what if
just what if
what if Chloe got the tiger miraculous before Gabriel got her to side with him
what if she became a new like, a new super-heroine like Alya and that ladybug miraculous stuff
and Juleka got the bee miraculous later
what if--
So while the event techincally ended 2 hours ago, I just finished this and thought I should still share. So, this is part of my Wish Series where Lila wins the wish and wants Adrien's life and Luka and Juleka are Scarlet Bug and Catseye respectively. I had started it as a story from Adrien AUGreste's 2022 prompts, but skipped Swap, since the timeline didn't make sense and I was orignally planning a Reflectdoll chapter. Later I realised I could of done Desperada and this story is mentioned in a few scenes, as Chloe is given a chance to regain trust as she's picked to weild the Ladybug, since Luka and Juleka put themselves in charge of these powerful and new Miraculous. So, here's the full story, with Luka now feeling familar feelings by wield the Snake again, much like Adrien had weilding the Cat for the first time again.
@lukacouffaineappreciation
Luka strummed his guitar, taking in the noise of everyone. He kept glancing over at Chloe, an odd new addition, but since everyone met Chloe’s mom, it was becoming very obvious why she acted the way she did and it wasn’t just because of her being spoiled. She was being her normal self, but she’d catch herself when she realised she was going a bit far. It was the first time she’d been invited to a Kitty Section practise since their first public gig. They were still missing Adrien, who said he was stealing something. The wording should have been worrying but Adrien was an interesting person when he wanted to be. Luka just learned quickly his boyfriend would say the oddest and most out of pocket things.
“Luka,” Marinette said, standing over him, “I need another vote. I’m thinking about making you guys different stage outfits based off the ones you have already. Yes or no to leather jackets?”
“I mean, I’m down for anything.” He said, resting his arms on the top of his guitar. “Wouldn’t Adrien be the better person to ask?”
“I will, when he gets here. where is he?”
“Stealing something?” Marinette opened her mouth, brows raised in confusion. “I have no idea. I don’t ask anymore.” Luka answered before the question could be asked.
“Fair enough.” Everyone learned that the Italian teen was strange in his own way.
A red car pulled up to the gangplank of the Liberty and Adrien climbed out, Kagami following.
“We broke her out!” Adrien announced, closing the door behind Kagami, still in her uniform from school. “Sorry we’re late.”
“What do you mean you broke her out?” Alix asked, walking over.
“Technically, Kagami is supposed to be at fencing practise. Since the Tsurugi car is voice activated, tricking it to go somewhere else wasn’t that hard.” Adrien explained.
“You’d think okaa-sama would have realised that’s what happened the last time and fixed it, but it still worked.” Kagami said, looking proud.
“We’re glad to have you, regardless.” Luka said, getting up and sliding the strap of his guitar over his head. “You, though, could really give more explanation.” He said to Adrien, who just gave him a mischievous smile.
“I mean, I didn’t lie. I did steal her.”
Luka rolled his eyes, putting his arm over Adrien’s shoulder. “You’re a brat. Come on, let’s start rehearsal.”
They’d only just gotten started when suddenly, Jagged Stone appeared, grand piano and all to ask the Captain of the Liberty to be his guitar player. Since when did the mother of the Couffaine siblings know Jagged Stone? Luka was questioning that, but he kept getting distracted by Adrien losing his mind. He’d forgotten Adrien kept missing a Jagged Stone concert.
“Did you fire your guitarist again?” His mother asked, looking annoyed.
For a grown man, Jagged Stone looked like a very scolded child. Luka knew the look, rare as it was that he and his sister got scolded. “No.” the rock star said, clearly lying. The Captain wasn’t impressed.
“Is this really my life? Your mom knows Jagged Stone?” Adrien asked, looking betrayed.
“Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t know.” Luka defended himself.
“Marinette!” Jagged yelled, spotting the designer.
“Marinette?” Adrien asked.
Luka wondered if Adrien knew that Marinette had done work for the rockstar, like the album cover.
“Any chance you know any guitar players?”
“Well…” Marinette leaned over, past the line of them to look at Luka.
He wanted to agree but his mom looked so annoyed at the rocker. He had so many questions. He knew before she became a fully licensed captain, she went to law school at her parents’ insistence and the promise she could do what she wanted if she passed top of her class. She did but she had done a few things during her schooling years that made her parents question to keep their promise. Clearly playing with Jagged had to be one of them.
“Come on, Marinette,” Jagged begged, playing his emotions on the piano, “I need help and someone who won’t eat – I mean, quit when the going gets tough.”
Ok, now Luka was sure Jagged was lying about his guitar player quitting. The huff and toss of her hands showed his mother thought the same.
Before Marinette could say anything, suddenly an angry voice called from above. “Jagged Stone! First, you fire me and now you’re coming to grade schoolers for my replacement?”
