Bellflower Bee

He quickly got to work, spinning the iron as fast as he could. He already got one wheel off. Then two. He had to switch to the other side of the car. It open to the street, which was far more risky. He got the third off, but just as he was about to finish off the fourth, there was a grunt behind him.

He stood up slowly to see the big bad bat staring him down – literally and figuratively. The dim glow of the streetlights illuminated the area, though to Jason it felt more like a spotlight. The cars on the street didn’t bother to give a second glance, motors roaring and horns honking, trying to get home before night fell, the sun already setting. There was no way they weren’t breaking the speed limit and possibly a few other laws. He wasn’t sure to be grateful or horrified that no one was stopping, leaving him alone with Batman. 

The world seemed to slow to a halt, Batman clearing his throat, getting impatient, though it hasn’t been long since he asked Jason the question. He looked straight into The Bat’s eyes, trying to gather any hint of emotion – something that would let him turn the situation to his advantage. His eyes were hidden by his mask and the only thing visible to Jason was his typical scowl – nothing useful. He decided to stare back, trying to unnerve him despite knowing it would never work.

“What are you doing?” Batman barked. “You are aware that’s my car right? I could have you arrested for this.”

Despite his growling “I am batman, I am the night” voice, Jason noticed the minimal infliction that showed he wasn’t going to do anything of the like. Possibly even had a soft spot for kids, or at the very least street kids. This, this, was something he could use to his advantage.

He tried his best to look as afraid as he felt before learning his weakness, to not give away that he had something to use to his advantage. “I’m… I’m so sorry, sir,” he stuttered out, “I don’t have any parents and am too young to have a job.” He forced tears to well in his eyes before continuing, “I’m running low on food, I have to ration what I have, only eating enough to survive. I saw your car in crime alley and used the situation to my advantage.” He paused for a deep breath, “I really, truly am sorry. I didn’t have another option.”

Batman let his guard down for a moment, just a second too long. Jason swung the tire iron straight into his abdomen, causing The Bat to bend over. Jason took this opportunity to run, taking as many twists and turns as he could while avoiding anyone who may call the cops.

Once Batman recovered, he swung up to the roof tops to give him a vantage point in hopes of finding Jason. He jumped from one roof to the next. 

Batman stood in front of Jaosn, blocking off the entrance to the next alley. He tried to turn around, but The Bat grabbed his arm, holding him back. “Get in the car,” he snarled.

Now Jason was fearful again, nothing good ever happened to street kids when they got into a car, though the Bat did have a weakness for kids…

Batman started driving away, taking a left turn. “What happened to your parents?”

“Dead, sir”

“Relatives?”

“Don’t have any, far as I know.”

“School?”

“Graduated from the streets of Crime Alley, sir.”

He gave another grunt, turning down a street. Try as Jason might, Batman was taking too many turns for him to keep track of. 

“Agent A, we have a guest.”

“Lovely, I’ll prepare a room.”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Soon, he was pulling into a fancy, hidden garage. You’d never guess to expect The Batcave here, even if you were looking for it. In fact, it blended into the rock so well you couldn’t see it at all. Batman clicked a button on his dashboard and suddenly the rock opened up. Jason was in awe as The Batmobile drove through into a literal cave with literal bats, putting his car in park.

The overhead lights were dim, and the place was full of high-tech… tech. Computers littered every corner and there were fancy machines all over the place. There was a giant penny hanging on the wall, still a bright brown, so it was either new or preserved in a way that prevented oxidisation. A large, musclely, taxidermied t-rex sat in the corner, (well, stood, really), mouth open in a roar. How Batman had gotten his hands on that was completely out of Jason’s (non-existent) paygrade to figure out, and he wasn’t going to ask anytime soon – didn’t want to waste The Bat’s good will on something like this.

“This is the Batcave,” he grunted out.

“Wow.”

Batman gave another grunt, gesturing for Jason to follow him before taking off his cowl. Jason gaped in shock, not expecting Bruce Wayne to be Batman. In hindsight, though, it definitely makes sense. Who else would be able to afford all the fancy bat-tech he has?

Batman then goes behind a curtain and comes out in his normal attire, a white button-up shirt and some black khakis. He took The Bat-scalater upstairs and into the manor, Jason in tow. At the entrance into the manor itself, someone was standing, likely waiting for them. 

“I presume this is our guest, Master Bruce?” The man asked politely, to which Bruce Wayne gave a sharp nod.

“Welcome to the manor, Master Jason. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, the butler of this house. I will show you to your room.” He turned on his heel and walked through the manor, his hands clasped together behind his back. Jason in tow, he walked up the stairs, eventually stopping at a door. Alfred turned the handle and held it open for him.

Jason took a step inside, looking around. There were two large windows with red curtains pulled to the side as well as one behind the bed frame. The bed had white covers and pillows alongside a couple red accent pillows. There was a rug underneath the bed, a nightstand next to it, and above that an indented bookshelf. Overall, incredibly simple. 

“I’ll leave you to settle in, Master Jason.

Just as Jason was about to take another step, he spun on his heel. “Wait, how did you kno-” Noticing Alfred was no longer behind him, he cut himself off with a sigh.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

And settle in he did. He discovered the library a week later and spent all his time there. There was a massive selection of classics, both in English and their original languages. Bruce had even asked him to become Robin. Between training and school, he spent his limited free time reading. 

Jumping from author to author, Jason discovered his love of romance, especially Jane Austen’s. He finished one classic then immediately picked up the next. Book after book, he fell even more in love with classics. His free time grew as Bruce began to not only ignore, but treat him poorly. 

One night, when Jason was sitting at the batcomputer, he came across his birth certificate. He, out of curiosity, began reading through it. Not even half way down, he noticed Catherine Todd wasn’t listed as his mother, but Sheila Haywood. He pushed his chair back, stood up, and paced in a circle running his hand through his hair. Rolling back up to the table, he took another second to rest his face in his hands before finding everything he could on Sheila Haywood.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Next thing Jason knew, he was in Ethiopia. Entering Sheila’s smeared address on his palm into his phone’s GPS, he walked through the streets. He kept his head down; if Bruce had caught on, the first thing he’d do was check the street cameras. His hood was pulled over his head and his hands tucked in the kangaroo pocket. 

He walked through the streets, checking his phone for directions then the street signs for his location. He could've just used the built-in location tracking, but that would give Bruce a significantly better chance of finding him. He makes a right turn, the final one before arriving at Sheila’s address. Jason was about to cross the street, but he noticed her unlock her car. He was planning on crossing anyways, assuming she was just grabbing something she had left in there, but she hopped inside and sped away, almost running him over in the process. Thank god for my fast reflexes, he thought. He gave chase, quickly getting over his startle from almost getting run over.

She was going at least a few kilometres per hour over the speed limit and Jason was struggling to keep up. Sheila finally slowed down as she turned onto a dirt road and parked on the side, right in front of an abandoned warehouse. Naturally, Jason was suspicious. No one goes into an abandoned warehouse for moral reasons, he thought, before dismissing it. There's no way she’s up to no good. She must have a good reason. Maybe… maybe she’s hiding people who are in trouble somehow. She has to have a reason.

Whilst he was thinking, Sheila had already made it half way to the warehouse and Jason had to borderline-sprint to catch up. He managed to slide through the doors just before they had shut behind her. He hardly had the chance to even open his mouth before a menacing cackle rang throughout the warehouse, echoing off the walls. He whipped his head around, looking for the source and noticed a figure standing in a corner to his right. 

The figure took a step out of the shadows, his bright green hair and pasty white makeup coming into view. “Well, well, well, looks like the little birdy fell right into my trap.”

Jason took a step backwards, but Joker took one forwards. Backwards, forwards, backwards, forwards. Jason attempted to take another step back but his heel ended up hitting the warehouse door. With nowhere left to run, as if he even could in the first place, he looked Joker in the eyes, attempting to look fearless. 

Joker raises a crowbar.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

When Jason came to, he was tied to a chair, already bloody and bruised.

“Oh, look! The birdie’s finally up!” Joker grabbed his chin, forcing Jason to look at him. He took a swing with his crowbar right into his ribs. Then again. “Which hurts more?” He asked, a wicked grin on his face. “Forehand,” whack, “or backhand?” Whack. “A,” whack, “or B?” Whack. 

Jason faded in and out of consciousness. He felt pain when he was awake, and heard blissful silence when he wasn’t. The next time he woke up, Joker had stopped hitting him and had a cruel smirk on his face. “You’re up again!” Joker exclaimed almost excitedly, “Ready for the fireworks?” Jason couldn’t even process what he said before Joker was out of the building and a ticking noise started. Jason finally gained the strength to look around, only to see a bomb in the corner that Joker had been blocking when he first entered the warehouse. 

A week later, he was back again, this time going through multiple wallets and stuffing any cash and gift cards he found into one. Gothamites tended to not keep a lot of cash on them to prevent losing a whole lot to pickpockets, so the boy ended up with only a few bills and a handful of change. Mars took note and threw down a giftcard she had gotten for her birthday the previous month, hoping it wouldn’t stray from its course due to the strong winds. Speculating it was the girl from earlier, he looked up for just a little longer this time, and gave another smile, this one a bit brighter. 

