#that baton thing she's holding? it can transform into any weapon. she's a weapons master

[heliosphere-underthesky]

Heliosphere: Under the Sky

Meet the dwarf planet, Ceres! Unlike most dwarf planets, she lives in the Asteroid Belt.

Ceres was discovered back in 1 January 1801. She was designated as an asteroid back then, until she was promoted to dwarf planet status back in 2006 along with the discoveries of other objects in the Kuiper Belt with similar characteristics as her.

Ceres (NASA page)

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 15

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My gosh, wow! Thank you so much for 100 followers! I never expected to reach this far. And with this chapter, we’ll have finally caught up with it on wattpad!

TW: Injuries being described

The situation in Paris was much, much more serious than they assumed.

————————————————————

Red. He saw red. Ladybug, his Angel was hurt, stabbed, for all of Paris to see. He couldn't stand there and do nothing, oh no. He wouldn't. Damian had to think quickly but logically. 'Father told me I wasn't allowed to bring my Robin uniform but even if I did the citizens would be suspicious. That means...' His eyes landed on the silver ring that was laying peacefully on the coffee table. He reached out and placed it on his right ring finger. It turned a dark grey as a black blur escaped the ring with a green light. It was another kwami, similar to Tikki but it was black and more cat-like. Damian presumed this was 'Plagg', the kwami Tikki talked about earlier. The black kwami yawned and assessed his surroundings in a flash.

"Look-"

"Who are you? Where's Pigtails? How'd you get the miraculous? Do you have any cheese? I'm hungry" Plagg interrupted. The Robin vigilante wasted no time.

"Damian, With an Akuma, She tasked me to take care of the ring and we have better things to worry about your hunger!" He shot back, his voice getting louder after each statement.

"What could be more important than cam... men... bert..." the kwami's voice trailed off as he noticed the screen. Césaire had stopped recording, thank god, but the screen still showed the last frame of the video, it was extremely far from a pretty sight. "This is bad" the kwami panicked.

"Yes, there's no time to lose! Tell me, what do I need to do" he looked at Plagg straight in the eye, showing that he could be trusted.

"To transform you say 'Plagg, Claws Out!'. You have a power you can call upon, 'Cataclysm', and you'll be able to destroy the first object you touch. But it only works once then you have five minutes before you transform back, Make it count!" The kwami was frantic, nothing like this had ever happened before in previous battles.

Damian was already making his way to the balcony "Plagg, Claws Out!" A dark green light engulfed him. He was covered in a black suit, black boots, black gloves with sharp retractable blades, 'Oh how much fun that'll be using them'. He also had a black cape with a hood similar to the one with his Robin costume but instead he had cat ears poking through, a dark grey baton appeared in his hand as well. Almost instantly, he mastered the weapon and launched himself in the direction that Ladybug went earlier. 'I'm on my way Angel. When I get my hands on Hawkmoth, I'll make him suffer. I promise you'

~~~

Ladybug had the situation under control. She had. Something had changed. Hawkmoth must've found a way to boost his powers, it was the only acceptable reason. Otherwise there was no way to penetrate the indestructible suits that the miraculous provided. Yet here she was, forced to watch the horror on her citizens face as a long blade protruded through her chest. The blade held her in the air as she was stabbed from behind. Their expressions, being outsmarted by Hawkmoth and the pain from the injury itself was unbearable for the spotted heroine. She then came to the conclusion that the blade was slowly draining her energy. Hawkmoth planned to have Guerrier collect her miraculous only after watching her suffer. How sickening. 'Hawkmoth, you bitch'

She had to get out of there. She needed to get out of there.

Mustering all the strength she had, she swung her foot at the figure behind her in a strong, hard kick. The long blade was quickly sent back along with the Akuma and Ladybug stumbled forward, one hand on her chest the other swinging her yo-yo to create a shield. Since she was weakened, Guerrier was only sent back a few feet but her kick not only had strength but pure determination. While the Akuma was distracted she looked at the distraught citizens around her.

"For your own safety, please, leave this area!" She tried to sound controlled but instead her voice had a big edge of fear. All the citizens, nonetheless, left. Though, she could see them peaking behind the buildings. Suddenly, Guerrier regained his footing.

Ladybug's eyes shot back in his direction, the nad on her chest clutched into a fist. The miraculous magic was healing her, but it wasn't healing fast enough. She was losing blood. Fast. She tried to use her own powers but that too was draining her energy, the energy couldn't afford lose. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears, she could hear it slowing down. She was panicking, she needed energy to call upon her Luck Charm, she needed energy to fight the Akuma and she needed energy she heal herself. She didn't have enough energy for any of that.

As Guerrier began to approach, her blood was luckily never on the blade, she braced herself for another fight and her vision started to get blurry. just as he was about to go for another swing, a dark grey pole shot out of nowhere, sending the Akuma far from Ladybug. Though she couldn't quite see, she recognised the aura that surrounded the black-hooded figure who was now standing defensively in front of her.

'Damian' she didn't have the strength to speak, she hoped that whatever telepathic link they had the other day would appear again now.

'How are you holding up?' The sound of his voice made relief wash over her like a waterfall. She stopped using her energy on her yo-yo and focused on healing her wound instead.

'Better now that you're here' she stumbled onto her knees, knowing it was safe to do so. 'Remember not to hurt the Akuma too much, Hawkmoth is the real villain here'

'I know' his voice echoed in her ears, 'Speaking of the Akuma, where is it?'

Ladybug's eyes snapped open, observing the fight between the cat and Guerrier. She remembered the blade. The blade that the Akuma was holding. The blade that impaled her. 'It's in...' Now filled with an unusual amount of spite, she snarled "The sword, Noir"

The black-cat themed hero understood immediately and, swiftly but carefully, aimed for Guerrier's hand. In the mean time, Ladybug had enough energy to safely call upon her Lucky Charm. She was given a piece of equipment that she had seen Sabrina's father have. She wasn't sure how to use it as it was still in 'testing phase' as said by Officer Raincomprix. Her Ladybug vision then kicked in and the item as well as Guerrier lit up, she knew what to do.

'Get him to attack you in a high guard motion'

The hooded hero understood the demand immediately and used his pole, now transformed into a 'Cat-ana', to get the Akuma frustrated. It worked perfectly as the black fencer had the sword and the blade above his head, ready to swing. Ladybug then used the moment of vulnerability and threw the lucky charm as if it were a boomerang at the Akuma, the two ends with magnets snapped together, holding Guerrier's arms in place. Though she couldn't see his face, she could tell he was mad. Very, very mad.

Not wanting to waste a moment longer, Damian swiftly grabbed the sword by the handle and swept the Akuma's legs so it hit the ground and had no means of escape. "Cataclysm" It was the first thing he had actually said with his voice during the entire battle and Ladybug has to admit, his voice seemed deeper and huskier. The sword in his other hand had disintegrated to dust, the purple butterfly fluttered from the remains. When Damian had first heard of it, he was completely unconvinced something such as a butterfly could cause devastation. But now, he sensed the ghastly energy that reeked from the creature, it was overwhelming. He only broke out of his trance when Ladybug's yo-yo caught the flying organism and he went to the akumatized victim to take the object Ladybug's Lucky Charm had summoned.

He handed her the item and placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her body as she threw it in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" A bunch of bright magical ladybugs swarmed around the area, fixing and healing anyone who got injured, Ladybug included. But the pain didn't quite stop, so she clutched her chest where the wound once was. The Akuma, now destransformed, was a person around their age, it appeared that he was rejected from the fencing club. This theory was confirmed when Adrien, Ladybug was too exhausted to notice him, ran about to the boy.

"Maxime! Maître D'Argencourt said you can join the fencing club" Ladybug and the black-cat themed hero didn't bother to hear what the boy said in reply but Damian did speak to Adrien.

"Make sure he gets to where he needs to be, safely, Adrien" the new hero spoke as the ladybug hero fell back with pure exhaustion in his arms. After seeing the blonde nod, Damian carried Ladybug in his arms and not wanting to waste any more time, used his pole to launch them in the direction of the hotel. Adrien watched wearily at the two heroes until they were out of viewing distance.

As soon as Damian landed on his hotel room balcony, both his and Ladybug's transformations fell. He was still carrying her bridal style and walked inside, gently placing her down on the bed, being mindful and anxious about her injury, while Plagg closed the balcony door. Tikki circled her owner who was now drifting in and out of consciousness. He kneeled by the left side of the bed as Tikki used her kwami magic where the wound once was, Plagg slowly floated to hover next to his new chosen. When Marinette's eyes fluttered upon, both kwamis rejoiced and hugged both her cheeks. She moved so that her body was sitting comfortably with her legs in front of her, she then turned her head slightly towards the black-haired boy who was sitting besides her.

"Dami-"

He cut her off with a gentle hug and he made his way to sit beside her. "Malaki..." the perturb and pure solace in his voice made a lump form in Marinette's throat. He buried his face further into her neck. "You scared me damn it"

She let out a humorless chuckle, her hand unknowingly reached to stroke her fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry..."

Damian pulled away and lightly placed his hand to turn her face. He crashed his lips onto hers and Marinette melted into the kiss. He then pulled away but kept his forehead on her's, their breaths mingling. "Don't apologize when you are not at fault". He opened his eyes to look straight at her. "I know the wound itself is gone, but what about the pain?"

She smiled lovingly at him. "The pain's subsided, for now" Marinette pulled her shirt down a bit to inspect the area surrounding her injury. All that remained was a fading bruise where the wound once was. The bluenette let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry I couldn't heal it fully Marinette" Tikki's voice cut in. "This is your first physical injury from a miraculous so I didn't want to put any more strain on your body"

"It's fine and, thank you Tikki" Marinette reached out to pat the small kwami's head.

"Well to bring some good news" Plagg butted in. "We found my true chosen"

"Really?" Marinette tilted her head.

"Yep it's Damian, the lover boy here" the black kwami flew over to make himself comfortable in his black hair, ignoring Damian's growl, almost camouflaged completely. "I can feel the destruction in his soul like how Tikki can feel the creation in yours Pigtails"

"Yep!" Tikki chimed.

"Now that's over with, I want some Camembert" The black kwami kept chanting 'Camembert' and Damian sighed while getting off the bed to order some.

"Is food all you ever think about?"

"I can't control my hunger, Sugarcube!"

The bluenette watched the two kwami's banter, amused, and began to fully process the akuma attack. To think she was so close to death made her terrified, but she tried to think of the positives. Like how she and Damian could communicate without speaking, per se, or how he managed to call upon a weapon she had never seen before, his Cat-ana. She concluded it was the work of true miraculous magic and didn't question it further. She had something else she needed to think about. 'How do we fight Hawkmoth now? Obviously he's found out how to make his akumas stronger but he wouldn't go for the strongest one first without testing it. That would just be stupid. This akuma must've been a trial run' The thought worried her to no end. 'We were able to fight him off today but that doesn't guarantee us the win each time just by ourselves'

Soon, Damian returned with some Camembert and, unexpectedly, some cookies. When both kwamis flew to the plate and eat, the black-haired boy sat back down next to Marinette. "What are you thinking about?"

"If the Akuma today was just a test run to try out his new powers, Hawkmoth's akumas are going to get deadlier" The bluenette stated

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

She was silent for a few seconds, contemplating her answer. "I believe we should have some others join us on the field, as permanent holders" Damian nodded. "But we can deal with that later, right now I'm tired. Hold me please" the bluenette mumbled.

Damian adjusted himself so that Marinette could lay comfortably on his chest. "Rest well, mon cœur" he hummed and the bluenette slowly drifted to sleep, listening to his heartbeat. Damian averted his eyes to the ceiling, now was the time he could unleash a tiny amount of his anger. His hands turned to fists as he resisted the urge to punch the mattress. He blamed himself for Marinette's injury. 'Maybe if I could have convinced her earlier to use the miraculous then maybe she would not have gotten hurt' Damian forced himself not to dwell on the 'what if's and instead focused on the now, on Marinette. He could kill Hawkmoth later.

