheshire threw back while glaring at the red clad hero. “Out of curiosity what do you think would happen if I used my power on your weapon.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Misterbug said while tightening his grip on the wire. Cheshire didn’t respond but did give the other hero a nice glare before giving a smile. “Don’t even try it. The second you even try to use your power I’ll-”

Pegasus was quick to throw his weapon as the silver baton hit the ladybug user right in his stomach. As the yoyo loosened Cheshire slipped her arm out while leaning back as the horseshoe garzed by her. “Doubt that will be coming back anytime soon.” Cheshire joked while walking backwards away from the two.

“Well what are you going to do?” Misterbug asked while getting his yoyo spinning again. Another beep caused the horses stomach to drop.

“I could try waiting you out.” Cheshire pointed out while giving a dangerous smirk. “You only have about two minutes left right?” Was she counting? Another beep caused Max to remember that the only one not on a timer was the cat. That and Misterbug still had to cast the cure so it wasn’t like they could go and recharge.

“Pegasus I hate to say it but we need to leave.” Misterbug whispered to his partner.

“Oh, am I boring you?” Cheshire moked hurt while not leaving their battle stance.

“It would seem that she has us bested for now.” Pegasus muttered while his eyes darted around. “But how will we get out of here?”

“Yeah, how?”

“Miraculous Misterbug!” With that Misterbug threw the cord in the air where it broke apart into thousands of little bugs that swarmed around the city. As the bugs flew around Cheshire Pegasus felt a tug as he was pulled out off the roof. “Split up!”

Not needing to be told anymore the two raced off in different directions the second they hit the ground. After arriving at a deserted alley Max let the transformation go. “Well how did the fight go?” Kaalki inquired while appearing.

“Kaalki how much of my identity is exposed if my miraculous gets knocked loose?” Max asked while grabbing his heart.

“What happened?” The kwami asked while looking very concerned. As Max retold the events of the fight Kaalki got a very concerned look on their face. “Oh that sounds terrifying! But no need to fear. How you said it the miraculous was only loose so only part of your transformation would have been undone. The veil should still hold strong.”

“That’s a relief.” Max let his shoulders drop a bit. “I don’t think I can keep this up for much longer.”

“Nonsense Max you did a good job. Why you landed a few hits on the cat.” Kaalki gave praise with a smile. Though it did not make Max feel much better, he had almost lost his miraculous. He would have lost it if not for Misterbug. Maybe he should stay in the back and offer support from a distance. He would have to figure it out soon though. Who knows what the cat was planning. What would they have done to the victim if he didn’t act.

Hearing his phone ring Max looked down to see his mother calling him. Right he needed to head home for now. He needed to relax for now. He could deal with Cheshire another time. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too much fall out from all of this

Notes:

Alright one more chapter and we'll have reached the end of the origin episode. What will happen? Will there be fallout for Pegasus and Misterbug attacking Cheshire? Tune in to find out.

Chapter 11

Marinette let out a tired sigh as she dropped on her bed. “Claws In.” As her transformation came undone Trixx flew in front of her with a frown. “Why would they do that?” Marinette asked while feeling her injuries increase in pain. “I haven’t done anything evil, I was just trying to help.”

“The ring of the black cat has an earned reputation.” Trixx muttered while Plagg went to grab some cheese. “I know that is no excuse but all kwami’s believe that anyone who holds the ring is as evil as their predecessors.”

This caused Marinette’s eyes to widen. All of the past black cats users were evil? Was that why Plagg never talked about them. Was that why Plagg looked so bad when she had met him? “Yeah, what Trixx is saying is true.” Plagg answered her unasked question. “I think some of the kwamis even blame me for what happened.” Trixx didn’t give a direct answer but judging by the way his ears drooped down and his reaction when they had first met it was more than enough.

“But where did those two come from? Did the guardian give them their miraculous?” Marinette pondered while reaching up to rub her chin. But as she moved her arm a jolt of pain through it. Deciding to see the damage of the fight the pigtailed girl cast off her ratty jacket so she can see her arm. Thankfully her arm was unmarked but moving it did hurt.

“Bread, did you fight other miraculous users?” Plagg asked with obvious disapproval.

“Yeah she fought both Tikki and Keelki’s new holders.” Trixx also said not looking pleased. “The new horse got a nice hit on her head.”

“Bread I told you to get out if things looked bad!” The little cat exploded at his holder. “What possessed you to think it was a good idea to fight both of them?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I just met Misterbug and stupidly thought he wanted to team up with me.” Laying down on her bed Marinette felt like just sleeping the rest of the day but decided against it. She still had to eat and do a quick patrol tonight and also eat. Wonder what she would make for dinner tonight. “Don’t worry I learned my lesson about trusting other users now.” Moving down to the hatch Marinette looked back at the kwamis. “Do either of you want to help me cook tonight?”

“Would love to but Plagg promised to show me what he is watching all the time on his phone.” Trixx jumped in front of the cat before they could speak.

“Okay guess I’ll go simple tonight.” Marinette muttered while descending the steps.

“Alright what’s up? I know you don’t want to watch anything I watch.” Plagg gave the other kwami a flat look.

“We need to talk about what to do.”

“What to do?”

“Yeah what do we do about Marinette? I was watching the fight and I think those other users were way too serious about fighting her.”

“Were they trying to kill her?” Plagg asked in a low hiss. When the fox didn’t answer Plagg pressed his question. “Did they try to kill her?”

“I don’t know if that was their goal.” Trixx gave a vague yet honest answer. “They didn’t seem like the type to kill though so I think they just wanted to detain her.” Plagg didn’t give an answer so Trixx took the chance to shift the conversation. “But that is now four holders after her! We really need advice her!”

“And have her do what?”

“Have her go to the guardian and clear this whole thing up!” Tixx shouted at him. “She is way outnumbered. We really need to get her out of danger!”

“I agree with you on the second account but given how he acted the first time we met I don’t think going to him is a good idea.” Plagg stated while giving a flat look at the fox.

“Do you really think she would give up being a hero!” Seeing Plagg flinch Trixx knew they both knew the answer to that. “That is why she needs to go to the guardian! They can resolve this whole situation in a few moments!”

“And how would we resolve this situation?” A voice from the trap door asked. Marinette came up and gave the fox a flat look. “How would I resolve the situation with someone who believes the cat to be nothing but evi?”

Trixx froze for a second before their eyes naturally drew to Plagg who looked ready to attack. “Marinette I’m just worried about you. Kaalki’s user went right for a headshot! Misterbug had your arm! You barely got out of there intact!”

“I’ll do better next time!”

“There shouldn’t need to be a next time!” Trixx pressed his tail twitching. Plagg found himself slightly agreeing.

“I’m not going to sacrifice Plagg!” Marinette shouted back while grabbing some food. “I’m not going to get rid of my best friend due to some old man’s delusion!”

“But you could get hurt!” Trixx shouted corcen obvious in his voice. “Please think this through Marinette.”

“There is nothing to think about. I’m not giving up Plagg and that’s it.” Marinette stomped to her bed. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“It’s three!” Trixx pointed out. “Plagg, talk to her!”

“Kid how about we check out Netflix, I think they put some fun shows on there.”

“Yeah, or I could work more on the cube I suppose.” Getting out of the bed Marinette made her way down.

“Plagg.”

“Trixx the kid made up her mind. All we can do now is support her.” While Plagg should feel relieved that his kitten wasn’t giving him up but all he felt was worried. Worried that the one good cat would be put down by others.

The other kwami let out a resigned sigh as his ears dropped. “I’ll make sure she has everything she needs for tomorrow. I think rain was predicted in the weather.” As the fox flew through the floorboards Plagg was left watching his bread. She went through all of Netflix before stopping on a show.

“Huh this one looks interesting. Oh looks like it follows up from a movie, might as well.” Hopefully things will look up soon.

“Hey Plagg.” Marinette’s voice came out weak “I promise I will never give you up. No matter what happens I will protect you.” Plagg felt the pit of worry grow in his gut. He should have felt reassured by what she said. She was very easily the best cat he had ever had but he really didn’t want her to die for him. The two had turned to the computer to let the movie play.

“Thank you John, I am doing quite fine after today's events.” Nadja’s voice rang out from the living room. Had Trixx turned on the TV? “As many people know today one of my colleges was affected by what the city’s protector Cheshire had called an Akuma.” Was it even time for the news yet? Looking at the time Marinette was shocked to see how late it had gotten. Man movies could really draw you in. “Thanks to an aspiring news reporter we were actually able to get some footage of what happened after the camera was destroyed.”

“Now this I have to see.” Marinette never got down to her living room as quick as she did in that moment. On the television screen stood Marinette’s only human friend Alya. The girl looked ecstatic and was almost bouncing in her seat but was trying to remain professional.

“Thanks Nadja!” Alya’s smile was so wide that it looked like it hurt. “I first just want to say I’m sorry for whatever Mr. Jack had to go through. One of my classmates was Akumatized and he said it was a truly awful experience.”

“That is true and I do hope he recovers soon. We will also be interviewing him later this week to hear his account of how things played out.” Nadja gave a sympathetic nod of her head. “Now I must let you know that the footage we are about to show does contain viliance, so we advise that younger viewers turn away.” The screen cut to show the ending of the fight with Newscaster, it was clear that Alya had only just arrived based on the heavy breathing heard on the other end of the phone. The phone was also a little shaky and it was clear that the girl was hiding.

“Do you think she’ll get into trouble for breaking out of the school?” Marinette asked as the screen now showed Misterbug breaking the object.

“I think she was a bit determined to get some sort of footage. She did seem a little frustrated that she didn’t get anything from your first akuma fight.” Trixx muttered before flinching as the horseshoe collided with her head.

“BREAD!” Plagg screeched as he dove for her head. “Oh my cheese are you sure you're okay.” Marinette didn’t respond as she watched the footage draw to a close. Alya was good but there was no way she could catch up with the rest of the fight. She watched in shock as Misterbug untied Jack before reassuring him that ‘Pegasus and I’ would take care of her.

“What a shocking turn of events.” Nadja said when the screen returned to her.

“I’ll say. I was in total shock when I saw it happen.” Alya replied while fidgeting a bit in her seat.

“Yes, to think somebody would attack their ally. So Alya what is your opinion on what happened?” The news anchor asked in a gentle voice.

“Well I find it quite odd that Misterbug and his teammate Pegasus call Cheshire a villain.” Alya cleared her throat before glancing over to something that was off screen. It must have been her family member or something because she gave a small wave. “I mean the second Pegasus shows up he attacks someone who was about to let Jack go. Plus we know that Cheshire has proven herself to be an outstanding hero.”

“Alya, that is quite a claim and as a good reporter you must have proof of these claims.” Nadja kindly asked after the girl finished talking. Alya’s eyes widened before giving a smile.

“Yes I do have proof! I recently started a blog called the Wonderblog where I offered people the chance to tell their encounters with the cat. Within a few minutes of having it up I was flooded with stories going back at least three years. Then when I asked them for proof almost eighty percent were able to produce police reports or show pictures of them with Cheshire.”

“Well that certainly does set a precedent of her doing good.” Nadja gave a nod. “So we can presume that the other two attack on her had no reason to attack her as they did.” Alya gave a nod with her smile brightening.

“Right and the second these two show up they attacked her!” Alya replied while Nadja gave her own.

“That is a point but it seems we have run out of time for this story.” Nadja turned away from Alya so she could look directly at the camera. “We will have weather updates after the break.” With that the TV now cut to commercials.

“Well it must suck to be Misterbug or Pegasus.” Trixx muttered while turning the television off.

“Good, they get what they disservice.” Plagg muttered while looking miffed. He was sitting in Marinette’s hair.

Marinette just stared at the screen. People believed in her, well Cheshire her put point still stands. “We should check the Wonderblog.” The two kwamis stared at her as the pigtailed girl girl pulled out her phone. The site almost didn’t load with the amount of traffic the little blog was getting but it did load. Looking around the website the girl saw people offering to moderate the site while the story section was being flooded with encounters with her. Both real and fake, she could easily tell which ones were fake.

“Alya is either going to be real excited at school tomorrow or dead tired. Maybe I should point her to Max. I bet he could help her out with some of the problems she is having.” While she might not be a fan of her glasses wearing classmate, he did take part in her bullying, the boy's ability with computers was outstanding. “You know I really should get her number some time.” Things to worry about tomorrow, wonder how school will go tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien stood uncomfortably outside of school. It was only his second day and while he had nothing to complain about school wise other things weighed on him. Well he was also a bit unhappy about his second day but that was another story.

When he had gotten home from superheroing him and Tikki had talked about the fight. They still couldn’t figure out what Cheshire was planning. But they knew she had almost taken the miraculous from Pegasus. So at least they had a place to start from. The cat obviously craved power. It was when they were discussing what Cheshire might want with so many miraculous that they had received the bad news.

One of his new classmates had been in the studio and recorded the attack on the black cat. It was with his stomach dropping down to his feet that they watched as she called them the villains. How had things gone this bad? Was it the best time to fight Cheshire, maybe not but his partner had attacked so he needed to back Pegasus up. He didn’t dare check out the Wonderblog to see what people were saying. Was this part of Cheshire’s plan? To turn the public against them?

Either way her plan had worked and she had turned part of Paris’s population against them. He had spent some/a lot of time thinking of how to get Paris back on the bug and horse side. He needed to make Paris aware of the danger they were in. Maybe he could track down a reporter as Misterbug and give a tell all interview? Oh, Alya would be the best. What with all the attention she would be getting plus she did run the Wonderblog. With plans being discussed between him and Tikki the Agreste had fallen asleep.

When he had arrived at school the young model was tempted to turn around and run. Two of his classmates were in a huge debate about his secret identity. It seemed like Alix was very firmly in the cat’s paw and would hear nothing Max had to say about her idol possibly being evil. Heck the teacher had taken it as an opportunity for a debate lesson and thus the class was divided up and Adrien was shocked to see that only five people sided with Misterbug and Pegasus. Well technically four since Kim only joined his side so he could challenge Alix. But at least his childhood best friend, Chloe and her bff believed in Misterbug.

So after a good debate, where sadly they weren’t able to win anyone over to the right side, it was time for lunch. During lunch break Nino showed Adrien around the school while also introducing him to his other classmates. As the day progressed Adrien had gotten to know them better. Though sadly he never had the chance to meet two of his classmates. It seemed as though Alya and Marinette had both done their best to avoid him. Chloe though had insisted that Marinette wasn’t somebody who he should spend his time with. But despite what she said he really did want a chance to clear up the gum incident. Sadly the day had ended without giving him the chance he so desperately wanted. So here he stood waiting for the rain to break so he could head out.

“Here.” A voice said behind him. Turning around he saw a red umbrella with black spots being held out to him. “I don’t know how far away your house is so you’ll probably need this more than me.” Looking past the umbrella to the source of the voice he saw the pigtailed girl he had wanted to talk to. She was offering him an umbrella.

“Um, listen.” Adrien began trying to explain about the gum incident. “I wasn’t putting the gum on your seat.” The girl looked at him with deep blue eyes.

“Okay,” her voice came out a bit disbelieving but still kind, “I guess this must have been new to you.”

“Yeah this is the first time I’ve been to school.” Adrien admitted happily that she was being so understanding. Man the umbrella must be some sort of Lucky Charm because it was giving him the perfect chance to make up with this kind understanding girl. Reaching out to the offered umbrella he accidentally touched her hand as a clap of thunder came. This caused Marinette to jump and her umbrella to accidentally close around her. Adrien couldn’t help himself as he let out a laugh. The raven haired girl peeked out from under the umbrella and seemed ready to give him a smile but froze as another laugh was heard.

 

“Really Dupain-Cheng? Can you not even keep your own umbrella open?” Chloe’s voice asked as she strutted up to them. The other blonde took a look at the umbrella before laughing again. “Oh my gosh, that explains everything. You never grew up, I mean look at that childish umbrella.” Marinette looked between the two her blue eyes looking watery. “Aw is the little girl going to cry? Hope you don’t ruin whatever cheap make up you bought at discount.” Chloe let out an oh and then snapped her fingers at some sort of realization. “Oh is that where you got your umbrella too?” This was too much for the poor girl. She took a second to look at him in the eyes but he could only stand there stunned. She seemed to get an answer though when he blinked.

Dropping her umbrella the girl just ran through the rain. Adrien stood there still stunned. When had things gone so wrong? He had been connecting to her, he could have made his own first true friend. No help from Nino or anyone else, just him and her reaching out over a misunderstanding and becoming friends. “Ugh, whatever I’ll see you tomorrow Adrikins.” Chloe, what happened to the sweet kind girl he knew? The girl he knew would never have done something like this.

Before he could say anything to his first friend the rich girl walked down the stairs and entered her limo that had just pulled up. “Are you okay Adrien?” Tikki asked from his pocket. Opening his shirt he saw the wide blue eyes of his kwami.

“I, I don’t know.” Would he get a second chance to meet the girl? They were in the same class. But after two failed attempts would she want to be friends with him? Hearing his phone go off Adrien looked down at his phone to see the gorilla had texted him. While looking down he saw the umbrella Marinette had dropped.

“Oh that is a beautiful umbrella.” Tikki said while floating out of his pocket.

“Of course you would like it.” Adrien teased the kwami while he picked the umbrella. Weeing the gorilla approach, Adrien opened it up. Him and Tikki gasped as they saw the underside of the now open umbrella. While the top looked simple the bottom was designed to look like the night sky that only gained more colour as the rain fell on the top.

“Wow, she must have spent a long time making this.” Tikki gasped out while looking happy.

“She made this?” Adrien asked but Tikki had to end the conversation as the Gorilla honked at him. Walking down the steps Adrien entered the car with his hopeful Lucky Charm. Marinette had been willing to give him her handmade umbrella just to try and connect with him. Did she do it because he was Adrien Agreste? No, he didn’t think she was interested in him for his fame. Heck their first meeting would have shattered any type of celebrity crush. So she must have been interested in him as a person.

So distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t notice how empty the mansion was when he got home. Once back in his room Adrien made sure to put the umbrella away and made a decision. “Tikki I’m going to become friends with Marinette.” Never before was he so sure of anything before. He would just need to talk to Chloe about her behavior.

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Tikki let her wielder know how good of an idea she thought it was. “I’m sure that you two will be the most wonderful of friends when this is all done!” Friends? Why did he feel like he wanted more? Oh well he had homework and piano practice to get to.

Notes:

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I might have rushed through the school section but in my opinion that wasn't important at the moment and could be further/better explored in future chapters. Thanks for all the comments last chapter I really enjoyed reading them.

Chapter 12

Marinette watched Manon run around her room checking out some of her projects. Nadja had asked her earlier to babysit for the day and since Marinette needed a bit of extra spending cash she had agreed. So now she was in her room watching Manon to make sure the younger girl didn’t do anything to destroy anything valuable. “I take back everything! No amount of money is worth this.” Marinette muttered into the floor after failing at getting one of her design hats back from the younger girl. She knew that somewhere Trixx and Plagg were laughing at her.

Hearing a ringing coming from her phone the hopeful fashion designer answered it without looking. “Hey girl what are you up to?” Alya asked from the other end.

“Not much just doing some babysitting for a family friend.” Marinette responded back while putting the hat away.

“Oh your babysitting too?” Alya pivoted her phone to show two young girls running around the room.

“Oh are those your younger sisters you mentioned.” Marinette asked as Manon wandered onto screen. “Oh this is Manon.”

“Oh are you that friend Marinette mentioned!” Manon happily declared.

“Yup I’m Marinette’s BFF.” Alya happily replied back. “So girl what you say we meet up and let these three tire each other out?”

“That sounds like a pretty good idea.” Marinette responded with a smile. “What do you think, Manon do you want to go to the park?”

“Only if you get me a Mireillie balloon.” Manon made her demand known. Glancing behind Marinette saw Trixx fly into her purse while Plagg was no doubt already in there.

“We’ll see you there.” Marinette said with a smile. With a response from Alya the two hung up as they within a few minutes met up at the agreed upon park. The three kids got along well, a little too well in Marinette’s opinion. “They are planning something, no kid laughs that much and isn’t planning something.” Marinette said from the bench her and Alya had claimed.

“Kids are always up to something. Thanks for agreeing to this by the way. In exchange for my mom allowing me to appear on TV I agreed to watch the two for free every now and then.” Alya said while scanning the park. “But hey I got something to show you.”

“Oh, whatcha got? A new lead on Misterbug’s identity?”

“If only but this is almost just as good.” Opening up to the Wonderblog Alya brought up some still in design functions. “I talked to that Max kid you suggested and he was just as smart as you said. He was able to get my site up and functioning perfectly within a few hours. But after we got that working he and I started talking about possible upgrades to the website. Not to give away too much but there might be an akuma warning system coming soon.”

“Oh, now that sounds interesting.” Marinette said with a smile. “It certainly would be nice to know if there are supervillains rampaging around.” Turning to check on the three kids she saw Manon looking over at something. Looking over to see what she was seeing Marinette saw some sort of photoshoot going on.

“Yeah, Max is thankfully doing this for relatively cheap too. Though he is rather insistent about me being more fair to Misterbug and Pegasus.”

“More fair?” Marinette got up as her cat like curiosity demanded that she see what was going on.

“Yeah I think he forgot that we aren’t debating anymore. He insisted that I look more into the history of the heroes and post it on the site. I mean I was going to do it anyway so no big deal.” Alya got up to carry on the conversation. “Huh, what are we looking at?”

“Blondie is being asked a lot about spaghetti.” Ella and Etta responded while going back to the sandbox.

“Huh seems we found one of the Agreste fashion shoots.” Alya said while rolling her eyes. Marinette was still having conflicting feelings about Adrien. He seemed nice but he didn’t stand up for her despite Chloe mocking her right in front of him. Plus she was pretty sure he took the umbrella she had been working on. Then add on to the fact that whenever he approached her Chloe would use the chance to put her down.

“Marinette are we getting the balloon yet?” Manon asked, drawing her attention back to the girl.

“Well you have been good so why not.” Marinette said, giving her a smile.

“Yeah!” Manon cried happily while running ahead to where a guy was selling balloons. Marinette followed behind and quickly paid for the item. “Hi blondie.” Turning around Marinette saw that Adrien was waving at them with a smile. Not wanting to be rude she gave an awkward wave back.

“You!” A voice shouted out while pointing at her. Marinette froze up, did she break some sort of unspoken photoshoot rule? “I need a replacement, come here.” Wait, what?

“Marinette your gonna do a photoshoot?” Manon asked in slight confusion. “That sounds so fun!” What would she even wear. She was wearing her typical dirty clothing. Her hair was done in it’s typical ponytails but she hadn’t done anything special with it. Not to mention she wasn’t even wearing makeup.

“What is going on here?” Alya asked with a raised eyebrow. Where had she come from?

“Marinette is going to be in a photoshoot!” Manon cheered, getting Alya’s sisters excited. Huh if she looked Adrien also looked a bit excited.

“That’s amazing!” The twins cheered while Alya also looked amused at the situation.

“Oh, um, I can’t. I have to watch Manon here.” The four onlookers seemed disappointed while the photographer just let out a hum as he seemed to think of the situation. Looking around he looked at the modal before nodding.

“You interns!” Two of the younger looking individuals at the shoot suddenly stood up straight. “You will help with taking care of the young girl.” The internes looked at each other before one of them shrugged and walked over to Alya and started talking to the girls. “Now makeup do your magic!”

“Wait what?” What is going on? An older looking woman walked out of one of the tents with grumble.

“This is what I’m given to work with?” The woman muttered while getting uncomfortably close. “Hopefully we can get her cleaned up in a few minutes.” The elder snapped her fingers as Marinette suddenly felt herself being picked up. Turning slightly she saw Adrien’s bodyguard had picked her up. “Take her to my tent. I’ll have her ready for the test shots.” Where was her say in this?

The big man set her down in the tent before exiting. “Well this will be interesting.” Plagg muttered while poking out of the bag. “When was the last time you actually dressed up?”

“Family reunion about three years ago.” Marinette responded while looking around the tent. “Any idea what is going on?”

“No idea.” Trixx responded, also poking out of the bag. “The man did mention something about replacement. So maybe this was a test shoot for a new model or something.”

“Then why or how did I get roped into this?” Marinette muttered before hearing what sounded like a harsh wind. The tent sides acted like they were being blown around but ultimately nothing seemed to happen. “What the?” Taking the chance, Marinette slid out of the tent to see what was going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien was excited. He had a chance to have a photoshoot with Marinette. He would have to thank Vincent for choosing her and the other model for not showing up. It almost seemed like Tikki’s luck was rubbing off on him for this to happen.

Looking over he saw the interns getting to know the kids and his classmate while they got on the merry-go-round. “She’s good with kids.” Adrien muttered with a soft sigh as he sat in the break area. The makeup artist was talking to the clothing crew, no doubt trying to get some clothes

“Manon really seems to like her.” Tikki responds while eating a chocolate chip cookie. “I wonder what happened to the other model.”

“From the volume of the call I’m guessing diva trouble.” The young Agreste had met too many models who had thought that fashion shoots should happen on their time. He was secretly glad they hadn’t shown up because this had given him the chance to hang out with Marinette.

“Oh I hope she learns from this.” Tikki said as they then heard a cruel laugh from above. “Oh no.” Floating in the air was an akuma who was swinging around their umbrella. As they swung around the umbrella it caused a gust of freezing wind to blow through the park and create an ice dome around the merry-go-round.

“Tikki we have work to do!” Getting an encouraging nod from the kwami Adrien ducked under a changing sheet. “Tikki Spots On.” A flash of magic later and Misterbug emerged to engage the supervillian. Looking back he saw that not only had an ice dome been created around the carousel but also the makeup tent now had one. “Oh god, Marinette!” Throwing his yoyo it wrapped around the ice dome but when he tried to cut it the yoyo just slipped off.

“Oh it seems that the villain has shown up.” A condescending voice called from above.

“That is getting a bit old.” Misterbug commented while turning toward the Akuma. Seriously even when he had his first patrol people had been terrified of him. Heck even now the citizens were giving him weary looks. “So what’s your story? You don’t like the weather forecast?”

“I am Stormy Weather and I will show all of Paris what a real weather girl can do!” Stormy proclaimed while pointing her umbrella at him.

“Weather girls can control the weather?” A new voice drew their attention to Cheshire who was next to the carousel. The ice dome around it had thousands of cracks originating from where she was resting her hand on the dome. “What? I was just curious if this was common knowledge.” As the cat pulled her hand away the ice broke apart into thousands of pieces freeing the citizens inside. How did she do that?

“Cheshire so nice of you to show up! Now both of you hand over your miraculous!”

“Oh? I don’t think so.” Cheshire gave a smirk as the interns grabbed Alya and the kids and made a run for it. “But hey I’m feline generous so how about we chill out together and relax.”

“Yeah maybe we can work out what is bugging you.” Mister bug threw his own pun in the ring. Both Cheshire and the akuma threw him a look before a gust of powerful wind threw them away from the park. Letting out screams the two miraculous users flew and landed on a nearby street. Landing facedown Adrien quickly got to his feet to see Cheshire had also not landed netley. “Huh and here I was thinking that cat’s always landed on their feet.”

“I don’t like to purr-petuate stereotypes.” Cheshire responded while glaring at him.

“Oh then let's break the status quo and have the hero of Paris lose.” Stormy Weather shouted at them. “So to cut to the point I think Paris is overdue for some thunderstorms.” The akuma raised their umbrella causing the sky to darken.

“Well this attack is quite shocking.” Cheshire joked as she was forced to dodge the lightning that started falling from the sky.

“Don’t worry a real hero will take some wind out of her sail.” Spinning his yoyo, Misterbug began his charge toward the akuma. The akuma gave a smile while tapping the street before sending another blast of wind. Misterbug tried to find purchase on the ground but there was nothing. As he was sent flying back he grabbed the first thing he could. Which just so happened to be Cheshire’s belt tail thing.

Cheshire let out a quick yowl while her tail yanked out of his hand. The girl turned around and gave him a hiss with her ears flattening as she held tightly onto the lamppost she was clinging to. Her glare was interrupted by a beep from her ring. So that was how she destroyed the ice dome, she used her power. A quick look at her ring showed that the paw pad only two dots and the main part remained. So she only had three minutes. “Well it seems the table had turned.”

“If you are trying to make me feel bad for saving citizens then you will have to try harder.” Cheshire hissed out. Before he could say anything else to her Cheshire ran toward the nearby buildings before shifting to running alongside the building. Taking her idea he was quick to do just as she did. “You should chill it with the ice powers!” Huh from this angle he could tell that Stormy had used her power to freeze the road.

“Ugh, will you two just fight each other!” Stormy sent a blast of wind that blew them away yet again but this time she caught multiple cars with it. Landing this time was forced to act quickly as a bus came right at him. Spinning his yoyo Misterbug was able to cut a circle out of the incoming bus. “Alright I wonder what her problem is.” Opening the window of the bus he was trapped in Misterbug looked around for Cheshire. “Where did she go?”

“Where did who go?” Pegasus asked as he arrived on scene.

“Cheshire, she was fighting the akuma.” Misterbug said while looking around. For a second he thought he saw something green but it was gone as quick as it came. “She must have been crushed by one of the cars.”

“Well then we should use this chance to get her miraculous.” Pegasus said while looking around the street.

“Attention Paris summer is officially over!” Stormy shouted from the screen drawing their attention. “You should all prepare for the worst weather of all time.” True to her words the weather around them started falling fast while storm clouds started covering every inch of the sky.

“Aww, and here I was wanting to show off my beach body.” Adrien joked to Pegasus who was looking at the screen. Part of him wanted to find Cheshire while she was weakened but another part was worried about Marinette who was trapped in the tent. “Come on we need to go after the akuma.”

“But Cheshire-”

“Has probably left by now. Come on let’s go, we have more pressing concerns.” Pegasus seemed to hesitate a second but with a frustrated sigh he joined his partner as they headed once more towards the new station to deal with yet another Akuma. Hopefully Marinette would be safe until he purified the akuma. He would hate to imagine how terrified she was trapped under that frozen dome. Hopefully she would forgive him for taking his time on this. She probably would, Marinette was amazing like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a groan as she moved while trapped under the car on top of her. Looking at the street she saw Pegasus arrive and start talking to Misterbug. Talking a second to crawl under the car Marinette whispered the detransformation phrase. Plagg came out of the ring as the magic of her super suit faded. “Cheese… Whoa kid where are we.”

“Keep it down Plagg. Misterbug is still out there.” Marinette whispered while grabbing her bag. “You’ll have to eat fast. We have to head out soon, I would rather not trust the akuma with those two.” Digging around the bag Marinette frowned as she noticed the lack of food in there. Well no there was still some of the jerky Trixx liked.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have eaten all of your cheese.” Trixx commented while floating out of the bag. Wonder where he went while transformed.

“I was bored and hungry.” The little cat whined while looking at Marinette. “Looks like they will have to make do without Cheshire for this fight.”

Marinette groaned while leaning against the seat of the car. “That is not an option Plagg. Even if I trusted those two I would still want to go out there and fight the akuma. I’m the most experienced user. Those two were tripping over themselves and were fighting to straight forward. They would probably fall head first into whatever trap Hawkmoth laid out.”

“That is a good point.” Trixx commented before giving a sigh while shrugging his shoulders. “Oh if only you had another Miraculous. But alas it is too far stretched a dream.” Plagg gave a hiss while Marinette smiled at him. “Oh did you think of something.”

“Trixx can you remind me of your transformation phrase?” Another thought seemed to occur to the girl who gave a challenging smile. “Also do you mind answering a quick question about the suit?”

“Transformation is ‘Trixx Lets Pounce’ while the ending is ‘Lets Rest’.” Trixx informed with a smile as his tail twitched. “And what did you want to ask?” After hearing the other girls question Trixx hummed while his ears twitched. “I suppose that would be possible. None of my other users have ever done anything like this before.”

“Well no time like the present. Trixx Lets Pounce!” An orange wave of magic passed over the girl who gave a smile. “Mind watching my back, Plagg? I would rather not have another back attack again. Last one took a while to heal.”

“I don’t like this kid. But I will keep a constant watch.” With his piece said Plagg flew into her hair. Oh she couldn’t wait to see herself in a mirror. That or seeing Misterbug and Pegasus’s reaction would do for now.

Stepping out of the car the newest fox hero saw the poster for the weather girl competition. “You know I really should have put this together a lot sooner. Plagg remind me to keep a better eye on all competitions going on in Paris.”

“I don’t see why you humans care about any competition that doesn’t involve cheese.” The girl heard Plagg mutter from her hair. “Well at least we have a good idea where the akuma is.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stormy Weather had to restrain herself from laughing as Misterbug and Pegasus stupidly walked right into her trap. Oh this was too easy. The two looked right at the screen where her recording was projected. “A recording!” Misterbug yelled while his thrown yoyo smashed into the screen.

Letting out a laugh the girl launched a lightning bolt that destroyed the power in the building. As the building descended into darkness which caused the two heroes to let out cries of shock. “I can’t see anything!” The annoying bug cried as his partner grabbed his shoulder.

“Give me a second. My vision should adjust soon!” Pegasus informed which caused Stormy to frown. That would be annoying… but if he wasn’t given a chance. “Ahh!” Pegasus screamed while another lightning strike blasted from her umbrella. The attack was dodgedd but only slightly. Hmm, why take them to the roof? She could see them well enough here in the dark.

“This should be quite easy!” Stormy laughed as a blast of freezing wind blasted out of her umbrella and froze part of the room while Pegasus was forced to grab his partner. “Why don’t you two chill out while we wait for your defeat!”

“How about you cut it out Frosty the snowgirl.” A familiar voice said behind her before something smashed her from behind. Turning around she attempted to get a look at them but only saw a brief bit of orange. “Oh you look confused.”

“Where are you?” The akuma looked around trying to spot anything only to see something charging at her. Raising her umbrella to try and send a blast of wind only to feel something hit her other side. Turning she saw Pegasus grabbing his horseshoe. “I should have known!”

“Yeah he does have a tendency of attacking someone when their back is turned.” The voice said from right beside them. Raising her umbrella it was hit with a solid whack from another weapon. “But don’t worry because soon I’ll change your tune, from good to bad.”

“Lucky Charm!” A flash of red came from behind her as Misterbug used his power. A second later a bright beam of light came into existence. Covering her eyes as the beam shined right into them she felt another hit from Pegasus.

“Oh it seems like a paw-sitive down pour out there.” Something wearing black asked beside her. “Mind if I borrow this?” Stormy turned as someone, no she recognized the voice now, Cheshire pulled her umbrella.

“NO!” Stormy tried lunging for the object where her akuma was only to feel something wrap around her. “I’m the weather girl!”

“No you are an Akuma, Aurore has the potential to be the weather girl of Paris.” Cheshire said while breaking the umbrella. “Now get out here you nasty little bug.”

“Yeah no more evil doing for you little Akuma, it's time to de-evilize.” Misterbug cheered as he caught the akuma in his yoyo. “Bye bye little butterfly.” As this happened a purple wave covered the former akuma who was quickly grabbed and pulled out toward the hallway.

Aurore blinked in confusion as she was no longer in the elevator like she remembered. “What happened?”

“Hey it’s okay,” A calming voice whispered to her as a comforting hand was placed on her shoulder. “You're going to be okay, I’m positive.” Looking in front of her she saw a girl with black fox ears with the tips being white. They wore a primary grey skin tight suit with a black strip going through the middle and burnt orange lines running along it. They also had pitch plack boots and gloves with a black sash that looked like a fox’s tail. The girl's raven black hair was held in a high ponytail with the tips of her hairs being dipped in white. On her face was a face mask with the top gray, bottom black and a line of orange running through it.

“Who are you?” Aurore asked while looking at the hero.

“Cheshire: Foxy mode. But please just call me Kitsune.” Kitsune jokes while looking around. “Hey I don’t think I can hang around for much longer but do you want to talk?”

“I… You said that Akumas were attracted to negative emotions and I just felt so bad losing.” Aurora said while looking down at their broken umbrella. “I put so much effort into it. It hurts to think that nobody noticed.”

“I’m sure people did notice. I mean people must have believed and voted for you for you to get this far.” Kitsune said resting a clawed glove on her shoulder.

“Yeah she’s right.” A new soft voice said. Coming around the corner was Mireille who was hunched in on herself. “I never expected to get this far. I mean you had the umbrella and weather dress.”

“Yeah but you had the personality people wanted to see on tv.” Aurora muttered, she couldn’t look the other girl in the eyes. She could only imagine what her akumatized self did to the other girl. “You just have this air around you. I knew the second I met you that you would get to the final round.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have what it takes to do it.” Mireille admitted while looking to Kitsune who just gave a nod of encouragement. “I only joined because my mom signed me up. She wanted me to get out of my shell but I don’t think I can bear being on screen for as long is required.”

“But you're amazing!” Aurora looked at the other girl in complete shock. “Your speech in the second round was fantastic!”

“And your performance in the third was breathtaking!” The brown eyed girl replied back.

“What are you doing with those two!” Pegasus shouted as he rounded the corner.

“Well you girls seem to be working your problem out.” Kitsune gave the two a smile. “But this cat turned fox has to make tracks. Maybe I could make a red hairing for them to follow!” While saying this the hero pulled a brown wooden flute out of nowhere.

“Sorry but you can’t lose us that easily Miss Pied Piper!” Misterbug shouted as he threw his yoyo. Kitsune looked back at them but didn’t move as the yoyo hit her.

“I would say cat-ch me if you can but I have to change my tune given recent events. So how about a fox hunt?” Kitsune asked in a mocking voice as they raised the flute up to her lips. “Now eyes on me boys. Mirage!” A wave of orange smoke enveloped the area as dozens of Kitsune ran around the area all laughing.

“It seems that her costume wasn’t the only thing that changed!” Pegasus muttered while catching his horseshoe which had hit one of the fleeing Kitsune only for it to turn into orange smoke.

“Hey we’ll get her next time.” Misterbug told his partner. Hearing a beep he let out a sigh. “Listen I have to go, it was good seeing you again though.”

“Yeah we should plan our patrols sometime. Who knows we might be able to get Cheshire then.” Pegasus gave a nod as Misterbug brought out a red and black spotted flashlight before stopping.

“Hey are you two okay?” Misterbug asked the two girls.

“Um I mean I was trapped in the elevators until Ches- I mean Kitsune freed me.” Mireille said while having grabbed onto Aurora. Aurora could feel the other shaking like a leaf.

“Come on, Mire we’re leaving. I know of a great restaurant that should be open.” Aurora stood up while grabbing the other girl. She ignored whatever the other masked people were saying as she left the hallway. As they left the building they saw thousands of Ladybugs fly around the streets of Paris. Hopefully today will be better now that her and Mire could patch things up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alya paced outside the frozen tent that her best friend was trapped in. She and the interns had gone back to the park once they knew that the Akuma had left and that was when her heart had sunk. Marinette was still in the park and nobody could find her. She had her responsibilities to take care of first so following her parents plans, somewhat, she had dropped her little sisters off with Nora before calling Nadja to meet her in the park.

Upon arriving at the park she was devastated to see an ice dome around the tent she had seen Marinette thrown into. Not only that but the ice had hardened around it even more and was now destroying the tent within with the spikes forming on it. Heck it was so cold that even standing near it sent shivers down her spine. Oh she could only imagine how scared Marinette was in there.

Nadja had arrived and started comforting her crying daughter. Manon was a blubbering mess due to believing it her fault that Marinette was trapped. The young girl was convinced that if she hadn’t asked for the balloon that spaghetti man wouldn’t have noticed Marinette and thus she wouldn’t have been dragged into the tent.

Meanwhile Alya was watching the crew who were searching furiously for Adrien who had also gone missing. Hearing the ice creaking behind her she sucked in a breath as the ice dome’s spikes grew bigger meaning that Marinette was properly in even more danger.

“Hey Alya I’m going to take Manon home, please call the second Marinette gets out okay?” Nadja said while picking up her daughter who had tired herself out in her panic. Alya just gave a nod as she pulled out her phone to see if anybody posted any news about the akuma fight. About two minutes must have passed before to her relief a swarm of ladybugs flew around the tent dissolving the ice around it while also patching up the holes.

Not wasting a second Alya flew inside and started trying to find her friend. “Marinette!”

“Over here.” A voice called and Alya turned to see her BFF trapped in a whole bunch of clothing. “I was trying to stay warm but now I can’t get out.” Sure enough Alya could make out her raven hair and one eye. A laugh of relief escaped her at the sight. She was okay, and stuck in a funny pose. Taking the chance Alya got one photo in before going to help.

“Let's get you out of there. Then we have to call Nadja, she was concerned about you.”

“Oh no, is Manon okay?” Marinette asked as two more of the crew entered and started helping her.

“She was very worried about you but don’t worry she is perfectly fine.” Alya informed the fabric pile. It took only ten more seconds for them to free the girl without damaging any of the clothing but it took even less time for the makeup artist to come bursting in and drag her to the chair. “Hey don’t you think she’s been through enough today!”

“We have enough time for one photo before losing good light.” The old lady snapped as her apprentices grabbed Marinette’s hands and started working on the girl's nails. “We are lucky that her complexion is already so good. It shouldn’t take much work to get her looking good.”

“Mam you will need to leave, we will need to get your friend a new pair of clothes.” Another worker told her and after looking over at Marinette who just let out a defeated sigh and gave a nod. Letting out a sigh of her own Alya left the tent and called Nadja to inform her of what was going on.

As she was on the phone with the reporter who was very interested in what was going on the girl saw Adrien being stared down by his bodyguard. “I’m sorry, I’ll try not to run without you again.” Oh so blondie got spooked and ran.

“All in the past now! We move forward and get at least a few good photos!” The photographer exclaimed while pointing at everyone. “You, how much longer till the other girl is ready!” Now it seems that Alya was under the spotlight.

“Don’t know,” Alya replaid while swapping to the Wonderblog to see any possible updates. Hmm, seems some rather brave people got some footage of the fight in the street. Oh and it seems Aurora was willing to do an interview with her and Nadja. She would have to contact the news anchor about what to do next.

“Um, I guess I’m ready.” Marinette crept out of the tent. She was now wearing some casual stylish street clothes.

“Good now positions everyone! We are running on limited time!” The man was quick to push the girl into the boy who had a very happy look on his face. “Everyone positions, Adrien help the girl into position.” With that the photoshoot became active. The blonde helped move the raven haired girl through various positions all with a smile on his face. Alya wasn’t believing it though. Marinette told her how the boy had stood there while Chloe tore into her.

So with a huff she sat down on a nearby bench. Honestly part of her wanted to just go home but she wouldn’t be much of a BFF if she left Marinette. Looking at the two models she saw Marinette glance at her and smile. Alya gave a smile and wave of her own. Yeah her and Marinette were definitely BFFs. Nothing was getting between them.

Notes:

Alright next chapter is the wind down from this chapter. Now I need to ask, do you guys like having akumas done in one chapter or do you want them split into two? Also Kitsune costume is based on a cross fox, look them up I personally think they are adorable. Plus I find it fun to think of how the costume would look if it swapped which type of fox or dog the kwami was based on.

Chapter 13

Tikki fluttered back and forth nervously. Oh how could this have happened? Turning back towards the tv she saw the news anchors talking about Kitsune with a picture of the hero imposed in the back. “This is the worst!” The little red goddess cried out while dropping down to the coach next to her wielder.

“How did she get her hands on the fox miraculous?” Adrien muttered to himself. “What is the worst by the way.”

“Trixx convinced the guardian to take him with them. He was apparently feeling bored and wanted some fresh air.” Tikki told her holder while looking down. “He was so excited and us other kwamis were going to get to go out eventually too. We were so all so happy. Some of us hadn’t been outside in years so it was a big deal. It was awful then having been informed that the guardian had been attacked by the cat and had Trixx stolen.”

“The guardian?” Adrien asked looking confused. Tikki’s eyes widened while looking like a kid who told you someone else’s secret.

“He is the person who watches over us kwamis.” Tikki slowly told her user. “I can’t tell you anymore at this time.”

“Why not?” Adrien asked, sounding a little hurt.

“Us kwamis have restrictions on how much we are allowed to tell our users.” Tikki admitted. She usually wouldn’t tell somebody this much but the ladybug hated seeing her users hurt. “Like if I tried to tell you Pegasus’s identity then I would burp up bubbles!”

“Oh, so you physically can’t tell me.” Adrien’s eyes lit up with understanding before going back to looking sad. “I’m sorry for doubting you and I’m sorry that Trixx was taken from you.”

“Thank you Adrien.” Tikki fluttered up to Adrien and rubbed her head against his cheek. The young blonde boy was quick to but his hands underneath the little goddess. “I’m just so worried about him. Now seeing the cat using his miraculous is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what he is going through.” Adrien brought the goddess down so he could stare at her. “I mean look at her! The fox is supposed to be orange but she must have done something to Trixx to get those colours!” Adrien felt his heart break at seeing how close the kwami was to tears.

“I’m sorry that it came to this. I promise I will do everything I can to get your friend back.” Adrien had felt a little conflicted earlier about the whole Cheshire being evil thing. Yeah a large part of him believed Tikki but after hearing some stories from Alix and others had planted seeds of doubt in him. But thanks to this Adrien felt those seeds being ripped out. The clear pain in Tikki’s eyes made it more than enough to convince him. “If the fox is supposed to be orange how did it become black?”

“I don’t know.” Tikki muttered before shaking her head. “I wish I could talk with the other kwamis.” Tikki began fluttering around once again.

“Tikki I doubt you could take me to the guardian but couldn’t you go to him?” Adrien asked while leaning forward. “I mean I doubt an Akuma will show up again today.”

“Are you sure Adrien? I don’t want to leave you.” Tikki said while stroking his cheek with her paw.

“I’ll be fine as long as you come back.” Adrien said while giving the small goddess an understanding smile.

“I promise I’ll be back before you know it. Then when I get back we talk about whatever you want and you can show me one of those movies you keep talking about.” At this the young boys smile grew larger and his eyes lit up.

“Oh I have the perfect movie to show you!” Adrien let Tikki know while the kwami just gave a smile.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” With that Tikki quickly ate a cookie before with one last nuzzle of Adrien’s cheek she flew out. Making sure to fly low at the start Tikki then took to the sky as she made her way toward Master Fu’s home. “Master I’m back.”

“I should have known you wanted to talk.” Fu said while pouring a cup of tea for her. “Wayzz Tikki has come to talk.”

“Oh good, me and the others were hoping to talk to her.” Wayzz said while coming out of the gramophone.

“Tell me what you guys have decided. I will let you know if Kaalki shows up.” Fu said while watching them enter the music box. Once they are inside Tikki got a warm welcome from her fellow kwamis.

“How are you doing Tikki?” Pollen politely asked while coming forward. “We did not expect to see you so soon.”

“I don’t think you came with good news.” Barkk was the next to speak while poking around a pile of items. The other kwamis gave them a look before turning to her.

“Yeah I have some bad news.” Tikki confirmed with a frown. She really didn’t like being the deliver of bad news. But they had to talk and discuss, because this cat was definitely the strongest they came across. So now they had to talk about what happened with Trixx.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette, Plagg, and Trixx sat on the couch while eating some prepared snacks. They were watching the news which was covering today's akuma attack. “Yes praise me.” Trixx told the newscaster while puffing out his chest. “I love your idea with the whole cross fox thing. You would definitely stand out in a line up compared to my other kits.”

“Really? Did nobody else ever think of using a different type of fox?” Marinette asked, tilting her head. It seemed like a reasonable idea after all who wouldn’t want to stylize their superhero suit?

“Heck I never thought of it.” Trixx said while eating a piece of jerky. “I mean Barkk once had the thought but nothing ever came of it.”

“So you going to use Trixx more now?” Plagg asked while going through the cheese breads.

“Maybe, I mean I’ll probably do patrol today with him.” Marinette admitted with a shrug. “I don’t think I’m strong enough yet to use Unify. We might try it again tomorrow.”

“Looks like I’m getting a vacation.” Plagg probably meant it as a joke but Marinette could hear a bit of bitterness in his voice.

“Only a small one.” Marinette teased him while also trying to dash whatever dark thoughts Plagg was having. “I could never abandon such a cute little cat like you!” While she said this the pigtailed girl leaned forward to stroke the cats head.

Plagg didn’t give a verbal response but he did purr so Marinette was happy enough to call that a win. “Hey why don’t I ever get pets?” Trixx dramatically whined. Marinette gave a laugh before using her other hand to start scratching under his chin. “Oh, that’s the spot.”

“So what's the plan for this weekend?” Plagg asked, deciding not to have cheese bread today but instead ate some cheese blocks.

Letting out a hum Marinette brought out her phone. Trixx let his displeasure at the chin scratches stopping known. Giving the kwami a smile Marinette watched as he floated to the DS she had given him. The kwami seemed to really enjoy puzzle games. Looking back at her phone Marinette went through a calendar and hummed before something on her classes calendars caught her eye. Adrien’s birthday was next week. Poor guy, with him being new and having his birthday so close to the beginning of the school year it wasn’t likely that he would be getting many presents. Though this might be what Marinette needed.

“One last try.” The girl muttered to herself standing up.

“What! No!” Trixx shouted out looking at her. “I know I have been stuck on this awhile…” The kwami looked at the girl's confused face before clearing his throat. “Oh you were talking about something else.”

“Hmm…” Giving a hum of apology, Marinette went to her room. What to give him? What could she give him that he couldn’t have gotten with his own money? Fraced like that and it seemed like a kid trying to buy a present for a parent. Hmm… now that had an idea.

“Mama always said that the best gifts were hand made.” Walking over to her sewing machine Marinette looked at the blue scarf she had been designing. She had already started working on it so over half of it was already done. Plus she had worked in a secret flower design that the girl hoped to make her signature. She had worked it into all her recent designs.

So with one last feel of the fabric Marinette let out a sigh. It felt so nice that the cat part of her mind wanted to bat it around before making a nest of it. That was the hardest part of all of this, being a future fashion designer was denying her cat like instincts. Hopefully the fox didn’t make things worse. Wait, could she have more than one type of miraculous affecting her? Oh there is a question to ask Trixx and Plagg. Maybe there was something written down in the spellbook. Speaking of which the girl only used her great grandfather's journal for translating, there might be other things written in the remainder of the pages.

Looking down Marinette saw that she had already begun to work on the scarf. Now the question was how to give it to Adrien. If she tried to give it to him during school then there was a chance for Chloe to intercept and destroy it. Marinette wanted at least one interaction with him where the other blonde didn’t have a chance to ruin everything. This way she could know for sure if he was actually a nice person like Alya or if he was just like all of her other classmates. Speaking of which she had some cookies to make, while she wouldn’t give him his present at school she could at least give him a bag of cookies in the meantime.

“BREAD!” Plagg shouted while coming up. “Trixx stole some of my cheese again. Am I allowed to bite him now!”

“No but me and him have to head out for patrol in about ten minutes. So don’t worry we will be out of your fur in about ten minutes.” Marinette commented while shutting down the sewing. She could easily finish the scarf tomorrow.

“Really, we're going out in the day?” Trixx asked coming up also.

“Yeah I want people to have a nice good look at Kitsune. Plus this is when I’m most likely to run into people.” Marinette said while doing a few stretches. “So you ready? I think it’s time for Paris to meet the new fox on the block.” Seeing Trixx’s nod and smile Marinette said the transformation phrase. “You want to come with or stay here?”

“A chance to have the house all to myself? I think I’ll take it.” Plagg commented before Kitsune gave a nod and laugh. “Have fun.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“I will keep you guys updated.” Tikki told the kwamis after they left the box. Flying past the guardian Tikki saw the master talking to Wayzz. “Master…”

“Tikki if the situation gets worse please bring Adrien here.” Fu said while closing his eyes. “If what you and the others believe happened is true then things will get worse.”

“It is a long shot sir but it is one of the only thing that would make sense.” Tikki admitted while appearing more nervous.

“Yes but how would she have learned how to Unify?” Fu questioned while stroking his beard.

“We have no answer for that.” Wayzz admitted while landing on the table. “All we can do now is wait and prepare.”

“What about Pegasus?” Tikki asked with confusion.

“Without Kaalki coming here herself I have no way of contacting them. I can not yet risk going out yet. Nor could I send a kwami to do it for much the same risk.” Fu said with a sigh. “Thankfully the rare times Wayzz and I venture out have allowed us the chance to find more candidates to use the other miraculous if the time comes.”

“Oh that’s good at least.” Fu gave a nod to Tikki before sending the kwami off. Tikki flew through the house while trying to stay out of the sight of the eyes of the persian citizens. Key word try.

“What was that?” Tikki flew behind a chimney and covered her mouth to hide her scream. “I heard that!” Of course the fox’s hearing would hear her.

“Eep!” Another cry involterly escaped her as she heard movement near her.

“Oh hello there!” Kitsune greeted while baring her teeth. “And here I was thinking this would be a normal patrol.” Oh no this was bad. “So with the spots and colour I’m going to guess that you are Tikki? The kwami of creation?”

Tikki fluttered backwards away from the fox. “Go away!” Shooting off Tikki flew as fast as she could. But even as she flew as fast as she could she could still hear Kitsune following close behind. What would the villain do when she captured her? Would she torture her for amusement. Would she try to use her to find her miraculous?

Either way she would not find out! “Come out, I just want to talk.” The devilish demon called out from too close by. Holding themself close, Tikki willed some of their power. She just needed a bit of luck.

“OMG, Kitsune!” A voice of one of Adrien’s classmates shouted out from the street. Hearing a bit of shuffling the fox soon landed down below. Tikki took the chance to once more shoot off. That was close, too close.

“Tikki your back!” Adrien shouted happily. Grabbing the kwami the blonde brought the kwami to his cheek. Not hearing a response he brought the kwami away from his cheek. “Tikki are you okay?”

“Kitsune saw me. I was almost caught.” Tikki admitted while shaking. Adrien brought her back towards his cheek. The kwami shook for a minute while Adrien whispered comfort to her.

“Hey let's watch that movie.” Adrien muttered while walking toward his couch. “Does that sound good?” Tikki just gave a weak nod. “Oh and didn’t Marinette look cute today? She was also really caring with that kid she was watching!” Tikki looked up at the sudden topic change.

“She was,” Tikki muttered while letting out a sigh, “and the kid seems to trust her.”

“Right! I really need to fix my relationship with her!” Adrien gave a determined nod before his eyes lit up. “Maybe I could try having a birthday party and invite her over!”

“That is a good idea!” Tikki commented while the movie started.

Adrien’s face quickly fell though, “I doubt my dad would let me have a party.”

“Oh Adrien,” Tikki went down and sat on his shoulder, “maybe you could try talking to him.”

“I guess…” Both fell quite as the movie started. So with that Tikki got to see her first movie, Spirited Away.

Chapter 14

“Happy birthday Adrien!” Tikki happily greeted the teen upon him waking up.

“Thanks Tikki.” Adrien greeted back with a smile.

“Normally for a birthday I would give my holder a Kwamitama.” Tikki informed before giving an awkward giggle while bringing up a pink drawing. “But I haven’t had enough time to incorporate your hair into it yet.” Adrien took the drawing with a smile.

“Thank you Tikki.” Adrien thanked the small little being while putting the picture in his pocket. “I look forward to receiving your present when it's done.”

“Oh I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you will be getting throughout the day.” Tikki gave a shy chuckle while fluttering down near the young boys bag.

“Right I need to get ready for school!” Adrien shouted while dashing through his routine. “Nino said he wanted to talk to me about something.”

“Maybe he has birthday party plans!” Tikki offered up hopefully.

“Yeah…” Adrien tried to hide his flinch but failed. Tikki didn’t offer any words but her comforting look did a lot to help the boy. “I’ll ask Nathanalie about it during breakfast.” With that Tikki dove into his bag.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien arrived at his school with his mood slightly picking up at seeing his best male friend blowing bubbles. The mood quickly dropped though as he delivered the bad news. “You know what I’ll have a convo with your pops!”

Shaking his head Adrien let out a tired sigh, “Don’t waste your time. He’s not gonna change his mind.” With one more turn the two headed off towards the classroom. Adrien only felt a little sad at not receiving more of a birthday greetings from the various others as they passed them. Was it wrong that he hoped that someone besides Nino recognized his birthday?

“Um, Adrien?” A sweet voice called drawing him from his thoughts. “I made you these. I didn’t know what flavor you liked so I got you a variety pack. I then thought that you might want to try more than one of each so I made three of each.” Marinette looked like she was going to keep rambling but a nudge from Alya stopped her. “Oh well I hope you enjoy it!” With that Marinette brought out a nice white box with a bow. She had made him treats! Oh he couldn’t wait to have them! Maybe there was a passion fruit flavor treat in there!

“Really Dupain-Cheng? You got a model on a strict diet some of those nasty fattening junk?” Chloe swooped in with a sneer. “How inconsiderate do you have to be? Don’t you worry Adrikins I’ll dispose of these foul tasting ugly things for you.” With one motion Chloe took the empty box and proceeded to stomp it flat before tossing the remains in the trash.

Adrien’s childhood best friend then proceeded to throw one last nasty look back at Marinette, who looked both shocked and hurt, before heading to the classroom door. “Well what did you get him?” The pigtailed girl's voice came out a bit weak. “I mean I at least made him those treats.”

Chloe rounded on her with a look that promised death but within a second it was replaced with a cocky smile. “Thank you for reminding me.” With a flip of her hair Chloe walked up to Adrien. “Oh Adrikins I have such devastating news. The wonderful gift I was going to get you has been delayed due to shipping!” Chloe had draped herself on the model.

“Oh that's too bad.” Adrien gave a typical response while trying to get her off. He really wanted to thank Marinette for her present! Guess he now had multiple things to apologise for. “We should really head for class.” Getting her off of him Adrien looked around for the girl only to see the classroom door closing. Walking in he saw the two girls sitting in the back corner. Alya was shooting him a nice glare while Marinette wasn’t even looking at him.

“Come on dude.” Nino led him to his seat before offering him his bubble wand. “Here you look like you could use it.”

“Thanks.” Adrien blew and felt a bit of his stress leave as he watched the bubbles form and then float in the air for a few seconds before popping. “Huh that really did make me feel better.”

“You should trust me more often. For you see I am the master of stress relief.” Nino joked while the teacher entered. Well at least he didn’t have to worry about his friend being Akumatized.

The rest of the day was thankfully a normal school day. Which of course meant Adrien didn’t get the chance to talk to the raven haired girl so with a sigh he headed for the black car nearby. “You headed home?” Nino asked while following close behind.

“Yeah my dad wanted me home for lunch.”

“Great you mind if I hitch a ride?” Looking at the gorilla Adrien saw his bodyguard shrug so Adrien invited his red cap wearing friend inside. “Whoa man.” Nino muttered in awe as he took in the interior of the car. “This is a nice ride man.” The gorilla just gave a grunt as the doors closed and the car started driving away.

The two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. Adrien didn’t know what most people talked about during car rides. Usually whenever he had car rides with his father or someone else he was always told to stay quiet and not be seen unless addressed. Was it the same way with a friend? Nino was not saying anything so Adrien guessed he wanted to think about what he would say to his father.

Once they had arrived at the mansion Adrien put a hand on Nino to prevent him from opening the door. They waited until the gorilla came around and opened the door. After they got out and entered the main entryway Nathalie greeted them with a very disapproving raised eyebrow. After hearing that Nino wished to talk to his father the woman let out a sigh. “I shall go fetch Mr Agreste. Adrien your lunch will be brought to you.”

“Go on bro, I got this!” Nino gave his friend a big smile and a thumbs up.

‘Good luck.’ Adrien mouthed to Nino as he left. Arriving in his room Adrien made sure the door was closed before letting out a sigh. Opening up his bookbag Adrien let his smile become genuine at seeing the treats floating around his bag. “Hello birthday lunch.”

“How did you do this with nobody noticing?” Tikki asked fluttering out of the bag.

“Oh me and my cousin Felix used to put on magic shows. We loved pulling up close magic so dumping all the treats in my bag was pretty easy. Then again Chloe really helped out, what with serving as a distraction and all.” Adrien said, looking very pleased with himself. “I just wish I could have told Marinette that I saved the treats.”

“They do look good.” Tikki floated back down to the bag with big eyes. Seeing that look Adrien was kinda shocked that one or two cookies hadn’t gone missing.

“Well shall we try them?” The kwami gave a smile as they sorted through the macaroons, cookies, and croissants. “Oh this one smells like passion fruit.” Popping the macaron into his mouth the blonde let out a moan of happiness. It was passion fruit flavored!

“These are so good!” The little red kwami exclaimed in happiness while taking bites of her food. Adrien would swear up and down that these treats were miles better then anything his cooks had made. Hearing a knock at the door Adrien but his bag away while wiping his face. Nathalie didn’t say anything to him as she coldly passed the boy his food. The young Agreste didn’t even get a chance to ask about his father before she left.

“Oh what did you get?” Tikki asked, distracting him from his darkening thoughts. Letting out a sigh Adrien pulled off the silver top to reveal yet another perfectly portioned salad. Truly a birthday worthy lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh sweet baby cheese, how I missed you.” Plagg greeted his lunch. Marinette had chosen to eat at her house after dropping her present off at the Agreste Mansion. This meant that her kwami were free to come out of her bag and eat with her.

“You act like you ate anything besides cheese today.” Trixx joked at the cat kwami who stopped eating for a second so he could cast an offended look at the fox.

“How dare you act like each piece of cheese isn’t it’s own marvelous creation!”

Marinette rolled her eyes fondly at the scene. Oh she couldn’t wait for the day when she finally got her third kwami. Oh she had come so two days ago. Tikki had been right there! When she had arrived home and told the two kwamis Plagg had looked a cross between excited and nervous while Trixx had gone pale. The little fox had asked what had happened so Marinette had told them about how she saw the kwami flying above the roofs. When she had spotted the kwami they had tried tracking down the little goddess but had to stop when Alix had called out to her.

But that was in the past, now it was time to focus on the now. Looking down at her great grandfather's journal Marinette flipped it to the next page. The journal was all of the man’s notes about his theories about the various powers and abilities of the miraculous. The man believed that there were powers hidden in the miraculous that were not written within the spellbook or that had been lost due to time.

Letting out a hum Marinette took a bite of her food as various thoughts passed through her mind. As she chewed though the girl looked out the window and dropped her spoon. “Did I miss something in the weather forecast?”

“What’s up?” Trixx asked while going up to the window before letting out a confused noise. “How would they even cover this in the weather forecast?”

“Seventy percent chance of kidnapping bubbles?” Marinette joked back. “Come on Plagg, we have work to do!”

“Do we have to?” Plagg whined while looking at his food. “Couldn’t you have just take the fox and leave me.”

“Hmm,” looking over at Trixx the two had a silent conversation, “I guess we could do that as long as Misterbug showed up. You will need to stay close by in case things get bad.”

“Fine…” Plagg whined while eating another block of cheese. “I’ll just bring some cheese for the road.”

“You okay with this Trixx?”

“A chance to remind the butterfly user not to mess with foxes? Do you really need to ask?” Trixx joked while relaxing on the air.

“And if I get a chance to take one of the other miraculous?” This caused Trixx to freeze up.

“We best get going.” Was the orange kwamis only response.

“Alright Trixx, Let’s Pounce!” Feeling the magic flow over her, Kitsune ran her hand through her hair with a smile. “Ready to go Plagg?”

“Yeah just give me a moment.” With one last look at his cheese supply Plagg grabbed a slice and flew back up to the girl. Settling into her hair Plagg let out a go ahead and just got to relax as they headed out to the streets. “I much prefer this to having to move around myself.”

“That’s because you are a spoiled little kitty.” Kitsune joked to him as she stopped by some kids. “Hey don’t worry I'll wrap this up in no time!” Having given her reassurance the hero bounced once more up to the roofs. “I just need to find the villain.”

“Here’s a thought, let’s check out the only people throwing a party during an Akuma attack.” Plagg pointed out while gesturing towards the Agreste mansion.

“Looks like we’re party crashing.” Kitsune teased while stretching.

“Make sure to take all the cheese you can.” With a laugh Kitsune made her way to the Agreste mansion where the party was being held.

Kitsune surveyed the party from above with a hum. “Looks like we got no choice.” The fox muttered not seeing hide nor hare of either ‘hero’. Plagg gave the girl a look that spoke of his worry. “No Plagg we aren’t swapping, I might need Trixx’s powers in the fight.”

“Kid we used Unify just last night.” Plagg urged while showing rare concern.

“Yeah but we have an akuma, don’t worry I’ll just take the rest of the day off.” Kitsune waved off, “Right now I need both of you.” Letting out a sigh Plagg gave a nod as Kitsune stood up with a nod. “Trixx,” Holding up her left hand an orange ball of energy appeared with a stylized fox tail in the center, “Plagg,” holding out her right a green ball of energy now formed this time with a cat’s paw in the center, “Unify!” Bringing the two together the cat fox hero felt power and energy fill her.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien was finishing up his lunch with Tikki. The birthday lunch had been somewhat enjoyable thanks to the kwami and the sweet treats from his sweet classmate. So now in a slightly better mood Adrien walked to the main entryway to let Nathalie know he was ready to go back to school only to find the place empty. “What the?” Adrien felt his stomach drop a bit in terror as he realized that the secretary was nowhere to be found. “Maybe she just went out for a breath of fresh air.” Adrien whispered to himself while walking toward the door.

“Happy Birthday!” His classmates along with other random teenagers greeted upon him opening the door.

“Hey, hey, hey, birthday boy. Guess what? Daddy's gone. While the cat's away, the mice will play.” Looking up Adrien saw that a horrible looking akuma was standing upon a bubble. Looking closer Adrien could vaguely recognize the akuma.

“Nino?” A horrified gasp came through his lips. His best friend had been akumatized!

“The bubbler has brought all your best buddies together so we can have the best party!” A cry of ‘YEAH’ came from the group of teenagers while The Bubbler dropped from his bubble to a dj booth. “Come on let’s get this party started.” With that the music started playing and Adrien tried to make his way back into his home only to feel a vice-like grip on his arm.

“Oh Adrikins, come on let's dance.” Chloe said while dragging her friend towards the dance floor. Adrien really needed to get away. He needed to run off and transform now! He had to get the akuma away from Nino! Plus he still had to find out what happened to Nathalie.

“Come on, everybody, I brought you here to party! So dance or you'll join the adults up in the sky! Hahahahahahahaha!” Oh… so that’s where they went.

“Come on Adrikins, you don’t want me being sent into the sky.” Chloe gave him a fluttering of her lashes while jutting out her lip. Dang it, looks like there was no way of him getting away from the party. Hopefully Pegasus will be here soon, if he could get a distraction. No, with the way Chloe was clinging to him there was no hope of him escaping. Then again even if the horse user showed up all the guests would be potential hostages.

“You call this a party?” A voice asked from nearby. Oh, anybody but her. “I’m seeing a distinct lack of games and where is the comedy booth?” Turning everyone saw Cheshire, well maybe not Cheshire but some combination of the cat and fox. “But hey that is just a superhero’s opinion.”

“Cheshire!” Alix yelled in glee from beside Max. Alya looked like she was also ecstatic at seeing the fake hero. The reporter already had her phone out and ready to record anything that happened.

“Hey Alix, how are you doing? Never took you for the slow dancing type.” Cheshire greeted back with a smile.

“Give me your miraculous!” Bubbler shouted while pointing his giant bubble wand at the villain.

“Excuse me sir! I’m trying to talk to my friend do you mind!” Cheshire shouted back before sticking out her tongue at the akuma.

“Don’t ignore me!” Bubbler stomped his foot obviously mad at being ignored.

“Sir! Do I interrupt your conversations?” Cheshire also seemed annoyed but Adrien could tell she was faking it.

“Argh!” Bubbler quickly threw two bubbles at the evil cat who dodged with amazing grace.

“You call that an attack? Hate to burst your bubble but they are much too slow to cat-ch me.” Cheshire mocked while getting in close while pulling out her wooden flute. The akuma had just sent another bubble only for the girl to jump around it and land near his booth. “Nice wand, mind if I borrow it? I think I could make a nice bubble.” Spinning the flute the girl also brought out her silver baton. A purple butterfly mask appeared on the akuma’s face.

“Take another step forward and I’m sending these dudes to meet the adults!” Bubbler turned back towards the guests. Chloe let out a yelp and forced Adrien to stand in front of her. Cheshire did stop her approach for a second before looking at him. Darting her eyes around the cat let out a huff of air before raising her arms. Bubbler let out a laugh as he approached her. “That’s a good cat, doing as your told.”

“Oh please, us cats never do as were told.” Cheshire taunted while an orange ball of light built up on her flute. “Mirage!” A vial of orange smoke covered everything but quickly faded. “Behold the power of the fox!” As the smoke cleared though nobody saw Cheshire.

“Oh you think you can hide behind an illusion!” Bubbler shouted while looking around only to stop. “Where is everyone! Where are the party people!” Wait did Cheshire make them invisible to the akuma? Everyone glanced at each other while Alix was quick to cover Kim’s mouth. This could be his chance to escape!

“Who says I’m hiding? Maybe you need to get your eyes checked. I hear having an evil butterfly infecting you could be bad for your eyesight.” Cheshire commented from nearby. “Maybe you should visit a doctor?”

“Where are you!” Bubbler shouted while marching up towards his booth. Spotting movement Adrien tilted his head to see Cheshire moving in the bushes getting close to the akumatized object. Should he worn Nino? No, as much as he didn’t trust the fox he at least knew she wouldn’t harm an akumatized victim. So he just watched as she extended a clawed glove towards his friend.

“Look out!” Someone shouted, breaking the illusion around them and giving away the cat fox. But it was too late for the akuma because it was at that moment that Cheshire lunged for the wand. So as he moved the wand up it only helped to break the akumatized object.

“Cataclysm!” With the closing of the villain's hand the akuma was destroyed. A second later Nino blinked from where the Bubbler once sat.

“What happened?” Nino asked while Cheshire lowered down to look at him.

“You were akumatized, but don’t worry everything is going to be okay now.” The cat assured giving him a smile. Adrien felt his stomach twist, he really didn’t like how close the cat was to his best friend.

“Did I hurt anyone?” Nino asked looking down at his bubble container.

“No, YOU didn’t hurt anyone. Don’t blame yourself for the actions of the akuma.” Cheshire pressed.

“Nino, are you okay?” Adrien asked to get away from Chloe’s grip and to comfort his friend. That though seemed to be the que for everyone else though as the rest of his classmates quickly swarmed around the dj.

“Thanks Cheshire!” Alix quickly approached the hero with a smile. “I knew we could count on you.”

Breaking away from the dj Cheshire let out a laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I got here in time.” Through all the noise Adrien swore he heard two beeps.

“Excuse me!” Alya shouted running forward with her phone still out. “Do you have time for an interview?”

“As much as I would love to I need to go get the adults down.” Cheshire said while giving a smile. “Try approaching me during patrol sometime I would love to get icecream or something with you girls.”

“I can confirm that!” Alix proudly said with a smirk. “Cheshire and I have gotten icecream together multiple times.” Adrien frowned at this information. The cat certainly had charisma.

“No way!” Alya turned toward Alix. “I need all the details!” Adrien’s frown deeped but he tried not to show it.

“Dude did I crash your party?” Nino asked while looking around at all the party supplies.

“No you were the party. Loved your music by the way.” Cheshire informed before bringing up her baton. “As much as I would love to stick around like I said before I still have hero duties to perform.” With that the cat vaulted up and started heading away. Did she need to be high up for her version of the cure to work?

The classmates all quickly started talking to each other about what had happened. Nino looked a bit guilty but the rest of the class, minus Chloe and Sabrina, were quick to assure him that they didn’t hold him responsible. A wave of black passed over them and when it passed Nathalie now stood at the base of the house. She gave a confused look around before clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses. “Hopefully this did not put a dent in the schedule like the last akuma attack.” Was all the secretary said before glancing at the group in front of her. “I shall give all unwelcome guests a few minutes to vacate the premises before calling for the police.” This was everyone’s que to grab whatever they could and flee, except Chloe who just gave the woman a look. “You have not been invited.” With a roll of her eyes Chloe left with a huff.

Heading back inside Adrien saw Nathinalie answer her phone. No doubt his father wanted to inform her that he was okay. Adrien just rolled his eyes as he went into his room. “It would be nice if he called me. I am his son and I haven’t even seen the man today.”

“I’m sure he cares about you.” Tikki attempted to reassure him with her calmest voice. “He is probably still grieving, you’ll see. Next year I’m sure he’ll go all out for your birthday!”

“Now there is a thought.” Adrien unintentionally let some of the bitterness he was feeling seep into his voice. Turning on the spot he made to apologize to his kwami only to find her looking at him with so much compassion and understanding that it took him off guard for a second. “Sorry.”

“Adrien you have nothing to apologize for.” Tikki reassured him while patting his cheek. “I understand that you are upset and you have every right to be.” Adrien let out a sigh as he relaxed. The two stayed in silence for a few moments before Adrien heard an alarm on his phone go off. Looking at his phone he saw a notification on his phone informing him that school would be starting back up in half an hour. No doubt Nathalie would already know so Adrien relaxed against his couch. “Hey maybe you could make up with Marinette when you get back to school.”

“Yeah I could.” Adrien felt a smile grow on his face. “Maybe I could…” What could he do? “I could thank her for the gift?”

“That is a good start!” Tikki encouraged with a smile. “Maybe you could ask where she got those treats from?”

“I think she made them herself.” Adrien offered while Tikki smiled at him.

“Oh do you think she could make us more? They were so good.” Oh Adrien would make sure he did just that. He should see about paying her to make more for him discreetly. His dietician would make a fuss if they found out but after eating those pieces of heaven Adrien could never go back. “We should watch a show! We have enough time before you go back to school.” Giving a nod Adrien started his TV and went through the streaming possibilities for a show. Selecting an anime that had good reviews Adrien started playing it.

A knock on his door broke through his thoughts a few minutes later. Opening the door Adrien saw Natalie standing there holding a beautifully wrapped gift. “Your father wanted me to give you this.” A warm bubbling feeling grew in his chest as Adrien took the present. “I shall see you later.” She seemed a little stiff.

“See Adrien, I told you your father loved you!” Tikki said with a smile. Adrien didn’t respond but slowly and carefully unwarped the present. Odd, his father must have paid someone to wrap the present. Adrien though quickly cast away the thought as he lifted the top of the box off to reveal a blue scarf sitting there. “Oh that looks nice.” Lifting it up Adrien felt the fabric as a smile came across his face.

Tossing it around his neck Adrien captured Tikki and put her next to his neck. “There you go, snug like a bug in a rug.” The red kwami let out a giggle as she snuggled into the fabric.

“You shouldn’t spoil me like this. I might not leave from here.” Tikki joked, or at least he assumed she was.

