Chapter Text
Alya stepped out of the chaos of the now mostly unpacked apartment, and for once declined to put in her earbuds.
Walking down the street, she spun, observing everything around her. She had explored a bit with her family, but between jetlag and unpacking, they hadn’t had much time to explore. God, even the bakeries smelled different compared to Fort-de-France.
This was going to be her year. There was so much to do and explore. She had spent the weekend unpacking and reading up on the area. It had a lot more to uncover, and she was going to experience it all. She had already filled up her itinerary for the next month with all the museums, parks, places, and concerts she could go to now.
Walking through the park, she sighed as she saw some kids playing together in the park. Maybe she could get some new friends to go experience those things with too. Her new school was rather…prestigious, all things considered. Her parent’s jobs paid well here, but she couldn’t help but feel she might be out of place.
She toyed with the hem of her flannel shirt as she came to a stop at the lights, frowning. She wondered if maybe she should’ve dressed up a bit more…or perhaps dressed in something less bold than orange flannel.
She pressed the button to cross, and she raised her head to realise that the school was already in front of her. She marvelled at it, quickly snapping a photo of the grand structure for prosperity. It was rather imposing in person, but she plucked up her courage. Scanning the kids on the outskirts, her outfit seemed to be in line with what the others were wearing. Perfect.
Her eyes drifted to an old man crossing the zebra crossing. Kind of rude. The crossing light was red but the cars would definitely stop, though it was still putting him and others in danger. Like, right now, a green car was coming down the road, it would have to stop for him, when it should be allowed to-
…
The car wasn't stopping.
Alya nervously looked around to see everyone else, including the driver of the car, on their phone.
…
Oh crap.
Alya broke into a sprint, ramming into the old man and crashing against the sidewalk on the other side of the road. The car passed by them, not even stopping to check if they were alright.
“What the hell! That was so reckless!” she snapped, brushing herself off.
The old man blinked a few times, before sitting up.
“Ah, you’ll have to forgive me, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Are you alright?” he asked calmly.
Alya sighed, cooled down by his apology, and stood up.
“Yeah, I think so. Need a hand?” she said, offering a hand to the old man.
He took it and stood up with her help. The pedestrian light turned green as he did so.
“Alright, the light is green now. You can cross safely,” she said, still slightly bitter.
“Thank you very much, young miss,” he said, either not registering or choosing not to comment on her tone.
Alya nodded and walked towards the school, rustled but not unnerved, and crossed the boundary with confidence.
“Thank you very much indeed,” said the old man as he looked back at her, holding a red and black box in his hand.
Lila locked the front door to the silent apartment. Unpacked boxes and extension cords had hindered her egress, but with some manoeuvring, she managed to get outside into the new city.
She had spent her weekend researching the area. It had been difficult — she only found out about this move a week ago. Usually, she had more prep time, but the embassy moved up the starting date of her mother’s job, so Lila got dragged to yet another city and yet another school.
Checking her phone, she realised she was going to be late. Cursing under her breath, she walked towards the school.
She frowned — it might be a lot trickier this time. Her old schools had all been in Italy, and by the third time she moved she realised everyone was basically the same. Same people with the same stories. Geeky kid, smart kid, quiet kid, gay kid, popular kid that plays in a terrible band, popular nice girl, unpopular nice girl, etc. By her fifth school she could start mouthing along to their introductions.
“Do you think you could talk to Miss Hearow for me?” Maria said, holding her misgraded test in hand.
Seven-year-old Lila had nodded and smiled. Maria was such a shy kid, but she needed her for later plans regarding Toby. So she had simply asked the teacher something one time, and gained Maria’s eternal trust.
“I wish I had the freedom you do, my dad doesn’t care much for those hobbies…” Marco said quietly, trying to avoid the glare of the librarian.
Ten-year-old Lila had just nodded sympathetically, before redirecting the topic of conversation. Those avenues never provided much to her, and it was boring to listen endlessly about how Marco’s dad didn’t like him using a computer, or whatever his dumb worry was.
“If I fail math, I’m going to be held back, you have to help me! You’re always saying how good you are at math.”