~~~

Adrien returned home from fencing class. The newest member, Maxime, was first denied entry which resulted in him getting akumatized. The blonde didn't expect the Akuma to be the danger that it was. Usually he would've jumped straight into battle but since he didn't have his miraculous anymore, he was forced to watch. Forced to watch as Ladybug struggled alone, forced to watch as she got injured. He hated not being able to do anything, not being able to save his friend and former partner. Luckily the new black cat stepped in, that was the only good thing he saw throughout the entire battle, except the end of it when the heroes won.

Adrien watched as the new black cat user stepped into battle, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous that he had been replaced so soon but he quickly pushed that feeling away. He wasn't the true user and this new hero probably was, he had no right to any entitlement of the miraculous. The blonde watched in awe at the new cat's fighting style, he looked as if he had been training his entire life for battle. Adrien also didn't fail to notice how Ladybug and the Cat were communicating, non verbally. There may have been words exchanged but Adrien never heard them as he was watching from behind a nearby building. This assumption was correct when Ladybug spoke to the hero verbally.

"The sword, Noir" the snarl coming from Ladybug was frightening to say the least but she did just get stabbed, he couldn't really blame her. The blonde noticed how some citizens around him shivered at the tone of the spotted heroine's voice.

The blonde watched as the new hero, Noir?, fought, more dueled, with Guerrier and couldn't help but be in extreme awe and admiration of this hero's skill. 'Where did Ladybug find him? He's incredible!' Paying even more attention to the battle, Adrien watched as Ladybug used her Lucky Charm to hold the Akuma's arms in place and how Noir swiftly stole the blade.

"Cataclysm"

'Well damn!' Adrien thought.

"His voice is hella attractive, I wanna marry it" he heard a citizen whisper, voicing his own thoughts. Though it did seem bad that that was the only thing they could think about, they had a point.

The usual actions after taking down the Akuma were done, the bright ladybugs healing everything damaged. Adrien ran up to the deakumatized victim.

"Maxime! Maître D'Argencourt said you can join the fencing club" He wanted to distract the boy from the fact that he had done something very wrong during his time of being an akuma, not as if he can remember it anyway. As he was about to leave, he heard Noir's voice again.

"Make sure he gets to where he needs to be, safely, Adrien" The blonde nodded, seeing that Ladybug was exhausted and probably needed to rest. He watched as both heroes bounded away, his gaze resting on where he last saw them both, only snapping out of the trance when Maxime asked what happened.

Adrien hoped that Ladybug wasn't too injured, she's far too valuable and important to be lost, especially at the beginning of, what looks like, Hawkmoth's new rise of power.

"Something tells me things are about to get a lot more serious from here on out"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal, @lolieg, @kashlyn, @mochegato, @eggadoodle, @walkingthroughonautopilot, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @lady-bee-fechin

[thunderpot]

1 | 2 | 3  (you’re here!) | 4

For the curious~

As soon as Alya was out of the shield, Marinette in her arms, Hawkmoth moved to approach them. The akuma hadn't been able to drain all of Mari thanks to the entire group getting in front of it, but it had still taken a good chunk and it was vital she was out of sight immediately. 

Still unable to move freely, Adrien felt relieved when Nino ran as if his tigh wasn’t wounded and remade his shield in a constricting manner around the enemy, getting a cuss out of the villain's  mouth that made his stomach turn. The more Hawkmoth existed, it seemed, the sicker he grew at the mere sight of him. 

His entire body should be aching, but the adrenaline was getting too high for it —and for that he was grateful. He shouted against the rain to his friend to protect the other two, straightening himself and feeling the tickling sensation of Tikki's power. She was aprehensive, and he couldn't blame her. Once his friend was gone, the shield around Hawkmoth gave up and the man launched into his direction intent on taking the rare chance of snatching one of the two most powerful miraculous while he was still weak, a mere 5 meters between them.

"You are not getting the chance!" 

Under any other circumstance, Adrien would've shouted something, anything to make light of the situation, but all jokes and fun had suddenly dried out. He wasn't fast enough to stop Hawkmoth and fell back to the ground, his legs his only barrier while the man tried to bring his hands close enough to pick one of his earrings out by force.

In a split second he mustered all the strength he had left and gave him a closed fist right to the chin, pushing him back with his legs right after and seeing him roll to the side with a groan. He had no time to revel in the sound, however, and struggled to get back on his feet once more. He needed to put some distance between them and grab his baton back. 

Running to the edge of the building they stood on, he could see it shining faintly behind a pipe, but Hawkmoth was up and running right behind him again way too soon.

"You think yourself too smart, don't you" Hawkmoth said in an almost amusing way, and Adrien could almost see the grin on his mouth even without turning around. "But you're too weak! if it was any other miraculous..But using these two will be too much to your body right now. Just give the ladybug to me and I will fix everything!"

"Shut up!

"You prefer to die!?" His plan was working. Talking made the boy go slightly slower, and the energy his new miraculous gave him made him faster. he was just about to touch that damn fool. He just needed to close the gap, just a little bit more...

He wasn't fast enough, however, and halted as he saw Chat Noir take a last second decision to use the wet floor to his advantage, throwing himself on the ground and closing the distance between him and his baton with a slide, arms open and mouth muttering something he didn't need to listen to understand. 

A beam of bright white light blinded him for a few seconds, and before he could even see again his instincts made him jump back just in time to avoid something that hit the ground with such force that he could hear the cement cracking before whatever it was was taken back. 

He blinked a few times while his sight came back to him, following the thing that had almost caught him: It was Chat Noir's baton, that was for sure, but it was now black and splitted with a bright red cord between the pieces as if it was some sort of nunchaku. It came back to it's master's grip and closed itself as if the cord had never been there before, but it wasn't the new weapon that froze him in place.

Right in front of him was standing the annoying boy he had been trying to get rid of for the past 10 years. 

No.

The boy that scrambled his plans over and over again and he swore more than once he would destroy. The boy he almost killed many times. 

No.

The boy he almost succeded in killing many times. His son.

"Cat got your tongue?" Adrien told him with zero amusement, baton in hand growing as it usually did, and he could see when Hawkmoth felt the ground faltering below his feet.

While transforming, there were only two things in Adrien's mind: having enough resources to ditch every move Hawkmoth had into the trash, and be sure that bastard saw his face. And so his kwami friends conceded his wish, and his transformation had all the right bits except the mask to conceal his identity. He knew his eyes were still merged with Plagg's, and he liked it because it meant he could see very clearly through the rain and into the night. All his senses were ready for one thing only: Stop his father.

Without an answer, the hero continued, being thankful for his newfound force and regained energy, and gave a single, slowly step that made Hawkmoth go back one step in response.

"You--Adri--" Hawkmoth started, but jumped again at the leap his son gave to close the distance between them, his baton cracking the ground again just where he stood mere seconds before. "Adrien stop that! You could die!!"

"Death is overrated" His tone was smooth while he got up and leaped again, atacking over and over while Hawkmoth barelly defended himself with his cane.

He had so many things to ask, and yet none of them seemed to be able to blurt out of his mouth while he saw the man fanctically trying to protect his face and both miraculous he had active at the moment — as to not shatter them and undo the only thing protecting him from being dead by a single blow of his baton.

He wanted to say he couldn't care less, but deep down, something in him still cared.

"Why!?" He shouted instead of any other question, but never stopping his blows. Hawkmoth let himself get hit once before using his cane to push into his wounds and he grunted, the seconds he faltered just enough for the other man to jump to the next building to get some space between them.

"You do not understand!" Hawkmoth shouted back, Adrien could see a mix of anger and desperation bulding behind his now pink-ish eyes "I did this for us-I did this for you! If you just give me the Ladybug you'd—"

Adrien grunted once more, out of rage this time, and leaped after him. Hawkmoth conjured a swarm of butterflies that almost made him fall from the building - enough distraction to put even more space between them.

"For me!?" He got up the water tank on a corner and saw the butterflies leave him alone while his enemy listened "For me!?" an unamused laugh this time "The only thing you wanted all these years was power on top of power! You are a manipulative prick, a lying bastard, a killer!" 

"I never intended to-"

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"  He shouted, jumping to the top of the building Gabriel stood on and landing in a cat-like manner, not bothering to get back up before slowly circling him once, analyzing.

"All the people you manipulated to control and all the ones you hurt... Do you want to know how many times I  would be fucking dead by your doing if it wasn't Ladybug!?”

That seemed to click something inside Hawkmoth's head, because the man started attacking him back with a mix of cane attacks and butterfly swarms in hopes of making him use his power and greatly reduce the time he had to fight.

"YES, I DID ALL THAT!" He seemed enraged, and Adrien wanted nothing more. "But you and Ladybug know nothing! I did it for a greater purpose! I did did for our family!!" 

"Do you want me to enumerate how many innocent people Ladybug brought back to life that died by YOUR akumas!?" Adrien dodged his cane once and crouched when the butterflies tried to get to him "How many people are endangered right now because of you!? There is nothing that would justify what you did- nothing!"

Saying those things out loud made him even more enraged. He could barely get any rest some nights thinking  about the amount of times they couldn't completely save the day, how many people were endangered or affected because of their fight. He had no idea how that man even slept knowing what he did. 

Gabriel jumped to flee and he went right behind him. Deep down he still wanted a reason, something that was strong enough. He didn't want his father to--

"I DID IT TO BRING YOUR MOTHER BACK!"

This time, it was something inside him that lit up. A fire he did not know he was capable of having, but he felt nonetheless. Before he could even control his own body, he propelled himself full force on a chimney and caught Hawkmoth mid-jump, one hand pulling and throwing his cane away, the other holding his neck. 

He could feel the fabric of his suit barely holding against his claws and, this time, he could truly say he couldn't care less. 

The older man's head slammed against the wall of the building's lift motor room as they landed, and Adrien saw himself pulling him from it and slamming his father's head against the wall a second time, and then a third.

"Don't you dare." His eyes were wide and his tone was lethal as he pushed Halkmoth out of the ground, still anchored on the wall by his hand holding him in place. "Don't you dare bring her into this"

Gabriel was holding his arm with both his hands now, but Adrien's force was still too much for him to handle, specially now with two miraculous.

"It is--" he coughed, finding it difficult to breathe "it is true!!" He argued "You know the ladybug can do it-If you just- If you just give it to me--"

"You forced Fu to give up his memory." He started in the same tone, ignoring what Gabriel had just said completely, but shifted his gaze to the side. He could see the light changing. A few more moments and the sun would rise. "You made Nathalie permanently ill. You put the entirety of Paris in danger. You made an akuma to steal Ladybug's soul just so you could use the miraculous the same way she does and not suffer any consequences... And you have the nerve to say it was because of my mother? " 

His grip got tighter as he pulled Gabriel out of the wall and hanged him out of the building, his hand being now the only thing stopping him from falling.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right now."

"Adrie--" His voice was hoarse thanks to the pressure, and he saw Adrien's eyes flinch carefully as his gaze went back to him.

"It's Chat Noir for you, Hawkmoth." 

" Wouldn't-" he coughed again, holding himself against his arm, but the hero didn't move a single muscle "Wouldn't you.. do everything..it took? Aren't you..too...Trying to bring her back?" 

The shine in his eyes gave Adrien the confirmation he didn't need. He was talking about Marinette. 

"Aren't we..The same?"

-----------------------------

It had barely been ten minutes, but the waiting was killing her. She was about to make a hole on the ground, walking from one side to the other, when she heard what sounded like muffed excited roars at a distance. What was going on? It sounded a bit like..cheering? She decided to talk to Nino about it, but the sound of his miraculous beeping with a new call distracted her.

