Chapter Text
The first day of school was always bad, in Marinette's opinion. But this year really took the cake. She didn't think that rock monsters were native to Paris, France. But apparently they were, because one was attacking her school at that very moment. Luckily, everyone was sent home, so she was able to watch the unexpected visitor from the comfort of her bedroom.
*I wonder how they're going to stop that thing,* she wondered worriedly, referring to the policemen. They were currently running around and shooting at it while trying not to get squashed, but it appeared that the more they hit it, the bigger it grew. *I hope no one gets hurt...*
But the weirdest thing was that it kept shouting one of her classmates' names. And it looked really angry, too. Its voice sort of sounded like-
"Ivan?!" she gasped in disbelief. "How the heck did Ivan turn into a rock monster?!"
She watched the villain's progress with renewed shock. Yet, now that she thought about it, Ivan had seemed upset about something Kim had said to him earlier in class. It obviously didn't explain the reason as to why he transformed into whatever he was now, but maybe it was a clue. Though, as far as she knew, nothing like this had ever happened before.
Something was wiggling around in her mind, something her mom had told her once, but she couldn't seem to grasp it. Maybe it was some sort of Chinese legend? Her mother used to tell her stories about Chinese myths and legends, and for some reason Ivan being turned into a rock monster reminded her of a vague memory, something involving black butterflies and a purple brooch. But that made no sense, so she simply shook it out of her head.
As she continued to watch the scene on her computer, a blur of red caught her attention as the camera focused on it. It was a girl about her age, wearing a red one-piece suit with black spots all over. A mask was plastered to her nervous-looking face, hiding her identity. A few seconds later, a tall, blond-haired boy dressed like a black cat jumped down beside her, also wearing a mask. But his bright green eyes looked like a cat's, immediately drawing her curiosity.
Almost as soon as he had arrived, the two newcomers jumped up to confront their city's attacker, though the ladybug girl had to be prodded by the cat boy. All throughout the fight, it seemed like the boy, Chat Noir, was doing most of the work, while Ladybug hung back and called out suggestions. Marinette was constantly worried for both of them, and was relieved when the fight ended and Ladybug fixed everything, even returning Ivan back to his normal self.
She ran downstairs, and her parents hugged her in relief. They had been even more worried than she had been, which she hadn't thought was possible but apparently was. And while she had gone up to her room, they had stayed in the living room to watch what was happening.
"Thank goodness it's finally over!" Sabine exclaimed. "I was so scared that everything was going to go wrong. It's a miracle that those two superheroes showed up! And just in time, too!"
"Yeah, they were awesome out there," Marinette agreed. "But my new friend, Alya, ran out there and was recording everything. If they keep coming back, then she'll keep going out there. I really hope she doesn't get hurt..."
"It'll be fine, sweetie," Tom assured her. "Ladybug and Chat Noir will keep her safe! And as for school, we haven't gotten a call from them yet, so I assume you won't have to go back today. But I'm pretty sure you'll get to go back tomorrow, so just be careful, okay?"
"Okay, Dad, I will," she confirmed with a smile.