Bio! Dad Strange part 11 Becoming Ladybug
Edit: just adding tags and taglist since people seem to be having trouble finding this one. Next update is roughed out for someparts, and as always, these are majority draft, with edited and soemtimes more details on ao3 from this part on. See link at the end for details.
Taglist is still open.
So now we begin cannon time tweaks. And yes, Marinette’s crush season begins in this episode. because cumulative story telling is better.
Marinette knew her summer was not good-good, but pretended it was. Jay and Tim took a lot out of her.
Then somehow the Flash dropped a letter off to Frost and she writes back to him that way, mostly to talk about cases he gets stuck on. Frost rolls his eyes at this, and keeps asking if they have another uncle on the way.
She didn’t know how to answer.
Mr. Raincomprix saw one of Flash’s letters in the first week back and told her that he’d handle making sure her identity wasn’t obvious. He knew the JL had leaks before, and added that once in her letter, stating that he’d be making sure she wasn’t given cases to help him that were too much for her age.
Flash agreed on the condition officer Raincomprix didn't tell his superior officers.
So just like that Marinette agreed to help the Flash when he got stuck, or if she was being honest, let him train her in forensic analysis under her Maman’s nose.
He asked how she was doing a few times. She wrote that she was still scared that someone would take her away still. He mentioned he had The League set up a meeting in November to talk to the French government over their treatment of metas.
She was glad he was trying but scared it’d backfire. She hoped for the best.
She tried to put her mind back onto school when the year started up.
Her friends were in her class, all of them this year. And she noticed how Kim looked at Chloe. That... wasn't good. She knew Chloe only liked one boy that way, and that was Adrikins. Which Kim knew.
Her idiot brother was going to get his heart broken.
Max and her shared a look. He knew too then.
Sabrina was quick to claim the seat next to Marinette, something about Chloe needing to help Adrikins adjust.
Marinette nodded, and got Sabrina to go off on another cold case she solved—this time on her own!
Alix took one look at the class and sat with... cute redhead art boy.
There was also two new red heads, but they sat together and were talking a lot. Nino was in the front on the other side—Bustier kept him there so he’d focus.
New blonde—Adrikins? Came in with Chloe. Who was clinging to him and she could feel Kim raging.
She hoped he didn't do anything dumb.
A really bug guy sat down on the other side. And a goth and.. sunshine girl. She decided the girl next to goth is sunshine now.
And the only girl smaller than Marinette came, and sat by Nino.
Apparently Kim knows Really Big Guy and stole something from him.
She’d hit him harder during ‘self-defense practice’ for that.
Miss Bustier came in and introduced the new kids—Adrikin is Adrien, and the redheads are Alya and Lila. The girls just moved here, and it was Adrien’s first day of public school...
She checked her phone for his last name while Bustier went over introductions. Something was familiar about—oh. Oh, that’s why.
His mother was missing for a year before being pronounced legally dead when she came back. She wasn’t allowed to touch that case—it was too public for her and Sabrina to be allowed to. Chances are she’s dead for real now or had serious damage done to her. She still wanted to break into the database to help, but she didn’t want to anger any members of the ‘dad squad’ or ‘mom squad’ this early in the year...
“Now, I want you all to give a warm welcome to them!”
Marinette nodded, moving closer to Sabrina as she and Chloe spoke to Adrien. Who she felt the need to keep safe—maybe like a puppy? Probably like a baby duck.
He needs help and honestly she has a feeling Chloe is his only friend his age. That needed to be fixed, but Marinette has a head full of things she doesn't want to touch and is not adding ‘help rich boy that Chloe is crushing on’ to her list yet.
“And Mari is just a fabulous designer, remember the superman suit i showed you?”
And now she was involved. Damnit.
“Really?” Adrien turned to her with a too bright smile. God, what was with this year? Two sunshines! Two?
Marinette nodded. “He has a decent color palette to work off of, so it wasn’t hard. The Flash dress was more fun to work with.”
It took her hours to stitch each bolt just so and get the right cut. Plus, a cute belt went with it. she got an A on that one for everyday wear.
