#babynette

Bonus Babynette and Heraphae!

She's Heraphae's biggest fan :)

Lore time!

Marinette's able to sense other Sentibeings and immediately clocked Adrien. Her creepy obsession is based on that instead of a crush, though it's easy to misinterpret. He's the first other sentibeing she's met and is understandably.... curious. He may also be a lead to meeting Heraphae. Not to say feelings won't develop along the way.

“What Plagg means to say is, we are called Kwami. We will explain everything if you intend to take care of our little one. If not then we will explain nothing and be on our way.” Tikki stated. She was on edge as she watched the eldest human place the tray of sandwiches on a stand and bend over to pick up Marinette who seemed completely at ease in his arms. She even began to play with his bowtie. (Another fashion point for Tikki!)

“The child...She’s uh, she’s yours?” The one called Bruce finally asked with a raised brow.

“Yes. In a manner of speaking. Her soul is one of mine, given a human shape and home but things…” Tikki took a deep breath as she felt tears well up.

“Like Tikki said. We would explain but if you’re not going to keep our kit that would be pointless and dangerous and frankly I’m not in the mood for more betraying mortals.” Plagg hissed out as he flew over to Tikki and wrapped his arms around her, she appreciated the gesture, plus she really needed some comfort after the day they had, but so did Plagg. 

“I do believe we are at an impasse then Tikki and Plagg, Master Bruce and his children are stubborn and though they might want to help, they want to know the whole situation so they know what they are agreeing to. On the other hand Master Bruce I believe Tikki and Plagg are worried that by explaining things you might not want to take care of the little one, and in turn you will know too much. Am I right?” Tikki was pleasantly surprised by how wise the ‘Paon’ was, though she shouldn’t be, he looked it, and all of Duusuu’s birds (excluding Mayura obviously) were very wise. 

“That’s correct.” Tikki answered as she flew closer to Marinette, Plagg followed after her. 

“I understand your hesitance to explain things but I believe it would benefit everyone if you did. I know you don’t know us, but you can trust us. You probably don’t know me, I’m Bruce Wayne but I’m also Batman. A hero to some, the police call my family and I vigilantes. I am a member of the Justice League, a group of heroes who defend the world. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Cyborg and I make up the team.” Bruce shared, and Tikki couldn’t help but admire him for sharing that with her and Plagg. She respected him, extending a branch so to say. Then his words registered fully. 

“Wonder Woman?” She asked

“Did you say Aquaman? Why does that feel familiar?” Plagg asked at the said time as she. 

Bruce gave them a funny look but nonetheless nodded. “That is correct. Those are my colleagues.”

“Can you...please, can you tell us their origins? Where they come from.” Tikki mumbled, she didn’t know what it was, but she felt connected to this Wonder Woman, and she had to admit, the Aquaman person did feel familiar as well, though Plagg was probably feeling a connection to him more than she was.

“Father don’t answer that. They have answered nothing in return, if this is to be civil I think an exchange of information is needed.” The smallest of humans said with  a scowl on his face. Now Tikki didn’t blame him for his words, that didn’t mean she had to like them. 

“Damian.” Oh so his name was Damian… Oh...Oh no....he was so young. Who would? 

“Who would bathe you in the Lazarus Pit?” She hadn’t even realized she had asked that until she saw all the wide eyes on her. She felt the need to cry. He was so young, but she could tell, she could feel, the amount of energy left over from the Pit. It wasn’t a one time occurrence. This child was bathed many times. 

“How the hell do you know about the Pit?” The one with the white streak, Jason, questioned roughly. Oh god. He had bathed in the Pit as well. 

“You also were bathed in the Pit! Who...Who would do that to you children!?” Tikki screeched in despair as she flew to the two boys and checked them over. The energy of the Pit hung around them thickly. Tikki was sure if it had a smell, they would stink, the very smell would have stained their bones, their souls. 

“You two reek of the Pit…” Plagg bit out, not leaving Marinette’s side. Tikki understood his want to not get close to the energy. It was bad. It was evil. It was something that should have never been created. It was a mistake they both deeply regretted. 

