#adrikon

"I'm confused." Rose admitted.

Adrien looked at her, confused as well.

"Why would Lila lie to us about dating you? Why would she tell us that Marinette came to sit with you, on your date, even after you told her to leave? She said that Marinette was following you to the movies and to your picnic spot and -" Rose was sniffling.

Adrien took a step towards her, "Lila lied to you all. I have no feelings for her, at all. If I spend time with her, outside of school, it's because it's for a photoshoot and my father asked her to be there. I have asked him to find a new model because I know that Lila likes me. I've rejected her over and over again."

"Lila didn't lie about Marinette stalking you!" Alya cried out.

Adrien looked at Alya as if she was speaking a different language, "Did you see the guy she just left with?"

Adrien lifted up his shirt to reveal a flat stomach.

"God painted that shirt on him!" the model shouted, "Hell, that God was ready to attack me for getting close to Mari! His abs summoned me to him! I would have left me for him, too!"

"Lila was very detailed about the dates, Dude." Nino winced.

"I dated Kagami, which Marinette helped me with. She even helped me plan some of those dates. Kagami said she even tried to help her work out why it didn't work so we could get back together." Adrien confided, "That doesn't sound like jealousy or obsession to me. Kagami calls Marinette her best friend and I happen to know that Mari goes to visit her and Felix, once a month."

"She said you reserved a resturant and took her-" Alix began.

"Anything I want to purchase has to go through Natalie. I have to explain how it's useful to me and why I want it." Adrien interrupted, "I'm lucky I'm not writing an essay. There's no way I could reserve a resturant and everything I eat is through a diet and portioned. It's why I go home for lunch."

The class looked at each other and he could see the doubt growing.

"What about the park?" asked Mylene.

"It sounds like a nice idea for a date, but I'm allergic to feathers and birds would likely try to get close to the food." the model confessed, "I did have a picnic in my backyard with Mari once. We played video games. It was after Kagami broke up with me and she was trying to make me feel better."

"Hah!" Alya shouted, "She was trying to get you to like her! It was a date!"

"Marinette kicked my ass at UMS3, constantly!" He shouted, "She told me to get better! She's reigning champ with Max! Kagami called her and she answered the phone. She destroyed me with one hand! If anything I got a crush on her, just from that!"

"You watched Solitude with Lila!" Alya snapped, "She said the director knows her, personally! You told her she was as great as the lead actress!"

Adrien turned to Alya and snarled, "Call that Bitch and tell her she is dead to me! She'll be fired by the end of the day from Gabriel, just for that comment."

Adrien pulled out his phone and called Natalie, "Send the car. Father and I need to have a talk. Immediately."

"Wait!" Alya panicked, "Why-"

"Learn how to use Google, Miss Reporter." He replied, "I know the directors, the lead actress, the costume designers; I know everything about that film. There are only two people I have watched that with. My father and Marinette, because she tried to help me escape to see that film in theaters. I only watch the first ten minutes with her before fans realized I was there and she had to help me escape again. Father had a copy at home. That bitch is nowhere as great as the lead actress and now she never will be."

The car pulled up and before it could even stop, he entered it and slammed the door. The class had never seen Adrien that angry.

Nino looked down at his phone and gasped.

"What?" Asked Nathaniel.

"Lila is fucked and she was definelty lying about the movie." Nino answered, "I guess we owe Adrien and Marinette more than one apology, especially her."

Alya grabbed his phone out of his hand and looked over the movie. The lead actress was Adrien's mother. His aunt was her stunt double. The Mayor helped direct the movie, along with Kagami's mother. Style Queen and Gabriel designed the clothes.

'That bitch is nowhere as great as the lead actress and now she never will be.'

"Alya?" questioned Nino, as he slipped his phone out of her grasp.

Alya opened her phone and selected Lila's name. She pressed call and put it on speaker.

"Alya!" Lila cooed, "Today isn't a great day and-"

"Today was interesting here as well." Alya interrupted.

"Alya, I need to-"Lila tried again.

"We all watched as Adrien eye-fucked Marinette's biker boyfriend. He asked them to set him up with a guy and he has a date planned with him already. He literally called her boyfriend a God and wanted to lick his abs. Also, Adrien said he would never date you, even if Gabriel forced him to. Oh, and before I forget, Adrien called you a Bitch. See you in two weeks, you liar!" Alya snarled into the phone and hung up.

Alya trembled as she fought against her sobs. She looked in the direction Marinette had ridden off into and wondered at what point she stopped believeing her. At what point had she started disregarding her best friend's words as nonsense. When had Lila's words become so much more important ad believable. When had Marinette stopped being her best friend and become Kagami's? How had she not noticed Marinette's taste for guys change so much?

"It's Friday so we have to wait until Monday to apologize to Marinette and Adrien." Max spoke up, "We can apologize about all assumptions we listened to and learn more about them."

"Assumptions?" Alya laughed, "We listened to Lila and never questioned anything she said! We became mindless zombies to her words! She said not to talk with Adrien and we never did! We could have asked and-we yelled at her so many times. She said it herself: 'I talked; you never listened.' ." as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Nathaniel sighed, "I don’t know if Marinette's friendship is something we can get back at this point. Alya's right. We listened to Lila and didn’t listen to Marinette's side of the story. When we did, we still believed Lila and called her a liar."

"She did seem happy to see us all confused." Alix admitted, "She reminded me of Chloe, at that moment. She was waiting for everything to fall apart and be blindsided. "

"No." Juleka whispered, "She wasn't like Chloe. She was worse and we made her that way. Marinette was our friend and we bullied her."

The class remained silent as the truth hit them hard. They had bullied Marinette and now she wasn't the same person they remembered. They knew nothing about her and wasn't sure if she would let them back in. They all looked at each other, understanding they all needed to let today's information sink in and walked away.

TAG LIST- DAMINETTE: @meme991001 @umbreon-worshipper @stainedglassm @jasmine-the-fox @psychicdelusionwerewolf @vixen-uchiha @mysteriouschar @missmadwoman @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @dissarraymania @tundra1029 @abrx2002 @mrsjacuinde @ledalasombra @animegirlweeb

Sometimes, Ladybug wishes, she had just let Alya keep the stupid earrings. She was sure the girl would have taken them immediately at the time but, given her brashness and temperamental nature, she would have already lost to Hawkmoth.

Plus she didn’t blame the small kwami or even Master Fu all that much: She resented the man but still respected him very much and knew he went through the same thing as she did at an even younger age with absolutely no way out. She was aware that if she truly wanted to all she could do was just give the earrings to someone else or even hand them over. But Ladybug was stubborn and the earrings were her’s now, just like the ring was Chat’s, the choker was Ryuuko’s and the bangle was Viperion’s.

That didn’t mean this battle was theirs to fight.

“... Why don’t we leave?” Viperion asked, disturbing their silence. The trio looked at him curiously, as though he broke an unspoken rule.

“Why would we?” Ladybug responded, knowing fully well that Viperion didn’t tend to speak up unless he was certain of his words.

“Because they’re running us dry, this city is killing us” Viperion raised his voice, aware that they could already, “Adrien and Kagami are living shitty home lives with abusive assholes that want to call themselves parents. Mari, you’re being burdened with too much responsibility by that bitch Bustier and that class full of sheep! I hate seeing you all kill yourselves for people that will never appreciate it because they think they’re above it!”

At the end of his rant Viperion’s eyes were nearly glowing, his breathing a bit more rough than normal, looking away from his teammates knowing he stepped too far. “Sorry, but I don’t want my friends to die on me when I can do something to stop it”

Ryuuko, Chat Noir and Ladybug understood where he was coming from but it was like a slap on the face, a reminder of what civilian life was like for them. Ryuuko could feel the sting coming from her leg, where mother had hit with her shinai after failing to be in proper form. Chat Noir still felt the ache of having to do photoshoots all day and then staying up at night to have to do his make-up work; not that his father cared with his disregard of child labor laws. Ladybug still had some redness from bruises Alya had caused by tripping her on her way to class.

“... Okay so these are the sad gang hours” the group turned back seeing Roter Fochs land, Roi Singe and Pegasus landing behind them. The Parisians were really only aware of ‘The Core Four’ as they’d rather have some aces up their sleeves; not that the three were ready to confront the Parisian backlash just yet. They didn’t want to deal with anymore bullshit than they had to in their civilian lives.

“Is everything alright? Or is it just Life™?” Roi Singe asked, leaning onto his bo-staff next to Viperion.

“It takes 60 euroes to go to therapy but no money to say it just be like that sometimes” Roter Fochs shrugged, much to the dismay of Viperion, Roi Singe and Pegasus.

“Can you please stop joking about your mental health” Pegasus found himself groaning. A small hovering screen appeared next to him, a cowboy hat firmly attached to the top with an antenna sticking out.

“Yes studies show that LGBT youth have a higher percentage to suffer from depression, some even to the point that they𑁋”

“Thanks for the concern CowBot but, really, I’m fine; let me have my fun” Roter softly tapped the little robot. It was nice having people, well sentient beings, still concerned with his well being.

Suddenly the group tensed, their artificial ears and enhanced senses picking up a light clink, the sound of something quickly winding up followed. Two male figures landed in front of them, quickly surrounded by the Parisians. The taller one of the two quipped:

“Well aren’t you a merry bunch”

“Who are you and why are you here?” Chat Noir kept an icy cold edge to his voice, emulating how his father would talk to employees that weren’t Natalie.

“They’re not Akumas, no magic radiating off of them” Ladybug analyzed, looking closely at the duo but she couldn’t recognize them at all. The male that had spoken had a lean and relatively tall body, he couldn’t be more than four years older than her team, so around his late teens early twenties. He had long raven hair, his bangs framing his face perfectly, even in the moonlight she could tell he had a pale complexion though the black domino mask he sported helped hide most of it and his eyes. His uniform wasn’t one she recognized from any superhero from the League; black kevlar, if she had to guess, made up nearly the entirety of his suit, from his boots, pants and even gauntlets, heck she wouldn’t be surprised if his cape was bulletproof. One of the only things to bring color was his crimson chest piece, with two belts across it holding up a golden bird symbol, the same one on his canary utility belt.

“Tt, we just came here to talk” the smaller male scoffed, his posture not looking any more tense or relaxed, just attentive. His build was also lean like his taller partner though she could tell his body would be able to build more muscles with his broader shoulders. She assumed they were around the same age, his jawline defined but not to the same extent an adult’s would be. His hair seemed almost darker than that of his partner’s and was slicked back though maintaining most of its volume, a naturally tan skin was found beneath a green domino mask, much like his companion’s. His uniform was definitely more colorful, almost as if he was meant to garner attention(and boy wasn’t that concerning); black seemed to be the main color in his suit with the outer cape, pants and sleeves being that color, ruby red tunic that went beyond his belt with dandelion accents on its edges and a golden R over his heart, pine boots and gauntlets matching the shade of his mask with dandelion yellow covering the inside of his cape and hood as well as his own utility belt.

She had no clue who they were.

“And why should we trust you?”

“Because we don’t like the Justice League any more than you do”

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One Week Ago

“Hey B, we found something interesting while reading the League’s data” Barbara Gordon’s voice echoed in the BatCave. Currently she and Tim were doing the weekly check-in on the League, something those heroes never seemed to notice. Not that they were surprised.

“What did you find?” Bruce asked, telling Duke and Damian to take a break from combat training while he did.

“There’s an alarming amount of distress calls from France, specifically Paris, that the League has been either ignoring or not receiving” Tim showed him the graph of all the history, going back at least three years closer. It was small at first, once every two months at the beginning, once a month when the second year began, every two weeks bordering on weekly near the end of it, by the start of the third it was daily until some time three months ago they just stopped.

Well wasn’t that cause for concern?

“Can we get any audio of the calls?” Bruce’s detective side coming up as Barbara was able to bring up a few that hadn’t been automatically deleted by the Justice League’s system. The first one was the very first from three years ago, a video call.

“Uh hello!” the girl on the video said awkwardly, clearly nervous but determined to get her message out, “My name is Ladybug”

Her costume looked like it was simply made by spandex, a rather plain design of red with black spots around, a domino mask with open lenses was the only thing really concealing her identity.

“Paris has a supervillain, his name is Hawkmoth and he feeds off of negative emotions. His power can turn anyone into his enslaved champion and we- my partner and I are the only ones really fighting this. I- I know you’re all really busy saving the world and all that but- but we’re just kids! We have no experience and well, we were hoping you can send someone to help? We’ve only confronted him three times now but well, we were just pushed into this”

Bruce could feel his blood growing cold, she couldn’t have been older than thirteen when this was recorded. He knew no Leaguers went on missions to Paris for the past five years… He told them to play the next video, from two years ago.

“Hello Justice League” Ladybug still wore her simple spandex though now standing tall next to a boy with a black cat leather outfit. Behind them was a girl with a bee themed outfit, a girl with a fox themed outfit and a boy with a turtle theme.

“We just came out of this Heroes Day disaster”

“No thanks to their help” the bee girl snapped before looking away.

“Look, Hawkmoth is getting more and more dangerous. He was able to transform half of Paris into his minions, they took over Paris and nearly won”

“What is it going to take you for you guys to finally help?” the cat boy growled much to the surprise of the others.

“Chat Noir!”

“Oh please we can totally handle Hawkmoth without them; you two should be enough already. With us three helping you, defeating him should be easy, power of teamwork and all that” the fox girl waved off, much to the surprise of the turtle.

“Rena did you seriously not remember what just happened. We were compromised, we nearly let Paris fall. We’re not trained for this, not even LB and Chat, and they’ve been doing this for the past year”

“Whatever”

“What was the last transmission?” Bruce found himself asking as the cave suddenly grew silent, all eyes on the monitor as their last transmission played.

“Why are we even bothering with this?” a new male voice asked, the video was shaky before finally pointing at the Parisian streets. If you could even call what was essentially a river of water, reaching to the top of most rooftops streets anymore. Items were floating about, bodies littered around them.

“They’ll never listen, they never did” another female voice agreed, they assumed it was the girl at the corner of the screen, looking down on the streets in what could be described as pity.

“I know” Ladybug’s voice sighed from behind the camera. “But they should at least see the consequences of their actions”

“If they even bother watching these, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just delete these as soon as we send them” Chat Noir entered the screen, eyes cold and calculating.

“Paris should be thankful that Lucky Charm is able to bring them back” the male with the snake themed outfit shook his head. “This is probably the 1,000 time most of Paris died with an akuma, second with Syren”

“Super lucky” the dragon female rolled her eyes “It’s not even worth trying to save citizens since all they do is cretique us”

“And the officers; Apparently we should be able to deal with city-destroying being and protect the people at the same time while officers just stand behind the lines waiting for us to do both” Chat Noir hissed

“What's done is done. This will be our last call for the Justice League; I hope you’re all happy, knowing that you’ve forced children to grow up and fight in a man’s war. Bug Out”

“There are no records of these videos even being played, or even of these events happening as far as Parisian government records say. But there’s clearly a lot of cover up going on, most of Paris’ emergency broadcasting doesn’t make it out of its borders, heavy encouragement of tourism even though there have been complaints by the people about… akumas?” Tim reported as soon as the video finished playing.

“There’s even records of a city-funded statue being made for Ladybug and Chat Noir yet no indication of where it is or what its for” Barbara continued “This blog keeps coming up, it used to be called the Ladyblog before it switched to Fox Tea. Look at these videos”

The screens were suddenly filled with shots of these Akuma; one that froze the city over, one who controlled the weather, one who began dropping adults from the sky, Syren, Heroes’ Day… All of them had to be handled by scared children. 

“These look too real to be edited” Duke said in awe. He was very aware of his children all surrounding the screens, looking at the countless destruction of one of the major cities in the world.

And none of them had ever heard of them or these children who were forced to deal with it.

Ones who seeked out help and were never given the time of day.

“Red Robin, Robin” his two sons standing in attention “I want you to investigate the matter and offer our help; convince them that we’re on their side on not aligned with the League”

“We’re on it, Batman”

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“So you just want us to believe you found out about us and suddenly want to help?” Roter Fochs looked at the duo skeptically. 

“We wish to assist you with this whole… situation. No one has heard of Akumas or of Parisian heroes before, we concluded that it may be the government attempting to keep tourism up” the shorter male, Robin, they later learned, spoke up while keeping his hands in the air.

“Though that doesn’t excuse the League, who we know you personally sent distress messages” Red Robin echoed the message “We understand the incompetence of the League better than anyone else. Did you know they never bothered to even open most of those messages?”

