#Adrien redemption prompts

[marinettesaltprompts]

We Can Grow Up Without You (Two-Letters inspired Anti-prompt)

Inspried by a post of @broadwaycutie16

Marinette had snapped one day. She was done with being a hero.

She had a plan all figured out. She would trick Chat Noir into an ambush so that she could take the ring from him. She would trick Lila into thinking that the ring was secretly in space, all while she secretly kept the ring for herself as leverage, then give the Miracle Box to Lila so that she could be "the Ladybug that Paris deserved", one that would also ensure her former friend's misery. With her memories wiped, Marinette could be with Luka, the only person who cared about her, all the while holding onto the ring so that she could go after Lila, in case she ever needed the Wish to ensure Luka remained loyal to her.

Clearly, this was the best plan, an insane Ladybug thought.

So imagine the chill in her blood when a year after she done her plan, she went to go check on the ring, only to find it missing.

It didn't take long for Marinette to find the news about Chat Noir seemingly betraying the new Ladybug, revealing her to the world as Lila Rossi. She (alongside Felix, who was also unmasked as the new Hawkmoth) were both arrested on charges of essentially staging akuma attacks, while the "Chat" that was Lila's partner was revealed to be a Sentimonster in disguise. All the miraculouses were collected by the real Chat Noir, then he too disappeared.

Marinette knew exactly where he went, however.

Snarling, a livid Marinette went to the office tower of Agreste (renamed from the well known Gabriel brand) where Adrien was located, having returned from a month long vacation. She was unexpectedly let in without resistance however, as Adrien was supposedly expecting her.

Smiling an empty smile, Adrien stared at Marinette, sporting not only a familiar ring, but also a familiar set of earrings.

"Hello Marinette, its been a while, hasn't it?"

Naturally, Marinette was anything but polite. She ranted and raved about how Adrien wasn't supposed to have the ring (nor the earrings). She was outraged, horrified, and most of all confused.

Despite not needing any reason to tell her, Adrien obliged Marinette's demand for an explanation and told her his story.

About a month after Marinette went through her plan, Adrien took a lot of time to think about things. What he had went through regarding losing his miraculous, what he had felt at being tricked by Ladybug and Marinette. He wanted to scream and shout, to let go of his anger and blame everyone around him. Yet he had remembered one of the wise things Plagg once said (during a time he wasn't asking for cheese), and decided to reorient himself by focusing on one step at a time. Adrien messed up by letting his guard down around his former crush, but decided to make up for it by going after the new Ladybug, who at the moment was causing trouble for Paris.

Through some detective work (with the help of Max Kante) and using his head for the first time, Adrien tracked down Felix over the course of a week and managed to catch the latter off guard. Stealing the Peacock Miraculous from his cousin, Adrien created a sentimonster to track down the other miraculouses while pretending to be his cousin (to keep Lila unaware), including his former ring and the butterfly miraculous, which Felix had kept in a safe for when he was causing villainy as "Hawkmoth". He also learned from Dusuu the truth about himself, that he was actually a sentibeing created by his mother, and that her using the then broken miraculous was the reason for his passing. Despite the revelation shaking him, Adrien kept going, focuing on one step at a time.

From there, it was easy to take care of Lila (who grew so arrogant that she didn't expect Adrien to have any way to take her down) and get the rest of the Miracle box back. He also managed to track down the pieces of the Rabbit Miraculous and repair it again, after Marinette was able to destroy it.

With all the Miraculouses returned, Adrien finally used the opportunity to finally figure out what went wrong with his former partner and what caused her to give up being a hero.

Through evidence provided by Tikki and Plagg and a little help from the Rabbit Miraculous (through windows in time), Adrien had learned what went from with Marinette and why she had snapped. She saw how other people used her for granted, Adrien included, and how the responsibility overwhelmed her to the point she felt she had to leave.

However, Adrien also saw that Marinette had also ended up blaming other people for why she was like this (despite having other options to fix her problems), including blaming her partner for being supposedly unreliable (when she had pushed him away from helping with her plans or choosing the wielders) and for being unknowingly tricked by the Sentimonster Ladybug (which he admitted was stupid at the time, but he couldn't have imagined a sentimonster posing as a human at the time). Worse still, Marinette had started to blame the people of Paris for being akumatised, refering to them by their akuma names, despite it clearly being Hawkmoth's fault.

It was Marinette's mention of "Chat Blanc" that got Adrien's attention. Through a window in time, he learned of the alternate timeline in which he was akumatized by Hawkmoth, and learned the truth about his father: he was secretly Hawkmoth this entire time. Adrien was traumatised from this, but kept going.

This eventually led to learning of Marinette's plan to quit, having snapped and deciding to leave the fate of Paris in Lila's hands because "that's what Paris deserved".

Adrien spent a whole week going through all the information, every memory, every significant event, every bit of the life of Marinette Dupain Cheng, then another week to take it all in.

By the end, Adrien was horrified, but he was in a way grateful for what he had learned. Adrien felt sympathy for Marinette and why she felt she had to quit, but at the same time he could not condone her plan to leave Paris to Lila, nor her insults towards her former friends and family, especially with how she blamed them for being akumatized. He also realised that he did in some way play a role in her downfall (especially with his flirting and not trying harder to reach out more), and he did feel somewhat ashamed with himself for not noticing Marinette's feelings until it was too late (though given that Marinette had been somewhat possesive of himself with her stalking and attempts to control his love life, maybe it would have been a toxic relationship that was best to not have happened).

With all that being said, Adrien decided he would take matters into his own hands. With the Miracle Box now in his hands and with the Guardianship belonging to him (after threatening Lila with being Cataclysmed), Adrien decided he would make a new Order of the Guardian sect in Paris, with himself as the leader. He would use the recovered Miraculous to make a team that could not only help Paris, but all of France, choosing people that could handle the stress of being a hero since he could pay them for their services. Since Marinette no longer wanted to be the Guardian due to stress, Adrien would use what he had learnt to ensure he wouldn't make the same mistakes as the former Ladybug. He apologised to Marinette, but told her that he would be taking care of the Miraculouses now.

Of course, this all passed through the increasing erratic Marinette's ears. All she wanted were the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous back so she could make her wish and bring everything under her control, all while ensuring everyone suffers. Plain and simple (to her broken mind at least).

Adrien, of course, politely refused, since Marinette had no right to them considering her plans threatened the very reality they were in and that she had given up the box to someone untrustworthy. It was only once Marinette attempted to attack her former partner that Adrien transformed (without uttering phrase, having mastered his powers by this point) and restrained the insane former heroine, at which point he gave up being polite and threatened Marinette with ruining her newfound life with Luka. Adrien did not want to do so, but he would if she kept going with her foolish quest. Marinette wanted her peace? Fine. But she would not threaten others into acting the way that she wanted.

"...Screw you Chat Blanc" Marinette uttered, having finally lost whatever mask of sanity she had before, eyes growing increasingly erratic. "Just like last time, you tried to destroy me and all of Paris to get the wish, now you'll do it again because I walked away from you, right?"

"Now that was just a low blow..." Adrien replied tersely, the comment about the akumatization getting under his skin. "But since we are going for low blows, what gives you the right to blame others for being akumatized? Prin-cess Jus-tice?"

"Th-that wasn't real! YOU'RE LYING!" Marinette yelled.

Smiling a sad smile, Adrien pulled out the Rabbit Miraculous, quickly showing a window in time before Marinette could react. With no words being spoken by the Agreste, Marinette could only watch as her former self fell under the sway of Scarlet Moth, having no means to resist the akumatization, being moments away from removing her earrings before the akumatization process was cancelled, not by Marinette's own strength, but by the slim chance of Nathalie falling ill.

"Of course, you wouldn't be so quick to judge others if you remebered being almost akumatized. But you gave up your memories, didn't you? All so you could be happy."

Marinette fell to her knees, having gotten cataconic from the truth.

"You know ... that apology I said to you before." Adrien continued "I don't think I mean it anymore. Not to this version of you at least. The Ladybug... the Marinette that used to be before you was someone I considered a friend, a person that ended up being broken by the responsibilities of things she couldn't handle on her own. Yet at the same time, she tried to push people away because of it out of a belief she had to sort things on her own. Had I apologised earlier, had I tried harder to reach out to her... perhaps this entire debacle wouldn't have happened, and she could have retired in peace rather than in anger. Then again, I'm not the same person I was before. I grew up. But you didn't, did you? You're just someone who has no idea about what Paris has gone through. You only saw the last letter of a broken woman and decided to take her words to heart, laughing at the suffering of those who once relied on her to feel safe against a manipulative man, blaming them for their own akumatizations despite having no control over themselves, feeling like what they deserved was justified despite having no memory of what they did to you. You're just some echo of Marinette, an echo that has no memory of anything except her hate, her suffering, and her desire for revenge. You didn't grow up. You just ran away while getting to enjoy the spoils of doing so. You didn't grow up. You didn't change."

Marinette could say nothing, having gone entirely blank. Adrien called security into his office and had her escorted off the premises.

Sighing, Adrien went to a portrait of his mother and pulled it back, revealing a small mural of photos, the main one being a smiling picture of a younger and more innocent Ladybug and Chat Noir. Adrien did not know if the emotions Ladybug showed in that photo were real, but he would cherish them regardless, even after she was gone.

Adrien left inside the mural a single yellow rose, before getting back to work.

[miraculousfanworks]

Fanfiction Prompt

Chloe finds out Adrien is Chat Noir. After a fierce internal battle between her desire for attention, her resentment towards Ladybug, and her desire to protect Adrien, Adrien wins out. Chloe decides to help him, and Ladybug indirectly, in the only way she can. By abusing her father to manipulate public policy. Because, clearly, Adrien is doing TOO MUCH. And she CAN'T get him to stop being Chat Noir. So she needs to free him from his other commitments. Which means freeing him from his father, and Nathalie. So, clearly, Adrien needs money, money his father can't touch or control. Money he can use to live. There's a lot of hemming and hawing and "but but but Chloe..." but, in the end, she gets her way. It was simply a matter of pointing out, FIRMLY, exactly how much money Ladybug and Chat Noir saved the city. Not JUST in repairing the post battle damage. But in the cost of outfitting an actual effective Anti-Supervillain taskforce. CLEARLY the cost of such an undertaking would EASILY outstrip the city Police budget, probably by more than double. Then add all the public good works NOT related to fighting Akuma, the potential liability lawsuits, the cost of counselling people would need... The next day, at the end of school, she quietly passes Adrien two large manilla envelopes. One addressed to him, one simply to LB. Inside his were a debit card drawn on the central bank, a large number of documents establishing Chat Noir as a legal entity, a bank account statement that startled even him, a contract guaranteeing a monthly stipend that almost staggered him, and a brief explaining how he could (both in a legal sense and a practical one) purchase and own real property in his own name as Chat Noir. Also documents establishing that, as far as Paris was concerned, he was a legal adult. He didn't open Ladybug's, but he looked forward to seeing her reaction...

Prompt by Tiwaz

[miraculousystuff]

Fic Prompt!

I know! I’m writing like 3 fics at once, and don’t worry, I am writing everyone’s requests as well, but I had this idea that I had to show. It’s based on a couple of mini stories of Lila’s past experiences in other schools before she met Marinette, and a glimpse of Lila before she was a corrupted liar and her story on how she became one! Let me know what you think!

