Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Bee-lieve It!
"Hey, don't eat that ice cream, or things'll get cat-astrophic!" Chat Noir smirked as he lunged forward and swiped his staff, a crescent of silver sweeping at the bright red gremlins' propellor hats, the Sapotis disappearing in a warm poof as their respective hats were broken. More of the Akuma multiplied, bringing their numbers back up to before Chat Noir removed a few, plus some more, before surrounding Ladybug and him."Uh, m'lady, we won't be able to destroy all their hats! There's too many of them!"
"Lucky Charm!" she yelled, a swell of bright pink magic emanating out of her and flowing out of her yo-yo, a burst of ladybugs popping away to reveal a teapot falling to her direction.
"A teapot? I might be a kit-tea cat, but I'm not sure if we have time for a sip!"
"Hmm, it's familiar…" Ladybug mumbled, unable to decipher what the Lucky Charm was meant for as she quickly looked at her surroundings, only to come up blank with nothing to utilize. "Its weird, I can't find anything!"
A tired wheeze left Chat Noir's mouth as he continued to dodge another wave of Sapotis, running across the bridge as a group of little reds lunged at his side, "Mind hurrying up? My kung-fu's not hot enough to even melt the broken ice cream left in André's stand!"
'Kung-fu…' she stared at the teapot in her hands once more. "Of course! Iknowsomeonewhocanhelpgottagoyou'vegottatrustmeonthisone!"
"Right now?! Can't it wa—and she's gone! Well, good luck, m'lady" Chat Noir spoke into the air, twirling his staff in his palm, clawed fingers gripping tightly to prepare for the next wave of incoming Sapotis.
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The zip of her yo-yo rang through the street as Ladybug made her way to her newfound destination, landing in an alleyway and checking if anybody was around, before discreetly detransforming in a faint pink flash. Marinette glanced behind her back once more as she knocked on the door.
"Mm, its open," Fu spoked as he heard the end of the knocks, the door opening to reveal Marinette, an unusual sight of her in pyjamas, making the old man faintly chuckle. "Hello there, Marinette," he greeted, taking another sip out of his cup of tea, stance relaxed as he remained seated on his cushion.
"Marinette?!" Wayzz spoke out in surprise, the Kwamii flying out of Fu's gramophone, appearing by his holder's side in a jade blur, "But you're not supposed to come to Master Fu's place! What if someone saw you!"
"Now, now, let her talk, Wayzz."
"Master, I used my Lucky Charm, but strangely, I think it might've was hinting at me to come to you." she explained, sitting down on a cushion in front of him, fiddling with her fingers as she spoke, looking at him.
"I see," he replied calmly, making his Kwamii exhale a questioning hum. Fu stood up, pacingly making his way over to grab a stool, bending his back more than it already was. He placed it in front of the gramophone and stood on top of it, hands pausing just before reaching the intricately carved wood, "Marinette, I taught you about the Miraculous and their powers. You know that yours works in a very mysterious way," he paused, looking at the girl once more before returning his gaze, hesitant, "I think its trying to tell us you need help this time. I don't know if its safe. I already took an enormous risk by putting two Miraculous in circulation…"
"And you were right to do it! Chat Noir and I are very careful."
Fu let out an appraising hum, his focus on the silver ornamentation in front of the gramophone's base, two silver dragons and a matching plate between the pair. He climbed back down and set the box in front of Marinette, pressing on their eyes with his thumbs, the dragons' mouths open, their eyes lighting up red as a comoarnent with set of buttons popped out of the metal plate. With a specific set of buttons pressed, the gramophone's top opened up, a black octagonal box with a unique red symbol rising up from inside it. Compartments on it's sides popped out as the lid of the Miracle Box opened, revealing five petal-like sections with a yin-yang symbol at it's center, each area outlined in gold, having it's own unique colour and symbol. The sections were empty, save for the yellow and orange ones, having interesting jewellery resting on them.
"Wow!" Marinette spoken in awe, eyes wide at all of the Miraculous staring at her.
