Chapter Text
Superheroes are cool, okay? Lance always thought so and likely always will. He’s just disappointed that he missed out on the true age of superheroes. The time of Ladybug and Chat Noir, the defenders of Paris. And their sidekicks, too.
That was decades ago, however, and their identities remain a mystery to all. Maybe even to each other.
Which he always thought that was such a tragedy. Chat Noir was so obviously into Ladybug, why didn’t she trust him enough to share her identity? Because it so was her who must have made the decision to keep things on the down low. Lance has all sorts of theories on that.
But people have grown tired of their legend, much like knights, ninjas, and pirates. Maybe the world has evolved enough where they don’t need heroes anymore.
Down the street from the comic book store he was currently in, something explodes, shaking the foundation of the store. Him, along with everyone else in the building, races outside to see what was going on.
A plume of smoke rises into the sky, dark and foreboding.
“Is it a bomb?” Someone behind him asks. Lance can’t imagine why anyone would bomb the city. There’s been nothing but peace for years.
Another explosion goes off, causing the people around him to scream. There was a purple streak coming from the black cloud. It hovers in the air for a moment.
That’s a person, Lance realizes. A person is causing the explosions. With a wave of their hands, the street is quaking once more.
For reasons unknown to him, Lance starts moving towards the problem. He has no idea what he can do to help, if there’s anything he can do at all. All he knows is that he can’t just stand and watch while people might be in danger.
People run past him as he gets closer to the root of the problem. Is that an akuma up there, in the sky? Lance has read about akumas a hundred times before. When they were just historical foreign figures, they seemed a lot sillier. He never realized how dangerous they could be.
Above him, the akuma opens his arms wide and unleashes another burst of explosions. Lance stumbles and falls to his knees. He slowly gets up and inspects his palms. Some of the skin has torn open, bits of blood seeping through.
What is he doing? What does he expect to do, to help? Lance has just joined the Garrison, so he’s not exactly the perfect soldier. No matter how many comic books he’s read, it doesn’t make him an expert on the revival of Hawkmoth. If it even is him.
He hears someone struggling a few feet away. An older man, maybe late 60’s, early 70’s. So it’s not exactly saving the day, but Lance decides that this is just as important. He’s able bodied to help those who can’t get out of the dangerzone.
Lance holds out his hand to the older gentleman. “C’mon,” A warm, rough palm hits his own. With that, Lance tugs the man up onto his feet. Instead of seeing worry, or panic in the stranger’s eyes, he sees something akin to determination.
“Shouldn’t you be running along with the rest of them?” He’s got a weird accent. Most everything about this old guy is weird. He’s wearing a baseball cap, and there’s even a huge pair of headphones dangling around his neck.
“Pfft, no,” He replies. “I’m not afraid of assholes like that,” Except he is. Lance is totally afraid. There’s no superheros here yet, so that means no magic to keep his ass alive in case something happens. Yet the itch to do something, to be useful lies ever present beneath his skin.
The old man with the golden eyes studies him way too closely. Then, he smiles. “Totally,” Then he starts hobbling away as if their entire world didn’t just change. What a bizarre encounter.
Lance shakes his head, and continues his descent into chaos. There’s probably other people around here that need help.
It’s no wonder why there are so many people trapped in their apartments, or on the streets. Rubble is freckled across the roads, damaging properties, cars, and even some people. Lance does his best to help every person he can find. At one point, he has to help move a huge rock off of someone’s leg. Just to make sure, he calls 911 to the area so that they aren’t left alone. He read somewhere once that people are hesitant to call because they assume everyone else already had. Well, he’s not about to make that mistake.
He knows, of course he knows, that he’s not going to evacuate the whole city by himself. But helping that handful of people makes him feel good.
Lance feels a little less good when the akumas explosive ray hits a little too close for comfort. He looks up to the sky and sees that the akuma has spotted him. It roars.
“Shit!” One good thing about having stupidly long legs is being able to run fast. And Lance runs like a motherfucker. He skids a corner into a dark alley, hoping that from the skies, the akuma won’t be able to spot him.
This was a dumb idea. He’s totally an idiot. The Garrison will deploy people to put a stop to the akuma soon enough though, right?
He’s breathing hard, the sound echoing off the brick walls. This is so bad.