“Vivica? Is that you?”
The person standing on the mast was dressed in black, their grey, almost pale purple skin with music notes on their skin and the star shaped guitar case making Luka worried. When Akumas had items with them, things got unpredictable. He shared a glance with Juleka as he started to push Adrien behind him, while his mom exploded.
“I knew you were lying; you ship rat! You dropped her, like you did me!”
Like he did, what? God, Luka had so many questions for his mother. At the moment, he was hoping his mom would back off once the Akuma, Desperada as she called herself, turned her attention on her, but it was Captain Aranka Couffaine. She was never one to back off. In a weird trumpet sound, his mom was hit, disappearing as a sticker that appeared on Deserada’s case.
Oh, this was not good.
___________________________
At the expense of Kagami and Rose – god, Luka was gonna have to remind his sister to focus, either on not despairing or not trying to kill Desperada over her girlfriend – Luka managed to pull Adrien away while Catseye attacked the Akuma. The minute a well-aimed attack on the bridge Desperada was on caused it to crumble, they followed Catseye down into the sewers. He left Adrien in a utility room; glad he didn’t question why they both didn’t hide together in the locker. He’d given his sister his guitar to keep Desperada distracted and nearly crashed into her when turning a corner.
“She’s got a lot of the others as stickers. Thankfully, she didn’t go chasing after anyone, more focused on finding you.”
“Lucky me.” He said, lifting his jacket for Tikki to come out. “Alright, Tikki, Spots On!” once changed, Scarlet Bug pulled his yoyo off his waist and called out, “Lucky Charm!” the spotted copy of Fu’s gong landed in his hands.
The two heroes shared a look. During Syren, they realised even though Juleka knew about Fu, for some odd reason, he didn’t trust her. He didn’t allow her to sit in on Guardian lessons, even though he had to know Luka shared what he learned with her. He kept saying that the Black Cat couldn’t be trusted, that Plagg couldn’t be trusted. It made no sense and made Luka madder than he’d been in a while. They’d been trying to avoid being around him, not since the few lessons Juleka could join where they’d been taught about Unification. They were told under no circumstances could the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous be Unified and the Cat one shouldn’t be used at all in one and the look Fu had, made Juleka want to be no where near him, and Luka agreed. However, the old man held the other Miraculous and they knew they’d need to support. They’d need more time.
“The Snake Miraculous.” Juleka said, the thought obviously hitting them both. “Second Chance will help us when Desperada gets the better of us. But, even if it’s just us, it’s still a risk with only 3.” She thought out loud. “We should pick someone else too.”
“Turtle?”
Catseye shook her head. “Too risky. She could keep hitting us and we’d be stuck. We’ll have to think about it. but, I don’t know if we should trust the Snake with someone knew.”
She had a point. According to Fu, the Snake Miraculous was a difficult power to understand, along with the Rabbit Miraculous. Trying to understand the power of Miraculous was hard enough on the first try, let alone something as powerful as the Snake.
“You take it. Adrien is still ok and we know he’s good with Plagg.” Amazing really, since he’d used Black Hole and Cataclysm in the same transformation and only left with a 3-day long migraine and a weak body. Not great, but Adrien would know his limits now.
“When we figure out the other one, we’ll decide who’s the best fit.” Juleka stated.
They could just make out the awful picking of Luka’s guitar as they headed away from the scene, trying not to worry when it went quiet not long after. The streets along the massage parlour were still, so no one noticed two teens rushing inside.
“Choose the Miraculous well.” Fu told them as he opened the box, the drawers sliding out in their spiral.
Luka picked up the Snake Miraculous, getting this odd sense that he’d held it before. well, he had, when picking the Miraculous up to exam them during training, but this felt like when he picked up Tikki’s box. All that time ago, opening the box and finding earrings, he felt disappointed, like he’d been expecting something else from the same box. Holding the Ouroboros bracelet, it felt like his whole body was saying, ‘finally’.
But, that didn’t make sense. He’d only ever wielded the Ladybug, so why was he expecting to switch Tikki out with the Snake’s Kwami?
“We can’t use Wyazz.” Juleka said, seemingly not bothered by her brother’s sudden silence. “as much as Shelter would help, we’d no doubt be pelted with attacks until the time was up.” her red-brown eyes glanced over each Miraculous carefully. “Trixx and his illusions could help but being on the attack would be more helpful.”
“Ox?”
“Ivan would be a perfect fit, had he not gotten stickered protecting Mylene.”
Luka watched Juleka pick up the Tiger Miraculous. Her eyes glazed and Luka weirdly got the feeling that what he felt holding the Snake Miraculous, is what she felt holding the Tiger.
“The Tiger Miraculous’ power is more destructive that Cataclysm. While it can’t destroy an akuma, in the wrong hands, it will cause irrefutable damage.”
