Chapter Text
The adrenaline high keeping him up faded quickly once he got home. Marc flopped face down on his bed, exhausted. "At least Ladybug wasn't looking to charge you with anything. She didn't want you to be a criminal publicly," Orikko noted. Marc nodded, groaning into the blankets beneath him. Orikko vwoomed away, likely to hang out with Nooroo again.
It went well. By all accounts, it went well. As well as it could've gone. He didn't get revealed, he still had Orikko, they weren't actively looking to villainize him, it seemed.
His heart pounded and his stomach felt full of rocks, weighing down and poking him. It didn't feel like it went well. His breathing was fast, and Marc could tell he was on the edge of a panic attack. He lay there on the bed for what felt like an eternity. It must have been a half hour, when his window slid open.
"Marc? Wanna talk?" Nath spoke from his window. He stepped inside, detransforming with a quiet "Ziggy, hush it," and laying next to Marc, pulling him into a tight hug. Ziggy nyoomed off to be with Nooroo. Marc yelled quietly into a pillow.
"They aren't gonna pursue you," Nath said unexpectedly. Marc looked up, confused. "Huh?" Nath nodded. "Ladybug said we wouldn't pursue you unless you did anything, unless Argos is willing to make a sentimonster to find you."
"And well, y'know... Argos isn't gonna be willing to do that, not when you only killed one person who really kinda deserved it," Nath continued. Marc forcefully slowed his breathing. It was fine. They weren't chasing him. "She really wasn't happy. No one remembers any details of who you could be, and there really isn't any way to find a miraculous without using an akuma, amok, or, well... you," he added.
Marc hugged him back, tighter. Nath took the hint and they lay like that, silent, for a while.
The pair stayed there for a few hours, talking about lighthearted things, going to get food and discussing the comic.
"Is anyone patrolling tonight?" Marc asked. He kinda wanted to go out, and see if he could redesign his costume. Nath nodded. "Ladybug's patrolling. It's just her, I think. But she wanted to be out in case Hawk Moth was still out there and you were lying, or in case you came back or something," he told him.
"I might go out later. I'll be careful, don't worry. I'll go invisible or intangible or something," Marc told Nath, adding the last part at Nath's look.
~~~
Marc had an idea of what he should look like, and a plan to hopefully ease the tension of his possible villainy to Ladybug. He had discussed it with Orikko, who agreed and thought his design idea sounded doable and cool. With it now being a bit past sunset, he was heading out.
The Miraculers usually patrolled at night, when people were less likely to notice an akuma attack. Sandboy had been enough of a nightmare that they didn't want to repeat. Also, most of the heroes just used it as time to catch regular criminals as well, though they were more uncommon nowadays.
Stepping into his bathroom, Marc transformed and took a look at himself. He was very different. Gone was his general red coloration. His mask was a deep blue with a black beak along his nose, rimmed in bright red where it met the rest of the mask. Under his eyes there was also a bright red patch highlighting his eyes. On one side there was a feather-pattern-shape in gold. His body suit was mostly black with some red and gold striping. He had a feathery hood in dark blue like his mask, and his neck was the same blue, striped with bright red lines.
On his back there was a small cape resembling blue and black wings, tapering into a red and gold fan of tail feathers. His golden heels were replaced by black combat boots styled like bird talons, striped in blue with gold claws at their ends.
His eyes were a big difference. His sclera was black, while his iris' were gold. His hair was mostly unchanged. His pen, his fountain pen was very different. Instead of a quill on his arm, his right hand had a gauntlet of claws, the index of which was styled as the nib of a pen.
He looked like a cassowary. Marc had thought of the bird earlier today, and it fit. Rooster Bold? A rooster needed to be specified as bold, a cassowary didn't need to be specified as anything, it was known as dangerous. It was respected.
Marc went out to a nearby rooftop and wrote his first ability as Cassowary.
'The ability to be intangible to anything I choose.'
He set out to find Ladybug. It wasn't hard. Ladybug had many dedicated fans, and there were updates on where she was spotted often. He just had to check the website for sightings, and he'd find her easily.
She was sitting on a rooftop, surveying the city as the last bits of orange faded from the horizon. Marc stood behind her, a few meters away. He was quiet in his approach, so she hadn't noticed.
"Hey," he said softly. "It's me," she whirled around, standing up, eyes widening as she saw him. He looked different, but she got the idea. Ladybug charged at him with a cry. He let her. She phased right through, and did this a few more times before deciding that it was no use.
"What are you doing here, Rooster Bold?" Ladybug asked. Marc smiled at her. "I'm here to clear a few things up."
"One, I am not a threat to you. If I wanted to reveal everyone's identities and steal their miraculous, I could have done that." He told her. She paused, caught off guard by him trying to keep peace.
"Two, if I was a major threat, Bunnyx would be here. She wouldn't let someone use a miraculous for evil if she could. She would have stopped you from giving it to me in the first place. What do you have to say about that, huh? All I did was ensure Hawk Moth could never be a threat again."
Ladybug tried to cut in, but Marc kept talking.
"You didn't do that. You gave him a chance to redeem, you trusted him. You let him take your miraculous, he made his wish. He won. He just didn't want terrible things. Lila would have reformed the world in her image, if she had the chance. I am not in the wrong."
"I will help you and the team if I'm ever asked. I want to help. But I will stay inactive unless I think it's necessary. I know why you all feel uncomfortable with me on the team,"
“But you will not come after me, because I know what you hid, and you let them think of him as a hero. I can and will tell them about what you lied about, with proof, if you try to come after me.”
Ladybug was rendered speechless for a moment, so Marc took the opportunity to not give her an opportunity. He turned away and walked to the edge of the roof. Just as he was about to leave, he said one more thing.
"And Ladybug? It's Cassowary now."