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toxinellebug · 2 months

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Shadybug’s Revenge- The Sweet & The Sour

(Hopefully an extra long post will make up for the wait. Please enjoy the strange French idioms and google their english counterparts.)

Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, Magic ALWAYS comes with a price.

Especially when it is used for selfish or evil purposes.

Playing fast and loose with powers beyond your understanding was a recipe for disaster.

—————————————————————-

Marinette had so many ideas, none of which she intended to use more than once.

A pattern is trackable, it can be defended against, followed. Repeating the same tactics was a sure fire way to get caught.

So, as satisfying as it was to pilfer Sabrina’s locker, leaving Chloe without an acceptable excuse for not having a week’s worth of homework, it wasn’t a plan that could be used again.

Because Sabrina wasn’t stupid; she would realize she was being targeted and her locker wasn’t safe.

As an expert in breaking into lockers herself after years of doing so at Chloe’s command, the ginger-haired girl would have no problem hanging back to see who was lurking about the lockers when all other students should be elsewhere.

She could possibly even plant a booby-trap in hopes of identifying the culprit.

No, it was better that the homework thing was a single occurrence. Frequent theft would alert Chloe. This way, it was more likely to be believed as Sabrina’s incompetence rather than sabotage; leaving Chloe furious at her personal servant and none the wiser.

Marrinette DID have plans for Chloe’s own locker, but that would have to wait- multiple instances involving lockers so close together was too suspicious.

That was fine, it gave Marinette more time to experiment-

The biggest perk of her new powers was the “Lucky Charm”, which had limits;

She could only summon 1 Lucky Charm at a time. If she tried to summon a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Lucky Charm, then the previous Lucky Charm would disappear.

BUT!

The Lucky Charm would remain, even if she de-transformed, until she willed it away.

Of course this meant that if she transformed again and tried summoning a new Lucky Charm, then the item she summoned from her last transformation would disappear, but this also meant she could keep a Lucky Charm for as long as she wanted, even if it was out of her sight.

This was by far the most useful function, since just as dough can take hours to rise, sometimes a plan needs a few days before it bears fruit.

——

The Le Grand Paris was a fortress of a Hotel.

Andre Bourgeois took great care in sparing no expense when it came to security; from the latest cameras and alarms to bribing Enforcers to do extra patrols around the Concorde.

Sneaking inside was going to be a challenge that would take a while to plan out.

Thankfully, there was something else M. Bourgeois took pride in.

Being married to the renowned “Queen of Style”, meant if he didn’t want to end up in

la niche du chie, he couldn’t let their “little princess” wear anything that was out of season.

As far as Chloe was concerned, any outfit that was a year old was considered a moldy antique, and she would sooner die than wear the same dress twice.

Which meant she got new clothes more often than the Boulangerie got flour deliveries.

But Chloe Bourgeois did not “go shopping”. That was for average, poor people.

Instead, she selected only the most expensive designs from fashion catalogs and had them wrapped and delivered straight to her room.

It’s been said that there is no parade more elaborate than the monthly draught of butlers and bellboys; their arms overloaded with carefully wrapped parcels that stacked above their heads, marching single file down the halls of the Le Grand Paris, marshaled in by security staff guiding them with orange batons like an aviation ground crew, all the way to Chloe’s personal suite.

Should a single shoebox be dropped, the fool responsible would be fired on the spot.

This was typically followed by “the purge”, where clothes, shoes, and accessories from the front of her closet that were deemed too old and “utterly useless”, were carried out to the incinerator with other burnable trash.

Items from the middle would be pushed to the front, and the items in the back moved to the middle, making the back of the closet free for all her new purchases.

It was her father’s idea of being “frugal”, only replacing part of his daughter’s wardrobe at a time to get the most use out of her “older” clothes, and her newer purchases having to wait to be shown off…

Unless something came up where she needed to demonstrate her superiority.

Chloe Bourgeois was waste incarnate; and her “wardrobe refresh” had a schedule you could set your clock by.

THIS was the Hotel’s weakness- the flaw in its top rate security.

The tricky part was deciding how to take advantage of it.

Marinette had an idea of what she wanted to do, but putting it into motion without anyone suspecting anything magical was the catch.

As much as she wanted Chloe to suffer, breaking the rules The Supreme had set would only lead to her own downfall.

Thankfully, her Lucky Charm was intuitive; it seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do and provided her with an object that was best suited to achieve her goals.

This was something she had to remind herself of, because the red and black polka-dotted hard cover of a thick book on flying insects was the last thing she was hoping for.

She hated bugs.

But so did Chloe.

The longevity of the Lucky Charm was tested, as it took four days for Marinette to find a page that inspired her.

Truly, using her Miraculous was far more educational than spending time in school;

Mme. Mendeleiev never went into specific details about certain species of bugs, like the Tineola bisselliella.

Prior to receiving her earrings, Marinette would have never guessed that breaking into the entomology lab of the Sorbonne University Pierre and Marie Curie Campus, only a few blocks away from the recently fully condemned ruins of The Notre Dame Cathedral, was far easier than trying to sneak into the Le Grand Paris Hotel.

Before her powers, she would have no way of knowing that while Enforcer Patrols on the 8th arrondissement are quite heavy along the store fronts along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the backsides of the stores where trucks and delivery vans load, were rather lacking in security. Only a single outer camera per building, and only 1 patrol sweep per hour based on her Lucky Charm radar.

There was definitely no way Collège would teach her how to fool a hard-wired camera that would sound an alarm if physically tampered with.

That trick she learned on her own-

Her yoyo’s ‘phone’ also conveniently had a camera function.

Positioning herself on the dove white cement block wall just above the security camera allowed her to get just the right angle to snap a pic of the loading doors.