Honestly, seeing how Desperada could easily shot them if they weren’t careful, going full force sounded like a good idea.
“You take the Snake.” Juleka decided, turning to him. “I’ll take the Tiger. We’ll have Adrien take the Cat and…Marinette, the Ladybug? That was the choice right?”
They’d had the discussion before, what would happen if they needed to do another ‘switch Miraculous’ situation like what he did with Adrien when Juleka was glittered. Luka knew it was a matter of time before he had to pass the Ladybug to someone and with how much responsibility there was in using it, they needed someone they could trust and could handle it, so they decided Marinette was their best bet. Surprisingly, Chloe was their second choice. Even though she made a mess of things with the Bee Miraculous after her father’s akumatization, Chloe learned quick with a Miraculous like the Bee. If she hadn’t wanted her mother’s attention, the two felt like things would be different. They wouldn’t have a chance to test that out now, though.
“Ready when you are.” Luka said, watching the lights burst from the Bracelet and Panjas Bracelet.
“Hello young one. I am Sass.”
“And I’m Roaar!”
“You two better take care of them.” Plagg said as he took the ring from Juleka.
“Not to worry,” Sass said, looking melancholic, “we’ll take the greatest of care with them.”
Luka undid his earrings, passing them to Tikki before slipping the bracelet on. “I know how Second Chance works. Anything else I should know?”
Sass had this weird knowing look. He felt like he’d seen it on Plagg when he was passed to Adrien during Style Queen. “Your lyre, has more functions than you think.”
Ok? Roaar just finished giving the rundown to Juleka and after sharing a look, the siblings got up.
“Sass, Scales Slither!”
“Roaar, Stripes On!”
Once the lights died down, Luka looked over at the mirror leaning against the wall. Snake green pants were tucked into boots. His shirt was sleeveless, the green and black scales on the shirt shifting in the light, hood on it up much like he’d wear his Scarlet Bug hood, though the shape reminded him of a king cobra. He didn’t have a mask over his eyes, the bangs on his now teal green hair much long and keeping the top half of his face covered. The bottom half was covered by a mask that had fangs printed on it.
Juleka was in a body suit striped with black, standing out against the red purple Juleka preferred wearing. Her hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, a mix of her normal purple and the same red purple of her suit, her hair like a mane. The mask on her face had points like fangs and wrapped around her waist was a tail made of a morning star. Both siblings had gloves with claws, Juleka’s more fitting, but Luka was sure his gloves were for the aesthetic.
“So, what shall you call yourself?” Master Fu asked.
“Viperion.” Luka answered.
“Tigresse Poupre.” Juleka answered. She picked up the two boxes with their original Miraculous, handing him the Ladybug. “We need to go. The longer we put off stopping Desperada, the worst she’s gonna be.”
Luka nodded. They knew it was a risk leaving as heroes from the parlour, but thanks to the multiple entrances the building had, they were able to get out and split up. Juleka headed back to the sewers to get Adrien and Luka headed back to the Liberty. He didn’t know where Marinette had disappeared to but he hoped she went to hide on the houseboat. The area was quiet as he landed, his hearing more pronounced with the Snake affecting him. His nose wasn’t any different, not that he could tell which might have had to do with the mask. He opened the door to the trailer Jagged had driven to beg for help, hearing voices inside.
“Shh!” Nino hissed.
The trailer looked like what Luka could imagine Jagged wanting, all blacks and purples, framed posters of his albums lining the walls. The first one was him and another guitarist wearing masks. He recognised the hair, seeing photos of his mom from when she was younger.
“She really did know him.” He said out loud, hearing someone hit something, the table in the dining nook. He walked over and peeked under, seeing the odd combination of Nino and Chloe under the table. “Hi.”
“Who are you? you’re not an akuma.” Chloe demanded to know.
“Viperion, though, you know me as someone else.” He didn’t see the point in hiding it. last thing he wanted was Alya assuming there was some brand-new hero and going to look for answers. Besides, seeing how the Miracuclass was almost always at the centre of akuma attacks, he was sure they knew how he and Juleka acted and spoke as Catseye and Scarlet Bug and would figure it out themselves.
“Scarlet Bug!” Nino yelped, moving and slamming his head on the table.
“Stop yelling!” Chloe snapped. “she’s right outside!”
“I didn’t see Desperada. Is it just you guys here?” Viperion asked.
“Sabrina was hiding in the bedroom with Dupain-Cheng.” Chloe said, leaning forward to crawl out. “But she came back.”
“Sounded like Marinette jumped in front of Sabrina. Alya is still ok, she’s been posting updates.” Nino continued.
Luka bit his lip under his mask. Not great. Marinette had been his and Juleka’s choice, but if she was stickered…
“There aren’t many hiding spots here. I seem to remember the Couffaine siblings mention how the hid from Hardrock in their own room.”