“Hmm, you would have to make do with being moved around a lot.” They both laughed at this. Oh he couldn’t wait to show this off at school. Maybe his luck was turning around. Though he had to wonder, how did Cheshire have both cat and fox powers when she was transformed. Maybe he could ask Tikki about it later. For now there was no reason to sour the mood.

Notes:

I feel you should know what is coming up next but anyway next chapter is the after effects of the akuma battle. Can anyone guess what most people will be discussing?

Chapter 15

Cheshire fell through the hatch and onto her bed. Barley a second later a flash of orange and green light flashed in her room as the superhero turned into Marinette. The girl immediately felt sore and exhausted. Yeah she felt tired, really tired. “Bread! Bread look at me!” A voice called out from beside her. The only answer he got was a groan of pain. “Bread, come on open your eyes!”

“Hey Mari, can I borrow your phone?” Another voice asked from somewhere. Marinette just gave a slow nod while burrowing into her bed. “Alright, you get some sleep then.” Yeah sleep sounded very good right now. As the girl adjusting herself to go to sleep though she let out a hiss of pain. Why was she in so much pain from just moving?

“Bread!” The voice from before cried as she felt something rub up against her. It felt like furr… huh she thought she felt a matt or two. She really needed to brush it.

“Plagg?” Why did her voice sound hoarse?

“You stupid pigtailed girl!” Plagg yelled right next to her causing the girl to let out a mewl of pain escaped from her. Her head felt like it would explode and the kwamis yelling wasn’t helping. “Oh, bread I’m so sorry.” How bad was she that Plagg was commenting on it?

“Hey Plagg could you help me with something?” Trixx asked from down bellow. Plagg just let out a whine but flew down to see what the fox wanted. Arriving below he saw the other kwami attempting to get into Marinette’s phone. “Come on we need to text her parents and have them call her in for the rest of the day.”

“Move over I know her password.” Plagg rushed forward. He was glad that one of them was at least thinking. Plagg was quick to put the password in and got to the messenger app. “How do we do this convincingly?” Plagg muttered while looking at the group chat between pigtails and her parents.

“Leave this to me.” Trixx pushed the black cat aside and scrolled up. “Just give me a minute to get familiar with her writing style.” Letting out a hum Trixx gave a nod before tapping away. “Alright this should do the trick, and send.” It took only a second for Sabine to text that they would call her in. Tom texted a second letter asking if she needed anything. “Better tell them she is just going to sleep.”

“Hopefully that’s all she needs.” Plagg bitterly muttered while settling down. “Stupid Bread, going through all this for people who don’t appreciate her.”

“She’s a hero.” Trixx retorted back. “But you are right, she shouldn’t have to go through all this.”

“Great, then help me talk her out of this.”

“Come on Plagg you know that we can’t do that.” Trixx watched as her wielder’s parents wished her to get well soon. “But we could…”

Plagg stayed quiet as he thought it over. Could he? Should he? It felt wrong to make this kinda decision while bread wasn’t awake. Then again who’s fault was it that his choice was like this? “Where were the others?”

“What?” Trixx asked confused by the sudden change in topic.

“Where were Tikki and Kaalki’s users?” Plagg hissed out, shocking Trixx.

“Maybe they just didn’t notice?” Trixx weakly offered, the excuse sounding weak in his ears. Plagg didn’t seem to buy the excuse either as he just glared glared at the other kwami. “Yeah that sounded weak to me. But hey maybe the guardian has something to help Marinette!”

“Oh yeah, lets trust the man who wants bread dead with her health!”

“He doesn’t want her dead, he is just scared!” Trixx tried to reason with the cat.

“Scared! He is scared of a thirteen year old girl!”

“He is scared of the legacy you created with the other black cats!” Trixx screamed and would have continued screaming if not for them hearing a pained groan from up above. Both kwamis stopped their yelling and took deep calming breathes.

“What do you mean by the legacy I created?” Plagg asked once he was slightly calmed down.

“You know what I mean.” Trixx muttered while settling down. “Everyone who ever held your ring went wild. They killed and destroyed as they pleased.”

“Oh it isn’t like you never had your own evil users!” Plagg hissed out causing Trixx to flinch a little.

“Yeah I had one, but you. You never had a good one.” Trixx pointed out with narrowed eye. “If it was one or two we could just hand wave it. But time after time your cats chose to use your powers for their own selfish gains.”

Plagg’s ears flattened as he glared at Trixx. “So that’s it? That is why you thought I was evil? Because I was what? Corrupted by them or something?” Trixx didn’t verbally respond but at the same time he also didn’t deny what Plagg said. “Forget it then. Go to your guardian or do whatever else you please.” With that Plagg flew into his little doll house.

Trixx let out a tired sigh. Did he really believe that Plagg was evil? Once upon a time the answer would have been a responding yes but after meeting up again… No, no Plagg was just a victim. Flying up to check on Marinette the fox was a bit relieved to see that the young girl was sleeping a bit more soundly. With one last nod the fox intended to fly and check in with the guardian only to be met with an invisible barrier.

“Ah!” Trixx cried out in shock as they dropped down onto Marinette who twitched. “Right you told me not to leave.” The orange kwami slowly moved off the girl who just let out a groan. “I’ll have to convince you to let me see the guardian then.” While muttering this to himself Trixx flew over to the nearby shelf to grab some food. Things weren’t quite going as he planned but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep trying.

Though Plagg did bring up a good point. Where were Pegasus and Misterbug during the battle? A ding from Marinette’s phone drew the kwami’s attention. Flying over the fox saw a text from Alya. Glancing over the text Trixx let out a long suffering sigh. He would have to talk to Marinette about it later but for now he would just text Marinette’s friend pretending to be her. Maybe just say that she wasn’t feeling well and that they could talk about it tomorrow? Yeah that sounds like something Marinette would say. With that Trixx sent off the text informing Marinette’s friend of his wielder's condition the kwami flew back up to sleep next to the girl.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Maybe they were just taking a post workout nap?” Kim suggested with a smile. “I know that I personally like to have a fifteen minete nap after a good workout.”

“So they were sleeping on the job?” Alix asked with a scoff. “Doesn’t sound very heroic.”

“Yeah and it was what like ten minutes after Bubbler took the adults,” stopping for a second Alya turned to Nino, “still not blaming you, that Cheshire arrived.”

“While that is true, we don’t know if they noticed or were somehow detained from crontripting.” Max defended the heroes while pushing up his glasses.

“Yeah because they could have contributed so much.” Alix gave a roll of her eyes. “I mean what was it like two minutes? Cheshire came in and just destroyed that akuma.”

“Yeah plus we don’t even know why those other heroes want her miraculous.” Alya jumped in.

“Well we don’t know what Cheshire wants either!” Adrien commented from his seat. Turning slightly he shot a glance at the clock hoping the debate time would end soon. Though he did wonder who had yelled the warning. Right now he was thinking of either Max or Kim.

“Adrien brings up a very important point!” Max pointed out happily.

“No he doesn’t.” Alix and Alya said at the same time. The two stopped and looked at each. Alya gestured to Alix who gave a nod and continued. “Cheshire has been around for a few years now and has done nothing but help the people of Paris. So based off of years of action we know that the cat is cool.”

“Thank you Alix I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Alya said with a smile.

“Come on guys, we have to have a counterpoint!” Kim said to his group.

“Why don’t you come up with something.” Chloe said while Sabrina worked on her nails. “But couldn’t you just bring up how bad of a costume she has.”

“I love how fluffy her costume is as Kitsune.” Rose added while Juleka nodded.

“I love her colour choices.”

“Of course you two fashion disasters would like her.” Chloe let out a indgnet sigh. “Honestly, leather? Ugh, I can’t even look at her.”

“Well I think we have had a rather productive class discussion today.” Miss Bustier said from the front of the class. “Now let us discuss how both sides presented their arguments.” With that Adrien slightly turned his teacher out. When he had gotten to his school Adrien had made sure to show off his new scarf. While everyone was excited Alya had just given him an odd look before texting someone on her phone. The girl had let out a sigh before putting away her phone and heading to class. It was quick to figure out what had upset the girl though as Adrien saw that Marinette had stayed home for the rest of the day. Adrien really hoped that Marinette wasn’t hurt or sick.

When they had gotten to class Chloe had thrown a small fit at Alya when the girl had taken to talking to Alix about the latest akuma fight. This had led to him overhearing them discussing how great Cheshire was during the latest attack. So when he had tried defending Misterbug this had led to the class separating into their debate teams.

So here he was now in his room taking a relaxing breath of air. “I need to get better at sneaking off.” Adrien determined he couldn’t let this type of situation occur again.

“I wouldn’t be too worried about it Adrien, I’m sure there won’t be too many akumas targeting you.” Tikki tried to reassure Adrien only for Adrien to shake his head in the negative.

“With the massive amounts of fans I have and my dad running a company where people could get fired at any moment…” Tikki let out a sigh while giving a nod at Adriens reasoning.

“I guess we should make a few backup plans in case something happens.” Adrien gave a nod to Tikki before looking right at her.

“Tikki, Cheshire was somehow using both of her miraculous at once.” Tikki froze up at that. “How was she doing that?”

Tikki fluttered around a bit while talking to herself. Seeming to come to some type of conclusion. “I can’t tell you too much.” Adrien raised an eyebrow at that. “It's the same reason I can’t tell you Pegasus’s identity” The boy let out a gasp and gave a nod at that. “But as I was saying earlier I can tell you that what she did has only been accomplished by very few miraculous holders.”

“I take it that this is bad.” Adrien said while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah it is.” Tikki confirmed while looking at her paws. “Seeing it up close like that confirms some of our worst fears. But I will need to go back sometime.” Tikki looked down again and whispered something that Adrien almost didn’t catch. “If that was… how did she change the fox?”

“Hey, we can still do this right? We’re the good guys. We’re going to win.” Adrien said while stepping down to look the kwami in the eyes.

“Yeah we will.” Tikki said though she didn’t quite sound sure of herself.

“Hey she may be strong but we have her outnumbered!” Adrien said with a smile. This got Tikki’s attention. “You me and Pegasus, between us Cheshire stands no chance.” This caused Tikki to smile bigger and relax. “Now come on it’s time for us to relax with a movie.”

“Oh could we watch another of those animated movies? I love how you humans combined art and story so well together.” Tikki chirped in while flying over to the coach.

“Oh I got another one I know you will love!” Adrien stopped on his way over to the coach. Looking down at his school bag he came to a decision. “You want to split the rest of the treats Marinette gave?”

“Oh I would love that!” Tikki responded while Adrien brought the bag over. He would definitely need to approach the girl about getting more. He had a feeling that his kwami may be addicted.

~~~~~~~~~

Max let out a frustrated groan as he arrived home. “What seems to be the problem sir Max?” Kaalki inquired, appearing from her hiding spot.

“They won’t believe me or any of the valid points I brought up.” Max said while stomping over to his desk. He still had some work to do to get the akuma alert working. Maybe if it had been he wouldn’t have been taken surprised by Bubbler. “I wish I could share some of the stories you told me.” Sadly without any sources Max knew he couldn’t present them. The boy had tried to lead Alya to attempt to discover the truth but had little success so far.

“I know that it is frustrating but you must continue.” The horse said trying to talk to Max but the boy was not in a mood to listen.

“Between helping Alya, akumas, and patrolls I’m falling behind on my work!” Max shouted while spinning in his chair. “And for what! So people can call me a villain for trying to save them from a black cat fox thing!” Stopping for a second Max turned to look at Kaalki. “How did she do that. Is it due to having two miraculous?”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to tell you.” Kaalki said while trying to sound apologetic. Max didn’t buy it. Whenever he asked a question the kwami would say that. The boy hated not knowing things, especially things that he was involved in.

“You know Alix did bring up good point.” Max muttered making sure it was just loud enough for the kwami to hear. “Maybe you were lying to me about the cats.” Max knew he was bluffing but he was tired of being kept in the dark.

“I was not!” The horse said looking horrified at the implication. “I would never lie about such things.”

“But you would keep me in the dark.” Max saw the horse go through a few expressions. “I need to know what is going on.”

“I told you I can’t tell you!” Kaalki let out a frustrated breath of air. Max still wasn’t buying it. What would prevent the kwami from telling him such simple information?

“Then don’t talk to me until you can tell me!” With that Max turned and looked at his board. Hmm, it seems that he has an upcoming game competition tomorrow. “Might as well get some practice in with UMS3.” So that is what Max did to unwind a bit. He was quite pleased with how quiet the kwami had decided to be. Made quite a nice break from it asking questions constantly.

Notes:

Oh, I hope things go well for Max tomorrow I would hate to think of what happens to him should he loose in the video game tournament. Anyway hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment I love hearing you peoples thoughts.

Chapter 16

Marinette let out a groan as she walked the halls of the school. Why had she thought going to school today a good idea? “Come on perk up girl school is almost over.” The overly perky voice of Alya said through the fog of her head. Right today was a short day, she figured she could make it through the day but as the hours passed it became harder and harder to do.

“Hurray.” Marinette muttered while looking out, packing her bag away. Marinette looked around with a hum. “Where is everyone?” Marinette asked while covering a yawn.

“Oh there’s some type of competition going on.” Alya explained with a wave. “I think it’s for some type of video game.”

“Video game?” Marinette looked at Alya with a smile. “I’m really good at video games! I got a perfect IV shiny Blaziken!”

“That’s good for you girl.” Alya said with a roll of her eyes.

“No I’m really good!” Marinette said while pouting at her friend. “Show me to the game and I’ll kick everyone’s but!” Alya watched in interest as the girl waved her arms up and down.

“Oh is that so?” Alya asked while taking a thinking position. “Could you prove it?”

“Give me a controller and I’ll beat whoever you tell me to!” Marinette exclaimed while giving her best determined look.

“Okay just follow me.” Alya said while leading her friend towards the library. “We’ll put those skills of yours to the test.” Marinette gave a determined nod while following behind the reporter.

Alya felt a bit of excitement as they made their way to where the competition was being held. She didn’t know how good Marinette was but the girl seemed to want to step out of her comfort zone. Plus it would be nice to see a couple of the guys taken down a few notches. So upon entering the library they made their way over to where the principal was monitoring the competition with some representative judge. Alya grabbed Marinette before the girl could walk over to the game competition area. “You need to sign in first.”

“Oh, okay.” Marinette looked down at the paper but couldn’t seem to make out the words. The girl only knew Alya brought her here so she could show off her wicked awesome video game skills. Signing on the line Marinette let out another yawn. “Okay, where’s my opponent?”

The librarian just gave them a look before handing them a sheet of paper indicating where to go. “Right this way destroyer.” Alya now felt a little bad. The girl wasn’t in the best state but Marinette upon seeing one of the gamestations walked over to it. The judge looked over to them as a random student walked over to sit next to her.

“Oh man I love this game.” Marinette did seem to perk up at seeing the character selection scene. The boy beside her gave her an odd look before rolling his eyes. “Prepare to lose.” And lose the boy did. Marinette utterly destroyed the boy who could only look at the screen in shock after the second round.

“Go Marinette!” Alya cheered as the girl looked back at her and gave her a thumbs up. This seemed to catch a few peoples attention. Looking around Alya saw a few of her own classmates around. Kim gave her a challenging look while walking over.

“Well, it looks like I’m not the only other cheerleader here.” Kim said upon arriving with a smirk. “Though I think you better get ready to console your friend because Max is going to destroy her.”

“Oh, I’m not too concerned.” Alya replied back while spotting the judge walking over. The man was glancing between screens while occasionally stopping to watch a few students. He occasionally looked down at his clipboard before crossing names off. “Marinette said she has a shiny blazebird.” Kim just looked at her confused, “What I’m not into gaming.”

“Same, I’m just here to cheer on Max.” Kim responded while turning to see Max’s screen light up with ‘Player 1 Wins’. “Good job Max.” A shrill whistle cut through the air.

“We're coming up to the semifinals. Will the four remaining contestants please come forward.” The judge said while gesturing to the unoccupied television. “First up will be Adrien Agreste against Theo Barbot.” Adrien and a brown haired student both stood up and walked toward the screen. Neither said anything as they shook hands.

“Oh he’s wearing a scarf.” Marinette pointed out while looking at the blue scarf around the model's neck.

“Yeah his pop’s made it for him.” Kim happily told the out of it girl. Marinette looked at the reporter before shaking her head. Alya let out a sigh of her own while Kim looked between the two girls. “What, what is it? Am I missing something?”

“I don’t think we are Kim.” Max resounded while making his presence known. “I believe this to be an attempt to confuse us and distract us from the competition.”

“Hah! Max even if you were distracted there is no way you would lose.” Kim boasted while giving his friend a pat on the back.

“That is quite correct!” Max said while giving Marinette a smirk. “It would be in your best interest to back out now.”

Alya growled before seizing the smaller girl by her shoulders. “Girl, I will owe you the biggest favor ever if you absolutely destroy him!” Marinette looked her friend in the eyes and slowly rose a thumbs up. Hearing the judge call up the next contestants Alya gave a winning smile. “Good, now sit down and mash those buttons!”

“Buttons shall be mashed and victory shall be mine.” Marinette said while moving to the seat.

“Oh Marinette you're competing?” Adrein asked to see the girl taking his seat.

“No I’m winning!” Marinette responded while going through the selection screen.

“You better girl!” Alya shouted while shaking Kim’s hand.

Max also took his seat and selected his character not saying anything to the girl. He did raise an eyebrow at her character though before letting out a condescending eyebrow. The glass wearing boy turned to his friend and the two shared a laugh while Adrien looked uncomfortable. “What’s up?”

“She chose a bad character.” Adrien told Alya while looking down and messing with his scarf. “There’s now way she could beat such a strong character.” Adrien attempted to explain.

“Oh…”

“No take backs.” Kim injected before Alya could say anything.

“Button mashing begins.” Marinette said while leaning back.

“You could back out now.” Max said while taking a relaxed look only for it to drop as Marinette took the opening move. Within thirty seconds Marinette had depleted his health bar while her’s had only taken a little damage. “I was distracted.” Marinette didn’t respond as she just stared at the screen. The next match was much closer but Marinette still came out on top. “NO!” Max cried out in shock, heck even the judge looked shocked at the outcome.

Marinette just let out a yawn while stretching. “Told you Alya, I’m the best at video games.”

“You sure are girl.” Alya let out a laugh at seeing Kim’s shocked face.

“Alright the representatives for this school will be Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” The judge said while writing down on his clipboard.

“No, I demand a rematch.” Max said while looking frustrated.

“Sorry, those are the rules.” The judge said while Marinette looked around confused. Max let out a huff of frustration before marching out of the school.

“Wait, what is going on?” Marinette asked while looking confused.

“Yeah shouldn’t Marinette play Adrien?” Alya asked.

“Wait you did read what the competition was right?” Principle Damocles asked while looking confused.

“Video games?” Marinette asked weakly. A couple of students were snickering at her and Marinette was sure that in no time there would be half a dozen variations of this circulating the school. “Sorry I’m really out of it today.” Damocles let out a sigh before informing Marinette that this was a competition to see who would be competing in a torment where the winning school would win a huge amount of money. “Oh so Adrien and I are partners?”

“Looks like it.” Adrien said while looking excited.

“I suggest that you two get some practice in, the competition will be held in two days.” The judge informed while passing the two students pieces of paper.

“So should I come over to your house or do you want to come to mine? I have about an hour before fencing.” Adrien asked while looking excited.

“Um, well my house is closer.” Marinette explained while looking to her friend for support. Alya being the good friend she was had vanished.

“Great, I just need to grab some things from my locker then I’ll meet you at the entrance.” Adrien informed her while walking towards the exit of the library.

Marinette took the chance to run towards an unused classroom. “What did I get myself into?”

“A slaughter. Just remember to use all the tricks we found!” Trixx happily said while appearing from the bag. “Oh I can't wait to see everyone’s faces when you sweep away the competition.”

“Relax kid.” Plagg said, appearing from the bag as well. “Everything miraculous related is nice and hidden away.”

“But Chloe’s friend is coming over to my house!” Marinette hissed to them. “I have other none miraculous secrets he could find out! Then he is going to tell Chloe and then they’ll spread that info throughout the whole school!”

“Oh, yeah that could be a problem.” Trixx said before giving a smile. “Don’t worry we’ll keep an eye on some of the stuff for you.”

“NO, you two need to stay hidden. I’ll just have to watch him myself.” Marinette gave a nod. “He might think he’s clever but I will win!”

“Looks like we’ll be stuck in either the bag or cube then.” Trixx told Plagg who just rolled his eyes.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy the cube now that it’s working.”

“It is better then the box, I’ll admit.” Marinette felt a bud of joy grow at Trixx’s comment. So with that Marinette moved her tired limbs to the entrance of the school to wait for Adrien.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien felt so much joy right now that he had to find a place to burn some of it off. “Tikki, this is amazing!” Did his voice crack as he talked to his kwami, yes but that wasn’t the big thing.

“You are quite lucky Adrien.” Tikki told her boy with a soft smile.

“Did you see her Tikki? She was amazing at the game! Now I get to go to her house! Oh do you think I will get to meet her parents?” Adrien babled while looking lost in a daydream.

“Adrien take a second to breathe okay?” Tikki broke him out for a second. Adrien followed her in some breathing exercises. Already he could feel himself settle down a bit. “I’m really happy for you. Maybe you could use this as a chance to make an honest relationship with her.”

Adrien nodded with a much calmer smile. “Yeah I’ll try.” Hearing stomping coming toward him Tikki flew into his bag.

“Adrikins!” Chloe yelled upon arriving into the room. “What’s this I hear about you teaming up with Dupain-Cheng?”

“Oh me and Marinette got selected to compete in the UMS3 tournament the school is taking part in.” Adrien explained to his childhood friend with a calming smile. “Now I need to go, Marinette kindly invited me over to her house to practice for the tournament.” Chloe looked more mad now but just gave a huff before stomping off. Adrien swore she was muttering something to herself but couldn’t make out what was being said. After she was gone Adrien looked in his bag and saw a just as confused Tikki. They both gave a shrug before Adrien once again did the breathing exercises to calm down.

Making his way out though he gave a wave to Chloe and Kim who were talking together. Both of them wave backed though Kim didn’t seem quite as happy as usual. Hmm, must have been upset that Max had lost. Oh he should contact the other boy soon, needed to keep working on that friendship. Heck at this point Alya was a closer friend to the other boy then him. Arriving at the entrance Adrien smiled at seeing Marinette. “Ready to go?” Adrien asked, startling the girl.

“Ack! When did you get here?” Marinette asked while turning shocked. “I mean are you ready to go? No, I mean… follow me?” Adrien held back a chuckle. It would be rude to seem like he was making fun of her.

“Okay.” With that Marinette led the boy across the street to a seemingly abandoned store. “Here we are.”

“Wow you weren’t kidding, you do live close.” Adrien said in a bit of shock while the pigtailed girl unlocked the door. “Hello?” Adrien called out upon entering the bakery. The inside looked clean but also had a bit of dust on the cash register. “Are your parents around?”

“No they are doing a catering job out of town at the moment.” Marinette whispered while heading upstairs. “Come on I have the console hooked up to the living room television.”

“Oh okay,” Adrien muttered while looking a bit disappointed. He had really wanted to meet her parents.

“Is something the matter?” Marinette asked while about to head up the steps. Before Adrien could respond his stomach handed a nice excuse as it rumbled. “Oh I guess it is around lunch time.”

“Yeah I guess I should have grabbed some food.” Adrien said while rubbing the back of his neck. Thankfully the embarrassment was broken by Marinette’s own stomach rumbling.

“I guess there are some leftovers.” Marinette muttered while turning around to head towards the fridge.

“Should I go grab some of my own food.” Adrien asked while watching the girl bring a pot out of the fridge.

“No need this was about to go bad anyway.” Marinette muttered before freezing up in the middle of dishing out some rice. “I mean if you want to that is. I mean I’m sure you would prefer something made by a professional chief.”

“No, no this is good!” Adrien said while rushing to sit down. He was about to have a home cooked meal! Sure it was leftovers but it was something someone made with love. Plus from the amount she had Adrien could eat all he wanted. Oh maybe he could have dessert too!

“Okay…?” Marinette muttered while grabbing the other pan to start dishing the other parts of the meal! Adrien’s day was already so much better now! He was doing so much winning that the day would have to work overtime to bring him down!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaalki watched her user in concern. She wanted to say something to comfort him but due to his order yesterday she literally couldn’t say anything to him! “Argh! How did I lose! She must have cheated!” Max yelled while storming down the street. The horse looked out the bag and saw people giving the glass wearing boy room. The kwami tried patting his back or something but nothing seemed to be able to calm him down. Hopefully he would work this all out of his system and then they could work out his trust issue with her.

For some reason Kaalki suddenly felt something dark pass over her as people gasped in shock. “Yes Hawkmoth!” Upon hearing that the kwami shot out of the bag and let out a gasp of horror at seeing her user akumatized. “I shall never lose again!” Turning the boy caught the kwami. “Then I shall get the answers I deserve!” No, how could this have happened? “Kaalki, Let’s Trample!” With that Kaalki was sucked into her corrupted miraculous.

Chapter 17

Adrien looked at the screen in shock after losing yet another match. “How do you keep doing that?”

“I’m just that good.” Marinette happily told the model. After eating, and discreetly putting some treats in his bag. The two teens had gone upstairs and started practicing for the competition. Which was mainly them working together fighting against random people online.

“Yeah you are.” Adrien let out a tired sigh. He really wished he could help contribute as much as Marinette was. Not hearing Marinette respond he turned around to see her twitching a bit. It was as if the girl was debating with herself.

“Wait here for a second.” Marinette said before going up another set of stairs. Adrien looked confused before taking the chance to look around. This was his first time being in a somewhat normal house and he was going to take the chance to see what it looked like. Hmm, it was just like all the tv series showed, with hanging photos and even a bookshelf. “Here, this is my secret weapon.” Turning Adrien saw Marinette holding out something for him to examine. Taking it carefully Adrien saw that it was a charm bracelet with a red string holding them together. “This is my lucky charm.”

“It works?” Adrien asked a bit sceptically.

Marinette looked down at the charm held in Adrien’s hand with a soft smile. When she had made the charm she had thought herself stupid but it was a mere two days later that she had found Plagg’s ring. “Yeah, just give it time and I’m sure that you’ll notice.”

“Oh so it has a build up time?” Adrien questioned with a joking smile. Marinette was about to respond only for the whole apartment to shake. “What was that!” The two ran to the window and saw a black horse mech. “Any chance that this is all a random PR event?” Marinette just gave him a look as Adrien just shook his head. “Thought so, my father wanted me to make it to my house whenever an akuma attacks.”

“Try to stay safe.” Marinette muttered while looking outside. What could the akuma want?

“Where are you Marinette? Come out and face a true Gamer!” Oh it was Max. It seemed like he was after Marinette. So there was extra incentive to beat the akuma of the day. That and he had to make up for not being there when Nino was akumatized. So making his way outside the bakeries back door Adrien pressed himself against the wall while opening up his shirt. “Looks like we got our work cut out for us with this akuma.” Tikki didn’t respond and Adrien turned to see her with a concerned and confused look. “Hey Tikki are you okay?”

“Something feels off about that akuma.” Tikki informed before letting out a sigh. “Let’s get to beating the akuma.”

“Don’t worry Tikki, me and Pegasus will solve this in no time.” Adrien tried to reassure the kwami. “Tikki, Spots On!” The ladybug user then made his way to find the akuma. Thankfully it seemed that the akuma was not aware where Marinette lived since he walked past her house while shooting other people and vehicles.

“Hey no power gaming!” Cheshire shouted making her presence known. “Or are you meta gaming?”

“Cheshire!” Gamer shouted the second he spotted the girl.

“Horse-a-max!” The girl shouted back the name of the mech the akuma was piloting.

“I’m Gamer and I shall be the one to defeat you!” Misterbug watched the akuma point his gun at the girl. “Prepare yourself, villain!” With that the akuma fired his gun and Cheshire was quick to dodge, sticking to the roof.

“I’m the villain? The guy who is shooting people on the streets and destroying property says I’m the villain?” Cheshire questioned as Misterbug started moving closer. Finally catching a glimpse Adrien was a bit confused to notice that the other hero didn’t have any fox-like features. What was with all the costume changes? Thoughts for another day.

“I hate to admit it but the cat has a point.” Misterbug proclaimed while landing a few feet away from the girl. “You are a cat right?” Cheshire gave the boy a flat look before pushing him out of the way of the incoming beam. “Cease fire between us?” Misterbug offered as he threw his yoyo so he could swing away.

“Sounds okay to me.” Cheshire shouted back while spinning her baton to block a beam. “We need to get him away from citizens.”

Misterbug felt relief at hearing that they didn’t have to worry about Cheshire fighting him. But she did bring up a good point, they needed to take this fight somewhere else. Looking around he saw the perfect location and pointed at it. Cheshire seemed to consider it for a second before nodding. Now how would they get him over to the stadium? Would Gamer just follow them?

“Hey Mecha!” Cheshire shouted while waving her baton around. “You're supposed to have the fastest mech right?”

“Are you stupid! Of course, this mecha has the greatest movement speed!” Gamer shouted while charging his gun up again.

“Then prove it!” Cheshire yelled while leaping back. Misterbug was quick to follow, and based off of the stomping noise behind them Gamer was not far behind. “To borrow a phrase from a famous character: ‘You're too slow’!” Cheshire mocked though Adrien could tell she was struggling to stay ahead.

“Yeah he really needs to step it up!” Misterbug joined in while having to increase his pace to stay ahead. He could feel his lungs burning as he tried to keep pace with the cat. Speaking of the cat he saw one of her ears twitch and she threw herself to the side avoiding a blast. Picking herself up the cat girl had to avoid a fist that came crashing down.

“Hey why are you focusing on me!” Cheshire shouted while starting her run again. “I mean Misterbug is right over there!”

“No, I’m good.” Misterbug said while landing on the roof. The hero looked to see that they were close. Looking back he saw that Cheshire had just passed him. So with one more charge the boy made his way to the stadium. “Almost there.” With one more strong swing he landed with a roll on the grass. A thud behind showed Cheshire had landed a step behind him. Turning he saw the cat trying to catch her breath as a louder thud as the mech landed opposite of them.

“Could we have a se-cat-end to rest.” Cheshire asked while getting to her feet. “You know, nacho break, monster energy drinks, bathroom, snack break?”

“You know I could go for a nice croissant. Oh, I know a great pastry place!” Misterbug offered.

“Whatya say Gamer? Step out of the mech and we all take a nice snack break?” Cheshire offered while relaxing a bit.

“Give up!” Max shouted as he used his mech to step forward.

“Fine! Then how about we end this now!” Cheshire stated while walking forward. “Cataclysm!” Lunging forward the girl hit the mech with her power. The destruction ran through the mecha causing it to crumple under him. She glanced for a brief second at the red sphere that appeared. “Alright now to find the akumatized object and break it.”

“Yeah then I’ll just fix everything!” Misterbug waved the girl off as he approached.

“Paris thanks you for your service.” Cheshire told him flatly with a mocking smile only to have to stop as a horseshoe almost hit her. “What the!”

“I’m not done yet!” Gamer shouted while catching the horseshoe. Turning they saw Gamer appear from the smokescreen. He wore a black and brown bodysuit with neon green lights flowing through it. “I think you forgot that all fighting games are two rounds!” As he said this he pressed a button on his glasses causing his mech to start reforming. “Now how about we take this to the next level! Voyage!” A large portal formed above him as he fired through it and across the city the Eiffel tower was pixelated and sucked through powering up his bot even more.

“Any chance you have another Cataclysm?” Misterbug asked weakly. How was he supposed to fight his partner? Sure he

“Give me about a minute to recharge my kwami and I can do it.”

“Don’t act like I’ll let you feed your fiend!” Max shouted as the portal shifted from above to breaking into dozens of miniature portalls. “Let’s see you escape this time.” With that he tossed a horseshoe through one of the portals.

Cheshire looked around only to have to have the horseshoe hit her arm. “Ahh!” The cat cried out as she stumbled back. The horseshoe took the chance to bounce back in the portal and be caught by Gamer. “Yeah I’m really gonna need a distraction.”

“On it.” Misterbug shouted as he ran toward the sphere. As he pressed the sphere for a second he swore he saw the selection screen before his mind selected his main. A second later he was standing on top of a red and black spotted mech. “Alright now we’re talking!” Jumping down the hatch Misterbug was even more delighted to find that the controls were exactly the same as the arcade version. “Time to take you off your high horse!”

“Why would you betray me! I’m your partner!” Gamer shouted while throwing a wide punch.

Misterbug dodged the punch while going into a combo. “Betray you? You betrayed Paris and your kwami!”

“My kwami betrayed me!” Gamer shouted while blocking and maneuvering around Adrien’s attacks. “They wouldn’t tell me anything then still expected me to believe her!” Taking the chance the akuma launched his own combo forcing Misterbug on the defensive. Where is Cheshire?

~~~~~~~~

Dodging the horseshoe that came through another portal Cheshire slid into a closet. Slamming the door Cheshire heard the horseshoe bounce off it as she released her transformation after making sure there was no camera. “Ah I’m so tired.” Plagg said dramatically as he reappeared.

“Here, eat this quickly.” Marinette said as she grabbed a container from her purse.

“What’s up?” Trixx asked, appearing from his miraculous. “Is the akuma still around?”

“If it is then just use the fox. I need tim-” Plagg said only to be interrupted by a bang on the door. The hit to the door seemed to dent it and nearly break. “What was that!”

“Yeah, the akuma this time is Pegasus.” Marinette looked around before shoving a chair under the door. “So I need your help.”

“Did you say that Kaalki’s holder was akumatized!” Trixx cried as Plagg tore into the container. Another hit rang on the door. “Where is the akuma?”

“I think it’s in his glasses?” Marinette questioned why the kwami wanted to know.

“Oh wow this is just getting worse and worse.” Plagg muttered downing a second piece of cheese. Seeing his chosen’s confused look Plagg let out a sigh. “The akuma possessed his miraculous.”

“Then how am I supposed to break it then!” Marinette cried out then while pulling on her pigtails. The two kwamis looked between each other before Trixx looked at her.

“Plagg’s power is the best hope we have.” Trixx looked defeated with his ears drooping.

“Hey maybe the Ladybugs will fix it?” Plagg offered up as another bang was heard on the door. Marinette looked down in thought. She couldn’t use Cataclysm to destroy the robot as planned and with the unrelenting pursuit of the horse shoe that could popup anywhere she needed someway to get to the akuma.

Looking at the two floating kwami Marinette came up with an idea. Reaching into her pockets Marinette fished out a purple macaroon. “Here Plagg eat this!” Plagg gave her a look before taking the treat and eating it.

“Ack! Still hate how it tastes!” Plagg said as wings sprouted on him.

“I’ll work on the flavor but now, Comet Plagg Claws Out!” With that Plagg was sucked into the ring. Cheshire took a breath and waited for the next bang on the door. “Ready to go Trixx?” The orange kwami didn’t answer but instead flew into a pocket of the suit. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Hearing another bang on the door Cheshire flew through the door. Taking a lunging step forward she felt her wings unfold as best they could. Her backpack activated as she sped up.

The heads up display picked up the incoming horseshoe and dodged as best she could. Coming out into the stadium Cheshire flew up and around the Bugbuster. The Bugbuster had some damage to it while Horseamax looked almost pristine. “Hold on a little longer Bugaboy I’m coming in!” That seemed to catch both of their attentions as she flew toward the robot. The portals seemed to move only to fritz for a second as Bugbuster launched into a combo. Flying downwards Cheshire dove towards the cockpit while bringing out her baton. Getting in close the cat hero smashed the baton into the cockpit. “Hi mind if I take this?” Cheshire questioned grabbing the glasses off of him. Jumping out of the cockpit Cheshire once more took to the air.

“Air cat delivery, Cataclysm!” Arriving near the Bugbuster she watched as the cockpit opened and a yoyo shootout and caught the akuma.

“Thanks for that Air Cheshire.” Misterbug said, looking at her with some confusion. What he was confused about she had little to no idea of.

“As payment I’ll take you cleaning up the city.” Cheshire joked while landing, she was ready to take off at a moment's notice.

“Huh, I think I need to use the Luck Charm first.” As he said this his yoyo shot out as a toy fell into his hand. “What is this?” She wished she could see what landed in his hands but she couldn’t without getting closer. “I’ll figure this out later. Miraculous Misterbug!” Tossing the toy in the air Marinette watched as the toy was destroyed. Cheshire had to hold back running away as the ladybugs swarmed around her.

“What happened?” Max asked as his corruption was undone.

“You were akumatized but don’t worry everything is good now.” Cheshire spoke to him, still keeping her distance.

“Oh!” Max seemed to spot her before checking for his glasses. “Um, has anyone seen my glasses?” Misterbug stoped at this and also looked around for them before both stopped at Cheshire.

“What? You think I’m going to give a miraculous back to someone who was just akumatized?” Cheshire flatly asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll be keeping these.” With her piece said Cheshire flew away before Misterbug could attempt to throw his yoyo at her. Flying off Marinette was sure she saw someone in the stands but that was of little concern as the girl made sure to land undetected before de-transforming.

“Oh Kaalki.” Trixx rubbed up against the glasses held in her hands.

“Don’t worry Trixx it seems that the Ladybugs fixed it up pretty good. Plus if anything is wrong with her then I know all the rituals necessary to patch her up.” Marinette tried to reassure the kwami.

“So kid you gonna put the glasses on?” Plagg questioned as he hovered beside her.

“No, I don’t think I want a kwami freaking out in the open.” Marinette whispered to the kwamis as she made her way inside. “Trixx you mind calming her down?” Marinette inquired after arriving in her room.

“I’ll do my best.” The orange kwami said while watching Marinette open up a compartment of the cube to store the folded glasses. Marinette watched as the kwami flew inside the cube. Today had gone well, she had won a tournament and got a miraculous. So with a smile she walked over to her desk to thank her lucky charm. The thought had caused a laugh to bubble up in her.

“Whatcha laughen about bread?” Plagg asked, looking interested.

“Oh I just find it funny that my lucky charm is better than Misterbug.” Marinette commented while opening her drawer. Marinette then gave a frown before starting to dig around.

“What’s the matter?” Plagg asked at seeing his chosen slightly freaking out.

“I can’t find it!” Marinette yelped while slamming the drawer and opening another. “I can’t find my lucky charm.”

“Didn’t you show it off to blondie?” Plagg asked, seeing Marinette’s eyes light up in understanding.

“I must have left it downstairs.” Marinette explained while running downstairs but didn’t find anything. “It’s not down here!” The human girl cried out in shock while pacing back and forth before stopping. “Agreste he was the last one who had it.”

“You let him hold it?” Plagg asked, a bit shocked. The girl was protective of that thing.

“In cause you haven’t noticed I’m not in the best mind state.” Marinette shouted while falling onto the couch.

“Hey maybe he’ll give it back…” Plagg offered while floating down.

“Yeah just like he gave back my umbrella.” Marinette muttered while letting out a sigh. To think today had started out better than normal. Now she has lost her lucky charm. “Ha, wonder what else is going to go wrong.” Looking at Plagg the cat twitched before hovering upstairs.

“I’m going to go see how Trixx is doing with calming down Kaalki.” Plagg informed her before flying off to her room. Marinette just let out a huff as she flopped onto the couch. Might as well see if anything good was on the tv.

Chapter 18

Adrien fell to his knees as his transformation dropped. They had lost, Cheshire had yet another Miraculous. Did he have some part to play in this? “Should I have called Max? Should I have tried to calm him down?”

“Adrien you did nothing wrong.” Tikki reassured while stroking his hair. “You had no way of knowing Max was Pegasus.”

“But there should have been something I could have done!” Adrien yelled while pacing around. “I could have offered him my spot.”

“Adrien!” Tikki yelled at him, startling the boy. “None of this is your fault!” Tikki pressed while staring into his eyes. “You are not responsible for other people's feelings or emotions. Would you hold Marinette responsible for what happened?”

“NO!” How could he hold Marinette responsible? She was just having fun! It’s not her fault that Max took the loss so hard… “Oh,” Adrien muttered, losing some of his steam.

“Exactly!” Tikki nodded before extending her paw letting Adrien know she was offering comfort. Adrien was quick to take it as he held the small kwami against his cheek. “This was just an unfortunate chain of events that nobody besides Max himself could have done anything about.” Tikki reassured as she let herself lean against him. The small kwami had been devastated the first time she had learned the fate of Kaalki but insisted that Adrien and her talk about when they got home. So now here they were, talking about it. “You said Cheshire used a new power to fight and escape?”

“Yeah, she had some type of flight power.” Adrien confirmed while Tikki held her breath. No, there was no way Cheshire had access to those as well! “Her costume almost looked like some type of flight equipment with a helmet as well.” Looking down Adrien saw the frozen kwami sitting in his hand. “Tikki are you okay.”

“I… I don’t know.” The little goddess said while shaking. The previous cats were dangerous enough with just the one power they had but this one seemed to be hoarding everything she could. First she had a previous unseen power, then how she was able to taint the fox, then as if to make it worse she then showed off Unification, and now as if to cap it off this vile evil cat has the power up potions! Does this mean she had the spellbook? No that was worst case thinking, if Cheshire had the spellbook there would be no need for this long con she was playing.

Adrien looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know what to do so with a sigh he sat down on the couch while dropping his school bag. He wanted to reassure Tikki that they could still do this but at this point even he wasn’t sure they could. Cheshire just seemed to have all the cards and flaunted her knowledge. Where did she even get her knowledge? “Pretty unlucky for the goddess of luck.” Tikki muttered to herself while settling down next to her chosen.

Luck? Fishing in his pockets for a second Adrein brought out the lucky charm he got today. “Would this help us?” He had meant it as a joke but the way Tikki’s eyes shone as she flew up to examine the charm.

“Where did you get this!”

“Marinette is letting me hold onto it.” Adrien felt a spring of protection well up inside of him as he watched Tikki touch the charm. Why did he feel so protective of it?

“Adrien you should treasure this. A charm made of such emotions and given with care is quite strong.” Tikki informed the boy with a smile.

“Maybe with this we can turn this around.” Adrien jokes, afterall Marinette said that it had a build up time. “Oh speaking of Marinette we should eat some of the treats we smuggled out.” At the mention of the treats Tikki got a bit of a guilty look.

“Yeah,” Tikki let out a self counciese laugh, causing Adrien to lean towards her, “I might have already helped myself.”

“I should have noticed.” Adrien teased while poking the kwami’s belly. “Did you leave any for me?”

“I do have some self control.” Tikki muttered while giving an adorable little pout. Adrien gave a laugh while getting up to grab a towel to eat over. He couldn’t risk crumps being found in the room. It might take a few days but hopefully his new lucky charm would help turn things around.

“I’m sure you're the best kwami at self control.” Adrien once more teased while bringing it over. “I mean you left some for me.” Tikki let out a happy sigh, she was happy that Adrien’s mood had picked up. But still the little kwami had many concerns worming their way through her mind. She needs to get into contact with the guardian so they could talk out her concerns and what to do if they were real. No, there was no way Cheshire had her evil clawed paws on the spellbook. Fate would never be that cruel. Hearing a noise from Adrien’s computer setup Tikki looked over to see the news report of today’s akuma attack. The reminder of today's fight made her mind drift to the poor captured kwami. What was happening to her now?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaalki felt a breeze blow through her main. Opening her eyes the brown kwami found themself in what appeared to be a rocky village with lots of tents. A soft music played through the air. Where was she?

“Kaalki!” A familiar voice shouted out as something tackled her to the ground. “I missed you so much!”

“What!” The horse yelled out as she tried to move and see what was holding her. It was too small to be Max. Even if it was her holder then the kwami wouldn’t have been able to talk to him. That order had hurt her deeply. The arms hugging her let go as they helped her float up. Turning around, Kaalki blinked in shock at who she was seeing. “Trixx?”

“That’s my name.” The orange fox greeted her with a happy smile. Kaalki flew forward with a happy noise to embrace her long time friend. “I missed you too.”

Breaking the hug Kaalki took another chance to look at where they were. “Where are we?” The brown kwami saw a beautiful tree that she didn’t recognize. Heck she didn’t recognize where they were at all. Taking a breath to calm down the kwami heard the faint music once more. “Where is that music coming from?”

“I actually like the music.” Trixx said while showing off his smile growing. It was the orange kwamis classic knowing smile. He knew something and wasn’t sharing it with her. “I mean if you spend enough time here it gets old but hey you could just head out of the village to change the music.”

“What?”

“Yeah I know. Who could get tired of Garfont Village. I mean I’m not going to get tired of it anytime soon but hey everybody wants a change sometime.” Trixx said with a shrug. “Plus have you tried the beds? They are so comfortable!” While saying this Trixx flew toward one of the tents.

“Garfont? Is that where we are?” Kaalki asked while following the other kwami. “The last thing I remember is my holder…” They both stopped at the simple inn as Trixx landed on the bed that he sunk slightly into. Landing beside the other kwami, Kaalki landed on the soft bed. “He was akumatized.”

“Yeah, yeah he was.” Trixx confirmed their worst fear. They shared a look as Kaalki pressed the orange fox to continue. “The akuma was in your miraculous.” Stopping at seeing the other kwami flinch, Trixx waited a second before continuing. “Cheshire had to use her power to destroy it.”

“How am I here?”

“The Ladybugs restored your miraculous.” Trixx informed the other.

“Then Misterbug got you back?” Kaalki weakly asked. After the loop they were thrown on she could really use some good news. Seeing the slow shake of her friend's head Kaalki’s spirt dropped. “Then if I’m not with *Burp* or Misterbug then who has my miraculous?”

“...Cheshire.” At the mere mention of the name Kaalki felt herself shattered. “Hey, hey it’s okay.” Trixx tried to comfort the other kwami. “Please listen, I promise she is good.”

“A good cat?” Kaalki tried to let out a weak laugh but it came out weakly. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Well then you can see it.” Trixx flew off the bed while his ears twitched. “I mean she gives me treats, watches shows with me, and even gave me a DS so I can have fun.”

“Sure she did.” Kaalki bitterly muttered. “My holder didn’t even let me touch his electronics. Said I could ruin them.”

“Trust me Kaalki, you’ll love the girl when you meet her. In fact I don’t even think she is a cat.” Trixx told the horse while coming close.

“She’s not a cat?” Kaalki asked, confused. “But does she not use the corrupted ring?”

“She does, but I don’t think she is a cat.” Trixx said while gesturing for Kaalki to follow. “Just come meet her and you’ll see what I mean.” Flying out of the tent Kaalki let out a tired sigh. “Please just one minute.”

“Okay, but could you please tell me where we are?” Kaalki pleaded following the other kwami.

“Oh I’m sure you’ll find this interesting.” Trixx held back their laughter. “Just stay close to me.” Not taking any chances Trixx grabbed the other kwami’s paws. Flying up towards where the light was coming from the two flew through a previously hidden green portal, neither noticing the black cat that followed.

“What!” The horse shouted in shock as they noticed that they had just flown out of a cube.

“Pretty incredible right?” Trixx asked looking amused. “Cheshire made it. It’s called the Miraculous Cube.”

“What? How?” Kaalki felt her mind loop.

“I’m sparse on the spacifcs myself but I just like enjoying it. I mean when I get tired of one location I can just ask Cheshire to swap it out with something else.” Trixx looked way to happy as he kept leading the other kwami down. “Heck one time Cheshire got this place called Hoenn to work and I got to sleep on the beach and everything. I keep trying to convince her to use it again.”

“Sounds… interesting.” Kaalki was sure that she would have a bigger reaction but today was too much, even for an immortal being.

“I’m sure you’ll understand once you find a location you like.” Trixx said while once again leading the other kwami. “Come on I’m sure she is right down here.” Heading downstairs they found the girl had turned on the tv which was now playing a clip of the fight. “Hey Marinette I would like to introduce you to Kaalki.” Marinette? Marinette, Max’s classmate was Cheshire.

“Oh, nice to meet you.” Marinette held out her hand with a bright smile. Kaalki looked close but couldn’t see a hint of deception in her smile. Then again what did they have to hide?

“So you’re the black cat.” Kaalki said not trying to hide their hostility. “I admit I was expecting someone a bit more imposing.” Trixx flinched while Marinette only seemed to deflate a little. “I suppose this is where you use whatever spell you used on Trixx to force me to serve you.”

“Well I might as well. I don’t want you flying off to the guardian or to Max.” Looking at the kwami Marinette relaid her order. “Kaalki I order you not to leave me and don’t try to contact anyone else.” The horse felt the magic take hold of her as she waited for more only to feel nothing. “So with that out of the way I think it’s time for a nice tea party.” Getting up Marinette made her way downstairs. “Do you have a favorite type of food?”

“They like sweet food.” Trixx informed while flying near Marinette. “So maybe some sweet tea and watermelon.”

“I doubt she will have any.” Kaalki muttered remembering how Max kept promising to get her some only to buy something else he wanted.

“Oh I think we have some in the fridge.” Marinette happily said before going over and producing the delicious red fruit. “Alright now for the tea.” Kaalki turned to look at Trixx. Was this some kinda trick? The cat had to be tricking them.

“Bread! I’m hungry!” A voice called out as Plagg made his way in. “Oh Kaalki been awhile.”

“You, you dare show your face!” The brown kwami huffed while flicking her main.

“Well how else am I supposed to get food?” Plagg questioned as if he wasn’t the most vile disgusting thing alive.

“Cheese bread or cheese slices?” Marinette asked from somewhere, Kaalki dare not take her eyes off the evil kwami.

“Hmm, I’ll take some cheese bread today.” Plagg responded while sitting down on the table. “Watermelon?” Darting forward Kaalki grabbed the container and dragged it over to her end of the table. “Really? Why would I eat that when I’m about to get cheese?”

“Because you're evil.” Kaalki matter of factly stated while letting out a huff.

“Wow such fantastic reasoning.” Plagg muttered while rolling his eyes.

“Here you guys go.” Marinette said while putting down a tray. Putting a little cup in front of Kaalki the pigtailed girl then poured them some tea. Kaalki didn’t drink until she saw the girl had put and poured everyone else drinks as well. “I hope you don’t mind sharing with Trixx.”

“...Okay.” Kaalki said while glancing at the fox who was sipping the tea happily. Daring to take a sip she found the taste nice.

“So Kaalki, I suppose now would be a chance to get to know each other.” Marinette said while taking a sip of her own tea.

Kaalki mulled it over in her own mind. Yeah this would be a good chance to find out what she was in for. “I suppose that will do.”

“Great!” Marinette said with a big smile. The girl waited a few seconds before indicating towards the brown kwami. Oh so they were giving her a chance to ask first.

“How did you get that ring?” Kaalki asked while grabbing a watermelon piece.

“Oh I want to know that too!” Trixx jumped in with a smile. Giving both a smile Marinette looked down and brought out the ring from where it was hanging from her neck. Giving the ring a found look as well as a soft pet the girl told of how she found the ring as well as her meeting with Plagg.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Master Fu had to restrain himself from shaking. How/what could he do? Not only had they lost another miraculous to the cat but the evil vile cat had also shown off more power. “What do we do now master?” Wayzz asked while sitting there sadly.

“We need to get into contact with Adrien.” Fu swallowed the lump in his throat. It might take a day or two but he would talk to Adrien about how to proceed. But how could they proceed? Could he hand out another miraculous? No, the risk was too great. He had acted rashly last time. Maybe a new, younger outlook will help. “Have you told the others?”

“I haven’t yet.” Wayzz told the guardian with a sigh.

“Take your time.” Fu said while patting his friend on the head. “I will fix this if it is the last thing I do.” He couldn’t fail again. Walking forward Fu whispered a prayer for luck. They needed it now more than ever.

“Welcome back to the show Alya.” A voice said from the television. Sucking in a breath, Fu turned to see the news. “It seems you have some footage for us today.”

“Yes I do.” The, at this point, familiar red haired girl said while looking a bit uncomfortable. Nadja just gave a comforting look. “Let’s just say that today's Akuma was a bit of a shock.” Fu took a breath as he watched the video showing the akuma fight from the stands. It was obvious who the akuma was so when they were de-akumatized his identity was exposed.

“Wow that was quite a shock to say the least.” The newscaster said, looking at the camera. “We have reached out to the victim for further talking but while he and his mother have allowed us to use the footage we do not have an interview with them.” Fu let out another tired sigh sitting down.

This was a mess, a mess that he had caught Max up in. Hopefully the boy would survive this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaalki flew back into Garfont Village with conflicting feelings. The hour or so she spent with Marinette had been good, too good. This had to be a trick of some kind, an act. “See I told you that you would like her!” Trixx proudly followed after the horse.

“I take it that Cheshire left for her patrol?” Kaalki questioned while taking time to examine the surroundings.

“Against both mine and Plagg’s advice she did.” Trixx said while fluttering down. “But she insisted on making sure that everyone was aware that Max no longer has your miraculous and to leave him alone.”

“What type of act is this? What is she hoping to accomplish by acting so nice!” Kaalki shouted having reached the end of her patience.

“Trust me it’s no act.” Trixx said, sounding happy. “The girl is really that nice.”

“No, cat’s are evil!” Kaalki pointed out the obvious.

“Exactly!” Trixx said while flying closer to the brown kwami. “That’s why we need to get her to the guardian.”

“What?”

“Fu would be able to help her!” Trixx reasoned with wide violet eyes. “If we could just convince her to work with the master then we could add a powerful ally.”

“Really?” Kaalki tried to sound disbelieving but it made sense. Plus there was no way that anyone could trick the fox. So if Trixx was vouching for them…

“Yeah! Plus if we could convince her to visit him then we also end the legacy of the black cat!” Trixx smirked at the horse who seemed to be thinking over what the other one had said. It sounded like a good plan on paper.

“Okay,” Trixx let out a happy noise while clapping their paws. Hopefully this wouldn’t be too hard. Plus if they pulled it off then they both could be reunited with the others without any fighting. Happy endings all around. Yeah, that sounded nice. But in the meantime, “So what else is here? You said there was stuff outside this village?”

“Oh you're going to love it! Come on, there is a big open field this way!” With that Trixx started showing the horse kwami around.

Chapter 19

Marinette walked to school the next day trying to keep her breathing steady. She felt exposed in a way she wasn’t used to. She had swapped out Trixx’s miraculous for Kaalki’s. She had originally wanted to just take Trixx but he said that she should get used to having Kaalki around. So with a bit of hesitation the girl had swapped the miraculous within the cube. The glasses had turned pink upon her putting them on and then she found a place to put them. Kaalki had then helped pick out which treats to take with her to school. Sugar cubes, the horse had chosen sugar cubes. That had caused a small laugh from the girl while Kaalki looked unapologetic.

Though she did take a few extra steps making sure they were hidden. The girl was happy to discover she just had to keep them near her and not put them on. So after a bit of digging she came upon a nice glasses case to keep them in.

Getting to the locker room Marinette opened her locker getting ready to drop off her backpack only to feel two large hands on her back. With a firm push she was suddenly smushed in her locker. Before she could take a step back a loud slamming let her know that her locker door was now closed. “Looks like you are in a pretty bad situation Marinette.” Kim’s voice came from outside her locker. “I could help you but you would need to do a favor for me.”

“What do you want Kim?” Marinette asked while trying to move within the cramped space.

“I want you to give up your position for the tournament.” Really?

“Alright I’ll give it up.” Not hearing anything Marinette was about to say something before Kim’s voice came back.

“No I want you to say: ‘I Marinette Dupain-Cheng, hereby forfeit my spot in the torment’.” Marinette furrowed her brows for a second before letting out a sigh.

“I Marinette Dupain-Cheng, hereby forfeit my spot in the torment.” Marinette waited another second before feeling something grab her and roughly pull her out. Landing on the floor the girl got to her feet and looked up to see Kim putting away his phone. The boy didn’t even look at her as he walked toward the classroom.

“Stop laying around like the piece of trash you are Dupain-Cheng.” Chloe’s mocking voice called out to her as she passed her. Marinette made her way to her feet.

“Well at least I don’t have to worry about practicing for the tournament anymore.” Having gotten to her feet the girl grabbed a few things she would need while leaving the rest in the locker. “You guys alright?” Marinette questioned looking down in her bag.

“How could he have done that to you?” Kaalki asked, a little mad.

“We're good Pigtails.” Plagg said, giving her a small wave. “Don’t worry about explaining I’ll take care of it.” With a nod Marinette closed her purse before steadying herself.

With a breath Marinette walked towards her class noticing a bit of pain from parts of her body. “Did Kim have to shove so hard?” The girl muttered before entering the classroom. In the classroom most of her classmates were gathered around Max asking questions. It seems that with him being outed as a holder the glasses wearing boy's popularity had shot up.

So without saying anything to anybody Marinette walked over to her seat in the back and sat down. “Settle down class.” Miss Bustier said upon entering the class. “I know the events of yesterday were quite shocking but life carries on.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes before hearing the chair next to her move. Turning she saw Alya sit down next to her with a smile. Giving a returning smile Marinette turned to see what they would be learning today. As they sat Marinette noticed Alya and Alix texting each other about something. Marinette wondered about what they were talking about but kept it to herself.

Soon lunch time came and Alix stomped up to Alya. “Can you believe the things Max was saying?” Alix then took on a mocking tone. “Oh the being that gave me power told me of the history of the black cat.”

“Yeah what was that about?” Alya questioned getting into the talk. Meanwhile Marinette just ate her prepared lunch. Sure they were technically talking about her but it wasn’t her concern.

“I have no idea! I mean you think somebody as smart as Max would do his own research.” Alix huffed while taking a bite of her sandwich. “I mean come on!”

The two delved into their own little world while Marinette just stayed to the side listening to them. She slightly listened to them but was broken out when a cough was heard from the side. Turning the three of them saw Chloe and Sabrina standing to the side. “What is going on here?”

“We’re eating lunch?” Alya asked as if it was obvious while Alix held her breath.

“I was just talking to Alya.” Alix responded while trying to keep her voice low. Chloe gave her a look before nudging her head. Alix took that as a que to take a few steps back and leave. “I’ll talk to you later Als.”

“Dupain,” Chloe said while turning her head towards the girl, “I graciously came to inform you that Max has taken your slot in the gaming tournament thing.” Marinette wondered why she personally came to inform her of this but decided not to respond.

“Great message delivered, you can leave now!” Alya huffed while waving the blonde off. Chloe gave her a look before returning the look to Marinette.

“You should know that Adrien is happy you left!” Of course he was, Marinette looked down at her food. She should have known that Chloe’s friend was faking his excitement. “Oh and he showed me that childish lucky charm you made.” That caused Marinette to freeze. Adrien did have it, and he had shown it off to Chloe. The blonde girl let out a cruel laugh. “I can’t believe you still believe in stuff like that! Do you also have lucky socks or something.” Sabrina joined in with the laughter as the two left. “Come on Sabrina we better leave before the baby cries.”

With that parting shot Chloe left the two. “What is that girl's problem!” Alya cried while glaring at the retreating blonde.

“I wish I knew.” Marinette muttered to herself putting her lunch away. She wasn’t hungry anymore. “She used to be so nice.”

“What?” Alya asked, turning to her BFF in shock. Marinette only gave a sad shake of her head. Honestly the raven haired girl had put too much thought into what might have happened to her former friend and she was tired of blaming herself. After all she couldn’t think of anything she could have done to deserve everything Chloe had done to her. Alya though didn’t look convinced, she narrowed her eyes as a low hum left her throat.

“So, I saw you on TV yesterday!” Marinette happily changed the topic. Alya didn’t seem to want to change the topic but did indulge in a bit of ego stroking.

~~~~~~~~~

Chloe wanted to grit her teeth but kept herself in check. She was better than that, she wouldn’t let that girl get the better of her. She needed to teach her a lesson along with bringing her friend under her control. “Sabrina!”

“Here!” The girl obediently responded from right beside her. The girl had been a nice find and had proven herself as a good investment time and time again.

“Find me everything you can about Cesaire!” Chloe snapped her fingers and Sabrina already had the tablet Chloe had gifted her. “I want it before the end of the school day!” Seeing the girl twitch slightly Chloe rolled her eyes as she brought out a nice looking scarf. Sabrina let out a gasp at seeing the cute item.

“I’ll have it done.” Sabrina gave a nod while running off.

Chloe just gave a nod while turning around to head back towards her Adrikins. “Hey Chloe!” Kim called before she could sit down. The boy walked towards her with a somewhat strained smile. “Thanks for your help getting Max into the competition.”

“You're welcome,” Chloe said while rolling her eyes, ugh did she have to endure anymore of this. “You did well getting that recording.” There she had given him the praise he needed. Looking at the boy she saw that he still looked unsure, it seems that he needed a bit extra today. “I’m sure your friend Kante appreciates what you did.”

“Yeah,” Kim said while looking at his friend who was talking to a few of his classmates. “He’s looking forward to the tournament.”

“See it was all worth it!” Chloe pointed out while trying to make her way back towards her Adrikins. Kim just gave a nod while walking back toward his friend, boyfriend(?), honestly Chloe had no idea nor did she care. As long as the boy stayed under her thumb. Maybe she should remind him of what she could do? Maybe update the pool equipment or something?

“Hey Chloe, how did it go?” Nino asked when she sat down at the table.

“Oh, Dupain-Cheng took the news as expected.” Chloe answered as vaguely as possible.

“Oh?” Adrien asked while looking up. It had taken a bit of work from her but Chloe had convinced Gabriel to let her dear Adrikins eat lunch with them at least once or twice a week.

“Don’t worry I got it all sorted out.” Chloe dismissively waved it away. Honestly she didn’t get why Adrien was so fixated on the girl. Some people would ask the same question of her but at least Chloe had the excuse of them being rivals and she very much doubted that Adrien Agreste would in any way consider someone so lowly as Dupain-Cheng a rival of any sorts.

“So… What do you guys think of Max having been Pegasus?” Nino asked, causing Chloe to roll her eyes. It was obvious that he was just doing it to change the topic.

“Honestly I think it’s really neat to have a superhero classmate.” Adrien gave a smile while seeming a bit confused at the sudden change.

Zoning out of the conversation Chloe thought of what to do going forward. First was of course putting Dupain-Cheng back in her place. To do that she would have to get Cesaire under control. But how could she do that? Chloe wouldn’t report to her mother that she had failed.

She still remembered when her mother had told her how important it was to not only defeat but utterly destroy your rival. So young Chloe wanting to please her mother had determined who her rival would be. It was easy to figure out, there was only one other student who showed any interest in fashion. So with steel and a fiery determination the young blonde had gone about her mission of destroying her rival.

When the girl had told her mom the work had been worth it. She had gotten praised! Her mother had said something nice to her! The warm feeling had made all the work worth it! Her mother had then turned and asked how she planned to keep her rival in line? After all it isn’t true victory until your rival is truly gone. Taking the words to heart Chloe double downed on keeping her rival in line.

Taking a bite from her sandwich the girl mulled over the various bits of praise she had worked hard to get but each time it was more and more worth it. She had a relationship with her mom because of all this work. She couldn’t back down now, plus this would make for a great story to tell her mother.

“Chloe!” Sabrina cried for her attention near the end of the day. “I have all the information you wanted.”

“About time.” Chloe whined while bringing out her own tablet. Looking through what Sabrina wrote about the girl. Seeing that Sabrina was still around she raised an eyebrow. “Was there anything else?”

“Ah! Um, the items you ordered have arrived.” Sabrina whispered, making sure nobody overheard. Chloe just gave a nod before turning to leave. She had a bit of homework to do. But by the end of it she would have a reporter brought into her fold and get to watch as her rival took yet another blow. Plus her Misterbug items had arrived, so she could do some goofing around with them. Yup things were looking up for her, and all it took was grinding one lowly baker's daughter below her nice gold heel.

Notes:

Sorry about the short chapter but work is picking up so I have less time to write. But here we have the explanation for Chloe. She is just taking down her rival and keeping her classmate in line. The reason she is doing it is because it is the only thing her mother will praise her for. As for how she is keeping her classmates in line it is through gifts and soft manipulations.

Chapter 20

Alya made her way to school, thoughts racing around her mind. How could Chloe be so mean and cruel to Marinette? Heck dial it back, how could any of her classmates be mean to her BFF?

On her first day of school she had seen how the others had treated the raven haired girl. So Alya being the great person she was, the reporter had decided to befriend the bullied girl. What a great friendship this had bloomed into. The two had hit it off well enough and they became good friends. But it was later that day that Alya had heard the rumors about Marinette. There were so many that it was almost impossible to keep track of them. But that didn’t matter to the reporter because she did what nobody else did, she checked her sources.

Marinette was nothing like the rumors said. Heck the girl was one of nicest people she knew. So that raised the question of why everyone was going out of their way to bully her? Well she had a partial answer to that. It happened after her second day of school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Dudete can I talk to you for a second?” Nino had approached her in the locker room.

“Sure, what do you wanna talk about cappy?” Alya asked while turning around to look at the boy. The boy seemed a bit nervous and was constantly turning his head as if expecting someone to approach.

“I just wanted to warn you.” The boy said but seem to backpedal the second he saw Alya give a slightly threatening look. “No, no I promise I’m not the one planning things! I just wanted to warn you about hanging out with Marinette.”

“Oh?” Now this caught her attention. “Are you worried about me being bullied?” The boy seemed to shift a little before looking over towards the door again.

“No, I’m worried about what she might do to you.” Nino muttered and Alya was sure she wasn’t supposed to hear him. “Listen, just stay away from her okay?” Alya just gave a noncommittal hum. But seeing that he had given her his advice the boy left.

“What ‘she’ might do, ay?” Alya questioned aloud. Now this sounded juicy. Something to investigate in between akuma attacks. So investigate she did. Honestly it was pretty easy to uncover who the ring leader was. Sitting in the middle of the web of bullying sat Chloe Bourgeois. Like a character from a typical highschool drama the girl had wormed her way into controlling all of her classmates.

So this just left the question of why? Why would Chloe go so far out of her way to destroy Marinette’s life? Now that question drove her into a new rabbit hole. A rabbit hole that she hadn’t even begun to dig into. She had tried to bring up the topic with Marinette but after seeing her BFF freeze up Alya had dropped anything to do with it.

“How to get to the bottom of this?” The reporter asked while trying to think of how to accomplish her goal. Looking at her phone she saw that this morning's akuma attack was wrapping up. “Can’t believe they attacked when I was already at school.” Letting out a sigh Alya thought of how she missed another chance to see Cheshire in action. Oh well people would probably be posting online soon. It was a second later that a wave of black was seen in the distance indicating that Cheshire had been on the scene. Misterbug was also reported on scene so there was that.

“Just a reminder class but today you will need your Chemistry textbook.” Miss Mendeleiev reminded the class while checking her phone. “Hopefully students will be coming in soon.”

Trying not to cause a scene Alya crept out of her seat Alya made her way back towards her locker to grab the book. Arriving Alya turned the corner and instantly slammed herself back against the wall while covering her mouth. This was a revelation, a truly shocking revelation! Who could she talk to?

Marinette? No, she knew how the girl felt about Chloe so that was out. Alix? She was friendly enough with the girl. Stopping at seeing a red cap nearby Alya saw Nino walk by. She wasn’t particularly close to the boy but he might just make due. He seemed nice enough. So as the cap wearing boy walked by Alya reached out and grabbed him pulling the boy into a nook. “I need to talk to you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a groan as she finally got back to school. The akuma had been an annoying teleporter so it had taken a while for her to corner them. Turns out that he could only teleport to where he could see so stealing the lucky charm from Misterbug she blinded the akuma and broke his object. Misterbug caught the akuma and had then used the ladybugs to fix all the damages done. Misterbug had then taken the chance to ask her for all of her miraculous. Giving some witty banter about asking for a trade the girl had then turned her attention to the victim to try and comfort him.

This led to her now sitting exhausted in class. Why didn’t she just take Plagg’s advice and skip class? Oh right Kaalki said that she had responsibilities and homework due. Why couldn’t she have kept Trixx with her today. Trixx would have sided with Plagg and the girl would have had a clear conscience about skipping today. So taking the chance during lunch Marinette texted Alya letting her know she was heading home for lunch.

“Ugh, why is being a hero so hard?” Marinette questioned while laying down on her bed. None of the kwamis gave her answer but Trixx did come out of the cube to say hi.

“Better than being a villain.” Plagg reassured while going to the minifridge. “Trust me on that one.”

“Oh if it's coming from you then it must be a fact.” Kaalki huffed out at him. Plagg didn’t give her a response but instead just rolled his eyes before going back to eating his cheese.

“So how did your gaming sesion go?” Marinette asked Trixx while bringing the fox kwami close to her.

“Great! I’m close to getting one hundred percent.” Trixx happily told her while settling down in the nook of her neck. “But enough about me, how about you just take a nice nap. We’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

“*Yawn* Sounds good.” Marinette mumbled while burrowing into her bed a bit. “Wake me if anything happens.”

Waiting a few moments to make sure she was asleep Trixx flew off the girl and towards the others with a frown on his face. “Alright, what happened?” He asked upon arriving in front of the other two kwamis.

“What do you mean?” Plagg questioned while finishing his cheese.

“I mean why is Marinette so tired?” Trixx pressed while glaring down at Plagg. He hated having to be the responsible one, he was a kwami of trickery so responsibility wasn’t something he was accustomed to. Was it wrong that part of him hoped Marinette got either Wayzz or Tikki so he could step down?

“Stress if I had to guess.” Plagg reasoned while frowning. “The girl is waiting for some type of counterattack from the guardian plus she still has to work alongside Misterbug.”

“Perhaps it would be best for them to try a nice sit down discussion?” Kaalki offered up while taking a sitting position.

“That sounds like a good idea!” Trixx nodded his approval at the idea.

“Yeah wonderful idea.” Plagg sarcastically mocked. “I’m sure bread would just love to sit down and talk with the person who attacked her right after saying they were partners.” Both Trixx and Kaalki flinched at that. “Not to mention it would be the perfect chance for him to set up a trap and finally capture her. I don’t even want to think what the guardian would do to her once he finally captures her.”

“He only wants the ring, I’m sure he would never harm Marinette.” Kaalki firmly stated while glaring at Plagg.

“Oh so I suppose that time where he launched his shield at her was as soft as a feather?”

“He did what!” Kaalki looked shocked at this information. The black and orange kwami traded looks while trying to figure who would tell the orange kwami.

Before anyone could say anything a catchy tune played from the computer. “Wha?” Marinette asked while crawling down from her bed. “What are you guys playing?”

“Nothing.” Trixx said as her computer turned on and showed her principal alongside an akuma. “Oh this doesn't look good.”

“I'm Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth! For our first exposé, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you. So, Mr. Damocles, is it true you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?” The akuma now identified as Lady Wifi questioned the trapped principal.

The four watching let out gasps of shock at what they heard. “Wait, is that!” Marinette pointed to the paw print charm hanging off the phone. “Oh no! Plagg we have work to do!”

“Whoa hold up bread!” Plagg shouted flying in front of her. “Are you sure you're up for this?”

“I just got my second wind! Now let's head out, Plagg Claws Out!” With a flash of green Cheshire stood proud in her room. “Now where to find my friend?”

“Next up on the Lady Wifi show I will expose Misterbug’s identity to all of Paris!” Lady Wifi said to the screen before disappearing in a flash of purple light.

“Oh now that is a scoop I have to be there for.” Cheshire joked while looking at the two remaining kwamis. “So either of you want to volunteer to head out with me?” The two looked between each other before Kaalki jumped forward.

“If she is going to be teleporting around then I will help even the battlefield more.” Kaalki explained while Cheshire nodded.

“Sounds like a plan.” Looking at the remaining kwami, Cheshire pulled out a phone. “Here Trixx, keep us updated if anything happens.”

“Will do.” Trixx says while giving her a salute. “Stay safe!”

“Always do,” Cheshire hopped out onto the streets before pausing. “Now what?” As she was looking around though the cat spotted the spotted hero swinging around. “Well thank you universe.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien arrived at a roof near the hotel before whipping out his yoyo. With a quick flick of his finger the top separated activating the phone section. Using the camera application he zoomed into the room. “Still playing dress up.” Watching Chloe Misterbug saw her trying to use the yoyo. “Alright now I just need to wait for Lady Wifi.”

“So are you just going to spy on girls the entire time?” A mocking voice asked behind him. Turning he saw Cheshire right beside him. When did she get so close. The boy was about to scream but the other miraculous user was quick to cover his mouth. “Shh, we don’t want to alert anyone to our presence.” Thinking fast Adrien brought up his yoyo and took a picture of the girl. Being temporarily blinded by the flash Cheshire let go of the boy while rubbing her eyes. “Ahh! Why would you do that?”

“Well how else was I supposed to respond to you covering my mouth?” Misterbug snipped at her while glaring at her.

“I thought we had some kinda akuma truce or something?” Cheshire shot back while shooting him a glare. Misterbug flinched at the reminder of The Gamer. Was the truce still in effect?

“If it is still in effect then why did you steal Max’s miraculous!”

“Becuase leaving it with him would have been beyond stupid.” Cheshire flatly responded while glaring at him. “What are we even doing here?”

Adrien just grumbled at her point about Max’s miraculous. “The person akumatized is the reporter Alya. For some reason she was under the assumption that Chloe is actually me.”

“What? How did she get that assumption?” Cheshire asked, looking between the girl who couldn’t seem to get the yoyo untangled and the ‘hero’ beside her. Misterbug just gave an awkward shrug of his shoulders. Letting out a sigh while facepalming Cheshire slowly shook her head. “Someone needs to talk to that girl about jumping to conclusion.”

“Well I have been meaning to talk to her…” Misterbug commented while turning back to watching Chloe. The girl gave up on her yoyo and picked up her phone. “So I guess you want to keep the akuma truce going?” Cheshire didn’t answer though as she made her way to the hotel.

“It’s time for the world to meet the ‘man’ beneath the mask!” Lady Wifi’s voice came from the room ahead of them. Having caught up to Cheshire the two burst in through the door, shocking the akuma. “What is going on here!”

“Oh nothing much, it just seems that somebody jumped to conclusions.” Misterbug stated while bringing out his yoyo. “So how about you hand over your akuma and I will give you an interview.”

“No, I think I’ll just get my answers with my own hands!” Lady Wifi was quick to go on the attack throwing glowing pink symbols from her phone.

Cheshire grabbed Misterbug and dragged him out into the hallway. “Come on, I have a plan.”

“Care to share your plan?” Misterbug asked while they entered the stairwell. The akuma was quick to follow them, throwing her attacks.

“She seems to get her powers from her phone. If we can get her down to the basement, that should cut off her power.” Cheshire explained letting go of Misterbug the cat turned round the corner of the steps only for the akuma to stop following them after a certain point. “Oh, it seems the akuma prepared for this possibility.” Cheshire didn’t waste any time as she made her way upstairs.

“I hate having to fight intelligent villains.” Misterbug muttered while rounding to see that some of the doors were locked. “Looks like they have a plan.”

“Yeah, they laid out quite a nice trap to cat-ture us.” Cheshire pointed at the only door that wasn’t locked. “I’m almost paw-sitive that Wifi has laid out some sort of trap for us.”

“Seems that we might have no choice but to spring it.” Misterbug commented while getting ready to bust through the door. Cheshire got to the other side of the door as the two looked at each other. Nodding the two burst in through the door to find an empty dining area.

“Well now, where is the guest of honor?” Cheshire questioned as she started a slow walk into the room. A flash of purple light came from one of the phones as the akuma appeared. “Whoa there!” Cheshire lunged to the side avoiding the launched pink lights.

“Hey now brown cow, I thought I was the one you were after.” Misterbug tossed his yoyo, ensnaring the villain in the wire.

“Sorry but the citizens of Paris are more interested in their cat protector than an annoying bug.” Lady Wifi flatly said before disappearing in another flash of light.

“Well how about an interview for your blog Alya.” Cheshire offered while swiping at the nearby table. Misterbug watched as the phone that was on the table smashed into a wall destroying it. Getting the idea Misterbug launched his yoyo destroying another phone.

“Sorry cat but Alya is disconnected, only Lady Wifi remains.” Lady Wifi said while reappearing from another phone. The akuma was about to begin her attack again only to stop as she noticed Cheshire bring out her baton and smash a phone. The akuma let out an annoyed sound while running to the kitchen.

“You're not getting away!” Misterbug was quick to follow the akuma into the kitchen and was quicker to dodge the attack. Though it was obvious what her goal was, because the door now had a glowing pause button floating in front of it. “Well now we're both not getting away.”

“Oh don’t worry I’ll let you go when I get my answer.” Lady Wifi didn’t even give him a chance to catch his breath as she continued her attack. Misterbug let out a gunt as he grabbed a pan to block the attempted attack before throwing it. He then used the second that the attack bought him the superhero lunged at the akuma only for her to disappear in a burst of light. Although the second he got to his feet the ladybug user found one of his hands locked in place. Turning Misterbug was horrified to see a glowing pink lock symbol was now keeping his arm in place. Barely a second later his other arm was being locked in place. “Well time to get one of the answers everyone is dying to know.” Swiping on the phone a pink camera icon appeared by him.

 

“How old is Ash Ketchem?” Misterbug asked while his mind ran through what he could possibly do. Glancing at the door, part of him hoped to see Cheshire burst through.

“What?” The akuma looked very confused before the butterfly mask flashed on her face. “Right, need to focus. Now how about we see who is behind the mask.” Reaching forward the akuma made an attempt to remove his mask only for it to remain firmly on his face. “What the heck! How is it still on?”

“Magic, I don’t have to explain it.” Adrien told the girl as she took a few steps back. The butterfly mask reappeared on her face as the possessed girl nodded her head. “Oh, so if I take his earrings the transformation will drop?” Before she could act though a small ding was heard. Both turned in time to see the service elevator open and revive Cheshire.

“Hi~” The cat hero greeted as she got out of the elevator. “It’s nice to see all of you.”

“Well if it isn’t Cheshire.” Lady Wifi greeted with a sneer. “Here to save the bug?”

“Believe it or not but I am.” Cheshire walked forward while spinning her staff. “While I might not be fond of him I’m even less fond of the thought of Hawkmoth getting his hands of another miraculous.” Walking forward Misterbug saw her whisper something before some energy appeared on her hand. “Now please back down Alya, I really don’t want to fight you.”

“Well too bad for you!” Lady Wifi shouted while beginning another round of attacks. Cheshire started moving, jumping over the table and swinging by him. The akuma disappeared and reappeared by a phone. Acting quick the black cat shot her baton destroying the phone that Lady Wifi appeared from. The akuma retaliated by launching another attack that the cat was forced to maneuver around. “Stay still!”

“Look out Cheshire!” Misterbug warned partly, only partly hoping to distract her. It seemed to work as the cat glanced at him. For a brief second she recognized what he did as a blast hit her, one she could have avoided. The girl went flying into the freezer which the akuma then locked closed.

“There goes your savior.” Lady Wifi rode a bit of a high from having defeated the cat hero. But as she turned to where Misterbug was all she found was an empty wall. Misterbug was able to break out of his hold thanks to Cheshire using her Cataclysm on the symbols. He supposed he should have felt grateful but the bug themed hero really needed a distraction and this was the best way he could think of. Having used the distraction from the akumas momentary victory he had found a place to hide. “Come out your coward!” Not happening, now he just needed to get a safe distance away and sumon his Lucky Charm.