Using the string of the yoyo and wire from a discarded clothing hanger in a nearby dumpster, she was able to affix the screen of the ‘bug-phone’ displaying the pic in front of the security camera lens far away enough to see the screen but close enough that the red and black edges of the yoyo were out of sight.

With this, she could take her time picking the lock with her Lucky Charm to get inside without anything showing up on camera footage.

(*POSSIBLE S5 SPOILERS*

Idk if you remember, but in the Paris Special it clearly showed that, just like Ladybug in the 5th season finale in her fight against Monarch, Shadybug has enough control over her powers that she doesn’t need to throw up her yoyo to summon a lucky charm.)

Dior… Chloe’s go-to shoe brand.

Unlocking the back door? C'est du gâteau!

The problem would be what awaited on the other side.

Summoning another Lucky Charm gets her a small red and black hand-held object even smaller than the patrol radar. Its shape reminds her of those ‘walkie-talkies’ she’s seen in old movies, but this has 3 antennas and a glowing LCD screen with a large central button.

The screen reads:

WIFI2.4G: 2400-2500MHz WIFI5.2G: 5125-5350MHz WIFI5.8G: 5725-5850MHz

Marinette has never seen a device like this, but she has a strong gut feeling that she knows what it does.

This was the moment of truth….

Pressing the central button makes all 3 lines of text blink before changing to:

{disabled}

Heart racing, she opens the door- it is pitch black save for 3 small red LED lights in the center back and sides of the room, indicating the presence of interior cameras- obviously placed to catch employees slacking off when they should be loading or unloading product, or as a back-up in case the hard wired camera outside was disabled.

The interior cameras would no doubt transmit video directly to a monitored, online data center rather than the closed system outside that was recorded and viewed later.

There was no telling how long the WIFI could be down before interruption of service alerts Enforcers to do an extra sweep of the area, so she pushes the button on the jammer again.

Based on a previous internet search, she now had roughly 5 minutes for the cameras to reboot, and even less time before the door alarms go off.

As luck would have it, similar to her parents’ store, the keypad for the alarm is on the wall right next to the back door.

Leaning in close and using the glow from the signal jammer’s LCD screen, she quickly glances at the 4 most worn out numbers on the key pad.

The number of guesses she has is irrelevant; she only has 30 seconds worth of ‘tries’ before the alarms blare and all nearby Enforcer cars surround the building.

‘No pressure.’

She gets it on her 5th try.

But that doesn’t mean she can relax…

The timer is still counting down on when the cameras will be up and running once more, and she needs to locate Chloe’s order before then.

The blinking of the red LED lights alerts her that her time is up and she dives behind a pallet full of boxes by a far corner in what she can only hope is a blind-spot, ducking out of sight just as the lights changed from blinking red to a solid green.

She takes a moment to catch her breath-assuming she hasn’t lost count, she now has about 36 minutes to find the shoes set aside for Chloe, make the switch, then re-set the alarm, lock the doors, and retrieve her yoyo before the next Enforcer Patrol comes by.

If she was caught, she had no doubt The Supreme would ensure she was never heard from again.

Yeah, she would be the world’s biggest liar if she tried to tell herself she wasn’t scared out of her mind right now… Who wouldn’t be?

Why did she think she could do this??

This back room storage area was way larger than she anticipated, (it was only the first floor, surely the bottom floor was only for incoming and outgoing products while the upper 4 floors had their own storage rooms for their respective merchandise, right??) and she had no flashlight- not that she could use it while the cameras were on.

She didn’t want to interrupt the WIFI signal again until she needed to leave; the WIFI going out for too long or going out then coming back on again right away too many times would probably be the same as announcing that somebody was here messing with the system.

If her plan was to go without a hitch, there couldn’t be ANY reason for anyone to suspect that Chloe’s order had been tampered with.

Comment diable was she supposed to find anything in the dark in under 30 minu-

…. Tu te fous de ma gueule?!

It had to be the magic earrings, there was no way Marinette Dupain Cheng could ever be THIS lucky;

There, on the pallet of boxes she had chosen to hide behind, illuminated by the faint glow of the LCD screen in her hand, was the letter “B”.

A slow sweep across the label revealed O…U…R…G…E….

‘Y a pas moyen...’

…O…I…S.

30 boxes worth of flats, heels, and boots.

For Chloe?

Yup. That seemed about right.

Marinette didn’t have enough materials for all of them, but she would make do.

Quickly picking out 8 boxes of flats, she opened the fanny pack she’d swiped from the back of her father’s closet and pulled out what looked like 16 desiccant packs.

Enough for 1 per shoe- only someone looking closely with a keen eye would be able to tell that the words “silica gel” had been hand stamped on each paper sachet, rather than professionally printed, and sealed with a glue-stick instead of a heat press.

Carefully swapping the real packs for her fakes, Marinette was careful to re-package the designer tissue paper in each shoe box and stack them up carefully on the pallet.

The morning crew would come and see to it that each box was professionally wrapped, and then loaded onto a delivery van headed to the Le Grand Paris so that Chloe could enjoy a Friday after school “parade”.

Pressing the jammer button on and off again gave Marinette 5 minutes to run back to the back door, press the “arm system” button, and lock the door behind her.

She only needed 2.

Leaping up the side of the building, she retrieved her yoyo and checked the watch function; still 8 minutes to spare before the next Enforcer patrol.

Ha! Hardly exciting (je touche du bois.)

She couldn’t believe it; she’d just successfully broken into DIOR.

At this rate, a heist at Le Grand Paris would be a snap!

Who would’ve ever believed that clumsy Marinette was such a pro at pulling off heists? Was this what success felt like?

It felt pretty good!

All that was left to do now was parkour her way back home, dump the desiccant packs, then wait until her parents went down to open the Bakery in the morning to return her father’s vintage bag to the forgotten depths of his bedroom closet.