"Choose wisely," Fu spoke in a more serious manner, "Such powers are meant to serve the greater good. They must never get into the wrong hands."
"Like Hawkmoth's?"
"Yes. Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the Miraculous from them and bring it back to me. Until we've unlocked all the secrets of the spellbook, its too dangerous to allow anymore more Miraculous to be out in the open for very long," Fu explained," Is there anyone you can think of, Marinette?"
Her eyes slightly glazed over, letting out an affirmative mumble as she recalled the events earlier in the day, eyes set on the two Miraculous remaining on the top of the box.
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The night sky painted itself against the windows of Alya's apartment, a relaxing dark purple set against the more warm tones of the Césaire home. With the rest of her family members either away or asleep, seemingly, it made a quaint ambiance for her and her best friend to resume their chatting.
"So what were you saying about Ladybug’s secret identity?" Alya asked, relaxing back against the couch, shifting her glasses back up with a finger, facing towards Marinette beside her.
"Ladybug needs it to protect her friends and family. Otherwise, the villains could use them to get to her!"
"Well if I knew who Ladybug really was, I'd keep it a secret. I'd even help her! Let's say you were Ladybug, I'd cover for you. like whenever you'd need to transform to go fight the baddies. You gotta take action like that in times like these."
"Oh yeah?" Marinette started to retort, making overall dramatic gestures as she spoke, "Well if I was Ladybug, I wouldn't even tell you, y'know, to protect you from the baddies."
"For real? If I was Ladybug, I'd totally tell you! Because I tell my best friend everything."
"You're right, Alya. You should always tell your best friend everything. So c'mon, spill the beans, are you actually Ladybug?" Marinette smirked.
"Righttt, like I'm telling you anything, girl," Alya replied as the two began to laugh at each other, when suddenly the TV turned on, the sound of children laughing appearing on top of the sofa back. The two friends blinked at each other, then at the sight of Alya's little sisters' sudden appearance. Stepping in front of the TV with an irritated groan, slightly muffled by the sound of the twins' amused laughter.
"Its not us! Its the Sapotis!" they giggled, kicking their feet and pointing at her, amused with their own antics as the two were grabbed by their sister.
"Bedtime, then, lilttle monsters! That's enough mischief for one day!" Alya spoke in a less annoyed manner, carrying them back to bed again. With a careful touch, she laid them back down to their respective beds, pulling their blankets back over their bodies and give kisses to their foreheads. "Off to bed, little Sapotis. You need to rest if you wanna be fighting fit for tomorrow!"
"Its not fair!"
"We don't wanna go to bed!"
"We wanna stay up with you!"
"Yeah!" Ella and Etta cheered together, "We wanna watch movies and tell each other secrets!"
"And what kind of zombies will you be tomorrow at the amusement park if you go to bed late? Show 'em, Marinette!"
With her dark hair purposely ruffled up, the girl began to feign exhaustion, releasing an abnormally loud yawn, arms stretching upward and outward.
"So," Alya returned her focus back to the twins, "Boring pyjama party with the big kids, or… the super fun cool amusement park tomorrow?"
"The amusement park," Ella and Etta agreed with a nod, lying down more comfortably in their beds.
"Now that's what I thought. Good night, little Sapotis," Alya cooed as she started to remove the twins' hats.
"Can we keep them on? Please?" Etta asked, a cutesy pout on her face.
"Alright, but go to sleep now," Alya replied, making sure they were tucked in, turning off the light and closing the bedroom door as she left with Marinette.
The two headed to the kitchen to grab some drinks before returning back to their seats on the couch, grabbing some orange juice from the fridge, the cooled drink invigorating like the fresh night air.
"You seriously have the technique down with your little sisters," Marinette complimented as she took another gulp, placing the glass onto the table.
"Thanks, girl. Gotta take charge, like I said earlier. Y'know, Majestia stuff and all that."
"But who're the, uh, Sapa… Sato…?"
