Chapter Text
Sun shone through the large window, giving the ray of hope to the dark and sinister place. On the floor, there were white butterflies with their wings flapping as if they were waiting for something. In the middle of them stood a man dressed in a silver vest, red dress pants, a grey dress shirt, and a red-and-white striped tie that bore a strange resemblance to a candy cane.
The man’s name was Gabriel Agreste.
In front of him floated a small, purple, butterfly-like creature – kwami named Nooroo.
“But Master – the Miraculous are not meant to use for evil purposes…”
“I must have this absolute power!” shouted the man. “Your miraculous is in my control! I am your Master now! And you must obey me!”
“Yes, Master…”
Gabriel placed a brooch on his shirt.
“Nooroo! Wings Rise!”
Nothing happened…
“Nooroo! What is the meaning of this?!”
“I told you, Master! Miraculous were not created for evil purposes! Normal transformation phrase won’t work!”
“How about I change it a little…?”
“Nooroo! Dark Wings Rise!”
Butterflies surrounded him and Nooroo was sucked into the brooch.
When the transformation subsided, Gabriel stood dressed in black dress pants and a dark purple dress shirt with a black butterfly-shaped lapel. His Miraculous was placed at the collar’s center. Over the majority of his face and neck, he wore a silver mask.
“From this day on I shall be known as Hawkmoth!”
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Somewhere else in Paris another kwami – Wayzz, was sleeping peacefully. He suddenly woke up, sensing something very bad. He immediately flew out from his place of hiding.
“Master! Master!”
A short Chinese man with gray hair, mustache, and a goatee looked at Wayzz. His name was Wang Fu.
Another man – probably a customer - who was laying on a mat looked up with a strange expression on his face. Wayzz immediately hid behind the shorter man, who started chanting.
“Maste, Maste. Chanting – it’s all a part of the treatment. Maste, maste”.
Then he shoved the customer out of the room, ignoring the latter’s protests. He turned to the kwami.
“Wayzz that was careless and dangerous! You better have a good explanation.”
“Master - the Butterfly Miraculous! I felt its aura! And it’s very negative…”
“I thought it was lost forever. If what you’re saying is true then we need to find Nooroo. There’s no telling what evil will come upon Paris. Go and fetch Victor. The time has come.”
“But Master, Victor is out of the city! And you don’t have a way of contacting him because you refused to get yourself a phone!”
A horrified look phased through the old man’s face. He sighed heavily.
“Then we need to transform! Wayzz! Shell O-argh!”
Wang's back made a cracking sound.
"Master! You're too old for this! Besides, Victor's gonna give you an earful for even trying to transform!"
"In that case, we'll need help."
Wang made his way to an old gramophone. He pressed two dragon's eyes and three of the buttons that popped out. The gramophone opened, revealing a brown wooden box with a red symbol on top.
"Are you sure Master?"
"I'm not. But we have no other choice."
------------------------
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Your alarm clock has been going off for 15 minutes! Get up or you’ll be late for your first day of school!”.
“I’m coming, mom!”
A sixteen-year-old girl walked into the kitchen. She was slender and of average height. Her blueish hair was tied into two pigtails. She looked both tired and annoyed - a typical expression for a freshly-woked-up teenager.
Marinette kissed her mother - Sabine Cheng - on the cheek and sat beside the table to have some breakfast.
"I'm betting my sketchbook that Chloe's gonna be in my class again."
"Is it even possible? You're losing your sketchbook if you're wrong."
Bets were taken very seriously in the Dupain-Cheng family.
"Yes, it is. And dad betted on his favorite apron. I think I'm in a better position because my sketchbook is empty."
"Oh, my" laughed Sabine. "Bets aside, try to think positive. It's a new school year and a new beginning."
"I'll try."
Marinette ate breakfast (not without making a mess around) and dressed for school. She chose a dark grey blazer with rolled-up sleeves, a white T-shirt with a pink flower design, pink rolled-up jeans, and pink ballet flats.
The girl went down to her family's bakery to greet her father - Tom Dupain. He smiled at her and showed her a box of macaroons.
"What do you think?"
"These look amazing dad! Thank you!"
"No problem sweetie. And remember - today you're giving me your sketchbook!"
"In your dreams, dad!"
She then kissed her father on the cheek and rushed out to get to the school.
She was almost already late so she wanted to get to the school as soon as possible. She mentally cursed the red light that stopped her from crossing the street.
Yet it didn't stop an old man.
A car was rushing his way and no one seemed to notice or care. Without much thought, she quickly moved over to him and pulled him out of the car's way, spilling a few macaroons in the process.
"Are you alright miss?" asked the old man.
"Yes. Are you alright sir? What you did was very dangerous."
"I'm sorry for the trouble. My eyes are not like they used to be and I must have missed the red light. Shame about your macaroons…"
"It's okay I still have plenty of them. Would you like one?"
"Yes, please. Thank you, young lady."
Marinette heard a bell ring.
"I have to go! Have a nice day sir!"
Then she sprinted towards the school.
Wang Fu looked at her with a smile.
'Have a good day Ladybug'.
Marinette ran into the classroom. The teacher didn't say anything because she was being busy moving students around.
The girl sat in silence in her usual seat. Everything was going well so far.
A hand slammed at her desk.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"
‘Well…shit’
Marinette looked up to see her arch-enemy: Chloe Bourgeois: a blonde girl that looked as if she just crawled up from a box of glitter.
'Her royal bitchness graced us with her presence. Great. At least I won the bet.'
"That's MY seat."
"Since when?" asked bluenette.
"Since this year. New school, new year, new sits."- said Sabrina - Chloe's redheaded minion/slave.
"Yeah, why don't you just seat beside the new girl over there" added Chloe pointing to the front row and a girl with reddish-brown hair, who looked at the blonde with a 'you talking about me bitch?' look.
"Adrien's arriving today. I want to seat behind him. Got it?"
"Who's Adrien? Wait. If he's got anything to do with you I don't want to know."
"Suit yourself Dupain-Cheng. You're not worthy of him anyway. Now move."
"Who made you a queen of seats?" said a new voice.
Chloe looked up to see the 'new' girl staring her down.
"Oh look, Sabrina! We have a goody-two-shoes now!" mocked Chloe. "What are you going to do? Shoot laser beams at me from your glasses?"
"Trust me. You don't want to find out."
The brunette took Marinette's arm and took her to the front row. Marinette being her normal, clumsy self spilled almost all macaroons she had left. She could hear Chloe laughing behind her. Marinette sighed and sat beside the new girl.
"Thanks for standing up to Chloe. I wish I could do it the way you do."
"You mean how Majestia does it? She says that: "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing". We're the good people. And the brat over there is pure evil. She can’t get away with it"
"It's easier said than done. She loves making my life a living hell."
"That's because you let her, girl! You just need someone to have your back!"
"I'm Marinette by the way," said blunette splitting the only remaining macaroon in a half.
"Alya" said the other girl, taking half of the macaroon.
Both knew this was a start of a beautiful friendship.
"For those who don't know yet I'm Miss Bustier and I'll be your teacher"
Chloe bearly registered the teacher's words. She just stared at an empty seat in front of her.
"He should've been here by now" she muttered under her breath.
She couldn't afford to let another person leave her. Especially not Adrien.
---------------
Outside, a blonde handsome boy, with green eyes ran towards the school. He was tall and had an athletic build.
He almost made it. Almost.
A car stopped in front of the school. A stern-looking woman got out of it.
"Adrien please reconsider! You know what your father wants."
"This is what I want Nathalie. I just want to go to school like any normal kid. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Argh!"
Adrien looked behind him and saw an old man struggling to get up from the floor, desperately reaching for his cane. The boy rushed to help him.
"Thank you, young man"
"No problem sir. Are you hurt? Do I need to call an ambulance?"
“That won’t be necessary.”
"Adrien!"
The blonde turned towards Nathalie who wore a perfect emotionless expression on her face.
"Let's go"
Adrien sighed heavily and got into the car.
“I just wanted to have a normal life… Please, don’t tell father.”
The car drove away.
Wang Fu smiled.
'This is going to change your life Black Cat'
-----------------
At the school, the lesson was over.
"Kim!!!" shouted a burly boy, holding a piece of paper.