He’d never know it’d been missing.

In 3 days, the tiny, pinhead sized eggs stolen from the University lab would hatch into voracious larva that would eat their way through the paper sachets before beginning to devour every designer blouse, skirt, and dress they could crawl to.

By the time Chloe reached the back of her closet and noticed the chew holes, the damage would be done… Thousands of euros worth of damage, and the larva would have already found hiding spots to form their cocoons.

De-transforming inside her room, Marinette giggled at the thought of Chloe opening her closet doors weeks later and screaming through a face full of fluttering moths.

The imagery alone made it worth how exhausted she felt.

Was this the fatigue you were supposed to feel once the surge of adrenaline wore off?

Well, nothing a few hours sleep wouldn’t cure.

———

…Or not.

The shrieking tone of the morning alarm was enough to make anyone curse, and Marinette was no exception… But she couldn’t recall the last time it was enough to make her wake up with a headache.

All of her muscles felt sore, which didn’t make sense since the suit did all the hard work and physical exertion.

Was this still that adrenaline burn out? Or did she manage to come down with something?

She wouldn’t be surprised; spending too much time outside and breathing in Parisian night air was guaranteed to make you sick.

But without an actual fever, her mom would never let her stay home from school.

She would have to suck it up and muscle her way through the day.

It would probably also be a good idea to avoid transforming for the next few days- she’d definitely had enough excitement to last her for a while and a break was overdue….

….That had been the plan anyway.

But some opportunities were just too good to pass up!

Gabriel Agreste, yes, The Gabriel Agreste, famous designer of the world renowned “GABRIEL” brand was holding a derby hat design contest at HER school!

The winning hat would even be featured in his next Fashion Show!

La cerise sur le gatea? M. Agreste himself was coming to select the winner. IN. PERSON.

This was HUGE.

There would even be live news coverage!

Though Marrinette was pretty sure this was mostly a publicity stunt thought up by the school to make angry parents forget about “The Boiler Room Incident,” she couldn’t deny that this was a rare chance.

Not for her, of course.

There was no way Chloe would leave her alone if Marinette tried to enter, and with her being so close to M. Agreste’s son, it would just take one word from the blonde and Marinette would not only be disqualified, but probably black-listed as well.

That was fine.

Okay, no, it wasn’t fine.

It was the exact opposite of fine! And totally unfair!!!

But…

Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter.

After all, years of being Chloe’s figurative punching bag meant Marinette knew Chloe’s ultimate weakness; Attention.

The only thing Chloe loved more than her hair was being in the spotlight.

A chance to appear on TV alongside Adrien Agreste was as good as a siren’s song.

But there was no way that Chloe had any hope of winning that contest, unless she cheated.

Cheating happened to be one of the few things Chloe was actually good at, and she did so every chance she got.

It was almost too predictable; Chloe would just have Sabrina steal someone else’s idea, then, without lifting a finger, pay a professional to make it for her, then present the hat at the contest as her own work.

It would be Chloe’s word versus her victim’s, and Marinette knew exactly how that would play out.

This was also in her favor; no matter what, that evil girl would INSIST the design was her own, even though she wouldn’t bother to take notice of whatever it was.

Chloe never cared about what she stole, only that she felt joy in making the people she stole from suffer.

It didn’t matter who got hurt.

There was no way to know who was entering the contest without taking a peek at the sign-up sheet, and there was no way Marinette could risk doing that without painting a target on her back.

It was so much easier to make yourself invisible when people weren’t actively seeking you out to make your life miserable.

Chloe had a new favorite patsy, (some opinionated girl with glasses), and Marinette had no intention of reminding her former bully that she still existed.

Besides, she didn’t need to know who Chloe decided to steal from.

All she needed was her earrings, a little something from home, and a quick online search of the schedule for today’s bus routes.

The judging would take place 2 hours after the end of the school day. Not much time for a teenager to put together a hat from scratch, but for a professional Milliner it was nothing.

Which is why when lunch time hit, it was no surprise that Sabrina left Chloe’s side to “eat lunch at home today”.

As if.

The 32 bus wouldn’t take Sabrina anywhere near her apartment.

But it would take her to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where some name dropping and the Bourgeois credit line would allow her to have any boutique or atelier drop everything to create whatever design she brought to them, no questions asked.

It would also ensure that afterwards, everyone would deny her ever coming there in the first place.

(The name ‘Audrey Bourgeois’ carried a lot of weight, and her daughter never hesitated to throw it around.)

Now, the thing about Sabrina Raincomprix was that she was a good lackey; obedient, dedicated, and cautious.

Having a strict, Enforcer father who believed in “Guilty until proven innocent.” meant that she was paranoid about getting caught doing Chloe’s dirty work, and would go to great lengths to keep her ‘master’ from falling under suspicion.

The ginger-haired girl wouldn’t be eating anything today; her lunch break would be spent traveling to deliver the stolen hat design, then taking the long way back to school to avoid being spotted.

This also meant that after school, she would have to take a bus back to pick up the finished derby, then take a 2nd bus that would drop her off near Place de la Concorde, then take a 3rd bus back to the school so it looked like she had only gone straight to the Grand Paris Hotel to pick up Chloe’s hat and bring it to the school for her, because heaven forbid that brat should carry anything herself.

The final trait that made Sabrina such a good servant?

She was punctual.

Due to Chloe’s short temper, Sabrina had an extreme case of what Max Kanté had once called “Allegrophobia.”

She was so afraid of being yelled at for not being on time that she had a consistent habit of not double checking things before rushing off to where she was ordered to be.

Even the tiniest of delays was enough to give her anxiety.

Marinette knew from experience just how easy it was for someone to take advantage of your anxiety.