The boy didn’t return for a week. Then two. After three weeks had gone by, it became a habit for her to look out the window in hopes of getting a glimpse of him. She was starting to get immensely worried because street kids in Gotham typically didn’t last particularly long. Another week passed. Then another. Finally, after over a whole month of not seeing him, the boy was back in the alleyway.

Mars rushed down from her room on the second floor and ran outside, thankful her parents had been across the house watching some reality TV show. She made a hard left turn and stood at the entrance to the alleyway. 

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The boy was on guard the second he heard her footsteps, ready to run at any given moment. He relaxed for a moment, recognising the girl from the window, before tensing up again.

The girl looked inquisitively at him for a moment then spoke, “Hi, I’m Mars.” Her tone was soft – something often done to manipulate street kids, but for some reason he felt calm in her presence. Her smile was welcoming and bright.

“Jason,” he returned skeptically. He didn’t trust her, despite her soothing presence.

“I was worried about you, y’know,”  she paused for a second, mulling over her words. “I- I thought you might’ve been gone. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Jason scoffed in a disbelieving fashion, “Yeah, right. Why would you be worried about me?” His expression was sombre, melancholy reflecting in his voice. He avoided eye contact with Mars, staring at the ground instead.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Mars looked at him curiously.

Still refusing to meet her gaze, he said, “Because I'm a street kid? We mean nothing to anyone but each other, and even that is circumstantial. If we’re lucky, people will walk past us, maybe take pity on us and hand over half a sandwich. Worst case, we’re attacked, avoided, abducted.” He finally looked up, gazing into her eyes, “We’re nothing.”

“I’m so sorry…” She reached out to comfort him, but he flinched away, causing her to quickly withdraw her hand.

“I don’t need your pity,” Jason sneered.

“It’s not pity, it’s compassion. I’m sorry that you’re going through this, I’m sorry that you feel no one cares about you, I’m sorry you’re scared something’s going to happen to you at any given moment.” Mars paused, trying to gauge his reaction. He was still tense, on guard, but she could see his face softening, despite his head hanging, trying to hide his emotions. “I care about you though.”

“...Thanks, I guess.”

“I brought you some more food,” Mars almost looked guilty, holding out a basket to Jason. “I’m sorry it’s not a whole lot, I don’t want my parents to find out. They wouldn’t do anything, of course, but they probably wouldn’t approve.”

“It’s fine, better than what I’d be able to find myself.”

“I also gave you one of my books, I’ve already read it a hundred times and I can always just go to the library.”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

A week passed, and Jason found himself beside Mars’ house again, his feet finding their way back to her without his consent. He was in the alley again before he even noticed. 

He heard her door slam shut before a call of, “Jason!” She was carrying some fresh fruit, chips, and energy bars in her arms, clearly struggling not to drop them. “I’m glad you’re back, I’ve been hoarding these bars in my room since last week.”

“Thanks, Mars,” He replied with a small smile. “You really don’t have to do this, though.”

“Don’t be silly! Of course I do, I can’t just leave my friend hanging, can I?” She gave a sly smirk and wink before some snack-sized bags of chips fell out of her arms. “Shit!” She exclaimed, rushing to pick everything up but in the process she ended up dropping more stuff.

“Here, let me. You’re just gonna keep dropping stuff and then it’ll be an even bigger mess to clean up.” He had a grin on his face, the first time since he was on the streets. Mars noticed and returned with a smile of her own, glad he was finally getting some happiness back in his life.

“I suppose that makes sense, but next time I’m picking everything up,” She said in a light, joking tone.

“Of course, if you can manage to do so without dropping everything else,” Jaosn joked back with a smirk. His smirk turned into another grin, bigger than his first, grateful of the camaraderie he had found with Mars.

“So, what should I do with all this? It doesn’t seem like it’ll fit in your backpack,” she questioned, looking around the alley. “Maybe I should’ve planned better and brought you something to put it all in.”

“It’s completely fine, you can just take what I can’t fit back inside. I told you you didn't need to do all this.”

“And I told you, it’s fine. Better than fine, even. I’m glad this is going to someone who needs it, my parents can always buy more. Are you sure there’s nothing else you can do?” She pleaded.

“...I have some expired stuff in my bag I can leave around the corner for someone else and take this, I guess.”

“Perfect! I’ll help!” Mars replied gleefully, a sparkle in her eyes

“No, you won’t,”

“Yes, I will.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Nuh-uh,” Realising what she said, Mars gave a mock-offended gasp, “You tricked me!”

“So?” Jason gave a self-accomplished smirk.

“Ugh, Fine,” she relented, allowing him to go through his bag without her help.

Jsaon tossed things off to the side after inspecting checking if they were still good – via smell or date, depending on the item. He seemed hesitant getting rid of things, but then he remembered he’d be getting better stuff. Plus, someone else can always pick up what he leaves behind. It may not be the best quality food, but it’s better than nothing.

The pile of expired items was beginning to worry Mars. Is this what he’s been living on? Expired snacks and half-eaten meals?

Jason looked between the pile and his mostly empty backpack before glancing up at Mars. He’d worked hard collecting all that, preventing others from stealing it, and he left it all behind. Granted, it was definitely worth it, gaining for fresh fruit and non-stale snacks in exchange. Besides, he knew another street kid would pick it up – they had to take what they could get, afterall.

He stood up, backpack in one hand and his other empty. He hesitantly reached out and Mars gave him a bright, encouraging smile. He quickly started grabbing things from her arms and shoving them in his backpack as quickly as he could – a habit to prevent people stealing things right out of his hands. Street kids might stick together, but when it came to something like this, it was every kid for themselves. He made sure to leave the fruit on top to ensure he’d eat it before it went bad. He took a couple peaches and handed one to Mars and bit into the other. She reached out and gently took the peach from his outstretched hand, giving him a smile then biting into the peach herself.

“See you next week?” she asked hopefully. 

“Of course.” 

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The next week rolled by, this time Mars was already in the alley, waiting for him. She has a backpack by her feet, a similar shade of red as his hoodie and much larger than his current one. It looked reinforced at the seams – likely to prevent tearing. It’s not slouching, indicating it was, at the very least, mostly full. She was also carrying a couple more classics in her arms.

“Hey, Mars!” Jason greets. “What’s up? You’re gonna get mugged just standing there,” He half joked. Noticing the solemn look on her face, he walked forward, “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“I’m so sorry Jason,” she starts, beginning to get teary-eyed. “I’m… I’m leaving Gotham. My parents died and CPS is sending me to France with my aunt.”

“You shouldn't be sorry!” Jason quietly exclaimed in a sympathetic tone, “You're parents just died, I’m the sorry one.”

“But… You’ll be on your own again. I can’t help you out or even just hang out and talk to you.” Tears began rolling down her cheeks, “I’ll miss you so much. I don’t want to leave. I really don’t.”

Jason began to cry as well, “Mars… Mars, no. I was fine before you, and I’ll be fine after you. As much as I’ll miss you, I’ve heard Paris is beautiful – and certainly has a lower crime rate. You’ll love it there.”

“It would be better with you, though.”

“Everythings better with me,” he attempted to joke, though it just made Mars cry harder, falling to her knees.

“I’ll miss you so much,” Mars buried her head in her hands, sobbing loudly. “You’re my best friend. I’ll never meet anyone like you. I’ll think about you every day I’m there.”

“I’ll miss you too. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Tears continued down his cheeks, “I’ll never forget you.”

“Don’t speak like that, I’m not dying. I promise I’ll be back. We’ll meet again, I’m sure of it. I’m not going to just leave my best friend here, never to see him again.”

Jason returned her watery smile, “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Oh-ho-ho. I’d love to help. She already has such great potential and just imagine the chaos and confusion if she just gets stuff out of nowhere! Bringing out a box of snacks when everyone knows she didn’t have any earlier? Or creating some sparkles around the room with light? Or-”

“Alright, that’s enough. Don’t give her any ideas.”

With a cackle, Trixx declares, “Of course not! I wouldn’t dare!”

“...Right. So, are you gonna give her a kwagatama?”

“Why, of course! I’ve only been with her for a day but she’s great. And, if she’s anything near as wonderful as you say, I’ll only grow to love her more.”

“Perfect.”

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Later that day, when Marinette finally woke up, Plagg flew up to her. With messy hair, half-closed eyes, and immense lethargy, she gave him a half smile - too tired to bother putting in effort.

“Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” He spoke calmly. He was smiling aswell and his tiny fangs were showcased. “Happy birthday.”

Giving a sleepy groan, Marinette responded, “Morning, Plagg. Thank you. Where’s Trixx?”

“She’s having a snack on your desk.”

“Right.” Marinette was still so sleepy she wasn’t paying much attention and wasn’t even registering much of what was happening.

“Trixx!”

