Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tom went robotically through the motions of cleaning as his mind went over the past few years. For some reason, one of Marinette’s, his darling daughter, was being horribly bullied by her classmates. Add on to the fact that the bakery has been getting rather popular recently so the two parents were sometimes away for days. Tom knew that if things continued this way whatever was left of his daughter’s light would fade away. Heck, the fact that she endured for years spoke highly of strength.

The door’s bell went off breaking Tom from his thoughts. Looking to the entrance the baker saw a hand put down a speaker before retreating. Blinking Tom glanced at the speaker as it started playing music. A few seconds after playing the music a very familiar lab coat-wearing man struts in. “Everyone wipe your tears for Doctor Fantastico is here!”

Tom let out a chuckle at seeing his brother. “Sorry, but I’ll never call you that Dave.”

“Aw come on!” The younger Dupain complained as he walked up to the counter. “I went through the whole process of changing my name!”

“Yes, to Doctor Dave Fantastico.” Sabine pointed out as she walked in from the kitchen. “So technically we are just calling you by your middle name.”

“Fair, fair.” Dave sang before leaning on the counter. “So how are the two love birds?”

“Business is going really well.” Tom bragged to which his brother just raised an eyebrow.

“And how is my darling niece?” Dave questioned with a bit of sadness. Tom looked over to Sabine who just shook her head. “And I suppose that you two’s business going so well has been keeping you too busy to just hang out with her.”

“Why do I feel like this is all going somewhere?” Sabine questioned with a little humor.

“Because unlike my dear older brother you actually have a brain.” That got a protest from the family member. “So here I am to offer you a great deal to benefit everyone.” Seeing his audience paying attention Dave continued. “As it happens my boss-”

“Aren’t you self-employed?” Tom questioned a bit confused.

“My boss needs me to head to Shanghai and pick up some parts for our prototype.” Dave continued on steamrolling over the question. “So I thought to myself, ‘Hey doesn’t Sabine have family there?’” Giving a pause Dave looked towards his sister-in-law.

“Yes, my uncle Wang Cheng lives there.”

“Fantastic! So how about contacting him so when we arrive there after flying first class we have a place to stay!”

“What if he is unable to offer us a place to stay?” Tom questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Then we fly economically and stay in a hotel.” The brother shrugged his shoulders. “Either way we all get a nice vacation. So how about it?”

The two parents looked at each other before nodding. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Great, well you two better pack up and I’ll let Marinette know.” With that Doctor Dave Fantastico made for the stairs stopping for a brief moment to grab his speaker.

“We’ll go together to let her know.” Sabine was right behind him leaving Tom to man the counters. When they got near Sabine’s daughter's room Dave was quick to move to the trapdoor. He placed his speaker in the room trying not to make too much noise. With that, he then began playing his entrance music. “Do you have to do that?”

“It makes entering a room ten times more fun.” Dave told her flatly. “Come on, try it with me.” Sabine watched as Dave burst into the room while greeting the black-haired girl. Rolling her eyes Sabine followed her brother-in-inlaw.

“Sorry for intruding dear.” While saying this the baker walked through the trapdoor. Marinette was happily talking to Dave. It was a bit sad to think that this was the first time in a while that Sabine had seen her daughter so happy. The girl’s hair had grown longer and was still unkempt though at least she had put them into something resembling pigtails.

“Hey mama, what’s going on?” The pigtailed girl questioned looking between the two.

“Oh well, your uncle came over with an interesting proposal.” Sabine informed the girl with a smile. The young girl looked over to the uncle who gave her a smile.

“So what do you say to going to Shanghai? We can see the sights and you can watch your mother’s face as I murder the Chinese language.”

“What?” Marinette asked while tilting her head in confusion.

“Apparently your uncle here needs to pick up a part or something for an invention he is trying to make and asked us if we wanted to come with.” Sabine elaborated.

“Oh, so he is actually going to make something that works?” Marinette questioned with a giggle.

“Hey!”

“I think that is hoping for too much.” Sabine shared in her daughter’s laughter. Dave was a brilliant mechanic/ programmer but most of own inventions just didn’t work. But people were still willing to hire him.

“Well if you two are just going to pick on me then I’m just going to head home and start packing.” Dave pouted while looking to the side. Sabine and Marinette apologized and the three of them talked for a bit longer. They hashed out the details about the trip over before Dave left. A week seemed to come and go before. Marinette felt giddy being able to sit in first class, almost as much as her father.

The group of four met up with Wang Cheng who was overjoyed at seeing his family. The professional chef escorted them to his home where Sabine introduced Marinette to Bastillie who was over the moon to see them both. Dave tried to get to know the bird only for it to ignore him completely. It took them a little bit of time to adjust to the time zone difference.

The next day Dave announced that he was heading out for the meeting and Marinette asked if she could go with him. In truth, the black-haired girl really just wanted to explore the city. After a bit of talking the uncle and niece were heading out.

Sabine smiled as she saw them out. Dave had eased her concerns by allowing her to track his phone so she and Tom would always know where the two of them were. As time passed though the three remaining adults started to become concerned as no word came from them. So with a bit of worry, Sabine tried to call Dave or Marinette only for the calls to go instantly to voicemail. When she went to check the tracking function her stomach dropped as it didn’t find Dave’s phone.

The police were informed and agreed to look into the matter. However, the day came to an end with no word coming about the pair. Their worry became dread as one day became two. Sabine and Tom had become somewhat lethargic and barely moved as time passed. On the third day, they were almost like ghosts of themselves.

That is until the afternoon when the door burst open revealing a heavily injured Dave with Marinette on his back and another young girl black-haired with a strand of amaranth hair on her left side who was walking beside him. “Hey guys, we're back.” With slow movements, Dave took haggard steps inside. “I’m just going to sleep. Please don’t wake any of us. Thanks, night.” With that, he deposited a very ragged Marinette on the coach while escorting the other girl to a bedspread before collapsing onto the ground.

Tom, Sabine, and Wang looked at each other for a moment before they burst into motion. They moved around each other and were about to yell at each other before stopping at remembering the three sleeping. Tom and Sabine quickly made their way over to check on Marinette. As they approached the two had to brace themself as they noticed the state their daughter was in. Her clothes were torn, and destroyed parts of it were even burned. Her hair was largely in the same state. But it was the scar on her face that drew most of their attention. The scar went down across her left eye.

“Do you think her eye is okay?” Tom asked with concern in his voice. Sabine looked at him before shaking her head. They could peel her eyelid back to check but not wanting to disturb her rest. As her eyes landed back on her daughter though she spotted a black mark on the back of her daughters hand. The mark, from what she could see, looked like a stylized sun. As she stared at the black mark though the mother swore she saw it turn orange for a fraction of a second.

“The other girl is fine as far as I can tell.” Wang informed the two parents, breaking Sabine out of her staring contents with the black mark. “Do you know who she is?”

“No.” Tom shook his head before sighing. “I’ll get some food ready.” Wang agreed and with that, they left Sabine in the room alone with the three. Taking the chance the woman walked over and checked on Dave. The man’s signature lab coat was in taters just like Marinette’s clothes. In fact, looking between the two and thinking back Sabine couldn’t say for certain if these were the clothes they left in.

“What happened?” Sabine questioned, really hoping for answers. Sabine sat in the room in case the three needed anything. Not that it was needed as they slept for a good while. Tom and Wang put the food in containers as Tom swapped with Sabine to take care of watching the three. It was hard for her to go to sleep knowing that the daughter she had thought lost was now home.

If Sabine did sleep it was in short increments with her occasionally jerking awake. However, it was during one of the times that she jerked awake that a knock was heard. Tom carefully crossed the floor and opened the door to reveal a doctor that Wang trusted. The doctor was quick to get to work on checking on the three.

Sabine watched working as he began with the mysterious girl. After giving her a mostly clean bill of health, the only real concern he noted was a bit of malnutrition, he moved on to Dave who was nearby. The doctor noticed that there were a few bruises and a few more scars that were hidden under the clothes. When he moved on to Marinette the first thing the doctor checked was her eyes. But while he was about to peel back her eyelid the young girl jerked awake.

Sabine watched as Marinette swiftly put distance between herself and the doctor. The mother saw, with some relief, that her daughter's eyes darted over everything, stopping for a brief moment over Dave and the other young girl.

“Marinette, dear?” Tom calmly drew his daughter’s attention to him. Sabine saw Marinette’s eyes lock onto Tom. A mix of emotions passed over her face.

“Papa?” The black-haired girl’s voice came out a bit broken. “Is that you papa?”

“Of course.” Tom agreed and tried to approach only for her to back up.

“What did you give me for my eighth birthday?” The question caused Tom to pause.

“We got you a sewing machine and a vanilla strawberry cake.” Sabine was quick to reply. Marinette turned to see her with tears in her eyes. With a cry, the baker found her daughter wrapped around her in a tight embrace. It wasn’t long before Tom and Wang joined in the hug. After a moment the doctor reminded them of his presence.

They positioned Marinette in Tom’s lap, the father refusing to let go of his daughter, as the doctor finished his checkup. It was during the checkup that the sun mark wasn’t the only mark on her now. In total, there were about eleven marks on her body. They ranged from a flower blooming, a stylized heart, a cross intersected with four small trilaterals, and a stylized star. “Well, the good news is that besides some malnutrition and some bruising, you seem in good help.” The doctor announced as he stood up. “I would still recommend going to your normal doctor and getting a checkup.”

“Thank you.” Wang nodded to the doctor. After exchanging farewells and the man leaving the adults turned towards Marinette who looked like she was barely staying awake. The adults looked at each other. After a silent conversation, they decided to let the girl sleep there would be time for questions later.

“Hey, let’s get you some food before you go back to sleep.” Sabine said softly to her daughter. All the request got was a nod of the head. It didn’t take long for the food to be reheated. After eating a good amount Marinette went back to sleep while under the watch of her parents. Tom and Sabine really hopeful that they would find out what had happened.

That did not happen. The three danced around the topic avoiding what had happened to them. Marinette and the mysterious girl clamped up while Dave diverted their attention. It was through one of his diversions that they learned the other girl’s name was Fei, no last name.

“If only someone was willing to adopt this poor unfortunate girl,” Dave commented with his usual flair. Seeing the flat look the other adults gave him Dave returned it with one of his own. “Someone who is a native citizen of this country.” Wang sighed before nodding to Dave.

The rest of the trip, which was the rest of the day, was spent getting Fei adjusted to living in Wang’s house. Sabine watched Dave along with her daughter interact with the girl like they had known each other for a long time. A time longer than the two boarding on three days that they had spent with each other.

However before they could ask more questions the time for their family to return to Paris had come. It was at the airport that Sabine found out that not only did her precious daughter have physical scars but also mental ones now. The small girl stuck around the three like a shadow while her blue eyes darted around as if looking around for some threat. It didn’t help that looking at Tom she could easily see that her husband had noticed it too. Her husband turned towards his brother and the two talked in hushed whispers leaving Sabine to deal with Marinette.

The mother stuck close to her daughter. The young girl stuck close to her mother and after a moment grabbed the older woman’s hand. The baker only intended to try and overhear what her husband and Dave were saying to each other but the problem with airports was when you tried to just hear one person you instead heard two or three.in the process.

Sabine trembled as she heard nearby conversations talking about her daughter. The conversations ranged from questioning her and Tom’s parenting skills, to how much of a deligent the girl must be to have that many scars, and even one woman complaining about having to be on the same plane as such a scary looking girl. After hearing such comments Sabine felt her emotions flair but held herself back and instead focused on keeping her daughter close.

This trip had changed so much and things wouldn’t be the same going forth. But one thing was for sure, there was no way of she would send her daughter back to school. Heck it would probably be for the best if she entirely pulled the girl out of the public school system. Sabine doubted Marinette would put up to much of a fuss.

Looking back towards her daughter she caught the girl looking at the back of her hand, at the stylized sun mark. The girl seemed to be deep in thought before clenching her hand into a fist and nodding to herself. Seeming to sense her mom looking at her Marinette looked at the woman and smiled up at her. Sabine had a feeling that no matter what her daughter would make it through no matter what troubles would come.

Chapter Text

Marinette clutched on tight to her Uncle’s white lab coat. The trip started out normally with her and Dave going down to the store while taking in the sights. After getting the equipment the two were about to head back only for Dave to stop and start looking around.

“Stick close Marinette, the street is getting crowded,” Dave advised his niece who was quick to follow his command. It was while she was moving close that she bumped into another girl. The two tripped over each other and as they did the other girl let go of what was in her hand. “Are you alright…”

Wondering why her uncle had trailed off the black-haired girl looked down and saw the piece of equipment near the now-obvious thief. Said thief only took a second to recover and grab the equipment before fleeing. Both the young girl and her uncle were quick to follow after them.

The chase took them down many side alleys and the two family members almost lost the thief on multiple occasions. Thankfully the two managed to locate the girl in what seemed to be an abandoned temple. The two were quick to find the girl in one of the abandened ruins. The girl was shocked to find herself cornered and was about to try and fight her way out only for everything to come to a halt when a group of burly men burst into the now more destryed room.

“Ah, Fei I’m sorry to say but I’ve come to inform you that our deal shall soon be coming to an end.” The leader of the group, an old looking man waving a fan, said with mocking laughter. “But their is one last thing I need you for. Man grab them.” With that the three were jumped and quickly taken down before they could do anything.

“Cash what are you doing!?” The now named Fei demanded as one of the thugs started to pick her up and force her to walk towards the door.

“Let’s just say that there have been some interesting developments.” Cash informed the young girl with a cruel smile. “I only intended for you to be here but it seems you won’t be alone in your final moments. Now men gag them.”

Marinette shook in fear as the group made their way to an area of the temple at which point the gang leader pulled out a bracelet that had Fei shaking and attempting to get at the gang leader. “Rejoice men for soon we shall see the treasures hidden here!” With that, he leads the group to a nearby waterfall. Walking behind it revealed a giant stone door. Glaring at the door Cash let out a displeased noise. Marinette felt a bit of hope that they would be let go only to freeze at what happened next.

“Now, now no need to let your anger get to you.” A deep voice calmly chided the older man. “Let me get the door for you.” With that, a shadow-covered horned figure rose from Cash’s shadow. “Deadly Nail.” With that one of its arms shot out and with terrifying power destroyed the large door. The three captives starred in shocked horror at what they had just seen only to be forced to keep moving.

The group passed through the hidden cave, a bit in awe of the scenery but forced to descend down the spiraling stairs leading deeper. Arriving at the bottom of the long staircase Marinette forced herself to keep walking as her legs burned. Her uncle gave her a concerned look only to be forced to continue forward. It was thankfully soon after the stairs that they found themselves before a brick wall.

“What now?” Cash grumbled while glaring around.

“Come now surely you must have released that not everything is as it seems.” The dark menacing voice responded with a chuckle. “DemiDevimon you know your job.”

“On it boss.” A creature Marinette could only assume was DemiDevimon appeared from one of the goon's shadows responded back. The creature was a round bat thing that flew up to one of the spikes where it gently placed it on the top of a rock. Once placed the little stone shot a red beam that hit the wall. Part of the wall rumbled and began to move revealing a previously hidden alcove. “Hah! Worked just as planned.”

“Always good to see a deal upheld.” Cash responded with a grin as he began approaching and gently placed the bracelet inside the revealed slot. Once more the wall shook causing Cash to stumble back. A hidden area was revealed while a new being was revealed. The creature was the tallest in the room along with being well muscled. It also had the head of a lion and was armored.

“I am Mei Shi and I shall-” Whatever the being was going to say was halted as soon he spotted the flying bat creature. An angry look crossed its face and once more it opened its mouth only to be interrupted as DemiDevimon launched an attack.

“Evil Whisper!” A black ball of energy flew out of its mouth and smashed against the black and gold armor. This caused a fight to break out between everyone present. Two more DemiDevimon flew out of the other thug's shadows while Mei Shi held up his ball as orbs of different colors appeared.

“Quick the guard dog is distracted, grab the treasure.” The sinister voice called out to Cash who was backing away from the fight. Unlike Cash who was hesitating Marinette felt something in her stir. Being quick to act the small girl flung herself away from the guard.

“Huh?” The guard stumbled stunned while Marinette slammed herself into one of the other thugs who began turning towards her. This caused him to be off balance when the girl slammed into him thus causing the second thug to fall right onto the third who due to not being prepared also fell down.

Marinette blinked in slight shock at that only to flinch as she caught sight of the first thug who looked like he was about to attempt to grab her only to stop as a sparking yellow orb flew by him. Fei upon realizing what had happened was quick to fly forward and with one fluid movement kicked Cash in the face. The gang leader fell to the ground with a pained noise. The girl smirked at that but before anything else happened an annoyed noise came from Cash’s shadow.

“Why must I do everything by myself?” With that everything went still as a tall thin figure rose from the gang leader’s shadow. As the shadows fell away it revealed a black monster with long arms, tatered wings, and red eyes that spoke of great evil.

“Devimon.” Mei Shi whispered in horror.

“Master!” The three DemiDevimon shouted in shock and a bit of neverness energy.

“Human get up.” The demon spat toward Cash who was still laying on the ground. “The treasure you so wanted is close.” Cash attemted to stumble and get up only for a red ball of energy to almost hit him.

“You will not touch the charm!” The lion headed creature shouted while sumoning forth more energy balls.

“Who will stop me? You?” Devimon questioned while raising his hand. “Death Hand!” With that call, a wave of unholy energy shot out of the things hand. Mei Shi’s orbs flew in front of him while spinning the orbs together to make a shield. The unholy energy slammed into the four colored shield and contestied with it for a moment only for the shield to explode.

Marinette watched this in slight shock but was broken out of it by her uncle. “We need to go before things get more intense.” The adult whispered while watching the fight. The lion was on the defensive summoning the orbs as fast as could while the DemiDevimon flew in to launch their own attacks. Marinette agreed but she also didn’t want to just abandon the armored lion man. Plus even though the other young girl had stolen from them nobody deserved to die down here.

As that thought went through her mind the black-haired girl looked toward Cash and the other thugs. The thugs were on the other side of the cave already trying to leave quickly. Cash was where he had landed and the half french girl was about to move to see if she could help him only to stop as an energy ball slammed right by them. Marinette wasn’t able to see what the color of the orb was but when it exploded it spread harsh blowing winds and waves of flame. Being caught in the blast the black-haired girl felt lucky to have only been hit by the wind which only sent her flying a small distance followed by rolling a good distance. She was stopped by the wall that had opened up starting all this mess.

“Damn it, I keep forgetting how fragile most humans are.” The menacing voice of Devimon called out with disappointment. Looking up the black-haired girl felt herself freeze at seeing some blood near her. Keeping her eyes looking down Marinette stayed near the wall only to stumble as part of the wall wasn’t there. Looking in the area Marinette saw a pendant sitting on a pedestal.

This must be what they were after! The thought was quick and sudden but without hesitation she grabbed it. After all, there was very little doubt that it would but powerful, just not in her hands. While exiting the small area Marinette stumbled a bit as a syringe almost hit her. Cringing at how close she had once again come close to death or at least severe injury. The thought of that made some of the bruises and cuts from the previous moments remind her of their presence. It was at that moment that a yell drew her attention.

Turning to the yell she saw Mei Shi had managed to hit one of the DemiDevimon. The small black creature had been hit by one of the orbs no doubt and seemed to be struggling to move. “I really should have brought better minions!” The demon creature let out another melodramatic sigh. “Though I must admit that you are quite strong.”

“Boss..” The DemiDevimon cried out only for it to stop as the DemiDevimon found itself clutched in the hand of the demon. With a last scream, DemiDevimon was crushed in his master’s clawed hand.

Marinette flinched at the act of violence but couldn’t look away. However much to her shock, there was no blood or anything else one would expect from watching a living creature be crushed. What happened next shocked the human present. The DemiDevimon’s body glitched like an old screen television then it completely shattered into pixels that hung in the area for a moment before being absorbed by Devimon.

“Very refreshing.” The Devimon chuckled while turning towards the other DemiDevimon. “You two, remember to stay useful!”

“Yes sir!” The bats screamed while fluttering a bit in fear.

“You would consume your own allies.” Mei Shi hissed out in outrage and hatred.

“I thought you were aware of my kind. So why are you shocked?” With that callous question the fight began again. While watching the fighting reignight Marinette pressed herself back up against the wall. So focused on the fight and clashing of colors verses black waves that she didn’t notice her uncle until he was covering her mouth.

“I got Fei, we have to move fast but quietly.” Dave quietly informed her niece who looked at the adult. True to his words the other young girl was on his back seemingly out cold. Marinette nodded her head and made to follow only to stop as she felt something under one of her hands. Looking back she saw the bracelet and with little thought she grabbed it and followed her uncle.

Unnoticed to the group the lion headed guardian stumbled for a moment and took a second to glance back at them. This cost him as Devimon was able to land a dirrect hit on the distacted guard. “It seems you are slowing down, is that due to the battle or is something else happening?” The demon questioned while using the chance to look around. Stopping at seeing the empty pedestal that is being resealed. “It seems that some humans have run off with my prize.” Devimon snarled through his fanged teeth.

With that the DemiDevimons quickly fled toward the humans who were running up the spiriling staircase. The DemiDevimons were forced to stop as Mei Shi shot some of his orbs towards them. One of the DemiDevimon manged to fully escape but the other was fully hit. The Devimon though noticed that the guard was slowing down and seeming to loose energy. “Fine we shall finish our battle first.” Thus the battle began for a third time in short time but this time with an obvious winner.

Marinette forced herself to keep running, to move faster so she could survive just a bit longer. She tried to match her pace to her uncles but his longer stride allowed for him to skip one or two steps but it didn’t matter as long as she could escape from the escalating battle down bellow. It took two or three minutes for them to reach the top and the poor unfortante girl felt like her lungs were burning while she couldn’t get in enough air. But all that was on the forced to the back thanks in part to the adreniline coursing through her body. So caught up in making sure her that she kept pace that the girl never noticed the braclet emit a faint glow. Right as they neared the final stretch though was when something went wrong.

“I finally caught you!” A DemiDevimon called out with a slightly out a breath voice.

“Damnit.” Dave cursed while eyeing the exit.

“Yes, you are caught.” The dark sadistic voice heralded the arrival of Devimon who flew up and landed at the opening. “Now will hand over the treasure or will we have to do this the fun way.”

Marinette didn’t get a chance to say anything as her uncle grabbed her shoulder and the group of three dived into the waterfall. Or at least that was the plan. What the humans nor the Digimon could have known at that time was that due to all the magic and power flying around made the area unstable thus when the group of humans tried to go through the waterfall they instead found themselves in an entirely different world than the one they knew.

Chapter Text

Marinette curled around the egg that supposedly held the Digimon that was supposed to be her partner. Digimon, the concept and thought of what that word entitled made her mind remember everything that had happened over the past week. Yes, a week. A week later she, her uncle, and the girl named Fei wound up in an entirely different world. Over the course of the week, the three humans were able to discover bits of this world thanks to Fei’s and Dave’s partner Digimon. Digimon was a catch-all term, as her uncle would say, to describe a creature that was made of both data and some other type of energy that can range in many shapes and sizes. Apparently, well that was what Terriermon, Dave’s partner, had told them.

Terriermon was a Digimon that looked like a rabbit with long ears and colors of tan and green. He or at least the Digimon seemed to be male, was rather short, and was a rather cheery happy being. Dave and he got along like the best of friends.

Fei’s partner was a yellow humanoid fox Digimon called Renamon. They were the exact opposite of Terriermon. The fox was serious and dutiful to their partner who seemed stiff with both them and Renamon. Marinette had given the girl both the pendant and the bracelet which were both magic. Mei Shi appeared after Fei put on the bracelet though he was now diminished, in both power and size.

It was through the reappearance of the lion-headed figure that they learned the importance of the pendant that Fei was now charged with protecting. The pendant, called the Prodigious, was home to spirits known as the Renlings. With the power of the Prodigious Fei was able to wield power that allowed her to fight alongside her Digimon partner against the threats this new world held.

All of this led to where they are now. Terriermon had met the Digimon who was supposed to be her partner. This had made the young girl excited, not only could she meet a new friend but she wouldn’t be dead weight. It honestly hurt how useless the girl felt whenever she watched her uncle, Fei, and their Digimon partners fight against whatever came to threaten them. Marinette had wanted to help out so badly and if she had a partner then at least she could support them like her uncle did with Terriermon.

All of that led to this situation where the village where her partner was supposed to be. Well they were but according to the village, her partner was ‘killed’ while protecting the village. Thankfully when a digimon ‘died’ the data they were made of reconfigured into a digital egg where they could be born again. So here they were, in a village that was being attacked by a group of Goblimons and Ogremon.

Fei, in the form of Ladydragon, was fighting alongside her partner Renamon on the front while Dave and Terriermon were supporting the two as best they could. Which left Marinette to stay with the other digimon. So she could be protected because she couldn’t help them. Because she was worthless.

As she was thinking this the girl felt a bit of warmth from the egg that she was holding. At feeling the warmth the black haired girl smiled down at the egg. “Yeah I guess you don’t like feeling useless either.” As she was looking down at the egg the girl saw something moving nearby. Looking away the girl saw the other digimon from this small settlement. The monsters were huddled together cowering in fear. Seeing them so scared made the girl feel worse for not being able to do anything.

As that thought crossed her mind the entire building shook for a moment before the sounds of Goblenmon could be heard. The group of evil digimon was loudly talking about what they were looking for any survivors and just what they would do to anyone they found. The young girl could see how the loud talking was affecting the group of scared digimon. Seeing them so scared brought back many bad memories. Memories she had never wanted to confront, but now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts.

So while looking down at the egg that once again filled with warmth Marinette remembered the conversation just a bit earlier. Both she and her partner wanted to help these people, digimon? It didn’t matter they needed help and she could do something! But her plan was ruined the moment she tried to put her partner in some blankets that she bundled up. The half-French girl didn’t know if it was due to her nerves or her partner not wanting to leave but she couldn’t let go of the egg. Her mind tried to puzzle out what was going on but once again the sound of the invaders grew louder.

With that, the girl pulled the egg close and rushed out of the nearby door making sure to grab lots of attention. The girl could hear the Goblinmon stop for only a second before Marinette could hear them now following her and her partner. But as she ran Marinette didn’t let any thoughts distract her and instead focused on just moving forward continuing to move forward. With each step, the girl vaguely realized that the noise following her was growing in volume. That meant that either more were following or they were getting closer. Either would be bad enough but Marinette hoped that it wasn’t the earlier because if more Goblinmon showed up that meant something happened to the frontliners.

It was as she was running and only focusing on running that she didn’t notice the egg she held grow warmer or as she exited the village. It was as she exited the village that the girl tripped over a root and fell down on her side keeping the egg safe. With that, the Goblinmons rushed toward her as they cheered. As the group neared while waving around their nailed clubs the girl tried to free her leg only to find it trapped by vines. A sense of helplessness started to take root but the girl pushed it down to instead focus on keeping her partner safe. So with that determination, Marinette made to do whatever it took.

“That’s some courage there!” A voice happily called out as time seemed to slow down around them. Turning the girl saw an orange dinosaur creature. “Reminds me of a friend of mine.” Meeting the friendly eyes of the Digimon who gave an eye smile back. “Hi, I’m Agumon, or I guess I’m a copy of an Agumon.” Reaching up to scratch his head the friendly monster chuckled a little. “I can’t remember, I think it was explained to me at some point but it just went over my head.” With that, the possible copy of a Digimon smiled at the black-haired girl.

After a few moments of silence, Marinette realized that the Digimon was waiting for introductions. “My name is Marinette.”

“That’s a great name!” Agumon cheered with a big smile. “I would say that we should begin the test but…” The possible copy continued only to trail off with a sigh. “The time stop won’t last much longer and your partner couldn’t wield either power that resides here.” As if in response the egg glowed again. “I’m sorry but it looks like even with what you showed we couldn’t do anything.”

“Why!” Marinette cried out in shock at what she heard. “If you have power couldn’t you use it?”

“Nope, while I have control over the power I can’t hand it out and your partner isn’t even here to use it.” Once more the egg glowed but this time Marinette could feel sorrow from it. Clutching it close Marinette ran over everything trying to figure out a solution. However, as she did so the girl started to feel trapped. Just like back then.

Once more her partner warmed up to draw her out of her thoughts and bring forth an idea. “My partner is here and you are here to oversee the person taking the test right?” A little confused Agumon nonetheless nodded. “You said that the test would take too long and the time stop will run out soon right? So I propose that we take a new test!” Starting to get on a roll Marinette didn’t let anyone interrupt. “Give me the power and I’ll use it! I’ll use it fight off the Goblinmon and I’ll prove my worth while protecting my partner!” As she spoke the girl didn’t notice as her partner started to glow brighter due to the outpouring of emotions.

Agumon listened to everything with an intrigued look before sighing. “That does sound good but even if I wanted to you couldn’t wield both of the powers. The armor can only…” The Digimon fell silent as the egg became bright. “Well, it looks like you have started something interesting. I look forward to what comes next.” With that, a bright orange glow began to shine around the three. As the light began to shine brighter the girl attempted to close her eyes but the light easily showed through them. It was while all this was going on that her body began to burn and pain the likes of which she never experienced became known to her.

A scream tore through the girl and it was with that last memory that Marinette jolted up in her bed also screaming. It took her a few seconds for the girl to realize that she was in her room, her room in Paris. “Marinette are you alright?” Her mama’s voice questioned as the woman’s head popped through the hatch.

The young girl didn’t reply right away as she calmed herself down a bit. “Yeah, sorry mama I… I just had a really bad dream.” It felt wrong to call such an important memory a bad dream but her mama wouldn’t understand. The only people who would understand in this world are Fei and her uncle.

“Okay, if you're okay.” Sabine replied but Marinette could easily hear a bit of hurt in her mama’s voice. She could understand the hurt in her mom’s voice due to how obviously her daughter was hiding things. But there was little she could do about that, like she had said before only her uncle and Fei could fully understand. As the thought crossed her mind Marinette shook her head. No that line of thinking was wrong, they couldn’t understand because she wasn’t letting them understand. Even though she had been back in the real world for more than a week Marinette hadn’t made a single effort to tell her parents about anything that happened.

With a sigh, she looked down toward the mark of courage on the back of her hand. “I was given the crests but I find talking to my parents hard?” With a bit of self-depression, the girl laid back down only to find sleep impossible. With a sigh, the girl got out of bed and moved to her desk to at least do something. After booting up her computer Marinette began to mess around only to blink as she saw a message pop up.

Dr.Fantistico!: I got it working!

MDC: Rly??

Dr.Fantistico!: You doubt me? Come over, I will show you!

Dr.Fantistico!: The future is now!

Dr.Fantistico!: Also type properly!

Rolling her eyes Marinette rose from her desk and started to get dressed. As the girl finished her morning routine the young fashion designer started to get dressed. After her trip to the Digital World Marinette had to change her outfit due to the amount of healing scars and visible wounds.

She had noticed how uncomfortable people were when they could see the scars and other wounds so Marinette had taken to covering up the injuries so as to not attract attention. Unfortunately, her wounds were covering most of her body so that left her having to wear a lot of clothing that covered everything. It was a bit uncomfortable having to wear a coat, gloves, scarf, and a medical mask but it was better than having hundreds of people watching her. After making sure that her hood was up Marinette walked down the stairs making sure to not draw any attention from the arriving customers. Arriving at the bakery Marinette poked her dad in the back to get his attention.

“Give me a moment.” Tom didn’t look away from his task and focused on finishing the bread he was making and went back to singing his song. Marinette sat down on a nearby stool and hummed along while waiting for him to finish. After a few minutes, her father finished up turned around, and gave his daughter a smile that dimmed a bit at seeing what she was wearing.

“I know it is not the best but I thought it looked cool,” Marinette commented while going over her outfit. Yeah, it was a bit of a miss mash of her various outfits but she thought that she made it look decent. “I have some plans for outfits in the future.” With a smile, the girl tried to reassure her papa and was relieved when some of the joy returned to his smile.

“Do you need some money?” Her father questioned causing Marinette to fall silent as she went over her designs and what she did and did not have.

“Maybe, but I would rather earn it than for you to give it to me.” Her papa gave a bit of a prideful smile at that response. “Speaking of, Uncle Dave wants me to come over see his latest invention.”

“I wonder what it is this time?” Tom muttered with a shake of his head. “Since you are heading over there could you bring him some food? I’m sure my brother forgot to eat, again.” With an agreement, Marinette left the bakery and after a bit of bus hoping she arrived at her uncle’s business/home.

Arriving inside the girl saw the typical mess mixed with a few new messes. Calling out the girl was led into another part of the building where her uncle was leaning over a large kinda clunky-looking helmet device attached to a metal bed that was in turn hooked up to a network router. “Well, what do you think?” Her Uncle questioned as he typed away at a computer that was hooked up to the bed.

“I think that you need to sleep if I’m counting the energy drinks correctly.” Marinette quipped while looking over toward a large pile of empty cans.

“Bah, can't sleep when there is science to do and a racist father to prove wrong!” The possible mad programmer shouted out before turning to his niece. “Now I promised- Oh did my brother send some food!” With little respect for personal space the man grabbed the bag from her and tore into it.

“I'm guessing that this is it.” Marinette commented while looking over the table and connecting headset. “Looks complete. I thought you said it would take years for you to make.”

“First of all it did take years.” Dave muttered in between bites of food. “In case you forgot I've been working on this since technically the last physical year.”

“How can I forget,” The young girl commented while looking under the table. The girl saw that the table was sealed quite well. “You ran into the bakery halfway through dinner to brag about your ‘revolutionary’ design for your ‘deep dive machine’.” At the word, the girl gestured to the table.

“Second, I had already done most of the work and most of the building the machine and just had the programming to work on.” Dave brushed past what his niece had said and moved on to his next topic. “Thanks to our trip into the Digital World I was able to finish the code along with improving it.”

“Don’t act like you did it all yourself. If I remember right Terriermon, Wisemon, and some other Digimon actually help you get this far.”

“Yeah, but I can’t give them credit.” Dave muttered while looking down. “Not yet anyway.” The last part of his sentence was said with desperation. Not that Marinette couldn’t understand. No she knew how close both Dave and Fei were with their partners.

“So I’m guessing that you had me come over for more than to just stare at a table?”

“Well, it is more than just a table!” Dave returned as his energy returned. “It is a very expensive table that I need to make more of!”

“Well sorry but I can’t help you with that.” Marinette returned with a flat look.

“Oh, that is where you are wrong my dear beloved niece.” Dave returned with a devious smile. Seeing the wide eyes staring at him Dave enlightened her about his plan. “You see the Tunnel, the name of this magnificent device, has a few programs working and a few playrooms already built into meaning that we have the perfect setup for some advertising.”

“Ads? Really?” Marinette questioned with a bit of interest. “So you are going for crowdfunding?”

“Yup,” Dave nodded with a smile. “So are you ready to jump in or should we head over to the bakery first and get your parent's signature?” The girl had to blink at that as her mind finally put together what her uncle was saying.

“Wait you want me to star in your ads?” Questioning the plan the girl made sure to gesture towards her visable scar.

“Yes, I want you to star in my ads, and before you say anything else.” Reaching into a drawer he pulled out a device. The device looked like a smartphone with a case that shined in the light while changing colors. Almost unconsnly Marinette started reaching for her digivise but her uncle was quicker to pick it up. “Great I see that you are interested so how do you feel about using your armor evolutions to become a vtuber?” With that question, Marinette’s life changed once more.

Chapter Text

Marinette let out a groan as she felt her armor go between data and solid before it shattered. “I guess that is the end of the training session?” Dave questioned from where he was working on his laptop. “If it is then I am happy to report that you lasted twenty seconds longer!”

“Her techniques are improving quite well too.” Renamon commented as she walked closer to Marinette who was raising on shaking limbs.

“With how much we are putting into training then we should see results,” Fei added as she de-transformed from Ladydragon. “Though I do think you might be pushing yourself a bit too hard.” Fei added this in concern as she watched the other young girl rise onto shaking limbs.

“I need to get stronger.” Marinette refuted as she raised her hands above her head to start catching her breath. “The fact that I can’t stay transformed for longer than…” Trailing off the blue-eyed girl turned to her uncle.

“Three minutes and twenty-four seconds.” Dave responded to her silent question all while closing his laptop. “Listen Marinette, I get that you want to feel useful there is such a thing as going too far and you are going too far.” Getting near his niece the girl he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to help keep her stable. “All of us have things we want to improve on, especially after how horrible everything has been since we arrived. I want to figure out how this ‘Digivolution’ thing so me and Fei can evolve so our partners can get that burst of power when we need it.”

“I would love to be Gargomon again!” Terriormon added on from as he neared the group. Renamon didn’t add on anything but she did a small nod. Marinette didn’t have all the details but she knew that during the attack two days ago both Fei and Dave had managed to achieve a stronger form that helped them beat back the invaders. But now they couldn’t achieve those forms again despite everyone’s attempts.

Renamon turned towards Fei who didn’t meet her partner's eyes but seemed to know what the fox digimon wanted. “I want to achieve the dragon form of my transformation.” The holder of the prodigious admitted after a few moments of silence. “And I wish that Mei Shi didn’t have to waste so much energy to get us out of that situation.” At the mention of the lion-headed protector the half french girl remembered the story of how the spirit used up a vast amount of energy to protect Fei but in doing so it caused Mei Shi to fall into a slumber until he regained enough power to reform.

“See, we all have things we want to improve.” Dave reaffirmed while patting her shoulder.

“Yeah, so just relax a bit.” Terriermon patted her leg.

“Both you and Fei are young and you’ll both improve in time and not by running yourself into the ground.” Rennamon gave her advice to both girls.

“That is some good advice if I ever heard it.” A voice containing mirth had everyone jumping in surprise. Dave yelped and spun to face the speaker while Marinette who relying on him to stand yelped as she collapsed to the ground. Fei moved to defend herself but stumbled as Renamon moved in front of her. “Now, now no need for all of you to get jumpy around an old mon like me.”

Looking up from the ground Marinette had to blink at what she saw. The digimon in front of her looked like a mix between an old man and a hobbit from Lord of the Rings. The short digital monster wore what could only be described as rags while he held a staff with what looked like a cat’s paw on top. “When did you get here?” Marinette questioned with concern.

“Hmm, I’ve been here since your transformation timed out.” The man sitting on the rock commented while taking a thinking position. “But now that was a sight. A human using Digi-Armor, now that isn’t something I expected to see.” At the mention of the armor, the girl froze while staring at the elderly-looking Digimon. “Ah how rude of me not to introduce myself, I’m known around these parts as Jijimon.”

After a bit of hesitation, the group looked at each other before Dave along with Terriormon walked forward to be the spokesperson. Marinette watched her uncle talk to the Digimon and somewhat tuned the conversation out as she tried to work through what the digimon before them had said. He had mentioned the Digi-Armor, something nobody she had talked to knew anything about. Yet here this ‘Jijimon’ called it by name and acted like he knew something about it. Could he know something about the sun symbol that had burned itself onto her hand? “... and lastly we have my niece Marinette.”

“Um, nice to meet you.”

“Hmm, is that everyone?” Jijimon questioned with interest. Looking around a bit Jijimon stopped on the girl again and seemed to narrow his eyes while looking at her. The girl slowly lifted one of her hands up to her chest where she could faintly feel what seemed like a second heartbeat. Her partner's core, now fused with her so she could use the Digi-Armor. “Well aren’t you two younglings interesting.”

“Um, excuse me but how do you know about the Digi-Armor?” Marinette questioned with a bit of nervousness.

“Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious.” Jijimon commented with mirth while stroking his long white beard. “But if you want to know the answer then you're going to need to duel me to get the information.” Hearing that Marinette moved to grab her digivise only to stop as a broom came down on Jijimon’s head.

“Oh, you old fool!” An old woman with her hair tied up in a bun shouted at the other digimon. “Do you have to say things in such a way for others to misinterpret!”

“Babamon,” Jijimon whined while rubbing his head.

“Will you youngsters please forgive my dear foolish partner.” The now-identified Babamon bowed toward the group. “Both of us have been alone for a while now and he let his excitement get to him.”

“His excitement for a fight?” Fei questioned as she slowly relaxed.

“A fight! Goodness no!” Jijimon shook his head while bringing his hand up to where a deck of blue cards was held. “I was challenging you to a duel, I wanted to play a game with you.”

“Like I said he is an old fool who says things that can be easily misunderstood.” Babamon commented with a sigh and a shake of the head. “As an apology how about I treat you all to some nice homecooked meals.”

The group of humans and digimon looked between each other. The group had some food from the previous village but it was all travel food that was filling but with little to bad taste. But even still they didn’t know if they could trust the two in front of them. “Would it be alright if we watch you cook the food?”

“Paranoid bunch aren’t you?” Jijimon commented before walking ahead. “But if it makes you feel better then we will gladly agree to those terms.” With that the group left towards where the two elderly digimon lived.

“So, um, are you two going to explain about what this thing is?” Marinette slowly managed to get the question out. Babamon looked at the back of the girl’s hand which she gestured to.

“Oh, now isn’t that interesting.” Babamon mumbled before looking toward the approaching small village. “I will gladly explain everything to you later. But there are a few things that we need to do first.”

“What other things?” Dave questioned while looking around the forest village that seemed to have been made out of the hollowed-out trees.

“Well, I assumed you would want to eat first before having a serious talk.” Babamon pointed out. “After that, there is somewhere I want to show you.” With that, the older woman continued forward.

After a few moments of silence, Fei decided to ask her question. “Where is everyone? This seems like a decent-sized village but I’m not seeing anybody.”

“That, that is a complicated story.” Jijimon let out a sad sigh while looking at what seemed to be a disused apartment treehouse. “It can also wait until after we all have some food in our belly.” As they continued walking Marinette felt the sun symbol begin to heat up. Looking down at her hand the girl felt confused by what could be making her mark react like this. As she was looking at it the girl frowned as they passed by one building where the mark reacted stronger than before however as she continued to walk the mark slowly went back to being inactive.

Frowning in confusion the girl backed up a bit and watched as her mark reactivated. Looking at the building she felt a kinda calling from the location. The building seemed like a mix of a school and a shrine with the board up above not having any writing just a symbol that looked like a stylized star. Walking toward the building the girl felt her hand constantly grow warmer and hotter. Part of her was scared of what was happening but the other part of her felt some encouragement from her partner’s core along with the sun symbol. Taking a breath the girl put her trust in the two and walked forward with some courage. It was as she got closer that the thought of telling the others crossed her mind only to stop as everything vanished in a flash of white light.

“Well, I certainly didn’t expect to be the second one you found.” A slightly feminine voice called out as Marinette regained her sight. Blinking the girl found herself in what looked like a comfortable room. Turning she found a white cat with purple stripes that stood on two legs. “Then again I suppose my crest is in a rather obvious place.”

“Hi, Gatomon!” A familiar voice called out with cheer. Turning both the girl and cat Digimon spotted Agumon standing there. “Hey don’t worry about the test we are doing something different.”

“Oh, are we now?” Gatomon questioned with interest.

“Yup, we are doing something I find interesting.” Agumon cheered with a smile.

“Um, any chance you two could explain some things to me?” Marinette questioned as she tried to be as brave as possible.

“Well we’re no Tentamon or Izzy but I’m sure the two of us can explain the basics.” Agumon replied with his ever-present cheer. With that, both Agumon and Gatomon explained the basics about crests and the digiarmor. The power of the crests held the power of various virtues while the armors were ancient armors slightly empowered by the crests that were emblazoned on them. The armors were widely unknown with even the two in front of her couldn’t tell her more than that they were old and that they were typically comparable to Champions in terms of power.

“What about the time limit?” Marinette questioned glad to be getting some answers.

“There is no time limit.” Agumon commented while tilting their head. “There is a pool of energy that you pull from. Kinda like a battery now that I think about it. Except batteries don’t grow in size and the amount of energy you can use has grown.”

“Then how come I can’t hold the form for longer than four minutes?”

“Because you are using it for combat every time you summon it.” Agumon shook his head at her. “Honestly you seem to confuse Courage with Recklessness with how you train yourself.”

While not fully agreeing with the last statement Marinette saw some mirrors and picture frames changed to show her different training sessions. Seeing them from the outside and feeling her sore muscles acting up Marinette could understand where the dinosaur was coming from. “What am I supposed to do? I need to train, I need to get used to my powers and learn how to fight.”

“That is true but the way you push yourself puts yourself at more risk.” Gatomon commented while watching one of the training videos. “So Agumon, what was this test that you mentioned?”

Hearing the question, Marinette straightened up. The lack of any memories of a test always bothered her so now might be her chance to learn what was happening. The only thing that she could remember was pain, burning pain, and then bits of combat as she fought the Goblenmon. “Well from what I can understand, I mean from the data that I got, that we are going to oversee her journey!” Agumon cheered while turning towards Marinette. “We shall watch over her and help her with the coming adventure.”

“So not really a test but a way to help her grow in strength and power.” Gatomon hummed as she scratched her chin. “Things must be bad if we are allowed to do something like this.” Agumon didn’t verbally agree but that seemed to be enough of an answer for the cat Digimon. “Alright, I’ll let you have my power. Maybe one day you’ll make this Light your own.” With that bright light that shifted from white to pink flared out. The light was so bright that Marinette could even see it when she closed her eyes. After a second the girl felt something akin to burning but not quite started to spread over her skin. The closest thing that he could compare it to was an instant sunburn. It wasn’t as much pain as with the Courage flames were but it was a unique experience in pain.

As all this was going on the girl heard a voice, a voice she did not quite recognize. “Keep gathering the armor and crests little one. We need you and the others to save the Worlds from the Dark Ocean and its master. The Wordls need a great hero, we know you will rise to the occasion.”

Chapter Text

“My broken wings dream of the sky~!?” A melodic voice sang out from Adrien’s speakers as he watched the ad/concernt/live stream combination. The Ads had popped up out of almost nowhere and had caught on like wildfire. Not that it wasn’t hard to figure out why it had become so popular. To start with was the fact that the ads took place in a 3D space where the viewers could freely move the camera.

The second thing of interest was the vtuber/singer. The girl, or well the model, was masterfully designed. Light, the name of the vtuber, had long black hair with a few strings of white and purple mixed in. Atop her head sat two white cat ears while a white cat tail with a few purple steaks swished behind Light. She wore white and gold armor that had a mix of, what he was told, was Egyptian fashion with some fantasy elements. Being the son of a very famous fashion designer and a model to boot Adrien could say that it was both badass and beautiful.

“And they’ll never be able to fly~!” The vtuber continued her song that he remembered being called ‘Butterfly’. Adrien continued to listen with a smile as he got caught up in the music. So lost in the stream that the young blonde didn’t notice that someone knocked on his door or how Nathalie entered his room.

“Adrien, we need to talk about some important topics.” The voice of his father’s assistant nearly had the boy jumping out of his skin. The boy spun in his seat while trying to settle his heart. “Most recently there have been some unusual transactions on your account that I was hoping you could explain.”

Adrien had just started calming down only for it to start racing again at the question. All it took to answer the question of where about two hundred euros had gone was to look at his computer screen. The boy had been suspicious that the stream was some kinda of weird ad, which it was, and that everything was scripted so of course he had donated some money to send a message. Feeling a bit immature Adrien had sent a very thinly veiled Deez Nut’s joke.

Light had been in the middle of an obstacle course/parkour run when his message arrived being read aloud by the typical AI voice. “Is your real name Candice?” With that the girl almost faltered in her next jump and upon landing promptly facepalmed.

“Really TripleAAAPower? Really?” Seeing her reaction had lit something in the boy’s soul and thus he had proceeded to send more and more messages. It was always entertaining seeing her reaction to each of his brilliant puns, jokes, or memes. It was like online flirting.

“I, well, um, there is a reasonable explanation to the charges.” Adrien had attempted to explain only to fall short at the dry expression of Nathalie. Honestly, whatever he could come up with would have fallen short given that the stream was still going with the song coming out magnificently from his speakers. “You see-”

“Don’t bother, I will hide this from your father so long as this is the only incident.” Nathalie cut him off while reliving some of the young boy's worries. “However, I also came here for another reason.” With that, the assistant brought out a few magazines that had Adrien rolling his eyes and groaning. “Normally we wouldn’t be worried about anything these tabloids publish but given your history of flirting with other coworkers…”

“We talked about this Nathalie,” Adrien whined, no he complained, yeah complained. “It is just harmless banter. It’s not my fault they take it seriously.” It had all begun when Adrien was younger he had seen his mother and father having fun laughing at each other's jokes. Seeing how happy the two of them were the young boy had spent the next few days learning all he could about jokes, banter, and even flirting. It was thus that Adrien started showing his great wit to the various employees and co-workers. It filled him with great joy whenever he got someone to laugh in any way shape or form.

“Yes we have,” Nathalie gave the boy a look while sighing. “So I will once again remind you that you are no longer a small child and what was once cute innocent jokes isn’t when you are a teenager.” Adrien didn’t say anything as he looked down to see the tabloids. There on the tabloids were pictures of Adrien with various female coworkers and models with the girls all having a nice pink dusting on their cheeks. But the worst thing in his opinion was the title of the article: ‘Paris’s Playboy Breaking Hearts!’.

“I understand, Nathalie.” Adrien mumbled while glaring at the article. Why couldn’t he have his fun? Those jokes, puns, and bantering were a comfort to him especially after his mom had ‘disappeared’. Then about two to three weeks back his father had become more dower and his already short temper was even more frayed for some reason.

“Do you Adrien? This is the third time we have had this conversation.” The comment caused the boy to break out of his thoughts.

“I’m sorry, it’s a habit that I’ve been trying to break.” The boy mumbled while not looking the older woman in the eyes. While it was somewhat true that he was trying to break the habit Adrien didn’t put to much effort into actually stopping, well maybe he could stop flirting with his male coworkers and other male models. Yeah, that should calm his father down while making it appear he is obeying him.

“See that you do,” Nathalie commented before turning around. “Don’t spend to much time on that weird little thing, you are an Agreste.” With that parting shot the assistant left leaving the young blonde in a somewhat foul mood.

“Huh, is it weird that I expected TripleAAAPower to have responded by now?” The voice from his computer drew the model from his heart. “No chat I’m not sad he isn’t peppering me with money. I just had this feeling that something happened to him.” Adrien felt touched by the statement. “I was only supposed to sing one song but I feel that a few of you, not just TripleAAAPower, need this.” With that, the girl brought up a screen and with a few button presses music started playing in the background. “I call this one ‘Brave Heart’ I hope you all enjoy it! ~Now and then, I know you wanna quit and give up~” As Adrien listened to the song he felt something deep within him being touched.

~~~~~~~~

“Thank you guys for joining me!” Light cheered to her invisible audience. “To those of you who subscribed we will make sure to inform you the next time I stream!” With that, the girl disconnected from the stream and then a minute later Marinette opened her eyes to reality.

“So how was it? We did a few test dives before this, but well you know what they say.” The black-haired girl’s uncle voice came from somewhere nearby.

“I’m good.” Marinette mumbled as she closed her eyes for a moment. “This time felt a lot smoother.”

“That’s good,” Dave responded while leaning back in his seat. “I would say today was rather profitable. We got to show off the full capabilities of the dive gaming device and earned over seven hundred euros.”

“That’s good,” Marinette mumbled while walking over to check the computer they were using to stream her game session. “Oh, we got at least ten thousand subscribers.”

“Yes, and people have spread BOTH your songs around.” Seeing his niece about to respond the older man waved her down. “If you felt like someone needed to hear the song then I trust you. Trusting your feelings has gotten us through who knows how many conflicts.” Hearing that the girl relaxed and sighed.

“~Tear away the weakness that held you back~” An off key voice sang out as the two humans' attention turned to a small being. “~And release the power you never lacked~”

“Have they been singing the whole song and I just missed it?” Marinette questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“I might have also been tuning them out.” Dave chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. The two watched for a bit longer before giving the singer a round of applause. “That was very good Duusu.”

“Thank you, thank you.” The small peacock creature bowed to their audience. The small blue bird looking being was similliar to Mei Shi’s smaller form. However unlike the guardian entity this being was a cruature was a being known as a kwami. From what Mei Shi and Duusu had explained the kwami could be considered cousins to the Prodigious.

“Just to double check this miraculous is repared unlike your old one right?” Dave quistenioned as he fingered the small brooch he had but on. Her uncle had been wearing the miraculous on and off just to make sure the miraculous was fully repaired. Why was he worried about it being damaged one might wonder? Well, after getting her they Duusu had start talking about how nice it was that she was whole and her new miraculous was fully repaired.

“Yup, I am one hundred percent sure!” The blue kwami replaid with cheer.

“Do you remember anything?” Marinette questioned the kwami. It seems that when the kwami had transfered from their old broken miraculous, during what Dave had called ‘The Great Climatix Battle’, to their new one a lot of memories had been lost during the transfer. So that means that they had no way of finding the Order so they could return the miraculous.

“Still nothing.” The kwami emotion said with a sad shake of her head. “I’m sorry you two.”

“Ah it’s okay,” Dave reassured the birdbrain. “We promised to help you so we will.”

“You two are true heroes!” The bird cheered while flying in to give Dave a hug. “I can’t wait to introduce you to all of my other friends!” Nodding to herself Marinette felt a bit of excitement at the thought of meeting more Kwami. They had looked so grand during Marinette’s time within the Celestal Realm.

Chapter Text

Dave gave a concerned look to his niece who was laid out on the small cot provided by the two elderly-looking Digimon who were playing host to them. The group had been walking earlier only to notice near the end that Marinette had disappeared. Renamon had vanished with a burst of speed. A few seconds later the fox Digimon returned to inform them about the girl’s location. Running back towards a forgotten shrine Dave felt his heart freeze up a bit at seeing his niece unconscious on the street.

Jijimon had stopped him from running to check on her. Babamon instead went forward to check on the girl. Fei stayed near Renamon while Terriermon kept him company. The old Digimon carefully checked over the girl for a bit before finding something interesting. “I'm guessing this is new?” Babamon questioned while pointing to a mark now branded on the back of Marinette’s neck. After confirming that she didn’t have that before, the group left back to the main hut. The two elderly Digimon muttered between themselves as Dave carried his niece.

“What do you think they are talking about?” Fei questioned with narrowed eyes. Dave had been somewhat pleasantly surprised that she knew French to a level where the two of them could hold a conversation.

“If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with the marks on Marinette.” Dave guessed while looking at the other Digimon.

“They did seem to recognize them.” Renamon agreed with the self-proclaimed greatest scientist. “Then again if anyone were to recognize them it would have been either of those two.”

“So, you two know who this is?”

“Yup, these two are pretty well known in the Digital World.” Terriermon agreed. Dave let out a noise of agreement while Fei seemed to think over a few things. It didn’t take long for the group to arrive back at the hut. Dave carefully put his niece on the small cot before turning to the two elderly Digimon.

Jijimon held up a hand to stop any questions. “I will answer all your questions but it would be better if we wait for the young one to wake. It would be a pain to have to explain things everything multiple times.”

“That and I believe it would be best if we eat before talking about anything,” Babamon added with a smile. “We did promise you food after all.” At the reminder of the promised food, the group of four’s stomachs started to rumble. “Alright, let’s see what we got in the pantry for our meal.” With that, the elderly female Digimon walked deeper into the small home.

Fei watched them go before slowly getting up and began following the Digimon. “Where are you two going?” Terriermon questioned the two who paused.

“I would like to watch the making of the food.” Fei slowly spoke in her broken French. Dave thought over what the young girl had said before nodding. It would make sense to watch the food being made to make sure nothing was slipped in. Seeing that he wasn’t coming with Fei continued onwards followed by Renamon.

“Not going with?” Jijimon questioned as he took a seat in an old comfortable-looking chair. “You probably know more about cooking than that girl does.”

“Sorry, but I’m not leaving my niece alone,” Dave commented while taking a seat on the floor.

“Understandable, I couldn’t imagine leaving a little one in the care of a stranger,” Jijimon commented while bringing out a few decks of cards. Regonizing the decks Dave picked one up and began going through it. “I hope we can gain your trust, especially with the story we are going to be telling later.”

“Stroy? I thought you were going to be answering our questions.”

“We will answer your questions after the story. The hope is that the story will answer most if not all of your questions.”

“I see,” Dave accepted the explanation while leaning back against the cot. The man’s mind went over a few things before he leaned back over towards the table and gently placed the deck he was looking through back down on the table. Silence descended around the room before Jijimon decided to break it.

“Do you mind answering a few of this old’s man questions?” Jijimon questioned the human. “Nothing too invasive I’m just a bit curious about the human world is all.”

“I suppose,” Dave responded before the two fell into a simple question-and-answer conversation. Terriermon listened in to his partner answer seemingly random questions about the human world. However, the small Digimon paid great attention to how Dave answered the questions. No doubt Jijimon was asking these specific questions for a reason.

“Oh, so that is how families work in your world?” Jijimon questioned with a hum. “Hmm, quite different from how it works here in the Digital world.”

“How does it work here?” Dave questioned as Fei walked back into the room followed by Renamon along with Babamon.

“Well, I guess for you to understand how families work here I have to know how much you know about what happens when us Digimon die,” Jijimon questioned the large group as Babamon began laying out the food.

“Your core data is reformed into an egg,” Fei responded while grabbing some of the laid-out food.

“That is correct, but I suppose you don’t know much after that. Well, I suppose that I can clear up a few things.” Dave listened as he also grabbed a few plates, one for him and one for his niece. “Also stop feigning sleep little one, you need to eat.” Dave turned slightly to see that indeed Marinette was awake. The black-haired girl slowly moved and grabbed the plate her uncle had. “Anyway about Digimon’s family situation, it has to do with where Digieggs commonly appear. These areas are called Primary Villages or Starter Citys. These places are safe places for the little ones to grow up. As they grew the Digimon would sometimes group up with others and then sometimes they would stick together thus making a ‘family’.”

“That is something that has been bothering me for a while, where do new Digimon come from? Or is there like a fixed number of Digimon?” Dave questioned while keeping an eye on the young girl who was slowly eating her food.

“New Digimon comes along every so often,” Babamon answered the question with a smile. “Occasionally a new Digiegg will form from gathered data that the grand trees have gathered.”

“Oh, that is interesting,” Fei muttered in between the bites of her food.

“No the interesting thing would be how the tree would light up as it gathered the data. It was so beautiful that the village would throw celebrations at night by the light.” Babamon sighed happily as she remembered past times.

“I take it that there haven’t been many parties recently,” Terriermon stated from where he was sitting near the food dishes.

“More like there is nobody to party with.” Jijimon sadly informed the group. “If you can believe it your group is the largest group in the past year to pass through this little town.”

“What happened?” Fei questioned with a frown.

“Let’s finish eating first, the story is not one for dinner conversation.” Babamon kindly and calmly recommended. The group of five looked at each other before Terriermon just shrugged before returning to eating. With that the group mostly ate in silence though Dave noticed that Marinette had at some point grabbed one of Jijimon’s decks and was occasionally going through it. Fei was whispering occasionally to Renamon as time passed while Dave drew out his laptop to check on him. The man needed something to work on, something to focus on.

Fifteen minutes had slowly passed before Jijimon stood up out of his seat. “Alright let’s get started.”

“Come on dearies this story works better if you see the results yourself,” Babamon said while also standing up.

“See the results?” Dave questioned with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you were going to tell us a story.”

“We are,” Jijimon confirmed as he opened the door. “But this story is also a history lesson.” The group looked at each other before Marinette, still holding the deck of cards stood up and started following the two. Dave stood up while Terriermon jumped up to his shoulder.

“Looks like we are going on a field trip,” The only adult human muttered to no one in particular. Fei and Renamon followed after him as the group began once more walking through the empty village.

“I suppose I should start this story by explaining that in the past the Digital world and your world were connected.” Babamon began talking as they passed some houses. “Back then Digimon would appear in your world and most of the time would cause havoc. Usually when that happened another Digimon would be required to bring them back into line or take them down.”

“I’m guessing this was the start of many of our myths and legends,” Dave muttered with a hum.

“That is correct, though another important thing to know is that the humans weren’t passive when their world was threatened. As you can guess their method of defending their world was Prodigious and the Miraculous.” Jijimon picked up the talk.

“Miraculous?” Fei questioned before falling silent as the spirits no doubt began to inform her of what she was asking about. “The Miraculous were made after the Prodigious and were made with god-like creatures called Kwami.” The girl then informed the others after getting the explanation.

“I was always curious how they were related,” Babamon commented before picking up where they left off. “Yes, the Prodigious and Miraculous were made to allow humans a chance to defend themselves. As time passed both humans and Digimon came to question how evil Digimon kept appearing in the human world so a group of Digimon along with the Order, the ones who created both the Prodigious and the miraculous, launched an investigation.”

“I remember my own Jijimon talking about it back when I was just a little baby Digimon.” Jijimon cut in with a fond smile. “He told me that the investigation was a long process that had taken almost a year before the team and the Order found the source of the evil Digimon that kept invading the human world.” The old Digimon fell silent as they arrived at a large tree. No large did not do enough of a description. The tree was a bit taller and as big around as the Bourgeois’s hotel.

“So what caused the bad Digimon?” Fei questioned the two who had fallen silent.

“See for yourself, just don’t get too close,” Babamon commented while pointing toward the roots of the tree. Walking a bit closer the group looked to see that the pit wasn’t that deep. Or they assumed that was how it was until Jijimon threw a rock down causing what they assumed to have been the bottom of the pit to ripple.

“Dark Ocean.” Marinette whispered speaking for the first time since she had woken.

“Oh, do you humans know about it?” Babamon questioned the girl with some surprise. “Here I was thinking the Order wouldn’t have told anyone.”

“They didn’t, the Order didn’t tell the Renlings of whatever this Dark Ocean is.” Fei informed them as Dave scratched his head in confusion. “How do you know about it?”

“Gatomon mentioned it.” Marinette muttered while rubbing the back of her neck, right where the new mark was.

“I see,” Babamon nodded at that before looking back at the water. “Well, I guess the thing to know is that the Dark Ocean doesn’t exist in the Digital world. It exists in between the two worlds. However, due to your world’s weaker barrier, it was the one that got most often flooded.”

“Flooded? I thought you said that evil Digimon appeared.” Dave questioned while rubbing his chin in thought.

“I guess I forgot to explain that.” Jijimon shook his head. “Flooded is how we referred to the evil Digimon made by the Dark Ocean.” The humans all looked at each other while they thought over what the old Digimon had said. “The Dark Ocean while existing between the two worlds is formed of negative emotions and corrupted data thus why they came to your world as evil Digimon.”

“You know that is something, how were there Digimon before there was any type of technology?” Dave questioned to which he only got shrugs in return.

“No idea, that is a question for a smarter Digimon than me.” Jijimon shrugged before he turned towards Babamon. “You got anything?”

“Sorry, but that is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you,” Babamon confirmed with a little disappointment before continuing. “But the thing to know is that the Dark Ocean was discovered by both sides. The Digimon who discovered it began to try and think of a way to help the Order with the Flooded. But when they tried to contact the order after a few months of discussion everyone found out that the Order had made their own solution.”

“I’m guessing whatever the solution was it was why we haven’t seen or heard anything about Digimon until now?” Fei questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

“That is a good guess,” Jijimon gave the girl a happy smile. “We don’t know how they did it, well we have a few suspicions but that is beside the point. But nonetheless, the Order had made a barrier around their world.”

“The barrier prevented anything from entering your world.” Babamon continued from where Jijimon left off. “However as it turned out that led to an interesting development.”

“Your world started flooding,” Marinette stated while still looking at the black water.

“Not initially, but without anywhere for the Flooded to go both it and the Dark Ocean started eroding into our world.” Jijimon let out a sigh as he seemed to age decades before their eyes. “It was a long time for people to notice the Dark Ocean forming in our world. The Flooded was able to blend in and take over parts of the Digital World, and from there throughout hundreds of years they spread the water.”

“Wow, that is quite a story,” Dave mumbled before blinking. “Wait if the barrier exists and these Flooded are close to mindless then how did Devimon enter our world and how did we get here.”

“That is a good question, too bad we don’t know,” Jijimon commented with a shake of his head.

“He was after the Prodigious…” Marinette began before seeming to think about something. “Could he after a way to undo the Barrier?”

“That is possible,” Babamon hummed as she thought over what was said.

“The Renlings say that they couldn’t do it,” Fei commented after a moment.

“What about the kwami? They are gods or god-like right?” Terriermon threw out.

“That is a possibility, after all, if anyone on earth would know where they were it would be them.” Renamon continued with the thought.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Even if Devimon managed to get to earth the barrier would force him back much like it sent you here.” Jijimon pointed out.

“Then how are we going to get home?” Dave questioned while sitting down and hugging his knees. The question caused Fei’s shoulder to slump a bit while their partner put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“We will find a way.” Marinette firmly stated. “We can’t give up hope without trying. It might take us a while but if Devimon could get there alongside DemiDevimon then we can do it!”

“Right, plus we could track down Devimon and make him tell us!” Terriermon put in with a smile. With that a goal was set and the group rallied to hunt down the evil possibly Flooded Digimon. Noticed to only the two older Digimon was the sun mark glowing faintly on Marinette. The two knew that things would begin changing, they just hoped that this group would be able to accomplish their goal.

Chapter Text

Marinette hummed as she worked through her online course. On day one, the black-haired girl did not have to go to school and enjoyed her new learning environment. There was no Chloe or her click could bully her here. None of her other classmates could look down on her for being upset or her teacher telling her to be the bigger person.

Breaking her from her thoughts multiple crests on her body start glowing in their colours. Taking a second to realize what was happening Marinette let out a sigh while leaning back. “Sorry guys, I guess I got lost in my thoughts.” A chuckle came from her throat as she relaxed. Relaxing into her comfy chair she let out a hum.

“Marinette, are you up?” Her mama questioned as she peeked into the room.

“Yes, mama.” Nodding her mama walked in to give her the breakfast she forgot to go down to grab.

“That’s a good girl.” Sabine praised while giving her daughter a kiss on the head. “I’m so proud of you.” Preening from the praise she sat up a bit straighter. Marinette gave her a smile as Sabine returned downstairs. With that Marinette ended her break and returned to her work. It was about an hour or two into working that it happened. A loud noise jarred the girl from her work. Jumping out of her chair the girl looked around before seeing something out of her window.

“KIM!” A loud stone monster screamed. The monster looked like a large Gotsumon and had broken out of the wall of the school. “KIM!” With that, the monster stormed down the street destroying everything along the way.

“Oh crap, did a Digimon come through?” Marinette questioned nobody as she attempted to reach for her Digivise. However, it was as she was searching her pockets that her mind reminded her that her uncle had it. Grabbing her phone Marinette thought about if she could rush towards her uncle’s or if she should have him attempt to make his way towards her. Her body moved partly on its own throwing on her long coat before heading down her hatch to head downstairs. Arriving at the bottom floor/the bakery the girl saw her parents and customers huddled near each other while the TV was turned up high.

“The police have engaged the monster!” Nadja announced as the sounds of gunfire were heard. “The monster has taken the gunfire and has grown larger due to it!” Blinking at hearing this the girl ran toward the group to stare at the TV. The Gotsumon-looking monster had indeed grown and grew even larger due to one of the police officers still firing on the rock monster. Marinette started feeling more sure watching the TV that this wasn’t a Digimon.

But just because it wasn’t a Digimon didn’t mean she didn’t need to take down the monster. Looking down at her phone Marinette moved over a bit and sent a text to her uncle.

MDC: U OK?

Dr.Fantistico!: Yes, and before you ask that is not a Digimon. Duusu says that is a corrupted Champion.

MDC: Champion? What that?

Dr.Fantistico!: Nooroo’s power.

Blinking at that information Marinette looked back toward the TV. With this new information, the situation made a lot more sense. But the fact that Nooroo’s power was being corrupted meant that it was being used for evil.

MDC: Should I come to you or could you run me my Digivice?

Dr.Fantistico!: I will run it to you, I doubt your parents will let you out.

Putting her phone away Marinette moved back over to her parents. “Dave is on his way here.” The young girl informed her parents who started whispering to each other. It was about a minute later that Dave arrived panting.

“I’m here, I’m here.” The man panted out as he ran towards the group. “So glad to see you're okay.” With that, the family happily hugged each other. As the group was hugging Marinette felt her uncle slip the package into her coat’s pocket. “I’m glad that you guys are okay.” Breaking the hug Marinette was ready to head to her room only to be cut off as the emergency news alert came on.

“This just in!” Nadja announced with some cheer causing everyone to look at him. “The monster has been defeated thanks to the help of two new heroes!” Everyone started chattering among themselves. “Citizens are allowed back onto the streets of Paris but the police still do advise caution.” The customers muttered among themselves for a few moments before slowly they made their way back to the streets. Marinette looked at her uncle who motioned towards her room.

“Hey mama, I’m going to go back to working on my schoolwork.” The black-haired girl informed her mother who gave a response.

“Alright honey,” Sabine gave her daughter a smile and patted her on her back. Tom did the same and with that, Marinette went back into her room. Dave stayed behind to talk to her parents for a few moments.

Arriving back in her room the blue-eyed girl began to work on her schoolwork again. It was about half an hour later that Dave nocked onto the hatch before being welcomed in. “Hey there princess.”

“Please don’t call me that.” Marinette groaned being reminded of that nickname. Her uncle only laughed before sitting down on the chaise. “You know I hate that nickname and everything about it.”

“Right, right,” her uncle laughed off her annoyance. The adult’s laughs died down as he looked outside and saw the damaged school nearby. Letting out a sigh, Dave seemed to deflate a bit, “Any chance I could convince you to hand back the digivise?”

“Why? If Nooroo is being used for sometype of evil type of plan then we need to be ready for.”

“We? In case you forgot you are the only one capable of going out and helping.”

“Don’t you have Duusu?”

Dave blinked in shock before rubbing his chin. “Oh yeah, I forgot. But the point stands that we don’t need to go out fighting. The Order sent out two of their own so we should be good.”

Marinette blinked in shock, “How do we know if the Order sent anyone? For them to arrive so quickly would mean that the Order either knew about the attack in advance or were somewhere nearby to deploy from.”

“Not if they used Kaalki,” Duusu added on flying out of Dave’s ever present lab coat. “With the help of Kaalki they could arrive in moments.”

“There you go, now could you please hand the digivise back. You don’t need to endanger your life again.” Seeing his niece waver the man let out a sigh. “Marinette we don’t have to save the world. This isn’t the Digital world or the Dark Ocean.”

Marinette fell quiet at that as she thought about what he had said. This wasn’t something she HAD to deal with. This was a miraculous user that other miraculous users were already fighting. No doubt the Order had everything handled… Wait, the Order…

“We need to meet up with them!” Marinette jolted as she came to a realization. “We need to let them know we have Duusu.” Whispering the last part so as not to be overheard. Her uncle blinked a few times before looking at the peacock kwami.

“Oh, right.” The two said at the same time. “Fine, but that is it. The Order has everything handled.”

“Yeah, I might not remember them fully but I know for sure that they wouldn’t send anyone but their best to retrieve a miraculous!” The blue kwami reassured the two who nodded to each other.

“You're right, I’m sure those two have everything handled.” Once more Dave attempted to reassure his niece. However, the girl couldn’t help a terrible feeling in her gut. Something just wasn’t sitting right to her. But what Dave and Duusu had said made sense, after all, who else would the Order give miraculous to?

