Chapter Text
Two large eyes blinked up at her. Marinette chuckled as the newly born calf tilted its head. How such large eyes could fit on so tiny a body, she would never guess. Very slowly the calf wobbled over to its mother and enjoyed the first feeding of its life. Marinette patted Betsy as she gobbled down her grain and was rewarded with the flick of a tail for her troubles.
“You know," Marinette giggled, "you should be more grateful to me for bringing your child into the world at this ungodly hour.” Even though she would have to get up again in a few hours for her morning chores, Marinette wouldn’t have traded those first few moments with that calf for the world.
After returning to the small yellow farmhouse, Marinette climbed the stairs to her bedroom in the loft and flopped on the nearest soft piece of furniture, her bed.
“Marinette!” Marinette’s kwami, Tikki, squeaked at her. “Are you going to be ready for school tomorrow?” A groan came from the mound now under the blankets. “What if there is an akuma attack?” Another grunt that sounded somewhat like “I’ll manage.” “Okay,” continued her shrill voice. “Just don’t plan on doing any late night sewing until you get your rest.” The tiny kwami shook her fist at Marinette and received only another grunt.
oOo**
The Dupain-Cheng’s lead rooster was never late; five in the morning on the dot he would start crowing - give or take a few hours depending on the season. Marinette pulled herself out of bed after his second crow, grabbed a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and began her morning.
Her mother and father were already out and about, eggs collected, breakfast ready. Marinette finished her breakfast quickly and started on her day’s work, she had planned to meet Alya at school early today and wanted to make sure she had everything done in time. Granted, she still had a few hours before Alya even woke up, Marinette wanted to be ceratin that she and Alya had a chance to talk in person before their first day back to high school.
The morning passed quickly, and after a final check on Betsy’s calf, Hugo, Marinette headed to school. The Dupain-Cheng Farm was about a thirty-minute bike ride from the high school Marinette attended, in that time, the rolling hills surrounding the Dupain-Cheng Farm fell away leaving room for the heart of Paris. As Marinette pulled into one of the bike racks and tied up her bike, she noticed a familiar redhead sitting on the steps of the school. Marinette grabbed her bag from the basket strapped to the back and jogged over.
“Hey, girl!” Alya called, pulling her drink from her mouth.
“Alya!”
“Long time no see!” Marinette giggled, Alya had just been over for a 3-night sleep over a couple nights ago. Marinette and Alya fell easily into conversation about the new year and how fast everything changes.
“Like, can you believe that only a couple years ago, Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up?”
“I know,” Marinette chuckled awkwardly, “it’s crazy.” Marinette thought back on the time she had spent with Chat Noir, all his crazy puns and ridiculous proclamations of his feelings. Marinette shook her head and smiled; her kitty really was something. And no, before you ask, she did not find him endearing enough to go on a date with him. Ever.
“Girl, I see that face.” Alya teased, causing Marinette to blush. “Who is it?”
“Wha-at.”
“C’mon! Don’t leave me hanging like that!”
Marinette knew she couldn’t tell Alya about Chat Noir. That would bring up questions about how she knew him. Alya knew Marinette well enough to know that she would never have a celebrity crush. She might think that someone was cute, but it would never render her fantasizing; she was too practical for that.
“No one!” Ayla’s face told Marinette she didn’t believe her. “Betsy had a new calf this morning. He has the biggest eyes; he is so adorable!”
Alya stared at Marinette from over the frames of her glasses, lazily sipping on her smoothie. “I’m not buying it, but I will let it slide.” Marinette sighed in relief. “But-” of course there was a but “you had better tell me soon!” Marinette chuckled and promised she would… eventually.
As the two girls sat on the stairs, they watched people flood into the doors of the school. They didn’t recognize most of them, the girls knew that those students had been at the same school for years, but it was such a large school that they couldn’t remember their names. One familiar red cap did stick out in the crowd. Alya spotted him seconds before Marinette was about to call out to him.
“Nino!” Nino Lahiffe glanced up from his phone and pulled an orange headphone away from his ear. His face split into a grin as he recognized his girlfriend waving at him. Alya bounded down the steps and pulled him into a hug. Marinette smiled.
“Come on, lovebirds! We will be late for our first class!”
Nino and Alya sauntered up the steps hand in hand and joined Marinette on her way to their homeroom.
“Good morning, children!” Miss Bustier welcomed with a warm smile. The trio was far from being children, but they didn’t mind being called that by Miss Bustier.
“Good morning, Miss Bustier.” They echoed.
In Miss Bustier’s homeroom, there were technically no assigned seats: where you sat at the beginning of the year was where you stayed, but you could choose where to begin. Alya and Marinette took their usual seats in the second row and continued their conversation. Nino, who hadn’t had a desk partner for the last few years, sat in front of them.