It was high time those 2 got a taste of their own medicine.

However, this would require a sacrifice, and a risk bigger than any she had taken so far.

The Supreme had been clear; she could not be seen, no one was to know about the existence of her Miraculous or magic.

It was for this reason that she had carefully restricted use of her powers to inside her room, the rooftops at night, or in secluded places where she was absolutely sure no other living soul was around.

But if she was going to out-cheat the world’s nastiest cheater, Marinette would have to transform in broad daylight and intercept Sabrina en route.

If Sabrina- no, if anyone saw even a hint of her spots, it was all over!

She could see it now; The Bakery forced to shut down, her parents sent to a Penitentiary camp, her citizenship revoked- no, make that her very name erased from existence and she was forced to work underground in some coal mine with weighted balls and chains around her ankles, never again allowed to see the light of day!

… Okay, so nowhere had it specifically said any of that was going to happen, but The Supreme did say the penalty would be severe, and honestly? It was possible.

If she was really going to go through with this, she would have to be quick and more than a little clever.

She doubted her Lucky Charm could conjure up an item to erase people’s memories.

So far, all her Lucky Charms had been items that actually existed- hard as it was to believe that something like magic could have limitations.

Not that Marinette would ever leave her fate up to magic alone, not when she had technology on her side.

The internet was just as powerful as her earrings, only instead of ‘Lucky Charms’ it could conjure up things like detailed city maps with street views via satellite, as well as the pick-up times of the buses that stopped at those streets.

It was only a matter of deciding which one of those streets would be ideal for an ambush.

The hardest part?

Coming up with an excuse to get out of running the cash register at the Bakery after school.

Marinette reviewed the options in her head;

Lying about wanting to enter the design contest wouldn’t get her anywhere.

Faking an illness was just as pointless- her mom would stand watch to make sure the thermometer wasn’t tampered with while checking for a temperature.

Any studying for a major test could be done after the Bakery closed and before she went to bed.

Non, nope, and no bueno.

If she wanted to escape her after-school obligations, she not only had to be creative…

She had to be gross.

——

She was late coming home after school, she had to make a detour to find a Picard vending machine.

Luckily, her leather satchel made it easy to conceal her purchases.

She ran past the Bakery counter, ignoring her mother’s glare and answering demands of “Where have you been?!” with her own rushed “Can’tTalkMyStomachIsKillingMe!” as she raced up the stairs to the 2nd floor bathroom.

Locking the door behind her, she stared at the toilet with dread.

Her kwami floated out from her bulky jacket pocket to stare at her with what Marinette imagined was the creature’s own version of a cringe.

Well, nobody asked for its opinion.

Vending machine bread was cheap, but the taste was way off in her humble opinion. Too much yeast. Though she hadn’t purchased it with the intention of eating it…

A minute, maybe a minute and a half was all it took for the brioche to bloat up after hitting the water. A single flush was all that was needed to make the evidence vanish, as well as clog the drain.

She pulled out the plastic covered slice of chocolate cake and hesitated; no matter what she made it look like, ganache dissolved in water wouldn’t fool anyone.

“Vous ne pouvez pas utiliser un gâteau au chocolat pour raconter des salades.”

Not without miraculous intervention, at least.

Tikki visibly winced before being sucked into the earrings as Marinette transformed.

No idea why; it should be used to it by now…

She had no idea what Lucky Charm could possibly make her little act convincing, but here goes nothing-!

A small round object wrapped in red plastic with black polkadots landed in her hand.

What was she supposed to do with this??? What even was this?!

She slowly tore open the packaging and - Merde! Was this camembert??

Yup, that’ll do it.

Holding her breath and resisting the urge to gag, she smushed the cheese between her palms for a moment to let it “breathe”, before breaking off bits and plunking the pieces into the porcelain bowl.

Squashing the still wrapped slice of cake in a similar manner, she opened that up and dumped it in the water as well.

De-transforming, she stuffed both wrappers into the inner pockets of her jacket and waited.

According to the time on her phone, 11 minutes had passed before her mother came pounding on the door, inquiring just what she was doing in there?!

Well, she wasn’t folding pastries…

Saying that would’ve been counter-productive though, so instead Marinette gave her most pitiful groan before stammering about clogging the toilet.

The door handle shook and her mother ordered her to open up.

‘As you wish, mommy dear…’

Thankfully, her facial expression didn’t match her thoughts.

Sabine Cheng covered her nose and mouth with horror as Marinette sheepishly stepped out of the bathroom, hunched over and clutching her stomach.

Her pink streaked hair in was in disarray, and her heavy eyeliner was running from sink-water “tears” as she mumbled about how much her stomach had been bothering her since lunch.

Her mother doesn’t even bother to hide her agitation and disgust as she waves her away; ordering her to take some Imodium from the medicine cabinet in the 4th floor bathroom, then go up to her room.

She’ll bring her something light for supper later if she’s feeling hungry, but for now she has to find some gloves so she can sort out the toilet quickly and get back down to watch the register.

Marinette deserved a César Award for the way she trudged up the stairs, head down in shame, her dark pigtails a droopy, frazzled mess.

Once she made it to the 3rd floor, she bolted up to her room faster than galette sold out on La Fête des Rois.

The anticipation was starting to get to her, she actually felt her stomach turning for real, but there wasn’t a moment to spare.

She had 1 last thing to grab from her room before setting things in motion…

Her transformation (still didn’t have a name for it yet, not as if she really needed to since it was a secret), was only needed to get her from her balcony to the rooftop of the building next door.

De-transforming back, Marinette made her way down the fire-escape before making a beeline for the bus stop.

She needed to get to Sabrina’s return route before the ginger-haired girl made her way back to Place de la Concorde.