Nino’s eyes got bright. “In the storage drawer under Luka’s bed! He’s mentioned that most of the rooms are storage, everything they own. It’s kind of a mess, but all the cover would hide us!”
Viperion let Nino prattle on, staring at Chloe as she climbed out, looking annoyed as she had to dust her capris off. When the mayor had been akumatized, the bumbling man turned out to be quite a formidable enemy. It happened sometimes, the surprisingly hard to beat akumas coming from the most unlikely people. The mayor had already gotten a few people under his thumb, including Catseye, who became a pet to the mayor and his trapped wife. Scarlet Bug had been told by his Lucky Charm that he needed a partner and the Bee made the most sense. It wasn’t until he saw Chloe doing everything she could to break out of her room she’d been locked in that he decided to trust her. She learned quick, taking the trust she’d been given and turning it into power. She helped get Catseye back, got the item so they could break it. but when it was all over, she disappeared. They searched for hours but she’d been at Sabrina’s and the next morning approached her mother’s table and transformed – a desperate cry for her mother to look at her. When the Miraculous Reset restored the Bee, Chloe didn’t even try to beg or bargain.
That’s why when trying to decide who would get the Ladybug, Chloe didn’t leave their mind. She messed up, sure, but she was willing to admit it and while she was definitely using her short-lived hero life as an ego boost, the positivity it gave others was something they weren’t expecting. So, Viperion made a decision then. While Nino made his way across the gangplank to hide downstairs, he put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.
“Hey, I need to talk to you.” she raised a brow, but turned to face him. “You can probably guess there’s a reason I’m like this right now.”
“Does Catseye have your Miraculous right now? Are you giving me the Bee?”
He shook his head. “Desperada seems smart and she seems quick. Her power doesn’t give us a second chance, so we have to make our own.” He said, lifting his hand to show the jade green bracelet. “But we still need Lucky Charm and the Reset. Chloe, what I’m about to ask you, if you do what you did last time, we can never trust you again.”
Her eyes widened, clearly understanding what he was about to ask. Viperion pulled the lyre off his back, and pressed the diamond at the point of the instrument, the strings rippling before a pool of the same white of the ether space appeared. Luka would later wonder how he knew that. Scarlet Bug hid things in his yoyo and Catseye’s sleeves were like Mary Poppin’s bags in their own right. He was sure other heroes had ways of hiding things on them. but Viperion’s seemed special, not something easy to figure out on the first try. It didn’t matter as he pulled out a black jewellery box and held it out.
“Chloe Bourgeois, with the promise that you’ll return this at the end of the battle, will you accept the Ladybug Miraculous?”
“You, you’re serious? Me?”
“You. Chloe, you were good as Queen Bee, don’t think we don’t remember that. You messed up after, sure, but there’s was something that gave us the trust that if we needed help with this, we could go to you.”
Her blue eyes looked glazed with tears, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. when she opened them, she looked the same determined she did when she was given the Bee Miraculous. “I can do. And I’ll give it back, I swear.”
He extended his hand more to let Chloe take the box from him, watching the red-light spin around her as Tikki appeared and introduced herself. Chloe’s outfit was similar to when she was Antibug, spotted suit minus the jacket, her hair down but pulled back by an antenna headband. In true Chloe fashion though, the collar around her neck was fluffy, like a bee.
“Your name?”
“Ladybird.”
“Alright then, let’s go.”
_____________________
“Why is always the Eiffel Tower? France is gonna have to put money into protecting that thing if a Reset fails one day.” Cat Walker, though Adrien asked to be called Kuro Neko, said, as Ladybird’s yoyo showed Desperada holding her horn like a sniper gun.
“Please don’t, I’m nervous enough as it is.” Ladybird replied in her normal tone.
“The case is where she gets her weapons from, so there’s a good chance that’s the item that needs to be destroyed.” Tigresse Poupre relayed. “We need to throw her off. I’ll use Clout to bring the Tower down. We keep an eye on each other and keep Kuro Neko and Ladybird from being stickered.”
“Right.” Kuro Neko said, shoulders going up in nervousness. “No pressure.”
Ladybird closed the yoyo and looked at him. “We can do this. we got picked for a reason.”
“I’ll set Second Chance now. We’ll have five minutes to bring her down and I’ll keep us alert of any resets we have to do.” Viperion said, calling for Second Chance as the snake moved up on the bracelet, it’s eyes glowing as it slowly moved back. “Ready?”
Cataclysm was destructive but Luka and Juleka realised what Master Fu meant when he said the Tiger was worse. They all thought one of the supports would go down, not most of the famed structure.
“Oh god, Chloe’s dad is gonna kill us.” Tigresse Poupre moaned at the sight.