“You, small one, you asked for an exchange of information. Plagg and I….we…”

“We created the Lazarus Pits. We thought they would be a good thing….we found out rather quickly that they weren’t.” Plagg continued for Tikki, his voice unusually somber. “Before you ask what we were thinking and how. Tikki and I are the kwamis of Creation and Destruction, when we created the Pits….we were young. We were also not bound at the time.”

“But we were still able to share portions of our powers with what we at the time called Champions, we simply call them Holders now. It wasn’t unusual for us to get attached to our Champions, especially if they were souls born from us. The connection was always stronger if they were a True Soul of Creation or Destruction, when they would pass, it hurt us deeply. I tried….I tried so many things to prolong a Champions life, even the demigods. I created what is now known as the Fountain of Youth,” Tikki told as she seated herself on the tabletop next to ‘Paon’ and Marinette, “It didn’t grant immortality like many believed but it did lengthen the life of the drinker. And yet…”

“We still lost our Champions. We didn’t understand that death was a natural thing, something that shouldn’t be tampered with.” Plagg added as he joined Tikki and took a seat beside her. “One day we did something we didn’t think was possible. We joined our powers thinking it would create something amazing. It created the Lazarus Pits. At first we thought they were the answer to our suffering… That is until our Champions bathed in the waters. They were healed of all wounds, nothing on the outside changed besides that, if anything they seemed to breathe life. Then we noticed...we noticed the changes. They went mad. Their souls became corrupted.”

Tikki wiped a tear away at the memories, but this was something that had to be shared if she wanted Marinette to be safe, but it also needed to be shared so Tikki could find out who would dare use the waters on these children. “We may not have lost them in death, but we lost them in another way. We had to strip them of their borrowed powers, we had to put an end to the madness, if they continued using our powers...who knows what would have happened. The other Gods did not take kindly to our creation either. They thought we were trying to overthrow them, or would try eventually. To bring peace Plagg and I tried to destroy the Pits. We couldn’t. Sure we could destroy the holding ground, destroy the metaphorical bowl that held the water, but new Pits would appear. So instead of destroying them we hid them, with the help of other Gods. We thought they would never be found.”

“Ra’s al Ghul.” Tikki’s heart skipped a beat at that name the youngest boy had spoken into the silence that followed  her and Plagg’s story. 

“What?” She couldn’t help but ask. 

“That’s who dunked me in the waters. Ra’s al Ghul.” The younger one spoke like that answered all of Tikki’s questions. 

“The Demon’s Head? Why...why would he bathe you, a child, in the waters?” She asked desperately. 

“You know about the Demon’s Head?” Bruce asked in surprise but Tikki had no attention to give to him, her eyes were only on the youngest, Damian.

“We gave you information and then some. Answer the question. Why would the leader of the League of Shadows, the League of Assassins put a child in those waters?” Plagg demanded. 

Damian looked shocked, and if Tikki had to guess, she would say it wasn’t very often he was or seen as such. “You know about the League?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.” Plagg grit out. Tikki knew Plagg could be carefree and laidback, but she could never forget when he was angry or impatient. Back when they weren’t Bound, they had been treated as Gods, they had been prayed to and worshipped. Of course they looked nothing like they did now, their true forms having been lost with the time being Bound to the Miraculous, but the look in his eyes was the same as back then.

“It was…” Tikki noticed the way Bruce placed a hand on his youngest son’s shoulders and how the other boys seemed to crowd him, like they were protecting him from something. “They did it to train me. Ra’s al Ghul is my grandfather, Talia al Ghul is my mother, I was born only to be a weapon.”

Tikki couldn’t believe it. They, the council, sent them into a house with an al Ghul in it, but at the same time he wasn’t with the League, he seemed to flinch even at the mention of it and his supposed grandfather. That group hurt this boy and Tikki’s heart bled for him. Plagg even looked surprised at the answer, the two of them shared a look before nodding. All of them were brought out of their thoughts by a small whine. Marinette! Tikki turned to look and saw her bug wiggling in the arms of the oldest human, to the point he had to put her down if he didn’t want to risk dropping her. Once she was on the ground Marinette ran as fast as her little legs could carry her over to Damian who looked down at her in confusion.

