Chapter Text
Rather inconveniently, and completely against his will, Apollo had accidentally become a superhero.
Then again, he had been doing quite a lot of accidentally inconvenient things against his will recently. Like his first solo trial in court, where his boss had refused to help him out for unknown reasons, he’d had to deal with an unruly client who kept actively trying to get declared guilty, he got called stupid nicknames by the prosecution, and his co-counsel was an annoying little magician girl who wouldn’t stop going on about her “magic panties”…
Of course, said magician girl just had to be the daughter of the great Phoenix Wright, didn’t she? Apollo had wanted to meet the guy for years – only for him to turn out to be some shady poker player constantly having a laugh at Apollo’s expense! Talk about a let-down! All he’d really got out of the whole thing were shattered dreams, and a bizarrely-dressed little sidekick who was just as much of a troll as her father.
And now there was this. This little piece of jewellery that was about to ruin his life.
It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, though. As crazy as it was to believe, there was a very real supervillain attack going on outside right now. One of the police mascots had come to life as a towering giant and was rampaging through the city in a rage, tearing apart buildings and threatening to shoot people with his gun. Even down here, backstage at the Wonder Bar, the chaos from the other side of the walls could be clearly heard.
The table shook slightly every time there was a thud of the villain’s footsteps out on the street. That wasn’t the biggest problem, though. No – that would be what was on the table. Two identical little hexagon-shaped boxes, resting there with their lids open, tiny pieces of jewellery glimmering on the cushion inside each one.
“I know what these are!” Trucy said, her huge smile so jarringly out-of-place considering that there was currently a savage monster on the loose. “These are from my family!”
“You mean Mr Wright?” Apollo asked. His heart was already sinking – he wasn’t about to trust anything that trickster gave them.
“No, not him – I mean my other family! These are magic jewels!”
Oh great, so they were just props for her show. Yeah, that would be super helpful here. Though… what did she mean by her “other” family? Apollo didn’t get the chance to ask – they were on a bit of a tight schedule, after all, in light of the dire circumstances.
“I don’t remember much about these,” Trucy continued, “but I’m pretty sure if you wear this jewellery, you get magic powers!”
“What the heck are you talking about?!”
“Look, let me show you!” Without waiting for a response, she grabbed one of the boxes off the table.
Almost instantly, there was a flash of light bright enough to obscure Apollo’s vision for a few moments. As the spots faded from his eyes, he noticed something floating in the air just above the box, something that hadn’t been there before. It looked almost like a little red puppet dangling there right in front of them.
He rubbed his eyes, way too tired for this. “Is this just another of your weird magic tricks, Trucy? Is this puppet a friend of Mr Hat?”
“N-No…” She was staring at the puppet in awe. “I’ve never seen this thing before…”
Well, Apollo’s bracelet wasn’t reacting, so apparently she wasn’t lying. “Then what is it?”
The puppet opened a pair of humongous eyes and spoke cheerfully. “I’m a kwami! My name is Tikki!”
Both Apollo and Trucy had the same reaction – leaping out of their skin in shock and tripping over backwards.
“Don’t be alarmed! The two of you have been chosen to wield the Miraculous, magical jewels long passed down through the…”
Trucy was the first to recover, picking up the box where she’d dropped it and edging closer to the puppet – the kwami, whatever that was – again. “So it’s real? The Gramarye jewels really are magic? It’s not just a story?”
“Yes, they’re magic!” Tikki said, beaming. “All the stories you’ve been told about these jewels are true. Now, in the city’s time of need, you have been chosen to be the next wielder of these great powers – the superheroes who will save the day!”
“Wow, really? So we just put these jewels on, and we’ll get superpowers? And a cool costume?”
“Yes, that’s right! You know how it works, don’t you?”
Apollo, vaguely wondering if this was a bad dream, looked between the two of them in utter confusion. “Is anyone going to tell me what exactly is going on here?!”
“No time, Polly!” Trucy said, clenching her fists with a frown of determination on her face. “There’s a supervillain attack going on right now, and we have to stop it!”
“Um, I’m a lawyer. Not a superhero. I don’t know what kind of ridiculous work your dad hired me to do here, but saving an entire city was not on the list!”
“Oh come on! Are you telling me you don’t want to be a superhero? Anyway, you heard the kwami – we’ve been specially chosen! I don’t think this is something we can turn down.”
Apollo pinched his arm. “I’m going to wake up at any moment…”
“Let’s see what’s in this box…” Trucy muttered, having lost interest in arguing with him already. “Ooh, it’s a pair of earrings! They’re pretty! And what’s in this other box? Let me have a look…”
The second she touched the other box, there was another flash of light, and this time a little black puppet with cat ears and whiskers popped up in front of them. Another one of those kwami things, it seemed. Only this one simply yawned rather loudly and spoke in an uninterested drawl.
“Ughhhh, I’m so hungry… Got any cheese here?”
Tikki turned to face him, her tiny hands on her hips. “PLAGG! There’s an akuma attack going on right now! Can’t you think of something other than cheese for once?”
“Hmm, nope…”
So there were two of these weird, floating, magical puppet things. One for each piece of jewellery, presumably. Not that Apollo understood anything else that was going on, of course. And would Trucy bother explaining to him? Knowing her, probably not. She so did enjoy watching him flounder.
“Nice to meet the two of you!” she was saying to the two kwamis now, any shock having completely worn off. “I’m Trucy, and this here is Apollo! We’re so excited to be superheroes!”