There was nothing suspicious about Marinette riding the bus- she was just a normal girl, with a normal, crappy life, wasting what was left of her precious pocket money on public transportation.

(For real though; what did it take to get a red and black wallet Luck Charm filled with cash??? For the record, she was perfectly ok with said cash vanishing from reality after it’d already been spent.)

Traveling by yoyo would be lot faster, but not even thick Parisian smog could hide that loud red and black suit.

You’d think if The Supreme wanted her to stay hidden so badly, she would be given a Miraculous that was more inconspicuous than black and red spots on hexagonal spandex.

Whatever.

Picking an alleyway with a dumpster to hide behind that would still give her a somewhat decent view of the sidewalk was simple enough after having studied the street views online.

What she was unprepared for was the absolute boredom of waiting for Sabrina’s bus to arrive-

Whoever came up with the saying “There is only late or on time.” clearly had never arrived an hour early with nothing else but the thoughts in their own head to keep them occupied.

Marinette had chosen a spot roughly 9 meters away from the next bus stop Sabrina would have to take to connect her route.

After getting off one bus, it should take her around 17 minutes to walk over from point A.

The goal was to intercept before she could make it to point B.

It was laughable how easy it was to crouch behind a dumpster in the middle of the day without drawing any attention.

Laughable, in a sad, nobody-cares-where-you-are-or-what-you’re-doing-and-never-will, kind of way…

The timer on her phone beeped, signaling Marinette to transform and summon her Lucky Charm…

A bag of Marbles?

Guess it was time to test how well super-powers affected aim.

Staying low with as much of her body behind the bin that she could manage and still peek out, she waited for the first hint of orange hair and an argyle sweater vest.

Her timing was nothing short of miraculous; her thumb flicking the tiny glass ball and shooting it out perfectly beneath the sole of a wedged sneaker, sending Sabrina tumbling backwards, her glasses flying free through the air, hat box dropping from her arms to roll into the nearby alley.

A snap of the fingers had the black and red marble vanish from existence. As far as anyone could tell, that silly girl had tripped over her own feet.

Flailing around to find her wayward glasses took priority, giving Marinette the time she needed to swap out the derby in the hat box, roll it closer to the alley entrance, then de-transform and make herself as small as possible behind the piles of garbage next to the metal bin.

The minutes were ticking away and Sabrina was absolutely frantic as she picked up the box and sprinted towards the stop just as her next bus screeched to a halt- loudly pleading for it not to take off immediately without her onboard.

Marinette would end up waiting a little longer, making sure the bus was long gone before she left that alley to head towards a different stop that would take a more direct route near her home so she could sneak back up to her room before Sabrina could make it back to school.

She came in the same way she’d gotten out, and there was no sign she’d been missed.

No surprise there…

De-transforming left her with a sharp, throbbing pain in her abdomen that had her bent over and hugging herself, inhaling sharply through clenched teeth.

Qu'est-ce que???

It wasn’t that time of the month yet, but this was the same level of cramping she would expect on ‘heavy flow’ days.

Was it from climbing up and down several flights of the fire escape? Or maybe she really was sick? She had been spending a lot of time outdoors, practicing with her yoyo and getting used to ducking behind billboards and scaling buildings.

Also, sitting next to literal garbage probably didn’t do her any favors.

Whatever it was, the solution was clear; She just needed to take a few nights off, maybe get more than 3-4 hours of sleep for a change.

But for right now, she needed to watch the news.

Turning on her laptop, Marinette opened the TVi News webpage and clicked on their livestream.

It would’ve been great to witness the event in person, but she couldn’t risk being seen by Chloe.

Besides, she wouldn’t have to worry about hiding her own reactions to what was about to go down when she was in the safety of her own room.

Clara Contard introduced herself reporting live from the Françoise Dupont cafeteria where students were about to introduce their original Derby Hat creations!

She was overly chipper as she told viewers how today’s winning design would not only be selected by Gabriel Agreste, but also modeled by his son, teen supermodel Adrien Agreste, in his next fashion show!

The camera panned for a wide view to show all of the students who were competing standing at different tables, some nervous, some excited, all waving to the camera.

Marinette recognized a few of the students either from having shared a classroom in previous years, or simply from them laughing at her in the hallway.

Honestly? She hated everyone who entered the contest, with the exception of 2 people, though she doubted they had any chance of winning.

There was a feverish murmer in the background before Mme. Contard announced that the “stars” of the show had arrived; the camera cut to the cafeteria doors opening for Gabriel and Adrien Agreste’s grand entrance.

M. Agreste was taller than Marinette thought he’d be; silver hair parted down the middle, round, white framed glasses, and dressed in a palette of soft blues and neutrals.

He was a far cry from the intimidating design mogul she’d envisioned. But if anything, that made more sense-

This looked exactly like the type of man who would spoil his son rotten; too weak-willed to say “no” to any outrageous demand.

As for Adrien,

Well, it’s not like they had any classes together, and she was always too busy keeping her head down and avoiding being noticed to ever pass him by in between periods, but he also looked different than what she’d expected based on the billboard ads and posters littered all over the city, or as she liked to call them, “visual pollution.”

His hair was cut asymmetrically, and the eye make-up was new…

But what was with that outfit?

Exactly what look was he going for; Sterile-punk in Asylum white?

Mon Dieu, that had better not be the next trend!

Marinette’s huff of annoyance at this point was habitual- she wasn’t interested in watching Chloe’s BFF strut and smile for the camera.

His every move, from the way he walked to his practiced wave was so overly rehearsed and unnaturally flawless, Marinette wouldn’t be surprised if someone told her he was an AI generated hologram rather than an actual human being.

What a stuck-up showoff…

Honestly, she wasn’t really interested in watching any of the contestants either, save for Chloe. But who knows? Maybe she could enjoying watching Fashion Icon Gabriel Agreste verbally rip into each of their designs and leave them in tears like that one cooking show with the angry British Chef?