“Yes, Plagg?”

“So absorbed in your grapes you didn’t even notice Marinette’s up?”

“She’s up!?”

“...I’m right here.”

“Happy birthday, Marinette!” Trixx shouted, twirling around, excited Marinette would be getting her and Plagg’s kwagatamas and finally learning magic. With such a large spark and her creativity, she was very eager to see what she could do with it! Her magenta eyes were practically sparkling with joy and the only reason she wasn’t giving her her kwagatama now was Plagg’s flipper on her shoulder.

“Go get some lunch, kid. Trixx and I will be waiting here.”

With a suspicious look, Marinette went downstairs to grab some lunch.

“You treat her like she’s your child. You’re so boring.”

“That’s because she is my child. You know this. And I’m not letting her do anything that could hurt her in any way, shape, or form.”

Coming back up her stairs with her lunch, Marinette sat down and her desk and was ready to eat. Though she was still in her pyjamas, she was significantly more awake. 

Plagg joined Trixx sitting on her desk. They looked at each other and Plagg spoke. “Remember how when we first met you asked if I could teach you magic?” He hesitantly paused to gauge Marinette’s reaction before Trixx interrupted.

“What grumpy-pants here is trying to say is that we’re gonna learn you some magic!  We’re gonna start with some basic stuff, go into more complicated things, and eventually teach you our specialised magic - once you’ve got the rest down, of course.” Trixx was oh-so excited to teach her some magic and watch the chaos unfold. Marinette had entropy - both good and bad - following her like a lost puppy but was somehow still incredibly lucky. The havoc she caused was no match for any of Trixx’s past holders and she was thrilled.

Marinette's eyes gleamed. She was so excited to learn magic, to help people better than before - even if it was just the basics.

“We’re also gonna give you a kwagatama,” Plagg picked up. “It’s a way to communicate with past holders but you’ll learn that another time.”

“When do we start?”

One magic lesson later, Marinette was already able to create sparks of light on her fingertips and open locked doors. Unbeknownst to her, Plagg and Trixx had never seen anyone pick up magic, let alone do it well, that quickly. They were in slight shock, but didn’t want to worry her so kept it to themselves and decided to advance their lessons quicker than they had planned. Although they knew she would catch on quickly, they weren’t quite expecting this. But just because they were going to teach her more didn’t mean they were going to put her in danger - which meant not teaching her anything that could overexert her, especially because they knew she would push herself too far.

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Weeks passed and Plagg and Trixx decided to teach Marinette unification. Although they hadn’t been focusing on miraculous magic, with how well she was doing otherwise - able to summon things to her hands from around the house, summon things to not her hands from around the house, open storage voids, and brighten and dim her fingertip light - they decided she was more than ready. Her magic spark was growing and she had been doing better than either of them could’ve expected.

After dusk came and dinner was eaten, Marinette was down in the apartment part of the bakery in the living room. It was a cosy space - not too big, not too small, but still well-used. Coasters were scattered about the coffeetable, stained with constant use. End tables with subtle scratches and dents and blankets strewn over the couch and chairs. Between rounds Ultimate Mecha Strike II, Trixx and Plagg floated in front of her.

“What’s up?” She questioned. She loved them but the float-in-front-of-face tactic was almost always employed when they had news to share. It had never been dire, though, so she wasn’t too concerned.

“So, we’ve come to a decision,” Plagg started.

“We’re gonna let you try unifying us! It’s a way to use both our powers at once, but it can be dangerous. You’ve been wilding Plagg for a while, though, and your magic is growing stronger by the day so we decided it was finally safe enough.”

“Can I test it out tonight?”

“Of course! Not sure what good it’ll do you with Plagg still holding out on his power, but still! Plus it’d be a good gauge of your magic ability - Obviously we wouldn't let you if it wasn’t completely safe but we’re one hundred percent sure you’ll do fine!”

“Actually, I’ve decided to teach her my power,” Plagg spoke to Trixx. Turning to Marinette, he said, “Kitten, listen carefully. All you have to do is say ‘cataclysm’ and there will be dark, bubbling energy around your hand with my ring on it. Touch your hand to whatever you want to destroy, and it will crumble to dust. Please be careful with it, though, it’s incredibly powerful and very, very dangerous.”

Marinette was a bit hesitant due to the knowledge of Plagg’s power, but was ultimately excited to unify them. She was confident the kwamis would only do what was best for her and if they decided it was safe, she would believe them. Plagg and Trixx were everything to her and she trusted them immensely.

Plagg picked up, “Same rules as when you first transformed with me - no doing anything stupid and get back before you detransform.”

Marinette silently but excitedly rushed up the stairs and over to her desk and picked up some of Plagg’s cheese bread and Trixx’s berries.

“Oh, shut up, Monsieur Over-Protective. You know she’ll do whatever she pleases. And she has food - she just went up to grab it, didn’t you see?”

“How are you so sure she got food?”

Trixx silently pointed behind Plagg where Marinette was standing with a bag of assorted berries in one hand and some cheese bread in the other. “You two ready?” She spoke, stuffing the food in her pockets.

“Of course, kit!” Trixx exclaimed. Despite only knowing Marinette for about a week, Trixx was wholly ready to call her his kit. She was the best he’d ever had - true holder or not.

“What do I have to do?” she spoke.

“All you have to say is invoke our names and instruct us to unify, it works transformed and untransformed,” Plagg stated. “To detransform you can say ‘detransformation’ and to divide us you say the name of who you don’t want to stay transformed with and say ‘divide’”

“Do I have to say ‘and’ or just…” Marinette trailed off, not wanting to transform without giving any warning.

“No,  just ‘Trixx, Plagg, unify,” Trixx said.

“Of course you’d put your name first.”

“Like you wouldn’t do the same!”

“You ready, Trixx?” Marinette questioned, interrupting the kwamis before the argument could escalate.

“Of course!”

“Hey, why’d you ask her if she’s ready and not me?”

“Because you, sir, are a pain in the ass. Plagg, Trixx, unify!”

Her boots went up to her mid-thighs, black fading to a dark, rich brown, topped with a neon green band which also encompassed her white countershading. A light brown band circled her waist, separating her orange hips from her black torso. Her arms were a light orange fading into a darker, yet still bright, one, once again topped with a neon green band. Her bright yellow, slit eyes glowed against her orange mask, mostly bright orange fading into pale orange on the sides. Her hair was again in a long braid, starting as an unnatural blue and gradually ending in white.

Jumping out the living room window, she scaled the building next door - I should’ve gone back up to my room, she thought. It would’ve been easier than climbing a building. Reaching the top, she realised she could've just used her staff. Deciding there was no use dwelling over it or complaining, she set out to the Eiffel Tower, leaping over the rooftops neighbouring her own. It was a distance but not too far - perfect to test the unification. 

She hadn’t happened upon any crime that night so she sat on the top tier of the tower for a few hours before heading home. She would’ve liked to practice with some illusions but got lost in the view; the city was lit up and dead silent despite the (surprisingly little) traffic - which might have just been because she was so far up. She wished to see the stars but only the brightest were visible among the moon. It was a waning gibbous moon that night, lighting up the sky more than the lights of the city. 

Reaching home, she attempted to open her trapdoor but it wouldn’t budge. Remembering it was locked, she lowered herself via baton back to the living room window, hoping her parents hadn’t woken up and locked it. Leaping through the window, she whispered “Detransformation,” and Plagg and Trixx spun out of their respective miraculous.

“Wooo! I haven’t been unified in sooooo long,” Trixx stated.

Plagg said, “We are so proud of you, kid. You did excellently out there, staying transformed for hours with both of us and-”

“Thank you, Plagg. I appreciate it but it’s late and I’m getting tired, I’m going to bed.”

“Of course, kit!” Trixx exclaimed. With another glare from Plagg, he lowered his voice and continued, “Go to bed, Mari, we’ll see you in the morning.”

“G’night.”

“Night, kitten.”

“Goodnight, Kit.”

After Marinette fell asleep - which didn’t take long - Trixx once again pulled Plagg to the corner of the room. “Kitten?” She questioned.

“...Yeah. She’s the best, I love her.”

“I do too, Plagg, I do too.” 

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Around noon the next day, after Marinette had woken up, Trixx turned to Plagg and spoke, “I miss everyone else.”

“Like, the kwamis? Our box or the others?”

“Both, mostly our box though. We were stuck together in that boring, white void for so long with our only company and entertainment being each other.”

“Yeah, I miss them too. I’m glad I have you, though. We’ve always gotten along so well!”

“Why, of course we have, dear Plagg. You cause the chaos and I cover it up!”

“Excuse me!? You have caused just as much if not more than I ever had.”

“Coming from the kwami of chaos!”

Marinette, half-listening to them, half the news, said, “Break it up, you two. No need to bicker.”

“We are not bickering. That is below us!” Plagg exclaimed.

“Not if you’re acting like you’re four.”

“You dare mock gods!?” Trixx exclaimed, feigning offence.

“Sacrilege!” Plagg continued.