“No sad! No sad! Sad is ‘kuma! No ‘kuma!” Marinette screamed out before bursting in tears and holding her arms up to Damian who was looking at her like she was a bomb or something that just went off. He looked up at Tikki and Plagg, the fear and confusion clear on his face, and once more Tikki’s heart broke.

“Hey Bug, hey it’s okay.” Plagg cooed in a soft voice as he flew over to Marinette and Damian. “There’s no akumas here. Papa Plagg promises okay? You’re safe. There’s no akumas anymore.”

Marinette was still crying but thankfully she wasn’t screaming and whining like she had been but she was still reaching her arms up to Damian. “I think she wants you to hold her Dames.” The taller of the two boys that Tikki hadn’t found out the names of yet pointed out. 

“I can see that Grayson!” Damian hissed before he gulped and slowly, oh so slowly, picked up Marinette and held her at arm's length. “What do I do?” He whispered in a panic

While one of the boys tried to help him hold Marinette more comfortably as she still cried and tried to get closer to the youngest boy, meanwhile ‘Paon’ looked at her in panic and horror. “Did she say akuma?”

“What’s an akuma?” Bruce asked hesitantly but his voice was stern as he stood beside his son Damian and stared down at Marinette who was holding onto Damian for dear life. She was calmer but she was still crying and sniffling, “No sad...no ‘kuma.”

Tikki made a decision then and there, these mortals, these humans already knew too much so she might as well explain, she suspected ‘Paon’ had come into contact with Duusuu in the years he was lost, there was an al Ghul present, and so much more to process. But by the Gods she would make them keep Marinette if after she was done explaining they decided they didn’t want her. “Yes. She did. An akuma was the start of this whole mess, though mess doesn’t even cover it. It was the start of a war in Paris.”

Everyone seemed to quiet at that and Tikki knew she had their undivided attention. The whole thing was something she would rather forget but she did promise to tell them in a way, and Tikki was a kwami of her word. So she took a deep breath in and started. “Marinette. That was her name, she will need a new one after all is said. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a normal girl with a normal life, baker's daughter, aspiring fashion designer, but also a True Creation Soul. A soul born directly from my energy, which meant if ever there was a need for her, she would be chosen for the Ladybug Miraculous. The strongest Miraculous in creation, and coincidentally the Miraculous of Creation and Fortune. Unfortunately, her time came when she was young, thirteen, Paris was threatened by a man calling himself Hawkmoth. A man who was in possession of a long lost Miraculous, the Butterfly.”

“The Butterfly Miraculous is the Miraculous of Transmission, or Transformation as others believe. Either way the result is the same. The Butterfly can give others powers, make them Champions, like a smaller, weaker version of us back in the day. Though it more or less depends on the Champion’s emotions before they are transformed and given powers. A Miraculous is never to be used for personal gain or as a danger to a world or universe, or it will become corrupted. Duusuu...The Peacock Miraculous kwami, he….his Miraculous became corrupted. Hawkmoth attacking Paris was the start of him corrupting the Butterfly Miraculous.” Plagg helped explain, though he stayed close to Marinette and Damian. 

“Hawkmoth made Champions….but since they were corrupted they were called Akumas. He preyed on any and all negative emotions of the people of Paris and weaponized them. There was a Guardian...the one who was to watch over the other Miraculi and us, and the one who would choose who would defend others in their time of need.” Tikki felt her anger burn at the memory of Fu, a man after his own redemption, not a Guardian, but someone with the title. “She was young, so young, but he needed heroes to help retrieve the Butterfly Miraculous. Marinette was given the Ladybug Miraculous early, and she was a fantastic Ladybug don’t get me wrong! But….”

“She was too young.” Jason muttered in disbelief. He looked angry and haunted as he stared at Marinette who was still hugging herself to Damian. 