"Oh, the Sapotis," Alya clarified, taking her phone out and showing Marinette her screen, only for it to not be related at all, "They're just some little monsters from a créole fable, who're always pulling pranks and making mischief. Anyways. now that I've got you alone again. Y'know that Ladybug's could be around five thousand years old, since the pharaohs, and that time at the Louvre I almost got sacrificed by that Akuma last year?"
"Uh huh."
"Well, I downloaded this cool app that analyzed some recordings of her talking that I got, and based on the frequencies of her voice, turns out she's a girl our age! Remember the 10th grade history textbook I found, remember?! The one I found that she dropped after swinging around, but also somehow disappeared? Its all making so much sense! And since she's in lycée, too, all we have to do is scope out highschool girls that're always late, because she's Ladybug and late from having to deal with Akumas all the time!"
"So, me?" Marinette replied deadpan, internally hoping to Tikki she'd get lucky with this joke.
"You wish, girl!" Alya laughed back, playfully pushing Marinette.
"C'mon, you know that she has a good reason for keeping her identity secret," Marinette pushed, back, leading to the two to enter another bout of laughter, when suddenly, a crashing noise rose out of the twins' room.
With an exasperated sigh, Alya marched her way over to her sisters' room again with Marinette on her trail. "That's it, totally had it with these kids! Don't even try to blame th—Sapotis?!?" she said in surprise before opening the door, only to reveal a pair of small, bright red monsters that immediately jump out of the room, knocking Alya down as they did so. Marinette let out a worried yelp as she got Alya up and moved them into the living room, making sure to keep them out of the Sapotis' way.
"Uh, maybe you were a little too firm with them??" Marinette cried as she dodged a pile of fruit a Sapoti threw, keeping her back against a wall as she grit her teeth worried.
"Well normally when you're firm with kids, they don't turn into monsters! Well… That's not the point!" Alya dashed across the room to stop two Sapotis from drinking from the aquarium, only to be forced to duck under a flying pillow and stray toys. A group of Sapotis started to eat the fruit thrown at Marinette earlier, their bodies multiplying as they did so. Under all the noise and chaos, the Miraculous holder managed to catch a glimpse of this.
"They're multiplying after they eat! AGHFAA!" she shrieked, ducking another projectile thrown haphazardly at her direction.
"Window! Window!" A Sapoti yelled in awe, a clawed finger pointed at it's direction as it flew through it.
"Marinette, we can't just sit still and let them out!" Alya shouted as she tried to jump at a trio of Sapotis, only for them to jump and leap to the outside through the open window. Marinette gasped and wheezed as she rushed to try to catch any of them, only to catch two, letting out a tired sigh. "Take care of those two, we've gotta bring them back!" Alya told her best friend as she dashed out of the apartment, heading downstairs."
"Uhh…" Marinette sighed as the remaining two Sapotis jumped out of her reach as soon as Alya left.
"You've got a long night ahead of you!" Tikki teased playfully, flying out from Marinette's pocket in a reddish-pink streak.
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"I know just the right person!" Marinette answered Fu, hand hovering over one Miraculous, only to change her mind and grab the other as Fu let out an approving hum. "I'll be back, Master," she said, slipping the piece of jewelry into her pocket as she exited Fu's home discreetly and back out to an empty alleyway. "Tikki, Spots On!" she spoke, transforming again as a pink light washed over her, dissipating into her spotted supersuit. She grabbed the yo-yo from around her waist, throwing it it to grapple at a nearby streetlight, swinging across Paris as she made her search for the Miraculous' recipient.
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"Listen, we can renegotiate the amusement park idea if you want, 'kay? But first, I need you to chill out and comeback home with me," Alya tried to placate the Sapotis, now swinging around and spinning the carousel in front of her, her focus solely on trying to save her sisters, the cool night wind not even a bother to her in pyjamas, trying one obnoxious gesture after the other to try and get their attention. The sound of a streaking zip pulled her attention away from the gremlins, look off her shoulder to see Ladybug throw and wrap her yo-yo around the carousel, a confident look on the hero's face, stopping it and simultaneously breaking off the Sapotis' propperlor hats as it unwided back to her hand. With a look of gleeful surprise, Alya skipped towards Ladybug, "Ladybug! Bonnuit! My sisters have been akumatized, I need to find them and bring them back home!" she explained.