Marinette rolled her eyes, getting back to the news as Plagg and Trixx resumed their conversation.

“Xuppu quite liked to cause trouble too, wonder where he is,” Trixx asked.

“I don’t really know. Last I know of him, his holder was… fighting mine.”

“I’m sorry, Plagg.”

“Don’t worry, I’m over it. What about Mullo? She certainly liked to go along with our chaos, even if she wasn’t particularly chaotic herslef.”

Although knowing Plagg was most certainly not over it, Trixx said, “Yeah! I hope we see her again soon! Last I heard she was being sent to Greece.”

Marinette interrupts, “Greece? Was her miraculous, by chance, a coin necklace with five sections and mouse motifs?”

“...Yeah. How’d you know?” Trixx questioned.

Marinette gestured to the computer where the news was on. Flying over, Trixx and Plagg heard the story of a new museum exhibit from ancient Greece. The reporter motioned to a picture of a necklace - Mullo’s necklace.

“Mullo!” Plagg exclaimed. It had been so long since he’d seen anyone, other than Trixx, of course, and he was excited to see that Mullo was okay.

“We have to get her back, kit!”

“No, no. Absolutely fuckin’ not. I’d love to see Mullo again but we are not putting Marinette in danger stealing from a museum.”

“C’mon,” Trixx drawled out. “You’re no fun. She’ll be fine. You’ve seen what a schemer she is, she’ll just come up with a plan to get Mullo back!”

“Actually, I think I already have one.” Plagg groans as Trixx beams and Marinette continues. “I just make a fake mouse miraculous, get into the museum, and exchange them. No big deal!”

With a cackle, Trixx exclaims “Great! Let’s do it!”

“How are you going to do that, kitten? You can’t just waltz into the museum and say “Hey! That necklace is a magical artifact and I’m going to need that.”

“Well, yeah, obviously. I’m gonna make the replica perfect with Trixx’s illusion magic then transform with her, cloak myself in an illusions, and quickly replace Mullo’s miraculous.”

“And how exactly are you going to get in? I doubt they just leave the door unlocked, nor the case with the necklace.”

Twirling her baton in her hand, Lady Noire finally spoke up, “‘Sup.” Startling them a bit.

The attempted thief swirled around startled and shouted - still quietly so as not to attract attention, “Who’s there? Show yourself!” He pointed the knife around, trying to be threatening, but considering Marinette had a suit indestructible to everything but miraculous weapons, she wasn’t scared.

Alix was still mostly frozen in place, despite the knife no longer at her neck, but looked around hopefully. Lady Noire stepped out of the shadows and repeated herself, “‘Sup.”

The thief ran forward with his knife outstretched (which was bad form, Marinette noted, but oh well) and she extended her baton a bit and twirled it around rapidly, creating a sort of shield - something she learned from Plagg. After a couple minutes, she decided it was best to go on the offence. She twirled around him, landing on his other side, and pushed him to the end of the alleyway, away from Alix. Parrying with her staff, Lady Noire managed to disarm him and kicked the knife away. Pinning him in place with her baton at his neck, the thief finally had the chance to exclaim, “Who the hell are you!?”

“Lady Noire, nice to meet you!” She exclaimed sarcastically. She twisted her torso a bit to the right, bent forward at the waist, with her hands clasped and pointing down slightly off to her right. Noticing his distraction, she kneed him in the balls causing him to double over in pain and fall to the ground. Kneeling and smiling at him she picked him up in a princess carry and rode her baton up to the roof to hopefully keep him there for some time. Hopping back down, she bounded over to check on Alix.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m… I’m Alix,” she said, clearly still shaken up. Looking up with fear in her eyes - not at her but rather left over from the thief - she continued “Who are you?”

“I’m Lady Noire, nice to meet you! And this time, it’s true.” Alix laughed a bit and Lady Noire was glad she was able to make that happen. “Would you like a lift home?”

“Can I have a picture first, please?”

“Of course, but I’d appreciate it if you keep it on the down low, not quite ready to go public yet,” she said with a wink. Pulling her in close, Lady Noire opened Alix’s phone and pulled up the camera app.

“How’d you get my phone!?”

“I’m an expert pickpocket.”

“Wha-”

Lady Noire cut her off, “Smile!”

Alix looked towards the phone and gave a wide smile. After a snap of the camera, Lady Noire handed back her phone.

“Now, about that ride home?”

“Y- Yeah. That’d be nice, thank you.”

She bent down, silently offering a piggyback ride, and Alix hopped on. “Where to, little lady?”

“Who are you calling little lady when you’re shorter than me?”

Giving Alix a wide grin, Lady Noire repeated “Where to?”

“The Louvre, please.”

“The Louvre? Never mind, we’ll talk once we’re there,” she changed her mind.

Bounding over the rooftops, Lady Noire quickly got Alix home. Carefully climbing down off the roof, to not hurt Alix - she didn’t exactly have a magic suit, after all - she ran closer to the Louvre before bending back down and letting Alix off her back.

“So cool!

“So, the Louvre?”

“Yeah,” Alix said, “I’m the curator's daughter? You didn’t know?”

Lady Noire answered with a shake of her head. She never really paid attention to her classmates nor watched the news - why would she? Her classmates bullied her and the news was never interesting. “What did they want then?”

“The password to disable the security system.”

“Why would they think you have that? You’re, what, eight? Nine?”

“I know, right? Totally insane.”

Lady Noire said her goodbyes and bounded away to continue with her run. She couldn’t wait to tell Plagg about this!

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Lady Noire came across Juleka, her classmate, and Luka, Juleka’s brother, on her next run. They were walking the streets with bags in hand and Juleka happened to notice her. Juleka whispered to Luka, discreetly pointing up at Lady Noire. He tried to hurry Juleka along, fearing they were in danger but Lady Noire heard the whispering and dropped down.

“‘Evening, lady and gent,” Lady Noire greeted. 

Luka and Juleka looked at each other in fear before he stepped forward and extended his hand in front of her. “What do you want,” he spoke.

“Woah, chill. I’m just dropping by to say hi. Nice to meet you, I’m Lady Noire,” she said, flicking her braid.

“So cool,” Juleka mumbled. She’d never seen anyone with hair anywhere near as long as hers, let alone Lady Noire’s.

“Juleka,” Luka harshly whispered. He still wasn’t sold that she wasn’t out to get them, for lack of a better term.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to harm. I’ve only ever run into one other person and I was here to see if you need any help getting home. Don’t want to leave anyone out alone at night,” Lady Noire responded. 

“Right…” Luka commented, skeptical.

“Luka, it’s okay. If she was gonna do something she would’ve done it already.”

“Can’t you see she’s trying to find out where we live?”

“If you want me to go I can. Just say the word. Those bags do look pretty heavy, though.”

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Once again, Lady Norie was running along the rooftops - it was quickly becoming one of her favourite pastimes. She hears some screams and recognises a couple of her classmates - Rose and Juleka - and observes the scene. Two people were threateningly walking towards them, knives outstretched. With a shriek, Juleka, ever brave yet shy, yanked Rose back and put herself in front of her. Both thieves charged at her with their knives, clearly out of sync, ending up with their knives at each other instead of Juleka and Rose. 

Lady Noire took this opportunity to drop down into the moonlit alley in a flash of black and tap the thieves on their shoulders. Startled, they looked at each other, a silent conversation taking place, and oscillated around. 

“Surprise!” Lady Noire announced. She whipped her baton out from her lower back, extended it, and twirled it around before planting it on the ground and resting her hands and chin on it. 

The criminals charged towards Lady Noire, seeing her as the bigger threat, and attempted to stab her. Ducking under the knives, she thrust her staff up and the knives clattered to the cold concrete ground. Picking up the knives, she stored them in her baton just in case. She lifted the thugs to the roof as she did before and checked on Rose and Juleka.

“So cool,” Juleka murmured. “I got to meet the awesome cat superhero twice.”

Cat ears twitching as she picked up the mumbled praise, Lady Noire answered, “Thanks for the compliment, little lady. You two okay?”

Juleka had obvious shock written on her face - Rose was the only one to ever hear her 

“That. Was. So. Cool!” Rose exclaimed, emphasising each word. She had always been easily excitable, but Juleka warranted this as a pretty good reason.

“Yeah,” she said, nearly inaudible. 

“This is Juleka,” she continued. “And I’m Rose!” She said, basically bouncing on her toes. “It’s so nice to meet you! What’s your name? How do you know her? Can we get a selfie?” She questioned in rapid succession.

“It’s nice to meet you too. My name is Lady Noire and I met Juleka on my last run. I saw her and her… brother? Struggling with their bags. And of course you can have a selfie! I will ask that you don’t tell anyone though, I’m still trying to keep my existence a secret.”

“So cool!!” Rose repeated. 

Lady Noire pulled Rose’s phone out from her pocket and pulled her and Juleka in close. “Smile!”

Rose and Juleka smiled at the camera before they even had a chance to question how Lady Noire got Rose’s phone and how she knew her password.

