Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey Plagg?” Adrien was taking a break from Piano practice. He found he enjoyed it more when his father let him practice music of his own choosing instead of constant Sonatas and Concertos. His Kwami, in a rare moment not eating cheese, was lounging in the light from the window. “Where do you go when your Miraculous isn’t being used?”

“Um, I sits where I fits.” Plagg quipped, Adrien shaking his head.

“No I mean…when you don’t have a holder.”

“Oh, there. Well it’s not really a THERE so much as it’s an IS.” The Kwami grabbed a slice of Camembert to illustrate his point, to Adrien’s dismay at another cheese related explanation. “So your existence is here. The cheese rind. And our existence is here, the delicious gooey cheese holding everything up. Unfortunately it is not actually made of cheese and I am distraught by this fact. But what it IS made up of is us Kwami.” Plagg poked a little smiley face into the soft cheese to illustrate his point.

“Okay…so where you aren’t here you are in the…universal camembert cheese?”

“Yes, but also no. Us Kwami are technically always there. Can you imagine what would happen if there was no camembert holding up the rind?” To illustrate their point, Plagg ate the inside of the cheese leaving a sad deflated rind behind. “Look at your world. It is now sad and empty.” The cheese rind hung limp in Plagg’s paws as they flailed it about in Adrien’s face, who promptly smacked it into the air only for Plagg to finish it off in one bite.

“Cheese Apocalypse aside, I still don’t understand how you can be in two places at once.”

“We’re not. It’s more.” Adrien looked even more confused and exasperated. “Okay so, look, the Miraculous allow a tiny portion of our power through to your world to be wielded by humans. But you’re not the only one using that power. There are other slices of Camembert in a cheese wheel with their own Chat Noirs, Ladybugs, and Hawk Moths. But it is all held up by the same delicious cheese on the inside. Despite how much power you wield it is but a fraction of a fraction that we are able to share without collapsing reality as you know it.”

“I feel like I should be experiencing some existential dread right now, but honestly I am more surprised you offered up this information.” Plagg grinned at their Chosen.

“If the Order didn’t want me sharing, they should have put another binding spell on me.”

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“He’s so tiny.” Duusu looked at the little bundle of joy that was Adrien Agreste. There was something so magical about life being born that fascinated them. Perhaps it was, in a way, similar to how Duusu could make life from emotion. A lot messier but nonetheless the same result. Emilie held her child, tears streaming from her face as she looked upon him with love. Since she had come home from the hospital she’d fawned over him. This was her baby boy.

“He has your eyes.” Gabriel stood vigil over his wife and son, almost afraid that if he blinked they would just vanish. “And your laugh.” He watched as Duusu gave the infant a little kiss, resulting in a giggling baby. “If you two want to come out and see Adrien, you may.” Nathalie and Maurice flinched from their hiding spot by the door, having been caught peeking at the family while trying to not be in the way.

“We didn’t want to impose ourselves…” Nathalie said as she hesitantly came into the room, Maurice in tow.

“You say that like you won’t be part of his life.” Emilie chuckled, Adrien trying to catch Duusu as they flew around the infant. “You two are family, you know this.” Nathalie looked sheepish, a rare appearance for her, as she looked upon Adrien. She was scared to be around him, afraid her demeanor would frighten the boy. Afraid to hold such a fragile being in her arms. Afraid he wouldn’t like her.

“You are his god-parents.” Gabriel broke Nathalie from her thoughts. “We wouldn’t have asked if we didn’t think of you as family.” Nathalie allowed a small smile to appear on her lips while Maurice showed Adrien all the funny faces he could make, resulting in a very excited infant.

“We’ll be here for you Adrien.” Emilie gave a gentle kiss to her son’s forehead. “Always.”

Chapter Text

Adrien put the Power-Up Camembert in his mini-fridge, Plagg mumbling about how Fu ruined perfectly good cheese.

“It is good to see Plagg hasn’t eaten you out of house and home.” Fu chuckled, Plagg looking offended.

“I have a refined palate thank you!”

“Any questions you may have I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.” Adrien had finally been presented with an opportunity to learn some of what Ladybug had learned, yet he wasn’t sure what questions to actually ask now that he could. So he started with the simplest thing that came to mind.

“Why me?” He felt weird asking the question, knowing there was a tangible reason behind it and it scared him a little. Fu merely smiled.

