#luck's a ladybug

This is what they deserved for hanging her parents under the accusation that they had set their own bakery alight. As if they would ever so recklessly endanger their sole livelihoods like that? It was sickening.

Her eyes, usually such a clear, crystal blue, gleamed gold in the lights of the flames. Why shouldn't she burn this place to the ground, and rejoice in the ashes? They'd taken everything from her. Her parents, her livelihood, her future...

Why shouldn't she take away theirs? There were no innocents in this. No one had said anything as the guards held her back, as she screamed and sobbed as two kind, gentle people gasped and choked for air.

It hadn't been a beheading. It hadn't been quick. Marinette wondered who pulled the strings to make it that way.

She'd burn them. The scent of charred skin was already becoming familiar enough.

Ashes choked the air. Good. They deserved to know how her parents had felt, desperate for air yet unable to breathe.

The crackling of bodies and buildings burning was loud, but not loud enough to disguise the crunch of soft footsteps against death baked soil, followed by the near silent swish of a cape.

“You're here to stop me.” She muttered hollowly, gaze not wandering from her flickering flames.

“What makes you think that?” An unfamiliar accent responded. “Maybe I'm here to join you.”

She snorted. “You're a Bat. Are you not? Bats stop that which they believe to be injustices.”

He chuckled. Against her will, she turned to look at him.

Poison-green eyes gleamed in the roaring fire's light. ... Perhaps this one was on her side. Still.

Best to make sure.

A man stumbled out of the wreckage, eyes wild, nearly out of his mind from pain.

"Please," he said, "Please save me. I can't -- I'm not -- I'm a good man, I promise, please --"

Marinette tilted her head at him. "Save you, hm?"

The Bat brushed ashes off his shoulder and nodded his head at her, as if to say, 'Go on.'

"Who saved my family?" she asked the man, and saw no recognition in his eyes. "Who saved Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng?"

"Make it stop!" the man pleaded again. Marinette tsked and threaded a soothing hand through his hair.

He sobbed, going lax under her hand.

She tightened her grip and yanked his head up. "Wrong answer."

The scent of burnt hair and charred, cooking flesh filled the air.

"Efficient," the Bat said, as she tossed the body to the ground. "Screaming was a little inconvenient, though."

Marinette gestured at the carnage around her. "Convenience wasn't exactly my goal, here."

He snorted. "Sure, it's not now. But later? It will be."

Sending a glance at him through the corner of one eye, she caused the fire to ripple and writhe around her hand and to rise from the ground, licking at the air around her boots. Casting her in a brilliantly searing glow.

She hummed, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she breathed in the scent of smoke. “And, what do you exactly propose that later will require my goal to change to one of convenience?”

The Bat sauntered closer. “Awww, c'mon. Don't tell me this is your one and only grand plan? To burn one little village to the ground and then what? Let yourself get captured by a Bat?”

“You sound so certain that I wouldn't fight back.” She pointed out. “And yet you saw what I just did to the waste of life.”

“You didn't immediately try to attack me.” The Bat countered.

Marinette hummed.

“I could help you, if you were to so wish it.” The Bat offered, a teasing lilt to his tone, eyes glimmering not unlike hers as he watched the flames swirling around her.

“I have other targets.” She admitted. “Not everyone responsible was here tonight.”

“Then,” The Bat started, moving even closer, unphased by the risk of burning, “let's enjoy tonight, the other Bats, Ladybug and Batgirl specifically, won't arrive til overmorrow at the earliest. Afterwards, we can begin making moves towards our next targets.”

She nodded, lips uncurling into a feral grin. “That sounds a wonderful plan.”

The Bat bowed. “The name's Jason.”

“Marinette but I think Phoenix is a little more fitting for the both of us now, don't you think.” She answered.

“Oh, I agree.” He reached one gloved hand out towards her. “To the start of a beautiful alliance.”

“To the start indeed.” Marinette clasped his hand, flames dancing and playing harmless around them both.

———

"What," Steph said, "The fuck."

She was staring at a heart burned into the ground. A perfectly-shaped, coal-black heart. That was somehow gouged into the cobblestone road.

Cass hummed. "Not natural, Ladybug" she said.

Steph spluttered. "Not -- not -- NO DUH! Batgirl! What -- "Cass's giggle cut her off. Steph pouted.

"Unfair," she mumbled, "You're so mean to me."

———

Adrien nodded, eyes closing for a brief moment. “I can't go. She'll get suspicious if I'm gone for too long.”

“I'll go for you then. I won't let you down.” Marinette whispered.