Sometime later, the bell for the start of school rang, and the remaining students filed into class. The day began as usual; as there were no new students, Miss Bustier jumped right into her lesson. If not for all the work she had done for her parents over the summer, Marinette could have believed that summer was just a dream and she had woken up for school the day after it ended as if nothing had changed at all. Some of the teachers stuck with Marinette’s philosophy and picked right up where they had left off, while others rambled on about how this was a new year and how that meant new expectations! All members of the class participated in a collective eyeroll at that.
When the bell for the end of the day finally rung, it woke some, while alerting others that they were finally free. The students filed out of the school and dispersed their separate ways.
Marinette jiggled her key into the lock on her bike and was just about to turn it when she noticed an unusually shaped shadow pass over the ground. She glanced up just in time to see a blond head and a pair of ears disappear over the top of the high school.
“Finally.” Marinette muttered to herself as she ran back into the school.
“Marinette!” Tikki scolded once they reached the bathroom. “Why are you happy there is an akuma?”
“Sorry, Tikki. You’re right. I shouldn’t be happy.” Tikki crossed her arms and nodded. “Today has just been so slow. I wanted something new to happen on the first day! I know,” Marinette replied to the look Tikki was throwing at her, “there have been akumas over the summer, but only three! And they were at the beginning! I am just excited to stretch my limbs and soar across Paris fighting evil, it's different than patrol!” Tikki smiled at Marinette’s giddiness and quickly forgave her. “Tikki, spots on!”
The stalls behind her were briefly bathed in pink light as Marinette transformed into Ladybug. She sprinted into the courtyard of the school, sprung onto the roof, and began looking for Chat.
Trailing around the Eiffel Tower was what appeared to be a large disco styled dance floor.
“I AM DISCONATRON!” Boomed the akuma. “YOU MADE FUN OF ME BECAUSE OF MY MOVES AND NOW YOU MUST ALL DANCE DISCO STYLE!!!!” The akuma ended his speech with a cackle. The akuma appeared to be a giant Elvis Presley with a disco ball instead of a right hand. He proceeded to shoot laser beams out of the disco ball at random places throughout the city. From those points, people blindly walked towards the dance floor, and once they reached it, they immediately began dancing.
Ladybug smiled; this was probably just some little old man who wanted attention. Ladybug swung through the roof tops and landed just behind a chimney near the Eiffel Tower. For some reason unknown to her, Ladybug miscalculated her position and dropped just a few inches short of the edge of the rooftop. A sleek, leather-clad hand grabbed her own and pulled her to safety.
“I see you’re finally falling for me, m’lady.” Chat winked as he placed a small kiss on the hand he held.
Ladybug laughed. “In your dreams, Chat Noir. So, what have you found out about the akuma?”
“Indeed, Bugaboo.” He winked and Ladybug rolled her eyes. “I was thinking that the akuma would be in his disco ball; it is where his power is coming from.” Ladybug nodded her agreement. “He seems fairly old; I don’t think he will be very concerned with us. He barely payed me any attention when I went up to him.” Now that he mentioned it, Ladybug noticed that he only faced one way even though the dance mat ran all around the Eiffel Tower.
“We have to be careful though,” she added, “Hawkmoth will be keeping an eye out for us and will tell him to turn around if he notices us.” Chat Noir nodded and they split up. Ladybug went around one side of the Eiffel Tower, mostly sticking to the streets and Chat Noir went around the other, the unspoken agreement to do the same. When they reached the Eiffel Tower, they hid in the shadows and snuck behind Disconatron. That’s when they discovered the reason why the akuma never turned around. There were at least forty tiny versions of itself lining the borders of the dance mat. Some were shooting laser beams like the big version, while others appeared to be standing guard along the borders of the mat.
As soon as they reached Disconatron, thirty of the little heads turned towards them and charged. Ladybug and Chat Noir fought them with all their strength, but every time one was hit in the slightest, it would split into two. Very soon, they were overpowered and losing quickly.
“What do we do, m’lady?” Chat Noir’s voice was ever the essence of calm, but Ladybug could hear he was quickly panicking.
“Pull back.” She responded.
They leaped to the roof of a nearby house and hid behind the chimney. Thankfully, as soon as they had left the borders of the dance mat, the – now hundreds of – mini Disconatrons refocused on the dancers.
“So that wasn’t what we expected.” Chat chuckled.
“Not at all.” Ladybug replied.
“What do we do now?”
“Well, we know that his akuma is in his disco ball, we just need to find a way to get it.”
“Maybe there is a reason he never turns around…?”