~~~~~~

“Give a second, anyone can give up and run; run away~” Adrien sang as he danced around his room. “So just keep on walking forward on your path, While keeping your head up high~”

“Blondie!” A gravely voice shouted out as a spoon lightly smacked him on the head. Turning to look at the source of the voice he spotted a small black-looking cat-like creature. Looking at the magical creature Adrien sighed.

“What is the matter Plagg?”

“I need food to eat!” The kwami, that was what Adrien remembered the being called, Plagg complained.

“I gave you food,” While saying this he gestured toward the desserts laid out on the table.

“I can’t eat any of this!” Plagg whined while slumping onto his table.

“You can’t?” The new miraculous holder questioned while scratching his head in confusion. Was this some type of Magical Beast thing? “Well, what can you eat?”

“Cheese, I need to eat cheese!” The black cat kwami whined at him. It was a few moments later that Adrien had a cheese platter delivered to his room. It was soon after that he found out the bad news.

“Camembert, out of everything you eat camembert.” The Agreste hair lamented as he watched the now happy kwami. Deciding he needed a pick me up Adrien turned on the TV hoping to catch news about his hero persona. It had been a rush to go from being denied yet again from going to public school to jumping around the city of Paris as a superhero. He and his partner Scarabella had worked well together and had been able to defeat the akuma.

Yeah, he had messed up and accidentally used his power just to destroy a goalpost. But to be fair to him Plagg hadn’t fully explained his power and Scarabella had also almost messed up her Lucky charm. Thankfully the two of them managed to work things out in the end.

As the TV turned on Adrien felt his eyes nearly pop out of his skull as the news played. “Plagg!?” Calling towards the kwami he hoped for some answers.

“What,” The black kwami whined as he flew toward him. “Oh, huh,” Blinking at the TV the cat turned towards his holder. “I take it that your partner didn’t purify the akuma?" Seeing the confused look on the model's face the smaller god continued. “The ladybug miraculous has the power to purify and then undo the damage caused by it. I guess just like me Tikki didn’t get a chance to fully explain her powers.”

Letting out a hum the boy was about to comment on the snide comment only to get interrupted by the TV changing its story to a gossip story. Apparently, they were attempting to make things more light-hearted. “... in celebrity news, it seems that Adrien Agreste has left more heartbreak in his latest photoshoot.” Hearing this said blonde groaned as photos were shown of him joking around with his coworkers. Well, that was what it was supposed to be but the way it was being shown made it seem very different. Just like usual, and just like usual some girls who he had talked to a few times in the past week.

“I thought I was doing better.” Adrien muttered to himself as Plagg burst out laughing. “I’m not flirting with them!”

“He told me ‘Your smile is as dazzling as your dress’.” One of the girls they were interviewing told the camera.

“If that isn’t flirting I must be more out of the loop than I thought so.” Plagg commented in between his fits of laughter. Letting out a groan Adrien pressed a button on his remote changing the input on his TV.

“In your heart, an unknown power dwell~” A voice sang out that instantly helped relax him. Adrien had forgotten that he had Light’s song queued up but he wasn’t going to complain. Plagg’s laughter died down as he looked at the screen, more specifically the symbol on the girl’s clothes. The star symbol on the girl’s clothes scratched at something in his mind. Shaking it off the kwami decided that if it was important then Tikki would take care/inform him. Though the curiosity made him sit down near the boy as he continued eating his cheese.

“Who the heck is that?” The kwami questioned to which his holder began happily informing the black cat kwami about this ‘Vtuber’. Apparently the girl ‘Light’ had appeared a few weeks ago and was starting to become a popular singer/performer. Plagg tuned the boy out slightly as his new cheese giver praddled on about the girl’s songs Butterfly and Brave Heart. He was more focused on the name Light and how right it felt when he saw that symbol. But that wasn’t his concern, his concern was helping this kid and getting Nooroo back. Tikki and the others could worry about anything else.

“...though I guess they both are good on their own. However, Brave Heart will always hold a special place in my heart. But I can never pick which one I prefer. I mean she released two different versions of it.” Adrien pradled on making Plagg hum as he wondered what he had gotten himself into. It seemed that, unlike his other holders, this one wouldn’t have a crush on Tikki’s holder/chosen. No, this one has a crush on a fictional character.

Chapter Text

Marinette watched the news with a frown. The news was showing citizens who were being turned into the giant unmoving stone monsters from yesterday. From what she could understand black butterflies would fly into people and that would then turn them into these unmoving creatures. Unfortunately, her uncle had left so she couldn’t ask him or Duusu anything which left her mind flooded with possibilities.

“Don’t worry dear,” Sabine reassured her daughter. “I’m sure the heroes will have this handled.”

“Besides if they don’t then Baker Man will have to step up.” Her papa proclaimed while brandishing a loaf of bread. This got a small smile off the small girl who relaxed a little. The table fell into a bit of silence before Marinette decided to speak up about a topic not related to the news.

“I know you two want me to get out more.” It was a topic that had been mentioned but not fully broached by the small family. Mainly because any time Marinette had gone out there had only ever been two or three outcomes depending on whether or not she was covered up or not. Her cover was a long hooded coat, a mask, glasses, and gloves all of which were designed to help cover up her scars along with the crests. If she was covered up people tried to avoid her due to Marinette looking ‘sketchy’ or some type of drug dealer. If she went out without covering up then people were quick to run away, pull their kids away, or have the police approach her. Which also led to the third which only happened once. Have CPS investigate her parents and family on allegations of them causing all the wounds and scars.

All of this is to say that she didn’t leave the bakery often or show herself to the patrons so that left Marinette with only interacting with her parents, her uncle, and once a week interacting with her chat. So of course her parents wanted their daughter to have actual interactions with others. “I’ve been thinking and yesterday I talked to Dave about and I think I have a pretty good idea.” Tom and Sabine exchanged looks. Both were slightly hurt that their daughter had felt more comfortable talking to her uncle about this than them. If the daughter noticed she didn’t show anything and continued on. “I thought about forming my own club. Dave offered his old home/workshop to use as a clubhouse. Plus if we open the club then you two would have the right to reject applicants. Plus with your names as the club supervisors nobody trying to butter up to Dr. Fantistico should join.”

Tom hummed as thought over the idea. Both he and Sabine could check the people joining the club. It was true that Dr. Fantistico was starting to rise in popularity due to Light’s streams showing the capability of the Tunnel. Add on to the fact that his brother had released a few prototypes to testers showing that the tech was real and he had it. This led to Dave complaining about people trying to steal his designs or trying to figure out his ‘identity’ on more than one occasion. So it would make sense to have some concerns about people trying to join Marinette’s club only to try and get close to Dave.

“That does sound like a good idea,” The large baker agreed before turning to his wife who hummed in thought.

“What would your club be?”

“I was thinking Occult Research or some type of mythology research.” The parents blinked before the girl gestured towards the television. “Something caused this and I think as long as I can safely research what caused it then it should be fun.”

“Alright, but we will be keeping an eye on you.” Tom informed his daughter who smiled back at the two. “I suppose I had better call my brother and talk to him.”

“I’ll finish up the morning routine then.” Sabine gave a soft smile to which her husband smiled back. Tom thanked his wife before giving her a peck on the lips. “Try not to take too long.” With that, the woman left with a smile. Marinette finished up her breakfast while half listening to Tom and Dave’s talk. The two were talking about the details of the club while Marinette felt happy that she was able to get the club idea past the two of them. After all who would join an occult research club? Especially one not part of the actual school? It didn’t matter anyway, as soon as the person saw her scars they would run away.

After finishing eating Marinette went up to her room to continue her homeschooling. Time passed in peace as she worked her way through the course work only for things to get interrupted again by the school being destroyed, again. Looking out her the window Marinette grabbed her phone and made a call. The call went through, no doubt her uncle was still talking to her father. So not receiving a no and wanting to save people she went up to her balcony.

“Alright I need to keep the people safe but I might also need to fight those… corrupted Champions.” Humming to himself the girl held her digivise Marinette felt the crests respond to her emotions. The girl could feel their eagerness but also a few concerns but now wasn’t the time for hesitation, there were people in danger. “I’ll need to move and act fast so Friendship would be the best to use.” Conjuring the image up in her mind she felt it respond, ready to help her and save the day. It was at the tips of fingers at the very edge ready to be called out with one phrase. Her heart beat loudly in her chest as for the first time she would call on the armor in the real world. Would it work?

Taking a breath the girl cast her doubts aside and looked at her Digivise. Scrolling through the selection Marinette stopped on the image of the Digiarmor of Friendship. The black and blue armor came into focus. Looking out over the city the girl reaffirmed her stance and prepared herself. “Digiarmor Energize!” With that, the Digivise lit up as energy exploded out and surrounded her. Blue electrical energy danced around her as faint images formed before and solidified into armored bits that hovered around. The armor then slammed into Marinette briefly lit up her body completely changing her entire appearance.

Stretching a bit the transformed girl felt the familiar power course her. Smiling Rain threw a few test punches only to stop mid-motion. “I can’t waste time, people need help.” With that, she used the increased abilities to head out.”

~~~~~

Adrien, no Chat Noir moved through the streets of Paris trying to save as many people as he could. The day had started so well too. The model had finally managed to get into public school and even managed to make his first friend, Nino. Chloe, his childhood friend, had been somewhat out of it. While the mayor’s daughter had still hung off of him Adrien could feel that something was troubling her.

All that was pushed out of his thoughts though as the class soon began. It was a good thing that he hadn’t gotten lost in his thoughts as it turned out only a few moments into class the akuma from yesterday had broken through the door of the classroom. From there things had gotten chaotic which easily allowed the secret hero to escape.

From there he had changed into his hero form Chat Noir. That led right to where he was now attempting to save the few civilians who were being harassed by the stone monsters. He cursed at only having a few moments of training with his power before having to deal with this. Grabbing the attention of some of the akumas Chat was forced to dodge around as the corrupted group of stone monsters started throwing anything they could get their hands on. This included a car, a car that went flying right at him.

Bracing himself for the impact, Chat blinked when it never came. Opening his eyes the black cat hero let out a sigh of relief at seeing the car wrapped in a string. “Close call cat?” His partner Scarabella questioned with a teasing tone.

“Thanks for the save red bug.” Chat Noir returned with a smile. “Ready to save the day?”

“Yup, and this time we will do it right!” Scarabella confirmed with a strong nod. With that, the two prepared themselves for a running battle only to pause as the two miraculous holders watched as the previously rampaging monsters stop what they were doing and started heading in one direction. The two looked at each other before running off to where everyone was heading. As the two left they didn’t notice the girl clad in black armor which had blue and yellow highlights.

“So those are the two miraculous users?” Rain questioned while tilting her head. “They look young and inexperienced. Are they really part of the order?” If they were then why would the Order send two untrained users? Were the two untrained? A ringing noise interrupted any further thoughts. Fishing out her Digivise/phone the user of Friendship answered. “Hello, you reached me how can I help you?”

“Your out on the streets aren’t you?” Dave’s dry voice came from the phone.

“Maybe, I mean you didn’t say no.” Was her smart replay. “I haven’t engaged with enemies and have made sure to get the innocents out of danger.”

“Alright, I take it you were going to head to where everybody is congregating at the Eiffel Tower?”

“Oh, is that where everybody going?”

“Yes, and I want to see how those two do on their own. So please don’t interfere unless needed.” Dave pressed to which Rain huffed.

“Fine, I’ll stick to the sidelines, unless needed.” With that, she hung up and with that she headed over towards the Eiflee Tower. Nearing it the Digidestined stopped at noticing one of the rock monsters had stopped his approach.

“I don’t need you,” The voice came out sounding somewhat familiar to the girl. “I need a hand to climb with so it is best to get rid of you.” While it was possible to hear what the rock monster was saying what the captive was saying couldn’t be heard. Apparently, it wasn’t good enough because the monster gave a frown and then took a typical pitcher's stance. Knowing what was likely to come Marinette leaned down to prepare to take off. Watching the person, who she could now hear screaming, the armored girl took a calming breath before going into motion.

Time seemed to slow down around her as she moved towards the girl who started to come more and more into focus as she neared. Rain was somewhat shocked to see Chloe. But that fell to the side as the girl focused on preventing her former bully from becoming a smear on the road. Catching the mayor’s daughter in her arms Rain held her close as they neared the ground.

Coating herself and the passenger with some of her power Marinette landed safely on a roof. Looking back Rain could see the giant monster looking at her. Not wasting another second the girl took off. After getting a good distance Rain landed on the ground. Placing Chloe down Rain didn’t wait to leave, just in case Chloe could recognize her. It was as she was leaving that Marinette could hear Chloe saying something but she didn’t stick around and took back to the roofs.

As she landed on a roof Marinette let out a sigh after putting distance from where Chloe was. It was still a bit concerning that her former bully might recognize her but as she slowly walked a reflection caught her eye. Turning to look at the mirror that someone left on the roof, Rain blinked at seeing herself for the first time in a long while.

“I forgot how much the transformation affects me.” The person, if they could be classified as a pure human, who stared back looked vastly different than Marinette. For starters, her black hair had shifted to a dark blue color that had stripes of white to help give it definition. The armor had taken the form of a skin-tight suit that had the high-tech-looking armor strategically placed around her vital areas that wouldn’t impede her mobility. A visor/headpiece sat on her head to help protect her eyes when she was moving at high speeds along with giving her a HUD. The glass was opaque so it helped to hide her identity. But the most drastic change had to be the two wolf ears that sat on her head along with the fluffy wolf tail that swayed behind her. “I guess I don’t need to worry about anyone recognizing me.”

A loud noise reminded her of where she was so as the energy gathered, which caused the yellow highlights to glow, Marinette plotted the best way to get closer to the scene. Taking off Rain made her way across the rooftops till she arrived at one that allowed her to oversee the scene at the Eiffle still while staying away unnoticed. Adjusting her visor Marinette zoomed in to see the miraculous users talking to… a giant head formed from a swarm of black butterflies. “Alright let’s see what you can do miraculous users.” Settling in the girl watched the scene ready to act if anything were to come up.

Chapter Text

Adrien hummed as he made his way back to class. The second round against Stoneheart had gone very well. Plus after capturing the corrupted butterfly Scarabella had cast a cure that had restored all the damage done both today and yesterday. Yeah, they hadn’t had the best initial showing or the best responses to Hawkmoth’s call out but he felt confident that the two of them had still shown Paris that they could trust them. So he went back to class with the rest of the students.

After arriving back in class Adrien noticed Chloe, along with a few other students, hanging around a red-headed classmate. Waling past his seat Adrien questioned Nino, his new friend, about what was happening. The hat-wearing boy shrugged before explaining as best he could. “Don’t know bro, Chloe just came in and then walked right up to Nathaniel dropping some money while demanding he draw something for her.”

Letting out an intrigued noise Adrien walked up to see what was happening. It wasn’t often that his childhood friend would spend money on some type of drawing. “Hey, Chloe what-,” The other blonde shushed him as she was looking at the colored pencils as if she was picking out what shoes she would wear today.

“This one,” Chloe declared while picking up one of Nathaniel’s blue pencils. “But remember that there are a few white strips.” The boy muttered something in agreement before taking the pencil and began coloring in the sketch. “What is it Adrikins?”

“I was just wondering what you were doing.” He attempted to look at what was being drawn but he really couldn’t see much from where he was. Along with some of his classmates hanging around and watching what was going on.

“Well nobody got a good picture of the true hero of Paris so of course I had to fix this mistake.” The mayor’s daughter looked proud of herself but the sentence had him blinking. How had people not gotten a good shot of him or his partner? There were cameras everywhere, so why did Chloe think nobody got a good shot of them? Well, might as well help his friend get them right.

“I don’t think either Scarabella or Chat Noir have anything blue on them.” Adrien attempted to correct his friend.

“Ugh, those two?” Chloe huffed with a roll of her eyes. “Why would I consider those two heroes? They could barely take down the akuma and they were more focused on defeating those stone brutes than saving people. Unlike a true hero.” Adrien felt his jaw almost fall open only to save himself last second. There was another hero in Paris? No, wait, hold up, what did Chloe mean by them not being true heroes? He had saved a few people while on his way to confront Stoneheart!

“Um, Chloe is this about right?” The artist questioned while gesturing towards his now slightly colored picture.

“Hmm, pretty close,” Chloe commented with a nod. The girl leaned closer before pointing at part of the armor. “There was a symbol right about here. The symbol looked like, like,” The blonde-haired girl trailed off a bit as she attempted to figure out how to describe it. Getting a pencil Chloe began drawing the symbol on a different paper. Looking at the symbol the boy blinked while looking at the stylized yin and yang mark.

Nodding Nathaniel cleaned up the sketch while the other classmates began talking about the sketch. One or two mentioned seeing a blue and wondering if the hero was the one being sketched. “Are you sure there was another hero?” Adrien questioned trying to think of any hint of somebody else helping during the battle. After all, if there was another hero around they would have helped during the battle against Stoneheart.

“Of course, after all, she saved me after that awful brute tried to kill me.” Chloe swayed as she recounted the tale. “That thing needed a free hand so it decided to throw me, ME! But thankfully an actual hero showed up and saved me.” Straightening up Chloe gestured to the picture. “Unfortunately she had other work to do so while they no doubt wanted to stick around and talk to me the hero ran off. So now I’m having Kurtzberg draw a sketch so I can people on the lookout for them.”

“Is that so?” A new voice entered the conversation. Turning he saw a red-haired girl with glasses had joined the conversation. However, he noticed that the girl was entirely focused on the picture of the supposed other hero. “Then where were they during the final battle.”

“Probably saving others from thrown cars or falling debris.” Chloe scoffed before tuning everything out as she looked at the sketch. The conversation would have continued if not for the teacher walking in. With that, everyone moved to their seats. Adrien felt his mind rollover the possibility of another hero existing in Paris but didn’t focus to much on it. If there was another hero then they would no doubt show up at some point.

As he was listening to the teacher something they said caught his attention. “Clubs will be posted on some of the boards so please don’t tear them down.” Were there any clubs he could join? The thought was so random that it stopped him for a second. Yeah, one of his dreams for public school was to join a club. But could he join one? It wouldn’t hurt to just check them out, would it? After all, he didn’t have anything else to do immediately after class.

So with that in mind, right after class Adrien headed for one of the boards mentioned. Looking at the board he hummed a bit as he looked over the various colorful posters advertising the various clubs. None of them jumped out to him though Nino did see him and advise on the various clubs. As the DJ was talking about the Art club an out-of-the-way poster caught his eye. It was a small poster that had little to no effort put into it. Moving the other posters out of the way he looked at the printed out sheet and felt some excitement fill him at the name of the club.

Occult Research Club. The club that every fantasy anime talked about. Plus he was a magical superhero so it would be wrong of him to not at least check it out. Right? Both his anime and superhero selfves agreed drowning out what any other part of himself had to say. “It wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”

“Dude, that is a new club,” Nino informed him while shaking his head. “There is gonna be like nobody there. Plus it's not even on the school premises so there is gonna be a zero percent chance of others joining.”

“Also look at this poster!” Another one of his classmates, a short pink-haired girl, commented while pulling the poster off the wall. “They didn’t even put any effort into making this! No doubt the club is probably just an excuse for a friend group to hang out.” Wadding up the poster the girl walked off. “Honestly playboy, you would be better off just joining the Art Club rather than checking out a club that will just kick you out.” Nino gave his agreement while patting his shoulder. With that, the cap-wearing boy also walked off saying that he needed to pick up his little brother.

Once everyone had left Adrien picked up the paper and pocketed it. Honestly even with all the warnings he had gotten something inside him had been pushing for him to check out this club. Looking at his phone he confirmed his suspicion about his other activities being canceled and the Gorrila coming to pick him up. Hopefully, this meant that he could, maybe, talk the man into taking him to the club. His driver was always lenient with him.

Thankfully he was right about his driver allowing him to check out the club. It was in a somewhat out-of-the-way location but it still looked like a decent location. The Gorilla looked at the building and gave a grunt. “Yeah, it doesn’t seem like much.” Pulling out his umbrella the model walked towards the door and after double-checking that it was the right address, not that it was really needed due to the large banner welcoming new club members, tested the door and found that it was unlocked. Walking in he saw a clean room with a table in the center. A line of computers in the back and a bookcase where he saw someone wearing a long coat loading the books. An adult male sat at the table talking to them.

“-So I was double checking the site and, oh!” The adult wearing the lab coat noticed the two newcomers and gave them a smile. “Looks like the club members are showing up.”

“Um, hi,” Adrien waved as the person, who he assumed was the club president, seemed to jump a bit. The long coat wearer spun on the spot while clutching a thick book to their chest. Honstelty the young Agreste couldn’t tell if the person in front of them was a boy or girl. The clothing they wore was loose and covered all but a bit of the face. While they wore their long black hair in pig tails he didn’t want to judge due to how many other male models he who also had somewhat long hair. A bit of uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a bit so he decided to break the ice. After all the person in front of him might have been surprised to see a relatively well known model in her club. “I saw your poster at school and decided to check out your club.”

“Oh, um, well thanks for coming. I’m Marinette, its nice to meet you.” The, now confirmed, girl stepped forward with her gloved hand outstretched. Getting close the boy had to blink a bit as her face came into clearer view. Marinette wore a colourful mask covering her lower face so the only thing of her face he could see was her expressive beautiful blue eyes. That and a nasty scar that started above one of her eyes, went down her face to an unknown length due to the mask preventing him from seeing where it ended. The girl’s eyes seemed to notice what he was looking at and dimmed a bit while beginning to lower her hand.

“Nice to meet you Marinette!” Grabbing the hand he made sure to give a nice firm handshake. Adrien could tell that the girl was a bit uncomfortable about her scar. It was understandable, that was a pretty nasty scar. After letting go of her hand he saw a bit of confusion as the girl still continued to look at him in confusion.

“So, do you have a name?” The adult questioned which caused Adrien to blink. Did they not know who he was? Looking between the two he saw that he was wrong earlier. Neither of them knew him. This was fantastic!

“My name is Adrien!” The blonde happily introduced himself. Okay, this was yet another chance to make a good first impression. Don't ruin it like with school by flirting. Putting on his best smile he spoke. “I hope we can get along pretty stranger.” While he kept his face smiling on the inside Adrien screamed.

The girl in front of him blinked before turning to the adult and speaking to them with mirth in their voice. “Do you think you can get along with him?” The man laughed before getting up and walking toward them.

“Don’t worry about getting along with me, I won’t be here very often.” Holding out his hand the adult smiled at him. “Dave is the name by the way.”

“Um, nice to meet you,” Shaking the hand Adrien gave an awkward chuckle while rubbing the back of his head. This was the first time he had ever had someone not break down into a blushing stuttering mess. Yes, that included the guys.

“No, need to be awkward.” Gesturing towards the table he nodded to it. “Take a seat, we need to wait a bit longer to see if anyone else comes. But feel free to ask questions.” Looking towards the Gorrila who nodded to him Adrien moved to one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs. His bodyguard took a bit to settle into one of the chairs but after settling in he looked towards the other adult.

After a bit of quiet Adrien decided to ask some questions. The two went back and forth as the green-eyed boy started to calm down from his earlier embarrassment. He learned that indeed this was a research club. As in the club actually would put in effort to research old legends and their origins. But most interestingly she wanted to investigate the heroes.

“I know they are interesting, but, um, are you sure you should be investigating them?” Adrien questioned.

“As long as we investigate only the origins of their powers and things along those lines.” The girl reassured him while putting the last book on the shelf. Turning towards the boy the girl seemed to be able to detect his confusion. Grabbing one of the books she flipped through it before walking towards him. Looking at the book the secret hero felt his eyes widen.

The page was a picture of an old tapestry showing two warriors fighting some sort of sea monster. The ladybug and black cat-themed warriors. “What is this?” He questioned as his mind tried to figure out what he was looking at.

“This is an old story about two heroes who fought a great sea beast that was preventing travel through its territory,” Marinette explained while taking a seat across from him. “But you can see what I mean, right? Those two have the same theme and powers as the current heroes.” Nodding and giving a noise of conformation the boy took out his phone and took a picture of the book. He would NEED to ask Plagg about this. Well, not NEED but he really wanted to hear this story. It looked awesome.

“That's awesome!” Adrien cheered before looking towards the girl. “So we will be looking at old stories and connecting them to the present!” This was everything he could ever want!

“Yup, that is what we do here. Well, what you two and whoever else joins will be doing. I’m just one of the adult supervisors,” Dave reassured the bouncing boy.

“So when do we start?” Adrien questioned while looking back at the book. Looking at the book again he wondered if he should start with this book.

“We aren’t doing anything today,” Marinette informed the model. “This is more a meet and greet.”

“Along with handing out forms.” Dave put a few forms on the table and passed them over. “Feel free to stick around but please do make sure to have these papers signed in when you next come in. This is a somewhat informal club where you can come in whenever you want after school.”

Nodding his head Adrien started picking up the papers before turning back towards the Gorrila. The large man looked down at him before gesturing towards the door. Deflating a bit he stood up with the papers a bit concerned about how to get his father on board. Turning to his hopefully future club president the young Agreste gave her a smile. He couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not due to the mask in the way. “See you later mystery beauty?” The girl rolled her eyes before responding.

“If anything shouldn’t you be the mystery beauty?”

“You think I’m beautiful? Thank you.”

“With how much care you put in your hair? You know you are at least somewhat okay looking.”

“What! Now I’m only somewhat okay?” Adrien acted offended with an over-the-top hurt expression.

“Yeah, I had to take a few points off.” Marinette shot back. The Gorilla watched the two continue their back and forth and felt bad for his charge. After all, there was no way Gabriel would agree to let him join any club that didn’t meet his very high standards. Already the boy was pushing his luck with getting to go to public schools.

Looking around his eyes landed on the other adult something clicked in place. So bringing out his phone he took a picture and quickly texted it to Nathalie. She would be able to get Gabriel on board. Letting out a grunt Adrien turned to look at him before his face fell. Turning back he gave a sad smile to the group. “Sorry, maiden of mystery but I have to be off.”

“Really? That is the best you could come up with.” Marinette questioned with a bit of amusement.

“Don’t worry I’ll have a list when I see you next.”

“Oh? Are you going to make the list yourself or are you going to get help?” Seeing that this would be another round the Gorrila felt bad about interrupting but they did need to head out.

~~~~~~~

Gabriel stood in front of the altar and thought over what had happened today. While he hadn’t
managed to get the miraculous he had at least confirmed that they were present in the city. So things were at least progressing somewhat according to his plan.

“Sir, we got another email from Tomoe demanding progress on us making progress with Fantistco Inc. on their behalf,” Nathalie informed Gabriel as she walked in. The secret villain let out a groan as he slumped a bit. The Tsurugi business was beyond interested in the Fantistco Tunnel system. Well them and every other company with anything relating to tech. However, a few people let it slip that the head of the company, Fantistco, lived in Paris. Thus Tomoe had started pressuring him to try and make connections with the up-and-coming tech genius.

Honestly, he had tried but it had never been his focus. But it seemed that Tomoe was serious about wanting some form of connection to Fantistico. Thus she had started pulling back her help of him and the Agreste brand. “Tell her that we still have made no progress.”

Nathalie adjusted her glasses and shifted a bit before speaking. “That might not be true.” Gabriel turned in interest to regard her with a raised eyebrow. Swiping on her tablet the woman showed the pictures that the Gorrila had taken. Gabriel looked at the photo for a few moments before handing the tablet back to Nathalie with a look demanding an explanation. With that Nathalie began explaining about the club started by Fantistico’s niece, whom she had to do some digging in order to identify, and how his son had joined it.

While Gabriel was listening he brought up his son’s schedule wondering just what he could cut to make room for this new activity. This used to be his wife's job, a job she loved. The thought weighed heavily on him so needing time to be alone he sent Nathalie away telling her to make room for his son’s new activity. With that his secretary left leaving Gabriel alone with a hardening will to get the miraculous and bring his wife back. Nothing would stand in his way.

Chapter Text

Marinette clenched her fists as she looked ahead of her. It had been about three months since they arrived in the Digital World and now was their chance to find a way to get out. Ahead of them was the lair of Devimon. Devimon who most likely knew how to get back to their home world.

A hand was gently placed on her shoulder drawing her from her thoughts. Turning the young girl saw her uncle give her a comforting smile. Terriermon sat on his shoulder while having his typical smile. “Don’t worry dear we have this. We accomplished so much and are more than ready for this.” Thinking back to what has happened Marinette felt her hands begin to relax. Over the months, they had found three more crest/armors/mentors for her. Biyomon the representative of the crest of Love, Tentamon the representative of the crest of Knowledge, Gomamon the representative of reliability, and Gabumon the representative of the crest of Friendship.

To add on to it both Dave and Fei had managed to successfully and constantly digivolve their partners to the champion level. Speaking of the other girl, Marinette looked over to her and saw the other young girl messing with her Prodigious. Marinette had grown closer to the other girl over the time they had spent in the Digital World and their many training sessions. Thanks to the training sessions both of them had grown stronger with their various forms and refined their fighting styles. However, even though months had passed the newest Renren had yet to even be able to use the powers of the dragon.

Now here they were, at the final battle against what was going to be their strongest foe, the leader of the dark forces who had destroyed many villages and corrupted many innocent Digimon with the water of the Dark Ocean. Some Digimon had wanted to join them here but the three humans had turned them down not wanting to endanger anyone else. Marinette walked over to Fei and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Fei looked over to Marinette who smiled at the holder.

“It will be okay, we will defeat Devimon and save this world from his rule.” Marinette held eye contact with the Renren who seemed to think over something. “It’s not just for us.”

“I am the reason we are all in this mess. It was because I stole from you-” Fei began only to be cut off as Marinette pulled her into a hug.

“I already forgave you.” The French girl informed her. “You were just doing what you could to survive. We don’t blame and I doubt your father would blame you.”

“Honestly, you never needed to apologize.” Dave added his two cents while giving a thumbs up. “If anyone were to be blamed then it would be… Dang what was his name? Cane? Case?” Fei laughed into Marinette’s hair before mumbling the man’s name. “Yeah, Cash!”

“I told you that there was nothing to worry about.” Renamon commented from beside the two. Fei sniffled as she pulled away before smiling at her partner.

“Yeah, yeah you did.” Fei hesitated a moment before hugging her partner. “Thanks for staying by my side.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Renamon commented before awkwardly returning the hug.

“Well, shall we get this party started?” Terriermon questioned after a few moments of quiet. “I don’t think we should give that Devimon to much time to prepare when he knows we’re coming.” The group agreed before everyone began their preparations. Fei transformed into Ladydragon, Renamon digivolved into Kyuubimon, Terriermon became Gargomon, and Marinette pulled out her Digivise before looking at her Digiarmors. Many of them had proven themselves time and time again but right now, going into a dangerous situation she needed to be well protected.

“Digiarmor Energize.” With that the grey and purple submarine shaped armor appeared only for it to burst apart in gray light. As the energy flowed around her like water occasionally Gomamon would appear. Once it was over the grey and purple armor, which resembled deep diving equipment, appeared on her followed by one last burst of grey watery energy forming a trident.

“Could you be any more of a magical girl?” Dave questioned with good nature.

“I could use actuall magic like Fei.” Marinette counted while pointing to the now red haired girl.

“You might as well be using magic.” Ladydragon huffed back while rolling her eyes.

“Oh woe is me, the only normal one on a team of Magical girls.” Dave swooned.

“I’m not a magical girl.” Gargomon pointed out as Kyubimon huffed from where she sat near her partner.

“No, your a rabbit with guns for hands.” The man chuckled at that before reaching behind himself and pulled out a handful of cards. “Now no more delays, lets go beat up a demon.”

~~~~~

Devimon gritted his teeth as the hovering screens around him winked out of existence. “Those fools! How dare they ignore me!”

“Boss, the humans are coming! Our forces are barely slowing them down.” A Demidevimon informed the champion who was quick to grab the rookie.

“Do you think I am unaware of the intruders!?” The fallen angle digimon questioned before crushing and absorbing the data. It wasn’t enough, of course it wasn’t enough data to finally break the threshold and achieve his next stage of evolution. To become powerful enough that the others couldn’t treat him like this!

A thought hit him, a desprate thought but a course of action he could take if things start going bad. With a huff, Devimon decided that if it came down to it he would go with the plan. Looking around Devimon took in the crumbling appearance of the building and already he figured out how to pull off his plan. Moving the evil Digimon repositioned himself before turning to face the door. It didn’t take a few more moments before the group of annoying humans burst into the room. “Greetings humans, I must say your little group has caused me many headaches.”

“Devimon!” One of the girls shouted with a glare. “We have some questions for you!”

“Why should I answer the questions of fools who are about to parish?” Devimon questioned with a sneer. “Now let us fight and kill each others, I have no time for your anything else.” With that he flapped his wings to send out a powerful gust of darkened air. The humans dug in their feet but the armored girl wasn’t pushed back and instead thrust her trident forward. The three-pronged head started spinning as a high-pressed jet of water shot out from it. Knowing better than to be hit Devimon moved out of the way a bit too late. His wing was hit and it tore through it along with the concrete wall behind him.

“You will be the one to fall!” Ladydragon shouted as she charged forward. Mid stride the girl transformed into a red bear. She brought one of her paws down to swipe at him. Devimon made to block but was shocked at the force the Renling user could bring to this fight. As he was locked in the stalemate the Champion spotted two blurs, one green the other yellow. A quick flash and no longer was he fighting a bear but a snake now moved past him leaving Devimon open to the two partner Digimon.

“Dragon Wheel!”/ “Bunny Blaster!” The two launched their attacks to which Devimon folded his wings over himself to defend against the incoming attacks. When the attacks hit Devimon could tell that this was not at all going well. Looking around himself Devimon noticed that the wall behind him was hit by the stay/splash damages from the other two champions.

Looks like he would be going with option two, but if he was doing this he might as well drag one of them down with him.

~~~~~~~

Marinette watched the smoke cloud with narrowed eyes. There was no way the fight would be that easy. As if to prove her right two pitch-black arms launched out of the smoke and grabbed her. However, the girl was shocked to notice that this wasn’t an attack, well not an outright as far as she could tell. This caused her to not react in time as Devimon threw himself backwards right out of the damaged wall and the two plunged towards the rampaging Dark water.

Devimon gave her a smile as the two continued falling towards the water. Marinette forced her body out of the shock that had frozen her in place. Unfortunately, she was trapped and couldn’t generate enough force to free herself. Getting closer to the water the girl could feel something pounding around her skull. Upping her fight to free herself she turned slightly to see her friends and family have just arrived at the edge of the destroyed castle and stared down at her. She watched as Gargomon held her uncle back while Ladydragon hesitated a bit before seeming to decide somethying. However before she could see more she felt the impact of the water and soon darkness covered everything she knew.

Marinette continued to attempt struggle in Devimon’s hold, thankfully with Realibality she didn’t need to worry about drowning. Thankfully the evil Digimon’s hold had loosed enough that she was now able to break free. With that she started attempting to swim toward the surface. However the girl had no way of telling where the surface was. With the Darkness surrounding her she couldn’t tell which way was up.

However from one moment to next the scenery changed and she was no longer in surrounded by Black water but before her now stood a thick iroin door. Her heart pounded in her chest and even though a part of her knew was screaming about how this wasn’t real. But it didn’t matter because every other part of her was suddenly convinced she was back there. She could hear the water moving in the pipes around her with some occasionally dripping, she could feel the concret below her fingers, she could taste the stale air, but most importantly everything she could see was exactly how she remembered it.

Her heart now pounded twice as fast and she moved right towards the door. She attempt to open the door but just like before it wouldn’t budge and just like before she heard people on the other side, all not hearing her as she pounded on door. The girl pounded on the door and attempted to scream only for water to flood her mouth. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but this water was from the Dark Ocean and the second it flooded through her Marinette’s vision started becoming worse. The dark areas around her grew darker and the water in the pipes grew louder and they now started to shake. All of this made the small black haired girl almost start breaking down as everything grew worse.

As all of this was happening some of the crests started glowing. Marinette could start to feel them and latched onto the feeling given by them. Anything to get away from where her senses told her she was. As she focused on the light a feeling built up. That feeling was a reminder, a reminder that unlike back then she isn’t alone. She will always have friends with her, and she wasn’t going to loose them! She would get out of here and meet up with them and then she would get back to her family! She wouldn’t give up like last time! She wouldn’t give up…

“That’s the spirit!” A new voice called out near her. Turning she saw an orange winged creature who gave her a smile. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Patamon and its nice to meet you!” Marinette gave them a confused look. How had a Digimon gotten here? “It seems you have a few other crests with you.” A few of the crests glowed which was how Marinette knew that the Digimon from the crest communicated when there wasn’t enough time to fully matterilize. “Alright well let’s see how you do with the crest of Hope and the armor.” With that a new Crest burned onto her and her Digivise glowed.

Her armor glowed as it swapped on its own. The golden glow increased and slowly she could make out the cliff. As the armor formed around her she felt wings form that allowed her to shoot up and out of the water. As she came out of the Dark Water happy to be free Marinette was met with a red dragon. She slammed into its face and was carried away.

“Marinette! It's so good to see you again.” The dragon cheered as they soared through the sky.

“Fei?” Marinette questioned as she moved off its face and more towards its neck. “You transformed into your dragon form?”

“Yeah, yeah I did!” Fei cheered as she soared around. Before more could be said the water slowly started to rise. It rose in a very familiar form that was revealed to be Devimon who had grown to be huge. The digimon was so large that it overshadowed them. The now large evil digimon glared down at them and reached out for them as the Dark Water dripped off of it. “What the hell!” Fei yelped as she quickly dodged around the attack. As she dodged the giant flapped its wings which caused strong winds infused with darkness. Marinette who was clinging to her neck watched the beast as it stopped flapping its wings abruptly and then screamed as its wings seemed to shatter into data particles. The data particles froze for a millisecond before they began reforming into tattered red wings. However, one wing glitched and spazzed out before it reformed into a red cape before with it shattered and reformed back into the red wing. Other parts of the giant were doing the same as the wings. Parts of the giant broke apart before they reformed.

“What is going on with Devimon?” Marinette questioned as she watched the Digimon breaking down and contuniely reforming.

“No idea,” Ladydragon replied as the two landed on what was left of the castle with the Renren turning back into her human form. Dave and the two digimon ran over to them. The older man was quick to grab the two girls into a hug.

“I’m so happy you two are alright.” Dave let out a sigh before backing up.

“We might not be for much longer,” Fei commented while turning back to the streaming amalgamated giant monster. “Any ideas what is going on over there?”

Dave hummed as he stared at the beast as water started flowing from its mouth quieting the screams. “If I had to guess… Um, well, please remember this is a guess, and you can add some input if you want. But Devimon absorbed the data from the Dark Ocean in order to digivolve however due to how fast he took in the data and how much he took in he is digivolving into all his possible evolutions at once.”

“That does seem to be what is happening.” Kyuubimon hummed as she saw one of the arms reform into a puffy-sleeved coat while the other became grey-skinned with three gold-taloned fingers. Even as all this was going on water still poured off of it. The Dark Water would occasionally fill in the cracks of data before hardening. “Plus the abundance of data also caused it to grow so massive.”

Marinette was quick to pull out her digivise and scan the beast quickly followed by the other two humans. “I’m getting traces of Myotismon and NeoDevimon. Seems you might be right Dave.” Fei commented while glaring at the thing that seemed to be making its way towards them. “Looks like we are going to have an interesting fight on our hands.” Marinette gave her a look and could tell that the girl was slightly excited to put her dragon form to the test while defeating this threat to the Digital World. Not that she could really blame her, she also wanted to try out this new armor.

“All right, then lets take this sucker down!” Marinette cheered before stoping at a thought hit her. They still needed answers, answers that they weren’t likely to get now that Devimon was so far gone. If anyone else realized it then nobody was going to say it. Shaking off those thoughts the girl focused on the upcoming battle. No matter what may come they would face it together.

Chapter Text

Marinette watched the amalgam creature wade through the Dark Ocean towards the group. “Remember to stay in contact. Fei, you have your earpiece right?” Dave questioned as Ladydragon gave a thumbs up. “Marinette don’t forget about your hud.” Nodding her head, the now, gold and black-haired girl flapped her new wings ready to take flight. “Alright, team let’s take this freak down!” With that Fei and Marinette flew out to confront the beast.

Marinette had to duck and swerve around as the Amalgum shot out beams from its eyes while swinging its massive arms attempting to hit either of them. Thanking some of the instincts given to her Marinette flew around the attacks but flinched a bit as some of the Dark Water splashed her and her vision shifted a bit as the water stirred something in her.

Clicking her tongue the girl shot up and drew upon the power of the armor. A sword appeared in her hand, the sword glowed in the sun and had what the girl assumed to be Greek letters running down the blade. “I guess this will do.” Diving down the girl dodged around the bats that flew out of the beast. Arriving close the girl plunged the sword into the arm only to be sent flying back as the wound exploded out Dark Water. The girl felt her mind pound as the Darkness tried to invade her mind. The girl was able to push it more easily put the pressure still sent her flying. As she was flying through the air being pushed by the water something slammed into her. She felt something hit her but due to the Dark Water the girl couldn’t see anything.

Pain flared as she was thrown into part of the old temple as the Dark Water finally died down letting the girl finally take a breath. Slummping to the ground the girl started coughing and spitting up Dark Water. “Damn it.” Shakingly getting to her feet Marinette took a look at herself and saw the armor had dimmened down alittle. It seems that the armor had done its best to try and protect her but in the processes it had drained most the energy from it.

Part of her was frustrated that the armor was already being drained of its power but it made sense to her. She had just gotten this armor so she hadn’t had time to properly train it. Taking a breath the girl steadied herself and let more power fill the armor causing it to regain its glow. “Alright, we’re going to have to make this quick.” Flapping her new wings the girl once more took to the air. Getting higher the girl was able to see that Gargamon was taking potshots whenever he could while Fei had started generating winds that kept the Dark Water from getting close to her or the others on the cliff. Swooping away the girl brought up her HUD which started going through the various special abilities that this armor had. However, the girl’s instincts suddenly went crazy and so not questioning it the girl dodged.

BOOM!

Turning slightly she saw that the beams had grown in power and were now causing large impact craters. Also looking back on the Amalgamation that was now close to the cliff and was making his way up. Dave had retreated back a bit as Kyuubimon and Gargomon were launching there strongest attacks. Dave had been made to retreat behind some rubble while Fei was forced to dodge around more summoned bats and shots of Dark Water.

This had the armored girl reconsider her options. She couldn’t risk the others or endanger the villages this horrible beast would destroy. A new plan began to form, well not new she had always wondered if it was possible but right now she was going to implement it. So with the Knowledge that she had accumulated Marinette held onto her Hope to see this through. She trusted the bonds of her Friendship would help her see this through while her Love for this she held dear would help carry her to Victory. She would prove that her friends trust in her was true so even though her body shook in fear a small flame in her chest started being flued by everything as her Courage raised up to help her face what was to come. The crests glowed brighter as she tapped her helmet. “I’m going for all or nothing!” Turning off the comms so she can focus Marinette began letting her power flow as she began her first attack. Her wings started shining while her weapon broke down into energy and was absorbed into the expanding wings. “Star Shower!” All the energy expoleded out of her wings and transformed into five pointed stars that flew down hitting the giant who had seen the bright attack coming and had risen his mismatched arms to defend. The stars fell down and each one exploded.

“Digi-Armor Enenergize!” The armor of Love formed around her as she fell forward only to once more catch herself with the new red wings. The girls eyes widened as she dropped out of the way of multiple large red beams. As she avoided the beams the girl noticed that the amalgam had lost most of the parts of Devimon. Wheather this meant it was stronger or not Marinette had no way way of knowing but she wouldn’t back down. Even though the thing in front of her scared her Marinette wouldn’t back down from her course of action. She had learned the difference between recklessness and Courage so with her heart beating the girl prepared herself. As she did this a song started playing in her mind. One that played often but all the same it helped to motivate her to do her best.

Starting the girl started flying towards the monster now made mostly of two powerful ultimates with little bits of Devimon who flapped its wings while its cape opened wide. Dark winds and hordes of bats both flew towards the girl. Gritting her teeth Marinette made a firm decision and pumped all of her power to prepare herself for her next move. Ladydragon flew close as if knowing what was to come. “Tempest Tornado!” The wind whipped around her as Marinette and Ladydragon flew towards the giant who was realizing more Dark winds and bats. The two flowed around the attacks while the few attacks that got close were destroyed by her own attack while Ladydragon tanked the attacks or was able to redirect them away from herself with her power. Arriving at the amalgamation Marinette launched herself toward the evil Digimon’s face only for its hand to block the attack. The girl didn’t change her course and slammed into the hand while Fei built up speed and attempted to ram into the giant who stretched its hand. The Renren curled around herself before letting her tail slam into the outstretched hand.

The hand was knocked over but Ladydragon was forced to dodge as the beast sent out more lasers. Ladydragon flew away just as Marinette finally managed to make her way through the hand but in the processes used up the last of Love’s power. As the armor started to fray Marinette used the last of it to dodge away from the other hand that had attempted to catch her. But in doing so she landed which the giant used as a perfect opportunity to stomp on the girl. The thing gave a smile that lasted for a moment only for it to then let out a yell as a large yellow drill coursing with purple crackling power. “Titanic Drill!” The girl huffed as she started feeling the energy take its course on her body. But she wasn’t done yet. Running up the foot the girl made sure she had a good shot. “Gold Shot!” Putting the all of her power in the drill she shot it right into the foot to lock it into place.

The beast screamed once more as Marinette swapped again. Using the power of Light the girl used the white wings to once more take to the sky. Getting to the right hight the armored girl narrowed her while grabbing the little reaming power of Hope and mixed it with the equal amount of Light. “Golden Lasso!” The golden rope spun into existence and threw the two ends into opposite directions. Kyubimon jumped up grabbed and one end while Gargomon grabbed the other. The two held the ends while Marinette used the last of the powers to summon the next attack. “Rosseta Stone!” A megalith appeared behind her before it launched a stone covered in ancient DigiCode that flew towards the held down enemy.

The amalgamation started shooting its beams while its wings attempted to summon the powers needed to use his attacks. However the stone slammed into its stomach cutting off its attempt but this caused the beams to follow the girl had started to dodge only to now be hit. “Dave!” Marinette shouted for help over her comms.

A burnt orange shield appeared near her which Marinette grabbed and used to block the beam that had been both pushing her and greatly hurting her. The shield easly blocked the hit and let Marinette start flapping her wings to get out of the way. As she moved the user of Light felt the armor start breaking down. Thankfully Ladydragon flew near letting Merinette fall down. “Digi-Armor Energize!” This time Friendship formed around her as she grabbed on tight as Ladydragon swivered around the various attacks.

“I hope this plan will work!” Fei moaned a beam came close to hitting her only for it to be blocked last moment by Marinette.

“It’s working so far!” The girl defended while holding the shield as best she could. The item didn’t have much time left and they needed to end this. The only armor that still had power were Friendship and Courage. “I hope you're ready! This will only keep him stunned for a few moments!” Feeling the power start flowing around her Marinette moved up Fei’s serpentine body and threw the Brave Shield towards the next laser attack. After launching herself into the air the girl pointed towards the amalgamation. “Blue Thunder!” The attack was launched from some of the protuberances. The girl felt like she was overcharging them but she couldn’t stop. Her friends needed her! She would prove their trust in her.

The attack hit and the lightning flowed through the giant. As more and more was pumped through more of its body froze. The energy even started to flow around the now-frozen giant. With one last Armor exchange Marinette let the power of flames manifest around herself. “Flame Rocket!” The girl had to keep a firm grip on the power as they kept the flames around her while also pouring more and more power into the attack. Ladydragon flew in a corkscrew around her feeding the attack while also preparing her own attack. The two slammed into the amalgamation and blasted threw the beast. Marinette panted as she landed with a bit of a skid. Her armor vanished having used all of its power in that last display. Her entire body felt on fire while her blood felt like it was pumping faster than it should. When her breath came out it was in the form of steam. Her brain even felt like it had been down-shifted to the point where her thoughts didn’t seem coherent.

“Well, that was a Rider-worthy kick,” Dave commented as he ran up to her catching the girl before she could fall down. Marinette attempted to respond only for her to cough as she realized how dry her voice was. “Here.” Seeming to notice the older man passed her a water bottle. The girl was quick to down the whole bottle in a few seconds before passing the now empty bottle back. A loud noise drew the two’s attention back to the fight just in time to see Ladydragon having torn their way through the amalgam shattering a large part of its body. Now with nothing to hold the Golden Lasso faded. Kyubimon ran towards Ladydragon who turned back into Fei. The girl looked a bit tired but nowhere near as bad as Marinette felt. Gargomon also made his way over but part of the way back reverted back to Terriormon.

“That was one hectic fight!” The Digimon climbed up Dave to take his usual spot. “But I’m glad this is over!”

“You just jinxed it,” Dave muttered as he glared at the breaking-down giant that shouted before its remains collapsed into itself and reformed Devimon. Everyone prepared themselves but the evil Digimon just stood there and the moment it moved its entire form glitched, spazzed, and almost shatter before stabilizing itself.

“I must give it to you humans, you three aren’t the same pathetic weaklings from the cave.” Devimon huffed with laughter as he shook his head. Whether in amusement or his body glitching the three couldn’t tell.

“Thanks for the compliment, so how about you tell us how to get home,” Dave demanded as he stepped in front of his niece.

“Now, why would you want you to go to a world about to be destroyed?” Devimon questioned as he attempted to move forward only to hiss as his body almost broke down again.

“What do you mean destroyed? We stopped you!” Fei shouted as stepped forward.

“Do you think I was the only one who wanted revenge on you humans?” Devimon questioned making the question sound as mocking as possible. “No, I was the only one who managed to get to the human world. As for using that way to get home, well I’m sure that it is inaccessible to you now.” Giving a shrug the Digimon hummed before looking at the black-haired girl. “I was almost successful too if not for you. You! You have ruined so much, you have brought the ancient crests back!” Stomping his foot the Devimon once more glitched before becoming solid.

“You might not be to blame for all of this but your fall is your fault!” Marinette made her way forward and glared. The girl knew she shouldn’t do anything but she knew she wanted to say something. “You sent more and more of the Flooded out to att-” Whatever else was going to be said was cut off as Devimon plunged his hand into his chest and ripped something out. The group stared in shock at what he had done and thus were unable to react when it flung a glowing orb at Marinette. The girl forced her arms to raise so she could defend herself against the orb. The orb slammed itself but no when no pain came Marinette lowered her arms.

“With that revenge is mine!” Devimon cackled as he smirked at the group. “Climb your way up and confront my former teammates! That is if you wished to find any way to get home before they destroy it.” With that, the fallen angel Digimon’s body shattered leaving behind a mass of Dark Water that splashed onto the ground. The group stared stunned as they attempted to process what they had just seen. Marinette attempted to figure out what was going on only for her body to finally give up. Thankfully Dave was able to catch her while letting out a curse.

“Well looks like we have more things to figure out.” The man muttered before letting out a sigh. “Come on Fei we are heading back to the village. Hopefully, the two elders will know what Devimon did.” Kyubimon arrived next to the adult who gratefully put the girl on the fox Digimon’s back.

The group left the site but as they did no one noticed the two pairs of eyes watching them. “Did you see that sister!”

“Yeah, I saw it.” The other one responded with excitement. “A new owner of the digital crown!”

“Of this area digital crown,” The first one corrected but with the same amount of excitement. “But now that she has one she will want more!”

“We could help her! We know where others are!” Second, added with glee. Not waiting the small four-legged Digimon started following the group its holy ring jingling around its neck. “Come on Plotmon, we have a PRINCESS to help!”

“Wait for me, Salamon!” The other one charged out of the bushes. This one looked almost identical with the only noticeable difference being small black streaks in its fur. As the two ran after to catch up with the group nobody knew what would be coming only that whatever would come up would change the Digital World for good or ill would be seen.

Chapter Text

Marinette took a while to wake up. By the time she did, they had made it back to the village. Waking up she saw her Digivise hooked up to her Uncle’s laptop. The man was humming as he went through the various screens seemingly trying to figure something out. Terriermon sat nearby grabbing food and making sure that Dave ate. The girl didn’t see Fei or Renamon anywhere nearby but she wasn’t too concerned due to them being in the village.