“Bunnyx” Nino hid his face behind the hood and googles once more  before answering, and the hero on the other side spoke quickly:

“Quick report! Chat and Ladybug are not answering, but whatever you guys did, good job!!” She said excitedly and he could hear people cheering behind her while he looked worriedly at Alya. Her face went instantly pale “The sentimonsters are crumbling, and the akumas are fleei-- Ah, here it comes!! It should get to you guys in no time. I need to help out the civilians! Great job everyone!” and she hung up. 

Nino stood up, his heart suddenly skipping a beat. Both him and Alya approached Marinette as they noticed a big wave of ladybugs made out of light coming from all directions.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 178

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 30 - “Milk’s Resolve and Everyone’s Power!” Date watched: 5 April 2020 Original air date: 2 September 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/bzG8Kza Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

when all their brooches glow you know you’re in trouble

You should know by now that episode 30 correlates to a fairy-driven powerup of sorts.

FWPC: Porun and the Rainbow Braces

Max Heart: Lulun and the Heartiel Brooch

Splash Star: Moop & Foop and the Crystal Communes

Well, this is no different. Sure, they technically already used Precure Five Explosion once, to defeat Girinma, but they didn’t fully understand their abilities at that time. In this episode, we get the first full combining sequence of the Symphony Set and Milk to create the giant saucer that they fly on.

The Plot

Nozomi and Milk are squabbling as usual, this time because Milk ate some chocolate that Nozomi bought for herself. Which is rude, by the way, don’t do that. Nuts has everyone sit down and try to work things out. While they’re there, the other girls ask Milk what being an apprentice caregiver entails, and she explains that she had to learn about the Palmier Kingdom’s politics, economics, culture, history, and everything else about the kingdom. After some potshots from Nozomi, Milk fires back by saying she doesn’t want to entrust the future of the Palmier Kingdom to someone with no dreams and therefore that Nozomi fails at being a Precure.

Nozomi is stunned by this.

Over in Nightmare, Arachnea confronts Kawarino and demands a black mask like he gave to Girinma. He warns her about the side effects of losing her free will but she insists, and he gives her one, commenting on her impressive resolve. After she leaves he has a horrifyingly evil grin on his face, and Bunbee, who saw the whole thing, looks on with concern.

The next day, at Natts House, the others explain to Coco that Nozomi went straight home from school and he confirms to them that Milk is still hiding in her room. Karen decides to go talk to her, and admits to Milk that Nozomi is able to allow people to be honest with themselves and inspire the best in them. She really admires Nozomi’s skills at bringing people together and is grateful to her for pulling her out of her loneliness. She goes on to explain that she herself has no dream for her future, and neither does Rin, and that she admires people like Urara and Komachi who have already figured out their dream, as well as Nozomi and Rin, who are living in the moment while they figure it out. She encourages Milk to be more honest with herself and make amends with Nozomi.

Meanwhile, Nozomi shuts herself in a room and takes off her Pinky Catch, thinking maybe she really does fail as a Precure.

On a rooftop overlooking Natts House, Arachnea is preparing for her attack when Bunbee shows up and asks her not to use the black mask. She ignores him and charges in with ferocity. When Rin, Urara, Komachi, and Karen realize Arachnea is outside, they confront her and transform. They try to fight her but she turns their attacks back on them, grabbing Rouge and Aqua as they try to charge her and throwing them into Lemonade and Mint, knocking them all over. She steals the Dream Collet from Nuts and brags about how simple this was. Milk latches onto her arm, like she did at Nightmare HQ in episode 24, but Arachnea just pulls her off and begins to lecture the Cures about their ineffectiveness against her. At that moment, Nozomi shows up, being alerted by the glow of her Pinky Catch. She quickly apologizes to Milk and then says that although she may be a failure as a Precure, she wants to keep fighting to make Coco, Nuts, and Milk’s dream come true and therefore she wants to continue being a Precure. In a powerful moment, she holds her Pinky Catch out in front of her, it turns back into a butterfly, and then it lands right back on her wrist, reaffirming her worth and her place in the team. She transforms and her mere presence is enough to reinvigorate her teammates, as they turn the tables on Arachnea and overpower her, proving they’re more than the sum of their parts as they recover the Dream Collet and pushing her into a corner.

Left with no other options, Arachnea finally pulls out the black mask and puts it on, mutating into a giant, monstrous version of herself.

Once again the tables turn in her favor and she throws the cures around, tossing them into buildings or the ground. The fairies stand between Arachnea and the fallen girls, who are too weak to move. Nozomi begs them to move but Milk gives a speech explaining how she trusts and is thankful for the girls’ hospitality and friendship, and that she loves Nozomi. She then says that Dream is a precious Precure to her and she wants to join her and the others. They stand up and their brooches start to glow as inspiring music starts to play. Milk latches onto Dream’s left arm and transforms into an armband, and then the glow from Dream’s brooch extends down her right arm and her Dream Torch appears. (note: when she summons it normally, it goes down her left arm) The others let the glow travel down their left arms but instead of summoning their weapons, instead they launch them into the air and they combine with the Dream Torch to form a larger baton. Dream places it on top of Milk as an armband, who infuses it with her power, and it shoots into the sky in giant size. From there, they perform Precure Five Explosion, flying straight into Arachnea and destroying her. The full sequence is below.

Back inside Natts House, Nozomi and Milk apologize to each other. Nozomi proposes they split a chocolate bar that Milk brought to make up for yesterday’s incident, and Milk agrees, but then she quickly snatches it back at the last minute and leads Nozomi in a chase around the store. For some reason, nobody calls her out on her rudeness and instead they laugh it off as we close out on a still frame of Nozomi chasing Milk.

The Analysis

This is a fantastic episode, and despite similarities to previous Milk episodes, it actually does take her in a new direction. I had to go back and double-check. Her major character beats so far have been learning to adapt to this world, wanting to help out in battle, and now, actually wanting to be friends with all the girls (especially Nozomi). She does make progress at being sincere about her feelings.... although the ending shows she still has a lot of innate selfishness to overcome. She loves to torment Nozomi and it makes me sigh. But, she’s making progress. I gave crap to Porun and Lulun during their early days and I’m starting to think I was too hard on them relative to her, but, again, she’s getting better. When Milk is being sincere and earnest she’s nice to have around, and she forms an especially strong bond with Karen. We’ll see that explored in greater depth in a few episodes.

One aspect I think was CRUCIAL to both Milk’s development as a character and advancing the core theme of this show, which is dreams, is outright stating that several of the team actually do not have dreams they’re working towards right now. Really only Urara and Komachi know what they want to do. Milk says she can’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a dream to be a Precure, before Karen turns around and tells her that she herself has none, yet, and neither does Rin. Nozomi became a Precure to help Coco fulfill HIS dream, Rin joined to protect Nozomi, and Karen joined because she wanted to help. None of them have ambitions of their own, they’re still working that out, Not knowing what you want to do but doing your best at what you can do is a really important and powerful message for the audience, and it helps Milk resolve a conflict within herself about how much the girls fight for her wellbeing without having their own ambitions.

On the literal front, Milk turning into an armband for Dream is certainly an.... interesting way to incorporate her into the sequence. As far as alternate modes for fairies go so far, it beats the laptop computer that Porun turned into but it’s not as practical as the cell phones of yore, or the human forms that Coco and Nuts can take (but she’ll get there eventually). A toy of it exists so I assume this was Bandai’s idea first and the show’s staff had to figure out how to make it work in animation.

To their credit, it looks a LOT better in the show than as a toy. It’s still kind of silly looking but at least it directly incorporates the mascot into the attack in some way rather than simply dispensing the powerup.

Alas, poor Arachnea. She wasn’t my favorite villain in the show, but of the remaining crew, she wouldn’t have been my first choice for elimination (that would be Gamao). It’s unfortunate to see her go, but it was time to change things up. I like that Arachnea went to Kawarino rather than being given the black mask due to poor performance. Not that her job performance has been any better than Girinma’s was but it’s just an interesting direction. Ever since Girinma’s defeat she’s acted overconfident, like she sees this as an opportunity and has a plan. She hasn’t really acted on that idea until now, but being a go-getter and asking for the mask is a welcome change. What’s really interesting to me is that she almost doesn’t even need it. During the fight she pretty much has the girls on the ropes and considering she had the Dream Collet in her hands she could have just left right then and there, but her pride demands she defeat the girls, and that’s when Nozomi arrives and turns the tables, forcing Arachnea to put on the black mask and go full monster.

Interestingly, despite Kawarino’s apparent indifference to Arachnea’s plight, Bunbee seems genuinely concerned for her. He’s an okay boss who looks out for his employees sometimes, and having seen what the black mask did to Girinma, who he considered an old friend, he doesn’t want Arachnea to suffer the same fate. She ignores his concern but it’s a rare moment of honor among villains, and a seed for Bunbee’s eventual pseudo-redemption at the end of GoGo.

I love the genuine concern on his face.

The villains have actually had their hands on the Dream Collet several times in this series, and each time their arrogance results in it slipping through their grasp. This somewhat annoys me if I’m being honest, but on the other hand it shows how ill-managed Nightmare is. Even Kawarino himself has had it in his clutches but a couple of fairies are able to steal it back with a coordinated effort. There should be an administrative review about this, everyone is doing it and it really undercuts their company’s objective. However, it shows the resourcefulness and resilience of the girls and fairies to be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, as we’ve seen them do over and over.

On the animation and art side of things, this episode is great. I love this shot of the spider shadow darkening the shop sign, even though Arachnea doesn’t turn into an actual spider.

It’s a moment of ominous foreboding and it’s wonderful. Also, when she first makes her appearance in the fight, Arachnea’s eyes are glowing and she looks ready to kill. The fight is fluid and the action is well-choreographed, and has an important moment of mirroring before and after Nozomi’s arrival. Arachnea uses the same web attack on them both times, but before Nozmi shows up they get hit by it, while afterwards they effortlessly dodge it and run on the webs to knock the Dream Collet out of her hands. It’s the little things that make me smile.

Interestingly, I noticed a lot of Dutch angles in this episode.

A tilted camera is a film trick designed to make the audience uneasy, and it’s used very well here. I don’t often notice camerawork but this stuck out at me.

Now, on the other hand, there is a small animation error that I feel compelled to point out. It takes place during the stock animation for Precure Five Explosion, specifically the point at which the four supporting components are flying in to attach to the Dream Torch. For a few frames, the Lemonade Castanet is incorrectly colored green like the Mint Leaf, instead of the proper yellow. As it gets closer to the camera, this is fixed.

(These are subsequent frames, one right after the other.)

I’m surprised that this made it into the stock footage, and wasn’t fixed for the blu ray releases I’m using for my reviews. I’ll have to see if it gets fixed in future uses.

Of course there’s also some small moments of merchandise pushing in this episode. Aside from the obvious Symphony Set, the box to hold the Pinky Catch makes another appearance, and I had to point it out because it’s very detailed.

None of these points detract from the episode in any meaningful way, I just feel obligated to document them. This episode is fantastic from start to finish, it reinforces the strong bond the characters have and Nozomi’s role on the team, builds on Karen and Milk’s relationship, and moves us into the next stage of the show. It’s a great cap to the first 2/3 of the show and I can’t wait for more.

Next time, on Precure Daily: Coco is getting love letters and Nozomi doesn’t know how to feel about this. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Kettei!

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

Princess Justice2

Second Part of my “What if” AU of Episode: Ladybug.

A got a bit wordy, sorry!

In AO3

-

“Master Fu, our worst nightmare has come true!” yelled Plagg as soon as they were inside Master Fu’s house. Wayzz looked at him with a sarcastic expression.

“Adrien feed you the wrong kind of cheese?”

“Our second worst nightmare has come true!” Plagg corrected himself. Master Fu and Wayzz stopped in their tracks and looked at the two newcomers seriously.

“Hawk Moth has gone scarlet again and…”

“Marinette has been akumatized” whispered Adrien.