"There's a way for you to find your sisters, but we're gonna need your help. You interested?"
"Me? Help you superheroes?! You bet I am! Just wait 'til I tell Marinette about this!" Alya squealed excitedly, beginning to take her phone out, only to be interrupted by a spotted hand.
"Wait, it has to be a secret. Not a word to your friends, or on the Ladyblog," said Ladybug seriously, and finger to her mouth.
"Oh, right. Right, understood." Alya watched in awe as Ladybug pulled out a dark, hexagonal box from her yo-yo, the magical light faintly flushing the two in pink before it closed back up.
Ladybug displayed the box in her palm to the other girl, "Alya Césaire, here is the Miraculous of the Bee, which grants the power of Action. You will use it for the greator good," she explained as Alya too the box from her hand, "Once the job is done, you'll return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"
"Totally, Ladybug," Alya replied. With a nod from Ladybug, she opened the box, a bee-themed hair comb. A bright, yellow glow bursting out from it and flying around, stopping in front of her. A bee-like creature with a chibi head and large black attenae as the light dissipated, Alya checking her glasses rubbing her eyes in surprise. "Wha… What is that thing?"
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, my Queen" it seemingly bowed at her. "Oh my, I am not a thing. My name is Pollen, and I am a Kwamii!"
"Kwamii? Oh, I assume you're what gives the superheroes their powers?" Alya asked, staring at Trixx.
"Very astute," the Kwamii complimented, glacing at Ladybug, "You're correct."
"She's been trying to figure us out for a while now."
"I'm like, gagged! Mind blown! By the way, do you know Chat Noir's identity? How old are you? Both of you can answer that one," Alya started to ramble, spitfiring off questions.
"Stay focused, Alya."
"Sorry, Ladybug!" she replied, fastening the comb to the back of her head, an excited look on her face.
"Ready become a superhero?" Ladybug asked, Alya nodding eagerly.
"Just say, 'Pollen, Buzz On', my queen," Pollen explained.
Repeating the words, Alya bathed in a golden light as Pollen disappeared to the Miraculous in a yellow streak, the comb's colours becoming more vivid. "This is so awesome!" Alya exclaimed, twirling around and looking down at her new black and yellow outfit.
"Mission first, okay?" Ladybug reminded her, spinning around her yo-yo. "Oh, right, you have a similar weapon as I do. Its a spinning top. Try twirling it around like I am right now."
"We're matching?!" Following her instruction, Alya began to play around with the top, stringing it forward before catching it back into her hand, finally following Ladybug's circular motion with it.
"Alright now, launch your top at the roof. It should automatically try to grapple the nearest thing. Then, just tug at it a bit, and you'll be pulled towards it. Come on, I'll explain the rest to you on the way."
"Got it," Alya replied, following Ladybug as they zoomed across the Parisian rooftops, the fresh night air invigorating as she leaped from roof after roop, raking in her newfound superpowers with an exhilirating glee, not even noticing Ladybug take a quick picture of her. "I can't believe you guys get to do this!" she said as she looked to her sides, taking in all of the brightness of the city of lights from this new view.
"Don't say this yet, since it'll activate your superpower, like my Lucky-you-know-what, and start your destransformation timer," Ladybug spoke, moving acrobatically towards their destination. "Your power is Venom. With it, you'll be able to paralyze anyone with even the smallest of taps with your spinning top."
"Got it, Ladybug!" Alya saluted, still following her trail. Ladybug turned her face slightly to look back at her, smiling warmly as her eyes finally landed on a dark figure underneath a lamp post, surrounded by a bunch of Sapotis. Signalling to Alya, they carefully made their descent, sneaking up on the little red Akumas and breaking their propellor hats together. Alya swung around her top, imitating Ladybug and using the weapon's string to her advantage, leaping around and playing with the string's length. "This is so insane! I've got powers and I'm fighting supervillains!" she cheered as the last Sapoti was poofed.
