Chapter Text
One afternoon in Paris, Marinette returned to her bedroom and lay down on the bed, still shaken. She should have been at school, but because her best friend Alya had been possessed by akuma and turned into Lady Wifi, the entire school was forced to close for safety reasons.
"Hope Ladybird and Chat Noir can get Alya back." Marinette sighed. This morning she had overslept and arrived late, only to find Alya missing when she got to the classroom. After asking her classmates, she learned that Alya had suspected Chloé of being Ladybird and had secretly filmed Chloé's locker. Unexpectedly, Chloé had used her connections to make Alya suspended and expelled. Just as Marinette was stunned, a video of Lady Wifi appeared on the classroom screen. So, she went home.
After a while of quietness, she still turned on her phone, ready to see how Ladybird and Chat Noir were doing against Lady Wifi. A pop-up appeared, and before Marinette could read it, her phone automatically redirected to a page. At that moment, Lady Wifi was live-streaming. She claimed that she had "collected" Ladybird in her phone and that she would soon catch Chat Noir and reveal their true identities to everyone in Paris. After saying that, the stream ended.
"No way?!" Marinette exclaimed in disbelief. Was Alya really going to do this?
She lay back down on the bed, staring at the pink ceiling, and couldn't help but remember the first time the two heroes appeared. Back then, her classmate Ivan had been possessed by Stoneheart, and it was only because of Ladybird and Chat Noir that they managed to turn the situation around and save the day. Otherwise, the whole of Paris might have turned to stone. Since then, the two heroes have been on the road to protecting Paris, fighting against Hawk Moth. They inspire admiration, but they also arouse curiosity: who are they really beneath their masks? And this is the question they both hate to answer the most. After all, Hawk Moth could very well be hiding among them. If their secret identities were known, he could exploit their weaknesses and strike at Paris at any time. Marinette could relate to this. But her friend Alya, who wanted to become a journalist, might not think so, and today's incident was just an example of that.
Thinking of this, Marinette's stomach was still empty. She shook her head helplessly, "Whatever, I guess I'll just go downstairs and grab some croissants."
She got out of bed, put on her shoes, and as she walked past the computer desk, she caught a glimpse of a strange black-and-red box out of the corner of her eye.
"What's this?" she asked, walking over to take a closer look. It was a hexagonal box with a black background and ancient red patterns, looking very mysterious.
Curious, she opened the box, and a pale pink light ball instantly formed inside, so bright it made her blink. When the light faded, a gray creature with two light pink round ears and a thin tail floated in the air, winking at her.
"Ah—what is this? A, a giant mouse? A flying mouse?—A bat? Oh my God, why is this thing in my room?!" Marinette screamed, dropping the box and hurriedly grabbing a glass bottle to try to catch the bat.
"Hello, I'm Mullo—" it waved its arm friendly.
"It can talk too?" Marinette raised her voice, which made Mullo quickly wave its hand.
"Shh!" it said, "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." But that still didn't stop Marinette from throwing a glass bottle at it. "Fine, if that'll make you listen to me properly from now on."
"What do you mean?" Marinette paused as she pulled open the hatch, unable to help but ask, "I mean, is something happening?"
"Of course!" Mullo whispered, "It's about Lady Wifi! She's trapped Ladybird! Paris is in danger now."
"I know, but what about Chat Noir?" Marinette looked at Mullo with confusion. His eyes were sincere and his voice genuine—he didn't seem like a prank toy, and he could communicate with people just like a normal person, not like a projection either.
"No! Lady Wifi is very powerful. She can 'collect' superheroes into her phone, and Ladybird fell for that trick because she underestimated her. And Chat Noir could also fall into the trap she's weaving. So Paris needs new superheroes!" Mullo tried his best to explain, "And you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are the chosen one! You're going to transform into a superhero and go to the Paris Hotel to save Ladybird and Chat Noir! Please, trust me!"
With that, Mullo looked at Marinette with a pitiful expression.
Marinette looked at him skeptically but couldn't help feeling sorry for him: "Okay... but what do I do?"
Seeing that he had convinced Marinette, Mullo excitedly flew out of the glass bottle, which almost made Marinette scream.
"First, you need to put on the necklace in that box and then say 'Mullo, Get Squeaky'! Then you'll transform into a superhero. Of course, you'll need to pick a name for yourself. Then go to the Paris Hotel to save Ladybird and Chat Noir, and if necessary, you can use the superpowers I've given you. Just say 'Multitude', and you can shrink down and have multiple clones. But remember, you'll revert back to your original form after using this power for five minutes, so you'll need to finish the battle quickly. And to reverse the transformation, just say 'Unsqueak'!"
Marinette picked up the necklace from the box and put it around her neck. The moment she did, the originally gray, black, and pink necklace turned into a blue Chinese coin strung on a black cord. Marinette looked at the excited Mullo and hesitantly said, "Mullo, Get Squeaky—"
A burst of pink light shone down on Marinette from above. By the time she came to her senses, she was already dressed differently. Her usual twin ponytails were tied up with pink ribbons into two mouse-ear-like buns, and she wore a mask made of gray and pink pieces decorated with black accents on the sides. She was also dressed in a tight gray bodysuit. She walked up to the mirror to examine herself and saw that she was still wearing black gloves reaching up to her elbows and black boots reaching up to her knees, both decorated with pink stripes at the ends. Additionally, there was a light pink skipping rope wrapped around her waist, just like a mouse's tail.