Which is why she was here, stood in front of the unassuming clocktower that shouldn't exist, labelled neatly with a purple bat shaped sign 'The Batgirls' Emporium'

The door creaked as she opened it, stepping inside. The crackle of magic rolling off her as the wards let her through. She clutched at her Ladybug protective charm tightly.

The shopkeeper was watching her. She glanced away, scurrying towards the necromancy section, hope desperately curling in her chest as she scanned the aisle for what she seeked.

———

Cass looked her latest customer up and down. Their eyes met, and the other looked away first.

She nudged her partner gently and gestured to the necromancy aisle. Steph whistled.

"Ooooh, boy, you're looking for a toughie, huh?" she asked the nervous girl.

"I, um, I didn't -- I don't --"

"Not to worry, not to worry," Steph interrupted. "We've got you covered! We've got animal revivals, people revivals, plant revivals (although we charge extra for a kingdom's crops), and --"

"I'm not!", the customer interruped, "Looking to bring someone back! I need to put someone down!"

Cass's eyes sharpened. Steph froze, then slanted a look at the other.

After a quick examination, Cass shook her head.

"Well," Steph said, "Sorry for any rude assumptions I might've made." Her voice was low and soothing.

“It's... Fine.” Marinette mumbled, refusing to look at her, hands fidgeting at her sides.

Steph sighed. "Look, Cass isn't karate-chopping you right now, so I trust you're not up to any evil. What do you need?"

Marinette made a slight keening noise. “It's... I don't know exactly, I've only heard rumours of it... But my friend, someone he knew was dead and now they're not. And there's. He's scared. I promised I'd help.” She admits, saying far too much and yet not enough at the same time.

Cass vaulted over the counter and pulled Marinette into a hug. She tensed, and Steph feared she'd bolt. Instead, she melted into it.

How long had it been, Marinette wondered, since she'd last been hugged. Even Adrien kept his distance these days, despite everything, not that she faulted him, they were both hurting and coping and healing in their own ways... But she missed being comforted.

———

 Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the fires raging as cars and buses were overturned like dominos. Civilians and other heroes, both masked and unmasked, rushing for shelter or to save one another. At any other time, it would've been heartwarming, to see everyone working together to find shelter as tragedy descends, to know that people were trying their hardest to be there for others in a time of great need.

 And yet, somehow the bridge Marinette stood on held strong. Surprising seeing as the Gotham bridges were ever so frequently blown up or destroyed.

 Was this…?

 As she stood still, in the centre of the bridge, in a ring—the one place—that was clear of debris. Though not on the edge, she was making no attempts to move.

 She could see the others, screaming desperately, terror and concern etched into every fibre of their visible beings as they reached and called out to her. Begging for her to run, to hide, seek shelter, to survive. Swearing and yelling as she made no attempts to move. As devastated by her inaction as the world around them.

 But she was deaf to their pleas, their voices silenced by the thunderous pounding of her heart beat in her head and the whispers roaring in her ears.

 Because in the air, opposite the bridge, cradled between the skyscrapers of Bludhaven and Gotham, an army of shadow akumas—Hawkmoth's demonic army—began to spill from a blimp like putrid rotting blood.

 And here Marinette was stood. In the centre of the bridge, the only person to be facing them as the swarm began to advance towards the bridge.

 Both hero and civilian attacks glancing harmlessly off the encroaching horde. Useless against the demons. But hers wouldn't be.

 With a whisper in her mind, martyr, the weight of the earrings in her ears grew heavier with each breath, as she watched the demons draw closer and closer still.

 Glancing towards the churning black waves below, she breathed in deeply, not daring to shut her eyes even for a moment. Feeling as though the ground was going to swallow her up and drop her into the depths below.

 It was about to all come crashing down, the civilian life she'd spent so long building up from the ground with blood and tears. A nobody, newly moved into Gotham, who had somehow caught the attention of the Bats and Constantine shortly after, despite her best efforts. A civilian they sought for answers regarding the strange magic she couldn't help but exude, and the eclectic knowledge she had regarding both magic and mundane crimes around Gotham. A civilian they tried so hopelessly to protect whenever she got tangled up in their problems.

 She could practically hear the swears they were all muttering as she stood there, unmoving, like a lamb for slaughter, ready for the altar of an apathetic god of emotions.

 They must think she's terrified, frozen in fear.

 But that wasn't the case.

 This was her fault, her battle to fight, her mistake to fix.

 This was the call of the void.

 Ever so slowly, Marinette raised her right hand, as if reaching out towards the encroaching army.

 And who was she to not take heed of it.

 Twisting her hand slowly as if grasping something tangible instead of air. She clenched it into a fist in one quick violent motion.