Red Robin was surprised by the sudden animalistic growling coming from the group, some of their eyes glowing while others looked disappointed.

Ladybug looked hurt.

“Who do you work for?” Ryuuko  asked, curious but not letting her sword lower from its position.

“We’re Robin and Red Robin”

“Like the food chain?”

“.... Yes. Anyway we’re vigilantes sanctioned in Gotham, New Jersey in the United States; we’re both proteges of the Batman” Red Robin held back the need to roll his eyes at the monkey boy’s statement.

“Never heard of him” the French heroes turned to each other, trying to see if the name rang any bells.

“According to the internet the Batman is almost a folklore for Gotham; people claim to see him and his array of birds and bats but none could ever get clear photos” CowBot replied after a quick search.

“If the League never saw our messages then how do you know about them?” Chat Noir stared right at them, as though he’d know they were lying, which he couldn’t but Roter Fochs could and would.

“Because we’re better than the League” Robin said with the same certainty one would say the grass was green.

“Why should we believe you?” Ladybug asked skeptically, if they were so good then why didn’t they handle what the League wouldn’t? Why didn’t they just try to take over the Hawkmoth situation without their input? Why didn’t they just take down the League by themselves?

“You shouldn’t, “ Robin shrugged once more “But we’ll actually help where the League wouldn’t”

Ladybug stole a look from Chat Noir, both turning to Roter Fochs, who shook his head softly indicating the duo wasn’t lying.

“If you really want us to talk then give us the coordinates to meet with the Batman” Ladybug demanded, Robin looked outraged at the implication while Red Robin nodded.

“Alright, but how will you know if we’re lying to you?” he asked curiously, typing something in his communicator, the center of his utility belt, before handing it over to her.

“Trust me, we know when you’re lying plus we’d know when we get there” Viperion smirked, “Also you can stand down now Bunnix, MultiMouse”

The duo were not surprised to see two figures standing behind them, one male with a mouse theme and rope wrapped around his hands, and a petite girl with a bunny theme and a sharp looking umbrella pointing straight at their backs. They were just surprised that they hadn't sensed them before.

“Did you get those coordinates, Pegasus?” 

“Yes Ladybug, waiting for your signal”

“Well then birdies, we better hope you weren’t lying or you’ll find Hawkmoth won’t be your biggest problem”

“Voyage!”

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“Why don’t you guys like the League?” 

The meeting between the Bats and Team Miraculous had gone much better than any of them had expected; it had certainly helped when they found out one of their own, Agent A as they called him, was once a wielder.

They had both been surprised by the amount of members each team had: The Bats had expected Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuuko and Viperion; Roter Fochs, Pegasus, Roi Singe, Bunnix and MultiMouse had been a surprise.

Meanwhile Team Miraculous had only heard of whispers of Batman and many Robins, even a theory on a bat girl of sorts from their brief research; having Batman, Robin (V), Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Signal, Batgirl, Batwoman, and Black Bat not to mention Oracle and Agent A; they had almost thought it was an ambush.

They supposed they each knew how to keep certain secrets tight.

“The Justice League, though still consisting of some of the most powerful people in this Earth, are too high and mighty; none of them really consider the consequences of their actions and are too reliant on their powers to be able to resolve all their problems. None of them have any contingency plans if their enemies find out their weaknesses and exploit them. Not a single member is a ‘normal human’”

He pulled up a hologram in the middle of the meeting table, every person who's worked with  Justice League showing up, each showing their array of powers and abilities before showing their membership status.

Batman, Green Arrow, Speedy, Robin, Artemis; Non-Members

Two Green Lanterns, Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Bumblebee, Rocket, the Atom, Blue Beetle (II), Superboy; Reserve members with clearance.

“That does seem pretty discriminatory” Viperion hummed as he thought of the people on the list, those on the Non-member list had no power or enhancement at all while those on the reserve, with the exception of Captain Marvel and Superboy, had powers or suits but the vulnerability of humans.

They weren’t considered strong enough, or maybe even reliable enough.

“We’d probably be considered in the same capacity as a Green Lantern” Pegasus concluded “Take away their ring and their powers go away”

“Which brings us to the next question” Batgirl chimed cheerfully “What is it exactly that you’re facing off against?”

“The Miraculous are ancient artifacts that lend you the powers of certain godlings named Kwami. Kwamis are the essence of concepts and ideas: The Ladybug who represents Luck and Creation, the Black Cat who represents Misfortune and Destruction and Horse who represents Transportation and Innovation are just some examples” Ryuuko explained for them

“Hawkmoth is in possession of the Butterfly Miraculous of Metamorphosis and Desire along with the Peacock of Emotion and Will” Ladybug paused briefly as she saw the look of surprise on Agent A’s face, wondering if she’d feel that way if she found out Tikki was being used for evil in the future. “Both were thought to be missing, possibly destroyed, when the last Master of the Order was able to salvage them from the attack to the Temple of Miracles. He was only a child when the Temple was attacked, thus he was able to escape without being detected by the enemy”

“If I remember correctly,” Chat Noir interrupted “I believe Master Fu said their name was “The Shadows” or I think he said they now go by𑁋”

“The League of Shadows” Nightwing softly added, the air tensing immediately.

“You know of them?” MultiMouse was weary considering the Shadows were very keen on keeping to, well, shadows. That had to mean that the Bats had confronted them.

“Intimately so” Batman growled out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bunnix’s brows furrowed underneath her mask, feeling as though they wouldn’t like the answer.

“The Shadows have been a pain in Gotham’s ass in the past” Batgirl explained before turning to Batman “Especially since the Demon’s Head was interested in having Batman as a Son-in Law, though his daughter is sometimes an ally”

“Batgirl!” Red Robin admonished

“Don’t forget the little demon over here” Red Hood joked, missing the look of shock in the Parisian heroes.

“Or the fact that it sometimes seems like he wants to get on Red Robin’s dick and have his babies”

“Batgirl, Red Hood that’s enough” Batwoman sternly looked at the duo.

“You’re saying Robin is related to the Shadows” the Parisian heroes in the Reserve Team looked at them suspiciously while the Core Four just patiently waited to see what the Bats would say.

“That’s in the past” Nightwing steely stated “He was born into that lifestyle, but his mother let him chose to leave and live a different life”

“We had no choice of who our parents were” Black Bat reinforced, the team taking a mental note that she was once a shadow as well.

“Noted” Chat Noir said cooly “Though you must understand our reluctance when hearing the Shadows; like we said the Shadows destroyed the temple that was meant to safeguard the Miraculous and killed off every Guardian in the process”

“It would be foolish of us to not be on guard when hearing of them being so close to us again” Ryuuko explained “Though we will give the benefit of the doubt”

And so was the beginning of their partnership.

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“You’re all skilled fighters for not having any proper training” Oracle commended, looking at the statistics of the spars they all had, by far the Core Four had the strongest stats but it wasn’t because of the others’ lack of skill.

“Thank you, Oracle” Ryuuko bowed after finishing her match with Robin, an intense sword fight having just finished. If she had truly wanted to she could have ended it by cutting Robin’s katana but she found it both dishonorable and the easy way out considering they were testing skill sets. On the other side of the room was Red Robin and Roi Singe’s fight, bo-staff against bo-staff, being monitored by Black Bat.

“Oh kwami” Ladybug whispered as she and Chat Noir were called for the next match… against Batman and Batwoman.

“This is where we die Noir”

“It’s been an honor m’lady”

The fight had been entertaining, each side coming in with an array of attacks. At first the Bats had played offensive with the Miraculous duo playing defensive, dodging Batarangs and all their little gadgets. The Bats hadn’t expected just how durable the simple looking yo-yo and staff would be or any of its features.

At some point there had been a flash bomb, Chat Noir blocking it from Ladybug and getting temporarily blinded, Batwoman had planned on attacking while he was disoriented however the attack amplified his enhanced hearing, extending his staff and tripping her in the process.

In the end the Bats had won but it had been a close victory considering the Miraculous Team had not bothered to use their special abilities during any of the fights.

As they were taking a breather, resting and getting drinks, Robin spoke up.

“How are you allowing your city to step all over you?” Team Miraculous looked at him briskly before Red Hood, of all people, continued for him.

“We’ve seen the reports and the Parisian news, they’re relying on your team of four, considering they aren’t aware of the others, to be there to solve all their problems”

“It’s okay for your people to put so much trust in you but it's gotten to the point where they expect it of you” Robin concluded.

“I’ve tried telling them” Viperion sighed, facing his group “We really should be leaving Paris to handle their own problems, we’re busy enough in civilian life and akuma fights as it is”

“How do you suppose we do that when we already face scrutiny for not dealing with Akumas fast enough?” Chat Noir asked, his tail flickering behind him.

“You could always stop patrolling in broad daylight if you don’t want to leave the city altogether” Red Robin suggested, “Hiding in the night is easier to avoid any authority or anyone trying to get interviews. Plus this way it's less predictable where you’ll be certain hours of the day”

“He does make a good point” Ladybug said, mostly to herself, before nodding “I think it's a good idea”

“You heard her team,” Chat Noir turned to face the others “All for stopping daylight patrol?”

All of them nodded in agreement, the beginning of a long list of necessary changes in their lives.

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“My father is planning a press conference to talk about his ‘concerns’ with the lack of your appearances” Chloe rolled her eyes. A year ago, after the Heroes’ Day Disaster, she and Carapace had chosen to stand down while Rena was ultimately retired. She’d found out about Adrien when she went for a visit only for him to jump in through the window.

It was awkward between the two of them before they called for Ladybug.

She gave her neutral face of disappointment first before making a plan.

They were all aware that Lila must have been the one to start the disaster, being Volpina was the only explanation, as Ladybug confessed that Lila had a vendetta against her. Chloe also figured she must have been lying, something she had already suspected before, about being in another country considering Hawkmoth’s attacks only stayed in Paris.

Due to Chloe’s secret identity being out in the open they realized Hawkmoth wouldn’t be above targeting her family again. Thus Chloe became Ladybug’s spy.

Meanwhile in civilian life Nino was getting tired of Alya and Lila’s antics, especially the ones against his bros Adrien and Marinette. Well more against Marinette and more sexual harassment/getting together with Adrien. That’s not even touching on their newest content on the blog which was just criticizing the Miraculous Team for all their weaknesses and shortcomings, in the guise of offering “suggestions” on how to get better. 

They thought it’d be good to have an inside man, someone who could warn them of anything Lila and Alya might come up to.

They were both the secret members of Team Miraculous.

“Holy shit are you serious?” Nino exclaimed in Chloe’s room. They’d all come in secretly and by different entries to meet up in case certain nosy classmates had spotted them.

“Yep, I may or may not have threatened my father with a lawsuit against his violation of child labor laws and me not receiving my paychecks” Adrien said excitedly.

Chat Noir had made an off-hand comment on how his father had tired him out with a packed work schedule. This resulted in prodding from the mother hen known as Nightwing asking for details which ended in Chat Noir confessing that he works for his father’s company, had been homeschooled most of his life and often had a packed schedule full of extracurriculars, including up to around 12-hour work days sometimes. Turns out with that brief information Oracle informed them that his father was violating child labor laws due to the fact that he had worked more than thirty five hours a week since he was fourteen.

“Holy shit” he’d say in awe at the moment “My father is rich though… who knows if this would even go through with his influence”

“No man is truly above the law” Nightwing had given him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “But… is everything alright in your home life?”

“I- I shouldn’t say anything that reveals my identity… '' the usually chaotic boy said solemnly, his cat ears downcast.

“Chat Noir,” the group turned to Ladybug, the one who’d help introduce her team to the life of masks and magic “Your own safety is much more important than keeping your identity safe. We both know the kind of person your father is… I’d rather you have the best options possible to face this”

“How come you’re so fast to trust us?” Robin asked, surprised but keeping a stern face.

“You do realize that she has the coordinates to this place, right?” Viperion smirked “She’s known who you are for a while and never mentioned anything. We just expect you to return the courtesy”

“That seems about right” Red Robin sighed before taking off his mask, the others of the Bat Clan following suit. Team Miraculous gave Ladybug one last look before dropping their own transformations, some of them looking familiar to the Gothamites.

“Marcus is that you my boy?” Agent A, otherwise known as the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth made his way to MultiMouse who nodded shyly. 

“I actually go by Marc now great-uncle Alfred”

“Wait what, Al has siblings?” Stephanie exclaimed, Jason was whispering for Tim to write it down in The Book.

“Yes, an older half-sister” he said with an impeccable raised brow “I would have never thought you’d follow after my footsteps Marc”

“I guess it does run in the family”

“Adrien Agreste! Like son of the fashion mongul Gabriel and late actress Emellie Grande de Venily?!” Stephanie exclaimed as soon as she focused on the blonde teen.

“Yep” was all he could find himself saying, taking comfort in Marinette’s presence next to him.

“Don’t worry Adrien,” the boy looked up to the slightly intimidating looming figure of Bruce Wayne “We’ll help you deal with your father”

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“Boys” Bruce had said as soon as he entered the living room, where the group had devolved into a video game competition. “Remember tomorrow is your monthly therapy session”

“Already?” Damian groaned, his brothers, with the exception of Dick, looking like they would rather not go.

“Timmy isn’t prepared to face his inner demons” 

“And it seems Timmy hasn’t slept in some time again, hasn’t he?” Luka teased, continuing to run his hand through Tim’s hair, the boy practically purring in response.

“You have a therapist?” Marinette asked Bruce skeptically.

“We’ve all… gone through things growing up. Alfred made me realize that we were all in need of some help”

“And do you umm… talk about your nightly activities?”

“They’re trustworthy and confidential, yes”

“Do you think you could give me their information?”

That’s how Team Miraculous found themselves on the day after another akuma attack, in a private room within Wayne Tower, each waiting their turn to see the doctor.

“You’ve been through alot Luka” the teen was lying on his back, facing the ceiling as the psychologist who worked with Bruce talked. “Losing what you’ve come to accept as your family, watching your friends die, even though you knew you could change the outcome. Doing it over and over again in order to save the city… It's not something anyone could be expected to handle, let alone a child your age”

“I… I know Dr.Quinzel. But I can’t allow myself to feel guilty over everything or even get overly emotional. If Hawkmoth found out it’d be a disaster, especially because Marinette trusted me with the miraculous… the first for her to assign full time as the Guardian…. I can’t let her down” Luka gave her a lost look, one rarely seen on the charming boy before.

“Keeping all of that inside… It could fester up and explode if you’re not careful Luka”

“So you’re telling me that you are perfectly fine with how your life at home is going, Nathaniel? Even after everything we’ve discussed”

“Look I’ve tried telling my parents they were wrong but they just keep saying I’m confused, not to mention think my art is a joke… and maybe they’re right”

“Those are important parts to who you are. Saying that would be like considering yourself a mistake… Do you feel that way Nathaniel?”

“I…”

“I think I have pretty bad taste in girls, though my friends usually call me a himbo for not really thinking things through. Maybe I should think before acting more?”

“I’ve known I was going to become Bunnix ever since I was fourteen, it was always just a matter of when. So when I was finally called to action I was so excited but… I can’t help but wonder if I’m cut out for this”

“My mother has groomed and taught me to be perfect at all I do. It was something ingrained to me since I was a child; It wasn’t until recently that I learned that is impossible to achieve. Why was mother so pertained to me being it?”

“I know I’m the smart guy but I shouldn’t be expected to have all the answers, especially for my classmates who refuse to look at evidence as it is. Seriously, if I had known they would have taken my comment about how dangerous a napkin can be as pure fact then I would have not said anything that day”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m not enough for my grandmother. She’s getting older, she’s starting to forget a lot. I help by telling her things like stories but I’m not sure how long that will last… She’s the only family I have left in Paris, I don’t want to leave my friends or boyfriend behind”

“My father has always been a distant man but ever since my mother… I’m not sure if he even sees me as his son at this point. There are some days I’m treated as nothing more than a trophy boy or a regular employee. I wonder if this would have happened regardless of my mother’s passing”

“I am Ladybug, I am also the last Guardian. But I’m just a teenager! I have a life I want to live outside of Paris… I want to be a designer, start my own brand, find love and have my own family… But Hawkmoth is in the way of all that”

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“Are you sure about this LB?” Nino asked from the terrace of Chloe’s penthouse. They’d been talking strategy when an Akuma attacked, given the chaos displayed by the news via LadyBugOut livestream, they could only assume it was another Volpina attack.