Tikki nodded. “They both were. The Ladybug Miraculous cannot be active without the Black Cat…”

“They were too young. And the decision was made in haste. The old Guardian was flawed, he chose children to fight, one of which wasn’t a True Soul.” Plagg hissed out. 

“Your Champion?” Bruce asked softly.

Plagg only nodded before he landed himself on Marinette’s head and laid down. Tikki wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know how, all the millennia they had spent together and she still didn’t know how to comfort him when one of his Kittens went rogue. At least Marinette stopped crying once Plagg started up his purring, she started making a gurgling noise in response. It was almost like she was trying to purr back. Her bug was too cute. “They were unbalanced from the start. Ladybug and Chat Noir, the defenders of Paris…”

“Why has no one heard about what has been happening in Paris?” The one boy Tikki hadn’t heard speak asked, he was on a laptop as he asked, he looked confused.

“That’s the power of the Miraculous I’m afraid. We don’t want our powers in the wrong hands, so when we’re active it’s like we form a protective bubble around the situation we are in.” Tikki stated.

“That and the mayor of Paris won’t let a word out about it anyways.” Plagg added.

“A media blackout.” The one with the laptop gasped, “Of course!”

“How long have you been active?” ‘Paon’ asked warily. 

“Five years.” Tikki replied solemnly. 

“Five! Paris has been going through that for five years and we didn’t know about it!?” Tikki guessed he was the eldest of the boy’s yelled. 

“That ‘protective bubble’ you mentioned… is it meant to hide you from the League?” Damian asked though his gaze didn’t leave Marinette who was still in his arms. 

“They are one of the groups, yes. Though they are one of the worst threats, that bubble protects those who hold a Miraculous and use its power from all other beings, that includes a race of women called Amazonions and a race of people called Atlantians. Though they have been holders in the past, it’s a….security measure in case one group of people decide they “deserve” the Miraculi powers.” Tikki thought fondly of Queen Hippolyta and her lovely island Themyscira. Her people were strong and they believed in protecting others, but some were misguided and saw the Miracle Boxes as a gift from the Gods, and their rightful property. Unfortunately the same happened in Atlantis, and when the two found out the other held a Miraculi from the same Miracle Box, it quickly turned to war. Which resulted in the sinking of Atlantis, that had been a bad day for Plagg. 

“Holy shit… Holy shit! This goes deeper than we thought! Holy shit!” The boy with the laptop exclaimed.

“Master Tim! Please mind your language.” ‘Paon’ said sternly. So the laptop human was named Tim, Tikki noted.

“Alfred! Did you not just hear what I just heard! They knew the Amazonians like Wonder Woman! They knew the Atlantians like Aquaman! The cherry on top of it all? They know the League! How is that not a ‘holy shit’ moment?” The one addressed as Tim asked desperately. 

“Wait...do you guys know a group called the Lantern Corps?” The only one that Tikki did not know the name of asked, she thought she heard Damian call him Grayson but she wasn’t completely sure. 

Tikki couldn’t help but make a face, she even heard Plagg hiss from his hiding spot in Marinette’s hair. “Uh...yeah. Yeah we do.”

“Buncha stuck up pr-”

“Plagg!”

“Well they are! They look down at us and call us ‘magic jewelry’ when we are so much more than that! They’re the ones with the magic jewelry! It was even made in our image! Yet they have the nerve to talk down to us and our Holders.” Plagg ranted, Tikki couldn’t see him from where he was hiding and blending into Marinette’s hair but she could imagine his energy raised like an actual cat’s fur. 

“B they know like half of your team.” Jason breathed out in shock. 

“This...is a lot to process. How about we all go upstairs and have some tea while we...continue this discussion.” Bruce suggested. 

“Fine but only if you get Tikki and I some cookies and Camembert. I don’t know about you Sugar Cube but I’m starved.” Plagg dramatically called out.

Tikki sighed and shook her head at his antics before turning to look at Bruce. “That sounds nice. Lead the way.”

Next Chapter