"Whoa! Who's this superhero friend of yours? No offense, but I thought I was the only one," Chat Noir winked at the two, posing suavely with his extended baton.
"Chat Noir, I'd like you to meet, erm…"
"Buzzword! Uh, yeah! My name's Buzzword."
"Well bumblebee, think you'll be as fly as m'lady and me?" Chat Noir teased, stepping closer to Buzzword as he took her in.
Ladybug blinked, worried at how Alya would take the banter.
"I dunno, housecat. Should we take bets?" Buzzword replied, flicking Chat Noir's bell.
"Your friend here seems pretty good," he smirked at Ladybug, returning an amused smile to Buzzword.
"I only surround myself with the best," she smiled proudly.
"Well, welcome to the team," Chat Noir formally greeted Buzzword, taking Buzzword's hand and giving it a chivalrous kiss, "If you need any superhero tips, you know where to come."
"Really? You're gonna give me Ladybug's phone number?!" Buzzword teased, looking at Ladybug with a sarcastic look as the spotted hero giggled at their antics.
"I have a feeling working with you is gonna be fun," Chat grinned.
Buzzword yelped as she narrowly bent away from another Sapoti's sudden lunge, noticing that another battalion of them grouped up again while they made their introductions, closing in on the trio. "We're surrounded!"
"And we're retreating!" Ladybug stated, leaping up and onto yet another nearby rooftop with her yo-yo, Chat Noir following suit as he gestured for Buzzword to follow them. The three scaled a higher building, Chat looking down to check for Sapotis as the other two waited for a response.
"There must be thousands of them, and they're all climbing up!" he said to the others, watching them with his night vision crawl up the walls with their grubby clawed hands, using each other as ladders as more and more of them stacked up, heading towards them.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cheered for a second time again that night, glowing pink energy flowing out of her and through her yo-yo sending out a burst of ladybugs from it, revealing - "Tickets to Disneyland Paris? Oh, right! I was doing some surveying while I was gone, and found out from one Alya Césaire, the Ladyblog girl, that the Sapotis are her little sisters."
"Too bad its closed right now," Chat Noir teased as the tickets landed on her hands.
Ladybug looked around, spying for anything that might be of use. A rickshaw being piloted by Sapotis down on the street. Rakes. Garbage bins. Tennis balls. Traffic cones a pair of Sapotis were hitting each other with. Glowsticks. A flag. Chaton's staff and Buzzword's spinning top. "I got it!" she said as groups of Sapotis swarmed them from the east and west.
"Whenever you're ready, m'lady," Chat Noir replied leisurely, leaping away to swat off the horde of Sapotis as Buzzword went to handle the other side, leaving Ladybug to gather her items.
"Whoa, do you always make it this complicated when saving Paris?" Buzz asked, preparing to leap off as well.
"Only when I get lucky."
"Should've figured. Bonne chance getting all that stuff, then!" Buzzword cheered Ladybug on, finally jumping off to the opposite side, beginning to take on a wave of Sapotis. "Take that! Bee punch, bee kick!" she cheered herself on, narrarating her moves as she sent away and broke the hats of her Akumatized sisters' clones, warding them away from Ladybug as she prepared. "I'm getting pretty good at this!"
"Looks like you're a fast flyer!" Chat Noir shouted across from Buzzword, baton striking through Sapotis clouds like a sword.
"I have some pretty good teachers. I'm basically just copying Ladybug's moves, anyways."
"Oh, you're a fan of hers? Say, are you more of a Bughead, or a Kitty Chat?" he asked teasingly as he made his way over to help Buzzword out, his area free from Sapotis for at least a few moments, clawing up stray propellor hats.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm quite the Bughead. Maybe even the most dedicated one," she replied, wrangling up the remaning few Sapotis with her top for Chat Noir to poof.
"Looks like you and I have something in common. I'd say I'm her biggest fan, though. Can't beat Ladybug's number one partner!" With a swish of her wrist, Buzz maneuvered her top's string to gather the Sapotis' propellor hats, breaking them simultaneously with her force.
