Chapter Text
“Master!” Wayzz called, zipping through the air to find his owner, Master Fu. “Master! I feel Nooroo’s presence!”
Master Fu was sitting in his kitchen, calmly sipping tea, which he inhaled immediately on hearing the small kwami’s announcement.
Wayzz stopped just a few inches from Fu’s face, the turtle-like being catching his breath before continuing, “Nooroo is active. But I feel there is a darkness surrounding him—some sort of malicious aura…”
“The jewel must have fallen into the wrong hands,” Fu said, idly stroking his beard as he thought. “It is as I feared. I must find some worthy heroes to bring it back!”
He stood and walked to the large ornate gramophone he kept in his small apartment. With the press of a few hidden buttons, the base opened, revealing an octagonal decorative box. He opened the lid and reached for a pair of earrings resting in the center.
“Master, no!” Wayzz cried, darting between him and the box. “You mustn’t!”
“If the Butterfly miraculous is being used with ill intent, the Ladybug is the only one that can stop it!” Master Fu said. “What would you have me do?”
“The Ladybug isn’t the only one,” Wayzz replied. “I can purify the Butterfly as well.”
Fu frowned, his gaze going to the bracelet that always rested on his wrist. “I don’t know…”
“Master, you must let me go,” the kwami insisted. “You know as well as I do that the Ladybug and the Cat are too powerful to be used unless there is no choice.”
Fu sighed, finally pulling his hand back. Wayzz was right—while the Ladybug and Cat were powerful miraculouses, they were far from the only ones. Each of the five miraculouses tiered beneath them had their own form of balance—each purified one of the others. The Turtle was the balance for the Butterfly.
“You are right, of course,” he admitted with a sigh. “I will miss you, old friend.”
“I will miss you as well,” Wayzz replied, smiling warmly. “It would be best if my new owner had a partner in the battlefield, I believe.”
“Yes, yes,” Fu agreed. He plucked a small comb from the box, quickly dropping it into a smaller box that he tucked in his pocket.
“The Bee?”
“The only other missing miraculous is the Peacock,” Fu explained. “The Bee is its counter. Now, Wayzz—goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Master Fu.”
**
Marinette Dupain-Cheng overslept. On her first day of school. That did not bode well.
She raced downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, and grabbed a box of macarons from her father before rushing out the door. Luckily, she only had to cross the street before she made it to school, so she was probably not going to be late.
She stepped foot in the crosswalk at the same time as the rest of the pedestrians, mindlessly making their way through the city. On the other side of the intersection, though, a car was busy speeding past the red light.
How was she the only one to notice this? “Everyone, look out!” she cried at the top of her lungs, pushing back against the crowd to get out of the way of the car. An old man tripped as the crowd parted, surging back towards the sidewalk, and Marinette didn’t hesitate to help him up and out of the way.
“My thanks,” he said, righting himself on the sidewalk again. “You are a truly brave girl.”
She shook her head. “Anyone would’ve done that if they’d noticed.”
“But only you did,” he replied. He leaned down and gently grabbed her discarded box of macarons. “Have a nice day, my dear.”
As Marinette ran towards the school, she didn’t notice the runaway car disappearing into nothingness halfway down the street, or the crowd going up in smoke. She didn’t notice the old man hold onto a necklace he wore under his shirt as he watched after her.
**
Marinette skidded into the classroom just moments before the bell rang. She took her normal seat at her desk, trying her best to catch her breath, when a certain blonde annoyance approached her.
“Uh, that’s my seat,” Chloe Bourgeouis said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
“Chloe,” Marinette groaned, “this has been my seat for the past three years. Why should I change now?”
“Because Adrien is coming to school now, and that’s going to be his seat, so this is my seat,” Chloe said, as if it were obvious. “So move. You can go sit next to the new girl.”
Marinette rolled her eyes, but gathered up her things. As she grabbed her box of mostly intact macarons, she smiled to herself. Instead of going straight to the other seat, she walked around the classroom, handing cookies to her old friends, chatting to them about their summers, and finally sliding into the seat beside the new girl.
“Hi, I’m Marinette,” she said. “Do you want the very last cookie? I don’t have enough for everyone so certain people are going to get left out this year.”
Chloe grumbled under her breath as Sabrina desperately tried to distract her with a glossy magazine.
“Thanks,” the new girl said, taking the cookie. “I’m Alya. You seem pretty cool, Marinette.”
“I’m really not,” she replied with a shy smile. “But it’s nice to meet you.”
**
Adrien Agreste was determined to go to school. He’d filed all the paperwork with the help of Chloe, he’d snuck out of his house early that morning to make it on time—he was going to finally be a normal teenager.
