Chapter Text
Before Hawkmoth was even a concept, there were two adult vigilantes: A ladybug themed heroine named Lady Luck and a black cat-themed heroine named Destructo.
Lady Luck stood on a rooftop in the middle of the night, waiting for her partner to show up. Destructo appeared a few moments later, "What did you need?"
"I think we should retire."
"What?"
"Hear me out. We've already done a lot for this city and crime rates have steadily decreased already," The ladybug hero continued, "And there is another reason." She cupped a hand over her stomach.
Destructo squealed, "Did it work?" Her friend nodded with a smile. She laughed and spun her around.
"I'm so excited! You should come to the baby shower!"
Destructo paused, before setting Lady Luck down, "I...I can't."
"What? I haven't even told you the date."
"I can't because...because," She sniffled, "My parents are marrying me off to someone."
"What? They can't do that!"
"But they are," Destructo snapped, "I can't escape it."
Lady Luck walked forward and hugged her partner. Destructo sobbed and buried her face into her shoulder, "Tonight, when I go home, I want you to take the miraculous and give it to the kwamis so they can give it to the elusive guardian."
Lady Luck nuzzled her head into Destructo's shoulder, "Of course. You were the best partner, Emilie."
Plagg and Tikki floated around her room that night.
"So are you two going back to the guardian tonight?"
Tikki nodded somberly, "You were a good Ladybug."
Plagg twirled his ring in his hands, "You and Emilie were great soulmates."
"You're gonna tell me we're soulmates when I'm pregnant?"
Plagg shook his head, "Soulmates don't have to be romantic. You two were great platonic soulmates."
She nodded, "Thanks." She took the earrings off and handed them to Tikki.
Tikki picked them up in her grasp and floated midair for a while. She flew up and nuzzled her holder's cheek, then flew down to her belly, giving it a kiss, "I wish you luck with your children."
Tikki and Plagg flew up and out the window.
"Bye!" She called out after them.
"Bye Sabine!"
Sabine was very surprised to see she was having twins, and even more surprised when as a toddler, one of them had red hair.
Tom wasn't worried about her cheating at all, but Sabine still wanted to have the child's ancestry checked. Nope, he was still a part of their family despite the weird genetics.
Strange.
Nathaniel was doodling on some sheets of paper in maternelle when Chloe started talking about him.
"He's adopted!"
"What does adopted mean?" Nathaniel asked, looking up.
"It means your original parents didn't care about you so you have to be shipped off to some new ones!" The blond exclaimed, "And I can see why!"
The boy started tearing up while Marinette gasped. "Don't say that! That's mean! And it's not even right!"
"You can tell me that when you have proof, stinky head!" Chloe yelled before running off.
Marinette huffed while Nathaniel looked up at her. "Mama and Papa love me, right?"
The girl nodded, "Mhm! Chloe doesn't know what she's talking about."
Nathaniel hugged her, "Thanks, Mari."
"Anything for my brother!"
They had initially prepared for one child in the room above the bakery. It was an easy enough fix. They just had to replace the chaise lounge with another bed and add some shelves around that area.
Marinette asked for the room to be pink, and when they asked Nathaniel, he was fine with it. "It pairs well with my hair at least."
They only had room for one desktop computer so Sabine just bought Nathaniel a laptop.
Nathaniel filled his shelves with comic books and posters. It was a nice splash of color to the walls.
"Hey, did you place anything on my desk?" Marinette asked, picking up a black box while sitting in her chair. Nathaniel looked up from where he was lounging on his bed.
"No?" He sat up, "Is there something there?"
"Yes, a box," Marinette opened the box, then promptly dropped it as a flash of light came out.
They both screamed, falling off their respective furniture. Nathaniel crouched behind his bed.
"WHAT? WHAT?!"
A red blob appeared, "Hi, I'm-"
"BUG MOUSE!" Marinette screamed and threw a book at it.