Master Fu fell to his knees. Wayzz fell from the air and into a table.

“She…”

“She managed to take off her earrings before that.”

“So you know her identity”

Adrien avoided his eyes. He knew the rules, and this meant they both would be replaced.

“We need to act quickly. Hopefully Marinette will be able to hide who she is, even akumatized, and Tikki… where is Tikki?”

“Leading a rebellion with the rest of Marinette’s friends. Queen Bee and the others seemed very keen on rescuing her.”

“So you came for the Miraculous…”

“That or advice. This is too much, if I had been akumatized, I’m sure Lady… I’m sure Marinette would have found a way to bring me back, but I…”

“You are going to bring her back” said Master Fu, in a reassuring tone. “She trusts you, and I trust you too.” He went to the gramophone and took out the Miraculous Box, opening it.

“Adrien Abigail Agreste, this is a dire time, you must pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over, you will get the Miraculous back from them and return it to me.”

“Take them all!” begged Plagg “We’re going against Marinette! We will need as much help as we can get!”

“Is that allowed?”

“Normally I wouldn’t allow it, but Plagg is right. Marinette can, and will, be a formidable opponent, and you will need everything you have to go against her.”

Adrien picked every Miraculous, including the Turtle, and placed them in his bag.

“Please be safe. And remember that Marinette is not herself. Whatever happens, don’t hold it against her… But also, don’t hesitate to fight her, she’s counting on you.”

Adrien nods solemnly, realizing that he might need to go hand to hand against his La… against Marinette.

“Plagg, Claws out!”

-

In what felt like an eternity, Chat Noir reached the rooftop of the Le Grand Hotel Paris, then he went to Chloe’s room, where everyone was already reunited. Kagami and Luka were already there, and Chloe and Tikki seemed to be giving the others instructions. That’s when he noticed everyone was wearing a purse, pouch or designer bag, all apparently from Chloe’s collection. He also noticed Chloe had gotten installed a whiteboard with “Operation: Save Marinette” written at the top, and other squiggles he didn’t manage to read before Chloe called him.

“Glad you decided to show up!” teased Chloe. She then bit her lip when she realized what she had said. “Sorry, didn’t mean it like that.”

“Were you successful?” asked Tikki. Before he could answer, Kagami got up and was all in his face.

“Wow, it’s so obvious now. I can’t believe I was fooled before”

Adrien smiled. “Sorry, keeping our identities secret was a top priority. I didn’t even knew who was ladybug”

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious now too” teased Alya. Once they rescued Marinette, she was in for the biggest surprise of her life.

Tikki cleared her throat. “Oh yeah. Plagg, Claws in!” Chat Noir transformed into Adrien before everyone’s eyes. He put out his bag and started giving everyone their miraculous. “You know the drill. Use these for good, don’t be a dick, return them after we’re done.” Chloe gave him a purse after receiving the Bee hairpin. “What’s with the bags?”

“We raided the kitchen. We don’t know how long the battle will last, and Tikki pointed out some of us might need to recharge, so each bag contains food for our specific kwami, and some extras for the others, just in case.”

“… This is your designer collection” noted Adrien. Chloe blushed when everyone started looking at the purses she had given them.

“Well, yeah, I had no time to get some cheap knock offs… And I wouldn’t know where  to buy them anyway” she added with a haughty tone. Adrien smiled. Even if she didn’t want to admit, she was worried about Marinette, and was willing to sacrifice her very valuable collection for her.

Chloe gave Pollen a sweet made of honey, which she thanked her for. The others did the same, Alya giving Trixx grape jelly donuts, Nino giving Wayzz pistachios, Xuppu stealing a banana from Kim, Max and Alix giving Kaalki and Fluff some carrots, Kagami giving Longg some peppers and Luka giving Sass some biscuits.

Adrien noted how the others were looking at their friends and their Kwamis in awe. He took a deep breath and reached inside the bag.

“Mylene Haprele, here is the Miraculous of the Mouse, which grants the power of Multiplying.” He gave the mouse necklace to Mylene, and then approached Ivan. “Ivan Bruel, here is the Miraculous of the Ox, which grants the power of strength.” He gave the nose ring to Ivan, who looked at it with curiosity. “Don’t worry, it’s a clip on, it stays with magic” Adrien approached Nathaniel. “Nathaniel Kurtzberg, here is the Miraculous of the Rooster, which grants the power of enlightment. “ He gave Nathaniel a thumb ring. “And Marc Anciel, here is the Miraculous of Goat, which grants the power of…”

“Thanks, but I already have a Miraculous”

“what”

“Yeah, we were thinking about it, and it would be highly suspicious if Ladybug doesn’t show up to fight Akumanette” Adrien made a mental note to ask who had made up that punny name.

“And Marc is the one that looks the most like Marinette” Adrien looked at Kagami instinctively.

“Yeah, my personality doesn’t match hers at all, I’m more blunt and serious, and not to mention it would be also suspicious if everyone else shows up except Ryuuko.”

“And I already read his Ladybug diary” teased Tikki, flying around Marc and landing on his head. “It was spot on” she giggled.  

“Wouldn’t Hawk Moth notice a pair of things… different?” asked Adrien looking at Marc’s chest.

“Well yeah, but Tikki said that if I focus when transforming I will look like her.

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Losing Marinette to Akumatization bothers me more than looking like a girl”

“And if he doesn’t look exactly like Ladybug, Marcbug will use my ladybug suit over his” said Chloe, pointing out at her secret close, were her replica of the Ladybug suit was held. Adrien was always a little creeped out by that, but now it might come in handy.

“Sounds like a plan… OH! You guys, I trust you, but you have to know that once this is over the Miraculous must return to hiding.”

Everyone in the room nodded. The newly chosen were feeding their Kwamis, while they explained how to transform and what their powers would be.

“We all can use our powers just once, and then we have 5 minutes left on our transformations” lectured Adrien. “If that happens, find a safe place to detransform, feed your kwami and transform again to rejoin the battle. Try to keep your identity secret, but that’s not a priority. Guys, I know I’m asking a lot of you, but we might need to transform several times” he addressed the Kwamis, who nodded, as they wanted Marinette back as much as the humans.

“There will be probably more of those butterflies around, so this will be the hardest part.” Chloe took a deep breath. “Don’t lose hope. Have determination. Keep positive, whatever works for you. Marinette, Sabrina, Rose, Juleka… everyone is counting on us. “

“What about Lila?” asked Kim. Chloe glared at him.

“She tried to keep us inside. Is her fault Sabrina is not with us anymore” She took a deep breath, not wanting to attract a butterfly.

“If you run into her, don’t trust anything she says. Get rid of her if needed.”

“If Marinette hasn’t done that already” said Alya, covering her mouth immediately, regretting her words. Nino gave her a hug.

“Yeah…” Nino left out a sigh. “Don’t trust anything any of them say or do.” He looked around their group. “We all have been around akumas before, some do retain some of their host personality, but they’re still dangerous. They’re not themselves, so don’t hesitate to fight them with all you got. They’re counting on us.”

Adrien was amazed at his friend’s words. “The confirmed akumas are: Reflekta. She can transform you into copies of herself, which will make you unable to use your special power. If you can, take off your Miraculous to detransform before you become a copy, that way you can put your miraculous on top and transform again, otherwise, come to me for another Miraculous to keep fighting. She’s one of the less dangerous in the sense that you will retain your personality.”

“What if she tries to trick you to get a Miraculous?”

“Yeah, we need a safe word or something”

“Fine, if you get transformed into a Reflekta copy, come to me and say… ‘Marinette’s macaroons make me mad’”

Everyone nodded, practicing the phrase. It was a weird one that they would never say normally.

“Then there is Princess Fragrance. If you smell her perfume you will get brainwashed into being her slave, so prevent that at all costs. Ladybug’s yoyo and my cheerleader baton can act as respirators, but I don’t know if your weapons will be able to do that. Better nor risk it… Anyway, there’s Zombizou, which all of you know, and Dark Owl, which is a Batman rip-off. He doesn’t have powers, and I’m not sure if he got a super computer this time around, but he will have a lot of ridiculous and over specific gadgets, so beware that.”

“Did anyone else saw another akuma?” asked Chloe.

“Jean became the Magician of Misfortune again, so beware his tricks”

“And Stormy Weather appeared again”

“I think I saw Darkblade”

“Well, at least we know how all of those work. Oh! Marinette’s dad also became Weredad, he is super strong, but that’s his only power. He will most likely try to protect Marinette from us. Ivan, you might need to save your power to fight him”

Ivan nodded. Stompp nudged him affectionately. “You’ll do great”

“And Lila could still be Volpina… so that’s illusions again. Don’t trust her. That leaves us only with Marinette and her mom as the only unknown”

“And Sabrina…” added Chloe with a bit of sadness. “She could be Vanisher or Miraculer. No one is allowed to defeat her but me, is that understood?”

Everyone nodded. If that was Chloe’s weird way to show her affection, then so be it.

“Well, That covers Chloe and Ivan. Luka, I trust you to reset if anything goes wrong and tell us. If the five minutes go up and you transform, feed Sass and do it all over again.” Sass and Luka nodded. “Everyone else, I trust your judgment, just remember that is magic is fickle, so don’t say your special power out loud unless you really mean to use, as saying it could trigger it and your counter. Max and Markov… oh, I almost forgot”

Adrien took another Miraculous from inside his bag. “Markov … Kante? This si the Miraculous of the Dog, which grants the power of Tracking…”

“Wait, I get a Miraculous? But I’m not human…”

“You were able to be akumatized. There is an 87.97% chance that the Miraculous will work with you”

“Then I will do my best!”

Adrien put the Miraculous on Markov, and Barkk materialized from it.

“Our weapons also act as communication devices, and have a lot of other uses too; we have never had a chance to check if they work with you guys too. In case they do… Max, you’ll use Voyage so we can surprise attack the Castle, but will stay here with Markov.”

“What? Why? I’m just as capable of fighting as everyone else is!”

“Yes, but you’re a freaking genius, and with Markov, your capacity goes over 9000, so instead of going with us and doing what everyone else can, you’re going to use your horseshoe and whatever Markov get to hack into as much as you can and find who and where Hawk Moth is.”

Everyone looked at Adrien in surprise.

“I… I’ll do the best I can”

“That’s all I’m asking. Is everyone ready?” They nodded or said it so.

[thewritewolf]

Inseparable Chapter 1: Miraculouses

Hello and welcome to the first chapter of my Ladynoir July story, Inseparable! It is bittersweet to reach this point since it is the last of the Love Square months, but I can proudly say I’ve been participating fully this year. I hope you’ll read along daily with me as I tell this Ladynoir story! 

With powerful akumas becoming a greater threat everyday, Master Fu has decided that the time for keeping Ladybug and Chat Noir at arm's length is over. They will need his guidance if they are going to win the war, but even more importantly, they will need each other. A simple plan to make them better heroes quickly turns into something more as Ladybug and Chat Noir are drawn ever closer to each other.

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@ladynoirjuly2019

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The streets were dark and cold when Marinette sailed over them with the use of her yoyo. While she liked the rainy late summer nights just before school started, she much preferred experiencing them while she was indoors. Maybe curled up in a heap of blankets and reading a book by lamplight. But a glance at the abandoned streets made it clear why Master Fu would choose now, of all nights, to finally answer her.

Marinette had been hoping that Master Fu lend her some sort of more lasting help in the fight against Hawkmoth. Temporary power ups and heroes of the day were nice and all, but the intensity they’d been facing recently had meant that those sometimes weren’t an option. Even as she tried to not get her hopes up, she wondered what the old guardian had in store for her. He was good about throwing curve balls at her, of offering aid in unexpected ways.