“That’s awesome, maybe I can model for you sometime?”
Oh god he has kitten eyes. She was going to die by sunshine son. Hopefully sunshine daughter didn’t take to him too, or she would be killed by urge to protect the optimists.
“Maybe? I don’t know what my theme this year is yet, but i’ll keep you posted!” Wrong. She was avoiding the JL theme is all. And Villains. Maybe she could do animals?
Big guy and Kim were making noise. A lot of it. When she turned around Big Guy was told to leave by Bustier.
What did Kim do this time?
He wasn’t looking at her then. Oh, he knew he messed up then. Definitely kicking his butt during practice, hard.
Class began then. When they let out for study in the library she kicked Kim.
“What did you do?”
“No, nothing.”
“Kim...”
“It wasn’t anything bad Nettie, I swear!”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Then why did Bustier kick him out?”
“I, uh...”
“Kim!”
Something wrong Marinette?” Adrien asked, turning around from the front.
“Nothing for you to worry about, Sabrina can you help Chloe out for now, I have to talk to Kim.”
There was an... Earthquake? she didn’t know, she was down and no. this is Paris, no supervillains here--the may-as-well-kill-me-meta policies made sure of that.
“KIM!” Yelled something.
Marinette ran to the window. The new Red head pair was there too.
“Did you see that!”
“Alya no.”
“Alya yes! Battery check, GPS check, I am so out of here!” Alya ran off with a grin.
“Wait! Supervillain protocol says stay in---urgh!” the other red head, Lila? ran after Alya.
Marinette paled. Kim was in danger.
Her phone rang. “Marinette you are to come home right now--do you hear me!”
She nodded. “Yes Maman. Be right there.”
She looked around, everything was... not okay.
She was the last one there. It... didn’t sit right.
She tried her backup phone. Maybe the JL should get involved? Tim wasn’t picking up. still.
“Tim I know you’re mad at me right now but something happened in Paris. I’ll update you as soon as I can, but, some rock monster just showed up at my school. If you can get the League here, that’d be great. It, it might be magic--every meta is jailed or able to hide it so...” she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Call me back when you get this, please.”
Marinette ran home then. She could feel the adrenaline screwing with her treatments--sensory overload--things were louder already. She ran home. Her parents told her to go to her room for now.
She noticed Maman had a.... broken mop? Papa was on the phone while she ran up her ladder and watched the news. Raincomprix was injured.
She tightened her grip on her chair. the metal creaked.
“Not again...” Marinette opened her drawer. then froze.
“What the...” an octagonal box. red and black (your colors, a voice murmured in the back of her mind).
She carefully examined it. Nothing odd, just a random jewelry box in her room. that she never saw before. Maybe Nonno or her parents left her a random present---it wasn’t too out of character for them.
She opened it. there was a light and blurs and then--
“What are you!” no, no no no no no no NO. This was not happening.
“Everything’s okay, don’t be scared,” the, bug mouse? no, thing. thing was more accurate.
Marinette grabbed her pencil holder and chucked it at the thing.
It phased through.
“Listen Marinette,” it knew her name. danger. isolate threat and call fro help. “If this makes you more comfortable.”
Marinette called Tim discreetly. She hoped he’d get these messages and be able to make sense of this. He dealt with magic users, not her. She’s science. And kind of kryptonian so magic was bad for her.
“What are you and how do you know my name?” Get information while waiting for help.
“I’m a kwami, and my name is Tikki, now let me explain.”
Marinette didn’t take her eyes off the thing. Kwami.
“Maman, Papa!”
The thing flew out, “No! Marinette no one can know you have me!”
Red flag. Big red flag.
“Why?”
“Kwami, we are entire concepts and given to wielders that match us. You, you’ve been my wielder in other lifetimes and universes even.”
This sounded more and more like a cult recruitment.
“Maman!”
“I need you trust me, you’re the only one who can stop Stoneheart.”
Marinette froze. Raincomprix was injured. Kim was the target. And she could... could stop it?
“How?”