As he ran up the stairs leading to the school, he noticed an old man struggling with a cane, also making his way up the steps. The cane slid off the edge of one step, and the man started to fall backwards.
Without even thinking, Adrien dashed over to catch him. He was half a second too late, and ended up falling with the man—but at least he’d cushioned the stranger’s fall.
“Thank you, young man!” he cried as he shakily stood.
“No problem,” Adrien said as he stood. He winced as a pain stabbed him in the side. That was definitely going to bruise later.
“Adrien Agreste!”
Adrien turned to see his bodyguard and his father’s secretary walking towards him. “Uh, hey, Nathalie.”
“You know your father doesn’t want you going to school,” Nathalie said. “You haven’t even gotten into the building and you’re already hurt!”
“I just want to be normal!” Adrien argued. “What’s wrong with that?”
She sighed, and pursed her lips before giving him a stern look. “Get in the car now, and I won’t tell your father about your fall.”
He groaned, but walked towards the car, realizing that was the best he’d get for the time being.
**
The school day went on as normal for Marinette. She got along well with Alya, instantly growing to like the new girl.
But then, right before PE started, the school abruptly shut down due to a monster attacking. Marinette rushed straight home, unsure of what to do besides hunker down and be safe.
She noticed a small box on her desk in her bedroom, something that was very much not there this morning. Curiously, she opened it, then reeled back as a bright light shone from within.
“Greetings, My Queen!”
Marinette screamed. “Bee!” she yelped, scurrying up to her bed. “Get away!”
The bee-like thing chuckled. “I’m a kwami, not a bee. And I am here to help you!”
“Help me how?”
“With that!” the kwami buzzed happily, pointing out the window at the large rock monster in the distance. “We’re going to take it down with the help of your partner!”
“My partner?” Marinette asked, confused but relaxing slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s all right,” the kwami said. “Let me start from the beginning. My name is Pollen.”
**
Not too far away, Adrien had discovered a box on his desk. He opened it to a flash of light and a small turtle-like creature floating before him.
“Greetings,” it said. “I am Wayzz.”
“Cool,” Adrien replied with a grin, poking at the small creature. “So—what are you?”
“I am a kwami,” Wayzz said. “I grant you the power of the Turtle , so you can stop the harm being caused by the Butterfly.”
Adrien sat at his desk, staring at the kwami intently. “Tell me everything.”
**
Marinette fixed the comb in her hair, the metal turning rose gold as the bee symbol became more stylized, looking as though it was drawn with calligraphy ink. “Pollen, buzz on!”
Yellow light washed over her as her outfit changed. She wore a yellow outfit tightly covering her whole body, with black boots, gloves, and collar. A black stripe wound in a spiral around her waist and down one leg. On closer inspection, she found the fabric of the outfit was something she’d never seen before, some form of elastic armor made up of small honeycomb-shaped sections. A black domino mask sat on her face, and her hair had bleached yellow stripes in it, winding around her pigtails. Her eyes were a deeper blue than normal, almost glowing.
“This is cool,” she murmured, admiring herself for a moment before the news feed on her computer caught her attention, and she ran out to her balcony. “Okay…I can do this.”
With a deep breath, she threw the trompo at her hip out to the next building and let the string of the top yank her along, a feeling almost like flying. She tried not to be too giddy at the feeling—there was a supervillain to fight!
**
“Wayzz, shell on!”
Adrien couldn’t help but check himself out in the mirror after transforming. He wore a green jumpsuit over his body, mottled shades of green creating a subtle tortoiseshell pattern. A green shell-shaped shield sat securely on his back, and an orange bandana wrapped around his face as a mask. His hair was uncovered, but had turned a bright green, the kind of color his father would have never allowed him to dye it.
“Sweet,” Adrien murmured. A loud crash from outside caught his attention, and he ran to his window, opening it and leaping out. He tucked and rolled when he landed on the ground, breathing a small sigh of relief when he realized he was uninjured. Somehow, the suit was giving him the instincts he needed to run fast, leap high up buildings, and jump down without hurting himself.
As he ran, he couldn’t help but see the large stone giant in the distance, picking up cars and throwing them as it angrily yelled. He jumped from building to building as he neared the monster, stopping only when he saw a girl in yellow and black gliding towards him.
“Hey!” he called to her with a wave. “Over here!”
She perched down on the rooftop beside him. “Hi! You’re my partner, right?”
“Yeah,” Adrien said, grinning. “Is this cool or what?”
“That’s…one word for it,” she said with a nervous smile. “I’m Honeybee.”