"No, stop!" She shrieked, "You can't tell anyone about me!"
Nathaniel quickly crawled over the bed and covered Marinette's mouth before she could scream again.
"Is everything alright?" Their dad called from downstairs.
"Yeah, a bug flew in. It's fine!" Nathaniel quickly responded. He removed his hand from Marinette's mouth, "What're you?"
"I was explaining that! My name is Tikki and I'm a kwami!"
By the end of the explanation, Nathaniel was practically glowing. Marinette still looked slightly confused, "Why are you so happy?"
"My sister's a superhero!" Nathaniel clapped his hands excitedly.
Marinette sputtered, "Come on, it could just as easily be you."
Tikki coughed, "Marinette, it was specifically you that was chosen!"
"See! My sister's a superhero!"
Marinette gulped, picking up the earrings while half-heartedly watching the news.
"So I just say Tikki, spots-"
"Wait, at least get an explanation of all your powers!" Nathaniel cut in.
"Oh. Yeah."
Marinette came back after defeating Stoneheart. She crawled through the trapdoor, seeing Nathaniel watching the news from his laptop.
"I feel like I'm forgetting something."
"Did you purify the akuma?"
"...Fuck."
Nathaniel sighed as he entered the class. Marinette was probably late.
Chloe laughed, walking away from his and Marinette's seat in the back. Adrien, the new kid, huffed disapprovingly at her before getting on his knees at the seat. Confused, Nathaniel walked up to see Adrien trying to remove some gum from his seat.
"Excuse me?"
Adrien flinched, looking up, "I can explain!"
"I can guess," Nathaniel drawled, "Chloe?"
"How did you-"
"It's not all that surprising. She's been bullying us for years now."
"Chloe? A bully?" Adrien muttered.
"Jeez, how sheltered are you?" He tilted his head.
Adrien's face scrunched up, "This is my first year of public school."
"Ooh, yeah, ouch," Nathaniel responded.
At that exact moment, Marinette walked in. She blinked at the two boys in the back, walking up. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the gum on the seat, "A friend of Chloe's, I see. Typical."
Adrien stuttered, "I can explain."
"Don't bother," She walked away to get a tissue.
Nathaniel coughed, "You don't have to."
"What? Why?"
"You don't sit here anymore, remember? You sit with the new girl."
Marinette's eyes traveled to the gum and up, "You sure?"
"Yeah."
She nodded and sat down next to Alya and started talking about the superhero that appeared yesterday.
Nathaniel turned to Adrien, "Your best time to try to make it up to her is during lunch since the teacher's about to walk in."
Adrien nodded and stood up, "Thanks..uh?"
"Nathaniel Dupain-Cheng."
"Adrien Agreste," He waved goodbye and went to sit with Nino.
Pure chaos broke out as Stoneheart broke into the classroom and stole two of their classmates.
Marinette was panicking so Nathaniel grabbed her and rushed out the classroom. He brought her into an alleyway.
"Oh, Nathaniel, this is all my fault!" She shrieked, "I can't do this."
"It's your first time. No one expects you to be perfect."
"Yes, they do!"
Nathaniel grabbed her by the shoulders and lowered his voice, "Marinette, you made a mistake. It's fine. But now? You need to go fix it."
"I-I can't! You're the one who knows so much about superheroes! You should do it!"
"You're forgetting that my ears aren't pierced."
Marinette groaned.
"Marinette, please. Paris needs Ladybug. And that means you."
She sighed, taking in a deep breath, "Yeah. Okay. I'll fix this. Tikki, spots on!"
Marinette huffed at the sight of rain after school. She had just happened to forget her umbrella that day.
Adrien walked up to her, "Um, Marinette, was it?"
Marinette glared at him, 'What do you want?"
Adrien gulped, "Um, I'm sure your brother can tell you this, but I was actually trying to take the gum off the seat. It wasn't a very good first impression, but maybe I can make a good second one?" He handed his umbrella to her.