One ride home later, Juleka realised “She broke my photo curse!” It was less of an exclamation than a mumble, but loud for her nonetheless.

“You’re right! She did! I was so caught up in meeting an actual superhero I didn’t even notice! Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

“...Thanks,” she mumbled in response.

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Marinette’s alarm went off with an annoying series of beeps and she groaned as she rolled over onto her back. Plagg was still sleeping soundly on her pillow so Marinette carefully rolled out of bed to not wake him.  After getting ready, she went down to the apartment part of the bakery. Rifling through the fridge and pantry, she decided on having some of the previous night’s leftovers for lunch. Scooping it into a bowl, she shoved it in the microwave and set the timer to one minute.

Marinette sat down with her food and ate it alone, as always, scrolling on her phone. Meal times were better with Plagg, but he was still asleep, tragically. Her chicken and rice was really good, though the spice had dulled during its time in the fridge, and she was done in minutes.

Walking to the sink, she rinsed out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. She normally hated waking up this early (“It’s not that early!” “Yes it is, shut up Plagg,” She would commonly hear) but the farmers market was only set up once every other week and was the only place Marinette could find her favourite snack. It closed in a few hours now, though, so Marinette had to get going if she wanted to make it on time. It wasn’t all too far away but she had to walk and enjoyed taking in the scenery.

She walked up the stairs back to her room and grabbed Plagg to put in her purse. She dashed back down the stairs - both the ones to her room and the bakery - and shouted her goodbyes to her parents. 

With white tents lining the parking lot, Marinette wanders around looking for the stall she needs. The positions typically change every time so it took some time to find her snacks, but she didn’t particularly mind - it gave her the chance to find some new foods, cool trinkets, or clothes. This time, she found a jewellery stall. Taking a moment to look over the wares, she felt particularly drawn to an orange fox tail necklace. After Marinette picks it up to examine it, the shopkeeper speaks. “Are you sure you want that? People tend to shy away from it, I’ve had it for months.”

“Really? Do you know why? I… I feel quite the opposite.”

Unbeknownst to her, Plagg was vibrating in her purse. He was very careful to not bump up against it so as to not alert Marinette. He could sense the magic rolling off the necklace in waves - far too subtle for anyone but a magical being or an immensely skilled magic user to pick up. The fact that she had noticed attested to her affinity for magic. He was considering moving up her magic learning date, but her birthday was less than a week away and it’d make for a great gift.

“Well, some people would tell me they had a bad feeling about it, most would get out of here as fast as they could. A handful even resorted to sprinting!”

“Huh,” Marinette responded. She was pretty confused, to her this necklace felt almost like a good omen. She didn’t know how to describe it, just that she was drawn to it. “How much?”

“Five euros. I just want to get rid of this thing.” The shopkeeper was clearly exasperated with having his customers chased off by a necklace.

“Deal!”

Marinette, completely forgetting to pick up her favourite snack, rushed home. She was so… thrilled to put on this necklace with no idea why. Reaching home in record time - she swore the traffic lights were in her favour today - she ran up to her room as quickly as she possibly could. 

Reaching her room, she starts to put on the necklace but Plagg interrupts, “Woah there, kid. Slow down for a second. That is a miraculous. Fox, to be exact. She was part of my box so I know her pretty well but Trixx can be… quite a lot. She’ll probably be quite enthusiastic considering we haven’t seen each other in a while. Not before- before I was on the wrong side.”

“Got it. Good to go?” At this point, Marinette was so excited. She loves Plagg in all his chaotic glory and was ecstatic to finally meet another kwami.

“Yep!”

Actually putting on the necklace this time, Trixx appears in a flash of bright orange light. 

“Hello!” She exclaims enthusiastically, “My name is Trixx and it’s an absolute pleasure to meet yo-”

“Trixx!”

“Plagg? I haven’t seen you in so long! How’s the new holder, finally good?”

“Oh, she’s the best! She feeds me, and takes down criminals - even if I told her not to,” he shoots a glare at Marinette with this, “she doesn’t order me, and, and, she’s my true holder!”

“I’m so happy for you, Plagg. It’s not often we get a true hold-”

Marinette clears her throat. She was happy for them and their reunion, but she was quite excited to talk to Trixx as well. With their attention now on her, she spoke, “Hi, Trixx. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Marinette, but with Plagg I go by Lady Noire.”

“Pleasure to meet you as well, Marinette! Elated Plagg finally has a good holder!”

“So, what do you represent? Anything fun?”

“Oh, yes, illusion. If you’re good enough at it you can even fool the universe! Once, about, oh, sixty, sixty-five million years ago, Plagg killed the dinosaurs and I covered it up with an illusion. No one will ever know!”

“Plagg, we’re having a talk later,” with a terrified look from Plagg, Marinette was sufficiently satisfied and continued her conversation with Trixx. “May I… may I know your transformation words? Think it’d be pretty fun to go out and trick some criminals.”

“Oh I like you,” she was grinning from ear to ear, - er side of head to the side of head? - and was so clearly eager to cause a bit of chaos. “Your weapon is a flute and my transformation words are ‘let’s pounce’ and ‘let’s rest.’ To cast an illusion you play a few notes and point your flute to the ground, to dissipate it you just say reality with another point of your flute.”

“Sweet! You ready to go out tonight?”

“Oh absolutely”

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

One video game session and meal later, it’s finally dark out and Marinette is ready to go. With a quick confirmation from Trixx, Marinette is transformed and jumping out the window. She has a light brown belt - roughly the thickness of her hand - and the black of her suit comes down to just below it then fades into a dark reddish-brown. The dark brown continues past the thick, bright orange triangular band - which is lined with the same light brown as her belt - on her thights before fading back into black just above her knees. The band on her arms is positioned on her biceps and instead of the black fading into brown it instead cuts off at the band and switches to brown. Her tail is thick and fluffy, getting thicker and fluffier near the end, once again black fading into reddish-brown but capped with white. With bright, glowing yellow eyes and slit pupils, her mask is the bright orange of her leg bands fading into the lighter one of her arm bands at the sides. Her fox ears are light orange and fade into the brighter one with black arched over the top. The insides are a bright white, the same as her tail tip, and the outside and inside of both ears are lined with light brown. Her hair is unbound, a dark blue fading into white and nearly reaches her knees. Finally, her flute is a darker orange than her leg bands and ears with thick stripes of the light orange on her arm bands and ears. Perfect for blending into the night yet still reminiscent of Trixx. She decided to go by Huli Noire and climbed through the trapdoor and began her patrol.

With Plagg in her hair, she ran across rooftops towards the Eiffel Tower once again. The wind blowing through her hair felt even better than it did as Lady Noire. Reaching the base of the tower, she had no idea how to get up there with Trixx - maybe I can scale it? Foxes are good climbers, right? Or jump up the platforms? Can’t foxes jump, like, two metres? - her thoughts were interrupted by a scream and she quickly bounded over to where she heard the eerie sound. Seeing an old woman having her purse snatched out of her hands, Huli Noire jumped into action. Playing a haunting tune on her flute, she moved her hands up a bit and then slammed them down, calling “Mirage!” quietly, careful to not let the thief in on her plan. With him distracted by all the whispers in the wind, haunting tunes, glowing fox eyes - as well as some ridiculous stuff like dogs strutting around with disco balls on their backs, catching the light and reflecting bright colours onto the alley wall, and trash cans armed with tutus, top hats, and an arched cane performing a synchronised dance.

With the thief thoroughly confused, she quickly grabbed the lady in a princess carry, pounced onto the rooftop, and leapt away. 

“Are you okay, madame?” Huli Noire questioned. She was careful to be as calm and kind with the lady as possible due to the state of her. She was clearly very shaken up and with her old age, Huli Noire didn’t want her to have a heart attack or something. 

“Oh, yes. Thank you so much, young lady. What is your name?”

“I’m Huli Noire, nice to meet you. Do you need anything? A ride home, some water?”

“I think I’d just like to get home. But you don’t have to walk me, Mademoiselle Noire, I can get there fine on my own and I wouldn’t like to take up any more of your time.”

“Oh, please, I insist,” she stated. She was so excited to be able to help more people. “It’s kinda my job at this point.”

“...Well, in that case, I suppose I could let you walk me home. It’s just a couple of streets from here.”

One walk home later, Huli Noire made her way back to the Eiffel Tower. She decided she would try jumping from platform to platform and scaling between those she couldn’t reach. Turning around at the top of the tower, she gazed over the city. The lights were beautiful, but she wished she could see the stars. Plagg flew out of her hair and landed on her shoulder. They sat in silence up there admiring the view until dawn started to approach. Scaling back down the tower, Huli Noire made her way home.

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Detransforming, Marinette hands Trixx a grape, hops in bed and pulls the covers over herself. With a whispered goodnight between her and the kwamis, Marinette quickly falls asleep.

After ensuring she was asleep - which didn’t take too long considering her exhaustion - Trixx woke up Plagg and pulled him to the corner of the room.