The thing perked up at that. “You transform with me. Put on the earrings and after you sat the phrase, you can use my abilities. Hm, you resonate most with Creation but enough with Luck too. You should be able to use Lucky Charm to get whatever you need to achieve victory for your goal in that moment. And if you throw the lucky charm in the air afterwards and say ‘miraculous ladybug!’ then you can fix any damage that happened during the fight! Oh--and you need to capture whatever caused this person to transform, okay?”
“i, how?”
“The yoyo, your weapon, just throw it to the thing causing the problme and it will do the rest, okay?”
Marinette took a deep breath. She looked in her mirror then. Blue eyes again. This, this isn’t good. She’s ten. she can’t fight a monster. not on her own.
“Its just me, right?”
“You’ll have a partner. He has to wield destruction, but I don’t know what other abilities he might have. He could be a weak cat, I really don’t know.”
Marinette nodded as put on the earrings. “I only have to do it this once, right?”
“Only until we stop what made him transform in the first place!”
Marinette shook as she spoke. “Whats my phrases?”
The kwami grinned at her, too wide. “Tikki, Spots on and Tikki spots off!”
“Tikki,” Marinette regretted this as she said it. “Spots on!”
--
Marinette narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out where Stoneheart would be headed from the footage. Wait. Kim humiliated him when she wasn’t looking. Public place to humiliate Kim with maximal viewers: his training stadium. She threw the yo-yo a little harder then necessary, (hoping it would work like one of Jay or Tim’s grappling hooks) and pulled.
Somehow she managed not to yell as she was airborne. Somehow she ended up falling into a boy walking on some staff-tight rope between roofs, got tangled up in him with her yo-yo string and became a pendulum.
“Well hey there nice of you to drop in.” Oh dear god why did every boy she met in costume have puns?
“Sorry, didn’t mean to on purpose.” Please let this be over, soon.
The boy untangled himself and landed on his feet a little too much like a cat for someone dressed like one. Aunt Selina would have a fit at that much leather and… was that a belt or a tail? “You must be the partner my kwami told me about. You can call me… Chat Noir,” the boy smiled.
Marinette nodded along, trying to untangle her yo-yo with a few pulls. “I’m uh,” her yoyo hit him. “So clumsy.”
“No sweat so clumsy.” She really hoped that didn’t stick. Or did, then she could stop being this… whatever she was to avoid that horrible name. Father would help her run off to the states and never be seen again. Actually, Zsasz would be better for that—Maman doesn’t scare him too much anymore. “I’m learning the ropes too.”
But she isn’t learning the ropes, she knows how to help and handle stuff like this, just not… like this.
Then a building started falling in the distance. That. That wasn’t good.
Chat Noir ran toward it, using his apparently extremely extendable staff to get to the rooftops.
“Hey wait, where are you going?” They needed a plan. More information and a plan.
“To save Paris,” Chat Noir grinned, jumping to another roof.
Marinette really hated this. but she had friends to save, a city to fix, and an akuma to capture. “Trust yourself. Trust yourself.” She flung the yoyo again and successfully flung herself to the roof without eating it. Mostly. She still had to catch herself on the dismount. Its harder from below, okay!
She froze on arrival. Chat was taking on a now much bigger version of Stone Heart. She never faced someone with that much a size difference, not without Rose or Zsasz or someone she trusted watching her back.
“No, I can’t. I’m not going to be able to do it.” Not without her real abilities. Not without her team. Not without her family. Not on her own.
She was ready to leave, to force Tikki out and make her pick someone else. someone that can be hero. Someone that isn’t a former super villain and a former assassin’s child. Someone that can handle being seen in a bright red onesie with no protection and still fight.
“What are you waiting for super red bug? The world is watching you!”
Oh god. Maman and Father and Papa will see this and be so disappointed in her. They’ll hate her. (They should have let Cadmus keep her. They’d be safer.)
No. She won’t. won’t let those thoughts be a thing. Be like Harley—fake it until you make it, right?
She launched herself into the air and flung her yoyo around Stoneheart, landing it with Selina and Harley’s instilled grace as she pulled tight and forced Stone Heart to release her… ally.