“Garrison scum-” The akuma was hovering in between the two buildings, it’s long arms glowing. Shit just got so much worse.
Lance takes a step backward. Maybe it takes time to charge up or something, maybe there’s still a way out of this.
From the rooftops, something jumps down in front of him.
It’s a guy, a bit shorter than him, in a red and black leather getup. Spots adorn the back paneling. The black is accented with red lining. The guy whips out what looks like a staff and faces the akuma dead on.
Holy shit.
“Ladybug?”
“Get the fuck out of here!” The Ladybug-copycat says.
Alleyways are really not the best place for explosions.
It rattles his bones, and for a moment Lance thinks he’s dead. Serves him right, acting like a badass. Feels like he’s going to heaven though, since he’s flying upward. And he can still hear crowds of people screaming. Buildings crumbling around him. He opens an eye and sucks in a breath.
Ladybug.
Lance is totally being cradled in the strong arms of Ladybug. And it really can’t be anyone else. He’s got the mask, the confidence, the outfit. Well, it’s all a little different on this Ladybug. With one glance at his ears, it’s totally confirmed. The famous miraculous earrings.
Ladybug isn’t at all what Lance expected. This is a completely new incarnation. A new doctor. Ladybug has been recast. But… just as cool. Lance thought he was done for back there, and Ladybug showed up out of nowhere. He grins to himself.
A moment later, and they’re both standing on a rooftop. Ladybug’s hair, while tied up in a small ponytail at the back of his neck, is fluttering in the wind. The picture of a true superhero. A piercing, blue-grey gaze makes it’s way towards him.
“Are you stupid?” He asks. Ladybug checks over his shoulder and towards the skyline before turning his gaze back to Lance. For now, the akuma has disappeared. The long staff shrinks to what looks like it’s normal size. Wasn’t that Chat Noir’s? “You could’ve been killed, what were you doing out there?”
“Uh… helping?” Lance says, crossing his arms. At least he’s maintaining this cool attitude in front of the way too cute superhero. “You gotta take care of the big bad, I get it. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who need saving.”
Ladybug blinks. “Well…” He pouts. It’s adorable. “You can’t just do that. Leave it to the professionals.”
Wow. Is this new Ladybug really trying to tell him he can do everything on his own? That’s nonsense. Throughout history, there has always been a Chat Noir for every Ladybug. They need each other.
“Well, until you find a stray cat to help you out, you’ll have to deal with idiots like me picking up the slack,” Lance promises, a smirk settling easily across his face as he crosses his arms. If Ladybug has returned, he’s sure that this akuma isn’t a one time thing. And yeah, maybe he doesn’t have a magic weapon, and maybe he doesn’t have the skills, but Lance wants to help. He needs to be able to make sure people are safe.
Ladybug just stares at him with those wide stormy eyes. Lance is pretty sure he can get used to looking into those suckers. The superhero shakes his head. “Just… don’t do anything stupid.” He says, and then he’s vaulting off the rooftop likes it’s a completely natural, easy thing to do.
The akuma resurfaced blocks away from where Lance was standing. It’s almost kind of beautiful to watch Ladybug in combat. He’s reckless, grouchy, and like, a for real superhero. A flash of pink appears in the sky, before it spreads across the entire city.
All the grime and sweat erases from his person in seconds. Even the skin on his hand has healed over. Which means that Ladybug must have found where the akuma was, destroyed it, and saved them all. WIthin minutes. This guy is incredible.
Despite others accusing Lance of being emotionally stunted, he’s quite self aware. Most of the time anyway. Most of them time being now, for example. He and Ladybug shared about, what, 10, 15 words? And he’s already crushing on him. Like, wow. Who could blame him? A cool, handsome superhero who basically carried him off into the sunset.
Ah, to be young and in love. His only regret is that he’s going to be the Lois Lane in this situation (Lois Lance?), and Lance sucks at writing. Reporting is just… well, it seems boring.
He frowns when he feels something heavy in his pocket. Reaching in, he finds a box and pulls it out. Lance has never seen this before in his life. It looks like some kind of jewelry box? Today has already been so goddamn weird, all he can do is shrug and open it.
The world gets a little weirder, and a lot more miraculous.