~~~~~~~~~

Marinette gave a shiver as she stood up from the floor of the freezer. “Stupid bug.” The pigtailed girl muttered before spotting something near the door of the fridge. “My ring!” Pouncing on the ring Marinette was quick to slide it back on.

“Hey, no big movements there, bread.” Plagg said from his spot in the freezer. “We might be in here for a while.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Kaalki proudly flew from Marinette’s purse. “Now if you would done my miraculous I think it is time for us to assist in the defeat of Lady Wifi.”

“I think we assisted enough.” Plagg muttered while rubbing himself to get some warmth. “I say we go home, grab some nice snacks, wrap ourselves in the most comfortable blankets we can, then sleep the rest of the day away.” Hmm, that idea sounds nice but…

“Alya needs my help, I’m not letting my best friend down.” Marinette said while whipping out her glasses. Already she could envision her hero costume along with a fairly simple and straightforward plan for victory. “Plagg, take a break. Kaalki and I have it from here. Kaalki Full Gallop!” With a wave of magic she felt the power of the new miraculous take hold.

Looking down she saw that her suit was primarily black with only a few white spots. The suit was styled after traditional horse riding clothes with her hair in a high ponytail and had turned pitch black while she also had two horse ears. Near her neck was an upside down horseshoe. “Alright time to get out of here.” Knightmare said with a nod. “Voyage!” Throwing the portal forward the horse hero ran through while Plagg grabbed on.

“So what’s the plan kid?” Plagg asked while they arrived on top of the roof. “I don’t think the akuma is up here.”

“Nope but the antenna is up here.” Knightmare pointed out while grabbing the horseshoe weapon. “If Lady Wifi disconnected Alya then Knightmare is gonna disconnect her!” With that the horse hero swiped at the antenna with all her might. The poor object stood no chance against the horseshoe as it broke. “Well let’s go see how bugaboy is doing.”

“Yeah we might need to rescue him.” Plagg jokes while his chosen just gave an affectionate roll of her eyes.

“Already did that once today. Now hold on, I think it’s time to see how fast I can go with Kaalki.” Plagg flew into her hair. The hero of Paris took a calming breath before flinging the door open and charging forward. Within the first few seconds the difference between the cat and the horse was obvious. She was fast, she wasn’t quite as flexible but the power flowing through her legs definitely made up for it. It was barely a minute before she made her way to where Misterbug had just got the phone from Lady Wifi. Smashing the phone on the ground he caught the akuma.

“Bye bye butterfly.” Misterbug said while releasing the now pure white butterfly. Leaning down he picked up a red and black bouncy ball. “Miraculous Misterbug!” Once the ladybugs had flown everywhere Marinette dashed forward to check on Alya.

“Hey are you okay?” Knightmare leaned down to check on the reporter who was blinking in confusion.

“What am I doing here?” Alya asked trying to get her bearings.

“You were akumatized but don’t worry, it’s all okay now.” Locking eyes with her bff she tried to convey that everything was okay. But the second Alya was okay she let out a gasp while jumping to grab her phone.

“OMG, are you Cheshire using the horse power!” Alya turned on a dime while getting a picture.

“Yup, you can call me Knightmare.” Playing it up a little the girl struck a few mock poses. The two were distracted for a moment by a cough from the bug in the room. “Oh I guess I should thank both of you.”

“You're very welcome.” Misterbug said while giving a bright smile. Twin beeps were heard from both Misterbug’s and Knightmare’s miraculous. “Oh I would love to stay around and help but I’ve got to Bug Out.” With that he ran out of the room, probably only having two or three minutes left.

“How long do you think he spent coming up with that?” Knightmare whispered to the reporter. Alya just gave a shrug while looking at her phone. The girl perked up while letting out a small smile. “Something up?”

“Oh I just got some texts from my friend. I thought she was ignoring me but it just turns out that service was turned off in her area.” Alya sounded very relieved by this and the hero made a mental note to reward Trixx. “I should call her soon.”

“You should contact your parents first.” Knightmare shifted awkwardly trying to delay Alya from calling, at least until she got home. “Well I hate to leave you like this but I only have a few minutes left.”

“Yeah I should be okay.” Alya gave a nod. Marinette was quick to get up at hearing another beep. Knightmare burst out of the room and made her way to a place where she could detransform in peace. She needed to get home and ready to receive her BFF’s call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you Mom.” Alya let out a sigh. It wasn’t quite the best day for her. Not only had she made a fool of herself in front of her class but she had also cost her mother part of a day at work. The only small consolation prize she got was calling her principal out for unfairly suspending her. Plus her akuma form had been smart enough to record everything to the Wonderblog so she at least still got footage. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can sort everything out with the school. See you soon Mom”

“Oh, I’m sure we can.” A cold voice behind Alya said after the reporter hung up. Turning the reporter saw a slightly annoyed looking blonde. “You know I suppose it is time we had a talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Oh don’t worry, all you need to say is ‘yes Chloe’.” Chloe flipped her hair out of the way while walking forward. “And don’t worry about saying the next line of asking why you would say that because I’m going to tell you why you are going to say that. Because unlike you I did my research on you.” Alya felt her blood boil at the comment. Who did this girl think she was! “First let’s start with your suspension. You could maybe undo it thanks to forcing a confession from Damocles but you know I could probably put pressure on him to find another reason to suspend you.”

Alya grit her teeth while glaring at the blond who was just babbling away. This girl was truly a horrible villain. “So I’ll be generous and say we are at a stalemate. But then we have the interesting part, your mother and father.” At this the redhead's blood ran cold. “Your mom works for a really nice hotel. It would be such a shame if she lost the job and got blacklisted from working in the field. Then there is your father who works at the zoo. Would be a shame if some of the funding was cut and layoffs occurred.” Alya felt beads of cold sweat falling down her neck. No this girl wasn’t a villain she was without a doubt a supervillain. “What about your sister? It would be a shame if her favorite gym closed down.”

“What do you want!” Alya ground out between her teeth. She wanted nothing more than to punch this stupid blond right in her dumb smug face.

“Oh don’t play dumb Cesaire you must know what I want.” Chloe rolled her eyes while walking around the reporter.

“...You want me to join you in bullying Marinette.”

“Yes I want your help in putting Dupain-Cheng in her place.” Chloe had finished her circle around the other girl. “I think you’ll find there are many benefits to working with me then against me.” Alya couldn’t answer as she just glared at the dumb blonde. Heck she was putting out such negative emotions she was sure that if Hawky hadn’t already akumatized two people already today that she would have one here right now.

“Alya!” Turning Alya saw her mother walking in with some other members of the crew. “Alya are you okay?” Her mother was already looking over her daughter from head to toe.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Alya lied while a pit of dread formed in her stomach. What was going to do? What could she do? She doubts she could tell her mother, she doubts Chloe would let her tell anyone. Turning she saw said brat looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Can you please just take me home?”

“Of course dear.” Her mother was quick to wrap her in a hug while stroking her hair. “I’ll walk you home.” The mother and daughter walked out of the hotel and towards their home. Alya ignored her phone all the way home, not having the energy to deal with it right now. Right now all her energy was being focused on what to do.

Her mother loved her job. She remembered the day her mother got the job, how excited the woman was. Heck they moved to Paris for the job. This was her mother’s dream job, and now it was being threatened by a stupid blond mean rich girl. Heck just to double down on her awfulness the stupid girl then proceeded to threaten her father and older sister! And for what? Some stupid probably petty gudge!

Arriving home the girl was quick to be wrapped in a group hug from her other family members. After over an hour of being comforted by her family the girl walked into her room and finally dared to look at her phone. Most of the notifications were from the Wonderblog but what drew her attention were the missed call calls from Marinette along with texts from her BFF… along with a single text. Do you accept?

Those three words literally held so much power over her. But what choice did she have? Looking out her door at where her mother was talking and serving dinner to her family the red haired girl looked down at her phone and sent a single text back.

Notes:

Don't expect another Akuma focused chapter for awhile. The next few chapters are going to focus more on the characters and set up. Plus I'm still trying to figure out which miraculous would be most fun to hand out and then be taken.

Chapter 21

Adrien arrived home five minutes before his chinese lesson and ten seconds before his transformation ended. When the transformation ended Tikki emerged the little kwami let out a mighty yawn before giving Adrien a warm smile. “We did good today Tikki.” Adrien told her, returning her smile with one of his own.

“That’s great Adrien!” Tikki encouraged him while gliding down to grab a cookie. “I’m sure Alya is very grateful to you!”

“Yeah I’m sure she was.” Adrien did have to wonder why Lady Wifi’s powers suddenly got cut off. The girl was just about to get him again but then suddenly her powers were just gone. Reaching into his pocket Adrien brought out the lucky charm he was gifted and he could feel his smile sofen. Maybe it was done charging up and was helping him now.

“Adrien,” Nathalie called from his door, “your regular tutor couldn’t make it so he sent a friend to replace him.” While saying this she entered the room followed by a short older man wearing a hawain shirt. “You shall treat him as expected.”

“Thank you Nathalie.” Adrien told the secruitary who didn’t even look up at him as she busied herself with work on her tablet. The woman didn’t even say goodbye but instead chose to leave. “Hello, my name is Adrien, I’ll be in your care.”

“Hello Adrien, it is nice to finally meet you.” The old man said while walking forward. “Oh I see you have been providing quite well for Tikki.” The aged man picked up one of the cookies with a knowing smile. Adrien froze where he was standing and looked at the man who was sitting on his coach. “Oh you seem a bit shocked.”

“Hello Master.” Tikki greeted the man, flying out from hiding.

“Master?” Adrien questioned feeling like pieces were falling into place.

“You can call me Fu.” The now introduced Fu said, giving the boy a smile. “I am the current Guardian of the Miraculous.”

Adrien stared at him for a long moment before looking down at the lucky charm sitting in his hand. “Did I supercharge this?” More importantly, how was Marinette doing without it? Shaking his head Adrien turned the thoughts away from his adorable classmate and onto what was currently happening. “So I’m guessing there is a reason you showed yourself now?”

“Yes, I would have preferred meeting you after you had time to adjust more but circumstances have forced my hand.” Fu gave a grave nod of his head. “It is time for me to start furthering your training.” Adrien felt his excitement bubbling up. Sure that means more of his already limited time being taken up but it was superhero training! “But first we should focus on some tutoring.” At that comment Adrien felt some of his excitement fade away. Right, that was what the man came here for.

After some tutoring Adrien and Fu had to part ways but not before Fu passed him the address. “I’ll see about talking to your father about meeting at my shop for our next session.” Adrien gave a nod and smile to the man. Once he left Adrien turned to Tikki with happiness clear on his face.

“He was nice.” Adrien finally said while walking back to the couch.

“He is a very good person.” Tikki agreed with a nod.

Adrien felt rejuvenated after the meeting and felt like running around all of Paris. “Hey Tikki, I think it is time for our patrol.” Tikki gave a nod of encouragement while also looking excited. “Tikki Spots On!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette felt her leg vibrating from where she was sitting looking at her phone. “Bread, relax. I'm sure your friend is just relaxing with her family.” Plagg assured his chosen from on top of her head.

“Yeah, you heard from the others how awful akumatization is.” Trixx added on while snuggling in the crook of her neck. “I’m sure she is having a nice dinner with her family.” Marinette gave a slow nod accepting the logic of what her friend was saying. “How about we go out for patrol?”

“Yes I agree with Trixx! Madam Marinette I think it would be best if we went out for a run.” Kaalki was quick to fly over to where they were. “I think it would be best if you were to get more used to my miraculous.”

“Yeah, yeah you guys are right.” Marinette muttered while slowing her leg down. “I’m just going to get a quick shower before we go.” The two kwamis resting on her were quick to fly off her. Watching her go, Trixx was quick to gesture towards the cube. Flying over toward the hatch Trixx looked back to see the other two following him. Flying in Trixx let the calming music of the town the cube had chosen wash over him. He was not looking forward to the following conversation.

“So I guess you wanted to talk to us about something?” Plagg was quick to cut to the chase while resting on the ledge of the clocktower.

“Well, I wanted to talk about the upcoming patrol.” Trixx also flew and landed down on the same ledge Plagg was sitting down on. “I was thinking that Marinette should take Kaalki and I with her and leave you here.” Turning his head slightly Trixx saw Kaalki also land near Trixx while looking confused. No doubt the horse kwami was shocked at the sudden change between Garfornt and Twilight.

“I’m not opposed to taking a break but I don’t think you can get that far away from your miraculous.” Plagg commented with a raised eyebrow. Here comes the hard part.

“About that,” Trixx hesitated on the next part, “I was thinking that maybe she should leave your miraculous in the cube and take mine with her.”

“WHAT!” Plagg shouted looking shocked. “Are you even realising what you are asking!”

“Yes but please hear me out.” Trixx pleaded to Plagg. “Marinette needs to get used to both of us and the best way to do that is to have our miraculous with her.”

“Listen, even if I agree to this the major problem is that pigtails will never agree to it. The girl refuses to even let the ring out of sight for more than ten seconds.” Plagg pointed out, causing Kaalki to look confused.

“Why?” The horse asked while finally taking a seat on the clocktower.

“I told you how some of her classmates like being jerks right?” Plagg asked while looking at the horse. “Well due to me being the most constant thing in her life she freaks out about losing me.”

“I see.” Kaalki muttered while looking down at the streets. The kwami had not taken the news about Marinette’s circumstances very well. Heck she hadn’t taken many things going on well. Like the fact that Max didn’t seem very upset about the loss of Kaalki and instead seemed to be enjoying the attention he was getting for being a hero. “Perhaps we could convince her to try wearing all three for a short time?”

Trixx shook his head at that suggestion. “No, that would put her at too much of a risk of passing out from exhaustion.”

“See, it is pointless.” Plagg lazly leaned against the tower with a yawn. “Trust me if I could relax and not go out for a patrol then I would be all for it.” Trixx was sure that he wasn’t being honest but the kwami wasn’t going to call him out on it.

“Well then perhaps you could be the one to suggest the idea.” Trixx said with a smile. Yeah he wasn’t going to call out the lie but he could use it to his advantage. “Marinette does need to get comfortable with being without you.” Plagg twitched at that, but didn’t respond so Trixx went on. “You two wouldn’t be apart for that long, just two or so hours.”

“Plus if anything bad happens or if she really needs your ring we are just one Voyage away.” Kaalki added while floating up from her seat. Plagg seemed to waver while his tail twitched. Trixx just needed one more push. One more solid fact or good argument and he could bring Plagg over to his side.

“Listen Plagg, don’t you think Marinette will do with some time away from you? You know, spread her wings for a bit and learn how to work with Kaalki and I if she were to get separated from your ring?”

“Why would she be separated from me?” Plagg ground out while snapping his head to glare at the fox. “What are you implying?”

“Nothing!” Trixx shouted while backing up a bit.

“You remember today?” Kaalki butted in to help the fox. Both turned toward the kwami one with a look of confusion and another of gratitude. “Your ring got knocked off by an akuma.” Plagg gave a nod showing he remembered while also giving a frown. “What if that happened in the middle of an attack? Or what about that time Trixx told me about where she didn’t have any backup food prepared for you?”

“Exactly! We should be prepared for all events or circumstances that might come up!” Trixx was quick to help the other kwami’s argument.

Plagg looked down and his tail started lashing out while bitting his lip in thought. “All right, I’ll talk to her about it but don’t expect much. Kaalki saw her back in the freezer.” Kaalki didn’t say anything but did give a nod. Trixx just let out a sigh while looking over the town that was perpetually in the golden hour.

“You know I like this place, I think we should stick with it for a while.” Trixx commented while letting the music calm him. “That or convince Marinette to pick a place where I can really dig into.”

“I honestly prefer the last location.” Kaalki admitted while settling down. “That place had way more open fields for me to run around on.”

“Honestly I can’t say what I prefer.” Plagg muttered while hunching in on himself. “I just think this is better than that white empty void Trixx described.”

“I will admit that this is a bit better.” Trixx muttered while his imagination ran wild. Once he finally got Marinette to peacefully meet up with the guardian and the two put all their silly fighting behind them he hoped to show the other kwamis this marvel. He imagined Longg soaring through the sky along with Pollen, Wayzz swimming through the oceans, all while him and the other kwamis played together. He would make it happen. He could do it, he just needed time. Time to help Marinette realize that Fu was acting out of fear and misinformation.

A ding sounded out and the three kwamis were quick to fly out of the cube and see Marinette in her pajamas smiling at them. “How did you guys like the new setting?”

“I like the view, it's very peaceful.” Trixx said while floating toward the girl.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to look around yet but it doesn’t seem to have many places for me to run freely.” Kaalki offered a light critique while taking a seat on the table.

Not hearing from Plagg, Marinette turned toward her closest friend to see him looking a bit uncomfortable. “Hey bread I have a suggestion for patrol tonight.”

“What is it?” Marinette asked while looking a bit excited, Plagg almost never offered up suggestions so it would be nice to hear.

“I was thinking that for this patrol you could leave me behind and take Trixx with you.”

“Oh? Well that doesn’t sound too bad.” Marinette shrugged before noticing the kwamis giving her a look. “What’s up, am I missing something?”

“Well you see…” Trixx awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Kwami normally can’t, or it is more accurate to say, we can’t be too far away from our miraculous for too long.”

“To take both Trixx and Kaalki with you, you would need to leave my miraculous in the cube.” At this Marinette froze up as her eyes went wide.

“Leave your…” Marinette looked a bit panicked once she processed what Plagg was suggesting. “Did I do something wrong?” Marinette sprung forward toward Plagg who jerked back in shock. Trixx and Kaalki also seemed shocked at the girls reaction. “Please tell me what I did wrong! I promise I’ll fix it, I’ll even get you that type of cheese you’ve been wanting to try! Please just tell me what I did!” Tears were barely being restrained while they stared right at the kwami in front of her.

Shooting a look at the other kwamis for help Plagg tried to calm the girl down. “You did nothing wrong, I just thought it would be best if you got used to using the other miraculous.”

“But I could just wear Trixx’s miraculous right?” Marinette begged while looking at the other kwamis. “I don’t need to take yours off right?”

“Bread…” Plagg muttered while looking at the other kwamis. Trixx looked just as heartbroken as he felt while Kaalki looked awkward. No doubt the horse didn’t think it was this bad, heck even Plagg didn’t think she was this attached to him. “Hey it is just for one patrol, okay? You can make due without me for one patrol right?” Marinette twitched at that while looking at the ring. “The second patrol is done with you can just come back and put the ring back on.”

Marinette looked for a bit longer before shaking her head. “No, no I can’t.” Her voice came out a bit weak as if she was ashamed.

“Hey it is all okay.” Plagg was quick to fly down and stroke her cheek. “It was just a suggestion, you did nothing wrong.” Marinette seemed a bit reassured at that and calmed down a bit. “Don’t worry I won’t bring it up again.” Shooting a glare at the other two kwamis he pressed it. “Nobody will bring it up.”

“Maybe you could use me tomorrow for patrol?” Trixx asked while flying near Marinette, rubbing up against her. Kaalki didn’t know what to say but also showed her support by joining in the group hug.

After a minute of calming down Marinette was finally ready to begin her patrol. Taking a deep breath Marinette called out “Kaalki, Full Gallop!” With that Knightmare and Plagg were soon out on the streets of Paris leaving Trixx behind. The fox took a deep breath before heading towards the cube. That had gone worse than how he had expected. The only saving grace he had was that Plagg hadn’t outed the idea as Trixx’s.

If the girl reacted like that to the simple idea of taking the ring off for a mere hour then how could Trixx ever get her to meet Master Fu without it. How could he go about this. In the past he was able to trick or manipulate his chosen or users to get the results that benefited both of them. Managing to get a girl together with the one she loved, making a father realize he should spend more time with his distant son, so on and so forth. But now Trixx felt like they had hit an impasse.

How could he get past Marinette’s initial meeting with Fu? The old guardian had acted in fear, was powered by adrenal no doubt and fought the young girl with everything he had. Marinette had come out of the situation with distrust for the old master which only grew with the introduction of Misterbug and Pegasus. Arriving in the cube the kwami wondered what was going through those two’s heads when they had decided to attack. Now Marinette had grown distrustful of anyone else with a miraculous with only one exception, an exception that hadn’t shown themself in awhile. Bella Blue, the user of the peacock hadn’t shown herself in a long time and while Marinette didn’t mention it obviously wore on her.

Landing on the clocktower Trixx let out a tired sigh while looking out over the sunset. What was he to do now? How could he make his dream come true? Don’t get him wrong he wasn’t giving up, Trixx never gave up. But the kwami was out of ideas of how to proceed. Maybe he just needed to change his target? Maybe find a way to contact Tikki or Wayzz and convince them to meet peacefully with Marinette? Show them that the girl wasn’t evil?

Letting out another sigh the kwami got lost in thoughts. He couldn’t do that, Marinette had given him orders not to seek out Fu or a way to contact him. “I am not paid enough for this.” Trixx muttered to himself before flying down to start exploring the town. “Maybe I should ask Marinette to buy me a new game.” With any luck Marinette would bring in another kwami that could help him with his mission. There was little doubt that the girl wouldn’t win over any kwami so there was at least a chance of reinforcements. “I wonder who she will get next?”

Chapter 22

Knightmare jumped from roof to roof trying to keep her mind focused on the patrol. It was a somewhat beautiful afternoon so it was somewhat easier to distract herself. Jumping near Alya’s house the hero saw the girl sitting down with her family eating what looked like a feast. “Good for her.” Marinette had a faint smile on her face while watching the girl. A bit of jealousy tried to work itself into her conscience but the hero pushed it down. Sure she would love to have dinner again with her parents but there was no way she was going to hold that against her friend.

Letting out a sigh, Knightmare jumped to another roof before stopping to see a kid let go of his balloon. The kid cried as the balloon floated away, so like the hero she was, the girl jumped off the roof she was on and with a flourish Knightmare grabbed the string. Landing near the mother and daughter the hero gave the wide eyed child back her balloon.

The kid gave a delighted cry and hugged the hero with a smile. “Thanks miss!”

“What are you telling me you don’t recognize me?” Knightmare teased the girl she now recognized as Manon. Nadja looked at the hero who was talking to her daughter as if trying to place her, Manon let out a hmm while giving a thinking pout. Deciding to give the girl a hint, Knightmare leaned closer while giving her signature cat-like smile.

“Cheshire!” Manon cried out while looking proud of herself.

“Correct!” Knightmare patted the girl on her head. Manon gave a cheer while Nadja took a quick picture before moving towards them. “It’s nice to see you two out here enjoying the day.”

“Yes we are enjoying some mother and daughter bonding time.” Nadja confirmed while smiling at the interaction between her daughter and the hero. “So I take it that you are using the miraculous that you acquired from Max?” It was obvious the newswomen were fishing for information.

“Yup,” Knightmare made sure to pop the p. “You can refer to me as Knightmare when I’m like this.”

“I see,” Nadja nodded while looking at the hero who was forced to pay attention again to Manon who felt like she was being ignored.

“Hey, hey, I wanted to ask you something!” Manon pulled on the hero’s suit trying to get her attention back on her. Knightmare looked down at the little girl who gave her a smile. “Can I ride on your shoulder? I want to see what it's like going really fast.”

“You would need your mom’s permission.” Knightmare told the little girl who instantly turned to her mother who shook her head.

“Sorry Manon but we have to get home.” Nadja said, which caused Manon to pout and the girl looked ready to throw a tantrum.

Having dealt with instances of this in the past Knightmare looked at Nadja with a relaxed look. “Oh, if guys get home soon I’m sure you’ll be in time to catch that new episode of Ducky Momo.” Manon’s eyes flew wide at that and dashed towards her mother to start pulling on her hand.

“Mom, we need to get home now!” Manon cried while pulling at the women who let out a laugh.

“Okay, okay, well see you later Knightmare.” Nadja gave the hero a wave as she let her daughter lead them home.

Letting out a sigh the hero looked around noticing a few civilians attracted by the scene had come over. Giving a wave to them Knightmare took a few steps forward before jumping her way up to the roofs. Back up there Marinette made her way forward deeper into the city. She was in the mood to eat something, maybe instead of eating dinner alone she would instead try dining out? Yeah that sounded fun, plus she could only imagine how people would react to her walking into some random place to eat. Liking the sound of it Knightmare brought up the horseshoe and pressed a hidden button on it to bring up a typical phone home screen. Sending a quick text to Trixx letting him know to eat the leftovers in the fridge Marinette then brought up the map app to see what restaurants were nearby. “What do you think about seafood?”

“Ehh, it depends on the type of fish.” Plagg said, poking out of a hidden pocket. “Don’t expect me to eat with you. I would rather not have people staring at me while eating.”

“Don’t worry I’ll just put some in my pockets for you.” Knightmare stated while scrolling through a list of restaurants. “Hmm, there seems to be a nice small restaurant nearby. Seems they offer some variety in their selection.” Hmm, it was getting late so it would be best to grab it to go then find a nice place to eat in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug let out a sigh as he swung through Paris with the occasional person looking up to glare at him. “Seems I’m not quite that popular.” It was quite a shocking difference from being Adrien, who was Paris’s golden child. Misterbug was viewed as Paris’s kitten kicker. Looking around from the roof he was on he saw a few of his classmates hanging out together. Maybe he should drop down and say hi. Maybe he could convince them that he was really a good guy and even out the debate sides during class. Liking the idea Misterbug jumped and landed beside them. “How are you doing this evening, citizens?” Looked like it was just Kim, Max, Alix and Nino at the moment.

The group gave him an odd look while a few looked between each other. His greeting wasn’t that awkward right? “Greetings Misterbug, it is quite nice to see you.” Max greeted with a smile. “I assume that you are doing a patrol of our fine city!”

“Yup, it’s good to see you again!” Misterbug patted the glasses wearing boy with a pat on his shoulder. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t get your miraculous back for you.” Or ever.

“I understand, nobody could have predicted Cheshire having the ability to fly.” Max returned with a somewhat weak smile. “I just hope that you can take her down soon.” This earned the boy a glare from Alix who had stayed quiet since he arrived.

“Yeah but that would require me being able to find her. Akuma attacks don’t usually give me the best opportunities.” Misterbug was now the one on the receiving end of a glare from Alix.

“Oh it seems that you find plenty of ways to attack Cheshire, even during akuma attacks.” Alix muttered while keeping up her glare.

“Yeah, that wasn’t very cool.” Nino muttered while looking off to the side. Misterbug looked confused while looking around.

“Hey Alix, how's it going?” A voice from nearby greeted. The short skater girl's head shot up and looked at the black and white girl walking toward them carrying a take out bag.

“...Cheshire?” The skater asked before shooting up from her seat with a smile before looking confused. “That is you right Ches?”

“Yup, though I go by Knightmare when I’m like this.” Doing a quick twirl in front of the skater. “So what do you think? I think I quite like the outfit.”

“Hmm… yeah I think I prefer it over other costumes.” Alix said this while casting a look over at Misterbug who had frozen upon seeing the miraculous user. Knightmare looked frozen upon realizing that Misterbug was there. Honestly it was kinda hard to tell her emotions with the black glasses blocking his view of her eyes.

“Umm… hi?” Offering a small wave Cheshire then shoved her hand into the bag before bringing out a wrapped burrito. “Fish taco?” The other user asked while looking very innocent. “I also have some sushi if you would prefer.”

“Is it poisoned?” Misterbug asked while giving her a light glare.

Knightmare responded by unwrapping the food then taking a bite of the food. “I hope not.”

“What kinda sushi you got.” Alix asked while looking at the girl with a smile. Max had taken to glaring at the girl while Kim had placed a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

“Oh I just got a variety pack.” The horse responded while giving a shrug. “So how are you guys-”

“How dare you!” Max shouted out while increasing his glare.

“How dare I?” Knightmare asked, looking confused before turning to Max. “Oh, I guess this might look mean. But in my defense I didn’t know you would be here.” Max just gave a glare while Knightmare just gave a shrug. “What do you want? Me to never use the miraculous? Sorry but that is not happening.”

“And what about Kaalki?” Max growled out while keeping his glare. Misterbug also gave a nod, he couldn’t risk a fight against the cat with citizens this close.

“She is quite happy, though I’m not shocked.” Knightmare said this while taking a bite of her food. Seeing the confused look on Alix’s face the villain elaborated. “Kwami’s must obey everything the holder of their miraculous says and somebody gave their kwami some harsh orders.” This caused some of his classmates to shoot shocked looks at Max who looked shocked at what he heard. Heck even Misterbug was shocked at what the girl said.

“Wait, so you're saying that what Max said about miraculous having little spirits attached to them is true?” Alix asked, looking shocked.

“Yeah I’d introduce you to one but sadly Plagg doesn’t like people.”

“I bet he doesn’t.” Misterbug muttered while turning up his glare. He couldn’t tell if what she said about forcing kwamis to obey their owner was true but that didn’t matter. “What are you even doing here?”

“Huh?” The girl looked at him confused. “What are you asking? Do you mean what am I doing at the moment? Because at the moment I’m eating.” To drive this home she took a bite of her food. “As for what I’m doing out, I’m on patrol.” As if not caring about manners the girl said this with her mouth full of food.

Misterbug wanted to argue with her but he couldn’t. At the moment she wasn’t technically doing anything wrong. “Hey dudette, I wanted to thank you.” Nino broke into the conversation seeing that it had lulled. “You know for un-akumatizing me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cheshire gave him a relaxed look. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about what Hawkmoth made you do.” Seeing that the conversation had come to an end, Knightmare gave a wave. “Well I best be trotting out.” With that the fake hero hopped up onto a bench then a tree before making it onto a nearby roof.

“Bet I could easily do that.” Kim bragged to Alix who looked at her friend as if he dropped a few hundred IQ points. “Just watch this!” So watch they did, they watched him charge forward, jump on the bench and then made to jump to the tree only to fall short. “Ahh!” Misterbug rolled his eyes before looking back the way that Knightmare left. Part of him wondered if it was possible to try and catch up to her. Remembering how fast she was going Adrien knew that it would be hard to catch up to her.

A ding went off on Max’s phone causing him to look down with a frown. “I have to go home, I’ll meet up with you guys tomorrow.” With that it seemed the perfect opportunity for Misterbug to also make his grand exit.

“I would also love to stick around but I have to get back to patrol.” Misterbug said this while giving a well practised smile. “See you guys around.” With that he threw his yoyo and was off. While he might not be able to follow the other user there was a chance he could run into her again. Hopefully this time without others around so he could fight her. They way the girl was so casual, eating right in front of Max while wearing the boy’s former miraculous sent his stomach twisting. Did the girl even care about others feelings?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette returned home after patrol with a sigh. The meeting with Misterbug and Max had been awkward beyond belief. The girl let her transformation go before offering the take out bag to Kaalki to see if the kwami wanted any. While the horse kwami was eating something they found Trixx flew out of the cube. “Hello Trixx, did you find something to eat? I have some fish here if you didn’t.”

“Nah I had some watermelon.” Trixx responded with a smile. “So how long are you going to have Twilight Town up?”

“Why is there something wrong with it?” Marinette asked while Plagg flew out his hiding spot, shoving sushi into his mouth.

“I didn’t notice anything wrong with it.” Plagg muttered through the food.

“Oh there’s nothing wrong with it, just curious.” Trixx waved his paw in front of him while slipping backwards to relax in the air. Marinette gave him a hum and suspicious nod before heading for her desk. “Oh, it seems Alya texted you.” Trixx didn’t really need to point this out because Marinette was already unlocking her phone to see what her friend texted.

‘I’m sorry, I promise I don’t mean anything by it. Once this is over I hope you forgive me.’ The text was simple but oh so vague. Marinette stared at it for a moment feeling her stomach dropping into her feet. Her phone fell from shaking hands and her legs felt like they were about to give out.

“BREAD/KIT/MARINETTE!” Three tiny bodies grabbed Marinette and held her close while the girl tried to get emotions in order. Plagg started purring and rubbing his head against her cheek. “Hey bread I think I smell like fish, how about a quick bath?”

“Oh it’s been forever since I have been allowed a bath!” Kaalki was quick to fly in front of her wielder while fluffing her mane. “I think my mane is getting a bit greasy.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you noticed.” Trixx gave the horse kwami a smile from where he was hugging Marinette.

“Like you're one to talk!” Kaalki gave Trixx an offended look. “I mean you are the one with matts in your fur!” Trixx let out a shocked and offended gasp at that. But before he could say anything shaking hands grabbed the horse kwami in shaking hands and quivering legs carried them to the bathroom.

“Bubble bath?” A horse voice asked while getting the materiel out for the bubble bath.

“Bubble bath?” Kaalki questioned while watching the bath fill up. The kwami let out a shocked gasp came from her as she smelled the sweet scent coming from the tub. “Oh this will be wonderful! My mane is sure to be the envy of even Pollon once we are done.”

While the girl was busy with the bath and Kaalki Trixx gave a head nudge towards Plagg who returned it with a nod. The orange and black kwami flew into a corner of the bathroom while watching Kaalki and Marinette put a bath bomb in the tub. “Things are getting bad, Plagg.”

“You think! If that text was anything to go by then things are going to get worse!” Plagg looked absolutely done with everything.

“Yeah, we are lucky that Hawkmoth seemed done today, otherwise we might have had to fend off an akuma.” This caused a shiver to go up both of the kwamis spines before Trixx gave a sad look to the side. “Honestly though I’m a bit shocked that the girl hasn’t been akumatized yet.” Plagg didn’t say anything but the look that came over his face spoke volume.

“I’ll suggest that she look into ways to prevent akumatization.” Plagg muttered while his ears drooped a bit.

“Are you two going to join us?” Kaalki called from where her and Marinette were in the tub. “This water is so nice!” The two male kwamis looked at each other before letting out sighs and fluttering over to endure a bath. They would endure this for their chosen, anything to help the girl.

Chapter 23

Alya could barely get herself to move toward the school. The dark and ugly feeling in her stomach hadn’t settled and her brain hadn’t come up with any ideas on how to out the bratty blonde. Anything she could think of the redhead was sure the girl could counter. It would have been nice to run a few ideas by Marinette but after sending the younger girl a warning text she found her phone suddenly locked down. The girl was quick to get the message though, she wasn’t allowed to contact Marinette.

How the brat was able to lock her phone the girl had no idea and she knew she would have to find someway to prevent the reporter from contacting her true BFF. “There you are.” A shrill voice capable of driving even the most patient and saintly person insane sounded through the air. “I was just telling my Adrikins here how we totally made up yesterday.”

Turning Alya saw Chloe standing beside Adrien and Nino. The cap wearing boy is giving her a sad knowing look while the blonde model is just giving her an oblivious smile. Alya swallowed down the lump in her throat and began speaking. “Yeah, we had a nice discussion.”

“We had such a nice discussion that Alya is going to join our group today.” Chloe gave the girl a challenging smile but Alya just gave a slightly defeated nod of her head. “Oh don’t worry you can sit right next to me during class.”

“WHAT!” Sabrina shouted from where she just arrived. The girl went quite at a look from Chloe. “I’ll just find a seat near you.” Alya wanted to punch the girl in her stupid submisive face.

“Aly-” A cry of her name was cut off as Marinette arrived. This was the part of the day Alya never wanted to arrive. Oh how the reporter wished she could just go back on this stupid deal and hug the shorter girl. “Oh.” The simple word conveyed so much heartbreak yet understanding that Alya feared she would get akumatized again! Heck she was even more concerned that Marinette would get akumatized.

“Is something the matter Dupain-Cheng?” Chloe asked with a condescending sneer. Marinette didn’t say anything for a while but just stood there before letting out a breath and walking away. Chloe watched her with a superior smirk, a smirk which made Alya want nothing more than to punch the girl until all her teeth were destroyed.

“Did something happen between you and Marinette?” Adrien asked Alya who just turned to look at the boy. Was he really that oblivious? Was he messing with? Was he joining in on torturing her?

“Oh they just had a fight, right Alya?” Chloe was quick to swoop in. Alya just gave a silent nod of her head not trusting herself to talk.

“Oh, well I hope you two make up soon.” Adrien said this with a comforting smile before glancing toward the school with a very soft expression. Alya felt her mind grind to a halt as she looked at him. “Marinette seems like a very nice girl.” The look on his face when he said that… Was it possible? Could he possibly…

“Come on, we need to go to class.” Chloe had a very displeased look on her face. Alya followed but her mind was going over what she recently learned. No, bad Alya, don't get ahead of yourself. Double check your sources, investigate. Then after investigating, plan.

The evil blonde girl might have separated her from her BFF but Alya would win this war. So she would endure all of this for now. If Chloe thought she won then she had another thing coming. Waiting until lunch Alya was quick to grab the cap wearing boy. “Hey, Chloe, you and the others go ahead, I need to talk to Nino.”

Chloe just gave them a look before giving a nod like a queen allowing peasants to do as they please. Alya had to restrain an urge to bash the blonde's head into the nearby wall. But with much restraint the redhead dragged the boy away. Finding an unused part of the school Alya let go of Nino who just let out a sigh. “So I take it that Chloe got to you.”

Spinning on her heel Alya gave the boy a heated glare that he took on the cheek. “Does Adrien know?”

Nino just gave a sigh while shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know, the boy isn’t the most socially conscious. Plus the boy grew up with Chloe as his only friend.”

Alya gritted her teeth while taking shallow breaths. “What does he think of Marinette. What do you think of her?”

Nino let out a sigh while sitting down against a wall. “Marinette used to be one of my best friends. Me, Nette, and Chloe used to hang out together all the time. We used to be inseparable, heck I used to hear a few jokes that the three of us would be together until we were nothing more than bags of bones. God I used to wish for nothing more than for those jokes to be true.” The boy looked nostalgic about those memories. “Then one day Chloe came in and told everyone to stop being friends with Marinette. We were little kids and Chloe gave out money to anyone who would play along.”

“Is that your excuse?”

“No Chloe just grew more creative, she realized the amount of sway she got with her father’s position and her mother’s fame.” Looking off to the side Nino let out a sad laugh. “And we just grew complacent, after all it was just one girl. We could get promotions for our parents or nice gifts if we were just mean to her or turn a blind eye. Then after years it just felt like a part of our daily lives.”

“You know that just makes you sound worse right?” Alya had a down right murderous glare that seemed to cause Nino to shrink in on himself more. Not getting an answer Alya let out a puff of air. “Well what about the other blonde? What’s his view on my girl?”

Nino looked off to the side. “The boy desperately wants to be friends with her. The dude just seems to be waiting for a chance to talk to her or about her.” Shaking his head Nino let out a chuckle while shaking his head. “Heck during his birthday Adrien was so moved that she gave him a bag of sweets that he practically begged anyone he could to find out when her birthday was.”

“Did he get his answer?” Alya questioned finding the models' antics interesting. Most people didn’t beg for information about others unless…

“No, nobody even remembers when her birthday is. The dude then turned to the internet to try and find the answer only to come up empty there too.” Nino looks up at Alya only to find the reporter having taken up a thinking position. “Is something up dude?”

“Nothing, just thinking about something. So he is interested in my girl now is he?” Alya questioned while getting an interesting idea in her head.

“Interested? What the heck are you saying?” Nino had a slightly confused look on her face but Alya just rolled her eyes before heading back towards the table. Stopping on her way towards where Marinette was sitting the reporter took a breath and headed towards her new table.

Arriving at the table she saw Chloe talking animatedly with Sabrina but her attention was on Adrien who was looking at the girl eating alone. The boy was giving her a soft look, a really soft look. Oh yeah, she could and would work with this. But first she just had to find out what type of person the model was, couldn’t start setting up her BFF with some horrible person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette watched Alya sit at Chloe’s table with a sense of cold detachment. Letting out a sad sigh, Marinette started packing up her food to go find somewhere where she could eat with her kwamis. She had held out a bit of hope that Alya would never fall like the rest of her class had but… Shaking her head out of the dark thoughts Marinette shifted her thoughts to something more positive.

Finding a quiet corner of the school, Marinette opened up her purse to let her truest friends out. “So what’s on the menu today?” Plagg asked, fluttering out of her bag. “I could do with some mozzarella today.”

“Really? You ask for mozzarella after having sushi?” Trixx gave the cat an affronted look.

“What can I say? I have a cheese addiction that no amount of fish can ever solve.” Plagg said this with a cocky grin that Trixx just gave a sigh at before turning to Marinette with a smile.

“So what do we have for lunch?” Bringing out her lunch box Marinette popped off the lid and let the kwamis see what was inside. Handing the cheese stick to Plagg Marinette handed some of the bits of meat in her rice to Trixx. “So what do you want to talk about?”

Marinette was grateful to them for not prying she was eternally grateful. “I did some research into the anti-akuma charm you guys mentioned. Well that and I also did some research into the butterfly miraculous, I think I might have a prototype working soon.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Trixx gave the girl a bright smile while eating the meat.

“Yeah and if she really needs to blow off some steam then we can just go with Kaalki’s idea.” Plagg gave the response around his cheese stick. Marinette gave a slow nod at that. After the bath and Trixx putting forth the idea of an anti-akuma charm Kaalki had also put forth an idea of her own. It was a simple idea but it could work. Kaalki’s idea was to use Voyage to leave Paris for a while to let out some steam. Marinette really liked the idea.

“Yum, this is some good food.” Trixx rubbed his stomach while relaxing. “So what’s the plan for patrol tonight?”

“No real plan, just a regular patrol.” Marinette responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Then maybe we could visit Alya while patrolling.” Both Plagg and Trixx turned to look at the fox who was digging into another piece of meat. “What? I was just thinking that Alya might revival what is really going on to a hero.”

“What makes you think that something is going on?” Plagg muttered while finishing off his cheese.

“Oh please, you both must have noticed.” Seeing the confused looks Trixx rolled his eyes before continuing on. “The girl was gnashing her teeth and was barely restraining herself from lashing out. So I think we should cheek up on her as Kitsune to see how she is doing and find out what is going on.”

Marinette sat in silence for a few seconds. It was an option she hadn’t considered but… “Do you think I should?”

The two kwamis looked between each other with a silent conversation passing between them. “It would be good to get closure.” Marinette let out a hum before digging into the food. The two kwamis gave each other nods of their head. Things were looking up, hopefully they would stay up.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien walked into his room with a hum. He had gotten to meet Alya today which was really nice. The girl seemed on edge for some reason, something for Adrien to look into. The boy liked helping his friends, the few he might have had. Plus she was Marinette’s BFF so if he got in good with her then he could finally talk to the lonely girl! The two seemed to be having a fight right now but Adrien was sure that they would make up given the chance. Already Adrien’s mind was racing, trying to think of some way he could help the two makeup.

“Umm… Excuse me Adrien.” Jacob, one of the cleaners motioned for him to come over. Wondering what the man wanted Adrien walked over with a bit of curiosity. “Listen, I know you're sheltered and stuff but, um, well if you want to hide things then I suggest finding better places.” With that the elderly gentleman handed over an old look book. “Sorry I couldn’t save your journal, Nathalie took it but I managed to hide this.”

Adrien looked down at the old book in his hand with interest. This was in his room? What journal did Nathalie take? Giving thanks to the cleaner Adrien quickly made his way into his room. Arriving in the room Adrien looked down at the book he was given. Opening it up the boy let out a gasp at seeing what looked like past heroes drawn in the book.

“What happened Ad-” The little red kwami let out a startled gasp at seeing the book the boy was reading. “We need to get this to the master right away!”

“What is it?”

“I can’t say, but it is very important that we get this to the master!” Tikki said this with a determined look in her eyes. Adrien faltered, part of him wanting to ask but with a deep breath he transformed and headed to where Master Fu said he lived.

Arriving near the shop Adrien transformed back into his civilian form and made the rest of the walk to the massage parlor on foot. Knocking the boy was quickly called in by the short man. “Oh Adrien, what brings you here?”

“Tikki told me to bring this to you.” Holding out the book Adrien saw shock pass over the older man.

Taking the book into shaking hands the man opened the book with the shock growing. “What is the matter master?” Wayzz asked flying over to the shocked master who slowly put the book down.

“Adrien, where did you get this book?”

Adrien sat down across from the guardian with a frown. “That’s the thing, I have no idea.” Adrien’s mind raced while his brows furrowed. “One of my family’s cleaners gave it to me, he said that he found it in my room with a journal.”

“Do you happen to have the journal with you?” Seeing Adrien give a shake of his head Fu let out a sigh. “Oh well,” Shrugging his shoulders Fu walked over to a sonogram and with the press of a few buttons brought out an old looking box. “Since you are here, it would be best if you start learning about the other miraculous.”

Adrien was quick to plop down in front of him with an excited smile. “Now it is important that you learn what each one is capable of. From now on the two of us shall be agreeing on users and which miraculous to give them.” Nodding his head Adrien gave the man across from him his full attention as the guardian started explaining about the miraculous.

Chapter 24

Kitsune knew she was stalling, but in her defense the kids did ask for a demonstration of her power. So it would have just been wrong of her to not have some fun in the parks with people who liked having fun with her. After a minute of having fun with kids in an illusionary wonderland Kitsune ran off to continue her delays. Maybe she could try to find Andre’s ice cream cart?

A beep from her miraculous reminded her that she needed to feed Trixx before continuing her patrol. Finding an unobserved rooftop Marinette let her transformation go. “Well how did the talk go?” Trixx asked before pausing and looking around in confusion. “Whoa, did something happen.”

“No, bread hasn’t talked to the reporter girl yet.” Plagg snitched while flying out next to the other kwami.

“I was getting around to it.” Marinettee shot back but withdrew into herself at the look of the two kwamis. “Evently, you know I just had some other things to do first.” The two kwamis didn’t respond but the look Trixx gave showed how much he bought it. Plagg didn’t care, he was just here to support her no matter what she chose to do.

“Kit, you need to talk to the girl.” Trixx flew forward and ran one of his paws on her cheek. Marinette let out a sigh at the small gesture.

“I know, it’s just… I’m scared.” The silence following that statement was telling. Plagg looked at Trixx with a concerned expression. Trixx fluttered in the air before proceeding.

“Well we don’t have to do it today.” Trixx offered her an out only to see the girl shake her head.

“No you're right I need closure.” Marinette held out a piece of fruit that Trixx slowly took. “I need to know what is happening. I need to know why she left.”

“But do you really need to?” Plagg asked, playing devil’s advocate.

Marinette stopped for a few seconds before taking a steadying breath. “Alya is no Nino, she wouldn’t have done this for no reason. I need to know the reason.”

“Good on you kit.” Trixx praised eating his food.

“Thanks Trixx.” Marinette let out a breath before taking another breath. “I can do this, I can do this.”

“You can do it.” Trixx gave an incorging nod. Marinette blinked before looking at Plagg.

“Plagg Claws Out!” A flash of green light later and Cheshire stood up. “Alright, I'm nice and comfortable! Let’s do this!” Trixx blinked a bit in confusion before flying into a hidden pocket. “Time to go meet a reporter.”

It took only a minute for them to arrive at Alya’s home. Looking through the window Cheshire saw Alya in her room pacing back and forth while occasionally running her hands through her frazzled hair. Jumping down Cheshire landed on a small ledge near the window which she then tapped on. Alya jumped in shock and looked around in shock only for her eyes to nearly bulge out of her head when seeing her standing outside of the window. Alya was quick to run over to the window and fling it open for the superhero.

“Thank you.” Cheshire thanked the reporter as she walked through the open window.

“N-No problem.” The reporter stuttered as Cheshire walked into her room like she owned the place. Walking over to the bed the girl shot Alya a questioning look to which the reporter frantically nodded. “So what brings you here?”

“Hm?” Cheshire let out a hum while laying on the girl's bed. “Oh, I thought it would be nice to start checking up on Akuma victims. Seeing how you were the most recent victim I decided to drop by.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you.” Alya muttered sitting down on her chair. “But I’m… mostly fine now.”

“Mostly fine? Is something wrong?” Alya seemed to squirm under the hero’s inquisitive look. “Hey I’m here to lend you four ears if you need them.” While saying this the girl made sure to twitch the ears on top of her head.

Alya seemed to be weighing something in mind before letting out a sigh. “It would be nice to get it off my chest.” Rolling over Alya rolled her chair near the hero. “So you know Chloe Bourgeois?”

“Not partially fond of her but yes I do know her.” Alya seemed a bit relieved by what the hero said.

“Well yeah I don’t like her, I hate the girl in fact.” Cheshire watched Alya start shaking in her seat. “I just didn’t know how much until after… after she threatened my family.” Cheshire startled a little bit at what Alya said. Chloe had done what?! “The girl threatened to have my mother and father fired or laid off from their jobs.” Looking at her friend she saw the girl looking so sad. Grabbing the girl Cheshire pulled her into a comforting embrace. “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t tell anyone, I thought they wouldn’t believe me or Chloe would find out and follow through on threat.”

Cheshire felt Alya melt into her embrace. The superhero had felt a bit of relief knowing that Alya hadn’t betrayed her of her own will but because Chloe had threatened the reporter. “And you know the worst part?” Alya muttered to her. “The worst part is what Chloe wanted. The stupid brat wanted me to betray my best friend. She threatened my family all because of some stupid childish grudge!”

Often Marinette thought back to when Chloe had betrayed her. But now hearing from Alya that it was due to some grudge got her mind going back to those younger happier days. Did she do something in Chloe’s eyes to do this? Still the girl couldn’t think of anything. “So now here I am. Best friendless and having to hang out with a girl I utterly hate!” Alya sobbed, coming undone.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Cheshire whispered to the girl while letting her friend lean on her more.

“What if she hates me because of this! What if Chloe makes me do something unforgivable to her!”

“Hey, I’m sure that she’ll understand.” Cheshire murmured to the girl she was holding.

“But will she? Will she really?” Alya muttered, calming down a bit.

“Hey, she is your friend right? What do you think?”

Alya was quiet for a few seconds causing Cheshire to worry for a second. “No, no the girl is kind, she is way too kind. I’m almost concerned that she will forgive the others.” Would she forgive the others? “I want her back.” Cheshire ran her hand through Alya’s hair trying to offer comfort. They sat in silence for a while Alya finally settled her breathing. “Thanks, I really needed that.”

“Hey don’t worry about it. Everyone needs a good cry from time to time.” Alya nodded at this while letting out a content sigh. “Do you want me to stick around for a while longer or should I head out?”

“I’m mostly good now.” Alya whipped a few tears off her cheeks while taking a steading breath.

“Mostly good is not good enough for this hero!” Cheshire joked to the reporter with a smile.

“Are you a perfectionist or something?”

“Oh, dear reporter, are you fishing for information?” Cheshire winked at the reporter who let out a chuckle. “Well I better finish my patrol, don’t want to worry the fine citizens out there.” With that the hero left the apartment a little more light hearted. She got the closure she wanted. Maybe she should listen to Trixx more often.

“Well now that went better than expected.” Trixx said with a smile as he flew out of where he had been hiding.

“Yeah, closure feels nice.” Cheshire gave the little kwami a smile. Trixx just kept his smile as Cheshire continued her patrol. He knew that this little act had increased the girl's trust in him, a trust he could use to lead his kit to Master Fu. Yup, it was all coming together.

“Wait… is that?” Cheshire stopped to observe something in the distance. Following her line of sight Trixx saw a red figure running along rooftops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Master Fu watched with a poorly hidden smile as Adrien soaked up the knowledge of the miraculous. The boy was like a dry sponge that somebody had thrown into the middle of the ocean. Already the guardian could see the boy's mind turning in thought. No doubt he had ideas of who to hand miraculous over to.

“I think that should do it for now.” Fu gave the boy an encouraging smile while getting up. “But before you go I should inform you that due to Cheshire proving to be a bigger threat than believed I have decided to hand out two miraculous.”

“Two? Which two are you sending out?” Adrien questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“The monkey and mouse.” Master Fu informed the boy before letting out a sigh. “I will slip them into the bags of those who I thought best embodied them.”

“Oh can I know who?” Adrien asked, wondering who the master could have chosen.

“From now on I might but right now I have three people selected to receive a miraculous.”

“Three?”

“Yes I have selected the monkey, mouse, and the bee.” Fu looked down at the small comb that sat on the upper section. “I have put much thought into it and I believe that if it comes down to it then I will have no choice but to give out one of the more powerful miraculous.”

“Wow, you must have someone special selected for that miraculous.” Adrien pressed a little hoping for a hint.

“Yes, though I have only interacted with her a few times I have high hopes for her if the need arises.” Fu seemed lost in thought for a moment while a smile came to his face.

“Okay… Well, I need to get home. My class is going to work on a film for a contest tomorrow.” Adrien informed his master while standing up. “Tikki, you ready to go?”

“Yep ready to go.” Tikki said came flying out of the miraculous box.

“You two have fun, I have some work to do.” While saying this the last guardian grabbed the spellbook. “Give me some time and I should have this figured out.”

“Tikki Spots On.” Transforming into Misterbug he gave a last nod before heading out. After leaving Misterbug felt a bit of relief, he would be getting new allies soon. Plus that book would definitely help. “I still wish I knew what was inside it.”

“Wish you knew what was inside what?” A teasing voice behind him asked. With his heart pounding in his chest the superhero saw the evil cat standing behind him leaning on her staff. “If it’s what’s in your head then I’m guessing nothing.”

“Cheshire!” Misterbug’s hand shot down to his yoyo ready to react if the need arises. How long had she been following him? Did she see him leave Master Fu’s apartment?

“Misterbug, out for another patrol?”

“Yes, I have to make sure the city is still standing.”

“Oh? Nice to see you actually doing your job instead of backstabbing anyone who tries to help you.”

“Well this city deserves a hero with no secret agenda.”

“‘Secret agenda?’ You think I have some kinda secret agenda?” Cheshire looked offended at his accusation. Then again she could just be mad that he was right. Yeah that makes more sense.

“Don’t even bother denying it. Besides, it won’t be long before we’re on an even playing field.” Crap he hadn’t meant to give away anything.

“Even playing field? How so?” Cheshire’s eyes hardened as her mind no doubt tried to figure out what he had hinted at.

“Hey, hey no need for any of that.” A new voice cut into the conversation. Misterbug watched as an orange kwami came flying from somewhere. “We have a chance to work out some miscommunications so let’s use it.”

“Miscommunications?” Cheshire raised an eyebrow at the kwami.

“Yes miscommunications, you see Misterbug here is under the impression that you are evil.” The fox looking kwami informed before turning to Misterbug. “So how about we start over.”

“Um, who are you?” Misterbug asked while looking at the kwami in confusion.

“Oh, me I’m just Trixx the kwami of Illusion.” The now named Trixx took a prideful position while having a smirk.

“Your Trixx!” Misterbug stared in shock at the kwami who Tikki had been worried about. The kwami looked alright, but then again Tikki and Cheshire confirmed that they had to follow the orders of their holders…

“How would you suggest that we ‘start over’?” Cheshire asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How about introductions?”

“Okay? Well my name is Cheshire, nice to meet you?” The cat hero stuck out her hand while acting unsure of herself. Who would be dumb enough to fall for this?

Letting out a growl Misterbug slapped the hand away before glaring at the cat. “What did you do to him!?”

“WHAT!” Trixx looked shocked and horrified by the hero's actions. Wait, horrified? No, it had to be a trick. Tikki said that Trixx might have been corrupted so that put a bit of himself at ease.

“Was there some kinda spell or ritual you used to corrupt him!” Misterbug shouted at the cat who just flattened her ears while letting out a growl.

“Don’t you dare accuse me of harming Trixx!”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s calm down here. Clearly things are getting out of control.” Trixx flew between the two with a panicked look. “Misterbug, listen I’m not corrupted or anything.”

Whipping out his yoyo Misterbug watched as Cheshire dodged back and to the side. “Don’t worry Trixx, I’ll get you to Master Fu and he’ll get you feeling right as rain.”

“Well it looks like talking isn’t working.” Cheshire muttered before grabbing her staff and readying herself for battle.

“Hey, let's not be too hasty. Obviously Misterbug here thinks you did something to me. So how about we just clear it up and-” Trixx began only to be cut off as Cheshire grabbed him just before a yoyo would have wrapped around him!

“Don’t worry Trixx I’ll get you back to the Guardian and he’ll fix you up.” Misterbug caught his yoyo as it flew back into his hand.

“Looks like you're right Cheshire.” Trixx let out a sorrowful sigh. “I purpose you leave now.”

“Why? I can take him.” Cheshire locked eyes with Misterbug which sent a shiver down the boy's spine. Those toxic green eyes sent chills down his spine and gave so much credence to the stories he heard. This cat was cruel and she was now turning that to him.

“Who said I was talking to you?” Trixx sent a teasing look at Cheshire who blinked at the orange fox in confusion. Misterbug tried to use the distraction to attack the cat who just batted his yoyo away then retaliate by moving quickly into his guard and slamming the baton onto his stomach. The bug felt the air being forced out along with a bit of spit as he was sent flying. “Did you need to hit him that hard?” Misterbug heard as he landed in the park.

“Yes, we are fighting so I need to go all out.” Cheshire landed a few feet away from him. “Citizens, I ask that you clear out. I need to fight Misterbug and I do not want any of you to get hurt.” The people in the park looked at each other before they began to slowly make their way out of the park. “I hope you are ready to hand over those fancy earrings.” Misterbug felt a bit of sweat form on his brow. This wasn’t good, Trixx was right. He couldn’t fight her, not right now. He needed to run.

“Lucky Charm.” With a flash of magic a ball fell into his hand. “A ball? Really?” Looking around the only thing he could see to use it on was Cheshire. Shrugging his shoulders Misterbug waited for Cheshire to come running towards him but she didn’t. “Well, are you going to fight me or not?”

 

“Oh, I was going to wait and see what you were going to do with that ball.” Cheshire remarked while looking at him. “You are a pretty straightforward guy so I thought you would use it right away.” Was he that transparent? “Well if you are waiting for me to run at you then I’m just going to do this.” With that Misterbug was forced to dodge as one end of her baton shot forward to impale him.

Rolling along the ground Misterbug threw his yoyo around a tree which he flew towards just as a pair of claws passed by where he had been. Grabbing onto the branch Misterbug brought himself up to the top as he turned toward the cat who had turned to watch him. Looking down at his hand Misterbug was shocked to see the ball down by Cheshire who leaned over to grab it. “Oh my what do we have here?” Bringing the ball up Cheshire tossed the ball up and down with a taunting grin.

“You wouldn’t mind giving that back now would you?” Misterbug asked while sweat trickled down his face. This wasn’t good at all.

“Hmm, what do you think Trixx?” Cheshire grabbed the ball as it came down and showed it to the fox who had just arrived.

“Oh this smells really good.” The fox said as he started rubbing up against the ball. “Oh I really like this.”

“Um, Trixx are you okay?” Using the distraction Misterbug flew off to head home. He needed to get home before he detransformed or Cheshire calmed Trixx down from whatever happened. This had been enough for today, hopefully tomorrow’s film shoot would help him calm down. Plus since it was a class project that meant Marinette would help in it!

Chapter 25: Horrificator

“Agent Smith, it’s too dangerous! We must evacuate!” Officer Jones said while looking into the eyes of Agent Smith.

“Are you suggesting we run Officer Jones? After it devoured my family, my friends, even my beloved dog, Sniffles? Never! I won't run! I no longer fear it, I'm going to face it, then I'll-” Agent Smith began with passion that only grew as she continued her rallying cry. However it was cut short as the girl let out a terrified cry as the monster appeared behind her.

“CUT!” Nino yelled from his place behind the camera. Ivan was quick to take off his mask and crouch down to try and comfort his girlfriend. “Really Mylene? That’s like the tenth take we’ve done.”

“Fourteenth actually. But who's counting.” Alix unhelpfully commented causing Nino to let out a groan.

Adrien zoned out a little as Nino started talking to Mylene again. Taking the drink from Rose Adrien waited for the other girl to finish his makeup before taking a drink. The class’s film shoot wasn’t going as well as he had expected. Don’t get him wrong the boy was used to shooting having difficulties but this was getting a bit absurd. They couldn’t get passed through the first scene due to the short girl being terrified of the costume.

Looking around the classroom the model saw various classmates busy working on their part of the movie. Max and Kim were working on editing. Nathaniel and Sabine were working or finishing touches on some costumes for future scenes while Chloe 'supervised’. Alya stood not far behind Nino, she had helped in writing the script. Looking around Adrien tried to find Marinette only to hear the door open and the girl to come through it with her arms weighted down by various things. Adrien flinched a little as he remembered that the sweet girl was assigned the task of gopher.

“Ahh!” A startled yell drew him out of his zone. Turning he saw Mylene had bumped into him.

“And the Oscar for best pathetic scaredy-cat afraid of its own shadow goes to... Mylène!” Chloe let out a laugh at her own joke causing the short girl to burst in tears and burst out of the room.

“Chloe!” Adrien snapped at his first friend. The other girl seemed shocked at him before puffing her cheeks out. Thankfully Ivan was quick to run out after the other girl.

“Epic, Chloé! Just epic! What are we supposed to do now without our leading actress?” Nino tapped his foot in annoyance.

Adrien zoned out again for a second as he thought about the problem Nino had brought up. They could wait for Mylene but who knows how long that would take. He had no doubt that Chloe would try and take the leading role but he also knew that his oldest friend hadn’t even skimmed through the script.

“I didn’t write that!” Alya’s voice drew him out of his thoughts. Tunning back into the conversation Adrien saw Alya and Nino talking about an added kiss scene. Adrien felt his stomach twist in slight disgust at the thought of having to kiss Chloe. Don’t get him wrong Chloe was good looking and all but he thought of her more like a sister. Looking around for a way out of the conversation his eyes caught a head of black hair relaxing into a seat.

“Wait a minute don’t you mean-” Nino had begun only for Adrien to accidentally cut her off.

“Couldn’t Marinette play Smith?” All eyes were on him in a matter of seconds. “Marinette isn’t doing anything at the moment so it would be best to have her play the part of Smith.”

“Oh?” Alya lifted one of her eyebrows at him with a grin forming. “I suppose that it could be possible.”

“No!” Chloe stomped on the ground before turning to Marinette. “YOU!” Marinette flinched which made Adrien’s blood boil a little. “I need you to grab a nurse's outfit from the art room or nurse’s office!”

“But we don’t have a nurse character!” Adrien informed Chloe while feeling his blood continuing to simmer.

“It was a last minute addition.” Chloe flipped her hair while turning to Nino and Alya. “Right?”

“Yeah last minute addition.” Nino muttered while shuffling backwards. What was going on? Adrien had listened to Nino rave about the script he and Alya had written together. There was no room for a nurse or another character without major rewrites. But then again… Marinette in a nurse’s outfit.

“Do you need help writing the character Nino?” Adrien pounced at the chance. “If we are having new actors then how about we have somebody that complements Chloe.” Even if he was professional there was no way he was kissing someone he saw as a sister.

“Nope Nino is needed to film, you can help me with the new character.” Alya jumped right next to him before grabbing his arm. “Come on, we need to do a bit of editing and other such things.”

“Yeah good thing we have a week to do this. Can you imagine if we waited the day before the event to do this?” Nino questioned aloud before turning to the rest of the class. “All right I guess we do have to wait for Mylene to get back.”

Hearing some shuffling behind him Adrien turned to see Marinette heading to the door. The model gave the girl a smile before Rose ran up to her. “Oh Marinette while you're out can you please grab some more snacks and juice boxes from my locker?”

Marinette just gave a nod before exiting the room. Adrien felt his smile dim a bit before turning back to Alya who was giving him a knowing smile. “So shall we get to writing that script?”

“Sure?” What was with her smile? Adrien flinched a bit as he felt her grab his arm and lead him over to her desk where she grabbed her laptop.

“Come on, we need to find a nice quiet corner to work.” Going into one of the corners Alya started up her laptop while Adrien started bouncing his knee. What was he supposed to talk to her about? The modul doubted that she really needed his help on writing.

“So… I noticed that you’re not hanging out with Marinette as much.” Alya shot up from her laptop to look at him. “Did you two have a fight or something?” Alya still didn’t say anything but the confused look she gave him spoke volumes. “I’m sure that whatever happened between you two can be worked out. I’m willing to help if you need it.”

Alya looked him in the eyes for a few moments while letting out a thoughtful hum. “Well I guess you could say that something came between us.” Before Adrien could probe more into it The door slammed open as Ivan came stomping in, without Mylene. Rose quickly ran up to the giant to talk to him but the bigger guy just seemed to brush her off and instead headed toward Chloe to talk to her about something. Chloe listened to him for a moment before saying something that caused him to relax and say something that caused Chloe to laugh. “What is that brat planning?”

“Planning?” Adrien asked with a frown. Why did Alya call Chloe a brat? Weren’t they friends?

“Oh I was just talking out loud. You know, planning out the script.” Despite saying this Adrien felt no more relieved by what Alya said. He still gave her a smile while his thoughts bounced around trying to figure out what Alya meant. Something was going on and Adrien wanted to know what.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a grumble as she made her way out of the nurses office. The nurse had lent her one of the outfits in her size and now all the girl had to do was stop by the locker room. “Is something wrong dear?” Turning she was greeted to the site of a short janitor.

“Nothing really, I'm just not looking forward to wearing this.” Marinette joked while waving the nurse outfit she was carrying.

“Ah, and why are you wearing that?” The janitor questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh my class is filming a movie and apparently we need a nurse character.”

“Well that sounds like fun.” The janitor said with a bit of joy dancing in his eyes. “I would like to stay and watch but I have to get home.” The older man took a few steps before grabbing his back in pain. Marinette was right beside him.

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked, watching him in concern.

“Oh it’s just my back acting up, I should be alright soon.”

“Are you sure? I could put your cart away for you so you could go home sooner.”

“Oh thank you.” The janitor gave her a very sincere smile before handing her a key. “Please hand this back to me tomorrow.”

“I will,” Marinette said while putting the key in one of her pockets. The girl watched the man go before grabbing his cart and started heading toward the closet. “I haven’t seen that janitor before.”

“He seems nice, you should try talking to him more.” Trixx flew out of her purse while holding a piece of fruit.

“Nice to see that you calmed down from the catnip.” Marinette joked to the fox who just gave an embarrassed laugh. “He does seem familiar though.” Marinette let out a hum while tapping her chin. The girl locked up the closet while going through her memory where she could have seen the man. “Oh now I remember!” Marinette snapped her fingers not noticing how Trixx seemed to have frozen up. “It was my first day of school, I had to rescue him from being hit by a car.”

“Oh? That was nice of you.” Trixx seemed to let out a relieved sigh causing Marinette to look at him in confusion. “Oh I was just worried that Kaalki might accidentally save over my game.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. She seems to prefer audiobooks and my tablet more than the game stations.” Marinette waved away his worries while walking into the locker room.

“She was always fond of stories of heroes.” Trixx got a fond smile on his face while remembering how excited the horse kwami got when Marinette showed her the tablet.

“Which locker is Rose’s?” Marinette muttered while looking around the room. While glancing around the girl wondered what Rose was expecting. Did the girl forget that the lockers were locked? While looking around the girl noticed one of the lockers open. “I hope it’s this one.” Opening the locker she didn’t see juice boxes or snacks but instead saw Mylene’s backpack. “Whelp, looks like I’m not grabbing the snacks.”

“If the snacks aren’t cheese then who cares?” Plagg muttered from her purse. Trixx just rolled his eyes before going to her purse. As Marinette stood up she felt her danger sense scream at her to dodge. Jumping to the side the girl avoided the swipe of a pink claw. Turning the girl saw a real life version of the monster that her class was doing a film of.

The monster roared at her, sending spit flying at her. Marinette felt a bit of fear at being alone and also being attacked by an akuma without her suit. Looking around the girl saw the lockers shredded with the contents laying scattered around. Rolling to the side, Marinette felt herself barely avoid another claw swipe that probably tore through her jacket but she got what she wanted. Turning to the akuma who looked like it was about to spit at her, Marinette threw a pack of juice boxes right at the akuma who swiped at the boxes.

The monster’s claws destroyed the packaging and caused it to be temporarily blinded. Wiping away the juice and goldfish the fearsome creature looked around for the girl but saw no sign of her. Letting out a roar it left the locker room not noticing the girl hiding behind a row of lockers.

“That was closer than expected.” Marinette let out a sigh before coming out of hiding.

“We should go after her before she comes across someone else.” Trixx gave a determined nod which Marinette returned.

“Could we wait until the blonde is given a nice haircut?” Plagg questioned while flying out of the purse.

“Which blonde?”

“Does it matter?” Rolling her eyes, Marinette made to move only for her foot to hit a sturdy box. Looking down her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she stared down at a black box with a red symbol on it.

“Is… Is that?” Plagg and Trixx followed her eyes and both were left with their jaws hanging open. “What is that even doing here?”

“No idea.” Marinette muttered before glancing around. She spotted the camera covered in a pink slime. “Well it looks like we got a prize for dealing with everything.” Reaching down Marinette looked at the backpack near it and saw who it was supposed to go to. “Really Mylene? I mean she is nice but the girl doesn’t really seem suited for fighting.”

The two kwamis just gave the girl a shrug. “All right, no more delaying, time for us to get our tails in gear. Plagg Claws Out!” Cheshire put the box containing the unknown miraculous in her hidden pocket before walking out of the room. “All right, time to go check on the others.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien froze up when he heard the roar of something in the distance. “What was that?” The blond model was on his feet in a few seconds.

“Dude…” Nino was quick to whip out his camera. No doubt his friend was going to use this chance to the fullest. “Alright I’ll take the back so I can film everyone!”

“Take the back?” Alya questioned while placing her hands on her hips. “Are you suggesting we investigate?”

“I could go!” Adrien volunteered, he needed to get away from the class so he could become Misterbug.

“Dude, horror rule number one: Never split the group!” Nino was quick to plant a hand on his friend. “Oh and someone else grab a camera, we might be doing found footage!” Alya just rolled her eyes before grabbing said spare camera before passing another to Adrien. “Alright let’s get going and see what’s going on and everyone remember to follow the rules of horror.”

With a roll of their eyes the class made their way out of the classroom. As they entered the hallway they noticed how empty and quiet it was. “What are you guys doing out here?” Jumping a bit at the sudden voice they turned to see a janitor at one end of the hallway. “There’s something going on, you need to head back-” The janitor was cut off as a pink slime caught him and yanked the man down a dark hallway.