“Cute name,” he said, not noticing the way her cheeks went pink at the compliment. “I’m…I don’t know yet. Call me Tortue for now.”
Honeybee glanced out towards the giant. “So, how do we stop this thing? I can freeze people if I sting them, but if he’s made of rock…”
“I can summon a shield,” Adrien said with a shrug. “I guess we’ll figure it out? Apparently I’m the only one who can put everything back to normal…”
“We’ll figure it out,” she said, confidence in her voice. “I know we just met, but I trust you.”
The two leapt across rooftops until they reached the stone monster, who was batting away bullets from the gathered police. Adrien was able to see that each bullet made the giant just a little larger. “They need to stop shooting at him,” he muttered. “It’s making it worse.”
Honeybee nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll get their attention—can you bring him to somewhere more deserted? Maybe the stadium?”
Adrien frowned. “You might be cute, but I don’t think you’re bulletproof. Let me help you out.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close before holding up his shield and crying out, “Shellter!”
Marinette’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden closeness, at the feeling of his arm strong around her waist, the warmth of his breath on her cheek, the pink softness of his lips, the brilliant green of his eyes on her…she blinked, trying to get her head on straight. Marinette’s feelings could wait—the city needed Honeybee right now.
Tortue carried her down between the stone monster and the police, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the green forcefield he’d created around them. “I need to go recharge,” he murmured quietly to her. “My kwami—”
“I know,” she replied. “I got the same lecture. Go, I’ll meet back up with you.”
The bullets stopped, and Tortue dropped the shield so Honeybee could step forward and talk to the police.
“Stop shooting!” she cried. “You’re making it worse! We’re the superheroes, and we’re going to fix this!”
The police chief started laughing, and the rest of the squad joined in. Honeybee just rolled her eyes before turning back to the monster.
“What are you looking for, big guy?”
“KIM!” the monster roared.
“Oh, him?” she said with a coy grin. “He’s at the stadium! I’ll take you to him!” She threw her trompo, ready to fly off, but first shouted back at the police, “Don’t follow me! I’ve got this!”
She raced through Paris to the large stadium, the rock monster following close behind her. She didn’t notice on the ground, a blond boy watching her intently as a small floating green kwami nibbled on a piece of lettuce.
“Is she going to be all right?” Adrien asked Wayzz.
“She should be,” he replied, swallowing the last of his food. “But we should get back to her.”
**
Honeybee perched herself on the top ledge of the stadium, watching as the rock monster broke through one of the walls, calling out again, “KIM!”
She saw two smaller flashes of movement on the ground, one green, one orange-brown. She recognized Tortue, but who was the other one?
Honeybee leapt to the ground in front of the second blur, suddenly recognizing her as her new friend Alya. “You can’t be here!” she cried.
“Why not?” Alya asked. “I want to be the first one getting the photos of your heroic fight!”
Honeybee frowned. “Even if you get hurt? That’s a literal rock golem giant right there and we’re still trying to figure it out! I don’t want to be responsible for you dying!”
Alya just gave a sheepish grin and said, “Okay, okay. I’ll go. But, can I interview you afterwards? Please?”
“If there’s time, sure,” Honeybee replied, distracted as Tortue ran past her. “I have to go!”
She swung over to land beside her partner, who glanced at her with a grin. “Hello again, cute girl.”
“H-hey, Tortue,” she replied, trying to sound normal. “We’ve got him here, now what?”
“Now—maybe Tortue isn’t a great name after all,” he mused. “Let’s try—uh—Shellshock!”
“Okay, Shellshock,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Giant stone monster?”
“Something my kwami pointed out to me,” Shellshock said, nodding towards the monster. “His hand is clenched around something. That might be where the, um—akona? Akima? I can’t remember what he called it, but that’s where it probably is.”
“So we make him let go.” Honeybee darted out towards the giant monster, calling out, “Venom!”
Shellshock watched, cringing slightly as he watched his partner’s trompo bounce harmlessly off the stone.
The stone monster picked her up, looking at her curiously. She gave him a sly grin before calling down, “Get him to grab you! He only has so many hands!”
Shellshock raced forward, realizing that this crazy girl might just be the death of him. As Honeybee had predicted, the monster grabbed him with his other hand.
“Shellter!” he cried, the force field pushing open the monster’s fist, letting Shellshock and a small purple rock fall to the ground.
“You got it!” Honeybee called cheerfully.
He stomped down on the rock, cracking it open and releasing a purple-black butterfly that started to fly away. “No you don’t!” Shellshock cried, hurling his shield towards the butterfly, catching it in the air and pulling the dark energy from it, leaving a plain white butterfly flittering in the sky.