"Oh, I'm becoming more and more like a mouse..." Marinette sighed, but at the same time, she realized that Mullo wasn't lying to her—meaning she really had to save Ladybird and Chat Noir now.
She stepped onto the balcony, took a deep breath, and then began to glide from rooftop to rooftop. Along the way, she moved with such lightness that she didn't feel tired at all. It was only then that she slowly accepted the fact that she was a superhero.
When she reached the opposite side of the Paris Hotel, Marinette stopped in her tracks.
She looked around but didn't see anyone.
"Maybe everyone has gone to take shelter," she thought, not noticing that someone was approaching her.
"Hey, are you okay?" A voice suddenly rang out, startling the usually easily startled Marinette so much that she almost fell off the roof. Fortunately, the person saved her from a premature end to her adventure. But thankfully, they clearly didn't mean to harm her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay, I was just careless myself," Marinette waved her hand and forgave them naturally. Of course, at this moment, she hadn't seen what they were dressed in yet, otherwise she would have been even more shocked.
"What's with your outfit... are you a superhero too?"
"Well... sort of. I just took over a few minutes ago—wait, what do you mean by 'sort of'?!?"
Marinette snapped out of her daze and sized up her new opponent carefully. She saw that he had short black-blue gradient hair and emerald green eyes, wore a tight-fitting outfit in black, cyan, and green with snake-scaled designs, a cyan-blue mask adorned with patterns of snake fangs along the edges, and a lira hanging around his waist—clearly dressed like a superhero.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Viperion. And you?" Unexpectedly, instead of showing any disdain for Marinette's somewhat clumsy behavior, the new hero was as friendly as possible.
"Oh, hi—I? I'm Ma-Ma-Multimouse!" Marinette felt her tongue get tangled up.
"Hello, Ma-Ma-Multimouse." Viperion chuckled, but quickly stopped when he saw Multimouse's embarrassed expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of you."
Multimouse shook her head, "I get it." And since he hadn't made any rude or impolite remarks, she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, she even started to like him a bit.
To not waste time, Viperion confidently continued with the conversation: "I think we should come up with a battle plan. After all, Lady Wifi is really strong, don't you think?"
"Ah—yes, of course—but Lady Wifi has already captured Ladybird. Why don't we wait until we get inside the Paris Hotel and discuss it then? Plans can always change." For once, Multimouse actually said something she was satisfied with today.
Viperion nodded, which made Multimouse breathe a sigh of relief.
"So, shall we set off now?" Viperion looked at Multimouse, seeking her opinion.
"Of course," Multimouse said with a smile. "It's time to save Paris."
The two walked side by side to the hotel entrance.
"There's not a single soul here either," Multimouse muttered.
"Maybe they're all staying home safely," Viperion suggested.
The two stood in the empty lobby when suddenly, a video appeared on the computer at the front desk. They exchanged glances and realized it was Lady Wifi's livestream. As they watched closely, Lady Wifi had actually caught Chat Noir! She had paused both heroes mid-battle, ready to strip them of their powers.
"We can't let her succeed!" Multimouse immediately reacted, noticing the kitchenware and freezer behind Lady Wifi. "She's in the kitchen!" She grabbed Viperion and rushed toward the emergency stairs.
Just as they reached the fourth floor, Viperion suddenly pushed Multimouse from behind. At the same time, a barrage of pink icons missed their target.
"Damn it!" Before Multimouse could ask what was happening, Lady Wifi, standing high above, exposed her location. Without wasting time, Viperion pulled out his lyre and unleashed a sonic blast at Lady Wifi, then dragged Multimouse through the banquet hall and hid in the kitchen on the fourth floor.
"How did you know she was there? I didn't hear a sound at all," Multimouse said, following behind with admiration. "Thanks to you, or I would've been paused too."
"That's nothing," Viperion replied, turning around. "I activated my superpower—'Second Chance'—while I was climbing the stairs. It's like an autosave in a game, and I can keep going back to that point by plucking the strings. In the time you didn't know about, I've already done this nine times. But that's not much. After all, in theory, I can go back to that point infinitely—as long as it's within five minutes."
"That's amazing," Multimouse exclaimed in awe. Before she could say anything else, a faint knock interrupted their conversation. Their gazes turned toward the freezer. She looked at Viperion, who gave her a reassuring glance. So she turned the doorknob and pushed, but to her surprise, the door wouldn't budge.
"It's locked," she said, looking around but finding nothing.
"Ladybird didn't get a chance to use her 'Lucky Charm,'" Viperion deduced.
Multimouse crouched down to look into the lockhole, then stood up and said, "Viperion, I need you to put my clones inside the lockhole after I use my Multiplication ability so we can save the people inside. Can you do that?"
"Of course," Viperion smiled.