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Lila Rossi’s life blew up in her face as her parents filed for divorce. Her mother officially became a diplomat, which meant she never stayed in one place for a very long time. But moving all the time showed her that ultimately, all humans were the same. They were all so good, so righteous and loyal, until someone came up to them and told them what they wanted to hear. So, in her eyes, she saw the perfect plan to get whatever she wanted: lie. Tell people what they wanted to hear, even if what she said wasn’t necessarily true. It was almost comical how those who claimed to be the kindest were the first to abandon their friends as soon as something better came along. So many different schools; so many different lies; but the outcome was always the same. Become the most popular by telling people what they want to hear, and destroy anyone who comes in her way. However, she wasn’t always like this. There was one school, one class and one boy that had made the world less of the hellish mess as her parents divorced. But that one perfect piece was destroyed by one betrayal, and that one betrayal changed her life.

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Should I ship Lila with an OC or someone we already know, and should it be a series of related one shots or a cohesive story? Tell me your thoughts and as always, have a great day ❤️!

[adriensaltprompts]

Submitted prompt: An Immortal Black Cat

Not sure if this counts as a true salt prompt but here it goes(up to author interpretation to prevent Mary-sueing of the OC)(Can drop stuff as wanted)

A previous Black Cat wielder ends up moving to Paris. Thanks to magical related shenanigans(whether or not it was Miraculous related or not is up to the writer), she is immortal, with the appearance of an young teen around the age of the main cast. She is understandably alarmed when the Bubbler incident occurs, and more so when she starts piecing together that Adrien is Chat Noir.

The problem she sees is that she used to be a lot like Chat Noir when she was first starting as a wielder. She harassed her partner to the point that he snapped on her, and their team bond never recovered. She has regretted it since. Later on, she was a Ladybug as well(not particularly skilled but she was decent enough to get the job done.) During this mess, she had to deal with the exact same treatment from her partner, which made her feel even worse about her behavior with her first partner, especially when she had to kill her partner in self defense when she refused his advances one too many times.

After a few more akuma attacks, she quickly becomes alarmed about Chat when she realizes that he’s way too similar to her past self for her to ever be comfortable with, and her mind is worried as this boy could easily end up like her. It gets even worse when she starts realizing that Marinette is Ladybug, and her behavior is sliding from crushing dangerously deep into stalker territory, reminding her of herself and her past Black cat partner way too much.

Only one issue, she doesn’t want to alert anyone she’s present. Only a few councilors know she exists, and she’d like to keep the Council and Order of Guardians from learning of her existence. (She’s been so determined to avoid the Order less they decide to use her for something, she hasn’t been keeping track of them. As a result, she has NO idea that the Order has been wiped out by Feast. Her belief was that they were merely becoming more isolated as the world got more globalized, global threats that needed the Miraculous were dropping and the Council was growing better equpped to deal with those threats. Even if she did have suspicions, she wasn’t about to go to Tibet to check in case they were waiting.)

Well, she decides that she needs to step in, and hopefully steer these two back onto the right path before it gets out of hand. Only issue is doing so without alerting the Council and (Currently destroyed but doesn’t know it or Wang Fu). She also can’t meet with Marinette less she is transformed about Miraculous Magic. The reason is Tikki is too loyal to the Guardians, and she’d likely inform the Guardian about her. She has no such problems with Plagg, as he could care less about telling Fu.

Not sure where else to go from here…we go into Fix it somehow and possible Adrien Pepper if you really want to fix him, same with Marinette if you’re hoping for some Marinette salt and pepper. I’ll add more in the comments if I can figure out how specifically this OC fixes it.

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Edit by prompter:

Clarification: I forgot to mention this in the prompt. Like in Fairy Tail, there’s a magic council responsible for protecting the world from magical threats and dealing with magic incidents. They’re incognito though as a public organization called the Organization of Magical Occurrences and Affairs, supposedly just as a group to help people cope with any losses or injuries caused by supernatural incidents or for people to report supernatural stuff to someone who won’t laugh them out of the room.

They’re like this as they’ve been persecuted a lot by secular and religious authorities during their history. They also worked with the Guardians before they vanished, but couldn’t ever figure out why they vanished.

[sayuricorner]

Miraculous Ladybug X Monkie Kid crossover salt prompt idea: demons relatives AU

Next: extra part (!!! LMK S4 spoilers!!!)

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing.

Warning 2: This prompt content salt don’t like don’t read!

Hey everyone! ^^

I’m back with a new ML salt prompt! 

This prompt is a crossover with the show “Lego Monkie Kid” and is based on this question:

“What if Jin and Yin were Marinette’s relatives from their mother’s (the White-Faced Vixen) family?”

If you want to use this prompt you can! just credite and tag me in return please! :)

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Concept:

So a very long time ago, back when Jin and Yin were just babies, their mother, the White-Faced Vixen, was on the run with her sons because of a war raging between the Huli Jin clan and a rival demon clan, resulting in the destruction of her home.

As she was wandering in the mountains injured and with her two babies in her arms, she came across a lone house which seemed to be inhabited.

The White-Faced Vixen then planned to kill the people living here so she and her sons could have a roof above their heads even if temporary.

But when she was about to put her sinister plan in motion, she got spotted by the house’s owner, Cheng Hua, a young widow who lived alone with her children.

To the White-Faced Vixen’s shock, the woman didn’t react in fear nor didn’t try to chase her away but instead was kind. 

She even invited her into her house after noticing her injuries and the two babies with her.

This confused the White-Faced Vixen. 

Why did this mortal treat her kindly and even open her house to her when she’s a demon and could easily hurt her and her loved ones?

When asked, the young woman simply answered that she was an injured mother who was seeking shelter for her children and who needed help, so to Cheng Hua it was normal for her to give this help, demons or not.

The White-Faced Vixen, still confused by the young widow's logic, stayed at her house for a few days and left ,along with her sons, once her injuries were healed to her brother.

Once her “guests” left, Cheng Hua learnt from her children that the White-Faced Vixen left a big bag for them, and to her shock, it was filled with tons of gold, enough to ensure her family and she would never worry about poverty ever again.

And with the gold was a medaillon with a letter thanking Cheng Hua for her hospitality and giving her the bag of gold to thank her for her help and also gift her her clan’s crest medaillon, making her and her family honorary members of the Huli Jin clan.

Thanks to the gold, Cheng Hua and her children lived comfortably, the young widow even converted her house into an inn which became popular among travelers, humans/mortals and demons/supernatural beings alike and as time passed a village developed around the inn.

Even after Chen Hua’s death many years laters, the Cheng family honored the White-Faced Vixen, in addition to honoring the celestial deities, to thank her for the good for the good fortune and protection she brought to their family and this keep going for generations to nowadays with Cheng Xia Bing, also known as Sabine Cheng and her daughter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The mother lived a peaceful and happy life in Paris with her husband, Tom Dupain, and their daughter, until the apparition of the villain Hawkmoth and his akumas, who terrorized Paris for three years.

Getting more worry for her daughter’s safety and mental health day by day, a desperate Sabine decided to contact the White-Faced Vixen for help.

She get an answer in the form of the two sons of the White-Faced Vixen send by the latter to ensure Marinette’s safety.

On Marinette’s side, her life was not getting better, in fact, it was harder:

-Hawkmoth’s constant attacks were getting more violent and her recent new role as the miraculous box’s guardian didn’t lift any of her anxiety.

-Lila’s lies managed to turn her class against her and was making her life at school hell and nearly end up akumatized a bunch of times.

But her life is about to take a weird turn, but also a blessing in disguise, when her parents introduced her to two cousins from China who came to Paris for their studies and who were going to live with them: Jin and Yin.

Prompt Details:

-Miraculous Ladybug setting: Take place after season 3

-Monkie Kid setting: During season 2, during season 3 and after season 3

-Class salt

-Bustier salt/bad teacher Bustier

-Chloe being Chloe(at the start)

-Adrien salt or Adrien sugar(it’s up to whoever use this prompt)

-Lila salt

-Chloe redemption

-Permanent miraculous user Luka

-Permanent miraculous user Kagami

-Jin and Yin being Marinette’s cousins

-Jin and Yin having been send to Paris by their mother, the White-Faced Vixen, to protect Marinette

-Jin and Yin calling Sabine and Tom “aunt” and “uncle” or “āyí” and “yízhàng” in Mandarin

-Jin and Yin calling Marinette “cousin” or “biǎomèi” in Mandarin

-Marinette finding out that her mother’s family’s legend aren’t just legends and they truly got demon relatives.

-Marinette, Jin and Yin having family bonding moments

-Jin and Yin infiltrating Marinette’s school as Marinette’s cousins from China who came in Paris to temporary study in the city and disguised as humans

-Jin and Yin not being happy at all when they find out about the “lila situation” and how Marinette’s classmates and teacher treat their cousin

-Very protective Jin and Yin: in both a serious and a comic way

-Chloe being victim of Jin’s and Yin’s pranks before her redemption

-Marinette getting more in touch with her mother’s culture and learning more Mandarin

-Jin and Yin cheering up Marinette when she’s sad

-Jin and Yin mercilessly pulling nasty pranks on the akuma class, particularly on Lila, and on Bustier to get back at them for hurting Marinette

-LMK demons can’t be akumatized as even if Hawkmoth’s powers are from a powerful mini god, he is still a mortal and by so he isn’t powerful enough to akumatize demons

-During LMK season 2: Jin and Yin left Paris some days to go “try to defeat the Monkie Kid”(read: mess with the Monkie kid)

-During LMK season 3: Jin and Yin left Paris only one time and have put a magic barrier around the city so no one in Paris would know about the Lady Bone Demon fiasco and keep Marinette from getting more anxious

-Marinette deciding to truly moving on from Adrien after realizing that her crush wasn’t healthy.

-Jin and Yin being supportive of Marinette’s decision to moving on from Adrien and encouraging her to focus more on her project of becoming a fashion designer 

-Marinette creating fashion designs for Jin and Yin

-Jin and Yin finding out that Marinette is Ladybug and the guardian of the Miraculous box

-LMK demons and celestials knowing the miraculous’s existence: Long time ago demons stole the miraculous and used the wish but got a disastrous karmic payback which led the demons to make an oath to never try to mess with the miraculous ever again.

-Marinette as Ladybug deciding to give miraculous to Jin and Yin as temporary heroes to which the latters were uncertain because of the oath but Marinette convince them that as the guardian and their cousin she trust them to not misuse the miraculous and to return them to her once the akuma is taken care of.

-Temporary miraculous users Jin and Yin.(Which miraculous they got is up to whoever who use this AU)

-Jin and Yin helping Marinette to find out Hawkmoth’s identity

-Jin and Yin being by Marinette’s side during team Miraculous’s final battle against Hawkmoth and helping to take the villain down

-After their defeat Gabriel and Nathalie getting arrested

-Lila escaping prison by playing the “poor girl who got manipulated by Hawkmoth” act

-The akuma class also falling for the act and forgiving her and trying to force Marinette to also forgive her

-Marinette being officially fed up with her class and with her true friends’s and her family’s support decide to leave permanently Françoise-Dupont

-Marinette’s parents enrolling her on online classes 

-After Hawkmoth’s defeat, Jin and Yin proposed to Marinette to come with them to Megapolis to take a break from Paris to which Marinette accepted.

-Marinette living with Jin and Yin at their lair

-Marinette creating an commission service in which people pay her to realise fashion designs commissions which made Jin and Yin steal less often.

