Work Text:
"Hoohoohoohoo! All the gold is mine! All mine! Hoohoohoohoo!"
Leprechaun's ghoulish laugh echoed as he pranced over the roof of Le Grand Paris; the burlap sack over his shoulder continued to swell as he added to his hoard. The despairing wails from the restaurant downstairs were from rich patrons who had their expensive gold jewellery magically taken by this mischievous akuma.
Far from the image most people had of leprechauns, this one wasn't harping on about shaped marshmallows in an unconvincing irish accent. His voice was playfully sinister, matching the impish grin on his emerald face. His vivid green tailcoat was a stark contrast to his blood red cap and tights, making the villain easy to spot as he continued to frolic through the city in search of gold. His nose would twitch occasionally as he sniffed out more of his favourite metal.
Leprechaun burst through the doors of Francoise Dupont, finding the school empty. Classes had finished for the day, and as soon as the akuma alarm rang everyone was evacuated for their own safety. Well, almost everyone.
The villain's chuckle echoed through the empty halls as he peered at the various classrooms, searching for the strongest source of the smell; the pure metallic glorious gold.
"Getting closer..." he tittered in anticipation, strutting into the locker room, towards the one of the closed lockers.
"Hey, shortstop!"
The villain turned back at the doors, seeing a taller Vietnamese boy holding up a gold medal.
"You want gold? Come and get it!" Kim challenged, swinging the medal around a bit.
Leprechaun cackled and pointed his shillelagh at the boy, firing a vibrant blue blast at him. Kim nimbly dodged the beam and made a mad dash for the stairs. Despite the villain's short legs, he was quickly catching up to the teen, and Kim resorted to yeeting the medal over the roof. Leprechaun hopped up and used his shoulders as a springboard to chase after the prize.
Once he was sure the villain was distracted, Kim returned to the locker room.
"The coast is clear. It's safe to come out now!"
Nathaniel stumbled out of the broom closet while Alix climbed out of her locker and folded her arms, shaking her head with a resigned chuckle.
"It won't be clear for long if you two keep making noise."
The three of them approached Max's locker, and he slowly stepped out while fearfully hugging Markov to his chest. Computer circuits were also susceptible to Leprechaun's gold-stealing beam, meaning Markov's life was in danger. The robot was actually quivering in Max' hands.
"Kim, I'm sorry! Your first place swimming medal, it-" he started on the verge of tears, only to be stopped by Kim reaching out to pet Markov's head.
"It's just a medal, I got three more at home. Besides, Markov's more important."
"Nothing's gonna happen to you." Alix added, offering a smile as Markov lifted his head.
"We should get out of here. Leprechaun already looted the Louvre, so we can hide out at my place until Ladybug cleans this up."
There were a few motions of agreement before they started to leave, keeping an eye out in case Leprechaun returned. But as they reached the door of the school, Nathaniel suddenly gasped and turned around.
"Nath? What's wrong?"
"Marc! We were going to work on the next comic issue!" Nathaniel ran back into the school, making a beeline for the library where they were supposed to meet.
As soon as he stepped inside he saw his writing partner curled up under one of the tables. Nathaniel quietly closed the door behind him and knelt down next to him. His hood was pulled tightly over his head and he was staring blankly at the space in front of him.
"Marc?" He reached out to touch his shoulder. Marc jolted in place, bumping his head against the table and letting out a yelp. He just stared at Nathaniel, eyes full of fear. His mouth looked like he was trying for form words, but there was no sound coming out. His phone clattered to the floor next to him, where Nathaniel saw that he had been trying to call him a few times.
Nathaniel cursed under his breath as he took out his own phone, remembering it had been bricked after Leprechaun stole its circuits earlier. He callously dropped it to the side and brought his hands to Marc's shoulders, solely focusing on helping him out of his distress.
"I'm here, Marc. We're... we're going to be okay." He bit his lip, trying to remember the right things to say. Part of Ms Bustier's mindfulness exercises included some lessons about helping people having anxiety attacks. But reading what to say was very different to having someone in front of you, let alone someone you cared about.
"You're safe. He can't hurt you. Um..."
Marc leaned his face into Nathaniel's shirt, which he hoped was a good sign. He racked his brain trying to think of more reassuring things to say. In short sentences.
"Marc... I'm... I'm so grateful to you. You gave me another chance. You let me be your friend. And in these two weeks, the art club has changed. F-for the better, of course. You always have kind words to say. You can cheer people up with just a smile. You... you make everything so colourful."
Nathaniel felt Marc's trembling arms reaching around to hold him. He kept his head pulled close to his chest, wanting nothing more than for Marc to be safe. As he did, he caught a glimpse of light from the library window, and saw a giant rainbow being projected across the sky of Paris.
Then there were a few crashes and bangs, someone yelled something that was probably 'Cataclysm', and a loveliness of ladybugs suddenly swept through the library. Nathaniel's phone screamed into life, pinging about missed messages and calls until he quickly turned it to silent mode to keep his attention on Marc.
While Marc did tense up at the sudden influx of noise, he was able to register the threat to Paris was over, and managed to calm down enough to pull himself away from Nathaniel. His breathing had slowed down, but he was still gaping at the air, unable to form words. He kept his eyes on the floor, feeling ashamed and embarrassed that Nathaniel had seen him falling apart like this.
"Marc, are you okay? I... I'm here for you."
At those words, he finally brought his eyes up to meet Nathaniel's, where the other saw him starting to tear up. Marc wiped his eyes on his sleeve as he reached for his phone, typing out the words he couldn't say.
[Thank you for staying with me]