Fei usually took a bath to relax with Renamon then the two would join them for dinner. Jijimon walked into the room and placed down a tray full of various snacks. Babamon wasn’t much longer and she placed down a pitcher of water. “So you figure out anything about what Devimon did?” The elder Digimon questioned. Marinette blinked as her mind tried to remember what they could be talking about. It didn’t take long before the memory of the glowing orb surfaced. Marinette tried to say something but it seemed her body had decided it was more important to start eating. So not wanting to be rude the girl just started eating the food that her body wanted.

“I think I figured a little of it out.” Dave muttered before turning his screen around so everyone could see. Looking at the screen the girl blinked at seeing the new tab added to her digivise. ‘Digital Crown’. “Nothing else has changed but this was added.”

“Oh, the Digital Crown.” Babamon hummed while tapping her chin. “I’ve heard of those. If you give me a moment I think I could find a book about it.”

“No need!” A chipper voice cheered. Turning toward the voice the group saw a tan dog-like creature outside. “Could we come in?”

“Oh,” Jijimon questioned with a hum. Walking over to the window he opened the window allowing the dog-like digimon in. The Digimon was quick to enter before making a noise. With that another Digimon came in. This one looked similar to their friend except they had a few black streaks in it.

“Thank you for letting me and my sister in.” The black streaked one said. Her voice had a slight shake to it as though she was scared about something. “I’m, my name is Plotmon.”

“And my name is Salamon!” The pure tan colored one introduced herself with a large grin. “It’s nice to meet you Princess.” This was addressed to Marinette who blinked in shock and paused eating to look at the Digimon.

“Princess?” Marinette questioned before looking towards her uncle who was trying to hide his laughter. Like most children Marinette had wanted to be a Princess and had the typical tea paries though they had died down due to her mood and constant bullying from her class. So to hear this cute creature calling her a princess sparked something in her. It was like so many of her fantansy were coming true.

“Yeah, you have the Code Crown so you are a princess!” Salamon cheered while looking her in the eyes. “You are now Digital World Royalty!”

“Um, sister, we need to give her all the information,” Plotmon murmured before noticing all the eyes on her. “I, well you probably want to know about the Code Crown, right?” Getting a nod Plotmon continued. “Well the Code Crown allows the one to transverse the different layers of the Digital World.”

“Layers?” Dave questioned while humming.

“Ah, yes,” Babamon nodded before retrieving a rolled-up piece of paper. Unrolling it the older woman showed what looked like disks stacked on top of each other.

“You have a map!” Salamon bounced up and down. “I thought there weren’t any left on this layer!”

“We made sure to keep this safe.” Babamon placed a gentle hand on the Salamon to calm her down. “But here you can see the different layers of the Digital World.”

“Huh, well this is certainly interesting,” Dave muttered leaning back.

“It is indeed interesting,” Jijimon hummed while going to his seat. “Especially due to how the layers came into existence.” With that, the elderly Digimon launched into an exclamation about how the Digital World had collapsed and formed layers so the entire world wasn’t infected by the Dark Ocean.”

“It was a rather controversial decision when the great separation happened.” Babamon picked up the exclamation. “But when the people pushing for it were all above Ultimate there wasn’t much the people of the lower ranks could do.”

“So those big jerks just left us here!” Salamon shouted while stomping her two paws down.

“Sis,” Plotmon muttered while shaking. Salamon looked over to her sister and frowned. The two seemed to exchange a silent conversation before Salamon calmed down.

“Yes, some of the digimon were left behind as you have noticed.” Jijimon nodded with a sigh. “These were mostly the weaker Digimon or the Digimon that didn’t have the connections needed to go onto one of the upper layers.”

“So I take it that the reason why there wasn’t anything stronger than a champion…” Dave questioned as he rubbed his chin. He stopped before rubbing his chin again. “Need to shave soon.”

“For the most part yes. There are a few smaller details but those for the most part don’t matter.” Babamon waved off.

“Right, what matters is that the princess has the Code Crown and can get to the upper layers!” Salamon cheered before looking towards Marinette.

“How do I do that?” Marinette questioned while picking up her Digivise. She pressed on the new icon showing the a glowing crown.

“There is a special area where you can use the Code Crown to ascend!” Salamon informed her before running over to a map of the layer they were on. “It should be around here.”

“What is around where?” Fei questioned as she entered while drying off her hair, Renamon was close behind her. Both were filled in on the conversation and the Renren hummed as she nodded. “Is this related to how Devimon was able to get to the human world?”

“Possiblity but whatever method he used has no doubt been patched.” Babamon waved off the idea before anyone could think of something.

“Then what are Devimon’s allies planning?” Renamon questioned while shaking her head.

“Well, whatever plan it is you will need to ascend the layers to stop them!” Salamon pressed drawing attention back towards her. The rookie level Digimon stopped for a moment as all the attention was on her. “Um, I mean you need to stop Devimon’s former group right?”

“How did you know about us needing to fight the group.” Fei questioned with a frown.

“Um, I, well I mean your group is pretty famous right?” Salamon questioned with an awkward smile.

“Hmm,” Fei questioned while giving a look.

“We were nearby,” Salamon attempted to divert attention.

“We were watching Devimon hoping to get the Code Crown from him,” Plotmon replied while hiding behind her sister. Salamon shot her a look but then let out a sigh.

“Yeah, we have been researching the legends of the Code Crowns for a while and were hoping to take Devimon’s,” Salamon confessed a little ashamed.

“So are going to try and take my niece’s Code Crown now?” Dave questioned while Plotmon violently shook her head.

“Why would we betray a PRINCESS?” Salamon questioned as if it was the dumbest question. At seeing nobody else seeming to understand the two new Digimon elebrotated. “Well the obvious is that unlike Devimon we can actually work with you.”

“Plus you're a human who the Crests trust,” Plotmon added while looking at the crest on the back of Marinette’s hand.

“So we were hoping to help you get the other Code Crowns and get higher up the layers of the Digital World!” The dog-like Digimon looked right into Marrinette’s eyes hoping to get her to agree. Marinette just blinked and then rubbed her temples.

“Nope, not today,” Getting up the girl walked toward the bedroom she had been staying in. “Goodnight everyone.” Not waiting for whatever came next they entered the room, made sure the door was closed, and then promptly collapsed onto the bed. As the girl let her mind slow down she closed her eyes so she could finally get the sleep that was obviously needed. All this Code Crown stuff could wait until tomorrow.

~~~~~~

Opening her eyes Marinette groaned as the memories of the past slowly faded into the background. While it wasn’t a bad memory it did eventually lead to bigger fights and the events almost ended the world. A chuckle came from her when she realized how much like an anime that sounded. “I guess me and Fei were truly magical girls.”

Going on autopilot the girl went through her morning routine and got ready for the day. She started going over the past few days in her mind. It had been three days since the Stoneheart inccindent and while Hawkmoth hadn’t acted the holder the other two hadn’t much outside of one or two sightings. From what Marinette could understand it was more often Chat Noir with only a few appearances of Scarabella. She couldn’t tell if this was due to some type of limit by the Order but it seemd odd to her. But with Friday coming up the girl was hoping that she would be able to head out more often and be able to meet the heroes(?).

Blinking at tasting something the girl was only slightly surprised to find herself in the kitchen eating some cereal. As she was eating the girl heard some noise coming from downstairs. Curiosity getting the better of her Marinette walked down a bit and overheard her mama talking with Nadja. “... honestly the whole thing is starting to make me think that competition is cursed.” The reporter confided in her long-time friend. “Honestly its only been a few days and that competition has had nothing but bad luck.”

“A curse you say?” Sabine questioned while looking at her eavesdropping daughter.

“Yeah, some of the crew is refusing to work now due to all the bad luck.” The other woman sighed while shaking her head. “Plus the company isn’t doing much more besides having OSHA classes.”

“That’s a shame,” The baker’s wife gave her friend a sympathetic look. Looking to Marinette the mother and daughter exchanged a bit of a conversation. “If it would be alright would you mind if Marinette watched? She started up an Occult Research Club and it wouldn’t hurt just to have another pair of eyes on the scene.”

“Hmm, I could bring up the idea.” Nadja hummed before following Sabine’s gaze to see the girl. “So how is this new club of yours?” The reporter questioned though Marinette noticed that she didn’t look directly at her. While the reporter didn’t directly seem to mind her scars she also didn’t go out of her to stare. Manon hadn’t interacted with her much the young girl had asked many and some invasive questions about the scars along with marks. It was after that that the little girl was given a light scolding and hadn’t been around as much.

“It’s going decently well,” Marinette sighed while walking over to where she kept her covering clothes. “I only have one other club member but he is very… enthusiastic.” Adrien had shown up every day and had jumped head first into studying everything he could. Well more just reading a book while talking to her about whatever came to his mind.

“Enthusiastic about talking to you from what I hear.” Sabine laughed a bit as she remembered what she heard from Dave. Her and Tom had slowed some of the requests they had been accepting hoping to be able to spend more time with their daughter and especially be there for her club. Especially if half of what her brother-in-law was saying was true.

“Mama,” The girl huffed while rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I take it that your clubmate has a crush on you?” Nadja seemed to be more at ease now that most of the scars had been covered up. If her mama had noticed her friends actions they didn’t say anything.

“I doubt it,” Marinette huffed while rolling her eyes. “Adrien is just friendly. Plus it has only been a few days, I doubt he could develop any type of feelings in just three days.”

“Adrien?” Nadja hummed while tapping her finger. Before more could be said her phone went off. “Sorry, looks I have to head out.” With that she grabbed her treats and left. About a minute after she left Sabine walked around the counter and pulled her daughter into a hug.

Marinette sank into the hug and just let it be for a moment. “You are still beautiful, never let anyone say anything else.” Her mama whispered in her ear. The daughter didn’t say anything as just took comfort in the hug. After about a minute the two separated. “Why don’t you head up work on some of your homework?”

“I was actually thinking of heading towards the Clubhouse.” Marinette informed her mother. “If there is a potantal lead on something supernatural going on I need to grab a few gadgates along with informing Adrien.”

“Maybe I was wrong and the one with the crush is you?” Her mama joked good naturely. The daughter responded by sticking out her tongue and walking away. Before leaving she stopped to put on a mask.

As she walked towards her clubhouse the girl pulled out her phone and started looking for anything regarding what Nadja had been talking about. The only competition she could find was the Weather Girl competition that was being hosted by the TV station the reporter worked for. The younge girl could only find a few reports about anything unusual going on. She could only guess that someone higher up was trying to cover it up.

It was as she scrolling through various stories that Marinette spotted a story talking about Paris’s Hearttrobe and notorious flirt: Adrien Agreste. Her clubmate.

It had taken less than a day after hearing his name for to find hundreds of stories Adrien’s various conquests of others people’s hearts. Suddenly him being so excited that they didn’t know him made so much more sense. So not wanting to ruin whatever relationship they had Marinette decided to treat Adrien as she had before learning that he was the son of her favorite designer and hopefully future employer.

“Everyone deserves a chance to be themselves and have friends,” Gabumon’s voice flittered through her mind. Whether that was a memory or the Digimon speaking she didn’t know but had held it true. So she had decided to just treat his flirting as Adrien being Adrien. The boy didn’t mean anything romantic about it and was just being himself. However, she did wonder how the model kept showing up every day. From what she had read and others had shown evidence for, the young model had a jam-packed and heavily controlled by his father. So it was rather shocking that Gabriel Agreste would allow his son anywhere near an Occult anything.

It was as she was thinking this that Marinette decided to text the boy to see if he was available to meet up soon. Putting her phone away Marinette entered the club room while going about to grab the soon-to-be-tested equipment. It would be interesting to see how they worked. Even if it wasn’t a Digimon it would be nice to at least test some of them out in the field. Hopefully, it would be something simple to start out with.

Chapter Text

Adrien felt like he was walking on sunshine. About three days ago he had been allowed to join an actual Occulet Research Club! It had been a shock that his father would allow him to join the club much less lessen some of his responsibilities so he would have time for the club after school. He missed hanging out with a few people from the fencing club, but it didn’t matter much to him because he spent ten minutes with them at most and had nothing in common with them. Well nothing that he could connect with them in the few moments he could truly talk with them.

However, during the short amount of time he had been a part of ORC he had felt a real connection. Not only did it give him a chance to learn about the history of the miraculous. He knew it was an actual history too due to him asking Plagg about the sea serpent picture that he had taken the first day of the club. “Oh, now this brings back memories.” Plagg had smiled at seeing the picture. It only took a little probing before the kwami told the tale of the Black Cat and Ladybug user of the time who had to fight the sea serpent that had taken hold of a trade route.

The story proved that it indeed was an Occult REASERCH Club. It had gotten him more excited and that showed when he had questioned the club president about as much as he could. To the girl’s credit, she had patiently answered every question she could. The few questions Marinette couldn’t answer were instead redirected to researching. Research that she helped with.

Honestly, Marinette was the best club president he could have asked for. The girl was patient with him and his questions. Also she-

“You’re making that face again,” Whatever else he was going to think was cut off. Turning toward Plagg the boy frowned at the kwami. “You were thinking of little Miss Wrap Up weren’t you?”

“Don’t call her that!” Adrien shot back with heat. Plagg huffed but under the glare, he decided to obey the order, not that he had a choice. Taking a deep breath the model relaxed. “I’m sorry Plagg but you know how people are about disfigurementing marks.” It was kinda sad how many of his other model coworkers had to quit working because they got a scar or burn mark. He was slightly, okay very curious about what the girl was trying to hide under the mask. He had seen the scar on her face, the one running right across her eye but the fact that she wore a face mask meant there might be more.

“You humans and you're constantly changing beauty standards,” Plagg muttered while rolling his eyes. “You know back a couple of hundred years ago scars from battle were the height of fashion.” Deciding that the conversation was over Plagg flew over to the newly bought mini fridge and grabbed himself some cheese.

Adrien was about to say something when his phone dinged. Looking over he saw that the text had come from the girl of discussion.

Marinette: Hey, you up?

Adrien: I’m up, what’s up?

Marinette: I got a lead on a possible case. Any chance you could come help?

Case? What did she mean by that? Did she mean that she found some type of mystery for them to research? Oh well, it wasn’t like he had anything planned. Well, his dad had lots of things planned but they weren’t the most entertaining things so he would gladly take a chance to hang out with his friend. Texting Nathalie about an emergency club meeting the boy made sure to free up the rest of his days. As he had said the rest of the day was boring things about things he had already done and his father had used just to keep him busy.

Adrien: I’m free, are we meeting up in the club room?

The club room, well more like a club building was a nice little setup.

Marinette: Yeah we can meet up there.

Smiling Adrien instead swapped to a text group with the Gorrila and after only a few minutes the blonde was heading to his club with a huge smile on his face. Upon arriving at the club the boy didn’t even wait for his bodyguard to open the door and ran instead. “Well, look who is here,” Marinette commented with a glint in her eyes after he walked in.

“How can I not come when my lovely president calls for me?” Adrien questioned with cheer. “So what is this mysterious case you were talking about?”

“Have you heard about the Weather Girl competition?”

“Heard about it yes, seen it no,” Adrien admitted with a shrug as he took a seat. The boy saw his bodyguard make their way into the room.

“Well to put it simply there have been, well let's just say that there have been a lot of ‘unfortunate’ accidents happening,” Marinette explained while pulling up the site of the Weather Girl competition. Adrien gave a hum as he leaned forward to stare at the screen. “The competition began with six girls competing but now in the the third round we are down to three remaining competitors.”

“Soon to be two,” Adrien muttered while nodding and looking at the three competitors who were displayed on the website. He could see the appeal of the three but it was clear that two of them were putting in more effort than the third. “So what do you think is going on?”

“From what I understand the accidents are being investigated by the studio so we know they weren’t orchestrated.” Marinette leaned back while humming.

“So are we assuming there is something magical?” Adrien questioned with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Marinette huffed while rolling her eyes. “We aren’t assuming anything, we are going there to research the possibilities.” While saying this the girl got up from her seat and started grabbing bags. “Now come on I just got confirmation that we have permission to investigate.”

Investigate, they were going to investigate a possible magical case? The boy was almost bubbling over in excitement. That was until a thought came to him. ‘What if it was an Akuma?’ If it was an akuma then that could mean that Marinette was in danger!

He could already see it, someone got akumatized over the competition and was now using their magic to try and win. If Marinette could start to uncover the akuma’s identity then they might try and retaliate! This left him with a bit of a conundrum. On one hand, they did need to investigate a possible akuma but on the other hand, it could be dangerous for someone without a miraculous to be near.

“Time to land airhead, ground control to space cadet,” Zoning back in the boy turned to see Marinette trying to get his attention. Looking at her the girl groaned, “Well you finally tuned in, and just as I had come up with a really good one.”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it,” Adrien let out a laugh while trying to play it off. The girl waited a few seconds to see if he was serious before speaking again.

“It's your turn, Wheeler,” Blinking the boy blinked before smiling at his club president.

“I was just taking my time to think of a game-winning strategy,” Adrien replied in his best Brooklyn accent.

“Oh please you are a fourth-rate duelist with a third-rate deck,” Marinette replied quickly with a sparkle in her eyes. “Now come on we have work to do. I’m sure that it is nothing.” Taking a breath Adrien looked to his bodyguard before nodding to himself. There would be people there and it would be dangerous to leave an Akuma alone.

“Then shall we be off President?” With that, the two left while Adrien felt a bit at peace. It might be dangerous but he would just need to be alert and ready to intervene. The Gorrila made sure that both of them were in the car before driving towards the studio. Adrien looked at the girl next to him. She was sorting through the two bags that she had brought while muttering to herself. The secret hero wondered if the girl was still ignorant of him being Adrien Agreste or if she just didn’t care.

“Okay, we have everything we need,” The dark-haired girl muttered before passing one of the bags to him. “I will give you a rundown on what each piece does but for the most part just follow my lead.”

“I would gladly follow you anywhere,” Giving her his best smile Adrien took the bag and started looking at the various gear.

“Good because I need to go shopping soon and need someone to carry some of the bags,” Rolling his eyes with good humor the boy let out a long drawn-out sigh.

“I suppose I have no choice but to accompany you on this journey. It is a good thing that I have worked out the gun show.” Flexing his muscles he gave a wink to which Marinette now rolled his eyes. Pulling out her phone the girl started scrolling through various things. Adrien worried a bit if he had ruined it with his comment before the girl suddenly laughed. A second later she passed her phone to him showing him a meme.

The rest of the car ride was passed with them showing each other memes. It was a great time and he was almost sad when they arrived at the studio. Getting out the boy followed Marinette who walked towards the studio and just walked in without a care. “Are we allowed to just go in?”

“I had them sign a contract before we would even show up. So we are good on all accounts,” His club president kept walking so looking at the Gorrila the boy was quick to follow.

“A contract, really?”

“We are using various tools, need to talk to the contestants, and be near the set to properly investigate,” Arriving in the studio Marinette walked up to the counter and started exchanging conversation. Seeing a chance Adrien took this chance to walk away a bit before opening his shirt to look at Plagg. The black cat kwami seemed to take a second to realize Adrien wanted something.

“You need something kid?” Double-checking that no one was paying attention Adrien noticed the Gorrila being called over to the main desk where another person had shown up.

“Yeah, I think there might be an akuma here. Anyway, for you to check it out?” The secret hero questioned with a bit of hope. After all, if anyone knew what to do it would be the kwami.

“Sorry kid but unless the akuma is active and I’m near it I don’t know where to look.” Despite saying sorry the kwami didn’t sound upset about not having to do work. “Besides why would an akuma not be direct or show themself?”

“What do you mean by that?” The beginning hero questioned. Before more could be said between the two Marinette walked over. The Gorilla was still near the front desk but was now holding out his phone towards the other man who had shown up. “Hey, what's up?”

“Nothing too big, just them wanting to talk to your secretary.”

“Nathalie?” Adrien questioned while trying to figure out why they would want to talk to her. Marinette just waved it off while humming.

“Dosen’t matter too much. We have work to do and two different ways to do it. We need to interview the contestants along with the area around the accidents.” Marinette began explaining. “Now we can either do this together or split up.” Humming the boy thought over the two options. If they split up he could put Marinette in less danger since she wouldn’t be the one potently digging into the akuma’s actions. However, everyone knew that splitting up was always a dumb thing to do.

“I think it would break my heart if we would need to separate.”

“Well if you need me to to stick around you and hold your hand if it gets too scary,” Marinette trailed off with a teasing voice. Adrien gave a mock offended look before giving a smug look.

“I can assure you that I can handle myself way better than you. I mean you obviously haven’t seen a horror movie since you suggested splitting up.”

“So we are going off of horror movie logic for this little trip? Here I was thinking you were a Disney fan.”

“I can like both!” Their banter was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. Turning the two saw a somewhat frazzled-looking employee.

“Um, we, I mean the directors, well I guess the boss said that you are allowed to interview the contests.” The employee began in a somewhat halting manner as they spoke.

“Great then let’s get ready!” Adrien cheered only for the person to shake their head.

“I’m sorry Mr. Agreste but they don’t want your friend to be part of the interview process.” The employee was flustered and looked really embarrassed. Adrien tightened his fists as he heard what had happened to his friend.

“What do you mean,” Adrien began to question only to be stopped by a gentle hand placed on his arm. Turning towards Marinette he saw her give him a soft look.

“Don’t worry about it, I can get some other work done while you do the interview with the girls.” Adrien didn’t want to let it go though. He had seen so many coworkers let go for similar or smaller scars. It wasn’t fair that she was being judged because of one little scar. “Come on we have work to do and people are in danger.” Slumping his shoulders the boy let out a sigh. They were right, people were in danger and it would be bad to leave the akuma alone.

“Whoa, don’t say something like that. Or, um, well, I guess just don’t say anything when someone could possibly overhear you,” The employee got out through stuttering. Ignoring them the club president was quick to start sorting through the various tools she had brought.

“Alright listen up, I won’t be with you so you’re going to need to use these.” With that, she began passing him various tools and she explained what they did and how to use them. Even though she was explaining the girl also fished out small pamphlets and passed them to him. The pamphlets had the same information Marinette was verbally saying but he kept them just in case.

“Well I guess we shall begin investigating,” Adrien gave a somewhat sad smile while looking at his club president.

“Oh don’t act like that,” Marinette waved him off. “We will be staying in contact and if anything happens then we can just use our phones.”

“Stay safe,” Adrien said with a bit of trepidation.

“Don’t worry too much, this should place should be totally safe,” The employee attempted to reassure the two only to freeze up as the lights overhead flickered. Normally this wouldn’t be anything too frightening if Marinette’s equipment didn’t also go off with various noises.

The black-haired girl was quick to turn and start working on her equipment while Adrien turned towards the employee who had somewhat hidden behind a nearby chair. They poked their head out and looked around quickly before moving towards a door. “Right this way, please. We will need to go now!” Taking one look back towards the girl Marinette waved him off. With that, he left wondering just what the akuma was doing.

As Adrien left Marinette finally managed to get the last of her gear back in order. But one thing had her confused. Why were the displays repeating the word ‘CHEATERS’ over and over again? Was this the reason for the haunting? Who was cheating? But most of all what did this have to do with Digimon?

Chapter Text

Adrien sighed as he finished the interviews. The studio had given him a script and hadn’t allowed him to ask any questions about any of the accidents he came to investigate. He had put on his best model smile and had begun the interviews as best he could. The three girls had their own experiences. Aurore had been professional and had answered the questions in a friendly way. Mireille was nervous and it had taken a while to get comfortable. It probably didn’t help that he occasionally would flirt with her but in his defense, the boy had just been trying to break the ice.

The third girl, Jackie, had been the stereotypical two-faced brat. The girl was sweet as could be while on camera but the moments leading up to the cameras turning on and the second they were confirmed off. The girl had tried to flirt with him but having seen over a dozen of her type he had been as professional as possible. But as always dealing with drama queens was beyond exhausting.

“Do we need to take a nap break?” A slightly teasing voice questioned. Turning his face lit up he saw Marinette walking up to him.

“Where would we sleep? I doubt there any comfortable beds around here.” The model questioned the pigtailed girl with interest.

“The break room has a decent coach,” The girl gave a sad shrug. “Honestly it is kinda depressing how sad the working environment around here is.” Walking up to him the girl looked around noticing most of the people already moving on to the next part of the Weather Girl competition. “I managed to get a somewhat decent lay of the land.”

“Glad one of us was able to get something done,” Adrien mumbled while leaning back into his chair. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked over to see Marinette giving him a concerned look. “I’m good I just hate having to deal with All The Drama type of people.”

“Ah,” Letting out a noise of understanding the girl nodded before taking the seat the interviewers had been using. “I hate having to deal with those types of people too.” Seeing Adrien’s confused look the girl explained. “My parents own a bakery, I sometimes would help my Mama with the cash register.”

“Your mama probably wanted to use the cute little girl angle to get more tips.” Adrien gave a little laugh as he imagined a smaller Marinette working behind a counter. His mind pictured a fashionable-looking Jawa sitting on a stool. It helped to distract him from the pain of remembering that his mama wasn’t around anymore.

“We did get a few more tips.” The girl nodded before digging through her supplies. “So did any of the contestants mention anything interesting?”

“I wasn’t allowed to ask them anything about anything relating to the situation.”

“They brought us in to investigate but won’t let us question witnesses? What sense does that make?” Marinette moaned while shaking her head. Adrien nodded before giving a slightly devious smile.

“I guess we have no choice but to start with questioning the staff and crew.” Marinette blinked before her eyes lit up as she nodded. “Alright let's get started then.” Getting up the boy offered a hand to the girl who rolled her eyes at him but took the hand. After they were both up Adrien began leading the way to follow the rest of the crew. As they walked the secret hero began working over the mystery of who the akuma could be.

Akumas were drawn to negative emotions so it would make sense for it to be one of the three girls. Of the three Jackie or Mireillie were the most obvious picks due to them being the most likely to be voted out next. So either of them could have been pressured enough to send out a strong enough negative emotion for Hawkmoth to akumatize them. Then again due to how Jackie was acting, it could have also been one of the staff members who had to put up with the girl.

“I have been having a look around and some of the tech have been able to detect some strange activity going on with the wires and strangely enough,” Marinette began breaking the boy out of his thoughts. Looking over he saw the girl had pulled out something that looked like a P.K.E. Meter and was pointing it towards a plant. The thing had four solid lights while the fifth light blinked on and off. Looking towards where it was pointed at he blinked a bit in shock. “Plants,” Marinette flatly commented while looking at the potted plant.

“Plants?” The boy questioned while trying to figure out the connection between electronics and plants. Could akumas have more than one power? He honestly didn’t know because as was obvious, he had only ever fought one. “What is this? The Happening?”

“The what?” Marinette gave him a questioning look. Before more could be said an intern stepped in front of the two.

“I’m sorry but your friend isn’t allowed in this area,” The intern said while motioning toward Marinette. Once more Adrien felt his blood run hot and had to restrain himself from acting out.

“Okay, then we won’t enter.” Adrien firmly said before moving away. Marinette followed behind him then once they were a good distance away she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?” The girl questioned while giving him a concerned look.

“Am I alright? Are you alright?” The boy questioned the girl who tilted her head in confusion. “This is the second time now you have been prevented from doing something and for what?! Because you happen to have a scar!”

“I have a feeling this is more than just me being discriminated against.” Marinette slowly and softly spoke to him. Adrien looked at her before looking away without a word. “I have a few guesses as to what is bothering you but I won't pry or say anything if you don’t want to talk about it.”

The model didn’t say anything as he was caught in a bit of a conundrum. He still didn’t know if the girl recognized him or not and if she didn’t then would her opinion of him change if he did tell her who he was? Part of him wanted to talk about what was bothering him but would it be worth risking his friendship? If finding out that he was the son of Gabriel Agreste changed their friendship it would devastate him. She was one of her truest friends that he felt he could honestly be himself around.

Even with Chloe a part of him always felt that he had to hold back. He always felt he had to hold a part of himself back but even with only having been around her for three days the boy truly felt like he could be himself with her. He didn’t know if it was due to the easy banter or her just willing to listen to him but it was just so relaxing being around her.

“AAH!” A scream from the nearby room drew the attention of both kids.

“Let’s shelve this, we got investigating to do,” Marinette turned back towards the filming area. Adrien didn’t say anything as he followed her. The boy still rolled over the question in his mind, should he tell the girl who he is? The question remained in his mind and refused to be put on the back burner. Arriving in the room the two saw that part of the stage had collapsed and the crew was now running around.

“I can’t keep working like this!” Jackie was screaming while throwing a tantrum. For once though it might have been justified due to how some of the collapsed pieces were near where she would have been standing. “You said you did a full safety check yet this still happens!” The third contestant screamed while looking like she wanted to storm off but wasn’t doing to the glass shards around.

Marinette poked him drawing his attention before leaning towards him. “Look at the glass,” Adrien wasn’t getting what was being said until the girl continued. “None of the shards are anywhere near anybody.” Widening his eyes the secret hero reexamined the area and saw what the girl had meant. Despite the large amount of damage nobody had gotten hurt. Even looking back despite all the accidents that had happened he hadn’t heard about anybody getting hurt. It seems that despite being an akuma the victim didn’t want to hurt anyone.

As the thought entered his mind the blonde looked around to notice who was around and who might be the akuma. Looking he saw Aurore and Mirelle enter from different directions. Narrowing his eyes the boy found his two suspects and attempted to figure out which one could have been the akuma. Hearing some beeping he turned to see Marinette investigating around while mumbling to herself.

“Hey, do you mind if I borrow one of those tools?”

“Alright, I wanted to try out something else,” The girl passed him the device before putting down her bag and dug around before pulling out a black box. After pressing a button and a lens extending a bit he could see that it was a camera. “I’ll be nearby, don’t get into danger. Your bodyguard is still busy.”

Blinking the boy looked to see that indeed his bodyguard wasn’t around. Hearing a beeping sound he looked down to see the detector going off. Refocusing on his task of figuring out where the akuma was the holder of the black cat miraculous begins going over the situation again.

It was as he was doing this the boy thought over the suspects that he noticed a janitor. A janitor who was gumbling to himself. Having delt with cleaning crews most of his, well all of his life the boy got a smirk on his face. Waling over Adrien prepared himself to worm a few facts about the situation out of the no doubt disgrunteled worker. “Hey, looks like they got you working the dangerous job.”

“No shit!” The man snapped before seeing who he was talking to. “Um, I mean it is-,”

“Hey, no problem I promise this conversation won’t get past us,” Adrien promised while making sure to sound as sincere as possible.

“For what price?”

“I was brought in to investigate the mysterious accidents and I was wondering if you could answer some questions.”

“I’m guessing the reason you are is here is because the big heads isn’t letting you ask questions?”

“Yup,” The model nodded before looking around, “So if you could help me out…”

“Sure, what do you want to know?” The janitor questioned while starting to sweep.

“Like I said I was brought in to investigate so I only have a few questions. But first I guess is how many accidents have happened?”

“Since the competition began? I would say one or two things would happen. But those were just normal technical difficulties” The man hummed while rubbing his chin. “It slowly began ramping up til well, what you see happening around you.”

“I see,” nodding he could almost see what had happened. The akumatized person at first could almost see what had happened. To begin with the person could only use normal means but after getting their power the person could then act out more. “Has anybody been targeted more than others?”

“Targeted? Do you think somebody is behind these accidents?” The janitor hummed a bit before going back to sweeping up the glass. “If we are talking about how often accidents have happened then poor little Mirielle has been caught in quiet a few accidents. Jackie the bratty has had the second most and even Aurore…” The janitor trailed off as he stops cleaning. After about a minute the worker turned towards another staff member. “Hey Bobby, has Aurore ever been caught in any accidents?”

Bobby stopped his own work blinked a few times seemed to think for before replaying back. “Nope, I’ve never seen her in an accident.”

“Huh, that is odd,” The man mumbled as he got back to work.

“What is odd?” A new voice questioned. Turning Adrien saw Alec the host of the competition walking towards the group. Behind him the girl’s followed behind him. As the group neared the detector in Adrien’s hands went off. The noise got everyone’s attention. Looking at the device Adrien swept the device from side to side. As he did so everyone watched as the lights dimed and lit up. The contestants blinked in shock as the lights focused on one girl in particular.

“What is that thing?” Aurore questioned while looking at the device that was pointing at her.

“It kinda looks like that Ghostbusters tool.” The janitor muttered before blinking and then turning to Aurore. “Did you use or ghosts or something to try and sabotage your competitors.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Aurore shouted while taking a step back in shock. “Ghosts are not real!” Looking the boy could feel the gears click into place. There was no doubt that this girl was the-

“Akuma,” the word escaped from his mouth and drew everyone's attention.

“That’s right, ghosts aren’t real but those akuma things are!” Jackie shouted while jabbing a finger at the blonde. “You got corrupted by one of those stupid things!”

“I-I did no such-” The girl attempted to defend herself only for a man in a power suit to clear his throat. Everyone fell quiet as the man made his presence known. Whispers were heard and Adrien was quick to figure out that this was one of the studio directors.

“It seems that we have no need to wait for the results,” The director coldly spoke. “It should come as no surprise to you that both the fans and now we want you gone.”

“The fa-fans want me gone?” The girl questioned before running off.

“Good riddance,” Jackie huffed before walking back to the green room.

“She was an akuma?” Mireille questioned while seeming to shake. “But she was so nice. How did she become an akuma?”

“Who knows?” Adrien commented while trying to get away so he could transform. “We don’t know enough about akumas.” He was frustrated that everyone decided to confront the girl. That situation could have turned out way worse.

Hearing a snort he turned to see the director walking off. Before the man could take more then two steps everyone heard some rumbling. Looking around they saw various screens vibrating and flashing. Remembering what Marinette had said he turned and saw a few plants were also shaking. This lasted for a few seconds before everything turned off.

Flashlights and phones were quick to light up the area. The crw and others were quick to lead everyone out of the area. Using this chance Adrien attempted to break away only to find himself face to face with Marinette. “What the heck happened?” The girl questioned.

“We need to get out of here!” The model questioned while trying to escort the club president out of the danger zone. “I found the akumatized person and now they are going crazy.”

“Akuma? What are you talking about? There is no akuma here.” Marinette questioned while shaking her head. Taking her camera out the girl spun it around and showed Adrien a video of a hazy ghost like figure she had caught on film. “There is something else going on here.” A pit formed in his stomach as the image told the truth. The ghost looked like a walking plant with long cactus like arms with three clawed fingers. It was most definitely not an akuma. “I was coming back to show you this along with what I believe set the ghost off.”

“I messed so badly,” Adrien muttered while shaking his head. He had called out an innocent girl and that had gotten her kicked out of the competition.

“What happened?” Before more could be said a loud noise was heard.

“Let’s see you disqualify Stormy Weather!” A loud voice announced the arrival of an akuma.

“I’ll explain later, for now we need to find somewhere safe!” With that the model pulled Marinette behind him. Ignoring her protests he rushed forward he spotted a storage closet. “Wait here I’ll be back.”

“Wait,” With that he pushed a lightly protesting girl in to the closet. Running past the closet he rounded a corner before stopping. It was time to set things right first by taking down the akuma then appoligizing for his mistake.

Chapter Text

Alya sat at her home while going over the last bits of her designs for her blog. The girl thought it looked good but after having shown it to her family the twins and Nora were quick to remind her that for all her potential as a reporter, she had absolutely zero talent as a designer. “Well Tikki, what do you think?” Alya questioned the magical being that granted her powers.

Tikki floated next to her newest user and looked at the webpage while tapping her paws together. “It is certainly is, um, something.” The words came out a bit uncertain and made the red-haired girl plant her face on the keyboard. “I know you tried your best Alya but I don’t think this is something for you.”

“Ugh, I just wanted to make the web page look good.” The want-to-be reporter whined before huffing. It was kinda frustrating wanting to make something only to not be able to. To add on to her frustration she didn’t know anyone who she could get to help her for cheap. She had a faint hope that maybe one of her classmates could be a designer or something but she would need to wait a bit to actually talk to them.

“If your reporting is good then it shouldn’t matter how the webpage looks.” Tikki attempted to reassure the teen, but she only received a low chuckle as her response.

“I wish it was like that,” Alya muttered before slowly rising from her keyboard. “But outside of posting clips I don’t have much I could write about. Between school, babysitting, and now hero work I’m not sure if I will have time to properly work on the blog or doing research.”

Tikki hummed in understanding. It was nice to see her so dedicated to learning but also had to admit that the girl was right. She had enough going on and it would make sense that she wouldn’t be able to dedicate herself fully to any given task. “Perhaps you don’t need to do this by yourself? Didn’t Nino mention that his friend Adrien had joined an Occult Research club?”

Humming in thought Alya had to admit that the idea had merit. However, she would have to make sure to properly check out the club first and see if it is truely worth joining. It was as this was going on though a commotion from the living room caught her attention. “HEY ALYA COME IN AND SEE THIS!” Her older sister called out.

Letting out a groan Alya began walking towards the living room. She wondered about what Nora thought she would be interested in. Walking in she saw her sister relaxing on the couch. Looking at her Nora didn’t say anything but point towards the TV. Looking at the TV she saw a colourful character swinging around her umbrella like a wand causing winds to blow. Behind them was a mostly frozen studio. This was an obvious akuma and she needed to head out! “Thanks for letting me know, I’m going to watch this on my computer!”

“As long as you don’t head outside. Speaking of I need to go pick up the two midgets.” Grateful for the excuse the secret hero was about to head to her room only to stop as she heard the reporter mention Chat Noir confronting the akuma. Hearing that her partner was already on the scene. Deciding to join him the girl rushed to her room and turned her computer on and made sure the noise was on. “Alright, we’re all set! You ready Tikki?”

“Just give me one second,” Tikki commented while finishing eating her cookie. Swallowing a large chunk the red kwami was quick to swallow before turning back towards the one who held her miraculous. “Ready to go when you are.”

“Well then let’s not waste any time! Tikki Spots On!” With that phrase, Alya became Scarlabella the up-and-coming hero. Opening her window the ladybug user was quick to swing into action. As she swung through the city the red-haired girl was glad to have been able to sneak away at night and practice doing just this.

It took about five minutes to arrive at the location. The fighting was going on near the TV studio. It made sense due to the akuma having been one of the competitors for the Weather Girl competition. Alya was somewhat aware of the competition due to her younger sisters cheering on Aurore.

“Why are you fighting me? I’m not the villain here!” The akuma screamed as she unleashed a beam of blue that froze the area it hit along with the air.

“Then how about we sit down and Chat about it?” Chat Noir questioned with a grin. The boy spun his baton and then used its power to extend to get himself out of the way of another ice beam. “Whoa, no need to give me the cold shoulder!” Using the chance Chat was giving her, Scarlabella attempted to sneak attack.

“Nuts Shot!” A voice shouted as purple-tipped vines shot out to her. The red hero’s eyes shot wide at the sudden barrage of hard nuts flew right at her. Not having a way to dodge due to being in mid-air, Scarlabella just crossed her arms in front of her and braced herself. The nuts impacted with enough force that she felt them even through the suit. Once they hit her the nuts then exploded sending shrapnel everywhere.

“What the!” Chat and the akuma shouted in shock as Scarlabug abella landed with a thud. Both sides turned to see who attacked only to see a small floating seed pod creature.

“Leave the Weather Girl alone!” The creature called out in a squeaking-sounding female voice.

“Yeah leave her alone bullies!” Another female voice called out as long purple-tipped vines shot out and attempted to hit Chat Noire. Thankfully the boy was able to dodge out of the way. The new being was also a plant-based creature that looked like a dessert plant with long arms that dragged on the ground. “You are just as bad as those cheaters!”

“Don’t forget that dumb green-eyed boy Palmon!” The floating seed commented with a huff as her body bobbed up and down.

“Right, Lalamon!” The identified Palmon nodded while rushing up to the akuma. “I hope it's alright we help miss.” The plant-based monster looked curled up its vines and gave a look towards the akuma.

“Please miss, we are huge fans of yours!” Lalamon cheered while giving a puppy dog pout.

The akuma blinked before a smile grew on her face. “I would love to work with my fans!” Both beasts cheered before running to stand on either side of the akuma. Suddenly without warning the heroes were outnumbered. To add on to it Alya had no idea what these things were or what they were capable of. The three then unleashed their attacks right at the two heroes. Chat Noir grabbed Scarabella and used his baton to attempt to escape. However, the baton wasn’t stable and thus the two only got a few feet away.

“It looks like your days are numbed and your days are Stormy.” The akuma cackled with glee. Getting her yoyo ready Alya prepared to defend herself. Chat Noir also took a stance next to her and the red-haired girl. Looking around they saw that the three had spread out to somewhat surround them! There was no way for them to fully dodge and the two attempted to think of a way out of this situation.

Scarabella got ready to use her Lucky Charm but spotted Stormy Weather had already began to launch another attack. Thankfully a buzzing noise drew the akuma’s attention. A rather thick drone flew down and started flying around the akuma. The girl cursed as she attempted to swat it away as the two plant like creatures rushed forward.

“It’s the camera thing!” Palmon cheered while lifting her arms and letting her vines out to try and grab the drone.

“Quick grab it!” Lalamon affirmed while flying to attempt to aid in grabbing the drone. “It has the evidence!”

Scarabella attempted to move again only for her and Chat Noir to have to dodge as the akuma pointed their umbrella at them. A strong blast of wind caught the two off guard and sent them flying. The two screamed as they flew through the air. It took a bit for them oriantatte themselves mid-air. With that the two managed to land somewhat safely.

“I think I saw my nine lives pass before my eyes.” Chat lightly joked after landing. “But hey will you look at that, I landed on my feet. Looks like the legends are true!”

“Speaking of legends, what were those two flower creatures?” Scarabella questioned while getting up. She knew that magic existed due to having a miraculous and seeing the kwamis but this was something else entirely.

“No idea,” The boy shook his head while thinking back to what he has learned about during his time doing research with Marrinette. “I think they have something to do with why the miraculous were made but beside that not much else.” Scarabella turned to him with wide eyes. How could he know something like that while she, the investigative reporter knew nothing? Was it a bit prideful to think that she should have been able to find out more? Yes but Alya thought that she was doing good considering they had started out only three days ago. “I mean that’s what one of my friends, who is in an Occult Research club told me.”

The last part came out hasty but Alya didn’t pay attention as her mind caught onto one part. The Occult Research club. For a second time today someone had mentioned the club. Was this type of sign from the universe? “Sounds like quiet the club.” The hero pondered aloud while tapping her chin in thought. If this was a sign then it wasn’t one to ignore.

Chat clenched his jaw as if to prevent himself from saying something. “Right, we need to defeat this akuma and free the people trapped in the studio.” Scarabella nodded at his statement and prepared to head out only to stop as a nearby TV turned on.

“Good afternoon people of Paris! It is your weather girl Stormy Weather and have a special report for you. So stay tunned for a truely shocking reveal!” The akuma smirked at the camera while keeping a tight grip on the drone. The two plant creatures stood in the background cheering. The TVs then went blank while Chat Noir clicked his tongue.

“I have a feeling this report will not turn out well.” The black cat hero repleid to which the ladybug agreed. With that the two of them left heading back towards the studio. As they moved Adrien really hoped that Marinette was okay.

~~~~~~~

Marinette sat in the closet and pondered over her possible plans. Barely a minute into being pushed into the storage closet the door had frozen shut. Now that wouldn't have been too much of a problem had the ice not begun to spread out and sharp spikes formed on it.

Not wanting to be stuck in a frozen iron maiden the girl put her backpack down and quickly brought out the drone her uncle had made. Deploying it she began piloting it through a vent she had opened up earlier. As it began to lose reception Marinette hoped that her uncle was correct about the autopilot/him being able to take over if needed. Checking the door again she saw that the ice had started spreading around the room while the spikes grew longer. Also, the temperature had dropped. It wasn’t freezing, yet, but she was beginning to see her breath. “Well, time to get out of here.” Bringing up her Digivise the girl closed her eyes and focused on the various crests. Out of all the options, three stood out to her. First would be Courage, the literal firepower would not only help her escape but also keep her warm. The problem was that to free herself she would have to break through the walls to free herself using it. Knowledge was very similar. The drills were very good but using it to escape would also expose her identity. Back in the Digital World that wouldn’t have been a problem but here in the human world…

She had been looking into the whole superhero logistics thing and found that things didn’t look good for anyone in her age range. Part of her understood the concerns and not wanting children to fight criminals. Plus France had almost no notable heroes and the few they did have were constantly shoved into the limelight. Adding on to all of that Marinette really didn’t want people to look into where she got her powers. Maybe one day the Digital World could peacefully coexist with the human world but that would be in the future.

So with all that in mind, she chose the third option. “Digi Armor Energize!” The teardrop symbol glowed as green energy pulsed out. Leaves, vines, and bits of metal floated around her as the green energy condensed into a plant-like figure that danced around before turning into a cactus with arms that ended in boxing gloves. As it punched various parts slammed into her that began to form the Armor of Sincerity. The armor was based on that of a ninja with plants mixed into her now flowing green/brown hair. An armored mask sat on her face hiding her face but still letting her see a HUD. Stretching a bit the girl stopped as a cold breeze blew through her the white skin-tight suit under her armor. “Well, time to get out of here,” Extending her arms the girl let the thorned vines wrapped around her arms extend out and latched onto the vent. As the vines pulled her towards the vent Marinette thanked the power of the crest as she was able to bend and contort herself into the vent and then maneuver herself through the vents and make herself out of the building.

“Well, that was slightly uncomfortable,” The armored girl muttered while rolling her shoulders before shaking her body out. “I wish people would clean out those out more often.” It was as she finished her stretching that a call came in. Tapping her helmet the call came through, “Hey Unc, I’m guessing you got control of the drone?”

“Yes I did, now well you please explain what is going on?” Her uncle questioned with a bit of frustration. “I’m watching the cat boy fight an akuma. Hey, the other one showed up.” The revered inventor drawled not even giving her time to talk. “OH! Oh, oh, look at that! I’m seeing a Palmon and a Lalamon!” An image of what he was talking about showed up in her HUD. Shrinking it the girl started turning towards the studio and started trying to figure out how to get back in. “Going in to save the day!” With that, Dave flew the camera down distracting the akuma and the two Digimon. “There going to get me soon! Your gonna need to do something, and they got me. Really need to upgrade this thing.”

“I’ll make sure to grap it as soon as everything is done here.” Marinette assured Dave while beginning the process of scaling the building. “I’m going to go in from the top. I won’t intervene unless necessary.”

“Sounds good, I’ll keep an eye on the group of evil and let you know if anything happens.” Dave responded while Marinette made it to the top of the building. Getting to the top the building the girl looked around the bottom of the studio. Frowning the girl noticed that the ice had begun to spread more, now making it to the top of the building. Remembering that there were people in the studio the armored hero decided on her next course of action.

“Change of plans, I’m saving the trapped people while waiting for the battle.” Running to the door the plant ninja prepared for the cold. She would endure and save the civilians. She had always wanted to be a hero and now she would do what a hero would do!

Chapter Text

Marinette helped to lower another person down on her vines. She had been running around attempting to rescue as many people as possible. People had initially been shocked and a few even scared but their attitudes were quick to change when she showed her abilities with the vines and the power suddenly being cut didn’t help. After that, it was a bit of a struggle to get people in order. It took a bit but she was able to start getting people down. She had to do it two at a time but people got out. All the while her Uncle had a running commentary going on about how the battle with the Akuma was going. Well what he can see through the captured drone

Apparently, the power outage was due to Stormy Weather sending her Digimon to mess with the circuit board. This caused the two miraculous users to need to rely on the black cat’s night vision. Unfortunately even with night vision they still fell into the akuma and her Digimon’s trap. Thankfully the two were able to escape and seemed to be trying to form an idea. She would have loved to help them but she needed to save the people. “Alright, my HUD has kept track of the people and I’m missing one person.”

“You might not need to do anything,” Dave hummed as he seemed to be enjoying what he was watching. “I am so glad the drone automatically records everything. I’m so posting this, I think I heard something about someone trying to set up a fansite.”

“I have seen like five different fansites pop up,” Marinette replied with a huff. “Every journalist wants to be the next one to own an up-and-coming heroes blog.”

“Now that is an idea,” Dave hummed with thought. “You know what I got a spare computer, I’m just going to set up your fan blog.”

“I suppose that is for the best.” Marinette hummed as she started running trying to find… Looking over the data she confirmed that it was just Mireille who she needed to find. “I would rather have someone I trust make it rather than some weirdo.”

“Aw, you trust me,” Rolling her eyes she soon arrived where one of the workers saw Mireille was. The girl had been heading home so she had taken the elevator. Said the elevator was now frozen shut.

“Hello?” Marinette questioned as she pounded on the door. “Mireille, are you in there?”

“Is someone out there?” A scared voice questioned from inside. The voice was somewhat faint due to being inside the shut elevator and the ice in front of it.

“I’m going to get you out just hang tight.” Taking a step back she looked at frozen door again before reaching behind herself. Feeling the cool touch of metal she pulled the folded weapon off her back. With a flick of her wrist it unfolded into a giant shirken. The Kusanagi. “Stay back alright!” Swinging with what strength this form gave her the weapon made of Digimetal smashed into the ice. While the Digiarmor of Sinceraty wasn’t the strongest it was still comparable to a Champion or above level Digimon. So it wasn’t that much of a shock that the magic ice chipped away while part of it fell down and shattered. Clicking he tongue she swung a few more times slowly but surely getting through. Dave was muttering on the comms but the girl chose to focus on her task. She didn't want to damage the elevator too much and risk it falling down the shaft.

With an ear-grating noise, she cut through the metal and opened the elevator. Not wanting to risk further damage the armored girl put the Kusanagi away and reached forward to pull the two pieces of metal away. “Are you alright?” The hero questioned the scared girl who stared with wide eyes.

“Um, yes, I’m okay.” The girl muttered while slowly getting up.

“Hey, magical girl,” Dave’s voice cut in with a flat-sounding voice. “Things are not looking good up top, hurry up.”

“Come on let’s get you out of here!” Helping the scared girl out of the elevator. “It’s not safe here!” Picking the girl up she rushed towards the window she already broke. “Sorry, but it sounds like things aren’t going well with the Akuma.” Wrapping the vines around the contestant she lowered her down to the others down bellow.

“That is an understatement. The two Digimon DNA-Digivolved together into a Champion. Give me a second to pull up my files.” Dave muttered over the comms. “Thanks, Duusu! Alright, it looks like we got-”

~~~~~~

Chat Noir felt a smile grow on his face as his and Scarabella’s plan came together. The Akuma’s two helpers had been a bit of a pain to deal with but now everything would be okay. They would defeat the Akuma and then… wait would defeating the Akuma stop the monsters?

Shaking his head to attempt to clear it the black cat themed hero continued on his task. Continuing to use his power to destroy the surrounding signs and support structures. This caused the signs to fall towards the Akuma. Stormy Weather finally seemed to notice the falling structures. The two ghosts(?) had noticed though and had run towards the akuma to try and protect their friend. Chat couldn’t see what happened next due to where he was standing along with the debris kicked up.

Initially, he had been relieved thinking that the battle had been won. The hero of destruction had landed next to his partner who was leaning over to grab the umbrella only to be sent flying back. A large seed like projectile made of glowing white energy shot out of the cloud and hit the girl. When the seed hit it exploded with a large burst of light. “Sunshine Gun!” A new voice shouted as the debris had cleared to show something rather shocking.

The two smaller plant beings had vanished and now a large plant creature loomed above the akuma protecting them from the signs and other things that would have fallen on them. The new monster looked like a giant sunflower with a humanoid green body, two leaves jutting out of its shoulders, and a tail that had spikes attached to it. With remarkable ease, the plant monster shoved the signs off of it before looking down at the wide-eyed Akuma. Now that it was standing Adrien guessed that it stood between 6 to 7 feet tall.

“Palmon? Lalamon?” The Akuma questioned to which the beast shook its large sunflower-like head.

“Neither, I am Sunflowmon,” The Digimon said in a deep female voice. “I am a fusion of the two before! Now let's show the world the truth others tried to hide!” The Akuma blinked before a smile boomed on their face.

“I can think about this later.” The Akuma picked up their umbrella. “Are you ready heroes? Because it seems your sunny days are at an end.”

“Bug, I think our didn’t work.” Chat plainly said while helping his partner up. Both of their miraculous beeped showing that their time was ending. “We need to get out of this hairy situation.” Scarabella gave a response but he couldn’t pay attention due to Sunflowmon’s tail moving.

“Cactus Tail!” Spikes shot out of the tail and flew towards the two miraculous users. Swinging his baton the cat boy blocked the attacks but still felt his arm sting a bit from the force those spines had been launched at. Chat was growing more and more concerned as it started to become more obvious just how strong this new monster was. Palmon and Lalamon had been difficult enough on their own but this Sunflowmon was way stronger, faster, and if he had to guess tougher.

“Where are you running!” The akuma mocked as the two continued to back up towards the door. “No need to give us the cold treatment!” With that, she launched a blizzard at the two. The snow blasted and started freezing the area around it. Not wasting time the two jumped in opposite directions. “Oh, are you going to try and make us separate or just choose one of you?”

Chat wanted to attempt to say that it had more of the two of them not being in sync and not having practiced at all with each other. But saying any of that would have ruined any image of competency. So rather than say anything, the boy instead glanced around and tried to make a plan. Due to being on the roof, he had plenty of areas to escape but a glance told him he didn’t have enough time to try and escape while also having to fight off the Akuma and monster. Thankfully his partner's luck came in handy.

A swirl of leaves appeared between Stormy Weather and Sunflowmon showing the arrival of a figure dressed in green and white. The figure didn’t say anything as she grabbed a large shurikan off her back. With grace to rival his own miraculous empowered grace. Sunfloramon was sent flying back meanwhile the akuma was sent stumbling forward. “What the heck!” The akuma shouted only to cry in shock as her feet were kicked out from under her.

Grabbing the umbrella she threw the iteam to Scarabella before throwing herself down to avoid a large sweeping strike from Sunfloramon. “Smily Slap!”

“Sunfloramon! My item!” Stormy cried as Scarabella caught the umbrella.

“Thanks, ninja girl!” The red and black hero cheered as she finally broke the item. “Time to take care of this wicked little bug!” Alya felt excited to finally be able to relax now that the akuma would be defeated. Glancing at the monster she saw them fighting against the new person. The two were locked in an intense match with the dubbed ‘ninja girl’ who was expertly weaving around the attacks and pulling off some impressive athletics to avoid some razor leaves launched at them.

“Miraculous Scarabella!” The ladybugs spread out in streams that swept over the roof. The Akuma was briefly covered in dark bubbles before it washed off her revealing the person below. Watching behind the girl she felt her breath hitch at seeing that Sunfloramon was still fitting the ninja girl. Sunfloramon screamed and sent out a blast of sunlight. “Sunshine Beam!” The ninja girl dodged out of the way as the beam slammed into the building destroying a chunk of it.

“Scara we need to go recharge!” Chat yelled at her as the ninja girl lashed out with a literal vine whip. The ladybug user felt bad about leaving the other girl alone with such a powerful opponent. But if she stayed any longer then she risked not only her identity but could also become a liability! Without the suit and the powers that came with it, she could easily die from any hit the two were throwing around.

Leaving as quick as she could the new two miraculous heroes left. They landed in an unused part of the studio and dove behind some desks. As the transformation ended the girl let out a breath. “Tikki what is going on?” The red-haired girl questioned the tiny goddess who fluttered about. “That Sunflowmon wasn’t an Akuma or created by an Akuma!”

“That is becuase Sunflowmon is something much older, or well they are part of something older.” The little red kwami attempted to explain.

“What sugercube means is that the sunflower is a magical monster that neither of you are in any way prepared for.” A gravily voice spoke up as a black cat looking kwami appeared.

“Plagg isn’t wrong.” Tikki muttered before looking to the other kwami. “But they should no longer have access to this world any more. Let alone one of that level!”

“I know what you mean,” The other kwami nodded while shaking his head. “But the only ones who could answer any questions would be Shells or the Old Man.”

“So we should just leave? Should we just leave that girl to defend herself!” A deep voice asked the kwami. Alya quickly relized that Chat had altered his voice so she would have no way of recnozing it. Clever.

“If you try and interfer there is a chance you could just get in the way.” Plagg flatly replied with a sigh. “The girl looked like she knows what she was doing.”

“You two have only had your miraculous for three days and have only defeated one Akuma.” Tikki lightly reprimanded them. Alya could admit that it made sense, they were untrained for the fight. Plus she could still feel the impact from the earlier attack.

“Hopefully the ninja girl can take care of herself.” Remembering to alter her voice Alya spoke her hopes. It irked her that she couldn’t do anything, she was supposed to be a superhero! But the worst thing was that they had no way of knowing what was going on above them. Letting out a breath she saw Tikki finishing eating.

“Alright we’re good, you two transform and get somewhere safe!” Tikki gave the two a stern look. The two humans gave affirmative responses before the two transformed. Walking out Scarabella saw Chat seemed just as displeased as her. The two stood in silence for a bit before Alya gave a smug grin.

“Want to go help the battle up above?” Chat perked up and gave his own smile.

“Yeah, let’s go help with that fight!” With that the two ran to get back to the top where they could still hear the battle was going on. Arriving on the roof the two were shocked to see that the ninja girl had managed to push the monster back and seemed to have it on the back foot. The only reason that she hadn’t defeated it was due to her hovering near Aurore seeming to protect her.

“Why are you fighting me?” Sunflowmon questioned while seeming to shake in rage. “I am just trying to do the right thing! I am trying to expose those cheaters who were being jerks!”

“I’m okay with exposing people who did something wrong but you are just lashing out!” The girl with streaks of green dyed hair calmly stated while grabbing Aurore.

“What else am I supposed to do!” The plant shot a bright beam from its face. Aurore and the girl quickly moved out of the way. The human girl clung tightly to the plant ninja as she moved out of the way.

“Anything but this,” Chat commented as he swung at the monster who had their back turned them. “You have a purr-ty bad cat-atude.” The baton smashed into the back of Sunflowmon. The giant plant turned to him with a snarl as it raised one of its arms to slap him into next month. Chat’s eyes widened at how his attack hadn’t even fazed the thing infront of him.

“Besides you shouldn’t accuse people without evidence!” Scarabella commented as her yoyo wrapped around the raised arm of Sunflowmon. The girl strained against the arm but with ease the sunflower swung the arm, with Scarabella attached, at Chat. The arm hit sending the cat flying. The miraculous user slammed into the concrete shortly followed by Scarabella.

“I have evidence!” Sunflowmon shouted while stomping her foot. “It was on that drone!” Alya watched in horror as the beast’s face started to glow. It was obvious that it was beginning to charge its attack. Alya attempted to move only to find herself impeded in the concrete. Thankfully the other female superhero was quicker to act. She had thrown a large shurikcan that flew right into the flowers back. Alya couldn’t see anything but the way the Sunflowmon froze up made it apparent that it was painful. Then vines wrapped around the beast and a blur appeared near them a simple dagger in hand. A second later like from a show or movie Sunflowmon was cut in half. Alya expected to see something like sap or another type of fluid to flow out but instead lights and sparkles started flowing out of the now dissolving beast. “But I was in the right.” The voice came out weak. Like a child on the verge of tears.

Ninja girl didn’t say anything but held out a device that sucked up the disapeating particals. As it finished all that was left of the monster was an orb of black water that splashed down onto the roof. “Poor thing, with that in it the thing never had a chance to be good.” The black water seemed to lay flatly on the roof as if it was more of a solid than a liquid. The girl turned to Chat Noir, “Are you going to take care of this?”

“Me?” Chat questioned as he finally freed himself from the concrete.

“Yeah, this needs to be destroyed and who better to destroy it then the black cat.” While saying this the girl moved to grab the giant shurikan that was stuck in the concrete.

“Alright?” Walking over to the water the hero felt his hackles rise. Something about that liquid ooze was bad. Quickly activating his power Chat slammed it into whatever that thing pretending to be water. His power spread out to the dark water but what should have been a quick thing almost looked a fight. The dark liquid shook and moved in ways it shouldn’t. It felt like the fight between his power and this thing fought against each other. It felt like an enterinity before the last drop vanished but when it did Adrien would swear he heard a scream.

“Chat you alright?” Scarabella questioned with concern.

“Yeah, but that thing… What was that thing?” Chat questioned with wide eyes.

“The liquid, the monster, or something else?” Ninja questioned before seeming to hear something. Turning she saw Aurore trying to leave the roof. “Sorry, I gotta help the citizen. Can we talk later?” Without waiting for a response she ran over to the blonde girl and helped her towards the door leading downstairs.

The two miraculous users looked at each other before a beep came from Chat’s miraculous. With that the two gave each other fist bumps before the two left. Both of them had similar thoughts racing through their heads. It wasn’t until Chat landed that a sudden thought came to his mind. “OH CRAP! Marinette!” With that, the blonde model ran back into the studio to find his club president. He really hoped she was okay.

Chapter Text

Alya landed in a group of bushes and was quick to de-transform while nobody was around. Tikki gave her a look but didn’t say anything as she flew into the fanny pouch that Alya usually wore. Seeing as how it would be a while until the kwami was fully recharged the girl decided to have a look around. Maybe she would be able to figure out something out about what had happened to cause the Akuma.

“I’m sorry,” A voice called out as Alya peeked around the corner and had to blink in shock at seeing one of her classmates. If she remembered right his name was Adrien Agreste. Not that it was hard to remember with all the girls talking about him. That and the various articles, posters, ads, and Chloe made it hard not to recognize the boy.

“I’m sure you are,” A female voice mocked while walking ahead of him. Looking to see who he was talking to Alya had to blink as she saw somebody dressed in a large white, blue, and pink stylish long coat. The girl had her hood up and her hands in their pockets giving the full not caring feeling. The longer she looked at them the more sure the red head was that they have never seen the girl. Which raised the question of how Adrien knew her? “I’m sure you were nice and safe wherever you were hidden while I was stuck in a locked closet that was going to stab me.” Blinking at the statement the reporter found herself following them out of interest.

“I thought you were going to be safe!” Adrien whined from behind. From the sounds of it, he had put her in a closet to keep her safe.

“If you hadn’t come to let me out I would have been stuck in that closet,” The mystery girl teased the boy. Alya blinked a bit in shock as the two easily talked too each other. This settled it, the girl was most likely not from her school. If she was then the poor girl would be getting tormented by a large chunk of the female population. “Left behind by my club member and stuck in a slowly freezing iron maiden.” Club member? That meant that the two were in the same club. Which club was it? Raking her mind she attempted to remember what club he had joined.

“But prez!” Adrien it seemed decided to play along. “I thought you would be safer in there than with the Akuma running loose!”

“Oh, then what about yourself? Where did you hold up during the Akuma attack?” The question came out in a teasing tone while she stopped to turn and look at him. This gave Alya a chance to see the girl’s face. Or a part of their face, the girl wore a stylish face mask that left only her eyes visible. Alya couldn’t say anything else due to the distance.

“I ran outside to try and see if I could get the hero's attention.” Adrien gave his response as he rubbed the back of his head. “It apparently wasn’t necessary because the news was quicker on the uptake. So I just went to hide nearby and wait it out.”

“At least you were somewhat smart about it,” The shorter girl patted him on the shoulder. The boy gave a weak chuckle at that. “But next time try to remember that you have a phone and there are quicker ways to contact someone than running around.” Adrien’s face grew a bit redder and only reddened when he heard a grunt as his bodyguard made their presence known. Alya was shocked that such a large man was able to sneak so well. “Glad you agree with me.”

“Why are you siding with her?” Adrien questioned the large man with mock offense. “Oh, I see how it is going to be! I’ll just have to get us a…” Adrien trailed off as he seemed to think over something.

“You okay Adrien?” The unknown girl questioned noticing him trailing off.

“Yeah, I’m fine just had random thought,” The model attempted to cover for himself. Seeing her waiting the boy continued. “I didn’t figure out who the cheater was.” Cheater? What were they talking about? Without thinking about it she walked closer. Did this have to do with the Akuma? Bringing out her notebook the future greatest reporter prepared for a scoop.

“Really? You didn’t figure it out?” The girl sounded shocked that her club member hadn’t figured it out. Remembering that the Akuma went out of its way to capture a drone with evidence made it clear, "Well, I guess I can show you.” Pulling out her phone the president stopped before sighing. “Sorry, seems the footage went onto the computer so I will show you when we get back to the club. But it was rather obvious when you work through it.”

“It obviously wasn’t Auroe,” Alya’s classmate began while taking a thinking position. “The ones claiming cheating were the ghosts so it wasn’t them.”

“Then it could have been one of the other two competitors.” Alya found herself adding on which caused the girl to turn to her with wide eyes. It seemed in her shock she tripped over her feet. While falling she let out a cry of shock. Adrien also jumped but was quick to run over to his club president. Alya blinked at the reactions before remembering that they probably didn’t know she was there. “Oops, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Don’t worry too much, I startle easy.” The girl waved it off showing that she was wearing a pair of pink fingerless gloves. Adrien let out a chuckle as he helped her up.

“I can attest to that.” The blonde agreed while getting a look in his face that spoke of fond memories.

“You better not be thinking of THAT incident!” The shorter girl turned to fully look at her club member.

“I would never!” The playboy attempted to wave down the angry girl. “Even if you looked so adorable.”

“Seeing as your little ‘surprise’ had me covered in MY coffee I very much doubt your claim!” The girl growled even as the boy let out another chuckle. “Stop laughing, and you still owe me a coffee!”

“And I told you I would not support your addiction.” Adrien retorted with a smirk. “I know you don’t need to get any more beautiful but sleep is important.”

“Oh so you will get on me about my sleep schedule but my Uncle gets away with practically having an IV drip of energy drinks keeping him awake?”

“Is it that bad?” The question was answered by the Gorrila letting out a grunt. “Is your whole family caffeine addicts Princess?”

“My mama doesn’t drink any caffeine and my papa only has one coffee daily.” The girl informed the boy with mirth.

“So was I right about who the cheater was?” As much as Alya enjoyed watching the two the reporter wanted to know how right she was. The girl kept looking at the blonde who blinked after a moment before humming.

“No, neither of those two were the cheaters.” Adrien rubbed his chin in thought. “Jackie wouldn’t cheat because she thought she had the whole thing in the bag. Mireille seems that she is forcing herself to compete so I don’t see her cheating. I’m pretty sure that if she did then they would confesse.”

“Well, if its not either of those two then who else?” Alya muttered while trying to think. “Maybe one of the fans or one of the crew members?”

“Your close on the second one.”

“Close to the crew but not one of the crew members?” Adrien closed his eyes in thoughts before seeming to think of something. “Was it one of the directors?”

“Yup!” The girl gave a happy chirp to which Alya thought it over.

“Why would they cheat though?”

“Because they wanted one person, who almost lost in the last round, to win.” The apparent director responded with a smug smile in her voice.

“They were pushing for Mireille to win?” Adrien questioned as he tried to figure it out. Alya was also having a hard time trying to figure out just what about Mireille that the producers wanted her to win. “Wait don’t tell me,” The model spoke up with some heat in his voice shocking Alya a bit. “Don’t tell me they wanted her to win just because she is mixed race!” Sucking in a breath of air the reporter could almost see how it would play out.

“Not only that she is also the underdog.” The girl she still didn’t know the name of added. “I’m going to send the footage to both Mirellie and Auroe and let them decide what to do about it. Hopefully, this doesn’t impact their friendship.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Adrien muttered while shaking his head. Alya could see that the two were concerned and tried to think of a way to reassure them but came up empty. “Still where did those ghosts come from, why were they so invested in the competition?”

“They were plants and it was a weather girl competition.” The hooded girl shrugged.

“Did they think that whoever won would gain control of the weather?” Alya questioned while thinking over the childish logic.

“Who knows, I am just giving what seems the most reasonable. As for where they come from that is going to require some research!” The girl proclaimed to which the boy let out a cheer. Alya blinked at the statement. Research? They were going to research the ghosts? The thought had her excited. They were going to research something supernatural!

“Back to the clubhouse!” Adrien cheered while the girl just huffed in amusement.

“I swear you are the only person I know who likes researching.”

“How could I not be excited? We are looking at old myths that could actually be real!” The model walked forward toward where the club house most likely was. “So are we going to start with the books or go to the internet?”

“The first thing to do would be to go back through the footage,” The girl walked behind the boy but was quick to catch up.

“You have footage!” Alya squealed as she caught up to the two. “Is there any chance I could post it on my blog?” The girl turned and blinked her wide blue eyes at the other girl. Now this close the reporter felt her own eyes widen while letting out a gasp at seeing the scar that ran down her face cutting through her eyelash, eye, and continuing down somewhere past her face. Alya briefly wondered if the eye was in some way damaged.

The still unnamed girl narrowed her eyes and the reporter wondered if the other girl was often judged based on that scar and how she dressed. “I’m sorry, who are you?” Or she forgot to introduce herself.

“Oh, I’m Alya Cesaire. Future greatest reporter and blogger!” Alya introduced herself with a giant smile.

“Oh, I remember you from class!” Adrien responded while giving a smile to the other girl.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in class who you haven’t flirted with.” Alya teased while the boy just huffed while waving her off.

“I’ll get around to flirting with you eventually,” The famous playboy and flirt responded while waving her off. “Just wait your turn I have only been in school for THREE days.”

“Three days and you already flirted with most of your class?” The club president chuckled, “Why am I not surprised?” Adrien turned to look at the girl and gave a smile.

“Because we are such good friends,” The response was a roll of the girl’s eyes.

“Oh, right,” The response came out with good humor. Turning towards Alya the blue eyed girl introduced herself. “My name is Marinette Dupain Cheng, it is nice to meet you.” Giving a smile towards the other girl or at least Alya assumed it was a smile since she couldn’t see the other girl’s face. Being reminded of the mask had Alya wondering if there were more scars beneath the mask. Almost on their own her eyes trailed down to look at the girl’s neck only to see a stylish scarf.

“Great to meet you prez!” Alya gave a smile while trying to ignore how her mind was now convinced that were more scars. This left her in a panic, how could a girl who seemed her age have scars like those!

“Hey she isn’t your president,” Adrien stated while putting his hands on his hips. “She is my club president!” Marinette just looked confused between the two with a look of confusion.

“Nope, she is going to be my president because I am joining your club!” Alya pointed out with a smug grin. Adrien looked shocked while Marinette blinked.

“I don’t think all of us will fit in the back seat.” Marinette looked towards the Gorilla who let out a sigh. “So should I just call shotgun now or are you going to make the three of us play a game for it?”