-Marinette befriending the Scorpio Queen

-Marinette having a “demon disguise” thanks to Jin and Yin’s and the Kwamis’s magic for safety to not raise suspicions on why a young human girl is hanging around with two demons well known to be trouble makers

-Marinette’s demon disguise: a Huli Jin form

-When other demons ask who Marinette, in demon disguise, is Jin and Yin introduce her as a distant cousin from their mother’s side called “Jiayi”.(Not a complete lie)

-Marinette meeting the rest of the Monkie Kid characters(Macaque included) in both human and demon form

-The Demon Bull King having ordered a commission to Marinette for a dress for Princess Iron Fan

-Marinette designing a lot of chinese clothes

-Marinette as Ladybug getting involved into MK’s fights.

-Marinette’s becoming one of Sun Wukong’s favorite person and one of the reasons is because she made delicious peach pastries.

-The kwamis knowing Sun Wukong: Xupu absolutely LOVE the Monkie King and in this AU his miraculous’s powers were created from Sun Wukong’s powers, Tikki is often annoyed by Sun Wukong’s chaotic attitude and Plagg, while he like Sun Wukong, is frustrated at the idea ti had to deal with Sun Wukong ‘cause Sun Wukong’s habit to cause chaos fall under Plagg’s jurisdiction and would force him to be a responsible kwami.

-The LMK characters having the shock to find out the truth about Marinette(read: being human, related to Jin and Yin, being Ladybug and the guardian of the miraculous)

-MK, wanting to help Marinette, convince Sun Wukong to give her a little training

-The akuma’s class wanting to force Marinette to come back to Françoise-Dupont and when they found out where she was convinced Bustier to had the class field trip at Megapolis in China.

-The akuma class being convinced that Jin and Yin are a bad influence on Marinette and brainwashed her against them

-Lila lying about being a secret mortal descendant of Nezha

-A demon not caring for the ancient oath, trying to steal the miraculous

-The demon manipulating Lila into helping them to steal the Miraculous for them and because of her the Akuma class end up in big danger.

-Team MK and team Miraculous teaming up to defeat the demon.

-Lila’s lies being exposed

-The akuma class ending up in big trouble, particularly judicial troubles, thanks to Sun Wukong’s lawyer.

-Sun Wukong having a very competent lawyer

-Marinette officially cutting ties and ending up friendship with the akuma class

-Lila being deported back in France and being trialed with her lies exposed

-How this prompt end is up to whoever who use this prompt

-Ship: You can do the ship you want, just no Adrinette please! ^^

[natedogx15]

A Problematic Queen's Guard

Here's another Miraculous Ladybug au. This one could be considered a Scarlet Lady version of my Accidental Guardian Marinette prompt.

What if Master Fu lost the Miracle Box and most of the Miraculous while trying to escape the temple? What if Andre ends up buying it as one of his many gifts to Chloe while thinking it is a rare jewelry box? What if Chloe realizes what the Miracle Box is and decides to use it to become exceptional?

In this prompt, Chloe has the Miracle Box and uses the different Miraculous inside to try to become exceptional by making and leading a superhero team. She finds out from the Kwami that the Ladybug Miraculous is considered one of the two strongest and decides she wants that to be hers while letting Sabrina pick another Miraculous.

Chloe can start her campaign before Hawkmoth's campaign to claim the Miraculous and it's her actions that cause him to realize the Miraculous are in Paris. You could have Chloe be willing to keep her identity a secret by Sabrina suggesting she hold off on the reveal so her mother is the first to know. So, he doesn't have an easy way to get to them.

As Scarlet Lady, Chloe is about the same as in the comic. The main difference here is that Chloe has access to all the Miraculous and can grant them to people who she can use to fight Akumas for her while she enjoys the limelight, arguing that she should be kept safe since she's the only one who can fix any damage done by Hawkmoth.

The people she chooses are those she knows she can manipulate or bully into listening to her, for example, Kim or Mylene. You could possibly make it where this causes them to be more incompetent than in canon.

As for Master Fu and our main characters. You could have Master Fu manage to save a couple of Miraculous. He would then give them out after realizing the Miracle Box and Butterfly Miraculous. He might give one to Adrien and Adrien can get a second one from Chloe later.

Or you could give Marinette the Black Cat Miraculous and make her the one to pick up the slack from the other wielders while Adrien gets a Miraculous from Chloe. As time goes by, she might be able to talk the members into following her instead of Scarlet Lady.

That's if you don't want to make this a Chloe redemption story. I think there's a good chance for it to be an interesting one.

[miraculous-elcie]

If anyone does this with AdrienxMarinettexChloé, please tag me!

Announcing Polyship Week 23!

We're back — #PolyshipWeek23 will take place 16–22 April 2023! New this year are photo prompts — see the links below to view.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Slight musing on rude not mean AU, but I wondered how the re-framed dynamic would influence Chloe's character.

Overall, she's meant to start out much the same, but I think the big notable thing would be in the instances where either Adrien discusses her behavior & she can chime in or, she is expected o apologize.

Rose's Letter:

Adrien's issue is less that she destroyed it, Nathalie & Gabriel destroy gifts from fans all the time & both he & Chloe watch Audrey destroy Chloe's gifts in real time. His contention is that it was not diplomatic and that clearly Rose's letter had merit given Ali liked it.

Which does actually hit a nail on the head for Chloe, and she apologizes to Rose without prompting but in a very... Chloe way.

IE, "Clearly there was factors I didn't consider when judging your letter, and I erred by destroying it, sorry Rose."

Which Adrien thinks is cool & normal, & while Rose accepts, she & anyone who heard it is like, "So wait she was apologizing for not realizing Ali would like it, not for hurting Rose, the hell?"

Juleka & the stall:

As noted, this one would actually get to Adrien as its physical and if there'd been a fire or the like Juleka could have been seriously hurt. But also because it genuinely wasn't a contest, it was a class photo, and Chloe removed a member of the class.

Seeing she's upset Adrien & rationalizing the actions from her own perspective, but then looking at the class context...

Yeah she'd apologize in the sense of, "I shouldn't have removed you from a group photo, that undercuts the whole point of the photo, and its clear now you weren't competing to be near Adrien, so I shouldn't have treated you as a threat."

Juleka: ... Thanks?

Basically, much like how Chloe can turn on customer service smile at the hotel, she does know that there's some lines you don't cross. The big issue is, at least early on, that she kind of doesn't know & doesn't bother to find out where other people's lines are, let alone realize they aren't even using the same rule book as her. Cos again, cruelty is normalized.

This would ideally just be her starting out on the whole redemption process & more pointedly serve to drive home just how warped she & Adrien's perspective is to everyone else.

In this regard, Adrien might have his first real like, gut instinct empathy with the Kim confession. In the sense of, "Ooh if I confessed to Ladybug, got splashed & covered in a chip bag, then she laughed & posted it on social media... That would really hurt."

But like, its just a casual prank bro, the TV everyone in class watches has stuff like this all the time.

So why does he feel bad?

GOD

Honestly I doubt the Kim thing would even register either like. Remember when Audrey rejected Chloé's gift on live tv because the wrapping paper was tacky?

[wolflover2426]

I swear to god, ya’ll gotta stop it with the freaking Alya salt. The fact that there is so few fanfics with Alya being on Marinette’s side or at least she gets a redemption and properly apologized to Marinette makes me think ya’ll don’t really understand Alya as a character and only use her as a plot device to add more drama to your prompt/fic.

The same is applied to Adrien as well.

It seems like no tag is safe from salt because I literally saw a cool prompt that was tagged Marinette sugar and it’s about Nino being the one to see through Lila’s lies and then I was slapped with the Alya salt.

[plumsaffron]

Bruh the funniest delusion I’ve seen this week is the desired prompt where Marinette convinces Gabriel Agreste to exchange Lila Rossi's life for Emilie’s life so Adrien for Marinette can prosper. Splendid, you want her to be a bigger omnicide apologist than before (Granted wish(es) is known to destroy all and before recreating all) and now a prompter. And going by what’s already known. Mutual keep away from his son, Adrien, of what she really should know. And shared worldly deception (especially on this “alleged" hero’s part). What a good girlfriend she is. It was for the greater good, everyone. See, Lila commits identity switch auto (Like Marino did like 5 times earlier or Felix spams), she would probably escape being locked up if caught. She deserves to no longer be alive because Cerise annoys me. All For Gabriel Nathalie Redemption sksksskskskssk and the shipfuel, Adrien in Mari’s net ahahahahahahhahahaha.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

To Be a Hot Mess Together

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/EF7R9JY by Anonymous Timothy Drake-Wayne is an overwhelmed, strung out mess. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an anxiety-ridden, flustered mess. Both are extremely competent and capable, and neither gets enough sleep. Together, they are a certifiable hot mess -- and everyone else is just waiting for one of them to confess already.   Oh, and Tim just so happens to be the soulmate of Plagg and the true Cat of the generation. . . . Someone should probably tell him.   Bracket Prompt: "You sound ridiculous." "By saying what we are isn't a relationship? Because it fucking isn't." Words: 20405, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Tim Drake (DCU), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Félix Fathom, Chloé Bourgeois, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, mentioned bat family members Relationships: Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Potential Chloé Bourgeois/Jason Todd, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Tim Drake & Stephanie Brown Additional Tags: Fluff and Crack, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hot Mess Tim Drake, Timari - Freeform, timinette, Tim Drake is Red Robin, soulmate au kind of, A different kind of soulmate, Felix Fathom and Chloe Bourgeois get mentioned redemption arcs, Minor mentioned class salt, It's really just about Tim and Marinette, Marinette is MDC, Adrien Agreste is no longer Chat Noir, post-hawkmoth, Identity Reveal, Purring, Pheromones, but like in a funny way, no beta we die like robins, God Tim is such a mess in this, This is literally mostly sweet, a hint of angst, and a hot mess, Again I have written an excessive one shot, Discord: Maribat? Get In!, Discord: Maribat? Get In! Bracket Fic War, MGI Secret Writers 2024, Crack Treated Seriously, Some tags left out for PLOT, Stephanie Brown is a real one, All the cuddles, original lore, Court of Miracles, I'm posting this at 3 am why, meet cute, a disaster of one read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/EF7R9JY

[miraculousdeservesbetter2024]

[writerofcrazydreams]

Butterfly effect of the Reversal Salt AU

First thing first, I'm not bashing Adrien, Marinette, or anyone. However, the narrative is mostly from Lila's POV so, of course, she'd throw insults like candy, undermine everyone's worth (such as calling them by a superficial attribute instead of their names), and exaggerate their flaws.

On a related note. ML's characters are flawed. Marinette has creepy stalker tendencies, Chat Noir is a dogged nice guy, the class takes advantage of Marinette (even if unwittingly), and Mme. Bustier is an enabler for bullying. I'm not willing to overlook those flaws but seeing most of the characters are teenagers, I think they have room to grow and all of them deserve a chance for redemption. Yes, even Lila, loath as I am to say it. Most of the kids have also virtues worth of notice.

Secondly, this is a writing prompt. After reading too many Lila Salt Fics and a Lilanette one I stumbled upon by accident, my brain decided to wonder how would a Salt Fic be if Marinette and Adrien's roles were reversed.

For want of a nail (i.e., transferring six months later in the year), Lila has set her sights on budding fashion designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Because Marinette is infatuated by Adrien Agreste, Lila needs to get him out of the way. As a result, she plans on ostracizing him from the class and demonizing him so Marinette would lose interest. Lila's actions have some unexpected positive side effects. She's possessive, so everything Marinette does has to be to Lila's benefit which leads Lila to shame the classmates on how much they take Marinette for granted. Whether Lila successfully traps Marinette in an abusive romantic relationship it's up to whoever wants to continue this thing. More impactful is the fact Lila was never akumatized into Volpina or Chameleon, thus preventing Heroes' Day from happening. This means that Hawk Moth achieved the mass akumatization and discovered the temporary heroes' identities in another way or didn't do it at all. Another ripple effect is Lila getting a Miraculous by virtue of being on Ladybug's good side. I don't think Rena Rouge will be replaced, so no Volpina, but I'm betting she gets one of the Zodiac Miraculous or the Peacock if the heroes manage to retrieve it from Mayura.