“What do you want, Trixx? I need my beauty sleep.” Plagg had his little flipper-arm-thing draped over his forehead with his head tilted back. He was always so dramatic but it had been suppressed over the millennia with terrible holders.

“Oh, quit being so theatrical. We don’t need sleep. Although I have something important to tell you.”

That grabbed his attention, and now he was concerned. Looking up, Plagg spoke, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing wrong, per se, but Marinette may or may not be my true holder too.” With Plagg’s unamused gaze, Trixx quickly continued. “I could definitely feel something! I don’t remember exactly what the true holder feeling is like but didn’t you see how long she stayed transform-”

He quickly interrupted, “That easily could’ve been because she’s my true holder.”

“That’s not how true holders work. And she made so many illusions at once! Plus, look at her. How did you not notice!?” 

Looking over, Plagg noted her hair was longer and tied like a tail and fiery orange with fox ears set upon her head.

“I was tired. And needed my sleep. She even made me a bed! Of course I wasn’t paying attention,” Plagg paused for a minute, “She’s going to freak out when she wakes up. We have to have her put that away. She’s so tired she won’t even remember!”

“And why, exactly, do you not want her to remember?”

“She was absolutely hysterical when I told her she was my true holder and saw what she looked like. Imagine her reaction to this!”

“...Good point,” Trixx said. She definitely didn’t want Marinette to freak out over this. From what she heard from Plagg, he was absolutely certain she would be the best holder he’d ever had.

Floating over to Marinette, Trixx roughly nudged her awake. Marinette, immensely groggy, let out a groan. “Whaat?” She drew out, slightly opening her eyes which were glowing, bright yellow, and slitted. She was annoyed she had woken her, but Trixx took this as a good sign that she probably wouldn’t remember this.

“You have fox ears, kit. Put them away.”

“Right, great.”

“What’s up?” she questioned, turning away from her game. With her pyjamas on, teeth brushed, and clothes picked out for tomorrow she figured she had time for a few rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike II before bed.

“Remember how soon after we met I told you I’m not exactly what I led you to believe?”

“Yeah..?”

Hesitantly, he voiced, “There’s some more information I should probably give you.”

“You can tell me anything, Plagg - no need to be nervous.”

“There’s more to my ring - and myself - that you don’t know yet. As I’ve said before, I’m magic. What you don’t know, though, is that I can bestow you with my powers via the ring.” Plagg paused, ensuring Marinette was listening intently. “All you have to do is say ‘claws out’ to transform and ‘claws in’ to detransform. You'll get a near-indestructible suit with better hearing, smell, and eyesight. Your identity will be concealed with magic and your weapon will be an extendable bo-staff which you can use to travel alongside your better agility and all. Due to your age, though, you’ll have a detransformation timer - I'd guess maybe about three or four hours, tops.”

“‘Better agility and all?’” Marinette questioned.

“You’ll see,” came the cryptic response.

“...Can I transform now?”

“Yeah, just be careful, kid and don't do anything stupid,” he stated, eternally grateful she listened to his full explanation before transforming - even if he left a few things out. “Make sure you get back before you detransform. Don’t want you out on the streets all night.

Marinette glared at him, her parents may not be the best but they surely wouldn’t be so inattentive as to not notice she was locked outside… right? She shook out of her thoughts and was ready to transform. As to not wake her parents - they always went to bed early so they could get up early to open the bakery - Marinette quietly but eagerly exclaimed, “Plagg, claws out!”

Deciding it was okay to take a moment to look in the mirror, she walked towards it when Plagg forcibly detransformed her. “What was that about!?” Marinette questioned, indignant.

“Well, that rush of power you had was a bit abnormal. Don’t get me wrong, there should be a bit of that, but not nearly that much - especially at your age. So I had a theory I wanted to check, and I can see I was right.”

“What do you mean you can see you were right? What exactly is going on!?”

For a moment, Plagg stayed silent. “Well, uh, maybe you should look in the mirror,” he timidly spoke.

Rushing over to the mirror, Marinette turned to look in it, letting out a screech. Plagg flew over, trying to silence her before she woke her parents, but nothing happened.  

“That was nice of your parents,” Plagg said sarcastically. “they could have, y'know, come up to check you were okay.”

“They didn’t even wake up.”

“There’s no way. With that screech at least one of them would’ve woken up.”

“Rude. Besides, I’d say it worked out pretty nicely, considering what I look like,” Marinette said, irritated. “How do I get rid of this stuff!” The stuff in question was her long ponytail that went down to roughly her knees, which was tied about halfway down - acting as a tail. She had cat ears sitting on her head that were twitching and looked very real. Her sky-blue eyes were emitting a soft glow and her nails had grown longer and sharper. Looking towards Plagg, Marinette tilted her head, an unasked question in her eyes; what the hell is this?

“Well, uh, you see, this never exactly happened to me before, so I've never had to explain it, but basically,” he looked up to gauge the expression on her face. She looked at him intently, inciting him to continue, clearly impatient. “You… are my true holder, which means you can channel more of my magic quicker than others and more than anyone else could. Your timer would be extended - whether after using your power or-”

“I’m sorry, ‘power?’” she inturrupted.

“Uh, yeah, although I’m keeping that a secret. I’ll tell you soon enough, though, kid.”

“Alright, that's great and all, and I will be questioning you later, but you still haven’t told me how to get rid of this stuff,” Marinette said, getting more irritated by the second.

Plagg, finding this hilarious, hysterically laughed. Seeing the glare Marinette was levelling him with, he sobered up and started, “Okay, well, first things first, you have to calm down a bit-”

“Not helping, Plagg,” she said through gritted teeth.

“No, what I mean is it would be easier to put them away if you're not as angry. In fact, if you get upset enough, this stuff will probably come back until you get used to it all.”

Taking a few deep breaths, Marinette considered herself considerably calmer, yet still annoyed. She had only wanted to go for a run with Plagg - possibly fight some crime, even if he told her not to do anything stupid - and now she had to deal with all of this? Going down that line of thought would probably make her even more upset, she reasoned, so she stopped thinking about it. She slowly breathed in again, "What should I do now, Plagg?”

“Well, as I said, I’ve never had a true holder before, so I'd never had to coach anyone through this, though from what I heard from the others, you just have to focus on wanting them to go away, the same way you changed your ring and costume - although you chose your costume subconsciously.”

Marinette focused on her extras, so to speak, the same way she did her ring a while back, and willed everything to go away. Flickering momentarily, her ears and tail disappeared as her claws retracted, the glow in her eyes dispelling all in a flash of neon green light. Looking in the mirror again, she glimpsed her eyes seem brighter than before and angrily glowered at Plagg.

“Oh, what now?” Plagg questioned, slightly irritated. He thought he had been done with this line of questioning. As much as he loves his holder, Marinette is as curious as she is kind, as protective as she is benevolent, yet mischievous despite that. It makes for a marvellous combination - and she fits perfectly with him - yet it also leads to her intense determination and merciless temperament.

“My eyes? They're still… glowy??”

“Oh, yeah, I think that’s normal.”

“Normal? What if someone notices!?”

“Oh don’t worry, they won’t. It’s a minor change and no one will realise unless you want them to or it’s unambivalent - it’s probably the same kind of magic to protect your identity.”

“Alright,” Marinette said sceptically, before taking note of his words. “Wait, ‘probably?’ You're not even sure?”

“Oh, chill, it’ll be fine. The glamour prevents anyone from discovering your identity unless it’s obvious and it will probably cover those eyes. Besides, even if it doesn’t, it’s so faint no one will notice, and if they do they’ll just write it off as the sun or something. Worst case scenario, they might assume you’re a magic user, but not a miraculous holder,” Plagg informed.

“Magic user? Those are real?”

“Wow, how inquisitive,” he said, sarcastically. He loved his kitt- holder, but she asked so many questions. His past holders - however terrible they were - ‘already knew everything’ (Plagg would always mock them behind their back for this. They knew jack shit) and didn’t ask anything.

“Plagg.”

“Alright, alright. The last time I was around, maybe three, four hundred years ago? There were magic users worldwide, though the most prominent magic communities were in major cities. Someone caught someone else doing magic and everyone accused every other person of being a witch? Especially those with, like, mental health issues and seizures and all. It was insulting, in my opinion. Especially because most people didn’t even like the word witch. Felt it had too many bad connotations. And, of course, killing innocent people, but, y’know, common thing in human history.”

“Do you mean the Salem Witch Trials? You had a holder then?”

“Yeah…” Plagg said solemnly, trailing off. One accusation from his holder had started a whole witch hunt - literally - and Plagg hated that people were being killed indiscriminately and blamed himself for all the carnage his holders caused. He was the one who confirmed magic was real - even if it wasn’t exactly his fault. He came out of the ring when his old holders put it on, and he was responsible for them learning about magic. 