~~~~~~~

Gabriel watched the news while leaning back in his chair. Nathalie sat in her own chair nearby while sorting through various bits of data. The kwami floated nearby and looked more panicked than usual. “It seems the user of the peacock miraculous is active,” Gabriel noted with a hum. “Though I must wonder why it made those creatures purpose was.”

“Those weren’t creations of the peacock,” Nooroo informed while shaking.

“Then what are they?” Nathalie questioned with a frown. The kwami didn’t say anything which caused Gabriel to frown.

“Answer her!” The designer demanded the kwami. The kwami flinched before opening its mouth but instead of words bubbles came out. This caused the man to form an even bigger frown. The only time this kinda thing happened was with stuff the kwami wasn’t allowed to say. The fact that Nooroo could explain about The Wish but nothing about these creatures spoke about how dangerous the order thought they were.

“There are no point thinking further about topics we know nothing about.” Nathalie added on as hummed in thought. “It seems that Tomoe is pleased enough with our progress with the Fantastico compony. She said that she will be by personally to talk to us.”

“Good I have been wanting to talk to her and see if she has noticed any differences with Kagami.” The destruction of the peacock miraculous had him concerned. The fact that he wasn’t able to full control his son anymore further proved those concerns. Asking his sister in law hadn’t proven to be helpful. She had just laughed at him and then hung up. He had hoped that with the appearance of the strange creatures he had hoped that they could use them to find the lost miraculous that now seemed found.

But now with the news that these were not amoks but some sort of unknown creatures meant he was back to square one. No he was at a worse spot due to now having not only one unknown factor in play but two! First of course being those creatures and the second being the masked girl. The appearance of an unknown fighter who he knew nothing about was more than a bit frustrating.

Letting out a huff of frustration the man stood up and walked out of the room. The news hadn’t caught the battle on the roof due to the heavy winds and thus he had no reason to stick around. The only reason he had even watched the news was the hope of seeing a different perspective of the fight. “It doesn’t matter what stands in my way. I will get my hands on those miraculous and set the world right.”

Chapter Text

Tikki vibrated within the fanny pack as she tried to figure out how things had gone so bad. How had those creatures appeared? What happened to the barrier? Various thoughts and worries fluttered through her mind as the small red kwami tried to calm herself down. Fluttering to the edge of the bag the kwami looked out and saw that her new holder had gotten done with the car ride and was now approaching a building. The building didn’t look to special but Tikki had heard the earlier conversation.

This was the supposed research place. Tikki felt her stomach twist as she felt a bit conflicted. Earlier when she had recommended joining the club that was before she knew that the ones from the other world had somehow found their way here. Now though, now with how reckless her current holder was… Would this be too dangerous? Should she try to get Alya away from this place? Should she attempt to deny her the potential friendships that were blooming?

Alya happily talked to the two as she walked into the building. The girl stopped and took a chance to look around the room. A slightly bigger smile grew on her face as she noticed the bookcases and state-of-the-art computers. Tikki meanwhile noticed a small black dot escape from Adrien, the blonde boy’s, shirt. Eyes wide with shock before they flickered with relief the red goddess flew after her other half. She followed a path behind him went right into a hole in the wall. The mouse hole led to a somewhat empty area that had some yarn thrown around to make it more comfortable. In the middle sat Plagg who was grumbling.

“... But oh no, just fight the magical giant monster! Who cares if the being who has been around for literal centuries tells you that the thing you are about to fight is out of your league!” Plagg ranted to nobody as he angrily floated around the room. Tikki worried slightly that he might be overheard but she did fully understand his concerns. The red goddess flew forward to get his attention. “How about next time instead of fighting something that…” The rant trailed off as his eyes fell onto Tikki. “Tikki!” Zooming forward the cat scooped up his red counterpart.

“It is good to see you Plagg,” Tikki comforted herself in feeling him so close to her. Both of them needed comfort if the others were able to make their way into this world. “What happened Plagg?”

“I don’t know Tikki.” The words hurt because Tikki had no idea either. “The only thing I can think of is THAT.” At the reminder, Tikki flinched as her mind slowly pulled up the memory of what Plagg was talking about.

It was months ago and the kwami had been playing or relaxing within the box. That was until Mullo cried out in pain. A kwami being in pain shouldn’t have been possible, especially within the the box. Dazzie’s gasp of horror was followed by Barkk barking and running around. The others were quick to gather around and much Dazzie they gasped in horror at seeing the spreading black and white mass that slowly crept along Mullo’s body. “What is-” Dazzie began to question only to cry out as the same black and white mass appeared on them.

It was barely a second later that they realized Barkk had the same mass growing on them. Pollen was about to try and help the panicking dog kwami only to let out her own scream. At the scream, the kwamis felt more dread as they saw that the bee kwami was now infected. Two screams interrupted them as more kwami were now infected soon more and more were infected. Tikki gulped as more and more kwami were infected by this black and white thing. As another kwami cried out Tikki grew more panicked as she turned towards Mullo to double-check.

Her voice caught in her throat though as she watched the infection grow. But it wasn’t like a normal growth. No this one extended and wiggled like a tentetical. No, not like, it was a tentacle! “Plagg!” Calling out to her other half as she watched the living mass growing on the mouse kwami.

“I noticed!” Plagg shouted back in panic as another kwami fell down. “What the hell is this thing! Where is Wayzz!”

“He is with Master,” Fluff informed as she focused on the ongoing events. “How did this happen? This was not foreseen!” Those twin revelations had the two kwami panicking. Fluff had not seen it coming! Something had been able to surprise the kwami able to see the future! Moreover, they couldn’t contact Fu due to him being outside the box. The only way they could get help would be if Wayzz was also being attacked by this mysterious creature. The train of thoughts ended as Fluff dropped to the ground as she too was now being attacked.

Tikki and Plagg now looked around and noticed they were the only kwami not being attacked. Plagg looked around and seeing the situation started drawing on his power. It was at that moment that the monster appeared and started attacking him disrupting his attack. The monster appeared around his neck looking like a collar, or a choker. Tikki froze as she saw her other half being attacked.

It was as if she was frozen watching this happen, trying to understand everything that had happened so quickly, that the monster came for her! It happened from one moment to the next. A band of black and white tentacles appeared around their arms seemingly binding her arms together. Pain flooded her as the thing ate away at her.

Plagg meanwhile yowled and screamed in anger. He tried to claw and destroy the thing attacking him. It was while he was doing this that Sass, who had his own tentacle mass stuck near his head, shouted out. “These beasts are not here in this realm!” The snake called out as the green kwami seemed to fall into a deep sleep. The other kwami were quick to fall into their own deep sleep so as to return to the Celestial Realm. Tikki only hesitated for a moment before also following the others. It was a weird feeling as her consequence left and returned, fully, to her in the Celestial Realm.

An unknown amount of time passed before the kwami woke up. As they did so the small gods were relieved to find that the tentacles were gone. “I wish we could remember what happened,” Mullo muttered as she slowly got up. It was true, that they couldn’t remember what happened fully. For the kwami it was much like a dream.

“Returning to and from the Celstle Realm is always an interesting experience.” Pollen commented as she also got up.

Plagg tuned out the others as he tried to drag what little he could remember of his time within the other realm. “There was a monster,”

“There was way more than one,” Tikki hummed as she held her head in thought. “There were so many, and there were other creators. No monsters.”

“They forced Gammi to manifest,” Trixx flew low as he dug through the piles. “Gammi manifested and was then attacked. All while we couldn’t do anything due to being attacked.” A low growl existed in his voice. Fluff simply sat staring ahead while Barkk darted back and forth.

“Then who fought them off,” Kaalki questioned as she attempted to remember something. “I remember someone, no there were multiple people fighting.”

“But who?” Sass questioned with a hum as sat in a meditative position. “Who could acsssess the Celestial Realm and join us in fighting off the invadersss?” At the questions, quiet mummers broke out. Plagg turned his ears back and forth picking up every detail he could. A giant dog/rabbit warrior, a shrine maiden, a drag…

“Does anyone else remember the Renren being there?” Plagg questioned to which another bout of chatter broke out.

“Yes, yes she was there!” Dazzie nodded while Ziggy hung near her. “I remember her fighting alongside the shrine maiden!” Tikki gave a noise of agreement as she tried to pull more of the disjointed memories together. She does remember seeing Renren but something kept scratching at her. As if there was something really important to remember but it was out of reach. Just a little out of reach.

Closing her eyes she focused harder and slowly an image came to her mind. Her and Plagg were captured by some shadowy figure as chains forced them to manifest Gammi. It was at moment that someone came to save her and Plagg. She remembered a golden shining light as something arrived. “Oh, thank everything you are all alright!” Wayzz’s voice cut her thoughts off and that slightly irked her.

“Wayzz your alright!” Mullo cried as she flew forward to give him a hug. This was followed by the other Zodiac kwami swarming the turtle in a pile. From there the group questioned what both Master Fu and him were up to.

Wayzz informed them of how he was attacked just like them and how Fu had been attempting to protect both him and the box that was also being infected. “Whatever had attacked was truly a monster that defied anything we know.” The turtle flinched as he shook his head. “I am relieved to see all of you okay.” Looking at each other the kwami who were in box wondered if Wayzz didn’t know that the attacker came from the Celestial Realm. As the memory finished Tikki understood what Plagg meant.

“You think it was that unknown monster?” Tikki felt stupid for asking but she wanted to hear it.

“There is no other way I can think of,” Plagg shook his head. “They must have done something to Gammi. I don’t know what happened but something must have for a Wish to undone.” The two didn’t say more as both the kwami truly thought about what could have happened. Once more Tikki cursed the fact that she had almost no memories of their time in the Realm. They knew Gammi was alright, after all they didn’t feel anything too wrong, but still the thought scared them. This situation scared them.

Beings from the old times were re-emerging. The Order was all but gone, and their newest wielders were untrained and not ready for the dangers these creatures presented. “What do we do?” The red kwami questioned her other half. No answer came from Plagg, for he had no answer.

“We should head back to our reckless wielders,” Was the black kwami’s only words. Tikki didn’t say anything but did agree so the two flew out of the area. It was as she flew out of the area that a thought came across her mind. How did Plagg decorate the area they were just in?

~~~~~~

Alya felt like she was in heaven! This club room had it all! The reporter had run through the room and had even tested the computers and found them even better then she had thought! Going over to the bookcase also showed that the books were about various mythologies. The books had various colored sticky notes sticking out of them. Grabbing one the reporter flipped it open to one of the red tabbed sections and felt her eyes blown wide open. On the page was a painting of a desert where a man wearing red and black fought against an armored yellow dinosaur looking beast that had black spiked bracelets.

“Is this a past miraculous user?” Alya questioned as she gaped at the image. “Are they fighting an Ankylosarues?”

“Oh?” Marinette questioned as she arrived near the other girl. “Oh, yeah, I found that one yesterday.”

“You found another story!” Adrien questioned with excitement as he came over to see what they were doing.

“Another?” Alya muttered while looking around to see if she could find a scanner or something else to upload this onto her blog. Then she could send it to herself! This would be perfect for her blog!

“Yes, another,” Adrien bragged with a smirk. “My amazing club president found a story of past heroes defeating a sea serpent!”

“‘Amazing club president’?” Marinette questioned with a teasing voice. “If I didn’t know better I would say you were trying to butter me up.”

“Now why would you think that I was buttering you up?” Adrien teased back his smirk changing to one of challenge.

“You are buttering me up to find out where I get my pastries,” At this Adrien looked away but didn’t disagree.

“Oh we get treats?” Alya questioned with interest. If she could get pastries or other treats without worrying about her sisters trying to get their share…

“The best in all of Paris,” Marinette’s smile was visible in her voice.

“What is the best in all of Paris?” An adult voice questioned as a thin lanky man wearing a lab coat entered the room. He blinked at the sight of Alya before turning to the Gorilla. “Where did you pick up the new one at?” He got a grunt in response. The man nodded as if he understood. “And here I was thinking you were going out to investigate that news studio.”

“We did investigate the studio,” Marinette responded while placing her backpack on the desk. “I think you will find the data we got interesting.”

“So it was actually haunted? I guess Sabine owes me some cookies,” The adult chuckled while making to sit down in a rolling chair. The chair looked beyond comfortable and Alya was a little upset that she hadn’t seen it earlier. It was obviously the best seat in the room. Seeming to know she was upset Marinette gestured to a coach. “So I’m assuming that the new girl wants to join the club?”

“I assume so,” Marinette shrugged before turning to Alya who responded with affirmation. Dave then introduced himself while pulling out the paperwork both her and her parents needed to fill out. The red-haired girl left a bit later with a skip in her step.

“This is going to be amazing!” Alya hummed as she got to her house ready to inform her parents that she had finally found a club. Her parents had been concerned about her not fitting in, so having a club where she fit in was the best. Arriving at the apartment Alya walked in to her sister sitting watching the door. Gulping the future reporter knew she was in for a chewing out.

“I hope you have a good explanation for where you were,” Nora questioned while tapping the counter.

Chapter Text

Marinette let out a groan as she lay on the bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed, that would forever be her bed back in Paris, but it would make due for now. Plotmon jumped up on her bed and stayed near her. “So that is the power of a fully manifested Ultamite,” Dave muttered as he went over the fight data one more time.

“Even with all of us working together,” Fei muttered as she sat on her bed. “We barely managed to defeat that monster.” Marinette didn’t add anything as her mind went over the past week. After getting the Code Crown the group of humans and Digimon had gone to the next level up only to find the area under the control of three Ultimate level Digimon. Having fought against the amalgamated Devimon the group thought they could easily fight them.

Reality was harsh though.

They had been prepared and headed out to fight against one of the three but after fighting against their minions for a few days the group arrived to fight the leader. The group had felt confident having found another armor, this one Kindness with the spirit of Wormmon. Thus when they fought the Ultimate they were overconfident and had paid for it.

Raising a hand Marinette ran her hand over the scar that ran over her eye. Thankfully the healing power of the food of this world she didn’t lose her eye but due to having to rush the process the scar would remain. “We got lucky,” Marinette muttered to which nobody said otherwise. “If Terriermon hadn’t achieved Ultimate…”

“Hey, it wasn’t just me!” Terriermon countered as they popped up from near her Uncle. “Rapidmon was strong but if you weren’t there to help keep Axe-Knightmon busy then I would have lost.” Marinette lay there thinking over the Digimon’s words. She could understand what Terriermon was saying but at the same time, it only proved how outmatched they were. While she was able to help in the fight that wasn't what had her so down. It was how she got the strength to help in the fight.

Her armors ranged in power from a high-tier Champion, Courage, Friendship, to a mid-tier Champion, Kindness, Sincerity. Yeah, each one had their own special power such as Love allowing her to fly and Sincerity giving her great flexibility along with various ninja-like abilities but in terms of attack power even her strongest armor couldn’t compare to that of an Ultimate. Honestly, the difference between Champion and Ultimate level was absurd in terms of power and durability. Even using her strongest armor of Courage she couldn’t hurt Axe-Knightmon.

That was until she had received the wound. Having received a strong hit the girl had somewhat blacked out. During that time Marinette found herself back there, back in the room with the running pipes. The Dark Water was quickly filling the room and something was swimming in the water. Whispers filled her head as she ran towards the door beating on it trying to get out. Trying to remember how she got out last time Marinette attempted to summon the power of her crests and the spirits linked to them.

Gurgling/moaning/screaming/crying was heard behind her and Marinette attempted to tune it out. The noise solidified and mixed to the point where it didn’t hurt her ears as much but that didn’t stop her desperation especially when the water started to flow/move/wrap around her ankles. It was as she was freeing herself that noises from the Dark Water changed into that of an actual voice. The voice was incoherent but the voice it spoke with was hers. However, it was just as the voice, her voice was starting to form words that she got the door open.

Light flooded the room as the pipes shook. Not wasting a second the girl sprinted out of the room. “No, come, back,” Her wheezing disjointed voice called out from behind, “Don’t, leave.” Not listening she left slamming the door behind her. Slames were heard on the old iron door. Listening to the slamming on the door Marinette’s mind briefly wondered if this is what it would have been like for one of her schoolmates on the other side. This thought prevented her from realizing that the water that had grabbed onto her legs was still there.

It was as her heart was settling down that her mind reconnected with her body. Her body was fighting against Knightaxemon. She stood over the body of the dented dark knight Ultimate. “Mari?” The voice of her uncle questioned drawing her attention. Turning she saw him, Fei, Kyubimon, and… a green robot rabbit/dog mon? “Mari, that is you right?”

The girl attempted to open her mouth only to find something covering it. Reaching up the girl pulled at sickening blue strings, blackened purple ichor, and pitch-black metal. Stumbling back the transformed girl dropped the lance she held and raised her other hand to help attempt to pull at the thing on her face. As she pulled at the mass on her face she stumbled back off of the large Ultimate. Crashing down Mariette’s breathing started speeding up, again, in panic.

“Mari, Mari, you need to de-transform!” Her uncle ordered his niece as he grabbed her arms and strained against her. The young girl stopped and blinked while letting go of the mass on her face. Relaxing a bit the girl instead moved and grabbed her digivise. Hitting the buttons the dark-haired girl was relieved to feel the ‘armor’ dissolve off of her.

It was after the armor dissolved along with the Ultimate that the group decided to head to where they were resting. Very little talking happened and when they got back which lead to where they are now. The human and Digimon, the ones that were there, sat in silence as they attempted to figure out what had happened in the battle. “You guys are back!” Salamon cheered as she charged into the room. “Plotmon why didn’t you tell me they were back!”

“They just got back,” Plotmon informed her sister who was bouncing around.

“Did the princess do it? What am saying of course she did it!” The young rookie cheered as she danced around. “I knew you guys could do it!” The group looked between themselves and attempted to figure out how to get the two rookies out of the area so they could discuss what had happened during the battle. “So did you get it? Did you?” The question had Marinette grabbing her Digivise to check and the status of her Code Crowns. At the moment she had one and part of a second.

“She has it!” Plotmon gave a quiet cheer as her tail waved in excitement. Salamon let out her own cheer as they bounced in place. Plotmon let out a purr as she pushed into the girl.

“Excusse me young ones,” Renamon cut into the two rookies celebration. “We need to have a talk.” The two looked around at the group before leaving. After the two left the room the group waited an extra minute before speaking.

“Marinette, what happened?” Fei questioned as she turned to the one who she had come to consider a sister. Marinette stayed quiet for a moment before she recounted what had happened to her. They listened and Fei moved to sit with the other young girl. Dave closed his laptop and seemed to contemplate things over.

“It seems that contact with the Dark Water is… unhealthy,” Renamon commented with a sour look.

“That is an understatement,” Fei scoffed as she pulled Marinette into a tighter hug.

“Damn it,” Dave seemed to forcefully cut himself off from using stronger words. “I’m going to assume you aren’t going to stop fighting?” Marinette relaxed into Fei’s hold as she thought over her uncle’s question.

“The Water didn’t really react until I was heavily injured. So as long as I don’t get hurt too bad then I should be okay,” Marinette voiced her thoughts to which the others gave her a look.

“We don’t know that,” Renamon countered with a stern look.

“Yeah, it only happened once. We don’t even know how easily access that form,” Terriermon pointed out with a shake of his head. “It kinda sucks that we can’t ask either of the elders.” Marinette remembered that the two elderly Digimon choose to stay in their village, ‘Just in case more eggs form.’ It had been sad to leave them behind but it needed to happen, they had to go home and this was the only way they could see to do it.

But the question of how easily she could access that form had her bringing up her digivise to check on her armors. As she saw all the displays of her armors the black-haired girl sucked in a breath. “What is the mat-,” Fei began to question only to stop at seeing what had caused her reaction. Among her armors was a new one.

This one was a bit different as it didn’t have a symbol. At the moment it looked like a tree made of threads or something like that which held a blue orb on top. Just looking at it had her stomach rolling in on itself. The girl could vaguely hear talking but attempted to focus on calming herself down. It was while she was doing this that the spirits were attempting to contact her. So between one blink of her eyes to the next, she was in her parent’s living room while the various Digimon spirits.

“Hey there Marinette, it looks like things aren’t going well,” Gatomon said from the couch.

“You did well getting out of that pit,” Patamon praised and as if in response to his statement a loud banging was heard.

“They certainly are a persistent little thing,” Palmon hummed with a shake of her plant-like head. Another loud bang was heard

“I think it would be best if we focus on why we brought her here.” Tentamon spoke up as he moved to get everyone’s attention. More loud banging was heard.

“Yes, it seems that Marinette being here has gotten it rilled up,” Wormmon pointed out.

“Don’t worry, we will make this quick,” Agumon assured before moving over to the chest under the TV. “Over the course of your journey I’m sure that you remember the strange Digimon you’ve encountered?” Nodding she remembered the different strong Tyrannomon.

“Well as I’m sure you remember your uncle figured out that there was something different about them.” Gomamon added in to which the TV flickered and showed the memory.

“Yeah, he said it had to do something extra in there core,” Marinette muttered as she watched the memory. “Sometype of rare X factor.”

“X factor is close,” Gabumon helped Agumon to move the TV. “Our originals never encountered variants but thanks to something interfering we do know a bit more than our originals.”

“I still have theories!” Tentamon excititly added before drooping a bit as Biyomon spoke.

“Unfortatnly we are still not allowed to tell you,” The bird Digimon truely looked sad at that. Marinette truely appreciated the pink Digimon and how caring they were.

“But we can at least give you this.” Gatomon opened up the chest revealing a glowing orb. The orb held a blue glowing X with seven dots spaced around it in an H look. “This is the X-Antibody, the key to X-Digivolution.”

“X-Digivolution?” Marinette questioned with interest.

“Yup, it will provide you a way to get more power.” Agumon nodded.

“It isn’t as much power as a full Digivolution but it should give you a fighting chance.” Gabumon patted the girl on her arm. Marinette nodded while looking at the X-Antibody wondering if she could truly fight against Ultimates. Another loud bang settled it for her, she would fight with what she could and not give into the Darkness. Who knows what the villains were planning?

~~~~~~~

The group of shadows appeared. None of them in person due to all of them being on different levels. The group of shadows muttered to one another before one of them clapped which let out a loud enough noise as the immediately quieted everyone. “Let the meeting begin,” The leader's voice was like that of a thunderstorm. “Tell me how goes the fishing expedition?”

“It is going better than expected,” better then expected,” A voice from the Dark Ocean replied. “My team managed to get those weird creatures on board.”

“I thought we were calling them Eaters,” A laid back voice hummed before writing something down. “Yeah, Eaters. Now that is a name that could inspire fear.”

“Someone is getting a bit ahead of themselves,” An amused silk like voice spoke out. “We should see how well they do before bringing in too many.”

“I agree,” A voice like a collapsing mountain spoke up, “Those things are just as likely to turn on us as they are to actually help us.”

“Yet they might be our best bet to defeat Gammi,” The first voice spoke up. “We will continue with our other plans and let Dagomon play with his pet Eaters. None of us know which might succeed so it would be best to try all methods in front of us.”

“I suppose this means you want me to continue hunting for those X-Antibodies?” A tired rough voice questioned.

“No shit!” An irritated voice shot back. “We need those if we want to defeat those humans!” The others stayed silent as they thought of the group of humans that had somehow made their way into the Digital World. “They defeated my sworn brother KnightAxemon!”

“That sounds like a YOU problem, and if he was weak enough to lose to a group of non-miraculous users then it is on him.” The silk-like voice mocked before slowly disappearing. “Let me know when you have defeated those brats.” Voices of agreement sounded as more of the shadows vanished.

“Succeed or fail, but don’t disappoint us like Devimon did. Twice!” The first scoffed before beginning to vanish. “We still expect for you to hold them off for a while so we can finish with our projects.” With that, the meeting ended leaving the last member to scream uselessly.

Chapter Text

Marinette felt her armor fade as she fell to one knee. Her breathing was unsteady and her muscles burned. “Time?” The black-haired girl questioned in between steadying herself.

“One minute,” Dave replied with a deep frown.

“What about me?” Rabbitmon questioned as he landed near the group.

“Eight minutes and counting,” The man replied tapping away at his laptop.

“One minute?” Marinette questioned before falling onto her side. “Did I at least make some progress?”

“Progress is debatable,” Ladydragon said as she landed near the group. “You were able to X Digivolve and able to fight an Ultimate for nearly a minute.” As she spoke Ladydragon reverted back to her human form.

“But…” Marinette gave the opening the other girl seemed to want.

“But it seems that with all that new power you seem to have lost some control,” Fei spoke as she was no longer transformed. At the reminder, Marinette frowned as she remembered how despite a week of training she was still having trouble controlling the new forms. The transformation made her faster and stronger but with all that the human had trouble properly controlling it.

“Along with the problem of her burning through all of her power,” Dave commented while turning his laptop screen to show off Marinette’s chart. “The second she activates the X-Evolution her power output goes through the roof cutting her time down to where it is.”

“So control of not only my body but even my power?” Marinette questioned with a huff as Rabbitmon reverted back to Terriermon.

“Aw man,” The now Rookie whined as he slumped.

“You did an excellent job,” Renamon praised which got a chuckle from the other Digimon.

“Ten minutes, good job buddy,” Dave’s praise had the Digimon puffing up his chest. Marinette sat down and started humming in thought. How could she gain control of X forms? Various thoughts ran through her mind but all she could think of was various different physical training methods.

“Maybe I should try meditating?” Marinette questioned as she took a cross-legged stance.

“Sure, why don’t we also find a waterfall for you to sit under?” Her uncle chuckled while shaking his head.

“Could that actually work?” Marinette questioned while rubbing her chin.

“Meditation is meant to relax you and help lead you to a calm state of mind,” Fei informed while taking a seat on a rock. Renamon was quick to appear beside her partner. “At least that is what it is used for if we were normal.”

“What do the Renlings say?” Renamon questioned with interest. Fei blinked before falling silent and shrugging.

“They agree with me. We won’t know anything until we try.” Marinette let out a sigh at the response Fei gave.

“Any tips for meditation?” The armored fighter questioned the Renling who gave a smile. Marinette felt like she had asked a stupid question.

~~~~~~

“So this is meditation?” Plotmon questioned with curiosity.

“It looks boring,” Salamon whined while lying out nearby. “She is just sitting there.” Marinette attempted to turn the two siblings out as she attempted to calm her mind. “Oh man, look at the others! So cool!” The black-haired girl could vaguely hear the sounds of training and battle behind her and once more attempted to tune it out. Unfortunately, the distractions had the effect of having her mind wander over the previous days.

After obtaining the X-Antibody the group had decided to take a break to train her X forms and see if they could get Renamon to the Ultimate level while Fei worked on her own powers to see if she could draw more power out to fight on the Ultimate level. Unfortunately, it was as much of a success as her attempts at controlling the X forms.

‘You have only been working on the meditations for a day,’ The thought popped up in her head. At first, Marinette thought it might have just been an intrusive thought but something about it rubbed at the back of her head. ‘What did you think you could be an expert in an hour?’ Taking a deep breath to calm herself the girl refocused on attempting to calm her mind again. She knew that she couldn’t master something like meditation in a day or even a week.

The girl felt her mind running rampant and started the process of trying to control herself. ‘Good luck with that,’ The dark voice scoffed and Marinette attempted not to let it bother her. The attempt failed and any progress was undone. Her thoughts crashed into each other and the girl’s darker thoughts came back.

A sigh came up and the girl fell onto the grass. As she lay there her mind started bubbling and turning over everything. The thoughts of the various Digimon that she saw get destroyed in front of her, thoughts of how many times she almost died, thoughts of the Digimon she had killed, and lastly the thoughts of the Dark Ocean along with everything that came with it. All those thoughts just kept coming and tears started pricking at her eyes.

“Are you okay princess?” A voice questioned. Opening her eyes Marinette saw Plotmon near her giving her a concerned look. Raising an arm the pigtailed girl rubbed her eyes trying to rid herself of her tears.

“I’m,” Marinette wanted to say that she was okay but that would be a lie and she hated liars, “I’m just having some difficulties.”

“That’s okay!” Salamon moved near her and gave a smile. “I’m sure you’ll overcome it!” The encouragement felt nice but her mind kept replaying her failures. “You’ll master this new power and use it to defeat those meanies and get the Code Crowns!”

‘They are just using you to get the Code Crowns,’ The dark voice whispered. Marinette wanted to ignore it but just like before it stuck in her head. Not wanting to ignore it or leave it to fester like she had left her other thoughts Marinette decided to confront it. “Why do you want to go up?”

The question stunned Salamon while Palmon flinched. “Um, we, well you see, the reason is,” Salamon stumbled over herself in an attempt to answer the question. The rookie-level Digimon looked around and flinched back with a whimper. Turning her head Marinette saw that the others had gathered around and seemed interested in what was happening. “Well, you see the reason is…”

Marinette watched the Digimon squirm and felt her gut roll over itself. She felt a bit bad about questioning them but it was still needed. They needed to know. But the answer wasn’t going to be answered today because something entered the conversation.

The thing that entered the conversation let out a loud roar before smashing its way into the clearing. The Digimon was a yellowish-colored dinosaur, she thinks it was a Brachiosaurus, with a large horn on its forehead. “Uncle/Dave/Boss!” The humans and Terriermon shot a look to the human who pointed his Digivise at them.

“Brachiomon, shit, it's an Ultimate level!” As if to make it worse two Digimon followed behind it. The two Digimon were blue with heads in place of arms. “And those two are Deltamon, Champion levels!”

Marinette cursed under breath as this attack couldn’t have been timed worse. “You two know the routine! Stay back and safe!” The two rookies were quick to run off.

“Kill them,” The Brachiomon’s voice came out cold and the two Champions were quick to obey.

“Triplex Force!” The two shouted out as all three heads shot out a beam that headed towards the two rookies. Cursing Marinette grabbed her Digivise and moved to block the attack.

“Digi-Armor Energize!” With that the transformation took place. The Armor of Knowledge began to form but as it did the beams hit. The two struggled for a bit before they exploded canceling each other out. Unfortunately, Marinette was sent flying back landing back near the two rookies.

“Princess!” Salamon cried out in panic as Marinette landed next to them. The young girl landed and her armor glitched fading in and out before shattering. “Princess!”

“Keep running!” Marinette yelled as she got up and grabbed her Digi-vise. “We got this! Digi-Aromor Energize!” With that, the Armor of Sincerity formed around her. She couldn’t afford to get hit so doing hit-and-run tactics was her best option. As she prepared for battle Marinette saw Fei and Kyuubimon fighting one of the Deltamons. The other charged at her and Marinette met its charge.

As she met the charge the girl was forced to dodge around the heads and two tails. As she dodged the girl threw the leaves that were hardened to be just as sharp as real kunai/shuriken. The leaves hit and only scratched the Digimon's skin. Clicking her tongue she dodged another tail swipe while letting loose a wide burrage of more leaves. As she dodged the acid spray from the skeleton head Marinette summoned a smoke bomb and threw it down. As the smoke blew out the girl used the brief chance to dodge the girl was quick to move away but to her surprise, the Deltamon didn’t even attempt to locate her and instead pointed the metal head at where the two rookies were last seen.

Cursing under her breath the girl was quick to shoot out of the smoke, “Double Star!” Throwing the large blade Marinette watched as it neared the Deltamon who rose its tail to block the hit. The Digimon barely let out a grunt as the blade cut through one tail and cut into the other one before her attack was knocked away. The Champion was quick to stomp one of large feet which sent a wave of pressurized air at her.

“Digi-Armor Energize!” The transformation for Friendship met with the attack and won out. As the transformation took place Marinette took a chance to look at her friends/family. Fei and Kyuubimon were able to defeat their Deltamon and were now attempting to assist Dave who’s opponent was somehow managing to fight against the other Ultimate.

“Plan B!” Brachiomon shouted after knocking away its opponent. Rearing back the Ultimate displayed a mechanism under it stomach that triggered and launched a vial into the air which Brachiomon caught in its mouth as it came down.

Hearing a noise the girl spun to see the other Digimon having broken a vial in its mouth. A noise between a scream and a roar came from the champion as its skin bulged and expanded as its whole body grew before the Digimon seemed to explode. Bits of its former data burst from it along with Dark Water.

The Armored human stepped back as she felt the locked-away power in her mind start beating on the door because she was so close to the corrupted water. “What?” Looking where the Deltamon formally was she saw that the data was being sucked into the expanding Dark Water that started bubbling.

“They are using the power and data of the Dark Water to strengthen themselves,” Dave shouted out with frustration. “Thankfully it seems they couldn’t surpass the Ultimate level!”

“Does it matter?” Brachiomon questioned as it dragged itself out of the Dark Water. The large Digimon had patches on it that were seeming to change textures and colors at random. “For revenge, for taking my brother from me!” Hearing a noise Marinette turned to see her opponent crawling out of the puddle. As she watched it emerge the young girl was reminded of the last battle against Devimon. “At least Devimon was useful for something!”

The beast that crawled out was serpentine with the upper part of a lizard man with ragged-looking wings and mechanical three-pronged mechanical hands. But the most interesting/horrifying thing was that parts of it were melting/dripping off of the Digimon. The corrupted Digimon hissed as it used its arms to crawl out of the Water. It opened its mouth to do what she had no idea but nothing came out except sprays of Dark Water.

Feeling her head pounding Marinette gritted her teeth. This wasn’t good, she couldn’t handle an attack like this. A few of her crests began to glow as the pounding lessened. It still existed but she could at least deal with the pain now. Her opponent gave a gargled response before raising up and raising its arms. The mechanical arms opened as holes appeared in the palms. “Crap!” Thankful for having the Friendship armor equipped Marinette moved dodging away from the launched bio-missiles.

Clicking her tongue Marinette started running around the Ultimate Digimon who watched her. A bit of electricity flew off of her as she launched them at her opponent who didn’t react to the attack. The serpentine Digimon spit out more Dark Water before a beam of power flew out of its mouth creating a trench. Dodging out of the way Marinette felt the beam pass by her with the heat and power. Looking at the trench the girl felt some beads of sweat form at the destruction caused by the single attack. The worst part was she knew that wasn’t even its strongest attack. The beam would have been the strongest attack of the mid-tear champions but this was an Ultimate and she would not underestimate one again.

Using her enhanced speed Marinette shot forward but just like before the Ultimate followed her and opened its hand to launch another missile. “Blue Thunder!” Unleashing a burst of electricity the girl exploded the missile just as it was heading towards her. The missile blew up and caught both of them in the blast. Marinette flew a good distance thankful that her armor absorbed most of the damage. Her original plan would have been to destroy the missile closer to the Ultimate, preferably when it was still in its hand, but the missile was faster than she could have expected.

Standing up the girl shook out her limbs to see if there was any additional damage only for her armor to shatter. “Even taking an indirect attack like that is enough to destroy my armor?” Not wasting a moment she brought out her Digivise to activate her next armor. As she thought over the battle the thought of which Armors would be better. Should she go for pure power or would it be best to go for something that would let her last longer? After all if she lasts long enough then her uncle and Fei could come help her.

As if to prove the second option wasn’t a possibility the Ultimate level unleashed a roar that sent a wave of power that blasted everything near it away. “Energize!” Jumping back the Armor formed around her while raising her arms up to protect herself as the debris that had been kicked up due to the roar. Unfortunately, the Dark Water was also blasted everywhere including onto her. “Ahh!” The water burned on contact with the Light Armor.

Using the wings and flight capabilities she shot backward out of its immediate attack range. As she floated in the air the girl shook her arms attempting to get the water off of her. “That hurt!” Dislodging the water off of her the girl looked to see how her opponent was doing. The Ultimate stood up on its tail in what was once a puddle of Dark Water that was now empty. It seemed to realize this as well and let out another roar, this time with more force.

“Why is it so angry?” Marinette questioned while observing the lizard before a thought came to her. “Where are its wings?” Looking at the beast she saw that its wings had been reduced in size. “Was that due to it using power or something else?” Deciding to test it a bit she flew around while charging her attack. “Rosetta Stone!” Launching the stone it flew and hit the side of the flooded who just caught sight of her. The tablet flew forward and impacted against the side of the Ultimate who didn’t flinch but Marinette noticed that the hit caused some spurts of water to come off of the Ultimate. The damage was quickly patched up as the water flew around the Digimon and seemed to repair the small damage done. “A combination of both then,” Marinette muttered while wondering what she could do with this information.

Yes, she could do damage due to the unstable state of the Digimon but the injury would be quickly healed. Due to how the wings shrunk the girl had a thought about how this regeneration worked. But as her Uncle said it was always best to verify this kinda stuff. So with that in mind, the girl charged and prepared her next attack. The Ultimate saw her and with another gargled roar it shot multiple bio-missles at her.

Clicking her tongue she shot directly up into air attempting to outmaneuver the missiles. Megadramon, her hud finally informed her of the name of the Digimon, it didn’t even give her a chance as it let out an angered roar followed by a beam. Thankfully that this attack was somewhat easier to dodge, she got out of the way only to feel the heat and air pressure alone knock her off course. Readjusting herself the girl was quick to aim the attack that she had charged up. “Curse of Queen!” With that, a red beam shot out of her headpiece at the speed of light. The beam hit the Ultimate to which Megadramon only let out a grunt.

Marinette kept the attack going for as long as she could while keeping an eye on the Digimon’s wings. The Megadramon tanked the hit but Marinette was interested in how her attack started to boil the area it hit. Keeping the high-temperature beam going the girl poured more power into the attack which only got a grunt from the Ultimate who raised its arm. Knowing what was likely to come the armored girl poured what power she could into the beam before going back to dodging the missiles. As she did so though the black haired girl came to a conclusion.

She was tired. After training earlier and now having to fight her stamina was draining fast. To make matters worse the attacks that were being launched all had the power to kill her in a single direct hit. While she hadn’t seen any of the bio-missles explode the girl knew that was mainly due to them being launched into the air. But the Digimon was an Ultimate so underestimating them would be a mistake. A gargled angered roar had her focusing back on the Digimon.

“It seems that I was on the right track,” Changing her train of thoughts off of the bad thoughts Marinette took in the now shrunken wings. “I could drain the data but…” But that would mean having to fight the Ultimate. But even if she was fighting an Ultimate her attacks were able to injure it enough to make it regenerate. “But I would need to do a lot of damage in order to defeat it.” Falling back a bit Marinette bit the thumbnail. Her muscles were sore and she knew it would only get worse. So the option of stalling was out, after all, it would only take one hit to kill her while her stamina kept draining. “Hah, all or nothing then,” Why was this so common?

Letting the thought pass Marinette prepared herself. Megadramon didn’t give her much time to prepare herself as it launched another beam of power that blasted toward her. Giving a curse as she barely dodged the beam unfortunately just like before the pressure wave threw her but it seemed that was what Megadramon wanted as two missiles followed and flew towards her. Seeing as how she was going to swap armors anyway Marinette decided to use the last of Light’s power. “Curse of Queen!” The high-temp beam swept through the air and detonated the missiles. As the two missiles exploded the girl was caught in the wave and rode it to the ground. Rolling on the ground and pulling out her Digivise she was quick to swap to her chosen armor. “Energize!”

As she ran the girl felt the transformation take place but couldn’t focus due to having to focus on Megadramon. The Ultimate growled/gurgled as it lowered its arms to aim the two arm cannons at her. Feeling her body heat up as the flames of Courage coursed through her. The missile that flew to her seemed to slow down as she dodged them using her enhanced reflexes. The Courage Armor had the least amount of defense but in exchange, it was her second most flexible. But that wasn’t enough she needed more power. “X-Evolution!”

Her Courage Armor was somewhat reviling in that the armor only covered her upper chest while an armored skirt/pants combo hung around her legs while pauldrons protected her arms. This simple armor that had flame designs on it changed when the X-Evolution took place. The formally round, tight fighting armor grew and sharpened into spike-like formations while As’ma green lines flowed around her body. The armor shifted as more power flowed through her. She felt the helmet shift around as her hair broke out of the pigtails she kept them in, attempting to channel some of her friend Socquline’s confidence, and now flowed behind Marinette as if caught in a heat wave. The black hair now had ends of red and blue as if they themselves caught flame. “Ahh!” Screaming as she charged forward all the power flowing through her causing some pain.

In under a second, she was in front of the Megadragmon with a flaming fist smashed into his stomach. Not wasting a second the girl swung around and began getting into a fistfight with, each hit sent bits of Dark Water out while also being healed just as quick. In response to her charge, the Ultimate swung its arms. Marinette ducked the hits knowing that even a glancing hit could end her. Spinning around the hit the girl launched a kick at the head of the Ultimate-level Digimon. The kick burned with a blue-hot flame that hit the serpent with a loud crack. A large amount of Dark Water exploded off her opponent while she used her opponent's chest to launch back a bit. Landing she used her strength to shoot back toward Megadramon who let out a roar that sent out a shockwave but unlike before she was able to dig her heels in and not be blasted away.

The Megadramon took the one second it took for her to recover to blast a larger laser that tore toward her. Jumping out of the way she continued on ignoring the chunks of earth and energy that tore at her. Getting closer the girl saw the Ultimate attempt to stop the attack only for Marinette to smash her knee into Megadramon’s jaw. The beam cut off as the head bubbled. Moving quickly the girl used her hand to keep its mouth shut. Keeping her flames going the girl kept the jaw shut while using her leg to continue the attack. Megadramon struggled and Marinette felt her arms shake as she attempted to keep her hold on the mouth. Seeing one of the arms swinging towards her Marinette jumped back and prepared herself for another round. Gritting her teeth the girl already could feel her power fading. “Need to finish this,” She couldn’t afford to wait.

Dodging another round of missiles Marinette didn’t waste a second before rushing back in as fast as she could. Both she and the Ultimate were in rough shape. Reaching the Ultimate who seemed to finally get over the painful attack the Digimon roared sending a shockwave but having been somewhat prepared for it Marinette was able to brace herself. Getting closer the girl went over the various special attacks of this form she decided on one that looked promising. “Flame Shield!” With that, she shot off and used the shield to slam into the Megadramon who hissed and took the attack but it did its job of getting her close enough to prepare her next attack. “Flame Barrage!” With that, she began multiple punches using as many techniques that Fei had taught her to hit the Ultimate level Digimon. More and more she laid into each hit trying to do as much damage as she could. Marinette could feel the flames intensify as sweat began to pour down her back.

Gritting her teeth the girl attempted to use as much power as she could take just to do damage. Megadramon wasn’t just taking it during this whole time and attempted to attack her with its arms. Seeing it raising its arms Marinette gritted her teeth and was quick to attack the arm that was swung at it with the blade on her head. The two met and thanks to the relentless amount of training she had undergone Marinette was able to land a good hit while avoiding most of the hit. The arm managed to scrape her shoulder but the blade on her horn managed to cut a deep gash onto the entirety of the Digimon’s arm. Dark Water poured out of the wound causing the Digimon to scream. Marinette started to feel the X-Evolution fade so knowing she only had a little left the girl planted her feet for the finisher. “Fire Rocket!”

The blast of fire that came from her feet sent her shooting forward the little distance between her and Megadramon. She slammed into the Digimon blade first as the arua of flame surrounding her kicked up several notches. Holding her hands out she shot out jets of flame from them as the flames surrounding her intensified to the point she could barely make anything out past the cloak of flame. Megadramon’s screaming intensified as everything on it burned. Slowly they began to manage to push the blade on her helmet deeper while also lifting slowly off the ground. With another scream whatever seemed to have held the Ultimate together shattered and reverted back into Deltamon who was still impaled and also soon shattered into data.

When her opponent was defeated Marinette let her power go. Her armor broke around her, and she fell about a foot to the ground. As she landed the girl let out a grunt a grunt that turned into a groan as the shoulder that had been grazed earlier in the fight burst into scorching pain. Using her other hand to push herself off the injured shoulder Marinette fished around for her bag. “Princess! That was amazing princess!” Salamon cheered as she rushed forward.

“No! Sister, be careful!” Plotmon cried out as she followed her sister. As they neared Marinette watched she felt herself freeze up at seeing Salamon nearing a puddle of Dark Water.

“Stop! Both of you!” Marinette cried out but it was too late. The data of Deltamon flew into Salamon while Plotmon prevented Salamon from landing in a puddle of Dark Water. Unfortunately, the water reacted to the presence of the Rookie. It flew and was absorbed much like the data of Deltamon. The two Rookie froze before they were enveloped in an egg of flowing data.

“What is going on?” Dave questioned as he and the others arrived.

“They are Digivolving,” Renamon pointed out as they watched the eggs fade away to reveal the Digivolved pair.

Salamon’s egg broke apart to reveal a familiar Digimon, one of which she had the crest of. “Look, I’m Tailmon!” The now Champion level white cat Digimon cheered before turning to her sister and whatever they were going to say fell flat upon seeing their sibling. “You, your-”

“I’m Blackgatomon,” The Digimon looked like Gatommon except for black instead of white. The black Digimon shook while they gazed at their padded claws. “I’m, I am, the corruption,”

“NO,” Tailmon shouted as they grabbed the cat Digimon as the white Digimon’s tail waved. “You are my sibling, you aren’t corrupted.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and guess this is why you wanted to climb?” Dave questioned with interest as an idea formed in his head.

“Supposably one of the higher areas has a pool or something that can cure Digimon who the Dark Water infected,” Tailmon informed the humans with a somewhat tired voice. Marinette saw Tailmon’s ears droop while their tail slowly fell. Blackgatomon shuffled closer to Tailmon taking comfort in the hug. “We were going to find it and use it to cure Blackgatomon.”

“My egg fell into the Dark Water when it was forming,” Blackgatomon took over the explanation. “It incorporated the data of the Dark Water into me, staining me since I’ve been born.”

The three humans looked at each other before Marinette slowly got to her feet. “Fei, could you hold my arm for a bit? I need to heal my shoulder,” The other girl gave the raven-haired girl a look before with a sigh grabbing her arm.

“You need to stop getting hurt,” Fei muttered while Marinette dug around and pulled out some meat. The blue eyed girl was very grateful that thanks to having a Digi-core she could eat food and like a Digimon she could heal from eating it. She could feel her arm healing and the process was not pleasant. It felt like thousands of ants were crawling under her skin and slowly piecing the bones and everything back together. “I take it you're having to keep yourself in check?” The Renren questioned trying to get things back on track. Blackgatomon gave a nod. Looking to Renamon she could see some concern at the thought of Blackgatomon possibly attacking them when their guard was down.

“We better find that pool then,” Marinette stood up able to use her arm again. At her words, it was a reminder that Blackgatomon wasn’t the only one who was infected with the Dark Water. They weren’t the only one who could be taken over by the Dark Water and the evil in it.

“Princess!” Tailmon almost seemed to break down while Black ran up and hugged the girl's leg. Dave watched this before sighing. He could tell that something bad would happen—well, worse than usual.

Chapter Text

John held onto his flashlight as he walked down the halls of the museum. The man tried to keep his flashlight steady but it was already shaking. The events of the past few weeks had been slowly chipping away at both his and the other guard's courage. By this point, most of his colleagues had left or just refused to do the patrols inside the Louvre.

John had agreed to patrol inside the museum after Charles had agreed to buy him beers if he covered his shift. So here he was doing a patrol at night, in a-

*BANG*

Turning around with his flashlight clutched tight he quickly looked around for what could have caused the noise. It barely took a second for him to find out what was wrong. Multiple objects were floating in the air while forming a face. “GeT OuT,” A voice that was a mix of shattering wood, crushing rocks, and pure malice spoke out from the forming face. Even the air was growing darker around the forming terror, as impossible as that seemed. Power flooded

Not saying anything else John was quick to run away. No need to provoke a ghost! Grabbing his walkie-talkie the second he was outside John was quick to report in. “Painting- ghost- NO!” With that report done, the man headed home and away from haunted museums. He wasn’t paid enough to deal with this kinda supernatural crap! The same conclusion that most of his colleagues had come to.

~~~~~~~~

Alya let out a happy hum as she walked into her classroom. She had her paperwork all filled out and ready to hand in to Dave so she could join the Occult Reaserch Club. Speaking of which… “Hey club mate,” Alya greeted the blonde who was talking to the boy sitting next to him.

“Your not in the club,” Adrien was quick to respond with a flat look.

“Club?” The other boy questioned. “Wait don’t tell me you joined that club!”

“I checked it out,” Adrien responded while not making eye contact with the red hat wearing boy. “It wasn’t at all how you said it was.”

“So what is it then?” He questioned while leaning forward. “Is it an actuall Occulet Reaserch Club?” The three didn’t notice but there talk had garnered the attention of the other students who had shown up early. It was to be expected due to how noisy they were being. But one student looked very interested.

“Yes it is,” Alya confirmed with a smile. “Name is Alya by the way,” The red haired introduced herself to the other boy.

“Oh sorry dudette, my name is Nino,” The now named boy let out a chuckle as he introduced himself. “So you two are researching like ghosts and stuff?”

“I am researching, she isn’t even a club member,” Adrien replied while giving the red haired girl a look.

“Aw, if I didn’t know better I would say you didn’t want me to join,” The reporter mocked while giving a smirk. “If I didn’t know better than I would think you were trying to hog the club for yourself. Now what in the club has you so interested?”

“There are many things that I’m interested in the club!” Adrien defended with a huff. “For starters, there are all the books!” Alya gave a hum while nodding. The books/research materials in the clubroom were extensive and Alya could see herself borrowing one or two for at home reading. “Second is the various tech that the club has.”

“Oh yeah,” Alya nodded with a hum. “How did you get your hands on cameras that could film ghosts?” This got multiple people to look over with various degrees of interest. Although one girl had her gaze locked on them.

“I have no idea,” Adrien hummed before shrugging, “I could ask the Pres.” Before more could be said the rest of the class walked in followed by the teacher. Giving one more look towards the blonde she gave one more smug look before walking toward her seat. Neither she nor Adrien noticed the short pink-haired girl watch them with narrowed eyes.

As the first class progressed Tikki was quick to fly out of Alya’s backpack and flew towards Plagg’s holder’s bag. Entering the bag she was quick to find her other half. “Plagg, I’m glad you are alright.”

“Suger Cube,” The black cat greeted with some cheer. “It is good to see you again!”

“We saw each other yesterday,” Tikki chuckled while flying in to give him a hug. The two held each other for a while before separating. “Do you think we should visit the master?”

Plagg thought deeply over what was being suggested only to nod. “We should make contact with him soon. If anyone could know what to do next he should at least have an idea.” Tikki agreed with a hum before giving a farewell needing to head back to her holder’s bag. Nothing more needed to be said between the two, after all, they were two halves of a whole.

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien happily walked towards his driver’s car after school. He didn’t have anything planned today and was going to enjoy time with his club president. “Hey wait up fellow club member,” Alya cheered as she caught up to him. “Any chance I could catch a ride?”

“For a lady such as yourself? I don’t see a problem,” The line came out smoothly while his smile almost seemed to shine.

“And with that you flirted with the whole class,” Nino chuckled while shaking his head.

“What can I say, its a habit,” The model shrugged while Alya gave a huff. The girl would admit that her heart did flutter a bit but she knew that the blonde meant nothing by it.

“So when do you think we are doing our next investigation?” Alya questioned with interest as she attempted to change the topic.

“Investigation?” Nino questioned.

“Yeah,” Adrien chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. “We actually did an investigation yesterday at the news studio. Turns out they were being haunted.”

“I wonder if-” Before more could be said the Gorrila grunted and opened the door.

“Hey is it alright if Alya comes with us?” Adrien questioned to which his bodyguard nodded.

“Wait!” A new girl called out as run up to them. The girl wore a skin-tight skating suit and had her pink hair in a bob cut. “Can I talk to you guys? I have something I need to talk to your club about!” The new girl spoke in between breaths of air. “Please it is really important.”

Adrien and Alya looked at each other while Nino walked forward. Adrien’s friend tried talking to the girl, who was named Alix, but the girl was firm that she wanted to talk to the Occult Research Club.

“Listen, I overheard Arora and she told me how they had tech that could track ghosts!” Alix cut off the boy with a stern look. “So I NEED to talk to those twos club! I can’t say about what but I will when we get to wherever the club is!” The gil made a motion gesturing around them while pressing.

“You can come with,” Adrien slightly cursed how easy it was for people to get him to bend. But the person in front of them was in obvious need of help. “It will be a tight fit but I think the three-,”

“Four,” Nino cut in with an awkward chuckle. “I kinda see where this is going.” With a sigh Adrien looked at his driver who opened the passenger seat to which the blonde took the seat while everyone else crammed into the back.

An awkward conversation was then made between everyone as the Gorrilla drove through the traffic. They attempted to get something out of the short haired girl but Alix was tight lipped and only gave a grunt. Nino was quick to change the subject every so often to music or something else. Thankfully for everyone, it was only a simple ten minute drive to the club house. Arriving everyone was quick to exit the car while Adrien was quick to enter.

“I’m back!” The model called out while looking around.

“Hi Back where is Front?” Dave questioned with mirth while he tapped on his laptop. “If you are looking for my niece then you’ll have to wait a bit longer.”

“Actually I need to give you this,” Alya handed over the paperwork to which Dave took it with a nod. “My parents would like to visit soon.”

“Sure just let me know when and I’ll meet up with them.” Dave responded with a kind smile. Giving another look at the group the adult let out a curious noise. “So what's with the new people?”