In spite of a nail, Lila still eventually associates with Gabriel Agreste to manipulate his son into doing her bidding. And I can assure you she's still the cause of several akumas (the shaming part). She will still wrap Damoclès and Bustier around her little finger by claiming she's being bullied by a fellow student. Furthermore, it's still well in the realm of possibility Lila gets akumatized at some point. The girl' still has a penchant for holding petty grudges, so it's bound to happen. Maybe she does get turned into Volpina or Chameleon, but it will be later and in different circumstances. "The Collector" still happens more or less the same as Gabriel will akumatize himself to retrieve the Grimoire and get the heroes off of his trail, though there's the chance the middlewoman (Ladybug) is cut and Chat Noir gives the book directly to Master Fu, causing him to meet the guardian. Will that make Adrien a more responsible hero and prevent his tantrums from being locked out of the loop? It depends. If somehow Ladybug and Chat Noir go together, Ladybug will still be Fu's successor but Chat Noir will know more things from the get-go. If it's only him, either the guardian contacts Marinette later or starts training Adrien. Keep in mind, though, that his packed schedule won't allow him to visit Fu as frequently as Canon!Marinette could.

Whether she starts working for Hawk Moth is uncertain, though. It depends on your take on this prompt so nails don't have a say in this matter. Or not an obvious one, at least.

In the third place, this is a writing prompt and, as such, people have utter freedom to make of it what they want. Wanna bash the hell out of Adrien? Of Alya? Mme. Bustier? Chloé? Even Marinette? Go on. I think the kids can grow into better people, but if other writers disagree, have different stories in mind, or are simply salty over someone, I won't be the one to put limits to their creativity and desires. The same applies to whomever you choose to redeem. That's why I left it very ambiguous throughout the prompt on whether Chloé is working towards her Redemption or following her canonical Damnation. She defends Ladybug because she loves the heroine, she snickers when Alya has to change seats because she feels vindicated ("Origins" episode), and she stands for Adrien because he's her childhood friend. In the former case, both the vindication and the insults are little steps backward, especially considering Chloé knows how much Adrien fears conflict (he won't and doesn't defend himself that much).

Having said that, for all I respect freedom of speech, that doesn't mean I'll condone or agree with everything people write inspired on this prompt. Have fun, but it's not my responsibility if we end up with a "Dead Dove: Don't Eat" kind of fic, okay?

Fourth, here are some of my ideas about this Reversal Salt AU.

Lila's mother, here dubbed as Signora Rossi (Signora means Mrs. in Italian), is not an abusive parent but possibly a slightly neglectful one. That doesn't mean she's a bad person or that she loves her daughter any less. It just means she's caught up in a very demanding job either because she's ambitious and wants to succeed in her work field (which is fine) or because she's a single mother and thus is stretching herself thin to fulfill her daughter's physical and emotional needs. Or maybe she just wants to believe the best of her daughter and turns a blind eye to Lila's misdeeds. Despite that, she's caring and loving. I'm not keen on demonizing Signora Rossi because of these reasons but it is clear she ought to pay a little bit more attention to what her daughter is up to and is likely she for some reason failed to instill integrity in kid!Lila. An excellent take on this matter can be found in this fanfic: "A mother's love".

On the other hand, it's also entirely possible Lila was born a psychopath. I've been researching and some psychologists hold that a sociopath is made through trauma and a psychopath is born, but the result is the same anti-social tendencies. Though if you want to make her a sociopath and give her a traumatic past, go on. Canon!Lila not only scores high in psychopathy but also Machiavellism and Narcissism.

In regards to her other parent, I left their gender ambiguous because there are some fan theories that Lila has two mothers. Or it's maybe just an animation error, but I don't like to throw the chance out of the window. Now, in the case it wasn't a mistake, both mothers are what I described a paragraph ago but fanfiction exists to explore different scenarios anyway, so... Maybe this other parent influenced Lila to become who she is now.

About Adrien. As I said above, the kid does have some nasty flaws. What he does to Ladybug at the very least verges on sexual harassment and he's proven to be manipulative (throwing tantrums when rejected). In this AU, said flaws are at play as much as Marinette's flaws were in canon. She partially misused her powers out of jealousy (partially because she had a point in that Lila was making herself a target) and her reasons to eavesdrop on Lila and Adrien are definitely not pure. Here, it's her tendency to obsess over and idealize her crush what is going to be her downfall. I'm not victim-blaming, but abusers prey on their victim's weaknesses and those just happen to be Marinette's. And that's not counting how Marinette's yearn for control was aggravated since the "Chat Blanc" incident (it happens later, but the base is already there). Nonetheless, I'm of the idea that Lila opened Marinette's eyes a little when she attacked her crush on Adrien (like pointing out being a stalker is not healthy) and that's going to bite her in the ass later on. Marinette being a doormat to her friends is more tricky since Lila made it as to ensure Marinette will remain a doormat to her but not anyone else. It's workable when the time to heal comes.

By contrast, Adrien's doormat policies, pushiness, obliviousness, and social ineptitude are still going to be rocks in his path. He's now crossed at Lila for several reasons. The obvious is her "bad-mouthing" Chat Noir, but there's more. Up to this point, Lila has consistently stirred trouble in the classroom, menacing the peace he values so much. It's Lila's fault (or that's how he sees it) Marinette is "abandoning" her friends and being "mean" to them. His upbringing has left him rather unable to understand that kindness is not a synonym of "absolutely catering to someone's wishes" (as he often does with Chloé and always with his father) and that this behavior is not healthy. His obliviousness comes into play in regards to just how much Marinette means to him (platonically or romantically). Lila has been monopolizing Marinette all to herself even when the class hangs out as a group, which severely cuts the already scarce time the two interact. He's jealous without being aware of it. It doesn't help how touchy-feely Lila and Marinette are because it sometimes causes discomfort to the latter, which Adrien picks up and not only notices Lila's hypocrisy but also rubs him in the wrong way as it mirrors his behavior as Chat Noir. Now, don't get me wrong, the least he wanted was to cause a scene but couldn't help but glare and Lila capitalized on that.

What does Lila think of Ladybug? "Volpina" never happened and this Lila only intended on pursuing Adrien before discovering Marinette's promising career, so neither hates the other one nor harbors a grudge. In fact, I doubt this AU would last much if that were the case. I left open the possibility of Lila being the anti-Chloé (hates Ladybug, loves Marinette) with that part of suspecting Marinette is crushing on Ladybug (*laughs in Plagg*), but I have to note that the hatred cannot be mutual for this to work. Canon!Lila loathes Chat Noir and it's likely that will remain the same, just less vocal (Marinette admires Ladybug and has a way of contacting the heroine, so Lila won't bad-mouth Chat Noir in front of Ladybug).

What roles would Luka and Kagami play in this AU? Obviously, the love-dodecaedron has shifted. There are at least three people after Marinette/Ladybug's affections: Chat Noir, Luka, and Lila. And whoever you ship Marinette with. And, now, there are only two girls wanting to date Adrien/Chat Noir: Kagami and Marinette. Chloé is uncertain because it was stated at some point she wasn't in love with Adrien, she was just possessive for some reason (fanon says it was to protect him from fangirls and fanboys). One possible scenario in this AU is that Marinette's feelings towards Adrien fade for the most part (maybe they will resurge later or shift to return Chat Noir's), depending on how efficient you want to portray Lila.  Getting back to the point, Luka still has a crush on Marinette as revealed in "Silencer" and Kagami on Adrien but the events of "Oni-chan" developed differently and it's as equally possible that she confessed her crush on him/was akumatized than it hasn't happened yet. If Lila somehow catches wind of Kagami's crush, she will set the two up to force Marinette to move on. She might even encourage Marinette and Kagami's friendship to bind Marinette to obey the girl code and support Kagami. If she learns of Luka's crush, then she'll either play the card that "he's too old for Marinette" (if we disregard the retcon) or try to exclude him from the class' activities. Taking more extreme measures will tip Marinette off of Lila's true nature. As I side note: I like this more than canon because I'm TIRED of watching four girls fighting over a guy.

How will Alya and Nino react? Without the jealousy component, what are the grounds to dismiss his warnings? Well, Adrien still takes the high road so he won't publicly confront Lila on her manipulations. He dreads conflict too much and if he finally does it, it will be too late — either Lilanette is official or everyone else believes so, therefore the class will be prone to believe Adrien is jealous. The lack of public accusations also rob Lila of one of her primary strategies: turn on the waterworks. Consequently, everything will be much more underhanded. Lila's association with Gabriel will result in Adrien spending far less time with his friends and maybe even pulling the same stunt of threatening them in the hopes of creating powerful akumas (again, "Chat Blanc" episode). But I digress, Lila will relentlessly target Alya and Adrien for supporting LadyNoir. Maybe Alya will learn her lesson but as Adrien already sees Lila in a bad light, he will take longer to budge or won't do it at all. Nino will try to change Adrien's opinion and that'll cause a gap between the two. Nino is very laidback, so he won't push as much but will be vulnerable to Lila's poisoning. Alya will remain Marinette's friend but butt heads with Lila as the latter tries to correct her occasional forcefulness. Marinette will intervene and either Alya regards Lila in a positive light because she did help Marinette (in a sense) or by holding onto her stubbornness will have a fallout with Lila and seek flaws on her. All in all, Alya and Nino's behavior are wildly variable. The only secure thing is that Lila is as capable as in canon of swaying them to her favor and making them unwittingly throw a friend under the bus, just in a different way.

I don't know if you've noticed but there's a theme about how holding onto flaws can sometimes yield positive results, often aided by virtues. In canon, it was how holding onto virtues can sometimes yield negative results, often exacerbated by flaws. Marinette's hatred of liars and loyalty to her friends are virtues but landed her on a bully's bad side and got isolated. Her jealousy and stalker tendencies (both flaws) didn't help matters at all. Meanwhile, Adrien's desire to see the best in everyone and give second chances are virtues but they made him act in the wrong way and fail to support a friend. His learned fear of conflict and submissiveness only made things worse. Lila has the virtue of being charming (for the wrong reasons, but still) and knowing her way with people which would turn her into a fine leader. Yet, she causes mayhem and destroys people's lives by using those virtues along with her fatal flaws — narcissism and vindictiveness.

In the Reversal Salt AU, however, most of the positive results stem from holding onto one's flaws. If Alya remains stubborn, she eventually learns Lila's nature aided by her reporter abilities and determination. If Marinette refuses to let go of her obsessiveness and refuses to think the worse of her friends, she forces Lila to ditch subtlety and thus expose herself. If Adrien continues walking the high road and keeps being nice, he provides Lila with far less ammunition against him. Nino has proved to be distrustful (dismissing Marinette in the Lila ordeal and believing Alya is two-timing him in "Rocketear") and if he does that here, he'll catch on to Lila's manipulations and even call her out given his outgoing nature.

