"What is it, Ladybug?" Chieneux expressed worry in his voice. After a few moments, the spotted heroine opened her mouth.
"This... was just a test." Ladybug answered.
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Chieneux blinked, bewildered with what his leader was saying. "A test? What do you mean a test?"
Ladybug turned back to him. "I'll explain after." Honey Bee opened her mouth to question what her leader was saying until she saw her take out the hair pin and the bee themed heroine closed her mouth again. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Dozens of magical ladybugs soared through the sky, healing everything in its wake, including Ryuko's leg. Once the display had died down, Ladybug gestured for the team to follow her. She lead them down a few streets to a less busier part of Paris, a rooftop of a building where they wouldn't be seen. "We can talk here." Ladybug said as she landed on the roof.
"What we're you saying about a test, Ladybug?" Viperion asked the question that was on most of the superheroes' minds.
"So you know how the sentimonster was very... elaborate?" Chieneux and Rena Rouge nodded at Ladybug's words. "Well I think that was on purpose."
"What? You've lost me." Honey Bee expressed her confusion.
"I think... I get it." Chieneux murmured hesitantly.
"Other than major or extremely difficult attacks, we rarely see Mayura. It isn't a coincidence that the moment Hawkmoth isn't able to use his miraculous, she shows up. I believe Mayura is experimenting with her amoks, she's seeing what abilities she can give them." Ladybug explained further. "She's testing how powerful she can make them."
"She's making her sentimonsters as elaborate and dangerous as akumas, maybe even more so." Viperion murmured, talking out loud as he came to the conclusion.
"Exactly." Ladybug told them. "Mayura, despite being weakened by the miraculous, is a very dangerous opponent as of now. I believe it's time to formulate a plan."
"Alright, how do we do that?" Carapace questioned.
"I think the first step would be this." Ladybug pointed to one of her earrings, which began to beep. She put her hand down. "I believe that the only way to improve would be to share our identities." Plagg decided in that moment to fly onto Ladybug's shoulder. The kwami's appearance didn't faulted her serious expression.
The other heroes, bar Chieneux and Rena Rouge, began to shoot glances at each other. Chieneux spoke up. "Although we may say we trust each other now, our trust will be strengthened when we all reveal who we are under the mask."
"I brought us here for a reason." Ladybug told her team, referring to the location they were currently in. "We're in an area where we'll be invisible to the public. Our identities will remain a secret between us all."
Ryuko stepped forward. "Very well, if that is what you are willing then I shall be the first to reveal my identity. Longg, Open Sky." A bright light surrounded the dragon themed heroine, before it died down to reveal her true identity. The girl bowed. "My name is Kagami Tsurugi. It's an honour to fight along side all of you" Kagami's kwami flew up next to her and introduced itself.
"Hello, my name is Longg and I am Kagami-san's kwami." Longg turned to Ladybug. "Hello, Ladybug." The spotted heroine nodded in greeting.
Before anyone could say or do anything, Viperion smiled and brought all the attention to himself. "I guess it's my turn now. Sass, Scales Rest." The bright light subsided to reveal a familiar teen. "Hello, my name is Luka Couffaine." Sass floated just above his right shoulder.
"It is good to sssee all of you." Sass stated, accenting the 's' in his sentence.
Chieneux looked surprised, as did Rena, Carapace and Honey Bee. "I did not see that coming." Carapace spoke out loud.
Honey Bee blinked once, twice, before shrugging her shoulders. "Well I guess since we're doing this now, Buzz Off!" At her words, Honey Bee was flooded by yellow light and Chloe emerged from it.
"Chloe?" Rena Rouge looked very surprised. The blonde, in response, looked at her nails.
"Yep." She told the fox themed heroine, popping the 'p' at the end. "And I actually got chosen for it this time." Chloe looked proud. Her kwami reflected her owner's pride.
"I can't imagine anyone else who is fit for my miraculous other than you, my queen." Pollen buzzed, a smile on her face.