“Despite what some might think, our first meeting when I played the role of helpless old man was not the only deciding factor. It would be foolish to hand out a Miraculous to random people who showed one act of kindness. The beginning of the school year was not the first time Hawk Moth was active; I had come to Paris a few years ago from hearsay alone as, to the trained ear, it sounded like a Miraculous was in use. Until his public debut, I set about with Wayzz to research the people of Paris and hopefully find holders should the need arise.” Wayzz, the Kwami of Preservation, floated up to Adrien.

“Master Fu would have me look around for potential candidates to wield a Miraculous and observe their behaviors. I do apologize for being intrusive, but it was imperative that we found proper holders without tipping anyone off that we were here.”

“Basically kid, you impressed them so you got to go to step two.” Plagg interjected. Adrien looked back at that day, doing what he thought was right even though it meant he would be forced back home, and knew he never expected anything to happen because of it. He wondered what Ladybug had done to pass her final trial. With Ladybug in mind he did have another question.

“Why does Ladybug have two powers if I only have one? If the Ladybug and Black Cat are equals, shouldn’t I also have a second power?”

“You do,” Fu stated. Adrien looked confused, then somewhat accusatory towards Plagg who shrugged and went back to his cheese. “All Miraculous have more than one power. These powers just align with all that the Kwami are. What makes the Ladybug and Black Cat special is they share a portion of their power with the other. Ladybug’s purification, for example, is an aspect of destruction.” Fu pointed at Plagg. “You should have told him about the weapon shifting ability.”

“But that’s woooork.” Plagg bemoaned.

“Weapon shifting?” Adrien took Fu’s attention back with the question.

“With concentration, Miraculous wielders may shape their weapon to their preferences, like how Paon Bleu uses a rapier instead of a fan. The Black Cat is special in that you may do this while transformed, so long as you know what you are making. This is the aspect of creation held by Plagg’s Miraculous.” Adrien was stunned by the prospect of being able to turn his baton into a literal paw -senal, he high fived himself mentally for the pun, and had every intention of abusing the hell out of this new ability. Apparently his face went on a journey because by the time he focused back on the world, Master Fu and Wayzz were staring at him in confusion while Plagg was complaining how they ‘corrupted his kid’.

Chapter Text

Adrien just stood there and held his childhood friend as she quietly wept. Today had been a lot for her. Between being Akumatized to her mother publicly humiliating her on live television, Chloé just needed a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.

“I don’t understand,” She was whimpering at this point. “Why doesn’t she love me?” Adrien shifted awkwardly trying to think of how to respond. This was not a question he did not feel equipped to answer. Adrien was someone who liked to see the best in people. That the potential to be a better version of themselves was possible. Audrey Bourgeois was not one of those people though. Unlike his Father, she actively and outwardly antagonized everyone and everything. If you weren’t worthy of her time, you were ignored. While Gabriel Agreste had made Adrien feel ignored at times in the past, he always had someone check up on him. The times where he did show up, he wouldn’t forget his name. Because Gabriel HAD been a good father and was trying to be a good father once again, to push past his grief and be there for the son he realized he’d been abandoning to wallow in self-pity. Audrey had never been a good person.

“Some people…” He awkwardly began to formulate his thoughts into words. “Some people love themselves so much they don’t have any to share with others.” He remembered the words his Mother spoke to him when asking about Audrey a long time ago when the mother and son went to surprise Gabriel with a visit during a past fashion event. He didn’t really understand at the time, as he’d seen his own Father act similarly once. But even then, he’d been able to turn around and give love to his family.

“I just-why can’t I have what you have? What Dupain-Cheng has?” Chloé’s makeup had smeared onto his shirt, mixing with tears and mucus. It broke his heart to see her so vulnerable.

“You could. I mean, okay so I know how you can be. Like how you can really be. When I saw you at school it gave me whiplash with how different it was. If people got to know the real you, the Chloé I grew up with, I know they’d support you.” He sighed. “I know I’ve been passive with you, not really coming to your aid when you need it and trying to pass off your behavior…but when you act like your mom it scares me.” Bleary red eyes look up at Adrien, a small frown accompanying them. “I want to stay friends with you and I want you to have people who care about you. But in order to do that, you need to stop being your mother and be Chloé Bourgeois.” She let out a bitter chuckle.

“Yeah, because that went well with the party I threw.” Adrien looked his friend in the eyes.

“I gave you an ultimatum that I kind of chickened out of at the last minute. One that threatened to take away part of your support network. That shouldn’t have been the incentive or the consequence.” Chloé’s tears had stopped, but the pain was still there in her chest. She thought about all the people she could call on and see her in this state. The list was very short, she realized, with Adrien, Sabrina, and her butler…Jean…Jean Armand. She seemed horrified when she recalled his name, knowing she’d actually almost forgotten it in an effort to be like her mother.