Plagg had always hoped for a good holder, one that wouldn’t use him for malicious reasons, but they all heard the rumours and hoped, knew, they could command him. He had been so thankful to finally have a holder who didn’t know anything about magic - one who was young, who had a chance to not be evil. When he learned about the bullying and neglect, he was frightened and assumed she would start abusing him and the ring. The longer he stayed around, though, the more sure he was that nothing bad was going to happen. Determining it was safe, he trusted her with more information, even just a few months into their friendship. He always loved the days when he was first bound to his ring - free to roam around, see other kwamis - even from other boxes - not be controlled, and use their power freely. 

The great mage who created the miraculous eventually couldn’t take care of hundreds of mini beings - gods - interacting mostly safely with the world for the first time. He founded the Order of Guardians months later, made up of his closest confidants. He thought everything would be fine, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. The guardians became greedy, using the kwamis for personal gain behind the great mage’s back. After he died, though, everything got worse. They became pleonastic, passing out the miraculous for money and fame and used their magic to control the kwamis. Eventually, they discovered a way to make the control permanent so they didn’t need to use their magic for it anymore, even if it took more magic from the kwamis. Their power was drained from it, but the guardians didn’t care. They didn’t even care that the kwamis’ magic was more potent - without being out of the box and using their power there was a buildup of magic. Instead of letting the kwamis out to enact their magic, the guardians decided it was best to command them to never use it without a holder. 

After hundreds of years of abuse, a kind-hearted guardian came around and, one by one, freed the kwamis from their inability to use their powers. He still didn’t want them to use their powers under the rule of the Order, though, as it would be too noticeable. Locked in boxes unless sold to royalty and the wealthy, they were abused but not used for evil. Eventually, though, some of the general public found out about the magic and began killing others for the power. Mercifully, the kwamis were reclaimed within a few months, years at the most. 

Although they had to go back to their isolation, the kwamis were still grateful to not be forced to help commit atrocities. After thousands of years, though, Plagg’s holder became feral and caused wars. More and more corrupt people got their hands on the ring, and he was never recovered. The kwamis sent out to stop him often went unclaimed but weren’t used for evil. Because the holders sent to stop the black cat didn’t seem as powerful, they were rumours lost to time.

“Plagg? Plagg!?” Marinette shouted, concerned. After asking about his holder during the Salem Witch Trials, Plagg stared into space with a troubled look. She was concerned her question had sparked his trauma, no, she knew her question triggered his trauma. She had tensed up - a worried look and tears in her eyes threatening to fall. She loved Plagg - more than he would ever know, more than she could put into words - and she hated seeing him like that. He was her first and only friend, only company, but so much more than that, too. He was family. Marinette couldn’t bear to see him like that, but could only stare in horror. She blamed herself, that was the kind of person she was and always would be. 

If he were here, - god, I’m was talking about him like he’s dead - he would praise her and scold her all the same for being so self-deprecating. “It’s not your fault, Marinette,” he would tell her. “Don’t blame yourself for something out of your control.” But this time it was her fault, she shouldn’t have brought it up.

She snapped out of her stupor and did everything she could to bring Plagg out of his. Clapping, yelling (even if she couldn’t do so too loudly in fear of waking up her parents - again.) Eventually, she tried shaking him by his shoulders - pointer and thumb around them and a light back-and-forth wiggle motion - which finally brought him out of his impassivity. The tears in her eyes finally fell - with relief as opposed to worry, though.

“Are you okay?” She asked, terrified Plagg would hate her now and take the ring back, and she’d be alone, alone, alone. “You… you just spaced out, I was so worried. I shouldn’t have asked you about your holder, I’m so sorry. You’re the first friend I’ve ever had and I don’t want to lose you and I love you and I hope you don't hate me but you can take away the ring if you want I’d totally understa-”

“- Woah there, kid. Chill. It’s okay, you’re amazing and I’ll always love you. I won’t be taking away your ring, Marinette, and I don’t hate you. At all.”

“But, Plagg, I brought up your trauma and - hey! I should be comforting you, not the other way around.”

“Kitten, it’s okay. You need it more than I do - I’ve had thousands of years to deal with it, even if the malicious holders just kept coming. And besides, there were a solid couple hundred years between each one… sometimes.”

“‘Malicious holders?’ What do you mean?” Marinette asked, concerned for his well-being, mental state, and, well, him in general. She gave him a scathing but soft look. She wanted to help him, but not pressure him into it. She didn’t know how to deal with trauma, especially some as deep-running as his. She loved him and wanted what was best for him, but she wouldn’t push it if he wasn’t ready to open up. 

“Heeyyy, didn’t you want to go run around?” Plagg asked, quickly changing the subject. He sounded nervous - it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it. His little arms (flippers? Paws?) were crossed, shutting her out and preventing her from asking any more questions. His bright green cat eyes were dulled, the sparkle not as bright. He looked away after noticing Marinette staring straight into his beady eyes where falling tears were imminent and he was trying to blink them away.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I will take you up on that offer to go on patrol though!” Marinette said enthusiasticly and impatiently, it was obvious to Plagg that she was eager to finally go out, even if she’d only been waiting an hour. He was excited to see her excited and it cheered him up immensely. He loved his holder more than life itself, even if he wasn’t technically alive. Marinette was the best holder he had ever had and he cherished her deeply and was fathomlessly grateful she treated him right. He had always hoped for a good holder but didn’t realise how delightful it was. Not being used for evil - to steal or kill or cause mass genocide. He trusted her so impeccably - with his whole being and truth in just months and now he knew why. She was his true holder, perfectly matched for him, and Plagg treasured that.

“Great! Quick recap, claws out, claws in for transformation, indestructible suit - except for magic weapons, - better hearing, yada yada yada, and last and most importantly, no doing anything stupid.”

“Of course, of course! You ready?” At Plagg’s ecstatic nod, she fervently transformed. “Plagg, claws out!” The rush of magic flowed over her once again, and Marinette admired herself in the mirror. Her black hair was braided, reminiscent of her longer hair after her last transformation, and her eyes were green, glowy, and cat-like - just like Plagg’s. Her outfit was solid black with a neon green collar and belt with her ears outlined in the colour as well. Her arms and legs had a triangular band of the colour under her joints and her rose-gold miraculous changed back to how it was when she first picked it up and met plagg. There was a metallic black baton with a paw-print on her lower back. Her nails were claw-like again, just like they were when she had her cat-girl assets - she still didn’t exactly know what to call her… extremities.  Finished admiring herself in the mirror, she opened the trapdoor to her balcony and jumped out.

She jumped up to the roof and noted she didn’t feel cold, despite the chill in the air and gentle breeze. Jumping from her roof to the one nextdoor, Marinette bounded across the rooftops feeling the wind blowing her hair and cat ears twitching. The sky was clear yet no stars could be seen as the light from the city filled the sky. The Eiffel Tower was a glowing beacon in the distance and she started running towards it. Leaping from roof to roof, she picked up speed to test how fast she could go. Plagg said she had increased agility and the like so she was curious if that included her speed. Speeding up, the wind whipped faster around her and her hair-tail flicked from excitement. 

As the whirling wind got louder around her, Marinette had to slow down due to her sensitive hearing. Taking a seat on the edge of a rooftop to admire the view of the Eiffel Tower - even if it was partially blocked by a chimney - she pulled out the baton from her back, recalling Plagg mentioned it earlier, and inspected it. Noticing each pad of the paw-print was a button level with the rest of the staff, she started pressing them. With a soft click, the far left toe-bean pressed in and a screen slid up from the top. Fiddling with it, she noticed she was able to take it off if needed. Thankful she would be able to hold it like a normal phone, she temporarily tucked the baton back to its spot - with no clue how it stays there, if she may add - and started swiping. It seemed to function like a normal phone - search engine, messaging app, etcetra - and she pulled her staff back from her back and reattached the screen. Pressing it back down, Marinette tapped the next toe bean. The baton reopened at the top, this time with a white, glowy void. Inquisitive, - curiosity killed the cat, she supposed, but satisfaction brought it back - she stuck a finger in there, finding it too small for her whole hand. It seemed to swallow it whole, but she could still feel it and move it around just fine. Figuring she’d ask Plagg about it later, she collapsed that back into the baton as well and continued tapping the buttons. Pushing in the second-to-last toe bean, the staff extended slightly and spit in two. Noticing both had the same buttons, she assumed they did the same thing as it did when unified. Attempting to reattach them, she tried putting the bottoms together and they merged back into one. Pressing the final toe bean, the staff opened into a nun-chuck-type weapon. The baton was once again split in two - this time smaller than before - but connected by a chain. She pressed the button again, hoping it would go back to normal and it thankfully did. The last button on the baton was the actual pad of the paw print. She tapped it, and the staff extended. She pressed it again, curious how long it could go, it extended until it hit the chimney on the roof over. Assuming it would react to her will like everything else seemed to, she pressed the button and willed it to go back to its original size. Grateful it worked, she tucked it back behind her back and continued jumping towards the Eiffel Tower.