There was barely a thought spared for the route she was taking. As the only one of the pair allowed to meet with the Guardian, this meant she visited him frequently. Or, at least, as frequently as one met with a reclusive, centuries-old hermit. Her arms and legs had long since committed the paths to memory. Even the extra ones routes, added just to throw off anyone who might be watching her too closely. The loose tiles, the strong hand holds, the best places to swing across. All remembered without needing to bother her brain with the details.

The quaint little shop that Master Fu operated out of was lit like a beacon, calling to her from the rain and fog. With as little noise as possible, she slipped in through the back after being sure no one was watching her. Traditionally it was at this point that, safe and secure inside the master’s home, she would drop her transformation and meet with him without a mask getting between them. This time, however, his message had been very clear about her staying as Ladybug for the duration of the visit.

The reason why became obvious when she opened a sliding door to see Chat Noir sitting by himself at the familiar low table, helping himself to the hot tea and cookies set out for them. Just as quickly as she noticed him, he turned his head to look at her, cheeks puffed out with stolen cookies and eyes wide. He swallowed heavily while maintaining eye contact.

“Please don’t tell Master Fu I ate all his cookies.”

Despite her shock at seeing him here, she couldn’t help but giggle. He was her silly kitty, as always. She settled down next to him and took a sip of the tea in front of her. Chat pushed the nearly-empty cookie basket towards her and she looked up to see him guiltily rubbing the back of his neck.

“If I’d known you were coming, I would have left you more than that.” He flashed her a meek smile. “Sorry.”

She took a bite of her cookie, but before she could ask him why he was here, the door leading deeper into the shop opened. Master Fu entered, with Wayzz floating near his shoulder.

“Greetings, young ones.” He sat opposite to them and inclined his head. “We have much to discuss concerning our fight against Hawkmoth.” If he didn’t have their attention before, he had it now. Both of them watched intently as he stroked his beard. “Our enemy is starting to unlock new depths of power to his miraculous. If we continue as we are, then we will be overwhelmed.”

“What can we do to fight him, Master? We still don’t have any leads.” Marinette bit down on the last of her cookie irritatedly. “All we can do is contain him.”

“And even that is getting harder,” Chat Noir chimmed in. “More akumas with weirder powers almost makes it feel like he’s experimenting with what he can do.” Chat frowned and flexed his claws. “Wish we could do that,” he grumbled.

“That is why I have brought you both here today. Our foe is strong, but alone. He lacks the bond that you two share - both as partners, and as wielders of the Cat and Ladybug miraculouses. While our opponent must learn through trial and error, you can be taught and trained.” Master Fu rubbed a thumb idly over his jade bracelet. “I have long years of experience with being one of the chosen, in addition to my duties as a Guardian.”

“Training…?” Marinette blinked. “That sounds great, but why now? Couldn’t we have used this even earlier?”

Master Fu hung his head sadly. “Yes, that is true. Previously, my desire for secrecy meant that I limited my contact with you two. Over the last few months and frequent visits from you, Ladybug, I have decided that those precautions are no longer necessary.”

Chat Noir perked up. “Does that mean-”

“No. The secret identities must remain in place. We must only part with such things when absolutely necessary. Otherwise, we will unduly expose ourselves.”

Chat’s ears drooped. “Yes, master. So what are we going to be doing?”

“Training sessions - martial and meditative, to make your minds as potent weapons as your bodies. Extra patrols, to deepen the already strong bond between the two of you. That would be the nature of what I ask from you.”

“I… see…” Chat had a faraway look in his eyes, as if doing mental math. He turned to her and leaned in close. “What do you think, bugaboo?”

Pushing him away by the nose, she replied, “First, quit it with the bugaboo.” She glanced towards Fu, then back to her partner. Time and place, Chat. She shrugged. “It might be hard to find the extra time, but I’m willing to try.”

Chat nodded. “Then that’s my answer too.”

“Excellent.” Master Fu rose to his feet. “Once I have devised some sort of schedule, I will let the both of you know immediately. For now, I will let you return home. It is late, and I’m sure the both of you are tired.”

As if on cue, Marinette yawned. “Right. We’ll head straight home, Master Fu.”

--------------------

Later, the two of them were looking out at the rain from their spot in an archway at Notre Dame’s towers. Ladybug was seated opposite him, still smiling softly from the joke he’d cracked on their way here. There was a companionable silence between them, a stillness that they didn’t often get when they had time together. Maybe these extra patrols would be worth the loss of sleep, even if his make up artists would have to put in more time to erase the bags under his eyes.

Ladybug glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. “I see you staring, Chat. What’s on that kitty brain of yours?”

“What?” He feigned innocence. “Can I not simply admire your beauty?”

“You can, but I would have thought those hundreds of pictures of me that you have on your baton would be enough.” She raised an eyebrow with a smile as a rare blush rushed to his cheeks. That had been an embarrassing afternoon for him. Despite her relentless teasing, she had been surprisingly alright with it. Maybe she wasn’t so innocent of it herself?

“It’s like I told you, that must have been Hawkmoth’s doing. No doubt he was trying to ruin my good name.”

“Oh? So you deleted the pictures then?”

“Of course not. Even if I didn’t put them there, how could I pawsibly remove such gorgeous images from my baton? It’d practically be a crime.”

She giggled. “If you say so, Chat.” Her smile faded a little as she looked into the rain. “Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future.”

“Looks like it.” He stepped away from the wall and took a seat next to her. “Whatever it takes to beat Hawkmoth, I guess.”

“You don’t sound too thrilled about it, kitty. Already getting tired of me?”

“Never,” he replied instantly. “He wants us to grow closer, to strengthen the bond between us and our miraculous. But he doesn’t want us to do it naturally. There is still a wall that we aren’t allowed to break down.”

“Our masks,” she sighed. This was a battle she was getting tired of fighting. “We’ve been over this, Chat…”

“I know, I know, but Master Fu has practically admitted that secrecy is only hurting us now. And yeah, it is his demand, but we’re the ones out there fighting, risking everything. Don’t we at least deserve this much? And come on,” he nudged her shoulder playfully, a grin on his face as he waggled his eyebrows. “You must have wondered who this handsome partner of yours is?”

It might have just been his imagination, but he could almost swear he saw a bit of red dusting her cheeks around the mask.

“Besides that last part, you’ve got a point.” She stood up, twirling her yoyo. “How about we start small? My favorite color is pink.”

“Blue,” the color of the eyes that haunts my dreams.

“See? Now we’re on our way to knowing everything about each other.” She flashed him a smile and sailed away.

Even though he knew she was just kidding, he felt the truth of her words in his soul. Holding this newfound knowledge close to his heart, he made his way home. Although only a few minutes had passed since she left, he was already looking forward to the next time he would see her.

[quicksilversquared]

Lost Heart: Chapter 18

Next Step

Magic can be a dangerous thing to play around with, particularly when that magic is tangled up in a curse. When Nathalie Sancoeur experiments with magic that she doesn’t fully understand, it sends her on a path to become Paris’ most dangerous supervillain and tips the balance between superheroes and supervillain.

But which way will the balance fall?

links in the reblog

Ladybug was Lost. Lost with a capital L. Maybe a capital rest of the letters, too.

The private school that Kagami went to wasn't super huge, but it was really, really confusing. Hallways twisted off in all directions, classrooms absolutely everywhere. There were two buildings, too, one for the collège section and the other for the lycée students, and Ladybug... well, she didn't know for sure which one Kagami was in. She knew that Kagami was around her age, but exactly how close was close? She could be a year older, for all Ladybug knew.

Ugh. And her teammates needed her back soon. If she couldn't find Kagami and somehow pull her aside within the next couple minutes, she would have to drop the idea for this fight and try again later, maybe after asking Adrien a few more questions about his fencing buddy. But would that even actually help?

"Think, Ladybug," she muttered to herself. "Think. You're going to have to pull her out of class anyway; they're still in session. You'll need an excuse anyway. If you can find a teacher, they can help."

She worried her lip for a moment, then nodded decisively. Sometimes she and Chat Noir ended up grabbing a civilian to help- usually to get inside information or move them out of the way of a targeted attack- and then returned them at the end of an attack. If she told a little white lie and claimed that she believed that Kagami might know something that would end the fight sooner, the principal and Kagami's teacher would hopefully let her step out.

And, well, it wouldn't actually be a lie. Kagami knew how to fence, and Adrien had told Marinette that Kagami had been trained in several martial arts. Hopefully that knowledge would end the fight sooner.

"Ladybug? What are you doing here?"

Ladybug spun around to come face-to-face with a teacher. Immediately, she was really, really thankful that she had come up with an excuse already. "Hi! I was wondering if you know where I might find Kagami Tsurugi?"

The teacher frowned. "Yes, but why? She's in class. Can it wait for lunch? It's only half an hour more."

"I think she might know something that would help us defeat the akuma faster," Ladybug told him. "And I would really appreciate it if I could pull her out for a bit. It's rather time-sensitive."

The teacher considered that, then sighed. "Okay. But only because it's you, Ladybug. I'll swing by her classroom and send her down here on my way back to the office."

"Thank you."

Ladybug watched the teacher leave, trying not to anxiously bounce in place as she watched the seconds tick by on the clock. She had to appear steadfast and reliable, after all, and not like an anxious teenager.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when her yo-yo rang.

"Ladybug, are you coming soon?" Chat Noir asked anxiously. "The akuma is absolutely rampaging, and the Purple Lady is here already. Everyone is wondering where the superheroes are."

"I'm getting another person," Ladybug told him quickly. "Someone who will work really well with the Dragon. It's just that I don't know their school well at all, and so I had to get a teacher to go get her. She'll be back soon. And then we'll fly over there."

Chat Noir frowned. "Wait, you know them well enough to give them a Miraculous, but don't know their school at all? Do they not talk about it ever or something?"

Ladybug cringed. "It's- no, she's someone that I don't necessarily get along with great in our civilian lives but I think she would be great against the Purple Lady. She has years of fight training. But I'll be sure to get her civilian phone number or something in case I need to get hold of her in the future."

"Okay, I'll trust your judgment, but seriously- we're going to be found if we stay hidden much longer."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry- here she comes, I'll grab her and be on the way as fast as we can possibly go. I promise." Ladybug ended the call with a wince- she really wished that she had had the chance to scope out Kagami's school before, but she had been a bit busy- and straightened up. "Kagami! I'm glad you could come down."

"Of course. But I am a bit confused- I'm very certain that I don't know the akuma." There was a small frown on Kagami's face. "I mean, I'm willing to help in any way that I can, of course, but..."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll explain on the way." Ladybug held out a hand, and Kagami took it without hesitation. With a quick toss of her yo-yo, she hauled them out of the courtyard and onto the rooftop of a nearby building. Two more swings, and Ladybug figured that they were far enough away that no one would see her transforming and figure out that it was Kagami.

"I might have misled your teacher a little bit," Ladybug admitted, setting Kagami down and pulling out the Dragon Miraculous. "The help I need isn't exactly information... and the knowledge you have, well..." She held out the Miraculous. "I've heard that you know a lot about fighting."

Kagami's jaw dropped. "You- you want me to fight alongside you and Chat Noir and the other superheroes?"

"Right. You would just be borrowing the Miraculous for the fight, like the other temporary superheroes. So- will you?"

Kagami nodded eagerly, taking the Miraculous and then nearly dropping it when Longg appeared. "What- what is that?"

"This is Longg," Ladybug told her. "She's a kwami. It's what grants us our powers. You just put the Miraculous on and say transform me."

"I feel like I should be asking more questions," Kagami said nervously as she pulled the Dragon Miraculous on. "But it seems like you're in a hurry and I suppose you can explain along the way, so... transform me!"

Longg grinned and shot into the Miraculous. In a rush of red and gold, Kagami transformed. Once the sparkles died down, she glanced down at herself, running her hands down the suit as though inspecting it. Ladybug waited anxiously, glancing over in the direction she knew her other teammates were before looking back at the transformed Kagami. After another long second, she looked up, a hint of a smile on her face. Ladybug raised an eyebrow at her.