Marinette blinked, taking it and blushing, "Thanks."
He smiled, "See you tomorrow!" Adrien ran off to his car.
Marinette pressed a hand to her red cheeks.
Nathaniel walked up next to her, "Oo, what's with that love-struck expression?"
"Shut up!"
They entered their bedroom in unison. Nathaniel took a deep breath before squealing, "You were amazing!"
"Ah, I wasn't-"
"My sister, Ladybug the superhero!" Nathaniel laughed, "Oo, do I get to be your man in the chair?"
Tikki flew out, "I agree! You did great, Marinette!"
Marinette smiled at the two. Maybe this superhero business wouldn't be so bad.
"Also I have a quick question," Tikki said, "Are you two dating?"
They both choked on their saliva.
"Uh, no, we're twins!" Nathaniel quickly answered after recovering.
"Twins?" Tikki looked at both of them, "You look nothing alike!"
"Yeah, we don't really know either," Marinette shrugged, "Our parents took an ancestry test when we were younger and Nathaniel is, in fact, their child so."
At that exact moment, Sabine entered the room, "Kids, time for dinner!"
They all paused as Sabine's eyes landed on Tikki. Their mom slowly got up and closed the trapdoor behind her.
"Tikki?"
"Sabine!" Tikki shouted joyfully, flying over to her and nuzzling her cheek.
Marinette blinked, "I-What-How?"
Sabine smiled, "Lady Luck and Destructo. A vigilante pair."
Nathaniel gasped, "Cool!"
Tikki looked back at the twins, "Oh, that's why you looked so different!"
Marinette closed her mouth, "What?"
"When I left your mom, I pressed a kiss to her stomach while she was pregnant!" Tikki flew over to Nathaniel, "So your hair looks like my body!" She proceeded to go towards Marinette, "And your hair looks like my spots!"
Nathaniel gasped, "Oh, I finally have a explanation as to why I look adopted!"
The other three laughed.
Sabine smiled at Marinette, "So then, Ladybug won't be able to protect the city if she's starving, right? Let's eat!"
Marinette bumped into another kid at school, both of them falling to the ground.
The boy stood up quickly, "S-Sorry!" He ran off. Marinette noticed a black journal on the ground.
She picked it up, "Hey, you forgot your journal!" But he was already gone.
Marinette opened it, trying to find a name, "The Diary of Ladybug?"
At least she had a name. Marc Anciel.
She flipped the page. What was this about?
That turned out to be her downfall. Marinette quickly got enamored with the story. The bell ringing shook her out of her stupor. "Oh no, I'm late for class!"
Nathaniel looked up from his bed, "Marinette, go to bed."
She shook her head, "You can. I'm staying up and reading this."
He sighed and buried his face in his pillow as she continued.
Marc was panicking. His journal disappeared and he didn't know where it was. This was the fifth time he was looking through his locker.
He closed the door with a sigh.
"Hey!"
He jumped, "Ah!"
The girl he bumped into yesterday was standing there, journal in hand.
"Marc Anciel, right?"
He nodded, "H-How did you know?"
"I read your name!"
Marc choked. The girl simply placed it in his hands, then grabbed him by the shoulders.
"You need to finish it. I must find out how it ends."
"I-It's really not that good!"
"Yes, it is!" She blinked, "Oh, right, forgot to introduce myself. Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"
"Well, thanks for returning my journal, but I'm really not that good of a writer."
Marinette bit her lip, "Well, I still think you should keep writing it! Even if you don't think it's good, you could improve on your skills!"
"Yeah, but I don't really have an opportunity to write at school."
"Oh, come join the art club!" Marinette exclaimed, "We accept any and all artists!"
Marc smiled, "Maybe."
"Great! Which class are you in? I'll pick you up after school ends!"
"M-Mrs. Mendeleiev."
Marinette hummed, "Alright! See you after school!"
"S-See you," He waved as she walked away.
Is that what being adopted by an extrovert felt like?
Marinette brought Marc into the room, "This is the art club!"
Everyone looked up and introduced themselves.
Marc's eyes slowly landed on Nathaniel.
Shit, he's cute.
Nathaniel noticed him staring and waved, "You'll find the best this about this club is you can do anything you want, and no one here will judge!"
Marc walked closer, "Did you make these drawings?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"They're amazing. The expressions, the movement..."
Nathaniel blushed slightly, "Thanks. No one's ever said that before."
Marc glanced up at him before taking a step back, also with a slight blush, "Uh, w-well they should!"
Marinette spoke up, "Nath wants to make a comic, but he doesn't have a script writer!"
Nathaniel perked up, "Do you write?"
"Ah, not very well."
"It's probably better than whatever I can do, haha."
"Uh, I can bring you a sample of writing tomorrow?"
"Oh, that'd be nice."
"Show him the Ladybug story!" Marinette shouted.
"You write about superheroes?" Nathaniel asked, tilting his head slightly.
"U-Uh, yeah."
He giggled, "What a coincidence. I draw superheroes. I have a feeling I'm gonna love working with you."
Marc smiled back, "Me too."
Marinette watched them from her side of the room, smirking.
Oh, she was totally gonna get them together.
It was just supposed to be a simple walk through the hallway to his next class.
Nathaniel was walking with Marinette when he looked over at the lockers. He made direct eye contact with Marc, who smiled brightly and waved.
C U T E
Marinette jolted as Nathaniel ran directly into the door frame. She followed his gaze to see a surprised Marc.
"And people call me the clumsy one."
"Mari, I love you, but please shut up."
Nathaniel fiddled with his pen whilst doodling before bed.
Marinette looked over, "Something up?"
"...What does a crush feel like?"
Marinette blinked, "Well, it feels like there are butterflies in your stomach!"
Nathaniel glared at her, "Yeah, that doesn't exactly help. I have no idea what that feels like."
"You want to spend more time around, and you want to see them happy!"
He paused at that description before moving his supplies off to the side, dropping his head in pillow, and screaming.
"Let me guess, Marc?"
His head shot up, "Oh no, is it obvious?"
"Only to your sister!" Marinette giggled, "Don't worry! Let matchmaker Marinette help ease your worries!"
"Say that when you can get together with your crush."
Marinette squawked as Nathaniel dropped his head back into his pillow, laughing.
"So, Nathaniel, huh?"
Marc flinched as Marinette appeared besides him, "Eh?!"
"C'mon, I've seen you making goo-goo eyes at him for weeks now!"
"O-Oh no, he's noticed and told you to make me stop, hasn't he?"
Marinette hummed, "Not exactly."
"What?"
"So he's probably gonna kill me for this later, but he has a super major big crush on you!"
Marc choked, "You're serious?"
She nodded, "Yep! He told me last night! You should try asking him out! If he says no, you're allowed to beat me up!"
"I'm not going to beat you up!"
"You're not going to because he's gonna say yes!"
Marc sighed, "Fine, I'll do it."
Nathaniel slammed the trapdoor open, almost making Marinette fall out of her chair, "YOU."
Marinette chuckled nervously, "Me?"
His face matched his hair, "You set him up to that, didn't you?"
"But you still said yes, right?"
Somehow, it got even more red, "Shut up!"
Marinette gasped in a scandalized tone, "I set you up with your crush and you're gonna say that to me!"
"You deserve it!"
Marc and Nathaniel were walking down the street midway through their date. The entire time, both boys' minds had been overflowing with anxiety and what-ifs.
Chloe noticed them and started snickering from where she stood at the side with Sabrina.
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at her while taking a step closer, anger issues acting up again, "Have something to say?"
Chloe smirked, "Two losers on a date. How fitting."
He growled, "Marc's not a loser."