"Well my turn then. Wayzz, Shell Off." Carapace commanded, the waves of magical light revealing who he was behind the mask. "Hey Dudes and Dudettes, the name's Nino." Chieneux gave an enthusiastic wave. Wayzz looked over at Ladybug.
"Hello, my guardian." Wayzz addressed Ladybug formally, just like he always had done before.
"Trixx, Let's rest." Rena Rouge said calmly. Once de-transformed, Alya gave Nino a kiss on the cheek. Before the girl could speak, her kwami took the attention.
"The name's Trixx and I'm Alya's kwami." Trixx stated, floating over to rest on her owner's open palm.
Once Trixx was settled, Alya opened her mouth to speak. "I'm Alya as the most of you already know."
"Yeah, it's weird." Nino murmured. Alya shot him a look and he elaborated. "Not in that sense! But in, like uh, we all know each other in a way... you know?" He chuckled nervously at the end.
"I don't think it's weird." Chieneux spoke up, drawing the attention to himself. "After all how can you trust someone with something as powerful as a miraculous-" a bright light engulfed him. "If you don't know them first?" Adrien finished, Barkk resting on his shoulder, side eyeing Plagg while doing so.
"Adrien?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "You're Chieneux?"
The blonde nodded. "And I was Chat Noir too." Adrien added casually.
"That's true." Plagg continued from Ladybug's shoulder.
"What?!" The blonde girl exclaimed. The others, not including Ladybug and Alya, looked equally as shocked.
"Dude, you were Chat Noir?" Nino questioned, dumbfounded. He nodded, and then stifled his laughter as Nino stared blankly at him, running through his memories of every encounter with Chat Noir.
"Wow." Luka breathed. Then he smiled. "There was always something in your tune that I couldn't quite place. I suppose I know what it is now."
"I also wore the snake miraculous once." Adrien shrugged. Ladybug groaned at his words.
"Do not remind me of the monstrosity that was Aspik's superhero suit." The spotted heroine grumbled. Adrien didn't bother to stifle his laughter this time. "I can understand Snake Noir's suit, I guess, but there is no way I'm letting that atrocious thing get away unscathed."
"No, no, you're right." Adrien chuckled. Ladybug huffed and turned to face her teammates, friends, with a smile on her face.
"Well I suppose it's my turn now." Ladybug nervously smiled. "Spots off." Where Ladybug once stood, Marinette Dupain-Cheng took her place. "Hey." She waved weakly. Tikki moved to sit next to Plagg.
"Marinette?!" Nino and Chloe both exclaimed. Luka looked as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs, and Kagami looked shocked but not nearly as much as anyone else.
"Shh!" Marinette told them to quiet down. Looking around their surroundings, she spoke up again. "I said that we would out of the public's eye, not their ears."
"Sorry, dudette." Nino chuckled. "It's just a big surprise learning that your friends are superheroes too, especially you two." He pointed towards the blonde and the bluenette.
"Wait." Chloe held her hands up. "So you're Ladybug, that means Damian is Noir, right?"
"Yep." Marinette confirmed.
"That's right." Plagg added on. Chloe continued.
"So, you're Ladybug..." Chloe repeated. "That means... you were stabbed by Guerrier!" Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation.
Before anyone could get a word in, Marinette laughed anxiously and waved her arms around. "It's no big deal!" She waved it off, trying to convince them that it was nothing serious. She failed. "And besides, I'm fine now!"
Alya crossed her arms. "Oh really? Then what about the other day when-"
"It's nothing!" Marinette interrupted her best friend. Kagami raised an eyebrow while Luka looked at the bluenette with concern. "Seriously, I'm fine now. It's nothing to be worried about."
Deciding to save Mari from interrogation, Adrien spoke up. "Well, we all know each other's identities now. What's the next step in the plan?"
Marinette's expression changed. "Right now we don't know the extent of Mayura's abilities, it would be best to just defeat the sentimonsters she's creating and work from there."