“Animal cruelty, how shameful.” With Stone Heart down, she ran over to where Chat Noir was… in a goalie net.
“Sorry it took so long Chat Noir.” But now that her freak out was over she knew one thing, her attack didn’t make him bigger, but Chat’s did. Difference: violence level and weapon usage. Pure defense didn’t result in growth. Possibly due to lack of aggression. More data preferred but.
“Its cool wonderbug but let’s kick his rocky behind.”
“Wait!” She grabbed his tail because really? Did he not see the difference? Violence made him stronger. “Haven’t you noticed he gets bigger and stronger with every attack? We have to do something different.”
“Different how?” Good, he’s listening. Now as for thinking….
“Uh, I don’t know.” Too many variables. She didn’t know how to take down defensively—Zsasz and Jerome were offensive, Selina used trickery, Harley was just plain smart, and Rose let her plants do most of the attacking. The others had guns usually.
“Then Let’s use our powers. CATACLYSM!” Chat’s hand had black wisps and dots dancing around it. “Apparently I destroy whatever I touch.”
Marinette took a step away from him at that. “I don’t think that’s what we need.”
The boy put his hand against the goal.
“No—Don’t do that!” This is why she didn’t like reckless heroes. Always destroying things without thinking how it would affect everyone else. Always too gun-hoe and ready to destroy but it took forever to build the things they obliterated in moments.
The boy—definitely teenage boy with that level of… whatever it was that made boys think charging in head first solved things. “Time to rumble you piece of!”
“Chat wait!”
Too late. He was high in the air, and landed on Stone Heart. Only nothing happened.
“Oh. Uh oh.” He looked up. “I guess it only works once.”
“What were you thinking!” Dear god he could have killed whoever Stone Heart was. And they’d never know who he was until too late and on god someone would be going through what she did with Jay’s death. She couldn’t let that happen. She’d take his power---ring? Had to be, only jewelry on him before—when did that change? Wait, five. Its been two seconds since and only one green bit went missing.
“And you’ll transform back soon, probably four minutes now.”
“Oh no! I’ll be back bugaboo!” with that Chat ran off while Marinette kept dodging Stone Heart. She didn’t have the armor for this. She was just glad her Gotham family was big on gymnastics and acrobatics with the Sirens.
When he came back, Marinette noticed he looked a little… sheepish.
“Did you try Lucky Charm while I was gone?”
Oh. She forgot about that. “Of course not—I, uh, didn’t want to do it without you.” More of a question than statement, but it seemed to perk the boy up. “Lucky Charm!”
Marinette stared at the suit. Closed onesie like the monstrosity she was stuck in. Why did the world remind her of this insult to her as a fashion designer? Why?
“A suit… are you sure its not broken bugaboo?”
Marinette really didn’t like this. She looked around. Maybe this was a multi-tool job. She almost jumped when everything was gray and a few things—why were the new girls still here. Were they recording this!—wait a minute. that’s it.
“We have to get the akuma, and I don’t see anything on him, but he hasn’t opened his fist once.”
“Like a Russian nesting doll, that’s where its hiding?”
Marinette nodded. “Follow my lead—think you can distract him while I get this set up?”
Chat Noir grinned. “Of course m’lady, Hey Stoney Lonesome!” with that, Chat began to run about while Marinette hooked up the hose to the insulting suit. a wet suit? Why was magic like this?
“This better work…”
Marinette threw her yoyo around Chat and flung him into Stoneheart’s hand, ignoring the “This girl’s crazy!” comment. She ran with the suit just behind her, pulling on her yoyo as she jumped and was caught by the hand she wanted.
Target dropped.
“Turn it on now!”
The reporter kept filming with the other new girl bolted inot action, quick to turn on water. Apparently someone could follow her plans. Excellent.
Marinette grinned as the suit blew up, used to this kind of pain from a few too many practice kidnappings. Zsasz and Jerome wanted it to be realisitic incase Mr. J really got her and they couldn’t help.
Stone Heart dropped her.
Marinette landed on the object. A blast of purple bubbling goo and white light later, left a passed out Ivan was at her feet with her yoyo somehow back where she needed it.
She flung it out and caught the Akuma.
“This girl is awesome.”
The yoyo opened up, releasing a white butterfly. She couldn’t help it.
“Bye-Bye little butterfly.” Marinette turned to her nightmare fuel suit, and flung it in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”
Marinette’s vision whited out while a swarm of ladybug enveloped Paris for a moment. Any damage from Stoneheart’s attack was gone with them. she couldn’t feel anything until they returned to her. She didn’t know what happened as she breathed again.
“This girl is crazy awesome!” Chat Noir yelled a little too loud for her. She’d pretend she didn’t hear it.
“What’s going on, what am I doing here?” the big guy asked, rubbing his head as he tried to get up.
“You were incredible miss, uh, bug lady. You did it!” She’d have to respond this time. She really just wanted to go already.
“We both did it….partner.”
“Pound it!”
The boy said something about doing this again as he ran off—something about his father worrying too much.
She couldn’t help but murmur, “Not if I have a say in it.”
Marinette turned to Ivan, handing him the akumatized object. A ball of paper that had him turning pink when she read it over.
“Kim was making fun of me.”
Marinette made a mental note to kick Kim’s butt twice as hard in ‘self-defense’. On the mats. No treatment that day. Then lecture him about feelings again. Maybe have Chloe and Sabrina work on a slide show together with Alix presenting. The trio worked best that way, and she knew it had to do with Kim seeing green.
“You know, there’s no shame in telling someone how you feel. At the very least, it takes a load off your shoulders.”
“Amazing, spectacular!” Marinette and Ivan froze, turning to see the reporter girl with the other new girl looking slightly uncomfortable. “Will you be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Meta or magic? Oh, I have a ton of questions to ask you Miss uh…”
Marinette really hated the bright colors. And cameras. And all of this public eye thing. “Ladybug, call me Ladybug.”
Marinette ran off at that. She did her job, and she was going to time out soon.
When she got home Tikki grinned at her “That was wonderful Marinette! Now we just need to find whoever’s holding Nooroo and get him back!”
Marinette froze. “I thought this was a one time thing.”
Tikki shook her head. “A one time mission Marinette.” She got played. oh god she belonged to this thing now, didn’t she?
“Don’t worry, we just need you to stop taking those silly stickers and you’ll be fine with the magic.”
Marinette felt sick. “I have to take those. I’ll be outed if i don’t!” Jail. her whole family in jail for keeping her alive. For hiding a meta.
“Don’t worry, I’m Luck too, they won’t find you.”
that wasn’t comforting.
Marinette began her school year with another secret identity to keep.
“And remember, no telling anyone! You could be captured, brainwashed, manipulated or even killed for having a miraculous as a wielder! Oh, and no telling Chat either, as long as Nooroo’s holder is our enemy we can’t risk it.”
Marinette nodded numbly.
She was screwed until Hawkmoth was found.
she hoped Tim got her messages. That he had any idea what to do. She needed help. And her family? She had a sinking feeling they’d only make it worse if she tried. (Princess of Gotham, surrounded by thieves and murderers. None willing to take over the world...at the moment anyway.)
--
Hope you liked it, this was a long one. Most of the fight was from an old idea I wrote out and lost motivation on.
Not all battles will be written out or episodes (i am not that good) but this one needed it. Hope you guys liked the changes, and don’t worry, there’s more to come soon-ish.
and again, i will respond to comments at the begining or end of parts since tumblr is a butt and won’t let me reply using my sideblog.
if you want to see the other parts, just use the marinette strange dupain cheng tag and type the part you’re looking for in. if its just the AU, same thing. Or check out https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342267/chapters/53372962 for the more editted version. It updates less often/when i feel like editing these posts for grammar and things, but has all the content specific to this au and mostly how i post it here.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Next time do guys want Marinette managing her identities or one where she’s working on her career in fashion and as an inventor?
comment to vote!
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