Shellshock caught the shield as the rock monster turned back into a teenage boy. Honeybee fell down, throwing out her trompo to catch herself before hitting the ground.
“Miracle Turtle!” he cried, tossing the shield in the air. A ring of green light appeared around him and slowly spread outwards, meticulously repairing all the damage the rock monster caused as it went.
“That was amazing!” Alya cried, running out of her hiding space to greet the heroes on the field. “You two are so cool! And you! Boy from my class! Why did you go all crazy rock monster?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” the boy asked, confusion clear on his face.
Honeybee darted towards the boy, kneeling beside him and talking to him in a soft voice, comforting him. Meanwhile, Shellshock turned to Alya. “I don’t think he was doing any of that on purpose.”
“Then what was happening?” Alya said. She had her phone in her hands, recording the whole conversation.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “It seems like something preyed on his emotions to make him into a monster, but we got it. Everything should be safe now.”
“Awesome! And what’s your name, turtle boy?”
He hesitated, the name Shellshock suddenly falling short for him. He smiled widely as a thought struck him. “Call me Captain Turtle! And my partner over there is the lovely Honeybee! But now, I’ve gotta get out of here. Stay safe, citizen!”
He leapt away, leaving Alya behind to walk towards Honeybee and the boy, still recording as she said, “There you have it, folks! New heroes in Paris, ready to stop whatever evil lurks out there! Captain Turtle and Honeybee! And damn, that boy looks good in green, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Honeybee murmured, staring out at the sky where Captain Turtle had leapt away, a dreamy smile on her face. She quickly shook her head back to reality and gave Alya a sheepish smile. “Uh—you wouldn’t mind not putting that on the internet, would you?”
Alya just laughed. “Don’t worry, girl, I’ll cut it. Can you stick around for an interview, though?”
Honeybee’s comb suddenly began to beep, and her eyes widened. “Sorry, no, I’ve got to get going! Take care of Ivan for me, will you?”
“I can take care of myself,” the boy, Ivan, grumbled as Honeybee swung away. “And I’m not talking to you either.”
Alya shut off her phone and put it in her pocket. “Okay,” she said with a warm smile. “But everything’s off the record now—looks like you just need a friend.”
**
Luckily, Adrien made it back to his bedroom before anyone noticed he was gone. When he dropped his transformation, Wayzz happily zipped around the room as he collapsed onto his bed.
“That was exhilarating!” the kwami cried. “My powers haven’t been used for fifty years! Oh, I forgot how exciting the feel of battle is!”
Adrien chuckled. “So, now what? Now that it’s over?”
“Keep wearing that bracelet,” Wayzz said, pointing to the miraculous jewel on his wrist. “That lets me stay out and talk to you, and you must wear it when you transform.”
“Wait, that wasn’t the only time?”
The kwami’s face fell, and he settled into a lotus position as he floated in front of Adrien’s face. “I’m afraid not. The akuma was the work of the Butterfly miraculous, and you must keep fighting any akumas that appear until the miraculous can be recovered and returned to the Guardian.”
“The Guardian?” Adrien asked, his brow furrowing.
Wayzz sighed. “I’m sorry, young hatchling, but I cannot allow you to know too much. Knowledge is quite dangerous when there are those who would kill to possess it. I promise you, everything I know will be passed to you in time, as long as you trust me to know what time.”
Adrien frowned. “I really don’t like being left out of things. It’s bad enough when my father or Nathalie does it…”
Wayzz floated forward and gently tilted his head against his young owner’s. “I understand, but turtles are quite patient. The time will pass before you know it.”
**
Marinette detransformed as soon as she hit her balcony, then went inside and screamed into a pillow. “Ugh, this is a disaster!”
“What’s wrong?” Pollen, her kwami, asked her, floating beside her head. “I thought you were marvelous!”
“I’m glad we won,” Marinette replied, “but why does my partner have to be him?”
“It seemed like you liked him very much!”
“I do,” she groaned, pulling the pillow over her head. “Too much! Pollen, how am I going to be a worthy superhero when I’ve got a stupid crush on my partner?”
Pollen laughed, a bright, airy sound. “Oh, my Queen! I have so much experience in impressing and attracting others—you will be the most talented heroine, and sure to catch his eye!”
Marinette just sighed, rolling to lie on her back. “He called me cute…I don’t even know his name but he called me cute!”
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Pollen asked, spinning happily in the air. “Young love is the best kind!”
“Yeah,” she said. “Oh, and—thank you, Pollen. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle this if I couldn’t talk to you.”
“It has been centuries since I’ve had a worthy Queen,” the kwami replied. “You will be the greatest of them all!”