“...I don’t want to be alone.” She said meekly to Adrien. He nodded and took her to find Nathalie, wanting to see if she could stay for dinner tonight. He wasn’t going to abandon her when she needed it.

Chapter Text

“What else can you turn it into?” Ever since Ladybug saw Chat Noir turn his Baton into other weapons mid-fight, she was both curious and envious. Chat looked at his weapon and mulled it over before extending it and slamming it into the ground, popping a scythe-blade out the top. He gave it a twirl and it turned into a War-Hammer.

“I think anything? If I know it exists, or if I can think it?” He returned his baton to its natural state while Ladybug was looking things up on her yoyo. She showed him a picture and, as skeptical as he looked, Chat attempted to mimic the form. He was now holding the Energy Sword from Halo, or at least the hilt handle. He jiggled it a little and both parties were disappointed when it stayed stagnant.

“I was kind of hoping that would work.” Ladybug said, a little defeated. Chat looked at the weapon again and furrowed his brow in thought. “Cataclysm.” Out from the handle came forth the iconic Energy Sword of the Energy Sword, but black and crackly like a primed cataclysm.

“YOOOOOOOOOO!” The heroes exclaimed in unison.

Chapter Text

“I did it, Tikki!” Marinette watched the news report on the recent fight against Stoneheart. Being a superhero wasn’t something she ever expected to be.

“I told you, Marinette, you were up to the task.” The little godling spoke, giving their new chosen a gentle pat on the head.

“Marinette! Dinner time!” Sabine called from downstairs, the teen heading down while Tikki nibbled on a strawberry macaron. They were proud of Marinette for doing what needed to be done. With Plagg and their chosen, Nooroo would be saved in no time.

The good feelings didn’t last as the next day of school turned everything was about to go sideways. Marinette followed Ivan out of the classroom as Chloé berated the boy over yesterday in an attempt to see if she could help. The idea wasn’t terrible, a show of sincerity through song to let Mylène know how he felt. Tikki thought it was sweet and hoped to send a little extra creativity Ivan’s way to help.

Alya was animatedly showing Marinette ‘The Ladyblog’. A new passion project hoping to get the scoop on everything about the heroes. Marinette tried to keep an even look, but did find it both flattering and worrying that her new friend was going to try and be at any future attack. When asked why ‘The Ladyblog’, Alya admitted she couldn’t think of anything using both heroes that sounded good. It was at this point, 'The Gum Incident' would go down in history as one of the weirdest starts to an 'enemies to lovers' story.

“I shouldn’t have given him that advice Tikki, now Stoneheart is back.” Marinette tried finding a reasonable place to hide that had an exit for Ladybug to escape through.

“Maybe something happened, you can’t predict every outcome. I’m just surprised he’s so powerful this time. That only really happens when the corrupted Butterfly isn’t captured.” The needle dropped as Marinette looked at Tikki in worry.

“Tikki I messed up big time! After the first fight everything was just happening so fast and I completely forgot to capture it.” Tikki’s big eyes almost bugged out of their head hearing this. “I knew this was a mistake.” Before she could remove the Miraculous, Tikki’s small limbs grabbed Marinette’s nose and brought the girl’s attention to them.

“Marinette, this is important. Yes, you messed up, but you’re also new. You’ve proven once that you can do it, so do it again. This time you will capture the Butterfly; Don’t give up!” The little pep-talk at least got Marinette to transform and leave to help her partner from facing a stronger foe alone.

“I didn’t promise?” Chloé’s words confused the heck out of her, just setting the girl down letting her run to her father, the Mayor. When she heard the Lieutenant give the all clear to attack, she didn’t know what he was thinking. Aside from it would just make Stoneheart bigger, he still was holding Mylène and she definitely could be hurt by the assault.

“Wait, don't attack them! You know it'll only make it worse!” But her voice became muted by a sneer from the Officer.

“ I have a new plan, unlike you! Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You've already failed once!” Marinette felt numb, the words piercing her worse than any physical blow. She HAD failed. If she had captured the butterfly in the first place, if she had done her job right, no one would be in danger right now. Her hands moved to her ears, ready to just end it. She wasn’t a hero, she was some dumb klutzy kid who got ‘lucky’. A hand grabbed her by the wrist, keeping her from removing the miraculous.