"Sounds like a plan." Alya stated, Luka nodding along.
"So what are you guys doing later?" Adrien asked, changing the serious subject.
"I have a project to do with Sabrina later." Chloe groaned. "The last time the teacher paired us up, Sabrina wouldn't shut up about Lila. It's irritating, utterly irritating."
"Good luck Queenie." Nino put simply, a few of the others nodding along. He then changed the subject. "Hey Alya, do you want to go out later?"
"Yeah sure." She intertwined her hands with Nino's and turned back to the group. "That's my plan for the day."
"Father is taking Juleka and I out for the day." Luka smiled.
"Sounds like fun." Marinette told him.
"Do you know where he's taking you both?" Adrien asked, a smile present on his face.
"Not a clue." Luka replied.
"Well I hope you two enjoy yourself." Adrien turned to Kagami. "Kagami and I both have a fencing lesson soon. Actually, when is it?"
The girl checked the time on her phone. "In seven minutes, meaning we should be going." Adrien nodded, both their kwamis disappeared into their pockets. "We will see you all again soon. Goodbye, Mari-hime."
Marinette waved. "Bye Kagami."
"See you guys later!" Adrien shouted as the two exited through the door on the roof.
"It's best if we all go now, so we don't draw attention to ourselves." Luka pointed out.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is someone seeing us." Marinette agreed.
"Sure." Chloe shrugged. The kwamis went into their respect places on their owners. Alya went over to the door and opened it, graciously holding it open for the rest of her friends. Once they were through, they made sure not to be seen by anyone on the building, quietly going down the main staircase. Soon enough, they made it to the exit of the building.
"Well I guess I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." Marinette told them as they left the building.
"See you soon, Marinette!" Alya waved at her best friend as they parted ways down the street.
"Bye Dudette!" Nino added.
Chloe chimed in. "Take care of yourself, Dupain-Cheng. You too, Couffaine." The blonde looked seriously at the two.
"We'll be careful, Chloe." Luka assured the daughter of the mayor. She nodded in approval.
"Bye Chloe!" Marinette waved to her friend and the others waved to both her and Luka. Then they parted ways. "So you really have no idea what Jagged is planning for you and Juleka?" Marinette spoke up after a few moments of silence.
Luka hummed. "Not a clue, do you by any chance have an idea? You are his honorary niece after all." The boy probed. Marinette, in response, giggled and shook her head.
"I have no idea." She put simply. The comfortable silence started again, this time, however, it was broken by Luka.
"After all this time, it was you who was under the heroine's mask." He murmured shooting her an unreadable glance.
"Yeah, are you surprised?" Marinette whispered back. He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I am. Who wouldn't after finding out that one of your friends have been protecting Paris for a long time? Not only that, but finding out all your other friends are heroes too? It's hard to wrap your head around." Luka looked at the sky, shaking his head. "I don't think I've fully processed it yet, I think I'm still in shock."
Marinette chuckled softly. "Sorry about that."
"Don't be." Luka reassured his friend, and honorary cousin. "Honestly, now that I think about it, it's so obvious that you're Ladybug. How couldn't I have seen it before?"
"That's because of the miraculous magic." Marinette told him. "It warps your perception of the miraculous users, unless you know their identities, which you do, now."
He hummed. "Interesting."
"You can ask Sass about it later if you want." Marinette said, stopping in front of a crosswalk. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."
"See you." Luka gave her a hug and Marinette hugged back. Smiling, she waved goodbye to her friend before crossing the street. It was a short and quiet walk back to the bakery. The bluenette could just barely hear the two kwamis bickering in her purse. Marinette playfully rolled her eyes and opened the door to her home. "Hi Maman, Papa." She waved at her parents as she passed the bakery's kitchen, though, her parents didn't seem to hear her. She didn't mind, they were probably busy anyway. Marinette pushed open the trapdoor to her room and placed her purse onto the chaise. Making her way to her desk, Marinette sank into her desk chair, the smile that was once on her face gone and replaced with a solemn expression.