"Ivan! What's going on?" asked Miss Bustier.
"It's Kim!" said Ivan pointing to the tall, muscular boy. "I'm so gonna..."
"Ivan, go to the principal's office, now!"
The boy folded the paper angrily in his fist and left the classroom.
The circular window opened.
"Ah, yes. Negative emotions, just what I needed. Sadness, anger. Such a perfect victim for my first Akuma" said Hawkmoth.
He allowed one of his butterflies to land on his hand. Then he poured energy into it, changing its appearance from white to black with purple lines.
"Fly away my little Akuma! And evilize him!"
Ivan made his way to the principal's office and entered.
"Hasn't anyone told you to knock before you enter?" asked the annoyed principal. "Go on, let's try this again."
The boy's anger only seemed to deeper as he closed the door.
The butterfly landed on a folded piece of paper, held by Ivan.
"Stoneheart, I am Hawkmoth. I give you the power to seek revenge on those who have wronged you."
"Yes, Hawkmoth."
Inside the office, the principal was still waiting for the boy to knock.
"You can knock now."
The door flew in his direction.
"KIIIIIIIM!!!"
-----------------
'Oh no. Oh no. This is a disaster!'
Marinette was currently freaking out inside her room. Everyone was evacuated from the school after Ivan got turned into some kind of giant stone monster and started to wreak havoc across the city. Alya instead of hiding rushed after him to see a superhero that was supposedly about to show up. This day couldn't get any weirder.
Marinette looked at her desk and saw a small wooden box.
"What's this doing here?"
Adrien was tired and frustrated. Nathalie told Father about him wanting to go to school, so the poor boy had to hear the whole 'the world is dangerous and you are only safe inside the mansion' speech. He felt like a modern and male version of Disney's Rapunzel. With the exception that Rapunzel had Pascal to keep her company. He didn't have that luxury. Sure, he had a giant room with tons of cool stuff. But it was nothing but a cold and empty prison.
Adrien heard a roar outside and rushed to the balcony to see what was going on.
Apparently, there was a giant stone creature on a rampage. The boy turned on the TV to know more about the situation.
That's when he noticed a small wooden box in front of him.
"What's this doing here?"
Marinette was SO wrong because her day just got a hundred times weirder.
"A giant bug! A mouse! A bug-mouse!"
"It's okay! Don't be scared!"
"Aaah! Bug-mouse talks!!!"
Bluenette started to throw everything she could reach for at the red creature.
"Marinette, I know that things may seem really weird to you but I promise..."
The girl took the glass and trapped the intruder inside.
"Okay, if that makes you feel safer"
"What are you, how did you get here and how in the world do you know my name?"
"I'm a kwami and my name is Tikki. I can't exactly tell you how I got here. But I can explain the rest."
That was... unexpected to say the least.
At first, Adrien thought that his Father is pulling a prank on him.
But then he remembered that his old man wouldn't know what a sense of humor is, even if it hit him straight in the face.
So, there he was, running around his room, trying to catch a small, floating cat that chewed on everything in sight. After a long chase, he caught it.
"I still don't know what you're doing here. Or even what you are."
The creature gave him a bored and unimpressed look.
"I'm a kwami. My name's Plagg. I grant superpowers. Yours is the power of destruction. Also, no one can know that I exist. Got it?"
"No"
"Good. Now get me something to eat. I'm starving! Nothing in this room is edible! How can you live like that?"
"Mom! Dad!"
"No, no, Marinette! You can't tell anyone about me! Please I'm your friend, trust me! You're the only one that can stop Stoneheart!"
"But I'm no superhero! The only power I have is super-clumsiness! But Alya is into superheroes! You should ask her! She totally will be up for the job!"
"Marinette!"
"Isn't there anyone else who could do it?"
"Person that could is currently far away from the city. And we can't wait, we need to act now!"
"How I can be a superhero? I can't even get out of my own house to go to school, let alone to stop that monster!
"We can change that. If you're willing to change it" said Plagg, riding on toilet paper, rolling it around the room.
"So I have to break the object, where that thing... is hiding, right?"
"The 'thing' is called an Akuma. And you must capture it."
"And my special superpower is called 'Lucky Charm'?"
"Yes! See - you're already getting the hang of it! Now all you have to say is 'Spots On!'."
"Spots On?"
Marinette felt a rush of energy, going through her body. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw that she was dressed in a red skin-tight suit with black dots and a black collar.
"How does this thing come off? Tikki! I want my normal clothes back! It's a very good material though..."
"Marinette? Is that you?"
'Mom! Oh no, oh no! She can't see me like this!'
Marinette rushed to her balcony and shut the trapdoor behind her.
"So I have superpowers. And my weapon is... a yo-yo?! You have got to be kidding me... Alright, let's see how this thing works."
" 'Claws Out!" That's how you transform.
"Got it! Plagg! Claws Out!"
"Wait! I'm not finished explaini...!"
Adrien didn't hear the kwami's protests, too excited by the chance of getting out of the house. When he transformed, he saw himself in a black leather-like suit, with cat ears, belt-tail, and a bell by the collar.
He then jumped out of the window, finally feeling free. He landed on a rooftop and examined his new weapon.
"A staff? I can work with this. What if I press this button…? Oh, it extends! Sweet!"
Adrien started to walk on his staff, trying to get to the next rooftop, when he heard screaming. He looked up, just to see a girl in a red suit crashing into him. Thankfully girl's yo-yo wrapped around them and prevented a painful meeting with the pavement.
"Well, hello there. Nice of you to drop in" he said as they untied themselves.
"I'm sorry" came a reply. "I didn't do it on purpose, I swear".
"You must be the partner my kwami told me about. And don't sweat it. I'm still learning too. I'm... Cat Noir. And you?"
"I'm Ma...madly clumsy" said the spotted heroine as she accidentally smacked her new partner with her yo-yo. "I'm so clumsy".
The cat hero didn't get to reply, because behind them an entire building collapsed, indicating the monster's position.
Cat Noir extended his staff and rushed in that direction.
"Where are you going?" shouted the girl.
"To save Paris! That's why we're here, right? Come on clumsy girl!"
'Trust your instincts Marinette. Ugh! Tikki I swear, if I die out there I'll haunt you into the next century!'
Bluenette spun her yo-yo and followed her partner.
They found Stoneheart at the stadium, about to crush a boy in front of him.
Thankfully Cat Noir stopped him with his staff allowing the latter to escape.
"You might want to change your cat-titude. It's not mice to pick on people smaller than you."
"Guess you're talking about yourself kitty!" roared the monster and charged at the hero.
"Everything's going according to plan. Ladybug and Black Cat's Miraculous were activated. Now all I have to do is wait for Stoneheart to destroy them!" said Hawkmoth, very proud of himself.
Meanwhile, the villain was causing more and more problems. He almost hurt Alya (who somehow managed to get herself in the middle of this whole shit) with a goal. He pushed Cat Noir around with minimum effort and now caught him. And Marinette didn't know what she was supposed to do. She felt powerless.
"Hey, super red bug!" she heard Alya's voice. "Do something! The world is watching you!"
Bluenette suddenly felt a rush of confidence. She charged at Stoneheart, wrapped her yo-yo around him, causing the monster to fall and drop Cat Noir.
"Sorry, it took so long."
"Don't sweat it, partner. Now, let's make this battle a hiss-tory!"
"Stop!" said the spotted heroine, grabbing her partner's tail. "Didn't you notice that he gets bigger and stronger every time he gets attacked?"
"Purr-haps? You have something in mind?"
"Not really..."
"So let's use our powers! Cataclysm!"
With that, his hand became surrounded with black energy.
"Apparently I destroy everything I touch."
"I don't need a superpower for that... No, don't!" she shouted, trying to stop her partner but the cat hero had already touched the goal and it crumbled to dust.
"Cool!"
"You can use your power only once! And now you have only five minutes before detransforming you moron! Didn't your kwami tell you anything?!"
"Wait, really? I guess I was just too excited and didn't listen."
'I don't get paid enough for this shit' "Okay it's my turn now, I guess... Lucky Charm!"
Blunette caught a ladybug-themed wetsuit.
"A superpower you say?"
"Shut up. At least I get to use mine properly. Now I have to break the object where that thing... Akuma is hiding."
"He's entirely made of stone."
"His right hand. He never opens it! It's like these Russian dolls! The object is inside!"
"So what's the plan?"
Marinette looked around: the monster's fist, Alya, water tap, garden hose.
She put the garden hose inside the Lucky Charm and wrapped her yo-yo around Cat Noir's legs.
"Don't resist. Trust me" then she started spinning her partner.
"You're insaaaaane!"
Stoneheart caught the cat superhero.
"Catch me if you can!" shouted blunette, jumping with the wetsuit at the villain.
This caused Stoneheart to drop the object in his fist, as he caught the blunette.
"You!" shouted the spotted heroine turning to Alya. "The tap!"
The girl rushed to open the tap and as soon as she did it, the wetsuit inflated freeing blunette from Stoneheart's grasp. She then ran towards the Akumatized object, breaking it and freeing the purple butterfly.
This made the monster turn back into Ivan.
Cat Noir was in awe.
"You're insanely cool!"
"Thanks. But it was teamwork, partner! I couldn't have done it without you!"
"Pound it!" they fist-bumped.
Cat Noir's ring started to beep.
"You have to go. Our identities must remain secret."
"Very well. Fur-ewell M'Lady. Let's do this again soon." said the cat hero as he made his way out of the stadium.
"Not too soon I hope" muttered the girl.
She then turned to Ivan to comfort him.
"It was about this paper, wasn't it?"
"Kim wrote it. I know he means well, but..."
"He's being insensitive?"
"Yeah"
"Look. There's no shame in admitting your feelings Iv- I mean sir."
"Thanks, uh..."
"What's your name? How did you get your superpowers? Did you got bitten by a radioactive Ladybug?" bluenette turned around to see Alya, holding a camera.
"I'm no Spider-Man" her earrings started to beep. "I am Ladybug" and like that she was gone.
"I can't believe I pulled this off Tikki!"
"I told you you'll do great!"
"That was so cool, Plagg!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now about that Camembert..."
Their celebration wasn't supposed to last long, as people across Paris started to turn into copies of Stoneheart.
"Tikki? What's going on?"
"Did you capture the Akuma?"
"No. Is that important?"
"Yes! If it isn't purified, Akuma can multiply. If Ivan gets turned into Stoneheart again he'll bring statues to life and make them his army!"
"Oh, no. I told you it wasn't a good idea. I messed up big time! You should have waited for that other person, Tikki!"
"Don't feel bad Marinette! It was your first time, everyone makes mistakes! And only you could do it as Ladybug!"
"Cat Noir will be better off without me... I'm sorry..."
"Wait! Don't take off the ear-!"
Marinette placed the earrings inside the box and put them into the drawer.
"So I can't do anything without Ladybug?"
"No. Well, we can always wait for the drama queen but I don't know when he'll be back."
"Wait. Drama queen?"
"He was supposed to do what you did, but he wasn't in the city at a time. So, you two came in."
"Great. So I'm not only powerless on my own, but I'm also a substitute?"
"Well, it sounds pretty bad when you say it..."
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"So let me get this straight. Wayzz sensed Nooroo's Miraculous being activated with a negative aura. You couldn't contact me, because you don't have a phone - we'll have to change that by the way. And you tried to transform, even though I told you not to do it! You could have gotten seriously hurt!"
"I'm fine Victor."
"Okay. I can understand that much. What I can't understand is that you casually took the two most powerful Miraculous in existence, gave them to teenagers that you chose based on one act of kindness, and left them without proper guidance!"
"We had little time left."
"Ugh! Gramps, you know I love you but sometimes I just can't understand you!.
Wang Fu stared at his grandson - a sixteen-year-old boy. He was tall, had green eyes and messy black hair. His clothes consisted of blue jeans, white trainers, a white T-shirt, and a blue denim jacket. On the said jacket was a silver pin in the shape of a peacock's tail.
Beside him floated Duusu - the peacock kwami.
Victor was about to argue some more but he heard screaming. He looked outside of the window and saw a couple of stone monster statues.
"I think they didn't purify the Akuma" said Duusu.
"Well... shit."