“Let’s just focus on getting the akuma first, and hope the Reset actually does ok.”
Desperada was sneaky, full-frontal attacks to get the horse saddle Lucky Charm Ladybird was given at the start kept ending with Ladybird, Kuro Neko and Tigresse Poupre being caught. Viperion reset each time, before Desperada turned to him, letting the others take lead while he watched. He kept thinking about what Sass said, how his lyre had more functions as he plucked on the strings, struggling to think of a plan. Ladybird and Kuro Neko, for the early entry as heroes, were good, giving it their all with support from the more seasoned Tigresse Poupre, but even all the skills wasn’t enough. Then he noticed it, Desperada was getting distracted by his playing. She might want the Miraculous, but her main goal was going against the person who’d try to steal her spotlight. She had pigeon stickers all over the case and Catseye had left Luka’s guitar to be picked at by the birds as a distraction.
He reset the time, stopping the others from jumping forward. “I know what to do.”
Just like he thought, seating himself and plucking a tune on the lyre got Desperada to fully focus on him, not noticing the staff and yoyo until the knocked her horns out of her hand. Tigresse Poupre was quick, sliding between the akuma’s feet and catching them in the stirps. Ladybird caught one hand with her yoyo but missed the other as it started pulling the case off her back. Kuro Neko already called Cataclysm and Viperion knew in a few seconds if he didn’t move, Desperada would have a new weapon. so, he got one first. The diamonds on the lyre glowed, a handle growing as the lyre got wider, until a crossbow sat in his hand. He didn’t think, so much as shoot the case out of Desperada’s hand, watching Kuro Neko jump to slam his own hand against the case.
“No more evil doing for you!” Ladybird cried, catching the escaping butterfly and releasing a pure white one. She looked giddy as she turned to them. Viperion nodded at the saddle still tangled in Desperada’s feet. “Right. Miraculous Reset!”
The glittering ladybugs fixed everything and left a normal Vivica trying to figure out where she was as the four celebrated their win.
“Thank you,” Chloe thanked, hiding with him in a side street not far from the Liberty, “for trusting me again.”
“Thank you for keeping your promise. You’re a good person Chloe, don’t forget that.”
Tigresse Poupre landed next to him as the mayor’s daughter disappeared around the corner. “That, somehow, didn’t end in disaster. Nice crossbow, by the way. How’d you do that and how can I get that to work for me?”
“You can split your staffs in two.” Viperion reminded.
“As Catseye. I meant for Tigresse Poupre.” She pulled on the tail around her waist. “I mean, a morning star is destructive, but more would be even more insane.”
Luka blinked at his sister. “We’re doing this again? The Snake and Tiger?”
“Well…” Juleka said, “it feels, normal. I don’t know why, but I already knew what to do, regardless of how destructive Clout was.”
She wasn’t wrong. The crossbow thing felt new, but everything else didn’t. it was like becoming Scarlet Bug for the 100th time, he knew where everything was and what fit. Looking at the Snake Miraculous that was starting to beep, the idea that he needed to take it off felt, wrong.
In a burst of light, he and his sister caught Sass and Roaar, who seemed tired but happy. Very happy, like they had the best time. They’d been used instead of waiting in the box, but even that didn’t sound right.
“Sorry it’s not gummy worms.”
Wait…how did Luka know that, that gummy worms were Sass’ preferred snack to recharge? The Kwami gave him a sad smile as he took the chocolate truffle Luka carried when cookies were too hard to carry. The whole situation was…odd. Putting on the earring for the first time, becoming Scarlet Bug, it was such a learning curve. Becoming Viperion, it hadn’t felt like all he learned as the spotted hero all coming to help him. It felt like he knew what he was doing from the start.
“Luka, you ok?” his sister asked, Sass and Roaar looking at him worried.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”
Later as he marvelled over sharing pizza with Jagged Stone, actually working on rehearsal while the rockstar was there, until his assistant reminded him of his own recording he had to get too and got to hang out with his boyfriend – who’s been worried for not finding him in the locker – before the Italian teen had to go home, the thought of the scaled shirt, fanged mask and crossbow lyre would run through his head, even with his earrings back in place. He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t do it again. Not without good reason, but he still wanted to. Wanted the feel the easy rightness of hearing him being called Viperion.
Fanart for @cornerverse 'The Adventures of Lady Luck' series. Hero designs belong to her.
If you're a huge Chloe redemption stan where she's the main Ladybug hero, this fic was definitely tailored for you. Kwami swap, platonic sibling-like Chloe & Adrien, wholesome reverse love square (Marichat, my beloved) and more!
And now for a Ladybug!Chloe moodboard. Hope you like it, cornerverse!
Another Miraculous Ladybug Prompt. This one combines two popular aus of Miraculous Ladybug.