This brief interpretation is merely a suggestion and, again, you are not obliged to use it as the central theme of your story. Personally, I'd use the whole "holding onto flaws gets better results" as a temptation in the characters' arcs whereas the "working on my flaws unwittingly aids the villain" as an angst-fuel when the characters learn of Lila's manipulations. One of the traits of an abusive relationship (romantic or otherwise) is how much the victim struggles to stop believing their abuser's words. Nobody is always wrong, so if my abuser was right about/helped me with this thing, would they be right about/had helped with this other one? Often, it comes down to finding a balance: you keep whatever good things you got from the relationship while discarding the harmful ones. Naturally, this is a lengthy, stressful process that Lila can very well exploit to blackmail her victims, make them second-guess themselves, or just make them miserable.

Last but not least, I want to comment on two Lila Salt Fics that depict similar ideas, although I only found them after crafting this AU. Little spoilers warning about them. The first is "Liar's New BFF" and delves into the idea of Lila being the anti-Chloé. After having her lies exposed at the end of "Volpina", she starts regarding the classmates as vermin and genuinely falls in love with Marinette because of her kindness. She then proceeds to create a riff between Marinette and them by pointing out how much they take advantage of her. In this case, Lila is partially redeemed and doesn't seem to hold a particular grudge against Adrien. The Reversal Salt AU can follow a similar path if you want to, but the idea is to not shy away from Lila's many shortcomings as a human being and how that would affect Marinette and Adrien in an alternate scenario.

The other is "Jerk in Sheep's Clothing", where Lila's spear counterpart, called Henri, acts pretty much as I described Reversal Salt!Lila. He gets infatuated by Marinette and after threatening Lila, makes a deal with her so it's easier for both to accomplish their goals (Lila: get Adrien and be popular, Henri: get Marinette all for himself). He exploits Marinette's broken trust in the classmates to bully them and get away with it, collaborates with Hawk Moth at some point, and even gets a Miraculous. The difference between them is that Reversal Salt!Lila doesn't have the benefit of Marinette being emotionally vulnerable due to Canon!Lila's bullying, nor her faith in her friends is weakened. This means this AU's Lila must resource to more deceptive tactics to get what she wants (she can't blatantly lie).

[noirshitsuji]

AO3 Stats tag game

Thank you for the tag @queer-cosette!

Rules: check your AO3 stats and answer each question with the correct fic!

Turns out all of mine are Miraculous Laydbug,,, which,,, not much of a plot twist, but yes.

Most Hits:

les illuminations en douche et d'autres miracles pubères (9,229 hits total)

Shower epiphanies and other pubescent miracles: of Marichat, emotional teenage delinquency, adults' questionable understanding of how the world works or should work, political power play, investigations, reveals, memes, half-baked meta, and the first-ever Save Nooroo Foundation (that the author is aware of). Or, simply put: canon on crack, featuring Adrien “romantic pro-gamer” Agreste, Marinette ”Schroedinger’s Very Tired™ friend” Dupain-Cheng, Gabriel “you don't need the two most powerful objects in the universe, you just need a therapist” Agreste, Plagg and Tikki “five more minutes of this and they'll be throwing hands with the Meta Consciousness for putting them here" the kwamis, and many, many more.

Main relationships: Lovesquare, DJWIFI (morphing into Chloninya), unhinged Gabenath, and team dynamics

Second most kudos:

I Know What You Did in the Cat-acombs - collab fic w/ @galahadwilder, @maggies-scribblings, and @veebeejeebies (366 kudos total)

Two part-time superheroes get lost in the creepy catacombs, but spooky skeletons, rabid rats and akuma apparitions are the least of their problems. Written for the @mlwritersguild's October 2020 Event, for the prompt 'Haunted House'.

Main relationship: Lovesquare/Adrienette main

Third most comments:

i'm just so bad at things i don't understand (20 comment threads total)

Human!AU. Tikki and Plagg are childhood friends who fell apart following a tragedy at their hometown in Normandy, but one day Plagg walks into her confiture shop in Paris asking for her help and she finds herself unable to refuse him. Working out their own ghosts is not their only problem, though, not when the son of Paris' most infamous fashion magnate runs away and collides with them. *** She regrets it. Of course she regrets it: yesterday she got blinded by the image of the boy she used to know, the one who lived on the dairy farm just outside of Saintévie with his dad and their workers and no siblings and thus no friends to speak of at all, not until he’d met her and the rest of them, at least. He was always a shadow, though, and they’d all told him as much once and he’d jokingly replied that there was only one sun he’d ever want to be cast off from but wouldn’t tell them which, and it hurts her to think he might have meant– Maybe shadows are the burns suns never get to inflict upon the land, Tikki thinks, but if they have no sun to follow, their tendrils turn into annihilating flames. Maybe this is why the fire started.

Main relationships: Plagg/Tikki, Plagg & Adrien & Tikki, Tikki & Marinette, Adrienette

Fourth most bookmarks:

well somewhere along the way in our words i must've gotten lost (45 bookmarks total)

Written for a blog request for the @mlwritersguild: Beelya where Queen Bee visits the Césaire house after Alya writes an article about her fighting Mr. Pigeon alone. Normally Chloé would like the publicity but Alya had titled it ‘The Birds and the Bees’. After that she ends up coming back to complain about her mother. And her father. And about the fact that her oldest friend seems uncomfortable around her. Her visits becomes weekly, then almost nightly. (Don’t forget to include Chloé redemption (and some “Bee Movie” jokes).) * Alya isn’t quite sure how she ended up here, in a place where she isn’t even surprised Chloé would seek her out to talk about her dad, where she wouldn’t even mind her doing so, where she would expect it, where she would– (–thud. She might be in trouble.)

Main relationships: Alya/Chloe, Team Miraculous

Fifth most words:

tried to touch you but you're cutthroat (stay to see it unfold) (4,426 words total; technically #2 in this list is the fifth longest, but I thought I'd discounted in the interest of showcasing more stuff)

If you scratch your claws against enough things, eventually everything around you's gonna give. It's not science. It's what being a Cat Wielder is. Some of them just learn it the hard way. (Or: The life and times of Chloe Bourgeois.)

Main relationships: Chloe/Luka, Team Miraculous (AU - Black Cat!Chloe and Ladybug!Luka)

Least words:

Similarly to Coco, my shortest is also a Valentines Day drabble for the @mlwritersguild event last year.

too much could be an overdose (100 words total)

Main relationship: Adrino

Tagging all the people in #2 and whoever else wants to do this!

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 26, 27 + 28

Yes, late for a second day but this was the prompt that made me realise I wanted to extend the story. And background context was needed. I do wonder if I took a quick and easy route with how this chapter ends for Luka but it seemed like a better reason for Adrien to be given the Cat Miraculous. Also, you could pull Chloe redemption from my cold dead hands. Anyway, a massive thank you to @etherealxgenie for taking the time to beta this. She’s been a godsend. Freedom

Adrien tried not to fidget. Regardless of Lady Tomoe’s ability to see, she was still incredibly intimidating. Marinette had mentioned it felt like ice was running down her spine when Kagami skipped practice to participate in the city-wide scavenger hunt, with a private Clara Nightingale performance waiting at the end. It did cause the woman to be akumatized but in the end she gave in and Kagami promised the relaxing time gave her an edge on actually landing a hit on her mother. Adrien wasn’t sure how much he believed that with the bruises on her legs from her mother’s shinai.

“You fence?”

“Um, I know how to. I don’t really do it much anymore.” Adrien replied.

She let out a hum and Adrien couldn’t help but glance at Kagami. What did that even mean?

“Have you been on any teams?”

“Uh, yeah. I was on my school’s team in Italy and also when we lived in London for a while. Usually there aren’t enough people and once they hear I know how to, they kinda just ask if I can do a bout.” He easily answered.

“And you’ve won?” She continued to question.

“Yes. But like I said, I don’t really do it anymore.” Adrien said.

Lady Tomoe hummed again before nodding her head to her daughter. “Is he good?”

“He’s joined Marinette and I a few times. He can beat Marinette easily and he and I kept a tie record. I did win our last fight, however.” Kagami explained, not mentioning their fights had been replaced nearly 3 months ago when Kitty Section was starting to gain more traction.

Humming once again (he really wished she’d stop doing that), Lady Tomoe waved them away. “Go. Mingle. But behave. I’m watching you, Kagami.”

Adrien believed that bit in a heartbeat.

“When you asked if I could come as your guest to this party, I didn’t know you’d be subjecting me to that.” Adrien whispered as they walked away.

“You dealt with Lila on a daily basis and my mother is the one to unnerve you? You’re a strange person, Adrien Rossi.”

As Kagami led the way to the dessert table where Marinette’s parents were passing out food to the guests, he glanced over his shoulder at where Chloe was standing. She was sulking, leaning against the wall near where her parents were. Her butler tried speaking to her, but she kept turning from him. He’d heard that Sabrina and Chloe had gotten into a fight, something about Sabrina’s reason for being akumatized into Miraculer. Clearly without her best friend, Chloe was miserable. He was sure watching her mother act the way she did while her father tried to gain affection was torture. If his own parents were this bad, he’d just walk away and leave them but Adrien was fine getting lost in a city while they yelled at each other. Chloe was still having trouble accepting the class as her friends. It was hard to erase years of habits in a few months.

“Hello Adrien, Kagami.” Marinette’s mother said, picking up a plate and napkin, her husband at the ready with tongs.

“Nin hao tài tai Cheng.”

“Oh, you’re getting much better at the accent Adrien. I’m so glad you’ve been practicing.”

“Sorry I haven’t been by for your help.”

“That’s alright. Marinette said Kitty Section was signed to the same label as Jagged Stone. You must be excited!”

He still didn’t know about the possibility of moving. With each day his mother had no answer, he couldn’t think of what to say when people brought it up.

“Yeah. Really excited. Do you have any passion fruit macarons?”

“No, Marinette is bringing more by. But we do have eclairs. Kagami, would you like one as well?”

“Can I try the strawberry one?”

Taking a bite, moaning a little from the creamy taste, Adrien watched Chloe. Nathalie had arrived carrying a box and the screen with Gabriel, Gorilla following behind her. He watched the assistant leave her driver with Lady Tomoe, who seemed perfectly fine with the silent giant’s presence. Nathalie called the mayor over, while his wife complained about being left alone and Chloe seemed to be done with everything. She stomped away from her butler, oddly making a beeline for him. At that same time, Marinette stepped off the elevator and stopped herself from crashing into Chloe, though the boxes she had stacked started to tip. Chloe managed to grab them, looking frustrated at Marinette.

“Honestly Dupain-Cheng, everyone knows how clumsy you are and you still insist on stacking boxes these high? I hope you’re not nearly this clumsy at your very first show. You're going to embarrass yourself when you trip in front of the audience and all your models.” Marinette looked as surprised as he felt, more so when Chloe started to carry the boxes to the bakery owners. “Hurry up Dupain-Cheng!” she ordered, causing Marinette to scramble after her.

“That was…odd.” Adrien said.

“You said she hasn’t spoken with her friend right, the red-haired girl? Maybe she’s tired of being alone? You did say she’s getting better. Just that the entitlement was mostly just part of her personality?” Kagami asked, both watching Chloe place the boxes down.

“Yeah. Just, kinda weird to see it just happening. Half the time, Sabrina is giving her that ‘you better behave’ look.”

“Thank you, girls. Did you want to try anything Chloe? I don’t think I saw you touch a single thing.” Sabine asked.

“Your mother requested bagels and I even got the rainbow kind down. Sure, you don’t want to try it?” Tom threw in.

“Honestly, I want to go back to my room.” Chloe said, looking back at the stage where Nathalie had joined her parents holding a sheet looking item over her arm. “This is stupid. They don’t love each other and the sooner they get divorced the better.”