Twelve-year-old Lila had simply smiled sweetly and promised that she would. And then, if by magic, she just couldn’t make it to that study session. He failed the class and she moved away the day after. Big whoop.
“Lila, does your mum even like you?” Rosa joked offhandedly.
Present-day Lila shook her head and tried to forget that conversation. Those thoughts weren’t helpful in the slightest.
She saw the top of the school over the rooftops and thought back to her plan. She already had lies about international stars that everyone would hopefully know, but she lacked any local hook, something or someone specific to the area she could say she knew/liked/dated/was involved with. She only had a weekend to plan, after all.
She knew about the mayor — he had a daughter her age, but that looked like a dead end based on what she had read. So she might need to lay low for a bit and observe first, then move onto the social scene later.
Her old ‘friends’ from her last school had been absolutely heartbroken that she was moving away, but she wasn’t as choked up about it. The going-away party had been a nice touch, one that she had to suggest of course, but there wasn’t much chance she was going to keep up with them.
Lost in thought, she accidentally walked straight into an old man, both of them tumbling down onto the ground.
Lila groaned, trying to decide whether it was worth the effort to fake being nice, or if she should just leave. No one else seemed to be around to see them fall, so it was just him she needed to worry about.
She looked him up and down. He was old, but that might mean he was influential. His clothes were quite ugly, but some rich people dress down. He didn’t have a backpack on him, so he probably lived close by.
Just as she made her decision to speak up, the man instead stood up and hurried down the street, not saying a word to her.
She gave him an annoyed look, before noticing a black and red box on the ground. The man must’ve dropped it when they fell.
She went to open it, but the ringing of the school bell corrected her priorities.
Shrugging, she dropped the box into her bag and hurriedly walked across the road into the school.
Alya walked into the classroom. She was on time and only a little beat up, so it was still better than sixth grade.
She took in the room she’d be occupying for the next year. Tiered seating, large windows and natural light beaming in. She looked at the teacher sitting at the front desk.
She made her way over and gave a small wave to get her attention, “Miss Bustier, right?”
She nodded. “Yes?”
Alya held out a hand. “I’m Alya Cesaire, it’s nice to meet you.
Miss Bustier shook her hand and beamed a big smile. “Welcome to the class. Feel free to take a seat anywhere, we’ll begin shortly.”
Alya nodded and turned around to find a seat.
There were a few peers in the room already. A boy wearing a green shirt, talking about video games to his seat partner. A blonde girl yelling into a phone, as a meek red-haired girl sat beside her and watched. And a boy listening to headphones up the back.
She made her way to the front seat near the windows, sat down, and pulled out her phone. Just as a girl with a pink backpack fell into the classroom.
Lila stopped at the top of the stairs before the classroom. She needed to make it look like she hadn’t been running to class, and was as elegant and poised as she needed to be. She could always play up the new student act if the teacher was critical of her lateness anyway.
She walked into the classroom and internally groaned at the raucous scene. A short girl was loudly describing a skating competition to a timid girl next to her, a boy with headphones in the front row looked like he was about to fall asleep, and a bulky boy at the back looked like he hated everyone in the room.
New school, new country, same story.
Her seating options were a bit limited, though. She decided on the back seat, by the window. The plan to observe would be best suited by this spot anyway. She could convince someone to trade later anyway.
She noticed two girls sharing a macaroon as she walked past the first row. Weird.
Lila’s eye’s narrowed as she observed a boy receive a note. Peeking over, she quickly read the note. Apparently, he had a crush on a girl named Mylene — interesting. From what she remembered from role call, Mylene was the short, meek girl. Reminded her a bit of Maria, to be honest.
As he threatened to beat the other boy up, she simply walked away to the library. No point in interfering — not now, anyway.
Alya jumped the last two front steps, trailing the stone monster down the street as she recorded its every move.
Alya wondered what superheroes there would be in Paris. She hadn’t heard of any before moving, but maybe they were just more underground. Or maybe the United Heroez and Majestia would have to step in! It was probably too far, but she could dream, right?
The stone monster flipped over a car, and she dove for cover into an alley, her bag spilling over the ground.