“You’re right…” Ladybug paused and inspected Disconatron and his minions more closely. Then she noticed that if Disconatron turned slightly one way while dancing, all the minions on that side would immediately start dancing as well. But the odd thing was, if he turned the other way, they didn’t start dancing until he was almost fully turned around. Ladybug reported her finding to Chat Noir and asked what he thought.
“Well, maybe we should consult the Lucky Charm.” He suggested.
“Alright, I'm out of ideas otherwise.” Ladybug extended her arm and threw her yoyo into the air. “Lucky Charm!” A swarm of small magical ladybugs appeared out of the yoyo, twirled in a circle and then joined together to create a spherical object, which fell in Ladybug’s hand. She was confused as she looked for what it could be used for. Then it dawned on her. Ladybug pulled the covering off of the disco ball she held in her hand and ran back towards the Eiffel Tower. “Be ready to break his disco ball!” She called back to Chat Noir.
Ladybug swung around the tower, and through the streets of Paris, until she reached the exact opposite side as Disconatron. She landed in one of the streets and jogged up to the middle of the Eiffel tower. She pulled the disco ball from under her arm and watched as all the mini Disconatrons immediately started dancing. Ladybug smiled as just at that moment, Chat’s baton came out of nowhere and broke the disco ball on Disconatron’s hand. The small purple butterfly flew out of it.
“Time to de-evilize!” Ladybug threw her yoyo at the akuma and purified it. “Bye bye, little butterfly.” She called as it flew away. “Miraculous Ladybug!” She shouted as the Lucky charm burst into a cloud of little ladybugs and flew over Paris, fixing everything in its wake. “Pound it.” She smiled. This is what she loved. Although, Chat’s cocky smirk did dampen the effect slightly.
Just then her earring began to beep. “That’s my cue. Chat, can you take care of this man?” Ladybug pointed to the man now sitting on the ground staring blankly up at them. Chat Noir nodded. “Thanks! Bug out!”
Ladybug swung back to the school bathrooms and detransformed. “Here, Tikki.” She said as she offered her exhausted kwami a cookie from her purse.
“So, are you back in a good mood?” Tikki smiled.
“Yes.” Marinette responded, laughing.
Marinette unlocked her bike from the bike rack and began pedaling home. When she pulled up their long driveway, she noticed a small black car with shaded windows sitting in the driveway. The chickens that usually wandered free, were all crowded in the shade of a nearby tree. That was never a good sign. Somehow, their chickens had an excellent judge of character.
Marinette tucked Tikki back into her purse and jogged up their front steps. She heard muffled voices from inside.
“-you really do have a nice property, Mr. Dupain.” Came an unrecognizable voice.
“Thank you.” Marinette’s father responded. He sounded slightly stiff.
“I was wondering if you were thinking of selling.” Marinette almost laughed, if there was one way to get on the wrong side of Tom Dupain, it was to offer to buy his farm.
“I think you should be going now, sir”
“Ah, I see.” Came the voice. “Well, it seems as though I have overstayed my welcome. I must be going now. Mrs. Cheng. Mr. Dupain.” He addressed each of her parents in turn and then walked through the kitchen door, passing Marinette on the way. “Good day, Marinette.” Marinette could only wave awkwardly.
As soon as the black car rolled out of the driveway and down the lane, the Dupain-Cheng farm released a collective sigh. The chickens returned to their exploration of the lawn, and Marinette went inside.
“What was that all about?” She asked.
“He was from the bank; they have been after the farm for years. Want to turn it into suburbs.” He spat out the last word like a curse. The Dupain-Cheng farm had been in her father’s family for years, and Mr. Dupain had fought hard against his brother for it. From what Marinette had heard, they had come every Thursday for the first five years asking, until Mr. Dupain finally sent them away with a threat. Now they just dropped by every now and then. Marinette hadn’t seen someone from the bank in years, but her parents assured her they had come, just during school hours.
Suddenly, rumble of a car engine came down the street, and loud crunching alerted the Dupain-Chengs that it had entered their driveway. Mr. Dupain growled and marched through the kitchen door again, muttering under his breath. “That better not be them again.”
Marinette and her mother quickly filed in behind him and watched over his shoulder as another sleek black car pulled up to the house. This time however, the chickens only moved as to not be hit. When the car parked, they returned to their regular activities. That’s odd. Marinette thought to herself.
After a few seconds of breathless anticipation, the backseat door opened and a what appeared to be a teenaged boy stepped out. He was tall, lanky, well dressed, and had a mop of well-groomed blond hair atop his head. His eyes were blindingly green, and they twinkled with kindness when he smiled.
“Hello.” He said with a smooth voice. “Is this the Dupain-Cheng Family Farm?” When he asked the question, he tilted his head slightly to the side - still smiling innocently - effectively pulling off the look of a lost puppy.