“Don’t talk down to her like that. If I remember correctly, she took this guy down once already while you haven’t. I’d say that would make us the ‘Pros’ here. Not to mention if she hadn’t been here, Ch- that girl would be a smear on the pavement after you antagonized him!” His free hand pointed towards Stoneheart who was starting to shake a little and looked sick almost.

No one expected him to start vomiting up Black Butterflies. The air felt heavier somehow as the little creatures swarmed and coalesced into a helmet with a Butterfly visor that seemed to stare into the very souls of the people. A voice emanated from the swarm as the wings of the corrupted Butterflies shifted and fluttered to produce a mimicry of speech.

“Citizens of Paris, I am Hawk Moth!” All eyes were firmly focused on what was surely the herald of uncertain times. “You have all witnessed the power of my Akuma. Resistance will only bring pain. But I am merciful.” The swarm shifted to look directly at Ladybug and Chat Noir. “All I ask is for the Ladybug and Black Chat Miraculous. You’ve already done enough damage to these innocent people.”

Marinette wasn’t entirely sure what possessed her, but Hawk Moth’s words made her angry.

“Really now, because from where I’m standing it looks like YOU are the one causing damage by turning people into rampaging monsters.” Her voice rang out clear and concise. “So if anyone is handing over their Miraculous, it’s going to be you!” The signature thwip of her yo-yo echoed as it shot out, carving through the corrupted butterflies, the Akuma, catching them all and silencing the villain’s monologue. Chat stood in awe of his partner’s newfound confidence.

“Citizens of Paris, I make a promise to you! No matter how long it takes, Chat Noir and Ladybug will be here to protect you from anyone who would seek harm upon you. And if Hawk Moth is listening, we will not rest until Paris is free from your corruption!” The explosion of purified butterflies flew out of her yoyo in a display that everyone would remember for years.

It was raining because of course it was. After purifying the Akuma that corrupted her classmate things started to get better. Turns out she could restore any damage done, at least physically. Riding off the high of her victory, Marinette had kicked Chloé out of her seat, refusing to back down any more. Now she just stood there contemplating if she should make a run for it to the Bakery.

“H-Hey.” She turns slightly to see Adrien Agreste, umbrella in hand. She looks away, not wanting to give him the time of day. “Listen, I really was just trying to take the gum off your seat. After my mom…Father didn’t want me to be unsupervised. I haven’t been to school or interacted with kids my age since Maternelle.” Marinette didn’t know what to think, but everything he said felt so genuine. Her hand touched his as he offered the umbrella, only for it to snap shut on the two of them. The shock wore off quickly and Adrien began to laugh at the absurdity of what had happened. It was the most beautiful sound Marinette had ever heard. As the limo showed up to take Adrien back home, he waved to her with a smile.

“See you tomorrow?” Marinette could only nod dumbly, her words fumbling out.

“See…morrow you…to…” Her face was flush with embarrassment as he left. Tikki popped out of the purse with a knowing grin on their face.

“You liiiiiike him.” This only served to make the girl blush harder.

Chapter Text

Fu was delighted to see Wayzz once more as Gabriel returned the Miraculous. After Nora was de-akumatized, she and Alya had a heart to heart about the situation. Akumas were frightening things. They could be anywhere and anyone for any reason. It put people on edge and, much like the rest of Paris, Nora didn’t like how helpless it made her feel. She stuck around to ‘chaperone’ the teens for her own nerves, much like a certain Peacock did from the shadows. He retreated home with the Turtle Miraculous once the fireworks began.

“I see you have let Adrien stay out.” Fu commented. Gabriel huffed, though the way he twisted his wedding band betrayed his nerves.

“He is a boy. He is allowed time with his friends.” Fu merely smiled.

“As you say.”

“...The Butterfly can only send out ONE Tiānshǐ, Akuma I suppose in this case, at a time, correct?” Fu sipped his tea in thought.

“Depending on how skilled the wielder is…creating a single one can take a lot out of them. Though I suppose spacing out their creation could allow for multiple to be released at once. Why?”

“After Anansi was defeated, a second Akuma appeared. Camel themed. Honestly if Hawk Moth was smart making a Camel Spider instead of a Camel and a Spider might have…what?” Gabriel looked at Fu, his face gone pale.

“Did you say Camel?” A look of concern on his face stirred Gabriel’s own concern.. “Oh that’s not good…if it’s what I think…”

“Master, this sounds like Hawk Moth may be in possession of Feruss.” Wayzz spoke up.

“The Kwami of Retaliation…Gabriel, we need to restore the Peacock Miraculous to full. Assuming this was indeed a Miraculous and not a second Akuma, Hawk Moth might have more up his sleeve than we realized.”