Unfortunately Volpina had a Sentimonster to help, Reality Check. A glorified 3D printer who could temporarily make Volpina’s illusions tangible and real.

It had proven to be a difficult battle, especially since Luka and Adrien had been caught up as civilians and couldn’t help Ryuuko and Ladybug. The others still had to wait for Ladybug to give the signal before they’d consider going out to help in broad daylight lest their hidden cards be revealed too soon.

In the middle of the fight the two heroines had made a strategic retreat, one the Fox Tea blogger did not hesitate to call the coward’s way out. Suddenly the two appeared at Chloe’s along with Roter Fochs. The scarlet hero had taken out two familiar boxes with extremely familiar jewelry inside. 

“I’m certain of it” she said with a determined smile, “Besides this could finally get Hawkmoth and maybe even Alya off your backs if I introduce new heroes; Of course your costumes will have to be different, as will your codenames, but I trust that you’ll know what to do”

“Hello my queen!”

“What’s up dude”

Paris was in uproar when they heard of the new heroes; Abeille and Anselm.

Abeille’s costume was much more armored than that of Queen Bee’s; the whole suit had a honey yellow bodysuit with black armor pieces, her chest piece in the shape of a bee’s face, black elbow length gloves with some honey stripes, thigh high black boots with honey kneepads. Her own mask was different from her former as it changed her eyes to royal blue like Pollen’s while being honey colored with black v shaped lines. The golden gauntlets on top of her gloves would be able to send out small shocks, capable of stunning enemies for small intervals at the time, nowhere near as potent as Venom.

Anselm’s own attire was not so different from Carapace; Anselm still kept the hoodie his predecessor did though beneath it is where the differences began. Anselm wore a pine green helmet, yellow tinted goggles on top of his red eyes, with pale thin daffodile lines going from the top to the bottom of his hood. The hoodie and his undersuit was sacramento green, bordering on black, though the majority of the suit was also armored with pine pieces like the hexagonal chest piece, shoulder, thigh, shin, knee and elbow pads. He also had much thicker gauntlets than Abeille’s along with armored gloves and reinforced sneakers.

Of course, Chloe Bourgeois and Nino Lahiffe were quickly off of the suspect list when the two were spotted separately looking for shelter amongst the Akuma attack during Fox Tea’s livestream.

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“So you’re part of the OG Team huh?” Stephanie asked as she gave a once over to the two newcomers.

“Deep undercover missions, you know how they go” Abeille scoffed, her honey blonde hair swaying along with her five black streaks around it.

“What she said. We couldn’t help as Queen Bee and Carapace anymore, compromised identities, so we helped as civilians before covering our tracks and coming back” Anselm tried to keep back Chloe’s prickly personality.

“Like what?” Cass’ appearance startled the two, though both looked like they were about to draw out their weapons.

“Well I get them intel from what’s happening in the mayor’s office that Max and Markov can’t get out from the computers, daddy is a bit of a pushover and squeals pretty easily”

“While I get intel from Fox Tea’s disastrous dude duo. I’m usually among the first to find out about anything their plotting… though I’ve had to drop that. It was getting too much for me to continue being with Alya so we broke up”

“So you kept dating Cesaire just to gather intel? Doesn’t that seem manipulative?” Duke asked from his seat on the monitor, the two Parisians looked at one another before beginning to laugh.

“Not compared to what those two are capable of”

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“Are you sure about this?”

Currently Viperion, Ladybug and Bunnix were on the Gotham rooftops, shadowing the Bats for the night. The three were honored to be trusted with the responsibility but still felt foreign in the much darker environment, literally and metaphorically.

“It’ll be a good experience” Oracle said in their ears, their comms being synced to those of the Bats “And you won’t be alone, I’ll be here and so will your partners”

Right on cue Robin, Red Robin and Black Bat landed on the same rooftop. The plan was for the six to cover the patrol for the night, the others would be getting rest or doing specialty training with their abilities. It was a surprise for the Miraculous gang when it was revealed that Signal and Red Hood would be joining them as fellow trainees. Alfred and Black Canary, a metahuman who often worked together with Green Arrow in Central City, would be in charge of the training while Bruce also oversaw their progress.

Honestly they hadn’t known what surprised them more: the fact that Batman had metas on his team or that he trusted other heroes with the training of his children.

“It should be a regular night; standard mugging, gang fights and possible robberies should be all that happen tonight”

Of course that was not what happened.

As it turned out Riddler had escaped Arkham, no surprise, and had gone too long without his medication. Edward Nygma was usually a pretty tame man, if a little eccentric with his love of riddles and his brilliant mind.

He decided to hold Gotham Grand Terminal hostage.

Ladybug was decidedly trying not to panic as she saw the very obvious bombs spread across different sections of the terminal. There were too many for them to deactivate in less than three minutes and there were probably more hidden around.

“Riddle me this; What is Joan of Arc made of ?” Ladybug and Robin were the first to arrive at the scene, Viperion and Red Robin being the closest to coming as back up. Robin seemed as confused as she felt but decided to really think about it…

This was so stupid.

“Maid of Orleans” the look Robin gave her, like she just made the most foolish decision of her life, was seen spread across the faces of hostages before Riddler began to laugh.

“Why you are correct, little red” he wiped a tear from his eye “Bats would never think of something so punny like that!”

“Yeah well I’ve had a lot of experience with annoying puns”

“What’s colorful, loud and is a mess to clean up?” Ladybug’s eyes widened as he pressed the big red button on the remote control, Robin bringing Ladybug down and shielding her as the hostages began to scream.

BOOM!

“...Confetti cannons” Ladybug muttered, her whole body covered in the colorful paper pieces with glitter in the mix.

That son of a bitch!

It was April 1st.

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“So what is it that we’ll be doing?” Bunnix asked as Black Bat silently leaped through the Gotham rooftops, camouflaging effortlessly with the shadows unlike her because of the white and baby blue costume she had on.

“You two will be checking up on Red Hood’s sector for the night, Crime Alley” Oracle’s voice responded for her.

“Right, so is this just a standard patrol?”

“Something like that”

Bunnix was admittedly a bit nervous about being with Black Bat, Cass didn’t really talk much and was kinda hot. Bunnix had just dutifully shadowed her, staying as quiet as she could even if she did more parkour than necessary, when they stumbled upon a drug deal. Bunnix was about to go down to smack some people around with her umbrella when Black Bat shook her head.

“One of Red Hood’s men, let’s wait to see the deal go through”

Bunnix wasn’t sure what to think as she watched the deal go down. Weren’t they supposed to be the ones to stop this from happening and not helping them? It was a bit confusing and against her moral code…

“We do this to keep the kids out of the involvement” Oracle seemed to read her mind, explaining their reasoning “Before Red Hood decided to get involved with drug trafficking Crime Alley was full of children who would be taken advantage of by dealers; whether it meant getting them addicted or becoming their messengers and delivery boys. He made it very clear to his ‘allies’ that no child from Crime Alley was getting involved in their plans again or else the deals were off. Those who tried going above him… well they’re no longer around to try and take him down”

Still that did not help ease Alix’s worries as the night continued on. Black Bat came to a sudden stop on top of a warehouse, gesturing for Bunnix to follow behind her, and climbing in through a shattered window. Inside were dozens of wooden crates, each with cameras pointed at them and only one with an open lid. Black Bat walked towards the open crate with ease, going inside and taking out three duffle bags from inside. She placed two on her, criss-crossing each other before handing the other one to a reluctant Bunnix.

The tow then headed to a hidden tunnel underneath one of the empty crates, making their way in a closed (?) Gotham sewer. It didn’t smell as disgusting as Alix imagined it would be, musky at best, though she thought that it may be due to the fact that there was no dirty sewage water there. They walked in relative ease, essentially walking for what had to be at least 15 minutes in numerous twists and turns before reaching a ladder. The two got out, Bunnix recognizing it as part of Crime Alley with how run down the area looked.

Black Bat knocked on a rusting steel door, three times, five, once and then a tap with her palm.

The door opened up, a boy no older than 12 being the ones to greet them.

“Where’s R.H?” he questioned, he looked disappointed but not alarmed, clearly he had met Black Bat before.

“Was busy. This is Bunnix, she’s helping for the night” The boy was clearly unimpressed with her but he closed the door and led them down the long hallway. She noticed the few scattered toys along the way, with some open doors showing mountains of writing supplies and even a little library.

What was this place?

“This is Red Hood’s sanctuary for the kids of Crime Alley” Black Bat whispered next to her “Batgirl and Red Hood are usually the ones to come here though all of us have come at some point.” they entered the large room showing children of all ages, some as young as infants and others looking close to early adulthood. They dropped the duffle bags in front of what she thought was the leader of the pack when Red Hood wasn’t around.

They were filled with non-perishable food, wads of money that will probably be used to provide for the group of 30 or even more for the next month, toys, books and some new clothes.

As the children gathered around, each a little dirtier than Alix remembered ever being as a child, lining up to get a new something that Red Hood got for them she couldn’t help but think;

… Maybe things were never so black and white.

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“I know it may seem frightening, even unnerving, to let go of your control but if you keep your powers bottled up it may prove to be disastrous in the future” Black Canary told the group of teens.

“With abilities bestowed to you like those of the Miraculous are left untrained then it may prove to lead to your downfall” Alfred nodded along to Dinah’s words.

“As capable as Ms.Lance and I are, we have realized that we would need further assistance to properly be able to train each of your abilities”

From one of the Batcave’s entrances they could hear the screech of tires before a slick black car parked next to the Batmobile and Hoodcycle.

“Sorry, we’re late” a red headed woman said as she stepped out of the car, her pale freckled skin slowly gaining a green tint to it as she removed her lab coat and glasses, “Selina here thought she could make a quick steal on our way here”

“Oh c’mon Pam, you know you love the rush as much as I do” a tanned woman laughed, twirling around a golden necklace with one of the biggest rubies they had ever seen in its center.

“Now, ladies; Pam-a-lamb has a class of powered kids to teach” they recognized Dr.Quinzel belatedly as she was missing her glasses and uniform. She was now wearing a much more colorful array of clothes with the consistent theme of red,black, and white. Her skin seemed paler than they remembered and her blonde hair had red tips on one side and blue on the other.

“Hey girls” Barbara came down the elevator at the same time as Stephanie and Cass, seemingly cutting their conversation when she saw the newcomers”

“Babs!” Dr.Quinzel exclaimed, making her way to the other girls after giving a quick kiss to the green skinned woman.

“Well you’re right on time Pam” Dinah sighed, cocking her hip before pointing at the newcomers “These are Dr.Pamela Isley otherwise known as the Gotham Rogue Poison Ivy, Selina Kyle a more vigilante type thief Catwoman, and, of course, you know Dr.Harleen Quinzel or as she prefers to go by Harley Quinn”

“Hey kittens” Selina waved at the group “By the way it's been too long since we girls have hung out; how’s about a Birds of Prey raid? You in?”

“Only if Oracle agrees” 

“Oh pleasepleasepleaseplease!” Stephanie and Harley’s persistent pleading could be heard immediately afterwards. A polite cough interrupted the chaos.

“As enthusiastic as you ladies are for your plans, may I remind you that we have prior plans to care for first. Namely the training”

“Sorry Alfie” Harley said, chastised, “We’ll get out of your hair. C’mon ladies!”

“...So training?” Marc asked

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“What happened to you?” was the first thing Kim laughed out as the duo stepped into the cave, leaving a trail of confetti and glitter behind. Marinette looked back at her team, unimpressed, in their own state of disarray.

Chloe, Max, Marc and Nathaniel seemed to be nursing their own cases of migraines; most likely having pushed the limits of their own new abilities which relied on mental fortitude. Chloe and Jason’s powers were the most similar to Alfred’s which involved manipulating and projecting thoughts and ideas to the people around them or to specific targets. Nathaniel was developing the power to create illusions that only his target would be allowed to see. Marc could create intangible clones of himself but could still project what they were seeing and hearing to him. Max could teleport objects a few meters away from or towards him.

Kagami, Kim, Adrien and Nino seemed the most physically exhausted. Kagami was beginning to have slight control of fire, wind and water but not yet conjuring it; given her slight burn marks, wet clothes and messy hair Marinette would guess that she still hadn’t fully grasped the manipulation aspect outside of being Ryuuko. Kim’s own face was dirty and slightly bruised and matched that of Adrien’s. Kim had begun to use his chaotic energy to make the wackiest things happen but to have the outcome he wanted while Adrien could suck the luck out of people for small intervals lest he want to have the misfortune backlash cling on him. Nino’s was more tame though he now had to focus on two things since he could now use his energy to both heal and to create a shield that encompased his body like armor.

“Oh god you guys look like messes!” Alix laughed along with Luka, the only two that looked fine as they had a fairly tame patrol with Cass and Tim.

“Next time I see Riddler remind me to throw a glitter bomb” Marinette grumbled as she made her way to the showers.

“Not before I stab him with his stupid cane” Damian growled heading for the male showers.

“So how long till Daminette guys?” Adrien asked

“Definitely before the end of the year” Duke concluded, the others not being sure if he used his power or not.

“I’ll take you up on that. I’ll bet we make more money than with Red Scales” Stephanie laughed.

“Red Scales?” Luka asked curiously before the others yelled out.

“Nothing!” 

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“Okay how come no one warned me about that!” Jason yelled as he came out of the Cave’s entrance. The group either gave questioning or amused looks.

“Oh, so you saw that too?” Alix asked, perched from one of the sofa’s armrests.

“You assholes could have given me a heads up” he complained before groaning into a sofa “God, someone get me some bleach”

“What’s Jaybird talking about?” Dick asked, coming in from the kitchen with an array of snacks for the rowdy bunch of teeneagers.

“Oh just Timbers getting some with the big bad snake boi” Stephanie sang, causing Jason to groan and Dick to choke on his own spit.

“More like trying to eat each other’s tongue out” Nathaniel responded in disgust.

“Timmy, no!” were the words the oldest yelled out before heading into the Batcave in record time.

“Anyway,” Stephanie began “It’s time to pay up bitches. Marinette and Cass get the loot”

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“Hmm, so I guess that’s what fresh blood splatters looks like” Chat Noir said in morbid interest.

“Well it's certainly more noticeable than dried blood” Viperion nodded along, watching as Red Robin and Red Hood carried out the interrogation from a one-way mirror. There was a new gang who specialized in child trafficking, most of the kids coming from Crime Alley and therefore not getting reported to the police; luckily they had Red Hood looking out for them.

“Yes, well we are here to see how they carry out their investigation and get used to all the squeamish things” Ladybug gave a calculated look, as though she herself were in there and what she would do to get the information out of the man they captured earlier that night.

“Do you guys think this sort of thing is going too far?” MultiMouse asked curiously, he was beginning to grow a bit uncomfortable with the amount of blood the man had begun to lose. 

“I mean this asshole deserves it” Roter Fochs glared “I don’t think it's too much if it means saving all those kids”

“Standing on the edge of what is seen as a hero𑁋”

BANG

“Let’s you see all the things you can’t from the center” Ryuuko watched as the man was forcibly being held back up by Red Robin after Red Hood slammed his face on the interrogation table. 

“World is not black and white” Black Bat spoke from next to them “Many shades of gray in between; We are in the gray”

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“You shall not make fools of the Tsurugi. We Are Perfection”

Kagami elected to stay quiet as her mother continued to monologue, as though Kagami hadn’t heard the same conversation play out ever since she could remember.

During the sessions she had with Dr. Quinzel, Harley Quinn the psychologist had told her she preferred to go by outside of the office, she had come to realize that what her mother was doing to her was not alright. Her mother continued to enforce her ideals onto Kagami, as though she were trying to live vicariously through her. Kagami couldn’t fathom why; her mother was trained by her grandfather, a kendo Hachi-Dan, all her life and was already a world renowned and record holding fencer… So what did she want out of her? Why was it so important for Kagami to be seen as superior to all others?

“Show him no mercy, that he is nothing against a Tsurugi '' her mother finished much to Kagami’s relief.

“Mother, you are aware this is merely a friendly exhibition match, correct?”

Smack

Oh, Kagami had forgotten who she was talking to; she was not in Gotham, hanging out with her friends or training with the Bats or even talking to Dr.Quinzel or Dr.Isley.

She was in Paris where her mother and Hawkmoth were; Where both her civilian and hero self had unrealistic expectations for her.