"Acceptable?"

"Oh, very." Dragoness smiled, patting the holster at the side. "I like the sword."

  Ladybug was right: Kagami with the Dragon Miraculous was a fantastic choice. Against the Purple Lady, her sword blurred, slashes and stabs interrupted by kicks and punches. She and Chat Noir traded off taking the lead, one in direct combat while the other tried to circle around and get the drop on the Purple Lady, keeping out of the splatter zone but staying close enough that they could dive in to take an opening if one turned up or provide backup if necessary.

Even after only a few minutes together, Dragoness and Chat Noir were fighting side-by-side like a seasoned team, keeping out of the other's way like pros.

That left Ladybug and the three other temporary users to deal with the akuma. And while the Purple Lady was making them stronger than Hawkmoth had, four of them were enough of a match for the akuma. One Lucky Charm (a bandana), one Sting, and one Illusion later, and the purified butterfly was fluttering away through the sky. The Purple Lady threw Dragoness back and took off after it, vanishing from sight quickly as she retreated back to her lair.

And they still had some time left in the lunch period.

"Okay, I had some concerns about you taking the time to track down a new Miraculous user at the start of the fight, but it was time well spent," Chat Noir murmured in Ladybug's ear as the team paused for a quick celebratory fist-bump. "Holy crud, she is fierce. Nathalie is heartless when she fights, but Dragoness? She can match that. Like, I would not be surprised if she could fight toe-to-toe with the Purple Lady on her own with only a little backup."

Ladybug grinned proudly. She had had some hesitations about picking Kagami when she first came up with the idea, but logic won out over her personal feelings and it really paid off. "Yeah. She's a much better swordfighter than I am. But I prefer my yo-yo anyway, I think."

"It's more versatile. Kind of like my baton, really. It's a jack-of-all-trades weapon- good at a lot of things, but not a master at any one." Chat Noir tapped it. "I know how to fence, which is like swordfighting. But it's not weighted the same way, and it doesn't have a hand guard, so I can't do quite everything with it that I could with my fencing sword. But Dragoness's sword can't extend like my baton, or be sun and used as a shield, or anything like that." He grinned. "But it's very good for swordfighting. And clearly she knows how to use it."

"Okay, I'm beeping!" Queen Bee called. "I assume that I have to give my Miraculous back now?"

"Right, right, we're coming!" Chat Noir bounced away from Ladybug, headed for Chloe. "We have so many temps now that it's going to be a pain in the butt getting everything back."

"We can just go down to street level to detransform," Carapace offered. "Rena and I know our way around in this area."

Ladybug let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. I'll be right back," she told Dragoness. "Two minutes, tops."

"Wait, what about your timer?" Rena Rouge asked as the three of them jumped down to a hidden alleyway. "You used Lucky Charm at least four minutes ago, but your earrings haven't changed at all!"

"Chat Noir and I learned a spell to delay the detransformation," Ladybug admitted. "It's hard on the kwamis, though, so we won't share it until we have to."

Rena Rouge frowned at that, opening her mouth as though to protest, but Carapace nodded in understanding. "Fair enough."

Soon Ladybug had the Fox and Turtle back, and she headed back to the rooftops to join Dragoness. They ran across the rooftops back towards Kagami's school, stopping one rooftop away.

"So I'm going to assume that I should detransform here, and you'll return me to the school?" Dragoness asked. "And then we hope that no one puts the pieces together?"

"Ideally, yeah," Ladybug agreed. "And the magic should help with that. But to detransform, all you need to say is-"

"Let me guess, detransform me?"

The flash of red was all the answer she needed. Kagami smiled as Longg reappeared. "Thank you for the sword! It was the best-balanced one I've handled in a while."

Longg snickered. "Of course, because it's magic! I look forward to working with you again."

"Can I get your phone number?" Ladybug asked as Kagami returned the Miraculous to its box and handed it over. "I'd rather not have to flag down a teacher again next time there's an akuma."

"Of course, but I cannot skip classes often. I've seen how frequent akuma attacks can be." Kagami was looking worried. "The school will tell my mother, and she will be less than pleased with me."

Ladybug shook her head as she handed Kagami her yo-yo, open to the Create Contact page. "The Purple Lady isn't going to be coming out as much. She's pickier about her akumas. And- please don't tell anyone this, we don't want it getting out- we do know who she is. We're working on a plan to defeat her. We would only call you out for a couple more akuma attacks, probably, plus the final battle."

Kagami nodded, the concerned expression on her face spreading back out into her usual indifference as she punched in her phone number. "Acceptable. I will not tell anyone about the Purple Lady. Now, about my lunch period..."

It didn't take long at all for Ladybug to swing Kagami back down to her school, waving good-bye before shooting back across town, making a short detour to give Master Fu his Miraculous back before tumbling into her bedroom and detransforming.

"Kagami was a really good choice!" Tikki said happily, zipping around Marinette's head. "That fight wasn't that bad at all! You still have time to eat."

"I need to text Adrien and see if he's coming over for lunch still," Marinette said, pushing herself off of her bed and heading down the stairs. "I invited him, like usual, and then I vanished for-" she checked the clock and winced- "an hour."

"Well, at least it wasn't three hours, right?"

Much to Marinette's surprise, Adrien had texted her already, apologizing for getting called away for the first part of their lunch hour and wondering if her invitation still stood. She didn't hesitate to assure him that he should come over- after all, her mom had prepared enough food for both of them and Marinette certainly couldn't eat all of it by herself- and that he could just let himself in downstairs.

"Don't forget, you're having dinner with Adrien's mom tonight!" Tikki reminded her. "So you should tell your parents."

"Ooh, you're right! I'll text Maman about it right away. Though how should I word it..." Marinette tilted her head, staring at her phone as she went over words in her head. She didn't want her parents to think that she was at the mansion when she was actually at the Grand Paris, but how to word that? After a minute of thought, she tapped out a quick message and sent it.

Marinette: I've been invited to have dinner with Adrien's family over at the Grand Paris tonight. Adrien and I will probably go right over after school and work on our homework there until dinner.

Barely a minute later, her phone dinged in reply.

Maman: Okay! Have fun! Adrien is on his way up now.

Right on cue, there was a knock at the door and then Adrien stuck his head around it, looking a bit flustered. "I'm sorry I'm so late- you weren't waiting for me to eat, were you?"

"It's fine," Marinette assured him. "I was running late, too. So wash your hands and sit down, and maybe we won't have to rush to finish before we go back."

  "So my mom's pretty weak right now," Adrien told Marinette as they got in the car to go to the Grand Paris. "She's getting better, of course, since she's getting rest and food and- and everything, but she might hang out for us for a bit and then need a nap before dinner."

"Right, of course," Marinette said at once, as wonderfully understanding as always. "We won't be able to talk a ton while we do homework, so hopefully we won't exhaust her."

Adrien nodded. That was true, and he had caught his mom up on most of what he had been up to over the past year and a half (Well. Year and three-quarters, more like) the previous evening. He and Marinette could just chat like usual, talking about the going-ons of the day, and maybe what was going to happen during the last three days of school before break. His mom would probably appreciate that, with them treating the get-together like a normal evening instead of a 'catch-mom-up-because-she's-been-in-a-coma-that-Adrien-isn't-supposed-to-know-about-yet' evening.

"Chloe might pop in, too," Adrien commented after a few more minutes. They were nearly at the Grand Paris. "She loves my mom. Part of it is because her mom is, well..."

"Not particularly loving?" Marinette suggested. Adrien cringed and nodded.

"Yeah. To say the least. But my mom was also a model, and she's done some acting, and of course she's dabbled in designing, too, so, well..." He shot a sheepish look over at Marinette. For him, having famous parents had just been a fact of life for so long that he had been used to it. Now that he had spent time with classmates who had normal parents (and gosh, that word had so many layers to it now), he was a bit self-conscious of it. "There have been times when I wondered if Chloe just liked the glitz and glamour around my mom. But she was really happy when she was found- like, practically in tears."

He just barely caught the tail end of the puzzled look Marinette shot in his direction, and Adrien had to wonder what she was confused about. Maybe she just couldn't picture Chloe actually crying in happiness?

The Gorilla pulled up to the front, and Adrien didn't hesitate to hop out and jog around to the other side to open Marinette's door for her. The gesture didn't go missed by the Gorilla, who nodded approvingly, or by Marinette, who gave him a bright smile as she slid out of the car, pulling their bags out after her.

...oops. Apparently he had forgotten his things in his hurry to get out of the car.

"So she's on the top floor, where Chloe and her father live," Adrien told Marinette as they headed in. "In the suite that Chloe's mom stays in, when she actually comes to Paris. Which is nice, because it's a huge room- well, two connected rooms, technically- with a kitchenette and a whirlpool tub and a nice table and everything. It's more of an apartment than a hotel room."

"If she's going to be in there for more than a day, that's really nice," Marinette said approvingly. "And those rooms have balconies, though I suppose she can't go out on it."

Adrien made a face. "Yeah. But the weather's a bit cold for hanging out on the balcony anyway, so I'm sure she doesn't mind that much. There's a lovely view, though, even just from the windows."

"Will she get to go home by Christmas, do you know?"

Adrien paused, frowning as he thought about it. They were only a week or so out from Christmas, and he was sure that Ladybug had things that she wanted to get done in her civilian life before the holidays. He certainly did- he and Marinette needed to finish up their group project (thank goodness they had gotten a good bit done before things got crazy- there were just some final details to polish up) and then he was going to help Marinette pull off their class's holiday party, since Alya was apparently still distracted. But they didn't want an akuma striking on Christmas (and especially if he could spend that time with his mom), so maybe they would push to try to end things before the holidays.

It would be the superheroes' Christmas present to Paris. If they could manage it.

"I don't know," Adrien said instead of explaining all of that. "It depends on the, uh, investigation. I'd love for her to be able to come home, of course, but as long as I can come see her, does it really matter where?"

Marinette smiled. "I suppose not."

It didn't take long for the elevator to haul them up to the top floor, and then Adrien couldn't help but speed up as he headed for his mom's door. He knocked, using the same special pattern that his mom had always used before her disappearance, and only seconds later there were footsteps on the other side and Mrs. Agreste threw the door open, wrapping Adrien up in a hug just as tightly as she had the night before. The familiar smell of his mom's perfume filled his nose, and he beamed.

Chloe must have gone out and bought his mom's favorite perfume for her so that she would feel more comfortable. That was really, really nice of her.

(She might have actually just sent her butler or one of the other hotel staff to actually buy the perfume, but, well, the thought was there either way.)

"And this must be your girlfriend!" Mrs. Agreste exclaimed, pulling away from Adrien and beaming at Marinette. "I'm Adrien's mom, which... well, I'm sure you already knew that." She smiled, looking a little awkward. "And he's told you not to mention my return to anyone, right?"

Marinette nodded, beaming. "Right! My lips are sealed."

"Lovely." Stepping back, Mrs. Agreste ushered them into the room. "Adrien said that you two usually do homework together after school. Are they giving you a lot, with the holidays so close?"

"It's mostly studying," Adrien told her. "We have tests today and tomorrow, and projects due. Friday is mostly just going to be relaxing. And a party in our homeroom and- Marinette, how is that going to work? Are we doing cookies and cake and chips first thing in the morning?"

"We'll be doing activities in homeroom- making the decorations and putting them up, mostly, and getting all of the food in and checked off to make sure that nothing was forgotten," Marinette reminded him. "If something like silverware or plates or a ladle for the punch was forgotten, I would get it over lunch. Then we'll get out from gym early so that we can go back and set up so that everything is ready when the rest of the class comes in. And then we feast until we make ourselves sick."

"Some of us have self-control around excessive amounts of food," Adrien teased. Marinette laughed.