She smiled and leaned towards his ear, whispering, "Oh? And notice you didn't try to defend yourself. If he really is as amazing as you think, why would he ever go for someone who rides off his sister's coattails?" Chloe leaned back, "Come on Sabrina, we're leaving." The two girls sauntered off together.
Marc walked up to Nathaniel, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"
Nathaniel muttered something.
"Excuse me?"
"She's right, I'm really sorry, Marc, you just," Nathaniel couldn't seem to get the words out correctly that implied he deserved better. Thoroughly embarrassed by this whole situation, Nathaniel ran off.
Marc only stared at his receding figure in the distance. He pulled out his journal and opened it. Inside was a drawing of Nathaniel. it wasn't the best, but it was the thought that counts.
What did Chloe even say to him?
In his inner monologue, he didn't notice a black butterfly landing on his journal.
Reverser, I am Hawkmoth...
Nathaniel collapsed onto his bed. Marinette turned to him, "I thought you were still on your date?"
Her only response was a loud groan into the pillow. Marinette sat down next to him, patting his back, "Alright, tell me what happened."
After the explanation, Nathaniel was sat upright, moving his hands rapidly. Marinette simply sighed, "Let me get one thing straight real quick. You ran off and left Marc alone with no explanation in a city where having negative emotions turns you into a super villain."
Nathaniel stared at her before groaning again and falling backwards into his pillow, "Save me."
"Sorry, this is one thing Ladybug can't fix." She was about to start actually comforting him when there was a small knock on the above trapdoor.
They both looked up at it. Who got on the roof? The two didn't have a chance to answer before a pitch black leg kicked the trapdoor down, tearing it off its hinges. Tikki quickly flew into a hiding spot.
Marinette screamed as Nathaniel stared in shock. A black and white body jumped down.
He pointed at Nathaniel, "You're coming with me."
Nathaniel recognized the voice, "M-Marc?"
"I'm not Marc, I'm Reverser! Now come with me!"
"Do you like cheaters?" Nathaniel asked.
"What? No?"
"Well then you wouldn't want me to go with you because that'd make me a cheater cause I'm dating Marc and you already established you aren't him!" Nathaniel quickly spit out.
Reverser stared at him, "I am going to reverse you to make you less of a smartass."
Marinette stood up, "Oh no, you are not taking my brother!"
The akuma huffed, forming a paper airplane in his hand, "From loyal to sacrificial!" He threw it at her. Nathaniel shoved her out of the way without getting in the airplane's line of fire.
"I'll go with you! Just don't do anything to her."
Reverser pointed upwards, "Well then get up there." He jumped upwards through the hole he made, completely ignoring the ladder.
Nathaniel sighed and started to climb.
"Nath, you can't be serious!"
"Well, it is my fault it even happened in the first place," Nathaniel commented, climbing up the ladder. He turned back and smiled at her, "Guess I'll have to wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to come save me, huh."
He walked out of view once on the roof. Marinette flinched as he was immediately tossed onto Reverser's shoulder, judging by the sound.
Tikki flew out, "What're you gonna do?"
"What I always do. Save the day! Tikki, spots on!"
Reverser got turned back to Marc coincidentally in the same spot he was akumatized.
"What happened?"
Nathaniel dropped down next to him, "Akumatized. I'm...really sorry. I ran off cause I thought you deserved better than this anxious, angry mess. I still think you do by the way-"
Marc inhaled, "Don't say that about yourself. You're talented, loyal, fair, and so much more. I wouldn't give you up for the world."
The shorter boy blushed, "T-Thanks." He gave Marc a quick kiss on the cheek while helping him up.
Chat Noir almost fell off his staff, "Wait, I thought you liked girls?"
Nathaniel turned confused, "How did you know that?"
"Uh, I follow your art Instagram and you posted stuff about girls you liked on there."
"Well, I like both girls and guys. I'm bi."