No one really knew how to respond to that. Months ago, after the fashion show Juleka walked, Chloe announced she wanted to go to New York with her mother. But her mother didn’t even seem to notice or care, instead focusing on offering Marinette a chance to work in fashion in New York. The two girls didn’t get along, so Chloe felt like it was a slap to the face. And as much as Marinette wanted to say yes, both to get a start in her career and to spite Chloe, she also noticed how Chloe would take it. Surprisingly, it had been her to call off the party celebrating Chloe leaving.

“She might be mean to me any chance she could get but…all she wants is to be with her mom and she’s being treated like she doesn’t matter. I might not like her, but no one deserves to be treated like that.”

During it all, the mayor had been akumatized in hopes to keep Chloe in Paris and that’s when she’d been given the Bee Miraculous. She helped stop her father but she also messed up. She still wanted her mother’s attention, so when the fighting was over, Chloe ran off. From what the city understood, Scarlet Bug and Catseye were about to detransform and couldn’t go after her.

They were spotted again 20 minutes after that but Chloe hadn’t gone back to her hotel room. She’d gone to Sabrina’s and come morning, planted herself in front of her mother in the hotel’s restaurant and transformed, hoping for something. All she got were insults and an upturned nose, watching her mother order her new assistant to get Marinette on the phone for an answer on her proposition. It was no one’s surprise that she’d been akumatized, even with the Bee Miraculous on. She’d only shown up again as Queen Bee during Hero Day but since then, no one had seen her during fights. Chloe had even gotten a Batman style light to get the heroes’ attention but she’d stopped using it a while back. No one knew why, kinda scared to ask.

“Marinette, before you take the trays back, could you go find umbrellas for the drinks? Chloe, maybe you know where they are?” Sabine asked.

“What? No, I don’t. I don’t go into kitchens.” Chloe said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Well then take Adrien and Kagami. 4 pairs of eyes are better than two. It might take a while, I’m sure.” Sabine said with a smile on her face and a knowing look.

“Yes.” Kagami said, seeming to understand. She took Adrien’s plate, allowing him to grab his half-eaten éclair and placed them on the table before grabbing Marinette’s arm. With a hand on Adrien’s side, she pushed him towards her mother, Marinette grabbing Chloe as they passed. “Mother, we’re going to help Marinette look for something in the kitchen. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Very well.” Lady Tomoe answered. “Be back quickly. You’re not here to play around.”

The young fencer dragged them all into the kitchen, looking around. She got her hands on the bag of mini umbrellas and poked her head outside for something.

“Why is the scary fencer ordering my butler around?” Chloe asked, like either of them had answers.

Kagami came back and grabbed them again, stealthily going to the door and looking out. Armand stepped in front of the door, moving one hand behind his back to wave at them. Taking that as a signal, Kagami dragged them out of the kitchen and into an elevator just as it opened. Chloe was the one to hit the button for the roof, and they all let out a sigh of relief when the doors closed.

“Ok, what was that?” Chloe asked confused as the elevator started to move up.

“You wanted to leave, I wanted time away from my mother and these two are fine with anything.” Kagami stated. “Marinette’s mother was giving us an out, so I took it.”

Chloe looked at Kagami speechless before sighing and looking away. “What the hell did I get myself into?”

Once they reached the roof, Chloe threw herself on one of the loungers while pushing her sunglasses down as she took in the sun. Adrien let out a yelp as Marinette pushed him into the ball pit, who jumped in with Kagami. The three started throwing the plastic balls at each other, trying to dodge while stuck. A few managed to get over to Chloe, one actually hitting her, which she returned with quite an impressive throw. It hit Marinette on the shoulder and the sound wasn’t pleasant but her two classmates were too impressed with the throw to say anything. When Gorilla came out of the elevator, he thankfully spotted Chloe first, giving Marinette and Adrien time to shove Kagami under the balls.

“What?” Chloe asked, her voice set in her usual haughty tone. The bodyguard did some sort of fencing gesture then held his hand up to about Kagami’s height. “Does it look like she’s here?”

With her glare, Gorilla left. While Marinette and Kagami continued to play, Adrien pulled himself out of the pool, walking over to the grand piano close to the loungers. He started to play the piano opening to Fabulous from the High School Musical movies, though Chloe groaned.

“Not that! Anything but that. Can’t believe I watched that movie so much.”

“Why am I not surprised you were a Sharpey fan?” Adrien said, switching to a medley of Ashly Tisdale songs.

“Oh please, I’m much better than she is. At least I don’t go after guys who are dating people. I also don’t ban people from doing things.”

“No, just pop stars from performing in France as a whole.” Adrien reminded.

“That wasn’t my fault! Dupain-Cheng didn’t want to do it before. She only said she would do Catseye after I got cast. I had the worst job working with Lila as Scarlet Bug. I didn’t actually think those rules Daddy found would stick. How was I supposed to know Clara’s label wouldn’t send the correct paperwork after? But I guess that’s what I do. I make a mess of things and can’t even fix them.” Chloe sulked, sliding down the lounge chair while refusing to look in his direction.

Adrien stopped playing to look at Chloe. He felt like an idiot. He was happy Chloe was changing for the better, but of course she’d still have feelings about her actions. Since most people were willing to look past it as much as they could – example with Marinette not going out of her way to talk to the girl who bullied her for years – he assumed Chloe felt the same. He didn’t realize Chloe was still holding onto the blame from the consequences for her actions.

Turning on the bench, Adrien leaned onto his knees, staring at the back of Chloe’s head. “Is that what happened with Sabrina?”

“Fishing for information for Cesaire?” she snapped, still refusing to look at him.

“No, just curious. From what I know, it’s been you and Sabrina for ages. No matter what you did, she always stuck by you. She always comes to your defence and I’ve actually seen you threaten bodily harm on anyone who messes with her.”

“Yeah, except all I do is get her akumatized because I have to be a bitch and be rude. First, I ignored her because she unknowingly embarrassed me and then I snapped at her about never understanding what I went through. The one girl who’s actually been there when I’m dealing with my mother.” Chloe interrupted. Her voice got lower, like she was holding back tears.

Adrien got off the bench, kneeling next to the lounge chair. “What do you mean ‘not understanding’?”

“I can’t say what it is.”

“Chloe-”

“No!” she said, actually turning to him, yanking her sunglasses off. “I can’t say. I messed up already before by being selfish. If I say anything, to her or anyone else, I’ll just be selfish again. I’d even be putting her in danger.”

The only real danger Adrien could think of was Hawkmoth. Then he remembered the note. He knew he wasn’t the only hero who’d been pulled in to help during fights. Which meant, he couldn’t have been the only one to get a note.

“You mean Scarlet Bug told you not to tell?”

Chloe muffled a choking sound as her blue eyes shimmering with tears. “I knew I couldn’t be Queen Bee anymore. I mean, I was given the chance to help when my dad was akumatized and all I thought about was how my mom was going to finally notice me. I was surprised they asked for help during Hero Day. Then something happened and I knew if I wanted another chance, I had to keep quiet about it. So, I stopped using the signal and I stopped bugging them about it. I didn’t tell Sabrina because if anyone else knew I wanted another chance, Hawkmoth would still be watching me. I didn’t say anything and she got mad for me. She couldn’t understand why Scarlet Bug and Catseye were ignoring me and I didn’t know how to tell her what I wanted, so I just snapped. Told her she didn’t understand me or why I did things.

“After Sabrina was akumatized again, there was this other akuma, she was all dressed in red. The akuma that came from Sabrina was the same colour, like all the ones during Hero Day. I was given the Bee Miraculous since Sabrina could take powers and I was told to go after the other akuma. I don’t even know what her item could have been but she managed to get away. I helped them with stopping Sabrina and I wanted to keep the Bee. I asked, what am I saying? I begged to keep it but Scarlet Bug told me it was too dangerous. The other akuma almost took the Bee during the fight and took it to Hawkmoth. I got that, but I also thought about how I could help. He told me that I could help by being a hero out of the costume, by still being Queen Bee without the Miraculous. He said that if he didn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth always waiting for me whenever an akuma showed up, he’d give me a chance. But to keep everyone safe, I couldn’t be Queen Bee officially anymore. Sabrina heard, but she was still mad, saying that he was playing with my feelings. I should have told her it was ok, that we could still dress up as Scarlet Bug and Catseye and instead of playing, do things to help build morale. Instead, I yelled at her again for not understanding. How is she supposed to understand if I don’t tell her anything? But I can’t because I don’t want Hawkmoth going after her.”

“Tell her that. Tell her that regardless of what you know about Scarlet Bug and Catseye and the rest of the Miraculous team, that the biggest threat is Hawkmoth. The guy is good at getting into people’s emotions, who’s to say he can’t get into their minds? You don’t want her to go through that. She’ll understand you’re trying to protect her. You should also let her know that you feel bad about what you did. You do feel bad about it, don’t you??”

“Of course, I do! But what good will telling her that do?” Chloe retorted, angrily.

Adrien shrugged, giving her a wry smile. “You can’t make her forgive you. But if she knows you’re sorry and knows that all of this was to protect her, she might be willing to forgive you. You messed up Chloe, but you’re trying to do better. Isn’t at least trying, something a hero would do?”

Chloe scoffed, rolling her eyes. “God, are you always like this?”

“Just imagine, if mama has to move and I move in with you, you’ll have to put up with me like this all the time.”

Giving him a mild glare, she swung her legs off the lounge chair, fixing herself. “Well, here’s hoping daddy isn’t an idiot and makes her stay. I’m going to my room. Try not to get caught.”

“Bored of us already?” Adrien asked, getting up as Chloe headed towards the elevator.

“I have private phone calls to make, thank you very much.” The doors opened and Chloe stepped on, already back to herself as she crossed her arms and cocked out a hip. “Rossi? Thanks.”

Adrien couldn’t respond as the doors closed but he smiled to himself. Chloe really was trying and he hoped Sabrina understood that. He hoped having to keep quiet about the note wouldn’t haunt Chloe forever. He still had no clue what would happen if they gave him a Miraculous and he had to leave. It was concerning though, how whatever allowed Hawkmoth to make multiple akumas had reappeared to get to the Bee Miraculous. He hoped whatever it was, the two heroes could beat it, or at least had a plan in place.

“Hey girls! Think we can sneak out and grab ice cream?”

                                          _____________________

“Come my dear, aren’t you mad that Scarlet Bug and Catseye don’t trust you? Regardless if I know who Queen Bee is, you’re a good hero. But they don’t appreciate that do they?”

Chloe took the smallest step away. She didn’t want to show fear to the man in front of her, the man responsible for her parents being pink floating heads right now, but it was Hawkmoth. Since he showed his face on Hero Day, people came up with nicknames to make him seem less terrifying. But regardless of how much you called a person ‘condom head’, when they had the ability to twist your emotions and focus on the worst parts of it, you got scared when they appeared in front of you.

“When your friend was akumatized, they just left you in the dust.”

But they didn’t. She was the one to blame for what happened to Sabrina. The letter that had been left on her bed with the box, she kept it a secret. but she didn’t give Sabrina a clear reason for why she retired her Queen Bee light and why she wasn’t upset when they didn’t come to get her. The red-haired girl was just being a good friend, being mad at the heroes for her. But she snapped, letting her old habits get the better of her. She didn’t even understand how the heroes gave her another chance, with the Ladybug Miraculous of all things. Not just once, but twice! She wanted to tell her best friend but she couldn’t make the same mistake as before. As such, she reacted badly and Sabrina was akumatized again. She helped stop her by helping Scarlet Bug figure out what his Lucky Charm was for and she listened as he told her that being Queen Bee was dangerous, not only for her but for them. He'd given her a hidden wink and she knew it was mostly for show. They still trusted her. She might never get the chance to meet Pollen again, but she could be trusted with another Miraculous.