Nino held his breath as they heard the man scream. “Alright we need to get out of here.”

“What about Mylene!” Ivan yelled, bringing everyone’s attention to their missing classmate. Adrien was quick to notice the absence of his other classmate. But if he wanted to help her then he needed to get away and transform. Trying to take a few steps back Adrien felt something squishy below his foot Adrien looked down to see more of the slime. Looking up Adrien saw the monster had somehow made its way above them. The creature let out another loud roar which caused the rest of the class to realize that it was there.

The monster landed right beside them and made to swipe at them. Adrien prepared for the monster to hit them or grab another but instead nothing. Opening his eyes he saw to his surprise someone had maneuvered in front of him and blocked the hit. “Now, now, no hitting people.” Cheshire had on her typical smile as her baton was holding back the massive paw. The monster only let out another roar which caused a few sudders to pass between his classmates. The monster glowed a bit before it started growing bigger. “Wow you sure seem to grow up fast.”

The akuma used its new height to its advantage. Rearing back its paw the monster used it’s full weight to swipe at the cat. Cheshire saw the telegraphed move and dodged out of the way causing the akuma to stumble forward. “Go Ches!” Alix cheered but froze up as the akuma was now focused on them. It moved faster than anyone expected and grabbed Max before darting toward Ivan. The akuma paused in front of the giant boy for a second before licking him. Everyone froze as the akuma dashed off to the side.

“Well that happened.” Cheshire spoke from the side. Everyone turned to the hero who frowned. “Sorry I couldn’t save your friend but that thing is faster than it should be. But don’t worry, I'm sure I’ll save him.”

“No worries Ches, I’m sure you did the best you could.” Nino said while trying to ignore the glare he felt on the side of his head.

“Still I best get you guys out of here.” Cheshire looked around before frowning. Walking over to a nearby window the cat tried forcing it open only for the window to remain shut. “Huh, looks like the akuma has sealed us inside.”

“Really!” Nino sounded way too happy with the result. Then again this was the perfect setup for a found footage movie.

“Yup,” Cheshire turned around before narrowing her eyes. “Wait, we are missing two.” Everyone looked between each other before noticing that Chloe and Sabrina had indeed left. “We will have to find them.”

“Do we have to?” Alya muttered causing Rose to gasp in shock. “What? Cheshire needs to hunt down the akuma and find where it's taken everyone.”

“But we can’t just ignore them.” Rose argued while looking concerned. “And what about Mylene? We still don’t know where she is!”

“Actually I have a good idea of what happened to Mylene.” Alya gave a look at Ivan who still stood frozen to his spot. Everyone seemed to catch onto what the reporter was saying.

“Well now we know how her power works along with who the akuma is.” Cheshire rubbed her chin while nodding. “Alright now it’s time to think of a…” With little effort Cheshire moved and grabbed onto the shirt of Adrien. “Where do you think you're going?”

“To look for my classmates?” The model offered. Honestly he just really needed to get away and transform. Then maybe heroically save Marinette?

“Not happening. Trixx keep an eye on this one.” With that a familiar orange fox flew out and gave a smile.

“Gotcha boss.” Trixx floated near Adrien and held out a paw. “Names Trixx and I shall be your babysitter.”

“Oh my god!” Alya was beside him in a second. “Are you one of those Kwamis that Max talked about?”

“Yup I am a kwami.” Trixx responded with a smile to the reporter.

“Great introductions are done.” Cheshire drew everyone’s attention back to her. “Now we have a monster hunt to do.”

“Oh I can tell she has a plan.” Alix hopped from foot to foot watching the hero in front of her. Hopefully Master Fu never gave the girl a miraculous, she would turn traitor against them within seconds. Then again was it possible to be a traitor if you were never on the same side?

“Dude! Cheshire is going to be in our movie!” Nino was way too excited in Adrien’s opinion.

“I would say ‘make sure to get my good side’ but that would imply that I have a bad side.” Cheshire joked while giving a cocky smile.

“You stole Max’s miraculous. I would say that’s pretty bad.” Kim’s voice cut in. If Cheshire was bothered by his comment she hid it well. The cat ‘hero’ just continued down the hall with the others following. Adrien glanced to the side and saw Trixx talking to Alya. He attempted to use the distraction only to find the kwami suddenly in front of him.

“Word of advice kid. Don’t try and trick the trickster.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a huff of slight annoyance and pain. Honestly the akuma hadn’t been that hard after it was revealed to be Mylene. After fourteen attempts everyone knew the words to the girls' calm down song by heart. Honestly the hard part was creating makeshift instruments. Which led them to where she now stood in the school's basement after using Cataclysm on the butterfly. Already the girl could feel the effects of destroying the corruption working its way through her body. “Catastrophe!” With a wave of black everything was forced back to normal and the akuma in Ivan’s hands returned back to her form. “Whelp all in all a job well done I’d say.”

“As if you could do anything less.” Alix joked while turning to Kim. “Well? You just saw her in action, anything to say.”

“Nope.” Kim helped Max to his feet while the other classmates were busy helping each other while whatever staff members were caught got to their feet. Looking over Marinette saw Alya darting around the group with an increasingly worried look.

“Hey, is something wrong?” Cheshire asked in a soft and quite voice.

“Um, well I was looking for my fri-, er, one of my classmates.” The reporter responded while fidgeting a bit. Well at least someone noticed she was gone.

“You're right!” Another voice cut into their conversation. “Marinette is missing!” Turning both saw Adrien now frantically looking around too.

“Mari who?” Cheshire asked in a confused manner. “Wait, does she have really dirty clothing and black hair?” Both the model and reporter gave nods to her as the superhero snapped her fingers. “Oh I came across her first. The girl was attacked in the locker room. Thankfully the slime hadn’t covered the outside yet so I was able to get her out and send her home.”

“Oh, good, she’s safe.” Adrien let out a sigh of relief at this which confused Marinette slightly. Why would the guy who stole from her twice care about her? Heck she never even got so much as a thank you for the birthday presents, either of them!

“Well I would love to stick around but this cat has got to scat.” Cheshire gave a two finger salute along with what was becoming her trademark smile. “See you around Alix, Alya, rest of you.” With that the girl passed by news crews and field reporters as she left.

“An akuma defeated and another miraculous obtained.” The girl said while landing on her balcony. “I would say we did a good job today, how about you Trixx?”

“Yeah you mind waiting to put them in the cube? Plagg and I wanted to try something.” Trixx said while rubbing his paws together.

“Plagg Claws In.” With a flash of green said kwami appeared with a yawn. “Plagg, what are you and Trixx planning?”

“Oh are we doing it?” Plagg got a smile on his face before shooting to his fridge. “Just give me a moment to eat then I should be ready.” Plagg motivated? Now Marinette was concerned. But at the same time intrigued.

Chapter 26

Mullo awoke with a yawn. She remembered Master Fu saying that he was going to be giving her miraculous to someone named Mylene. The girl sounded nice but not quite up to combat but that was alright. The mouse was meant to outmaneuver and outthink their opponents. “Ah good you're awake.” A somewhat familiar voice said from nearby.

Opening her eyes Mullo questioned if it was possible for a kwami to go insane. The mouse had woken up in the back of a horse drawn carriage with Trixx and Kaalki sitting across from her. Trixx appeared to be wearing relaxed clothes while tuning a lute. “Don’t be too mean to the poor dear. You remember how hard our last battle was.” Kaalki jabbed Trixx the bard on his side. The horse was wearing well polished armor with a nice looking blade held in a sheath. “How are you feeling?”

“W-What?” Mullo questioned while rubbing her eyes. What was going on?

“Hey, how is the princesses doing?” A new voice questioned from the front of the carriage.

“They seemed confused, you might want to get back here.” Trixx told the voice from his comfortable seat. Looking down Mullo saw that she was also sitting on a nice cushioned seat. Heck the whole carriage looked lavished and comfortable. The outside window showed a forest of green trees.

“That blow to the head must have caused them to lose their last brain cell.” The gravelly voice joked as the carriage came to a slow stop.

“Can’t you two be nice to each other.” Kaalki the knight hid a laugh with their comment.

“I’ll be nice when the princess stops eating my cheese.” The voice shot back. Mullo’s mind was racing as she thought of what could be going on. Trixx and Kaalki had been captured by the new cat so what were they doing in front of her? Plus the question of who was talking. Almost in answer to the question the door opened to reveal a sight out of a nightmare. Plagg’s green eyes sparkled in mischief while he wore black and gray clothes with a pair of daggers tucked at his side.

“Ahh!” Letting out a squeak the mouse dashed behind Kaalki while trying to burrow into the seat.

“Really Mullo?” The corrupted kwami of destruction sounded like they were holding back laughter. “I would be hurt but then again you always overreact.”

“Yeah, remember when we first were assigned to guard her highness?” Trixx asked with a teasing grin. “The poor little mouse kept trying to hide from you in my cape.”

“Yeah, then they asked Kaalki to protect their room.” Plagg commented while taking a seat.

“What is going on!” Mullo cried while having dug a bit into the bench. For some reason she couldn’t faze through the carriage.

“Really? Man that hit you must have rattled you more than we thought.” Plagg had come into the carriage and relaxed on the bench. “We need to head to Winterhelm and get the Wand of Ganon so that we can finally take down the great evil that threatens the land of Skyrim.”

Kaalki started petting Mullo with a comforting smile. “You seem really confused, Mullo. Do you need some food?” Well the gray kwami was confused and maybe she could use some food. Giving a nod Kaalki gave a nod to the other kwamis who seemed to be hiding grins. “Alright follow us. I think dinner should be ready.” With that the three other kwamis flew out of the carriage and Mullo slowly followed behind them.

“I wonder what’s for dinner tonight.” Plagg questioned with a bit of excitement.

“Maybe take out. I don’t think the kit was doing well enough to cook anything.” Trixx responded while flying. Silently Mullo followed while their mind tried to think of what was happening. Everything around them told a story that in no way lined up with anything she knew. Trixx and Plagg were talking like friends while even Kaalki seemed comfortable around the black kwami. Speaking of said kwami, they hadn’t even attacked her once.

“Don’t tell me they were forced to use THAT skill again.” The amount of venom in Kaalki’s voice shocked Mullo out of her thoughts and made her realize that they were flying towards a green square suspended in the air. The other two didn’t respond but their ears did drop in a bit of guilt. “We need to talk to Tikki about this.” The horse kwami growled while the four flew through the green area.

“What?” Mullo flatly asked as they were no longer in a forest but were now in a bedroom from the look of it.

“Bread, we’re hungry.” Plagg said this while flying towards a girl who just gave the kwami a warm smile.

“When are you not Plagg?” The black haired girl reached out and to Mullo’s surprise she petted the kwami. The black kwami leaned into the touch and let out a satisfied purr.

“Well technically he’s not hungry when he is getting fed.” Trixx joked while flying in front of the girl. The blue eyed girl let out a chuckle while using her other hand to pet the fox.

“True, well it’s a good thing that I got some food ready for you three.” Stopping the petting, the girl walked toward a hatch in the ground. “I’ll be right back with the food. I even got some sugar cubes I think Kaalki will like.”

“Oh thank you Marinette.” Kaalki watched the girl go with a smile. “I can’t wait to see what she has for us.”

“Um, excuse me.” The three kwamis turned to look at a very very confused Mullo. “I could do with some explanations.”

“Oh that was Marinette, she is a very good girl.” Trixx gave the mouse a smile.

“Bread is the best.” Plagg gave Trixx a nod while looking pleased. Mullo was happy to know the girl's name but that still didn’t answer her question.

“Alright here you guys go.” Marinette walked back into the room with a tray of food. Setting it down her eyes went wide before a bright smile crossed her face. “Oh, hello there. My name is Marinette. It's nice to meet you.”

“I’m Mullo, kwami of multiplication.” Mullo greeted while grabbing a snack. Marinette just gave a smile while reaching out before stopping. Seeing the question Mullo gave a nod and allowed her to finish extending her hand. Mullo felt the fingers scratching the kwami’s head. “So could I ask you some questions?”

“Sure.” Marinette responded while enjoying watching their newest friend eat the snacks she brought.

“Okay,” Looking around at everything around them, Mullo tried not to get distracted by how nice the girl's fingers felt, “What is that?” Mullo saw Marinette follow where she was pointing at the weird box thing they had flown out of.

“Oh, that is the Miraculous Cube.” Marinette responded while shifting to petting down the kwami’s spine. “I made it so any kwami I get has a nice place to play around in.”

“So the inside…”

“It’s a virtual word based on a game.” Seeing the confused stare Mullo was giving her Marinette let out a sigh as she remembered that most kwamis didn’t know about video games and the like. “The inside is based on a fantasy world.” Letting out an oh Mullo gave a nod while thinking.

“What about Trixx, Kaalki, and Plagg? They are wearing those clothes.” The three in question were talking to each other while glancing back at her and hiding their laughter.

“Oh I made them those clothes.” Marinette had a bit of pride in her voice while rubbing the back of her neck. “They said they wanted a bit more to do in the Cube so I made them clothes and I’m also working on making enemies for them to fight.”

“I see.” Mullo let out a hum as her mind tried to figure out what had happened when they woke up. “Arghh!” Marinette let out a startled cry at Mullo’s sudden frustrated yell.

“Something wrong mousy mouse?” Trixx had the biggest grin on his face.

“What was with that princess stuff? The carriage? The wand of Ganon?” Mullo dashed into Marinette’s hand. “What happened!” Plagg burst into laughter while Trixx let out a fox-like crackle, Kaalki was at least nice enough to hide her laughter. Marinette just let out a huff before using her other hand to pet the kwami trying to help calm them down. The pigtailed girl found a smile on her face though that couldn’t diminish though. The girl liked this, it was nice.

It would be nicer with human friends. A venomous thought wondered into her mind. Marinette was quick to crush the thought just like she did to most of them. Why would she want more human friends. Chloe showed just how easy she could/would take them away and while she trusted Alya’s abilities as a reporter the girl doubted her ability to take Chloe down by herself. Speaking of Alya…

“As nice as this is we still need to patrol and check up on Mylene.”

“What happened to Mylene!” Mullo spun in her palm and looked right into her eyes.

“Oh she was akumatized earlier today. That was how we found you actually.” Marinette then went into detail about Horrificator, as the media had dubbed Mylene’s akuma form.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien let out a yawn while sorting through footage from his camera. Due to the sudden change in what the film was, Nino had asked Adrien to help store and go through the footage. So here he was mindlessly watching footage of his class. “It seems like you had fun with some of those takes.” Tikki’s voice broke him out of the trance he was in.

Looking back at the screen which showed him and his classmates on one of the attempted scenes. This one had ended in giggles and laughter due to Adrien tripping over his lines. It was really a good memory and Adrien was happy to have it in footage. “Yeah we did.” While watching the footage Adrien saw a moment where Marinette entered the room to drop off the items the girl was told to retrieve.

Part of him was happy to see the girl but another part of him was mad at what had happened today. The girl had barely been in the room for a minute before someone had walked up to her and told the girl what else they needed her to grab. Adrien watched this play in the background before pausing the footage. “Did you see that Tikki?”

“See what?” Adrien rewound the footage and pointed to Alya. The two watched as the reporter perked up a bit at Marinette entering before turning a glare towards Max who was telling Marinette what he needed. “Oh, looks like Alya still cares about her friend.” Giving a nod Adrien thought back to his talk with Alya and her friendship with Marinette.

The girl had danced around talking about what had happened to their friendship. Looking at the footage the module could see how protective Alya was of the back haired girl. So the question was why they weren’t still friends. “Something came up.” That was what Alya had said. What was that something? Would she even tell him? He doubted she would.

Alya would only tell someone she trusted and sadly despite his best efforts the superhero fanatic still gave him the odd stare every now and then.

Wait… superhero fanatic… he could use that. Or to be more specific the heroic Misterbug could use it. “Hey Tikki, I think it’s time for Alya to get an interview with Misterbug.”

Tikki gave Adrien a concerned look before nodding. “If you’re sure.”

It was a minute later that Misterbug let out an excited cry as he swung around the city. It was rare that he got to truly enjoy swinging around the city but patrol was always a good way to let loose. Following the directions on his bugaphone Adrien arrived at the where Alya’s home was. Now how to go about this. Tap on the window? Might as well try.

Using his yoyo the bug hero saw Alya sitting at her computer with a deep frown. Tapping on the window the girl jumped a little before spinning around to the window. Alya wore an excited expression before going shocked at seeing him. What was with that expression?

“Get in before anybody else notices.” Alya said this while opening the window. “Alright what do you want?” Honestly he should have half expected the cold shoulder he had been getting from the girl. Max had given a few interviews after he had been exposed as Pegasus but they hadn’t gone well at all. The reporters hadn’t been receptives of Cheshire being evil and were even less receptive to him trying to justify his attack on her.

“Oh, I was just thinking that it was time to give my first interview.” Misterbug leaned on the wall while Alya went back to her chair. “Oh it seems that you are working on something.”

“Oh it’s a video for an upcoming competition.” Alya waved it off before looking at him with a more critical eye. “So why come to a small-time reporter like me for your first interview?”

“Small timer, please. You run one of, if not the biggest blog in Paris.” Alya blushed a bit under the praise but still didn’t seem convinced. “Well if you don’t want to interview me I guess we could just talk for a bit and if any of this winds up on the Wonderblog then I won’t complain.”

Alya just raised her eyebrow. “Oh so we are just going to have a talk?”

“Yeah, how about we talk about friends.”

“Are you here to run damage control on Pegasus’s, I’m sorry, Max’s interviews.” Misterbug was able to hide the flinch at Alya’s barbed words. Max wasn’t raised in the same environment that he was and it showed when the boy was put under the pressure that inverterviewers and the press were able to put out.

“Maybe, maybe not. You would have to talk to me to find out.” Giving an over the top smile Misterbug put his hands behind his head and took a more relaxed pose. “But enough about me, how about you? You surely have thousands of friends.” Alya wasn’t able to hide the flinch. “Oh did something happen?”

Alya gave him a dirty glare. “This isn’t about me, it's about you.”

“Hey, hey, it’s only about me if we are doing an interview. It’s about both of us if we are just talking.” Shockingly, that didn’t seem to get rid of Alya’s glare. “Hey if you are having trouble with one of your friends maybe you could work things out with them.”

“I just need to take down that brat.” Alya muttered under her breath. Misterbug wasn’t sure if he wasn’t if he wasn’t meant to hear that but he had. Misterbug had to rely a lot on Adrien’s experience modeling to hide the emotions he was going through. “So how about you? You got any other friends you are going to bring along to beat up cats?”

“I’m getting the impression that you might not like me.” Misterbug joked while his mind was trying to figure out what Alya said. The reporter had said she needed to take a brat down. Obviously she didn’t mean Marinette, so then who? Also why did this ‘Brat’ need to be taken down?

“Oh I wonder why.” Not even taking her eyes off of him Alya moved and brought open a probably permanent window. The screen now showed the front page of the Wonderblog. Misterbug didn’t try to physically react but inside he did facepalm. Yet another person that really shouldn’t be given a miraculous.

“Maybe I could change your mind?” Misterbug offered which caused Alya to just roll her eyes.

“That is going to be impossible.”

“Us superheroes are known to do the impossible.”

“Yes superheroes are known to do the impossible but you sir are not a superhero.” Misterbug couldn’t hide his flinch at that.

“I did save you from being akumatized.” The counter was weak.

“After Cheshire/Knightmare did most of the work along with saving you.” Alya gave a knowing smile. While she said this Adrien saw her bring up a video on the Wonderblog that showed Knightmare stepping through a portal and smashing the router. Misterbug didn’t respond but he felt like he wasn’t winning this verbal spar. “Plus being a hero is more than fighting villains, it’s being there to help the citizens. Cheshire is there for us, she takes time out of her day to help people with the smallest of things. The stories I get are of her doing small nice things. The cat saves people from robbers, helping find animals, heck she even helps elderly citizens across the street and carries their groceries.”

Well that painted quite the contrasting image. He hadn’t interacted much with the citizens of Paris. Sure he had done a few patrols but for the most part he had only stopped a few muggings and not done the rest of what Alya had listed. “Thanks, you’ve given me quite a few things to think about.” With that he left. The reporter had truly given him quite a bit to think over.

Chapter 27

Cheshire ran her hand through Mylene’s hair as the girl cried into her lap. Mylene had apparently gone home after being akumatized to try and avoid being in the center of the news storm. So in order to get to her Cheshire had taken the easiest way to get to her.

Knock on the front door and ask her father if she could talk to her.

Which leads to right now. Mylene had initially been concerned to see her but after a bit of calming down and joking the girl had calmed down enough for her to open up to the hero. From there it had taken little to no time for the girl to break down into tears. But then again this was the second time this had happened. Then again the first time it had happened was Alya who was her best friend. While Mylene had never taken a direct act in bullying her the girl did turn the other way when she saw it. “Hey now you're brave in your own way.” Cheshire mumbled to the girl while trying to comfort the short girl. “Maybe you can’t stare down a big scary monster but you were willing to take the leading role in a movie and that shows a certain amount of courage.”

“You think so?” Mylene muttered into her stomach.

“Yup, I’ve seen a few people freeze up in front of the camera but it sounds like you were doing great until the monster appeared. Maybe if you guys had done a comedy sketch instead you would have done great.”

“Comedy?”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love comedy sketches.” Cheshire joked while relaxing her strokes.

“Yeah, everyone likes laughing.” Mylene seemed pleased at this while letting out a hum.

“Yeah, that’s why your dad became a mime right? To help people laugh, right?”

“Yeah, yeah he loves making people laugh!” Mylene looked happy at remembering her father. Cheshire rolled her eyes as Mylene babbled on about the roles her father played. “Though he couldn’t find someone to fix his hat, well someone he trusted. So now he has to go to an upcoming performance without it.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Cheshire politely questioned. She didn’t intend to help but it might be a way to leave. Mylene walked over to a closet and pulled out said hat. Cheshire took it and let out a hum while looking it over. “I could fix this within a few hours.” The superhero had meant not to say that outloud but Mylene had jumped on it.

“Could you? Please?”

Cheshire chewed on her lip a bit as she thought about what was being asked. Fix a hat as Cheshire? Why not? “I just need to take this to fix this.” Seeing Mylene shift a bit the girl rolled her eyes. “Or I guess I could bring my stuff here to fix it.” Mylene gave an enthusiastic nod while Cheshire opened her window. “I’ll be right back.”

Mylene watched her go for a bit before running to her phone. She had to inform the other girls about this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien arrived in his room with a deep frown on his face. “Spots Off.” With a flash of pink light Tikki flew out with a yawn.

“How did it go, Adrien?” Tikki flew down and grabbed a cookie before turning to see Adrien rubbing his chin.

“Are we doing enough?” Adrien questioned while walking to his computer.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, I'm just thinking about what Cheshire is doing.” Adrien brought up the Wonderblog and went to the stories section. What seemed to be hundreds of stories laid before him. Stories of the cat helping out random citizens with random tasks. “What is she doing?” Tikki flew near him and also looked at the screen with a frown.

“I don’t know Adrien, we’ve never dealt with a cat like this.” Adrien let out a hum while his eyes wandered around.

“Alright let’s start with what we know. Cats are evil, correct?” Tikki hesitated for a moment before giving a sad nod. “Alright if Cheshire is evil then what is gained by doing this?”

“... The trust of the citizens?” Tikki offered, causing Adrien to give a slow nod at her point.

“Why does she need it though? The girl was active for years so why not use the time to steal things? She could have done anything she wanted if she kept her head done.” While leaning back Adrien’s began to wonder until something popped up. “Security, she gets security. The people of the city love her and thus they hate us for fighting her.”

“And we walked right into the trap.” Tikki let out a sad sigh while her antanie drooped.

“Hey perk up Tikki, she got the drop on us this time but we can prove who the true heroes are.” Leaning forward Adrien interlocked his finger before him. “We will just have to outdo her at her own game.”

“That sounds like a good plan, Adrien. Did you learn anything else?”

Adrien’s frown grew as his mind shifted to the other thing Alya mentioned. “Somebody is interfering in Alya and Marinette’s friendship.”

“WHAT!” Tikki looked as horrified as he felt.

“I know right!” Adrien shouted while slamming his fist on the table. “Who could be mean to someone as nice as Marinette?” Adrien pushed off his desk. “We need to figure out who is interfering!” What could he do? He couldn’t tell Alya he knew someone was interfering without potentially outing himself. “I will have to observe the school.”

“Adrien…” Tikki looked a bit uncomfortable for a second before taking a breath. “Don’t forget that you are having parent day coming up.”

Adrien stopped his pacing and looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll try talking to my dad again.” Tikki just gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure things will work out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know this is kinda surruel.” Juleka muttered while a movie played in the background.

“Good or bad surruel?” Alix questioned from Mylene’s bed.

“Good definitely, good.” The goth watched as the hero of Paris working on a hat while Rose sat behind her working on her hair. Alya was taking pictures of everything that was happening.

Mylene had sent out a group text letting them know about the hero stopping by and had left to grab some sowing equipment. That had led to the girls, well all the girls that Juleka cared about, to come over. Chloe was a manipulative brat that most of her class hated, Sabrina was nothing but a loyal obedient lap dog to the mayor’s daughter. But then there was Marinette, the abandoned one. The goth really didn’t have any strong opinions about the girl but she knew the rules and with how much trouble her mother already caused Juleka needed to keep her head down.

More than once though did Juleka have to comfort a crying Rose after Chloe made the girl a part of one of her bullying pranks. Honestly Juleka felt bad for Marinette but she couldn’t risk her position for the girl.

When they had arrived they had settled down just as Cheshire came back with her sewing supplies. The girl seemed a bit shocked but settled down and started joking around with them. Rose had been really happy to talk to the kwami Kaalki who had come out of where she was hiding to talk to them. The kwami had been fun to talk to though part of Juleka kinda wished that she could take pictures of her. Rose had been devastated to learn that and it took a few jokes to get her feeling better.

Alix had been the most relaxed around the hero, the two swapped stories and jokes between each other like the old friends Alix said they were. Honestly nobody really seemed to notice when Rose got the hero's hair out of her pigtails but she did and was now enjoying playing with it. The superhero had frozen up and first but slowly she relaxed but there was still a certain amount of stiffness.

“And done.” Cheshire spoke for the first time in a while. “Behold a finished hat.”

“Papa! Cheshire finished your hat!” Mylene had a little bounce in her step as she shouted down the hat. A sound was heard in the distance as Fred Harpele ran into the room. Fred took the hat from Cheshire and examined it with a bit of a critical eye before a smile grew on his face.

“Thank you dear! It is almost perfect, it just needs my lucky charm.” While saying this Fred brought out a small picture and put it on the inside of the hat.

“Aww, that is so cute!” Rose cried out letting go of Cheshire’s hair to clap at the display. Juleka let out a hum of agreement while Alix hid a chuckle at the display.

“Where are you meeting for the performance good sir?” Kaalki asked.

“Oh, um, I guess I should get that.” Fred let out a chuckle before fishing out his phone and shooting out a few texts to his boss. “Good thing you brought it up.”

“Think nothing of it.” Kaalki waved it off before going back to talking to Alya.

“So what is your girl's plan for the rest of the day?” Fred questioned and looked around the room at the gathered girls.

“Well, um, I was thinking about playing a movie I was interested in watching.” Mylene looked at everyone a bit unsure. Most of the group made sounds of agreement before looking toward the superhero. Cheshire and Kaalki looked at each other for a few moments before Kaalki spoke.

“I think I would like to see the movie.” Kaalki looked at Cheshire who gave a nod.

“Sure we can stick around for a movie.” At that all the girls let out a cheer while Fred said he would grab some snacks for them. With that Mylene brought up a movie and babbled a bit in excitement. Rose receptacled while Alix just rolled her eyes good naturally.

“I like this.” Alya muttered to no one in particular.

“Same.” Juleka felt at peace here. She wasn’t in the background, she was part of the group. She liked being part of a group.

“This movie has knights!” Kaalki’s happy voice rang out.

“Do you like knights?” Rose asked the vibrating kwami.

“Oh yes! One of my chosen was a great knight! Oh we had so much fun together! Taking down bandits, saving cities, training recruits. It was great, until…”

“Until…” Alya probed.

“...The black knight.” Kaalki muttered quilty her ears drooping while her eyes dimmed. Nobody missed how the kwami looked at Cheshire’s ring.

“Oh, oh I love this line!” Rose was quick to redirect everyone’s attention back to the movie. The mood was brought up by some funny lines and a bit of slapstick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“To think Emilie was hiding something like this.” Gabriel flipped once more through the journal they had found in Adrien’s room. No doubt the other spellbook was also hidden in the room. He wasn’t too worried, if Emilie didn’t want something found then they would be lucky to ever find a trace of it. “Have we figured out how she was able to translate the spellbook yet?”

“No sir, we still only have the two theories at the moment.” Nathalie reaffirmed what Gabriel already knew. The two only knew the journal truly was when Nooro refused to in any way look at what was written. The kwami’s were under orders by the guardians to never learn how to create potions of power.

“Yes, but after thinking more on the subject I very much doubt that Emilie found the guardian. “We saw how him and those he selects react to other miraculous users so I doubt he came across Emilie.”

“Then that means that the one who she came across is?”

“Cheshire…” Gabriel took a thinking position while flipping a page in the journal. “Now the question is why. What did Emilie offer the girl to get her to do this?” His best guess was money. They had more than enough and he was willing to pay quite a bit for what he had in front of him. There was also the possibility that the child wanted something else that Emilie had offered, but that then left the question of what that was. He knew it wouldn’t be too extreme given that it was Emilie who had made the deal. Everyone wanted something, even evil Black Cat wielders.

Yes he knew the reputation of that particular miraculous. Nooro had spoken long and passionately about the dangers of the users of the ring. While Gabriel had been a bit concerned of having to face the wielder he did not let it deter him. The man needed both of the most powerful miraculous to have his wish granted. Such a feat had only ever been done once before according to Nooro so Gabriel knew it could be done.

“Perhaps it would be best to make contact with Cheshire. If she was able to decode this much a few years ago it stands to reason that she would have finished by now.” Nathalie said, shaking Gabriel from his thoughts.

“I can’t make contact with her. Hawkmoth is her enimay.” While saying this Gabriel saw something in the journal that caused a smile to cross his lips. “But perhaps you might be able to contact her.” The materials shouldn’t be too hard to get his hands on. Besides, it wasn’t like anything important was coming up. He would still need to send out one of two Akumas per day, and couldn't let the ‘heroes’ know that he was planning something. “Of course this is all assuming that Cheshire had access to a spellbook to translate from. I doubt that Emilie gave the girl one, she would never do something that stupid.” Nobody would trust a black cat user. Emilie especially wouldn’t trust her if she heard the stories the kwamis told.

“Perhaps we could use that as a form of bartering?” Nathalie proposed while Gabriel went about buying a meteorite.

“That is a fine point.” Gabriel gave a nod while finding some wood smiths who could get the job done quickly and quietly. Yes he had a plan coming together quite nicely. They could get Cheshire to finish translating the book then trap her. Two birds with one perfectly thrown stone.

Notes:

Well there you go, a nice fluff chapter with some set up. Also Adrien seems to have realized something while Misterbug has finally figured out Cheshire's insidious plan.

Chapter 28

“Screw street cops, I was legally parked!” An angry akuma that looked like a transformer yelled.

“Yes but you are now breaking copyright law!” Cheshire yelled while dodging a beam. The beam hit a light pole behind her which turned it into a mass of papers. “And now you're littering! Shame on you and your akuma!” Casting a look around the cat hero let out a huff of annoyance at noticing that Misterbug still hasn’t shown up. Was he waiting somewhere for Mylene to show up?

“I’ll show you shame!” Ticker yelled while charging right at her.

“I do feel ashamed.” Cheshire waited to move, letting the akuma pick up speed. “I engaged in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.” Right when the akuma was about to hit her the hero moved, letting the akuma hit the wall she was standing in front of. “Well I just proved mama wrong. Those Looney Tunes cartoons were educational.” With little hesitation she broke the gun of the akuma releasing the akuma. “Cataclysm time little butterfly.” Snatching the akuma before it could run off Marinette braced herself to prevent showing weakness. Opening up her hand she let the butterfly settle down on a nearby guardrail. Alright talk to the victim, smile a bit for the cameras then leave, use Catastrophe to clean the city, follow it up by crawling into bed and thank the tiny gods residing in her fan merch that it's the weekend.

“Have no fear King Monkey is here to save you!” A voice shouted out as a new miraculous user made their appearance. True to what they said though they had the Monkey miraculous. Which might be a problem for her if he used his power on her. Uproar was a power that messed up other powers so if she got hit by it then that meant… Whatever else she was thinking took a back seat as her instincts screamed and she dodged out of the way of a strike. The girl was forced to keep dodging as King Monkey kept attacking.

“What are you doing!” A reporter yelled causing the monkey user to break off his attack.

“I’m attacking the villain?” King Monkey looked at the reporter in confusion. “That’s what heroes do, they fight the villains.” Well might as well use this distraction.

“Cat-” Instincts screaming Cheshire barely avoid another strike from King Monkey.

“Don’t know what you're planning but I won’t let you!” Fixing the city? Real winner you picked Leonardo.

“You are a walking PR disaster.” Reaching for her baton Cheshire had to jump to the side to avoid a sweeping leg. “At least you’re a better fighter than Pegasus.”

“I’ll teach him after getting his miraculous back!” Cheshire was going to respond only to feel the corruption start working it’s way across her chest. That and her ring just beeped. This wasn’t looking good. Glancing down at her hand her heart dropped at seeing only three pads left on the ring.

A new pain was added as a pole arm slammed into her chest and sent the girl flying into a wall. A loud crack was heard as she made contact with the wall. “Make that two pains.” Damnit the other miraculous user wasn’t letting her breath for a second. Jumping out of the way Cheshire managed to get her hands on her weapon. Only to stumble as the corruption had rendered one of her legs almost unusable.

“Whoa! What’s going on out here you’re doing a lot of jumping and moving.” Mullo came out of hiding and looked around. This stunned King Monkey, not to self make up a stupid nickname for him later.

“When did you get a rat?”

“Rat!” Mullo yelled while her fur stood on end.

“Catastrophe!” Using the distraction to its fullest she slammed her hand down unleashing the wave of black. Spread out and Cheshire knew she didn’t have much time to work. “Mullo Get Squeaky! Plagg Claws In!” With a flash of grey Cheshire vanished but before anyone could see anything, “Multitude!”

“What the?” King Monkey lowered his arm to see the villain gone. “Coward!” Slamming his weapon down the miraculous user shook his head. This wasn’t how he expected it to go. Letting out a sigh he turned and gave a smile for the media before hopping away with some somersaults and other tricks for their entertainment.

Meanwhile a group of mice reassembled within a bakery. “Mullo Quiet Time,” another flash of grey and Mullo reappeared. “Whoa that felt weird, shifting with Plagg right as the transformation ended.” Mullo floated out while rubbing her head.

“Yeah, try not to do that again, Bread.” Plagg gave his own complaint as he appeared only to stop. “Bread?” Looking down Plagg let out a shocked yell as he swooped down. “Bread!” Plagg felt his non-existent heart freeze as he saw Marinette swaying in the middle of the bakery.

“Bed,” the young girl got out as she tried walking to the steps only for one of her legs to partly give out under her.

“Yes we need to get you to your bed now.” Plagg flew close to the girl. How could they get her to bed when she was like this! Maybe with a miraculous but him and Mullo were already tired.

“Hang on I’ll grab Trixx!” Mullo yelled to Plagg who blinked in realization.

“Grab his Miraculous!” Acting fast Plagg flew down to his chosen. His first and most obvious choice would be to take off Mullo’s miraculous but it was a necklace and his paws were shaking too bad for him to even think of doing that. So the last option was…

Going down to his ring Plagg felt a pit form in his stomach. “She won’t abandon you.” Plagg reassured himself as he grabbed his ring. Taking a breath Plagg slowly pulled his ring off. “What happened!”Trixx and Kaalki flew down, both looking horrified.

“No time, quick put your miraculous on her, we need her to transform and get to bed!” Plagg shouted while clutching his ring close.

“No, can’t wear too many miraculous.” Marinette moaned out.

“Don’t worry kit.” Trixx cooed while wiggling his necklace on to the girl. “Now let’s get you to bed.”

“Trixx Let’s Pounce!” A wave of orange relaxed him a little but seeing how Kitsune didn’t move his concern grew a little.

“Come on hero, it's time to rest.” Kaalki whispered into the girl's ear. With a groan the young girl raised a bit and crawled her way up the stairs. “There you go. You’re doing amazing.” Kitsune gave a groan at that but she did seem to pick up the pace.

“Why did she have to have the attic?” Plagg whined as they finally made it upstairs. Kitsune gave a whine of her own as she made her way to her bed. Collapsing on top the girl let out a whine as she rested on her mattress. Plagg clutched his ring tighter as the girl let out a groan that caused the transformation to end. Trixx flew out with a groan of his own.

“Seriously what happened?” Trixx asked while turning to look at Plagg and Mullo.

“No idea I was in the suit until we got back.” Plagg defended himself. The volume caused Trixx to flinch back.

“I might have fallen asleep. The akuma was kinda boring.” Mullo let out a laugh before taking a bite of the cheese she grabbed. Trixx froze as Mullo ate the cheese but no response came from the cat. Turning Trixx saw that Plagg’s entire focus was on the girl in the bed.

“Trixx, Mullo remove your miraculous. I need to put my miraculous on her to start passively healing her.” Trixx and Mullo moved there miraculous off of the girl while Kaalki awkwardly placed her glasses on him. Heading towards the cube Trixx placed his miraculous in its holder while Mullo followed his lead. Turning to the kit Trixx saw Plagg speed forward and all but force the ring on her finger.

Letting out a sigh Trixx flew downstairs to grab some food. Maybe he could find out what had happened on the news. Hopefully nothing else would come up today.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix gritted her teeth as she paced the park. “That stupid arragant piece of crap Mokey!” Stopping for a second the young skater kicked a nearby tree. Rose flinched a little at the sound. After the hangout at Mylene’s yesterday the girls had planned to meet up again today. It was a shot in the dark whether Cheshire would show up or not but now…

“My servers are lagging heavily! Posts are flying in so fast. Heck people are shooting me money and offering server space just so they can keep bashing the stupid ape.” Alya complained while finally turning off her phone to stop the constant dinging.

Mylene was holding on to Ivan who had come to talk to Rose about an idea he had had. “I hope she’s okay. She took a beating along with dealing with the akuma by herself.”

“She’s fine!” Alix snapped only to flinch when she saw Mylene curl up in Ivan’s hold. The bigger boy layed a comforting hand on his tiny girlfriend. “Sorry, sorry I’m, I’m… I know she’s going to be okay. Ches is tough, she is the toughest and strongest person I know. It's just…”

“You're worried.” Juleka replied from her seat next to Rose. Alix didn’t respond but she did give a small nod. “We’re all worried.”

“Yeah us and almost all of Paris. Heck I bet Hawkmoth is kicking himself that he can only akumatize only one person per day.” Alya tried to lighten the mood only to get a mummer. “I wish there was some way we could contact her or something.” The reporter muttered while flicking some dust away. Everyone glanced at Alix who just shook her head.

“The girl is overprotective of her identity.” With that everyone let out a sigh before Rose let out a happy gasp.

“Maybe we could make her a get well card and post it on the Wonderblog. She checks up on it right?” Alya thought for a moment before giving the blond a bright smile.

“Yeah that’s a great idea Rose!” Mylene complimented the blonde who smiled at the girl. “Let’s show her how much we appreciate her and hope for a speedy recovery!” With a cheer the girls, plus one boy, agreaded to the plan.

“Hey guys how’s it going?” Kim asked as he and Max made their appearance. The girls looked between each other, they knew Max’s history and wrong opinion about Cheshire and Kim was firmly in his friends corner. “Are you talking about the fight today?”

“What fight?” Another voice asked. Turning they saw Adrien walking up to them in confusion. Chloe and Sabrina were not far behind him much to Alya’s ire.

“Oh, a new miraculous user showed up and fought the villain of Paris.” Kim explained with a smile.

“Really?” Adrien questioned in shock. “They took down an akuma?” Unfortunately Adrien had been caught by his bodyguard before he could run away to transform.

“NO!” Alix yelled while stomping down in frustration. “Cheshire fought the akuma by herself! Then before she could fix the city that dump, ugly, cowardly chimp attacked her!” Adrien stared in shock at the short pink haired girl. Did the new user really do that?

“We don’t know that she was planning to fix the city. Tell her Max, tell her your theory.” Kim put the focus on his glasses wearing friend.

“Oh, well um,” Max cleared his throat before taking a more sturdy stance. “Cheshire uses the miraculous of the black cat. The ring of the black cat is the miraculous of destruction.” Max informed everyone with a lecturing tone. A few people in the group gave nods while others gave him a flat look. “Alright so with that in mind I had to ask: how does a miraculous made for destruction have the ability to fix damages.”

“Maybe it has to do with Ches?” Alix offered up with a shrug. “If we are to believe you then she is the only good user.”

“But we don’t know if she is good!” Max defended his point. “Besides, even if she was good, the point still stands! Her power is destruction! How does she ‘fix’ the city!”

Alya took a few seconds to think about it. The few times they had seen Cheshire not use her power on the akuma it had been destructive. But that’s the thing, they hadn’t seen her use her power that often. “If only Misterbug was more helpful.” Alya hadn’t meant to say that out loud but judging by the way Alix looked like a bobble head the girl more than agreed with him. Adrien just had an affronted look that made Alya want to justify herself. “Well Cheshire has to carry most of the fights which means she needs to save her power to capture the akuma.”

Adrien flinched at that comment. Honestly he hadn’t realized how much he actually relied on the evil cat during akuma battles. Heck if the cat hadn’t been there during Lady WiFi then he would have lost his miraculous. Now he hadn’t shown up to yet another akuma attack. Paris really wasn’t getting a good opinion of him. “I hope he’s not sick or anything.”

“Screw that slacker! Cheshire was attacked by that show off circus monkey!” Alix screamed shocking the boy.

“Of course he attacked her, she is evil.” Kim stated as if addressing a child. Alix spun on him with a sharp glare. Kim didn’t seem bothered by it or if he was he didn’t show it.

“So which of your parents are showing up tomorrow?” Adrien asked, trying to change the topic.

“Oh my mama is coming!” Rose grabbed onto the change tightly.

Adrien let out a breath at that as his other classmates slowly but surely shifted topics. Thankfully he found yet another distraction in the form of an old man waving towards him. “Hey Chloe I need to go talk to my tutor really quick I’ll be back.” Not waiting for a response Adrien ran over to the elderly man. “Master what are you doing here?”

“I wish I could say I was just going out for a walk but then I would be lying.” Fu managed to look older then he was as he let out a tired sigh. “Somehow someway our enemy got there hands on Mullo.” Adrien drew in a gasp of air as a frozen skeleton hand grabbed his hand. “I don’t know how but I do know that now she has gained more power.”

“Yeah, I also hear that the other user you chose didn’t make the best impression.”

“Yes. While dedicated he seems to lack some of the social awareness others have.” Fu let out a sad sigh. “Thankfully the girl I have in mind seems to have a good head on her shoulders. I shall give her Pollen on her way to school tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait to see her.” Adrien gave the master a hopeful smile. Fu returned it with a hopeful smile of his own. “Well if you can excuse me I need to head back to the others…”