“This is Nino, my friend from school,” Adrien introduced his friend with a smile to which Nino gave a nod before turning to his friend.

“So we are waiting for his niece?” Nino questioned to which Alya nodded.

“Oh yeah the boy won’t stop flirting with her,” The reporter gave a smile that seemed made to mock the model.

“So? Model boy flirts with everybody,” Alix questioned as she claimed one of the seats with a huff. It seemed the girl didn’t like having to wait.

“I don’t flirt with everybody!” Adrien attempted to defend himself only for everybody to give him a flat look. “Miss Ace-Reporter is just looking for a story.”

“Didn’t she already get one?” A new voice questioned that had Adrien perking up. “We are talking about Alya right?” Adrien watched Mariette walk in. The girl wore a hooded coat along with her other typical covering clothes.

“Well if she needs another story then you arriving here with everything in tact should qualify,” Adrien smiled at the girl as his voice came out like silk.

“Aww aren’t you sweet?” The girl responded back as she walked by him. “So sweet that you don’t need any more sweets.”

“Wha-,” Adrien gabbed as the bag of food was placed near Alya and Dave. The adult didn’t even look away from his laptop while he opened the bag. The model turned to his best friend to attempt to get support only to find Nino giving a conflicted look towards the girl. It was as if he was trying to place the girl. Did the aspiring DJ somehow recognize her voice? Did they know each other?

“Are you the club president?” Alix questioned as she cut right into the conversation. The girl jumped and turned to look at the girl who she didn’t even realize was there. “I need your help! The Louvre is being haunted!” The news shocked everyone in the room.

“Haunted? Are you sure it isn’t an akuma or something?” Nino questioned while looking at Alix. The club president looked at Nino when he spoke.

“I honestly don’t know but akuma or not it doesn’t change the situation.” Alix moaned with frustration. “Something is scaring the guards and they are refusing to patrol anywhere near the sightings.” Adrien hummed as he took in everything the girl said. Alya also took in everything said and looked ready to ask questions.

“Nino? Alix?” The question had everyone turning towards the club president who looked between the two.

“You know these two Marinette?” Alya questioned a bit shocked. “Huh, small-”

“Marinette?!” Nino exclaimed with shock as he seemed to try to figure out something. Alix almost seemed to do a spit-take as she looked at the person in front of her. “Is that you dudette?”

“Yeah, it's me,” Marinette gave a nod while adjusting her hood a bit. “What are you two doing here?” Adrien watched this with a bit of interest. How did these three know each other?

“The Louvre is being haunted,” Dave spoke up informing his niece as he lowered his laptop and took the two newcomers in. “I’m assuming she wants to ask about using our tech.”

“Um, yeah,” Alix seemed a bit off-kilter but was quick to regather herself. “I need your help with finding what is happening and fixing it! Please, it is desperate!”

Alya looked a bit startled at the other girl’s desperation. She wanted to agree and it was obvious that Adrien wanted to agree as well but both of them didn’t say anything. She didn’t know why Adrien didn’t say anything but as for her, it was that the tech needed was not hers to give away. The only one who had a real say was Marinette.

“Alright, what time do you want to investigate?” Marinette questioned as she moved towards a few cabinets.

“Really? You’ll help!” Alix seemed both shocked and happy at Marinette’s decision. “Oh, as for the time,” At this Alix looked awkward while not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Any chance we could do it today?”

At the question, Marinette turned to her uncle who hummed. “The drone was fixed thanks to those magic ladybugs and everything else is charged. Also good on storage. Although I would still like to go through the data.”

“How long would that take?” Adrien questioned while looking at Alix who looked a bit nervous.

“A few hours,” Dave reopened his laptop and spun it around to show multiple screens and data slowly scrolling on one side. “I have been going through it ever since you sent it over yesterday.”

“Was that before or after posting it online?” Marinette questioned as she moved to sit down. Although she sat a distance away, something that concerned Adrien. “What time are the hauntings taking place?”

“Um, the evenings and all through the night,” Alix muttered while rubbing her arm. Adrien grimaced as he could figure out where this was going.

“Adrien, Alya, are either of you of you able to show up at that time?” Marinette questioned confirming his worst fear.

“I will need to ask my parents,” Alya already had her phone out no doubt texting her phone. Adrien didn’t say anything but a look at his bodyguard dashed his hopes. The man shook his head. He didn’t say anything and he doubted he could with his churning emotions. As he looked towards Marinette and met her eyes though he knew he didn’t need to explain.

Somehow the second he met her blue eyes he felt that it was okay. “Alright, we will meet up at the Louvre around seven. If you can make it great if not no big deal.” Adrien knew that she was talking to him by saying it was no big deal but it didn’t make him feel better. After all, this was the second investigation given how the first one turned out. It left him feeling a bit uncertain.

“Well, you heard the girl, go do what you need to in order to get ready,” Dave waved off the group but only Alix got up.

“Well I should go let my dad know,” Alix mumbled before glancing toward Marinette who didn’t react. “I’ll see you later.” With that, she left. An awkward silence fell over the room and Adrien made to break it only for Marinette to get up.

“I have a few things I need to grab at my house. Make sure not to cause too much trouble Adrien,” With that the club president started heading out but not before patting the blonde on his shoulder. “It was great seeing you.”

“You’re leaving?” Adrien questioned shocked. Marinette didn’t say anything but the model did notice her quickly looking over towards Nino.

“Yeah like I said I need to get some stuff together for tonight. We can talk over text if you want,” Marinette held out her phone to which Adrien was quick to also bring his out so he could get her contact details. “Alright, I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll even bring my switch with so I can beat you on some games.” With that, she was gone leaving the room in silence.

Turning the two club members looked towards Nino who had gone pale. “Spill,” Alya demanded.

“No,” Dave spoke in the boys place. “He has no place to speak. If you want the story you are going to have to wait for my niece to inform you.” The voice that came out of the man was firm, leaving no room for interpretation. “Now do what you want or get ready for tonight. I need to finish my work so please don’t make too much noise.” Nino looked relieved at not being under a microscope but he did leave shortly after saying he would see them tomorrow at school. Adrien had shown him a few things around the club but it was obvious that Nino wasn’t really feeling it. To be honest neither was Adrien.

Alya took one of the computers that was nearby and was working on typing while looking through what else the computer had on it. “Hey, Dave right?” The red haired girl questioned the adult who gave a noise of acknowledgement. “Something happened between-”

“What part of ‘ask my niece’ did you not understand?” Dave questioned with a flat look. Alya gave a huff before turning back towards the computer. Adrien watched this before attempting to go back to looking through the books but he wasn’t feeling it.

“If it is alright I’m going to head out,” Adrien muttered putting his book back.

“Of course it is,” Dave kindly told the boy while giving him a smile. “Why don’t you call my niece or text her later?” Giving a noise of agreement Adrien left followed by his bodyguard. As they got near the car The Gorrila handed Adrien a small paper bag.

“Thanks,” Taking the bag the model got in the car while his emotions rolled around. As the car drove through traffic the blonde attempted to let his mind rest and not make demons. But his mind was instantly assaulted with thoughts of his club members being attacked by those weird monsters or something else while he couldn’t do any despite being a superhero. Wait he was Chat Noir! So even if Adrien couldn’t go then maybe the hero of Paris could help the Occult Research Club! With that one of his concerns was put to ease leaving the other concern of what happened between Nino and Marinette.

Chapter Text

Adrien waved goodbye to his last tutor and turned to Nathalie. “Anything else tonight?” The young boy knew nothing was left but still wanted to check. After all, he wouldn’t put it past his dad to drop something on him at the last second.

“There is nothing left for you at the moment.” His father’s assistant confirmed what Adrien expected. “You may have the rest of the day to do with as you please.” Adrien knew that this meant that nobody would check on him for the rest of the day, which was perfect.

“I understand, thank you,” Adrien responded in his usual way. So easily able to hide his emotions after years of this routine. Still, Adrien waited for a while, eating some snacks he snuck into his house.

“So you're willing to sneak snacks for yourself but I only get a small amount of cheese? Oh to be burdened by such a cruel user.” Plagg moaned while flopping down onto the desk.

“I got you the camembert cheese you wanted right?”

“Yeah, but only a little amount of cheese!”

“I got you a minifridge for your cheese,” Adrien gestured towards said minifridge where Plagg stored his cheese. “I can’t buy too much otherwise my father will ask questions.”

“Fine, I’ll make do with the little amount of cheese I have.” The drama king of a kwami sighed from where he lay.

“You will have to,” Looking at the time Adrien saw that it was getting close to the time. “We have a meet-up to get to.”

“The ghost-hunting one right?” Plagg muttered with a glare. “I told you that you are not ready to fight those things yet. If you see any of them then you need to run!”

“I’m not leaving my friends in danger. Now if you have nothing else to say then it is time we head out,” Plagg didn’t say anything so Adrien took his chance. “Plagg, Claws Out!” With that Chat Noir took to the streets heading right toward the meet-up.

When he arrived Chat saw Marinette sitting down on a bench with a small wagon filled with boxes near her. The girl was getting looks from people passing nearby. Adrien felt his teeth grit a bit at the blatantly suspicious looks she was getting but he didn’t want to act too soon. If he did that might negatively draw attention or make it seem like he was approaching her because of her scars. He would hate it if Marinette felt bad that one of the heroes of Paris was judging her based on her scars.

So staying as hidden as he could the boy stayed on the out-of-the-way roof. Watching he saw her pull out her phone and mess with it a bit all while he watched her back. Pulling out his own baton Chat saw that it was about five minutes past the meeting time and worried about the others showing up. That was until he saw Alya running towards Marinette with the reporter holding on tight to her bag. Sadly he is too far away to hear what is being said but perks up when he sees Alix and two older adults approaching the two girls. Looks like it was his time.

~~~~~~~~

Marinette sat on her bench while pulling out her phone a bit annoyed. Not at the people passing by giving her looks, no her attention was on the person who was watching her from hiding. Pulling out her phone she put it in selfie mode and zoomed in to try and find who was watching her. A frown formed on her face as she was eventually able to spot the person on the roof. She was a bit shocked to see that it was Chat Noir who was watching her but then again he was at least discreet about it unlike a few of the officers watching her.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Alya called out as she ran towards her her breath coming out a bit heavy. “My older sister is being a bit overprotective and wanted to make sure I had everything before I left.”

“‘Make sure you had everything’?” Marinette questioned with humor. “What could you need for a ghost hunt? A crucifix and holy water?”

“Nah, she is convinced it is some type of Scooby-Doo type thing so she had me bring a whole bunch of pepper spray and other such things.” Alya waved off with a laugh. “I mean after the akuma you would think the possibility of magic would be possible right?” Marinette gave her a look at her somewhat awkward phrasing. “Yeah, I could have said that better.”

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded before shrugging. Alya looked at the girl and felt her mind racing with questions. What relationship did she have with her classmates? Where did she get those scars? Were they connected to each other? The two sat only for less than a minute before Alix along with two older men walked up to them.

“Sorry we are a bit late,” Alix coughed into her hand while looking back at the two. The younger-looking man, maybe her older brother(?), muttered something to which her father shot them a look. Alix noticed this and while her eye twitched she didn’t say anything. “So if it is alright could we get going?” The shorter girl seemed anxious and Alya wondered what had her so wound up.

“Lead the way,” Marinette stood while grabbing her wagon’s handle. The group of five began walking their way towards the museum.

“Oh is something going on here?” A voice that shocked Alya a bit called out. Alya attempted to reassure herself that there was no way her crime/akuma fighting partner would be here. But as if to disprove her Chat Noir landed right in front of her. Turning to look at the others she saw Alix and her family having looks of shock while Marinette… Well, she really couldn’t tell much due to her hood and mask blocking her face.

“Nothing that one of the heroes of Paris should be too concerned about.” Alya attempted to reassure the hero while waving her hands. The reporter reacted somewhat on instinct but didn’t want too much attention or the risk of an akuma showing up due to Chat Noir helping. The last time they had showed up the ghosts had manifested and attacked. Yeah, nothing good could come from bringing an active miraculous user on this-

“We're about to go on a ghost hunt,” Marinette said not even a second after Alya attempted to lie.

“Oh?” Chat questioned a bit surprised. “Any chance you need some help? I don’t mean to brag but I am a hero.” Alya held back her tongue not wanting to say anything but still felt like this might be a mistake.

“As long as it's okay with those two,” Marinette gestured at the two adults.

“I see nothing wrong with it. It is nice to meet you my name is Alim Kubdel, and this is my son Jablil and my daughter Alix.” The older man introduced his family all of which who gave various introductions.

“You can call me Marinette.”

“The name is Alya,” The reporter finished the introductions while giving a smirk. “So you going to tell us your name?”

“Well if you must know my name is Chat Noir, cat of mystery.” The hero smiled brightly while puffing his chest out. “You can leave any ghosts or dangers to me!” The cat seemed to wait for something but nothing came and Marinette just walked past him.

“Come on we got work to do,” Was all she said while Alix seemed to agree as she rushed to catch up. Chat only coughed into his fist and was quick to follow as the others walked to catch up. They approached the Louvre as Marinette reached her free hand into her long coat and pulled out a notebook. “Alya, do you have a recording device or notebook?”

“Of course I do!” The newest member of the ORC pulled both a recorder along a notebook out of her bag.

Giving a nod the girl flipped open her notebook before looking over the notebook that Alya could see was filled with questions. “Is it alright if we ask a few questions and record your answers? It would be appreciated if we could know what we are expecting.”

Alim coughed before looking around. “Is it alright if we talk inside? I would rather not discuss rumors where somebody might hear and misinterpret.” Alya was a bit confused about not wanting to spread rumors. People were going to talk, heck people were already talking due to the fact that they had Chat Noir with them.

“Of course, it is,” Marinette kindly said while finishing walking to the doors. Chat seemed like he was about to move but Alix had already beat him to opening the door. Everyone entered the Lobby while Jablil waited at the end and was quick to start locking the doors. “I take it you don’t want it getting out about the hauntings.”

“We don’t want the details of the ‘hauntings’ getting out,” Jablil explained with a huff. “Between having both the Egyptian, Native American, and a few other exhibits not being properly patrolled we are trying to keep things as quiet as possible.”

“So you can hopefully understand why we want to understand why we would want to keep things as, *cough*, quiet as we can,” Alim attempted to explain himself.

“You must be desperate if you are willing to bring in a club of kids,” Alya commented with a hum.

“I guess you could say that,” Jablil huffed while glancing at his father who shook his head. “I still think we could-”

“We have been over this Jablil and the answer is still no,” Alim’s reply came out in a tired tone. Alya guessed that this was a well-used topic. After a few moments, Marinette seemed to figure out that the discussion had ended and thus requested to answer questions. Alya was quick to start the recorder and write notes after getting permission while Alim looked slightly impressed by how professional Marinette was acting.

As the questions went on they were able to learn that these hauntings had reportedly started two or three weeks ago but had started growing more frequent. They had a few recordings of the ghost encounters but sadly the films only recorded a few seconds before it started to become corrupted. Marinette still requested the footage along with passing a clipboard, that she pulled out of one of the boxes.

“If you also wouldn’t mind signing this,” The girl requested as the adult looked over the paper. “Take your time if you need to read it over.” Seeing the questions were over Alya stopped her recordings while looking over her notes. Meanwhile, Chat stood nearby looking a bit awkward.

“Everything looks good,” Alim confirmed while signing the contract. “I hope you don’t mind if we stick around?”

“Of course not,” Marinette replied while taking a picture of the contract.

“So what is the plan?” Chat questioned with interest.

“It should be a bit before the haunting begins so I think it would be best if we get some cameras set up,” Marinette went right to work grabbing boxes from the wagon. Chat moved to help while Alya was now the one stuck standing on the sideline. At least she wasn’t alone.

“I have a few things to work on,” Alix’s father coughed as he started walking off and was quickly followed by his son who started whispering to him in hushed conversations. Alix herself stood nearby while shuffling still seeming a bit anxious. However the redhead couldn’t tell if that was due to the situation or due to whatever history she and Marinette had. Speaking of which…

“So, you two were former classmates huh?” Alya questioned the two other girls while Chat Noir looked up in shock.

“Well, um, yeah we were?” Alix rubbed the back of her head while Marinette shrugged.

“We were and that is where we are leaving it,” The girl firmly stated while the shorter girl flinched. “Now if you can excuse me I have work to get done.” With that, she walked off with some of the modified cameras. Chat took one look at Alya before shuffling off.

“I’ll follow her. I mean she is heading towards where the ghosts were the most sighted. So I better catch up,” With that pun, he was off leaving the two others behind. Alya watched before turning to Alix who seemed to have shrunk in on herself. The pink-haired girl seemed to watch them leave before letting out a breath of air.

“At least she is still willing to help,” Alix muttered before walking off.

“Hey wait, I still have questions!” At that Alix almost seemed to disappear as she sprinted away leaving Alya alone in the lobby. Well mostly alone. “Well, that just leaves me with more questions. You got anything Tikki?”

The little red goddess floated out of her bag while shaking her head. “I understand your concern and admire the fact that you are willing to go so far for someone…”

“But?”

“But it seems that they might not want to speak of it,” The ladybug spoke her thoughts and concern.

“But what if it comes up and someone gets akumatized because it was left alone?” Alya countered with a frown. “For all we know something truly awful happened and will lead to something horrible? Something we could have prevented with just a bit of work?” Tikki seemed to think over what was said and eventually nodded.

“You do raise a good point,” Getting her kwami’s agreement Alya smiled and began going through the various boxes. “What’s in there?”

“The ghost tracking devices,” Alya took out one of the modified cameras. Opening it and turning it on Alya started looking around with the lens before freezing in shock. Tikki noticed this reaction and questioned her user. Not moving the camera Alya instead rotated the screen around to let Tikki see what she was seeing. “I shouldn’t be too surprised. After all this camera was made to record ghosts so of course it could record other magical creatures.”

“I will have to let the others know,” Tikki fluttered back and forth while watching her on the screen do the same.

“Good thing I’m not recording,” Alya muttered while shutting down the camera and then properly storing the camera back into its bag. “Well, at least we know ahead of time. Though I am concerned about how it will affect the recognize-me-not magic.” Digging around the box Alya pulled out the chargers and began plugging them in along with making sure to put the spare batteries in them.

“I don’t think you need to be concerned,” Tikki hummed as she tapped her chin in thought. “It only allows one to view kami or other magical creatures but I don’t think it would bypass the security features. Plus I doubt Marinette would make something that could let her learn your identity.”

“That is a good point,” Alya nodded while remembering how Marinette had made rules about not looking into the hero's identities. So it would make sense that her cameras had no way to bypass the magical concealment. “Still it would be best to ask her and make sure that there is no risk.” Tikki was about to say something but instead of speaking instead dove into her holder’s bag.

Turning she saw Marinette and Chat Noir coming back to the Lobby. “... So that is why I think it might be an Egyptian curse.” The black cat hero seemed to finish explaining to her club president.

“All of this based on an old cartoon?” The girl questioned seemingly confused.

“Hey, Courage is a great cartoon!” Chat huffed out to which Marinette shrugged her shoulders.

“If you say so,” Marinette looked towards Alya and noticed the plugged-in chargers. “Thank you, Alya.”

“No problem.”

“Alright let's gather around people, we need to figure out a plan.” Alya raised an eyebrow at Marinette. The girl coughed into her fist while glancing over to Chat who just gave her a smug smile. “Right, well, this is the boring part. We need to wait for the ghosts to get active. So sit down and get comfortable.” Putting words into action Marinette grabbed a laptop from one of the boxes before sitting down. Seeing that Chat shrugged and sat down on a bench. Letting out a sigh Alya joined them in the waiting game. A part of her hoped nothing would go wrong but simultaneously she hoped something exciting would happen.

Chapter Text

Jalil paced back and forth in the halls of the Louvre. How had something like this happened? It should have been one of the best times of his life! They had gotten the Egyptian exhibition and he could study the various pieces peacefully. That had been his plan but then the ghosts appeared and it became too dangerous for anyone to go anywhere near any of the exhibits.

They tried various methods to discover just what was happening. From hiring detectives to doubling patrols but nothing worked. Now his sister, Alix, had brought in her friends from school in some sort of desprete attempt to solve the problems infecting the museum. The two girls she had brought seemed somewhat competent but that ment nothing when the ones they were against were supernatural in origan. It was obvious that whatever little toys they brought wouldn’t mean anything against creatures that didn’t follow the rules of reality.

It was so obvious yet everyone refused to see it! They refused to see that even with the help of one of the ‘heroes’ of Paris they needed to use one of the rituals detailed on the ancient Egyptian slabs. It was so obvious yet he was the only one who could see it! They needed to start things right now if they wanted a chance to perform the ritual!

“Hey I’m going to go check on the others,” Alix informed her brother and father as she walked past.

“Let me know how things are going,” Alim questioned as he continued working on some of the paperwork. The short girl gave an agreeing answer as she walked out of the office area they were in. “What has her so nervous? Usually, she would be working with the others on this type of thing,” The concerned father muttered to himself while Jalil opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off. “The answer is still no.”

Jalil clenched his jaw but didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked out of the room. “Why can’t they see what needs to be done?” Walking down the hallway he clenched and unclenched his fists. “Why can’t-”

“GET OUT!” A wailing voice called out as various parts of the building shook. Jalil’s anger and fear rose to a peak. It was at that moment that Jalil ceased to be and The Pharaoh accepted what needed to be done.

~~~~~~~

The two girls and one miraculous user sat in the lobby as they waited for something to happen. Alya sat on one of the benches while scrolling mindlessly online. Chat Noir lay on the floor spinning his staff while occasionally opening it up to look online. He turned his head to look over at Marinette who was laid out on her stomach looking at multiple screens hooked up to her laptop. Looking over the multiple screens and the small graphs that popped up had the user of the cat wondering something. Not seeing anything wrong with asking Chat broke the silence.

“What brand of laptop is that?” His sudden question had both girls looking over at him. “I don’t think most laptops have the hardware needed to run everything you are running.”

Alya looked over at the screen and let out a whistle as she saw what the black cat hero meant. “My laptop would be overheating to the point where you could cook breakfast on it.”

“Um, well, that is a secret,” Marinette attempted to wave it off. “My uncle made it so I don’t even know. So yes it is a secret.” The girl continued on trying to keep them from thinking about it more.

“You could have just said you didn’t know,” Alya pocked the girl in the side. “I mean I also don’t know more than the basics of computer stuff. Though if your uncle takes commissions I am looking to upgrade.”

“Your uncle made this laptop?” Chat questioned as he thought about the man he had seen in the clubroom. Honestly, he had never put much thought into the man. Dave had always just been there working on his laptop.

“Yeah, he also made all the other tech we are using,” Marinette pointed at the crates that still had a few cameras and other things in them. Seeing the somewhat shocked look on Alya’s face the dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. “What? Did you think I made all of this stuff?”

Chat was about to praise the girl saying he thought her smart enough but stopped. He had already been careless and couldn’t risk letting anything slip. While he trusted Marinette Plagg had pointed out the dangers of letting anyone know his secret identity. Not that he needed the kwami to inform him of the dangers. After watching so many superheroes and other such shows Adrien was well aware of what could go wrong if anyone found out.

“How did he get all of this stuff to work?” Chat chose to ask instead. Marinette hummed as she turned back to the laptop.

“You know I really should have asked just how your uncle made cameras and sensors able to detect ghosts,” Alya hummed as she looked at the cameras in a new light.

“He attempted to explain it to me multiple times but I only ever understood bits and pieces,” Marinette waved off any more attempts to press the topic. “If you want to try to understand all the complicated techno bable then you can ask him about it latter.” Alya let out a hum as she thought about taking up the offer only to sigh and shake her head. She only knew the basics of computer stuff so there was very little chance she could understand how these things were made.

“Hang on, I think I got something,” Marinette muttered while moving the curser to bring up one of windows. Dropping her chain of thoughts Alya watched one of the screens pop up along with the charts corresponding to it. Chat Noir also came close as the two saw what had gotten Marinette’s attention. Slowly a figure was manifesting from the walls. “Looks like I’m going to have to do work to get a better image.”

Chat held close onto his baton while he watched Marinette messing around on her laptop. “What is going on here?” A new voice questioned while Alix came running up. “Did you find the ghost?” The sound in her voice held a bit of hope.

“Maybe,” Marinette muttered as she tapped away at the keyboard. The screen she had up shifted in small ways as the figure captured in the image shifted. Sadly the ‘ghost’ didn’t stay in line with the camera and started floating away. Marinette let out a growl as she changed to a different camera which followed the blob. It was in that hallway that it came into contact with a second blob. “Well that isn’t good.”

“There is more than one?” Alay questioned aloud as Marinette continued to work on the camera. Slowly the image came into focus and made Marinette’s frown grow.

“So those are the ghosts?” Alya questioned while blinking in confusion.

“You know I was expecting something yet it never involved stereotypical ghosts,” Alix blinked as she looked at the two ghosts who truely looked like bed sheet ghosts. The sheets though did look a very worn and tattered.

“Hey that one is wearing a witches hat,” Chat pointed out with some interest. Marinette didn’t say anything as she continued to work on the cameras. It was as the image came into full focus that the one ghost who wasn’t wearing a hat turned and showed a large maw full of razor sharp teeth along with beady black eyes. The ghost looked right into the camera and started to shake. “Can it see-”

“GET OUT!” The ghost screeched as it lunged at the camera. The screen showed static while the graphs peaked for a second before falling flat. Alix and Alya jumped back while Chat stumbled back falling on his butt.

“Well there goes the cameras,” Marinette said with a huff. “Good thing everything is saved.” Pushing down the screen Marinette watched the other screens with a hum. “So there are two ghosts haunting this place.”

“No crap!” Alix called out as she stared with wide eyes at the screen. “I mean I suspected but,” The girl tensed as she turned towards the others. “So what do we do now!” Chat blinked as he attempted to think of just what to do. “Do you have a ghost-beating weapon or something?”

Chat Noir brought out his staff and spun it getting the others' attention. “Right here.”

“Good for you,” Alix replied with a huff. “Not so good for the rest of us.” Turning to Marinette she gave her a look.

“We don’t have any weapons because we aren’t allowed to fight,” Marinette informed while waving the other girl. “I don’t know about you but my parents don’t want me going around with untested weapons. I was lucky that they let me even stake out the museum.”

“So what do we do?” Alix pressed with a bit of heat.

“Leave it to the hero and turn the footage over to the proper authorities?” Marinette shrugged while following the ghosts on her screen. “Speaking of we need to let your dad know.” Alix looked like she wanted to argue and spun to look at the others for help.

“Sorry but I’m also not allowed to fight,” Alya sadly added with a sigh. “My parents wouldn’t let me out of the house until I agreed not to do anything dangerous.”

“I guess I’ll-” It was at that moment that a new figure made themselves known.

“Foolish spirits you shall get out of the path of the Paraoh!” The new figure proclaimed as they held out a hand. “Behold the power of Thoth!” With that bubbles formed that attempted to imprision the two ghosts. The one with the hat was quick to counter with wailing noises that hurt ears just listening to. Whatever was happening was lost as the camera was destroyed in the confrontation between the two.

“Well that isn’t good,” Marinette grunted as she started checking the other cameras only to find them broken or not responding.

“Please tell me that was a ghost and not what I think it is,” Alix whined as Marinette started messing with her laptop trying to get any type of image up.

“Well my parents don’t want me around during akuma attacks. So I’m just going to you know,” Alya started backing up. She was quick to leave through the doors. “Well, I’m just going to go somewhere safe.” The red-haired girl called out as ran off.

“Oh, I hope Scarlabella can still get in.” Chat grimaced as Marinette let out a frustrated yell before slamming her laptop closed. “None of your cameras working?” As if to answer the question an explosion was heard as the building shook a bit. “I take that as a yes.”

“I really hope they get repaired,” Marinette muttered with anger. “Alix we need to get out of here. Things are heating up in the worst ways.”

“We’ll have to go towards my dad’s office. There is an exit over there.” Alix began rushing over to where her dad’s office was. “We need to make sure he is safe!”

“Alix!” Marinette called out as she rushed after the shorter girl. Chat watched the two go and was about to follow them only for his baton to start playing music.

“Hello you reached the main cat,” Chat answered knowing that only one person could contact him on this device.

“Chat, I got word from a reporter that there is an akuma at the Louvre.” Scarabella got right to the point. For once Adrien didn’t mind that someone was getting right down to work.

“Akuma and ghosts,” Chat informed his partner while looking back to where the two girls had run off to. “How long will it take you to get here? The two are fighting and there are people still inside the building.”

“I should be there soon. Keep them safe.” With that the call was cut off and Chat was quick to rush down where he had last seen them.

“Please be alright!” The miraculous user pleaded as he attempted to make up time. “Please be safe!” He would never be able to live with himself if something happened to either of them when he was supposed to be protecting them! But still he had to let his partner know just what was happening! Another loud bang had him running faster. “You better get here soon bug.” Picking up the pace he hoped to find his club president and his classmate in good health. It was at that moment that another explosion shook the building.

Pushing up his pace Chat came to find Alix and her father looking at a collapsed section of the building in horror. His stomach fell as he noticed someone missing. “What is going on?”

“Marin- she I,” Alix stuttered over herself as she attempted to get her words out. Chat felt himself almost double over as one of his worst fears was made into reality.

“I’m alright!” Marinette’s voice was like a soothing balm that but him at ease. “I’m just stuck on the other side of this rubble!”

“Alright stay still there I will have you out soon!” Chat called out as he prepared to use whatever method was necessary.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m safe and you need to take the akuma out as quickly as possible!” Marinette shouted out making Chat frown. “I see a safe place and I’m going to bunker over there. Really I’ll be fine! Just take the akuma out and have Scarabella cast the Cure!”

Right the Cure! That would fix everything and not be dangerous! “Right, I’ll have this Akuma defeated before you even know what is happening!”

“Good to hear! Alix make sure to get out of here,” At that Alim almost picked up his daughter as he left. Chat was about to leave only to stop.

“Please stay safe,” With those last words Chat left. He had to take out both the akuma along with the two ghosts! Hopefully, the other hero would show up and help them. Because they definitely needed help.

Chapter Text

Marinette relaxed against the rubble as she slowly put her thoughts together. When Alix had told them about the ghost haunting the Louvre she had thought it would be something simple like at the studio where it might be one or two rookies. But two champions? Bakemon wasn’t that strong of a Digimon but it was still too much for the miraculous users to handle. The two had trouble with rookies so she knew it wouldn’t go well for them. Add to it that Soulmon was a moderately strong Champion and Marinette was sure that neither of the miraculous users was up to the challenge.

“Alright, I might as well start in a form they recognize. DigiArmor Energize!” With that Marinette once more donned the armor of Sincerity. Feeling the energy flowing through her the girl let out a hum. “How do I forget about the rush?” Tapping on the side of her helmet Marinette only needed to wait a little for her Uncle to respond.

“I’m guessing things aren’t going well?” Dave questioned as she heard something moving in the background.

“What could give you that idea?”

“Should I give you an honest list or should we get down to business?” Dave questioned with a teasing tone.

“I assume one of the points is Alya posting to her Scaralablog?”

“It is,” The adult reported before the girl heard something. It was as if something attempted to speak but only came out as static. “Did you hear Duusuu?”

“That was Duusuu?” Marinette questioned as Dave sighed.

“Alright, I guess I still need to work on that then. Do you know what Digimon we are dealing with?”

“Bakemon and Soulmon,” While saying this the Armored human began making her way down the destroyed museum. “I have no idea what they are doing here.” Once more the static sound came from the communicators.

“I’ll pull up the current exhibits. Duusuu thinks it might be one of them,” With that, the comms went silent as Marinette proceeded to follow the path of destruction. At least it wouldn’t be hard to find the Akuma, the Digimon might be more difficult since the two champions could go through walls and other such things. Hearing noise, the girl quickly used one of the vines to shoot up toward the ceiling.

“Chat are you sure they went this way?” Scarabella questioned as she walked into the hallway. Chat followed her and glanced around.

“I’m paw-sitive!” The black cat hero spoke and although he tried to hide it Marinette could see that he was somewhat tense. It made sense that he would be serious with the two ghosts and the Akuma. Seeing the chance to have some fun along with seeing how aware they were of their surroundings. Waiting for them to pass by Sincerity then dropped down quietly behind them before then following behind them.

“Do we have any information on the ghosts?” The ladybug user questioned as they walked forward.

“Besides that, there are two of them? I only know what I saw.” Chat informed with a sigh. “Sadly we were only able to see a few seconds of footage of the two ghosts.”

“That is still more than I know,” Scarabella probed him for more information. Chat nodded and began talking about what he had seen though as he had admitted earlier it wasn’t much with him only being able to tell her the description. “I see so a stereotypical ghost with one of them having a witch hat?”

“Meow-sactly,” Chat nodded as he kept looking around. “The only one who could possibly tell us more is the president of the Occult Club.”

“I would rather not put a civilian in more danger nor do I think we should try to take the time to look for someone,” Scarabella reasoned. “You said she was hiding right? I have no doubt that they managed to find a good spot.”

“Right, I guess we are just going to have to go in without knowing about the ghosts,” Chat sighed while Marinette listened with some confusion. These two acted like they had no knowledge or even an idea about Digimon. Bakamon was quite common or at least one of the most frequent champions to come across. In her short amount of time of research, there were many stories of Miraculous users/holders or maybe even chosen to have to exercise and defeat them. So how could these two not have any knowledge of them?

Did the Temple not think it was worth it? Well, they had the Wish protecting them so it would make sense that they had thought that they no longer had a need to inform future generations. It felt stupid but then again it could have just been overconfidence. Then again was it overconfidence if The Wish was able to protect them for possibly hundreds of years?

(She still had no idea just how long ago the Wish had been made. Just that it happened a long time ago.)

Marinette was very tempted to just open her mouth and question them directly but decided against it. They had an Akuma to fight and needed to focus. As if to punctuate this point the building shook again. Seeing pieces falling around them Marinette decided it was time to get to work. “Let’s get going. We need to defeat those two Kemonogami.” Walking past the two Marinette made sure to use the name that the Order knew.

However upon speaking both the miraculous holders jumped up and spun around to face her. The two attempted to get their weapons out but fumbled and Scarabella wrapped herself up in her string. Marinette watched this with a raised eyebrow though neither saw it. Ignoring the performance the girl walked past the two. “Ninja girl? How did you get here?”

“Vents.”

“That would make sense, you are a ninja.” Chat nodded as he hummed. “I suppose you heard about what was going on through the internet?”

“That is correct now we have work to do,” The two miraculous users looked at each other before catching up. Chat was about to ask what a Kemonogami was only to be stopped by the ninja girl. The reason became obvious when a wave of energy came by. “I will take on the two Kemonogami you two can take care of the Akuma.”

“There are three opponents so we each get a dance partner?” Chat offered only to receive a shake of the head.

“I don’t mean to sound hurtful but you two don’t have the needed experience in battle to fight against those two.”

“And you have the experience necessary?” Scarabella questioned with a bit of heat. The Armored girl would have commented but stopped at seeing an incoming wave of darkness. Shouting to move the girl dodged out of the way. The other two were slower to react and got caught in the wave before they could fully dodge. Landing in a roll the girl sprung up and glanced toward the two Digimon and one Akuma. The three took in the two miraculous Users and one Armored warrior as they sized each other up.

Scarabella pulled on the string causing her yo-yo to untangle itself and stood up. Chat extended his staff while getting into a somewhat awkward stance. The Akuma looked between the Digimon and the miraculous users for a moment before seeming to decide that neither was worth his time. “Khephri show them the rising of the sun!” As the Akuma spoke their headpiece changed to resemble that of a beetle. It also let out a bright light. Marinette attempted to block out the light. Her visor blocked out some of the light but unfortunately, it couldn’t block it all.

Thankfully no attack came and the light died down after a few seconds. Once it did the two Digimon turned on the three humans and let out wailing calls. The Bakemon opened its mouth and let loose a poisonous breath that spread out through the hall. Acting quickly the Armored girl tapped on a button that caused a metal mesh to cover the lower part of her face. “Don’t breathe that in!” Turning towards the two miraculous users she saw that they were looking for something to cover their mouths. “Go after the Akuma!”

Turning back to the Digimon the girl pulled out her weapon and swung it causing some wind to blow. It pushed the poison back a bit but unfortunately, it didn’t counter it. It wasn’t that much of a surprise, after all, she was in her weakest physical form. However, while this form might be the physically weakest at the same time it gave her the best movability along with heightened senses. Speaking of.

Jumping up over the attack of the Soulmon who manifested behind her and released a glowing chop from one of its stubby limbs. The glowing chop attack flew forward and went part of the way through the wall before blowing up and destroying the wall. Landing the girl ducked as Bakamon let out its chop attack. Swillviling out of the way midair she threw her weapon at Bakamon who let out a wail at being targeted. The champion moved as quickly as it could but unfortunately for the Digimon, it wasn’t fast enough. A cut appeared along its side showing a mass of darkness underneath the sheet. The Soulmon let out its wailing call as dark green lights appeared around it before they launched at Marinette.

Feeling the attack coming the girl knew that she couldn’t dodge so lifting her arm the Armmored girl prepared to endure the hit only for Chat Noir to slide in front of her and block the Necro Magic by spinning his baton. The attack slammed into the improvised shield sending him sliding back into the Armored warrior. The girl was able to grab the Black Cat and with a quick use of her vines, she pulled them out of the way of the attack that was still going on. As they landed Marinette made sure that they were out of the way of whatever attack would come next.

“What the heck was that attack?” Chat questioned as he waved his hand. “I felt that even through my costume.”

“Necro Fire,” Marinette informed him while getting up. “Scarabella is still going after the Akuma correct?”

“Yeah, she should have the Akuma handled,” Chat nodded confidently. “By the way you got a name I could call you?” That stopped Marinette briefly as her mind questioned just what name or title she could use. Digidestened? Crest Bearer? …Princess? As her mind rolled around the girl remembered one of her other names.

“Call me Unity Heart,” The newly named hero stood up while looking at the two Digimon who were in turn watching them. Chat gave her an odd look as if trying to figure out what her name meant but they didn’t have time. “We need to defeat these two quickly so Scarabella can repair the damage.”

“We’ll have this done in a meow-mont,” Chat confidently said as he re-extended his baton. Unity didn’t say anything but she also wanted to help against the Akuma. She had a feeling in her gut that something was wrong. That something bad was going to happen. This was proven true as her uncle sent her a message.

~~~~~~~~

Alya chased after the Akuma feeling a bit bad about leaving the ninja girl and Chat behind to fight the ghosts but one of them needed to go after the Akuma. So it made sense for the one able to purify the Akuma to go after them. Following the trail, the girl found some of the exhibits missing. “What is going on?” The hero questioned as she continued to follow the trail. It barely took another minute for Scalabug to arrive outside where she saw the Akuma setting up something. She could only guess.

“With this ritual, I will obtain the power to not only send the ghosts back to where they belong but also gain the power to acquire the miraculous,” The Pharaoh spoke aloud while a purple outline glowed on his face. The holder of the ladybug miraculous could only guess that they were informing Hawkmoth of their plan. But hearing the Akuma’s plan had Alya stalling for a bit.

Should she wait and let him finish the ritual so he could send the two ghosts back to where they belong? It could help out Chat and the girl who she needed to learn the name of. She had no idea how they were doing but based on how strong the last opponent was Alya didn’t know if they could win. But on the other hand, letting him complete the ritual would supposedly give him the power to defeat them. As she thought over it the girl tried to figure out how to proceed. Could she attempt to trick the Akuma or stop the ritual after it finished sending the ghosts back? Wait what did the plant ninja girl call them again? Kemo-something?

Lights began flowing between the different artifacts forming a ritual circle. Letting out a quiet curse Alya waited in the shadows as she attempted to figure out if her plan of stopping the ritual after it dealt with ghosts was possible. Plus a small part of her wanted to see just what this ritual was. A bit curious Scarabella threw a nearby rock at the ritual. The rock flew faster than Alya could ever have achieved as her non-empowered self and crashed against an invisible barrier. Pharoh looked up from his activity and cast a quick look around before getting back to work with a bit of a more hurried pace.

Not being a total fool Scarabella prepared to use Lucky Charm or intervene when it came to it. A part of her hoped that Chat or the other girl would come to aid her. If the rock did nothing then she doubted that her yoyo would be able to do anything. So for now it was best to wait and prepare for whatever was to come. The ritual barely took a few moments after it started for the lights to merge and create something. The gate or door or whatever it was scratched at something in Alya’s mind but before more could happen Darkness seeped out of the hole/portal/door almost covering it.

“I have done it! I have opened the path! Now come forth and return those foul ghosts to where they belong!” Pharaoh commanded as he stood before the Darkness.

“Oh? You would make demands?” A silky smooth voice questioned as a four-legged figure emerged from the portal. The creature had crimson fur and a white underbelly. Purple sharp claws tapped against the concrete while sharp white teeth were shown in the wolf creature’s too-long jaw. Black bands wrapped around its long legs. “Doormen these days.”

“No doubt you are a servant of Anibus. So it should be your job to make sure that the ghosts haunting this place are sent to rest?” The wolf hummed as they walked forward. One of their ears twitched before a loud sinister laugh came from them.

“I suppose it would be best to show those two the price of failure. Those two idiots couldn’t even do something simple.” The wolf commented as its tail whipped back and forth. “So for managing to open the door, I would be willing to do a small favor for you.” Pharoh frowned at that and opened his mouth to respond only for the wolf’s paw to move faster than Scarabella could see and crashed into the Akuma. The Pharoh flew right threw the barrier and broke through the wall of the museum. “I’ll kill you after putting my underlings straight. So please wait there.” Scarabella felt a pit in her stomach form. That wolf was stronger than the sunflower ghost that had helped Stormy.

‘Chat, Ninja you two had better hurry.’ Was the only thought going through her head as the red wolf walked through the ritual site with a growing grin. A grin that no creature should ever have formed. One that promised pain and suffering. Scarabell slowly pulled out her yoyo intending to send a text or some type of warning only for her luck to come up short as the noise of her yoyo changing drew the attention of the wolf, the wolf that she could now say was way too big. ‘This is a bad night.’

Chapter Text

Chat dodged as best he could as the ghost with the hat launched more cursed fire. A few of the shots still hit and the cat hero felt pain flare up for a few moments before it was rapidly frozen by the magic of the miraculous. Landing the boy rolled with the hit and quickly took in the surroundings. The two ghosts had been separated or at least that was how he remembered it. As he watched the second ghost flew through the air and collided with the other ghost sending the two of them to collide with the wall.

“Hit!” Unity cheered with a smile in her voice. The girl landed right in front of Chat while the vines typically wrapped around her arms were now held in her hands.

“You are making this look easy,” Chat commented as he quickly got to his feet.

“Let’s just say that they don’t stand a ghost of a chance,” The smile in her voice had a bit of pride. Chat could tell that she was probably sitting on that joke and was finally able to use it. The black cat hero knew that feeling well because he had multiple jokes he was waiting for a chance to use.

The wailing of the ghosts drew his attention back to them. The one without a hat seemed the most upset and was practically vibrating in rage. The one with the hat moved around as if it was attempting to think of some sort of plan. Unity let her vines drop a bit prepared to use them as whips. Chat slowly took up his stance prepared for whatever those two would do next. The next thing to happen though he could never have guessed. Then again he doubted the others would have been able to predict what happened next.

A large ball of energy slammed through both walls. The ghosts wailed as the ball let out sparks of energy that hit anything near it. This sent the ghosts running. “I hope that didn’t hit something structural.” Unity got out with a flat voice as she surveyed the damage.

“I wonder what did that? I mean it had to be the Akuma right?” Chat questioned as the beam stopped revealing that the ghosts were gone and the hallway they had been in was completely damaged and starting to collapse.

“Well, no time to stick around!” Grabbing him the plant ninja girl moved down the hall as the walls started falling apart. The two were quick to jump out a window heading outside. The two landed and once more took in the environment around them. Chat could see a few deep gashes in the area but there was no one in sight. “Well, it seems we missed the big fight.”

“Where is Scarabella?” Chat questioned only for a red and black hand to pop up from the bushes.

“Here!” The girl called out as she got out of the bushes. The ladybug user started approaching them before stopping. “Tell me something that only you would know!”

“Wh-” Chat began only for Unity to cut them off.

“I met you during the Weather Girl Competition. We fought together against Sunflowermon along with the Akuma Stormy Weather.” Unity got out while holding out a hand to stop Chat Noir from getting closer. “I take it that either the Pharaoh or some new threat has the potential to impersonate others?”

“The Pharaoh summoned this giant red wolf-like creature. It took out Pharaoh with ease and then started playing with me. Not even trying to fight me, no it was playing with me!” Scarabella rambled out as she wrapped her arms around herself. “It would seem to disappear then I would hear random voices only for it to appear and swipe at me! It knocked me into the building before launching an energy ball attack! I barely was able to dodge!”

Chat felt horror at the image painted by his partner. A big powerful wolf-like creature that also could impersonate others? He didn’t like any part of that description. “Where is it now?” Chat questioned while looking around. Unity didn’t directly answer but did let one of her vines drop into her hand as the rest dropped to the ground. Getting the hint, Chat pulled his staff out and also prepared to fight.

“I have no idea,” Catching on the ladybug user grabbed her yoyo and prepared for what would come next. She held it in her hand and started scanning her surroundings. “I don’t even know why it ran off.” Chat felt his heart start thumping in his chest as he started scanning the area. He looked towards Unity hoping she would have any idea.

“Perhaps it hasn’t left,” Unity’s voice came around him which sent a shiver down his spine. “Yeah, that would make sense!” This time it was Chat’s voice which came from another direction. “Oh, I’m so scared! Please save me!” The voice changed yet again this time to resemble Scarabella. “Why didn’t you save me? Why did you leave me?” The fourth voice resembled the Akuma, but something was faintly wrong with it.

“This again?” Scarabella walked closer to the group. Chat gripped his staff while looking around trying to figure out where the wolf beast was. “At least that time I don’t have to worry about it trying to sneak up behind me.”

“Snipe Steal!” A sharp just of wind blew around them and Chat Noir felt something grab his baton. From one blink to the next, he was face to face with the red wolf who had its jaws clamped tight around his staff. It gave a wide smile before tossing the boy to the side with force. Chat still clutched on tight to his baton flew threw the air before slamming into the rubble. The wolf let out a howling laugh before jumping away right as a thorny whip and yoyo flew towards him.

“He is way too fast!” Scarabella cursed as she caught her yoyo. The wolf landed near the recovering Chat Noir who only had a second to realize what would happen. The boy was hit by a lazy swipe that sent him flying. Unity moved quickly and jumped up catching the black cat hero. While in the air she used her vines to provide a bit of protection.

Unity let out a bit of a groan as the two slammed into the courtyard. “Thanks,” Chat muttered as he rolled off the girl. “Oh crap!” Quickly spinning his baton again the boy blocked familiar fireballs. Unity also reacted quickly and used the massive shuriken to attack the other ghost who appeared. “These guys again!”

“Agh!” Scarabella cried out as the wolf attempted to gut her with its claws. The bug-themed hero barely managed to jump back in time and landed near the others. “I think we might be in over our heads here!” Chat didn’t say anything but watched as the two ghosts floated over towards the wolf. The ghosts let out wails that had the wolf huffing.

“Of course, you would make such excuses,” The wolf cut off the ghosts. “You couldn’t even take down children.” The hat-wearing ghost wailed which got it a growl in response. “What is so weird about the girl?”

“This is turning bad.” Unity whispered, making sure that only the two could hear. “I can take those three down but while I do that I need you two to find the Akuma.”

“You want us to leave you alone against them!” Chat almost screamed only to be silenced by Scarabella. The red hero looked conflicted but she looked at the other girl.

“Are you sure you can fight them? Absolutely sure?” Unity answered the question with a nod. Scarabella took one more moment before nodding. “Let’s go Chat we need to find the Akuma.” Chat was about to retort about the danger but Unity walked forward.

“I’ll get their attention then you two run,” Unity made sure she was a little bit away from them before looking at her opponents. She already had chosen which armor would be perfect for this job. Taking a deep breath the girl quickly brought out her Digivise. Chat looked at the strange multi-colored device wondering what it was while the girl flicked her fingers across it before tapping quickly on it. This caused some sort of energy to pulse out, and his hair was standing on edge. The three they were facing also looked at them but the wolf almost seemed to lock onto the armored girl.

“YOU!” The wolf started to back up while the ghosts wailed loudly.

“Digi-Armor Energize!” The girl called out as a small statue appeared before her. Before he could fully make it out it seemed to shatter. The shattered pieces hovered around Unity covering her while her old armor shattered while being replaced quickly by the new ones which were slammed onto her by a blue wolf that appeared out of nowhere from his perspective. All of this barely took a second but by that time the wolf was already on Unity with his paw ready to attack. The paw came down fast and Chat attempted to move and to do something but it was unneeded as before anyone could even blink the wolf was sent flying away as the energy field slowly condensed while the wolf dove in to reveal Unity in a kicking position. However this time the girl looked vastly different yet also familiar. Chat took in the girl who lowered her leg and took a confident stance all while a blue wolf tail slowly swayed behind her. As he looked at her, Chat took in the details such as the wolf ears on the top of her head, the blue and black color of her armor, but most importantly the symbol. The stylized yin-yang made it look like two hands holding each other. “Alright you two, go get the Akuma. I have things handled from here.”

“R-right,” Scarabella got out with wide eyes locked onto the girl. Reaching out, the girl grabbed her partner and pulled him along with her. Chat followed along though he couldn’t quite pull his eyes away from the girl who shot forward and vanished. It only took a second to find her right beside one of the ghosts with a punch about to hit it. “Chat, get your head in the game!” Scarabella called out to him, dragging his focus onto her. “We need to capture the Akuma so we can cast the Cure!”

“Yeah,” Chat got out half-heartedly while he attempted to focus. However, it was hard because he recognized the new form of Unity. He had seen it every time he went over to Chloe’s. “She was the other hero.” The words came out in between something of a whisper and a statement. He had always wondered who the hero who saved Chloe was and now he had the answer.

BOOM

An explosion tore him from his straying thoughts and had him focus back on the events happening around him. Scarabella had managed to lead both of them to a somewhat undestroyed part of the building where she was looking around. “Where is he?”

“The Akuma?” Chat questioned to which he got a nod in response. “You said he got taken out by the wolf right?”

“Right!” The girl confirmed as she ran over to a pile of rubble and started digging.

“Are you looking for me?” A rich voice questioned from above. Looking up, the two miraculous users saw Pharoah floating above them on wings. “I see that you have concluded that I would be the easier opponent for you to face. I will not say you are wrong but at the same time my resolve has strengthened!” The Akuma floated down till he touched the ground. “Now hand over your miraculous so that I and Hawkmoth may use them to defeat the vile demons!”

“Sorry, but that is nya-t happening!” Chat took up a defensive stance while Scarabella got her yoyo out.

“Even if we could trust Hawkmoth, which we don’t, I would rather fight!” The ladybug hero proclaimed as the Akuma shook his head.

“Truly you are foolish to think that either of you would have the ability to defeat either me or the three vile creatures,” Pharaoh scoffed at the two fools before him. “Thoth give me the power to show these two just how outclassed they are!” With that, the battle began.

~~~~~~~~~

Unknown to either the heroes or villains the news had gotten word of what was going on and had sent out emergency crews to attempt to cover the fight. From the safety of their homes, people watched the fighting. Of those people holding their breaths and watching the fight Chloe was the one who felt the most elated. The reason for her feeling this way was due to her gaze following the figure on the screen. Watching the armored wolf girl fight against two ghosts and the giant wolf Chloe felt a smile grow on her face as she glanced over at the sketch that she had of her hero. “I knew I would see you again!” Chloe cheered to herself as she watched the fight. “We’ll hang out and be the best of friends!” She could see it now, the two of them going shopping, hanging out, helping to design each other's clothes. It would be amazing!

On the screen, she watched as her best friend dodged around fireballs strong enough to break concrete and even seemed to turn into a blue blur as she avoided an energy blast that created a huge crater. The red wolf who had sent the attack was quick to receive a kick in the jaw. Chloe felt some excitement at watching the fight and wondered if this was how Adrien felt whenever he watched those weird cartoons? Well, it didn’t matter because this was so much better! She doubted the other fight was anywhere near as entertaining as this fight was.

As if to prove her point the fight was interrupted to show the other two ‘heroes’ fighting against the Akuma. Watching it was entertaining if nothing else but it didn’t have the same appeal as the fight that was interrupted. Still not wanting to miss her best friend’s fight Chloe didn’t change the channel and instead focused on her nails while somewhat watching what was going on. She supposed that it was somewhat important after all Scara-something needed to capture the Akuma to cast her cure. Still watching them was like amateur hour compared to the engaging fight she had been watching beforehand.

The blonde watched with half interest as the three people on the screen traded blows until the red and black hero summoned her ‘Lucky Charm’. “I guess this fight is going to end soon.” With a huff and a roll of her eyes, Chloe tuned out even more as the bug and cat hero worked together to use the Charm to defeat the Egyptian or whatever the Akuma was calling themselves. Still,l she might as well use the break given to her to attempt to think of some plans to meet up with her future friend.

“Then again who would refuse to be my best friend?” Chloe questioned only for the answer to come immediately to mind. Marinette, Marinette no doubt wanted nothing to do with her after what sh-Kim did. Yeah, it was Kim’s fault, not hers! He was the one who told people about the prank that gave the other people ideas. The people who took things too far! So far that, that, no it was in no way her fault that Marinette…

“They captured the Akuma!” The news reporter's voice called out from her laptop drawing her from her spiraling thoughts. Deciding to focus on the fight instead of her spiraling thoughts regarding Marine-

“Oh, they are going to help… I need to get her name.” Chloe recentered herself as she started trying to focus on the events shown on the screen. “If she doesn’t have a name then I guess I could make one for her.” Watching on the screen Chloe felt herself somewhat relax as her friend came on screen. The blue wolf girl unsurprisingly had the fight in hand and didn’t need help. After seeing the other two Wolfy, no that name sucked, landed a kick on one of the ghosts before using it as a platform to bounce off of to land near the other two. The three exchanged quick words before… um, Blue Bolt(?) once more shot forward seeming determined to end the fight as quickly as possible. The two ghosts vanished as the red wolf moved forward with its large teeth bared ready to bite her in half.

The armored wolf girl easily dodged around the lunging bite and slammed her knee into the jaw of the beast. A loud bang was heard and Chloe flinched a bit before letting out a cheer. The blonde continued to watch as her BFF kept fighting the red wolf who started becoming more and more desperate. The two ghosts attempted to get close enough to help only to keep getting knocked back by either the wolf or Wolf Lightning, that was a worse name. The big bad wolf snarled at this turn of events and Chloe could tell it was starting to get desperate while Scarabella shouted something that had her friend disengaging.

“Scarabella cast the Cure then head out to recharge!” The words coming from the speaker were muffled no doubt due to how far away the drones are.

“But what about-” The ladybug user began only to cut herself off for some reason. “Chat you got things from here?”

“I got everything in paw!” The stupid cat hero said. Scarabella gave a nod before tossing it in the air. Looking outside Chloe could somewhat make out the red light of the Cure being cast. Turning back to the battle on screen she could see that the bug hero had left while the black cat was still hanging out.

The cure quickly spread out fixing everything that was damaged but Chloe could already tell the repair was temporary. As if to prove that point the red wolf dug its claws through the pavement while the battle grew more and more frantic. Chloe could barely make them out beyond a red and blue blur that kept speeding up. Chat stood by the side and seemed barely able to keep up. The two ghosts on the side didn’t sit around and seemed to come to a decision. That decision was to attack the cat hero who barely seemed to notice in time to block the hit.

The fight went on for a few more seconds until the fight changed. Her BFF did something, it was so fast she couldn’t make it out, and sent the red wolf flying and colliding into the ghost that was wearing a hat. The two collided and fell to the ground and her friend was quick to fly right next to Chat who was fighting the final ghosts. “Dogpile!” The wolf girl called out and blocked a hit from one of the ghosts while Chat quickly slammed his baton into the face of the ghost sending it flying into the other two who were trying to recover. “Alright let's wrap this up!” With that currents of electricity started flying around while the symbol started glowing brighter. The electricity started forming behind her and within less than a second a large wolfman stood behind the much smaller girl. “Baldey Blow!”

With the declaration made the girl wound up a punch while the construct of electricity did the same. Then the punch flew forward followed by the construct who mimicked the action. However, halfway through the action, the construct seemed to condense and flow into the attack. The blow hit the dog pile of three monsters who were attempting to get up and away from the incoming attack. Fortunately, they were too tangled up and could do nothing as the attack slammed into them. The footage went static for a while before slowly it came back online a while later.

Chloe did not know if the attack she saw was what finished off the three or if something had happened while the cameras were out but suffice it to say that when they did come back on all that was left was a sizeable crater where they once were. Chat Noir seemed to speak to the true hero who gave an awkward laugh that was no doubt adorable. Scarabella arrived from inside the museum and took in the damage before looking at Chat who just pointed at the wolf girl who shrugged at them.

Watching the interaction sent a pang of hurt through Chloe as she thought about how much she wanted something like that. Chat walked into the crater and did something that caused the water to vaporize and turned to smoke. Some of the smoke was caught by the red hero who threw her yoyo through the cloud. The yoyo was caught by the ladybug user who looked at her yoyo. After another second she just shrugged her shoulders and tossed the yoyo back into the air and cast another Cure that fixed up the damage from the fight with the others.

With that, the three looked at each other before her BFF said something before vanishing in a blue blur. The other two gave looks to each other before they too left. Chloe made sure that the footage was saved before smiling to herself. Finally, Paris would see just how great of a hero they had in their city. Moving to post it online the blonde girl felt a bit of indignation that someone had already made a fansite for her hero and had streamed the entire fight. A little miffed that miffed that someone had beaten her to the punch Chloe contented herself to just posting the footage before starting to scroll through the footage to see just what else this site had for her.

Chapter Text

Chat was quick to get into the museum and faster still to find a place to recharge his miraculous. Finding a place the hero let the transformation drop and was greeted by a grumpy kwami. “So when do I get to say I told you so? Or should I point out how outclassed you were in almost every category?”

“Well, what did you want me to do? Let her fight those ghosts on her own?” Adrien questioned with narrowed eyes. One of his hands reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cheese.

“She seemed to have things handled didn’t she?” Plagg questioned while taking the piece of cheese. Adrien sighed and had to admit that Unity did have things under control. “I know it feels wrong but you are not ready to face those things.”

“I get it,” Adrien drawled while leaning back. He still felt some of his bruises but knew that it was only phantom pains due to the Cure fixing everything. “I wish I knew what was happening though.”

“I wish I knew,” the black kwami agreed with a sigh. The blonde model blinked in shock. He had assumed that Plagg knew everything but wasn’t telling him, but now it became obvious that the kwami knew only a bit more than him. “Now, are you going to find that club president or something?”

“Oh crap,” Adrien’s eyes widened in horror as he looked towards Plagg who just nodded. “Plagg Claws Out!” Chat Noir exited his hiding place and started running towards where he remembered last seeing Marinette. He rushed around the corner to the lobby ready to cut across only to freeze as he saw Marinette packing up equipment. “Marinette, you're okay!”

“Huh?” Marinette questioned as her head shot up to look in confusion at the hero. “Of yeah, the Cure fixed everything.” Chat stared at the girl as his mind tried to figure out what she had said. Was she hurt by the collapsed wall? Did she get hurt in the crossfire of the battle against the ghosts and wolf? “Hey Alya where you at? Oh, you are already near your home? Nothing important, I’ll just pack your stuff up with the rest. You can pick it up tomorrow.”

Chat blinked at this and focused back on the present. Right, Alya had left along with Alix. Watching the girl Chat fully relaxed seeing that his friend was fully okay. Seeing that she was somewhat distracted, Chat began packing things. “Don’t worry about it, I got things handled here. Although… Is there any way you could talk to Alix? I don’t have her number. I’m just going to leave it there. No, I’m not answering questions. I will see you tomorrow.” With that, the blue-eyed girl hung up and put her phone away. Turning back to her work the girl was shocked to see Chat putting things away. “Oh, um, thanks?”

“No problem,” Chat gave her a smile that had her turning away and looking down. She went back to putting the last few things away and Chat assumed that would be the end of things. That is until Marinette spoke up again.

“I’m sorry.” Chat gave a confused sound while turning to the girl who was putting the last few items away. “When I first saw you I thought you were there due to how I looked.”

“What? I would never!”

“Yeah, I can see that now,” Marinette let out a humorless chuckle while starting to load boxes onto her wagon. “But back when we first met I was suspicious because I saw you watching me from a nearby rooftop.”

“That, I,” Chat stumbled over himself as he attempted to find a way to explain just why he was watching her. As much as he trusted Marinette there was no way he would tell her that he was actually Adrien from her club and was worried about her. At the same time, he knew how awful it looked from her perspective.

“I get it,” Marinette waved off whatever he was going to say. “I will admit that I don’t look innocent. Not to mention that I had all of this with me,” While saying this she gestured towards the crates that were now packed on the wagon. “Still I judged you based on one of the interactions and held that against you. That was not fair to you.” Chat took in those words and sighed. He attempted to think of some way to counter the narrative that Marinette had made but he couldn’t. Not without giving hints about his secret identity.

“Thanks, I’m trying to be a good hero.”

“It shows,” The girl gave him a look that conveyed a smile through her eyes. Chat gave her his smile while Marinette made her way towards the doors. “Let’s see if these are locked, and they are not.” With that, the girl started taking her wagon out the open door. Pulling her phone out he saw Marinette texting someone.

“So where to now?” Chat questioned as he followed behind the girl.

“Any reason why you are following me?”

“Well as you said I’m trying to be a great hero. In my attempts to become the best there ever was I have decided to make sure you arrive home safely at this late hour.”