“All I ask is for one little favour. Something that will help you get back at Scarlet Bug and Catseye and every other hero they called for help. I need you to find the Guardian of the Miraculous. You’re strong, strong to throw my akuma. With the rest of the Miraculous at your disposal, you’ll be unstoppable.”

“Chloe, are you still there? What's happening?” Sabina’s concerned voice asked from the other end of the line.

Chloe shuffled back further. She came down to her room to call Sabrina and did what Adrien told her. She even opened up more, telling her how she felt with all the memories of things she caused hanging over her head. Sabrina, the kind person she was, accepted her apology and listened to Chloe talk, telling her things would be ok and she could work to earn forgiveness if she thought it would help. They were interrupted by the Akuma Warning and then she saw them, her parents.

She’d come up to her patio, trying to catch a glimpse of where her parents went, also hoping to see spotted red or green and black. Her fear over her parents ran through her mind when she heard something land behind her. She turned around, and there he was, all shaded in red.

“Your mother’s anger and your father’s anguish at a decaying relationship are quite powerful and they could make a mess for days. If you want them out, I’m going to need your help, Chloe Bourgeois. You can even get back at Scarlet Bug and Catseye for disrespecting you.”

“Chloe!” Sabrina yelled, snapping her back into the present. Hawkmoth stood there, smirking. She was surprised that he hadn’t done anything about the phone in her hand. It got wider as she lifted it back to her ear.

“Sabrina, I need to call you back. Mother is screaming about not having enough rosettes on the cake. I meant what I said, ok?”

“Ok.”

She hung up once Sabrina answered and dropped the phone on the ground.

“Smart girl. I didn’t remember seeing a cake in the ballroom.” Hawkmoth mused.

“Daddy ordered it as a surprise. He likes having their wedding cake remade as a present. Why should I help you anyway? Scarlet Bug and Catseye would totally have time to beat my parents before I agree.” She asked.

Hawkmoth let out a chuckle, spinning his cane. “Oh, but you see, I won’t let that happen. In case you don’t remember, this isn’t my normal colour. I’ve got help from a little friend again. She was the one responsible for the akumas on Hero Day. All those Akumas all at once? Childs play and I can do it again. I’ll keep those heroes so busy, going after your parents will be the least of their problems. So, tell me dear, do you care about your parents enough to keep the heroes from getting exhausted?”

Chloe’s mind raced in attempts to think of something, anything that could help or stop him. She wasn’t a hero at the moment, so she didn’t have the reflexes to rip the butterfly brooch from his neck. Could she even though? To gain the extra power he had, was it a Miraculous or the effects of an akuma? Answers were looking dim and she couldn’t think of another way. She just hoped Sabrina remembered the code word.

“Remove the akuma from them first. And you don’t go after anyone else, just me.”

Looking victorious, Hawkmoth pointed his cane in the direction of the akuma and with a sharp gesture, there was a burst of light and everything was quiet again. She tensed seeing the red akuma flying towards her, closing her eyes once it got closer. She felt the darkness of akumatization take over her and she thought about the time she resisted the akuma. She was in a bubble of light and had pushed it outward, destroying the darkness that was trying to consume her. She held onto that image as the connection was established.

“Mistress Locality, you now have the ability to locate any nearby Miraculous. Normally I’d ask for you to locate the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, but I want to know where the rest of them are. The Guardian who holds them can’t be far from them.”

When Chloe opened her eyes, she was looking out of what felt like spy binoculars. Looking at Hawkmoth told her a Miraculous was in front of her. It didn’t say which, just that there was one. Turning and seeing a swarm of ladybugs flying around, told her that two more Miraculous were not far from where her parents had last been. One of the Miraculous was heading in her direction.

Or the direction the akuma had gone.

Knowing she had to move quickly, she continued looking until she saw it. At the park not far from school, near the carousel was a host of tells.

“Well? I can feel something from you.”

She just hoped Scarlet Bug was fast enough.

“In the park, by the carousel. There’s a lot there.”

“At last!” Hawkmoth cried.

“Now let me go!” she ordered.

Hawkmoth’s gleeful smirk turned dark. “And why would I do that? You’re coming with me my dear.”

The darkness started to press down on her. She couldn’t let him win; she couldn’t be the reason he won. For god sakes, Scarlet Bug trusted her! He told her to be a hero without the Bee Miraculous and even if she didn’t end up with another one, she was still going to prove she was one.

“I said, let me go!” she cried, pushing her bubble out. She felt the disconnection and suddenly she was free.

Hawkmoth looked surprised before his face contorted angrily. She scrambled to back away as he lifted his cane to strike her.

“You little…!”

She let out a scream before she felt an arm grab her from around her waist and pull. The sound of a tightening cord, a sound she was very familiar with filled her ears as she went flying. The other arm wrapped around her to keep her body steady as they landed.

“I’m sorry!” she sputtered out, when she turned and saw the concerned look on Scarlet Bug’s face. “I’m sorry, I messed up. I had to. You need, you need-”

Gripping her arms tightly, Scarlet Bug leaned down so he was eye level. “Hey, hey. Chloe, it’s ok. You’re ok. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Mind scrambled, she shook her head. “No! No, he akumatized me, in place of my parents. But I messed up. He wanted me to find Miraculous. He gave me the power to do that. I didn’t want to but he could tell. You need to get to the park, the one with the carousel. There’s a bunch there. He was talking about a Guardian. I just sent him straight to them. I’m sorry!” tears started to pour out of her eyes as everything that just happened hit her. “I got him out, I resisted but I still told him.”

“Hey, hey. Come on sit.” Scarlet Bug ordered, holding tighter when Chloe’s legs gave out from under her. He guided her to the rooftop they were standing on, kneeling in front of her. “What do you mean you resisted? Chloe, did you throw off the akuma in the middle of being akumatized?”

“Yeah,” she answered shakily. Her mascara that she managed to save earlier was starting to run with her tears. “Before, when Sabrina was akumatized, it was supposed to be me. I was mad at myself for the fight and frustrated at you guys a little but I didn’t want him finding out about the note, so I resisted before he could akumatize me. Why does this matter? There’s a lot of Miraculous in the park about to be captured. You need to go now! He has help from whatever helped him on Hero Day.”

“You’re saying the Guardian has the Miraculous in the park? All of them?”

“Maybe? There was a lot.”

Earring beeping, Scarlet Bug picked up Chole and got them to the streets. He sat her at a chair outside a restaurant and kneeled down again. “Chloe, listen to me. You didn’t mess up, ok? You did very well keeping him occupied until I could get to you. We’ll take care of this, ok? You didn’t mess up.”

Nodding, she watched the spotted hero get up and jump off to the rooftops. Hearing noise in the restaurant behind her, she let her head drop, not in the mood to deal with people seeing her like this.

“Ma’am? Goodness, Mlle. Bourgeois! Are you alright? Pierre, get some water out here, now! It’s alright Mlle. Bourgeois, you’re safe.”

But was whoever she sent Hawkmoth after safe? Could the heroes of Paris get to them in time?

Police sirens filled the air as a squad car screeched to a halt in front of them and spilled out Sabrina.

“Chloe!”

She couldn’t help it. She burst into tears all over again as Sabrina ran to her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“It’s ok. Chloe, you’re ok.” Sabrina comforted, rubbing a hand up and down her back and on her head. She barely heard Agent Roger speak to whoever came out to check on her.

“You remembered.” She wailed.

“Of course, I did. If you have to hang up or go anywhere suddenly and mention roses and your mother, something’s wrong and I need to find you immediately.” Sabrina recited. “How could I forget? It had been my idea, remember? I got you, ok?”

She did, but what about the Guardian? Did she just make the fight against Hawkmoth that much harder?

                                              _______________

“That little! I can’t believe him! He starts seeing signs of the elders from the temple coming and he decides to run?” Plagg fumed. “After he swore to accept the punishment? I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him!”

“Plagg stop. If you get any angrier, you’re going to set off your powers.” Tikki warned. She looked at Luka, who was staring at the letter Fu had left. They tried to avoid this happening, and had done so much to prevent this, but somehow it all began to happen again.

After the quickest break to stuff her mouth full of cookies, Tikki transformed Luka. She was a god, THE god of creation, so she never needed to pray. But she understood why people did it. By the time he’d gotten in contact with Juleka and reached the park, he watched Fu place himself in Shell-ter. The other akuma was there, Catalyst her name was. Plagg said it had to be Nathalie. She was no Mayura but trying to fight against her and Hawkmoth was just as tough. Unlike the last time where Chloe exposed the holders and had them fight while she held onto the box, it turned into a demented game of hot potato to keep it from the villains. It got even worse when no one was able to grab it, too busy fighting the other, that it fell to the ground and a few fell out. Hawkmoth sent akuma to grab it while Catseye jumped after them. She used Black Hole to create an opening and sent the Miraculous and the box into the Shell-ter.

Later, Juleka would call herself stupid for not using it to give the Master a way to escape the fight. Instead, it meant they then had to defend the cracking defence from attacks. Tikki wished she knew what was running though his mind just then, watching two teenagers he entrusted powerful objects to defend him, even when they knew the extent of his mistakes and weren’t going to let him escape them.

He’d picked up Pollen’s hairclip and she was left to relay his message.

“He let his fears take him over and, in the process, allowed himself to be caught. He meant to keep his promise but to keep the box safe, the one thing he swore he’d do, he had to make the biggest sacrifice. He said that you’d be able to talk to the Guardians once they came.” Pollen sadly told Luka.

“I, Wang Fu, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box, and name Scarlet Bug the new Guardian!”

In a bright light, where Hawkmoth and Catalyst decided to take their leave, Luka was left with a box. The wood was red and the design of the Guardians was now drawn in green, the buttons black and white scuffing throughout. The colours of Scarlet Bug and Catseye. Fu had lost his memory and not even a Miraculous Reset could do anything. But he did still recognise the keychain, which sent the siblings to Gare du Nord train station and their locker room. Resting on the gramophone was a letter.

It was different from the one Marinette had gotten in that timeline. Instead of unhelpful words about accepting loss and nothing about the duty she was suddenly given, Fu explained that he’d gotten scared, seeing hints of the Guardians. But he wasn’t going to leave. He couldn’t, not after he promised to do better. He just needed a moment to breathe but not wanting to be without the Miraculous, his first friends, he’d taken them with him. He said even as he was writing it, that it felt like things would change. That if it were up to him, either of them would make great Guardians, Luka especially with his way of understanding emotion. He wrote how he had never wanted to put them in a position where he had to force that upon them, not knowing how it would affect their life. But he said if he was ever to do that before the Guardians arrived, they could get answers. They were stubborn and didn’t back down. they’d be ok.

Tikki didn’t know if they would. It was different this time, Luka having support from the get go but with Adrien’s living situation up in the air, being signed to live his dream and just the life of being a teenager, she was worried if he’d crack.

“Hey,” Juleka walked into the room and sat on the floor next to her brother. She played with the Cat Miraculous, staring at it as she spoke. “I got him into the car ok. Took one look at Marieanne and fell in love all over again, so there’s hope there.” The two were quiet, even as Luka let his head rest on his sister’s. “I should have moved him from the battle.”

“There was a chance they’d get the Miraculous in the meantime. It made the most sense. He could have run off with it then.” Luka pointed out, voice even.