“Have fun. It is important to enjoy your time without the mask.” Yeah… looking back at the others Adrien let out a sigh at the restrained negative atmosphere that him and Rose had only barely covered. The problem was still there and had to be dealt with. But hopefully him Alya Nino and Chloe could deal with it in time.

~~~~~~

“Are you sure it is wise to ignore a chance like this sir?” Natalie asked as she watched her boss work.

“Right now the public is under the impression that I can only unleash an akuma once a day. I would rather leave it that way for now.” Gabriel informed while he prepared the materials. “Though I might have to thank King Monkey for the useaful information he provided.”

“Yes, if they react like to their hero falling then how would they react to her losing or worse?” Natalie questioned which caused Gabriel to form a cruel smile.

“Yes, how would they react indeed.” Plans for later. Now it was time to complete the ones already in motion. “You are clear on the plan correct?” Seeing the nod Gabriel continued his work as a small thought crept into his thoughts. How did Cheshire loose to King Monkey? The girl had no trouble with his akuma as embarrassing as that was to admit. She should have been a little tired and on a time limit but still against an inexperienced foe such as she facing… did something else happen? Hmm, something to look into.

Chapter 29

Marinette let out a yawn as she buried more into her blankets. Hmm, maybe she should just pile a whole bunch of blankets on the floor and make a den. But if she did that then how could she soak in the sunlight? Do you think the placement of the chaise directly in the path of the window was a coincidence? Heck she spent more than one evening laying on her balcony enjoying the light.

“Plagg?” Marinette muttered out.

“Bread!” Plagg yelled but toned it down at Marinette’s flinch. Trixx flew close to his kit and started rubbing against her. “You're awake, how are you feeling?”

“Doesn’t matter, is my sunbeam spot good?”

“She has a sunbeam spot?” Mullo’s voice questioned but everyone seemed to ignore her in favor of focusing on the girl.

“The sun is setting but there should be a few good minutes left.”

“Hmm, do you think we could create a blanket burrow?” Marinette felt Trixx freeze up before trying to muffle his happy laughing sounds in her hair.

“Blanket burrow?” Plagg questioned while his eyes grew wide. Looking at the happy laughing fox, Plagg was able to put the pieces together. “You! You infected Bread!”

“Wha?” Marinette questioned while looking up in confusion.

“My whatever, do you mean Plagg?” Trixx questioned while trying to keep his happy fox laughter in check. Plagg just glared at her as Marinette just let out a mummer. “So how you feeling kit?”

“Like crap. Thank… well I guess thank you that tomorrow is a short day.” Trixx just raised an eyebrow at her while Plagg and Mullo looked just as confused. “I was going to say ‘Thank God’ but you guys are like tiny gods right? So I was just saying thank you for your blessing.”

“You're welcome.” Trixx let out a bit of the laughter as he contained his mirth.

“Bread… fine your welcome.” Plagg let out a sigh. Marinette let out a happy sigh as she once more started digging into her blankets and before she knew it, sleep had once more claimed her. The kwami’s watched the girl before letting out a sigh.

“It’s good to see her awake, if even for a brief moment.” Mullo gave a smile at the hidden girl.

“Marinette woke up!” Kaalki exclaimed as she entered the room.

“For a bit, yes.” Plagg explained before joining Trixx in cuddling his chosen. “How was the news?”

“Well…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk to school for Marinette was interesting to say the least. Everyone was talking about what happened after the akuma fight yesterday. Marinette heard it with her enhanced hearing though in some cases Marinette didn’t even need it to hear some particallier loud or pationite people. Nadja had to cut more than one call in short due to such views about the monkey. Marinette almost felt sorry for them but then again he brought this on himself. So as the saying went: dig your grave, enjoy the view from the bottom.

Continuing her walk to school Marinette tried not to let her exhaustion show. Her body hurt and her mind felt like it was lagging. Walking across the street Marinette rolled her shoulders a bit before looking back at the bakery. Maybe she should take the day off from school? As she looked back she saw a very familiar old man making his way across the road. But she also noticed a speeding car, huh this was familiar. Once again she saved the older man shocking him but he seemed to understand upon hearing the car honk. “You really need to start looking both ways when you cross the street. I might not be here to save you next time.”

“Oh, well thank you again.” The man said while giving the girl a smile. “Do you mind walking me to work? I think you can still make it to school.”

“Sure.” Marinette fell into step with the man who looked both happy and relieved. Walking down the path they walked in comfortable silence. Marinette held back a yawn but soon the school steps appeared. “Well we arrived at your work.”

“My part time job. I also own my own shop.” The older man passed the girl a small business card. “Come visit sometime, I accept walk-ins. I do not mean to insult but you do look very stressed.”

Stressed? Yeah stressed was a nice way of putting things. Stupid fake heroes. “Thank you for your concern sir.” Giving the man a strained smile, it was the best she could do. The elderly man seemed a bit concerned but Marinette started walking forward. Walking into the school Marinette just tried to walk forward and go through the motions. Arriving at the locker room Marinette grabbed her textbook only to freeze. Her clouded mind tried to comprehend the small black box with the red symbol on the top. Reaching into the bag Marinette grabbed the box and made her way to the bathroom. Entering an unused bathroom the girl took a deep breath and opened the box. With a flash of yellow light a small yellow bee appeared.

“Greetings my Queen.”

“Oh, um, hi.” Eloquent simple: Marinette. If only her mind wasn’t so slow to process. Oh right, introductions. “My name is Marinette, um, who are you?” Why aren’t the others coming out to say hi? Were they tired? Trixx did mention something about staying up late to do research.

“My name is Pollen. It is very nice to meet you, my Queen.” The kwami was giving her a bright hopeful smile. The smile put her slightly at ease. Maybe it would be best to just roll with this. Act like she doesn’t know anything.

“Well, um, would you like something to eat? We can talk more later, I just need to get to class.” Fishing around her purse Marinette paused as she found a chili pepper. “What the heck is this doing here?” Did Trixx put this in here? No wait she might have put this in her purse.

“Oh such a lovely pepper! Do you mind if I?” Holding it out Pollen happily flew forward and took the pepper. “Oh this is quite delicious.”

“I think it was a ghost pepper.” Marinette said while remembering the pack she grabbed it from. Why did she have them? Was she planning to have a pepper eating contest? It might have been for a potion.Was it for a potion?

“Oh could I have some more?”

“Sure? I have some more at my house.” Pollen seemed to light up at this.

“Thank you, my Queen.” Pollen took a bow. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Same goes for me.” Marinette really meant it and she hoped the smile she gave the kwami showed it. Her heart plummeted when she heard the five minute warning bell. “Oh, um,” Marinette’s mind raced as she thought about what to do next, “Can we continue this conversation later? I need to get to class.” For a second she thought about putting the comb in her hair but Plagg said not to wear more than two miraculous at any given time so when Pollen nodded and finished her pepper Marinette made the hard choice of closing the box.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette made her way out of the bathroom only to trip on a stuck out foot as a bucket of water was dumped on her. But none of that mattered because the box she held skidded across the floor and landed at a smirking blonde's feet. “Oh what do we have here?” Marinette looked around for help but all she saw was her bully, Ivan, Kim, and a janitor. The janitor wasn’t even the elderly man who Marinette helped, he was just one of the jerks who stood to the side.

“Whatcha got…” Kim slowed down as he watched Chloe pick up the box.

“Oh? A gift for me? Thanks Dupain-Cheng I think I’ll throw it in the trash when I get home.” With that Chloe let out a cruel laugh before walking away. Ivan walked up to the blonde and Chloe just rolled her eyes before giving a nod. Kim just stared at her for a moment.

“What! You're going to shove me in a locker?” Marinette snapped at the jock who blinked before heading towards Chloe though at a slower pace. Marinette slowly stood before letting out a sigh. How had things gone so badly? She had lost a miraculous, but she knew where it was. Making her way down the hall Marinette stopped before entering the room. What was the point? She was drenched and exhausted. But she needed to get the miraculous back! Walking a ways down the hall Marinette opened her purse. “Hey Plagg, Trixx, I need some help.”

Plagg let out a yawn as Trixx just stretched. “What’s up Bread…” Plagg forze when he saw Marinette drenched before a smile grew on his face. “Oh, is it time to shave the brat bald?”

“I have the scissors!” Trixx grabbed the scissors from the bag.

“No, I need you two to rescue Pollen.” The two kwami’s froze in shock before Marinette explained what had happened.

“So the blonde brat has the miraculous? Well looks like it's time for a rescue mission.” Plagg muttered while rubbing his chin.

“Yeah we got to save Pollen before she stuck with that an evil user.” Trixx turned to Plagg as the two seemed to have a conversation between each other. Marinette realized that she had made a mistake when both got evil grins on their faces. “Don’t worry we got this kit.” With that the two were off.

“What have I done?” Marinette asked before leaning back on the wall. The young hero felt a bit of a shiver travel down her spine. The water they had dumped on her had been freezing. But she couldn’t leave at the moment due to needing to get the miraculous back. Hearing the classroom door open, Marinette watched as Adrien walked out into the hall. The blonde talked into his phone with a down cast expression before letting out a sigh. “Looks like I’m not the only one whose parents didn’t show up.”

Adrien turned to her with wide eyes. Marinette froze up at that as she realized what she had said. “Oh, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to say that, I mean I didn’t mean that to sound so bad.” Letting out a sigh Marinette felt her head bang against the wall behind her as she tried to sort out what she was saying. “Sorry I’m not having a good day.”

“What happened?” Adrien asked while slowly sitting down near her. He had tried to sit closer but the girl had put some distance between them. Marinette wouldn’t be fooled by his act. He was Chloe’s friend, he had taken her lucky charm! “You can tell me.”

Marinette resisted rolling her eyes but she needed to shift the conversation. “So did your dad get held up at work?”

Adrien let out a sigh before leaning back on the wall himself. He had been looking forward to today. Was he stupid to think that his father would take just a few minutes to make some kinda presentation or show up? “I don’t know.” Adrien looked down at the ground before turning to the girl beside him. “What about you? Where are your parents?”

Marinette’s mind raced as she tried to figure out what his game was. “They are in New York for work.”

“Ah,” Adrien let out a breath of understanding before looking down.

Marinette shifted a bit. He might be Chloe’s friend and a thief but nobody should feel abandoned by their parents. Opening up her purse Marinette saw some of her cookies she made this morning. “Here, it won’t make up for your papa not being here but it’s something.”

“Oh, thanks.” Adrien gratefully took the offered food but flinched a little as some of the water she was drenched in dripped on him. The two fell into a somewhat awkward silence. Marinette rolled her eyes before sliding away from the boy a bit more. “What happened?” Turning her head Marinette saw Adrien looking at her with fake concern. After all, he was friends with the girl and guys who did this to her.

“Like you don’t know.” Marinette muttered before deciding to stand up. “Enjoy your cookies, I'm going to head home.” Not waiting around Marinette started walking away not even stopping when she heard him calling to her. She just needed to stop by the locker room and grab some things. Maybe she could leave a note there for Plagg and Trixx? Today was truly horrible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nathalie, are you ready?” Hawkmoth asked while a butterfly flew into his hand. With practiced ease he filled it with dark magic. “I sense a poweful heart dragged down by the dark actions of those around them.”

“It is Mayura now sir.” Mayura informed while Hawkmoth gave a smile. “But yes, I am ready.”

“Perfect! Now fly away my little akuma. It is time to create a distraction.” Opening his hand the akuma flew away with Mayura heading out not long after. “I love when a plan comes together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xuppu floated out of his user bag with a frown on his face. When he had first met Kim the monkey kwami thought that he would be a great user or maybe chosen given enough time. But today, today the brown kwami saw something horrifying. Kim was a bully, a bully toward an innocent girl. That was bad enough but what made it worse was the box she had dropped.

The guardian had chosen her for a miraculous. Xuppu had a good idea too which miraculous was in the box. He had to return this miraculous back to its true chosen. He really didn’t believe Kim when he said the girl would be fine. Phasing into the bag Xuppu set about trying to find the miraculous. He was a monkey on important business.

Yeah important business, don’t get distracted by the shiny bracelet. Okay maybe he could look at it for a little bit. “Oh, this looks somewhat familiar.” Getting close Xuppu looked at the bracelet only to jump when he heard voices. This had the unfortunate effect of causing him to lodge his head in the bracelet.

“You know this is quite familiar.” A familiar voice commented from nearby.

“Are you saying something like this has happened before?” An unfamiliar voice asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup, took a while to get the bracelet off of him. You should have seen his chosen during the time. Was one of his stronger chosen if I remember right.”

“Yeah Sun was great.” Xuppu had a smile on his face before realizing something. “Wait, is this the same bracelet as before!”

“Hmm, looks like it.” The familiar voice sounded like it was barely restraining a laugh.

“NOOO!” Xuppu let out a scream of horror. The scream of horror was cut off by a hand placed on his mouth.

“Stupid screaming monkey. Come on Trixx we need to get out of here.” The unfamiliar voice said as who Xuppu now realized was Trixx dragged them along with them. Within a few seconds he could no longer hear the classroom. “Well we kidnapped him. Now what?”

“Hey Xuppu, buddy old pal.” Trixx asked the other kwami who tried turning to where he thought the voice was.

“Yeah Trixx?” The brown kwami asked in confusion.

“You mind telling us who your user is.”

“You know I can’t do that. Besides, I need to work out some problems with the boy.”

“Eh, worth a shot.”

“What were you doing in that blonde brat’s bag?” The unfamiliar voice asked. Xuppu tried to think of who it could belong to but he was coming up empty at the moment.

“Oh, um, would you believe that I was looking for food?” The silence was answear enough. “Well, um, what were you two doing in the bag?”

“Oh, we were going to save Pollen from a bad user.” Trixx seemed to enjoy the way Xuppu’s jaw dropped. How did they know!

“What is going on here?” Another voice butted into the conversation.

The rusty gears in his mind finally seemed to shift into gear. Trixx was captured by the cat, this meant that if anyone was with Trixx then. “PLAGG!” Xuppu once more had his mouth covered by Trixx.

“Oh, good to see that you still remember me.” Plagg seemed to be cackling, the evil kwami.

Marinette stared at the three kwamis and felt a smile form on her face. This was nice. This was why she preferred kwamis over most people. While looking at Plagg an idea came to her mind. “Oh are you guys friends of Pollen?” Her kwamis looked confused for a second before catching onto her idea. Or they were willing to play along.

“In a way.” Plagg admitted. “Well me and the fox, his name is Trixx.”

“I’m Xuppu!” The monkey greeted with a smile. Hearing footsteps coming, Marinette opened her bag.

“Oh shoot looks like we got to leave, good luck Xuppu!” With that Plagg and Trixx flew into her bag. Xuppu tried to run and hide too only to run into a locker.

“Oh, are you okay?” Marinette carefully picked up the brown kwami.

“I think I see stars.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What is going on! What happened to the negativity!” Hawkmoth felt frustration building up but it passed as another source of negativity made itself apparent. “Go my akuma! Find that negativity!” He would not fail here. They needed an akuma to draw out the cat!

Notes:

I know I normally do Akuma's in one chapter but work has really been pushing me so I don't get a lot of time to work on this. I'll try to make the next chapter longer but no promises.

Chapter 30

Fu let out a sigh as he restocked the bathroom. “Commit to the part.” It was what was needed to get access to the people he had seen who had potential to wield a miraculous. As he stepped out of the bathroom the man let out a sigh. The secret guardian was going to keep walking when he saw a purple black butterfly flutter out a nearby window. “Well it seems like Marinette is going to have her first fight sooner than expected.”

“Do you think she will be okay?” Wayzz asked while poking his head out of the pocket he was in.

“She seems like a strong girl so I believe she will be fine.” Walking to his next spot Fu got ready to clean the locker room only to stop when he heard voices. Walking around the corner Fu was shocked to see Marinette pick up Xuppu with gentle hands. Trying to sneak up on the girl, Fu watched as she scratched the kwami’s ears and tried to sooth the kwami. The monkey kwami had what looked like a golden bracelet stuck on his head. “What seems to be going on here.”

Marinette jumped in shock at hearing the voice and quickly hid Xuppu behind her back. “I just needed some air so I went for a walk.” Fu just raised an eyebrow while realizing something. She wasn’t wearing the miraculous he had given her and she was drenched. Her clothes were soaked but she didn’t seem to care. More focused on hiding the kwami.

“Master!” Said kwami flew out of hiding and tried to find him only to bump into another locker. “Ow.”

“Oh my gosh Xuppu!” Marinette was quick to grab the kwami. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine, but is the guardian here? I really need to talk to him, it’s super important!”

“Oh? What is so important that you had to out me?” Fu knew that Xuppu wasn’t the smartest kwami but still he at least seemed to respect the rules.

“That girl you gave the miraculous to had it stolen!” Xuppu declared while looking very worried.

“You were attacked by Cheshire?” Fu was quick to look at the girl. Was that why she was drenched in water?

“No! I mean I don’t think it was Cheshire.” Xuppu took a thinking position. “We should look into the possibility. Because if she is Cheshire then we know her civilian identity!”

“You think Chloe could be Cheshire?” Marinette questioned before taking a thinking position.

“Chloe stole the bee miraculous? How?” Fu looked between the two. Marinette forze up and dropped her gaze to the floor. Xuppu though, Xuppu looked defeated.

“My user tripped Marinette when she came out of the bathroom. When she landed on the floor the box fell out of her hand and landed at Chloe’s feet.” Master Fu let out a sigh upon hearing this. But before they could do anything else an alarm blared out of Marinette’s phone. Looking down, Marinette let out a sigh.

“Looks like there is an akuma. I need to go lock up in my home.” Marinette let out a sigh before stopping and looking down at the kwami in her hands. “I suppose I should fix this first.”

A chuckle was heard, but it didn’t come from either human. “I doubt you can. It took a long time for the guardians of the time to remove Xuppu from the bracelet.” Wayzz informed while flying out of the guardian's pocket.

“Well I can try.” Marinette said, puckering her face in thought. An idea seemed to come to her though as she opened her locker. “This should do it.”

“Pepper?” Wayzz questioned as Marinette sprinkled the pepper on the monkey. The brown kwami felt his nose itch before falling victim to the effects of the seasoning. With a mighty sneeze the kwami flew out of the bracelet that Marinette was holding. “It was that easy the entire time!”

“Whoa! I was expecting that to take like a few years!” Xuppu was up again while looking around in shock. “That was how long it took last time.”

“That must have been uncomfortable.” Marinette rubbed where the bracelet was only to freeze when she heard a door banging open. “That might be the akuma. I need to go home now. It was nice to meet you guys.” With that the young girl left the school.

“She’s nice and creative. Shame she lost Pollen.” Xuppu let out a sad sigh at that. “Though it might be fortanite.”

“Why?” Fu asked while glancing at the brown kwami.

Xuppu shifted a bit uncomfortable but he did have to answer the guardians question. “My wielder was the one who tripped Marinette when she came out of the bathroom.” Fu and Wayzz stared in horror as the kwami continued talking. “When I confronted him about it the boy just said that it was no big deal. That it was just how things were.”

“Did he not notice the miraculous?” Wayzz asked hoping it wasn’t as bad as things were.

“He did and he justified it by saying that Chloe would probably make a better wielder than Marinette.” Xuppu slumped forward with a sigh. “I tried to retrieve the miraculous but unfortunately I got stuck in the bracelet.”

Fu looked down in thought. Did he make another poor decision? How could he not have noticed that Kim was a bully? How could he not have noticed Marinette being bullied? But while all this was going on Wayzz noticed something else. “Xuppu if you couldn’t see with the bracelet on how did you get to the locker room?”

“Oh, Trixx and Plagg helped me.” If his previous statement was a grenade then this was a bomb. A bomb that had many implications. “Well I need to find my user.” With that the monkey left the shell shocked kwami and guardian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe felt like this akuma was way overreacting. Rogercop or whatever stupid pun name he gave himself was out using his powers when he should have been trying to use those powers to help her. Honestly, what did her daddy even pay him for? The man had one job, serving the people. So the cop should have dropped everything to find out who stole her bracelet. The list of suspects was light, only one person really, but still do diligence and all that meaningless crap. Hmm, if it wasn’t her then it had to of course be Alix and her stupid questions.

“Could King Monkey and Misterbug be arrested for attacking Cheshire?” The question had started a debate along with someone, Cesaire maybe, bringing up that technically Max could also be charged since he also attacked the fashion disaster of a hero. Kim was quick to defend the boy saying that he was defending the citizen. Things would have continued like this if a noise hadn’t disrupted the argument. Looking into her bag Chloe found to her horror that her bracelet was missing!

After informing everyone of the horror of what had happened she had kindly asked Roger to find ‘who’ had stolen it. The ‘who’ in question was obvious, after all with everyone else so in love with her then it could only have been Dupain-Cheng. Cesaire might not be under her full control, yet, but Chloe knew the girl was smart enough to know better. Roger was doubtful of her but after everyone had cleared themself Chloe had to hold back rolling her eyes as the officer was forced to do his job. The man was obviously frustrated but Chloe didn’t care, she had more important things to worry about. Like how to punish Dupain-Cheng for stealing from her.

It was barely a minute into the next presentation when the akuma alert went off. Chloe let out an annoyed noise, knowing that her dear Adrikins would now be forced to head home. Though that did bring up the question of what held up her best friend, and future boyfriend. He said he just wanted to call his father but honestly such a simple task could not have taken that long. Hmm, maybe she should go and find him, her precious future husband could do with some cheering up. Oh, she was so kind. Well as long as he didn’t break down into tears, that was just too disgusting.

Walking down the halls Chloe saw a stupid janitor and snapped her fingers at the elderly old fart. “You, have you seen my Adrikins around?”

“Who?” Ugh, stupid people.

“Adrien Agreste, sir.” Sabrina informed the stupid hired help.

“Ah, no I haven’t.” The janitor informed them causing Chloe to roll her eyes.

“He must have headed home. I need to head off anyway.” Alya said breaking off followed shortly after by Nino. Chloe just rolled her eyes before leaving the school. Well that was a waste, maybe she should just head to her home. A noise in front drew her attention. It seemed that Cheshire the idiot was fighting against Roger only to be interrupted by a spinning yoyo from Misterbug. Hmm, now there was someone who knew how to dress. Plus he used his powers how he wanted, saving her dad might have also given him some bonus points.

“What are you three doing here?” Chloe asked drawing everyone’s attention to her. Sabrina had ducked behind her when they turned to her. “YOU,” pointing at the akuma Chloe took a step forward, “should be tracking down that thief.”

“You are interfering in an ongoing investigation, please stand down.”

“Excuse me? Did you forget who you are talking to?” Instead of answering the question Roger just raised his wrist and attempted to shoot her only for her to be saved by Misterbug, thank god if she had to touch whatever Cheshire wore the mayor’s daughter might have had to take a two hour bath.

“I must track down the criminal. No evil shall escape Rogercop.” With that Rogercop entered his car. The car flew down the street faster than either could keep up.

“Wait! Dang it!” Planting her pole in the ground Cheshire flew to a nearby roof.

“Sorry I got to go.” Misterbug gently put Chloe down before swinging his way down the street. Turning to Sabrina the girl prepared to say something only to see that the girl had run away.

“Ugh, whatever.” Chloe walked away only to stop and remember something important. “Best take care of this now before I forget.” Reaching into her bag Chloe fished out the box she took from Marinette. Chloe didn’t know nor particularly care what was in the box, it was trash so she would put it where it belonged. A part of her hoped it was some type of family hairloom. A peek wouldn’t hurt, maybe break the box while she was at it?

Opening the box a flash of yellow came out of the box. The light came together to form a small bee like being. “Hello again… you are not my Queen.” Pollen flew back a little.

It took Chloe a second to recognize what she was seeing and what it meant. This was a miraculous, and it was meant for that stupid brat! Did Misterbug make a mistake? Yes he must have been fooled by that stupid brat! Chloe would enlighten him to how much better she was was then some stupid baker’s daughter! “You're right, I'm not Dupain-Cheng. I’m better than she could ever hope to be! Now tell me everything I need to know.” Yes she would be a better Queen, she would be the hero everyone wished they could be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cheshire bounced up onto a nearby roof and prepared to follow the akuma only to be interrupted as someone landed in front of them. This figure wore a blue dress and held a very familiar fan. The cat hero felt her heart stop for a second. Taking a breath Cheshire settled down before taking a relaxed stance. “Hello, I don’t suppose your here to talk?”

“Hello Cheshire, it is nice to meet the hero of Paris. I am Mayura.” The peacock user greeted the girl with a bit of a bow. Well this was nice, not being attacked right off the bat but Cheshire kept her guard up. Misterbug had shown her that trusting people was a dumb idea. But she could play the part, at least for now.

“Nice to meet you too Mayura.” Cheshire gave the women a kind smile. “Listen I would love to stay and chat but I have an akuma to catch.”

“Do not worry about the akuma, I saw Misterbug following him. I believe he should be able to handle him by himself.” Mayura delivered this calmly and as if it was a fact. Before Cheshire could continue, Mayura held out a familiar book. “I was hoping that we could talk about your arrangement with the previous peacock user.”

Cheshire looked at the book being held out and felt an overwhelming amount of emotions come over her. Taking a breath Cheshire knew that she needed to get the facts before assuming the worst. Leaning back Cheshire moved one of her hands to where she knew Trixx was hiding. “Oh so I guess you want me to finish translating that book?” Mayura gave an affirmative answer to that while Cheshire nodded. “Alright, you wouldn’t happen to know where I left off? It's been so long since I translated for Pavo that I forgot where I left off.”

“Yes I suppose it has been a while.” Mayura flipped through the book before showing a section. “Here. This is where we believe where you stopped.” Looking at the page Cheshire let out a hum while feeling Trixx moved closer to hear what the kwami had to say. He no doubt knew something was wrong. Mayura didn’t correct the fake name she used for Bella.

“Okay, I guess I’ll take it home with me and get to work.” Reaching out Cheshire tried to take the book only for Mayura to snap the book closed and pull it out of reach.

“I would rather we meet on neutral territory and have you translate there.” Honestly she didn’t need Trixx to tell her this was a trap. Did Mayura really think she was that much of an idiot? It was really really insulting.

“Oh so we meeting up with Hawkmoth so you can take my miraculous like you did to Bella Blue?” It was a long shot but judging by the flinch Mayura gave Cheshire felt like she had guessed correctly. “I hope you don’t hold it against me but I have a lot of questions to ask you.”

“Yeah! Get Dussu back, kit!” Trixx poked his head out of her hair. Mayura didn’t give a reaction to this but she did flow into a battle stance. Cheshire was quick to get into her own battle stance. This had gone from two to twenty rather quickly. But she agreed with Trixx completely. It was time to get Dussu back then see if Misterbug is in need of saving and finally find out where Chloe threw out the miraculous. She really didn’t want to entertain the thought of Chloe of all people using a miraculous!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Everyone can relax now Queen Bee is here to save the day.” Queen Bee made her amazing awesome entrance. But her being who she was it was to be expected. The police who had been put under Rogercop’s control stared in awe at her while Misterbug gave her an appraising look. King Monkey let out a breath of air no doubt relieved to have her as an amazing back up. Well time to show these two what a true hero is capable of! No doubt after this fight they would never think of ever replacing her. Especially with that dumb brat.

Notes:

Alright I might need to take a bit of a break. Work is a pain and I need to slow down. Thank you guys so much for your support.

Chapter 31

Mayura put some distance between her opponent before letting out an annoyed sound. Cheshire was an annoying child to fight, not that she made it a habit to fight children. But here she was with a non combat focused miraculous fighting a child wielding a miraculous revolving around combat.

“She’s going for a sweep.” The fox kwami commented from where he was sitting in the cat’s hair. How the kwami knew her fighting style so well he could predict it was another annoyance.

Deciding not to go with the sweep, Mayura instead went to attack with her fan. Cheshire ducked and extended her baton sending her flying into a wall. That was another thing, when it came to fighting style she had the obvious advantage. Plus she was an adult so she was also stronger, faster and technically the better reach. But when it came to miraculous magic combat Cheshire had everything else. The girl had been fighting with her miraculous for years now and Mayura had very little in the way to compensate. Letting out an annoyed sound the peacock user got out of the way of a strong kick.

“So I don’t suppose you're going to tell me what Hawkmoth wants?” Cheshire gave her a cheeky grin while spinning her baton. Mayura needed to even this fight. Reaching for her fan she saw Cheshire narrowed her eyes before shooting towards her for a swipe with her claws. Mayura leaned to the side and was quick to give the child a kick. The cat took the hit and while in the air she landed on all fours preventing her from going over the edge. “Sorry birdy but I’m not letting you make an amok.”

How did they know about her power? Did M. Agreste use it in front of her? If so, why. Putting those thoughts in the back, Mayura dodged the thrown rock but had to block a punch. While she was close the fox popped out and blew dust into Mayura’s face. Having not expected it the peacock user dropped her guard as she tried to get the dirt out of her eyes. Another hit came from the side, almost sending her off the roof.

“Mayura where are you?” Hawkmoth’s voice came from her earpiece.

“Is that Hawkmoth? If it is, tell him that he’s a pathetic butterfly man!” Mayura gritted her teeth but Cheshire’s mouthiness proved to be an advantage. While the cat was distracted the peacock user had managed to grab a feather and before Cheshire could do anything Mayura enchanted it with magic.

“Perhaps you should deal with this?” With little thought Mayura threw the feather over the edge sending it flying towards a child she sensed. Cheshire glared at her but Mayura only gave a smile as she felt the amok infected a dinosaur toy. Within a second a dinosaur was now stomping around the park. With civilians now in danger Cheshire ran off the roof and went to help the children in the park.

“Mayura, answer me!”

“Cheshire figured out the trap and attacked me to try and get my miraculous.” Mayura explained with a sigh. “I had to create an amok to get her away.”

“I see, get back here we will discuss it more later. Rogercop is about to lose.”

“I understand.” Casting one last look back, Mayura left quickly. Their next fight would not be in the cat’s favor. Mayura didn’t react as a flood of ladybugs swept over the city undoing the damages of the akuma but leaving a giant t-rex to continue its rampage. But she was sure that it would be taken down soon by Cheshire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug didn’t know who this new miraculous user was but he was finding her very annoying. The girl had shown up interrupting their fight with Rogercop with a ‘dramatic’ entrance. Well it would have been dramatic if Misterbug hadn’t seen her hiding on the roofs. He had thought that she was going to make a move and help defeat the akuma but no, she was waiting for a moment to make an entrance. Then during the fights she only did the bare minimum and anytime she even messed up her hair she would disengage in order to fix it. Thankfully she was willing to help fight the akuma. So after purifying it and using the ladybugs Misterbug prepared to pull a page from Cheshire’s book and prepared to comfort the victim.

“So what happened to cause you to become an akuma?” Queen Bee as she introduced herself asked the victim. The girl really didn’t sound like she cared but everyone else was looking at her. Queen Bee soaked up the attention, until it was interrupted as the ground shook. Everyone looked out the window to see a unified Cheshire riding a t-rex.

“No need to fear citizens, I have this completely under control.” Cheshire called out while hitting the dinosaur on the side. The creature let out a bellowing roar that the cat used to shove her baton down the legendary beast's throat.

“Didn’t you defeat the akuma?” King Monkey asked, looking between the street and him.

“I did.” Misterbug commented while looking at the de-akumatized Roger. A crack interrupted his musing. Looking outside Misterbug saw the T-rex fall down. A second later what looked like a feather flew out of the beast's mouth. A hand covered in black energy caught it and the thing disintegrated. A wave of black energy soon swept over the city as Cheshire stood up with a breath. The cat seemed to know where they were because they looked over at them with a smile.

“Hey Rogers! Good to see you back to normal, I would have helped but I was busy.” Cheshire didn’t even seem to notice them but instead focused on Roger. “I would hang out and talk but I need to get this back to a kid.” After showing off a toy t-rex Cheshire was off.

“What, what was that?” King Monkey asked while Queen Bee tightened her fists. Misterbug would have answered but his miraculous beeped. Thanks to Queen Bee he was down to just two minutes left so Misterbug had to leave before he revealed Adrien’s secret.

Queen Bee frowned as the bug left. At least she made a good impression, well then again it was her so of course she would make a good impression. The dumb ape left soon after the bug. Seeing as how the press was busy Chloe let everyone know she was leaving. After making sure their eyes were on her, Queen Bee made sure to give everyone a good show as she left. That should do it for an introduction. Not as perfect as she planned but that attention stealing cat just had to show up when/how she did.

“No wonder everyone insists that dump ally cat is evil.” Chloe complained to Polley, or whatever her name was.

“Yes, the cat is indeed evil.” Polley reaffirmed before giving a smile. “If it isn’t too much of a problem could I get some food?”

“There are sweets on that table over there.” Chloe waved off the kwami or whatever it called itself. The yellow thing flew over to the table seeing if there was anything she liked. “Just eat something from the table and don’t leave crumbs!” With that the mayor’s daughter whipped out her phone before she started making a twitter account for Queen Bee. Why the other heroes didn’t have social media presence she didn’t know. Well the cat and ape were to dumb to even think of it.

Oh well she just needed to transform and take a picture so her account can be verified. Hmm, maybe she should talk to Misterbug about getting him a verified account. Dang she was feeling generous today. Must be because of her being a hero now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dropping off the toy with the kid and sitting through a talk about how both the toy and the t-Rex she fought were scientifically inaccurate, Marinette decided that it was time to go home. Dropping down into her bed she let both transformations go and felt relief as the overload of power left her. “What’s up Bread? Was the akuma so bad that you really needed to Unify?”

“Nah Misterbug had to deal with the akuma we had to fight an amok.” Trixx replied to Plagg as if that explained everything.

Plagg stood there shocked as his brain tried to understand what happened. “WHAT!”

“It wasn’t Bella.” Marinette shook her head at the unasked question. “They called themselves Mayura. She wanted me to finish translating the spellbook.” The three fell into silence before Marinette broke it with a sigh. She really, really didn’t want to do what she needed to do but it needed to be done. All it would take is one visit, just go in and talk. “We need to inform the others.”

“WHAT!” This time both kwamis yelled. Plagg looked horrified while Trixx looked excited.

“Why is there so much yelling out here?” Mullo questioned while flying out of the cube.

“Yes, Mullo and I were in the middle of watching a wonderful duel.” Kaalki commented with a pout.

“Well…” Marinette began awkwardly only to be interrupted by Plagg.

“Bread is thinking of visiting the guardian!” This caught the Kaalki off guard but Mullo just blinked in confusion.

“How? She doesn’t know where he lives.” Mullo pointed out while taking a thinking position.

“He gave me his business card.” Marinette pulled out a card causing a few kwami’s jaws to drop. “Listen Plagg, I really think they need to know that Mayura is working with Hawkmoth.”

“Oh yeah just drop on by.” Plagg rolled his eyes with a sigh. “‘Oh hi mister guardian do you remember me? I’m the cat hero that you tried to kill.’”

“Come on Plagg, I'm not going to go as Cheshire.” Marinette rolled her eyes before flopping down on her bed only to wince. “What the heck am I laying on?” Reaching behind her the pigtailed girl pulled out a gold bracelet. “What the heck?”

“Ignore that, it’s not important!” Trixx was quick to fly in front of the girl. “Now I am all for this plan.”

“Of course YOU are.” Plagg muttered.

“Plus it would give you a chance to see what else he might have.” Trixx tried to sweeten the deal.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to do some snooping.” Marinette muttered while going to the mini fridge. Pulling out some food for the two kwamis Marinette let out a hum as she thought about what to do. Watching the kwamis eat Marinette came to a decision. If things went wrong she would need to get out of there. Kaalki would be the obvious choice but if they followed her into the patrol plus glasses are harder to hide. Trixx is just illusions so those won’t be helpful if she had to run but she needed him to navigate if anything came up. Only having one choice left Marinette put on Mullo’s miraculous. The power of three miraculous pushed down on her but she wouldn’t falter. She couldn’t let the others win, she couldn’t loose Plagg. “I hope you don’t mind being on your own Kaalki.”

“Are you sure you can wear three miraculous?” The horse questioned.

“Yeah it should only be two hours at most.” Marinette let out a sigh before steeling her resolve. “Alright you three.” Mullo and Trixx flew into her bag but Plagg flew right into her hair. Marinette relaxed at feeling him nuzzle in her hair. He really knew what she needed. That was why if things even looked like they were going to go wrong she would run. Walking out of the bakery the girl walked her way down the street and towards where the guardian of the miraculous box would be. Sadly the walk didn’t last as long as she would have preferred.

Taking a breath, Marinette looked at the door as if it was an enemy. Before knocking though she made sure to square her shoulders letting the kwamis know that they were here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You want to know my thoughts on Queen Bee?” Adrien asked the seated guardian. After the fight with Rogercop Nathalie had informed him that he was having his chinese lessons at his tutors shop. Upon arriving at the shop Fu asked what he thought of the bee user and after a bit of poking Adrien gave his honest response.

“Yes and please be honest.” Before Fu could continue a loud knock was heard on the door. The two looked at each other. “I wasn’t expecting anyone. I’m sorry but I’m not accepting walk-ins today.” Fu made sure to raise his voice so the person on the other side of the door could hear him.

“Um, I need to talk to you.” A familiar voice came from the other side of the door. “I saw, ah, I saw a peacock today.”

The two looked at each other before Fu turned back to the door. “A peacock?”

“Yeah, I think it was named Duusu.” Fu’s eyes widened at that and Tikki let out a gasp of shock.

“Give me a second.” Fu looked around and walked toward a dresser. Drawing out an old cloak and mask the guardian passed them to Adrien. “Wear this, it should conceal your identity as well as your miraculous does.” Heeding his orders Adrian was quick to throw both on. “Come in.”

The door slowly creaked open and a very nervous girl shuffled in. Adrien had to bite his tongue in shock of seeing his raven haired classmate. The girl's eyes darted around and when they landed on him she seemed to freeze up. A cough from Master Fu seemed to snap her out of her thoughts. “You said something about Duusu?” That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts.

“Oh yeah! Well I didn’t actually see Duusu but I saw the person wielding their miraculous!”

“You met the Peacock user?” Fu raised an eyebrow at that. “This seems like it will take a while take a seat.”

“Um, if it’s all the same I would rather stand.” Marinette shifted a bit from where she was. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer it’s just.” She stopped for a bit trying to get her thoughts in order before continuing. “I have some things to do at my house and I just thought I would tell you guys what I saw.”

“And what did you see?” Fu gave the girl a look.

“I, I was on my way home from school. You know to because I told you after we helped Xuppu.” Marinette began again only to be interrupted by Tikki.

“You met Xuppu?” Tikki seemed shocked and then turned in confusion when she heard laughter from Wayzz.

“Oh she met Xuppu alright.” The green kwami had a glint in his eye.

“I don’t mean to interrupt but could I please get some context please?” Adrien asked while going to raise his hand only to stop. If he moved his cloak then she might recognize the outfit he was wearing. “How does she know you're the guardian and who is Xuppu?”

“Xuppu is the kwami of the monkey miraculous.” Fu informed the model with a sigh. “Marinette met him today after he got his head stuck in an enchanted bracelet.”

“Again!” Tikki looked shocked only to let out a tired sigh and introduce her hand to her face when Wayzz nodded. “I suppose he is still stuck.”

“No, I uh, managed to get it off of him.” Marinette got out while looking at the two kwamis.

“Really?”

“Yes she used some pepper to make him sneeze which freed him.”

“But not before he could out me.” Adrien let out a nod upon being somewhat caught up on what had happened. Well not entirely but it was a start and he could get the full story later.

“Okay, so you were heading home.” Turning back towards the girl Adrien tried to get her to finish her story. The poor girl looked terrified, like a corned animal ready to run at a moment's notice. Was what she saw really that bad?

“Right, well I was heading home when I saw the peacock user stop Cheshire.” The nervous girl continued her story after a bit of stuttering. “They were talking and well I got curious so I got as close as I could. Mayura, that is what the peacock user called themselves, was showing a book to Cheshire.”

“A book?” Fu asked while stroking his beard. Getting up Fu grabbed the spellbook and showed it to the girl. “Did it look like this?”

Marinette looked at the book for a few seconds before nodding. “How, how did you get it?”

“I found it before somebody could throw it away.” Adrien felt the lie easily flow through him. Well technically it wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the full truth either. Fu gave him a look before they both nodded. “Please continue.”

“I, but, why, okay.” Marinette took a few deep breaths before continuing. “I didn’t hear the first part but from what I heard Mayura wanted Cheshire to follow her somewhere. But Cheshire didn’t and attacked the peacock user. Apparently Cheshire knew the previous user and-”

“Wait ‘previous’ user?” Adrien flinched when he realized that he had interrupted her.

“Um, yeah, she said that she wanted to find out what happened to Bella Blue. That was when Cheshire accused her of working with Hawkmoth and judging by the flinch Mayura gave it seems to be true!”

“That is very troublesome news.” Fu let out a sigh as he sat down. “I take it that the T-Rex we saw was an Amok?”

“A what?” Both Marinette and Adrien asked.

“Did Mayura make the dinosaur?”

“I think so. She pulled the feather from her fan then threw it at a nearby playground.”

“Then it is an Amok.” Fu turned to Adrien with a study look. “I think it is time that we increased your training.”

“Really?” Adrien felt a bit of excitement at the thought of learning more.

“Yes, with our enemies increasing in strength we must increase our own. If only we could figure out the last ingredient needed for the potions.” While saying this Fu opened the spellbook to the page that had stumped him. Adrien leaned in closer to look at the book. He really never got a good look at the book so he was a bit interested.

“Really it seems straight forward?” Marinette muttered, having gotten a bit closer. Both of them turned to look at her which caused the girl to freeze up and back away. “I mean it is a bit of a riddle but I’m sure with a bit of thinking you could figure it out.”

“You can read this?” Fu questioned with a raised eyebrow. Marinette gave a nod instead of speaking. “How?” Marinette stood there for a few seconds frozen.

“I don’t think I got your name, mine is Tikki.” Said kwami flew in front of the girl which seemed to jumpstart her brain a bit. Adrien heard her mumble something but Tikki must have heard her. “Nice to meet you Marinette. You must be really smart to figure out how to read that language.”

“ Not really, one of my ancestors had a journal. My mom gave it to me to keep me busy when I was younger. In the journal he had a translation guide for that language along with stories of tiny gods.” Marinette told Tikki while keeping her eyes just on the kwami. “I’m starting to think you guys are the tiny gods. I mean he did mention someone named Tikki and you are named Tikki so it seems to be true. Oh here!” Reaching into her purse she pulled out a macaroon and held it out to the kwami. “The journal said you loved sweets and well I have some that I made today so I’m sure you would like it.”

While this was going on Fu waved over to him. Adrien walked over as Fu signaled for Wayzz to head over to Marinette. Giving a nod, Wayzz flew over to the rambling girl. The lucky kwami wasn’t saying anything but was happily eating the macaroons the girl was giving her. “Misterbug, I think it might be wise to include the girl in your training. If what she said about that journal is true then it could help us greatly.”

Adrien stayed quiet for a few seconds before giving his answer.

Notes:

Thank you guys for being so understanding about my break. Work is still a pain but I should be able stick to my normal update schedule.

Chapter 32

Trixx felt a smile growing on his face when he heard Marinette knock on the door. This was good, his kit was meeting the guardian! Hopefully things will be going well! Honestly the fox kwami could barely contain himself. He could already imagine the best outcomes to this. Trixx could barely contain himself. “Isn’t this the best Mullo?” Looking around the purse Trixx blinked in confusion at not seeing the mouse. “Mullo?” Poking his head out of the bag Trixx started in shock as the grey kwami entered the sonogram!

Trixx was quick to follow. He couldn’t let this go wrong! He wouldn’t let the air headed mouse ruin this! The fox kwami was quick but quiet, making sure not to be spotted as he entered the place hiding the box. Entertaining Trixx faltered for a second as he saw the inside of the box. He saw the glowing inside of the box with various items piled up around a circle that the various kwami gathered around. He saw it and remembered all the time he had spent here. He saw it and it all fell flat compared to the short time he spent within the cube. The places Marinette let them see, heck the music was also a nice touch.

“I’m telling you I have a bad feeling!” Barkk’s voice rang out to Trixx causing him to look down at the dog kwami. All the other kwami were gathered around

“Are you sssure you're not just paranoid?” Sass questioned though Trixx could hear a faint fear in his voice.

“No, I’m sure it’s not paranoia!” Barkk stomped his foot while glaring at the snake kwami.

“Really? You do remember that time you had us flee Paris?” Mullo questioned only for Barkk to turn on the mouse.

“Yes and then a week later Dark Blade came out of the woodworks and killed both…” Barkk trailed off before turning to the others. “See, see! I told you!”

“Mullo!” The other kwamis stared in shock at the mouse kwami who just waved at them.

“Hi!” Mullo just gave a happy wave. “How have you guys been?”

“Relatively well.” Daizzi answered before flying up to her friend. “Did Master Fu get your miraculous back?”

“Nope, she just sneaked away.” Deciding that there was no point in hiding, Trixx landed right beside Longg. The dragon stared at him in shock. “I followed her to try and stop her.”

“Trixx!” All the kwamis now turned to Trixx while Mullo looked a bit guilty.

“Sorry Trixx, I just wanted to see the others again.” Mullo rubbed at the back of her head. “Plus I wanted to show them the clothes -Burp-” Whatever Mullo was about to say as grey bubbles came out of her mouth. “Oops, I forgot that was a thing.”

“Clothes?” Longg questioned while looking at Mullo and now noticing what Mullo was wearing. “Where did you get those?”

“Cheshire made them for me!” The mouse kwami bragged about her princesses costume. “Isn’t it pretty!”

“It’s so cute!” Daizzi squealed as the two fell into conversation. A few other kwamis joined in while Sass and Longg turned towards Trixx.

“Ssshould we be expecting Kaalki?” Sass questioned the fox?

“Nah, they are still in the cube. Though they might enter the doll house.” Trixx waved the two off.

“Ah, dear Trixx it seems that you have dropped some words that we don’t have the same definition for.” Longg looked at the grinning fox before letting out a sigh. “Now I see that you have done so on purpose.”

“Excussse me but I think it is quite important to know if Cheshire is anywhere near here.”

“Nope.” Trixx told the truth. After all, Cheshire wasn’t here Marinette was. “Don’t worry we haven’t told them where the master lives.” Also true, Fu gave them a business card.

“That is good, though I must ask as to how you still look in such good health while dealing with such an evil user?” Longg looked over the orange kwami who preened.

“Look? Well I don’t mean to brag but I take baths with some very nice smelling shampoo. Heck have you seen Mullo? Hey Mullo, do a spin!” Hearing this Mullo did a spin causing her dress to flare out. This drew gasps and appraisals from some of the kwamis.

“Yesss it looks very nice but that hasn’t answered Longg’s question.” Trixx just gave the snake a smile while rolling his eyes.

“Oh but I did. After all, why would an evil user make us clothes or give us baths?” The fox told the other kwamis with a smile. “Heck I would say she is one of my better users.”

“Oh she is absolutely wonderful!” Mullo cheered while clapping her hands. “Like during movie night we get to pick the movies! Oh I wish you guys could come! I know you guys would love her.”

“Speaking of which I think it’s time for us to leave.” Trixx rolled his eyes at Mullo’s slightly downcast expression. “Come on Mullo you know how the kit will get if she finds us missing.”

“Okay,” Mullo let out a sigh before waving goodbye to the others.

“Wait Trixx, I must ask if you are trying to trick us. Did the cat put you up to this as some sort of ploy to make us lower our guards?” Longg questioned, causing Trixx to pause.

“Really? If I was trying to trick you, would you even notice?” At this all the kwamis looked at each other while muttering.

“What about Plagg? He must be awful to deal with?”

“He isn’t that bad. Although he does occasionally steal my cheese. -Burp- Keeps telling him not to take my cheese but Plagg doesn’t listen.” Mullo puffed out her cheeks while continuing to mutter.

“Well you guys have fun with whatever you do. I personally can’t wait to get back to the kit and her cube.” With that Trixx dragged Mullo out of the cube and with a bit of maneuvering he found himself back in the purse. “So I hope you're happy.”

“Did you see how jealous Daizzi and Fluff were?” Mullo looked very proud of herself about this. “Oh I can’t wait to tell Kaalki about this!” Trixx rolled his eyes but didn’t comment further. The fox was busy trying to figure out how to best play this off to the kit when it comes up. Though he slightly wondered how her conversion was going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien watched from a distance as Marinette interacted with the two kwamis and let out a sigh. “We need all the help we can get.” He turned to the guardian of the miraculous with a sigh. “I don’t want to use her like this but we need what she has.”

“Sometimes young Misterbug we have to do what we don’t like for the greater good.” Fu agreed before looking away. “I have done many things I’m not proud of but we must stop Cheshire and Hawkmoth before they do something horrible.” Adrien nodded at that, at the moment it was clear to him at least that Hawkmoth was the more pressing threat. The supervillain now had an accomplice that could create giant monsters on top of his own abilities. “I will go talk to the girl, why don’t you head home for the day. We can talk more another day.”

“Okay, just text me when we start training. Tikki were heading out.” Receiving a nod Adrien then transformed into Misterbug and gave the pigtailed girl a rather suave smile. “Till we meet again… I’ll have to come up with a nickname for you.” With that Misterbug swung out of the small shop. As the spotted hero swung around the city Adrien felt his thoughts begin to wonder. Now that he thought about it his and the master’s talk about Queen Bee were interrupted. Granted it was an important topic but now that he didn’t have anything to distract him Adrien felt his mind return to the topic of the bee user. The young model felt that being a hero was second or third on the list of importance for the blonde girl.

Sure being a hero was second for King Monkey but at least his first was taking down Cheshire. Honestly though the boy needed to do better about protecting his identity it wasn’t hard to figure out who the guy was. It had only taken Adrien a day and half to figure out that King Monkey was Kim. He had told Tikki and asked if it would be a problem that he knew. The kwami of creation had just advised him to keep the information to himself.

Arriving back at the mansion Adrien stopped in a nearby alley to let go of his transformation. After Tikki appeared he handed her a cookie before letting her fly into his pocket. He wanted to talk to her about today but talking in an alley was no place to have those conversations. It took less than a minute for him to arrive at the gate and even less time for him to arrive in his room. “So what did you and Master Fu decide?”

“We are going to ask Marinette for her help.” Adrien informed the kwami while letting out a breath.

“What’s the matter Adrien?” The red kwami asked her chosen.

“Nothing, I'm just thinking a little worn out from today.” Honestly, today has been just one thing after another. “Do you think we should give her a miraculous?” While asking this Adrien sat down and woke up his computer.

“I think she would be a wonderful holder.” Tikki complemented the girl. Adrien gave a nod while seeing that something was blowing up twitter. “Is something happening?”

Not answering right away Adrien went through some posts before finding what he was looking for. “It looks like Queen Bee made her own twitter account.” He really needed to get Marinette her own miraculous, he needed someone on the team who the public didn’t hate with a burning passion.

“Why is she insulting people's akumatized states?” Yup, he needed to get her a miraculous. Maybe Longg? The dragon kwami could help her with her confidence. “Is she really ranking people's reasons for akumatization?” He should probably text Master Fu as soon as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Twenty one, twenty two, twenty three.” Plagg counted as his bread screamed into her pillow.

“She is taking this better than expected.” Mullo shifted a bit unconformably from where they were.

“Why did you tell her about you meeting the other kwamis?” Kaalki questioned while watching the poor girl.

“I thought she would be proud to know about how jealous the others were of my dress!” Mullo tried to defend herself only to receive a flat look from Trixx and Kaalki. “Well at least the others now know that we are being treated well.”

“Yes and I’m sure the Master will not freak out when he finds out you were in his shop.”

“Why would he? He knows that we can’t relieve where he lives. If he was really worried about it he would have moved after Cheshire took me.” The fox kwami explained with a shrug.

“Thirty two, thirty three.” Plagg continued only to stop as Marinette finally stopped. “Thirty three seconds, hey I think that might be a new record!”

“Yeah I think her previous one was thirty seconds.” Trixx confirmed before flying to Marinette. “So now that you got that out of your system do you want to talk about it or should I set up a movie for all of us to watch?”

“Trixx, Plagg, you both have my full permission to slap me the next time I even think of making a decision after using Catastrophe.”

“Thanks bread I’ll make sure to use it.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.” Trixx tried to wave it off.

“The guardian wants me to help him make power up potions. You know one of the few advantages we have!” While saying this Marinette sat up and grabbed a pillow to work. “Plus he wants me to bring my great grandfather's journal!”

“You know I’ve been meaning to ask about that.” Kaalki broke into Marinette’s lament. “How did your great grandfather know everything he did?”

“Yeah his journal has been a big help. I wonder who he was.” Mullo rubbed her chin in thought.

“No idea, it was so long ago plus I can’t really ask him.” Marinette gave a shrug of her shoulders while the kwamis who knew about the order looked between each other. They remember Fu telling them about Feast so how Marinette’s ancestor survived they had no idea. Plus there was also the question of how high in the ranks they were.

“Well at this point I think the only one who could answer that would be Fluff.” Trixx decided to put an end to the discussion. “Though I can understand why nobody else really looked through the journal. After all, without the spellbooks or anything else related to the miraculous it is kinda useless.”

“Yeah,” Marinette gave a weak nod to that while hugging the pillow closer to her. “Why did I ever agree to help him? He attacked me and then gave miraculous to others to fight me.” Nobody could answer that so instead they just let the room go quiet. “We need to plan.”

“Plan for?” Trixx motioned for the girl to continue her sudden thought.

“Everything, anything! Hawkmoth has an ally and Fu can just hand out more!”

“We could just break into his house and steal them.” When Plagg pointed this out everyone’s eyes shot to him. “What? We know where he lives and we could just go when he is asleep.”

“What about his defenses?” Trixx lamley offered while Marinette let out a thoughtful hum.

“We’ll put this on the backburner for now we need to focus on the other more pressing concerns. You know like how we need to help our enemy get stronger!” Marinette felt like her world was collapsing around her. “Plus there is no way we can get stronger! I mean yeah there are my ancestors theories about other powers but that hasn’t gone anywhere! Heck we don’t even know if the anti-akuma charm works!”

“We could get our own allies?” Kaalki offered up. “Both Hawkmoth and Misterbug have allies so why don’t we get our own?”

Marinette chewed on her lip while rolling the thought around before shaking her head. “And who would you suggest? Cause I can’t think of anyone.” While saying this the human felt her spiritists lower. Was there any human she really trusted?

“Well there is Alix?” Mullo offered.

“You mean the girl who constantly bullies me?”

“Well there goes most of your classmates.” Plagg didn’t sound saddened at the thought.

“Well there is always Alya.” Trixx gave a smile while his tail waved in the air.

“Alya.” Marinette muttered as she thought about her former best friend. Was she her former friend? The girl knew that Chloe threatened her family so it's not like Alya willingly betrayed her. But could she trust her with a miraculous? Yes. She trusted Alya heck Cheshire could technically, very technically, could trust Alix with a miraculous. The skater would never even think of betraying her hero. But the bigger question was could she ever part with one of the miraculous? “No.”

“No?” Trixx asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“I, I, I don’t want you guys leaving me?” Marinette felt her nails dig into the pillow. She felt pathetic admitting to it but she loved her true friends.

“Kit…” Trixx felt his tail and ears drop at her admittance.

“What, what if you like them better than me? I know you guys probably still hate me because of the other black cats, I see the way you guys look at the ring.” The kwamis flinched a bit at her. Marinette seemed to flinch as she realized what she said. “I’m sorry but I don’t want to lose you guys either. We’ll… I’ll make other plans, I’m sorry.” With that Marinette dropped her pillow and went down to her desk.

“Well, that could have gone better.” Plagg commented while lowering himself down to the cat pillow.

“Does, does she really not trust us?” Mullo questioned sounding like she was about to cry.

“Nah, she trusts you.” Plagg waved away her concern. “She is just stressed out. From wearing three miraculous to having the fake guardian demand her help you can see where I’m going right?” Getting a nod from Mullo Trixx then added his two cents.

“Probably doesn’t help how me and Kaalki initially treated her.”

“Yeah you guys screaming in her face about her being evil and glaring at her didn’t make the best first impression.”

“Thanks for the reminder Plagg,” Kaalki gave the cat a glare which he didn’t react to. The horse kwami let out a sigh, “I was just acting out. I was mad at you for the loss of… I guess I just took it out on her.”

Plagg let out a sigh of his own before shifting on the cat pillow. He really, really hated being reminded of his past wielders. Honestly if he had his way his previous users would be forgotten by everyone. But after what most of them did the kwami of destruction knew better. Hopefully nobody would ever drag it up again.

“Hey, is anything important coming up?” Mullo asked while flying towards the calendar Marinette made.

“We have the student body election coming up, followed up by us working at Chloe’s hotel.” Marinette’s automatic reply came as she wrote it in her diary. Plagg let out a sigh before flying down.

“Bread,” Plagg whined out drawing her attention, “I’m hungry.”

“Really?” Marinette commented only to stop as she the time. “When has it gotten so late?” Getting up, Marinette then made her way downstairs to get dinner started.

“So does anyone have any plans on how to patch things up?” Trixx questioned the others who all just shook her head. “Well let’s just let things play out I’m sure something will come up.”

Notes:

I know I said the next akuma would be Lila but during the break my mind realized that I forgot some akumas that I wanted to put in.

Chapter 33

“You know there is one upside to being bullied by everyone.” Marinette muttered to Kaalki who just looked confused. “I really don’t care about things like this.” While saying this she made a vague gesture with her hand towards the class.

“Ah, I understand.” The horse kwami nodded before looking at the classmates. “Why is everyone so excited? I know that elections are important but I didn’t expect this type of reaction.”

“Well usually when elections happen Chloe brings in someone famous to help ‘secure’ her win.” Marinette put the word secure in quotation marks due to no one running against her. “I’m guessing everyone is trying to figure out who she is getting.” Kaalki nodded before shooting back into the bag when one of her classmates turned to look at her. Said classmate began making his way toward her.

“Hey Marinette, how are you doing today?” Adrien asked her, pretending to be concerned. Marinette just looked at him as her mind tried to figure out what he was playing at. What did he want from her? Was he trying to lure her into some sort of trap?

“I guess, I mean I feel, ugh.” Why was she tripping over her words? Was it due to her mind trying to figure out what he was playing at? Adrien just kept his fake concerned look as he took the seat beside her. “Fine, I’m doing fine.” Marinette’s voice came out sounding a bit weakly.

“You don’t seem-”

“Adrikins what are you doing?” Chloe questioned pulling him up from the seat. The blonde girl hugged his arm tightly while giving a sickly sweet smile. “I was just about to tell everyone that I was going to get Jagged Stone to help with my campaign.” Oh so that was their game. He tried to get her to lower her guard then Chloe swoops in with the big announcement. “ Plus I don’t mean to brag but I managed to get Paris’s favorite hero.” Well this was news for her. Did Chloe get conned by a good cosplayer? If so that would have been hilarious.

“You got Ches?” Alix’s excited voice asked.

“What! Why would I ever invite that ugly mangy cat?” Oh right Chloe hated her superhero persona for some reason.

“Then who did you invite?” Alya gave the blonde girl a flat look.

“Queen Bee, duh.” Chloe gave an eye roll as if she couldn’t believe everyone didn’t immediately know. Oh now that was subtle and low. Chloe knew the miraculous was for her and was rubbing in that she now had it. Plus how was she supposed to get the miraculous back? The second the miraculous was taken she was suspect number one. Unless it was Cheshire, so there was still hope. A few people muttered amongst themselves which caused Chloe to frown. No doubt the girl was expecting a whole lot more celebration. “Well anyway I would say wear something nice Dupain-Cheng but I know you don’t own anything nice.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes well used to that particulier insult by now. Wonder what her model friend would add in. Well whatever else they were about to say was stopped by the arrival of the teacher. No doubt she would have them doing some type of exercise to learn how to prevent akumatization. While leaning over to grab a book Marinette looked at her kwamis. “Please check in on Pollen and bring her the pepper. I doubt Chloe is taking care of her.”

“Don’t worry madam we’ll make sure she is doing well.” Kaalki gave a determined nod while Plagg grabbed the pepper.

“I think it would be best if just Kaalki goes, don't need Pollen freaking out about me.” Plagg suggested while passing the food over to Kaalki who nodded before heading out of the bag. Soon the horse had made it into Chloe’s bag where she saw a very sad kwami.

“Psst, psst hey.” Keeping her voice low Kaalki got close to the kwami of subjection. The bee turned and tried to let out a noice only for nothing to come out. Kaalki stopped as she looked at the fluff around Pollen’s neck only to notice it looking slightly greasy. “Oh, oh, Pollen what happened to you?” Said kwami looked down before Kaalki flew forward and offered her the pepper. “You know someone actually tracked me down and asked me to deliver this to you.”

Pollen took the pepper from her while looking at Kaalki. The kwami rubbed her limb not used to the other kwami being this quiet. “Pollen, I’m here to rescue… oh hey Kaalki!” Both turned in shock to see Xuupu arrive. “Oh, are you here to try and rescue Pollen too?”

“Well, I mean I plan to help my holder in doing so eventually.” While saying this Kaalki watched Pollen slowly eat the pepper.

“Why wait? I could do it right now.” Xuupu boasted to which Kaalki just shook her head.

“And what would happen after the girl discovers her miraculous missing?” Xuppu seemed to think of it for a few seconds before his rusty gears start turning.

“Oh, yeah that would be bad. Unless…” Before anyone could say anything else Xuupu left with a slight smile.

“Hey, we’ll get you soon. You’ll love the girl. She is really sweet.” Pollon just looked at her before shaking her head. “Oh, do you want to go to the one who the old guardian chose for you?” Pollen gave a nod to that which Kaalki nodded. Honestly she kinda wished Trixx was here, the fox would have been way better to handle this. “I’ll let Cheshire know I’m sure I can convince her to give you to your chosen.” Pollen pulled the horse kwami into a tight hug. “We’ll fix this I promise.” Feeling the bag move, Kaalki had to leave just in case.

Flying back to the bag Kaalki let out a sigh. They needed to get Pollen back. Though she wondered what Xuppu had planned. “So how did it go?” Turning to Plagg the cat kwami quickly grabbed him and held him in a hug. “That bad hu?”

“We have to save her.”

“Have some faith in Bread.”

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Marinette made her way home after having to find where Alix hid her backpack. How the girl even stole her backpack she wouldn’t know but it happened. Maybe Chloe offered her something? Well at least nothing was taken. As she was heading out of the school though she paused when passing by the courtyard. “Oh, it seems like the fencing club is practicing.”

“It’s nice to see that people are still interested in the art of dueling.” Kaalki flew out of her bag while staring at the practice down below. Marinette watched with a bit of interest before noticing Nadja hiding close by.

“What is she doing here?”

“He is a descendant of Darkblade?” Kaalki asked, sounding horrified.

“What?”

“Darkblade was one of my former owners.” Plagg let out an annoyed noise as he flew out. “The man liked to use my power to do public executions. Said it would keep everyone in line but in reality he was just a twisted man who enjoyed watching the reactions of the crowd.”

“That, that is horrifying.” Using Cataclysm on people.

“Yeah he got creative with how to use it on them. He is one of the reasons I never pay attention to what is going on when you're transformed.”

“I celebrated the day when he was taken down.” Kaalki spat out while glaring at the man who was now talking to Nadja.

“Same, kinda wish I could find his grave so I can spit on it.” Seeing Nadja being chased out of the school, Marinette made to follow. The two kwamis were quick to fly into her purse. So that was one of her predecessors? A man who used the power of the cat to keep people in line.

Hearing a ding from her phone, Marinette fished it out to see both Jagged Stone and Queen Bee. Huh looked like Chloe did it. Not that Marinette actually cared. Hearing a bit of commotion coming from behind her, Marinette saw Adrien’ fencing instructor be infected by an akuma. “Crap.” Then an amok infected his helmet. “Double crap.” She needed to get out of here.

“Darkblade! The lord of Paris!” As the corruption faded away it revealed a man donned head to toe in dark armor appeared. Beside him an imposing giant black horse man appeared with darkness fluttering off of it. It wore the garb of an executioner and held a giant blade. Drawing his sharp blade the man tapped both Nadja and her cameraman. “Thou shalt become my knights! Soon my army shalt be immense and unstoppable!” Both were enveloped in darkness and when it faded away they both wore knight armor. Turning he pointed at a nearby billboard and his steed was quick to appear before it before slicing it. “We shall take City Hall by storm and reclaim the throne from Bourgeois the usurper!” Watching the billboard Marinette saw as blackflames crept across it and turned it to ash.

Marinette tried to back away. She needed to get away and transform. Unfortunately for her she stepped on a carelessly discarded bottle. The girl slipped a bit and let out a startled noise. This had been enough to draw the attention of the akuma who was in the middle of turning Adrien’s bodyguard into a knight. “You! You shall join me on my noble quest!”

“I would rather not.” Marinette’s automatic response came before she could think about it.

“Then you shall be made an example of!” With that the horse man started stomping toward her. Marinette really didn’t want to know what that meant so she ran. It barely took a second for the girl to be almost grabbed by the quicker then expected amok. It was only thanks to her instincts that she was able to dodge the grab. But then the thing had swung its blade. Marinette had no choice but to drop to the ground to avoid the attack but now she needed some way to secure her safety. Looking around she had no choice but to think of a plan. As she took a glance around she came up with the beginnings of a plan.

The thing raised its blade again and Marinette threw her purse string and thanked her practice with Mullo’s jump rope as it snagged a trash lid. Not hesitating she smashed the lid at the amok. As it reeled from the attack Marinette got up and jumped on the other trashcan before jumping on a fire escape. “Hmm, yes you shall make a great example!” Darkblade’s voice called after her but Marinette couldn’t stop now. It was like those horror movies or games. You had to keep moving to survive, and just like usual she only had herself to rely on at the moment. If she could get away for even a second then she could transform into Cheshire or Knightmare. Yes it was a moment but it was a moment she could endure just like all the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug felt his jaw hang open as he watched Marinette get away. But could anyone blame him. The girl had just hit an amok with a trashcan lid before using another to escape. He had been ready to swoop in and save her but then she had just saved herself. Watching her like this Adrien had to wonder what she could do with a miraculous. Slapping himself, Adrien let out a breath. He couldn’t distract himself with potential thoughts like that. “Focus,” with his game face on, Adrien glanced down at the akuma who had ordered the knighted cameraman to continue to carry his camera. Apparently Darkblade wanted his victory televised. “So they're off to city hall? Well at least Queeny is there.”

“Yes at least she is there to protect the people there.” A voice behind him caused Adrien to spin around in shock. Turning around Adrien saw Master Fu in a janitor outfit.

“Master, what are you doing here?”

“Well I have to pay the bills somehow. Plus I have insider information that the kwami Cheshire has captured was spotted here.” Master Fu watched as Adrien stared in shock. “But that isn’t important at the moment.”

“Right, I need to go after the akuma.” Before he left though a thought occurred to him. “Master Fu, I think we might need a bit more help during the fight.” Master Fu made a noise of interest causing Adrien to continue. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare miraculous on you would you?”

“Oh, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking we could loan one to a certain girl.”

“Oh, this would be an interesting test. But the only one I have is the turtle so I would need it back.”

“Alright sounds like a plan.” Taking the bracelet from Fu Adrien stored it in his yoyo before flinging his yoyo to find the akuma and girl. Hopefully she was still okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ready Kaalki?” Cheshire asked the horse who stood floating before her. Not hearing a response she turned to the horse who seemed frozen. “Kaalki?”

“I know it's an akuma but, it’s him.”

“Oh, do you need to go home?” It would be hard having to make due with only one miraculous but if Kaalki needed a break.

“No, no I can do this. We have people who need our help so please use me!” Giving a nod Cheshire took a breath before holding out her hands. Kaalki took a deep breath; this wasn’t what she meant! “Kaalki,” her symbol appeared in one hand, “Plagg,” with no hesitation the girl continued, “Unify!” With a wave Cheshire felt the powers combine. This was going to be a fight. A loud crushing noise was heard and Cheshire couldn’t help but put all her doubts in a corner. It was super hero time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix watched as Queen Bee was utterly failing at holding off the encroaching army. King Monkey was doing slightly better but only slightly better. Where was Cheshire? A loud noise and a horse man thing slamming down among the knights. “Who dared?”

“Me, me dared.” A voice that brought a smile to Alix and most people’s faces rang out. “Sorry about roughing up your amok but in my defense it attacked me first!”

“Cheshire, you dare to impersonate a knight of black!”

“I would do the whole pot and kettle thing but I think I’m actually a relatively good knight.” Cheshire landed nearby as she spun her baton before leaning to the side to avoid an attack by Queen Bee. “Really akuma right there.”

“Yeah but one of you is a bigger threat.” Queen Bee stated only to almost get taken out by a knight. King Monkey let out a slight grunt only to widen his eyes in horror as the amok made its way up to them.

“Nice horsy?” The beast let out a snort before it raised its large blade let out a black aura. A horse shoe hit it on the side of the head.

“Well I will admit that I’m the bigger threat.” Cheshire gave a self confident smile. “So I’ll take care of the big guy.”

“Oh, thanks for that!” Misterbug announced arriving on scene. Unfortunately, or fortantly depending on who you asked he hadn’t found Marinette. “Alright team we got an army to defeat.”

“Hopefully the two ugly horses kill each other.” Queen Bee muttered while King Monkey just gave a slight chuckle and nod. Misterbug didn’t respond because he really didn’t like the thought of Kim being okay with someone dying. Heck even the thought of the bee user being okay with it shifted something in his gut.

Cheshire didn’t respond but Misterbug could tell that she had heard him. Hopefully things would start looking up soon. Glancing over at Cheshire the ladybug user felt his eye twitch as she tricked the amok into running into a Voyage. “Where did thou send my Executioner!” Why was she having such luck while they were struggling?

“Oh nowhere too far.” Cheshire gave a superior smirk. “Just the middle of the ocean.” That statement caused everyone to stop. “Now that there is no chance of you getting them back, how about handing over the item holding the amok.” A whoop in the distance was the only sound before Darkblade let out a cry of rage.

“I shall have thous head for this!” With that the akuma recklessly charged forward. This proved the wrong thing to do as Cheshire was able to bat aside his blade and almost grab it. However the black knight seemed to know what she was attempting to do and tried to lash out with a punch. Ending her grab Cheshire lashed out with her horseshoe. The horseshoe came down on an unnoticed charm but the result was obvious. A blue corrupted feather fluttered out. Almost on pure instincts her hand grabbed the feather. “NO! How dare thou! I shall lay your bleeding corpse out for all to see.”

“Cataclysm!” Releasing the energy Cheshire felt it enter her but that was secondary to being backhanded by an iron pole. The hit sent her skirting across the ground.

“Monkey!” The shocked voice of Misterbug rang out as he saw one of teammates send Cheshire across the battlefield.

“What she got… akuma.” Turning King Monkey saw said akuma with their sword raised. “How are you still here?”

“A knight of such treachery and betrayal! Thou shall be one of mine generals!” Before anyone could do anything the blade descended on the monkey user. This time instead of a generic knight this one looked more like a barbaren with leathered furs. “Now bring me the other two!”

“Ugh! I would rather work with that flea infested cat then wear whatever ridiculous armor you have picked out for me!” Queen Bee shouted but once again it seemed that short attention spans were punishing people as a group of knights overwhelmed her. Misterbug would have helped he really would have but he had his own group to deal with.

“Thou are no front line fighter so perhaps the role of a strategist will suit thou better.” Once again his blade descended and Misterbug really didn’t want to stick around to see what happened next. He needed to get out of here. Misterbug needed help and the only one he could think of was nowhere to be seen.

“Catastrophe!” Thank you timing. Darkblade hadn’t braced himself for the wave of darkness, after all there were never sideeffects before. Heck even Misterbug didn’t even expect what happened next but he was already moving. The second the wave hit the first knight it froze up. Arriving on the roof the hero looked down to see almost all the knights were shifting and his two previous allies almost looked like they were freeing themselves. But a slam of Darkblade’s sword on a nearby pole pulled most to order.

“Find the coward who ran and the cat! Bring them both to me!” Misterbug could hear the knights coming after him and made to keep running only to feel something grab him and pull him into a hidden corner. Looking at who grabbed him the ladybug user was shocked to see Marinette glancing out of her hiding spot to watch some knights pass by. This was his chance! His ladybug luck was really working and maybe his lucky charm was helping him to. Either way he needed to take advantage of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a frustrated huff of air as she took in the scene. What was she thinking? She had just acted when she used Cataclysme the feather and then when the pain had started getting too much she had instantly used Catastrophe before running. The plan had been simple. Run off for a bit, recharge her kwamis then rejoin the fight. But now… “What do you mean we’re out of food.” Marinette asked the sheepish looking kwamis.

“Sorry, but it is what it is.” Plagg reached behind himself with a sheepish smile. So this was how it was, no food for her kwamis and the akuma about a block away from the capitol building. Things sucked.

“What was that?” Marinette questioned after hearing a noise the girl glanced out to see Misterbug about to run by. Hearing the sound of clanging metal it wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on. So on instinct she grabbed the backstabber and dragged him into her hiding spot. Maybe it was good, at the moment Misterbug was the only one who could purify the akuma and reverse the damage. Yup definitely a good decision, nothing is going wrong.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” A shiver ran down said girl's down spine as she turned to the ladybug user. The ‘hero’ gave her an intense look as he reached into his yoyo and pulled out a bracelet, a kinda familiar looking bracelet. “This is the miraculous of the turtle which holds the power of defense. You will use it for the greater good and once the mission is done you will return it to me.” Wait, he was just giving her a miraculous for one akuma attack? You could do that? That was an option? No, that didn’t matter at the moment, her, um, rival(?) was holding out a way for her to keep fighting.

“Are, Are you sure? I mean I’m me?” Marinette slowly took the miraculous in shaking hands. Misterbug looked like he wanted to say something only for a flash of green to blind them as Wayzz appeared. Once again the pig tailed girl could feel the power of three miraculous press on her.

“Greetings Marinette, I look forward to working with you.” A loud clang was heard nearby causing the three to freeze. “Oh, looks like we do not have a lot of time. To transform merely say ‘Wayzz Shell On’.”

“O-okay, Wayzz Shell On!” With that a rush of energy traveled through her. Taking a deep breath she turned to look at her new ‘teammate’ “What’s the plan?”

“Um, get the akuma?” Misterbug looked a bit uncomfortable as… Bixi stared at him flatly. This was the guardian’s champion? Then again having fought alongside him a few times she kinda should have expected this. But they would need something more resembling a plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix felt her heart hammering against her chest as the akuma seemed to grow tired of waiting for his group to capture Cheshire. Now the akuma was marching towards them. “Henceforth, my flag shalt fly over thy kingdom! Bourgeois, pathetic knave, come hither and do battle!”

“Where are you Ches?” Alix muttered as the army grew closer.

“Maybe she has to recharge after using her powers?” Alya offered as the group turned to the mayor who looked two steps away from a panic attack. “Shame though Chloe isn’t here. Would love to see her failing to be a leader.”

“Well we kinda need a leader at the moment dude.” Nino retorted as the army continued forward.

“What are you guys still doing here?” A new voice asked from the stairs. Turning they saw another miraculous holder. The girl wore a primarily green suit with armored pads on different parts of it. She had black hair done up in a bun and a large round shield sat on her back. “Oh I see.” The green girl muttered while looking at Bourgeois who still seemed lost on what to do.

“Please tell me that you're Cheshire and you somehow got a new miraculous.”

“Sorry, my name is Bixi.” Most of the gathered students deflated at that but the newest member of Misterbugs team continued on. “Look, I know you guys are scared but Misterbug and I are here to help and I promise if you listen to us we will keep you safe.”

“Misterbug?” Nino asked looking around to try and find said person.

“He is preparing our trap for the akuma. But right now we need to lock down this building.” Bixi kept her voice steady while making eye contact with everyone. “You and you go lock the door.” Alix and Ivan snapped to attention and ran to the closed doors and locked the door. Following the commands of the turtle the rest of the class started barricading the windows. “Someone get on the computer and see if this building has any security system we can use.” This snapped both Max and the mayor into action. The two ran up to a nearby computer and were quick to work on getting it running. A loud groan from the door drew her attention. A few knights were trying to force their way inside and one of them was reaching for a hostage.

“Get away from the doors!” Throwing her shield Bixi hit the arm and drove away the hand. “If you can’t get the security activated in the next thirty seconds then we are leaving.”

“I almost have it.” Max shouted before a loud thunking noise was heard as the gates dropped down.

“What was that?” Misterbug questioned as he came down the steps. Seeing the gates down he blinked. “This place has a security system?”

“It’s a government building. I would be shocked if it didn’t.” Bixi commented while taking a glance around. “Mayor Bourgeois is there anyway out? We need to get everyone else to safety.” Alya gave an intrigued noise as she looked at the new ‘hero’. They came in and took charge and are now acting to protect them. Already they were doing better then either King Monkey or Misterbug. Now she just didn’t need to throw a social media tantrum and she should be better than most of her teammates.

“Oh yes there are several.” The mayor nodded while letting out a hum.

“Then lead the way, Misterbug and I will cover your exit.” Bixi gave the group a soft comforting look. “Now go, the defenses you guys put up are good but the akuma will soon break through.” Sure enough the building shook and the mayor showed the typical courage of a politician and ran. Not wanting to be left behind Alix and Alya were quick to follow.

Hopefully the two ‘heroes’ would be enough.

Chapter 34

Marinette felt like she had reached her limit for the day. She was sure that if it wasn’t for all the power of the miraculous the girl would have been laid out flat. Well that and her frustration at Misterbug not telling her about King Monkey and Queen Bee being captured by the akuma. Add on to the fact that part of the way through the fight she realized that Wayzz never mentioned his power so that meant she couldn’t use it. Yeah not the best fight she had ever been in. Thankfully the traps she had prepared had worked perfectly. While it hadn’t gotten the two miraculous users or the akuma it had immobilized most of the knights so it did limit the fight down to three on two.

It had taken a lot of work and teamwork but thankfully they managed to get the akuma though Marinette had taken quite a few, okay a lot, of hits. But thanks to her helping Misturbug with his lucky charm they did it. “No more evil doing for you little butterfly.”

“So is that one of your catch phrases?” Bixi asked while deciding that since Misterbug thought she was new to let all of her exhaustion show. In the background they could faintly hear the various people who were captured by the akuma being returned to normal.

“Ah! Cheshire has the turtle miraculous!” King Monkey shouted pointing at her before Misterbug could respond. Knowing what was likely to happen next Misterbug stepped in the way.

“Calm down this isn’t Cheshire, her name is Bixi and she is a temporary teammate.” Misterbug explained as calmly as he could. Taking a glance behind him Misterbug felt a smile come to his face as he saw said turtle user talking/comforting D’Argencourt. Though he did flinch a bit as he noticed just how exhausted the poor girl was. Turning towards the former knights, the ladybug user had to restrain from face palming as Queen Bee ‘helped’ Nadja. By help he means Queen Bee pulled her up then proceeded to talk about herself for the most part. Also the girl didn’t help anyone else.

“Um, Misterbug, your miraculous beeped again.” Spinning around, Misterbug looked at the turtle user who stood there awkwardly.

“Alright let’s go.” For a second he thought about grabbing the girl but they weren’t that close so instead he gestured for her to follow him. Rushing out one of the open wielders the superhero heard a few people questioning things but right now he needed to get the girl away. So with that he led his temporary teammate, well hopeful future permanent teammate, into an abandoned alleyway. When Bixi landed she froze for a moment. “Is something wrong?”

The girl didn’t respond right away, shifting a bit uncomfortable. “Wayzz didn’t mention how to detransfrom.” It took Misterbug a second to process what she said and when he did he couldn’t contain his laughter. “Stop laughing at me!” He couldn’t help it, the look on her face combined with the explamation.

“Sorry, sorry, just, just give me a moment.” Misterbug let out another chuckle before taking a deep breath to gain control of himself. “Alright since we don’t know the transformation phrase then you could take off the miraculous.” The girl looked down at the miraculous while chewing on her lip. Taking a breath he watched as Bixi took off the miraculous and with a flash of green she turned into Marinette.

Opening his mouth to say something, Marinette was quicker to speak to Wayzz. “Oh I’m so sorry, was that painful? I’m so scatterbrained you must think I’m the worst. I don’t even have any food to give you! Argh you two are probably regretting even considering giving me a miraculous!”

“Whoa hey, calm down I’m fine.” Wayzz comforted as the girl sprilled and pulled at her pigtails.

“Here, I’m sorry I was the worst.” With that Marinette all but forced the miraculous into Misterbug’s hand. The superhero blinked in shock as the girl then tried to leave only to stumble a bit.

“Hey, are you okay?” The ladybug user felt a shiver pass through him as he noticed how exhausted Marinette was. The girl looked like she was barely standing. Though he could understand now that he thought about it. She was forced to run and hide after the amok attacked her. The poor girl was no doubt scared for her life, and now that he thought about it Marinette ran all the way from the school to near the capitol building. Add on to the fact that she then helped him fight an akuma and no doubt she was boarding on exhaustion.

“I’m good but you should probably go. You probably need to give that back to Fu.” Marinette said this while walking forward at a slower pace. The superhero wanted to comment but a beep from his miraculous caused him to let out a sigh of resignation. Once more watching the pigtailed girl leave the alley and leaving the superhero with a distraught kwami.

“Let’s get you back to Fu.” Even while saying this Adrien felt his mind racing. The way Marinette reacted, she wasn’t in a good state of mind. He needed to help her. Maybe a good kwami friend, still undecided which one, and a human friend in him plus a mentor figure in Fu. Yeah build up her support network and fix whatever is going on with Alya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette made her way into her house with a frown. She had messed up, multiple times. “Okay planning time!” While procamiling this Marinette felt her left leg cramp up.

“No!” With that Plagg flew out and layed a cat slap on her. “You are going to bed now!”

“Yes, I do agree with Plagg on this.” Kaalki spoke up, giving the girl a nod.

“But!” Marinette tried to argue but no words came out. “We need to plan!”

“Yes, WE need to plan. YOU need to sleep.” Plagg stressed his words while keeping eye contact with Marinette. The girl looked like she was going to argue more but Plagg just narrowed his eyes. Marinette wilted a bit under the look before giving a nod. “Bed now!”

Marinette silently followed the two kwamis up to her room. The two then watched to make sure she did in fact go right to bed. “Alright with any luck she should be asleep soon.” Kaalki kept her voice low and was quick to pounce on Mullo the second they saw the kwami come out of the cube. “Quiet, please!”

“What is going on?” Trixx questioned, looking more than a bit confused.

“Bread decided to be a stupid heroic wonderbread.” Plagg muttered to Trixx to which the fox just let out a sigh before facepalming.

“What did she do this time?” Trixx asked, sounding a bit resigned.

“Well to start with she Unified then defeated and purified an amok.”

“Didn’t she do that yesterday?” Mullo questioned having freed themself from Kaalki.

“Oh, yes she did. But this time after releasing Catastrophe she then rescued Misterbug and was offered a miraculous.”

“OH! Who did she get? Where are they?” Mullo questioned bouncing from where they sat.

“What Plagg means is that Misterbug gave MARINETTE a miraculous after we claimed to not have food.” Kaalki clarified to the mouse who just blinked back confused.

“Let me guess you two claimed not to have more food to try and make her take a break?” Trixx gave the two kwamis a flat look to which both just nodded. “Alright, what happened next?”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be showing the debut of Bixi all over the news.” Plagg muttered with a huff.

“Wait, she got her hands on Wayzz? I thought Fu was using it?”

“Apparently the faker was willing to loan it to Misterbug for a while.” Plagg muttered while narrowing his eyes. “Either way it ended with the bug using Bread as a meat shield against his corrupted teammates.” The other kwamis stayed quiet before each looked at each other in confusion at what to do. “Now I think it’s time to go through the plans Bread has and figure out which ones to use.”

“Sounds good to me.” Trixx agreed while heading to Marinette’s desk to grab her hidden journal. While Trixx moved to do this Mullo offered to bring up the news of the computer, Kaalki of course supervised the mouse. This left Plagg with the most important job, checking on his Bread. Flying up to the bed he saw that she had tossed some of clothes off and had taken to just laying on her bed. This showed a few bruises on her skin that were already healing although slowly.

“Why are you doing this to yourself Bread?” While asking this Plagg fluttered down to settle down near her only for her to grab him and pull him close. The black kwami didn’t even think about putting up a fight he just settled into hold. The others would take care of things. All while this happened Trixx watched before flying back down to see Kaalki eating a snack while the news broadcasted the footage of the turned cameraman.

“Plagg is asleep.” Trixx informed the other two kwamis.

“Really? He fell asleep without eating his cheese first?” Mullo questioned, sounding disbelieving.

“Yes, but now that both him and the kit are asleep I think it’s time to talk.” Trixx gave a nod at the two other kwamis who blinked. “Marinette never put any restrictions on Mullo.”

“You two have restrictions?” Mullo looked between the other two kwamis while blinking in disbelief.

“Yes, it was one of the first things she did upon meeting me.” Kaalki admitted with a pout.

“To be fair you did antagonize her.” Trixx pointed out with a chuckle.

“Well then how did you get your restrictions?” Kaalki was quick to shoot back and Trixx deflated before the two.

“I might have yelled at the kit.”

“What for?” Mullo’s shocked voice asked.

“Well she told me how she stole my miraculous then revealed that she had Plagg. So yeah I might have overreacted.” Trixx admitted while his ears flattened a bit. “But that is in the past, now we need to focus on what to do next!”

“What do you recommend?” Mullo questioned before seeming to come up with her own idea. “OH I know! We could bring other kwamis here and show them how amazing the Cube is! Once they know how great it is here they will want to join Marinette!”

“That would just show them who Cheshire is, do you remember how the Order treated any black cat?”

“To be fair they all earned those reactions.” Kaalki muttered before giving a shiver.

“Exactly! Marinette is wonderful! If the others could just meet her then they could convince Fu to work with her.” Mullo was almost hopping at this point. “Fu already likes Marinette! Well he seems to like her.”

“Yes he likes Marinette, but his feelings for Cheshire are quite different.” A new voice cut into the conversation. Turning they saw Plagg coming out of his fridge.

“That was from your side of the cheese stash right?” Mullo gave the cat a glare which Plagg didn’t even answer before swallowing the cheese. “That had better be from your side.”

“So what was your plan Trixx? Yeah Mullo doesn’t have restrictions but what will that accomplish? Fu and anyone else will try to capture her the second they see her. Heck me and Bread were surprised that none of the kwami in the box didn’t try to capture you.”

“Well she could… she could… Just give me time, I'll think of something! Not like you have any plans.”

“Oh but don’t you see my plan?” This caused the three other kwamis to freeze up as Plagg let out a low laugh. “Soon I will have Bread worn down enough and she will get me that really nicely aged Camembert cheese I’ve heard so much about.”

“You monster! How could you not tell me about it!” Mullo let out a hiss as she glared at the unrepent kwami.

“Because then he would have to share.” A drowsy voice joined in. “What led to this conversation?”

“Oh we were just planning.” Trixx waved off her concerns while Mullo glared at Plagg who flew up to the human who was dragging her blanket with her. “Should you be up?”

“Probably not but you guys were too loud.” Upon arriving at the computer Marinette blinked at the monitor. “Oh looks like Bixi was received well. Though I need to track down Nadja or Alya to explain why Cheshire didn’t show up.”

“Ah, leave those problems for later when you're not five seconds from passing out.” Trixx waved off concern. “Now isn’t the time for even thinking of plans.”

“Yeah, besides I only have one plan I really care about.” The four kwamis looked confused for a bit. “I’ll become a guardian worthy of your friendship.”

“Bread, you could be my guardian anytime.” Plagg stated without even blinking.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll make an order someday.” Marinette muttered before her face fell flat. “But then that would require me having human friends I could trust.”

“Oh, could I join!” Mullo had a wide smile on her face while Trixx looked contemplative and Kaalki horrified.

“Yeah all kwamis are welcome.” Marinette muttered out with a yawn. The girl squirmed in her seat to get more comfortable. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.” She got the last part out through a yawn.

“Mullo!” Kaalki muttered while glaring at the mouse who just gave a smile.

“What? She is nice and the Cube is really fun! Besides, the Order isn’t around anymore so why not?”

“Listen to the mouse, she obviously has her priorities straight.” Plagg gave the two a smile.

“Yeah, priorities.” Marinette muttered already starting to nod off.

“Well I’m going to bed you two have fun with your thoughts.” Plagg teased while going into his house. “Mullo you are welcome to join.”

“Really!” Not giving Plagg a chance to take it back Mullo flew into the dollhouse leaving the two kwamis in thought and a sleeping girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe preened as the news aired her, well Queen Bee’s interview. “Everyone says the camera adds ten pounds but I think it makes me look better.” Chloe fell back on her bed before glancing at the silent kwami. “Well anything to add?”

A wave of magic rippled through Pollon allowing her to once more speak. “You need to return the miraculous.”

“Ugh, you are such a broken record.” The blond girl rolled her eyes before bringing out her phone to check her social media accounts. “At least you aren’t calling me ‘Fake Queen’ again.”

“It is what you are!” Pollon pointed out with a glare.

“No, I'm the superior Queen! How many times do I have to tell you!” Ugh, this was starting to become a repeat of this morning. Couldn’t that stupid kwami see how much work she was putting into this? Her fans did. Oh well better end it the same way she did this morning. “Now I order you to be silent until I next tell you to talk!” With that Pollon was once more forced to be quiet. “Now go eat and if you even think of getting crumps on anything…” She let the threat hang in the air but she doubted it was needed. The kwami would soon learn how much of a superior Queen Bee she was. Hmm, wonder how this was affecting her rival? Bet the dump ugly girl was mopping at seeing how great Chloe was with the miraculous! Now if only she could get rid of that stupid cat. That glory hog was constantly butting into her business and taking the public’s attention away from her!

Chapter 35

Marinette tried to hide her flinch as she stretched out her tight muscules while standing with her class in Le Grand Paris. Her bruises still hadn’t fully healed and her exhaustion was still wearing her down. The only thing that got her up and to school today was the fact that apparently this work experience thing contributed a lot to their grades. So here she was getting ready to be assigned whatever degrading task Chloe had assigned for her.

“Hey are you alright?” A voice asked from beside her. Marinette flinched a bit as she turned to see who was talking to her. Upon seeing who it was Marinette felt herself tense which caused a jolt of pain. “Is something the matter?” Adrien sounded concerned and Marinette would have rolled her eyes at that but she was busy trying to figure out what Chloe’s friend was planning.

“Adrikins! What are you doing here? We have to work the front desk.” Chloe latched on to her friend’s arm. The blonde haired girl looked at Marinette with a smile, “Oh, Dupain-Cheng I hope you're feeling well enough to work. It seems that they overlooked you when assigning jobs but I’m sure that they’ll think of something.”

“Really? Well maybe she could…” Whatever Adrien was about to say was cut off as gasps and hushed whispers were heard. Turning to see what was causing the noise they saw one of the top rock stars walking towards the mayor with his crocodile.

“Ah! Mr. Jagged it’s so good to see you!” Mayor Bourgeois greeted the purple haired man with a smile. “We have your room all ready for you!”

Tuning whatever happened next out Marinette decided to use this as her chance to get away from whatever Adrien and Chloe were planning. Though the two deserved some points for the setup and delivery they were about to go with. As Jagged’s assistant dealt with some pink haired man. Walking up to her teacher Marinette decided to get it over with. “Excuse me? What’s my job?”

Bustier glanced at her before asking the mayor who blinked before giving a smile. “Oh miss Dupain-Cheng! Gopher! Yes I suppose it is time for you to get to work!” Grabbing the girl the mayor led her to Jagged’s assistant. “Miss Rolling, I would like to introduce you to miss Dupain-Cheng! She will be your gopher while you stay here. So if you need an-”

“Thank you.” Penny gave the mayor a flat look before clicking her pen. “Follow us.” Doing as told, Marinette stepped into the elevator while trying not to flinch as the gator turned to look at her.

“Penny? Who is the girl?” Jagged questioned while glancing at her. Marinette tried not to shrink under his gaze, she really did. But she was at this point the bullied girl was lacking in many social areas. The crocodile slowly walked toward the girl who tried to control her breathing but things were not looking good in the cramped elevator. The crocodile was soon on her and to her amazement the gator flopped on its side right in front of her exposing his stomach. Blinking in shock Marinette looked at the two other humans in the elevator before seeing them looking at her in shock. “Well Fang likes her so I guess she can’t be that bad.”

“Fang?” Hearing the scraping of nails Marinette saw the crocodile almost jump up upon hearing its name. “Oh, nice to meet you Fang.” Well at least she wasn’t sorting garbage or something like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mullo let out a hum as she played with the doll Marinette had made of Horrificator. “You know I’m kinda shocked how well you are taking everything.” Plagg’s voice broke Mullo from her playing. Turning she shot a confused look at Plagg who was laying on some fabrics Marinette put in her purse. “I mean you barely batted an eye after the first hour or so.”

“Well I mean I was scared at first but after figuring out you meanies were pranking me I figured everything was okay.” Mullo gave a shrug of her shoulders as she remembered her first day with Marinette.

“Yeah but all the other kwamis couldn’t stand being around me for a long time.” Plagg commented while remembering the glares he got from Trixx and Kaalki.

“Well like I said earlier I was scared at first but I got over it.” Plagg stared at Mullo like he was trying to figure out what was going on in her mind. “Is something wrong?”

“That's it? After the prank you just got over your fear of me?”

“Well yeah?” Mullo just gave a shrug while looking confused at Plagg. “I mean you were nothing like what I imagined plus Trixx and Kaalki were mostly at ease with you so I was wrong. Since I was wrong I just let it go.”

“Alright, but what about wanting to join Marinette’s Order?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I like her more than like ninety percent of the old order so of course I would want to join.” Plagg fell silent as he thought about what Mullo said. Seeing that the conversation was over Mullo went back to playing with her/Manon’s doll. Hearing Marinette muttering something outside the bag the mouse kwami stuck her head out and saw Marinette muttering something to herself. Flying out of the bag Mullo landed on the girls shoulder so she was slightly hidden by the girl's hair. “What’s the matter Marinette?”

“I need to get glasses that represent Paris! But the closest thing I could find are these.” Marinette whispered to the kwami who looked at the tacky glasses on display.

“Well don’t we have a pair of glasses at home?” Plagg muttered from beside her.

“We do?” Marinette took a thinking pose before seeming to realize what he meant. “Wait but I made those as a joke.”

“Well then make them searsly.” Mullo suggested with a smile. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“No it shouldn’t be.” Marinette agreed with a nod. Yeah she could do this.

“Okay, well we had better get back in the bag before people see us.” Plagg commented before dragging Mullo with him. Arriving back in the bag the two kwami were quick to get settled in place.

“So for the new Order I think we need to rework everything from the ground up.” Mullo stated trying to continue the conversation from earlier.

“Sounds good, though I must remind you that I don’t know anything about the original Order.”

“Right Neko left after…” Mullo trailed off as she remembered why Plagg never became a part of the order. Well, one of the reasons if she remembered right. But the main reason was of course The Wis- “NO! Bad Mullo!” Slapping her cheeks, Mullo cut off the thoughts her mind was going down.

Plagg gave her a concerned/confused look. “So how do you think the other kwami will react to the Cube?”

Jumping on the change in topic Mullo started babbling about what worlds certain kwami would like. Plagg was more than happy to go along with the change in topic. He would rather bury those memories. Thankfully though the two didn’t need to stay distracted for long as Bread set down the bag.

“Hey Kit whatcha doing back so soon?” Trixx questioned from where he was playing a game on his DS.

“I need to finish making those glasses.” Marinette was quick to get her supplies out. Looking at the fox kwami Marinette let out a hum as a thought came to her. “I think it’s time to get you a Switch or something.”

“Really!” Trixx cheered with a smile.

“Oh if you are getting a Switch then could I have this thing?” Mullo questioned while pointing to the DS.

“I’ll think about it.” Trixx muttered while taking a thinking position.

“Please do.”

Grabbing the partially completed glasses Marinette began her work swiftly yet carefully. The girl needed to finish these glasses quickly. She was not going to fail her favorite rock star. A part of her hoped that he wasn’t like her classmates. “Alright I think this should do it.” Finishing up the glasses Marinette prepared to head back only to freeze up as her phone let out an alarm. “Akuma!”

“Hawkmoth needs to let up!” Plagg muttered with a glare as he felt a familiar suction. “Someone talk sense into Breeeeaaaddd!”

The three remaining kwamis looked at each other. Before Mullo came to the logical conclusion. “Do we know where the akuma is?” Hopefully there is no amok this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien chewed on his lip as he mulled over the information he had gotten. Marinette was assigned the role of Gopher. He had been curious when he had seen the poor girl leave the hotel but after asking around during a ‘bathroom’ break. So this left him sitting at the front desk, Chloe having left to check on their friends, wondering if there was anything he could do.

It was obvious to him that being Bixi had not only tired herself out but she had also received damage for helping him. It had only been for a moment but when the girl had shifted he saw an ugly purple bruise on her side. The guilt he felt at seeing that was immense. He knew the cure wasn’t perfect but he had never imagined that it would fail to heal one of his teammates! The girl was right beside him when he had casted the cure so how had it not healed her! Was it because the damage was done by his corrupted teammates and not by the akuma?

Dangit! He really wished he could have asked Tikki but sitting here at the front desk out in the open? Yeah, that would have been the height of stupidity. Plus his plan to keep her close so she could relax was ruined by Chloe. Honestly Adrien had no idea what was with Chloe but she was always getting in the way whenever he tried to interact with the pigtailed girl. Was she jealous? Did his childhood friend think that he was trying to replace her? He would need to talk to her, but first he needed to make sure Marinette wasn’t being forced by some careless manager to haul large bundles. Yeah the second he saw Miss Bustier or the mayor he would ask about Marinette working with him or worse comes to worse him helping her.

Hearing the bell above the door jingle, Adrien spun to greet the person only to instantly duck under the table while turning off his phone. Yeah he didn’t need to be a genius to know an akuma when he sees one. He would just wait a few seconds then transform, hopefully this time he and the others could take down the akuma without needing Cheshire. A part of his mind thought that it would be easier to do with Bixi or any other miraculous he gave Marinette. Shaking the thought off Adrien focused on the here and now.

“Ugh, what are you doing here, and where is my Adrikins?” Chloe’s voice rang out before the sound of a shutter was heard. Daring to glance out from his hiding spot he saw no indication that Chloe was there. While looking out he saw that there was no indication of the amok not unless amoks could be inanimate objects. So at least this one could be easier. Watching the akuma heading towards the elevator Adrien opened his pocket to meet the blue eyes of Tiki. “Ready for an akuma fight?” Getting a nod from her Adrien did a double check to make sure he was clear before becoming Misterbug.

Now in his superhero alter ego the hero ran into the main lobby. There he saw the akuma in the elevator just as the doors closed. “What is he after?”

“Probably Jagged Stone.” A self assured voice stated from beside him. Turning he saw Cheshire looking at something on her phone with a frown. “Looks like a few people saw who was akumatized. The guys is a well known Jagged ‘fan’.”

“Oh?” Misterbug muttered while Cheshire put the phone away the frown still in place. “So he’s here for his idol?”

“Yup, we better save the man before the akuma gets him.” With that Cheshire stepped out of the hotel before planting her baton. “Have fun with the stairs bugbrain.” With that she shot into the air no doubt towards where Jagged was staying.

“You are not getting ahead of me this time!” With that the ladybug user followed close behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe stood in a white void very annoyed. This was just getting ridiculous! Fist she had been overwhelmed by those knights before she could use her power. Thankfully she was able to play it off but then there was Bi whatever! Stupid turtles with stupid names! People were already talking about what ‘a good job’ the idiot snapper had done.

“I think nobody can see us.” A faint voice spoke from a distance. “Don’t worry I got far enough away.” Turning she saw the familiar back of her jockey underlining, minion? “Xuppu Showtime!” Huh maybe it was time for an upgrade? Wait though, if he already had a miraculous when she punished Dupain-Cheng then…

For a second she thought about informing him she was here but if he was keeping secrets from her then it was only fair she did the same. Turning around the girl pretends not to hear him calling his ability and instead lets her mind wander on to other topics. Like how her dear precious Adrikens kept trying to interact with that girl. Honestly Alya should feel grateful for saving her, and allowing her to work alongside her mother. But you would think her dear precious Adrikins would know better! Well maybe being raised under Gabriel’s overprotective gaze stunted his growth socially.

The white void she was in shuttered as energy swirled around. “Ah! What is going on?”

“That would be Uproar! Don’t worry we should be out of here soon!” King Monkey gave her a smile as he confidently walked towards her. “I’m sure we will be out,” as he was saying this a flash caused her to blink and when Chloe blinked the spots out the blonde was now standing in Jagged’s room, “soon.”

“Ches!” Alix called out to the confused looking cat hero. Wait, she was nearby? Did she-

“What did you do!” The akuma, some horrible looking man with clashing colors yelled at them.

“My power disrupts other powers.” King Monkey explained to everyone present. “So your power isn’t going to be useful anymore.”

“Why hasn’t he used that on other akumas?” Cheshire muttered to Misterbug who just shrugged.

“Misterbug you get the akuma I’ve got Cheshire!” King Monkey yelled before tackling the shocked cat user through a window. Cheshire let out a shocked yell, Misterbug didn’t make a sound he just stared where they had left.

“Wh-what!?” Jagged yelled asked as the akuma scratched his head.

“Um, boss, should I help the monkey or…?” A butterfly logo appeared on his face. “Your right Misterbug is by himself now!” Turning he went to face said hero only to see a red and black spotted object flying towards him. It hit the camera and broke the object releasing the akuma.

“Nice straight forward Lucky Charm, gotta love them.” Misterbug muttered while capturing the akuma. Then again it probably was meant to be used creatively but thanks to King Monkey’s distraction he didn’t have to come up with the plan. Speaking of his teammate.

“Sorry I was late I was saving a really cute puppy.” Queen Bee held a regal attitude while she walked into the room. Misterbug had restrain from giving a reaction to the blatant lie.

“Well at least we know you're okay.” There was some type of commotion behind him. But the hero had more important things to check on like his implosive teammate who decided to fight Cheshire by himself.

Grabbing his Lucky Charm Misterbug left the room to see Cheshire had combined the mouse and was now using the jump rope to fight. She stayed out of his reach while tripping him up with the rope. “Argh! Stop this annoying rope and fight me like a man!”

“Alright, first off you were the one to start this fight so no complaints on how I fight. Second, in case you haven’t noticed, I'm not a man.” While saying this she gave a wink. “I’m a Muti Cat.” While saying this Multi Cat whipped her rope forward which Monkey rose to block. However when the rope wrapped around the rope the other hero only had a second to react as the cat’s other weapon shot toward his head. Reacting on instinct the red head moved out of the way letting go of his weapon.

“And I’m a hero.” Making his presence known said hero launched his yo-yo just as the cat threw away the staff. The ears on top of her head twitched as the black user spun her rope knocking the yo-yo off course. Barely a second later she backfliped out of the way of a lunging ape.

“You know that is a very debated topic.” Multi Cat commented while looking between the two male heroes. “Have you looked at the Wonderblog?”

“Why should I care what they or my kwami says I know what I’m doing is right!” KM firmly stated causing both Misterbug and MC to stare at him in curiosity.

“There is so much to did into there.” Cheshire muttered before slightly moving on her spot to avoid a fist thrown by the brown hero.