She hurried to collect her belongings, before pausing upon seeing a mysterious red and black box. Her hands traced over the object. She hadn’t packed it this morning.
She cautiously pulled it open, before a blinding light caused her to throw it to the ground.
“Wow, rude,” came a voice from in front of her.
Alya looked up at the…thing that had just materialised in front of her.
“Woah, first monsters and now magic?! So cool!” she said, poking at the small cat-like thing in front of her. “So, what are you? An alien? Ethereal? Sci-fi?” she probed.
“I’m Plagg, your kwamii. You got anything good to eat in this bag?” Plagg said, turning around and rummaging through the bag.
“Hey!” Alya says, reaching and grabbing for him, only for Plagg to evade her grasp and start looking around the alleyway, “I need you to explain some things here!”
Plagg partially ignored her, going back to rummaging through the bag, “Well, like you said, I’m magic. I’m what turns you into a superhero.”
Alya paused as a grin spread over her face, “Wait…I get to be a superhero? Like Majestia?!” she asked, slightly squealing.
“Whom?” Plagg questioned, still mostly interested in rummaging through her bag.
“Majestia!” Alya said, pulling out her phone and showing her screen to Plagg. “She’s an American superhero! She’s so cool, I’ve got all of her comics!” Alya said.
Lila walked, unsettled, back into her apartment, desperately hoping the dusty walls and unpacked boxes could provide a safe haven from the events.
She sat down on the couch, in front of the blank TV, trying to process what she had seen.
She hadn’t even made it to lunch before a giant stone being had crashed through the school. Quickly followed by that girl from class too, how stupid.
It would be easy to bond with others with the other students based off the events, but if the school was this chaotic usually, she would have to do a lot more improvising.
Her mind drifted to her mother — had she even noticed the monster?
She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, opening the phone app. Zero new messages. She frowned, and hovered her thumb over the call button. It would be simple, just a quick call. Her mother was probably just really busy, or maybe they were handling embassy business in relation to the stone monster.
Her actions were interrupted when she saw the red and black box in her bag.
She gingerly picked it up, opening it up before throwing the box on the floor as a light ball appeared from the box.
The light ball swirled around Lila before forming a bug-shaped being in front of her.
“Hello! My name’s Tikki!” it said with lively energy.
Lila examined Tikki, trying to make sense of the otherworldly apparition.
The box clearly came from that old man, the one she had bumped into earlier. But, the creature didn’t seem to think she’d been stolen, so it didn’t benefit her to reveal that information.
Lila put on a fake smile and gave a polite wave.
“Hi, Tikki! I’m Lila. Do you mind telling me what’s going on here?”
Tikki nodded. “You’ve been chosen for your courage and helpfulness to fight Stoneheart as the Ladybug holder! First thing's first, put on the earrings!”
Lila looked down at the box, and noticed two earrings. She reached down, and they changed to orange gem studs.
“Diamond?” Lila exclaimed, before holding them up to the light to see the refraction. “Oh, no, Moissanite, never mind,” she said, disappointed.
Alya looked down at the orange enamel ring on her hand.
“Your power is Cataclysm — it will destroy anything you touch,” Plagg said in front of her. “To transform, you only need to say ‘Plagg, claws out!’”
Alya took a breath, “Plagg! Claws out!”
“Wait, I hadn’t finished explaining—” Plagg pleaded, being sucked into the ring.
Chaotic energy flashed over Alya’s body, replacing her outfit with one of leather and neon.
She stepped out of the alleyway, and took stock in a reflective store window.
Her hair was flowing over her shoulders, fading into a bright green ombre. She wore a leather hero suit with the top half of her suit ending in a cape, reminiscent of Majestia. Her cat baton lay on her hip.
She smiled and grabbed the baton. Testing a button, it extended into a staff. She turned towards the path of destruction and started running.
Lannuit was on the hunt.
“So, five minutes?” Lila said, looking at Tikki.
“Yep!” Tikki responded. “And don’t forget about your-”
“Lucky Charm and Miracle Cure, yes, yes, I know,” Lila said, exasperated. “So, how do I transform?”
“You just need to say ‘Tikki, spots on!”