At least that would be entertaining.

No such luck.

The man was the definition of positivity to the point it was sickening;

He stopped at each table-giving the cameraman a chance to focus on each separate hat and allowing the students their moment to shine.

He looked over each derby closely from multiple angles, giving specific praise over little details that he thought stood out, and at times, constructive criticism over some minor construction flaws, followed by encouragement before moving on to the next entry.

He was so nice, she felt nauseous.

Though, that could’ve also been a side effect from her previous running around.

She’d honestly thought he’d have at least some negative feedback over Rose and Nathaniel’s entry.

Not that Marinette was hoping for it; Rose and Nathaniel were among the few students at Françoise Dupont who weren’t complete trou du culs.

True, neither of them had ever tried to be friends with her, but they’d also never joined in with everybody laughing at her expense, either.

But that didn’t excuse the monstrosity sitting on the table in front of them.

If she had to take a guess, she would say that Rose dragged Nathaniel into the contest with her; probably babbled on about all her unicorn and kitten filled fantasies for him to sketch out, then used a hot glue gun to try and make it a reality.

A hot fuchsia bowler with rainbow yarn coming out of the back as… a mane?…a tail?… something.

There was what looked like a cardboard horn that had been assaulted with glitter, and electric cobalt blue cat ears cut from craft-store faux fur that were uneven in size.

Rather than a ribbon around the base of the rounded crown, there was a collage-like border made from what was probably every flower sticker Rose owned.

At least Nathaniel had the decency to be embarrassed, as evidenced by him pulling the drawstrings of his hoodie tight in an attempt to either hide himself from view, or self-asphyxiate.

Personally, Marinette would’ve gone with the latter.

Even Adrien averted his eyes- the glitter shedding uni-kitty derby too bright to look at directly.

Rose was naturally, blissfully unaware.

But M. Agreste didn’t so much as flinch!

He complimented their boldness and stated his admiration for their creativity. He gently pointed out some issues- such as the the hot-glue seam slowly coming apart, and suggested that a buckram fabric molded with starch would hold its shape better than cardboard and be easier to affix to the crown of the hat without weighing it down.

He gave them tips on cutting faux fur and how to trace a pattern to make the ears come out more even.

He even stated that he was intrigued by the floral collage, but was concerned that paper stickers would eventually lose their adhesion and fall off, before suggesting using fabric dye and multiple flower shaped rubber stamps on plain ribbon as an alternative to achieve the same effect.

He thanked them both and said he hoped to see them in future contests so he could witness their progress.

Marinette frowned and swallowed back the acid burning at the back of her throat.

She hated to admit it, but she was envious.

There was no way her mom would’ve let her enter, and even if she snuck out to compete anyway, Chloe would’ve found a way to ruin her work or used her connection with Adrien to get her kicked out.

She knew that, so sulking about it was pointless.

But still, how awesome would it have been to receive honest, non-judgey feedback from someone with so much experience in the fashion industry?

A chance to have her designs taken seriously and to discuss how she could improve with someone who actually knew what they were doing without being looked down on?

She didn’t care about winning some lame school contest. But some one-on-one time with a professional in the world of design?

She wanted that.

Badly.

Marinette hated how stupid she felt for resenting Rose Lavillant just because she was enjoying an opportunity that she herself wanted but had been unable to take.

It was so dumb to feel jealous over Rose when it wasn’t even her fault.

It was Chloe’s fault!

Chloe was the reason Marinette wasn’t allowed to stand out, why she didn’t have any friends, why now even her own mother was preventing her from following her dreams!

Stubbornly using her sleeve to wipe away moisture that had begun to form at the corners of her eyes, Marinette focused on her laptop screen.

The moment she’d been waiting for was nearly here…

Gabriel and Adrien Agreste approached Chloe’s table and stopped abruptly as the blonde girl rushed over to clutch onto the teen boy’s arm with her high-pitched squeal, bouncing on her heels in giddiness and not even bothering to acknowledge M. Agreste until the older man awkwardly cleared his throat and adjusted his light blue-violet ascot before offering his greetings.

Under normal circumstances, the smug look on that witch’s face as she gushed to M. Agreste about how she could not wait to see “Adrikins” (Ugh, was that his pet name? Gross…) wearing her hat at the next fashion show, would’ve been enough to make Marinette lose her lunch.

Today, however, knowing what was to come, left her avoir la banane.

M. Agreste chuckled and said he liked her enthusiasm, but he would need to see her entry first.

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully, saying something quaint about “getting formalities over with”, before snapping her fingers to order Sabrina to attention.

The bespectacled girl stepped forward dutifully, hat box in arms, and carefully removed the lid-

Marinette bit her lower lip, and Chloe announced to the room she was “now presenting the winning design!” as Sabrina lifted the derby hat out of the box for M. Agreste to see.

The camera zoomed in on the hat:

It was a classic derby bowler shaped in pale, dusty rose colored wool felt with a thin chiffon trim along the outer edge of the brim in a slightly darker shade. The the dark blues and greens of the patterned ribbon around the base was reminiscent of the scales of a butterfly’s wing, and had an iridescent sheen.

The focal point of course, was the glazed black, scalloped medallion in the center of the side bow, embossed with a white, flourished “G”.

The camera zoomed back out to capture both Chloe’s self-satisfied smirk and Gabriel Agreste’s reaction;

Blessed be for HD, otherwise Marinette would’ve missed the slight crease between M. Agreste’s brows as his smile began to falter.

There was a moment of hesitation, another awkward clearing of his throat, and a quick darting of his eyes indicating that he would rather the film crew direct their attention elsewhere….