“I miss Bixi.” Muttered the green eyed hero as he went to aid his ally. He really could use a nice stable hero who he didn’t have to ignore the akuma victim for. What was he supposed to do? Leave the guy to face the girl by himself? Oh well, hopefully Queenie didn’t do too much damage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jagged rubbed his nose as Queen Bee talked at him. He missed the bug boy and cat girl. They cared about him not the, whatever the girl was trying to say he was. “So yeah I expect the song will be performed at your next concert as thanks for us saving you.” With that the yellow hornet left.

“Sir we got the stalker removed.” Penny informed the rock star who let out a sigh.

“What would I do without you Penny?” Maybe he should also thank that Bixi girl. She was nice, to the point, and competent. Wonder where she was. Talking about missing girls where was the pink haired lass who appeared with the two other heroes? Oh well hopefully once the akuma alarm was disabled Mari something would appear with his glasses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone had memories they would rather forget or at least certain things they would rather push back. For Alix it was a part of her birthday. The time she was followed by a gang and cornered in an alleyway. It was one of the most horrible moments of her life. Alix knew that they were going to hurt her that if she didn’t do everything they said… But before anything happened Cheshire came and saved her then helped her relax afterwards. From that day forward the cat was a constant in her and her family’s life.

Cheshire always showed up to talk, play, hang out, or save her family. Yes, the rest of her family was saved by the cat. She could still remember the day of the attempted theft. They had come with guns, they had come with the intent to do harm. But once again Cheshire came through for them. Those were some of the scariest memories of her life yet her best friend saved her and her dad both times.

The hero had been there for her for everything. But now when her best friend needed her most help she was powerless to do anything. She was forced to sit on the sidelines as Cheshire fought for her life. The time she saw Pegasus attack her the skater she wanted nothing more than to hunt the jerk down. Of course when said jerk was revealed to be Max punching him was out of the question. She felt enjoyment though when the glasses wearing boy was torn into during interviews. But then things got worse. King Monkey had shown up and never hesitated to use any chance to fight Ches.

Alix never liked that Kingpin of dumb so imagine her surprise when after being captured by the akuma she saw Kim, her overly competitive friend, was revealed to be King Monkey. It had hurt a part of her she never thought would be hurt like this. How could Kim ever consider attacking Ches? Was it due to Kim’s friendship with Max?

That was the only excuse she could think of yet it wasn’t enough for her. Cheshire had saved her dozens of times and been there for her more than Max had ever been for Kim. So many could understand her boiling, ragging, anger at the two users on the roof fighting Cheshire. Alix needed to get her hands on a miraculous or some way to help her friend. She was beginning to form a plan but she would need to wait. It was her birthday soon so what better time to strike and get herself a present that would help everyone.

Notes:

Sorry about the long break I had an unexpected work trip. But I should be able to get back on track with my schedule. Thanks for being understanding.

Chapter 36

“Damnit, how are they constantly slipping away?” Multi Cat muttered while slipping into a nearby alley. A flash of gray and green signinalled her return back into Marinette.

“It could be the good luck that Tikki grants their users.” Mullo suggested with a smile.

“Tikki grants luck?” Marinette looked contemplative before turning to Plagg. “That wasn’t mentioned in the spellbook.”

“Probably because it's a passive ability. Honestly I forget about it from time to time.” Plagg muttered while thinking.

“Then do I have bad luck?” Marinette could really see that.

“No, I don’t think I have a passive ability.” Plagg took on a thinking position. “I might have had that power at one point but it's been a while. Give me some time to think about it, I'm sure I’ll remember it.”

“Thanks,” Giving her best friend a smile Marinette moved to leave the alleyway only to freeze up as she felt her muscles strain. It felt like her entire body had gone through a dozen rounds against a pro boxer. It was better than how she felt the first time she Unified but still…

“Strong face, strong face.” Relaxing, she forced herself the small distance towards the hotel. It was barely a second later that Misterbug casted the cure signaling the end of the akuma fight. Well at least that gave her a slightly better excuse. Walking into the lobby Marinette saw movement in the corner of her eye. Turning she saw Adrien stumble towards the front desk. The boy seemed to catch himself on the desk before looking up to see her watching him. Deciding to break the atmosphere, Marinette coughed, “Are you okay?”

“Wha- I mean yes! Yes I’m all good.” Adrien gave a nod before settling down into the seat. Seeming to realize something he turned toward her. “How are you doing?”

Alright, how was he doing? Was he setting something up? She really didn’t want to stick around to find out. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, what are you doing standing around!” The mayor questioned having appeared. “There is work to be done!” Taking the chance the girl tried to leave only to stumble a bit as her legs throbbed.

“Marinette are you alright?” Adrien questioned reaching out to grab her. Marinette moved out of the way as fast as she could. This caused her to let out a slightly pained groan but pushed it aside before meeting the eyes of the model.

“I’m fine.” The girl gave a smile as fake as his concern. No way was she going to show weakness in front of him. “If you don’t mind, I need to get back to work.” With that Marinette ran into the elevator only for the mayor to cough.

“Elevators are only for guests. You will need to take the stairs.” The mayor explained with a sheepish smile. The girl gave him a look before sighing and walked to where the stairs were. Looking up the stairs Marinette began her walk. Sometimes it was the petty things Chloe did that she hated most.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien watched as Marinette left. She had flinched away when he tried to touch her. Why did she flinch? Was her shoulder injured? No, she wasn’t hit there during the akuma fight. Unless… She was hurt there recently. That would then raise the question of who hurt her. Was it this mystery bully?

Adrien felt his blood boil at the thought that someone would physically assault her. What was going on! Did his classmates know? No, if Nino knew then he would intervene! Nino was a great guy, no way he would stay on the sidelines! Feeling something tapping on the inside of his chest Adrien looked down to see Tikki giving him a comforting look. He couldn’t give her an ‘everythings all right’ smile like usual though. Tikki seemed to understand though, he really couldn’t ask for a better kwami.

Deciding to take initiative Adrien straightened up and walked towards Chloe’s father. “Excuse me M. Bourgeois.”

“Adrien, how are you doing? Is there anything I could help you with?” The man gave him a bright smile. It was a smile that usually put Adrien at ease but right now it just made him… he didn’t know how it made him feel but it wasn’t pleasant. The man hadn’t allowed a clearly tired girl to use the elevator!

“Yes I was wondering about the job you gave Marinette?” The young model really tried to keep the frost out of his voice but he was a little too mad at the moment.

“I was just going with what I was given. If you want more information you’ll need to ask your teacher.” Andre seemed to wilt a bit under Adrien’s look and tone.

“Yeah I should talk to her.” Adrien muttered to himself while taking a deep breath. He needed to find out what was going on. “If you see Chloe tell her I’m taking my break.”

“Sure thing.”

With that Adrien started trying to track down his teacher to see what was going on. Seriously Madame Bustier what were you thinking? She was always kind and positive whenever he interacted with her. So what was going on? Spotting the teacher talking to a staff member, Adrien approached her. “Hey Mme Bustier, could I ask you a question?”

“Oh Adrien, of course.” The teacher gave the boy a smile that strained a little when she saw the look on his face. The employee the teacher had been talking to gave a farewell before leaving.

“I was just wondering how jobs were assigned.”

“Oh, is that all? Well where students were placed were passed off of a few factors. The main one being grades.” Bustier explained while her smile stayed just as bright as normal. “Like you had one of the best grades so you got one of the better jobs.”

Adrien felt his mind flipping as he tried to understand what Bustier was saying. “Wha- so Marinette got a bad job due to bad grades?” Did Marinette have bad grades? Was she having trouble in class, besides the bully he meant. Unless the two were- “No, that doesn’t make sense.”

“Well I initially didn’t want to go along with it but Chloe made a convincing argument for it. She said that by seeing what job they could get by slacking off it would motivate them into doing better.” Madame Bustier told Adrien with a comforting smile. The young model continued to frown as his mind raced. Was he so desperate to blame someone for Marinette’s situation that he jumped to conclusion?

“I see, thank you.” With that Adrien left to think over what he learned. The reason Chloe gave was weak and he really didn’t like it. Could Chloe be the bully? No, she was his first friend there was no way the girl he knew would be so mean. So what was left for him to blame. Well for this incident it would be her bad grades. He could solve that but the problem was if she would let him try tutoring her. Now there is an interesting thought, Marinette tutors Misterbug while Adrien tutors Marinette.

“Hey Kim, when was the last time we competed?” Alix asked her friend though her smile looked a little forced.

“Huh, two weeks ago I think why?” Kim rubbed at his chin in thought before his eyes lit up. “Oh, are you challenging me? Alright what is the bet? What are we wagering?”

“I was thinking if you win I will do your homework for a week.”

“Yes! No homework for a week!” Kim gave a huge smile to Max who gave his friend a flat look before turning to Alix.

“And what would you want if you won.” Max asked the short girl who let out a hum of thought.

“How about that headband?” Kim froze up along with Adrien. The model knew that the headband was the hidden form of the miraculous. There was no way Kim would wager a miraculous. “What’s the matter Kim, you chickening out?” Alix gave the boy a look full of challenge.

“Hah, as if I would back down. It’s just that this headband is very important.” Kim looked a little uneasy while also shifting.

“Yeah pull the other one, you’ve only had it for what? Two weeks, and I know it's not an heirloom.” Alix let more competitive energy seep into her tone before taking a mocking thinking pose. “Unless you are too much of a coward.”

“I’m not a coward!”

“Right, right, so are you going to accept the bet?” Alix raised an eyebrow while looking at Kim. Kim seemed to be conflicted a bit before looking at Max. “Oh well I was just going to challenge you to a race but if you really think you can’t win.”

“A race? Hah! I could easily beat you at any race!” Kim looked proud of himself while looking down at Alix with a smirk. “Heck I bet even with you using your rollerblades I’d still win!”

Alix turned off the recorder on her phone before giving Kim and Max a smile. “Alright glad you accepted. So I’ll see you tomorrow at the track.” Then with that Alix left, leaving a confused Kim and Max. Adrien let out a sigh before leaving, well at least it was a bet that Kim had a good chance of winning.

“What are your thoughts Tikki? Should we intervene somehow?”

“Not for now, if it comes down to it I’m sure we could get the miraculous back before Alix realizes what she has.” The red kwami offered. Yeah that was probably the best they could do. Looking at the clock Adrien saw that there was about three hours left before the school experience was over. Sitting down he let out a sigh knowing he probably only had about ten more minutes.

“Well look who’s all alone.” A happy voice drew him from his thoughts. Looking across the hall he saw Alya walking towards him. “What Nino got lost in this labyrinth of a hotel again?”

“He got lost before?”

“Well if he did then you didn’t hear it from me.” Alya sat down right next to him with a sigh. “So what’s got you down, model boy?”

“Marinette was given the job of gopher.” Deciding he didn’t want to talk about the problem of his teammate betting his miraculous Adrien instead decided to talk about the other thing bothering him.

“Of course she was.” Alya growled out with a deep frown. Did she also believe the bully was behind it.

“Yeah apparently due to her poor grades she was given the worst job.” This seemed to upset the reporter even further.

“I wonder who suggested the setup.” Alya let out a bitter laugh that tingled something in Adrien’s mind.

“It was a decision made between Chloe and Bustier.” Alya’s face soured at that. There were only a few things that Adrien could figure would cause that reaction. “Alya, what do you think of Chloe?” He had to be wrong, there was no way that his friend was a bully.

“She is one of the best people alive.” Chloe responded while walking towards them. “What seems to be the problem, Adrikins? I heard you talking about Dupain-Gopher-Cheng.”

“That’s not very nice Chloe.” Adrien gave the other blonde a disapproving frown. Chloe gave him a confused look before sighing.

“Adrien, she needs to learn to work harder and this should motivate her to work harder.” Chloe gave Adrien the look a teacher gave a slow student. However Adrien didn’t change his expression which upset the blonde. “Well I only came to inform Alya that her mother wants her back in the kitchen. Come on friend, I'll take you there.” With that the two girls, one slower than the other, left.

“Well that was something.” Adrien muttered his mind waring with itself. The way Alya and Chloe acted. “Once again I’m confronted with the possibility of my childhood friend being a bully.” Adrien really wished that he could talk to Tikki but surrounded by so many people, plus he needs to get back to work. Hopefully Marinette was doing better than him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah, yeah I like it. Its represents rock and roll.” Jagged nodded as he looked over the sketches Marinette had made. “Penny send these off and pay the girl.”

Marinette felt her hands sweating as Penny took the designs that Jagged had asked her for. After climbing the stairs Marinette had given the glasses to Jagged who loved the glasses but the problem came up when he asked for the receipt. That had led to Marinette having to prove that she did in fact make them. So after that and grabbing some drinks Jagged had asked her how she would design outfits for his performances. Which was how Marinette spent the rest of her time being a gopher. Don’t get her wrong, she loved being able to design again. But doing it for one of her idols was just too big for young her. Okay maybe too big for her, ever.

“Yes, I will see it done. So how would you like to be credited?” Credited her? No, no, if she got any credit then Chloe would strike back! The black haired girl didn’t even want to contemplate how Chloe would make her life worse but she didn’t want to find out.

“Ah, does it have to be my name?” The two humans looked at her one in confusion, the other in somewhat understanding. Fang was just upset he wasn’t getting all the bellyrubs he was deserving of. Maybe he could get the new human to do it, she should be weak to his croc tears.

“No, you could use an alias if you would like to.” Penny offered as Fang made a noise to get the human child’s attention. She looked over to him as he gave her the eyes. “So what would you like your name to be?”

The child fell just like the others and gave Fang his scratches. “Um, ah, no MDC won’t work ah, maybe, Lady Noire?”

“Lady Noire? Yeah, that has a nice rock and roll vibe.” Jagged gave a nod before noticing Fang. “Well besides that money I have a nice idea on how to reward you.” Signalling to Penny he whispered something to her before giving her a smile. “Now why don’t you head down? I think your class is wrapping up for the day.” As the girl stopped scratching the croc let his displeasure known. “Stop your whining Fang she’s got to go.” Not looking back, Marinette left heading towards the elevator only to be stopped by a bellboy. Another sigh left her as she walked towards the stairwell only to be stopped again by someone trying to put their hand on the girl's shoulder. Dodging out of the way of the grip Marinette spun around to see a shocked assistant.

“So that is what took you so long.” Penny gave the girl a look before gesturing for the girl to follow her. Now having Penny with her the bellboy made no move to stop them. “I’ll have to talk to the manager about this.” Marinette didn’t say anything as the elevator descended. When the doors opened Marinette walked over to where her classmates were. Penny broke off to go talk to her teacher. Not caring what was going on anymore Marinette stood at the back of the group, her mind wandering from topic to topic.

“Students!” Heads turning towards the teacher and Mayor, everyone fell quiet. “Today’s work exhibition was a great success! So as a reward Penny and Jagged have offered tickets to the best performing students.” The students were almost bouncing in place as Penny brought out tickets. Penny went through the students handing tickets out to an excited Alya, Ivan, Rose, Juleka, Andrien, Nino, and to her horror Penny broke from the main group of students to give Marinnette one. Marinette accepted the ticket with shaking hands. “Alright everyone it is time to head home.” With that dismissal the students left.

“Wow you got a ticket to Marinette.” Adrien gave the girl a smile that Marinette could see turning threatening any second. Well whatever he was planning she didn’t have the energy to deal with it. Plus being in a loud concert with her classmates was a recipe for disaster.

“Yeah Dupain-Cheng, it is-” Not giving Chloe a chance to finish Marinette shoved the ticket towards the blonde girl. Chloe didn’t even look fazed but gave the shorter girl a suppieror look while taking the ticket. Not even responding Chloe walked off with the ticket.

“Why-” Not giving the blonde time to respond, Marinette brushed past him. Walking outside Marinette started her walk home only to stumble as Alix slammed into her shoulder.

“Watch where you're going, Marinette.” Alix called back while using her skates. Well at least she mockingly apologized unlike Kim who completely knocked her over. Taking a second while laying on the ground Marinette braced for anything else.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked, walking into her field of vision. Ignoring the hand the boy was offering, Marinette just stood up. She was just too tired for this.

“Alright get it over with.”

“What?!” Adrien questioned, sounding shocked.

“Whatever your planning just do it.” Marinette let out a defeated sigh. “I thought you guys would be done after taking my ticket but obviously not. So pour the water over my head or mock my clothes. Whatever you have planned, just do it!” Marinette let some of her frustrations out. Seeing Adrien just staring at her, no doubt shocked at being called out. “Well?” Tapping her foot at Adrien the pigtail girl got fed up and with a huff she left. “I have better things to do.” Maybe she could go talk to Fu to see about those lessons he promised. Spending time with someone who wanted her dead was better than dealing with two faced brats.

Chapter 37

Adrien watched Marinette walk off in utter shock. She had thought he was going to do something to her. Yeah Kim and Alix had rammed into her but they were probably just in a hurry. But that still didn’t explain her reaction to him just trying to help her! He really needed to know what was going on with her! There had to be some logical explanation to her thinking that he was bullying her! While he wasn’t the best at social interactions, thanks mom and dad, Adrien was pretty sure he wasn’t participating in bullying her.

“Dude you alright?” Nino placed a hand on the model’s shoulder.

“Nino,” looking back towards his cap-wearing friend, Adrien took a breath, “do you know what’s going on with Marinette?”

Nino looked like he had been slapped. “Marinette? Nope, I don’t know. She just keeps to herself. You should just leave her be.” Adrien decided that Nino should never play poker. His poker face sucks.

“I see, so you have no idea what is going on.” Nino shook his head fast, almost dislodging his hat. “Really? So you have no idea what happened between her and Alya?”

“Nope! No idea.” Nino looked pale and Adrien swore he saw some sweat forming on his head. “Hey, how about the concert tonight! Really exciting!”

Looking at Nino for a second longer the young Agreste felt something turning in his stomach. Nino did know something but wasn’t saying anything for some reason. “Yeah, really exciting.” Hearing a honk the boy let out a sigh. “I gotta go, see you later Nino.” Not waiting for a response the model left getting in his car. It felt like his head was going to explode due to everything that happened today.

The Gorilla gave him a concerned look that Adrian just gave a weak smile towards the man. The larger man just let out a hum that his charge knew meant that he could talk to him if needed. But Adrien already had someone or more specifically some kwami to talk to. Well he could also talk to Master Fu too. It was nice to have a safety net. Hearing a sound from his pocket the boy pulled out his phone to look at his phone. Speaking of Master Fu the man texted him.

Fu: We need to talk. Marinette is here.

“Hey my Chinese tutor just texted me, he has some notes that he wants me to pick up.” Should he be concerned how easy it was to lie? A little but it was for the greater good, and to see what Marinette was doing at Fu’s. The Gorilla looked at him before looking at his phone. Seeing something his bodyguard let out a grunt before changing course. Time to see what was going on, surely Marinette would tell what was going on to a hero. Hopefully whatever she was going through was nowhere near as bad as he thought it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette made her way to Fu’s shop at a steady pace. There was no need for her to hurry and she was still rather sore. Even if she didn’t use Catastrophe she still did Unify so no point making her body more sore. Especially while going to visit someone who wanted her dead. Why was she doing this again?

Because there was no way the person they saw as an evil entity would help them. So that was a nice alibi. Anything to keep them farther away from her and the only things she could trust. So she would do what she needed to so she could stay with Plagg. It was with this mindset that Marinette arrived at the shop. After knocking on the door Marinette was called in.

“Ah Marinette, how good to see you today.” Fu greeted the girl who just gave him a smile.

“Gre- ah good day, well it is the afternoon sooo…” Dang it! When did she get bad at this?

“Are you okay?” Wayzz gave the girl a concerned look.

“Oh Wayzz!” Marinette perked up with a smile towards the kwami. “I know you said you like pastries so I made you some.” Reaching into her backpack Marinette pulled out a brown paper bag. “Here I made enough for you to share with some other kwamis if you want.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Wayzz cheered while glancing at Fu who had a slight frown. “Did you bring anything else?”

“Well,” Marinette gave the green kwami a teasing grin, “I did but it’s something you can’t look at. At least if my ancestor is to be believed.”

“You brought it?” Wayzz questioned a little excited.

“Well not all of it, sadly my mom took it with her so I had to go with some photos I took a while ago.” Well it was slightly true. She did take photos of the journal so she could study them when in school. “I have them here with me.”

“Why do you have pictures?” Fu questioned causing Marinette to freeze.

“I-I really like his stories.” Another truth, one she could almost recite from heart. “He talked about the kwamis a lot. They were my favorite.” While saying this she gave a wink to Wayzz who let out a laugh.

“I see, so he had regular interactions with kwamis.” Fu muttered while rubbing his beard. “Was he close to the inner circle?”

“The what? I mean I think he mentioned something. I didn’t pay attention.” Another truth. Reading about the kwamis, interesting and good inspiration for daydreams of what it would be like to meet them. Reading about his thoughts and notes about magic, informative and helpful for multiple things. The set up of the Order she was trying to replace? Boring and just made her hate the Order more. So yeah, she just glanced over that stuff.

“Okay, do you mind if I see the pictures?” Fu questioned while trying to keep a soft smile. Marinette froze up again before glancing at Wayzz who nodded to her. A little reluctantly Marinette reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope.

“The pictures and an SD card are inside.” Fu gave the girl a kind smile as he took the envelope. This did nothing to reassure the girl but she tried to hide it. That failed when a nock on the door caused her to jump from her seat.

“Ah, why don’t you go into the backroom, I’ll go see who it is.” Not wasting a second, Marinette ran into the backroom. Fu let out a sigh while walking toward the door. The girl was in bad shape, really bad shape. “Ah come in, come in.” Fu waved Adrien in before passing him the enchanted cloak. “Put this on, Marinette is in the back. I will retrieve her in a bit.”

“She brought treats.” Wayzz told the boy who gave a weak smile.

“Oh, that sounds good.” Adrien muttered while finishing putting on his disguise. “How is she? I noticed that she had some bruises.”

“She does?” Fu wrinkled his brow in concern before walking to the back room. “Marinette, it was Misterbug you can come out now.” Marinette slinked out with her eyes darting toward Misterbug. “Marinette I was informed by Misterbug that you still have residual damage from the akuma battle you took part in.” The girl’s eyes flew open before flying to Misterbug as if trying to figure something out. “Is this true?”

The girl looked like she was trying to figure out what to say before both Wayzz and Tikki flew in front of her. “Please Marinette, we need to know if something happened.” Looking at the kwamis the girl shuffled in place before slowly taking off her ratty sweater. Marinette was very happy she had hidden both her miraculous underneath her shirt but given how they were more focused on the ugly purple spots on her arms. “Oh my,” Tikki gasped while fluttering back, “Are there any others?” Lifting her shirt a bit she showed off her slightly larger bruise. “How did this happen?”

“Perhaps a combination of corrupted miraculous and the akuma impersonating a former black cat.” Fu speculated with a deep frown. “Either way we will have to be more careful in the future.”

“Well what about right now? Is there anything we can do to help her?” Misterbug questioned the guardian.

“I believe there are some healing rituals, but she will have to remain out of combat. We can’t have her worsening her-”

“NO! I’m sorry!” Marinette cried out, shocking the others. “I can’t stay out of combat! What if you need my help! I don’t want to leave you guys by yourself!”

Fu looked contemplative for a second. “Is this due to you losing Pollon? Do you feel you owe us somehow?” While not responding the girl did flinch.

“Wait! She was supposed to have the bee miraculous?” Misterbug looked between the two. Marinette seemed to shrink into herself while not meeting his eyes. “What happened? Why haven’t we retrieved Pollon yet?”

“I have been working with Xuppu to try and figure out a way to get the miraculous back without the person who stole it suspecting and retaliating against Marinette.” Fu explained to the ladybug user.

“Oh, I hope Pollon is alright.” Tikki muttered before feeling somebody grab her. Looking she saw an apologetic Marinette.

“I’m sorry Tikki, I promise to make it up to you. Please just give me a chance.” Tikki looked at the pigtailed girl who gave a bit of a watery smile. Tikki fluttered toward up from the hold to give a reassuring smile.

“How did this even happen?” Misterbug looked over to Fu with narrowed eyes.

“Apparently Marinette was tripped while holding the box and it fell at the feet of another.”

“Thankfully she didn’t seem to follow through on her threat of throwing it away. At least we know who has it.” Marinette muttered but apparently it wasn’t as quiet as she wanted it to be.

“She was going to throw it away? Why?” Tikki and Fu asked at the same time. Tikki didn’t stop though. “She knew it was-”

“That was all she needed to know.” Marinette muttered with a sigh. “All sh-they ever needed.” Marinette didn’t like where this was going. She always tried to leave her school problems at school. “If there is nothing else then I’m gonna leave. I gave you the notes and treats.”

“Marin… Alright, I just need your contact info for your first treatment.” Fu sounded a bit reluctant but let her leave. Not saying anything else Marinette left though Misterbug did look a bit tense. About a minute later Fu raised an eyebrow. “Is something the matter?”

“Marinette is getting bullied by my classmates.” Adrien finally admitted to himself. “And my childhood best friend is most likely the ringleader.”

“Ah, yes that must be pretty hard to accept. If you wish to talk about it I do have you scheduled for about another half an hour.” Yeah Adrien really needed to talk to someone about what was going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette let out a relieved sigh when she finally made it home. Today was just a lot. “You okay Bread?” Plagg questioned with a bit of concern.

“Yeah, just… I don’t know what to do next. I think I threw up enough smoke that Fu and Misterbug will never suspect me of having you. But now… what could I do now?” The baker’s daughter let out a hum of thought. “I know we still need to rescue Pollon but she is keeping a good distance from Cheshire.”

“Whoa, whoa Bread those are thoughts for when you aren’t exhausted. How about thinking about what to do tonight?” Plagg held up his paws trying to get her to calm down.

“Tonight?” Marinette thought out loud while looking around in thought. She saw Trixx and Kaalki leaving the cube while Mullo was carefully putting her doll back.

“Oh are we planning out some activities? Maybe you could go out and visit your friend’s. It has been awhile since you hung out with all of them.” Trixx offered with a smile. “I’ve wanted to talk to them for a while.”

“Well I do need to do a patrol.” Marinette reluctantly agreed. “But they aren’t my friends, they’re Cheshire, or whatever mask I’m wearing at the time, friends.” Walking over to the Cube Marinette swapped Mullo for Trixx’s miraculous. “Plagg, are you okay with this?”

“Sure, just remember to give me some extra cheesecake tomorrow.” Plagg offered with a smile.

“Humans made cheese into a cake! When did they do this!” Mullo shouted while looking like she was trying to figure out complex maths. “Why was I never informed!”

“Tomorrow…” Trixx muttered as if trying to remember something. “I think it was Kaalki’s turn to choose the movie, or does having Mullo with us now affect the turn order. Because if so then it is-”

“No! I have waited long enough to be able to choose! I already have the perfect movie picked out.” Kaalki proudly stated while stomping her foot.

“What are we talking about.” Mullo looked around in confusion.

“Kaalki can inform you, I need to head out. Plagg Claws Out!” Feeling the familiar and comforting feeling of magic Cheshire looked at Trixx. “Want to grab any snacks before we leave?”

“Nah if I get hungry I’ll just beg. I think I might be a bit rusty but I should still have it.” Trixx joked while giving a smile.

“Alright let's go.” Hopping out the window the cat hero flew onto the nearby roofs with a hum. “I think we’ll go visit Juleka, I think she lives on a boat.”

“A boat? Sounds interesting.” Trixx commented as they flew beside the superhero. “Oh I think I see them. Looks like they are listening to someone.” Looking down at the boat Cheshire saw that indeed Juleka and Rose were listening to a blue haired boy playing a guitar. It looked like all three were deep into the music.

“Well let's pull up some seats.” Diving down towards the boat Cheshire made her approach as silently as possible. Landing beside Rose Cheshire took a seat with a smile while Trixx got comfortable in her hair. The guitar guy stopped for a second before continuing his song. The song went on for about another thirty seconds before he stopped playing and looked up.

“That was great Luka!” Rose cheered while excitedly clapping. The blonde girl blinked when she didn’t hear him respond. The boy's eyes were locked onto something right beside her.

“I have to agree with Rose, you are quite talented.” Both Rose and Juleka snapped their heads to see Cheshire relaxing beside them.

“Thank you?” The now named Luka said while rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh where are my manners? My name is Cheshire. Nice to meet you.” Standing up the superhero held out their hand to the boy.

“Luka Couffaine.” The boy took the hand while seeming to give her an odd look.

“Oh so you’re Juleka’s brother?” Trixx spoke up from the top of her head. “You know I think I see it.”

“Oh my gosh! I remember you!” Rose sprinted up right beside Cheshire while happily clapping her hands together. “Your name was Trixx right?”

“Got it in one.” Trixx gave the girl a bright smile while Luka blinked a bit in confusion.

“So I guess you weren’t joking about Cheshire’s imaginary friends?” Luka questioned his sister who glanced up from her phone with a frown. “If you’re planning some sort of hang out then you should probably inform mom.” Juleka mumbled something to which Luka nodded. “I guess you did already get permission to have friends over.”

“Oh are we having a boat party?” Cheshire questioned with a smile. “And on the same night as a concert?”

“I guess not everyone can make it.” Rose muttered remembering the concert. The concert she had a ticket to. “Plus I’ll kinda want to go.”

“You can go if you want to.” Juleka muttered before fishing out her ticket and passing it a slightly shocked Luka. “I’m going to hang out with the group.”

“Hmmm….” Rose narrowed her eyes as she pulled out her own ticket. “I did already meet him during his signature signing.”

“If you want to go to the concert I could take you there.” Cheshire offered. “You could still hang out with your friends for a bit before heading to the concert.”

“Plus if you want to give this ticket away you need to sign the back.” Luka pointed out showing off the back. Turning to Juleka he looked at his sister for a moment before gesturing to the door. “Come on we need to grab a pen.”

Watching the two go, the two humans and kwami were interrupted as they heard panting from the side of the ship. “Made *PANT* it.” A panting Alya said as she made her way up the ramp of the ship. “Where *pant* is the *pant* hero?”

“Aw, so you didn’t come to see me?” Trixx whined while his eyes started shimmering with unshed tears.

“TRIXX!” Alya’s eyes snapped toward the orange kwami.

“You think remembering my name will make me forgive you?” Trixx hammed it up. “Oh, and here I was thinking we were becoming such good friends!”

Alya raised an eyebrow at the kwami who fluttered down into Rose’s hands. “Do you know that I have two little sisters? Trust me I have seen and heard better guilt trips.”

“I can do better if you want.” Trixx’s head shot up with a smile.

“Nah, I would rather hang out with you.” Alya returned the smile with one of her own.

“So you're also not going to the concert?” Rose questioned.

“Nah, my seat was going to be next to Chloe, so I gave it my big sis.” Alya waved it off.

Before anyone could say anything else the sound of rollerblades were heard as Alix made her appearance. “Ches!” The short girl slammed into the hero who just rolled her eyes before returning the hug. “I thought I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow.”

“Well us cats like to do as we please.” Cheshire gave a bright smile as she broke the hug. “So what was with the sudden hug?”

“I’m just really happy that you're okay. I mean I know you're awesome but it's still a battle right after an akuma attack!” Alix rushed a little to explain.

“You know that does bring up a question.” Alya looked at the hero with a bit of curiosity. “How are you so much stronger than the others?”

“Two main reasons.” Cheshire leaned back as Juleka and Luka reappeared with an interested woman who the hero assumed was their mother. “The most obvious one is expecerince.”

“Yeah that makes sense.” Alix nodded her head with a smile. “You have been fighting jerks for years.”

“Yeah and they just got their powers.” Alya added on as Rose waved towards Mylene who walked onto the boat. “So what is the other main reason?”

“Oh that would be the fox getting pampered by Rose and Mylene.” This caused everyone to turn to the small fox who was being brushed by Rose while the just arrived Mylene fed him a bit of jerky.

“Wait, how does he improve your fighting potential?” Alya asked while scratching her head in a bit of confusion.

“Well not Trixx directly but more my relationship with my kwamis.” Cheshire elaborated. “As Max told everyone on live tv, kwamis are the source of power for the miraculous. But what he failed to realize is that the better relationship you have with your kwamis the stronger and more of their power you can access.”

“Really? That sounds…” Alya wavered her hand in the air. Cheshire watched as Rose approached Luka’s mom and offered her ticket.

“Like I’m using Trixx or the other kwamis? Like I’m only being nice to them for their powers? Yeah I felt pretty scummy when Plagg, the black cat kwami, told me.” Cheshire finished Alya’s thought with a frown of her own. “But thankfully whoever made the miraculous thought of that to so thankfully the intentions have to be pure.”

“Well that’s nice.” Alix looked contemplative. Meanwhile Luka’s mom seemed to have accepted the ticket.

“Yup, so what are we doing today?” Cheshire questioned before giving a smile to everyone. “I have some time to kill so let’s have some fun.” All the other girls agreed and ideas were shouted out.

Chapter 38

Marinette let out a hum as she finished boxing the gift for Alix. “I will never understand why you keep doing this.” Plagg’s voice cut through her little song.

“Everybody deserves to have a little something on their birthday.” Marinette explained with a sad smile. This caused both Plagg and Trixx to shift a bit uncomfortably.

“So what did you get her?” Kaalki asked and Marinette just gave the kwami a smile.

“You’ll just need to wait and see.” Marinette stated while finishing the gift. “Alright now we just need to drop it off.” Marinette muttered before walking towards the cube.

“Yeah about that, can you not go as Cheshire today?” Plagg requested, causing everyone to look at him. “What I need is a break plus it's not like she can’t go as Kitsune or another miraculous.”

“Sounds fai-” Marinette began only for Kaalki to fly in front of her.

“I don’t wish to sound rude but I feel that you have favored Trixx and Mullo.”

“Does it seem that way?” Marinette gasped as her mind went over recent events to figure out if it could seem that way. “I’m so sorry if it seems I’ve been ignoring you!” Marinette was quick to grab the kwami and bring them close. “We can hang out later after I drop off the gift if that’s all right?”

“Yes, I do believe that will be okay. But do you mind using my miraculous? I have quite a bit of energy I wish to burn off.” Kaalki offered with a smile.

“That sounds good.” The miraculous user agreed with a smile. Walking toward the cube the girl went to pull out the miraculous only to be interrupted by Plagg.

“Bread are you going to wear the miraculous while taking a shower?” The black cat questioned the girl who froze before the cube.

“Yeah I guess it would be a good idea to do my morning routine.” Marinette muttered with a bit of a blush. The girl tried to ignore the giggling kwamis but the growing blush showed how unsuccessful she was. With that the girl walked into the bathroom followed by Mullo and Trixx.

“Is this okay? Marinette might not arrive on time.” Kaalki asked the black kwami who just gave the other kwami a flat stare.

“Kal the girl never told Alix when she would arrive nore did Alix tell her when to arrive.” Plagg pointed out with a sigh. “Besides it's just a kids party, it's not like we will arrive late for anything too important.”

“What are you two still doing out here?” Marinette questioned the two while gently grabbing them. “Come on, it's time to get ready for the day. I still need to brush you guys.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix ran a finger over the watch that her father had given her. When she had first gotten the watch the girl hadn’t been that excited but then her father had shown her what was inside the watch. It was amazing and he was giving it to her and not her brother. He trusted her with it. A fond smile grew on her face as she flipped the pocket watch in her hand.

“Hey Alix, glad to see you didn’t chicken out.” Kim’s voice drew her out of her thoughts.

“I should be saying that to you.” Alix fired back with a plastered smile. She really needed to get this over with for… “Where’s Ches?”

“Ches?” Adrien asked from where he was sitting on the steps. The model looked horrible with dark bags under his eyes and he twitched from time to time while looking around.

“Did anyone tell her where or when we would be meeting up?” Juleka asked the logical question to the group who looked at each other in confusion.

“You hung out with that mangy cat? Ugh, please stay away, I don’t want any fleas.” Chloe took a step away from the other girls. Adrien’s eyes snapped toward the other girl and his eyes tightened before relaxing.

“First off, yes we did hang out with the super cat.” Alya started with her hands on her hips. “Second, no we did not tell her when to show up.”

“Well, are we going to get started? Or do we have to wait for Cheshire to show up?” Kim tried to hide his worry but Alix could tell. It was obvious he didn’t feel comfortable with the cat being around when there was a bet concerning his headband. “It might be best to do this now so she doesn’t have to see you loose.”

That set the spark off in the shorter girl who rounded on him. “If you are in that much of a hurry to lose then lets get this over with.” Kim gave the girl his usuel competitive smirk as he started doing stretches. Alix was about to head down before remembering the watch in her hand. Looking down at it the girl turned to look at her friends and settled on one of them. “Rose, can you please hold onto this for me?”

“Oh sure.” Rose gave a slightly confused yet sweet smile. With that settled Alix came down to the agreed upon starting line. Kim turned to look at her before blinking in confusion.

“What you did say I could use my skates.” Alix reminded a now slightly uncertain looking Kim. “What, gonna chicken out now in front of everyone?”

“You wish!” Kim shouted, stomping his foot as he glared forward. Alix knew it wasn’t the best move to antagonize him too much but win or lose she would get the miraculous she wanted. If she won then she would just have to make up a lie about losing it or find some way to trick people into seeing her in the same place at the same time.

“All right as soon as this coin hits the ground you may start.” Max stated before getting nods. Without another word he tossed the coin up in the air with both watching it in complete concentration.

Back with the audience Rose looked down at the watch that Alix had given him. “Wow, this is a really pretty watch.”

“Yeah.” Juleka mumbled leaning over Rose to look at the watch. Both didn’t pay attention as the race began with both Kim and Alix shooting off like rockets. The rest of the class cheered and jumped around in excitement. One of them unknowingly bumped into the small girl causing her to stumble. The watch that she had a loose grip on slipped from her fingers but was quickly caught by Adrien.

“Carefull.” The model told the short girl while holding out the watch to the girl.

“Oh, thank you Adrien.” The pink clad girl gratefully reached for the watch only for it to be snatched by a different blonde.

“What is this? Some stupid old paperwieght?” Chloe questioned while giving the watch a questioning look.

“Careful Chloe, that is Alix’s.” Rose told the other female blonde who just rolled her eyes. The other girl just rolled her eyes and mumbled something under breath.

“Chloe give it back to Rose.” Both girls froze upon hearing the cold tone in Adrien’s voice.

“Adrikins!” Chloe gasped upon hearing her childhood friend speak to her like that.

“Chloe.” Adrien ground out while glaring at her. So shocked was Chloe that she accidentally dropped the watch. The four classmates watched in stunned shock as the watch bounced and rolled right into the path of the racers.

Alix kept pace with Kim. After multiple races against Cheshire the smaller girl knew that she could easily beat the athlete. But she needed to make this look good. Pushing forward a little the girl intended to make Kim speed up a bit but was caught off guard as something fell into her path. In the second before she ran over the object she recognized it as her watch. Stumbling to try and prevent its destruction, Alix realized it was too late. A crunch of metal was the only sound that reached her ears as she destroyed the gift her father had given her that morning. Her attempt at stopping caused her to skid across the pavement. The girl was only barely aware of Kim cheering as he won.

Reaching down the girl grabbed the destroyed watch as her emotions ran rampant. But one emotion was most prevalent, anger. Anger at herself for destroying the watch, anger at her classmates for dropping the watch, and anger at Kim.

“Alix, are you okay?” Rose’s voice broke the girl out of her train of thoughts. But not her emotions, if anything they were just growing stronger.

“Did you do this?!” Alix snapped at the girl who flinched and was quickly hugged by Juleka.

“No, I mean I accidently dropped it but then Adrien grabbed it. But then Chloe took it from him and she dropped it.” Rose explained with a still glaring Adrien giving an affirmative to the story.

Chloe just rolled her eyes before sighing. “I’ll just buy you a new one or whatever.”

“It’s a family heirloom!” Alix snapped back to Chloe who didn’t seem fazed in the least.

“Yet you were willing to take my headband.” Kim jumped into the conversation. He probably didn’t mean to but Alix didn’t care because it was his fault this all started.

“Shut up you stupid monkey!” Kim flinched back as his eyes flew open.

“Mon-monkey? I’m not a monkey, haha.” The jock tried to wave it off but now everyone was looking at him. None noticing the black butterfly flying towards them followed by the blue feather.

“Oh cut the crap you dump ape! I saw you transform!” This drew a gasp from everyone as Kim stood there frozen in shock. That was when the akuma and amok landed on her skate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you.” Knightmare thanked Mister Kubdel before heading to the Trocadero. Honestly she was a bit shocked that Alix wasn’t here but then again the girl did mention something about a bet so in hindsight this did make sense. Still would have been nice to know but the cat hero would tease the others about when she got to the party. Passive aggression for the win.

“You think they got any cheese there?” Plagg asked from his spot. “I don’t mean to judge but it’s not really a party unless there’s cheese.”

“If she doesn’t then I’ll buy you some on the way back.” Knightmare promised the little cat before arriving near the group of students they were all gathered around two of the group. “Hey what’s going on?” A bubbling black purple mass soon covered Alix.

The girl's name was shouted as a new figure stood up before glaring at Kim. The figure wore what looked like a futurist black body tight suit. The suit was also a bit armoured with a spade motif. “Don’t worry Hawky, I will get you some miraculous!” Knightmare rolled her eyes and got ready to intervene only to freeze as the akuma charged at Kim. In response Kim rolled out of the way before gritting his teeth. “Come on, King Monkey, fight me!”

“Xuupu Show Time!” Kim responds to the taunt by blowing his secret identity. Knightmare stumbled back as her mind recoiled at just what she learned. Kim, one of Chloe’s lakeys, one of her most dedicated bullies, was a miraculous user! Why in the world would Fu ever give him of all people a miraculous!

“You know maybe we can just let the other users deal with this one. I mean it technically is their mess to clean up.” Plagg chimed in while rubbing his chin. “Plus given who it is I doubt she will fight us.”

Knightmare felt her breath catch in her throat as she thought over everything. Could she stay to the side? No, she needed to help Alix, yeah she would do this for Cheshire’s friend and the classmates that might get caught in the crossfire. “Come on Plagg, we have work to do.”

“Do we have to?” Plagg whined out loud as Knightmare landed near the compatents.

“Oh, are you guys here for the party too?” The horse user questioned drawing attention to them. “Though you look pretty rude not having brought presents unlike me.” Everyone looked at the black gift wrapped box with a green ribbon that Knightmare was holding under one of her arms.

The akuma gave the hero a smile before blocking the hit from the miraculous user. Looking back at the ‘hero’ the girl’s face turned into a scowl while reaching to grab him. “You know you didn’t get me a present so how about I take it!”

“Wait, didn't I get you something?” KM asked himself while jumping back.

“Nope but don’t worry I’ll be taking my own present.” Alix muttered to herself with a glare.

“Well now that is just rude.” Knightmare mocked the hero before walking up to Alya who already had her phone out. “Hey, you guys mind watching this for me? I have work to do.” The group didn’t respond but Rose did grab on tightly to the box.

“Please save Alix.” Rose muttered out while barely restraining tears. Knightmare didn’t respond as she landed near the akuma and bully. Well both are technically bullies but no need to split hairs.

The unnamed akuma was aggressively charging KM trying to tag him which was made easier due to her skates. Right as she was about to intervene Queen Bee landed right in front of her. “Venom!” Reacting on instinct, Knightmare barely dodged the stinger.

“Good idea Queeny, you take care of that villain and I’ll take care of the akuma.” King Monkey gave his teammate a thumbs up only to dodge as the akuma came at him again. “If we’re out our power then I hope you're ready! Uproar!” Tossing his weapon into the air a toy softball fell into his hand.

“Do you think I’m going to let you hit me with that!” The still unnamed akuma smirked at her opponent leaning down. The monkey user just threw his object of power that the akuma smiled at. A black figure that looked like a playing card appeared and smacked the object to the side with a sword. “Thanks Ten.” King Monkey stared in horror as his own attack was launched back at him. Reacting on instinct the ‘hero’ slammed the attack to the side where his teammate was fighting the horse user. The villain had just managed to knock the bee user's hand to the side and followed it up with a kick. Knightmare could only stare in horror as the twice rebond attack hit her right in the chest. “Ches!”

Misterbug had arrived just in time to see his teammates in battle against both the akuma and Knightmare. The hero felt a little guilty that he had caused the akuma but it was quickly buried under his anger at Chloe for taking the watch. The boy had needed to cool down a bit after seeing Alix being akumatized but Adrien had thought he would be okay taking a few minutes to cool his head. Heck even Tikki thought it was a good idea to do so. But now he was questioning both of their decisions because he had just seen Knightmare get hit by Uproar. After being attacked by Queen Bee, during an Akuma attack. All while being filmed by Alya.

Yup they were winding up on the news later. Oh, he was sure the newscasters would tear them apart especially if Alya recorded Kim transforming. Would have to take his miraculous away for outing himself and to prevent Hawkmoth from doing anything to his family.

“What the heck!” Knightmare shouted as no doubt she felt Kaalki’s powers go crazy. White light rushed around her before with a whirlwind the girl was gone with a horrified pained scream. In her place was a scorch mark.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!” The unnamed akuma screamed with absolute fury. The amok behind her let out a scream as multiple guards with descending numbers on them. “YOU WILL PAY! SO SAYS THE BLACK QUEEN!”

“She seems mad.” King Monkey muttered as Queen Bee let out a huff.

“I just need to hit her once then she’ll be done.” The bee user reminded him only to be interrupted by a beep from her miraculous. “Ugh, I hate these time limits! Let’s get this fake queen taken care of.”

“That’s an interesting point but do you know what happens when I touch you?” Black Queen looked between the two with a savage grin. Not seeming to care, Queen Bee lunged forward but one of the guards grabbed her while being stung. “Thanks Four.”

“Bee!” “Damn it!” Both King Monkey and Misterbug moved to help but were to late as The Black Queen touched Queen Bee’s shoulder. A flash of yellow and now Chloe was held in the grasp of the playing card guard.

“Huh? What did you do!” Chloe screeched as the still venomed guard held her in his grip.

“Thanks for the miraculous.” Black Queen now had the comb within her short hair.

“Huh?” A confused yellow kwami, Pollon, looked around before freezing at seeing her miraculous being on an akuma.

“What did you do!” King Monkey asked with creeping horror.

“Nothing really, I just took what she was unworthy of.” Black Queen muttered while glaring at the two male heroes. “Don’t worry I’ll make this as painful as possible!”

“Just so you know I’m blaming you and Chloe for this.” Misterbug firmly told the other user. Was it bad that he hoped that Knightmare would come back soon?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knightmare finished her scream as she crashed into crates. With a brown flash followed a second later by a green flash Cheshire stuck her head up in anger. “Stupid monky!” The superhero glared around her glad that she had night vision. “Where are we? How are we here?”

“I’m sorry, it seems Uproar interact badly with me. Probably had to do with having too much energy.” Kaalki suggested sounding a bit apologetic.

Looking around Cheshire focused on one of the nearby boxes. “Hmm, judging by the writing we’re probably somewhere in America. Probably in some type of storage house.” Looking at the box she had destroyed Cheshire flinched a bit at seeing what was no doubt a museum exhibit destroyed. “Oh I hope that gets fixed and I don’t have to pay for it.” Taking a look around the girl noticed with relief that there were no cameras. “Here Kaalki, eat up. We need to get back to Paris.” While saying this the hero sat down on a box while passing a piece of fruit towards the kwami.

“Okay but you might want to clean yourself up before we return to battle.” Kaalki made a motion to her head. Catching on, the girl rubbed her hands through her hair to clean out whatever straw or storage material was in there. What neither noticed was a silver pendant that was within the material. But both did notice when said pendant fell around the girls neck.

“Ah, greetings new user…” The dark blue feathered kwami began to greet only to freeze under the green eyes of the legendary black cat. “... Oh no,” The kwami began to shake in fear, “oh no, this can’t be good. To be caught by the black cat! They are going to make me use my powers for evil!”

“Liiri!” Kaalki cheered as she crashed into the nervous eagle kwami.

“Well this will be interesting.” Cheshire had an interested happy smile while watching the two kwamis.

Notes:

I know I typically do Akuma's in one chapter but work has been a major pain so I might need to take a break until I can back to a decent schedule.

Chapter 39

“You know if you can’t calm him down then maybe we could just head home and drop him off in the Cube.” Cheshire stared at the still panicking Liiri.

“What is the Cube? Is it some type of torture devicious?” The eagle kwami questioned while looking more panicked.

“That might be for the best. We still need to fight the akuma.” Kaalki admitted while hugging Liiri.

“Akuma?” Liiri furrowed their brow as he tried to figure out what they were talking about.

“To make a long story short, Nooroo is being held by someone evil and is sending out corrupted butterflies.” Cheshire muttered with a huff.

“Oh no!” Liiri gasped with horror. “That is horrible!”

“Yes, it is truly horrible! I now fight along Cheshire to save the victims and hopefully to find Nooroo.” Kaalki informed the other kwami who gasped in shock. The kwami looked indecisive for a few seconds.

“I can’t let this stand! This evil butterfly user would deprive people of their freedom! I, as the kwami of freedom, can not let this stand!” Liiri glanced at Cheshire who had an amused smile on her face. The kwami flinched back while his previously built up bravado faded a bit.

“Liiri you have nothing to worry about. Cheshire here is a good girl, so if you want to fight with us then we will gladly fight alongside you.” The horse kwami lightly touched the shoulder of the eagle kwami. This seemed to comfort the new kwami a bit before both turned to Cheshire. “We are ready when you are.”

“All right.” Standing up, Cheshire started stretching before looking at Liiri. “Do you need anything to eat?” The blue kwami took a second to think before flashing a smile at her.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any fish would you?” Liiri asked with a bit of hope in their voice.

“I think we have some sushi. Now let's get going, Plagg Kaalki Unify!” Manecat now stood in front of a shocked Liiri.

“You can use Unify!”

“Yup, now let’s,” whatever the unified user was going to say was cut off the building shook. “What’s going on!” Rushing out of the room the two ran to a nearby window and saw a battle going on between a brown cloaked individuel with red goggles, a silver skinned woman with three eyes, and a man dressed internally in black military garbs with a silver skull design. The brown coat and silver skinned people were being pushed back as he unleashed sprilling red beams at them.

“Look at you pathetic heroes! Only able to dodge before the might of Red Beam!” The now identified Red Beam screamed at the two young heroes. The hero from Paris vaguely recognized them. Alya had taken time to fully educate her on all of the known heroes.

“Maybe we can leave them be? I mean they seem to be doing well.” Manecat muttered to Liiri who also looked at the girl.

“Right, we can’t leave the akuma unattended.” Seeing the unified hero shift a bit, Liiri looked at her. “Is the akuma unattended?”

“Well, the monkey and bee users were fighting the akuma when I got teleported.” Manecat admitted to the other kwami who took a thinking pose. “I have little doubt that the ladybug user will be there soon.”

“Well with three miraculous users there it should be no problem for us to take some time to help them.”

“They seem to have-”

“Uncanny!” Sparrow shouted as the other girl was hit by one of the beams. The young hero ran to the down hero. As they looked over their friend the young hero turned their back on the villain who seemed more than happy to take advantage of their distracted nature. Seeing no other choice, Maincat leapt out of the window and landed in front of the two. Ignoring them she brought out her baton and started spinning it to block the beam. As the beam hit the girl felt the beam press down but the unified hero was able to endure the attack.

“Oh a new hero? Well I hope you are ready to be defeated by Red Beam.” The villain shouted out while Maincat just rolled her eyes.

“You know I just have to ask. Did you stay up all night to think of that name?” The hero rhetorically asked nobody as she blocked another beam before tossing her horseshoe to the side. The villain stupidly ignored the horseshoe as they let out a tsk.

“You dare the vast wide imagination of Red Beam! You shall pay!” Rearing back his hand the villain prepared to launch another of his signature attacks only for the heavily armed man to be smacked by a rebounding horseshoe. “What the!”

“Lucky horseshoe!” Reaching out, the girl grabbed the horseshoe. Red beam let out a snarl only to have to block as Sparrow threw some of their weapons at the snarling villain. As the last bird themed weapon hit it exploded into a net that ensnared the evil doer.

“You obnoxious heroes will learn to fear the might of Red Beam.” Red Beam fought against the net. The man tried to build up a charge but since he apparently couldn’t move his arms the beam was weak.

“Well you are a pretty bad teacher.” Manecat told the struggling villain.

“Yeah he is always this bad.” Sparrow informed the girl. “Thanks for the help but who are you?”

“Yes do tell us your name so that I may-” Whatever else Red Beam was going to say was cut off as Uncanny shoved a devicious that caused the man to become quiet.

“Please be quiet.” The girl said in a slightly cheerful tone. Turning to face the other two the girl gave a happy smile, was happy her default emotion? “Thank you for your help but if you could inform us who you are then that would be much appreciated.”

“Well I mostly go by Cheshire, but like this I go by Manecat.” The Paris hero informed the two. “And as for the reason you never heard of me is because I mostly work out of Paris.”

“Paris? Huh, you're a bit far from home.” Sparrow noted while bringing out their communicator. “Knightowl we have Red Beam apprehended. Uncanny took some damage.” Some noise came over the communicators. “What! We will be there shortly!” More noise. “I understand.” The famed sidekick ground out before turning to the two behind her. “Looks like we will need to guard Reb Beam until the specialist gets here.”

“What happened to the capture team?” Uncanny tapped her chin in thought while Manecat noticed that their prisoner was shaking.

“Hey guys, I think our prisoner is either crying or about to laugh his butt off.” Looking back the other two heroes saw the shaking villain.

“I do not believe he is crying.” Uncanny muttered before leaning down to touch the circular devious she had put on him. Full cackles of laughter greeted them upon him being able to speak again.

“You foolish heroes! You may have defeated me but my comrades will soon overtake your little clubhouse of heroes!” Red Beam declared upon realizing he could talk again. “To think our plan would go so well. I shall enjoy the look of utter defeat upon your face-” With another press of the button the man went back to being silent.

“It’s true, the Legion gathered all the villains they could and are now attacking HQ.” Sparrow muttered while looking at a no doubt hightech phone.

“Then we must go help the others!” Uncanny stated firmly only for Sparrow to shake their head.

“No, we need to guard the prisoner until a team can come and properly contain him. Plus one of your arms is still nonfunctioning.”

Manecat was about to interrupt and inform the two that she needed to head back to Paris only to be interrupted as a TV blared to life. “Greetings citizens of New York! I am Evilnator!” A man wearing a black mirrored mask declared. “I am merely here to inform you of your emanate doom!” The dramatic man flourished his pitch black cape. “For you see we, Legion of Evil, have already defeated more than half of your precious heroes! It won’t be long now before this city is ours!”

“Oh no!” Uncanny gasped as screams were heard all around them. Manecat furrowed her brow as her mind raced. She could still leave but her parents were currently in New York so if the villains won then…

“Do either of you a pictures of the prison or a cell we could drop Beam off in?” Manecat asked the two heroes. The two looked between each other before Uncanny offered up her hand and displayed a prison. “Alright, that should do it.”

“Do what?” Sparrow began only to jump back in shock at the shout of ‘Voyage!’. The blue portal showed shocked guards who were looking between each other as other raised their guns.

“Hey, do you guys mind taking this guy? We need to go help the hero HQ or whatever it's called.” Manecat asked the guards who just looked between each other.

“Oh you have teleportation powers?” Uncanny looked intrigued before dragging Red Beam to the portal. At the sight of the silver hero most of the guards seemed to calm down and one even stepped through the portal.

“We’ll take him from here.” The guard said before gesturing to his team. “How long will the portal remain open?”

“Five minutes max but I can close it anytime I want.” Manecat informed the man who nodded.

“Close it thirty seconds after we get through. Also please inform us next time you decide to create one in the base.” Not waiting a second longer the head guard and his team put restraints on the villain before dragging him through.

“What are your restraints on creating those?” Sparrow asked the other hero who gave a sigh as a brown light announced her return to being Cheshire. “What the heck!”

“I can’t use Voyage until Kaalki here recharges.” Cheshire told the sidekick before looking out toward the city. “But that isn’t important. Now that Red Beam is in custody we have a city and citizens to save!”

Shaking their head, Sparrow looked out over the city as well. “Right questions later, hero time.” Not wasting another second the hero charged forward with the others hot on their heels.

“Liiri, give me a rundown on your powers. I don’t think I have any more food for Kaalki and I might need your help.” Cheshire got out quietly as Kaalki hid in her miraculous.

“My power is that of Liberation, I can free people of whatever is impresioning them.” Liiri explained with a smile.

After waiting a second and to land on a flat roof Cheshire glanced out of the side of her eye at him. “What is the eagle’s weapon?”

“Oh the eagle’s weapon is their talons.” Liiri informed Cheshire, making the hero blink in shock but forced herself to focus in front of her as her extra ears picked up the sound of fighting. The three stopped on the edge of a roof as they saw distant explosions along with debris flying by them. Soon a person dressed like a bee landed near them totally uncounse.

“Hopefully Paris is doing okay. I might be here awhile.” Cheshire muttered to herself but both Sparrow and Uncanny gave her looks. “Alright let’s get to work!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug gritted his teeth as he avoided another amok that attacked him. This was just getting worse. “Venom!” Black Queen shouted as multiple little stingers flew at him. Spinning his yoyo like a shield Misterbug blocked the incoming projectiles before having to dodge the attack of an amok.

“Oh I only have three minutes left!” Kim shouted as his miraculous let out another beep. The ladybug user really wanted to snap at him for wasting his power on Knightmare instead of the akuma but that would have been way too petty.

“Why haven’t you two beaten him yet!” Chloe’s yell drew Kim’s attention. The blonde haired girl was standing near the other observers. She had a pout on her face and was tapping her foot in agitation.

“Don’t worry I’ll have this solved-” Misterbug couldn’t restrain a facepalm as a stinger struck the monkey user in the chest.

“Oh Kim Kong, it is time for my present!” Black Queen gave a smirk as she rolled up to the frozen hero. Knowing what was most likely to happen Misterbug moved to intercept only to have card soldiers surround him. “Wait your turn, bug I’ll get to you soon.”

“Lucky Charm!” Part of him wanted to save his power for later but seeing how desperate the situation was the hero was left with little other choice. After the usual light show a fencing saber fell into his hand. “Perfect.” Using his yoyo as a shield the young hero deflected an attack from an amok and struck with his own saber. The struck card turned into black vapor that flowed toward the Black Queen who had just tapped his other teammate.

“Down to just one.” Black Queen muttered while turning to him now wearing a headband that almost resembled a tieara. “I must wonder how strong your bond with your kwami is to survive this long.”

“My bond?” Misterbug muttered as he prepared himself for the hardest fight he would ever have. “Seems I’m in a tight spot.”

“It’s a feeling you should get used to.” Black Queen gave a superior smirk as Xuppu flew in front of her.

“Hey question time?” Xuppu spoke from beside her while tapping his chin.

“Well I suppose I have time.” Black Queen answered with a smirk. Using the chance Misterbug began his attack hoping for the best. A small part of his mind still hoped that Cheshire/Knightmare/whatever would show up and help him save the day. Huh was it weird that he trusted his rival more than his teammates? Thoughts for a later day. Now he had to focus on the fight. After all he had no idea how long the monkey could distract the akuma.

Chapter 40

Alya watched Misterbug charge forward while still spinning his yoyo. The akuma fight had started fairly normal up until Queen Bee had arrived and attacked Knightmare. At that point she was ready to believe a few theories that people had proposed about Misterbug’s team working for/alongside Hawkmoth. Then Knightmare had been hit by Uproar and disappeared. That had sent the servers into overdrive and caused a few gasps to ring out from beside. Follow it up with Black Queen stealing the bee miraculous and showing off who was underneath that yellow and black mask.

To her somewhat shock the bratty hero was revealed to be the bratty blonde. Truly it was a shock, just not as shocking as most thought. But now they watched in true shock as Misterbug managed to defeat Black Queen along with her amok guards. Though it might have been due to having the kwamis distracting the akuma. But point still stands, Misterbug had saved the day all by himself and captured the amok and akuma.

“Took you long enough.” Chloe huffed as the cure was cast repairing what little damage was done. When the lights passed her the brat was left with no miraculous. “What is the meaning of this?”

The hero walked forward to Alix who still had both of the miraculous and was holding a thankfully repaired pocketwatch. “It’s repaired.” Alya kinda figured that was the first thing that Alix would notice but at the same time…

“Congratulations!” Xuppu gave the girl a smile right as Misterbug walked in front of her.

“Who are you!” Alix asked in shock as she stared at the two kwami who were looking at her.

“I’m going to ask for the miraculous back.” Misterbug told the girl who turned her head to look back at him. Almost unconsciously, the short girl’s hand rose to her head and felt the miraculous.

“I got a miraculous?”

“Technically you have two miraculous.” Pollen spoke up while looking very concerned.

“Yeah and you better give me back my miraculous.” Chloe told the other girl who blinked up at her. This lasted only a second before she was up and away from them.

“No way! I’m not giving you these! The only person I’d give these to is Ches…” The skater looked around trying to spot the black clad hero.

“Well the ugly cat isn’t here anymore so just hand over the comb!” Chloe once again demanded.

“You and Kim are not getting your miraculous back!” Misterbug shouted at the other blonde who just looked confused.

“What why?”

“Your identity has been exposed, you can no longer have a miraculous.” Misterbug stated before pausing as his earrings let out a beep.

“And who would you get to replace me? Let me guess Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe spat out while glaring. “I’m way better than that idiot girl could ever be! Why did you even think about giving that pathetic girl a miraculous!”

Misterbug gritted his teeth and restrained from lashing out. Of course Chloe would out Marinette, if only to prevent her from getting what belonged to the kind girl.

“Where is Cheshire!” Alix once again shouted, drawing their attention back to her.

“Well after being hit by Uproar she just vanished.” Kim shrugged as Misterbug just placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Partly to get closer to miraculous and partly so his face didn’t settle into a scowl.

“She’s gone?” Alix asked in a weak voice not noticing as Misterbug removed the monkey miraculous. Another beep had him releasing a sigh before getting up. As he did so he attempted to grab the bee only for Alix to grab it and clutch it to her chest.

“I have to go, take care.” With that Misterbug left going a fair distance before transforming back to Adrien. Catching the red kwami Adrien let out a groan as he slumped back against the tree. “This is a mess.”

“Adrien you did the right thing. You couldn’t leave the miraculous with anyone there.” Tikki spoke gently to her chosen who looked at her. “You did the right thing. We’ll just have to get Pollen back.”

“I really hope I did. Though I wonder what happened to Cheshire.” Standing up straight the secret hero put the two miraculous he reclaimed in his pocket.

Arriving on the scene Adrien watched as the girl’s, minus Chloe, were circled around Alix comforting her. “Hey Alix I’m sure that Cheshire is okay.” Rose hugged the girl right as Juleka offered the black box that Knightmare brought with her. “Why don’t you open up your present from Knightmare?”

Well now he was feeling guilty about not being able to bring the girl back. Where was she? Why didn’t the ladybugs bring her back? Honestly the only reason he wasn’t feeling guilty was that he had nothing to do with what happened with her. That and his emotions were burnt out. The model really needed to relax soon or he was going to be likely to punch the next annoyance.

Yep definitely for the best that Chloe seems to have left. Maybe she thought that Misterbug had taken her miraculous. The brat was probably going to complain to her father. Or she knew Alix had the miraculous and was waiting to swoop in and grab it from her.

“God I wish Marinette was here.” Adrien didn’t know where the thought came from but it was true. He was sure the girl would know what to do.

“I bet you do.” Alya snarked while glancing at her phone. “Who wouldn’t want their crush around.”

What! Adrien snapped his neck to look at the girl as he tried to process what she said. Did she really think he had a crush on Marinette? That was crazy, he just wanted to be friends with her.

“Can we not deal with my bro’s love life right now?” Nino snapped at Alya as he hovered near the group of girls. The DJ/aspiring movie director was no doubt trying to figure out how to get into the circle to help join in the comforting.

Adrien’s head snapped to stare at his best friend as his mind failed to process what Nino had said. There was no way. Yeah Marinette was really cute and he was still waiting for Vincent to get those test shots for him but that was because she looked really cute… Okay bad example. Though he had to wonder if it was possible to get her in more photo shoots.

The tearing of paper brought his attention back to the group where Alix was opening up the gift. She still had tears in her eyes but was trying to focus on something else. Opening up the box Alix almost burst into more tears when she saw what one of her oldest friends had gotten her.

“What, did you not like the colour?” A voice asked from above. Everyone snapped their heads to see a figure exiting a portal.

“CHES!” Alix cried as she charged forward and slammed into the hero. Said hero stumbled a bit before falling flat. Alix looked stunned at being able to so easily knock over her hero. Said hero let out a groan while weakly trying to push the shorter girl off. “Where were you!?”

“New York.” Cheshire muttered before looking around for help. The young hero was only met with a happy squeal as Rose dove into the cat pile and hugged the downed hero. “Ahh!” It only took a second for Alya to toss her phone to Nino before joining in the hugging.

“While this is very heartwarming and a great show of comradery I must insist on you stopping. The poor girl is very tired and we both need to take a break.” Kaalki spoke up while watching from above.

“Just a few more seconds.” Alya muttered while Nino took a picture. True to her words Alya soon let go and got the others off though Alix took Rose and Alya working together to get her off. Cheshire let out a groan as the hero forced her way up to her feet. “Hey you okay?”

“Just a bit tired.” Cheshire muttered before looking towards Alix. “So did you like the present or not?”

“Oh course I love it!” Alix shouted before whipping away more tears. A bit of curiosity drove Adrien to look in the box. Inside the box sat two high quality black rollerblades with green wheels. “How did you even get your hands on them?”

“Oh I saved someone who apparently ran a store with them and I was able to get them for you.” Cheshire explained before letting out a yawn. “Well I would love to stay but this cat is out of energy in need of a cat nap.” Giving a smile the hero gave no chance of being disrupted by shooting off.

“Wonder what tired her out?” Alya muttered before looking down. “Where’s my phone?” The redhead muttered in confusion only for Nino to pass it to her. “Oh thanks cappy.”

It barely took a second for Alya to find out what happened. The hero subreddit was going crazy about an attack by Evilnattor, along with the appearance of a new hero. Eyes going wide Alya went directly to the ‘new’ heroes wiki and let out a loud squee of joy. “OMG, Cheshire teamed up with the United Heroes!”

“What!” Alix shouted before sprinting over to Alya while everyone else whipped out their phones. Adrien pulled out his own phone and quickly went to the relevant webpage to see pictures and videos of the fight. The videos were shaky at parts but overall he could see most of the important bits.

“Ah this is interesting but I have to go.” Adrien commented before giving a smile. He had to meet up with Fu, he had to return the miraculous to the guardian. Then figure out how to retrieve Pollen. Speaking of...

“Yeah, it looks like your bodyguard is here.” Nino cut into his thoughts while pointing at the familiar arriving car. Letting out a sigh Adrien made his way towards the bodyguard. Looking back one last time Adrien noticed something missing. Pollen was gone, but the kwami would have had to stick around her miraculous so if she wasn’t here then where was she?

What could have happened? If Alex didn’t have the miraculous then where was it? A sinking feeling filled Adrien especially when he saw Alya and Alix talking with smiles on their faces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cheshire once more pushed her exhaustion back. A hero could never show how tired they were. Especially when they were being hunted by four, she wasn’t counting Fu, at any time. The hero was running so far on empty and after getting tackled hug by Alex along with then being piled on by the others. For some reason she had felt even more tired after that. Then again that could be due to all the unification she had to do. Honestly at this point she was just glad that somehow Misterbug had saved Alex so the cat hero didn’t have to also have to fight the akuma. Did she ever get the name of it?

“Ugh, I’m way too tired to care.” Cheshire muttered before collapsing on her balcony as a green light washed over her. Collapsing onto the ground a now exhausted Marinette laid on the ground.

“Ugh, Bread what the heck happened this time?” Plagg asked while panting. “How many times did you Unify?”

“Ah! Plagg!” Two voices yelled out causing the kwami to look over with wide eyes.

“Whoa, someone was busy today.” Plagg muttered while an exhausted Kaalki just stared in wide eyed shock.

“Too tired.” Marinette muttered to no one in particular as she moved inside. First order of business was getting all these excess miraculous off. Ignoring the voices behind her they started taking off the miraculous and putting them in different slots of the Cube. The girl let out a sigh at feeling the three miraculouses excess energy stop flowing through her. Wait three…? Looking down the girl let out a sigh at still seeing Plagg’s ring hanging on its chain. A rumbling in her stomach drew her attention to her hunger.

Walking with what felt like ten pound weights Marinette arrived at the minifridge and after a moment she was eating the food. “You need to stop Bread.” Looking up at Plagg the girl blinked as her mind tried to figure out what he meant. “This is hurting you too much Bread. Look at yourself, you're barely standing!”

“I’m not standing though.” Marinette muttered with drowsy eyes. The girl went to speak again only to be interrupted by a yawn. Looking at her window the dark haired girl mutely shuffled towards the warm spot and collapsed into the sunlight. A moment later she was asleep.

“Kit, where the heck did you find Liiri?” Trixx asked while shooting out of the Cube. He was quickly shushed by Plagg who then pointed toward the girl who was still sleeping. “Let me guess, she did something heroic?”

“From what I could tell she used Unify multiple times.” Plagg informed while watching Kaalki exit the Cube. “I’m guessing that’s how she got them.”

“Not quite.” Kaalki muttered while eating her food. “We found Liiri after an unexpected teleport due to Xuupu’s user, I don’t know how Pollen came to be on her person.”

“Best guess, someone slipped it onto her person.” Trixx let out a chuckle. “I can’t wait to see Pollon’s face.”

“So filly care to inform us about what happened.” Plagg asked while looking toward the horse kwami.

“Well…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sabine Cheng watched in tense silence as the villains did battle against the heroes right outside of the event she and her husband were catering. It was a great event that brought in a lot of money and would get their bakery’s name out even farther. After all only the best of the best got to cater for the heroes. It was the only thing that kept her and Tom in America for this long.

The woman knew that her daughter was having trouble with the schools but Nadja said that she would keep an eye on her. Plus Marinette still checked in at least once a week. Sabine knew that she needed to be a better mother but there was just so much work to be done and all the money would ensure that Marinette would live the best life she could. But now she might not even make it back to Paris.

A large hand on her shoulder drew her attention towards Tom who tried to give an encouraging smile. “I’m sure they have it handled.” The man who she loved told her with conviction.

That conviction was quick to be shattered though as a man wearing an owl themed costume/armor came crashing through the doors. “Evening citizens.” A smooth voice called out as a man in heavy black armor stepped through the door. “None of you have anything to fear so long as you kneel and submit to me.” A groan from the ground made the villain let out a sad sigh. “Now, now Knight Owl, you already had your chance.” Almost without thinking Psycol raised his hand, turned and summoned a glowing shield to stop projectiles that were coming from behind. “Ah I was wondering where you were, Sparrow.”

Landing in front of the blown open doors the famous sidekick along with the advanced robot. “Psyco, please surrender.” Uncanny asked while raising an arm. The man didn’t even respond but he did snap his fingers causing multiple objects to float up around them. Each object then shot towards the two at incredible speed forcing the two to dodge.

“Come now has anyone ever surrendered? Well besides those pathetic petty criminals.” While saying this Psyco started making the projectiles weave around in increasingly complex movements. While the villain was distracted with the two heroes Sabine saw the coordinator start moving people out of the lobby. Both her and Tom were quick to follow the group through the door. After a few turns they found themselves outside. The leader of their group tried to move everyone towards a shelter only to be intercepted by a group of thugs.

“Well, well what have we got here?” The leader asked with a snicker. “Looks like there’s no hero here to save you.”

“Give me one second and I’ll be there.” A voice called out from nearby followed by a scream of rage. Everyone looked around in confusion only for something to land in between the group. Said something was a man dressed in black with a jetpack attached to him and standing on top of the jetpack user was a young looking girl. The girl also wore black along with cat ears and a belt that twitched like a tail. “Sorry it took me a while for this cat to take care of an annoying bird.”

“Oh my god, a new hero!” One of the reporters exclaimed before bringing up his camera to start taking pictures of the hero who confidently walked towards the group of thugs. Said thugs were quick to charge towards the new hero who only rolled her eyes before whipping out the baton on her back that expanded to a good length staff. The gang members barely stood a chance as the cat themed hero was able to quickly defeat the gang members. “Whelp that’s done, anyone got any way to restrain them?”

“I’ve got two pairs of handcuffs and some zip ties.” A security guard announced while moving forward. Cheshire just waved him forward allowing the guard to do his work.

“Well I must admit that I didn’t expect this.” A condescending voice called down to them. Looking up Sabine sucked in a breath as they saw the legendary villain: Evilnator! The man who once held an entire large city hostage for over two months just because somebody didn’t tip his favorite waitress.

“Expect what?” The superhero just gave a curious tilt of her head.

“For a foolish hero to decide to make now the time of their debut.” The supreme villain informed the young girl. “Though I suppose if you wanted to swap sides I would gladly accept you into our ranks. You do have the right colour scheme.” While saying this one of the few beings strong enough to physically fight Majestia sat down in the air while looking relaxed. “Plus I do need to replace whoever decided to hire goons.”

“Why does everyone say that I’d make a good villain?” Cheshire lamented while giving a motion to the others near her. The civilians had begun to flitter away as the hero whispered something before focusing back on the villain who just tilted their head in confusion. “I don’t suppose you are just willing to surrender?”

“No, I would rather figure out just what sort of power you have. Majestie apparently doesn’t want to come play with me so I’m left rather bored.”

“Well then I hope you don’t if I try out something new.” The black cat questioned to which Evilnator just shrugged. “Plagg, Liiri, Unify!” A wave of brown power swept over the hero changing their costume.

“Oh so that is your power!” Evilnator explained while snapping his fingers. Cheshire quickly launched at him and lashed out with a swift kick. As she kicked, a brown energy surrounded her foot that resembled a talon formed around her foot. “You have the power of Final Fantasy X-2!” The kick met an invisible barrier that only rippled with unknown energy.

“Wait, are you talking about the dresspheres?” Cheshire questioned with a raised eyebrow. Twisting and pushing off the barrier Cheshire jumped back and shot her baton at him. The expanding staff met the barrier and started pushing back the villain very slowly.

“Oh so you played?” Evilnator questioned before sliding out of the way letting the baton slide out of the way. “Was it the HD remake or original?” Pointing at the young hero with a finger gun he started shooting off glowing energy bullets at her. Cheshire let out a yelp as she dropped the shortened staff and dodged out of the way of the shots. “You know it is quite rude to ignore somebody.” The girl’s eyes widened when she realized that she was being led toward a wall.

“I'm a bit busy!” Griffin, yeah that sounds right, shot back before deciding to put the talons to a real test. Pushing off the ground the girl felt the energy flow to her boots. When she touched the wall the hero could tell that it would only hold for a few seconds but that should be more than enough. “Chain jumping time.”

“What was that?” Evilnator inquired not sounding too concerned. Griffin jumped from wall to wall all the while avoiding the energy bullets. Arriving at the top of the building the girl kicked off and spun in the air to lash out with another kick at the floating jerk. Once again the barrier appeared though Griffin noticed with a grin that it buckled a little under her attack. “Oh that is some impressive leg strength.” Evilnator praised before raising his hand again. “I’m sure that in time you would be a truly great hero.” While saying this the man started firing. The girl let out an annoyed huff as she pushed off the barrier with force and let instincts take over. As she fell the miraculous user twisted in the air and was able to maneuver out of the way of one shot and lash out with a kick toward the second.

“Ahh!” The explosion when her foot caught the ball of glowing energy only slightly shocked her. Using the blowback the girl landed on her feet. “Okay looks like I can’t beat you with brute force.”

“Not many can.”

“So I’ll have to try something else.” Griffin admitted while her mind tried to figure out just what she could do. Cataclysm was out due to possibly needing it for the akuma she still needed to get to so that left Libration. But how to use it? Her ancestors' journal had only mentioned the other kwamis in passing so what little she knew of the power came from Liiri and what she felt from it. Plus it would only last five minutes, so whatever she did would need to be good. Almost on its own a thought crossed her mind. Would it work? If it did it would be rather interesting to see outside of a game.

Taking a breath the girl snapped her head up and locked eyes with the villain. “Evilnator I Liberate you of your distorted desires!” The girl could almost see the man wrapped up in chains suddenly free himself. The man maintained eye contact for a few more seconds before suddenly he dropped from the sky with a thud.

“What? What did you do to me?” The usually proud man muttered without his usual enthusiasm. She went to answer only for the man to disappear in a flash of light.

Griffin blinked in shock a few times before shrugging. Not her problem, her problem was in Paris. Speaking of which, she really hoped that Kaalki had found something to eat. The hero had things to do; she would just check on Sparrow and Uncanny first. She still needed to wait for her horse friend/ride home.

Chapter 41

“Hey are you two alright?” A voice asked as Pollen blinked in confusion. Her head hurt, it was like a constant pounding. A groan from nearby caused the yellow kwami to open her eyes and see that they were in a tight small space. She had a bar lowered onto her chest.

“Huh, Pollen is that you?” A voice from nearby caused the bee to look over and see somebody she never thought she would see again.

“Liiri?” The eagle kwami also sat in a seat with a bar lowered over them.

“Pollen, what is going on?”

“Oh you two are okay!” A cheerful voice announced as Mullo came through a hatch on top of the pod. “Thank goodness you survived. After your ship was shot down I didn’t think anyone would survive.” The mouse kwami wore a black skin tight suite.

“What’s going on?” Pollen asked while trying to faze through the bar only to find herself stuck. The bee was freaked out until Mullo lifted the bar.

“Your guy's ship was shot down by an alien weapon. Don’t worry though you're in relatively safe water.” The mouse reassured while helping Liiri. “Come on I’ll take you to Kaalki’s and mines base.” As the mouse left the two kwami’s exchanged a look.

“What is going on? The last thing I remember was after Splitting from Cheshire I went to rest in my miraculous.” Liiri admitted while Pollen blinked in surprise. How did Cheshire get a hold of a kwami from an internally different box?

“What are you two doing? We can talk things out in the base.” Mullo told them. Deciding to at least see what was happening, Pollen flew out the hatch and had to suck in a breath. Water, water surrounded them on all sides. In the distance she could see some type of destroyed ship. “Our main base is over by those clouds. Do you want to fly or join me in the sea moth? It might be a bit cramped but it is quick and fun!”

“Sea moth?” Pollen asked with a furrowed brow as Mullo flew over to a crescent ship with a bubble in the middle. “Well I am feeling a bit tired.” Liiri agreed as Mullo showed a bright grin.

“Perfect, we have food at the base!” Tapping on the bubble a hatch popped open and Mullo flew in followed by the other two kwamis. “Alright let's go!” Liiri was about to ask a question before the sea moth whirled to life. The other two kwamis watched as the machine flew into the water and soared through the water. Water that was filled with creatures that the two kwamis had never seen in their entire life. “I know that it is a bit disjointing but I hope you two get used to planet 4546B.” For some reason Pollen thought she wouldn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette felt like her head was killing her. Why did she think Unifying so many times in a row was a good idea. A flash of memories assaulted her, memories of people being in danger. “Right there were people who needed help.”

“Yeah people like you.” Plagg snapped at her. Turning her head the girl saw Plagg glaring at her. “Look at you Bread, pushing yourself so hard. When was the last time you did something for yourself?”

“Um… I drew a little yesterday?” The girl muttered a little uncertainty.

“Well how about drawing or playing some games today.” Trixx cut in while giving a wide smile. “Maybe you’ll get some ideas for new designs.”

The young girl thought about it for a bit before letting out a hum of agreement. Yeah she should take today off. As she started getting up though the secret superhero heard her phone going off. Going over to her purse she felt confusion at who would be calling her. “Hello?”

“Marinette, do you think you could come over soon? Misterbug and I need to talk to you.” Fu questioned over the phone. Whelp there goes her plans for relaxing.

“I’ll be over soon.” Marinette muttered before hanging up.

“NO, call him back and tell him to shove it!” Plagg screamed at her while Marinette just shook her head.

“I can’t, if I keep ‘helping’ them then they won’t ever think that I’m Cheshire.” Marinette reasoned to the kwami while walking over to the Cube.

“You should probably take me with you. Liiri, Kaalki, and Pollen are exhausted. Mullo is helping the two new ones settle in.” Trixx stated and the guardian of the new order nodded while grabbing the necklace. The necklace slipped on Marinette let her mind wander. Something about what Trixx said sounds wrong.

“But do you really need to keep helping them? Haven’t you done enough?” Plagg whined. Marinette dropped one chain of thoughts for another. Hadn’t she done enough. Letting that thought distract her she walked toward the old guardian’s shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fu knew they were in a bad spot. Both the bee and monkey had been revilied and had their miraculous taken. The only comfort he had was when Adrien had informed him that he had Xuppu’s miraculous. They both didn’t know what Alix hadn’t done with the comb, just that she said she had gotten rid of it. With that train of thought it was likely she had given it to either a friend or had somehow gotten it to the cursed cat. So when the chosen of Tikki had started heading over Fu had also contacted Marinette.

The still unchosen girl was their only hope at this point. The journal alone had sped up the training of Adrien and had refreshed enough of his memories to allow him to speed up his translation of the spellbook. This meant he was getting closer to successfully creating a power up potion. Plus it was rather obvious that the young Agreste was rather taken by Marinette.

The knock on the door drew his attention and after a second Adrien walked in. Fu handed over the cloak while informing the boy to expect Marinette soon. “Oh do you think she’ll bring some treats?” Tikki asked with a bright smile causing both humans to let out a chuckle.

“I hope so too!” Wayzz agreed while Adrien just rolled his eyes.

“If she does I’m going to request that you two leave some for me.” Reaching into his pocket Adrien pulled out the other miraculous.

“Thank you young Agreste.” Fu let out a sigh as he took the Miraculous from the boy. “To think that this would turn out so badly.” Walking over Fu took the time to put the miraculous inside the box. Before he could say something else a quiet knock on the door was heard. “Come in.”

The door slowly opened and Marinette walked in. Fu had to hold in his shock at how bad the girl looked. What had happened to her. As if to answer the question, Marinette spoke.

“Kim was King Monkey, you gave two of my bullies a miraculous.” She said this in a hollow voice. “Did you even attempt to retrieve Pollen?”

Fu sucked in a breath at that and a glance at Adrien showed that the boy wasn’t fairing much better. “Listen Marinette we never intended for Chloe to-”

“I wasn’t talking about Chloe. I partly accept that it was my fault Chloe got her hands on Pollen and I intended to make it up to her when I can.” The baker delivered this with a flat voice but it still sent a spike of fear down the two present males. “But the fact still stands that you still choose Max and Kim!”

“You were also chosen!” Adrien attempted to defend only for the girl to turn her tear filled eyes to him.

“I had the miraculous for all of ten minutes! Then your teammate trips me and lets some spoiled brat steal the bee miraculous after dumping freezing cold water on me!” The blonde flinched at Marinette’s words that were starting to grow heated. “So I just want to know why you decided to give them miraculous. What made them worthy of being heroes when they refused to act like heroes out of costume!” Fu was quite under the question along with the heated gaze of Marinette and the inquisitive look of Adrien. “I could look past Max having a miraculous. Everyone makes mistakes, heck I could even forgive you given that you at least seemed nice. But this, giving a miraculous to someone who shoved me in a locker and leaving Pollen with Chloe for so long! Please don’t contact me again unless you get Pollen back so I can apologize to her.” With that she threw a bag towards them and left.

The group sat in silence for a while before Adrien started walking towards the door. “Adrien, where are you going!” Tikki shouted while flying in front of her chosen.

“I need to talk to her!” The young model tried to move past the small kwami only for them to be joined by Wayzz. “I need to…”

“Adrien, just let her go. At the moment anything you say will only make it worse.” Fu muttered in a quiet voice while looking through the bag Marinette had left. Inside was an assortment of treats but set off to the side was a sealed container holding multicoloured miraculous with three of each colour. On top of the container was written: Only For Emergency along with a drawn smiley face. “What are these?”

Adrien and the two kwamis watched as he opened up the container to better watch them. “Hey, that smells familiar!” Wayzz commented while he and Tikki flew clouser. Tikki took the light blue macaroon and bit into the treat. A shiver went up and down the kwami’s spine. The little kwami was quick to eat it and then with a spin and flash of light the kwami of creation had changed.

“Stalac Tikki!” The kwami announced with what appeared to be icicles attached to her tail. “Whoa! It has been so long since I last had a power-up!”

“Wait, are these!” Fu shouted out in shock while reevaluating the macaroons.

“What happened to Tikki!” Adrien cried out in shock while looking over the red kwami. “Is this permanent!”

“No, it should wear off in either ten minutes or after one transformation.” Wayzz informed the young chosen.

“Alright?” The young boy watched as the small red kwami giggled as she blew a small amount of snow onto the table. “But I thought the power-ups were potions?”

“Yes it seems that the journal Marinette provided was right that the potion could be transferred into other things.” Fu muttered as he picked up a purple macaroon. “It also means that she knows how to create potions.” A small part of Fu was cursing both Kim and Max for burning his bridge with Marinette. Hopefully in a few days after the black haired girl calmed down they could reestablish relationships with her. But right now he had to teach Adrien more about the miraculous along with teaching him some chinese.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe sat in contemplative silence as her mind rolled around with plans. She had played around online making sure to keep her popularity up. The young blonde had initially thought about targeting Alix to get back at her for keeping her miraculous. There was little doubt that if Misterbug got her miraculous back then he would sneak it to her. The scene before had to be an act. There was no way the boy would be dumb enough to piss of her! The mayor’s daughter!

Honestly, being exposed had actually worked out for her. She was able to easily play the victim and gain sympathy. Now though it was time to deal with the other fallout of today. Alya telling the most outlandish lie. Did the girl even think about what she was saying? Someone as perfect and rich as her dear Adrikins having a crush on Dupain-Cheng! That was ridiculous utterly ridiculous!

Ugh, the fact that she had seen a few others nod along with Alya only made her more irritated. “Sabrina!” The girl snapped to attention where she was working on Chloe’s homework. “I need you to investigate these nonsense claims about Adrikins having a crush on, ugh, Dupain-Cheng.”

“Alright, um I also have the file on the new girl that is coming.” Sabrina informed while passing Chloe a folder. The blonde took the folder with a roll of her eyes. Honestly the amount of work she put in to keeping her kingdom perfectly balanced but at least she will have something interesting to report to her mom.

Flipping through the folder Chloe felt her eye hitch up in interest. Either she was looking at the most interesting person alive or… “Sabrina, are you sure this is correct?”

“Yes I got it right from the principal himself.”

“I see.” Chloe brought out her phone and called up her newest friend. “Hello Alya I heard from some kitchen staff that your mother is trying to earn a raise.”

“What do you want?” Ah it was always nice to have someone go right for what was needed. Kim was loyal but the boy could take forever to cut to the heart of the issue.

“We have a new classmate coming in a few days. I want you to do some double checking on them. I’ll send you their file.” Moving her phone Chloe was about to tell Sabrina to transfer the file only to see the girl gone. Oh right she was digging into that tall tale. “Oh right Alya, one other thing.” Standing up she walked over to a scanner. “I would appreciate it if you stopped spreading false rumors.”

“False rumors?” The ‘reporter’ sounded confused and perplexed.

“Don’t play dumb, I meant that slander you told the others today about Adrien!” The words came out in a hiss. “I’ll let it slide this time. But I expect a glowing review of Queen Bee’s heroics on one of your blogs in repayment.” A thought flittered across the girl’s thoughts. “Oh and don’t even think about putting on that Wonderblog of yours!”

“Trust me I would never even consider it.” Seeing that everything was in order the Student Council President hung up her phone. Things were in order and no doubt Misterbug would come by soon to give her another miraculous. But for now she just needed to find out how much this Lila girl was lying about.

Notes:

Sorry about the short chapter I'm in the process of moving so I don't have a lot of time to type.

Chapter 42

“No, no,nonono!” Marinette panicked slightly as she paced back and forth. “Stupid, I’m so stupid!”

“Bread your not stupid!” Plagg shouted at her with a glare.

“You had a plan and carried it out! Yes you made a mistake but it is hardly the end of the world!” Trixx tried to console only for Marinette to flop on the floor.

“But what do I do now? They know I know how to make potions and Hawkmoth is using Mayura again! I can’t withstand attacks from so many sides.”

“You're not alone, Bread!” Plagg tried to reassure the girl. Marinette looked at Plagg before pulling him into a hug. The girl’s mind rolled as she thought about what Plagg had said.

“Hey Trixx can you get Kaalki ready to go for a patrol. I want to try something tonight.” The two kwamis looked at each other in confusion. Still the fox was quick to follow her instructions. Flying into the Cube the fox quickly located Kaalki and the others who had just finished making another Cyclopes.

“I hope you guys didn’t mess up the other Cyclopes.” Trixx growled at the gathered kwamis.

“Oh stop being so dramatic Trixx, your baby is fine.” Kaalki reassured with a smile.

“Trixx, where did you come from?” Pollon asked shocked as Trixx turned to take her and Liiri in.

“What have Mullo and Kaalki not shown you how to leave the Cube yet?” Trixx asked with a smirk. “Come on Kaalki we’re going for patrol.”

“Wait? Leave?” Trixx didn’t stick around for the coming questions. He had to figure out what the Kit was planning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alya let out a huff of annoyed air. She had just finished checking this ‘Lila Rossi’ out. The girl didn’t know why Chloe wanted all this info but it would get her mom something nice. Plus she could warn this girl to beware of Chloe.

“Well it sounds like you aren’t having much fun.” A voice from her window joked. Turning Alya felt a smile split her face as she saw Cheshire hanging out on her window sill. “So how would you like to hang out with me doing something fun?”

“What are we going to do?” Alya questioned while bouncing in place.

“What I’m talking about is-”

“MINE!” An orange blur shot out and grabbed the cheek of the girl. Looking down to see the familiar fox Alya missed the flinch from Cheshire. “You said we could pick which of the two we wanted and I want to hang out with her.” Trixx explained, hoping not to come off rude.

“Trixx we agreed to talk things over.” Kaalki huffed out.

“Well I think it’s pretty clear who she wants to hang out with. Right Alya?” Trixx backed up a little while fluttering her eyes at the reporter.

“Wait what’s going on?” Alya questioned looking between the two kwami.

“Oh, well, we were going to test out how good you were with a miraculous.” Cheshire admitted to Alya’s shock. “I told these two that they had to decide who they wanted to hold onto their miraculous. Apparently the old guardian didn’t ask for the input of the kwamis when choosing their holders so they are taking this pretty seriously.”

“And you are going to be my holder, right?” Trixx once again flew to rub up against the girl while smiling.

“Ah, sure?” Alya responded more than a little dumbfounded. Trixx let out a laugh before looking back at Cheshire who was talking in hushed whispers to Kaalki. Once they were done the two nodded to each other before walking over to the other girl.

“Alright Trixx Kaalki said you can stay with Alya.” Trixx let out a cheer while Cheshire just stayed quiet. “Alya this is the miraculous of the fox. You shall protect it and Trixx while they are in your care.” Cheshire declared while holding out a necklace to the girl. Taking the necklace Alya looked over to the smiling Trixx while putting on the necklace that changed into silver. “Alright I’m going to get the other girl. You and Trixx take the next forty minutes to get to know each other. After that Trixx will tell you where to meet me for patrol.”

Watching the hero of Paris leave Alya turned to Trixx who looked like he was bouncing in place. “So, what do you eat?”

“Oh a little bit of everything. Though I do prefer meat.” Trixx announced while relaxing. “Though I suppose we should get down to business. You might want to sit down so we can discuss what is going to happen on your first patrol.” Alya listened intently to Trixx’s explanation about his powers and where to meet up with both Cheshire and Kaalki’s new user.

“Do I know them?”

“You could, Cheshire did say that it was up to you if you wanted to revival your identity to each other.” With a hum of thought Alya spun in her chair to look at her computer. She still had about twenty minutes left before having to head out. Well twenty minutes till she had to meet Cheshire and her teammate.

“Hey Trixx if I don’t use that illusion thing how long could I remain transformed?” Alya questioned the kwami who let out a hum.

“About three hours give or take.” Trixx smiled at her while Alya returned it with one of her own.

“Alright then Trixx Let’s Pounce!” A wave of energy rushed around/through the reporter. Rushing over to the mirror Alya… “Rena Rouge, yeah that sounds good.” The now named Rena Rouge looked over herself in the mirror with a smile. “You’re a superhero now!” One of her biggest dreams was fulfilled and no tragic backstories were required. Well there was still the Marinette thing but she was already working on that.

About to head out a thought occurred to the red head. Grabbing her phone the new fox hero texted her family that she was going out for a walk. Now secure in her family not coming to check in on her Rena exited via her window. Letting out a cheer the fox jumped from roof to roof feeling more free than she believed possible.

“You look like you're having fun.” Rena jumped and turned around to see a grinning Cheshire with a girl dressed in brown and black with black glasses.

“Ches you might be used to the whole super human thing but foxy and I are just getting used to it.” The no doubt horse user argued with a wide smile. “So I take it you’re my new teammate?”

“Yup names Rena Rouge.” Sticking out a hand Rena felt the shorter girl grasp her hand firmly.

“Names War Horse, so we gonna reveal to each other?” Cheshire seemed interested in the response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug held in his breath as he watched the new orange fox girl and brown/black horse girl talk to each other while Cheshire stood nearby. They seemed to have reached some type of conclusion and that was when the black cat said something. The two then nodded to each other while Cheshire went in another direction.

“This is bad, this is very very bad.” The ladybug user muttered to himself. He really wished he could have gotten closer to hear and see them better. He had to inform Master Fu about what was happening. Their worst nightmare had come true, Cheshire had started handing out her own miraculous and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. They had no other active users beside him and Misterbug had no idea where to find other possible users.

Deciding to head over tomorrow the superhero went home to talk to Tikki about what was going on. As he traveled through more and more questions built up along with anxiety. Stopping he tried to get himself in order only for it to feel like the world was closing in.

He was alone, alone against multiple miraculous users. He couldn’t think of anyone who would work with Misterbug after Chloe being Queen Bee was outed. Chloe’s reputation was bad enough as it was but the guardian team’s reputation was already in the trash. What could he do? What could either of them possibly do?

“Hey, hey, breathe alright. In and out, in and out.” A kind and familiar voice instructed him.

Opening his eyes Adrien saw that he was back in his bedroom. Right in front of him was Tikki who was making motions of breathing. Taking her advice the young model started taking deep breaths. “I know things are looking very bad right now Adrien but things are going to get better.”

“How? Cheshire started handing out miraculous! We don’t have anyone we can trust enough to give a miraculous to!”

“We do though! We just need to wait for her to calm down enough to give her one.” Adrien’s mind ground to a halt as he came to the realization of who the red kwami was talking about. She was right, they still had Marinette. An idea came to him and Adrien felt a smile bloom on his face.

“Hey Tikki, do you think we could head out again in ten minutes or so?” Tikki, seeming to know what he was talking about, gave her chosen a smile before flying over to start eating. He was definitely getting her cookies from the bakery. Using the time Adrien went over to his computer and pulled up the Wonderblog to see if anyone else had reported seeing the other users.

So far there were two pictures on the site, but they weren’t of the best quality. So once again Adrien hadn’t been able to get a good look at them. Though it did confirm one thing for Adrien. “The fox is orange.”

“I wish I knew what to say Adrien but I have no answer. Perhaps the person Cheshire chose is nicer to Trixx than the cat is?” Tikki offered an explanation.

“If they aren’t as bad as Cheshire do you think we could recruit them?” The little red kwami stayed quite not knowing if it was possible or not. After another minute the kwami was ready to go again. So with little preamble Misterbug was out and heading towards a familiar location. Well not too familiar but he had stopped by a few times to see if they were open. But now he was stopping to check on a girl. But how to do this?

As if to answer the question he saw Marinette out on the balcony seeming to stare into nothing. Well if she was going to stand on top of a tower… “What seems to be bothering the princess?”

Marinette jumped a little and quickly turned to face him. Her eyes were watering a little before she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and looked back at him. “What can I do for you Misterbug.” Her voice came out flat and dull.

Misterbug felt the words sting a little. He had come here to make himself feel better, totally forgetting about what had happened earlier today. God this had been a long day! But he still needed to talk to her. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” Marinette raised an eyebrow. Looking at her he was momentarily stunned by how she looked against the moonlight. “Well?”

“Um, well how are you doing?” Misterbug weakly asked while looking around. The balcony was nice and had a folding chair right against the house.

“Do you really care or are you just here to figure out how to make the potions!” Marinette snapped at him.

“What, no! Why would you even think that!” Adrien felt a little slighted at that remark.

“Because the only time people interact with me is when they want something!” Marinette shouted before seeming to realize how loud she was. The pigtailed girl deflated a bit and collapsed against the wall. “Sorry, I’m sure you have good reasons for wanting the potions. I’m just having a crappy day.”

“I know what that's like.” Letting out his own sigh the boy collapsed into the pink chair. “I’m down two teammates. I mean yeah they were crappy teammates but it was nice having someone watching your back.”

“Wish I knew what that was like.” The response was dry but Misterbug was on a roll.

“Not to mention as a civilian everybody is expecting so much from me. I can count the amount of true friends I have on one hand.” It was kinda sad that he used to have more but after finding out how awful Chloe was he was having to re-evaluate who he considered friends. Thankfully Nino, Alya, Master Fu, and Tikki were good friends.

“Yeah, true friends are hard to come across.” Marinette seemed to zone out for a second before letting out another sigh. “That’s why I always wanted to be friends with a kwami. My ancestor’s journal always made them sound so nice.”

“They really are.” Misterbug agreed though part of him was concerned about how she was talking in the past tense.

“So Wayzz and Master Fu weren’t using me for access to the journal?” The question felt like a sucker punch. The worst part was that he couldn’t defend the old man. Well maybe…

“He did offer to help you with those bruises.” He offered up weakly.

“Wonder what he was trying to get out of that. The rest of the journal?” The girl looked on the verge of tears. “I just wanted friends damn it! Is that so wrong! To be a regular person with friends!” Another punch too close to home.

“No, there is nothing wrong with that.” Misterbug whispered while feeling as if an anchor was dropped on him. “I know that feeling way too well.” Marinette was looking at him now and Misterbug just wanted to vent. So he did. “My parents are way too overprotective, well parent now.” God that still hurts but it broke the damn. He went on about the uncaring tutors who just wanted a paycheck. How nothing he did was good enough for his parents. Not being allowed to even go to the playground to see the other children.

So into it the boy didn’t even notice when a comforting hand was placed on his shoulder. “That sounds… awful.” Marinette said after seeming to search for the right word. “Though it sounds like things are getting better.”

A moment of reminiscing had him smiling. “Yeah I have good friends now.” A look around showed how dark it had gotten. He should probably head home so his father doesn’t notice him missing. “Thanks for letting me vent.” Giving the girl a smile the superhero stood up.

“...You're welcome.” Marinette muttered while getting up. “I’m going to bed.” With that she opened up the skylight and left leaving a confused hero. What was wrong? Had he done something wrong? Deciding to talk to Tikki tomorrow, Misterbug swung out across the city.

Chapter 43

Adrien checked over himself in the mirror before giving himself a nod. He looked good, good enough to talk to Marinette and show her what he had managed to get. Walking down the hall Adrien stopped by his fathers room when he saw that the door was ajar. Normally Adrien would have stopped to check in on his father but not today, today he was busy. He was also glad that his breakfast was light so he could get out quickly.

The gorilla watched his ward in slight amusement and fondly rolled his eyes as they left for school. Arriving, Adrien saw his schoolmates talking to each other about something. Keeping an open ear as he passed, Adrien mostly heard talk about the two new ‘heroes’ but also talked about a new transfer student. This caused a few memories to bounce around his head. There had been a few rumors about the new girl, Lila or something, but Adrien had brushed them off.

The model and heir to a fashion empire had heard lots of rumors so he had always reserved his judgement till he had met the person. Walking into the classroom the blonde was a bit disappointed to find Marinette hadn’t arrived yet so he took his seat next to Nino.

“Whatcha you got there?” The cap wearing boy questioned with a raised eyebrow. Following where he was looking Adrien saw that he had placed the vanilla folder on top of the desk.

“Oh this isn’t anything important.” Adrien tried to brush it off while rubbing the back of his head.

“Then you won’t mind showing it to us.” Alya commented from right behind him. Thinking over it Adrien darted his eyes to the empty seat next to Alya. Seeing that Chloe wasn’t here yet the boy fished out a few pictures from the folder. “Oh I remember when this happened.” Alya had a soft smile on her face as she went through the pictures.

“Dude, when did you do a photoshoot with Marinette?” Nino questioned while going through his pictures.

“It was the same day as Stormy Weather.” Adrien gave a smile as he remembered the photo shoot.

“What are we looking at?” A voice Adrien didn’t know asked. Turning, Adrien saw a brown haired girl with green eyes. Looking over at Nino the girl saw the pictures before the cap wearing boy could pass them over. “Oh, those are some nice looking pictures. It reminds me of that time I did a photoshoot for a charity I took part in.” Adrien looked at Nino who looked intrigued. “I have actually been looking to get back to modeling.”

Letting out a sigh at that Adrien fell back on the lines he was coached to say when somebody tried to use him as an in. “Well you will have to apply online. People are always looking for new talent.” Holding out his hand Alya quickly passed the photos back to him.

It looked like Lila was about to say something only to be cut off by a shrill voice. “Adrikins! How was your weekend? Mine was just awful!” Chloe walked in with a pout. The girl was shockingly holding her own coffee cup while Sabrina followed close behind. “Was your phone put on lock or something? You didn’t respond to any of my texts.”

Letting out a sigh to cover for the flinch Adrien took the photos back from Nino. He had to make sure Chloe didn’t see these, kwami knew what his friend would do. Although at this point Adrien wasn’t sure they could be friends. “Sorry Chloe, I was busy.” Not technically a lie he was busy with photoshoots and trying to get the photos he now had. Chloe looked at the vanilla folder with a bit of interest and made a move to grab it. Adrien was quick to get it out of the way of her reach but Sabrina grabbed it and attempted to pull it out of his hand. With a firm pull Adrien shot the blonde and redhead a look.

“Really Adrikins? Why don’t you just show me what is in the folder.” Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Oh it’s just photos from his photoshoot.” The brown haired girl informed before gasping. “Oh where are my manners? My name is Lila Rossi, it’s so nice to meet all of you!”

“Wait, Lila Rossi? The one who spent time in Achu?” Nino questioned, looking intrigued.

Tuning out the conversation Adrien went back to looking for Marinette. He really wanted to talk to her and the photos were the perfect ice breaker. Looking in the corner Adrien sucked in a breath as he saw that the black haired girl was already in her seat. With Chloe already here it would be all but impossible for the model to approach her.

“Oh it looks like class is starting. I’ll definitely keep you in mind next time I’m in Hollywood.” Lila commented to Nino while walking to the open seat next to Sabrina. “Oops,” while walking up Lila tripped on the steps causing a necklace to fall out of hiding. A very familiar necklace.

Adrien narrowed his eyes in thought as Lila made her way up the steps. There was no way… miraculous were supposed to look different when not in use.