“Tikki…Spots on?” Lila said uncertainly before Tikki disappeared into her earrings.
She walked into the hallway to look in a mirror.
A red and black spotted super suit, with a black leather jacket and thigh-highs on top. Her gloved hands reached for her yo-yo, and she pressed a button to reveal a news feed.
“Alright, Parisians, time to meet Sanguigna.”
Lannuit ran across the rooftops, heading towards the stadium.
She came up to a gap and leapt, feeling the wind in her hair. She crossed an entire block, landing with a grin. This was all she ever dreamed about as a child.
She was about to take a running leap, before halting as she saw a yo-yo latch onto a chimney beside her.
A spotted heroine landed on the rooftop beside her, beaming.
“Oh my gosh, so you’re my partner? I love your outfit! It really compliments your eyes!”
Lannuit blinked, before smiling back. The energetic girl seemed nice, so she relaxed a bit.
“I’m Lannuit. It’s nice to see you too. This has been a bit hectic though, not going to lie,” Lannuit sighed. “First a giant stone monster appears, then a miraculous gets shoved in my bag? Talk about an overload. I presume you just got your miraculous too?”
“I’m Sanguigna, and no, actually,” Sanguigna said, twirling her hair while leaning in closer, “I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but the Ladybug Miraculous has been passed down in my family for generations.”
Lannuit gasped, “Really?”
Sanguigna nodded. “Yeah. It got lost years ago, but I found it last summer while moving. I hadn’t tried it before today though.” Sanguigna looked down. “I just don’t think I can be a good hero…”
Lannuit reached out, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Remember, the only way evil prospers is if good people do nothing. It doesn’t matter if you're a civilian or a superhero. We all can do our part!” Lannuit said courageously.
“Now, let’s go!” Lannuit said, leaping onto the next building.
“Wait, where are you going?” Sanguigna yelled out.
“To defeat Stoneheart, of course!”
Lannuit landed on top of the building, taking in the scene.
Stoneheart was wrecking up the stadium, trying to find someone called Kim. She spotted Marinette out of the corner of her vision.
“Marinette?!” she whispered.
“Alya? Are you here?” Marinette whisper-shouted, with Kim and Mylene hiding behind her.
Lannuit leapt down, bringing her baton against the unaware Stoneheart. He grew bigger and roared in response.
“Oh, perfect…” she muttered, dodging a fist.
“Stoneheart, you’re a supervillain, I’m a superhero. Surely you know how this turns out?” she said, jumping to the side of his kick.
“Yeah, with you being crushed,” he sneered.
“Sanguigna, where are you?!” Lannuit cried, jumping back to the other side of the stadium.
“Right here, partner!” she said, leaping down, bringing her yo-yo wire against Stoneheart's legs, sweeping him to the side.
She landed next to Lannuit, and faced her. “I’m always going to have your back, partner. Trust me.”
Lannuit smiled.
“How are we going to defeat him, though?” Sanguigna said as Stoneheart righted himself. “We can’t even hit him.”
“The akuma has to be on an object, but there’s no object in sight, so, let’s try our powers?”
“Cataclysm!” Lannuit yelled, dark powerful energy swirling around her hand, before turning to Sanguigna and smiling. “Watch this!”
Lannuit leapt into the middle of the stadium, slamming her hand down on the ground. Massive cracks formed in the ground and spread, disrupting the land and causing the stadium to shudder.
“Awesome!” Lannuit beamed, watching as Stoneheart was once again tipped over.
Sanguigna watched on, bristling at the blue haired girl from before filming Lannuit. It was time to bring the focus back to the star.
“Lucky Charm!” she cried, throwing her yo-yo up in the air.
A red and black love letter dropped down into her hands. She opened it to discover it was blank.
“Wow, some power,” Lannuit joked beside her.
She frowned, she was expecting her power to be easier to understand.
“Okay, we need to capture that bug, right?” she said, hearing the timer on Lannuit’s ring beep.
“Yeah, the akuma. It’s meant to be on him though, but he’s just…rocks?” Lannuit questioned.
“Wait! It’s just like that Majestia fight!” Lannuit said excitedly.