Clara Contard would have none of that, so M. Agreste tried to gracefully step forward and angle his back towards the camera, a valiant effort to shield Mlle. Bourgeois from view that was in vain.

You had to admire his efforts; he attempted to handle the situation as delicately as possible-

“Young lady, I believe you may have misunderstood… The aim was not to submit your favorite hat that you would like to see again, but to come up with your own, original design for Adrien to model. I apologize if that was not made clear-“

Oh, the shift on Chloe’s face from cool confidence to furious indignation would’ve given a lesser man whiplash, but to M. Agreste’s credit, he only slightly stepped back in surprise at the blonde’s foot-stamping outburst.

“How DARE you?! This hat is MY original design! Are you calling me a liar???”

M. Agreste didn’t get angry, didn’t raise his voice… Merely pursed his lips into a tight line before inhaling a deep breath and letting it out gently-

“I’m sorry to say but, while it is an older design, it is in fact, one of my own.”

Lifting the derby and turning it upside-down revealed the “GABRIEL” label, expertly sewn unto the creamy white silk lining inside.

“This model hit store shelves well over a year ago, as part of my late spring collection.”

The camera was only able to zoom in on Chloe’s red face and quivering lip for about 3 seconds before she was once again blocked by M. Agreste’s torso and only the muffled sound of “Mme. Contard, please show some decorum.” was heard before they cut to commercial.

Chloe Bourgeois, publicly humiliated on live TV.

What a beautiful day~

Was there an option to give this livestream 5 stars? Because Clara deserved the highest ratings!

Marinette was kind of sorry that she’d had to sacrifice her own hat- even if it wasn’t her style anymore, even if it had been bought on clearance from a discount boutique that specialized in what was no longer in season.

She had saved up all of her allowance just for a chance to own anything from the “GABRIEL” brand, and had felt a small sense of pride in being able to buy it for herself.

But sentimentality was for the weak, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng was no longer that pathetic little girl that wore her heart on her sleeve like some air-head.

At first she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with Chloe’s counterfeit derby, (black and grey pinstripes with a square metal studded band… based on the panoramic view at the start of the livestream, Théo Barbot had been the unwitting victim this time,) but now she decided she was going to keep it.

Maybe she’d mount it on her wall as a trophy to remind her that she was no longer a vulnerable little pear for Chloe to squash beneath her heels.

(The pear thing is another French idiom. No, I’m not making this up!)

Relishing the spoils of victory would have to wait, though.

Marinette closed her laptop and stretched, wincing slightly. There was no point in watching the rest of the contest.

All she cared about now was taking a hot shower, some pain killers, and lying down with a heating pad to see if it would help with her cramp.

…That shower was cut short in order to rush back to her room to interrogate a certain red and black floating insect.

“Ce que l'enfer est-ce?!”

Above her navel was a black, spindly mark the size of a kumquat. It was tender to the touch and it certainly had NOT been there this morning!

As always, the kwami said nothing, not that it could with that, whatever-it-was, over its mouth… if what it had was considered a mouth.

Instead, those round, blue eyes widened-for a moment they even looked frightened-before glancing nervously over at the loft and Marinette’s bed.

The tablet from The Supreme was still tucked under her mattress.

She didn’t remember reading anything about black splotches suddenly appearing on her body, but the tablet was the only lead she had.

Hitting the power button and waiting through the identification scan, Marinette ignored the red screen and the intimidating symbol glaring at her- she was more interested in the icon at the bottom corner.

It was flashing again.

There was a new message.

Marinette felt a shiver run down her spine; she hadn’t received any new messages since the first 1 on the day she received her earrings.

She should be relieved The Supreme is contacting her again, right?

She was ‘the chosen one’ after all, so whatever The Supreme had to say must be important.

It might even help her.

The Supreme would take care of her.

There was no need to feel afraid.

….Right?

Her hand was definitely not shaking as she tapped the message icon to open to full screen:

“Mlle Marinette Dupain-Cheng,

At this time you might be aware of certain afflictions to your body.

Unfortunately, this is the result of prolonged Miraculous use, and will continue to spread.

It should please you to know that a remedy does exist. However, the means to alleviate your condition are not without stipulations;

Another Miraculous has been stolen.

If you are able to recover it, your malaise shall be remedied with haste.

Be warned- failure to do so will only allow the aliment to spread to the point of being fatal, regardless of further use of the Miraculous.

Please be advised; Only one can be spared.”

At the age of 13 going on 14, Marinette had a plethora of profanities at her disposal, yet none of them felt sufficient for this level of ABSOLUTE B.S.!

What kind of sick joke was this?!

After skimming through a detailed description of the Butterfly Brooch and the powers it granted its holder, she came to the conclusion that the only joke here was her.

She threw the tablet down in anger, the loud clatter sending the kwami flying away to hide in the waste bin under her desk.

Of course it had all been too good to be true!

She wasn’t lucky, she was cursed!

‘Only one can be spared.’

What was that supposed to mean? Did The Supreme think she would feel pity for the Butterfly thief and beg to save them too?

Fat chance.

You know what? Fine! Et merde!

Elle était prête à couper la poire en deux.

Her eyes narrowed with renewed resolve.

If playing the role of ‘Miraculous Repo man’ was what it took to to save her skin and be able to dish out long overdue karma, then that’s what she’d do.

They’ll see who’s laughing then….

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soaringonblackwings · 13 days

Text

Title: Wind Underneath Your Wings

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's

External: AO3 / SquidgeWorld / FF.net

Summary: It's time for the WRPG and unfortunately Crow has an accident that puts him on the bench. With a broken shoulder he spends his free time coaching a team of girls at the local community center.

A re-write of the team Catastrophe duel.

Notes: Here is the next part of my fix-it series. I hope everyone enjoys this. I did not think I would make it this far. I had so much fun writing this even if this was the most difficult part to write. I took 5 re-writes to get here. And nothing from the original draft carried over.