Multimouse couldn't help but grin, then shouted "Multitude." Soon, many tiny clones appeared on the ground. Viperion placed his hand on the ground, and once the clones stood on it, he gently sent them toward the lockhole. The clones jumped into the hole and quickly came out again. Viperion set them down on the ground, then pushed open the door. Ladybird and Chat Noir collapsed onto Viperion and Multimouse, who had just finished releasing the clones.
"Are you okay?" they asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," Ladybird managed to stand up, "who are you guys?"
"Viperion/Multimouse."
"New superheroes?" Chat Noir asked, slowly coming back to his senses.
"Yes."
"That's good news, at least someone's coming to save us." Chat Noir let out a sigh of relief and adjusted his stance.
"We can't waste time, we'd better find Lady Wifi as soon as possible—" Ladybird said, running quickly toward the restaurant outside, with the other three hurrying after her.
"Ah, looks like our new hero has already rescued the poor little bug and kitten." Lady Wifi emerged from a phone on a table, grinning mischievously.
"Don't get too excited just yet, Lady Wifi," Ladybird retorted sternly, swinging her yo-yo to smash every phone on the table. "You won't get a second chance."
Lady Wifi's expression froze briefly as she jumped off the table and ran toward the rooftop.
The four of them chased after her, trying to catch her with their weapons. Multimouse tore off a jump rope from his waist, grabbed one end of the handle, and threw it at Lady Wifi. Lady Wifi sneered and 'collected' the rope in her phone before it could wrap around her. Viperion plucked the strings of his instrument, launching a sonic attack, but Lady Wifi was quick-witted and easily dodged it. Finally, they reached the rooftop.
Just to be safe, Ladybird launched "Lucky Charm" first. She caught the little round mirror in the beetle pattern and started thinking about how to use it. Suddenly, Chat Noir swiftly swung his baton to block a pause attack for her.
"Do we need to throw a masquerade party?" he teased, then charged forward with Viperion to fight against Lady Wifi.
"If we do, I hope they don’t put too much foundation on me," Viperion teased back.
Ladybird didn't answer, just grabbed Multimouse, who was about to step forward to help, and handed her the lucky item. "When she attacks, use this to reflect it back at her," she said.
Multimouse nodded and followed Ladybird's lead.
"Chat Noir! Signal!" she shouted, tossing out a yo-yo to bind Lady Wifi.
Meanwhile, Viperion was strumming his guitar to distract Lady Wifi. Chat Noir immediately understood and ran toward the signal tower, shouting, "Cataclysm!"
"Stop!" Lady Wifi broke free from the yo-yo and threw out a random pause in the last second. Just as she did, Multimouse seized the moment to throw the small mirror, reflecting her attack back at her. She was frozen in place, and Viperion tossed her phone to Chat Noir. The moment he caught it, the phone turned to dust, and an akuma flew out.
Ladybird opened the yo-yo, grabbed the akuma, and purified it. She released butterflies, then picked up the small mirror from the ground and threw it into the air, shouting, "Miraculous Ladybird!"
A swarm of red ladybugs flew over Paris, repairing all the damage. The ladybugs circled around the rooftop, and Lady Wifi turned back into Alya, with her damaged phone returning to her pocket. At the same time, Multimouse's jump rope also came back.
"That was amazing! I've never been this happy!" Multimouse exclaimed excitedly, raising her fist toward the other three, eagerly waiting to see their reactions. "Wanna bump fists?"
Viperion and Chat Noir readily stepped forward, and their gazes turned toward Ladybird.
She stayed silent for a moment, but eventually raised her fist as well.
The group exchanged smiles.
"Pound it!"
"Oh my God, new heroes!" Just then, Alya, who had been sitting on the ground, finally came back to her senses and pulled out her phone to record. "What are your names? Are you super heroes like Ladybird and Chat Noir?"
The group exchanged glances. Viperion raised an eyebrow and introduced himself first: "Viperion—" At that moment, the energy grid on Viperion's snake-shaped bracelet began to flash. "Sorry, I gotta run." He waved at the others. And then, he ran toward the emergency staircase and left the rooftop.
"What about you?" Alya asked excitedly, turning to Multimouse.
"Me? Um... I'm Multimouse—" she said, struggling to suppress her excitement. Soon, her necklace also began to glow. "Sorry, I gotta go." She nodded at the two heroes, then grabbed a skipping rope and wrapped it around a corner of the building across the street.
"Bye—" Finally, she swung herself into the distance.
"Bye!" Alya shouted cheerfully, waving her arms wildly.
*In Marinette's bedroom*
"Mullo, Unsquesk!" Multimouse exclaimed loudly, and as a burst of pink light faded, she turned into Marinette.
She threw herself onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow, screaming with excitement.
"You did it! Didn't you?" Mullo cheered happily too. "I knew it!"
Marinette sat up, the smile still on her face. "I can't believe it, I really did it! Mullo, I did it! I even met other superheroes! This is amazing, it's the best day of my life!"
"Yeah, amazing—" Mullo yawned and stretched. "By the way, do you have any cheese?"
"Cheese? I've got macarons, do you want some?"
"Well, that works too."