"And I'd say I'm pretty close to dethroning you on that part!" she smirked playfully as Chat let out a laugh. A shadow came up behind them as Ladybug returned, sight mostly blocked from the pile of things she was carrying as a gang of Sapotis soon appeared behind her.
"Its time we make our exit, Chaton," Ladybug instructed in a hurry, Chat laying flat his baton and extending it to reach the rooftop of the building across the street. "Buzzword, you take these, Chat Noir, you'll get the rest of the stuff. I sent you both instructions and a location. I'll use the rickshaw down there to go lead them to."
"Gotcha."
"You can count on us, Ladybug."
"Okay then, here we go!" Dropping down to the street, Ladybug began pedalling away, using one of the traffic cones as a makeshift bullhorn. "Calling all Sapotis! We're gonna do a little contest, and the winners get free amusement park tickets! Better come get the before the deal's over!" she taunted, blaring the message over and over a few times as she made her way en route.
The pair made their way fast to the set location, back at Place des Vosges where Alya met up with Ladybug earlier in the night, starting to setup whatever contraption managed to concoct with her Lucky Charm. "Uhh, you know what this is?" Buzzword asked, fixing the items to place and placing the final touches on the carousel.
"Nah, not really, or even usually. All I know is that I trust m'lady, and that it works!" Chat replied, "Besides, I got a better question for you. Y'now how to use your power?"
Buzz shook her head side to side, waiting for some advice from him. "I have the word and the jist of it down, I'm just worried I won't be able to do it properly."
"You'll be just fine! You got some inspiration from Ladybug with your moves earlier, right?"
"Mhm."
"Exactly. Yours should flow out of your weapon like her yo-yo, only you get to hold it, then BAM! Sting them into place!"
"Simple as that?" Buzzword smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Simple as that. Besides, I'm not the best partner in Paris for nothing!"
"Now who said that?" she smiled wider, starting to laugh as he started to pose exaggeratedly.
"Ladybug, of course," Chat smiled back, seeing her nerves start to lessen again.
"Hard to argue with that." Hearing Ladybug's voice get louder and louder, Buzzword began to turn on the carousel from the nearby control panel, spinning the contraption around and activating it's bright lights and loud music. "Over here, Sapotis! Its a magic portal to the amusement park! The catch is, Ladybug there has 2 extra special tickets. Tickets that only the real Sapotis can use. All you clones can come over here, though!" Buzz teased the Akumas, making the carousel spin at an extreme pace, the lights colourful and now blurry enough to be convincing to the super-powered children.
Hordes of Sapotis came rushing at the speeding blob, poofing away in red clouds from the ride's intensity, with any remaining clone having their hats broken by the remaining items Chat and Buzz meticulously attached to them, rakes swiping over, garbage bins trapping them inside and sending them out of the carousel. After what seemed like forever, the trio just watching Sapoti after Sapoti disappear, only two remained, seeing that they were the only ones left, holding hands as they were about to flee.
"That must be them! Buzzword!"
"Venom!" she rang out, a wave of domineering, electric magical energy surging out of her body and into her hand, gripping her spinning top tight as a black and yellow point formed. "Now stay still!" Buzz cried, managing to leap after them before they ran off, paralyzing them in place as the stinger struck their joined hands. A beeping sound soon emanated from her Miraculous, one of the comb's yellow sections flashing to black.
"Nice job, now its my turn," Chat said proudly as he activated his Cataclysm, holding the two's hats with one hand as he destroyed them with the other. "Looks like you're gonna transform back soon. But its okay if I see who you are, I can keep a secret," he winked.
"Whoa now, naughty kitty. You know very well that our identities must be kept secret," Buzz replied with a smirk.
"Good job, you're a fast learner!"
"Well if you need any superhero tips, you know where to come," she said as Chat let out a laugh and the wave of magical ladybugs from Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug fixing the Akuma's damage appeared, washing out the sky in pink briefly. Ladybug joined up with them, stretching her fist out.