The current sting on her leg reminded her of that fact.

“Watch your tongue you insolent child. Now go before you prove to disappoint me further”

“Yes, mother” Kagami gritted out, trying the breathing exercise Luka had taught her as she walked up to the field of play, a mat having been laid out to indicate all the boundaries.

“Are you ready, dragon girl?” Damian questioned, walking back from where Richard, Dick he had insisted, stood alongside her friends. She was too distracted to realize he had an alarmed and analytical look towards her and her mother. 

“Only if you are, Chīsai tori-chan”

The two made their way to their positions, M.D'Argencourt waiting for them in the middle before starting the match.

"En garde! Prêts? Allez!"

Kagami had been using her anger to lash out on Damian, some may call it unfair but she looked to think it was a good use of her pent up energy.

“Point to Miss Tsurugi”

“Oh I thought you were better than that?” she smirked underneath her mask. She couldn’t see his expression but she just assumed he rolled his eyes or scowled.

“You merely caught me off guard”

Kagami felt herself smile as she heard her friends cheer for her, Damian shaking his head before going back to their original position.

She was not expecting the events of the day from that moment, she hadn’t realized and would not want to hear her birthgiver’s explanation after that day.

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“Unbelievable!” Robin cried out in frustration, next to him Speedy looked like he was ready to punch anybody who’d stand too close to him.

“Sorry, uh Robin” the ginger speedster looked flustered.

“It’s just too dangerous for people like you to be involved with us” the new ‘hero’, Miss Martian, they recalled, said apologetically. “Your physiology is too susceptible to injury, it isn’t like our own”

“You think we want to be part of your stupid daycare club” Speedy laughed harshly, “We just saved your sorry asses because we were around, because you’re on our turf”

“And you still want to call us fragile and weak? You’re just as underwhelming as they said you’d be” Robin snapped, frustrated at the continued degradement from Metas and the Justice League. 

He remembered when he first met Speedy and the League, Batman having been sent a request to help with some world ending thing; definitely above their pay rate but Batman also didn’t trust them to get it done so they agreed.

He remembers working his ass off to make sure these people made it out alive, live to see another day, and help defeat the big bad. Then the comments came rolling;

“Isn’t he too young? Why did we have to call in the human? Is the Bat insane? It's bad enough that we got the man involved, now we have to deal with his kid too? We could handle it without them. Now we have to play babysitter for the humans”

He understood why the Batman didn’t even stand working with the League after that.

“We-We were here by League orders!” Miss Martian cried in outrage.

“Orders to spy on us” Speedy sarcastically remarked as the ‘Young Justice’ flinched “You lot really think you were that slick?”

“Whatever the hell it is they were supposed to do is over” Robin nearly growled out, batarangs at hand, “They’re officially persona non grata”

“You can’t just do whatever you please” Wondergirl began “The League just wishes to know if your mentors are up to any… questionable activity”

“Shitty excuse for shitty behavior” Speedy responded, clearly getting on the nerves of the Young Justice.

“Just let us do our job and we’ll be on our way” Cyborg tried placating though the duo was not impressed.

“Or we can just kick your asses and send you crying back to your bosses” Speedy took out his quiver and pointed straight at them, the group divided between offended and surprised.

“We do not need to result in such behavior, we mean no harm” Starfire tried getting in the middle, only to be pushed back by Kid Flash and Miss Martian. Aqualad seemingly about to do the same but realising it was a fruitless endeavor and just got in a fighting stance.

“You don’t even believe that princess” Robin felt his eyes rolling, the Young Justice tense considering Starfire being princess of another planet was supposed to be a secret.

“You- You shouldn’t know that! See, this only proves what Superman feared! That the Batman has gone rogue!” Miss Martian said in a near panic.

“What do you mean by go rogue; We’re not even part of the League!” Dick was getting real tired of these pretentious metas already. From the corner of his eyes he could see two shadows waiting for their signals and staying in position.

Dick didn’t think of himself as a bad person but this Young Justice really had all of this coming.

“Young Justice, action!”

And really he was sure he could come up with better names than them.

At the end Dick and Roy kept their word, the Young Justice scattered all around them in various states of consciousness on a Central City rooftop. Kid Flash groaned as he looked at their ‘fragile’ assailants, only to see two new figures with them, a blonde girl with an arrow pointed at Miss Martian, and a shorter boy wearing Robin’s costume that just electrocuted Wonder Girl with glorified knuckle busters.

“Oh and Wally,” the speedsters heart began to beat faster as he looked at the cold smile on Robin, ex-Robin?, now wearing a black and blue bodysuit….when did he change? “Tell Superman I’ll be using the name Nightwing from now on”

Nightwing did not think he was a bad person as he, the new Arsenal, Tigress and the new Robin dumped the unconscious bodies of the Young Justice back into their ship, sending it on autopilot after typing in the ‘secret coordinates’ for Mount Justice.

The Justice League would understand loud and clear that they would no longer be expecting help from the Bats or Arrows at a moment's notice or preferably ever from now on.

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“Umm are you Mmd. Tsurugi?” Tomoe Tsurugi turned, indicating her attention was caught by the young lady next to her. She sounded vaguely familiar but they said it was easier to recognize someone by their face than by their voice; she wouldn’t know.

“Who are you to ask?” she responded curtly, wanting to refocus on the match her prodigy and some American boy were engaging in. From what M.D'Argencourt had told her, his name was Damian, a prospective transfer student from America, who wished to check out the school’s fencing team. D’Argencourt had insisted that the boy was one of the best he’d seen, on par with her own prodigy. How could some average boy be on par with her own prodigy of the Tsurugi name?

It simply would not do.

Thus they had arranged this exhibition match, to show just how leagues above the Tsurugi were from this common boy.

“ My name is Lila Rossi, a classmate of your daughter and model, I work for Gabriel Agreste” the girl’s self-praising was not missed by Tomoe but she had ignored it for now, it would be best to quickly get to the point lest she miss a second of the match.

"En garde! Prêts? Allez!"

“I’ve heard of you from M. Agreste. What is your business with me?” Tomoe was getting quickly irritated, as her own prodigy had taken longer this round; the rapid movements of the sabres, swishing in the air and clashing into one another, both opponent’s feet moving across the mat in quick and small intervals.

“ I know I’m not supposed to say things without letting M. Agreste know first but,” she starts to tear up, at least Tomoe could hear that from the hiccuping of her voice. “Your daughter has been influencing Adrien to rebel against his father”.

Her prodigy did what?

“I overheard them talking about how the two planned to help each rebel against M. Agreste and you. She said she’d throw the match in order to disgrace you”

Tomoe had trained Kagami better than that! There was no way the insolent child would be so foolish as to𑁋

“ Point to Mister Damian”

She began to metaphorically see red as they called for the final round of their little exhibition match. Kagami was made to perfection; this should have already been a settled deal instead of dragging out for almost five minutes now. Kagami better not disappoint her in the final match lest she have to discipline the girl.

“ I know this is an inopportune time to inform you of this but I fear of what else she’ll do and what she’ll make Adrien do if she keeps this up… With such influential families it would be dishonorable to let this continue further”

Tomoe was so deep in her head that she missed the rapid footsteps running across the mat or the sound of liquid falling on it.

"Final round. En garde! Prêts? Allez!"

The match had lasted just as long as the last, almost using up the full three minutes. She could hear the two make their way onto Kagami’s side of the mat when Tomoe realized that she was disgracing the Tsurugi name on purpose.

The child slipped backwards, she could already hear the announcement before D’Argencourt could.

“Point to Mister Damian. Match goes to Damian”

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“Again” 

Dick took out his escrima sticks once, panting and sweating profusely but did as his instructor told. He felt himself repeat the same movements over and over again, he was going solely by muscle memory at this point.

“Alright Grayson, you’re done for the day” Dick resisted the urge to sigh in relief as he gave a slight bow and took a drink from his water bottle.

“So how have the kids been Slade?” he asked nonchalantly, knowing if it were any other person they’d be dead for even bringing up Slade Wilson’s children.

“Joseph is doing as well as always, focusing on the fine arts and being a good kid. Rose just enrolled in the same private school as him so they’re looking out for each other” the mercenary said with a huff, one Dick saw through.

“Why, I’d say you sound like a proud father!”

“As if you and Bats don’t talk about the birds like that”

Dick knew he had him there.

When he was 9 years old, a year after debuting as Robin and being adopted, he met Bruce’s ‘girlfriend’, if they could call whatever game those two were playing an actual relationship. He did not like Talia al Ghul, even less who her father was but he kept his opinion to himself, he wanted Bruce to be happy. Then it turned out she was pregnant.

Talia had decided to stow away from Ra’s, definitely not defecting from him anytime soon but she also knew that the man held too many secrets; few which she was able to discover. She was already aware that Ra’s had contingency plans if the Lazarus Pits stopped working on him, he was planning on possessing the body of someone of his blood. She knew the child would be the perfect vessel in his eyes. 

So she lied to Ra’s, stating that she was going on a deep cover mission for the League, dismantling or infiltrating some country from the inside instead of just killing their way in. Instead she hired Slade as a bodyguard and to help maintain her cover while she stayed at Wayne Manor. He had to admit that it was the softest he’d seen her.

Then when he was 12, they found Jason Todd. Well more like they caught him trying to steal the wheels from the Batmobile in the middle of the night at Crime Alley. The kid had spunk and a not great life living in Crime Alley’s streets so they took him in as their own. At the same time Dick was outgrowing Robin and didn’t think the mantle should gather dust as they waited for Damian to grow up; Jason was the perfect candidate.

That same year Batgirl came out of nowhere, a new shadow that hunted down corrupt cops specifically. Dick hadn’t really been all too surprised when it turned out to be his friend and classmate, because he was bored and decided skipping two grades would be a good idea, Barbara Gordon. That or the fact that they immediately took her in and gave her real training.

He was 15, nearing 16, when Tim Drake literally barged into their lives.

He was a scrawny 9 year old that had apparently been stalking them while they went around Gotham beating up very dangerous people and had found out their identities by seeing him perform a quadruple somersault. Seriously what the fuck had been the only thing in his mind at the moment.

It turned out that Tim had come to them in need of protection as he found out his parents were involved with the Court of Owls, something Bruce had tried to uncover but even he was beginning to believe was a myth, with his parents soon scheduling for him to be tested as a potential Talon. They were fully willing to sell their son’s soul for their cause and not caring that he would lose his humanity in the process. It wasn’t hard to open a case against the Drakes as concerned citizens for child neglect and embezzlement that may or may not have been discovered while they raided their place in the night and took anything they owned pertaining to the Court of Owls the week before the police began their investigations.

Which led to now.

Joker had decided to attack the new Robin, his perverted mind finding it unfair that he wasn’t told of the new change. Not only had he been surprised by the fact that Jason survived but he also got his ass handed back to him by Batman and Nightwing when they found out. Jason was borderline dying and the closest place they could go was, unfortunately, Infinity Island; aka al Ghul palace.

Ra’s was fortunately not on the island however David Cain was not informed of the fact that the Bats and Talia al Ghul had a strange alliance, sicking his living weapon aka his daughter out on them. She had stopped when she saw how close to death Jason was, freezing as though she could physically see his string of life snapping, and when David was readying to retaliate against her, he found himself knocked out by Talia. A few hours later the Batjet was sent back and the Batplane returned with Alfred, Barbara, Tim and Damian inside.

Once Jason was well enough, a day or two hopefully, they’d be leaving the island with a new sister in tow.

Dick would stop at nothing to keep his family safe.

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“Oh my god, Kagami”

Marinette had been hanging out with Damian, Dick, Marc and Alix in her room when her skylight window opened. Now this itself was a common occurrence after she and Adrien revealed their identities and when she began to give Miraculous full time.

However, the sight in front of her was one she had never expected to see before.

“I hope I’m not interrupting”

Kagami had dropped the transformation the moment she opened the window, Longg floating besides her in concern.

Her normally impeccable fair skin was littered with bruises of various shades, the most notable being a dark purple one on her cheek close to her eye. There were others she noticed on her hand and few popping up from underneath her ripped leggings. 

Marinette was snapped out of her stupor as Kagami stumbled down the window, her bookbag and two carry-on bags on her back.

“What happened?” Marc asked, right beside Kagami as Marinette took the other side, helping the Japanese girl with her bags and sat her on Marinette’s chaste.

“... My mother was not happy with my performance today” the girl winced as she sat down “She seems to have gotten it in her head that I sabotaged the match and have disgraced the family name”

“Kagami,” she looked up to see Richard, Dick, with his deep sapphire eyes full of concern and unrelenting fury. “Do you feel safe at home?”

Had she been asked a year ago she would have said that she did or that it was irrelevant and did not matter. She has since learned that ignoring the blaring issue and suffering in silence would do no good for anyone.

“No, I do not”

“Do you want to open a case against your mother?”

“... I do”

“That’s all I needed to hear”

While Marinette went to get her parents, scrambling up an explanation for how Kagami got to her house, not that her parents would ask once they saw her friend, Damian took photos of Kagami as evidence for a domestic abuse case.

They all took notice of her missing ring and the patch on her blazer.

Dick Grayson was not going to let this go.

But he knew that the woman did not deserve his time as Nightwing for this. No. She would just twist it with her reputation; they needed to destroy that to truly break her.

He may not have jurisdiction in Paris but he was still an officer and vigilante dammit! Not to mention he had a billionaire dad notorious for adopting kids left and right.

“Hey dad, y’know how it's my birthday in like ten months; how would you feel about giving me another sibling or two?"

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“Who are you?” In the middle of their stakeout for a potential safehouse in Happy Harbor, Nightwing and Robin turned to see an eerily familiar looking teen floating next to them, arms crossed but not looking ready to make a move. Yet.

“The better question is who are you” Nightwing quipped “I know Boy Scout did the Devil’s Tango but his kid definitely shouldn’t be as old as you are”

“Oh my god, shut up Nightwing” Robin groaned, Tim wondering what his odds would have been if he had just run away from home instead of going to the Bats.

“... I’m Superboy” the teen looked at the two curiously, he had heard hushed whispers of the Batman and his sidekicks, Nightwing and Robin. He also knew that for some reason the name Nightwing had caused discomfort and righteous anger to Superman.

“Superboy, huh.” Nightwing questioned as Robin began typing on his wrist computer “So you’re the secret member of Young Justice”

“How do you know that?” he hovered defensively, confused at Nightwing’s hand wave.

“Chill Superboy. I’m sure you’re all aware of the not so secret dislike between us and the League” his smirk told him there was more there… not that he’d know. None of the adults really talked to him other than Black Canary, and she was only a temporary member at that; she had mentioned to Superboy how she usually works alongside the Arrows of Central City and was part of The Birds of Prey.

“Especially after I stole the name from Superman”

“Stole from Superman?” Superboy was never aware of the fact that Nightwing was a name Superman ever used, it wasn’t part of the data fed to him through Cadmus or even personal studies he did in the Mount Justice library.

“Hasn’t big blue told you about his heritage?” Robin asked, an air of nonchalance and judgement around his statement.

“... No. Superman would rather ignore the fact I even exist” Superboy hadn’t meant to sound so pretentious but he couldn’t help it! It was getting on his nerves, how everyone just saw him as nothing more than a mini-Superman or a clone or even a weapon the enemy made… He wanted  to be more than all that.

“Do you have a name?” Nightwing asked, his cheerful demeanor gone and replaced with a serious and protective one.

“I am Superboy”

“Noㅡ I mean a name for the teen underneath the ‘S’. Not a codename” Nightwing asked gently “People don’t call me Nightwing when I’m not wearing the mask”

“... I’ve only been called Superboy, even in Cadmus”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me for fucks sake” he heard Robin’s angry huff, he couldn’t exactly turn off his super senses. 

“Well that’s dehumanizing” Nightwing was suddenly all smiles again, gently pulling Superboy down and sitting on a city bench, oddly there was no one near their general vicinity.

“How about I give you a Kryptonian history lesson, straight from the Fortress of Solitude’s archives! The story of Nightwing and Flamebird”

That was how Superboy became friends with the “dangerous enemy” and got a real first idea of what it meant to be Kryptonian.

That was also the night he gained the name Conner.

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When Kagami didn’t show up to school the next day no one thought much of it, at least no one that wasn’t Lila Rossi and Alya Cesaire.

People began to grow curious when Marinette and Chloe were also gone or the fact that Marc  and Alix had huge eye bags under their eyes. Depending on who asked they’d say that it was something personal or none of their business.