"Surely you're not talking about yourself, Mr. Was-Groaning-In-His-Seat-Last-Year?"

Adrien spluttered. "I- no- okay, that was extenuating circumstances! The first school holiday party I had ever had, you can't really blame me for maybe overdoing it a little bit-"

His mom was laughing. "Darling, you overdo it at the company holiday party every year. You just love your sweets."

"Betrayed by my own mother," Adrien groaned dramatically, flopping into a chair. "Marinette didn't need to know that."

"He takes after me," his mom told Marinette. "Being dramatic runs in the family."

Adrien tried and failed to hide his grin. "I'm not dramatic."

"Sure you aren't, darling." His mom patted his head. "Just like you aren't draped over that seat like a limp piece of lettuce."

Marinette laughed. "He really is."

"Betrayed by mom and girlfriend," Adrien grumbled, straightening himself up. "Fantastic."

"And now you're pouting," Marinette said with a laugh. "But sure, you're not dramatic at all."

Adrien couldn't even try to pretend that he was actually upset. He remembered the banter that he and his mom had had before her disappearance, and he had forgotten just how much he missed it. The good-natured teasing was all in good fun, and while he had managed to create a similar dynamic with his new friends (and Ladybug, when they weren't fighting for their lives), there just wasn't nearly as much history there to drawn on.

So instead of protesting, he very smoothly changed the subject.

"I thought we were doing homework," Adrien said, righting himself and starting to pull notebooks out of his bag. He spotted Plagg in the bottom, looking bored. "We have a long sheet for Lit for review. And then Mendeleev gave us a huge review packet, as though we didn't already have enough to do with the group project."

"Group projects right before the holidays? That's no fun!" Mrs. Agreste looked appalled. "And everyone is so busy now- how are you meant to find the time to get together?"

"Well, it's more of a partner project than a group project," Marinette chimed in, settling into the seat next to Adrien. There was still a hint of laughter in her voice. "And so it's a bit easier to find times to get together. And since Adrien and I study together anyway, it's really easy. We're almost done." She grinned over at him. "Actually, why don't we finish that first? Then we can do a practice run-through of our presentation."

Adrien perked up. Oh, his mom would absolutely love that. "Yeah! Yeah, let's do that. Hang on, I'll grab my tablet, and I'll pull up the presentation we've made. You've got the notecards, right?"

"Right!"

As Adrien dug in his bag and got set up, he could see his mom settling down on the sofa, beaming as she watched the two of them interact, he couldn't help but smile. Last year, he had dreaded Christmas, his first Christmas without his mom.

This year, he was feeling the holiday spirit.

  Marinette had just gotten home from her dinner with Adrien and his mom when she received an urgent text from Master Fu: Ladybug was needed at his place as soon as possible.

It was a good thing that she had already said good-night to her parents. Sighing, Marinette called for Tikki and headed over, wondering what Master Fu could possibly need at this time at night. She ran into Chat Noir partway there. Her partner held up one clawed hand, showing off the Peacock Miraculous.

It looked sickly. It was a piece of jewelry, sure, but the colors were off and the fan seemed a little wilted. Ladybug's heart went out to Duusu, because the poor kwami had been trapped for so long, forced to keep transforming again and again.

"Master Fu just contacted me maybe five minutes ago," Chat Noir told Ladybug. "He had sent a kwami over to watch Mr. Agreste and look for an opportunity to get the Peacock so we could take the curse off. Nathalie went home for the night half an hour ago, so I could go to his home office and get it from him."

Ladybug grinned. They hadn't been sure that they would get an opportunity to get another thing checked off their list of stuff to do to get the Purple Lady taken down for good so soon. "Great! Let's get this thing to Master Fu. Hopefully he can figure out which spell was used tonight."

Chat Noir winced. "Yeah. I get the feeling that Nathalie might normally stay later. It's just that she probably got really worn out with the battle and fighting Dragoness today, so she had to go to bed early."

"I want to go to bed early," Ladybug grumbled as they wove through the streets. She made sure to glance around to make sure that they weren't being tailed. "But no such luck."

"Let me guess- once this is over, you're taking the world's longest nap?"

"After I get caught up on everything that I've been neglecting in my civilian life, at least."

Master Fu was waiting for them when they slipped it. He held out a hand for the Miraculous right away, and his expression changed to concern as soon as he spotted it.

"Oh, Duusu must be exhausted," he said sympathetically, patting the Miraculous. "It's a good thing that I bought a whole pile of fruit in preparation for this. Wayzz has been assisting me in making it into a nest of sorts so that Duusu can recharge while we work on the curse. Follow me."

Ladybug's jaw dropped when she rounded the corner and saw- just like Master Fu had said- a nest of fruit, a whole large pile of different types.

"He will only be able to absorb all of this if we keep him overnight and return him in the morning. Which will mean a very early morning for you two."

Ladybug groaned loudly. An early morning, after what was looking to likely be a long night? No thank you. But she had gotten used to functioning on minimal sleep as Ladybug, so she could muddle through the day and all of the test review. Maybe she would take a nap during lunch.

It would be really, really nice if her civilian life could just be put on hold when she had superhero stuff to deal with, but the world just didn't work like that.

"I won't keep you up all night," Master Fu told them as he placed the Peacock among the fruit. It immediately started to glow, the banana closest to it slowly starting to erode away. Ladybug stared at it, fascinated. "There's a spell to cut off the connection between Nathalie and the Peacock, so she won't be able to use it even if she wanted to. We'll start with that. And then I'll start running tests to figure out which curse was used. Looking at it- feeling the Miraculous- I'd say it's one of three possibilities, with one standing out as the strongest option."

Ladybug nodded. So they might be returning the Peacock with Duusu out. But.. "The Miraculous will look different."

"It'll be up to Mr. Agreste to hide that." Master Fu nudged a kiwi closer. It started vanishing, skin and all. "And then we'll reclaim it before our final battle. Mr. Agreste will not be wielding it. Now, if you can pass me that pot right over there- yes, that one-"

Ladybug and Chat Noir watched as Master Fu chanted over the Miraculous, with Wayzz flying around and lighting candles. They burned bright and blue, flickering in a nonexistent wind. Wayzz turned the overhead lights off, and they could all see the blue glow surrounding the Miraculous and creating a circle around it.

It was equal parts eerie and beautiful.

"So there should just be the one connection to this now," Master Fu said, passing his hand over the Miraculous once he finished the spell. "Just Nathalie. But it never hurts to check. I'll just sprinkle this herb over the Miraculous, like so-"

Ladybug frowned as she watched. "Jade Turtle, I see two connection- no, wait, three."

Master Fu was frowning as well. "So there are. That is unexpected."

"Three, and the severed one," Chat Noir chimed in. He pointed to the droopy bit of cut magic. "So there's two other people with the connection. Do you think we could ask Mrs. Agreste if she knows who else might have used the Peacock? Maybe there were several people passing it off, so that they wouldn't overexert themselves?"

Ladybug gasped and clapped her hands together as a memory came to mind. "I know one of them! Remember, Chat, when we were talking to Hawkmoth? He said that he had used the Peacock a few times!"

"Right, he used Heart!" Chat Noir remembered. "Good memory, my Lady. So that's another connection we have to break."

"His connection must be this thin one, then. It looks like someone tried to renounce the connection, but they couldn't fully do it." Jade Turtle ran his fingers along the swirling string of magic. "Probably because of Duusu's condition. And judging by the wear- he tried to renounce Duusu recently. My guess is when Nathalie took his Miraculous and he consciously made the decision to reject the Peacock." He pulled his finger back. "Unfortunate. We have to remove all of the bonds to remove the curse and for him to be able to use the Miraculous again, we would have to reinstate the bond with him present, which…well, it would be difficult. I'll sleep on that problem and try to come up with a solution for that tomorrow. But for now, let's keep on going and cut all of the connections."

"More chanting?"

Master Fu laughed. "Yes, but I'll have to do this while transformed. Wayzz?"

Ladybug smothered a yawn as Jade Turtle started up his chanting again, eyes trained on the Peacock. It had been a long day- starting with Adrien's news first thing in the morning, then the fight at lunch, and the excitement of meeting Adrien's mom as her civilian self and having dinner together while staying focused so that she wouldn't let anything slip that she wasn't meant to know. All of that had followed the excitement of getting Mrs. Agreste awakened and then moved, so really no one could blame her for being a little tired. She leaned into Chat Noir's side as she watched the candle flames dance, the first of the Peacock's connections snapping and dissolving into sparkling dust before Jade Turtle started up again. It looked like he had it under control, so she wondered why he was having her and Chat Noir stay. Maybe it was meant to be educational, but couldn't it be educational earlier in the day? Maybe not if Nathalie had only just left, but still…

Ladybug yawned another time, eyes squeezing shut. Surely Master Fu wouldn't mind if she rested her eyes just a little bit before he started testing the curse. Just for a short while.

Really.

[crazyrandomfucker]

Fated twins 

Chapter 2: The two duos of superheroes

Summary:

Superheroes. Kitty Noire and Chat Noir. Ladybug and Lordbug. Two sets of twins, two duos, two love squares. The beginnings of their superheroe time together, making their first mistakes as heroes, but also making their first attempt to improve themselves.

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-At the Dupain-Cheng bakery-

The twins have arrived to their parent's bakery and decide to go to Marinette's room. After explaining the situation to their parents, the twins finally get in Marinette's room. Marinette turns her computer on to watch the news while Marin leaves his stuff at his bedroom and comes back with an octagonal black box on his hand. Marinette notices another box next to her computer and when she turns to ask her brother about it, she finds him with his own box about to ask her the same.

"Okey, what is this? Should we open them and see what's inside?" asks Marinette.

"Yes, I think so" replied her brother.

They open the boxes at the same time and a red light shines from each box. Once the shine is gone, the twins see two ladybug-like things and two pair of earrings. Marinette's first reaction was to scream and hide behind Marin, who was kind of freaking out inside. The ladybug-like creatures float towards the twins and as they try to talk, Marinette throws them random stuff she founds near.

-At the Agreste's manor-

While Adrienne is super concentrated on the screen of the TV, Adrien is trying to see the battle climbing the climbing wall to see over their manor's wall. Adrien sees how the police is firing their guns at one of the stone monsters, but the monsters grows bigger and stronger and kicks a car. When he turns to tell his sister, he notices the two black boxes in front of her.

"Hey sis, what's that?" he asks.

"What is what?" asks the girl while looking her surroundings. "you mean this weird black boxes with this Chinese logo on them?".

"Yeah, what are those?" says Adrien as he climbs down.

"Beats me, I thought this were yours" she says.

"There's only one way to know it then" says as he picks up a box.

"Let's see" says as she opens the other box.

When she opens the box, a green light shines and makes Adrien to drop his box as he covers his eyes and his box opens because of the fall, leading to another flash of green light. When the twins look again, they find two black cat-like creatures floating and two silver rings. Adrienne squeaks and grabs one of the creatures, just to begin to pet it while adoring how cute it is. on the other hand, Adrien stares in awe the other creature.

"Hey, it's like the genie in the lamp" Says the boy as he tries to touch it.

"I'm not one and I don't grant wishes or any big deal. I'm way more personable. The name's Plagg, nice to meet you" says the creature talking non-stop.

"Unhand me human! I know I'm cute but that's not reason to grab me as if I was your pet!" yells the other creature as it successfully tries to escape. "Geez, do not even think about doing that again. Now, my name's Plague and I'm one of the black cat kwamis".

-At the Dupain-Cheng bakery-

Marin calms his sister down and catches the two floating creatures on a glass bottle.

"Okay, if you feel more calm this way. We're just here to help you, Marin and Marinette." says one of the creatures.

"What are you? And how do you know our names?" asks Marin.

"We're kwamis. I'm Tikki and he's Tekke. Now let us explain" says the other creature.

-At the Agreste's manor-

Adrien is trying to catch Plagg as the kwami floats around the enormous room, playing with random stuff and breaking a few things. Adrienne is luckier and she catches Plagg when he crashes with a controller that Plague had thrown at him.

"Thanks sis. Look Plagg, Plague, We don't know what you're doing here".

"Look kid, we're kwamis, we grant powers and both of you will have the power of destruction. Got it?" says Plagg.

"Nope" say the twins at unison.

"Good. Now, do you have food? We're starving here" says Plague.

"Father must be pranking us" says Adrienne.

"He couldn't be, he has no sense of humour" says Adrien.

"Yea, your father must never know that we exists" declares Plague.

"Or anyone for that matter" says lazily Plagg.

-At the Dupain-Cheng bakery-

Marinette tries to call their mother, but the kwamis phase through the bottle and stop in front of her.

"You must trust us please" says Tekke.

"You are the only ones that can defeat and save the Stonehearts" says Tikki.

"It was nothing mom, there was a bug but I've taken care of it" shouts Marin to the stairs.-

"But this has to be some mistake. The only superpower I have is a super awkwardness. I know! Alya would know, that's my friend, or at least I think she would. She loves superheroes and she should be totally up for the job. You should go see her". says Mari super nervous.

"Marinette" says Tikki as the girl reacts to her name. "You're the chosen one and so is your brother".

-At the Agreste's manor-

"But we're stuck here" complains Adrien.

"We're not even allowed to go to school. What kind of superheroes would be someone who was imprisoned at their own house!" agrees Adrienne.

"No good" says Plague.

"That's why is going all to change soon" states Plagg as he rolls on a toilet paper roll. "If you're willing to change, that is".

-At the Dupain-Cheng bakery-

"Okey, all we've got to do is break the object of the whatdidyoucallit is hiding" says Marin as he puts the earrings on his left ear.

"It's called an akuma, which you must then capture" says Tekke.

"Got it" says Marinette. "capture it. And what's this charm thing again?"

"The Lucky Charm. It's your secret superpower" answers Tikki.

"Ugh, this is all going too fast Tekke, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it" says Marin.

"I-I won't be able to put this off Tikki" says Mari.

"Trust yourselves. Marin, Marinette just say Spots on" says Tekke.

"Spots on?" ask the twins at unison as they begin to transform and getting super confused.

-At the Agreste's manor-

"Claws out, that's what you say to transform" says Plague as the models put on their rings.

"Got it. Plagg, Claws out!" says Adrien posing as he transforms.

Adrienne snorts at the view of his brother. "You're a dork Adrien. Sailor Moon, seriously you just posed as Sailor Moon while you were transforming?"

"I mean, what would you have done? Or better phrased, what are you going to do to transform huh?" replies the boy.

"Just watch and learn from the master brother. Plague, Claws out!" says the girl while posing as a neko.

Adrien laughs his ass off. "You're incredible sis, don't let anyone say otherwise. But seriously, this is too cool".

"Gotta agree on that one" says his sister.

-At the Dupain-Cheng bakery-

"Oh, come on! Tikki! If you can hear me, I want my normal clothes back. I'm not going anywhere like this" says Mari.

"It could be worse sis" says Marin, checking his superhero outfit.

"You say that because yours it's not a full body spandex with a bright red color that could be seen from the Eiffel Tower and black polka dots" replies the girl.

"Well, mine it's not that different on colors matters. I have a spandex jacket with exactly the same colors you're wearing and black spandex jeans, which happen to have the special boys’ zone colored red with, guess what? Black polka dots" sasses the boy.

Then, the reporter begins to speak again and the twins turn to watch to the screen, just to watch how their new best friends we're riding a bike while filming the monster from too much close. They panic at the sight of their overenthusiasmated friends and rash upstairs to go to Marinette's balcony.

"So we've got new superpowers, but how are we supposed to go throw Paris? Because the kwamis didn't talk about flying as a superpower" says Mari.

"Okey, so I guess this," says Marin as he picks a yoyo he has attached on his hip "is supposed to be our magical weapon and we can swing around with it".

Marinette throws her yoyo to see how far it reaches and the yoyo reaches and holds to one of Notre Dame's gargoyles. Marin does the same and then they pull the yoyo's string to propel themselves through the air, but Marinette doesn't control well enough her strength and Marin's yoyo gets loose while he's on the air, making both of the twins fly not in the way they had expected or wanted. At the same time, two black cats are walking over their extended poles from one rooftop to another, laughing about how dumb does the other look. Adrienne is trying to walk on her hands on the pole when they her two screams and caught a black and red glimpse before the two bugs crash on them, leaving Adrien and Mari tied on Mari's yoyo and hanging upside down from Adrien's pole and leaving Adrienne tied by Marin's yoyo and the later suffering because he had landed on the pole, but with his sensitive spot instead of his feet. Then Marin slowly slides from the pole and falls untying Adrienne, who falls on him and whose baton hits Marin's face.

"Well, nice of you to drop in" says Adrien.

"Though sorry for falling on you" says Adrienne.

Adrien unties himself and gelty lands on the floor. "I belive you're the partners our kwami told us about. I'm... Chat Noir, yeah, Chat Noir".

"And I'm Kitty Noire then. Who are you?"

"I'm Ma... madly clumsy" says Mari as she unties herself and tries to get back the yoyo, making that Chat's pole hits him on the head.

"I'm too damaged to think now" answers Marin with a soft voice.

"Oh, poor you. Here, need a hand" says Kitty as she tends her hand to Marin and helps him to get up.

A building falls on the distance and Chat turns jumps to the nearest roof. "No sweat, clumsy girl and damaged boy, but I think they need us".

"Wait, where are you going?" asks Mari.

"To save Paris!" shouts Kitty, following her brother's lead.

The heroes head to the stadium as the stone monsters arrive and try to catch Kim and Cleón, just to be save at the last minute by the black cat twins who clash their batons in front of the monsters and slide between the monsters and the victims.

"Hey, it's not very nice to pick on people who are smaller than you" says Chat.

"I guess you're talking about you" says one of the monsters before they begin to attack the cat-themed heroes.

Kitty hits two of the monsters extending her baton, but the monsters grow in size and strength. At the same time, the ladybug-themed superheroes arrive to the stadium and watch their partners fighting the akumas.

"Wow, that girl is just so badass. You'd never say it's her first day at superheroes' business" says Marin gawking.

"Where are you partners?" asks Chat.

"Oh, I can't, I'm not going to be able to do it" says Marinette, covering her face.

The monsters grab one goal and throw it to the cat twins, who duck on time to evade but see that the goal has bounced and is going to crush Alen and Alya, who were filming the fight. The twins throw their baton and they extend over the reporter teens, stopping the goal before hitting them, but leaving them defenceless as the akumas catch them.

"What are you waiting for super red hotties? The word is watching you!" shouts Alya to the bug twins.

Marin regains focus and his sister is filled with determination. They both jump and trust their instincts to grab the monsters with the yoyos and slide beneath their legs, engaging fighting mode.

"Animal cruelty?" asks Mari

"How shameful" answers her brother and they pull their yoyos at once, making the akumas fall as they release the cats.

"Yes!" say Alen and Alya at unison.

"Sorry it took so long" apologizes Marin.

"We were out of our minds" says Mari.

"It's cool wonderbugs" says Kitty.

"Now let's kick their rocky behind!" says Chat, charging to battle, but Mari pulls his tail to stop him.

"Wait, haven't you noticed? They get bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to do something different" explains Mari.

"Different how?" asks the cat-girl.

"I... I don't know" says Marin.

"Okay then, let's use our powers! Cataclysm!" shouts Adrien and a black blorby aura appears on his hand. "Apparently we destroy whatever we touch" says as he touches the goal and it turns to dust.

"I don't need a superpower to destroy everything" says the bug-girl.

"Wait, do you remember you only have one shot? And that you'll detransform after five minutes from that?" says Marin.

"Uhhh. I guess we were too excited about our new life" confesses Kitty.

"Is up to us then, kitty, save your cataclysm for later. Bro, let's try our best" says Mari.

"Lucky charm!" shout the twins and a wetsuit and a jack fall on their hands.

"Wow, that's a superpower for you" says the tomcat.

"Our kwamis said that we had to break the object where that akuma is hiding" says Marin ignoring him.

"Well, they are made entirely of stone and I can only use cataclysm once" says Kitty.

"Their hands! Each of them have a hand closed and never open them so that's where the object on which the akumas are hiding must be" realizes Mari.

"So, what now?" asks Kitty.

The buggy twins begin to look around. Mari sees Chat, The closed fist, the Lucky Charm's object, a hose and Alya. Then she ties up the hands and legs of the wetsuit, puts the hose in the hole of the neck and ties it so the water won't come out. Meanwhile, Marin sees the jack, a tennis net, a ball, a bucket filled with water and Kityy.

"Kitty, can you try to tie one of them while I distract him?" whispers Marin.

"Sure thing" she answers .

"Chat, relax and trust me okay?" says Mari while she ties Chat's feet with the yoyo and throws him to one of the monsters, who grabs him.

"This girl is nuts" says Chat.

Then, while Mari jumps to the monster with the wetsuit by her side, making the monster drop a purple rock as he catches her, Marin kicks the ball to the other monster face luring him to the hero, who throws the water when the akumatized Ioan gets close enough confusing him enough time for Kitty to wrap him up with the net. Marinette calls for Alya's help and the girl turns of the hose, making the wetsuit expand quickly enough that the akuma's hand opens and she destroys the rock with a solid kick. A purple butterfly flies from the rock and the rock and Ivan turn back to normal. Meanwhile, Marin had opened the other Stoneheart's hand with the jack and had given the rock to Kitty, who destroyed with her cataclysm and the other butterfly flee and Ioan and his paper come back to normal.

"Wow, this girl is amazing" whispers Chat.

"Wow girl, you've been awesome, is this really your first time?" asks Marin.

"You shouldn't ask that to a lady little bug" replies Kitty, tapping his nose.

"Ugh, what am I doing here?" say at unison the confused deakumatized brothers.

"You were incredible miss uh... What should I call you?" says Chat.

"Mmmmh... Call me Ladybug chatton" says Mari.

"Then you may call me Lordbug little kitty" says Marin to Kitty Noire.

"You were also an incredible beetle. Seems like you bugs did it" replies her.

"No, we all did it partners" says Ladybug.

"Pound it!" say the four superheroes as they pound their fists, but Chat's ring begins to beep.

"Sounds like you should get going, our identities must remain secret" says Mari.

"Farewell the M'Lady, My Lord" says Chat and then jumps his way out of the stadium.

"I'll make sure that idiot makes it back home, but I hope we meet again soon" says Kitty, following her twin.

"Uh-huh, not too soon I hope" says the Lady.

The beetle twins unfold the balls of papers and after reading them, they reach for the Bruel brothers and comfort them, but also telling them that they didn't have to rash up anything to confess and Lordbug tells Ioan that it doesn't matters if he's in love with a guy, that he should just follow his heart to reach happiness. But soon the reporter twins surround them while filming with their phones.

"That was amazing! Are you going to protect Paris now?" asks excitedly Alya.

"How did you got your powers? Were you bitten by a radioactive ladybug?" asks even more excited Alen.

Their earrings beep. "We're sorry, but we have to go before we turn back to our civilians selves. Bugs out!" says Ladybug before they swing away.

And so, the two ladybug-themed superheroes arrive to their homes just in time, detransforming the second they land on Marinette's balcony. They go inside and they stay there, quiet, not sure about what to say. The day had been so full of very incredible events. They had just saved Paris from two stone monsters along their partners. And their partners, oh their amazing partners, who had managed to fight so amazingly that Marin could only feel awe when he thought of them. They had been so supportive to the designers twins. They stayed there, but Mari turned on the TV, just in time to see how grateful and curious Paris was about the. When the news where almost over, their mother called them to have dinner.

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