“Who?” Sanguigna said.
“She’s this American superhero. She was fighting this invincible guy, and-”
Lannuit looked over to see Stoneheart running at them.
“Oops, too wordy,” Lannuit said meekly, before the both of them jumped to opposite sides of the stadium.
“The point is that it’s not on him. It’s in his fist! He hasn’t opened it the entire time!” Lannuit yelled, jumping in front of the students to protect them.
Sanguigna looked down at the paper envelope and smirked, “I know exactly what to do.”
“Lannuit, distract him!” she yelled.
As Lannuit jumped around on the other end of the field, Sanguigna walked over to where the students were hiding.
“You’re Mylene, right?” she asked the short girl.
“Uhh, yeah…” she said meekly.
She smiled as she noticed the other girl was still filming. Time to put on a show.
“How would you like to be a superhero too? Just pretend to write something in this love letter, okay? Then go to hand it over to Stoneheart,” she said with a wink.
Sanguigna turned around to see Lannuit already caught up in the other hand. She knew cat girl wouldn’t last long on her own.
“Hey! Partner! A little help?” Lannuit called out.
“Don’t worry! I’ve got everything under control!” she called back, taking the fake note from Mylene and putting it in the envelope.
She walked up to Stoneheart, with Mylene by her side.
“Hey! Stoneheart, how about a trade?” she said sweetly.
Stoneheart looked at Mylene and stopped, but a butterfly mask appeared on his face.
“This,” she said, twirling the letter in her hand, “is the written love confession of one Mylene Haprèle. I’d be willing to trade it for what’s in your other hand.”
The butterfly mask grew brighter as his arm shook. He grunted as his grip weakened.
“Deal,” he said, dropping the purple stone.
Sanguigna flung her yoyo at it, breaking the stone into dust, as a purple butterfly flew out. She opened the yoyo, white light shining out, as she captured it and purified it.
She looked at the Lucky Charm in her hand, such a small and normally useless object, transformed into a winning hand. She could get used to this power.
She looked out of the corner of her eye to see the girl still recording, “Miraculous Sanguigna!” she cried, throwing the letter upwards. Ladybugs burst forth, repairing the destroyed stadium grounds and flowing out into the city.
She turned to Mylene, “Thanks for being a super help there!”
Mylene smiled and nodded, before walking back to the banners.
She turned to see Lannuit helping up Ivan.
“Hey partner, you had me worried for a sec, but you did great!” Lannuit said.
“You did great too! Especially with my awful directions…” Sanguigna bemoaned, trying to look as dismal as she could muster.
“Did you not just hear me? You did great, girl. And we’re only going to get better from here on out!” she said confidently.
Lannuit was interrupted by a beeping from her ring.
“Oh, shoot, gotta go! See you next time!” she said, leaping off.
“God, weren’t we incredible?!” Alya raved to Plagg, “I was so cool in that fight, and Sanguigna was such a mastermind, it’s incredible to watch honestly. She’s a bit timid, but that’s understandable. Not every person has been waiting to become a superhero at a moments notice.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, snuggling up under her lamp, munching on camembert cheese.
“How did I get my miraculous though? I know you have answers,” Alya said, opening up a text document and her browser.
“Secrets are meant to stay secrets. You know what they say about curiosity and cats, right?” he said sleepily.
“I mean, it was just in my bag. How did it get there? There was only a select amount of people who could’ve put that there. But then again, Sanguigna’s was an heirloom so—”
“Wait, what?” Plagg said, interrupting, flying up in front of her face.
“Huh?” Alya said, stopping typing for a second. This was the most active she’d ever seen him.
“The heirloom thing, what did she say specifically?” he said, suddenly very serious.
“Well, she said it was an old family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation, until it got lost a while back. She found it when she moved here last summer?” Alya said, confused.
“No, no, no. That’s not correct at all,” Plagg said, floating around in circles, as if in thought.
Alya paused, “Maybe she made up a lie to try and throw me off. We had only just met, maybe she didn’t think she could trust me?”
Plagg looked back, before resting back down on a desk. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Alya frowned. She got the feeling he was lying, but left it at that. She would find answers, one way or the other.