People began to get concerned when Sabrina’s dad, officer Raincomprix, asked to speak to M. Bustier, Adrien, Marc and Alix.

When the class began to pester Sabrina for answers she gave them a lost look and said “I can’t tell you anything, I’m not even supposed to know about the case but dad asked for some information… I think it's best we back off”

Of course that didn’t stop Lila or Alya from gloating over their victory, hoping that Kagami had been pulled from school or even sent back to Japan.

They never realized how much their act of revenge had impacted the Japanese girl or her group of friends.

Bruce Wayne would arrive that same day and head straight for the Dupain-Cheng household along with his daughter Cass and sons Tim and Jason.

“I didn’t think we’d have to start this whole process until after December but being early never hurt” Tim tried to joke, helping lift the somber mood just a bit.

After Tom and Sabine offered them refreshments before having to head downstairs to the bakery, the group began to think of logical backstories before Officer Raincomprix was due to arrive.

“... So you can just say after that poor excuse of a birth giver did what she did to you” Jason made sure to keep his cool, he knew these kids didn’t need a fucking Akuma right now “ You already had bags prepared and managed to leave when she went to sleep and went to your friend’s house. You knew you’d be safe there and that they’d be able to take you to the hospital to get your injuries looked at”

“I think that’ll work” Tim nodded along, invested in his laptop as he looked through Parisian surveillance for any other instances of public domestic abuse or even covering Kagami’s tracks as Ryuuko from last night, not that he blamed her for trying to leave as soon as possible.

“I know I said I’d help you with Gabriel but, “ Bruce began before Marinette shook her head.

“Right now Kagami’s case is more urgent… besides this may be beneficial with our case against Gabriel for associating with Tomoe and praising her form of parenting. Maybe we can even get them both in one go”

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Amidst the laundry list of paperwork and things to get done there were two important things happening;

First was the announcement of the Flying Grayson’s Foundation, a scholarship for international students to travel and study at Gotham Academy and any other high ranking schools around the country; they were looking for children who were either of lower income who could take advantage of the once in a lifetime opportunity or students who displayed great talents and could use the enriching environment these schools had to offer.

In other words it was a cover up to get the Miraculous Team away from Paris and in Gotham.

Should Bruce really be using his fortune to do these sort of things? He was rich with money to spare, if he used it to help teens that were left to their own devices by most of the adults in their lives then who was to say what he could or could not do with his money.

The second was the Hawkmoth investigation finally going guns ablazing.

Bruce and Marinette had both decided to let their teams handle tracking Hawkmoth for now as they strategized on ways to get Adrien away from Gabriel and secretly Nathaniel away from his parents.

With the later they had more luck by the name of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Within the months they had spent together the duo had gotten attached to the teens and were protective even as they ‘attacked the city’ to keep their criminal cover. When hearing about Nathaniel's situation the two had begun to think of ways to get him away from it, having had similar experiences growing up, along with Bruce.

They hadn’t realized there was a much simpler solution that wasn’t killing/arresting the Kutzbergs or kidnapping Nathaniel.

“You know you can just Matilda this and just give the adoption papers to them, right?” Duke said from the couch one day. “From what Nat says its likely they won’t give a shit or even protest”

It had worked.

Nathaniel was now officially Nathaniel Isley-Quinzel.

Barbara had worked with Tim and Max to perfect the laters algorithm for tracking down the Hawkmoth (along with some upgrades on Markov and maybe creating other sentient A.Is they hoped wouldn’t cause the apocalypse in the far future). Thankfully Tomoe Tsurugi had proven a valuable pawn as they managed to track down the one mile radius from where the Akuma could have come from when she was arrested for child abuse, physical abuse and child neglect.

Luckily, Tomoe had tried to attack Kagami when she heard her ex-prodigy and former daughter on her way to the police car. Dick had intervened, giving her a nerve punch and rendering her unconscious. Of course he brought up that it was for self-defense and could easily be proven by the cop cameras, though it was still seen as overkill.

That Akuma was quickly captured by Ladybug, who had already seen it coming, as she and the new Bee, Abeille, were watching the arrest from a nearby rooftop.

Money made things work much more faster in terms of the adoption process. It helped that he already had four adopted sons, an adopted daughter and biological son as proof of his competence as a parent. They’d laugh at him being a ‘great parent’ but he was a tired man who was secretly trying to change the world for better by dressing up as a Bat furry at night and was trying to be good for them and also had six legal and two technical children, so really they’d take what they could get.

Gabriel Agreste and Natalie Sancoer were doing their best to cover any violations of child labor laws, even going so far as to try to ground and pull Adrien out of school again.

Of course when Bruce and his three oldest sons showed up they had all the evidence they needed for a major scandal to break and ruin the Gabriel brand. They did make a very nice offer at a not so nice expense;

Give guardianship to/let Bruce adopt Adrien and the press would never have to find out.

Gabriel had nearly yelled at the man to leave his home the instant he subtly suggested it, even going so far as to call the “Gorilla”, which not only did not work but also gave the Wayne’s an even harder dislike of the man.

As it turns out as soon as Adrien told Gorilla, damn it he would find out the man’s name one day! About the plan against his father the man gave Adrien a flashdrive to use as part of the evidence.

“It's up to you Mister Agreste” Tim said in his CEO voice, cold and with business only in mind.

“You could just listen to our offer and just renounce any custody you have of Adrien and give it to us” Dick practically sang through his eyes but still held a hard look.

“Or you could face the backlash of not only exploiting, but also keeping him captive in his own home and overworking your son all for the name of your brand… Not to mention your questionable business practices or bias towards an underaged model” Jason added as nonchalantly and non threateningly as he could. It did not work, which was the whole point. “Losing your reputation and your son anyway”

Gabriel knew he was in over his head but was no fool.

Adrien packed up his things the next day, beginning his process of shipping his belongings off to Gotham. Coincidentally, Gorilla had given his letter of resignation and had gotten a job as the main caretaker of one Alise Anciel-Pennyworth.

Gabriel swore he’d get his revenge against Bruce Wayne one way or another.

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Conner did not know what to do.

He knew he did the right thing in distancing himself from his team, he didn’t know them well enough to consider them friends. But it still hurt to be alone…

Superman had been nothing but a pain in his ass with his Boy Scout routine and higher than thou personality.

Ugh just thinking about it made him want to shoot him with his heat vision. He had no idea how Superboy, because yeah the kid asked him and how could he say no to him?, could be related to that man. It must have been the Lois Lane of the kid.

Conner didn’t know who to turn for, there was no way he’d go to any of his biological donors, so he'd just spent the past few days flying endlessly.

He had stopped by Star City to see how Black Canary was, and for a quick session, but as much as she and Green Arrow offered he didn’t want to overstay his welcome. Not to mention he had a feeling he needed to go somewhere else.

The only other person who had given him the light of day was….

“Are you Superboy?” Conner looked up, which he didn’t do that often now that he thought about it, and saw a male figure standing on a lightpost, his features hidden by the Gotham night.

“Not anymore, who the hell are you?” the guy hoped down, with the light he was able to see the blonde hair and leather catsuit… did Catwoman get an apprentice?

“Well you should know the big bad Bat doesn't like metas. Any reason you’re here or should I escort you out right meow?”

“... I’m going to ignore the pun for now. I’m looking for Nightwing”

Conner noticed the twitch of the leather ear against the honey blonde hair and began to wonder if the guy was either trustworthy or meta. Just as Conner was about to fly away the guy tapped his ear, he recognized Nightwing’s voice before the guy nodded and ended the transmission.

“Well looks like Nightwing is vouching for you” he sat down on the park bench where Conner hadn’t realized he had spaced out for most of the afternoon. “He says to stay put, he’s kinda busy right now but shouldn’t take too long. Anyways I’m Chat Noir, Parisian superhero”

“Never heard of you before but it's nice to meet you” Conner shook his hand even though Chat Noir scowled, dropping the whole playful demeanor.

“No surprise there. You know we spent years asking for the Justice League’s help and they didn’t do shit, they didn’t even open our messages” the half Kryptonian experiment thought that he must have been mistaken.

Sure the Justice League had Superman and was full of a bunch of enhanced beings/meta-humans who would rather have brawns than brains according to his #2 Sperm Donor and refused to allow ‘regular’ humans or even only slightly enhanced on their team even though they knew how to kick ass but they weren’t terrible enough to not answer distress signals, right?

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Nightwing and Batman told my team”

“And you trust their words, just like that?”

“Don’t you?” Chat Noir seemed to stare him down before Conner sighed, hand raking through his naturally curly hair.

“Yeah, I do. Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust him. Never met the other Bats and Birds though”

“Trust me, it’ll be chaotic in a fun way” Chat Noir grinned, a knowing twinkle in his eye. “So, why are you looking for Nightwing? Sorry if its invasive but well, you know what they say about cats”

“Curiosity killed the cat?” Conner questioned, the shit eating grin on Chat Noir’s face grew, like the cat who caught the canary.

“But satisfaction brought it back!”

“It’s kind of a long story, I doubt you’ll want to know the knitty gritty” Conner showed his gloved hands into his leather jacket, sighing.

“I’m all ears”

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“So you’re telling me that you were genetically engineered to replace and destroy Superman by using his stolen DNA and the one of his arch enemy Lex Luthor while also being planted with trigger words to make sure Luthor had a way to control you. Superman never even liked you even when he thought you were just a clone of him even though his own kid was pretty chill with you and he met you after the whole Daddy #2 reveal. Which also he used the triggers to make you attack your teammates, the Young Justice, so even though you got the triggers removed you quit and decided to take a break from the hero biz but you don’t really have anyone to trust so your best bet was Nightwing, who you’ve talked to every now and then since he likes messing with Superman and taught you about Kryptonian culture”

“Well yeah basically”

“Holy shit you need to see Dr. Quinzel or something”

“What about you leather boy? What are you even doing in Gotham?” Conner asked with a smirk, feeling comfortable with the feline boy after letting out his whole life story to him.

“Well do we want to start from when my mom died or when I was chosen to be a superhero at thirteen or when the whole city of Paris just expected my partner and I to be able to defeat the full on grown man terrorizing the city all on our own with no help whatsoever?”

“Daddy issues?”

“Pot calling kettle”

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“Ugh I can’t believe Ladybug didn’t show up to the fire yesterday” Alya ranted to her classmates, the ones that were still worth talking to that is.

“Dude you do realize that the fire department was there and had everything handled, right?” Nino looked at her skeptically, the two had broken up a few months or so ago now but they still treated each other with decency. At least most of the time.

“Think of all the lives they risked by not showing up!” Lila cried out “How could they leave Paris at their most vulnerable state?”

“I- I’m sure they were busy” Rose squeaked out, trying her best to console her friend. She still held some hope for the heroes of Paris after all!

“Yeah it's not like the firemen were doing their job or anything” Alix rolled her eyes at the group.

“Sabrina!” the ginger girl tensed at her name, turning to see the very much in danger of being akumatized again reporter “Didn’t your dad and the police department have to deal with those bank robbers last week without help of Paris’ heroes?”

“We-Well yes but my dad does that 𑁋”

“They’re just being so selfish! Think of all the people who risk their lives everyday with no magic bulletproof suit. They think they’re above Paris’ everyday problems and only show up when we can’t handle it”

“Surely you aren’t such a fool, Cesaire” Max stated cooly as he typed away on his laptop “Or do you not remember how everything used to function before their arrival”

“Listen here you little nerd!”

“N-No Alya… I know I shouldn’t say this but the truth is… Ladybug is over Paris” Lila began to tear up, hiding her face within her hands as she started to choke up “She and I had a fight a few weeks back; she said she’s tired of dealing with all of Paris’ problems even when I begged her to reconsider! I- I think she’s planning on abandoning us altogether… and we all know we’re doomed without Ladybug there to keep her sidekicks in check”

The room was full of looks of shock and surprise, including that of Miss Bustier who was sitting at her desk. Suddenly that grieving silence was interrupted by laughs coming from the back, Adrien trying to reign in his laughter.

“Oh god,that’s probably the only lie you told that’s partly true Rossi '' the blonde sunshine child had gotten more cynical the longer he spent time in public school. There were rumors he threatened his father with a lawsuit through a third party about child labor laws, something Alya tried researching and asking him about. Apparently Adrien was officially out of the fashion industry.

“She really is a lost cause” Alix had not so subtly whispered to Kim, who nodded along.

“What would you lot know! Besides anyone whose friends with the Ice Queen, Tsurugi is𑁋”

“Actually, Alya” Marinette interrupted “As class vice-president you should be aware that Kagami had her name legally changed. She now goes by Kagami𑁋”

“Oh dear, did you get disowned Kagami?” Lila framed it as an innocent concern but those who knew the real her recognized the mocking tone.

“I owe you no explanations, Rossi” the girl responded back, going back to ignoring the class with Marinette. They still remembered the day she came back to school, most of the class, not including a select few assholes they decided not to name, had looked at her in worry as she branded various bandages and some healing bruises; she had all but ignored them and continued on her regular routine.

Meanwhile that night Bruce Thomas Wayne made a press conference at Wayne Enterprises’ building, with his two oldest Richard John “Dick” Grayson-Wayne and Jason Peter Todd-Wayne.

“Mister Wayne are you really saying you’ve adopted another child?” Lois Lane stood up as the microphone was given to her “What warranted the newest member of the Wayne Clan? Is it a sensitive matter like that of your daughter Cassandra or perhaps like that of Damian’s?”

Bruce made sure to give a flustered look, especially since her husband, one Clark Kent, otherwise known as Kal-El or Superman, was with her.

“Why I must say, those are excellent questions Miss Lane” he started off with a smile “ However, to answer your questions they’ve been a family acquaintance and then friend for some time. It’s not my story to tell but their home life was not the healthiest, it got to the point where my family offered to help them get out of that situation. They were admittedly reluctant to do so but… I suppose a line had been crossed and they asked for our assistance”

The members of the press seemed to deflate at the confession, all drawing up their conclusions to what his words meant and what the newest member had experienced in their life.

“Yes, Ms. Grant?” Dick asked, pointing for them to hand over the microphone for Cat Grant.

“Will we be meeting the newest member of your family anytime soon?”

“They will be properly introduced to the public during the Wayne Gala next month in Paris, they’re still attending school elsewhere but they’ll be transferring to Gotham Academy and properly moving into the estate this upcoming semester”

They were sure the new Wayne would be making headlines when the time arrived.

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“You’re serious” Conner asked in awe, “You’d really do that?”

“Oh kitty,” Selina began to brush her fingers across Conner’s curly locks as she held the hurt boy closer to her.

After arriving in Gotham and getting to talk with Nightwing, who when learning about the situation the teen was in had recruited the help of the Gotham Sirens to host the boy as the Wayne’s had a lot of eyes on them after the announcement of an adopted child; Conner didn’t need the attention right now. 

The Sirens had agreed after learning about everything the boy had gone through, Harley agreeing that he needed stability and offered sessions or even having Dinah come visit, while Ivy made sure their place was secure enough to withstand an attack and kept vigilant in case the boy scout decided to come looking for Conner, even if they doubted he’d’ try. Selina tried to get the boy to open up, sharing her own childhood backstory and how she became Catwoman.

That’s when Selina realized that Conner had no family name, he’d even only gone as Superboy until fairly recently. No one bothered to give him a name.

So she offered her own.

“Of course I am. In fact any one of the people in this apartment and even the Bats would offer their name if you asked”

Conner knows that Jon called him an “honorary Kent” on the basis of being his dad’s clone and a Krytonian but Conner never felt like he had earned the name. Clark certainly never offered.

“Conner Kent, they said I should feel free to use that name” Conner sighed “But I don’t think it’s right”

“Well whatever name you choose it’ll be yours. Though I suggest making up your mind soon, Oracle is working on making you some legal documents so you can finally have a ‘normal life’ if that’s what you want”

“What even is normal?” the duo looked behind to see Nathaniel, graphite smudges on his face. The red headed boy was staying over with Harley and Ivy as his new moms and they were working on some more “family bonding time”. If all went well he’d be transferring to Gotham Academy for the new school year.

If Selina remembered correctly his boyfriend and Alfred’s great-nephew would also be moving to Gotham while Alfred’s sister would be placed in a senior center or given a caretaker.

“What happened to you?” Conner muffled a laugh as he took a look at Nathaniel’s state.