“Well thank you very much.”

“So where are we going?”

“I’m just going to head home. I am done for the night,” Chat watched Marinette seem to deflate right in front of him. He kept his face as neutral as possible but on the inside, he was cheering due to FINALLY being able to know where his club president lived. A part of himself quickly pointed out how unfair it was that he would know where she lived yet she wouldn’t know where Adrien lived. The secret model still hoped that his club president didn’t know who Adrien truly was but… he could find out now.

“So is Alya your only club member?” Chat questioned making sure to act like he was just trying to make conversation. Something he had a lot of practice in due to stuffy ‘parties’. Marinette didn’t speak for a bit before speaking.

“No, I have one other club member,” The girl informed with a shrug and Chat waited before making a motion to continue. “Well, my other club member is… you promise not to let anyone know what I’m about to say?”

“Is your other club member some type of troublemaker?” Chat felt his stomach turn a bit as he worried about what Marinette was trying to hide.

“No nothing of the sort. He is quite kind despite the company he keeps.” Okay, now he had to know what she meant by that. “The reason I want you to keep quiet is because my other club member is Adrien Agreste and before you ask, yes he is that Adrien Agreste.”

“You don’t say,” Chat tried to keep himself from freaking out more because Marinette did know who he was. Well, she knew who Adrien was but the question was for how long and why she never brought it up. “I guess he walked in and started flirting instantly?”

“Within the first thirty minutes or so.”

“Ah, so you knew even before he introduced himself,” Chat took a shot in the dark. Did she know all along?

“Nah, I only found out later that day when I looked up his name. It was kinda embarrassing especially when I realized his dad was Gabriel Agreste.”

“His father?”

“Yeah, I’m kinda a fan,” The girl chuckled while rubbing the back of her head. Chat looked at her with a puzzled expression that Marinette took for disbelief. “I’ve read all of his books and magazine articles. I even have his book about style through the ages signed!” That got him to blink because the boy knew that his father only had a few book signings so if she had one. Yet that brought up something else.

“If you are that much of a fan, then why didn’t you recognize his son right away?”

“Honestly, I never even looked at the models. Heck, I sometimes even forgot Gabriel had a son.”

‘I bet Father sometimes forgets he has a son.’ A traitorous thought muttered in Chat’s head.

“So yeah, I didn’t recognize him right away,” Marinette finished with a huff after defending herself.

“It must have been awkward then when he started flirting with you upon meeting you,” Chat continued with a bit of interest about what the girl thought about him.

“Oh that, I knew he wasn’t serious.”

“Really,” Chat questioned with interest as he looked at her. Somehow she knew he was just trying to banter with her while everybody else took time to understand that he wasn’t serious.

“Oh yeah,” Marinette made a waving gesture at herself. Chat felt his stomach drop a bit. “After all, why would he ever want to flirt with me.” Chat opened his mouth but as if she knew what was to come the girl waved him off. “Before you say anything about me being an amazing person or something let me just stop you. I wear fully concealing clothes and he barely knew me.”

“Well,” Chat searched for something to say only for Marinette to be cut off again.

“Like I said no need to try and build me up,” Chat wanted to deny that and tell her that what little he could see was pretty. Sadly he wasn’t given the chance. “Well looks like we are here.”

“Already?” Chat questioned as he blinked a bit in shock. The girl just pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.

“Thank you for your help today,” Marinette said to him as she opened the door. Chat took a breath as he attempted to use a bit of his Adrien charm so he could counter her earlier points. Only to once again fall short. After all, he was Chat Noir and didn’t know her for more than a day. Then as if to show that he had lost his chance the door shut. Sighing, the cat hero left starting to head home. It barely took more than a few minutes for him to arrive home.

Adrien fell into his bed with a brief flash of green allowing Plagg to land near him. The green-eyed boy stared up at the ceiling as he attempted to think of what to do about his friend’s self-confidence issues. “Hey Plagg,”

“Leave it for tomorrow kid,” The kwami cut him off with a huff. “Whatever you're thinking or want to talk about can wait for tomorrow. You know when you are fully rested.” Plagg’s words must have had some type of magic in them because as soon as he spoke Adrien felt the exhaustion start to come on hard and fast.

“You're right. We can talk about it when we are rested.”

“I’m always right,” Adrien would have commented on Plagg’s statement only to have a yawn cut through everything. Moments later he was asleep. Plagg stayed awake a bit longer as he wondered just what would happen next. The situation was somewhat okay when it was just two Children from the other world. Yeah, it had been a bit of a shock when the two plants had managed to combine into an Adult but it was still okay. After all, it was still manageable but now? Now three Adults had shown up. Two weak and a high-powered one. Fangmon is a wicked beast that became the basis for many legends about the big bad wolf. Whenever a Fangmon had popped up in the past it took a squad of Miraculous users to defeat.

So what did that say about the girl, Unity, who was able to fight against the powerful Adult Kemonogami? Nothing that was his duty to worry about. He would leave that for people and kwami was more suited to thinking of them than him to worry about. Honestly, he was grateful that he wasn’t either Wayzz, Fu, or Tikki. So with a big yawn, Plagg tucked in and went to sleep.

~~~~~~

Fu had thought, had hoped that he had been wrong. Wayzz had been in a near fight after the battle against the weather Akuma. He had screamed and pointed at the two small plant creatures that Fu had at first thought to only have been constructs of Duusu’s.

Oh if only it was that simple. No, the kwami was proven right.

He had been relaxing, drinking some herbal tea when the news came on. The old man’s cup had fallen from his shaking hands while Wayzz floated nearby. “They have come back,” The words came out without emotions. His emotions were just gone at the moment. Questions flew through his head but at the moment he knew he needed to act. “Wayzz we need to hand out other miraculous.”

Wayzz didn’t say anything as he continued to watch the footage. So many fears old and new formed in the kwami as he continued to watch. How had the Kemonogami returned? The worlds had been separated thanks to The Wish! So how could they cross over into this world? Should he return to the Celestial Realm and check the barrier? That might be the only way to know for certain. After all the barrier wasn’t just separating the worlds from interacting.

“Yes, we will need to hand out at least one or two more miraculous,” Fu spoke as they watched the news continue. “We will also need to figure out just who that girl is.”

“Yes, we will need to find out who that is.” Wayzz agreed as the news showed the best footage they had of the girl who had fought off the three Kemonogami. Despite never having seen the girl once in his life the kwami felt something at seeing the symbol on the armor. Something about the stylized taijitu spoke to him. It was as if he had seen it before as if someone had told him that the symbol meant friendship. “Shall we check with Plagg and Tikki? Perhaps they know something?”

“Yes, they might know something and might also have suggestions for who might be worthy of wielding a miraculous.” Fu agreed with a nod. He flinched as he saw the damage the blue wolf girl did with her last attack. “I will make haste with those talks.”

Chapter Text

Marinette was floating again. Or was she falling? The girl could never fully tell. All she knew was that she was entering her Soul. Everything always felt so slow during this part. But from a moment to the next her Soul came into view. Her small family’s living room faded into view while the crests on her body glowed giving color to the room. Marinette could make out the Digimon wandering around the room while Agumon approached her.

“Hey kiddo, rough day huh?” Agumon questioned with some concern in his voice. Marinette said nothing dropping one of her hands over her eyes.

“Ah come on,” Gomamon placed one of his fins on her shoulder as Marinette felt herself land on the carpeted floor. “Things didn’t go well but you can try to make it better.” Marinette didn’t say anything right away because it felt like her heart was being torn in two. Her mind replayed the events that led up to this event.

It had been over a month since her fight against the second leader and her group was now working on attempting to fight against the third. Keyword attempting.

The third had decided to lock themselves in a fortress. The group of humans and Digimon had begun the long-drawn fight against an opponent who was in a defensible location. It didn’t help things that this leader had a few low-level Ultimates mixed in with their army. While low level, an Ultimate was still an Ultimate. Add in a literal army of Champions and it was hell.

“At least you figured out how to extend the time of your X forms.” Palmon attempted to put a positive spin on the events. As Marinette lay there she let the thoughts flow to what Palmon had said. It was true that she had found out how to extend the time limit on her X-evolution. It had happened during one of the battles against some Champions that after defeating an X-Antibody varrent. After defeating it her Digivice had beeped and sucked in the X-Antibody.

It should have been obvious but the only way to improve the time limit on the X-Evolution was to add power to the X-Antibody by absorbing over X-Antibodies. The absorbed power increased her time limit by increasing her time anywhere from five seconds to around thirty seconds. The distraction was pleasant and to get Marinette’s mind off of what was wrong.

Wormmon slowly crawled up to her and while he didn’t say anything she knew that there was no more avoiding the subject. “I lost control, again.” The other Digimon didn’t say anything waiting for Marinette to say anything. Marinette opened and closed her mouth as she attempted to say anything only to fall silent as she caught sight of Gatomon and Patamon. The holy cat Digimon silently walked towards the couch but Marinette couldn’t help but notice the slight limp she had along with Patamon sleeping on her head. But what caught her eye was the black drops of liquid falling from her claws. “I messed everything up.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Gabumon lightly put a hand on her shoulder. “You lost control, yes, but considering the circumstances I don’t think there are many people who would blame you.”

“You knew better but emotions don’t care what you know,” Tentamon added while flying up so that he could be seen. Marinette took in the words as her mind went to what happened earlier. It was another attempt to fight the army to see if they could gain some advantage or at least defeat a major member and weaken the army. They had gotten confident, a little too confident. Marinette had extended her time limit to over two minutes while Fei and Renamon had increased their bond enough for them to achieve their Ultimate stage: Taomon.

They were met with more Ultimates and Champions than they could deal with. Even with BlackGatomon and Tailmon helping them they were being overwhelmed. She had done her best to attempt to keep everyone safe but as the battle continued stamina started to flag. It was at that moment that the leader appeared. Antlamon was quick to take down Lady Dragon followed by the already tired Taomon and Rapidmon. The Champions cheered at seeing their leader taking them down and Marinette felt her blood start to boil. Antlamon was quick to move to attempt to finish Lady Dragon and Marinette wouldn’t have any of that.

The battle from then on was a somewhat haze. Marinette vaguely remembered the drag-out fight the two were in. The main thing she remembered was how many Armors she had gone through. Each hit of Antlamon dealt massive damage and nearly destroyed her Armor in one hit. But Marinette couldn’t give up after all if she did then the Digimon would kill her friends and family. Antlamon seemed to enjoy this though and took pleasure in toying with the young girl. It all bubbled up, being toyed with, not being strong enough, not being skilled enough, but most enough, most of all the fact that she wasn’t strong enough.

It all boiled up and before Marinette could do anything she transformed. No, it was more than that, she felt the pipes start flowing and from one moment to the next Darkness claimed her. When next she had awoken Antlamon was fading into bits of data while the others ran away.

“Princess?” Tailmon’s slightly scarred voice questioned as she approached. BlackGatomon followed behind her looking scarred. Marinette went to answer only to vomit up Dark oily water.

“St- *cough* stay back.” The girl managed to get out after spitting out more of the horrible liquid. The two Champions stopped and watched the black-haired girl with a bit of fear. From there Fei slowly approached while Dave carried Terriermon on his head while slowly helping Renamon stand up. Marinette raised her head to look at Fei only to once again vomit out more Dark water. It took all Marinette had left and she nearly collapsed into the Dark water only saved by BlackGatomon grabbing her. “Than,” With that the dark-haired girl passed out.

The girl let out a sigh as the memories finally finished. “This is the third time this happened,” Marinette muttered as she felt her spirits fall. The others around her looked at each other while Wormmon simply lay on top of Marinette. The girl reached up and began slowly running her hand down the green Digimon. Looking around at all of the other Digimon spirits the girl knew what was going to be discussed next.

“Marinette, we can't let things continue like this.” Biyomon began the discussion. Marinette knew the discussion was coming but still, the girl hated what was going to be talked about.

“I know it's scary but we need to discuss the matter,” Palmon squatted down near the girl and laid her hand down on the girl’s shoulder. Marinette knew the plant like Digimon was right but still…

“It’s scary,” Agumon solemnly stated to which Marinette gave a nod.

“But I’ll be brave,” Marinette reaffirmed with a deep swallow. A thought came to her so with some hesitation, she asked. “Is it alright if one of you comes with me?”

“Of course it is,” Wormmon said while pressing closer to her. “With us here no matter what you face you won’t face it alone.” Looking at all the other Digimon she saw them all smiling at her and felt her heartbeat. Without another word, her Soul shifted and all the Digimon were suddenly dogpilled into a group hug.

“Hey if you wanted a hug you could have just said so,” Gomamon cheered as he laughed. Biyomon simply took the chance to start combing through the girl’s hair, Palmon stretched her arms to encompass everyone, Gabumon chuckled along with Agumon, and Tentamon made sure no one pressed too hard on Patamon or Gatomon.

“Thank you, all of you,” Marinette choked out while sniffing. “Thank you so much.”

It took a few more minutes for the young Dig-destined to finish getting through her emotions enough that she felt good enough to walk. So with Wormmon on her shoulder and Agumon walking right beside her. Marinette made her way to where the Darkness in her Soul resided. As they walked through Marinette noticed that the stairway that they walked down shifted. From one moment to the next the stairway changed into a hallway.

Marinette’s breath caught in her throat while her body nearly froze but with Agumon and Wormmon with her, the girl was able to keep walking. That was until they got near the door and she heard the pipes. Fear gripped her while her memories dragged her back to that moment. That moment when a group of older students grabbed her and dragged her down this very hall. They dragged her kicking and screaming all while others watched. They dragged her while they bragged about how Chloe would reward them for this prank. They dragged her right to the door where they proceeded to open the creaking metal door. The older boys threw her into the room with little care.

Now she was back in the hall, back in the hall staring at the door. But unlike last time where the only thing outside the door were a few other students this time she could hear the water flowing and the pipes shaking.

“Marinette,” Wormmon’s voice drew her out of her memories. Marinette went to say something only for her voice not to come out. So with a shaking hand, the girl reached up and placed a shaking hand on the bug Digimon’s head.

“We’re here for you,” Agumon shook her arm reminding her that she wasn’t alone. So reassured by having her friends with her Marinette gathered her courage and took a step forward. That step nearly falters as the door shakes from being hit.

“Let me out!” A screeching voice called from the other side. “Let me out!” The voice sounded just like hers. Which made it all the worse because a part of her wondered if this was what the people on the other side heard, heard, and ignored. Marinette forced herself to keep walking forward. “Let me out!”

“Almost there,” Wormmon whispered in her ear. Marinette didn’t need him to tell her that but she still appreciated the distraction from her thoughts. As they got closer Marinette opened her mouth to speak only for her vocal cords to freeze up. She stood in front of the door as the one behind it banged away.

“Let me out!” Marinette heard the voice once more yell out but this time it came out with so much desperation that it worked across her nerves. “Let me out!” It begged while the banging stopped.

Swallowing the lump in her voice the dark-haired girl gathered her strength and spoke up. “Can, ca, can talk,” The words came out scattered and haltingly. Thankfully the thing on the other side stopped speaking. Taking the invitation Marinette attempted to speak again. “Can, we, talk?” The words came slowly as Marinette forced herself to speak.

“Let me out?” The question came out with a hint of hope.

“Can we talk?” The question came out a bit more steadily.

“Open the door?”

“If I do can you promise not to try and take over?” Her voice still stuttered a bit but she managed to get her words out. Her nerves rose a bit as she heard the Dark Water move in the pipes.

“Agreed. Now open the door.”

“Okay, um, please take a step back,” Marinette looked beside her towards Agumon who gave a nod. After a minute or so she took a heavy step forward and gripped the heavy door. Her hand shook and it took a bit for her to open the door. The second the door started to creak open Marinette threw herself back. Unfortunately, she didn’t coordinate with either Agumon or Wormmon and thus when she went to jump back she instead awkwardly fumbled back and fell onto her but.

The door still opened while she attempted to recover. Once it opened a figure emerged and Marinette stopped her attempt to get up. As the light showed more even Wormmon and Agumon let out a hum. The thing let out a breath before looking towards her. Then, she? It, it looked like her. It looked just like her but with parts that were patched or held together with Dark Water that had what looked like red vines running through it. What few parts of it that were somewhat human had black-soaked rags covering her. “Talk?” The voice still sounded like hers but now with this version of Marinette standing in front of her, it made it all the more disturbing.

“Yeah talk,” Marinette slowly stood as Agumon walked closer to her. “I, could you please not take over my body?”

“No,” The answer came out without any hesitation. It scared her. It scared her, seeing her face so devoid of emotions while distorting as something moved underneath it.

“Why?” Marinette’s baffled and scared question came out just as fast and before she could think to stop it. The thing in front of her seemed to take a few moments to try and understand what was asked of it.

“Why?” It asked while the water moved underneath its skin. “Why?”

“Do you know why you have to take over?” Agumon questioned as he walked a bit forward.

“She is using my power,” The thing said while pointing at Marinette. “She is the one who called me to fight. So I fight.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Wormmon questioned while Marinette attempted to keep herself under control. Seeing your face being worn by another followed by it bulging as something moved underneath.

“Enjoy it?” This time rather than the water moving this time it was the red veins that seemed to move and close gaps in the skin which resulted in others opening up. “Enjoy?”

“Do you not know?” Marinette questioned her other self. The other her still looked confused so she elaborated. “Does it make you happy?”

“Happy?” The question came out uncertainly. “Enjoyment? Unknown.”

“You don’t know?” Marinette questioned while thinking back on the conversation so far. The Dark Water creature didn’t respond right away allowing Marinette time to think. She quickly thought over what the other had said. “What happens when you take over? You said I call you but I don’t remember calling on you.”

“You did,” Before anything else could be said they heard voices.

“They are going to kill Fei! I need to save her! Why, why am I so weak! I am going to die! I need to be stronger! Why am I such a hindrance?” Marinette flinched as her thoughts were heard around them.

“I helped you,” The other said while taking halting, limping steps forward. “I took over, we fought and won. It was tough but we won. Did I do something wrong? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“I- I,” Whatever else would have been said was left hanging as her body started fraying at the edges. “I’m waking up?”

“Seems like it,” Agumon nodded to that. “Guess this isn’t something that can be wrapped up in one meeting.” Marinette let out a huff before looking back at the other her.

“Do I need to go back? I don’t want to go back.” That broke a part of her. Someone who slightly resembled her not wanting to go back into there…

“As long as you behave I suppose it’s okay.” Marinette wished she could sound more certain but her voice was so uncertain.

“I will,” With that Marinette faded out of her soul leaving Wormmon, Agumon, and the thing behind.

“We can never forgive them,” The words came out from the thing right as Marinette left. The words lodged in the other girl’s head though while the thing almost didn’t register what they said. Said thing stood there unmoving for a bit before moving back towards the wall and slowly sitting down. No longer confined by the room the thing, no she was Nameless, right? Yeah, she was Nameless. Nameless thought about what had happened. She had talked to Marinette. The one who lived on the other side.

‘You could,” A dark voice whispered in her ear. From one moment to the next a dark demonic warrior walked through the door. It walked through the door because it wasn’t there except in her mind. ‘You could take over and be the one in control.’ Duskmon pressed his words.

Nameless blinked at that statement. She could take control? She thought back to the times where the other her called on her. She had formed and fought using her power to defeat… Who was she fighting? She had against the Digimon who had wanted to hurt her. That’s right, she had fought against Chloemon!

‘There were so many Chloemon,’ Duskmon sounded mocking but he was right. She had fought different versions of Chloemon. Were they different versions or were they other evil Digimon like Kimmon? ‘You must have enjoyed killing Chloemon.’

There it was again, that thought. Did she enjoy it? Was she supposed to enjoy it? Why didn’t she know?

“Hey, are you okay?” Wormmon questioned as he moved towards her. Nameless blinked as she looked down at the Digimon who approached her without fear.

‘Teach it its place, show it why it should fear the Dark!’ Was that her name Dark? Should Wormmon fear her?

Wormmon looked at her for a moment and she saw his soften. “You remind me of someone dear to me. He was lost just like you.”

“I’m not lost. I’m…” Nameless looked towards Duskmon who glared down at her.

‘You are Worthless,’ Duskmon reminded her with disdain. Nameless felt a small part of herself scream and kick at being named Worthless. So she ignored that name.

“Do you not have one?” Agumon questioned as he watched her. Nameless didn’t say anything as Wormmon moved closer the her.

“I am…” Thoughts and memories passed through Nameless. She wasn’t Marinette, but she had her memories, or at least parts of them. Parts of them that weren’t. But all of them were… “Dark?”

“Are you sure?” Wormmon questioned as he sat down near her. Duskmon told her how she could easily kill the Rookie but Dark didn’t move as she thought. Her thoughts kept going around as she thought again about the talk with the other her. “It’s alright if you aren’t sure. My friend lost his way too, I’m sure you’ll find your answers.”

With that, the three fell into silence while Duskmon kept up his glare. ‘You won’t find your answers. You are merely a worthless shadow with dreams of grandeur. You will die and be absorbed unless you take control.’ The dark knight growled out with a hiss. ‘Darkness must rule or risk being destroyed by the Light!’

Would that happen? Would Marinette destroy her with the Light? She will have to ask the armor user the next time she comes into her soul.

“So what do you do for fun?” Agumon questioned starting another round of questions and answers that confused Nameless. She didn’t hate it though, it was nice not being stuck in that room or having to constantly listen to Duskmon. Maybe she would understand more if she had more memories. After all, she just remembered the laughter of others while she cried for help.

“We can never forgive them,” The words came out again. But now she knew for sure. Neither Nameless nor Marinette could ever forgive the ones who threw her into that room or the ones who ignored their cries for help. Especially their so-called ‘friends’.

‘Your revenge will be achieved,’ Duskmon informed the girl. There was no promise because as far as the Prince of Darkness was concerned it was fact and already done.

Chapter Text

Adrien walked to school the next day while trying to think. What could he do to help Marinette? Maybe he could get her a gift? Chloe always liked getting gifts, but what could he get her? What does she like? Well, he knew she wanted to be a designer, so maybe he could get her a sewing machine or some fabrics?

Wait, could he do that? Adrien didn’t know about her dreams and aspirations. No Chat Noir, the person she had known for barely a day knew more about one of his friends than him. It hurt him a bit to realize that he, a person who hung out with her on the regular knew less than he liked. Heck, now that he thought about it the model didn’t put much effort into getting to know her. He would have to fix that, though that still raised the question of what he could get her.

A grunt drew his attention to his bodyguard who was following close to him. Adrien had managed to persuade the big man to allow him to walk to school. He needed the walk as it helped clear his mind. “Thanks for letting me walk.” The bodyguard still didn’t say anything but Adrien was grateful. He should do something nice for the man. Maybe get him some nice pastries? The man had a sweet tooth and Adrien had one that he rarely got to indulge. As they neared Adrien looked around to take in the scenery. He couldn’t do that from the back seat of his car, well he could but being able to walk made it different.

It was as he was doing this that his mind poked at him. Something about this block poked at his mind. But before he could put more thought into the matter Nino came up to him and the two friends walked to school together. Although seeing him had Adrien remembering something. Mainly the interaction between Nino, Alix, and Marinette. There was something there, something he wanted to know about but nobody seemed willing to talk about. Did his other classmates know anything about it?

He was tempted to ask Nino but knew that if his friend wanted to talk about it then he would. So Adrien knew he wouldn’t get anything from the cap-wearing boy Adrien instead decided to instead just wait. He would wait for Nino to feel comfortable enough to talk about what had happened. That or Alix would explain.

“So are you going to go back to your club?” Nino questioned with a bit of… Adrien wanted to say fear? Trepidation?

“Yeah, I’m going to check out the club and see how Alya and Marinette are doing.” Adrien got out with a laugh. “I hope the two are okay, I mean there was that Akuma alert and the videos.”

“Yeah, I bet the dudettes are fine,” Nino nodded while pulling out a bubble wand. Having known him for a bit Adrien knew that his friend mainly did it to relax when he was stressed. Looking back the boy saw his bodyguard stop at the steps near the school. The man gave a nod before leaving. Adrien felt beyond grateful to the man and gave his own nod back. “So, do you… do you know if anything is coming up?” Nino began with hesitation only to rush out the last bit. Adrien had a very good feeling that his friend had changed the question at the last moment.

“Hmm,” Letting his mind go on the matter Adrien blinked at a realization. “Oh, my birthday is tomorrow!”

“Wait?” Nino questioned as he gave the boy a look. “Did you really just remember that your birthday is tomorrow?”

“In my defense, I usually don’t have to remember or remind people,” Adrien shrugged as he explained. “I mean most of my information is public.” Nino nodded to that and with that, the two fell into a nice quiet walk. He wondered if his friend was going to have a party. Deciding to ask Nino wasn’t prepared for his friend's bittersweet look. “No, not really. Me and my mom used to have small parties with a few other staff members but that was about it.”

“Well, maybe you could try asking your pops again?” Nino questioned while Adrien sighed.

“I’ll try but no promises,” Feeling like that was going to be the best he could get the two walked into class and took in the classroom. Alix was standing near Kim and Max talking to the two. The rest of the class was not so subtly listening in. Chloe had a superior smirk on her and seemed to zone in on him the second he stepped in.

“Adrikins! Did you see the fight last night? My friend was amazing wasn’t she?”

“She’s your friend? I didn’t know you two hung out?”

“We haven’t hung out yet but I know the two of us will get along together perfectly,” Chloe said this as if it was a matter of fact. Next to her Sabrina nodded which made Adrien think of something.

“So I take it since you are her number one fan you made her a fan site?”

“Ugh no,” Chloe huffed out with a frown. “There was a half-decent one up already so I decided to use it.” His childhood friend brought out her phone and showed him the site.

“Half decent? That’s a big compliment coming from you,” The boy commented while seeing Unity’s name floating on top of the page. That already made it better than most. Though that did raise the question of who made the site. Did Unity make it or was it someone she trusted?

“Yes, I’ll send it to you.” Giving a thankful nod Adrien took his seat just in time for Alya to enter the class. The red-haired girl looked around and spotted him. She immediately made her way over to him and Nino.

“You missed a hell of a time last night Adrien!” Alya grinned down at him.

“I saw the news,” Adrien rolled his eyes while on the inside he was grinning. After all, he was there. “So Alix was right and there were ghosts haunting the place?”

“Yeah, the pres found them. She set up cameras and such and was able to get footage of them.” Alya excitably explained with a glint in her eyes. “Do you think she’ll let me borrow the cameras so I can upload the footage to my blog?”

Something about how she was phrasing things was tripping a few alerts in Adrien's head. He had no idea what she was doing but he knew she was doing something.

“You’re in a club Adrikins?” Chloe questioned as Adrien nodded. His mind though almost froze up. Was Alya trying to…

“Oh yeah, he joined the club before I did.” Alya pushed ahead pitching her voice to draw in attention. The model shot a look toward Nino who seemed to also realize what the reporter was doing.

“Hey duddette-”

“You should see him and the club president. The two are constantly flirting with each other.” Alya made sure to talk over Nino while giving a smile that was too sweet. Adrien looked around himself and saw that the commotion drew the attention of the class.

“Oh does this ‘club president’ have a name?” Chloe questioned as Alix seemed to realize what was happening.

“Alya!” The short girl called out, drawing attention to her. “It’s good to see you alright-”

“Of course, she has a name,” Alya had briefly looked toward Alix but after listening for a moment had returned to her previous conversation. Adrien sat there frozen in indecision. He wanted to know, he wanted to know so bad but at the same time, he very much doubted that Marinette would want people digging into her past. Adrien knew he hated it when people dug into his personal life. He had gotten used to it but it still irked him a bit when he kept finding people posting things about him on social media so he guessed that Marinette would want the same.

“Alya I-” Again Nino attempted to cut them off and Adrien attempted to reach a decision. He needed to do something. He felt more people looking at heard movement.

“Marin-” Alya ducked to the side as Alix attempted to tackle her. Adrien had to blink at that while the room grew quiet. “Ette Dupain-Cheng,” Adrien swore he heard something but at the same time, the classroom had somehow become quieter.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” Rose asked in a slow drawn-out method. Juleka placed a hand on her shoulder while looking towards the group of four. “Did, I hear that right?” The pink girl questioned as she looked towards a thin red-haired boy who sat alone in the back.

“Adrikins did she just say-” Whatever Chloe was going to say was cut off as the teacher entered the room. Alya gave Adrien a look before going to her seat. The boy felt his stomach twist a bit as he first looked towards Nino who had his face buried in his hands before looking behind him and had to blink. Chloe was pale and her mouth hung open. Her eyes seemed dull and unfocused before Sabrina shook her shoulder. His childhood friend seemed to blink back to awareness. She seemed about to say something only to stop as the teacher began her lessons.

The lesson was something he already knew so Adrien instead thought about the reactions of the class. He felt his already twisted stomach somehow turn itself more while a pit started to develop in his stomach. Something was wrong, something had happened. Once more the indecision of whether to dig into Marinette’s past knawed at him.

Time crawled by from Adrien’s perspective while he attempted to figure out what to do. Maybe he should call Marinette and ask if it was all right or if he should stop Alya. Could he stop Alya? She had already told the class and now the class knew where to find her. Thinking of it like that he would definitely would need to let her know. Looking over he saw various class members swapping notes or texting.

Feeling someone poke him Adrien turned to see Nino sliding a note towards him. Opening it he read it and gave his friend a nod. His friend very rarely asked something of him and it was a reasonable request and it would also give him a chance to talk to Alya. Having something else to focus on, Adrien was able to relax somewhat.

When the bell rang for lunch Adrien moved over to Alya. “Hey Alya let's go eat. I think I saw a pastry shop on the way to school.”

“I brought my-”

“I’ll pay, come on we need some club bonding time,” Adrien pressed and Alya looked at him before glancing around.

“Alright I suppose I’ll talk to OUR classmates later,” Alya said with a too sweet smile. With that, the two walked out of class with Alya making sure to look while following her club member out. The others didn’t say anything but followed Adrien out. The two made their way out of school and across the street not talking the entire way.

“So was this your idea or was it Nino’s?” The reporter questioned as they neared the bakery. Adrien stumbled a bit but did not see a point in lying so he told the truth.

“Nino’s.”

“I see, I guess he wanted to talk to the class.” Alya talked out loud with a slight lilt in her voice. “Hopefully they decide to tell us what happens on their own.” Adrien didn’t respond because he was still unsure if he wanted the class to tell them. He wanted to know but it felt wrong for someone else to tell them behind Marinette’s back.

“So any idea what you want?” Adrien changed the subject as they got to the bakery. It seemed that they had gotten lucky and there wasn’t a line. Behind the counter, a small black-haired woman stood looking at the two. They blinked at the two before her customer service seemed to grow genuine.

“Excuse me are two Alya and Adrien?” She asked shocking the two.

“How do you know who I am?” Alya questioned as Adrien blinked. He was used to being recognized but how did they recognize Alya?

“Oh my brother-in-law told me about you joining the ORC,” The woman said while smiling at them.

“Your brother-in-law?” Alya questioned while tilting her head. Adrien hummed as he thought. “ORC?” Adrien recognized that abbreviation at least.

“Do you mean Occult Research Club?”

“That would mean that you are talking about Dave.”

“Yes, did I forget to introduce myself?” The woman spoke with some apology in her voice. “Hello, my name is Sabine Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien felt his eyes widen at the introduction and turned to Alya who looked just as shocked. “I’m assuming you are here to meet up with my daughter?”

“Um, yes?” Adrien had a somewhat hopeful tone in his voice. Alya still looked shocked though she seemed to slowly be coming out of it.

“Well don’t let me hold me hold you back.” Sabine gave a motherly smile before grabbing a plate near her. She was quick to pile pastries onto the dish. “I hope you don’t mind bringing this up with you. I’ll let you know she is coming. Feel free to enjoy some of the food.” With that, she sent a text before gesturing toward the back. The blonde and redhead looked at each other before Adrien led the way back. Heading to the back he saw a man that seemed as big as the gorilla tending to the ovens with a hum. The two offered him a wave which he returned with a confused one before walking to the front.

Walking up the stairs the two opened the door and found themselves in a small living room. “Kinda shocking that she lives so close to the school,” Alya muttered as Adrien placed the plate on the table. The model however was looking around the house and taking in just how lived in it was. The boy was so used to clean white rooms with little to no dirt. He always hated how barren they felt. How each time he sat alone in the dining room it just reminded him of how alone he was.

There was none of that here though. This place looked lived in, it was a home. A home for a family.

“Agh! Dang it!” Marinette’s voice came from near the stairs as she attempted to put her coat on. The girl stumbled into the room with a glare. “How did you two find out where I lived?” Not getting an answer right away she blinked before seeming to realize something. “Crap!” One of her hands rose to her face as she dove towards a cabinet and fished around in one of the drawers. A second later she was placing a mask on her face covering up the other scars. “Sorry about that.”

“Sorry about what?” Adrien attempted to play it cool but it didn’t work, partly due to him coughing and having to correct himself. Adrien knew he needed to divert attention away from what was making her self-conscious. “As for how we found this place.” Putting on his best smile Adrien laid it on a bit thick. “It was easy. You see after eating the treats you brought in were the best so I looked up the best bakery in Paris which led us here.”

“While I know my parents make the best pastries they aren’t on the list.” Marinette waved it off while letting out a huff. “So be honest how did you two find my house?”

“Well, you see I was just walking by when the most delicious smell possible hit my nose.” Adrien quickly returned keeping his smile on his face and trying to maintain eye contact. He failed. His eyes slowly slid down from her eyes to the mask which hid even more scars. He remembered the moment when she came down and saw her face for the first time. He remembered seeing the rest of the scar that started above her eye and went all the way down to be a bit near her lips. Another big scar went from her ear towards her chin while smaller ones decorated her face.

Glancing over to Alya he saw her clenching her fists. No doubt the girl felt more resolved in her decision and even Adrien felt himself waver. He wanted to know what had happened to her but he didn’t want to do it without her permission. The main problem though was that he didn’t know if he had the courage to ask.

“Slightly more believable,” Marinette gave a nod as she walked towards the table. “So are we going to eat?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Alya took a seat while grabbing some food.

“Thank you,” Adrien took the food offered while sitting in one of the seats. Marinette took a seat at the table while grabbing her food. Seeing her still wearing her mask though had him frowning. He hated how he was the one who made her self-conscious enough to wear her mask. How was she going to eat with it on? Hopefully, she will be willing to take it off so they could eat together. Hopefully.

Chapter Text

Adrien felt full, and there was still food. He didn’t want this lunch break to end. Looking across, he saw Alya animatedly telling a story. “then Nora claimed she could easily beat the ghosts and Akuma by herself!”

“Really?” Marinette questioned while looking toward Adrien.

“Yeah, I mean, you think after seeing the news footage, she would know that brute force wouldn’t work.” The redhead said while taking a bite out of the food. “Could you imagine some random citizen just charging into a fight between the heroes!”

“I’m glad the Gorilla chooses to instead run away and attempt to get us out of danger,” Adrien added while he ate his lunch. He would need to buy some for the Gorilla.

“Think I could get him to babysit Ella and Etta? I swear those two could find trouble in the safest place.”

“He is already busy. I’m not allowed to go almost anywhere without him nearby.”

“So, is he outside right now, or is he just nearby?” Marinette questioned while watching the two.

“He is nearby. I think he hangs out in a nearby store or runs errands for Nathalie.” Alya tapped her fingers as she thought over what the blonde had said. She knew her fellow club member was rich, but it was also so easy to forget how he acted so normal. Both her and Adrien’s phones went off, letting them know their break was over. “Looks like we have to go.”

“Dang,” Alya muttered as she looked at some of the leftovers. “Do you mind bringing some of this to the club later?”

“Sure, I’ll bring some.” Marinette waved it off while Adrien tried to keep himself calm. Marinette hadn’t eaten anything, nor had she taken off her mask. “I’ll take it that you will be coming by later then?”

“And miss the chance to bask in your beauty? Perish the thought!” Adrien’s words were met with an eye roll while Mariette shooed them away.

“Go on and get going, you don’t want to be late and ruin your records.”

“For you, I’m sure that it would be worth it.” Still, Adrien grabbed his bag and gave Marinette his best smile.

“Oh really?” Marinette questioned as she leaned a bit forward. “It’s worth that little?” Seeing the confusion, Marinette explained. “If Nino and Alix are in your class, then I can only assume you have to deal with Chloe along with all of her drama.”

“Chloe isn’t that bad!” Adrien recoiled while Alya coughed into her fist. Marinette didn’t respond, though she did give him a look. Adrien couldn’t decipher the look, but he knew that it was negative. Remembering Chloe’s look from earlier, along with the rest of the class's reaction. There was also how his friend acted towards others. “Okay, she is a bit difficult.”

“A bit?” Marinette mockingly questioned. Adrien sighed as he tried to figure out what Chloe had done this time. Did it somewhat go against him not wanting to dig into Marinette’s past? Yes, but maybe they could just talk around it, or they could just talk about it. It would be a bit infuriating not knowing what had caused all of this, but he needed to respect boundaries.

“See you later Mari!/See ya, Pres!” With that, Alya and Adrien left. The two gave a wave to Sabine, who returned it with a kind, motherly smile. Seeing it hurt something in Adrien’s heart, but the boy ignored that part and instead turned to Alya. “So, are you going to keep digging?”

“We can’t stop now! This whole situation reeks of a potential Akuma situation! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to think of Marinette being akumatized!” Alya shivered at the thought, while Adrien stumbled at the thought. The thought of him having to fight Marinette scared him. His friend was smart, and she would no doubt be a dangerous Akuma! On top of it, there were the ghosts or Kemonogami, whatever they were called, and it was, “We need to sort out this situation before anything bad could come out of it.”

“That is a concern,” Adrien agreed, only to sigh. “But at the same time, if we dig into it, we risk Akumatizing our classmates.”

“That is possible.” Alya nodded before shrugging. “I will let it rest for now. We still have club after class, and I still have to get my homework done if I don’t want my mom to pull me out of the club.”

“Are you falling behind already?” Adrien questioned while giving Alya a confused look.

“No, it’s just that my mom wants me to stay on top of everything. Plus, I need to get it done if I want time to work on my blog.”

“You have a blog?” Adrien’s question hit Alya like an arrow.

“Yeah, I have a blog dedicated towards the two miraculous users. It doesn’t really get much attention. I’m not that good of a designer, so for the most part, it is just my articles along with some clips.”

“That sounds interesting!” Honestly, Adrien was a bit ashamed to admit that he hadn’t looked that much at how Paris had been reacting to his alter ego. Most of the time, he used his limited computer time to check in on Light or catch up on various other things. “Can you send me the link? Also, we can work on our homework at the clubhouse later. I’m sure Marinette won’t mind.”

“Are you sure? I have only been a part of the club for a day, but aren’t there like some club activities we have to do?”

“It’s not that type of club, I think?” Scratching his cheek, the model thought about the club. “We could at least ask, right?”

“Yeah, we could ask.” Alya nodded before blinking as they arrived at the door to their class. “Well, looks like we are here with-” The bell rang right as the door opened, “no time to spare.”

“Everyone get into your seat!” Ms Mendeleiv came into the class and wasted no time in getting to work. Alya took her seat and glanced at her other classmates. She once more wondered about Adrien’s concerns, but surely no one would be akumatized just from the little bit of digging she had done. At least the club would be a nice breath of normalcy.

~~~~~~~~

Max glanced over at the two members of Marinette’s club. Now, that was a thought that kept swirling around his mind. Somehow, his former classmate had made an Occult Research Club and got her hands on cameras and sensors able to detect the supernatural.

Alix had confirmed that they existed, but not a single one of them seemed to know just how much of an accomplishment those devices were. Max knew because, unlike the others, he knew. He knew just how much scientists were putting into researching the supernatural. The UH had poured millions into the research so that they could see a foggy outline of invisible foes.

The glass’s wearing boy had no idea how Marinette got her hands on such devices, but from what little he remembered, the black-haired girl was no tech wiz or inventor. Yet somehow she had these cameras. Max wondered if he could have a look at those cameras. It shouldn’t be too hard, he remembered that Marinette was a soft girl, so no doubt he could just apologize and she would let him get his hands on those cameras.

Having a plan, Max waited until school was over and decided to follow Alya and Adrien to their club. He gave a glance as they walked towards a car and got in. Frowning, Max wondered how he would be able to follow them now, only to remember something. Both Nino and Alix had been to the club, so they would know where the club was located. The two of them were very strict that they believed nobody should go and bother the girl. Max wondered just how to get them to tell him where it was before remembering one other thing. This he club had been posted to the school board, which meant that there was also likely to be an online post.

Sure enough, less a minute later, he had the address and started making his way to where the club was located. It looked like it was less than a fifteen-minute walk. Perfect, he can grab the tech then head home to study it. As he turned to start walking, he heard Kim call to him. Turning, he saw his friend run up to him. “Hey, where are you going, buddy?”

“I am going to check out some new tech that has been released,” Max decided to tell a partial truth to not have others deciding to follow him. After all, he wanted to get in and out, the others would make things way too complicated.

“Right! You told me the Fantistico stuff is coming out!” Kim cheered while Max hummed. That’s right, a few of his orders were coming out. He would pick them up on his way home after grabbing those cameras.

“Just to check it isn’t that VR thing, right?”

“No.” With that, Max left, thankful that he had a solid alibi. As he walked, he thought. It was always so easy to get lost in his thoughts when they got jumbled up like today seemed to want to do. It was honestly aggravating having so much happen at once. First was the whole Marinette situation being brought up and not left to rest as it should have. Second was the knowledge that somehow, cameras able to record the supernatural had gone under the radar, and Marinette had it. Now, being reminded that the new Fantastico parts were being released.

Now, that was an interesting line of thought. Fantasto had come out of nowhere and released parts and computer parts that were way better than anything else on the market. People had attempted to find out something about the new company on the block, especially when the vtuber Light came into the picture. Max didn’t care much about the AI model or whatever they were, but he did find the Tunneling system fascinating and has been closely following the tech company.

Getting closer, the boy blinked and felt some frustration at not being able to get his thoughts fully under control but pushed it aside. There was no need for him to get upset. He would get in and get the cameras. No need to get mad. With a last breath, Max walked towards the club. What could have gone wrong? Yes, he would make sure that it was simple, and there would be no need for any drama.

~~~~~~

Marinette prepared to head toward the club and made her way downstairs. The girl made sure that she had all of her coverings on. It was a bit shocking to see Adrien and Alya at her house, but it was a good reminder of the importance of having her covers on. Her face wasn’t that bad when compared to some other parts of her body, so at least they didn’t overreact.

“Hopefully, they aren’t digging into the mess,” Marinette muttered aloud, only to fall silent as no one responded. “Right, nobody here.” A feeling from her soul had Marinette relaxing. “Yeah, I know you are still here.” A feeling of contentment came from her soul as the crests responded as well. With that, Marinette walked down the stairs to let her parents know she was heading out. After saying her goodbye, Marinette walked towards the club, only to stop when she opened the door and came face to face with a girl. The girl wore a white jacket over a black shirt with a red tie hanging from her neck. The girl looked around her age and had short black hair and brown eyes. “Oh, sorry about that!”

“That is alright, though. May I inquire if you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” The girl questioned. Marinette blinked before giving a slow nod. “Good, I will be joining your club.”

“You are very forward,” Marinette noted as she started walking towards her club.

“I see no point in wasting time. I shall be joining your club.” The other girl followed right behind her. “Now I must ask what sort of test I must pass as to be allowed in.”

“Test?”

“Yes, I assume you have some sort of test that I will need to pass to be able to join your club. I have thoroughly researched various myths and legends. After recent events, I would also like to inform you that I am a skilled fencer, so I will be able to defend myself from whatever threat may appear.” Marinette blinked as she stopped walking and instead turned to look at the girl who had also stopped and met her eyes. The brown-eyed girl blinked as her eyes darted over Marinette’s face.

“There is no test, there is just some paperwork that needs to be filled out,” Marinette informed her while acting as if she didn’t notice the other black haired girl tighten her hold on the bag she was carrying. She was used to it by now.

“I understand.” With that, the two of them continued on their way. The silence between them balanced between awkward and comfortable. Comfortable in the way were Marinette could ignore the looks she was getting. “Do you prefer being called by your full name or a nickname?” The girl beside her asked, breaking the silence. Marinette blinked as she looked at the girl who wore an awkward smile.

“My full name,” The secret hero said slowly as if unsure. “You know, I don’t think I got your name?”

“Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Kagami, and I hope the two of us can become friends.”

“So, do you prefer your full name or a nickname?” Deciding to roll with it, Marinette turned the question back on Kagami.

“I believe I would prefer to be called by full name.” The response came out unsure. Marinette looked at the slightly taller girl, while Kagami didn’t look at her and instead seemed to be thinking about something. “What is your blood type?” Once more Kagami asked while giving Marinette another ‘smile’.

The fencer attempted to keep the conversation going, but she was unskilled at this type of activity, and the website she had consulted was proving only slightly helpful. It perhaps would have worked better if her mind wasn’t distracted by the scar she saw on her face. Kagami knew she shouldn’t judge, but the scar drew her attention. Her question got a negative answer, but Kagami’s practiced answer came out. She was rather proud of her type O blood and what it said about her. Once more, the conversation slowed, and Kagami used the chance to think about just why she was doing this.

Her mother learned from Gabriel that Doctor Dave Fantistico’s niece had made a club and the man was around in the club. This was the Tsurugi’s best chance to learn about their competition. So her mother ordered Kagami to infiltrate the club and either steal or gather knowledge about Fantistico’s tech. “What is your favorite season?” Kagami recited from the list. Already, she had learned much about the person she was talking to. Maybe they could be friends when this was over? She always wanted a friend and not some type of acquaintance or a sycophant.

“But then again, winter inspires me so much!” Marinette finished with actual joy in her voice. Kagami nodded as she remembered the girl’s answer. Looks like she got her answer for what blood type the blue-eyed girl was.

“You’re indecisive, scatterbrained, irresponsible. You have a split personality: typical AB.” While saying this, Kagami once more attempted to give a smile, but something didn’t seem to work as the girl across from her looked insulted. Marinette’s eyes flew wide open, and she sprinted past her.

“Look out!” Marinette was quick to grab a short old man who seemed deep in thought. The old man was about to walk into traffic. A second later, a car shot past them. “Are you okay?” The girl questioned the man, who only seemed to now realize what had happened.

“Thank you, young miss. I seemed to have been lost deep in thought.” The old man let out a sigh.

“You don’t look well.” Marinette looked at Kagami, who walked up towards them. “If you want, you can come with us. My club is nearby, and you can rest there, and we can get you some food.” The man looked like he was about to object, only to let out a sigh.

“I would appreciate that.” With that, the group of now three walked a little more before they arrived.

“We’re here,” Marinette responded with cheer in her voice. “We’ll get you the papers and show you around.”

“Thank you, though I must ask if there are any other club members?” Kagami asked while Marinette held the door open for both her and the elder, who gave them thanks.

“There are two other members, Alya and Adrien. Don’t worry; though they are both nice.” Although Marinette barely knew Alya or Adrien for that long, she felt like she had a good judge of their characters. Kagami nodded, and the two walked into the club. The fencer took in the information and thought about who the other person could be. She knew that Adrien Agreste had joined the club but wondered who the other person was. It didn’t matter though, she would win. Meanwhile, the older man seemed to perk up in interest.

“Well, look who’s here,” Dave commented as he started to gather up scattered papers. “I’m shocked your parents let you out of the house, considering what happened last night.”

“They seem to think you will keep me out of trouble.”

“Really? And here I was thinking that I was on thin ice with them.”

“You are. they seem to think that you being on thin ice would make you more you more dedicated to keeping me out of trouble.” Marinette put whatever she was carrying into the fridge. When she walked back, she held a crossont on a paper plate.

“Ah, here we go again with my brother demanding the impossible.” Kagami ignored the two as she looked towards the man. The man was tall and skinny, while the lab coat he wore only added to his appearance. “I see you brought a… I’m going to say new recruits?” While saying this, he brought out some forms that Kagami took while putting her bag down.

“New recruits?” A new female voice questioned as a girl, along with Adrien Agreste, entered the room.

“I’m guessing it is the rather striking beauty next to our club president and… I didn’t know we were accepting members not in school,” Adrien spoke in a smooth voice while the redhead rolled her eyes.

“My name is Kagami, and I am going to be the club vice-president,” Kagami’s voice came out as strong as she could make it. She needed to stake her claim and inform the others about what club position she would be taking. Adrien and the glasses-wearing girl looked stunned by her words. Seeing their reaction had Kagamit add her personal goal. The one she decided on as they walked towards the club. “I will also be taking the position of Marinette’s best friend.”

“Excuse me?” The girl who must have been Alya questioned.

“NO! To both of those!” Adrien cried out while looking very offended. “I was the first club member, so I should be both the vice-president and her best friend!”

“We shall see about that. I will have you know that I have yet to lose.” Taking the forms, Kagami gave a nod to Marinette along with her best smile. “It was good to meet you, Marinette. I hope that after I join your club, we can get some Orange Juice together.”

“Oh, um, sure, that would be nice?” Marinette scratched the back of her head. Giving her a nod, Kagami walked away, but not before giving the Agreste a look. “I look forward to being your vice-president.”

“I could say the same to you,” Adrien returned with a smile. Not a real one, but one of challenge. Kagami met it with a stare of her own. With that, she left the club after picking up her bag.

“She seems nice,” Alya flatly said while turning to Marinette, who let out a chuckle.

“I think she's just a bit awkward. I know what that is like.” Marinette gave a bit of a sad laugh. Alya looked at the girl with narrowed eyes.

“What do you mean? You are fantastic!” Adrien questioned, to which Marinette rolled her eyes. Marinette knew she seemed to have things together now, but that was far from the truth, and even getting to this point was a journey.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw me about to pour milk on my pancakes.” Marinette waved off his words. This seemed to upset the only young male in the club. Having a feeling Adrien was about to say something and decided to change the topic. “So what are we doing today?”

Alya looked at Adrien, who looked a bit miffed, so Alya decided to say what she and Adrien had talked about earlier. “I was actually going to work on my homework. I can’t risk falling behind.”

Marinette looked to her Uncle, who shrugged. “I, um, guess that is okay? Do you need one of the computers to do your work?”

“That would be nice,” Alya agreed while smiling at the shorter girl. Turning towards Adrien, she saw him seeming to be thinking.

“Do you think it would be possible for us to watch a movie together or maybe a show? I always wanted to watch something with a cute girl.” Adrien gave Marinette his best smile, to which he got a flat stare. Alya just let out a huff and walked over to the computers.

“Why do I feel like if I said yes, you would suggest OHSHC?”

“Oh, do you want to watch it? I have the Blu-ray box set!” Adrien almost seemed to be bouncing in his seat.

“Do you just walk around with the box set in your bag?” Marinette questioned, only to stop as she turned to the old man who was contently eating the food given to him.

“Well, I mean I don’t have it with me, but I could bring it next time!”

“It’s a Friday.” Marinette gave a flat response to which Adrien just chuckled. “But as for watching something, I’m sure we could set something up to watch.” The boy gave a very bright smile while Dave coughed into his fist.

“As nice as all of this is, I feel like we should ask our guest the common questions. You know; who is he, what he is doing and if he needs to go anywhere.” The old man chuckled before leaning back in his chair.

“I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Wang Fu and I was just going for my daily walk. Though I must admit that I am now rather curious about what sort of club you have here. It is rather small.” The man gave a warm, grandfatherly smile. Marinette shot a quick look towards her uncle, who met it. They couldn’t tell for sure, but that could tell he was going out for more than a walk.

“This is the Occult Research Club!” Adrien seemed to be happy to inform him about what the club did. “As you know, this cutie is our club president!”

“Adrien, you are not the president,” Marinette returned with a glint in her eyes.

“W-what! Excuse you! I am awesome, handsome, or amazing! I am not cute!” Adrien sputtered out while trying to puff himself up. Fu watched with great amusement while tapping his pocket in a silent signal to Wayzz. His trusted kwami knew what he wanted and departed. After all, if both Alya and Adrien were here, then no doubt Plagg, along with Tikki, would be here. There would be no better chance for the kwamis to talk than now.

“If you don’t want to be called cute, then you should stop being so adorable.” The black haired girl seemed to be enjoying his reaction. Looking at her and remembering how kind she was to him, Fu wondered just what Miraculous would fit her. Then there was the other girl who had also accompanied them. They would need more miraculous users if more beasts came to the world.

Chapter Text

Alya listened with half an ear to Adrien explaining the club to the old man. The blond was excitedly telling him about the various things they had been researching. The boy started to grab the books to show what his ‘gorgeous and smart’ club president had found. Marinette returned his flirt by pointing out that flattery wouldn’t get him a promotion. Focusing on her assignment, Alya went back to work.

As she worked, Alya marveled at the computer she was working on. It was a top-of-the-line computer, yet Marinette had just had the clubroom. Heck, she had three of them. A part of her wondered if she could borrow one. Not seeing anything wrong with asking Alya turned to ask only to stop as the door opened. Max stood in the door and Alya felt her gut turn a bit. This could either be really good, Max apologizes to Marinette and the reporter gets to find out what happened, or really bad. Akuma bad.

Alya took a quick glance at the others present to attempt to gauge their reactions. Adrien had taken one look at who entered and then turned around to shoot her a wide-eyed look. Fu and Dave just looked confused while Marinette, well she couldn’t read the girl. She just sat there not looking up. All the clothes on her made it almost impossible to figure out what she was thinking.

“Greetings Marinette, I have come to borrow one of your cameras so that I can understand the technology you used to make it.” Max stated this while looking towards the girl who sat at the table. Marinette didn’t look at

“I see you haven’t changed Max,” Marinette’s voice came out without any inflection and it didn’t feel right to Alya. Even though she had only known her club president for a short time it just didn’t feel right not to hear her sound so… dull. “I will not be giving you, or letting you borrow anything. I remember the last time I let you ‘borrow’ something.”

“Ah, I almost forgot about that.” Max muttered before shaking his head. “Are you going to truly hold something from a year ago against me? It was just a controller.”

“JUST A-” Marinette stiffened as her voice started to rise in anger. Anger that she seemed to quickly get under control. At least Alya seemed to think she got it under control based off of her body langage. “You took apart MY controller after saying I cheated.”

“There was very little doubt that you cheated. You brought your own controller that you modified in order to win the competition.” Max responded with a frown. Though Alya thought she could detect a bit of tension rising in him. “There is no way you could defeat me in Ultimate Mecha. You cheated.”

“Marinette wouldn’t cheat!” Adrien immediately jumped to Marinette’s defense.

“She would. I couldn’t find the proof but there is no doubt. Everyone else agreed with me.” Max’s voice came out matter of fact and Alya felt her blood boil. Turning to Marinette she expected the girl to be just as mad. If she was Marinette didn’t show it.

“My answer hasn’t changed.” The blue-eyed girl stated firmly to which Max scoffed at.

“Are you truly not going to share such revolutionary technology over something so minor? Or is about that prank the upperclassmen pulled?” As Max spoke Alya could almost feel the tension in the room start going up. The red head wondered if Max was doing it on purpose or if he just couldn’t read the mood.

“Prank? Is that what you and Kim called THAT!” Marinette questioned to which Max nodded. “If you have no business here then I request that you leave my club.”

Max seemed to decide to seek help from the others. His eyes darted around the room before they seemed to land on Dave. The boy’s eyes narrowed in anger before he once more looked at Marinette. “So that was how you did it? You had your uncle modify your controller? I’m guessing he was also the one who also made those cameras?”

“Kid I’m going to ask you to get off of my property.” Dave responded in a firm voice.

“So that is how it is?” Max seemed to shake before turning around. Marinette didn’t say anything as Max left and only sat there. After Max left Marinette let out a breath.

“You wanted was that?” Marinette’s voice came out shaky before she seemed to realize what she said. “Was want that Alya? Adrn?” Her voice grew more shaky as she spoke.

“Hey Mari? Why don’t you head to the back?” Dave softly spoke to his niece while he put a hand on her shoulder.

“Idea,” Marinette muttered something else as she stood up but Alya didn’t catch it. While she was getting up it seemed to break a dam as her limbs shook so badly that in the act of standing she knocked her chair over. This action caused Marinette to nearly fall over only to catch herself at the last moment. Alya was already in motion trying to stand up and from the corner of her eyes she could see Adrien doing the same. “Going,” Marinette all but shot out of the room. Adrien attempted to follow but was stopped by a stern-faced Dave.

“You two did enough for today.” The adult said with a bit of heat.

“But she could be akumatized!” Adrien argued with worry.

“Marinette knows how to handle herself. I will check on her. Fu, do you mind keeping an eye on these two?”

“I do not. Go and check on your niece.” The old man said while giving a sad smile. Fu watched as the adult left the room and closed the door behind them. “You two get back to what you were doing. I believe you were telling me about some of the stories of past miraculous you found?” The holder of the black cat miraculous hovered near the door while Tikki’s holder dropped back in her chair. The girl rubbed at her temples all while muttering to herself

“Oh yeah, well there is this story about a bug and cat saving a trade route from a sea monster.” Adrien began by opening the book he had brought over earlier. Fu could tell that his heart was nowhere in it. Every few moments, his eyes would dart to the closed door. Fu knew that the holder of Plagg’s ring was most likely terrified about having to fight his friend if they became akumatized.

Fu wasn’t too concerned. Just from watching for a short time, he knew that the girl was strong. No doubt she could avoid being akumatized. Though the other boy was a bigger risk. Hopefully it would only be an Akuma and not have yet another kemonogami interrupt the fight. Then again, they did have the help of the other hero, Unity if he was remembering right. He looked back towards Adrien and smiled a bit at seeing the picture in the book depicting the fight between two past chosen of the miraculous and an adult kemonogami.

Fu felt old memories slowly come forward. The monks telling them the past exploits of the miraculous holders. He had thought it pointless at the time due to the Other world being sealed off but the stories were at least interesting at the time. Adrien though didn’t know the full story and was just telling him the few things he had learned. The secret guardian wondered briefly if he should tell him the story before deciding that it was too much of a risk. Maybe he could share a few stories later saying that he just so happened to remember them.

Adrien once more stopped and Fu debated whether to keep him going or to try and advise him. A glance towards Tikki’s user showed her in a somewhat similar situation. The red-haired girl had leaned back in the computer chair and seemed to be thinking on a few things. Whatever else would have happened though was stopped when a large noise was heard from outside. A crash and loud thud was heard quicly followed by screams. “Oh no! Marinette!” Adrien cried out in horrer as he jumped up.

“I’ll set this right.” Alya gritted out as she jumped into action.

“I do not think that it is her.” Fu spoke aloud but it was pointless as the two had already left. “Kids these days.”

“You act like children were less reckless in the past,” Wayzz commented as he flew toward him.

“Oh shush you,” The old guardian waved off his old friend who chuckled. Seeing the door rattling open the turtle kwami hid as the two others came out of the room. Marinette’s eyes were a bit red however she seemed put together.

“Adrien, Alya!” The blue-eyed girl looked around the room but didn’t see the others.

“They left, I believe due to believing that you were the one akumatized,” Fu informed the two which got a groan from the uncle and niece. Marinette looked like she was about to say something only for the building to shake as the sound of fighting drew closer. “I believe we need to leave!”

“Marinette come out and face me! I will show you what happens when you challenge a true Gamer!” A loud voice called out to which Marinette flinched.

“Looks like Max was the one akumatized. Hopefully the two will head somewhere safe.” Dave commented as he went to the back. “Come on, we need to get going.”

The three were quick to leave but not quick enough. The building collapsed under the foot of a giant robot. “Come now Marinette, surely you aren’t backing down from a fair fight!” The building collapsed around the three of them and were nearly crushed under the rubble. Marinette grabbed Fu as her and Dave dodged as best they could. The secret guardian cursed his advanced age due to how reliant he was on the younger girl. She didn’t hold onto him for long and pushed him down one alley while she ran down another.

“You call this a fair fight!” The thirteen year old shouted out as she ran. Whatever else she had said was cut off due to the rubble falling around them.

“GOD DAMIT MARI!” Dave shouted as he helped Fu stand up. “How the heck am I supposed to keep you out of trouble when you act like this? Sabine is going to murder me.”

“Sabine?” Fu questioned as Dave helped him walk towards somewhere safer.

“My sister-in-law.”

“Ahh, good luck then.”

~~~~~~~~~

Adrien cursed as rushed outside the club house. This was the worst outcome. He had warned Alya about this but he had thought that Dave would have it handled but obviously whatever had happened in the past was way worse then he could have thought. “Plagg? Plagg are you here?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Plagg huffed out as he appeared near the boy. “Geeze you try and take a five minute nap and suddenly everything comes crashing down. Can’t a kwami catch a break?”

“This isn’t the time Plagg!” Adrien gritted his teeth as he glared at his kwami. “Marinette was akumatized! We need to save her! I need to-!”

“Marinette come out and face me! I will show you what happens when you challenge a true Gamer!” A voice called out through a loudspeaker.

“Well, good news for you, it looks like it isn’t your club president.” Plagg smirked at the boy in front of him. Adrien let out a sigh and relaxed to which Plagg noted. “So are we going to have a talk about why you didn’t want to fight your ‘blue-eyed, beautiful, smart, and beloved’ club president? Yet you are okay fighting anyone else?”

“Marinette is my friend Plagg. I don’t want to fight my friends.” Adrien scoffed before getting serious. “Now let's get going; we have an Akuma to defeat! Plagg, Claws Out!” With that Chat Noir came out of his hiding spot and rushed to fight the Akuma. As he got to the roofs the boy spotted the Akuma. Then again it would be hard not too. The Gamer used a giant mecha, a familiar one to anyone who had played Ultimate Mecha Strike.

“Well looks like we have our work cut out for us.” Scarabella commented as she landed near him.

“Too bad we don’t have access to Bugbot.” Chat joked to which all he got was a confused look. “You never played UMS have you?”