"Pound it!" all three cheered as they bumped their fists together.
"El—lo! Little kid!" Buzz said, seguing quickly from saying her sister's name as Ladybug slyly nudged her shoulder, "It was nice to meet everyone, but I, uh gotta go! Before I detransform back!"
"I'll take these kids back. Looking forward to fighting villains with you again, Buzzword!" he bid farewell, holding onto the twins and making his way towards their apartment. "Okay, which one of you to wants to tell me where you live?"
"Bye kitty!" Buzz said as Ladybug watched Chat leap away with a giggle. The two soon made their way to a private area underneath an archway, having fun yet speedily traversing with a few yo-yo and spinning top tricks as they finally got to relax for the night, a few minutes walk away from Alya's home. "Buzz off," Alya said as she detransformed, a yellow light glimmering over her body for a moment as Pollen burst out of the Miraculous, Alya reappearing back in her pyjamas, her glasses magically reappearing on her face. "That was unreal!"
"You've really helped us a lot. Thank you, Alya," Ladybug said warmly, holding her palm out.
Alya stared at Ladybug's hand, glancing back to look at the hair comb she held, a tug briefly pulling on her heart. "Uh, you know… if I held onto it, I could help you again?!"
"You made a promise," she replied, voice simultaneously more stern and soft, knowing how well and badly her best friend could be a permanent hero, her earrings ringing in alarm as soon as she ended her sentence. "I'm about to transform back. Hurry!"
"Please?" Alya pleaded, eyes begging and posture small.
"I have to go! I'm trusting you!" Ladybug yelped as she made a mad dash towards a nearby door, detransforming behind it, leaning against it as she slumped with a worried sigh and bated breath.
"You're courageous, powerful, and most of all, trustworthy, my Queen," Pollen attempted to cheer her up, using her tiny paw to pat Alya on the forehead. "You're a true hero, and have the makings of a great Miraculous holder."
Alya blinked, the Kwamii's words encouraging something else within her as she started to return the comb back to the black box. "It's been nice meeting you, Pollen. Hopefully not the last time, too," she said remorsefully, closing the box up as the Kwamii bowed and returned back to the Miraculous in the same yellow glimmer earlier in the night. Alya stares at the container for a second, before heading to the door Ladybug disappeared behind, laying down the box in front of it. She knocked on the door twice, the wood making a muted thud as she did so. Now sighing in relief, she began making her way back to her home.
Marinette laughed in relief, smiling at Tikki, taking the Miraculous and placing it in her pocket, quickly making her way back to Master Fu and her rendezvous to Alya's apartment.
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"Marinette! Are you okay?!" Alya asked worried, opening the door as soon as she heard the doorbell, hugging the other girl just a bit too tight.
"Just some regular Akuma trouble. I tried calling you tons of times! You weren't answering!"
"About that," she started to grin slyly, "Wait 'till you hear! Something crazy happened to me!"
"Really? What happened?" Marinette blinked before asking.
"Well… Uh… My battery died! Can you believe it?! And its brand new, too! These corporations are getting too greedy! Super letdown, huh?" she replied as Marinette hugged her.
"I'm just glad you're safe. You can get a super new phone anytime."
"Ditto."
They made their way back to the couch for the umpteenth time that night, not bothering to get juice, or water, or anything else, just lying down in each other's company.
"All's well that ends well," Marinette sighed, staring at the ceiling.
"Thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir, as usual," Alya plugged in her phone to a charger, discreetly restarting just incase Marinette noticed.
"I heard they had another superhero with them tonight. A girl, I think!" Marinette said, causing Alya to jump in surprise.
"Huh?! No way! Be for real! I had no idea! Who was it?" Alya stammered.
"I think some people got some photos. Maybe you can ask to post them on the Ladyblog!"
"For real?! Woah! This one pic is so HD, too! Its like the person who took it was right beside her! Did you see her? Did you find out her name? What'd she look like? C'mon, girl, tell me everything you know!"