~~~~~

Alix had to restrain her eye roll. Who did that girl think she was? Pretending to have a miraculous? What the heck is wrong with some people? Casting a look over to Alya she met her teammates eyes and gave a slightly raised eyebrow to which the reporter just shrugged. Well this would be a funny story to Cheshire. Though speaking of miraculous, Alix rubbed at the goggles that now hung from her neck with a smile.

Two days ago had been a big surprise to say the least.

When Cheshire had shown up to her room Alix had been excited to hang out with her best friend. Then Cheshire had done something that shocked the skater, her hero had offered her a miraculous. After accepting to work alongside Kaalki the girl had spent time with the cat and horse learning how to use a miraculous. After learning the important bits Alix had then been allowed to go off with Cheshire to meet her teammate.

The first transformation had been a rush. Then the patrol had been a lot of fun. Being able to freely run and jump at such insane speeds. For once in her life Alix, well War Horse was able to beat her hero in a race. It was actually during the race that they came across Rena Rouge. The two had agreed to share their secret identities so after the revival the senior hero had left them with some extra food for the kwamis.

For the next hour War Horse and Rena had gone around and done their first ‘patrol’. It was more them having fun and messing with their abilities. God it was so fun to be able to move that quick.

After heading home the short girl had spent a while helping Kaalki get accustomed to her house/room. The human and kwami had taken the next day to get to know each other better and to work on their Bond. Alix had even gotten her backpack rearranged to make a nice den for the horse. Speaking of the kwami, Alix looked at her backpack to see the kwami taking a nap.

Hearing the door opening again Alix turned her attention to the front where the teacher began today’s lesson. The day went by with little interest beside Kim and Max giving the girl suspicious looks along with a few other classmates. During lunch the two secret heroes made an excuse to head over to a more secluded corner to talk. “You think we should do something about that new girl?” Alya questioned while munching on her sandwich.

“Maybe, Kim was pretty aggressive about the miraculous thing.” Alix added while tapping her chin.

“It would probably be for the best if we just watch and see how things play out. All you two saw was a fake miraculous. It could just be fan merchandise.” Trixx pointed out to the two. “No reason to go out of our way for nothing.”

“Yes I do agree we Trixx. The last time we were out there were quite a few replicas made based on various miraculous. It would not surprise me if they were to survive or be passed down.” Kaalki added on, causing the two humans to nod.

“Fair, fair.” Alya mumbled while her mind started going in other directions now that the main reason for their talk was covered. “Oh, just a heads up Alix. Lila is a massive compulsive liar.”

“Huh, I knew something was up with all the stories she was telling.” With a nod the two started to fall into comfortable silence only for Alya to jump a little as her phone went off. Looking down the reporter rolled her eyes before starting to text back while mumbling. “Something up?”

 

“Nothing really, sunshine is just trying to find out where Marinette is so he can give her the pictures he brought with him.” Alya responded before sending the message.

“Nice to hear him having to work for something.” Trixx cut in while bringing a DS out of the redheaded’s bag.

“Oh did you get him that?” Alix questioned while watching the orange kwami start to play.

“Nope,” Alya stated while popping her phone back in her bag, “it was in the bag Cheshire gave to me. I had to hide it along with the games from the munchkins.”

“Ah,” Alix nodded while pointing to Kaalki, “her bag came with a few books. Makes sense that Ches would also hand over some entertainment for them.” From there the conversation fell into comfortable silence once more. “So when do you think the next akuma attack will be?”

“Honestly no idea though it will be nice to show off mine and Trixx’s work.” Alya smirked at the fox who smirked back. “Me and the little guy did some research into various fox species and found some nice ones that I think will look great.” Alix gave a nod before the two focused on finishing their lunches.

~~~~~~~

Marinette really wished she could have just ten minutes to finish her lunch. Plagg wasn’t in a good mood and was content to mutter darkly in a corner of her bag. Meanwhile Pollen, who Marinette brought with her to get to know better, refused to be anywhere near the black cat kwami while he was in such a falow mood. So Marinette had made her a nice spot in her backpack to relax. This also meant that when it was lunch time she could sort out what kinda stuff Pollen liked so she could get more stuff to keep the kwami entertained.

But then lunch came around and the girl found herself hiding in the Library trying to avoid her classmates. The girl had noticed both Adrien, Chloe, and the new girl casting looks her way throughout the class period so it was quite easy to tell what was going on. They were planning to help the new girl, Lela or something, with her first bullying attempt against her. Well Marinette wasn’t going to make it easy for them.

Thus why she was in the Library. Despite the staff of the school willing to turn a blind eye, Marinette knew from experience that the Library was controlled by a staff member who didn’t care WHO broke the rules, they would see justice done and carried out. Still no need to be stupid.

Finding a nice corner to sit in, Marinette relaxed in the seat and prepared to bring out her lunch only to stop as she heard footsteps nearby. Damn guess her and Pollen weren’t going to be able to spend time together. Why hadn’t she gone home? Right, change of scenery.

“Marinette!” Wanting to drop her head on the desk. The model Adrien came around the corner with a smile. Part of her wanted to run away and avoid whatever he was planning but another was morbidly curious what the boy was planning. “There you are, I have something for you.” Well too late now, she was cornered and the new girl was slinking nearby. Oh, Max and Kim were here too, hooray. “Here I got something for you.” At this Adrien pulled out an envelope and handed it to her.

While taking it, the new girl seemed to freeze up and started making her way towards them. Not saying anything Marinette let out a sigh before opening the envelope and raising an eyebrow. This was their plan? What was the point of it? Well better ask.

“Let me guess, you got me nothing because that’s what I’m worth?” Marinette made sure to say this as flat as possible. The new girl seemed to have met up with Chloe and the two exchanged quick words before making their way towards them.

“What!” Rolling her eyes at the boy’s dramatic reaction. Though she couldn’t hide the wince when he ripped the vanilla folder out of her hands. Looking at her hands she saw the papercut start bleeding. Great, this was going to be annoying.

“Oh is something happening here?” New girl cut in with perfect timing.

“Adrikins is just reminding Dupain-Cheng of her worth.” And there was Chloe

“Wow, that is so kind of him.” New girl slid in like a perfect puzzle piece. “Knowing one's place in the world is important.” The words came out sweet sounding. But what caught her attention was the necklace that fell out. A pang of loss went through her at the reminder.

“Thanks for that then.” Standing up Marinette hefted her bag and started making her way. Screw everything she was going home. So lost in herself the girl completely missed Kim until he tripped her. After crashing to the ground the baker's daughter just laid there for a second. Chloe said something that made Kim and the new girl laugh. Hearing footsteps approaching Marinette didn’t wait. She left.

Arriving home the raven haired girl went right to her room. “Hey, hey, Bread, you're okay.” Plagg whispered into her ear.

“Oh that girl! That ugly jester pretending to be a Queen!” Pollen hissed with a huff. “I feel dirty just remembering the time she held my miraculous!”

“What’s going on?” Mullo questioned leaving the Cube before gasping. “Oh no, Bread is bleeding!” Rushing over to the black haired girl’s hand the gray kwami looked in horror at the dripping red liquid.

Not paying the kwami much mind, Marinette sat down at her table. She was just too tired, sad and hungry. She just needed a break.

The alarm on her phone sounded loud and clear. An akuma had been spotted. Placing down the food she was about to eat, Marinette felt herself falter a little. Paris needed Cheshire but Marinette needed to eat. Oh well nobody would find it odd for the great cat hero to show up while eating some food. It was the least Paris could do.

Chapter 44

Adrien felt his blood boiling as he watched Marinette leave. His plans had completely fallen apart and to make matters worse he actually made her bleed! His mind kept rushing to earlier today to try and figure out what could have happened to the photos. Did something happen to them during gym? Who could have taken them! Adrien had kept his eyes on Chloe the entire day so there was no way she could have taken them!

“Wow, what a cry baby. Right Adrikins?” A hand landed on his shoulder but Adrien upon seeing that it was Chloe’s was quick to throw it off.

“What the hell Chloe!” The young model shouted at the girl. The girl flinched before gasping.

“Whoa dude what’s your problem?” Kim asked while trying to calm down the situation.

“‘What’s my problem?’ What’s your problem!” Adrien shouted back while feeling something ugly turn in his gut.

“Quite!” A stern woman call’s from the end of the bookshelf. Adrien though didn’t want to be quiet! He wanted to shout and scream at the people in front of him. Reigning in his temper a bit, the model weighed the pros and cons of confronting Chloe here and now and decided that he wasn’t ready for it today.

His mind burned with activity as he made his way out of the library. What the hell could he do to salvage this? Who could he talk to? Tikki was the obvious answer but Adrien really needed to talk to someone right now! Naturally his next thought went to Nino, his best bro, but… Nino was one of Chloe’s friends. The young model would never doubt his friend but at the moment he didn’t want anything to do with his former childhood friend.

“Something wrong, sunshine?” Turning, Adrien saw Alya sitting with Alix. Could he trust her? Well she was Marinette’s former friend until something came between them. Now that he thought about it the boy was starting to have some suspicion about what that something was. If his suspicion was right then maybe she would be the best person to talk to.

“Somebody stole the pictures I brought!” Adrien informed the reporter who coughed up the bite of the sandwich she had just taken.

“Whoa, when?” Alya questioned while pounding her chest to get the rest of the food out of her airway.

“What pictures?” Alix cut in with a raised eyebrow.

“Buttercup here brought pictures of his and Marinette’s photoshoot.” The redheaded informed the shorter girl who only looked more confused. “Now I'm assuming more happened.”

Adrien was a bit miffed about Alya informing Alix about the photos but pushed it aside to get to the heart of the matter. “So I found Marinette where you said she would be. But when I handed her the folder it was empty!” God that had caused a heart attack. “Then she accused me of trying to bully her!” At this Adrien had to stop and take a few breaths.

“Alright few things,” Alya took the chance to set a few things straight. “First is her accusation, no matter how false it is coming from a really bad place.” Adrien had to blink at that. It was so easy to forget how badly and for how long she had been bullied. “Second, how did you react?”

“I, I, I pulled the envelope out of her hand.” He had made her bleed. Yeah it was small, an accident but the fact still stands. “I might have been a little too rough.” After a few moments of silence Alya sighed before waving for him to continue. No doubt they would be coming back to this soon. “Then before I could talk to her Chloe and Lila butted in! They called her worthless! Then right as she was trying to leave Kim tripped her!” Once more Adrien felt his stomach drop and his blood boil! How everything had happened right in front of him, so blatant that it made him question how he had never noticed it before!

“Okay and?” Alix questioned, sounding a bit bored. “Not to sound like a jerk but how is this different then what normally happens?”

Adrien felt his jaw drop open in horrified shock. How was this different? This was normal! Situations like this shouldn’t be normal! He was about to say this but an alarm on his phone sounded. An alarm that made him want to grate his teeth together. “I have to go.”

“We’ll finish this talk later.” Alya informed him to Adrien’s slight relief. Running to an abandoned classroom Adrien watched as Tikki flew out in front of him.

“Adrien, you need to calm down before we can head out.” The little red kwami advised with the most calming look it could give. The boy took the kwami’s advice and started taking deep breaths. Finally feeling himself calm down Adrien looked at the kwami and gave a nod.

“Tikki, Spots On!” One transformation later and Misterbug flew out of the school looking around for the akuma or amok. “Alright I’ll have to be careful.” Misterbug muttered to himself as he landed on a nearby roof.

“Oh is this akuma dangerous?” An unfamiliar voice questioned from nearby. Turning the boy found himself face to face with a silver mask with black highlights. The girl in front of him had red hair with flecks of white inside of it. The main body suite was silver with accents of black. Adrien froze as he tried to figure out what was going on. This couldn’t be the Fox because he knew for a fact that the Fox was supposed to be orange unless…

A loud thunk from behind made him turn to see the Horse user attempting to sneak up behind him only to have been stopped by a silver baton. “Now, now War Horse we will not sink to the level of King Monkey.”

Misterbug felt his breath catch in his throat at how close he had come to losing in his miraculous, again. Only to have Cheshire to again save him. For what reason: ‘To be better than King Monkey.’ To be better than his former team mate. “Okay, if you say so Ches.” The horse user muttered though she kept a suspicious eye on the boy.

“So we have any idea where the Akuma is?” Cheshire asked while landing. “By the way, nice new costume Rena.”

“Thanks Trixx and I settled on silver foxes.” Rena informed the group with a smile while walking towards them. “Though I do have to wonder how we can trust him.”

“We can’t, I know that for a fact.” The chosen of Tikki felt himself shrink a bit under the acidic green eyes of Cheshire. “But we shouldn’t be the ones to attack another miraculous user when the people of Paris need saving.” While saying this the girl brought out a container. “Now let us get to saving the day.” Popping open the container the black cat user proceeds to bring out spring rolls to eat. Smelling the food the only male present felt his hunger remind him that he hasn’t eaten anything yet.

“Right, I guess the akuma interrupted your lunch?” Rena questioned while seeming a bit interested.

“Yup, now let’s get to work so we can all get back to eating.” Cheshire stated as they turned to start looking for the akuma only to see an asteroid coming right towards the planet. “What the heck?”

“Somethings not right here.” Rena stated with narrowed eyes.

“What are we standing around for!” War Horse shouted while pointing toward the descending space rock. Before anyone could respond though an orange rocket shot forward and smashed the rock into non-existence. “What the?”

“Ah a fake.” Cheshire nodded to herself. Receiving questioning looks, the cat hero rolled her eyes. “Really guys? If a meteor that big was going to crash the UH would be here ASAP plus there would also have been order to evacuate. As bad as Andre is, he would never have killed this many people.”

“I suppose that is true enough.” Misterbug nodded. “So I assume whoever was quick enough to ‘save’ the day is most likely our akuma.”

“Seems reasonable to me.” Rena nodded before giving a grin. “Well luckily for us we have a superior illusionist!” The cat leader gave a thumbs up and a nod before descending towards where everyone was gathering around to thank a fox looking girl. “You know I think I know who the akuma is.”

“Yup.” WH nodded before the group arrived at where the akuma was. The group landed a little behind the fake fox causing the civilians to look between Rena, the akuma and Cheshire.

“What seems to be the problem?” The akumatized victim questioned the people around her before looking where everyone else was looking. “Oh, Cheshire! I’ve been looking for you!”

“Yeah I bet you have.”

“Let me take care of this.” Rena patted the other girl on the shoulder before walking past. Huh, now that Adrien noticed Cheshire was actually a bit on the shorter side. Then again War is shorter than her. “Hey there, care to talk?”

“Oh, are you the other fox user? I’m Volpina.” The civilians watched the two in interest while a few people were filming. Rena glanced back at Cheshire who just shook her head in negative.

“Really? You do know that there is only one of each miraculous right? Nice try though.” Rena leaned forward towards the other girl with a raised eyebrow.

“Well you are working with Misterbug so you’re more suspicious!” A few sets of eyes fell on said hero who coughed into his fist.

“Akuma truce?” The ladybug user tried in a weak voice. Everyone looked at each other in question.

“That doesn’t meow-atter right now.” Cheshire cut in while waving away the problem. “Right now we need to deal with the akuma.”

“But I’m not an akuma.” Volpina tried to defend herself only for War Horse to sigh.

“Lila, hand over the necklace.” The dark horse started shocking the akumatized girl.

“How dare you act so self righteous! Why couldn’t you let me have this!” Lila shouted at the group of miraculous users as a shadowy tendril shot out from a hidden location. The tendril shot out and nearly hit WH if Cheshire hadn’t grabbed her. Misterbug brought his yoyo out and prepared for battle. “Foxx, you take care of the unimportant heroes!” A black fox looking shadow briefly showed itself before two of it’s nine tails snapped forward and attempted to grab on to Rena and War.

“Whoa! What the heck!” Whatever the two were about to say was lost as they were attacked again and again by the shadow fox. Cheshire moved to help them only for Volpina to intercept the cat.

“Sorry but you two have something Hawkmoth wants.” The fake fox stated while spinning her flute. “Now we can do this the easy way or the-”

“Sorry, don’t have time!” Misterbug yelled while his yoyo flew right at her. “I have things I need to do and you are in the way.”

“Oh, you got a hot date?” Cheshire questioned while joining in the attack.

“Well, that’s none of your business.” Misterbug huffed while rolling his eyes right before catching his yoyo.

“Well you two shut up!” Volpina screamed before bringing her flute up to her lips only to feel a tug on the instrument. Turning she saw a black gloved hand attached to a smiling face.

“Nope.” With that the cat used their strength to rip the akuma’s weapon away from them. “So how has your day been?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Volpina gritted her teeth as she was forced to listen to these two. It was beyond annoying, just like those three. Her plan was going to be so simple, earn their trust, lead them to where she would claim Hawkmoth was and then spring her trap. But of course that was when everything had to fall apart.

Just like what led to her akumatization there was a piece of knowledge she had no way of knowing! It was just as hummulating as it was back then. To think the day had begun so well.

She had met with Adrien Agreste, one of the main reasons she went to that school, and made a good impression. Heck thanks to the miraculous ‘happening’ to fall out when she ‘tripped’ no one noticed her taking the photos. She was so fortunate that the model had put the folder away hastily. Lila had been expecting at least a day before ‘finding’ the photos but only if Adrien started making a stink about the photos going missing. Otherwise they were going into the trash. Lila just needed them to photoshop herself into the other no name girls place and leak the photos online.

To think it would be just a few hours later that everything went wrong.

Lila had followed Adrien into the library to see what he was up to but was shocked to see him approaching some poor looking student. It took Lila a few moments to realize just who Adrien was talking to. The model handing over the vanilla folder helped.

Lila felt herself move towards the two. Hoping to get there before they found out that the photos were missing. But then Chloe grabbed her shoulder.

“Follow my lead or I will tell Adrikin who took those pictures.” Not being an idiot Lila of course followed the girls lead. After the black haired girl had left, Adrien followed soon after. “Oh, heads up. If you are going to pretend to have a miraculous, at least do some research.”

Lila had attempted to defend her innocents but the mayor’s daughter would have none of it. Max was the one to point out that the three of them were former holders and thus knew how to spot a fake. After saying that Lila felt her rage reach a peak and then the girl ceased to be and Volpina happily took her place.

This led to where the girl was now. On the losing end of a fight against two people who Volpina should have been easily able to be led into a trap. If she could get away for a second then maybe she could use one of her backup plans but the bug and cat wouldn’t let up. Perhaps she could call back Foxx to help her? After all who cared if she sacrificed the stupid amok, it was just a magical construct.

“Incoming!” Rena shouted as she and War crashed into Misterbug and Cheshire. Foxx was quick to arrive next to Volpina with a grin. Patting the akuma on the head she cast one last look at the recovering heroes and then hopped on top of the amok.

“Catch me if you can!” With that she headed off. After all, in the words of someone, ‘If you can’t beat your opponent, make a situation in which you can.’ Plus Hawkmoth just said he wanted a miraculous never which one he wanted. So with that in mind the akuma made her plan. Now she just needed to pick which one, obviously not Cheshire, the girl was way too well trained. Misterbug was out for much the same reason so that left the two newbies. With a grin the fox told her decision to the other fake fox who let out a cackling laugh. Weighing how much she hated the newbies against each other, Volpina felt a smile creep on her face. This was going to be fun...

~~~~~~~~~

War Horse let out a grunt as they untangled themselves from the pile of limbs. Looking around she saw Volpina running off. “What happened?” Cheshire questioned with a groan.

"That fox thing was like a liquid that kept moving and changing.” Rena complained while getting to her feet.

“Sounds annoying.” Misterbug was the next to stand.

“Like you would not believe.” Alix nodded while getting to her own feet. “Doesn’t help that my only weapon is a horseshoe.”

“Yeah, besides the baton there are no true weapons for miraculous.” Cheshire pondered while tapping her baton.

“I think the dragon has a sword.” Misterbug added his two cents.

“Can we have the dragon?” War slightly jokes.

“Join my side then we’ll talk.” The red clad hero responded to her. Alix just rolled her eyes but smiled as she saw her hero standing in front of her.

“Or you could join ours.” Cheshire was quick to shoot back. Looking around, the horse user saw that film crews were still recording. This was like so many of her dreams come true. Fighting by her side, protecting the innocent, and defeating villains. She could live in this moment forever.

Notes:

Sorry it took so long to post. To make a long story short work is a pain. Thank you all for being so patient with me. I might need a bit longer to get back on schedule so please just give me a bit of time.

Chapter 45

Cheshire felt her mind working over itself into a frenzy as the group worked to find the akuma. This situation was a mess but then again it was bound to come up once or twice. “So how are we going to handle the akuma and amok?”

“What do you mean? We charge in and break the possessed items.” Rena stated while they stopped on a roof.

“Yeah but how do we do that without bugaboy turning against us or the akuma separating us again?” Cheshire questioned before looking at Misterbug.

“Whoa, whoa, akuma truce remember?” Misterbug offered while putting his hands up in peace.

“Yeah but after the akuma is taken down how do we know you won’t turn on us like you did with NewsCaster?”

“That is a good point.” War Horse nodded while topping her chin. “So how do you want us to do this? Should Rena and I take on the amok again?”

“No, I think I would be the best one to take on the amok after all me and Pollen just need to hit it once.” At this the little yellow kwami popped out to wave hi. Misterbug froze upon seeing the kwami and his eyes darted around until he spotted the comb in her hair.

“So War and I help the bug take down the akuma?”

“Yeah, make sure he doesn’t lose his miraculous like he constantly seems to come close to doing.” Taking a deep breath Cheshire held out her hands as if to grab something. Pollen looked like she was about to say something only to stop as the cat spoke. “Pollen, Plagg, Unify!” Misterbug felt his eyes widened as he saw the two orbs appear in her hands before clapping her hands to combine them. As her hands met a flash of light of color covered her. The suit had changed the green highlights to a gold/yellow colour. Her hair was now in a high ponytail that now had a blonde streak in it. “Alright, let’s see what we have to deal with this.”

“When do we learn how to do that Unify thing?” Rena asked while the group started heading towards the akuma again.

“Not for a while, it is a very draining technique.” That does not even mention the possible consequences of messing it up. The first few times had been painful, very painful. Seeing orange smoke start flowing out on one of the rooftops the group moved over to it. “Oh look, an obvious trap.”

“Wonder what she is planning. Misterbug, go down there and find out.” War said with a smirk.

“And risk Tikki getting captured by Hawkmoth? No, we all go down together.” Not even waiting a moment Queen Noir launched herself towards the roof.

“Nice to know you care about my kwami.” Without any noise the ladybug user landed near her. Seeing him toying with his yoyo, Queen decided to show him how to use a string weapon. Grabbing the spinning top she started casually spinning the top until it was a glowing yellow circle. Giving a superior smirk to Misterbug the girl walked into the smoke.

“Seems somebody went with the classic horror movie approach.” Alya muttered while looking around to see if she could spot either Volpina or the amok.

“Yeah,” Noir’s cat ear twitched and the girl turned to see a faint outline of a fox, “found one!” Flicking the top the weapon shot forward like a dart. The shadow shifted unnaturally before like a fishing line the string pulled tight. “Rena, War, stay on guard!” With that said, Queen allowed the string to pull her towards whoever decided to face her.

Landing with a roll Queen Noir felt the top land back in her hand. Looking around the hero saw multiple dark shadows running around the area she was in. Spinning the top in a circle the cat/bee saw a black whip approaching from the side. Deflecting the hit she watched the tail quickly flee back into the fog before a laugh was heard inside the illusion. A slow padding noise was heard before nine amoks came out of the fog. “Oh, you have got to be kitten me.”

Foxx, Queen Noir was pretty sure that was what Volpina called him, laughed at her before the nine started running in circles. Not knowing if this was an illusion or an ability of the amok the future guardian made to put the top away to grab the baton. The top was good for long range but the string weapon wouldn’t be much help, or would it? A thought from when she first learned of Unify crossed her mind. There had to be more to this technique than just being able to use both powers.

With that thought in mind the girl brought out her baton and with a flick of her wrist the top spun around the steel before seeming to settle on the top upon which it then clamped down on. Smiling to herself the girl spun the combined weapon before stabbing at one of the fake foxes. The amok that she attempted to strike only to turn into liquid that moved fast toward another. Clicking her teeth in annoyance, Queen Noir tracked her opponent as a few of them melted and combined with others increasing their tails. Three foxes each now with three tails meaning that the total was…

“Wow either Lila or Mayura are unimaginative.” This amok was obviously somewhat based on Trixx, the kwami of the fox, so they had gone with the most well known mythological beast.

Foxx didn’t seem to like that as the three growled before charging right at her. Taking a deep breath the superhero prepared herself for the fight. Venom was her best shot at taking the amok out but if it could split itself apart then she either had to risk seeing what a cataclysm did to an amok or keep it busy and away from the others until Misterbug took down the akuma and got both the corrupted butterfly and feather.

“Well at least I can try out this new toy.” Giving a smile toward the foxes she was forced to lean to the side as one of the fake kwamies lunged at her. Swinging up the end she was able to hit one beast in the stomach. Hearing something running at Queen Noir shifted to avoid the claw strike. Not quite moving in time the amok passed by her cheeks causing a bit of pain. Seeing the last one approaching the bee/cat pressed the button to extend the Unify weapon. The amok flowed around the attack getting close enough to strike the hero. Clicking her teeth, Queen rolled with the hit before swinging her weapon to get them off.

“Yup this is going to be annoying.” With a huff Queen rolled to avoid getting pounced on. Hopefully things were going better for the other team. As that thought crossed her mind Noir felt something slam on her from behind. Stumbling forward the girl dropped down to avoid another attack. “Alright screw waiting for a prime opportunity three is way too much for this bee.” Springing to her feet in time to avoid a jaw filled with super sharp teeth. Looking over the three grinning foxes as she got back to her feet the superhero started forming a plan. It would have to be quick otherwise they would either dodge or sacrifice just one tail. Narrowing her eyes and taking a calming breath she charged.

Sliding under one that had met her charge she used her weapon to shift to the side to avoid another before grinning when the third came right at her. “Venom!” The top on the Unified weapon glowed and grew in size. Foxx seemed to realize what was going on but the superhero wouldn’t give him the chance to seperate or move. The staff shot forward and nailed the beast right in its chest. Yellow lines flowed from where it was hit as the three tailed Foxx fell to the side. Returning the weapon to a reasonable size, Queen jumped to the side to avoid a now very annoyed amok. The two remaining shadow beginnings looked between each other before a tail on each melted off of them and the sludge combined into one.

“I really should have seen this coming.” Barely restraining the urge to facepalm she kept her eyes trained on them. “Well you all lost one tail, wonder how that will affect you.” In response they decided to show her by charging. “Really hope the others are doing well.” Now being down one power and not having a way to recharge Pollen she was in a corner and didn’t like it. As one the foxes stalking toward her stopped and their ears twitched in sync. Two of the Foxxs charged forward while the third shot off to the side. “What are you up to?” Were they trying to flank her or was it going to re-enforce the akuma? Not wanting to let them get away with whatever they were doing, Queen met their charge. Though this did reveal what losing a tail did to this beast, they lost speed and power. Enjoying the slightly easier fight Noir moved to the side to avoid the first. The second she twisted to the side and swiped to the side. Hitting the beast she planted both it and her weapon in the ground. Using the planted weapon as a pivot the cat/bee turned to follow the third that wasn’t too far away yet. Jumping towards it she yanked her weapon from the roof and readyed herself for whatever was going to happen.

~~~~~~~~~

Misterbug gritted his teeth as he pressed up against Rena and War’s back. They had encountered Volpina a little after Cheshire, or whatever she was called when Unified, had been separated from them. If this had been early on in his superhero career the boy might have suspected that she was trying to avoid fighting the akuma but now… While she wasn’t a hero the girl at least did the bare minimum. ‘You know she does more than you.’ A part of him reminded him of his talk with Alya. Ignoring the voice Adrien instead focused on the shadow that was darting around the fog.

Volpina had been using hit and run tactics this entire time not giving any of them a chance to get a hit on her. Didn’t help either that there were multiple shadows running around in the smoke. Plus the Volpinas that came out were illusions with the real one sneaking around somewhere. The few times she came out the girl came uncomfortably close to taking one of their miraculous. But then again that might have been the point.

They were on edge, jumping at shadows and anything that moved. With how widespread the illusion was Rena couldn’t see through the illusion as well as she should have been able to. Plus since it was an illusion Voyage couldn’t make the fog disappear.

“Anyone got any ideas?” Misterbug questioned while spinning his yoyo like he saw the cat/bee hero doing. How had he never considered doing this?

“Summon your Lucky Charm?” Rena suggested while shrugging her shoulders. The girl's weapon was in her hand ready to be used in a second. Weighing the option in his mind Adrien gave a shrug before stopping the spinning and getting ready to unleash his power.

“No you don’t!” Volpina shouted, almost appearing right in front of him, her flute ready to smash into him.

“Who’s going to stop him?” War Horse questioned her weapon raised to block the hit. The flute hit the horseshoe and the shorter girl showed her strength by not moving an inch. “Oh so you're real?” War smirked as she shot her hand forward to grab the akuma. With more force she grabbed ahold of the fake fox’s wrist.

“Keep your hands off of me!” Volpina shouted while trying to free herself.

“Nope, hope you don’t mind.” War grinned while Rena and Misterbug quickly moved to capitalize on it.

“Foxx!” With the call the two approaching heroes stilled for a second before rushing in. They were too late. A black two tailed amok hit Misterbug causing the heroes to drop into each other. Volpina stumbled back while rubbing her wrist where the horse had grabbed her. The other fake fox jumped up off the heroes before they could do anything. Looking at the amok she frowned, noticing something. “What happened to your other tails?”

“Well three of the tails are down for a while. But that is a tail on itself.” Volpina gritted her teeth at the voice. Queen Noir arrived with a smile landing next to War Horse.

“You failed! How could you not take her down?” The fox hung it’s head as its siblings joined her.

“Like you were doing any better!” Rena shouted while getting to her feet the second time that day.

“Lucky Charm!” Not wasting another second Misterbug called forth his power. A swirl of red called forth a small flashlight. “This again?”

A beep came from Queen Noir who looked at Rena. “Why haven’t you gotten rid of the fog yet?”

“I can do that!” Rena shouted before seeming to concentrate.

“Dammit all! Screw the other fox, get the miraculous!” Acting on orders the two tails shot forward with a snarl! Rena tensed before Queen Noir stood in front of her. With a flourish of her staff the hero batted aside the amok. A flash of light hit Foxx causing the akuma to freeze for a second.

“How illuminating.” Misterbug said with a smirk.

“Reality!” Rena shouted while waving her flute. A reversed note sounded as all the fog vanished. A single tail vanished from her necklace but it didn’t seem she was on a time limit.

“Seems like the end of the line for you.” War Horse called with a huge smirk while getting into a runner's stance. Queen Noir’s eyes flicked around while another beep was heard from the bee miraculous. The horse user shot forward with great speed not noticing something moving in the shadows. While the amok technically couldn’t move while in the light it did dig itself into the roof making it harder for War to get it off.

“War, wait!” Queen Noir shouted while moving to stop the girl but it was too late. A black missile collided with the short girl knocking her down. Misterbug attempted to move and help the horse user but Volpina was quick to intervene. Moving quick Rena moved to help the boy.

“Hold on!” Queen Noir shouted and shot forward to help her teammate. One of her ears twitched but the cat was too late to react as a blue clad foot hit her.

“About time you got here!” Volpina called to the arriving villain. Mayura didn’t say anything but she did move quickly to the trapped hero who doubled their efforts to free themself.

“Mayura!” Queen Noir shouted as her weapon shot toward the villian who dodged while still moving forward.

“Brat.” The peacock muttered while leaning down to grab the miraculous. Queen shot forward with a frown but was too late as the woman grabbed the miraculous. Noir hit her with her shoulder but the damage was done. Mayura had the miraculous. “Good work Volpina, I have the miraculous.”

“Not for long!” Queen shouted only to be distracted as a swarm of ladybugs swept past her. When they left the evil peacock was gone too. “Dammit!” With a spin she grabbed a short girl. “Rena comfort the victim. I need to get Horse out of here!” Not saying anything else she took off. Misterbug narrowed his eyes as for a brief second he saw a familiar head of pink hair. Putting the thought aside for now Misterbug moved to comfort the akuma.

“Stay the hell away from me! This all you stupid heroes fault!” With a twitching eyebrow the ladybug decided against that plan. He was not dealing with being yelled at. Especially after the day he had. With a sigh Misterbug left not looking forward to the talk he would no doubt be having with Tikki. The only good thing to come of this mess was… no nothing good came from this. Cheshire figured out how to combine weapons when Unified, Rena found a new power, and then they lost a miraculous to Hawkmoth.

Part of him wondered how the pink haired girl was taking her defeat.

~~~~~~~~

Alix felt her fists curl in even tighter. She had lost, she had her miraculous taken! Now being held by Cheshire the skater felt useless. She had a miraculous, she had powers, but she had forgotten to use her brain! Looking back Alix could have seen how obvious the trap was and how she could have just used Voyage right below herself. Or perhaps if she had done what Alya had done to learn that new power or Cheshire had to combine her weapons. Heck speaking of her hero no doubt the girl was kicking herself about giving her a miraculous.

Her hero obviously cares about the kwamis so her losing the one intrusted to her. No doubt Alix would be lucky if Cheshire ever spoke to her again.

“I’m sorry.” The quiet almost broken voice drew her from her thoughts. “You did your best, I’m sorry that it came to this.” Carefully she put Alix down. “I need to go feed Pollen, please take care of yourself.” Stopping for a second they fished out a small bracelet. “Here just in case you need it.”

“What is this?” Taking the bracelet Alix saw that it looked more like a charm bracelet.

“It should be an anti akuma.” Alix eyes shot open before looking back up at her hero. “I say should because it is currently untested. Sorry again for failing you and Kaalki.” With that Queen made to leave.

“Wait, how many do you have! You still have one for yourself right?” The superhero didn’t answer but gave the former horse a smile.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll give one to Rena as soon as it’s done.” A pit formed in her stomach. Another beep made her sigh as a yellow light obscured her. “I really have to go now, goodbye Alix. Once again sorry I couldn’t have helped you better.”

Watching her leave the pink haired girl gritted her teeth. Why was she so worthless? Why couldn’t she have done more? Taking a deep breath she walked forward slowly. When would she get another chance like this again! People don’t just hand out miraculous, if only she got one for her birthday like she planned. That definitely would have prevented Cheshire blaming herself for Alix’s mistake.

Notes:

I'm back hopefully for more than a month. One more akuma till the end of season 1, can anyone guess who the last akuma will be?

Chapter 46

Adrien worried his lip as he thought upon his idea. He had an idea of who War might have been so given that he had an idea on who Rena might be. But there was no way Adrien could confront her without possibly outing himself so with that Adrien came up with a different plan. “Tikki, do you mind checking around Alya’s bag?” Seeing her confused look Adrien gave her a reassuring smile. “Please I just need you to confirm something for me.”

“Alright, I’ll have a look.” Giving the red kwami a smile Adrien walked into the classroom as the rest of the class slowly filtered in. Looking around he saw that Marinette was once more in her seat. The girl was taking slow measured breath, something seemed to have happened to the girl. Well besides that disastrous meet up in the library. Maybe he should visit her as Misterbug, though apparently he had done something to upset her. He had gone over what happened with Tikki and the kwami had mentioned that she felt used. He had understood that and now looking back he could vaguely understand how him venting to her could be seen as him using her.

Seeing the lesson about to begin, Adrien gave one last look at the girl before casting a glance at the rest of his classmates. Alix was messing with a bracelet, Lila was scowling, and Chloe looked deep in thought about something. Hearing the teacher begin, Adrien reached down to his bag where Tikki gave a nod.

The little red bug’s eyes burned with determination as she began the task assigned to her. While she didn’t know what Adrien wanted her to search for she trusted her chosen enough to at least look. Staying low the goddess of creation entered Alya’s bag.

“Well you’re going to have to come up with a good argument.” A gravelly voice said from right above her. “Because I am all for taking you back.”

“Is that what the kit wants?” Trixx questioned causing Tikki to cover her mouth to prevent herself from being heard. Because there were very few reasons why Trixx would be in Alya’s bag.

“It is! Bread is just to stupid to think of herself!” Peeking up Tikki felt her eyes widen as she saw Plagg and Trixx floating in the middle of the bag.

“She’s just thinking of what would be best for Paris!” Trixx countered while one of his ears twitched. “Besides, she needs people to rely on.” Part of Tikki wanted to leave and confirm Adrien’s theory but…

“She relies on us! The only reason she hasn’t been akumatized yet is because of that charm and us!” Plagg ranted at the fox who seemed to flinch a little. “And because of her self imposed goal of being the ‘best hero’ she gave the charm to Alix!”

“She gave Alix her anti-akuma charm!” Trixx asked, shocked. “Did she at least get the other one working?”

‘Anti-akuma charm?’ Tikki thought to herself. Yeah she could have created something like that but it would require the help of her chosen at the time. How knowledgeable was this girl to make something like that. Plus would it be possible to get one of those for her chosen?

“No and when Bread does she plans to give it to your new kit.” The black cat informed the other with a bit of venom. “So get a good case together because if you don’t have one I will be pushing for the kitten to take back your miraculous!” With that Plagg was gone.

After a moment Trixx let out a sigh. “You can come out now Tikki.” Sucking in a breath but knowing better than to try and flee the red kwami flew out.

“How long have you known I’ve been there?”

“A while, so I’m guessing either you or your user figured out who my current holder is?” Trixx leaned back in the air, appearing to be relaxed. “So do I need to let her know that she has been found out?”

Tikki let out a breath as she thought about it. Alya was a very good girl and would no doubt treat Trixx better than Cheshire ever could. Plus it was better to know where Trixx was than to lose him again. “No, you don’t need to tell her anything. I’m happy to see that you are doing well.”

“It’s good to see you as well.” Trixx smiled at the red goddess before leaning forward. “So if you want to stick around a bit I would love the chance to talk to you.” Tikki stiled for a moment. On one hand she did want to talk to Trixx on the other there was a chance that the fox was corrupted. But even still she wanted to talk to the other kwami. “I could you tell me about my holder in exchange.” Information about Cheshire?

“Well, I guess it would be okay.” As long as she sticks to safe topics then it should be fine. Maybe this was Trixx’s way of giving her information about Cheshire’s civilian identity.

“Great! So what do you do for fun?” Trixx questioned with a smile.

“Well… My bug and I sometimes watch movies together.”

“Oh! Your ‘bug’?” Trixx smirked while leaning in. “Been awhile since I heard you call anyone that.”

“Has it been?” Getting into a thinking position the kwami thought on what the other kwami had said.

“Yeah, he must be a very special boy. But for fun the kit got me a game station to play on.” With this the kwami pointed at a beat up device.

“Only three days and you're calling her ‘kit’?” Tikki questioned. Was Alya that good of an owner?

“Do you think I’m talking about my current holder?” That shocked Tikki a little. Was Trixx more corrupt than she thought? To call Cheshire ‘kit’. “Do you ever play any video games?”

“Not really, when ~burp~ gets free time we spend it surfing the web or watching movies.” The boy needed more free time.

“I see, so where do you stay during school?” Trixx questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Either in one of my Chosen’s pockets or his bag.” The red goddess was very thankful that Adrien was diligent with bodycare.

“Really? Well Alya is working on a fanny pack and before that kit made me and the other kwamis a purse to rest in.” Was Trixx trying to make her jealous?

“Well what about when she’s not wearing your miraculous? I’ve only seen the cat wearing two miraculous at most.”

“Oh that’s when she would store mine and the others miraculous in the Cube.” A bead of silence settled between the two as Tikki waited for the other kwami to continue. “So where do you sleep at night?”

“Oh I sleep next to Misterbug. He has a very big bed and the pillows are comfortable.” Why hadn’t Trixx informed what this ‘Cube’ was? Was it some sort of evil contraption that was used in the corruption of kwamies?

“Oh that sounds nice. Right now I sleep in Alya’s sock drawer, there are lots of places to burow. Before that I would either sleep in the Cube, House, when Plagg is feeling generous, or her fabric bin.” Taking a risk Tikki took a deep breath before continuing.

“Trixx, what is this ‘Cube’ and ‘House’ you mentioned?”

Trixx’s smile widened and he seemed to be vibrating. “You know Sass asked the same question.”

“You were in contact with Sass?” Tikki screamed at this news.

“Yup, them and the rest of the kwami stuck in the box.”

“When? Why didn’t you inform the master?”

“You guys were busy talking to that descendent and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Descendent?” Tikki felt her stomach drop at that. If he was talking about Marinette then it was very likely that Cheshire knew about her.

“Well what else could she be? Her family had a recipe for cookies that you love. So what else could she be but one of your chosen descendents?” Tikki didn’t really think about the implications of Marinette’s ancestor knowing a recipe made to feed her but now that Trixx spelled it out.

“Did you tell her where to find Fu?”

“Tikki! Do you think so lowly of me that I would out the fa- guardian?” Trixx silently cursed Plagg’s nickname for Fu. “So what was the girl so upset about? Was it because one of her future teammates tripped her, dumped water on her, then stood by and watched her miraculous be stolen?”

“How did you know about that?” Trixx felt a bit of relief as Tikki was quick to try and draw attention away from what Kim had done.

“Oh we were watching the girl. Ches was thinking about giving her a miraculous.” Trixx gave a responsible explanation. “I mean who wouldn’t want her on their team. I mean you did emotionally blackmail her to join your side.”

“W-we, I, we did no such thing!”

“Oh so Fu didn’t use her desperation for friends and validation to get her help?” Tikki froze up and shook a little as Trixx’s words pierced her. “Oh, don’t worry I know that you no doubt had the best intentions but a man who wanted to make up for the past at any cost?”

“I need to go now.” With that Tikki flew out of Alya’s bag and right into Adrien’s with great speed. Was, would Fu really use Marinette like that? Did Adrien see her- With great force the goddess of creation shook off that line of thought. None of her bugs would ever use someone like that. Plus Adrien cared about the black haired girl. Taking a calming breath the goddess tried not to focus on how she couldn’t defend Fu.

But that wasn’t important. What was important was informing her boy about Cheshire having her eye on Marinette. The cat was dangerous enough but if she got her hands on the girl’s journal then things would get worse. The black haired girl already had a very negitive view on the heroes due to both Pegusus and King Monkey being Marinette’s bullies. Tikki would have to thank Trixx for informing her about the possible danger. Adrien would not be able to survive if he had to fight the girl he was slowly falling in love with.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You know I didn’t get the chance to ask but are you okay with the selection of flowers?” Marinette asked Pollen as she worked on her balcony garden. Was it meanil labor to distract her from how she messed up today? Yes, but shut up.

“Oh I love them!” Pollen smiled at the girl while eating a pepper. The morning Pollen had come out of the Cube had been interesting. The bee kwami was quite shocked to say the least. It took them a while to sort everything out with the help of Mullo and Liiri. Things were still a little tense between them but Marinette was sure that things would work out between them. She just needed to find some way to connect to the kwami. Maybe they could work on building the kwami a house. Maybe make it a hanging house so it would double as a perch for Liiri.

Feeling a cold wind blow by her Marinette shivered a bit before breathing out and seeing her breath come out as a fog. “I guess it is getting to be pretty late in the year.” Already it was just turning to December. Maybe she should start working on the kwamies gifts?

“Yes I wish I could have seen this during the summer.” Pollen commented while rubbing up against one of the flowers.

“It was very nice.” With a soft smile Marinette felt the beginnings of a purr start up in her but crushed it when she spotted Misterbug nearby. Turning slightly Marinette could already see Pollen having been grabbed by Plagg and pulled inside. Hoping that the ‘hero’ was just passing by, Marinette made sure to finish tending to her flowers and getting them ready for winter. No reason to act suspicious.

“Marinette!” Misterbug called out as he landed near her. “You're still alright, right?”

“As okay as I have ever been.” God her life sucked, outside of Plagg and the other kwamis.

“You haven’t been approached by anyone?”

“Besides my bullies, no.” At the mention the girl looked down at her hand and let out a sigh. Why did she ever think a friend of Chloe would be nice or worth befriending? Misterbug followed her eyes and seemed to flinch. Coughing into his fist Misterbug averted his eyes. “Why are you asking?”

“Oh I was just worried that Cheshire might have heard about you.” Misterbug let out a nervous chuckle before sitting down. “The cat started recruiting so I was concerned that she would give you a miraculous.”

“How would that be bad? I might get a chance to make up with Pollen. I would turn it down anyway. I would hate to fail another kwami like I did with Wayzz or Pollen.”

“It would be bad because then we would need to fight each other.” Oh the irony of that statement. “But then again if you did get a miraculous maybe you could be a double agent or something.”

“Wishful thinking but like I said earlier I would hate to let another kwami down. So why don’t you find somebody else to play as your double agent.” With a huff Marinette finished her last plant and went to enter her room.

“Do you think that would actually work, a double agent?” Misterbug seemed to be stuck on one part of the conversation. Rolling her eyes Marinette tapped on the trap door warning the kwamis inside. She wasn’t inviting the annoying bug inside but the pest didn’t seem to care about her personal space. “Who would I even get to be a double agent?”

“Somebody who the cat trusts but you can keep an eye on.” Rolling her eyes, Marinette helped him with his ridiculous idea. Misterbug seemed to think about it for a second before asking his question.

“What about a teammate?”

“Maybe, it would have to be someone reliable.” Misterbug nodded at her comment and Marinette just walked into her room.

“Yeah, they would have to also keep the other in check.” Walking into her room the girl was relieved to see all the kwamis nicely hidden away. After a second a noise indicated that the bug had come in. She should have really closed the door. “Is there something you need in my room or do you make a habit of entering uninvited?”

“Oh, um.” It seemed that the hero realized that they were in her bedroom. “Normally, no, I mean can I come in?”

Marinette felt herself struggle because despite him being one of her arch enemies he was also technically her best human friend. God that was sad to think about. “Sure, why not.” Wonder how much worse things were going to get.

~~~~~~

Gabriel stared down at the miraculous on his table. While the man was happy to have a miraculous he wished it was one with more use for him. While there many uses for the miraculous, the restrictions made it less useful for him. Plus without the knowledge of how to use Unify that option was out. So now he was questioning what to do with the miraculous?

“Sir, have you considered what to get Adrien for christmas?” Nathalie questioned her boss. Gabriel let out a hum as he thought about his son. As he did though a thought came across his mind.

“Nooroo and Duusu, you were very upset about me obtaining this miraculous?”

“Of course we were!” Duusu shouted at the elder Agreste. Said Agreste smirked as he looked back at the miraculous.

“Nooroo you will tell me all about this kwamies darkest moments.”

“Sir, what are you planning?” Nooroo questioned as he felt a weight start forming in his stomach.

“If it can bleed then it can be killed.” Gabriel firmly stated as he started making plans for tomorrow. “You kwamies seem to have more than enough emotions.”

Chapter 47

Adrien felt happy and full when he eventually made to leave Marinette’s. Happy because Marinette helped him come up with a plan that he would implement soon. Full because the girl had made a really nice stew and some bread. Fresh homemade bread. Misterbug had also made sure to stockpile some of the deserts. He wanted some of the deserts and he just knew Tikki would be consuming them the second she could. He would have to monitor the red kwami.

“Thanks for the dinner Marinette.” Misterbug called back to her as he left through the back door. “I promise to get Pollen back for you.”

“... Do you remember when I asked you and Fu to not contact me until you got her back?” Marinette quietly questioned while rubbing her shirt. Misterbug stopped for a moment before swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Yeah, but I was really worried about you! I’m sorry for ignoring your request!” Crap how did he forget about her request? Was he hurting her by coming here? He was probably bringing up memories of his teammates/her bullies. Kwami, he wished he could have a refund on his teammates.

“I won’t say it's fine, because it’s not.” Marinette mumbled while tightening her fist. “But I would still like updates on how recovering Pollen is going.” Misterbug nodded at her request, she wasn't asking him to stop visiting. Hopefully next time he comes to visit he could give her an update on Pollen. That means that he would need to get started on the plan they came up with. Heading out to Fu’s Adrien went back over the miraculous he decided on along with the candidates. He would need to be cautious about how he approached it. The girl might be a little resistant to being a double agent.

Taking a deep breath Adrien landed in an abandoned alleyway and proceeded inside. It had taken a while for Adrien to explain his plan to Fu. The older man hadn’t initially been for it but agreed to let Adrien go with the plan. So with two miraculous he went to go recruit them. Along with informing them of his plan.

Arriving to where they should be he felt a bit of relief that it seemed that no one else was here. Arriving next to the boat Adrien used his yoyo to lower down to a window where he saw the two he was looking for. “Hey Luka, Juleka, mind if I talk to you for a moment?”