“Deadlines” the boy in question said, chugging what they thought was hot coffee, Trixx sleeping on his head, almost camouflaging in the red. “I’m about to go in a 12+ coma, night”

“But its 2 pm?” Conner asked amused, Nathaniel walking out of the room with a wave of his hands before peeking back inside with a smirk.

“By the way, Chat Noir has a thing for black hair and blue eyes”

Selina was amused by the flush Conner was quick to gain and decided that she’d tease him about it another day.

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“Chloe, Nino hey!” Adrien waved at his friends as they made their way around the enormous amount of rich/influential people that were attending the first ever Flying Graysons Scholarship celebration in Paris. All of Dupont Francois was allowed to attend, though Lila insisted it was thanks to her connections, because of the amount of students that would be receiving their awards/scholarships that night.

The whole Miraculous team was clad in images to their hero persona via Miraculous by MDC line that Marinette had been working on ever since she quit being class president almost a year ago. They were her most popular designs on her website, even internationally which they had found odd.

Nino was wearing an Anselm inspired bomber jacket along with a standard white button up and black jeans. Chloe was wearing something a bit more formal with a two piece dress with a black top and honey gold pencil skirt with little bees stitched at the hems and some high heels, her hair was let down for once with a pearl hairclip keeping her bangs up.

“I’m guessing you got here with the rest of your not yet adopted family?” Chloe asked while the boy grinned. Adrien had decided that the first thing he would do as a not yet Wayne was to wear other designer clothes that were not from the Gabriel design, and what better clothes than those of his platonic soulmate. Marinette may have gone over the top but he loved her for it; deep emerald dress pants and tie, the tie having subtle cat paws travelling from the top to the bottom where a cat was stitched, a black button up with the same shade of green as the pants on the underside, showing up as he had rolled his sleeves, standard black vans and her iconic bowler hat.

“Well yeah but I also got a date” Adrien smirked at their surprised and offended looks

“And you didn’t tell me!” they both said outraged.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag now, babe?” the two turned to see Conner, whom they met a handful of times since he tended to hang out alot with the Sirens; he was a cool and overall good guy who just had shitty adults in his life according to Nathaniel, who’d see him when visiting his moms.

“Well at least you have good taste” Chloe gave Conner a one over; he was for once not wearing the same leather jacket he wore as not-Superboy, though he wore a ruby button up with rolled sleeves, a black vest and black jeans making the outfit more of a business casual sort of vibe though his brown combat boots definitely it lean more on casual.

“Thank you, your highness” the Kryptonian bowed much to their amusement “Though I don’t think I got a bad catch either”

“Damn I don’t think we had any betting pools for that” Kim laughed as he walked along with Max. Kim was wearing mocha dress shorts and a beige dress shirt, a mocha bow tie and gray suspenders with little monkeys tied the whole thing together. Max had a more average short sleeved white button up and khakis combination though with the addition of a coffee bowtie and deep coffee formal jacket with small silver horseshoes on the collar it definitely spiced up the look.

“By my calculations you guys were the most unpredictable pairing though it doesn’t surprise me that you got together before LadyRobin”

“LadyRobin? I thought we were going with Daminette or Maridami?” Nino asked amused

“Whatever their name is, those two are taking forever to make a move! For kwami’s sake RedScales/LukaTim already got together months ago” Chloe huffed in annoyance causing the group to laugh in good nature.

“Conner?”

The group took quick notice of Conner's sudden stiffness, looking up to see a besticaled man with an overbearing aura, as though his mere presence could overpower you. They had assumed that it was because of his large figure. Until Bruce made his way towards them.

“Clark Kent, right? With the Daily Planet?”

That got reactions from the teens; they were well aware of who the man before them was.

“Right you are sir. It's an honor to meet you in person mister Wayne” Clark laughed politely in a very obviously superficial way.

“I’d hardly call this the first time, after all I know the Daily Planet has a tendency to send you and Miss Lane when covering cases in Gotham” Bruce smiles before looking at the group of teens, as though he had just noticed them, “Ah! I see you’ve met some of the recipients of our Flying Graysons Scholarship”

“Oh, really?” Clark gave a skeptical look as he looked at the teens who were subtly moving Conner away from the center of attention.

“Yes; We have Kim Le Chien as a training olympian swimmer and overall athlete, Nino Lahiffe who’s been getting recognition on short films he’s created for school along with some original soundtracks he’s made and Max Kante and his talent for coding and robotics”

“And what of the others?” the reporter pestered on, though they knew he just wanted to know what Conner was doing there with them,

“ Well,  Adrien Graham de Venily is a family friend, while Chloe Bourgeois is daughter of the mayor and of the fashion mogul Style Queen” he gestured to the two blondes gave cold smiles at the besticaled man “Both they  and Conner Kyle here” he patted Conner’s shoulder, the teen relaxing at a familiar touch before glaring at Clark, “The adopted son of a family friend, will be transferring along with the award recipients considering they’re all friends to Gotham Academy; I rather think its touching how deep their friendship runs”

“Conner… Kyle?”

“Yes. It's my legal name on my birth certificate, Mr.Kent. Do you have a problem with that?” Conner puffed up his chest towards his genetic donor.

“... None at all Mr.Kyle” Clark had then been quickly swept up in a conversation that was truly about nothing that Bruce had distracted him with, allowing the group to leave towards the balcony for some much needed privacy.

“Are you alright, Kon?” Adrien looked up at his boyfriend in concern before the boy sighed with a tired smile.

“I will be”

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“I can’t believe Adrien blew me off like this!” Lila cried out on her ride to the Wayne Gala. She didn’t care for the stupid scholarship, her mother’s job could easily send them to wherever the hell they wanted anyway. Alya seemed to believe that she had a chance of getting the award and scoring an interview with the Wayne’s newest member. If Lila had her way then she was sure she would get one of those rich idiots eating out of the palm of her hand by the end of the night. Especially if they were as much of a playboy as Brucie Wayne was.

“Lila you need to realise that Adrien isn’t worth it” Alya soothed “He’s done so much shit to you, he doesn’t deserve your time. I bet you can totally score a better man at the gala than anyone Adrien could hope to be”

“Tha-Thanks Alya, I don’t know where I’d be without my bestie”

The two girls met up with the rest of their school during the reception, though a few noticeable people were not with the group.

“Thank you, everyone for coming today to support this wonderful new foundation” Richard’s voice echoed as he made his way on stage, the audience applauding as he reached the table with all the awards.

“I remember before meeting Bruce I’d travel around the world along with the circus with my parents; we used to perform gravity defying tricks as the Flying Graysons. We’d see the different places of the world but I noticed the differences in the culture and state of living. So now I’d like to honor their memory with the help of dad by giving different gifted and talented kids around the world a chance to flourish and further polish their talents”

Alya was already streaming on the Fox Tea as the crowd clapped. Lila wasn’t impressed though; he may look like money but he was just a circus monkey after all. Though his body certainly looked like a million dollars.

“And to help give out these awards I’d like to invite my family, including my new little sister; Kagami Wayne!”

Lila would feel her nails stab into her palms as the Waynes came out from behind the curtains, a familiar Asian girl with them.

She hated the fact that her dress was as gorgeous as it was.

Kagami hadn’t wanted to go over the top but according to her brothers and sisters she needed to stand on her own lest the media try to brush her off or even try to start shit with Bruce neglecting them. Marinette had worked long and hard on the dress she wore, swearing it was her magnus opus of the Miraculous by MDC summer formal line. A raspberry red thigh high figure hugging dress with a silk skirt and golden embroidery with a dragon wrapping up to her waist. It had been months since Kagami began to rebel against her birthgiver and had grown her hair out enough to curl it and clip it to the side of her hair with a golden hair ornament Bruce had gifted her when the papers went through, pairing nicely with the golden heels, belt and choker she wore.

The rapid flashes of light nearly blinded Lila but somehow none of the Wayne’s seemed affected by them as they just stood and posed for the paparazzi.

“Now we’d like to present the Flying Graysons Scholarship to the following people from Francois Dupont; Marc Anciel, Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Nathaniel Isley-Quinzel, Max Kante, Alix Kubdel, Nino Lahiffe, and Kim Le Chien”

If it weren’t for the fact that she spotted Gabriel earlier in person and could currently see him glaring at the Waynes, Lila would have been counting on Akuma to appear.

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“Oh my kwami, please tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing” Marinette stated as she rolled her suitcases behind her, her friends in similar states as they saw the building before them. It was now the end of August by the time they officially moved into their new dorm… or rather new apartment building in which they were the only residents besides Mrs.Anciel-Pennyworth and “Gorilla”. Adrien had sworn all of them to not tell him his former bodyguards real name because he was a big boy who’d investigate it himself.

“Holy shit this man literally just flexed at us” Conner said in awe, lowering his sunglasses to get a better look at the place, it seemed like Bruce had thought ahead and coated certain rooms in lead paint, enough to keep Boy Scout from snooping but to be safe for his friends to not face health issues.

“Okay he’s clearly showing favorites now unless he did the same for the other winners” Alix looked unimpressed.

“Though he certainly did a 180 of this place” Max nodded, as it turned out those months ago this had once been the building where the now extinct gang was keeping their “merch”. Since then they knew Wayne Enterprises had bought it out but they hadn’t realized that Bruce would refurbish it and make it into their new living place.

“Seriously, Mr.Wayne you didn’t have to spend𑁋” Nathaniel began, looking as the man came out with his own kids to help with the move and to get Kagami, Marc and Adrien settled.

“Don’t worry about it. It was like spending money at the dollar store for him” Jason ruffled his hair before picking up some boxes and taking them inside.

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“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to buy us out” Luka said as they finished up the tour of the glorified dorm/ mansion.

The building had what they called six visible floors;

The rooftop had an indoor pool and was fully furnished to hold campfires or even barbecues if they wanted as well as a collapsable roof.

The sixth floor is where the music studio and labs were. Both were soundproof, reinforced and had monitors linked up to Big Sister aka Hecate ( the artificial intelligence Barbara had worked on to reassure Bruce that the kids wouldn’t die in their dorm. She was no replacement for Alfred however Guillaume ‘Gorilla’ Durand promised to do his best in taking care of the children’s well-being and that of Alise.) who would warn them if their activities were reaching dangerous levels.

The fifth floor was called the Artist Alley. Half of it was occupied by Marinette and Chloe as they developed Lady Luck (trademark pending) by MDC while Marc and Nathaniel occupied the other half with their studio to develop their series “The Adventures of Illustrator and Reverser”. They thought it was good but both had realised that they wanted to try making a more mature, probably teen targeted, series; (Teen) Titans was their current working title.

The third and second was what they called the residential floors, the right side holding the girls’ dorm while the left had the boys’.The second floor also had rooms they would use for guests though each room also had a pull out couch just in case. Each dorm had a private bathroom with a full bathtub, sink and toilet, full sized room, closet, and computer desk with a comfortable amount of space to rearrange or add their own items. Each floor had their own entertainment system, kitchen and dining room that helped separate the rooms. On the third floor was Marinette, Kagami, Chloe and Alix on one side while Adrien, Luka, Nino and Conner were on the other. The second floor had Alise and Gorilla on the right while Max, Kim, Nathaniel and Marc lived on the left. 

The first floor was the entrance, the first part looking like your standard lobby though it still had a mailbox for all its residents for the mailmen to drop off their letters and packages, fully equipped with a detector just in case anything passed any screening before. People could only make it to the elevator if they were accompanied by one of the residents or were identified as welcomed/ not persona non grata by Hecate. The other side of the first floor was the game room; different game systems, DDR system, pool table, darts boards, foosball table, and chess/checkers table were scattered around the remaining space of the room.

The basement was a fully dedicated gym. It had about every machine one would find at a regular gym along with a basketball court and a place for practicing gymnastics though there were nets and safety mats installed along any area where they could have accidents on them.

The first secret floor was where their special gym was, the floor hidden by thick lead underneath the basement. There they had equipment that they could use to train their extraordinary abilities. Any equipment in it was super strength resistant for Conner to blow off some steam without fearing he’d ruin it for his friends. Training dummies were also in their own section for them to train without having to go to the Batcave. There was a place to meditate and find quiet amongst the chaotic building, soundproof but monitored by Hecate. The room was also made to withstand any natural disaster, including a disaster caused by Superman or a rampaging Joker. 

Beneath the building was also an underground tunnel, it was connected to the Batcave and could be used to escape in case of an emergency or for a direct route from the cave without having to go out on the surface. There was also another one that was connected to a safehouse where they would meet in case shit really hit the fan. It was big enough for them to use their hidden motorcycles, leave traps for any followers or to run; whichever they had the liberty to do .

“Brucie didn’t pay for everything” Dick laughed

“Yes, Jagged insisted he help with at least the music and art floors” Damian informed them in a monotone voice, though he did try stealing glances from Marinette.

“Plus Lex Luthor may or may not be missing some hidden money that may or may not have been used for all the gym equipment and the labs. Y’know evil guy pocket change” Tim laughed as Luka just snuggled to his little evil genius of a boyfriend.

“Well if he was buying us out I’d say it’s working”

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“He’s conspiring against us”

“How?”

“He’s making his own team of teenagers”

“So you’re saying that Wayne is the Batman? And that he’s making his own teen superhero team?” Flash, Barry Allen, found himself questioning their leader during yet another Justice League meeting at the Hall of Justice.

“Well there have been more vigilante reports in Gotham” Wonder Woman, Diana, added on, looking through the newest blurry photos that the internet was able to scavenge up. Like the other photos they were all blurry and covered them by shadows. 

“And Sup— Conner was amongst the children that transferred into Gotham Academy “ he admitted reluctantly, their screens showing the list of all Flying Graysons Foundation Scholarship before narrowing them by those who would be staying in Gotham.

“Conner? But I thought—“ Martian Manhunter asked from his seat.

“All these papers look legal enough,” Barry said as he took a closer look at the copies of the birth certificate and school records for one Conner Kyle.

“We can’t even say these are fake or forged because he never had one to begin with” Diana further admonished though Kal brushed over it.

“And you suspect that the other scholarship students are in on it?” Aquaman, King Orin or Arthur Curry, asked skeptically. The children who had won the scholarship seemed about as average as normal children could go other than the fact that they had different specialities or talents, awards already to their names in recognition and that they attended the same school as the newest Wayne, Kagami.

“Well there’s no evidence that points towards that” Hawkwoman, Shayera Hol, admonished “These are merely children; accusing them of such things is most dishonorable if we have no evidence against them”

“We are well aware of the animosity between the League and the Batman” Red Tornado informed in his normal monotone voice.

“And we know you and Conner had a hard falling out after… All that happened those months back” Starfire, Koriand’r the alien princess of Tamarand and supervisor of the Young Justice, stated as diplomatically as she could.

“Are you sure you aren't blowing this out of proportions? This could just be Superboy moving on with his life. Perhaps he found someone to adopt him as their own” when certain people failed to was the silent addition most could hear out of Diana’s voice.

Barry Allen knew they had a reason to fear these rumors.

If the limited, and he meant the bare minimum, information Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, had told him of the secret alliance of heroes who weren’t part of the Justice League was anything to go by.

He just hoped that they hadn’t done anything to anger these new blood.

Paris, France June 20, 12:20 CEST

“Everyone get to the shelters!” 

Adrien was lucky he was already out when this disaster began. His mom had called to see if he’d been alright, he felt an uneasy squeeze to his heart when he told her that he was in the safety of the Bourgeois hotel; he never liked lying to his mom before, but he didn’t have the choice right now. Not especially after he just got her back.

Somehow, he thought six hurricanes surrounding the Eiffel tower and making their way around the city was easier to handle than their Final Stand barely a month ago.

“You think this has anything to do with the Reach?”

“Most likely, Chaton” Ladybug’s voice was in his ear, the team going around and helping the citizens head to previously designated akuma shelters. Ryuuko had activated Wind Dragon form to try and contain the hurricanes in one place, but they seemed to be more powerful than the average hurricane… y'know, considering there were six.

“Any word from the Team?” Bunnix asked.

“Guys, I know what's causing these things!” Viperion’s voice was hard to hear, a lot of interference where he was. All their devices got pings, each of them showing an oval shaped device floating in the air with a swarm of drones surrounding it, currently in statis.

“What the hell are those things?” Monarch asked, indigo locks, where normally red hair was, blew wildly in the air.