“No, I heard about it but never played.” The girl explained before shaking her head. The sound of crumbling buildings drew the attention of both of the miraculous heroes. “Come on, we need to defeat the Akuma before someone gets hurt.”

“Right,” With that the two of them started jumping from roof to roof following after the mech. As they started to get near the mecha Chat felt his heart clench in his chest as he saw Marinette barely keeping ahead of the mech. The Akuma took an extra forceful step that shook the area around them. Poor Marinette though was tossed around and was almost scooped up by the mech. The girl somewhat rolled out of the way, but her foot was still grabbed.

Feeling his anger flare at seeing this Chat didn’t hesitate and rushed in. The hero dove down his baton extending and slamming down on the hand of the mech. The baton hit the wrist and there was a crack as part of the machine started sparking. The mechanical hand jerked and let go of Marinette. The girl thankfully didn’t have far to fall and was able to recover quickly.

“Get out of here before things get worse!” Scarabella told the girl who gave a nod before stopping.

“At the risk of setting off Murphy: ‘How can things get worse’? I’m pretty sure fighting a two-story mech is already pretty bad.” Chat took a stance as he landed next to the ladybug miraculous user.

“Exactly! I, the greatest Gamer, am piloting the strongest mech from Ultimate Mecha Strick. I will show you, Marinette, how great I am without cheating!” The Akuma boasted as the hand slowly repaired itself. “Those pathetic heroes don’t stand a chance. Who could challenge me?”

“I think they want to,” Marinette commented as she drew everyone’s attention down the street. Adrien blinked as he suddenly felt like he was in a movie. From the other side of the street an angry black dinosaur with a white underbelly and red strips walked towards them. As it got closer the blonde could start to tell that this monster was about the same size as the mech.

“Damn,” Scarabella muttered as she looked between the mech and the kiju. “I’m starting to think we shouldn’t challenge Murphy.”

“Yeah, my bad,” Chat muttered in a low voice. The giant monster got closer and they could now make out the green spikes that ran from the top of its head to its tail.

“It doesn’t matter, I will defeat all of you!” The Gamer shouted as the mech burst into action.

“Look out!” Marinette shouted as she tackled Chat out of the way. The two of them rolled out of the way before they stood up.

“Thanks princess, but you should probably get out of here.” Not saying another word Marinette ran down a nearby ally. Scarabella landed near him as the Akuma let out an annoyed growl.

“So the coward has left? I guess I shall beat you before dealing with her.” A loud thud followed by an ear-deafening roar. “Tch! Fine, I shall prove that technology is superior!” Chat shot a look of confusion to his partner who returned it with one of her own. After all the mech was definitely magical.

“Hopefully Unity shows up soon. We are definitely going to need some help.” Chat muttered as he backed up trying to keep the two in sight. Scarabella didn’t say anything but Chat could see that was due to how tight she was holding herself. The girl was ready to move at a moment's notice and her eyes were darting around as she took in the environment. Honestly this situation was the exact same as being stuck between two rocks. Not a rock and hard place, after all both the Akuma and the kiju could move or attack at a moment. This was not good. Not good at all.

Chapter Text

Marinette ran around the corner before quickly shooting down another just to duck under a dumpster. As she lay under the dumpster, the girl looked around trying to see if there was anyone nearby. Not seeing anything, the girl brought out her phone and checked to see if she had any notifications. A few texts were sent from her parents to the family group chat. Deciding to take the initiative, Marinette called her mama.

“Hello? Marinette, are you okay? Is the Akuma near you?” Sabine quickly shot out her questions to which Marinette whispered her reply.

“The Akuma is near me, I’m hiding from it and the dinosaur that showed up.”

“The dino- never mind, where is your uncle?”

“I don’t know we got separated. The Akuma was destroying buildings and some rubble separated us.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Sabine muttered. From nearby the sound of the fight could be heard. Her mama must have heard because she was quick to hang up. “Alright, stay safe and call me when you are out of danger.” With that, the phone went quiet and Marinette let out a sigh.

“Whelp I’m covered now. I guess it is time to deal with the DarkTyrannomon and the Akuma.” After waiting a bit Marinette finally got to work. “Well might as well start with the friendship armor. Guess I’ll change depending on how the fight goes.” Pulling out her Digivise she selected her armor before transforming. With that Unity crawled out from under the dumpster. “Alright let's get to work!”

Running and jumping her way to the battle that hadn’t moved that far from where she had left it. The two miraculous users had seemed to decide that it would be better to let the Digimon fight against the Akuma while they attempted to evacuate the citizens. As she watched though she noticed some rubble about to hit Chat Noir. So using her speed the digital hero was able to get in between him and the rubble. With quick movements, she broke the blocks all while Chat turned. The cat-themed hero looked at her before giving her a smile. “Unity!”

“Hey Chat, how are things going?”

“What, not going to greet me?” Scarabella questioned as she landed near the two.

“Sorry Scar I didn’t see you.”

“You didn’t see the bright red hero?”

“Well you weren’t the most attention grabbing thing in the area.”

“YOU STUPID LIZZARD!” The Gamer shouted as they attempted to combo the Digimon only to fail as the DarkTyrannomon ramed into the Mech and bit down onto it. “That is not how you play!”

“Yeah, I guess we need to deal with that,” Chat looked at the fight with a frown. “Any ideas? My thinking cat isn’t working.” Scarabella just blinked and looked confused while Unity groaned. “What? I thought it was claw-ver.”

“Of course he puns,” Unity shook her head before turning to the two. “Do you two think you can fight the Akuma?”

“Now wait a meow-moment,” Another groan almost had him smiling, “are you saying you want to solo the kiju?”

“We need to get these two defeated as quickly as can.” Unity pointed out to which Scarabella nodded.

“That is a good point. We will need to beat them close together.”

“Well, there goes my plan to one-shot the mech.” The others looked at him to which Chat shrugged. “My power should let me destroy the mech.”

“If you destroyed the mech, that should leave the Akuma powerless.” Scarabella thought out loud. “That would leave us girls free to face the… what did you call those monsters again?”

“That monster is called DarkTyrannomon. It is around as strong as Fangmon, maybe a bit stronger.”

“I’m guessing that is the wolf thing from yesterday?” The ladybug’s question got a nod in answer. “Yeah, we are definitely going with this plan. I am not leaving you to fight that thing alone.”

“Alright then let’s get this plan going!” Chat pumped himself up. “Cataclysm!” Summing his power the black cat hero charged towards the fighting pair. Unity focused on the DarkTyrannomon which had managed to crush the arm it had bitten down on and was in the process of ripping it off.

“Lucky Charm!” Scarabella summoned her power while Unity rushed ahead. As she neared the black dinosaur the beast managed to finish tearing the arm off, which caused it to break down into black and green cubes. The DarkTyrannomon took a deep breath which caused the blocks to fly into its mouth, while The Gamer swung its other arm and managed to hit the Digimon’s head. The Champion-level Digimon stumbled back while it gave a growl. That was when Unity struck.

“Blue Thunder!” The blast of lightning struck it in the face. The Digimon let out a loud roar while it backed up. Pressing her attack she went for a kick only to have to dodge around a sweeping claw. The air force from the attack alone was enough to send her flying. Unity was able to grab onto one of the nearby street lights. DarkTyrannomon looked at her for a moment. The Digimon once more inhaled but as flickers of flames could be seen between its teeth, Scarabella landed a kick onto its head. DarkTyrannomon’s head snapped up while its burning flame flew up into the air.

The heat from the flames was still intense and had Scarabella retreating back near her. “Yeah, we can’t let that attack go off again!” The red-haired woman stared in wide-eyed shock at the black-red flames that flew from the Digimon’s mouth. The flames stopped and the DarkTyrannomon turned to glare at the two girls. “Thankfully, Chat has the Akuma dealt with.”

“ROUND 2!” The Gamer shouted as a fully repaired and powered-up mech appeared around almost out of nowhere.

“CHAT!” Scarabella yelled turning to her partner who dodged the reformed mech. The black cat used his baton to land near the two girls.

“How was I supposed to know he had a second health bar?” The green-eyed cat asked with a bit of frustration. Unity noted him holding a red and black spotted rope. No doubt the Lucky Charm that Scarabella had summoned. Why had she given it to Chat though? Did she intend to have him tie up the Gamer so they could break the object and purify the Akuma after defeating the DarkTyrannomon?

“Well he is a fighting game character,” Unity joked hoping to relieve the tension. Still his mind hung on the Lucky Charm. It felt like they weren’t meant to use the rope like that. “Still though he must be using a cheat or something else to stay at full power after respawning.”

“It is a feature not a cheat!” The Gamer shouted as they took a step forward. “Now, though I have fully restored health and power! I hope you are ready, AGH!” DarkTyrannomon took this chance to hit the Akuma with it’s tail that was glowing with power. Unity looked around trying to figure out what to do next. Before she could do more though the other two acted.

“Chat give me the rope!” Scarabella shouted as she ran forward. Chat seemed stunned for a moment before running after his partner. It was as they were running that Unity saw it. A cube that was slightly floating above the ground. Unity felt her energy start flowing but it was as she had started moving that everything started going wrong. It started with Scarabella using her Lucky Charm set up a trip line with Chat’s help. The Gamer

The ladybug user used the rope to trip the DarkTyrannomon with the help of her yoyo. What she didn’t notice though was the cube right behind the Digimon. Meanwhile, the Gamer managed to push the Digimon over the trip hazard and right onto the power-up. Whether this was intended or not she didn’t know or not. However, the effects were quick to notice. DarkTyrannomon crushed the box, releasing a surge of data and power. All of which were absorbed into the Digimon who let out a scream.

“DarkTyrannomon X-Digivolution!” An egg formed around the evolving Digimon. The egg at first was white before shifting to black with green lines running along the edges of

“Shit!” Unity shouted as she instead used her power to break part of the mech. “We need to get out of here now!”

“What is going on?” Scarabella questioned as she stared at the egg that was glowing and seemed to be palpitating. Like a heart.

“It is Digivolving! When it gets out, it will be too strong-”

“Then I will kill it now!” Gamer shouted as they used their mech to attempt to crush the egg. The moment he started to attempt to crush part of the egg that was when it hatched. The shell started breaking apart and turning into small particles that flew off revealing the new monster.

“DarkTyrannomon X!” The Digimon looked similar to its priour form but now it stood bigger able to now loom over the mech that it gripped in sharpened claws that now looked like they were somehow even sharper and an even stronger steel. Red lines now decorated it the black skin of the Digimon. Meanwhile the tip of the tail burned in green flames. A haze surrounded the beast but from what the Gamer neither knew nor cared.

“Change your appearance it doesn’t-!” Whatever the Akuma was going to say was cut off due to the Akuma grabbing the arms of the mech and starting to push. With ease the mech was able to push him back before ramming it through a building. The Gamer lost control of the mech as he stared with wide eyes at the dinosaur which started pushing the robot through the building as well. The mech bared its teeth with vicious glee as the mech started to crumple in on itself. Not only that but it started to become obvious what the haze around DarkTyrannomon X was. It was heat. The thing was emitting heat. Enough heat that parts of the mech were breaking down and even some bricks were melting. “This isn’t fair! This isn’t fair!” The akumatized boy crawled away as the dinosaur's jaw opened. Gamer could see what was going to happen next. Those enhanced and powerful teeth would tear apart his cockpit leaving him defenseless.

A loud crack was heard and his hatch was blown open. Unity dropped down with the Lucky Charm and within one moment she grabbed him and jumped out of the hatch. He watched as DarkTyrannomon X bit through the cockpit. Gamer was dragged behind as the girl as she jumped from a streetlight to a roof. Chat Noir stood on the roof with a look of horror. The sound of crunching was almost deafening making her have to speak louder. “Chat! We NEED to get out of here! Where is Scarabella?” While saying this the girl bound Gamer as tight as she could. Not that it was needed as the Akuma had passed out. Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

“She was following you-”

CRACK!

The two turned and saw a red blur pass by them and slam into a nearby building. The sound of crunching metal never stopped making Unity slightly curious about what had happened to Scarabella but concern outweighed anything. Tossing Gamer over her shoulder Unity was only a second behind Chat. The two were quick to arrive at an abandoned building where an out cold Scarabella was embedded into the wall.

“Scar!” Chat called out in concern. Unity was quick to check over the other girl’s pulse.

“She is alive. It seems the suit took most, if not all of the damage.” As Unity said this Scarabella’s miraculous beeped. Looking at it Unity saw that there was only one dot left. That shouldn’t have been correct. Another beeping had her remembering something. “Chat how much time do you have left on your miraculous?” While she asked this Unity started the processes of freeing the ladybug user from the wall.

“Um, three minutes?” Chat had a slight questioning tone to his voice. With great care she managed to get the other girl free. Knowing there isn’t much time before the miraculous ran out of power Unity’s eyes darted around for a way to protect Scarabella’s identity. Seeing a potential solution the armored girl looked to Chat.

“Chat start gathering as much paper or other supplies as you can,” Unity requested while hurrying over to a table. Rushing over Unity was quick to place the other girl under the table thankful the other side was blocked.

“I got the supplies,” Chat informed Unity who got onto the table. A red glow came from under the table while Chat’s miraculous beeped.

“Thank you Chat. Go recharge your miraculous. We are going to need you at full power.” Unity took the supplies before moving near the edge.

“Good idea, I’ll just go over here.” Chat ran around and ducked behind some displaced filing cabinets.

“Scarabella? If you are awake please stay under the desk. I’m just going to push over some stuff to try and hide you better.” Ignoring Chat for the moment, Unity spoke to the girl beneath her. Doing as she said she dropped some boxes near her.

“Wha?” Scarabella’s voice came out sounding confused. “What happened?”

“You took too much damage and the miraculous used most of its remaining power to protect you.” A squeaky voice spoke from down below. Unity attempted to keep herself in check but it was so hard. She had work to do. Starting with grabbing a chair to shove the Akuma into the seat.

“And to think that it is usually my kittens that are reckless,” A gravely voice announced from nearby. Turning slightly Unity felt herself vibrate a bit. The voice came from a small black CAT Kwami. He, Plagg, was so cute!

“Hey!” Chat’s voice called out from by the filing cabinets. Unity focused back on her work of making sure the Gamer was fully bound and couldn’t escape.

“Oh,” Tikki spoke as she beheld the girl in front of her. The Kwami’s big blue eyes stared at her. Unity attempted to keep her focus on her task. Just a little bit more. “Are you Unity?”

“I think this should be okay,” Unity slowly spoke while putting the finishing touches on the Akuma. Mainly taking off the glasses that were the infected object. “Should I put a jar or something over the object to make sure the Akuma can’t escape?”

“Yeah that should work,” Plagg commented with a huff. “I gotta admit you are a bit different then I was expecting.”

“Oh? What were you expecting?” Unity questioned as she started running around the room looking for a jar or something close. Thankfully someone had a large jar full of coffee grains in one of the cabinets.

“Hmmm, someone a bit taller?” Plagg questioned as he watched her shoot around the room before appearing by the trash to empty the jar of coffee.

“Hey, I’m tall enough!” Unity replied a bit indignantly.

“Tall enough to require a step ladder to reach the second shelf?” Plagg teased with a bit of mirth.

“Plagg!” Tikki gasped before turning to Unity, who placed the akumatized object near the jar. “I’m so sorry about him.”

“It's okay. He is a cat after all,” Unity waved it off as she used her power to break the object. The Akuma flew out of the glasses and into the jar, which was quickly sealed. “Does it need air?”

“I do not believe so,” Tikki hummed for a bit before shaking her head. “No, they do not need air. The power of Nooroo should allow them to survive.”

“Great we have that solved, so what do we do about the dinosaur running around?” Scarabella’s slightly woozy voice came from under the desk.

“Do you need some water?” Unity questioned with some concern. “There is a water cooler here.”

“If you could, that would be great.” Tikki spoke as she floated near Unity who started filling one of the paper cups with water. “Could you fill one up for Chat too?”

“No problem,” With the two cups filled, she handed them over to the two Kwami. She received a thanks from Tikki while Plagg just grumbled.

“I’m not a delivery service,” The cat muttered and Unity could no longer ignore the wants of Marinette. Her hand shot out and she petted the cat. Plagg froze up for a moment when she moved, but he relaxed as her fingers went to work. Tikki giggled as she watched this interaction. A few seconds later, Plagg waved her off. “Hey no messing with the fur!” With that the black cat Kwami flew off. “Kid! I brought you water! You better have some cheese for me!”

“He never changes,” Tikki said with fondness. Scarabella coughed, no doubt interrupting what she was about to say. “I’m coming.”

With the Kwami away Unity waited a moment before speaking. “So about the ‘dinosaur’ you were talking about… We can’t beat it.”

“What are you saying?” Chat questioned with shock.

“That is what we have been saying!” Plagg called out. “Though I haven’t ever seen anything like that Kemonogami before.”

“It looked like it evolved but only lightly changed itself,” Tikki added on while she floated back up to once more look at Unity.

“It X-Digivolved,” Unity commented while looking at Tikki. The girl scoured her mind to try and remember if X-Digivolution existed back when the Order interacted with the other world. She didn’t think it did, but she couldn’t say it with a hundred percent certainty.

“X-Digivolved? The heck is that?” Plagg questioned while floating up to give her a look. The black cat took a bite of the cheese that he was holding.

“X-Digivolution is a process of Digivolution that uses the X-antibody. This causes mutations and other such changes that make the Digi- I mean Kemonogami stronger.”

“I never heard of such a thing,” Plagg muttered while glancing towards Tikki.

“She isn’t lying,” The red Kwami sounded unsure before floating down to sit on the desk. “What do we do? We can’t get near the Kemonogami due to the heat it is emitting.”

“Plus it is much stronger,” Scarabella muttered low enough that Unity almost didn’t hear her.

“I think it is obvious what we need to do. You guys use Kaalki to head back to the Order and grab the power-up potions along with some other miraculous. We could definitely use Roaar’s help with… this…” Unity started strong, only to trail off as she looked at Plagg who shook his head. Tikki just gave her a wide-eyed look.

“Who’s Kaalki?” Scarabella questioned. Unity started to feel her stomach drop.

“We have power-ups?” Chat’s follow up question had Unity feeling a bit sick.

“Kaalki is another kwami and we HAD power-ups,” Plagg waved it off while Unity felt her jaw hanging open.

“You, you guys aren’t part of the Order?”

“What Order?” Scarabella questioned as Unity almost fell out of the chair.

“Y, you,” Unity attempted to put herself together. The girl took a few deep breaths as she tried to get herself under control. Her breathing was getting a bit harder. Her mind shifted back and forth. How could she fight an X-Digivolution without help? Could she still use the X-Antibody now that she was back in the real world? A loud roar was heard helping her mind to get back on track. “Right need to deal with that.”

“And how are you going to ‘deal with that’? Last time I checked YOU said that you couldn’t beat it.” Plagg questioned with a heavy drawl.

“I did, but that was if we played things safe.” Unity slowly slid out of her chair while glancing towards the now de-Akumatized Max who was still out cold. “With no power-ups or other kwami to help then we have no choice.”

“How dangerous?” Chat questioned with some concern. A rumble shook the building while two buildings fell down. “Never mind, we need to do it!” Unity could feel the heat starting to rise and tried to keep focused.

“Well, to start with I’m going to need one of you to temporarily lend me your miraculous.”

“What?” Scarabella questioned while the girl attempted to move, or at least that was what Unity guessed, before letting out a groan.

“Scar? Are you okay?” Chat questioned as soon as he heard her pain.

“My miraculous protected her the best it could. Unfortunately, due to only being partially powered at the time. I couldn’t fully heal her, I’m sorry.” Tikki explained with some sadness in her tone.

“Well, that settles it then. Your holder will hand over her miraculous.” Plagg gave a firm nod. “My holder isn’t injured so it would be better for me to stay with him.” Unity didn’t say anything, although she agreed with the cat Kwami. Tikki floated nearby before she floated down. No doubt to talk to Scarabella. Plagg seemed to decide that he would need some more cheese and flew off to talk to his holder.

Marinette just remained in her slump position. Slowly, she brought out her Digivise. Looking at the device, the girl thought of her plan. “I wonder which armor is the most compatible with Plagg and Tikki?” In the past she had managed to armor evolve the Renlings so it should at least be possible. If not, then she would need to risk using the X-Antibody.

The armors she needed to use were obvious but not as obvious was which one of them would be using the Armor of Courage while the other would have to use the Armor of Light. Leaning back Unity let her mind work itself over before coming to the conclusion that she would need to use the Light armor. Meaning the connection between the hero Unity and the V-tuber Light would be exposed. Marinette hoped that her excuses/diversions would be up to scrutiny if people attempted to connect Light to Dave’s niece. Then again, her parents hadn’t connected so hopefully the magic veil that came with the armor would hold up.

Chapter Text

Marinette flipped her Digivise in her hands, waiting. She knew that she should just take the miraculous from Scarabella but she was willing to wait. Well she was willing to wait a few moments. Sadly the circumstances wouldn’t let her wait for too long.

As if to prove the point, another loud crash was heard. DarkTyranomon followed this crash with another roar and Marinette even saw a distant bout of dark flames. “Hey Unity?” Scarabella’s voice called out from her hiding spot.

“What’s up Scarabella?”

“You will return my miraculous after this fight, right?”

“Of course,” Marinette reassured the other girl. A few seconds later Tikki flew out carrying her miraculous with her.

“Give them hell girl,” Scarabella’s voice called out as Marinette took the miraculous into her gloved hand.

“I will,” Marinette glanced at the miraculous and let out a sigh. “Of course it is earrings.”

“What’s the matter?” Tikki questioned with a concerned look.

“I don’t have pierced ears,” The black haired girl admitted with a sigh. “This is gonna hurt.”

“Wait,” Tikki began to call out only to be stopped as Marinette had already pierced one of her ears and quickly did the other. “Um,” The ladybug Kwami stumbled over herself while Plagg cackled from where he was watching.

“Eight! This is the eighth time I saw this happen!” The black Kwami laughed while shooting a smirking smile at his other half.

“Are you okay?” Scarabella questioned before groaning in pain. Marinette had little doubt that they had attempted to move.

“Yeah, I’m good. It just stings a bit.” Marinette was glad that she was in a somewhat hidden corner. Just in case Chat had also attempted to check to see if she was also okay. “You ready to go Tikki or do you need some food? I think I have a cookie if you need to eat.”

“I am good, thank you though!” Tikki smiled at the girl who’s eyes crinkled. “Alright so usually at this point I would tell you how to use your powers but I’m guessing you already know the basics?” Getting a nod Tikki continued on. “That just leaves the transformation words. To transform just say ‘Tikki Spots On’ and the de-transformation is ‘Tikki Spots Off’.”

“Thank you Tikki,” With that Marinette took one last breath before giving the Kwami a look. Seeing the resolved look of the Kwami Marinette knew that the red Kwami was ready. “Tikki Spots On!” With that the transformation took place and Marinette, or she supposed she should decide on a hero name, noticed the difference between the miraculous and her armor. It was hard to put into words but the miraculous felt slightly weaker in terms of raw power but in terms of magic and defence it felt more complete. It felt somewhat more right. Although that could be just that she was never meant to use the armor while the miraculous were meant for human use.

Shaking her head Ladybug, yeah that name would do (It’s not like she would have the miraculous for long), got back on track and walked out of her hiding spot. “Chat Noir? Are you ready?”

“Depends, did Plagg finish his cheese?” The boy’s voice questioned.

“Cheese is meant to be savored kid! You need to take your time and enjoy it!” Plagg called out as he sat on one of the desks. Looking at the black cat Marinette saw that indeed he was still eating his cheese. Seeing her looking at him Plagg huffed before finishing eating. Ladybug silently laughed before giving him one more scratch on the head. It was as she was doing this that she noticed the mirror on the desk. Looking at the mirror the temporary holder of the ladybug had to resist releasing a gasp of air. Looking at the face Ladybug saw her face, her face without the scars. Her face was just as it was before the trip to Shanghai. The only difference was the red and black spotted mask and her eyes that were now a slightly different shade of blue. Much more in line with Tikki’s.

Well, she didn't need to worry about others discovering her identity like this. Grabbing the mirror she took a look at the rest of her costume. It was simple, just a red and black spotted suit. Her now slightly darker blue hair was held in two short pigtails.

Plagg gave her a look before flying over to where his holder was. “Alright kid, I’m ready so-”

“Plagg, Claws Out!” With that a green light shown from by the cabinets. “Sorry that took a while. Plagg can be a little shit every so often.” Chat Noir gave an awkward laugh as he walked out of hiding. The boy took her in for a moment before blinking. He looked like he was about to say something only to stop. “So what is the plan? You said you had a way to fight that kaiju.”

“Right, well I better go first.” With that she reached behind herself before stopping. “Hang on, I just need to find my stuff.”

“If you had anything on you it would be stored in your weapon,” Chat explained while holding up his own baton.

“Really?” Scarabella’s voice questioned. “That is useful to know.” Following his advice Ladybug brought out her yoyo and after a few seconds of looking at the yoyo swiped her finger along a part of it. The yoyo seemed to part around her finger revealing a glowing mass that after reaching into it she brought out her Digivise.

“Oh, that is your strange device right? What is that for?” Chat questioned as Ladybug took a breath.

“Don’t freak out alright?”

“Freak out?” Chat questioned as Ladybug took a step back before bracing her footing.

“DigiArmor Energize!” The girl called out while holding out her device. The Armor of Light came out of with a shining light before it shattered around her in bursts of white and purple shards. A small dog-like creature seemed to materialize as it soon darted around before one moment to the next becoming a cat that stood on two legs. As it darted around the white cat tapped on the armor which sent them slamming on to the girl. Each part of the armor that landed on her seemed to shift and merge with the suit, becoming one with it. As a final act the cat came close and in a burst of light the cat changed. Although Chat wasn’t able to see the figure.

All thoughts of what the figure might have been Chat had knocked out of his head as from the light a new figure walked out. No, he knew this person. Even through the magic of the miraculous Chat could recognize this person. The white/purple cat ears, a similar coloured cat tail, but most of all the Egyptian-themed armor even though it was now mixed with the ladybug suit was too distinct. Although the head piece changed a little to better let him see her face. “Alright I-”

“Light! Your Light!” Chat called out as pieces slowly connected. How had he not recognized her voice? He had listened to so many of her streams and listened to her songs yet it was only now that he did. “Unity is Light! Holy crap!”

“Ugh, I told you to not to freak out!” Light, no Unity, no um… Chat almost felt his mind shut down as he was now standing before his celebrity crush. “Listen, we need to focus! There is still a powerful Digimon that we need to defeat!”

“Right of course!” Chat nodded while trying to think of what to do next. Could he flirt with her? No, for right now it would be best to just get to know her. Besides flirting is more an Adrien thing. “I just had to take a meowt to get my thoughts in order.”

“Good, well come here,” Unity called him towards her. The boy approached and when he got closer Unity she held out her strange multicolored device. Within a moment she flipped it over and pointed it down.

“Place your hands on mine and I will start the ritual,” Chat did as ordered. Placing his hands carefully on top off her’s. He attempted to keep his blush under control and it became much easier when something orange dropped out. When it hit the floor it seemed to expand. Watching it with interest he saw that the expanding circle form a sun like symbol. “Chat,” Snapping his head up to look at the girl the black cat was momentarily stunned by the intense look in her blue eyes. “With this I ask you to bear the mark of Courage and take up the Mantle.”

“I accept,” The young hero responded as the orange sun started to grow brighter. A bit of heat slowly started to course through him. Not enough to hurt but enough to get his blood flowing. With a smile that did things to his heart the girl flipped their hands so the device’s screen was facing them. From the device in an egg like shape with a blade sticking out emerged. Words came out of his mouth, the same words that Unity had spoke. “DigiArmor Energize!” With that the heat in his veins turned into a burning flame. The egg burst apart before turning into flames that spread around him.

Unlike with Unity there wasn’t much of transformation sequence however as the flames spread and the crest rose from the ground upwards Adrien did feel something change. After the last of the flames had vanished the holder of the cat miraculous watched the circle rise above them before condensing back into an orange drop that fell back into her device.

“Whoa! Now that is a kick!” Chat opened his eyes and looked at himself. On his arms were now lightly covered in armor that bore the same flame designs that were previously on the egg. Looking at the rest of himself he saw that the same armor covered the rest of his body and when he checked he saw that his belt tail now had a red armored tip. While he was looking he saw that even his baton had been altered slightly. Grabbing it he saw that flames now decorated the ends of them. Spinning it he found that his weapon could still expand but as it spun the ends caught fire. Just like a fire dancer that he remembered seeing on one of his trips with his family.

“Just as expected. Not a complete unification but still good enough.” Unity spoke up from near him. Turning to look at her, Chat wondered what she meant. Was it due to how the armor formed on him versus how it almost seemed to merge with her? “You should be able to more easily fight against DarkTyrannomon. Although I should warn you that his power is temporary. I can’t say for sure for how long but we should probably get going.” Unity spoke as she made a few gestures to which Chat nodded. Chat had already noticed that the girl like to speak with her whole body. “Is that okay Scarabella?”

“Yeah, that makes sense. I will keep an eye on the Akuma.” Scarabella waved it off from her hiding spot.

“Don’t worry partner! We’ll have this beast defeated before you know it!” Chat reassured having noticed the slight pain in the hidden girl’s voice. Scarabella made a comment while Unity took a quick look over towards where Max was still out.

“Alright, let’s get going Chat!” Unity walked towards the hole in the wall. “I hope you are ready for an intense fight.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we have have this fight well in paw!”

“Alright, then make sure to show me your Brave Heart!” The girl gave him a look along with a small smile.

“Ah! Um, yeah!” Chat had to pull on his many years of modeling experience in order to not break out into a blushing mess. She had mentioned the song she had sung for HIM! The song she had sung because she had somehow known that he was having a bad time. “Let's go medieval on that prehistoric beast!”

“You have been waiting to use that one haven’t you?” Unity sighed in that oh so familiar way. “Well you are right. Let’s go fight a kaiju.”

“Good luck!” Scarabella called out as the two headed towards where they could faintly hear screams and loud thumping footsteps. Unity spread her wings and used them to fly. Chat watched her with a bit of awe. Unity swooped in close to him and grabbed one of his arms catching him before the cat hero could fall from his falled jump.

“Careful there, chaton.” The female hero chastised him. The girl brought them to a roof where they could see the DarkTyrannomon X still running rampant.

“So besides hitting it hard, do we have an actual plan?” Chat focused back onto the moment. He was a hero and people were counting on Chat Noir to save them! The hero would not let them down, he would defeat the monster before them!

“Well I suppose we see how well we can hit it first and if we don’t do enough damage then see what my powers give us to work with.” Unity suggested with a frown. “But we can’t take too long. After all, I don't fully know for just how long these armors will last.”

“Last?” Chat questioned looking at his arm as if the armor would fade.

“These powers are not limited by time but amount of power used. That being said I don’t know just how much either of us have. So try not to overdo it.”

“I’ll try my best!” Chat nodded as he compared what she had said to some video games he played. “No power moves unless to be used as a finisher.”

“Yup, now lets get this fight started.” With that the girl took a few steps away from him before expanding her wings. Flapping them the girl took to the air leaving Chat alone on the roof. Unity flew the last few blocks towards where the X-Digimon was walking down the melting streets of Paris. Pulling out her weapon, Unity had to stop for a moment as she looked at the yoyo. “Okay? Well guess I’ll try and work with this?” With that Unity swooped by the Digimon and threw her yoyo. As the yoyo flew through the air it started to glow in a white light. The ball hit the black Digimon and the DarkTyrannomon X seemed to stumble a bit.

The string brought the yoyo back to her hand as the giant Digimon turned its head to watch her. Flames licked at its mouth while it prepared its attack. A large burst of flames shot towards Unity. Using her flight abilities she ducked and weaved around as best she could. However even while avoiding the main attack the heat of flames still got to her. The suit protected her from getting burned but it was sill a lesson. She couldn’t risk getting hit by those flames at any cost.

“Unity!” A voice called out that had her looking towards a crumbling building. As she looked over the hero saw Chloe and Sabrina in danger. Acting quick the holder dove down and grabbed the two around their waists before with a more push of her wings Unity managed to carry them away from danger. “As expected of my best friend. Though I have to question you about your new look. The white looks great but the red and black?”

“I’m using the Ladybug miraculous with my normal power.” Unity explained while keeping herself in check. Having Chloe call her or say that they were best ‘friends’ set her emotions on edge. Her anger bubbled, memories tried to rise to surface, and the pipes groaned. “I’m sorry to have to leave but I have a giant dinosaur that needs to go extinct.”

“I understand,” Chloe nodded with grave understanding. “Go show Paris what a real hero can do.” Not saying anything Unity took off leaving her former bully and her side kick behind. Getting up into the air Unity took a moment to calm herself. She couldn’t focus on Chloe. Not now.

Hovering in the air for a moment Unity saw Chat doing his best to fight against the DarkTyrannomon X. The Courage armored miraculous user was doing his best to fight against the Digimon. The blonde was attempting to land heavy hits only for them to be parried or blocked by the virus attribute Digimon’s large claws. The X Digimon let out a roar that shook the ground and sent Chat back a few paces. The dark Digimon then proceeded to take a large breath as its chest started to glow. From one moment to the next Unity had Chat wrapped up in her yoyo. Pulling him out of harms way she watched as the Digimon let out a flame breath that destroyed everything it touched.

“Thanks for the save bugaboo,” Chat gave her a grin as Unity grabbed him around the waist.

“Bugaboo?” Unity questioned as Chat slung his arm around her neck so as to better stabilize himself. “I’m am not taking that as my Miraculous name. You can refer to me as either Ladybug or Unity.”

“Aw, but Ladybug is so plain.”

“Yes but I’m not going to be using it for long.” Unity waved it off as she maneuvered them onto a roof. “Speaking of long I don't think we can test our strength against it any longer. This thing is causing too much damage and we need to wrap this fight up.”

Chat didn’t speak up for a moment as he took in the damage around the area. The street was littered with melting rubble, cars, and other assortment of damage. “Yeah, you're right. Let’s finish this thing off.”

“Alright then let’s start with a Lucky Charm!” Her yoyo shot into the air and with a flash of red and pink an object fell into her hands.

“A tuning fork?” Chat questioned as he looked at the red and black ornate tuning fork. Unity turned it around in her hands while she seemed to be thinking over something.

“I think I got something. I’m going to need you to keep it distracted for a bit. I’ll help out as best I can but this might take a bit.” Unity said as she leaned on the edge of the building. The girl tapped the tuning fork against the building. Her cute white, purple tipped, cat ears twitched. Proving that unlike Chat’s fake cat ears Unity’s were real! A quick look at Unity’s tail showed it twitching in an almost hypnotic way. “I should only be about a minute or so. Do you think you can keep him in this general area?”

“Don’t worry, I think I have this will in paw!” Chat winked towards her getting a groan. Preening a bit Chat gave her a wink. “Don’t worry I will keep him right in that spot for you.”

“At least you are diverging past just cat puns.” Unity muttered before letting her wings spread out. “Keep your coms open. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.” With that Unity took off into the air while Chat blinked.

“Coms?” The cat hero questioned only for part of his vision to blink as the sound symbol appeared. “Since when could I do this?” It would have been helpful if his miraculous came with an instruction manual.

“You don’t normally have this?” Unity’s voice came through, somewhere, in perfect clarity. It was as if she was talking into his ear. Throwing himself into combat so as to not focus on other distracting matters. “Also try to keep the coms as clear as you can. I need to focus.” With that Chat attempted to focus on the two story monster in front of him. The DarkTyrannomon first attempted to just stomp on him but Chat was able to somewhat dodge it. Unfortunately the stomp still kicked up some debris that pelted him. Ignoring it Chat retaliated with one end of his now burning baton. The DarkTyrannomon took the hit and jabbed a burning claw towards him. The attack was interrupted as a streak of white flew by grazing the top of the claw. The beast let out a loud roar.

Chat dug his baton into the ground as the roar almost sent him flying. “So this is what Link goes through? Man deserves the Triforce of Courage.” Seeing the, he thinks Unity called it a Digimon, start to turn to look for the person who shoot him Chat went to work on getting its attention back onto him. “Paw-don me!” Swing his baton with some more force Chat hit the dinosaur on the side of its large head.

“If you are going to keep punning then I’m going to turn off the coms,” Unity muttered with exacerbation. Chat liked to think it was found exacerbation. Seeing the next attack coming Chat shrunk his baton and rolled out of the way.

“But then you miss out on my hiss-tarical puns!” Ending his roll Chat noted how easy this felt. Putting this to the side the cat hero swung his blazing baton at the leg of the Digimon who only stumbled a bit before letting out a loud a roar as another streak of light shot close to their head. With Chat sprung into another round of landing maybe one hit while dodging as many hits as he could. That’s when another streak followed a moment later another flew by. “I don’t meant to be mean but I think you missed your shot.”

“Oh kitty,” Unity let out a chuckle as she landed next to him. The girl was spinning her yoyo picking up speed as it slowly grew brighter. “I don’t miss.” With that she slammed her yoyo down in front of her. The white light shot out in arks that soon Chat attempted keep track of. The arcs moved quickly but were caught by what seemed like arrows stuck into the ground. Widening his eyes Chat realized that those streaks of lights he saw earlier were arrows. The ark finished traveling making a rough circle. The circle glowed as the Digimon finished recovering themselves enough to notice that he was trapped in a circle. The DarkTyrannomon took a large step forward with a growl. This was the last thing needed as the road crumpled. The Digimon gave the two a very wide eyed look as the road under it collapsed.

“You really don’t,” Chat whistled as the DarkTyrannomon started to struggle to get out. “That won’t hold him for long.”

“That is where part two comes in. Separate your baton!” Unity spoke as she grabbed him and jumped into the rubble pile. The two landed on the head of the Digimon. Unity let go off him and tapped on the skull of the large creature below him. She narrowed her eyes before rushing over towards a section where she then took off her yoyo and after tapping her Lucky Charm on it. With a nod she tossed it up before slamming it down. While this happened the weapon grew light pink petals that spun around until it grew in size until it was as big as a tire with the yoyo itself only growing slightly larger. The string spun around in a display like flowers blooming. The string wrapped the head to attempt to keep it in place.

“Chat, I need you to beat on the yoyo. Treat it like a drum!” Unity spoke as the dinosaur started attempting to stand up. “I’ll protect you! Just play as best you can!”

“Don’t worry,” Chat spun one of his separated batons before stepping up to the yoyo. “I have some experience with drums.” Looking down on the drums he began beating the weapon. Relying on some of the experances he got from his music teachers Chat began playing. As he did though he fealt something off. Like he wasn’t doing it right. The loss of concentration cost him as the DarkTyrannomon tossed it’s head from side to side. The cat hero would have fallen off if not for Unity grabbing him. The femal hero gave him a look before her face relaxed to something softer.

“Hey, you can do this. Don’t force anything, just play what comes to you.” Unity said this while using her wings along with grabbing onto the string to keep them on the large Digimon’s head. “Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll protect you.” With that she brought them back to the yoyo/drum.

Looking at the yoyo/drum Chat took a breath and tried to figure out just how to do this. His usual playstyle wouldn’t work, for some reason, and he needed to come up with something. Looking up he saw his temporary partner destroying some ruble that came towards them before shooting off to launch some energy bolts. No doubt to attempt to keep their oppounet locked in place, somewhat. It was as he was watching her that he felt it.

With a determined expression and his blood heating up Chat began to play. He fealt the beat and barely notice as his two drumsticks started to burn. So into the beat he was that he didn’t notice as the flames that his drumsticks produced started to travel along the strings. Humming and light music started to accompanying his playing but Chat was only vaguely aware of this. He started playing a bit faster as sweat started pouring from him. As the beat started to pick up Chat fealt more power flowing from him and into the beat. So why not and more?

A little nudge made him feel as if Plagg agreed. Words came to him but he knew that he would need to wait just a bit longer before he could say them. He kept playing, increasing the beat. The Digimon increased its thrashing but Chat didn’t budge. He just needed a bit more time. He continued beating the drum as the time came closer. When the time came he raised the two drumsticks in the air. “Cataclysm Beat!” This time the parts of the baton glowed not only with the flames but also the wisps of Cataclysm. Slamming them down onto the drums sent the flames and dark wisps traveling along the strings and the pathways that he had not noticed forming.

An arm wrapped around his midsection as Unity grabbed him. “Good job chaton! Let’s get going!” With that she took to the air as the DarkTyrannomon began thrashing around. The Digimon though was done for as the flames and power of destruction traveled through them. With a long death cry along with it letting out a breath of destructive black flames. But that was the end. With a crack the Digimon’s body completely broke into pieces that dissolved into nothing. Not even a speck of the Dark Water remained. “You did it!”

“I did it,” Chat said only for his breath to come out as steam. Although looking at the destroyed area did not make him feel victorious. That or it was the sudden waves of exhaustion he was feeling.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” With that the girl holding him tossed her Lucky Charm into the air. The cure spread around him and with a look towards Unity Adrien knew that he definitely had more than a celebrity crush on the girl holding him. “Come on, let's go get Tikki back to Scarabella.” The smile she gave him combined with the light hitting her white, purple, and black hair had him at a complete loss

Chapter Text

Alya laid under the desk in the office building that Unity and Chat Noir had left her in. Her chest was still in a bit of pain but it was still somewhat manageable. Especially when she had something distracting her.

“Yeah, just like that!” Alya quietly cheered as she held her phone near her. On the screen, she watched as her partner Chat Noir slammed his burning baton into the head of the giant, dark dinosaur. The fighting was going rather well in Alya’s opinion. Yeah, he wasn’t doing too much damage but the DarkTyrannomon hadn’t managed to land a hit either while Chat had landed multiple hits. Unity was also helping by launching bolts of white light that seemed to do significant damage. “Get them girl!”

As if hearing her Unity shot two bolts although only one of them hit the… whatever the species was called. However, that seemed to be the point as after landing next to Chat Unity tapped her Lucky Charm on the ground. This caused the ground to shake before it collapsed, trapping the DarkTyrannomon in the road. From there the two of them got up on the giant's head. From there, Alya could only say that they performed a concert. Chat Noir played some sort of drum while Unity danced around him, defending the black cat from any harm. It stopped for a moment only for Chat to once more start playing again.

This time the beat was heard loud and clear. Unity seemed to join in with a wordless song and she began fluttering from area. Dancing to the beat all while destroying any rubble that came close to them or launching an attack to stop DarkTyrannomon from moving. The performance went on for more than a minute. Once it reached it’s end Alya felt her breath catch in her throat. The final strike set off a reaction that sent flames and black wisps that within moments utterly destroyed the beast.

“HECK YEAH!” The girl cheered as her smile grew even larger.

“Huh,” A confused noise came from the room. Alya shut her mouth tight. That’s right, Max was here. She needed to be careful, Alya didn’t know if he could recognize her voice when she didn’t have her miraculous on her. Tikki had somewhat explained that the miraculous somewhat protected her identity. It made it so her family wouldn’t recognize her the second they saw her pictures side by side. But she didn’t have her miraculous, Unity had them. So with that in mind Alya locked her phone, stopping the video. “Wah? What happened?” Max’s voice came out in a mix of confusion and drowsiness. “I, I remember going to that cheaters club. Then, then, yeah, that’s how she did it! She had her uncle make her that controller!”

Alya bit her tongue. She wanted to shout at him and defend the girl who had been wronged. Wronged by her, all because she decided to dig into somebody's past without permission. Alya forced her mind to change from those thoughts and instead onto what Max was revealing. She had known that her new friend had been bullied. The extent ranges from bad to horrific. All of which depended on how she got her scars and other wounds. From the way Max was talking about she knew for sure that he was at least in on it.

“Maybe I should rewatch Kim’s prank video to feel better.” Max’s voice came out and had Alya nearly jumping in shock. Kim’s prank video? Did he have a prank channel? What did this have to do with Marinette? Unlocking her phone, Alya brought up a Google search. She couldn’t do much at the moment, but later she could. “What!” Max called out in shock. The reason became obvious as a swarm of red bugs swept through the building. As the bugs swept over her Alya felt a warm tingling feeling crawl over her. As the feeling faded Alya felt her injuries had been healed.

“Made it!” Unity’s voice called out as she landed in the office space right as the bug’s started repairing the damage to the walls.

“Why am I tied up!” Max questioned seeming to finally have realized that he was tied to the chair. “Why do you look familiar?”

“That is a story for another time,” Unity responded with a slight chuckle in her voice. “Chat, do you mind waiting here for a bit? I need to go change and ‘recharge’ the miraculous before handing them back to Scarabella.”

“Alright, try not to be too long. I also need to ‘recharge’,” Chat commented while Alya felt herself relaxing a bit. She would have her miraculous back soon.

“Will do,” Unity spoke while her voice grew a bit distant. A door opening and closing could be heard. The room fell into a bit of quiet before Max once more broke it.

“What will be done about Marinette? It is her fault that I was akumatized.”

“How is it her fault?” Chat questioned with a bit of stiffness in his voice. Alya was slightly curious about his reaction. She knew that the cat had hung around Marinette during the ghost incident yesterday so it somewhat made sense that he would care about her but this felt different.

“Last year, to celebrate the release of Ultimate Mecha Strike Three the company held a tournament. I of course, as a future pro-gamer, entered and easily dominated my opponents until… Until that cheater entered. She somehow managed to beat me. She didn’t even use one of the top-tier characters!” Max ranted while Alya felt lost. All of this over a gaming competition a year ago? “I knew she had to be cheating but I never could figure it out. Now though I have discovered just how Marinette cheated!”

“Oh, and how did she do it?” Unity asked as she walked back into the room.

“Her uncle is Fantastico! No doubt she had her uncle illegally modify her remote controller. That was why she could beat me with a low-tier character and why when I took the controller, I was unable to find the modification! No doubt he used some of his early work…” Alya mostly tuned the boy out as she caught sight of Tikki flying towards her. In the red kwami’s paws were the earrings that Alya gratefully took. Giving a grateful smile that Tikki returned. Quickly placing the earrings in Alya whispered the transformation phrase and after becoming Scarabella the hero stepped out of her spot.

“That is very interesting,” Unity interrupted the boy who was still tied to a chair. “But your parents are no doubt worried about you. I am going to let you go so you can head home.” Putting actions to words Unity, back in her ninja plant outfit, began untieing the Lucky Charm rope.

“Yes, I will also let the others know what I have learned,” With a nod, he stood up while rubbing his wrists. As he left Max thanked them one more time while Scarabella went over to the trapped akuma. With ease Scarabella captured the evil butterfly and purified it.

“Where is Chat Noir?” Scarabella asked as she took the rope from Unity.

“Over here,” His voice called out from a storage closet. “Just needed to feed my Kwami.”

“Okay,” Taking the Lucky Charm from Unity, the ladybug user looked at the rope. “Do I need to cast the Cure? Didn’t you already use one?”

“The one I used fixed the damage done by the Digimon. This one should repair the damage done by the akuma,” Unity explained as a green flash came from the closet.

“Alright, Miraculous Scarabella,” Casting the second cure sent the parts of the broken parts of the item flying. “Oh, those were Max’s glasses… Well good thing we fixed everything,” Giving an awkward laugh Scarabella looked at the other two. “Well that was certainly something. So any chance we could get an explanation?”

“I would love too, I really would. But…” Unity awkwardly laughed while bringing out her device. “Well, I kinda have to go. I have civilian obligations and if I don’t return soon then there will be questions.”

Scarabella blinked before her eyes flew open. “Crap, you're right! I need to get going! I need to check in with, ahh!”

“We get it, secret identity stuff,” Unity nodded while Chat seemed to have his own things he needed to do. “I will be out and about later if you want to meet up. I’m sure reporters will have more than enough questions.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” She was a reporter and she had questions! But Unity was right, she needed to check in with her family and then Marinette. By kwami she hoped Marinette was alright. She had tried calling the club president earlier but everything had gone straight to voicemail while her texts only got a single reply. The blue-eyed girl was hiding and couldn't really reply right now. So with some last parting words the three heroes left the building.

Scarabella was quick to swing into an alleyway and change back into Alya. Once Tikki was out Alya gave the kwami a look. “Hey Tikki, sorry I don’t have any food at the moment.”

“That is alright Alya, Unity gave me some food. Before you ask I will not be saying anything about Unity’s identity,” The red kwami instantly responded while also giving a soft smile.

“Why?”

“Everyone is entitled to there secrets. If she wanted you to know then she would have told you. Until such a time that she tells you herself I won’t betray her.” Tikki waited a moment to let what she said set in the red kwami continued. “Plus as Unity wore my miraculous the same protections provided to other users now also apply to her.”

Alya took in what Tikki said before letting out a sigh. “If you had something against what I was doing you should have spoken up sooner.”

“I had no issues with you ‘looking into things’ as you had put it. My problem came when you stopped investigating and forced the issue by informing everyone of Marinette’s whereabouts. I always thought you would have followed Dave’s advice and talk to her about the issue before going about it in such a straight forward manner.”

“Yeah, I probably could have gone about it better,” Alya muttered before letting out a tired sigh. “Then again I no idea it was this bad. I mean she had those nast scars but I always assumed… I don’t know how to finish that.” The two didn’t say anything for a long moment before Alya’s phone started vibrating. Grabbing it she saw that it was a call from her mother. Letting out a sigh Alya answered the call.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to her mom, just that she wanted to talk to Marinette first. Plus, knowing her mom Alya would have to head home. The call went as expected, her mother was concerned due to the akuma appearing so close to the club. After confirming that she was indeed okay and agreed to head home soon. Soon, as in not right away. She had time to head back to the club room and grab her possessions that she had left there. “Come on Tikki we need to head back to the club room.” The red kwami gave her a look but didn’t say anything as she flew into Alya’s fanny pack.

As Alya walked towards the club house she went over everything that she had learned today. There wasn’t just one incident but multiple. Marinette had suffered being a bully victim and Alya had told those bullies just where to find her. “I will make this right,” The red-haired girl promised. About a minute later Alya found herself at the club door and not a moment to soon. Marinette was just about to lock the door. Seeing her had Alya freeze up a bit. Seeming to know someone was nearby, Marinette turned and locked eyes with Alya.

“I’m guessing you're here to grab your belongings?” Marinette questioned as she opened the door.

“I-I,” Alya felt ridiculous. She was Scarabella! She faced down akumas and monsters yet talking to someone she was friendly with seemed an impossible task now. “I wan-”

“MARINETTE!” Adrien called out as he almost ran by only to stop. “Marinette, you're alright!” The blonde surged forward and wrapped the girl in a hug. “I was so worried.” The words came out in a whisper while he held her tight. “I am so, so, sorry about what happened earlier.” If Marinette was going to respond it was lost in the muffled response.

“Um, Adrien? You should probably let her go. You're kinda crushing her,” Alya felt herself relax while the lump that had previously been stopping her from speaking slowly unwind itself.

“Huh?” The blonde questioned while turning to look at Alya. A light tap on his chest had him looking down at the girl he had trapped against him. “Oh!” Quickly Adrien let go off Marinette before taking a few steps back. “Sorry, I was a bit concerned.”

“A bit?” Alya teased while Marinette coughed into her fist. The future reporter and current blogger could see a bit of red around the dark-haired girl’s exposed sections of her face.

“Well, I am going to unlock the door,” Turning away Marinette opened the door. “Grab your things and please leave.”

“Marine-” Alya started raising her hand only for a swirl of leaves to appear in the corner as a letter fell to the table. “What was that?”

“Unity,” Marinette shrugged while grabbing the letter. “Probably wants me to tell my Uncle that she might not be able to stream for a few days and to let her fans know.”

“You? You know Light, I mean Unity?” Adrien questioned as he almost seemed to bounce in place. Marinette gave him a very flat look.

“Why should I tell you two anything?” The club president questioned with some heat. “So you can let everyone in your class know? So you can brag to Chloe about knowing Doctor Fantastico? No wait you would probably tell Nino so he can come beg for some upcoming music tech!”

“We would never!” Alya defended only to instantly regret it. Blue eyes sparkling with multiple emotions glared at her.

“Then how did Max know I was here? How did he learn about the tech we have here? I’m not an idiot Alya!” Marinette shouted in outrage. Alya felt herself rise a bit in anger only to stop herself. This was her fault and she should at least take some responsibility for it. It was what a hero would do.

“I’m sorry,” Both she and Adrien said at the same time. The two looked at each other before they tried to speak again, once more interrupting each other.

“I don’t care!” Marinette spoke over them, her voice cracking. The girl still looked upset, very upset but after a moment she seemed to deflate. “That’s a lie, I do care. I am willing to hear you out. Just not today. I’m done. I want to get home. I want to make sure my family and uncle are okay. So please just grab your stuff and leave. Please.” Adrien looked like he very much wanted to say or do something but stopped himself.

“If that’s what the princess wants,” Adrien finally said in a quiet voice. Alya could hear a bit of sadness in it but Marinette’s only reaction was a nod of her head.

“Yes, a bit to alone be,” Marinette stumbled over her words before seeming to realize what she said and flinched before curling in on herself. “Go, please?” Alya finched at that and without a word walked over to her bag. As she was about to leave Alya stopped for a moment and looked at Marinette making sure to meet her eyes. Holding out her arms she offered a hug. The other girl seemed to debate for a bit before shaking her head. Nodding Alya dropped her arms and just left. Adrien also gathered his things and waited a moment before giving an overdramatic bow.

“I hope I can see you tomorrow, Princess,” The model laid it on as thick as he could hoping to get a reaction. Not getting one he gave her his best smile. “I would love to see your pretty face again and truly apologize for being such a foolish knight.” With one last apologetic smile he left seeing Alya walking home. Adrien turned around and was about to start walking home when his bodyguard pulled up.

Letting out a breath the boy gave a nod to the Gorrila who had sour expression on his face. The reason for his look became obvious when Adrien opened the back door and saw Chloe sitting in the back seat. “Adrikins, this is fortunate. I really need to talk to you!” His childhood friend commented with her usual dramatic flair. “I know that Marinette has no doubt told you some ridiculous stories by now and it would be best if I cleared them up.”

“Chloe…” Adrien began but trailed off as Chloe hushed him.

“I’m going to speak and you're going to listen. I won’t let that brat’s lies be your interpretations of events so you better listen!” Giving him no choice Chloe spoke on while waving Adrien off. Giving his driver a look Adrien prepared to listen to Chloe's story. He slightly regretted that he would be learning some of Marinette’s past without her knowledge but knew that Chloe wouldn’t let him leave this car until she had said her piece. So he would remember to take things with a grain or pound of salt. But really how bad could Chloe have messed things up? Surely his childhood best friend wouldn’t have done anything too bad, right?

Chapter Text

Alya arrived home to be greeted by both her older and younger siblings. The twins were beyond ecstatic that she was alright and wanted details about the fight between the Akuma and the giant monster. So with that, Alya began a theatrical retelling of the fight and how she was almost caught in it. Alya could see Nora rolling her eyes from the side of her vision, though she didn’t interrupt.

Right as she got to the part where a magic unicorn helped her escape to a magical safe house full of ice cream, her parents arrived home. While a bit sad to have the story cut off, the twins did have to take a nap after all the excitement from today, and Alya still had some homework to do. Or at least this is what Alya told her parents. Even though she wasn’t at the club for long the red haired girl still managed to get some of her homework done. So with the lightened work load it gave the future reporter time to truly sit and think about the day.

“Tikki?” Alya called out to her kwami who flew out of her bag. “Do you think Marinette will forgive me?”

“That is hard to say,” The red kwami spoke to her current holder in as calm a tone as possible. “She seemed really hurt.” Alya flinched as she remembered just how sad and shaken Marinette looked at the end.

“She was hurt, I hurt her,” Alya spoke with a hushed whisper. “I really should have just talked to her first rather than rushing forward. I was so convinced that she wouldn’t say anything that I rushed forward thinking that I could handle anything to come. Just how bad were things for her?”

“We may never know,” Tikki said with a sad shake of her head. This got Alya to blink as she remembered something. There was something she could do that wouldn’t technically be prying. Lifting up her phone, Alya went online and looked up her classmate Kim. She frowned a bit as she found what she was looking for. The boy had a video channel where he posted ‘prank’ videos. He only had three videos on his channel but it was clear just what he thought a ‘prank’ was.

This caused a deep, heavy pit to form in her stomach. It was with a heavy feeling Alya found the video. The title gave her a spike of anger alone. ‘Girl gets a surprise at pool! (Re-Uploaded)’. Right there, although looking much, much different was Marinette. Her black hair and blue eyes looked the same. The video had thirty views and was posted a year ago. Alya didn’t know how long she stared at the screen, but it was enough for Tikki to come over and see what had her attention. “Is that a video with Marinette? What is it about?”