“Speak for yourself!” Apollo snapped. “Are you sure this isn’t somehow part of your magic show? Some props you forgot about or something?”
She crossed her arms. “I know I’m a great magician, but do you really think I could pull off something like this? And in the middle of a supervillain attack? We don’t have time for magic tricks! What we need now is real magic!”
“Real magic… right…”
“Look, I’ll explain everything later, okay? Right now we need to transform into our superhero selves and go and beat up that supervillain!” She turned to the kwamis. “The jewels are based on animals, right? Which ones are these jewels?”
“You’re surprisingly knowledgeable about all this!” Tikki said. “The jewel that I am the kwami of is the Ladybug Miraculous, these earrings here, which give the wielder the powers of creation. Plagg’s jewel is the Black Cat Miraculous, the ring you have in that box in your hand, and it gives the wielder the powers of destruction. When the two heroes work together, they undoubtedly make a formidable pair!”
Trucy’s eyes were sparkling. “That sounds so cool! Come on Apollo, let’s do it! I call dibs on the ring – I’ve always thought you look more like a bug than I do, so you can have the earrings.”
“I look like a WHAT?” he said, indignant.
“And your ears are pierced, aren’t they?” Trucy continued. “You really could do with wearing earrings more often if that’s the case. I already wear earrings, so these ones can be yours!”
Well yes, his ears were pierced – having grown up in Khura’in, it was fairly common to get one’s ears pierced as an infant, though he never really bothered actually wearing earrings. It reminded him too much of that country that he was doing his best to forget about…
Shaking that thought out of his head, he decided to pull one last trick. “Trucy… what would your father say if he knew you were going to run around fighting a supervillain?”
“I’m not going to tell him, obviously! First rule of being a superhero: keep your identity a secret!”
“You’ve already failed that, since I know who you are,” Apollo pointed out.
“Yeah, but I know who you are too! You can’t tell Daddy about this, okay? He wouldn’t mind anyway, I’m sure he knows I can handle myself, but… please don’t tell him! It has to be a secret!”
“Fine…”
“Good! Now put these earrings on!” She grabbed the box and held it out at him.
For several seconds he just stared down at it. Somehow, he couldn’t imagine this was a temporary situation, merely caused by the urgency of the supervillain attack outside – no, this seemed as important of a decision as when Apollo had first pinned his attorney’s badge to his lapel and officially become a defence lawyer.
Yet this time… he didn’t have a choice, did he? He didn’t even know what was truly going on, but from the surprisingly determined look in Trucy’s eyes, he could tell there was something serious about this. His questions would just have to wait for later.
Sighing, he grabbed the earrings out of the box and quickly put them on.
“Yay, I knew you would come around, Polly! Hmm, I don’t think you pull off the earrings look as well as Prosecutor Gavin does, but still, it’s good enough!” She took the ring out of the other box and put it on one of her gloved fingers. “Alright! We’re both ready!”
“Now what?” he muttered, feeling stupid already.
Tikki whizzed up in front of him – how was she doing that? Flying without wings? “For now I’ll give you a very brief overview of how your powers work, and if you have any further questions, we can discuss it later. Is that alright, Polly?”
“My name is Apollo!” he said quickly. He couldn’t have yet another person calling him stupid nicknames, after all. “I’m Apollo Justice.”
“And I’m Trucy Wright!” Trucy added.
Tikki frowned. “So… neither of you are a Gramarye?”
“Well, I am, but…” Trucy started, before a particularly violent thud from outside sent flakes of paint fluttering down from the ceiling. “Um, I’ll tell you all about it later!”
What the heck was a Gramarye, anyway? Were there no end to these mysteries?
Tikki nodded. “Alright then. Plagg, come back here, we’ll need you in a minute! You can get your food afterwards!”
Plagg drifted back over from the open bag of Snackoos in the corner of the room which he had apparently been admiring while everyone else was talking.
“That’s better. Now, about your powers – what you must do is say the transformation phrase in order to magically transform into your superhero self. This phrase can be anything as simple as ‘transform me’, but feel free to use your imagination! Once transformed, Plagg and I will be absorbed into the jewels, so we won’t be able to communicate with you. That’s why it’s important that I make sure you understand the use of your powers before you transform.”
This was sounding more and more surreal. The worst part was, Apollo was coming to realise that this was not, in fact, a bad dream. It really was happening to him. What kind of ridiculous responsibility was this?! He was a lawyer! He was supposed to be defending people! Well, yes, he’d be doing that as a superhero, but – but not that kind of defending! He was supposed to be defending them in court!
“Apollo, you will have the powers of creation,” Tikki said directly to him. “Call out the words ‘Lucky Charm’ and your jewel will bestow you with an object. How you use this object to save the day is up to you!”
“That’s just what Apollo does with evidence in court!” Trucy said.
What? No it wasn’t! It wasn’t anything like that!
“When transformed, you will also have access to a magical yoyo,” Tikki continued. “You can use this as a weapon, a phone, a computer, just use your imagination! Do you understand everything I’ve told you so far?”
Unfortunately, yes. He nodded.
“Good. The most important part is this – your ability to purify the akuma that has possessed the victim.”
“The… the what?”
“I don’t have time to explain fully. But that ‘supervillain’ outside is in fact a victim of remote brainwashing! In order to save them, you will have to free them from their mind control. They will have an object that is special to them somehow, in which the akuma – a butterfly infused with dark powers – is residing. You need to break the object to get the akuma out, and then use your yoyo to purify it. This will free the victim from the mind control, and they will not remember the experience. Once you have done that, the purification will give your yoyo a charge to use, which will repair all the damage done during this attack. Understand?”