“I’d say that looks pretty alien to me” Paon responded, their embroidered royal blue mask shaping to the same furrowed brow they had. “It's like the Reach’s final present to Earth, if anything. Y’know, one last kick to the heroes and all that.”

“Mon ange, now is not the time to think of how fitting this would be in a writing point of view”

“Look, it's either this or panicking.”

“It.. a.. Eiffel….attack..g hurry!” Viperion’s signal was beginning to cut out, but they all got the idea.

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

The Dupain-Chengs watched as the Justice league announced that the reach had been defeated; the world was now safe.

The world panicked as machines began to pop up in different places of the world, two even in Paris, but were dealt with by their own heroes. Many had wondered if they would continue once Hawkmoth was defeated, but they continued to protect their home. It was of no real surprise when they teamed up with the other heroes to take down the Reach. But something deep within told them that all was not well when the announcement was made.

“The Reach is being sent back into space and will be awaiting trial Green Lantern Corp.” Captain Atom announced as the crowd began to cheer, but his face was not one of celebration. Wonder Woman taking his place at the podium, sadness and acceptance in her eyes before speaking.

“But it was not without a cost; Today we mourn and celebrate the lives of the Parisian heroes who gave their lives to save the planet”

A hologram appearing behind them, one by one appearing as she said their codenames;

“Souris,Tyger, Paon, Monarch, Bunnix, Taurus, Roi Singe, Pegasus, Ryuko, Viperion, Carapace, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Chat Noir and Ladybug.”

The permanent smile on the holograms made Sabine’s heart ache, those young heroes who’d been protecting Paris for more than five years. They had finally defeated their villain only for them to parish.

But she knew there was more to it. She might have been paranoid, but a mother’s instinct was never wrong

“Oh their poor families,” Tom said, shedding a few tears for their beloved heroes. A knock on the door interrupting their solemn thoughts, going downstairs to open it they were surprised to see a red eyed Richard with his younger brother, Tim, and friends, Artemis and Wally.

“Richard? Is everything alright?” Sabine tried calming her voice, but alarms rang in her head as she noticed their matching expressions. The same look of guilt and regret as no one dared look her in the eye.

“I-It’s about Marinette “ Richard softly spoke, the group silently entering the apartment. “I think you need to sit down for this, both of you”

Tom and Sabine shared a look, both instinctively knowing that they would not be seeing their little girl for a long time.

“... She wanted to tell you for so long” Artemis’ voice cracked, handing them a small device. Sabine cradled it in her hands, one last thing from their daughter she was sure. Pressing the sole button on the device a hologram popped up before them; Marinette was there from the waist up, as though she had been sitting when recording this message, the only identifiable item of clothing was a black zipped up half-jacket.

‘Hi maman, papá. If you’re seeing this then it must mean that my mission is complete or I gave it my best til the bitter end’ her little girl looked so tired, as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Had she always looked like that?

``I don’t know how long I have before our final fight, but I gave it to Dick so he’d give it to you guys just in case. For nearly the past seven years, I have been at the front of what seemed to be an endless war. I’m sure I’ve changed, hopefully into a respectable woman that will make you proud. The truth is…’

‘Please don’t.’ Sabine stubbornly thought as the tears welled up in her eyes, her husband's squeeze on her hand tightened as they heard her next line, a familiar mask being placed on her face. The world froze and her blood grew cold.

‘I am Ladybug; wielder of the Miraculous of Luck and Creation, Guardian of Miracles and Protector of Paris. I wanted to tell you for so long, but with Hawkmoth out and about I just𑁋I just couldn’t! I couldn’t allow you to suffer, knowing I was out there everyday  risking my life because of some maniac with too much power in his hands. I didn’t want your lives in danger because of my selfishness.’

Their sobs echoed in the now too empty house, regardless of the other guests in the room who accompanied them in silent tears.

‘I hope you can forgive me for having to learn this way. I can only pray I made you proud. Know that wherever I am, I’ll always love you. Signing out, your daughter Marinette Dupain-Cheng.’

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

Conner Kent hated the news he had to give.

But he owed it to Adrien.

He stepped into the gates of the newly named Graham de Vanily Manor, knowing that it was late, but hearing soft speaking voices come from inside. Part of him wished that he had agreed to let someone come with him, but he knew that there’d be other places that need visiting.

Too many.

As he softly knocked on the door, knowing its residents could hear him, Conner felt like he would throw up. The last look of those emerald eyes haunted him and made his heart ache.

He heard the heavy doors open and thought he saw a ghost.

“A-Adrien?” he felt his throat tighten before noticing the differences; this new figure was taller, leaner, hair platinum blonde instead of honey, green eyes with specks of gray.

“No. I’m his cousin, Felix,” the lean man asked, clearly perturbed by the fact that a complete stranger was knocking at their doors at five in the morning.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Can I come in, it’s about Adrien” Conner could hear his spiked heartbeat as he moved to the side and beckoned him to the family room. 

In the room were three figures, two of them looking nearly identical if for differences in hues and a few hardly noticeable grays on the paler one (then again losing your sister and husband would do that to you). It explained why Felix looked so similar to him, at first glance they could be mistaken for twins. The other was a big burly figure, bigger than himself.

He knew Emelie Graham de Vanily and Guillaume ‘Gorilla’ Durand. He could only guess that the other woman was Amelie, the aunt that lived in England with his cousin that Adrien would sometimes talk about.

“Conner.” Emelie caught his attention from her wheelchair next to her sister. He hadn’t known her for long, mostly through stories he was told, until she was woken up; then he was introduced as Adrien’s boyfriend.

“Mrs. Grah- I mean Emelie” 

Conner couldn’t do this.

He didn’t want to.

But they deserved to know the truth.

“It’s fine dear. I’m afraid Adrien was going to spend the night with Chloe when that disaster started.” her eyes clearly worried, looking out the window, the first few rays of sunshine peeking through this somber morning.

“I hope they were fine” Amelie sighed in agreement, “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No. No it’s fine, thank you” he took a deep breath, not wanting to allow his own emotions to overcome him. 

“I need to speak to you about Adrien.” Everyone’s heartbeat elevated as he did nothing to hide the somber tone in his voice, and Conner wanted to hate his super hearing. 

“Adrien left this behind. In case anything happened, he wanted for you to read it before letting anyone else say anything.” he pulled out a black envelope, in silver cursive it said, ‘To my Family’

“Co-Conner, what is this about?” Emilie’s hands shook as she got a hold of the thing, as though she were afraid it would burn her.

“I think you should read the letter first.”

‘Hey fam,

I know I just got you back, which is why I’m sorry this had to happen. What I’ve been doing this past half decade has been a real wild ride. After what happened with mom, Gabriel practically locked me up in the mansion, only letting me leave whenever it was for his convenience. I was just the trophy son, I wonder if he ever loved me.

Life is full of unexpected turns, one minute you feel like you’re locked up in the highest tower by an evil witch, the next you’re on the adventure of a lifetime with the best friend you can ever ask for.

There’s a lot of things I regret not doing; not stopping Chloe from becoming a total brat and bully when we were younger, not going to uncle Arthur’s funeral, being complicit in Gabriel’s will and therefore Lila’s and especially harassing one of my best friends because I couldn’t take no for an answer just like that man. 

I regret not telling you that I am Chat Noir, the Black Cat of Misfortune and Destruction and  Protector of Paris.

I hope you can forgive me for not coming out with the truth sooner but m’lady and I had already come to an agreement to not tell our families in fear that they’d be targeted by Hawkmoth; can you imagine what would have happened?

Even with all of that over and done with, the risk was too high, and honestly I didn’t know how to casually bring it up in conversation. Oops.’

Emelie’s voice cracked as she choked on a laugh, her vision too blurry to see what the next word was, quickly engulfed by her sister in a hug as she passed the note to Felix. His own eyes were bloodshot but he refused to let any tears run until he finished reading.

‘Most importantly I regret not proposing to Kon.’ 

Conner felt his heart stop. The world was spinning around as the line repeated in his head; did everything always look so blurry?

``I was going to ask mom for her ring, but I thought it’d be better for a wedding. I even started wedding planning with Mr. Dupain-Cheng, did you know he’s a hopeless romantic?. Mari thought I was insane when she helped me pick out the ring. We got it custom made too; Tungsten𑁋 one of the strongest metals on Earth, it’s harder than Steel!

I had hoped to give it to him myself but things don’t always turn out the way we want them to and I’ve learned that that’s okay. I lived my life to the fullest and experienced things no others have; pretty cool I’d say.

Forever your little cat waiting for his knight,

Adrien Agreste Graham de Vanily’

Conner hadn’t realized he was crying until he felt a small object placed in his hand, Felix having placed it as he shook in an attempt to suppress his tears. Connor realized that it was the ring Adrien had gotten him.

The mansion was filled with sniffling, the shadow of a cat seemingly looming over them.

The WatchTower  June 20, 07:16 EDT

Lex Luthor did not think everything would go to shit with the Reach so quickly. Neither he nor the Light trusted those aliens as much as Superman could throw them; that is to say they were just using them and planned on backstabbing them once their usefulness was done.

Not only had they killed one of the members of the Light, not that any of them thought he’d be gone for long, but they had also planned to betray the Light as well.

He convinced the most likely fired United Nations secretary general Zhang in order to call the League; he may not like them but he also enjoyed living on Earth… maybe until they find a sustainable planet to move their society to should anything happen.

“Luthor! What are you𑁋”

“ Secretary Zhang was kind enough to let me borrow his frequency,” he decided to ignore Captain Atom’s outrage and cut to the chase. “As I have a possible solution to our mutual problem”

“A problem created by you and the Light when they collaborated to bring the Reach to Earth.”

“But as I believe you know, the Light always planned to betray the Reach. Lexcorp𑁋”

“I think that’s enough of that Luthor,” the man could say he was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Parisian superheroes who’d “recently debuted” after defeating a magical terrorist that had been rampaging for the past years. He hated having not known that, apparently it was something no one in the Light knew.

Though Vandal Savage and Ra’s al Ghul gave interesting looks when finally catching glimpses of them.

“We have already created a solution, one that needs no help from the likes of you,” Ladybug’s eyes glowed red as she looked at Luthor, a ladybug themed flash drive on Nightwing’s hand.

“And trust that the Light will see justice for their crimes”

With that Chat Noir cut the transmission, the team turned back to Blue Beetle as he continued to create Reach Tech eggs, as per Ladybug’s instructions, and Pegasus transferred the flash drive's information into them.

“Alright guys, we have 19 Magnetic Field Disruptors to destroy and stop the world from ending”

They distributed the eggs with groups of two going up against each MFD; one as cover while the other went to disable the device. There were barely enough heroes available as the majority had gone out to help with rescue of the citizens.

“I love it when she takes charge like that.” Nightwing sighed before helping distribute the eggs and sending the teams to their designated areas.

Paris, France June 21, 05:16 CEST

Kaldur’ahm found himself in front of a ship, The Liberty. He never ceased to feel like it matched Luka’s easy-going attitude.

As he boarded the ship he could see some water remaining from the storms earlier, quickly using his hydrokinesis to throw it back into the river.

He was procrastinating.

He walked down the deck towards the door leading to the cabin. With a swift knock on the door, he could not hear anyone approaching; that’s when he noticed the bell. 

He needed to deliver the news.

He pulled on the rope as the bell chimed loudly, a muffled yelling coming from within. A woman with graying hair in a messy braid came out, although tired, there was a clear resemblance to them in the way she currently looked like she’d skin him alive and feed him to the fishes for waking her so early. It was a few times he’d seen the siblings genuinely angry and he could say it matched the woman before him.

“What’re ya doing on my Liberty so early?” she wipes the sleepiness from her eyes and adjusted her glasses. Despite how carefree she’d been described, he couldn’t help but think she looked older than she should.

Oh right.

She became a single mother of two at barely thirty years.

“My name is Kaldur'ahm, a friend of Luka and Juleka. I am… sincerely sorry. I am afraid I did not come bearing good news” the woman, Anarka Couffaine, looked alert and like she was about to fight him. He gave her the item the siblings entrusted the team to deliver should anything happen.

Luka and Juleka had left a song. 

Anarka did not hesitate to go down to her children’s room , an old radio with a DVD player being used to play the song; Luka’s soft guitar strums soon became accompanied by Juleka’s gentle voice.

Happiness and joy

Sorrow and sadness

You and I

We shared them together

Shared for a time

But suddenly faltered

Flowers of a dream

Anarka slowly sank onto the floor, Kaldur holding her to the best of his abilities as silent tears. As soon as the strums of the guitar started she knew what it meant; she had learned to understand her husband, and then her son's way of communicating after all.

A field of grass

Leads to heaven

A gentle wind passed by

When you gave a smile

Nothing to fear

Forever in my heart

Blooming flowers prevail

“H-How did they… ?” Anarka’s broken voice softly spoke as the music continued.

Despite what Nightwing had said earlier, he couldn’t help but blame himself; if they had captured all of them earlier, then perhaps the Reach would not have gotten the chance to implement the MFDs. If they had detected the two remaining at the poles, then none of this would be happening…

“They were heroes.”

Paris, France June 21, 05:25 CEST

Batgirl and Impulse were there at the Kante residence only for Claudie to beat them to the punch.

“Max programmed Markov to tell me everything if his vitals couldn’t be detected anymore” her sad but proud smile did nothing to help them feel less guilty for the single mother.

Wonder Girl stood in awkward silence as Eden and Roux Lavillant-Piaf reacted to the news of their daughter’s death. The two men taking comfort in each other's presence as they cradled one another, Eden humming a tune she thought was familiar while Roux shed silent tears, one she later realized was one of Souris’ favorite songs; La vie en Rose.

Kid Flash didn’t know what to take of Kagami’s note;

‘I do not need that woman’s tears, nor those of whom call themselves my family. I would rather tell the Dupain-Chengs or Couffeine, however, if these are being delivered they are already heavily burdened. Knowing my friends shall mourn my loss is enough’

He also didn’t know what to make of Nathaniel’s request;

‘Don’t tell my family about Monarch. I doubt they’d even care’

The beautiful smell of the land that lingers in our history

Sands of black that color every little corner

I saw eternity only once, but I realize it cannot be kept in sight

Paris, France June 21, 05:30 CEST

Bumblebee was not surprised by Abeille’s video to her parents or even the fact that she was ‘fired’ by Audrey Bourgeois. When Guardian asked her about it she just shook her head in somber.

“Some people mourn differently”

“I always knew my little Marc was a hero” Mrs. Anciel, Paon’s grandmother if Garfield remembers correctly, said as she sat in her rocking chair in a daze “I just never thought it’d be so literally”

The Le family had just thanked L’gann with clear tears forming in their eyes after giving them a letter in a language he did not recognize. It wouldn't be until after that he learned Roi Singe’s native tongue was Vietnamese .

Our lives are truly in a world of wonder

A poem of my life - it's a pretty song to remember

We already acted a thousand lives

For the briefest moment in our long history

Paris, France June 21, 06:16 CEST

Robin, Tigress, Blue Beetle and Miss Martian felt their hearts heavy.

They had decided to be the ones to inform the Cesaires, Kubdel and Lahiffes of what happened to their daughters and son.

They were the only heroes apart from the Couffaines that had siblings.

“If I had never given her that watch” Mr. Kubdel buried his face in his hands.

“You didn’t know but maybe she did… She was always a spitfire, I don’t think we could have stopped her if we tried” Jalil told his father. Neither men wailed, they simply hugged each other for a while.

“No! She𑁋She can’t be gone!” Ella and Etta had viciously tried to beat at Tigress as he kneeled down to them. The hug she gave the twins seemed to trigger the waterworks as they devolved to sobbing.

“I couldn’t protect her…”

“You can’t blame yourself for this” Blue Beetle tried consoling Nora as she sat on the couch, hand on her head as she hid her face from everyone; he knew that if he heard about Milagro he’d feel the same. 

“He’s too lame to be a hero!” Chris yelled out “You’re lying!”

“You know we’re not,” Miss Martian said soothingly from her place with Ms.Lahiffe, trying to help the crying woman.

“I hate him! I hate him!” Chris’ yelling got louder 

“No you don’t” Robin spoke next to him, “No matter how much you fight, no matter how much you get on each others’ nerves, no matter how much you wish you’d never see him again… You still love him. He’ll always be your big brother”

“How would you know?” Chris’ voice cracked as he finally realized that his denial would do nothing to bring Nino back.