“I’m afraid to find out,” Alya spoke with a somewhat hushed voice. Still, though the reporter's curiosity pushed her, she had to know. She had to know just what her classmates had done. So it wasn’t much of a shock when the video was clicked. What Alya saw made the pit in her stomach grow heavier and larger. Along with the pit came a growing anger. Tikki gasped in horror as the red kwami watched alongside her holder. “Who the hell comes up with this crap?!”

~~~~~~~~~

Adrien waited as Chloe seemed to shift in her seat. “So I suppose I should start with how this all started,” The girl spoke after clearing her throat. After a moment of quiet, Chloe shifted in her seat again. “Well, I guess there was no real start to it. It was just a natural part of the school environment. Anyway it was just regular school stuff that Marinette was way too sensitive about. Some people took-”

“What kinda ‘stuff’?” Adrien stopped Chloe making sure to use his most controlled voice. He knew he shouldn’t interrupt her, that Chloe hated being interrupted. Usually when someone interrupted her Chloe would go off at whoever interrupted her or would just ignore that person’s question. In the worst cases when it was something that Chloe didn’t want to talk about then she would just shut down. His childhood friend would refuse to talk or even acknowledge the people around her anymore. Right now though he had to know if she… if his friend from childhood was a bully.

“Harmless stuff. You know, like small little pranks, a few rumors, and just a little roughhousing. Nothing serious,” Chloe waved off as Adrien bristled at being waved off. Still though what little was revealed by Chloe left a nasty feeling to start to form. “Well, I mean, there was that one prank Kim and I pulled off. Hang on, I think Kim re-uploaded it to a site,” Chloe was quick to pull out her jewel-encrusted phone and quickly brought up a web page. “Good thing I already had his page up. Yup he up-loaded it a week or so ago. Here, now you can see that our pranks are just funny!”

Taking the phone, Adrien looked at the video. The video showed a somewhat empty pool room. “I guess I should give you some backstory. You see we, that is Sabrina, and I found out that Dupain-Cheng had a crush on Kim. With that we approached Kim and came up with an idea!” On the phone Adrien watched as a very different looking Marinette walked on screen. She looked so different. How long ago had this video been recorded? Oh kwami, please don’t tell him this is how she got some of her injuries! Chloe’s words barely registered but it clicked when Kim got down onto one knee and pulled out a small box. “You see Marinette wanted to confess her feelings to Kim but we had him ‘beat’ her to the punch. Well that was the plan, but it went even better than expected!”

Adrien watched on the screen as Marinette had just proclaimed her love to Kim and accepted the box just as it opened up. Inside it was revealed to be a whole bunch of spiders. Spiders that were quick to start crawling over her. Marinette’s scream echoed through the speakers as she dropped the box. Adrien watched all of this with wide eyes, unable to look away. The spiders began crawling all over Marinette as her screams continued. He felt his grip tighten on the phone as he watched the girl on the screen trying to get the spiders off, all while Kim, Chloe, and Sabrina’s laughs could be heard. The video ended just a bit after Marinette, while still trying to get the spiders off, fell into the pool in an uncontrolled manner.

“See! Funny!” Chloe’s voice broke him from his thoughts and had him turning his head in an almost robotic manner to look at his frie-, no. Nobody capable of something like he just watched would ever be a friend of his. “Thankfully I was able to save the video even after that girl, Sacqu something, interrupted us. Remind me to tell you that story another time. As I was saying though the video was saved so Kim uploaded it. I didn’t think much about it at the time. After all, it was just a funny prank!” Chloe began talking a bit frantically and started playing a bit with her hair. Adrien could see how nervous she was getting and at another time the model would have offered her comfort.

“What happened Chloe?” His voice came out with anger slipping through the cracks.

“It’s not my fault!” Chloe cried while turning wide green eyes to look at him. “It might seem like it but I wasn’t at school at the time! I was getting my nails checked up! I didn’t even know the people! I mean I saw them but I didn’t know them!”

“What happened?”

“There were these older groups of boys. I think they got held back along with being a year older, you get the idea. They saw Kim’s video and came up with their own idea. I had no idea!” Chloe fidgeted and shifted in her seat. Adrien glared at her harder waiting for her to finish. “It was about two days after the pool prank a day after Sacqu-something was expelled for assaulting me. They grabbed her and dragged her to the basement. The boys somehow got the keys so they opened it and threw her in.”

“What?” The question came out in a shocked angry tone. “They did what?”

“Like I said I wasn’t there! I had no idea what was happening until I got done with my manicure! They wanted to show me what they had done but well…”

A sinking feeling returned but now it wasn’t as prevalent due to the growing anger. If they wanted to show Chloe what they did, “How long was Marinette locked in the basement?”

“I mean I never really made it to school due to needing a spa day because the person who was doing mine and Sabrina’s nail did such an awful job. It was truly awful!”

“How long Chloe!” Adrien snapped at the girl. Chloe’s head turned her wide green-eyes to look at her friend. The blonde girl opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking.

“Um, from what I heard it was somewhere between three to four hours?”

“Three to,” Adrien started as his anger fluttered and flared. Words failed him as his anger nearly took complete control. He felt his entire body twitch as the urge to hit something, or someone, almost overtook him. “She was locked, three to four!”

“Like I said it wasn’t my fault! You see that right!” Chloe spoke to him in a somewhat desperate voice. “I had nothing to do with what happened to Dupain-Cheng! You know me, you wouldn’t believe whatever she or anybody said would you? Of course not that would be ridiculous right?
Utterly ridiculous right?”

“Gorilla please let Ms. Bourgeois out as soon as you are able to. We are finished talking.” Adrien’s voice came out just as cold as his father’s. It made him flinch a bit but he knew that if he said more that he might just explode and do something he would later regret.

“Adrikins?” Chloe questioned in a small voice. A part of Adrien felt a bit of pity but that pity was destroyed by the anger. “It’s not my fault! I had no part if her getting those, those-”

“Ms. Bourgeois please leave the car,” Adrien cut her off not wanting to hear more. Chloe looked both sad and shocked by his words. The car came to a stop and Adrien’s bodyguard looked behind him. Taking the hint Chloe exited the car. After she got out, right by the gates to his home, his former friend gave him a look. It might have been due to just how long the two of them had been friends but the model caved. “I will speak to you in a few days after having time to think of what you have informed me about.”

Not giving Chloe a chance to say anything else Adrien leaned over and shut the door. Once the door was closed the Gorilla pulled through the gate which closed behind them. Adrien layed on the back seat of the car trying to process just what was happening. The car drove in silence and after a bit of time the car stopped. He needed to talk to someone about what he just learned. His father… was his father. Adrien would have to make an appointment to even have a chance of beginning to talk to him. Even with that his father might not even listen to his own son. After all this wasn’t business related. Nathalie, well he could try with her. She might make some time for him. Still there was another option. “Were you listening?”

He got a grunt in response. The Gorilla never said anything but Adrien knew that he was always listening. He was never more grateful than now that the man took his job so seriously. Adrien didn’t think he had it in him to explain what had happened. This was just so emotionally draining. “What should I do? This doesn’t seem to be the type of thing that I can just…” Just what? Give her a gift like he would with Chloe? Flirt like he would with some of his coworkers? All of those times were just easy little misunderstandings and such. Small things that could be sorted out. This though, this was just so big. Chloe, his classmates, heck maybe even the school itself had wronged Marinette. Wronged her so badly.

The Gorilla didn’t say anything but he tapped his watch. “Time? You think I should give her time?” Getting a nod Adrien groaned. He didn’t want to give it time. He wanted to solve it right now! It sounded childish but Adrien wanted to set things right! Adrien so badly wanted to go to her right now and apologize to her for not stopping Alya. For not standing up to Max when he came into their club. But most of all he wanted to apologize to her for being friends with Chloe and not correcting her behavior.

Oh kwami! No wonder Marinette thought they were having a terrible time. She must have thought Chloe was bullying them! Did she know that Chloe and him were friends? What would happen if she ever found out! Would she instantly kick him from the club? Would she stop being his friend? After what Chloe did to her Adrien could see her not wanting anything to do with anyone even related to Chloe!

A large hand on his shoulder pulling him into a sitting position stopped his rampaging thoughts. Looking he saw that the Gorilla had left his seat and had opened the passenger door. Now the man was helping Adrien sit up in the car seat. The man slowly made breathing motions and the model followed along. The model felt himself slowly calm down but did not feel better. “I don’t want to give it time.” Still the Gorilla said nothing but his face said it all. He understood completely and felt sympathy for him. Still though he taped his watch.

Adrien let out a sigh as he got out of the car. The two walked into the house and soon Adrien was back in his room having not seen either his father or Nathalie. Laying on his bed Adrien tried to use the little time he had between events to try and get a bit of a break. “Ah, hello cheese. Did you miss me? I missed you,” Plagg’s voice broke Adrien from his trance. The small cat kwami was happily eating his cheese.

“Plagg?” The small cat turned to look at the holder of his miraculous. Seeing his face Plagg sighed while rolling his eyes.

“Listen kid I know you want to talk about what the other blondie did. BUT,” Plagg made sure to cut off Adrien before he could jump onto the chance. “Your bodyguard is right. Both you and scars need space and time. So rather than focusing on something you can’t do, focus on something you could do something about.”

“Do something about?” What could he do something about? Looking around Adrien didn’t see anything so he closed his eyes to try and think. That’s when it caught up with him. His body that had been pushed to the limits, his emotions that had been pushed and shoved through the day. It was all too much. He fell asleep after only a few moments of having closed his eyes.

Watching the kid fall asleep Plagg let out a large sigh. “What a mess, what a mess.” Plagg had thought that the girl was a bit withdrawn. This though was beyond his expectation. Now though knowing she was also Unity. Speaking of the girl Plagg couldn’t understand what she did. He could still feel it a bit in his chest. Like a small warm flame, it was rather pleasant. He wondered if Tikki was having the same experience after that merger with the other mantle. The memories brought back another memory. The memory of the DarkTyrannomon X. An X-Digivolution. What could this mean, could other stronger Kemonogami do it? The thought was scary enough and it was a thought he decided it wasn’t his concern. He would only deal with things that came up. The other kwami could deal with all the other concerns.

Besides Plagg had no doubt that after it was now revealed that Unity was the kids partner Adrien would be planning to woo her. It happened every time a kitten found someone they loved. Given the setup though this time would at least be interesting, especially given that it wasn’t Tikki’s bug. He wondered about that though, Unity was very skilled when she used Tikki. Plus there was something about the girl… Something so familiar.

“Oh well, I’ll just leave it for the others to figure. I wouldn’t dare interrupt our time together.” Plagg whispered to his cheese. “I mean really how dare the world interrupt our precious time together. You are way to precious to be interrupted by such petty concerns.” With that Plagg went back to eating his oh so delicious cheese. Just as he should always be doing.

Chapter Text

Marinette arrived home after locking up the clubroom to find her family waiting for her in the entrance hall. Her parents were quick to wrap her up in a hug while Dave just gave her a relieved look. After a bit of time, her uncle broke up the comfort by pointing out that he needed to get Fu home. The old man had just given a fond smile before questioning if it was alright if he could stop by the club room. Marinette didn’t hear the rest as the two left. Although she did manage to pass the note to her uncle

“Oh dear,” Her mama softly stroked her head with a sad look. “Your uncle told us what happened.”

“I am so glad we pulled you out of that horrible school,” Tom muttered with a huff.

“Thank you,” Marinette muttered while rubbing away a few tears. “I just don’t know what to do about Alya and Adrien. They went behind my back.” Sabine didn’t answer right away and instead just held her daughter for a bit longer.

“I can’t advise you because we don’t know what really happened. We don’t know what they were thinking or feeling. I am sure that if they are really your friends then they will gladly explain themselves,” Her mama said this with such surety that it calmed her daughter down. “Now why don’t you go relax. I’m sure you’ve had a hard day.”

“Thanks mama, thanks papa,” With that, Marinette gave her parents one last hug before heading up to her room. The girl arrived in her room and climbed up to her bed. After flopping onto her bed the girl just laid there. “Ugh, today was a pain.” Various parts of her body glowed as the crests responded to her mood. The girl gave a pleased hum as her various friends reassured her. A feeling deeper in her had Marinette letting out a low chuckle. “Thanks guys, all of you are great.” With that Marinette just lay there before eventually getting up. “Still have to do a patrol. Gotta meet up with Chat Noir and Ladybug.” Making sure to cover her tracks Marinette of course checked in with her parents.

The two had reopened the bakery and customers were already starting to slowly to come back. Marinette just gave her mama a warm smile before going into the back to give her papa a hug. With her now knowing that they were back in the bakery and having told them that she was going to head out for a small walk. Having covered her bases the secret hero took the back exit before taking out her Digivise. The question of what to select only to decide on the obvious answer.

A few minutes later, Unity was flying through the air using the power of the armor of light. The choice to use it had been obvious due to the power of flight allowing her to fly plus it was her most recognized form. Already, a few people had their phones out and were snapping pictures as she flew by. Marinette wondered what people would be thinking about the Vtuber Light being the new hero of Paris.

“Unity! Unity!” A familiar voice broke her from her thoughts. Marinette doubted that she could ever forget that voice. A quick glance confirmed that she it was indeed Chloe calling out for her. Marinette briefly thought of just passing by acting like she hadn’t heard the blonde. But still she decided to see just what the Mayor’s daughter had wanted.

After all it would help make a bit of smoke to help protect her identity. That and her former bully looked like crap and Marinette was curious just what had her in this state. Also she wanted to enjoy knowing just what got her tormentor to look like this. Was it vindictive? Yes, but after everything Chloe had put her through it would be nice to enjoy her suffering. “What seems to be the problem?” With barley a second to react the blonde girl through her arms around the hero.

“Oh, it is just awful! It is just awful! You need to take me home! I will tell you when we are safe!” With a roll of her eyes Unity extended her wings and let a bit more power flow through them so she could more easily take to the air. Chloe held on more tightly to the other girl as the two slowly flew towards the top of the hotel. Soon, Chloe was situated on one of the pool chairs. “*Sniff* Oh, it was just awful! Truly terribly awful! I can’t believe Adrikins would do something like this! I told him it wasn’t my fault!”

“What are you talking about? You need to tell me what is happening so I can understand what is happening.”

“Well you see, *Sniff*, you see I was,” With that Chloe began telling her everything that had happened to her. Well, knowing Chloe, it was a heavily distorted telling of events. Still, though it did reveal a few unfortunate news. Apparently this ‘Adrikins’ was actually Adrien Agreste. Now that was a gut punch that left her questioning what to do. She had suspected that the two knew of each other but now she knew that her clubmate was childhood best friends with her tormentor. A bit of hope did grow in her though when she heard that the model had ‘thrown’ her out of his car. The reason, according to Chloe, was due to a misunderstanding.

“He just doesn’t understand! It wasn’t my fault! I, I would never do something like that! Yet the way he looked at me! *Sniff*, He looked so angry! Like I was the one to shove her in that room!” Chloe wiped her at her eyes while tears kept forming. The girl would also occasionally sniffle to try and speak clearly.

The girl went quiet for a bit and Unity decided to use this chance to poke at her former bully. “You sound upset about that ‘prank’. Care to elaborate?”

“It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t have anything to do with that, that, event!” Chloe wailed as Unity moved a chair closer to sit in. “I would never, I could never!” Unity let out a sigh before, with a little more force then necessary, placed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. This got the blue eyed girl to snap from her thoughts. “The reason I got upset. I got upset because… I, I didn’t know how to feel at first. I wasn’t there that day but when I came back and was told I just thought it was dumb. That the boys were stupid and it wasn’t a funny prank but that it was harmless.”

The urge to punch Chloe came and went. Unity let it pass. She wanted answers more than she wanted to punch Chloe. “Harmless? If it was harmless, then why are you so affected by it?”

Chloe curled in on herself and raised her thumb and bit her thumb-nail. “I saw her, Dupain-Cheng, at the park. It was before school and I saw her at the park. I was hanging out with Sabrina when her father got a call. We decided to follow him, well ride along with him. The two of us walked with him to see what just the crime was. It was her, she was there and she was… she was so different. Her arms, her hands, and her face! Did she get them from that event? The room had a heater and there were sharp objects in the room but, but.” Chloe kept speaking as her hands went up to her hair and began running through it. “It wasn’t my fault right? Right?”

Unity sat there as she thought over what Chloe was saying. Marinette remembered that day. It had been a few days since her family had arrived back in Paris. They had gone for a shopping trip and Marinette hadn’t at the time thought to cover up. This had resulted in a few concerned citizens calling the cops due to worries of child abuse. The cops had, of course, talked to them, and there had been an investigation, but nothing had turned up. These were one of the events that had prompted her current clothing styles. Still, though she could see the girl in front of her breaking down. “You need to take a few deep breaths. Just relax a bit okay?”

It took a few moments to get Chloe to somewhat calm down. “Right, right, I shouldn’t be so effected by her. It isn’t my fault. Thanks bestie!”

“Bestie?” Unity questioned with narrowed eyes. The thought of being Chloe’s friend in any way made her stomach twist.

“Yeah, I mean you want to be my friend, right? Who wouldn’t want to be my friend?”

A few answers popped up in her head but Unity decided to use this chance to poke at her tormentor more. If she remembered the word correctly then what she was feeling was schadenfreude. “Chloe? What do you think the two most important things in a friend are?”

“Two most important? What are you talking about? Why are you changing the subject?” Chloe questioned, looking confused. But the question served its purpose, she had Chloe’s attention and had knocked her out of her thoughts.

“Yes the two most important qualities to have in a friend,” Unity waited a moment before speaking again. “The two qualities are loyalty and honesty. You want your friends to be loyal to you but also honest to you. You want your friends to call you out when you are doing something wrong but also loyal to you to have your back even during your worst of times.”

“That makes sense.”

“Great, glad you agree,” Unity felt a smile grow on her face as she prepared to remember the face on Chloe’s face. “So let me be honest, this is your fault.” Chloe looked at her with such shock and betrayal that it made her day. Still though, she decided to keep speaking during this rare moment of her bully being speechless. “ You were the one who constantly tormented her. You were the one who helped Kim set up the ‘prank’. You were the one who praised him publicly for his ‘good job’. You might not have given them the idea, but you sure as heck gave them the motivation. After all, who wouldn’t want to be your friend?”

Chloe flinched and curled more into herself as she listened to what Unity said. “But, but I didn’t mean,” Chloe stuttered as she sniffled.

“Then what did you mean to do? Why did you torment her so much? Why did you make her a target?” That had always bothered Marinette. She never remembered doing anything to upset the other girl. Yet Chloe had made her life hell. Chloe remained quiet even after a minute. Deciding to keep the conversation going Unity kept speaking. “I know you probably don’t believe me that it is your fault but I will also point out one more thing. I still have a patrol to do. So let me just say this. I said it was your fault, your childhood friend blamed you, and even your gut tells you that it is your fault. So when everyone around you is saying that you are wrong than what does that say?”

Chloe looked away from her and Unity let the silence last for a good while. “Can you hold me?” The blonde requested while her looking at her with her blue eyes. Her eyes were cloudy with unshed tears, real tears, not the crocodile ones that she was so used to. With reluctance, Unity gave the pathetic girl in front of her a hug. Chloe was stiff for a bit but then relaxed into the hug. “Thanks, it's been so long since I had a hug.”

Unity wondered if the confession was on purpose or not. Still though she wanted to leave, being around Chloe made the pipes in her mind flow out of control. So moving her hands to untangle from the blue eyed girl Unity looked her in the eyes. “Chloe, I can tell that this whole matter is very upsetting for you. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to spend the amount of time you clearly need. I will check up on you but I advise that you find someone who will listen to you.”

“You promise?” Chloe rubbed at her eyes while looking up to Unity. The disconnect between the girl in front of her and the one from her memories that always looked down upon her with a sneer.

“I promise to come visit, provided you also promise to find someone you can trust to talk to,” Chloe bit her bottom lip as her eyes darted around. Unity pulled her into a hug while letting some of her power flow around her. “You need to talk to someone. Someone who can help you. I can’t but I know you can find someone.”

“Okay, I’ll find someone,” Chloe mumbled with some of her bratty attitude returning. Unity pulled away and gave the puffy eyed girl a firm look before giving a nod and fully standing up.

“Good, now I have to go. I will check in in a few days,” With those final words Unity took to the air. Looking down she saw Chloe curl up on the pool chair while sticking her thumb in her mouth. With a sigh at pathetic she looked Unity flew away. She still needed to do a few good deeds while staying out in the open as much as possible. The pipes in her mind slowed down from their previous pounding pressure. Still Unity wondered just what Chloe was going to do. A part of her hoped that Chloe wouldn’t put any effort into finding someone so she wouldn’t have to see her tormentor ever again.

A ding and pop-up in her HUD drew her attention. Her uncle had apparently got Unity’s note. The man had informed her fans and was now posting her video explaining that she was taking a day to help out the city. Her HUD also soon dinged as police reports soon came in. Tilting slightly to the side she began heading towards one of the reports. This should help her work through some of her problems.

~~~~~~~~

Chloe laid where Unity left her as she thought through what her friend had said. Unity was honest with her just like she had said a true friend should be. Still that honesty had left him stunned at what had been spoken. ‘Find someone to help? Someone I trust?’ How was she supposed to do that? Anyone she approached would tell her daddy. Her daddy would then pull her out or try to find someone better or more qualified for her to talk to. He had done it before. Rotated her between several workers all more qualified then the rest or more willing to look the other way. Chloe had given up on them just like each new one left her or didn’t properly pay attention to her.

“Could I talk to Sabrina? She is loyal to me?” Chloe questioned while taking her thumb out of her mouth. Her other childhood friend was so loyal to her. She could tell her anything.

“A friend should be honest. Willing to call you out.” Unity’s words bounced in her head and it made a unpleasant feeling come from a realization about her red haired friend. While she was beyond loyal that was all to their friendship. Chloe would make a joking suggestion and Sabrina would do it without any hesitation. Chloe had never thought to much about it but now something had changed. Sabrina would never tell anyone about she what they talked about but Chloe doubted that the policeman’s daughter would be honest with her.

Sabrina would have her back no matter what. The red-haired girl would say whatever Chloe wanted to hear. She wouldn’t be honest like what the blonde needed. So then who could she talk to that she could trust? Thinking about it Chloe’s mind soon started drifting through the events of today. It was while doing so that a half remembered conversation drifted to the front of her mind.

It was a conversation between Rose and Juleka. The two had been talking to each other throughout lunch, well throughout the whole day. Chloe had just been passing by when she had overheard the couple. The taller girl had been mumbling something quiet enough that Chloe hadn’t been able to really hear it. Rose’s response was much more informative. The smaller pink girl had then made a recommendation that the two of them talk to Juleka’s brother. “...He is a really great listener and always gives great advice.”

Juleka muttered something in response to which Rose moved closer and gave her a hug. Chloe had walked away after that but now regretted it. Juleka’s brother… Now that was a thought. Sabrina had mentioned about how her father had given them a big ticket recently. This could work. Her father would never question her about going over to another classmate's house. Plus Juleka knew better than to go against her. So with a firm decision the girl walked into her family’s hotel. “Alright, just grab some cash and head over. Nobody will think to much about it. Mom will never have to find out. Unity will come visit again. She’ll tell me I’m doing good and Adrikins will see that its… that I’m improving and be my friend again. Yeah, it will be really easy.” Why couldn’t she believe herself?

Chapter Text

Chloe tugged on her stylish but not too stylish coat. She wanted to blend in but also still look good while doing so. Speaking of, she tilted her hat trying to keep her face somewhat hidden. To make extra sure that no one would recognize her the mayor’s daughter had even avoided her favorite yellow color and was instead wearing a more dull color. It was a sacrifice but one she was willing to make so she could at least give this crazy idea of hers a try. Well partly her idea and partly her friends.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the boathouse that Juleka’s family used. Chloe looked at the dirty walkway and wanted to turn away. She didn’t want to get her shoes dirty. Just like Marinette didn’t want to be thrown in that dark, dirty, damp closet. Gritting her teeth, Chloe carefully walked up the plank. Walking up the plank she saw Juleka and Rose sitting on the deck, talking to each other in hushed whispers. This was good, she didn’t need to wait to find her classmate. Making her way over, Chloe went through the script in her head.

“-I just don’t know what to do. The noise is keeping everyone awake and the few city workers who check the area don’t find anything.” Chloe heard the goth say as she walked towards the two. “Mom is getting more and more upset. I barely get four or five hours of sleep nowadays.”

“Oh, that sounds so terrible!” Rose comforted her friend and seeing her chance Chloe cut in.

“Oh, Lavillant and Couffain, what a surprise to see you here,” Chloe naturally entered into the conversation. The two girls turned to look at her and the disguise worked perfectly. Both Rose and Juleka both looked shocked and seemed to be left speechless. Deciding to give them a little help Chloe shifted her hat and so the two could see her face better.

“Chloe?” Rose questioned her voice between shock and curiosity. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I heard that you were having some trouble with some tickets and needed some money. I have some disposable money and figured I could lend some to your family.” The mayor’s daughter made sure to prove this point by bringing out some of the money she had brought with.

Juleka muttered something but Chloe didn’t hear it so she glanced over to Rose. “Juleka wanted to know what you wanted in exchange.”

“I heard that your brother was a great person to talk to. So I will be verifying that for myself.” Chloe made sure to make her voice sound as generous as possible. It truly was kind of her to be willing to pay them for the joy of having her around. Rose and Juleka, of course, didn’t seem to catch on right away and had fallen into their own little world as they stared at each other. Deciding to expedite the processes, Chloe reached into her bag and pulled out some more money.

Juleka looked at the money and mumbled something before getting up. “She says she’ll talk to Luka.” Luka? Was that her brother? It sounded right.

After Juleka had left Chloe and Rose awkwardly stood in silence. Not liking it Chloe decided to find out what was being talked about earlier. “What were you talking about earlier? Some weird noise?” There direct and to the point.

“Yeah?” Rose hesitantly nodded her head. “Juleka and her family have been hearing strange noises. They reported it to the city along with a few others but whenever someone comes out they don’t find anything.”

“Like they didn’t find anything?”

“No, Ankara’s friends who work in the city, confirmed that they found something. They just couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from or what was causing it.” Rose explained with a frown.

“Well if their methods didn’t work than shouldn’t you try other methods?” Chloe questioned like it should have been obvious. Rose gave her a flat look before shaking her head.

“From what I know the city tried everything they had so I don’t know what else we could…” Rose trailed off as a conflicted look came onto her face.

“What, you come up with something?” Chloe questioned as she attempted to follow along with what the other blonde had trailed off to. If the city had tried everything, and you needed to try something new, then what would you try? Something that the city hadn’t tried or didn’t have access to? The only thing Chloe was aware of that the city didn’t have access to was some of the more occult stuff. Occult stuff?

“Could I? Is that an option?” Rose questioned as she grabbed the edge of her shirt and started fiddling with it. Chloe didn’t say anything right away and instead looked around, trying to distract herself.

“What is going on up here?” A soothing male voice questioned as Juleka returned with a somewhat taller male. This male wore somewhat stylish clothing, although they were rather… how would people describe the style, punk?

“We were talking about some issues going on around here,” Chloe attempted to wave off the topic.

“Oh, the noise and fog?” Luka questioned as he seemed to take her in. Not in the way that most boys looked at her but like he was looking at something else.

“Fog?” Chloe questioned which received a mummer from Juleka that Luka translated.

“Occasionally, a fog will form around where the noise comes from. Any electronics that are caught in the fog will go on the fritz.”

“Interesting,” Chloe hummed as she nodded along to what was being said. “I wonder if Adrikins’s cameras and stuff would still work.” The sentence left her mouth before she could stop. Rose flinched while Juleka took a moment to realize what she was talking about. When the girl finally realized just who they were talking about, the shy girl gained a slightly pale look.

“Adrien’s cameras belong to Marinette though,” Juleka’s voice came out somewhat panicked, although this time Chloe heard her.

“Marinette?” Luka questioned with a bit of a furrowed brow. “That name sounds,” Not wanting the boy to finish Chloe cleared her throat and quickly took charge of the conversation.

“On to more important matters. I have a fantastic chance for you.” Making sure to look at Juleka while bringing out a bit more money. “You see I am in need of someone to talk to, and your sister said you were a great listener. So I would like to procure your services.” Luka gave his sister a confused look, but she only looked down, still lost in her own world. “Don’t worry I am more than willing to pay but I would also like to make sure that our meetings are kept quiet.” While saying the last part Chloe reached into her bag and threw some money at both Rose and Juleka.

“How about we head to my room and talk for a bit?” Luka offered as Juleka stared at the money she was now holding.

“I hope it is somewhat clean,” Chloe muttered as she walked towards the inside of the house boat.

“I keep it tidy,” Luka responded as he shot one last look towards his sister and her not girlfriend, girlfriend. He somewhat knew about the Marinette situation but Juleka hadn’t been forthcoming with details but now things had apparently come back up. Maybe this time he could get all the details and not vague descriptions or quiet mumbles that he couldn’t fully hear.

“I suppose this will be acceptable,” The blonde girl who showed up said as she walked into his room. “Now let’s get this whole thing started.” While saying this she sat in his chair leaving him to sit on his bed. Luka sat down and held eye contact with Chloe, the same one that had come up multiple times during Juleka’s sessions where she just needed to vent. This was truly going to be an interesting little ‘session’. Plus she had paid so he might as well do his best.

“How about we start with just getting to know each other?” Luka started while grabbing his guitar. The boy played a basic slow melody not only to set the mood but to help him keep calm, just in case.

~~~~~~~

Unity flew through the air, enjoying the feeling of flying. Back in the Digital World she rarely got the chance to truly enjoy just flying. There was always something happening that required her focus or she would have been recovering/resting to even use any of her armors. Now though, she could just relax and be in the moment. Feel the air flow through her hair.

Slowing down Unity swooped down into an alley and with a quick move took down a man who had been holding another at knife point. This was another thing to enjoy about being back in her world. Simple, easy fights that she could handle while helping out the city that was her home. After comforting the person she had saved and then tying up the crook Unity then handed him over to the police.

The cops had been a bit shocked at her appearance, although one had recognized her as Light. They had taken the attempted mugger and let her go after a few questions. With that done Unity went back to patrolling helping anyone she came across. Give some people directions, help some people with some small tasks, things to make herself visible. Scarabella and Chat Noir would no doubt show up sooner or later.

Unity had just taken to the air and was just letting herself glide along the air currents. As she was looking around for something else to do a red figure swung by. Having a good idea of who it was Unity picked up speed and after catching up to Scarabella she pointed towards a roof. The ladybug user gave a nod before the two made their way over to the roof. The two girls landed on the roof and Unity got a better look at the user of the ladybug miraculous. It had been about two hours since the akuma battle so it was only a bit shocking to see only her.

“Scarabella, it is good to see you!” Unity greeted with a smile on her face. “I hope you are feeling better.”

“I could be doing better,” Scarabella huffed as she crossed her arms.

“Oh? Is something wrong?” Unity questioned with concern. Was something wrong with Chat? Is that why he wasn’t here?

“Just some civilian stuff,” Scarabella admitted while kicking a rock. “I’ll be honest, I kinda forgot you wanted to meet up. I was just out here to blow off some steam.”

“I see, do you want to keep blowing off steam while we wait for Chat Noir? Do you know where he is anyway?”

“How am I supposed to know where he is?” Scarabella questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

“Do you have no way of contacting each other? I was made to believe that miraculous holders had ways of contacting each other? Like supposedly one pair had a scroll they could write on to contact each other.”

“You mean like ancient text messaging… How did I forget?” Scarabella was interested before slapping her head. Pulling out her yoyo the spotted hero pressed a button, causing part of the weapon to slide up to resemble a phone. With a few presses of a button, they started to hear the dial tone. It was about after a minute of ringing that the top screen contacted the other side.

“Oh hey, bug? What *Yawn* what’s up?” A sleepy-looking Chat questioned as he seemed to have woken up recently.

“Are you okay? Were you sleeping?” Unity questioned as she looked at the image on the screen.

“LIGHT!” The cat hero howled as he suddenly sat up. This caused him to wrap himself in blankets as he fell off his bed. Muttering and cursing was heard as Chat attempted to detangle himself. The sounds were the only that came through as his side of the screen was covered by a blanket. It took a few moments for him to untangle himself but when the cat hero accomplished it, he looked back at his phone. The cat hero attempted to look calm. “Oh, hey, Light it is good to see you again.”

“Chat it is good to see you as well,” Unity nodded to him while holding in her laughter. “Also, please just call me Unity. It is better than having over a dozen different names to keep track of.”

“Of course, of course,” Chat nodded as he almost seemed to be bouncing. “So, may I be enlightened as to why you two decided to grace me with your presence?”

“Paris already has one flirty blonde, it doesn't need another,” Unity teased with a smirk tugging at her lips. Chat though laughed as though he heard the best joke.

“I’m still here, just a reminder,” Scarabella joked while looking down at the slightly shorter girl. The black spotted girl had a vague feeling of deja vu. She shrugged it off though. It was only a slight feeling.

“Oh don’t worry we didn’t foget about you,” Unity nuddged the other hero. “I was just waiting for you to jump into the conversation.”

“Well since I’m in the conversation now I’ll get us back on track. Chat are you up to meeting up with us?” Scarabella inquired.

“I will have to check my schedule.”

“Do you mean that literally? Like you have a scheldue?” Scarabella questioned to which she received a nod from her partner.

“Why yes I did mean that litter-ly.” Chat nodded which got a groan from Light and a huff from Scrabella. “You set it up, I just had too!”

“No you didn’t. You had a choice and you choose to,” Scarabella commented with a shake of her head. “Well get back to us after checking your schedule.”

“Will do!” With that an ethastic Chat hung up leaving Unity and Scarabella by themselves.

“Soooo, patrol?” Scarabella questioned getting a nod from Unity. “Alright well I got part of a plan. We’ll change it as needed.”

“Sounds good to me. I was just going with the flow,” Unity responded as she let her wings flutter out behind her. “Might be a bit hard for you to keep up though.”

“Don’t worry, besides I need the training,” Scarabella smirked as she swapped her yoyo back to its default setup.

“Right because you’ve only had your miraculous for less than a month.” Unity nodded at her own words. The frown on the girl's face had Scarabella remembering earlier during the akuma attack. Well the DarkTyrannomon X attack.

“You mentioned an Order,” Scarabella tapped at her chin as Light moved and flapped her wings, checking them over.

“I did, you mentioned that you weren’t a part of it.”

“Yeah I just found my miraculous sitting on my desk. You can imagine my surprise when I opened it up and Tikki popped out.”

“I somewhat can guess,” Unity chuckled along with Scarabella. “Tikki at least seemed pleasant. I mean from that little time I interacted with her.”

“She is rather nice,” Scarabella agreed as she started tossing her yoyo up and down. “So shall we start this patrol?”

“Yeah, we just need to be ready to stop at a moment if Chat calls.” Unity pointed out while standing on the edge of the roof.

“Any chance you could answer some questions as we travel?” Scarabella gave the area around them a quick scan as she looked for something to attach her yoyo to swing off of.

“As long as they are simple. Anything more complex will have to wait for us to have a sit down with Chat. I really would prefer to only have to explain all this stuff once. Maybe we should invite the kwamis, I’m sure they can help fill in some details.”

“Sounds like a plan. So my first question is how real those attachments are? Like not to draw to fine a point to it but you have wings, cat ears and a tail.”

“Yes, I have noticed,” While saying this Unity made sure to flap her wings along with twitching her ears and tail. “It took some getting used to. Now come on, let’s go help the people of Paris.” With that Unity jumped off the roof and after a moment of falling she flew up.

“Alright, I have got to learn how to fly at some point.” Scarabella shook her head with a smirk. Still though she flung her yoyo and started swinging after the Vtuber.

Chapter Text

Scarabella swung through the streets of Paris chasing after Unity. Unity would occasionally slow down or look back to make sure the red-spotted hero was keeping up. Scarabella swung, but when she went to latch onto something to swing from only to find nothing. Just as she began to fall, she was grabbed by the other hero. “Are you okay?” Unity questioned as she adjusted Scarabella to something more comfortable.

“Yeah, just a bit embarrassed,” The red-haired girl admitted with a small blush. The two landed on a roof where Unity slowly let go of the other girl. “The people on TV make this look easy.”

“Who are you referring to? The only person I can think of who swings around is Spider-Man.”

“Yeah, the various Spider-themed heroes and I remember there being an actual New York hero, Trickster I think, who also swings around using dart ropes. Maybe Knightowl.” Scarabella started mumbling to herself as she seemed to think about the topic.

Waiting a moment Unity cut in. “I believe that those people had years of training or powers to help them. You wouldn’t believe how long it took to get used to using these.” With a thought her wings shout out to their full span.

“Well those are entirely new body parts.” Scarabella gestured with her hands towards the other girl. “This is just a magically empowered childrens toy.”

“A children's toy that you still have to learn how to use,” Unity countered with a shake of her head. “You have to learn how to track where you’re swinging, see where to throw to next, and on top of that learn how to retract along with throwing your yoyo all within a matter of seconds.” Scarabella let herself relax slightly at that before shaking her head.

“I’ll accept that for now. Now let’s get back to-,” Scarabella was about to suggest continuing the patrol, only for her yoyo to start vibrating. Pressing the blinking button, the yoyo slid into its phone mode. “Hello?”

“Heya, partner!” Chat Noir greeted them with a large smile. “So I just checked my schedule and I am able to meet up with you two!”

“That’s great! When can we meet up?” Scarabella questioned happily.

“I have some free time right now. Where do you want to meet up at?”

Scarabella thought about Chat’s question before turning to Unity who tapped her chin in thought. “We could use a classroom or maybe some other office space. We will need someplace for you to detransform so we can get Tikki and Plagg’s opinion on matters.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I wonder if there is an office we could borrow.”

“I would rather not given that there are cameras almost everywhere today,” Unity added in with a shake of her head. Scarabella blinked as she thought over the school thing. A school was likely to have cameras as well. As she thought about school and everything that came with it that her mind drifted to her classmates. Her classmates that had bullied Marinette… Marinette who had a clubroom. But how could she bring this up? Looking at her partner an idea came to her.

“Hey, Chat you remember that girl you told me about?”

“The girl? Wait, do you mean Marinette?” Chat questioned as he scrunched his brows in confusion. It only seemed to take a second for him to make the connection. “Marinette! That’s right! She has a club room we could use!”

“Is her club room on school property?” Scarabella questioned pretending like she didn’t know.

“Y- I don’t know? We could ask her?” Chat cut himself off and was quick to adopt a confused expression. Scarabella pinched her eyebrows in suspicion. “I don’t think I have contact details though.” Chat awkwardly laughed while rubbing the back of his head.

“I have the contact info for her Uncle Dave.” Unity pitched in while bringing out her Digivise. “I’ll send him a text to let him know we are going to use it.”

“How are we going to in though? Is the club in sesion?.” Scarabella questioned as Unity tapped on her device no doubt sending a text.

“Don’t worry Dave always leaves an easy way for me to get in,” Unity waved it off before blinking and looking at Chat Noir on the phone. “Do you know where to go? I could send the address.”

“Oh that would be helpful,” Chat chuckled before looking at Scarabella. “Although you didn’t answer if the club was in session. Are people there? Although I wouldn’t mind seeing the princess again.”

“Princess? Really?” Scarabella questioned while Unity shook her head.

“We don’t have to worry about anyone else being there. Apparently something happened between Marinette and her club members. Dave won’t go into details so it must have been pretty bad.” Unity spoke as she put her device away. The white eared cat girl blinked as she saw the flinch on Scarabella’s face. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh? It’s nothing. I just hate hearing about friends fighting.” The ladybug user waved it off with a shallow smile.

“Okay? Well here is the address Chat,” Unity showed a written address to Chat Noir who nodded his head.

“Alright, I’ll meet up with you two over there.” The cat boy nodded while Scarabella made a motion of looking at the paper. “See you two later!” With that the call ended.

“Alright let’s head out.” Unity called out as she moved to the edge of the roof. “So how do you wanna do this? You wanna swing over there or should I carry you? We should be a bit discreet, don’t want anyone following us.”

“I will swing there. I need to get better at swinging,” Scarabella grabbed her yoyo and spun her yoyo. Unity nodded before spinning around and jumping off the building. The ladybug user felt a bit of envy as the other hero began to fly again. “I’m going to have to talk to Tikki about me getting wings or something so that I can fly.” With that said, the reporter flung her yoyo out and swung after the flyer. It took a few moments for them to arrive at the clubroom. Unity walked by the back door and swiped her device along the panel. It let out a beep before the light turned green.

“And we are in,” Unity chuckled at her own joke as she opened the door. “Now we just need to wait for Chat.”

“Knowing him, he’ll be here within a minute or two.” Scarabella walked into the room and took a deep breath. It seemed like so long since she was last in here. When everything went wrong because of the decision that she had made. Alya really hoped that Marinette would forgive her. Hearing noise, Scarabella turned to see Unity moving some of the chairs around. Feeling like she needed to say something the red-haired broke the silence. “This is quite the little setup here.”

“Dave spared no expense when it came to his niece,” Unity shrugged as she moved to another corner. “I think we could find some nice dividers to use and maybe string up some curtains.”

“Are those things lying around here? I mean isn’t this just a normal clubroom?”

“While it is true that this is a clubroom Dave made sure that it was equipped for whatever would come up,” Unity said this as she opened up a closet and reached inside. Figuring out that she should help out Scarabella began helping moving things around and setting things up. It took a few moments for them to start setting up dividers and stringing up some sheets.

“I’m here!” Chat called out as he entered into the room.

“Good to see you,” Unity called out as they finished putting together the last divider. “You're right on time.”

“Thanks, what's with all of this?” The cat hero questioned as he looked around the room.

“It’s so you can de-transform. We, well I would like to pick the kwami’s brains.” Unity explained as she walked past him to lock the door. “Alright, just pick an area and get settled in. This is going to take some time.”

“Will we be provided food?”

“If there is some then it would be in the fridge. I’ll check and let you know. Scarabella, you want any food?”

“Sure I’ll take whatever you have,” Scarabella’s voice came from one of the curtained areas.

“Oh, hey bug!” Chat called out and got a response. “Alright I’ll take a corner.” With that he walked behind a curtain before a flash of green could be seen.

“Oh, are we de-transforming?” Scarabella questioned as a reddish pink light came from another part as the ladybug user followed in the cat’s footsteps.

“Alright,” Unity dragged the word out. She walked over to where the food was being kept. “Good news there is food here. Send your kwami over and I’ll hand you some food.”

“I told you I’m not a delivery service,” Plagg muttered as he flew through the curtain.

“Really? Not even for a cheese danish?” Unity questioned while waving said treat.

“Make it two.”

“Deal,” Unity held out the food that Plagg took.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Taking the food, the kwami flew back to Chat. “Hey kid I got food! Don’t touch the cheese danishes they are mine.”

“Oh, Plagg,” Tikki let out a fond sigh while taking her food. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome,” Unity smiled as she watched the kwami slowly fly back towards her holder. “Alright where do you want to start?”

“Well how about those strange monster things? Kemonogami? Or something like that?”

“We CAN’T tell you anything.” Plagg’s muffled voice came from one section. Unity felt like it was the wrong section.

“What are you doing here?!” Scarabella’s loud yell confirmed her suspicion.

“I just came to see Sugercube.” The gravily voice of the black kwami responded with mirth.

“Why are you always like this, you stinky sock?” Tikki lightly reprimanded with fondness. “Don’t worry us kwami are unable to say the name of holders. Remember I told you this already.”

“Still,” Scarabella muttered with a glare evident in her voice.

“Relax little bug.” Plagg seemed to wave it off while Unity relaxed. She briefly wondered what was going on but decided it would be best to not approach. She didn’t want to risk accidentally seeing Scarabella’s secret identity. Speaking of identities, the thought of de-transforming crossed her mind.

Her body was already tired from the battle earlier and the brief moment when she had been herself while in the office and after the battle had barely been enough to fully rest. “As long as all three of us stick to our sides, we should be good.” Unity spoke up and let the power of the armor of Light go. Well, not completely, she kept just enough that her voice wouldn’t be recognized or connected to Marinette.

“Yeah it should be fine.” Scarabella muttered before she let out a long sigh. “So what can you tell us about those Kemonogami?”

“Like I said we physically can’t tell you anything,” Plagg drawled as his voice seemed to come closer.

“Kemonogami is what they were called in the past.” Unity spoke up while trying to think over everything she knew and get it into some sort of order.

“Ke-mono-gami? That sounds japanese?” Chat questioned as he seemed to break the word apart.

“Yeah, the word did originate in Japan. It means Beast Gods.” Tikki explained as much as she could.

“You said that was what they were called in the past right? What did you mean by that?” Plagg questioned with some interest before he flew through the curtain. The black cat blinked as he saw her before shooting towards Marinette as if to take her in.

“Well first of all it should be noted that Kemonogami was a catch all name used by the Order for supernatural entities that they came across. Yokai, shikigami, demons, ghosts, all those stories you heard about were partly inspired or based off of peoples encounters with Kemonogami.”

“Really?” Chat questioned as his kwami shook in the air while grabbing his stomach.

“Yeahhhhh,” Unity dragged the word out as she looked at the cat kwami. Was something wrong with him? Tikki poked her head through the curtain and looked at Plagg. The ladybug kwami flew towards her opposite. The two had a hushed conversation that she couldn’t make out.

“Plagg, what is wrong?” Tikki whispered to him as Plagg continued to hold his stomach.

“Unity is, Unity is Pigtails,” Plagg got out between bits of laughter. Tikki blinked at that and turned slightly to look at the un-masked Unity. While she had seen Unity without the mask before and had recognized the girl as Marinette she hadn’t had time to fully think of her being Marinette.

Marinette who was Alya’s club president. Unity had been close the whole time. While something of interest Tikki was confused about why this would cause this reaction in Plagg. However she did know enough about Marinette to know how the young human girl would take his reaction. “You had better get yourself under control. Unless you want her to think you are judging her based on her scars.”

“Ugh, humans and their ‘beauty standards’,” Plagg huffed before flying towards the human girl. The black kwami knew that his kid would throw a fit if he outed his crush on the girl so he decided to go with another truth. “I was laughing because seeing you reminded me of more short jokes.”

“PLAGG!” Tikki shouted in outrage while Unity relaxed before giving him a fond smile.

“What? I was only reminded of them, blame Trixx. The fox came up with some good jokes.” While saying this, he floated a bit more towards Pigtails' hand. Seeing the act for what it was, the black-haired girl slowly moved her hand and began to pet him.

“Plagg!” The voice of his holder called out, sounding upset. If Plagg had to guess, then it was because he was embarrassing him in front of his crush. Humans…

“Well, it was nice to meet you. I’m going to go eat those cheese danishes.”

“He never changes.” Tikki shook her head with an old fondness. “I’m sorry about him. I think he forgot how to interact with humans after being stuck in the box for so long.”

“It’s alright,” Marinette waved it off as she looked towards where Plagg flew off to. She could hear harsh whispers coming from the area. “I suppose we should get back on topic.” Raising her voice, Marinette made sure that she had everyone’s attention.

“Yeah, so you were talking about those Beast God things?” Scarabella questioned while Tikki took a thinking position.

“You said that was what they used to be called? Also you called DarkTyrannomon a Digimon. What does that mean?” Tikki questioned with confusion. The small goddess settled herself down near the human, giving her full attention.

“That is a question that requires a bit of explaining. First I guess I should explain just what a Digimon, I mean Kemonogami, is.” Unity took a moment to think of some way to begin her explanation. “So I guess the simplest way to start this would be to say that Digimon come from a different world.”

“A different world?” Scarabella questioned with wonder in her voice. “So they are like aliens? Like Majestia? I wonder which planet it is?”

“Different type of world,” Tikki cut her holder off with some mirth in her voice.

“A different kinda world?” Chat questioned confusion dripping off every word.

“The world we’re talking about doesn’t exist out in space. Rather it exists on the other side of our world.”

“What?” The question came from both Scarabella and Chat.

“Think of a coin. Where the one side is our world and the other is the Dig- I mean the other world.” Marinette cut herself off. Explaining the whole world changing into the Digital World. “They are connected on a deep level but are still somewhat separate.”

“That is weird,” Scarabella muttered while some shuffling could be heard. “A whole world connected to ours? Is this like the whole multiverse thing in DC comics? Where are they all connected but just vibrating at different frequencies?”

“Umm… no? I don’t think so?” Marinette scratched her head. “They are connected but not that closely. They are more like two connected bubbles?”

“Oh, so kinda like in some of those anime? Where the heroes are able to transverse between worlds?” Chat Noir questioned while Marinette hummed.

“Yeah, it is kinda like that.”

“Wait, so if the worlds are linked then why haven’t we seen more of those things wandering around over the years? I mean its only been a few weeks and multiple of those beast gods popped up?” Scarabella questioned growing a bit louder as her thoughts no doubt raced. Marinette looked to Tikki who hovered into the air, a bit of uncertainty clear on her face.

“That, that is a question that has an answer. An answer I’m unsure that I’m allowed to give.” Marinette spoke while looking at Tikki. The red kwami shook her head. “Yeah, I’m not allowed to say, but I can say this. The Order managed to create a… wall, barrier? They created a way to prevent anything from coming from one world to the other.”

“That is the BEST way to put it,” Plagg spoke up making sure he was heard. “You two will have to make due with that explanation.”

“How did they make that wall?” Scarabella questioned with a bit of a push in her voice.

“I will not be answering that question,” Marinette shook her head while letting out a deep breath. Tikki fidgeted in the air, a bit uncomfortable about the situation. “I don’t think the kwami are allowed to answer that either. I am really sorry, but just know that the Order had to pay a hefty price to make that wall.”

“I’ll say,” Plagg grumbled with bitterness covering his tone. “Though that does raise the question of how you know all of this.” This time Plagg’s voice carried suspicion and curiosity.

“I am unclear on all of the details, just that at some point the other world underwent a fundamental change. There are some theories about what caused this change, but we don’t have time for that. What matters is that the change it made for an opening. A Devimon used that opening to cross over.”

“Devimon!” Plagg hissed out with utter rage. “One of those things made it across?” Marinette blinked at the hate in the tone before glancing at Tikki. The red kwami had a look between horror and sorrow. Marinette guessed that there was history there.

“Yeah, I don’t know how long he was in this world but he managed to recruit some followers-”

“OF COURSE HE DID!” Plagg shouted out startling the others except for Tikki. “What did they promise the humans? Let me guess, money? Power?”

“I think it was money-” Marinette began to say only for a loud yowl to cut her off. Looking at Tikki the red kwami let out a sad sigh before flying to where she heard Plagg shouting. “Umm, should we take a break? To let Plagg relax?”

“That might be, don’t throw that! Hey, no chewing on the wires!” Chat frantically shouted as the noise on his side increased.

“So, five minute break? I need to get my notes in order.” Scarabella replied as they heard Tikki start calling out trying to calm down the enraged black cat kwami.

“Well might as well get a drink. I’m going to need it if I’m going to keep talking,” Walking over to the fridge Marinette wondered how the rest of the talk would go. She would need to be careful to be just vague enough that they wouldn’t connect Marinette and Unity while also explaining what happened. After all, Marinette was captured by the workers of Devimon and branded by them. Or at least that is what she would tell anyone who asked about her scars. Plus if you tilted your head and squinted, it could be true in one way.

“Here I was thinking humans might have learned, but no! Here they are still making deals with Devimons! For what? Money!” Plagg continued his rant as more crashing was heard from the other side of the curtain. Marinette flinched as she was morbidly curious about how Plagg would react to what Devimon was after.

~~~~~~

“... so of course that was when I came up with my idea to prank Dupain-Cheng.” Chloe continued her story to a calm-looking Luka. The blue-haired boy didn’t say anything as he continued to listen to the girl in front of him. His fingers strummed his guitar as he attempted to keep his cool.

The teenager didn’t know if he should be appalled or feel pity for the girl in front of him. She had a twisted worldview that was constantly reinforced by her father and mother. Chloe was never corrected or faced consequences for her actions. From the few questions he had asked during her storytelling he knew that not even teachers or other students had corrected her. This was probably why he felt pity for her rather than just disgust. The blonde truly didn’t know what she was doing wrong. Even when she told him about bullying his sister and others, mainly this Dupain-Cheng girl, Chloe saw nothing wrong. This made him wonder just why she was here talking to him if she felt she did nothing wrong.

“... it was about three days after that,” Chloe stopped herself and seemed to freeze up. In a few moments a variety of emotions crossed her face. “It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t have any part to play in it.” The words came out like a mantra. As if it was said so much that it was automatic.

Luka wanted to press but knew that he needed to let Chloe speak on her own time. So to help her he instead changed the tune he was playing. From something he was playing absimindly to a tune meant to calm everyone down. It should be obvious why he needed to remain just as calm.

The music seemed to work as Chloe told him of what happened. She spoke in a somewhat halting manner all while the blonde curled in on herself. Luka had to focus more and more on keeping calm as he finally learned what happened to his sister's former classmate/kinda friend. After she was done Chloe looked at him, her eyes begging him for something. Knowing it was his turn Luka took a moment before he spoke.

“You said earlier that it wasn’t your fault. Did something happen to challenge that?” Luka raised the question, which elicited a flinch from the girl. Chloe bit down on her thumbnail and shifted around as if unsure what she should do before her body jerked about until she had grabbed his stuffed gator. The old doll that he had gotten as a Christmas present years ago was pulled into her grip and hugged tightly.

“I, I, I tried to explain it to Adriki-, my childhood friend Adrien Agreste. I told him everything I told you, but he, he.” Chloe somehow tightened her grip on the gator and closed her eyes tightly. “He looked at me with such disgust. As if it was ALL my fault. Then, then he kicked me out of his car.” Luka continued to play the calming melody, wondering when he should cut in. “Then, I saw my new friend Unity. You know the awesome hero who saved Paris. The only one with a good sense of fashion. She was flying by, so I waved her down. Unity then took me home, and then I told her what happened with Adrikins. That was when she confirmed we were friends. Unity then used the chance to tell me that it was my fault. She then pointed out that I, I,” The word vomit came to a halt as tears started stinging at the corner of her eyes that were still forced shut. Luka remained quiet but he had a feeling of what was to come. “That I also feel like it was my fault.” With that Chloe let the sentence come out and when it did he watched her collapse in exhaustion.

Luka slowly changed the tune he was playing. He changed the tune to something more relaxing. He didn’t need to be calm anymore and it seemed that getting the last part out had exhausted his client. ‘What do I do now?’ Deciding to take this chance Luka first wanted to see if Chloe was indeed asleep. She was indeed asleep clutched onto his gator so Luka decided to let her sleep. Making sure his curtains were closed he left her in his room. He needed to go for a walk, and maybe talk to his sister about what the heck was happening at her school.

Chapter Text

Marinette heard some more grumbling before a ding was heard from her phone. Looking at the phone, Marinette blinked in shock before getting up. “Hey, Dave is dropping off some food. Do you guys want anything?”

“How do you know Dave?” Scarabella questioned before hurrying the next part out. “Also who is Dave?”

“Dave Fantastico,” Marinette felt her mind roll over Scarabella asking about her uncle. Something about how she asked about her uncle scratched at her mind. “I met him during the whole Devimon incident.”

“So it was an incident!” Plagg yelled out in a fury. “Well you might as well explain. This is going to be the calmest I can probably get.” Looking in the direction of where Plagg was speaking, Marinette watched as the black cat kwami flew towards her. Tikki followed shortly after keeping close to her counterpart.

“If you are sure,” Marinette looked at him as she trailed off. “I’m not sure how much I can say… Others were involved with the incident and I don’t want to overstep.”

“Others? I’m guessing Dave was one of those people.” Chat had some tightness in his voice.

“Yeah him and his niece were among those who were taken.” Marinette made sure to speak as clearly as she could while skirting around the full truth.

“His niece?” Plagg hummed while shooting a look back toward where he came from.

“Yeah, I think her name was Marionette.”

“Marinette,” Chat corrected, cutting in with heat in his voice. “Her name is Marinette.” Scarabella didn’t say anything but Marinette could feel some tension coming from her area.

“Alright,” Marinette felt conflicting feelings at how Chat was reacting before pushing it a bit to the side. She could deal with later. She would deal with it later. “Well the cult Devimon started to find out where the Renlings were hidden.”

“Renlings?”/”How!” The holders and kwami called out at the same time.

“You can think of the Renlings as cousins of a sort to the kwami. We could talk more about them another time. We need to stay on topic.” Marinette looked at the two kwami before shrugging. “As for how Devimon found out where they were, I have no idea. The point being that he managed to get over to this world. Took people hostage which included me.”

“Along with Dave and Marinette.” Scarabella cut in with some heat. Unity had to blink at that, she was a bit confused why the ladybug user was so attached to that part.

“What happened?” Chat questioned with just as much heat. Marinette could at least somewhat understand his reaction, at least the two had some interactions.

“That is my story, and I don’t want to share it right now,” Marinette shook her head as just sharing what she did was dredging up horrible memories. “I shouldn’t have even told you about Dave and Marinette being there.” A tense silence filled the area before, without a care, Plagg spoke.

“So, how did that evil spawn get to this world? The barrier should have kept it out.”

“I’m unclear on the details, and Devimon can no longer answer them.” Marinette began to say, only for Plagg to cheer.

“Hah, it’s dead isn’t it? That overblown, egotistical devil is dead, isn’t he? Oh, how I would have loved to have seen it. Seeing a Devimon perish always was a joy.” The black cat chackled as he fell out of the air.

“You really don’t like Devimon, do you?” Marinette inquired with some interest.

“Plagg’s dislike for the species goes far back and has only grown with each new one he encountered,” Tikki explained as she looked at the other kwami with fawning interest. “I can’t say that I have had a good interaction with one either. Still, though, could you tell us what you know about how the Kemonogami got through the barrier? If we know, then maybe we could fix it?” The last part came out with slowly mounting confusion as Marinette shook her head.

“If we are going to talk about the barrier, then I would prefer if the Guardian or a high-ranking member of the Order is present. I will tell you that the way Devimon got past the barrier was due to them changing the core data of everything in their world. Or maybe it was always like that, and it was the human world that changed? Ergh!” Rubbing her head, Marinette tried to remember, but came up short.

“Are you okay?” Scarabella questioned with some concern.

“Yeah, I just never understood the whole conversion thing.” Marinette admitted with a long, drawn-out sigh. Before more could be said her phone dinged again. Looking at her phone she saw that it was uncle having dropped off the food. “Oh, food is here. I’ll be back.” With that the girl left, heading to the door. Opening it, Marinette saw the food along with a note. The note was short and simple. She had fifteen minutes before her parents were going to check on her. Walking back into the room, Marinette opened the bag and found a random assortment of food. “Well, you guys go through everything and see what you want. I need to wrap things up here. Something came up.”

“Oh?” Chat questioned as his kwami flew into the bag and was quickly going through it.

“Civilian life things came up,” Marinette shrugged it off as Plagg had grabbed a container before shooting off.

“Kid, I have fish!” The cat cackled while Tikki took her chance to go through what was left.

“Alright, I’ll try to explain as well as I can,” Marinette hummed as she took her seat back. “As best as I can understand something changed. I can’t pinpoint when exactly but the general understanding is that the conversion happened sometime during the rise of technology.”

“Technology?” Chat questioned while Tikki looked at her confused.

“Well to put it as best as I can understand… Well remember how I said the worlds are connected? The reason technology caused such a massive change was because it caused such a massive change in how people interact not only with each other but also the world as a whole.”

“I can see that,” Scarabella hummed in thought while Tikki blinked and seemed to fall into thoughts.

“I don’t. What is so great about computers?” Plagg whined loudly. “The boy keeps talking about it, but it is nothing compared to cheese.”

“You could use a computer to order cheese,” Chat Noir commented with a light-hearted tone. Plagg let out a gasp, but Marinette decided to keep going. After all, she was on a time limit.

“The more prevalent technology became and the more it advanced, the more it affected both worlds. The most major change was that Kemonogami were changed to become Digimon.”

“Digimon? I remember you using that word before.” Chat muttered as Tikki flew back towards Scarabella after getting some food. Marinette could tell that her words had affected the kwami though.

“Yeah, that was how I was introduced to them. I am very used to referring to them as Digimon, short for Digital Monsters.”

“Huh, sounds kinda like that Pokémon thing,” Scarabella hummed while Chat let out a chuckle.

“Yeah, it does sound like it. But these are so much more real.” Chat let his chuckle die out with a sigh.

“So with that whole conversation thing changing them or something Devimon slipped through?” Plagg summarized with a dry voice.

“Yeah, that was about what happened.” Marinette nodded before looking at the time. “I need to head out. You two can hang around if you want just make sure to head out the back door.” With that Marinette used her Digivise to transform, this time into her Hope armor. “I’ll see you two around. Hopefully, next time we can have the guardian here to help.”

“Yeah, it would be nice to know who he is,” Scarabella commented just as Unity left. Taking a few quick turns, Unity then took to the skies. With just a minute to spare, Unity landed in her room. A quick flash had Marinette landing on her bed. Walking to her desk, Marinette booted up her computer to check the internet.

As she scrolled through it the girl felt herself start to relax. A minute passed before Sabine opened the door to check on her daughter. “Ah, it is good to see you in good health.”

“Thanks mama,” Marinette gave her mom a smile while spinning to face her.

“No need to thank me. I am just doing what any good mother should do.” Sabine walked up and gave her daughter a hug. Marinette returned the hug. After a few moments the two separated before the adult walked a few paces over to her daughters lounge. “Now that you have had some time to sit with your thoughts, what do you plan to do?”

Marinette was about to ask what her mom was talking about only for it to come to her a moment later. “No, I’m still pretty unsure. I am still hurt but I am at least a bit calm about now.”

“I understand,” Sabine commented while giving a sweet smile. “This is the type of thing that you should really take your time on. Let your emotions help you understand what you should feel. Just remember that your papa and I will always be here to help you if you need to talk.”

“Thanks, I am a bit unsure just what to do about the two. I still want to be friends I just don’t know if I can fully trust them.”

“That's okay,” Sabine reassured her daughter. “I’m sure that they will understand.”

“Yeah…” Marinette trailed off as a post caught her eye. Turning slightly, she saw a Facebook post reminding people that Adrien’s birthday was tomorrow. “Huh, Adrien’s birthday is tomorrow.” A few thoughts passed through her head before Marinette sprang up. “Crap! I need to finish the scarf!” With that, the black-haired girl was now digging through her project box.

With a chuckle, Sabine stood up. “I will let you be. I’ll make sure to grab you for dinner.” Nodding her head, Marinette gave a response that was muffled by the various fabrics. With that, the older woman left her daughter's room. “Really dear? Wanting to finish a boy’s birthday present despite fighting with him earlier today?” Letting out a light chuckle Sabine went down to check on her husband.

~~~~~~~

Chloe stood on the deck of the ship after her season. Across from her stood Luka. “It wasn’t that bad so I guess I’ll come back to talk to you again.”

“Let me get your number. That way, you can text me so I can know when you are coming.” The guitarist held out his phone, to which Chloe looked slightly put off. Still, she brought out her phone and lightly touched it to the older model. With the contacts exchanged, Chloe was about to leave, only for the boat to start shaking as a thick fog rolled in. Luka was quick to grab the blonde girl to keep her stable.

It was as the boat shook that a low wailing noise was heard. Juleka cried as Rose and her grabbed each other. Luka held on tighter to Chloe as he moved them towards a safer part of the boat. “What is going on?” Chloe questioned as the waves continued to shake the boat. The blonde had to speak louder as to be overheard over the wailing noise.

“This is what you were talking about?” Rose questioned as she and Juleka hugged each other.

“Aye, that is what we’ve been complaining about that the city has done nothing about.” The mother of the twins shouted as she clung to the railing. “Hold tight the fog is getting less dense it should be over soon!” True enough, the fog had started to become less dense. After another minute or so the fog finally cleared and the water calmed down enough that everyone could stand up.

“Alright, that settles it!” Chloe shouted as she stood up. The rich girl “If I’m going to keep coming here, then that needs to be dealt with!”

“Its not that simple!” Rose stated as she clung onto Juleka. “The city came out and couldn’t do anything!”

“And I told you that we needed to try something new!”

Juleka muttered something that only Rose heard but it had the small pink girl gasping. “Chloe no! We-”

“I don’t care what you think!” Chloe snapped back. Luka cleared his throat causing the yellow clad girl to stop for a moment. With a dramatic huff the mayor’s daughter crossed her arms. “I’m sure YOU have a good reason to not want to visit Dupain-Cheng's club, but this is a danger to the city. So it would be best to try all options. Besides Adrikins would absolutely jump at the chance to play hero.”

“Now that is a good reason!” Anaraka cheered as she walked down to the deck. “If you don’t want to visit then I shall go and talk to the girl for you!”

Chloe gave a nod while bringing out her phone. The blue eyed girl stopped at seeing the time. “Ugh, looks like it is late, and there was that Akuma attack earlier. Looks like we will have to do it tomorrow. Thankfully, we have a short makeup day tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Rose’s eyes flew wide at hearing this while turning to Juleka. “Did you know about this?” The taller girl mumbled something to which Rose nodded.

“Yeah, wasn’t it because of those akuma attacks or something?” Luka questioned. Anarka gave a nod. “I’m grateful my school decided not to

“The teachers and parents got together and decided to have a short day,” The mother explained, which got a noise of understanding from her children. “I will be picking you up from school. While we’re there I will talk to Dupain-Cheng.”

“Marinette doesn’t go to our school,” Rose informed with a sad tone in her voice. “Not anymore.”

“I’ll just ask Adrikins where his club is.” Chloe waved it off with a huff. “Now, if you can excuse me I need to head home.” With out saying more she put her coat on and left. Or she would have if not for Luka placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m going to need Scales back,” The older teen commented as Chloe held on tight to Luka’s stuffed croc. Chloe looked between him and Scales before with a huff handing it over.

“I’ll be back,” With a huff Chloe walked away.

“Well that was interesting,” Luka said this while looking at Juleka and Rose. The two girls seemed to curl in with each other. Ankara let out a huff before looking to Luka.

“While I am upset to learn what happened Juleka and Rose played no part in… that.” Ankara let out a long sigh. How her colleagues let anything like that happen the woman could only guess at. She would have to talk to a few of them to get the whole picture. “Now let's all rest. Tomorrow will be busy.” With that, Rose and Juleka had to part from each other. Luka watched his sister head down bellow before turning to his mother.

“Would it be alright if I come with?” Luka questioned, to which his mother let out a laugh.

“Of course you are coming with. We are going to need you to keep that girl in check.” Anaraka gave him a smile full of teeth. “Speaking of, you should probably bring Scales with you.” With another laugh, the adult walked inside, leaving Luka alone with Scales.

“What did we get ourselves into, buddy?” Luka questioned his stuffed croc that just gave a derpy smile back. “At least the money is good.”