There were so many words to take in that Apollo just stood there in silence for some moments. “…Mind control?!”
“I told you, I’ll explain later! The important thing right now is stopping the attack by freeing the akuma victim. They are currently being essentially mind-controlled by a corrupt wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous and we need to save them.”
“So I…” He fiddled with his earrings – they felt strangely heavy on his ears. “…I find an object that the supervillain is holding, and I break it, and use my yoyo to purify the mind control butterfly, and that’ll magically fix all the property damage, and the villain will be back to normal and won’t remember a thing… Am I saying this right? Or am I going completely insane…?”
Tikki gave him a huge smile. “That’s correct, well done!”
“And what about when I want to stop being my superhero self and go have a nice long bath and cup of tea and try to forget about all this? Then what do I do?”
“Just say a detransformation phrase. Something like ‘detransform me’ will work just fine!”
“Alright… thank you…”
“What about my powers?” Trucy asked, clearly raring to go. “What does this ring do?”
“You will have the powers of destruction!” Tikki explained. “First of all, your weapon will be your baton, a staff that can be used as a phone or computer the same way as Apollo’s yoyo. It can even be extended to infinite length!”
“And I can wave it around like a magician’s wand?”
“If you want everyone to figure out your secret identity immediately, yes,” Apollo said, rolling his eyes. Giving the powers of destruction to someone like Trucy Wright somehow seemed like a… distinctively bad idea. And unless she toned down the magician act while transformed, everyone would know it was her. She was pretty well-known around these parts, after all.
“Now for your destructive powers,” Tikki said. “If you call out the word ‘Cataclysm’, your hand will be imbued with a power that turns to dust the next object it touches.”
“Really? So if I used that power, then poked Apollo…”
“It would destroy him, yes.”
“Oh! I won’t do that then!”
Phew, so she did have some common sense, thankfully. Still, those powers sounded awfully dangerous to be giving unrestricted to a 15 year old.
“May I just ask,” Tikki said, as if she could read his mind, “…how old are you two?”
“I’m 15. I dunno how old Polly is though. Probably middle-aged or something. He’s having a mid-life crisis all the time.”
“Hey, I’m only 22!” he snapped.
“Why are adults so defensive about their age, anyway? It’s just a number. Why should you care so much if I call you old?”
“Because I’m not old!”
“Your age will be an advantage,” Tikki said to him. “You are an adult, so your use of your powers is only limited by your own energy. Trucy, however… you are young, so you will only be able to use your Cataclysm once per transformation. After that, you will have 5 minutes before your transformation will wear off. Then you will need to feed Plagg to recharge him, so that you will be able to transform again. So make sure to use your power carefully, and don’t let your transformation wear off where anyone can see you!”
“Hmm…” Trucy was lost in thought for a few seconds. “I see… but I can use that magic baton any time I want, right? It’s only the Cataclysm that gives my powers a cooldown timer?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Okay then! That sounds fine! Anything else we need to know?”
“For now that’s all. You are ready to transform.”
“Great!” She turned to Apollo. “You hear that? We’re ready to transform!”
“Um… you first,” he said.
“Okay. I’m going to do it! I’m about to say the transformation phrase! Hmm, should I make it something quirky and interesting? No, I don’t have time to think of anything, I can make a list of funny things to say later…”
“Just hurry up and get this over with, would you?!”
“Fine, fine! Plagg, come here… Alright, ready? Plagg, transform me!”
Once again, there was a blinding flash of light. Apollo instinctively put his arms up to shield his eyes, and by the time he lowered them, Trucy’s appearance had changed drastically.
First of all, Plagg was nowhere to be seen. He must have been absorbed into the ring, just like Tikki had said. Second of all, the person now standing before them barely looked anything like Trucy at all. There was a mask covering the top half of her face, her hair was a significantly darker shade of brown and in a completely different style, there were black cat ears popping up out of her head, her pupils had changed to become slim and cat-like, her outfit was jet black, there was a bell on her collar…
About the only similarity was that she still wore a cape, though this one was as black as the rest of her outfit and seemed to be flowing of its own accord, as opposed to limply hanging off her shoulders like that old bit of cloth usually did.
There was a silver stick in her hand – her baton, presumably – and she twirled it around in her newly clawed leather fingers, looking down at the results of her transformation. “Whoa, it worked! I’m a real superhero now! A proper magical girl! Isn’t this so cool?”
Apollo couldn’t lie. “Yeah… it is kind of cool, I guess…”
“Well then! Your turn now!”
“What? Me?”
“Of course! The cat and the ladybug are supposed to be a team, right? I can’t do this without you! I’ll do all the fighting if you want, but you have to be there to purify the… the hakama!”
“I think you mean akuma.”
“Yes, that! So what are you waiting for? Transform!” She pointed at him with her baton.
Right… now was the time. There was no turning back. Whatever mess he’d gotten himself into, he’d just have to keep going and get through this. After all, the alternative was probably getting pummelled into Justice soup by that supervillain out there, wasn’t it?
Tikki was watching expectantly. Fine – time to do this.
And hey… he’d been practising his Chords of Steel a lot lately. Why not use this opportunity to show off all his hard work?
“Tikki… TRANSFORM ME!”
Another flash of light, and a very strange sensation in his ears, followed by a layer of some light material wrapping around his limbs. As soon as the light wore off he looked down at himself to see what on earth he looked like.