“But he looked weak. He could hold up the Shell-ter because he was older but he’s past 100. It had to be taxing on his body.” Juleka remembered.

They’d gone around in circles already. Sighing, Luka leaned harder. “There’s a spell mentioned in the Grimoire. How to pass the box on without losing your memory.”

“But it’s a last resort!” Tikki cried, the two kwami flying over. “We’d have to be 100% sure it’s safe to use.”

“Why?” Juleka asked, feeling out of loop.

“It said if the Guardian who used the spell was to ever use a Miraculous, well, they used flowery language, but they basically die.”

“Right, so guess we won’t do that. What do we do though? Should we still give Chloe a Miraculous? Do we switch as extra security?” Juleka asked, moving from under her brother to look at him. Luka instead leaned on his bed looking tired.

“She resisted an akuma, twice. It would be wrong to not give her another chance. Besides, he never figured it was her with the Ladybug. Unless he knows about the letter, he wouldn’t expect us to give her one. Changing Miraculous…it might be smart. He’s going to want to find out who I am and going after the team would be the best way to but if you change suddenly, he’ll have to try harder.”

“So, Adrien gets the Cat, Turtle to Marc, Bee to Nathaniel, and Chloe the Fox. We still need to figure out a new Miraculous for Alya and Nino” Juleka called off.

“But Adrien might be leaving.” Luka remembered. He looked at the ring he wore, the sun making him think of his boyfriend’s smile. He sat up, stuffing the letter into his pocket and got up.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know if the spell will work and let me keep my memories or if I’m going to be forced to lose everything but, I am not going to let the knowledge of that keep me from living. I love Adrien and if he ends up leaving, I want him to know I want to try long distance. So even if I do lose my memory, when I see him again, I fall in love all over.” Luka left the room, Tikki flying after him, calling to wait for her.

“Huh.” Plagg hummed, watching Luka leave. To know Luka was willing to try, even in the face of everything for Adrien, he felt comforted that his favourite kitten was still so cherished. He looked at Juleka and knew regardless of what happened with Luka, losing her was going to hurt just as much. “Hey Blacky? Can we share cheese?”

“Share cheese? That’s new.” Juleka said, confused.

“Yeah well, I’m about to lose you to Rooar who likes you a lot and I just don’t want you to forget who loved you first.”

Juleka scooped him up and held him close to her cheek. “I won’t forget at all. Plagg, you’re the one who helped me realize my confidence, helped me be free of my anxiety for the first time in a long time. I won’t ever forget that.”

                                    _____________________

The bells from Andre’s cart rang in the wind, giving Adrien something to listen to as he stared at the sky. After he, Kagami and Marinette managed to get outside and find Andre, Heart Eater attacked. He’d gotten separated from the girls but thanks to Alya – who no doubt went rushing right in with Nino calling after her – he’d seen Scarlet Bug, Catseye and Ryuko fight the akuma, which managed to suddenly disappear. Then there’s been sightings of Hawkmoth in the park near school. Something had happened, with a great burst of light Adrien saw, but no one knew. During that time, Luka was unreachable and he hadn’t responded to any communication.

Not long ago, he’d called Adrien asking him to meet. So here he sat, waiting for Luka to arrive. His mother promised to have an answer after work, so he had no updates like he hoped.

“Adrien!”

Looking over, he saw Luka running towards him. He got up, meeting Luka in the middle as the older teen hugged him close. This hug was tight, like Adrien was going to slip away. He wished he could tell Luka he wasn’t going anywhere.

Once they were sitting facing each other, Adrien took Luka’s hands. “What happened? I called but you didn’t pick up.”

“I was dealing with something. The long and short of it is, thanks to my…grandfather not keeping to his promises, I’m now in charge of dealing with something I wasn’t at all prepared for. I mean, I guess I kinda started the cycle myself because I ended up fixing one of his issues with Juls.” Shaking his head to keep himself from rambling, Luka refocused, “it just means I’m going to be dealing with something that’s gonna be stressful and I might be annoyed and sullen at times but I want you to know I have support and if it gets too much to keep secret, I will tell you.”

“Is this thing legal?” Without context clues, Adrien was confused as to what could be affecting Luka.

Letting out a strained laugh, Luka nodded. “If you can actually believe it, then yes.”

“Does it feel legal?”

“Also, yes. It’s nothing that’s going to get me arrested, just mostly looking after a thing and being in charge of a group. I was fine with that part when I had someone else to defer to but now it’s just me and Juls, so.”

Still feeling a little lost, Adrien looked at their clasped hands, thumb running over the designs of Luka’s ring. “Would it be easier to not be in a relationship right now?”

“No!” Luka stated, tugging on Adrien’s hands so he’d look up. “Trust me, that is the last thing I want. Look, I have no clue what this thing is going to do to my life, but I refuse to let it dictate everything I do. Adrien, I love you and I get that we haven’t been together long enough for me to say that, but I mean it. If you do end up moving, I want us to at least try long distance because I like you way too much for us to just go our separate ways unless it’s our choice.”

Heart pounding, face red and feeling tingly all over, Adrien felt like he was going to faint and start floating all at once. “I…”

“You don’t have to say it back, I’m not rushing you for an answer. I just hope you’ll agree to the distance?”

Unable to form words because it felt like too many were going to spill out, he nodded, squeezing Luka’s hands tight. Any romantic relationship usually ended when he moved because it never felt like they were on the same page and with Luka it felt like everything made sense. Because as crazy as it sounded, he wanted to do it, do long distance for as long as they could bear. He felt like if they were to split later down the line, it wouldn’t be in anger and tears and hurt. It would hurt, god it would, but it would be something they’d agree on. Unable to help himself, he put his hands onto Luka’s neck and pulled him into a long kiss.

“It’s probably a good thing we weren’t together during the Heart Eater attack.” Luka said against his lips, his own hands holding onto Adrien’s waist. “We would have gotten snatched up right away.”

Adrien was tempted to remind him of Heart Eater’s actual power but Luka kissed him again and thought escaped. If he had to leave this, it was going to hurt.

Somehow, he left and got back home, finding his mother there earlier than anticipated. She let him go drop his things off in his room where he stopped at the sight of a very familiar box.

We heard you might be leaving us and honestly, we need help confusing Hawkmoth, so feel free to use Plagg tonight. He’ll be gone in the morning, so be careful and have fun.

Adrien hid both the new note and the box under his pillow and went back to his mom, sitting on the couch in breathless anticipation.

“So?” Adrien asked anxiously.

“So, the ambassador called everyone into a meeting to do reassignments. Some are leaving and some are staying. Then he got to me.” His mother said. “Ready?”

“Mama, just tell me!” he begged.

“Well…”

                                 __________________________

Cat Walker had a put together look, like the cat part was a second thought. This cat was different. Fingerless gloves, leather, real tail and ears and the sound of a cat’s bell ringing through the night. Cat Walker made Adrien feel a certain type of freedom but this new cat, one he needed a name for felt different. Like everything bad was finally behind him and he was a new person. The sound of an extending pole shot through the night as it launched Adrien into the air, where he landed on one of the taller pieces of the Eiffel Tower. Looking down at the sparkling nightlife, all the emotions of freedom, love, happiness exploded from him as he cried into the night.

“WE’RE STAYING!”

They were staying in Paris. It was set for his mother to stay for a full year, with the possibility of staying longer depending on how long Hawkmoth attacked Paris. While he didn’t love the idea of Hawkmoth still attacking, he got to stay. Plagg had gotten excited when he opened the box and blurted it out.

“I can stay with you then! We need to go now, Ladybird is gonna wanna hear this!”

“Ladybird?” he asked, remembering the name given to whomever used the Ladybug Miraculous in place of Scarlet Bug.

“Scarlet? Anyway, most I can say right now is that fight that happened, we need to switch things around to keep everyone safe.”

Adrien furrowed his brow, the excitement simmering down. “But what about Catseye?”

“Don’t worry. Blacky is being well looked after by another kwami. Relax, they made this decision ages ago when planning for something like this. Come on kitten, don’t leave me all by myself.” Plagg begged.

He was sure he should be worried. Plagg just essentially told him Adrien was his new holder. He should be asking questions but an idea came to mind and he had to do it.

“Where do you think Scarlet Bug would be?”

“On patrol. Why?”

“I just have the urge to scream from the rooftops. Plagg, Claws Out!”

He was sure he owed Plagg whatever he wanted after this. Now that he’d done the thing he wanted, he needed to find Scarlet Bug. He leapt off the Eiffel Tower, launching himself to a nearby roof. Adrien would never say he felt stifled in his life as a diplomate kid. Yes, there were times he had to bite his tongue with people around him or he ran away to keep his sanity, but he’d never say he lacked the freedom to do what he wanted. But this, this was different. Maybe it was the knowledge of what having this Miraculous meant in combination with his news, but he’d never felt freer. As Cat Walker, it was a mild feeling that felt familiar. But as this new hero, jumping across the Parisian rooftops, the familiar feeling seemed to burst forth, leaving him more exalted than before. It wasn’t him running from his problems, it was feeling like he could tackle anything. This felt like the ultimate freedom, a feeling that could never be replicated. 

He’d closed his eyes to take in the feeling and then immediately went crashing into something. He felt himself tumble through the air, spinning with no control before landing on - thankfully - a flat roof. Well, Adrien landed on something that wasn’t the roof, which was perfect, since his new costume involved a crop top inspired by Black Lynx.

“I’m so sor - oh mio dio, Scarlet Bug! I’m so sorry!”

Of course, he crashed into one of Paris’ heroes. Because why not? He laid there, groaning in pain. Adrien also noticed his costume was a bit different. His big jacket was replaced with a sleeveless one with inverted colours, hands covered with mismatched gloves. Unlike before when he’d keep his hood up, it was down, exposing his hair half tied back. His snake bites were still there, reminding him of Luka’s. Adrien climbed off of him, noticing that his boots had a stripe of green around the top.

“You changed your look,” he said, hoping to distract him from the pain.

“Well, we’re making a lot of changes, so thought why not? When I said have fun with Plagg, I didn't mean crashing into things.” Blue eyes squinted at him as the spotted hero turned his head to him.

With an awkward and apologetic smile, Adrien shrugged. “I got a little distracted. Kinda forgot how much I enjoyed jumping across town, especially since there isn’t an akuma.”

“If Hawkmoth actually created one now, I might actually take a blunt object to his head.” Scarlet complained, pushing himself up slowly. He cracked his back, groaning before looking at Adrien, that same smile he had on his face the first time he met growing. “Missed Plagg huh?”

“Yeah. I did. I’m surprised you’re letting me hold onto him. What happened in that second fight?”

“Let’s just say, Hawkmoth won a small piece of the battle. I can’t give you too much detail just for your protection since Plagg will be coming back tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Adrien cried, clapping his hands. “He doesn’t actually! I’m not moving, I get to stay in Paris.”

Scarlet blinked at him, surprised then tried to bite down a smile. He didn’t know Scarlet thought he was that good a replacement. “That’s amazing to hear. Plagg must be happy. He likes Catseye, but he seems to be pretty fond of you. I see you even changed yourself.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, looking down at his new costume, before looking back at the hero with a massive smile on his face. “This felt more like me. Seriously, thank you for doing this. I’m going to do my best to be the best Cat holder and support you.”

“It won’t be just you, but thanks. Your job is going to be harder than others, but I know you’re capable of doing it.” Scarlet Bug replied confidently.

He would. He would hold pride and do right by the people and things that made him feel this free. Hawkmoth wasn’t going to know what hit him.