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

When Marinette reached the closest rooftop to the Eiffel Tower, she took a seat and gazed upon the tower. Pulling her staff out, she quickly snapped a photo before tucking it back behind her back. Before going back home, she decided to detransform and let Plagg enjoy the view with her. Figuring it was a good chance to ask her burning questions too, she quietly whispered, careful to not disturb the peace of the night, “Claws in.”

She cupped her hands for Plagg to land in as he circled out of her ring. Floating in front of her face for a moment, he glanced down at her palms before slowly and cautiously settling down into them. He looked up at her inquisitively with his big, beady eyes and tilted his head to the right a bit. Marinette, resisting the urge to coo at him, started asking her questions. “Hey, Plagg, how exactly does the baton work? When I pressed the button, it extended until it hit the chimney a few blocks back so I was wondering how long it extends. And does it react to what I want it to do? Like the ring or outfit? And about that portal thing-”

“What portal thing?”

“The white void thing? It was glowy and seemed shiny, almost? I don’t know, you tell me!” She was growing more concerned by the second, just what did she open?

“Oh, that. It’s storage. It’s pretty small so you can expand it. Just, y’know, do the same thing you did with your ring and all.”

“Sweet! Now, what about the baton?”

“Yeah, same thing. If you put it on the ground and extend it you can kinda ride it up? If that makes sense? You’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks, Plagg, real helpful. Could you not, y’know, go into a bit more detail?”

“Nah, you’ll get it.”

“You ready to transform again?”

“Sure, yeah,” Plagg confirmed, “But next time will you bring some food for me? I’m not all too low on energy - considering you’re my true holder and all and didn’t do much- but, y’know, food.”

“Oh, yeah, got it. I forgot, sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s fine.”

“... Alright.”

Plagg looked at Marinette expectantly, waiting for her to transform. Marinette, seeing the look on his face, snapped out of her stupor - she still felt guilty for forgetting his food, but if Plagg said it was fine then it was fine. 

“Claws out!” Marinette exclaimed. She planned on getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower with her staff, or at least trying. She figured the view up there would be stunning and good practice for using her staff. Extending it, she put the end on the ground and used it as a sort of vaulting pole. Leaping through Paris via baton, Marinette made her way over.

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Reaching the base of the tower, Marinette decided to test out Plagg’s recommendation to ‘ride the baton up.’ Pressing the third toe bean from the left, the staff extended up and up until she reached the top platform of the Eiffel Tower - higher than anyone could.

Wondering if she could lower it without the button, she imagined it a bit shorter and it collapsed back to the regular size. That would’ve been useful on the ride over, Marinette noted. Sitting at the top of the tower, legs dangling dangerously over the edge, Marinette admired the view. Despite the late - or early, she supposed - hour, the city was perfectly lit up. Guess that’s why it’s called the city of lights, Marinette mused. She would detransform and let Plagg see the view as well, but even though she was sure she’d be mostly fine if she transformed on the way down, she’d prefer her bones in one piece, thanks. After spending roughly thirty or so minutes staring at the scene, Marinette decided to head home to get at least a little sleep that night. 

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Gently opening the glass trap door between her balcony and room, she whispered her detransformation words and landed on her bed in a flash of neon green light. Plag flew out of her ring and Marinette tossed the covers halfway down her bed, climbed in, and pulled the covers back over herself.

“Goodnight, Plagg,” Marinette said, sleepily. She was so tired from her run, even if she was wide awake during it. She was so ready to go to bed. Besides, her parents would probably be up in an hour or so to prepare food for the bakery. She was already ready for bed from earlier and didn’t feel the need to change considering she kept cool and didn’t sweat at all, despite the long run.

“Aren’t we gonna talk about your run?”

“Absolutely not. It's far too late for this and I’m so tired. We’ll talk in the morning.”

The creature floated in front of her momentarily before flying closer, seemingly inspecting her. Marinette finally spoke, “What are you?”

“I'm… your new friend! Yeah, your new friend. I'm Plagg,” the creature, who she now knew as Plagg, answered.

“Alright…” Marinette said, suspicious. She was very perceptive - her teachers had noted it in class, subsequently telling both her and her parents - and could tell Plagg wasn’t telling her the full truth. She accepted his flimsy excuse, figuring he had a good reason for not sharing. “I’m Marinette, nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, kid. Now, put on your ring, it'll change to whatever you want it to!” Plagg informed, cheerful. He hadn’t had a good - or even decent - holder in a while and was optimistic about this small child. Often stolen off his holders’ bodies, he was grateful for a chance at a good holder.

Marinette excitedly put the ring on - changing it to a rose-gold band, not too thin but not too thick. She had sparkles in her eyes as she stared at it, giddy to have magic jewellery and - the best part - a friend! She had been without company for so long, other kids afraid of invoking Chloe’s wrath and her parents too busy to spend even an ounce of time with her. 

“Hey, you good, kid?” Plagg questions. He had seen the look in her eyes after he introduced himself as her friend and the look had gotten more intense after she put on the ring. 

Marinette responds carefully, “Yeah, it’s just that I’d never really had a friend before. All of the other students are scared of being bullied as well and my parents are always busy in the bakery. I've never even had company- before.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you,” Plagg promises.

“Are… are you sure?”

“Of course, Marinette”

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Marinette walked out of the catacombs and through the streets, retracing her steps to return to the bakery. Roughly twenty minutes later, Marinette arrived back home. Before she opened the door, Plagg pulled her to the side with a hissed “kid, kid!”

Marinette stepped into the alley next to her parent’s bakery, glancing down at her pocket where he resided, she gave him a questioning look, “What’s up?”

“I forgot to tell you back in the catacombs, but you can’t tell anyone about me.”

“Why?”

“Uhh, well-”

“-It’s okay, you don't have to tell me. I trust you, if you say not to tell anyone, I won't,” Marinette interrupts. She understands that he’s not going to tell her everything yet, noticing earlier that he didn’t even tell her exactly what he was. “It’s not like they listen to me anyways,” she adds in a whisper.

“I’m sorry, your parents don’t listen to you? Marinette, kid, that’s not right.”

“What do you mean? They’re always busy with the bakery, and they just don’t have time. We still have family dinners where Mamman will make my favourite dinner and we sit down as a family!”

“Do they talk to you? Let you talk to them?”

“Well, uh, kinda? I know they love me, though!”

“Marinette…”

“It’s alright, Plagg, I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t be.”

. . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Months passed, Marinette and Plagg getting closer by the second, when he seemed to grow unnerved. Plagg had been flitting around Marinette’s room and avoiding eye contact with her. Although she pretended not to notice, she could tell he was thinking about something. Marinette considered asking him what was going on but determined it was best to leave Plagg to his thoughts. Figuring he would come to her in his own time and share when he was ready. 

Marinette picked up her favourite book and sat on her chase - reading was pretty much the only thing she did before Plagg came into her life. Of course, she would also play Ultimate Mecha Strike I, her favourite video game, but she’d have to go downstairs to the living room, a reminder of the lack of people in her life. She started going down there more often to play games with Plagg by her side, but Marinette decided to let him stew in his thoughts as opposed to asking him to come down with her. 

Cracking open the book, she buried her nose in it, silent. As she sat there, Plagg stared at her, unbeknownst to Marinette. He felt bad interrupting her - though if he didn’t tell her now, he probably wouldn’t have the courage again. Because of his past abuse, he was still hesitant to trust her with what he really is but felt it was best to tell her early on in their friendship. Besides, he had quite a good feeling about her - she had been nothing but kind despite her neglect. With a good feeling about her, he finally spoke, “Uh, sorry to interrupt, Marinette, but I have something to tell you.”

Marinette, after bookmarking and closing her book, swivelled on her chase. Looking at Plagg intently, she asked, “What’s up?”

“Well, uh, it’s kinda hard to tell you, but I’m not exactly who, what, I’ve led you to believe.” Marinette gave him a questioning look, though she knew something was up before this. Plagg continued, “I’m… a magical being. Commonly referred to as a god, but I, and the rest of my kind, prefer the word deity.”

Marinette looked on, awed that she had a deity in her room, that she had been living with a deity. Then, she caught on to his words, “Wait, I’m sorry, ‘the rest of my kind?’”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Us kwamis - that’s what we’re called - have been around since our concepts existed, although weren’t bound to the miraculous until the... Shang Dynasty, I believe? I’m destruction incarnate, so I’ve been around as long as my counterpart, Tikki - creation incarnate, and the others slowly came into existence.”

“How long have you and Tikki been around? What do the other kwamis represent? Just how many of you are there?-”

“- Alright, Sherlock, I’m gonna cut you off there. To answer your questions, though, Tikki and I have been around since the beginning of time, and there are too many kwamis to list what all of them represent. A few off the top of my head are Trixx with his illusions, Wayzz’s protection, and Nooroo’s transmission.”

“Cool,” Marinette whispered, “That's so cool.”

Plagg, looking proud, said “Yeah, it is-”

“- does that mean you can teach me magic?” she cuts off, eager”

“Maybe. Give it a year, kid.”

“Sweet! …Do you wanna go play UMS with me?”