“Wow, Polly, you look so different! I can hardly recognise you!”
That was a relief. From what he could tell, while he was still wearing his good old favourite colour, the outfit was completely unique. For starters, there were little black spots all over it, just like a ladybug’s. It also looked so much fancier, like one of those action video game protagonists come to life. He even had a mask like Trucy’s.
In fact, it was… cool?
His bracelet was still on his arm, but its appearance had changed to look like an accessory of the rest of the outfit. Good, so he could still keep his Perceiving ability, even in this form.
He looked up at Trucy – only to see her smile suddenly turn into a frown.
“Apollo, how could you?” she gasped.
“Huh? How could I what?”
“Your demon horns! What have you done to them?!”
Oh, his hair spikes? He put a hand up to his head, only to realise that there was a hood covering most of it. The “demon horns”, as Trucy has so kindly called them, had been pushed down by the hood and were no longer sticking up on top of his head like they usually were.
“They’re still here,” he pointed out. “They just point downwards now. That’s all.”
“But I was so looking forward to seeing you with them in your superhero suit! You’re a ladybug, right? They could have been like antennae!”
“What?! Look – it doesn’t matter! They would have made me too recognisable anyway!”
She pouted. “I guess that’s true… At least your massive forehead isn’t on display anymore…”
Even just hearing the word “forehead” gave Apollo unpleasant flashbacks to that recent trial, where a certain prosecutor had noticed the prominence of said forehead and decided to consider it Apollo’s defining personality trait…
He patted his hair spikes down further, making sure that there was no way he could be recognised. “So Trucy… now what?”
“Well,” she said, tapping her baton on her chin in thought, “first of all, you need to stop calling me Trucy. I need a superhero name.”
“Like ‘Black Cat’ or something?”
“No way, I need something more interesting than that! How about…” She struck a pose. “The Most Mysterious and Miraculous Lady Kitty-Whiskers Soot-Fur, Destroyer of Evil!”
“Um… no.”
“Oh come on! It’s such a good name!”
“I don’t even remember all of it! Mystical Kitty… Kitty-Whisker…”
“Mysterious and Miraculous Lady Kitty-Whiskers Soot-Fur.”
“I’m just going to call you Kitkat for short, since I most definitely will be needing a break,” Apollo decided.
“Fine, just remember that that’s not my full name! And what will you be, Apollo-bug? How about The Most Meticulous and Miraculous Flying Super Bug of Creativity and–”
“Just call me Ladybug.”
“What?”
“Ladybug,” he repeated, his patience at an end. “You have a stupidly over-the-top name, so excuse me if I go for something understated to balance it out. I’m Ladybug, and that’s that.”
“If you say so,” Trucy said, disappointment clearly written all over her face, even despite the mask covering a lot of it. “Well then Ladybug, we’d better get out of here and start fighting this supervillain. I’ve got my baton ready – have you got your yoyo?”
There was a belt at his hips where the yoyo in question was stashed. He took it off the holder and gave it a quick swing. Oddly enough, while he’d never been particularly good at yoyos, this one was absurdly easy to get the hang of. Was that due to the magic?
In fact, all of Apollo’s previous ailments – a stinging toe from where he’d stubbed it on the table earlier, the mild headache he had from all the thudding outside, general sleepiness from having stayed up too late training his Chords of Steel – it was all gone. Miraculously gone. He honestly felt like he could run a marathon right now, if he so chose. So, this was how it felt to be a magical superhero, was it? Invincible?
“What’s our plan?” he asked Trucy. “You distract the villain while I find the object he’s holding, and break it with this yoyo?”
“Sounds good!” she said. “That villain looked quite tall, though… I’m sure you can use your yoyo to swing up on top of a nearby building or something, Spidey-style, if you need to get closer to his arms, right?”
Apollo took a step back. “Swing on top of a building? No way.”
“What? Why not?”
“I’m not going on top of any buildings! That was never part of the deal!”
Trucy grinned. “So you’re scared of heights, are you?”
“W-Well… I don’t like them, but I’m not scared…”
“You’re lying! You are scared!”
There was no point hiding stuff from her, was there? “Fine, yeah, I… I’m scared of heights…”
“That’s okay, Daddy’s scared of heights too! But you’re a superhero now. Just remember, if you fall from up there, the magic in your suit will probably protect you and you’ll be fine!”
Just hearing those last words were enough to remind Apollo of the mantra he always used to get himself over his fears. Maybe it would help him this time, just in case he did need to scale a building at some point.
He clenched his fists. “You’re right, I’ll be fine! I’m Apollo Justice and I’m FINE!”
“No you’re not! You’re Ladybug.”
“Oh, right… I’m Ladybug, and I’m FINE!”
“That’s the spirit! Just… keep your Chords of Steel to a minimum when you’re transformed, will you? Or everyone will hear you and figure out exactly who you are!”
Ah yes, of course, his rather loud voice was quite memorable. It had definitely made an impression on everyone at court, that was for sure. He’d have to act at least somewhat differently as Ladybug to make sure that no one recognised him. Perhaps he’d get used to that in time.
He did, after all, get the nagging feeling that this would not be the first time that Ladybug would be needed to save the city…
There was a thud so loud that the very room shook. The villain must have been very close by.
“Let’s get going,” Apollo said. “Remember, Tr– uh… Kitkat, you distract the villain while I purify the akuma. Got it?”
“Got it!” She gave his closed fist a little tap with her own. “Let’s go, Ladybug!”
Turning around with an unnecessary flourish of her cape, she ran off towards the door of the room. Apollo hurried to follow.
-
The street outside the Wonder Bar seemed to be mostly deserted, probably on account of the supervillain scaring everyone off. One of the buildings had a chunk taken out of it, and plenty of parked cars were lying overturned in the middle of the road. The thudding was still audible.
“Looks like the villain was here just a few moments ago,” Trucy said. “Come on, Ladybug! Let’s go find him!”
Out on the street now, it was hard not to be self-conscious of how weird they must look, dressed in what basically amounted to Halloween costumes. But the sight of all this destruction seemed to shock Apollo’s brain into taking this seriously. He started heading in the direction of the villain’s footsteps when there was a loud voice from behind them.
“I’M COMIN’ FOR YOU, VILLAIN! I’LL... I’LL GETCHA FOR THIS! I’LL GET MY SCOOP NO MATTER WHAT!”
They turned around to see a young lady with a camera around her neck, limping at top speed despite clearly being injured. She even had blood running down the side of her face.
“Ooh, a civilian!” Trucy said, beaming. “Come on Ladybug, we should help her! It looks like she’s hurt!” Without waiting for his input, she went over to the lady. “Yoohoo! Do you need a hand with something?”
The civilian scowled, gripping her camera tightly in her hands. “What I need to do is get near that there villain! I’m a reporter, I need my scoop! ...Hey, wait a second!” Her expression lightened up considerably. “Y’all bein’ dressed like that... you ain’t superheroes, are ya?”
“Yep, that’s right! I’m Kitty-Whiskers, and this here is my sidekick, Ladybug!”
Apollo marched over immediately. “Hey, what do you mean ‘sidekick’?! You’re the sidekick!”
The reporter held up her camera and snapped a picture of them. “Now THIS is what I call a scoop! Reckon y’all are gonna fight that villain and save the day, then? I need to get myself over to the scene of the battle!”
“No, what you need to do is get yourself medical attention for that wound on your head! What happened there, anyway?”
“Aw, this li’l scratch?” She put a hand up to her head, making her puffy hair bounce. “The villain gone done and punched a wall next to me. Next thing I knew, a buncha rocks were fallin’ on my head! I’m just glad I managed to save my camera!”
“So the villain attacked you...” It was eerie to think that an innocent bystander had been attacked like that. Apollo shook his head. “You need to take cover and stay safe. Kitty-Whiskers and I have superpowers so we will defeat the villain.”
The reporter frowned. “Hey, but what about my scoop?”
“I’ll... I’ll give you an interview or something afterwards, alright? Now, which way did the villain go?”
She pointed off in the direction of the setting sun.
“Thank you. Please stay safe. Come on, Kitkat–”
Before the reporter could protest further, he headed off down the street. With renewed energy from the transformation it was fairly easy to move quickly. Trucy hurried to catch up with him, calling a farewell to the reporter as she went.
The thudding was getting louder, and with it came the sound of an enraged voice, as well as the occasional gunshot and sound of glass breaking. They rounded a corner to see the villain right in front of them, halfway up the street–
Was that...
...the Bad Badger?!
“Isn’t that one of the police mascots?” Trucy asked. “Except this time he’s like ten feet tall... and very angry... and he’s pointing that gun directly at us and walking towards us and–”
On instinct, Apollo pulled Trucy behind him with one hand, and with the other, he grabbed the yoyo and swung it around in front of them repeatedly at top speed, forming a shield. Just in time, too, as a bullet from the villain’s gun ricocheted off the yoyo and embedded itself in a nearby billboard instead.
The villain laughed and adjusted his sunglasses. “Look! A ladybug! And a cat! Mr Hawk Moth sir, is this what you were talking about?”
A luminescent purple screen flickered into view over the top of his face for a few seconds before disappearing again. What was that all about? Who was “Hawk Moth”? Was that the corrupt wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous that Tikki had mentioned?
There was no time to think about it. The villain – this strangely tall and terrifying version of the Bad Badger – was advancing on them, his gun still trained on them.
“Should I attack him?” Trucy asked. “Meanwhile you do that secret power thing of yours and figure out how to beat him!”
“Um, okay...”
She stepped out from behind him and brandished her baton. “Mr Villain! My name is Kitty-Whiskers, and I’m here to defeat you with the help of my trusty sidekick Ladybug!”
Apollo rolled his eyes – not the sidekick thing again!
“My name isn’t Mr Villain!” the villain snapped. “It’s the Bad Badger! And I have to take your magic jewellery from you! Get ready to die, Kitty-Whiskers! Down on your hands! Floor on your head!”
He shot at her again, only this time she spun her baton around in front of her to protect herself, catapulting the bullet off into another direction. “You’ll have to try harder than that!”
“Grr, stop making it difficult for me!”
As if by her own silent will, Trucy somehow managed to extend the length of the baton until it was the length of a spear. Then she charged the Bad Badger and began whacking him with it. “Take this! And this! And–”
There, the villain appeared to be sufficiently distracted. Apollo casted his mind back to what Tikki had told him before he’d transformed.
Alright, so first of all, the villain had a particular object with him in which the “akuma” was residing. That was probably his gun, wasn’t it? So Apollo would have to take the gun and smash it open in order to get the akuma out and purify it. How was he going to do that, though? He doubted the Bad Badger was just going to hand it over to him.
There was also that “Lucky Charm” thing that Tikki had mentioned. A special power that would give Apollo a random item, and he’d have to figure out how to save the day with that.
Perhaps now was the time to use it...?
“Lucky Charm!” he said, throwing his yoyo out and hoping it would accomplish something. Sure enough, a second later, a long red and black stick appeared out of nowhere and dropped right into his hands.
Was this... a fishing rod?!
“The heck am I supposed to do with this?” he muttered to himself.
A shot whistled past his ear, making him jump. It looked like the Bad Badger had managed to shake off Trucy and was holding his gun up again, the purple screen back in front of his face for a few moments.
“...yes, Mr Hawk Moth, sir! I’ll get those Miraculous things for you, sir! I’ll shoot those heroes and then take the earrings and ring!”
Yipes, that didn’t sound good. It seemed as if this “Hawk Moth” was after even more powers than just brainwashing. Apollo tucked the fishing rod into his belt for now and spun the yoyo around as a shield again. Seriously though, what was he meant to do with this?
Trucy had fallen onto the floor but she pushed herself to her feet. “Ladybug! Is that a fishing rod? How are you going to use it?”
He didn’t know! And right now, with the villain attacking him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to come up with a plan. It looked like he’d have to retreat for the moment.
Mustering up all the strength and speed that his costume gave him, he grabbed Trucy by the arm and pulled her into the nearest office building.
-
“Polly, what are you doing?” Trucy said, still being dragged after him up the stairs and away from the danger. “The villain still hasn’t been defeated–”
“I know! I needed to get somewhere quieter to think...”
He stopped once they’d reached the second floor. Thank goodness the Bad Badger was too tall to get in here – though judging by how the building was shaking, he was apparently trying to knock it down from the outside. They didn’t have a lot of time.
He took the fishing rod from his belt and looked at it carefully. “Well... this is definitely a fishing rod. An ordinary one.”
Trucy grinned at him. “Are you any good at fishing? Are you planning to ‘fish’ up a certain badger today?”
Apollo went over to the nearest window and opened the blinds to look at what was going on outside – only to recoil for a second as the sun hit his eyes. “Ugh, it’s so bright...”
“Really? It seemed kind of dark outside to me. I don’t even know how the Bad Badger was able to see anything with those sunglasses on.”
“Well we are up on the second floor right now, and it’s evening so the sun’s pretty low. The billboard was blocking it out when we were down on the street.”
“Oh...”
He looked out of the window properly, gulping down his fear at being so high up. The Bad Badger was next to the building, punching at the walls, there was the billboard behind him, and behind that, the distant yet blinding sun...
A plan was beginning to form in his brain. Unfortunately, he did not like it. Not one bit.
“I... I think I know what to do with this fishing rod,” he said. “But um... you don’t have any other ideas first, do you?”
“No, why?”
He tried to keep his voice steady. “I have a plan. But for it to work, I’ll have to go to the roof of this building...”
Trucy’s dastardly grin had returned. “Oh, you’re worried because of your fear of heights! Well, just remember what I told you! If you fall from here, it won’t hurt.”
“Yeah, but it’s still scary!” He sighed. “Okay, listen. You need to come with me to the roof, and then leap over to the billboard opposite us without the Bad Badger seeing you. Then just wait there behind the billboard, and when I give you the signal, use your ‘Cataclysm’ powers on it and destroy it completely. Do it as loudly and dramatically as possible.”
“I’m a performer, I’m an expert at being dramatic! Though you’re the expert at being loud.”
“Good.”
“What’ll you be doing with this fishing rod, though?”
“You’ll see. Come on. Let’s just get this over with...”
Apollo turned and headed back towards the stairs, up to the very top of the building. It wasn’t like it was a skyscraper or anything, but even the smallest of heights were enough to give Apollo goosebumps, even while superpowered. Was it something he would get used to? Hopefully...
-
Up at the top of the building, he carefully made his way to the edge and looked down.
Then he took a step back again, sure his face must be going green. “I h-hate this...”
Trucy gave him the cheeriest smile she could. “You can do it, Ladybug! Do it to save the city!”
“Mm...”
“I’ll go off and do my part of the plan now. Um... what sort of signal are you going to give me when I should do my Cataclysm?”
Apollo slid open the top of his yoyo to reveal a screen underneath. “Tikki said we can use these as phones, right? I’m guessing if I tap this picture of you on the screen here it’ll give you an alert.”
He tested it out, and sure enough, her baton gave a quiet beep.
“Okay, it works. You go and wait behind the billboard and I’ll alert you when I’m ready.”
“Got it! Good luck, Ladybug! See you soon!”
She took a running leap and soared through the air, far above the Bad Badger’s head, landing silently as a cat on top of the billboard. After turning to give Apollo a quick wave she disappeared behind it.
Perfect. Now to grit his teeth, confront his fear, and use this fishing rod.
Stepping up to the edge of the roof again, he held out the fishing rod and peered down at the ground. Was it... was it swinging? No, that was just his fearful mind playing tricks on him... The ground was still, it was the building that was shaking, thanks to the Bad Badger still punching at it repeatedly. He appeared not to have noticed Apollo up on the roof.
Taking a deep breath, Apollo cast the fishing rod out and quietly began lowering the hook down along the wall of the building... lower... lower... lower...
As it dangled above the Bad Badger’s head, him still none the wiser, Apollo got his yoyo ready. Then, at the same time as he sent the alert to Trucy, he swung the fishing rod and pulled the sunglasses up off the Bad Badger’s face.
“HEY! MY SUNGLASSES!”
At that moment, there was a loud yell of “CATACLYSM!!!” followed by the billboard collapsing into dust across the street.
Dazzling sunlight streamed into the scene – and directly into the newly uncovered eyes of the Bad Badger, who had turned to look in the direction of the billboard. He dropped his gun and threw his hands up to shield his face.
“GAH – MY EYES! MAKE IT STOP!”
Perfect, it had all worked! Now was the hardest part. Bracing himself, Apollo ignored every one of his instincts and, quickly wrapping his yoyo around one of the nearby drainpipes, used it to lower himself to the ground at top speed.
Okay, that had been the worst and most terrifying thing he had ever done in his life?
But there wasn’t any time to contemplate it – the villain could come to his senses at any moment. Down on the ground again, Apollo threw his yoyo directly at the gun with all his superpowered force and pent-up nerves, hitting it hard enough to split it into two. A tiny black and purple butterfly emerged from the broken gun, lazily flapping its way up towards the open sky.
There! That was the “akuma” Tikki had mentioned!
Opening the lid of his yoyo again, Apollo swiped at the akuma and hoped that this would work. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the butterfly re-emerged – this time a much more normal colour.
“Ladybug! You did it!” Trucy was running over to him. “That was so cool! Now you need to fix the damage, right?”
“R-Right...”
He pushed a button on his yoyo. A rush of wind and a flash of light later, the entire street had been transformed. All the damage was gone, all the cars were back to their parked positions, all the debris had been cleared, all the buildings were upright, the billboard had reappeared...
And the Bad Badger had reverted back to his normal size, sitting on the ground looking rather confused. He took off the mascot head of his costume to reveal a rather bedraggled man underneath. “Wh... What happened? Where am I?”
This was surreal! Everything Tikki had said was true!
A brash voice rang out from behind them. “I knew y’all could do it! This is gonna be great for my scoop!”
Apollo spun round to see the reporter running up towards them again, waving her camera around like a madwoman. “I thought I told you to find shelter!”
The reporter came to a stop in front of them. “I know, I know... but my reportin’ instincts got the better of me! Now, Ladybug, I reckon ya owed me an interview?”
Oh great... he had said that, hadn’t he?
Trucy’s ring suddenly began beeping. She looked down at it to see that there was a flashing light in the centre. “I think my ring is telling me to hurry up and detransform...”
Of course, he remembered now, the rules Tikki had told them about. Trucy was still just a kid, so her powers had a cooldown timer.
“You go back to... the place you transformed at, and I’ll meet you there later, okay?” Apollo said to her.
“Okay! See you later!” Trucy hurriedly ran off.
Now to deal with this reporter... “So, um, what would you like to know?”
“Everythin’!” she roared. “Like how y’all managed to get these powers and what’s this supervillain doin’ here! And how you made my injury go away! See?” She pointed at the side of her head – sure enough, there was no blood there anymore. It looked like Apollo’s powers really had fixed everything.
“Uh, I don’t have that much time,” Apollo said, knowing he would be needed back at the Wonder Bar as his normal self very shortly if he didn’t want anyone to get worried. “How about I just give you a very quick rundown?”
“As long as you give me a proper interview another time!” She had already pulled a tape recorder out from seemingly nowhere and held the microphone up to him.
“Fine...” He cast his mind back to everything Tikki had told him. “That villain just now, he was a victim of brainwashing. Someone named Hawk Moth used a power called the Butterfly Miraculous to remotely turn him into a supervillain with that little black butterfly. That... that ‘akuma’. And it looked like he was trying to steal mine and Kitty-Whiskers’ Miraculous jewels too, the ladybug and black cat...”
“So this is real, honest-to-gawd magic?!” the reporter asked.
As stupid as it sounded, Apollo nodded. “Yes. These powers are magic. You see the man who was the Bad Badger, there? He has no memory of the events that happened while he was under Hawk Moth’s power. And I’ve used my own powers to free him from the brainwashing and fix all the damage that he caused. That’s why your injuries have healed.”
“So say if someone got killed in the attack...”
“They would come back to life.”
“Yeehaw! This is the kinda juicy info other reporters would kill for!”
Apollo checked the time on his yoyo. “I really have to go now. If another ‘akuma’ attack ever takes place, please take more care next time!”
“I will!”
No she wouldn’t – Apollo could feel his bracelet tightening on his wrist, sensing her lies. Well whatever, maybe she would learn to keep herself safe someday. He gave her a smile and then turned and headed off away from the main street. As he left, he noticed terrified citizens poking their heads out of windows, venturing back out onto the streets, looking at him in awe.
Had they watched him save the day? Was he, as Ladybug, going to be famous now?
-
Having found a back-alley to detransform in, Apollo ran back to the Wonder Bar and headed backstage to find Trucy there waiting for him. Plagg appeared to be sitting in the corner of the room, stuffing his face with Snackoos.
“That was so fun, Polly!” Trucy said immediately, bouncing up and down on her toes. “I can’t wait for next time an ‘akuma’ villain strikes!”
“I can...”
Tikki popped out of the pocket she had hidden herself in. “Well done, Apollo! You too, Trucy! You both did fantastic today! You should be proud of yourselves!”
“Um... thank you...” He really didn’t know how to deal with praise from this tiny, flying, plushie... thing. “But I have so many questions...”
“And I will answer them.” Tikki sat herself down on the table. “The Miraculouses are magical jewels, created in order for humans to harness the power of us kwamis. These jewels have been handed down through the Gramarye family for generations. But... something bad happened, and they were split up amongst the family members, and some of the jewels even became lost...”
Trucy was looking uncharacteristically solemn. “The Gramarye family... that’s my... my birth family...”