 And let the power consume her.

 A flash of red and pink and white, bubbling and wrapping around her with its oh-so familiar magic.

 Marinette closed her.

 And Ladybug opened hers.

 It had been so long, since she had last been a vessel to the powers of the tiny goddess of luck and creation. Though rusty, she was not.

 She breathed deeply, staring still at the demons. With the flick of her hand, she did what she always did best; create in order to destroy. And with her counterpart's absence of life, it was up to her to balance it alone.

 The akumas, and Hawkmoth; Ladybug would not fail again.

 Not this time.

 Not again.

 With the flick of her wrist, the nearest demon imploded in a burst of white and pink, leaving naught but a trace behind.

 She took a step forwards—closer to the edge, closer to the demons—another flick, another gone.

 The sound around her became a sea of white noise. Distantly and detached, she could see out of the corner of her eye, someone she cared for reaching out towards, mouthing her name frantically like it was a prayer—like it would save her.

 Ladybug turned her attention back to the demons, she couldn't afford to make any mistakes again by losing focus so easily.

 She reached her hand out, as if to grab the air in front of her again, and clenched it. A huge swathe of demons in front of her hand all burst into pink and white sparkles that dissipated in the wind.

 Almost mockingly beautiful in dying embers of the day, like miniature sunsets of death.

 Hand gesture, after hand gesture, after hand gesture. She slaughtered her way through the swarm, preventing any from reaching the civilians upon the bridge with her.

 It wasn't a surprise, they weren't targeting the cities either side. After all, she wasn't there. She was here. On the bridge. Facing them down.

 They were here for her.

 And her vengeance would be swift.

 Another step closer to the edge, another step closer to the nightmare that hunted her.

 Slowly, she began to swing her yo-yo in her off-hand, gaining speed with each swing. Her plan was risky. But it would work, it had to. There would only be one chance, however, to pull it off.

 For if she failed, then Hawkmoth would become unstoppable. No, she couldn't let that happen.

 The void called, the abyssal waters below churned and raved like rabid dogs chomping at that bit.

 With every step, she took out more and more demons, though the onslaught was relentless.

 Once she reached the edge of the bridge, she turned around, to take one final glimpse of her friends, before the end.

 For Tikki.

 For Plagg.

 For Nooroo.

 She launched herself from the edge, like a diver—face to the sky.

 Plummeting, she reached her arm up as trying to grasp the sky.

 The demons lunged. Hurtling towards her like sharks to blood in the water.

 Ladybug breathed in deep. And as she exhaled, two great big hemelytra wings unfolded from her shoulder blades. Twisting midair so she could skim her free hand through the waves.

 Rocketing upwards, she carved her way through Hawkmoth's army, taking out every single demon on the way with her wings and yo-yo, until she hit the blimp.

 It exploded in an incandescent burst of red.

 When the light cleared, the blimp and every demon was gone.

 And in the glow of the rising moon, a girl in normal clothes fell from the sky.

———

 Constantine managed to safely catch her with a frantic spell. But it had been close.

 Her earrings had been missing when she awoke.

 And so were all her memories.

 But she was safe.

 And she was alive.

———

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Carefully, Jason pickpockets old man Fu as he's talking. Jason then pretends to check the broken watch on his wrist and exclaims that he's late and needs to go so he apologises to Fu, and runs off.

A couple of streets away, Jason stops in an alleyway, he checks what he's pickpocketed—a strange black and red box. He pries it open curiously and sees a pair of earrings within. But before he can think about fencing it off at the nearest pawn shop, Tikki appears in a burst of pink bubbly magic.

As any Gothamite would do in that situation, he immediately tries to stab the blatantly magic little creature. Tikki dodges, compliments his reflexes and then pleads for him to stop trying to stab her so

Warily, Jason stops trying to stab her, much to her relief. He, however says if they're going to talk they need to go somewhere more private, glancing around the at the windows of houses nearby.

Jason climbs up onto the roof of a random nearby empty warehouse. He and Tikki talk and reluctantly be accepts to become a vigilante, but not a Hero, using her miraculous to protect other kids and vulnerable people in Crime Alley, and all the other shit vigilantes get up to.

A few days later, he bumps into a what he at first assumes is a Catwoman copycat, only to find out she's (Steph) apparently his new partner, and fellow Miraculous wielder (she was not in fact his new partner, but supposed to retrieve the stolen Miraculous, however after seeing what Jason's done for Crime Alley, she refuses to take it away from him).

Eventually they both get on the radars of the Bats, and Gotham's main Rogues Gallery.

———