You all remember that Crow became a coach in his epilogue, and we just never see that during the course of the show. It fits with his character so well too. So, I decided to write about it.

Comments are much appreciated.

It all happened in a flash, just yesterday he promised the kids that he would participate in the WRPG. And now he was being sent flying across the road to his doom. The wheel on Blackbird had locked up, making Crow lose control of the dual runner.

His shoulder was in pain, and he could not lift his arm. He had to wait for help as his injury made it impossible for him to drive on his own.

‘This can’t be happening.’

Crow had a fractured shoulder. There was no feasible way for him to partake in the tournament his arm would not heal in time. Saying he was upset was an understatement. In a fit of frustration he runs away from his teammates.

Once he calms down, he times Akiza before the match. Passing along his and the children’s hopes.

The battle against team Unicorn was a tough one. Turns out them running into Crow and challenging Yusei to a duel during the practice was all a part of their plan. Andre used a different deck that time in hopes that team 5D’s planed around that. Jack was completely dumbstruck when Andre used a new deck strategy that hard countered Jack’s playstyle. He did play his best it wasn’t enough. Jack lost and passed the baton to Akiza.

She managed to put Stardust dragon on the field for Yusei, but in the end, Andre defeated her. Akiza took the lose pretty hard. After getting the acceptance she wanted, she ended up losing.

“I couldn’t don anything.” She whispered. “I talked a big game to join the team, but I learned just how inexperienced I am as a D-Wheeler.”

“No ones perfect.” Crow says. “Dueling is fun because we inexperienced and help each other.”

They heard a commotion and looked towards the track.

“Let’s go cheer for Yusei.” Crow said.

Yusei defeated all of the members of team Unicorn. They passed their first hurdle of the WRPG.

There was time before their next match. Off the circuit life continued on as usual. Crow had to figure out how to do his deliveries or else he would make less money. His go to idea was to ask Yusei for help with the big deliveries while crow handled the smaller ones. Crow could easily do deliveries that did not require him to drive. That was the idea he settled on. There were smaller packages that needed to be delivered. He picked out certain small packages that could be delivered on foot and fit them into his bright yellow messenger bag and put on his jacket before heading out. This would be a first that he delivered the mail on foot. He felt like a young delivery boy from stories that took place before technology was prominent. Unfortunately, no duel runner meant that his task would take longer.

His job had taken him to a place that should have been Crow’s radar a long time ago. His travels brought him to the community center in the city. It was close by Poppo Time and Crow had never been aware of this building. From inside he could hear cheers. It caught his attention enough for him to forget about putting the mail in the Dropbox and go inside.

There was a plethora of people inside of the building. He could still hear the noise of cheers roaring in the air. He followed the sound to a duel arena where a duel was taking place.

"Hello." Standing next to Crow was a women dressed in a prim and proper dark blue suit with a skirt. She had on stockings with a skull and cross-bone patterns all over it. Her red hair was split into two ponytails. Hair hat and messenger bag also adorned the skull and cross-bone design, along with the broach on her chest. "Is there anything I can help you with? Are you dropping off something."

It took Crow some time to realize that he still had the mail in his hand. "Oh um I came to drop this off."

The woman took the mail eyeing Crow carefully before tilting her head. "Are you here to watch the tournament?"

"What is this?" Crow asks.

"This is the Little League Grand Prix. It basically a tournament for the younger duelists of the city." She replies. "Me and my sisters set it up so the kids could have some fun. With all the buzz around the WRPG we figured it would be exciting."

Crow liked this idea. Most kids love dueling but just were not old enough to participate in any major tournaments.

"Are you a duelist? Would you be interested in being a duel coach for the community center?" She asks.

Crow should have declined. He was unsure of how this spontaneous offer would affect his schedule. His mind went to his time with Pearson and how he had taught the kids back then. He remembered how much he enjoyed teaching the kids even if he was only repeating what Pearson had told him. Maybe now is a chance for him to find his own footing when it comes to teaching.

"Sure! I'll be a coach." He took the offer.

"Great!" Ryoko quickly took him away to the office to get him registered as a volunteer. It did not take here long to show Crow around the community center. The outside had a few picnic tables. Complete with a park area for kids. Crow lamented on how he would love to bring the orphans her to play one day. There was a room with desks lined up and a chalkboard. This room was the used for pretty much everything, it was known as the miscellaneous room. The tour came to a quick end.

"That is it. Whenever you want to volunteer just come by and sign in. I am looking forward to having you." Ryoko said before walking back to the office.

Just like that he was the newest member of the community center. Back at Poppo Time, Crow had explained his day's activities.

"What!" Jack's voice roared. "You signed up to tutor brats when you already have a commitment to the team!"

"I thought it would be a good opportunity for me." Crow knew this was going to be the outcome when he told his friends. Well at least when it came to Jack. It wasn't like he was going to abandon his teammates. "I can find a balance. I plan on going on our off days."

"If Crow says he can do both I believe in him." Yusei said.

"Thanks, Yus." It was great to have some kind of encouragement.

"We don't need anyone who's attention is divided." Jack grumbles.

“I am focused one hundred percent. It is not like I can do much with a broken shoulder.” Crow gesture to his shoulder.

Crow excused himself to his room. Not because he didn’t want to deal with Jack, though that was part of it, he had to figure out what to do for his coaching gig. He had no formal training at all. Sure, he taught the orphans back on Satellite, but this was a completely different ballpark. He was sure that coach’s made plans on what to teach. At least that was what Pearson did with them.

He had to pull himself together. He agreed to this position, and he was going to give it his all. As long as it was for a kid, he will make a miracle happen.

#crow hogan #yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #crow works

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