Something clicked in Apollo’s brain. He had been wondering all this time how Phoenix Wright had a 15 year old daughter. How had it never occurred to him that she was adopted?! In hindsight, it was kind of obvious!
“Yes, the guardian knew to give these Miraculouses to you,” Tikki continued. “Because you are the next generation of Troupe Gramarye.”
“And what about me?” Apollo asked.
Tikki shrugged. “You just happened to be with Trucy at the time.”
“Oh. Right.” His bracelet was picking up on something, but he decided to ignore it for now.
“I don’t know who is currently misusing the powers of the Butterfly Miraculous. But poor Nooroo... the butterfly kwami... I can sense it. He is here in this city somewhere. We must find out who this Hawk Moth is somehow, and we must defeat him and free Nooroo.”
“About my family,” Trucy said, eyes still downcast, “who was it who decided to give these jewels to me? I... I didn’t think anyone was left.”
Tikki was silent for a few moments before speaking. “I apologise, but I really can’t tell you the details. The guardian has forbidden it. And truthfully, I don’t know everything myself. Plagg and I were dormant until just a few days ago, when we sensed Nooroo’s pain and awoke to put a stop to it. All I can say is that the stories you were told as a small child by your parents, they are all true. It was all in preparation for you to wield these jewels yourself one day. Now that day has come.”
There was an issue pressing on Apollo’s mind, and he decided to ask about it before he forgot. “About Hawk Moth... was he talking to the Bad Badger during the battle? It sounded like it. Like he was giving him instructions.”
“Yes, it’s possible...”
“He told him to steal our jewels. Do you know why he wants them? Does he just want to be more powerful or something?”
“When used together by a single person, the Miraculouses of the Ladybug and Black Cat grant the wearer a wish,” Tikki explained. “But at a terrible price. With each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Whatever Hawk Moth wants to accomplish with his wish, we cannot let him do it.”
A crumpling sound came from the corner of the room. Plagg drifted over, tossing the empty Snackoo bag into the bin as he did so. “Those Snackoo things were pretty good. Not as good as cheese, though. You got any cheese-flavoured Snackoos here?”
Trucy had evidently been deep in thought, but she perked up again quickly. “I think they do make cheese-flavoured ones! Want me to get you some?”
“Yes. I refuse to eat anything else.”
“Um... I don’t know if my daddy will let me, though. Snackoos aren’t good for you.”
“Then get saving up some of your own pocket money, kid!”
There was a knock at the door. Tikki quickly zoomed back into Apollo’s pocket, and he watched as Plagg somehow phased directly through the solid edge of Trucy’s top hat and hid under there, presumably sitting on top of her head.
“Come in!” Trucy called.
The door opened, and Phoenix Wright himself entered the room. It was almost as if he knew they had just been talking about him!
“Trucy! I’m glad you’re okay!” He gave her a big smile. “And you too, of course, Apollo.”
Nice to know he was an afterthought, at least?
“That supervillain attack really was something!” Trucy said. “I thought we were goners!”
“Yeah, well, they say a couple of superheroes showed up to save the day. You two know anything about that?”
“Yeah! Ladybug and Kitty-Whiskers! They were so cool!”
Great, now she was hyping them up. If anyone was going to see through this ridiculous cover, it was Phoenix.
He turned to look at Apollo, that deceptively innocent smile still on his face. “Hey, nice earrings. I didn’t know you wore them.”
Drat, he hadn’t taken them off! Was it best to leave them on all the time? Anyway, he had to come up with something.
“Ladybug saved me in the attack just now!” he gabbled. “And he was wearing some really cool earrings, so I went into the nearest shop and bought a pair, because I was inspired...”
Well now he was doing the hyping thing too! Ugh, this secret identity business was going to be a real piece of work.
“Yeah, these superheroes are pretty neat, aren’t they?” Phoenix said, laid-back as always. “And now the police have caught the bad guy.”
“The... what?”
“The man who was causing all this trouble. The ‘Bad Badger’. He’s been arrested.”
Apollo’s blood ran dry. “He’s arrested?!”
“Well of course! He caused all that property damage, didn’t he? And they say he killed someone too. So he’s being held down at the detention centre. His trial’s tomorrow.”
No, that couldn’t be–! The man who had been possessed by the akuma, he was innocent! He had been brainwashed! It was Hawk Moth who was the real culprit! But how could Apollo say any of that without revealing that he was Ladybug?
“You know,” Phoenix continued, staring off into space, “that ‘Bad Badger’... he’s an old acquaintance of mine. I can’t really think of him committing murder. Say Apollo, would you do me a favour?”
“Um... what is it?”
He grinned. “Defend him in court, would you? I know you can do it.”
“Oh! Er...”
“There’s still time to get the paperwork filed. And I’m sure your boss won’t mind too much. He’s a friend of mine, so I’ll put in a good word for you.”
Wait, what? Since when was Phoenix friends with Kristoph Gavin? Huh, there was a lot that Apollo still didn’t know about his boss.
He nodded. “Alright, I’ll defend this... this Bad Badger.”
“Thanks. Visiting hours at the detention centre are almost up, so you’d better get over there. And thank you for looking after Trucy during this supervillain attack.”
Trucy giggled. “It was more the other way round, Daddy! You should have seen how scared Apollo was!”
Oh come on! There was no point staying any longer – whenever Phoenix and his daughter were in the same room together, Apollo was going to get made fun of. He left the room, wondering how on earth he’d gotten himself into this whole mess.