“Because I lost my big brother too”

I love you; I miss all of you

No warning what had happened then

I won't ever say goodbye

Metropolis June 20, 08:30 EST

“So now that Hawkmoth’s gone are coming back to Gotham?” Robin asked from behind Taurus, the hero engaging in a fight with one of the drones, headbutting it into the other one.

“Don’t know replacement,” he grunted “I kinda like it there, but I do miss the English language, as annoying as it is”

“Well,” Robin continued, using his bo-staff to push away the drone blocking the main device, “You know you always have a place back home, right?”

With one last dash he pressed his egg onto the MFD, deactivating their device. The two heroes looked at each other proudly as Taurus smirked.

“Yeah I know”

Birds are singing

Clouds are drifting

Trees are rustling

They cover the night

Gotham City June 20, 08:30 EST

“Hey Ma fée?”

Nightwing leaped across the street, throwing an EMP on one of the drones before Ladybug used her yo-yo to throw them away.

“Yes, Mon coeur?” Ladybug looked at him curiously

“I was thinking” he touched the MFD with the egg, letting the machine fall onto the Gotham street, “Maybe it's time we take a break from the whole hero business. I doubt we’ll be able to fully take off the capes like Wally but𑁋”

The two shared a tender kiss, the last strike of lightning disappearing from the Gotham sky.

North Magnetic Pole June 20, 13:50 UTC

They missed two MFDs.

Their locations blocked them from the initial search until Blue Beetle and Tyger told them that there were still two out there in separate parts of the world.

Ladybug had volunteered her Team to go, originally just planning to go by herself and Chat Noir while Rena Rouge and Carapace could get the other; Viperion and Bunnix immediately objected and instead her whole team was deployed to go.

They were herself, Monarch, Paon, Taurus, Viperion, Ryuuko, Tyger and Souris. The other team was Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Abeille, Bunnix, Pegasus and Roi Singe. Pegasus would teleport both teams to their destinations due to the simple fact that there were no Zetas in the Arctic or Antarctic.

She would lead the team to the North Magnetic Pole; Chat Noir would go to the South Magnetic Pole.

“We’re too late…” 

Ladybug’s crestfallen expression was felt by her team as they watched the Magnetic Field disruptor reach its chrysalis state as they watched the ice cave collapse in on itself. The Earth will fall in a new ice age… 

South Magnetic Pole June 20, 13:50 UTC

“Both MFDs have reached Chrysalis state” Chat Noir informed the Watchtower. He didn’t think it would all end like this.

After everything they went to, after finally defeating Hawkmoth, after finally getting his mother back and the literal end of the world had to happen.

‘No! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!’ Plagg’s voice echoed in his head, ‘We can still stop this if we combine our powers’

“Ladybug, is Tikki𑁋?”

“Yes, she also says we can do it.” Ladybug’s steeled voice responded before he finished asking.

They could still save the world, they could still stop the Reach from winning.

But Chat Noir knew better than to think that there would be no consequences to their wild plans.

“Are you in, Noir?” 

“Always, my Lady”

Adrien could only hope they could forgive him, and that the letter would get back to them in safety before feeling his consciousness merge with the god’s.

Time passes by

With merciless pride

The sun will rise again

Mount Justice Remains June 21, 00:02 EST

Batman found the need to stop himself from gaping at the remains of Mount Justice. Sure it had been sabotaged and destroyed partially before, but now it was gone.

All of it thrown with chunks of rock and metal scattered around the beach.

As he and the others descended with help from the Green Lanterns, Hal and John. He couldn’t help but fear it was too late. 

They were too late.

“By the Gods” Diana gasped, suddenly clutching at her head, “Something is wrong”

With a gust of wind they were greeted by Flash, followed by Miss Martian’s bioship landing on the beach. One by one the Team came in various forms of disarray and emotionally compromised.

“Oh” Martian Manhunter sumbered, likely reacting off of the wave of sadness the teenagers made no effort to hide. Batman missed the look of remorse and sympathy sent his way.

“What happened?” He hadn’t meant to growl it out, but there were only so many reasons why the whole team would feel this way; there were casualties.

Batgirl and Nightwing could barely look his way before Robin decided to take a step forward. Tim had always been able to push aside emotions better than Barbara or Dick.

Our lives are truly in a world of wonder

A poem of my life - it's a pretty song to remember

We already acted a thousand lives

For the briefest moment in our long history

“The Reach left one last surprise for Earth in an attempt to cover their tracks; Magnetic Field Disruptors meant to cause natural disaster before forcing the next ice age. All but two MFDs had been deactivated, each located at the two poles. By the time we arrived they were already at their chrysalis stage. Those sent were able to deactivate them… at a cost” Tim choked out as he heard Diana, Kal and Sheyra take sharp breaths, it had to be bad for him to get so emotional.

“Robin?” Batman kneeled as he placed a hand on the younger’s shoulder.

“T-There were no survivors B”

“... Who was dispatched?” Diana asked, fists clenched in frustration of being too late and having others pay the consequence.

Batman must have been too distracted by Tim’s state to have noticed Nightwing launch himself into his arms and silently cry.

“I’m sorry Batman.” Flash stepped forward, and he knew Barry well enough that the man was probably holding back tears. Batman felt a familiar sense of dread build up inside him; the last time he felt this way had been when….

“Team Miraculous was sent.” 

Bioship June 20, 13:55 UTC

“Whatever they’re doing, it's working!” Atom’s voice could be heard on the comms as Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Tigress, Robin and Nightwing sped as fast as they could to the North Magnetic Pole. Aqualad, Superboy, Impulse and Blue Beetle made their way with Sphere to the South Magnetic Pole.

“The power’s too strong” they could hear Chat Noir mutter with Plagg’s familiar echo.

“Can’t stop! Won’t stop now!” Ladybug gritted out as the interference with their comms got stronger.

“AHH!” The sudden screams made their blood freeze as they could only think of the worst case scenario.

“It’s not time, not yet!” their mantras continued as the static became painful.

Both groups made it to their destinations as the bright white light of the MFDs became tinged with color. The rainbow of lights shot up higher in the air before a similar bridge of light joined it, both Team’s powers combining in that moment.

“They’re doing it!” M’gann and Bart cheered before Jaime and Tim interrupted.

“Something’s wrong!”

“What do you mean fade!”

Suddenly the light began to expand, encasing the heroes inside before their figures began to shimmer and break.

With one last look the lights gave one last powerful glow, it dissipated, spreading a warmth like that of a hug to each of them.

But by the time each group managed to look, the cold finally seemed to reach them.

There was nothing left behind.

Paris, France June 26, 10:00 CEST

The official story was a kidnapping.

The teenagers that disappeared some time last week during what many had taken to calling “The Reach Invasion”; Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Graham de Vanily, Luka and Juleka Couffaine, Chloe Bourgeois, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Cesair, Nino Lauffey, Max Kante, Le Chien Kim, Alix Kubdel, Nathaniel Kutzberg, Marc Anciel, Rose Lavillant and Jason Todd-Wayne. The fourteen children and single adult had been caught up during the chaos of the Reach’s invasion and had been taken when looking for shelter. 

There is always a little truth in every lie.

The amount of missing children cases in general had been increasing since the Reach had arrived on Earth, but even after sending them off to Oa they had yet to find evidence of all of them. Only a small percentage had been freed, now having to undergo Metahuman training, and sent back home or relocated. 

Over half had been deemed unsatisfactory and were subsequently terminated.

But that still left about forty percent of potential victims to be found and rescued.

But their parents knew that their little heroes would not be part of that percentage.

They had saved their planet at the ultimate sacrifice.

“Today… We would like to honor the fallen heroes of Paris by lifting a new statue in their memory for all their services… One that is long overdue and that we can only hope they will see from wherever they are'' Mayor Bourgois spoke, though his eyes seemed so far off, not that anyone would blame him after they caught word of his daughter’s disappearance. There was a major turnout for the unveiling, it seemed as though all of Paris was present; guests like Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Bruce Wayne and his sons Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, Oliver Queen and his newly found son Roy Harper, Lex Luthor, Prince Ali of Achu, Audrey Bourgois and reporters like Lois Lane, Cat Grant and Iris West-Allan were in charge of reporting live.

The statue was golden, each hero caught as though they were in the middle of action with it’s two longest heroes in the center, the rest surrounding them for a 360 effect; 

Ladybug and Chat Noir back to back, one with her scarlet yo-yo flying midair and the other using his baton to jump like a cat with a black gloved hand behind him. On Ladybug’s side was Viperion strumming his harp, his arm’s bangle glowing turquoise, while on Chat Noir’s was Rena Rouge caught playing the orange flute in the middle of a leap. Next was the newest heroes Monarch and le Paon on Ladybug’s side, one with a white with purple butterfly about to fly away from his outstretched hand, the other blowing into a single blue feather, while Tyger and Souris were on Chat’s, Souris also leaping while using her pink jump rope and Tyger getting ready to roar, magenta claws cusping around her mouth. Roi Singe was in the back of Ladybug and Chat Noir, his yellow glowing bo staff frozen mid twirl before calling for “Uproar”, assisting him was Bunnix, using her umbrella with a baby blue glow at the tip as a sword, and Pegasus with his horseshoe boomerang, arm encircled with a blue ring. Ryuko, in the middle of transforming into Wind Dragon form, with her ruby sword at hand and Abeille, launching her glowing spinning top, charging into the fray. On the sides were Carapace, with his shield armed up in front of them, the beginnings of his shield being formed in a translucent green glass, and Taurus, with his fists in the middle of punching and eyes glowing red, defending the group from oncoming attacks.

“I’m so sorry,” Dick found himself whispering once the ceremony was done and everyone had left their offerings. If only he had done better; if only he had asked them to join the raid; if only they had caught everyone instead of leaving them divided and scattered;

The rose gold ring weighed heavily in his pocket.

I love you; I miss all of you

No warning what had happened then

I won't ever say goodbye

They talked about what would happen in the future; neither saw themselves leaving the hero business anytime soon, it was too hard to after so long. She  had dreams of becoming a top-tier designer while he wasn’t sure what he’d do. They jokingly said he’d be a stay-at-home father or a model for her line.

Now none of that would be happening.

“He looks different from when he was Robin” he heard Tim whisper, melancholy and reminiscence, in his look as he stared at Taurus. Definitely more brute stregth and hands on but that look of mischief and cockiness were the same as Robin II. 

“He was always a little shit” Dick laughed softly, remembering that they’d be adding the Miraculous team to the new Grotto at the Watchtower, Jason’s being specially made to display both his time as Robin and Taurus.

Today would be his last day at the Watchtower for a while.

He was tired, after all of this, and was ready for a break. He knew Conner also planned on doing the same thing while Artemis was coming back to active duty despite Wally’s reluctance. He wasn’t too sure about his best friend, but the redhead insisted that he wanted to get his degree first before going back to the hero business, even part time, he even began hinting that Dick could go to college and try and get a semblance of normal life; they both knew it was in vain but neither said anything.

But before any of that he still had business to take care of.

Paris, France June 19, 00:20 CEST

Marinette woke up in a cold sweat.

The same nightmare she’d been having for the past week.

Her Team would fall for the sake of the world.

“I think we both know what this means Mari,” Adrien said silently as they watched the Parisian night atop of the Eiffel Tower.

“I don’t want it to come true” Marinette could feel the tears starting to sting her eyes.

“Then we’ll do our best to stop it” Adrien’s determined face made a soft smile appear; something told her that as hard as they’d try it wouldn’t change a thing.

But it was nice to hope.

“Why should we make these goodbye messages?” Chloe asked skeptically that morning after the team had gathered. They had just been told to do them or write any  requests for someone to follow if anything should happen to them. After all Marinette and Adrien had finished theirs.

"Come on Chlo, just do it."

"Better to do it than regret not doing it."

"Think of it as a little thing to look back at when we come back after missions. A motivation to come back and destroy it"

They just hoped they’d be forgiven.

Paris, France June 26, 12:30 CEST

Walking into the Dupain-Cheng household he found that it was much colder than anytime he’d come to visit. Sabine and Tom had let him in with no hassle, the duo still reeling in the fact that Marinette was gone, he was too. They made little small talk for once, just checking to see how the others were doing and to not be strangers, before they excused themselves to meet up with Tom’s parents. Dick went up to the familiar step of stairs and opened the familiar hatch.

Her room looked the same as it ever did except it was missing a certain shine, an aura of creativity. He supposed that with the owner of the room and the goddess of Creation missing that would happen.

Her scattered design sketches and pieces of fabric reminded him of the latest project she told him about. Balls of yarn from when she started knitting or would use to play with the Kwami, and Adrien from time to time. Schedule reminding him of all the plans they had for once Hawkmoth was caught.

He made his way to her desk, a secret compartment on the side of the desk had been almost invisible to all except those who were aware of its existence. Opening up the small door he let out a small gasp, the Miracle box reminding him so much of her again; 

The box was in the shape of an apple blossom, fading from red at its center to white at the tips, overall its appearance was rather simple but then again they always said appearances are deceiving. He then took out an old phonograph, a tablet, and an ancient book, the Miracle Book or Grimoire. With a sad sigh he pressed the small apple blossom’s center at the top before tapping the top petal, followed by top left, bottom right, bottom left, top right and center again. The lid to the compartment lifted, revealing seven empty slots, before opening up its petals, two layers of six petals stretching themselves so as to not cover each other. Only four compartments were being used. Using a bag he carefully stored the box inside the phonograph while using a satchel for the Grimoire and tablet.

He already told Zatanna and Zatara about the Grimoire, the two assuring him that it would be safe and that they’d even get other magic users like Constantine and Doctor Fate, who seemed to think he owed a debt to the Kwami and would honor their remaining comrade, to help protect it. The tablet could go to Tim and Barbara who’d have the best bet in perfecting the translations and encrypting it further so even if someone got their hands on it they’d have a hard time even unlocking it.

But he hadn’t thought of the Miracle box.

He looked up at the pink room with nostalgia, remembering every video chat, midnight meeting, talks at the terrace, impromptu sleepovers, designing frenzy, fashion talks, modeling session, strategy meetings, emotional breakdowns and kisses they shared in the very room.

He couldn’t help but want to take it with him.

Dick looked at her desk, a photo from when they were still Ladybug 1.0 and Robin, one he took as Dick Grayson when he commissioned her to make him a suit for the Wayne Gala (only to wear it to the Sweetheart’s Dance), one from Rolling-Stone wedding as he was twirling her around the dance floor and another from a few weeks ago when they were celebrating Hawkmoth’s capture with the Team. More photos littered her wall; Adrien and Wally arm wrestling, Artemis and Alix doing parkour, Kaldur learning some guitar from Luka, Conner being subjected to a makeover from the girls and Adrien (which he needed after his third year of wearing the same outfit), M’gann meditating with Barbara, Nino and Marc, Tim and Max looking at some sort of schematics on screen, of Jason during combat training with Kagami, Chloe and Black Canary.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Are you alright?” Dick hadn’t realized that the tears began to fall again. He turned around but saw no one there.

No one would be there.

“We miss her too” the voice spoke again, Dick knew he couldn’t be hallucinating, looking inside the bag he noticed the Miracle Box glowing even as it was held shut. With far more patience and calm than he truly felt Dick opened the Miracle Box again with four bursts of lights appearing as he did so.

He barely remembers Marinette explaining the Miraculous to him but he did recall the kwami’s names and powers;

Barkk, dog kwami of Bonds and Foraging.

Ziggy,  goat kwami of Endurance and Speed.

Daizzi, pig kwami of Abundance and Ingenuity.

Orikko, rooster kwami of Forethought and Cycles.

“I miss our Guardian” Daizzi cried into Ziggy who seemed to be in a similar state, Orikko looked quiet but clearly saddened given his downward feathers and comb, Barkk was the one who had been speaking to Dick.

“You loved our Guardian, she loved you very much” Barkk sniffled sadly.

Dick realized that they not only lost their Guardian but their fellow Kwami as well;

He wasn’t the only one left with a gaping hole in his heart by the love of his life and little brother.

“Hey now,” he said, taking the miniature gods into his arms in a small embrace, “You won’t be alone. We’ll make it through this, together”

As Dick made one last glance at the room, memories playing out like ghosts before him, he secured the bags containing Marinette’s precious items and made his way out of the cold apartment.

He didn’t know if he’d ever recover, just like with his parents; But he knew he wouldn’t be alone.

He just hoped that he’d make them proud, from wherever they were watching.

Nothing to fear

Forever in my hear

Blooming flowers prevail