Tikki, noticing her owner's manner after leaving her purse, floated over to the bluenette. "Marinette, what's wrong?"
Marinette looked at her kwami with a burnt out expression. "Tikki, I completely forgot about Mayura. I can't believe I overlooked her when she's obviously working alongside Hawkmoth and now, Mayura's an even bigger threat than before. I can't believe I let this happen." The girl pulled her legs up onto the chair and let her forehead fall onto her knees. Tikki immediately flew over to hug her owner's cheek.
"It's not your fault Marinette. No hero is immune to flaws, Ladybug is no different." Tikki whispered into her owner's ear, trying her best to comfort the bluenette.
"But Tikki, I can't afford to make mistakes like this. And I told my friends that they could take this time to rest." Marinette murmured, pulling her legs closer to her body. Tikki looked over to where Plagg was sitting on top of Marinette's purse. The black cat kwami moved to Marinette's desk.
"Hey Pigtails." Plagg started softly. Marinette looked up, her eyes watery with tears threatening to spill. "It's not your fault, Mayura's easy to forget anyway." The kwami hugged Marinette's other cheek, purring while doing so.
"But I-"
"Marinette." Tikki interrupted her owner, "You are one of the best Ladybugs I have ever served, a small mistake doesn't change that."
The girl smiled. "Thank you Plagg, Tikki." Marinette kept blinking, trying to remove the tears in her eyes. "I don't know why I got so emotional, sorry." Marinette chuckled softly, running her hands down her face. "Alright, okay, let's focus on the task at hand; Mayura. Plagg can you pass me that pen please?" The black cat kwami flew over to the other side of the desk to retrieve the pen for his guardian.
"Here." Plagg handed Marinette the pen.
"Thank you." She popped the lid off and reached for a post it note. "This was Mayura's first attack in three months. She created a sentimonster with similar powers to that of an Akuma." Marinette wrote down other key points of the attack that occurred recently. Then she stuck it onto the wall in front of her desk. "She seemed sick so she's weaker than she usually would be." Marinette hummed before sighing. "For now, we'll just try to defeat her sentimonsters and work from there."
Marinette put on a smile as she got up from her chair. "Why don't I get you both something to eat?"
"Do, I need my camembert." Plagg started, but he noticed a glare from Tikki. "...please."
"May I have some macarons?" Tikki asked. Marinette nodded and went down to the kitchen, taking some snacks for her kwamis. The smile on her face faltered when she was out of view.
"You can't change what's happened." The bluenette told herself as she took an apple. Marinette walked back up to her room, giving the kwamis their requested food. She took her sketchbook and skimmed through the pages, stopping on a blank sheet. "I might as well design something new." Marinette murmured, mostly to herself. She gave Tikki and Plagg one more smile before emerging herself into her designing, allowing herself to forget her guilt.
~~~
Bruce Wayne sat in his office, typing away on his computer. The final preparations for the 'contest' were close to completion. All it needed was a message from Tim and himself. Soon, he had finished his short message for the students who were willing to participate. Bruce sent it to the editor and looked through his emails, one in particular told him that Tim had done the same. Another one came through, from the editor. It mentioned that the message would be ready to send out at the end of day, meaning that the contest would soon be announced and soon officially begin. Bruce stood up from his desk, cup in hand as he walked to one of the windows in his office that overlooked the city. Taking a sip from his cup, his eyes lingered across the city skyline. Today would mark the beginning of Hawkmoth's end.
He was sure of it.
A/N
Hello!! Not really much going on in this chapter (sorry) but I think the story will start to pick up the pace in the next chapters. Again, school is something I have to factor in when writing so chapter updates will be inconsistent (sorry again.). That and I'm a mega procrastinator (I have some homework due in today and I still haven't done it oops) so there's that.
Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter!