Chapter Text
Dahlia had taken to the one place in the house she had felt safe: the nursery. She scurried under the bed, tears welding up in her eyes. It was supposed to be her birthday, yet here she was hiding under the bed, waiting out the storm that was her family life.
“I didn’t mean to, I just want them to stop fighting.” She rubbed the area that once held the bracelet, remembering the love Lucille made her feel. She was the closest thing she had to a real sister. Her actual sisters didn’t pay much attention to her and when they do, it’s just to elevate themselves. She was the youngest in the family, the youngest daughter of the matriarch.
The wooden floorboards creaked as someone entered the room, she recognized the familiar shoes of Lucille. She peeked her head out of the bed as she could hear her talking to someone.
“Tikki, spots on!” The girl was momentarily blinded by a bright light before the superheroine, Mariquita appeared in her place. Dahlia’s eyes widened as the gears started turning in her head.
“Lucille?”
The two girls stared at each other,
“Who’s Lucille?” Okay, that was a dumb response.
“You’re…Mariquita!?” Her eyes looked up and down in amazement at her prima. Lucille was a superhero!? Not only a hero, but Mariquita?!
This was the best day ever.
“No, I’m not.” She quickly made up an excuse, “This is a costume! Yeah, a costume.”
“It looks alot better than your usual stuff.”
“What? You don’t think I couldn’t pull off a Mariquita cosplay?”
“You’re right, you’re clearly not the real Mariquita.” Dahlia feigned innocence, “I guess I should go back to the party…”
“Wait, don’t! There’s an akuma out there!” Mariquita quickly shut the door using her yoyo.
“An akuma? Who is it?”
“It’s…Rosa.” Lucille hated the hurt that crossed Dahlia’s face.
“Is she okay?”
“She will, right now I need to get you someplace safe.” Lucille heard banging coming from the other side of the door.
“Hold on tight!” Lucille grabbed Rosa and dipped out of the open window as Embers broke down the door and stormed into the room. Smoke and fire filled the room as they made their escape. Lucille and Dahlia looked back at the house which was now on fire and with molten zombies crawling out. The entire neighborhood, no, the whole city could be in flames if they didn’t stop this akuma fast.
“I think your yoyo is beeping?”
The two stopped on a nearby rooftop, one that was high up and would be perfect as the building was isolated from the others. Mariquita opened her yoyo.
“Aspik?” She raised an eyebrow at the caller Id, but took the call. “Hello? Are you Aspik?”
“Yes, I am Aspik and I believe you are in need of my help." The man's voice sounded so charmatic and unwavering, "I have seen the news, fiery zombies growing in numbers, not to mention all the fires that are started in their way."
“Help? Help how?” She wasn’t quite sure if she should trust the man on the other side of the call.
“While I can not show my face, I can offer you a miraculous to use as a temporary ally. This akuma has the numbers and will overwhelm you if you’re not careful. Thus I am providing you with the Miraculous of the Bee.” The bottom of the yoyo turned into a pink and white void. Out of it emerged a small black box with red markings.
“I will have to contact my partner, he has to be aware of this.”
“Of course, call me if you are in need of my services.” Mariquita closed her yoyo, ending the call.
“Who’s Sasspick?” Lucille realized Dahlia was still on the same roof as her.
“He’s no one, now I need you to stay here and keep away from the ember zombies, I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
Dahlia shouted “But I can help! We can work together! I can be your sidekick and we can kick butt and-”
She shook her head, “No, this isn’t your fight and I won’t put you in harm's way."
“You’re my prima, my cousin, you’re like a sister to me. Please let me help.” Her voice became desperate and hurt. Why? Why can't she help?
"You’re my prima, you’re too young to get involved in this.”
“LET ME HELP!!” As she shouted, Lucille was knocked back by an invisible force. She hit her head hard on the concrete and her world went black.
When she came back to, there was a ringing in her ears and the rooftop was empty.
“Dahlia? DAHLIA!!” Lucille panicked, searching for her cousin around the area. Dahlia wasn’t on the rooftop nor was she on the streets. What if she had been taken or harmed? Had she become a zombie? Or stuck in a burnt buliding? It was all Lucile's fault, she should have never transformed in front of her, she was stupid, so stupid to let her guard down like that.
It was then she realized the box was gone. The miraculous was gone and so was Dahlia.
“Neko Knight!” Mariquita swung in to see her partner barricading a group of Embers. The wall was made up of various materials and stuff, from trees to abandoned cars.
“Mariquita, just in time, help me with this.”
“I don’t have time, have you seen this little girl?" She pulled up a picture of Dahlia on her yoyo.
“No, I haven't, why? Is she in danger?”
“She’s the target of the akuma. I managed to find her earlier, but we got separated and I lost her.” She explained as best she could without revealing that she knew her secret or that she had lost a miraculous.
“If she’s being sniffed out by the akuma, then we need to figure out where she would have gone.”
“I have a couple of places in mind.”
“We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.” The two jumped then brandished their weapons at the voice behind them.
“Kids, it’s just me.” Zorro Fantasma quickly put his hands up in a ‘I mean you no harm’ stance.
“Zorro, please stop doing that.”
“Seriously, get a bell or something.”
“Right. I’ll take the west side, Neko, take the east, Zorro can take north, and we’ll regroup at the south end of town. If you see any fires or people in trouble, help them, but be careful. We can’t let ourselves become one of them.” She gestured to the Embers which were now taking apart the barricade that Neko had made.
“I knew I should’ve used more duck tape.” Neko murmured as the trio dispersed.
Pollen knew she would get a holder, the guardian had told her of this before her miraculous had been placed in the box. But this couldn’t be right. She was staring at a young child. Then again, she has had young holders before. In dark times, she was bound to young aristocrats and nobles who were to be married off at a young age; it wasn’t uncommon for her. Though in the modern age, she had started to have older and older holders. This one looked like a princess with her pink dress and her young physique.
“Are you my new queen?”
“I’m not a queen, I’m Dahlia.” The little girl smiled, as she attempted to clip the hair comb into her hair. “Could you help me?”
“Of course, my queen.” The kwami floated to the miraculous and readjusted so it sat nestled on her head.
“Thanks, you look like a tiny bee, are you a magic bee?”
“I am a kwami tied to the miraculous of Subjection, my queen.” She bowed politely to her new holder.
“Sub-jag-cion? What’s that?”
“It is the power to bring someone under your control through power, influence, or force.”
“Oh, that sounds mean.”
“Not necessarily, my queen, power can be obtained through respect, wealth, or by the person’s reputation. It’s not essentially used to break someone, rather to bring obedience.” She still looked confused even after Pollen’s explanation which she didn’t mind. Her power could be confusing to the human mind.
“Can it help me stop the akuma?”
“Yes, it can. With the Bee Miraculous, you will be able to turn into a hero and paralyze people with your Venom.”
“Really?! So I can help the heroes?” Dahlia wasn’t quite sure what paralyze meant, but it had to mean something good. Mariquita had Lucky Charm and Neko had Cataclysm, so this venom power could help her as well.
“I have to warn you, my queen, Venom can only be used once, then you have five minutes until you detransform.”
“Oh.” Dahlia pouted, she had really hoped for something more helpful in a fight.
“In order to transform, you have to say the words, Pollen, Buzz on. To detransform, say buzz off.”
“Oh, okay.” She raised her hand to the sky as she spoke, “Pollen, Buzz on!”
In a bright yellow light, the little girl became the hero of her dreams. Her black hair now had streaks of yellow in them. A yellow mask with black zig zags now concealed her face. Her outfit was a yellow high waist dress with a black V waist and the bottom resembling the petals of a flower. Her tights were black and yellow stripes. Along with a short wing like cape, her sleeves and the tops of her black shoes had puff on them.
“I’m so pretty!” She jumped around in her new outfit, then did some karate moves, punching some imaginary enemies.
Only for her punch to accidentally hit a zombie in the stomach.
“Ahh!” Dahlia screamed in a panic as the zombie lunged at her. “Stay away, stay away!”
Whipping out her spinning top, her wild swings eventually trapped the zombie in its string. It tried to move but instead it tripped and hit its head on a broken pipe, causing it to fall to the floor unconscious.
“I did it?” Dahlia kicked the trapped zombie then squealed, “I did it! I caught a bad guy!”
Then she saw more and more zombies looking at her and walking in her direction. “Oh no.”
“Hey, kid!” A black blur rushed past the zombies and grabbed Dahlia.
“Let me go, let me go!” She squirmed in the person’s grasp.
“It’s okay, are you another miraculous holder?”
“Yeah, and it’s mine! I got it from Mariquita!” She pushed Neko Knight off of her.
“Mariquita didn’t tell me anything about a new hero.”
“Well, maybe Mariquita doesn’t tell you everything.” She said smugly, “Like I know her real id-”
“Neko, have you found her yet?” She stopped as she saw the yellow and black heroine. She grabbed her by the arm, leading her away from Neko, “Are you kidding me?! You’re using it!?”
“Hey, I thought you weren’t supposed to know who I was!”
“You stole the bee miraculous, you might as well have put a giant traffic cone on your head!” She held out her hand, “Give it back now.”
“No! I can help you!”
“This isn’t up for debate, this isn’t a game and I'm not going to let you get hurt. Now give it to me.” She said with a stern look on her face.
“Hold on, Mari, she’s just a kid, she didn’t know better.” Neko interjected
A fireball nearly took out the rooftop they were standing on.
“Oh good, all my favorite heroes in one place.” Flash Fire used her fires to propel herself in the air, hovering in the air. “Maybe you’ll be able to find her faster than these losers.” She was holding an injured Fontaine, sweating bullets and enduring a heatstroke.
“Mariposa has taken control of your anger, but we can help you, just let us .”
“You don’t get it, I’m not doing this for me.” She flinched as a purple glowing mask crossed her face. “If it hadn’t been me then, it could’ve been my little sister or her cousin. I’ve already hurt them enough.”
“But you’re still being mean! You’re not making things better! And you ruined a party!” Dahlia shouted.
“Who is she? Did you guys seriously bring your kid to fight crime?” Flash Fire gestured to Dalia as if she was a sassy lost child. Both Mariquita and Neko blushed while Zorro contained his laughter.
“She isn’t ours, she doesn't even look like us, right?" Neko hesitantly smiled.
“What? No, she was just leaving.” Mariquita gave a scolding glare in Honey's direction.
“I’m Honey Wing! Beware butterfly, your reins of evil end here!” She struck a heroic pose as she spoke.
“It’s reign, not reins.” Zorro whispered.
“Oh, okay.” Honey Wing pointed her spinning top at her akumatized sister, “Time to rain on your parade, Flash Fire!”
“Yeah! Let’s smoke out this akuma!” Neko joined in, posing in a similar manner to Honey Wing.
“You’re both not helping.” Mariquita sighed, now having to deal with not one but two children.
Flash Fire dropped Fontaine who slumped into unconsciousness, “Fine, you want to play? I’ve got time to play.” She snapped her fingers and hordes of zombies started to crowd around them.
“So what does your miraculous do, Honey Wing?”
“Something about paralesize?” Honey dodged a zombie swipe as Neko used his staff like a bat to knock them away.
“Do you mean paralysis?” Mariquita decked a zombie in the face with her yoyo.
“Yeah, that.”
“I’m not letting her anywhere near her, it’s too dangerous.” Lucille wasn’t going to risk Dahlia getting turned into a zombie or worse burnt bee. Not to mention what if Mariposa got her hands on it? She wouldn't just be letting down the guardian, she would be letting down the city. “You’re better off someplace safe, far away from the akuma.”
“Nothing is too dangerous for Honey Wing!” The bee heroine shouted before diving past some zombies and heading towards Flash Fire.
“Are you serious-Lucky Charm!” A small key chain fell into her palm, it was red and spotted, but she could make out the shape of a bee. “Seems even the charm hates me.” Mariquita groaned.
“I’ll keep an eye on her.” Zorro followed after the bee superheroine.
“Shh, be quiet, we need to be sneaky.” Honey Wing whispered as she and Zorro hid behind some chimney nearby.
“I can conjure up an illusion and make ourselves invisible.” The fox holder suggested.
“Invisible?” The wheels began to turn in the little girl’s head, “Oh, you mean she won’t be able to see us.”
Zorro nodded, “Why are you so determined to impress Mariquita?”
“Mariquita is someone close to me, I need to show I’m worthy of this miraculous.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should get yourself hurt. .” Then Bruno processed her words, “Wait, you know who she is?”
She nodded, “I can’t say anything but she’s like a sister to me and I need to show her I can handle this.”
“That makes sense.” Bruno recalled how much he once would do anything for his sisters, for his family. Even with his tattered reputation as a hero, he thought he could trust his sisters to stand by him. “Still risking your life to prove yourself won’t impress her, it will hurt you and her as well.”
“I have an idea, how long can the invissibylte last?”
“As long as I want to, why?”
“I can only use my power once, but if you can hold the mirage…”
“We can sneak up on her and ambush her, we can take her out long enough to find the object.” Zorro smirked, “I like the way you think, Wing. Mirage.” The two heroes became camouflaged between the bricks.
“Let’s do this.” Honey said with a determined smile.
With the mirage up, the two heroes snuck past the hordes and to Flash Fire.
“What the-get off!” Zorro grabbed Flash Fire as she flew in the air.
“ Venom !” Her spinning top glowed and pricked Flash Fire. She froze in place, her fire feet were gone as she fell to the floor.
Flash Fire couldn’t even struggle as Zorro searched.
“Ah hah! Got it!” He grabbed the purple bracelet off her wrist and snapped it in pieces.
“Miraculous Mariquita!” The spotted heroine snatched the butterfly out of thin air. The zombified hordes returned to normal, resulting in very confused masses of people as the swarm of ladybugs put out the fires and restored the burnt buildings.
“Go super friends!” Honey Wing cheered.
“I was leaning more towards the Miracles.” Neko commented.
“What about the Miraculous Squad?” Zorro remarked.
“No! Super Friends!”
“I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you.” Mariquita had disapproving look on her face as she approached Honey Wing.
“But I-” She shot a glance at Zorro then groaned, “Okay.” Dahlia took off the haircomb, detransforming back to her ordinary self.
“I’ll find some other way to prove myself.” She let Mariquita take the bee miraculous, looking at Pollen with a sad look.
“I know you will.” The beeping from her earrings interrupted the sweet moment. “I trust you Zorro to take her home. Bug out.”
“How could you let yourself be compromised like that!?” Zorro arrived at the familiar domain he once called home carrying Dahlia in his arms. He could hear shouting coming from inside.
“Go around the back.” She whispered, “There should be an open window I can sneak into.”
Bruno nodded, he knew that area well, he even snuck out a few times through the exact way. Not that anyone ever noticed he was gone.
Zorro gently placed her down on the window sill, “With or without miraculous, you can still be a hero.”
“Dahlia? Are you alright!?” Lucille watched as the hero dashed off into the streets. “Look, about what happened during in the nursery and on the roof, I-”
“It’s okay, I’ll keep your secret. We bugs have to stick together, right?” She made a buzzing sound. Lucille sighed as she placed the bracelet back on Dahlia's wrist, back where it belonged.
The two girls smiled as they enjoyed time in the room that they called paradise.
So what if her birthday hadn’t been perfect? As long as they had each other, Dahlia was happy.
Mirabel slammed her fist on the table, shaking the various papers and components on it.
“No, no, no, I was so close!” She exploded as she destroyed her work space in rage. “How did they find another one?!”
What was worse than the stupid bug and cat getting another ally, it was a child. Even she wasn’t stupid enough to bring children into this fight. Her eyes and ears told her of a party for a young member of the Madrigal, most likely five or six. Had she discovered her powers? Had they begun to train her? She would never know the answers because she never got the chance to see for herself. They tossed her aside the moment they discovered she was normal. To her family, she was useless, unfit to carry on the Madrigal name. She’ll show them to not underestimate her, she’ll show the whole city just how depraved and heartless their heroes really were underneath their masks and capes.
“Mistress, you must-AH!” Nooroo was flung out of the air by one of Mirabel’s harsh swings.
“Nooroo!” Mirabel stopped her rampage and gently held the small kwami. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, please don’t hate me, please don’t leave me.” Her rage quickly turned into sorrow as she held the only friend she had in the world.
“It’s alright, Mirabel.” he whimpered, floating though more clumsily, “See? I’m a lot tougher than I look.”
She began to choke up as Nooroo nuzzled her cheek. H older and her kwami sat in the destroyed place, letting the tears fall from her face.