Chat Noir nodded, before jumping away on his baton. Ladybug had left a while ago. Nathaniel turned to Marc, "While this wasn't a great first date, I'd love to go on more with you."
Marc smiled, "Same. Let me walk you home."
Marinette and Nathaniel were up late during the weekend playing video games. Like always, Marinette was beating him by a landslide.
He groaned as she defeated him once more.
"Hah, sucks to suck!"
Marinette's bragging was interrupted by a knock on the door to the roof. They both stared at each other, preparing for another Reverser situation again.
She went to open the trapdoor, but only found Chat Noir.
"Is there another akuma?" Marinette asked, slightly confused. She knew he was going on patrol tonight, but that was it.
"Ah, no, I'm here to ask Nathaniel something."
"Me?" Nathaniel asked as Chat Noir slid down the ladder.
"Can you explain more about being bisexual?" Chat asked, with a serious tone.
Nathaniel opened his mouth a little in understanding. He nodded, proceeding to explain with Marinette dropping in some advice every once in a while.
Little did they know that would become the first of many weekly visits from the hero.
Alya turned to Nathaniel, "Hey do you have that picture I commissioned you for?"
Nathaniel nodded, opening his gallery and handing his phone to her, "Scroll through the pictures until you find it."
He went back to doodling in his sketchbook when he heard a simple question.
"Why do you have a video of Chat Noir on your phone? And from last night too?"
Marinette and Nathaniel made eye contact, both having the exact same thought of "oh no".
Alix leaned over, "Oo, play it."
Alya nodded and pressed the screen.
The video was zoomed in on Chat Noir and Marinette playing a video game. One of the characters onscreen died. Marinette stood up, laughing. She pointed at Chat Noir, "Hah, suck it!"
Chat Noir stared back at her, "Did you really just tell a superhero to suck it?"
Nathaniel's voice floated from behind the camera, "Wow, Mari, got some real balls, I see."
Marinette flushed and pointed at Nathaniel, "Don't talk to me like that when you were his bisexual awakening!"
"Don't make that sound like he had a crush on me!"
There was a solid second of silence before all three started laughing.
The video ended.
Alya slowly turned to the twins, "You met Chat Noir and didn't tell me?"
Marinette laughed awkwardly, "Well..." She turned to Nathaniel.
Nathaniel smiled, taking his phone from Alya and walking up to his seat, "Well, you're her best friend, and I'm not. Bye!"
She sputtered as Nathaniel quickly escaped.
Marinette groaned, leaning over her sketchbook. Nathaniel looked over, "What's up?"
"I'm gonna be busy for a week because of class rep duties, but I have to be Ladybug!"
Nathaniel clicked his tongue, "How long do you have until the week starts?"
"About a week."
"What if I become Ladybug?"
Marinette turned, "You become Ladybug? How would that work?"
"Um, Chat Noir could train me for this entire week and then next week I can tell the media you're out of town," Nathaniel explained, "It would also throw suspicion off you because you'd be in town, you're just busy!"
"Huh, that's actually a good idea," Marinette muttered, "I'll tell him during patrol tonight and you can start training tomorrow."
Chat Noir watched as a boy with a spotted suit and hair in a ponytail above his left eye jumped down onto the rood, stumbling a little.
"I take it you're Fortuno?"
Fortuno nodded, "Uh, her kwami's name is Tikki and your kwami's name is Plagg and he likes cheese."
Chat Noir nodded, "Alright then, let's start training."
The media hounded the new hero after an akuma attack the next week.
Fortuno cleared his throat, "I'm Ladybug's replacement while she's out of town. Chat Noir has already approved of me."
Chat Noir nodded, "Now stop crowding him because we're about to time out."
The two heroes quickly left the cameras and interviewers.
Nathaniel dropped through the door in the ceiling only for Marinette to tackle him in a hug.
"You did great!"
He chuckled, "Learnt from the best."
And that's how Paris gained two Ladybug heroes and one Black Cat hero.