~~~~~~~~

Juleka couldn’t believe what was happening, or what she was doing. “So you just happened to steal a miraculous?” The fox hero questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“...Yes?” Why was she the one that was playing a double agent? Why did she ever listen to Misterbug. The girl should have thrown him out the second the fake hero showed his head. But no, her brother just had to hear him out.

“Then after getting Roaar’s miraculous you came to find us?” Cheshire added on with interest.

“Uh-hu,” Purple Tigress nodded while trying to contain her nerves. She could feel a bit of Roaar soothing her nerves. Rena and Cheshire looked at each other for a moment before the cat hero smiled.

“You know what? How about you follow us on patrol and we get to know each other.”

“WHAT!” Rena and Tigress questioned shocked.

“Sure, I mean we can’t be suspicious of everyone. Plus it would be best to keep a close eye on her.” Cheshire waved it off while relaxing on her staff.

“But…” Rena started to protest before pausing to think. “Alright but I want to know your identity.”

“Alright to make it fair Rena can show you her identity in return.” Cheshire offered before mouthing ‘trust me’ to the fox user. The silver fox gave her a look before nodding.

Purple Tigress went over her options in her head. It was a chance to earn their trust plus learn one of the heroes' identities. “Okay, I guess that would be fair.”

“Alright, let’s go find a place for you two to detransform.” Cheshire gave a smile as she used the baton to leave the area. The two followed the other hero to a secluded area where after looking around the black cat and fox looked at the tiger. “Seems good if you two want to show each other who you are.”

“Roaar Strips Off.”/ “Trixx Let’s Rest.” An orange and purple light descended from the two revealing Alya and Julika.

“Hmm, now isn’t this interesting.” Cheshire muttered while rubbing her chin.

“Roaar, good to see again!” Trixx greeted with a wide smile. “I see you got another quiet user.”

“Trixx, good to see you got away from that evil cat.” Roaar gave a wave towards the fox who chuckled.

“Am I really that bad?” Cheshire questioned causing the purple tiger to gasp before shooting right in front of her. The cat blinked in shock at the kwamies action before a memory of what her ancestor wrote about said kwami rose in her mind. So when the kwami started their roar Cheshire answered in kind.

“Alya?” Julika questioned not seeming to notice the kwamies.

“Well I never expected to see this.” Alya smirked as she tried to figure out how Cheshire knew they could trust the new girl. “So are you enjoying using the miraculous?”

“Well I mean it is pretty fun.” Juleka mumbled remembering the excitement that coursed through her when transforming for the first time. Before either of the two could say more, two loud roars were heard. Turning they saw Cheshire grinning at a contemplative looking kwami. “What is going on?”

“She is distracted now is your chance!” A blue kwami cheered. Cheshire let out a louder yell that sent Roaar back a meter. “Take that you loud jungle cat!”

“Liiri!” Roaar gasped out, shocked to see the other kwami.

“Oh is that the one you got in America?” Alya happily asked.

“Yes we met up in America!” The eagle reported with a smile.

“They were a big help taking down the villains.” Cheshire reported with a smile.

“Does this mean your Box is okay?” Roaar received a said shake of the head in reply.

“Box?” Alya questioned with a raised eyebrow. No doubt the girl would be clutching a notebook right now.

“Something for another time.” Cheshire waved off with a smile. “For now how about you two transform back and we continue this patrol? I wanted to try using Liiri by themselves.”

“Then why didn’t you arrive using them?” Alya questioned before transforming back into Rena.

“Well I wanted you guys to recognize me when I arrived.” Cheshire explained before letting out a sigh. “Plagg Claws In, Liiri Wings of Liberty!” With a flash of green and Blue a new hero stood before them. The hero had black sleeves and tassels with the main body being white. Her white mask had a yellow nose guard. Behind them was a pair of blue eyes. “What do you think? I based it on a Harpy Eagle?”

“Nice!” Rena smiled while giving a smile.

“What do you mean based on?” Purple Tigress inquired.

“Oh Cheshire informed me that you can change the suit colours based on different types of species of the kwami. Like for Trixx there are a lot of different types of foxes so I got a lot of choices.” Rena explained with a smile.

“Hmm,” Juleka nodded in understanding.

“Well let’s get moving. We have a patrol to get to!” Harpy gave her ‘two’ teammates a smile. Honestly she didn’t think Misterbug would go through with her joke of a suggestion. Speaking of the suggestion the bird had an idea of who the spotter was. That just left the question of which miraculous he had given Luka. While thinking this the hero took a running jump and flew over the roof she was aiming at. “Oops.” This is why she trained with miraculous.

“That miraculous can jump pretty good.” Rena muttered.

“Nah if I remember right the bird has the potential to fly.” A new voice added. The three left on the roof turned to see a floating black kwami.

“What are you still doing waiting around? If you stay out too late then your parents will get suspicious.” Not waiting another second the cat kwami flew forward.

“So that was her kwami?” Rena questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Well I hope you join us but if you need to leave I get it.”

“I probably should go.” Purple Tigress muttered. “I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“Alright, I’ll let Cheshire know. Get home safe, don’t want another miraculous being stolen today.” The fox mumbled the last part not intending for the other to hear. “God I hope Cheshire isn’t taking it too hard.” With that Rena followed after the cat hero. “Wait up you bird brain!”

A few moments after they left Tigress returned home. Her mind was going over not only what she learned but also everything that had happened today. “So given that you still have your miraculous I guess they trust you?” Viperion questioned when they landed on the meetup point.

“Yeah, I think they trust me. Though I did have to show them my identity.” The tiger admitted.

“That’s okay, you got their trust.” Misterbug offered with a smile. Honestly Juleka felt a little bad about working with him but hey it got her powers. Plus she was technically spying on the two.

“So did you find out any information?” Her brother questioned. Juleka nodded and started explaining about the different things they had explained. “So I could pick a different type of snake to use for transformation?”

“Is that how Kitsune has a black costume?” Misterbug mumbled while rubbing his chin.

“Makes sense, there are multiple types of black foxes.” Viperion offered with a shrug.

“Thank you two. I need to head out and talk to my kwami about this.” With that the red clad hero swung off.

The twins watched the fake hero leave before heading back to their home. “So, what are your thoughts on the setup we have going?” Juleka mumbled to her brother.

“I find it interesting.” Luka admitted while leaving his room to grab some food for Sass. His sister followed along with Roaar. “The songs the kwamies produce are rather interesting. Plus it helped me realize something.”

“Oh what did it help you with?” Sass questioned politely.

“Wait, what is this about songs?” Roaar interjected confused.

“I can hear the songs of people's hearts. Like yours is the loud beating of African drums that speak of strength.” The blue haired guitarist explained while shrugging his shoulders. “Sass is a slow melody that speaks of patients and trying.”

“That seemsss accurate and quite a ussseful ability.” Sass rubbed their chin in thought.

“It is most the time but after Cheshire came to visit I noticed something that I had confirmed today.”

“The person’s heart song is covered by the miraculous isn’t it?” Roaar received a slight nod in reply.

“Well not completely to be more accurate. I could still faintly hear Juleka’s song through the transformation, the same with Misterbug. I don’t think I could identify him outside the mask but it is something.”

“So what did you realize?” The hopeful future model questioned.

“Whoever Cheshire is, she is actively pushing down her other identity to the point where I couldn’t hear their song.” Letting out a sigh the boy thought back to the one interaction he had with the cat. Her song was so pushed down he couldn’t even hear a note from it. He had assumed it would be the same but after hearing Misterbug’s heart song he realized that no it was just her.

“What does that mean?” Juleka seemed lost in thought.

“I was hoping you could find out.” Luka returned with a pleading expression. It was pretty obvious that this was bugging him. So with a nod the quiet girl agreed. Besides, if something was wrong with Paris’s hero then something needed to be done to help them. But that then raised the question of what could be wrong with the hero. She always seemed so carefree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel smiled as he and Nathaniel finalized their plan for the horse miraculous. “Yes I believe your idea of using an amok would be the best.”

“Thank you sir.” Nathalie smiled and preened under his praise. “Plus this is a lot safer than one of us using the corrupted miraculous.” They couldn’t use an akuma since the akuma would be used on the kwami. “Have we decided on a time of day to use it?”

“Tomorrow, later in the evening. That way Adrien shall be safely inside the manor should anything go wrong.” There was no way Gabriel would risk his precious son with something that might not even work. Part of Gabriel was yelling at him to not go through with this. That something horrible would happen. But he largely ignored that part, after all what could go wrong when his mission was pure?

Notes:

Sorry about the shorter chapter. The Last Akuma of the season is next chapter so look forward to that.

Chapter 48

It was midday, it was peaceful, flowers were blooming, children were playing, and the birds were singing. Truly it was a beautiful day, Gabriel only felt a little bad for what he was about to do. Standing on a roof as Hawkmoth the man took in a deep breath. “Adrien is safely in the mansion?”

“His bodyguard just texted back that he is with him in his room.” Mayura stated while pulling out a feather. Hawkmoth nodded and placed a knight helmet down on the roof.

“Then let us begin.” Hawkmoth looked at the top of his cane where an akuma was waiting. Mayura charged a feather before letting it float down onto the helmet. The helmet was covered in magic as a blue knight with white dots formed. “Nighty Knight put these on. Then tell the kwami to stay still.”

“Yes sir.” Putting on the miraculous the knight moved his helm to place the miraculous where its face would be. With a flash the kwami formed and after blinking sent a rather heated glare at them. “Kwami by the orders of the king you shall stay still!”

“What is going on?” The kwami glared at Hawkmoth with heat.

“Oh we are about to conduct a test but first we need to get you in the mood.” Hawkmoth smiled at the kwami. “Besides I thought you would appreciate a reminder of one of your users.” Kaalki glanced back at the unmoving knight and flinched. “Nooroo told me about how Darkblade defeated them then used your ‘Precious’ knight as an example. Did he make you watch?”

“Shut up.” Kaalki muttered with a hiss.

“Was that the first user you watched die at the hands of a cat?” Hawkmoth questioned before tapping his cane. Upon not getting a response Hawkmoth turned to the amok. “Make them answer me.”

“Kwami, you will answer every question the king or queen answers truthfully.” Kaalki flinched as the command took effect.

“Three, three of my chosen have been killed by a cat.” Kaalki muttered quietly to herself.

“Three that you let die because your miraculous is so weak.” Mayura stated while walking around the kwami.

“My miraculous is not weak! It might not be the best combat miraculous but it is good at controlling the battlefield.”

“Then those who used your miraculous were weak.” Hawkmoth fell into the practiced motion. “Like the one that let Neko get away.”

“Uma and Tentachu fought their best.” Kaalki hissed out with heat.

“Yet they stood by and watched as the first chosen of the ladybugs died.” Mayura smirked at Kaalki’s flinch. “How long after was it that they succumbed to their injuries?” Seeing the kwami hesitating to respond Hawkmoth sent out the akuma from his cane.

“A WEEK! WHAT DO YOU WANT!” The kwami screamed, forced to answer due to the order placed on them. Mayura whispered into her fan. Knighty reached into their helm to bring out the miraculous.

“So that is two users you watched die?” Hawkmoth nodded as the glasses moved so it was touching the miraculous.

“Kwami you will touch the miraculous and not let go.” Kaalki followed the order.

“How pathetic of a kwami. So useless that they could only watch their precious chosen die.”

“I couldn’t do anything else!” The kwami clearly wanted to move, to shout in his face but it was impossible at the moment due to the orders. It was at that moment that the akuma landed on the miraculous. The dark magic flowed through the miraculous but it was slow to grab hold onto Kaalki. Gabriel could feel the energy being held up by a wall of some kind.

“Kwami you will let yourself be akumatized.” The amok declared and Gabriel felt the defenses lowered a bit. Gritting his teeth Hawkmoth pushed more power into the akuma. Something in him was yelling not to do this but he pushed on. The wall crumpled and the kwami screamed as the black bubbles crawled over them.

“Nuckelavee you shall go and get the miraculous that has killed so many of your users.” While saying this the amok placed the glasses back under its helm.

“Yes, Hawkmoth!” The bubbles hell off the now corrupted kwami. The kwami now had red eyes and it’s colour was a gross brown earth colour. It’s white mane was now patchy and wet. “The cat will not escape this time. Then I shall bring all evil users to justice.” Knowing that he was being called out Gabriel decided to try and rain in the kwami.

“Nuckelavee you will obey me!”

“Kwami you will obey the king.”

“No, we are doing things my way!” The akumatized kwami shouted with an ear piercing noise as it turned into a ball and shot toward the amok. Deciding that it would be best to vacate the area for now Hawkmoth and Mayura left. As the amok was forcefully transformed it screamed. It screamed so loud that even a block away the two users could hear it.

“Lock down the mansion!” Hawkmoth didn’t even need to say anything as Mayura had already locked down his home. Hopefully the cat will take care of this for them.

“You think you can escape justice! All shall be punished! This city will be flattened!” Nuckelavee now in control of the amok shouted. “Voyage!”

~~~~~~

Fu had been preparing for the worst ever since the kwamis had gone crazy. Something had happened to Kaalki and the guardian was already preparing to run at a moment's notice. The notice can be in the form of a portal forming in the middle of the shop.

“Faker, give me the miraculous box.” The demon who walked through the portal demanded. Fu didn’t even dignify it with a response, instead choosing to run. “You can’t run from me!” But he did anyway.

~~~~~~~

Adrien was sitting down in front of the piano going through the motions. Tikki sat on top of the piano happily listening to him play. The kwami always loved hearing her chosen play, when he felt like playing. Right now when the boy was just going through the motions it wasn’t fun to listen to.

As she was listening though a feeling of wrongness went down her back. Something has happened. Focusing on the feeling Tikki’s stomach dropped as she felt something wrong in the order of the world. Focusing a bit more Tikki could almost see what had happened. “Adrien, we need to go!”

“What’s up Tikki?”

“Hawkmoth did something to Kaalki!” Tikki could still feel the wrongness in the order of the world. “We have to go now!” Nodding his head Adrien prepared to go out only for the shutters to slam shut on his windows.

“What’s going on?” Running up to the windows Adrien tried to force open the shutters. “Why is the house on lockdown?”

“How are we going to get out now?” The red kwami knew of the house's security system, it was one of the things they had to plan around. After sneaking peeks at the blueprints it had become clear just how much money Adrien’s father had put into it.

“Let’s have another look at those plans!” Adrien stated while rushing to his computer. They needed to get out of here quickly.

~~~~~~

Marinette had been in the process of looking through different doll houses with Pollen and Liiri when all the kwamis went still. After they had figured out what was wrong Marinette was left behind and Cheshire shot out of the window. “Oh I hope they are okay!” Liiri muttered while fidgeting a bit nervously.

“Don’t worry we will save her!” Mullo gave a determined nod. Cheshire had decided to grab all of her miraculous to bring with her. She would need to adapt on the fly for this fight. So despite the kwami telling her not to, she put the three additional miraculous on. The feeling of power flowing through her had been overwhelming for a few seconds but she had forced through it. Kaalki needed her and Cheshire would not fail her.

“My Queen down there!” Pollen pointed down to a roof where Rena and Tigress had landed nearby. Taking a few seconds the cat hero spotted another user on a nearby roof.

“Well let's go meet them.” Cheshire smiled as she landed near Rena. “Hey girls I take it that your kwamis told you what was going on.”

“Yeah, so what is the plan?” Juleka questioned while rubbing her arm.

“Well before I tell you how about we get our little eavesdropper over here?” Looking over to the roof where the other user was.

“Oh crap is there someone up there?” Rena’s eyes shot toward the roof with her hands flying toward her flute. Purple Tigress’s eyes shot between the two of them and the roof where her other teammate was.

“Yeah and they should probably come down so we can plan things out.” After another moment the other user jumped down to land near them. This user was no doubt the snake user given the scaly look of his suit and the colour. “Greeting snake.”

“Viperion, nice to meet you.” Sticking out his hand Cheshire didn’t shake it but instead nodded at him.

“Any news from Misterbug?” Receiving a shake of the head Cheshire let out a sigh. “Let me know when you get any news. For now I want you three to focus on protecting the citizens. Get them out of danger and keep them safe.”

“And let you fight the akuma alone?” Rena questioned, offended.

“This akuma is too dangerous and you guys aren’t experienced enough. If needed, and can safely do it, you may support from the sideline. But focus on protecting the civilians.” Cheshire stressed before turning where she heard the sounds of screaming. “Paws and scales on the ground! We have people to save!” Rushing forward Cheshire threw herself toward where the sound of gunfire was.

Focusing on the sounds she was able to easily find the scene where a dirty brown knight with patches of white tore through the police. The akuma was swinging a sword that sent out blasts of air. Whenever they got close enough to grab something that something was picked up and thrown whether it be cars, light poles, or people. With ease she landed near one of the cops and pulled them out of the way right when a car was about to crash where they were.

“Thank you Cheshire.” The policeman said but the hero barely paid attention instead more focused on the still rampaging akuma. Moving again the girl rushed and grabbed Rogers right before the akuma could slam into them. Placing Rogers down the cat ignored what he said and turned back to the akuma to see what it was doing.

“Oh the snake is here? Not the one I was looking for but it shall do.” Following her eyesight Cheshire saw Viperion helping rescue some civilians who were trapped by a thrown car. Not giving anyone to say anything the akuma charged forward at insane speeds with their sword drawn. Having to react just as quickly Cheshire slammed into Viperion just in time to block the akuma with her arm not having time to get her baton.

“Get Viperion out of here! Hawkmoth is after them!” Cheshire informed the other miraculous user. The cat hero could feel her arms start straining under the force being put on them. The akuma withdrew from the strike giving the hero a chance to draw her baton. Her arm was slightly hurting from the attack but she had no choice but to put it aside for Marinette to deal with.

“Mirage!” Orange smoke flowed around them before parting to show a kingdom in the distance.

“You think mere illusion will draw me away from my quest fox! You are foolish!” The horse knight stated before turning back to see Purple Tigress running away with Viperion. “Where are you running snake! Where can you run from the being of teleportation!” The akuma attempted to prove it’s claim only to be interrupted by a baton slamming into them.

“Sorry but I cat-n’t let you do that.” Cheshire stated while her mind decided on a course of action. “Rena, how is the evacuation going?”

“The police have evacuated the area!” Rena stated as she landed near the other girl.

“I will deal with you then I will go after the snake!” The akuma shouted before it moved.

“Plagg-” Cutting herself off the girl dodged out the way of the sword swing which left a deep cut in the ground.

“Whoa!” Rena shouted in shock with her eyes flying wide.”

“Rena retreat! Recharge Trixx and reconve with Viperion and Tigress!” Moving into the akumas guard Cheshire took over distracting the akuma. She managed to keep its attention for a few seconds by blocking its attacks.

“Got it, I will be back soon!” Rena shouted before running off. “You better stay safe, hero!”

“Don’t worry we will watch over her!” Mullo shouted back before turning back to the akuma. She could see her pup’s arms shaking at having to hold back the strike. The akuma started pressing its advantage by marching forward and pushing the hero back. “Don’t give up!”

“Dig in your heels my queen!” Pollen encouraged while patting her cheek. Taking Pollen’s words to heart she dug in her heels. While she was no longer being pushed back it was becoming clear that this weapon lock could no longer hold.

“Charge!” With fluttering of wings Liiri charged forward to distract the akuma. Said akuma moved to grab the kwami which was what he wanted. Taking advantage of this Cheshire shrunk her baton and rolled to the side. “Don’t give up! We will rescue Kaalki!”

“I don’t need rescue!” The knight horse shouted, shocking the kwamis and heroes. “And my name is Nuckelavee now!” With that it reached down and grabbed Cheshire. “Now stay out of the way! I have a mission to complete!” With that the girl expected to be thrown only for the akuma to gently place her down on the ground. “Sorry about earlier but it seems I got lost in the fight and energy of the akuma.”

“Wait, doesn't Hawkmoth want my miraculous?” Cheshire questioned.

“He does but I have no need for them. No doubt that vile man wants your’s and the ladybug’s miraculous to use the Wish.” Nuckelavee informed the girl who looked stunned. “For me however I do not want to Wish my problems away I want to solve it with my own hands!”

“‘Solve it with my own hands’?” Pollen muttered while Cheshire tried to focus on what the akuma was after.

“I shall avenge my users and end the legacy of the black cat by defeating the one who started it all!”

“‘The one who started it all’? But the first of the black cats was Neko and he is long gone. So how could you solve it with your own hands?” Mullo tapped their chin in thought before an idea came to them. “Unless you went back in time…”

“Kaa-” Liiri began only for the akuma to cut them off.

“I shall do what is needed to save my chosen!” Nuckelavee shouted with fury as she swung her sword with force. The sword easily cut through a car that was in the way.

“You are after Fluff and Sass?” Cheshire stated as what the kwami was after became clear. They wanted to go back in time and take out the first cat thus preventing every cat after them, including her.

“Stay out of the way, I have a faker to find.” With a snap a portal formed in front of them. Acting on instinct Cheshire shot her baton to block them from entering the portal. “So that is how it's going to be. A hero to the end.” Nuckelavee grabbed the baton and attempted to fling both her and it away.

The second the akuma had grabbed the baton Cheshire had let go and tried to get out of the swing only to still get smacked in the hip by it. The strength of the attack sent her rolling into a lamp. “Me-owch.” Rubbing the spot she had been hit, the cat tried to stand up using her other arm. The arm that she had blocked the sword with. Letting out a moan of pain the girl forced her way through it. She couldn’t lose Plagg. She wouldn’t lose the kwami who saved her.

A beep came from Nuckelavee’s gauntlet that drew the horse’s attention. “So that is where they are.” Cheshire felt herself grabbed by strong arms that she couldn’t fight. “Enjoy the last moments before the timeline is reset.” With that the corrupted kwami opened another portal near the edge of the bridge. “Say hi to your parents.” Then she was once more thrown away like trash as the akuma departed.

As she was thrown through the air the cat saw the portal getting closer. “Bread!” Liiri yelled as he tossed her baton. Grabbing it she extended it just in time to avoid the portal. Rolling the girl grabbed the edge of the bridge before she fell into the water. Lifting herself up the girl let out a groan of pain. “Are you alright little bird?” Giving a nod Cheshire let out a groan as she got comfortable.

“You took some heavy hits, are you okay?” Pollen questioned the girl who took a deep breath.

“I could use unify and the rush could relieve some of the pain.” The girl reasoned as she tried to think past her headache. The guilt of what happened to Kaalki, the possibility of losing plagg and all her memories of him. It was just too much.

So she pushed it away. Marinette could deal with it but Cheshire needed to think clearly. Taking another deep breath the hero considered her options. Pollen could immobilize, Mullo offered numbers, and Liiri could fly. All options to consider. Speaking of considering, where was Misterbug? She knew he would not leave his allies out to hang like that, so where was he.

“My queen?” Pollen questioned as Cheshire shook those thoughts off.

“Sorry I got lost in thoughts.” Getting to her feet she gave the three kwamis a smile. “Come on we got a friend in need of saving!”

Notes:

Sorry this took awhile to come out. This chapter really fought with me. Hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 49

Alya landed on a nearby roof thankful for Cheshire giving her an opportunity to recharge Trixx. “Rena!” Turning she saw both Tigress and Viprion land near her. “Are you okay? Where is Cheshire?”

“She is holding off the akuma. I needed to head out to recharge Trixx.” Rena informed before glancing at the snake user. “So why is the akuma after you?”

“No idea. My power only lets me loop time to the point where I activate it.” The snake explained with a serious expression.

“Sounds useful.” Giving a nod the three heard a beep reminding her of why she broke away. “I need to head off now. I’ll be back soon.”

“We’ll go with you. It is best if we stick together.” Tigress proposed to which Alya had to agree. Well she would have if not for one thing.

“Sorry but I would rather not expose my identity to one of Misterbug’s allies.” Viperion laughed and rubbed the back of his neck at what the fox had said. There was no way that he was telling her that he already knew her identity.

“I could look away while you detransform, Tigress can keep an eye on me.” The snake responded while the blogger considered it. Another beep from her miraculous let them know that time was short.

“Alright let's get moving.” Rena nodded at the idea. But as they were leaving a portal opened. They saw the akuma coming towards them only to be stopped by Cheshire blocking them. “Move!” With that the three of them ran as best they could. Rushing to an abandoned building Rena found a spot to hide and detransform.

“Ah, so how are things going?” Trixx questioned while Alya fished for some food.

“Don’t know, hopefully Cheshire is holding up well.” The reporter handed the fox some jerky.

“The kit is strong. I'm sure she is holding up well.”

“Trust your kwami Rena. Cheshire’s heart song is strong.” Viperion let out a huff as he tried to reassure himself with that comment.

“Oh are you Sass’s new holder?” Trixx flew around and seemed to study the boy. “Wait, what is this about heart songs?”

“I can hear the songs of people’s hearts.” Viperion explained while Trixx nodded their head. “It helps me-”

“Figure out what type of people you are dealing with and how people are feeling.” The orange kwami finished. “Interesting, well we best get back to work. I can still feel that Kaalki is corrupted.”

“Trixx, Let’s Pounce!” With a flash Alya let out a sigh as she felt the energy course through her as she became Rena Rouge again. “Alright let’s go… What the heck are we going to do?”

“Cheshire said to keep Viperion safe so we just need to protect him.” Purple Tigress mumbled. Rena was sure that if she didn’t have enhanced hearing than the fox was sure she would have missed it.

“Well the akuma is-”

“Here!” The akuma announced as they landed right behind her. “Now hand over Sass.”

Alya attempted to swing at them with her flute only for the akuma to easily avoid them. As she followed through on the swing though the girl felt a shove on her back as the akuma shoved her off the building. Alya screamed as she fell.

Nuckelavee didn’t care. They were close to their objective, to a way to get to the past. A way to correct all the mistakes that had happened. Speaking of they tapped their gauntlet. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” It was already bad enough she had hurt Bread but now having to fight the users of her fellow kwami was not something she wanted but it was best she got it done now rather than give Bread a chance to find her way back.

The girl was a hero to her core. One she didn’t mind having as a guardian, hmm maybe another mistake to correct. Yes she would make it up to the girl and give her exactly what she always wanted. Yes that was a lovely idea, a great future that the two in front of her were preventing.

“Second Chance!” The snake called out as sweat started forming on his brow. No doubt he had reset the time again and again trying to either fight her or run away.

“Tell me boy, how many times are we up to now?” She didn’t get a response as the snake leaned over and whispered to the tiger. Fool, like they would give them time to plan. Charging forward the akuma prepared to slash down only for the two to dodge out of the way. “Gallop!” With that they appeared first by Roaar’s holder swinging their gauntlet right at the girl who turned around to try and hit him with her Bolas only for her to teleport again. The follow throw of the hit was prevented as Sass’s user moved the girl out of the way. Changing locations again Nuckelavee instead swung her sword. They rolled out of the way letting the blade slice through the roof.

Viperion heard his miraculous beep and moved to get out of the way of the akuma’s next attack. He had to keep dodging and moving, there was no way the two of them could defeat the akuma. Him and Juleka had tried, many times. So after a disastrous attempt he had shifted his plans to escape. In a few more seconds this will be the longest he has survived. Moving again Luka gave his twin a nod and she threw her weapon like they had planned.

The string and balls flew forward and wrapped around the legs of the akuma. The musician felt his heart drop as the akuma prepared to teleport again. Luka knew from observation that the akuma could use ‘Gallop’ to teleport to wherever they saw but only if they could move. Or that was what he believed. If the build up of energy was any indication then they could just do as they please. Still that didn’t matter because…

“Coming through!” A new, and thankfully familiar voice, shouted as a black and green blur slammed into the akuma. Said akuma blocked with a shield they pulled from their back.

“Griffin! Back from New York so soon?” Nuckelavee seemed a bit shocked to see the girl.

“Nah, I couldn’t leave my nest unprotected.” Griffin gave a smile while kicking off of the shield. “So I canceled my flight to take care of my friend.” With a flick the cat/eagle took out her baton and spun it. As it passed by her foot brown/white energy travels from her boots to the baton. The baton now had what looked like talons made from energy on the top.

“Griffin, be careful she can teleport to where she can see.” Hopefully this time it will work out. A little more and this would be the longest he survived. Reaching down Luka felt his nerves start getting to him as he plucked at the strings of his lyre.

“Tigress, get him out of here!” Griffin shouted as she swung the scythe around to keep the akuma on it’s guard. Knowing not to fight Viperion instead grabbed his sister and moved to the left. If he stayed around the snake knew that he would either be captured or a hindrance. So with that he ran behind cover.

The sound of combat sounded out but Luka didn’t relax. He remembered that this akuma can literally teleport meaning he wasn’t safe. Unless… It would be risky but worth it. So with that he dragged his sister into an alley and transformed back into Luka. Looking over he saw his sister follow his lead and detransform.

“*Pant*” Sass panted as they tried to catch their breath.

“Get inside, quick.” With little question the kwami flew into his pocket.

“Let’s get out of here.” Juleka mumbled as they left the alley. The twins needed to head somewhere safe.

“Excuse me but could you two assist an old man to a safe place.” An old man wearing a Hawaiian shirt questioned. The Chinese man looked out of breath while the luggage was hastily thrown together. Was he forced to evacuate his home? Luka knew that this akuma was one of the more destructive akumas so it would make sense if he lost his home.

“Sure.” Juleka mumbled as she started walking toward Rose’s house.

“I’m positive that she is okay.” Luka reassured her. Juleka didn’t respond but he saw her slightly relax. “But you should try calling your friend Alya.” The girl stopped for a second before nodding. The girl pulled her phone out ready to call only to blink as a call came in from Rose. It was barely a second later that Juleka was talking to her in her usual way. Luka listened to the talk as he adjusted where they were going.

“Where are we going now?” The man asked as he followed behind them.

“The school is being used as a shelter.” Explaining the new destination Luka glanced back to see worse damage being dealt to the buildings as Griffin continued fighting.

~~~~~~

Misterbug crawled out the vent coughing as he emerged holding a red and black screwgun. “Well I’m out. With about ten pounds of cobweb.” Adrien would definitely have complained to the staff if it wouldn’t have outed him. Speaking of the boy threw his yoyo away from the sight of the cameras. Better to not get caught. Flying off in a random direction Misterbug arrived at a distant rooftop. “Spots Off.” With that Tikki flew out. “Yeah we should have done this earlier.”

“Well nothing we could have done about it now.” Tikki reassured the boy with a smile.

“So what do we do with this?” Adrien questioned while holding up the screwgun.

“Well, it is an already existing Lucky Charm, so probably just a minor Cure.” Before the red kwami could say more though the sound of fighting drew both of their attention. A few rooftops over Cheshire had crashed into a roof and was pulling herself out of a crater.

“Stay down Griffin, all will be well once I’m done.” The akuma announced as they appeared near her.

“I won’t exist once you're done!” Griffin spat as she tried to get to her feet again. Nuckelavee wasn’t having it though as she planted a foot down on her.

“Take solace in knowing that Plagg’s other holders won’t exist either.”

“Tikki, Spots On!” Having heard enough, Misterbug emerged. Grabbing his yoyo the boy threw it only for it to be easily knocked away by the akuma. As the akuma did this though a beep came from her miraculous.

“Ah the faker’s apprentice.” The knight turned towards Misterbug while his yoyo reeled back in. “Tell me, do you know where the pathetic coward is?”

“How do you know about Fu?” Misterbug questioned a bit of worry in his voice.

“How would I know about the man who caused the destruction of the order? The man who gave me to a boy who never had time for me.” The pit deepened as the boy realized just who was akumatized. “Now I must be off.” Shoving their gauntlet to the side a portal opened up. “Please stay down this time foal.” With a surge of speed the akuma was through the portal.

“Kwami can be akumatized?” Misterbug questioned as his mind flew into a frenzy. Did this mean Tikki could be akumatized?

“Apparently.” Griffin muttered as she attempted to get up. She stopped herself though and fell back into the crater Nuckelavee had made for her. Her eyes closed as her body seemed to relax. This was the perfect chance, Cheshire was down and beaten. He could take her miraculous right here and right now. Walking closer to her Misterbug reached out only to freeze when he was about to grab her ring. This didn’t feel right, this felt wrong on so many levels.

“What do you think you're doing!” Mullo screamed at him having appeared suddenly.

“Ah, nothing!” Misterbug backed up as Pollen also appeared and turned to look at him.

“To steal from someone who is already weakened.” The bee kwami gave a sad shake of her head.

“Huh, wha?” Griffin muttered as they forced themself awake. Seeing Misterbug watching her, the girl tried moving out of the way only to fall back with a groan. “Damn it.” Misterbug looked at all the miraculous the girl had on her. This was an even better opportunity than he initially thought. He could finally get the bee back and bring Marinette to help him and Master Fu. But… the ugly feeling from earlier was back. Fu would want him to get all the miraculous back. Still though this just didn’t feel right at all.

“The cat is evil.” Misterbug reaffirmed what Tikki and the other kwami had been telling him as he reached for the comb. “This is for the best.” But was it? Would Marinette want him stealing from a somebody who couldn’t defend themself? During a major akuma attack?

But what about the kwamis? Looking over he saw the two kwamis glaring at him. Misterbug felt so conflicted right now he didn’t know what to do.

“Misterbug,” Looking down he met Griffin’s eyes and froze, “I Liberate you of your preconceptions.” Something in Misterbug broke and was pushed away. The girl might have put too much energy in it though as the pendant let out two beeps.

What was he doing? Why was he about to steal from the girl who had saved him on multiple occasions? She could have taken his miraculous on multiple occasions yet had instead saved him. How evil was he that the first chance he got to get hers he took it, during an Akuma attack! They needed all the help they could get! Making a decision the bug hero grabbed the screwgun. “Miraculous Misterbug!” With the typical swirl of ladybugs the tool broke apart and flew down towards Griffin along with a few streams going off somewhere else.

“Ah!” Griffin let out a relieved sigh as the Cure did it’s work. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem. I’m sorry about earlier I wasn’t thinking correctly and let what my mentor and kwami said affect me too much.” The ladybug user offered a hand to the downed hero who just rolled her eyes and got up on her own. “So what did you use on me? I don’t remember any miraculous having a power called ‘Liberate’.”

“The power of the eagle miraculous.”

“Wow, I didn't know there was an eagle miraculous.” Misterbug rubbed his chin as he thought about what had happened. “That means that in three minutes my belief about you being evil will come back.” Letting out a sigh Griffin nodded. “I see, well it is a good thing I healed you then.”

“Griffin!” A new voice called out as Rena landed. “Sorry I’m late!”

“Rena, good to see you okay.” Giving a nod Alya looked and froze at seeing Misterbug.

“Don’t worry I’m on your side for this.”

“Ah, akuma truce right?” Misterbug flinched at Rena bringing that up. It hadn’t been that long ago that he had hid behind that very line. Getting an idea Misterbug brought out his bugaphone and started typing. “So where is the akuma?”

“No idea and that confuses me.” Griffin admitted while stroking her chin in thought. Taking the chance Rena pressed a few buttons on her flute that brought up a holographic screen she started using. “Even if Kaalki was akumatized she would still need to know where she was going to use Voyage yet she used it multiple times.”

“Huh, that is confusing.” Misterbug nodded as he thought about the akuma. “Plus how she changed her weapon.”

“Her weapon? What about it?” Rena questioned as Griffin seemed to realize something as well.

“Yeah she hasn’t used the horseshoe once since becoming an akuma.” Griffin nodded as another beep from the eagle miraculous sounded out. Flinching a bit, Misterbug picked up speed on his typing.

“But if she doesn’t have the horseshoe than where is it?” Rena muttered out what everyone was thinking.

“Purr-haps she is using it somehow.” Griffin nodded as the thought occurred to her. “Kwamis are linked to their miraculous so maybe she is using it to spy.”

“That could be how she was able to teleport to Viperion!” Alya muttered in realization.

“Which means he never got away.” Griffin added on in horror. The three looked at each other before they bursted into motion.

“I’ll contact Tigress!” Hopefully they will get there in time.

Chapter 50

Fu walked with the two chosen by Adrien. Luka and Juleka the man believed their names were. They were escorting him towards the school that had become a shelter. Looking down, the guardian saw Wayzz peeking out of his shirt pocket. The man let out a breath as the events of today came forward. It had been a horrifying surprise when the akumatized kwami had come through the portal demanding the miraculous. It had taken all of his training to escape with the box but he had done it. Though it had taken a few years off his life.

“Juleka!” A short blonde girl rushed up to Juleka and engulfed her in a hug. “You're okay!”

“Of course I am.” The goth responded back, returning the hug. “Let’s get inside, I don’t want to be caught by the akuma.”

“Right, let's get going!” Rose dragged the girl inside. Juleka glanced back at the others who followed them inside. “Come on, the others are waiting on us.” Entering the school they saw that it was true. The second they got inside the principal of the school locked the doors of the school.

“Ah, Fu, was your house hit by the akuma attack as well?” Damocles questioned to which the guardian nodded.

“Yes, I hope Misterbug deals with the akuma soon.” Fu responded to which his part time employer gave him an odd look. It took him a moment to realize why though. In the eyes of most Misterbug was a menace while Cheshire was the hero. Heck there was word going around that the city was planning some sort of gift for the hero. A statue or something from the sounds of it. The mayor and his daughter were opposing it quite strongly though.

Thankfully the others let it pass as the group was escorted to the cafeteria. A few families were gathered together. Fu recognized Kim and Max but the pink haired girl was an unknown to him. As they walked in, Juleka’s phone rang. Looking down she let out a hum. “Oh, Alya is calling? I hope her family is okay.” Rose held her hand over her heart. It seemed as if she was able to understand what the other girl was saying.

“Hello.” The purple haired girl mumbled into the phone.

“Tigress you need to run now!” Alya shouted from the other end. Fu raised his eyebrow at that. How did that girl know that Juleka was Tigress? The girl looked like she was about to respond but was once again cut off. “The akuma is tracking Viperion with their weapon! You aren’t safe.” Luka and Fu froze upon hearing that. Dread creeped up everyone’s spine as a loud crashing noise was heard.

“We are at the school, please hurry!” Juleka muttered into the phone while grabbing Rose. The goth held the smaller girl close as the heavy footfalls of the akuma approaching was heard.

“Well, fate is smiling on me today. To have both of my objectives here for the picking.” The akuma seemed to be smiling as they approached the group. “Now Faker if you would be so kind as to hand over Fluff everything will go much easier.” With that they slammed their sword down in front of Fu. The stone shattered beneath the strike sending debris flying everywhere.

“Who are you? How do you know about Fluff?” Fu questioned as he backed up. For that matter, how did they even know where he lived? A few whispers were heard around them as he was revealed to be the guardian.

“Oh do you not remember the kwami that you carelessly gave away to a boy who didn’t care a thing about them? Who after being akumatized and losing me to the ‘evil’ black cat just used his hero cararee for fame!” The akuma screamed at the guardian who just went pale.

“Kaalki.” Max muttered while his mother pulled him into a hug.

“It’s Nuckelavee now, and I shall right the wrongs done against me and my chosen.” Looking at Max with a sharp glare the akuma let him know that he was not one of her chosen. The boy was lucky he even considered him a user. “Now don’t make me do something neither of us regret!”

“I’m sorry.” A voice called out, stopping Kalaaki. Turning they saw Alix standing up. “I’m sorry that you got captured by Hawkmoth due to me.”

“There is no need for forgiveness. I know you fought long and hard. You put in more practice than others.” Nuckelavee brushed them aside before vanishing and reappearing in front of Fu. “No you don’t Faker.” Reaching down the kwami grabbed his wrist. The wrist that held his miraculous.

“Why do you keep calling the guardian that?” Wayzz questioned appearing near the akumatized kwami.

“We both know why. It just took Plagg pointing it out.” With a firm tug they removed the miraculous from his wrist. “Now that you have no way of running I demand you hand over the watch!”

“If you wanted to know the time you could have bugged me about it.” Misterbug’s voice rang out as he landed near them. “So how about you stop horsing around and hand over the akuma.”

“So even the holder of Tikki stands in my way.” With force the akuma tossed the Faker aside. As she did so though his backpack became dislodged spilling its contents. As they spilled out the old sonogram broke revealing the miraculous box. “Now that is a quiet covenant.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Griffin swooped in and grabbed the box.

“So you are still up and fighting! Truly filly you are incredible.” Nuckelavee praised with a smile in her voice. “I truly wish this could have gone differently.” With a flash of light the akuma began to chase after the flying hero.

“Hopefully Rena can keep this up for a while.” Misterbug muttered as a group of Multicat’s moved the miraculous box out of the way. The boy was glad that even when she had let go of Liiri’s power his head stayed clear.

“As long as she can keep Kaalki in sight, it should be good.” MultiCat whispered as they watched the fake Griffin swoop and dive out of the way of Nuckelavee’s strikes. The akuma would appear in random spots in the air before slightly falling just to teleport again.

“They might get suspicious about the illusion not fighting back soon.” Looking down he noticed that a few were missing. Before he could voice his confusion about where the rest were, the question was answered as the others came with the turtle miraculous held between them.

“Here, use this!” They told him as they offered it up. “Unify and start getting the civilians to safety!” Taking the miraculous Misterbug looked and saw the others running out while Fu was recovering. “Solitude.” The MultiCats all glowed as they recombined into one while the mouse miraculous blinked again.

“Yeah that shouldn’t be a problem.” Putting on the miraculous Adrien tried to remember the few lessons he had on Unify. The boy would have preferred to get Bixi but she was too far away and he would hate the thought of Marinette being in danger. So he put on the miraculous and felt a surge of energy travel through his veins. It was a bit uncomfortable but nothing he couldn’t deal with. Turning to the other girl he saw her looking at the box with a deep frown.

“A fake!” A shout from above drew their attention as they saw the akuma with orange smoke around them. “Where are you?” Looking down they saw Misterbug and MultiCat with the box between them. “Clever.” With a flash they were suddenly right behind the mouse/cat and bug. “But not good enough.” With a swing the two dove apart from each other but in doing so some of the miraculous went flying out.

“What is happening?” Xuppu questioned as he was ejected from the box.

“Told you something bad was happening!” Barkk yelled before gasping as they saw Nuckelavee. “Oh this is worse, a lot worse.”

“Misterbug grab the-”

“Rena, Kim grab the miraculous and get the guardian out of here.” Misterbug called and Kim was quick to grab the headband. The ladybug user felt his mind becoming clouded over as the effect of the eagle came over him. Already he could feel a need to turn on MultiCat or Rena. But saving Kaalki and protecting the civilians were way more important! Even Tikki would agree.

Rena jumped down and blocked a strike from the akuma but buckled under the strength. “Xuppu Show Time!”

“You again?” The monkey kwami complained as they were sucked into the miraculous.

“Oh how wonderful that I get a chance to get a chance to face the one who has inflicted so much pain to my filly!” While saying this the akuma once again grabbed Rena and threw her towards Fu. “I suppose I can spare some time for you.” With another flash the akuma appeared before King Monkey and lashed out with a kick. The strength of the kick sent the monkey hero flying.

MultiCat went over the options in her mind. Mullo was a great kwami but they weren't combat focused miraculous. So with that in mind, “Mullo Divide!” Mullo flew out of her miraculous with a pant. “Mullo Liiri watch the box. Make sure the other kwami are okay!” Getting up her feet Cheshire looked to her only unexhausted kwami. “Pollon are you ready to go?”

“Yes I am my queen.” Pollon gave a firm nod.

“Huh, queen, how funny that royalty is the one rescuing a knight.” Cheshire let out a slight laugh. Pollon let out their own humorless laugh. “Pollon, Plagg, Unify!” With that Queen Noir combined their weapons and spun it around. “You ready Misterbug?”

“Call me Red Shell.” The red and green hero smiled while bringing his shield up.

“Eh, better than Misterbug.” Queen gave a shrug while Rena rejoined them.

“I am so tired of being thrown!” The fox huffed while glaring at the akuma who had taken King Monkey’s staff. “Well at least I’m doing better than others.”

“Hey I’m doing good!” King Monkey yelled at them while Nuckelavee made a lunge for the box. With one hand they blocked a strike from the ape while sending a kick to the red hero.

“Whoa, they are strong!” Shell dug in his heels to not get pushed back too far.

“Lock them down for a second!” Queen Noir shouted as planted her feet. A knotted rope flew over them and wrapped around the akuma pinning their arms in place. “Venom!” With that the top enlarged and she sent it shooting towards the akuma.

“Kickback!” A portal appeared in front of them and the attack was sent back towards them at double speed.

“Really!” Queen Noir shouted as she jumped out of the way. King Monkey grabbed the spear and caught it. But by grabbing it the yellow energy coursed through him and the boy collapsed. “Really?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow. Pollon’s comb blinked

“So Roaar’s user is here too? Then Sass’s must be too.” Nuckalvee let out a huff before flexing. “Hmm these restraints are quite annoying.” With a flash they disappeared leaving the ropes behind. With that done she appeared before the box raising her shield. Reaching down she opened up a drawer and grabbed the miraculous while another shield slammed into hers. “I take it back, the snake is not here.” Stepping away from the box just as Queen landed her spear back in her hands. “Stay back filly!”

“What is going on!” Fluff questioned while looking around confused.

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know what I want Fluff.” Nuckalvee looked at the white kwami who just blinked. Before anything else could happen the miraculous was knocked out her hand by a yellow tipped spear. The watch was than grabbed by Red who then dove out of the way. “NO!” They attempted to grab it back only for Mullo and Liiri to fly in her way.

Queen Noir felt her mind working over itself. The only kwami she had left that wasn’t tired was Plagg and she knew that the akuma was more than likely in her miraculous, again. So with a deep breath the bee cat also dove to the box and grabbed a miraculous. “Oh hello young…” The red horned kwami kwami stopped themself upon seeing who now held her miraculous. “You!” The kwami’s voice went low with heat visible.

“Pollon Divide!” With that Pollon flew out before gasping at seeing her put on another miraculous.

“Longg please lend me your power so I can save Kaalki!” Cheshire pleaded to the kwami of perfection.

“To lend my power to a cat.” The dragon muttered before glancing at the akumatized kwami who now was going after Red Shell who was playing defense. Tigress and Rena, who was down to two minutes, were supporting him the best they could.

“Longg, please put the tragedies of the past behind.” Pollon pleaded while Cheshire seemed to realize something.

“I’m sorry for what Plagg did. I’m sure he would apologize to if he could.” The girl glanced at the battle and winced a bit as Rena’s miraculous let out another beep. The girl was down to her last minute. So with regret the fox had to retreat from battle. Tigress followed after her no doubt to keep her safe. “Please Longg, lend me your power so we can save our friend.”

The red kwami glanced at Pollon who nodded. “Very well I shall lend you my power young one.”

“Thank you.” Cheshire gave the dragon a bright smile before focusing once more on the battle. “Plagg, Long, Unify!” With that Cheshire’s costume changed, gaining a long red eastren dragon along her side along with scaled black boots and gauntlets. She also had small horns next to her cat ears. Her hair also now contained a few red streaks. Drawing the red blade the girl glanced at it for a few seconds before grasping both her sword and baton. With a swing red and black energy coursed through the weapons combing them together. The sword was now red and silver with both the dragon symbol on one side and the cat paw on the other.

Charging forward the whiskered dragon swung down letting the blade expand. The lengthened blade slammed into Nuckalvee. The akuma took a few steps back while growling. Blocking another hit from King Monkey the akuma grabbed him and opened a portal. “Get out of here!” With that they tossed the ape through the portal which closed the second he was through. Turning they looked at the two unified heroes. “Well it seems that you two are the only ones left.”

“Turtle buggaboy, don't you think it’s time to pull out the lucky charm?” The black and red clad girl questioned.

“Buy me some time.” Red requested while glancing at her unified weapon. How did she do that? How could he do it?

“Don’t worry I’ll handle it. I’m extremely talon-ited.” With that she stood in front of them.

“Yes you are my filly.” Nuckelavee nodded while walking forward. “Though I must question what you plan to do little Jabberwock.”

“Jabberwock, eh? Yeah that works for this form.” Nodding her head Jabberwock shrunk the blade down to the size of a dagger. “You obsessively outdo me in fighting experience.”

 

“Being alive and fighting alongside legends does that.” Nuckelavee nodded before moving and swinging her blade. The blade being too fast to dodge the hero blocked with the blade that expanded to about two feet in length.

“So the best course is to change the avenue of attack.” Jumping back and letting the indestructible metal scrape against each other Jabberwock looked back as the Lucky charm was summoned. It took the form of a red and black sledgehammer. Looking at it a plan started forming. “Misterbug I got a plan. Quick combine your weapons.”

“How?” Misterbug questioned while looking at her confused.

“Don’t bother, you won’t remember for long.” Nuckelavee rushed forward and Jabberwock dodged her attack.

“Catch!” Tossing the blade at Misterbug the girl took the shield and yoyo. The boy fiddled with the sword for a few seconds before seeming to center himself. Looking down the black dragon furrowed her brows as she examined the two weapons before something seemed to click for her. Grabbing the yoyo she pressed the shield and the girl pressed a button on the yoyo causing light pink wings to unfold from the yoyo. The two weapons seemed to merge as the wings started spinning around the shield. The shield now had a spinning pink edge to it.

“If you have a second.” Misterbug requested as he dueled with the akuma.

“Jump!” Throwing the shield the girl watched as it almost seemed to float as it flew toward Misterbug. Said boy jumped as told and landed on the shield. With a tug the shield, carrying Red Shell, returned to her.

“Thanks!” Jumping off he tossed the blade back as he caught his new shield. “So now what?”

“Attractions, teacup.” Seeming to know what she was talking about he threw down his shield. “Wind Dragon!” With that the girl turned into a wind storm.

“Here we go!” Hopping onto his Unified shield the boy felt the dragon carry him. Sticking out his arms the boy swung the hammer as they came in close to the akuma. As she planted herself behind her shield though the shield was lifted up by the winds. “Heads up!” With a spin the boy did a flip they brought down the entire weight of their hamer.

“Ahh!” With a thunderous crack the helm was split. With that the amok was released. “No more evil doing for you little feather!” Stepping on the shield Misterbug dragged his finger down, opening the unified weapon. Throwing it he caught the corrupted feather as Jabberwock walked towards the disintegrating amok.

“Nononono!” The corrupted kwami shouted as she was forced out of her akuma! “Filly please reconsider! We can work together! Me and you! We can set history right.” Jabberwock looked at the kwami and flinched as she saw the state the kwami was in. Kaalki’s once pristine fur was now matted with patches missing. One of her ears was missing a piece out of it and her hooves were a mess.

“Oh, Kaalki.” Holding her in one of her hands the girl grabbed the miraculous with the other. “You must be in so much pain. Cataclysm.” With that the miraculous was destroyed, releasing the butterfly.

“No more evil doing for you little butterfly!” Once more the shield flew out and captured the akuma. “Bye, bye, little butterfly and feather.” A white feather and butterfly flew out of the unified weapon. Jabberwock held her eyes closed as the second she had released the Cataclysm the kwami she had been holding vanished. “Miraculous Misterbug!”

Once the bugs had passed the girl felt relieved to see Kaalki sleeping peacefully in her palm. “You did it!” Mullo cheered while flying toward the girl. “Kaalki you are alright!” Landing on her palm she hugged the other kwami who just mumbled.

“Let her rest dear.” Pollon told the other kwami as Liiri perched on the girl’s shoulder.

“You returned her freedom to her.” The eagle leaned on her cheek. “But we should make haste before your transformation runs out.” Nodding her head the girl looked at Red Shell who grabbed the box after taking the miraculous back from Kim. The two’s eyes met before they looked away.

With that Jabberwock left heading away. Fu watched her go with a sigh. They had done it, they had rescued Kaalki. Letting out a chuckle, the old man made his way to Red Shell. “Master! You must be here for Wayzz.” The Unified hero stopped when he saw the older man shake his head.

“No, but please bring him and the box to the store.” Fu looked at the next guardian with a sad smile. “I shall see you there soon.”

“Okay?” With that he took off.

“He was a good boy.” Slowly Fu turned and disappeared into the shadows. But while he did that he had a phone call to make. “Hello Marianne… Yes it is as you said. I will hand over my title of guardian to the boy soon but before that I have some unfinished business to do first.” Yes he would apologize to Marinette. It would quite literally be the last thing the Guardian Fu did. But before that he would pack up his house and have one last goodbye with the few kwami in the box and Adrien.

Notes:

Alright about one or two more chapters till the season is over and I still have to decide weather to separate them or just keep one and two together.

Chapter 51

“Nooroo Dark Wings Fall.” Gabriel muttered as he felt his connection to the akuma being cut. “Today was an enlightening experience.”

“I hope you two have learned your lesson.” Duusu waved a wing at them.

“Silence Duusu.” Taking off the miraculous the assistant placed it back into the vault. “It is a shame that the kwami blocked most of our sight. We had the chance to learn so many identities.”

“At least we learned the identity of the guardian.” Gabriel tapped his fingers on the desk. “Though now I must question what he was doing in my mansion.”

“I doubt he knew our identities. If he did then he would no doubt have confronted us or sent his wielders against us.” Nathalie reasoned while Grabrial thought of something else.

“Nathalie please go and confirm that Adrien is still in his room.” It wasn’t a pleasant thought but it was something that would need to be taken care of immediately.

“Right away sir.” With that the woman left the room leaving Gabriel to his thoughts. “How could I have been so blind?”

“Sir?” Nooroo questioned from where he hovered.

“Adrien could possibly have one of the two miraculous I seek.” Gabriel thought back to the earrings that he had seen the boy wearing. Could they have been? But as he thought of the miraculous, another thought came to his mind. “Nooroo, the rabbit miraculous has the power to travel through time correct?”

“...Yes sir.” The kwami was forced to admit.

“I see.” Gabriel turned and looked out the window. “To think there was more than one way to achieve my mission.” To think that there had been other avenues for him to pursue, were there still more that he didn’t know about? Things to look into. After all it is easer to capture one miraculous than having to get two miraculous.

“Sir, I have confirmed that Adrien is still in his room.”

“So he is not Misterbug as I feared.” Gabriel nodded to himself while finally sitting down. “We should keep a low profile for a while.”

“So Mister Pigeon again?” Nathalie questioned with a raised eyebrow. “How many times would that make?”

“According to the Wonderblog it is up close to twenty.” Gabriel admitted while shaking his head. While not his best akuma it at least was a nuisance to Misterbug who was allergic to feathers. “I will admit that while isn’t my best akuma, he is my most reliable.”

“The man is quick to become upset.” With their plans for the future set the two went back to work. Civilian work, bills still needed paying.

~~~~~~~

Adrien let out a breath as he closed the door. It appeared that he had made it home just in time. It was good for him that his father was so sure of the security system that the thought of him escaping was impossible. “Well Tikki we should probably go see Fu.” Not hearing anything from his companion Adrien glanced back at his kwami who was just floating in the middle of the room. “Tikki?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, we should visit Fu.” The little red kwami nodded their head. Adrien wanted to question her but he also wanted to respect her. Surely if something was wrong she would tell him.

“Let us head out then.” Wayzz pressed no doubt eager to get back to the guardian.

“Tikki Spots On.” Once more Misterbug the young hero was about to leave only to notice his yoyo flashing. Raising an eyebrow Adrien thought about answering but one look at Wayzz had him grabbing the miraculous box and heading out the window. Wayzz held on to him as they swung to where the guardian lived. It barely took a few minutes for him to arrive at his destination. After releasing his transformation the boy and the two kwami walked into the room.

“Ahh, good to see you young Adrien.” Fu gave the boy a small smile while he packed up his posections.

“Master!” Wayzz shouted while flying up to the man. Fu smiled as he patted the small kwami.

“Here you go, you’ll probably want this back.” Adrien took off the turtle miraculous that was disguised as a silver bracelet.

“No, you keep it.” Fu held up a hand while shaking his head. “I won’t have use for it much longer.” Wayzz and Tikki gasped while Fu turned around and then passed Adrien some books. “Here you will need these.”

“But master it is dangerous for you to go out without a miraculous!” Adrien pushed the miraculous forward.

With a sigh Fu pushed the miraculous back toward him. “Adrien I don’t need these because I can’t be the guardian anymore.” Adrien felt like somebody punched him. He found it hard to breath and his eyes were stinging. “I’m sorry that our time of parting has come so soon but after this latest akuma I have little doubt that if Hawkmoth and Cheshire don’t already know my identity then they shall soon.”

Heck seeing as the cat was right beside him than she already knew. “You could…” Fu gently placed some books in his hands.

“I’m sorry Adrien but we both know that is impossible.” Placing a comforting hand on the boy the guardian looked him in the eye. “I know that being the guardian is a huge responsibility. One that I haven’t trained you for as well as I should have but I have little doubt that you will do an excellent job of protecting the kwami and the box.”

“But, what about… what if I need to talk to someone? What if I need advice or just to vent?” Adrien questioned while he clung to the books the guardian had given him.

“Don’t worry I’m sure I can talk to Marinette about working with us. But still I get that you need to have a confidant so I will allow you to pick one to share your identity with.” Looking at the boy Fu gave him a smile and pulled him into a hug. “I know you will do great.” That was the last thing Adrien could take so he returned the hug. The two hugged each other tight and afterwards they let the kwamis out so Fu could say his goodbye to them as well.

After all of them had their chance Adrien felt emotionally drained. So with that he transformed back into Misterbug and stored everything Master Fu gave him into his yoyo. “I will miss you hatchling.” Wayzz gave the man one last hug before flying to join Misterbug.

“I will also miss you, Wayzz.” Fu spoke while holding back his own tears.

“We will be heading out now.” Misterbug whispered not having the strength to do much else.

“Adrien I know this is hard now and the pain might never go away but you will get through this. You are strong. I gave Tikki to you for a reason.” With that last little bit of reassurance Adrien left. Once he was back in his room Misterbug fell on his bed. With a flash of red Adrien let out a sigh.

“Today sucks.” He muttered into his pillow while bringing out his phone. He really needed something to take his mind off of this. Seeing the notification on his phone Adrien remembered the notification on his bugaphone. Bringing it up he saw that it was actually a text, from himself. Apparently while he was under the effects of the eagle the past version of himself had decided to text himself.

Curious to what they had deemed so important to text Adrien looked at what he had texted. The message was simple and to the point. ‘What the hell are we doing! Chloe is not our friend and has never been our friend.’ The rest of the text went on to explain just why Chloe was such a horrible, horrible friend to him. ‘Add on the fact that we know she is a manipulative bully so it is likely that she is manipulative towards us as well.’ Was it possible that she was manipulative towards him as well?

The Liberated version of him seemed to think so.

‘Also what the hell are we doing with Marinette!’ The next part of the text questioned what he was doing with Marinette. The girl thought he was a bully already. She flinched in his presence and her opinion on Misterbug was pretty low too. But the other him was right, he needed to turn her opinion around about him. Leaning on his elbows the boy thought about what he could do to turn her opinion around about him. But as he thought about this he also thought about the time when he was under the influence of the eagle. It was weird to look back on. His thought process was his own but also different. “Hey Tikki?”

“Yes Adrien?” The red kwami questioned.

“Cheshire, well Griffin I guess at the time, she used the eagle’s power just on my preconceptions right?”

“Yes, yes she did.” Tikki confirmed while seeming to be lost in her own thoughts. Today had been a lot for both of them.

“Maybe we should rest on it.” Adrien muttered when he realized how much his head was pounding.

“That is the best option, young one.” Wayzz nodded from where he was sitting on one of Adrien’s pillows. Deciding to listen to the green god he got up to start his nighttime routine. Maybe he would know what to do tomorrow. He could also finish reading the text and thinking about how when his pronceptions were gone he happily worked with Cheshire.

~~~~~~~

Marinette felt as though her body hated her. Well it may have hated Cheshire more. Heck she hated her other half as well. Screw leaving all the problems for Marinette to deal with. So forcing herself to stay awake the pigtailed girl made Kaalki as comfortable as she could. She had used the doll house because she wanted to make sure that the kwami was visible if they needed help.

“You should go to bed my Queen.” Pollon flew around her in worry.

“Did you eat?” Marinette questioned the kwami in return.

“We have all eaten chick there is no need to be concerned about us.” Liiri reassured from atop of her head.

“And we can watch over Kaalki for you. So go to bed, Bread.” Plagg reassured while sitting next to the brown kwami. Marinette bit her lip in thought as she considered what Plagg was recesting. Looking at the kwamis Marinette blinked as she saw the red kwami hanging out among them.

“Oh, um, hi there.” Marinette greeted the new kwami.

“Greetings bearer of the cat.” Longg greeted in turn. “I would love to talk with you but I understand that you must require sleep if what Pollon has told me is true.”

“Oh trust me it is true. I’m sure Alya will edit the whole thing together to show the battle.” Trixx reassured with a bit of a strained smile. Marinette had picked up the fox miraculous from Alya so Trixx could help take care of Kaalki. Cheshire had promised to return the miraculous in the morning just in case Rena would be needed in the future. “So rest for now kit.”

Following the instructions of her kwami Marinette started making her way to her bed only to stop at hearing a knock on the door. Walking over to the window Marinette sucked in a breath at seeing who was at the door. “Everyone stay up here.” Carefully walking downstairs Marinette opened the door.

“Ah young Marinette, it is good to see you.” Fu greeted with a bit of a strained smile.

“Did you bring Pollon with you?” Marinette questioned using her goto excuse.

“Sorry but I will never be able to bring you Pollon.” The guardian gave a small shake of his. “May I come in. I wish to talk to you.”

They say curiosity killed the cat. So it was with little surprise that Marinette let Fu in. “Are you giving up on fighting Cheshire?”

“Technically. But in truth I can no longer be the guardian.” Finding their way to a table Marinette moved to the kitchen grabbing the tea kettle that still had some tea in it from when… oh god she might have almost burned her house down. Wait no Plagg or one of the others would have caught it.

“But if you give up the title of guardian then all your knowledge and memories of the miraculous will be erased!” Marinette’s hands shook a bit as she set out some cups.

“With Hawkmoth and Cheshire knowing who I am. It is the only way left I have to protect the miraculous.” Fu stated while taking the kettle to start pouring the tea.

“Is Cheshire really that bad?” Marinette questioned while holding her cup.

“Marinette you have to understand just how dangerous the black cat can be.” Fu attempted to reassure the girl only for her to sigh. “But that is part of the reason I came here though. I wanted to try to end things on good terms.”

“You wanted to make peace before forgetting everything.” Getting a nod, Marinette met his eyes. “When are you going to transfer the title of guardian?”

“When I’m done here I was going to transfer the title to Misterbug.” Fu explained with a sigh.

“Can you promise that under the name of the guardian?” Marinette questioned with a frown as if she was thinking over something.

“I suppose.” Fu wondered what this was about. A promise under the name of the guardian was an absolute rule the guardian could not break without the title of guardian being taken from them. “Under the name of the guardian I promise that I will transfer the title of guardian to Misterbug before I leave.”

Letting out a sigh the pigtailed girl downed her tea before standing up. “Thanks now, please follow me. I think we both need to talk.” With that she waved him upstairs.

With a raised eyebrow Fu followed her up into her room wondering why she wanted him to follow her into her room. Maybe she had just wanted to be more comfortable? “Hey guys come on out.” Marinette shouted into the room while ringing a bell near a Cube. “You should get a chance to say goodbye before the guardian forgets everything.”

“Master?” Longg questioned as her head popped up from a doll house.

“Wait, he is here?” Trixx shouted as he flew near them.

“I can see why he is giving up the title. Truly the title is a heavy burden.” Pollon sighed as she came out of the Cube.

“A burden that frees you when gone.” Liiri added before bowing to him. “Greeting guardian of the mother box.”

“Oh this is so sad. I will miss you Fu.” Mullo sniffed before blowing into Marinette’s hair.

“Good riddance to bad trash. Fakers will not be missed.” A gravely voice spoke as a black kwami with green eyes appeared. Fu fealt his stomach drop as he stared at the girl now sitting down in her room. All these kwami in her room could only mean one thing.

“So do you really think me knowing your identity is a problem?” Cheshire’s secret identity questioned.

Chapter 52

Fu felt like he was drowning in denial. There was no way this was happening! But all the evidence was literally right in front of him. The kwami were literally floating watching him. “I think you broke him, kit.” Trixx commented with a bit of humor in his voice.

“She should also hit him a few times just to make things even.” The creature of his nightmare spoke with a glare directed at him.

“You, you were Cheshire this entire time?”

“I think that would be rather obvious.” Liiri tilted his head while Marinette rolled her eyes.

“How, how did I never notice?” Fu questioned while he looked back in his memories for any hint or something that pointed to her secret. “Where is the ring?”

Reaching down her shirt the girl pulled a rose gold ring out. “Chloe and the others tried to steal it so I hid it.”

“I see, then why did you save me?” Fu questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Because it was the right thing to do.” Marinette replied back while rubbing the ring in between her fingers. The answear was simple and delivered camly. “I didn’t know you were the guardian until Xuppu outed you.”

“But then you came to my shop to help me and Misterbug?” Fu furrowed his brow as he was forced to think over everything.

“You needed to know about the danger of Mayura.” Marinette crossed her arms while her foot taped. “Listen, I did this so you can wrap up loose ends and make peace. I don’t need to explain every little thing I did to you.”

“I suppose I should use the chance you have given me.” Fu let out a breath as he turned to look at the gathered kwami who had been watching the byplay. As he looked over them though the man blinked as he noticed one of them, well two missing. “Where are Kaalki and Mullo?”

“I’m here!” Mullo cried as they flew out of a corner wearing a blue dress. “Trixx wanted me to show you my favorite dress!” When everyone turned to the fox Trixx just shrugged.

“What? I just wanted Fu to see how well Marinette was taking care of us.”

“Ah, in the face of stubbornness, show evidence that can not be denied.” Longg nodded before turning towards Mullo. “That is a different dress then the one you wore when you visited.”

As the kwamis talked, Marinette motioned to the dollhouse. Before looking Fu took a second to think of what Trixx had said and Mullo showed. Taking a breath the guardian walked over to the dollhouse and looked at the bedroom. Inside lay Kaalki on a small bed. “Is she alright?”

“As far as I and the other kwami can tell she is just sleeping.” Marinette ran her finger down Kaalki’s back. Fu watched her interacting with the kwami.

Turning he looked at Trixx who just smiled and waved at him. “Trixx I am happy to see you one last time.” Trixx’s smile softened as he flew up and hugged the man.

“I’m happy to see you too.” Trixx whispered.

“Hug time!” Mullo cried as she flew up to hug Fu. “I’m going to miss you.”

“We will all miss you.” Longg added as she also flew up to the others. “You were a truly great guardian.”

“You did a wonderful job.” Pollen told the man as she also gave the hug.

“No he is a Faker.” Plagg spat while he glared at the guardian. Said guardian looked at the two before deciding to try and settle things between him and the girl.

“I was very young when I was brought into the Order.” Sitting down on the floor Fu fell into memories. “The inner circle would sometimes visit the younger recruits. When they visited they would always bring one of the kwami with them. That was how I first met them.”

“I remember those times.” Trixx mumbled with a huff. “They had us tell them stories of our past wielders, well the ones that conformed to their views.”

“Those jerks wouldn’t let me tell them stories about some of my pups.” Mullo huffed with a pout.

“Indeed they preferred stories to keep others in line and stories about…” Longg begane before turning to Plagg.

“Yes, they made the kwamis talk about how the cat killed or mained their users or choosen.” Fu nodded with a sigh. “Plagg and his wielders became creatures of terror and fear.”

“I think that also caused us to view you a bit more negatively.” Pollen told Plagg with a bit of sorrow. “They made us keep reliving those memories and we unfairly took it out on you.” The other kwami shifted a bit uncomfortably. Plagg didn’t respond outside of a nod. The black kwami kept his glare firmly trained on Fu.

“I can understand everything you have done to my other holders. They deserved every bit of hate you gave them. But Bread? Bread hasn’t done anything wrong.” Plagg settled down onto his kitten’s shoulder. “Yet the second you saw her you deemed her as bad as all the others. You sent out other to take me away from her! Did you ever consider that you were wrong? Of course not because I’m evil and your too cowardly to have considered anything else!”

Fu stayed quiet as he thought over what Plagg had said. “What were you doing out that night? The one where we first met?”

“I was waiting for Bella Blue to show up.” Marinette rubbed her arm as she looked down. Fu was about to ask a question only to stop at seeing Trixx shake his head. “I had helped a few people, you know, get cats out of trees, give directions to lost tourists, and stopping purse snatchers.”

“You know, like a hero.” Plagg stated causing Marinette to smile a little.

“So she was a hero? I knew my queen was the best.” Pollen nodded while looking at the girl.

“Anyway, that was when I saw you. I approached you to ask if you needed help getting across the street.”

“I see, so you were just approaching to ask if I needed help.” Fu nodded his head while having a far away look. Looking back with a bit of a different perspective the guardian could see it. She approached with a joke and a smile. Something to try and put him at ease. “And that’s when I attacked you.”

“Yup, you tried to kill her.” Plagg muttered to himself but Fu still flinched.

“I just reacted, I saw the very being who the Order had built up and all of them feared. I felt the adrenaline fill my veins and I reacted. Just not the way the Order would have wanted.”

“Yeah if I remember right they implemented a run on sight order.” Mullo mused while tapping her chin.

“Well now that we have all that cleared up let’s move on.” Marinette waved it off. “I’m exhausted so I would like to get to bed.”

“Bread… I know you have things you want to say to him.” Plagg looked at the girl who just shrugged.

“I just want to go to bed at this point.” Marinette huffed while Fu started to notice just how exhausted she was.

“Before you do, do you mind if I ask one last question?” Seeing her roll her hand he proceeded. “Is there any chance you could work with Misterbug.”

At that Marinette stared at him a few seconds, blinked, then laughed. “Yeah because I’m the problem. I interrupted akuma fights to try and steal the others miraculous! I’m the one who stabbed the other in the back!”

“Hey kit go to sleep we’ll take it over from here.” Trixx patted the girl on her head.

“I can tell you the story of one of my past pups.” Mullo told the girl who stood up with a chuckle.

“Sure I’ll try not to keep you too long I’m sure you’ll want to say your goodbye.” With that Marinette and Mullo went to her bed. Marinette was happy that her clothes were comfortable enough to sleep in so she wouldn’t need to change.

“Let’s take this downstairs.” Pollen didn’t wait for the others as she flew downstairs.

“Well you heard the bee.” Plagg said before flying down to join the bee. With that the other kwami soon followed. With a sigh Fu followed them down to the living room. Once he did arrive in the room he saw the kwamis sitting around the room. “Alright let’s get the mushy stuff out of the way. I already said my piece.”

“Really?” Fu questioned.

“Not really, I could go for about two more hours but I would rather check on Bread. I will say this though. I will never ever forgive you.” Plagg turned a glare full of venom onto Fu. “I’m glad the Order and everything they stood for is gone. I look forward to the day Misterbug either loses his miraculous or joins our new order so that the entire Order is gone.” With that Plagg flew up leaving the others in the room. Fu huffed his as he settled in to get his last goodbyes out before leaving and making Adrien the guardian.

~~~~~~

Plagg flew up to check on his kitten. The poor girl had overworked herself today and Plagg would make sure that she got as much rest as she would need. “How is she?” The black cat questioned Mullo.

“I just got her to sleep. She must have been more tired than I thought if she fell asleep during my story.” Mullo looked at Plagg with a bit of a sad smile.

“Why don’t you go down and say your farewell. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Giving him a bit more sincere smile the mouse flew off. The room remained quiet as Plagg settled down next to Bread. “You really need to take it easy, Bread. I’m worried about you.” The girl didn’t respond besides letting out a light snore. Plagg slowly closed his eyes only to stop as he heard a sound. Opening his eyes the cat glared at a blue portal opened in the corner of the room. “It’s not her birthday so piss off.”

“I’m late aren’t I?” The woman questioned looking down. “Damnit!” The woman cursed while lashing out with her fist. “Is this some sort of bad joke!”

“Keep it down, we don’t want the others hearing you.” Plagg glared at the woman who had frustrated tears rolling down her cheeks. “Besides, shouldn't you know you didn’t make it? Past you was there.”

“I left early. I was hoping that I could change it this time!” The rabbit huffed out as she slunk over to the bed. The woman looked over the sleeping black haired girl. Plagg hissed at her while his eyes narrowed. “Plagg please calm down, I need to check her.”

“Check her for what? Why should I let you near her!”

“Please Plagg! I need to know if she used that technique.” Plagg blinked back in shock. Seeing her chance, Alix rushed forward and started looking over the girl.

“You can’t mean Catastrophe, she has been using that since day one.” Plagg seemed to be thinking things over. Though he did notice that at the mention of the black wave of healing the woman tensed. After a moment she seemed to relax a little before speaking.

“No, as much as I don’t like that move it wasn’t what I meant.” Looking down, Alix sighed as lifted one of Marinette’s hands to check her hand.

“What technique are you talking about?” Plagg questioned as the only other awake person checked her arms.

“I can’t tell you, just that it is one of her strongest and if used will… change her.” Seeming not to find anything the girl huffed and slumped against the wall. “Good she still hasn’t used it.”

“Well now that you gave your ominous warning leave!” Plagg hissed while pointing to the corner.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m-” Alix stopped at seeing the doll house. Her gaze softened and her eyes started tearing up. “Today is all about shoving failures in my face.”

“Well how about just going in your burrow and leaving us alone. Bread is doing just fine.” Plagg hissed as Alix left, casting one last look at Marinette. Entering the portal Plagg watched as it disappeared.

“So more ominous warnings.” Trixx questioned as he landed near the black kwami. Plagg didn’t respond and instead just laid down. “More ominous warnings it is.”

“The pup is going to be alright, right?” Mullo questioned with fear evident in her voice. Pollen patted her in comfort, Longg stayed quiet as she tried to figure out what she saw.

“She’ll be fine!” Plagg hissed at the others before looking down. “She’ll be fine…”

Notes:

All right end of season 1, and to the recommendation of some I will be splitting the story. If you see an update on this story then it will just point you to season 2. When will season 2 come out? Don't know I'm just going to take a break to work on other stories and some side stories.

Chapter 53: Head over to Season 2

Summary:

Season 2 is up.

As the title says Season 2 is up. Go check it out.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Cheshire