The Scarlet Lady AU by @zoe-oneesama and the Lady Fairy AU by I think @beebeebombam.
In this au Gabriel would have the Peacock and if you want one other Miraculous to replace the Butterfly.
Master Fu would still sense Gabriel activating the Peacock and would give out the Ladybug and Black Cat. However, it isn’t Marinette that saves Master Fu and get’s the Ladybug. It’s Sabrina or, if you want, your own original character. However, before Sabrina can turn into Ladybug for the first time, Chloe takes the Miraculous to become Scarlet Lady.
At the same time. Sabine gives her blind daughter (or non-blind, depending on your choice) a special brooch and tells her that it has magical properties and will protect her if she’s ever in trouble.
Alix and the Rabbit Miraculous prove that not all Miraculous are with the Guardians. That means the Butterfly could be an heirloom in Sabine’s or Tom’s sides of the family.
As Cat Noir and Scarlet Lady debut, Nooroo appears before Marinette and gives her the option to help.
You could go in the direction of Scarlet Lady still being the main hero seen in the eyes of Paris from the very beginning. Or you could change it up by having Lady Fairy, who makes heroes, be the one adored by at least her Champions.
However, I’ll bet you’re wondering where Sabrina or your original characters fits in all of this after Chloe takes their Miraculous.
Well, Sabrina regrets letting Chloe take her Miraculous when she sees the way Chloe acts about being a hero. Eventually, she tries to cut ties with the girl and that’s when Master Fu appears or at least puts another Miraculous in her care. This time in a way that no one steals it. That Miraculous is the Bee. Sabrina would become the hero Worker Bee. Or, she could even join Marinette and work to keep her safe from risk of anyone discovering her identity. Like a sidekick, but unlike Chloe, Marinette would treat Sabrina with respect.
It’s up to you what you do with your own original character as their you’re idea and I wouldn’t know much about them.
Adrien wouldn’t change much from the Scarlet Lady AU. He’d still have to be pulling more weight because it would take time for Lady Fairy to get a Champion.
This type of story I feel only has two routes for Chloe. Eventually getting her Miraculous taken away and becoming what she is in the show. Or she eventually is brought into understanding the importance of her role. And, with both this and the loss of Sabrina, Chloe starts to become both a better hero and person for team Miraculous.
More kwami swaps because I love kwami swaps and always will. (fox!Marinette, snake!Alya, ladybug!Chloe, and Chloe and Adrien salt. Maybe Fu Salt? Idk, tag as you see fit)
Marinette, the literal Robin Hood
What if, instead of Marinette getting Tikki, she got Trixx? And not like through Master Fu or anything.
In this AU, more Miraculous were originally lost: the butterfly and peacock are still lost like in canon, but so are the fox, the bee, the snake, and the dragon.
One day, Marinette happens upon this cute little necklace with a fox tail in a shop. She decides to buy it and- HOLYCRAPWHATISTHATWEIRDSQUIRRELTHING?
Trixx basically debriefs her- what a Miraculous is, how to transform, etc. Since there is no threat (yet), Marinette just decides to keep the Miraculous and not transform. Trixx and Marinette live happily together. I headcanon Trixx’s favorite food to be spicy food, so Marinette loves making them spicy pastries.
One day, Marinette is struck with an idea. She could use the powers of the fox to steal from the rich and give to the poor (how this idea forms is up to you)! She makes sure Trixx is on board with this before, though. And luckily, they are! They don’t like Chloe OR Adrien after seeing one too many instances of Chloe reigning over the class, and Adrien discreetly forcing the class to bow to Chloe’s demands, guilt-tripping Marientte when she stands up for herself and her friends, making her feel like it’s her fault she’s being bullied.
So Marinette transforms, and over a span of like 4-7 months, she steals from the Agreste and Bourgeois manors, and she either makes anonymous donations to charities helping the homeless, or gives it to the poor families directly. It’s not like the rich will notice, right?
Eventually, they do- but Marinette doesn’t care. Helping increase the poor population’s quality of life is way better than succumbing to the wealthy’s demands. And slowly but surely, less and less people are becoming homeless.
--
Cut to a year later, Hawkmoth rises. And Fu, unfortunately swayed by Chloe’s and Adrien’s performative acts of doing good (Chloe was trying to impress someone else entirely, and Adrien was helping), gives them the ladybug and black cat Miraculous respectively. So now there’s two rich heroes that are only in it for the fame.
Chloe uses the ladybug to push her persona as a “hero”, but she does the absolute bare minimum. Adrien uses the cat miraculous for the same purpose as canon, to goof off and have fun, and damn the consequences or collateral damage.
That’s when Marinette starts to emerge from the shadows, and does what the two blondes refuse to: be a competent hero. She doesn’t stop for interviews, and won’t even tell anyone her name. For the longest time, she’s known only as “the mysterious hero”, because most people can’t even get a good look at her. Eventually, the city settles on the name “Firefox”, because, well. It’s fitting, to say the least.
Marinette is an extremely clever girl. The rules say she can cast one illusion? Well it’s a good thing she’s able to come at the problem from a different angle. An illusion of a bird, for example, isn’t just one solidified object. Each feather is an illusion, the shadows it creates and the light that bounces off it is an illusion. All of these seemingly separate illusions are technically one illusion.
So there’s literally nothing stopping her from doing whatever she wants. All it takes is creativity. And she has more creativity in her pinkie than most people have in their whole body.
She always has one illusion cast over herself, and multiple she uses for combat.
The illusion she has over herself hides her in a wreath of raging fire that blocks all prying eyes, and her voice, on the rare occasion she needs to speak to anyone, is created through the crackling and popping of the flames themselves, without her ever opening her mouth, so there’s no chance of anyone recognizing her.
And of course, this is not even remotely the limit to her power. She’s more than capable of making herself entirely invisible, and creating independent clones, but she figured she has to keep some tricks up her sleeve for a rainy day. It’s not like the Akuma battles are particularly hard, now are they? Not when the two so-called ‘heroes’ distract themselves and keep each other out of her way.
At some point after Hawkmoth’s reign of terror begins, Alya finds the snake Miraculous and befriends Sass. She goes by Dyaman (simply Diamondback in Haitian Creole). By pure chance alone, she joins Marinette on her heists, after they accidentally broke into the same house at the same time. Second Chance proves useful when you’re about to be caught, and she has just as much hatred for the rich as Marinette does.
They become fast friends in both aspects of their lives, completely independently of their other relationship. Marinette and Alya are best friends, and Dyaman and Firefox quickly move past ‘partners in crime’ to best friends again.
If there’s ever an identity reveal between these two, it’ll come as a pleasant surprise, instead of a horrifying shock. (there’s no universe with logic where canon Marinette finds out Adrien is Chat Noir and is happy about it.)
Pretty quickly, Paris starts to prefer the best friend duo of Firefox and Dyaman over the generic and compassionless blondes Harmony and Chat Noir. No one even suspects the two “upstanding heroes” are the thieves that have been clearing out the homes of the rich.
Well. Many of the poorer residents of Paris suspect, and some even know for a fact. But they’re not going to snitch.
When do Harmony and Chat Noir lose their miraculous? You decide! Is it a slow downfall, or do they get their miraculous taken from them almost immediately, and who takes them? Does Fu get his act together and confiscate them? Does an Akuma defeat them? Does someone else entirely take matters into their own hands?
So, I love zoe-onee-sama’s Scarlet Lady AU as much as the next person, but I couldn’t help but think...
What if Chat Noir didn’t want to be the responsible partner?
It makes sense why he does so in Scarlet Lady, since he’s paired with Chloe of all people for a Ladybug, but... Canon Adrien uses Chat Noir as an escape from his responsibilities. It’s his freedom. Plus, he did kinda enable Chloe for most of their childhood--certainly, he didn’t know how she was like at school, but wouldn’t he have seen how she treated her butler? Any other children around them (like Felix)? Hell, maybe even Sabrina? He didn’t call her out on her behavior until school, and while he probably doesn’t know better, it still happened and is still bad.
So, what if he doesn’t want to be the leader of the Miraculous Team?
First, Paris would be in chaos. Not every day, no stop to the panic chaos, but akuma battles would take hours, because Coccinelle (I don’t want to use Scarlet Lady since that is zoe-onee-sama’s thing and seriously, read her comic, it’s great) and Chat Noir keep goofing off and getting caught. It’s an outright miracle that their miraculous haven’t been taken yet. Coccinelle doesn’t say a heroic speech to Hawkmoth’s floating head at the end of Origins, so Paris doesn’t really have a lot of faith in Coccinelle and Chat, but there is no one else to rely on and they still technically get the job done, so that’s what matters, right?
(Nevermind that the two just hide or give up during a few of the less destructive akumas bc they don’t want to do anything, so Hawkmoth just calls back the akuma).
Second, there’s no guardian in this. Mostly because I don’t like Master Fu, but also because there’s no reasonable explanation why he wouldn’t take the miraculous back once he saw how these two were behaving. So the miraculous are just... floating around everywhere.
Third, Chloe and Adrien totally know each other’s identities. Chloe would have demanded after Origins (after harassing poor Ivan) so they know. This gives Chloe leverage over Adrien so he doesn’t end up making friends with most of the class, since Chloe threatens to out them every time he misbehaves. This allows Adrien to be sympathetic while also still allowing him to be a minor antagonist.
Yeah, I said antagonist. Because Marinette is the protagonist (and I’m a sucker for villains to lovers).
So, Marinette is still trying to fight back against Chloe. She doesn’t have her miraculous, so she’s not as confident about standing up for herself, but that’s helped by best-friendship-pals, Alya and Nino. They’re a trio who supports each other. Mari doesn’t get her crush on Adrien, since Chloe is keeping him directly under her thumb, but she does pity him, like she does Sabrina. Mari gets akumatized pretty early on in this ‘verse, probably because Chloe used Coccinelle to harass her and she snapped. That fight was the worst the duo ever faced, nearly killing both heroes, and it was only because Alya filmed the starting incident that Chloe didn’t manage to get Mari thrown in jail. Still, the rest of the school thinks she’s snap any second now... everyone but Bustier’s class, anyway. She’s low-key a punk now.
Alya still has her blog, but it’s centered around the akumas rather than Coccinelle. It’s called the Akuma Report and is the only blog out there with a built in alarm feature warning about akumas (since fights are hours now, a lot of people get footage). She is also the only blog that can criticize the miraculous duo; Chloe got her father to take down blogs for fake libel accusations and SLAPP suits to then drag it out into court and waste everyone’s time. The only reason the Akuma Report is spared is because Alya’s got Max as a co-creator on the sight.
Nino, since he isn’t friends with Adrien in this AU, so he mostly hangs with Alya and Mari. He still has his crush on Marinette, only to get another on Alya, so he’s now crushing on both his friends at the same time (which could lead to poly!heroes, idk yet). He’s the mom friend of the group, since Alya and Mari build off each other’s chaos.
A few months after Coccinelle and Chat Noir’s debut, Mari, Alya, and Nino start finding their miraculous. I considered other combinations, but I think Bee! Mari, Fox! Alya, and Turtle! Nino work best (originally I considered Turtle!Mari, but I don’t think Nino would clash well with the Fox. But just imagine Nino trying to put the Bee comb in his fuzz hair). They each find it one at a time--Mari finding the comb at a thrift store while looking to upcycle some clothes, Alya found the necklace at the lost and found at the Hotel, Nino’s was a gift from his grandfather (who could also have been a former guardian but is too old to use it anymore idk). The point is, they all get them independently from each other, probably Mari and Alya first with Nino coming a little later.
Mari has no intention of coming forward to help the Miraculous Duo, since her anxiety convinces her that they’ll think she’s an akuma and attack right away (in fact, that was basically what happened in Volpina in this ‘verse), so she stays to the shadows. She goes out on patrol, since Coccinelle and Chat don’t and are only out and about when other people can fawn over them. So, she patrols and practices until she finds a fox-shaped person--Alya.
They do the Spiderman meme, thinking the other is an akuma and tussle for a bit, not that Paris notices. Alya knocks Mari down and snatches the comb, what she thinks is the akumatized object, and surprise! It’s your bestie! And it’s not an akuma, it’s a miraculous. Alya detransforms and they have a little freak out that they wailed on their best friend. Until they realize--their bestie can fight. They have the means to fight Hawkmoth. They’re going to fight Hawkmoth.
But there’s no akuma for a while, so they meet up in secret to train. Around this time, Nino gets the Turtle and learns from Wayzz that the Fox and Bee are active, so he searches for them. They think’s an akuma and, just like the first time, they wail on him until he detransforms. He’s kinda annoyed until he realizes that, hey, these are his best friends, holy cow. They tell him their plan to fight Hawkmoth and he joins in.
The only problem is the Miraculous Duo. See, without the Ladybug Miraculous, they can’t fix the city and, like it or not, Coccinelle still occasionally uses Miraculous Ladybug. So they need to get the Ladybug Miraculous.
It doesn’t make sense that only Ladybug and Chat Noir can purify/destroy an akuma, so I say all holders can purify akumas (but not fix the city) and until I figure out how each, they just eat the akuma. They eat the akuma and burp up a purified butterfly. That’s how it works now.
So, imagine. It’s Hero’s Day, Coccinelle and Chat Noir are totally overwhelmed by the massive amounts of force being thrown at them, they’re about to die, when three figures come into save them. The three are a well oiled machine, covering each other’s weaknesses, with the Bee at the head. They manage to push back the akuma’s to get to Hawkmoth, the Bee delivers her hero speech about how they’re not afraid of Hawkmoth and how they’ll be the ones to defeat him (learning that the Bee is called Ruche, the fox is Rena Rogue, and the turtle is Carapace). They push Hawkmoth back, clearly saving the day to Coccinelle’s ire, and then, turning to the duo, demand:
For my story Nymph and the Corrupted Miraculous: AO3 or Fanfiction.net
Chapter 38
All of the heroes in my story get an upgrade in power from the combined hope and faith of Paris, and new forms to accompany them.
